Avenger Assembled

"Could stand here and watch you. All night. As you stand at the docks. In your spandex. Or could work together." Avenger disappeared into the darkness again, a cold figure of lurking menace standing somewhere behind Geckoman. "Up to you."

It was Mark Lucas, ever careless and ever trusting, who stepped up as a problem-solver. People often mistook him for soft or vacillating, but he was...well, Mark. "That's not very helpful, Zoe," he replied patiently. "But if that's how you feel, I don't think we can help you any. Psyche, do you think you could send that message? I know there are telepaths on the League, you can probably reach them from here. In the meantime, Zoe, why don't you relax and finish your food?" It was also the case that Mark dealt with things he didn't understand by pretending they didn't exist. Normally Mark would have dispatched Erin to do something like that, but for once Wander seemed to be handling this new arrival much better than the other two. (For that matter, she was pinned into the booth by Mike.)

"I have no idea who they are," Jack confessed. "They look like kids, both of them. We could talk to them later...or Ace might know," he admitted reluctantly. "In fact, I'm sure he does. Ace Danger seems to know everybody." His mouth worked a little. "If you want to go talk to him, I can keep an eye on them. It's not like they're going to see me."

"It was a coincidence," Jack interjected, shaking his head. "He's sensitive to magical activity and he was passing by when Taylor used her powers. That's all. I did an investigation," he added to the two women. "He's not going after anyone any time soon, not after the damage I did to him and to his lair. He'll be more worried about running and hiding and...cleaning up after himself. Even if he does come back, I doubt he'll even be able to find Taylor...if you do still want to go ahead with moving, that is."

Mark cocked his head and looked at Zoe a bit uncertainly, evidently finding it difficult to believe her story. The look was a familiar one. "C'mon, even your old man's not going to fall for that one." Uncle Mark grinned at her across the vid-phone connection. "Now, tell me again how it was just a terrible accident that Ray the Third fell onto your fist... "Hmm, that sounds pretty bad," said Mark with a sympathetic look on his face. "Some of my friends are from other dimensions too, and they've also had a pretty rough time coming here." He shot a look at the others. "Maybe if we took Zoe back to school with us, they could help her more?"

24 Ooh, you a' tellin' lies!

"I put the fear of God into him," said Jack reassuringly, "but I was so busy worrying about helping Taylor that I wasn't able to do anything lasting." He frowned. "He may be back. He won't be back in that warehouse unless he's considerably more stupid than I gave him credit for." He squeezed the bridge of his nose. "If you don't own a gun, Stesha, it might be worth investing in one. You too, Taylor."

You can't interfere with an action that didn't take place on your round. :| You certainly can attack him, though. Obviously if you shoot him and knock him unconscious, Bluff attempts on subsequent rounds will be somewhat impaired. (Sorry, durf, while it doesn't actually say so in the rules, I think you can agree that being unconscious will probably impede your Bluff check a bit. I try to be tough but fair here.)

Jack nodded. "It's over that way," he said, pointing at an open door. "The refrigerator's for evidence, but everything else in there's yours." He ultimately decided to rejoin Taylor on the couch, the worry on his face trumping any other emotions. He could see how much she was working through the pain too. Even regenerating phantoms who could shrug off drowning could still be hurt.

"Let's go to Champions," said Mark cheerfully, having shrugged off the stress of the battle now that everyone was okay. He reached down and hugged Alex, smiling at her to show his relief for her quick recovery. "No better place for heroes to eat, even out of costume." He squeezed her hand as he popped out his cellphone, placing a quick call to the city parole office to get some people out there to arrest their old enemies. The quick battle on the courthouse steps had attracted some attention, but with a little luck they slipped away from the worst of the crowd.

"I've got the teapot full up and ready," Jack interjected, having watched Taylor and Stesha with a frankly worried look on his face. "If you want to use that," he said, walking over to his bedroom door. "Don't sell yourself short, Taylor. Without you, we'd never have caught that guy. After what he got, I don't think he'll be trying to get his hands on anyone else anytime soon."

In the end, it was all so much easier than Jack could ever have expected. He saw a few slip away from the rear of the great ballroom, but for the most part the assembled vampires were quick to embrace his plan, bowing to him and surrendering their loyalty to him. And why shouldn't they? He was the genius who'd plotted the overthrow of the queen of the city's vampires, the hand-to-hand fighter who'd torn undead gods in twain, the masterful strategist who was going to change life in Freedom City for the better. As the lovely ladies sat at his feet and the men took his side, he felt on top of the world. The city was his, the power belonged to him. When Nevermore reappeared behind Jack, it was to bow and take a position at his side, the wicked necromancer seeming as loyal and trustworthy as any other vampire there. It was Claudia who looked up at Scarab with a narrow-eyed look on her sharply predatory face, and who disappeared into smoke and ash herself as she erupted up and out of the room. The air itself spoke as she went, the words spoken in a tongue only Jack, the assembled vampires, and Scarab could understand. "This isn't over. When the master comes for us, blood will run in the streets of Freedom City." And with that she was gone, vanishing into the darkness with a skill matched only by the man she'd turned into a monster. But beneath the shiny light of Scarab's psychic tampering, Claudia's departure was just a single blip in the world of Jack's climb to power. A new dead hand held the reigns of power in the city of Freedom.

Dark Star, let's see those five Will saves. Our DC is 20; the Notice DC is 20 to figure out what Scarab's doing. Jack loves himself and has no idea what's going on.

Dark Star too.

The Grue's heart exploded outward, the contents of his chest blasting into the air on a cloud of dust and dissolving undead shapeshifting flesh. The Grue himself imploded inward, shock appearing on his massive face as he collapsed inward on a diet of dust and blood, his body falling in on itself as he gasped a single word in the language of his people. In his dying breath, he'd called out to the Meta-Mind to save him. But nothing had come to save the vampire Grue, and his ashes fell on Jack as the crowd of vampires stared at the one among their number who'd led the attack that had killed their queen. Jack pulled himself to his feet, straightened up...and was on. "Ladies and gentlemen!" he called to the others, walking backwards to take up Melinda's throne as the crowd of vampires closed in around him. "By the ancient laws of our people, I claim the rulership of Freedom City's vampires. I-" The floor tore itself open. The woman who came boiling up out of the floor was clad in a torn party dress, the skin on her knuckles torn and bloodless, and her eyes red. "JACK!" Claudia, wroth, pointed a finger at him. "Don't you know what you've done?" Her skin was visibly blue, ice crystallized in her hair. "You've killed us all! The elders will never let one of us sit on a city throne! Not only will they kill you, and ME, but do you know what they'll do to the rest of the little ones?!" She waved a claw that way. "They'll do nothing," said Jack bravely, his injures somewhat belying his brave speech. "Because we're not going to bow to millenia-old monsters in Bucharest anymore." He dropped himself down on Melinda's seat. "This is the city of the Centurion. This is the city of August Roman. THIS IS FREEDOM CITY! We're not going to bow to the gods of the Old World. Not anymore." "You come among us with those," she replied, waving her hands at Dark Star and Scarab, "and you tell us we won't be bowing to anyone anymore!? You use our murderers to rule us?" "I have agents," Jack replied baldly. "As Melinda had hers. She took the lives of our people when it suited her fancy; I took the lives of monsters with our blood to save all of us from their threat. The fact that I have tools who wear masks and costumes isn't a mark against me, Claudia. It's a mark in my favor."

Have an HP, Shaen.

"She's nearly better in body now," said Jack as politely as he could muster, leading the way to the door. "But she'll benefit from having a friend around." He unlocked the door to let them both in, stepping aside to give Stesha space to get past him into his clean, luxurious apartment to see Taylor. "Here's Stesha," he said, his voice making the words half a joke.

Mark studied the girl uncertainly, his sunglasses hiding his eyes as he looked up at her. Uncle Mark Lucas had never been anything but friendly and cheerful when he thought his goddaughter could see or hear him, an always-happy man who was always ready with stories of his wild adventures or his hands full of souvenirs and gifts for his extended adopted family. It was only as Zoe had gotten older that she'd overheard the murmurs from the adults about Mark's personal life; the legion of failed marriages and children left behind, the personal life that kept him in faded clothes and borrowing money from his old friends as child support payments and massive debts devoured his Freedom League salary like so many sharks nipping at the chum of his personal life. How many times had he slept in one of the Manor's spare rooms? Or been in argument with an ex-wife when he thought there wasn't anyone else listening? "It was probably something those two were doing," he murmured to Psyche, before standing up and greeting Zoe. "Hi," he finally said, extending his hand to hers. There was no evidence this girl had hurt his friends, which by Mark's standards meant she'd naturally fallen from the label of potential enemy into potential friend. "I'm Edge. That was a nice move you had bringing that Tech punk down." He grinned, and was all youthful charm and happiness to meet a new friend.

"Still, it's important to get help," said Jack, giving her a reassuring look. "Stesha can be...reassuring in ways I can't be." He put the pot on the stove, opting not to start boiling it yet. That was what you did with tea, right? It had been a long time since he'd had to think about that. "The worst I've ever been hurt, Scarab and Dark Star were there to catch me. It makes things a lot easier. I'll go out and meet Stesha," he suggested, heading for the door. "She should be here in a minute." It took Jack a conscious effort to extend the trust enough to let Taylor see him vanish; his body exploding into mist and fog as he disappeared under the door, reappearing outside a second later nigh-invisible to any human eye.

"You'd be surprised what people notice," Jack replied, going through his kitchen to make sure everything was locked down that needed to be locked down. "I do have some food in the cupboards, but it's been a while since I updated it. I mostly collect it to have handy in case...well, I'm not really sure why," he confessed. "It makes things look more natural. And she can't get in my refrigerator because I don't use it to store food; it's full of evidence. And it is." He took out his teapot, filled it with water and dumped it out, then filled it up again. "She's bringing tea over. How are you feeling?"

"Yes, I know you don't need to eat," said Jack irritably, covering the receiver for a moment. "I was trying to be polite." He passed on the word about clothes to Stesha, trying to keep control of the conversation. "So we'll expect you here in about fifteen minutes, Stesha. I'll be waiting out by the plant if you're looking for it. Jack out." And with that he hung up, perhaps with a bit more force than he needed to.

"Don't go to her apartment," Jack said immediately. "That's a request from her, not me. There was some damage there, and we're not sure if it's safe. She'll tell you all about it once you get here," he added. "Bring a lot of food, if you think she'll need it, I don't have anything in my kitchen right now. I'll probably run out and go shopping once you're here, just so Taylor doesn't have to be alone."

"Yes," Jack said after a long hesitation. "I do have a teapot. I don't have any tea, though, so you're better off bringing your own if that's your plan. Ten to twenty minutes would be fine; Taylor's changing her clothes now. I don't have a plant," he said, remembering the transmitting woman's wacky drunken antics, "but there's a shrub in the hallway outside. I'll give you my floor and number, and describe the plant to you."

"She's not on her own, she's with me in my new place." Jack debated exactly what to tell Stesha, glancing over at Taylor, and reluctantly did what was probably the heroic thing. "If you want to come over, I can give you directions. She'd probably appreciate the company?" he asked, hazarding a question Taylor's way as they talked. This was a bad idea. Stupid ethics.

"An insane religious zealot, targeting anyone with magic. We beat him together," he said gallantly, "but he was powerful, and dangerous. She was hurt, but now she's recovering. As far as we know the zealot didn't have any friends with him, but people like him are like terrorists; one may not know what the other is doing even though they're both taking orders from higher up. Their memories may not even be true. If you see a teenage boy with dark hair wielding any sort of magic whip, especially wearing religious iconography, you should get out of there right away."