Avenger Assembled

"OK," agreed the giant bee. "YOU ARE OUR BEZT FRIEND, ZTEZA. IT IZ TOO BAD YOU CANNOT BEE THE QUEEN!" She laughed her odd booming, buzzing laugh at that absurdity, then rolled over onto her huge legs. "I WILL BEE WATCHING FOR YOU. IT WILL BEE GOOD TO HAVE THEZE ZKIEZ BUZZING WITH BEEZ, THEN A WHOLE WORLD JUZT FOR UZ! AND YOU," she added, "AND YOUR ZQUIZY FRIENDZ TOO. SPAZE FOR EVERYONE!"

"NO!" exclaimed Bee-atrizz mournfully, stopping to set her weight set in the ground with a thump. On legs as thick as Stesha's body, she padded over to a huge cluster of smaller flowers and rolled in them, looking down at Stesha like a sad dog the size of a Mac truck who was also a bee. "WE ZAW NOZING OF THE WORLD BEEFORE HE CAST US OFF LIKE ZO MUCH GARBAGE! EVEN THOUGH WE KNOW HE WAZ BAD, IT IZ ZTILL ZAD TO BE GONE AWAY FROM THE OTHERZ! WHAT IF ZOMETHING HAPPENED AND WE WERE NOT THERE TO HELP?"

Early November 2010 "ZINGZ ARE NOT ZO GOOD," confessed Bee-atrizz, humming along behind Stesha like a parade float as they walked through the beautiful fields of the world she'd found. "WE ARE EATING VERRY GOOD, VERRY GOOD INBEED, BUT THERE ARE ZO MANY PROBLEMZ. THE BOYZ WANT A QUEEN, BUT WE DO NOT HAVE ONE." The gargantuan bee got a look on her face, something Stesha was learning to interpret, of almost apology. "WE HAD TO LEAVE HER, AND ALL THE OTHERZ BEEHIND, WHEN THE MAZTER ABANDONED UZ. IT WAZ VERY ZAD, BUT WE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO ZTAY. IF WE DO NOT HAVE ONE, THE COLONY WILL DIE WHEN WE DO."

"Oh," said Mark quietly as Corbin described his family, suddenly feeling an odd stab of recognition he couldn't place. "My family lives in Ashton. We used to do a lot of traveling thanks to my father's work, but he...left the family recently and so we've been at home." He looked down at the glass in his hand and said, "Anyway, I'm sure you'll do really well. Our common experiences have a way of uniting us even beyond our...uncommon ones. Alex Albright is in our class, did you know that? I'm sure she's got some common experiences about managing money and coming from wealth, but balancing that with special knacks. She does a lot of charity work."

"That's certainly good to hear," said the tall journalist, leaning down so she could whisper in the magnate's ear. "But you understand how a journalist could misread the evening," she added, her voice low and throaty. As she spoke, she pointed discreetly, her eyes scanning the room. "You've got the underage son of Rath and Stromberg's best at an adult party thrown by one of the biggest chemical magnates in the city, while the de Haviland heir and a government cyborg are suspiciously determined to help him stay out of view of the paparazzi, all while the world's most powerful scientist out of Greek armor dances with America's finest. Something's going on here tonight, even if everyone involved thinks they're perfectly innocent. And you know what they say, Felix. If you can't spot the sucker at the poker table in five minutes, it's you." She grinned, and let him spin her. "Now, I'll lead."

Kill kill kill! Vampire instincts, while enormously useful in life or death situations, hunting bad guys, and any number of things, were not terribly useful here. "Yeah, he's our kid from the future. It's a weird situation all around," he growled, peering at the doors all around them. "I have no idea what to do here, Ourobous," he confessed. "Just...just tell me what we need to do to get you and your mother back, and we'll do it. Whatever it takes." His hands flexed, over and over again, as if crushing a god's larynx between them.

APPROVED

"That's one idea," said Mark, hmming. "But let me show you something that's a little more classic." He waved his fingers in the air and with a somewhat blurry production of black bubbles produced an outfit in Mike's blue and gold (aka the Claremont colors), but with many exciting changes! He walked his friends through all of them, the outfit spinning in the air as he did so. "Look, see, instead of a bland cape, it's got racing stripes!" And sure enough it did, big flames shooting up the side of the cape like a Hot Wheels car. "Like fire, because he flies so fast! And on the chest, insignia!" It was a giant P. "See, it's a P! For Phalanx! And with the tight muscle shirt over the chest, and the shorts on the outside, so he's like a bodybuilder or circus strongman! You really have to build the codpiece area, you know, for the ladies!" Sensing a lack of support for his idea, Mark sighed and constructed from whole cloth an outfit matching Alex's description and plan...well, that, and with the cape with flames on it and the giant P on the chest. And the very tight shorts on the outside. "OK, there's a merger of both our ideas. What do you think?"

A voice arose from the darkness. "Hey, Midnight Jacuzzi! I bet there's one of those in the Midnight Cave..." And then, a few moments later, "Oooh, I bet you guys are kissing in here! That's awesome!" And it was! Trevor and Erin, of all of Mark's friends, were definitely the people who he thought needed kissing the most, and the fact that they'd found each other just made things more convenient and happy for everyone. He sat his drink down, very carefully in the dark, and applauded. "Yay! Okay, Alex, like Erin said!"

Joan carefully paid attention to the two scientists, listening with interest as they talked. And it was real interest: for all that she was likely being sold a bill of goods even by the lovely Miss A, it was still more interesting to hear about that sort of thing than the boring details of the society party around her. And how could she be upset about a woman doing science? "That sounds like fascinating work," she said honestly, "and I'd love to talk to you about it at length. After the dancing!" she added with a laugh. She stepped back, shooting a glance over at the interplay between Corbin and the reporter. What makes 'Tex' Muniz especially fun to deal with, she mused sarcastically, is that he's actually from Garden City...hey! Isn't that Corbin Hughes, the Hughes heir? Yes, yes it is. And where are his parents? Ah. She wasn't much for gossip, but she made a note anyway. Kids today, getting sucked into parties like this, women around them who think they don't have any options besides their face to get ahead...it's sad. All in all, she wasn't in a great mood when she rounded on Felix Fassbinder, but that didn't mean she was above playing with her food. "Perhaps, Mr. Fassbinder, if you think you can handle dancing with a woman." She looked down at him and added with a smirk. "Hands at ten and two," she said, reaching down and taking his hands, putting them firmly on her shoulder blades. She was a tall, muscular woman, and felt very strong. "Now lead me." Is Hughes working FOR, or WITH Fassbinder? And what's the AEGIS connection?

"That's not..." Mark thought better of it, finished his schapps, and poured another one, slowly sinking further into the bubbly, steaming water. "That's, uh, actually about what we heard on Earth-XX. Alex Albright kept trying to seduce Michelle Harris, but she would have none of him till he put a ring on her finger. Marcie was always encouraging Michelle to try and live a little, even...well, uh, I guess I shouldn't tell that story." He coughed. "Mike, I think you're up for truth or dare."

With the host distracted, Joan stepped back into a discreet corner and went to work, mentally noting the arrival of all the new faces. Hmm, Viktor Archeville and the famous Miss Americana. Woof, I see her pictures don't do her justice. Joan wasn't the type to get jealous of another woman's good looks, though, so after a brief stab of envy she put herself back to work. Two scientists from the beautiful people out together, that makes sense. But hey, isn't he dating Fulcrum, that giantess from the Interceptors? Hmm hmm. She missed her notepad, but her brain would have to get the job done. Estelle de Havilland, of course, since there's a party...And Victory, that AEGIS cyborg...quite a crowd Mr. Fassbinder has out for the evening. She hmmed for a moment, then decided she wasn't going to get anywhere if she didn't get closer. "Viktor! How nice to see you!" she said warmly, walking up and embracing the scientist around the shoulders. "And here I thought it was just going to be all investors and no inventors here." She laughed, and gave a polite hello to the lovely Miss Americana. "Hello, I don't know if we've been introduced. I'm Joan Collier, from the Herald."

"Hah! Nice one, Trevor. She's a super-merc," Mark offered, having taken a moment to place the name himself. "She does bodyguard work for mastermind types mostly, she doesn't go out and knock over banks. Good moral choice there, Trevor. She's made of sand, see, so she can travel around and fight like that, but she can also harden herself up and turn herself into stone. What's really interesting about her is that because she's also a shapeshifter who changes her whole body, technically she's naked every time she fights. And in all her pictures!" Mark made a "bosoms! And lots of 'em!" gesture as politely as his good manners and level of intoxication allowed. "So, you want to take your turn, Trevor, or leave it open?"

Fusion gave the bon vivant older man a hard look before Joan judged that Felix was just flirting with her. Looking down at the chemical magnate, she said with a distinct smile, showing teeth, "You first, Mr. Fassbinder." She took a drink, trusting her hardened constitution to protect her from the effects of weak alcohol. She had to drink the hard stuff to get really hammered these days. She fought the urge to shove her wedding ring in the guy's face, never liking the idea of hiding behind her marriage as a way of discouraging certain types of men. Especially the certain types of men she couldn't discourage too hard as long as they were actually behaving themselves. "Or is that something you prefer to leave up to your staff?" she asked innocently.

'Sa DC 20 Sense Motive or Bluff check to know Joan hates this. Hey SC, how'd Felix roll on his Morph this morning?

I hate this. In a long, trailing red gown that not incidentally hid the lines of her body well enough to conceal the tentacles wrapped around her midsection, Joan Collier stood patiently in line and wished she was anywhere else. Snobby society parties, servants dressed like French maids from a fetish catalog...why am I here again? Oh, right, because she'd made that stupid bet on the World Series with Fletch Beaumont and she'd lost. Now here she was, doing the society gig, while Fletch took the usual society reporter for a romantic getaway in the Hamptons. What is this, 1940? Women on the society beat indeed. But she kept a pretty smile on her face and kept her eyes open, mindful of the story.

"Ooh, a double-challenge," said Mark thoughtfully. "Well, then..." He hmmed, thinking carefully, if woozily, before replying, "If we're going both ways, I think I'd better come up with something for everybody." He had to be careful here, not wanting to ruin the joke or make his friends angry, but who could be angry when everyone was so happy. He pointed at Trevor. "Tell everyone who you think is the hottest supervillainess. And why! While..." He hmmed. "While standing on your head. You can get out of the water for that," he added with a laugh.

"All right..." said Mark, looking around at his happy, relaxed friends. After all the stress of the last few months, and as busy as Alex and Mike had been with school, it was really nice to see everyone so relaxed and happy with each other. Maybe he wasn't part of any of the couples around him, but that was OK: he had no complaints about his personal life, and look how happy they were! Everyone was so happy, even Trevor. "All right, Trevor Hunter," said Mark, pointing at Trevor with his champagne flute. "Truth...or DARE!?!"

"Hmm. Maybe things aren't that different, then," said Mark with a little shrug. "Like I said, this has been my life since I was very little. That's not the same for everyone," he added quickly. "Lots of kids went to regular high school before their special talents got them noticed by Claremont." He got up to get their Chinese food, then sat down again. "Here you go. Yeah, I'm a little unusual. How about you?" he asked Corbin. "You ever worry that growing up with money makes it tough for you to relate to other kids? Like you'll never have the same interests or concerns?"

What a weirdo, thought Mark, a little unkindly. "This is my musical accompaniment," Mark explained to Carrie. "They provide my theme music." He gave Cabbsy a gigantic tip, hoping he wasn't corrupting the local economy, and then slipped more gold to the band to follow him. Not sure how anyone could miss the awesome, he added, "A string quartet would mean they all used string instruments. Gentlemen!" he called. "Can you play the Yellow Rose of Texas? You may know the tune best as the tune of...GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!" He shrugged. "If you're going to visit another dimension, why not do it with a little class?"

Fusion submitted to the Doktor's examinations without complaint, her breathing sounding clear and regular as he took her measurements. "The gills don't open up till I'm underwater," she confessed, pointing to hair-thin slits just visible at extreme close range along her neck. "Just like most of the skin lubrication. That's me," she said wryly, "the first amphibious octopus." Underneath her skin was a thick subcutaneous layer of flesh, deep enough that it hadn't actually made her get any larger. "As for the skeletal structure...I'll let you know. As long as I can maintain full rigidity when I want, I can live with how things are now."

Fusion took the specimen jar and placed it to her lips, tilting her head forward and making a bizarre retching sound. Within seconds, Doc watched a rapidly rising line of black inside the jar rise to the very top, Fusion pulling her head back and screwing the lid back on expressionlessly. "I can give you more, but I'd need a much larger container," she said, wiping her mouth. "It should be octopus vulgaris ink, or close enough. It's a handy talent in a fight, and you should see what it does underwater." She smiled slightly, faint, rapidly fading traces of black on her teeth that were gone in seconds.

Summoner Abilities: 32 pp STR 14 (+2) DEX 18 (+4) CON 18 (+4) INT 16 (+3) WIS 16 (+3) CHA 10 (+0) Combat: 30 pp ATK: +7 (+13 Melee) (+15 Sword) DEF: +13 (+4 flat-footed) Init: +8 Grapple: +15 Saves: 10 pp TOU +7 (+4 Con, +3 Protection) FORT +7 (+4 Con, +3) REF +7 (+4 Con, +3) WILL +7 (+3 Wis, +4) Skills: 18 pp=72 r Climb 8 (+10) Concentration 7 (+10) Craft: Artistic 7 (+10) Craft: Mechanical 5 (+8) Craft: Structural 5 (+8) Knowledge: History 7 (+10) Knowledge: Streetwise 7 (+10) Languages 4 (Czech, German, Hebrew, Russian) (Base: English) Notice 7 (+10) Sense Motive 7 (+10) Stealth 8 (+12) Feats: 24 pp Accurate Attack All-Out Attack Attack Focus: Melee 6 Attack Specialization: Sword Defensive Attack Dodge Focus 5 Improved Initiative Luck 2 Move-By Action Power Attack Quick Draw [Draw] Takedown Attack 2 Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 36 pp Protection 3 [3 pp] Dollmaker Array [29+1=30 pp] Summon Minion 6 (Extras: Fanatical (+1), Horde (+1) ) (PFs: Mental Link, Progression 3 (10 minions), Sacrifice) AP: Summon Minion 6 (Extras: Broad Type (+2) [Toys]) (PFs: Mental Link, Progression 3 (10 minions), Sacrifice) costs abilities 32 + combat 30 + saves 10 + skills 18/72 + feats 24 + powers 36 = 150 pts PL: 6 (90) [u]Abilities[/u]: -16 pp STR 26 (+8) DEX 14 (+2) CON n/a INT n/a WIS 12 (+1) CHA n/a [u]Combat[/u]: 20 pp ATK: +5 (+4 w/size) DEF: +5 (+4 w/size) Init: +6 [u]Saves[/u]: 6 pp TOU +8 (+0 Con, +8 Protection) FORT n/a REF +4 (+2 Ref, +2) WILL +5 (+1 Wis, +4) [u]Skills[/u]: 2 pp=8 r Notice 8 (+10) [u]Feats[/u]: 7 pp All-Out Attack, Fearless, Improved Initiative, Interpose, Power Attack, Teamwork 2 [u]Powers[/u]: 71 pp Flight 2 (25 MPH) [4 pp] Growth 4 (Extra: Duration [Permanent] (+0) ) (PF: Innate) [13 pp] Immunity 40 (Fortitude saves, Mental effects) [40 pp] Protection 8 (Extra: Impervious 6) [14 pp] costs abilities -16 + combat 20 + saves 6 + skills 2/8 + feats 7 + powers 71 = 90 pts ---- Design Notes: OK, here’s my attempt at building a character with Summon. I’ve made a few assumptions that are worth explaining here in the build. This character comes from a line of Eastern bloc supersoldiers, perhaps the son or grandson of a Warsaw Pact hero from Czechoslovakia. (And thus, perhaps a descendant of Rabbi Loew of Prague). He can either make 10 huge toy soldiers (or whatever descriptor you want to give his ‘main line’, summoning all of them as a free action, or else just animate up to 10 toys of any particular description and variety. Note that his Minions aren’t Heroic (because that makes combat insaaane!) and they’re not PL 10, either: at PL 6 they’re really powerful, but he’s the important part of the show. He’s a very good swordsman without his toys, probably as the result of his family’s strong martial tradition. Adjust as necessary for your purposes: I would say a Summon-themed character should be able to hold their own without their toys (at least defensively), and their minions should be lower-PL than they. Adjust the character’s stats as necessary, as well as the stats of his ‘golems’ and his other toys. I’ve deliberately left the AP of his Summon as broad as possible so you can put together whatever seems appropriate. This character could be a sculptor, or a painter, or anything else inclined to make immobile objects that spring to life to do his bidding! Add an action drawback if you want him to actually take the time to create things, or even a medium flaw if he _has_ to work from completed works of whatever medium is his specialty. You can adjust his skills too; I went with someone who could pass as an OK toymaker, but you may want someone more in touch with his ‘arcane’ or ‘theological’ heritage, whatever that heritage might happen to be. (Why build him this way? Because the Soviet bloc probably didn’t include research into the arcane in the education of their supers! You only need one generation for that knowledge to fade away...) I gave him the sword and made him a melee specialist to meet caps, but of course you can adjust that as necessary. One possible way to build characters like this while saving points is to deliberately undercap them offensively or defensively, and make them dependent on Aid actions to hit caps. I didn’t do that here, but if you want points handy, it’s not a bad idea! His default minions are deliberately designed to be very good at aid actions, but still be decently formidable on their own. Remember that they are subject to the minion rules, though, so one decent hit means they’ll go down. That’s OK, though: they’ll be back! I cribbed the minions from Kreuzritter's Veda build, but feel free to adjust your own as necessary! Remember, that's what the game's all about! One thing to remember: the _stats_ of minions stay the same without the Type extra, but their descriptors (what they look like, how they act) may change from summoning to summoning. Today Captain Thunder, tomorrow an origami crane? Why not?!

Mark swirled his drink contemplatively, thinking regretfully for just a second that he was the only one there without a date. I'm sure it'll work itself out. He thought quickly, and soon his brain was working down entirely different directions. "So, you guys know what? I'm thinking of living here in Africa when we graduate. There are some really good jobs and stuff, and they're really good for the community. Woof, this tastes different when it's not in daiquiris! I should make some ice cream drinks later. If I can get up." He sipped the drink some more, and went with party games. "Sooo...should we play truth or dare? Are you guys up for that?"

"Sure, that's fine." Inside, Mark ordered a plate of good-tasting Chinese food, making a few suggestions to Corbin about what was best at this place, before they took their seats beneath a gold statue of the Buddha. "I don't get a chance to meet a lot of new people these days," Mark admitted. "I did all my high school stuff, and junior high, at Claremont, even before my special talents showed up. So I don't always get everything people are doing outside of our school. How are things on the outside?" he added, a little grin on his face. "I'm a special case," he added, "so don't worry that you'll have no one normal to talk to here."