Avenger Assembled

Citizen swallowed hard and nodded silently at Miss Americana's words as the magnitude of just how mad she was at him sunk in. This was going to be a lot of work, in more ways than one, and he wasn't talking about the paper files either. (Though that would still be a lot of work) "I'll send you the files on what we're planning tomorrow. And I'm...I'm really, really sorry. Good night, Miss Americana." Even upset, he wasn't going to break Gina's secret identity, even in private: especially not now. He looked down and disappeared a few seconds before the projectors shut off, and Gina could feel his program leaving as he dispatched himself back to Claremont's servers without another word.

Edge thought for a moment to alert Wander that everything was all right, but after a moment dismissed that conclusion. She could hear what they were saying easily enough through their open commlinks, and there was no point in giving away her position if Medea was up to something. And if Mark Lucas knew anything about history, and he did, Medea was always up to something. "So what is it, the Dodekatheon again?" he asked Medea suspiciously, trying to read her intentions even as he tried to keep an eye out on the big room as a whole. "The Olympians never have liked you much, as I recall, but I haven't heard of Hades being active on this plane any time recently, and nobody short of demigod level before that for about thirty years. What happened?" Edge had wanted to ask What did you do? but despite what a very bad person he knew Medea to be actually accusing someone who certainly seemed to be pleading for her life was harder than Mark Lucas was willing to be.

Sharl blanched for a moment at that, thinking about the sheer size of the Goodman archive. He was familiar with the place Gina was talking about; he'd visited the building often enough with Dr. Atom, but he'd never set foot in the cabinet-festooned archaic lower levels that Atom occasionally joked about as having been the thing he'd had himself digitized to avoid. That's...tens of thousands of files. PAPER FILES! "I...okay," he promised, "I'll take care of that right away. If I work my free hours every night, I can take care of that and still do all my school stuff. And the planning stuff. Yeah..." Those files loomed in his mind like gigantic wood pulp bats as he licked his lips and said, "Okay, I'll do that. Whatever it takes to regain your trust."

"Oh, you brought food?" Sharl sounded momentarily nervous, and rightly so. They hadn't quite gotten as far as discussing power origins, which meant she had no way of knowing the problems that solid food and drink might bring. Not problems, he reminded himself. Just don't make a mess! If Gina doesn't like it, you can bet a girl like her won't either. "That's great!" he said, smoothly recovering. "Papercut and Crimson Tiger will be along soon. I was thinking after that, we could split up; you and I go around one side of the theater, those two go around the other, and then meet back up here. If we don't see any supervillains trying to rob the place, we can sit down and enjoy ourselves," he said with a smile, the light from the theater reflected in his mirrorshades. "Sound good?"

"I'll do whatever you need me to do," said Sharl, wondering at the back of his mind if other sidekicks had to go through this too! But he was an ethical young man, despite his attempted break-in earlier in the evening, and it wasn't hard to feel guilty for betraying Gina's trust under Miss Americana's formidable regard. I thought I was being a white-hat. Somehow he suspected that comment wouldn't go over very well with Miss Americana, so he kept it to himself as he waited for her verdict. He reminded himself of the people who needed saving and the city in danger on the world of alien monsters; getting punished by his righteously angry mentor was a small price to pay for the chance to help them. Wasn't it?

"All right," said Sharl reluctantly, "I'll go to the school." Carefully, he added, "I would like to present the idea to the school as something that was my idea, something I've been working towards privately, and not get the rest of my team involved publicly. That way, there's no risk of my friends getting punished if Mr. Summers is angry over the idea. This was my idea from the start, and I'll take responsibility if presenting it doesn't work." The look in Miss A's eye told him that he was going to be taking a lot of responsibility, as a matter of fact, but there was no use dwelling on that until she actually said it. "My tactical plans, and the data I have, are in my directory at school. I'll retrieve them for you. And I promise," he said urgently, "I won't act on any of them without your express permission, and the school's express permission."

Hah, well, real life comes first! Congratulations on the potential promotion, SpicyWaffle, and we look forward to seeing you soon. :D

18 if that's not enough, TT, I'll spend an HP if no one else gets it.

Citizen punches Gremlin 3. 12 And misses! I'll HP that 22 with the HP. DC28 Tou save for Gremlin 3.

Mid-October 2012 Arranging a double-date for Papercut, Crimson Tiger, Temperance, and Citizen was no easy process, especially since Sharl had secured his date with the lovely hydrokinetic without benefit of seeing her face under her mask or learning her real name. But with the forthcoming mission to Erde on his mind and a recent argument with Miss A still burning hot in his memory, the chance to get away with some friends for what teenagers were actually supposed to do (here or in Tronik) seemed like a lot of fun. After some consideration, he'd found something that could function as both date and patrol for the quartet of teen heroes. The Hollingshead was one of the few remaining drive-in theaters near the Freedom City area, a sturdy old place with scrub woods on one side and several good-sized office parks on the other. They could patrol the neighborhood, they could watch the movie, take in the freakish amount of space that Freedom City had to offer, and maybe enjoy each other's company. Having left a message with the number Temperance had left for him after they'd agreed to their date, Citizen waited on a nearby rooftop for the others to arrive, a big old-fashioned radio sitting on the tiles next to him. The Hollingshead was closing its season with a run of scary movies for Halloween, in this case a deliberately mismatched double-feature: the recent Dead Snow with its zombie Nazis in Scandanavia, and then Invaders from Space, an old 50s sci-fi movie that used real stock footage of the first Grue attack from the 1940s. This was Sharl's very first time at a 2-D theater, even across the road from one, and he certainly hoped would be memorable.

Miss Americana: Harrier Nick C.

Edge: Argonauts Harrier: Brighter Than the Moon and GMing Threat to Society Moloch's Champions Citizen: Paying Paul Viral Celebrity Going to the Other Place Little Girls and Cute Dogs Pepper's Ghost Mile In My Shoes Comrade Frost: You Can't Go Home Again GMing: Briefing With Friends Bee Lonesome Ref point to Edge

Search check time: Harrier: 15

Disable Device check, Fox! DC 25!

With Firebug in custody, Caradoc borrowed a police radio to report to the others. "Ye fiery man is in the hands of the authorities of yon realm," he said with a grandness that sounded false to him even now. How did heroes simply stand here and talk like this with no hesitation in their voices? "His suit of foul infernal heat will be taken away to the custody of the sheriff and the reeve." Miss Americana had gotten him some books on medieval history and he'd studied them as best he could, but he was not at all sure what this culture found so romantic about what seemed to be a deeply unpleasant era. "I will return to yon Camelot," he added, before heading off into the sky on a curtain of flame and smoke to slide out of view of the humans below so that Murdock the security guard could eventually return to his employer's side.

"We can do it if you help us," said Sharl quietly, giving Miss A an earnest look. "There's no way we can screw up the technical side if you're managing it, and that'll give me time to keep analyzing the tactical maps I got from Claremont's files. Blue Moon makes sure a copy of her reports still go to the school's archives, so we've got everything the Resistance has on the rump National Socialist government. That's their military strength, some of their defenses, where their remaining Ubersoldaten are. Their main processing center is in central Missouri, and I'm betting whatever system they have Tronik on is running near there." He didn't need to say how easily Gina could stop him; how a word from her could get Young Freedom broken up and his friends punished, or get him personally in very hot water. They wouldn't boot him back to Tronik, most likely, but there'd be no future for him on Earth-Prime at all.

Let's call this a straightforward punch. 19 Whew! DC 23 tou save for Gremlin 1.

Citizen and the spirit noble traded punches, neither of them holding back as it soon became clear just how evenly matched they were. As electrical discharges sizzled off his armored skin, Sharl punched his way 'upstream' towards the Marchesa, eyes glowing behind his mirrorshades with righteous fury. "Listen, lady, you may be some hot stuff inside your crazy alternate dimension! But this is a real computer! In the real world! And there are heroes here to stop you and keep you from exploiting anyone else. That means that science wins!" When he was within punching distance, he did just that, landing a devastating blow that sent the Marchesa smashing backwards against the wall of her stronghold so hard that the structure itself began to shatter and quake. "And magic loses!" A devastating beam of pure blazing heat erupted from the paragon's eyes and struck the spirit noble in the chest, and as it did so the whole room shattered into spinning fragments of energy. He turned with a triumphant shout and erupted from the computer screen as the spirit world behind him imploded, throwing a right cross at the gremlin attacking Temperance. "Who's next!?!" he demanded.

Wander's massive blow sent Firebug's head ringing inside his suit, and he staggered back as his flames went out, unable to do much of anything despite the fiery tank he'd been walking around in. Before he could gather himself, Caradoc landed before him, golden sword shimmering with holographic energy. "Time to go," said Steve, his flat voice throwing the quip off for a moment before he swung a wide, massive blow that struck the armored pyromaniac in the midsection and lifted him high into the air with a massive concussion like the world's biggest bat hitting a baseball. (Steve had been watching a lot of human sports lately.) Firebug still didn't make it quite as far as the distant park, but he went hurtling end over end and smashed back first into a cleared area of street just behind the police barricade. The AEGIS agents moved in quickly to restrain him and get him out of the suit, and it looked like the lovesick villain would be no more threat that day. "Excellent work, fair maid," said Caradoc. "I thinkest thee should check on your boss. You have the radio," he added, before flying over to assist the AEGIS agents and Freedom City cops in making sure this particular Lothario would be spending his romantic evenings with his attorney in the near future.

Firebug is stunned and does nothing. hah-hah! Harrier enters into melee. He All-Out Power Attacks the flat-footed Firebug and hits him! He hits him massively, too; that's a DC 32 + 5 Autofire =DC 37 Tou save. 16 He's out, sportsfans!

Sharl opted to treat the question seriously, answering it as he would a test. "Well...I would have deactivated the transducer's neutronio generator, hooked the transducer up to the power grid on the 13th Floor, and used one of the discarded wiring boards the team from that Erde left behind when they were here," said Sharl carefully, judging Miss A for a reaction. "That way I could activate the transducer in a controlled manner using a measured power source, and I could make sure it was tuned to the proper dimensional variant so that we reached the right Erde." He swallowed hard. "With a built-in timer, we could all come back after a set interval with the other Tronik. I've got, uh, one of the emergency backup drives you gave me for safekeeping, so I was going to put them on there for the duration. I got a good look at the tech they use on the other side, and so far the systems look compatible."

"I just...I just didn't want anything to happen to you too," Sharl confessed, his voice tight. "I thought I could just get it done and you wouldn't have to know anything! So many of my friends are already risking themselves over this thing, and you're my best friend. You're my teacher, you're my mentor...You've already done so much for me, risked so much for me, and asking yourself to do it all over again made me feel so..." He looked away and took a deep breath. "I'm, I'm sorry, G-I'm sorry. I should have trusted you and come to you with this. I thought I could handle it, but I was wrong. I promise I'll never try to go behind your back again. Not for this, not for anything."

Sense Motive: 33 Ow! So he's not flat-footed. The autofire still exceeds his defense by 5, so that's +2 to the DC Fort vs. DC 24 16 All right! So he is actually stunned.

For a moment, Sharl felt like a little boy confronted by an angry parent, but he fought off that impulse: Gina was not the sort to show mercy to that kind of caving-in. Besides, no one would get that angry at a small child who didn't know any better. "Because...because I'm really sorry, first of all," he said, his voice tight. "I should have come to you first about this, and not tried to work around you. I just didn't want you to get in trouble too." He fisted his hands at his sides and forced himself to meet the robot's eyes, no, Gina's eyes, by sheer force of will. "Those people on Erde are all alone. Nobody cares about them here except to feel sorry for them, and nobody on that world thinks of them as anything more than disposable garbage. Even my friends are only going because they want to stand with me. Somebody has to stand up for the people who can't stand up for themselves."

Scared and guilty as he was, Sharl did his best to master himself in the face of Miss A's very impressive anger. "I...I came looking for the dimensional technology that the Next-Gen brought back from their last extra-dimensional trip, the drive core and stuff. I got ahold of the blueprints on the school's files, and I was going to use it to build a Hermetic gateway to another world," he said, using the technical term the first Daedalus had coined for them back in the 1960s. It wasn't an idle notion; Gina knew enough about Sharl's technical competence to know that a project like that was within his realm of expertise, especially with the facilities at Claremont and in the Young Freedom headquarters. "My team and I are going to Erde to rescue the other Tronik," he finally said, strength returning to his voice. "I know what the League said, and I know how much trouble we could get into, but I'm not going to let any version of my people suffer like that."