Avenger Assembled

Avenger is certainly inside the house. The door outside must be open, at least, or otherwise conversing with each other can't be easiy.

"Petty insults. Not the old Scarab." Avenger appeared in the entry hallway by stepping out of a darkened living room that seemed empty just a few moments ago, his black-clad, muscular body just an outline in the darkness from behind him. His implacable eyes studied the two other superheroes coldly, icy blue behind his black mask. While he was not entirely sure what's going on with the strange subtext between the other two men, they both seemed legitimate. What the heck; why not take a chance? "Murder's in here." He steps back in without seeming to wait for a response from the others, though of course he's actually paying them a great deal of attention.

Sure, from holding back. Avenger is PL 9 at best on the offense, thanks to his secret identity.

Okay, so I did the deed, lost my last HP, and am unfatigued? Good good. :)

Really? OK, well, I'll just take the fatigue from surging and spend the HP to gain Takedown Attack, then.

So this is at the Circuit Maximus or not? (One idea: SuperSlams is the farm team for CM)

Jack sat in his seat below Melinda's, applauding delicately, part of a small gaggle of undead watching this performance. In a suit better suited to Edgar Allen Poe than a modern-day night on the town, he looked like a high-class Goth or vampire, the way most of them did. This wasn't the first time since he'd begun working with Melinda that she'd invited him out somewhere as part of her circle, but it was the first time she'd invited him out to something like this. It was hard not to be aroused by the spectacle, at least a little, but the inhuman nature of the two combatants kept it from being as enticing as it might be otherwise. "Do you like what you see?" Jack felt Melinda's hand on his shoulder and felt...well, it was hard to say. What did a rat feel in the company of a snake? Or a housecat in a pack of panthers? She'd only taken him to her bed once, an encounter which had been as terrifying as it had been thrilling. That was, naturally, the way someone like Melinda preferred it. "He's very talented," said Jack, the perfect picture of the jaded aristocrat of the night. "If you're asking what I think about the fighters themselves, well...I prefer something softer. More feminine." "Of course you do, darling," she said with a warm smile. "Of course you do." She kissed his neck, then leaned back to do the same for the young lady behind her who was suddenly looking petulant. It was a relief to be out of that regard; Jack was profoundly glad he hadn't come from her stock.

Okay, I think we're about wrapped up with this one.

The doctors do indeed have a counteragent for the powerful sedatives used on the bar patrons, and by the time Moira leaves her friends' side early the next morning, they're already beginning to recover. Dosed through poisoned liquor, cigarettes, and even something in the air, it's easy to tell how everyone got exposed. That does leave open some awkward questions, though, like how exactly those who escaped the drugging weren't affected by the powerful toxin. Moira does get one last glimpse of Jack, standing in a hospital elevator, just before dawn when she steps out of Stephanie's room; the doors closing just before she can reach him. And when the elevator hits the ground, just as dawn rises in the eastern sky, he's gone.

OK: Intimidate: Standard Action Move/close the furnace: Move Action Surge to Attack: (spend HP to cancel fatigue; extra effort to gain takedown attack) Given the darkness, I would say this qualifies as an unarmed sneak attack.

"Criminals, you have sinned against the laws of man and God..." When Avenger appeared, it wasn't by the door. He showed himself crouched atop the furnace, the reddish glow from below lighting his hockey-mask covered face like a fiend from the bowels of Hell itself. When he spoke, his voice was that of a growling agent of infernal retribution. "Vengeance is mine!" With that he leapt from the furnace, kicking the door shut with a deft sidestep, before throwing himself into the crowd like the wrath of Satan, fists flying and punching at the blinded men, tearing through the mortal crowd with speed and ferocity.

Arcane and Streetwise were to see if he recognizes anything down in the murder room. Stealth was probably unnecessary, given that the other two are busy, but I thought it was worth a shot.

Jeez, it's like Halloween at the Eclipse tonight, Avenger thinks irritably as the Scarab heads downstairs to deal with the new guy. With this sudden crowd showing up for what was supposed to be a solo investigation, Avenger thinks seriously about dropping the case. But on the other hand, running away from a fight has never been Jack's style. If he is going to do this superhero thing, Avenger needs to be able to work with other superheroes. And if the Scarab is the nosy psychic that Jack is beginning to suspect he is, having another mind around will give Avenger time to suss out the man's bona fides before anything dangerous is uncovered. Avenger gets downstairs by dint of flying down, drifting down to the living room through the chimney like the ghost of Santa Claus. Once there he casually reforms himself, looking around at the shocking scene of carnage all around. In the midst of horror, it's hard to remember his clever plan about surprising the others.

Heh. Here's an idea: Avenger wanders downstairs to the ritual murder scene while the other two are talking, and they look in the door to see a guy dressed in black and wearing a hockey mask standing over a ritual murder scene holding a bloody knife. "OK, fellas, I know what you're thinking..."

The police took a full statement from Moira, as is their wont, and then Officer Johnson (who seemed to have developed a bit of a crush on her) offered to give her a ride to the hospital to check on her friends. "We've seen cases like this before," he confided to her on the way there. "They go in, drug a whole bar or a homeless shelter, then take them away for God knows what. They turn up later, sometimes, usually having been guinea pigs for a new designer drug or implant." He shook his head, a depressed look on his face, but then brightens a little. "But they should be able to treat the drugs, I mean, that's never been a problem before. Without you and your, er, friend, though, we probably wouldn't have saved any of them."

Hmm. I was going to quibble about Scarab being able to know how Avenger was dressed, given how dark the house is, but then again Avenger wasn't actually trying to be sneaky in there until he realized he was being watched. So she probably saw him in the streetlight coming through the window or something. :)

"We had a man come into the station," replied the officer, giving Moira a cautious look. They seem to believe her story (really, who wouldn't believe someone so obviously trustworthy?) but there are still many, many mysteries surrounding it. "He said there'd been an attack at this bar and to come right away with squad cars and paramedics. Funny thing is, this guy managed to disappear right out of a station full of cops before we could get a statement from him. We were wondering if you might know anything about that."

There's more to come, but only a little. Jack has not actually ditched her permanently. And as always, if I'm moving you along too fast over stuff you'd like to handle, just let me know!

Jack ran, maybe faster than a man should, and disappeared into the night to summon help. Long minutes stretched by with Moira alone with her unconscious friends, before the police and paramedics arrived in a friendly, comforting swarm of lights and sirens. The paramedics, shocked at what they've found, gathered up the unconscious people as gently and quickly as they can, shouting to each other about signs of Kepamine and Trioxil poisoning in the unfortunates. The police, naturally, had many questions for Moira, both about her missing friends and the battered, bloody hi-tech mercenaries scattered on the ground like so many broken dolls.

Eliding a little. Let me know if you'd like to actually go back and play these parts out. ;)

While Avenger might have been able to guess Scarab's gender from the voice, I'm just going to run with the idea that he made a false assumption given that Scarab's not in the stereotypical girl superhero costume. (And that, despite his Batman-like imposture, Avenger is not a particularly great detective. )

The Scarab... The name stirred vague memories of watching Freedom Friends reruns as a kid, but truthfully Jack had always enjoyed Raven or FORCE OPS much more than those hokey old shows from his parents generation. I need to watch more television. He was careful to keep his thoughts quiet, mentally "whispering" for all that he had no idea if that would actually do anything. Telekinetics were probably going to have some telepathic abilities, if he'd learned anything from TV; or at the very least some unfortunate psychic surprise. Is this my guy? In lieu of answers, Avenger kept a careful eye on the guy, trying to judge his nature as best he could. At the same time, he kept as close an eye as his position allowed on the footlocker the Scarab seemed so interested in, creeping as close as he could get away with to get a better look. He wondered what he'd missed. Maybe he can help. I don't actually know anything about forensics here...

Nope. No reason to. :)

Jack took the hand gratefully, his flesh cool against hers, but gave her a sharp look as she suggested calling in his friends. "My friends wouldn't help you," he said, something like pain in his voice. "They...jeez, I don't even think Stan called the police." He ran his hands through his thick hair, not quite able to look at her. "I am going to beat him when I see him again, that mammerjammer," he added with some heat. "I'm going to go find the police myself and get them back here, if you want to stay with your friends."

Unfortunately for Targette, the runaway-turned-supervillian was so distracted by her blast aimed at Jack that she failed to take into account Moira's iron grip on her head. She gave a sharp, guttural sound of surprise as Moira grabbed her around the head, arms flailing wildly as she was pulled right off her feet. She screwed up her face in concentration as Moira wrapped her arms around her, but was in far too much pain from Moira's adamantine grip to summon up her psionic powers! At the sight of her lover in peril, Sidetrack gives a terrible scream and leaps into the air, ignoring Jack as she throws a glowing fist directly at Moira's face. To Sidetrack's horror, though, she swings wildly in her rage, so wildly that she clobbers Targette right in the face! "Nooo!" she screams as Targette's head snaps back, bleeding freely from the face now. "You are DEAD, do you hear me? You are both DEAD!" And with that, she grabs Targette and vanishes in a sudden flash of light, a minute before Jack dives for her, missing in a thoroughly ungraceful tackle as he just manages to avoid a faceplant. As suddenly as it began, the fight is over.