Avenger Assembled

"We'll talk about that tomorrow," Paul suggested, with a significant glance at his wife. "What's important is that you both know that we support the decisions you've made, and we're very happy for you. Our family embraces all lifestyles." He smiled, clapping his hand on Derrick's shoulder. "Welcome to the family, I suppose."

"Uh, hi," said Edge a little abashedly. He shook her hand with a firm grip, a legacy of long practice, and looked at the plants. "I was just messing around, you know, practicing..." He reached up and ran his hand over his cowled head. "I just found out that my powers didn't work the way I thought they did, so all this is still pretty new to me. Mr. Dark Star said you're a plant controller?"

A few weeks after his life went south, Edge sat alone in a quiet corner of Liberty Park, watching the fish swim around in the little pond. Mr. Dark Star had suggested he come out here and meet a friend of his to help him explore his new powers, but deep down he wanted to do nothing of the sort. The special abilities that he'd always been so proud of were now a painful reminder of his father and what had made him go away. What if that happens to me? What if I have to leave Mom, and my life too? It was a terrible thought, especially with the grieving woman he'd left behind at home to come out here. If not for all the friends his family had made over the years, and if not for his own friends, he didn't know what he'd do. But that's what happened to Dad. He didn't know what was happening, so he couldn't control it. I can make things better if I do things differently: if I can figure out how my powers work.Looking down at the pond, he concentrated on the fish swimming there, trying to keep things modest and careful. He wiggled his fingers and inky black dots swam over the little guppies, turning them a bright, cute shade of pink that reminded of a stuffed animal. They looked baffled at their transformation, but not actually hurt. Feeling confident, he rose from the fish pond and decided to try the same trick on a nearby bush.

It was all a lot for Stesha's parents to absorb, but they were evidently trying to do their best. "Are you going to tell everyone tomorrow?" Annie asked them. "I'm not sure if we can keep this a secret from everyone," she admitted. "You remember how good we were about Basil, so I'm sure everyone will understand. If they go visit you and you're busy doing hero things, that way you can explain to them what's really going on."

Fusion (Joan Collier) Gather Info: DC 10: Fusion is a tentacled, super-strong heroine. DC 15: Fusion has been active on the West Coast and in Japan for the last five years. She's new to Freedom City. Joan Collier is a reporter for the Freedom City Ledger, where she writes a column about city life for the Metro section. DC 20: Fusion has powers a lot like a superpowered amphibious octopus, lifting cars and trucks with super-strong suckered tentacles, swinging and gliding through the air and water, and spraying ink jets from her mouth. Joan Collier is married to Charlie Smith, an accountant who works for the city's planning department. Her daugher's name is Lois, she's a nine-year-old private school student in the West End. DC 25: Fusion is cagey, but has dropped a lot of hints about having an alien origin. She was active as part of the Pacific Defenders for several years, and before that as the resident heroine of Portland. Joan Collier was a reporter for the Portland Tribune before taking a few years off with her family, and later went to work for the Freedom City Ledger. DC 30: Joan Collier was the victim of a major industrial accident involving mutagens while living in Oregon, and only survived after the intervention of some of the world's leading super-scientists. Fusion is not an alien, but rather derives her powers from some kind of genetic mutation. DC 35: Fusion and Joan Collier are the same person. Knowledge: popular culture DC 15: Fusion is a tentacled, super-strong heroine. DC 20: Fusion was active on the West Coast as the native hero of Portland, and then part of a Pacific Rim superhero team headquartered in Japan. DC 25: Fusion was the subject of a popular sentai hentai anime series during her time living in Japan. DC 30: Fusion _hated_ that show and launched a successful lawsuit that ultimately forced a name change on the show and drove her out of the Pacific Defenders

I realized Fusion's Dazzle should have the Cone Area (+0) modifier. (Cone Area/Touch Range) DONE BY SHAENTHEBRAIN

"Oh my God!" Annie clapped her hand to the side of her face, evidently not expecting that answer. "Oh, I can't believe my little tulip bulb is a superhero and she's in love with another superhero! It's like something out of your brother's comic books!" She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm, as her husband came over to pat her on the back reassuringly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said, a little abashedly. "I had too much dandelion, I think. Oh, honey!" She gave Stesha a huge hug, pulling Derrick in too. "We're both happy for you," Paul clarified, giving Derrick a sizing-up look, smiling a little. "This is a lot to absorb, for all of us. How long are you staying in town?"

"Oh hey! I see you now!" Angel lost sight of Nock entirely and focused on Ironclad. "I'mma kick your butt!" The heroines had gotten Angel's attention away from the crowd, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. She hurled a blast of energy at Ironclad, a bizarrely well-aimed shot that punched right through her armor and into her fragile body!

Fiat attack on Ironclad That hits, I believe DC 28 Tou save. Have an HP for the Fiat.

Freedom Angel studied the boy carefully, sorrow clouding his handsome features as he thought about his plight. "I can cure you of this. It will be long, and it will be ardous, but the power of the Unspeakable One can be pulled away from your soul forever." He gave him a level look. "But it will mean the loss of your powers, and the noble use you've given them. Whatever the origin of the taint inside you, you have chosen to use it for good. I cannot tell you which choice is the better for your soul."

"Yes," said Heyzel calmly, as anyone would when talking about a family friend. "Gavriel is the High Archangel of Heaven, and a friend of my parents. I'm glad to hear you're an artist, my friend. I've always found creation good for the soul, even if it's of things that the mortal world can't yet embrace." The muffins turned out to be banana nut muffins, and delicious ones at that. He studied the thing across the table from him as he ate, providing delicious butter to go with the muffins, and asked him, "Who did this to you?"

"It's okay, Mom, it's okay..." Mark was murmuring to his grieving mother, grief thick in his voice. "I'm here, Mama, I'm still here..." Martha was nearly in hysterics, and for Mark, anyway, it was a welcome relief as the cavalry started to arrive overhead: Siren and the rest of the Freedom League, who had come in response to the distress call his father had sent. So long ago, in another life, or so it seemed. "God, just leave us alone," he blurted to his teammates and putative girlfriend. "Please just leave us alone"

"Have you had your powers tested?" Paul asked, listening to his daughter with fascination. "By Archetech, or the Albright Institute? If there's a strain of chlorokinesis in the family, it might be worth it to get your nieces and nephews tested now before puberty..." He hmmed, a scientist caught in a fascinating moment. "If they can't make it out to Freedom City, I might be able to get an appointment with the Untouchable here in Chicago..." "I'm sorry, baby," said Annie, pulling back and giving her daughter a sympathetic look. "I...I think it's wonderful that you're doing something good for people. Especially something that big! It's just...it's just a lot for a mother to absorb." She smiled, looking at Derrick, and jokingly asked, "Are you a superhero too, Derrick?"

[floatr][/floatr] Characters Name: Fusion (Joan Collier) Power Level: 12 (175/176pp) Trade-Offs: None Unspent PP: 1 Progress to Platinum: 26/120pp (Gold status earned with Avenger) Alternate Identity: Fusion (super name) Joan Collier (regular name) Age: 30 (born 8/1/80) Gender: Female Height: 6'0" (up to 50 foot tentacles) Weight: 200 pds Eyes: Black Hair: Black Description: Joan Collier is a tall, statuesque woman with an athlete's muscular build. She's of partially Native American descent, something easily noticeable with her raven-black hair and slightly coppery complexion. Her most notable features are, of course, the octopus arms that bud off her waist, which are usually either in constant motion around her body or curled around her midsection so they can rest comfortably around her hips. Her skin is slightly slick at all times, enough that being in dry heat is uncomfortable for her. She usually dresses well, in the business casual of many reporters. These days she works for the _Freedom Ledger_ as a opinion columnist. She usually hides the arms underneath a series of long, flowing dresses, but a sharp eye can occasionally spot movement inside. She has an eerie grace underwater, her tentacles swaying in the watery breeze, her movements swift and sure. She likes it there, sometimes more than she likes it on land. In a black, face-covering bodysuit with strategic cutouts around her waist, Fusion is an odd, but charismatic figure, tentacles waving in the air, ready to strike. The costume stays underneath Joan's clothes when she's not in action, disappearing into an undershirt. Speaking with a fake accent and adopting different mannerisms, dropping hints of an alien heritage, Fusion is juuust different enough from Joan that she can pass as a different person when she's not around people who know her well. Luckily, she's new enough in the city that most people don't know her. History: It started five years ago. It was supposed to be the story of the year for Joan Collier, star reporter for the _Portland Tribune_. Matsumura Fishworks, a Japanese chemical company, was engaged in illegal operations at their facility on the Oregon coast, and she was going to expose them for their misdeeds, help clean up the beach where she took her family, and win a Pulitzer for the up-and-coming reporter. And she got a story out of the expose all right, just not the one she had in mind. She was undercover at the Matsumura plant, working on the assembly line, when an electrical fire caused a massive explosion in a secret laboratory being used to create mutagenic weapons for the Labyrinth, the secret masters of Matsumura. As flames raged all around her, she put aside the story to rescue her colleagues, running into the burning building again and again. Eventually the smoke and toxic fumes overwhelmed her, and she collapsed just outside the building, covered in chemical burns. And she awoke there, surrounded by EMTs, as a great and terrible change overcame her. Over a period of several long, painful days, her body absorbed the mutagenic chemicals Matsumura had been working on, chemicals derived from a variety of octopus species, and they worked their bizarre magic upon her. Drugs designed to breed a race of underwater super-soldiers instead transformed the young mother and journalist into a bizarre fusion of octopus and human. Four ten-foot tentacles hung from her waist like the fronds of a fleshy skirt, their musculature empowered enough to lift a car, ink glands bulging in her cheeks, while her body chemistry altered to make her more suitable for life underwater than on land. She spent terrified days at the Portland Aquarium, being treated by the best scientists on the Pacific coast, before being flown to Freedom City for treatment. There, Dr. Atom and Daedalus were able to halt, and even partially reverse her transformation, but there was no undoing what had happened to Joan. She was the sort of freak she'd once written about, a fusion of animal and man. She came home to her husband Charlie, an accountant for the Portland city government, and her four-year-old daughter Lois, fearful for her life and her sanity. But her family rallied around her, as did her employer the Tribune, and Joan began rebuilding her life. She didn't mean to break into superheroing, really, but a reporter's life is a dangerous one, and she couldn't just watch the news anymore: she had to be a part of it! Mindful of publicity, she bought a costume of morphic molecules from the Atom family and adopted the moniker of "Fusion" to reflect her altered body. She became a familiar figure on the streets of Portland, swinging from rooftop to rooftop by her suckered tentacles. She had her first real success a few years into her career, when she was invited to join an all-star team of Pacific Rim heroes on an artificial island off the coast of Japan. But her career with the Pacific Defenders came to an unpleasant end when her agent licensed her name and image to a Japanese animation company that turned out to have a very different agenda than she'd expected. "Beautiful American Tentacle Woman Heroine" was not the show she'd been expecting at all. A lawsuit and name change later, and she and her family left Japan for the United States, this time to Freedom City, a place where heroes were respected, journalists and accountants well-paid, and where a nine-year old girl could grow up safe and happy. Personality & Motivation: Joan is your classic nosy reporter; always prying and snooping, trying to ferret out the secrets of the world. Having her own secrets has modulated this a bit, but she still won't let people get away with too much around her. If it's not bad, why keep it a secret? She's basically a friendly person, though, and understands that people have their own issues. She doesn't cosset pity about her 'deformities', though she doesn't generally flaunt them. Powers & Tactics: Fusion is a straightforward combatant, slapping opponents around her with her arms, grabbing them and smashing them into walls, and the like. If near a body of water, she'll usually try and grab them, pull them under, and then let nature do its work. Complications: Enemy (The Labyrinth): Though Joan is unaware of it, agents of the Labyrinth were responsible for her failure in Japan, and are still working against her to prevent a deeper investigation into the Matsumura Fishworks disaster. Enemy (Doc Otaku): Doc Otaku is a big fan of BATWH, and has all the episodes on DVD. Fusion _does not like him_. Fame Don't mention the show to her. Seriously, she'll get angry, and not in a funny way. Honor (journalistic integrity): Joan believes in telling the truth to power, and to the general public. Honor (feminism): Joan has not taken her husband's last name, and is a little skeptical of traditional patriarchal norms in general. Prejudice (Anti-otakuism): Japanese popular culture freaks Joan right the bleep out. Responsibility (family): Joan's husband is a friendly, balding accountant who works for the city government. He has a receding hairline and spare tire; her daughter is a studious, slightly chubby nine-year-old. She loves them, and would do anything to protect them. In Brief: Reporter with octopus powers, looking for a new start for herself and her family. Stats: 6 + 2 + 6 + 2 + 4 + 4 = 24pp STR: 30/16 (+10/+3) DEX: 12 (+1) CON: 32/16 (+11/+3) INT: 12 (+1) WIS: 14 (+2) CHA: 14 (+2) Combat: 10+14 = 24pp Attack: +5 (+8 melee, +12 unarmed) Grapple: +26/+30 Defense: +12 (+3 flat-footed) Knockback: -5 (-15 w/Bracing) Initiative: +5 Saves: 0+5+7 = 12pp TOU: +11 (+11 Con, +0 other) FORT: +11 (+11 Con, +0 other) REF: +6 (+1 Dex, +5 other) WILL: +9 (+2 Wis, +7 other) Skills: 64r = 16pp Bluff 8 (+10)SM Diplomacy 4 (+6) Gather Information 16 (+18)SM Intimidate 8 (+10) Investigate 6 (+7) Languages 2 (English [native], French, Japanese) Notice 8 (+10)SM Search 4 (+4) Sense Motive 8 (+10)SM Feats: 22pp All-Out Attack Ambidexterity Attack Focus: Melee 3 Attack Spec: Unarmed (2) Dodge Focus (5) Environmental Adaptation (Underwater) Improved Initiative 1 Improved Pin Luck 2 Power Attack Quick Change Skill Mastery (Bluff, Gather Info, Notice, Sense Motive) Uncanny Dodge (Tremorsense) Well-Informed Powers: 5+5+11+16+14+2+3+1+9+4+6+1 = 77pp all powers have the 'mutation' descriptor Additional Limbs 4 (4 extra limbs) (PF: Innate) [5 pp] 'octopus arms' Concealment 4 (all visual) (PF: Close Range) (Flaw: Blending) [5 pp] 'chameleon skin' Dazzle 10 (all visual) (Extras: Alternate Save [Reflex/Reflex], Area [General, Cone]) (Flaws: Range [Touch], Unreliable (5 uses a day) 'ink jets' [10pp] AP: Super-Strength 4 (PFs: Bracing, Countering Punch) (Heavy Load: 12 tons) 'octopus strength' Enhanced Constitution 16 [16 pp] 'hardy as an octopus' Enhanced Strength 14 [14 pp] 'strong as an octopus' Elongation 4 (50 feet; Flaw: Limited-Additional Limbs Only) [2 pp] 'octopus arms' Immunity 3 (environmental cold, high pressure, suffocation underwater] [3 pp] 'octopus abilities' Speed 1 (10 MPH) [1 pp] 'super-human speed' Super-Movement 4 (Slow Fall, Swinging, Wall-Crawling 2) [9 pp] 'swinging on arms' AP: Flight 4 (100 MPH) (Flaw: Gliding) and Swimming 4 (50 MPH) 'gliding on tentacle webs/powerful underwater jets' Super-Senses 4 (Detect Weakness [visual, Analytical], Tremorsense) [4 pp] 'octopus skin and vision' Insubstantial 1 'octopus body' (PF: Subtle) [6 pp] Regeneration 0 (PF: Regrowth) 'octopus regeneration' [1 pp] Drawbacks: 0pp DC Block: Unarmed --- 25/Toughness --- Bruised Dazzle --- 20/Reflex/Reflex --- Blinded Costs: Abilities (24) + Combat (24) + Saves (12) + Skills (16) + Feats (22) + Powers (77) - Drawbacks (00) = 175/176pp

And then the kids were elsewhere. They were gone from the false reflection of Freedom Hall, standing instead on the lawn of the Lucas family house, standing among the rubble of the battlefield that had killed Mark just a few hours earlier. Except he was alive, standing there amid the group of teens, and Rick and a shell-shocked looking Martha were standing there just a few yards away. "Dad!" Mark broke from the crowd and ran to his father, just as Martha called her husband's name and ran to him. But even as they did so, the teens saw the black, inky shapes beginning to break away from Rick, flaring up into invisibility like rising soap bubbles as they left his body to flare upwards and vanish in the sky. "I'm sorry, I can't stay," he was apologizing over his family's pleas, arms around Mark and Martha both as he slowly, inexorably vanished elsewhere, some place beyond even James's dimensional vision. "The universe can't survive two reality warpers, not and let humanity keep its freedoms." He hugged Martha. "I'll see you again soon. I promise. I love you so much, heart of my heart..." He hugged Mark, his body now so thin as to be translucent. "I love you, Mark." He pulled back, on the edge of vanishing. "You've always been my hero, Mark! Always!" And with that, with a single, devastated cry from Mark's mother as she collapsed into her son's arms, Rick Lucas was gone.

"No. No more children will die today, Hellion." The very air seemed to tighten around Rick, the black, slithering dots that were everywhere slowly gathering themselves into growing shapes and masses behind him. "The Centurion would rather die than see others live in a place like this. And so would you, wouldn't you, Mark?" Behind him, the black mass had become a single, moving shape, rearing up behind him in a formless shape with the height of a church steeple. "Look at you all. Children fighting the man who remade the world, even knowing what I could do to any of oyu. Friends to the end, eh?" He laughed, and it was almost a sob, the great mass looming over him like a representation of man's sins. "Dad, what are you doing!?" Mark called, fear on his face. "What the Centurion would do, son. Saving the world." And suddenly that great black mass behind him erupted outwards in a single massive wash of power, bulldozing over everything in a single all-encompassing flash of pure black light...

They landed at St. Stephen's Church in Lantern Hill, an old, historical place with beautiful stained-glass windows. There was a skylight open in the roof, one that led the two heroes into an odd apartment, one with walls covered with a seemingly-random assortment of pictures taken from the Internet, magazines, and newspapers. Heyzel had eclectic taste in decor, especially since he didn't need to buy food. "Come, sit down. Do you like muffins? I made some this morning." He ducked down, wings spreading, and opened up the oven in his little kitchette. "Tell me about yourself."

"You've been a superhero for a year and you haven't told us?" Annie's eyes were wide, and her hands almost over her mouth. For his part, Paul was watching the plants his daughter had moved with fascination, half-listening to the conversation. "You've been getting into fights, and risking your life? Oh, honey!" She got up and crossed over to Stesha, hugging her tight. "Why would you do that?" "How did you do that?" interjected Paul, taking out his glasses to peer at the plants. "Are you a chlorokinetic, like Nathan Grovemont? How did this happen?"

Freedom Angel concentrated for a moment, the blade in his hand sharpening to an edge almost painful to look at, and then stabbed downwards. The divinely empowered sword cut through steel and rock like butter, peeling aside the Hummer as easily as it might have opened up a grape. At the sight of the badly injured people inside, the sword vanished in an instant, and the angel's hands were upon the battered family inside. An angelic light suffused his hands, spreading into the wounded, knitting their wounds and healing their bodies. The wounds didn't heal up all the way, but the family inside the car, blinking back a daze against the sunlight overhead, were able to leave the car under their own power.

Annie's smile twisted a little as she looked from Stesha to Derrick, her eyes widening. "Wait, what? You're not getting married?" For his part, Paul put his hand on Annie's shoulder, surprise on his face. "I don't understand, Stesha. What do you mean, you're a superhero? How long has this been going on?" He looked worried on her behalf, as did her mother.

Chris's face fell right off him at that juncture, revealing underneath a complex tangle of wires, transistors, and gears like something from a 1950s sci-fi movie, with only his moving robotic eyes to reveal the human intelligence underneath. Chris didn't feel any different, save that his face felt considerably shorter, and a little colder. Wheels turned and lights like Christmas bulbs flashed, making Geckoman's mechanical nature ridiculously obvious. Rick paled briefly at the sight of Geckoman's mechanical transformation, just like everyone else, but a moment later mastered his resolve. "You, young man, are actually the evil robotic double the Foundry substituted for the real second Raven. Once Midnight and the original Raven break you out of prison, they'll redeem you and you can be a hero like you're supposed to be. As for the rest of you...I'm sorry," he said suddenly, looking at Erin. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you what I gave everyone else. I think it's because you're not from around here, are you? But is this really such a bad place? A world where Travis Hunter will live thirty years instead of three; a world where James Prophet sleeps soundly every night! A world where the White family has never known a brush of tragedy; a world where you. can. sing!" he said, pointing to Sage. Despite his rant, though, the kids could see the doubt they'd planted creeping onto the old man's face as he tried to justify what he'd done to all of them. "Maybe...maybe I've done some things I shouldn't have. But in your world, my son is dead. And that is not acceptable." Mark had watched everything, his face turning so white his friends thought he might faint, particularly at the revelation of Geckoman's true nature. But as he watched his father waver on the precipice, with only his own presence keeping him there, he knew he had to say something. Even if it means the end of everything. "Dad...listen to them, please. Think about everything you've ever taught me, everything you've ever told me was important! My life...my life is not as important as the whole world. And you know it." He was crying now, wiping at the corners of his eyes. "And I know it, because you didn't tell me, or mom, and because even though you made the Centurion and Grandpa alive again, you didn't talk to them about it. Because...because you know they'd be ashamed! What would the Centurion think about what you've done?"

"Kids, I understand this is very confusing for all of you," said Rick, all paternal reassurance, "but it's going to be all right. Now that you're all here, you can help me finish what I started. I know things look rough now, but it's...it's like a painting half-finished. With just a little more work, we can make this place a world where everyone can be happy-" "Dad, what's the matter with Mom?" asked Mark, his voice nearly a whisper. "Mom's not happy, she's passed out in the living room! Why is she so upset if this is so great!?!" "Mark, I didn't want to change her the way I'd changed everyone else," said Rick, sweating a little. "She's my wife, and your mother, that wouldn't be right. I'm going to go in there and talk to her and explain the situation, just as soon as I finish here. I don't know how any of this happened, but I've managed to fix the whole world. With a little more work, I think I can take things further, and make the whole universe better. We can make this a better place for everyone."

"I...yes, yes, we can!" A big grin blossomed across Annie's face, one she quickly and badly stifled as she hurried over to grab Paul by the hand and whisper in his ear. Within a second, Stesha's parents were leading them into Paul's study, the walls decorated with lush images drawn from 19th century botanical texts. "Won't you two have a seat?" Paul suggested, going for the wet bar to pour everyone a drink. Annie was already sitting, still repressing a big, knowing smile. "I had a feeling you had your own reasons for this visit..."

Eventually Annie busted out the bottles of dandelion wine, a home-brewed vintage that she was immensely proud of, and soon most of the adults were at least a little tipsy. They were responsible, though, with so many kids around, and the evening just got more lubricated rather than anyone actually getting sloppy. The wine got pressed on both of them, though of course no one actually made them drink. Annie got the kids singing an old Russian drinking ballad, something that was evidently a family private joke that soon had everyone singing at the top of their lungs. It was a happy afternoon.

She is bruised, and no longer flat-footed. Raveled is up.