On the rooftop of a building in the shadow of Crusader Citadel, a new team is forming. They have been called because the Crusaders have not responded to the need to stop the Crusher Crimewave. Why the Crusaders have been gone so long is unknown but a new set of heroes have gathered to meet the challenge.
Manta Lad says "I think we should work in pairs," the kid said, looking at his feet. "Once Jessica Anderson's report goes out, the Crushers will know we're after them.”
"Maybe you could, uh, join Dragon at Fear Island?" he said to the red devil. And to Phade: "Maybe you could work with Starbolt and talk to the cops?"
The Devil looking creature shakes his head ‘no’. He burst out in flames and flies off the roof. The others watch as the ‘Son of Satan’ disappears in the direction of Hallowed Hills. There is an extended silence.
Phade breaks the silence by saying “I will go along with Emerald Dragon”.
Manta Lad relieved that they aren’t all leaving, "Hey, are you guys carrying your phones, so we can stay in touch?"
Starbolt states, "Working in pairs sounds like a good idea Manta-Lad and as a matter of fact I do have my phone on me. Guys I think that we should agree on a specific time and place to meet back up."
All present nod in agreement.
Upon all of them reaching agreement of when and where to return, they part in their separate teams. Starbolt flies down to the Plaza of Crusader Citadel. He lands in front of Detective Broyko. He offers the help of the team to the leader of the Crusher Taskforce. Broyko reaches to remove his hat, forgetting that it had been stolen by a Crusher [Amazing First Issue ~ ed.]. Cursing nothing specific, he thanks Starbolt for the help.
He takes Starbolt to the Crusher Taskforce Command Center. When they arrive, Starbolt’s cell phone rings. It is Emerald Dragon. The Prison Warden will not allow him and Phade to talk with the Infidels. Can Starbolt ask Detective Broyko if he would help? Detective Broyko listens, “Starbolt, I trust you. So I would be glad to vouch for your team.” The leader of the Taskforce calls the Warden and explains the situation. Within minutes access is granted.
Detective Broyko turns to the Taskforce Command Centers analysis boards.
“We have been tracking the thefts of the Crushers. They appear to be electronics, computers, and other high tech items. They have robbed all known high tech companies with the exception of Manning Enterprises. We believe they are next and we believe it will be tonight.”
“We can’t find a pattern in what they are stealing. We have three working theories on what is going on.
1) They are stealing more than they need to hide the true purpose of the thefts.
2) Some of the Crushers are stealing the wrong things because they are dumb. Bull is the best example of this theory.
3) What they are stealing does not matter but only that they are stealing a lot of it. It is like they are trying to get someone’s attention. I can imagine who that would be. All the high tech company owners and scientists have made emergency trips to Megalopolis in an attempt to keep their companies alive. The only two who haven’t shown are Joshua Rose and Carter Manning. Both have a history of extended absences and neither has to be in office in person to effectively lead their companies
“The only scientist that hasn’t been summoned is Dr. Morrow. He doesn’t work for any companies currently. He is more a freelance inventor but he did create TEACHER. We have made arrangements for him to be brought in by police escort. He will arrive at the Taskforce Command Center tomorrow.
Starbolt thanks him for the information of the thefts. He asked Detective Broyko what information he can provide on the Crushers himself.
“Here is the list of who we think are involved and what meta-data we have on them.
FIST is short for Flying Infantry Shock Trooper armor, which he has stolen. FIST has Armor with jet boots, life support, and augmented strength, plus a Power Blast device. He has some reputation as a ‘Robin Hood’ type villain, and other criminals distrust him, though reputation is mere hype. His real name is Frank Streeter.
Mercury Mercenary has heighted speed in addition to his modern weapons expertise. He deserves his reputation of being totally ruthless and merciless. His true identity is unknown … apparently even to himself!
Rachel Weaver is the Shrew, a very tough female wrestler. She is reputed to be a drug addict.
The Bull is ‘Big Bull’ Buckford, a psychotic physical juggernaut. He is known to become enraged by the sight of the color red. It used to be mindlessly but one of the last times he was in prison, the prison psychologist was able to work him past his issue. My men tell me know that he will start calling his opponent ‘Red’ to help him focus on the fight. We have learned that the original Shrew, Sheila Brewster, was able to teach Bull the basics on boxing before she died. So those that said Bull will never learn were wrong. In his ten years as a criminal he has done that. He is a killer
Victor Tuttle, the Peregrine, had synthetic avian appendages surgically grafted to his body. He has wings, talons, and my hat!
Temper’s identify and actual powers are unknown, but he seems to be able to instill berserk rage in his opponents. Victims of this control later fell emotionally drained.
Master Zero attempts to conquer the USA in 2000. He and his Legion of Cold are defeated by Flashfire. Exposure to mutagenic ‘white hole’ has induced cold powers; he can project ice masses, create ice armor, and radiate extreme cold. He has weakness to fire. He defeat by Flashfire caused him to lose the leadership of the Legion of Cold. The resulting imprisonment has greatly reduced the Legion of Cold’s influence. It is now on the same level as an organized gang. We believe Madame Frigia. Master Zero fell on hard times and we believe his joining the Crushers is an attempt to regain some his lost rep. His real name is Ekabod Zynciskiski.
Lisa Grass also known as Crater, She has the ability of flight and disintegration. She is wanted for the slaying of a news reporter and three police officers
Dustdevil has the ability to manipulate the dust. That doesn’t sound too bad until your experience a sandpaper cyclone. He can sandblast the paint of walls or flesh of bone. He can create a cyclone around him that doesn’t harm him and protects him from being harmed.
“They haven’t robbed a place together. The Crushers tend to split up into 2 or 3 groups. Most of the robberies occur in the evening before the sun sets except for Bull. He robs at all hours of the day.
At Fear Island Super Penitentiary, Phade is signing over his device into protective custody. He pockets the claim slip. He is not pleased but he didn’t want to wait outside either. Emerald Dragon is not happy either. He did not like having to call Starbolt but he wasn’t going to start his career by breaking in.
The two heroes are led into the reception area for visitors. The Warden explains that it is not like the normal prison visiting center. This one is a reinforced cell itself. They can see it other face to face but can’t reach each other. If anyone attempts to break out they will release a variant of a knock out gas. It doesn’t have to be inhale. It will permeate the skin as well.
The Warden explains they will start with the low risk prisoners first and move up. All of these are consider medium threat potential in here. The high threat inmates have special rooms tailor to counter their abilities. The Infidels were a very dangerous group and no one wants them on the streets any time soon. The Warden says his goodbyes. He introduces his head of security. The head of security, Mr. Jones, will be their escort for the rest of the time.
The first member to enter is Cannonball.
Emerald Dragon and Phade are surprise to see he only has one arm. Mr. Jones explains the other was a bionic attachment. It is in custody at an undisclosed location.
Emerald Dragon stares at him, smiling that overly toothy predatory grin he sometimes has. "So, how it you ended up in here but your other companions are out running free and recruiting new members, acting is if you all never existed. You may have no desire to aid me or the Crusaders but think of it this way; if I help get your companions locked up in here with you. You could exact a little payback for their callous disregard of you all.
“You got it wrong you freaks. It was Mocker you gave me my arm in the first place.”
Emerald Dragon shows no reaction to Cannonball’s outburst. “Alternatively I could always let it be known amongst the inmates that you all assisted me, whether that was true or not. Super powers or not, I am sure they could find a way to express their displeasure. You help me and maybe I could see my way to putting in a word for a bit more comfort in your accommodations and maybe even pare down your sentences a bit.”
Cannonball falters, “Could you get me a new arm? It doesn’t have to be bionic or anything just a simple prosthetic.”
Phade lets him know they will try their best to make it happen.
“Okay, you see, Mocker is not obsessed with the Crusaders. It is TEACHER. He doesn’t want to steal TEACHER’s tech. It is different. If I didn’t know better I would call it sibling rivalry. The way he goes on about TEACHER’s creator, it almost sounds like he is ranting against a Father who is favoring a different son. Mocker is free. He will not be far from the Citadel. That is all I know.”
Mr. Jones signals for Cannonball to be removed.
Next a woman walks in wearing an orange coverall. It is Acylla.
She looks at Phade coldly. “I worship the sun. You are in fellowship with the darkness. I will not speak with you.”
She looks at Emerald Dragon. “Ah, you have the mark of Xiuhcoatl on you. I don’t believe you are an heir of his but you are a distant kin. You are appealing to me. I will speak with you. Why are you here?”
Emerald Dragon explains the situation with the Crushers and their suspicions about Mocker
“If you are willing we can barter information for favors. I have not used any of my …” she pauses to look at Mr. Jones, who nods in the affirmative, “my ‘special’ visits.”
“Mocker never strays from his programming. He is in most ways exactly as his name. He mocks all. He wants to have enemies helpless before him so he can mock and shame them. Everything he does is a deception. His appearance, his powers, and his actions are all about deception. Do not study his actions to find his plan. Look to the actions of others to discover his plan. He does not plan actions but reactions.”
“If my information leads to your success then come back to thank me properly on a ‘special’ visitation day.” She rises from her chairs. Giving her best seductive smile she leaves the room.
Next into the room is Killshot.
He sits down into the chair looking blankly in front of him.
Emerald Dragon moves into Killshot’s view. “You may have no desire to aid me but think of it this way; if I help get your companions locked up in here with you. You could exact a little payback for their callous disregard. Alternatively I could always let it be known amongst the inmates that you all assisted me, whether that was true or not. Super powers or not, I am sure they could find a way to express their displeasure. I will find the Crushers one way or another, but if you help me you get a little payback when they get dumped in here with you. So what's it going to be?"
While he talks to him he absent-mindedly plays with a piece of rebar, bending it into and out of the shape of a pretzel, still wearing that disturbing grin as he occasionally looks up.
The criminal turns his attention to the Emerald Dragon. “Go ahead, tell everyone I cooperated. I am bored stiff in here. That would add a little spice to this endless monotony. Now you on the other I hand. I would love to hunt you. You would be better prey than any bird”.
Phade leans forward and catches the killer’s eyes. The two take measure of each other. Phade nods and signals Mr. Jones to send Killshot on his way. Phade explains that Killshot is serious about being bored when he is not killing. Killing convicts would be something he would enjoy. We were going to getting nothing of value from him.
Mr. Jones takes them to the high threat special rooms to interview the next Infidels.
Sadhana will only cooperate if they can get the World Religions to renounce their corrupt ways and bring Dreamweaver’s head on a silver platter. Dreamweaver stands against the very concept of universal truth and must be destroyed.
Riptide wanted to be deported to his homeland Aquina in exchange for his cooperation. Mr. Jones informed him that would never happen.
Toxic stated he would never give up Mocker. He had stolen the tech to create his containment suit. If the Supreme Court didn’t rule the removal of the suit would be cruel and unusual punishment, he would be in a toxic chemical barrel at this instance.
Repulse was more than happy to cooperate.
He would love to payback Mocker and Bull for leaving him here to rot. His advice was not to underestimate Mockers use of Bull. “Most of the time Bull is like the hand that the magician use to distract the audience’s attention away from where the trick is really occurring. Figure out what Bull is serving as the distraction from.”
“My final advice is: Mocker is not human. Don’t think of him that way. He fakes humanity as part of the illusion. He was never a person. He is not a person who is in a machine. He is a computer program controlling a machine. Treat him as if he was a killer car.”
Mr. Jones leads the inmate back to his room. He escorts the two visits to the exit. He personally makes sure that Phade gets everything back and that it is all in proper working order.
Manta Lad and Meltdown easily gets into Carter Manning’s office without being seen. Manta Lad quickly uses the computer to get into TEACHER’s back door. He moves aside and lets Meltdown get to work. While Meltdown starts to enter commands, Manta Lad picks up the phone.
He calls Dr. Morrow. The conversation is brief because the Megalopolis PD has arrived to escort him to the Crusher Crimewave Taskforce Command Center. They need to leave soon to be able to arrive by tomorrow. Manta Lad questions him about TEACHER current behavior. Dr. Morrow ponders it for a moment. He decides that TEACHER must be under attack from several hackers. It would appear it is shutting down certain parts of its system to prevent the hackers from getting access.
Meltdown is trying to figure out which system sub-routines are still available for access. The internal security cameras and electronic surveillance equipment in levels 1 to 3 are shutdown. He attempted to activate the Crusader’s comm.-links but they are off-line. Several different attempts fail. He decides maybe the historical databases would give him what he needs.
He accessed the flight and travel plans database. Meltdown could not find a flight plan logged with the FAA in the last 3 months. On a hunch he checks the hangers on level 4 and shuttle launch tube. The Crusader Shuttlecraft, Hovercraft, and Jet Helicopter are still in the Citadel.
<Due Date: Mar 23rd, Actions? Replies?>
Manta Lad:
"I think we should work in pairs," the kid said, looking at his feet. "Once Jessica Anderson's report goes out, the Crushers will know we're after them.
"Maybe you could, uh, join Dragon at Fear Island?" he said to the red devil. And to Phade: "Maybe you could work with Starbolt and talk to the cops?"
<replies, if any?>
"Hey, are you guys carrying your phones, so we can stay in touch?"
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Starbolt:"Working in pairs sounds like a good idea Manta-Lad and as a matter of fact I do have my phone on me" Turning to face Phade, Starbolt says" Phade, are you up for talking to the cops?" Guys I think that we should agree on a specific time and place to meet back up."
OOC: If Phade is interested in talking to the cops with me I will suggest we depart.I will ask the Detective for a list of names and powers of the villains that we are possibly having to deal with. I also would ask about the last contact that they had with any of the Crusaders.
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OOC: Emerald Dragon will be at the prison trying to get some answers. He would be happy to have the assistance of Filius if he wants to come along. He is also carrying his cell phone so he can be reached if need be.
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Manta Lad and Meltdown - Where are you going to hack TEACHER, Carter Manning's office or a portal device at Starbucks? What are you trying to find out from/ do in TEACHER
Emerald Dragon - What questions are you going to ask the Infidels or instead of exact questions what information are you trying to get and how do you plan to get it (favors or threats)
Starbolt - What information do you want from Detective Broyle
Phade - which group are you going with Fear Island Super-Penteniary or Crusher Task Force
Phil - which group are you going with Fear Island Super-Penteniary or Crusher Task Force
Thanks
Tom
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Starbolt
I want to know about the previous robberies. What was taken, what the items can be used for. What villains have been involved, the villains known powers and weaknesses. Are any of the villains known associate not incarcerated, and if so what are their known powers and weaknesses. Were the robberies on specific days or times?
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Meltdown
Anything at all, information on the crusaders, their wherabouts, security footage of the area, etc. Not sure where though.
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OOC: The problem is Emerald Dragon really can't make any threats that stick as they are all in custody and it would not look good to apply muscle while they are behind bars. He would want to try and get any information about whether their allies had anything to do with the Crusaders' disappearance. I am honestly not sure how to go about it without being anti-heroic as I am sure they have no intention of answering obvious questions.
Any suggestions cuz I am kinda stuck....
Jan
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Manta Lad thinks for a moment.
Then he says: "Hmmm. With only a few hours to work this angle, I can see two ways to go here:
"First, bad cop. Bluff violence. No one knows you, so you could be crazy enough to do something. You look pretty mean. No offense.
"Second way, good cop. The Infidels can't be too happy that their old team mate has left them rotting in jail while he starts a new team. Maybe they'll want to help you hurt him."
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Starbolt
How about "If you don't help, I would be more than willing to let the other inmates know how helpful you have been." I am pretty sure being labled a snitch would not go over very well behind bars. Just a thought.
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IC: Emerald Dragon is let in to where the Infidels are being held. He stares each of them down in turn, smiling that overly toothy predatory grin he sometimes has. "So, how is it you all ended up in here but your other companions are out running free and recruiting new members, acting is if you all never existed. You may have no desire to aid me or the Crusaders but think of it this way; if I help get your companions locked up in here with you you all could exact a little payback for their callous disregard of you all. Alternatively I could always let it be know amongst the inmates that you all assisted me, whether that was true or not. Super powers or not, I am sure they could find a way to express their displeasure. You help me and maybe I could see my way to putting in a word for a bit more comfort in your accomodations and maybe even pare down your sentences a bit. I will find the Crushers one way or another, but if you help me you get a little something in return also and a little payback when they get dumped in here with you. So what's it going to be?"
While he talks to them he absent-mindedly plays with a piece of rebar, bending it into and out of the shape of a pretzel, still wearing that disturbing grin as he occasionally looks up at each of them.
Regardless of their response he will eventually make his way back to the citadel to plan the ambush for the Crushers.
OOC: Thanks for the suggestions guys, it has been a LONG long time since I did supers and it is a different experience altogether than fantasy rpgs. Hopefully the above dialog will get a little something back.
Jan
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OOC: No problem
Jeff
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Sorry, I’ve been sick and got behind in reading the posts.
Phade will go along with Emerald Dragon.
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OOC:
Manta Lad wants to do the hack at Carter Manning's office. What we're looking for is up to Meltdown, who requested access to TEACHER.
We can call Doc Morrow from there as well.
Laying plans for the ambush would likely be informed by what we discover from the police, "They always attack from the south!," etc.
Once we get the scoop from the cops, we'll then design the best ambush.
Any other thoughts on this?
Best,
Jeff / Manta Lad
