Jessica walks to the center of the Plaza and stare into the TV camera. “Where are you Crusaders? The city needs you.”
That question is on the minds of the 5 invitees that are standing in the Plaza as well. They were invited to join the Crusaders by Manta-Man but he has not shown himself. While they wait Jessica Anderson of WCTV approaches one of them. Why she chooses the hero hiding in the shadows will not be answered because she is here to ask questions not answer them.
“Would you tell the TV audience what is your name and what your powers are?” The man in black responds, “My name is Meltdown, and my powers are extreme stamina and Disintegration” With an award winning smile she asks next “what is your purpose here and will that involve stopping the Crusher Crimewave?” Meltdown replies “My purpose here is to investigate and I am only here to investigate, not challenge a group of 10 super villains”.
Anderson gives a small smile. “Investigation? That sounds interesting Meltdown. Would you be willing to tell me what you are investigating?” Meltdown replies, “I am not able to give you that information until a later time. But I will keep you informed. Thank you.” She thanks him in return. She lets him know this was a recorded interview and not live. He should watch tomorrow to see the interview played on the broadcast.
At first Starbolt is not willing to give an interview to the reporter. Jessica responds by smiling at Starbolt with her best smile. She motions for the camera to be turned off. She states, "I understand you’re not wanting to give an interview and providing too much information. I am not like the reporters from Power Witness Weekly or Truth Seeker Weekly News. I really do want to introduce Megalopolis to one of its newest heroes." She walks a little closer and coos, "How about giving only your Superhero name and that winning smile on camera. That is all I need handsome." She waits expectantly for your answer. "My name is Starbolt. I am here to help with the crime wave. My actual powers I would rather keep to myself. No sense giving the opposition any advanced information." If you would like a better interview, maybe we could arrange one at a later time." Jessica gives Starbolt a wink, “I definitely want that to be arranged.”
Emerald Dragon looked over everyone that was gathered; reporters, police, and civilians. He has a big heart (even bigger now that it is a dragon's) but he is smart enough to realize that despite his intentions he looks like the coming of Ragnarok and most people will be intimidated by his appearance. He shrugs briefly and listens to the long report given by Jessica Anderson, head spinning slightly at all the information she lays out. He occasionally glances at Detective Broyko who he notices is eyeing the group with a speculative expression on his face.
The Emerald Dragon sees that Jessica appears hesitant in approaching him. She summons here courage to walk toward him. Attempting to make it easier for her, he speaks first. "You can call me Emerald Dragon. Who I was before is irrelevant now. As is obvious I can use my wings to fly. I have the ability to take a good amount of punishment and to dish it out with my fists as well. I have other abilities as well which I wish to remain secret for now lest my foes have the chance to prepare for me. I was summoned to the Citadel and I am here to assist with whatever needs to be done. If the Crushers stand in my way I will definitely meet them head on with the intention of sending them packing or to prison. Do you have any other questions?” Jessica meekly shakes her head no. She softly says “thank you” and leaves for the middle of the Plaza.
As the invitees are interviewed by Jessica, a shadow passes over them. The shadow has the form of Manta-Man. Watching the hero land, all are struck with the fact something is different about the costume. It wasn’t Manta-Man. Starbolt voiced out loud what the others were wondering.
“Manta Lad, what are you doing here?”
Meltdown steps out of the shadows, pulling his cloak deeper over his head; obscuring his face from view. "Manta Lad, what happened? I would like to take a look at your super-computer."
“Um,” said Manta Lad to the skull faced man who towered over him. “Uh… Meltdown, right?"
Manta Lad thought, “Ai ai ai! These guys are humongous! And most of them look like bad guys! A green, bat-winged monsteroid! A death’s headed guy in black! A freakin’ devil! Whatever. I hope Manta Man knew what he was doing. Knows. I mean, knows what he’s doing. Get yourself together. Don't blow it. You can totally do this.”
Manta Lad gulped hard cleared his throat and said in his most serious, superhero tough-guy voice to all the superheroes: “Thanks for answering the call, everyone. I need to brief you, but away from the reporters. Follow me, please.”
The teenager raised his arms and the black, manta-shaped wing-cape took him into the air. He wouldn’t fly far. Just to a nearby rooftop so they'd be out of sight of the press, Crusader Citadel, and Detective Broyko.
Emerald Dragon looks down at Manta Lad and nods at his greeting and his words. As the others begin to follow Manta Lad, Phade approaches Emerald Dragon and asks, “My name is Phade, can you give me a lift as flying isn’t one of my powers.” The man with the ancient Dragon heart nods in agreement. He spreads his wings wide and leaps into the air, wings catching the wind and blowing back at those nearby. He circles the roof where Manta Lad landed the drops to the rooftop gracefully, setting Phade down and landing next to Manta Lad.
Emerald Dragon grins broadly, amused at the effect this often has on people with his draconic countenance; "Well I am here and interested in hearing anything more you have to offer once the rest arrive. I am Emerald Dragon, as if you may not have guessed. It is a pleasure to meet you, all things considered."
Meltdown flies into the sky right behind the others. Landing in clear view of all other heroes, he laughs. "Emerald Dragon? Nice name. Did you come straight out of a Godzilla movie? You look a little small for a dragon."
Emerald Dragon laughs loudly at that comment; "Well out of China actually, but not originally. This form is quite new to me so I really don't know WHAT is going to happen as I get older. That being said it is a pleasure to meet you. What name do you go by?
You can call me Meltdown. And you can feel free to guess what I can do?
Starbolt steps back and takes flight. As he makes his way to meet up with the rest of the group he thinks “I hope we can get to the bottom of what is going on." When he lands he addresses Manta Lad. "M-L, what information do you have for us?" "To the rest of you I am Starbolt, It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Emerald Dragon acknowledges Starbolt greeting and then speaks, "Manta Lad, please bring us up to speed. Is Manta-Man safe?"
Manta Lad landed on the rooftop with his back to the heroes that followed him. He was still for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts. Then he turned to face them, and blurted it all out.
“I don’t know if Manta Man is safe! He’s missing. So are all the Crusaders. None of them answer. I called you here.”
The kid sounded distraught, like he had lost his parents or something.
“I don’t know what to do. No one will listen to me. I think Mocker is behind the Crusher Crimewave. And I think the Crushers have captured the Crusaders! But the police won’t believe me because I’m just a kid.
If Manta Man was here he’d say something like, we need to stop the Crimewave, and get answers out of the Crushers.”
Just mentioning Manta Man seemed to give the kid some reassurance; direction.
“I, uh… can get us inside Manning Enterprises, the only big electronics guys left in the city that the Crushers haven’t hit yet. We can stake it out and ambush them. Get some answers. Find Manta Man.”
He turned to the scary skull guy: “I can’t get into the Citadel, I’m not a Crusader, but I can, uh, hack into TEACHER if you want.”
Then to everyone: “We, uh, should probably talk to Mocker’s ex-buddies who are in lock up, too. See if they, like, know anything. The police… wouldn’t let me do that either. Maybe one of you could?”
The un-titanic teen finally stopped. He had gotten it all out without crying.
He looked up at the heroes, fairly pleading. “Will you guys help me... please?”
Emerald Dragon looks down at Manta Boy with a small smile playing across his face; "Of course I will help you, the Crushers need to be stopped. You did well in taking the initiative to gather the group of us to assist you."
Starbolt draws in a slow breath, and thinks to himself "So my hunch is correct, something is wrong. Don't worry Bobby, we'll find you and the rest" Turning to face Manta Lad, he says, "You can count me in. I think that the stake-out would be a good idea, after we find out what is going on with Teacher." "It might be stating the obvious, but I think several of you might be able to scare some information out of Mocker's buddies."
Emerald Dragon looks over at Starbolt and a wide grin appears on his face, a somewhat disturbing grin; "Oh, you MAY just be right about that." He picks up a loose brick and holds it in one hand. His eyes focused on Starbolt and his grin still wide on his face he closes his hand deliberately, the effort obvious in the muscles on his forearms. Moments later cracks appear in the brick then it begins to crumble in his hand. Emerald Dragon drops the crumbs of the brick and dusts his hand off. His grin softens to be more natural; "Yes, I think between myself and Meltdown we should be able to loosen some tongues."
Manta Lad was visibly relieved at the response. "Thanks, guys. Thanks." Now he would eagerly lose himself in the work at hand with a ferocity and determination that matched his need to not think about losing another parent. The kid would find Manta Man and the Crusaders, no matter what it took.
The heroes discuss their options on the roof. It is decided that tonight they will attempt to ambush the Crushers at Manning Enterprises. Before that they will split up to gather as much information as possible.
· Emerald Dragon will go to Fear Island Super-Penitentiary to interview the incarcerated Infidel members.
· Manta Lad and Meltdown will see what information they can gather by hacking TEACHER.
· Starbolt will meet with Detective Broyko to learn what the Crusher Crimewave Task Force knows.
The members look Phade and the ‘Silent Devil’ to see if they will join one of the groups or what they will do.
[GM Note: Thank you for your patience. You can still have further interviews with Jessica. Let me know that you do and I will respond with further questions or have your first interview as case maybe. I am attaching the Manning Enterprises maps for your ambush planning. If there is anything else you want to add to the rooftop discussion, send that in as part of the next turn and I will include it in to Issue 3.]
<Due Date: Mar 3rd, Actions? Replies?>
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Emails submitted for Issue 2
Starbolt reply
I will not be giving an interview to the reporter. I don't want to broadcast what powers I have in case the bad guys are watching. I would like to suggest to the other heroes that we go somewhere that we can talk in private. When we are alone, I will tell them that I think something could have happened to the team.(Blizzard not being back to work on his comic book)Some of the Crusaders have personal commitments that they would have to be back to take care of. I will introduce myself to the group.
1. My name is Meltdown, and my powers are extreme stamina and Disintegration.
2. My purpose here is to investigate.
3. As stated, I am only here to investigate, not challenge a group of 10 super villains!
Meltdown steps out of the shadows, pulling his cloak deeper over his head; obscuring his face from view. "Manta-Lad, what happened? I would like to take a look at your super-computer."
Manta Lad:
“Um,” said Manta Lad to the skull faced man who towered over him. “Uh… Meltdown, right?"
Manta Lad thought, “Ai ai ai! These guys are humongous! And most of them look like bad guys! A green, bat-winged monsteroid! A death’s headed guy in black! A freakin’ devil! Whatever. I hope Manta Man knew what he was doing. Knows. I mean, knows what he’s doing. Get yourself together. Don't blow it. You can totally do this.”
Manta Lad gulped hard, cleared his throat and said in his most serious, superhero tough-guy voice to all the superheroes: “Thanks for answering the call, everyone. I need to brief you, but away from the reporters. Follow me, please.”
The teeneager raised his arms and the black, manta-shaped wing-cape took him into the air. He wouldn’t fly far. Just to a nearby rooftop so they'd be out of sight of the press, Crusader Citadel, and Detective Broyko.
Out of Character (OOC):
Hi everyone. I’m Jeff. Nice to meet you. Excited to be playing.
Thanks.
Best,
Jeff
Emerald Dragon
IC: Emerald Dragon looked over everyone that was gathered; reporters, police, and civilians. He has a big heart (even bigger now that it is a dragon's) but he is smart enough to realize that despite his intentions he looks like the coming of Ragnarok and most people will be intimidated by his appearance. He shrugs briefly and listens to the long report given by Jessica Anderson, head spinning slightly at all the information she lays out. He occasionally glances at Detective Broyko who he notices is eyeing the group with a speculative expression on his face. Emerald Dragon briefly approached Jessica when she nears the group; "You can call me Emerald Dragon and I will be happy to give you an interview once I have met with my companions to get more of the story. For now suffice it to say that if the Crushers show up, I will be here to meet them."
Emerald Dragon looks down at Manta Lad and nods at his greeting and his words. Momentarily after Manta Lad flies off he spreads his wings wide and leaps into the air, wings catching the wind and blowing back at those nearby. He circles the roof where Manta Lad landed the drops to the rooftop gracefully, landing next to him.
Emerald Dragon grins broadly, amused at the effect this often has on people with his draconic countenance; "Well I am here and interested in hearing anything more you have to offer once the rest arrive. I am Emerald Dragon, as if you may not have guessed. It is a pleasure to meet you, all things considered."
OOC: Hello to everyone as well, my name is Jan and it has been a LONG time since I have played V&V. I hope to have a grand old time with it. :-)
Tom, my character is obviously interested in giving the interview. So I am ready for the back and forth to complete the interview.
IC: Emerald Dragon looked over everyone that was gathered; reporters, police, and civilians. He has a big heart (even bigger now that it is a dragon's) but he is smart enough to realize that despite his intentions he looks like the coming of Ragnarok and most people will be intimidated by his appearance. He shrugs briefly and listens to the long report given by Jessica Anderson, head spinning slightly at all the information she lays out. He occasionally glances at Detective Broyko who he notices is eyeing the group with a speculative expression on his face. Emerald Dragon briefly approached Jessica when she nears the group; "You can call me Emerald Dragon and I will be happy to give you an interview once I have met with my companions to get more of the story. For now suffice it to say that if the Crushers show up, I will be here to meet them."
Emerald Dragon looks down at Manta Lad and nods at his greeting and his words. Momentarily after Manta Lad flies off he spreads his wings wide and leaps into the air, wings catching the wind and blowing back at those nearby. He circles the roof where Manta Lad landed the drops to the rooftop gracefully, landing next to him.
Emerald Dragon grins broadly, amused at the effect this often has on people with his draconic countenance; "Well I am here and interested in hearing anything more you have to offer once the rest arrive. I am Emerald Dragon, as if you may not have guessed. It is a pleasure to meet you, all things considered."
OOC: Hello to everyone as well, my name is Jan and it has been a LONG time since I have played V&V. I hope to have a grand old time with it. :-)
Tom, my character is obviously interested in giving the interview. So I am ready for the back and forth to complete the interview.
GM Reply
Anderson gives a small smile. Investigation? That sounds interesting Meltdown. Would you be willing to tell me what you are investigating?
Tom
GM Reply
Jessica will be smiling at you with her best smile. She motions for the camera to be turned off. She states, "I understand your not wanting to give an interview and providing too much information. I am not like the reporters from Power Witness Weekly or Truth Seeker Weekly News. I really do want to introduce Megalopolis to one of its newest heroes." She walks a little closer and coos, "How about giving only your Superhero name and that winning smile on camera. That is all I need handsome."
She waits expectantly for your answer.
[GM note: Having Heightened Charisma is awesome, isn't it]
Tom
OOC: Yeah, If my Hght. Chr. can help the team it will be great. IC: I would be happy to give you the quick interview after I meet with my team mates. Starbolt then steps back and takes flight. As he makes his way to meet up with the rest of the group he thinks " I hope we can get to the bottom of what is going on." When he lands he addreses Manta-Lad. "M-L, what information do you have for us?" "To the rest of you I am Starbolt, It is my pleasure to make your aquaintance."
OOC: Hello guys, my name is Jamey, I think this will be fun.
I am not able to give you that information until a later time. But I will keep you informed. Thank you.
Meltdown flies into the sky right behind the others. Landing in clear view of all other heroes, he laughs. "Emerald Dragon? Nice name. Did you come straight out of a Godzilla movie? You look a little small for a dragon."
"Manta-Lad, please bring us up to speed. Is Manta-Man safe?"
OOC: Hello all, Andrew here, experienced heavily with PBEM's but it is my first V&V PBEM however. Glad to meet everyone.
"Manta-Lad, please bring us up to speed. Is Manta-Man safe?"
OOC: Hello all, Andrew here, experienced heavily with PBEM's but it is my first V&V PBEM however. Glad to meet everyone.
IC: Emerald Dragon laughs loudly at that comment; "Well out of China actually, but not originally. This form is quite new to me so I really don't know WHAT is going to happen as I get older. That being said it is a pleasure to meet you. What name do you go by?
You can call me Meltdown. And you can feel free to guess what I can do ;)
Phade agrees to a short interview after he talks to Manta Lad. As the others begin to follow Manta Lad Phade approaches Emerald Dragon and asks, “My name is Phade, can you give me a lift as flying isn’t one of my powers?”
Manta Lad landed on the rooftop with his back to the heroes that followed him. He was still for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts. Then he turned to face them, and blurted it all out.
“I don’t know if Manta Man is safe! He’s missing. So are all the Crusaders. None of them answer. I called you here.”
The kid sounded distraught, like he had lost his parents or something.
“I don’t know what to do. No one’ll listen to me. I think Mocker is behind the Crusher Crimewave. And I think the Crushers have captured the Crusaders! But the police won’t believe me because I’m just a kid.
If Manta Man was here he’d say something like, we need to stop the Crimewave, and get answers out of the Crushers.”
Just mentioning Manta Man seemed to give the kid some reassurance; direction.
“I, uh… can get us inside Manning Enterprises, the only big electronics guys left in the city that the Crushers haven’t hit yet. We can stake it out and ambush them. Get some answers. Find Manta Man. ”
He turned to the scary skull guy: “I can’t get into the Citadel, I’m not a Crusader, but I can, uh, hack into TEACHER if you want.”
Then to everyone: “We, uh, should probably talk to Mocker’s ex-buddies who are in lock up, too. See if they, like, know anything. The police… wouldn’t let me do that either. Maybe one of you could?”
The un-titanic teen finally stopped. He had gotten it all out without crying.
He looked up at the heroes, fairly pleading. “Will you guys help me... please?”
IC: Emerald Dragon looks down at Manta Boy with a small smile playing across his face; "Of course I will help you, the Crushers need to be stopped. You did well in taking the initiative to gather the group of us to assist you."
OOC: BTW, Emerald Dragon would have had no problem giving Phade a lift to the roof.
Sir GM, am still waiting to do that interview when you have the opportunity. :-)
OOC: BTW, Emerald Dragon would have had no problem giving Phade a lift to the roof.
Sir GM, am still waiting to do that interview when you have the opportunity. :-)
Starbolt draws in a slow breath, and thinks to himself "So my hunch is correct, something is wrong. Don't worry Bobby, we'll find you and the rest" Turning to face Manta-Lad, he says, "You can count me in. I think that the stake-out would be a good idea, after we find out what is going on with Teacher." "It might be stating the obvious, but I think several of you might be able to scare some information out of Mocker's buddies."
IC: Emerald Dragon looks over at Starbolt and a wide grin appears on his face, a somewhat disturbing grin; "Oh, you MAY just be right about that." He picks up a loose brick and holds it in one hand. His eyes focused on Starbolt and his grin still wide on his face he closes his hand deliberately, the effort obvious in the muscles on his forearms. Moments later cracks appear in the brick then it begins to crumble in his hand. Emerald Dragon drops the crumbs of the brick and dusts his hand off. His grin softens to be more natural; "Yes, I think between myself and Meltdown we should be able to loosen some tongues."
OOC: With a base HTH of 2d8 and a damage modifier of +5 that would make his minimum damage 7. Brick I believe has a SR of 5 (from the book), so I figured it would be pretty basic for him to be able to crush a brick. If I am overstepping feel free to modify the post.
OOC: With a base HTH of 2d8 and a damage modifier of +5 that would make his minimum damage 7. Brick I believe has a SR of 5 (from the book), so I figured it would be pretty basic for him to be able to crush a brick. If I am overstepping feel free to modify the post.
Manta Lad was visibly relieved at the response. "Thanks, guys. Thanks." Now he would eagerly lose himself in the work at hand with a ferocity and determination that matched his need to not think about losing another parent. The kid would find Manta Man and the Crusaders, no matter what it took.
OOC:
Hi everyone. Looks like 'today' we split up?
Some of us go to Fear Island for Infidel interrogation.
Some of us hack into TEACHER. Maybe this team also contacts Doc Morrow, TEACHER's inventor?
Maybe some of us could see what the police know, get dossiers on the known Crushers from Broyko, see if there are any known Weaknesses to exploit? What time of night do the Crushers normally stage their break ins? Is there a pattern? How do they normally break in? etc.
If these are our choices, the teenage troublemaker will join the TEACHER team. Sounds like Dragon wants Fear Island and Meltdown is on TEACHER team? Everyone else?
If no one volunteers for the police team, Manta Lad will switch to that job, reluctantly.
Any other ideas for what we could be doing today?
This evening we regroup, share our findings, respond to discoveries (if any)? Then tonight we set the ambush at Manning Enterprises?
Does this sound right? Any other thoughts?
Tom, I know Enforcer's arch enemy is Mercury Merc. Does Manta Man have an arch nemesis among the Infidels or the known Crushers? Thanks.
Best,
Jeff / Manta Lad
GM Reply
Infidels
Mocker: Active - Location Unknown
Acylla: Imprisoned - Fear Island Super Prison
Bull: Active – North American Continent; Member of the Crushers
Cannonball: Imprisoned - Fear Island Super Prison
Killshot: Imprisoned - Fear Island Super Prison
Repulse: Imprisoned - Fear Island Super Prison
Riptide: Imprisoned - Fear Island Super Prison
Sadhana: Imprisoned - Fear Island Super Prison
Shrew: Dead
Toxic: Imprisoned - Fear Island Super Prison
Zymba: Active – African Continent
Sounds good to me... And I thought I needed manta lad to help me get into teacher?
OOC: Starbolt will take whichever job you need him to take. I could talk to the police; see if this increased charisma helps out.
IC: The Interview: Emerald Dragon eventually seeks out Jessica Anderson for a more comprehensive interview. Sitting down with her he begins by answering her initial questions; "Who I was before is irrelevant now, I am Emerald Dragon. As is obvious I can use my wings to fly. I have the ability to take a good amount of punishment and to dish it out with my fists as well. I have other abilities as well which I wish to remain secret for now lest my foes have the chance to prepare for me. I was summoned to the Citadel apparently by Manta Lad and I am here to assist with whatever needs to be done. If the Crushers stand in my way I will definitely meet them head on with the intention of sending them packing or to prison. Do you have any other questions?
OOC: He definitely is interested in going to interrogate the captured Infidels before returning to help set up an ambush for the Crushers.
Are there any other things he needs to make clear or deal with that I can address?
Jan
OOC: He definitely is interested in going to interrogate the captured Infidels before returning to help set up an ambush for the Crushers.
Are there any other things he needs to make clear or deal with that I can address?
Jan
OOC:
Great. So Manta Lad is with Meltdown on TEACHER. Thanks!
Riptide is one scary looking dude! The boy birostris is glad he's in lockup!
IC: Starbolt will also seek out Jessica for his interview. "My name is Starbolt. I am here to help with the crime wave. My actual powers I would rather keep to myself. No sence giving the opposition any advanced information." "If you would like a better interview, maybe we could arrange one at a later time."
OOC: I would like to seek out the police commander to see if I can get any information from him. If Jessica has any information that she would be willing to share, I would be interested in that too.
Starbolt would like to help plan the ambush after talking to the police, if that is an option. Otherwise I will just talk to the police
Emerald Dragon will also help plan the ambush after he interviews the Infidels.
OOC:
Manta Lad will help with ambush too.
Also, can the TEACHER hacking team also talk to Doc Morrow?
Thanks,
Jeff / Manta Lad
Yes, but they have to talk to Dr. Morrow first and it has to be by electronic communication. You don't have time to visit him in person.
Tom
