Avenger Assembled

That hits! Tou vs 22: 24 Fort vs 17: 11 He is unhurt but stunned! Okay, go ahead and post IC.

Ashley chopped the air with her hand for emphasis. "Okay - the memories match up, but this is not how I remember Callie Summers, or how she described her teenaged self to me," she said with a distinct look in the original's direction. "So are we going to look for the clone marks, or check for dimensional displacement, or what, here?" She shot a look at Charlie, a short nod, then went back to the adult conversation. "Listen, I know you're trained in ten forms of self-defense," she added to the younger Callie, "but you were raised to be responsible, right? If there were a copy of your predecessor running around, people would want to know what the score was."

"Everybody's a critic!" said the Best Man, neatly dodging Gimmick's attack. He didn't seem bothered by the teasing - if anything, he shot the other man a real smile before turning back to face Angelic. "You miserable idiot!" Angelic spat at the Best Man. "We are in the middle of exposing this place for what it is and you are ruining it with your robbery! I am going to shove your hat-" and then she told him where. That actually made the Best Man lose a step, and nearly get punched in the head for his troubles. Executing a neat backflip, he jumped backwards out the window he'd smashed. "I can see the two of you have an arrangement going. Here, let me help! Something from my French collection?" And with that he hurled _something_ past Gimmick's head that hit Angelic in the midsection, erupting out quickly into what looked like an elaborate bridal gown complete with veils and train. Disgustedly, Angelic tore the new garments away, hissing like an angry teapot as she spread her wings wide.

Okay: Angelic is going to try again to punch him. She'll Intimidate him as a Move Action, giving her a -5 penalty https://orokos.com/roll/809696 = 23 Not too bad! Sense Motive https://orokos.com/roll/809697 = 16! If it succeeds, your target is shaken (–2 on all attack rolls and checks) for one round. She's not really optimized for fighting organics but she can punch him in the face. https://orokos.com/roll/809698 = 19 That misses his Defense of 20 (since his Defense isn't an attack roll or a check, nothing applies there. The Best Man He'll move backward 100 feet as a move action He'll throw a Snare effect of his own at Angelic https://orokos.com/roll/809699 = 22 That hits! Reflex save vs 20 https://orokos.com/roll/809702 = 8 Ugh, you know what, I'm going to HP that one. https://orokos.com/roll/809703 = 27 with the HP, so okay. Gimmick is up!

Doktor'd! Watchdog: 3 PP Let's go ahead and buy all her exotics up to +9, please. Doktor'd! Woodsman: 3 PP Let's go ahead and buy the following headquarters for him Cabin in the Woods: 15EP Size: Small; Toughness: 15; Features: Concealed, Defense System 2 [Blast 10, Snare 10, various traps], Garage, Infirmary, Isolated, Laboratory, Library, Living Space, Power System, Security System, Self-Destruct, Workshop Cost: 0+2+13 = 15 EPs Doktor'd! Sea Devil: 2 PP Let's go ahead and buy her 2 more ranks of Charisma - up to 22 (+6!)

That hits! His Reflex save = 25 No dice on that one, I think. Okay, go ahead and post IC, and we'll start a real round

Walking down the road, the heroes were struck again by just how quiet everything was here. There were the buzzing sounds of insects in the air now and again, but no birdsong at all. As lushly growing as the nearby trees were, there were no visible birds in them, or other small animals like rabbits or squirrels. It was almost like a scene from earlier in the history of the Earth; though of course trees and grass wouldn't have been growing then either. (Biology is a funny thing that way.) The road they walked down was an old Soviet one, or once had been - the cracked asphalt lay where it had once been but now was bisected by a strip of metal on which the occasional passing car seemed to be running. It didn't take them long to find a new building - this one obviously recently built, a squat dome seemingly one story high, with another Foundry bot outside standing at attention. Even from this far out they could hear music, something loud and electronic. As they watched, the dome's door swung open (and with it a blast of _very_ loud music) - a group of humans gathered around a battered, bleeding, but smiling woman in athletic garb, walking together towards one of the parked hovercars. The door was still open; it looked like the champion and her group hadn't quite yet reached their ride.

Okay, that's their actions done - I'll just not roll any dice so we can get to you faster. Go ahead and go, Growth Spurt!

At that precise moment, an armored figure crashed through the window and executed a neat forward roll before revealing itself as a caped man in a tight-fitting tuxedo and neat domino mask. "Greetings, citizens! I am The Best Man! Your pardon, but I need your-" The man, who did indeed look dressed for some sort of super-wedding party, stopped and blinked as he stared at Angelic. "I beg your pardon, were you here first?" "Two supervillains at the same time? What are the odds?" declared the man who'd yelled at Angelic earlier. The android heroine responded with a look that briefly made it look as if steam was about to come out of her ears. "I am not a supervillain!" She went for the Best Man, throwing a wild punch that the man easily dodged. The Best Man did a complicated backflip that resembled karate, and threw a kick at Angelic's head that struck with a _gong_ sound but didn't actually seem to do any damage. "Your pardon, Ms. Robot, but I do believe I'll have to cut in line!"

Okay, we've got Angelic: 14 Bad Guy: 12 Gimmick: 11 Just let me make an IC post for the bad guy's dramatic arrival.

trapped by hostile maskin. no skadtor. suggest manual action against dörrar or ventilator shaft. bring energi other than electricity The translations are: machine, injuries, doors, energy There is no message in the wingdigs

Well that's not gonna notice a thing! =D Roll me some initiative. https://orokos.com/roll/809216 = Angelic goes on 14

It's hard to tell. This isn't the same kind of mind that Eira is. But there are thoughts here - a calculating sort of menace and desire to push limits to the utmost, mixed with an honest delight that someone seems to care. You get the idea that no one has ever asked it these sorts of questions before.

Oh, shoot, sorry! @Growth Spurt Let's have that Notice check.

Angelic made a small, soft noise under her breath, turning her head to give cold stares to patrons. "They had a choice. They chose other than science." As the crowd definitely started looking at them, she seemed to change - clothes falling to the floor, skin rippling and vanishing, and suddenly her back erupted with silver-electric wings as her human guise gave way to the machine beneath. "Attention, patrons!" she called as she strode through the store, "there is a drug dealer among you!" "We know that!" called one of the patrons, a middle-aged man with a greying ponytail! "It's a drug store! It's not illegal!" Angelic glared at him, distracted from her march to the counter, and seemed briefly at a loss for words as the man clutched his herbal supplements to his chest in surprise.

The paper turned out to say: 10044133 INSIDE DOOM RUM trapped by hostile maskin. no skadtor. suggest manual action against dörrar or ventilator shaft. bring energi other than electricity 10044133 There were many wingdings and other signs of computer 'noise' on the page - and a distinct injection of Swedish into the English.

APPROVED

Summer 2020 Washington DC "Ah love my mother and father very much, Ms. Couric, but you have to understand that Ah am very...angry with them." Judy stared directly ahead, her eyes dark, black hair hung up in a ponytail behind her. "They were so sure they were doing the right thing that they didn't care what they were doing to me. Or to anybody else!" Her eyes flared, bright as stars, as she stared into the mirror in front of her. "If they had just been willing to be brave, to stand up in front of the world and say 'Mah daughter is an alien, and so am Ah', they could have inspired the whole world. They could have shown people what America is supposed to stand for. Instead they...they took the cowards' way out, and they tried to hide me away because they were afraid of what people would say." Her voice rose to a sob at those last words. "Mah name is Judith Claudia Cahill, and Ah am the lamp that shines in the dark place - AH AM DAYSTAR!" She ignited in glorious rainbow colors at that, a spectre of magnificent light - and then after a long moment, slumped back down into herself, staring at the mirror where Ashley sat next to her. "It's...it's really beautiful," said Ashley softly, putting a hand on her ward's shoulder. This was rather beyond the bounds of Secret Service protocol but there was no one else actually in the First Daughter's bedroom this late but the two of them. "I can tell you've worked hard on it." She didn't offer her opinion on the wisdom of the words; even now, she knew that wasn't her place. There would be things to do in the morning - a visit to a Washington DC museum, a supervised interaction with local children, all things carefully scripted out by Judy's parents, but that was later Ashley's problem. Hell, she'd already had four hours of sleep that night - what more did she really need. "Thank you," said Judy softly. "That means a lot." She took her 'sister's' hand, as usual her grip fever-hot, and made a small noise in the back of her throat. "But it's all just...all just words, anyway. What would Ah do after saying all that?" She smiled thinly. "Assuming Ah didn't betray everyone's trust at Claremont by getting the media looking into exactly where Ah've been, Ah mean...what would Ah do, if mah family really cut me off? Maybe Ah don't eat or sleep, or..." She rubbed her throat and went on, "a lot of things anymore, but Ah can't just live on sunshine and promises for the rest of forever." "It would be indiscreet for the President to do that," said Ashley softly. Well maybe she did have opinions, especially after sweeping the room for listening devices at Judy's request before she'd demonstrated her 'speech'. "People might be suspicious of aliens but they love superheroes. If the President cut off his daughter for having superpowers, a lot of people would stand up for you." "Ah think you'd be surprised at how angry my father would be if he thought Ah had cost him the Presidency, Ashley...and even if people helped me, they wouldn't be mah family," said Judy softly. She looked at the picture in her mirror; the Cahill girls and their parents on a clear summer's day, a year before. "Now that Leroy's gone, they're the only people I have left. Mah sisters, mah momma, mah daddy...if Ah lost them for good, Ah just don't know what Ah'd do." Ashley put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Hey, look, look at me." She met the girl's eyes, acutely conscious of the suppressed stellar power inside the super-teen. "You know your family isn't the only people you have." Ashley was also of the opinion that blood wasn't the same thing as family, but that wasn't a conversation she was ready to have with Judy and maybe it never would be. Some ideas would have to come from her or they'd never be her ideas at all. "What would Ah actually do, though?" asked Judy. "There is no superteam in the world that's gonna want to have the President's daughter working for them when she's barely able to control her powers as it is - and that's even if Ah wanted to be a superhero full-time which Ah do not think Ah do." She smiled again, a brittle look on her pretty face "Ah can't exactly move into your momma's house and try not to get spotted by the paparazzi while Ah go to college." "Well...you could move into my place." Oh, sweet f-cking Christ what did I just say? Ashley swallowed before she could continue, and said, "If the election...well, even if your dad is re-elected, AEGIS agents have more autonomy than other federal employees, so he can't just fire me by pushing a button. And even if he does, well hell, I'll..." Do what? Run off into space? See if Fa'Rua wants to date a hobo? Never see _my_ family again? "That's, uh, making a lot of plans, anyway, when we don't know what's going to happen this year." The election was shaping up to be one of the great dead heats in the history of American Presidential politics - all very exciting for the talking head types, a goddamned nightmare if you were hoping a heartbroken teenage girl got to have some sliver of privacy in her life before the middle of the decade. "You know I'm not just with you because it's my job anymore." "That's not what you really want, though" said Judy, her voice almost a whisper. "Ashley, Ah love you, and Ah know you love me, but Ah also know you want to go back to your regular life when all this is over, and you are sick of having teenagers around you. Ah can't ask you to do something like that for me, not when you've already done so much. Ah'll be fine just...just being here in the family, until I'm out of college," she lied. "You're not asking me to do anything. I am giving it." Ashley put her arms around the younger girl and hugged her. "That's what family does - real family. You give without expecting anything in return, because that's how it works." She heard Judy sob, and hung on, knowing the girl couldn't actually cry even though every human emotion was still there - most of the time. "And trust me, Judy - I am never going back to a normal life when all this is over." She pulled back and looked her in the eye. "I'm with you until the end of the line."

The group reached the classroom building lobby where the Doom Room elevator was currently located, the hanging paper streamers and cut-out Great Gatsby images declaring "This way to prom!" now a grim reminder of what exactly might be happening below. Using Professor al-Salaaf's faculty password (which turned out to be "ilovemother"), Artificer was able to find that the elevator down to the Doom Room level was not listed as being blocked or otherwise obstructed - but of course if a computer hacker was in the system, they might well be hiding some tampering from him. There was a manual set of firestairs that could get them down there on the other side of the lobby, but it would take more time - and there were no computers at all in that stairway, so who knew what might be waiting for them. Meanwhile, Danica was able to call the gym teacher she'd heard plenty about but actually had only one first-year gym class with - the retired, still-partially-disabled Alan Archer. He peered at her on the video call and said, "Doom Room troubles?" Behind him she could make out half a wall of athletic trophy cases; the other half pictures of his family. "If nobody's hacking the system from the inside, it _could_ be an internal malfunction. When's the last time the new guy purged the system, do you know?" Meanwhile, all this was perhaps a little new to Leon - until he heard a printer going in a nearby, now-empty departmental office. Checking he could see and feel the paper moving inside, but couldn't open the locked door (al-Salaaf did not have the key) - he could see the large-print message INSIDE DOOM RUM and a longer message below, but couldn't actually read the rest of it until he got his hands on the paper.

Eira spat bright blue ferromagnetic fluid on the floor and sat up, bracing herself on her hands. She looked compromised, there was no other word for it, but game to stay in the fight. "There are only those två - the teacher, and the martinet. There is to be," she added in a loud hiss, her lips visibly out of tune with her mouth, "no lightning inside of the Doom Room while we are in the Doom Room. And no dödande of computer programs we do not like them!" She shook again, an all-over vibration that rang against the floor, rat-a-tat-tat, and shot Pan a look that was almost a plea at those words. She said, "if the projection can be fången, the program can be restrained..." And with that, she plunged her dataspike directly into one of the Doom Room's holoports, her eyes glazing over. "Are you handling me?" Not!Leroy demanded of Davyd. "Talk down your enemy until help arrives, just like they train you! Very good boy, very good!" He advanced on the Grue and demanded in a voice that didn't sound much like Leroy at all. "But what if your enemy doesn't care? What if your enemy wants to hurt you, and your words are just more organic lies to him? What then?" By now it had grown to twice the size of the normal Sun Dragon, towering over most of the students there. Turning to Pan, it added resonately, "And as for _you_, Forever Boy, I know your secret. And I am not an illusion! I am as _real_ as a _dead_ world missing its champion!" For a moment it seemed to have forgotten Micah before it turned and taunted him with "Go ahead and try! Or are you weak and cowardly, just like your father!" "Ah can burn down the room," said Judy softly, not tearing her eyes away from the false Leroy (from behind Ashley) as she reported to Kam, "fry every circuit before anybody can react. But..." She shot a glance at Eira, then looked back at Kam, not needing to say anything else.

The next day, there was a man in a trenchcoat outside the Your Choice Medicine office. It was a clear, crisp spring day in the rest of Freedom City, but somehow the skies over Ashton always seemed a little too bright and cheerful, as if the universe were overcompensating for what had happened here a few months earlier. People passed him by on the street, but then came the distinct sound of a cleared throat. The girl looked up at him with eyes hidden by dark, rimless shades that looked like something out of the nineteenth century. A black hoodie advertising ENTOMBED in white letters against a flaming background was pulled up but it didn't hide the shock of blue-black hair peeking out from underneath. She looked him up and down without taking off her sunglasses and made a distinct hmph noise, wrinkling her pierced nose, before she led the way inside the store. Your Choice Medicine was a bustling place; more was the pity, with crystals and juicers, self-help books and astrology manuals. There was "alternative medicine" to treat all manner of ailments ranging from "electrosensitivity" to "toxin cleansing", all of it carefully phrased so that no fraud laws were actually broken. One section of pills, the target of Angelic's ire, promised "a treatment regimen to treat entropic radiation syndrome". "Idiots," the girl muttered, her voice like Angelic's but not quite.

Outside, everything was perfect. The sky was blue and birds were in the sky, the trees green and bright with an almost (but not quite!) unnatural vigor. A group of cyborgs passed by on bicycles, and it might have been any bucolic scene in some half-built area in the First World. Unless you looked too closely at that faintly flickering sky overhead, or asked questions about the silence in the trees and the stillness in the grass. The airport lay in one direction away from the studio; there were no signs indicating what lay in the other direction. Inside, there wasn't much to see - unless you looked closely. Kay evidently relied on holograms and hard light for most of what went on in the Studio - the building they were in had been mostly hollowed out into a large box lined with projection gear. Eira was immobile, eyes wide open, staring at the wall and she and Kay silently communed. Occasional whispers could be heard from the equipment in what sounded like machine code and Russian, which could be understood as messages passing through the networks hereabouts about the Great Work, Vanguard, and what had to be done.

Daedalus wandered out into the crowd, hands in her pockets, gawping in amazement at the wonders of Freedom City in the late 1930s. "Look!" she declared excitedly. "The small ones, the children! And the animals, the dogs! Look at their fuzzy little faces!" She was practically hopping with excitement, sticking close to her newfound friends as they explored. "Oh, such a place..." She craned her neck upward to see the buildings as they passed over them. "The stars are definitely not right here, but I do not think that was the trouble," she offered, thoughtfulness in a tone that was still rather low for a being of her apparent species and gender. " Perhaps we should cause trouble on purpose and see what comes."

Have an HP, Dok! Can't just grapple the holodeck characters.

With Pan's spell, the illusory nightclub around them faded away to the familiar bare walls of the Doom Room. The adult chaperones (and Watchdog, who had vanished along with them for some reason) returned as well, the latter running quickly to Judy's side while cursing explosively about being trapped in some sort of sharded projected box. 'Danica' noticeably flickered (and looked startled, though not afraid) at the transition - and did the same thing when grappled by Davyd, as if the projection wasn't really there at all either. Then came the laugh. A hollow laugh from the holoprojectors that soon assumed familiar physical form - Sun Dragon and Dio, the latter at the former's feet like a dog. "Fool!" said Sun Dragon to Chelone from where he stood in the center of the room. (One enterprising student, knowing a thing or two about monologues, went for him with a full-on-tackle - but only passed right through the projection.) "That is not what the Doom Room is for! The Doom Room is not for parties! It is not for fun! The Doom Room is for weeding out the weak! For teaching the champions of the future the meaning of strength!" "You!" declared Danica, as scandalized as an angel confronted with the Devil at a party, and on closer inspection, she and Leroy both had in common hollow eyes that glowed like the room's holoprojectors. "You're not supposed to be here today! This is my night!" "Yes, me! What's the matter, sister, don't you like my party?"