To: Meta_Earth@yahoogroups.com From: Keith Harper maxxlingo@m... Mailing-List: list Meta_Earth@yahoogroups.com; contact Meta_Earth-owner@yahoogroups.com Date: Sat, 20 Jul 2002 04:06:53 -0400 Subject: [Meta_Earth] Recap: Turn 5.0
After the team's return, and Blitz's funeral, Ms. Chesterton give the members some time off to mourn and recuperate.
*********************************** MM
Master Menagero's nerves are still shot, it didn't help that there were several messages on his home answering machine from the Dept. Of Defense
inquiring into the results of their research grant. They wanted to see some results. MM told the others to stay away from the secret base for awhile.. He didn't want them to get involved in his situation with the DoD. he needed some time alone to figure out what he was going to do.
[As well as give Michael time for his vacation]
************************************* The Captain
The Captain, had received even more threatening letters from Paramount. He wasn't sure what to do. what would Kirk do? He sat moping in his room
pouring over the many "cease and desist" forms that had been sent in care of the SoF offices.
His best friend, Jill Lee, was on her way over. They hadn't spoken in a long while due to Gene being so busy lately with his life as the Captain. Maybe she could help him come to a decision.
"Why so glum chum? " she asks cheerfully as she enters the room.
"Some thing happened on our last mission..." starts Gene, then in a rush, he tells her the whole story, Zena using the mercenary as a sheild, himself going along with Zena and Frank afterwards, the death of Blitz, and the letters from Paramount"...so now I'm going to be sued by Paramount. And after what happened I think they may have every right to demand I change my name and costume. I'm not worthy of the uniform."
"I think that you are being a little hard on yourself." says Jill. "It sounds like you guys saved a lot of people from potential danger. Not that I'm trying to downplay the horror of what it must have been like to see something like that, but just think how much more horrible a nuclear explosion on our homeland would have been.
>From what you say, Zena did what she did to save MM, and Blitz did what he did to save the rest of you. In case you hadn't heard there is a war going on Gene, and it sounds like you guys got sent into the front line of it. People sometimes die in wars. And as selfish and hard as it may sound, I'd rather it be some mercenary
villain or even one of your teammates than you. If anything, Blitz sacrificed himself so that you and your team-mates could continue on helping people. Don't make his sacrifice for nothing.
The world needs heroes Gene... especially now, and heroes don't quit when things become difficult. "
"I don't want to quit. Despite what happened I still have these powers and I want to help people. But I don't think I can continue being The Captain. I, I have to earn it again."
"Well. I'm no lawyer, " says Jill," but it seems to me if Paramount is coming after you then they should go a after all of the people who dress up at Star Trek conventions. But it probably has something to do with you making a profit off of their copyright, At least that is how they would see it i suppose. Have you asked them about cutting them in on the action in
exchange for allowing you to call yourself the Captain and wear the uniform?"
Whatever you call yourself is fine with me. I've never understood your fascination with Star Trek anyway. Now Star Wars I can understand, but to me, Star Trek is just so...boring. "
Gene looks at Jill astonished that she could say such a thing. "Heretic " he says, jokingly.
"I find your lack of faith....disturbing, " says Jill in the best Darth Vader voice she can muster, then busts out laughing.
Gene smiles despite himself.
"Still, the uniform, the Starfleet uniform means a lot to me, it represents everyhting I aspire to be, and I feel I betrayed that. Kirk would never use a prisoner as a sheild, or support anyone who did. But I did, I need to aton for that before I can wear it again."
"In the meantime I need to come up with a new codename and a costume."
"Why not just add another word to your codename. Like Captain Marvel. That one is already taken but you know what I mean. Captain Ion..Captain Energize..Captain Trek...I don't know I'm no good with these things, " says Jill.
"Actually, I may have a new idea already. What do you think of Sci-Fi?"
"I think it sounds great. Hopefully the Sci-Fi Channel won't have a problem with it." says Jill
"I don't think I have to worry about that. Sci-Fi isn't just thier name, it is the name of a genre, so I think I shoul be safe. I just need a new costume."
********************************************************** Roughneck and Zena
Frank wasn't any closer to figuring out who had turned him into a cyborg
or why. He decided to take the time to do some research on his former company. They were probably still looking for him. They had, after all sent a hit squad after him at one point, though he had been able to stay
out of their sights since then.
Zena hadn't gotten any closer to finding out who had wiped out her tribe either. She was becoming restless, pacing about the SoF offices. Each time she paced up and down the hall, she would pass the small room where Frank was intently searching the internet for any leads.
Zena did not understand what he was doing or what secrets he hoped to discover by peering into the box and tapping upon what Frank called a "keyboard"
"What are you doing. she finally says out of frustration and boredom.
"Research. " says Frank slurping his black coffee. 'Trying to figure out who did this to me." he says indicating the many scars on his skull.
"How can that box help you? Is it magic? "
"Uh..kinda. I don't know how it works exactly so it has that in common with magic.They didn't have the iinternet before I was abducted. Plus it
lets me see things that I wouldn't normally be able to see. Gives me access to information.
"It's a scrying device? "
Frank types in 'scrying' to the computers dictionary, to check the definition. .."Yeah It's a scrying device. "
"Then make it tell me who murdered my tribe."
Frank feels badly for Zena, he had been robbed of his humanity , but she
had lost her entire culture.
"We can look. Maybe see something that will jog your memory. You said a businessman came to your island., maybe if we come across the company logo you will recognize it. "
"What is a 'Logo?"
"It's like a symbol....ummmm...a mark, a uhhh, sigil"
"Sigil! I know that word. Yes we will look for the man's vigil. Find it for me."
"I'll try, Red, but i ain't no computer hacker or anything."
Zena looks confused.
"I know. 'what's a hacker' " says Frank.
"Well how should I know? You brought it up!" Zena shouts.
Her nereves are at their end. She desperately wants to hit someone. She has wanted to hit someone since she and Kinetica had gotten into their argument.
Farnk asks Zena, "What did the "sigil" look like? Can you draw me a picture of it?"
If she can, Frank will try to think of every word that could be used to describe what Zena draws, and enters them into a search engine one at a time. He also goes to Mz. Chesterton and asks her how to look for something like that.
[Keith, if this is not OK, then let me know.]
Ms. Chesterton says, "Well, if she can describe the company's trademark, we can search for it in the USPTO database. Also Google has a good image search engine for the entire web. If Zena remembers the mark clearly enough, it shouldn't be too hard to find it. We can even search foreign trademarks, though that's a bit harder to do."
Frank relays this information to Zena, careful not to get her hopes up too much. "I don't know if this is gonna go anywhere, so don't get too excited. But it's all I can think to do."
He wishes he had such a good lead on his own origin.
Frank's own research is directed to finding all the companies with relationships to his former employers.
Frank also begins reading books on meditation, in order to try to make his way voluntarily into his computer core, and to try to resist the core when it asserts control over him.
"It looks like a circle with green and blue all over it. The circle is split evenly with lines going vertical and horizontal." she says, not fully understanding what the symbol actually was.
Zena quickly scribbles out a picture . . .
"Hey that looks almost like the logo for Geo-Corp. " says Frank. The oil company I used to woork for , Petro-Corp, was a small subsidiiary of them. " Frank pulls up the Geo-Corp webpage.
"Geo-Corp ...Making the world a better place" Reads the front page beneath a logo almost exactly like the one Zena had drawn.
"From what little I've read about them in my research I know that they are HUGE. Worldwide. Multi-national conglomerate. More money than most national governments." says Frank.
Zena seethes with anger. That was the mark! She would never forget it. The man had handed her a small card with the mark upon it. She had torn it in half and thrown it in his face refusing his offer of money for the purchase of the secret isle of Amazonia.
Frank will try to research all the drilling operations and even exploration operations that Geo-Corp has going. He will also try to find out all corporate ties that the company has, both upstream and downstream. He realizes he may not be able to find out much on these subjects, so he asks Ms. Chesterton to help him. He is getting more comfortable around her, probably at the same rate at which he is getting used to his own appearance. He was never pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but his scars are enough to make even himself flinch whenever he looks in the mirror.
Frank also decides to try looking up some of the eco-terror groups that keep popping up on his searches--because their sites mention companies like Geocorp. He figures maybe such a group would have uncovered information about his former company. He used to think those kinda groups were full of it, but now, given his and Zena's stories, he thinks the eco-terror groups are maybe only scratching the surface.
Zena feels like maybe Frank knows something. That maybe he might be able
to lead her to the people who slaughtered her friends and family. She feels greatly responsible for their deaths. Not because she could have stopped them by herself, but because she should have died in battle fighting with her sisters.
She had gone to counsel other tribes on the matter, when she should have
tended her own affairs. The guilt over their deaths will haunt her to her final days, but at least she can avenge their spirits. She just worries that in doing so she'll be condemning the rest of this powerful team to the fate that she is signing for herself ... she fully doesn't expect to return from battle with the people who destroyed her way of life.
She would hate for any of the others to be dragged down by her near obsession. Perhaps, once Frank finds the information she needs, she will
leave the team, to hunt them down on her own. Perhaps things would be better that way. After all she's not exactly on friendly terms with Kinetica or Master Menagero because of her attitude concerning death. The Captain seemed to be avoiding her as well, but he seems to be having
conflicts of his own. She actually finds herself worrying for him, he seemed to take Blitz's death the worst.
Meanwhile...
The Chief Executive Officer of Geo-Corp sits alone in his darkened office, with the shades drawn. No lights, save for the bluish tint given off by the wall lined from floor to ceilings in television monitors. Each monitor was tuned to a different news channel from various satellite feeds from around the globe. His eyes dart from monitor to monitor, taking it all in.
His eyes fixate on one of the monitors that has just gone to commercial... it is promoting a metahuman services agency, called Supers of Fortune. How quaint, he thinks to himself. His interest intesifies when the commercial shows a dramatic "re-creation" of a fight scene between a woman identified as "Zena" by the flashy lettering on the bottom of the screen, and six well armed combatants. Zena disposes of the men in a most brutal
and effective fashion using a circular throwing weapon and savage hand to hand techniques.
The CEO pushes a button on his desk and all of the screens go blank and a bookcase slides in front of the wall of monitors, effectively hiding them. Another push of a button, turns on the intercom to his secretary. "Please have my chief security officer report to me at once. "
"Yes, sir, " says the secretary.
A few moments later, a beautiful and dangerous looking women strides into the room. She is well over seven feet tall and despite her heavy musculature, she moves with a feline grace. "You called for me sir?" she
asks.
"Yes, my dear, I have good news... I believe I have found who you've been looking for. "
"Zena?" she says both hopefully and hatefully at the same time.
" I believe so. Once I am certain of it, you shall have your revenge. I cannot have any loose ends concerning Amazonia. Present company excluded of course."
"Of course." says Titania. " It will be my pleasure to dispose of that she-bitch. One condition...she dies by my hands, in my own time. I wish to savor every delicious moment of her suffering. "
"Of course my dear, I figured as much. Perhaps you should take some company with you, to deal with any of her team-mates that may try to interfere. The newly created Cyber-zons, have yet to go on an actual field mission, now would be an excellent opportunity to give them a trial run. If they perform as well as the first group of cyborgs did against the Amazons, then I think that Zena's team-mates shall pose no threat at all."
"Not only that, " says Titania wickedly, " but it will do much to unhinge Zena's sanity, when she sees her former sister's transformed into brainless mechanical killing machines."
"Excellent." says the CEO.
**************************** Kinetica and Verve
Julia was still re-acclimating herself to the idea that she could now turn on and off her forcefield. Though she still longed for the escape of drugs, it was good to be able to do many of the things so long denied
her by her forcefield One of these things was food. It had been nearly a year since she had been able to eat solid food.
She calls up one of her father's many restaurants and makes reservations. Then she calls Verve , or rather his secret ID, Simon Kirby.
"Hey, Ver..er..I mean Kirby. I made dinner reservations for everyone at my dad's restaurant on 55th and Vine, the foods on the house, all the cool kids will be there at 8. See you then , Ciao." she says before Verve can utter a word of response.
A few hours later, Kirby shows up to the restaurant in his civilian ID. It is a swank French restaurant called De Lain's. He is shown to a table
where Julia is already sitting. The first thing he notices is that it is
a table for two,
Julia has spent quite a bit of time at a beauty parlor since their last mission, taking care of some much needed maintenance that she could not handle with her force field up. Plus, she had to restock her wardrobe, since she had gotten rid of most of her clothes when her force field first manifested.
Consequently, Julia was dressed to the nines by the time Verve arrived. Her hair was no longer uneven and uncombed, but was rather carefully styled. The ends just reached her chin, curving inwards towards her face. Her makeup was expertly done, with blue-green eyeshadow that complemented her eyes nicely and classic red lipstick. She wore a revealing black midriff halter top, a long black skirt decorated with blue flowers with a slit up her right leg, and black high-heeled, open-toe shoes. Her finger nails were painted a pale blue that matched the lighter portion of her floral skirt.
"Uh..I thought this was a group dinner," say Kirby.
"Yeah, I don't know what happened to everybody. i guess they all flaked out or something," says Julia innocently.
Kirby has the feeling that he has been had, but it was a nice restaurant
and the food was free, so he takes a seat.
"I don't know where my dad is," says Julia. "somebody said he took off just shortly before I was supposed to get here. Figures, " she says.
"I'm sure he'll turn up says Kirby, "what do you recommend? he asks looking over the menu.
"The Jack and Cokes are to die for, " says, Julia.
"You are underage girl, and on probation I might add. If you plan on getting hammered you can count me out." he says preparing to leave.
"Chill. I was just joking. "
"Fair enough," says Kirby "Let's eat."
Julia smiles, remembering that she had slipped the waitress a hundred to
slip some rum into her coke.
"It feels so good to wear normal clothing again."
"I can imagine. You certainly wear them well. How long were you trapped inside your forcefield?"
"Why thank you. Too long I'm afraid. Luckily the lab dorks were able to figure out a way to put a uniform on me through the field. I don't think
my Uncle Samuel would have appreciated me running around in the buff and
would have left me in rehab."
Julia eats enough food for five people, and then consequently has to excuse herself to the ladies room to throw up from the overindulgement.
After dinner Kirby walks Julia back to her apartment. As they near the entrance, Julia sees a light on inside.
"I didn't leave that light on" she says, her forcefield glowing to life instinctively.
Julia busts open the door, not bothering with the key.
As soon as she enters the apartment, she sees her father rummaging through her things in the living room.
"Oh! It's you Julia, you scared me to death," he says, visibly startled by Julia's dramamatic entrance. "I was just on my way to the restaurant to meet you, " he says trying to regain his compusure.
"Um, right. What are you doing here?"
" Oh, I ...ahhh...I misplaced my address book and I thought I may have left it here when I came by to water your plants while you were away on your last mission. "
Julia senses that her father is lying, She made no arrangements for him to water the plants , and her father wasn't thoughtful enough to do that on his own volitian.
"Anyway I found it. " he says producing it from the inside poscket of his dinner jacket. " I'm so sorry, I missed you at dinner, I guess i just lost track of time. I'll leave you two kids alone now." he says, moving towards the door to leave.
"Oh, don't mind us. His g/f is going to come over later to tie me up so they can have their way with me. You can stay and watch if you want."
Kirby clamps his hands over his face, mortified.
By then he is gone.
"Guess not. Gee, don't let the door hit you on the way out, dad."
Julia plops down on an easy chair, wading through a heap of garbage. The room is an utter stye, with a dozen garment begs unopened shoved into an open, overstuffed closet. The bed is not made of course, with blankets strew haphazardly. Cans and bottle litter the floor, from everything from liquid shakes to Budweiser to vodka, plus empty pizza boxes, chinese cartons, and so forth, intermixed with dirty landry.
"Idiot, my plants are plastic, not that you would even take the time to water them if they weren't."
"I'm sorry, Kirby," she says getting to her feet, and heads for the kitchen. "Would you like something to drink?" Um, this glass is clean...I think."
" Water's fine. Don't you think that was a little strange? Or does this sort of thing occcur a lot in your family? " asks Kirby while scribbling a drawing on the back of a discarded pizza box with a pen he found near the phone.
"I'd be lying if I said my father and I were close. What he would be doing here is beyond me, but then again, I gave up trying to understand that man years ago."
"That's too bad." says Kirby " I mean about you two not being close. "
When he is done drawing , a robotic maid like the one seen on the Jetsons cartoon, winks into existence and begins cleaning up the apartment. "Free of charge, " he says.
"Nifty. Think you can do something about getting me a new door?"
"Fraid not. My animations don't last that long...what about you? Have you ever tried making shapes with your forcefield? "
"Other than altering it slightly around my body, no, I haven't. You think I could?"
Kirby shrugs, " Who knows, but I don't see why not. "
He takes the glass of water from Julia, makes sure it is clean , then takes a drink. He looks at one of the empty vodka bottles on the floor. "I never mentioned it before, but I'm on the wagon. Been clean and sober for just
over a year now. I'm not going to get all preachy on you, but if you need help, then let me know. I know how hard it is to quit. Still haven't been able to give these things up," he says lighting a cigarette. "I guess I'm allowed one vice."
"Help with what? It's just a little harmless fun."
"That would be denial talking. Like I said, I'm not going to preach...the offer stands. Just try to take care of yourself . "
"It's just...life is so dull. I need a little something to help me escape. Is that so bad?"
You just need to find something you are passionate about. For me it is my artwork..that is my escape. Surely there is something you care about other than partying?
Julia shrugs.
"I really need to be going. It's getting late. "
"You sure you don't want to stay for a nightcap?"
Kirby rolls his eyes, " i honestly don't know why i bother., Goodnight Julia, " he says. As he leaves the animated robot-maid finishes the cleaning then fades away.
"Jerk. Doesn't know a good thing when he sees it."
Julia walks over to the couch, plops down and picks up the phone. "Yo Brad! You doing anything tonight? Great! Why don't you pick up a bottle of the usual and I'll come over in an half-hour. Oh, and I have surprise
for you."
Placing her hands behind her head, Julia smiled to herself. At least she
wouldn't be sober and alone tonight. Then she rummaged through her closet, picking out the most revealing teddy she could find. She put it on then powered up her force field, placing her trench coat on over the top. Brad hadn't known she was now able to deactivate it, and wondered what he would say when he took her coat.
Outside the apartment Kirby scans the area for any signs of Julia's father. Whether Julia, thought so or not there was something fishy about that whole thing. There was no sign of him. Maybe it was nothing, but then again maybe not. Just have to wait and see, I guess, he thinks to himself.
Philip De Lain drives home in frustration. He hadn't been able to find anything in his daughter's apartment to help him in his investigation.
A few weeks ago, he had received several video tapes in the mail, along with a letter. The letter was a demand for money. The tapes contained graphic sexual encounters( as sexual as Julia could get with her forcefield) between Julia and an unidentified man. Presumably the man knew he was being taped and always managed to keep his face hidden from the cameras that appeared to be hidden somewhere in the bedroom. Unless Philip agreed to pay half a million dollars, then the tapes would be sold to the porn industry and distributed nationwide.
There was a key in the letter, The instructions stated that someone would call within 2 days to tell Philip where to put the money. Sure enough a call came the next day. The key was to a locker in grand central station. Philip was to place the bag full of money in the locker and leave immediately. Not wanting his daughter's name to be sullied more than it already had been, Philip did as he was told.
A few days ago, he received another ransom letter, this time demanding an even million.
Things were getting expensive, It was time to bring in a specialist. Someone adept at dealing with and elinmminating these sorts of problems.
Philip makes a call from his car phone. " This is Philip De Lain, please tell Ms Falcone, that the situation we discussed previously has not been resolved...and I will be needing the help of her organization after all. Thank you. "
Philip sighs heavily. He hated to call upon his ties with the Falcone "family" . Still, they had helped him eliminate his troublesome ex-wife, Julia's mother, with no problems. That was back when Tobias Falcone, the legendary Power Broker, had still been alive and ruled New York's criminal syndicates with an iron fist. Now his daughter, Alexis Falcone was in charge. The organization wasn't nearly as powerful as it had been in the glory days of the Power Broker, but it was still a feared organization in organized crime circles. Surely they would be able to handle something as mundane as finding and eliminating a blackmailer.
Perhaps the man who'd entered the apartmnet with Julia was responsinble. Who knew? He'd certainly mention it to Ms. Falcone.
Julia gave a knock at the door. She has on the gloves and boots to her costume, and her trench coat covered the the gossamer blue teddy she wore underneath. She had picked one out that matched her costume for just such an occasion, and she could not wait to see Brad's expression when he took her coat.
"It's open," came Brad's voice. Julia found him busy at his computer, his fingers a flurry of motion. "I'll be right with you. I just need to finish this procedure. The bottle's on the table so help yourself."
"Mind if I take my coat off? It's a bit warm in here."
"Be my guest."
Brad did a double take as Julia dropped her coat to the ground revealing
just about everything underneath. All motion on the keyboard stopped as he gazed at her body.
"Julia, how did you...I mean, you force field...you couldn't have been able to..."
Julia deactivated her force field. "That answer your question?" she asked, with a playful wink.
"So we can..."
"Uh-huh. I figure you've been good to me that you deserve a little something extra. So, you can sit their in front of the screen drooling, or are you going to sample the goods you've been lusting after all this time."
"Look, Julia, I...have you ever wanted something you couldn't have, but then when you got it, you found you really didn't want it."
"I...I see where this is going," she said sharply.
"Look, don't take it personally,..."
"How am I supposed to take it? You just said you didn't want me."
"You're putting words in my mouth."
"But it's the truth. I'm not he 'forbidden fruit' anymore so you don't think I taste as sweat."
"Julia, I'm sorry."
"No your not."
"Look, just go. You can keep the bottle, on me. Just leave."
"I don't need your pity gifts, Brad." Even as she said that she scooped up the bottle, putting her coat on her shoulders, but not closing it as she
headed to the door. "Have a nice life."
Julia stormed back to her apartment, leaving her coat open. She bumped into her neighbor, Old Man Conners. He was heading out to his job, working nightshift security for some corporate office downtown. In his advanced
age, he wouldn't be able to do much if there actually was an intruder than bore him to death with a tale.
"Julia, are you alright?"
"None of your business."
"Relationship troubles," replied Conners, not taking his cue to butt out. "Look, Julia, your a beautiful, intelligent woman. Any man would be lucky to have you. If he can't see that, then it's his loss."
"Thanks, Mr. C," says Julia. She gave him a peck on the cheek, but then, after a moments thought, embraced him in a passionate kiss, forcer her tongue into his mouth while pressing her nearly naked body against him. The man was too shocked to either resist or react.
Pulling herself away, Julia noticed the bulge in his pants. "Either theres a gun in your pants or somebody's been taking their Viagra." The brought a rose colored hue to his cheeks.
"Don't worry, I won't tell Mrs. Conners," said Julia, flashing him a playful wink. He wandered down the hall muttered something about "kids today," leaving Julia alone as she entered her apartment, just her and the bottle.
Soon, it was just her, but Julia was too wasted to care.
The Captain, or rather Sci-Fi has fashioned a new uniform for himself with the help of hi longtine friend Jill lee. [Insert costume description]
The new costume in nearly compleat. It is a one peace metalic green spandex (or unstable molecule or what ever we are using in this campaing) suit. Down the right side in a crome stripe, which starts and the shoulder and tapers down the front and back till in meets the crome boots. Around his waist is a crome belt,on the buckle are a stylezed futurist looking SF (his micro recorder is in a holster on the belt). There is a starburst/cresent moon symbol over his heart, colored black, inside the crome strip. He had crome wrist gauntlets, his gloves are the same metalic green as his suit. He has no mask. He and Jill have designed a helmet which they hope MM or Mrs. Chesterton will foot the bill for, the helmet would hopefully contain scanning equipment, allowing Sci-Fi to scan his teleportation locations so as to avoid teleporting into solid matter. The sheet of paper with the helmet design is in Gene's hand.
"You look fabulous," says Jill.
"thanks," says Gene, admiring himself in the mirror on the back of his bedroom door.
"It will look great with the helmet. Watch out world, Sci-Fi is on the job!"
The conversation is interrupted by a call on Gene's ce; phone. "Hello"
"Gene, it's Luke! Dude you gotta get down here to the mall. There is some kind of freaky monster on the loose. He's hot orange skin, one eye in the middle of his face , and four arms!" he blurts out excitedly. Then he either hung up or they were disconnected.
Gene grabs his old domino mask from his Captain costume, afixing it in place as he grabs Jill's hand, "Come on, we're going shopping"
Sci-Fi will then teleport them both high into the air, above the mall or as near as he can get, then teleport the two of them to a clear area on the ground. Then he'll figure out what to do next.
(5A for first teleport, 6I for second, 8D for any dodges I might need to make. When we get to it, I'd like to spend at least one both of my XP's for the helmet. If I can't afford it yet Sci-Fi will have to make do with the domino mask for a bit longer.)
***************** Julia hasn't talked to or seen Brad since the night he had blown her off. That was fine with her she was still pissed at him.
She was however quit bored. She needed something to do. She tried to call Kirby at his apartment and gets a busy signal . "Probably looking at porn on the Internet. ' she thinks. She tries again a few minutes later and it is till busy. Frustrated , she powers up her forcefield and decides to fly over to Kirby's apartment for a surprise visit.
A short time later she arrives. landing on his apartment buildings roof , and sneaking down the fire escape. When she reaches the window of Kirby's apartment and looks in, she sees that his aparment has been ransacked.
Two guys are holding Kirby's arm's behind his back as, a third punches him in the stomach. The men are wearing black suits, and tie, with white shirts.
The third man stops striking him, just long enough to grab Kirby's hair to lift his head up enough to look him straight in the eye. "I'm getting tired of asking ya' punk, where's dem tapes at? "
"I already told, you greaseballs that i have no idea what you're talking about" says Kirby, through bloodied lips.
The man punches him in the face again, for his retort.
Julia, never one for subtlety, (her force field is already on, correct?)
smashes in through the window. "I don't know who you bozos are or what beef you have with Kirby, but I'll be damned if you're going to ruin my evening."
"beat it toots. This ain't none of your business. capice?" says the man
who has been punching Kirby. As he says this he puts his hands on his hips, which reveals that he is packing heat beneath his jacket.
"beat it toots. This ain't none of your business. capice?" says the man who has been punching Kirby. As he says this he puts his hands on his hips, which reveals that he is packing heat beneath his jacket. "What is this, a old Superman episode. Why don't you just skip trying to shoot me and throw the gun at me in frustration, so I can duck it for
no apparent reason whatsoever. Ah hell, I'll just skip to clobbering your arse." Julia extends the field from her right arm into an oversized hand to grab the guy with the piece. Playing 4 of Doom
********************* It was late at the SoF offices. Ms . Chesterton had long ago left for home. Frank was still familiarizing himself with the internet and was still surfing the net trying to gather data on the Geo-Corp corporation. According to some of the radical environmentalist web sites that he had visited, GEo-Corp was involved in some very shady dealings worldwide. They made Enron look like saints. Of course nothing could be proven, it was all carefully camaflauged.
Zena had fallen asleep on the office couch hours ago, Tolwynn curled up at her feet.
Frank gets a minor warning from his heuristic warning system and Tolwynn
begins to growl softly.
"Zena, wake up, " he says, " something's not right. "
"what is wrong," she asks, coming awake immediately
I'm not sure, " says Frank.
Just then, the office door is kicked in, and four grotesque creatures storm into the room. They smell of rotting flesh, and appear to be female corpses outfitted with cybernetic replacement parts. The stark contrast of the gleaming state of the art technology housed in the e corpse-like figures is unnerving. Two lurch towards frank and the other two make their way towards Zena. As they approach, Zena catches something familiar in the face of one of the monstrosities. It looked almost like Sofia, one of her dearest friends from her home isle of Amazonia. There were many amazons unaccounted for in the aftermath of the slaughter that wiped out her people. Sofia had been one of them.
A look of horror crosses over Zena's face. Who could have defiled her friend in such a way?
The first think Frank notices is that these strange attackers have a resemblance to Zena--body-builder physiques and all. But the similarity ends there. Frank scans them to see if they have any obvious weaponry (Eye blasters? Wrist blasters? God forbid a "knuckle laser" like Frank's??? Any place that looks like a power supply?). He's not even sure these things are alive, or just kept alive by all the hardware. [Can he tell if they are alive? Critical systems?]
"All SoF members, this is Roughneck at HQ, Zena and I are under attack! Repeat, we are under attack!"
His targeting grid appears before his eyes, tracking all four enemies. He realizes that running is not an option (he doesn't want to abandon SoFHQ), so Frank takes the attack to them. He quickly moves toward the nearest attacker and punches her in the face.
[Frank will use the 4I to attack and the 5W to defend.]
Zena backs away from the four cybernetic amazons. Her breathing is increasing and she almost looks frightened. She thinks about her chakram, but the thought passes. How can she possibly raise a hand to a friend of hers. She does everything she can to avoid the attacks of her former friends without even attempting to retalliate against them.
Tolwynn sniffs at the intruders. She is concerned by the smell of familiar flesh and machine oil intermingled. She looks to Zena for guidance and realizes that Zena will be no help right now. She turns back around and bears her teeth at Sofia. Normally she would never consider attacking another of the amazons, but she can tell that Zena is
in trouble.
Zena's breathing is becoming very heavy and labored.
[6W All-Out Dodge]
As Frank throws his punch at the cyber-zon nearest him, she ducks beneath the below, almost as if she had anticipated it. She was nearly as quick as him. Cybernetic reflexes probably jacked up to high heaven, thinks Frank. As she comes up from the dodge she lunges at Frank with
a knife she produced from somewhere. It is glowing with a strange bluish
energy almost like a light saber, it registers similar to the energy signatures that Kinetica's forcefield gives off. None of this data that Frank's computer core, is sending him can save him getting slashed open by the blow. It catches him in the forearm digging a deep gash , revealing the cybernetic circuitry housed there. Blood and hydraulic fluid pours from the wound. She was much stronger than she appeared to be, and she already looked pretty damn strong with her amazonian physique.
[Took 8 points total, had to ditch two cards for stun damage, leaving you with one card. This also come off your life points, bringing your from 17 to 9, though your regeneration will probably kick in soon]
Sofia looks at Tolwynn with no fear or recognition in her eyes. She grabs a baton looking device from her belt, hits a button and it telescopes out into a dangerous looking spear. It crackles and glows with the same blue energy as the knife that has been used on frank. She throws the spear at tolwynn and ut hits true, sinking into the lioness's side. Tolwynn howls in pain , then leaps to attack. Sofia ducks under the leap easily.
The other amazon near Zena, extends a glowing blue lariat from the back of her hand and tries ot snare Zena with it. Zena however, manages to evade the attack. It seems that these cybernetic amazons, were using amazonian weapons that had been technologically enhanced.
The second amazon near Frank, produces a knife as well and moves in for the attack, but she is stopped by a commanding female voice from the hall that says, " Hold your hand, He appears to be a cyborg as well. Do
not destroy him. Take him prisoner as well as Zena. He may warrant further study by our employer."
Upon hearing this, the amazon, sheathes the knife, then produces a glowing lariat as well. Frank is able to dodge the attack.
the voice continues venomously , " It's been so long since I have seen you my Queen. have you missed me? I know I haven't stopped thinking about you a day since you banished me from the island and sentenced my to death by exposure and starvation. " Finally the person talking steps into the doorway and Zena can see that it is Titania. Zena us shocked, She had thought Titania dead, to see her alive is unbelievable.
[Titania was/ is an amazon warrior raised on the secret island of Amazonia. She became a fearsome warrior amongst her people and dared to question the newly appointed Amazon Queen, Zena's sovereignty. The two clashed in an epic battle, and in the end Titania was vanquished. Rather
than grant Titania the honor of dying in battle, Zena commanded that Titania be banished from Amazonia. She was placed in a raft, with no food or water and set adrift in the ocean to to eventually die of exposure and starvation.]
"Had it not been for a ship that had been blown off course in a storm, coming across me a week later, I surely would have died. I vowed vengeance against you Zena, as well as my sister amazons who had forsaken me." says Titania wickedly
"Tolwynn! Run Away and find help!" Zena shouts in the lion's native tongue.
Tolwynn tries to break past the opponents in an attempt to find someone else.
Zena ignores the cyborg amazons, paying only enough attention to dodge any incoming attacks. She moves into a closer proximity with Titania, pulling out her Chakram. She is still in quite a bit of shock, but she knows that Titania is an enemy.
"You .... you always had little honor in you. I had no idea that you could be this vile." she says to Titania as she looks the former amazon over for any signs of cybernetic additions. She doesn't expect to find any, but would rather be certain.
[Continuing my all-out dodge. What was my replacement card, and are we in a new round?]
Sci Fi and Jill materialize safely just outside the entrance to the mall's food court. People are running out of the mall in a panic.
"What's going on? Jill asks a woman who is hurrying by.
"Run for your lives! It's some kind of freaky monster on the loose in there." she replies while dashing to the parking lot.
Gene's cell phone rings again."Hello."
"It's me again. " says Luke. "That freaky dude with four arms is hiding out in the arcade. There are three dudes with some seriously advanced hardware that seem to be after him. Not sure who they are, they aren;t cops or anything that I can tell. I've got a clear view of them from the second flor balcony overlooking the food court and arcade. "
Sci Fi teleports he and Jill to the spot Luke indicated. He was getting better with his teleoporting it seemd. No close calls yet. Luke was there crouched down with his skate board.
From the balcomy, they can see all the way across the food court to the opening of th earcade. Sure enough there are three mena, carrying some ultra- advanced looking firearms casutiosly approaching the arcade. Other than there futurisrtuc looking guns, these men appaear to be regular civilains. The one in th elead shouts into th earcade. "Come on out you freak, with your hands up! All four of 'em."
" I never saw the guy with the four arms, do anything" says Luke, "Everybody just sort of freaked out when they asaw him. These guys showed up a short time later. "
"Stay here," says Sci-Fi as he teleports down behind the guys with guns.
"What seems to be the problem gentelmen?"
(Sci-Fi will wait for their response to do anything, 5D to teleport down, 8I to dodge anything)
"Don't move freak boy. "says one of the men, pointing his gun at Sci-Fi.
"Looks like we got another one, " he says to the others. "You two keep after the four armed one...I've got this one covered. i'll blast his ass if he tries anything sneaky."
(I assume I still have the 8I since I havn't needed to dodge)
8D to teleport ten yards to the left of these guys, 8I to dodge again
"Aw, come own. You don't want to hurt me do ya," says the Captain as he readies a stun blast (I seem to be out of cards so I'll have to hold off on the blast for the moment.)
[Did you already use the 8D? }
Yes, I'm using the 8I if I need to dodge again.
Sci-Fi 'ports ten yards to the left of the man with the gun on him. As he does so, the man pulls the trigger and a plasma blast whizzes through the air where Sci-Fi had just been standing.
The other two whirl around, at the sound of the plasma blaster going off and are getting ready to open fire themselves. [They won't be able to get off an attack , since they were already intent on keeping the arcade covered. You can still get off an attack however. Sorry about the cardfplay confusion earlier. ]
SCI-FI (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 1 XP:2
5I* Armed Forces 7A+ Rescue 5A+ Flight of Fancy
Sci-Fi lets off a Stun Wave, trying to take out all three opponents (5I + trumps for attack, 7A for deffense. I belive Jill and Luke should be sheilded by the walkway and who ever is in the arcade should be okay too.)
***************************************
Kinetica's forcefield expands around her hand and she grabs the man who had been punching Kirby.
One of the men holding Kirby immediately places a gun to Kirby's temple. " Put the boss down, nice and easy, or your boyfriend here is gonna give you a piece of his mind...literally."
Kirby looks at Julia nervoulsly. He had been beaten badly and there was nothing he could do at this point. His hands were held behind him and he didn't have access to pencil or paper.
Julia tightens the grip on the boss man. "How about you put your guns down, nice and easy, or your bossman gets squished into a blood stain. Then, if you are stupid enough to pull the trigger, I'll do the same to your two best friends, I don't mean Larry and Moe over there. Even if one of you did get away before I squish you like a bug, you'll only have to answer to the big boss about how you let him get killed and murdered Kirby without getting the information you wanted."
Julia tries her best to be intimidating (Playing 4W), and hopes that they don't call her bluff, and she hoped she guessed right in calling theirs. Otherwise, she might have some explaining to do to Miss Chesterston.
The leader of the trio grimaces , when Julia tightens her grip on him.. It was becoming hard to breathe. " All right. lady, You win." he says. "Tony..put the gun away." Tony does as he is told, though they still keep their griip on Kirby. "Now just let me go, and we'll all pretend this never happened." says the man Julia is holding.
KINETICA (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 1 XP:2 Forcefield: * 3I* Attraction of attention * 6I- Setback * 4S* Remembrance of Home
Julia let's the man drop to the ground. "Now get out of here before I change my mind."
The men let go of Kirby then leave abruptly. "We've got our eye on you, kid." says the bossman before leaving. It's unclear whether he is speaking to Kinetica or Kirby.
She then goes to help Verve.
Kirby is slouched over on his knees, rubbing his stomach, and pinching his nose trying to get the bleeding to stop. "I'm not exactly sure waht all of that was about, " he says slowly "...but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with you. "
"You have any pain killers, Kirb?"
"For me or you? If they are for you, then no. If they are for me, then there is a bottle of aspirin above the kitchen sink." he says climbing to his feet.
Julia gives him the look. "Not funny."
"You look too beat up for regular aspirin. She opens her handbag, and takes two pills from a bottle. Here, take these."
"Thanks, but no . Regular aspirin will do. "
She gets the aspirin and a glass of water. She takes one of her own pills herself when Kirby is done with the glass.
"Now, you said this had something to do with me?"
"Yeah. I came home to find these guys ransacking my apartment. They grabbed me and strated demanding that I tell them wheree I had the tapes hidden. When I told them I didn't know what they were talking about they started laying into me. They kept saying stuff about, 'the tapes with you and the girl Julia on them' . One of them refereed to them as sex tapes. When I tried to explain that you and I were platonic, they didn't belive me. Started punching me some more, taht's when you showed up . Any idea what they were talking about? Or who they were? You're not leading a secret life as a porn star are you? I could be wrong, but they seemed like Mafia to me. "
"Well, I'm going to appear naked on the cover of Cosmo in a few months, but that's not exactly porn. My PR Agent says that it's better to tease my fans than to show them everything, like that cyborg chick on Star Trek. Pitty though, the other way sounded more fun."
"I don't know. Sound like I got myself a stalker or something. Saw us together the other night and probably assumed we were an item, and sent some goons over to look for some material for him to jerk off to."
OOC: Just for kicks, I decided to write up the Cosmo article.
On the Cover: Julia is sitting with her knees pulled into her chest, wearing nothing more than her force field and a mischievous smile. In big blue letters, it says "KINETICA BARES IT ALL: A Superhero's Steamy Secrets"
The Article: There is a full page-and-a-half close up of Julia from the waste up, with her hands barely concealing her breasts. Her head is tilted back slightly with a very lustful look in her eyes. The opposite page reads in repeats: KINETICA BARES IT ALL, and then adds as a sub-heading: An interviewer with Soldier of Fortune, Julia de Lain.
On the next page, the upper right corner has a picture of lying on her stomach, feet kicked up behind her, and her hands together with a playful expression. The opposite page has on the right margin a back shot of her
stretching, with her head turned back looking downwards. The rest if filled with text.
Cosmo: First, I'd like to thank you for taking the time for this interview.
Julia: No problem. I just wish I could see my father's face when he sees
the cover.
Cosmo: Can you tell us about your powers?
Julia: I generate what the techs call a bio-kinetic force field. Basically, my body absorbs impacts and uses that energy to make a
protective shell around me. I'm learning how to shape it, and can even fly by pushing myself up with the field. I can even discharge ranged blasts from it, but they lose power once they separate and I can no longer control them.
Cosmo: It is my understanding that you cannot lower this 'force field', correct?
Julia: Yup. Funny thing about my powers. It's because of them I'm not locked up in jail, but they themselves are a prison.
Cosmo: So you can't touch another person?
Julia: I can't even touch myself.
Cosmo: That sounds frustrating.
Julia: (rolls eyes) You have no idea.
Cosmo: You can wear clothes though, correct?
Julia: Assuming their loose enough, I can slip them on over the top.
Cosmo: What about your costume? That's not exactly loose.
Julia: Well, my force field is permeable to air and water, so the techs devised a suit which they paint on in a liquid form which then hardens. I can later be removed through an acid compound of some sort. This is done
about once a week.
Cosmo: Can you tell us about the time the first manifested?
Julia: Well, I was at a typical college party, and a group of us decided to go for a little joyride. I was on the drivers lap, giving him the ride of his light when he drove through a red light. I was completely caught up in the....uh, moment, when I heard the sound of glass shattering in slow motion. It was kind of like when your dreaming, and the alarm goes off, but your still sleeping so you here this ringing in the background that doesn't sound real? It was kind of like that.
Then I heard a loud horn of a truck and opened my eyes to find the ground hurling past me at superfast speeds until I crashed. I noticed a blue tinge around my hands and watched as this energy field formed around them. I didn't know what was happening, and totally freaked. It was exciting.
Cosmo: How did you feel when you learned Thomas was killed?
Julia: Thomas?
Cosmo: Thomas Gordon.
Julia: Did I know him?
Cosmo: He was the driver that night and your, ahem, date for the evening.
Julia: Oh him. Sad, I guess. I never really thought about it.
Cosmo: I take it you didn't attend his funeral then.
Julia: There was a funeral? I mean, well duh, of course there was a funeral. He died, right?
Cosmo: I'll take that as a no. So how did you become attached to Soldier's of Fortune?
Julia: Basically, I got an offer. I could either go to trial for illegal
drug use, reckless endangerment of lives, and involuntary manslaughter, or I could take the job and get pardoned. It wasn't a tough choice.
Cosmo: But by accepting the pardon you acknowledge that you were guilty of the charges.
Julia: Well, some of them. I doubt they were going to pin the manslaughter charge on me, not with my dad's lawyer. Plus, he probably would convince
them I was coerced into coming along. I might have gotten away with just a slap on the wrist even.
Cosmo: So why didn't you do that?
Julia: Honestly, I kind of liked the idea of being a superhero. I get rush from it, the constant danger, not knowing if I live or die. It makes me feel, you know, alive. Parachuting out of the plane loses something when
you can fly.
Cosmo: I'll take your word for it. Know, moving on to another topic, do you have a boyfriend?
Julia: Several.
Cosmo: I mean one that you are especially romantically involved with?
Julia: Well, in that case, then no, I do not.
Cosmo: Have you?
Julia: Not like that, no.
Cosmo: Aren't you interested in that?
Julia: (shrugs) What for? Romance was just something man invented to get
woman to go to bed with him. I save them trouble and skip right to the fun.
Cosmo: Have you ever experimented with a woman?
Julia: On occasion.
Cosmo: Would you do so again?
Julia: I dunno. Perhaps. Depends on the circumstances I guess.
Cosmo: So, would you says your bisexual?
Julia: No, I definitely prefer men.
Cosmo: How would you describe your family life?
Julia: Fine. Daddy always makes sure I have enough money to pay the bills.
Cosmo: But are you close?
Julia: No comment.
Cosmo: And your step-mother?
Julia: Well, she barely acknowledges I exist, which is an improvement from when I was younger at least.
Cosmo: I see. Any last words for your fans?
Julia: I'm pretty sure my fans aren't really reading this article and only bought the magazien for the pics, but if you insist: Always make sure to
have time for fun.
Cosmo: Once again, thank you for your time.
The final page is a two-page spread of lying on her left-side, with her right leg crossed over the left and her right arm covering her chest. She is making a come-hither gesture with her left hand, head tilted forward,
with a seductive look on her face.
***********************
[reposting this part, since it still needs to be responded to. ]
As Frank throws his punch at the cyber-zon nearest him, she ducks beneath the below, almost as if she had anticipated it. She was nearly as quick as him. Cybernetic reflexes probably jacked up to high heaven, thinks Frank. As she comes up from the dodge she lunges at Frank with a knife she produced from somewhere. It is glowing with a strange bluish energy almost like a light saber, it registers similar to the energy signatures that Kinetica's forcefield gives off. None of this data that Frank's computer core, is sending him can save him getting slashed open by the blow. It catches him in the forearm digging a deep gash , revealing the cybernetic circuitry housed there. Blood and hydraulic fluid pours from the wound. She was much stronger than she appeared to be, and she already looked pretty damn strong with her amazonian physique.
[Took 8 points total, had to ditch two cards for stun damage, leaving you with one card. This also come off your life points, bringing your from 17 to 9, though your regeneration will probably kick in soon]
Sofia looks at Tolwynn with no fear or recognition in her eyes. She grabs a baton looking device from her belt, hits a button and it telescopes out into a dangerous looking spear. It crackles and glows with the same blue energy as the knife that has been used on frank. She throws the spear at tolwynn and ut hits true, sinking into the lioness's side. Tolwynn howls in pain , then leaps to attack. Sofia ducks under the leap easily.
The other amazon near Zena, extends a glowing blue lariat from the back of her hand and tries ot snare Zena with it. Zena however, manages to evade the attack. It seems that these cybernetic amazons, were using amazonian weapons that had been technologically enhanced.
The second amazon near Frank, produces a knife as well and moves in for the attack, but she is stopped by a commanding female voice from the hall that says, " Hold your hand, He appears to be a cyborg as well. Do not destroy him. Take him prisoner as well as Zena. He may warrant further study by our employer."
Upon hearing this, the amazon, sheathes the knife, then produces a glowing lariat as well. Frank is able to dodge the attack.
the voice continues venomously , " It's been so long since I have seen you my Queen. have you missed me? I know I haven't stopped thinking about you a day since you banished me from the island and sentenced my to death by exposure and starvation. " Finally the person talking steps into the doorway and Zena can see that it is Titania. Zena us shocked, She had thought Titania dead, to see her alive is unbelievable.
[Titania was/ is an amazon warrior raised on the secret island of Amazonia. She became a fearsome warrior amongst her people and dared to question the newly appointed Amazon Queen, Zena's sovereignty. The two clashed in an epic battle, and in the end Titania was vanquished. Rather than grant Titania the honor of dying in battle, Zena commanded that Titania be banished from Amazonia. She was placed in a raft, with no food or water and set adrift in the ocean to to eventually die of exposure and starvation.]
"Had it not been for a ship that had been blown off course in a storm, coming across me a week later, I surely would have died. I vowed vengeance against you Zena, as well as my sister amazons who had forsaken me." says Titania wickedly
"Tolwynn! Run Away and find help!" Zena shouts in the lion's native tongue.
Tolwynn tries to break past the opponents in an attempt to find someone else.
Zena ignores the cyborg amazons, paying only enough attention to dodge any incoming attacks. She moves into a closer proximity with Titania, pulling out her Chakram. She is still in quite a bit of shock, but she knows that Titania is an enemy.
"You .... you always had little honor in you. I had no idea that you could be this vile." she says to Titania as she looks the former amazon over for any signs of cybernetic additions. She doesn't expect to find any, but would rather be certain.
[Continuing my all-out dodge. What was my replacement card, and are we in a new round?]
"There are many things you have no idea about, your Highness. Tell me is it true that Royalty had blue blood? I aim to find out." Titania says, charging towards Zena with a savage amazonian war-cry.
[We are now in a new round. Do you still plan on an all ot dodge?]
Frank uses his laser to attack any zons attacking him. If he has breathing room (i.e. no one is attacking him this turn), he will try to help zena get to titania (by blasting anyone in her way). otherwise, he dodges with his highest card and attacks with the lowest card. the attack is with his laser, full (+5) power. (If any of my cards are trump for either attack or defense, he will use it appropriately.)
Two of the cyber-zons close in on Frank intending to ensnre him with their glowing lariats. Frank blasts his laser at te one closst too him at full power. She blocks the laser with ther amazonian bracelets. The bracers appaer to be bolted into the forearms of these amazons.
Frank's warning system's kick in, teelling him rto MOVE., but it is too late. They ensnre him with their glowing lariats, which appear to be retractable from the back of their hands.
Zena charges towards Titania, blocking or dodging any attacks that come her way. She holds out her chakram and fakes an intent to use it, but as she gets closer, she moves in for a stunning touch. Zena knows that Titania is a much more skilled warrior, and last time she had barely won. The thing that saved her was her stunning attacks.
Sofia and the other cyber-zon, throw there lariats at Zena who flips through the air avoiding them, This puts her nearly face to face with Titania, and she follows through with her nerve strike. Zena lands the blow, but Titania merely grimaces and responds with her own nerve strike, which Zena narrowly aviods.
"You're not the ponly one who knows that technoque she hisses through clenched teeth.
ZENA(Edge 2 Hand 4 Life 25) Plot Points 2 XP:1
* 3S* Lik e Minded alignment * 6S* Emergency * 5S- Hostage Situation * 5W- Humanity loss
Roughneck uses the laser (+5) to cut the nets. 5D (trump for laser attack, no?)
He then shoots at one of the zons with the laser. (If I draw a trump to replace the previous 5D card, I will use that. Otherwise I guess I use the 4W.)
ROUGHNECK (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 11/17) Plot Points 1 XP:3
5D+ Chance Windfall 4W* Natuarl Disaster damage
**************************** Meanwhile at Renscorp.....
Rupert Renspottenick had been working like mad to devise some sort of way out of the trouble he was sure to find himself in with the Department of Defense. With the war on terror still in high gear and Chinalya now grouped with the "Axis Of Evil" and knowingly employing metahumans as enemy combatants, the DoD was more eager than ever to get their hands on some sort of metahuman detection device.
Rupert was in a flurry, busily hurryiing to make th elast few adjustments on his new device. His liason with the DoD, a Lt. [Is that the rank below General? I honestly don't know. Whatever rank is just below general is the rank of Arbuckle.] Dan Arbuckle was on his way over and he expected to see results.
Rupert nearly jumps out of his skin at the loud banging on his door. "Open up Renspottenick! I know you're in there!" comes the burly voice of Lt. Arbuckle. "You damn well better have something to show me. In case you didn't know there is a war on soldier!"
Rupert opens the door. "Okay, okay. But be careful. The vibrations you are emitting from your violent door banging could ruin the equipment! What may I do for you today?"
"You can cough up that metahuman detection device you were supposed to have created months ago." Col Arbuckle huffs. "The Pentagon is breathing down my neck, demanding results." Arbuckle says between puffs on his cigar.
His teeth were stained yellow from years of smoking the smelly things, but he didn't seem to care. He was part of the "Old Guard". A former cold warrior from the 1950's and 60's who protected America from the Commmunist threat in those often paranoid times. After the fall of the Soviet Union, there was little need for his kind of soldiering. Post 9/11, all of that
changed. In some ways he seemed happy to have a new menace to focus his energies on...it made him relevant again.
"I understand, big guy. However, I ran into many, many problems. That is the reason for the delay." Rupert goes into a lengthy explanation, convoluting as many hundred dollar words he can come up with to confound his visitor. "...so, you see, I instead cobbled to getherthis handy-dany, protable Psionic detector. If the Pentagon decides it does not want it, I surely will be able to find other foreign or rogue factions interested in purchasing this piece for ten million dollars. You see, I feel that since I failed to deliver the intended product due to universal and cosmic complications, I should at least return the money to the government do that none of us are worse for wear."
Arbuckle is enraged at Rupert's insinuation. He grabs him by the shirt and slams him against the wall. "Listen here you wormy little shit, I could have your ass locked up within the next ten minutes for what you just said! It sounded like a terroristic threat to me. Have you forgotten, that 'You are either with us or you are aginst us'. I'd decide real damn quick whose side you are on if I were you Renspottnick!" Flecks of spittle fly angrily out of Arbuckle's mouth as he screams at Rupert.
ooc: What powers is Rupert emulating right now?
"S-sir, please, control yourself. If I choose to sell my companies goods overseas, that's my business. I would never do ANYTHING to harm the American people. ANd this is the truth despite the fact that the US is known for selling weapons to foreign countries only to have those same weapons kill Americans years later. Don't think that just because I'm a 'nerd' that I am a wimp. Put me down or I'll deliver RensCorp's in-house surveillence footage to ABC so fast that you'll think that you've been simultaneously rump-screwed by Bin Laden and Sadam...sir."
Arbuckle seems as if he is about to punch Rupert in the face for the last remark, then he regains a bit of control. "You've got balls I'll give you that." says Arbuckle, "but i'm afraid you just screwed the pooch. The only things those tapes woud reveal is you threatening to sell technology to rogue nations, then trying blackmail me, a representative of the US government. I'm pretty damn sure the American
public would be on my side on that one. And I damn well know the Defense
Department would be...and that is all that really matters at this point.
You see., I'd be slack in my duties if I didn't take this oppurtunity to
report your ass to the NSC, the FBI, the CIA, the Office of Homeland Security, and a ton of other agencies with initials that you don't have the security clearance to even know about. "
Arbuckle punches Rupert in the stomach knocking the air out of him, then
lets him go. He then grabs the Psionic Detector and puts it under his arm. He jabs a few numbers on a cell phone..."This is Arbuckle..I've got a potential situation here. I'm gonna need some backup here. " He puts the phone back in his pocket and says to Rupert "Consider this operation officially dissolved and your ass officially under federal investigation. Some agents will be here shortly to take you in for questioning."
Rupert winches from the painful punch. "Uggghh." He gets up clutching his gut. "N-now, sir, no need to be hasty. I think you misunderstood me. I must've used too many double syllable words. I'm sure we can come to a resolution. I've been under alot of stress lately and.." Rupert passes out.
When Rupert awakes he finds himself in a brightly lit rooom. He is laying on a small bed on one side of the tiny 10 by 10' room. There is only one door out of th eroom with a tiny glass window in the top center portion of it with wire mesh running through out the glass to prevent breakage. Hiis hands and feet have shackles on them, and he is wearing a bright orange jumpsuit. He reaches out with his power and detects a small number of metahumans withinhn his detection radius. They didi not seem to be grouped together. One of them was moving his way.
The door opens, and Col. Arbuckle enters the room with a dark haired woman in formal miliatary dress. "Rupert, this is Cassandra Thatcher, she's with miliatary Intelligence. She's here to ask you a few questions. "
Rupert can feel the woman's metahuman power awakening within him. She was a psionic. She was here to unlock the secrets of his mind, one way or another.
"I need you to relax, Rupert," Cassandra says, and feels a slight rustling in his mind.
MASTER MENAGERO (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 1 XP: 2 Powers Duplicated: Mind Control 12, Telepathy 12 ( Mental probe, Psi Screen), Psychic Blast 12
"Now, now, Miss Thatcher, I can tell from the shape of your skull (I am a meta-human expert, ya' know) that you are probably a psionic or possibly a latent mongloid. Nonetheless, stay out of my head for the moment." Rupert stands up and wipes his nose on his orange sleeve. He notices it hides the mucas stream well and makes a mental note to consider a future costume color change.
[Using 7W + trump + push with 6A utilizing Cassandra's Psi-Screen abilities. I want to use them so that she doesn't detect me as a fellow psionic but as a strong-willed individual]
"I would like the chance to exercise my right to a lawyer before you being pulling at my mindstrings. You are aware of the laws governing use of your psi-powers by force, don't you?"
MASTER MENAGERO (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 1 XP: 2 Powers Duplicated: Mind Control 12, Telepathy 12 ( Mental probe, Psi Screen), Psychic Blast 12
6I+ Redemption
You obviosly haven't read the PATRIOT ACT in any detail then, " says Cassandra. "Mental Search warrants are now legal again...but if you don't have anything to hide, then you don't have anything to worry about. It's a small price to pay for the security of our nation. "
"You'll get a lawyer when we say you do. " says Arbuckle. "This is a miliatry investigation. Your precious Bill of Rights do not apply here and if you so much as mention them again, I'm gonna throw you in soliatary confinement for a few years until you change your tune."
[I'll need new cards for this one.]
"Cassandra, you underestimate me. The government didn't choose me to build your Meta-Human Search and Kill Device because of my good looks. Its because of my hyper-intelligence and quick-thinking under pressure. You think that just because you can pull off a few fancy Jedi mind tricks that you can dominate these proceedings. In my head, I've already sub-categorized your super-powers and devised 87 different ways to give you a brain hemorage by creating a psychic backlash by merely touching anyone of sixteen different nerve spots on your mushy body. I can perform a visual examination on a metahuman and hypotheses dozens of ways to nullify him or her before you get up in the morning and adjust your undergarments. The governement isn't into the habit of getting on the bad side of their weapons manufacturers. The fact of the matter is, that's what RensCorp is. A product development company geared to manufacturing items so that the USA can track down and nullify potential metahuman threats and gain control of one of the world's hottest weapons commodities - super-freaks. You're welcome into my brain, ma'am, but I'm not sure you can handle it nor am I guilty of any repurcussions you may suffer from meeting someone with so much data packed in his head that you'll think you've been thrown into an brick-filled oil drum with Louis Anderson, Roseanne Bar, and Oprah."
[I am actually going to use my newfound powers to give her EVERYTHING in my mind, MORE than she wants to know. Using my 6W- Refusal of Authority + trump and PLOT POINT of MASTERY to accomplish this.]
Rupert is aware of a psionic technique called 'minddump'. This is when one telepath will literally dump all of their thoughts, feelings and emotions into another telepath. It creates a psionic imprint of one telepath on another without killing them since humans use such a small portion of their brains. Rupert gives Cassandra everything he knows in one psychic bolt, figuring that since she was prying anyways, she would have let down her own defenses. Once she understands Rupert Rettenspotnick upside-down and inside-out, he feels that it will be easy to gain MASTERY over her actions and facilitate his escape. "Patriot Act this, you bureaucratic bimbo!" * > > * 4W+ Mastery > > >
Sci-Fi's stun wave drops all three men into unconsciousness simultaneously. The balcony shields Luke and Jill, who cheer from above. "Way to go Ge...I mean, Sci Fi" shouts Jill.
Sci- Fi? questions Luke.
"I'll explain later, says Jill.
The two of them rush down to join Sci-Fi just outside the arcade.
Luke grabs up the plasma blasters, examining them with awe. "This is some serious tricked out hardware."
"Be careful with that. " admonishes Jill.
There is no sound of anything stirring from inside the arcade, other than the occasional blast of sound from a random game.
"Stay behind me, I'm going in," says Sci-Fi
He approches the door to the arcade. As he enters he says, "Hello, I come in peace."
The creature steps out from behind one of the arcade games with all four of his arms raised in surrrender. He has one large eyeball in the center of his forehead and his skin is orangish in color. He is weraing a light blue/grey jumpsuit. He speaks in a strange sounding language that Sci-Fi has never
heard before , but his translation powers kick in and he is able to decipher what the creature is saying.
"Greetings Earthling. My name is D'heen D'chakka . I come from a faraway
planet known as D'nuvia. I was in this sector of the galaxy, investigating reports of Xargothian activity. Sure enough I found some. An entire compund of them on the far side of your moon. A firefight ensued and my ship was
damaged by several of their fighters. I manged to escape, but had to land my ship nearby to make repairs. Not long after I had landed, when these men
began chasing me. I'm not sure how they knew of me as my ship was fully cloaked when I entered the atmosphere. I fled into this building. I can see that you are no friend to them..and as they say on D'nuvia, 'the enenmy of my enemies is my friend'."
"Okay, I have some questions but I think they can wait, we need to get you out of here, I'm not sure how long your friends out there will stay down. I'm going to call me friends in now and then we'll all get out of here," Sci-Fi tells D'heen. He then go to the door, "Luke, Jill come on in he's friendly"
When they get in I'll teleport us (in the same stop and go manner I did to get to the mall) to the SoF HQ.
******************************************* Roughneck extends the laser from his hand and slashes through the glowing lariat that binds him. He feels the wound inflicted on him earlier finally heal completely due to his regenerative enhancements
He quickly fires off a laser blast at the nearest cyber zon. It strikes her in the shoulder, burning through the ash colored skin with a hissing
sound and the smell of burning flesh. She doesn't even react to it. It's
as if she is completely immune to the sensation of pain.
The two attacking him, advance methodically, seemingly intent on subduing him with their bare hands.
Frank decides therefore to stay away from them, trying to evade and keep his distance while attacking with his laser (on full blast: +5).
Frank uses his EM vision to detect anything that might be a power source or other critical system on the undeadcyberzons. If he sees such, he will target it. Incidentally, he also notes whether they appear to be transmitting signals from themselves (he wouldn't really be able to tell if they were receiving signals unless the signals were tightbeamed at them).
I use the "I" card for attacking and the "D" card for defense.
Nothing jumps out as a critical system on Frank's readouts. They were well put together, it seemed. Combining the best of three worlds. Amazon ferocity, undead single mindedness with cybernetic enhancements...a match made in hell. Frank takes aim at the one nearest him, and blasts away. She lets out a amazon war-cry , does an acrobatic leap over his head, then plants a backkick into his spine as she lands. The force of the blow, sends Frank forwards into striking distance of the other one, who clotheslines him across the neck. Frank nearly bites his tongue in half as he hits the floor with a loud thud. It was a good thing he could heal fast becuase he has a feeling he's going to need it after this.
[P.S. Try to rememeber to post your hand along with your response. ]
Roughneck decides it's time to get nasty. These girls don't seem to mind playing dirty, so Frank obliges them. From his position on the floor, he hooks one foot behind the heel of the undeadcyberzon who clotheslined him, and stomps her knee with the other foot, intending to either trip her and make her fall away from him or break her knee.
[Frank is using brawling with this one, which I think is STR trump (?). I am also using the 9S card for this attack, of course since it's all I've got left. I guess my defense is handled by whatever card I draw?]
[Keith, I checked my character sheet. Do you usually remember to give Frank the +1 attack/defense for his skeleton? Just asking...I had forgotten about it.]
ROUGHNECK (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17/17) Plot Points 1 XP:3 damage damage 9S+ Cautious Acceptance
After Zena dodges Titanias's nerve strike, she lands a powerful blow against the traitoress [two Strength trumps plus the stun attack] which brings Titania to her knees in pain, then to the floor as unconsciousness overcomes her overwhelmed synapses.
Sofia and the other cyber-zon are still at the ready however and advance on Zena, apparently intent on carrying out Titania'a orders.
Zena is shocked. She had never been able to defeat Titania so easily. Not sure if Titania is faking the submission or not, Zena decides to make certain. She brings a foot across Titania's face as she readies herself to dodge. She then sends a punch towarsd the nearest of her former friends. The battle fury has finally taken over, beating back the
horror she had been feeling.
[Contingent Attack. Strength 4 + 3S (trump) for kick against Titania. I will dodge using my 1 Will for Edge and 5 Will for the dodge. For my contingent attack: 4 + 5S (trump)]
As Zena throws her kick at Titania's face, Titania rolls out of the way at the last second, and kicks the back of Zena's supporting leg, causing Zena to lose her balance and fall to the floor. Titania, quickly presses her momentary advantage twisting Zena'a legs in a painful leg lock. [She has you in a wrestiling hold, you'll have to make a strength action to break free or continue taking damage. Also, since you are going to be out of the loop for a whilke, how do you want to handle this? Do you want me or somene else to play Zena in your absence? I hesitate to do this, since this is Zena's personal backstory. It could probably be put on hold for a week, though I am sure. ]
Zena knew it had to be a ploy, it's a good thing that she hadn't let her
guard down. Titania may have gotten the best of her, but surely it would
have been worse had Titania gotten an attack on her from behind and caught unaware. No in a terribly painful hold, Zena does her best to break free of the painful grip that Titania has on her.
[1 W Edge + 10 D + Strength to break free .... nasty evil doom card...... Use 8 Agil (plus any edge cards I may get back - even if they
are doom) for any further dodges.]
>Also, since you are going to be out of the loop for a whilke, how do you want to handle this? Do you want me or somene else to play Zena in your absence? I hesitate to do this, since this is Zena's personal backstory. It could probably be put on hold for a week, though I am sure. ] > [No, I don't want to hold up the game. I don't think this fight will be over before I'm back online, so just have me all-out dodge using my highest non-doom card and all edge cards for this until I am back. I keep focused on Titania and if possible I will try to move her away from
the larger fight by backing her down a hallway. Giving us some "alone time"]
***************************************** "Well I think it's a little odd that a stalker would have a goon squad like those guys. " says Kirby to Julia. His nose had finally stopped bleeding and he was washing up in the kitchen sink.
[insert reply]
Julia shrugs. "Not really. Just means he must be somewhat wealthy, most likely from daddy's hard-earned money. With enough cash, you can buy just about anything."
"True enough. "
The phone, which had fallen off the hook, is making an irritation beeping noise, Kirby hangs it up and it immediately rings.
"Hello?...OK, Me and Julia are on our way." he says and hangs up quickly. "That was Candace, she said there is some shit going down at the office and we need to get over there quick. Zena and Frank are in trouble. " he grabs a sketchbook and some pencils from his drawing board and smears his black and white face paint over his face and eyes. "Fly us over there. I can get a drawing ready to go, on the way over. "
"Are you sure you are up for it considering? That was quite a beating you took."
"I'll be all right," says Verve. "Used to get much worse in high school by some of the jocks. It probably looks worse than it is. My noise has this bad habit of bleeding when it gets punched repeatedly."
Probably won't be able to arrive until the next turn , but you can continue the conversation before the phone rings if you want.]
*************************************
Rupert proceeds with his mind dump technique. Filling Cassandra's mind with all of his knowledge, emotions, personality traits, memories, fears, doubts, aspirations, goals, everything. Every mental nuance of Rupert is suddenly blasted into Cassandra's mind. Unprepared for such an assault , Cassandra is caught off guard and her own psyche, retreats in the overwhelming mental onslaught. Rupert's psyche assumes mastery of her. Possessing her body, gaining access to her memories knowledge. It was as if his mind was in two separate bodies at the same time. He was in complete control of both his and Cassandra's actions. He could slightly hear Cassandra's psyche whimpering like a beaten child in the darkest recesses of her mind. It would be some time before she as in any condition to put up a fight for dominance.
[I am treating this as if you successfully completed a possession mind control stunt.]
Col. Arbuckle sees Cassandra's body stiffen and she lets out a slight gasp. "Are you all right Lieutenant Thatcher? " he asks.
Rupert lets out a groan, overdramatizing for effect. He falls to the floor.
Cassandra turns to Lt. Arbuckle and says, "Do not.... interrupt... these proceddings. Rupert's...mind is stronger... than I expected... this will not be...an easy task....uuuuhhhhhhhhhh..... ohhhhhh!" 'Cassandra steps back onto Arbuckle's foot, cutting into his shoe. "This...little...nerd will not...prevail.."
Rupert flails around on the ground trying not to laugh.
"E-evacuate..." Cassandra warns, "You must evacuate...all bioorganisms from this section....or I may not be able...to deter..cerebral backlash...HIS MIND...it's ...so vast...never encountered," Rupert utilizes Cassandra's power's to send out a psychic wave that will instill a fear into Arbuckle and any soldier's in the vicinity. They will feel that they must heed Cassandra's warning. "But.. do not worry...I will have this twerp...eating out of our hands....before the day..is through...I swear!! Uhhhhhgggghhhh! HURRY! Flee!"
ooc: I do not have cards so use any willpower I may have or my highest card. Uses his 6W for his last action declaration + trump.
Arbuckle seems about to protest, but then quickly bites his tongue. "You're the expert in these matters. I'll be in my office should you need me. " he says as he hurridly leaves the room. Rupert can hear Arbuckle shouting at the guards outside the door. " Evacuate this area immediately! That's an order!" followed by the sounds of retreating booted feet.
"Much better," Rupert thinks to himself. "Now to get some clumsy peon to deactivate the building security. No need to do all the work myself. Since I'm sharing this hive-mind with you, Cassandra, we might as well make use of our powers."
[ooc: I want to implement the sidekick rules explained in Reed Richards Guide. If you have a problem with that, let me know.]
Rupert gives it his full effort to mentally contact the Security Officer of low ranking and have him 'accidentally' activate an electronic hibernation program. This program had been quickly kit-bashed by a team of governement computer engineers (including Rupert who was in their employ) nearly two years ago to keep a little known villain, IT Invader, from escaping his holding cell. When the IT Invader tried to upload his consciousness into the prison's security monitors, which have a direct tie-in with the screening computers, the quick-thinking engineers cobbled together a program that shunted all current computer activity to the main computer, including security monitor feeds, then disconnected the main processors from the rest of the facility. They then built a virus which isolated IT Invader and imprisoned him within a complex algorithm.
Administrators were not to happy about the secuirty shut-down but, since it was temporary, (happening in about 30 seconds) they didn't throw too big of a fit. The nerdy group of techies were quite proud of their ARDUOS LABORS and took to saving their cool little program on personal disks. Rupert kept the program buried deep within the prison's computers as a failsafe if a similar attack to the IT Invader's occured again. Rupert never thought it would come in handy again so soon.
Rupert mentally orders the Security Officer to activate the electronic hibernation program.
Cassandra\Rupert, fully understanding her role in the next few moments, places her hands on her temples and reaches out to Rupert's friends and allies, the Supers of Fortune!!! "Ms. Chesterton, Roughneck, Zena, Captain, Kinetica, Verve…this is Master Menagero! I need your help!" Cassandra\Rupert will try to link with the team and let them know Rupert's location and situation.
Rupert laughs to himself, "Not give me my one phone call, eh Arbuckle? Simpletons!" He then sneezes violently. His glasses fly of his face and hit the ground. He picks them up and notices a crack in the left lens. "Darn it all."
[These two actions are all-out actions. For Rupert's mental control of the Security Officer, 7S and trump. For Cassandra\Rupert's cry for help, 4I + trump.
Rupert achives success as he hears the compound beginning to power down.
Cassandra's telepathic cry for help, was unsuccesful however, She was not adept at using her telepathy over such vast distances. MM knew from prior visits here, that they were in an underwater holding comppound just out of US terrritorial waters, off the coast of Puero Rico.
He dashes out into the hallway with Cassndra in tow. In his excitemnt he forgets that he is still shackled and nearly falls to the ground.
Just down the hall.....
Marvin Vale sits brooding in his containment cell. His powers dampened by the nullifier collar clamped around his neck. Unauthorized tampering with them, released a massive electromagnetic shock to the prisoner's cranium, resulting in seizures, followed by unconsciousness. He knew from experience that the headache afterwards lasted for days. In addition, it was rumored that the collars were rigged with explosives that were set to detonate, if he left the compound. He wasn't sure how long he had been held captive ... there were no clocks in here, no windows, No way to judge the passage of time. By his best estimate it had been at least two weeks.
That was when the government decided to test out their new Minutemen robots. Unknown to the general populace, Captain Marvel had been branded a traitor by the US Govt. due to his betrayal of the Guardians in support of his son the metahuman terrorist called Harbinger. With the Minutemen up and running, it was just a matter of luring the Captain into their trap. Detailed analysis of captain Marvel's patrol routes along psychological profiling of the types of crimes he still responded too, revealed just the bait they needed.
With her career fading fast, Pamela Anderson jumped at the chance to play her part in Captain Marvel's capture and get her revenge on her ex-lover for the hell he had put her through. She had nearly died giving birth to theri illegimate son taht came to term inside he in just 9 days instead of the customary 9 months. When her country called..Pamela answered.
The plan to capture Marvel was based on an elaborate ruse, all concocted to bring Marvel out of hiding to save his former girlfriend and mother of his son from the clutches of some evil metahuman plot. The news reported live coverage as the costumed villain Commander Caustic (who had been offered immunity for past crimes for his involvement) held Pamela Anderson prisoner and threatened to liquify her at the molecular level if he wasn't paid 5 million dollars and given a lifetime key membership to the Playboy Mansion.
Marvel fell for it, hook line and sinker. As soon as he appeared to save his former girlfriend, the Minutemen came online for there first run. 20 feet tall,fully armored, state of the art anti-metahuman automatons. Normally, they wouldn't have stood a chance against Marvel, but they had trick up their sleeve. A one-shot prototype device. A Nullifier Missile. It worked on similar principles as the Nullifier collars, which up until this point had only been able to function with direct contact. Some genius gadgeteer with the DoD had figured out a way to achieve the same effect, at a distance using a missile...the effect wouldn't last long, maybe a second or so, and it was obscenely expensive to produce, but it paid off in the end.
The Nullifier Missile worked, rendering Marvel powerless for no less than 1.5 seconds, But that is all the time the Minutemen needed to take him down and bring him into custody.
Marvin was unsure of the whereabouts of his son, the Harbinger, they had a falling out, unable to see eye to eye on the fate of the world. Regardless, Marvin knows that metahumans must be on earth when the Xargothians invade in the next few decades, or humanity is doomed. In the early 21st century (was it 2015? He cannot remember...), humanity finally enacted the Meta Monitor Act, which required all super powered humans to submit to implantation of a chip in their bodies. The chip would not only constantly monitor their location, but it recorded their actions and conversations, reporting the data wirelessly to the Board of Human Rights which monitored all metas. Some metas resisted, but most submitted so that they could continue their fight against crime. However, the chips were not enough to satisfy the Board members.
Within three months, they used the data gathered from the various chips (some claimed they fabricated the data) and used it to push the Meta Incarceration Act through congress. All metas, including those in government service or parts of heroic teams, were incarcerated indefinitely, without due process of law, for alleged "collective crimes against humanity." It was noted during senate hearings that humanity no longer included metahumans. When they started gassing the more troublesome metas, the public did not seem to care. Within four years from enactment of the MIA, only a handful of metahumans were left alive on earth. The genocide was complete.
That was when the Xargothians attacked. Will attack, Marvin corrects himself. They will wait until earth murders her own youngest children and dooms herself.
Marvin is brought back to the reality of his holding cell, by a sudden loss of power in the compound. His cell doors slides open as do many others along the hallway. Many were legitimate criminals, others were political dissidents brought in for questioning. From what Marvin gathered, they were just outside of US waters, to avoid any legal ramifications.
Stepping out of his holding cell along with all of the others, he comes face to face with a wiry looking man in a bright orange jumpsuit shckled with leg chains and handcuffs. He is accompanied by a woman in a military dress uniform. She has a strange faraway look in her eyes, and the man is sneezing profusely. Marvin has a strange feeling when he looks at the man...one of those strange Temporal/Empyreal/Fate/Destiny feelings that he sometimes gets.. his memory of future events, might still be swiss cheese but this man was somehow very important to the future of the world. When Marvel gets these flashes of intuition he trusted them, they hadn't proved to be wrong so far.
Rupert finishes sneezing , and sees a prisoner standing in the open doorway of a cell staring intently at him,. he has a nullifier collar attached to his neck. He looks very familiar. Heroic build, square jaw, steely gaze.... "You're Captain Marvel!" he says excitedly. "I've always been a big fan."
[Please note that the populace is unaware that the government has branded Captain Marvel a threat. As far as everyone else is concerned, Cpt.. marvel merely quit the guardians and went into semi-retiremnt as a hero. This is what Rupert would belive as well]
"I was Captain Marvel. Not anymore. " says Marvin. "We need to get out of here. We have important things to do."
[Ruper knows from Cassandra's shared memories thaft she is authorized to de-activate the collars, however, if you do so, then there is a chance that you will assume Marvel's powers rather than Cassandra's. if this occurs, your hold over here will be broken, and she will be free. Captain Marvel is pretty much a clone--powerwise at least, of the Superman from the Animated Superman/Batman Adventures.
[Pat, I'm going to let you play out Cpt. Marvel since he is your old character and old subplots are resurfacing.]
Marvin sees the skinny man with the broken glasses and gets that infrequent deja-vous feeling that this man is important. But he has more urgent matters at hand. He has to escape. He is out of options, and he is one of only a few people who know the true threat that humanity faces.
He recognizes Cassandra as one of the psych-rapists this place uses on its prisoners. A different one had done the procedure on Marvin, but he had seen Cassandra leading other prisoners into the same ward. The greek letter "psi" on her collar was also the same as the one on the man who had probed Marvin's mind.
"I'm sorry," Marvin says as he sprints toward her. "If you remove this collar I won't hurt you. If you resist I'll kill you." He uses his combat experience to grab her wrist and force her to disengage the collar. If she resists, he breaks her fingers. If he feels even the slightest inkling of a mental probe on himself, he will knife- hand her in the throat, killing damage.
[If he is successful in removing the collar:]
Marvin tosses the collar back into his cell. He briefly considers putting it on Cassandra, but decides not to waste the time. He looks at the skinny guy and says, "I suggest you come with me. I doubt this power outage will last long. We need to find an exit and a craft to get you out of here. I can't explain right now, but I think we were meant to encounter each other. You've got to come with me." Marvin suspects he could break through the walls, but that wouldn't help this guy any--they are underwater and he would have no way to protect this man from the water pressure and drowning. Marvin also doesn't want to kill anyone else here in the compound, nor does he want the other metas here to escape. Many of them are cold-blooded killers, he knows from personal experience.
If the skinny guy with broken glasses complies, Marvin will try to head toward a dock or other exit. He will heat vision any weapons pointed at him, trying not to injure any people unless necessary.
MASTER MENAGERO (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 0 XP: 2 Powers Duplicated: Mind Control 12, Telepathy 12 ( Mental probe, Psi Screen), Psychic Blast 12
* Damage from push * 5I* Compromising Information * 3D- Collateral Damage
Captain Marvel (Edge 2 Hand 4 Life 25) Plot Points 2 XP:0
* 7A+ Glimmer of Compassion * 7W* Misguided Soul * 6S+ Public Accolades * 6W- Negative Influence
From the
floor Frank kicks the cyberzon's knee. It is a solid stomp into
the kneecap, and it buckles backwards, breaking in half. Electronic
circuitry and hydraulic fluid seeps from the stump , as she falls to the
ground, twitching with mechanical spasms, then lies still...her systems
apparently overloaded.
The other one, near frank tries to stomp on his head with an viscous
downward kick, leading with the heel of her foot. Frank rolls out of the
way at the last second, and the marble floor cracks when the cyber-zon's
foot hits it.
Zena struggles with all of her strength to break free of tiatania's
hold
on her , but she cannot. Titania was too strong. Zena grits her teeth in
pain, as Titania twists the hold even tighter . Weakened and
desperate, Zena tries yet again to break free but cannot. It is as if
the more she struggles, the tighter Titania's hold becomes n her.
Titania has the advantage. she is stronger and is a much better
wrestler than Zena. She realizes she has to do something quick to
break free or she will pass out from the pain.
[I already played cards for Zena's action this round. It was the
second
attempt to break free. ]
At this time Sci-Fi, Luke, Jill, and D'heen all materialize in the
room. "Holy Crap!" says Luke seeing the melee taking place.
"omigod, omigod, omigod, omigod.." says Jill. neither of them had ever
been on an outing with Gene before and it was beginning to get a little
too exciting even for them. . In just a matter of minutes they had
encountered plasma blasters, an alien life form, amazons and cyborgs.
D'heen looks around with his one eye in confusion at the scene and
scrambles behind the secretaries desk.
Titania looks up at the sound of their entrance. " Kill the intruders.
there can be no witnesses. " she commands The two cyber-zons who were
standing over her and Zena. They immediately obey their instructions,
energy spears suddenly appearing in their hands, vibrating and humming
with deadly power and begin advancing on Sci-Fi and his friends.
Kinetica and Verve bust in through the skylight and quickly take
in the
scene. Verve puts the finishing touches on his sketch that he had been
drawing on the way over, it had been a pain trying to draw with all of
the wind, blowing, but he managed....his drawing vanishes from the page
of his sketchbook and reappears in front of the cyber-zons that are
adavancing on Sci-Fi and company. It is Bruce Lee...or at least a nicely
rendered lifelike drawing of him...the Bruce drawing looks at the
cyber-zons, and lets out a perfect Bruce Lee scream as he explodes into
action. "Enter the Dragon...a classic," says Verve to Kinetica as she
sits him down on the ground. "New threads,Captain?" he shouts from
across the room.
[Remember no one on the team is yet aware of the Captain's name/costume
change]
Julia eyes the Cyber-zons. "Okay, between Zena, her friend,
and the women from planet Frank, I'm starting to feel overly dressed here."
Julia throws herself into the nearest Cyber-zon.
Playing 9W to attack, 3D to defend.
Frank says, "They ain't from my planet!"
Julia flies towards the cyber-zon that is still attacking
Roughneck. At the last second, the cyber-zon jerks out of the way.
Julia still hits but it is a glancing blow. Not at all what she intended.
These cyber-zons are fast, it's almost if they can anticipate an opponent's
moves.
Julia's attack allows Frank enough time to regain hi feet and fire
off a laser blast at the cyber-zon, who deflects it off of her bracelets.
Tbe cyber zon, continues to attack Frank ignoring Julia. She
tries to grab hold of Frank but his warning systems enable him to evade the
atatck.
[I went ahead and posted for Pat this round of ciombat so that we
can progress it a little more. He should be back from vacation Thursday,
so he'll be able to post for his next action ]
ROUGHNECK (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17/17) Plot Points 1 XP:3
* damage
* 9I+ New discovery
* 8W+ Never say die
"Stand still!" protests Julia as she crashes into the wall beyond.
Julia
comes around for another pass.
"So what the deal with these freaks?" she asks Franks. "They yours
and
Zena's illegitimate love childs or something?"
KINETICA (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 1 XP:0 Forcefield: 12
* 2I+ Target of Opportunity
* 7D- Mass Panic
* 3D+ Unprotected Valuables
With the new cards, I want to change my action to use the 2I for
attack
(With trump) and 7D for defense.
"If they was from my loins, they'd be much UGLIER!" grunts Frank
as
he attacks. His vision is filled, as usual, with the targeting grid
superimposed over his normal sight. The ciberzon facing him and
Kinetica is not badly wounded and shows no obvious vulnerabilities,
and most of Frank's attack options include a high risk he himself
will be harmed by a counterattack. "That's what regeneration's for,"
thinks Frank.
However, now that he sees one of the amazons attacking Kinetica,
he
suspects the apparently undead cyberzons are not beyond redemption.
He is careful not to do any more killing attacks against the zons, in
the hope that others can be brought back to their senses. He tries to
circle the zon quickly so that her back is to Kinetica, closing to
melee range with her at the same time. He covers up like a boxer and
throws a quick jab at her chin to make sure she is distracted from
watching Kinetica.
[Frank will use the 8W for attack and the 9I for defense, unless
I
draw trump or edge (to replace my attack card--is that how you are
doing it?), in which case I use one of those for defense.]
Sci-Fi fires a stun blast at the nearest cyber-zon
shouting "Luke, Jill, get down! Hide with D'heen! And
the name's Sci-Fi now Verve!" (9D for the stun blast)
The stun blast strike sthe cyber-zon nearest Sci-Fi and has
n o effect whatsoever. It suddenly occurs to sci-Fi that hi sstun blasts
work by scrambling someone's mental processes and since these women
appaered to mindless automatons that would explain his lack of effect.
The cyber zon attacks Sci-Fi with her energy spear, but luckily
he is able to avoid the nasty looking instrument
O
[meanwhile I'd like to propose a plot point.]
As Luke and and Jill are diveing for cover debrie starts to
fall on them. (I imagin the room is in sorry shape at
this time and cealing tiles or rafters or something
could easily fall) as Luke sheilds himself and Jill
the debrie stops in mid air above them. Astounded at
this UNLIKELY HEROISM Sci-Fi shouts, "The Force is
strong with this one."
(Plot Point: 5A+ Unlikely Heroism=Luke developing
telekinesis during the stressful situation of suddenly
being dropped into a super battle. I don't think Luke
should join the SoF, he is still to young. But he
would likely try to follow in his older brother's
footsteps, often getting himself in over his head, and
Sci-Fi (and the SoF) would have to bail him out. Just
to make life more interesting for Sci-Fi, he now has
to look out for his kid brother the wanna-be-Jedi
superhero. Not to mention Lucas's blood sucking
lawers (if you thought Paramount was threatening...).
That is, if you accept the plot point.)
Under the desk, Jill looks at Luke with wide eyed excitement, "How
did you do that? "
"I dunnno. " says Luke. "It just happened. I felt a rush of
adrenalin, hoped the debris wouldn't hit us, and then BAM!"
"That's so cool!" says Jill. "I want powers too!"
D'Heen has been able to discern who is the eneny from his
vantage point. He snatches the plasma blaster away from Luke (the one that
he had picked up from the uncionscious men in the mall) It was a primitive
weapon, but one taht was not unfamiliar to him. He quickly fiews off
a few rounds att the cyber-zon that Sci-Fi had just attacked.
It hits her in the shoulder, burning a hole there, but she shows no sign
of pain.
"If that wasn't so gross it would be kinda cool," says
Sci-Fi
"The enemy of my enemies is my friend." says D'heen in his native
tongue to Sci Fi.
OOC: I'm going to propose a plot point here (although let me know
if I mess
it up. I'm not fully certain I understand all the rules for it).
The stun blast that hit Sophia earlier does rattle some sense back
into the cyber-zon, and she
recollects some of her past life which causes her to question her current
situation. She recognizes Titania as a villain, and sees what was done to
her and her fellow amazons. Perhaps she can lend a hand, and catch Titania
off guard with her sudden BETRAYAL
Sofia suddenly stops her attacks on Sci-Fi, turns around and screams
in rage and horror at what she has become. She grabs hold of Titania,
yanking her off of Zena and throws her across the room into the far
wall. Titania buckles the dry wall as she slams into it.
"Well ,well. It seems that Sofia has had a moment of self-realization", says
Titania as she pulls herself free of the wall.
"Thanks friend," says Sci-Fi to the new ally (in his
language) as he fires off another stun blast (2I plus
trump, 3A plus trump to dodge) This time aiming at Titania.
Verve's Bruce Lee sketch does a leg sweep on the other one
which is headed for Jill and Luke's hiding place beneath the desk, knocking
her to the ground.
SCI-FI (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 0 XP:2
* 5S*Overload
* 3A* Explosion
* 2I+ Target of Oppurunity
Zena flings her Chakram at Titania ferociously.
[Use any edge cards and trump if possible (not sure what my hand
is and
I have too many e-mails to try to hunt it down :) ) Dodge with next
highest card (or trump if possible)]
Zena flings her Chakram at Titania ferociously.
[Use any edge cards and trump if possible (not sure what my hand
is and
I have too many e-mails to try to hunt it down :) ) Dodge with next
highest card (or trump if possible)]
ZENA (Edge 2 Hand 4 Life 25) Plot Points 2 XP:1
6W* Mistaken identity
damage
damage
damage
*******************************
Meanwhile....
[I'm reposting this part since Michael hasn't responded to it yet.
You
are in control of cassandra's reaction to what Captain Marvel is saying
sinnce MM is in control of her. . I believe Pat is out of town until
thursday, but I'm not for sure, If he hasn't posted by then, that is
why. ]
Marvin sees the skinny man with the broken glasses and gets that
infrequent deja-vous feeling that this man is important. But he has
more urgent matters at hand. He has to escape. He is out of options,
and he is one of only a few people who know the true threat that
humanity faces.
He recognizes Cassandra as one of the psych-rapists this place uses
on its prisoners. A different one had done the procedure on Marvin,
but he had seen Cassandra leading other prisoners into the same ward.
The greek letter "psi" on her collar was also the same as the one on
the man who had probed Marvin's mind.
"I'm sorry," Marvin says as he sprints toward her. "If you remove
this collar I won't hurt you. If you resist I'll kill you." He uses
his combat experience to grab her wrist and force her to disengage
the collar. If she resists, he breaks her fingers. If he feels even
the slightest inkling of a mental probe on himself, he will knife-
hand her in the throat, killing damage.
"Marvel, if that is who you are," Rupert begins. "No
need to manhandle Cassandra. She is under my complete
control. I trust that you have been improperly
incarcerated. I have too. But utilizing force against
our captors would only put us in deeper waters (pun
fully intended). I was trying to contact some
'friends' who could extract us from this prison in a
more benevolent fashion. Will you work with me to
achieve this goal?" His goal is to
devise a plan using the combined abilities of allied
parties to make a seamless escape."
"Miss Thatcher" Rupert says, delving into the deep
recesses of Cassandra's mind, "I must ask; how do you
feel about the Patriot Act now? Have we learned
anything from our excursion into the mind of Master
Menagero? How would you feel if I reprogrammed you to
give me aclean bill of mental health and set me free?
Do I have that right to so intrude into your psyche?
Or do you have any moral suggestions for me? I'm all
ears, Cassandra."
In (what Rupert beleives to be the astral plane), Rupert towers
over Miss
Thatcher's cowering form.
"I'm sorry daddy" she says in a childlike voice. "please unlock
the door.
i'll be good I promise. I'll do anything you want."
It becomes apparent to Rupert that Cassandra is reliving some childhood
trauma.
[ooc: I need my hand reposted please.]
Rupert's heart is struck by this scene. He speaks to
Captain Marvel. "Please, give me one minute, brave
Captain. I would advise you to use the time to round
up any possible allies along this corridor. Catalog
their abilities and report back, please."
Going back into the mind of Cassandra, Rupert says in
a soothing voice, "Cassandra, it alright. I'm here.
Rupert. You've seen all that is in my mind. You have
no need to fear me. I'll protect you. Why are you
afraid of your father? Did he hurt you? You can trust
me. See how big I am. Nothing can hurt you as long as
I'm here."
MASTER MENAGERO (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 0 XP: 2 Powers
Duplicated: Mind Control 12, Telepathy 12 ( Mental probe, Psi Screen), Psychic
Blast 12
* damage from push
* 6W- Refusal of Authority
* 4I* Weapons cache
"You hurt me." she says cowering, drawing back from Rupert. "then
locked me
away just like Daddy. But I'll be good. I promise." the last two sentences
Cassandra's voice changes a bit, become slightly seductive sounding. "I'm
always good for Daddy." she says with a suggestive smile.
Rupert is extremely upset with this situation but does
not have the time to resolve it currently. He goes for
the psychic quickfix. "Cassandra! Stop this nonsense.
You are a viable, practical adult now! You are no
longer a child to be taken advantage of! I command you
to revert to your mature self so that we can discuss
this situation like two adults."
Rupert sends out a psychic tether to help Cassandra
out of her childlike state then probes her to see if
she will react with hostility towards him. 6W- + trump
MASTER MENAGERO (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 0
XP: 2 Powers Duplicated: Mind Control 12, Telepathy 12
( Mental probe, Psi Screen), Psychic Blast 12
damage from push
6W- Refusal of Authority
4I* Weapons cache
Marvin stops when the skinny guy tells him Cassandra is under his
control, reasoning that the man has mental powers of his own. But
when she doesn't immediately move to release his collar, Marvin takes
her hand in his (quickly but not forcefully) and moves it up to the
collar in an attempt to release it. If I have to use a card use any
trump whatever suit that would be or the highest. If successful, once
free he grabs rupert up and flies down the hall looking for an exit
vehicle, prepared to shield the slight man from harm with his own
body. He leaves Cassandra there.
[Keith I am assuming that Rupert could not survive extra-vehicular
escape. If Marvin has reason to think otherwise let me know, I'll
change my action.]
Rupert will try to resist being grabbed away from
Cassandra. "Not a good idea, Captain!! My powers are
dependant on my proximity to any given metahuman."
Rupert holds Cassandra's hand.
Marvel immediately stops, and does not separate the two. [I assume
Marvin is out of the collar?]
Sci-Fi's Stun Blast and Zena's chakram strike Titania nearly simultaneously, and she falls backwards unconscious into the hole in the
wall she had just climbed out of.
Zena turns and glares at The hero formerly known as The Captain as Titania slumps to the ground. A thousand daggers of icy rage launch from
her eyes towards him. Once she has made it clear through body language that she didn't appeciate the help she moves in to make sure that Titania is out for real this time.
Sci-Fi pulls out his micro-recorder, "Note to self, Don't help Zena. If looks could kill...well lets just say there would be plenty of real estate avaible in this part of the galaxy."
Kinetica tries to slam into the cyber-zon still engaged with Frank. She
again evades, Kinetica's attack sidestepping just before contact...they
were easily as quick as Zena and Frank. After dodging, Kinetica's attack, the 'zon throws an energy chakram at Roughneck which he ducks under. It produces a large hole in the far wall when it strike there. Frank closes in and throws a jab which catches the cyber-zon squarely in the chin. The impact of the blow sends her flying backwards, and she crashes into the wall opposite Titania. She is still functional however and pulls herself free preparing for yet another attack on Frank.
"Ah hell!" Julia cries as she misses again. She does a u-turn and makes a third attempt. "Third time's the charm."
However, a mischievous idea enters her head. She aims towards the cyberzon, but assumes she will dodge and focuses on expanded her force field into her as she flies past, hoping to catch her off guard.
>KINETICA (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 0 XP:0 Forcefield: 12 > * 5S- Energy Flux > * 7D- Mass Panic > * 3D+ Unprotected Valuables (I'm not sure about what actions I will need to make her, Keith. Let me
know, and I'll play cards where appropriate)
The other still functioning cyber zon regains it's feet and continues heading towards Luke and Jill. Sophia jumps in it's path, saying. "Forgive me sister..." as she plants an energy dagger squarely between the eyes of the advancing cyber zon. It sinks in to the hilt and the 'zon slumps to the floor, in mechanical spasms. " I spare you the horror of what we have become...you are free now. " Sophia kneels on the floor before Zena with her head bowed with shame and respect. "Please forgive me for attacking you and your party my queen. I was not
in control of myself."
Verve's Bruce Lee stands ready to attack. his eyes sifting about the room waiting for any signs of trouble.
D'Heen takes aim, at the last enemy cyber-zon with his plasma blaster (the one fighting with Frank) and waits for an opening shot.
[So there is only one cyber-zon that is still hostile and that is the one that is fighting Kinetica and Frank. Sophia is friendly now. Titania is unconscious, One cyber zon is apparently "dead" by Sophia and
the other was taken off line by Frank]
Frank continues his attack on the zon, trying not to give her a chance to regain her balance. He launches himself at her, driving his head into her solarplexus like a battering ram, hoping to drive her back into the wall again.
[I use the 4A for this attack, use the 3W for defense.]
ROUGHNECK (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17/17) Plot Points 1 XP:3 4A+ Emotional Growth 3W* Attraction of attention 6D- Betrayal
"This worked before, lets try it again," says Sci-Fi as he fires off a stun blast at the last enemy, hopeing his blast will free her from the cyber-control.
"Hey Luke, Jill, how you holding up?"
Kinetica flies towards the cyberzon, who ducks out of the way, yet again, but at the last second Kinetica extends her forcefield slightly, catching her across the bridge of the nose. The trick maneuver causes the cyerzon to become sligtley dazed...and Frank slams into solar plexus with his head.
The blow drives them back into the wall yet again, and the cyber zon goes limp, her circuits apparently overwhelmed.
Sci-Fi, who was readying an attack on her, aborts it when he sees taht she is offline.
Luke and Jill crawl out from beneath the desk. " Is it over? " Jill asks
meekly
"Well thats it for the violent fighting stuff, but I think Zena is conteplating assisted suicide over there so you might not want to watch, I'm going to go try and help Frank stop this."
D'Heen shouts something that roughly translates to "we came we saw, we conquered. "
"Yeah, 'Vedi, Vidi, Vichi' D'Heen, just let us sort this stuff out and then we'll tell the gang your story." Sci-Fi tells the alien (all translated into the alien language except the latin bit)
[Now Roughneck can say all of that stuff to Sophia. }
ROUGHNECK (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17/17) Plot Points 1 XP:3 6A- Lack Of Support 3W* Attraction of attention 6D- Betrayal
KINETICA (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 0 XP:0 Forcefield: 12 · 5S- Energy Flux · 7W* Misguided Soul · 3D+ Unprotected Valuables
After careful examination, it is appparent that Titania, is indeed unconscious.
A low motiorized hum of mechanical joints, alerts Zena that Sophias has walked up behind her.
When Zena turns to face her, Sophia hands Zena her Energy Spear , then offers her chest as a target.
"Please my queen. This is not life. This is Hell on earth..please end my
suffering as this abomination. " she says sadly.
Zena looks down at the weapon in her hand and then looks at Sophia. She weighs her options and realizes that it is the right thing to do. Sophia
wishes death, it is Zena's responsibility to grant it to her. She prepares to strike down her best friend. She hesitates hen she notices Roughneck's approach.
Frank steps over to the two women, both taller than him by at least a head, and says, "Wait. Sophia, you're alive and in control of your mind again. You don't gotta die. Look at me," he says, pulling his mask off showing his badly scarred face. "Somebody did this to me too. I got a computer in my skull just like you. ut as long as you can control yourself, you're a free person, not their machine." He looks at the undead cyberzon, noting that she is much worse off than he himself is.
He turns to Zena. "Zena, if you're her leader, order her to live. Let her help you take revenge on the people who did this to her, the ones who murdered your tribe. As I understand it, you ain't got many tribe members left as it is. Can you afford to lose another?"
"If it is her wish to forfeit her life, then I am the only one who can grant the request. I am her queen, she is my responsibility. So I ask you Sophia ... do you really wish for me to end your life?"
Zena hopes she says no, but knows that she will soon have to destroy someone so dear to her heart ... losing her a second time.
"Please Sophia, do not give up hope. We may yet find a way to restore you to a better life. At least join us in finding those that did this to you, would it not be better to die in battle, fighting for justice for your people than giving up now. This would be a death with out honor, to give up when there is a fight yet to be fought. Your fallen comrands cry out for justice, would you turn asside? Live, fight, and if the fates decree, die with honor." Says Sci-Fi, apperntly channeling Worf from Next Generation.
"My life already ended defending our homeland. I died with honor. These
machines that defile my body spit upon that sacrifice as well as pervert the natural order of things. I know that you will avenge me and the other amazons. You do not need me. Grant me the peace that these machines deny me. . "
Frank doesn't know what to say. He knows this is not his business, and sadly awaits the outcome of Sophia's decision. He looks at Sophia's cadaverous body and understands her desire to escape this world. He briefly wonders if he himself actually survived the drowning he remembers, after he fell from the rig. Or is he only animated because of the technology in his body?
"These machine's do defile your body, but they give you another chance to fight your enemies, to bring justice to your people. Use the weapon your enemies have given you, the weapon they have made you, to destroy them. You have lost one life, do not give up another. You have died with honor once, do not give up the chance to do so again," argues Sci-Fi
"Let the amazon witch put her out of her misery." says Julia
"Kinetica, please you arn't helping."
Julia places her hands on her hips. "What? You got something against euthanasia? It's not like she'd be missing out on anything. No offense
Frank, but I'm not sure I want to go living if I looked like that. Hell, I'm not that thrilled about it now."
"Euthinasia is a tricky subject. If she was a vegitable with no hope of recovery, doomed to sleep through what little life she had left in a coma...maybe. But right now, in all the most important ways she is alive. She can think, she can move, she can feel. And she can fight, and make those who did this to her 'feel her pain'."
Zena notes the uncertainty on Frank's face. Then she thanks her goddess for the uncouth distraction that Kinetica has provided for the Captain. It could not be mistaken that she would have to deliver final judgement upon Sophia, and she didn't want her teammates to stop her.
Though she fights beside them with a battle lust, she does not consider them to be friends.... merely a means to an end. And the end is near for
her. She finally has many of the answers she has been seeking and she knows where to look for the rest. But now she must deal with a true friend.
"Find peace in whatever paradise you choose, Sophia.And when you arrive tell the others that they will be avenged and I will join you all soon. Goodbye, my friend." with her last words she impales her friend
As Sophia gasps her last breath for the second time Zena just holds her.
As hard as she tries she cannot fight back the tears that should be beyond her. Her stomach sickens with what she just had to do. She cradles Sophia's body to the ground as a rage builds inside her. She pulls the energy spear from he friends chest and rises.
There is hatred and anger in her eyes as she begins to breath very heavy. She looks as if she is about to explode. She turns on her heels to face the unconscious Amazonian traitor. Her knuckles are turning white from the amount of force she is gripping the weapon with.
Quitely Sci-Fi says, "Zena...just don't kill her. We need to know who did this, we need her capable of answereing questions."
"Titania must be made to pay."retorts Zena.
Then an idea comes to Sci-Fi, "Frank, do you think you can link your computer to hers. A kind of robo-mind meld. Pull the information we need out of her if she won't give it to us? I any event Frank keep Zena from doing to much damage. I need to see how Jill and Luke are doing."
"She doesn't have wires .... just as she has no soul." Zena moves towards Titania with the spear at the ready. She plans on ramming it through Titania's chest just as she was made to use it against Sophia.
Sci-Fi turns from Zena and heads over to his friends, very disapointed that he couldn't apeal to Sophie's warrior spirit. Disapointed that he again failed to save a life.
Frank says, "Zena, he's right about one thing: Titania may be our only link to the people behind this. You know Titania didn't build those...didn't do that to yer people. Someboddy else is involved in this. She may be our only way to find out who. And Zena, you may not be the only one with a stake in this."
Frank doesn't explain that last comment further. He forlornly awaits Zena's decision.
Standing over Titania, Zena screams with fury as she throws the spear to
the ground. Quickly she punches the wall above Titania's head. Her knuckles split open as easily as the plaster breaks away from the support beam. She reaches down with her bleeding hand and grabs a handful of hair. She then starts dragging Titania down the hall towards the teams holding cells.
As Zena leaves the room Sci-Fi bows his head and in a mear whisper no one else can here say, "Thank you Zena, for doing the right thing."
Sci-Fi is relived Zena chose not to kill Titania. He was prepared to use his stun blast aginst her to keep her from murdering Titania. He wasn't going to let anyone else die when he could do something to stop it.
[After Zena has made her decision and that part of the scene is resolved:]
Frank surveys the wrecked computer room of Supers of Fortune HQ. The undead cyberzons are offline, and Frank walks over to Sophia to inspect the technology used to make her, to see if it looks similar to his own hardware.
Suddenly, Frank's ATTENTION IS ATTRACTED to a small port on Sophia's neck, at the base of her skull, visible only to his EM vision, as it is beneath her skin. Frank touches his own skull and feels the familiar lump of his data core, the computer that runs his life now. He kneels next to Sophia and puts his right index finger on the hole to feel its texture. To his surprise, he feels a brief pain as a tiny fiber optic cable erupts from inside his finger and pierces Sophia's flesh at the port. The cable secures itself to Sophia's port before Frank can pull his hand back. [Plot point.]
Suddenly, a new vista is opened in Frank's mind. He "sees" the connection between himself and Sophia, and can discern the different systems in Sophia's own data core. Still confused and disotriented by what is happening, he tries to reach one of those systems with his mind. He can't identify what the system is, but when he "touches" it, it responds by sending a flood of data into Frank's unprepared mind...
*********************************** As Rupert takes Cassandra's hand, Marvel guides her other hand towards the collar on his neck, using her fingers to disengage the locking mechanism.
Cassandra comes screaming back to adulthood, per Rupert's orders. She attempts to regain control of her mind, but MM is able to maintain control, though it is an effort.
The hallway is quickly becoming a chaotic mess, as the prisoners realize
that their cell doors are now unsealed. There are about 15 in the this hall. Many of them are running towards the central hub of the compound [It is laid out like a wagon wheel, sort of like a space station, only underwater)
Rupert realizes that the power will soon by back online and it will just
be a matter of seconds after that the security personnel realize that they have a full blown prison escape in the works. judging by their responses so far, "justice" would be swift and merciless.
One of the inmates sees Marvel use Cassandra's hand to disengage the collar. His eyes brighten and he he runs towards her, with gleeful anticipation. He may be free of his cell, but he realizes that if he sets foot out of the compound the explosives in the collar would end his
life.
[Please note that this is NOT a super-prison facility. It is more of a top secret military compound that just so happens to have holding cells there as well. Secret experiments are performed here as well as top secret defense department operations. Every prisoner in her wears a collar, that is equipped with explosives as an added security measure. Some prisoners do in fact have powers, and if they do, the collars have the added nullification feature.]
Marvel sees the approaching inmates and blasts the floor in front of the inmate's feet with heat vision, saying, "Halt! Back to your cell or the next shot won't be at your feet." If this doesn't stop the man, Marvin will use a low energy heat beam on his chest, just hoping to scare him or drive him off. I pull it so it will have no chance of doing permanent damage to him.
Marvin says to Menagero, "We can't take her with us as a hostage, but it looks like we have to at least get her somewhere safe before we release her." He scoops both Cassandra and Managero up in his arms and flies as close to the ceiling as possible toward the central hub (or wherever he thinks the vehicles may be located). If any of the prisoners approaches, Marvin will threaten them verbally first, and if that doesn't stop them, he will use a low energy heat vision blast on them, not intending to do permanent harm but to scare them.
If we encounter any obviously super villains, I will use full power heat vision on them but only if I can't avoid the encounter.
If I need to use any cards I use the 6W for attack and the 7W for defense if my enemy is a normal. I will use trumps instead if the enemy is obviously super powered.
Captain Marvel (Edge 2 Hand 4 Life 25) Plot Points 2 XP: 2
7A+ Glimmer of Compassion 7W* Misguided Soul 6S+ Public Accolades 6W- Negative Influenc
Consdering the explosiveness of the situation, Rupert releases Cassandra from his control momentatrily. He says in a loud voice for Marvel to hear, "Before you do anything stupid, Miss Thatcher, consider that you have various beings here who would be more than happy to rend you limb from limb for your participations in these projects. I will be happy to inform them of that you were forced into subjection AGAINST you will as long as you cooperate in getting everyone safely OUT of this facility. I'm sure you can understand their angst. How did you feel having your mind uncontrollably hijacked, little girl?"
While speaking, Rupert does a full scan of a mile radious to get a listing of all the super-powers present. He needs to devise a plan of excape in the contingency that Cassandra refuses to cooperate.
Using my 5I* Compromising Information + trump.
[Also, can I use my 2 XP to get a new hindrance off of my DETECTION. LIMIT: SUPER-POWERED? I want to have HINDRANCE. ALWAYS ON. That way I can consistently catalog supers powers in the area, even if I am concentrating on other things.
MASTER MENAGERO (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 0 XP: 2 Powers Duplicated: Mind Control 12, Telepathy 12 ( Mental probe, Psi Screen), Psychic Blast 12 5S- Hostage Situation 5I* Compromising Information 3D- Collateral Damage
Marvin says, "Wait, we can't free all these people. Most of them are serious criminals. Miss Thatcher, I know you think what you are doing is right, but your government has made mistakes. You have to believe me when I tell you that the fate of the world literally rests on our escaping. If you've read the report on my mind probe, you know I'm telling the truth. You can save lives by helping us escape. And we will escape. It's just a matter of how many people die in the process. You know I could tear a hole in these walls without effort, and I will if I'm left with no other option. Or you can take us to an escape vehicle, and we'll let you go. Make your decision."
Marvin hopes he is not making his own mistake by bringing Menagero with him. The man seems important, but Marvin also had similar feelings when he encountered the Xargothians. Remembering this man doesn't mean he's on the right side, Marvin reminds himself. The debacle with his son proved that, if nothing else. But Marvin needs to collect a group of metas and instruct them about the risk to the planet. The Guardians already know, but because they would not have Marvin back in their ranks, he has to find help wherever he can.
Marvel sees the approaching inmates and blasts the floor in front of the inmate's feet with heat vision, saying, "Halt! Back to your cell or the next shot won't be at your feet." [ If this doesn't stop the man, Marvin will use a low energy heat beam on his chest, just hoping to scare him or drive him off. I pull it so it will have no chance of doing permanent damage to him. ]
The man scurries off down the hallway. Surely there would be other personnel nearby who would serve his needs. No sense in getting fried bu some super-freak.
Marvin says to Menagero, "We can't take her with us as a hostage, but it looks like we have to at least get her somewhere safe before we release her."
Consdering the explosiveness of the situation, Rupert releases Cassandra from his control momentatrily. He says in a loud voice for Marvel to hear, "Before you do anything stupid, Miss Thatcher, consider that you have various beings here who would be more than happy to rend you limb from limb for your participations in these projects. I will be happy to inform them of that you were forced into subjection AGAINST you will as long as you cooperate in getting everyone safely OUT of this facility. I'm sure you can understand their angst. How did you feel having your mind uncontrollably hijacked, little girl?"
While speaking, Rupert does a full scan of a mile radious to get a listing of all the super-powers present. He needs to devise a plan of excape in the contingency that Cassandra refuses to cooperate.
Using my 5I* Compromising Information + trump.
Marvin says, "Wait, we can't free all these people. Most of them are serious criminals. Miss Thatcher, I know you think what you are doing is right, but your government has made mistakes. You have to believe me when I tell you that the fate of the world literally rests on our escaping. If you've read the report on my mind probe, you know I'm telling the truth. You can save lives by helping us escape. And we will escape. It's just a matter of how many people die in the process. You know I could tear a hole in these walls without effort, and I will if I'm left with no other option. Or you can take us to an escape vehicle, and we'll let you go. Make your decision."
Marvin hopes he is not making his own mistake by bringing Menagero with him. The man seems important, but Marvin also had similar feelings when he encountered the Xargothians. Remembering this man doesn't mean he's on the right side, Marvin reminds himself. The debacle with his son proved that, if nothing else. But Marvin needs to collect a group of metas and instruct them about the risk to the planet. The Guardians already know, but because they would not have Marvin back in their ranks, he has to find help wherever he can.
Cassandra looks back and forth at Marvel and Rupert, considering their words. She suddenly gives Rupert a passionate kiss on the lips. "I'd follow you through hell and back, she says throatily. " I've never felt so completley at one with another person before in my life. You're mind is so poweful..so beautiful. I...I...Love you, Rupert. Take me with you! I want to help. I can make them all forget. Make them not even remeember that you exist. "
Without waiting for an answer she grabs Rupeert's hand and sets out down the hallway. " this way Rupert , darling! Follow me. I'll make sure that you can escape. "
As she does so, the power suddenly comes back on. "Hurry, we haven't much time. "
MASTER MENAGERO (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 0 XP: 2 Powers Duplicated: Mind Control 12, Telepathy 12 ( Mental probe, Psi Screen), Psychic Blast 12
5S- Hostage Situation 1A* Baptism by Fire 3D- Collateral Damage
Captain Marvel (Edge 2 Hand 4 Life 25) Plot Points 2 XP: 2
7A+ Glimmer of Compassion 7W* Misguided Soul 6S+ Public Accolades 6W- Negative Influenc Marvel glides down the passage after her, shrugging. "You must've put one hell of a mind job on her, Rupert." Marvin doesn't let her out of his sight, and tries to stay directly beside her, so he can intercept any attackers before they reach her or Rupert.
"Oh, my." Rupert thinks to himself, "I hope this is mere infatutation. My heart is with Zena."
Rupert warns Marvel, "I detect two meta-human signatures nearby. One boasts prehensile dreadlocks and the other pheremones. Be ready for anything!"
Rupert smiles at Cassandra, "Why don't we find a nice escape craft, eh? And I sure don't mind if you wipe out all records of my 'supposedly' traitorous actions from the minds of my persecutors while you're at it."
"And don't you worry, Captain. Now that Master Menagero and the Supers of Fortune are on the case, you can be assured that security and peace of mind are yours for the taking. Cause you know what they say, 'The meek need not fear being scorned or shunned. For they can trust the Supers of Fortune!'"
Rupert thinks to himself, "I'll have to work on that, I see." But, having recently rescued a major hero and having been thankfully kissed by a gorgeous lady, Menagero can do nothing else but grin to himself and, of course, sneeze.
Rupert decides to blast off another psionic distress cry to his teammates. He will attempt to give them his location and have them bring the Fortune's Fury in for a rendevous/rescue.
[All-out Telepathy actions. Edge 1 + 5S and trump.] > > MASTER MENAGERO (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 0 > XP: 2 Powers Duplicated: Mind Control 12, Telepathy > 12 > ( Mental probe, Psi Screen), Psychic Blast 12 > > * 5S- Hostage Situation > * 1A* Baptism by Fire > * 3D- Collateral Damage
Frank is flooded with weapon system reports, cybernetic diagnostic reports, computer algorithms and various other data that he doesn't have
the slightest clue as to what it means. It all appears very similar to Frank's own computer systems...almost identical though there are a few differences here and there. He feels very close to these readouts and subsystems, the closest thing Frank can think of is it almost as if they were "related" in a sense, the same way that siblings are...sharing much of the same characteristics, but with enough variation to make them unique.
One particular node catches Frank's attention it is blinking on and off,
calling to him like a beacon. It wants to complete his damaged systems, make him whole again. Make him function properly. Make him achieve the purpose of his design.. He sees the perfection that would be achieved by
properly aligning his own systems..deadly beautiful design and functionality. Complete effeciency...streamlined death.
Frank jerks away from Sophia retracting the fiber optic cable with disgust. Her core had been trying override his own in some way or at least transfer it's protocols. He knew his core had been damaged in his escape, that is what allowed him evade detection and made him able to override his own protocols through sheer willpower. If the core was somehow repaired he didn't know if he would be able to do so any longer.
Most likely not.
Verve looks at Frank with a raised eyebrow, "You all right? You look like you've seen a ghost." He begins dragging the other off-line cyberzons into the center of the room. "Any idea what we should do with these three? What if they re-activate somehow?"
Sci-Fi checks on Jill and Luke. They seem fine. Luke seems totally unfazed that he had just manifested metahuman powers. or perhaps it was just too much to take in all at once. "You guys got any food here? I'm starving ," he says.
D'Heen taps some buttons on a device attached to his wrist then says "Me
too," in perfect english. "In all of the excitement I forgot to turn on my universal interpretation device. It would have come in handy earlier I suppose."
Sci Fi introduces D'Heen to everyone present and the starnge looking creature relays his story to them. He explains that he is a member of an extra terrestrial race from a planet called D'Nuvia. His people have long been at war with another race of aliens called Xargothians. The Xargothians he explains are insidious, rather than overtly attack a planet to conquer it, they would infiltrate it first. manipulating conditions, pitting the indigenous populations against one another, raising suspicions and heightening paranoia, eventually causing them to go to war against one another. With the populations distracted by their own conflicts and weakened by war, the Xargothians would attack in full force. Sometimes these tactics worked, sometimes not. Early detection of the Xargothians usually resulted in their plans being thwarted. It was while D'Heen was investigating reports of possible Xargothian activity in this sector of the galaxy, that he discovered a single stronghold on the dark side of the earth's moon. His presence was discovered, and he escaped, though his ship was damaged causing him to land on Earth to make repairs.
"That is when you showed up. :" he says to Sci-Fi " Or at least shortly after that., I do not know how those mean were that were chasing me, but they seemed to be aware of my presence, or at least already searching for me shortly before I arrived on your planet. This leads me to believe that the Xargothians already have a bit of influence here on Earth as my ship was still fully cloaked. Plus these weapons they possessed" indicating the plasma blaster "seem to be derived from Xargothians technology"
[after discussion of D'heen's revelation]
The team members are all assaulted by a psychic distress call. MM's voice echoes inside their heads. "I am in need of assistance. I have been taken prisoner against my will and am currently in the midst of escape. Pleas rendezvous with me at (here he gives longitude and latitude directions that he learned from Cassandra) and I will explain when you get here. Over and Out. "
Sci-Fi imediatly heads for the Fortune Fury, "Luke, Jill stay here we have a distress call from MM to answere. D'Heen, your welcome to come along if you like."
Zena is not there to be introduced. She sits on the floor in front of Titania's cell. It's a spot she hasn't left since she put Titania in there. She waits for the traitorus amazon to awaken so that Zena can beat the answers to her questions out of her. Tolwyn and Tancreed sit by
her side having just recently rejoined her.
Frank would love to stay behind and take a closer look at these cyberzons. He suspects and hopes they are made with many of the same components he himself is made with.
But he can't ignore the distress call, and even though he and MM have had some disagreements (maybe because they have had disagreements) he must answer the call.
Verve chooses to stay behind with Zena. He doesn't say anything, but he thinks it probably isn't a good idea to leave Zena alone with Titania at
the moment.
Jill and Luke hang out at teh offices dor awhile and eventually get bored. "Tell Gene we will see him later. " says Luke to Verve. "Me and Jill are
going to head home now."
"I'll let him know."says Verve.
After the others have left (save for Verve), Zena waits patiently for Titania to awaken. After quite awhile she finally does. The holding cell she is in looks like any other simple jail cell, except that the bars are made of titanium. (SoF offices aren't really equipped to handle
any major menaces]. Titania sits up, resting her arrms on her kness and grins when she sees Zena peering at her. "Good morning your highness. She says sarcastically. "I see that you still prefer the compalny of flea ridden animals. Pity Sophia didn't finish off that damn cat of yours. I would have liked that very much I think. "
"You only live now because of my grace .... I think that you should choose your words carefully." Zena says with a meaningful glare. "I think now would be a good time to tell me all about the people who destroyed our tribe. I might just let you off easy and put you on a raft
again."
*************************
Cassandra shows MM and Captain Marvel the escape pods, and keys in her code. She kisses MM again and says, "I'll stay behind my love and tie up any loose ends. Don't worry, the I'll take care of everything..they'll never even remember you wee here. I'll see you soon my darling. God speed. " she says as the hatch closes and the escape pod jettisons away from the underwater compound.
MM is flooded with Capt. . Marvel's power as he leaves the proximity of Cassandra. The sudden influx of power overwhelms him and he is knocked unconscious.
[Assuming the team member's go to help.]
When Rupert comes to, he is being pulled out if the escape pod and into the Fortune Fury along with Capt. marvel.
As soon as Rupert leaves the compound, Cassandra goes to work.
She realizes that it will be too difficult to mindwipe everyone of Rupert's involvement..it would be much easier to simply rearrange some facts. Make it seem as if the psionic detector was acceptable to Arbuckle, that he was convinced that the metahuman detection unit couldn't be produced by Rupert. Rupert' s appaerance at the compound was merely to explain the workings of the psionic detection device and nothing more. The heated words exchanged at Rupert' s apartment were wiped from memory.
The guards who escorted Rupert to the compound were reprogrammed to believe that they had been sent to safely escort him and the device to the compound..acting as bodyguards rather than captors.
Arbuckle himself felt "compelled" to shred every document and purge every computer file relating to the last meetings between the two of them. New
documents were produced, explaining that while the metahuman detection device was not successfully produced, a psionic detection unit was..it was a step in the right direction just not as as large a step as the DoD had
hoped for. Rupert was released from DoD commission without prejudice, Perhaps a new scientific think tank could produce the results they needed..or expound upon the device Rupert had created.
Since Rupert had never been a prisoner, he had not escaped from the compound..Marvel on the other hand was not her problem. She had no allegiance to him as she did Rupert. Her darling Rupert. Her mind quivered with lust whenever she thought of him.
She would make sure that things were effectively concealed, that Rupert would no longer be hounded by the DoD..then ,once she was positive that no one was the wiser ,she would go to him. She had never felt this way about anyone before...never been that close to someone..it was as if they shared some sort of link between them ..it must be love.
In the past she had dominated many minds, forcing them to do her will...never had she been under anyone else's control before..at least not since Daddy. The complete abandonment of control..the freedom of not having to think...to simply do as she was told...it was delicious. Oh how she loved her little Rupie.
[It can be assumed that the other rendezvous with MM and Capt. Marvel after this without incident. You can relay any info and discuss what course of action to take. If D'Heen is along and mention the Xargothians, or one of the others mentions them, this will definitely catch Capt. Marvel's attention.
Other things that need to be addressed: What about the cyber-zons and Titania? Is Zena willing to put this on the back burner to hel pMM. Is Frank? If not what do they do? Does the team split up?
When MM awakens, "…ooohhhh, my head. The power in my veins! Oh, my team mates! Captain Marvel, I would like to formally introduce you to Supers of Fortune. (MM names all present.) I regret that you could not meet Blitz…He was one of our founding memebers who passed away on our last mission — saving ourl ives, I might add! There are a few people here I don't recognize, so you'll have to excuse me"
Marvel sees the strange looking creature with one eye (D'Heen) and gets the same strange feeling he had when he first encountered Rupert. It is as if the three of them were somehow destined to meet.
Marvin looks closely ad D'Heen, trying to recall any facts about this strange looking creature. His memory was badly damaged when he traveled back in time, and things that were familiar to him in his old life often seem vaguely familiar to him now. He suspects D'Heen is an alien.
He looks at the group, dressed in their costumes, and then looks at his own orange prison jump suit. Bitter memories of his time with the Guardians return to him. He was once a member of a group like this. But no more. His betrayal of his best friends had left them no choice but to make him leave their ranks. At the time, he had thought he was doing the right thing, only to learn later he had been a fool.
Since then, Marvin has lived on his own, doing what he can, waiting for a time when he can again take up his quest against the Xargothians. The presence of Menagero and D'Heen, both of whom evoke familiarity in him, makes him believe that time is now.
"You mind telling us what the hell is going on MM?" says Julia "Not that
I really give a damn"
"I was taken into custody for having my deal with the Feds go sour. As most of you know, I refused to turn over my meta-human detection device to the government. In trying to destroy it, I was hit by a surge of strange energy that turned me into Master Menagero, the Man of a Million Powers. Well, the governement came to collect on its device. But, since it wasn't ready they demanded their funding back. I presumptuosly had already invested in what was going to be a surprise for you, my great teammates. I constructed a fully-automated, multi-secreted-entranced meta-human team base for us! Disguised as the simple RensCorp. Inc, little would the world know that the Supers of Fortune have there own action-packed base right in the heart of Brooklyn Heights, New York. I thought that I would have time to gain the money back to pay the governement by creating a cool doohickey of some sorts. But, the SoF kept me too busy to have any meaningful downtime in the lab.
"So, I was carted away and was going to have one heck of a psionic mind-stripping until I used my adaptive abilities to gain the upper hand. Anyways, I ran into Captain Marvel here and was able to call for help telepathically."
Mm looks around and sees quite a few people he does not know. "So, have things been slow in my abscence?"
Marvin listens to Rupert's explanation, learning a bit about his new companion. If the government had a meta-human detection device, no meta anywhere would be safe. It would be that much easier for the government to exterminate them all when the time came. He realizes Rupert is an important person in his memory for a good reason. Now he only needs to figure out if Rupert is important because he is an ally, or because he would help bring about the downfall of meta- humanity. He had apparently already created a tool that could be used to track metas. That by itself would be enough to get him in the history books, if it were commonly known. Such a device could change the balance between metas and normals in a drastic way.
Meanwhile, Frank looks suspiciously at Rupert and Marvin. "Whaddya mean you were in custody? Did they arrest you? Why'd they letcha go? Why you still wearin' the orange jumpers?"
"They let me go, Frank, because I resorted to THINKING my way out of the horrid situation instead of falling back on neandertahlic techniques utilizing violence." MM looks at Frank. He hates to bring up the subject that haunted SoF shortly before AND after Blitz's death but MM doesn't feel he had full closure on the issue yet. But not wanting to have an argument erupt in front of strangers, "Basically, I commandeered a resident psionic's powers and erased all information pertaining to any 'supposed' crime I had committed against our great country."
Frank is taken aback by MM's tone and reference to such a touchy subject. He had answered the distress call hoping things could go back to normal between the two of them, but clearly MM still has a bone to pick. Frank obliges. "You mean supposed crimes like stealing millions from taxpayers in order to make yourself a super hero? I only asked 'cause people who wear prison jumpers are usually escapees. When they release you they give yer clothes back. Where are your clothes, Rupert?" he emphasizes the use of MM's real name.
"I did escape, thank you. And, in addition, I never intended to make myself a super-hero. It was an accident! You should really watch your tone, FRANKY! For all you know (given your constant state of amnesia on all things pre-SoF) you could have volunteered to be transformed into the patchwork stitch-job bionic Robocop you are now! I wouldn't make any accusations until you figure out who the hooternanny you are, you big galoot!"
Frank is enraged by Rupert's smugness and the suggestion that Frank volunteered to be welded. But he swallows his anger and says only, "You don't know what the hell yer talkin' about."
Rupert storms into the lavoratory and becomes embroiled in a horrible sneezing fit. Through the bathroom door one can hear him moan, "...the stress..oohhhh.."
Turning to D'Heen, Julia comments, "So do men act like this on your world too, or do they save themselves the trouble and just break out a ruler?"
"Galoot? " questions D'Heen. "hooternanny? These words baffle my translator..what do they mean?
"Just MM's praticular varite of slang, don't worry about it." responds Sci-Fi.
"Do you humans make a habit of fighting amongst yourselves? If so, then the Xargothians certainly have their work cut out for them...that is their standard operating procedure. Divide and conquer, except they do it on a gloabal scale. "
"MM just needs to get laid, " says Julia. "In fact, it couldn't hurt Frank either. Too bad Zena had to go and off her robo-buddy. She and Frank would have made a nice couple, don't you think?"
Marvin says first to Frank and the others, "Menagero's right. We did escape, and that means any of you who help us will become criminals yourselves. I don't know how or if Menagero erased all the evidence against himself, but I'm sure that I'm still wanted. And after this, if they discover you talked to us, you'll all be wanted too."
[Keith, where is this meeting taking place?]
Marvin then says to D'Heen, "Greetings. What do you know of the Xargothians? I believe am one of the few humans who knows of the threat they pose. I've fought them on many occasions," he remembers the end of the war, in the future he came from, after humanity has been crushed by the space invaders. "Where are you from, and why are you here?"
ADVERTISEMENT After the others have left (save for Verve), Zena waits patiently for Titania to awaken. After quite awhile she finally does. The holding cell she is in looks like any other simple jail cell, except that the bars are made of titanium. (SoF offices aren't really equipped to handle
any major menaces]. Titania sits up, resting her arms on her knees and grins when she sees Zena peering at her. "Good morning your highness. She says sarcastically. "I see that you still prefer the company of flea ridden animals. Pity Sophia didn't finish off that damn cat of yours. I would have liked that very much I think. "
"You only live now because of my grace .... I think that you should choose your words carefully." Zena says with a meaningful glare. "I think now would be a good time to tell me all about the people who destroyed our tribe. I might just let you off easy and put you on a raft
again."
"You should have killed me when you had the chance Zena. Had it not been
for a ship that had been blown off course in a storm, coming across me a
week later, I surely would have died. Near death from exposure and starvation I vowed vengeance against you, as well my sister-amazons who had forsaken me. It is because of you that I revealed the location of our secret island of Amazonia to the man that rescued me. He sent a messenger to offer you money for the land, though it was more to prove that what I said was true...that the island actually existed. You of course rejected the offer as I told him you would.
The man then authorized taking the island by force. To this end, a newly
created squadron of cyborgs was brought online and was sent into Amazonia as a test run to evaluate their combat effectiveness. Led by me, the cyborgs were more than a match for the unsuspecting Amazons. We wiped out nearly every Amazon on the island, though a small number were captured for study and those that were mutilated/maimed in the conflict were designated as test subjects for the continuing cyborg research program.
As the dead were counted and prisoners accounted for it became apparent to me that you had somehow escaped the assault. My vengeance could not be complete without knowing that you were dead. The man who owned the company promised me that he would use his vast resources to help me locate you, if I would serve as commander of his companies' security forces.
An agreement was reached and a few weeks later, the company moved in, claiming the lands of Amazonia as their own. Mining, drilling and excavating, began immediately as well as searching for hidden Amazonian treasures.
I tell you this now so that you will do something rash and hopefully get
yourself killed in the process. If you release me, I'll take you straight to the very man whom I have spoken about. "
**************** Meanwhile.. on the Fortune Fury (which is now about 100 mile off the NY coastline ) heading back to HQ
Marvin says to D'Heen, "Greetings. What do you know of the Xargothians? I believe am one of the few humans who knows of the threat they pose. I've fought them on many occasions," he remembers the end of the war, in the future he came from, after humanity has been crushed by the space invaders. "Where are you from, and why are you here?"
D'Heen introduces himself and explains that he is a member of an extra terrestrial race from a planet called D'Nuvia. His people have long been at war with another race of aliens called Xargothians. The Xargothians he explains are insidious, rather than overtly attack a planet to conquer it, they would infiltrate it first. manipulating conditions, pitting the indigenous populations against one another, raising suspicions and heightening paranoia, eventually causing them to go to war against one another. With the populations distracted by their own conflicts and weakened by war, the Xargothians would attack in full force. Sometimes these tactics worked, sometimes not. Early detection of the Xargothians usually resulted in their plans being thwarted. It was while D'Heen was investigating reports of possible Xargothian activity in this sector of the galaxy, that he discovered a single stronghold on the dark side of the earth's moon. His presence was discovered, and he escaped, though his ship was damaged causing him to land on Earth to make repairs.
"There I was attacked by men wielding weaponry derived from Xargothian technology..which leads me to believe that the Xargothians have made some headway into their infiltration of Earth. Though I am unsure if these men were acting of their own free will or if they wills were subjugated by mind slaving devices the Xargothians sometimes utilize. The devices attach at the base of the skull and are difficult to detect except with close inspection. "
As D'Heen explains all of this to Marvel and the others, the Fortune Fury suddenly lurches violently coming almost to a dead stop.
Sci-Fi, who is piloting the ship struggles to break free of whatever invisible force has taken hold of the ship. "Some kind of tractor beam...pulling us towards that large cloud overhead." he says. He then sends a distress signal back to SoF Hq informing Verve of the situation and giving him the exact coordinates of the ship.
Julia fires up her force field and gets ready for combat. "I've got a bad feeling about this," she says in her best Harrison Ford.
A thousand and one Star Wars quotes try to force themselves out of Sci-Fi's mouth, but he holds them. Now is not the time for an obscure quotefest he decides.
"Curse me for a fool!" says D'Heen pulling off a nearly imperceptible metallic object from his sleeve and smashing it beneath his booted heel. "It was a Xargothian tracking device. It must have been placed on me during my escape. I fear I have led the Xargothians straight to us. "
Master Menagero bolts out of the bathroom, wiping his runny nose and completing his costume change. "Jumpin jolliebees. What's happening?" After hearing Sci-Fi's explanation, MM looks at Captain Marvel. Surely, between our massive might combined we can shatter this tractor beam's hold on our vessel."
Opening the vessel hatch, MM begins to shout commands over the howling wind. "Sci-Fi and D'heen, see what you can do to break us free from the tracotr bea musing the Fortune Fury's tecnological prowess. Meanwhile, Captain Marvel and I have a job to do. Up, up and away!"
"On it," shouts Sci-Fi as he continues to manipulate the ships controls, trying to wrest it free of the tractor beam. (3A+ trump on this piloting action)
Zipping out of the ship, MM will position his body so as to intersect the tractor beam, hoping that Captain Marvel will follow suit. "This tractor beam is no doubt utilizing a mutliphasic electromagnetic attraction sequence to maintain it's harrowing hold on our victimized vessel. Let's see how well it stands up against the high-powered heat vision of the courageous Captain Marvel — times 2! Take this, you xenoriffic Xargothians!""
[All out attack using 5W+trump and push with 3D]
Overhearing MM through the teams communicators Sci-Fi says, "Please tell me I never sounded that corny in Shatner Mode," as fights with the pull of the beam.
(I'm using the 3A for piloting, and I'll use the 5W for deffense if I should need it for anything)
Roughneck opens the hatch to the now stationary fortune fury and looks outside, up at the cloud whence the tractor beam comes. He uses his EM vision to look at the ship through the cloud as best he can. He tries to locate the source of the tractor beam and fires his laser at it full force (+5). (I use the 1D edge + 6A trump for the attack.)
Marvin flies out of the ship after MM does, saying, "I stopped using that name a while back."
Marvin does not position himself in the tractor beam, and when he sees MM do it he yells (since he doesn't have a communicator): "That may not be a good idea!" He then decides to fly straight at the Xargothian ship following the tractor beam into the clouds. He accelerates to maximum speed and intends to do a movethrough on the ship right next to the tractor beam emitter. He hopes he can break through its armor...and that at least part of his his prison jump suit survives the maneuver. He isn't wearing any underwear, after all.
[6s trump for attack, 7A for defense if needed.]
[Keith, is it possible for him to use his heat vision to score an "X" in the hull at the point he will strike? If so I do that.]
**************** Back at the secret miliatry compond... Cassandra has been trying desperately to erase any knowledge of Rupert from those involved, but it was proving to be near impossible. The data trail was too big,(Mmmm...just like Rupie's mind. Shut your filthy talk up! Sorry.) too many people were aware of him within the compound. The other psions were becoming suspicious of all of the increased psionic energy being produced. It was just a matter of time before they were on to her. That is why they were placed in groups of threes, to keep each other honest..to make sure
that things like what Cassandra is attempting do not come to pass.
Then she senses that Rupert is in danger. She now shares some sort of psychic bond with him [this is a one way deal, she can sense you but not
vice versa} . She must go to her darling Rupert. No harm must come to him, but she can't afford to leave the compound at the moment,. There were too many loose threads to take care of. (But Rupert is in trouble. I know that ! Shut Up!.)
She takes her security card and goes into the deepest depths of the compound. Any guard that question her presence are immediately mindwiped, becoming mental infants
She opens two cell doors, and takes hold of the minds of the two prisoners located there as she unlocks there nullifier collars. The three of them proceed to the escape pods together, and Cassandra gives them one last mental command before jettisoning away from the compound for good.
After a few moments the two figures look at one another, they are young , perhaps 8 or 9, and are identical twins. There orders were to embrace on
another. As they do so, a nucler reaction is set off, causing the entire
compound to be annihilated in the blink of an eye. The children are immune to their own powers, but not to the tons of sea water they find themselves in as they slowly drown to death.
Cassandra, who is far enough away to survive muses that there is no chance of any data being found now since she had unleashed the power of the twins known as Null and Void. The last time they had embraced had been i some small south pacific island where they were born. The civilization was destroyed there, but the US government had taken them into custody and blamed the sudden destruction upon an earthquake. Very few people were even aware that the twins existed..
Not that it matters now. Everything was gone...along with hundreds of military personnel and military prisoners. Rupie would be so pleased. and even if he wasn't she knew what was best for him. She knew him better than he knew himself. "I'm coming for you Rupert darling. No one can hurt you
while I am around...I'm cumming, Oh God I'm cumming!"
************* Back at Sof HQ
I tell you this now so that you will do something rash and hopefully get
yourself killed in the process. If you release me, I'll take you straight to the very man whom I have spoken about. "
Zena moves to open the door. Her rage has built up immensely.
Zena is suddenly interrupted. Her heart skips a beat as she hears someone coming down the hall.
Verve runs back to Zena, who is still in conversation with Titania and ,informs her of the situation. " I know you probably want to stay here but our friends are in trouble, They need our help. Titania will still be here when we return. As soon as I sketch up a replica of the Fortune Fury we can take off."
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I tell you this now so that you will do something rash and hopefully get
yourself killed in the process. If you release me, I'll take you straight to the very man whom I have spoken about. " Zena moves to open the door. Her rage has built up immensely.
************* Back at Sof HQ Zena is suddenly interrupted. Her heart skips a beat as she hears someone coming down the hall.
Verve runs back to Zena, who is still in conversation with Titania and ,informs her of the situation. " I know you probably want to stay here but our friends are in trouble, They need our help. Titania will still be here when we return. As soon as I sketch up a replica of the Fortune Fury we can take off." "I ..... " Zena hesitates, looking at Titania. "Yes, I will go ... I have responsibilities with you now Verve."
Verve leaves the room. Zena begins to leave but stops in the doorway. "You are right Titania. I should have killed you. I was wrong to allow you to float off of my island. In hearing your words I can tell that the madness has swallowed your mind. I will no longer allow the madness to consume me. I must finally mourn OUR people, Titania. Their deaths are indeed on my hands. Your actions were born of vengeance and madness .... they are my responsibility. I will not let you free of your cage. I will, instead, go back to the island and face these men. I will destroy their technology and I WILL find out who is behind what happened to my sisters. You will go to an american prison for your crimes." she says as she begins to walk down the hall.
"Oh, and Titania .... you are forgiven." Zena says without ever looking back. She goes to catch up with Verve.
[Assuming Zena agrees. it will probably take a Turn or two for them to reach the others. You can still continue the conversation with Titania above though, since it is likely that it would have progressed much furtherthan this prior to the distress signal coming in. ]
Sci Fi strains against the controls and fires up the afterburners of the
Fortune Fury. He succeeds in slowing the progress of the tractor beam, but isn't able to break the ship free of it's power. He begins to hear metal bending with the effort.
Frank sees the ship and tractor beam with his cybernetic sight, he says,
"Sci-Fi's right, there's a ship in the clouds, about 100 meters above us. It's round, like a flying saucer. Maybe three hundred feet in diameter" He then fires off a laser blast at the ship. which is absorbed by an invisible protective forcefield that shimmers and glows slightly at the point of impact.. "It's got force fields too. "Roughneck informs the others.
Master Menagero fires off a blast of heat vision, which seems to be able
to penetrate the protective barrier, though just barely. The attack leaves him feeling slightly weakened from putting so much effort into it.
Marvin flies out of the Fortune Fury and accelerates upwards at the ship
to full speed . He slams into the Xargothian forcefield and feels it give slightly under his attack, but it is still intact. He can see now that the ship appears very similar to the one he and the Guardians had encountered in the top secret military base in Area 51 some time ago.
Hoping there is a hole in the forcefield at the place where the tractor beam exits the ship, Marvin loops away from the ship briefly and flies into the tractor beam emitter full speed, hoping the beam will pull him in even faster as he enters its area of effect. He intends to slam into the emitter with his fists in an attempt to break it. [7w attack, 7a defense]
Kinetica fires up her forcefield and prepares for battle.
"Some get that frelling tractor beam shut off!," shouts Sci Fi, then slipping into Scotty-mode, "She canne take much more o'this! She's gonna tear herelf apart! I canne change the laws o'physics!"
SCI-FI (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 0 XP:2 5D+ Chance Windfall 2W- Fractured Reality 5W- Aliens Exposed
(5W to try to break away again, 2W to dodge for anything I may need to dodge. If the ship starts to break appart I'll try to teleport myself and who ever can't fly closer to the water (I don't want to port into the water because it would be much like porting into solid matter). 5D for that if I have to do it before I get new card.)
"I'm doing the best I can, Sci-Fi!" MM remarks. Feeling drained from the last energy blasting venture has not left Mm without resolve! Shouting as loudly as he is able, "Marvel, I cannot stress the importance of teamwork. Join Roughneck, Kinetica and myself as we apply both energy and kinetic pressure to the tractor beam projector. Only through teamwork can we succeed. Supers of Fortune, let's show 'em what we got!"
[ooc: hoping teamwork bonuses apply....using Energy blast with 6I + trump. Use 4W to dodge with my flight if I need to.]
MASTER MENAGERO (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 0 XP: 0 Powers Duplicated: Strength 17 Flight 17, Energy Blast (heat vision) 14, Bulletproof (special power) Natural defense (based on Strength) protects against both stunning and lethal damage. 6I- Uncharted Waters 4W Natural Disaster damage from push
Julia gives a mischievous grin. "Just point me at the target." KINETICA (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 0 XP:0 Forcefield: 12 · 5S- Energy Flux · 7W* Misguided Soul · 3D+ Unprotected Valuables Kinetic Bolt with 7W at the projector, when someone tells her where it is. I'm assuming she can't see it yet.
Roughneck hears MM's plan for concerted attack, and he takes aim at the emitter, ready to fire when the others do. He chuckles to himself as he notes MM chastise the new guy "Marvin" about teamwork.
[Frank will attack the emitter with his laser at +5 using the 1D edge and 6A (trump, correct?).]
ROUGHNECK (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17/17) Plot Points 0 XP:3 6A- Lack Of Support 1D- Worthlessness 6W- Personal tragedy
Meanwhile...
Verve finishes up his sketch and a replica of the Fortune Fury appears upon the roof of the SoF Office building. He and Zena board quickly and set the coordinates for those given by the Captain..I mean Sci Fi Verve mentally corrects himself.
"They aren't that far off shore, so we should be able to rendezvous with
the others fairly quickly. " Verve says to Zena. "That is good, since I don't know how long I can keep this drawing in existence. ..and since neither of us can fly that would be bad to say the least.
I was impressed with the way you handled Titania by the way. I thought for sure she'd wind up with a broken neck or something. " Verve says as he fires up the engines.
Zena ignores Verve, not sure of anything she could say. SHE isn't sure she handled the situation right. According to custom, Titania should have been killed for her actions, but the others seem to look down on killing. *Pity* she thinks, *This land would be better suited if they just killed their prisoners instead of giving them a chance to escape and harm people even further.*
[Verve and Zena should arrive where the others are at the end of this round. They can probably get attacks off as contingent actions. ]
Smoke begins to pour out of the Fortune Fury's overtaxed engine, but this is a blessing in disguise for the heroes. The black smoke is swept up by the tractor beam, essentially highlighting where the invisible beam is located [imagine a how you can see a beam of lighht if shone through a smoky haze] and thus where the tractor beam emitter is located.
"There it is guys! Now lets blast this thing and go home," says Sci-Fi in his best Harrison Ford (this is assuming he can see the beam from the cockpit)
Unable to hear MM's shouted commands, Cpt. Marvel strikes first, launching himself full speed at the emitter which he hopes isn't protected by the forcefield. He quickly realizes that what he was hoping
for was not the case. As he slams into the invisible forcefield, It glimmers brightly from the impact and then shorts out completely.
The Xargothian vessel opens fire upon Marvel, plasma cannons blasts in his direction. He attempts to roll out of the way, but he is hit squarely. [12 points of damage get through, to both your Health and Life
points. ] the impact from the cannons burns his skin slightly and sends him careening through the air away from the ship. One more hit like that and I'm a dead man, thinks Marvin.
Kinetica stands beside Roughneck and they both open fire on the ship along with MM. Their combined forces all strike the tractor beam emitter simultaneously
and it explodes into several small metal fragments.
Marvin recovers from being blasted just in time to see the others destroy the tractor beam emitter. Judging from the potency of that blast, Marvin is glad it hit him and not the Fortune Fury. His orange prison jump suit is nearly burned off his body, only a small part of it remaining over one shoulder, and most of the pants intact.
He then sees another vessel approach, which looks like another Fortune Fury. Marvin assumes it is friendly when it does not open fire on the heroes.
Ignoring the better part of valor, Marvin decides to once again draw the enemy fire. It seems necessary. If the Xargothians target either of the human ships, he fears they could not withstand it. They don't look like warships to him.
Noticing the xargothian ship bristles with cannons, Marvin decides to try to use this to his advantage. The cannons don't appear to be that mobile, meaning they must hand off targeting from one cannon to the next if a target moves quickly past. Hoping this proves to be an ACHILLES HEEL for the alien ship, Marvin maximizes his flight speed and begins flying rapidly around the ship at close range, passing before as many cannons as he can but intending to exit that cannon's target area before it can acquire him. In this way he hopes to occupy the alien ship's weapons and give the others time to mount an attack or escape. [plot point. If I have to play a card for anything I will play the 6W. Marvin does not attack, only trying to draw their fire and not get hit. If they ignore him he will use heat vision to hopefully make them attack him.]
Suddenly freed from the grip of the tractor beam, the Fortune Fury lurches forward. Sci Fi quickly stabilizes the flight path again.
D'Heen says " we should destroy them now tat they are off balance. There will likely be others on the way, since your team is proving to be
such admiral warriors. "
"I'm not sure how much more the Fury can take," says Sci-Fi
Then Sci Fi picks up another blip on the radar. It appears to be another
r Fortune Fury. "Here come the reinforcements, " says Verve over the commlink. "This replica is about to give out on me though, so somebody be prepared to catch us if this thing suddenly vanishes. I'm going to position us over the top of the Fortune Fury so that we can board the real deal. "
"Roger that Verve. Holding steady for you to board, but make it quick. I don't want to get hit by those blasters."
As he says this. the ship begins moving closer to the real Fortune Fury,
either preparing to attack or ram into them.
Verve looks at Zena "should we ram the flying saucer? Jump out before impact and hope that one of the flyers catch us? "
"Will your drawing be able to hurt that large vessel?" Zena asks.
"I'm sure it will. I'm just not sure how much. For all intents and purposes this drawing is as hard as the real Fortune Fury. Besides that, It will probably by vanishing soon anyway." replies Verve.
"Then jump .... or I'll push you out." Zena blandly states. Verve can't tell if it's her attempt at humor or a real threat.
(Assuming their communicators are still on) "You get that MM, Verve is thinking of ramming the boggie with the Faux Fury, Any one out there going to be ready to play catch-the-team-mates?"
(I'm using the 5I for my piloting, 2W to dodge anything I need to dodge)
"MM can't catch us", says Verve over the commlink "as soon as he gets near us, he'll assume one of our powers and then all three of us will be in a
freefall. Julia would be our best bet. Just throwing out ideas...not saying they are any good."
Frank can do nothing to help Verve and Zena. He takes aim at the xargothian ship again, hoping to give them some cover. He tries to destroy any cannons that are training on the Fortune Fury. [laser at +5, 6w.]
He also scans the area for any approaching ships. If he sees any tiny electronic devices headed toward the Fortune Fury, he attacks that instead.
Julia takes to the air and intending to slam into the side of the ship, reasoning that those plasma cannons won't do them any good if she's on board. OOC: 10D to attack 3D for def
As Kinetica flies towards Xargothian vessel, MM feels his powers shifting from those of Captain Marvel to Kinetica. The sudden power flux makes him feel quite woozy and nauseaus. "Oh dear, " he says, as unconsciusness overtakes him and he begins to plummet towards the sea below.
Rupert moans, "ooooohhhh..." as he plummets to the sea.
MASTER MENAGERO (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 0 XP: 0
* KO * KO * KO
"Holy crap!" says Verve, who can see MM begin his descent. "Julia, appaerently you just caused a power backlash on MM when you flew by him.
You need to catch him before he hits the water. I guess Zena and I will go with the original plane of boarding the original Fortune Fury, since no one can catch us. That is unless Zena throws me out of here against my will. " He turns to Zena, "Can you call up any sea animals? Maybe something to catch MM before he hits if Julia can't get there in time? "
"I have never tried .... but I can only control animals that I can see."
explains Zena.
"I swear, this never happened before," says Julia. "Oh well, guess the fun will have to wait." Julia will take off after MM instead (if she can).
Captain Marvel begins drawing the ship's fire as Kinetica swoops down to
catch MM.
Roughneck opens fire with his laser on the ship's underbelly. Apparently
he hits s something vital and a huge explosion erupts from the point of impact. The ship is badly damaged. It leaves off attacking Captain Marvel begins glowing slightly, then disappears in a streak of bright lights.
"It made the jump to hyper space" explains D'Heen. "I will summon my ship so that we can give chase. It should have repaired itself by now. "
Verve and Zena safely board the Fortune Fury just in time. As they do so, Verve's drawing vanishes.
Julia catches MM about 10 feet above the water, he slowly returns to conciousness as she flies him back towards the Fortune Fury. Once onboard he is fully conscious, though still feeling woozy and a bit disoriented.
Marvel joins the others onboard the Fortune Fury.
Suddenly a glowing diamond shaped spacecraft appears next to the Fortune
Fury. It is about twice the size of the Fortune Fury and glows with an amber colored energy. "Ah my ship has arrived." says D'Heen.
"Oh I've got to get me one of those," says Sci-Fi
A portal > opens seamlessly on one of the facets of A portal opens seamlessly on one of the facets of the diamond shaped hull. "Please everyone go inside. Your ship can ride piggy back on mine,, without fear of it being damaged. We must hurry if we are to catch the Xargothian ship before it reaches the outpost on your moon and raises an
alarm. "
Sci Fi manuvers the Fury into docking position on the alien ship.
[Assuming everyone does so]
As the heroes board D'Heen's ship they cannot help but be impressed. It seems to be made entirely of organic crystal like formations that glitter with an otherworldly dreamlike quality. Contoured crystal chairs grow out of the floor to accommodate the newly arrived guests. "I must take the helm. Please make yourselves comfortable. If anyone wishes to join me they can. "
"I'm with you D'Heen. I want a front row seat for my first trip into the final frontier."
As they are seated a strange sensation is felt as the ship make the jump
into hyper space. Sort of like being in tow separate places at once. A few moment s later, they return to normal space.
"Not quite like being drunk, but Douglas Adams was close," comments Sci-Fi
they can see from the monitor that they re now in outer space. Specifically on the far side of
the moon. The earth can be seen in the distance with the Sun beyond it.
Sci-Fi starts to hum the Next Generation theme to himself. He is extatic to be in space. Doubts about his past decissions, the danger to earth, the destruction of Zena's people, his brother's new powers, all these concerns are driven for him mind. For him, this is a dream come true.
The dark side of the moon is nearly pitch black save for a small section that twinkles with lights. it is about the size of a medium airport. "Damn we are too late, " says D'Heen "It has already made it back to the Xargothian outpost. They are unaware of our presence however. We are fully cloaked. I will move in closer for further inspection"
The outpost itself is composed of an organic looking metallic material, similar to that featured in the Alien movies.
"Where's Ripley when you need her?"
MM detects the presence of thousands of metahumans within one area of the outpost. He probes further and to his surprise, they all possesses the exact same powers as Caption Marvel, save for one, who in addition to Marvel's powers also posseses the ability to duplicate himself...they
seem to be temporal based. The others are merely copies of himself pulled from other moments in time..some of them are from the future others, the past. MM wonders if he were to duplicate this being's powers what would happen? Would he be able to pull instances of himself from various points in time also? And if so would they have different powers? Assuming they came from different moments when he was duplicating some other metahuman power MM theorizes that it could possibly work that way.
" This outpost must be destroyed." proclaims D'Heen. " They will overrun
your world eventually. They are like a cancer that grows throughout the galaxies."
"Waitasecond, D'heen," MM scolds. "Destroy? We don't even know who or what is going on down there? The people could be innocent. I detect a being of incredible power on the moon's surface. Whether he is friend or foe, I do not know. But, he seems to have the ability to make duplicates of himself. And each duplicate is a carbon copy of our own Captain Marvel. I suggest sending a scouting party of our toughest to see what's going on.
"If this being is with the Xargothians , then you can rest assured that he is a foe. My people have been at war with them for centuries, I do not need to know what is going on down there, because I already know. It is the same thing that goes on in every Xargothian compound: planning to take over the nearest habitable planet. In this case your homeworld Earth is the target. Have you noticed anything unusual lately? People over-reacting to events? Increased paranoia? Pointing fingers at one another? Accusations flying? wars starting? prisoners being taken? If so, then you can thank the Xargothians. That is how they operate. Once your world is pre-occupied with fighting amongst itself, then they will sttrike. "
"He has a point MM, the increase in meta/normal tension could be partially their fault. And they did just try to kill us all. I just bet they are trying to make an army of Captain Marvels down there."
"I suggest Captain Marvel, Kinetica, Roughneck and I accompany D'Heen to the moon's surface. The rest of you can be a quick evac team in case we get in over our heads." says MM
"If you need fast evac shouldn't I come MM? Fast beam out?" Asks Sci-Fi
"Alright, let's go kick E.T.'s butt!" says Julai
"Who is this, E.T.? Is that the name of this multiplying man?" asks Zena. in confused tones.
"He's a character from this sappy movie those bozos in Hollywood made a while back."
"And these 'sappy bozos' are who we face today?" Zena asks with all seriousness.
"Um, no...we're facing some extra-terrestrials--E.T.'s."
"Hey, Speilberg's not a bozo. Okay, AI sucked I'll give you that. And Zena, when we get home I'm going to have to introduce you to something we call 'movies'," says Sci-Fi. He then looks over at MM, "Or maybe Menagero would like to do that."
Zena gives an unsure glare towards Sci-Fi, and then gives the same look to Master Menagero for good measure.
Marvin stands in shock after hearing Menagero describe the meta- humans in the xargothian installation.
"The meta-human below is my son, Harbinger. He has all of my power, and more. If there are hundreds of him down there then he's called his future and past selves into this time. He usually doesn't do more than one or two at a time.
"If they detect us, we're in trouble. Harbinger is every bit as tough as I am. So are his 'time clones.' We should try to avoid them. Where in the installation are they? Can you pinpoint their location?" he asks menagero.
Marvin feels a sinking feeling in his stomach. If his son is collaborating with the Xargothians, that could easily turn the tide of the war. With a near infinite supply of Harbingers, the Xargothians would indeed have a dangerous army. Maybe this is how it all started.
But that would mean that Marvin's presence itself was necessary. It means his presence here may be what doomed the earth last time around. But how could that be? Marvin had been told some of the physics of time travel, but he didn't understand most of it. And the machine that sent him back was of alien make--Xargothian. Could they have planned it all along? Did the Xargothians intend to send Marvin back, so that he could create Harbinger? So they could get their hands on a meta-human with that power?
Marvin looks at D'Heen, and remembers that the Xargothains are fighting other wars. A weapon like Harbinger would be valuable in other conflicts as well...
He begins to don an EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity) suit. With cold realization, Marvin sees what he must do.
"So, once again the Supers of Fortune are precariously perched on the pinnacle of danger, deftly defending Terra Firma from the universe's evils." MM holds his cape in his hands adn raises his head up. "Will we survive this venture into the unknown? Will younglings regale tales of awe-inspiring actions performed by our humble team? WILL THERE EVER BE A DAY WHEN THE NAME 'SUPERS OF FORTUNE' IS LOST INTO MERE LEGEND AS A BAND OF SUPER-HUMANS EVER WILLING, EVER EAGER, EVER ZEALOUS TO RIGHT THE WRONGS OF OUR EVER-EXPANDING COSMOS???"
Sci-Fi recorded all this on his personal recorder, he then speaks into it, "note to self: Get mini camcorder, I've got to start getting those speaches on film."
Menagero notices that the entire ship crew has stopped to look at his cartoonish ranting. "Well, I guess we should really be going, eh?" With a mighty sneeze, a wipe of his nose and a lovey wink to Zena, Menagero heads to the exit hatch.
"Aren't you forgetting something MM? We are in space. If you open that door, we'll all explode."
"I have enough spare continment suits to go around", says D'Heen, " though they have four arms instead of two, but they should work i f you are all convinced taht investiagtion is needed. Regardless, if anyone goes, I think we should all go. There is saftety in numbers. I can call my ship to me should we need a quick escape...and we likely will, if I can reach the base's energy core and begin a meltdown sequence. That is usually all that is required to wipe out a base of this size, though the energy core's are heavily guarded. " says D'Heen
"Sure there isn't an overly convient design flaw, like say, an exhaust hatch that opens strait to the surface we can exploit?" asks Sci-Fi with a grin on his face.
Menagero turns around and notices Marvel's pondering. He elbows Frank in the side and says, "Roughneck, look at Marvel. I've seen that look firsthand before. It's the same look that Blitz had before he..well, you know. I'm not about to go down this road again. What good is all the power in the world combined if you can't save one life?"
MM looks at ROughneck. "I know I'm not the toughest guy here, but we badly need an official leader." MM speaks up so the team can hear. "If you aren't going to pick up the reins on this one, I'll have to. And, frankly Frank, I don't want to do that. I'm not sure I COULD do it as well as you. Blitz was my first choice but, despite our differences, you would have been my second. What say you? We can't dilly-dally anymore. Either we appoint an official mission leader for the Supers of Fortune or MM sits this one out."
Sci-Fi speaks up saying, "Personally MM, I've come to think of you as the de facto leader. But for this mission, I think we should follow D'Heen or Marvel. They both have more experience with these aliens than any of us."
Frank answers as politely as he can, "I don't know why yer so gung ho on electing a leader. We don't need nobody barkin' orders during combat. It ain't like we're a hunnert guys who gotta be organized and sink-ro-nized." He looks around at everyone else, trying to gauge what they think. Frank doesn't want to be leader, but he'll be damned before he follows MM. "I respect yer intelligence, Rupert, but you come up with too many hair-brained schemes for my taste. My vote is we don't have a leader. We just cooperate. That's what these are for, right?" he indicates the communicator. "Speakin' o' which, anybody got a spare we can loan Marvin here?"
D'Heen says, "the environmental suits all have communications devices within them. they should suffice to keep each other in contact. Also, the visors on the helmets are retractable, so that they can be slid back while in breathable atmosphere and not waste the air supply. "
Marvin does not react. He looks like he is lost in his own world, maybe about to be sick.
He comes back to reality with a look of grim resolve. He addresses D'Heen: "What kind of defenses does that installation have? And how can we destroy it? You mentioned a core, but where is that located and how can we blow it up?" He looks at everyone, and says, "Everyone, into EVA suits. D'Heen, we all need to know what we're going to find down there. How many xargothians are likely to be there, what kind of weapons they'll have, defense systems for that structure, and most importantly how we can find and blow up that core.
"The Xargothians are not remarkable fighters, especially up close. They are far betttr at planning and scheming, than outright warfare. They'll likely be equipped with plasma blasters. I am unsure how many are down there. Probably several hundred. Our small number is to our advantage. They are
very tall , standing close to 7 of your feet, though they tend to wear long robes with hoods, thgat we may be able to conceal ourselves with. the only problem being our obviously lack of stature.
I also do not knowe where exactly the core is, that is how they discovered me last time. My ship's scanninig of their base, alerted them to my presence. I was able to elude their fighter craft and escape to Earth but just barely. The core will most likely be heavily guarded and protected by forcefields similar to the ones that surround their ships. The fields will have tio be destroyed before a meltdown sequence can be activated.: says
D'Heen.
Upon hearing this,Verve says, "What about you Frank? Do you think you could use your cyber-vision to possibly see where the core is located?"
Frank says, "I dunno, I'll give'er a try." [I didn't realize there were windows in this ship.] He walks to the observation window and scans the base, all along the EM bands. He particularly looks for hot spots or for readings that might be a force field.
Frank sees an area that emits much more energy than the rest of teh facility. the energy seems to radiate throughout the rest of the base from this location. It is very close too and perhaps exactly the same the area MM indicated that Harbinger and his dupes were located in.
Frank says, "I see the core, and it's where MM said all those meta signatures were. It looks like yer son," he nods to Marvin, "is guarding that energy source."
Marvin was afraid of that.
"MM, we also need to know where Harbinger is, and his clones. Where is he located now? Can you pinpoint him?"
"Once again," MM starts, "No one heeds the nerd. THis team is going to have a leader or I am not going on the next mission. If D'Heen or Marvel are leader then they must become Supers of Fortune. I believe the only reason no one wants to take up the mantle, is because you all want absolution of responsibility. You want to say, "Oh, so-and-so died. It wasn't MY fault. I'm not the leader." Well, I for one am tired of the cowardice! If none of you are bold enough to strap on the stell balls needed for the job, I'll do it. But I am NOT, repeat NOT, going one more step unless, at the end of this mission, I can hold someone personally responsible for what MAY happen down there. With great power comes great responsibility and all of you are acting like a bunch of schoolyard stool pidgeons!"
Verve rubs a hand over his face in visible frustration. It seemed MM always reacted this way prior to going into action and he really couldn't understand why. Rather than get involved, he lights a cigarette and walks over to the bridge, studying the base below.
"Hey MM, if you want to know why Frank has trouble with the idea of you leading I think you just gave us a great example. There is no need to insult us. I don't want to lead, because I know I don't have the experience to do it, I wouldn't trust my own judgement calls. I don't need to justify myself to you. If you want us to have a leader so much just do it, you seem to be trying to get out of the responsibility thing yourself."
MM gulps. He thinks to himself that maybe the accusation is true. In fact, the way that he got his powers was by an act of cowardice really. Or was it conscience? "I-I'm just a nerd. No one respects a nerd." Rupert says to his team. He moves into the corner of the ship and sits down on a glowing chair to sulk. ADVERTISEMENT
Marvin walks over to MM and quietly says, "You're already on this mission. Earth is several hundred thousand miles away. And there's much more at stake here than deciding who will be to blame if someone dies on this mission. Soldiers die, Rupert.
"Besides, I'll take the blame. I may already be to blame." He doesn't explain that comment, but continues more loudly in his baritone voice. "And you're going down there, Rupert. You're needed. The whole world needs you. If there was ever a reason for you to be a hero, this is it.
"I came here from the year 2099. By then, the Xargothians have nearly wiped out the human species. But they didn't do it all at once. Just as D'heen says, they start by sowing dissent, by setting their targets against themselves. And on Earth, it worked perfectly. They already control several world leaders. By the end of this decade, the UN will have passed the Meta Registration Act. In another five years, because of terrorism, they'll have passed the Meta Incarceration Act. And in another decade, 99% of all metas will have been exterminated. Gassed. Put to death, Rupert. And that's when the xargothians will invade. Did invade.
"This is our chance to stop that from happening. But there's another reason you have to go. Something tells me you're special in all this, Rupert. I get memories, flashes, and I know you're a part of this somehow. I don't know what part you'll play, but I know you're important. I've got to try to help you do the right thing in this, to play your part so Earth isn't doomed."
Marvin is vehement in his plea. He clearly believes everything he is saying.
"Fine, I'll be leader if you want. Go bust the aliens butt team!" says Julia
Marvin asks D'Heen if he has any way to heal Marvin. He was nearly killed by that blast he took.
Zena puts on a space suit as well, giving it odd looks the whole time.
"By golly, Marvin, you're right! I've been completely selfish." MM stands up and puts on his spacesuit. "ANd Kinetica, I'll be glad to follow your leadership anytime! First I'll scan the surface..."
[Using my detection power 4I* + trump]
"...to properly assess the situation. And then the Supers of FOrtune following the courageous Kinetica can quit this menaingless business and be off to save the world, no, the UNIVERSE!"
MM is able to pinpoint where the power signatures are all coming from., they seem to all be in roughjly the same area. He had initaillay thought there was thousands, but he was mistken, it is in the hundreds. They all seem to be coming from the center of the base, arranged concentrically around what seems to be the original individual,,,the one Capotain Marvel referred to as Harbinger.
D'Heen opens a small compartment in the ship and produces a tiny patch that he sticks on Marvin's exposed skin. It tingles sliughtly and adheres to his skin. Marvin begind to feel slightluy better already. "It will help speed your healing, though it will take some time. He passes more of teh patches out to everyone present. There is enough for 2 apiece. "Use them spairngly, you may need them by the time this is through."
Marvin says, "Thank you D'Heen." He observes the alien closely.
MM relays the pertinent information and then asks Kinetica, "So, what is our plan of attack, leader?"
"Plan? Uh..we bust in and bash heads."
"Plan? Uh..we bust in and bash heads." D'Heen says. "Only as necessry girl. To call attention to ourselves unnecessrily would be the equivalent of suicide. I for one do not wish to die today, though I do not fear it. If we can get in, get through the forcefield, and begin the core meltdown without attracting attention that would be the wisest course of action. Whether this is feasible of not reamains to be seen. As i said before, the core will likely be heavily gaurded, however if we can dispatch any guards stationed there without them alerting the rest of the base we may just live to tell this tale another day. " He looks at MM as he finishes " We must be of one mind on our goals. Infighting and sniping amongst ourselves only increases our chance of failure. We know what must be done. How we accomplish it will likely have to be improvised as we gain more information within the base. "
Um, okay. Maybe you should lead then. Subtly is not my strong point." --Julia,
"I would gladly lead this grooup, though i think that to do so would not be wise. i do not know each of your abilities. I have just met most of you and only have a limited idea of what each of your are capable of doing. Are you all afraid to think for yourselves? Isn't it posssible to have a single goal among mmany and all work together to achieve it, regardless of having to be told exactly what to do? One person alone will likely not come up with the best possinble solution at any given point, wheras a group of minds has several solutions to choose from. It is called synergy on my world. The whole becoming greater than it's parts...complpiment each other's strengths and weaknesses, keep the goal in mind, and look out for one another. It is simple really. "
Frank wishes he were so eloquent. But he can only say, "Yeah, that's what I been tryin' to say. We don't need no leader." He finishes suiting up and gets ready to depart. He ties the extra arms of his suit around his waste like a belt.
Noticing Marvin wince as he slides a wounded shoulder into his suit, Frank offers him the two patches D'Heen gave him. "I don' need'em," he says. Marvin gratefully accepts them. Frank looks at D'Heen and says in apology, "Thanks, but I can heal myself without those. I think Marvin needs'em worse than me."
MM asks, "Can we just go already?"
MM moves over toward Verve. "I have an idea. Figuring that Marvel's son is using some sort of chronfission ability that can tether dimensional duplicates across the mulitiversal plane, I believe I can cobble together a subspace nullfield device that would shunt such duplicates back from whence they came. I would rely on Captain Marvel's own extensive energy blast powers to power the Nullfield device, but I need your poweres, Verve, so that I can diagram and animate some much needed components."
[MM will doodle the device. It will need to strapped to Captain Marvel so that it can channel his energy into a large spherical null field. Any dimensional duplicates that come near him will pop out of our universe and back to their own. Only Marvel's own son will not be shunted back since, I assume, he is from our own dimension. Use my intellect card (if I have one) + trump and push with highest available card. If I have no intellect card throw my two highest cards for cardplay, one of the card's being a push, of course.]
As MM moves near Verve to assume his powers , he feels the usual rush of
metahuman energy followed by the nausea and sees twinkling dots on the perimeter of his vision that precede his bouts of unconsciousness. He is
able to force himself to remain conscious however and begins sketching out the device with a scrap piece of power and pencil provided by Verve. The
nullifier device slowly fades into existence as MM completes the drawing. MM is no artist, so the device appears to have been drawn by a small child...It looks like a school backpack with a long CB antenna atatched to the back of it. Attached to the backpack by a length of telephone cord is a pair of oversized goggles, that will allow Marvel to see, while at the same time powering the device with his heat vision. He won't be able to utilize his heat vision while wearing the device, but hopefully it would
function as MM predicted, and they would only have the original Harbinger to deal with rather than hundreds of him.
"We better get moving, " says Verve. "as you know that thing won't last long."
D'Heen looks at Sci Fi, takes his plasma blaster off of safety and says, " Beam us down. "
[Attached are the revised cards. Remember everyone has two stim-patches to heal themselves with id need be. Marvel had to use both of his already, but Roughneck gave his two to Marvel, since he already has regeneration. ]
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D'Heen looks at Sci Fi, takes his plasma blaster off of safety and says, " Beam us down. "
[I'm goioing to assume Sci-Fi is agreeable to this and move things along. ]
Sci-Fi is willing, but first he asks "Frank, did you scans pick up any large open areas in the base. I seriously don't want to beam us into something solid"
Frank says, "Yeah, just at about 3 o'clock from that tall part of their building..." he points out where he means to Sci-Fi. "Looks pretty empty there, but it's hard to tell."
Sci-Fi concentrates on a spot nearby where roughneck and MM had indicated they needed to begin their search for the power core. Everyone experiences a tingly feeling as their atoms are taken apart , then put back together again within the Xargothian base.
The interior of the base is an ominous black metal, with an almost organic look to it. A low vibration of energy can be felt beneath everyone's feet even through the thick soles of the environmental suits. D'Heen clicks a button on the side of his helmet and the visor slides up, revealing his face. "The atmosphere is breathable here. " he informs them. "Though the smell leaves something to be desired. Do you feel the vibrations? that is from the power core. We must be very close.
"
They apparently have teleported into some type of morgue. Various human cadavers lie upon examination tables in various states of vivisection. Fluid filled containers house various internal organs. Strange looking operating equipment is located throughout the room , and monitors with alien looking hieroglyphs are the only low level light source within the
room. The monitors give off an eerie red glow adding to the unsettling scene before them. {any heroes familiar with crop circles, will see an uncanny resemblance between the Xargothian writing and the design of the
crop circles.]
"I wonder if these guys have seen 'Signs'?" says Sci-Fi
There is only one exit from the room. It is a tall rectangular shaped doorway with rounded corners at the top. There is no door knob located upon the dark steel door. It looks as if it is designed to slide upwards and downwards, rather than opening from the left or right, like customary earth doors.
"So whats the next move. What ever it is lets make it quick, this room is just too 'X-Files,'even for me."
MM can sense Harbinger and his duplicates nearby, they are very close, within a couple hundred yards.
Captin Marvel feels the adrenaline in his gut. This mission was essential , he could feel it. It had to be one of teh things he was sent here to prevent. If he botched this , his timeline may very well come to pass.
As the grooup takes in their surroundings, footsteps can be heard from outside the doorway. A strange alien dialect is heard as well. It consisits of a lot of hsiising and clicking of the tongue. Sci-Fi's translation abilities kick in and he relays "It's some Xargothian medics. Apparently they are about to deposit some more cadavers in here, before taking a break. "
"Hide quickly" says D'Heen, ducking behind one of the operating tables. Over the comm-link in hushed tones he says "Wait for then to enter and close the door behind them, then strike as quickly and quietly as possible. "
As the others take cover, the door slides open with a slight hiss, and six tall robed figures wheel in two more cadavers on sperate gurney-like tables. The tables do not have wheels however, they hover at the Xargothians waistline. The door hisses shut behind them , and the lights come up in the rooom as they begin treansferringthe codies to empty operating tables.
D'Heen jumps up behind one, grabbs it from behind with his two lower arms, pinning the Xargothians arms to it's sides . One of his top arms clamps firmly over the mputh of the Xargothain as the other slides a scalpel looking device cleanly through the alien's neck. Bluish colored blood sparys from the alien's slashed neck and D'Heen holds the alien firmly as it goes into it;s death throws.
The others can see that the Xargothoians are taken by surprise bu this suden atatck. the Xargothians have a tall, slight appearance, three fingers, rather tahn five. Tapered football shaped heads with black souless elleiptical shaped eyes. The have no noses, onlty reptilian like nostrils, and slight sliits just below this that serve as their mouths.
Sci-Fi fires a stun blast at the closest Xargothian. (8S to stun, 5D to dodge anything that needs dodged) If he goes down Sci-Fi will look to stun another one. If the alien doesn't go down he will try to stun that one again.
Frank jumps up and shoots one of the xargothians with his laser. (at +5, with 8I as my attack)
Marvin can't use his heat vision because of MM's device, which Marvin dearly hopes works. He fears this mission will certainly fail if these heroes he has joined must face a hundred versions of Harbinger. Marvin himself can barely hold his own with just one Harbinger.
If the others can't disable the remaining xargothians, Marvin will fly toward one and bash it in the head from the top, so as not to knock it against any equipment or walls. (Flying combat (world class, if that is how it works), 9I for my cardplay. 3D for defense if I need it.)
Zena hurls her Chakram at one of the Xargothians. She keeps he defensive options open, ready to leap behind a table for cover if necessary.
[4W for the attack. 6A to dodge]
ZENA(Edge 2 Hand 4 Life 25) Plot Points 2 XP:1
* 4W* new Disciples
Julia slams into the nearest Xarg OOC: Playing 6I with trump for attack, 3D for defense. Message 2424 of 2429 | Previous
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Menagero sees that his teammates are jumping into action, "Marvel, Verve, D-Heen, Kinetica, Zena! Follow me." MM goes running out of the room and into the corridor. His stomach is quezy from D'Heen's murder and he would prefer to have the strange being along with him so as to protect any lives possible. "The rest of the Supers of Fortune can handle a bunch of two-bit extraterrestrials with ease. The rest of us can hit Harbinger and his dimensional duplicates before they realize the end is nigh. We can't afford to fail. The fate of the Earth rests on our shoulders, my friends.
Sci-Fi mutters to himself "And he says he doesn't want to be the leader..."
Marvin wears the strange red goggles and backpack that MM drew, apparently using the one called Verve's powers. Marvin wonders if this thing will actually work. It looks more like a cartoon than something real. There are no working parts, only a cartoon antenna sticking out of the pack. He is afraid to look inside the backpack.
If it does work, Marvin wonders why they didn't just "draw" a device that would cause the Xargothian power core to overload from D'Heen's ship. Or from this room. But science was never Marvin's strong suit.
As the dead Xargothian that D'Heen slew falls to the ground, the team jumps into action.
Zena whisks her chakram, at the one nearest her. The weapon strike the alien in the temple. Its legs go limp and it falls to the ground unconscious as her weapon returns to her hand.
Frank blasts one with his laser beam. It punches a hole through it's throat, cauterizing the wound even as it burns through the flesh. The alien falls to the floor dead.
Sci-Fi blasts one with a stun bolt, overloading it's neural synapses and
temporarily shorting out his brain.
Kinetica slams into one from behind, knocking it forward into the hover-gurney. It gasps for air as all the wind is knocked from him and unconsciousness takes over.
With one Xargothian left, Captain Marvin Vale quickly takes to the air ,
smashing into it from above. The sound of marvel's downward punch is immediately followed by the dull thud of the Xargothian's skull striking the floor. The creature moves slightly in the floor then is still.
The combat lasts only a few seconds, The aliens taken by surprise proving no match for the assembled metahumans.
Suddenly the door is wrenched from its hinges with a loud metallic grinding.
In the doorway stands what must be Harbinger. He appears almost exactly as captain marvel , save for blonde hair rather than black. Tall, heroically proportioned, and majestic. He is dressed in a black form fitting uniform with a purplish red cape draped over his shoulders and back. A sash of similar material and color is tied about his waist. His eyes glow red with otherworldly energy. Directly behind him stand hundreds of exact duplicates.
They all open their mouths and speak in unison, like a large crowd chanting at once. " Hello Daddy. So nice of you and your friends to drop by. is Mommy around? No. Probably filming some dreadful TV show. No matter. By the way, save your self righteous speeches for someone who gives a damn. I know quite well what I am doing. So, I will give each of you a choice. Join me or die. You have 5 seconds to decide."
Marvin says nothing to Harbinger. He activates the device, hoping it works. As he does so, he moves a bit toward Harbinger, waiting to see what happens. He has no idea what the range is on this thing. If Harbinger tries to escape, Marvin will fly after him. [Do I need to play cards? If so, I attack with the 1I and 3S for a hand attack on Harbinger. Defend with 6I.]
Captain Marvel (Edge 2 Hand 4 Life 25/25) Plot Points 1 XP: 2 Patches: 2 6I* Blow for Freedom 3D+ Unprotected Valuables 1I+ Cry for Help 3S- Premature Exposure
"Marv, now would be a good time to use that gizmo!," shouts Sci-Fi, tensing for action.
(7S to dodge. Sci-Fi is waiting to see how MM's device works before he attacks. If things start to go south quick he is going to try to beam all the good guys back to D'Heen's ship. If things get really bad...well he has a desperate back up plan.)
For once, Menagero is speechless. "Uh..yeah. What he said." MM says as he takes a big gulp and begins to move towards Marvel so as to acquire his powers.
However, the man known to the world as Master Menagero takes pause. His scientific mind calculates all it has gained in knowledge from Marvel's ranting and the team's input. Without hesitation and gripping his white cape, MM moves directly in front of Harbinger. "Halt, villain! You stand against more than the manly Marvel. You stand against the stronghearted Supers of Fortune now. And, I promise you, whatever dastardly damage you think you can inflict, we can do ten times over to you and your devilish dopplegangers. Give preeminent pause and see what the pulsating power of Master Menagero alone can do!"
ooc: MM will move next to Harbinger and acquire his powers. If my hypothesus is correct, I should be able to draw alternate selves from other timelines with my exact powers who will be able to move toward Harbinger's duplicates thus acquiring their powers and creating a near infinite band of allies for the Supers of Fortune hence evening the odds. If the invention I gave Marvel works, both my duplicates and Harbinger's will cease to exist, more than leveling the playing field. Using this as an all-out attack with my 5W + trump and push with the 3D. I COULD USE SOME DEFENSE, PEOPLE!
MASTER MENAGERO (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 0 XP: 0 Powers Duplicated: Image Summoning 17(only images drawn by own hand, contingent) Patches: 2 3D- Collateral damage 5W- Humanity Loss damage from push
Before MM move saway from him , Verve grabs him by the cape. "MM, if you
move away from me and assume someone else's power, then that gizmo you created for Marvel will cease to exist. If you hold tight, I can sketch up a duplicate of it, that will be powered by me rather than you. Give me that drawing you drew so I can use it as reference. " [Verve's new sketch of course would take effect as a contingent action. ]
"Good catch, Verve. MM says.
ooc: MM will wait for Verve to finish his drawing then he will proceed with his before-mentioned actions.
Never one to just stand by and wait, Zena moves in. She doesn't know why the others hesitate to act, or why the army of men look all the same. As she charges towards Harbinger she doesn't realize the sheer amount of power that she faces. She is naive to his skills and powers. She just sees an enemy. An arrogant enemy that needs to be brought down. She figures that the one in front is their leader. If she can take out the leader, perhaps the rest of his troops will surrender.
She intends to end it all with one punch. Too bad she doesn't understand just what she was up against. If she did, she might hold back. She sends her fingers towards Harbinger's neck, ready to hit just the right nerve to drop him helplessly to the ground.
[7d for the actuall hit, pushing with my 3W. On the off chance that I actually strike him, I'll use my 4I for the stun touch. Dodge with my 6a]
ZENA (Edge 2 Hand 4 Life 25) Plot Points 2 XP:1 Patches: 2
"Zena don't!" shouts Sci-Fi as he fires a stun blast at the same Harbringer (assuming I can get a clear shot, if not I fire at one of the other Harbringers)
(The 7W I used for dodging already. So I'll say 5D for stun.)
Zena rushes forward striking a nerve cluster in Harbinger's neck. It feels like she is striking a brick wall, nearly breaking her fingers delivering the blow. The attack seems to have no effect whatsoever on him and he backhands her across the face. The blow sends her careening backwards through the air, and she crashes into a table covered with fluid filled organ containers. She tries to move, but the darkness of unconsciousness takes her.
D'Heen runs to her side. "She is still alive." he tears open one of the patches and places it on her neck. She immediately begins breathing easier. [The recovery for this will take place next Turn...If you would normally recover due to a postive aura on Narrartor card, then I'll say you gain an extra one. ]
Sci Fi fires his stun blast a millisecond after Harbinger strikes Zena, but Harbinger ducks out of the way just before the blast strikes him.
He also dodges Julia's kinetic punch and a laser blast fired by Frank [Did you post an action for Franl last time? If so I must have overlooked it. regardless I am playing cards for m him as if he atatcked
with his laser. ]. "You'll have to do better that if you hope to best me. It seems that your new group of friends is no more competent than the last bunch Daddy Dearest!" says Harbinger to Captain Marvel who is fast approaching him with Verve's newly created replica of MM's gizmo.
As He draws near a look of worry crosses harbinger's face. The army of duplicates behind him begins screaming in agony as they are wrenched from this moment in space/time and sent back to their proper time. They appear as ghosts as they are whisked into the strange looking machine on Marvel's back, vanishing with a barrage of bright lights, loud pops and sizzles. There are still many y more however and they all charge forward to destroy Marvel and the danger the machine represents to them.
As they do so, MM steps forward next to Harbinger. He feels the rush of power and fights back the bile in his throat as s the familiar wooziness
subsides. Harbinger is every bit as powerful as his father , with the added bonus of being able to create replicas of himself pulled from future timelines. . MM pushes with all of his might to replicate himself
as many times as possible. It is a strange feeling, but not entirely unpleasant. He is able to muster only 5, but each of these duplicates his current powers and they begin replicating one another exponentially. Each new MM rushes forward to hold back the advancing army of Harbinger duplicates .
[If you still want to use the patch to heal the damage from the push, then let me know. . It won't take effect 'til the start of the next Turn
however. To clarify: Last Turn you healed normally from a prior push(that is waht i forgot to post) , now you have new damage from the current push. There was some confusion on my part, since I didn't realize you were pushing again until I re-read the post. ]
Harbinger screams in anger as he realizes the tables are quickly being turned on him. "Kill them!" he screams to his future selves. " Kill them all."
[The way I think I am going to handle the battle between the MM dupes and Harbinger dupes is through a simple aura reading. If positive then MM will be winning,. If negative, then Harbinger, if neutral , then stalemate. It would be impossible to do the cardplay for a battle of that size.
"Never give up! Never Surrender!" shouts Sci-Fi as he fires a stun blast at the nearest Harbinger.
(using the 4D to dodge, still using the 7S to stun)
The multitude of Master Menageros speak in massive unison as the original goes toe-to-toe with Harbinger. MM#1 grabs Harbinger by the hands in a classic strogn-guy, comic book grapple, "Bow before the might of Master Menagero, Harbinger. Your antiquated dopplegangers cannot withstand the multiversal might of Master Menagero. We will crush you like the meaningless insect you are. We will humble you and show you the error of your ways. And the fact that you dare strike one as beautiful, courageous and proud as Zena the Amazonian has shown the true evil which festers in your soul. We strike for justice, for righteousness, for love! Keep multiplying, my multitudinous minions!!" Using all of the Harbinger's unearthly strength, MM tries to twist the villains arms behind his back while simultaneously blasting him in the face with energy bolts from his eyes.
ooc: Utilizing my 5S + trump for my strength assault. The energy blasts form the eyes is more for dramatic effect. If it helps my cause, so be it.
If Harbinger tries to strike me, I will use the 6A + trump for dodge using my flight so as to flip over him and land behind him, thus setting myself up for my next round of attack. Reminder: I am using a patch and will use another one if I take any damage. Question: Do any of my duplicates have patches?
Marvin doesn't want to leave the others, fearing the worst if they are faced with hundreds of Harbinger duplicates. Besides, if the device works like MM said it should, the duplicates should disappear as they approach. Marvin also isn't sure if the device will work if Harbinger is outside its range--he doesn't even know if it acts on Harbinger or the duplicates. So he flies to a place that is close to the real Harbinger, several feet above and several feet in front of him, close to the ceiling. He waits for the dupes to reach him.
[Marvin will dodge, trying to keep any dupes from touching the device, which they will probably try to destroy. He is ready for their laser vision, intending to dodge. Does aerial combat help him dodge in the air??? I use the 1I (edge) and the 6I to dodge, hoping to get trump bonus for the aerial dodging because of the skill--if it works that way.]
Roughneck will try to defend the party, shooting any Harbinger duplicate that gets too close. (Laser @+5, 9D. 2D for defense.)
Julia tries to slam into Harbinger. Going all-out-attack and playing 7 for (with trump for all-out) attack. Would that be Strength trump or Intellect trump then?
Zena awakes from her unconsciousness, the patch on her neck slightly tingling as it revives her. D'Heen helps her to her feet.
Captain Marvel takes to the air, hovering about 10 feet above his bastard son. "All this because I couldn't keep it in my pants, " he thinks to himself. The army of Harbinger duplicates take to the air as well advancing on Marvel. Many are angrily pulled from the current timestream and sent back to their own as they get to close to him, so the others wizen up and begin firing from a distance with their heat vision. Simultaneously MM's own dupe army takes to the air, blocking many of the heat beams with their near invulnerability. The heat beams that do make it through to Marvel, are easily dodged by him. The two armies close on one another, creating a gigantic free for all in the air
above the team. Multiple Harbingers and MM's trade superhumanly powerful
punches with one another sending human sized projectiles flying in every
direction from the force of the impacts. At the moment, the MM army seems to have the upper hand.
With the Harbinger army no longer blocking their line of sight, the team
can see what must be the energy core about 100 yards from the battle, It is surrounded by a glowing fluorescent green forcefield.
Kinetica, MM, Roughneck, and Sci Fi all attack Harbinger-prime at once. Harbinger once again dodges Sci-Fi's stun blast which whizzes past his head as MM puts the villain's arm into a hammer lock. Frank blasts Harbinger with his laser at full intensity and it burns a painful looking mark into his chest just as Kinetica slams into Harbinger at full speed. The blow is powerful enough to wrench him free of MM's grasp and sending both Harbinger and MM hurtling through the air and smashing into the forcefield that protects the central core. Slight spider web like cracks appear in the forcefield as they slam into it.
Harbinger is immediately ready for battle, taking to the air and leaving
MM behind , and flying back towards the team. He unleashes a wide angle beam of heat vision as he does so.
The blast catches Frank, Kinetica,and Sci Fi, in it's searing path. It does no damage directly to Kinetica, but it causes enough damage to her forcefield to cause it to temporarily go down. Unless she got it back up in time she was a sitting duck for hrbinger who is bearing down on them like a supersonic jet.
"Is that all you've got? I've had shots hit me harder than that." Inspite her bravado, Julia concentrates on raising her force field again. She will play 4A in defense, with trump.
Sci Fi bursts into flame and passes out as his flesh begins blistering and shock overtakes him. His breathing is labored as he hits the floor. [Take note..this is killing damage and is coming off both your health and life points] Roughneck's skin also begins to blister slightly, but he takes much less
damage than Sci Fi.
Verve watches in horror as Sci Fi is nearly killed before hi eyes. he has to maintain concentration on Marvel's gadget, but he runs to Sci Fi's side and slaps one of his own patches on his wounded teammate. " hang in there, Gene." he says as he begins pulling him out of harm's way.
D'Heen shouts "We must destroy the forcefield to get to the core!"
Frank sees his chance, and sprints toward the core, firing his laser as he goes, his computer core calculating the least dangerous path through the chaotic melee. [Laser at +5, using the 6S for attack, and using the 7D for defense.][How often does Frank regenerate? It looks like we got a positive aura reading this turn. Do I delay a turn before I start to regenerate, or do I get a chance to regenerate the round following damage? How does that work, O Mighty GM?]
Through red goggles, Marvin sees the Harbinger dupes hanging back and using their heat vision. He flies at them, trying to pass by as many as he can so as to dispel them. He tries to stay away from MM's dupes, as he figures they too would be subject to the powers of the strange cartoon device on his back. [4A for any defense I need.]
Captain Marvel (Edge 2 Hand 4 Life 25/25) Plot Points 1 XP: 2 Patches: 2 4A+ Help from Above 3D+ Unprotected Valuables 4W* new Disciples 3S- Premature Exposure
ROUGHNECK (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 13/17) Plot Points 0 XP:3 damage 6S* Ignored 7D+ Pyrrihc Victory
MM stands up and immediately flies toward Harbinger with all of his supersonic speed. "Team, get through to that power core. If these are truly my alternate future duplicates, that means that this is one battle Master Menagero can't lose! Supers of Fortune, Let's Earn Our Pay!"
ooc: ALL-OUT FLIGHT RAMMING ATTACK. I want to tackle the original Harbinger out from the moonbase where I can really let loose and not have to worry about power switching. 9W + trump and push with my 6W. if I succeed.. I'll take Harbinger into the ground, as deep an we can go without depressurizing the base.
MM creates a sonic boom as he crosses the room. He plants his elbow square in the back of Harbinger, trying to snap the villain's steel spine. Crashing through wall after wall, MM grits his teeth and says, "It's not too late to give up, Harbinger. Repent of your ways and join the Supers of Fortune in bringing peace to our world. Resist and feel the full unfettered might of He Who Can Match Your Every Move, Master Menagero!!!"
MASTER MENAGERO (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 15/17) Plot Points 0 XP: 0 Powers Duplicated: Strength 17, Flight 17, Bulletproof (defense protects vs. both stunning and lethal dmage) Dupilaction. Patches: 1 6W*Mistaken Identity 4A+ Emotional Growth 9W* Safe Haven
Zena hesitates, unsure of what to do. Her neck is on fire. Had harbinger
hit her a little harder he would have killed or paralyzed her. She comes
to the sudden realization that there is nothing that she can do against these opponents. Her best attack is useless against their invulnerable bodies.
So instead of acting, Zena actually backs away from the fight a bit. She
takes one of the strange patches out and places it on her tight neck.
D'Heen grabs her by her free hand, and begins pulling her in the direction of the forcefield. "We will need all of the help we can get breaking through the forcefield." He hands her a Xargothian blaster that he picked up from one of the dead alien bodies. He points at the muzzle. "Point with this, and pull the trigger to make it fire. Do you understand? "
Zena looks at the strange weapon. Her knowledge of technology from her own world was limited and now this alien creature wants her to understand an alien technology as well. She looks over the weapon but doesn't answer D'Heen. The alien isn't sure if she's purposely ignoring him or if she has entered some type of culture shock.
Captain Marvels begins weaving in and out of the throng of MM/Harbinger duplicates. More and more of the Harbingers are sent back to their proper time. It seems that the MM army definitely has the upper hand at this point, with far more numbers currently than the harbinger dupes.
Sci Fi awakes on the floor with Verve crouching over him. The regenerative patch had healed much of the tissue damage Sci Fi had sustained. Verve helps him to his feet. "Glad to have you back, " says Verve.
"I'd just like to say 'OW!'"
Kinetica reboots her forcefield just as Harbinger prime is about to slam
into her. The mighty blow would surely have put her into a coma had her kinetic conversion abilities not kicked in. Instead of weakening her forcefield, the impact actually strengthens it, making her forcefield glow a slightly brighter shade of blue.
As Harbinger looks with astonishment at Kinetica , Master Menagero slams
into Harbinger from behind, sending both of them careening towards the floor at kinetica's feet. The impact is powerful enough to punch a 10 foot diameter hole in the floor as the two combatants slam through it and continue into the lower levels. Kinetica starts to fall into the hole, but quickly takes to the air, hovering just above it. From her vantage point she can see that MM and Harbinger come to a stop some 2 floors below the original level. Harbinger lies unconscious upon the floor with MM standing triumphant over him.
With Harbinger unconscious all of his duplicates are sent back to their proper space/time continuum. The room suddenly seems much less crowded as the remainder of the Harbinger duplicates vanish or get sucked into the device on Captain Marvel's back.
"Holy Population Implosion Cap-Man!" says Sci Fi
"I think I prefered being blasted by Harbinger," grumbles Julia, "than having to suffer your puns."
D'Heen and Frank open fire on the now defenseless forcefield that shields the energy core. The already damaged field begins to weaken even
more under their onslaught. "We need more firepower!" shouts D'Heen. " Anyone who is able please assist us, before the Xargothians send reinforcements. I have no doubt they are aware of our presence by now. " He looks to Zena who is still eyeing the plasma blaster suspiciously. She feels much better now, thanks to the restorative patch.
"Gee, and I thought our massive brawl was all subtle and understated." Sct Fi says
Zena gives the odd weapon one last glance before aimining it perfectly and firing. The shot nearly takes D'Heen's head off coming no where near
the massive shimmering target. Clearly she may be a master with her Chakram, but has no concept of how to use this weapon properly.
[No cardplay for the shot --- unless you want me to try and miss D'Heen --- Use my best Agility card to dodge if necessary. If I have no agility
cards then use my highest card (plus any edge cards)]
"Great shot Zena! I mean, you missed, but still, that's a lot better than must guys can do, judging from the floor in their bathrooms." says Kinteica
Verve stops concentrating on the nullifier gizmo on Captain Marvel's back and it fades from existence. He immediately begins sketching something else. " I'm drawing up a battering ram for that thing" he informs the group over the comm-link."
"Battering ram, my butt!" says Kinetica. She throws herself at the force field with as much strength as she can muster.
"Did you just say what I think you said? " chides Verve over the comm-link "the tabloids would have a field day taking that out of context. Good thing we are on the moon. "
KINETICA (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 0 XP:0 Forcefield: 14 Patches: 2 · 5W* Significant Other) · 1I+ Cry for Help · 3D+ Unprotected Valuables 1I edge with 5W (do you trump edges?). She will also go all-out-attack if she can to trump on the 5.
"I don't know how much help a stun blast will be, but what the hell?" (3I with trump for stun blast. 6D to dodge if it should come up.)
SCI-FI (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 10/17) Plot Points 0 XP:2 Patches: 2 6D- Betrayal 3I* Attraction of attention damage
MM picks up the unconcious Harbinger, flies up to the main level and stands next to his duplicates. He speaks to his duplicates. "Friends from the otherverses, do what any Super of Fortune would do and lend me your ear. We must overpower this wicked force field. Link hands with me," MM says while still holding Harbinger, "Together, with the other noble heroes, we shall overpower this force field with the combined, multiplied might of Captain Marvel's heat vision."
"Oh God, that corny's speech is even worse than his puns. I'm beginning to think I should have opted for rehab."says Julia
MM smiles at the KO'ed Harbinger and his team, "Well, gee whiz. Harbinger ends up saving the world after all. Without his power, we could never accomplish such a remarkable feat."
ooc: ALL OUT heat vision ATTACK ON FORCE FIELD > > USING > > > PILE_ON BONUS, if applicable. 4W* Weapons Cache > + > > > trump. > > > > > > MASTER MENAGERO (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 15/17) Plot > > Points > > > 0 XP: 0 Powers Duplicated: Strength 17, Flight > 17, > > > Bulletproof (defense protects vs. both stunning > > and > > > lethal dmage) Dupilaction. Patches: 1 > > > push dmage > > > 4A+ Emotional Growth > > > 4W* Weapons Cache
Marvin will shoot his heat vision along with MM and the dupes. He asks the others of the team, "Do you have any nullifying devices? Once he awakens we will have the same fight on our hands. Something must be done."
"Uh, I don't think so. Maybe MM and Verve could whip something up after we get rid of this sheild." answers Sci Fi
He frowns at his unconscious son, wondering how this will end. His son, and himself he is reminded, are both considered terrorists. Harbinger has caused many deaths, to which he has admitted. If he is incarcerated he will be put to death, Marvin is certain.
Frank continues firing his laser at the force field. He also watches any exits for approaching Xargothians. If he sees any he will alert the party and fire at the Xargothians.
Everyone opens fire on the forcefield and it collapses instantly under the overwhelming onslaught. Once everyone has ceased fire D'Heen rushes up to the platform with the controls for the energy core. A holographic interface appears before him. He quickly taps in a sequence of commands with his four arms, then the interface vanishes. " It is done. " he says " The meltdown sequence has begun. " he blasts the control panel to insure that his commands cannot be overridden. "We have about 30 seconds before the core detonates. "
Just as he says this, the doors leading into the vast chamber slide open
and a garrison of Xargothian warriors charge in. It is hard to tell exactly how many there are-- 20 to 30 at least. There would probably have been more if the elevator platform they are exiting from been any larger.
The Xargothians immediately open fire on the group with their plasma blasters.
"Get us out of here my friend", D'Heen says to Sci Fi. [You'll need to play cards for this teleport]
"Alright, prepare for a beam out." 6D to teleport, 4S if I have to dodge.
SCI-FI (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 10/17) Plot Points 0 XP:2 Patches: 2 6D- Betrayal 4S* Rememberance of Home damage
Zena once again tries to open fire on the Xargothians, but whatever she has done has caused the weapon to start to hum in ahigh-pitched manner. Zena looks at the weapon and realizes that something bad is about to happen. Quickly she hurls the blaster at the Xargothian squad. As it nears, the weapon malfunctions and explodes with a massive ENERGY FLUX blinding and injuring many of the Xargothians in the front line. Buying her comrades time to make a safe departure.
[ 3 Agil + trump for the throw. Using my 5S Energy Flux for a plot point. Dodge with 5 Will if needed]
Julia will hurl a k-bolt at the nearest guard. KINETICA (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 17) Plot Points 0 XP:0 Forcefield: 14 Patches: 2 · 1A* Baptism by Fire · 3I- Out of Control · 3D+ Unprotected Valuables Playing 1A (edge) and 3I for attack with trump. Playing 3D for defense.
Marvin flies over to MM and says, "I'll take him." He takes the unconscious Harbinger into his arms. He has a distressed look on his face. He says to MM: "Remember what you've learned here. I don't know if the future can even be changed, or if our actions here will avert the timeline I came from. But now you're aware of the danger. That will have to be enough." As an afterthought, he says, "If you ever meet up with Unknown Soldier and the other Guardians, tell them I tried to do the right thing. I never meant to betray them."
MM orders his duplicates back from whence they came using the last vestiges of Harbinger's powers.
ooc: using 7I + trump + push 4A.
He then rushes to join the Captain. He looks Marvel's way and says, "I guess you were right. I was important to the future. And come what may, I vow to you Captain Marvel that the Supers of Fortune will protect earth's interests no matter what forces try dissuade us from such a course."
MASTER MENAGERO (Edge1 Hand 3 Life 15/17) Plot Points 0 XP: 0 Powers Duplicated: Strength 17, Flight 17, Bulletproof (defense protects vs. both stunning and lethal dmage) Dupilaction. Patches: 1 7I+ Breakthrough 4A+ Emotional Growth 4I* Endangered Innnocents
Frank moves next to D'Heen and says, "How big is this blast gonna be?" Frank scans the reactor to see if he can gauge how powerful the explosion will be. He tries to determine if this reactor is nuclear or some other power.
Marvin can't take Harbinger back to Earth. And he can't just leave him here like UNPROTECTED VALUABLES. Marvin stands with the others until he sees Sci-Fi prepare to teleport. At the last instant, just as the teleport is about to occur, Marvin uses his super-speed to dash out of the area with Harbinger, so they are not teleported with the others. [Plot point.]
When the team is gone, he retreats with his son away from the Xargothians, waiting for the inevitable. If any of them try to disengage the core, he attacks them with his heat vision.
"I can see now that my presence here is what caused all this in the first place. Our presence. I can't let you live, son. And I won't leave you to die alone."
Zena throws her plasma blaster at the charging Xargothians and it explodes like a grenade, sending the first rank of warriors flying backwards into the second rank.
This is quickly followed up by some Kinetic blasts by Kinetica and a battering ram by Verve, sending the rest of the xargothian warriors scurrying in retreat.
MM's duplicates vanish as Marvel takes his son and heads toward the core, just as Sci Fi teleports the group; away.
Frank's EM vision distorts as his atoms are torn apart by Sci-Fi's power and re-intergrated aboard D'Heen's ship along with the others, save for Capatin Marvel and Harbinger. "I was getting real close to figuring out what kinda energy is in da core" says Frank.
"No matter, " says D'Heen "everyone strap yourselves in quickly. We mustn't be in the area when the core experiences it's meltdown. "
"But Marv..." says Sci Fi
[If anyone suggests trying to go back for Captain Marvel, D'Henn will flatly state that there is no time and it would be suicide to do so]
Everyone straps themselves in as quickly as possible in preparation to the jump to hyperspace.
Just as they make the jump, they can see a gigantic mushroom cloud annihilate the Xargothian compound. D'Heen's vessel speeds away at the last second, nearly engulfed in the devastating cloud of death.
"Good bye Marvel." says Sci Fi
A few moments later they are back in Earth's atmosphere, at a normal cruising speed. The ship is still cloaked, but through e monitors they can see that the explosion on the dark side of the moon's surface has created a pseudo-lunar eclipse.
D'Heen hovers the ship a few feet above the SoF office headquarters and the team disembarks under the strange glow of the moonlight.
"Farewell my friends, Shouts D'Heen from the ship's doorway. " You have all done a great service for your home world. Do not forget that. Perhaps I will return again someday under more pleasant circumstances. For now, I must go. I miss my own home world and wish to return as quickly as possible. Live long and prosper. " he says as the portal quickly closes and the ship raises silently into the night clouds before vanishing in a bright stream of lights.
A grin covers Sci-Fi's face as he makes to Vulcan hand sign "Live long and prosper D'Heen"
Verve watches the lights slowly dissipate as he lights a cigarette and takes a long, much needed drag. " I need a vacation," he says aloud to no one in particular.
"That's a good idea, " says Ms. Chesterton's voice from behind them. anyone who looks can see that Candace has appeared from the strairwell on the roof. She is dressed haphazardly, having been awoken by the alarms caused by the initial fight with the cyber-zons. "It's going to take at least a month to repair all of the damage done to the office. So
why doesn't everyone e take some time off for some R&R. Destroying the office must surely take a lot out of you. Plus there is some foul mouthed amazon tied up in the holding cell.
"But we just saved the world, " says Verve.
"From evil aliens," chimes in Sci-Fi
"Whatever" says Candace as she heads back down the stairwell towards the
offices.
"No really."
'tell me about when you get back from vacation." they hear her shout from the stairwell.
Verve can't help but grin.
"Well I'd better go check on my bro. No telling what trouble he's going to get into now that he's got powers. We'll do that movie thing soon Zena, unless MM beats me to it," says Sci-Fi winking at Menagero, "Sci-Fi to bridge, one to beam out."
Sci-Fi vanishes in a shimmer of light.
Zena watches as Sci-Fi leaves. Without hesitation, she follows behind Candace to go and check on Titania. Vacation or not, she has no intention of leaving Titania until she's dead or in prison. Besides ....
what the hell is a vacation anyway???
Frank follows Zena inside. "You know, I still think your Titania and my cybernetics are related. There just ain't no way my circuits could read anything from Sophia wihtout them bein' from the same place," he says, referring to when he recently tried to download information from the doomed undeadcyberzon. "Unless yer gonna sic yer tiger on me, I'm with you. And we got work to do..."
"If truely our paths have crossed for a reason, then I will need your help. I think our answers will next come from my home island. Perhaps that is where we should head to. Tolwynn, Tancreed and I would be honored to have your company in battle." Zena says to him.
Rupert's heart slightly falls in his chest as he sees the team go their seperate ways, even if just for a month. His life sure has changed, he reflects, in the short time he became gifted with his earth-saving powers.
With the mess with the US government behind him (he hopes), he wonders what new adventures await for the Supers of Fortune.
MM snaps out of his stargazing, lets out an enormous sneeze, wipes his nose and chases after Frank and Zena. "Hey, guys, wait up! Don't tackle this mystery without the help of Master Menagero! Hey, Zena, didja notice how I helped save the universe? How about a date..." The nerdy hero's voice trails off as he enters the base after his friends.
[Well gang that is basically it. Not much of an ending I know, but feel free to interject in-character conversation, cheers, jeers, fears doubts
anxieties, or whatever you feel like.
I want to than k everyone for participating in my PBeM and look forward to getting it up and running again after I graduate and get settled. I've had a lot of fun GMing this group and hope that everyone has had fun participating. I think we definitely had some good in character drama as well as comedic moments. Sorry we didn't get to wrap up everyone's personal subplots but that will give everyone something to look forward too I guess.
I'll leave everyone subscribed to the yahoo group unless you indicate otherwise. If anyone feels extremely creative they could even post stories about what their character does while on vacation or whatever.
Also I am still on the MSHAG list as well. so I may post there from time
to time as well. ]
P.S. I'm awarding everyone two XP's for this adventure so think about what you maybe want to spend them on. Vacation is a good time for learning new skill or power stunts too I suppose.
Thanks again, Keith
Epilogue... The last thing Marvin sees is a blinding blast of light, then a slight jab of pain. Then he is hurtling headlong through a dizzying ever-shifting tube of energy. He knew where he was, He was in the Empyreal realm..the very space/time conduit that sent him from hi s time
in 2099 to 100 years in his past. As he gets closer and closer to his own time, he can see that he put right what he had set out to do. The Xargothian invasion never occurred. The metahumans are never wiped out and the earth is not enslaved. He is content in this knowledge. He feels
a sense of closure on something that had been 100 years in the making.
He feels extremely powerful here in the timestream. It had somehow infused him with it's energy on his first journey through it granting him vast powers and was now making him even more powerful.
He senses that something is still amiss in the time stream, something not quit right. He focuses a bit and locates the problem. It is his former team-mates the Guardians..several of them are trapped out of their time. Locked in the W.W.II era and unable to return to their proper time. He merely wishes for them to return to their own time safely and it is done. They vanish from a battlefield in W.W.II France and re-appear in their proper time.
This last good deed done, Marvin is jettisoned from the time stream back
into his own time of 2099. It is magnificent. None of the buildings are destroyed, no smells of war and burnt ozone, it is as if the war had never occurred. That is because it didn't, he thinks to himself. He picks himself up off of the ground he had been slammed into after leaving the time stream. He sees that his hands are scraped up from the gravel. A slight amount of blood from a small cut causes him to realize that he is once again just an normal human. A smile crosses his lips as he runs excitedly towards the magnificent city before him. He had an entire new world to explore now.
