Location: Manning Enterprises in Center City at 10:30pm.
Detective Broyko sat silently watching the screens in his taskforce van. The Crusher Crimewave Taskforce had tried and failed for months to bring the Crushers to justice. They have had to go it alone since the Crusaders were away. He had kept expecting them to return but they haven’t. CHESS had diverted extra resources to Megalopolis to help with the situation. The best they had managed was to quarantine the crimewave to Center City. Something was always occurring take required CHESS to redirect them elsewhere in Megalopolis. Broyko blew a frustrated breath. Today it was the Refuge Islands. A giant worm had appeared near the Winthrope Bridge. He wondered if maybe all of Megalopolis was damned and the bridge was one of many gateways.
At least the new guys were a help. Starbolt, Black Orchid, Meltdown, Phade, Emerald Dragon and Manta Lad had successfully trapped some of the Crushers as they attempted to rob Manning Enterprises. The Detective watched the screens nervously. This was their real first break in the crimewave. Taking six Crushers off the streets would be a great start. He wondered who was winning.
He watched as Meltdown and FIST fought outside the warehouse. Meltdown rose from the ground. He lifted his body until he was floating two inches above it. ZWWT! His ray of disintegration struck F.I.S.T’s Armor. Sparks flew as F.I.S.T. stumble backwards from the strike. It was obvious that Meltdown was surgically taking F.I.S.T. apart. “Aw jeez, now my life support systems are down. You are going to pay for this ya creep!”
Inside the warehouse the Shrew II was hugging the wall. Desperately she tried to catch her breath. “I am getting beat by Manta Man’s brat sidekick. I can’t believe it.” Her eyes scanned the warehouse for any incoming attacks. She was prepared to dodge out of the way.
"Stupid! Don’t be Stupid!! Who do youse think you’re talka to Manta-Man. I am NOT Bull!" Mammoth screamed.
Manta Lad rolled his eyes and said: "Bull... Mammoth... whatever;” with the finely honed sarcasm that only a teenager could muster."You think Mocker can tell you dudes apart?"
The hairy circus strongman easily flew to the same height as Manta Lad. A look of surprise crossed his face as Mammoth prepared to punch his victim. "Hey, youse not Manta-Man, youse his sidekick, Sharkboy!"
Manta Lad thought: "Sharkboy. That's not bad! Beats the heck outta Manta Lad." He dodged Mammoth's trajectory and saw the other heroes flashmob the guy. "Flashmob! That'd be a good name if I had, like, multiplying powers where I can make like 20 of me. Dude, that'd be sweeeet," he thought. "...Oh wait. The fight's still going on!"
The attention-deficited defender snapped out of it, saw the Shrew hurt bad and quickly blasted lightning at her again! SHAKOW! As Shrew dove to the side Manta Lad’s blast struck her.”AAARRGGGH!” she cried as she hit the ground. The criminal ex-wrestler pushed herself to her hands and knees willing herself to stay conscious.
Continuing his evasive flight maneuvers Starbolt thought to himself " Heck, it looks like we could win this one." ZAKOW! A star bolt struck Mammoth. To Starbolt’s surprise the circus strongman grunted with pain. The blast had gotten past Mammoth invulnerable fur to actually hurt him.
Remembering the Shrew’s reaction to her taunt of Mammoth, Black Orchid said, "Oh, so I've hit a nerve. You LIKE the big furry guy!"
The Black Orchid positioned herself with her back to the crates so you won't get surprised again, verbally taunting Shrew. Hoping that her willpower will protect her from the brunt of Shrew's attack, she returned Master Zero's blast with one of her own. "Your freezing is nothing compared to the ultimate cold of pure vacuum!" as a bolt of pure vacuum escaped her hand and raced toward Master Zero. To Master Zero’s surprise his armor provided no protection to the bolt. He felt his strength leaving him. He dropped to one knee as he fought off a sense of vertigo. Fearing that the Crushers could not win this fight before he was fatigued, Master Zero turned and ran.
He ran from the warehouse into the office area and through the back door opposite from where he had earlier entered. He fired a freeze blast which created a wall of ice in the doorway and down the hallway. The ice blocked all the exits on the side of the offices he had left.
Phade sighted his blaster on the hairy strongman. BZZT! The power blast struck Mammoth in the chest. “OWW” He cried as he staggered a step backwards.
Meltdown stared at F.I.S.T, “The only one who is going to pay here is you. You will pay for your crimes and ALL that you have stolen will be returned to their rightful owners.” ZWWT! F.I.S.T was struck again with Meltdown’s disintegration ray. Sparks flew and pieces of armor fell to the ground. More than half of the F.I.S.T. was broken, cracked, or gone. The telltale sound of another system shutting down could be heard. Seeing the glow from within the F.I.S.T. blasters disappear with only darkness as its replacement, Meltdown had a good idea what system had failed.
Emerald Dragon decided to get up close and personal since Mammoth was picking on someone smaller than his size. He grabbed the largest piece of material he could carry and flew down to meet Mammoth, smashing him in the chest with the object. "Didn't your mother tell you it isn't nice to pick on those smaller than you? Well, how about you dance with me instead?"
WHAM!! Emerald Dragon had struck Mammoth with an awesome blow. The giant crate shattered. Mammoth was knocked back into the wall.
BLAM! Detective Broyko was shocked to see Mammoth burst through the warehouse wall. The furry circus strongman crashed into the parking lot. He rolled over three times before stopping. Broyko blew a low whistle as he looked from the incapacitated Mammoth back to the hole in the wall. He could see Emerald Dragon standing inside. A small smile crossed the face of the head of the Crusher Crimewave Taskforce as he thought, “They just might win.”
Shrew II had the same thought as she ran through the exit. She ran past between Meltdown and F.I.S.T. With critical systems shutting down, F.I.S.T. had to agree with his partner. He took to the sky to make his escape as well.
Manta Lad and Starbolt flew out the warehouse doors together. They nodded to each other and split up each taking a different target.
Manta Lad blasted his lightning, SHAKOW! Shrew collapsed in a heap. Electrical energy smoldered from her. Her hair and costume were badly singed. She needed medical attention but she would live.
Starbolt streaked across the sky on an interception course with F.I.S.T. The Stellar Hero flew next to the armored felon. ZAKOW! More armor pieces flew into the night sky. The suits jets sputtered and backfired but F.I.S.T. stayed airborne.
Back at the Manning Warehouse, out of the darkness stepped Phade. He raised his blaster rifle. Steadied his aim and fired. BLAZZT! His aim true, he struck F.I.S.T.’s suit. The F.I.S.T. armor had taken a pounding tonight. Phade’s blast shut down the last system and the power suit was now without power. It fell from the sky like the steel rock it had become. THUD!
F.I.S.T. was awake in the crater he had just created. He struggled to get up but when he looked up he saw Starbolt and Manta Lad hovering over him. He raised his hands in surrender.
Meltdown looked at Phade, “Is that all of them?” Phade shook his head no, “Master Zero got away”.
“Not from me he won’t” Meltdown ran through the building to the other side. Phasing through walls, crates, and ice he followed the icy path left behind by the freeze master.
Detective Broyko and the members of the taskforce quickly left their stations to congratulate the heroes on their victory and assist in taking the Crushers into custody.
Broyko stopped in front of Phade. He reached for his radio. After conversing with the dispatcher, he looked a Phade, “Sorry there is no time to celebrate this victory. I had three patrol cars bringing Dr. Morrow {last mentioned in Issue 3 ~ fabulous editor}. Two were in collusions. I believe this was planned. I need to send backup for the remaining patrol car. Can you help?”
GM Notes:
Combat has ended. Both Master Zero and Meltdown have left the scene. Andrew whose PC is Meltdown has asked for a break for the rest of the summer. He plans to start back up in September.
Each PC will get to heal once equal to their healing rate and 30 minutes to rest during the next issue. The police have EMTs on site if anyone wants medical assistance. You don’t have to write actions that state you are expecting Crushers. If they show next issue, they won’t surprise you. You are dealing with a crimewave after all.
I am making a rule change. I have been looking at what takes the most time for putting these together. What takes the longest is figuring out what the second action for PCs would be that make sense after everyone’s first set of actions as well as how to split up their movement. Most of the time I have been allowing full movement on both actions especially for powers which use movement as their cost.
The remove this problem, I am not shortening the turn to 10 seconds, so everyone gets one action per turn. This will make playing out the turns easier for figuring the action and how to use the movement correctly. I am introducing a new House rule to compensate for the change.
Dual Attacks: Any character with Agility of 15 or higher can attack twice in one action without it counting as a multiple attack. A Dual Attack has a cost of PR=2. This is represented as punches with both hands, firing power blasts from two sources (hands, eyes, etc) or firing at a more accelerated pace than usual (two arrows from a single bow). Movement cannot be used in-between Dual Attacks so the intended targets have to be in range when the Dual Attack is made. A player will have to state in his turn that he is making a Dual Attack otherwise a Single Attack will be assumed.
Have fun working with the Crusher Crimewave Taskforce using your clues to figure out what is going on and saving Center City.
<Due Date: July 27th, Actions? Replies?>
Current Conditions:
Black Orchid Hit Points: 27 Power Points: 69 Willpower Defense Active
Emerald Dragon Hit Points: 81 Power Points: 98 Acid Breath: 27 Doses
Manta Lad Hit Points: 17 Power Points: 30 Luck Pool: 2
Meltdown Hit Points: 56 Power Points: 34 Non-corporal active
Phade Hit Points: 16 Power Points: 35 Invulnerability: 8
Starbolt Hit Points: 34 Power Points: 59
Black Orchid
Hi Thomas,
I think you didn't update The Black Orchid's current stats after she got crocked by Master Zero.
Great stuff though! This is fun!
"Oh, so I've hit a nerve. You LIKE the big furry guy!"
The Black Orchid position herself with her back to the crates so you won't get surprised again, verbally taunting Shrew. Hoping that her willpower will protect her from the brunt of Shrew's attack, she returns Master Zero's blast with one of her own. "Your freezing is nothing compared to the ultimate cold of pure vacuum!" as a bolt of pure vacuum escapes her hand and races toward Master Zero.
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Manta Lad:
"Stupid! Don’t be Stupid!! Who do youse think you’re talka to Manta-Man. I am NOT Bull!" Mammoth screamed.
Manta Lad rolled his eyes and said: "Bull... Mammoth.. whatever," with the finely honed sarcasm that only a teenager could muster."You think Mocker can tell you dudes apart?"
The Hairy Circus Strongman easily flew to the same height as Manta Lad. A look of surprise crossed his face as Mammoth prepared to punch his victim. "Hey, youse not Manta-Man, youse his sidekick, Sharkboy!"
Manta Lad thought: "Sharkboy. That's not bad! Beats the heck outta Manta Lad." He dodged Mammoth's trajectory and saw the other heroes flashmob the guy. "Flashmob! That'd be a good name if I had, like, multiplying powers where I can make like 20 of me. Dude, that'd be sweeeet," he thought. "...Oh wait. The fight's still going on!"
The attention-deficited defender snapped out of it, saw the Shrew hurt bad and quickly blasted lightning at her again! SHAKOW!
OOC:
Action: Keep in the air away from these guys and blast Shrew with Lightning Control! Thanks.
Best,
Jeff
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Emerald Dragon
Emerald Dragon decides to get up close and personal since Mammoth is picking on someone smaller than his size. He grabs the largest piece of material he can carry and flies down to meet Mammoth, smashing him in the chest with the object. "Didn't your mother tell you it isn't nice to pick on those smaller than you? Well, how about you dance with me instead?"
OOC: As should be obvious Emerald Dragon is going to smack Mammoth with a large, heavy object.
Jan
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Starbolt
Continuing his evasive flight manuvers Starbolt thinks to himself " Heck, it looks like we could win this one."
OOC: starbolt will continue to attack targets of oppertunity.
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Phade
Sorry, I let things get a little out of hand with the tornados and power being out for over a week. I’ll post something by Sunday night, if that is too late feel free to have Phade do whatever is needed.
Wayne
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GM
Sunday night is not too late. I am sorry to hear about the troubles. I didn't know you were still having power issues.
Tom
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Phade
OOC: It isn’t much, but here is a little bit to start to get me back into things.
Phade takes aim at the nearest crusher and then ‘phades away’ to reappear from another angle to attack the nearest Crusher.
Wayne
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Meltdown
Very sorry Tom. I am Very much enjoying your Game, however I was just on vacation with family and I am going just outside of Houston to help my grandfather with his farm all summer. Is there any way I can still be a part of the game an re join when Im back? I am having a blast. Just play a strong silent type ;)
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GM
I am glad you are enjoying it. I understand about playing a strong silent type and I don't ask for a lot of dialogue. What you have submitted in the past has been fine.
I will keep your spot in the game, but not have Meltdown in the July and August issues. That should cover your time away, right? Please let me know when you are back.
I will keep sending the issues to you, so you can catch up when you are back.
Thanks
Tom
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Meltdown
Thank you very much! I will
