Tjack

Missing Piece: Mind Controlling Alien Parasites (The Hidden)    
 
Title: Madripoor Monster Hunt: The Mogwai Maneuver   Having recovered an alien symbiote (Carnage) from its crashed spacecraft, Dr. Hugo Strange partnered with it to create mini symbiotes (Alien Parasites) that will enable him to discreetly possess and control powerful people and, eventually, rule the world. Unfortunately, his henchmen (the Foot Clan) proved to be less than competent, resulting in the creation of an uncontrollable abomination (The Thing). A band of unlikely allies forms to find and eradicate the alien menace(s). Losing ground, they are faced with an awful choice: can they defeat the threat by unleashing an even bigger one--the Mogwai?   Our Heroes:   Melinda May: Semi-retired, May took an easy post heading the Madripoor S.H.I.E.L.D. branch office to be closer to relatives. Just her luck.   Wong: Foresaw these events but couldn't convince any of the more powerful heroes to assist. Typical.   Silk: Cindy Moon had tracked Hugo Strange to Madripoor. Cindy Moon hates evil scientists. This is why.   Moon Knight: Marc Spector knows this isn't happening. It can't be happening. He could have sworn he took his meds this morning. Maybe he needs to up the dosage?

Never to take anything away from the amazing vocals of Meat Loaf but just for a moment let’s appreciate the writer of many of his most memorable songs, Jim Steinman.  
  The entire albums of both Bat out of Hell and B.o.o.H 2. Including Paradise by the Dashboard Light, Anything for Love and the songs he did forthe soundtrack Streets of Fire. 
   It’s like when people mourn Stan Lee but never say anything nice about Jack Kirby. Both incredible talents apart, but when they come together..........wow.    Rest In Peace and make Heaven sound even better.

I allow Peter Quill to exist for two reasons:
 
1.  He swore a blood oath to start putting a hyphen between star and lord.  I have this recorded on a Betamax cassette tape so that's like forever.
 
2.  He signed an affidavit with myself as notary admitting there are no whole numbers between 3 and 5.
 
So we're cool...for now.

Never to take anything away from the amazing vocals of Meat Loaf but just for a moment let’s appreciate the writer of many of his most memorable songs, Jim Steinman.  
  The entire albums of both Bat out of Hell and B.o.o.H 2. Including Paradise by the Dashboard Light, Anything for Love and the songs he did forthe soundtrack Streets of Fire. 
   It’s like when people mourn Stan Lee but never say anything nice about Jack Kirby. Both incredible talents apart, but when they come together..........wow.    Rest In Peace and make Heaven sound even better.

Sure, but we call it "Ike-eh."

I did dig your story, but a touch screen and a hand that sometimes shakes a little is not an optimum combination.
                              ————————————————————————————-
  I’m going to forgo doing my whole story down as one piece.  It’s a pretty clear narrative, it’s just in installments as a good 1930’s movie serial should be.

i meant to hit the Champions cup, not the laughing face.  No disrespect to a strong story.

Brief Summary of the picks and their roles in this
 
Storm, our Leader, as an X-men she has good reason to fear Apocalypse and want to stop him. Without her usual X-men to fall back on, she turns to other superheroes in the area she can find. She has family here in Egypt so for her this has personal aspects as well as fighting for humanity. As a thief as well as a weather manipulator, her skills of lockpicking and stealth may end up saving the day as much as  the power of lighting bolts and windstorms.
 
Black Adam, our Dragon, has been promised more than undisputed rule of his own kingdom in this new age to come but the return of an old love. He will serve Apocalypse's plans, though he doesn't know the full scope of them.  The heroes will face him and he'll destroy them easily, or so he believes. Of course, he underestimates them. And while he sees himself as a partner to Apocalypse, the omega level mutant sees him as a catspaw. 
 
The Mystic, Ibis the Invincible, once a prince of Egypt, plays his part as both relic of the ancient wisdom, and keeper of forbidden power and lore. His Ibis stick makes him the greatest threat to the villains machinations, but if he should be parted from it, then he might be lost. He and Black Adam have a reckoning, for Black Adam is not the only one who has lost a lady love.  Alas, his knowledge of Apocalypse is far less, and Storm fears the wizard underestimates him. 
 
Vixen, our Femme Fatale, came  to Egypt for a photo shoot when she was approached by Storm for help. Suddenly poses near Pyramids have to be put on hold as she , of course, agreed to help. However, her own mystic ties come into play as  Anansi distrusts the Egyptian gods, and their 'Champion' Black Adam, and and through the mystical amulet she wears , guides her so she might find the location to an ancient lost city that the villains must not find first. A talented temptress when she needs to be, her feminine wiles and connections as a model will work to gather knowledge and advantages that gods and other heroes might not think of.
 
Apocalypse is the Big Bad and feels right at home here.  Having learned of the Wildcard virus, he seeks it out. With it, he'll not need his Horseman Pestilence. He will have the real thing, on a global scale. Let the fittest adapt to it, let the weak die. And if he should use his own resources to tweak it when he finds it? So much the better. Through the Kobra  Cult organization he has Lazurus pits and fanatics ready to die for him.  With Black Adam, he has a Living Weapon and catspaw that might rival even all four of his horsemen so he can continue his work.  The superheroes of the world, for the most part, turn a blind eye to Egypt. The new age is ready to begin. For who but he and Black Adam know of Hamunaptra? Unfortunately for him,   he doesn't have the monopoly he thinks he does.
 
The Wild Card Virus is Not of this Earth. It is the prize all seek in this. Some hope to use it, others to destroy it, and some to take it and hold it even if it never sees the light of day. As it is, if released , it may devastate an entire city or even country, with world wide effects on wind or sea currents. The majority of those infected will die, a minority become freakish or crippled by it's power, and an even smaller percentage be gifted if by super powers. If tampered with by the likes of Apocalypse? It could be far more dangerous 
 
Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead, may seem a mere MacGuffin, but currently it has, in a sealed urn no less, the Wildcard Virus ready to be unleashed. So it is to the city that everyone races for the prize. But of course, there needs must be battles aplenty before it is found, and war will come to the city of  the Dead before this tale is done. 
 
The aforementioned Kobra Cult serves as Cannon fodder, as the shapeshifting Apocalypse has tricked them. Or perhaps they know and merely see him as a facet of their God? They are equipped, trained, and willing to die. Their biggest threat to our heroes may yet be as distractions and delays, for the race is on and time is crucial. Their access to the Lazurus pits also provides bait for those who long to bring lost loved ones and even a city of the dead back to life.
 
Hercules remains quite the Brawler, a boisterous bruiser of a hero. A proud Greek God, he may offend the locals pointing out that Cleopatra was Greek, and that the whole place was once "A lovely winter home" for Greece and it's gods who subjugated the proud empire for a time. Yet he IS the son of Zeus, and his might will be needed to stand a chance against Black Adam and Apocalypse. It is also possible that Hercules is playing the fool. He will save lives, he's a Avenger, but he is still a god, and gods have oft had their own ideas of what is best for mankind, even if mankind disagrees.
 
The Missing Piece in this story is a large one. The GI JOE task force, alerted of Kobra activity only to learn it is not the Cobra they are used to, have discovered the Wildcard virus exists even if they don't quite grasp its full scope. Call it what you want, the US govt considers it a Germ Warfare weapon of Mass Destruction, and the Joes have been sent to retrieve it before the villains OR heroes can claim it.  Thus, they play spoiler to both sides, favoring the heroes, of course, but still willing to foil them as required too. Of course, of all these factions, it is the Joes who have the least Intell so to catch up, they'll need to spy upon, or even interrogate a hero or villain if they can. And, if they can't get final possession of the virus? they're under orders to destroy it, and if they can't do that? Detonate it in Hamunaptra! Better they sacrifice themselves, some heroes, and a bunch of Kobra Cultists than a major population center. Yo Joe!
 
 
Title: Gods, Germs, and Grunts!
 
 
 
 
 

This might be achieved by “taxing” Experience Points.  Let the players know that a percentage of their points will be withheld until they achieve their next level.  This would give you the effect of slow progress until they reach that plateau and then a burst of new powers, skills and abilities. 
   I might think about 50 -75% being held back. This would still mean the players had a trickle of points coming in to keep them from being discouraged but since they’ll get them back on the back end they might not raise too much of a fuss.
         Whatever happens, Good Luck.

All that about Seeker may be true, but he WAS very useful.  The trope goes that you can always tell a good Champions product by the fact that Seeker is on the cover.....usually unconscious.

Title: Stargate Exploration Taskforce Initiative (SETI). 
 
The Stargate was not found in Egypt, but a little further south in Wakanda. The Black Panther of Wakanda inherited Earth's Stargate and using his nations vast resources created a new agency/team the Stargate Exploration Taskforce Initiative (SETI). SETI is "grey ops" (black ops that is open). Leading SETI, King T'Challa is joined by neurosurgeon Dr Stephen Strange, museum curator Diana Prince, space-archaeologist Thor Odinson, and space-diplomat Col Carol Danvers USAF. SETI's mission is to explore the galaxy through the Stargate Network and proactively safeguard Earth through acquisition of resources and forging alliances. The secondary initiative is to be the galaxy's premier superteam in the style of The Ultimates (not the Ultimate Universe Avengers knockoff).
 
(To be continued)

Title will be
A Little Trouble in Big Japan

I don;t think of him as a "Black ACtor", but as an actor. In his prime, though, a lot of his films were about race, His Oscar was for Lillies in the Field, playing a down-on-his-luck handyman who finds himself rebuilding a neglected convent. This is one of the most brilliant song scenes you will every see.
 
https://youtu.be/rn6w255CGkk 
 
I'm linking it because I didn't want to subject religion on those who don't want it.
 
His most iconic role, of course, is Virgil Tibbs in The Heat of the Night, a Northern police detective forced to investigate a murder in the Deep South. It was Rod Steiger that got the Oscar for that one, but Poitier made the film with his combination of dignity, rage, and brilliance.. He made another film as the character, which I haven't seen, but even if it had only been one film Virgil Tibbs ranks as one of the great Hollywood detectives.
 

Antiseptic wipes may be a better bet.  This is just an idea, not a fact, be careful.  Good luck.

He also wrote the story that turned into the screenplay for the first Thor movie. For his efforts, he got a cameo in the film. He's the guy in the pickup who tries to pick up the hammer once it lands in the desert.
 

 
Seriously, though ... written by JMS, directed by Branagh? How could you go wrong?

Our Brawler is ... Dynamo, of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents