Avenger Assembled

"Nyah," Neko told Red, murmuring for her viewers just loudly enough for them to hear. "<Watch from above, so you don't get smashed.>" Once Red was up at ceiling level, she watched the goddess go and smiled, sliding neatly out of her shoes and padding along behind her on two legs, tail twitching behind her with the excitement of a cat on the hunt. The search wasn't an easy one; a great many humans had passed through this hallway recently and none of them actually had a good idea of what Faster Pussycat smelled like. But eventually Sekhmet was able to find a door that smelled right, one that smelled faintly of feline and faintly of something that did indeed sound distinctly familiar. Considering what to do, Neko looked at the door and snapped her fingers. Suddenly, a torrent of crawling things were scuttling down the corridor, waves of yellow and grey spiders, and Neko laughed as they disappeared under the door. "Kekeke!" Sure enough, there was a feminine shriek - and then a loud hiss before the door came flying open, revealing a figure inside that reminded Neko very much of how Set and Sekhmet looked. Her thick braided hair was tied off with shiny gold, her gold and silver costume marked by hieroglyphics that began "Year 9, Xandikos, day 4 which corresponds to the second month of the Egyptians, Winter, day 18 (under) Pharaoh..." and her eyes marked with kohl. On top of her head curled two light grey ears. She looked at Set, at Sekhmet, and at Neko, seeming to calm down when she realized who she saw. "Well well well! Look what the cat dragged in!"

Owain gave Jonah the lemonade and exchanged the money, eying the other boy with great interest. "You will find it a striking drink," he promised Jonah, "there is no touch of real lemon or sugar in it, but the flavor is impressive. I would not drink it as mine sole beverage, but tis a pleasant enough way to spend the time." "My dad," said Gwen, putting some venom in the last word, "said I couldn't have a girlfriend or a boyfriend until I turn eighteen. He's such a cop. You know,." they went on smoothly, "I bet he'd hate it if I was spending lots of time with you. He wants me to be more normal." "Yes." Neko folded her hands and looked at Leon expectantly, tail twitching slightly behind her, as if she wasn't quite settled yet.

It was in the gala when the monster met the god; the former nude and glistening save for her leather harness, the latter magnificently attired in Greco-Roman armor that gleamed with the light of purest divine orichalcum. Aquaria was standing by the punch when Poseidon approached. To her delight, he recognized her, golden eyes widening and aristocratic nose wrinkling as he took her in. "You!" "Me!" Aquaria croaked in agreement, feet sticking noisily to the floor as she stepped away from the bowl. "Atlantis-god!" she added in a bellow. "Do I surprise you?" Poseidon smiled behind his green seafoam beard. "Child of Dagon, child of Hydra, nothing you could do could possibly surprise me. Are you fool enough to strike me beneath the banner of sacred hospitality?" "One so wise knows," she croaked firmly, remembering her strict instructions about how to behave. "I come among you without fear under that banner. A child of Dagon, a child of Hydra." "Do you not fear the gods of your enemies?" inquired Poseidon, raising an eyebrow. "There are no gods but Dagon and Hydra," Aquaria co-axed quickly, "those that follow you and yours would say other." They were getting louder and Aquaria caught their names among the buzz of conversation around them and pressed on. "It is you who should fear me, Atlantis-god," she said suddenly. "I teach the Surfacers the truth!" Poseidon glowered. "What is this truth? That only a mad Deep One, one who has abandoned her own people, could stand among them as an equal? If that is your teaching then yes, you have taught them much." Aquaria bit down lightly on the inside of her mouth to keep from trying to bite Poseidon in the face, in her mind hearing the echoes of Atlantean weapons-fire, of the murdered uneaten bodies of her tribe. "I have shown them who the true monsters are below! They have learned that Atlantis is a cruel empire of conquerors. They are a wise people above, and they will not love your deluded followers forever!" Poseidon actually laughed. "Are you so toothless, woman? Can you stand there and tell me, child of Dagon and Hydra, that your people are but helpless innocents? They would rend you limb from limb for that and cast your bones to the fish!" He got close, unafraid to put his head near enough to Aquaria's face that she could have bitten it off. "I know this because I have seen this happen to every Deep One who has ever raised their head!" "Come and see my teeth," said Aquaria, baring them in the display that looked like a forced smile to Surface eyes. "I know you have none!" she added. "Everyone else has forgotten what happened when the Terminus last came but I have not! When this realm was threatened it was my gods who came, not the Surface gods, and not you! You are weak." she pronounced with a great feeling of satisfaction in her breast. "I will be sure to remember those foolish words," said Poseidon testily, "when next we meet." His own threat made, he stepped past Aquaria and poured himself a cup of punch, not noticing that Aquaria had by her presence discouraged anyone else from this particular bowl once she was sure that Poseidon was about to see her. The god raised a glass to his lips, threw it back - and then his eyes widened with disgust as he spat out all that was left. "Fool! You drank it! Ha!" she bellowed with laughter, then louder, "He drank it! He drank it like his own wine!" And though she found herself escorted roughly from the premises afterwards, it was a very good day. That should be a fine enough distraction, she thought much later, sitting on a Freedom City dock and looking out at the comforting waters of the Atlantic. I have done my part, and tonight will rest with those I love. Above, the stars shone down in their splendor, and she was content.

Neko slowly reappeared up top, first the ears, then the rest of her. She studied Leon, watching as he shaped the paper below into a perfect shape, and then slowly climbed back down the tree, digging her hands into the tree trunk to slow her descent for just a moment. She stood next to Leon, tail switching nervously, then said, "Okay." She folded her hands behind her back, glad that there were no teachers closing in on them, and gave him a small smile. "You okay Leon?" "Oh, I am of this realm. My mother was exiled from the Summer Court an eternity ago, and so met my - father here. Wait a moment, wait a moment, did you say that THERE ARE TWO DRAGONS HERE!?" boomed an excited Gwen. The butterfly fae slipped their arm underneath Luke's and gave him a hopeful look. "Can I meet her?"

With your Stealth, you are undetected. With your Notice, you can see there's nobody in the hallway you're standing in, but there is a distinct whimpering sound coming from the outer office where Daisy would have been working, and the smell of blood is in the air.

A little while later, the two of them were in close quarters. The lower stories of the building had been built with internal crawlways during its initial construction back in the 1960s, back when they led down to a bomb shelter under the building. Though it had been upgraded some in the intervening years there were only so many ways to change what was essentially a long metal tube with a built-in ladder. The Patriot took point, moving with a grace that nearly matched her feline colleague as they headed up the couple of floors to reach their target - the janitor's closet on the first floor, directly across from the front door to the Patriot's small office suite. If the werewolves were anywhere up here, it had to be close by. Once inside the closet, the Patriot stopped to check her gear, charging her pistol, having moved with the cool silence that bespoke long experience. When they were both inside the closet and in position, she nodded, then carefully tried the door.

Owain provided the second drink, pleased at the girl's enthusiasm - so much so that he decided to let the money for this one slide. Neko was the one who liked to play the merchant; he was just offering hospitality to his guest, temporary though that status may be. He raised an eyebrow at the evident gravity in Maddie's words, recognizing their weight if not their meaning. "Indeed? And what brings you to this realm?" he asked with a young lord's solicitousness, his gaze starting to flick around behind her as he looked around for Neko. Her cheeks flushed red, Neko folded her body underneath herself, perching neatly on a branch that looked like it should never have been able to support her weight. She looked at Simon with slit eyes and made a feline noise that said "<This is bad!>" Gwen followed Luke, all ebullient charm as they circled the boy like someone admiring a prize blooded stallion "Aye, in my mother's fae realm. Here I have but my own magics. How did you come to be here, and in human guise?" Gwen got as handsy as Luke would allow, running hands down the boy's back like someone feeling the lines of that horse. "And what put you in this form?" When Leon appeared below, his first glimpse of Neko was her ears, poking out above the curve of the tree limb she was perched on. Slowly her face slid into view, big yellow eyes, cheeks flushed pink - and then slowly, she sunk back out of view.

"Wh-what?" Owain blushed the sort of deep red that only a pale person from a cloudy country could blush. "No, ah, no, you mistake me." I did distinctly say I was acting as her older brother, he thought, but decided that the 21st century boy must have misheard him. "Neko and I met in a war. On opposite sides," he added. "In an enemy, I found a friend, as a knight should. I act as her brother at times because she has none such here. But no, she is -" he looked distinctly like he was about to say something else, then said, "well, she is not even of the Church, so...not the sort of person I would court."

Okay. Okay. Play it cool. "There are back ways into the upstairs," said the Patriot, trying to take some solace in how easily the teenager was dealing with nonsense that had so recently become terrifyingly real. "and thank God they came at night. You actually met most of the people who work in the building at night earlier today." She thought about quizzing Carmen about their names, the way Callie Summers would have, but instead she focused on the mission. "So we don't have that many people to rescue." She considered what to say, then said, "I think we need to start in my office. That's where they were keeping Daisy, and if we get her out in time, she can help us. But..." She hesitated, then said, "La Puma, if you see anything up there, you have to keep it to yourself, all right? Daisy is...she's not really my friend, but she's stood with me when a lot of other people didn't. If she gets outed because of this, I'll never forgive myself."

Neko stared unblinkingly at Leon for a long moment - then bit him on the hand. It wasn't hard enough to break the skin but it definitely left a mark before she turned and ran away, scuttling on all fours past the crowd and up into one of the many trees that overlooked the quad. Up in the trees, her cheeks flushed a bright red, she settled herself on a branch and folded her arms around her legs. Oh! Oh he can tell, and he doesn't care! It was not the most traumatic thing that had ever happened to the timelost feline but for the moment she felt her heart break in her chest as she buried her face in her knees. For her part, Holly stared, eyes wide, then seemed to shrug it off. "Animal totems have that problem a lot," she told Leon confidentially, "I'm sure Claremont will help her. Is your hand okay?" she added sympathetically, reaching out to touch it. "H-hey, nice," said Bert, who seemed to be coming out of his shell a little around such friendly people. "Guess I'm not the only...one that doesn't look baseline," he added limply, obviously having edited himself as he spoke. "Hey," he asked, "w-what's your favorite song, Carmen?" Meanwhile, having made friends with Luke, Gwen was buddying up with the newly-arrived giant. "BEHOLD AND WELL MET! I AM GWEN JACKSON!" they declared, clapping the ice teen on the shoulder. "From what realm do you hail!?"

Doktor'd! Neko/Gawain Neko: Features 2 (Audiovisual Recording, Internet Connection, cybernetic) [3PP] Super-Senses 2 (Infravision, Radio, cybernetic) [2PP] Eight PP into Yokai Array so it now looks like: Yokai Array 16 (32PP, PFs: Alternate Powers 3) [35PP] BE: Illusion 8 (all senses) (Flaw: Phantasm, PFs: Progression 8 [1000 ft radius]) {32/32} AP: ESP 4 (cats; Auditory + Olfactory + Visual Senses, 1 mile, DC 24 Notice; Extras: No Conduit; Simultaneous, Feats: Fast Task 4 [Full Action to search 1-mile-diameter area]) {32/32} AP: Damage 8 (illusory weapon, Extra: Alternate Save [Will], Range 2 [Perception]) {32/32} AP: Obscure 6 (summoned storm of illusions; all senses; 250 ft, Extras: Duration [Continuous], Selective, Flaw: Phantasm) {32/32}

Doktor'd Patriot II Add Device 3 (Lor grav-suit, Flaw: Hard to Lose, PF:, Subtle) [13PP] Environmental Adaptation 1 (Zero-G) [1PP] Flight 2 (25 MPH/250 FPS) [4PP] Immunity 9 (Life Support) [9PP] 12 ranks of Escape Artist 7 ranks in Diplomacy and 5 ranks in Escape Artist [3PP]

Doktor'd! Edits: Angelic: Swap in this character pic for the robot one - Add Container 2 (PNG, little robot buddy, PF: Subtle [is very small spider]) [11PP] Features 2 (Audio-Visual Recording, Internet Connection) [2PP] Communication 2 (100 ft, radio, Extra: Two-Way) [4PP] ESP 2 (100 ft, visual, Extras: No Conduit, Simultaneous) [4PP]

Doktor'd! Edits: Sea Devil: 9PP 2 PP into Charisma - 2PP 4 ranks each in Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Info, Handle Animal, Intimidate - 5PP Morph 1 ('Aquaria', +10 Disguise) 2PP

Doktor'd! Move Comrade Frost, Lady Horus, and Harrier to the Archives (they're still around, just cameos)

Fall 2022 Neko brought a swirl of leaves with her when she entered the bookstore, red and gold that matched the apparent color of her hair. Dressed in a second-hand sweater that hung loose and long on her small frame over baggy jeans, her shoes scraped lightly against the floormat as she walked inside and wrinkled her nose. The place certainly smelled like it might have what she wanted; and of old books, too. Running her hands through her hair, she walked inside, wrapped in an ever-present swirl of magic that made her look like any other Asian teen out on the town. She looked around briefly, smiled at the clerk behind the desk, then immediately disappeared into the stacks. She kept her eyes out, looking for sections helpfully labeled "Oriental" or "Asian" or "Japanese", knowing they might be her best bet. There were sections about the Second World War, of course, but she didn't want to look at those unless she had to.

Owain blinked and gave the giant girl a measuring look. He didn't recognize the accent but that meant very little. "Yes! Yes, of course, a leader should eat as well as the lowest among her vassals, else what sort of leader are they?" he said agreeably, pouring Maddie the watermelon lemonade. "From what realm do you hail?" he asked her cordially. "I myself am from the realm of my lord Arthur, which many here dub Camelot."

"Okay. Okay." The Patriot rubbed her hand against her jaw, then said, "This is going to sound like bullshit but you have to bear with me. There are - there are werewolves on the Moon." She broke off in a desperate little laugh, then said, "I know how that sounds, but believe me, this is completely real. They're Farsiders, the psionic colony that lives up there, you learned about that at Claremont, right?" she asked desperately. "Well, some of them were affected a few years ago by an alien artifact," Don't tell her it's called the Moonstone she will for sure think you're nuts and you don't have time for that right now "which...well it turned them into werewolves. They had their sanity restored and the artifact was taken to Earth, but the transformation stuck. Most of them live happily enough up there, but a few of them liked the idea of turning into some kind of furry...gospel, thing, and they really liked it after that werewolf attack in Freedom last Halloween." She looked at Carmen, hoping the girl didn't think she was nuts. "It sounds like they hacked into the teleporter downstairs and infiltrated the base here to get the - the thing, and when they didn't find it, they decided to take hostages." She looked up there and said, "But they really don't know what they're doing keeping Daisy hostage along with regular people. If we don't get up there soon, people are going to die even if they don't try to hurt the hostages."

Taking 20 on that Search check

"Easy there, kiddo," said Richard, taking the big young man's hand in his own. At sixty, a father several times over, he was struck by how young Mike was. Lying through his teeth. Bullet's real, though. He didn't know who had shot the kid but he could take a guess from the first name that had come to his mind. He thought suddenly of Lizzie, playing in the summer sun with her brother, and looking at Paige and realizing they wanted a daughter. Goddamit. "You stay here, you keep the door locked. I'm going to find your sister, all right?" And that was what he did, though not without conducting another super-fast search of the headquarters before bolting out onto the street. The Emeralds were a big place but Fast-Forward could run and that was exactly what he did. He had a feeling he wouldn't have t go far.

All righty! I'll use Skill Mastery on the Sense Motive and hit that 20. He'll do 20 on the Medicine as well if he can.

Can I take 10 or 20 on the Medicine checks, or is that no good? Same with the Wisdom/Sense Motive.

"I'm, uh, Bert Miller," said the anxious cyborg. "The Bert is short for Albert, if there are two of them. Nice to meet you, Carmen," he said with a smile that showed a few steel-colored teeth. "I, uh, ain't never been to a normal school. This must be weird!" At that moment a thought came to Leon - one that wasn't his own. Holly's voice sounded in his head as she thought BERT IS REALLY SELF-CONSCIOUS ABOUT HIS POWERS. HE WAS INFECTED BY NANITES DURING THE INCURSION. A LOT OF PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF NICHOLSON AND CLAREMONT HATED HIM FOR IT. She had a - kind voice, was the right way to put it, sounding more like a mom than a girl who couldn't have been that much older than he was. "I love your origami," she told Leon, in a normal voice. "My little brother is really into that right now, and we're trying to encourage him. It's healthier," she added cryptically. "Maybe you could come over some time and show him....?" she hazarded. Neko smiled at the pretty American girl with her teeth and said "We could all go to your house."

It was hard to see much of what was going on in the Patriot's sanctum; most of the metal walled rooms Carmen could see were still locked. Only one room's metal doors stood open, a strange sight that looked more like a transporter room from Star Trek than anything she'd seen in Freedom City. The room was metal-walled too, with shiny reflections that showed Carmen her own feline face, and it smelled distinctly of wolf. It wasn't hard for her to guess where the wolf, and in fact several more wolves, had come in. Come to think of it, this did look like Star Trek - the whole place looked rather more high-tech than Carmen would have expected a government agent to have; looking more like pictures she'd seen of alien spacecraft than a US government installation. By the time she arrived back at the entrance, she was confronted by a grim-faced Patriot who was herself listening to audio playback from her wrist communicator. A growling, canine voice was saying: "If you want the ghoul back, you'll give us the Stone! You have ten minutes!" "You don't know what you're doing," Ashley said urgently into her communicator, "you need to let her-" There was a click, and silence, and she cursed.

Owain looked up at the giant girl, briefly alarmed, but when she was interested in a purchase he smiled. "Well-met, fair giantess!" He pointed around the table, where a large pitcher of lemonade stood by a selection of red Solo cups and various small containers. "The drink is the juice of the lemon mixed with the freshest of water and powdered sugar, and the little cups allow for...ah yes, customization! You mightst have, ah, strawberry, watermelon...well, if you can read the English of this place, I am sure thee can see our offerings."