Avenger Assembled

Avenger crept stealthily down into the mysterious corridor below, keeping his finely attuned senses at a heightened state of awareness to uncover the mysteries that lay below. Who knew what lay below? He certainly didn't, but there was only one way to find out! Visions of a massive drug bust, a secret supervillain's lair, and so many other things danced in his head like so many sugar plum fairies; the acclaim of his friends and Taylor's gratitude turning cheerfully through his mind. Tonight was gong to be a good night.

9-11 OK? I'll run with it.

33 Grapple

Not a terribly subtle fighter himself when the situation didn't call for it, Avenger threw himself into his work. He appeared amongst the thugs, the better to spread terror among them, and laughed malevolently. "HA HA HA!" When they'd had a chance to scream, he moved among them like a lion among sheep, laying about him with fist and kick as he hurled them aside and battered them into submission.

Blowing an HP to hide my face and another HP to surge. That's two DC 29 Tou saves for the Brute.

With the spread of the field of silence, Jack knew he'd have to work fast if he wanted to rescue the Silencer and prevent anyone else from being killed. With the departure of the host of the party, Jack decided that he needed a new strategy. You want the pawns? You take out the king. In darkness, he moved, and from darkness he struck. He ignored the thugs and enforcers like the nothing they were, disappearing from his position in the darkness and reappearing right next to the massive brute who was beating the Silencer. He was dead silent in the cone of quiet, his face concealed by fortuitous shadow. He smashed his fist brutally into the brute's jaw, the familiar smell of blood in his nostrils. It felt good, so he did it again; powering his fist into the man's midsection as he felt, not heard, things break.

If the bad guys pass their Tou save from the dumpster, Edge spends an HP to make them reroll it.

Init: 22

13 Notice

25

Jack recognized the Silencer first. Do you fall here, my brother? he thought. Jack didn't kill (anymore), and neither did Avenger, but he felt a twist of empathy with Freedom City's most notorious vigilante as he watched him fight. Jack knew full well the darker drives that stole the value from the lives of others, and the urge to channel those drives into something meaningful. Except...how many of us would you have killed tonight? It was a debutante's ball. There were children at this party. Jack split the difference and moved closer in the darkness, ready to begin picking off the edges of the party. The only solution was to make sure no one died.

Edge sat back on the bench in front of the administration building, singing softly under his breath. "Is she strong? Listen bud, she's got all-American blood! Watch out! Here comes Lady Liberty!" He wondered where Zoe was really from. He'd picked up that she was lying about where she came from, but she wasn't his only friend who did that. Between Ultiteen, Zephyr, and even Erin (though she was more closemouthed about her origins than an actual fibber), there were a lot of people at Claremont who weren't really honest about their backstory. But that was okay. In the infinite justice of time, everything would work out okay. "Mr. Midnight...bring me a dream, dun dun dun, make her the cutest, that I've ever seen..."

DC 33 Notice check to spot Jack. (And that's if you can see into the darkness he's using for cover.) Not too worried. ;)

They were in a crowded room, and some people were looking. But mortal eyes were nothing to Jack Faretti. He hadn't thought to bring a costume along on this visit, a stupid mistake he wouldn't make again, but the shadows and darkness were all the protection he needed. He ducked into a dark corner and simply vanished, falling away from mortal eyes with the speed and power of the undead. He moved into the lawn outside in darkness and shadow, his body crouched low like a predator, his suit jacket and tie discarded to better free himself up for movement.

I don't see how you'd get that to work. That's not part of Knievel's concept at all, and it steps right in the face of our actual Luck Controlling PCs.

"Okay," said Mark agreeably to Zoe and Erin, evidently having dismissed any worries now that they were back on campus. What bad thing could happen to them here? "I'll just hang around till they get here," he said affably, sitting down and putting his feet up on a bench outside the administration building. "Good luck in there."

Edge spends an HP on Zephyr's behalf so she doesn't have to. Why? Because we're a team. ;)

"They are," agreed Jack, who did a fine job pretending he'd known it all along. "Good eye. If it's happening here," he murmured to her, "it's got to be trouble. I'll meet you out there," he suggested to her. "Better do this one on the sly." He was already moving, muscles tensing beneath her hands as he stepped away and headed for the door. "And bring your traveling clothes. This looks like it might be a rough ride..."

15 :P

"You're welcome to stay here as long as you need," Jack told her reassuringly. "I just...thought you might be happier somewhere with someone who's your friend, not your boyfriend." He grinned at her. "You may have introduced me to your folks already, but I don't know if they're ready for that kind of commitment yet." He bent down and pecked her lightly on the cheek. "I can be there and back fast. I know you guys can take care of the place here."

Agreeably, Edge reached out for Zephyr's hand too. "Where one of us goes, we all go," said Mark with a smile. "Thanks for your help with the bad guys, by the way. I think you'll like working as part of a team." It was something of a leap of faith to reach out in such an obvious gesture of trust, but that was the way Mark preferred to do things. People worked best when they worked together.

"Clara," said Mark, sharp relief on his face at the sight of his oldest daughter. "I knew we'd find you here." And he had, with a simple faith that he'd never lost despite the number of times the universe had thrown it back in his face. He smiled with relief, the look hidden by his mask. "I'm glad to see you." He looked up at the arriving Leaguers, recognizing a scattering handful of familiar faces and others he knew only from their files. He'd been out of the field for so long. "Did you bring a hyperspeed scanner along?" he asked Clara. "Something that can trace the passage of someone using accelerated spatial energy?" "Yes," said Clara without hesitation, pulling the machine out of her belt. "You're looking for Zephyr." It wasn't really a question. "I was hoping we'd pick something up at the Manor, but..." She shook her head. "The nearest signal is the Master Mage in Happanuk Hill. That's ten miles in the opposite direction, behind the heaviest shields in the state."

Jack gave Ace an annoyed look. He'd always dealt poorly with male competition, but Ace was something else. He's not into Taylor at all, Jack concluded baldly. He's just doing this to mess with me. To dig around on me. Remembered images of Ace Danger slaying vampires appeared sharply in his mind. That won't end well. He gave Ace the greatest insult he could give under the circumstances. He turned to Taylor, his arm around her. "Anything useful? My partner there didn't seem terribly sensitive to anything. I tried to start something with her boyfriend, but his interests were elsewhere. I haven't seen him since, come to think of it..."

"It's fine," said Jack easily. "I was there when all this started on my end of things. Despite all the horrors that happened there, it's really not that hard to look at." And it wasn't; it wasn't as if Jack had never walked into a room covered in blood and singing with the aftermath of pain and terror. "I'll be fine. You worry about you, Taylor." He reached down and stroked her face, giving her a wry smile.

"Then let this evening burn forever in your mind," Jack murmured, falling automatically back on the easy cliches of romance. "So that the flames of passion may be forever kindled on your heart." His dance with her was passionate and fast, his incredible speed and grace making up for his lack of training in the dance itself. When the dance itself was done, Jack left Angel at the edge of the dance floor, a smile on his face. "Remember always, senorita, the lesson of the evening. In the end, there can be...only one." With Queen swelling in his ears, Jack turned and headed off the floor to wait for Taylor. If she was ever going to finish.