Avenger Assembled

A while later, Quo-Dis and Corbin lay on his bed, looking up at the ceiling, neither of them having been able to speak for a while. "That was...very remarkable," the Ultiteen finally said, looking quite pleased with herself for all they'd done together. "Remarkable indeed. That was very interesting, Corbin Hughes." She hmmed and turned over to look at Corbin, sheet pulled up to her collarbone. "Did you enjoy it too? I thought you did." she asked, the question looking serious indeed from the look on her face. "Did you?"

At Fulcrum's arrival, Fusion made a decision. She was making the kids uncomfortable, she could tell, and she was wise enough to know that it sometimes took more than one conversation to break through the barriers of defensive snark that teenagers could put up. Better to exit gracefully for the moment, and have a chance to talk with them later, than be remembered as the old lady who ruined the _entire_ evening. "We're really packed...but I won't take a seat away from Grimalkin's teammate!" She slid away from the table, discreetly passing the dealer's deck over towards Grim. As odd as the little pixie was, she was probably better at playing poker. "Here, let me leave the table with some of my chips intact. I'll go stretch my legs for a while." She made a show of yawning, extending her limbs out, and then pulling them back, as she got out of Fulcrum's way.

Master of Disguise PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 24 pp STR 24 [14] (+7/+2) DEX 24 [14] (+7/+2) CON 24 [14] (+7/+2) INT 10 (+0) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 18 (+4) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 (+9 Melee/+13 Unarmed) DEF: +13 (+3 flat-footed) Grapple: +16 Init: +7 Saves: 4 pp TOU +7 (+7 Con) FORT +7 (+7 Con) REF +7 (+7 Dex) WILL +6 (+2 Wis, +4) Skills: 44 r=11 pp Acrobatics 8 (+15)* Bluff 15 (+19)* Concentration 13 (+15) Disguise 1 (+5/+55) Stealth 3 (+10)* Feats: 19 pp Acrobatic Bluff Attack Focus: Melee (3) Attack Specialization: Unarmed (2) Challenge (Improved Bluff) Dodge Focus (7) Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Bluff, Disguise, Stealth) Takedown Attack Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 67 pp Container 7 (Face-Stealer) [35 pp] Mimic 2 (all traits) (Extras: Range [Perception]) (PF: Subtle) [15 pp] Morph 8 (humanoids) (PFs: Covers Scent, Precise, Second Chance 2 [bluff checks, Disguise checks] [20 pp] Enhanced CON 10 [10 pp] Enhanced DEX 10 [10 pp] Enhanced STR 10 [10 pp] Leaping 1 (x2) [1 pp] Speed 1 (10 MPH) [1 pp] costs abilities 24 + combat 24 + saves 4 + skills 11/44 + feats 19 + powers 67 = 150 pts -- Design Notes: I did a Mystique build upthread, but here's my take on a slightly alternate version of the world's best disguise artist. She's really, really good: her Morph is damn near undetectable by anyone even closer to her PL, her Mimic means she can imitate the skills, feats, and knowledges of the people she's copying with incredible accuracy (sure, she can only do 10 PP worth at a time, but 10 pp will buy you a lot of those: they're cheap!), and even their superpowers if she's suitably pressed. With her high Bluff, Acrobatic Bluff, and OK Stealth, she has a lot of options for feinting, tricking, and getting up close and personal before she knocks them out and copies them down to the smallest detail. Her biggest weakness (what keeps her from being ridiculous) is that all her powers are Concentration based. While she's got a very high Concentration score, if nothing else she is still going to have to sleep eventually. But that's OK, heroes usually don't impersonate for longer than it takes to sneak in the door. Note that she doesn't actually have to grapple someone or knock them out to copy them, given that her Mimic is Perception Range. I'd say she'd need time to study someone for a really good Morph, but beating them up is more fun, and shoving them in your closet while imitating them is a lot more merciful than the villainous style of breaking their fool neck. It helps explain where that other guy went, anyway! Sure, it's theoretically possible for specialists above her PL, or even at her own, to penetrate her disguise under the right circumstances, but she can still handle herself in a fight after that happens, especially given some good use of Morph and Mimic even in battle. There are better fighters than her, but that's OK, she can be nearly their equal when she can see them, but of course she can't break PL caps. A sample idea: "Shoot her, she's the fake one!" "No, shoot us both! It's the only way to be sure!" But then it turns out that the _real_ Master of Disguise is the one with the gun! (No, I'm not sure how that makes sense either, but it looks really badass when you see it on the screen)

Icy Genius PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 40 pp STR 30 [20] (+10/+5) DEX 10 (+0) CON 20 (+5) INT 20 (+5) WIS 20 (+5) CHA 10 (+0) Combat: 32 pp ATK: +8 (+10 Cold Control/Unarmed) DEF: +8 (+4 flat-footed) Init: +5 Grapple: +13/+22 Saves: 11 pp TOU +12 (+7 Protection, +5 Con) FORT +8 (+5 Con, +3) REF +5 (+0 Dex, +5) WILL +8 (+5 Wis, +3) Skills: 56 r=14 pp Climb 5 (+10) Craft: Mechanical 10 (+15) Knowledge: Life Sciences 5 (+10) Knowledge: Physical Sciences 10 (+15) Knowledge: Technology 10 (+15) Medicine 5 (+10) Notice 5 (+10) Sense Motive 5 (+10) Survival 1 (+6) Feats: 5 pp Inventor Luck Master Plan Power Attack Speed of Thought Powers: 48 pp Cold Control Array 10.5 (21 pp powers; PFs: Alternate Power x2) [21+2=23 pp] BE: Blast 10 (PF: Accurate) 'freezing blast' AP: Create Object 10 (Extra: Duration [Continuous]; Flaw: Permanent; PF: Precise) 'ice sculptures' AP: Snare 10 (PF: Accurate) 'ice snare' Device 3 (Suit) (Hard to Lose) [12 pp] Enhanced Feat 1 (Alternate Power for Cold Control Array) {1} Enhanced Feat 1 (Attack Specialization: Unarmed) and Enhanced STR 10 (to 30/+10) and Super-Strength 4 (effective Str 50; Heavy Load: 12 tons; PF: Groundstrike) {1+10+9=20/21} Impervious Toughness 10 {10} Flight 2 (25 MPH) {4} Immunity 6 (aging, cold damage) [6 pp] Protection 7 [7 pp] costs abilities 40 + combat 32 + saves 5 + skills 14/56 + feats 5 + powers 48 = 150 pts - Design Notes: So a few years ago, this scientist was caught in a deadly industrial accident that changed him forever. He went a little mad, did some damage, but luckily he hooked up with a local costumed adventurer who helped him fix up his condition and treat his thought-terminally ill wife. So now he's better, and so is she, and he uses his formidable scientific abilities as a superhero. This is something of a merger of Mr. Freeze from Batman and Madame Zero from the Freedom City universe: he wears powered armor that increases his strength and makes him bulletproof, but the armor doesn't give him his powers and he doesn't have a freeze gun: those are innate to his nature nowadays. He's not a great fighter and he doesn't have great saves, he's focused on his wide variety of abilities and his many exciting superpowers. One thing I didn't give him was the traditional vulnerability to non-freezing temperatures that characters like this often have in comics, largely because there are so many ways to do that. You could do everything from Vulnerability (extreme heat) (uncommon, major) which would essentially destroy him on a hot day (and net you about three points) vs a full-on Weakness where his Con is drained directly by being stuck outside of freezing temperatures. If the latter is the case, put Environmental Control in his powersuit for gods sake! That'll lower the points you get for the drawback, but at least you won't die. As it is, consider "is thrashed by normal temperatures" as a Complication. It wouldn't hurt to restrict his suit to people with Environmental Immunity: Cold while you're at it. If he's out of his suit, doing something boss like flying into a building on a column of ice from a broken fire hydrant is a powerstunt off his big array, of course. Put his powers in an easy to lose freeze gun if you want to save even more points, or in the suit if you want to compromise. How's his relationship with his wife now that his body has changed; is she interested in seeing other people, helping him find a cure, or is she interested in getting the same treatment so they can live together in a frozen world? Then there's the issue of that Madame Zero, who offers him a world where he can go outside in full comfort without his suite, and one where he can finally get final revenge on that corporate fatcat he helped put away early in his career. And maybe, if it's a hot enough day and he's been watching the kids play in the park, forever unable to join them without technological shielding, it'll be just a little tempting...

Triplicate Hero PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 36 pp STR 20 (+5) DEX 18 (+4) CON 20 (+5) INT 10 (+0) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 14 (+2) Combat: 32 pp ATK: +8 (+11 Melee/+15 Unarmed) DEF: +15 (+4 flat-footed) Init: +12 Grapple: +15 Saves: 9 pp TOU +5 (+5 Con) FORT +7 (+5 Con, +2) REF +6 (+4 Dex, +2) WILL +7 (+2 Wis, +5) Skills: 80 r=20 pp Acrobatics 1 (+5) Bluff 8 (+10) Climb 1 (+6) Craft (Mechanical) 10 (+10) Drive 1 (+5) Gather Into 8 (+10) Knowledge: Technology 10 (+10) Languages 4 (Algonquin, Dutch, German, Russian) (Base: English) Medicine 8 (+10) Notice 13 (+15) Sense Motive 13 (+15) Survival 3 (+5) Feats: 18 pp Attack Focus: Melee 3 Attack Specialization: Unarmed 2 Dodge Focus 7 Improved Initiative 2 Luck 2 Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Well-Informed Powers: 35 pp Concealment 10 (all senses) (Flaw: Miss Chance Only) [10 pp] Enhanced Feats 11 (Beginner’s Luck, Eidetic Memory, Evasion 2, Improved Crit 2 (Unarmed), Jack of All Trades, Second Chance 2 (Notice, Sense Motive) Takedown Attack 2) [11 pp] Feature 1 (Temporal Inertia) [1 pp] Triplicate Array [10+3=13 pp] Add Autofire 2 to Unarmed AP: Super-Movement 3 (Dimensional Movement) (any dimension) (Extra: Portal [+2]) (Flaw: Uncontrollable) AP: ESP 3 (1000 ft) (visual and auditory) (PF: Rapid [x10]) AP: Teleport 10 (1000 ft) (Flaw: Short-Range Only) costs abilities 36 + combat 32 + saves 9 + skills 20/80 + feats 18 + powers 35 = 150 pts Design Notes: This is a build for a hero like the Legion of Superheroes Triplicate Girl, a Silver Age heroine who had the power to turn herself into three equally vulnerable...look, it was the High Silver Age, just go with it. This version of the concept, like my other Duplicator build, is built without the Duplication power at all: rather than summoning minions, she deploys her other selves to punch many, many times at once, as scouts, shields, or just as ways of popping in and out of places. (i.e., it turns out that was the 'fake' Triplicate and the real one was elsewhere). She doesn't have the area-sweeping or ganging-up powers that the other Duplicator had, because she can only summon two other versions of herself rather than an infinite number, but she's still a pretty effective combatant, all things considered. Fluffwise, I went with the idea that rather than being a mutated Human Alien, she actually has the ability to summon versions of herself from other dimensions, a little bit like Invincible's antagonist Angstrom Levy. Hence the ability to have slightly variable skills and knowledges, as well as the Dimensional Movement. This should be treated as a useful plot device by the GM (i.e., accidentally summoning the traumatized, about-to-be-executed Erde version of yourself is a great adventure seed for your first trip to Naziworld!) as long as it's not in the hands of a player liable to give you problems. Dimensional Movement is pretty problematic, but since she has no way of controlling exactly where she's going to land (at least without a power stunt), that shouldn't cause you problems either since the GM can just say "Well, you've opened a portal to After-Earth. Start making Fort saves vs. Radiation...) The Dimensional Movement thing also lets you split the difference between panicking when "another self" is zapped and spending your dupes like water: assume for the most part that the dupes are just versions of you from similar universes who know this is part of the package deal, and don't be afraid to say "Oops, you got summoned by Ani-Earth You to go fight the Serpent Society for a while..." as an exciting complication. I've given her the languages and skills of someone who's found herself in some unpleasant places by accident, fluff those as necessary for your intentions. Hooking her up with a rubber bouncing man is your lookout, naturally. A character like this can fit into a lot of niches in your game, whether you're in High Silver Age action or a grittier reboot-style adventure. Triplicate Girl gets used for a lot of ribald humor in the Legion comics; I say foursome jokes are all fun and games till suddenly you get hit with three times the child support payments!

Electrical Paragon PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 20 pp STR 30 [16] (+10/+3) DEX 14 (+2) CON 16 (+3) INT 10 (+0) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 10 (+0) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 (+10 Electrical Powers/Melee) DEF: +10 (+3 flat-footed) Init: +6 Grapple: +9/+20/+24 Saves: 11 pp TOU +10 (+3 Con, +7 Protection) FORT +6 (+3 Con, +3) REF +6 (+2 Dex, +4) WILL +6 (+2 Wis, +4) Skills: 48 r=12 pp Diplomacy 10 (+10) Knowledge: Physical Sciences 2 (+2) Knowledge: Technology 10 (+10) Languages 2 (French, German) (Base: English) Notice 8 (+10) Pilot 8 (+10) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Feats: 16 pp Attack Focus: Melee 4 Dodge Focus 4 Improved Initiative Interpose Luck 2 Power Attack Precise Shot Takedown Attack Uncanny Dodge (mental) Powers: 67 pp Electrical Array [22+3=25 pp] Drain Electricity 10 (Extra: Ranged) (PFs: Accurate 2) AP: Electrical Control 10 (PFs: Accurate 2) AP: Enhanced STR 14 and Super-Strength 3 (Heavy Load: 6 tons) AP: Telekinesis 10 (Heavy Load: 12 tons) (PFs: Accurate 2) Flight 5 (250 MPH) [10 pp] Immunity 9 (life support) [9 pp] Impervious TOU 10 [10 pp] Protection 7 [7 pp] Space Travel 1 (1c) [1 pp] Super-Senses 5 (Darkvision, Detect Electricity [2] [mental] (Ranged)) [5 pp] costs abilities 20 + combat 24 + saves 11 + skills 12/48 + feats 16 + powers 67 = 150 pts Design Notes: Here's a build for a flying brick with an electrical theme, like the Blue Superman of the 1990s or like Freedom City's own Captain Thunder. He's a powerful character who can do a wide variety of tricks related to his electromagnetic theme: he flies very fast, hits very hard, and can manipulate electricity in many exciting ways: blasting people with bolts of energy from his hands, draining the electrical energy from foes or from that overloaded substation that's about to blow and take half a city block with it!, or by moving things around magnetically. Note that I've given him regular Telekinesis with the magnetic descriptor, which means he can toss around anything with the descriptor of grabbing onto the electrical aura of people and things and moving them that way. He can actually lift more energy by projecting it than keeping it to hand, but there's just something about punching people in the face with an electro-fist that can't be beat! As I mentioned, this could easily be a Year One Captain Thunder: feel free to adjust the skills I gave him accordingly if you don't like that. (Hmm, now that I think about it, there's something very clever about Captain Thunder, who 'replaced the Centurion' in people's minds for a while in the 1990s, much to their chagrin, being an electrically powered paragon. If nothing else, maybe CT used to wear the ridiculous blue costume.) This could be Captain Thunder II as well easily enough: maybe this is Bolt as an adult, or maybe it's a pilot who Ray Gardener saved via the proper application of multiple bolts of lightning, thus giving a part of his powers to this new guy! If you like the theme, maybe this guy used to be active in the 90s and has recently come back out of action, maybe keeping the classic electrical suit (which wouldn't have been so bad on anyone but Superman) or going his own way. You could tweak the theme around any other element you wanted: Captain Thunder proper is more of a weather-controlling paragon, while someone like Captain Atom or Firestorm would be more focused on nuclear energy. Electricity does have the advantage over nuclear of not having Captain Greenpeace trying to hassle you at work with his endless environmental jiggerypokery, and over weather in that no one bothers you to change the temperature.

Sharl does the same, getting 400 ft closer. Lousy slow Flight 1. Okay, new round. The missile will impact with Protectron's location in 7 rounds and with the Lab in 8. Miss A is up.

Sharl chewed his lip, the electronic teenager torn between helping Miss A, helping Protectron, trying to stop the missile himself, and...I don't know! He thought desperately! "I'm going to keep going," he told the others through his commlink, and so he did. Sharl dipped down right to street level, weaving in and out between buildings as he pushed himself to his utmost. I'm so slow, he thought angrily, I'm so slow, and that missile is so fast. I'm supposed to be a computer program! Why can't it just be a little...faster...

Quo-Dis waited patiently until Corbin closed the door behind her before she fixed her gaze on his, and for the first time he saw her eyes glowing with the yellow-white energy that was her people's birthright. She had a definite energy about her entire aspect, seeming to glow with veritable inner fires. "Take me to your room, Corbin Hughes," she told him in a voice with a definitive reverb. "Take me there now." She demonstrated the urgency of the situation by floating in the air and reaching down to take his hand.

Since Gina needs to stay connected to the robot in this scenario, have an HP for your Cyberkinesis being tied up here.

Miss A: 25 Dragonfly: 23 Protectron: 17 Sharl: 8 Miss A is up

Harpoon Missile is headed for the Lab, fired by the possessed crew of a vessel currently docked at Lonely Point. It'll be a Blast 12 (Area: Burst) effect. There are nine rounds till it reaches the Lab, eight rounds till it reaches Protectron and Sharl at their current location. Sharl: 8

Outside, Protectron and Sharl headed together for the Lonely Point Naval Base, Sharl sucking up his fears in the face of adversity. Think of what Gina would say, or Miss A! Come on, Sharl, he thought to himself, you've faced the end of the world, madness, and everything else, you can handle some low-tech...holy crap! In front of them, suddenly something erupted out of Lonely Point Naval Base in a column of fire, a spear of shining silver that was headed...headed straight for the Lab! "Ohmigodohmigod!" Sharl wasn't familiar with the exact specifications of American naval missile architecture, but he did know that there was a big one headed straight for he and Protectron, and after them their friends, and perhaps the only hope for liberating Freedom City from the rule of the unknown mind that had conquered the city! "Miss A Miss A! They shot a missile at the Lab!"

"Can do," agreed Edge. "Here, I've been trying something new..." He concentrated, and the world faded out, but not in the abrupt wash of blackness and color that had come before. Instead, this time the world reappeared in a gradual slotting of colors like a spectral patterns: first the deep reds, then the blue-greens, the lighter greens, then the blueish reds, then finally deep blue and yellow, all blurring together into the sudden shape of the world. "Woah, weird..." Edge looked around and said, "Okay, I think we're in an alley in the back. Let's go!" And with that, he led the way inside the Harbrook!

Nemesis PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 26 pp STR 26 [16] (+8/+3) DEX 26 [16] (+8/+3) CON 26 [16] (+8/+3) INT 12 (+1) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 12 (+1) Combat: 32 pp ATK: +8 (+12 Unarmed) DEF: +12 (+4 flat-footed) Init: +12 Grapple: +16 Saves: 5 pp TOU +8 (+8 Con) FORT +8 (+8 Con) REF +8 (+8 Dex) WILL +7 (+2 Wis, +5) Skills: 52 r=13 pp Acrobatics 8 (+15) Bluff 9 (+10) Gather Info 9 (+10) Investigate 4 (+5) Knowledge: Streetwise 4 (+5) Languges 1 (English) (Base: Spanish) Notice 8 (+10) Search 4 (+5) Sense Motive 3 (+5) Stealth 2 (+10) Feats: 17 pp Acrobatic Bluff, Attack Specialization: Unarmed 2, Dodge Focus 4, Evasion, Improved Initiative, Leadership, Luck, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge (mental), Well-Informed Powers: 57 pp Enhanced CON 10 [10 pp] Enhanced DEX 10 [10 pp] Enhanced STR 10 [10 pp] Immunity 1 (aging) [1 pp] Leaping 1 (x2) [1 pp] Nemesis 2 (Extra: Controllable, PFs: Assessment, Subtle) [20 pp] Speed 1 (10 MPH) [1 pp] Super-Senses 4 (Detect Weakness [mental]) [4 pp] costs abilities 26 + combat 32 + saves 5 + skills 13/52 + feats 17 + powers 57 = 150 pts -- Design Notes: Controllable is not a real extra for Nemesis, I made it up. But since you're already paying 9 for 5, and there are so few levels of it to begin with on this build, I think it's viable. We've generally suggested people avoid characters with Nemesis on this site. Since, as written, Nemesis requires the Ref to give your powers. This makes life very tough, especially since characters like the Instant Superheroes Nemesis build have very high levels of Nemesis, essentially forcing the Ref to make up a new character sheet for you every time you play. And no one wants to do that! So with this version of the character, I've gone with very low levels of Nemesis, and added the extra that lets you control what powers you get via Nemesis. (The Detect Weakness Super-Sense I added helps give a 'Required Secondary Power' for that Nemesis ability.) It's still a powerful ability, but with only 10 pp to allocate it shouldn't be that tough for an experienced player to handle. The character can also still handle himself just fine in regular melee combat, with the Nemesis more of a helpful surprise than the crutch you hang the sheet on. 10 pp can buy you a lot of things, but my advice is to use it to target the vulnerabilities of your opponents. 8 ranks of Drain Electricity to use vs. Captain Thunder? Super-Strength 4 to use to grapple Lady Liberty? (Though obviously your heroic character shouldn't be doing _that_...) Versus opponents you can't beat, Teleport or Dimensional Movement is a good idea. (In fact, it's a good way for the GM to send a message to the players that they're in over their heads if the guy with Nemesis suddenly has his powers lock on Teleport...) The _player_ has control over how the power works, but I think this archetype is much more fun if the character has no idea, or at least very little idea. Note that Nemesis probably does _not_ apply to things like environmental conditions, at least not as written. Refs generally hesitate to allow power-stunting off Variable Powers, given that the flexibility of VPs is already very impressive indeed. So what happens if you get chucked in a river? That's another reason this guy has so many other powers, so you can always power-stunt something off his other abilities and fluff it as his body adapting. His Gather Info and Well-Informed are part of his general ability to know what's going on with his antagonists.

Robotic Policeman PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 32 pp STR 30 [16] (+10/+3) DEX 18 (+4) CON 20 (+5) INT 10 (+0) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 14 (+2) Combat: 32 pp ATK: +8 (+10 Unarmed/+14 taser) DEF: +12 (+4 flat-footed) Init: +4 Grapple: +19 Saves: 11 pp TOU +8 (+5 Con, +3) FORT +8 (+5 Con, +3) REF +7 (+4 Dex, +3) WILL +8 (+2 Wis, +6) Skills: 52 r=13 pp Drive 6 (+10) Gather Info 2 (+4) Intimidate 8 (+10) Investigate 10 (+10) Knowledge: Streetwise 5 (+5) Medicine 5 (+7) Notice 8 (+10) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Feats: 21 pp Attack Specialization: Unarmed Attack Specialization: Taser 3 Benefit 2 (Hero of the People, Security Clearance [cops]) Dodge Focus 4 Equipment 2 Interpose Luck 2 Power Attack Precise Shot Takedown Attack Uncanny Dodge (radio) Powers: 41 pp Device 4 (easy to lose) (Taser Pistol) [12 pp] -Blast 6 (Extra: Autofire) (PF: Improved Crit) -AP: Stun 6 (Extra: Ranged) (PF: Improved Crit) Enhanced STR 14 [14 pp] Impervious TOU 7 [7 pp] Protection 3 [3 pp] Super-Senses 3 (Darkvision, Radio) [3 pp] Super-Strength 1 [2 pp] (Heavy Load: 1.5 tons) costs abilities 32 + combat 32 + saves 11 + skills 13/52 + feats 21 + powers 41 = 150 pts --- Design Notes: This is my build for a robotic policeman, a cyborg cop who is the result of some program experimenting with combining advanced technology and police training. Freedom City is not a setting that's terribly friendly to officially sponsored superheroes, but I think if you're willing to go with it, a police officer hero can be a good source of drama/complications. Don't make the necessity of reading criminals their rights and such a problem, make it something that works in your favor! He's a good shot, a good hand-to-hand fighter, and a really good inspiration for the boys in blue. Maybe he's a STAR Squad officer who was injured in the line of duty and repaired by Daedalus-tech, thus giving him a profound advantage in the field. I gave him enough Equipment to afford a good police motorcycle, but you could drop that to make him a foot patrolman. Reassign the Drive skill if you do that, of course. Another thing to do is give him a Minion or Sidekick that represents his partner, but as it is he's assigned as a solo cop: if he's got a partner, she's her own character, though I doubt you'll find many people who want to play a PL 3 cop in a supers game! Note that his service pistl is a taser, not a handgun: your superhero really, really shouldn't be busting caps in people. (I know I haven't been entirely consistent with this in this thread, but I do think there's a consistency here vs a vs devices) If you don't like the cop angle, he'd make a fine cyborg trooper recently discharged: that would also let you ignore all the complications of working for the police in the Freedom City setting. Maybe his parts were old enough that the government didn't need him anymore, but the setting is nice enough that they didn't just take them back. If you're going to do that, change his Impervious and tradeoffs a bit: he's outright invulnerable vs. street-level thugs and their hardware, but he's going to have to start making saves in a hurry if he's fighting military-grade folks.

"I cannot," said Talos, creaking sorrow slipping into his mechanical voice. "One of my prize students made a mechanical student to infiltrate the Academy, some months ago, but she was found out and reprogrammed, and used to find him and..." He looked away, sitting with a quiet whine of metal. "Help my people first," said Talos frankly, his height putting him at eye level with Trevor even while seated. "Their wounds are mine. And then, then, I would not mind at least a chassis repair, much less internal adjustments...but as per your earlier question," he said, turning back to Erin, "I cannot. But I know someone who can. My friend the Mind-Master has found an agent inside the school, one whom he contacts telepathically. I will send a messenger to him, and he will meet us here with a connection to his agent...tomorrow." "He means he knows your double, Sage. Or knows of her." Unbidden, Mark kept thinking about his own double, even as the Anti-Talos nodded in agreement to Mark's words. "It makes a lot of sense. All your power, all the power your family has, and that sort of thing...that sort of thing stayed common between worlds. You'd be one hell of a bad guy." He wondered if Hex's mother had left. Or died.

Quo-Dis and Corbin could both have gotten there much faster in the air, but as they piled into the car a few moments later, Quo-Dis reflected that a quick trip would have been so much less fun! With the picnic basket in the back, she gave Corbin a winning smile. "I'm actually going to change right here, if you don't mind." Fortunately for Corbin's sanity, she was wearing a sports bra under her shirt as she pulled on a big, loose-fitting T-shirt, and she laid her shirt across her long, long, muscular legs as she changed into her Daisy Dukes.

"I'll go see if Protectron needs any help," offered Sharl as Miss Americana and Dragonfly got to work. He flew right up through the roof again, coming up next to the flying robot as they both peered over in the direction of Lonely Point. As the scientists worked below, Sharl hmmed, peering in thought as he studied the naval base. The blowing wind coming up between buildings ruffled some old papers on the roof, but didn't do a thing to his black jacket. "This is really weird," he commented to the robot. "Hey, didn't you say Lonely Point is where, uh, they launch things into space?" Even the thought was still hard for Sharl to grasp, but this was hardly the time for him to embrace his love of outer space. "Weird that they'd have so many people down there if the thing's on Earth. I wonder if it's trying to do something with one of the rockets..." - Down below, Dragonfly and Miss Americana were two of the smartest women in the world in one of the best equipped facilities in Freedom City. It was less a question of if they could finish their work and more if they could get it done in time. As it was, with a little elbow grease and some goat corralling, both women were more than successful at what they were doing. Given Miss Americana's genius, it was not hard for her to put together the radio-jamming device she'd wanted, the simple, blank transmitter with the powerful battery had been the work of just a few minutes. The goats were a little more challenging (aren't they always?), but sooner than she'd have thought possible Dragonfly had a telepathic detector built in, complete with little range-finder! As the frightened goats maaed and nipped at their leash, the little display pointed her towards the south; towards Bayview, Port Regal, and the Lonely Point Naval Base. Dragonfly had rigged the machine to speak for the goats, seeing as how talking goats was probably a non-starter "Obey the Mind. Be the Mind. All are one within the Mind. The Lonely will be Conquered. The Collective will be Conquered. All will be Conquered by the Mind. Live for the Mind. Obey the Mind. Fight for the Mind. Obey the Mind. Defend the Mind...." And it went on like that, in a never-ending series of repetitions that sounded decidedly dire.

Empire City The sewer was surprisingly dark, even for Midnight and Supercape with their advanced senses. It wasn't hard to guess why: in a world overrun with malevolent superhumans, a technically-minded rebel in the sewers would probably go to the trouble of fortifying his underground fortress with material that blocked investigatory radiation. But they could all see OK by dint of the lights laid high along the walls, showing them the deep, wide sewer corridors that were so like the sewers back home. Soon a rustle came out of the darkness, and a rat with glowing red eyes and mechanical step came chittering around a corner to greet them. It gave a little tick, studied them, and within seconds the wall itself rolled away, revealing a mechanical fortress within, like gazing into a clockwork world of automatic men and gears. And at the center of it was a familiar robot, his brass body pitted with green scars and corrosion, his step clanking at his approach. "Hello, my friends." Talos was warmer than your average robot, but anyone who'd seen newsreels of Talos-Prime knew that the ancient Greek brass statue had his share of very human emotions. "I knew you would return." "We would not leave you without help," said Mark, stepping right into the robot's underground fortress without hesitation, glad that it was so much more hospitable than the darkened sewers all around them. "I believe you remember myself, Midnight, and Wander. This is Sage, our friend, and this is Supercape, who helped us get here." He'd hoped that neither Sage nor Supercape had some too-wicked counterpart around these parts that would make this part of the operation not work, but so far there weren't any problems. Talos did fix a robot eye on both before he spoke. "Yes. Yes, I am familiar with you both. Come in, please."

"We're ready," said Edge, who despite his seriousness shot Supercape a little smile to defuse some of the older man's nervousness. He was taking a risk doing this as well, even if he wasn't going into the same kind of deadly danger that the others were. "Don't worry," he told Supercape reassuringly, "we know what we're doing." Luckily, Supercape didn't know Edge well enough to realize what an incredibly dangerous thing that was for him to say. "Think of this as an experiment in applied physics. With, uh, people shooting at you. But probably not! As long as we're careful. And lucky!"

SAS team arrested by Libyan farm guards

"But remember," said Fusion maternally to the two kids, "it doesn't matter what we think. You don't need approval from anyone else to be who you are. Being comfortable in your own skin is the first step, and you know that already." Fusion studied her cards for a minute at that, her face hard to read behind its completely covering mask. Listen to me. I'm only thirty, and I sound like their Mom. They probably don't need more than one. "Anyway, uh...so you're getting married?" she asked Grimalkin. "That's great. I've been married eleven years this summer, and it's one of the best things I've ever done. "

You...you son of a bitch! "Tell us where we can find the others," said Edge flatly, the humor fading from him. In the heat of the moment, nothing was worse than perverting what it was to be a superhero. Nothing. "Tell us where we can find them, and we'll tell the judge that you cooperated with us. It'll go easier for you." He folded his arms and added, "If you don't, you'll probably be tried in Freedom City. You know what happens to people who mess with what it means to be a superhero there." They'd probably lock Rook and the others up for a long time, Rook especially since he'd pretended to be their friend. Freedom City was a society that didn't take well to what he'd done.

"Not like that. Tell me like this." She kissed him again, and again, straddling his lap with an intent look on her face. "But somewhere else," she suggested. "Somewhere more...intimate." She ran her finger down his chest, and seemed to have a pretty good idea where she was going. "Bring the picnic if you want. I'm hungry." She grinned at him. "And then we can talk about all the ways we're going to be seeing each other." She didn't look put off by all his talk so much as interested in doing many other things as well.