csyphrett

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Read Turncoat by Butcher. I enjoyed it but thought surely there has to be a better way to detect a murderer than setting up a free for all and seeing what happens. Found a new book by Roger Zelazny. I'll let you know how it goes. CES

Re: Walking With Strangers Epilogue Mr. Wolf cursed as he walked toward his office. He had to get word to the others that he was going to break them out. He wouldn't let his men sit in prison for long. Mr. Wolf paused at the threshold of his office. Crosshair Collie sat at his desk. The sniper's rifle pointed at the door. The glow from the mercenary leader's laptop lit the beige and brown mask of the shooter. "Come in, Dick." Crosshair gestured at the visitor's chair. "I can't really say I am glad to see you." "What are you doing?" Wolf sat down in the indicated chair. He kept his hands away from his body. He had hired the sniper for his skill. Reaching for a weapon would get him dead. "I am transferring the team's funds from the central pool to my own account." Crosshair's aim didn't waver. "Then I am leaving." "I never thought you would steal our war chest." Wolf had thought that and had put passwords on everything. He figured Crosshair had cracked the protection to activate the transfer. "The others are headed for prison because you ran tonight." "I know." The laptop beeped and Crosshair typed with one hand. "I planned it like that. I have been waiting for a long time for an operation that I could use to get rid of everybody. Thanks for that." "Glad to be useful." Mr. Wolf couldn't keep the sarcasm out of his voice. "So you let your friends get captured for money?" "Yep." Crosshair shut the computer off. He pulled out a pistol and shot the drive. Why leave evidence behind? "Only this time I'm working for myself. The others can sit in jail for the rest of their lives as far as I'm concerned." "What brought this on?" Mr. Wolf decided to keep his former henchman talking. That was the only way to buy time for him to think of a way out of the mess he was in. "I'm thinking of retiring." Crosshair stood up, rifle moving with him. "I don't want to leave anyone behind who knows who I am." "Only I know who you are." Mr. Wolf didn't like that turn in the conversation at all. "Exactly." Crosshair pulled the trigger of his rifle. Mr. Wolf dropped to the floor. His amazed expression came from the impact of the bullet against his skull before it plowed through to the other side and out the back. Another bullet made sure of the deed like that was necessary. Crosshair put a spare uniform and gear on the headless corpse. If anyone discovered the body and checked the DNA, they might discover the deception. It would be a dead end since the sniper's own wasn't in the system. It would just alert anyone in the know that a deception had been put in play. He doubted his former comrades were that smart. He wondered how long they would wait on Mr. Wolf before they started thinking about escaping on their own. The Canines did have a policy of helping captured members out of their prisons. Leave no one behind was their policy. Crosshair wasn't going to rescue them this time. Crosshair walked down to his room. He rechecked that he had left no clue for anyone to track him down with in the bedroom/office/tiny workshop. Then he changed to his civvies and packed his gear in two spare travel bags bought and hidden for just such an occasion. He left everything else so it looked like Mr. Wolf had killed him and took off. Crosshair went to Mr. Wolf's room and cleaned it out. Everything portable went into the luggage. The luggage went into the trunk of Wolf's personal vehicle, a black Honda. Stolen car keys got the sniper on the road. At the first chance he got, he would dump everything and switch to a new car under one of his aliases. The millions in the Canines' war chest could cover a new set of wheels with no problem. Crosshair drove off the ranch. He turned and headed south. He wasn't worried that security would be able to show anyone his face. He had taken care of that before he had transferred the funds to his own account in the Caymans. Crosshair hummed along with Inxs as he drove to the closest city. He planned to leave the car in the worse neighborhood he could find, and ride something else to the closest train station. Then he would quietly roll out of town on the iron rails. Crosshair rolled through town, flipping channels on the radio whenever the music stopped. He had waited for a long time for a job to come along where he had thought the others would be captured. He thought it might never happen with Wolf directing everyone and planning on the move. Then those people from Marlowe had shown up and he knew the time was right to fade away before they spotted him lurking in the trees. He had thought the chances were excellent they would be called on to stop Mr. R.'s search. He had also been prepared to call them himself if too much time passed before they arrived. When he saw the agent use her phone, he had waited just long enough before shooting the phone out of her hand. Too soon and her call wouldn't have gotten through, too late and the others would have noticed something off and said something to him about it. They would have also twigged onto the fact he was still alive based on a slow move when he had never been that slow before. Some of them might have twigged on it. Garou and Fenris Ulf used their heads to hang their fur on. Crosshair pulled the car over to curb of the worst looking street he could find in Minnesota in the middle of the early morning hours. He called for a cab on a pay to use cell. He pulled his bags out of the trunk and waited on the sidewalk for his ride. As soon as the cab pulled behind his stolen car, he told the driver to take to the train station as the bags went in the trunk. He got in the back and waited for the cab to start moving.

Re: Walking With Strangers 27 Mr. R. rolled through the forest. He used his hands to get around obstructions. Luckily his eyes amplified ambient light to see by. That kept him from hitting things as he fled toward the airport. He needed to get away from Marlowe as fast as possible. Sneaking aboard a plane flying out of the airport seemed to be the best idea. His hand lasers should be able to penetrate the hull and allow him to board somewhere in the belly. He hadn't counted on the local heroes to interfere. He should have since he knew the Enforcer had came out of retirement to deal with the giant lizard from the lake. He should have expected them to arrive at the base and interfere. He had relied too much on the Canines. Mr. Wolf had let him down. At least he didn't have to pay the other half of their fee. That was a silver lining. Mr. R. spotted a plane waiting on the runway. It looked like it was in almost the exact position he needed to start his escape plan. He rolled through the fence, slicing the links with his metal claws. His tracks smoothed out on the tarmac which allowed him to roll at top speed under the plane. Now he had to get onboard before the plane took off for its next destination. Mr. R. extended his pipestem arms. His dagger fingers spread to give his cutters a clear shot. He spun in place. Hot sparks drifted down around his barrel body. The hull section dropped into his waiting grip. Mr. R. held the circle in one hand. His other grabbed the edge of the hole in the belly of the plane. He pulled himself up and inside. The hull plugged the wound he had created with a few passes of his hands. All he had to do was wait until the plane landed and he could try to get a plane to Antarctica before Project Z found what he was looking for and moved it again. He had to get there before something else happened to get in his way. The plane slowed down and stopped. Mr. R. looked around the cramped storage space. He spotted a door to go up into the passenger section. He covered that with his cutters. There were plenty of reasons that the plane would stop moving before taking off. None of them had to mean someone had seen him getting aboard. That didn't mean that someone hadn't seen him. Mr. R rolled to the door. He focuses his cybernetic eyes on the passageway leading upstairs. He didn't see anyone waiting for him. Maybe he could take the plane over and fly it where he wanted. Mr. R. reached up and opened the door. He listened. He didn't hear any sounds. Shouldn't there be people speaking before the plane took off? Mr. R. paused. If he had hair, it would be standing up. Something was wrong. That left him with two options. He could go ahead and try to take the plane over against unknown circumstances. He didn't want to do that. He wanted fast travel with no complications. His other option was to cut through his patch and exit before the plane started moving again. He could drop down to the runway and find another plane to hijack. Mr. R. went to the patch. He unlimbered his cutters. It was better to find some other means to travel rather than to fight his way out of some trap. The section fell out of the circle Mr. R. cut. He paused when the metal disc only fell a few inches. Claws grabbed the center of the cutout and pulled. A metal surface stood under the plane to block his passage to the ground. He had just cut his way through a jet floor. He could cut this new obstacle just as quick. The two cutters cut another circle in the roof of the barricade. Nothing could be allowed to get in his way. The circle dropped inside the vehicle below. Gunfire answered his door making. Mr. R. considered his actions before he dropped down into the fusillade. He was reasonably bulletproof but a stray shot could do some damage he didn't anticipate. "You're under arrest." Aylwin's voice drifted up through the hole. "Give up now, or we'll take you down." "I refuse." Mr. R. backed from the hole. He needed to get to the controls before someone thought to immobilize the plane. "Don't make us drag you out." Aylwin shifted into view for a second, trying to spot Mr. R. The cyborg backed up even more, aiming his cutters at the opening. The moment he saw something trying to get in the cargo area through his opening, he would use the intense lasers to cut them. He didn't want to do it, but avoiding capture was the most important thing to him at the moment. Nothing could stand in his way. "Hey, buddy." A new voice came up from the hole. "I know you think you can fight your way out of here, but believe me, you can't. I want to get to a rack and catch some zzzz's. Give everybody a break. We don't want to have to hurt you." Mr. R. didn't answer. He turned and headed for the door. He could use one of his remaining missiles to punch a door. He could drop to the tarmac and roll down to the runway. His treads could carry him out of trouble unless there was a great number of agents waiting for him. If there was, he was a toaster. Mr. R. pulled himself into the passenger compartment. He flipped open the missile compartment as he swiveled to get a clear shot at the side of the plane. Something furry jumped into the missile compartment. "Hands up, tin man." The voice came from behind Mr. R. "Or face the wrath of Super Squirrel." Mr. R. turned his body to face the other way. A furry squirrel the size of a man in a blue T-shirt and jeans grinned at him. The cyborg paused. He armed a missile to shoot. One side of the plane was as good as the other. "You heard him." Another one, a girl with a rifle, stood to the Super Squirrel's left. "Give it up." A giant hand blocked the opening of the missile launcher. The blue light fingers wrapped around the barrel body of Mr. R. He looked for the source. A man in a purple and silver bowler projected the hand from a gauntlet he wore. "We're ready for you." The man in the hat shook his head. "It's time." Mr. R. considered the options available. Somehow it had to shake off the hands, punch a hole in the jet, drop down to the runway, and roll. That didn't seem possible to do with his rockets. He would have to cut them. Mr. R. raised his hands to fire the lasers. He decided to shoot the girl with the rifle and the man in the hat. The human squirrel didn't seem like much of a threat. Mr. R. activated his cutters. He paused. Nothing happened. He tried again. It was the same result. He checked the status. The monitor told him it was off line. Something had damaged the lasers. He realized it was the furry thing that had jumped in his chest when he stepped into the passenger cabin. That was the only thing it could be. "What have you done to me?" Mr. R. decided to shoot a missile while they talked. The launcher told him it was offline also. "Took you down." The girl kept the rifle on him. "I don't hear you saying you're giving up." "I'll never give up." Mr. R. tried to reroute power to fire the missile. That should break the grip on his body. He would take some damage but that was acceptable for freedom. "I think this has gone far enough." The Enforcer stepped from concealment and grabbed the cylinder head. He twisted and the brain center popped out of the socket holding it to the body. The eyes went dark. A squirrel stuck its head out of the resulting hole. Wires hung from its mouth. "Good job, Kowalski." Super Squirrel gave a thumb's up to his follower. The squirrel spat the wires out, gave a salute, then headed out the opened door that was further up the main body of the jet and concealed by the curtains separating the sections. It dropped down and ran for the trees beyond the airport. "What are you going to do with its head?" The Strangers gathered around Enforcer and his prize. "I'm sure not going to put it on my wall." The man in gray placed it on a nearby chair for someone else to take away.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... From work: "Do I really have to hear this off the clock?" CES

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I was wondering if Winslow was going to make a repeat appearance. It looks like he's an oracle for the Ally without knowing everything. CES

Re: Percy Jackson and the Olympians Did you see the Olympian posts by Chad Reilly? That might save you write up time. CES

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... By the Sword by F. Paul Wilson. Finally sat down and went through this book. The hunt for Dawn Pickering and a missing sword cause enemies to collide with a little help from Jack. CES

Re: Underworld To be honest, this isnt my usual cup of tea. An acquaintance has been asking me to run a game where the vampire assassin falls in love for a human girl for him and his acquaintance which I dont really know. She is the one that suggested underworld vampires. I prefer Palladium vampires but you cant have everything. Right now its in the blue sky phase. If it comes to something, I'll put it up on the boards like the other campaign lines I have done. If not, then I have some information I can use sometime later. CES

Re: Underworld So basically I can use any type of monster I can justify through virus spreading and genetic tampering. That sounds more useful than V vs W CES

Re: Underworld I have seen the first one but I didn't get a sense of what the world was like outside the places where the Vampires and Werewolves live. Their entry at TV.TROPES says everything is kept hidden from the normal world to keep up a masquerade. Also nothing is said of anything else other than the main combatants. CES

Re: Underworld Thanks for the information. I didn't see much setting specifics. Matt Ignash implies underworld vampires and werewolves are genetic creations in his character description. CES

I need to know a little about the vampires of the movie underworld. Can anybody help me? CES

Re: Walking With Strangers Thanks, Guys. I appreciate the praise. CES

Re: Walking With Strangers 26 The Strangers had been able to borrow a van from the agents arriving at the storage depot. They piled in after handing over their prisoners and retrieving the Air Force personnel from the lakeside. Staff Sergeant Blue Baloo insisted on driving and pushed his bearish bulk behind the wheel. "Which way are we going, folks?" Baloo wheeled down the long driveway toward roads leading into Marlowe and Minnesota beyond. "Take us south." The Question Man settled in the back, bracing himself against the walls of the van. "The airport is that way." "Why the airport?" Aylwin checked the borrowed rifle she held. She had left her jacket and tie behind while picking up a vest to protect her body. "Because that's where Mr. R. is going." Squirrel rode in the front, tail curled around him. "We might be able to get there before he does if we hurry." "He's going to try and get a plane that he can use to fly down to Antarctica." Aylwin shook her head. "He can't really expect to stay in the air if we want to shoot the plane down." "He can if he takes hostages." The Enforcer stood in the center of the van. He held on to a strut in the roof to stay on his feet. The Enforcer hurt from the blow he had taken, but felt he had to stay in the game until it was over. He didn't want the others to be hurt just because he decided to sit on the sidelines. He owed it to them to keep moving. "What's the plan, Question Man?" Trebuchet frowned at the small amount of ammunition he still had in his bag. "We're going to get aboard the plane Mr. R. picks and ambush him." The Question Man decided that he would ask for a team vehicle with comfortable seats when he had the time. Bouncing against the metal floor of the van wasn't pleasant at all. "Sounds easy enough." Thia had braced herself like the Question Man. Her arms folded in front of her. "We'll have to be careful so we don't blow the plane up while we're trying to take him down." "What about the people who will be onboard the plane?" Billy knew the answer to that before anyone said anything. His power could get everyone off without the robot knowing unless he had some kind of x-ray vision and used it before he boarded. "We'll get them off the plane before anything happens." The Question Man closed his eyes. He felt tired, but not as bad as he had before he had been hypnotized. Baloo put his foot down, roaring along the road. The lights bobbed as the van bounced on the gravel, then asphalt. He headed for the city as fast as he dared. He didn't know how fast the machine could roll but he planned to be at the airport in plenty of time. "We have to take him before he knows we're there." Aylwin pulled out a phone and started calling. "If he ignites any jet fuel, we could lose the runway, part of the airport." "We will." Enforcer looked the group over. They seemed to have their second wind. He knew he did. The internal energy that powered him had pushed his ribs back in place for the moment, but he would still be able to lend a hand to deal with this problem. "Is everyone ready?" Odd had his bag on his lap, gauntlet on his arm. "We're ready." Super Squirrel flexed his arms. "I'll unload my guns on him. The machine won't know what hit him." "You might want to kick him instead." Thia almost laughed at the thought of Squirrel grappling with anybody with his thin arms. "Access road coming up." Baloo pointed at a small sign off the road they were rolling down. "We'll use that to get on the runways." Aylwin made another call. "Which plane are we using for the trap, Question Man?" "Oceanic 481." The Question Man stood and pointed at an airliner rolling away from the departure gate. "Tell the tower to hold it." Aylwin passed the word along as the van rolled down the runway after the plane. Baloo concentrated on not driving into the jet engines' wake. He still had to drive it away so Mr. R. wouldn't be suspicious of a trap. The jet rolled to a stop. Aylwin snapped the phone shut. Everyone got to their feet. They seemed ready to do the job to her eyes. "Alice, we'll need air coverage." The Question Man opened the side door of the van. "Just call when he's close." "No problem." Alice gave Squirrel a peck on the cheek. "Be careful." "Always." Super Squirrel watched his love take flight and soar until Billy closed the door and reopened it on the inside of the plane. "Let's do what we have to do." The Strangers stepped through the door. As soon as they were gone, Baloo kicked the gas and drove off the runway toward a nearby hangar. Aylwin watched the perimeter in the direction Mr. R. had to come from on his way from the storage depot. "How's it going?" Oddhat looked at the passengers staring at him. None of them looked happy to see him. They would really be unhappy after he said what he had to say. "Everyone, we're going to ask you to leave through the front door. There's been a bomb threat to the plane. We're going to have you disembark until we make sure the flight is safe." He held up his hands to silence the panicked questions being thrown his way. The last thing they needed was a stampede. "Just come up front and exit." Oddhat pointed at the door where Billy stood. "We'll try to make this as quick as possible." "You heard the man." Enforcer started walking the aisle between rows of seats. "Get off the plane before you get blown up." That got the people moving. The Strangers kept them at a slow pace so no one had to be trampled. They wanted the plane empty, and not deal with a medical emergency at the same time. Enforcer glared at anyone trying to shove people in front of them. That gave the crowd a pause because of the yellow light burning from the eyeholes of his mask. The Question Man appeared with the pilots. They joined the line of staff and civilians stepping back into the terminal. He looked at the other heroes. They checked the plane to make sure it was empty. "Now we wait for our rabbit." He started back to the cockpit so he could watch from the windows. "You guys better find places to hide." The Question Man settled into the pilot's chair, and waited for the next move.

Re: Walking With Strangers 25 The Strangers split up into two groups. Oddhat, Alice the Owl, Oz Mike, and Billy Keys stayed to help the Enforcer. The rest went with Aylwin to search for Mr. R. Once they knew where he was, they could deal with him. Aylwin had already lost Mr. Wolf. She didn't want to lose the real mastermind behind the break-in. Maybe something could be done to immobilize his metal body and install it in a cell. "What does this Mr. R look like?" Super Squirrel traveled on the standing supply shelves, hopping over the aisles. "A robot with a round body, tracks, and long arms." Aylwin paused to pick out a direction to go. "He'll probably be waiting for us after what we've done." "We can handle him." Trebuchet looked at his small supply of baseballs. "If I can get close enough, I can throw him through the roof." "Don't underestimate him." Aylwin wanted her service pistol. "If he thinks of something, he will put us down. Right now, he doesn't know what you can do so we'll have a small edge." One of the squirrel army arrived, saluted, and gave its report to Super Squirrel. It started back the way it came. "The robot is just ahead." Super Squirrel stood up to get a better view. "It's standing still." Aylwin nodded, pressed on until the next cross lane. She spotted the machine standing a few aisles down. She didn't think the head not turning meant that it wasn't aware of them. "You're under arrest, Mr. R." Aylwin gestured for the others to keep back in case the robot decided to engage. "Come along quietly." "I don't think so, Agent Aylwin." Mr. R's head turned then to give her his full regard. "I will continue my quest. Someone must know where my heart is." "I can't allow that." Aylwin raised her hand. "Whatever you're looking for is Government Property. I have to take you in for trial and sentencing. You know how this goes." "I'm not going to be responsible for what happens next if you don't help me." Mr. R.'s eyes glowed as he reached inside his shell's programming. "Once I have the heart, I will retreat to my place and retire." "I can't let you have it." Aylwin checked her watch. Agency backup was out of range to be much help. She had to stall. "Everything we confiscate is held for study and then destroyed. It's not returned to the criminals we arrest. Come with me before anyone else is hurt." "I don't think so." Mr. R.'s body opened up. Small rockets poked their heads out of their launchers. Aylwin jumped to one side as the first volley reached for her. The shelving took the blows, spraying shrapnel from the explosions. She didn't see the rest of the group as she hit the ground. She hoped no one had been killed. "I told you but you wouldn't listen." Mr. R. rolled forward. "Now I will have to kill you and everyone who knew I was here." "I don't think so." Trebuchet grabbed one of the rectangular shelves and flung it across the space between him and the mechanical menace. Beams of light erupted from the metal claws at the end of Mr. R.'s waterhose arms. The rack came apart in a small cascade of molten metal. Thia took aim and fired with the rifle she had conjured up. Missiles of her own reached for the robot. Tracks dug into the concrete and backed under cover. Booms filled the air from the near misses. "How do we stop this guy, Question Man?" Super Squirrel leaped across space, racing along the shelves as beams of light reached for his furry form. His called out question made his masked colleague pause to think. "We can give him what he wants." The Question Man smiled under his mask. "What?" Aylwin glared at the amateur hero. "That's not an option." "It's our only option." The Question Man stood tall. "Everybody, stop shooting. Cease fire. We're giving the machine what it wants." "Do you know what you're doing?" Aylwin looked to see if Mr. R. was not stretching an arm over the storage equipment to blast at them with its mechanical hands. "Yes." The Question Man waited for the ceasefire. He didn't want to try and talk while everyone was shooting at each other. "Do you want this heart thing, or not?" "Do you know where it is?" Mr. R. sounded like a heavy duty car speaker in action. "No." The Question Man started forward, holding up his hands. "That doesn't mean I can't find out." "How will you do that?" Mr. R. appeared, weapons still ready to shoot. Most of them pointed at the masked man. "I can answer any question." The Question Man checked around him. The others seemed to be following his lead. "All you have to do is ask." "Where is the generator?" Mr. R. seemed more self possessed now that no one was shooting at him. "It's powering a secret facility in Antarctica." The Question Man felt an itch on his forehead from sweat pushing against his mask. "We can arrange transportation." "Why the sudden change of heart?" Mr. R.'s head swiveled to take in his surroundings. "I haven't changed my mind at all." The Question Man stepped forward. "You can't get to it where it is, and if you stay here trying to fight us, the Project will stop you from leaving. All I have to do is buy a few more minutes." Mr. R. reversed down the lane. Rockets leapt from the launcher in his body. The Strangers leaped for cover as the explosions rolled over them. The robot reached the far wall and started to cut through to the outside. "What was the plan?" Aylwin pulled herself out from under a pile of wreckage. She reached over and helped Thia slide out from under a similar heap. "He's gone." "I told him what we were going to do so he would leave." The Question Man had dodged the blasts but not the dust kicked up. He brushed off as much as he could. "All we need to do now is get Super Squirrel's friends to follow him until he stops to figure out how to get to Antarctica from here." "What if he doesn't stop?" Aylwin looked around for Trebuchet. "Then I'll have to come up with another plan." The Question Man waved at Squirrel to put the next part of his plan in play.

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... The Chronicles of Chrestomanci VOL 1 by Diane Wynn Jones. This is a two book novel which includes A Charmed Life where Cat Chant and his sister become orphans and go to live at Chrestomanci Castle, and The Lives of Christopher Chant where Christopher learns he can travel to other places and threaten the many universes next to his own. CES

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Another Doc Savage Double header with The Squeaking Goblin and the Evil Gnome. In the first book, the Squeaking Goblin causes a feud and tries to keep the bloodshed going. In the second, Lion Ellison is framed for murdering the governor of Missouri with the use of a gadget. Note: I did use the Squeaking Goblin as a basic plot once. Naturally the players changed some of the story around. One of which was chasing the goblin through the woods, having him chase them, and negotiating a truce by promising to put the curb stomp on anyone who didn't abide by it. Eventually the ancient master tracked the Goblin to his lair where a long gun wouldn't do much against Kung Fu and that was the end of the adventure. CES

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? THe last twenty minutes of Starship Troopers: Maruader. If the rest of the movie matched with what I saw, I'm glad I missed it. I'd feel better if I had missed the part I did see. CES

Re: Walking With Strangers 24 Thia Halmedes raised her weapon and fired. She had provided herself nonlethal ordinance. Their failure prompted her to think she had made a mistake. The hulking thing impersonating a Viking didn't move from the trio of hits she inflicted. It merely glared at her as if sizing her up for a pine box. And it didn't look afraid of her friends either. "More troublesome meddlers to vex me with your desire to outlive a blow from my faithful companion." The wolf monster grinned slightly. "We shall see how hard your skulls are before I am done." "I don't think so." Trebuchet let fly with his readied baseball. The projectile split in two as the blade of the axe swept through it. "Maybe I was wrong." "Come, youth." The canine advanced on the group at the door. "Young blood is the best." Enforcer leaped forward to confront the menace. His glowing fist rocked the giant back on his heels. A backhand sent the retired hero flying. He hit the wall hard enough to leave a crater in the brick and concrete. Thia worked on her rifle as Trebuchet unloaded a barrage of baseballs. The leather missiles came apart as the axe worked its own defense. Fenris Ulf laughed until the water caught him in the face and tried to drown him. The warehouse had water so the men stationed their could use the bathroom, wash up, have something to use to boil for food. It was nothing for Oz Mike to summon some of it to add to his own supply from the lake and use it to batter at their enemy. Thia raised her rifle again. She fired what looked like rubber balls into the cold water. The round spheres hit and started expanding, started hardening into connecting bans. She kept up the barrage until the target quit moving. The group paused to watch Fenris Ulf struggle in his prison. The hardened foam should hold an elephant. The Viking wolf ripped the cocoon away after about a minute. Fire boiled from his eyes as he regarded his enemies. Valhalla would welcome their spirits at the feasting hall. "How do we stop this guy, Question Man?" Trebuchet held another baseball in his hand. He looked to work an angle. A straight throw would just be cut down before it reached a target. "Get rid of the axe." The Question Man ducked behind cover as the said weapon tried to cut him down before he could speak. "That should be easy." Trebuchet threw his own weapon, letting it spin in a curve against the side of the villain's head. The monster shrugged it off as he reached for his spinning axe. Oddhat reached into his leather bag with his free hand. He had put it on the floor at the back of the group. His other hand still kept Sundog and Garou suspended in the air. He made sure to keep them in front of him while he searched for the tool he needed. He found a disc with a mike attachment to fit over his mouth. He put it on. "We need you to send the axe somewhere else, Billy." Odd's voice sounded in his head and in Billy's. No one else seemed to hear it. "He'll have to throw at you in front of a door." "That should be easy." Billy grimaced at what he was about to do. He had never been good at attracting attention, preferring to keep to the background. Now he had to step into the spotlight. "Hey, moron! Is that your face or did a cow take a crap on your neck?" Fenris Ulf glared at the super, raising his axe to throwing position. Foam covered the sides of his mouth. "You mother must be the terror of every Labrador in the neighborhood." Billy kept his hand on the cell door handle, ready to use it. "The howling to get away could be heard for miles. They would have chewed their legs off to get away." Odd warned the others with his mike. He didn't want them to attract attention away from Billy. They were winging it, but it looked like their notion would work as long as the super didn't get killed. "Who's your daddy?" Billy forced a grin. That was better to turn the screws. "That's right. You don't know." The axe flew with its deadly grace. Billy ducked, pulling the door open as he stepped away. The spinning blade entered the portal to the other side of the lake. The door shut before it could return. "What have you done, varlet?" Fenris Ulf advanced, hands flexing as his roar filled the open space. "Now we hold him until his time runs out." The Question Man regretted saying the words out loud. The wolf monster turned at bay for the first time. "I shall never be held by the likes of you." Fenris Ulf headed for the wall, punching through it with a fist of fury. He followed through with a shoulder, smashing the concrete like a wrecking ball. "Everyone cover for Trebuchet." Odd picked up his bag. "He's the only one of us who can really stall for time." Thia and Trebuchet raced outside the melted door to cut off their opponent. Oz Mike pulled the water to give him a wave to ride into the hulking monster. Billy doubted he could do anything else to Fenris Ulf. He went to make sure the Enforcer was still alive after the blow he had taken. The Question Man joined him as Odd Hat walked outside to help the others. Thia fired her foam gun again. She didn't need it to stop Fenris Ulf. She only needed it to get Trebuchet close. The kid could throw a car. The fleeing mercenary had to weigh less than that. The globs wrapped around the Viking's upper body and neck before she blasted his legs. He went down under the yellow blobs. Muscular arms struggled to rip the stuff away. "Straight up, Trebuchet." Odd spoke into his mike. "We need him to be stalled until whatever happens, happens." "No problem." Trebuchet grabbed a free leg. He jerked and the bundle flew into the night sky like a rocket. He stepped back, looking up at the yellow vanishing against the velvet darkness. "Good job." Oz Mike searched the air from the top of his water column, gave up after a few seconds. Trebuchet must have hurled him into orbit. "If the axe flies back to his hand while he's up there, we'll have to separate them again and start over." Odd made sure his two prisoners were still secure in his energy fist. "If it doesn't, we'll have to stop him from hitting the ground on impact and dying." "No worries, mate." Oz Mike drew more water from the warehouse pipes. "I think I can handle that part of things." "Let's hope we have him where we want him." Odd pulled a set of eyepieces out of his bag. "I promised my wife I wouldn't get killed." Odd searched the night as a horde of squirrels arrived. Alice the Owl perched in a nearby tree as Squirrel and Aylwin dropped their catch on the road. "What's going on?" Aylwin looked up at the sky too, wondering what everyone was looking at up there. "Trebuchet just threw a big monster into the air." Thia held her own scope to her eye. "We're waiting for it to come back down." "Awesome!" Squirrel waved his hands. "I wished I had been here to see that." "Shouldn't he be coming down?" Trebuchet frowned under his helmet. "I threw him hard, but a body isn't designed to travel far." "Here he comes." Odd and Thia focused their equipment on one part of the starry expanse. Odd smiled. "It looks like he still doesn't have his axe." "I got him." Oz Mike lifted up, pulling more and more water from the warehouse for height. He created a slide under the falling mercenary who seemed smaller under all the goop that remained. The two of them spiraled down to the ground as the surfer ate away the speed from his catch and slowed him to a crawl. They reached ground level, and Fenris Ulf fell the last few inches to the ground with a human yelp. "It looks like we have everyone but their boss." Aylwin smiled. Chad had praised his friends, and he had been right. "Let's get him." Super Squirrel helped shove the mercenaries into Odd's much bigger grip. "He can't be tougher than these guys." "He might have cut his losses and fled the scene." Aylwin led the way into the warehouse, wincing at the hole where the door had been.

Re: Walking With Strangers 23 Billy Keys pulled the Question Man towards the gatehouse door. That should get them across the parking area. The others kept the two watchdogs busy while he opened the door to the interior of the warehouse. "Which way do we go from here?" Billy looked around the small open area they stood in. "This way." The Question Man started left, eyeing what remained on the shelves as he passed. The two rescuers proceeded with a small amount of caution. They didn't want to run into anything dangerous. They weren't equipped to deal with anyone more dangerous than thug with a gun. The Question Man couldn't answer eyebeams, and Billy couldn't move things without a door to use. They found Fenris Ulf leaning against the wall next to where the Question Man wanted to go. He rubbed a rock down the edge of his axe. Sparks flew from the blade. He eyed the two of them, a grim smile on his wolf face. He rubbed the rock against his axe's blade one more time before putting the stone away. "What have we here?" Fenris Ulf straightened, giving his weapon a swing to limber the arm. "I expected not two varlets to intrude on my repose, but your coming is welcome for I feel a bit restless and inclined to violence." "I would like to take a rain check." The Question Man raised both hands. "We're just looking around. Ignore us." "I'm afraid my axe longs for the splitting of skulls with a laugh on my lips and fire in my eye." Fenris Ulf advanced, chuckling as the other two retreated. "Ready weapons and prepare for your deaths with a warrior's pride." "Run." The Question Man pushed Billy into a side aisle while he headed back the way they had walked from the front door. Maybe splitting up would help them out. Fenris Ulf swung his axe. It sliced through the shelf in his way, splitting the metal bars so the top of the rack fell into the next aisle. The contents scattered to the floor around his ponderous body. The mercenary grunted. The janitor had already made it pass the next piece of furniture, and moving fast. The other man sprinted for the front of the building. He didn't seem that much of a challenge to battle, but he couldn't be allowed to go outside and warn anybody about what was going on. It didn't occur to the berserker that it might already be too late to keep up the masquerade of normality. Fenris Ulf drew back his axe and threw it. The weapon whistled as it went. The target threw himself behind cover. The blade sank into the wall, slicing bricks in two. The Question Man considered whether or not he had done the right thing. That took long enough for him to catch his breath, and dodge down the aisle with the storage racks on either side. At least the big monster couldn't see him. Fenris Ulf walked forward, holding out his hand. The axe freed itself from the wall and spun through the air to its owner. He caught it as he reached where the masked man had ducked for cover. A quick glance told him the man had reached the other end of that space. Fenris Ulf braced powerful arms against the shelf closest to him and pushed. His mighty muscles ripped the shelving up from the floor. The thing's weight took over and dropped it on the next one in line. That shelf bent and then came free and the both of them knocked a third down. The rest fell like dominoes to the far wall. The Question Man winced at the destruction. He ducked down to avoid the flying axe while he tried to think of some other way to keep Fenris Ulf from killing him. His mind had blanked out everything but the need to run. He needed a question he could use to his advantage. The Question Man dove in the triangle caused by the shelves propping each other up. He climbed in, moving as much as possible around the old weapons that had fallen to the floor. The deadly blade would have to strike blind while he kept moving. Fenris Ulf walked to the front of the space where he had seen his enemy duck into. Killing the man would be as easy as pie. All he needed was to destroy his cover and reveal him to his death. Fenris Ulf grabbed the edge of the shelf and picked it up. He grinned at the coward crawling there. He freed his axe with one hand for the killing stroke. The masked man flung one of the useless relics at the mercenary to fend him off a few seconds more. The shining blade sliced the round cylinder body of the thing easily. The two pieces fell to the floor with a clinking of metal on concrete. "You were far braver than I thought." Fenris Ulf released the axe on the backswing. "Perhaps you will sit at Valhalla's table with the others that have opposed me to their regret." The Question Man swung with the next closest object that he grabbed. He didn't want to die, knew that the furry marauder possessed more strength and toughness and should be avoided, and knew that the others would breach the door at any moment. His thirty year old artifact deflected the thrown blade at the last second, spinning it away over his head. The Question Man threw the notched relic at Fenris Ulf before jumping over the fallen shelf and running. The two pieces of metal rebounded off a furry arm as the mercenary tried to turn to keep up with the smaller man. He held out his hand for his axe as the masked man ducked behind another rack still standing upright. Fenris Ulf laughed. The wood and steel axe handle slapped in his hand as he started to pursue his prey. He should be angered, but instead felt some elation of having a worthy opponent to battle. He wondered how long the mortal could duck him before the head came off. He had forgotten about the janitor in his bloodlust. Billy Keys kept an eye out as he circled back to the room the monster had been guarding. He pushed a key into the lock and opened it. Men in Air Force uniforms shouted questions. One of the men, a sergeant, had managed to get his bound hands in front of him somehow. "Quiet." Billy held up a hand. "I am going to get you outside so we can talk." Billy started helping the personnel through the door to the boat rental cabin on the lake. It was far enough away that any mercenary wouldn't be able to get to it fast without being able to do what Billy could do, but close enough that help could arrive if there was a problem. "Get me out of these cuffs." The sergeant held out his hands. "I want to get some licks in." "I don't have anything to do that." Billy shook his head. "Wait here. Someone will come get you when this is over." "What if I don't want to do that?" The big sergeant shook his manacles. "Not my problem." Billy stepped through the closed door of the boat rental place and landed back at the cell. Now he needed to do something about the crazy axe thing whatever it was. Billy grabbed something that looked like a baseball bat with a hand guard as he headed back to where the Question Man fled from the furball. This was totally a bad idea. He should be running far away from the monster instead of walking toward it. He hoped he could drop the Viking critter with a swing of his new weapon. Otherwise the monster would drop him like a bad habit. Billy swung. His weapon connected with the wolf monster's winged helmet. It went flying across the room. Its wearer glared at the super with fire dripping from its eyes. The axe went up. Then it came down.

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? War Jet Li vs. Jason Statham. CES

Re: A campaign idea I dreamed up Didn't the Original Capt Boomerang try to do that? CES

Re: Adventures in Space/Time The Dominie looked at the robot, took out a remote monitor and pulled out a cord to plug it into the robot to get a fix on where the source of the robots were. "What are you doing?" Frank hovered slightly to the side. He felt like this person had caused things and needed to be dealt with in a final fashion. Then suddenly Frank transformed back into his normal self. The Dominie saying "I'm trying to find the source of the robot, quiet." "This has been going on for quite some time from the local gossip." Frank put his hands in his pockets. "You're a little for tea and scones." "I found them, come with me." He hurried off running to get to an abandoned building that looked lit up in the foggy night. Frank waited until this Domine was out of sight and triggered his pocketwatch for a new transformation. The watch transformed him into a mummy. Frank shook his head. Of all the times to be the Mummy. He walked towards the building. The Dominie looked into the warehouse, seeing a bunch of machinery like an assembly line constructing the robots. Frank wondered up, moved to another door down from where the Dominie stood. The Dominie snuck inside looking around at all the robed hooded guards. Some had their hoods down. They were definitely human but he wondered where Frank was. Frank opened the door he had found and went in, looking around for security. A robed individual walked up to Frank "Who are you?" "New guy." Frank waited for a challenge. "I'm supposed to be fixing machine men." "You're no new guy. You're some guy in bandages!" He yelled as he chased after Frank. Frank smashed the guy down with his invulnerable fist and super strength. The guy went out like a light. Meanwhile the Dominie got a look at the machine, thinking that its technology was way more advanced than any gifted scientist on Earth could produce. Frank hid the body. Then he walked around the lab, pulling things apart here and there where he thought it would do the most good. Then two guards came and looked at Frank sabotaging the place. They called for other guards to come. The Dominie was doing the same but he was also found by guards. He made a run for it. Frank picked up the biggest thing he could with the mummy's strength and threw it through anything in its way. The guards were all knocked to the ground. The head of the robed men was at the control room watching all this. He had the robots come to life and attack the two intruders. Meanwhile the Dominie had taken down the guards chasing him and saw the robots come after him and Frank. Frank picked up the next biggest thing he could pick up and used that as a hammer, smashing anything that got in his way. So far he hadn't seen any sailors. The warehouse was huge with an assembly line full of boxes of spare parts and so forth. The robots dodged his metal pipe, firing their beams at him. The mummy started knocking away roof supports. The Dominie yelled for him to stop but he didn't, the beams not hitting him and the support beams giving way after he knocked them down. The place came crashing down. The boss escaped. The Dominie tried to take cover to not get buried under the place. Frank pushed through the debris, looking for anyone trying to get in his way. All the robots and guards were dead or destroyed. Luckily the Dominie survived and dug himself out. No bodies of the sailors were found. And that's when Frank transformed back. Frank looked the debris over for any clue to who owned the warehouse. The Dominie yelled, quite infuriated, "Do you have any idea what you were doing? Do you? We could have gotten to the boss and taken him down, now he has fled somewhere else!" "How far do you think he got?" Frank checked for tracks in the wreckage. "If he used the sea, we would have seen a boat, if he used the sewer, then there will be a drain, if he is on the street, he couldn't have run far, and if he used the transporter, we have his minions' teleporters." "You have the brains, use them." Frank checked the routes he could, listening and watching with his two eyes and ears. "Oh yes, use brains. What about you and your brains back there breaking everything in sight?" He looked around, pulling out his little metal flashlight-like device. "Mmmmm. Apparently he is using a hover bike, though how he built it is wrong. It's like someone else did it for him." "Imagine that." Frank stepped out on the dock. "Shall we look for it?" "I know it must be some sort of being that could have done this all." he said following the trail.

Re: A campaign idea I dreamed up A court can order community service, restitutions, and fines. A villain might want to skip out on that, but violation usually means more jail time until they do pay, being on the most wanted list, other things. Of course they would want to get out of paying anything back. CES

Re: A campaign idea I dreamed up The government usually cracks down on villains in a world without heroes. This leads to things like Project M and Task Force X. Plus Villains would still be subject the same wrongful damage suits as heroes. CES