Avenger Assembled

Yes, well. Jack usually doesn't think, "Boy, I sure hope no one can tell I'm the undead!" while he's in costume. Usually, anyway.

"Dark down here. No windows." Avenger thinks for a moment, then says, "Stay behind cover, out here. Goin in through the ducts. I'll be back in a minute." With that, he reaches over and flips the row of exterior light switches off, plunging the stairs and the room beyond into darkness. A moment later, while his ally's eyes are still adjusting, he drops down into mist and fog and rolls right underneath the open door, taking a moment to suss out the situation beyond before taking action.

I'm sold, this is definitely the sort of thing Avenger would get involved in. He and Scarab would make an interesting pair of comrades.

Multiple attacks on minions in the same round is a function of the Takedown Attack feat. You should be able to do the first one easily enough, though; it's a full-round action to hit one guy, grab him, then chuck him at another one.

Okay, joshie, we're waiting on you here.

I am in agreement with the sentiments expressed above.

1 HP spent to temporarily acquire Takedown Attack. Moira, you're up!

Jack squares off against the men surrounding him, the tall, slim guy bending down in a wary wrestler's crouch. The goons surrounding him evidently realize quickly that he's not going to surrender without a fight. Two of them jab at Jack, sizzling bolts of electricity stabbing at his face and midsection as he ducks and weaves. Jack's new to this sort of combat, though, and doesn't realize it's a feint until the third goon strikes directly for his heart with his sizzling stun gun. The third soldier misses too, though, Jack dodging out of the way of what would otherwise might be a painfully punishing blow. "You have no idea what you're dealing with," growls Jack, his deep, menacing voice a sharp contrast from the charming pretty boy only a few minutes ago. He could kill these men in a dozen ways; lay them low in a dozen more, but so very many of them would involve revealing his vampiric nature to them and to the nearby Moira. "You think I'm just going to stand here and let you hit me?" He lands a sudden, solid punch to the face of the soldier who attacked him, the man's face visor cracking as Jack punches him out right through his helmet! Jack keeps moving, too, lights from outside cutting odd shadow shapes against his pale skin as he suddenly leaps up into the air and simultaneously kicks his two other attackers in the face in a bit of super-fast kung fuery worthy of a John Woo flick. They fall, too, their helmets bouncing as they come in for a very uncomfortable landing, and Jack lands on his feet in the darkness.

The once-familiar bar is lit only by the terrible glares of the spotlights, casting it into a bizarre combination of bright light and truly black shadows. Since you passed the Fort save, you can see okay; it's just very...evocative.

you passed the dazzle with flying colors. Good thing they didn't come loaded for superhuman bear! I'll let you post Moira's reaction to all this before I start with the first round of combat.

Jack's initiative (14) Group 1 (vs Jack) (23) Group 2 (vs Moira) (8)

Okay, make a Fort save and roll for initiative.

"All right, here's what I think we should do." Whatever Jack's brilliant idea, events are already moving faster than he can deal with. No sooner has he spoken than two huge spotlight beams stab their way through the bar's window, powerful blasts of light that cast everything they don't touch into light but nearly blinding everyone who can see. His eyes protected against such things, Jack blinks away the glare without a problem, but a moment later it's not so easy when the door bursts open in a shower of wooden shards! A half-dozen men in body armor enter, carrying shock rifles, and with a nod three each run towards Jack and and Moira each. "Surrender now and you won't be harmed," says one of the men, his voice filtered uncannily by the helmet and gas mask around his head, his eyes invisible behind his bodily protection.

Divine's friends are drunks! No need to say it was just in the booze; it could have been in the food, too, or something in the air.

"Your loss, man!" Stan bolted like he'd been shot from a gun, leaving Jack and Moira the only two conscious in the bar. Jack, a deeply concerned look on his face, had left his erstwhile sweetheart behind to check on the welfare of the others. "I don't know, I...I don't know of anything like this! I don't think it was anything magical..." He sat back on his heels, alarm on his face. "They're alive, I think, just unconscious to a man. It's like they've all been drugged." He licked his lips and was about to speak again when the lights went out, this time for good. Jack could see fine, naturally, but that didn't stop him from cursing explosively as he bolted to his feet. "The nearest police station is two blocks down Durham," he says, with surprising knowledge of the neighborhood for a new guy. "How fast can you get there?"

"Hm," is Avenger's guttural reply to Tarantula's insight. "If I finish first, I'll come find ya." He turns back to Annalyn at that. "Basement." It's mostly a question; while he could get down there easily enough, getting there with a middle manager while avoiding fights is going to be hard to do blind.

Jack scooped up the cue with a graceful little flourish, making a great show of popping his back and flexing his fingers. Cue in hand, he bends over the pool table an instant below the lights go out. The moment of darkness is accompanied by the sudden, terrifying sound of bodies and tables falling, glass shattering, and a sudden scream from the corner. When the lights snap back on, everyone at the bar with the exceptions of Jack, Moira, and Jack's friends in the corner table have collapsed to the floor like so many boneless dolls, knocking over tables and breaking glasses as they go. A few things happened quickly after that; the first of which is that the small party in the corner rose and bolted as one, leaving behind their drinks and unconscious "dates" with as much care as one might leave behind a sandwich in the event of a bear attack. One only lingers at the door, Stan reaching out for Jack. "C'mon, Jack! You gonna stand there all night?" A thoroughly stunned Jack had dropped his cue by now, and he'd bent down to check Stephanie's vitals. The pretty woman had slumped in her chair, her head drooping as if she was just entirely too drunk. "She's alive...Stan, get out of here! Call the police! The real police!"

Nothing to see here, folks! We're probably ready to move to the Bad Guys attack portion of the evening, if you want to wrap up your opener.

Oh, jeez! Jack contemplated Hieronymous King discovering his secret identity, levering his substantial influence in the city against Freedom's vampire community, and various subsequent disasters. But on the other hand...who says I have to be found out? He smiled behind his mask, a predator's grin. Jack Faretti can't risk a fight with Majestic Industries...but Avenger is a superhero. Avenger can do anything. "Looks like sword-boy's gone in too. Full house." he growls in a voice summoned up from the gritty 90s superhero movies that Jack grew up with. He takes a moment to casually bowl over a passing rioter, flipping the man flat on his back and leaving the formerly furious protester with a thoroughly dazed expression. "Shouldn't be out this late." He looks up at the others, his blue eyes and the white skin around them the only parts of his body visible underneath his bulky costume in the glare of the surviving street lights. "I've got point," he says, again echoing things he'd heard on late-night TV. "Let's roll."

OK, so this won't take effect till the next round, right? It takes at least one round to jury-rig, since the device costs at least one PP.

This would be, hmm, an interesting time to make a Notice or Sense Motive check.

Some time later, as the night began falling closer and closer to day, Avenger crouched on a Greenbank rooftop as he looked out over the neighborhood below. It was a lousy neighborhood, a filthy place full of the diseases of crime and poverty. It was a good hunting ground; for Jack and Avenger alike. But there are good people here, he reminded himself, People who deserve happy lives. Maybe he was a predator, a monster, friend of monsters. But he could still make the world a better place; he could do more with an eternal unlife than cry over the so-sad loss of his humanity or attend a legion of empty parties. His 'conversation' with Melinda didn't change anything about him, and he didn't change why he'd gone into this business in the first place. Or did it? I'm not just seeking thrills anymore, Jack admitted to himself. I'm doing this...because I can. Because I have to. Because I have to prove to myself that my life hasn't ended just because I'm a dead man. I need to...avenge.

"I need someone who can work for me among the daywalkers." Melinda had thoughtfully draped herself across Jack's chest, running her fingers along his face like a cat with a favorite toy. Her lips were very red against her alabaster face, her teeth as white as snow. "There are so few of your kind around these days, and we need you more than ever. _I_ need you more than ever." Jack stayed as relaxed as possible, knowing that Melinda would take any overt resistance from him as a sign of disloyalty. In the unlikely event he was a match for her in combat; he surely was no match for the slaves and servants she had just outside the door! They were in her sanctum yet, deep beneath the South Side. "And what could a fledgling like me do for someone like you?" She stopped her stroking and looked at him levelly. "Don't play coy with me, Faretti. You know the services you can provide. Intelligence on the movements of my enemies, rewards given to my friends..." She put her hand on her face and smiled. "And you know the rewards I give to my friends." Jack cursed inwardly, hearing the couch rustle beneath him. Why hadn't he just put Robert down in that blasted alley? All not killing had gotten him was a one-way ticket to more trouble. And Robert had wound up ashes anyway! "I won't kill," he replied, his voice as honest as he could make it. "Not for anyone. But if you want me to work for you...well, how can I refuse?" "You're one of those, eh?" She'd recoiled a little at his words, looking at him the way a mortal woman might have looked at an acquaintance who'd just joined a bizarre cult. "Well...no matter." She smiled again, recovering the mood, and leaned close. "Just remember, darling. You may not kill, but I do.. And then she bit him on the ear, and Jack didn't need to think about anything else for a while.

Being swept up as part of the general evening's festivities hadn't been part of Jack's plan. But on the other hand, going along with the crew here didn't necessarily interfere with his real plan for the evening: taking a lovely lady home for his own brand of fun. And truthfully, it was hard to ignore that pretty face. "Sounds like fun," said Jack, smiling as he joined Stephanie in heading over to the pool-playing group. After introductions are made among the regulars, Jack is content to hang back and watch the game ongoing. "I'll play the winner," he suggests, laughing as someone sinks a perfect shot. "I'm feeling brave." Charismatic and social, Jack quickly throws himself into the heart of the group, joking with the regulars while taking special care to pay close attention to Stephanie. He buys her drinks whenever she's in the mood, as generous with his compliments as he is with his money. If he is after something with Stephanie, he seems interested in making sure she enjoys it as much as he does.

It was the end of a long night, and Jack had changed out of his costume. He wasn't Avenger, the dark and gritty defender of the night now, he was just a normal man. Wait, that wasn't true. He wasn't a man at all. He faced the monster without fear, struck again by how much Melinda reminded him of his own sire. "I saw the cape flying away," he said with a nervous look, gazing up at the sky as if Avenger might be about to sweep down on him at any moment. "And I caught the girl running away. Looks like Robert here got sloppy with his dinner. I fixed her, but I knew you'd want to see him." He concentrated hard on the lie, even as the queen of Freedom City's vampires gave him a suspicious look. To his immense relief, she smiled and planted a deep kiss on him. "You did a fine job, my boy." They were from different lines, she from the linage that shunned sunlight, but she was certainly the boss of him. "You're Claudia's boy, aren't you?" She circled him as they talked, a low smile on her lovely face. They were in the basement of a club she owned in the South Side, a lovely little Gothic place where college kids and other things danced the night away. Calling her emergency number had got him several burly servants, covered in the marks of vampire bites that made them her slave, and had transported the battered miscreant vampire and the nice helpful one to the arms of the mistress of the night herself. She asked him questions, probing questions about how old he was, what he'd done before and after the beginning of his eternity, and seemed very interested in the news that he was currently unattached in more ways than one. "I'll remember you, Jack," she said with a warm smile. "Stay a while and we'll talk about what you can do for the city. But as for this one..." She walked up to Robert and, before Jack could do anything, decapitated the already battered vampire with a single punch. "No one needs this kind of vampire," she said with a wicked smile on her alabaster face, "No one at all."