Avenger Assembled

Citizen: Real World Fusion: Dark Mother White Saturday Walked Alone Vignette Edge: Brit Machine Rusty Cage Heroes of Our Past Harrier: Vanquish and Vitriol Security Precautions Vignette GMing: Grapevine Holidays Humble Put my GM points towards Edge, please

"Holy macaroni!" Edge exulted at the rapid-fire capture of Adamant and just as rapid escape by the giant Beast. Gathering up daka crystals, he said "Okay, Wander, grab me and carry me along! Midnight too if he doesn't have his jetpack handy! Looks like the Beast is headed away from the city, so we don't have to take him down immediately, but we'd better do it fast! If he gets out of Dakana and away from all these daka crystals, there'll be no stopping him! Remember, we're the best there is, and we're going to show that Beast that freedom never sleeps! Go Young Freedom!" As usual with Mark, the sheer power of his belief made his words especially weighty.

Sharl spent the next few hours watching television, flipping from channel to channel as he tried to take in all he could about the strange new world around him. He'd get online and search the local version of the 'Net later, he was smart enough to know he couldn't do research without knowing what to look for. _This is it,_ he thought with a low whistle as he watched Jack of all Blades rip through the Crime League, watched Lady Liberty punch through a Communist robot's face, saw a thousand other acts of heroism big and small. _This is what I've been looking for all my life. Beings of great power and great character, who want to use their great powers to make a better life for everyone else._ He hadn't expected to fall asleep, but he did anyway, dozing off in his chair to guilty thoughts of his worried family. But when those passed, and he was alone, the computerized reflection of a man dreamed of flying.

Quo-Dis didn't look convinced, but she did subside a bit. "I suppose that works for your people," she finally said, "just as our way works for my people." So much for choosing your mates freely, she thought irritably. Why couldn't a society that practiced such free love practice some of that free love with her? "I certainly don't want you to think I have any sympathy for the monsters who've caused so many problems for your people," she said, looking at him earnestly. She hadn't mentioned her cousin to him, and she wasn't likely to do so now. She squeezed his thigh imploringly, batting her big blue eyes. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

24 Mark will Inspire! 22 Good roll for the Beast. So we're: Edge Wander The Beast Midnight

"Okay, I guess I'll do that," said Sharl, who hadn't really expected anything better. "I mean..." He gestured to the room all around them, rooms now that Gina had added so much, "this is much more than I could ever have expected. I'll keep studying, I guess, and trying to think of what I'm going to tell my parents when I get home." His shoulders settled, but he didn't look defeated so much as he looked tired. "Are you a superhero?" he asked her. "Like the other people I saw on TV with powers."

Quo-Dis didn't have any strong feelings on visiting Kansas City either way, but agreed with Corbin that the trip sounded interesting. "Wings are all right," she said lightly, "but I find normal quadruped humans much more attractive," she said with a wink at Corbin, putting her hand on his thigh under the table. "I mean, what will people think if you pass down genetic impurities?" she asked, sounding legitimately worried by the process. "You might be thrown out of the group, or denied the right to mate!"

"I DUNNO, YOU'LL HAVE TO AZK THE GIRLZ. I DON'T GO OUT MUCH. ITZ DANGEROUZ!" Beearthur seemed determined to share his plans for interior decorating with the two heroes in lieu of explaining exactly what was going on with the radiation symbol nearby, but luckily a frost-rimed Beatrizz arrived back at that juncture to give more information: after pressing deeper into the hive for warmth. "ITZ VERRY VERRY COLD OUT!" she explained, the bees having evidently tried to fly above the clouds on the way back only to have run into further problems. When she was alongside two of her sisters, and everyone deep inside the foyer of the giant rocky hive, the building lit only by what looked like an iridescent rock glowing on some of the walls, an exotic compound no doubt helpfully provided by the building's maker, Beatrizz explained as she warmed. "ITZ UNDERGROUND AWAZAWAY ON A METAL ISLAND THING, OUT IN THE WATER. I FOUND IT WHEN I WAZ EXPLORING AND WANTED TO MAKE ZURE YOU HEARD. IZ A VERY DIZTURBEEING PLAZE, AND THERE ARE NOT MANY ANIMALZZZ AROUND THERE!"

Initiative, please!

Eventually, after much preparation, the heroes went into action. Avenger, Christmas Crusader, and Jack of all Blades went around past the empty reindeer pens towards the rear entrance of the Workshop, passing through doorways of cunningly shaped pine trees into a long corridor filled with cells constructed cunningly from Tinker Toys. Before Avenger could do more than speculate about why Santa Clause had a jail cell, suddenly a uniformed, bearded figure entered while dragging a white-faced older woman with chubby cheeks and grey hair in a disheveled bun. It didn't take long for Avenger to recognize the massive figure in blue and red, nor the lady he was manhandling. The Nutcracker's got Mrs. Claus! What the hell, he could roll with this. "Jack," he muttered to the swordsman, too quietly for the nutcracker to overhear, the wooden soldier busy with telling Ms. Clause how he was going to beat up all the nice children for Christmas, and take their cookies too, "You and Crusader take this guy. I'm the only one of us who can get through those bars without setting off some kind of alarm. I'll deal with the cells." And with that he slipped off to begin working on the cell doors, leaving Jack of all Blades to rescue a lady in peril! - Outside, no sooner had Victory, Dragonfly, Jill O'Cure, and Miss Americana entered the airspace over the workshop than a flash of ice and smoke erupted in the air nearby and an ethereal-looking woman in white and blue appeared with a look of sinister malice on her face. Through the snowy vortex behind her came a legion of furry giants on jetpacks! "Fools!" Desparia screamed. "You'll never have Christmas, never! All you've won is your doooooom!"

"I will," said Fusion, looking downcast but not defeated. She turned and stared up at the bulk of the equipment, her tentacles folded close around her midsection, as if she was hugging herself. "Since the accident mutilated me, I've spent every day of my life trying to be an example to women that they can still matter however they look, that they don't have to judge themselves or anyone else on the basis of their appearance." A thin smile appeared through her mask. "As bad as today was, at least I know some people don't. Thank you." And with that she flickered to invisibility, and swung away into the shining light of a Freedom City afternoon.

OK, what's next? (Maybe skip things ahead a bit, since we've gotten so slowed down?)

The bees were effusive in their thanks for both Fleur and Phantom, a noisy, fiery family reunion that looked like something from a drug-addled musician's fever dream. There were bee songs and bee dances, and the bees themselves chattering in booming buzzes that was a little hard to follow for native English speakers. There was a lot of work ahead of the bees, but the family really had been reunited, and the two heroines could be more than happy about the victory they'd won.

Phalanx and Psyche's joint effort dealt with the monster of adamantium in seconds: the two titantic teens swept in and pulled Adamant up and away, a well-placed tractor beam from Hellion's orbiting spaceship pulling the immortal, invincible killing machine up into the stratosphere with no more than an anguished howl from the unkillable monster that had posed such a threat to the world for so long. That left Wander, Edge, and Midnight to face off against the Beast of Kilimanjaro itself, a huge, hulking creature with gray armored skin like a rhino that towered as tall as a great bull elephant on two legs. Though it had been nearly double the size of Adamant, and was much larger than any of the kids, the great beast didn't look that formidable...until it suddenly gave a cunning leer and vaulted away in a high, surging arc that carried it over the side of the mountain.

"I'm going home," said Edge simply. "My family needs me, and I need to be there." He turned back and looked at Cannonade as he reached for the grapple gun at his belt, ready to hop his way up and start swinging through the skyscraper himself. "You got a chance to see what kind of man your grandfather was, Cannonade, and I guess I did too. They're both heroes, just like us. The question is, are you the kind of man he'd want you to be?"

"I must go," said Harrier suddenly, looking down at the city beneath them. "To be seen too close to a portal to the Terminus will be difficult for me," he explained with brutal honesty. "I understand that my life here is on the sufferance of the heroes of Freedom City. I don't wish to offend anyone. Victory, you must go and find your answers." His voice was serious as he faced the cyborg. "I will offer you whatever help I can. But fighting alongside me will only make what is already a difficult task harder. I am sorry for that." And with that, he turned and jetted away, his silhouette ominous against the darkening sky.

"I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT MONEY IZ," the giant bee explained, "BUT ZTATUZ ARE NIZE. I COULD BUILD ONE OF THE QUEEN! OR OF ME! I AM THINKING ABOUT BUILDING ONE OUT OF ROCK THE WAY GAIAN KNIGHT DID. HE'Z A PRETTY COOL GUY, BUILDZ ROCKZ AND NOT AFRAID OF ANYTHING." He bobbed slightly in the air. "ZO DID YOU WANT TO COME IN AND ALL?" The giant bee asked. "THERE ARE ZOME GUYZ JUZT HANGING OUT, AND THE GIRLZ ARE ZEEING IF THERE'Z ANYTHING WILD TO EAT. HEY! THAT REMINDZ ME! BEATRIZZ HAD A QUEZTION SHE WANTED ME TO AZK YOU IF I ZAW YOU, ZO THIZ IZ A GOOD TIME." Reaching out with a giant leg, the bee sketched a pattern as big as either of the two heroes in the dirt. "WHATZ THAT MEAN?"

The happy bees continued their almost-deafening celebration for a while, then the majority of them ducked inside to explore their new home, the sheer vibration of their wings making the earth vibrate ever so slightly under everyone's feet. Beeatriz stayed out to thank the two heroes again, looking as pleased as only a bee-monster can. "WE ARE FOREVER IN YOUR DEBT, GAIAN KNIGHT! WILL YOU ZTAY WITH UZ FOR A WHILE AND BUILD MORE HIVEZ?" she asked ingenously, though from her tone she didn't really expect a positive answer. "OR AT LEAZT VIZIT MORE? WHEN WE HAVE BABEE BEEZ, THERE WILL BE ZO MUCH ZPACE!"

"So that was real, at least," he said, letting out a sigh. "I wondered if it was all a fiction, if all our memories are just lies programmed into us by whoever made us. But if the city was real once..." He walked over and laid his hand on the wall, closing his eyes as he felt the wood beneath, rougher than the metal furnishings he'd known most of his life. "Don't tell people," he finally agreed. "Not until you have something more to show them than this. I can accept what you're telling me," he finally admitted. "Because of everything you've shown me, and because of everything I've been through in getting here. But most people wouldn't. Not even close." He turned back to Gina and took a breath, dismissing the irrational urge to hold his breath and see what happened. After all, he didn't really have lungs. "What do you need me to do?" he asked her. "How can I help you? With me, or with...with anything else? I owe you my life."

"It wouldn't be," said Sharl warily, still not ready to fully accept the reality she was giving him. "I don't know if it would be worse or better if people believed you or not." He sighed heavily, running his hands through his hair. "This wasn't supposed to be like this!" he suddenly yelled. "I was...I was just supposed to find out if aliens were real, and inspire people so they could know we weren't alone anymore. Not find out that nothing's real, and we're talking about my whole world like it's just a badly-built computer. You said the Centurion saved us. Who did this in the first place? Who would do something like this?"

He thanked her for the information and began a slow, measured exploration of the facility, methodically pacing the corridors and rooms as he measured length, width, and height by his own body. Once he'd have stood there at rigid attention for hours when not needed, but he'd lost both the talent and interest for that with soul freedom. He wasn't much for creativity, though, so with his question answered instead he occupied himself with quantifying the space where he found himself. Idle time was never something he'd dealt with the way normal people did.

"It has happened," said Sharl, his eyes widening as he went with the crazy story because it made the most sense...for now. "Or at least, something like it has. Those crazy cultists I told you about, their leaders say that all our reality is a lie, that we're just playthings of greater cosmic forces beyond us, and that all our morality and values are lies because of that." He gave her a suspicious look at that, and added, "If what you say is true, then there have to be ways of seeing through the simulation. Clipping errors, coding problems...or going into the network and coming back, not having any idea what it was. And if it's only getting worse, then that's going to happen more and more. And those cultists are dangerous. People have died."

Sharl quieted in a hurry at the thought of further demonstrations of what this place was really like. "I feel okay," he said with a teenager's neutrality. "Not as scared as I was, anyway," he added. Gina wasn't as scary as where he'd just been, even if he was worried about the consequences of making her angry. "When I go back, will I be able to come this way again?" he asked her. "Maybe...maybe some way different than I left?" He'd asked her a lot of questions, but she obviously knew much more about this situation than he did. "Getting here was awful, but this world you're showing me is fascinating. I'd like to learn everything I can."

"I guess I do," said the young man uncertainly, getting up and walking around the rooms. "How do you do that?" he asked her. "That trick with the plates, I mean. I thought you were just doing holo-programming outside before, but you just made that stuff appear and disappear. And it's got to be real, because a simulator couldn't make food I could actually eat." Unspoken was what she'd told him about the true nature of his reality, something he still didn't want to believe...evidence or not. _Is she telling the truth?_ "Are you just sitting at a desk with an avatar somewhere?"

“I knew it!” He snapped his fingers. “I knew aliens had been visiting us! All the stories about government conspiracies and mysterious contacts, it had to be real.” He asked her about several apparently famous cases that Gina knew nothing of, and he subsided a little. “Can I see it?” he asked her. “For real, I mean, not just in 2-D,” he said with a gesture to the TV screen. Thinking belatedly of his parents and family, he added, “I mean, uh, till you figure out how to get me back home. I’d love to see a blue whale before then, or a giraffe. Or a superhero,” he added.