Avenger Assembled
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Having barely sat back down, Riley was on his feet again at the news that the owners of the house were home. He didn't know Huang's parents that well - but he certainly understood being caught in someone else's space and the threat that posed, even if the biggest threat here was embarrassment. "Cool party," he admitted to Huang, deciding to join everyone else in flight as he heard what definitely sounded like a commotion coming towards them. "Keep the booze!" He headed straight for the room's window and with a smooth, practiced motion undid the locks and slid it upwards. "See you at the spot," he called to Robin with a grin before jumping out of the window and disappearing into the darkness outside.
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"Oh, flying, and being strong, like Sharl and Miss A," said Eira brightly, evidently having given this a lot of thought. "Sweden may not be as exciting as Freedom City, but we still need to have superheroes. Maybe we will build a whole Nordic superteam, if I can find other people my age!" She laughed, her smile and confidence a foretaste of the woman she wanted to grow up to be. But after a moment, the smile faltered. "I was very lucky to be given this chance," she added more soberly. "If my uncle had not been a superhero, if he had not known superheroes like Miss Americana and Dragonfly, I would be dead. The world gave me much because of my blood. I want to give my blood back to the world." "Well, hopefully not real blood," said Sharl warmly, "that's what the neo-titanium's for." For Kimber's benefit, he added, "It never seemed worth the effort. I already have a body and a real life - it's just not in the world here. Building a robot body that looked like myself would be like lying to myself. About what I really am, and where I'm really from."
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The uniquely blended family (and Robin) eventually did sit down to Thanksgiving dinner, Riley having stuck close to Robin once they were back inside the too-familiar house. Robin's Riley didn't have much to say once he'd helped his other self bring in the food, but he looked a trifle more relaxed now that he and Robin were together. He'd caught her tension earlier, of course, but neither of them were the sort to have that kind of emotional conversation where other people could hear them. Well, almost. "You know, this is the table I had growing up," Riley had commented, patting the heavy oak table they were eating around. "The roof was gone in the living room, but my parents were able to get people to drag it back to the new place by the plant..." He stopped talking. Determined to keep it together after his earlier display, Riley kept his hands under the table, clenching one into a fist as it occurred to him that his mother was probably sitting at that table right then, sitting there eating and believing that her son was gone beneath the teeth of the Ferals. "Will we be seeing you for Christmas?" Peyton spoke up, giving Robin a bright smile as the other Riley silently watched his double, a frown on his face. "I've invited Riley and any friends of his here for the holiday."
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This Concludes Our Broadcast Day [OOC]
Avenger Assembled replied to trollthumper's topic in Archives
Gonna coup de grace again, gonna make it DC 32 again. Do I need to roll to hit? -
"If they dun take her now," said Riley warningly, his accent thickening with Robin under stress. "I'm gun shoot just 's the door shuts behind 'er. The soundll muffle't." The shrill, alien growls and shrieks of the small Feral were deafeningly loud in the young Woodsman's ears, the only sound of life in the upper tiers of the ruined house now that the Ferals down below had been defeated. Knowing that the sound could alert the Southside pack to their hunting party, Riley reached down and pulled his hatchet free from his belt, the weight of the steel blade cool in his hand. As he advanced on the creature, he breathed, "I give you the peace taken from you in life." "Yeah, man," he said suddenly in the real world, "Tha'll happen. But-" Peyton Quinn was on the podium of the meeting hall at Raymond, her fatigues and short dark hair lit by the glare of electric lights powered by the recently scavenged plutonium, gleaming rifle strapped to her back - giving the New Year's speech to the assembled population. Riley couldn't have been prouder. "When we were younger, people said we were lucky to live in Freedom City. Now we know that we're lucky to be alive. We don't need luck, though! We've always had to struggle and fight, and that's made us strong. It's made us who we are." "When it's goin' down, that's when you find out who y'are. Some people find out they're bad. Some people find out they're better than they knew."
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"Hello," said Eira, giving a little wave as she looked up at Sharl's girlfriend. Eliza didn't seem very touchy in the way Kimber was, but that was okay by the mechanical girl. "My trip has been very good. I love my new body," she said, doing a twirl for Eliza's benefit to show off both her new physique and her gold and blue print dress that matched the colors of the Swedish flag. (The look had been a gift from Miss Americana.) "And Sharl has shown me many good things in the city. How have you been?" For his part, Sharl relaxed, putting his arm affectionately around Eliza (about as affectionate as he was likely to get in public) and watched as the closest thing he had to a sister talked to his girlfriend. Both hologram and robot were clear to Eliza's eyes, with no more spiritual presence than any other pieces of technology. "She says she wants powers with the next one, but I said she'd better wait till she's in high school first. Claremont could use some more students from her kingdom."
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You know, DF, there may have been some confusion about what Character Building is for - you're welcome to go ahead and post this and get the Refs looking at it.
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Eira did indeed give Kimber a hug, the girl's embrace quite a bit stronger than her still-relatively small frame suggested. "Hello, Kimber! Sharl told me you had an adventure with jotunns!" "Hey, I was there too," teased Sharl, coming over to give Kimber a quick hug. He'd never been much for physical contact - but at least these days Kimber was less likely to short out his emitter. "By the Republic, it's good to see you," he commented. "I never thought I'd be happy to be back on Terra, but after the last two years, just being out in Freedom City is nice." It was no Tronik, of course, but he was beginning to figure out that no place was, and neither would Tronik itself be with the Republic broken. "I am glad you like the hair," said Eira, her voice a little singsong with her remaining Swedish accent, stepping back and doing a little twirl to show off her big braid. "Miss Americana gave me chemicals to dye it any color I want, but I will keep what I have for now." "Ffft, long coats and black hair will be fashionable again on this planet soon," replied Sharl with a grin. "You two should get in on the trend now." He and Eira followed Kimber further into the castle, towards a 'living room' that had a good view of the city. Nodding in satisfaction, Sharl peered out the window and said, "You should get Eve to bring in more castles, make the city look civilized." "No way, save us Europeans our castles!" said Eira. "Where am I supposed to live?"
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ic The Traveler In The Dark (IC)
Avenger Assembled replied to Avenger Assembled's topic in City Center
"Y-yes, of course," said Tarva, looking away from Temperance as her eyes flashed black. That look usually meant an imminent flight to her room and pouring out her soul onto the page - and maybe seeking Kimber out late that night as well. "In any event, I should..." But today, it seemed, was different. She looked around the bank and the arriving police, then back at Ghost Girl and Blue Fox. "It sounds like a grand gala, doesn't it?" She smiled, clapping her hands together. "I have experience with the cultists of dread gods," she said, her tone artificially light. "you know, here and there. You should take me with you." -
Any last investigations you want before the road trip?
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Riley breathed in and out, in and out, in a slow rhythm that belied the nervous energy the slight young man had been radiating since Kingsnake had met him. "Good ears," he commented, shifting slightly to avoid his muscles locking up. It was possible the big man was a psychic or something too, but all the ones of those Riley had heard about on Earth-Prime floated around in capes that looked likely to get caught on the nearest tree. Unbidden, images of being stalked through the Forest Primeval by a creature that could hear his heartbeat from a mile away hammered into his mind, but Riley pushed those away. Here he was the hunter, not the hunted. "What else c'n yudo?"
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Peyton shook her head. "I'm not going to let him ruin our family Thanksgiving. If he wants to make his apologies to my son, and to Riley for ruining what was supposed to be a special occasion, he can do it on his own time." She looked at the two teenagers and said, her voice calm and sympathetic, "I know this isn't what either of you may have wanted. If you need to leave, I understand." "No!" said Robin's Riley, his voice high and hard for a moment, hands tight at his sides - the idea seeming to hit him like a physical blow. "No, I'm not going to leave. We came here to have a family time, and that's what we're going to do." He reached up and put his hand on Robin's shoulder. "Family's supposed to stick together, right?"
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January 2016 "So why didn't you bring your robot body?" asked Eira Katastroff as she walked alongside Sharl Tulink, the blonde girl now substantially taller than she had been just a few days earlier. At twelve years old, the young full-body cyborg had long since mentally outgrown the body she'd been uploaded into in 2011, but a Christmas visit to America and the Archetech labs (along with a chastened Uncle Magnus) had gotten her installed in a brand new body more suitable for a girl of twelve. She was over five feet tall now, a young woman who came up to Sharl's shoulder, her long blonde hair in a braid that went almost all the way down her back. (Eira had been a big fan of the Hunger Games) "Because I want people to be looking at you, not at me in a giant robot body," commented Sharl with a big brother's grin at his sister...well, not by blood, but as close as it could come out here in the 'real world.' "We wouldn't be able to get anything done out here." He was projected today, a miniaturized holo-emitter actually something included in Eira's physical 'body', the magnetic enhancers she used to get around with peak human strength and dexterity easily able to power the matrix that produced his own unique energy matrix. It meant he had to stick close, at least until they got into the DuTemps Building and he could directly interface with its systems, but that was okay - why would he not stick with his not-so-little friend? "So tell me more about your girlfriend," teased Eira, which he had to admit was the other reason he was planning to integrate with the DuTemps systems once they were up in the castle proper. Sharl used a security code Eliza had given him to get in one of the staff elevators, and the two of them were whisked upstairs towards the castle. "She's very nice," said Sharl, "and I think you'll like her. You can tell her what you were telling me about the vatnavættir, I think she'll like that." He hmmed. "But maybe in a different way." Come to think of it, Eliza would probably be pretty put off by stories about how Sweden's national superteam was endeavouring to clear psychic debris from the oceans surrounding the high-latititude nation. "Eliza's views are very different than mine, or yours, but I still respect them." Eira was pretty sure that was because Sharl and Eliza were having sex, a prospect that managed to be disgusting and hilarious at the same time, but said nothing to that effect as she and Sharl talked more about the friends who lived in the DuTemps Building, some of whom Sharl had known since she'd been first been uploaded almost five years earlier now. Calling upstairs as their elevator reached the security barrier of the castle, Sharl reached the castle's AI, who patched him through to Kimber. "Hey Kimber, it's me!" he said to the air, transmitting at the same time up to Bluebird. "Let us up, I've got a visitor who wants to meet my favorite Canadian." "
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ic The Traveler In The Dark (IC)
Avenger Assembled replied to Avenger Assembled's topic in City Center
Four eventually told the group the truth, as far as they could determine - the employer of the Power Corps had been a man who called himself The Disciple, Supreme Potentate of the Church of the Precious Blood Of The Lamb That Will One Day Cleanse The World Of The Fallen. "Locals call them the Blood Cult," offered Four. "Creepy bastards, every last one of them." Despite the grandiose name, Four (who reluctantly doffed his armor under pressure from a returning Tarva) remembered him as a rather scruffy, wild-eyed fellow living on a fortified compound in the Maine North Woods with a small coterie of followers. At Tarva's knowing suggestion, Four recognized the symbols in the text Eliza had studied - they were symbols he'd seen everywhere around the compound, painted on the walls, on people's garments, made as toys for the kids. The news of the connection seemed to agitate the former Annihilist, who began walking up and down the vault, hand to the side of her head, even as the police began filtering in to take evidence, statements, and place Four under arrest. "Cultists," she was muttering, "cultists of a god who want to summon him to Earth-Prime. We must destroy them!" -
Heimdall looked grave indeed at Thrude's words, but he stepped aside to allow the daughter of Donar through the gates. "The rites were fairly done, niece - the woman has been a Chooser since the last days of your father's binding. What cause brings you here?" "This was going to happen eventually," said the younger woman, shooting a look at her mother as she lowered her bow, the latter lowering her blade as well. "As long as Midgard's monsters have shelter here, someone was going to come looking for them." She did not look happy about the reality of Thule Society members in Asgard - none of the three there did, but the young archer looked the angriest of them all. Suddenly, Frost snapped his fingers, turning to Thrude, all innocence. "Of course! You have not heard story!" He pointed to the gates of Asgard. "Of how Kantor, in last days of war, transformed his woman into Chooser of the Slain, transporting her to heart of Asgard? And how she was at time pregnant with child of Kantor?"
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After its rocky beginning, the Cline family Thanksgiving improved substantially. Daphne proved to be a quick study in the kitchen, quickly adapting herself to the way Paige ran a kitchen to great effect. Richard was in and out to plant a kiss on his wife's cheek and taste the stuffing as it was prepared, but for the most part he left the work in the kitchen to the young Grue and his wife. After all, he was busy running herd on his mother and daughter out in the living room. Richard knew that his mother had had prejudices that weren't appropriate, even for a man whose favorite era lay in the past, but he'd been left...surprised by the extent of her outburst. In the last few years, his mother's mood seemed to have been fraying more and more. As he watched his mother listen patiently to stories about Holly's friends at school (before offering sage advice about making sure to stay friends with the girl with no powers, who was probably going to grow up tough and resourceful), it occurred to Richard uncomfortably that his mother was over eighty years old. Anna looked like a fit woman in her early fifties, thanks to her superpowers and her intensive aerobic exercise, but who knew how long physical youth would last given the irregular nature of superhuman abilities? No one really knew anything about what longevity meant for the brain, either. And if his mother was starting to go - what did that mean for he and Paige, sustained in their own way by the same inherited powers. After a few hours, when dishes were in the oven or otherwise simmering, the Clines took a break for a Facetime call from Los Angeles, where it looked like Will was having a fine old time with his girlfriend and her big, bustling family. They hooked up Paige's phone to the bigscreen TV, giving them a good view of Will, his girlfriend, and her many cousins and aunts and uncles in the living room of their big house in the Hollywood Hils. While the Clines talked with their wayward son and grandson (with Anna and Paige putting aside their mutual coolness to put on a smiling, happy front for their favorite little boy, almost eighteen or not), Daphne was left mostly to herself. As that happened, Daphne heard a distinct knocking sound at the door, a soft, almost frail noise that it sounded like all the Clines were too busy to hear.
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Riley didn't so much as glance up from the crossbow, putting all his attention into the shot he'd lined up. Kingsnake could hear the boy's slow, regular breathing - a sniper's tactic to prevent sudden body movements from throwing off what had to be a difficult shot. This was particularly true since Woodsman had shown no sign of superhuman powers, but didn't seem to be using any gear more advanced than a strange-smelling crossbow and a hatchet that smelled of metal polish. In a slow, nearly inaudible whisper, the boy breathed in what was of all things a dry chuckle, "Yeah, I've done things cop wouldn't do, all right."
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When the headmaster was finished with Jane, she sent the girl out with directions to her room, bringing her back into the custody of Riley and Cathy. "So you wanna see your room?" offered Riley, his voice briefly rising into the contralto. "We can do that, go get some food?" It had become a surprisingly warm, comfortable afternoon for that time of year, a touch of El Nino creeping up onto the shores of New Jersey. "They gotsome good grub here," he commented, idly twirling the hatchet Jane had seen him wear on his belt.
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The text is written in the arcane language of the spirits, legible only to those who in some way traffic with beings from other realms - Tarva could read it, but she'd need time to cast Detect Magic to use her Ritualist feat. The book appears to be the unholy text of a cult of Veles, the Slavic god of magic. (Veles is depicted as a blasphemous black dragon in the text, crushing and defiling innocents while devouring their champions). The section of the text photographed by the Power Corps refers to the imminent return of "Zirnitra", the all-powerful high priest of the cult (depicted as a man with draconic features before all bow while he devours kings and bishops), who will return "MXXVIII after Vladimir Whored For White Christ." It includes a picture of Zirnitra's personal seal - a double-headed black dragon with a sword in one talon and upside-down cross dripping with blood in the other.
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A Still More Glorious Dawn Awaits (IC)
Avenger Assembled replied to Avenger Assembled's topic in Known Space
When she was sure no fight was coming, Aquaria dropped to all fours (something Jessie knew she did when she was very upset) and hopped away to the rear of the ship, where she found an empty cabin to crawl into. There was a water dispenser here, one that she recognized from her time at the Spectrum Knight compound, so instinctively she first stripped off the armor that had done so much damage, then began running a flow of water as warm as her native seas. Cupping the fluid in her hands, she bathed first long, muzzled face, then spread the water down her body where it ran warm and wet over green and white bumpy skin, giving her a brief touch of the element she'd been denied for long. That she might never feel again if they failed - if they were handed over to the terrible Star Knights or Praetorians. Or were they so terrible? She was unsure of everything - except that she was going to get Jessie home, whatever it took. She'd lost the ocean, and maybe she's lost the Surface too when her pride had led her to take the trident of the Spectrum Knights. But Jessie didn't have to lose. -
"Of course," said the Grand Nauarchus, firmly but politely reasserting control over the conversation. "We'll make sure your sister knows you're looking for her - and we'll bring her home to you soon." She signaled to Rye-07, and the tactical data Eclipse had requested as soon handed to her as an optical data solid with attached holo-abstract. Bie Yie's interrogation looked to have been a lengthy affair - the Spectrum Knight drill sergeant had had much to say about the Star Knights, the Praetorians, the Lor Republic, the Grue - and how all would be torn down and cast aside by the freedom brought by the Spectrum Knights. "We'll send the same data to Terra as well," Frankan promised Wander. "I'm sure you'll make something pertinent out of it," she reassured the Terran. "Bie Yie is a madman, determined to tear down the foundations of our very civilization. From what my staff tells me, you have plenty of experience dealing with creatures like that."
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"Crap!" Edge stopped dead in his tracks, and actually took a knee, slapping the ground as a thick layer of concrete rushed from his fingers and spread over the ground, passing harmlessly under the feet of passersby and fleeing civilians as it crawled up the pillars in a slow grey, oozing tide that gradually concealed itself into solidity - a mass thick enough and heavy enough, with ongoing support from the reality warper, to hold up the ceiling. Mark had acted instinctively, but well - the barrier would prevent any further bombs from going off as well as keep the roof itself from caving in. For her part, Nina was having less luck - she'd tried to catch the fleeing child with a lasso of hydrokinetic power, but the latter had skipped her way out of it with alarming speed despite what had otherwise been a solid hit. I'll knock her down if it looks like she's going to escape, thought Monsoon as she took a chance and leaped directly in front of Brigitte, trying to block her way. But I'll not strike someone so small unless there's no other choice. "You there, halt! You're beaten!"
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Mark is going to use his Create Object to hold up the roof. Nina tries to Move Object Brigitte. http://orokos.com/roll/357607 = 26 She's starting to get suspicious here, so she'll go for a Grapple rather than Damage. http://orokos.com/roll/357608 =15 Well, that was bad! She'll keep pursuing with Flight 1.
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Because it was a beautiful night, Avenger and Phantom teleported onto the front lawn rather than into their bedroom. Alone time had come more sparingly in the last few years, whether the intimate sort or simply the sort where they were together beneath the stars. Not long after their arrival, though, Avenger took Phantom in his arms and kissed her passionately, with a fire in his lips that belied his undead state. "By the dark gods, you are beautiful," he told her with a predator's warmth for his mighty mate in his voice, the look of passion in his eyes clearly visible despite his heavy mask. "Of course, you _did_ take down all those cultists by yourself - which means I need to prove my worth to you," he teased as a ghost opened the mansion's front door for them. "I have a few ideas about that..."
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When the creature was bound, Caradoc stepped past Oracle and impaled it directly through the midsection, snapping the hilt of his glowing blue sword out as the blade bit deep into the wretched thing's foul flesh. But as Oracle watched, the energy visible inside the beast was not the glowing blue light of Caradoc's personal weapon, but rather a hideous flickering mass of writhing black tentacles that seemed to creep out into the creature like a lightning storm from Hell itself. "I can match you," Caradoc growled mechanically at the beast, "and keep your foul taint from burning this place. You will leave behind no ghost, Wrackhand."