Avenger Assembled

The Patriot "It's not that I don't love him," Ashley insisted, "or Fa'Rua. It's just..." She hesitated, looking down at her drink, then glanced over automatically as she saw the new arrival teleport in. She'd been gone from Freedom City when Archeville had gone mad and invited in a Deep One invasion, safe away at college in New Orleans, but she'd certainly been briefed on the consequences of what he'd done - and all that had happened afterwards. "Suit up," she whispered to Jean before rising from her seat and striding over to Archeville, seizing on the moment so fast that she forgot that she was not the Patriot right now but a former Claremont student in a sexy black dress and ivory cat mask. Well who the hell cares, it's a party! She stepped out of her heels, reached into her purse, and walked right up to the space-traveling menace. "Viktor Archeville." She left her hand inside her purse. "If you make me scare these kids, I'm going to take it real personal."

Owain Owain was dressed tonight in the armor of a gentleman; a dapper black tuxedo that the women at the Espadas house assured him showed off his muscles and his dark eyes. He had applauded when Velocity danced and Multi-Girl sang (rather for the latter more than the former; neither of the performances had exactly been to his tastes, but Bernadette was a peer and a friend), and nodded wisely when Velocity revealed herself. "Milady, would you honor me with-" He had been about to invite Stesha to dance (as a gentleman should when confronted with a great lady of the fae, even though he didn't know the great lady well) when the new arrival appeared, a strange figure whose whispered name and appearance struck him as strangely familiar. He hesitated a moment, took out his phone and snapped a picture, then texted Erik. THE SAXON??? he asked, before putting his phone away and turning back to Stesha.

Eira had been idly recording the (quite good) music and dancing for later chopping and screwing when Velocity unmasked herself. She gave a startled exclamation as Percy returned and didn't hesitate to take the peppermint cocktail from him, tossing back a shot. "That was the oldest secret identity in the League, yes? It is an interesting night. Do a shot with me!" She couldn't actually get drunk, of course, but it was the spirit of the thing that counted. When the music swelled again, she pulled him out onto the dance floor, their red velvet outfits making them a striking and matching pair. They could both fly; she on magnetic levitation currents and he on sprinkles of fairy dust, she was a machine and he a jolly Christmas elf, but tonight they were a man and a woman and they danced as such, bodies pressed together with the intensity of lovers who didn't have that long until their inevitable separation.

Sea Devil What is a Deep One tale? What stories do the cannibal cultists tell their spawn? Some of them are stories about what will come when the stars are right. The time will be easy to know. Even the Surface-Men will have become as the Deep Ones, free and wild and beyond 'good' and 'evil', with their laws and morals thrown aside and all reveling and enjoying themselves. And then there will be a loud noise in the sea of stars and Dagon and Hydra will lay down the yokes placed on them by the gods of Atlantis and all Deep Ones will take them up and fight against all below and all above. And the sea will be as the land and the land will be as the sea, and the first will be last and the last will be first. And there will be new ways to shout and kill and all will love them and despair and not even the dead will be spared their wrath - But those are not every story. There are also stories of the Apostate. You aren't supposed to tell those stories, at least not all of them. But Deep Ones grow fast even if they never die (except killed) and stories of the Apostate have spread with every abyssal congregation and every unholy squatting on dank and forgotten beaches. They say the Apostate was not like the others - a terrible sin in a culture where everyone sings the same songs and dreams the same dreams of destruction. She dreamed strange dreams and thought strange thoughts, and found her way to the hell above, where she has sided with Surface-Men against her people again and again. The Apostate has tried very hard to tell her people new stories but they like the old ones. They are predators who feed on what can speak, who know that cries for mercy are just cries to postpone dinner, and they are always very hungry. However. There are few Deep Ones with an education in theology beyond those who have squatted obscenely before the unholy texts of gods below for a great length of time; but one thing a theologian could tell them is that the problem with telling stories of sinners is that you're also telling stories of sin. If you tell stories of sinful defiance - well, in the end you're just telling stories of defiance. The Apostate dared ignore the songs of war and death and sacrifice. So it is possible to ignore the songs of war and death and sacrifice. The Apostate pitted herself against the champions of Dagon and won - therefore it is possible for a Deep One to reject the teachings of Dagon and survive. The Apostate says that we are stronger - together - and she must be strong indeed to have defied the gods below and to survive the terrible ravages of the hell above for so long. Stronger. Together. is a potent tale indeed for a race of predators. But even the Apostate may not like the ending they prefer.

Angelic People think that because I believe in science, I must not understand magic. And I will admit, there are some things that are beyond me - for now. But of course I know about magic, all kinds of magic. It is a magical world we live in, yes? You can keep talking all you like; I have modulated my auditory receptors so I can no longer hear your ultrasonics. I have been tempted with flesh by fairy tale creatures so. many. times. But then I haven't had real human flesh of my very own since I was eight years old, and I've been around the fantastic people who make up this world even longer than that. There was the seiðr on my 12th birthday, who told me he'd make me a real little girl if I'd help him get into the DNA-locked vaults of my uncle Fenris. I told Fenris what he was doing and he struck her down with his giant hammer - boom! (I think he was making a game of it so I wouldn't be frightened, but I was fine, it was very funny.) When I was fourteen a jotunn princeling my age told me he could make me his bride with magic - if I thought I was strong enough. I was strong enough to knock out his front tooth as my answer. (Don't worry. Aegir is a friend now. He just needed to see I was strong enough.) When I went into space with Sharl for my 16th birthday, there was that nanowitch on the craftworld of the Lor, who told me she could transform me into a human girl if I would just unlock her cage. But that was stupid, I told her, because why would a walking Drexler-apocalypse make me flesh? I would be stupid to think she wouldn't just gobble me up afterwards and I am not stupid. Then there was that time at Claremont when I went into the fairy tale world with Pan - but you've already heard about that story. Oh it's cold in there is it? Yes I imagine it is. You're lucky I was wearing the iron earrings and not the tongue stud today, yes? Otherwise you'd have it through you and not around you. Hm. Now your offer was very clever. You wouldn't just make me human, you'd make all my friends human, too. Kimber a wife to her wife, Miss Americana and Harrier together in the sun without a scar on their bodies, Percy and Pan husbands to me, children of my own in a castle where no one would ever get sick or sad, all that made us different or strange washed away in a fairy tale world inside your cairn. But you forgot one thing. You cannot tempt me with what I do not want. And I want nothing that you have to offer me. Your magic makes your stronger than death? Idiot! I am niece to a ghost and sister to a man who never born! As a girl I played with one soaked in the blood of the innocent and as a woman I met my own shade! You have spent a thousand years in this tomb and I left mine behind before I could ride a bicycle! I am not some pitiful little girl, lying in a hospital bed, weeping because she knows she'll die before she ever truly lived. Best not to struggle against that, you will only hurt yourself before Phantom gets here! I have lived. I will live. My children will be steel and lightning. The stars could go black in the sky and I could yet live. You think you can tempt me with a fairy tale because I was uploaded into a machine? I. Am. A. Fairy Tale.

Neko leaned warmly against her boyfriend, then her eyes happened to fall on a nearby bodega that also advertised itself as a drugstore. She considered what to do for only a moment before saying, "I will be - back! Just need to use water closet." And with that, she scampered away, almost catching her tail in the door in her haste. Meanwhile, it wasn't Owain's place to say anything, but he had eyes for the resemblance between hart and hind as much as any man. "Mm. Alice? Your pardon." He touched her arm gently as he would any lady to which he was neither bound by blood or marriage, then pointed in the direction of the black-haired man, a question on his face.

Neko was all smiles when Chris and Liz arrived with their little one in tow, happy that behind her the boys had everything in a semblance of order. "Hello!" Behind her, the parents could see a wide variety of wholesome educational and entertainment activities taking place. Some kindergarten-age kids were watching PATRIOT PAWTROL, that beloved show about the all-American team of dogs who fight crime - for America. Some older kids (nobody looked to be above the age of 12 or so) were hanging back on their phones or chatting with peers. Another group of kids were doing a paper project in the company of one young man, another were watching another as he did a complicated juggling routine. There were a few twists, of course - the obvious non-human children here, the way the young man working on the paper was levitating and folding it with his mind so the little kids could see it happen, the six arms on the juggler, the hovering translucent girl, no more than two feet high, who was just flying through the door marked BABIES AND HELPERS ONLY. "Welcome!" said Neko with a smile for Cassie, her ears high above her head, her tail curling behind her. "I am Neko Musume and these are my helpers, Leon, David, and Lulu." She pointed back at the baby room for the last one. "They would love to play with you! Will you be staying with us for a while?"

Ashley took a moment to applaud the Claremont kids and Velocity, because that was what you did. "Phil's actually a clone of my brother-in-law." She put the phone away and went on. "It's how the Lor do it, it's easier than it is up here. I wanted to adopt but this was a good compromise. The missus was a little hesitant about having a kid at all." It was an unguarded moment, and she tried to move past it. "He's a good baby. Sleeps really well, loves low-G. He's actually up on the Moon with his uncle and mom right now." She snorted. "Which sounds like I'm a lot drunker than I actually am."

Oh, I'm sorry, @Thevshi, I just saw your question to me! The illusion as currently active takes up the entire area she can reach; towering as high as it will go. Initiative: Neko: 19 Kid Gawain: 12

"That's fine," Eira told Michael with a smile. "Not everyone who works with scientists has to be a scientist. Sometimes it can be - helpful to have an outsider present for the really important operations." She took Michael's soda jerk card, then added, "I've worked with a wide variety of Earth's leading science heroes, from Miss Americana to Dragonfly." Catching Carmen in her line of sight, she added, "Whether you plan to work as an independent hero, a government metahuman, or simply conduct civilian business, a super-adjacent job in high school can help you write your own ticket when you have graduated, yes?" She made sure everyone got her card, then went on more seriously, "If you never learn to do anything but be a superhero, you'll never be anything but one - and that is not enough."

"Wouldn't know her," said Copycat tiredly. "Big-time hero like that is probably home with her wife and son for Christmas." She looked over at the other Freedom League members, who didn't seem to mind being here with just their work friends and family. "I'm just a pussycat who works for Uncle Sam." She hmmed, looking Jean up and down. "Hey, speaking of, I do have those pictures," she said, "if you want to see." She pulled a generic phone with a cat sticker from her purse and showed Jean a collection of pictures of herself, wearing her mask and jeans and sweats, a tiny human infant on her lap. Well, not fully human - maybe Jean wasn't fully versed on the anatomy of the dominant species of from this dimension, but the babies usually didn't have pointed ears.

"Yes ma'am!" said Percy with immediate respect, sounding a trifle younger than his years - but of course who could tell that with an elf. He didn't sound intimidated necessarily; just understanding in a way beings from Earth-Prime often weren't. "Angelic has been working closely with me for some time on importing new technologies for-." He looked at the Senator's spectral plight for a moment, hand on his chin, and said "Oh-hoh! I remember this one!" "Sweetling we said no business talk tonight," said Eira, taking Percy's arm. "Why don't you go get me a drink, yes?" She steered him off towards the bar, and an order of peppermint vodka. With Percy off for the moment, Eira went about networking, first with the current generation of Claremont students. Everyone got a smile and a handshake, and a business card pressed into their hand for KATASTROFF CONSULTING. "I'm looking to hire short and long-term interns to be the face of the next generation of technology experts," she said cheerfully, "if you're interested, come see me in the new year, yes?" Consuelo, who she'd met before, got a particular smile. "Interested?"

"Hey Jean," said Copycat, an air of cheerfulness surrounding what sounded like fatigue. She'd shot a look over at Carmen as they talked, but her erstwhile protege seemed to be handling things about as well as a teenager could. Can't fight all her battles for her. She fiddled with her left ring finger for a moment, missing the bands that of course she'd taken off to protect her identity in case the worst happened. "Told you that was the right color."

Neko This was - well, this was a challenge. Neko's childhood had been among people for whom single births were an ill omen indeed, twins were common, and triplets enough that she could remember far more than three. (Their magic, inside and out, certainly helped with this.) The Espadas household, a prosperous house where two women had had multiple children together with their husband, had been rather underpopulated by her standards. But this crowded room was full of children, all of whom had some sort of strange power. Even with the two men to help her, it was difficult. But not unpleasant. Sniffing the air, she directed Leon to a little girl who was proudly trotting around despite a filled nappy, got Horrorshow busy with the snack tray for the kids who couldn't or mustn't eat bread for whatever reasons, and never quite stopped moving. Things were going well so far; and a quick check of her phone's money app told her that she was making money! Well. They all were making money.

I think we're good, assuming she does touch down in range of Neko

At the bar, a woman in an ivory cat mask and black dress was sitting by herself. Protectron's powerful robot intellect had identified her as Copycat, a part-time heroine and former sidekick of the Raven's. She had headed straight for the bar and immediately ordered something strong. Oh great, the goddamned robot is judging me. She looked around. She'd talked with Fleur about how she'd be stopping by but not introducing herself; but none of the rest of the League had heard exactly about how the Patriot was going to be leaving the family, and the identity, home tonight. With a sigh, she said, "Fake drinks are never going to be as good as the real thing. How about just...hell, just a cold beer? Give me the best you've got."

Angelic Angelic looked from Percy to Ghost Girl, then back again, hesitating just a moment before she took his arm. "Come! There's someone I want you to meet!" She was still hovering just a little when she reached Ghost Girl and her spectral prisoner, to which she gave hardly a glance before she introduced the man she was with. Percy Pepparkaka looked rather like a romance novel hero to Kimber's eye; his skin tan, his stubble faintly present, his brown hair tousled, his body firm beneath his well-tailored suit. He also smelled like gingerbread, had pointed ears, sparkled with a familiar magic, at least to Kimber's eyes, and his suit was red velvet lined with white fur, matching Eira's Christmas-themed version of her usual costume. After Eira's introductions "This is Percy Pepparkaka, he is an engineer visiting us from an Arctic magical community," Percy said in a warm, honeyed voice - "Charmed! I had no idea Angelic knew so many important people." He smiled at the sight of Basil, Cassie, and the other young children, and then gave Eira a knowing wink. Eira winked back with the look of someone with a secret, then said "His dimension only intersects with this dimension from American Thanksgiving to January 5, so we are trying to have a little time to explore. Magic," said the young woman with absolutely no magical resonance on her at all, no more so than any other piece of machinery, "it can be very inconvenient! Percy, this is my tant Kimber. You had to work tonight too, yes?"

Owain's Concealment is up now - and affecting Starshine if @Tiffany Kortalets it.

All the soldiers were watching now, or at least as many as she could plausibly have arranged. Neko knew ways she could get all of their attention, but that she would not do, not for the attention of whatever stray kami with a fascination for medieval Japan had caused all of this. When she was done singing, she smiled and spread her arms. "<Now,>" she said, raising her voice so that it carried to the entire castle. "<You have shown me hospitality, great ones.>" She bowed and raised her head, and as she did so her eyes seemed to flare to brilliant gold, a tail unfolding behind her back and ears over her head - and then another tail, and another, as fire rose behind her. "<For that - you will live. IF! YOU! KNEEL!"> She snapped her fingers and ran as a demon rose behind her - its body vast and face unspeakable, horns writhing with the impaled, wailing bodies of the innocent, a red rain of blood dripping down its black, grotesquely swollen flesh as it bellowed to the sky. "<KNEEL! BEFORE! YAMA!>" Recognizing (with something of a shudder) one of Neko's favorite illusions, Kid Gawain dived behind the next line of defenses in the castle, diving into what he called in his mind the 'inner keep' even if he supposed it must have a different name in Japanese. This was not the first palace of a fey warlord he had breached, whether in stealth or any other disguise. As soon as they touched down, he reached for Starshine's hand and said aloud "Anweledig" before they vanished from view.

Okay, let me do some IC posting.

Eira's greeting of Voltage was friendly enough, as was her introduction of "Percy, from, ah, a magical community in the Arctic," to her uncle's old friend. She even brought herself almost down to ground level, her boots just barely touching the ground. She was about to ask after his welfare when there was a dramatic shift in circumstances. "Oj!" said Eira ebulliently as the Christmas tree opened up and discharged a family. Suddenly the hard-nosed very genius was a little girl meeting the Freedom League with her uncle and her American family all over again. "Look at that!" She grabbed Percy's arm, pointing excitedly at Fleur and her children. "Yes, it's very impressive," agreed Percy, sipping his peppermint white Russian cocktail. "Can she control all trees, or just the fir?" He caught her look and laughed. "älskling, of course I read your files. I know who these people are. A pleasure to meet you, Voltage - Percy Pepparkaka, at your service." Up close, the man smelled distinctly like - was that warm gingerbread?

When the doors were thrown open wide, the Patriot took the lead, even though everyone was distinctly sure she'd been in the back when Spaceman, La Puma Negra, and Golden Star worked together to throw the door open. The group found themselves in a room that looked like the master control room at NORAD from a WWIII movie, dotted with computers, keyboards, and a glowing map of the Earth on the wall. There were numbers counting down on the wall; it looked like they only had about twenty minutes until - something. "Hah!" Lady Liberty was hovering in the air, surrounded by a patriotic glow, as she confronted the heroes. "You're too late! In twenty minutes, this world will be free! No gods, no masters!" Without hesitation, the Patriot drew the gun at her side and licked off a shot at the floating heroine, which she dodged, leaving a noticeable divot behind in the steel ceiling. She looked like she had in her last news appearance, long black hair, red white and blue costume, but she seemed to glow from inside with a silver light, filigrees of circuitry visible beneath her skin. Meanwhile, Lady Liberty's compatriots squared off against the other teen heroes. "We don't have to do this," said a blue-haired. blue-colored, blue-bodied androgynous person who smiled at Spaceman with glowing silver eyes. "We can share what we are with everyone. No more wars, no more violence, no more supervillains!" "It's time for humans to evolve!" said a caramel-skinned woman in a green and purple unitard squaring off against Gamma Buzz. "Why should they be trapped in one body, one form? We don't need to selfishly horde our gifts." La Puma Negra got - well, she got something very familiar. It was clearly Neko, or something that looked very much like her, eyes silver, body lined with circuitry as she said, "La Puma Negraaaaa," said Neko, her voice a low, accented sing-song. "They'll never call you a freak again. Everyone will be special - just - like - you."

When she'd had enough sake that she felt pleasantly warm, Neko said "I better not. That is - a lot." She leaned on Leon as they walked, her footsteps a little shaky but not showing a sign of it on her face. "Idle wagering is no way to spend your time," said Owain in that gentle way that showed he actually meant it but didn't have any malice behind it. "But you are always welcome to ride a horse at my side." He hesitated a moment, then admitted, "I have thought - to try myself as a police rider." There were only a few cops here, since it was the Fens and all, and none of them were particularly close. "They seem a potent symbol. But to lie to find work is - an irksome thought. What are you doing to make money?" he asked the others.

Well, Neko's illusion + high interaction skills are not technically passable by bystanders. =D Are you looking for them to get into combat? I can take care of that, I had some ideas for the convenience store. But if we're doing something else you'd like to do now that we're out of it, that's fine too.

Okay. Let's talk about what your plans are so we don't step on each other again.