Avenger Assembled

The two heroines were suddenly surrounded by a groaning, bleeding crowd; some of them unconscious, some of them blinded, all of them in pain. Divine's friends, her bar, her pool table; were hurt, and hurt bad! Unfortunately for the cause of good and right, the carnage was enough to delay the two heroines long enough for the two supervillans to spring into action! Targette pointed at Divine first, the Earth-bound goddess' beauty unfortunately making her a natural target for the mute mercenary. As she did so, Divine felt a hammering batter into her skull as if a dozen of her uncle Hephaestus had just showed up to pound on her head with his Hammer of a Thousand Blows. Nearly simultaneously with her lover's strike, Sidetrack leaped into the air, executing a neat pirouette that caught Grim's attention long enough that she failed to notice Sidetrack's glowing gloved fist slammed into her midsection with a sickening crunch! "I'm going to beat you like your mama beat you last night!"

LF, I'll let this little slip pass as Pompadour BSing. THIS TIME! ;)

Sorry, Pompadour, Jack is wearing a domino mask. Rules of the genre, you know. 8-) Come to think of it, I seem to recall a discussion you and I had where you were quite firm that Pompadour wasn't paying any attention to Jack. :twisted:

Avenger has no idea how your powers work, alder. ;)

Your force of personality might help your _friends_ move faster. (I've actually seen that modeled: a container with Affects Others Improved Initiative) But it doesn't make genre-sense for it to make you move faster, not the way Intelligence does. The attributes need to have some individual value.

"Yes," continued Odysseus, his voice grave. "Roman's final mad scheme nearly destroyed the world, and it killed Gladiator tearing apart his battlesuit and hurling him into space. That was...oh, nearly thirty years ago now. It was after that things began to change here. First for the worst, then for the better. Without the person of the Gladiator, or the Centurion, the heroes of our world lacked direction, lacked leadership. There was chaos, violence, and disorder all over the world. Even after Freedom City was rebuilt and the Liberty Brigade reborn, things were worse."

"Am unaware of any prisoners," said Avenger. "Believe they may have returned as Donar did. Did you speak to yours before they left?" He cocked his head in Grimalkin's direction, understanding that Scarab's silence probably meant that Elena was busy casting her consciousness around for something to help them. That left him to direct the conversation...God help them all. "Grimalkin, any further evidence? If not, suggest we contact our scientific advisor. May be best person to open doorway between dimensions for us."

Seven began to show Psyche things, each taking the form of a single flash-card. The first was a dead body, a man shot through the head in a graphic, unsettling way. It was tough, but she looked at it bravely. A moment later came something new; the grim face of a black-marked mystic, his soul shuddering with the blackness of necromantic evil, his eyes weighted down with an eternity of sin. "His name is Malador," said Seven, her voice cold and still, "and his power has transcended death." Bearing that sight was hard, very hard, as she gazed into the pure face of undead evil, and the sudden, abrupt change to the Legion Virus was enough to make her flinch. But who wouldn't flinch before the destruction of soul, of self, of mind that the Legion Virus represented? When Psyche reminded Seven of that, her teacher was persuaded to show her one last thing. This was something yellow and twisting, a thing that shifted back into itself and called to those looking at it at the same time, a monstrous warped thing that was one of the most beautiful works Psyche had ever seen, a beautiful...she pulled her mental gaze away, but did not flinch from it. "Congratulations, Psyche. Not many can stand the sight of the Yellow Sign and keep their mind intact. We shall talk more of that later. Do you need a break?"

When Mike indicated he was ready, Magni took a few steps back and started the test. The floor beneath Phalanx resolved itself into an icy plain, the "sky" above a deep black speckled with stars. As he watched, a massive humanoid came lumbering over the horizon, a monstrous ogre wielding a massive, perfectly reflective shield. "BEHOLD, PUNY MORTAL! THE SHIELD OF A THOUSAND HORRORS!" He slammed the shield to Earth before Mike, the polished metal reflecting the teen hero's surprised face before the reflection itself began to warp and change. He saw first his own death, torn to pieces by silver-toothed wolves, but stood his ground, staring into the reflection as it changed into a vision of a burning building, the people inside screaming in terror as they burned. Things were harder when he saw Alex passionately kissing Sonic, but finally the last vision of Alex's broken, bleeding body reflected in the ogre's terrible mirror was enough to make him flinch. And then the world faded away, replaced by the walls of the Doom Room. "Well-matched, young Mike!" called Magni. "You have shown a warrior's heart. Are you prepared for the test of speed?"

Archer took a few steps back and called out "Run Program: Tricky Devils." A steamy tropical jungle rolled up around Erin at his words, hiding the teacher from view. "Erin, this is a test of your senses. When you sense a real threat approaching you, I want you to point to it and say, "I see you!" You don't need to touch anything for the test to go forward, but it's all right if you do." When he was sure she understood, he called out, "Begin!" No sooner had he done so than Erin sensed presences with her in the jungle, moving, shifting creatures that lurked very, very close at every turn. She turned and pointed at one shifting mass of trees, calling out in a loud voice "I see you!" that caused the figure inside to flash to life as a sleazy, gun-toting thug in denim that quickly disappeared. Erin moved quickly, feeling the involuntary sensation of prickers on her neck as she sorted out illusion from fantasy. "There! I see you!" She pointed and shouted, transforming a mass pushing its way through the bushes into a heavily-armed camo battlesuit bristling with weapons. She caught the last figure moving through the brushes as it came in through the trees, a hideously-mutated monkey-man with a machine gun slung over his shoulder! Sorting out all the enemies around from the animals in the brush was no easy task, but she'd done so well that she made a mistake only at the end, turning and pointing out what turned out to be a very surprised illusory armadillo. When the scene faded around her, Archer was making approving notes on his pad. "Good job, Ms. White! You've got very good perceptions. We've got one test left, and I think you're going to like it after all this. Are you ready?"

It's a DC 22 Bluff or Sense Motive check to see through Jack's lies.

"The crowd is the crowd," replied Jack with just a trace of a well-placed European accent as he spoke. "Some new faces, and some old faces." He nodded first to the Spartan, a face he didn't know, and then to Scarab and Ace, two people who he knew had been there for a while. "What matters is that everyone here is united behind two common purposes. The never-ending search for justice, and also...a good time." He laughed in a quiet voice, keeping an eye out on the room's security. No one had seen him yet, or so he judged.

I am, as the young man says, not so sure about this.

Well, looking things over, which sheet are you using? Is the sheet that's up top the sheet you're using?

Targette's Init is a healthy 29 Sidetrack's is 22 Our initiative order is Targette Sidetrack Divine and Grim

All right, Wander, give me four Notice checks. Your DCs are 10, 15, 20, and 25.

Okay, Psyche, give me four Will Saves. Your DCs are 10, 15, 20, and 25. (Seven is tough!) Remember you've got at least one extra HP going into this.

"What we're going to do first is a test of your mental resiliency," said Seven, her voice calm and soothing. She took a seat in the lotus position and floated up before her student, her cloak rippling behind her in the air. "I'm going to show you things that are difficult for a civilized mind to accept. Let me know right away if you can't proceed on this, looking too long at some things can be hazardous to your psycho-social well-being. Are you ready? "

Phalanx, make four Will saves. DC 5, 10, 12, and 15.

Roll for initiative, ladies.

Playing the part of a man very different than Avenger, Jack gave Grimalkin what could only be described as a "dirt-eating grin." "My lady," he said with perfect poise, taking her hand and kissing it delicately. He could smell her blood and the life underneath, and comparing that to the memory of how he'd acted on his date with Stesha reminded him what he really was. Just a flirt. Nothing more. "And you as well." He bowed perfectly to Thunderstanding. "As for myself, I am discreet. But I go by Jack." Turning the subject from himself as artfully as he could, Jack turned and gestured to the party. "It's quite a crowd, isn't it? I don't think I've ever seen so many heroes in one place."

I need a Reflex Save of DC 20 (with a Toughness Save of 20 if you fail, Evasion depending) and then a Ref/Fort Save of 18. (Evasion helps you here, too, it's an Area Dazzle) If you fail the first group of saves, it's non-lethal damage; if you fail the second batch, you are dazzled in sight and sound.

At this juncture, the table exploded. A blast of light cut down through the ceiling and tore through felt and slate and wood, sending a huge shower of debris everywhere and sending patrons running in terror. Inside the cylinder of light, two figures rapidly formed into being as the light faded into darkness. Moira recognized Sidetrack and Targette very well, the two mercenaries looking ready for one heck of a fight. Brandishing an enormous rifle in both hands, Sidetrack looked around for a moment before her eyes settled on Divine. "You! It's payback time, #($(#!" She noticed Grim a few moments later as Targette tugged on her sleeve, and swore again. "Both of you? !*$#$" Sidetrack evidently knew a lot of swears.

I am available and interested.

Oh, and the invasion Scarab foresees occurs on July 4, 2009. Independence Day, noo! :o