Avenger Assembled

I r a cattleprod! Made a few adjustments that I hope are OK with all. Go ahead and post, giving me Stealth checks as you go (Avenger's 32 with Skill Mastery is enough to pass)

"Suggest you keep us in mental contact, Scarab. Talking openly will be a bad idea early on." Through the awesome powers of Phantom's mighty command of the arcane arts, Phantom, Avenger, Scarab, and Magpie disappeared from the darkened park and reappeared in the quiet confines of an isolated corridor high up in the dark tower of Lord Arachnos. Despite the magical nature of the place, the walls were brushed metal and the floor carpeted with soft, artificial material. The walls were decorated with pictures of happy, smiling children and cute animals as they frolicked beneath the beneficent hand of a faceless figure in the sky. There were doors on every side of them, stretching down a long corridor, and from somewhere nearby there came the distant sound of a child's sobs. The hallway was dark, with only bizarrely mundane EXIT signs at each end of the corridor, a glimpse of the normal world in this grim reflection of an alternate Freedom City. - Phantom wasn't the only one with the power to move great masses quickly, as Dark Star demonstrated when he carried his team, including Raven, along to the prison level. A level down, the detention corridor was a place equally bizarre and mundane; the walls decorated with smiling families and well-dressed, respectable citizens bowing in homage to a faceless figure in the sky. There was sound here too, but not from any of the mostly empty cells. The small group of heroes could clearly hear what were obviously propaganda broadcasts in their ears. "Arachnos loves the whole world, and all the people in it. Arachnos loves the whole world, and all the people in it." And so on and so on, over and over again, reminding everyone there of the glories of the new regime and the new way of living in the world. There were no signs of guards as yet; they were in an isolated corridor along an exterior wall of the building.

Hah! Blasts of space-radiation? No problem. Arrows to the face? The pain, the pain. OK, Warmonger, let's see Ronin's Reflex save.

I concur with Dr. Archeville.

Also; is the Anima effect on his Enhanced Strength?

"I'm sure we'll be okay," said Edge, not sounding too worried by the enemy they'd be facing. "I mean, I know we're understrength, but we've got some of our best people. We'll be beaming Alex and the others off Kaiju Island before you know it." He nodded, serious despite his positive attitude. "If we go in subtly, take out the robots but leave resources behind for the Resistance to use, as well as get our own modulator, we'll have done a lot of good for everybody." With confirmation from Lilith that leaving behind technology would give the Resistance a valuable edge against the Nazis, the Resistance leader left the kids with professional salutes for each of them. "I'll make sure we get a team in behind you as soon as we can. Good luck, soldiers."

Avenger took a massive shot in the dark. "Not the necklace." He tapped the list. "The original owner would be how old, now, after thirty years?" He was very thoughtful. "The woman you described to me and the woman I met today wouldn't rob an old lady. Even a rich one." And when did _I_ develop such a faith in humanity? He ran his fingers over the list. "You said she knew you. Tell me about Alexander Rhodes." He looked up at Elena. "Which of these would he want the most to protect?"

Given Mark's interest in history in general and the heroes of the past in particular, there was really no doubt what advice he'd offer. Though on the other hand, he did feel bad for having read quite so much of what was on that page, and explaining how to read all of it to the others. That was fairly private stuff on there. Putting that out of his mind, he said, "Hey, I agree with Alex. Let's go do this thing." He nodded, gently handing the map back to her. "I think this belongs to you. But first, I suggest we all change into traveling clothes. Or at least get some cargo shorts on or something."

Those who passed their rolls notice that the T-Rex isn't being aggressive in a nasty way towards Alex. You've all seen this kind of behavior on the nature shows the kids love so much. It thinks she's a baby T-Rex lost from the nest!

The giant T-Rex slowly placed Psyche on the forest floor, looking down at her with something like curiosity in its massive eyes before it ducked its head down low and licked her! The huge dinosaur had a very large tongue, and was very insistent on licking at her until she was quite covered in dinosaur drool. When that was done, it pulled its head back, looking as pleased as a monstrously huge predator can. Gun in hand, Hope watched for several paranoid seconds. "I...I think it might be all right," she admitted, fascinated.

:bat: "Hrm," was the sole acknowledgement Dark Star got as the two men headed into Duncan Summers' private office, the room decorated with the results of a long, very successful career in education. Taking a seat, Summers evidently knew Dark Star well enough not to offer him one of his own. :bat: "Tell me about quantum physics, please." Summers led Dark Star down a series of rather probing questions about how his powers worked, showing enough insight to show that he had training far beyond that of the ordinary layman. :bat: "I'm satisfied as to your honesty. Tell me what has led you to choose an educational career path."

Were-Fox Init: 26 Avenger's Init: 14 Have at it, Phantom. :)

Jack took his keys, but bent down over the unconscious werewolf, frowning angrily as the creature lay there in its half-animal form. "I don't recognize it," he said thoughtfully. "I've dealt with lycanthropes in this area before, but they didn't look anything like this." He picked up the fallen crowbar and studied it thoughtfully, tapping it back and forth against one hand. "Do you recognize him? Is this one of the magical sub-species, or is it a magical creature? It-SONOVA-" The werewolf had just sat up and grabbed him by the collar!

We done here, Sandman? :D

Edge took rear-point as they headed inside, figuring that someone had to be at the end of the line. He could just imagine a Foundry building was just the sort to have lots of booby traps and devices designed to strike at his friends from the rear, making it a good choice to go in at the back. It's not like this is Young Freedom, here; there are grownups on the team. And Ace Danger! He still couldn't quite get over that.

Right, and there's a fancy computer on the detention level, so he's a good choice to go there. (My advice? Shut down all the trash compacters down there. ) If we're ready, I just need the two teleporters to send us on our way.

Taylor and her antagonist made their way into the woods even as people started getting out of their cars at the noise of Jack's alarm going off. It was only when they were alone in the woods that the thug laughed menacingly, tossing aside his crowbar to growl "You just made a big mistake, girlie!" With a roar, he began to grow, his back popping open and head shifting, bones and flesh shifting around to transform the man into a lupine monster! "Now I'm going to eat you!" It was at this juncture that Jack appeared out of the darkness,smashing his fist directly into the back of the werewolf's head. The man dropped without a sound, making a single awp as he twitched and groaned, completely unconscious from the power of Jack's blow.

"Now you're showing sense!" the thug hissed as he circled the car after her, waving his crowbar at her. "Gimmie the keys, honey!" he spat, his chin covered in peach fuzz and his teeth capped with silver. He loomed over her, very big and with a very large crowbar. "Gimmie the keys!"

Just as Taylor had feared, her hit with the door missed the thug. With a snarl on his face, he reached for her inside the car, fumbling around with a desperate look on his face. It wasn't hard to guess why; the feature was almost over and people would be coming out of their cars at any moment now! It was dark, but not that dark.

Even distracted by recent events and the quest for her hair clip, Taylor was easily alert enough to hear the sound of someone jimmying at the trunk lock. Peering up and out the back window, she saw a skinny teenager in a black cloth cap picking at Jack's trunk lock with a large, menacing crowbar. She must have looked a little too long, because the "kid" looked up at her and saw her looking back at him! A menacing look on his face, he turned and made a bee-line straight for the door nearest her!

Give us a Notice check, alder.

In the privacy of the tiny men's bathroom in the drive-in office, Jack sighed a little as he washed his mouth out and popped in an orange Tic-Tac. His conscience nagged at him in an unpleasant way, but the rest of him remembered how pleasant everything had just been. He certainly hadn't heard any complaints from Taylor. If I stick with vampire women, I get Claudia. If I date outside my kind, I feel like a heel. When he was sure that no one could see him in the bathroom, he studied his lack of reflection in the mirror. Still not used to that. Did that really kill off what was left of my soul? He shook his head. I just...I just need to stop! Is it really that hard?

Jack leaned in and kissed her soundly, his arms going around her, and they moved out of view of anyone looking in the front windows. Time passed and the movie played out, the loud, explosion-filled soundtrack and action on screen keeping the attention of almost everyone at the drive-in focused on the heroic Dirk Angst and his AEGIS team as they battled Umbra King and the wicked machinations of the villainous Countess. Eventually there was steam on the windows and Jack sat up to realize the first feature was almost ending. "I'm going to hit the bathroom and wash up," he suggested to her, "before the crowd starts." He was just buttoning his collar up. He also needed a breath mint, but it was rude to come out and say that. "Unless you want to go first?"

"Well, fighting would spoil an already lovely evening. But would it bother you if I put my hands on you anyway?" he asked her, cocking his head with a teasing smile on his lips. "Because I have to say, I really enjoy the way your skin feels, and the way you smile when I touch you." He stroked her cheek, running his fingers lightly through her hair as his hand came down onto her neck. Thump-thump. "I'd like to see more of that."

"A woman who likes explosions..." Impulsively, Jack reached down and stroked the side of her face. "A woman after my own heart. Though my personal brand of action is more hand-to-hand." He demonstrated that by laying his other hand on her shoulder, his arms long enough to go almost all the way around her shoulders when they were leaning together like this. "Out of synch or not, I'm certainly glad you're here." He squeezed her shoulder. "You certainly seem very real to me."