Avenger Assembled

Steve turned white along his scars at the site of the murdered North End and was rendered scarcely able to speak as Wander and Jill debated what on Earth had happened. He wanted to remain silent, to let his tongue cleave to the roof of his mouth, but he couldn't. Not when the truth might spare his friends, and spare the young teleporting girl who was staying close to Wander and Jill, from the mystery of this place. He backed up until his back hit a broken telephone pole. "I know this place," he finally whispered, "Another dimension. Another Freedom City. Destroyed by the Terminus. But this place is...this place is gone. It is not here, it is not here to be visited! Even if we had traveled in time, it would not be so...so still!" He looked around, big hands closing and opening for a moment. "This is not the place is appears to be." "It was the same at...at Claremont," Quickstep said after a moment's hesitation and a nervous look at Steve. "I mean, uh, I found the food storage and stuff, the emergency supplies, but everything was all shoved around. There was only one dorm, and the buildings were all in different places. I thought it had just happened when everything blew up, but all the rest of it..." She shrugged, obviously out of her depth and looking to the older students for answers. - Down below in the sewers, everything smelled strange. The smell of filth and decay one associated with typical storm sewers was almost completely absent; this place was clean, dry, and nearly sterile. There was no sign of prolonged activity at all, and Baxter couldn't hear that mechanical voice in his head anymore. Creeping their way through the sewers, Blue Jay and Bee-Keeper couldn't hear or feel anything about the city above. They might well have been the last being on Earth. At least until they approached their destination, Freedom Hall, and from just around a bend in the sewer they heard a distinctive, deeply out-of-place, "Aheheheheh..." followed by the zzt zzt of electricity and the distinct blue glow. Dr. Stratos, leader of the Crime League, had seen better days: his robes were tattered and torn and his beard grown long and ragged. Lightning was jaggling from his fingers like the brushing of electric palm fronds as he slowly zapped his way through the retaining walls between the sewer system and the Freedom Hall underground. "Soon, soon, soon, my old foe," he was hissing to himself as he worked, "soon all your secrets will be mine! You can't keep me in here forever, Thunder. DO YOU HEAR!?!" he screamed aloud, gazing about wildly at nothing before going back to his work. "Sooon....sooon..."

Supercape: There is a mystery here

Glace looked at Wraith, her eyes narrowing. "That's for our use, not yours." She waved dismissively at the crates. "It's nothing you need to worry about. We have no quarrel with your people," she said as if that explained everything. "After all, thanks to the two Tulinks, you're saving the future of our people. Saving Tronik is what matters. And now that you're here, and now that I've seen your gear, Citizen, I'm beginning to think you can do it. Come, let's talk machines." Despite her easy smoothness as a response, the other Sharl was looking visibly unsettled at the sight of the crates, evidently knowing all too well what lay inside. Looking closely, Wraith could just make out the German words "RAGNAROK" printed on the exterior of the crates. As she was speaking, Glace was stepping into a robotic body along the wall, a slim, gracile form that mirrored what the humans knew her real body looked like. "Aaaah, delightful," she said with a mechanical cast to her voice. "Say what you will for the National Socialists, they do know how to build machines, primitive though they may be." "The National Socialists put it here to keep it out of the way," the other Sharl finally offered, not looking at anyone in particular. "It's so no one connects it with the space fleet they're building in the Rockies." "Were building," said Glace without hesitation from her mechanical shell. "With the loss of our data, they won't be able to viably digitize their population. And by the time they try to figure out something else, it'll be too late for them. Sharl, keep our guests entertained while your double and I get this loaded, would you?" Another robot had arrived, this one carrying a familiar-looking piece of alien hardware. Citizen gasped in horror at the site of this Tronik, its casing having been drilled open and copper wires "Copper freaking wires!" he exclaimed out loud inserted inside in several places. Perhaps they ran AC current into it to try and power it! he thought with horror churning in his gut. "I see what you mean about their butchery," he offered to Glace and his counterpart as he stared at the other Tronik with something like horror and awe mixed together. "By the red sun, I'm surprised the matrix survived at all." "It nearly didn't," replied Glace with a hard shrug, and as she and Sharl began connecting wires it looked like the two machine intelligences had completely forgotten about the box.

Fox- Dragonfly: 14 IC posts+1 NPC post=15 posts=2 PP Gaian Knight: 7 IC posts = 1 PP Wraith: 5 IC posts = 1 PP NPC: 1 NPC post GMing trollthumper- Nick C: 3 IC posts =1 PP Temperance: 7 IC posts =1 PP Cannonade: 7 IC posts =1 PP GMing???

Did you forget to post your November post counts? Shame on you! Post them here and we'll get to them when we get to them, slowpoke.

The Absurdist Asad: 1+3+3+2+2+2= 13 posts + 7 GM posts = 20 posts = 2pp + 4 (October) = 6pp Errant: 10+4+15+10+1+5+6+2= 53 posts = 4pp + 1 (October) = 5pp GM: 3+4= 7 posts Aoiroo Catalyst: 1+1+1= 3 posts = 1pp + 1 (October) = 2pp Changeling: 3+1+1+1= 6 posts = 1pp + 2 (October) = 3pp Philotherian: 2 posts = 1pp + 0 (October) = 1pp Silhouette: 9+1+2= 12 posts = 1pp + 1 (October) = 2pp Arichamus El Heraldo: 9+3+2+3+3+4+4+1+4+7+4+1= 45 posts + 5 (5/41 GM) = 4pp + 4 (October) = 8pp King of Suits: 1+2+2+2+9+2= 18 posts + 7 (7/41 GM) = 25 posts = 3pp + 3 (October) = 6pp Red Moon: 2 posts + 14 (14/41 GM) = 16 posts = 2pp + 1 (October) = 3pp Wave-Eye: 1+3+6= 10 posts + 15 (15/41 GM) = 25 posts = 2pp + 3 = 5pp GM: 3+2+1+5+1+1+2+8+1+2+3+2+6+4= 41 posts AvengerAssembled Citizen: 1+2+1+5= 9 posts + 6 (6/10 GM) = 15 posts = 2pp + 2 (October) = 4pp Comrade Frost: 1+4= 5 posts = 1pp + 1 = 2pp Edge [maxed]: 2 posts = 1pp + 3 (October) = 4pp Harrier: 0 posts + 4 (4/10 GM) + 2 (Edge rollover) = 6 posts = 1pp + 1 (October) = 2pp GM: 1+2+6+1 = 10 posts Azuth65 Silver Spider: 1+2+1+7+1= 12 posts + 3 (GM) = 15 posts = 2pp + 3 (October) = 5pp Siphon: 0 posts = 0pp + 1 (October) = 1pp Wisp: 2+3+1= 6 posts = 1pp + 2 (October) = 3pp GM: 3 posts Bishop no posts in 2+ months; archiving The Marshal: --- Blue Rose Kit: 4+2+4= 10 posts = 1pp + 1 (October) = 2pp Stormbreaker: 3+1= 4 posts = 1pp + 1 (October) = 2pp Cubist Jubatus: 6+1+2+3+1= 13 posts = 1pp + 2 (October) = 3pp Dariusprime no IC posts all month, archiving Fulcrum: 0+0 = 0pp Darksider42 [October/November threads never posted] SHAME Lady Winter: [0]+ Rift/Riff: [0]+ Dr Archeville no IC posts this month Dead Head: 1+0 = 1PP Doktor Archeville [maxed]: 2+0 = 2PP Protectron: 2+0 = 2PP Due to my lengthy absence I am not awarding myself a Ref point for November. Ecalsneerg (no November IC posts, waiving ref point) Arrowhawk: 0+ Equinox: 1+ Geckoman: 2+ Scholar: 0+ Electra [October threads never posted; counts are for Oct/Nov combined] Fleur de Joie [maxed]: 3+22+3= 28 posts = 3pp Miss Americana [maxed]: 1+17+1+5+5= 29 posts = 3pp Papercut: 3+2+4+1= 10 posts + 82 (Wander rollover) = 92 posts = 4pp Wander [maxed]: 17+3+2+3= 25 posts + 28 (Fleur rollover) + 29 (Miss A rollover) = 82 posts = 4pp Fox Dragonfly: 2+ Gaian Knight: 2+ Wraith: 1+ Freely Seek Warp: 8 posts = 1pp + 0 (October, N/A) = 1pp Gizmo Ghost Girl: 1+2+5+3= 11 posts + 15 (Jack) + 3 (Wail) + 6 (NPC) = 35 posts = 2pp + 3 (October) + 1 (ref) = 6pp Jack of all Blades [maxed]: 1+1+1= 3 posts + 12 (Midnight) = 15 posts = 2pp + 3 (October) = 5pp Midnight (II) [maxed]: 2+10= 12 posts = 1pp + 1 (October) = 2pp Wail: 1+2= 3 posts = 1pp + 3 (October) = 4pp NPC: 12/6= 6 posts GranspearZX Arcturus: 2+3+6+11= 22 posts + 3 (3/5 GM) = 25 posts = 3pp + 0 (October, N/A) = 3pp Crusader: 3+10= 13 posts + 2 (2/5 GM) = 15 posts = 2pp + 1 (October) + 1 (Rep) = 4pp GM: 5 posts HG Morrison [October/November threads never posted] SHAME, archiving maybe? Omen: [0]+ horngeek [November threads never posted] Stronghold: [N/A]+ Vector: 6+ JackgarPrime Victory: 1 post = 1pp + 1 (October) = 2pp KnightDisciple Cobalt Templar: 15+2+2= 19 posts = 2pp + 1 (October) = 3pp Gabriel: 2+6+1= 9 posts = 1pp + 1 (October) = 2pp Magic [November threads never posted] SHAME Butterfly: 0+ Max [November threads never posted] SHAME Tenebrous: 3+ PurpleProse [November threads never posted] SHAME Nocturne: 2+ Quinn [November threads never posted] SHAME Crow: 1+ Overclock: 1+ Raveled Blue Jay: 5+4+2+5+6+1= 23 posts + 5 (GM) = 28 posts = 3pp + 1 (October) = 4pp Glowstar: 2+1= 3 posts = 1pp + 1 (October) = 2pp Ironclad: 2 posts = 1pp + 1 (October) = 2pp Starlight: 1+1= 2 posts = 1pp + 1 (October) = 2pp Scuffles Glow: 14+1+2+6+7+3+4+5= 42 posts = 3pp + 3 (October) = 6pp Semi-Autogyro [November threads never posted] SHAME Myrmidon: 3+ Shofet no posts in 2+ months; archiving The Penitent: --- SleepyCharlatan no IC posts all month The Controller: 0+0 = 0pp Sorus Sage: 1+1= 2 posts = 1pp + 1 (October) = 2pp Willow: 1 post = 1pp + 1 (October) = 2pp SpicyWaffle The Bee-Keeper (III): 5+2+13= 20 posts + 7 (GM) = 27 posts = 3pp + 1 (Wiki) + 0 (October) = 4pp Supercape Lord Steam: 2 posts = 1pp + 3 (October) = 4pp Rene de Saens: 8+2= 10 posts + 25 (Supercape) + 17 (17/35 GM) = 52 posts = 4pp + 1 (ref rollover, Supercape) + 5 (October) = 10pp Supercape [maxed]: 5+2= 7 posts + 18 (18/35 GM) = 25 posts = 3pp + 1 (ref) + 5 (October) = 9pp Synth: 3 posts = 1pp + 2 (October) = 3pp Thaumonuclear [November threads never posted] SHAME Atomic Bob: 1+ Thunder King Crimson Tiger: 3+2+3+1= 9 posts = 1pp + 1 (October) = 2pp Solar Sentinel: 5 posts = 1pp + 1 (October) = 2pp Voltage: 2+3+1= 6 posts = 1pp + 1 (October) = 2pp TiffanyKorta Blodeuwedd: 2+2+1+5+3+3+7= 23 posts + 2 (2/11 GM) = 25 posts = 3pp + 3 (October) = 6pp Revenant: 2+1+5= 8 posts + 9 (9/11 GM) = 17 posts = 2pp + 4 (October) = 6pp Young Britannia: 3+2= 5 posts = 1pp + 2 (October) = 3pp GM: 1+1+8+1= 11 posts trollthumper [needs counted] Cannonade: 1+ Nick Cimitiere: 1+ Temperance: 2+ Vahnyu (Already given October pp) Hronos: 17 posts = 2pp + 0 (October) = 2pp Net Fly: 1+3+1= 5 posts = 1pp + 2 (October) = 3pp VorpalBunny (Already given October pp) [November threads never posted] SHAME Rabbit: 1+ The 50+ Posts per Club Month Asad (The Absurdist) The 100+ Posts per Month Club

Hi everybody. Our bad for the delay. Don't go spendin' all this till we get your sheets edited, homeslices. The Absurdist Asad: 11+1+12+1+8+4+3+7+5= 52 posts = 4pp Errant: 3 posts + 11 GM posts = 14 posts = 1pp Aoiroo Catalyst: 4 + 1 + 1 = 6 = 1 PP Changeling: 7 + 2 + 6 = 15 = 2 PP Philotherian: 0 Silhouette: 10 + 1 = 11 = 1 PP Arichamus El Heraldo: 3 + 6 + 8 + 5 + 15 + 5 + 5 + 2 = 49 Posts + 1 GM = 50 Posts = 4 PP King of Suits: 4 + 2 + 6 + 2 + 2 +2 = 18 Posts + 7 GM = 25 = 3 PP+1 Bonus =4 PP Red Moon: 0 + 1 GM = 1 PP Wave-Eye: 2 + 1 + 4 + 3 = 10 Posts + 15 = 25 = 3 PP GM: 2 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 8 + 2 + 3= 28. 1 Goes to Heraldo, 7 to KoS, 15 to Wave Eye, 1 to Red moon, 4 Eaten. AvengerAssembled Citizen: 7 + 1 + 1 + 5 + 2 = 16 = 2 PP Comrade Frost: 1 = 1 PP Edge [maxed]: 1 + 14 (GM post) = 2 PP + Ref = 3 PP (sacrificed to the spirit of Hallowe'en) Harrier: 4 + 3 = 7 = 1 PP Azuth65 Silver Spider: 1 + 7 +3 + 2 +8 +2 (+3 GM) = 25 Posts = 3 PP Siphon: 1 Post = 1 PP Wisp: 1 + 3 + 5 + 1 + 1 + 8 + 3 = 23 Posts = 2 PP Bishop The Marshal: 0 Posts Blue Rose Kit: 4 + 2 = 6 Posts = 1 PP Stormbreaker: 2 Posts = 1 PP Cubist Jubatus: 1 + 8 + 7 + 4 + 1 = 21 Posts = 2 PP (Failed to post link to medical maladies, didnt include. ) Dariusprime no IC posts all month :shock: Fulcrum: 0pp Darksider42 :shock: Lady Winter: threads not posted Rift/Riff: threads not posted Dr Archeville Dead Head: 1 Post = 1 PP Doktor Archeville [maxed]: 4 Posts, +1 Ref = 2 PP, all roll to Protectron Protectron: 0 Posts = 0PP + 2 rollover = 2pp Ecalsneerg Arrowhawk: 0 PP Equinox: 2 + 1 + 6 + 1 = 9 = 1 PP Geckoman: 1 = 1 PP + Ref = 2 PP Scholar: 0 PP Electra (counted with November's) Fleur de Joie [maxed]: threads not posted Miss Americana [maxed]: threads not posted Papercut: threads not posted Wander [maxed]: threads not posted Fox Dragonfly: 6 + 4 + 1 +1 =12 Posts = 1 PP + 1 Ref = 2 PP Gaian Knight: 16 + 1 = 17 Posts = 2 PP Wraith: 1 + 1 = 2 Posts = 1 PP Gizmo Ghost Girl: 1 + 2 + 1 + 13 = 17 Posts = 2 PP + 1 (ref point roll over from JoAB) = 3 PP Jack of all Blades [maxed]: 3 + 1 = 4 Posts + 13 (Roll over from Midnight) = 17 Posts (Roll over to Wail) = 2 PP + Ref Point = 3 PP Midnight (II) [maxed]: 2 + 3 + 2 + 6 = 13 Posts Wail: 1 + 2 = 3 Posts + 17 Roll Over from JoAB + 5 Bonus Posts = 25 Posts = 3 PP NPC = 7 Posts = +3 Bonus Posts GM 2 Posts Bonus Posts allocated: Not enough for JoAB, Going to Wail. Ref point to go to JoB, rolling over to Ghost Girl GranspearZX Crusader: 1 Post = 1 PP HG Morrison :shock: Omen: threads not posted horngeek Vector: 17 + 3 + 3 +5 = 28 Posts = 3 PP + + HellQ (2PP) + Reputation (1PP) = 6 PP JackgarPrime Victory: 1 Post = 1 PP KnightDisciple Cobalt Templar: 1 + 1 + 1= 3 Posts = 1 PP Gabriel: 1 + 3 + 1 = 5 Posts = 1 PP Magic no IC posts all month :shock: Butterfly: 0pp Max Tenebrous: 3 Posts = 1 PP + Reputation 1 PP + NPC 1 PP PurpleProse Nocturne: 2 + 10 = 12 Posts = 1 PP + 1 PP Reputation Quinn Crow: 1 + 1 + 1 + 3 + 3 + 2 = 11 = 1 PP Overclock: 1 Post = 1 PP Raveled Blue Jay: 1 + 4 = 5 Posts = 1 PP Glowstar: 1 Post = 1 PP Ironclad: 5 Posts = 1 PP Starlight: 2 + 2 + 1 = 5 Posts = 1 PP GM 3 + 2 = 5 Posts. Not enough to boost. Scuffles Glow: 1 + 5 + 10 + 6 = 22 Posts = 3PP Semi-Autogyro Myrmidon: 4 + 14 + 4 + 1 + 1 = 24 Posts + 9 GM = 33 Posts = 3 PP GM : 9 Posts Shofet no posts all month :shock: The Penitent: 0pp SleepyCharlatan no IC posts all month :shock: The Controller: 0pp Sorus Sage: 1 + 1 = 2 Posts = 1+1 Bonus=2 PP Willow: 2 Posts = 1 PP Refpoint to Sage, the spicy French telepath SpicyWaffle no IC posts all month :shock: The Bee-Keeper (III): 0pp Supercape Lord Steam: 10 posts + 15 (Supercape rollover, 15/50) = 25 posts = 3pp Rene de Saens: 13+2+12+1= 28 posts + 22 (Supercape rollover, 22/50) = 50 posts = 4pp, +1pp (Supercape ref rollover) = 5pp Supercape [maxed]: 1 = 1 posts + 49 (GM, 49/50) = 50 posts = 4pp, +1 ref pp = 5pp Synth: 3+6= 9 posts + 13 (Supercape rollover, 13/50) + 1 (GM, 1/50) = 23 posts = 2pp Thaumonuclear Atomic Bob: 3 + 9 = 12 = 1 PP Thunder King Crimson Tiger: 1 + 2 = 3 Posts = 1 PP Solar Sentinel: 7 posts = 1 PP Voltage: 2 + 2 = 4 Posts = 1 PP TiffanyKorta Blodeuwedd: 1 + 6 + 10 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 9 = 32 = 3 PP Revenant: 8 + 8 + 6 = 24 + 26 GM = 50 Posts = 4 PP Young Britannia: 1 + 8 + 1 + 3 + 5 = 18 = 2 PP GM: 13 + 2 + 3 + 8 = 2 = 28. Revenant has priority 26 posts to increase to 50 trollthumper Cannonade: 2+2+1 = 5 posts = 1PP Nick Cimitiere: 2+5+1+1+1 = 10 posts = 1PP Temperance: 3+2+6 = 11 posts + 3 GM posts = 12.5 posts = 1PP, +1 ref pp = 2PP Vahnyu Hronos: 0 posts Net Fly: 5+7+1+4+1= 18 posts = 2pp VorpalBunny (did not post in the active threads [sHAME]) Rabbit: 1 post = 1pp The 50+ Posts per Club Month TheAbsurdist The 100+ Posts per Month Club Tumbleweeeeeeeds

"Did you know, when the Grue showed themselves on this planet the first time, they came to Soviet Russia as well as the United States? Liberty League tells great story of how Dr. Atom built a machine to find all the Grue in Freedom City, then mindwarp them into believing they are sheep so that they will be easy to capture and put back onto their spaceships. Their fleet showed up a leetle bit after that, of course, but it was still big American victory." Frost looked away for a moment, remembering a long-gone struggle. "We had no such resources. There was no way to do tell who was who, or where they were, or when the monsters would come from the sky. So we...dealt with them. All of them. And when we were done, the world was safe." He made a little fingerpointing gesture, and for the first time in a long time felt his age. "If men from space come, world will be ready for them, just as we were then."

Edge grabs Jason and throws him into the ceiling, then lets go to send him falling straight down to where he was standing. 34 Grapple with HP: 43 Better! DC 30 Tou save for hitting the ceiling; your call on the fall.

"It is cocoa prepared in the fashion of the Mayans," said Steve, remaining stoic even in the face of Erin's dislike for his concoction. "With cayenne pepper in place of the sugar, as they had not yet gained access to that product. I agree, the taste is much more bitter than what most people here are used to." He glanced around at the programmers and scientists on the floor, some of whom were still drinking, but most of whom were concentrating on their candy canes. "Yet some drank it anyway. It was interesting." He sipped his own cup and added, "I think it has a certain pleasant flavor." He offered a cup curiously to Mara. "If you two prefer something more sweet, the pineapple chunks and mango smoothies may be more what you like."

He can't beat that Acrobatics check, so he is flat-footed. (It would actually have hit him anyway!) injured and dazed (since he is a construct)

"I am-death made-flesh. I am-your doom-made manifest. I am-the Omegadrone-that stalks-your footsteps." It certainly didn't sound like the Omegadrone Baxter had fought earlier, but he'd only spoken to that thing face-to-face, not on the radio. "You know-that the-children of-Omega march-on the-streets of-your world," came that cold, flat voice. "Look about-you at-the devastation-and know-the fate-of your-civilization. My master-has brought-you here-to test-your cleverness-and your-willingness to-embrace change. Will you-die a-slave as-so many-have before-you? Or will-you be-clever and-embrace your-new master?"

With the Wonderbus stealthed and hidden from electronic eyes, a small group of heroes joined Soldat for the short walk to the above bunker where Erde's Tronik was waiting along with its defenders. Soldat and Citizen kept exchanging uneasy glances as they went, their secret conversation privy to no one else there. There were advantages, even here and now, to being a machine. Soldat admitted, The bunker was more like a parking garage than a bunker for humans, row after row of military vehicles stretching off into the darkness on either side as the doors opened. At least the rain had stopped outside, Sharl mused, though as cold as it was getting that meant things would soon be ice. On the far side of the bunker, there was another scene of battle, this one still occupied by the victors: humanoid robots emblazoned with swastikas and the other symbols of the Reich, the smallest of which were the size of a man. The biggest towered as big as a van on its feet, ducking low inside the massive structure. The robots seemed to be working on something, stacking piles of crates into the backs of more vehicles, and though they looked suspiciously at the new arrivals with red, segmented mechanical eyes, they didn't speak. As the lights flickered on, old-fashioned incandescents up and down each aisle, illuminating the robots as they worked, a voice sounded from a wall-mounted speaker in an alien language. It was feminine, serious, and altogether familiar for the older members of Young Freedom. "" Switching to English, she went on. "Personally, I thought it was ridiculous to trust humans with our lives. But I suppose things might be different..." She stepped out of the wall, then, the primitive device built in showing where her holographic body was projected from a small row of cameras and lights near the intercom. "...in another reality." There was no mistaking that tall, rangy woman with the short black hair and gleam in her eye, even with the vivid scar across her face and faint German accent. She gave Citizen a Tronikian short bow, then smiled faintly. "Another Tronikman. Welcome, brother of my friend. It says good things for your Tronik if you're anything like your counterpart. Things must be...very good there." She shook her head. "So, let's see your quantum unit," Rogue told Citizen seriously. "If you are holding our city while we fight our war, I need to make sure it holds up." The two electronic aliens spoke in Lor for a moment before Sharl said, "I really should talk in English in front of them?...anyway, this will hold it all." Behind him, the giant robots were still stacking those crates, emblazoned with warnings in German, Japanese, and finally English. WARNING! BIOHAZARD! TAKE EXTREME PRECAUTIONS AGAINST CONTAGION. "This can hold all of your Tronik for years, long enough for it and mine to...make contact with each other. We still have to figure out how to do that," he admitted. "But that's a matter of culture, not technology. We can hold your Tronik, and all of you, where the Reich can't find you."

Harrier picked up a shard of metal and carved a fresh NORTH DOWNTOWN in one of the broken lightpoles, shrugging as he looked at the young women. "I heard their voices as they spoke to each other. Whoever the other two are, they are young, and they are alone. It is a very hard thing to be alone in a place like this. Perhaps if they find a message, they will follow us in better spirits." It didn't sound like Steve blamed Blue Jay or her unnamed ally for the attack, and why would he? They'd seen him in his armor, in that ship: he'd have attacked a drone under those circumstances without hesitation. "And if we are being watched by an unknown Other, they will know where to find us." With Erin's great speed and strength, it was easy enough to take them to the North Side of Freedom City, the tracks they made in the dust and debris of the ruined city easy enough to follow. The scene in the north end of downtown was a grim one: though only a few unidentifiable scraps that might have been bodies remained, there had obviously been a last stand made in this neighborhood. And a familiar one, too: Jill recognized the familiar bulk of the MAVERIC, flipped over and burned out to a metal hulk on the steps of the Brownstone, the scars of battle on the street bearing the marks of some familiar patterns. Above it, protruding from the building itself, was the crashed remains of Geckoman's Pitchoo. For her part, Erin had fewer familiar sights. Her apartment building didn't seem to be where she remembered it, though the small complex of burnt-out shops that occupied the space where it was supposed to be was the kind that had occupied many other blocks in the neighborhood while she was there. Her own street was strangely cast, the pavement brick instead of asphalt, with unfamiliar names on the buildings and stores nearby. Pale-faced, Quickstep clung close and quiet to her rescuers.

She's hungry, cold, and tired, on the edge of suffering geniuine food and exposure-related problems. Standard Claremont survival training only takes you so far, especially in a city like this. She's not actually starving or suffering from frostbite, but if conditions get any worse she will be. She definitely seems to be a normal girl.

December 21, 2012 An ancient civilization on an isthmus much to the south of Freedom City had called this day the end of the world, but for one visitor to Freedom City, their culture had provided the theme for an interesting Christmas party. As Feliz Navidad played over the speakers, the roughly-scarred second in command of HAX security was dishing out cups of Mayan hot chocolate with festive peppermint canes in them. "The bitter goes well with the sweet," he said to one of the programmers, the obviously memorized speech not doing much to impress the weedy-looking fellow. With a sigh, the man working the hot chocolate machine moved onto his boss. "A festive crowd," he offered to the chief as she approached, handing her cup and cane to go with the festive holiday theme. In a puffy red sweater with a white reindeer on it, the drone looked downright Christmasy himself. "I did not think so many would show, but I suppose those with family parties will make them on the day in question." Gina had put him off plans to spend the holiday together, but he had his own ideas about how he and his girlfriend would share each other's company over the holidays. "Is your young man coming?" he asked curiously, not wanting to pry when he already could guess the answer. "I know Mara is bringing her young woman."

Round 1: Wander: 20 Bloodstorm: 19 Steel Sentinel: 13 Cobalt Templar: 8

"I'm Dorothy Langford, aka Quickstep," said the girl seriously, doing her best to stand at attention despite a growing case of the shakes. "I, uh, I'm a second year student at Claremont. I was coming back from exercise drill, I went to sleep in my room, and that was...that was a couple of weeks ago, I think," said the girl, sounding every inch her fourteen. "There's no way to tell the time with no sunrise or sunset, so I've had to guess, and use some smashed clocks..." She shivered. "I am really, really glad you got here, because I had totally run out of food. I've seen a couple of other people, uh, I didn't know any of them but one guy who I think was Dr. Stratos. He had a big beard and was yelling like a crazy man, that I wasn't going to get him like they got the others." She sat down, hard, on the beat-up concrete. "I, uh, I...there's something weird about this place. This Freedom City. There are...there isn't anywhere else!" she exclaimed, waving her hand in the distance. "No matter where I 'stepped, everywhere on Earth is like this! But the other cities, they're...not like this. it's like no one ever lived in them. Like toys somebody pushed over." --- No Omegadrones darkened the skies as Blue Jay and Bee-Keeper made their stealthy way through the dead city; indeed, the skies themselves never lost that strange afternoon haze. These weren't the skies Blue Jay associated with a Terminus-ravaged world, but they certainly weren't friendly, either. There was something decidedly odd about the interiors of buildings as they passed through them, a strange sense of unlivedinness as if the city had been burned to the ground just after a major campaign of urban renewal. They were getting close to Freedom Hall, just outside its walls, in fact, when Bee-Keeper's communicator sounded in an eerie metallic voice. "Baxter-Baxter. This is-your opponent speaking. Surrender now-and you-will live. Your ally-has doomed herself-for her opposition-to Lord Omega!"

It was Sharl who had the idea to just go ahead and radio the base. "We're still disguised in the bus, and we can defend ourselves if attacked. Even if something has...happened," he went on, still looking a little shaken by the news of just who it was that was leading the Tronikian rebellion, "they should still be expecting a rescue mission." And so it was that with Koshiro still keeping an eye on the weapons aboard the bus, Citizen picked up the old-fashioned wired radio mic (looking a bit like a CB) and used the frequency Miss A's clandestine cross-dimensional link had picked up to send out the signal. "Kaiser, do you copy? Kaiser, do you copy? This is Bismark." The code words from German history had not been Sharl's idea, but they were innocuous enough (especially when spoken in English) that they could easily pass for stray radio chatter here if the bad guys did intercept it. There was dead silence on the staticky radio line before he heard a distinct response in, eerily enough, his own voice. "Bismark! Bismark, this is Kaiser! We read you. I knew you'd come. Head for the storehouse, I'll explain everything. It's the big concrete building with the roof, uh, blown off. Just don't make a fuss on the way in, I don't want to have to explain you too early..." - The Nazi weapons laboratory had been torn apart, no, blasted apart by a battle so recent that the gunpowder could almost be smelled in the air. Buildings had burned and been smashed apart by giant fists, blocks tumbled about like childrens toys. Nobody had buried the bodies, what little could be seen of them, which looked as if something large and heavy had repeatedly run them over, again and again. The storehouse had recently held what looked like civilian supplies; food, spare uniforms, and the like, and now was empty. When Sharl projected his way inside through a crack in the door, using the bus's camera to tap his vision in so his team could see, he found another Sharl waiting for him. Soldat looked...different. Tired? No, maybe...haunted. Hollow though his eyes were, the other Sharl Tulink met his gaze unflinchingly, with none of the cringing fear he'd shown in front of the National Socialist agents he'd been traveling with at their last encounter. "Welcome to Erde, Citizen," said the local Sharl, the two exchanging bows in Tronikian fashion before Citizen asked the obvious question. "What happened?" "The humans moved up their timetable. I think they got word," replied Soldat with a shrug. "It doesn't matter now. Me and Glace, that's our commander, we pretended to be Dudleys to take the Nazis off guard. We sabotaged the restrain units in the warbots, and then when our team stepped into them..." He suddenly looked away for a moment and said, "Well, we got it done. The base is secure, and now Tronik can be freed. Is your team with you?" he asked, seeming to guess the answer already. "She'll want to see them. I...don't think she really believed me, about you, not 100%. She'll want proof before our Tronik goes with you."

"The secrets of my sleepwear stand exposed," said Steve with what passed for a dry jest, "as does much else." Muscular though he was, the heavily scarred former drone wasn't much to look at, not that any of them were focused on anything other than the situation at hand. Casting his gaze around, he frowned as he stared up at the opaquely cloudy sky overhead. "It is good to see you both. When I awoke in that ship, I feared I had awakened...the color is wrong," he said after a moment, shooting a glance at the others. "Only worldash would darken skies enough to block the unholy crimson glow of the Terminus, and then we wouldn't be able to see at all. This is not the Terminus, but this is a convincing likeness of a city destroyed by it." He cast his gaze back at the smashed remains of Freedom Hall, and for a moment the vision of a dozen reflections of the place, all aflame and swarming with the screams of the dying, filled his vision. "Very convincing. I-" Harrier's words were interrupted as suddenly a figure appeared in a flash of blue light just behind them. The girl was maybe fourteen, and skinny, covered in dirt and a battered blue and gold uniform instantly recognizable to the Claremont students; though not the girl herself. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed, running up to them fearlessly. "Wander and Jill O'Cure oh my god! Did you come in a ship? Are you here to rescue us?" She hopped from foot to foot, casting a quick glance at Steve before focusing on the others. "...do you have any food?" she added nervously.

"Oh, so you want to play?" sneered the witch, and witch she was at close range. "Then let me show you our true power! Lord Hades will pay well for the likes of you along with the other trophy! Bloodstorm and Steel Sentinel, together!" As winds whipped the air around her, she fired a blast of lightning from her hands that seared past Corbin close enough to make his hairs stand on end. "Steel Sentinel, take the girl! If you think you can handle such a 'weighty' task." she called with a contemptuous wave down below as she focused on Cobalt Templar, lightning playing along her body as her long black hair stood on end. "Come, boy, and play the games of Bloodstorm! If you can handle a...change in the weather!" she laughed as lightning crackled all around her.

Bloodstorm: 19 Steel Sentinel: 13 Pew pew!: 10 A miss OK, let me get some posts up

When the glue was burned away, Harrier stepped free and retracted his armor. He felt exposed beneath the cold grey skies of the ruined city, and not just because he was wearing the boxer shorts he'd gone to bed in. Armored though his insides were, his scarred skin was as soft as any man's. For a moment, he felt the strong itch of an arrow penetrating between his shoulder blades before he raised his commlink to his ear again. Both Wander and Jill knew his voice when he was out of armor well enough. "I am no longer restrained. I was aboard the crashed transport vessel, its sole occupant that I could see. Strapped into a recharging unit as if..." Saying the words would give them power they hadn't had even in his thoughts, so instead, he said "I am near Freedom Hall. Look for the large man in underclothes."

Seems legit!

Hey Rav and SW: Are they currently where they can see Harrier?