Avenger Assembled

"You okay, baby?" Jack asked automatically. When she hesitated a bit before responding, Jack almost got up to follow her before ultimately choosing to keep his seat. "She's got a lot on her plate, if you'll pardon the pun," he said with the smile of a boyfriend excusing his girlfriend's antics. "Between her commitments at school and everything else, we don't get to see as much of each other as I'd like. She's quite a woman." He picked up the wine glass before him and pretended to drink, looking around at the Chun family curiously. "Everything okay on the home front for you guys? Taylor and I didn't have a lot of time to talk family business this week."

Notice: 13

There was a noticeable pause, and then Dr. Archeville heard Avenger's silky growl. "Archeville. In the middle of work. Have you found something? Better be important." Normally Jack was more even-tempered, but this had been a pretty rough day.

"Yes sir," said Jack with a slightly pained smile, pushing his plate back a fraction of an inch. "It was quite a spectacle, let me tell you. I was on my way to work when the blast went off. I work pretty close by there, at the Atlantis, so it's actually on my morning constitutional. I might have bypassed it," he admitted, "but when I saw Taylor going to help that poor lady in her burning house, I had to do something." He reached over and patted her hand, then smiled again at the Chuns. "Your daughter is really something special. I'm glad to have had a chance to know her."

"I'd prefer to be alone for a little while, Derrick. Thank you," said Jack, standing amongst the remains of his life. Looking down at everything for a moment, he looked back up at Dark Star. "You know, I had a lot of time to think while I was falling. About the mistakes I've made, and the regrets I have. But in all that time, I couldn't think of a single regret I have for you. I'm glad to have known you, Dark Star, and I'm glad to have been your friend."

Be that as it may, I have been asked, and so I provide: 21 ;)

Avenger moved with near-blinding speed, striking a single sure, sharp stroke that did the deed before the transformed pig had a chance to cry out. He set the blade down on the body and picked up the head, depositing it in a box he'd secreted nearby for just such an occasion. "Well, that was unpleasant," he muttered. "Thank you, Wesley, I...wait." He put his hand on his face for a moment, leaving crimson prints on the already-stained mask. "The body. The body has to stay as it is, doesn't it?"

"I'm, uh, I'm fine, thanks." Jack was beginning to get a little nervous now, and wondered if the Chun in-law next to him had picked up on his worry. He'd met a couple of 'vampires' who could actually eat and digest solid food, and a few more who could chew, swallow, and throw up again later. He was not one of those vampires, though, which meant all the food laid out before him looked decidedly unappetizing. (But not smell, oh no. He knew exactly what food had tasted like.) That at least made it a little easier to feign discomfort, shifting in his seat with an uncomfortable look on his face.

"You'd be surprised how important it is to have a family on your side," murmured Jack. "Having them there, supporting you, can be the most important thing in your life." I bet. He smiled a little, then shrugged slightly. "But I'm not really the person to talk to about family business, or someone who has any business giving advice on how to live your life. We put on so many masks in our line of work that sometimes taking one off can be the hardest thing to do."

"I'm pretty sure mind-reading doesn't hold up in court," said Mark carefully. "But we can see if they've hurt anyone else, I guess, and let those people go..." Planning was really hard for Mark, and he frowned. "Maybe what we need to do is see what they're doing, make sure they're not hurting anyone, and then Psyche can make sure they forget they ever saw us."

"I'm sure we'll figure something out," said Edge, unworried. Looking around the visible buildings, his gaze settled on a nearby peach cannery and warehouse. "Let's go over there," he said with a wave of his hand. "It looks interesting." He pulled the grapple gun out of its holster, careful not to grab the sandwich, and fired a line over to the peach warehouse. With that, he swung off the roof, looking casually at ease as he swung through the air.

Avenger vaulted the fence around the pig enclosure with eerie, silent grace, landing with a barely audible splash in the filthy muck inside the animal pens. The stench was powerful this close, but Jack didn't breathe and Wesley had a fairly sturdy constitutition. He led Wesley to a single pig a little away from the others, a ponderous female sleeping on its belly. "Do this one. I'll take its head." From inside his costume, he produced an exceedingly large carving knife, looking at Wesley questioningly. "Borrowed this."

Don't know if my vision actually is good enough to see into the crater from the rim, but thought I'd give it a try. :)

"Fine where I am. Get along best on my own. Are the cats going to be all right in there?" Avenger moved forward, slipping through the noise and the smoke, far enough down that he could stare into the crater. "Hey! Isn't that a supervillan? The words came clearly through the mental network Scarab had set up as well.

OK, so Vestige is slammed to the ground by the gravity control, spends his move action getting up and then attacks Dark Star. Since Dark Star is engaged in combat with Captain Knievel and since he's had Concealment on before his attack, Cy, make a Notice check for him to see Vestige before he attacks.

It was a deeply annoyed Avenger who called Scarab a few minutes later, having taken the time out to swear violently in as many languages as he knew. "Exceedingly aggravating. Will give you more details when you arrive." He'd taken the liberty of moving up and out of the gallery proper, letting the arriving police down below deal with the aftermath of the threat. "Not a very good fighter. But very fast."

Jack leaned close. He wasn't quite violating Taylor's personal space as he murmured to her, but they were certainly in an intimate position with each other. "'Sno problem. So you don't think your parents can handle your work?" His voice was a soft murmur, inaudible to the people below. "Is not telling them going to work in the long term? Your business, not mine." He gave her a small smile. "Keeping secrets from the people that matter can be harder than you realize."

Without really thinking about it, Jack gave Taylor's hand a comforting squeeze as he was introduced to her parents. "Dr. Chun, Dr. Chun," he said with two polite nods, and then a firm handshake for both Taylor's mother and father. "It's a pleasure to make your mutual acquaintance." He smiled. "You have no idea all the stories I've heard about the two of you from Taylor the last couple of weeks. I'm glad we could finally be introduced."

"Oh, I like to think we carry a little bit of insanity around wherever we go," said Jack with a laugh. "John Faretti. But you can just call me Jack. Everyone does." His father's face swam before his eyes, and he put the image out through force of will. "I'm just sorry we couldn't make it out here sooner, but you know how hard she's working these days. Can you believe the number of languages that come out of this girl?" He pointed to Taylor. "Puts organizational insurance to shame any day of the week, I tell you what!" He laughed, his tone almost perfect.

The second they walked in the door, Jack's whole personality seemed to change, a mask dropping over his face almost visibly. His arm went around Taylor's shoulders with perfect ease, a huge smile breaking out of his face. "Oh, wow, so this is the place?" He looked perfectly like a boyfriend home for the first time with a daughter of the house, a man slightly nervous but mostly at ease in these surroundings. "This is great! I love what they've done with those vaulted ceilings. Hey, kids!" He let Taylor lead them where she willed; since she knew her way around.

Notice: 25

"I'm afraid I don't speak Chinese," Jack admitted. "Or, uh, Cantonese, pardon me." He thought for a moment, then said, "My full name is John Anderson Faretti. My family came over from Italy at the turn of the century; we don't speak the language of the old country anymore. I grew up in the Fens in the sort of neighborhood it doesn't sound like your family visits, where my dad was a storefront accountant and my mother took care of the house. I've got one brother, Theodore, who's in the Army, and I was the younger of the two. I work behind the scenes at the Atlantis Casino in the Boardwalk keeping track of inventory. It sounds glamorous, but it's mostly boring scutwork. I didn't make it through college." He told the story very convincingly, a smile on his face and not a quaver in his voice as he told Taylor all about him. It was only after they got in the car that Jack laughed. "And if they swallow that story, they'll swallow anything."

Jack's posture and voice was very different than Avenger's; his eyes sharp and full of good humor, his posture leonine and fit. Avenger was a grim, crouching predator; Jack was something lighter and leaner. A leopard to his costumed self's hyena. "Feel free," he said with an amused smile on his face as he studied Taylor. He absolutely towered over her, something that was going to make the evening's festivities all the more interesting. "Is there anything in particular your family's going to ask me?" he asked her. "Stories you've told them about your imaginary friend?" He smiled warmly, keeping any nastiness out of the question.

Difficult to pass? You have no idea. Jack arrived at Phantom's place a little before five, checking himself out in the mirror. He looked debonair in a suit and tie, or so he thought; the black jacket and slacks clinging to his muscular body in a way that the ladies usually seemed to appreciate. He put on sunglasses against the glare of 5PM outside, running his mouth against the faint taste of iron still on his teeth. He was well-fed, well-groomed, and on his way to meet a lady. Surely nothing could go wrong meeting family...at dinner! I have tasted death itself. This won't be that bad.

Edge politely thanked Mr. Summers, promising to do his best to live up to the expectations of the headmaster, and walked out of the building with a carefully animated fast walk. The moment he was outside of the administration building, Mark ripped off his goggles and threw his head back, shouting a short, wordless cry of pure delight, all but falling to his knees with joy at the fulfillment of his life's ambition. He actually dropped onto the grass nearby, a big smile on his face as he pulled off the headpiece of his costume.