Avenger Assembled

Bloodfang cradled her face in her frontclaw, nicitiating membranes flicking in a gesture that suddenly seemed strangely familiar. "<Nestmother's addled egg, even the plants talk here! What fresh hell is this!?!>" Runs-With-Claws butted her in the flank with her massive head and growled irritably in reply. "<Don't curse like that! What would your grandmother say?>" And with that, as the last of the parishoners filed out, she focused on Willow. "<Yes, we are...>" She licked her lips. "<...intimately aware of just how little we belong here. We will endeavor to repair the damage the Kaiju did to our ship and depart.>"

Plant Mimic PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 44 pp STR 24 (+7) DEX 20 (+5) CON 24 (+7) INT 10 (+0) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 12 (+1) Combat: 32 pp ATK: +8 (+13 melee) DEF: +13 (+4 flat-footed) Init: +11 Grapple: +20 Saves: 7 pp TOU +7 (+7 Con) FORT +7 (+7 Con) REF +7 (+5 Dex, +2) WILL +7 (+2 Wis, +5) Skills: 40 r=10 pp Climb 3 (+10) Knowledge: Life Sciences 10 (+10) Medicine 3 (+5) Notice 8 (+10) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Stealth 5 (+10) Survival 3 (+5) Feats: 17 pp Attack Focus: Melee 5 Dodge Focus 5 Improved Initiative Luck Move-By Action Power Attack Takedown Attack Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 40 pp Immunity 7 (aging, disease, poison, starvation and thirst, suffocation) [7 pp] Plant Mimicry 3 [27 pp] ‘15 pp’ Sample Allocations -Drain DEX 7 (Extra: Autofire) (PF: Slow Fade) -Healing 3 (Extras: Action [Move], Total) (Flaw: Personal) (PFs: Persistent, Regrowth) -Impervious TOU 7 and Super-Strength 4 (Heavy Load: 6 tons) Regeneration 1 (Resurrection 1 (1/week) [1 pp] Super-Senses 5 [Detect Plants [2/rank] (Acute, Analytical, Extended, Radius) [mental] [5 pp] costs abilities 44 + combat 32 + saves 7 + skills 10/40 + feats 17 + powers 40 = 150 pts ------------------------------------ Design Notes: Here's a Plant Mimic, making use of a little-used power from Ultimate Power that lets her be a different kind of plant controller. Plant Mimicry is a twin of Animal Mimicry, but with a plant theme rather than an animal. What's the difference between the two? In my mind someone who has plant powers should have some planty traits all the time, so I gave her some Regen, some Immunities, and even some plant-detecting Super-Senses. Plant Mimicry is really, really broad, as I've tried to show with some the sample allocations abroad: thorns, poison sumac, and a dozen other things can all be believable powers. In the sample sheet above, I've tried to give her everything from plant-based toxins to the strength and durability of a mighty oak. She meet her caps even without the power, of course, I figure she has a plant's strength and toughness (well, a strong and tough plant!) even when she's not directly using her powers. I could see Concealment working well too, given how well some plants can blend into their surroundings. Remember that the overall appearance of Mimics generally doesn't change, but without Subtle there will certainly be cosmetic changes: perhaps long thorny arms for Elongation and a Drain? She's knowledgeable in science terms, but not a science specialist. Someone with powers like this should be able to function competently in their own technical niche, even if they don't know as much about it as the super-scientific specialists or ridiculous geniuses. Even if you want to give her a magic origin, she should still have _some_ scientific training, unless you want to make her a hardcore druid/dryad type. (If that's the case, you should buy up her Survival) Even if she does the usual "Here's where your science is WRONG because it has no HEART" New Age stuff, she should still have a decent idea of what kinds of plants are good to eat and what biochemical effects they have on the body. My half-imagined backstory is the usual "grad student victim of a bizarre accident!", where an injection with an experimental plant serum gave her a primal connection to the natural world, or at least the plant side of it. It's the Green it's the green it's the green you neeeed, as the song says. As I've mentioned in the past, contrary to what you might think this character doesn't have to be a hippie type: while that's a funny stereotype for plant controllers, plants themselves aren't vegetarians. They aren't pacifists, they aren't anything. They survive, they feed, they grow, they perpetuate their species. That's it. In a comic book setting, 'plant instincts' can potentially be as threatening as animal instincts, and all the more alien for not being what you expect...

Citizen sobered a little at Magnus' arrival, conscious that the man probably wouldn't want a lot of smiles around when he was seriously worried about his niece. Instead he was a close and solicitous ally of Miss Americana, helping supervise the loading of the last of their stuff into the airplane, then helping Dragonfly double-check her lists as well. He still flittered around and had a good time, but tried to be serious around the guy who had very serious reasons to be there. After all, this wasn't just an adventure for Magnus and his family; this was somebody's life.

Runs-With-Claws flinched and reflexively ducked her head, obviously impressed at the authority in Wail's words. While her reply wasn't exactly helpful, it was the first time one of the dinosaurs has spoken to the humans as an equal. "<Stand down, team. The last thing we need is a fight with the locals.>" She bounced back and forth on her long back legs for a moment before coming to a decision. "<Let them leave!>" she called to the ones at the door, the males blocking the exits moving away with unhappy hissing and snapping. "<We hold no prisoners that aren't ours. We'll live on the rations in the ship if we have to.>" As the dinosaurs by the door got out of the way, the people in the church started to clear out as hastily as they could without provoking a hunt. "<The ship is inside three feet of concrete!>" spat an angry Bloodfang, turning her back on the heroes by the door as she stalked towards her putative leader. "<You want us to go down there in the dark and rad-scent every time we hunger? Down there with HIM?>" The males by Runs-With-Claws, who had been cowering from Wander, snapped and hissed at the smaller female as she approached. Ignoring her willful subordinate for the moment, Runs-With-Claws added to Wail, "<I...appreciate your words, not-people, but I cannot leave my prisoner. It is my duty to escort him to his Last Hunt, and I cannot abandon that. Even under threat of force.>"

"SOME BURNED. SOME WERE POISONED. SOME STARVED." The angel of death gave Nick a look terrible in its matter-of-factness. "MY PORTFOLIO IS NOT THE MOVEMENTS OF ARMIES AND THE FATE OF NATIONS, BUT OF THE PASSING OF THE HUMBLEST BABE AND ELDEST KING, AND ALL THAT LIE IN BETWEEN. A LIST OF ONE BILLION SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND DEATHS WOULD NOT ANSWER THE QUESTION. NOR MAKE OUR DINNER ANY MORE PALATABLE. I LIKE WHAT YOU'VE DONE WITH THE ARUGULA HERE," he commented to Fleur. "He's a great cook," commented Jeanne, "whenever I came home to my little cherub," she said, pinching Heyzel's cheek, "I always knew Azrael had prepared something. If he wasn't working so much all the time, I'd say he should teach." "Don't sell teaching art short," said Heyzel to Nick. "People have been painting on cave walls since before Adam and Eve. It's basic to the human condition, and if you can expand their portfolio, you can expand their condition. I don't know of anyone like that in our schools," he admitted to Fleur, "but I can look. Some of them may feel the urge to spread their particular belief system, but most of them are interested enough in the idea of pedagogy and spreading the word of knowledge and truth that it shouldn't be a serious concern."

Reflex: 16 Ouch! Fort: 13 Imma reroll that one! HP...24 Much better.

They fail that one as well, and are suitably put off.

Freedom Angel makes use of the Total Defense maneuver as a standard action, while continuing to prepare himself to Interpose for the heroes (and yes, he does include Thrude there) if Fenris attacks.

"...Christ give me strength!" said the angel, looking appalled at what he'd wrought. He'd sensed the outpouring of magical energy while cutting the hole to the other dimension, but withdrawing early would simply have seen his sword sucked into the passageway without actually sealing the entrance. "The power of the cosmic ash is mighty indeed. Well..." He sighed, and did his best to run with this setback. "If the two of you will go to your respective homes," he said, gesturing at the tree, "I will employ the aid of mortal mystics to close the gateway from this end. Donarssdaughter, once through, thee should contact thy grandfather and warn him of the weakening of the passage between worlds. Lokison, as thy father would not, I imagine, enjoy a conflict with the Morningstar, I am sure he will take a similar interest in patching yon hole between worlds."

They got an 18. They're scared of the crazy raptor-eating monkey!

The two raptors at the door ready unarmed attacks against Willow if she continues to look like a threat.

As Willow came charging at the door, the two big males guarding it hissed and snapped at her. "<Crazzzzy plantssss!> " one hissed angrily. "<Not even good to eat! Cut you! Cut you sssso bad!>" By the twitching of those long, wickedly curved claws at their back legs, they had a pretty specific idea of just how they were going to do that. "<Feed you to monkey offssspring!>" They bobbed their heads at her, stretching high, and scraped their claws on the ground, waiting for word or an attack before springing into action. For her part, Bloodfang was content to let the big males guard the door while she glared at Cannonade. "<You...you can talk!?>" Her eyes widened and she reared back, snorting in alarm. "<You can BOTH talk! That wasn't just vocalizing earlier at all, it was...What kind of place IS this?>" She turned back to Runs-With-Claws, sounding distinctly younger than she had just a little while earlier. "<They don't even smell like monkeys! They're like some kind of alien monkey!>" "<This is...sweet Nestmother,>" hissed Runs-With-Claws, scratching her scaly chin with long clawed fingers. "<It's some kind of terrible other dimension! How far did that damnable Kaiju knock us off-course!?>" She sounded appalled, and began pacing, lashing her tail back and forth in the air. "<No people?>" inquired Gamma at her side, flexing his claws and licking his formidable-looking teeth. He looked back at Wander and the kids she was guarding. "<Eatsss?>" The other male at the front jumped up to join Gamma on the stage, and both gave Wander and her charges a sizing-up look.

Freedom Angel considered his options carefully as he studied the giant wolf. He had no doubt that the Fenriswulf was every inch the monster he was in the ancient stories; by his deeds and terrible words in Freedom City, Fenris had made it clear his intentions for humanity. But, he supposed, Fenris was a natural part of Asgardian mythology and had a place in that world, for all that he had none on Earth. All the better to send him back to his dark father, then. Let the so-called gods fight their wars safe from those not swept into their cult! But he's not shamming; he has no idea what's going on! How long has it been since the Fenriswulf was last seen in the flesh... He couldn't remember, but it certainly had been for many centuries. He paced, bright and flaming sword still in hand, proof for these that he was no weak thrall to be ambushed and slain, and continued to speak in the Old Norse he had learned from Olav Tryggvason himself. "Listen, for I have a Truth to speak to you both. You have slept a great many eons, Fenriswulf and Donarssdaughter. The Asgardians and their enemies have fled the Earth and closed up the ancient gateways behind them, particularly for the messengers of other gods. However," he added, before the wolf could take this as excuse to plunder humanity for its flesh, or the daughter of Donar could strike him with her formidable hammer, "icy Niflheim has its own doorways to the world you call Midgard. I can deliver you there, Fenriswulf, where you can choose the path of light or dark of your own will. The children of Yahweh, and the free people of this city, take no side in your conflict with each other." Sword burning with special heat, he added, "But make no mistake, Lokison. He takes revenge on all who oppose him and furiously destroys his enemies. If the free souls of this land are harmed by your war, our wrath will be great. Turning, he addressed Thrude. "I make the same offer to you, Donarssdaughter," he said, pronouncing it as he had been taught while watching that being perform his dread service for the Nazis. "You have slept through the rise and fall of ages. Go home to your family and choose to fight there with knowledge of What Is, not What Was. The god of thunder will be pleased, I am sure, to greet his timeswept daughter home." Despite his disdain for the Asgardians, the angel was ultimately a creature of empathy, and he found himself relating to the girl's plight more than he might have liked to admit. "All-seeing Heimdall's chief vassal is an...acquaintance. I can deliver you straight to her bosom, and so to your family again." As he spoke, he drove his flaming sword into the air itself, cutting a pathway through Creation that burned with the bright, cold light of truth; the winds that blew through matching the unnatural chill of Fenris' own terrible breath. "This is for you, Fenriswulf, a doorway to your sister's realm which only you may use.I offer it to you freely, in the name of peace and love."

Freedom Angel continues to negotiate with perfect sincerity. If Fenris agrees to his offer, he will stunt Dimensional Movement 2 (any Asgardian dimension) (Extras: Accurate, Affects Only Others [+0]) [6 pp] off his sword and will deposit Fenris somewhere near the gates of Hel. (Under the theory that she can handle her brother) If Thrude is also sympathetic to his offer, he will send her to the 'offramp' where Bifrost reaches the gates of Asgard. (i.e., probably about as far as an angel can go without a diplomatic incident) From there Heimdall and Valkyrie can deal with her.

The big dinosaur that had been glaring at the choir (or not, it was hard to read their intentions) kicked at the ground, its claws scraping against stone. From the stage, Runs-With-Claws called angrily, "<Gamma! Back down! Even if some of them are wild, they're not ours, and the last thing we need is to make enemies here! Down!"> she added, when Gamma didn't seem keen to listen. With an annoyed hiss, Gamma turned and bounded nimbly away from Wander, landing at Runs-With-Claws' side. "<Bloodfang, you and yours bar the door. The last thing we need is more monkeys in here."> Bloodfang hissed something that sounded rude, but nodded to the two males at her side, and obediently they began to trot around to either side of the door. For her part, though, the female studied both Cannonande and Wail, cocking her head and sniffing the air. "<Very strange...look, all we want is to talk to your leader, whatever you call her. I'm sure she'll reward you for helping us...>" her hissing going up at the end as if talking to a child or a dog.

"<Oh, this is just perfect! First pervert monkeys, now giant monkeys!>" hissed the female that had recently been snickering at Cannonade's headgear. "<Did we land in someone's freak show or what?>" The two big hairless ones on either side of her snickered, their voices deep enough to suggest maleness. Not that it was easy to tell the gender of dinosoids as large as a man (though not even the biggest male bulked as much as Wail did), but on closer inspection there seemed to be two females: one at the door with two escorts, the other in the process of hissing at the Reverend. Of the four males, two were by the door, another was stalking the aisles, and another pacing back and forth in front of the children's choir. "<Quiet, Bloodfang!>" hissed the leader, at least if her brightly-colored harness and air of command had anything to say about it. "<Show some liveborn professionalism, for pity's sake. And don't call him a pervert, he doesn't know any better.>" Abandoning the Reverend, who gave Wail something like a despairing shrug, the raptor at the podium hissed at the air. "<If anyone can hear me, this is Officer Runs-With-Back-Claws-Open of World VIV. If you can hear me, please respond. I have hungry males here and we don't want to damage your property.>"

At Cannonade's arrival, a trio of the dinosaur-things turned to face him: two bigger ones on either side, flanking a smaller one in a bright blue harness. On closer inspection, and they were certainly getting close, he could see a line of feather running down the smaller one's spine from the top of her head down to the base of her tail. When she (and it was definitely a she) hissed at Cannonade, her words resounded in his head somewhere between amusement and disgust. "<Oh, it's one of those disgusting meaties! I guess _some_ things don't change. Where's your leader, monkey, too busy humping to show herself in public?>" "They came bursting out of the basement!" came a voice from behind Cannonade. "There was a big explosion or something, but before we could go down there to look they were right on top of us!"

"Tell me more about the people there," asked Freedom Angel. "Do they have spiritual lives?" For a moment, it sounded like he was about to start preaching, something neither Nick or Fleur had heard much of from the angel from Heaven. "Can they read and write? Do they have lives beyond survival, even with what you've given them?" He didn't sound judgmental, he sounded genuinely worried for them. "If you need help with education, or anything else that can uplift them, you just need to ask. I can work myself, or direct you to teachers I know. Helping someone survive is a great gift; teaching them how to live is even better."

May 22, 2011 9 AM Lincoln The Church of the Eternal Rock of Justice is the oldest traditionally black church in Freedom City. The congregation dates back to the 1850s when the first large black communities began in the city, while the building itself is a magnificent Romanesque cathedral rebuilt and refurbished in the 1920s thanks to lavish donations from a wealthy parishioner turned beauty shop tycoon. Chester Brown, the Bluesman, once sang in the choir here, at least before he decided to take his magnificent vocal talents, and his fists, to juke joints rather than choir. (The acoustics are still magnificent.) Back in the 1960s, 'the Rock' was a centerpiece of Freedom City's civil rights movement: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke here in 1966, back when today's senior pastor Reverend Thaddeus Q. Stone was just another fervent young believer in the crowd. Now in his mid-60s, Stone is famous for rejecting the support of larger religious organizations who make their financial aid dependent on adopting regressive social politics he and his congregants reject: the Rock, as it has so often in the past, stands for integrity and compassion. Numbers of parishoners are falling these days, as they are in most churches, but it remains a centerpiece of Freedom City's community. Parishioners are running out the door; screaming. "There are dragons in the church! There are dragons in the church!" And sure enough, if one looked past the frightened older woman clinging to the rail as she heads down and away, inside the sanctuary is a scene from a science fiction film: six gigantic reptilians, each as tall as a man with a tail whipping behind them as long as they were tall, paced the hallways as those parishioners who hadn't been able to run cowered in their seats or slipped away where they hoped the new arrivals couldn't find them. Today was children's choir! Standing behind his podium, secure in his faith (if not, if he was honest, his ability to live through the next few minutes,) the Reverend Stone faced down fearlessly the largest of the beasts as it stalked down the aisle towards him. No, not a beast... On closer inspection, all the new arrivals were wearing harnesses and carrying gear, their clawed hands working with an unnatural dexterity. And so it was that as the lizard-thing approached him, the Reverend asked, "How can I help you, Brother?" The thing hissed a reply in English that sounded inside the Reverend's head, its foul breath like rotten meat blasting in his face. "<Monkeys! Where are your leaders!>"

Sharl enjoyed the flight over with Miss A, taking in the sights of Freedom City as if he'd never left it. What an exotic, alien place even after living here for so long! He didn't recognize Dragonfly at first, but the first time he heard her voice, he knew his old teammate was there. Citizen flew up and over Dragonfly's head, having made a neat touchdown alongside Miss Americana nearby. "Hi, Dragonfly!" said the program, looking very pleased with himself. His outfit had been modified from the last time she'd seen him, with a glowing wi-fi symbol over the chest. "Oh man, you've got armor! That's great! You look really badass." He beamed. "Miss A brought me back so I can hang out with our patient inside the computer. Did you miss me?"

Sharl frowned, floating pensively with his hands in his pockets. "I hadn't thought of that, but I guess you're right. We've gotta be realistic, and that means something bad might happen. Not everybody can be saved, not even sick little kids who are getting a lot of help." He gave Miss A a reassuring look, though, and said, "But you're the smartest person I've ever met, or even heard of," he told Miss A, "and I know how good you are at saving people. I bet things are going to be just fine," he said hopefully. "Whatever happens, you're trying to help give a little girl her childhood, and that's good."

"Expect...a lot of surprises," said Archer, a faint smile curving his lips. "The real world is a lot more complicated than what you'll face in the Doom Room, and I want to make sure you leave here prepared for that. Just as long as you don't rip the projectors out of the wall like Megastar did last year, you'll be fine." Mr. Archer's semi-secret final was a common subject of discussion among students, especially seniors, wondering what it was exactly they were going to face. But Erin, like I said, you've already passed the exam that really matters. Just not the graded one."

Flitting around the room, testing his familiarity with his projected body, Sharl said, "I'll take good care of her, really. I always kind of wanted a little sister, and this way I can just be there for the big stuff. And hey, we will have a lot to talk about, though if she's anything like most kids, she'll want to be flying around first." He thought for a minute, then said, "I guess downloading like that wouldn't work really well for Tronik, would it?" He smiled faintly. "Even as awesome as you are with computer stuff, fifty million growing robots would be a bad plan. We'll just worry about stuff like flying and walking, and maybe art. Maybe on the way, I'll make plans for a lightpaint board, and I'll teach her artwork..." It sounded like Sharl was already taking a shine to this idea.

"It's not the first time the League has opted not to pick up a promising student because of something from their past, whether it's a troubled personal history, a criminal record, or anything else." Mr. Archer pursed his lips, and added, "I'm sure you've heard that you shouldn't take it personally, and you shouldn't, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be angry. The question is how you handle that anger. You have a lot of potential, Erin, and a lot to give back to the community, whether that's Freedom City or wherever you choose to live. Don't let getting turned away here, even by the Freedom League, keep you from doing that."

"At least we'll be going somewhere with more going on than the Sanctum." For all that it had been full of spectacular wonders, a huge empty headquarters wasn't nearly as novel as being around new and different kinds of people. "It's crazy to think about how there's a whole continent full of people over the horizon," he said, nodding in that direction as he moved around the Lab. "This is going to be a great trip. We'll have a great time, you and the other scientists will save a little girl, and I'll have a little sidekick of my own!" Sobering a little, he added, "Will you be okay with the travel and being in Europe that long?" he asked discreetly.