Avenger Assembled

With a tremendous WACHOOM, the pummeling from the Wanders and the Cobalt Templars blasted the door right off its hinges, sending the giant chunk of metal hurtling into what looked to be a much, much larger room on the inside than it had looked even from the cavernous time-catwalk. Inside was like looking into a gigantic clock built by civilization of gods: legions of tremendous gears and casements clicking and clacking together in an all-encompassing symphony of time. A million blue and green and red and black spheres swung through the air around a central hollow cavity, the globes-on-circles all immediately recognizable as various sorts of Earths, each with its own beat of the ticking Cosmic Orrey. At the heart of the whirling infinite omni-sphere, a problem had developed: two of the Earths had stopped their movement, entangled together by a network of high-tech cables that looked far more mundane than anything else in the room. Indeed, the Earths hadn't just stopped their movements: they were striking each other, again and again. Standing there and watching, working together over an all-too-normal computer panel fused to an arcane array of brass levers and devices by some unknown power, were the grim armored figures of Overshadow, the Nazi super-scientist turned world-conqueror, next to him the shadowy, wispy figure of the Tiger, the paragon terrorist whose terrible shadow powers looked to be no legend. But the two world-conquering monsters weren't alone! A bizarre figure stood by Overshadow's side, a half-man, half-monster consisting of a normal man fused with a black and red mirror-reflection of himself, the instantly-recognizable face of the mad Negator! And by the Tiger was the instantly-recognizable bronze skull mask of Totentanz, the terrible paragon mercenary and worst killer of war-torn Africa. Overshadow spoke first. "You think you can stop me at my moment of triumph!?! Childish fools! The world is already mine! Destroy them!"

Hope sensed readily that she was making Midnight uncomfortable, and nodded politely to him as Mark spoke, "Yeah, I mean, I know a lot of you have been expecting me to go work for the Freedom League," he said. "But I've been thinking a lot lately about how I can really do good for the world with my powers, and I think I can accomplish more there than I can in Freedom City. I'll still wear a costume most of the time, because even there that's how they know superheroes should work, but I'll be trading in azure and gold for blue and white." To Sage, he added, "I've been to Orleans, but I was really little at the time. My, uh, dad used to be friends with the Triplicate Musketeer, and they had a party for the League d'Heroes."

Fusion is going to spend an HP to cancel her fatigue. She's then going grab the tightrope walker and throw the Flying Wallenda at the rope dancer. Grabbing the tightrope walker: 17 Oof, not a good roll. Bad guy's flat-footed, though, does that hit? 46 for the grapple 12 Pooh, well, that stinks. At least the tightrope walker (if hit the first time) has to make a DC 25 Tou save from hitting the wall beyond the rope dancer. Lemme know how that goes.

"Not a big talker, huh?" Fusion taunted, her voice a hissing spit. "Well, maybe you just need a little ENCOURAGEMENT!" Still holding him with all four arms, she dropped to a kneeling position and brutally smashed the ringmaster against her knee, bending him so hard as his back popped that his head hit the floor and knocked him out cold. "Oh, for the love of...you candy-apple little mentalist!" She snapped back to her feet and threw the ringmaster at the juggler who was so bedeviling Rene, firing after him a vicious "Here, you want to juggle something? Juggle a broken collarbone!" And it hit, too, briefly staggering the psycho-kinetic. She was just about to move when she felt a wave pass over her, and her arms smashed against the ground, the suckers holding her up as she nearly fell. "Oh, you wanna go, honey!? Let's go!" she spat, turning all her attention on the circus performer who'd attacked her.

29 Untripped! I go to post IC

EDITED Since TT has indicated the Ringleader is knocked out by Fusion's first hit, she will instead surge to use him as a missile weapon. She will throw him at the juggler. 25 DC 25 Tou save for the unconscious Ringleader and the Juggler both. Go ahead and roll.

Maintain the Grapple: 47 She's going to do damage. DC 25 Tou save. She's then going to surge. She'll throw him straight up into the ceiling (with her Super-Strength, she can lift 13 tons as a Heavy Load, so she can easily throw a normal-sized man that far.) He'll take DC 25 damage (because that's her unarmed damage) hitting the ceiling, then another DC 25 (from falling 100 ft) falling damage from hitting the floor. Go ahead and roll, and then I will post IC.

Sharl was soon on the phone to the Lab, using Miss A's cell that she kept tucked in a discreet pocket in her otherwise form-fitting costume. His magnetic fingers dialed the keys and he was talking to a staffer there, one of the assistant lab managers he'd met during his tour. "Yes, we need a secured room for a lady from another planet. I don't know what kind of alien, she's a shapeshifter with sort of maroon blood. No, I don't think she's a Grue." He looked to the others for confirmation, and no one seemed particularly worried by that prospect. "All right, I'll let them know." He hung up and said to Miss A, "Okay, they're going to have a room set up for her when we get there, if we're slow enough."

Hope put her hand on Mark's thigh while fixating on Trevor, an intent look on her face. "Trevor, did you know the first Midnight?" she asked him. Trevor's secret ID was known to more people than he probably would have liked, but evidently Mark and Claremont as a whole hadn't been gossiping about who he was and where he came from. "You don't have to answer if you don't want," she added, "I know you have a secret ID. But Midnight's an...important man where I'm from." She ate with her other hand without interrupting her conversation at all, something she was evidently very good at. "So, uh, I'm going to Tanzania in July," said Mark suddenly, his unusually quiet voice at normal volume for everyone else. "I just wanted to make that announcement!" he added, brightening a little, as if actually saying the words made them more real. "I'm going to Tanzania for a three-month internship with UNISON's after graduation. If it works out, I might stay there the whole year."

APPROVED

Exiled Prince PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 30 pp STR 18 (+4) DEX 16 (+3) CON 22 (+6) INT 10 (+0) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 10 (+0) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 (+14 vs. Medium-sized) DEF: +6 (+14 vs. Medium-sized) Init: +3 Grapple: -4 vs Medium Saves: 9 pp TOU +6 (+6 Con) FORT +7 (+6 Con, +1) REF +7 (+3 Dex, +4) WILL +6 (+2 Wis, +4) Skills: 56 r=14 pp Bluff 10 (+10) Climb 6 (+10) Diplomacy 10 (+10) Notice 8 (+10) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Stealth 10 (+13/+30) Survival 4 (+6) Feats: 9 pp Challenge (Accelerated Climb) Evasion Fearless Hide In Plain Sight Move-By-Action Power Attack Second Chance (Reflex save vs. being stepped on) Takedown Attack Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 56 pp Blast 6 ‘fireblast’ [12 pp] Device 1 (Sword of Lilliput) (Easy to Lose) (PF: Restricted [Fine Size Only]) [4 pp] Strike 2 (PF: Improved Crit, Mighty, Precise) Leaping 1 (x2) [1 pp] Speed 1 (10 MPH) [1 pp] Shrinking 16 (Extras: Duration [Permanent] (+0), Normal Strength, PFs: Innate, Normal Movement, Normal Toughness) [35 pp] Super-Movement 1 (Slow Fall) (PF: Innate) [3 pp] costs abilities 30 + combat 32 + saves 9 + skills 14/56 + feats 9+ powers 56 = 150 pts --- Design Notes: He’s the exiled prince of a corrupt kingdom, the lone hero of a world that’s turned against him in every meaningful way. One day he’ll take back his birthright and bring peace and order to his people, but now he’s on the loose, fighting for justice and honor in a world he never made. His home islands are very far from here, in the middle of a long, cruel war that’s stretched on for what feels like forever. His father, a cruel despot, exiled him for speaking out against his rule, and now all he has is his twin blades and the elemental magic that his people learned to defend themselves against the most terrifying threats of all. One day, one day he'll get back what’s his and he’ll save the day, but until then he’s an angsty, brooding prince, a skilled martial artist and elemental blaster, a master combatant with blade and flame who just happens to be three and a half inches tall. That’s right, this is Avatar’s Prince Zuko if he were the exiled son of the Emperor of Liliput. Deal with it. He’s actually pretty badass. Our house rules for Shrinking, while not perfect, do make it a much more effective power than it is normally. He’s a straight PL 6 against opponents his own size, making him a badass gentleman adventurer who may need some help against a really powerful enemy, but he’s a fast, mobile swordsman and blaster versus large opponents, easily capable of holding his own in combat against opponents much much larger and more powerful than he is. He’s in serious trouble if he gets into a grapple, of course, but between those killing blades (well, about the size of a scissors if pulled apart and forged into swords) and his fire powers, hopefully that's not ever going to come up. He’s almost always going to catch Medium-sized opponents flatfooted given his ridiculous Stealth bonus and Hide in Plain Sight: don’t be afraid to Power Attack your opponents as hard as you possibly can. His Leaping and Speed let him pull off some nice wire-fu style tricks, while his Slow Fall is an innate property of his small size: little things don’t fall with the same force (given air resistance) as big things. Rock that Gulliver connection, I say! Give him ties to the floating island of Laputa and make those mind-controlling horses his enemies. Perhaps Lilliput nearly fell after its first contact with the outside so many years ago, and the grim empire that sprang up afterwards is a natural descendent of the petty-minded kingdoms that once ruled those tiny islands. He’s not the first exiled prince of an outlawed state, no indeed. He’s got that Fearless because you’d kind of have to be a superhero in a world of giants, where you’re a twelfth the size of anything else and cats are a decent threat to your personal well-being. When suitably wroth, rip off your shirt as the doves fly by and pose artfully and angstily, a brooding champion of justice in a world that forever seems inclined to give him setbacks. He’d be a natural Claremont PC, but you could easily make him an adventurer in his own right, perhaps with an NPC elderly relative following him around?

Amoeba PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 26 pp STR 12 (+1) DEX 16 (+3) CON 16 (+3) INT 14 (+2) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 14 (+2) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 (+10 Melee) DEF: +10 (+3 flat-footed) Init: +7 Grapple: +13 Saves: 10 pp TOU +10 (+3 Con, +7 Protection) FORT +6 (+3 Con, +3) REF +6 (+3 Dex, +3) WILL +6 (+2 Wis, +4) Skills: 56 r=14 pp Bluff 8 (+10) Diplomacy 3 (+5) Knowledge: Life Sciences 8 (+10) Languages 3 (German, Latin, Spanish) (Base: English) Medicine 13 (+15) Notice 8 (+10) Sense Motive 13 (+15) Feats: 12 pp Attack Focus: Melee (4) Dodge Focus (4) Improved Initiative Luck Power Attack Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 64 pp Bacteria Array [32+1=33 pp] Corrosion 10 (PFs: Incurable, Reversible) AP: Nauseate 10 (PFs: Incurable, Reversible) Immunity 8 (cold, critical hits, disease, sleep, starvation and thirst, suffocation) [8 pp] Impervious TOU 10 (Flaw: Limited [Physical Only]) [5 pp] Insubstantial 1 [5 pp] Protection 7 [7 pp] Regeneration 0 (PF: Regrowth) [1 pp] Super-Senses 4 (Darkvision, Microscopic Vision 2 [cellular]) [4 pp] costs abilities 26 + combat 24 + saves 10 + skills 14/56 + feats 12 + powers 64 = 150 pts --- Design Notes: This build is for a character whose power is being a giant amoeba, or colony of bacteria, or other such microscopic life. It’s based on the suggested archetype from Instant Superheroes, with a few additions of my own. He’s pretty powerful, easily capable of slipping his way through solid objects, dissolving them with a touch, infecting people with temporary diseases, and taking some pretty heavy punishment. I gave him Darkvision to explain how his individual parts could see while inside a body, and cellular-level Microscopic Vision so the various little bacteria and other microscopic organisms he’s made of can actually see each other. He doesn’t have the Duplication that the Instant Superheroes build had. While that was kind of funny, it was much too expensive, and put the corebook archetype way, way over cost. He also has the sort of immunities you’d expect a colony of microscopic life to have; he doesn’t have internal organs as such, so he’s immune to critical hits, and he can’t get sick, but an injection of antibiotics (at least with the poison descriptor) may make him injured indeed. My made-up origin story is that he was a doctor at a big-city free clinic before bad guys broke into the clinic looking for drugs to sell: they injected him with syringes when he tried to resist, and he didn’t just survive the subsequent hundreds of simultaneous infections, he used them to gain superpowers! You can tweak that however you want, but I like the image of a guy who is effectively made of diseases functioning as a superhero. There are a couple of low-level superheroes with a concept similar to this. He also might be an evolved colony of bacteria who never was human to begin with; a hive mind that’s united into one singular hero! A good lesson in cleaning out the refrigerator, really. This build would also work great for a former supervillain turned superhero since these are just the sort of creepy superpowers that might have driven someone to turn to crime back in the more innocent days of the Silver Age. Maybe the writers had just watched one of those cool 60s documentaries on microscopic life! Backstory is up to you, as ever. One possible tweak to this build would give him Healing as an AP off his bacteria array; perhaps by dumping a colony of cells into a given injury to knit it up superquickly? A real ‘disease’ AP would probably be something like Nauseate with the Contagious and Disease extras and the Incurable PF; giving him a much lower point value for an impressively dangerous power. I didn’t give him that in this build because making lots of people sick for a long time is not something superheroes should be doing on a regular basis! As it stands he’s got Reversible on most of his powers, giving him the ability to pull all those little bacteria and such right out of any given injury. Something like that also explains his Regen, which would also explain that Healing power-stunt. Another possible change would be to drop or alter his skills so that he’s not so knowledgeable about medical matters. One definite complication for him is his no-doubt bizarre internal anatomy. If most regular doctors, even super-doctors, have no idea how to treat you when you’re hurt, that’s definitely a complication worth some HP, particularly if that also applies to Healing and similar powers. (And another good reason for that Regen, and maybe to buy it up even higher!)

Druid PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 22 pp STR 18 (+4) DEX 12 (+1) CON 16 (+3) INT 10 (+0) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 12 (+1) Combat: 28 pp ATK: +6 (+10 Magic/Melee) DEF: +12 (+4 flat-footed) Init: +4 Grapple: +14 Saves: 13 pp TOU +8 (+3 Con, +5 Protection) FORT +6 (+3 Con, +3) REF +6 (+1 Ref, +5) WILL +6 (+1 Wis, +5) Skills: 64 r=16 pp Climb 6 (+10)* Diplomacy 4 (+5) Handle Animal 9 (+10)* Knowledge: Arcane Lore 5 (+5) Knowledge: Life Sciences 5 (+5) Knowledge: Theology and Philosophy 5 (+5) Notice 9 (+10)* Swim 6 (+10) Stealth 6 (+10) Survival 9 (+10)* Feats: 23 pp Attack Focus: Melee 4 Dodge Focus 4 Improved Initiative Luck 2 Move-By Action Power Attack Sidekick 6 (as Wonder Dog) Skill Mastery (Climb, Handle Animal, Notice, Survival) Takedown Attack Track Uncanny Dodge (auditory Powers: 50 pp Device 2 (Holy Scimitar) (Easy to Lose) [6 pp] -Strike 6 (PFs: Improved Crit 2, Precise, Mighty) Enhanced Feat 1 (Animal Empathy) [1 pp] Immunity 3 (aging, disease, poison) [3 pp Magic Array [25+3=28 pp] Snare 10 (PFs: Accurate 2, Indirect 3) AP: Blast 10 (PFs: Accurate 2, Improved Crit, Variable Descriptor 2 (any elemental) AP: Comprehend 2 (speak to and understand animals) and Flight 1 (10 MPH) and Morph 4 (any animal) and Strike 6 (PF: Mighty) and Super-Senses 4 (Acute Tracking Scent, Low-Light Vision) AP: Healing 10 (PFs: Persistent, Regrowth) Protection 5 [5 pp] Speed 1 (10 MPH) [1 pp] Super-Movement 4 (Permeate [full speed], Trackless) (Flaw: [Natural Terrain Only]) [4 pp] Super-Senses 1 (Communications Link; with Wonder Dog) [1 pp] costs abilities 22 + combat 28 + saves 13 + skills 16/64 + feats 23 + powers 50 = 150 pts --- Design Notes: OK, I’m not hugely happy with this build, but this is my attempt at a D&D-style druid as a PL 10 (150 pp) starting character. The big weakness with building a D&D-style mystic is that there’s not really room for the flexibility of D&D-style magic in Mutants and Masterminds, not without using Variable Powers from Warriors and Warlocks I’m not real happy with. (The book has a druid-style character with Shapeshift in an array, but I’m a little squiged out by the thought of a Variable Power inside an Array: you’re supposed to turn into animals, not cheese!) Druids are also (famously) quite powerful for D&D, and it’s not easy to make a character who can blast magic, talk to animals, turn into animals, and use an animal companion with gusto. So here’s my attempt at building a character who can do all those things: she’s not as flexible as the Jungle Lord or as powerful as the Mystic, but she can do work that at least passes in various different fields. Her wolf uses the stats of the Wonder Dog from Golden Age; not really suitable for combat in a PL 10 setting, but certainly handy to have around. The wolf can smell and track, and run for help to warn other heroes if the hero falls down a well! (Perhaps joined by Bob Dylan?) She herself can stab people with her scimitar, blast people with elemental fury, or ensnare them with vines. Her wild shape AP is a bit of a kludge, but with the right descriptors you can use it to justify just about any Medium-sized animal: which admittedly cause their own problems in an urban setting, but they’re still worth having. I figure the strike represents a magical augmenting of an animal’s biting and clawing, but still default non-lethal thanks to the way combat works in M&M. You could easily change the mechanics if you wanted a slightly better put-together look at the concept, this is strictly an attempt to build a D&D-style druid. Think about what this concept means in an urban superhero setting rather than its native high, or maybe low, fantasy. Do you protect the natural scenery of the city, defending trees and parks and rivers against the depredations of man and the human predators who prey on each other by night? Cities certainly have a natural splendor all their own. But they’re still hardly a natural environment, however ‘green’ they pretend they are. Or are you more of a hippie-type, pushing back against the city itself? I think it’s possible to be the latter and be a superhero, so long as you don’t annoy people about it. Dealing with the Green Man is a natural problem for you. Another idea is a character who actually lives over in the Wharton State Forest west of the city, and who only comes out to Freedom to get into some crazy saving the world action. As written this character has no ties to other religions, but a connection to certain strands of European-style paganism is an interesting idea.

"Woo-hoo!" Mark jumped to his feet and started applauding, joining in the celebration of the guests as Derrick and Stesha were united as husband and wife. "Yaaay!" Mark had a pretty strong personality, and between his moxie and the family's happiness, soon lots of people were on their feet celebrating. There was music playing, and people were crying with joy, and it was really very beautiful. Aw man, I've totally got to get married! These things are sweet!

"Aw, rats. I'm sure you'll get it back," he said sympathetically to Geckoman. Geckoman loved that airship, and who wouldn't? It was fully awesome! "At least you've still got a sweet ride. All right, let's do this. Thanks, Ms. de Joie." He tucked the flower into his lapel and soon looked like quite the dashing fellow, or so he said so himself, or maybe like he and Geckoman were about to take their girlfriends out to superprom. "We'll call you soon as we've got anything." Heh. It is just like prom!

Sharl turned red with embarrassment and put his hand on his mouth. Oh no, that's awful! He'd thought her an explorer like himself, but instead she was a refugee, a survivor of a disaster so big he could hardly imagine it. He stepped back and let Miss A handle this situation, his projector still in the crook of one arm. Man, she must think I'm a little jerk. he thought. "I can call the Lab," he murmured to Miss A, trying to stay useful. "Or maybe Doctor Archeville?"

For his part, Mark pulled the chair out for his date, who had not incidentally managed to sit herself opposite where Erin and Trevor were as well. Hope was giving Trevor and Erin both looks of frank assessment, and Mark was beginning to get the unwholesome idea that perhaps she'd been looking for more from this date than the roll in the hay he'd been led to believe. When did my dating life get so complicated? It's just supposed to be about dating girls and maybe having sex if they want to. A gentleman, he took his cue from the hostess about how to act.

Neither of the Edges seemed inclined to argue with that solution, even though one was technically the leader of one of the Wanders. "All right," said Edge, standing behind his Erin, "Let's do this together and we can take down this...holy crap!" From behind them in the corridor, a volley of machine gun fire ripped out, tearing into the flesh of the twin girls who'd last spoken out and (of course) ricocheting off into the whirling gears all around them, temporal energies in the corridor ensuring that not one so much as bounced back to nick any of the other teammates. Down the corridor, Edge saw a mixed bag of SHADOW goons and those Middle Eastern-looking thugs, all of them hastily reloading after their machine gun fire had proven so ludicrously ineffective. "Sage, Midnight, take those guys out!" Edge barked. "Everybody else, let's bring this thing down!" For his part, Edge wasn't inclined to listen immediately. "This is for 9/11, you bastards!" he spat down the hallway, his father's face flashing before his eyes as a wave of concussion bowled the terrorists and their allies from the other universe off their feet. "Don't let them get away!" He turned back to the Wanders and said, "Come on, guys! We get this door down, we save two worlds AND we get the Tiger and his best buddy! Do it for all the Freedom Cities, everywhere!"

"Wow!" This was a day for Sharl to be impressed. "Are you...are you okay? That's great!" He clapped his hands together, the holographic contact oddly silent. "I mean you look different, but you're healed up! That's really great!" He shot a look at Miss A and added, "Can all your species do that, fix damage and things? I mean your ship just crinkled away into nothingness, and your injuries just healed away too! That's really cool!"

"Woah..." Sharl trailed off, catching himself before he could use any number of definitively alien (or at least Tronik-local oaths). "Miss A, are you okay?" he asked her, shooting a worried look at the dying, glowing woman even as he did so. "I thought I saw you get zapped in there." Sure enough, she was looking scorched, but it looked all superficial. "I don't know what's wrong with her," he said, opting not to comment on the energy overload that had damaged a superficial part of his own display. A scorched jacket sleeve was nothing before someone actually dying. "I don't know what to do. Should we take her and get help?" He thought of his own travels and how far they'd taken him from home, and what it would have meant to die around people whose language he barely spoke.

Sharl did just what Miss A said, watching through the door as she got the parts loose, keeping his projector clutched to his chest in a grip that would have been white-knuckled on a normal teenager. "Come on! Come on!" Turning to the civilians, he yelled, "In Salvation's name, get back! We don't know how hard this is going to go off!" He didn't ask if the girl Jill could do it; she was a superhero, and from all he'd seen they were able to save the day. When Miss A was out, he hesitated just a moment before getting between the fallen craft and its former pilot, solidifying his body with an effort. I've got to do something...

Sharl deferred to the people who knew what they were doing, recognizing that Jill had first aid training he did not have. "I don't know anything about taking care of sick people," he said, "even aliens." He wanted to help Miss A, but he didn't know enough about these computers to interface with them even as well as he could Gina's computers at home. "This thing might explode!" he yelled to the growing crowd of civilians. "You should all get back! Miss A, do you need help?" he called inside. She knew more about his capabilities than he did, or so it seemed sometimes.

"We're not," said Hope with a little smile. "Not really, anyway. I asked Zarana first," she added, "and she thinks it's swell." Tearing her eyes away from Mark, the resistance fighter studied Erin for a moment, her demeanor growing more serious, and added, "You're right, we haven't hung out nearly enough. I've been busy hanging out with the Alterniteens this year. I saw what you did to that giant robot in the Doom Room last week. That was pretty keen." The old-timey slang felt perfectly natural in the girl's mouth. "I never did thank you for last year." "Yup," said Mark, who looked remarkably difficult to embarrass. "Hope's not really my girlfriend," he confided, "but we get along okay. She's very physical, and that's something I respond well to." He looked at Jill and considered how to broach the subject of her date. "So, do you find Claremont a good school? Are they...supportive?"

"Ow! What the-" Sharl slapped at his arm as a spark hit it, as surprised as anyone when it left a visible scorch mark on his leather jacket. He gave Miss A her space after that, watching worriedly as Jill O'Cure tended to the mortally injured alien. _She has to be an alien,_ he thought, _all those medical shows can't be wrong! Ah man, and look at this ship..._ Despite himself, he wondered where she'd come from and what it all meant. "Do you think her name is Kairos?" he muttered to no one in particular, watching the treatment. He'd never really seen someone this hurt before.

When Sharl pulled his head back, the electronic teenager looked deeply discomfited. Watching superhero stuff on the television was cool, but actual suffering was all too gritty and real even through the interface of his holographic senses. "Uh, human blood is red, right?" At the look that got him, he added, "There's a woman in there who doesn't speak English and she looks really badly hurt. I think she showed me where the door is, or the translator, or something. Since going through didn't fry my signal, I'm going to go in and push it." And so the teenager did, disappearing inside the alien spacecraft and pushing the big green button.