Avenger Assembled

"Doomforges are built to a common plan," rumbled Steve softly, "I have provided interior schematics, a f-floorplan and the like. But the defenses are organic. Not of...of flesh and blood," he said, gesturing with his scarred hands. "But they will have been designed specifically for this world, with the possibility of resuming the cycle of infection even after the initial drone force has been destroyed." He rose to his feet, putting his hands on the table in front of him. "I recommend remote-controlled probes with built-in self-destruct systems. Piloted by remote transmission rather than cyberkinesis, to avoid the possibility of hijacking." He hesitated a moment, then, seeming to gain in confidence, went on, staring down at the plans without actually making eye contact with anyone "The force of the Terminus have come to this place as a...murderous invader. The reality of the Terminus itself is of...of death run riot. Do not plan for a battle against an enemy. Plan for a battle against a nightmare. This, and no less, is the reality of what lies inside that place," he said, finger stabbing at the image of the forge.

"Then you had something I lacked. My childhood was spent in bed," said Eira bluntly. "Or in a wheelchair, or various hospitals. I would have been dead before my ninth birthday." She smiled and stretched open her hands. "And then I became as I am now, and I was free, yes?" She worked for a while, then asked "So if you like to fight, have you yet been allowed to use the combat simulator here on-campus? As a fourth-year student I have access that the underclass does not. We could have that battle you desire."

Okay, I need to know who is collaborating on moving the time machine and clearing the honey, and what you're doing to make it happen. No reason.

Aquaria tries to hit all but one with her Trip power - let me know if you want me to roll to be that specific: Trip 12 (The Father's Ocean; Extra: Area [General, Cone], Knockback, Flaw: Range [Touch], PFs: Affects Insubstantial 2, Improved Trip, Indirect 2) {27/28} This has the effect of being a giant firehose coming out of the end of her trident. That's a DC 22 Reflex save for all the ones she can hit. Make sure you check the Trip mechanics in the book! She will send all but the one she hits flying away as far as she can.

APPROVED

Frost is definitely testing him, he obviously paused the conversation and is giving Ghost a "get it?" look, as if he's sussing him out for something. This town is full of new old things. The picture of Lenin on the wall, the tools some of the men are carrying, even the rifle hung on the wall behind the bar. You've seen weapons like that in museums, but it's hard to imagine even the poorest Russian mining town would still be using them. And surely there'd be cars, or cell phones, or some other sign of modern civilization here. You haven't even seen a television, and there were horses out on that street.

Eira nodded at Pan, and with a significant glance at the roadies, whispered "Check your messages" loudly enough for Ryder to hear before she fully addressed Soup. A curious name. "Sweden will have to suffice. I am Eira Katastroff of Stockholm University," she said. Her voice was cool and arguably not even telling a lie as she went on, "I am a licensed electrician and have experience crafting and repairing custom sound equipment. If you need amp repairs or any other technical matters, you may be assured that I have all the necessary tools at hand." She waggled her fingers, the exoskeleton parts wrapped around her fingers gleaming silver, and smirked. "Now let us not delay, yes?" With that, she headed straight for the stage, trusting that Ryder could handle any problems that occurred once she was up there and that Pan and Nat could handle Scarface. The villain would be stopped, the concert would go on thanks to her and Ryder's genius, and everything would go well. Perhaps the demon girl wouldn't even show her face, and Ryder and Nat would ride home by themselves. A smile curling her painted lips, Eira let the roadies direct her, figuring they actually did know the area better than she did. For now.

What's their relationship like to the Star Knights, Lor, and existing space powers?

It was an excellent idea, Davyd would be able to tell himself later, but the confusion of the recent honey tsunami rendered his plan largely impossible. Everything smelled of honey, wax, pollen, or some combination thereof, and it soon became clear that he was going to have some trouble removing the mess from his own frame once he came down. He certainly got the attention of Brobee, who before being distracted by Ryder had actually abandoned his conversation with Super-Bee to watch the slippery psuedo-Grue. "WOAH" the giant drone declared. "THATZ AMAZING. CAN THEY ALL DO THAT?" Ryder was able to puzzle a story out of Brobee (once he was no longer distracted by the fascinating wonder of first Horrorshow, and then Zenith) about he had seen something that looked like a "VERY TINY LIGHTNING" that had turned into "THE MAZHINE WITH THE INTRUDER!" The intruder had had a "GUN" which Brobee proudly announced that he had swallowed "AND NOT EVEN ANY PART OF HIM!" after seeing it in use. The lightning had cut open the honey storage tank and promptly doused the intruder, his machine, and "EVERYTHING ELZE!" in honey. Zenith found that the broken tank had been cleaved in twain along one almost perfectly, as if someone had driven a long, straight knife down the side of the tank from top to bottom, then everything else had been pushed to one side or another by the release of the internal pressure of honey. It was Leon, followed shortly by one of Ryder's bugs, who found the machine, though Zenith's efforts to remove the honey at ground level certainly helped. It had been flipped over and carried some distance by the honey tsunami but it was seemingly intact. Though some of the daka crystals (Melissa and Ryder had been right to make the connection) embedded in its wheels looked burnt out and cracked, most of the others looked intact. They were rougher and less polished than the daka crystals they'd seen in demonstrations at school, and seemed to glow with an inner, barely-held radiance. The brass metal of the superstructure was bent and cracked in a few places, but overall the great mad work of the small craft was remarkably intact. Though it was hard to tell under all that honey. Following her own clue, Melissa found what looked to be a wavering column of miniature lightning underneath one of the tanks, one that rippled and wavered as it moved about. It seemed to be moving around blindly, trying to find a way out from under the gigantic wax honeypot, but stopped every time it reached a solid obstacle like part of the tank itself or an outcropping of rock.

Marcus fell silent at that, looking across the table at Stesha and Tarrant, then down into his reflection in his coffee. Slowly, carefully, he set it down as his hands began to tremble. "So we went too far. We made a world of fantastic beasts but poisoned it in the process." A thin, hard smile crossed his face. "Justice for the Red Indian, I suppose. To answer your question, Doctor McLeod, the progress I had seen came with a heavy price. I had hoped that if I went far enough, me and mine could have the sweet without the bitter. But now...ah, my sainted mother will be delighted to learn that I should have become a painter instead of a man of science." His voice trailed off as he reached into the pocket of his shirt, fishing out a slightly stained pocketwatch. He snapped it open and looked not at the face, but at whatever portrait was visible on the other side. Slowly, he raised his hand to his mouth, and looked as if he was about to weep. "Oh, dear God in Heaven..."

Okay: I think I caught everything, @Fox! The tonfas get the Sneak Attack bonus too, so she's actually capped with those.

Years earlier, a mentor had told Ashley that her strength was acting. Not in thinking, not in feeling - in acting. At the time, it had seemed like a grievous insult from the Raven. Today, she didn't think about the Raven. Watchdog kicked the bow backwards, its electricity crackling up her leg in a painful spasm, putting it behind herself and Nightscale. The movement shifted her bodymass to the left a fraction and the archer moved with her, mistakenly. And then she shot USArcher in the face, twice. The plasma charges hit his facemask and set it afire, sizzling tough plastic and Kevlar against unprotected skin. She did stop and think just then, that if she'd been carrying a standard loadout, the man in front of her would be dead. But only for a moment.

"I graduated at the age of sixteen from Stockholm University," said Eira with a faint shrug. "This is an adult education that makes me as well-educated as many of our instructors. I gained it by the expedient of being quite clever, yes?." She smiled tightly. "But my parents felt that time with people my own age would 'enhance my emotional intelligence.' So they chose to send me here two years ago. At the end of this American academic year, I will be free." Her smile turned sour. "Does it surprise you to learn that one such as I has parents?"

Marcus started slightly, his coffee wobbling in his hands. "What...what sort of disaster?" he asked uncertainly. "I...I have heard some worry about the coming of Dr. Halley's comet in thirty-nine years," he went on, looking from Tarrant to Stesha with the expression of a man who was desperately hoping to be told he was the victim of some great practical joke. "But surely in a solar system some millions of years old, we have passed through the tail of a comet before and not been undone." He blinked a few times, seeming to consider the possibilities. His eyes widened, something like suspicion on his face. "But how could...giant bees, and bull-men, and bee-girls evolve in that time? I am a Darwinist, good woman, I understand where life comes from and the Origin of Species, surely such things could not appear in two lifetimes together!"

"Yes," said Eira impatiently, "that is why I sent Ryder to talk to them." Pan would have been more magically persuasive but you could never quite be sure that he wouldn't announce that she was there to slay the gremlins that had befuddled their machinery. When Pan returned, her demeanor lost its impatience and grew deadly serious. "They might be a shooter," she said, craning her neck slightly to peer at the agendered figure that was the subject of so much attention. For all of Eira's fierce personality, her gynoid form was no taller than a normal girl's. "Meta or otherwise, yes?" She began cracking her knuckles and said, "We should stop them." Her eyes moved quickly from the stage to the baddie to the crowd, then after a moment's consideration she cocked her head, logged onto the wifi, and sent Ryder a message: POSSIBLE META-TERRORIST. A picture was attached, taken from her own eyes, at a wide enough angle to show the whole scene around Scarface. CAN YOU SEE THEM FROM WHERE YOU ARE?

Patriot II Power Level: 14 (built as PL 10; 245/245PP) Trade-Offs: -2 TOU/+2DEF, -2ATK/+2DMG ranged, +4ATK/-4DMG Unarmed Unspent Power Points: 0 In Brief: Teenage sidekick turned Secret Service Agent turned undercover high school student turned America's hero Alternate Identity: Ashley Tran, Special Agent (United States Secret Service) Identity: Secret? Ish? Depends on who you ask. Birthplace: New Orleans, USA Occupation: Secret Service Agent, Superhero, Bodyguard, Patriot Affiliations: The People of America Family: Phillip Tran [father, deceased], Mary Arbour-George [mother, living], William George [stepfather, living] Mary (1994), Cecilia (1997), Agnes (2001) and Phillipa (2003) [sisters, living], Jaycee Cahill (2002) [found family] Age: 29 (DoB: April 1992) Gender: Female Ethnicity: Eurasian Height: 5'6" Weight: 150 lbs Eyes: Black Hair: Black naturally, typically dyed Physical Description: Ashley is short and round-faced, with big eyes and a smile that makes her look younger than her years. She's cut her hair recently into a undercut, both because it works better with the helmet and because she likes it. She has the muscular build of a born athlete, with the clear physical power many martial artists develop. She's built like an MMA fighter and moves like one. She speaks English with no particular accent, though her French and Vietnamese both have distinct American accents - the product from immersion daycamps designed to keep up her heritage. At work she wears a sensible blouse and trousers, in the field a leather jacket and denim. When she's having fun she has a wardrobe big enough for a wide variety of occasions. The second Patriot's costume looks considerably tougher than her predecessor's - which makes sense, given the higher degree of danger in the world. She wears a dark red and blue armored helmet complete with chin guard with white reflective lenses over the eyepiece. Her armored costume consists of a blue Kevlar tactical shirt, white stain-repellent trousers, and maroon gauntlets. It's a look obviously inspired by the previous Patriot, with a few upgrades. She wears a brown leather bomber jacket over the top of the costume with an American flag sewn on the back and white star over the heart. (The white armored star over her left breast is the most armored part of the jacket and top, having learned that trick from the Raven.) Her feet are usually in black leather tactical boots. She has bits of gear built into the costume, mostly around the bright red belt where she keeps her gear, complete with bright gold laser gun at her hip. (It doesn't work if taken from her, but it fools people into thinking it's the only thing she's carrying.) She has a collapsible shield built into the left arm of the costume, a white star on a badge-shape base. It's not necessarily an inspiring costume - but it's one that sends a strong message. Character History: Ashley's prior backstory behind spoiler text: On the one hand, things are great now. Ashley Tran has come to terms with her relationship with her mother and her mother's husband, has found a new sister in her former protectee Judith Claudia Cahill, and even discovered things about herself she never really thought possible in the course of setting up a long-distance, no-strings-yet-but-maybe-someday relationship with a beautiful alien. She's even reclaimed her father's last name for professional purposes, something that fills her with quiet pride every time she thinks about it. She doesn't have to pretend to be a high school student anymore and that's really, really great! The fact that she can cuss, drink, and wear sexy clothing in public if she wants to makes her day. (When she dropped off Judy at college she sat in her car in the parking lot and cried, and then went to a sports bar and had a great time.) On the other hand, things aren't so great. She never did really patch things up with Callie Summers, even if she will concede that the new Raven, his sidekick, and the time-traveling mini-Callie are all right. Hey, maybe she can buy her a drink one of these days...Getting stuck behind a desk at the Secret Service wasn't such a bad thing, but after a few months of inactivity she's eager to get back in the field - enough that this new offer of working with the Patriot Program sounds great. What's the worst that could happen? Finding out the program's candidate has gone mad? Finding out she has to take on the Patriot's legacy on her own because the government has damn few metahumans on its payroll? Symbolizing the nation that her grandfather fought alongside and that her father died protecting? Let's do this. Complications: Agent: Ashley is technically a sworn law enforcement officer, but doesn't act as such while wearing her costume except for her duties to protect the government. This is a complicated situation. Break: Ashley's complicated relationship with the Raven remains both a sore point and a point of pride. Copycat: Ashley isn't hiding her superpowers but she is keeping them to herself; she'll use them as a second resort rather than a first unless she needs to save a life. Duty: Being the symbol for an entire nation can be quite a task. Enemy: Baron Samedi's drug empire indirectly killed Ashley's father. Given the chance, she'll go for him - minus her duty to her nation Forget-Me-Not: Ashley's powers, coupled with her undercover status, make it easy for her own identity to slip away. Lies: Ashley lied about how she'd developed her powers when she joined the Secret Service. Patriot: Ashley Tran really does love the United States of America and all it stands for. Something Gay No Doubt: Ashley is still wrestling with this - and not out for the moment to the general public. Split Personality: Ashley's powers occasionally result in her copying certain mental traits of those whose powers she steals - this annoyance is one of the reasons she doesn't do it very often. We Get The Job Done: Ashley is the biracial daughter of a first-generation immigrant. Whoops: The GM can within reason say she has been disarmed of some of her gear in combat. Abilities: 8 + 10 + 8 + 4 + 0 + 10 = 40PP Strength: 18 (+4) Dexterity: 20 (+5) Constitution: 18 (+4) Intelligence: 14 (+2) Wisdom: 10 (+0) Charisma: 20 (+5) Combat: 16 + 16 = 32PP Initiative: +13 Attack: +8 Base, +14 Unarmed Defense: +12 (+8 Base, +4 Dodge Focus), +4 Flat-Footed Grapple: +12 Knockback: -4/-3/-2 Saving Throws: 6 + 5 + 10 = 21PP Toughness: +8 (+4 Con, +2 Defensive Roll, +2 Costume) Fortitude: +10 (+4 Con, +6) Reflex: +10 (+5 Dex, +5) Will: +10 (+0 Wis, +10) Skills: 136R = 34PP Bluff 10 (+15) Skill Mastery Climb 1 (+5) Craft (mechanical) 3 (+5) Diplomacy 8 (+13) Disable Device 8 (+10) Drive 1 (+6) Escape Artist 15 (+20) Gather Information 5 (+10) Intimidate 10 (+15) Skill Mastery Investigate 3 (+5) Knowledge (Civics) 3 (+5) Knowledge (Galactic Lore) 3 (+5) Knowledge (History) 3 (+5) Knowledge (Tactics) 3 (+5) Languages 4 (Chinese [Mandarin], French, Lor, Vietnamese, Base: English) Medicine 5 (+5) Notice 10 (+10) Skill Mastery Pilot 1 (+6) Search 8 (+10) Sense Motive 10 (+10) Sleight of Hand 5 (+10) Stealth 10 (+15) Skill Mastery Survival 4 (+4) Swim 1 (+5) Feats: 33PP Attack Specialization (Unarmed) 3 Benefit 2 (Cult Hero [USA], Security Clearance) Benefit 5 (is the Patriot) Challenge 2 (Fast Feint, Fast Startle) Defensive Roll 1 Dodge Focus 4 Equipment 1 Equipment 15 - from player reward Evasion Improved Initiative 2 Interpose Luck Master Plan 2 Power Attack Quick Draw (Draw) Skill Mastery (Bluff, Intimidate, Notice, Stealth) Sneak Attack Startle Takedown Attack Ultimate Save (Toughness) Well-Informed Equipment 1 Grapple Gun: 5EP Speed 1 (10MPH) + Super-Movement 2 (Swinging, Wall-Crawling 1) Equipment 15 = 75EP Patriot Headquarters - Toughness: 15: Size: Gargantuan; Features: Combat Simulator, Communications, Computer, Concealed, Defense System [Laser Turrets], Fire Prevention System, Garage, Gym, Hangar, Holding Cells, Infirmary, Laboratory, Library, Living Space, Personnel [Government Agents], Power System, Power [Teleport 10, Extra: Affects Only Others] Security System, Workshop [25EP] Patriot Headquarters is technically just the AEGIS headquarters under the Freedom City Federal Building. It's not Ashley's favorite place to be; hard to relax around so many people like her. But it's where she first put on this uniform and it's where she actually reports to work most of the time. She is happy about the Lor-copied teleporter system built into the building, with enough range to reach DC in the event of a supervillain attack. Farside City. Or an orbiting spaceship. Patriot Cycle (Vehicle) [25EP] Size: Medium [0EP]; Strength: 20 [2EP]; Defence: 10 [0EP]; Toughness: +10 [5EP] Features: Alarm 2 (DC 25), Computer, Communications, Disguise, Hidden Compartments, Nitro Injectors, Remote Control [8EP] Powers: Concealment 2 (normal vision, Flaw: Passive, Feat: Close Range) [3EP] Speed 6 (500mph / 5000ft per Move Action, Feats: Subtle) [7EP] The Patriot Cycle really is a very nice motorcycle, Ashley has to admit. Modified with bleeding-edge hypertech and all-American power, it's the fastest thing on the road. She wouldn't take it directly into combat, not wanting to risk flying off at subsonic speeds, but it's definitely a nice ride. The red white and blue colors are only a little tacky; luckily she can turn them off if she needs to. Ashley's Boat- [25EP] Strength 35; Speed 5, Defense 8, Toughness 9, Size: Huge; Features: Alarm [5; DC 40], Caltrops, Hidden Compartments, Living Space, Navigation System [2], Oil Slick, Remote Control, Smoke Screen; Powers: Impervious 4 The general public is unaware that the Patriot gets away from it all on a perfectly nice, very secured little houseboat that she keeps tied up at a dock near Lonely Point. She means to keep it that way. Powers: 32 + 13 + 37 + 2 = 84PP Device 8 (40PP, Patriot Costume, Flaw: Hard to Lose) [32PP] Gear Array 15 (30PP, PFs: Alternate Powers 5) [35DP] BE: Damage 10 ('stun' grenades, Extras: Area [Burst], Range [Ranged], Flaw: Limited [5 Uses Daily], PFs: Reduced Progression 9 [max 10 ft], Variable Descriptor 1 [ballistic/chemical/incendiary]) {30/30} AP: Damage 10 (laser guns, Extras: Range [Ranged], Penetrating 4; PFs: Improved Crit 2, Precise Shot 2, Variable Descriptor 2 [any energy]) {30/30}) AP: Dazzle 10 (pepper spray, visual and olfactory) {30/30} AP: Impervious Toughness 8 ('shields up') {8} + Damage 10 (just one laser gun, Extra: Range [Ranged], PFs: Improved Crit, Precise) {8 + 22 = 30/30} AP: Obscure 3 (gas grenade, visual and olfactory, 25 ft, Extra: Independent, Flaw: Range [Touch], PF: Precise) {10} + Damage 6 (bladed tonfas, Extra: Autofire 5, PFs: Extended Reach, Improved Crit 2, Mighty, Variable Descriptor 1 [bludgeoning/piercing/slashing])) {10 + 20=30/30} AP: Stun 10 (taser, Extra: Range [Ranged]) {30/30} Protection 2 [2DP] Super-Senses 3 (Radio [Accurate]) [3DP] 35 + 2 + 3 = 40PP Device 3 (Lor grav-suit, 15 points; Flaw: Hard to Lose, PF: Subtle) [13PP] Environmental Adaptation 1 (Zero-G) [1PP] Flight 2 (25 MPH/250 FPS) [4PP] Immunity 9 (Life Support) [9PP] Container 7 (35PP, Power Thief, PFs: Precise, Subtle [Psionic]) [37PP] Drain Wisdom 10 (Extras: Alternate Save [Will, +0], Sleep [+0]) {10} + Mimic 10 (50PP, All Powers At Once, Flaws: Saving Throw [Will], Tainted) {20} + Mind-Reading 10 (Extra: Action [Move, +1], Flaw: Range [Touch, -2]) {5} {10+20+5=35/35} Super-Senses 2 (Danger Sense [Mental], Uncanny Dodge [Mental], mutation) [2PP] Drawbacks: (-0) + (-0) = -0PP DC Block: Unarmed DC 19/21 TOU Damage DC 25/27 TOU Dazzle DC 20/22 Fort/Ref Drain/Mimic DC 20/22 Will Stun DC 20/22 Fort TOTALS Abilities (40) + Combat (32) + Saving Throws (21) + Skills (34) + Feats (33) + Powers (84) - Drawbacks (0) = 245/245 Power Points

Coming up with a strategy to clean up the honey tsunami might also be a source of HP!

Okay, everybody, make whatever Search/Investigate checks you think are important here.

When Marcus came out, he was dressed in the closest thing Tarrant had been able to find to a 19th century outfit; trousers, a button-down long-sleeved shirt, and red tie. With usually pomaded hair shaggy after the bath and mustache drooping, he would have fit in perfectly on Tarrant's home campus. "I left my adventuring outfit folded on the floor," he said, his smile full of nerves. "I hope that was the proper place; I wasn't sure what wonders I would find if I dug too deeply in there!" He took a seat opposite Tarrant and Stesha, and his coffee black. "I must admit," he said, speaking with what sounded like great care, "Once I came to accept the existence of mechanical bees, elephant-bees, bee-women, and bull-men, I have been surprised at how little has changed over the millennia. Coffee, the necessary, the bath - they were all different, but all very...recognizable." He raised his eyebrows and said, hazarding a question, "Is this an...embassy for travelers in time?" - Super-Bee didn't quite bring the teens to the hives proper, but they were certainly amongst them when she made a perfectly controlled, almost straight-down landing. And what a sight they were; towering structures as big as skyscrapers back in Freedom City, their honeycomb shape clear despite their earth-and-rock construction. A sound of deep, distant vibration seemed to be coming from the air, the walls, the ground; the thrumming of countless vast wings. The actual grass hereabouts was sparse in the shadow of the great hives, but on the other side of the complex the young heroes could just make out what looked to be the highest, thickest forest they had ever seen until they looked closely and realized those vast, building-high trunks were actually sunflowers taller than some buildings, with faces wide enough to swallow a house. They were among several large storage tanks, towering as high as one of Claremont's buildings, looking to be made of wax rather than metal, and could tell the purpose of the tanks by what had spilled from the nearest, what had seemingly been a tidal wave of honey that had covered at least a half-acre of ground, leaving the short grass sticky beneath their feet. There was no immediate sign of the time machine, but it was easy to imagine how the tidal wave might have swept it away, and what kind of search might be needed to uncover it. "IT WAS A TYRANNOZAURUS REX WITH A BRAIN MADE OF RADIATION - BUT I WILL TELL YOU THAT ZTORY LATER," she assured Leon in a fashion surprisingly chummy for a creature so great as everyone hopped off. "YEZ IT IZ VERY EDUCATIONAL! I DID NOT EVEN KNOW HUMANZ ON ZANCTUARY COULD DO ZUCH THINGZ!" She had told them on the way over that there were only a few bees outside of the hives right now, everyone having gone into defensive mode when the traveler arrived, which meant there were only a dozen or so gigantic apians in the sky overhead, flitting from dark opening to dark opening wider than a subway tunnel, or scuttling along the sides of the hives to similar destinations. One of them landed in front of Super-Bee, a big, chunky-looking bee who immediately boomed "HI BEE-I MEAN, ZUPER-BEE!" before doing what was distinctly a back-and-forth, side-to-side shuffling dance as if he hadn't quite found his footing when he landed. Super-Bee made a slightly affronted noise and said in a tone of someone speaking to a particularly daft friend, "ZPEAK THEIR LANGUAGE BROBEE! DID YOU ZEE ANYTHING?" "YEZ! I ZAW THE INTRUDER, AND THEN I ZAW YOU..." he answered guilelessly, and Super-Bee made a deep, echoing sound by striking her foreleg against the ground. As the bees had what sounded like an unproductive conversation, the young heroes were free to explore the honey-collection complex. Meanwhile, Melissa spotted something that at first didn't seem to be related to their search at all; a crackling column of what appeared to be persistent lightning, hanging beneath the ruptured tank.

Okay, @Spacefurry @Gizmo @Dr Archeville @TheAbsurdist @Tiffany Korta Give me a Notice check when you get the chance! I'll be posting for the bee crew soon

Watchdog Pride Sister Mary Valentine was younger than most of the nuns at St. Joan of Arc School, perhaps in her late forties, and happy to be an elementary school teacher. She smiled kindly in response to young Ashley's question, prompted by a story she'd overheard around the family dinner table. It was only later, looking back on the memory, that Ashley could think about the nervousness around the other woman's smile, and the way she'd glanced at the classroom door before she spoke. "The Church does say that behavior is sinful, but it's not sinful to be, ah, that way. No one is born wicked." This was, by Ashley's count, her fifth Pride. She'd gone to two with the Raven as Copycat, she'd taken Judy to two as Watchdog, and every time she'd been there to work, to keep an eye on the streets and the sky and make sure that criminals and supervillains didn't interrupt what was supposed to be a good time. It was the first time she'd gone as herself, Ashley Tran, Secret Service agent. She was wearing blue jeans and a light denim jacket, her badge and gun carefully tucked away beneath the latter, pink hair tucked away under a vintage New Orleans Baby Cakes baseball cap. In the growing crowd of people, she had never felt more naked. "And so after he called you - that - what happened?" asked Philip Tran. He was a big man in Ashley's memory but she knew he'd been on the short side for a cop, five foot seven in his boots. She'd tried on his old uniform the day she made the NOPD and it fit. He was sitting next to her in the front seat of the old Crown Victoria he'd bought when the precinct had been about to retire it, and they were parked out front of what had until very recently been what everyone called Vietnamese summer camp. In a few more years, this was going to be Ashley's car. If she wasn't grounded for life. "I shoved him off the railing. Then he got up and punched me in the face." It was going to bruise, but so was Lee, and a lot worse. "Well. I'm proud of you for standing up for yourself." He hugged her lightly. "And don't let those đụ má get inside your head. Working out and being good at sports makes you my little cô gái tinh nghịch, nothing more. Those thing he said about you aren't true; you have nothing to be ashamed of. But you are going to be grounded when we get home." He turned on the car radio, and they listened to the news of the hurricane building in the Gulf, the one the NOAA had already named Katrina. Deciding it was easier to talk to somebody than the voices inside her head, she got up and began to walk down the side of the street, trying to keep her eyes off the parade. Well not the parade, exactly; the crowd that might be concealing a weapon, the windows that might be doing the same, the shady-looking guy who might be a shapeshifter, the girl who looked like a DNAscendant but might just be really jacked...she wondered, not for the first time, what Fa'Rua would think of all this. Stopping by a merchandise booth, she looked over a row of buttons of all different colors. She looked at the blue and purple button, picked it up in her hand, and glanced around behind her sunglasses. Nobody was looking at her. Nobody cared. She bought the pin and wore it all day. Even when Red Death attacked. Goddamit.

Eira raised an eyebrow and smirked, not quite looking up from her work. "I am not usually so popular with underclassmen. I should invite more people to my laboratory," she said, pronouncing the word with careful multisyllables. "If you have a fight in mind, you should be careful of the headmistress. She has some rather tiresome views about the fragility of young metahumans in the wake of a recent scandal." She grinned. "It seems one of the former instructors allowed himself to be controlled by outside forces and used against students. That is why you see those detectors at the edge of the campus, which if you ask me should have been installed years ago. But hardly anyone does, yes? Be careful with your hair," she said with a nod towards the small blowtorch she already had put into operation as she began peeling apart an interior section of the armor. "I am a strange case myself. I had actually finished my adult education before I came to Claremont, but it was felt by my parents that I would do better here among other young people."

"Honey and pollen are certainly a change from petroleum and grease," said Marcus with a wistful look at what had once obviously been white khaki. "But I shall take your offer of coffee with pleasure. And as for you, my good chaps and charming bee-lady," he said with a smile for Melissa, "you don't need to give me some...cock and bull story," he added with a wink at Davyd, "you are all fine examples of the humanity and other species of the future, I am sure, and I will be happy to discuss mechanical marvels and, what was that, a fellow called Wells? Well, other wonders with you once I take advantage of your elders' hospitality. Be mindful of the machine," he added, "it looks a bit like Msr. Lenoir's hippomobile , but the fixed wheels rotate through the 4th dimension so as to allow..." He trailed off, seeming to realize that these people would have no idea what he was talking about, then said, "It's made of brass and runs on an engine infused by rare African crystals. It should be mostly intact," he added doubtfully as he trailed away with the adults, "it landed at ground level even if it did intersect with those honey vats..." "CLIMB ABOARD FRIENDZ!" boomed Super-Bee at the Claremont students "OR FLY ALONG IF YOU WIZH!" There was plenty of space on Super-Bee to climb onto. Now at her full-size, she was comfortably as big as a Mack truck, both across the face and by the length of her massive body. When she took off, the beat of her wings was loud without being deafening, a bit like flying inside of a large helicopter. "A TIME TRAVELER! THAT IZ VERY EXCITING! WHEN I WAZ AT CLAREMONT, I ONZE TRAVELED IN TIME TO THE CRETACEOUZ PERIOD AND FOUGHT A DINOZAUR!" She kept a sedate pace in the sky, cutting over the settlement of Mayberry where the workshops of the community's manufacturing centers bloomed, and headed for the distant structure of the hives where the time-traveler had landed. "I UZED TO HAVE MORE ADVENTUREZ WHEN I WAZ AT CLAREMONT, BUT I AM TOO LARGE FOR THE HUMAN WORLD!" she added philosophically. Luckily Marcus and Tarrant were of roughly similar builds, and back at Gaian Knight's place it was easy enough to find him a change of clothes while he took advantage of a plumbing system that was "remarkably advanced, especially for farm country! Ah, it seems some things have survived and even grown across the ages!" With him in the shower and coffee brewing, Fleur de Joie and Gaian Knight were left with the problem of simple math. They knew from star charts and similar cosmic events that the world of Sanctuary was in 'time' with their home dimension; it was the same objective date here that it was back home. They also knew that the apocalyptic event that had wiped out of most of this world's civilization had taken place somewhere in the early 20th century, though the catastrophe had been great enough that no one knew for sure what it was, beyond suspicions of Grue involvement from ruins of the time and technology that looked too advanced to belong to that era. From his hints, Marcus was from somewhere in the early 1870s. The machine that he had hoped to take him a century and a half into the future had done just that.

Eira stared at the audience, the bandshell, and one particular person in the crowd, her eyes wide and seemingly-unfocused for a moment. But only a moment. "Ryder," she said suddenly, "tell your friend," she said with a head-bob in the direction of the tattooed roadie, "that I can fix whatever is wrong with the sound system. They are having technical difficulties," she added by way of explanation. Eira knew better than to present herself in that fashion; the experienced engineers and technicians that roadies were, or became with time, had no reason to trust a random teenager, even if she was at least as qualified as any of them, even more if she was honest with herself and she usually tried to be. "Pan," she added with a whisper right in her boyfriend's ear, where the cool breath would tickle, "go see who that is, would you? They're watching the crowd instead of the show." If anyone in the party could handle that situation without it causing a disruption that would ruin her chances to see Drowned in the Loch in person, it was Pan. She took the water a passing Good Samaritan offered and handed it smoothly to Nat.

Aquaria put her huge hand on Jessie's, an alien grip that was after all these years familiar. Together, they watched the sun set for a little while. "...it is done. Maybe I am a heretic. And maybe I can never truly go Below again, not to stay, if things stay the way they are now. But as long as I have you, and the rest of my friends, and the bond we share, that is enough." She reached out and touched the elder Jessie's hand too, and the scene around them faded into darkness. As Aquaria's mind faded from Jessie's view, the last she heard was her friend's whisper "I am never alone." - And then Aquaria, Jessie, and the projection of Bluebird were in their apartment; for real this time. Slowly, Aquaria raised her head out of the pool, blinking, and stared at Jessie. "Jessie?" she asked, her voice sounding a little drugged, the way it did when she had awakened from sleeping three or four days at a stretch.