Avenger Assembled

"He's the second Beacon!" Mark exclaimed. "Isn't that great? It's like we've got all the old heroes coming together at Claremont again." He hmmed. "All right, here's a crazy idea. What if we all got together and made a new Liberty League? Beacon II, M-" He blinked. "Oh, uh, sorry, Trevor. Beacon, Mark Lucas, and some other hero with a connection to the heroes of World War II!" He gave Trevor a big, perfectly sincere wink.

"Corruption in City Hall, eh? Tell me more..." Joan looked out the window of the office she'd been snooping in and saw a samurai warrior appear in a flash of light. "Actually, you know what? Why don't we get together tonight at the usual spot?" she suggested, her black costume pouring out over her body as she watched the young woman down below engage the warrior in combat. "I've got a meeting I need to attend." Springing out of her office window, Fusion popped into visibility as she swung down from the flank of the building, tentacles whipping in the air around her as she easily caught her landing. She faced the samurai and tried in fluent, though accented Japanese: "

When everyone was done, almost as an afterthought, the spokesman for the Celestial Choir took the stage. As this wasn't a time for flashy theatrics, he chose to avoid any. Flaming sword put away for now, and wings folded at his back, the angel faced the crowd. Despite the critics in the audience, Freedom Angel cast a piercing gaze on the crowd. "You will pardon, I hope, if I do not match the standards I did a few years ago. This sounds much better with the power of the infinite divine behind it." And by God, pretentious though it sounded, everyone could tell he meant it. "This is a song about freedom." Without accompaniment, completely acapella, the angel began to sing: Tears glistened in his eyes as he sang, the sheer honesty of a moment that was beyond him, beyond the frailty of mortal ego and human flesh, a moment that was only for the sheer power of the words and the meaning they held for the people in the crowd. Heyzel's words rocked with power, but his thoughts were locked deep inside. How many times had he sung this alongside the perfect legions of Heaven, friends and family united together in love and faith to build the perfect world for the purest souls of Creation? How far had he fallen, to find himself here amongst these mortals so frail in flesh and soul? But no, he reminded himself. Humanity wasn't frail; humanity was human. These were brave souls who battled the forces of the Adversary, the forces of despair and loss, with courage and love for one another. If there was corruption and vice in them, so what? It was his job to help them be better, not condemn them for the sins in their hearts. What was Heaven but a world where everyone, whatever their deeds, earned their just reward? People mistook him often for a superhero, an impression he didn't argue with since it made it so much easier to relate to people like this. The truth was, really, that he admired them. All of them. To risk himself against impossible odds was one thing. He knew the justice of the universe and his own soul's destination better than anyone on this plane did. But for these people, with their fragile bodies and fragile lives, to risk themselves time and again against the foulest beasts of Uncreation, even those that sprang from the human heart....that was something. That was more. He looked neither right nor left as he sang, letting the words reach out to everyone in the crowd in their own way. This wasn't about him or about how he wanted to make people feel: he gave them beauty, gave them truth, and how they handled what they got from him was a choice for their own souls to make. He was an angel singing, and the reaction of the crowd was in their hands. He could have made them love it; so easily imposing the power of the divine on their human souls. But what greater sin could there be than that, the corruption of Heaven's justice? Could he make the sacrifice that mortal men had made for this place? Risking his own safety for the good of the souls in Heaven was one thing, but wasn't Creation ultimately fragile and doomed to fall? Shaking his head, he remembered the forces of entropy and sin that had so nearly pulled this place down so very often. Humanity had saved itself, time and again, proving that his teachers had been wrong. There was ultimate justice even on this plane; man's Creation, man's finite world, had a purpose! It was a purpose of salvation! As his closing, the angel of Freedom drew his flaming sword and cut a hole open in the universe itself, pure white light spilling out as a vision of unearthly Paradise blossomed before everyone's gaze. "Come, Ace, Talya," he said, gesturing grandly, "your reward for your deeds this day awaits! The rest of you, I shall see you again when justice must be done and free souls saved!"

APPROVED

For the most part, this is a solid build. Seems like a fun character! Feats like Improved Disarm and Improved Block generally break caps. You'd only be able to use them bare-handed; not worth spending PP on. Similarly, Seize Initiative is generally not worth it. I'd suggest using those points to buy Luck: you can always power-stunt them if necessary! I'm sure you know (as you've mentioned in chat) that you really do want to be careful about playing the Asian guy with broken English. Is not so good.

"It's quite a place," the other Erin agreed. "I couldn't bring along a communicator, but if you do run into Steelgrave, you can contact me through one of the dimensional guardians of this plane. We've got some ourselves, even if they're not the same people." Pressing a few buttons on her waist, she opened that shining door and said out loud, "It was good to meet you. It's not every dimension I get to cross two Erins off the list to worry about. And..." With a familiar awkwardness, the other Erin rushed on to say, "And...you're one of the lucky ones too, Erin. I've seen me in much worse shape."

"That's right," said Mark cheerfully. "First person with powers in the family. Or who knew about it, anyway." He didn't look at Erin when he said that. Sure, Mike might _know_ that wasn't exactly true, but he hadn't been there when it all happened. "They think it came from years of my granddad and dad getting into all those crazy adventures in the 40s and 60s. So I get to be a superhero just like them, but with costumes! Do you like this one? I made it myself."

The other Erin gave her a long look, obviously fully aware of what a difficult subject this was for her duplicate. "After...Dad died, of the flu, Uncle Aaron had Mom, Megan and I flown out to Freedom City. It was like flying into Hell, so many people were sick, half the city was on fire, our pilot died right there on the plane...but we made it. We all got our vaccines together, right over in the Goodman Building," she said with a little half-nod in that direction. "Things haven't been easy for us, for anyone, but we've come through all right. As bad as things were, we were lucky."

"It's...it's made things very different," Erin said carefully. "Even more different than it would have been with just the plague." Erin noticed that her double didn't ask what had happened in a world with a different vaccine. Maybe she'd missed the hint...or maybe she already knew. "Keep an eye out. Like you said, forewarned is forearmed, and if Steelgrave hits someone who's expecting him, he won't get very far." Short of a full-scale Terminus invasion, anyway, but neither girl wanted to dwell on that possibility. "You're always welcome on Earth E+EV if you ever pass our way. We can always use another hand."

"Steelgrave got one hell of a surprise when he hit us. I don't think he was expecting a world where high school kids can beat an Omegadrone to death barehanded," she said with some familiar relish. "But we're mostly concerned with protecting ourselves," the other Erin admitted. "Two billion people who can punch through solid steel and jump across the Wading River are a handful to deal with as it is. I doubt you'll find anyone with the wherewithal to mount an expedition to the Terminus, not without a lot of prep, anyway. If you do go after him, you'll have a lot of Erin Whites behind you, even if we aren't there."

Erin nodded. "That's what Uncle Aaron and Dr. Atom figured," she said, "but it's not Physician Friendly who's targeting us. It's Shadivan Steelgrave, Omega's armored lackey. He's attacked about a dozen Erins up and down this dimensional axis, and not all of them made it," she said gravely. "The good news is, he's only hitting the Erin Whites who live in Freedom City, and only the ones with powers, so the other Erin here is probably safe." She paused a moment, looking at her double, and said, "Not everyone lived," she murmured, "not even close. But enough people got the vaccine that we got to keep our world, even if we're rebuilding it all ourselves. The Atom Family came through the best of any of the old hero teams, so they were the nucleus, as it were, that we rebuilt around."

"You...yeah, let's not get into that." Erin took a moment to settle herself before replying, "I'm in an Atom Family uniform because I'm part of the Atomic Knights. Before the plague, this is what the old Atom Family wore. We're part of the leading volunteer militia where I'm from. I'm trying to get in touch with my doubles because I think that we're being targeted by agents of the Terminus."

The other Erin raised a sensor from her belt, a piece of super-science Erin vaguely recognized from her time in Dr. Atom's lab. "Damn, you are a traveler!" She ran her hand through her hair in a gesture Erin recognized from looking in a bathroom mirror. "Listen, we've only got about ten minutes before the local dimension cops zero in on where I am, so we need to work fast. Is the local Erin still in Seattle?"

Erin was on patrol when she heard the noise, a shimmering tingle in the air just to her left that made her nerves go on end. She took a few steps back, ready to spring, wondering what was about to jump out at her. This was supposed to be a nice, quiet August patrol to stretch her muscles, here in the relatively good neighborhood abutting Lincoln and Bayview! The noise became a shape, then a glow, a rectangle shaped like a door. And a figure walked out, a very familiar one. Erin White looked at her double, her blue and white uniform oddly familiar and yet oddly alien. It was a morphic molecule costume like Wander's, but the symbol on the chest was a big letter A and an atomic map of uranium: the symbol of the Atom family. "Hello, Erin," said her doppleganger, a look of familiar determination in her eyes. "I know this must be very surprising for you, so I'll try and take it fast. Are you familiar with parallel universes?"

"We've got a pretty good soccer intramural thing going," said Mark equitably. "One of the exchange students here is actually a pro athlete in his native dimension, so he's talking about going pro here once he graduates. Of course, there's no gladiator league in this dimension, so he'll have to do soccer or something if he wants to go pro." He kept walking around the room, cheerfully narrating as everyone headed outside. "Hey, can you fly too? Because that's pretty cool. I can't fly," he admitted, "but I know people who can."

Jack reached up and ruffled the baby's hair, gently scooping the serious-faced boy out of his mother's arms. "Hey there." Conscious of the theater of the moment, a father with his baby son on his knee, Jack said, "That's fair, Lynn. The question I'm left with is, how different do you think predators and human beings are? Do you think I love Taylor or my son any less because of what I am? Or that Taylor's somehow in the wrong to love me?" He gave Lynn a straightforward look. "Because if you do hold opinions like that, now's the time to share them."

This wasn't a happy occasion for Mark. Well, yes it was, a little. Who wouldn't be happy to be in the company of El Fuego, the Spanish firebrand? The man who, even while fleeing the vastly more powerful Superior, had burned off Heinrich Himmer's mustache as a lesson to the other Nazis, the man who'd given the hotfoot to a legion of European dictators and American gangsters before his retirement. Even Mark wasn't often in the company of so many famous heroes, for all that he'd met most of these people at least once or twice in his family's long sojurn alongside more famous heroes. But it was hard not to feel bad, too. Here he was surrounded by legions of heroes, people who'd known his family for decades, and what had all that gotten them? No one ever figured out that Grandpa wasn't really Grandpa. And no one was able to help Dad when he needed it. That was his fault, though, so it was hard to blame any of these people too much. Really, his main worry was gossip. Rick Lucas' fate, and what had gotten him there, had already gotten out amongst the older heroes that had been his friends, and his father's friends, for so many years. He didn't need to hear recent tragedies marring his family's good name, especially on occasion of another hero's honoring. When he realized who he was standing next to, the tuxedo-clad teenager suddenly felt a whole lot better. "Oh wow, Natalya Browning!" He smiled at her, not for a moment holding any of Bombshell's less-than-heroic past against her. If the Scarab thinks she's a hero again, that's fine by me! "My grandpa always said you were the best the old country had to offer." Come to think of it, maybe Grandpa Lucas had had his own reasons for favoring Bombshell over the very married Lady Celtic. Mark wasn't blind to those either. "I'm Mark Lucas," he said, offering his hand.

Avenger: And That's the Way It Is Pound Poppies When You're Sorry World of Darkness Clandestine Encounter Gigawatts Public Service Dead Men Do Tell Tales Meltdown Taint Funny McGee Mistaken ID Reckoning One Year Later Bananaphone Edge: Lights At His Back At the Mountains No Mercy Shadow over Freedom High Noon A Different Kind of Hero Save Tonight Banking On It Freedom Angel: Fresh Plots Chaos in the Streets Imma Bee Auditions LOLWTFBBQ Pater Noster Fusion: MAWS All the News That's Fit Who Let the Dog Out Ink Blots Long Arm of the Law GMing Imma Bee I See what You Did There Caged Bird Reckoning

"Trust me," said Jack reassuringly. "Those are overrated. Women are looking for charm, for weight, for depth. Show them that you're worth having, and you'll..." He debated telling JJ the story of he and his mother's first date, but decided that was probably beyond what the younger man would ever, ever want to know. "Well, you'll be had. I'd advise you to date outside your kind, though. Eternal vampire relationships tend to go in unpleasant directions."

"Yes," Jack agreed, and in that syllable was an understanding neither man could have expressed to the humans in their lives. There was always a price to pay in magic; the price for magic that came from the dead was particularly dear. "Do you have a girl?" he suddenly asked JJ. "Back where you're from, I mean. Surely you can tell me that: I mean you're handsome, charismatic, obviously women like vampires," he said with a faint shrug. "And from the sound of things, you could get away with that where you live."

"Do you hunger?" Those were three loaded words coming from his father, who'd treated his own feedings as just a basic part of life for nearly as long as JJ could remember. "Or are you just a man with the blood of a monster in his veins?" With JJ sitting, Jack found himself on his feet, pacing the room with the restless energy of a predator. "I wondered that for so long, you know? Thank God for your mother's blessings making sure my own abilities were...displaced. Is that still true?" he asked JJ. "I've noticed that you've walked the path of her career far more than mine. I have to say, I think I see her hand in that. And good for her in the bargain."

"I have no organized opposition. At this time. That I am aware of." Jack gave his son a feral, predatory sort of smile. "And if you are my son, and if you grew up the way I suspect you're going to grow up, you know what that means. This is not a safe city for people like us, nor is it likely to be. Nor should be it be, really. I trust that I don't need to tell you to be careful. I have enemies everywhere, and most of them will be worse enemies of yours. And then there's your mother." He shook his head, a look of genuine awe on his lean face. "Frankly, I prefer not to think about the sort of things that will be gunning for any son of Phantom's. Vampires are challenging enough on their own."

"Being appreciated for that, and not how much better I am than those evil vampires...that means a lot, son." He hmmed. "What can I tell you? Stay out of the West Side if you can. Lantern Jack doesn't let any vampires into Lantern Hill, and I have no idea how he'd feel about you. The West End is different, the Interceptors there aren't threats, they're just...well, you met the king yourself," said Avenger thoughtfully. "Too dangerous in their own way. As for vampire politics, there are people, friends of mine, who'd want to meet you, even though who you are would have to stay between us. Dhampirs can mean something more than evil to the right people."

"Very sudden," Mark agreed, and for just a second he looked perfectly, absolutely serious before saying, "Hey, are you done with all this paperwork yet? There's a whole lot to see here!" Sure enough, just as Mark spoke, the secretary presented John with a big pile of papers to sign that would get him out of the office for the day. Looking pleased with the situation, Mark said, "Hey, can you do that thing where you make big objects out of light? Because this one time, Mr. Albright made this Betty Grable that...uh, maybe I shouldn't tell that story. It was just for the war effort."

"It would, actually." Jack picked up the shimmering knife on his desk, the one he'd taken from the Luddite in one of his first adventures, and tossed it back and forth hand to hand. "I've recently gotten an education in the failure state of vampire politics. If I thought it was going badly, I'd leave town, and I'd try and get your mother to do the same. And yes, I know she can handle herself. That's the problem. Too many people have already died because I decided to be better than I was." He flipped the knife around. "Things are all right now, though," he admitted. "The people who are with me are doing what they should, and so far everyone who's stood against me has died or is in hiding." He looked up at JJ and asked, "Are my hands clean, at least? Can you tell me that?"