Avenger Assembled

"No, I think that's everything." He smiled, his hand touching hers for just a moment as she handed him the paper. "I'll see you later, Stesha. Thanks again for all your help." When Jack walked out into the daylight again, carefully putting on his sunglasses as he went, he was feeling pretty darn good about himself. Relatively inexpensive flowers for the latest turning, a potential date...it was a good start to the day.

Even more pleased at what he'd wrought, Jack rewarded Stesha with one of his own phone numbers on the estimate sheet. "I think I can definitely approve this," he said with a smile as he signed his name. "I know I like what I see. Make sure you charge it through my business account, okay?" He grinned wider. "Thanks for taking such good care of me, Stesha. I know I'm in good hands with you."

We can probably wrap this one up while we feed into the main thread.

Jack happily took Stesha's number, thinking pleasantly about what he'd achieved. An arrangement made in more ways than one with an exotic, interesting young woman who just might be more than she appeared. It had been too long since he'd had something from a willing donor, and maybe Stesha here would be willing to open up to him in more ways than business. Either way, this was instinctive behavior; he wouldn't have done it any other way. He looked over the estimate sheet with interest, nodding in satisfaction as he looked up over his sheet. "All right, I think we've made all the relevant arrangements. For tonight, anyway. Shall I call you tomorrow night and we check up on our plans?"

Jack found that he enjoyed having the clerk be so friendly towards him, her obvious interest in him enough to make him smile too. He could make her fall all over herself to do whatever it was he wanted, but he was ethical enough that he wasn't going to do that. That thought, unworthy though it might be, was comforting enough that he didn't mind paying what was a fairly exorbitant bill. "And you'll be keeping a close eye on the whole thing?" he asked with a smile. "Making sure everything goes just the way we want it? That's really good to hear, Stesha. I'm glad to know I'm in such capable hands."

Jack winced a little. That price was doable, but it was on the high end of what Melinda had given him. Having things taken out of his hide wasn't just a figure of speech in the vampire world. "I know it's a rush job and that makes things more difficult for you," he agreed sympathetically. "So I can understand that you'd need to charge that much." He gave her a warm, magnetic look. "Is there anything I can do to make the job a little...easier on you?" Jack was ethical enough not to try and really boss this nice young woman around over a few hours as Melinda's toy. He was fairly sure she wasn't the boss here, and he knew what that was like. But she was feeling friendly towards him, well, all the better for everything.

"It's for a friend," said Jack with a quick laugh. "Their request was very specific." He shrugged and grinned, the normal guy dealing with crazy friends. "Oh, so we can keep the fixtures?" He scratched his chin. "In that case, I think we could just hang onto the flowers." He described the venue to her, a two-story house in Midtown that sounded big enough to be a full 19th century mansion. "We'll want bouquets in every room, of course, and some kind of big sculpture in the receiving room if you can manage it. A big heart, made of red and black roses? If you could do all that, I think we can definitely do business."

"It's to celebrate a birth," Jack replied blandly. "The party is a week from tomorrow in a private residence at Midtown. We would want your people to come in and look the place over the day before, and then install it the day of. Can you do cleanups afterwards, or is that something we'd need to contract through our own resources?"

"I assure you," replied Odysseus, "I am no agent of Omega. I am here to make sure that my world, and yours, never need to fear the Lord of the Terminus again." He smiled. "What I propose is that we work together to unite our respective worlds. Two entire peoples working together, fighting together, striving together, to build a better world where no man need fear being cast adrift on the tides of fortune. A place with justice for all. What do you say?"

For that matter, Shaen, if you'd like in on this, go nuts.

Hey, Wesley, we need you! :)

"Actually...best if you meet us at Wading Way. Similar situation has developed here." He told Grim how there'd been a battle in Lonely Point a few nights earlier and now one in by the Pyramid Plaza, frightening conflicts with powerful individuals who bore the faces but had very different powers and personalities of some of Freedom City's greatest heroes. "Crisis big enough for all the Knights to deal with. Could use your help."

Gentlemen, kudos on what's already shaping up to be an awesome thread!

I thought not! For Vulture's sake, I hope he hides. He's learned not to annoy Avenger. :twisted: :)

"Hello, Stesha," he said with a very warm, friendly smile, "I'm Jack." He leaned over the book with her, enjoying the scent of flowers that arose from her body. "What I need is an arrangement made of night-blooming flowers, especially moonflowers, evening stock, and, ah, Nottingham catchfly." He fished into his jacket pocket to dig out a list. "I was wondering, do you have any rose varieties that bloom at night in particular? I'd like to find a night-blooming barkarose if possible."

Avenger sounded unusually befuddled, hesitating a bit before replying. "Yes. Yes, will be there shortly. What situation?" Grim couldn't hear anything but Avenger's voice on the other end of the line, the sound around him dead and still.

"Hello," Jack replied, focusing gratefully on the cute chick behind the counter. He was dressed in a casual dress shirt and slacks, the anonymous wear of thousands of men in Freedom City. "You're the establishment that serviced the Macon funeral, is that correct?" When Stesha confirmed his guess, he smiled warmly. "Good, then I'm in the right place. Do you still do custom work, arranging flowers in a particular design?"

June 5, 2009. Jack goes to make a certain purchase from Fleur. Blood Rose

This is the thread for Jack and Stesha to engage in business.

Blinking back the glare of the sunlight all around him, Jack pushed back his sunglasses and peered up again at the shop name to make sure he had the right address. Flowers By Design had come recommended to him as one of the leading florists in the city, a good, discreet place that wouldn't ask any questions about arranging certain rare flowers in a particular discreet location in the Theatre District, and then making sure all their personnel were cleared out before sunset. Melinda's party had a floral theme. Walking inside, he looked around, trying to take the unfamiliar place in. "Hello?" he called, reluctantly removing his sunglasses once he stepped inside. He looked pale and blotchy as usual in the sunlight, his handsome face looking like any other night dweller who didn't get out in the sun nearly enough.

Avenger is going to visit various tech companies trying to find out who's been supplying Doc Otaku. After all, even he doesn't make his own raw materials. Avenger's not a great investigator, so he's going to be mostly gathering information and scaring the crap out of people until they tell him what he wants to hear. He'll also keep a general eye out for anyone who knows where Otaku can be found, natch, or any of the Angel Androids. And a mighty fine job of it he'll do, too!

OK, fair enough! Well, I'll use Avenger's Skill Mastery again so that he has the DC 31 to be seen that he had when he started the thread. And I'll reroll the attack in the interests of fairness. OK, that's just a regular ol' attack.

Does Avenger really need to make a Stealth check vs. Shark, given that Shark can't see Avenger with Avenger's Stealth up? If he did take him by surprise, given how you've described the character's distracted state, I'd be surprised if he wasn't flat-footed. As for his attack modifier, I'd thought that catching someone flat-footed/by surprise provided +2 to hit. Was that correct?

Glad that's over with! How'm I looking, Mark? EDIT: I made a couple of tiny tweaks on Edge's sheet while I was waiting, dropping his Charisma to 18, giving him another rank of Luck, and adding a Probability Control 10 AP of his main array. This gives him the choice of helping others with his special ability or helping himself, an exciting choice for any young superhero!

Odysseus scratched his bearded chin, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Wouldn't it be better to pool your resources with another world's?" Odysseus inquired thoughtfully. "There are whole legions of realities along the Cosmic Coil who want to keep themselves safe from the armies of the Terminus, but lack the will and skill to do so. If your world and another were to begin working together, the cycle of alliance could begin." He rose smoothly as he spoke, his plans ringing out in the voice of a natural-born leader. "The multiverse itself united as was Greece in the days of Alexander, a single, unified whole of states arranged against the terrible empire luring on their border. You both know it; you know the stellar empires of your world," he said with a nod to Dark Star, "and you your world's deep history. A bundle of spears can survive, even kill, where one would be broken."