Avenger Assembled

"Wear them," said Avenger. "You saw him: if he does get suspicious, he's likely to follow you. After all, as far as we've heard he's defeated most opponents already." He nodded at that, his face perfectly composed. "He's arrogant, and we can use that against him. He'll see you as a target, and he'll move to take advantage of that target. But we'll be waiting for him."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't pry," said Heyzel apologetically. "I understand that humans have things they would prefer not to discuss. I know of things like that myself now." He studied her, then admitted, "You have a touch of Heaven about you," he said quietly. "I wondered if you had been in at a death. But it's not my place to ask of such personal business, I apologize."

They finished the transaction with speed and professionalism, Freedom Angel a warm, reassuring presence as Stesha helped him make the right business decisions. She caught him studying her a few times, but it seemed far more professional than salacious. After all, he was an angel. When the transaction was done, he leaned close and asked her seriously. "Stesha, did something happened to you recently? Something of a mortal nature?"

Oh, and just to get any questions out of the way: you guys have full opportunities to make use of Master Plans, Inspires, sneaky plots, etc.

(00:52:24) angrydurf: I'm just saying that if he's staying true to for in 25 years he has a young ward he's training to be his successor. (00:52:26) AvengerAssembled: But yes, JJ has no idea who this is. (00:52:53) Faust: About to post my pc...had difficulty with his history (00:52:53) angrydurf: *form (00:53:54) Gizmo: ...what 'form' is that, durf? (00:54:03) Sorus: true to form (00:54:17) Sorus: you know, a jerkass (00:54:24) Gizmo: ... (00:54:30) Sorus: (00:54:31) AvengerAssembled: Snerk (00:54:41) AvengerAssembled: I don't think that's quite what he meant, Sorus. (00:54:43) angrydurf: Swashbuckling badass abnormal? (00:54:48) AvengerAssembled: LOLs for real

"That'll do it," agreed Avenger. "Take him to the alley around the back," he said. "Those tenements are deserted, and sufficiently a fire hazard that only the poorest of the poor and the most heavily drug addicted live there." He didn't mention how he knew that piece of information in particular, namely, where he'd used to eat. "Once he's there, we can grab him, subdue him, and take him away at our leisure."

Lock the doors and burn the place down. No, wait, that won't leave anyone to tell the tale afterwards. Plus, there are all those civilians. "Can't call the cops or fire, Fens are too dilapidated for that," said Jack, unconsciously mirroring Avenger's speech as he studied the serious problem before them. He studied their quarry like a snake would study a particularly large rat. "I recommend we wait him out. He's only human. Eventually he'll need to void his bowels, or grab a cigarette, or buy good, any number of things. And once he's off holy ground, we'll get him."

"We're on our way," said Avenger, his voice dropping from Jack's casual ease to a flat, cold fury when Derrick explained what was going on. "Describe him to me. Did he identify himself? Say what faction he was from?" On the other end, Derrick could hear Jack urging Taylor to get a portal open, and something about finding his pants. "We'll be there in a second."

The second half of this thread takes place before the party, as far as I've heard?

"With style.." Avenger replied, his gravely, scratchy voice deadpan. "As for the building, recommend you talk your way past the guards?" He doubted Jack of Blades would be up for his usual strategy in those rare occasions when he simply couldn't sneak his way into a place: beat the security guards unconscious so fast that they couldn't react. "Will meet you inside in any event. Best if not seen together."

Either one is good, Rav.

The OOC thread. The article is published under an anonymous byline: The Freedom City Ledger Editorial Staff. This thread is open to all characters, particularly those who know the Scarab and/or Bombshell.

DC 31 Diplomacy check there.

Sussing out what was happening at ground level, the angel of Freedom flew towards the jumper on the high ledge with great speed: stopping in front of him so that he could catch him if he went forward, and so that he'd start backwards, if anything, if he was surprised. "Hello, my friend," he said simply, offering his hand to the frightened man on the rooftop. "Come with me."

"Forever mine, Phantom," Jack agreed, trusting in the darkness and shadows to keep them away from prying eyes in the mostly dark building by their flank or on the street far, far below where they blew. He focused in on his lovely wife's eyes, gazing into them almost hypnotically. "Why, where are you planning on going?" he asked her teasingly.

She was quite a bit faster than Jack was in the sky, just as he'd expected. Rather than try and chase her, instead he dispersed his mass enough to vanish and flowed through the air conditioning unit in the second tower, waiting for Taylor to get close before he boiled out of the walls right before her, reaching for her with outstretched hands as he snapped back into solidity. "Gotcha!"

"I don't fly nearly as fast as you yet," said Jack, but as his wife well knew he couldn't refuse a challenge. "But I still think I can catch you!" He made a playful grab for her in the air, not really trying hard. It was always better after a chase. "Bet I can catch you before you reach another tower!" He had to fly fast to do that, so he erupted into smoke to do so, and within seconds there was a cloud of mist with Jack's laughing voice chasing his wife around the sky.

I'll take this one when you're done, Geez.

"It's a fine line between falling and being thrown," said Jack warmly. "But that person's gone now, and I prefer not to think about her. Not when my current company is so much more pleasant." He kissed her in the air, the two of them spinning through the skies together. "Besides, it wasn't nearly as exciting as falling in love. And I do that every time I look at you." Hmm, was she eating more iron? He could definitely hear her pulse more loudly than usual.

When Erik was gone, Jack cracked his neck. "Well, that went well. What a-." He looked apologetically at Jack Jr, who grinned at him in reply. He grinned. "There, no swears in front of the baby," he said with a wink in Taylor's direction. "But I think we got everything we needed." With a deep sigh, he touched the communicator hidden inside his lapel. "And the signal went through too. Let's get out of here."

The following appears in the pages of the Freedom City Ledger a week after the events of The Long Arm of the Law Editorial- Villains and Heroes: How Close is Too Close? It's something of an open secret in Freedom City's superhero community that sometimes superheroes and supercriminals get a little too close for comfort. Sometimes this can be a good thing. Who can forget what happened in 1993, when supervillains like the Red Devil and the Teen Terrors joined forces with friends from FORCE OPS to battle the forces of the Terminus? Or seventy years ago, when Crime League members like August Roman turned away from their criminal past to embrace American patriotism during the Second World War? This newspaper and its editorial staff endorse a balanced approach to crime-fighting, one that offers an opportunity for redemption for costumed criminals who choose to turn their fantastic powers to the cause of justice. But there is such a thing as being too close. Intimate relationships between superheroes and their enemies are a violation of the sacred public trust our society gives to people in masks, relationships that strike at the very foundation of what it means to be a superhero. Would the Centurion have bedded Marionette, or Lady Liberty Tom Cyprus? We trust our lives, our fortunes, and our families to the costumed guardians of Freedom City. If they can't be trusted to keep something as routine as their personal relationships inside the law, how can we trust them with anything more important? And what about our children? Consider the message it sends our young women if the hypersexualized, aggressively promiscuous lady supervillains are given the same treatment by the media or by their fellow superheroes as noble, courageous defenders of freedom like Lady Liberty or Fulcrum. Our society should reward decency and honor, not crime, corruption, and the poor impulse control that so often marks these jailbaits turned jailbirds. Our superheroes need to say no to supervillains. It's been said that true love waits. For a superhero, true love can certainly can wait until after justice has been served. This newspaper is a long-time friend of superheroes, particularly those who've proven their value to this city and to the world time and time again. That's why today we chose to name names. If our friends, whose valor has been proven time and again, do not have the courage to defend their relationship publicly, how can they tell themselves that what they do is true and right? That's why the Freedom City Ledger's editorial staff is asking our friend the Scarab to abandon her intimate relationship with the super-criminal known as Bombshell. Do what's right. Give our people something to believe in.

"Never," Jack promised, as they slipped through the window together and out into the Freedom City night. He looked down at the world far, far below their feet and gave a long, slow, whistle. "Whew. Did I ever tell you about the time I fell off this thing? It took a while to get back to flying. The company wasn't nearly so pleasant back then, though."

I'll let that point bide, shaen.

"A few ideas." He smiled. "Let's fly," he suggested suddenly, slowly rising off the ground himself in time with her. "Neat trick, huh?" He grinned. "I've been practicing! I see this city from the ground so often, but you're lucky enough to see it from the sky. It looks very different up here, and there's no one I'd rather see it with than you, Taylor." One thing about flying was that they could be at eye level without either of them having to exert much effort, and that was nice too.