Live Free or Game

[Shigeru]

I'll take this space and tell you a tale of the first face to face PnP RPG I've run in eight years or more. Grab a seat, we have pizza and water.

 

Its a standard Champions campaign inasmuch as I'm familiar with 4th Ed Champions far more than 5th. 350pt supers with 75 point DC max and such like. The game is set in Boston so I can avoid a lot of the Millenium City canon and get right to my own whacky make-em-ups.

 

I'll skip the boring stuff and get right to it:

 

Sentry - she's an ex-supervillain in the witness protection program, watched closely by both UNTIL and PRIMUS. She has taken on a new name and costumed persona and is trying to work off that bad karma she earned in her Seattle villain days. Martial Artist with some gadgetry.

 

Blade Dancer - He's the recipient of the family heirloom, a magic sword with water and ice powers. He's also inherited the family business, which is an R&D firm that has supplied him with a few nifty gadgets. He has a brother, a supervillain names Amber Blaze, who wants to take the family inheritence for his own. The fun shall ensue on that point, I can assure you. Energy Projector with some gadgetry.

 

I'll follow up with my own recollection of events as time permits.

[Shigeru]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

In our first session, Grond has been spotted in Cambridge and is creating a path of destruction. All of the "regular" local heroes have been called in to stop him. Sentry and BLade Dancer both get word of the situation and speed in to help.

 

While en route, they both spy a strange situation : some cars have been parked so as to block the road outside of a bank. They make quick introductions to one another and decide to investigate. As it happens, they can see robots walkign around in the bank and all of the bank patrons are lying face down on the carpet. Time for action!

 

The heroes enter the buildign through the missing door at the back and proceed to fight the robots. Two of the bots are big, slow brutes. One of them engages the heroes and is easily dispatched. Two more bots are walking around the bank making sure the patrons stay prone (they have blasters). They, too, are easily dispatched. Meanwhile, one of the brute-bots is busily tearing the vault door off at its significant hinges.

 

Two more bots arrive. These are flying, blaster bots resembling oldschool UFOs but with mini-arms for grabbing. They proceed to give the heroes trouble, especially Sentry who has to be pissed she has a CVK and no killing attacks to make short work of the bots. Blade Dancer, on the other hand, is blasting water and ice daggers from his magic sword like crazy and really laying into the bots.

 

The heroes do manage to take out all but one of the bots with minimal property damage. Unfortunately the blaster bot that got away did so with a bag of money.

 

"Why send in all these robots just for a bag of money? Hmmm."

 

The heroes, both electricians, each find some microchips that look a little out of place in the robots husks. THey take them for separate investigations, share radio frequencies for later communications, and depart.

 

 

...and such end the first session, excepting soem investigation which I will summarize in my next installment...

[Shaft]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

Good stuff. Keep it coming!

[bubba smith]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

well done shingeru

[Shigeru]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

(As it happens, we packed a lot into that second session. Here is a summary of the first half of that session:)

 

Our next episode...

 

"Amber Waves of Pain"

 

Sentry goes back to her apartment and, while checking in with her UNTIL "watchdog", steals some time in their meager local lab. Blade Dancer, at his private company, comes up with the same information. They determine that the microchip taken from the robots in the bank heist are custom-built and bear the hallmark of a specific person. That person was a MIT graduate named Robert McMurdoch who died not too long ago, but not before he pioneered some work on nanotechnology and made millions in technology stocks...

 

Everyone goes home and tries to work out what it all means, when there's a disturbance.

 

The TV switches to a special report, where we see a being in powered armor, throwing flame at buildings and cars alike and clearing a path in the streets of Cambridge (again). He calls himself Amber Blaze and he's here to make a statement abotu who's the better man...and he calls out Blade Dancer to meet him in battle.

 

Blade Dancer groans, gets into costume and drives his motorcycle to the scene.

 

At this time, Sentry gets a call from her UNTIL contact. As it turns out, he's in one of the buildings that has caught fire and they can't get out because the first two floors are a flaming mess.

 

"Seentryyyyy, come help meeeee! Oh, and these people too if you have the time..."

 

And Sentry also dons her costume and makes the scene, leaping the rooftops all the way.

 

Underneath the watchful eye of a TV News chopper, Amber Blaze

proceeds to smoke Blade Dancer and gloat in front of the camera.

 

(It must be said that they were fairly evenly matched, but I bear all the good-rolling karma this day).

 

WHile Blade Dancer tries to nullify Amber Blaze's fire powers with his watery saber (unsuccesfully), Amber Blaze whallops him with an autofire flame blast. Being that his main objective is not the destruction of Blade Dancer, but the possession of his magic sword and the family birthright, he does not kick hinm while he's down.

 

But Amber Blaze now has the family sword, the source of all Blade Dancer's powers! He's pretty happy about this and flies up to the rooftops to let the TV cameras get a better shot of him holding the sword (even if he doesn't yet know how to activate it).

 

Meanwhile, Sentry has been evacuating people two at a time (she's nimble AND strong, that one) through the back door and onto the fire escape of the adjacent building. Just as she finishes, she hears the telltale exhale of a man who lost all the breath he thought was his. She bounds to the roof tops in time to see Amber Blaze gloat and tosses a flash pellet at him.

 

Now it gets interesting. Blade Dancer has recovered enough to get a big gulp of air and stealthily hops to his feet and onto a lightpost. He swings to get momentum and plans to jump up to where Amber Blaze is hovering. Seeing her "partner's" plan, Sentry aims to time her own leap from the rooftop so that they will hit him together. But both are attempting a Disarm, because that guy just does not need a magic sword...

 

Being that he is blinded, hitting Amber Blaze proves easy as pie. They add their Disarm strength together and boy did they need it (that powered armor IS powerful, after all). THe sword flies from the hot hands of Amber Blaze onto the pavement below.

 

The two fighters scramble for the sword, but Sentry crushes the blind baddie with a side kick that propels him into a building.

 

But Sentry also spies something awfully strange. A woman in super(villain?) getup flies through a windshield from within a car...but nobody noticed her before?

 

Just before Blade Dancer, who has reacquired his weapon, can smite Amber Blaze, the supervillainess disappears back into the windshield of the car and reappears from a reflective stoorfront window, grabbing Amber Blaze and dragging him through the window pane into...where? THey have disappeared from the scene!

 

WBZ TV's Leslie Chung interview the heroes after they help to douse the remaining fires. Sentry, the experienced adventurer, plays it cool for the cameras, and BLade Dancer eats it up.

 

"So, Blade Dancer...why would Amber BLaze call you out? Do you have some history together?"

 

"Well, yes. He's my brother."

 

Dun, dun, duuuunnnnn.

 

...stay tuned for our next installment : "Museum Massacre"

[bubba smith]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

veryy good verry verry good

[Shigeru]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

(Here is the second alf of that second session. Sorry for the long-winded post. That's just how it came out of me. Anybody want to do some free editing )

When last we left our heroes, they had defeated the supervillain Amber Blaze in a public display. But he was rescued by a second supervillain...a lovely lady with unknown powers. Who is she? How does she know Amber Blaze and what do they want?

Let’s hope the heroes find out the right way!

Today’s episode: “Museum Massacre”

Fresh from a successful public battle, the heroes return to their “normal lives”. Sentry resides in an apartment paid for by taxpayers through the witness protection program. Blade Dancer stays in a nice house in the suburbs. Life is good.

Both heroes are later called back to UNTIL labs where they are shown some footage of their last confrontation. The video footage is analyzed and a couple of items surface.

First, the female super that helped Amber Blaze escape is a relatively new supervillain names Narcissa. As expected, her powers center around mirrors and reflections, but nobody knows more than that.

Second, the film reveals a strange phenomenon. There’s a swarm of bugs flying around the battlefield. Damned peculiar, until the video is enhanced to reveal that they are not bugs at all, but micro-robots, some no larger than a fly! Curiouser and curiouser!

Sentry, now back at home, decides to secretly check in with one of her contacts from the “old days” on the west coast, the high-tech supervillain Bluejay. Turns out she’s heard of the roboticist that created the microchips from the first encounter at the bank. And as it happens, he had a nephew who continued his work in nanorobotics as well as took over his estate!

Maximillian McMurdoch. He was working at MIT on an experiment that could channel power into an electromagnetic wave that allowed for the control of any and all electronic devices in its range...until he decided to control some military devices. He was never able to complete the device because his funding was cut and he was forcibly removed from the school.

The heroes soon learn that the Boston Museum of Science is having an exhibit of an electromagnetic power converter remarkably similar to McMurdoch’s designs. (Plot convenience playhouse presents...instant adventure!) The Chinese have completed it and are giving an exhibition at the museum on one day only.

Fearing someone might attempt to steal the device, the heroes sign on as added security. Because the Chinese embassy will not allow UNTIL to act as security, they are forced to watch from the sidelines (i.e. a van with assault agents outside) while the heroes take on the security task alone.

So the heroes wait and watch various scientists, students and technogeeks filter in and the five Chinese scientists set up the large (a globe about 6 feet around) converter. Once the display begins, the heroes begin to realize how powerful this device could be as their radios are out of their own control and are used in a sing-songy display of beeps and buzzes in concert with the phones, blackberries and other gadgets of the on looking crowd.

And then it comes. A hole is blasted into the domed room and in flies two powered-armor villains: Amber Blaze and, presumably, McMurdoch himself...styling himself the Nanomancer.

The villains intimidate the crowd and the heroes spring into action. Blade Dancer exchanges with Nanomancer and Sentry tussles with Amber Blaze. But only moments into the encounter, something unexpected happens. Sentry tosses a flash pellet at Amber Blaze and, in a moment of déjà vu, blinds him soundly. She comes out with a witty quip (which I should be shot for not remembering, but I was trying to think a step or two ahead) and Amber Blaze screams in anger.

Amber Blaze, a gloryhound and simple but dangerous egomaniac, has a problem with being embarrassed. In this case, the fact that he fell for the same attack in two separate encounters, and was taunted...was enough top set off his Berserk.

Amber Blaze fires an arc of flame at Sentry but misses her, instead burning the flesh from an as-yet-unidentified onlooker, killing him (or her) instantly.

Sentry, who begins to have terrible flashbacks to her days of super villainy, has her Code Versus Killing kick in mightily and leaps towards Amber Blaze. She hits him repeatedly with her billy club, the two of them crashing through the wall and sending Amber Blaze into the Charles River behind the facility.

Meanwhile, Nanomancer proceeds to pick up the Device and carry it out of the museum, despite the attempts by Blade Dancer to stop him (he is a minor master villain, after all). He manages to escape, but Blade Dancer watches some nanobots fall dead as they swarm in to deflect a watery blast headed his way. Blade Dancer collects the defunct nanobots.

Back in the river, the mysterious Narcissa rises from the reflective water and threatens to take Amber Blaze away again...but when Sentry threatens her, she decides to leave Amber Blaze to his fate and escape alone.

Sentry unplugs Amber Blaze’s power supply and sits on him. UNTIL and PRIMUS arrive on site to investigate. Sentry is down on herself and Blade Dancer helps PRIMUS load his brother into their hover van for transport to Stronghold. He tells them that his brother needs his power supply in order to regulate his circulatory system (*cough* Iron Man rip-off cough) and they agree. Amber Blaze looks shocked to have killed somebody, but is also seething at being defeated yet again.

Back at the Museum, TV cameras and Leslie Chung are back on the scene asking questions, but UNTIL manages to keep them off the heroes for now.

While Sentry’s psyche looks for solace after someone died on her watch, Blade Dancer contemplates just what it means to have your brother arrested...when you have a secret identity...

But during all of this, Narcissa manages to kidnap Sentry’s UNTIL watchdog, John Barkley, out from under their noses. Did she get the last laugh after all?

And Nanomancer escaped with the electromagnetic power converter. What will he do with it?

What will happen to UNTIL’s John Barkley? Will Blade Dancer’s identity be revealed with Amber Blaze in Stronghold? Will Sentry be able to live with the death of an innocent?

Tune in next time to find out!

[Beetle]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

Sentry resides in an apartment paid for by taxpayers through the witness protection program.

The just rewards of testifying against her former teammates. Your tax dollars at work!

 

But only moments into the encounter, something unexpected happens. Sentry tosses a flash pellet at Amber Blaze and, in a moment of déjà vu, blinds him soundly. She comes out with a witty quip (which I should be shot for not remembering, but I was trying to think a step or two ahead) and Amber Blaze screams in anger.

I think it was just something like "don't you ever learn?" said in a very patronizing voice. Calling him "Amber Waves" should've bothered him more, but unfortunately he never saw "Boogie Nights"

 

Amber Blaze fires an arc of flame at Sentry but misses her, instead burning the flesh from an as-yet-unidentified onlooker, killing him instantly. Sentry, who begins to have terrible flashbacks to her days of super villainy, has her Code Versus Killing kick in mightily...

Poor Sentry. She quits being a supervillain after her old team foolishly engages in combat in a crowded area (Pike Place Market, for you Seattle people), resulting in the deaths of innocents, and on one of her first outings as a good guy, the same thing happens. Not a good day for the psych lims.

 

Here's a pic of Sentry (also in DC Hero Machine Thread)

[Weldun]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

Repped and Subscribed!

[bubba smith]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

The just rewards of testifying against her former teammates. Your tax dollars at work!

 

I think it was just something like "don't you ever learn?" said in a very patronizing voice. Calling him "Amber Waves" should've bothered him more, but unfortunately he never saw "Boogie Nights"

 

Poor Sentry. She quits being a supervillain after her old team foolishly engages in combat in a crowded area (Pike Place Market, for you Seattle people), resulting in the deaths of innocents, and on one of her first outings as a good guy, the same thing happens. Not a good day for the psych lims.

 

Here's a pic of Sentry (also in DC Hero Machine Thread)

i'd rather see this sentry in comics than marvels

[Shigeru]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

We played our third session this weekend and I'll get around to summarizing as best I can in the next couple of days.

To tide you over...I have pics of the villains...here they are.

 

Narcissa, Amber Blaze and Nanomancer

 

[Legatus]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

Sorry, but I can't see the pics of your villains. Nothing but red Xs. ???

[Weldun]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

At least you're getting Xs.

[bubba smith]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

i cant see them either

[Shigeru]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

Sorry folks. Lets try this again...

 

Narcissa, Amber Blaze, Nanomancer.

[Weldun]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

Yeah, they're working now.

[Shigeru]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

Episode 3a : Search and Rescue

After the terrible events of the Museum Massacre, Sentry rededicates herself to the heroic ideal and starts the investigation into the whereabouts of John Barkley of UNTIL. Things are not easy, as all non-UNTIL personnel have been locked out of UNTIL's local offices until the crisis has passed. Also, Blade Dancer is nowhere to be found.

 

She investigates those scientists who worked with Nanomancer while he was still a promising student at MIT. She is led to Harvard, where the current professor of robotic sciences was also in the group of scientists that Maximilian McMurdoch (aka Nanomancer) associated with at MIT.

 

Sentry goes to Harvard to question the professor but waits for him to finish his class. Little does she know that attending that class is s new student named Mandy Aarons, the alter ego of the brand new superheroine Aurora. Mandy listens to the questions Sentry asks the proifessor and takes a special interest as she has seen Sentry on television and knows she worked with UNTIL.

 

((Mandy Aarons, Aurora, is a flying brick who is being groomed by UNTIL to be a part of their United States East Coast superteam. Her ability to fly into space, as well as her superhuman strength and reflexes, make her a most valuable asset. She and her family trelocated to Boston when Many was accepted into HArvard. She suspects UNTIL pulled some strings to get her in, but not because she isn't smart and capable...))

 

As Sentry leaved the school, Aurora catches her and volunteers her assistance in finding the missing John Barkley. THey have some new information on the villain, but nothing solid.

 

THe two heroines hear on a radio broadcast thatthe recently arrested Amber BLaze wants to make a plea deal. He has information on both the whereabouts of John Barkley as well as the plans of Nanomancer. The heroes go to Stronghold and interview the villain, who tells them where to find Barkley...in the hopes that peopel will listen to his information on Nanomancer and set him free (or lessen his sentence, at least).

 

Sentry manages to disable the secutiry on the warehouse and unlock the door, but when she does they hear the ominous hum of electrical power...

 

The warehouse is wall-to-wall mirrors, a suitable combat zone for Narcissa, and the trappings fo a robotics lab are present. WHat is also present is a very large Jacob's Ladder, with the bound and gagged John Barkley tied between the two electrified poles. The sparks of electricity sre forming at the bottom of the poles and it is only seconds before Barkley becomes a toasty, conductive carbon-based material.

 

Oh, also in the warehouse are a suprised Narcissa and a gruff-looking bodyguard of sorts who's would later be revealed as Deathwish, mercenary assassin. Hilarity ensues.

 

Aurora's flight and stregth allow her to rescue the helpless UNTIL agent from certain doom, while Narcissa shots a command to Sentry to "attack that ugly girl" (GM's note : Aurora has the highest COM around....besides Narcissa).The classic mind-controlled superheroine sidekicks her new partner.

 

In short order, however, Sentry breaks free form her control and the two heroes team up to defeat the heroes. Deathwish, a superb martial artist, holds his own against the mighty Aurora but has second thoughts when he sees Narcissa fall to Sentry's billy club. WHen he turns tail to try to escape, Aurora grabs him and squeezes the breath out of him.

 

PRIMUS arrives a little late to the game (PRIMUS is a n arrogant pack of cowboys in my game. As Beetle likes to say, "VIPER with badges") and takes the villains off to Stronghold. Sentry warns the PRIMUS agents that Narcissa can teleport through any reflective surfaceand they need to be prepared for that. Do you think they were prepared?

 

John Barkley is immensely thankful and opens his office to them once again. He tells them he's going to start looking for a headquarters for the team (which may or may not include the as-yet unconfirmed Blade Dancer) andwants them to start working on the mysterious "wolfman" case that resulted in two mutilations over the past ten days. Barkley himself will do some looking into the information gleaned from the villainous warehouse (whipping manifests, invoices, etc that define a few overseas manufacturing plants that made deliveries to the warehouse).

 

 

Our next episode : Subway Showdown

 

((BLade Dancer's player couldn't be here, so we went ahead with two heroes once more. THere was some more variety with the new player, but three players will make a world of difference. I had some GM guilt for throwing a mentalist into the mix, but Aurora had some mental defense (at my suggestion) and I was liberal with the breakout rolls so as not to create a totaly unfair environment for the PCs. I forestalled the "final engagement" with Nanomancer because I wanted to have all the players there. Instead, we played out the Subway Showdown encounter, which I planned to run after the first episode comncluded. All-in-all, it was a good session, with a new player being introduced that gave the game a new look.))

 

Here's a picture of Deathwish, who was once a character of mine. He actually makes a better villain than a hero, even if I had to change some of his disadvantages to make him a little more unsavory.

[Beetle]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

Mind control is evil. Especially since Aurora and Sentry were pulling their punches on her because she looked so fragile, only to discover she's much tougher than she looks. We won't make that mistake the next time we see her.

 

Still, it wasn't as painful as the "foul tip" Sentry made on Ankylosaur's grenade (missed the missile deflect roll by one...)

[Shigeru]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

OK. I am bumping this because I haven't updated it and we've played a few sessiosn since. I will update this week.

[pinecone]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

Cool...looking foward to it...

[Beetle]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

Since Shigeru hasn't gotten around to posting the official update, here's the unofficial one -

 

The as-of-yet-unnamed hero group was called upon to capture Ankylosaur and later to prevent villains from messing with a nuclear power plant. As usual, the lovely and talented Sentry did all the work herself, getting no help at all from the other two so-called heroes, who frankly just take up space. If it wasn't for Sentry carrying them, the entire public would know how useless they are. But fortunately for us all, Sentry is there to unselfishly save the day and allow the unworthy to take the credit.

 

At least that's how I remember it...

[Shigeru]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

I am totally unreliable. SOrry.

 

I will post this weekend.

[Shigeru]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

OK, after a log hiatus I'm going to post my best recollection of events:

 

Episode 3b : Subway Showdown

 

When last we left our intrepid heroes, they had started to work on the mysterious "wolfman" killings. With no real leads, the heroes patrol the streets and skies near the sites of the previous kilings. Sentry spots a van with some shady looking characters in it parked outside of a subway station and decides to investigate. Aurora is called on her cell phone (hey, heroes on a budget) and she arrives promptly.

 

The heroines follow the trenchoated figures into the subway and watch as they have close and animated conversations with the subway patrons, many of whom leave the station. But when one of the patrons, an older man, starts a fight with the thugs, the duo decide to take action.

 

As soon as they close in, they also see...coming down the suibway tracks...a "wolfman" that goes by the name of Fenris. Aurora flies over to take him on while Sentry begins dispatching the agents rather handily with sidekicks and batons upside the noggin.

 

While Aurora is seemingly having it easy ("poor" Fenris can't hurt this young woman), from the other end of the subway comes the mechanical sound of an armored hulk. Sentry surely groans as she recognizes the pattern of fotsteps to be her old nemesis...Ankylosaur.

 

Ankylosaur makes his presence felt with the mighty thumping of his grenade-launcher tail. Sentry just missed the projectile with her baton, swinging for the bleachers and just catching a piece of it. The resulting explosion sends Sentry flying...and recovering. Aurora grabs Fenris on a bear hug and squeeze him into unconsciousness (soon to become a signature move).

 

Then Ankylosaur starts in with Aurora and its a pitched fight, as they are both very tough and can take a boatload of punishment. They trade blows (and grenades) until Sentry comes back for more and Ankylosaur recognizes his tough position. He drops a smoke grenade on the groups and barrells his was down the subway station to freedom.

 

The two heroes take Fenris to the east coast stronghold facility and also speak with John Barkley, who is excited to announce to the press that the "werewolf killer" has been apprehended. The thugs, it turns out, are undercover VIPER agents...and the plot begins to thicken like a thick thickener.

 

Episode 4a : Call Me a Doctor

((This was actually part two of session three. Its was a very productive time, though Bladedancer's player wasn't there. The trio finally appear in full in episode 4, though they still don't have a name. RIght now they are operating as an UNTIL Strike Tem for the most part, though Bladedancer doesn't really have or want any lasting affiliations with them.

 

THe next Episode is another two-parter because it furthers both the "werewolf killer"/VIPER plot and the Nanomancer plot. SOme subplots also start to arise that the players may or may not be aware of...))

[Beetle]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

That was a painful combat. I don't think I've ever had a character take that many consecutive recoveries (missed the deflect roll by *1* - aaarrrgghh!). Maybe Sentry should've taken Foxbat as a hunted instead. Fortunately Aurora was more than up to the challenge.

[Beetle]

Re: Live Free or Game

 

Mega Update

 

To commemorate the change in GMs from Shigeru to yours truly, it’s time to update everybody with what’s been happening with “Live Free or Game” – this is to the best of my recollection, some details or sequences may be off. It will be Sentry/Plasma specific, because those are the parts I remember best. Episode titles (after the next one) are mine. Do not use heavy machinery while reading. Your mileage may vary. Offer void in New Mexico. Maine residents must add sales tax.

 

Episode 4a – Call me a Doctor

 

Soon after the subway fight, Ankylosaur blows up a local supermarket. Sentry and Aurora investigate and learn that the villain apparently targeted a specific cashier with his grenade. While investigating the crime scene, Sentry is confronted by a teenaged boy in a costumer similar to hers who declares himself her sidekick. She tries to discourage him nicely, but when that fails brings him back to UNTIL to let John Barkley deal with the kid (who is eventually returned to his mom)

 

The full team (still without a name) assembles to research the “werewolf” victims (now thought to be the work of Fenris) and see if they share any similarities with each other and with Ankylosaur’s victim. It turns out they had all been to the same health clinic recently. The first one to visit was the first killed, the second was next to die and so on. The heroes go to the clinic to discover that the doctor who treated those, Dr. Timothy Blank, was not a regular staffer and hadn’t been seen in some time. They got a list of other patients who had been seen by the doctor, and Aurora was horrified to see her mom’s name on the list.

 

The team decided to split up and bring the former patients in for protective custody before Viper could have them killed. When Sentry visited the person who was likely next on the hit list, she was shocked to discover that he was undergoing a transformation into a snake like being. Suddenly, the reason why Viper was killing these people was clear – they were covering their tracks. Rather than being placed in protective custody, the patients were sent Massachusetts General Hospital for observation. The doctors there were able to slow the transformation, but couldn’t reverse it.

 

In order to get a lead on Dr. Blank, Sentry used her knowledge of the criminal world to establish contact with a Viper agent. She was tipped off that Blank had a headquarters in the New Hampshire woods that was staffed by a few Viper agents. They also learned that Blank was hiring mercenary supervillains.

 

The entire team went to New Hampshire and converged on the headquarters. The Viper agents were subdued, although they did manage to knock Bladedancer unconscious before the were beaten. Blank wasn’t there, but the captured agents said he was due back with some superpowered muscle.

 

Soon afterwards, an aircar descended and Pulsar and Morningstar emerged (along with a third villain, but I don’t remember who that was). Bladedancer fought Morningstar in a sideroom. Since he was away from his squeamish (code v. killing) comrades, he attacked the demonic Morningstar with the full power of his sword, easily defeating him. Sentry defeated the unknown villain, while Aurora dealt with Pulsar. He was finished off just in time, as he was just starting to notice similarities between Sentry and the vanished supervillain Lynx (they worked together a couple of times and dated once – he rolled a 3 on his Int/Per roll). Unfortunately, Dr. Blank was not with his newly hired thugs.