Avenger Assembled

"WE HAVE LIVED WITH NOTHING! BUT WITH YOU...PERHAPZ WE WILL HAVE EVERZING! WEEE WILL FOLLOW!" With some trepidation, but then a growing confidence, the bees followed Fleur through the portal to Stesha's green new world. The queen was the last to leave the prison-hive, buoyed by three of her strongest drones as the gigantic insect monarch made her slow, laborious way through the passageway: she could walk, at least, even if she wasn't light enough to fly even for so important a journey as this. Clanking along on gigantic chitin legs big as a person, the queen leaned on her fellows as she followed the last of them through the gate to the new world.

"The nearest source of daka crystals is probably going to be at the summit," said Edge, glancing up at the still-smoldering crater. "...but whatever the meteor hit up there is probably fried. Yeah, Hellion, if you can get Midnight and Phalanx out there," he said, talking over the discovery that the nearest daka deposit was indeed on the mountain's surface, but far enough away down the slope of the now torn-up and damaged side that they would certainly need a teleporter to get there. "Yeah, that'll work. Don't take too long; if it looks like you can't get it there, we'll need Phalanx at least against any kind of big monster. Psyche, you should come with us up the mountain," he suggested. "As thick as that smoke cloud is, if we can't see up there we'll need you to look through it until Phalanx gets back up. This is a bad situation, but we can handle this. We're Young Freedom. "

That'll find you plenty of daka crystals, Giz. There's a particularly large concentration up the mountain.

Beacon II PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 28 pp STR 14 (+2) DEX 16 (+3) CON 16 (+3) INT 14 (+2) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 14 (+2) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 (+10 Ranged) DEF: +10 (+3 flat-footed) Init: +7 Grapple: +8 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: 14 pp=56 r Bluff 6 (+8) Concentration 8 (+10) Diplomacy 6 (+8) Intimidate 6 (+8) Knowledge: Arcane Lore 6 (+8) Knowledge: History 6 (+8) Notice 6 (+8) Search 6 (+8) Sense Motive 6 (+8) Feats: 16 pp Attack Focus: Ranged (4) Dodge Focus (4) Improved Initiative Luck (2) Move-By Action Precise Shot (2) Power Attack Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 58 pp Pharos Array [20+5=25 pp] Blast 10 AP: Create Object 6 (Extra: Moveable) (PFs: Progression, Subtle) AP: Dazzle 10 (visual) AP: Emotion Control 10 AP: Healing 10 (Extra: Ranged) (Flaw: Others Only) AP: Light Control 10 Flight 4 (100 MPH) (PF: Subtle) [9 pp] Immunity 9 (Life Support) [9 pp] Protection 7 (Extra: Impervious) [14 pp] Space Flight 1 (1c) [1 pp] cost abilities 28 + combat 24 + saves 10 + skills 14/56 + feats 16 + powers 58 = 150 pts -- Design Notes: This is my build for the Beacon, the Golden Age legacy that's an obvious setup for a new PC in the Freedom City book. There's a build for the Beacon in the PDF Freedom City Archetypes and Legacies, and it's actually not bad, but this one's a little better: she can do almost all of the same things, but has a lot more flexibility in a lot of ways. She can fly in space and even reach the speed of light, and do a lot of other Green Lantern-esque tricks. (Beacon I is something of an Alan Scott Expy, so I used a picture of Jade to represent his successor!) There's no device associated with the Beacon legacy; the mystic light of Pharos is passed down from person to person without the need for material items. The Beacon legacy is a fun one, connecting you directly to German heroes of World War II (the twin Lightbearers who escaped their motherland and battled against the forces of darkness that the Nazis represented) and Beacon himself, a hero of the latter part of the Golden Age, not to mention all the bearers of the Pharos legacy back to ancient Egypt. One thing to think about is that the Golden Age Beacon was one of the first African-American heroes and his predecessors were German anti-Nazi twins: you don't have to be one of those if you're playing his successor, but it's a whole lot cooler if an 'outsider' legacy goes to something more interesting than a generic suburban white kid. As usual, big array, lots of Luck; power-stunt things you don't have. The Light of Truth mentioned under the description of the Magic Power (a ranged Nullify of deceptions) is a good thing for this kind of character. Switch Protection for Force Field; there are lots of good reasons to keep Force Field, I just don't like making a lot of Concentration checks when stunned. She still has a good Concentration score to deal with what happens when and if she gets stunned (i.e.; falling out of the sky!) This character could use higher saves, I went with the theory that she's new to her work and still has the saves of a relatively normal person. She has fun times; she flies around and blasts bad guys.

Terminus Hero PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 40 pp STR 30 [20] (+10/+5) DEX 16 (+3) CON 20 (+5) INT 16 (+3) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 16 (+3) Combat: 28 pp ATK: +8 (+10 melee) DEF: +10 (+3 flat-footed) Grapple: +15/+25 Init: +7 Saves: 9 pp TOU +10 (+5 Con, +5) FORT +7 (+5 Con, +2) REF +5 (+3 Dex, +2) WILL +7 (+2 Wis, +5) Skills: 18 pp=72 r Bluff 8 (+11) Intimidate 12 (+15) Knowledge: Civics 8 (+11) Knowledge: Current Events 10 (+13) Knowledge: Tactics 14 (+17) Notice 6 (+8) Search 6 (+9) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Feats: 20 pp Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Attack Focus: Melee 2, Dodge Focus 4, Evasion, Fearless, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Luck, Master Plan 2, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Startle, Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 35 pp Immunity 2 (aging, poison) [2 pp] Protection 5 (Extra: Impervious) [10 pp] Terminus Array [20+3=23 pp] Emotion Control 10 ‘gaze of the Coil’ AP: Enhanced STR 10 and Super-Strength 5 ‘Madrigal Strength’ AP: Strike 10 (Extra: Vampiric) ‘Terminus blade’ AP: Teleport 9 (anywhere on Earth) (PFs: Change Direction, Turnabout) 'Voidwalk' costs abilities 40 + combat 28 + saves 9 + skills 18/72 + feats 20 + powers 31 = 150 pts -- Design Notes: This character gets her powers from the Terminus. She's a terrifying monster in the World of Freedom, whether she got her powers directly from the Terminus itself or whether she's a mutant born in the years after Terminus energy poured into the bodies of unfortunate citizens of Freedom City. How to make a character like this heroic? Well, remember that Dark is Not Evil: A heroic character could easily be one of those infamous "Terminus babies" born right here in Freedom City, determined to fight for good and right despite the evil origins of her powers. Or maybe she's something a little darker yet: maybe she's from a dead world, or a native of the Terminus itself, and was a pupil of an Annihilist before she was able to see the light: now she seeks to undo the damage she did, or might have done, for all that she has powers that come from a very bad place to do it. I went with something like a darker Big Barda here; perhaps trained as one of the Madrigal Martinet's Harpies before becoming her own woman. (The white eyes are when she's really, really angry.) She's a really good fighter, and between her ability to blast people with the despair and fear causing gaze of the Terminus (treat her inability to cause kinder emotions as a Complication, maybe a drawback), her enhanced Strength, and her ability to summon a black blade drawn from the Void itself...well, she's a formidable lady. When you add that to her formidable combat prowess, she becomes a serious force to be reckoned with. She's earned every point of that monstrously high Intimidate bonus! Despite the grim appearance and powers, your best bet with this kind of character really is to play her like a Big Barda: She's a free woman, ready to live the life of a free person, and has a chance to build a better world. This works even if she's a Terminus baby; maybe she looks scary, maybe she's got her powers from the most evil place in the multiverse, but she's still a hero, even if some of the people don't believe her. The best way to do that is to be as boisterous and brave as she can, and the Void take the consequences!

"I have never tried," admitted Murdock, glad to be done with the examination. "It is not something I have ever drawn idly." It turned out Murdock could indeed draw and wield the pike without activating his armor, and soon enough he was sitting on the table with his arm at full extension, holding himself level as he held the crackling pike in his hands.The weapon was designed to target the weaknesses of enemies. The wet skin of a waterbreather, a robot's vulnerability to magnetism. The scanner in the head drives the mechanism. The chameleon circuits are in the butt." He didn't scan Miss Americana with those sensors, of course: she was his friend, and he was in a world where friends didn't work against each other!

"I do not understand many of these questions. But I have answered them before." Murdock had stayed outside of his armor, despite the advantages it would have given him on the visual acuity and other tests. Without looking up from his work, he added " Recently I met the other Omegadrone in Freedom City. He is in training here. It was difficult in some ways." He hmmed, continuing his slow, methodical hunting and pecking. "He was a product of a creche and so had never had normal mental functions before the loss of his connection to the Voice. He is...impaired in some ways that I am not. And luckier than others. He remembers nothing before his awakening in Daedalus' laboratory."

DC 30 Tou save, Gabriel: have an HP for the Fiat.

The Fusionbots took a heavy beating from the near-simultaneous attacks from the dark detective and the white-clad wonder, both of them sparking and jerking, the one blasted by Gabriel actually beginning to smoke! But they both stayed on their feet, the one nearest Gabriel (the one he'd targeted), giving him a creepy, malevolent leer. "You've got a pretty mouth there," she said with a wicked smile on her face, "We'll see about putting it to use! Ahahah!" She suddenly leaped over Gabriel's head, tentacles wrapping around her in a cephlapodic mating dance, a sight so utterly bizarre that it blinded Gabriel to an attack from the rear! The other robot Fusion came up from behind him and punched him in the head, tentacles sliding over his body as she did so in an effort to bring him very close indeed!

Robot #1 is injuredx2

Rooftop Guardian PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 60 pp STR 26 (+8) DEX 26 (+8) CON 26 (+8) INT 12 (+1) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 14 (+2) Combat: 32 pp ATK: +8 (+12 Unarmed) DEF: +12 (+4 flat-footed) Init: +12 Grapple: +17 Saves: 10 pp TOU +8 (+8 Con) FORT +10 (+8 Con, +2) REF +10 (+8 Dex, +2) WILL +8 (+2 Wis, +6) Skills: 18 pp=72 r Climb 8 (+16) Intimidate 8 (+10) Knowledge: Arcane Lore 8 (+9) Knowledge: History 8 (+9) Notice 8 (+10) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Stealth 8 (+16) Survival 8 (+10) Feats: 13 pp Attack Specialization: Unarmed 2 Dodge Focus 4 Elusive Target, Evasion, Fearsome Presence 5, Improved Initiative, Improved Throw, Luck, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge (olfactory) Powers: 12 pp Flight 3 (50 MPH) [6 pp] Immunity 1 (aging) [1 pp] Super-Senses 3 (Darkvision, Scent) [3 pp] Super-Strength 1 (Heavy Load: 800 lbs) [2 pp] costs abilities 60 + combat 32 + saves 10 + skills 18/72 + feats 13 + powers 12 = 150 pts -- Design Notes: A familiar-looking character, translated into Mutants and Masterminds. He doesn’t have claws or a strike because as I noted in the Lycanthrope build, it sucks to be undercapped in combat against human beings and ripping people up with claws and teeth isn’t terribly heroic in the Freedom City setting. Give him an HP if someone grapples his wings, you’d much rather have that than get one PP for it at character creation, trust me! He has real Flight, not Gliding, because again, more fun that way! Remember that Flight 3 is all you’re going to need if you’re chasing cars in an urban setting like this one. He’s also got great Stealth for hiding in dark shadows, and Climb for going up walls. He’d also need an HP for that ‘turning into stone by day’ complication if you really want to give him that: if he’s in a campaign that centers around his adventures (as in our threads here), by a strange coincidence most of his adventures will happen at night and he won’t really feel the bite of not being around during the day. I went with an immortal hero who can pass for human if he needs to, but if he does have a permanent monstrous appearance, you’d better give him an HP for that, and maybe get him a human ally to do some of his dirty work on the streets. A super-smart, super-charismatic industrialist is a natural enemy for him, along with an old girlfriend who might have a somewhat more aggressive agenda than he does: perhaps she’s taken to killing the criminals they once fought? But you can make up your own complications and backstory all you want; maybe he lives in a castle set atop a skyscraper, or in a cathedral with his friendly neighborhood vampire? Team him up with a hyperactive cat policeman and a costumed adventurer with wings and a beak if you want to put this guy in his old stomping grounds.

Farsider Hero PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 26 pp STR 30 [14] (+10/+2) DEX 16 (+3) CON 16 (+3) INT 10 (+0) WIS 16 (+3) CHA 14 (+2) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 (+8 ranged, +10 unarmed) DEF: +12 (+3 flat-footed) Init: +7 Grapple: +20 Saves: 12 pp TOU +8 (+3 Con, +5 Protection) FORT +6 (+3 Con, +3) REF +6 (+3 Dex, +3) WILL +9 (+3 Wis, +6) Skills: 12 pp=48 r Diplomacy 8 (+10) Intimidate 8 (+10) Knowledge: Civics 5 (+5) Knowledge: Current Events 5 (+5) Languages 1 (English) (Base: Farsider) Notice 7 (+10) Search 5 (+5) Sense Motive 7 (+10) Feats: 16 pp Attack Focus: Ranged 2, Attack Specialization: Unarmed 2, Dodge Focus 6 Elusive Target, Environmental Adaptation (low gravity), Evasion, Improved Initiative, Luck, Move-By Action Uncanny Dodge (mental) Powers: 60 pp Comprehend 2 (speak and understand all languages) [4 pp] Farsider Array [24+3=27 pp] Blast 12 'telekinetic blast' AP: Enhanced STR 16 and Super-Strength 4 (Heavy Load: 12 tons) ‘tactile telekinesis’ AP: ESP 6 (20 miles) (visual and auditory) (PFs: Rapid 5 (100k), Subtle) 'extra-sensory perception' AP: Telekinesis 12 (Heavy Load: 48 tons) Flight 3 (50 MPH) (PF: Subtle) [7 pp] Immunity 9 (Life Support) [9 pp] Protection 5 (Extra: Impervious) [10 pp] Space Flight 1 (1c) [1 pp] Telepathy 1 [2 pp] costs abilities 26 + combat 24 + saves 12 + skills 12/48 + feats 16 + powers 60 = 150 pts --- Design Notes: So you grew up on a farm in Kansas, not really questioning why your parents were older than your friends' parents, imbuing good old-fashioned all-American values from your family, your community, and the superheroes you watched on TV. When you were eighteen and first began to manifest your superhuman strength, flight, and ability to read minds and look through walls, your dad finally showed you the rocket they'd been keeping in the barn, with a message from your real parents: you're royalty, part of the royal family of Farside City, a secret colony of humans on the dark side of the Moon planted there by the Precursors uncounted milennia ago. You were sent away as a infant when an enemy overthrew and slew your parents and family, no doubt on her way to slaughtering all the good people of Farside City, conditioned in your rocket to grow up as a powerful champion of justice! So you grew up and became a superhero, determined to defend your new home! Until you found out that Farside City is actually still there! (Superheroes overthrew Lady Lunar a long time ago.) But they're a democracy now, and they don't really want any telepathic funny-looking people with strong accents hanging around. D'oh! Besides, you're really happier on Earth... Or maybe you're an ambassador. You're powerful, really, really powerful, maybe the strongest psychic born in Farside City since Lady Lunar killed off most of the royal family, and luckily you're short and fat enough that you can pass for a freakishly tall and skinny human being. The world of Freedom City is very different than Farside City; it's loud and boisterous and so overcrowded, and the people look and act so different, traveling wherever they want whenever it suits their fancy. But freedom and justice are the same here as they are back home, and even in triple lunar gravity your powers keep you going where your lesser brethern need to fall back on technological assistance. Just make sure to keep where you're really from a secret, as your people don't want any squatters coming in and lowering lunar property values. This character is a hero from Farside City, the Inhuman/Attilan expies of the Freedom City universe. There aren't a lot of Farsiders on Earth given the gravity issues and the legendary isolationism of the Farsiders, a product both of their culture and genetic tampering by the Preservers who placed them on the Moon uncounted ages ago. (Don't blame the Preservers; Farside City has limited resources and can't afford to overtax things.) His fellow Farsider hero, Mentac, was tragically killed (or WAS he?) in the Terminus Invasion back in 1993. He's basically a mentalist riff on the energy controller archetype, with the exception that he can fly into space with the help of his psionic powers: his broad descriptors make power-stunting a dream!

Murdock was easily led enough that he didn't object to Miss Americana's suggestion. With his usual laser-like focus, he locked in on the computer that she sat him down at, typing his name with a slow hunt-and-peck before he began taking one of a series of aptitude tests. He'd taken similar examinations with the Freedom League when they'd been studying him to determine if he truly was what he appeared to be, but he raised no objections, trusting that Miss Americana knew what she was doing. He didn't speak, instead facing the computer with grim determination as he went through test after test.

Yes, you're fine, SC, I knew you were in the process of making those.

I've tossed the concept up in the Refcave.

Battlesuit PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 38 pp STR 40/30/18 (+15/+10/+4) DEX 18 (+4) CON 24/18 (+7/+4) INT 20 (+5) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 10 (+0) Combat: 20 pp ATK: +5 (+5 w/Growth/+2 flat-footed) DEF: +5 (+5 w/Growth/+2 flat-footed) Init: +7 Grapple: +27 max Saves: 10 pp TOU +15/+4 (+7/+4 Con, +8 Protection) FORT +9/+6 (+7/+4 Con, +2) REF +6 (+4 Dex, +2) WILL +8 (+2 Wis, +6) Skills: 18 pp=72 r Computers 8 (+13) Craft: Electronic 8 (+13) Craft: Mechanical 8 (+13) Disable Device 8 (+13) Intimidate 8 (+8/+10) Knowledge: Physical Sciences 7 (+12) Knowledge: Technology 8 (+13) Languages 1 (English) (Base: Chinese) Notice 8 (+10) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Feats: 8 pp Attack Focus: Melee Dodge Focus Improved Initiative Inventor Master Plan Power Attack Takedown Attack Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 60 pp Device 16 (Hard to Lose) (Mechsuit) [60 pp] -Enhanced STR 10 and Super-Strength 3 {16+2=18} -AP: Blast 10 (Extra: Area [Line] (+0) (Flaw: Unreliable [5 uses a day]) 'flamethrowers' -AP: Blast 10 (Extra: Area [shapeable] (+0) (Flaw: Unreliable [5 uses a day] 'missiles' -Flight 3 (50 MPH) {6} -Growth 6 (Extra: Duration (Permanent) [+0]) (PF: Innate) {19} -Immunity 9 (Life Support) {9} -Impervious Toughness 10 {10} -Protection 8 {8} -Super-Senses 5 (Accurate Analytical Extended Radio Sense) {5} Drawback: -4 pp Normal ID (uncommon, major) [full round action; must put suit on] costs abilities 38 + combat 20 + saves 10 + skills 18/72 + feats 8 + powers 60 - drawback 4 = 150 pts --- Design Notes: Here's a slightly tweaked take on the Battlesuit archetype: this lady doesn't just put on some tiny suit of armor to do her combat business in, she dons a gigantic mechsuit that bulks in at a massive twelve feet tall and several thousand pounds while she's wearing it. I figure the armor was originally intended as a combat battlesuit by the military, which is why it's maximized with various ways to bring the pain! She can Power Attack and hit as hard as the Centurion (though she'll need help from allies to actually hit anything that way), or just sweep her way through legions of goons in style. And hey, with a suit this big, she can afford to fit like a cupholder in there, or maybe a stereo. Growth 6 is a pretty healthy Growth, but you can easily make her bigger or smaller as the situation calls for it: don't go over Growth 12 for a PC in this game, though, your character would have way too hard a time getting around in city streets. I figure you can explain the Con bonus from the battlesuit by saying it augments her body with its life support systems, armoring her up and patching injuries, its sheer bulk protecting her from the worst sorts of injuries out there. With her PL-maxed Impervious and massive Toughness tradeoff, she can take a tremendous amount of punishment, so don't be afraid to go out there and mix it up! She's also got pretty good saves for a battlesuit, so there's that. Lots of different takes here: is she a genius solo inventor? Head of a multi-million dollar corporation? An army test pilot? I've gone with the idea that this is a very smart, very healthy, slightly anti-social lady who built her own battlesuit in her garage in her sparetime, but you can tweak her out of combat skills and feats however you want. Heck, maybe she stole this armor from people who wanted to do ill with it, and is now using it to fight for justice; perhaps the very same people who originally hired her to build the thing? She's PL 4.5 without her suit, which is about right for a decent superheroic character, even if most battlesuits have a much smaller (if any) tradeoff.

"I am unsurprised," said Murdock, and only faint disappointment was in his tone. "So much of me was taken away that..." He looked down at his lined hand, seeming to see right through it to the metal within. "It would be easier to replace the flesh." he added humorlessly. "But if you can change how I look, that would be wonderful." He squeezed his empty hand tight. "There are no worlds, no era, no dimensions where there would not be a hand raised against me beneath that shell. To be able to pass would be...I would be very grateful."

Reflex for the Area effect: 16 and 20 Robot 1 will take full damage; Robot 2 will take half damage. Reflex for the Drain Tou (since they're constructs): They both pass! Gah! Damage: Let's go with them both being injured. OK, Giz, go ahead and post, I'll get an IC post up for the robots tomorrow.

Murdock turned his head again, swiveling his whole body at first before turning at the neck, then looked back at Miss A. "I wish to further assist you in your research. None of the surviving Omegadrones who have been assimilated into your culture were as...altered as I was, and none retained the memories I did of my connection to the Voice. I would like to add my technological knowledge to your own." He got up then, and did open the fridge, pulling out a bottle of water. "Beyond that, I would...I would like to know if you can change what I am inside."

"I am untroubled by the cold," said Murdock, misunderstanding her intent a bit. "But if you would prefer to make the trip faster, we should do." Murdock was heavy in Miss A's arms, but easily within her lifting capacity: he also went limp in a way that suggested he'd been carried by air before. It is very pleasant to see the city this way." he said out loud, not going into further detail about how nice it was to see a city below without needing to hide himself, or without that city being in flames.

"I have recovered from the injuries I sustained. They were all to my flesh, not the metal within." When the breeze started, Murdock ran his hands over his bald scalp, fingers brushing against the faint lines that marked where his flesh could split open on his command. He was allowing Victory to handle his own problems, and thus for the moment said nothing. "Your conclusions are correct. It is for a similar matter that I would like to speak with you." He had a rare moment of hesitation before he said, "Perhaps it is better if we wait until we are in your laboratory. I would not wish ot ask you a difficult question before it could be answered."

Murdock was exposed to the elements without his armor, but he would never have complained about the cold. Besides, even completely unprotected, Freedom City in early December was nothing. "Things are busy with the holidays. The others appreciate that I can work when they need a rest break. No one there has uncovered my identity." He looked straight ahead as he spoke, his voice not rising or falling, but seemed to make an effort to turn and address Miss A. "I assisted in a battle against a wielder of Terminus technology. It was deeply unsettling."

"I am well." Harrier cocked his head back and forth as he talked, looking at the still-suspicious guards and the machinery just ahead of him. "There are backscatter and rapid electromagnetic scanners in the corridor. I did not wish to alarm anyone." Scanners like that would certainly read the power pike at his hip, much less the Terminus technology with which his body was riddled to the bone and beyond. Murdock was in a Freedom City Comets sweater and sweatpants, one of the several outfits he'd gotten from the Freedom League's charity for the Thanksgiving holiday. He hadn't had a family to dress up for, but he hadn't been about to say no.

Gina was working in her Archetech lab, in between eating Cool Ranch Doritos in her basement, when the phone rang. With Gina's superhumanly acute intelligence, it was an easy matter to recognize the voice of the guard on her laboratory phone: Greg Landris, wife, no kids, junior desk guard at the Archetech office. "Ms. Americana? There's a man here who wants to see you, but he's refusing to go through security. He says his name is Murdock and it's about the recent business you discussed?" Miss Americana was famous enough that she had her share of cranks, but of course Murdock was a familiar name for the beautiful genius. Harrier did not have an appointment, but given his deep problems with human interaction, it wasn't really a surprise he hadn't made one.

With the worst of the avalanche blocked by Phalanx's aerial maneuvering and the rest caught by Edge and Psyche's hastily erected dual wall, everyone's hearing gradually returned as the teens assessed the damage. The top of Kilimanjaro was smoking in a way that was particularly alarming for a volcano, and what could be made out of it through slowly fading smoke looked warped and bent: whatever had hit had blasted up new craters and walls, as if it had come straight down rather than at any appreciable angle. The White Lion, looking upward, looked very concerned indeed, news that grew even worse when a frantic radio message reached them from the palace: there had been a subsidence when the meteor hit, and people were in danger. "I must go below to assist with the evacuation," said the king quickly, looking from face to face amongst the teenagers. "I would trust no one else on Earth with this duty, but you young heroes must go above and make sure that the...the cage of the Great Beast of Kilimanjaro has not been broken." The "I KNEW IT!" was for a half-second perfectly clear in Mark's posture before he said quickly, "What kind of beast is it? What should we expect?" He'd heard his father's stories, of course, but to hear the secret of the mountain confirmed was...well, not really a triumph! But Young Freedom had dealt with plenty of big monsters before, and he wasn't about let worries about one of them get him down. As long as no one was hurt, things would be okay! "A powerful beast from before the birth of man," explained the king quickly. "A creature so powerful, some say its arrival heralded the end of the dinosaurs. If it has gotten free, you must surround it with daka crystals, as many as the fastest of you can gather, and that will paralyze it. You must hold it in one place until then, though, by whatever means you can. It has...leapt from the mountain to Dakana City before. But the last cage we built should be secure enough, if it can be rebuilt!"