Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

[HawksmoorSD]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

Whats it say about the current state of comics when I hugely enjoy reading this more than almost anything I've seen from the big two in years?

 

Awesome stuff Theron!!

[Theron]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

Thanks for the compliments folks. I'm lucky to have quality players who keep showing up every session.

 

Though today, I nearly didn't. We had two last-minute cancellations (The Magician and Rex Radium, one due to a sick person and one due to a terminally ill cat), so I had to do some quick shuffling to make things work. Due to my own underestimation of the amount of violence the PCs can muster and the shortage of players, it ended up being a really short game session.

 

We picked up with Bard, now disguised as Herculan, making his way into the deserted warehouse. Oracle, in Artemis mode, successfully sneaked in through a back entrance and made her way to a shadowy catwalk. I decided that since Utility didn't own the building and because he does suffer from overconfidence, he didn't have the place under electronic surveillance. Rex Radium and The Magician conveniently watched another back entrance off camera, and ByteTorrent 2.0 (we revised his character), waited near an electrical outlet so he could teleport into the building.

 

Bard found a card table with some chairs sitting under the lone light in the building. A voice spoke out from the darkness, 'Welcome, Herculan. Take a seat. The others should be here shortly.'

 

Utility came into the lighted area, 'You and your colleagues handled yourselves quite professionally today. Considering the unexpected element, everything went according to plan. We’ll have a short debriefing once the others arrive and then I’ll put through the wire transfer to your account for the remainder of your fee.'

 

At that moment, Lodestone entered the room. Seeing the faux Herculan, he immediately shouted, 'Utility! It's a trap! Herculan was captured, I saw it myself!'

 

Utility used a held action (he may be overconfident, but he's no fool) to trigger his spring boots and leap to the catwalk, dropping a tangle bomb on Bard in the process. 'Lodestone, could you be a bigger idiot? I knew it wasn't Herculan from the moment he arrived. His infrared signature was entirely off the mark. I deduced it was our interloper from this afternoon and had hoped to take him down quietly. Oh well. I expect his friends are outside, you may want to defend yourself.'

 

With that, we entered Phase 12. ByteTorrent 'ported into the building, but came out on a wall behind a stack of pallets and had no line of sight on the villains. Utility, entirely focused on Bard (Oracle beat his Per roll by 4) unleashes a sonic attack on the beefy hero, hurting him, but not enough to stun him. Bard breaks the entangle, and Oracle draws a bead and shoots Utility in the back. For enough damage to put him down to 4 Stun. Followed by 7" of knockback. Off the catwalk. In one shot, he went from full Stun to -13. Goodnight, Irene.

 

Lodestone wisely decided that discretion was the better part of valor. He raised a force wall to block his exit and ran for the door. ByteTorrent phased through the wall after him and attempted to blast him with his electrical discharge power. Unfortunately, it bounced off Lodestone's force field. More unfortunately, Lodestone's magnetic wave blasted ByteTorrent into Diagnostic Mode. But hesitating to attack the Digital Hero turned out to be his undoing, as it gave Oracle and Bard time to catch up with him and knock him out.

 

Meanwhile, a slightly singed Magician and Rex Radium came dragging up, having had an off-camera scuffle with some illusionary creatures. Mirage was never spotted and got away cleanly.

 

As per his PsychLim, Utility folded like a paper tent. He told them he'd been hired for this job by someone calling himself Interface. They never met face to face. He was given the mission specs, the radioactive isotope (stolen frin NCSI way back in Episode #1) and free rein in hiring operatives. All business was conducted via the internet and wire transfers. That's all he knows.

 

While waiting for the cops to show, Bard tried to talk both villains into taking up new careers in the entertainment industry ('Utility, you could be one heck of a special effects guy.') Much to the relief of all and sundry, the authorities did turn up shortly thereafter, to haul the criminals off to jail.

 

Returning to Guardians HQ, the heroes found someone waiting for them, the Great Galsworthy, sitting in the control center with his feet up on the monitor board. 'Hey guys. Nice digs. Whose the side of beef?'

 

Despite Oracle's reluctance to welcome Bard to their ranks, the others introduced him as the newest Guardian. Galsworthy continues, 'I wanted to let you know, I've picked up some references to that Wondralore thing. All very old and rather dubious. But if my contact in the Blavatsky Society is to be believed, it's some sort of psionic focus that dates back to the alleged ancient land of Lemuria. So Zorran is, at least, consistent in his schtick, even if he’s out of his tree…"

 

The heroes discussed ways to track down Zorran and the Wondralore. They decided to look into records of his past crimes to see if any sort of pattern emerges. They then adjourned for the night.

 

*****

 

Meanwhile, aboard a private jet, a mysterious woman watches news footage of Byte Torrent in action. A voice comes over the speaker: ‘Are you getting this, Chang Mei? Unless I miss my guess, NCSI’s progress on the artificial intelligence front is much further along than we’d anticipated. It appears to be an independent entity composed of data. Clearly, such an entity would be of great value to the Chinese people.’

 

‘Of course, Minister. Leave this to me. It’s been too long since I’ve visited America.’

 

*****

 

Cut to Rex Radium’s office. Channing Meadows hires him to follow the man he suspects of trying to seduce his wife and bilk her out of a fortune. Some phony con-artist fortune teller named…

 

*****

 

Cut to Alexandria Booker, having dinner at Aqua with her boyfriend, Trevor. This is clearly an apology dinner. Specifically, for being an overbearing glory-hound. How could he have been so self-absorbed? He blames the pressures of bringing the exhibit to the museum, of trying to live up to their ridiculous marketing hype. He never should have said those things, he should have requested, no, DEMANDED she get equal credit. Also, he has exciting news. He’s gotten a lead on the origins of the golem. It’s somehow connected to the stolen sphere, he’s sure of it. He’s working on getting an expedition together to the Indian Ocean and…

 

*****

 

Cut to Club Sonic and the place is SCREAMING. Loud dance music fills the air. It’s Super Saturday, and that means the place is full of people dressed up as superheroes. And tonight, there’s even a couple of real ones, as Bard gets his dance on with a bevy of lovely lasses (three Flares and a Rose, so far) and ByteTorrent looks on, trying to comprehend this odd ritual behavior.

 

*****

 

Cut to Rex Radium staking out a mansion on Nob Hill. Far better than the digs The Magician has, but definitely in the neighborhood to which he aspires. He’s doing a reading for a society lovely, the beauteous and oh-so-charming and Olivia Meadows. The lights are dim, there’s champagne on ice, and magic in the air.

 

Just as the reading is wrapping up, something happens. The last card comes up the Nine of Swords – an abrupt about-face. Olivia screams and faints. Her body fades, and an enormous blast of mystical energy explodes from the spot.

 

When the special effects clear, Olivia is gone. Standing in her stead is a vision straight out of Hell. It looks VAGUELY like Olivia, but taller, elongated, clad in nothing but flames, an unearthly beauty that tugs at his very soul, a demonic succubus given flesh.

 

‘I thank you, mortal. Your trifling ritual was precisely what I needed to complete my transition to this realm. For my gratitude, I grant you – oblivion!’

 

Next Time: Now Comes The Hell-Queen!

[Tom]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

'must spread rep around, yadda, yadda, yadda'...

 

Nice handling of the missing players...

 

I'm using the Battlegrounds stuff as backstory in my own game. May even let my PCs rescue the Champs if I get desperate for a storyline...

[Theron]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

I'm not sure if I'm going to go all the way with Battlegrounds, to tell you the truth. I really, REALLY dislike some of the elements in the theme park adventure (they're just way too dark for the campaign I want to run), and Rex Radium rather easily sidestepped the radioactive tracking angle due to his Atomic Vision.

 

Also, Interface is kind of a gimp, really.

[Tom]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

I'm not sure if I'm going to go all the way with Battlegrounds, to tell you the truth. I really, REALLY dislike some of the elements in the theme park adventure (they're just way too dark for the campaign I want to run), and Rex Radium rather easily sidestepped the radioactive tracking angle due to his Atomic Vision.

 

Also, Interface is kind of a gimp, really.

I've never felt up to trying to run Black Harlequin, even though I tend to run darker games. Ignoring the theme park should be easy enough, or replacing it with something else, unless you want to make BH a little more like the Cesar Romero version of the Joker...

[ParagonAlpha]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

I've never felt up to trying to run Black Harlequin' date=' even though I tend to run darker games. Ignoring the theme park should be easy enough, or replacing it with something else, unless you want to make BH a little more like the Cesar Romero version of the Joker...[/quote']

 

Remember true believers, if Black Harlequin is too grim and dark for your campaign you can always replace him with the one and only...

 

 

 

 

FOXBAT!

 

Foxbat for Prez '16

[Theron]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

Remember true believers, if Black Harlequin is too grim and dark for your campaign you can always replace him with the one and only...

 

 

 

 

FOXBAT!

 

Foxbat for Prez '16

 

True. Of course, Foxbat already plays a significant part in one chapter of "Battlegrounds." However, at this point, I think the campaign is heading in a slightly different direction, so it's not that important for me to stick to that plotline.

[Theron]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

Episode 6: Comes the Hell-Queen!

 

When last we left our heroes, they were trying to engage in some downtime. Oracle was dining with her boyfriend Trevor Stephens, who told her about an expedition he was trying to organize to unlock the secrets of "Lemurian" artifacts. Bard had taken ByteTorrent with him to a local hotspot and was partying it up with a bevy of beauties while the AI looked on with increasing puzzlement. Rex Radium was staking out the home of a wealthy woman, who's husband feared was about to be bilked out of a fortune by none other than The Magician, in his secret ID as a tarot card reader to the wealthy.

 

Things were going fine until the reading ended, his hostess turned into a demonic hellbeast, and the house exploded...

 

Rex rushed into the house and found the Hell-Queen standing over the limp form of The Magician. Attempting some banter to disarm her, Rex managed to attract her attention in the form of unholy chains of force enwrapping him. Still, the Glowing Gumshoe managed to get an emergency call off to his fellow New Guardians.

 

Meanwhile, the Hell-Queen's emergence manifested in what felt like an earthquake to the rest of Bay City. Alexandria Booker ducked out of her date and switched to Oracle form in the alley. Noticing the bright glow of what appeared to be a fire nearby, and getting Rex's call on her radio, she flew towards it.

 

In Club Sonic, the entire place started shaking, and then the lights and music went out. Bard used his incredible presence (along with ByteTorrent's ever-glowing form) to calm the crowd and lead them to safety. Once clear, ByteTorrent gave directions to Bard and teleported to the house.

 

While this was going on, the Hell-Queen continued to heap abuse and pain upon The Magician and Rex, knocking the mage out, but doing little harm to the Atomic Detective. ByteTorrent arrived and attempted to zap her to no avail. Oracle landed, shifted to the aspect of Artemis and shot the she-demon, but her silver arrow had no effect. Clearly, the Hell-Queen was made of sterner stuff than anything the New Guardians had faced to date.

 

Bard finally made it to the scene, leaping in from a distance and interposing himself between the Hell-Queen and The Magician. Given his...erm...godly abilities to persuade women, he decided to try charming her.

 

"What vision of loveliness is this? Come fair maid, let me embrace you!"

 

The ensuing roll on his PRE Attack was actually sufficient to garner a moment's hesitation. This was all he needed, as he launched into a Grab, which succeeded.

 

Caught in Bard's mighty thews, The Hell-Queen decided the time was right to manifest her power more fully and grew to her full 50' height, shaking off the Glamorous Godling and further wrecking the house. Still, it proved a much-needed distraction, and the smell of immortal on Bard caught her attention.

 

"What an interesting little morsel we have here," she said, licking her lips. "I think you'll do nicely roasted in hellfire," as she unleashed a blast on him.

 

Bard weathered said blast fairly easily. His grandmother was very serious about making him unkillable.

 

"I tire of these gnats!" the Hell-Queen shouted, "My ascension awaits!" With that, flaming wings emerged from her back and she took swiftly to the skies.

 

Before he came around, The Magician had a bit of a vision. He was floating in a formless Ditko-verse, and three gigantic shadowy figures looked down on him. A female voice said, "Are you sure this is the one?" A voice, clearly that of The Great Galsworthy replied, "I believe he may be. Certainly he has power. But this...incident shows how little control, how little understanding he truly has." A deep male voice interjected, "Understanding YOU must provide. It is your --" "GREAT. DESTINY. Yes, I know."

 

The New Guardians took a moment to lick their wounds and recover. They considered their options. The Hell-Queen shrugged off their individual attacks without a thought. If she concentrated her ire on anyone but Bard, she'd likely take them out. Clearly, they would have to work together to take her down, but even that might not be enough. Rex put out an all points call on the Guardians Emergency Channel. Rica Jankowski of the GUARD replied almost immediately. Informed that this was a supernatural assault rather than a natural disaster, she put her forces on immediate alert and said she'd have them try to intercept the demon.

 

The Magician drew The Hierophant from his deck and had a vision of The Hell-Queen emerging from an enormous fiery pit in McLaren Park, amidst a hellish mockery of Bay City. Clearly, this would come to pass if they could not stop her.

 

ByteTorrent summoned the G-Wing from Treasure Island and they prepared to chase the demon down. As they flew toward her location, they noticed an a path about 8 km across that had been transformed into, for lack of a better term, a Hellscape. Buildings glowed with evil luminescence. The sky was a hideous reddish black. What looked like lava oozed between cobblestones on some of the older streets. And hideous shadows chased down normal people in the streets and alleys.

 

Wisely, they decided to land the plane and use The Magician's Chariot card to fly the rest of the way. (Had they spent much more time in the Hellscape, the plane would have been rather horribly changed.) Landing the Chariot near the Hell-Queen, they attempted to launch a simultaneous attack at the gigantic demoness.

 

Unfortunately, only two of the team made their Coordinate rolls, so things didn't come off so well. They stung her, but not enough to do much harm. Pushing on, they tried with all their might. ByteTorrent discovered his electrical discharges did some damage. Bard found he could hurt her a little, though at great expense to himself. Meanwhile, the Hell-Queen continued to bombard them. The Magician blinded her with The Sun, and Bard finally hit her hard enough to knock her down. Having enough, and knowing her goal was nearby, the demoness took to the air, letting forth one final strike on Bard, her whip-like "Wracking Death." It struck the godling hard enough to actually do Body. And 92 Stun as well. It may not have been a Wracking Death for him, but it was a one-way ticket to Slumberland. Enwrapping herself in a globe of hellfire, she rose to clear her senses, then flew towards the park.

 

Before the heroes could pursue, a voice called out of the hellish night, "Did somebody call for help?"

 

Yes, the cavalry had arrived, in the form of Technocrat, GraniteMan, Winter Dragon, and Summer Cloud, for members of China's Tiger Squad, who "just happened" to be visiting the Chinese consulate.

 

(Which prompted Rex Radium to mutter, "If it ain't swamis, it's commies...")

 

Also, The Crimelords (Dreadnaught, Tiger Lily, Starflare, Morgaine the Mystic, and Warhammer), who called out, "We may work the other side of the law, but it's our town too!"

 

Also. also, The Crusader, a modern knight wielding a very ancient sword, with the immortal Cateran in tow. The Crusader (in my best bad Patrick Warburton voice) was worked into a holy froth wanting to get at the demon before she got away. Oracle offered to fly him up and drop him on her, which he gladly accepted. He leaped onto the Hell-Queen, striking her with his ancient sword Hasufring, and all exploded in a bright light and unhallowed noise.

 

When the assembled superhumans could see again, there was no sign of Crusader or the Hell-Queen. However, there was an enormous pit in the center of the park, nearly 100 meters across, with a sickly glow shining from somewhere in its depths. Clearly, The Magician's vision was coming true, and sooner rather than later.

 

The New Guardians began comparing notes with the other supers. Technocrat took readings on the pit and could not detect a bottom to it. Morgaine the Mystic shared her knowledge of demons to shed some light on the situation. "Hell-Queen" is not only a title, but it is a position that is heavily contested by the denizens of the lower planes. The ascension of a Hell-Queen involves a challenge, which is fought out on the material plane. The last ascension was fought in AD 79, near the Roman city of Herculaneum. If such devastation were unleashed in Bay City, millions would perish.

 

Beyond that, she didn't have a lot of information (Morgaine's magic is natural and while she has some occult knowledge, she's hardly an expert). But she knew someone who would know, someone The Magician knew well. The proprietor of Mason's Curiosities, the very shop where Gavin Crowley bought the tarot deck that changed his life. The Magician, Oracle and ByteTorrent, with Morgaine in tow set off for the shop. Rex and Bard stayed behind with a newly-arrived contingent of GUARD troops, in order to coordinate a perimeter, keep an eye on the supervillains and the commies, and rescue any stragglers from the shadow demons.

 

While scouting the area, Rex found Crusader's sword, though there was no sign of the hero. He called aside Agent Jankowski and left the sword in GUARD's care, rather than let it fall into potentially wrong hands. He also asked her if she'd noticed an upswing in magic-related incidents. "I guess. I really hadn't thought about it. Back when Dragon Knight was here, we were fighting giant robots every other week."

 

Although it was well past the closing time of Mason's Curiosities, the others found it lit by candlelight. Old Mr. Mason was sitting at the sales counter reading from a musty old tome. He welcomed the heroes and extracted an oath from Morgaine that she wouldn't steal anything, then offered them some tea.

 

"What have you done, lad?" he asked.

 

"I'm not sure. But a demon's been unleashed and she's trying to complete a ritual of ascension. Do you know anything about that?"

 

"A bit. But we're waiting for those who know a bit more."

 

Oracle busied herself looking at all the strange and wonderful goods inhabiting the shop's shelves and ByteTorrent speed-read his way through half a dozen grimoires before three figures silently apported into the room: two men and a woman, hooded as in The Magician's earlier vision. The shorter man immediately revealed himself as Galsworthy the Great.

 

"Why didn't you answer when I called you?"

 

"We've been in...difficult terrain. Thing's aren't working properly there."

 

"Do you know what you've done?"

 

"I think so. How do I stop it?"

 

The taller man spoke, "Indeed, lad. That is the question. How do you stop it? Removing his hood, he revealed well-groomed patrician features. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Aleister Thoth, Magister of The Circle."

[Theron]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

New game yesterday. All players present and it went pretty well.

 

Episode 7: Heroes In Hell (Or A Reasonable Facsimile Thereof)

 

At Mason's Curiosities, The Magician related the events of the last few hours to Aleister Thoth. After venting his displeasure at our hero, who the Circle (rightly) considers to be nothing more than a talented dabbler whose in over his head, the following information emerges:

 

Eurydon (aka the Hell-Queen) is clearly challenging for the Chalcedony Throne. She's opened a way from the mortal plane to the netherworld and is mounting a challenge to the sitting Hell-Queen. When the challenge is delivered, the two will emerge from the pit and fight it out in the mortal realm. Devastation and loss of life on a grand scale are inevitable.

 

However, it appears the Crusader hurt her, perhaps quite badly. If Eurydon goes to ground, a group of heroic souls might just be able to stop her before the challenge comes to fruition...

 

Meanwhile, back and the pit, Bard was making eyes at Summer Cloud when he heard a familiar voice in the back of his head. "Grandson, we would have words with thee..."

 

Time stood still, apart from Bard and his grandmother, the Lorelei.

 

"Look at you. Have you lost weight? Are you eating? I just don't know about all this running around protecting mortals. It's...it's so uncouth. They should be worshiping you, not expecting you to help them."

 

"I like helping them. I have friends here."

 

"Mortal friends."

 

"BLOOD friends."

 

"Tsk. Fine, don't listen to me. But do you know what this is?" she asked, gesturing towards the Hellpit.

 

"A big magical hole in the ground."

 

"It's a gateway. To the realm of Hel. And if you take that road, my magics cannot protect you. And I could not bear your loss. Please, dear boy, leave. Go find someplace safe. I've seen these things happen before, and honestly, the lives of a few thousand humans are worth the safety of a god."

 

"I'm not leaving my friends, grandmother."

 

Lorelei sighed. "No, I suppose you wouldn't. It's a family failing," she muttered vanishing in the sound of a waterfall.

 

Time reasserted itself.

 

Rex Radium found himself talking with the Cateran. "So," she said, "Ye think to call yerselves the Guardians, do ye?"

 

"That's the plan."

 

"Y'know, I fought the originals more than once."

 

"You're far too young to have done that."

 

"Show's what you know, Laddie. Some of us are just better at hiding our age, whether we want to or not."

 

Back at Mason's, Thoth asked about Crusader's sword, Hasufring. Did it vanish with him? Of course, since radios don't seem to work in and out of the Hellscape, there was no way of checking in with Rex or Bard. Or was there.

 

"Leave this to me," said Galsworthy the Great.

 

"REX! REX! REX! ARE YOU THERE REX?

 

The words resonated in the Golden Gumshoe's brain with a volume that rattled his fillings.

 

"What? Who?"

 

IT'S ME, GALSWORTHY! I'M TALKING TO YOU MIND TO MIND. MY CONTROL'S NOT TOO GOOD, CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY?

 

"Yes. Loud and clear. With an emphasis on the loud."

 

GREAT! HEY, DID ANYONE HAPPEN TO FIND CRUSADER'S SWORD? WE THINK IT MIGHT BE IMPORTANT!

 

"Yeah, I found it. The GUARD's holding onto it for safekeeping."

 

GREAT! WE'LL BE HEADING BACK SOON! DON’T LET THE CATERAN ANYWHERE NEAR IT, ALRIGHT?

 

Rex went off to find some aspirin or bourbon for his sudden headache.

 

The crew from Mason's returned with a basic plan. Follow Eurydon into the Netherworld and take her out before the challenge begins. No problem, right?

 

Oracle retrieved the Crusader’s sword. Cateran and Morgaine volunteered to accompany the Guardians. Technocrat began to offer, but Graniteman upbraided her, so she informed them their mandate would not allow her to join them.

 

“However, I believe I can provide some assistance, in the interest of international good will. ByteTorrent, it occurs to me that you will need to maintain your power levels on this expedition. This is a portable cold fusion generator. It should be quite sufficient to your needs.” ByteTorrent accepted the device with gratitude and The Magician summoned his Chariot for the trip through the Hellpit. The gathered heroes (and not-so-heroes) boarded the magical vehicle and plunged into the pit.

 

The trip was a nightmare. Many nightmares. Ego rolls were required, with failure costing PRE for several hours. They arrived amidst a classical vision of hell. A dark sky lit by lakes of fire, with looming mountains in the distance, while horrid wails and strange noises echo through the gloom.

 

Hasufring glowed like a beacon in the dim light, providing probably too much illumination. It also revealed a very clear trail of demonic ichor glowing in the sword’s holy light, providing an easy way of tracking Eurydon.

 

Of course, it also provided an easy way for roving bands of demons to locate them. Three flying creatures and a large being of shadowy evil (three demonlings and a shadow demon from the Bestiary) attacked, but proved relatively ineffective against so much superpowered opposition (especially the Withering Glare of Aphrodite – by the book Bestiary demons have a serious deficit in ECV and Mental Defense). Their quick and decisive victory gained them a reprieve from further attacks, but they knew the eyes of the Netherworld were upon them.

 

Eventually, the trail took them to a vast lake of blood. Flocks of enormous vampire bats swarmed the shore drinking their fill. In the distance upon a lonely island, a single profane spire jutted towards the sky. The island was joined to the shore by a long bridge, crafted of human bones. Blocking their path, a demon of ice and two immense white-grey hounds.

 

This was the demon Glacievex and his hoarhounds. The fight was intense, but brief, and Bard struck the demon most mightily, knocking it senseless, while the others took down the demonic hounds.

 

Crossing the bridge was merely unsettling. Setting foot on the island was entirely disgusting, as it was revealed to be an enormous blood clot. As the heroes squelched their way toward the tower, they heard the screams of a man in agony coming from within.

 

Entering the tower (the door was standing open), they found themselves in a great hall, dominated by an enormous table and lit by strange purple torches. In the back of the room, strapped to a grill and roasting over the same purple fire was the writhing form of the Crusader! Seated at the table was an immense, horrific, bloated…thing. Sort of a cross between the Blob, Mojo, Baron Harkonnen, and Hedonism-Bot. Before the heroes could act, the vile monstrosity spoke.

 

“Ah. The interlopers. Eurydon said you’d be along. I see Glacievex was a bigger disappointment than I’d thought.” Gesturing towards Crusader, “Have you met my dinner?”

 

“Oh, where are my manners. You may call me the Gourmand. And I believe I shall call you desert. And you, brunch.”

 

Oracle immediately went on the defensive, brandishing Hasufring. The Demon recoiled, revealing his cowardice. He quickly agreed to let them pass freely, with Crusader, in exchange for his continued existence. “Just keep that thing away from me.”

 

Gourmand spilled the beans on Eurydon’s plans and location. She’s made for Pandemonium, the great city, mustering her followers on the plain of Baal-Sagoth. For all the good it will do her.

 

“What do you mean by that?”

 

“She has no chance. Her pride is her undoing. That…thing…cut her deeply. I did what I could to heal her, but she will not survive another such strike.

 

In truth, that would be for the best. Lakshvir may a tyrannical bitch, but she’s a dependable tyrannical bitch, and Eurydon is capricious on a good day. This entire thing is probably over some fallen angel they sparred over a millennia ago.”

 

Crusader lived, but was far from healthy. The Magician stabilized him, but he could not restore him to consciousness. The Cateran offered to carry him and keep him safe.

 

With the Gourmand’s directions, they found the Plains of Baal-Sagoth, where sits a rude camp of lesser demons, demonlings, and imps opposite a massed array of an army of the damned. In its center stood a pavilion of flame, where Eurydon presumably awaits Lakhsvi’s arrival so they can burst forth and battle on the mortal plain.

 

So, next time, all the heroes have to do is infiltrate a camp full of demons and take her down. While an army from hell watches. How hard can that be?

[Theron]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

And today saw the finale of the Hell-Queen Saga. We began this one where we left off, with the heroes looking down from a vantage point on Eurydon's encampment upon the Plain of Baal-Shagoth. Lakshvir (her intended opponent) advancing upon the scene with her massive army in tow.

 

The Cateran stayed back to guard Crusader. (This was a GM call, because I really didn't want to deal with a powerful sword-wielding NPC who was significantly faster than everyone else in the party.) The Magician surveyed the camp with his Mystic Vision. It was swarming with magic. Eurydon appeared to be disguising the extent of her injuries with some form of illusion. The Guardians debated their options briefly. What if they could find some way to convince Eurydon to abandon the challenge? (Answer: she's dead. They'll hunt her down and kill her.) What was the fate of the woman Eurydon used as her mortal vessel? (Unknown, but probably something bad.) What will happen if they simply knock her out and give her to Lakshmir? (Unknown, but the challenge would probably be off. Assuming, of course, they could knock out a demon of Eurydon's magnitude.)

 

Finally, Oracle tired of the discussion. Taking up Hasufring, she charged the camp, getting the attention of a couple of sentry demons, one of whom blasted her with hellfire, knocking her off her feet. Byte-Torrent went desolid and ran after to create a distraction and Bard rushed to Oracle's side, helping her back up. Morgaine the Mystic and Rex Radium provided covering fire, while The Magician turned invisible to just about every available sense and began creeping up on the camp. An enormous demon hound snapped at Bard, missing him narrowly.

 

Hellfire continued to rain down on Bard and Oracle with little effect. It also rained down on Morgaine with significant effect, rendering her unconscious in a single blast. Rex hit the gigantic hellhound hard enough to knock it down, which gave Bard and Oracle the opening they needed. While Byte-Torrent caught Eurydon's attention (and a lightning bolt that did PATHETIC damage), Bard grabbed the sword-wielding goddess and leaped with all his might, landing at the feet of the demoness. Oracle swung Hasufring and connected solidly. Eurydon screamed and rocked on her feet, but stayed up. The look she gave Oracle was death incarnate.

 

A hellhound snapped at Bard, missing, but a blast from a flying demon put him on the ground in front of the slavering beast, robbing him of any chance of a follow-up strike on Eurydon.

 

Though she'd struck first, Oracle was far from unhurt. The hellish radiance surrounding Eurydon burned her badly, and she knew the demon would strike her next. If she attempted to dodge, there was a good chance Eurydon would miss. But if she did, she'd give up her chance to finish the demon once and for all. In a moment worthy of the aspect of Athena she bore, she stood fast, waiting for Eurydon's cut.

 

When it struck it was quick and clean. Too clean, in fact, as the GM rolled 23 Body and 0 Stun. Yes, Oracle was badly, BADLY wounded, but she was also entirely conscious and had an even more badly wounded demon in her sights. Hasufring sang one last time. 22 Body and 88 Stun(!). Even with Eurydon's defenses, it was more than enough.

 

Eurydon exploded in a blast of white light and a huge cloud of bone dust. When it cleared, the Guardians found themselves standing by a large crater, surrounded by a demon army, with a terrible visage looking down on them. With the body of a enormous spider and a three faced head on a long, flexible neck, Lakshvir gazed down upon the heroes.

 

"Eurydon's interlopers. You have robbed me of my plaything. What am I to make of this. What am I to do with you?"

 

"We have eliminated a threat to your rule. Further, we bring word of another who aided her. Perhaps you know of a demon who calls itself the Gourmand? All we have done, we have done to our own ends. All we ask is to return to our own realm."

 

Lakshvir barked a command in a harsh, demonic tongue and a platoon of demons flew off towards Gourmand's island. She surveyed the heroes, her glance not flinching from the unsheathed Hasufring.

 

"So you have, little mortals. My realm cannot abide that...thing," she said, gesturing towards the sword. Begone."

 

The heroes found themselves standing on the promontory of rock stretching out over the pit. It no longer glowed. GUARD officer Jankoski took one look at the bloody and burned Oracle and called for a medic. Before one could arrive, The Magician healed her.

 

"WE CAME, WE SAW, WE KICKED IT'S ASS!" Bard shouted.

 

"But you've only been gone ten minutes!" Jankowski exclaimed.

 

"Ten minutes is all it takes," the egotastic hero replied.

 

The Crusader regained consciousness and took his sword back. After a moment, he said to Oracle, "Hasufring said you did good, pagan. I shall have to...pray on this." He saluted and limped away with Cateran in tow.

 

Technocrat collected her cold fusion generator from ByteTorrent. They briefly discussed the different flow of time in the Netherworld, where approximately six hours had passed.

 

Aleister Thoth and Galsworthy arrived and noted the Hellscape seemed to be reverting on the outskirts of the zone. The Pit remained and, although it no longer seemed to be a direct gateway to the Netherworld, it was fairly swimming with magical energies and appeared bottomless to all available forms of mundane and mystical perception. Thoth announced the Circle would keep an eye on it for supernatural threats and told The Magician he could expect to hear from them again shortly.

[bubba smith]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

very good theron

[Cardinal]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

Sounds like a fun story. Keep 'em coming.

 

How have you found dealing with Oracle? I have always found multiform characters (I assume Oracle is based on MF) to be tough in practice as they tend to rob other characters of their role.

[Theron]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

Sounds like a fun story. Keep 'em coming.

 

How have you found dealing with Oracle? I have always found multiform characters (I assume Oracle is based on MF) to be tough in practice as they tend to rob other characters of their role.

 

She's been alright so far in terms of dealing with niches. The group doesn't have a dedicated mentalist, so the Aphrodite aspect handles that, and as Athena she shares the front line fighter duties with Bard. The aspect that sees the least use is probably Artemis, but that's been as much a function of recent adventures as anything else. It helps that two of the PCs aren't heavily optimized for combat oriented (ByteTorrent and Rex Radium), and The Magician is really a jack of all trades, master of none type.

 

The biggest problem I've seen with her so far is in terms of XP expenditures, because even one or two XPs in a Multiform yield a ton of points for the alternates.

[Theron]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

Episode 8: The Christmas Cookie Caper

 

[NOTES: After the Hell-Queen multiparter, I wanted to run something lighter in tone and done-in-one. Also, the past few adventures had a lot of mystical/magical elements that were putting Rex Radium on the sidelines. Also, I realize his detective skills and man-out-of-time schtick really hadn’t gotten any spotlight time. The story hook and the bad guys for this one are cribbed from Evil Hat Productions’ “Spirit of the Season,” a supplement for their excellent pulp RPG “Spirit of the Century.” In letting Rex draw on past memories that his player had never defined, I hit on putting a method that worked pretty well – I’ll explain it at the end. Also, I had one major screwup during the combat that I’ll also mention at the end.]

 

It's several weeks after the defeat of the Hell-Queen. Life in Bay City has returned to some semblance of normal, and the Christmas holidays are approaching. Peace on Earth, good will towards men and all that. Right?

 

We start off catching up with our heroes as they settle into life as members of the Guardians. Galsworthy the Great has transformed an old laboratory into a "Supernatural Gymnasium" and is putting the young cartomancer through his paces. (Magician's player couldn't make it, so he remained off camera until the end of the session when his powers were needed).

 

Bard is having lunch with is agent, Mr. Bari Silver. “Do you realize what a marketing bonanza this is? Bard, baby. You are HOT! I’m telling you, I’m fielding twenty calls a day right now. You know that Cronen the Barbarian remake that was stalled at DreamQuest? The minute you sign, it’s green-lit.”

 

“OK, so you’re sold on doing the superhero thing for a while. I can get behind that, but you’ve got to let me help you. You’re in Silicon Valley now. right? What about a computer game? I’ve got two offers on the table right now. We can put in that demon chick you clobbered and some of those other freaks. But both of them want the rights to the rest of your posse. Who represents them?”

 

He manages to browbeat Bard into at least giving the others his card as the entrees arrive.

 

Meanwhile, back at the headquarters, Oracle (in Athena aspect) has dragged ByteTorrent down to the gym. She's convinced he needs some actual combat training and that she's the only one who can provide it.

 

"Now stop going desolid and I'll show you how to defend yourself."

 

"This entity does not understand. Desolidification is the perfect defense. This entity cannot be harmed."

 

"Do I really need to go get the refrigerator magnets again?"

 

"This entity acknowledges your point. However, this entity has developed new techniques of non-lethal response. Observe."

 

Byte-Torrent then zapped Oracle with a flash attack.

 

"Human ocular function is transported to the brain via electrical impulses. A temporary disruption of those impulses is all that is needed to render human's sightless. If this entity cannot be seen and cannot be touched, further combat technique is unnecessary."

 

Before Oracle could further respond, the local police alert went off. ByteTorrent responded: "Thank you for contacting the Guardians Emergency Line. What is the nature of your problem?"

 

"This is Sergeant Bailey of the BCPD. We've got an incident down here in the Tenderloin. Bunch of people acting like zombies, tearing up the Mission Soup Kitchen. Weird stuff. We could use some back up."

 

"Very well. We will be there momentarily." Byte-Torrent forwarded the alert to the rest of the team."

 

Bard's alert went off as the check was arriving at fēdbag.

 

“Is that the Guardians?”

 

“Yeah. There’s a zombie outbreak or something, not too far from here. I’d better…”

 

“Hold on there! I’m not just your agent, I’m a fan, baby. Love to watch you work. I’ll drive.”

 

We shift our view to the office of Rex Radium, Private Investigator. Rex is holed up inside with his memories, a copy of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and a cheap bottle of rye. He’s also got his communicator switched off. Christmas is the biggest reminder of how the world has changed and how nobody he used to know is around.

 

At the Mission Soup Kitchen, things are kind of weird. The normally harmless homeless folks who frequent the neighborhood have become mindless automatons, bent on wrecking the place. The police have set up a cordon, but are reluctant to use lethal force on them.

 

Bard and Bari pull up in his Lamborghini as the G-Wing lands. Leaping before he looks, Bard jumps into the crowd, intent on grabbing a few and carrying them to a police transport.

 

“Bah humbug! Bah humbug!” The crowd of homeless zombies mutters. They seem to be mustering their forces to attack the homeless family shelter across the street.

 

Bard easily grabs a couple of the mob, but fails to notice a skittering sound nearby until a mechanical bug drops on his head. Fortunately for all and sundry, his Asgardian nature protects him from the mind-controlling device (a Humbug). Its presence alerts the Guardians to the nature of the menace they face, as they notice similar bugs on the backs of all the zombies’ heads.

 

ByteTorrent successfully hacks into the Humbug on Bard. He’s able to determine that it’s receiving and transmitting signals to a nearby location and how to send out a command to shut them all down. Bard and Oracle continue to stem the tide while he traces the signal.

 

Meanwhile, at the Atomic Detective Agency, there’s a knock at the door.

 

A sultry female voice calls out, “Rex! It’s Velvet. I know you’re in there. Open up, I need some help!”

 

Rex opens the door, revealing Miss Velvet L’Amour, proprietress of the Velvet Lounge, one of Bay City’s more…storied establishments.

 

“Aw, Rexy, I’m sorry to bother you around Christmas, but I’ve got a problem with a tenant.”

 

Rex raised an eyebrow questioningly.

 

“No, not one of those tenants, this is a real renter. Perfesser Kibbler. Nathan Bisko Kibbler. He’s one of them genius nutcases. Rents a place up on the fourth floor of her “ahem” establishment. Leaves the girls alone, always pays his rent on time. Squirrelly, but who knows with them geniuses, yeah?”

 

“Anyway, somethin’ happened to him last night. Gloria, you know Gloria, yeah? She’s kinda sweet on the kook and went to take him some breakfast this morning. His door was unlocked and there was blood. You know I can’t get the cops involved and Gloria’s all broke up about it. Can you take a look and see if you can figure out what happened?”

 

Never one to turn down a pretty face in distress, Rex puts the bottle back in his desk drawer and hits the pavement. Since the Velvet Lounge is catty-corner to the Mission Soup Kitchen, he arrives on the scene just as ByteTorrent shut down the Humbugs. After a couple of uncomfortable questions about his communicator (he switches it back on) and seeing his allies had the situation in hand, he proceeds upstairs to Kibbler’s apartment.

 

As described, the place has clearly been rolled. There’s some blood, but not a lot of it. By the looks of things, Kibbler got clocked upside the head and carried off. There’s a trail of blood drops and what look like cookie crumbs leading towards the open fire escape window. No blood on the ladder or the ground below. Kibbler’s notes are missing and there’s no indication the guy used a computer. The strangest thing is the place is full of what looks like soot. Like someone vented a smokestack into the room. There’s an odd smell Rex just can’t quite place.

 

As Velvet said, Gloria’s a mess. All tears and sobbing. “Ernie was going to take me away from all of this! He was on the brink of somethin’ big. A cookie that could wipe out world hunger. Oh sure, laugh why don’tcha? He said it had all the vitamins a person needs! He was a genius. IS a genius! Oh no, what if he’s dead?” She starts bawling uncontrollably.

 

Back on the street, Bard calls for medical help for the homeless folks. He also writes the Mission operator a check for $20,000 to cover the damages (Bari screams in anguish off-camera). ByteTorrent locates the coordinates of the control unit a few blocks away and the heroes check it out. It’s an abandoned car. ByteTorrent runs the plates and traces them to a rental company. The car was rented by a Robert Cratchitt. There’s nothing obvious in the vehicle, but none of the assembled heroes are particularly good at detective work. Fortunately, Rex is but a call away. Taking a sample of the soot for later analysis, he made his way to the abandoned car.

 

He found some fingerprints on the steering wheel, but they didn’t match anyone named Cratchitt. They belonged to a small-time loser name Heskowitz with an outstanding warrant in Idaho. More interesting, however, was what Rex found on the floor of the car: more soot. The smell was familiar.

 

“Eww, smells like Pittsburgh,” said Bard.

 

“Yeah,” said Rex. “Like coal smoke…and Cratchitts, and…Guys!” the Glowing Gumshoe exclaimed. “I think I’ve got an idea about who we’re dealing with. It’s an old case, from my past.

 

(Cue black and white flashback)

 

Back in 1948, the great heroes of the Pulp Age were on the way out. The years and mileage had caught up to far too many. Thanks to Rex’s atomic mishap, he had a new lease on life. And a good thing it was when his path crossed with Nick Saint, the so-called “Spirit of Giving” and his Reindeer Men. Rex and Nick were working the same case from different directions and decided to combine forces to excellent effect.

 

The Bad Guys:

 

Jacques Frost: A French-Canadian explorer obsessed with lost civilizations underneath the Arctic ice. His mysterious Amulet of Oryk allowed him to locate, thaw, and revive the great beasts of the ice age.

 

Baroness Blackheart: An alchemist obsessed with immortality. She replaced her heart with a mystical furnace. It granted her long life and other powers, which she supplemented with potions of her own making.

 

You suspected they were working with the nefarious Doctor Scrooge. A nutcase who considered himself the rightful heir of (the fictional) Ebenezer Scrooge, he was a shadowy figure of immense wealth, of whom much was suspected, but little proved. He used his minions “the Cratchitts” to do his dirty work.

 

In the Christmas Caper, Rex encountered Frost when he used a mammoth to hijack a shipment of toys intended for a local orphanage. After that, Nick entered the picture, as he’d learned Baroness Blackheart had come up with a way to channel the children’s despair into greater longevity. He suspected Scrooge was involved, as the Cratchitts were assisting her, but it couldn’t be proved.

 

In the end, Rex’s knowledge of the city proved invaluable as they tracked the Baroness to her lair, a disused sub-basement of the California Academy of Science. His radioactive might coupled with the combined talents of Nick and the Reindeer Men allowed them to defeat the Baroness, Frost’s Dire Bears, and the Cratchitt’s. The toys were delivered to the tykes and no waves of despair added years to the Baroness’ life.

 

The Baroness, Frost, and the current crop of Cratchitts went to prison. Shortly thereafter, Rex took his own long nap. Since he came back, he’s been too busy to look them up.

 

Oracle looked incredulous, “Doctor Scrooge? Reindeer Men?”

 

“Hey,” Rex muttered. “Show some respect. Things were different then.”

 

ByteTorrent runs a check on the bad guys. Jacques Frost served his time, was released, and died in Nova Scotia in 1956. Baroness Blackheart drops off the radar after her release fifty years ago, and searches for Scrooge inevitably dead-end into “Christmas Carol” references.

 

“I know it sounds crazy,” Rex said, but it fits. “I’m working a missing person case. Some guy who developed a cookie that would end world hunger. His apartment was covered in this same soot. I’m sure it’s coal smoke from the Baroness’s Black Heart.”

 

“Why would anyone kidnap someone over a super-cookie?” Oracle asked?

 

“Maybe Blackheart thinks it would extend her immortality.”

 

“This entity believes there would be substantial commercial value in such a foodstuff. Is this not correct?” ByteTorrent asked.

 

“Yeah. Doctor Scrooge would want a piece of that action.”

 

“Hey guys?” Bard chimed in. “Speaking of commercial value, you know that guy who drove me over to the Mission? That was my agent. I hate to do this, but he wants to talk to you. There’s this computer game company that wants to do a Guardians game and there could be some good money in it, so I told him I’d give you his card.”

 

(Bard’s not very good at picking the right time and place for things, as you may have noticed.)

 

Deciding a sixty year old lead was better than none, the Guardians make their way to the Institute of Science. The sub-basement is still reachable by an external access-way. Furthermore, the external door had clearly been opened recently, by someone leaving a lot of soot.

 

Making their way in, they find a large dimly-lit storage room full of odd Victorian-era technology. At the far end of the room, none other than Baroness Blackheart and two men in Victorian style garb menace a whimpering man tied to a chair while a shadowy figure looks on from an oddly Victorian looking television screen.

 

Once again, proving himself the master of subtlety, Bard leaps into the room, violently showing off his strength and demanding the villains’ surrender. It does have the effect of causing a number of hidden Cratchitts to hesitate, but if has no effect at all on the emotionless Baroness (her PRE is 50 for defensive purposes). ByteTorrent goes desolid and moves into the room, hoping to draw fire. Oracle takes on the aspect of Artemis, rushes into the room and smites Baroness Blackheart with an arrow from her silver bow. It strikes true, and slams her into the television (destroying it) but it’s not enough to put down the immortal alchemist, who surveys the heroine while grasping a glass globe from her belt:

 

“Ah, the vessel of the three goddesses. Perhaps you will appreciate the Medusa’s Kiss.”

 

The glass globe breaks at Oracle’s feet and, as her fellow Guardians looked on in horror, the Olympian Avatar turns to stone! More Cratchitts enter the room, with Ether Pistols at the ready. One catches Bard in “Marley’s Chains” (an entangle), but his ally stupidly destroys the chains when he tries to shoot the Asgardian Powerhouse.

 

The Baroness unleashes the fires of the Black Heart on Bard, blasting him back, but not hurting him very badly. ByteTorrent attempts to use his Ocular Disruption on her to no avail. He then tries to taser a Cratchitt with minimal effect (his dice were comically bad).

 

Suddenly, Baroness Blackheart vanishes from view (she slipped on a ring that grants invisibility). She fires a burst from her gatling pistol at Bard, but the bullets bounce off harmlessly. Realizing discretion is the better part of valor, she uses the Cratchitts as a distraction, slugs down a flight potion, and quietly wings her way out of the room. Bereft of leadership, the Cratchitts surrender, dropping their lousy English accents as they give up.

 

While Rex ascertains that this is Professor Kibbler and that he’s basically alright, ByteTorrent contacts Galsworthy the Great, who teleports The Magician to the sub-basement. The Magician uses his healing to restore Oracle to flesh. The Guardians reunite Kibbler with Gloria. Oracle is less than pleased with what she sees at the Velvet Lounge and makes a decision regarding the computer game.

 

**********

 

Meanwhile, in Earth orbit, aboard a cloaked satellite that looks like a deranged and evil Christmas orbit, the following conversation occurs.

 

“Blast! That damnable Radium. Who let him back into the world. Oh well, no matter, there’s always next year.”

 

“What’ll we do next year, Guvnor?”

 

“The same thing we do every year, Cratchitt. Try to destroy Christmas!”

 

[END NOTES: When I was coming up with this, I wanted to tie the very pulp-style villains into Rex’s past. However, Rex’s player didn’t know any of this history, so I had to come up with a way to introduce it without spoiling the investigation stage of the story from the outset. Ultimately, I made a fake newspaper page (using a PowerPoint template I found online) featuring Rex saving Christmas for the orphans, and added a page of background on his earlier adventure. I gave him a sealed envelope and asked him to wait to open it until I told him, which came when Rex found out Cratchitts were involved and had identified the soot.

 

Once he opened and read it, he performed the big reveal in character, which seemed a lot more natural. The player liked it, so that’s really all that matters.

 

On the downside, when I turned Oracle to stone, I completely blew my PS: Champions GM roll. Thanks to a communications failure, Oracle’s player (my wife) thought I’d just killed her character. Worse, she proceeded to sit things out in a manner consistent with someone who’s character had been turned to stone, not killed (she was trying to be stoic in the face of misfortune) for at least half an hour of game time. When I discovered this mistake, it only sort of helped matters, because she immediately began blaming herself for not understanding the rules. Bummer. Things are OK now, but I wish I’d handled it a bit more clearly.]

[Slaptick]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

Great writeup as usual, Theron. Makes me wish, I lived on the south side of Houston and not on the north side.

[Cardinal]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

Was rex havimg his communicator off a player decision or GM one? Either way, well handled.

 

Sorry to hear about the miscommunication with your wife. That can be tough.

[Theron]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

Was rex havimg his communicator off a player decision or GM one? Either way, well handled.

 

Sorry to hear about the miscommunication with your wife. That can be tough.

 

It was a GM call, having played with the player in question for over a decade and knowing he'd roll with it because it was in character.

 

The miscommunication got worked out.

[Theron]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

Episode Nine: Mayhem at the Mall!

 

[Contains spoilers from "Let's Go To The Maul" from Champions Battlegrounds. You've been warned.]

 

And we're back from mid-season hiatus. Things start out at a local mall (the New Urbana Mall from Champions Battlegrounds where The Guardians are making a public appearance to celebrate the roll-out of a video game based on their likenesses and powers (Bari Silver, Bard's agent works FAST!). Fanboys (and girls) are lined up out the door and down the hall. Apart from the inevitable lame and intrusive question and comments, things are going well when there's a ruckus outside. Shoppers spotted someone up in the belltower, and it looks like he's about to jump! The Guardians excuse themselves and go out to look. Sure enough, there is a shadowy figure up there. Suddenly, he leaps into space, to reveal himself as Foxbat!

 

"Stand aside, you so-called do-gooders! No one will stand between me and the culmination of my master plan! So declares Foxbat!"

 

(The PCs then managed to fail any and every possible KS to help identify the masked lunatic, so their immediate reaction was, "Who?")

 

Foxbat shot Bard with an Explodoball that did little in the way of actual harm. ByteTorrent and Bard tried to clear the crowd out of the way, while Oracle took a shot at Foxbat, narrowly missing him. Foxbat dropped a smoke cloud, which force The Magician and Rex to carefully find their way out to clear territory, buying more time for the larcenous lunatic.

 

Just as the heroes began lining up beads on Foxbat, a bright flash of light heralded the arrival of GRAB, via Cheshire Cat's teleport gate. Bluejay spotted heroes and tagged The Magician with capture foam while Black Diamond smashed a display case. Hummingbird flew towards Bard to pursue her own agenda.

 

Flying near him, she shouted, "Bard! It's me! I got your text about today and it's wonderful to finally see you, darling! Let's get away from this and find a quiet spot to be together." Since she backed up this enticement with a 10d6 Mind Control, Bard was momentarily amenable to this suggestion. (While I'm not using the Interface storyline, from CB, I do like the notion of a supervillainess who's fixated on Bard. It serves him right. So, I'm assuming she's been led on by a jealous ex.)

 

With Bard chasing the love he didn't know he had, Foxbat had a clear landing path. Posing dramatically, he shouted, "No! No interlopers will stand between me and the world's largest cubic zirconium! Foxbattalion, attack!"

 

Meanwhile, in the smoke cloud, Oracle, in her aspect of Artemis, was unhindered by the darkness and had a clean shot at Foxbat. She hit him, doing minimal damage (I included the experimental ablative Foxbat armor made from old AOL CDs to protect him), but she did manage to knock him into the fountain.

 

At that moment, a massive crash overwhelmed the sounds of battle. A car, a brown Honda Civic with a yellow F painted on the hood came roaring through the mall in reverse. The driver, a chubby teen in a Foxbat-style costume and the passenger, a shapely young woman in a similar outfit, brandished ping-pong ball guns, as the car skidded to a halt near the fountain. Foxbatboy popped the trunk, "Foxbattalion, reporting for duty, sir!"

 

Cheshire Cat, clearly on a manic swing looked for someone to fight. Bard was off chasing after Hummingbird. The Magician was all sewn up. Rex Radium was too far away, and he couldn't see Oracle. That left, ByteTorrent. Who, for once, was solid with his Force Field up. Not that the latter helped, much.

 

He teleported next to the Man of Data, "Hey! Let's you and me fight!" He smacked ByteTorrent with his billy club and slammed him into the car. Blue Jay hit Rex with her Atrophic Ray, weakening him substantially. The Magician struggled with his bonds, while Black Diamond continued to grab jewelry. Rex caught himself and said, "What's good for the gander is good for the goose," and tagged Blue Jay with his atomic enervation beam, turning up the heat in her armor and fatiguing her substantially (it's a high-end CON drain).

 

While ByteTorrent tried to reboot, Cheshire Cat looked down at him, "I wouldn't normally hit a man while he's down, but you're not a man." He struck Byte-Torrent again, rendering him the equivalent of unconscious for data constructs. Bard shook off Hummingbird's mind control. "Look, I'm sure you're a very nice person, and you're quite pretty, but I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about and there are people in danger, so this is going to have to wait." He leaped across the fountain, landing near the Foxbatmobile. Feeling spurned, Hummingbird lashed out at him mentally. Fortunately, Bard's godly heritage protects him from mental attacks as well, and the attack did little harm.

 

Blue Jay realized that Cheshire Cat was off-script. She also realized another attack like the one Rex landed and she'd be waking up in a cell, so she turned on the afterburners and made tracks for an outside exit. Foxbat gracefully leapt from the fountain, made an acrobatic grab on the Anna Nichola Smythe Diamonelle, and landed in the trunk of the Foxbatmobile, pulling the lid shut.

 

Oracle, still hidden in the smoke lined up an easy shot on the unsuspecting Cheshire Cat. It didn't knock him out, but it did slam him into the wall across the corridor and left him counting chirping birds.

 

Black Diamond, being many things, but none of them a fool, realized that discretion was the better part of valor and bolted, running up the stairs to the second level. None of the Guardians pursued her. Foxbatboy and Foxbatgirl shot at The Magician and Bard, with little effect.

 

Before the Foxbatmobile could make a getaway, Rex shot out a tire, and Bard grabbed the hapless vehicle, picking it up effortlessly and shaking all within violently. Oracle freed The Magician, and the crowd erupted in cheers.

 

(Hummingbird slipped out unnoticed. But it won't be the last Bard hears from her.)

 

While waiting for the cops, the heroes had a chance to interrogate Foxbat and crew. Not that it helped much. Foxbat was his usual mad, egotistical self. Foxbatboy hyperventilated when Oracle (as Athena) tried to question him, and Foxbatgirl spent her time sitting on the ground and talking to the bottom of her foot.

 

Rex took Bari the Agent aside to inquire if he knew anything about this. "No way, Rex Baby. If I wanted to make you guys look good, I wouldn't have hired a schlub like Foxbat. But we've got to sign him for the add-on pack. He's great comic relief!"

 

Upon returning to the headquarters, the Guardians found they had a message waiting. A transmission from Dragon Knight. It was full of static and hard to understand, but the following was audible:

 

"...achieved a breakthrough. The war...badly. They're coming. Warn the world. Prepare..."

 

ByteTorrent went to work cleaning up the transmission. The Magician contacted Galsworthy to see if he knew more about the Dragon Knight's whereabouts. He got up to "They're coming" before Galsworthy teleported into their midst.

 

"They're coming? This is bad. This is very bad! We need to contact the GUARD. Now!"

 

At that point, ByteTorrent replayed the cleaned-up message.

 

Dragon Knight addressed the camera. He looked battered. His armor seemed patched and modified. Odder still, it seemed he'd aged significantly in a very short period of time.

 

"This is Dragon Knight on Guardians priority frequency. The Malvans have achieved a breakthrough. The war goes badly. They're coming. Warn the world. Prepare for the invasion."

 

ByteTorrent contacted the GUARD. Jankowski immediately forwarded him to Maj. General Jonas "Broadhead" Brooks, Commander in Chief of GUARD Operations.

 

"This is the old Guardians' frequency. Am I safe in assuming you represent their new incarnation?"

 

"This entity confirms your assessment."

 

"And you're contacting me about an invasion from space?"

 

"Affirmative."

 

"You aren't the first to do so. Successors to the Sentinels are calling in from all over. The GUARD is calling an emergency gathering of all willing and able to confront this threat in DC in ten days. I hope we can count on your participation."

 

"The Guardians will be there."

 

Galsworthy filled in the blanks. "The Malvans are an alien race. Sort of like the Roman Empire. Decadence, gladitorial games, that sort of thing. They subjugate worlds and use them to serve their noble classes. The Sentinals discovered they were looking this way, and decided to meet them head on, about twelve light years from here. Doesn't sound like it's going so good."

 

Rex asked, "How did the Sentinels find out about them."

 

"Hey, they get around. It's a big universe."

 

Bard interjected, "So what? We're superheroes. We can take 'em."

 

"Don't be so sure. A single Malvan gladiator is a match for any of the Sentinels. They may be decadent, but they raise 'em tough. If they've gotten past the line, we're looking at a major alien invasion. And you guys are going to be on the sharp end.

 

I think I'd better get in touch with the Circle."

 

With that, Galsworthy excused himself. Byte-Torrent began running through every astronomy resource he could find. While nothing appeared in the official sources, he did discover some fringe astronomy sites that noted something blue-shifting toward the Earth and a high rate of speed from that sector of space.

 

With that news, the Guardians communications channel came to life like never before. Teams from across the country, across the world made contact: From New York, the Justice Foundation; from Toronto, NorthStar; Europe's AEGIS, and Millenium City's Champions. Most were fairly inexperienced, but all committed to the Summit in ten days.

 

As the Guardians signed off, the door of the Operations Center slid open. Standing in the door was the tall figure of an older man. A familiar man, his crippled leg housed in a cybernetic brace. Donald Henderson, the Marksman.

 

"I hear we've got company coming. You want an extra gunhand?"

 

Oracle beamed, "Absolutely."

 

Roll credits...

[Tom]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

Rex took Bari the Agent aside to inquire if he knew anything about this. "No way, Rex Baby. If I wanted to make you guys look good, I wouldn't have hired a schlub like Foxbat. But we've got to sign him for the add-on pack. He's great comic relief!"

 

lol...

 

(darn limits on giving rep...)

[Theron]

Re: Theron's Bay City Mash-Up

 

One purely game-related note. The extensive breakdown of the combat sequence in this scenario rocked! I don't think I've ever seen a combat with twelve characters run so smoothly or so fast. in fact, I pretty much had to improvise all of the alien invasion stuff off the cuff because the game was running so short.