Avenger Assembled

The charging dinosaur proved to be a wonderful distraction for the sneaky Claremont students, its battle with the Japanese garrison noisy and very distracting for all concerned. With a little psychic push from Psyche, the T-Rex set off landmines and brought down heavy weapons fire on itself, getting most of the garrison to scramble and ward off the massive predator as it attacked from the flank. Eventually the T-Rex was driven off alive, but not without damaging the security perimeter approaching the island and tying up many of the guards. That gave the kids the window they needed to sneak into the base, a heavily-fortified place that was a little intimidating to walk through. The Japanese had obviously been on Kaiju Island for a long time, and they looked like they'd come to stay. It was better not to look too closely in the science labs, they quickly learned; evidently medical ethics in Imperial Japan didn't cover the treatment of captive animals. The dinosaurs and other monsters of Kaiju were obviously being used for nasty experiments, the sort that would have been many times over illegal on Earth Prime. This was not a happy place.

"I went on the free-fall for my thirteenth birthday; it's great. We'll have a great time on that," promised Mark with a smile, sitting down and holding Alex's hand. He grinned. "The Captain Thunder Tower of Power is the tallest free-fall on the East Coast, so it can be pretty scary if you're afraid of heights. Good thing we're all tough around here." He laughed.

Erin's fist smashed deep into the metal, konging a deep dent into the surface of the flying ship. She was focused on both the job and on holding on, so tightly that she missed the presence of the presence of the other figure in the air with her entirely. "Hah-hah, Senorita!" El Diablo had released himself from his position just below the surface of the Strongman's ship, and he hurled a blast of eldritch fire at Wander that went whizzing past her head. Cursing, he threw himself closer, and his eyes widened in shock as the field of shimmering hellfire around the red-clad diabolical villain did no damage to her at all!

OK, So our order is Erin El Diablo Phalanx and Strongman You cannot actually drop Erin on the bad guy out of combat, but you can both try that maneuver on your turn; Erin with Acrobatics and Mike with an Attack roll.

Initiative: El Diablo: 25 Strongman: 9

Both Wander and Phalanx were at the top of their game this afternoon; they both spotted the fast airship coming at them, the red disc (about the size of a school bus) shaped like a flying saucer but gleaming red and bristling with weapons as it rocketed towards them. It was still some miles away, but evidently the pilot saw them too, arcing in their direction as his jet engines roared to life!

Watching from the corner where his bloodlust had put him, Avenger said a silent prayer of thanks at the sight of Scarab sweeping in. Why is everyone so eager to let the supervillian run around? Like so much delicious lobster. He winced. This is why I'm over here making sure the buildings don't collapse any further. "Hello! Can anyone hear me?" he called at the shattered house nearby as he approached it.

Give me Notice checks, guys. (Electra, you can choose to use your Skill Mastery, but you might miss some relevant information if you do that.)

Going up above the freighter produced a magnificent view of the Panama Canal beneath them, the great lake at the center of the canal where they'd started. The Doom Room's simulation really was amazingly detailed, the world beneath them stretching out in wild, natural splendor. They could see cities too, nearby, the small towns crowding around the canal and its forests in a gorgeous panorama. They had plenty of time to marvel at the splendor beneath them, the view really quite impressive as they took in the natural wonders of the simulated world. Mike's radio beeped again, giving them their mission briefing. The Panamanian Strongman had recently escaped from prison in Panama City, and the League had reason to believe he might be planning to hijack a freighter in the canal with the help of one of his former supervillian cronies. They should be on the lookout for a flying machine with an escort.

OK, I believe Ace is up next. Do your thing.

About the time Mike and Erin were getting exceptionally restive, an exasperated Mr. Archer hung up his phone and sighed. "Well, guys, I'm sorry, but it looks like the Tokyo program has been corrupted beyond repair. I'll have to bring in someone to fix it. Take a couple of minutes to stretch, and we'll start up the Panama program. That one still looks protected." He went back to work typing away, the simulation around Mike and Erin appearing with noticeable slowness this time. Once again they were over water, this time standing on the deck of a truly massive freighter as it plowed across a massive green lake, jungles visible on either side of them. "This'll be just a couple of minutes, Phalanx and Wander."

"Hey guys!" Mark walked up behind Erin and Alex with a big smile, waving as he approached. "I had a feeling I'd find you here now." Spontaneously, he put his arm around Alex and bent down to peck her on the cheek. "Must be my lucky day." He had a coney dog in hand covered in chili and bacon, but he was deft about keeping it away from Alex's clothes, and wore the same Comets jersey he'd briefly worn on their visit to the baseball game. "Did I miss much?

Wander brought the bat down in an arc, swinging it so hard that something very peculiar happened. The giant monster's leg came apart with a sudden shriek of white noise, the breaking leg suddenly matched by a breaking world as the scenery behind it came apart with a shriek of noise and a flash of light. As Mike flew in the air, he could see the simulation coming apart in pieces, the walls of the Doom Room visible all around them. The monster disappeared first, followed by the Tokyo all around them, the simulation fading in an all-encompassing burst of light and noise that ended with the two of them on the floor. The only real change from earlier was that Wander still had her bat, and Mike still had his radio. Over by the door, a highly annoyed Mr. Archer was tapping at the panel in front of him. "Oh, for the love of..." He turned an annoyed look on his students. "Sorry about this. It looks like this thing has blue-screened, and I don't know how to fix it. I didn't even think this thing was supposed to blue-screen. I'm calling Ms. Harcourt now." Muttering to himself about techies, he took out his cell phone and was soon in a conversation with the school's science teacher about programming errors and syntaxtical misfilings that neither Erin nor Mike were quite tech-savvy enough to follow.

The monster is currently uninjured.

Monster: 8

At ground level they could clearly see the oncoming monster as it came at them, a massive wave all on its own with a huge black shape inside. As it reached the docks, a single gigantic leg cast in an eerie, gleaming chitin came up on one side of them, then another on the other. As the great black shape of the monstrous beetle lifting itself out of the water at them, the two teenagers realized they had underestimated its size: this giant bug was over a hundred feet tall! It gave no sign that it had noticed them, heaving itself up and out of the water with an enormous crash, huge drops of salt water dripping off its chitinous skin as it moved past them over and towards the city.

Jack squeezed Taylor's hand, giving her a grateful smile at the show of support. "Do any of us know any spellcasters who specialize in Greco-Roman style magic, who might be able to channel one of the gods directly? That might at least give us an idea of what's going on in Olympus." He knew plenty of magicians like that, but they didn't specialize in the sort of magical arts that he wanted to show off to his friends. And their gods weren't suitable for polite company. "In my experience, casters who draw their power directly from gods can be dangerous in these situations, Ace. You never know who's side they'll be on."

"This one is with whatever weapons you can get your hands on, Wander, though your bat will be included in the simulation. Tokyo it is. I think you both will find this one interesting." He walked off to the doorway of the Doom Room and typed a few instructions into the panel there, the room around them soon rippling and changing as the walls vanished and a new scene swam up before their eyes. They were standing on a massive bridge across what was apparently Tokyo Harbor, the bridge itself nearly deserted and the city behind them very quiet. Both teens had acquired something new; Phalanx a "radio" fastened to his uniform, and Wander her bat at her hip. Before Wander could have too many flashbacks of dead cities, Mike's radio crackled to life. "Alpha Team! We've succeeded in evacuating the city! Can you see the monster?" Sky and city revealed nothing to their eyes, but when they looked below they saw something in the water. Something gigantic and insectoid, swimming towards the evacuated city. "If you can't subdue the monster, at least drive it away!"

"I'll see you then," said Jack with a smile, watching her leave with a smile on his face. A nice, normal evening with only a few lies and one tiny little mistake. All in all, this was the best date he'd had with a normal person in years. And she is normal. A lot more normal than I am, anyway. A smile curled on his lips as he pulled away. Things were looking up for the king of Freedom City's vampires.

Mr. Archer was ready to greet both kids as they entered the Doom Room, a teacher's smile on his face at the sight of two of his strongest students. "Good morning Wander, Phalanx," he said with a nod. "I'm glad to see you both here today. I actually have two possible programs to run through today and I wanted to see where your interests are. Would you prefer Tokyo or Panama? You'll be running through both programs in your practices with me," he added, "it's just a matter of picking which one you do first."

Sorry for the delay. Should update here tomorrow. :)

Sorry for the delay. Will update here tomorrow. :)

OK guys, did you have anything else you wanted to do before you set up the attack on the Japanese base? If not, fire up and let it go, The base itself is roughly rectangular in shape, with one long side facing the water, the airstrip along a flat side, and the corners of the base armored with barbed wire and armed with cannons in addition to the regular guard rotations.

Between Edge's impressive good luck and Geckoman's considerable piloting skill, the two teenagers in the front seats were able to guide their flying submarine through the grim and murky waters of Wading Way. The old-fashioned submarine was a bit more claustrophobic than the nuclear subs like the Nautilus Mark had toured as a kid, and its old gauges and knobs were certainly much harder for him to read. But he trusted Geckoman to get the job done as they went, and they certainly seemed to be doing a very fine job. "How are you at navigating?" Edge murmured to Geckoman, trying not to think about all the water up and above their heads. It turned out to be not that difficult to get out to Lonely Point, though, Chris' talents rewarding Mark's faith in him. As they reached the peninsula, Mark busted out the map. "I think it's best if we come out there," he murmured. "If we go all the way around the base, they won't expect us to come from the rear...probably."

They made plans and schemes as they headed back to the car and got back on the road, their tastes in movies proving compatible enough for a night where neither of them expected to do much watching. Jack proved to be as affectionate on the road as he'd been violent in the park, and they shared a pleasant ride back to her place. "Shall I see you again for that next weekend?" Jack offered her. "Or whenever we set a date that doesn't interfere with our work or your classes." He grinned. "Because I do plan to interfere with you while we're together."