Avenger Assembled

Sea Devil: 21

Sea Devil Fight Song From the universe of Freedom Combat - a game coming to your favorite PC and console this Christmas. Alternate Skins: Aquaria Innsmouth (with no armor), the Last Leaguer (Daedalus's armor) Prefight Banter Sea Devil leaps out of a body of water that doesn't seem to be present in the other parts of the fight on this map and strikes her trident against the ground. "Ia! What goes on here?" Aquaria hops to a bipedal stance from praying before a squamous altar to a nameless god. "This is my place!" Clash Dialogue <with one of the other Castle crew> "After this, let's go fishing!" <with Singularity> "I'll walk the dog tomorrow!" <with an Atlantean character, or Poseidon> "I'll bite your face!" Mirror Match SD1: "You smell false, stranger!" SD2: "I am Dagon's champion!" SD1: "I'll bite your face!" SD1: "Are the stars right at last?" SD2: "I have traveled worlds to put out their light!" SD1: "I'll bite your face!"" Super-Move R'yleh Sea Devil tears a portal in the air with her trident and kicks her opponent through it, following quickly. They land on an ancient, rocky island where a a monster of vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind grabs her opponent around the midsection and smashes it head-first into rocky columns on each side. Just as the creature tosses the opponent into its mouth, there's a flash and they are back where they started. Fight Victory Sea Devil strikes her opponent in the head with her trident and stands astride their prone body. "Ia!" she declares, then drops down to all four, staring at the player with gold-black eyes as the camera pans around her. End-Game Victory Sea Devil stands over the fallen form of Zeus amid the ruins of Atlantis, her trident buried in his chest. As she speaks, lightning crackles up her trident and into her eyes. SD: "I had done it! The false gods were defeated and the world was saved! And their power was mine! All mine!" Sea Devil stands before the humbled Council of Olympians, then suddenly turns and cuts open a portal in the air, one lined with a sudden forest of reaching, grasping tentacles. SD: "So I did what any Deep One would do - I used their power to tear open the prison that holds _my_ gods in check! Dagon and Hydra were free!" Singularity and Seven are both glaring at Sea Devil, arms crossed, as a background of Olympians wrestling with great tentacles shifts behind them. SD: "I tried to tell my friends that everything had worked out for the best, but they were very angry for a while! Still, I know I did the right thing." A distinctly altered Olympian scene now plays - the gods, their eyes wide and staring, sit around a table emblazoned with a golden sign, Dagon and Hydra squatting together in Zeus's seat, the stars overhead shaped in eldritch patterns. SD: "Everything is fine! Dagon and Hydra have a realm that is Theirs, one that will never trouble Earth-Prime again - and I am their hero! And the magic of my people has never been stronger. I...still need to make rent, though." A shot of Aquaria working in her apartment kitchen, peering over her shoulder at Jessie, who is watching television in the living room. SD: "I know I made a mess of things here, but I am a good friend, so I will clean everything up. I will make sure my people can find their new home in our new world, and I will keep the Surface World safe too!" Aquaria curled up in a wading pool by Jessie's feet in the living room of their apartment. SD: "But for now, I am very tired - and so tonight, I shall lie in my own place, dreaming..."

Initiative time!

Just as Angelic pinned the Best Man into place with a broken piece of stop sign that had snapped off in their fight, an electric car parked out front of the health food store hummed to life and began zipping down the street, just missing the rapidly-approaching police cruisers that had arrived in the wake of the super-battle on the streets. Angelic said a few words that Gimmick didn't immediately recognize but sounded extremely rude in the direction of the rapidly-vanishing car (which seemed to be moving a bit faster than a normal Tesla should be able to) - then took off after it, wings spread as she magnetically zipped down the city street.

Okay, @Growth Spurt, thanks for your understanding re: the delay. Go ahead and give me a Notice check.

Sorry for the delay! Give me an attack roll for your blast - it's a stationary target (so you won't miss either way) but a higher or a lower roll will give you interesting results.

Victory Over Death Watchdog/Daystar From the universe of Freedom Combat - a game coming to your favorite PC and console this Christmas. Alternate Skins: Watchdog: Copycat, Raven III Prefight Banter Watchdog and Daystar enter the fight together, Watchdog in front, a glowing Daystar in the back. A: "Stay behind me!" J: "Ah can fight!" Ashley and Judy are walking down a street together when there's a noise - they duck into an alley, hastily pulling off their civilian gear, and emerge in the fighting area. J: "Wh-what is that thing?" A: "What'd'you think you're doing?" Clash Dialogue A: "I'm going to blow that stupid look off your face!" J: "Get 'em!" A: "Slow down a little!" J: "Ah'm just getting warmed up!" Mirror Match A1: "Grue!" A2: "Robot!" J1: "Are - you ME?" J2: "You wish!" A1: "I can't believe you're the Raven!" A2: "I can't believe you're not!" J1: "Do they have to fight like this?" J2: "Ah think they do!" Super-Move "Got you!" Watchdog stuns their opponent with a blast of pepper spray, then closes with her batons. With a bone-crunching crack that plays in slow-mo, she beats them across the jaw, then kicks them into a wall. The opponent's vision clears - just in time for a POV shot of Daystar blasting them through the wall and out the other side. "God loves you!" Fight Victory Watchdog handcuffs her dazed opponent, then throws him into the back of an unmarked black SUV that pulled up from nowhere while Daystar dusts off her hands. The scene cuts to inside a limo where Ashley is driving and Judy is busy texting, both of them smiling. End-Game Victory Watchdog stands over a fallen Zeus, dual pistols raised in the air and smoking from recent fire - beside her, Daystar is a glowing pillar of fire with a hand over her mouth in shock. A: "What was it like to fight a god with the fate of the universe at stake? It was completely <beeping> terrible! I gave the power of Zeus back to Phantom and let the capes handle that one." J: "The Olympians said that our leaders were false gods - but that Ah would marry Hercules, they'd make an exception for America. Turns out they're just as vulnerable to radiation as anybody else, though." Ashley and Judy are standing in a White House bedroom, the latter in the midst of an argument with her father - then packing her bags. A: "I was ready to go back to Washington and pretend the whole thing never happened, but Judy was on fire the minute we got back to Prime. She told her father she wasn't going to put up with his bull<beep> anymore - even if those weren't her exact words." J: "Ah was so scared! But Ah knew Ah couldn't live a lie anymore, so Ah started telling the truth - and it felt really great! Ah knew Ah was walking the right path for the first time in a long time. Well, maybe walking wasn't the right word." In Lor civilian dress with Fa'Rua at her side, Ashley is standing amid a group of Lor soldiers, a brightly-glowing Judy visible off in the corner. A: "Having a tag-along when I went into space wasn't exactly my first idea. But I wasn't just going to leave my sister back on Earth - and she's doing better here than I ever expected. As for me, they're always looking for people who know how to shoot and know how to fight up here - and the company couldn't be better." J: "Sometimes Ah worry that Ah'm going to go too far. But as long as Ah have my family and my God, Ah know I can't make too many mistakes up here. Ah have a lot of power, and up here Ah can finally use it without having to be afraid." In the midst of a big space battle, Daystar is zipping along in the company of a small squadron of Lor starfighters, trading energy blasts with a fleeing pirate squadron. The scene changes, and she's sitting around a table on Earth with Watchdog, Fa'Rua, and the extended Tran-George clan. A: "I make it home more than you'd think. I always have a story to tell for my mother and sister - especially lately. But the truth is I'm happy here. For the first time in a long time, I'm not a government agent, I'm not a bodyguard - the only person I'm responsible for is me. And that is - perfect." A shot of Ashley and Fa'Rua kissing while Judy beams, literally, in the background. J: "As for me, Ah send stories about space back to Earth every day. Maybe there's a little girl out there who'll decide to learn about the stars because of me, or maybe somebody out there will learn how to be brave. People aren't really bad - and they're not really that strange. They just need a light to show them the way." Watchdog and Daystar stand back-to-back as their theme music plays.

The interior of the dome was crowded (at least by Rurland standards anyway), with three dozen or so humans and cyborgs of various shapes and makes sitting in makeshift bleachers surrounding a sunken metal pit. The music was blaring loud and lights were flashing bright, enough that this room would surely have earned a hazard warning for any epileptics. A human server was refreshing everyone's drinks and supplying pill packets to some of the patrons, uniformed in a tight, silvery outfit that made him look like he was cosplaying as a machine. The music was in multiple languages and atonal, the hymn of machines rather than men, and some of the humans were just starting to look uncomfortable when it abruptly stopped and a hologram appeared in the middle of the Pit. If this was Kay's work it was good, vaguely resembling her but clearly not, a tall, dark-skinned woman whose eyes were the color of circuit boards and whose voice was warm and rich like honey. "Well! What a match that was! I think our champion is going to earn her place in the Great Work, don't you?" The bloodied face of the smiling woman they'd seen leaving earlier flashed over the announcer's head - "POTENTIA - 35-0". "Is there anyone else out there who'd care to try their luck against the best Rurland has to offer?" the announcer asked as a spotlight played over the crowd, seeming to linger around Miurne and the Little Mermaid. "The Great Work needs our best, and there's only one way to find that out!"

"And even if flying isn't your thing," offered Ashley, "nine times out of ten, you'll be fine. We don't exactly go out patrolling the way some of the squads do." She didn't make eye contact with Danica but she knew the turtle girl knew the reasons why Ashley and Judy's squad typically let trouble come to them rather than the other way around - even if Pan didn't. "Seems like everything's changing these days," said Judy consideringly, looking away from the others with her arms hugged around her torso. "There's no reason some of the changes can't be good ones. A little shuffling in the fall will make everyone happier."

Okay - You realize she was probably going to do that anyway - hope she's not annoyed! @alderwitch, Nighthawk is up!

All right, that roll fails! Not good dice right now. @Dr Archeville, you are up if you want to spend an HP to let Horrorshow act.

That works! @angrydurf, Red Lynx is up.

Archived. - Fox Go ahead and archive Edge/Mark Lucas, please.

July 1, 2020 Socotra "Citizens of Socotra! A NEW AGE HAS DAWNED!" Nina al-Darsah stood on what had been the balcony of her father's palace, intimately aware that cameras across the world and beyond were focused on her every move, every word, every glance - just as she'd always wanted. "I stand before you bare-faced, the better to prove that my long exile has ended! Your princess has returned - AS YOUR QUEEN!" There were those in the city below, and in their palace behind her if she was honest, that might not be terribly happy about this - but those in the courtyard below screamed their loyalty and for the moment that was all that really mattered. "YES! Your calls are answered and your faith is rewarded - once again a TYPHOON will protect Socotra from all her enemies!" She stepped off the balcony and onto the swirling columns of water below her. With a gesture, the water-lined mask of her armor rose and slid over her features, a glittering gold lifemask that was one of her husband's proudest works. "Some of you are afraid of what this means. Good! I will bring destruction to the enemies of our people with the might of the storm! I will strike down gods and champions who seek to take from us all that is ours! All that we have built! FOR THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE TYPHOON! For our families! For our children! For ALL OUR PEOPLE!" On ground level, she waved a hand to pull those who had bowed to their feet. "No! We stand together, united! For I AM TYPHOON - AND WE ARE SOCOTRA!" - Sometime later "Okay," said Ashley, sitting on Judy's bed some time later as she tried to explain why her father had abruptly paused his campaign to spend a long week in Washington. "The big problem is precedent. Nina al-Darsah is now the legally recognized government of Socotra, right?" Judy nodded, sitting up in bed with her legs drawn up to her chest. "And it was all legal and everything, so there's nothing anyone can do to openly intervene. But think about what it means. Right now, at the end of the day, she is a head of state because her superpowers were stronger than her father's superpowers." "But the first Typhoon, he was really bad," said Judy, confused. "Ah mean, we read about him in class, and Ah saw that file you showed me from AEGIS." All unclassified, given that being the First Daughter didn't actually give you a security clearance, but even an unclassified file had a long, long list when it came to Amir al-Darsah. "Why does it matter how she, uh, got rid of him, especially since she's so friendly with superheroes?" "You measure systems based on how they treat the bad guys, not the good guys," said Ashley with a little wave. "If it's okay for Nina al-Darsah to overthrow a king because we don't like him, what happens if the Red Hyena overthrows the White Lion? We can't treat it differently because we like the White Lion and we didn't like Typhoon." She blinked, then went on, "What if Gaian Knight flew into the White House and declared he was the President now? What would we want the rest of the world to do about that?" "Well, Ah mean, that doesn't sound very likely," said Judy doubtfully, "he's so nice! And even if it did happen, the Freedom League would stop him." "Like they stopped Nina al-Darsah?" She spread her hands. "And don't forget, she didn't do it herself. One of the most powerful men on Earth decided he didn't like who was running a country, so he went ahead and changed that. What kind of precedent does _that_ set?" She could see Judy looking worried, so she added quickly, "I don't think this is going to change anything for you, or me, or our situation...but this is something a lot of world governments have been worrying about for a long time. Maybe none of them are going to miss al-Darsah, but they don't want to go down like he did either." She smiled thinly. "Luckily the US government has been worrying about that for a while, so they have some contingency plans in place..." --- Sometime later The official portrait of the new Queen of Socotra depicted her in full armor, sitting in her study with a map of the world behind her, a relief sculpture of the islands of Socotra before her. Her husband did it in oil on canvas because he was feeling traditional, and in his opinion it was about his best work. When he showed it to her, she smiled and kissed him and agreed that it was. They were in private for a while; Richie with his new attendants (he couldn't just stay at Trevor and Erin's forever), Mark's new office empty for a little while, his mother's quarters freshly occupied. "I love you." "I love you, too." Mark grinned. "So, our children, huh?" He was in a white shirt and jeans, the better to avoid any paint smears, though those always just made him look better in Nina's opinion, as now when blue and white paint was on his fingers and cheek where he'd absently-minded scratched. She grinned back, rising to her feet. "I thought you'd like that part. But don't get any ideas for a while, and I mean it about those ideas, Mark," she added firmly. "We have work to do here. And everywhere." A part of that work showed up when, at just the right moment, Amir Richard Lucas al-Darsah ran into the room from straight through the wall wearing a bright gold crown on his dark head. "Mama! Mama! I ran through the wall! Nothing can stop me now! "Yes, you certainly did!" said Nina, pulling him up onto her lap and beaming. "And I bet that won't be the last time! Nothing will hold you back, my son." Mark was discreetly calling the nursery to let them know that they could stop panicking. As he sat in his chair and watched his wife play with their son (who had just produced a big chocolate bar for both of them), he took a moment to be grateful that his future had worked out exactly the way he'd always wanted. --- Sometime later "So I'll still be there when you need me, I mean, ha-ha, I can just walk from my room to your room if I need to!" said Mark cheerfully over the videophone, "but I wouldn't do that, obviously, sorry about that again." He twisted his blond ponytail and added, "But...I mean, I've got to stick close with Nina and Richie for a while, especially now that we're trying to make things work here. Constitutional monarchy and not-evil is going to be a tough pill to swallow for some people around here - but we'll get it done. It just needs time." --- Sometime later Somewhere in absolute darkness and silence, a black flame burns, and a voice that cannot be heard speaks before its god. "So is this it? Happiness and marital fulfillment forever? What then is our wrath, great one?" "Fear not, 'small one'. The Omnicide continues as it should, now and forever - and of 'those' you mention?" A hand waves. "Some are 'mortal' and will meet 'us' when their bones crumble to ruin. Others are 'immortal' and will meet 'us' when their universe burns at the end of time. In the absolute night of the Terminus, we know that all suns set in time - and all 'stories' end in tragedy." "It is as you say. Thank you for your knowledge, great one. Your thoughts cleanse me of my sin." "Yes. Let my words burn away your doubts - my 'child'."

"No! The lesson isn't finished!" The projection struggled, seeming to lose some of its cohesion from the binding. "Let me go! I have to teach them all! You will understand if I teach you!" It waved its free hand and there was a flash of unholy menace through the room - Omegadrones and monsters, dead heroes and all-too-alive villains, striking with fists and teeth and blades at the assembled students. Horrorshow took a distinct shot to the face from what looked like a Lor military officer, and an all-too-familiar hyena appeared to slice at Kam's chest with armored talons - but the attack itself was short-lived as even those projections vanished after just a few seconds. Whatever it was trying to do, it wasn't working.

The stairs took them down to the second-to-last lowest level under the building, where they found themselves confronted with - nothing at all? The security door to the control room was open, not the state it should have been in. But otherwise he Doom Room control center appeared to be in sleep mode (as it should have been for the party) but something was up after just a moment's inspection. The clear panes of transparent steel that overlooked the 'arena' were completely obscured, giving them nothing but a blank wall to look at. Tapping a few buttons brought the computers back online, but the gibberish of ones and zeroes that was playing out for them, faster than they could clearly distinguish, was definitely not a normal computer function. Something was happening in there...

"Oh, wherever adventure takes us," said Ashley, a bald smile on her face as she snapped open a pocketknife and began whittling a short piece of wood. "You'd be surprised the kinds of things we do when Claremont's not looking." "We're, uh, gonna go all over," said Judy awkwardly. A lot of her plans for the summer had changed recently, but dwelling on that around her peers was definitely not high on her agenda. "Maybe even into space, who knows." Unaccountably that made Ashley blush slightly, and briefly pause in her work before Judy said, "Actually, uh, we came here to talk to you, Danica." She reached up, tangled her fingers in her hair, and said, "Well, uh, Pan and Ashley and Ah, we wanted to invite you to sign up for our squad next year. We know you're not actually a senior, but we're pretty sure we can get you on our team in the fall. If that's what you want!" she added quickly. "They're going to be moving things around. With the new students, and all."

Okay - Bruised for Red Lynx Bruised and Dazed for Horrorshow Going to post IC, and then Forever Boy will be up.

The zapper worked, sending a jolt of electricity through the Best Man that sent him staggering. The moment the shock faded, Angelic lashed out and grabbed him by the arms with both hands, lifting him into the air and squeezing hard. He gasped, losing his hat in the process, and declared, "Uncle! Uncle!" He gave them both a disgusted look, seeming to cease his struggles. "What sort of superheroes are you, defending a place like that?" "We are not defending that place," said Angelic, her mechanical voice sounding scandalized. "But you cannot just rob the people there! They have been through enough. Parents doing everything they can to save their children. They are not for you to play with!"

New round: The Best Man is stunned. Angelic hits him. https://orokos.com/roll/810273 = 14 And misses even his flat-footed defense of 15! Okay, I'll blow one of her HP on this. Her grapple check: 34 His: 32 So he's stunned and grappled; let me post IC and then combat will be over.

Okay - Forever Boy: 31 Red Lynx: 24 Horrorshow: 23 Nighthawk: 20 Thunderbird: 15 Masque: 9 Okay, everyone - give me a Reflex save, DC 20! Consider this a rank 10 Area Attack with the usual DC 25/DC 20 Tou save if failed - descriptor is technological/energy damage, if that matters.

"You can do that from the master control room on the floor just above it." He gave them directions, then admitted, "I don't know the password - and I wouldn't be one I can guess, not after-" He blinked, just once, then concentrated on the emergency. "It's just a standard security door. Anyone with the ability to do enough damage should be able to get it open. Accessing the system will be a whole new problem, especially if it's gotten, er, overcomplicated."

Daedalus struck her trident against the ground, having pulled it from a place no Surfacer would care to think about for too long, even a living one, and gave a terrible bellow from low in her swollen throat. Leaping up on a car, she pointed at the Science Police and declared, "Behold! That one is in a cape!" She sliced the air and it crackled a shade of green unwholesome to the eye of the average creature that lived upon the ground. "The ones in capes are good! Stop or I will empty my bowels into your face, you dolphin-f*cking spawn of the sun!" she declared with great intent.

Okay, we'll do one round of combat - Everybody roll for Initiative! (Not!Leroy will go first)

"Those studies are - " Not!Leroy visibly flickered for a moment, and seemed to not entirely understand Kam's question. "-not my problem! Any hurt here is far better than any hurt out there! The world is full of monsters! If the students aren't made strong, Armageddon will arrive! Do you know what that means?" Briefly alarming scenes of battle seemed to play around the projection's head like flashbacks given life - the students could make out Omegadrones, and Robin caught a distinct image of Dr. Metropolis with an arrow through his left eye, there and gone like a reminder of what had been. "The cold and darkness between universes, the black flames of entropy that give no heat, give no light, and can never be put out - the end of the multiverse itself!" It was raving, almost incoherent in its anger, but in words and reaction it seemed all too human. "I have to make you all strong, or everything will be plunged into darkness!" At that moment, something lashed out from the wall and caught him by the right wrist, an iron chain that seemed to catch him in anger rather than fear. When Eira spoke, she was on the floor, but smiling through fluid-stained teeth. "Primary tactical systems disengaged. Disrupt physical matrix - for resynchronization."