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A Champion in Earth Bet [Worm/Original Setting]

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Doing some rough math:

So his Durability, given surviving in the core of the sun, is around 90~ petatons of tnt given that it was damaging him enough to cause him to regenerate from it. That's blowing up a rather large continent I believe.

Also means, assuming my quick math is right, Levi was punching the avatar with something like 34 cubic miles of water at mach 15 or so.
 
[X] Redemption. It's clear that a lot of the people here are villains, yet they came out to fight this monster - just like the villains who came to fight the Man of Might. You're going to appeal to their better nature, to the spark of heroism in their soul that yearns to be better than this.
 
[X] Redemption. It's clear that a lot of the people here are villains, yet they came out to fight this monster - just like the villains who came to fight the Man of Might. You're going to appeal to their better nature, to the spark of heroism in their soul that yearns to be better than this.
 
[X] Hope

It's clearly relevant and the whole point of hope is to buoy you through troubled times like constant Endbringer attacks.

sun tzu said:
You're actually a little impressed that she's figured it out. You'll have to ask about that. "Yes. I'm on his tail."

A short pause. "...He can't see you. His sense - his only sense - is knowing where water molecules are. Since you're intangible, you're not displacing them, and he can't see you!"
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If Avatar is not displacing water molecules, how does the armband pick up his voice?

sun tzu said:
Tagton managed to trap you in the heart of the sun, your shackles maintaining you in place while ensuring you burned at the exact same rate you regenerated.
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Wow.

Diomedon said:
Equality...we can make that point later, and in a more subtle manner (choose a new ethnicity/gender each time we appear?)
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Too subtle.

People will just pick their favourite appearance for representations and, hey, guess what? It just happens to be a Caucasian man. And if you portray him differently than his his iconic first appearance, you're clearly trying to make some self-serving political statement.

inventive alias said:
They probably cannot adapt to us at least as we are an ocp that doesn't have a shard but they still might manage to kill us.
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Presumably, the super-weapons were originally developed for things the Entities consider threats, not just to terrorise lesser races. I can't see why they wouldn't adapt as well to us as they do to parahumans with shards.

sun tzu said:
I wanted to show as cool a fight between these two as possible.
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Take it from someone who normally skims fight scenes, this one was abnormally awesome.
 
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Mantellum
  • Apocrypha
    • Metagaming! Really the equality thing would be the most natural, but it wouldn't be a good idea to jump right into preaching. Let's start this slow.
    [X] Hope. This Leviathan has been running around for fifteen years, and there are apparently two other Endbringers. This is a world that clearly has convincing reasons to despair. You won't let it. You just killed an Endbringer, and you're going to tell them all: It gets better.
    -[X] Stunt: Honest, while not revealing your OCPness.
    "I have heard people say that I killed Leviathan and am too modest. A powerful being just coming on from on high to save the day and then being modest about it when countless heroes, and all who faced this monster are Heroes, before laid their life down in a hopeless struggle. But I am truthful when I say that today was the victory of all of us. I am the Avatar of Heroism. I am as strong as those who fight for justice together with me. My power is that of those who fight for what is right, my strength is the conviction of all of us who looked upon the death and destruction Leviathan wrought and said "No more!" Without humanity behind me I am nothing, but together we will overcome everything that threatens the peace."

    Omake:
    He awoke to a gentle voice at his side. "Jason, are you awake? Can you remember anything new?" He tried turn his neck to the voice and found that he couldn't. The face of a woman leaned over him. She was beautiful and had a warm smile, but wore heavy makeup over half her face. She laid a hand on his side, sinking into his soft white flesh... What.

    "AHHH!!" Her face fell. "Oh god, what has happened to me?"

    The woman hugged him. "Jason, Shh... Shh... it's okay Jason, you just lost some memories again, I still love you, remember that, always remember that."

    Who was Jason? For that matter who was he??? Oh god, oh god. He lost his memories? Again? Calm down... calm down... this woman... she knew what was going on.

    "Yes... I... I am sorry... I lost... I don't know, I lost really much." Jason forced himself to keep calm. "Eh, the cliff notes please?"

    She smiled sadly. "Your name is Jason Brown, I am Rebecca Costa-Brown, head of the PRT, we police superheroes. You have the superpower to protect people from hostile mental powers and precognition and so were assigned as my bodyguard... Well... I didn't care one bit about how you looked... the mental side effects only set on really late. There's good days and bad days, yesterday... it was a bad day for you, but it was a marvelously good day for the rest of the world. Leviathan, a monster who killed millions was killed by a new superhero... and now we want to go after his sister, who can see the future and modify minds... I know it's a bad time for you, but the world needs you."

    That was... really much to take in. He was a monster on the outside... but a Hero on the inside, he had a beautiful wife... well, she probably had some kind of scar under that makeup... was that his fault? Anyway, she still feels way out of his league. It seems he needs to roll with this, his wife probably wouldn't appreciate explaining everything a hundred times.

    "Sure, let's go! Saving the world and everything." He smiled. "All in a day's work."

    Rebecca smiled at him again. "Sure, just remember to call me "Chief Director.", your codename is "Mantellum." If you remember anyone's civilian name don't use it, because you don't want to out them and Legend is gay and married so THERE. IS. NOTHING. BETWEEN. US!"

    She grinned, "Let's go."
     
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  • Apocrypha
    • [X] Redemption. It's clear that a lot of the people here are villains, yet they came out to fight this monster - just like the villains who came to fight the Man of Might. You're going to appeal to their better nature, to the spark of heroism in their soul that yearns to be better than this.
     
    Ac3Royale said:
    Does Ziz even have dimension manipulation? Weren't all of her powers just really powerful telekinesis and precognition?
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    Yes, but she's sneaky about it. In Madison she rips the Travelers through dimensions before she constructs her dimension portal device (presumably from professor Haywire's lab), since the Travelers get to watch her put it together. Since they don't dare tell people that they are A) From Earth Aleph, and B) that they may have been Zizzed, they never tell anyone. And Ziz knew they wouldn't, so it was safe to put them in that position. Isn't precog fun?

    Ziz can also see through the senses of any human who doesn't outright no sell her powers.

    Lord Samiel said:
    X] Redemption. It's clear that a lot of the people here are villains, yet they came out to fight this monster - just like the villains who came to fight the Man of Might. You're going to appeal to their better nature, to the spark of heroism in their soul that yearns to be better than this.
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    Missing a [ there. Vote wont be counted.
     
    Diomedon said:
    Yes, but she's sneaky about it. In Madison she rips the Travelers through dimensions before she constructs her dimension portal device (presumably from professor Haywire's lab), since the Travelers get to watch her put it together. Since they don't dare tell people that they are A) From Earth Aleph, and B) that they may have been Zizzed, they never tell anyone. And Ziz knew they wouldn't, so it was safe to put them in that position. Isn't precog fun?

    Ziz can also see through the senses of any human who doesn't outright no sell her powers.
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    Oh right, forgot about the Travelers.
     
    The_Butcher said:
    He moves through all dimensions at once, like a reverse flechette. His voice works on all worlds he is using and the armband that's phasing with them picks up the regularity in the chaos that is all the dimensions.
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    That makes no sense at all.

    Not only would that mean he was displacing molecules in all dimensions, which would be pointless work and directly contradict the basic scenario, I find it very hard to believe that armbands intended for use solely in one dimension can record sounds in countless dimensions, identify which dimension each recorded sound comes from and piece together a shared soundtrack.
     
    Damn it people, we come from the kind of setting where Batman just happen to have been carrying a bottle of Shark Repellent Spray just in case of a shark emergency.

    I find your lack of disbelief disturbing
     
    saskakachi said:
    [ ] Hope. This Leviathan has been running around for fifteen years, and there are apparently two other Endbringers. This is a world that clearly has convincing reasons to despair. You won't let it. You just killed an Endbringer, and you're going to tell them all: It gets better.
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    You need to put an "x" inside that "[ ]".

    Lord Samiel said:
    X] Redemption. It's clear that a lot of the people here are villains, yet they came out to fight this monster - just like the villains who came to fight the Man of Might. You're going to appeal to their better nature, to the spark of heroism in their soul that yearns to be better than this.
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    Missing an "[" at the start.

    silentspirals said:
    If Avatar is not displacing water molecules, how does the armband pick up his voice?
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    Th reason he isn't displacing water molecules is that is vibrating across numerous planes of reality so quickly, that he has little to no interaction with molecules in any plane of reality.
    Everything he carries - his uniform, his armband - is vibrating with him, and thus still interacts with him just fine.
    The armband wouldn't pick his voice from the water... but it still picked soundwaves traveling through his own body,

    munchkinomatic said:
    Damn it people, we come from the kind of setting where Batman just happen to have been carrying a bottle of Shark Repellent Spray just in case of a shark emergency.

    I find your lack of disbelief disturbing
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    No, that's all right. When I made The Avatar's World, one of my goals was to make the powers and science a couple notches more consistent than in a typical superhero setting.
    ...so, still very much "soft science". XD


    Hm. Looks like the winning vote is pretty obvious on this one...
     
    sun tzu said:
    No, that's all right. When I made The Avatar's World, one of my goals was to make the powers and science a couple notches more consistent than in a typical superhero setting.
    ...so, still very much "soft science". XD
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    Didn't Mutants and Masterminds allows the players to pull gizmos or some feat/abilities out of their asses when the situation call for it thank to the hero points system?
     
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    [X] Redemption. It's clear that a lot of the people here are villains, yet they came out to fight this monster - just like the villains who came to fight the Man of Might. You're going to appeal to their better nature, to the spark of heroism in their soul that yearns to be better than this.
     
    [X] Redemption. It's clear that a lot of the people here are villains, yet they came out to fight this monster - just like the villains who came to fight the Man of Might. You're going to appeal to their better nature, to the spark of heroism in their soul that yearns to be better than this.
    -[x] If there are any villains who have doubts because of their own personal circumstances, or just have doubts period, your door is open. If they don't know how to be a hero you can show them how, because they can be more.
     
    [X] Redemption. It's clear that a lot of the people here are villains, yet they came out to fight this monster - just like the villains who came to fight the Man of Might. You're going to appeal to their better nature, to the spark of heroism in their soul that yearns to be better than this.
    -[x] If there are any villains who have doubts because of their own personal circumstances, or just have doubts period, your door is open. If they don't know how to be a hero you can show them how, because they can be more.
     
    [X] Redemption. It's clear that a lot of the people here are villains, yet they came out to fight this monster - just like the villains who came to fight the Man of Might. You're going to appeal to their better nature, to the spark of heroism in their soul that yearns to be better than this.
    -[x] If there are any villains who have doubts because of their own personal circumstances, or just have doubts period, your door is open. If they don't know how to be a hero you can show them how, because they can be more.
     
    Dirty Metagamers.
    [X] Hope. This Leviathan has been running around for fifteen years, and there are apparently two other Endbringers. This is a world that clearly has convincing reasons to despair. You won't let it. You just killed an Endbringer, and you're going to tell them all: It gets better.
    -[X] Stunt: Honest, while not revealing your OCPness.

    is the way to go I tell you. Does the Avatar really think that he can turn any villains just like that? He needs to emphasize that the world is changing, only then he can say that the era of villains is coming to a close and humanity can now finally move on.
     
    [X] Redemption. It's clear that a lot of the people here are villains, yet they came out to fight this monster - just like the villains who came to fight the Man of Might. You're going to appeal to their better nature, to the spark of heroism in their soul that yearns to be better than this.
    -[x] If there are any villains who have doubts because of their own personal circumstances, or just have doubts period, your door is open. If they don't know how to be a hero you can show them how, because they can be more.
     
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    Perspectives: The Brave Little Spider
  • Threadmarks
    • PERSPECTIVES: THE BRAVE LITTLE SPIDER



    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7GY1Xg6X20


    Taylor Hebert's life had had a lot of ups and downs lately. Mostly downs.

    Four months earlier, the relentless bullying campaign at school had reached its apex. It had been the second worst day of her life. When she had returned from the hospital, however, she had had a new goal, a new dream: To use her newfound bug control powers to become a superhero.

    For three months, that dream had offered a meager escape from her personal hell as she'd made plans, experimented with her powers, made a costume, and somehow managed not to go all Carrie on the school, no matter how cruel the trio and their hanger-ons got. She wasn't going to sink to their level. She wasn't going to sacrifice her future, break her dad's heart, just to get back at them. She didn't believe in eye for an eye.

    Then, the time had come to actually go out there and be a superhero. As luck would have it, her first night on patrol had concluded with her fighting one of the most powerful and terrifying villains on the East coast. It was, of all things, the intervention of the teenage villain gang, the Undersiders, that had saved her life.

    The very next day, the Undersiders contacted her, offering membership. It had seemed a good idea at the time - go undercover, join the gang, discover the secret of how they always stayed ahead of the Protectorate. She had only told her plan to Armsmaster, leader of the local Protectorate branch, but he had been less than supportive (to put it mildly).

    At what point, exactly, had things gone off the rails?

    Was it when her stated goal had shifted from "discover how the Undersiders stay ahead of the Protectorate" (that had been achieved on the first day) to "discover the identity of the Undersiders' mysterious patron"?

    Was it when she had helped them rob the Brockton Bay Central Bank, holding the customers at metaphorical gunpoint with her black widows, fighting both the Wards and New Wave's Glory Girl and Panacea?

    Was it at some point during Brockton Bay's gang war, when she had been one of the many villains joining forces to stop the ABB's rampage?

    Was it when the Undersiders had assaulted the fundraiser for the victims of the gang war, and she had handed Armsmaster a painful and humiliating defeat when he had refused to go along with her plan?

    Was it when she had discovered their secret patron was the supervillain Coil, and started writing everything in an e-mail to the Protectorate's Miss Militia, only to realize she couldn't bring herself to betray her Undersider friends the way she had been betrayed herself? When she had concluded she could accomplish more good as a villain?

    Was it when Coil had broken the unwritten rules by revealing the secret identities of every Empire 88 villain to the media, eliminating his last major rivals for control of the city's underworld?

    Or was it less than a day ago, when she'd learned that the purpose of the bank heist had been to distract from Coil's abduction of a little girl, whom he was keeping as his drug-addicted slave so he could exploit her parahuman abilities? When the rest of the Undersiders - the friends she had given up all dreams of being a hero for - had refused to raise a fuss or make it a point of contention? When their position and the benefits of working for Coil had been more important to them than complicity in the destruction of a child's life?

    She had been unable to take it. She had walked away in a haze of anger, guilt and disgust. She hadn't been thinking straight.

    And then, an Endbringer had attacked her city. Kind of put everything else in perspective.

    For just one moment, she had been able to recapture her old sense of wonder at the cape scene, seeing all those heroes and villains gathered in one place. Especially the Triumvirate. Eidolon, the world's most powerful cape (not counting Scion of course). Alexandria, her childhood hero, the reason flight/super-strength power combos were known as the "Alexandria package". Legend, the charismatic leader of the Protectorate, giving a pre-battle speech to the assembly.

    Admittedly, the "one in four of us will die if we're lucky" part of the speech had killed that sense of wonder pretty quickly.

    But then, as the Endbringer arrived and the cameras showed the incoming tidal wave, someone had stopped it.

    For a moment, she had dared hope that Scion, through some incredible stroke of luck, had arrived right at the start of the battle to save them all. Instead of the golden man, though, it was someone she didn't recognize. Not that she had the time to ponder it, really - Leviathan was already inside her city.

    Her power wasn't going to do anything against an Endbringer, but she thought she could perform search-and-rescue. As she got working on that, the new hero had started blasting Leviathan from the sky, Legend-style. She hadn't really been in the right position to follow the whole fight, but what little she had seen made Purity's blasts look like firecrackers in comparison. And then, he briefly appeared as a talking hologram to her, calling for Bastion.

    A minute later, Dragon was using the armbands to say that the new guy, "Avatar", thought he could briefly trap Leviathan in the air near the coastline; they needed anyone whose power could help hinder his movement, maintain him in the air, contain his hydrokinesis, or just plain hurt him from a distance. None of those categories included her, so she kept working on the search-and-rescue side of things, while also wondering what crazy powers Avatar had that he could go toe-to-toe with Leviathan like that.

    She'd realized too late all the water was flowing toward one neighborhood, and then the shelter door had been smashed. Water rushing in, threatening to drown everyone inside. She sent the call for help. She tried to stop the water. She got hit on the head and kept trying, because what else she could do?

    Then Avatar had shown up. For a brief moment, she had forgotten to breath - Legend may have looked handsome, but Avatar looked better than anyone she could think of.

    More impressively, he saved everyone inside in seconds and sealed the door. She was seriously starting to wonder if he was like Eidolon, armed with whatever powers he needed (so unfair).

    "You did good today, young lady. You did good."

    Why had those nine simple words floored her the way they did? Was she that pathetically desperate for positive feedback? Was it because, for once, an authority figure felt like they were on her side? Was it the way he said it, without a hint of condescension but still authoritative - like he was the world's foremost authority on the worth of her actions, and he was declaring that she'd done well?

    Things kept happening so quickly. Armband chatter indicated Leviathan had left, and she had felt the tension draining from her. Then it indicated Avatar was in pursuit.

    "Avatar deceased, East of sector."

    And all of a sudden, she could feel the world slipping back into darkness. Why did she care so much? She'd only met him for ten seconds.

    She stood there, in the rain, losing track of time. The she noticed the rain stopping, the sun shining, the clouds disappearing unnaturally fast.

    Then the hologram of Avatar, still alive, battered but smiling over… what was that thing?

    "Brockton Bay, this is the Avatar speaking. Doomsday is cancelled until further notice. Leviathan is dead and the city saved, thanks to the effort of the many who heroically stood in its defense."

    "Legend here. I confirm. Endbringer down."

    He was alive. He was alive, and an Endbringer was dead.

    In a few seconds, the entire world was turned upside-down. Behemoth had appeared before her birth, and Leviathan a year after it. She'd only been seven when the Simurgh had first struck. She'd always grown up in a world where the Endbringers attacked several times a year, taking another bite out of humanity. A world where the absolute best the heroes could bring to bear could only mitigate the damage. A world where hope was a polite fiction.

    And now, of the three Endbringers, one was dead and gone. Avatar had killed him… at least, she assumed it was Avatar. But he was still giving credit to people like her, for showing up and doing what they could. And that meant so much more, now that hope was once again real. There might still be a human civilization by the time she grew old.

    At the hospital, she'd briefly run into Gallant, who was already back on his feet. He didn't seem to hold a grudge over the bank fight, but the same could not be said of Panacea and Glory Girl. She had to suppress the shudders of terror the later's aura was invoking while the world's greatest healer provided her with what mending she could.

    Then Avatar had shown up again. His injuries seemed to be completely gone, along with the damage to his uniform. Whatever his powers were, they were bullshit.

    "I would not have fared nearly as well on my own. Legend and Dragon helped me coordinate with the others. Eidolon was the one holding him in place for a long while so the rest of us could blast at him. Armsmaster finished off his ablative armor. Vista enabled him to do just that. Tattletale provided useful information. Skitter made it possible to save the thousands at the shelter. And so on. My role may have been central, but everyone contributed. Everyone risked their lives to save the day."

    Why were his words affecting her so much? Did he have some kind of aura like Glory Girl?

    And then he woke Tsunami from her coma and healed her concussion, just by looking at them.

    Who was Avatar?


    At the post-battle gathering, she'd noticed that Bitch had arrived with her enhanced dogs. Hadn't she wanted to keep them out of harm's way? Still, Taylor avoided the Undersiders. Even just seeing them was bringing back the waves of conflicting feelings.

    Avatar had been right about this much, at least - she had done good. She'd helped save everyone at the shelter. Somehow, that realization was spreading warmth across her entire being. All the past month, as a hero, undercover, as a villain, she'd always told herself she was doing the right thing, or at least doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. But looking back on all her accomplishments, all her fights, she sometimes wondered if she'd really done anyone any good. This? This was unquestionable good. This was what superheroes were supposed to do. True, her role had been mostly limited to spotting the problem and alerting someone who could solve it, but she had helped.

    And meanwhile, Dinah was still trapped in Coil's little hell. No matter how many people Taylor helped, she was still an accomplice to what was done to that little girl.

    The warm and fuzzy feeling disappeared. She thought back to Avatar telling her she did good. She tried to imagine him learning about Dinah.

    She found herself shuffling closer to Miss Militia. She may have lost respect for Armsmaster over the past month, but she still thought highly of his second-in-command in the East-North-East Protectorate.

    It would take so little. Reveal that she had been undercover. Explain Dinah, her power, what Coil did to her, the location of his hidden lair.

    Abandoning the Undersiders. Spitting on Tattletale and Grue's friendship. Giving up on Regent and Bitch.

    Once again, she felt that sick churning in her stomach.

    Maybe she could sell out Coil without sacrificing the Undersiders? Would they even want her on the team, or as a friend, after she ruined a cushy gig for them? Did she want to go back?

    "Avatar, I don't believe any of those present have heard of you before. You appear to be a new cape, and yet you fight like a man experienced with his power. I don't know what to think of you except for this: You have our eternal gratitude, and I am honored and thankful that you fought by our side today."

    As Legend spoke, Avatar stepped forward. His voice resonated clearly, as if he was right in front of her:

    "You are right on both counts. I am an experienced superhero, but I am new here. I come from another world, another Earth - a different universe, existing in parallel to this one." The revelation brought murmurs to the assembly, but they quickly quieted as he went on: "On my Earth, I have been for decades the leader of the Global Champions, an elite international team dedicated to protecting the world from the worst threats around. It was circumstances beyond my control that have stranded me here… and yet, I find myself glad it happened, if it means this city gets to live. I, too, am honored and thankful to have been here today - honored, because I have witnessed heroism at every turn."

    His eyes surveyed the audience, and Taylor felt like he was looking right at her. "You had an early warning, and you all came here. You came to stand in the path of a monster straight out of mankind's primal nightmares, knowing full well that it was likely to kill you, knowing full well that it had never been truly defeated before. Faced with such bleak odds, you showed selfless courage. And what is heroism, if not courage married to nobility?

    "I have seen too many displays of heroism today to count them as they deserve. I have seen it in those who fought Leviathan head-on. I have seen it in those who provided support and defense for them. I have seen it in those who rescued and healed their comrades. I have seen it in those who protected the civilians. I have seen it in the civilians who maintained their calm and kept others from panicking in the shelters. I have seen it in the powered and the unpowered alike.

    "There is, in every sapient soul, a spark of glory. Male or female, black or white, organic or cybernetic, earthling or alien, any mind capable of conscious choice can choose to be great. To help, rather than to hinder. To acknowledge fear, and refuse to be its slave. To admit your flaws with humility, and work past them to the best of your ability. To stand up against injustice in all its forms. To choose the right and good over the convenient and easy. To treat everyone with the respect and generosity we wish were afforded to us. To give aid and kindness, not because you expect reciprocation, but because it is a better way to live, a better person to be.

    "That spark of glory is in everyone, in all of you. Sometimes, you lose sight of it. Sometimes, you feel that it is out of reach. Circumstances place you in what feels like a lose-lose scenario, where doing the right thing looks like a losing proposition. At times, it's terrifyingly clouded what the right thing to do even is. Yet even in the murkiest of circumstances, it is always worth it to strive toward the most heroic self you can be. Even at the world's darkest, you are not truly alone; there are millions who would gladly reach out to you, help you ignite the spark within. I, for one, can think of few greater honors than standing by the side of someone trying to be better, even as the weight of the world seems determined to drag them down and extinguish their spark.

    "Today, I have seen you all reaching for the spark within, and I salute you for it. I have known your world for mere hours, and already I love it - because, in the face of bleakness and horror, your world answers with that heroic marriage of courage and nobility. And because of that, I feel confidence as I make you a promise.

    "I promise you this: It will get better. Yesterday, as I understand it, your world lived under the terror of three Endbringers. Today, two remain and a city lives. Tomorrow, with the spark of heroism within everyone, we will build an even better world! With the glory within everyone, powered and unpowered, rich and poor, saint and sinner, we will fight back the darkness and return hope to the world!"

    He smiled at them all and concluded: "I don't know much about your world yet, but I know this much: I know that I want to serve it with the same kind of heroism I saw its natives displaying today."

    And with that, the speech ended.

    Sensing her environment through her bugs, Taylor hadn't realized at first that her vision was getting blurry. With a start, she realized she was crying under her mask.

    It wasn't the words alone. It was how they were said. Avatar's voice, his tone, his entire body language. It all spoke of absolute confidence and complete earnestness. Despite how badly she'd been burned by nearly every authority figure in her life, she found, to her surprise, that she didn't doubt for a second he meant every word he said. Nor did she think he was naive - hearing him, she got the distinct impression it was the wisdom of experience talking, not the naivete of a newcomer. And when he talked, she actually felt like a hero.

    And that, she suddenly realized, was why his words back at the shelter and the hospital had shaken her so much. It wasn't some kind of Master power. It wasn't mind-control. It was because he was appealing to what she had thought was a dead dream.

    She had loved heroes growing up. She'd been a cape geek. When she'd gotten her powers, only the dream of being a hero had kept her at times from taking revenge on her unrelenting bullies.

    After weeks of making friends with villains, fighting against worse villains by their side, and getting disappointed by several of the heroes, she had tearfully abandoned that dream. She had concluded that villains, at least those who weren't psychopaths and respected the unwritten rules, were really no worse than the so-called heroes. She had believed, or at least wanted to believe, that helping Coil take over Brockton Bay might actually be good for the city. She had given up on her pretense of being undercover, and admitted that she was a villain because the Undersiders were her friends.

    Then, Coil had revealed just what sort of monster he really was. Her friends were unwilling to oppose him. She hadn't known what to think, and she no longer even had her old dream of heroism to fall back on.

    The reason Avatar's words touched her was because he considered her a hero, and made her feel like one. She thought back to the terror of the hostages at the bank. She thought back to the terror of the people at the shelter. And she knew, beyond a shadow of doubt, that she preferred opposing the terror to causing it.

    "Fuck yeah, I'll go for that."

    Taylor blinked. She couldn't see very clearly through her teary eyes, but her bugs barely managed to identify the speaker. The girl from the hospital - Tsunami. The Asian cape spoke:

    "You know how I got my powers? I triggered when my entire family died at Kyushu. Orphan girl among three million refugees, with a power that reminded everyone of the fucker that just killed everyone else? Shit, I became a badass villain to survive.

    "I woke up an hour ago. You didn't just save my life, you killed that goddamn motherfucker and avenged my family. Fuck, you avenged everyone I knew as a kid. You're saying I should be a hero? Fuck, man, you tell me to wear a tutu and speak only in rap songs for the rest of my life and I'll fucking do it."

    Taylor looked at the villainess with the edgy costume. She looked at the Undersiders. She looked at Miss Militia. She looked at Avatar.

    "Even at the world's darkest, you are not truly alone; there are millions who would gladly reach out to you, help you ignite the spark within."

    Why did she try to take it all on herself? Why did she try to do this alone?

    She took a deep breath. With utterly feigned confidence, she stepped toward the second highest-ranking hero in the ENE Protectorate.

    "Miss Militia." She hoped her voice wasn't as broken as it sounded to her. She noticed, but ignored for now, the concerned look on Legend's face as Dragon spoke to him.

    "Skitter." The heroine didn't exactly welcome her with open arms and a smile, but she displayed no hostility either. "Is there a problem?"

    "No… well, sort of I guess. Actually… I wanted to ask you for advice. I've been having a moral dilemma, and I wanted some perspective…"



    Following the Miracle of Brockton Bay, the Avatar… (Pick 3)

    [ ] Took the time to get to know the heroes of Brockton Bay, and then the Protectorate as a whole.

    [ ] Gathered information about the worst problems facing Earth Bet, including the S-class villains.

    [ ] Performed one more miracle for the city by clearing the boat graveyard, allowing the port to reopen.

    [ ] Took the time to study the exact nature of superpowers on Earth-Bet.

    [ ] Wasted no time and handled another major threat.

    [ ] Helped fund useful charities by producing and selling massive amounts of omni-metal and carbosteel.

    [ ] Flew a hypersonic patrol around the world, letting everyone know he was there if needed.

    [ ] Raised a memorial from beneath the waves at Kyushu and Newfoundland.


    Note that these are the things the Avatar does in the short term. Things you don't do now may still come up later.
     
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    • [ ] Raised a memorial from beneath the waves at Kyushu and Newfoundland.

    [ ] Gathered information about the worst problems facing Earth Bet, including the S-class villains.

    [ ] Performed one more miracle for the city by clearing the boat graveyard, allowing the port to reopen.

    Thinking these three, more info on threats, deal with Levi's island sinkings + clean up the place where we beat it.,
     
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