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Avenger Assembled

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  1. Avenger Assembled
    Winter 2021 The interview location had not been the Patriot's idea. Showing the Christmas lights of the reclaimed Ashton Community Center behind her, symbolizing a city's victory over the Terminus and the holiday season, was certainly festive and even appropriate for the brand-new Danger News Network's interview with the Patriot. But the air here still felt wrong, buzzing with alien energies and danger, and it had her on edge as she paced the small trailer where she was waiting for her interview to start. Her makeup was done, her costume was on, and Daisy her night assistant was doing her best to keep both of the former under control. Daisy was a Claremont alum too, a flighty blonde who had gotten into some serious trouble after she'd left the school, but damn if she hadn't already proven her efficiency running the evening shift. It was the evening shift now; cold enough in the New Jersey darkness that the Patriot's interviewer was probably going to be dressed to his or her best. "I still can't believe they switched out interviewers at the last damn minute," Ashley was grumbling. "I knew we should have gone with an established network." "It'll be fine," said Daisy warmly, smiling with her darkly painted lips. In her drab brown pullover and skirt, she practically blended in with all the DNN staffers scuttling about outside as they made sure the lights were on and the season festive outside. "Making friends with the Dangers is good business in Freedom City, even if they do make life more complicated sometimes." She shook her head, checked her buzzing phone, and said, "Listen, I just got a text that the new interviewer is here. I'll go get them, bring them here, and then you can check them out for yourself before you start. You're going to do fine," she added, leaving Ashley sitting in the trailer's swivel chair. Ashley took out her own phone to make sure her sister was watching the show tonight, and Daisy headed out into the chill to see if she could spot the new interviewee, making sure to take frequent sips from the heated, sealed mug she was carrying so that her breath would stay foggy warm outside.
  2. Avenger Assembled
    Neko narrowed her eyes at Ghost, folding her hands carefully behind her back. "So they say," she said cooly. She blinked at the man a few times, her ears pointed on her head and tail thumping back and forth behind her. "Sore wa orokadesu," she muttered, before saying louder, "You do not know me. You do not know-" She blinked her eyes and thought of fire and blood, and the way it soaked the ground so it squelched beneath her boots. "Sōzō dekinai. It - cannot be."
  3. Avenger Assembled
    "It would be my honor, my fiery flower," said Comrade Frost, taking Volcanic's hand and kissing it gallantly like an Old World gentleman. Which he could be, when it suited him. Looking at the goblins and the net he held in his other hand, he said, "This is no ordinary net! I got this from magical circus in Austria in 1957, with man who-got you!" He swung the net down atop one of the goblins, who skittered away at the last moment and earned a curse from Frost. "Well...many hands make light work," he said with a toothy smile for Volcanic. "And it seems we are not alone. We will catch these little rats yet." He raised his voice and called, "I have magical goblin-catching work but only works on one at a time! And someone has to hold the little rats still!"
  4. Avenger Assembled
    As the kids went about their work, Ashley categorized them mentally. Okay, talks a lot - man, he'd like Alek's kids. Better arrange a playdate. She's got hippie powers but she's not talking my ear off about the 'carceral state' so that's nice. He's figured out how to keep his opinions to himself even when he's standing right next to me and his girlfriend's not around, so that's good - he can be taught. And those two are either fresh off the farm or they know how to act like it...poor damn kids. When Starshine and Freedom Eagle had the box secured in the rear of the plane, she let herself relax - slightly. When the plane was loaded and everyone was on board, Ashley went around making sure everyone was strapped in, whether they were in the jump seats of the cockpit behind the two pilots or the seats in the body of the plane proper. "Even if you're bulletproof, a crash turns you into a missile that can do even more damage. Trust me, I've seen it for myself." Even with her gloves, she was careful not to touch any of the kids; the last thing she needed was any accidents with her own powers surrounded by so many wild young talents. Once everyone was in place, she signaled the pilots, who with professional chatter soon had them first taxiing, then off the runway in the air for what promised to be a 45 minute flight. At least in theory. The Patriot peered out the window at the thick cloudbank that had followed them up above the regular cloudline, a thick, dark mass that thunked and ticked with hail and ice. Well that was predicted but still sucks. "Hang on, shouldn't have too much turbulence," she said, twisting in her seat near the front to look back at the students, "You doing okay back there, Freedom Eagle and Starshine?"
  5. Avenger Assembled
    "Hey! Domovy!" Comrade Frost rose with a barely audible sigh from behind the FREEDOM LEAGUE AUXILIARY desk where he'd been sitting, leaving the civilian staff who had actually done most of the work that morning behind. Crowds were heavy on Christmas Eve, but most people had been too busy with their shopping to sign up for the League's charity fundraising drive even with the chance 'to get a picture with a League member.' The truth was, he wasn't sure why he bothered with the League much these days. His difficulties with the government in Moscow hadn't really changed now that Putin was taking a more hostile line with the United States, but as he was no traitor, that mostly meant he was shut out of many of the Freedom League's most high-level meetings. He had - perhaps not made all the friends in Freedom City that he could have, though at least he'd kept his old ones. Sometimes he wasn't sure what he was doing here. But now...well, this was something he could do. Calling out to their mothers in Russian, he reached into his parka and pulled out what looked to the untrained eye like the business end of a large butterfly net, which he went about assembling by screwing a telescopic handle onto the back. "They are trying to celebrate American Christmas!" he added for the benefit of the locals about.
  6. Avenger Assembled
    "The mall? Oh yes, with the stores," said Neko hesitantly. "Danica and Tori took me to Hot Topic. They had some nice clothes, and Japanese movies. I never used to watch, um, movies very much, but it is very nice." Owain considered a moment, then with barely a pause walked over and looked Luke in the eye. "Luke, I...if I have judged you false, I ask for your pardon." He reached out and clasped the other boy on the arm. "Your curse must be a great burden for you, and I do not judge you for it. I meant only those with a weak nature, not those with bodies unlike my own. It is the quality of a man's soul that matters," he said with great feeling. "Owain needs clothes," said Neko suddenly, giving Leon a conspiratorial look. "He wear what he gets. Not like other boys." "Neko I am having a moment with our dragon friend," said Owain, defensively but not actually angrily. "And I...wear what I wear! I have no need for sartorial extravagance." In what was clearly a second-hand jacket and slacks, Owain's words did not seem to live up to his appearance.
  7. Avenger Assembled
    Ashley was in the middle of rolling her eyes behind her mask when Fa'Rua took her hand - and then she squeezed it and said nothing, warming a little behind her mask. Hot damn! she thought cheerfully, casting a professional look around the opulent apartment. She couldn't immediately see the security she was sure Bombshell would have in a place like this, which meant it was pretty high-end. Not that that's any real surprise. She didn't see any sign of kids around, which given what she'd figured out about Jill's family meant that they were definitely not in the real spot. "Talya, Jill, Jack," she finally said, picking the second of the three to address. "You have a lovely home," she said diplomatically, "thank you for inviting us. I'm sorry I can't eat or drink anything in this stupid thing, I never did any more than put a hole in it for a straw back in the day." She made a dismissive wave towards the mask, then said, "...anyway, I told Infinity you were the best people to know around Freedom City," she said, adding, "And I gather you've worked with people from the Republic before?"
  8. Avenger Assembled
    "The path before you is to eat good food on the government dime," said Ashley with a faint smile. "Deciding where your life is going to go when you're sixteen isn't always the smartest play." When the food came, they fell silent as plates and cups were placed by the server, a smiling woman who was generously pleasingly plump, and Ashley took a moment to drink her Coke and study her Vietnamese po'boy. "You don't have to sell yourself to me. I'm not your teacher or your boss." With that, she dug into her sandwich, watching the Socotran-American boy carefully.
  9. Avenger Assembled
    APPROVED
  10. Avenger Assembled
    "Your pardon, sir," she said, wide-eyed innocence. "My English is not good." She looked Ghost up and down, wondering what sort of truths he knew. She knew Freedom City had seen its share of battles in the last few years but she still had to wonder. What were even the worst of them like, when you came right down to it? "I have no place," she added, all big eyes as she looked up at him, still holding her cat. "I am here."
  11. Avenger Assembled
    Neko came back to herself and made a disconsolate noise. "Nothing," she murmured in English, and then in Japanese added "<Did you see anything?>" "<Nay,>" Owain growled, "<Some here are hidden by spells so powerful that they leave behind no scent.>" His Japanese had always been better than her English, perhaps a reflection of the mystic realm from which he came. "<At least there is the show,>" said Neko, shrugging. "Maybe we see him later." While the sheer size of the crowd had her on edge, she had no particular fear of bloodsport - and she doubted very, very much that the soft people of the future had anything to show her that she hadn't already seen when it came to carnage. Owain butted her leg with his massive wolf's head, then turned his head significantly towards the press happening around the woman in the bear-mask. "<There are other problems.>" Neko studied the scene, glancing over from where she sat, not sure what was happening, and not sure she was supposed to do about it. It wasn't as if she and Owain had actually paid for their tickets either! After a moment's consideration, she decided to rise from her seat and head for Chimera as if she owned the place. Projecting a confidence she didn't feel, she walked right up to the bear-face woman and asked, "Excuse me! Can you show me the water closet?!...the bathroom! For ladies?"
  12. Avenger Assembled
    https://orokos.com/roll/923493 = 15 for Neko, 20 for Owain on Notice https://orokos.com/roll/923494 = 22 for Neko, 17 for Owain on Arcane Lore
  13. Avenger Assembled
    "Hm." Owain gave Luke a suspicious look. The timelost knight had eventually been persuaded by James that yes, the other boy definitely was a dragon that could take the shape of a man - but that didn't mean he had to be thrilled at the idea. "We are...well. There are fine warriors here - and wise sages as well. In Logres," he said, "education was only for the wealthy or those who gave themselves to service to the church or a great lord." He put his hand to his chin and said, "But I suppose that _is_ a place like this, is it not? Where even the worst among us train that they might give themselves in service to others." For her part, Neko met Leon's gaze and cocked her head, smiling with her eyes shut and mouth closed, before she folded her hands in her lap and said, "It is very big. And there is so many - things." She made a little gesture with her hands, obviously trying to describe a great many things at once, as her tail thumped behind her. "I don't know anything about that."
  14. Avenger Assembled
    Copying Ghost's body language automatically, Neko followed the older hero at a respectful distance. It took her a moment to translate his question in her head - and then even longer to answer it in her own mind. What do I tell him? That there is no demand for peasant girls with no schooling, here or in Japan? That if I do not make friends here, I may starve when I am too old to live on charity? But such talk was not the sort of talk she heard among the American students at Claremont, so instead she said "Ohh...to fight for great justice," she said as seriously as possible. "And to right wrongs." There, that was the sort of thing she'd heard some of the other girls say among themselves; the sort of softly whispered prayers to a higher power that belonged more to the provenance of a shrine maiden than a super-agent in her opinion. She gave Ghost an innocent look.
  15. Avenger Assembled
    In the elevator up, after complimenting Fa'Rua on her fashion choices, it occurred to Ashley that this wasn't a bad dry run for introducing Fa'Rua to her mother and sisters...oh yeah, she thought, just imagine the same situation but infinitely worse right before you walk into it, great tactical sense right there, Patriot. Now introducing Fa'Rua to the rest of the people around Callie Summers - well that was a thought that didn't quite bear thinking about yet either. So instead she prepared herself as they rose up, thinking about how surely someone as famous as Bombshell couldn't make a regular habit of living in a place as high-profile as this without being a subject of considerably more attention than she already was. So it's a front. All right, that's sensible - it's not like you're inviting her over to the boat. Or New Orleans, for that matter. Unconsciously, she ran the tip of one finger over her left ear, a ghost of a recent connection with Fa'Rua. "Okay, here's the floor," she said, leading the way outside. "All right. All right, we've got this. Ready to beard the wild Terrans in their den..." she joked before knocking on the door.
  16. Avenger Assembled
    "Nay, 'tis I who is the quarry in this hunt, fellows - awp!" All of a sudden, what had appeared to be a pile of fallen leaves nearby revealed itself to be a catgirl in a bright gold and yellow kimono - who promptly leaped upon the landed bird and caught it between her hands. "Watashi no kachi!" she called excitedly, rolling over on her back as she tossed the raven into the air. "I got you!" Brushing the leaves out of her white brown-spotted hair, Neko sat up on a nearby stone wall and laughed as Owain transformed back to himself with a murmur of Welsh. "And a fair touch it was," Owain admitted, his dignity only slightly tattered by the experience. "Dishes tonight are mine to perform." Neko nodded at that, then looked over at Luke and Leon. "Ah, hello," she said, looking at them with big yellow eyes. Her sleek white tail was curled up behind her where it poked out of the bottom of her kimono, her long pointed ears straight up atop her head. There were no visible human ears underneath her fluffy white and brown hair at all. "We were hunting. Owain was not watch well." "I will have you know that I have hunted since I was a mere lad!" declared Owain as he sat down among his companions. He said something to Neko in Japanese that made her laugh, and said aloud, "Birds, wild dogs, wild pigs - all are things a young man must learn how to hunt in Logres!" "Yes but you did not watch well," said Neko, grinning, showing her slightly pointy front teeth. "And now, dishes!"
  17. Avenger Assembled
    Aquaria hopped over to join the others as they headed inside the museum. With her trident slung over her back, she was free to hold her three-fingered hands together in front of her as she considered what to say. She was dubious indeed of the idea that most Surfacers truly had free will, but she knew from long experience that was not the sort of thing they enjoyed discussing. Besides, she and Jessie were here to mentor these young males, not debate philosophy with them. Softly she croaked "There are many terrible things in the world. When I think about them, I remember that we are stronger, together. All of us." Bobbing in satisfaction, she hopped ahead to the opening display of the exhibit of Japanese super-history, depicting the brightly-colored members of a super-team in battle against a large snake creature. "Here we begin with the members of Squadron Supreme fighting Yashagorō on August 2, 1975," said Gary, shooting a glance at Sea Devil before he went on. "As the first post-war metahuman team in Japan, Squadron Supreme played much the same role in Japan that the Freedom League did, and to this day are honored in their homeland as its greatest defenders." "What about him?" croaked Aquaria, pointing at the skyscraper-sized snake, depicted coiled around an entire rocky island. "Oh, ah well, he was 'an ancient ninja who mastered serpent magic' and attacked the town of Seinarumori after being freed from captivity. He..." Gary hmmed, then said, "Well, as the exhibit explains in more detail, this was not the last time he would tangle with the Squadron Supreme! But before we talk about the Squadron, we need to go back further in Japanese history..." he went on as they walked into a room full of fantastic images of Japanese gods and monsters engaged in fierce battle, some of them contemporary holograms, others a mix of paintings and statuary. "This exhibit is on loan to us from the Super-Museum in Tokyo," he added. "Some of the artifacts here date back over a thousand years, to the days of Heian Japan..."
  18. Avenger Assembled
    Fall 2021 It was a nice fall day, cool and crisp, the sort of day where you can still go outside but you should wear sweaters to do it. Leon and Luke had taken their lunch period outside under the fiercely blue sky of a cool autumn day when suddenly a large black raven descended from the sky and landed between them. "Fellows!" it declared in what was clearly Owain's voice, booming out as clearly as if he was with them in human flesh. "Have you see my friend Neko?" (There had been no sign of Claremont's cat girl that morning, not that the boys had spotted anyway.)
  19. Avenger Assembled
    Almost went with fighters, but it doesn't really fit how I've written them. Neko and Kid Gawain are spectators; Neko is using her ESP to search the place for any sign of Tyger.
  20. Avenger Assembled
    Things had gotten a little out of hand. It was Neko who had overheard the stories of the "Tyger" of Freedom City, and it was she who had suggested to Owain that they investigate without any of their usual friends and allies. If this Tyger was one of the lost children of Mura, the home village that she had left behind in 1944 but that was no longer visible even to her own eyes and ears, perhaps he (or she!) knew a path to find them. Surely American superheroes would just arrest such a criminal rather than ask the questions that Neko needed to have answered. So it was that they had gone out at night, together, and assumed a proper disguise - Neko wearing a white kimono she'd used for her very first Halloween costume and a hood over her ears, Owain in the skin of a wolf as her companion. Parked in one of the rear benches, Neko closed her eyes and leaned against a wall, letting Owain guard her as she began looking around the place for Tyger. By all appearances they were just an ordinary, if oddly-dressed, Japanese girl and her very large wolf if you didn't look too closely. All across the arena, here and there and everywhere, mysterious cats began searching for the mysterious Tyger. For the coming bloodbath in the arena, Neko cared very little at all. For his part, wolf-Owain was on edge. Stealth and sneaking never played to his sense of honor, especially when they were certainly doing false dealings to their hosts. But he was a good guardian nonetheless as Neko used her magic to search the arena and its surroundings, keeping a watchful eye and growling a warning at anyone who came too close to the seemingly-sleeping girl.
  21. Avenger Assembled
    Time for Angelic to be there, representing Katastroff Industries!
  22. Avenger Assembled
    Neko supposed that she should object to being a charity case. After all, she knew that nothing was ever given for something, even by very nice people. But Danica was a friend and Tori seemed very nice herself, her presence a warmth like a summer's sunshine, and so perhaps owing them an obligation wouldn't be so bad. "What is...Hot Topic?" She wound up peering at the other girls' phones, a little bemused, before she said, "Okay. I don't know anything about that, but I like those clothes." When the subject of anime came up, she said, "Okay, I know anime. I watch Astro Boy with my friend Merlin, he show me. It was for kids but it was funny." Even Astro Boy, which Merlin had described as a classic, had been made fifteen years after she'd lost herself, in a Japan that from the pictures was already becoming unrecognizable. "Not, um, the Britain Merlin, but monkey-Merlin. He lives with Owain and me." She nodded at that, looking pleased at the memory. The local mall wasn't too far away, easily within walking or Segwaying distance for the girls. As they went, Neko was peering up at the buildings around them in fascination, sometimes barely remembering to keep up her disguise. "So big! Not like Tokyo, just...big!" She made a little gesture towards the skyline of City Center across the river. "That is too big. My first city was Hiroshima and I thought it was very big, but that is...nothing." She shook her head, wishing she could tell her friends about how frightening it had been to ride in her cousin's boat all the way from Tokushima to Hiroshima, but how exciting it had been to see the city looming large on the horizon as they approached, even if it was so much smaller than the mountains. "I have question about clothes," she added, "are pants...okay for you?" she asked. "Girls wear them all the time."
  23. Avenger Assembled
    I'll sign up Neko and Owain. If the disappearance is connected to Katanarchists it makes sense they wouldn't tell anyone, because that's not anybody's business but theirs.
  24. Avenger Assembled
    "The Patriot's for work. Copycat is for friends." Ashley paused in the middle of pulling off her tank top and rolled her eyes. "Great, now they've got me doing it." She dug around under her bed for a costume Fa'Rua had seen a few times before; an armored dark purple number with a heavy equipment belt and short cape behind it. "Ellie played it coy about who exactly is coming to the coffee, but it'll be at least her, her brother, maybe somebody's wife...which means we all act like we can't read faces behind a domino mask, but that's just how it is in the community." Though the Copycat costume looked like a one-piece suit, it actually was armored trousers and a top, the join between the two hidden by a thick armored belt. "Don't get me wrong," she added as she pulled her short-cut hair back with her fingers so it wouldn't get caught under the costume's mask. "They're all good people, they're...just thick in super culture." Copycat's mask, big enough to cover all of Ashley's face, was at its base bone-white, painted with the exaggerated face of a Terran housecat, and Ashley took a moment to spray the inside with cleaner before attaching it to her head. "Me, I like a little work-life balance." She bumped Fa'Rua lightly with her hip as they passed. There were advantages to living in a confined space.
  25. Avenger Assembled
    "Hey there, ma chere," Ashley entertained thoughts of firing up the boat's engine, heading out to sea with Fa'Rua, and seeing what happened next. You have to call for rescue because this thing is barely rated for a storm in the bay, much less the open water. "I don't put that much black bean sauce in it," she teased. "You should try the real hot stuff." She'd been about to say next time, but she wasn't ready to think about that any time soon. She took a moment just to enjoy the company and the view, in more ways than one, then said, "You're always welcome on this planet. Even if not everyone's as hospitable as me." She snerked and cracked open a bottle of tea, passing one over to Fa'Rua. "Here's to cool mornings - and warm nights." She grinned, feeling not for the first time like a teenager in her first relationship, and took a swig. With great reluctance, she checked her phone, scrolled past a few messages from Daisy the night secretary, then nodded. "Okay. They're still set for the meetup. You always have to check with supers," she said easily, "somebody's always getting thrown into the future or back in time, or they wake up and they're their own mother or something."
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