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Avenger Assembled

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  1. Avenger Assembled
    "No, I..." His voice dropped. "What do you like...in general? What kinds of things do you like to be given to you?" He shifted awkwardly, and looked almost embarrassed. "There is an important secular and religious holiday coming soon in your calendar. I understand that gift-giving is important and you...you are my friend," the former Omegadrone said with almost painful sincerity. "I apologize if the question is too personal."
  2. Avenger Assembled
    Harrier studied the bed, the corners of his eyes crinkling, and thought of his own small apartment and the narrow bed where he slept. And then the narrow tubes where Omegadrones were stored between functions, and then the alleys and pits where he'd slept as a boy. With a slow, measured stride, he walked out to the laboratory. He'd seen signs all over for Christmas, the local religious-cum-winter festival, and had even put a few dollars in the 'pot' at Champions, where all the waiters and busboys had donated to pay for the food and entertainment at a Christmas party. For the first time, he thought of Miss Americana that way. "Miss Americana?" he asked her, watching her work. "What do you like?"
  3. Avenger Assembled
    In some ways, Harrier was the perfect choice for an experimental subject like this: he walked off without another word, leaving Miss Americana to her work. He walked into the kitchenette and opened a can of Diet Dr. Pepper, standing there with the refrigerator door closed without bothering to find a seat. He studied the kitchenette, his mind working though face impassive. These are snack foods. She must have many people here for short visits. The room lacked a mirror, so he strode off behind Miss Americana to the bathroom to study his reflection there. "Is this the face of a man?" he asked aloud as he stared at his scarred, lined face in the glass. Perhaps soon, that answer would change.
  4. Avenger Assembled
    The king explained to the heroes that sunlight from the surface was indeed necessary to damage the vampires of Atlantis; he'd heard of both scientific and sorcerous ways to accomplish this goal. After that, though, it was time for their journey to the Ridge! Even Atlanteans used vessels to travel to waters so deep and cold, for all that they'd be able to survive easily enough outside them, and so the heroes all found themselves aboard a magnificent sea vessel designed uniquely for water-breathers: the 'submarine' was really closer to an Atlantean airplane, humming along through the seas as they headed for their goal. The craft was full of the royal guards and the King himself, Theseus's anxiety about his daughter's condition making him a gruff martinet as he paced the metallic walls of the military craft. Peering out the windows, it was easy enough to make out the Great Ridge as they approached: the great mass of volcanoes rising against the black of the sea behind it, and just beyond it the ever-falling cliffs that went down deep into the Earth's mantle. If they fell here, burdened by their suits or by the monsters around them, they could fall very far indeed. Suddenly, the whole craft shook, then again, as they came under attack. But from where? That question was answered quickly as one of the pilots came running down into the compartment where the heroes and the king had been meeting, a frightened look on his face as he shouted through the water "Manta rays! Thousands of them...and all of them with the fangs of the beasts! They've taken us from above and-" The ship shook again, this time worse, and abruptly came a great concussion that nearly staggered everyone. "The engines! They've jammed the engines with their own foul corpses!" "We have to get out!" called the King as he led the way to the hatches. "We cannot fail our mission!"
  5. Avenger Assembled
    Between all of them, the heroes got the job done. Midnight and Gabriel were able to get the broadcasting equipment shut down and to purge the files in the system, making sure that no records were left in these computers, at least, of Fusion's unfortunate experience in Japan. Trevor would probably hear about the collateral damage done to the street by the falling antenna the next time he talked to his grandfather and Mr. Summers, but neither man was liable to give him too much grief about a mission where he'd played a key role in defeating a bad guy as odious as Otaku. As for the adult heroes who'd been along for the ride, they didn't answer to anyone except maybe the court of public opinion, and such a public victory would only do them well there. For Fusion's part, she was terse and uncommunicative with the other heroes for the rest of the mission. The majority of people in the broadcasting building had never actually seen Otaku and his robots, and she was easily able to help provide first aid to those who'd been injured when they fell asleep too fast or in the wrong part of the building. Of course, there wasn't much to do there, since Fleur actually had the power to heal those people. For those who had seen Otaku, and those women who the robots had dragged off in what was surely a frightening experience, her appearance made things tougher. In a clear, solid voice, she explained to them what resources were available to them as victims of sexually-based supercrime, leaving them with numbers they could call, and encouraging them to testify against Otaku. "He intimidated enough women in Tokyo that he was able to get off lightly. This time, we'll be able to put him down and keep him there."
  6. Avenger Assembled
    Quo-Dis sighed as she studied the couple across the way, then turned and glanced at Corbin. He doesn't like me, she thought depressedly. I hate eating! I wish I was older and didn't have to do it so often! At times like this, she reflected how much easier life would be if she could just explain vril and Ultima Thule to the others, but of course that would have violated every tenant of her people. "I ate a seal once," she offered brightly, giving a hopeful smile to Corbin. "It was when I was in Greenland, before I was a student here. It was really delicious! There's so much fat on the meat!"
  7. Avenger Assembled
    Joan was never one to hold back in combat, especially when innocents were threatened. Fusion took a more brute-force approach to the problem. When the cameraman, the guy she was supposed to be guarding, was taken away, she smashed her tentacles through the doorframe, cracking and crumbling wood, then used the rock-solid anchors as points to launch herself into the apartment feet-first. "I'll send you back to the afterlife heads-first, you grabby bastards!" she called. She'd faced some pretty scary bad guys in her time: she wasn't afraid of no ghosts! Well, maybe she was a little. But what kind of hero ran away when the going got tough?
  8. Avenger Assembled
    While the technically-minded heroes pored over the laboratory built into the Sleigh, Avenger joined Jack of all Blades in looking over a blueprint of the Workshop (printed on the back of glossy wrapping paper!) Brooding in miniature, the Crusader admitted that he wasn't sure of the quality of the blueprints. "Workshop shifts from year to year. With that witch running the place," he shook his fist that way for emphasis, "who knows what it's like?" The way in did seem fairly straightforward: odds were that the prisoners were in the Visitors Wing, the section of the Workshop where visitors from other holidays came, and thus had the closest thing anywhere in the North Pole to 'real security'." It sounded like something of a sore point for the diminutive vigilante. "Why not pass through Christmas City on the way?" asked Avenger as they studied the larger map, mindful of the large settlement near the cluster of buildings that made up the Workshop itself. "Recruit allies?" The Crusader's answers to that made sense to Avenger: time was of the essence with the coming 'Big Day', and he wasn't going to expose the non-powered citizens of the Pole to a threat that had disabled the most powerful defenders of Christmas with such ease. "Understandable," replied the vampiric vigilante. "Can't throw civilians to the wolves. Not in the Christmas spirit."
  9. Avenger Assembled
    OK, we're going to make use of the Invention rules! The short time required does mean that you'll be jury-rigging them. There's enough equipment in the Sleigh that you can build without having to use the Improvised rules. For those of you who don't know them, here are the jury-rigging rules. You skip the design check of the invention process and just make a construction check. It takes one round per point of the device's cost. (We'll be eliding over that part, since you guys won't be in combat till you have time to use them.) So the DC check for your invention will be 20+the PP cost of your invention. It takes an HP to make an invention; you've both had Complications activated so you won't need to use any of your base HP for this.
  10. Avenger Assembled
    Avenger nodded at Jack of all Blades' comment. "Appreciate the reminder. Had forgotten about Victory's pyrotechnics earlier in the year." Ominously, he winked at the master swordsman before turning back to the others, just in time for the Crusader to begin his spiel. The Crusader first pointed out to Miss Americana and the other inventors what equipment he had aboard the Sleigh in the rear storage compartment: it turned out to be a decent portable laboratory and workshop, assuming you were able to adapt your scientific knowledge to candy technology, and your human-sized hands to parts built for a man three feet high. "I've made plans for this scenario a hundred times," said the Crusader, toying with one of the candy canes he wore at his belt as he spoke. "I never thought I'd actually have to put them into practice. I'll take the Sleigh around the rear, maybe with one or two of your stealthiest, and we go around the back and rescue the League, the Old Man, the Missus, and the rest of the elves. In the meantime, the most powerful of you make a big show and draw out Desparia and her minions for a final showdown. If you win before we're out, we'll meet up then. If not..." He used the candy cane to sketch out a hasty map of the Workshop on the snow in front of them. "We take her by surprise, and with numbers on our side. She thinks we're rodents. Well...some rodents fly!" the Crusader squeaked in a triumphant hiss. "The old Donner and Blitzen," agreed Avenger, as usual finding it was best to just play into the madness in these situations. He was a little surprised when the pint-sized Crusader actually nodded at his words. "Am the stealthiest here," he said without the faintest trace of bragging in his voice. "Suggest that fliers, at minimum, best at coming in the front way.
  11. Avenger Assembled
    "Hmm. Power nullifier, magic minions? Would explain who Eldrich was looking for." Avenger wasn't terribly thrilled at the news that he'd been picked up because his wife was busy, but it explained exactly he was here. Not that Phantom had turned it down; he was sure the Master Mage knew their movements well enough. "As for witch, hmm. Imagine technicians can build heat machines. But difficult to use here." He took the bucket and eyed it suspiciously, then with a sudden movement took a candy corn, popped it in his mouth, and swallowed it whole. He was the least likely one here to be poisoned...and sure enough, he soon enough felt the cold drain away, as the unnatural vitality of the dead filled his body. Hooray! I...wait.
  12. Avenger Assembled
    It took Dragonfly a minute to realize exactly what she was looking at, and then a minute more to realize what she could do about it. She was looking at a guidance and stabilization system for a high-end jet flier and VTOL hoverer, the sort of thing she'd expect to see on a sophisticated craft designed for urban combat and rapid maneuvering. It was just that said system was constructed with gumdrops where the screws should be, peanut brittle for the interior framework, pumping candy canes for the pistons, and what smelled like egg nog as lubricant. It was easy enough to find the leak in the licorice piping and tie it off, and the Crusader showed her how to hook up the auxilary tank. "You like it?" he asked, a note of pride in his voice. "I built it myelf out of stuff we had laying around the workshop. That's real craftsmanship right there," he said with a nod. Turning to the others, he answered their questions as best he could. "“It all happened just a few days ago, but it seems like forever. The workshop boys were getting things ready for the big Christmas run when she showed up. Came right out of a swirling blizzard, she did, with those wolves and her super-toy soldiers. We tried to protect the Workshop, of course, but she’s a sorceress and her power...” The Crusader shook his head. "She took out Big Red in the first volley, and after that the heart just went out of the others. Santa and the Missus, they covered our retreat as long as we could, but between one thing and another...I was the only one that made it. I hated to run, I've never run in my life, but a last stand alone? A good way for the lights to go out...but not good enough. I've been planning a counter-offensive, but with the Crusader-Sleigh down, I was stuck on foot." He hmmed. "I did manage to synthesize an antidote to her power suppressant, if any of you are having problems." He pulled the bucket from just inside the cabin and handed it out: inside the toy plastic bucket was candy corn, and lots of it! To the others, he added, "Ice ladies twice as tall as me aren't my type, sonny-jim. This Queen, Desparia, she captured Santa, and Mrs. Claus. _He_ told us to run, to save ourselves, after she got Big Red. The whole Christmas League, down for the count! We went out into the storm, and all you could hear was her laughter on the wind, mocking us. We need to free Santa, the Missus, and the rest of the League...but I need your help.”
  13. Avenger Assembled
    For his part, Avenger was more than content to let the others handle this refugee from a child's sugary fever dream. "I am the spirit of Christmas vengeance!" barked the tiny vigilante before them. "I am...the Christmas Crusader! Guardian of the back alleys and side streets of Christmas Town." He threw back his cape, making an imposing silhouette against the white sky behind him...well, probably. If you were an elf. "If you were sent by Eldrich, you must be the allies that he promised us. Well, you're late, the others..." A wolf howled, distantly, and the Crusader shot a look that way. Looking chastened by the noise, when it died down he added, "I know how he feels. Listen. You're going to attract attention stomping around there." He pointed back to the sleigh and said, "It's bigger on the inside than the outside. If some of you can help me fix the gumdrop stabilizers, I can fill you in. About her.: the Snow Queen!"
  14. Avenger Assembled
    "Hey!" Jack was startled enough by the impact and sudden groping that he forgot to speak as Avenger for a moment. "What-Fly like an eagle, walk like an ox!" he muttered, getting out of the way of the bulletproof woman. Privately, he was beginning to worry about what she was seeing, or rather, what she wasn't seeing. Only one good explanation for that... Luckily, or maybe unluckily, their new friend interrupted him before he could speak, or speculate further. The small figure burst to his feet, a red and white striped cape unfurling behind him. On closer inspection, the small, power-packed figure was wearing a bright red and green mask to go with his fur-lined coat, narrow belt, and red pointy shoes that curled up at the end. In a voice like Avenger himself, or maybe like the Raven, after inhaling a quart of helium, the figure squeaked, "There are seven working defenses from this position. Three of them disarm with minimal contact. Three of them stun. The other stings. Who sent you!?" There was a candy cane visible in his hand.
  15. Avenger Assembled
    "Not the family expert on magic," Avenger admitted in response to Jack of all Blades' question. "If this is magic. Borders between science and magic thin." When Victory scanned him, he gave the cyborg the stink-eye. "Can bend over and take pants off if you would prefer closer look.." Frowning, he faced the wind, wincing at the unaccustomed bite of the cold. "Have been in situations where I felt environment before. Not like this," he said, simply covering for the fact that walking corpses didn't generally feel the cold. To Avenger's relief, they crested a hill at this juncture, ending their speculation on his identity as they came across a bizarre sight. There was a...thing crashed into the snow bank in front of them, something that it took a few moments to recognize as a sleigh, like something out of a Victorian postcard or a Christmas story. Those sleighs usually didn't have bubble tops, though, nor did were they covered in gleaming chrome. The front hatch of the sleigh was open, and a figure clad in green and red was visible working on the parts inside. On closer inspection, said figure was about three feet tall.
  16. Avenger Assembled
    +1 HP for Miss A
  17. Avenger Assembled
    +1 HP for Fox, too.
  18. Avenger Assembled
    Everyone else can see them when pointed out.
  19. Avenger Assembled
    +1 HP for Avenger Miss Americana Victory
  20. Avenger Assembled
    Miss Americana rose a few feet into the air...and suddenly crashed down again with a thump! While the All-American angel was still perfectly functional, something seemed to be inhibiting her flight systems from operating. Sure enough, similar problems were afflicting the other fliers like Victory and Avenger, rendering them solidly tied to the Earth. "Not the only strange thing," Avenger growled as everyone took in their surroundings. "It _feels_ cold. And I don't. Ever." He hmmed, thinking about their options. "Will be unable to survive on mountainside for long. Recommend we head for bottom of pass." Jack Faretti was a city boy, but he'd watched enough nature documentaries to know that. "Local civilization likely where habitable."
  21. Avenger Assembled
    As the king shouted orders to his generals to plan for an invasion of the Great Trench, he told the assembled heroes all he knew about the vampires down below: their worship of the Dark Father Dagon and the Dark Mother Hydra, how they'd raided Atlantean settlements for generations, and how their ancient history was at least as old as the sunken island itself. "True sunlight may well burn them, but powerful sorcery would be needed to bring such a light to the depths of the Trench. The purity of orichalcum is required to strike at the core of the beasts, but sheer power may rip all but the strongest apart." He promised to make sure they all were equipped with at least some of the precious metal, and that they'd be fighting alongside Atlantis' best. They had some time to make plans when the generals returned with their staff, the King excusing himself with the simple words. "I'm going to see my daughter." Fusion knew most of them coming in, at least by sight, but of course now wasn't the time for pleasantries. The trip to the Trench, as displayed for them on a map made of an Atlantean parchment that kept its shape even miles below the surface, would take perhaps half a day aboard a fast submarine, and from there down deep into the Trench where the volcanoes blossomed, to the old Temple of Dagon. Fusion offered some advice about the trip, remembering her own voyages in the area some years earlier. The water all around them was cold, the lights in the room the only source of light they could see, providing edges of darkness to their vision. With the immediate crisis over, even as they planned, it was easy to tell just how far down they were.
  22. Avenger Assembled
    "I...what?" It took Avenger a few moments to process what he'd learned. Marriage to Phantom had taught him that magic was a very strange thing. A few minutes ago, I'd have said there was nothing magical that could surprise me anymore. He'd also have dismissed this as a hallucination brought on by too much artificial blood, but he knew just enough about magic to know that the more ridiculously unlikely a threat was, the more plausible it was. You've been to realms of imagination before, he reminded himself. This can't be that strange... " I'm in. Maybe secure present for son as reward." And with that, he stepped into the mystic gate of light provided by the master of magic. Cold washed over the heroes as they stepped through the gateway, shimmering patterns of sparkly white filling their vision, before they stepped out into the world the mystic had opened up to them. A chill wind swirled around the group, walls of snow and mist rising everywhere as they stepped out onto a field of snow and frost. When the snow cleared, the heroes found themselves standing outside on snow-covered ground in a mountain pass of some sort. Eldrich’s phantasmal form hovered above, a look of strain on his face. Hmm. Avenger thought. I know Espadas, and that must be the sister. Dragonfly is that teenage gadget girl from Greenbank; and shiny there is that government cyborg Victory. And the lady is...very attractive! Miss Americana, I think, that patriotic superwoman. Quite a team Eldrich has put together. Before Avenger, or any of the others could speak, the Master Mage spoke for them all. “I have expended my energies,” Eldrich said. “I must return to my physical body at once, in hopes of navigating the netherworlds. The forces that have upset the natural order are close at hand. It is now up to you, my friends. You must put things right once more!” With those words, Eldrich’s astral form faded and was gone. A cold wind swirled through the pass, whipping up the snow, and thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance. They were somewhere very far from Freedom City indeed!
  23. Avenger Assembled
    From the white light stepped a figure Avenger immediately recognized: from the billowing black cape of flight to the glowing blue eyes, from the mystic symbol he wore as a brooch to the sheer aura of arcane power that seemed to crackle from him, Avenger immediately recognized the Master Mage of Earth. (He was fairly sure Phantom could take this guy without a problem...but Taylor was visiting her family tonight, and he'd taken the freedom of a sleeping baby to go get in some much-needed solo work). Glowing with arcane power, the Master Mage looked down at Avenger and said "Greetings, Avenger. A grave crisis has arisen which threatens the spirit of the world itself. Sinister forces threaten to devour the very spiritual essence of the coming days." Avenger slugged Tommahan in the back of the head, knocking the ex-hitman cold. "Listening." - Across the city, Eldritch gazed levelly at Dragonfly. "I am Eldritch, the Master Mage. You need not fear your secrets in my hands; I am but a shadow sent to summon heroes in a time of great need. A new and terrible magical power threatens a master craftsman, a being whose commitment to building instruments of joy and wonder is legendary across all Creation. This crisis threatens to steal the magic of the coming days and cast shadows of darkness and cold upon the soul of the Material Plane. Will you assist in the salvation of the world?" - "The children of the world look up to you as a shining beacon of hope, Victory," said the mystic who comfortably kept pace with Victory in the sky: impossibly, he was not 'there' on any of Victory's internal sensors, but he was clearly visible to the cyborg hero's eyes and ears. "As they do for very few even in this much beloved city. The world needs you to defend the hearts of those children today, and to ensure that those hearts and minds are filled with joy and wonder, not tainted with the cold darkness of the Adversary and her attempts to gather all the light of the coming season for herself. Will you battle for justice in the realm beyond this one?" - Floating just inside Gina's window, Eldritch added to his earlier speech, "While Cyberknife's services would be welcome on this plane, there is another who could be of far more use in the chilly realm to which you and your allies must travel. This is a great and weighty task, and so too the danger may be great and weighty." He looked steadily at Gina and said, If you can summon that other, I can ensure that her powers will not fail her even through the mystic portal to the realm so threatened by the cold and sinister magics of the Adversary." - Across the city, a similar conversation was taking place with the Espadas siblings, the shadowy form of the mystic drifting where shoppers were still passing right through his billowing cloak. "I am given to understand that the you, Erik and Eliza Espadas, have personal knowledge of champions of justice who can join together with other champions of justice to save the spirit of the coming days for all mankind. If that is true, they must come with me through the mystic portal, so that justice may prevail for all mankind."
  24. Avenger Assembled
    Avenger, Dragonfly, Jack of all Blades, Miss Americana, and Victory save Christmas.
  25. Avenger Assembled
    December 23, 2010 It's a cold and dreary day in late December, at least here in the Northern Hemisphere where most people live. It's no better in Freedom City, where a heavy snowfall last night has transformed into dirty ice and slush by the unaesthetic mechanics of life in a major urban area. It's a good day to be inside with a strong cup of hot cocoa or eggnog, letting ceremonial libations shake away the incipient holiday blues. Luckily this is generally a quiet time for superheroes: most supercriminals are people too, and even the ones without Christmas cheer have been socked away at home thanks to the lousy weather. You need a good reason to be out tonight, whether it's carrying out the duties of a government agent's patrol, hunting for last-minute Christmas presents, or else dealing with problems that have nothing to do with the season. - "Growing tired of these lies," said Avenger, leering malevolently down at the snitch he'd cornered in the Fens back alley. There were new heroes active in the Fens, he knew, but these were _his_ streets, and he was possessive enough, and secretive enough, that he preferred to keep his own council even when dealing with notorious criminals. "Christmas will be difficult in prison. Worse in prison hospital." He grabbed the frightened man by the collar and jacked him up against the wall with one hand, a murderous look in his eyes. "Where's the shipment?" "Oh God, don't hurt me, please!" Mondale Tommahan whimpered, still wearing the shattered sunglasses that Avenger had broken on his face and then neatly put back there after dragging him away for interrogation. He'd heard all about the notorious vigilante, about his brutality and uncompromising violence, and watching him tear through his friends in the Irish mob in their favorite bar that evening had certainly put the fear of Avenger into him. "Look, the X-Ray stuff was just a joke, man? What kind of scuzzball would take naked pictures of Lady Liberty-" "A SCUZZBALL LIKE YOU!" Damn, Jack loved the look in their eye when he _yelled_. "Already know you inside. Time to show you!" He went for the machete on the wall, the one that usually had them wetting themselves before his hands were on the blade, but his nighttime exertions were suddenly interrupted as a brilliant white light shone on the wall in a pattern of brilliant hexagons!
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