Avenger Assembled

You recognize the name August Roman - the most famous enemy of the Centurion, once the kingpin of Freedom City's organized crime, now long dead in 2022. He is much, much younger here than in any of the pictures you've seen of a man who was very old when people your parents' age were young - he's maybe 30? Less?

Ashley inhaled to speak. Set smelled exotic; like Egyptian perfumes she didn't know but that old-time pirates had fought and died for. "What if you're pretending to hit on someone who's actually attractive?" Copycat asked the second Raven. "That happens less often than you'd think," said the Raven, faint amusement in her voice. "Criminals generally aren't very attractive, not where it matters." Ashley frowned. "Generally?" "Hnh. Remember your training," Callie chided her. "If you're around someone physically attractive but don't have the time to stay, enjoy the sight for what it is, then let it pass through you." "Are...you making a pass?" she asked with a wink that came just a second too late. "Thank you, but I'm spoken for." She ran her left thumb against the bare knuckle of her fourth finger. "Cheese!" She snapped a few more pictures, then neatly put her phone away in a small utility pocket on the side of her dress. "You're an influencer, right?" she said with a small smile. "You know how it works." Ashley stretched her arms above her head, pointing her fingers like a cat's, then smiled brightly. "So is there a god of foxes?" she asked brightly. "I bet Jean here could use an introduction."

Neko was distracted from her meditation on how a home owned by the dead might be an unwise place to throw a party, at least until she caught La Puma Negra's eye after the other girl's casual leap over the fence. She kicked off her shoes consideringly and slipped them into her bag, then walked up to the chain-link fence that surrounded the property. Folding her hands behind her back, she stepped forward and began ascending the fence as easily as one might walk up a flight of steps, tail twitching behind her as she went. At the top, she executed a neat little flip and landed on the other side. The whole time, she didn't use her hands. Owain looked unhappy at all this but made his own way over the fence, picking his way over with considerably more care than his acrobatic friend. Once on the other side, he was silent as he studied the scene, knuckle over his mouth.

You're able to Notice a dropped wallet from the last guy - the name inside (on an NJ driver's license from 1938) is August Roman. Give me a History check - or just straight INT check

A Brunswick dress; a two-piece costume consisting of a hip-length cerulean jacket with “split sleeves” (flounced elbow-length sleeves and long, tight lower sleeves) and a hood, worn with a matching petticoat. Eira frowned, giving Pan a briefly nettled look. When he started teasing Argus she brightened up considerably, joining him in flitting about the many-eyed giant. "But with all these eyes, do you see anything interesting, hmm? Or is it just old ghosts and old gods down here?" Argus looked at Forever Boy (which he could really do with some force, given all those eyes) and smiled. "You're lucky, sonny - there are no age limits at Olympian festivals. Just make sure your older sister here has you home before your mother goes looking for you." Eira's eyes popped open and she loudly declared "Older-and-and I suppose if I were to stand here and kiss him, you would say you have seen siblings do the same, yes!?" "I've seen all kinds of things," said Argus with a shrug.

Okay! Give me a Notice check - followed by a History check, if you've got it.

Merlin explained to Set that his linguistic abilities came through his alliance (evidently a euphemism) with a certain powerful witch (not Neko herself) who might be available if the Lord of the Desert ever needed the professional services of a magus? He took a moment to exchange contact information for his ally with the godling in case Set or Sekhmet might ever need such an arrangement. "Merlin is very...savvy with computers," said Neko, making a little circling gesture with her hands as she found the English word. "He helped me start this work. But I should go now so I can film the panel on Asobi ni Iku yo!, it was nice meeting you!" She stepped away from the godlings and got back to filming with the help of her robot friends, cheerfully chattering at them as she narrated what she saw, Merlin shooting Set a distinct 'call me' gesture before he vanished behind the cloud of illusion that seemed to follow Neko everywhere she went. There certainly was much to see and do at the con, and though Neko and the Egyptians were both stars in their own right, it was easy to get lost among so many cosplayers and content creators. The music was playing and the crowd was big; the organizers had sold quite a few tickets. The putative guest of honor was an elder statesman of anime; Hayashi, who had been active in the industry since the first film he'd helped animate had made it to the screen in 1958! Now an old man, Hayashi was in town for a special screening of his classic movie about the sexy space pirate, recently re-released and remastered for a new audience.

"I will give a bellow," said Aquaria reassuringly, seeming to snap out of her imagination. "I am so loud that people can hear me all over the city." She hmmed, scratching under her mouth with her rear right leg. "I can hear their song," she added, turning and pivoting her entire body towards where the boat appeared to be heading. "It is...pleasant, for what it is. But it is not correct. Do any of you like music?" she asked.

Luckily Owain had circled back when he'd realized his friends hadn't followed him, and so he and Neko were easy enough to herd into the bus. Back in his human shape, he took the seat next to Neko, hands on his lap as he watched the crowd enter. Everything will be fine. You will make sport with the young ladies and fellow gentlemen, and everything...will be fine. He still couldn't quite make eye contact with Naomi. Her cat vanished, Neko leaned against Owain and closed her eyes against car sickness.

Ashley's pause was so short that only Set really caught it, though perhaps Jean had reason to expect it. "Ohmigod it's the Set!" Copycat squeed. "Jean come here, let's get a selfie. Do you mind?" she asked as she crowded up by the Egyptian godling. "See, I knew you'd meet the best people here. Jean is just my friend from work," she told Set breezily as she held up her phone, "I told her she could meet some important people here and look, I guess she did! Best not to touch," she added cheerily as she got close enough for the picture. "Superpowers, what can you do?" When she made eye contact with Rainshadow, her initial impulse was to knock him down and shove the mongoose down his throat, but of course she'd learned to control those sorts of feelings a long time ago - they certainly didn't fit the giddy part-time hero she was playing here, that was for sure. "If you're looking for a tour guide, I bet that giant frog over there would be happy to help," she said with a nod towards the Deep One who was having an animated conversation with an ox-man across the large room. "We're a little busy over here."

About half of the thugs went down before La Puma's feline assault; grunting and cursing, throwing aside their weapons as they went down rather than being taken down more forcefully by tooth and claw. But the other half opened fire, old-fashioned Tommy guns rat-a-tatting in a roar of gunfire much louder than any old movie! Luckily all of them missed; except for the shots fired by the man in the rear, a sinister-looking fellow with a thin mustache who took careful aim with an old-fashioned revolver - Only to have his bullets bounce off the badge-shaped shield of the Patriot, which erupted from around Ashley's wrist and held the shots as she bulled forward and took that guy out by smashing her bladed baton against his chin. The others went down even faster, the Patriot's batons cracking skulls and knees, knocking them down with a savage fury that matched La Puma's. And for the moment, they had quiet.

Neko and Owain kept battering Bear-Knuckle. But Neko's blinding of the thug had left her unable to impose her will on his perceptions despite flashes of terror that must have been lighting into his eyes and ear, and she backed away as Owain bit down, canine teeth failing to find purchase on the man's super-tough flesh. Bear-Knuckle was distracted by the visions of fiery kasha but they wouldn't hold him for long...

Ashley listened attentively to her new friend's stories, wondering sympathetically if Jean had that many people to talk to on a day-to-day basis. She is nice, and damn obliging. I should steer business her way when all this is done. She'd decided to treat this the way she would an op at the Socotran or Rurland embassy, an infiltration into the stronghold of a hostile power - one with a servile class, to boot. She thought of her father's flight from Vietnam and wondered what he'd have made of all this. I know the beings here are from the same stuff Hades is, but what the hell kind of thing just sits on a throne for four thousand years and never gets off. "Oh I'm sure it'll be a real showstopper," she said dryly, careful to keep her voice at a normal conversational level. Whispers would just attract attention here. "Lots of little fish hanging around waiting to see the big sharks do." She considered what to say, then added, "When I had a uniform, back in another life, I spent a lot of my time out on street corners watching parties like this. Dress them up all you want, but they don't change."

Nah, you've got it! The remaining 3 open up on you, since you're hitting them so well! https://orokos.com/roll/945234 That's one hit, but the Patriot will Interpose - and it misses her. The Patriot is up! She's going to go for the remaining 3 thugs; she'll go for them with her melee attack! She'll take 10 and take 'em out - they can't pass her massive Tou save infliction at their PL. Okay, lemme post IC

"I will eat meat - if I take it myself. Or find it, if something palatable is offered. have heard that the waters of Greece have hideous sirens who lure Surface-Men to a watery doom, then feast on their flesh." Aquaria seemed to stare off into space as she talked to the others, though as always it was hard to tell with her big goggle eyes. "Can you imagine such a thing?" She fell silent as the waters rushed around them, lost in some inner study.

the kids are gonna keep working Bear-Knuckle over. (is the Obscure still active on him, BTW? If so he's blind, deaf, etc until he moves out of the area of effect, but nobody else is) Neko tries to trick him into attacking himself with a particularly gruesome illusion 25 possibly a penalty on that, depending on how many times she's gotten him before Owain bites him 16 probably only hits if he's flat-footed

"He is there already," said Neko, not wanting to embarrass Owain further by talking about he'd run away when things started to get bawdy. "Maybe you swim, show him how you do it." She smiled brightly as she started walking towards the pool, her tail twitching behind her as she went. "I don't really swim," she said, shaking her head, her ears twitching on top of her head at the thought. "But the water can be nice."

Blue silk rococo 'robe a la française' sack back gown with cinch lacing over stomacher, panniers, blonde hair in elaborate 18th century wig, gold necklace, earrings, bracelet, ring, shoes "I am the finest work of mortal science, and you the finest of magic," said Eira easily, "it was only logical, yes?" She laughed, adding "The invitations were generously applied. All the more reason to be suspicious...ah, here we are. Remember your ears." She cocked her head as they came in for a landing, coming in not too far behind Sekhmet and Teagan and the Atlantean princess, who she instantly recognized. It was truthfully more impressive to see the finely dressed ladies than the ancient Greek monsters, though she did cast her own share of eyes on the many-eyed Argus. "My ladies," she said, curtseying as befit both her costume and her birth. "And your highness."

"Yes!" Aquaria croaked with enthusiasm at Grimalkin. "I am Sea Devil. You are very clever to recognize me without my armor," added the almost-entirely nude giant frog-fish person. "You look very female indeed," she added with enthusiasm for Grim's benefit. "I am sure you will find someone to mate with here. Orrr even just be their friend, who knows?" she throbbed reassuringly, her throat sac bulging. It was very unlikely Aquaria herself would be so fortunate, but who could say? For Legatus's benefit, she added, "Yes! Hades is very suspicious, as are all the gods of Atlantis. But there are Atlanteans who are good," she added for the ears of the listening heroes.

Owain made a strangled noise at Wilona's ribald teasing, his cheeks blushing a bright red that was all too familiar - they'd all seen it plenty of times. "I will be...at the pool," he said, trying to gather what was left of his dignity. "aderyn," he murmured, his form (clothes and flesh and all) seeming to collapse downward to a large black crow that abruptly flapped his wings before flying away down and out towards the Claremont pool. Neko gave Carmen an ears-forward glare, but seemed much less snappy than at her first meeting with the other girl. Petting a fat Persian that had appeared in her arms from nowhere in particular, she commented with a dimpled smile "Hello, Luke. Do you swim?"

sure

Neko and Owain, for their own reasons, had been a little skeptical of the pool outing - but both had been willing to be convinced. Once she was firmly assured that actual immersion in the disgusting chlorinated water wasn't actually a mandatory part of the agenda, Neko had been happy to change into an outfit suitable for the pool. She wore a brightly-colored red and green floral kimono tied loosely over a one-piece bathing suit (just in case she did accidentally fall in), her bare feet padding on the carpeted floor of the dorm room as she walked alongside Owain. Her hair was back in a ponytail, her ears up and alert atop her head, her tail swishing behind her as she padded along. When she caught sight of Carmen, she gave the other girl a sharp look, but didn't hiss - despite a strong instinctive desire to do otherwise. They were all friends here, right? Owain was wearing a T-shirt and long shorts that went down past his knees, even though he knew the other boys would surely be wearing less. The immodesty of men's attire here was still shocking to him, just as it had been in the 1940s - what was a man supposed to think when other men just dressed like that? Not to mention ladies like Neko, who were surely shocked at such things? But talking that way got one labeled a prude by the other fellows (or rather more unkind words for it than that) and meant no parties at all; so he had made sure to dress himself modestly for the party. "Yes!" he called to the door. "There will be...snacks!"

That's very good! They cannot resist that Acrobatic Bluff so they are flat-footed; with your Takedown Attack 2, you can potentially take half of them out. https://orokos.com/roll/944693 okay, that's 3 of them down! go ahead and post IC

Copycat and Predator's arrival was neither particularly discreet nor particularly showy. They walked down between the pillars together, were announced as they entered by a Greek operatic tenor hired for just this occasion, and then they were down among the crowd of people. Ashley stayed close to Jean, giving the illusion of a couple of friends on a platonic date, even as she scanned the space carefully. The rather dour agent that had met Jean had been replaced with a figure of feminine, feline beauty who moved with an athlete's grace inside her fancy dress. It was hard to know which was the real Ashley. She'd given Jean a short, sotto voice briefing as they made their way in - all of Hades' minions had at one time or another fought the heroes of Freedom "even the dog!", but for the most part had played the part of a once-awkward woman comfortably grown into her skin. She introduced Jean to a few of the heroes she met as they went, most of whom she seemed to know primarily from high school. She made sure to avoid the food that looked to be provided by Hades himself, sticking with sealed bottled water from the table.

"Ohhh, they give me such eyes," Aquaria grunted, peering into the water suspiciously with gigantic gold eyes, the nereids and other creatures of Greek myth in the sea around them distinctly watching her with an expression like a group of cats peering at a strange one, eyes glittering in the wine-dark sea. "You fool no one!" she said, calling down at the water with great volume. It was hard to tell if she was warning off one individual among their escorts or all of them at once, who admittedly had been nothing but polite in their dealings with the other heroes. "With your bosoms and your hair, as if you were a mammal! You want to lure the Surface-Men, and the Surface Lesbians, in and eat them!" With the size and shape of Aquaria's teeth, she certainly seemed to know something about eating things. "You have many colors!" she offered to Kimber, well-used to the idea that the ghost (a sad reflection of the failures of the Surface afterlife if you asked her, not that it would have been polite to do so) had no scent. "You will show them all."