Avenger Assembled

Jack let Taylor get him out of Avenger's jacket, slumping into a chair when he was in just his white T-shirt and black leather pants. "I need to make some calls," he said suddenly. "If I've been missed and not found, there'd be a leadership struggle. Things will be on the edge as it is." He picked up her phone and began dialing it, dropping quickly into the easy mode of the cunning vampire leader. "It'll be just a couple of minutes."

Pleas, lies, deceit, outright insults poured through Jack's mind. In the end, for the first time in what felt like forever, he settled on the truth. He shot a single, grateful look at Taylor before he looked back at the group, unable to stop that instinct of pure self-preservation. "I am what I am," replied Jack to the room at large. "I make no apologies for that. How I choose to live my life isn't anyone else's business." He flexed his big hands, Avenger's leather gloves creaking slightly as he made the movement. "My nature does not determine who I am or how I act." He bent down, carefully, and picked up Avenger's fallen mask. He didn't put it on, instead gazing down at the white face like Hamlet and the skull of Yorick. "Everyone in this room is here because we want to be part of something larger than ourselves. Because we believe that, together, we can be more than the sum of our parts."

Jack picked himself up off the floor, slowly, popping his neck back and forth. Well, there it is. Every instinct in his body was screaming at him to run like Hell, to flee this room and the mortal threats each and every super-being in the room represented. He'd seen this moment coming in his mind a hundred different times, sometimes with different faces, sometimes with different names, but each time ending the same way. And now even Taylor's on the other team. Running isn't very heroic, though, is it? The funny thing was, he reflected, it had been Scarab who'd taught him that. He shook his head. "I expected better from you, Elena. About a lot of things."

25 Init Just to be safe.

Resisted Grapple 22 My beautiful face!

Those near Avenger saw his body go absolutely, perfectly still as Elena finished speaking. He looked at Taylor for a moment as Arrowhawk and Dark Star finished speaking. When there was a pause in the room, he rose to his feet, the sudden movement catching everyone's attention...and was gone. When he reappeared, a bare second later, the bare-faced Jack Faretti was on his feet and standing in the middle of the room. For those who hadn't seen the transition between Avenger and Jack, it was almost shocking to see the shift from the grunting, monosyllabic vigilante to the tall, imperious Jack Faretti. He threw his mask on the ground at Elena's feet. "For the first time since I've known you," he said, his eyes first on Elena, and then sweeping across the room to encompass everyone, "I'm disappointed in you. All of you." He began to pace, his movements all quick, barely controlled energy. "When I was four years old, my family packed me up into our little station wagon and we drove two hours on the interstate to see the Centurion visiting Freedom City. I don't even know why he was there; it was in the middle of the Moore Act so he must have been a criminal just for being there." He walked back and forth, meeting the gaze of everyone unflinchingly. "I didn't understand why we were there at the time, we never got close enough to even see the man except through those little tourist binoculars. It was right here, actually, right up in the observation deck of the Pyramid Plaza." He made a gesture at the distant sky. "You know what my father told me, when I asked him? He told me it was important to see superheroes in their element. That they weren't just characters in comic books or in cartoons, but that they were real people. That if I wanted to see one, all I had to do...was LOOK UP!" His fist stabbed again at the ceiling. "When I became a superhero, I wanted that for myself. I wanted to be more than the man I was, more than what I'd become." He looked from Elena, to Taylor, to Dark Star; all the people in the room who knew his secret. "So you can imagine how I feel when I find us, my so-called friends, my so-called fellow heroes, hiding in an underground room posturing about how moral we are, putting on blatant display that the only thing more boundless than our respective powers is our turgid egos." He looked Elena right in the face. "Those of you who know me will understand why I find this so familiar! And so contemptible." "Let's deflate the arrogance now." He pointed at Elena. "You are a child who wears a dead man's clothes and lives in a dead man's house, so damned frightened of the world above that you'd rather violate your friends than trust them with your secrets. That's supposed to be me doing that, Elena. You're not the one we're supposed to be afraid of! And as for the rest of you?" He smashed one fist into another, then pointed at Ace Danger. "You are a presumptuous bastard still living on the name your father gave you, trading on old glories and old friends rather than doing anything with your life. This is how you spend your immortality?" Not finished, Jack moved on, first from the woman who'd been his closest ally and the man he disliked the most to all the rest. He pointed at Taylor. "You are a dimensional guardian who fights gods for a living with such little confidence in your mission you can't even tell your FAMILY what you do!" He pointed at Dr. Archeville, his eyes narrowing. "You're one of the ten smartest men on Earth, Viktor Archeville. You could speak without sounding like some biergarden attendant if you wanted to." He looked at Arrowhawk. "You blew up a mad arms dealer's house in a crowded neighborhood and were surprised when people DIED? What did you think was going to happen?!" He looked Dark Star in the face and said, "You're not really a man anymore, are you, Derrick? Sure you've got your girlfriend and your life in the flesh these days, but can you really tell me you feel anything in common with Grimalkin? With me?" He looked down at his own hands, finally, as the subject of himself finally came up. It was the worst of all. My hands are covered in blood! "And me. Look at me. God, just look at me!"

Avenger listened for a few seconds as Ace talked, but when the old man began pontificating on how the Knights ought to do things, he hmmed and looked around amongst the others as Danger continued speaking. Under the cover of the other hero's monologue, Avenger picked up the little Scarab-engraved notepad on the table before him, wrote a note, and passed it to Phantom. Written too small for anyone else to read, it said, "Taylor: if no one says something useful soon, shall we go? Can show you sights of the Lair."

"After. I've always gone out wearing the hockey mask as Avenger. Makes for a more iconic look and keeps people from looking too closely at me." And when I get so excited I pop fang, no one can tell behind the masks. Yeah, I'll just keep that to myself. Besides, that hasn't happened in a while now. "I don't know." He shrugged a little, calling back to that odd first night. "Takes all kinds, I guess. It was out in the Fens. I've always done pretty well there, though they've picked up new protectors lately. I try not to step on anyone's toes."

Tell her you don't like most monster movies because they're either inaccurate or racist. That'll put her mind at ease. Oh yeah, and that you haven't slept in four years! "There are worse places to sleep," said Jack with a little shrug. "And hey, you've got someone you can talk to now." He reached over and squeezed her hand. "My first time out, some weird super-hooker or something saw me on the streets and solicited me." He grinned wryly. "Maybe that's why I learned to be more careful."

"Nyyeesss...very well! To the sky!" And with that, Tyranny Ape hurled his hostage aside like so much weight and took to the air, flapping his mighty wings and powering his way back through the huge hole he'd punched (again) in the ceiling to make his initial appearance. He headed high into the sky quickly, his deep, baritone chuckle heading down as his silhouette retreated into the bright sky above.

"She's a really great flier," said Mark, grinning at Alex before looking back and forth between his parents. "She's beautiful in the sky. You should see her in the air." "Sounds good to me!" said Rick exuberantly. "I've got to pay a visit to that school sometime soon, see if that history teacher needs any more lectures." It didn't sound like a slip of the tongue. While Rick talked, Martha smiled indulgently and took out her sketchpad, quietly working as she ate and held up her own end of the conversation. "Don't let them fool you," she said with a smile at Alex, "we do occasionally talk about things other than superheroing around the house. Mark's father is just happy to see Mark dating a nice girl." Mark turned unaccountably bright red at that, his ears turning color first. "Mo-om!"

"I, um, don't actually watch a lot of horror movies," Jack confessed. "I rented the ones I brought over last time." He headed for his shelf, dug around for a moment, and finally came up with something that he popped into the DVD player. "Here, this is a good one." Everyone likes Young Frankenstein, right? It's universal. He sat her down on the couch with him, his arm around her. "We don't have to talk about it, or think about it, if you don't want to. I'll stay with you all night if you need me to."

Tyranny Ape stroked his jaw with one massive prehensile foot. "Nyyyees! A test of power most magnificent!" He gave her a look the meaning of which was best not parsed. "You would have made a lovely orangutan, hairless one. But what guarantee do I have of your trustworthiness? Dimensional guardians are notoriously treacherous, particularly the foul homo sapiens." He waved his screaming hostage for emphasis, his booming voice the only thing audible over hers.

"Ah, your grandpa. I'll never forget that time he shot that apple off my head at fifty paces to keep Adamant from pulling my limbs off. Those were the days. So he still likes teleporters, eh?" Rick rubbed his square chin with his unmitted hand. "Ah, I remember those old League teleporters well." He told a remarkably detailed anecdote about one time the Freedom League's teleporters had accidentally transposed them all with their counterparts from Gender-Reversed Earth, leading to some hilarious shenanigans when Centuria and Uncle Sam next went out on patrol. Mark smiled and half-listened; though he obviously liked the story, it was obviously one he'd heard plenty of times before. "Rick, Mark, you're going to give the girl a complex!" called Martha Lucas, who'd come out to join the family with what turned out to be the plates and glasses for their picnic. "She doesn't need to hear all about your exploits. I'm sure she gets plenty of that from our son." It was all affectionate teasing; if superhero talk bothered Martha, she probably wouldn't live with these two. "Mark, would you mind helping me with this?" A loyal son, Mark headed quickly into the kitchen to help his mother with the food, reaching down to squeeze Alex's hand as they went. A few minutes later, they had a set picnic table laden with all the makings of an all-American barbecue; hot dogs, hamburgers, and sloppy joes abounded. It was something of a mystery, except maybe lucky genes, how these people all stayed so thin.

Keep it together. Keep it together. Jack gently lowered the man down into the flower, trusting Stesha's power would do what it was supposed to. Don't do it now. It would be so easy... He gently settled the man down and took a step back to Phantom's side. "I would appreciate that," he said simply, blinking. "It...it sounds like I need to make some calls once I'm there." And then maybe scream for an hour. Or a day.

Startling with a DC of 23 Power Attacking for +3 damage DC 27 Tou save.

The thugs were nothing, their bullets were no match for Avenger's undead power. But the Max addict there was a serious threat, one Avenger recognized only too well from his own days as a junkie. He came in low, his body and posture that of a malignant animal, and charged powerfully, swinging a massive blow directly at the huge thug's face.

Have an HP, Phantom.

Tyranny Ape swore a blasphemous oath that called upon the primate gods of his forebears to perform unspeakable acts to Phantom's spiritual ancestors. With a mighty roar, he spread his monstrous wings and pointed a huge fist at Phantom. "YOU! You'll never send me back to Ape-pire City, do you hear? Never! Ape shall triumph over hairless man, and I am mighty ape with wings! Your hairless magic is no match for my power!" And with that, he snatched up a screaming teller, tucking her under his arm like a football. "Come, do your worst! Her head shall adorn my flying apealace if you dare touch me!"

Who's next?

I did, Doc. They go next. ;)

"Good, good." Still not wearing his mask, Jack hadn't looked bothered by the sudden near-disaster he'd caused. His attention was all directed inward, focusing on the torment that he know knew had been entirely psychological. "You did it!" he called up to Dark Star and Phantom, showing an unaccustomed joy in the moment. "Thank God, thank God." He took the opportunity to make sure that the mad scientist who'd done all this was out like a light.

"Am sure our respective morals are very impressive. Not the topic of conversation now." Codifying the rules of an organization seemed like a waste of time to Jack. You followed the leaders because they were the best at what they did, and if they weren't, you either replaced them or formed your own organization. He wasn't at all sure that point of view would impress his colleagues, though, or even that it was particularly heroic. "Dark Star. You have concerns. Share them...please."

Power Check: 18 In the corners of the room, Odysseus and someone who looks very much like the Golden Age Valkyrie appear!

Odysseus and someone who looks very much like the Golden Age Valkyrie are in the corners of the room, concealed against detection magically and mentally. (The Concealment had the Phantasm flaw, much to Arachnos' chagrin.)