Gizmo

Jack poked the Zombie Power gingerly with the tip of his shimmering blade. "Holy snap, you guys, this is magic crack!" He turned to the others, gesturing emphatically with his free hand. "I mean, they're drugs... which are magic. It's all squicked with necro-juice. This is zombie blow." He paused, noting Colt and Grim's reactions. "C'mon, I'm not the only one who thinks that's just a little bit hilarious, right?"

I think either of those would be a good fit for Midnight! His style's pretty low on collateral damage, and the latter would give an in-game excuse for improving his detective skills over time.

You know I'm in, with both Jack and Midnight. Jack would probably work best in a thread set in the West End, so as to properly freak over collateral damage. Midnight could work anywhere, with anyone.

Jack regarded the airship dubiously. "Are you even old enough for a driver's license?" he asked dryly. When Geckoman expressed reluctance to his identity, the swordsman cocked his head to the side. "Huh. Thought you teen hero types were pretty loose with the names-and-faces stuff. Good to hear at least one of you takes the time to think things through." He nodded with approval. Many of the the swashbuckler's peers showed an annoying lack of regard for such things; it was hard to believe that he was considered the odd one for not giving his real name out at the drop of a hat. "Regardless, put that thing on a timer and set it on your... floaty... thing," Jack instructed, resuming his pose atop the unconscious Meta-Grue. "Then get over here for this; you can stick it a scrapbook, show your gecko-grandkids someday."

Jackalope tossed the grapple to its owner. "C'mon, Cali, you know I don't do the 'carried by my armpits' thing," he snorted with bucktoothed smirk. His human counter part snatched the device out of the air and cocked an eyebrow. "You know I heard that." Firing the grapple, he lept from the rooftop, swinging in the direction the winged cat had indicated. His antlered double followed suit, keeping pace with Jack with prodigious leaps.

"Pfft, check out Mr. Zombies-Are-No-Big," Jack snorted as he ambled over, flicking his arms to slough gore from his sleeves. Not for the first time, the swordsman was glad he'd included gloves in his outfit. "Who am I?" Jack spread his hands before him, palms outward and waving back and forth in mock panic. He adopted an exaggerated version of Colt's signature twang. "Zombies?! Why didn't nobody tell me 'bout all the zombies?! Nobody said nothin' bout no zombies!" Dropping his hands to his sides and resuming his normal tone, he cracked his neck. "And I'm going to assume you learned to do all that shooting on robot drones or something," he added dryly.

Skill Mastery Notice 20, Search (1d20=19)

Jack gave Breakdown a flat look. "That's not even a real thing," he accused before sighing and slowly circling around the insects frozen in mid-flight. "But okay, yeah, looks like we're doing the 'caught between ticks of the clock' thing. Which, besides being wacky fun, begs the question: where the heck did the machine go? It's not like anybody had, uh, time to move it while we were out..." A thought slowly dawned on him as he watched the others move about the warehouse. "...unless they're stuck just like we are."

Huh, good question. The zombie, plant... things just went on count 14. If Dead Head's on 16... erm... Darius, you wanna make a call?

*sigh* Yes, thank you, gentlemen. ... Haaave you met Trevor?

Alright, let's try this again! Midnight II is for sure, for realsies going live with the March PP awards. The plan is for him to move into the dorms just before Spring Break, so he'll have some time to settle in before starting classes. I want to run an introduction thread with him for that, and as many other threads, Claremont-related or otherwise, as I can get him into. Give a shout if you're interested or have an idea!

Landing lightly on the rooftop, Jack looked back and forth between Calico and Jackalope, opening his mouth as if to say something before snapping it shut and rubbing the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Alright, don't tell me," his antlered counterpart said, scratching his furry chin contemplatively. "You're... Man-drill of all Blades! Hugh-man?" The Earth-Prime swashbuckler gave him a long, nonplussed look before responding, more than a little disturbed to hear his voice coming from the five foot tall rabbit. "Uh... no. It's just 'Jack'." Jackalope clocked his head to one side, his long ears twitching. "...I don't get it." Jack sighed. "Alright, I assume the sooner we get this over with, the sooner I get to wake up." He turned to the winged cat, pointedly ignoring her very Mongrel-Angel-like flirtation. "We're looking for the, uh, other 'you', then?"

Jack scratched the back of his head with one hand, bemused. "Huh. For a cosmic big-bad, you kinda went out like a little punk there, huh?" he addressed the unconscious Meta-Grue. Turning to Geckoman, he shook the youth's hand. "Jack of all Blades. Most people just call me Jack, 'cause, y'know, economy of syllables. Plus it's faster to text." The swashbuckler had an admitted general dislike of teenaged heroes, simply feeling that it was too much responsibility for someone so young, but this kid thought Jack was awesome, so he clearly had a good head on his shoulders. A though occurred to him and he gave the green-suited teen a broad grin. "Oh, man, tell me you've got a camera on that, uh, thing," he said, nodding to the oddly shaped airship. Stepping over to the fallen alien, Jack placed one booted foot atop the Meta-Grue's chest, holding his energy sword aloft with one hand and placing the other jauntily on his hip. "Seriously, this is like a 'never pay for a drink again' quality story," he continued, before evaluating Geckoman contemplatively. "Or, I guess, milkshakes, in your case? Root beer floats? Are you old enough for coffee?" The fencer paused for a moment then snapped his fingers. "You will be able to ask any girl you want to the prom."

"One microcycle, please," Myshel responded to Atlas, tapping a touch screen to her left. Standing from her seat, she reached up and grasped a handle protruding from the ceiling and promptly yanking it downward. A surprisingly melodic but genderless voice chimed from the ship. "Initializing wormhole." Outside, points of light gathered on the tips of the four fins which extended from the rear of the vessel, and a growing hum could be heard rumbling from the engine room. On the bridge, the heroes watched as loose space debris swirled in front of them, caught in the pull of what looked like a sudden storm, crackling with energy. The Tempestian pilot sat back down and clipped a pair of interlocking belts across herself before turning to her passengers. "This timeagain you will definitely wishwant to sit down," she advised, indicating the seats in front of the various consoles on the bridge, as well as a row of chairs along the wall across from the panoramic screen. Jack took her advice, vaulting over the back of the chair adjacent to Myshel's pilot's console and strapping himself in. The 'storm' in front of them vaguely reminded his energy awareness of Phantom's dimension spanning magics, giving the sense of being in two places at once, across unimaginable distance. "So..." he said with a slight wince, "we're gonna fly right into that, huh?" The blue skinned alien woman turned to him with a wild, toothy grin. "Oh yes, Jackblade," she replied. Reaching up to rotate the extended handle ninety degrees, locking it into place, she pushed one of the control sticks in front of her all the way forward. The Flarerider surged forward, disappearing from the space above Earth into a tunnel of rippling blue light.

Jack of all Blades He Fights Meta Than You (7) Furry Fracas - Mythological Creatures (4) Interceptors: Liquid Therapy (9) Surely You Jest (8) IN SPAAAAACE! (6) [interceptors] Zombie Powder is a Helluva Drug (6) The Witch Doctor is IN (11) Green with Envy (6) Life's Bazaar (6) One of These is Not Like the Other (2) GM Only Posts Furry Fracas - Mythological Creatures (1) Furry Fracas - Ani-Earth's Finest (1) Furry Fracas - The God, The Baaad and The Nutty (1) IN SPAAAAACE! (5)

Jack of all Blades' light footed stance worked against him, and he skidded forward a few inches as the malicious doppelganger's gravimetric energies imploded. Digging the soles of his boots into the floor, the swordsman regained his balance just in time to watch their foe vanish from site. Even his metahuman energy awareness confirmed that the evil Dark Star had disappeared. "Uh... okay? Yay?" he said uncertainly, cocking one eyebrow. "Is that normal? 'Cause I gotta tell you, not helping my opinion of the cosmic stuff." While Avenger saw to his wife, the fencer looked about the library. "Huh. I kinda expected our Twinkle Twinkle to just show up once laughing boy was dealt with. You don't think he's really...? I mean, c'mon, it's Dark Star, right?" Jack's sixth sense put him in a unique position to appreciate just how powerful the space faring hero really was, and it was tough to imagine anything doing much more than slowing him down. Then again, they'd just defeated his wicked double, so evidently it was possible. Irksome as he found the straight-laced boyscout, Jack still considered him an ally on friendly terms, and above all a decent man. The swashbuckler hoped there as still time to save him.

Ha, sorry Geez! To be fair, I sure this won't get going in earnest for a while, so there's so immediate rush.

There's been enough interest in this to justify coming up with some stats for these guys. Each amalgamated character has a number of PP equal to the highest total among it's component parts. If you were combining a 90PP character and a 150PP character, for example, the result would be constructed from 150PP. If you have an idea for your amalgamation different from the one presented here, post the concept here first, to make sure you 'get it'. Likewise, if you ave any questions, fire away. Taking a look at these scans from the original Amalgam Comics is highly recommended! Assuming this does make it into practice, what say you, refs? Each post from the amalgam worth 1/2 post for each component character?

I think you're up regardless, Cy. Jack was just reacting there, after the plants took their turn by attacking him.

"Oh, well, yuck," Jack grimaced as he dodged the plant creatures' attacks. As the pollen crashed against the door frame, he reflected that it was thoughtful of the monsters to colour-code themselves for his convenience. "We got Mama Nasty in here," he called out to the others in the backyard, "and she is pumping these Mushroom Kingdom rejects out. Keep an eye on the yellow ones, they're trying to give me hay fever or something."

"And we can take your guns away, chucklehead," Jack retorted. "I've got the stabby bits built in. What are you gonna do if I start waving three feet of pointy hellfire around while you're trying to hold me down? You guys could put me out, but not before somebody gets seriously jacked up." The fencer paused. "Pun not intended." Honestly, he didn't like Colt and Grim's chances in a melee fight against him period, but he wasn't about to get into that discussion.

Alternative Ideas: Lidaelle + Dead Head = Katie Dead: Surprisingly upbeat teen zombie infested with various insects. Jester + Tempest = The Pest: Puckish elemental sprite. Malice + Anybody = Uh Oh: + Jester = Jealous, + Magnificent = Maleficent, + Colt = Moar Dakka, etc. Young Freedom + The Midnighters + The Knights of Freedom = The Young Mid-Knights: Kinda like if the Scoobie Gang were the monsters. Jack of all Blades + Anybody = Some Guy Named Jack: It's like taking 10 on naming: Grim Jack, Doktor Jack, Jack of all Bows, etc. Gossamer + Fleur de Joie = Ivy: She got vines! For hair! Breakdown + Magnificent = Sensational: A Magician Named GOB... only awesome.

The idea arose in chat last night of a story where characters are merged together in the style of Amalgam Comics. We batted around a few variations, including combining PCs with other PCs, combining them with setting NPCs like the Freedom League and combining all of each player's active characters together. For reference, here's some of the results we came up with for the last one: Avenger + Edge + Freedom Angel = Longinus: Bat-winged fallen angel cast out for manipulating fate to help mortals. Now living on Earth, he continues to help the helpless, combining the strength of the righteous with the devil's own luck! Phalanx + Ace Danger = Dangerproof: Ancient mystic secrets gifted charismatic adventurer Ace Harris with invulnerability to all harm. The Man Who Cannot Be Killed travels the world foiling the schemes of SHADOW and other villainous organizations! Phantom + Psyche = Pasithea: Charged with protecting the collective unconsciousness of all humanity, this cloaked figure patrols the dreamscape, ensuring that the it says separate from the waking world.* Dark Star + Hellion = Darkfire: Young and arrogant, Derrik Profit sought to remove the demonic half of his nature with an occult ritual. Instead, he was transformed into a being of pure, pitch black hellfire possessing immeasurable power! Doktor Archeville + Dead Head = Doktor Totenkopf: An unfortunate accident in the lab ended the life of Doktor Archeville, but gave rise to the ghostly apparition known as Doktor Totenkopf! He still doesn't believe in magic, though. Arrowhawk + Geckoman = The Hawk: Chris MacKenzie was an average Scottish youth until an accident granted him superhuman eyesight and aim, retractable talons he could use to scale walls and a lightweight skeleton aiding amazing acrobatics! Wander + Fleur de Joie = Walkabout: On a parallel Earth, a nanotech virus turned all organic life into mindless automatons save for one girl, who used her powers over plant life to survive and fight back against the technological terrors! Atlas + Jester = Punchline: Grue experiments unhinged the mind of the man known only as Punchline but granted him a malleable, shapeshifting form, making him like unto a living cartoon! A very strong cartoon with a penchant for slapstick... Jack of all Blades + Midnight II = Nick of Time: A throwback to an earlier time, this hero is instantly recognizable by the "24/7" emblazoned on his costume. Absorbing energy rather than sleeping, Nick of Time is always on the clock! Grimalkin + Gossamer = Rapunzel: When Lynn de Havilland was a baby, she was switched with a changeling and brought to live in the fearie realms. Returning as an adult woman, her animated blonde locks are only the first of the powers she has learned! Divine + Seraph = Beholder: The daughter of Aphrodite and Apollo, Faith Morley is a goddess in her own right. Running a popular beauty spa in the West End, she possesses the divine ability to bring out the inner beauty - or the true face of evil - in her clients. Mongrel Angel + Aiko = Karakuri: A winged automaton covered in filigree and delicate etchings, Karakuri's artificial intelligence developed the spark of true sentience. She searches for the meaning of humanity while living up to her angelic appearance. Breakdown + Colt = Hoedown: Eddie Reynolds might not know much about this 'popular music', but he knows what he likes! With his trusty acoustic guitar and amazing sonic powers, he's ready to herd the bad guys right outta town!** Quark + Wesley Knight = Darian Knight: Growing up in a small auto-plant town, Darian was never going to be able to afford university. Using his biokinetic powers, he transformed his body and mind to their peak, becoming the ultimate student and earning his choice of scholarships. Scarab + Zephyr + Black Hand = Scarab Infinity: Decades in the future, the superpowerless teenage daughter of the very last incarnation of the Scarab dons a reflex-enhancing suit to carry on the name and prove that justice is truly eternal. Lidaelle + Magnificent = Valentine: Beautiful assistant to a stage magician, "Valentine" was bonded to an insect-like demon thanks to her boss's clumsy forays into true sorcery. Now, in times of stress, she transforms into an armored, supernatural monster! *Doc A had a differnet name for this one, but its completely slipped my mind. **... and he's a werewolf. Sorry, quote, Lukos is odd wolf out.

Jack shrugged irritably. "What am I, a zombologist? I don't know." Seeing his teammates fell the undead horde one at a time with their firearms was frustrating for the fencer, and not just because of his strong dislike of guns in the first place. The hero wasn't one to sit out a crisis and let others handle things. At this rate, by the time the shambling monsters had gotten close enough for him to work, there would be little left for him to do. As a trio of zombies crashed through the window and tore their way inside the house, he made up his mind. "Right, you ugly cusses, time for a lesson in why Jack of all Blades is the sex," he informed his oblivious opponents as he stalked forward, shimmering blade held loosely at his side. As he approached, one of the creatures finally noticed him and looked up, just in time to have it's skull bisected directly through its gummy orbs. Capitalizing on the momentum of his swing, Jack carved the next zombie in line from the top of its ear down through its opposite shoulder before pressing on and splitting the third from its navel to its scalp. Brushing past the corpses as they toppled to the floor, the swashbuckler casually skewered the beast immediately outside the broken window through is vacant face. "Pheh," he grunted in disdain, vaulting over the shards of glass and outside. The leap added power to a broad swing that brought down another set of zombies before the swordsman's feet had touched the ground. Bounding forward again, he began to cut a swath through the mob, gore and partially congealed body fluids trailing from his energy rapier as he moved through the crowd with a deadly grace. For once Jack was able to cut loose and reveal the full extent of his terrible mastery.

Alright, after extensive discussion in chat, we've determined that by taking 10 on Power Attacks, Jack will automatically take out every zombie he can reach. To that end, he's gonna use Takedown Attack 2 to do this: Take out the three zombies that crawled in the window Step to the window Take out the single zombie on the other side Step outside through the window Take out the five zombies surrounding the space outside the window Use his remaining four steps to reach three more zombies apiece Which totals 21 zombies taken down. Which is awesome.