Action, Adventure, Excitement, Part 5 Amalgam - Chapter 3 Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 22:32:16 -0700 (PDT) Subject: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Final Chapter On Tue, 27 Jul 1999 22:06:56 -0700 Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007020 >On Sun, 11 Jul 1999 23:33:24 -0700 >Rob N Said As CAoL Message # 00007005 > >>On Sun, 11 Jul 1999 17:26:50 -0700 >>Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007003 [snip-parry-thrust-slash-parry-riposte-snip] >With that, Batroc leaps forward, evades a counterstrike, and kicks at >Rob's chin. The blow is blocked by a hand wrapped in red energy. > >"Alors! Your hand feels like iron to punch. You may be a challenge >worthy of the great Batroc." > >"Good. I'd hate for you to get bored." Batroc is good, and none too worried about being sneaky or ruthless, but his honor is impeccable - any time one of the other SMoV types tries to jump in, he either gives them a scathing look or literally slaps them away (NEVER to a woman, of course!). >On Tue, 13 Jul 1999 20:42:01 EDT >Dane Said As CAoL Message # 00007008 >Then Galdru stops a spell cast in the middle to scratch his chest, >and another bolt gets through to him. He shakes the blow off and >resumes the fight, only to stop to scratch again. Soon he seems to >lose interest in the fight, only able to stop scratching long enough >to TRY to hold back the beating that the Starspawn is dishing out to >him. Then even that slips out of the realm of his ability as he >devotes his entire attention to TRYING to rid himself of a maddening >itch that consumes his entire body, rendering him unable to >concentrate on anything else. As his ability to fight slackens, so >does Aurora's attack. Finally as he tries to tear himself apart to >stop the itch, she smiles and stops hammering on him. *"I will be >more merciful to you than you would have been with me,"* she says. >With a sweep of her hand she creates a warp around him that deposits >him back in his home. *"The itch will go away of it's own accord >within a few hours. Face me again in battle and I will not be so >merciful."* Dusting herself off, she looks around to see who remains >on the battle field. (OOC: ROFL!!! Defeating a Galactus/Mordru amalgam with what is basically a bad case of poison ivy...priceless. ;^) General Zemo glances to one side, concerned. He is the second most powerful being on the battlefield, as far as he can tell...but being encased in a block of Green-K is not his idea of a good time. *Deat-walker, I suggest zet you do zometing quickly,* he sends, his concern thickening his accent. *Calm youself, Zemo. I have a plan.* Deathwalker's mind races - actually, her Starspawn contingencies are rapidly dwindling - but after a moment she smiles inwardly. Tossing Mary Marvel aside with a TK burst, she holds out her hand. One of Dormammu's Black Diamonds appears, and she tosses it towards Aurora. It lands well short of her...and begins to grow, like a seed. "Be reborn...Fek Fang Flame!" A dragon-like creature sheathed in dark green fire, what can be seen of its body looking like a somewhat gelatinous skeleton, bursts from the 'seed' and looks around. "Eh? What? Oh. A summoning. How...quaint. It is a hideous monstrosity of a mockery of a dragon, the 'flames' almost dripping like toxic waste or burning venom...except for the eyes, which are heart-breakingly beautiful and filled with compassion. False compassion. It (he?) turns to Aurora, looks back at Deathwalker, seems to think for a moment...then comes to a decision. "I can always eat her later," FFF (who is, FTR, an amalgam of a Bane spirit from Werewolf, Fin Fang Foom from Marvel, and IIRC the fiery Apokolips construct Brimstone, though it's been argued that it might have been one of the DCU's demons instead) comments dryly, looking Aurora over casually, "but if I start hhunting around here I suspect you'll take offense. You Incarnae can be sooo touchy about a few million spirits getting munched." He shoots off a bilious green jet of 'flame' from his mouth and gazes almost lovingly into Aurora's eyes...DAMN, that's distracting... >On Wed, 14 Jul 1999 19:00:37 EDT >SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00007009 > >In a message dated 7/11/99 8:36:24 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >ljwolfe writes: >> OOC: Bingo. This Xanatos is the 'reformed' version, though with >>soch a richly developed, complex character the most appropriate >>description would be that he's 'gained perspective.' Being a >>father'll do that. > >Ain't that the truth. I always did love the way that Gargoyles always >handled the moral ambiguity in so many of their storylines. Damn, but >I miss that series! "This is my first stab at cliche'd villainy. How'm I doing?" Xanatos, while using 'standard heroes-tied-to-bomb deathtrap' #1. >> At that point, an absolutely _stunning_ redhead appears-no, wait, >>it's just a hologram. And for all that she actually draws some >>stares from 'Zia Powers,' folx get the feeling that the holo doesn't >>do her justice. >> "All right," she says in a no-nonsense voice, hands on hips, >>staring straight at Roger, "what's going on out here?" > >[I do NOT have Dad's weakness for redheads, I do NOT have Dad'd >weakness for redheads, I do NOT....] The redhead actually _smiles_ at this. Like Zia's little trick, it not mindreading, just circumstance-reading. >"Ah, there's a great deal going on 'out here' right at the moment. >Did you have anything in particular in mind? And may I ask who you >are, milady?" He cocks his eyebrows politely at the gorgeous redhead, >opening his empathic reception slightly in an attempt to determine >what kind of person(?) she is. A holo of the lady herself, as it happens. Florimel, Princess in Amber, her royal gorgeousness, who's apparently wondering what idiot came along and Pattern-shifted one of HER Shadows. "You...may call me Flora. Specifically, I was wondering who is responsible for this..." she gestures at the sprawling battle. "...mess." >On Wed, 14 Jul 1999 19:00:39 EDT >SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00007010 >He takes Axel's head gently between his hands, fingers falling into >something resembling a Vulcan mindmeld pose. "All right. The key is >to remember that _you_are_the_Access_. Ja'dur is older, nastier, >trickier, and more experienced, not to mention being an utter genius >--which is how she got control of your powers to begin with-- but >she's not you. She doesn't have your connection to the Interface, >she's a usurper of your rightful position. You *can* break her hold. >You *can* control this amalgamation....just....concentrate. With. >Me." Axel begins to sweat. [Damn...this is worse than what Darkseid pulled...] There's a 'popping' sound as reality begins to warp even further. Super-Defender wasn't a true Amalgam before; he just had a bit of the 'spirit' of the two Boy Scouts of their respective universes helping out. But now, his armor swirls and thins, and before long a blond version of the world's most famous spit-curl is peeking out from the top of a K-metal topless cowl. Several feet away, Morgan grows about six inches, bulks out, and her costume gets even skimpier, down to a strapless red bathing suit with twin golden 'Ws' over the...ahem...bosom, red boots, and a cape, with a star-spangled shield now complementing the sword. Morgan Wanda-Woman turns on a suddenly concerned Darth Kahless...and smiles, eyes glinting coolly. "bIjeghbe'chugh vaj bIHegh!" DK's eyes narrow, lips curling into a snarl as the Force pulls a strength-Bane into his body to match her Amazonian power. "I am not afraid to die, human. Are you?" Her expression cools further, the smile practically covering in frost. "Been there. Done that. Skipped the T-Shirt." And with that, the two howl in fury as Klingon/Sith training clashes with Amazon/Highlander skill... (OOC: FTR, the Wonder Woman Amalgamated herein is Hypolyta; in modern continuity, she was the Golden Age WW. Hey, let's add to the insanity even more! Anyone _else_ want to amalgamate themselves? ) >On Wed, 14 Jul 1999 20:38:17 -0400 >Caprice Said As CAoL Message # 00007012 > What is there is a figure standing mid-air near where the villian >was. Superfically, she looks like a woman in her twenties in a >shimerring jumper-dress. Then the details leap out at you. The irises >of her eyes are filled with a constantly shifting Mandelbrot set. The >necklace around her neck is a smooth metal strip with a half-twist in >the loop. Those with the ability to do so would recognize her as a >spirit. A Paradox Spirit. /Oh, my,/ Roland Rogers-Kent sends across the lens-link. /Folx, be nice to the reality cop, please. Even if my hunch about the lady is wrong, from the things I've heard you _don't_ want to end up in a Paradox Realm./ "Hello, ma'am," Super-Defender says to her, not even _risking_ a telepathic 'knock.' "This may sound hard to swallow, but we're actually trying to _stop_ the reality-fluctuations here." >On Thu, 22 Jul 1999 07:52:37 -0700 (PDT) >Rob N Said As CAoL Message # 00007017 > >>On Tue, 20 Jul 1999 15:55:33 -0700 (PDT) >>The Lone One Said As CAoL Message # 00007016 >> >> The big demon's eyes glowed briefly in response to the Adept's >>chant before her lids fell. When they reopened, they shone even >>brighter, almost seeming to cast their own light. The sword came up, >>and she tensed, eyes oddly blank. Cap turns, concerned. "Holy Moley." >>>On Tue, 13 Jul 1999 06:06:59 -0500 >>>Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00007006 >>> >>> Suddenly, a pair of springy googley-eyed glasses appeared over >>>Ringwraith Master's eyes, with a pair of mirrored lenses, the >>>mirrored side on the inside, superglued to them, then the whole >>>contraption superglued to his face. (OOC R & M: ROFL!!! Inspired, as always...) >No longer controlled, the Ringwraiths gather their fallen comrades, >and one approaches Raver. "We resent being used like pawns as well. >Would you allow us our revenge on that?" it asks, pointing at the >Ringwraith Master. Deathwalker sighs. "The only human saying worth a damn: 'If you want something done _right,_ do it yourself.' Enough is enough." She holds out her hand, and small black pods fly forward. They shift and swirl, screaming like Shadow vessels (the B5 aliens, not the Amber dimensions) as they become biotech versions of Ultron's servitor-Manhunters. "Obviously you've never read Spider Robinson," Roland quips dryly. /She's right about one thing, though - enough _is_ enough. This is only going to end if one of us can reach her. Any ideas?/ (OOC: Well, it's been fun - sometimes - but the game only really took off at the end, and it's fairly obvious that the gag's been run to ground. So, who wants to nail the baddie and rescue the damsel in distress? Roland would, but he's happily married. ) ================================= Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 08:56:04 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Final Chapter On Wed, 28 Jul 1999 08:27:40 -0700 (PDT) Rob N Said As CAoL Message # 00007021 On Tue, 27 Jul 1999, L.J. Wolfe wrote: > Batroc is good, and none too worried about being sneaky or >ruthless, but his honor is impeccable - any time one of the other >SMoV types tries to jump in, he either gives them a scathing look or >literally slaps them away (NEVER to a woman, of course!). (Several shattered trees, bent lampposts, and splintered park benches later) [Okay. He's fast, strong, and knows several styles. But he doesn't know anything I can't handle - I just can't get the advantage on him, even with the reaction headache gone. And Deathwalker is the real problem anyway. Time to get some information...] As they continue their fight, Rob begins retreating, with a specific destination in mind. Every time he passes within six feet of a CAoL telepath, he sends a telepathic burst. *Relay please:* *Roland* *who the* *heck is* *deathwalker?* [snip of Super-Defender and Wanda-Woman] > (OOC: FTR, the Wonder Woman Amalgamated herein is Hippolyta; in >modern continuity, she was the Golden Age WW. Hey, let's add to the >insanity even more! Anyone _else_ want to amalgamate themselves? >) (OOC: Unfortunately, the only logical choice to meld with "asian male, student of Ler Drit" isn't a nice guy...) [^As Master Bison commands, I obey.^] [Ryu? Is that you?] [^As Master Bison commands, I obey.^] [Ryu, what are you talking ab...uh-oh...] Rob's clothing shapeshifts into a gray gi, as a black piece of cloth forms into a headband. Since the only other player on the field familiar with Street Fighter history is Power Fist, this is notable, but not a major concern - for most people. Suddenly, the tables turn. Batroc the Terminator is good, but with Ryu amalgamated in, there's no contest. Even though this is Ryu from before he earned World Warrior status. "SHORYU-REPPA!" Multiple Dragon punches make for a powerful argument. As Batroc falls, Rob/Ryu turns to face the brawl, and dark energies flare around him... (TBC) (OOC: The best compilation of Street Fighter history I've seen states that some time before Ryu made World Warrior, M. Bison managed to turn Ryu to the dark side for a short while.) ================================= Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 17:02:41 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Final Chapter On Fri, 30 Jul 1999 19:48:00 -0400 Zia Said As CAoL Message # 00007022 >On Tue, 27 Jul 1999 22:06:56 -0700 >Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007020 > > A holo of the lady herself, as it happens. Florimel, Princess in >Amber, her royal gorgeousness, who's apparently wondering what idiot >came along and Pattern-shifted one of HER Shadows. > "You...may call me Flora. Specifically, I was wondering who is >responsible for this..." she gestures at the sprawling battle. >"...mess." "Phoenix Powers" snaps back into Ziactrice in her Fleet black uniform with a snap of probability that might seem almost painful in degree and suddenness. She staggers a second, putting the heel of one palm against her temple in a reaction resembling severe vertigo. "Greetings, Princess Florimel." She says, formally. Forcing some semblance of calm respect, she curtseys VERY slowly and carefully. "I am not responsible, although I fear my presence might be exacerbating the degree of, ah..." She looks around, "messiness." "We came to free a young lady taken hostage and brought here. That fellow," she nods at Amalgam, "Seems to be amplifying the shadow-twisting to a degree that is near beyond my skill to resist. Either that or there is some feedback harmonic oscillating between his powers and mine, perhaps even yours of this shadow. If you're feeling charitable, you might see that the young lady escapes. I will go immediately, or stay as you desire. I meant no intrusion, Aunt, truly." Ziactrice P.S. I would have 'smashed the baddy' more effectively, but I've lost track of which baddy HAS Mary and how, in the confusion. :) Also lost track of which me was here, as Mike so delicately covered. ================================= Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 05:54:09 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Final Chapter On Mon, 02 Aug 1999 07:55:58 -0400 Caprice Said As CAoL Message # 00007023 >On Tue, 27 Jul 1999 22:06:56 -0700 >Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007020 *snip* > /Oh, my,/ Roland Rogers-Kent sends across the lens-link. /Folx, be >nice to the reality cop, please. Even if my hunch about the lady is >wrong, from the things I've heard you _don't_ want to end up in a >Paradox Realm./ > "Hello, ma'am," Super-Defender says to her, not even _risking_ a >telepathic 'knock.' "This may sound hard to swallow, but we're >actually trying to _stop_ the reality-fluctuations here." Well, Roland has caught the woman's attention... which is probably just as well concidering she had been starting to eye poor Roger. "I dislike...messes. I intend to see that this one is... cleaned up." Her voice has a... hint of reverb to it. She doesn't say of course, what will happen if SHE'S forced to clean up the mess, but there is a feeling that it would not be good. She moves to the side of the battle, and just... watches through narrowed eyes. [OOC: I've been rather ill IRL. So sorry I haven't been posting much. Any leftover enemies that need eliminating, have them be stupid and attack her... they will simply... vanish (taken off to a paradox realm). She can do that with anything about up to Aurora's level of strength. She is one of THE most powerful Correspondance paradox spirits, and right now she is Not Happy.] ================================= Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 21:07:09 -0700 (PDT) Subject: AAE5: Amalgamtion On Tue, 3 Aug 1999 23:07:03 -0400 (EDT) Shadow Said As CAoL Message # 00007024 John steps through the way to the Amalgam universe and examines the landscape, slightly ignoring the villians. When Deathwalker introduces herself John's head snaps around with a muttered, "Sleepy?" Then he shakes his head negatively. {post munching} He starts toward the ringwraiths when they are giving Rob trouble with a small smile on his face. It quickly disappears as a flaming trident slams into the Earth in front of him. A voice rings out, "Step forward and face the corrupting touch of my Hellfire Trident." John turns to his left the face the author of that voice, "And who are you?" The trident fades out and reappears in the hands of the arrogant man facing John. "I am Lucian Hellstrom, son of the now deposed and defeated Demon Lord Tantalus." John thinks hard a moment, "Lucian.. Hellstrom.. Tantatalus.. _those two_? What a mismatch. You probably got all the bad qualities from them both as well. Let me guess, you're quick to anger, somewhat clumsy, have low self-esteem, and you're none too bright in the bargain as well." Lucian, whose face darkened as John went through his recital of faults, throws the trident at the space John had just been in with a roar. John rolls to his feet and materializes his staff. With a quick twirl John centers the staff in both hands and waits for Lucian's next move. He didn't have long to wait. Trident back in hand, Lucian moves in on John, swinging hard. John ducks one sweep, let's a thrust go past him, and then parries the third. Something explodes. When the dust settles John is lying 10 feet from Lucian, who has an annoyingly condescending smirk on his face. Lucian advances on the stunned John and holds the trident at his throat. "This _mismatch_ seems to have been enough to kill you." John looks up at him weakly, "Not.. finished.. yet.." "Oh, but I think you are." Lucian's muscles tense for the final shove when something small lands on his back screaming in a high pitched voice, "You let him go. You're an evil man. Bad Bad Bad Bad..." What looks a chubby little miniature John with huge eyes is beating Lucian over the head with a small staff while repeating the word 'bad'. /Everyone, I present to you... Chibi-me./ John sends. (OOC: Chibi is what a little kid version of a regular character is called. And for those of you paying attention to such things, it's a fully formed mental construct.) /Heavens save us, now we're doomed./ Rhia follows with a mental groan. Lucian reaches back over his shoulder, "Get OFF!!" Grabbing Chibi-John, he throws him as far as he can. The little guy performs a mid-air somersault and lands on his feet. He looks at Lucian with big, sad, wet eyes, "You're not nice. " Lucian levels the trident at Chibi-John with a roar. "Barbeque time," he growls. A bolt of Daemonic corruption flies from it, quickly followed by others. Chibi-John 'eeps', then runs around with arms and legs flailing, "Aaaaahhhhhhhh!" Lucian stalks the tyke, but can't seem to hit him, blowing big holes in the ground. Lucian stops firing, having lost track of his target, "Stand still you little nuisance." Chibi-John stops in front of Lucian. "O.K.," he says, then punches him in the jimmies. As Lucian bends over in pain, he delivers a flying roundhouse kick to the side of the head, knocking him out. He then jumps on his chest and every time Lucian seems about to come to, he baps him on the head with his stick. John slowly gets up and walks over to see/take part in the finale. (To be followed by Rhia's actions as soon as I write them) Rhia stopped by a small man with a cane. ""We are..," a vicious and nasty looking group of Hobbits pop out of the ground in front of her, "..The Underhills." ================================= Date: Sun, 8 Aug 1999 22:33:25 -0700 (PDT) Subject: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Wrapping Up On Sun, 08 Aug 1999 21:33:06 -0700 Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007025 >On Fri, 30 Jul 1999 19:48:00 -0400 >Zia Said As CAoL Message # 00007022 > >"Phoenix Powers" snaps back into Ziactrice in her Fleet black uniform >with a snap of probability that might seem almost painful in degree >and suddenness. She staggers a second, putting the heel of one palm >against her temple in a reaction resembling severe vertigo. >"Greetings, Princess Florimel." She says, formally. Forcing some >semblance of calm respect, she curtseys VERY slowly and carefully. "I >am not responsible, although I fear my presence might be exacerbating >the degree of, ah..." She looks around, "messiness." > >"We came to free a young lady taken hostage and brought here. That >fellow," she nods at Amalgam, "Seems to be amplifying the >shadow-twisting to a degree that is near beyond my skill to resist. >Either that or there is some feedback harmonic oscillating between >his powers and mine, perhaps even yours of this shadow. If you're >feeling charitable, you might see that the young lady escapes. I will >go immediately, or stay as you desire. I meant no intrusion, Aunt, >truly." Flora regards her niece calmly. "I see." She glances at Mary Marvel Girl, then at Super-Defender. "It's times like this that remind me why I stay in Shadow." After a lingering moment, she smiles. "Ah, well. I owe a debt here anyway." *Thorion? Thorion, my love, would you come to Earth? There's an awful mess down here, and you _know_ how I hate getting caught up in these things.* >P.S. I would have 'smashed the baddy' more effectively, but I've lost >track of which baddy HAS Mary and how, in the confusion. :) Also lost >track of which me was here, as Mike so delicately covered. to Mike> OOC: Mary is free; the local Mary amalgam has taken her place as hostage/host body. Mary Marvel has been battered around a bit; MM Girl seems to be a psi on top of the raw power of a Shazam, though Deathwalker's about to switch bodies again. Lots of other villains to smash, though. This is the last post that involves problems for the party, so run wild. >On Mon, 02 Aug 1999 07:55:58 -0400 >Caprice Said As CAoL Message # 00007023 > >Well, Roland has caught the woman's attention... which is probably >just as well concidering she had been starting to eye poor Roger. "I >dislike...messes. I intend to see that this one is... cleaned up." >Her voice has a... hint of reverb to it. > >She doesn't say of course, what will happen if SHE'S forced to clean >up the mess, but there is a feeling that it would not be good. She >moves to the side of the battle, and just... watches through narrowed >eyes. The Absorbing Parasite isn't having a good day. The Secret Masters of Villainy are being trounced, Ultron is down and General Zemo is losing to some Super-Soldier wannabe. In short, he needs power. And looky there, some 'skirt' with lots o' power, and 'obviously' no idea how to use it properly. So he swings his wrecking ball around, and does the Thor thing, flying towards the lady with the Mandelbrot eyes. He never reaches her... (OOC: Have fun, Caprice! ) >On Tue, 27 Jul 1999 22:06:56 -0700 >Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007020 >Several feet away, Morgan grows about six inches, bulks out, and her >costume gets even skimpier, down to a strapless red bathing suit with >twin golden 'Ws' over the...ahem...bosom, red boots, and a cape, with >a star-spangled shield now complementing the sword. Morgan >Wanda-Woman turns on a suddenly concerned Darth Kahless...and smiles, >eyes glinting coolly. "bIjeghbe'chugh vaj bIHegh!" > > DK's eyes narrow, lips curling into a snarl as the Force pulls a >strength-Bane into his body to match her Amazonian power. "I am not >afraid to die, human. Are you?" > >Her expression cools further, the smile practically covering in >frost. "Been there. Done that. Skipped the T-Shirt." > > And with that, the two howl in fury as Klingon/Sith training >clashes with Amazon/Highlander skill... Steel clashes with light-betleH as two of the greatest warriors who will ever exist dance in an unbelievable blur of motion. Their duel is such poetry in motion as to make a blademaster weep with joy. In fact, the true Kahless catches the battle out of the corner of his eye (as he thumps Soniklaw unconscious and moves to the next villain) and begins to sing in the great, deep-throated classic voice of Klingon opera. He keeps fighting, of course. > Deathwalker sighs. "The only human saying worth a damn: 'If you >want something done _right,_ do it yourself.' Enough is enough." She >holds out her hand, and small black pods fly forward. They shift and >swirl, screaming like Shadow vessels (the B5 aliens, not the Amber >dimensions) as they become biotech versions of Ultron's >servitor-Manhunters. > "Obviously you've never read Spider Robinson," Roland quips dryly. >/She's right about one thing, though - enough _is_ enough. This is >only going to end if one of us can reach her. Any ideas?/ Roland's eyes brighten. [Hee. Why didn't I think of this before?] He vanishes, leaving a surprised General Zemo to slash through empty air. "Vas...? HA! Coward! ZAT will teach you to battle General Ze-" A small 'boom' of outrushing air heralds the return of Super-Defender...holding what looks like a small satellite dish with a pistol grip. "Nein...NEIN!!!" Zemo screams, as a black beam lances out. An instant later, General Zemo vanishes. "Give my regards to the Phantom Negative Zone," Roland laughs, as he drops the Phantom Negative Projector. It vanishes, returning to the Fortress of Justice before it hits the ground. He then turns to face Mary Marvel Girl. MM Girl is standing there, looking dazed. "Eh?" Roland blurts brilliantly, turning. The Super-Amazoid morphs, shifting, twisting, becoming the spitting image of Deathwalker...if Deathwalker ever wore the Iron Lantern armor (sans helmet), carried Super-Soldier's shield, and wielded the hammer of Thorion. A moment later, Access screams and falls to his knees, and the non-DC or Marvel sections of Amalgams vanish, save those still on the battlefield. (Such as Fek Fang Foom if still conscious, the Kahlesses, and anyone else that folx are still having fun with. 8^) "Now then. I have released those other bodies that you cosmic meddlers were so concerned about, set this reality right, and the Super-Amazoid is by no means sentient. You can allow me to go on my way...or you can face a one-woman Justice League: Avengers, with the ability to mimic any power you interlopers wield against me." Deathwalker's eyes narrow. "My patience is at an end. I only wanted to restore my people to their former glory, but when I cloned a new race of Dilgar to return to the stars, what did they do? They DEFIED me! Humanity must have tainted them somehow - all they wanted was to live in 'peace' with other, lesser races, despite the powers I gave them! So I left them to their fate and sought out my original goal - immortality, with which to contemplate the future. I now have that. You can abandon your foolish quest...or you can die, throwing yourselves on the jagged rocks of my power. "Which will it be?" Roland smiles thinly. "Deathwalker, you're responsible for the death of billions. If you think I'm going to just let you walk, you're even crazier than I thought. As for jagged rocks, I've survived antimatter bombs." /Okay, so I died. I got better, didn't I? The Marys are free, so anyone who wants out, now's the time./ OOC: Yeah, right. Everyone pile on the villain! Bonus points for cleverness; remember, the Super-Amazoid mimics powers. Go to town! Now kids, I expect the supervillain to be cleaned up by the time I get back from the San Diego ComicCon, okay? PS: If I missed anything, feel free to stick it in somewhere. Your GM's been pretty stealidy rifed for a...erm...can you say 'burnout?' Sure, I knew that you could... ================================= Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 08:32:58 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Wrapping Up On Mon, 9 Aug 1999 08:20:35 -0700 (PDT) Rob N Said As CAoL Message # 00007026 >On Sun, 08 Aug 1999 21:33:06 -0700 >Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007025 > >>Rob N Said As CAoL Message # 00007021 > >>As Batroc falls, Rob/Ryu turns to face the brawl, and dark energies >>flare around him... The energy intensifies, then concentrates in Ryu Nishikawa's hands... >A moment later, Access screams and falls to his knees, and the >non-DC or Marvel sections of Amalgams vanish, save those still on the >battlefield. (Such as Fek Fang Foom if still conscious, the >Kahlesses, and anyone else that folx are still having fun with. 8^) ...and disappears, as Ryu fades from the amalgam. [Now I know how Ryu does that...I'll have to practice it later.] > "Now then. I have released those other bodies that you cosmic >meddlers were so concerned about, set this reality right, and the >Super-Amazoid is by no means sentient. You can allow me to go on my >way...or you can face a one-woman Justice League: Avengers, with the >ability to mimic any power you interlopers wield against me." >Deathwalker's eyes narrow. "My patience is at an end. I only wanted >to restore my people to their former glory, but when I cloned a new >race of Dilgar to return to the stars, what did they do? They DEFIED >me! Humanity must have tainted them somehow - all they wanted was to >live in 'peace' with other, lesser races, despite the powers I gave >them! "Couldn't have been a botched cloning job, no..." > Roland smiles thinly. "Deathwalker, you're responsible for the >death of billions. If you think I'm going to just let you walk, >you're even crazier than I thought. As for jagged rocks, I've >survived antimatter bombs." > /Okay, so I died. I got better, didn't I? The Marys are free, so >anyone who wants out, now's the time./ "Right. Something that duplicates powers. But if it never sees the power, what then?" Using his Ler to boost his speed, Rob races off, in search of the nearest toy store. Inside, he searches the aisles, finally settling on one display. "I'm going to hate myself in the morning, but this is the best choice." Pulling out a Swiss Army Knife, he begins inscribing runes on the floor... **** (one minute later) **** "Hola, peoples! Mee-sa here to help!" "Hiya, kids! Today, we're going to talk about making friends!" The battle freezes for a second. Roughly a dozen extra-large plush toys are walking towards the battle followed by many smaller ones. Barney, Baby Bop, and Jar-Jar binks lead an army of teddy bears, Ewoks, residents of the Hundred Acre Wood, and miscellaneous other small plush toys. Rob sighs as he tries to keep up. "Next time, maybe I should bring my own action figures." Pointing at the Deathwalker-Amazoid, he shouts his first order. "PLUSH PARADE...GROUP HUG!" With that, hundreds of stuffed animals literally fall all over each other as they struggle to reach Deathwalker, and deliver a warm, fuzzy hug. "Proper Dorito troops. 'Crunch all you want, we'll make more.'" ================================= Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1999 07:10:10 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Wrapping Up On Tue, 10 Aug 1999 08:35:02 EDT SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00007027 In a message dated 8/9/99 1:33:55 AM Eastern Daylight Time, ljwolfe writes: >>Well, Roland has caught the woman's attention... which is probably >>just as well concidering she had been starting to eye poor Roger. "I >>dislike...messes. I intend to see that this one is... cleaned up." >>Her voice has a... hint of reverb to it. OOC: Eyeing poor Roger? Whatever for? After all, Roger's just a harmless widdle baby Phoenix-Wolf, and never hurt anybody...../OOC Roger-2 (Roger-1 is still working with Axel) obviously weighs his options for a moment, then risks opening his mouth. "Ma'am," He says respectfully, "that is our desire as well. It is our sincere intention to return everything to the essential _status_quo_ante_bellum_ as soon as we have dealt effectively with the threat." Behind him, a hulking, long-haired man appears out of thin air, with long black hair, a black Zorro-style mask, a rapier, and a British accent. "Hello, I am Fezzig Montoya, the Dread Pirate Roberts. You killed my father, tried to marry my one true love, and drafted me into your brute squad. Prepare to die." It might be a bit more impressive if his eyes weren't so unfocussed. Roger-2 glares at Roger-and-Axel with palpable heat in his eyes, and the Princess-Bride amalgam vanishes without a trace. He turns back to the Correspondance Spirit, looking rather sheepish (OOC: does "cute" work on CSs?). "Ah...we also do our best to clean up our mistakes." > The Absorbing Parasite isn't having a good day. The Secret Masters >of Villainy are being trounced, Ultron is down and General Zemo is >losing to some Super-Soldier wannabe. In short, he needs power. > And looky there, some 'skirt' with lots o' power, and 'obviously' >no idea how to use it properly. > So he swings his wrecking ball around, and does the Thor thing, >flying towards the lady with the Mandelbrot eyes. "Um, ma'am? Behind y--" > He never reaches her... "Never mind." > (OOC: Have fun, Caprice! ) OOC: Yeah! >>Several feet away, Morgan grows about six inches, bulks out, and her >>costume gets even skimpier, down to a strapless red bathing suit >>with twin golden 'Ws' over the...ahem...bosom, red boots, and a >>cape, with a star-spangled shield now complementing the sword. >>Morgan Wanda-Woman Roger-2 groans softly. "Mom's gonna KILL me -- hey! Axel! Close your eyes and concentrate!" >> DK's eyes narrow, lips curling into a snarl as the Force pulls a >>strength-Bane into his body to match her Amazonian power. "I am not >>afraid to die, human. Are you?" "STOO-pid." >>Her expression cools further, the smile practically covering in >>frost. "Been there. Done that. Skipped the T-Shirt." >> And with that, the two howl in fury as Klingon/Sith training >>clashes with Amazon/Highlander skill... "Get him, Mom! Kick Sith Butt!" > The Super-Amazoid morphs, shifting, twisting, becoming the >spitting image of Deathwalker...if Deathwalker ever wore the Iron >Lantern armor (sans helmet), carried Super-Soldier's shield, and >wielded the hammer of Thorion. A moment later, Access screams and >falls to his knees, and the non-DC or Marvel sections of Amalgams >vanish, save those still on the battlefield. (Such as Fek Fang Foom >if still conscious, the Kahlesses, and anyone else that folx are >still having fun with. 8^) Roger-1 goes down with Axel in a desperate attempt to deflect the rebound shock, and manages to keep the Access from being reduced to a vegetable. But Axel is down for the count, and the Rogers reintegrate looking extremely pissed. /Dad? Mom? I still have Emulation running of Axel's powers -- suggestions? Or should I drop it and just kick Deathwalker Butt?" / > "Now then. I have released those other bodies that you cosmic >meddlers were so concerned about, set this reality right, and the >Super-Amazoid is by no means sentient. You can allow me to go on my >way...or you can face a one-woman Justice League: Avengers, with the >ability to mimic any power you interlopers wield against me." >Deathwalker's eyes narrow. "My patience is at an end. I only wanted >to restore my people to their former glory, but when I cloned a new >race of Dilgar to return to the stars, what did they do? They DEFIED >me! "BIG surprise there," Roger mutters sotto voce. >Humanity must have tainted them somehow - all they wanted was to live >in 'peace' with other, lesser races, despite the powers I gave them! >So I left them to their fate and sought out my original goal - >immortality, with which to contemplate the future. I now have that. >You can abandon your foolish quest...or you can die, throwing >yourselves on the jagged rocks of my power. > "Which will it be?" Eyeroll. "She *really* doesn't have a clue about us, does she?" > Roland smiles thinly. "Deathwalker, you're responsible for the >death of billions. If you think I'm going to just let you walk, >you're even crazier than I thought. As for jagged rocks, I've >survived antimatter bombs." > /Okay, so I died. I got better, didn't I? The Marys are free, so >anyone who wants out, now's the time./ Roger rather ostentatiously draws forth an unabridged Oxford English Dictionary from his jacket and begins paging through it, muttering a stererotypical nasal librarian's voice. "'Out'? 'Out'? Vas iss dis 'Out'?" > OOC: Yeah, right. Everyone pile on the villain! Bonus points for >cleverness; remember, the Super-Amazoid mimics powers. Go to town! > Now kids, I expect the supervillain to be cleaned >up by the time I get back from the San Diego ComicCon, okay? > The dictionary disappers as Roger gets serious. Several things happen at once: His telepathic presence on the link dwindles to something resembling a lo-fi walkie-talky; his power signature shrinks and essentially vanishes from all but the most potent senses, and even to those it's barely precepitable; and his hand whips out an ID card that proves him to be the current chairman of the JL:A and thrusts it into DeathWalker's face (using a Doc-Ock-style tentacle, from a safe distance -- he's impetuous, but not stupid). "Hey! You! I'm serving notice -- as of this moment, the JL;Avengers are officially DISBANDED!" OOC: Hey, it worked against Amazo a couple months ago for Blue Beetle. And the ID is a Roger-Special off-the-cuff fake, but DW shouldn't be able to tell, since it's correct down to the molecular level, and the local computer networks will (for the next ten minutes) confirm it as valid. That prowling in the nets payed off after all! No, neither I nor Roger expect it to work -- but wottheheck, eh? Besides, it should be good for a few cleverness points..... ================================= Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1999 20:32:48 -0700 (PDT) Subject: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Final Chapter On Tue, 10 Aug 1999 23:01:36 EDT Dane0R0A Said As CAoL Message # 00007028 Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007020 > "Be reborn...Fek Fang Flame!" > A dragon-like creature sheathed in dark green fire, what can be >seen of its body looking like a somewhat gelatinous skeleton, bursts >from the 'seed' and looks around. "Eh? What? Oh. A summoning. >How...quaint. It is a hideous monstrosity of a mockery of a dragon, >the 'flames' almost dripping like toxic waste or burning venom... >except for the eyes, which are heart-breakingly beautiful and filled >with compassion. > False compassion. > It (he?) turns to Aurora, looks back at Deathwalker, seems to >think for a moment...then comes to a decision. > "I can always eat her later," FFF (who is, FTR, an amalgam of a >Bane spirit from Werewolf, Fin Fang Foom from Marvel, and IIRC the >fiery Apokolips construct Brimstone, though it's been argued that it >might have been one of the DCU's demons instead) comments dryly, >looking Aurora over casually, "but if I start hunting around here I >suspect you'll take offense. You Incarnae can be sooo touchy about a >few million spirits getting munched." He shoots off a bilious green >jet of 'flame' from his mouth and gazes almost lovingly into Aurora's >eyes...DAMN, that's distracting... As the creature appears, a new expression appears on Aurora's "face." One that hadn't been "seen" there for hundreds of billions of years, surprise. The look quickly changes to disgust which is replaced by diamond hard resolve as she scans the creature as it tries to beguile her with it's mesmerizing gaze. *"You are even less of a threat than that sorcerer supreme was," she tells it. With a gesture she warps the space around it so that the volume it occupies is also occupied by the cleansing holy river of Xanadu, and also by the cleansing holy fires of a dozen different "pure" (pure good that is) pantheons. A second gesture and Fek Fang Flame is wrapped with a living three dimensional pattern. The pattern absorbs, and is absorbed by the dragon. Fek Fang Flame screams in pain once before he is obscured by the steam from boiling holy waters. A moment later, and the steams are wafted away, to reveal a new dragon, a silvery platinum in color. *"I name thee, Paladine. Go forth and do good." Aurora tells the new dragon as she creates a portal to a distant universe in the distant past. "I shall strive to the end of my existance to do so. I swear it." He answers before stepping throught the portal (which closes behind him). Aurora then turns to face Deathwalker. *"I grow tired of your tricks. Be careful that you don't begin to annoy me with them."* She tells the being possessing Mary Marvel. ================================= Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 23:02:29 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Wrapping Up On Thu, 12 Aug 1999 22:56:02 -0700 (PDT) Rob N Said As CAoL Message # 00007030 >On Mon, 9 Aug 1999 08:20:35 -0700 (PDT) >Rob N Said As CAoL Message # 00007026 > >With that, hundreds of stuffed animals literally fall all over each >other as they struggle to reach Deathwalker, and deliver a warm, >fuzzy hug. > >"Proper Dorito troops. 'Crunch all you want, we'll make more.'" Deathwalker finds this less than threatening. However, in a display of good taste, she literally beats the stuffing out of the Barneys, Baby Bops, and Jar Jars before turning to glare at Rob. "I possess the powers of the Amalgam universe's greatest heroes, and you challenge me with CHILDREN'S *mfff*!" Wrenching the Tigger from her head, she sends it in to a high arc which has every indication of reaching low orbit. "You're talking to the lunatic who arranged a water-balloon fight in the middle of an Aryan Nations march. Treating True Evil like a joke is a hobby of mine," Rob counters. "ENOUGH!" Shredding the remaining stuffed animals is the work of but a moment. The only survivor, a small Gund teddy bear, flees into the night. "The rest of you may leave. This one," Deathwalker snaps, pointing at Rob, "will die here." [Okay. Now that she's angry, phase two of my plan...what was phase two? Right. The "Henry Jones, Junior" plan. Make it up as you go along.] ================================= Date: Thu, 19 Aug 1999 19:32:30 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Wrapping Up On Thu, 19 Aug 1999 22:24:16 -0400 Zia Said As CAoL Message # 00007032 >On Sun, 08 Aug 1999 21:33:06 -0700 >Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007025 > OOC: Mary is free; the local Mary amalgam has taken her place as >hostage/host body. Mary Marvel has been battered around a bit; MM >Girl seems to be a psi on top of the raw power of a Shazam, though >Deathwalker's about to switch bodies again. Lots of other villains to >smash, though. This is the last post that involves problems for the >party, so run wild. [OOC: Well, since you asked so nicely... that's exactly what I shall do.] Ziactrice looks around, and notes Deathwalker having taken up the Amazoid's power-cloning abilties. She smirks for the briefest second, knowing herself fully relieved of superpowers by her reset reality. She removes a deck of large cards from her uniform's interior breast pocket. Zia looks at it intently a moment, then the card wavers like a desert heat on the horizon effect. She nods and carefully returns the card and deck to her pocket, maintaining the Trump contact mentally. With a laugh that spirals upward in merrily wicked humor, she runs with full speed at the villainess. Of course, Zia's best speed is not superheroic level, but it is a good two grades higher than any normal human Olympic athelete could manage. She spreads her arms wide; it almost seems as if she plans to HUG Deathwalker as an attack, perhaps in emulation of the fuzzy toy brigade? Ziactrice A lady with a plan... ================================= Date: Sat, 21 Aug 1999 20:02:24 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Wrapping Up On Sat, 21 Aug 1999 19:58:29 -0700 Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007033 >On Mon, 9 Aug 1999 08:20:35 -0700 (PDT) >Rob N Said As CAoL Message # 00007026 > >With that, hundreds of stuffed animals literally fall all over each >other as they struggle to reach Deathwalker, and deliver a warm, >fuzzy hug. > >"Proper Dorito troops. 'Crunch all you want, we'll make more.'" Roland stares at this scene in horror. "Good gods, we're trying to defeat her, not torture her!" [I'm glad Morgan's too busy with Darth-K to see this!] Deathwalker, OTOH, merely frowns. "Had these...creatures...any combat ability, I might begin to think of you humans as worthy heirs to the Dilgar." She winds up her duplicate Mjolnir, the Astro-Hammer spinning into a blur in her hand. She only looks mildly disgusted, except for the Jar-Jar, for which she has utter contempt, and B'Harni, whom she apparently regards as a near-equal. >On Tue, 10 Aug 1999 08:35:02 EDT >SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00007027 > >In a message dated 8/9/99 1:33:55 AM Eastern Daylight Time, >ljwolfe writes: >>>Several feet away, Morgan grows about six inches, bulks out, and >>>her costume gets even skimpier, down to a strapless red bathing >>>suit with twin golden 'Ws' over the...ahem...bosom, red boots, and >>>a cape, with a star-spangled shield now complementing the sword. > >Roger-2 groans softly. "Mom's gonna KILL me -- hey! Axel! Close your >eyes and concentrate!" "Why-WOW!" Axel's eyes nearly pop out as he sees the Scarlet Wonder Morgan. [OH, no you don't, Axel! She's married to Ramrod Boyscout over there, and she could fight a Sith Weaponmaster to a standstill _before_ you amalgamated her with the Scarlet Witch and Wonder Woman. Concentrate on stopping Breathwalker first.] >>>Her expression cools further, the smile practically covering in >>>frost. "Been there. Done that. Skipped the T-Shirt." >>> And with that, the two howl in fury as Klingon/Sith training >>>clashes with Amazon/Highlander skill... > >"Get him, Mom! Kick Sith Butt!" 'Mom' smiles thinly, and decides that she's played with this mockery long enough. Two-thirds of her unused to fighting 'sword and board,' she tosses the shield into the Sith's midriff. With Wonder Woman's strength. There's a sickening crunch as several bones break, and Darth Kahless doubles over. Morgan's sword wavers just for a moment, but one look into those hate-filled eyes seals her decision - and his fate. The Sith's parry is clumsy and late, and another man loses his head over the beautiful Highlander. 8^) There's a moment frozen in time as Darth Kahless' eyes go wide, then a screaming tear in creation as the amalgamated creature dies and is separated into its component parts simultaneously. Nothing is left after the ripple in space/time save the lightbetleH. Morgan formally picks up the strange weapon, offering it to the true Kahless. Kahless salutes her with his blade, a smile spread across his face. "Qapla'! Superbly fought!" He waves dismissively at the bizarrely contoured light 'saber' hilt, however. "The weapon you may keep, if you so desire - a trophy well earned, though I would advise against using a sword so tainted." "qatlho'qu'," Morgan replies, hanging the weapon from her belt. "You are most welcome," Kahless replies amusedly, then turns to watch the fate of the 'Deathwalker.' >Roger-1 goes down with Axel in a desperate attempt to deflect the >rebound shock, and manages to keep the Access from being reduced to a >vegetable. But Axel is down for the count, and the Rogers reintegrate >looking extremely pissed. /Dad? Mom? I still have Emulation running >of Axel's powers -- suggestions? Or should I drop it and just kick >Deathwalker Butt?" / /Wait for it. Looks like she's about to go into Villain Rant number-/ Roland begins. >> "Now then. I have released those other bodies that you cosmic >>meddlers were so concerned about, set this reality right, and the >>Super-Amazoid is by no means sentient. You can allow me to go on my >>way...or you can face a one-woman Justice League: Avengers, with the >>ability to mimic any power you interlopers wield against me." /Never mind,/ Roland adds with a mental grin. >>So I left them to their fate and sought out my original goal - >>immortality, with which to contemplate the future. I now have that. >>You can abandon your foolish quest...or you can die, throwing >>yourselves on the jagged rocks of my power. >> "Which will it be?" > >Eyeroll. "She *really* doesn't have a clue about us, does she?" /Not one, apparently./ >> Roland smiles thinly. "Deathwalker, you're responsible for the >>death of billions. If you think I'm going to just let you walk, >>you're even crazier than I thought. As for jagged rocks, I've >>survived antimatter bombs." >> /Okay, so I died. I got better, didn't I? The Marys are free, so >>anyone who wants out, now's the time./ > >Roger rather ostentatiously draws forth an unabridged Oxford English >Dictionary from his jacket and begins paging through it, muttering a >stererotypical nasal librarian's voice. "'Out'? 'Out'? Vas iss dis >'Out'?" OOC: LOL! >The dictionary disappers as Roger gets serious. Several things happen >at once: His telepathic presence on the link dwindles to something >resembling a lo-fi walkie-talky; his power signature shrinks and >essentially vanishes from all but the most potent senses, and even to >those it's barely precepitable; and his hand whips out an ID card >that proves him to be the current chairman of the JL:A and thrusts it >into DeathWalker's face (using a Doc-Ock-style tentacle, from a safe >distance -- he's impetuous, but not stupid). >"Hey! You! I'm serving notice -- as of this moment, the JL:Avengers >are officially DISBANDED!" > >OOC: Hey, it worked against Amazo a couple months ago for Blue >Beetle. And the ID is a Roger-Special off-the-cuff fake, but DW >shouldn't be able to tell, since it's correct down to the molecular >level, and the local computer networks will (for the next ten >minutes) confirm it as valid. That prowling in the nets payed off >after all! No, neither I nor Roger expect it to work -- but >wottheheck, eh? Besides, it should be good for a few cleverness >points..... OOC: Well, it'd be worth a few more cleverness points if it were original, but (to quote 'my' esteemed son) wottheheck. It's grand finale time! Deathwalker laughs. "You can't be serious-" The pseudo-Mjolnir vanishes. Roland looks up innocently and whistles as Morgan returns to his side. [What-error message across the board. Hmmph. No matter, even a cold reboot will only take a few seconds-] Deathwalker thinks. >On Thu, 19 Aug 1999 22:24:16 -0400 >Zia Said As CAoL Message # 00007032 > >With a laugh that spirals upward in merrily wicked humor, she runs >with full speed at the villainess. Of course, Zia's best speed is not >superheroic level, but it is a good two grades higher than any normal >human Olympic athelete could manage. She spreads her arms wide; it >almost seems as if she plans to HUG Deathwalker as an attack, perhaps >in emulation of the fuzzy toy brigade? Deathwalker, while rebooting, just STARES at Zia, as if a madwoman made of twigs were rushing her. "You've lost your mind-" And then the sensors pick up the Trump contact, and _where_ that contact leads...and all superspeed algorithms are down. Deathwalker gapes. "By the void-no!" She throws up her shield instinctively, realizing a fraction of a second too late that it won't do her the slightest bit of good... OOC: Wrap it up, Zia-she's all yours! ================================= Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1999 14:02:17 -0700 (PDT) Subject: AAE5: Amalgamverse: Wrapping Up (Catching Up) On Sun, 22 Aug 1999 15:31:54 -0500 (CDT) Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00007034 Earlier... Mike and Tink transported into the middle of the battle and quickly found themselved engaged with Deathwalker's Bio-robot-B5-shadow-looking creations. The air around the pair was filled with the smell of ozone. Firstly, from the little electric rodent on Tink's shoulder throwing lightning bolts in several directions at once, directions that happened to coincide with the biological constructs. The second and third sources of the ozone smell were the palms of Mike's and Tink's respective right hands, in which spheres of orange energy were forming, being thrown into the front line of advancing bio-weapons, then reforming again. In reply, the creatures were attacking with whatever means at their disposal, leaping with tooth and claw at the pair only to be blasted back by the energy, then recovering and leaping in again. Corrosive acids were spit at the pair of Time Travelers, leaving behind the distinct aroma of sulfur. But the attacks bounced or ran off squares of tinted, slightly distorted air (from Mike covering the pair of them, his Borg shield generator still in place), or (from Tink covering them both as well with her own Technomage shields) deflected off a rippling in the air that moved and distorted like tiny waves in a glass of water. The actual battle was difficult to see, the Deathwalker drones piling onto the shielding, only to be shot off, then rejoining the dog pile. The Time Lords in the center were heavily outnumbered, but managed to hold their own. The battle would have taken a long time to end, had Deathwalker herself intervened and dispelled her own creations. Mike and Tink were suddenly visible, hands at the ready for yet another strike, Tink's Pikachu surrounded by an aura of energy, the rippling distortion around the pair slowing to become invisible again as squares of tinted air disappeared along with the threat. Mike looked warily around, /Guess those things had something in them not available in the comic verse./ Tink nodded, her own face showing she was still ready for an attack, /Uh huh. Surprising, that./ Tink pulled out a pair of pokeballs and collected Pikachu and Snorlax, since the latter no longer was sleeping on Fat Blob, and dispelled an empty forcefield prison that had once contained Darth Septos. Mike slipped his sword into his duffel bag and otherwise made ready for travel. Both listened to Deathwalker's speech, tsking slightly at a few points, but not feeling like enlightening Deathwalker as the reasons she failed as they saw it as well as her comments about her new form. When Roland offered an out, Tink grinned and sent, /No thanks, Uncle, we're here for the duration./ Mike just added, /What she said, Roland. Can't run out of the theater during the climactic final battle. Which this is shaping up to being./ They dispelled their shields, though, and powered down any weapons. Tink hid her giggle behind a palm at the teddy bear army, then had to turn and hide her face in Mike's shoulder, her laugh muffled in his jacket, after Roger's ploy worked, powering down the Amazoid side of Deathwalker's new form. Tink looked back as she saw Zia start running toward Deathwalker through Mike's POV. ^What's Aunt Zia doing?^ she sent to Mike privately. Mike mentally shrugged, ^Well, she's either recognized Deathwalker as a long lost relative or she's got a plan. She was doing something with a Trump earlier. And with the Amazoid armor powered down, the deck's stacked against Deathwalker.^ Tink hit Mike in the shoulder mock seriously, ^You're a real card.^ ^Thanks, I was worried you'd think it was a tarot-ble pun.^ Tink shuddered at that one. ^If you're going to be this way, I may take Roland's offer to pack it in.^ And they were off and punning... ================================= Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 04:32:21 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Wrapping Up On Mon, 23 Aug 1999 07:14:17 -0400 Zia Said As CAoL Message # 00007035 >On Sat, 21 Aug 1999 19:58:29 -0700 >Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007033 >>On Thu, 19 Aug 1999 22:24:16 -0400 >>Zia Said As CAoL Message # 00007032 >>With a laugh that spirals upward in merrily wicked humor, she runs >>with full speed at the villainess. Of course, Zia's best speed is >>not superheroic level, but it is a good two grades higher than any >>normal human Olympic athelete could manage. She spreads her arms >>wide; it almost seems as if she plans to HUG Deathwalker as an >>attack, perhaps in emulation of the fuzzy toy brigade? > > Deathwalker, while rebooting, just STARES at Zia, as if a madwoman >made of twigs were rushing her. "You've lost your mind-" Zia seems to find THAT comment hilarious, but she is too busy opening the Trump through to the Abyssal Cliff near the Logrus to really laugh as hard as it deserves. > And then the sensors pick up the Trump contact, and _where_ that >contact leads...and all superspeed algorithms are down. Deathwalker >gapes. > "By the void-no!" She throws up her shield instinctively, >realizing a fraction of a second too late that it won't do her the >slightest bit of good... Zia laughs again, as she throws herself into the air. The polychromatic, door-like plane of her Trump effect appears, behind Deathwalker instead of in front of Zia as it usually does. Both the petite Amberites feet hit Deathwalker's shield in the mid-chest area, and her great weight equals enough inertia to slam Deathwalker back through the Trump opening. Of course, she also flies through it herself. Those with super-sped perceptions will see a brief flash of Zia's hands catching the edge of the Void's cliff, even as Deathwalker tumbles into the very darkness of the Abyss of Dante's description. The briefly heard sound of Zia's high-pitched kia (martial arts yell) as she struggles to not fall in as well is cut off just as it begins, as the Trump door winks out. No one has the time to use it to follow; plus it opened OVER the Abyss, just near the edge. Following would not have been very easy to do. Ziactice P.S. I'll have Zia tell the result of the cliff-hanger next adventure's start when she comes back... if she does! Hahha! (evil laughter) ================================= Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 20:05:31 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Wrapping Up On Mon, 23 Aug 1999 19:31:05 -0700 Rob N Said As CAoL Message # 00007036 >On Mon, 23 Aug 1999 07:14:17 -0400 >Zia Said As CAoL Message # 00007035 > >Zia laughs again, as she throws herself into the air. The >polychromatic, door-like plane of her Trump effect appears, behind >Deathwalker instead of in front of Zia as it usually does. Both of >the petite Amberite's feet hit Deathwalker's shield in the mid-chest >area, and her great weight equals enough inertia to slam Deathwalker >back through the Trump opening. Rob gets a brief glimpse through the Trump opening, and collapses, losing his last meal - the Italian soda that he had back in the Place. [Note to self: Do not visit that place. More confusing than an Escher print, and not half as fun to look at.] >Of course, she also flies through it herself. Those with super-sped >perceptions will see a brief flash of Zia's hands catching the edge >of the Void's cliff, even as Deathwalker tumbles into the very >darkness of the Abyss of Dante's description. The briefly heard sound >of Zia's high-pitched kia (martial arts yell) as she struggles to not >fall in as well is cut off just as it begins, as the Trump door winks >out. No one has the time to use it to follow; plus it opened OVER the >Abyss, just near the edge. Following would not have been very easy to >do. Wiping his mouth off, he stands up slowly. "Does anybody know what that was, or what chance she has of surviving in there?" ================================= Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 20:05:38 -0700 (PDT) Subject: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Wrapped Up On Mon, 23 Aug 1999 19:52:19 -0700 Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007037 >On Mon, 23 Aug 1999 07:14:17 -0400 >Zia Said As CAoL Message # 00007035 > >Zia laughs again, as she throws herself into the air. The >polychromatic, door-like plane of her Trump effect appears, behind >Deathwalker instead of in front of Zia as it usually does. Both the >petite Amberites feet hit Deathwalker's shield in the mid-chest area, >and her great weight equals enough inertia to slam Deathwalker back >through the Trump opening. "Wh-?!?" Deathwalker grunts, totally taken aback by Zia's blow. She's also taken back, right through the door. >Of course, she also flies through it herself. Those with super-sped >perceptions will see a brief flash of Zia's hands catching the edge >of the Void's cliff, even as Deathwalker tumbles into the very >darkness of the Abyss of Dante's description. The briefly heard sound >of Zia's high-pitched kia (martial arts yell) as she struggles to not >fall in as well is cut off just as it begins, as the Trump door winks >out. No one has the time to use it to follow; plus it opened OVER the >Abyss, just near the edge. Following would not have been very easy to >do. Deathwalker just gapes at Zia as she (insert cliffhanger here whenever you feel like it, Zia. 8^), while Deathwalker herself floats to a stop. The Dilgarian (Dilgarite?) stares for a long moment...then begins to laugh. "You idiot. You IDIOT! I CAN FLY! HAHAHAHAHA!" "Good. I can use the lift," comes from the Abyss. Deathwalker's laughter stops dead, and she looks down again, her earlier fears squared. "no. it cannot be..." "You abandoned us, Deathwalker." The impossible...THING...that had once been Malice the Adversary lashes out, a tendril of the eldritch horror that he'd been welded to as he died (yep, he's still dead) wrapping around the Super-Amazoid's body. The robotic form tries to replicate the creature's powers...and is immediately overloaded by sheer unbeing. There are some things that technology is _not_ meant to emulate. "I'm rather impressed, actually." The last thing Deathwalker knows, as she screams and fights futilely to prevent being sucked into the Abyss, is that the voice she heard did _not_ belong to Malice... (OOC: Zia might recognize the voice, though, even through seven hells worth of distortion...) Epilogue: The Silver-Ageish Amalgamverse returns to what passes for 'normal' in its reality. The other elements fade back into their own realities, except for Flora (who is joined almost immediately by a blond god in red armor, wielding a hammer identical to the one the Super-Amazoid had) and Axel, who isn't exactly foreign to this reality...but then, he's not exactly native to it either. Roland immediately begins to charge to the rescue, but Flora waves him off with a gentle laugh. "Calm yourself, Order Knight. She will be all right. For her, at any rate." Roland stops, caught somewhere between relief and embarassment. [Zia knows what she's doing. Butt out, Roland.] "Um, thanks, Princess Flora. If you don't mind my asking, are you from the..." "We've met," Flora replies cryptically, though Roland seems to take the answer to mean something specific, nodding and looking over the ranks. He smiles. Captain Marvel (the one who joined the group) and his sister walk up to the group. "Whew! That was some ride," the Big Red Cheese says, releasing a breath he seems to have been holding for about a week now. "Thanks for everything, guys." "I'll second that!" Mary adds emphatically. "Having that, um, _thing_ in my head was easily the creepiest thing that's ever happened to me. I appreciate the rescue." She gives the nearest appropriate male a chaste peck on the cheek. "You're entirely welcome," Roland gushes, adding (as he finishes his mental head count), "Well, how about that!" He shifts back to his 'Roland X' civvies, the Super*Soldier trappings having faded with the rest of the anomalies. "We beat the villains, saved the damsel in distress, and didn't lose anybody! A job well done, team. I'm buying the first round when we get back. "And _since_ we're not back yet," he adds with a mischievous grin, "I'll risk Fast Eddie's blackjack being able to cross dimensions and ask you where you picked up the extra hardware, Mike." Morgan gives Roland a brief glare, but silently watches Mike for his reaction before deciding whether to chastize her husband. (OOC: Yes, I know OOC where you got the hardware; your choice whether or not to tell him, but I pretty much have in mind how Roland's going to react either way.) ================================= Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999 04:41:24 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Wrapped Up On Tue, 24 Aug 1999 06:29:03 -0500 (CDT) Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00007038 >On Mon, 23 Aug 1999 19:52:19 -0700 >Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007037 > "And _since_ we're not back yet," he adds with a mischievous grin, >"I'll risk Fast Eddie's blackjack being able to cross dimensions and >ask you where you picked up the extra hardware, Mike." > >Morgan gives Roland a brief glare, but silently watches Mike for his >reaction before deciding whether to chastize her husband. > > (OOC: Yes, I know OOC where you got the hardware; your choice >whether or not to tell him, but I pretty much have in mind how >Roland's going to react either way.) Mike's face fell. Tink hugged Mike briefly, instinctly moving to make sure when she came out of it she would be on his left, human, side. Mike seemed to look for the right words, but Tink ended up supplying them. Holding a hand lightly before her eyes for a moment, she seemed to concentrate, then dropped her hand. Across her eyes, tiny lines scrolled by, apparently a speech she had prepared ahead of time. "The Borg, Uncle Roland. I knew you'd ask and wasn't sure how to say it, so I wrote something down last night so I wouldn't falter when the time came... "' We were on a family outting, Me, Mom'n'mom, Aunt Molly, Greatgramma Roberta and Greatgrampa Gary. Grumpa was bringing Gramma Flarn to meet everyone, and the critters, Pyewackett, Isis and Jack, were hunting us down to try and help Nemisis when we all met each other thanks to ... another Time Lord mistake.'" Mike found an empty direction, one that didn't have a face staring back at him, and looked that way, his features pained. "Thanks, Tink," was all he said. "That's okay," Tink said soberly, then continued, "'Which we won't go into, except to say they had a spare clone of Grumpa lying around, which they'd turned into something -nasty- and -totally- unlike Grumpa. It took care of the Time Lords, the -one- good thing it did in its misbegotten life and we took care of it. But, we were the only two to make it out, and badly hurt, near dead. "'Then we ran into the Borg as we were escaping, who did heal us in their assimilation process, but they wanted to keep us around. Which would have been.... "Multiverse-hopping, Time-Travelling, with weapons that put standard Borg Cubes to shame" bad. So, again, we were the only two to make it out, this time intentionally. "'At the end of it, we got on _Love's' - oh, you haven't seen it, Grumpa's and my ship - 'and tried to figure out what to do. After a few days we realized we couldn't do anything about any of it that wouldn't make things worse, so we came to find you all because we needed to see friends and hoped we'd find a way to say all this then. But, as usual, we came at a bad time and couldn't say anything. Those who knew, knew already, those who didn't, we couldn't tell as Aunt Morgan recognized. But you have the right to know, as family. We just had to wait until we wouldn't get you killed because we'd shocked you.'" Mike nodded, still looking away, "Sorry for snapping Aurora... So, gang, we just ... joked and said we were fine, which is true enough, and waited for a calmer time. Helping Cap get Mary back was good, too. Glad we could be of help. Always good to see family together." Tink blinked a few times and the things on her grey irises vanished. She frowned, running a hand through her blonde hair. "Still didn't sound right. I tried for hours to make it sound ... I dunno ... painless, but that's the best I could do." Mike hugged Tink with one arm. "You did fine. If I'd told it, it would have been information overload. It all happened so fast and is so fresh in my mind." Tink nodded. She turned his face back to look at her and smiled. He returned it wanly. Then Tink looked at the rest of the CAoL, searching for some way to somehow make this all better. "Group hug?" she offered hopefully. "I can say things -will- get better. I've got eleven years of experience firsthand backing me up." Michael Seven muttered in Tinkerbell's ear with a sad but amused grin, "You know you're not supposed to say things like that." ================================= Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999 06:24:03 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Wrapping Up On Tue, 24 Aug 1999 06:48:19 -0500 (CDT) Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00007039 >On Mon, 23 Aug 1999 19:31:05 -0700 >Rob N Said As CAoL Message # 00007036 > >>On Mon, 23 Aug 1999 07:14:17 -0400 >>Zia Said As CAoL Message # 00007035 >>Of course, she also flies through it herself. Those with super-sped >>perceptions will see a brief flash of Zia's hands catching the edge >>of the Void's cliff, even as Deathwalker tumbles into the very >>darkness of the Abyss of Dante's description. The briefly heard >>sound of Zia's high-pitched kia (martial arts yell) as she struggles >>to not fall in as well is cut off just as it begins, as the Trump >>door winks out. No one has the time to use it to follow; plus it >>opened OVER the Abyss, just near the edge. Following would not have >>been very easy to do. >Wiping his mouth off, he stands up slowly. "Does anybody know what >that was, or what chance she has of surviving in there?" Tink covered her eyes with a hand, then dropped it away after a few seconds. "I -think- that was part of her family's house." Mike arched an eyebrow. "In that case, I'd say better than average chance, if she leaves quickly. And I mean right now." Tink grinned, "We're kidding. She'll be okay." ================================= Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999 21:32:49 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Wrapped Up On Wed, 25 Aug 1999 00:02:46 EDT Dane0R0A Said As CAoL Message # 00007040 Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00007038 > "'At the end of it, we got on _Love's' - oh, you haven't seen >it, Grumpa's and my ship - 'and tried to figure out what to do. After >a few days we realized we couldn't do anything about any of it that >wouldn't make things worse, so we came to find you all because we >needed to see friends and hoped we'd find a way to say all this then. >But, as usual, we came at a bad time and couldn't say anything. Those >who knew, knew already, those who didn't, we couldn't tell as Aunt >Morgan recognized. But you have the right to know, as family. We just >had to wait until we wouldn't get you killed because we'd shocked >you.'" > Mike nodded, still looking away, "Sorry for snapping Aurora... /*"That's quite alright. I understand. My offer to restore your lost flesh, or augment your current capacities, as you desire, stands. When and if you want it you need only ask."*/ Aurora answers > Tink nodded. She turned his face back to look at her and smiled. >He returned it wanly. Then Tink looked at the rest of the CAoL, >searching for some way to somehow make this all better. > "Group hug?" she offered hopefully. "I can say things -will- get >better. I've got eleven years of experience firsthand backing me up." >Michael Seven muttered in Tinkerbell's ear with a sad but amused >grin, "You know you're not supposed to say things like that." Aurora shrinks down to human size, as she moves forward to join the growing mass of CAoL huggers. ================================= Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999 21:33:01 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Wrapping Up On Wed, 25 Aug 1999 00:06:35 EDT Dane0R0A Said As CAoL Message # 00007041 >Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00007039 >>On Mon, 23 Aug 1999 19:31:05 -0700 >>Rob N Said As CAoL Message # 00007036 >> >>Wiping his mouth off, he stands up slowly. "Does anybody know what >>that was, or what chance she has of surviving in there?" > > Tink covered her eyes with a hand, then dropped it away after a >few seconds. "I -think- that was part of her family's house." > Mike arched an eyebrow. "In that case, I'd say better than >average chance, if she leaves quickly. And I mean right now." > Tink grinned, "We're kidding. She'll be okay." Aurora gets a distant look on her face, then speaks. /*"Oracle says she will fullfill her destiny."*/ (OOC: thus leaving it open for Zia to decide for herself) ================================= Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 21:02:48 -0700 (PDT) Subject: AAE V: Epilogue On Wed, 25 Aug 1999 20:41:31 -0700 Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007042 >On Tue, 24 Aug 1999 06:29:03 -0500 (CDT) >Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00007038 > >>On Mon, 23 Aug 1999 19:52:19 -0700 >>Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007037 >> "And _since_ we're not back yet," he adds with a mischievous >>grin, "I'll risk Fast Eddie's blackjack being able to cross >>dimensions and ask you where you picked up the extra hardware, >>Mike." >> >>Morgan gives Roland a brief glare, but silently watches Mike for his >>reaction before deciding whether to chastize her husband. An X-Window opens a few feet directly behind Roland's head, and anyone who looks can see Fast Eddie doin' his thing...his trademark sap lying at his hip. > Mike's face fell. Tink hugged Mike briefly, instinctly moving to >make sure when she came out of it she would be on his left, human, >side. ^You asked,^ Morgan sent quietly on the private link. 'Long Drink did a reverse Cheshire Cat: he didn't go anywhere, but the grin slowly faded away.' -Callahan's Legacy > Mike seemed to look for the right words, but Tink ended up >supplying them. Holding a hand lightly before her eyes for a moment, >she seemed to concentrate, then dropped her hand. Across her eyes, >tiny lines scrolled by, apparently a speech she had prepared ahead of >time. > "The Borg, Uncle Roland. I knew you'd ask and wasn't sure how to >say it, so I wrote something down last night so I wouldn't falter >when the time came... Roland winces. "Ouch." > "That's okay," Tink said soberly, then continued, "'Which we >won't go into, except to say they had a spare clone of Grumpa lying >around, which they'd turned into something -nasty- and -totally- >unlike Grumpa. It took care of the Time Lords, the -one- good thing >it did in its misbegotten life and we took care of it. But, we were >the only two to make it out, and badly hurt, near dead. Roland turns dead white, and the X-Window shifts; hitting a man with a sap is pretty irrelevant after a building's been dropped on him. Morgan silently shifts over to his side and gives him a hug, nearly as much for her own benefit as his. > Tink nodded. She turned his face back to look at her and smiled. >He returned it wanly. Then Tink looked at the rest of the CAoL, >searching for some way to somehow make this all better. > "Group hug?" she offered hopefully. "I can say things -will- get >better. I've got eleven years of experience firsthand backing me up." > Michael Seven muttered in Tinkerbell's ear with a sad but amused >grin, "You know you're not supposed to say things like that." Roland and Morgan join in the group hug, though Roland still looks like he's suffering from anemia. Finally, after the hug breaks up, Roland attempts a smile; it's a pretty weak try, but he does his best. "Look, eleven years subjective or no, I'd put money on you two not having gotten back to the Place since then. How about we go back and throw the others one hell of an Irish wake?" (return to Place here) After the first few rounds are handed out and the wake is under way, Morgan comes over to Roland, who's sitting at the bar silently staring at his mini-lens. ^You okay, honey?^ she sends, placing her drink on the bar. ^No,^ Roland replies quietly. "Hey, Mike-the one with the stogie," he specifies, trying to make it sound light and failing miserably. "Do you have a small box I can borrow?" "Aroo?" Morgan asks. The Mick o' Time does mentally what Morgan did verbally, but nods. "Sure, kid. Here ya go." An empty cigar box slides over, stopping directly in front of the Freelance Immortal. The box elicits a tiny smile for the briefest of moments. Then Roland holds out his hand, and a wad of cotton appears in it. He carefully lines the box, then reaches for the mini-lens. As soon as she realizes what Roland is doing, Morgan rests her hand on his. ^Are you sure you know what you're doing, love?^ Mike (Callahan) watches this with a poker face. "You sure about that, son?" ^"Yes,"^ Roland replies, pushing the annoyance out of his voice, both verbal and mental, and only his grief underlining it allows it to show. "It was my watch. Twice now I've led the Army of Light into battle, and both times Callahanians have died. I'll wear this again when I have a right to it." He tries to guide Morgan's hands away gently, but she resists. "You're being too hard on yourself," Morgan replies quietly. "She's right, Roland," Callahan adds. "You aren't responsible for-" "Yes I am. I'm the leader of - well, it may not be an army in the traditional sense, but they were attacked and killed while I was 'on duty.' My responsibility." "They weren't with us. You can't take care of everyone all the time, especially when they're not with the group. _Especially_ when the people on duty are in the middle of combat." Roland's eyes narrow. "Has anyone ever taken an inventory of the sheer _power_ of the CAoL? I could have thought to keep some sort of monitor on people 'off duty.' I should have. "Would you want someone monitoring _us_ 24/7?" Morgan replies quietly. "Beside the point-it could've been subtle, and I didn't even ask. Besides, how much of this 'adventuring' is just playing around? Hell, with the firepower in this group, you don't exactly have to be Captain America to lead this bunch to victory. Point at anyone in this room, and I'll bet you they could have done at _least_ as good a job as I've done." Several wiseasses in the Place point at Long-Drink, causing a number of chuckles. Including from Long-Drink. "Would any of you not wanted him there the Night of the Cockroach?" Roland asks quietly. No one responds. "We wouldnt'a minded havin' you around, eit'er," Fast Eddie remarks finally. "I wouldn't have minded being there, either," Roland replies. "Maybe the physical iteration of the Place would still be standing, with my powers helping - directed by CALLAHAN'S BRAINS." "The MacDonalds died that night," Mike notes quietly. "Isn't the new, physical, Place run by Mr. Stonebender?" Roland responds as gently as possible. Mike scowls, several retorts clearly coming to mind, but he equally as clearly chooses not to use them. "Nothing's going to change your mind, is it?" Morgan says, almost more a statement than a question. "No," Roland replies, drawing his hands from hers and placing the minilens in the box. "Maybe...maybe later. But not now." His eyes flicker, and an X-Window opens up to a high-tech Arabian-like desert city; just about anyone in the Place will recognize it as Tatooine. "It's not like the CAoL couldn't reach me in extremis; with you on the lens link and our link unbreakable. I just need to be...somewhere else for a while. No Army. No universal fates resting on my shoulders. No-" "No way you're going without me," Morgan quips. Finally, Roland manages something that actually _resembles_ a smile. "Wouldn't dream of it, love. Not that I could get away with it anyway..." "So, what _are_ they wearing on Tatooine this season?" Morgan asks as they approach the X-Window. Roland shrugs. "Whatever it is, between my morph armor and your Power Ring, we can be wearing it by the time anyone there sees us..." FWASH James Bo^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H Roland and Morgan will return... ================================= Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 04:32:23 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE V: Epilogue On Thu, 26 Aug 1999 04:33:28 -0700 Rob N Said As CAoL Message # 00007044 >On Wed, 25 Aug 1999 20:41:31 -0700 >Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007042 (snip) > ^"Yes,"^ Roland replies, pushing the annoyance out of his voice, >both verbal and mental, and only his grief underlining it allows it >to show. "It was my watch. Twice now I've led the Army of Light into >battle, and both times Callahanians have died. I'll wear this again >when I have a right to it." He tries to guide Morgan's hands away >gently, but she resists. > >"You're being too hard on yourself," Morgan replies quietly. > > "She's right, Roland," Callahan adds. "You aren't responsible >for-" > "Yes I am. I'm the leader of - well, it may not be an army in the >traditional sense, but they were attacked and killed while I was 'on >duty.' My responsibility." "And none of them knew the risks?" Rob says to himself. [I wasn't there, I was just reading a comic book. A good comic book that made me cry for the loss of a character, but just a comic book.] >"So, what _are_ they wearing on Tatooine this season?" Morgan asks as >they approach the X-Window. > > Roland shrugs. "Whatever it is, between my morph armor and your >Power Ring, we can be wearing it by the time anyone there sees us..." > FWASH > James Bo^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H Roland and Morgan will return... For a moment, Rob stares at where the X-window was. Then he finishes his orange cream soda, and walks out of the French doors. "Not exactly a good time to leave, but the CAoL needs a leader. And I've always been more comfortable commanding small groups. Time to make a decision, I suppose..." Pulling the last envelope from inside his jacket, he writes, "Do I stay here, and wait for the CAoL to regroup, or leave, with the risk of not returning?" Tearing the envelope open, he opens the card and reads it. "Not the answer I wanted, but the answer that is right. Damn it." Finding a quiet spot, he stares at empty space for a moment. Then a blue beam flashes from his eyes, opening a wormhole. As he steps into the wormhole, he wonders, [Where will I end up this time?] ================================= Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 09:33:06 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE V: Epilogue On Thu, 26 Aug 1999 11:16:23 -0500 (CDT) Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00007045 >On Wed, 25 Aug 1999 20:41:31 -0700 >Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007042 > >>On Tue, 24 Aug 1999 06:29:03 -0500 (CDT) >>Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00007038 > Roland and Morgan join in the group hug, though Roland still looks >like he's suffering from anemia. Finally, after the hug breaks up, >Roland attempts a smile; it's a pretty weak try, but he does his >best. "Look, eleven years subjective or no, I'd put money on you two >not having gotten back to the Place since then. How about we go back >and throw the others one hell of an Irish wake?" > > (return to Place here) Tink nods, with a "I'll see you all in the Place, gotta get back before -my- Grumpa starts worrying where I've gotten to." Tinkerbell kisses Mike on the cheek with a final hug and heads for the gaudy Austin (Powers)-Martin she arrived in. Mike watchs her until the rainbow hyperspace jumpoint collapses, then follows the others to the Place, where his 'minivan' is parked. He's met at the bar by the sixteen-year-old Tinkerbell, who's changed into a white blouse, tan cargo pants and simple white canvas shoes. She hands him a God's Blessing, her own mug of hot chocolate having a faint aroma of mint with it. > "She's right, Roland," Callahan adds. "You aren't responsible >for-" > "Yes I am. I'm the leader of - well, it may not be an army in the >traditional sense, but they were attacked and killed while I was 'on >duty.' My responsibility." Mike's head turns from the game of tetris he was playing near the fire against Tink. She paused the hologram, it's intricate tiles freezing in midair. She sipped at her cocoa, eyes darting between her Michael and the key players in the conversation. >"So, what _are_ they wearing on Tatooine this season?" Morgan asks as >they approach the X-Window. > > Roland shrugs. "Whatever it is, between my morph armor and your >Power Ring, we can be wearing it by the time anyone there sees us..." > FWASH Mike stared into his God's Blessing. "Funny, and here I thought it was my fault." Tink frowned. "Quit being selfish." Mike blinked and looked up, "What?" "Quit being selfish," Tink repeated, "You're taking the blame away from the people who've gone out and worked hard to earn it and totally deserve it and the ensuing punishment for it and keeping it for yourself. So's Uncle Roland. Neither of you've done anything wrong, so why are you reaching for punishment? It's gotta be some sort of hero complex. You get so used to solving everyone's problems you can't cope with not having an answer when you're finally given something you can't solve. If it'd been a car wreck, you'd probably be doing the same thing. And it would have been no more your fault than this was." Mike looked about ready to protest, then stopped and looked thoughtful. "Grumpa," Tink said, leaning forward, her cocoa mug cupped in her hands, "Sometimes bad stuff happens and we can't do anything about it except cope with the consequences. We did nothing to deserve it, it just happened and we're stuck with it." "But we could have taken precautions." "Any that any of us would accept that seemed sensible at the time and not raving paranoia? Are there any precautions we can take now that don't seem like raving paranoia?" Mike shut up. Tink sipped her cocoa. Mike sipped his blessing. "Where'd you get so smart?" he finally asked. Tink giggled, "From you, eleven years ago." She turned her gaze to look toward the vanished X-window. "What about Roland?" Mike sat back and got a faraway look, considering the two most likely options, "He'll figure it out on his own. Or Morgan will set him straight." "Should we maybe...?" Mike shook his head. "We're family, but the kind of setting straight you just gave me is something best reserved for the ones who live with you 24/7. They're the ones who have nowhere else to go to get away from you and thus have smack around priveledges. The rest of us can be honest, but we need to be gentler when going about it." Tink giggled, "Sorry, didn't mean to smack you around." "Yes you did." "Okay I did. Another game?" "Sure." ================================= Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 20:38:10 -0700 (PDT) Subject: AAE5: Wrapping up -- Rhia's story On Thu, 26 Aug 1999 23:21:27 -0400 (EDT) Shadow Said As CAoL Message # 00007047 Rhiannon stepped through the gate into the Amalgam universe. Like John she only paid half-attention to Deathwalker and scanned the surroundings instead, but unlike him she was watching for the enemy. 'No self-respecting villian, scratch that -- any villain who calls themselves Deathwalker has very little self-respect, just has to have a horde of underlings to throw into the meat grinder.' As if on cue the Secret Masters of Villainy pop into existence. /I think the most dangerous thing here might be the combined egos of our opponents./ Rhia sends as she sidesteps a rushing villian, just who she wasn't sure, tripping him in the process. When the Nazgul appear, Rhia heads straight for them. Halfway there a wizened little man with a staff and wearing many gold rings and a pair of expensive sunglasses blocks her way. "Hold. You may not pass." "In your dreams, buddy." Rhia replies, moving around him. "I am the Mole man. And I have a contract saying that should I keep you from advancing beyond this point, I will get a great deal of money." "You and what army?" Rhia says, instantly regretting it. 'Fifth rule of combat,' She reminds herself, 'when in an unstable probability structure, do not get cliche.' Her thoughts are borne out as a small horde of halflings quickly surrounds her. 'This could be tricky.' she takes up a defensive posture, nagged by a familiarity about some of the hobbits. "These are The Underhills," the Mole Man intones, "They should be sufficient." One of the hobbits with a particularly nasty looking scar across his cheek chimes up, "What's this about great deals of money? You told me..." The MM cuts him off, "Well, of course, after operating expensives, equipment costs, and other items, there isn't much left when you split it up." This exchange is enough for Rhia to make the connection. "Wait a minute. I _know_ you. You're The Underhills. I saw you play at IOU in '21. You were great." "You did?" The hobbit asks. At Rhia's nod he smiles, "Ahh, those were the days. Lads, set a table and get our guest some drinks." This quickly accomplished, Rhia and the halfling start talking about IOU, what's it's like to tour the multiverse, and other things. She keeps an eye on the teams progress and what's happening to John in particular. She almost goes to help him before he calls in the cavalry. /Everyone, I present to you... Chibi-me./ John sends. /Heavens save us, now we're doomed./ Rhia follows with a mental groan. She hated it when he did that. But everything seemed well in hand. Eventually she asks the hobbit, "But why are you working this gig?" He looks apologetic, "Well, after the failure of our last album, we've been trying to make ends meet. Work up the capital for another shot at the big time." Rhia is puzzled, "Failed? You last album went triple mithril in five months. I probably have a copy tucked away somewhere around here right.. now.. Are you OK? You're getting kinda red there." "Would you mind repeatin' tha' last bit there, about the album 'n all?" "I said I have one right here.. Oh, it um went triple mithril in five months." The halfling turns toward the Mole man, who was starting to edge away. After one look, the MM broke and ran. "Get 'im lads." A short scuffle later the Mole man is escorted back to the table. "What's this about our album going triple mithril?" The hobbit was waving something sharp and nasty looking under the MM nose. "It's not my fault. I had nothing to do with it. They forced me to." babbled the Mole man. The hobbit slapped him, "Answer the question." "Yes. Yes," wailed the Mole man to an increasingly angry group of hobbits, "It's all true. A company approached me and had me sign over the rights to your work. I've been doing it for years, cutting a little off the profits and kicking it over to them. After your last album they decided that it might interfere with your creative process and took almost all the money." "WHO? WHO IS IT YOU SOLD US OUT TO?" the enraged hobbit demanded, shaking the hapless Mole man back and forth. "" "WHAT WAS THAT!?" "Swoosh." A shocked hush fell over the group. Rhia stared in disbelief at the pathetic being in front of her, "I can't believe it." Someone began, "The Mole Man.." "... is a sneaker agent." Rhia finished. ================================= Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 20:38:18 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Wrapped Up On Thu, 26 Aug 1999 23:35:08 -0400 (EDT) Shadow Said As CAoL Message # 00007048 >On Tue, 24 Aug 1999 06:29:03 -0500 (CDT) >Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00007038 > "That's okay," Tink said soberly, then continued, "'Which we >won't go into, except to say they had a spare clone of Grumpa lying >around, which they'd turned into something -nasty- and -totally- >unlike Grumpa. It took care of the Time Lords, the -one- good thing >it did in its misbegotten life and we took care of it. But, we were >the only two to make it out, and badly hurt, near dead. John looked away, off into the distance, as he tried to take in this news. Rhia took a half step towards the two, then stopped as Tink went on. > Tink nodded. She turned his face back to look at her and smiled. >He returned it wanly. Then Tink looked at the rest of the CAoL, >searching for some way to somehow make this all better. > "Group hug?" she offered hopefully. "I can say things -will- get >better. I've got eleven years of experience firsthand backing me up." > Michael Seven muttered in Tinkerbell's ear with a sad but amused >grin, "You know you're not supposed to say things like that." Rhia practically flew over into the hug, while John took a moment to collect himself before joining, tears running down his face. ================================= Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 04:32:47 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE V: Epilogue On Sun, 29 Aug 1999 07:14:41 EDT Dane0R0A Said As CAoL Message # 00007054 >Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007042 > > "She's right, Roland," Callahan adds. "You aren't responsible >for-" > "Yes I am. I'm the leader of - well, it may not be an army in the >traditional sense, but they were attacked and killed while I was 'on >duty.' My responsibility." > >"They weren't with us. You can't take care of everyone all the time, >especially when they're not with the group. _Especially_ when the >people on duty are in the middle of combat." > > Roland's eyes narrow. "Has anyone ever taken an inventory of the >sheer _power_ of the CAoL? I could have thought to keep some sort of >monitor on people 'off duty.' I should have. ^Roland, a commander is responsible for the way he or she leads their followers. If that commander is negligent and a follower dies then that commander is responsible for the death his or her negligence caused. You have not been negligent at any time either after accepting the official mantel of leadership, or before. First, if you had approached Aurora or myself to ask if we would have the membership of the CAoL watched, we both would have refused. To do otherwise would be to violate the privacy of the entire CAoL. A commander's job is to see to it that his or her followers suffer the minimum number of casualties within his or her ability to plan for. You lack the power to see so clearly into the future that you can guarentee that in a battle situation no lives are lost. Add to that the nature, and power of your opponents, and the highly individual nature of the CAoL members themselves, and your ability to plan for deadly possibilites becomes grossly over burdened. I have the power to see the future, and the past, and even I cannot always see a way to achieve the desired goal without loss of life. I knew that Dragon's Bane would die. I knew the Discie would die. I knew what was happening to Mike's family. I have enough power to have stopped it. I didn't because had I, much much worse would have happened. When you have done everything in your power to prevent the loss of the lives of your followers, you have done your job well. I say to you, you have done your job well. Second, I have been watching the members of the CAoL. Oh not their every move, but the situations around them which will directly affect them. Why? Because with The Stardragon being a member, it is doubly my job. As a Dragon Guard it is my duty to observe, and prevent any action which might cause The Stardragon to become angry. YOU have made that job easier. As the leader of the Unaligned Starspawn, I need to keep track of all powerful, at least powerful by Starspawn measures, groups. Because The Stardragon is a member, the CAoL ranks as the most powerful group in the multiverse. You have done nothing, and have left nothing undone to be reproached for.^ Oracle "says" to Roland between one instant of time and the next. ================================= Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 23:03:14 -0700 (PDT) Subject: AAE Interlude: Now departing for Tatooine... On Tue, 31 Aug 1999 22:47:26 -0700 Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007058 >On Sun, 29 Aug 1999 07:14:41 EDT >Dane Said As CAoL Message # 00007054 > >^Roland, a commander is responsible for the way he or she leads their >followers. If that commander is negligent and a follower dies then >that commander is responsible for the death his or her negligence >caused. You have not been negligent at any time either after >accepting the official mantel of leadership, or before. First, if you >had approached Aurora or myself to ask if we would have the >membership of the CAoL watched, we both would have refused. To do >otherwise would be to violate the privacy of the entire CAoL. A >commander's job is to see to it that his or her followers suffer the >minimum number of casualties within his or her ability to plan for. >You lack the power to see so clearly into the future that you can >guarentee that in a battle situation no lives are lost. Add to that >the nature, and power of your opponents, and the highly individual >nature of the CAoL members themselves, and your ability to plan for >deadly possibilites becomes grossly over burdened. I have the power >to see the future, and the past, and even I cannot always see a way >to achieve the desired goal without loss of life. I knew that >Dragon's Bane would die. Roland sighs heavily; _that_ death, he can't see a way around, even now. It was Caprice who made Z'On'Dar see reason, but it was Dragon's Bane who ultimately tipped the balance of power against the Crawler... >I knew the Discie would die. I knew what was happening to Mike's >family. I have enough power to have stopped it. I didn't because had >I, much much worse would have happened. When you have done everything >in your power to prevent the loss of the lives of your followers, you >have done your job well. I say to you, you have done your job well. >Second, I have been watching the members of the CAoL. Oh not their >every move, but the situations around them which will directly affect >them. Roland just sighs. >Why? Because with The Stardragon being a member, it is doubly my job. >As a Dragon Guard it is my duty to observe, and prevent any action >which might cause The Stardragon to become angry. YOU have made that >job easier. As the leader of the Unaligned Starspawn, I need to keep >track of all powerful, at least powerful by Starspawn measures, >groups. Because The Stardragon is a member, the CAoL ranks as the >most powerful group in the multiverse. You have done nothing, and >have left nothing undone to be reproached for.^ Oracle "says" to >Roland between one instant of time and the next. (OOC: Something I have been meaning to mention for some time, but have neglected until now for some reason: Oracle certainly knows, and probably many of the other ultracosmic beings as well, know that Roland has the potential to _someday_ [many millenia from now; he's my age, which means he just turned 30 8^P] attain a Starspawn/Cosmic level of power. He has many lessons to learn before then; this is one of them. _I_ [the player] know that you are all right; besides, if someone really wants to kill their character off, no one else can stop 'em. 8^) ^Perhaps. But I'm a being with limited perceptions - enhanced by human standards perhaps - trying to lead a group whose membership is so spread across creation that I can hardly keep track _when_ someone is, let alone where. Maybe someone with greater awareness should take charge. At the very least, I need to take a long, hard look whether or not leading these folx aids justice and Light - or my ego.^ With that, the gate closes, and Roland is gone. ================================= Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1999 02:25:06 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE Interlude: Now departing for Tatooine... On Fri, 3 Sep 1999 04:37:42 EDT Dane0R0A Said As CAoL Message # 00007062 Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007058 > (OOC: Something I have been meaning to mention for some time, but >have neglected until now for some reason: Oracle certainly knows, and >probably many of the other ultracosmic beings as well, know that >Roland has the potential to _someday_ [many millenia from now; he's >my age, which means he just turned 30 8^P] attain a Starspawn/Cosmic >level of power. He has many lessons to learn before then; this is one >of them. _I_ [the player] know that you are all right; besides, if >someone really wants to kill their character off, no one else can >stop 'em. 8^) (OOC: I was pretty sure you did, and why you are running Roland as you are. You have repeatedly stated First that Roland is young by immortal standards, and that he is STILL a dyed in the wool idealist. One basic rule that all immortals eventually learn, is that eventually everyone (that can) will die. Either by accident, or intent. In an infinite amount of time, if it is possible for something to kill one, it will. How long it takes, to wear down the idealist (without turning him/her bitter in the process), and how long it takes the immortal to realize that not all deaths can be prevented, is the only question.) > ^Perhaps. But I'm a being with limited perceptions - enhanced by >human standards perhaps - trying to lead a group whose membership is >so spread across creation that I can hardly keep track _when_ someone >is, let alone where. Maybe someone with greater awareness should take >charge. At the very least, I need to take a long, hard look whether >or not leading these folx aids justice and Light - or my ego.^ With >that, the gate closes, and Roland is gone. ^Take as long as you need. But I tell you now, your leadership is good for both the CAoL, and thru its actions, the Multiverse. Without your influence, The Stardragon would have killed the law enforment officers on that supers world, and would have cursed that world. Or I would have been forced to do it to keep The Stardragon from becomming angry. Without your leadership, Armagedon would have destroyed the home worlds of the Greys. These are just two of the times your actions directly saved billions of lives. When you have had time to reflect on my words, you will see the basic truth therein. Rest, relax. If need be I can twist time for you so that no important decision point is missed.^ Oracle finishes through the interdimensional telepathic link, Roland can almost see Oracle saluting as though in respect to a peer (OOC: not that I, or Oracle thinks of anyone as lesser, well maybe one of my son-in-laws. It's more like one head of state to another). ================================= Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1999 21:34:44 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE5:The Out Of Controller takes control On Mon, 6 Sep 1999 21:12:34 -0700 Jack Said As CAoL Message # 00007085 Ok,I've been kinda abend lately, but my regular computer is back up and running and so is my van, so I'm going to play a bit of catchup now. > Jack managed to get himself curled up into a ball as he flew, and >tumbled back up to his feet after he hit. He stood there facing The >Out of Controller, beathing hard, bruised and battered, but otherwise >in good shape. In his eyes, an almost familiar fire seemed to burn as >he looked over at The Out of Controller. "You think you can take me? >Come on, give it your best shot." > The Out of Controller's grin just seemed to get bigger is possible. >"Oh, Don't worry. I will." He waves a hand and then vanished from >sight. > Jack stood there motionless, every muscle in his body tensed. He >slowly looked around him and strained to try to individualize the >noises around him, looking for the next attack. Thus it came as a >total surprise when he felt his suit begin tightening around him... > TBC... Jack struggled helplessly as Jim constricted tighter and tighter. Already he couldn't beathe normally, but his cybernetic air supply kicked in automatically, feeding air to his blood and keeping him alive. Still if he couldn't stop Jim soon, every bone in his body would bcome shattered. Jack's mind raced. He wasn't even fully sure what Jim was, much less how to stop him when he was under the control of that other thing. From what he could remember, Jim was something like a billion little robots all linked to each other like an ant colony. Maybe that could be used to his advantage, only how? Jim pressed tighter and tighter against Jack and Jack suddenly felt the sensation that he couldn't explain, but at the same time felt... familiar. In actuality, Jim had pressed a small chip that sat in a slot near the base of Jack's skull. Pushed the rest of the way into the slot, the entertainment chip automatically loaded the twenty first century thrash music. The chip started and Jack could feel the impulses all the way through his body. Jack could feel something else as well. Jim was loosening. The suit was beginning to come apart as Jack overloaded both their senses with the chip's programming. As soon as he could feel himself getting freed up, Jack broke loose and stopped the chip's play. Panting and feeling the great sensation of actual air filling his own lungs, Jack watched Jim writher and re-form. The suit collapsed into a formless mush, and then a humanoid form appeared as it expanded once again. "Look Jim, I don't know how to break this hold on you but I'd really rather not fiight it out with you right now." "It's alright Jack. When you disrupted my system, you also disrupted The Out of Controller's hold on me. I couldn't break it like The Controller's normal devices. This seemed to have no rhyme nor reason to its hold. I'm sorry for what I did Jack." "It's alright. That's quite a bearhug you have though." Jack grinned as he finished catching his breath and let his air tank re-fill. Taking a quick look around, Jack realized that their own private fight with the Out of Controller had taken them away from the rest of the CAoL. "Umm where did everyone else go?" "I've got them located with my sensors. come on." Jim morphed himself into a one seat hoverbike and Jack climbed on. Lifting off Jack started heading towards the rest of the group. "So what happened to the Out Of Controller anyways?" Jim was silent for a while. "I'm not sure, and that worries me. He is powerful, but I don't know if he can leave this dimention or not. I plan to stay and track him down to make sure. I also want to find out where The Controller component came from to create this Amalgamation. From what I understand of the process, Each piece must come from somewhere in some Continuity. Ergo the threat of The Controller may not be as long dead as I had been hoping it was." "Want some help? I wouldn't mind taking a grudge out on him myself." qwipped Jack as he admired the view of the amazing city from the back of Jim. "No! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so strict, but this being is dangerous and I don't want to risk your life again. I'll leave you with the CAoL. They can help you eventually find your own dimention again and get you home. And they will help you recover your memory at the same time." "I guess we'll hold off arguing this point until later. I see the others below." Jack replied, bracing himself as Jim began to decend. TBC in replies to other posts. ================================= Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1999 11:36:11 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: AAE V: Amalgamverse: Wrapped Up On Tue, 7 Sep 1999 10:43:39 -0700 Jack Said As CAoL Message # 00007088 >On Mon, 23 Aug 1999 19:52:19 -0700 >Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00007037 > The last thing Deathwalker knows, as she screams and fights >futilely to prevent being sucked into the Abyss, is that the voice >she heard did _not_ belong to Malice... > (OOC: Zia might recognize the voice, though, even through seven >hells worth of distortion...) Jack and Jim arrive as the last image of DeathWalker vanishes into the Abyss. Jack is pale and obviously shaken, and between what he's been through in this last fight and what he just saw, he has good reason. Jim however appears as emotionless as ever when he re-forms into his humanoid shape. "I see you have things wrapped up here. Our fight did not go as well." said Jim solemnly. > "And _since_ we're not back yet," he adds with a mischievous grin, >"I'll risk Fast Eddie's blackjack being able to cross dimensions and >ask you where you picked up the extra hardware, Mike." > >Morgan gives Roland a brief glare, but silently watches Mike for his >reaction before deciding whether to chastize her husband. Of to one side, Jim can be seen talking to Axel. "II have a concern about one of the beings created by the Deathwalker. The amalgamation of The Controller and Chaos that called itself The Out of Controller. It disappeared during our battle, seemingly of it's own will. Being partially an incarnation of the primal force of Chaos, it's impossible for me to try to predict why it left or where to. You are tied to this world though, can your power tell me more about where he is and where his components came from?" ================================= End of Action Adventure Excitement Part 5