Avenger Assembled

"If the craft sinks," Edge pointed out softly, "we don't want it going down in open water. You and I might be able to stay afloat until the League tracks us, but we don't know what'll happen with these guys. Hostile aliens or not, that's no way for us to act if we can help it. I don't recognize their religion," he admitted, "but that Great Mother stuff is pretty common in a lot of religious movements." He hmmed. "It sounds like they're mostly talking about meeting leaders who are girls. They think I'm your translator," he added. "I don't know how much that helps us, though." The crystal walls were tough to judge; the alien architecture looking far more fragile that it probably was.

There are things here that need worked on. First off, some formatting stuff; would you mind alphabetizing your skills and such, so that they're easier to read? _Book of Magic_ strongly recommends against allowing Attack Specialization: Magic, and I'm inclined to agree. The power itself is powerful enough as it is. Furthermore, a 4000 year old character speaks more than two languages, I'm afraid. Daedalus, an NPC of similar age, speaks 16 languages. You could also put a Comprehend Languages in your Magic Array. Also, do you have the Freedom City book? I strongly encourage you to work to integrate your character into the Freedom City setting. What other immortals has he allied with/battled with over the years? His backstory could use a combination of line breaks and paragraphs. In addition, you might want to think about why he's 4000 years old and only PL 10. Man needs to eat his Wheaties. :)

Someone who gets the tone of the site, awesome! Just keep in mind that the Shadow Academy, like Jack Chick's Hell, is not really a party place. Stinger may not find herself very happy there.

The Bee-Keeper turned up his nose at Dark Star, preferring to concentrate on the noisome Stesha. "I'll have you know that this armor is the product of months of work in my secret laboratory! Only my mad genius could possibly have produced so maleficent a creation!" The Bee-Keeper looked more than a little put-out at the insults to his scientific creations. "As for the police, perhaps you can see that they put me in a jail where I belong, instead of once again in that wretched asylum! Not that any cell could restrain the genius of...the Bee-Keeper!"

"I can handle that," said Edge confidently, glad to see Wander handling this so well. "But hopefully it won't come to that. If we get them as far as Freedom City, maybe the League can handle it all themselves." The inside of the alien spacecraft turned out to be a massively ornate bejeweled series of passageways, almost too bright and shiny even to look at. When the door closed, the two teen heroes were alone with the glow and their alien compatriots as they headed...somewhere. The aliens were still talking, and Edge still translating. "They ask if we know the embrace of the Great Mother. I've told them that we don't understand such things yet, but so far they've taken that as encouragement to tell us all about the Great Mother and her Children."

Edge nodded at that, giving her a thumbs up. "Good advice." Hey, she's doing pretty well about thinking about collateral damage! I knew she'd get better at this. Too bad I'm terrible at giving orders, he thought irritably. As usual he didn't stay irritated long, though. I'm sure I'll get it right next time. Edge relayed the message to the aliens through the translator, putting all his effort into the discussion, and then nodded. "All right, they're willing to take us on board." The aliens nodded too, waving at Edge and Wander to join them up inside their spacecraft.

The aliens gabbled something in French at Wander, pointing the cylinders they were carrying at her in a rather intimidating way. Edge used his comm-link to quickly relay their signals to the "Freedom League," quickly getting a concerning reply. "They demand to be taken to our leader to see if she can be converted to the One True Faith," he reported to Wander quickly. "They say our planet has continued its sinful ways for too long. Personally, I suggest we introduce them to the First Amendment."

Flying Submarine (Strength 40, Speed 5 [50 MPH water and 250 MPH air], Defense 6, Toughness 11 [impervious 2], Gargantuan Size, Features: hidden compartments, navigation system, remote control, Blast 8 [torpedoes, Penetrating, Homing], Blast 7 [machine guns, Autofire], Concealment 1 [radar], Immunity 9 [life support])

Lilith led the kids right to the edge of the water, where the burnt-out old hulk of a freighter stood. "This way," she said without hesitation, leading the kids into the interior of the half-sunk rustbucket. With something of a shrug, Edge led the way after her, where just inside the "freighter" they all made the discovery of a lifetime! The boat itself was an entire Resistance base, hollowed out from the inside. While Lilith gave the counter-sign to the troops inside to allow them all in, the kids had a chance to look over a very strange craft: what looked for all the world like a battered old World War II-era submarine with the single exception that on both sides of the craft jutted two large propellered wings. "This is the Sea Hawk," said Lilith as she rejoined the kids for the walk inside. "Named after its inventor, a friend of mine." Inside the submarine, a bizarre fusion of the old and the new revealed a vehicle at once submarine and airplane, fitted out with heavy weapons and armored against the pressures of the deep and machine gun bullets in the air. "She's as fast as a battleship under water, and faster than some planes in the air. If you can fly it." She walked Geckoman and the others into a room once cockpit and conning tower. "Can you fly this?"

"Good strategy," said Edge, who could always appreciate someone else's insight even if he couldn't do the same thing to save his own life. "If they're hostile, try and keep them from getting back to their ship," he murmured. "Letting them leave sans weapons is one thing, but the last thing we need is for them to hover out of our reach and mess with us." As the simulated tourists kept a very discreet distance, the flying saucer hovered a few feet above the ground, a shiny silver ramp lowering right out of the chrome-polished saucer. The opening exposed a bright white interior with some distinctly visible shapes inside, those shapes slowly resolving themselves into grey-skinned fungoid humanoids, each one wearing a white spacesuit with bubble helmet, carrying large, gleaming cylinders in their hands as they marched down the ramp in unison.

"Yeah," agreed Edge, "I am. So I guess we-" He broke off talking as suddenly the sky changed. As the two teenagers watched, a large silvery disc came lowering itself out of the sky, slowly descending downwards towards the park near the Eiffel Tower. It looked exactly like a flying saucer from a 1950s monster movie, except it was very real (for certain values of real) and descending towards their city. "Well, that's new. Grab me," he suggested, "you're a lot faster jumping than I am swinging."

"Around here...uh, yes!" Edge wandered over to a nearby corner, where a large, oddly-shaped bat hovered in midair like a video game powerup. "I guess, they're trying to speak to us," he muttered. Scooping the bat up with one hand, he used his grapple gun to ascend to the rooftop with her. "I think this belongs to you, Erin." He handed her the bat, taking a step back to let her get the feel of it. Looking around, he noted, "Hey, there's the Eiffel Tower! I guess this is Paris after all. Weird." He put his hands on his hips, studying the scenery complacently for a moment, before he started doing his own exercises. He was much less dramatic than Wander about everything, bending and stretching, cracking his back as he stood up high, looking more like a Tai Chi student in a cape than anything else.

Edge had stopped to do the same, changing into his usual field costume as he headed into the training room to join Wander. "They fixed up that little technical loophole on my account," he admitted. "There are filters in the system actually named after me." He'd picked up the roster with their assigned schedule as they came in, his eyebrow raising behind his goggles. "Hey, I don't think I've ever done this one. Do you know anything about 'Is Paris Burning?'" They were in a quiet, unfamiliar alley somewhere Edge didn't recognize, old buildings rising up high on either side of them. "If this is Paris, I want a croissant."

"You mean you haven't heard?" Edge looked genuinely surprised, and when Wander indicated she hadn't Edge coughed a little. "I, uh, blew it up the first time I used it," he said, a little embarrassed as they headed into the administration building and to the hidden elevator. "They hadn't quite figured out how my powers worked, so when I tried blowing up a simulated bad guy, I actually blew out the whole system." He winced at the memory as the doors closed behind them. "That was quite a day. But luckily no one was hurt and it was easy enough to fix. Daedalus said he had to bring stuff all the way from Ireland to fix up the Doom Room for me."

"A little from Column A and a little from Column B," said Mark with a small shrug. "He's not going to be in the simulator with us, but I imagine he'll be watching. He likes to keep tabs on this kind of thing. And I will do some warm-ups, though I doubt I'll be anywhere near as impressive as you." He snickered. "I've seen you in the gym. I'll lift a free weight; you'll lift a car, and we'll both be ready."

August 4, 2009: Mark and Erin jointly train in the Doom Room as they take a trip down the Wandering Edge.

This is the OOC thread for Wander and Edge's joint training.

Mark met Erin as breakfast was winding up for their joint powers-training, guessing she'd prefer not to walk down to the Doom Room alone. He knew she had plenty of solo training down there, and probably could use a little company this time. After all, this was the first time they'd be working together as a duo rather than just as part of a larger team. Best of all, he thought as he approached her as they left the cafeteria, maybe she'd have some rumors to pass on in the aftermath of his highly enjoyable date with Alex. "Hey, Erin," he said cordially, walking up to her as she headed out the door. "You still good to go for powers training? Looks like they're keeping us busy today."

The radiation lashed out at the vampire Grue first, passing through his body in a sudden, disturbing moment of pure supernatural malfience. "Fool!" he called up at Dark Star. "Your powers might have burned me once, before I passed beyond the Unity and into the everlasting glories of undeath!" The ghosts, too, were unaffected by Dark Star's blasts, his beams of energy passing straight through them and blasting huge holes in the walls beyond. Nevermore, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky; taking a blast of energy through his midsection that scorched his flesh. Hissing animalistically, the vampiric wizard staggered, barely able to maintain his power. Melinda hissed at Jack, taunting him with murderous fury. "Your friends are going to be as dead as you, hero! Them, and everyone else who hasn't stood for me. For ME!" She screamed. "This is MY CITY!" She tilted her head back, letting her skirt fall aside to show a long, lustrously pale leg. "If you think you can stop me , that is. Let's play a little game." And with that, she erupted up into the air, vanishing through one of the holes Dark Star had blasted in the walls.

Daedalus and Captain Thunder won't know what hit them. Scarab, you're up.

"This is the fastest safe way," said Lilith to Erin, nodding a little at her question. "I don't know if any of you have any super-abilities, but the last thing we need is to attract an air raid here. Resistance super-humans will bring down every Ubersoldaten in the state down on you if you're not fast enough. We're only another ten blocks or so from the base." Quickly and quietly, she led the kids through the crowded streets, interrogating them politely on their superhuman abilities to get a better grasp of what they could bring to a fight. "I don't suppose any of you kids know how to fly, do you?" she asked as they reached what looked like an abandoned, long-burned out warehouse on the edge of the Wading River; a river now visibly crowded with wrecked ships and the occasional landmine. "A friend of mine left us one of her machines, but we don't have anyone with the nerve to take it out."

"That'd be telling," said Mark with a half-smile. "And you never know how much Alex can overhear," he added. "You want a nacho?" he offered, passing the big plate her way invitingly. He'd loaded them down with lots of cheesy salsa dip, evidently not worried about gaining weight from the fatty food. "Actually," he murmured to Erin when he was leaning close, "it's a big book on the history of psychic superheroes. I'm sure she's read it already, but it's got a big section on some of her favorites like the Scarab. Also, a gift certificate to Starbucks." He grinned.

The Bee-Keeper glowered at Stesha before saying dismissively, "Are you going to make 'friends' with _every_ superhero in town? Last time I try seeking you out without friends, I tell you what." And with that, the Bee-Keeper looked at Dark Star as if he'd grown a third head. "Apologize? For pursuing my arch-nemesis? Alien, you clearly have mistaken the caliber of man you are dealing with. I am no petty thug chasing down a mark for their wallet. I am a super-villian in pursuit of my greatest opponent! My only regret is that I live in an age where madmen such as yourself can crush the weak and helpless bee and be lauded for your brutality by the foolish unwashed masses! And now, by thunder, I demand you arrest me." He eyed Dark Star closely and added challengingly. "Unless you'd prefer...to finish the job?"

That's not the worst story, Jack wanted to say, but good sense prevailed on him to keep his mouth shut. "That's good to hear. And I promise that I won't show up in Dimension X to demand my CD collection back after you kick me out." He looked down at her. "And what am I doing, telling you what I'll do when we break up? Taylor, I really like you," he told her warmly. "You've brave and clever, and damn good at what you do." He grinned. "And you're cute when you smile. I hope I can make you do it more." The Plaza was brightly lit at this hour for security, and for once Jack didn't pull away into the darkness in Taylor's company.

The Bee-Keeper struggled unsuccessfully a few times, his armor buzzing and clicking, but finally slumped in Dark Star's grip just as they reached ground level. "Fine," he muttered. "But I want to talk to my lawyer now. I know my rights. You do still respect the Constitution, don't you?" he asked Dark Star with the haughty disdain of a king imprisoned by a troublesome peasant.