Location: Center City near midnight
The Garbage Man stretched his hands again. This time a debris dragon rose from the garbage truck. It attacked Officer Milford. He was able to roll with most of the blow. He grunted in pain but moved away from the trash monster.
Officer Caldwell groaned. He woke up. The effects of the chemical used on him by the ice cream driver had worn off. He looked up to see chaos everywhere. A man covered in dirt and trash waved his hands and creatures made of debris and trash moved like marionettes. The two creatures looked like a serpent and a dragon. Walter wondered for a moment if he was dreaming.
“Get your lazy carcass over here!” yelled his partner and he knew he wasn’t. Gladness filled him when he saw Carl still fighting. He kept low as he ran to their patrol car for cover. He looked with surprised at the man in a black mask next to Officer Perkins. Walter knew now wasn’t the time for introductions. He drew his service revolver and focused on the threat at hand.
At the other patrol car Officer Milford moved away from the trash dragon. He moved to a new cover position, raised his revolver, and fired.
BLAM!
Officer Milford missed. He hadn’t aimed at the trash marionette but at its puppeteer.
“Those cops are going to be killed unless I take him out,” David thought. He dared not attack the Garbage Ghoul directly. But it was time to hit him with something a little more substantial than a car bumper. “First protect and then attack”, The Wraith protected the cops with his TK shield.
{GM Note: At end of this issue I explained how the TK shield worked in game terms}
The man in the black leather jacket watched intently. Something strange started to happen. He had never seen a telekinetic defense before. A wind started to swirl around the two patrol cars. It wasn’t a natural wind but a focus of movement. It really wasn’t wind but he couldn’t think of any other way to describe it.
The telekinetic shield appeared as movement of force to the untrained eye.
The Wraith reached out with his telekinesis for the gas tank from the listing garbage truck, ripping it out from the underside of the vehicle. Everyone heard the screeching of metal bending. According to plan the gas tank shattered against the garbage man. A few of the metal shards caused some sparks...
KABOOM!
The tank exploded in a huge ball of flame. The blast launched the garbage man into the air. The flames consumed the trash monsters. The tires on the garbage truck melted into puddles and the truck fell to its side. Officer Milford cried out in pain. The TK Shield blunted the blast but the flames burned his back. Officer Perkins winced from the pain. A smaller burst of flame had broken through the field to burn his hand. The moving wall of force blocked the blast as Officer Caldwell and Bonesnapper ducked behind the patrol car.
{GM Note: The Wraith lost 1 Power Point for each attack against his TK defense. He protected 4 people for a cost of -4}
Thud!
The garbage man landed on the ground. He stood back up with portions of his clothes on fire. Looking a little daze, the trash covered supervillain looked in a vain to find who had attacked him.
BLAM!
The Wraith looked to man on the roof with the rifle. He could tell the stranger had fired the shot but he could not tell what the target was.
Officer Alice Walker crawled out of the smashed garbage truck. She stared in shock to see that the trashy Crusher still stood. She had managed to hang on to her revolver.
BLAM!
Arrgh! Officer Walker had missed the ambushing Crusher but hit her partner. “Alice! Watch out for the crossfire!” cried Officer Milford. She visibly winced at her mistake.
Officer Caldwell didn’t pay attention as masked vigilante made his move to circle around the flaming trash villain. He steadied his revolver, aimed, and fired.
BLAM!
His shot struck the garbage man in the chest. The trashy terror shrugged off the gunshot like he barely felt it. Caldwell thought, “Yeah, that didn’t hurt anymore than a bee sting but with enough of stingers we can bring you down.”
Officer Perkins pumped his shotgun and fired.
KA-BLAM!
The blast failed to damage the supervillain. Carl tossed the shotgun down and pulled out his revolver. “Next time load it with slugs instead of with scattershot.” He thought.
The black masked man kept down and he maneuvered around behind the garbage man. The flames on the Crusher died down. The fire burned on one-third of his body. The man in black moved behind the man covered in trash without being notice.
The Tonfa wielding vigilante focused on the villain’s skull, looking for an unprotected spot. Finding the perfect spot, he prepared to strike.
KRUNCH!
He yelled to no one in particular, "If any of you hero types have water powers, this guy needs a bath!" as the Tonfa struck the lower back of the garbage man’s skull.
A stillness filled the scene as the flaming, trashy, Crusher’s body stiffened. He rolled his eyes into his head. The Garbage Man fell to the ground unconscious!
{GM Note: Bonesnapper had a 16% change on knocking Garbage Man unconscious and rolled a 16!}
All of the Megalopolis Police Officers let out a sigh of relief. A collective “Whew!” could be heard.
Officer Perkins as senior officer on site informed the others they would not be checking for licenses today. He waved away the complaints of two of the others. “Look, we wouldn’t have won without them. Whether they helped us legally or illegally, I don’t care. If they have their DSA Superhero Licenses they can present them to us now. If they don’t have them, we are going to be very busy securing the crime scene. If they choose to disappear now no one is going to notice.”
“Am I clear?”
“Yes Sir!” said the trio of officers.
Officer Caldwell walked over the fallen ice cream driver and hand cuffed him. He turned the “purp” over. He reached for his radio only to find it missing. Instead he yelled to his partner, “Hey, did you know who we have here? It is Ben Jahmoka. We have several outstanding warrants on him for illegal organ harvesting and black marketing.”
Carl smiled. Capturing him would definitely make the streets of Winthrope Station and the Foundry safer. He activated his radio, “Officer Perkins to Crusher Task Force Dispatch. We’ve been ambushed. The car with Dr. Morrow escaped. With the aid of several Vigilantes, we captured two Crushers. No casualties. Request a Meta Wagon for 1 of the Crushers, the other can be brought in by patrol car. Standard CHESS notification protocol Alpha-Epsilon. Officer Perkins out.”
“Crusher Task Force Dispatch to Officer Perkins. The patrol car with Dr. Morrow did not escape. Crushers ambushed them too. Detective Broyko with the aid of Superheroes has engaged. They are attempting to rescue the Doctor at this time. The location is …”
The dispatch continued to provide the exact location of the ambush. All could hear the conversation and knew the other fight was happening 200 yards from where they stood.
< Due Date: September 14th, Actions, Goal, Reply?>
Current Conditions:
The Wraith Hit Points: 10 Power Points: 46 Telekinesis Defense Active
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The Wraith
Those cops are going to be killed unless I take him out, David thought. Low on hit points, however, he dare not attack the Garbage Ghoul directly. But it was time to hit him with something a little more substantial than a car bumper.
The Wraith reached out with his telekinesis for the gas tank from the listing garbage truck, ripping it out from the underside of the vehicle. His plan is to throw it at his opponent, shatter it against him, and make sure at least a few of the metal shards cause some sparks...
Patrolling the Streets,
Greg
P.S. Best wishes and safe thoughts to any and all affected by the Irascible Irene.
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Archer
OOC: I thought this is a really interesting idea. I also thought for sure a full tank of gas for a garbage truck would be too heavy for Wraith's to rip out and lift. Best I could figure it comes in right around 200 lbs for a 25 gallon tank. I'm not sure how that "interprets" into shattering it over his head but I'm thinking Bonesnapper and the cops (and the Ice Cream Man) might want to vamos just in case.
See ya in the alleys
John R
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The Wraith
Yeah, if I'm overshooting my own TK abilities let me know, Thomas. If I am, my secondary plan will be to rip up a manhole cover and use it as discuss (should be heavier and more aerodynamic than a bumper, maybe it'll make a dent).
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GM
Your TK Capacity is 420 lbs so you are good to go.
Best
Tom
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Archer
I don't know man, looks like you're almost spot on to me. I don't know about the whole shattering thing but I bet it won't take much to rupture that tank (say like a high powered rifle round - hint hint - lol) Can your TK protect the cops from the flames? I do seem to have seen an example of that at the Bridge.
Keep up the good work
John R
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The Wraith
If I can protect the cops with a TK shield I'll do so. Good idea.
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GM
The Wraith has a TK Shield; it is called TK Defense on his character sheet. Setting up his defense around someone (or group of people) of than himself will require the use of an invention point. The TK Shield provides the TK Defense to whoever is designated.
The Defense can only stop up to the capacity damage. A full strength that is 6 points but in this situation half of his capacity was used to rip out the gas tank. This left 3 points to defend the blast. The TK Defense blocked the blast but only up to 3 points of damage. The first two officers received damage because the blast damage rolled was greater than 3 and the last officer and Bonesnapper did not because the damages rolls were 3 and 1.
Per the TK defense rules the PR is 1 per attack. Since The Wraith defended 4 individuals, he lost 4 power points.
