The Radicals - Monkey Business (Updated July 6th)

Welcome, True Believers, to the adventures of The Radicals, Freedom City's newest heros. Drawn together by an alien's quest to make the world a better place, these heros are Freedom City's last option.

Introducing:
Templar- Millionar playboy turned religious zealot. He wields the twin powers of creation and destruction through his hands, with his right hand bearing disintegration and his left bearing healing. He wears a divinely blessed trenchcoat that protects him from harm.

Mr. Black- Ex-CIA operative, a product of super-human research. He heals faster then any normal man, and he bears an arsenal of secret government technology.

Flashback- Telepathic, shape-shifting hero from the future. His home planet was destroyed by humans in the distant future, so he's come back to make Earth a better place, thinking that if the Earth is a better place they will not destroy his world. He only speaks through telepathy, and his name can only be expressed as a thought.

Blink- Teleporting master of fire. A mystery, even to his friends.

Bob - Really, just Bob. Super-speedster tired of the slow pace of normal life. He looks down on the seemingly slow lives of normal people, but doesn't consider himself a hero. Alter-egos are for heros, Bob just wants a fater life.

Issue #1: Monkey Business
https://www.enworld.org/index.php?posts/2374764/

The basment was not a heroic place to be. Templar had rented it under his buisness name, John Ascariot, and now the heros were metting there for the first time.

"So. Do we have anything to do, or is E.T. going to have us pass out flowers to make the world a better place?" Templar said with his chair half tipped over and his legs on the table that dominated the room.

My name is not E.T. It is • • • • • • •.

"You know I hate when your in my head, and you know I can't pronounce your goddamn name unless your in my head, so stay out." Templar said as his chair slammed on to the floor. "Only when we're in the field are you allowed anywhere near this skull. God is the only voice in here beside mine."

Fine. But you know I can only speak 'in your mind.' If I stay out, I will not be able to speak to you, Templar.

"All the better. Now what about the rest of you? Are we ever going to be heros, or are we just going to sit in my basement and stare at our navels?"

"We had better do something soon" Bob added in a rushed tone "I'm only here for some excitment and this isn't it."

Mr. Black looked up from cleaning one of his guns. "Well, we're not exactly a superhero team without a name, are we? The Freedom League, they have a name. NextGen too. Even the Atom Family is kind of a name. But us? We just hang out with E.T. and hope we can make things better."

"A name is th elast of our problems. There's evil out there" Templar motioned to the basement door "and we're in here. What's wrong with this picture?"

"Well..."but before Blink could finish his thought, the phone rang.

"Finally something." Templar said as he picked up the reciever. "Hello?"

"Is this... um... who am I speaking to?"

"I'm Templar. God's agent in Freedom city. Defender of the weak, the fist of God."

"Oh wow. Um... are you part of that new team of heros? The ones that alien brought together?"

"Yeah, but maybe not for much longer, at this rate."

"Well, before you leave the team, could you get over to the A.S.T.R.O. labs building at the Hanover Institute? There's been a break in, and with the Atom Family dealing with those aliens that landed downtown, and the Freedom League on one of the alternate Earths, we could really use some help..."

Templar didn't even bother responding, he just put down the reciever and turned to the rag-tag teamof heros gathered in the rented basment. "We're in buisness."

The scene at ASTRO labs was exactly what Templar was looking for: a fight.

Bob was already impatiently waiting with Blink and Flashback, who was in the form of a fairly awkward bird, when Mr. Black and Templar pulled up in Templar's car.

"What's the situation?" Mr. Black orderd as he steped out of the car. "We know what we're up against?"

Well, there's a hole in the roof of hanger B1, and the staff say it was punched in by some robots. Descriptions were hazy, but as I flew over I saw some of the robots inside. They looked... monkey-like.

Bob tapped his foot impatiently. "The police have cleared out the staff, so let's get moving."

"Fine, fine. Blink can you get me and Mr. Black onto the roof, near the hole? Flashback, you fly over and cover us, and set up one of those unholy mental links, so we can keep in touch. Bob... you do what you do. Just don't screw anything up."

"Do I ever screw anything up?"

"Yes"

"Only from your point of view. At my speed, I'm always right."

Mental link established. You should all be able to think to each other now.

I hate these damn things. Unholy, I say, having somebody else in your mind. But if it works, it works. Blink, get us on the roof. The rest of you, move.

OkayI'mGoingToScoutSeeYouAllInsideBye Bob took off as a blur past the hanger.

Blink, without his normal flames to cover him, grabbed Mr. Black and Templar. "Hang on and relax. It' easier to move you if you want to move..."

"...And hear we are." Blink finished his sentence on the roof of hanger B1.

Templar peaked over the edge of the hole in the roof. "Looks like 5 drones, 3 combat units and... something invisible. Something's tearing a device off of the far wall, but I can't see what's doing it, must have a cloaking device."

Everybody ready? I'm going to have Blink set Mr. Black and I down on the floor. Flashback, you're watching for any that escape. Blink, Mr. Black and I will take them out. Bob, I think one of them's invisible, see if you can do something about that.

Blink grabbed onto Mr. Black and Templar again. "You guys ready for some action?" Blink looked into the hole, set his eyes on his destination...

...and Mr. Black, Blink, and Templar were on the floor, ready for battle.

Bob stopped by the river. Even when moving at a few hundred miles per hour, it was still fairly calm, with the downtown area visible on the other bank.

It wal almost enough to make him want to slow down, but Bob never really slowed down. He grabbed a huge handful of mud from the bank and ran back to the hanger.

Inside the battle raged. As bob weaved his way through the gorilla-like robots and super heros trading blows, he took stock of the people he might call friends as they battled. Templar had actually jumped onto the shoulder of one of the combat models, and he was trying his best to punch through the armor shell with his destrcutive touch. "God Almighty this thing is tough" Bob heard him say like a slow record as he ran by.

Mr. Black was at the other end of the room, pulling a mini-rocket launcher out of the box of toys he took with him when he left the government. With a boom and a puff of smoke a rocket shot through the air, taking out one of the gorilla-droids.

Bob got to the area where the invisible creatuyre might be, and tossed all of his mud in one direction. Some of it caught and stuck, revealing the legs of something... and that something was making off with the device it had pulled off of the wall. It was moving towards the hole in the cieling of the hanger.

E.T.One'smovingTowardsTheHoleGetOverHereAndSlowItDownBeforeItGetsAway
ItsGotWhatItWantsAndIt'sLeaving

My name's not E.T. Bob, and I've got it. The eye's of Flashback's bird form focused for a minute, and the mud splattered feet of the escaping robot slowed down, flying through the air at a snail's pace. We've got time now, but I can't keep it slowed forever. Streching time like this is like a rubber band. Strech it some and it snaps back. Strech it too far, and it just snaps.

Flahsback's winged form flew down and smacked into the invisble form of the slowly-moving robot. Not as greaceful as I'd like, but I got the time pattern of it. Flashback's bird form faded and he sprang into the form of one of the Gorilla-drones. I can push back as hard as it can, but at best we're deadlocked. Some help here?

I'mOnItFlashback Bob ran out into the battle raging beneath the slowly escaping groilla-bot. Running in an ever tightening circle he whipped up a whirlwind, pulling the stoling goods and the robot that carried them back to ground. With the whirlwind sucking it down, Flashback stopped fighting back and threw a punch at the escaping bot, missing as he adpated to his new arms.

I could use some help with this combat bot, Bob.

OhSureBeRightThereTemplarThisIsTheLastTimeISaveYourSlowHide Bob let up his whirlwind and the robot flew away.

Bob, you scatter brained dolt, I wasn't holding him anymore, now he'll get away

Bob rushed over to the robot Templar was fighting, using his speed to punch through the spot weakend by the Templar's fist.

Flashback, stay on the escaper, we'll take care of the rest. Blink, where are you?

Just 'ported one of them into the river. Back inside now. Why?

I need you to get me onto the roof. Black, keep the gorilla-bots pinned down, Bob, set up another whirlwind and hold the roof up.

WhyAmIHoldingTheRoofAndDoingTheBoringWorkWhileYouDoTheFunStuff?

Just do it Templar thought as Blink grabbed him and made a few short 'port jumps to get him to the roof. "Stand back, this could get messy."

Templar paced out a circle on the thin metal roof of the hanger, touching his hand to the roof to cut the circle free. When he had finished his circle, he steped back, to the safe part of the roof.

Let it go now, Bob.

IWasWonderingHowLongItWouldTakeYouAlrightItIsComignDownNow

Cut free from the rest of the roof, and without Bob's whirlwind to keep it up, the roof crashed down on the gorilla-bots bellow, adding to the damage Mr. Black and Templar had already inflicted. After a few arcs of electricity and small explosions, the pile of rubble settles.

E.T., what's the news on the runner?

He got away. A groilla, a real one, in some kind of hover chair, showed up and blasted me to the ground. By the time I made it back up, it was gone.

Come back to the hangar. We'll plan our next action from here.

cool cool cool. Nice one Macbeth.

I love superheroes. So what system is this using? Nice characters and interaction going on already - combat is so radically different with superhero powers. Well handled so far (monkeybot in the river for example).

Looking eagerly for next update having forced myself into my childhood spiderman pajamas.

Spider J

We're using Mutants and Masterminds, which has worked fairly well so far.

Combat with this group is a real blast. Just wait for a few more updates to see one of the most creative takedowns I've ever seen in a game. It's something vaguely outside the rules, but so superhero-y that I just had to allow it. Hopefully I'll have time to get it up today.

The dust settled in hangar B1. Templar dusted off his coat. "So they got away with what they wanted. All we managed to do was wreck the support?"

Yes. Without Bob's whirlwind to hold them down, I couldn't hold him.

"Well, it wasn't my fault, Templar needed help."

"Enough!" Templar thought for a second. "If we didn't stop them, we need to figure out where they went. Bob, go find..."

"Got it." Bob disappeared in a blur, and just as soon returned. "Uh wait, find what?"

"This is why God had the rest of us move at this speed. Anyway, find the scientist in charge of this project. We need to know what they stole, and any ideas on who stole it."

Over the next few seconds the blur of Bob moved in and out of the hangar, each time dropping another confused scientist in front of Templar and the rest of the team.

"That's it, Templar. Everybody who said they knew something about what was in the hangar."

One of the lab-coated scientists dared to step forward. "Uhhh... Yes, um, who are you and why are we here? Are you the ones that stole the growth ray?"

Mr. Black rolled his eyes. "Aw, crud, not this Pentagon black-ops super-weapon again."

"First of all, we're not the ones that stole the ray. We're... heros. I'm Templar. This is Blink, Flashback, Mr. Black, and Bob. And we were hoping you might be able to tell us who did take it. All we know is that there were a lot of robots, all of which looked ape-like."

"Well, um, lets see here." The scientist extended a shaking hand. "I'm Dr. J. Hawkins, head of this project. Seems you've gathered the rest of my research staff here. We had been evactuated when those robots arrived, but I see you've taken care of them."

"Taken care of them? Hell, you want to find them, you'll have a lot of roof to sift through." Blink added as he muted his flames.

"Uh, well, I guess that's good, but the evidence... You've destroyed almost anything that could direct us to whoever took it. But if they were ape-bots... it was probably Dr. Simian. But I can't tell you more without permission..."

Blink's flames flared again, and his voice took on an edge. "Tell us, or we''l use your ashes to soak up the oil leaking out of those junked robots."

"Okay, okay... please... I thought you were heros." Dr. Hawkins paused for breath. "Dr. Simian was the only success of our ape intelligence projects. He's now smarter then 99% of the human race, and he knows it. He looks at us as we look at a normal ape. If he has the growth ray... dear Lord, what he could do."

"And you didn't bother to put more security around this growth ray?" Disdain tinged Bob's voice. "Seems you thinks as slow as you move."

"Well, that's the thing, the growth ray never really worked. It was supposed to provide food, make a single burger feed a family for a year. But it barely worked. We had problems with the quantum quark field and..."

Bob tapped his foot anxiously. "You're boring me. And you wouldn't like me when I'm bored."

"Okay, okay..." Dr. Hawkins had broken into a cold sweat under the collected pressure of the hero's gazes. "Bascially, it didn't work like it should have, so it was only Security clearance 5. Nothing we wanted our rivals to get, but nothing to dangerous. But Dr. Simian is just the kind of genius that could make it work."

Templar's gaze settled onto Dre. Hawkins, and his tone deepend. "So you mean to tell me you've let a horrible weapon into the hands of an abomination unto the Most Holy? You had better hope you can give me a good way to stop him."

"I can, I can... The growth ray uses a lot of power. To add mass to particles on a quantum scale while maintaining identity and avoiding supercollision..."

"Boring... You're making me bored." Bob's voice sped up as he grew tired of the slow life.

"He needs a lot of power to make it work. He'll have to be right at a power plant, or here at the lab. Those are the only places within a 30 mile radius where he can draw enough poewr to use the ray." Dr. Hawkins broke down crying.

Templar took charge. "I'll be down at the old Milling's Plant. Mr. Black and E.T. will cover the new nuclear one up north. Blink and Bob move between the powerplants and here. The minute you spot something, Blink and Bob get us all in the same place and we strike. We have every reason to believe Dr. Simian will use this things soon, before he thinks we're ready for him."

As the team started to walk out of the wreckage of the hangar, Templar pulled Bob aside. "I want to get into Dr. Hawkin's office."

Bob blurred away for a second. "Okay. It was already open, must have been left that way when the campus was evacuated." With another blur of speed, Bob and Templar were standing in Hawkins' office. It wasn't much of an office, more of a closet filled with books and notes with a desk and a computer crammed on top.

"I'm going to leave a note for the dear Doctor on his desk. Bob, look through all his books, find me his notes on the growth ray." Templar touched the wood of the desk with his finger, and the wood rotted away, leaving this message carved into his desk:

Do not be like your forefathers, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.' But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the LORD.
Zechariah 1:4

"Found them. Nice full binder of stuff on the ray."

"Think you can copyit all?"

"Done." The blur behind Bob faded, and he held two binders.

"Leave the original, take the copy, and gets us out of here."

IN a blur, Bob and Templar moved out to wait for Dr. Simian.