Avenger Assembled

"You want ME to untie YOU? Wow! What an honor!" Overjoyed, Mark looked at the ropes carefully. "Ooh, the old Red Menace special. These are just like the ones you were tied up with in 1965 when you stopped the Crime League from stealing Hoover Dam and selling it to the Commies!" He grinned. "I've got all the pictures of that, you know. My dad says..." He paused, looked at Ace, then said, "Oh, right, untying!" He actually had no idea how knots worked, but a little whacking and pulling at it soon got Ace's bonds loosened. "A girl tied me up once," he offered, then shook his head. "But that was, uh, something else." His ankle started to itch.

Mark had felt a little bad about entering this contest, but not at all bad about winning. After all, he trusted that Mr. Danger would happily play host to the son and grandson of his old friends. So he'd entered the contest and competed fairly alongside everyone else, winning thanks to his essay "Why I Want To Spend A Day With Ace Danger, Man of Mystery!" He'd included a video clip of himself with his Ace Danger memorabilia! "Hello? Mr. Danger?" The door was locked, but luckily the carpet had rucked up and kept it from closing all the way. Is this a test? He wondered as he stepped inside. Could it be that Ace Danger wanted to see if he measured up to a hero's level? He wandered in further, heading for the bedroom, and pushed open the door. "Oh, hello Mr. Danger!" he said guilelessly as he walked in. He knows what he's doing. "Wow, you're tied up pretty good! How are you going to get out of this one?" he asked eagerly.

It's alive! ALIIIVE!

http://www.sff.net/people/doylemacdonald/L_damned.htm Or, dhampir. ;)

"This is one of the most heavily defended spots in the city," said Jack quietly. "The place is designed to attack targets that don't have a conventional body as such. Dark Star'll be fine even if I pump the air out, but the other defenses are likely to catch him. The other advantage is, this place is also one of the best protected spots in this part of the world. That's why we're meeting here," he added, "and not at Danger Manor, so he can't just drop a freaking oil tanker on us. We need to come up with a strategy that gets him here, inside these rooms."

Atlas is up.

Despite the waves of deadly energy washing out from the dark wizard, every single hero there somehow managed to avoid the terrible, icy chill of magically-empowered death. And a moment later, some remarkable things occurred as Taylor's rage-fueled magic swept across the battlefield. The golem stood unmarred, of course, with only its battered helmet showing any signs of damage at all from the terrible fight. The Patchwork Girl was scorched but not seriously hurt, a few of her stitches smoldering. But as for Arcanix, he gave a terrible scream, flared a brilliant magnesium white, and disappeared entirely.

Avenger stepped inside to greet the two men, though the circumstances didn't allow for much more than that. He'd moved Stesha's body to the floor, the black sheet draping her corpse providing her with some protection, figuring she wouldn't want to be on display on the desk for everyone to see. He gave Ace and the man he didn't know a curt nod; the circumstances were far, far too dire for any petty rivalries. "Our shields are up. Ace, do you have a way of contacting our Dark Star? The fact that we haven't seen him yet...concerns me."

The audience broke into a round of applause at that, giving the heroes the reward they deserved after the big battle. "You three saved the Con!" yelled one of the college kids. "Hooray!" The robot girl didn't look like she was much in the mood for celebrating, though, walking up to join the heroes with her arms folded against her body, her eyes not looking at anything in particular. "Please don't let him wake up," she murmured softly. "Not without making it so he can't find me anymore..."

"We'll make him pay," Avenger promised Taylor, cool intensity in his voice. "No other innocents will be hurt today." He looked down at her, grief in his eyes to mirror hers. "I know it's hard, but we have to be ready. It's what Stesha would want. And our Derrick. We need to find him," he urged her quietly. "Find him and...tell him what needs to be done."

"All right," said Mark, looking around at the others. He didn't really have any strategy in mind, but he figured he was supposed to say something here. "My idea is this. We send in Hellion and Psyche around the rear to scout things out. Since Hellion can bop around and teleport and stuff, and Psyche can make herself invisible. Wander, you go do something really obvious and get their attention. If we stick close enough together, I can stay close to the flag and tag anyone who gets near while making sure you guys do okay. All right?"

"If Ace is in Danger Manor, he's in one of the safest places in the city," said Jack not unreasonably. "If you go out there and pick him up, you'll be as safe there as you are here. And if Bad Dark Star's tracking you, luring him off in the wrong direction isn't a bad idea." There, he hadn't expressed a single paranoid thought about Ace.

Jack returned after a few moments with magic book in one hand and decadent silk sheets in another, tucking Stesha underneath the glossy black bedding with as much discretion as possible. He didn't bother Taylor while she was on the phone, instead pacing the room once Stesha was covered to begin activating the magical protections he'd had carved into the very walls. This was, at least in theory, a safe place.

That's a DC 22 Tou save, Ecal. The drones are choosing to inflict full knockback, if applicable, aiming to knock Geckoman backwards into the lava pit.

The Omegadrones endured James' blast with terrifying implacability. One fell from the sky entirely, three more were singed, but the rest stayed in the air in perfect, silent formation as they swooped down on their target: the Amazing Geckoman himself! They worked together in perfect unison, power pikes raised and glowing with terrible purpose, as they herded the teenager right to the edge of the railing, the smoking, boiling pit of lava beneath bubbling intently.

Jack cursed quietly, looking from Stesha to Taylor and back again. He put his arm around Taylor's shoulder and hugged her lightly, finding a moment of humanity in the horror. "We'll get him," he said with fervor. The thought of fighting a malevolent Dark Star was certainly frightening, but he pushed those worries aside with ruthless efficiency. "If he's coming here, I'm going to start activating the wards. Can you call someone for help? Ace, or Hellion, or someone else from the Midnighters? Hell, where's the REAL Dark Star?"

Jack sat down again, perching on the edge of his seat as he neatly suppressed the irritation he felt at Stesha's evident attitude towards him. This afternoon wasn't supposed to be about her, but then again, he reflected, it wasn't about him either. "We've been shopping a lot for things to eat. If either of you are hungry, there's food in the black refrigerator." He'd just been back there when Taylor had sought him out for this conversation. Summoning up some common decency, he added, "I can get out of here for a while, if you'd like," he said to Taylor.

Say what you could for Jack's powers of observation, he could respond to a call for help in a hurry. He burst through the door dressed in the romance novel hero garb that said he'd been dressing when Taylor arrived; a half-buttoned white shirt and tight black jeans. His eyes were wide as he took in Taylor and Stesha, moving to her side with impossible speed. "What happened?" he asked her quickly, his short inspection of Stesha revealing what he'd suspected from the moment he saw Taylor's friend's head lolling. "Who did this?"

Hokay, folks: Alder, have an HP. I need a DC 30 Arcane Lore check from those interested in exactly what Arcanix just did. Mechanically, it's Drain 13 (Toughness) (Burst Area). Note that it doesn't work on objects, so equipment and such is _not_ affected. Also, Ace's remains are unmarred. That's a DC 23 Reflex save for half damage (or zero, Evasion permitting), and then a DC 23 Fort save to determine how far everyone's Toughness drops. After everyone goes, Atlas is up.

Colt's volley of gunfire tore through the golem's head like a hot knife through butter, tearing huge holes in the vulnerable metal and nearly ripping it free from the golem's body. All the heroes could hear the eerie screaming from inside, the half-audible voice just begging for release. Pinned to the floor nearby, a cursing, wounded Arcanix spat something unspeakably blasphemous as the wall of black energy surrounding him suddenly began boiling in a way that looked truly unpleasant. And sure enough, that wave of terrible black energy suddenly erupted outward, sweeping over the assembled heroes in a cold tide that pulled at their very souls, the ones too slow to dodge watching in horror as their unwary flesh turned a sickening shade of grey. "Golem! Capture the traitor and protect me!" At that, the golem charged Jack, throwing a mighty blow that struck Jack squarely across the mid-section, driving an iron fist straight through Jack's midsection. He subsequently grabbed the battered groom and squeezed him to his chest, pulling him tight enough to crack bones.

28 So it fails by 8 and is injured (It's a rank 2 easy to lose device.). Good start...

James, you are up. And no, you don't have to make nullify checks. That's just for the people who get their powers by WILL OF THE LORD AND MASTER OF THE TERMINUS.[1] Psyche, this gun is a portal to the Terminus itself. There's only one way to be totally sure of destroying it: rip it out of its housing and throw it in the volcano! As for the voices in your head encouraging you to die for the Lord and Master of the Terminus, your Will save is high enough that you pass automatically. This round. [1] Accuracy of this statement has not been validated.

"I've been using the substitute," said Jack defensively. And it was true, he told himself. He had indeed used the blood substitute on multiple occasions...sometimes as often as once a day. But he didn't want to dwell on his sins anymore than he already was right then, so instead he found some new things to say. "And I won't feed on Taylor while she's pregnant," he said carefully. He looked down at his hands. "The bite induces miscarriages. I'm surprised it hasn't happened earlier."

I think it would be silly to let one abortive character, that the player didn't like, steal away (or alter) the entire Midnight legacy. I have no problem at all with this character concept, and I think it should be played.

Colt is up