Avenger Assembled

Sharl had looked very glad to see Gina face-to-face, but her words made him white as a ghost. "What? I died? How?" He shook his head. "I mean...start from the beginning. The Curator attacked after we came back, okay. Did we make it through the mission, at least? Is the other Tronik safe? Are my friends okay?" He ran his hands through his hair, his computer vitals, at least, still looking fine. "I know I have a lot of questions but you're telling me things and I don't understand!" His mind ran to its obvious conclusion and he looked at Gina, his eyes wide. "What happened to _my_ Tronik?"

"My name is Sharl Tulink, I am a citizen of Tronik. My teacher is Gina Evans and my best friend is Koshiro," said Sharl automatically before he said, "What do I remember? I was sitting on the table and you were scanning me, and we were talking about my plans for the trip to Erde, but that was ten days ago now. Did something happen to my memory?" he asked, looking very concerned. "I can't...I can't feel my projector. Is something wrong with me?" he asked her. "Can I project in your lab? I can't remember anything after you were scanning me, it's like I just...popped from one moment to the next, with nothing in between. Did my memories get wiped?"

"Yes, that is possible," agreed Steve frankly. "But it requires a level of material investment not possible on Earth-Prime. And it is..." He shrugged. "One of many possible strategies the Terminus uses to subvert a world. This world is more prepared for them than most. Eventually one has to simply live, and trust that you can prepare for danger as best you can." He thought for a moment, then went on. "The entropic mutants of the Terminus are...awash in Terminus energies. Permeated with it even in the womb, altered by it at their very core, and then when it manifests told that they are the blessed children of Entropy itself. Sons and daughters of the not-living god." He looked away, and for a moment seemed to be looking at something else entirely. "It is no wonder that they are what they are. You have avoided that fate, and should be glad of this place. You live," he added with perfect seriousness, "in a world of wonders."

"I feel...fine," said Sharl suspiciously as he took in his new circumstances. He'd gone from projecting in Miss A's lab to the inside of what felt like Gina's personal hard-drive. Sharl was quick on the uptake, and Gina could see the monitors that showed his stress jump a little. "Why did you upload me?" he asked, a little bit of concern in his voice and even the shadow of hostility fading as he scratched behind the still-excited Lora's ears. "Sssh, ssh...Is there something wrong with my program? Everything seemed okay when I got up this morning, and I didn't have any problems interfacing with the backup drive system or the Wonderbus..." His voice trailed off as he stared up at the spot he knew Gina preferred to communicate from. "What's going on?"

"That’s true,” Sharl admitted, “But I guess I’m more like a starfish that learns how to fly and starts rescuing the others, I...” Sharl's voice trailed off as he looked around himself. He wasn't in Miss A's lab in the 13th Floor, that was for sure - instead he was inside his 'house' at the desk Gina had programmed for him, looking down at Lora sleeping at his feet. He was just about to ask Miss A what was going on when the dog woke up and looked up at him. With a yip, the big dog jumped on him and began licking his startled face, woofing excitedly, and Sharl automatically gave the excited dog a hard hug before gently shoving her weight back onto the floor. "Easy girl, easy..." he said out loud. "Miss A? Gina? What happened?" he called out loud, knowing his mentor could watch him without him seeing her.

"I am familiar with other beings who have been mutated by entropic radiation," said Steve carefully, "but that does not mean I am familiar with people like you. The origin of your superpowers need not determine your character, however grim that origin may have been." He had thought this through carefully. "How the entropic mutants of the Terminus live is shaped by the world in which they were born, and in which they grew. You live in a world free of significant Terminus radiation and in a place surrounded by heroic people, so you need not fear living the kind of life that they do," he told her reassuringly. "The prejudices you face are regrettable, but there are worlds where it is far more dangerous to be a T-baby. And far more dangerous to know one."

"I'm going to see my mom and dad!" said Dorothy excitedly, looking close to tears. "I missed them so much! They must have been so worried about me when everything bad happened...they must have been," she said with determination. "Sure, uh, Blue Jay, I'll drop you off at school, but then I'm going home! I miss my family!" She looked around and found Redbird. "Thank you so much for rescuing me! You and Midnight and Dragonfly and that lady, you guys are heroes! Just like my friends from the Ringworld...I'll thank them again soon, but I just can't wait to see my family!" She took Blue Jay's hand and made a gesture in the air, a wormhole rippling open in front of them and revealing the smoldering remains of the Claremont administration building. White-faced, Dorothy stood there and looked at the building in shock for a moment, her hand tightening in the older girl's. "I will go with you," Steve promised Gina. "Where else would I go? But first a promise was made that I must keep." He gently deposited Gina in the seat he'd been sitting in, then opened the door to watch Dorothy and Tona standing before the tesseracted scene of carnage. It made Steve hesitate slightly, but he pressed on - his thoughts for the guilt the girls would feel, and the realization that evil had been done in his own name as well. "Go home to your friends," he said encouragingly to Dorothy and Tona. "Treasure them. Our journey is over, and you are safe." Dorothy shot Steve a brave little smile, then pulled Tona through the wormhole behind her.

Android Costumed Detective PL: 10 (150) "The mission hasn't changed. Just me." Abilities: 8 + 4 - 10 + 4 + 4 + 0 = 10 pp STR 30/18 (+10/+4) DEX 14 (+2) CON n/a (-) INT 14 (+2) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 10 (+0) Combat: 12 + 8 = 24 pp ATK: +6 (+8 Unarmed) DEF: +8 (+4 Dodge Bonus, +2 flat-footed) Initative: +2 Grapple: +19 Knockback: -11/-10 Saves: 4 + 4 = 8 pp TOU +12/+10 (+10 Protection, +2 Defensive Roll) FORT n/a REF +6 (+2 Dex, +4) WILL +6 (+2 Wis, +4) Skills: 56 r=14 pp Computers 3 (+5) Intimidate 10 (+10, SM) Investigate 8 (+10, SM) Knowledge (Streetwise) 8 (+10) Knowledge (Technology) 3 (+5) Notice 8 (+10, SM) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Stealth 8 (+10, SM) Feats: 13 pp Attack Specialization (Unarmed) Challenge (Fast Startle) Defensive Roll Dodge Focus 4 Skill Mastery (Intimidate, Investigate, Notice, Stealth) Sneak Attack Startle Takedown Attack Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 12 + 40 + 1 + 20 + 5 + 1 + 6 = 85 pp Enhanced STR 12 (to STR 30/+10) [12PP] Immunity 40 (Fortitude Saves, Psionic Effects) [40PP] Leaping 1 (x2, running long jump 26 feet, standing long jump 13 feet, high jump 6 feet) [1PP] Protection 10 (Extra: Impervious) [20PP] Regeneration 5 (Recovery Bonus +0) [5PP] Speed 1 (10 MPH, 100 fpm) [1PP] Super-Strength 3 (Effective STR 45, Heavy Load: 6 tons) [6PP] costs abilities 10 + combat 20 + saves 8 + skills 14/56 + feats 13 + powers 85 = 150 pts ------------ Design Notes: In honor of one of my favorite Batman: The Animated Series episodes, as well as the recent Curator plot, here's one of my favorite of my own builds revamped for this thread - the android costumed adventurer! He's got the skills any weird avenger of evil should have - he's sneaky, scary, knows the streets like the back of his hand, and is a pretty good detective too. He's dependent on his sneakiness or his scariness to meet his caps in combat, just like most of his colleagues. He just happens to also be a mini-powerhouse who can shrug off bullets, throw a car in a pinch, and leap from rooftop to rooftop, while at the same time shrugging off most forms of harm that affect organic lifeforms. Maybe he doesn't have a cave or a utility belt, but those are things he can accumulate with time and XP. Who knows where a hero like this goes in his downtime - they say he never sleeps. I've built him with the assumption that he's a robot designed to pass for a given costumed adventurer, perhaps a replicant built by the Curator or by Talos who went rogue, either by losing the brainwashing and becoming the mask or simply breaking away from his master. Because of this, one thing he is missing is a significant suite of super-senses. I built him with the idea that he 'feels' like a human being inside his own head, without an ability to pick up radio signals or see in darkness, but that could also easily be bought with PP. Another thing he's missing is an ability to interface with computers - he's a bit more old-fashioned than that, the kind of robot who might have fancy transistors inside him once you open him up. Dropping the psionic immunity would let you give him a soul, albeit one of silicon, or that could be a descriptor for a character who's a full-body braincase cyborg. Gaining those points could let you buy enough computer skills to make him better at upgrading or maintaining himself. With the right skillset, he could be the author of his own situation - perhaps he built a robot and transferred his consciousness there, or stuck his brain in a cyborg body with the help of machines. Note that in the wake of the recent Curator story arc, where evil robot doubles of established heroes went on a crazy rampage, even the most sympathetic unknowing robot doppleganger is going to find himself having to answer some hard questions.

Here is my thread, full of builds. [UPDATE 4/23 Links Fixed] Agent: COULSON! YOU WILL BE AVENGED! Agent Paragon: My attempt at a Carol Danvers-style build Android Costumed Detective: What if the HARDAC Batman stuck around as a good guy? Armored Costumed Detective: Bruce Wayne Beyond Atlantean Mystic: There are lots of mysteries to explore down there. Armored Sorcerer: Inspired by the old "Tony Stark as Sorcerer Supreme" What-If Armored Time-Traveler: When you're tired of being dumped naked in the Jurassic Barbarian Paragon: A Black Adam-inspired build with the idea that Teth-Adam should be able to mess you up pretty bad. Bargainer: Mayor Richard Wilkins III conversion, modified a bit to work in a superhero universe Black Prince: A pretty straightforward Black Panther build. Blind Precog: A Daredevil-type whose abilities come from precognition rather than more 'traditional' Super-Senses. Cryokinetic Cowl: A Mortal Kombat vs. DC-inspired Sub-Zero/Batman mashup Cyberkinetic Cowl: What if a computer hacker became a cowl rather than the other way around? Cyborg Illusionist: These archetypes aren't commonly merged, but I think this build works pretty well! Divine Teleporter: What if Nightcrawler's faith gave him power in a very real and meaningful sense? Divine Weather Controller: Storm with Thor's hammer, sure, why not? Duplicator Living Weapon: ALL the Wolverines Elastic Inventor: My attempt at a Mr. Fantastic build - complete with Baxter Building Elastic Sorcerer: An elastic detective like Ralph Dibny - wearing the Helm of Fate! Electrokinetic Tyrannosaurus Rex: Tyrant Lightning Lizard Frog Thor: Throg at PL 10 Full-Body Cyborg: My take on a Major Kusanagi-like braincase cyborg Gary Mitchell: Ace space pilot jacked up on electro-cosmic goofballs Giant Shapeshifting Robot: A Transformer build God of Patriotic Lies: What if Loki did more than just shapeshift into Captain America? Grue Detective: A Martian Manhunter-style Grue infiltrator, with heavy emphasis on his detective abilities Grue Patriot: Alien shapeshifter turned all-American super-soldier. Or has he? Hestia: The goddess of the hearth from Greco-Roman mythology, built as a PL 10 superhero Hoodoo Doctor: My attempt at building a Hoodoo (rather than Voodoo) practitioner, heavily infused with Biblical magic Ice Princess: Elsa from Frozen, built as a PL 10 Infernalist Bluesman: What if a 1920s jazz musician sold his soul for more than just musical talent? Infernal Ringbearer: Matt Murdock with Satan's power ring Loose Cannon Psychic: Here's my build for an action-oriented psychic like Carrie White Magic Black Canary: Exactly what it sounds like Magic Merc: Deadpool with magic gadgets, sure, why not? Magic Robot: Or in this case, a golem who has learned to master the kabbalistic spells that brought him to life. Military Flyer: Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon, as seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Mimic: Trying to make a version of this archetype who is formidable even without his powers. Mystic Giant: Daughter of Muspelheim; based on a picture Mystic Knight: This is my build for Shining Knight; Sir Justin/Sir Ystin Mythological Powerhouse: Hercules, Hercules! Paragon: Here is a flying brick of no particular origin Perceptive Paragon: A paragon whose focus lies in his Super-Senses Photovore: What if Jubilee still had her light-controlling powers when she became a vampire? Post-Apocalyptic Portal User: Blink from X-Men: Days of Future Past Power Thief Paragon: My take on Rogue's animated incarnation Psionic Gadgeteer: A socially effective genius who can read your mind! Psychic Gorilla: A gorilla who can think. And read your thoughts as well. No, he doesn't want your banana! (Real) Stage Magician: A build of a Zatanna-style stage magician with real powers! Serpentine Paragon: What if Power Girl was from Lemuria instead of Atlantis? Shapeshifting Archer: A Jennifer Lawrence-inspired Mystique/Katniss mashup. Simian Infernalist: A gorilla wielding all the powers of Hell itself? Sign me up! Courtesy of my colleague trollthumper. Size-Changing Gadgeteer: My take on a giant/shrinker, like Marvel's Giant-Man Squishy Brick: A Sunspot-inspired gravity controller with a +5 Damage and +5 Defense tradeoff Unnatural Paragon: Mythos paragon, inspired by the Michael Turner Supergirl Teleporting Rock Star: Lila Cheney Vulcan Jedi Green Lantern: I think the name is pretty straight-forward Weather Controlling Cat Burglar: A pretty straightforward Storm/Catwoman mashup Witch From The Future: A magical character from a sci-fi setting Zombie Speedster: Oh no, it's Zombie Speedster! Historical Figures Benjamin Franklin: Specifically, Benjamin Franklin as an immortal electrokinetic in power armor Frost Nixon: Richard Nixon, Thermovore Giordano Bruno: Hermetic mentalist in power armor Regenerating Paragon: Abraham Lincoln as a flying brick Vandal Savage, courtesy of the Invincible universe. Starry Magus: Mystic priest of ancient Fertile Crescent National Heroes Camazotz: Tijuana's native hero, basically Black Widow in a Batman Beyond suit El Monstro: Hulking vampire defender of northern Mexico El Spectro: Mexico's greatest hero La Tiradora: Conflicted Mexican archer and magnetic controller Macuahuitl: 'Armored' defender of southern Mexico, wielding the Ten Rings of Quetzacoatl Offspring Dust Devil: Fastest desert tornado of them all! [Clock Queen/Set] Flame Cowl: Pyrokinetic avenger [Foreshadow/Ember Psion] Frostflower: Icy plant vampire [Comrade Frost/Fleur de Joie] Psychic Werewolf: So what if Jean Grey and Wolverine had a baby? [Blue Fox/Wendy Go] Swift: Tough archer [Woodsman/Nighthawk] Teslad: The smartest boy in the Interceptors of the future has a secret [Harrier/Miss Americana] Villainous Organization The Omega Mob: Australian Organized Crime Group ran by an Omegadrone! The Spiral: Far-future brains in jars who love to play with superheroes

"Hello, Katharine." He shifted in his seat at her approach and she heard the wood of the bench creak slightly under his great weight. "I am glad you could make it," Steve added, having carefully rehearsed the speech in his head before the girl's arrival. Pedagogy was never easy for him, but he owed it to the community in which he found himself to help all he could. There were worse things than prejudiced peers and paranoid politicians than threatened young T-mutants like Katharine, things which many more experienced heroes might have trouble speaking to her about in any real capacity. Sometimes one simply had to know these things. Somehow talking to her was more difficult than Glowstar had been; perhaps because the older boy had had more experience of the world than young Kat seemed to. "Are you comfortable speaking to me out of doors?" he inquired of her. "Or would you prefer to remain inside?"

February 28, 2013 Claremont campus The damage inflicted during the Day of Wrath was almost repaired by now, particularly on the Claremont campus with its many superheroes. As Steve walked the campus paths, he studied the scene with approval. There was something about the former drone that made the high school students part both ways as he walked down the path, particularly those very few who actually recognized him for what he was. He didn't mind the separation, though. They were all so young, so happy, so much a part of a world that could never be his - to see them going about their lives with no more fear of robot imposters from the sky (or at least with that fear now in the back of their minds and not dominating their thoughts) was a wonderful feeling even if none of them could quite look him in the lined eyes. Heedless of the chill of a Freedom City February, albeit a warm one, he sat down on the bench outside the administration office and waited for his contact to arrive. It wasn't the first time he'd spoken to a Terminus mutant student at Claremont, but it had been a while since he'd had the opportunity. For some, the legacy of what had given them their powers was easy enough to ignore - for others, it wasn't. Kat saw Steve the moment she stepped outside, having been warned ahead of time exactly what was meeting her to discuss being a T-baby. With his brown skin and scarred body, lines stretching over his hands, face, and bald head, the squarely-built, tall former Omegadrone was impossible to miss even sitting down and staring straight ahead at the building as she came out, as if staring right at her. He raised a big hand and waved it, just once.

Across town, the Russian liason to the Freedom League peered at the relayed security image, his red eyes narrowed as he studied the situation.They were under-strength today with Velocity and Gabriel both occupied, leaving only Comrade Frost, Gaian Knight, and his assistant 'minding the store.' And just me behind the monitor. Feh. Frost picked up his communicator from the heater that had frozen over next to him and called Gaian Knight, giving Tarrant the same briefing he'd given Fleur de Joie just a few moments ago. "Attacking negotiator means there is desire to jump. But she does not take him with, nor does she jump. Is a concern. Will be on roof - can you provide transportation?"

The Western hemisphere was just beginning to lighten as the Nightdragon returned from its interstellar voyage, the ship slowing as it passed through the Solar System to avoid destroying the planets nearby. In the end, the day they'd learned from broadcast intercepts had been dubbed the Day of Wrath had come to an end like any other and a new one was dawning over Freedom City. Watching from the sensor room with Gina, Steve watched as the ship passed silently over a just-awakening Freedom City. The damage was visible from the air, but only if you knew where to look. For the most part, the rampage of the robot doubles had scarred only the city's heart, not its flesh, a dichotomy with which Steve was only too familiar. A little help from Redbird, who knew a little something about stealth technology, guided the massive ship down to a silent, invisible landing in one of North Bay's remaining parks, one that just happened to be near the home of the Hunter dynasty's ancestral house. When the ship finally came to a stop on Earth, Steve looked down at Gina, a silent question in his lined eyes.

http://www.themorningnews.org/post/pad-thai

MOOCs are really taking off - I'm not surprised to see someone apply one towards comic books. They're really doing a number on traditional evening classes. Hmm, looks like she's an adjunct/doctoral candidate at Ball State. Sounds familiar.

Stratos listened to Redbird's words thoughtfully, setting down what was by now a heroic-sized pile of wrappers on the little table before him. "You know," he admitted glumly, "normally that would be a really funny story, but I've been away from Earth for so long...I don't know, it just makes me feel down. Time to show the world the real Dr. Stratos when we get home." He hmmed and started to ask, "Hey, I don't suppose my double got Thu-" before suddenly Dorothy's gasp of horror broke through the conversation. "They...what?!" Her hands over her mouth, the young girl's face went white. "I...she hurt people? Are my mom and dad okay? Did she hurt anyone at the school? Mr. Archer says I could be a class-1 hero when I finish growing up, and if she had all my powers she could have done some really bad stuff!" "There there," said Stratos awkwardly, "you didn't actually do anything, right? And at least this way people will know who you..." He caught Redbird's gaze and slunk down his seat, looking long-suffering. - "Home," Steve agreed, "is where we are going. Where we were meant to be." Not much for idle talk, Steve held Gina close in the quiet darkness. He still had questions - how long had he been away, what had his double done in his absence, but they could all wait. A cosmic entity had been defeated, and an impossible distance had been closed, and all those who had been lost had come home safe. The dead can be brought back to life. he thought wonderingly.

Here's what you guys find out: The superconductor appears to be a previously unknown isotope of silver, Ag108, which was thought to have far too short a half-life for any industrial purposes. Somehow this variety of Ag108 is stable, its extra electrons actually accelerating electrical currents passing through it. Once given an initial 'push' of energy, these drones could theoretically keep moving without an outside source of power, even if that push came years or even decades after their construction.

Steve considered his words carefully. He had an intimate familiarity with brave young men and women who died defending those they loved, and the idea that one had done so and that his death had mattered was not such bad news - especially with the possibility of recovery! But he doubted Gina would appreciate that thought, so instead he said, "He was a brave young man who fought to defend his people. And from what you told me, stubborn enough to go on his own. You made sure he was as prepared and ready as you could, and the day is won. And you will save him." He looked her dead in the eye and said, "You know his code well and you are a genius. Computers sing to you as do the instruments of a musician. He could not be safer than in your care."

The news that their return might have required the death of Gina's friend and assistant was enough to cast a chill over the room for the former Omegadrone, dark though it already was. "Oh." Steve put his arms around her and hugged her, putting his forehead against hers. "It sounds as though it was something more than just destruction, at least, or surely no trace at all would remain...Was his data protected?" Having no particular hangups about artificial life, he knew perfectly well that Gina kept copies of her assistant's memories and personality handy. It was not an uncommon trick in the Terminus, though that was one thing he would never, ever tell her. If something had happened permanently to Sharl, though, then their rescue was not the triumph he had hoped for, especially when weighed against what sounded like a serious crisis on Earth.

Voltage finds that the interior of the drone is almost all conductor - there are almost no 'thinking' circuits here, just systems designed to absorb powerful impulses from elsewhere. No wonder they all fell down as soon as the main control unit was shredded! The internal systems are like the reverse of the wiring he's familiar with, aluminum wrapped around something exotic in the middle - he's not familiar with what it is, but from his tests it appears to be a room-temperature superconductor made of some exotic silver alloy!

"I have been in far more dangerous situations," said Steve with perfect truth as he considered the desperate flight across the dead planet, erupting from the surface of the Ringworld to the Curator's stronghold... "And I had fine companions by my side. We escaped the Curator's machines and fled his construct hale and hearty, and that is all the victory I want. As for the rest...the past cannot be changed. What matters is today, and every tomorrow after that." He closed his eyes for a moment, considering her words. "There was a disaster. And chaos. But you would not have abandoned Earth if you were needed there." He opened them and looked at her, his lined face lit oddly by the room's dim green lights. "I am glad you came for me, Gina. When I heard your voice, I was impressed at your bravery in sending your consciousness across the galaxy for me. But this is so much more."

Without another word, Steve picked Gina up in his arms and carried her through the sensor control room door like a groom at the threshold. No fool, Redbird let the automatic sliding door seal shut behind them as the two of them were together plunged into the dim light of a room lit only by control panels. He set her down, arms still around her, and looked into her eyes. "You are hurt. What happened? Did it hurt you?" Steve knew the phenomenon of replicants and how they might move among the populace at will only too well - he had no illusions about what was the human and what was not. "Do you mean...hah-hah!" Dorothy giggled and put her hands over her mouth for a moment. "Gross!" She took a ration bar and began wolfing it down, looking delighted to have something to eat that was actually fresh. "These are great! Oh man, I can't wait to see everyone's face when I tell them they were fooled by some stupid robot this whole time!" "I know, right?" Stratos had joined the girl in the galley and had found a meal of his own. "People are stupid. And believe me, the last thing I want to see is superheroes canoodling. Life of the mind, ladies, that's how to live," he said with a wink at his companions. "Yeah, are you one of their cyber-things?" He asked Redbird. "Those guys are great! They're like Viking bikers in space. Mean, though."

"You have saved us all," said Steve to the Lor seriously. "Thank you." Once he was on board the Nightdragon, Steve murmured to Dorothy, "The heroes have won the day. Everything will be all right. Come with me, and we can see this great ship." As happy as he was to see Dragonfly, a familiar face who was a pathway home, he left her to her reunion and walked to the bridge of the ship with his young charge in tow. He hated to interrupt Erin and Midnight's reunion, but he stepped in anyway, wanting to introduce Dorothy to more of her rescuers. And that was when he saw Gina, sitting by herself in a chair near the corner of the room, the bruised, all-too-familiar face that had been high in his mind in the dark nights of his exile. She had crossed the depths of space to find him, she had left her house for him. And she was here, which meant whatever his double had done couldn't have been too terrible. "You came for me," he said again, looking at Gina with wide eyes, "through all this space." He said the words that had been on his mind all that time, heedless of everyone around. "I love you, Gina." He didn't hesitate, bending down and pulling her up into his arms to give her a long, lingering kiss on the lips.

Blasted and battered, the Grue squadron fell away, freeing the Nightdragon for the jump back towards Earth. Guided by its pilots, the Quantum Singularity docked with the Nightdragon's rear access port. The little Lor ship didn't bother with gangways or other such luxuries, instead simply making a direct connection. "Get out fast," said Samran quickly, "we'll make a jump back to the battlecruiser." Both hatchways slid open, opening a door for the castways directly into the corridors of the Nightdragon. "We'll have to look you all up if we're ever out Earth's way." There was no debate over who got to get aboard the friendly ship first. Though she had no family waiting for her on the other side, little Dorothy was the first of the castaways to set foot in the Nightdragon: her eyes lit up at the sight of the welcoming committee, but she looked around for a moment before saying a little nervously to herself, "Well, okay, sure, my parents couldn't be here, they're not superheroes..." After that she cleared out of the way, her friends and allies coming on board just behind her.

Freedom League Oral History Project Harrier I remember a place. And I remember how it fell. It came first among the worshippers of their gods, a slow, gradual turning away from their faiths that broke the world's connections with the supernatural. A predatory sexuality among the previously chaste priests of Sol Invictus, then another turn among users of magic, as the slow infiltration of entropic radiation into their souls drove them into drug-addled degeneracy that left them blind to the crisis which they faced. In their defense it was no magical crisis at all, but they had no way of knowing that - a power beyond their knowledge was cutting the cords that bound them to creation, one by one by one. Then came a light in the sky over Great Britain and a body that fell to Earth in the Belfast Lough at the mouth of the River Lagan. This was a world that knew nothing of the Terminus and the dangers of entropy, nothing even of the larger multiverse. So the scientists and adventurers of that world's Great Britain took the inky-black asteroid to their capitol and began to study it. But even as they did, the Lagan asteroid began to _change_ them, a slow, subtle corruption that spread first through the British Isles, then the United States as scientists, the superpowered, and others began to carry fragmets of the asteroid to their homes for further study. The study of entropic radiation was profitable. Nations began building armies powered by entropic energy, soldiers given great and terrible power by the energies suffusing their bodies. Their souls left warped by the energies inside them, these soldiers began to appear in nation after nation; hard-faced commandos with holes in their souls, casually murdering and desecrating wherever they went when not obeying the orders of their dark masters. One soldier in particular heard the voices of his _true_ masters with special interest, and so became their greatest soldier. He slew his husband and children first, then began to kill his world's heroes. By then the corruption had settled into their souls as well, those few able to resist it murdered by their peers, assasinated by terrorists, or simply made laughingstocks until they fled the planet entirely. Violent, jaded sybarites, they were easy prey for a veteran soldier with powerful weapons and unnatural powers. The citizens of the world, corrupted on their own by the pulsing, beating heart of the Lagan asteroid, cheered on the one-eyed killer as he slew corrupted champion after corrupted champion, the soldier himself knowing he was doing what he had to do to save his world from the real monsters. Finally, he used a Terminus-enhanced nuclear weapon to assasinate his world's Patriot League, catching them in the Freedom City bordello where their grim bacchanalias had nearly burned the city down around it. It was when they died that Omega tore open the gateway from the Terminus and gloatingly stepped into the burning city, the proud Physician Friendly at his side. It had been a remarkably successful experiment. As the Terminus energies poured from skies turned red, the T-soldiers were warped into ravening ghouls, monsters that tore apart the world they had once defended as Omegadrones fell from the skies. Finally, their world's last god came to their aid. In a small city in the Americas, a priest was imbued with supernatural power by the last fragmets of the Unconquered Sun, given a voice to break the will and cow the soul even of the maddened T-fiends, the power to defend his dying world from the forces of the Terminus. I remember the look upon his face when I struck his head from his shoulders. For an Omegadrone, there is no voice louder than Omega's. The world fell into stinking ash and black fire and was gone. The soldier lurks around the court of Steelgrave still, a grim-faced assasin who will infiltrate any world and kill there any enemies of Omega, punishing those who would stand before the purity of the Terminus. Cynicism and suspicion are not virtues. Darkness and hatred are not strengths. These are the lessons of the Terminus.