Avenger Assembled

Let's do this by random chance - everyone roll me an unmodified d20, highest wins. Well, 'wins'. https://orokos.com/roll/858420 = 4

Aquaria squatted beneath her statue and peered up at it with staring eyes. In a soft, rumbling song, she answered Salvo - "Vhoka is a false god - and all he shows are clever lies. Believe nothing you hear here." And with that, she hopped after Ouroboros and past the still, silent statues, disappearing into the darkness of the temple proper, the howling of a distant beast echoing against the tumbling rush of the great Niagara behind them. Inside, the group at first found themselves in what seemed to be a slaughterhouse - a great stone-hewn room marred by the freshly recent corpses of some half-a-dozen human beings, all of them in what appeared to be the arcane robes of cultists or mystics. There before them was a great stone maw set into the floor, fangs jagged and bloody, each one as big as a man and the mouth itself some fifty feet wide. Whatever lay down below inside that mouth, dark and indistinct, was something of vast, malignant power; like watching just the outline of a shark with nothing but a thin sheet of glass to protect yourself.

"Take a chance," said Eira, who definitely was in an uncommonly good mood tonight. "You might like what you find." She winked at Pan and then giggled, snorting through her nose until she had to cover her mouth. Along the way back, she considered their options, a half-smile lingering on her face, before she said, "We should go directly to the Headmistress's quarters and turn ourselves in." She was talking to Pan as the Freedom City skyline was becoming visible, with Claremont only a few minutes away, her silvery wings spread out behind her. "That way no one will be paying attention to Micah."

In 2020, the Democratic Party's nominee was not necessarily anybody's favorite (at least not among people on social media) - a divided primary electorate resulted in the nomination of a glad-handing Irish Catholic septuagenarian from the Acela corridor, the sort of politician who seemed to belong to the past rather than the future. But his vision of common decency and being stronger, together pleased an electorate that likes the idea of bipartisanship and team-building. His close ties to the superhuman community (including a few quasi-endorsements from former members of the Freedom League) helped a lot too. And so it is that in 2020, former Freedom City Mayor Mike O'Connor was elected President of the United States, having narrowly lost the popular vote (though both candidates got below 50%) but securing a solid majority in the Electoral College. O'Connor rebutted charges of inexperience (having never held office higher than city mayor) by pointing out that he'd been in politics since the late 1980s and that Freedom City is a city as diverse as and big as many small countries. The famous image of him eating a vanilla ice cream cone while waiting for his nomination has been an iconic one - you might not love vanilla ice cream, it might not be your favorite choice, but ultimately most people can agree they'll eat it. His Vice-President is Kalinda Kaur, formerly the Representative for Wisconsin's 9th Congressional District, a long-gerrymandered district that encompasses the city of Bedlam and its surrounding territories. The daughter of a Sikh immigrant long-haul trucker and an African-American school librarian from Wolverton, she went to law school after her father was gunned down by some joyriding Stark Hill thugs, planning to come back home and fight for justice. When she came back to Bedlam and found work in the public defender's office, it was supposed to be a temporary stopgap - but she quickly realized that defending those who could not defend themselves was a far finer and sweeter way to fight for what she believed in. She soon set her sights beyond just Bedlam, and in 2010 the assistant public defender was elected to Congress, boosted by a city machine that rightly realized that if they gave her a national platform, she'd be less interested in busting their chops. She gained a national profile in Congress as a major critic of the Cahill administration and was talked about herself as a long-shot Presidential candidate in 2020 before deciding to stay out of the race. At thirty-eight years old, she is actually younger than President O'Connor's children but she's a young, fresh face in the Democratic coalition and was ultimately an excellent choice to build ties to the party's progressive wing.

Initiative: Lady Horus: 34 Wadjet: 23

Election Night 2 November 2, 2020 Later that evening, after the polls have closed in California Post Theme Micah. Pan. Danica. Lulu. Davyd. Mia. The Raven. Charlie. Callie. Legatus. Lady Liberty. Benny. Adam. Abby. Veronica. Leroy. Ashley. Judy stared at her reflection in the mirror and blinked back tears. Just be brave, she thought, just be brave like them. The girl in the mirror didn't look like she was upset, black hair perfectly coiffed, black dress a perfect match of Christian modesty and elegant grace, a simple gold cross around her neck. But then Judy had learned from when she was a little girl about how to hold back her upset, how to make sure everyone knew she was good, and loyal, and would hide what wasn't right - she reached up and clutched the cross she wore around her neck. Not anymore. - Just as he had on Election Night four years earlier, President JT Cahill stood in a private room in a luxury hotel, with his family as he waited for election results to come in from what had been a hard-fought campaign against a surprisingly difficult moment. They were in a mockup of the family room in the White House, letting viewers at home get an image of the President as husband and father awaiting his rewards after a long day of hard work, mostly trying to lure the always-tricky swing state of Florida to his side by a reminder of the heroic effort the Cahill administration had put in after a series of hurricanes had struck the state. A Fox News crew was there, moving from face to face as they interviewed the Cahill family, live as election results came in - election results Judy could feel right down to her bones as a corona of radio signals passed through the hotel. The votes were almost all in now, it was just a matter of counting them. The crew moved first to her parents where they sat together on the couch, her father joking about how "Ah think we'll be the ones eating the good turkey this Thanksgiving," her mother speaking through a thin-lipped smile that God was in control, just as he always was. Then Joanna smiled and said, with a look at her younger sister, "The whole family's been praying tonight. And Ah think our prayers will be answered." And then the camera crews came to Judith Claudia Cahill; the ill girl, whose mysterious illness had made her the object of public prayer for the last four years, the homeschooled one, the quiet one, the one who didn't have her younger sister's good looks or her older sister's quick wit. When the blonde reporter gave Judy the microphone and asked, "And how about you, Miss Cahill, what do you think about tonight?" "Ah...Ah do have something to say." There was a carefully memorized script about how she hoped all the little children watching were learning that America was the freest nation on Earth, but she had decided it could wait just a little. Judy stared at the camera and reached out, feeling the signals that it fed, and reached out to them with her mind, feeding them with her power, making them her own. And when she spoke, she blazed to glorious life on live international television and said in a voice made resonant by the energy that had replaced her lungs, her vocal cords, but not her soul - "Mah fellow Americans - " It was a short, simple speech - shorter even than the Gettysburg Address, another famous piece of near-Presidential oratory. "Mah name is Judith Claudia Cahill, and Ah have superpowers. Because of mah secret heritage from an alien race, Ah can control the electromagnetic spectrum. Mah parents have known this for two years, but they made the choice to keep it from you because they were afraid of scandal. But Ah can no longer live this un-Christian lie before the eyes of the world. Mama, Daddy, Ah'm sorry," she said, turning to her parents who were on their feet, wide-eyed and white-faced, "But you taught me to do justice, and love kindness, and walk humbly with mah God, and Ah can no longer live a lie. Ah love you, and Ah love mah family. And if you're hearing this message," she added, her voice breaking into more channels now thanks to the vast number of transmitters present in the same hotel as the President on Election Night, "Ah want you to know that you don't have to be afraid of who you are or - what you're going to be. We're all different people in this country but we are bound together by what we have in common. Your life matters. Your love is pure. Your family is sacred." If her voice broke on that one, in great grief, an energy being didn't shed tears and there was nothing to stop her from continuing "You are not illegal and you are not a sin. God loves you; and so do I." Light filled the room now, glorious and terrible enough that on some cameras all that came through was the audio track, her voice punctuating every track. "This has been Judith. Claudia. Cahill. And Ah will be back!" And then, in one last flash of light, she disappeared off the stage - and the networks hung on the image of the shellshocked First Family (and the fiercely applauding First Daughters) before the cut to a very surprised anchor desk. Seeking a second term in the White House, President JT Cahill won a narrow plurality of the popular vote but lost the key swing states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan - and with them the election. Note: Feel free to post your character's reaction to the above two posts below, if you think it would be story-worthy!

ZB: Since you're the one rolled, you recognize the group. It's YOU. Or rather, it's somewhat crude stone representations of your group. The one you're with right now!

November 2, 2020 Vibora Bay, Florida The last stop of the Cahill re-election campaign Joanna, Judith, and Jerusha Cahill sat together in the rented bedroom of the First Family, each of the three girls - no, young women, looking at each other with nervous expressions. It had been four years since they'd sat together in a room like this one, four years that had been a lifetime for them all. Joanna was halfway through the college she'd just been thinking about on their last election night, about to head out and teach a generation of Oklahoma kindergarteners - Jerusha had turned from a pretty-too-fast teen into a sullen young woman who their mother just about kept under lock and key to keep her from sneaking off and drinking with some of her prep school friends. And what did I become? asked Judith, reaching up and patting the short haircut that had made her stand out from her sisters at first. They looked very much alike, tan skin and jet black hair, with big eyes and a wide smile. "Ah'm not going to do it anymore," she was finishing. "It's ruining all our lives, it's damn near ruined our family, and for that matter Ah don't think it's very Christian." "...what about that school?" asked Jerusha suddenly, shooting a hooded glance at her older sister. "That secret hero school that we're not supposed to know about, wherever it is. Aren't you gonna blow their cover?" "No," said Judy, shaking her head, "No, that's....that's all been taken care of. They're going to be ready when it happens, because they've been planning for this day for a long time coming." "What about you?" asked Joanna, ever the sympathetic older sister. "What's going to happen?" "Ah'm a little too old to spank," said Judy softly. "And it took me a long time to realize that Mama and Daddy aren't podunk people in a little podunk town anymore. They're the First Lady and the President of the United States, and if they cut me off because Ah have superpowers, the whole world'll shun 'em. And you know how they feel about their reputation." Oh Lord Jesus! she thought as her sisters exchanged looks that said they knew all too well. I know you told us to honor our father and mother and I do - I do it ever day. But this cup should not have been given to me, not by people who are supposed to love and care for me. "It's a little late now, though, don't you think?" asked Jerusha. "A lot of votes have already been cast, and it doesn't matter if you change everybody's mind if they've already done it." "It's not about politics, " said Judy softly. "Ah don't...Ah don't want people to think Ah did it because Ah'm a secret liberal, or not a Christian anymore, or anything like that. It's about our family, and what our family is supposed to mean to each other." She put her hand on the King James Bible in the middle of their triangle and said, "That's why Ah couldn't do it until you all were here. Because this is your lives, your futures, Ah might be changing - and Ah'm not going to throw it all away for what's easier for me. What should Ah do?" Joanna looked from her younger sister to her youngest, then said, "...you're right. It's not fair. Lots of things aren't fair that we have to live with. Have you prayed about it?" "Every night for the last year," Judy admitted, taking her sister's hand. "And Ah don't know if this is exactly what God wants me to do - but Ah know he doesn't want me to live a lie either." "Hell, let's do it," said Jerusha suddenly, defiantly. "Mama and Daddy think their secrets are so great, let 'em see what it's like to be the ones who don't have any power. Let them..." She looked away, hands on her lap curled like claws for a moment. "Whatever you're doing. I'm with you." Joanna let out a breath and said, "Me too." She put her hand on Judy's, right on the Bible, and said, "You are my sister, and I love you. Ah let mah pride in who we were and in being godly people keep me from seeing how important that was. Ah am so sorry Ah haven't been there for you these last two years." Tears stood out in her eyes as she said, "Even if it's hard, it can't be as hard as what you've been living with." Jerusha put her hand on her sister's too, and Judy realized they both were crying - and realized that her eyes were glowing as rainbow colors washed over her vision. She was about to panic, thinking she was going to lose control of her powers again, until a glowing rainbow drop fell from her eyes onto their linked hands. "Oh my Lord," she said softly, "Ah'm crying! Ah'm actually crying!" And then they embraced, and wept, and for the first time in a long time the Cahill sisters were truly reunited. - Later that night, when Judy was alone in her own room, a quick knock told her which agent was at her door. "Come in, uh, Agent Tran." Ashley came in, a red wig over her dyed hair, and gave her a small smile. "Hey. How are you doing?" "Ah've been better," Judy admitted, her voice still a little shaky from earlier that evening. "How about you?" "It's a quiet night," said Ashley as she walked over and sat next to her on the bed. "Vibora's a lot less crazy than Freedom, but then most places are." She folded her hands on her lap and looked at Judy before saying, "Are you going to do it?" "Tomorrow night," said Judy softly. "When everyone's here, and when everyone's watching. Ah don't want anyone to misunderstand why it happened." "Okay. Okay..." Ashley reached over and put an arm around her, then another, hugging her tight. "I'll do what I can to make it work. But this is going to change things, you know. Even if you do go back to Claremont for the rest of the year." "And be the First Daughter's secret dimensional twin?" asked Judy with a smirk. "Well Ah've had to tell dumber stories than that..." She laughed softly, then said, "You're not going to get in trouble, are you?" "Well I think if the United States government wants to throw me overboard, they know a lot of people are coming in the water with me," said Ashley dryly. "As for the Secret Service specifically, well...maybe there's more to life than this." She looked around the room, her gesture seeming to take in the whole place, then back at Judy. "I learned that from my sister." "Do you remember back when we first started?" asked Judy, looking down at the palm of her hand, which was indeed glowing faintly in the darkness. "Ah was so scared, being around those superkids all the time, and they were all so different than me. Ah was like a...caterpillar afraid of all the butterflies. Afraid of who Ah could be, if Ah stayed there long enough." "Maybe Claremont helped you find out you were a hero," said Ashley, "but that was always there inside you." She sighed, and looked away. "This whole thing, it...should never have happened. We should have let you spread your wings the moment we found them. It's my fault too." "No, Ashley, no," said Judy, "You...you did what Ah wanted, you let me keep my secrets, so that Ah could be a normal teenager for just a little while longer. You were the only person there who actually listened to me. The real me. It's not your fault." They held each other for a while, Ashley profoundly glad for the locked door, and then disengaged. "Well. You've inspired me," she said lightly, wiping away a few tears of her own. "This Christmas, I'm going to tell my mom, and my stepdad, and my whole family that I'm queer. If you're going to live your truth, I need to start living mine. Like I said before..." She slipped her hand in Judy's and said, "I'm with you. To the end of the line."

Eira held up a finger silently, glaring at Leon for a moment, then said cooly, "As I lack access to the local Internet, I have been forced to rely on more primitive measures - fortunately the cellular network is still functional." She smiled, a little shakily, her arm around Pan, as she said, "According to the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, the current date is October 21...2007." Eira adjusted her 'brand-new' Ramones jacket and stroked her chin, looking back at the machine they'd ridden on. "How interesting!" she commented. "At least there _is_ a network here, even if I will need to connect to it directly."

Judy was enthusiastic about the idea, and soon nearly anonymous in a borrowed sweater and sunglasses as the two of them disappeared together out Lulu's bedroom window. Their destination was an apartment in Freedom City, one that (by Judy's telling) Ashley had rented outside of the Secret Service's purview so there'd be something off the books if she and Judy ever needed it. _She's pretty worried about a lot of things,_ said Judy with a mental tone that admitted she was pretty worried about a lot of things too - just not always the same things, _so she always likes to have a backup plan, especially when dealing with superheroes._ She shot Lulu an apologetic glance at that, then admitted, _She used to be one, you know, she's not just...not just judging without looking._ The apartment turned out to be in Lincoln, evidently the worst neighborhood where Ashley was willing to even consider putting a member of the First Family, the sort of place where Lulu was able to put them down without worrying too much about security cameras. Judy took a moment to look around, picking out the building from the alley where they'd landed across the street, and said, "Ah've never had a chance to come to a place like this on my own," softly. It wasn't a bad neigborhood by any stretch of the imagination, but with its faded brick buildings and strip malls, it was definitely on the working-class side of town.

APPROVED

You can roll to recognize the figures - or just guess! =D RL, there is a definite trail of _something_ that went inside there - but it's hard to tell from all the spray and damp.

The computer showed Danica a fairly lengthy list, one that it was only indifferently able to translate - though Ashley was able to fill in most of the blanks. Danica had seen Ashley lie with the smoothness of a pond on a windless day when it suited her but she noticeably blushed even through her tan complexion, muttering only "Oh, well, you see a lot in the Service." Judy didn't seem to buy that from the confused expression she shot her sister, but didn't comment as Ashley helped the teens run through the list. There was ART, MUSIC, GALACTIC STUDIES, and SCIENCE, all of it pitched on a late elementary level based on Ashley's translations. "Which makes sense, there's not going to be anything tactical in a kid's computer," commented Ashley. They were able to find a drawing of what was probably the interior of the ship in the ART section, a wide range of stories about the Lor in their GALACTIC STUDIES database, scientific stuff that was way over everyone's head, and there was a picture of a pirate. There was really no other way to describe him - Pan certainly recognized the type, a tall fellow in a costume straight out of Central Casting, open V-neck shirt and jacket, tight pants and a glowing laser sword at his belt, and even a tricorn hat on his head. The face was new, though; a squid humanoid with tentacles on his face and big bulging eyes, looking for all the world as if someone had taken Cthulu and cast him as Captain Jack Sparrow. "I know him!" said Ashley suddenly. "That's, oh, what the hell is his name, Captain Kraken? There was a picture of him in the Raven's lair. And now he's an admiral?" "No, Ah don't..." Judy frowned, hard, and said to the others, "I don't suppose...suppose y'all can hear that?" she asked nervously. "That person, um, talking to me? He says if Ah don't do something soon, he's gonna shake things up around here."

As Eira's ghost merged with the sick little girl, healing her body, creating a miracle that would be a major subject of study for the mystics of northern Europe for some time to come, the machine that bore Eira's memories walked out of the room with her boyfriend in hand, her face expressionless in the way that meant she had actually deactivated the relevant connections between her brain and her surface features before she had left the inner room. Outside, Eira looked at Pan and then raised the hand that hadn't been holding his - her grip had been so strong that her fingernails had dug into her palm, far enough that she had actually broken the skin enough to let a few drops of bright blue blood leak out. "Död hela tiden," she said simply, looking up at the sun overhead. Dead, all along.

Aquaria was looking at the base of the neck and said with authority. "Teeth. Cutting and biting teeth, like a mammal." Prompted by Justice, she gently set the severed head down and walked over to the edge of the cliff. "I can see the inner temple," she croaked, peering down far below. "Follow me!" And then, she ducked down on her hind legs (there was no other word for them, not when they bent almost double under her body) - and leaped down past the falling water into the Bottomless Sea's tumbling torrent. It wasn't real water, not the water of her own mother sea, but she opened her vents anyway, letting the brackish brine pour into her suit as she leaped with the grace of a hurtling amphibian down below. She landed smoothly, her suit whining slightly to compensate for the abrupt impact, on a stone floor outside the inner temple - a cyclopean structure of towering stone whose single entrance was carved in the shape of a great jagged mouth. There was spray here now, constant and loud, thick enough that she couldn't tell enough if anything bloody had come this way recently - or gone, for that matter. Four stone statues stood on either side of the temple's mawed entrance, all of them looking freshly-carved from the living rock of this plane. There was something like a mortal wizard in robes and hat, stone fangs bulging from his mouth; a hideous amphibious fiend with a bulging mouth, and two armored forms, one with a deep gouge cut into its back. The four figures stood, seemingly dead, stony eyes implacable as they gazed on the heroes.

Eira muttered something about Leon could eat roasted pig anus if he cared to she would stick with the onion rings and french fries, but then they were in line and she was looking around with a suspicious look on her face. It was retro night at the carnival perhaps, with a mixture of 50s and 80s fashion everywhere, but honestly didn't look too different from the usual. Eira stuck close to Pan as they went, her gaze fixed, frowning on the crowd, and a gaggle of girls her age in camisole tops and jeans posing with a furry Hero mascot so their friend could take their picture with a disposable camera...

Okay, everyone (including Angelic with her 25) roll high enough to spot: It seems like things are subtly different than before you left; are the booths quite where you remember them being? Fashion looks a little... neon colors, gladiator sandals,[28] animal print or polka dot headbands, knitted sweater dresses, Nike Tempo shorts, wonderbra and sloggi underwear, sundresses, geometric pattern tops, slap bracelets, ballet flats, black spandex leggings, pale denim jeggings, light, translucent tartan shirts worn with a camisole underneath, kinky boots, riding boots, ripped acid wash skinny jeans, and neon leg warmers worn with bare legs and a dress or skirt. Letterman jackets, black leather jackets[116] like the Perfecto, windbreakers,[117] dashiki[118] or Hawaiian shirts,[119] ski jackets,[120] slim and straight leg jeans,[121] wool topcoats,[122] Ed Hardy T-shirts with low necklines, neon colors inspired by the rave scene,[123] roll sleeve tartan flannel shirts worn with white T-shirts, cardigans and knitted V-neck sweaters.[124]

I'll edit a bit, then, and wait for @KnightDisciple

"No, no, not with your original face," said Eira quickly, laughing nervously before seeming to realize that the remark could be taken in more than one way. "I mean, er...I would like to hire you, if you are interested in such services. I could use the services of a shapeshifter for a professional project." She spread her hands. "I will compensate you for your labor, so you are not working for exposure, yes?" She smiled thinly, then said, turning to the oven, "Another ten minutes," to her classmates.

APPROVED

is there a DC to hit the gun-car?

"She says cars just get you attention from the wrong sort of cape," commented Wadjet as she cracked open her gun just long enough to load it with something from her belt. It was abundantly clear who _she_ was - "I say she just doesn't want to have to teach me how to drive. Hey Thorne, you got any magic in this engine?" she asked, trying to take aim out the window as they approached the pursuing vehicles. Up in the sky, the golden arc that was Lady Horus swooped upward impossibly fast with a boom that made Wadjet cluck her tongue. "Mierda, they really pissed the old lady off-" she commented before Lady Horus went down like a falling star towards the lead car among the hunters - and then, when she'd passed them all and let them know she was _there_, Lady Horus pulled up by Thorne's car and called "ART THOU READY?"

Doktor'd! But your math was a bit off, she's still got 1pp! Edits for Sparkler (Electra's) 35PP to spend 12PP Into Sun Array Add PFs: Affects Insubstantial 2 to all powers Add Extra: Autofire to Blast Change Move Object to Move Object 10 (hands of flame, Extra: Damaging) It should now look like The Sun Array 15 (30PP, Fire; Feats: Affects Insubstantial 2, Alternate Powers 1) [33PP] Base Power: Blast 10 (Fire, and lots of it, Extra: Autofire) {30/30} Alternate Power: Move Object 10 (hands of flame, Extra: Damaging) {30/30} 9 PP into Flight Change base Flight to Flight 4 Change Flight w/Broom to Flight 7 (1000MPH/1000FPM) 4PP to Charisma (to CHA 24/+7) 8PP to Skills Bluff 5 (to Bluff 17 (+24) Diplomacy 5 (to Diplomacy 10 (+17) Intimidate 10 (to Intimidate 10 (+17) Sense Motive 5 (to Sense Motive 15 (+16) Stealth 8 (+10) Feats 2 Challenge (Fast Taunt) Skill Mastery (Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Stealth)

Sink in as many PP as you like!