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"Let's Get This Straight, You're The Sidekick!"
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<blockquote data-quote="Kidjake" data-source="post: 6312386" data-attributes="member: 6776876"><p><strong>Session 4</strong></p><p></p><p>Making Plans</p><p>We pick up where we left our heroes, parting with Chavenski but armed with the knowledge of where Depaliamo is holed up. They decide to check Depaliamo's home out and stroll up to the edge of his walled compound before heading home. Fanboy glances in with his ESP and is unimpressed with his first assessment.</p><p></p><p>"There's like a dozen guys on patrol in there." the nerdy hero says with a chuckle. "We'll steamroll them."</p><p></p><p>Roger isn't quite so sure, he points out that Chavenski most likely wouldn't be intimidated by a handful of men and urges Fanboy to check harder.</p><p>Fanboy presses his ESP to the limit and simply says "Oh....sh**." at what he sees. It takes him a minute to sketch out the extent of his probing, but he counts about 30 of the well dressed soldiers hiding around the property; even more stationed inside the house at security consoles or sleeping in a makeshift barracks; he also sees two more of the assassins that nearly killed Roger and himself; Johnny on the Spot and a pudgy, balding man that they presume to be Depaliamo himself. The two of them agree that a head on assault would probably end badly, so they go home.</p><p></p><p>Fanboy begins searching through the ledgers that they stole when they assaulted the warehouse the first time and Roger recruits the former super villain Bradley Yurtz to assist in building a pair of holding cells. Bradley is willing to work hard, but his general incompetence means that he's of little actual use. Bradley's 10 duplicates however manage to do the work of an extra man and he easily completes the framework of the cells.</p><p></p><p>Fanboy makes great leaps and bounds with the ledger and quickly finds a paper trail for the majority of Depaliamo's organization. He discovers fight clubs, gambling parlors, arms smuggling, prostitution rings, drug running, protection scams, racketeering and major larceny. He begins the process of tracking this stuff down.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile Mr. Hamilton, Fanboy's father, is getting sick of laying in bed and wants to leave; he's worried about his business and is eager to get out of the warehouse. Dr. Kavlight agrees that he's well enough to go back to work, so long as he takes it easy. Fanboy knows that he can't keep his dad there against his will, so he assigns one of the Bradley clones to follow along and call him if Depaliamo makes a move.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Screw You Depaliamo</p><p>After wrapping things up around HQ, the pair decide to check out the gambling parlor first. They stop and purchase a pair of audacious suits, Fanboy also picks up a hat and pair of sunglasses to conceal the visual cues of his powers, and head to a rather seedy alley behind an old night club. A large steel door with a view slot guards the entrance. Fanboy probes inside with his mind and hears the surface thoughts of the guard inside, picking out the password "Roll'em".</p><p></p><p>They enter the establishment with the stolen password and set about cleaning the place out with liberal applications of Fanboy's telepathy. They end up with $13,000 in winnings before the floor boss simply tells them to leave. Roger laughs and flat says no, before heading to the roulette wheel; and the guards approach to carry them out. Fanboy mentally dominates one of the guards into shooting another, and the rest open fire on the apparent traitor. The various civilians and dealers start freaking out and rushing for the exits; Roger cold clocks one of the guards, knocking him out, and Fanboy mentally throws the rest of them through a row of slot machines.</p><p></p><p>It takes them about half an hour to tear the place apart, but when they're done they're about $180,000 richer and still in the mood for action; so naturally they decide that prostitutes are the next stop. They track down Depaliamo's high class bordello (a lovely Victorian home in a secluded neighborhood) and approach the door with the unmistakable swagger of the newly rich. They knock on the door with a heavy stack of bills totaling nearly $20,000 and the heavy-set guard that opens the door has his jaw all but drop as Roger winks and says "We won at the tables." before stuffing the bills into his shirt pocket and demanding a pair of women for himself and his friend.</p><p></p><p>The guard motions them up the stairs but states that if Johnny asks, he doesn't know them.</p><p></p><p>Fanboy asks what the hell Roger's doing, and McCrow suggests they each interrogate a girl to find out all that they can before they do anything crazy. Roger literally sweeps an exotic Asian lady off of her feet and carries her away, leaving Fanboy to awkwardly lure a petite blonde off to the side. Roger, it should be noted, is a whoremongering liar; and doesn't ask a single question. In the name of taste I told him to work out the details of what happens by himself while Fanboy actually does the work.</p><p></p><p>It doesn't take but a few well placed questions and some gentle probing of his escort's surface thoughts for Fanboy to learn all he needs to know about the operation. About a dozen high class ladies alternate shifts at the bordello and cater to the tastes of a very small and select clientele; it only takes a few men to act as muscle so Depaliamo leaves them to be pretty much autonomous. Fanboy discovers that the guy in charge is upstairs in the office and tips the girl generously before heading up to meet with him.</p><p></p><p> </p><p>The Head Pimp, as Fanboy refers to him, is doing some paperwork in his office when Fanboy strolls in and declares he's got a business proposition. He's wearily told that clients aren't allowed up here, pushes his way in anyway. Before the Head Pimp can do anything, Fanboy pins him against the wall telekinetically and rifles through the contents of the room before using telepathy to delve for secrets.</p><p></p><p>Around this point Roger's getting bored watching Fanboy have all the fun and demands to roll something, so since he's in the middle of...physical exertion I tell him to roll a constitution check as a crude joke. Hilariously, he rolls a 1 and I refuse to let him use a hero point to improve the roll; so it's decided that he finishes before he even gets his pants off. Everybody's laughing and I suggest that the prostitute smirks as well. Predictably, Roger mugs her in retaliation, all the while shouting that "it's been a while" and "it happens to lots of guys!" </p><p></p><p>They roll initiative and quite unheroically, he beats his Asian companion up for laughing at him and steals the cash out of her purse because he's just a terrible human being.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Fanboy has knocked his opponent unconscious and left incriminating evidence of their illicit activities laying around the office before calling the police and claiming he heard gunshots inside; giving the police a reason to search the place and close it down. By the time he exits the building, most of the guards are severely beaten and unconscious. Roger is straddling the man they bribed to get in shouting something about poor service while beating him with the very stack of bills they used as a bribe. When Fanboy mentions that the cops are on their way, Roger slips the bloody bills into his jacket and the two of them spring to the car and take off.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Fight Club</p><p>They crash at the warehouse after their eventful night and plan further shenanigans. Lucky Dan stumbles in the next day, drunk as a skunk and crying between drinks. They ask what's wrong and he tells thim that his wife left him and took the kids. Roger asks when that happened and he explains that it was about a month ago according to the note he found on the fridge. Fanboy's a little confused and points out that he's been home for most of that time, but Dan just sobs and explains that he just thought his wife and kids were busy all this time.</p><p></p><p>They calm Dan down and get him to sleep before assigning Bradley to watch over him in their absence. Neither of them feel like sticking around to console a depressed; drunken super human, so they randomly pick one of Depaliamo's operations to hit and run away.</p><p></p><p>They decide to infiltrate the underground fighting circuit and Roger volunteers to be the muscle, still feeling pretty confident from his recent bouts of fisticuffs.</p><p></p><p>They decide to start at the bottom and basically enroll Roger in a bum fight under the bridge. The whole place is seedy to the extreme and Roger points out that the thinks there's poop in the arena; but after Fanboy places a bet, neither of them are willing to back down. Roger's fight comes up and he's placed against a skinny, heavily tattooed skinhead that's covered in bruises and scars.</p><p></p><p>The fight starts and the skinhead gets the jump on McCrow, he delivers a powerful blow to Roger's stomach that stuns the older man. As Roger recovers his breath, he takes another glancing blow across his brow and retaliates with a massive backhand that spins the skinhead around and lays him out flat.</p><p></p><p>The crowd's quiet and more than a little disappointed, but as they're collecting their winnings they're approached by one of Depaliamo's men that hands them a card and asks that they swing by a local gym for some real action.</p><p></p><p>The two of them show up the next night and Fanboy's opted to wear his shades and hat in case McCrow needs some backup in the ring, especially considering it's a tournament. The first fight is fairly brutal and Roger exchanges blows for several minutes before laying his opponent out with a wild haymaker. The crowd goes wild and Roger hams it up for a minute before limping out of the ring to catch his breath. He keeps an eye on the other combatants and sees the current champ, a hulking Russian rumored to work for Chavenski that shatters an opponent's thigh with a single kick. Needless to say he's a little worried.</p><p></p><p>Roger tells Fanboy to run interference during his next fight, to give him time to rest and as soon as the next fight starts, Fanboy hits Roger's opponent with Confusion for some reason.</p><p></p><p>The guy rolls a 3 on his reaction roll, so he gives a battlecry and charges into the crowd to punch Fanboy in the face, disqualifying himself; getting escorted out of the gym and sending Depaliamo's men over to apologize for that bizarre outburst. Roger shakes his head and suggests a little subtlety in the future.</p><p></p><p>He sits back to watch the Russian's last bout and watches the big man nearly kill his opponent in the opening salvo, before taking the next 5 minutes to just strut around and brutalize the poor man while Roger more or less rests up. After a brief respite, Roger and the Russian face off at last.</p><p></p><p>Roger gets the jump on the giant champion and throws a massive haymaker that the beastly Russian simply takes without notice before delivering a blow of his own that knocks Roger off his feet and leaves him stunned. Fanboy just barely manages to seize control of the Russian telepathically and uses his influence to make the champ strut for the crowd.</p><p></p><p>When Roger finally recovers enough to stand, Fanboy forces the Russian to lean forward and tap his face; inviting McCrow to give him his best shot. Roger throws a wild punch that connects solidly, but doesn't seem to actually do anything. The crowd is loving the champ.</p><p></p><p>Roger throws another punch directly into the Russian's midsection and follows it up by quickly entering a clinch and delivering a series of big knees. The Russian's nose bleeds, but doesn't seem to be affected otherwise. Fanboy momentarily loses control of the hulking brute and Roger is once again knocked off his feet, this time with a couple of broken ribs for his trouble.</p><p></p><p>Before Roger is finished off, Fanboy regains control and sends the Russian strutting again. The crowd is on its feet, shouting excitedly. When Roger crawls to his feet, Fanboy has the Russian repeat his earlier taunt; but as Roger throws his haymaker it's joined by a mental blast from Fanboy and the Russian stumbles back a step or two. His mind suddenly cleared.</p><p></p><p>The Russian lifts Roger above his head, about to do a Bane impression; when a mixture of Roger's well placed elbow and Fanboy's second Mental blast sends the champ reeling and leaves Roger writhing on the mat.</p><p></p><p>Roger crawls to his feet spitting blood and Fanboy manages to keep the Russian stunned for another round before losing control altogether. Finally the two titans of the ring charge each other and each throw a massive punch, Roger just BARELY manages to dodge what would surely be a finishing blow and connects with a critical punch that lays the mentally battered champion out cold.</p><p></p><p>The crowd roars its approval and a well dressed man helps Roger out of the ring, congratulating him on taking down the showboating Russian and asking McCrow to join him at a private exhibition in two weeks. Roger accepts and limps back to the warehouse with Fanboy.</p><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>Family's Off-Limits</p><p>Roger assumes his hydroform to rapidly heals and decides to be productive with the next two weeks. He manages to finish up the holding cells in about a week with help from Bradley and after a trip to the shooting lanes decides to enroll the teen in some marksmanship classes, just in case they need him. Bradley asks if he could start going back to school and see his father again, and Roger agrees that that's fine, so long as his duplicates stay here and Bradley doesn't neglect any duties.</p><p></p><p>Things are pretty quiet until near the end of the second week, when a strange old man appears at the warehouse. He's dressed in old and faded army fatigues and is missing a leg, Fanboy believes him to be a homeless vet and thanks him for his service to our country; before ordering Bradley to run him out of the warehouse with a broom.</p><p></p><p>As the old man is being ushered out, he passes Roger working on his forklift and shouts that McCrow will want to hear what he has to say. Roger stops Bradley and tells the old man to speak quickly.</p><p></p><p>The old man says that they have to leave now and that Roger's son is in danger. Depaliamo has tracked the boy down and is about to make an example of him. Roger's about to personally throw the old man out for trying to tell him what to do, until he realizes he recognizes the voice from the phone. </p><p></p><p>Fanboy's surprised to learn that Roger has kids and Roger bitterly explains that he's not seen his family in years, that they took his wife's side during the divorce and eventually just stopped talking to him altogether.</p><p></p><p>But bad blood or not, if Depaliamo thinks he's just going to sit by while his family is threatened, Depaliamo isn't as smart as they thought he was. Roger and Fanboy run to the car, but the Prophet insists they bring him as well. Roger scoffs and says that the old man will just slow them down, but the Prophet points out that they don't even know where they're going. Roger's kind of hurt to find out that his boy moved without telling him, but relents and lets the old man join them.</p><p></p><p>After about an hour's drive, they arrive in a nice suburban neighborhood. They roll to a stop in front of Franklin McCrow's house and stake it out for a few minutes until they're certain that Depaliamo isn't there. Roger sees his son and a lovely young lady going about their business inside and knocks on their door, hoping to reconnect.</p><p></p><p>Franklin's smile disappears when he opens the door and sees the unkempt form of his father standing there and he partially closes the door, as if to bar him entrance. "Dad...I didn't expect to... What are you doing in the neighborhood dad?"</p><p></p><p>Roger shrugs "Oh, I was just in the neighborhood and wanted to see how you were doing."</p><p></p><p>Franklin looks a little nervous and points out that he never gave his dad his address.</p><p></p><p>Roger just snorts and pushes his way in. "You're not hiding from the old man, are ya boy?" he asks coldly. He nods towards Franklin's girlfriend and introduces himself. "McCrow. Roger McCrow."</p><p></p><p>Franklin introduces her as his fiancé and Roger is taken aback that his boy's getting married and nobody bothered to tell him. They make small talk for a few minutes before Roger remembers why he's here and presses five grand into his son's hand. "I stopped by to drop off a present." he explains hurriedly, rushing them out of the house and to Fanboy's car. "I want the two of you to go and get yourselves something nice. On me." McCrow says, literally dragging Fanboy and the Prophet out of the car and into the street.</p><p></p><p>"Take my assistant's car, it has more room." he explains, all but shoving Franklin and his fiancé into Fanboy's car before they know what's happening. As they pull out, confused but appreciative, Fanboy is furious that Roger basically jacked his car. Roger explains that Depaliamo's men have to think that Franklin's still there, so they need his car.</p><p></p><p>Fanboy and Prophet settle into Franklin's living room, while Roger ransacks the place looking for cereal and basically just being nosy. While he enjoys his stolen Cap'n Crunch, he begins filling the bathtub and sinks full of water and turns the water hose on full blast so he doesn't rupture any pipes in the heat of the moment.</p><p></p><p>Roger also has a moment of insight and decides to experiment with his powers. When it's all said and done he manages to stabalise enough water to create 5 small creatures that he dubs 'Droplets'. Each of them is about the size of a cat and gaze at him with absolute adoration that borders on worship.</p><p></p><p>Fanboy is immediately freaked out by Roger's strange display of power and suggests killing them before this turns into a horror movie, but Roger refuses to consider it and they spend the next hour watching the Droplets play with each other while waiting for a hit squad.</p><p></p><p>When a harsh knock finally gets their attention Fanboy projects an auditory illusion of Franklin telling them to come in. As soon as the door opens however, Fanboy snatches all five of the waiting men and yanks them inside, pinning them to the living room floor. Prophet shuts the door to drown out their startled shouts and Roger advances with his Droplets.</p><p>"Do you know who I am?" he asks menacingly.</p><p></p><p>The men shake their heads nervously and Roger snaps his fingers, as he points to the closest man all five of the Droplets fight for position on the man's face, somehow managing to bite and maul him despite their lack of anatomy or limbs. The Droplet's victim tries to scream, but their weight drowns it out and the other men begin panicking in earnest.</p><p></p><p>Neither Roger nor Fanboy does anything more than stand there and just allow the Droplets to display their vicious, if merry, nature. Two men are partially consumed by the disturbing minions before the rest manage to escape Fanboy's telekinesis and sprint screaming in different directions. Fanboy shouts after them that if they go back to Depaliamo they have more of this to look forward to. Fanboy then proceeds to hurl the corpses as far off into the distance as his telekinetic strength will allow, subscribing to the belief that out of sight is out of mind.</p><p></p><p>They hang around a few more moments to make sure that noone else wants to take a swing at them, before Roger dumps his son's aquarium out in the bathtub and fills it with his Droplets while Fanboy gets them a cab. The cabbie isn't happy about Roger carrying a FULL aquarium into his car, but a wad of bills from Fanboy shuts him up.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>Bad Sportsmanship</p><p>Over the next couple of days the Droplets continue to impress and intrigue Roger. He only intended to create a more controlled application of his power that wouldn't destroy his son's home, however the Droplets appear genuinely alive. He watches with amusement as they chase each other around the warehouse, he watches in horror when they catch a stray cat... Their behavior is erratic and unpredictable and Fanboy jokingly points out that they're basically little Rogers.</p><p></p><p>Roger eventually calls up his son and apologizes for taking the aquarium. Franklin wants to know if his dad's growing pot, but Roger just laughs and says that he accidentally broke it, but isn't willing to explain why he was poking around inside Franklin's house in the first place. The conversation ends awkwardly, with more questions raised than answered.</p><p></p><p>Finally it's the night of the fight and they show up at the agreed address to find an abandoned warehouse filled with Depaliamo's men. Fanboy recognizes quite a few of them from his ESP as Depaliamo's personal guard and it's decided that they've played along quite enough.</p><p>Roger enters the ring as normal but once the fight begins he draws all of the moisture out of his opponent with a single devastating motion. Depaliamo's men stare in shocked silence as Roger forces his stolen liquid into the shape of a ball in his hand. "You're in a dangerous line of work." he says with a smile, blasting one of the armed guards off his feet with the stolen water.</p><p></p><p>As guns begin to be drawn, Fanboy stands up and manages to grapple 90% of the men at once, thrusting them head first into the far wall. Roger leaps onto the remaining two men and unleashes a savage barrage of punches that leaves them both crumpled in a limp heap.</p><p>The whole combat only takes about 15 seconds and the PCs wreck the place up afterwards to punctuate their point. As they're tearing the place up they get a phone call from Agent Parks that asks them if they've had any contact with the security guard from the jewelry store robbery. Fanboy reiterates what he remembers from the robbery itself, but Parks says that there's been a new development. </p><p></p><p>The guard washed up (their affinity for throwing corpses into the ocean is what made Parks call) with a broken neck, broken back and severe lacerations around the heart. Roger vaguely remembering something about a serial killer running around lately, but Fanboy's been following this story for a while and points out that the killer's been operating for just over two months, ever since their accident. He also muses that of the five victims that they've recovered all have been exceptional individuals. They include a surgeon, a software engineer for a security firm, an Olympic boxer, a local radio personality and now one of only a handful of superhumans.</p><p></p><p>Roger and Fanboy are intrigued, but don't think that they can be of any help. Parks tells them to watch out since they seem to make targets of themselves more often than not.</p><p></p><p>They take a day to recover and plot and then decide on one final push to bring down Depaliamo once and for all.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Final Showdown</p><p>This is it they decide. Do or die, either Depaliamo walks away or they do. They begin their assault by calling the police with bogus reports concerning all of Depaliamo's known operations and giving the Italian plenty of time to scramble some interference. </p><p></p><p>While Depaliamo is busy trying to salvage his empire, the PCs sneak to the back of his walled estate and after Fanboy scouts the immediate area, they toss the Droplets over the wall with a simple order: Attack. While the Droplets go into SEAL mode, Fanboy and Roger continue around the wall and call Chavenski while waiting for a distraction. They lie and tell the Russian crime boss that Depaliamo is on his last legs and that he's practically undefended. Chavenski is cautious, but agrees to give what support he can.</p><p></p><p>It only takes a couple of minutes before the Droplets are discovered, during this time five creatures no larger than a cat and only slightly smarter than a monkey manage to bring down half a dozen grown men without so much as a sound. Eventually however they fail to bring down their target and a fierce gun battle breaks out however to the growing horror of the guards Droplets are bulletproof. Bullets simply pass right through their bodies with no lasting harm.</p><p></p><p>Once the compound is in full panic mode Fanboy and Roger hop the wall with a little telekinetic assistance. Roger immediately sucker punches a guard, while Fanboy peaks through a window into their makeshift Barracks. As the second shift guards start stirring awake Fanboy telekinetically grabs the entire room and begins whipping them against the wall until he's sure there won't be any backup coming.</p><p></p><p>Roger notices an overhead security camera tucked into a bush just in time to shout a warning before two guards run around the corner and open fire. Fanboy easily dispatches them while Roger uses this opportunity to power up using Depaliamo's pool and the Droplets continue their horrifying assault.</p><p></p><p>Just when they think that things are going their way, Fanboy is struck in the back of the head at 200mph by a red blur and they remember that they're not the only superhumans here. About six more guards arrive from the north and another three come up from the south. Fanboy tosses the group of six at the group of three and knocks out all but two. Roger continues growing to his full form. The Droplets continue their rampage unimpeded and the two assassins move into position to the north.</p><p></p><p>Fanboy is struck yet again by the Johnny on the Spot who doesn't stick around for retaliation. The assassins open fire on Roger, however his water form absorbs the worst of it and he grows even larger on his turn. Fanboy attempts to grab the assassins, but they easily avoid his attempt. The Droplets threaten to overrun Depaliamo altogether and even on the far side of the compound they can hear the fat Italian shouting for Johnny to do something.</p><p></p><p>Since the Droplets are effectively invincible but very small, Johnny begins scooping them up one at a time and dropping them off about a mile from the house. The assassins open up with everything they've got and bring Roger down hard. Fanboy finally manages to snatch one of them up and dash him against the house, however the assassin is a master of absorbing blows and takes minimum damage. The remaining Droplets continue mauling the soldiers and the soldiers do what they can to avoid them.</p><p></p><p>Johnny continues dropping off Droplets, soldiers continue barricading around Depaliamo, Roger keeps taking bullets meant for Fanboy and more or less hoping he doesn't die and Fanboy keeps trying to keep the assassins at bay for a few rounds. Things start looking bleak very fast.</p><p>Just when things look like they can't get any more desperate the front gates burst open and a van slows to a stop as angry Russians with large guns start leaping out, led by Chavenski himself. Six of Depaliamo's normal soldiers are wiped out in a single volley and Chavenski's men take up a defensive position behind one of Depaliamo's cars. Johnny moves like a blur and three of Chavenski's six men lie unconscious around him. Fanboy latches on to one of the distracted assassins telekinetically and begins thrashing him around like a dog with a rag. About half a dozen of Depaliamo's remaining soldiers circle around near the gate to ambush Chavenski and the last four return fire with the Russians.</p><p></p><p>Chavenski opens fire with his SAW and two of the soldiers near Depaliamo and Johnny are struck hard. The soldiers are killed outright and Johnny's side is half blown away, the surprised speedster does what he can to hold his insides in and in a final desperate burst of speed takes out the remaining Russian soldiers, but fails to lay a hand on Chavenski before succumbing to his wounds and collapsing. Depaliamo in a fit of desperation leaps out of his cover and fires his giant .44, scoring a crit and surprisingly dropping his badass Russian competitor with one well placed shot. Roger continues bleeding uselessly and the assassins continue their one sided beat down of Fanboy. Things are looking pretty terrible again...until the Droplets show back up, bouncing giddily past the ruined gate. They swarm the soldiers hiding near the gate and in the absence of Johnny there doesn't seem to be any way to even slow these damned things down.</p><p></p><p>In just a few rounds the remainder of Depaliamo's soldiers, save one, have been devoured or battered unconscious by Roger's perky, invincible minions. Depaliamo leaps into one of his cars and struggles to find the right key. Roger finally wakes up with a single round left in his hydroform and wakes up in time to bat one of the assassins away from Fanboy. The assassins glance around, figure that their meal ticket is dead; and sprint the wall to escape, professionalism be damned.</p><p></p><p>The Droplets smash their way in through the car's window and maul Depaliamo but good. Roger only barely manages to call them off the fallen Italian before they start doing to him what they did to the cat...</p><p></p><p>Fanboy ties up the survivors and does what he can to revive Chavenski. After being satisfied that the Russian will probably survive he picks up Depaliamo's pistol and shoots Johnny in both of his knees before Roger has a chance to stop him. Johnny wakes up screaming and Fanboy kicks him in the face to shut him up.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Roger slaps Depaliamo until the former crime boss come to and the first thing out of Depaliamo's mouth is "who the f*** are you two? What have I EVER done to you a**holes?"</p><p></p><p>Roger grabs Depaliamo by his chubby cheeks and stares into his eyes. "Let me put it this way. A wise man once said to me: 'Don't look at it like it's the end of the world. Look at it like taking out the trash.'"</p><p></p><p>Depaliamo just stares at him.</p><p></p><p>"You were the one who said that!" McCrow growls. "Those were your EXACT words when you sent me packing to the gutter!"</p><p></p><p>Depaliamo stares for a moment before realization strikes and he gawks. "You're that drunken idiot that kept wrecking my forklifts!"</p><p></p><p>Roger laughs and nods his head. "Maybe I am. Maybe I am. I won't lie, I've wrecked a forklift or two in my time. But just remember; YOU'RE the idiot that's two seconds away from being eaten by sentient water monsters that were made by ME. So who's really the idiot here?"</p><p></p><p>"You are!" Johnny hisses between clenched teeth. Fanboy kicks him in the face again for good measure. Depaliamo starts to object but a bite from one of the Droplets shuts him up again.</p><p></p><p>Roger calls up Parks and sets up a pick-up for Johnny despite the fact that Fanboy keeps suggesting they cut off his legs and keep him as a pet. Still can't believe how much hate Fanboy's player has for Johnny...</p><p></p><p>Instead of amateur surgery, Fanboy uses his powers to probe Depaliamo's mind for hidden caches of loot, but finds that most of his bank accounts require personal authorization to access. Naturally this means smuggling Depaliamo back to their HQ and locking him in a makeshift prison until they learn how to use him like a puppet. They decide to bring Chavenski along as well for Dr. Kavlight to look at, since they feel kind of bad for constantly getting his men killed.</p><p></p><p>And that's where we ended for the night, with the PCs stealing several of Depaliamo's nicer cars and locking up the two most powerful and prominent crime bosses the city has to offer in their homemade prison/fortress on the waterfront. Fanboy wants to drown Depaliamo AND Chavenski once he's robbed their bank accounts to make sure neither of them ever come back to haunt them. Roger wants to recruit/extort Chavenski into joining his growing super team and wants to use Depaliamo to cement the deal.</p><p></p><p>They've also been bumped up to PL7 so that might be where some of their new swagger comes from.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Session 5</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>(Computer burned out, so this was two months after the others and with a completely new set of notes/character sheets.)</p><p>Return of McCrow and Friends</p><p>We pick up only hours after the events of our last session with Roger McCrow and Fanboy rushing Chavenski into Kavlight's infirmary with a fist sized hole in the Russian's chest and no idea how the crime lord is even still alive. Kavlight begins surgery immediately and the two heroes decide to pay a visit to the captive Depaliamo. </p><p>Formerly the most powerful man in the city, now little more than a war trophy; Depaliamo is left alone and naked in a damp; dark cell in the basement. The Italian can't even bring himself to look his captors in the eye and he's more than surprised when Fanboy tosses him a fresh suit from his closet. Depaliamo slips it on gratefully and just as he's about to thank them for returning him a shred of dignity he's blind sided by McCrow and knocked out cold.</p><p>Depaliamo wakes up a few minutes later and finds that both he and Fanboy are cuffed to the bars of his cell and Fanboy has an earsplitting grin on his face. Through his telepathy Fanboy had discovered that the bulk of Depaliamo's fortune can only be accessed by the Italian himself ($2 million local, more than $12 in offshore accounts), so he explains that he'd decided to borrow Depaliamo's body for an hour or two to make a withdrawal. Depaliamo asks why McCrow attacked him if he's already caged and Fanboy admits that Roger just likes to ambush people and he went with it.</p><p>It takes Fanboy several attempts to batter Depaliamo's will enough to completely switch minds with him but finally he succeeds and tells Roger to uncuff him and watch his body while he's gone. There's a brief moment where I think Roger's just going to turn off the lights and leave them both chained downstairs, but McCrow follows through with the plan and Fanboy drives across town in one of his new luxury cars coincidentally found in Depaliamo's garage. It takes him about forty-five minutes to arrive and find a place to park. Walking into the bank he sees people avert their eyes and scurry away in his/Depaliamo's presence and he decides it feels good to be respected. He catches a couple of people gawking at the bruises/bite marks that cover him, but nobody is bold enough to ask about it.</p><p>The teller immediately recognizes him and starts sucking up. Or at least she does until he demands his two million in cash. She tries to explain that the bank simply can't release that much money at once but Fanboy growls his disapproval and starts asking if she knows who he is and what he does. The girl goes pale and asks if he minds if she gets a manager and he says that at this point he insists.</p><p>No sooner does the teller turn away from him that Fanboy experiences a painful flash of alien consciousness that nearly flattens him and he realizes that Depaliamo's body is attempting to reestablish his old identity. By the time the manager arrives he's having to hold himself up with the counter and realizes with growing horror that if he doesn't get back NOW he's going to let Depaliamo simply walk out the door and get away. He quickly changes his demands and says that they can keep the cash, he just needs to put another name on the account; his new business partner: Samell Hamilton. The manager is just relieved that he's came to his senses and Fanboy is out the door and speeding back to the warehouse within minutes.</p><p>He makes a 40 minute drive in about 20 minutes and barely manages to lock himself back in his cell and willingly relinquish control before Depaliamo took it back. Roger uncuffs his young partner and and Fanboy taunts Depaliamo with the fact that his $2 million is now THEIR $2 million and gleefully asks Depaliamo if he wants to take a trip to the Caymans. Depaliamo sags down like the sad old man that he is, but things quickly get worse as Roger demands he strip and hand over those clothes again. Depaliamo grudgingly obliges and as he finishes and gathers up his suit to hand over he's cold clocked by Roger and left unconscious in the cold, wet basement.</p><p>As they're leaving Depaliamo's new 'quarters' they're flagged down by Dr Kavlight and told that Chavenski is alive, but barely. He'll be confined to his bed for a few weeks, but despite the drugs he's been given he appears to be conscious. Fanboy says that he'd like to speak to the Russian and Kavlight tells him to keep it brief. As Fanboy heads up to the infirmary, Kavlight talks to Roger about purchasing an ambulance for the base if they're going to keep bringing him gunshot victims and McCrow tells him to get whatever he wants, Samell'll pay for it.</p><p>Fanboy finds Chavenski barely clinging to consciousness in the infirmary and the crime boss's drug addled eyes snap to him the moment he enters. "Where am I?" Chavenski drowsily growls.</p><p>"Among friends." Fanboy assures him before explaining how Depaliamo blew a hole in his chest, but they saved him. Chavenski asks what happened to Depaliamo and Fanboy responds that he's in a deep, dark hole. Chavenski nods approvingly and says "So you killed him?" and Fanboy shakes his head and says "Nooo....he's in a deep dark hole."</p><p>Fanboy explains that Depaliamo's fortune is now their fortune and that he wants Chavenski to have half of it (This REALLY threw me) for his trouble in assisting them at the mansion. Chavenski is surprised and grateful, and asks if he can use the phone. Fanboy obliges (hoping to eavesdrop) but Chavenski only mutters a few words of Russian into the receiver and then passes out anti-climatically.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>The Hole 2.0</p><p>Roger and Fanboy spend the next day puttering around the warehouse and watching the Droplets chase each other/Bradley in circles. Fanboy finds an article in the paper about fifteen Italians being found dead around the city (Roger's girlfriend heard that part and was disturbed hear Fanboy laughing maniacally about it) and suspected of being linked to organized crime. When Roger hears that Italians are washing up dead in droves he half panics and assumes they didn't weigh them down enough, Fanboy just facepalms.</p><p>While Fanboy's explaining Chavenski's phone call to Roger they get a visit from Agent Parks who wants to know why Depaliamo wasn't recovered along with Johnny on the Spot. Both Roger and Fanboy maintain that the crime lord escaped, but neither of them are particularly good liars and Parks has a finely tuned B.S. detector. He tells them that he doesn't know why they want Depaliamo, but he'll give them a week to get it out of their system. They keep up their story, but Parks reiterates that he'll be back in a week for Depaliamo and he won't leave without him. Fanboy insists that Depaliamo got away again and Parks tells him that he'll post his pictures at the airports just in case, but to have him ready in a week.</p><p>Fanboy is now ready to turn Depaliamo over since the offshore accounts are now closed to them and the Italian is useless, but Roger'll be damned if he gives up his trophy. He immediately begins work on an underwater holding cell meant for dangerous/secret prisoners.</p><p>As Roger slaves away over his secret prison he gets a call from his estranged son, Franklin McCrow who invites his father to his upcoming wedding against his better judgment. Roger would be honored to attend, so long as it's not this week and there's an open bar. Franklin tells him that it's in two months, but neither him nor his fiance have much disposable cash so they're keeping the reception small. Roger pffts and tells his son to leave the arrangements to him, he'll throw him a helluva shindig. Frankling resists, saying that he's seen pictures of 'yours and mom's wedding' but Roger assures him that it'll be nothing like that, his mother obviously won't be invited. Franklin tells him to forget the whole thing, but Roger (in typical McCrow fashion) bullies his way into hosting the wedding despite his son's objections.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The Investigation</p><p>Roger continues work on the holding cell all through the day and most of the next until Parks calls and asks the two of them to join him at the hospital. They suspect that this might be a trap, but go anyway. Parks explains that this is way out of their league, but after their last tussle with Tree King he's severely understaffed; he explains that they'll be supplementing the police investigation, using their experience with superhumans. They agree to look in on it and discover that a 12 year old comatose girl has been murdered, her neck snapped in the night. Parks explains that she was on the bus and barely survived, since all the other survivors have exhibited some form of ability she is assumed to have been superhuman despite lack of verification, and the death of two superhumans in as many weeks is cause for alarm. If the serial killer has turned his attention to superhumans somehow it HAS to be addressed.</p><p>Fanboy and McCrow fan out to look around. Roger finds nothing in her room and Fanboy can't find anyone who saw a strange man hanging around. Fanboy does however discover that an orderly uniform is missing and that the man it belongs to is massive; nearly six and a half feet tall and built like a barrel, easily a build capable of snapping a neck like a tooth pick. They're unsure if that's relevant so decide to pursue other avenues of investigation.</p><p> They decide to look at the killer's suspected history in reverse order and come up with six suspected victims prior to the little girl,the superhuman security guard dubbed 'Sloth', a respected surgeon from a local hospital, a computer security specialist with a local security firm, a local DJ and radio personality, a former olympic boxer and a cab driver. Fanboy doesn't see the connection, but Roger points out that they're all exceptional individuals...except the cab driver. They check him out and sure enough there's nothing special about the man, just another immigrant trying to live the American dream. Fanboy uses his basic computer skills to learn that the cabby was killed on the same day as their accident, only two blocks away and found laying bleeding in the street. Fanboy surmises that he was killed for his cab and guesses that it was none other than the thief with the canister that killed the man since he was never recovered though the gun he shot Roger with was. Fanboy didn't get a good look at the hijacker so he uses telepathy to probe Roger's memories and discovers that the hijacker was only a few inches off from the big orderly.</p><p>It's a tenuous lead, but the two of them think it's worth pursuing, and since they remember a policeman hitting the cannister while firing at the hijacker they decide to go to the police posing as private investigators (Roger tried claiming to be Special Agents, but Fanboy kept explaining that they had no identification to pull that off with. Didn't stop Roger from trying though.) and find out who was in the vicinity that day and why.</p><p> They're directed to an older man that they realize is responsible for their current powers. He admits that he was in the area after hearing reported gunshots, but says that he's unable to help any further due to an ongoing investigation. Fanboy telepathically tells Roger to provide a distraction so he can probe the man's mind and Roger goes back to pretending to be a super secret agent. Fanboy nearly has an aneurism as Roger's claims grow more and more outlandish, however he plucks information concerning a nondisclosure agreement and disturbances in the area from the addled patrolman's mind and uses that information to convince the officer that they're somehow on the level. </p><p> The officer breaks down and mentions being en route to a reported attack on the same day as the accident and admits to only responding to gunshots once he was already in the area, he then whispers about a security guard that showed up in the morgue and was never investigated. He gives them the name of the woman who claimed the body and that's it. </p><p> They visit the dead man's wife to ask her a few questions but she honestly doesn't know much about his job. She tells them that he worked at 124 Beachum Street because she had to drop him off at work once when his car broke down, but she says that she wasn't supposed to EVER go by or call and that he wasn't even supposed to mention the address. Needless to say, he never spoke about what happened there. She says that a friend of his from the military got him the job, but that she'd never met the man herself. Roger grows irritable at her lack of information and asks if she actually knows ANYTHING. She 's offended at his attitude (he later tells Fanboy that he was playing Ungrateful Cop) and demands they leave. Roger laughs and says that they aren't going anywhere until she gives them something useful and she moves to call the police. McCrow and the woman wrestle over the phone, while Fanboy just gawks at his partner's lack of decorum, and eventually the incensed widow tearfully slaps McCrow. Roger stares at her in open mouthed silence for a moment and then rage flashes in his eyes and he head-butts her in the nose; laying her out cold and bloodily. Fanboy physically wrestles McCrow out of the apartment to keep him from pursuing the 'battle' and points out that they've got an address which is a helluva lot more than they had an hour ago.</p><p> As they head over to Beachum Street Fanboy calls Parks to check in and report what they'd found so far. Parks tells them in no uncertain terms o leave Beachum St alone, it's a dead end. The conviction in his voice as he says this convinced the heroes that there must be something there that they're not supposed to see.</p><p> They check out the address and it looks completely abandoned, just an abandoned building in the industrial district. The few operational businesses left say that they'd occasionally see drop-offs but never saw anything leave, otherwise they didn't know/care what went on there. </p><p>Now intrigued, they search the building top to bottom and discover that it is completely empty, not so much as an office chair left behind however Roger is the first to notice that the dust indicates that a substantial amount of machinery was here until recently. Large machinery with a massive power signature, they decide to check with the power company to see if a new location suddenly started drawing as much energy as this place did. </p><p>They continue searching with a fine tooth comb and Fanboy finds a false wall with half a dozen glass holding cells behind it. The cells are heavily scratched and battered, but no telling what was in them. Fanboy shudders and says that he recognizes this place...it was the first Hole. Roger makes a disparaging remark about Parks' holes but Fanboy explains that if this was here BEFORE the accident, then their powers aren't unexpected or even necessarily new. Whatever was in those canisters performed exactly as expected...</p><p>They search the parking lot before they leave and find an abandoned car in pretty rough shape still there. They search inside and Roger finds a security badge with a picture of a man in a security uniform between the seats, apparently lost. They take note of the name and decide to look him up.</p><p>They track the guard down still posing as as P.I.s and pound on his door until he answers. They introduce themselves (Roger calls himself Special Agent McCrow to Fanboys chagrin) and they notice an older woman watching them from her window. Roger shouts that she should mind her own business and she shouts back that he should mind HIS. The last they see of McCrow is when he breaks off and kicks in the woman's front door. Despite Fanboy's objection, her sudden shriek serves to convince the former guard that it's in his best interest not to jerk these guys around.</p><p> He only worked the front and had very limited clearance, so he's of little help. He often saw men in dark suits and hazmat gear and remembers frequent deliveries of chemicals with names he couldn't pronounce. He reveals that he had an nondisclosure agreement, but is angry enough with his former employers to violate it. Apparently he lost his job overnight, after the day of the bus accident he walked into the warehouse and it was just empty. Whoever messed up and called the police ensured that all nonessential personnel were no longer trusted.</p><p>Wanting to verify everything, Fanboy probes the former guard's mind aggressively for the past six months and sees firsthand the day of the accident. The guard went to the bathroom and came back to the sounds of gunshots and alarms, his friend was dead and he kept hearing that a canister was stolen. Fanboy scans further back from the accident and recognizes the equipment from The Hole and even gets a glimpse of Parks!!! </p><p>Fanboy calls Parks as he heads towards the car and demands an explanation (Roger joins him on the way and Fanboy notes that the older man's knuckles are busted and his forehead has a sizeable gash on it. The neighbor is likely to start minding her own business now though.) Parks suggests he leave it alone for his own good and when pressed outright tells him that they shouldn't expect the kind of leniency from his superiors that they get from him. If they press this the best case scenario results in their death.</p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Doctor Luvless</p><p>At the warehouse Roger and Bradley rush to complete the underwater cells (Basically making an airtight shipping container that he'll raise/lower with his powers) before Parks arrives to search for Depaliamo. Fanboy meanwhile is bombarding their beleaguered liaison with phone calls of varying degrees of threats/pleads. It had been less than 10 minutes since his last call and Fanboy picks up the phone to start the dance again, when it rings and Parks tells the two of them to drop what they're doing and get to Priceless Memories Jewelry.</p><p>Fanboy tells him that they're through being his lackeys until he answers some questions, but Parks tells him that people are dying NOW. That four police officers are already dead and there's no telling how many civilians are injured or worse. He promises to answer questions in person once this is all wrapped up, but they must take action immediately.</p><p>The heroes consider this acceptable and rush to save the day, or at least to kick some ass if all else fails. </p><p>They arrive to find a scene of absolute carnage waiting for them. There are half a dozen police cars surrounding the jeweler's and only two of them are still intact. The rest are blackened and leveled, their occupants strewn across the street and little more than clumps of ash. A man with a black and gold cloak stands on the sidewalk gripping a black and gold staff in a gauntleted hand, a purple haze surrounds him and easily absorbs the barrage of bullets that the surviving officers are firing.</p><p>The man looks amused rather than angry at the constant attempts on his life, like a man threatened by children with cap pistols. His look of amusement grows even more as McCrow and Fanboy stroll closer.</p><p>"Ah!" the man exclaims cheerfully. "I remember you two from the bus! You were the morons that decided to 'rassle' (he makes an exaggerated grappling motion with his hands) during a terrorist attack. I must say that I am sincerely disappointed to find that you have joined me in ascension."</p><p>"The hell are you talking about?" Roger shouts angrily. His instinctive urge to throttle the man threatens to overwhelm his survival instincts.</p><p>"Apologies, I'll use smaller words in the future." the cloaked man says with a smirk. Removing two cue ball sized orbs from his belt he tosses them at the heroes and a holographic display shimmers to life, giving them the appearance of black and gold robots. Despite the fact that they're only a projection they seem VERY solid.</p><p>"Our mutual accident has left me as the most brilliant man living or who has ever lived. These are hard-light constructs that I designed in an afternoon. It will be centuries before drooling plebeians like you even manage to GRASP what I've done." the man gloats overbearingly.</p><p>"Really?" Fanboy asks with a snort. "Centuries?"</p><p>"What can I say? I've always been an optimist." the man retorts, eliciting the urge for violence in Samell as well.</p><p>"Doctor Luvless will be a name remembered long after your ashes have been scattered to the wind. As the man who changed this world, and brought it to heel!" he growls.</p><p>Fanboy has finally had enough and telekinetically grapples Luvless, dashing him against the wall of the jewelers. Roger calls for his Droplets and they leap free of the car and charge into the fray as well, engaging the 'Luvbots' in combat. The Luvbots open fire indiscriminately newly formed blasters.</p><p>Luvless struggles in Fanboy's grip a moment before pressing one of the dozen buttons along his staff's grip, turning the purple aura into a purple tornado of energy, breaking Fanboy's hold and freeing himself to rain down destruction. An arc of red energy flashes from the power-staff and Fanboy dives out of the way before watching another of the police cars and the men behind it turn into a twisted pile of ash. Fanboy snatches one of the robots and dashes it against the sidewalk, leaving only the broken remains of the small metallic sphere behind. Roger draws water to himself, bursting a nearby fire hydrant and soaking the area. The Droplets latch onto each other like Voltron and ooze together to create a single human sized creature made of living water which engages the last Luvbot in one on one combat.</p><p>Luvless fires another arc of red energy at McCrow who barely escapes becoming a pile of ashes himself. Fanboy rips a stop sign out of the ground and hurls it at Luvless who bats it away easily with his staff. Roger fires a burst of water at Luvless, but despite his best effort barely enough water to knock Luvless back a step gets through. The 'Big Drip' as the Droplets combined form has come to be called blasts the Luvbot with a jet of water of his own and takes it out of the fight.</p><p>Luvless levels his power-staff and fires at the Big Drip, despite the Droplets seeming invincibility however not a single scrap of the Drip remains and Roger (and his player) shouts in surprise and anguish at the deaths of what he's come to think of as his children. Fanboy attempts to mentally dominate Luvless, but discovers that something prevents his telepathy from even reaching the man. Roger draws even more water to himself, growing into his 10ft form first battle form.</p><p>Doctor Luvless fires another red tinged blast at Fanboy and Samell is too slow to escape its path, his forcefield fails and most of his clothing is burned away along with a bit of skin, however he survives. Fanboy whips a manhole cover at the good Doctor that nearly knocks him senseless and Roger finishes the transformation into his full 30ft form.</p><p>Luvless looks at his staff worriedly and seems to question whether or not his staff's power will hold out, he switches settings and fires a seemingly solid yellow bolt that strikes Fanboy in the chest and carries him across the street and into the side of a van. Fanboy slumps unconscious to the street. Roger charges in his enlarged form and nearly flattens Luvless with an overhead blow.</p><p>Luvless seems to rethink what he's got to gain from this and plants his staff firmly into the ground. "This was just a trial run gentlemen. Next time I'll get serious." and disappears in a flash of blue energy.</p><p>Roger checks inside before recovering Fanboy and discovers that except for the cops outside there aren't any fatalities. The customers and employees inside are bound with run of the mill cuffs and only a single case was even busted. Apparently he didn't have time to snatch much before the cops interrupted.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>I'll Go This Way</p><p>Roger drags Fanboy back to the warehouse after their tussle with Doctor Luvless and lets Kavlight patch telepath up while he sits down with the Prophet and discusses their situation. The Prophet says that while he's not shocked to discover that the government had a hand in the canister (he's a hardcore conspiracy theorist that used to run his own pirate radio station) this is the first he's heard about it. Roger's surprised because he just assumed the Prophet knew everything.</p><p>The Prophet gives Roger a list of names: Richard Bronson, Sandy Clemens and John Hurt. They're all superhumans that have fallen between the cracks. Nobody is watching them and that makes them prime targets for the killer. Roger agrees with this reasoning and pops into the infirmary to see if Fanboy feels up to coming with him.</p><p>When Roger walks in, Fanboy's already on the phone with Parks and tells him to keep his voice down to avoid waking Chavenski. McCrow gives him the list of names and says that they need to bring these people in before the killer gets to them, but Fanboy's already contacted Parks and he'd agreed to come by and answer a few questions. </p><p>Roger decides to let Fanboy deal with Parks by himself while he visits Sandy Clemens to warn her about the killer.</p><p>Roger finds Sandy living in a quiet little neighborhood out in the suburbs, in a small, unassuming house with a well manicured lawn. He knocks on the door and an attractive middle-aged woman with dark hair answers. She only opens the door a crack, apparently relying on the little chain to protect her against intruders.</p><p>"Can I help you?" she asks.</p><p> "Yes, I'm looking for..." Roger (and his player) draws a blank and he forgets the name of the woman he's looking for. "Sandy Hooks?" he asks questioningly.</p><p>The woman shakes her head and says "Sorry, wrong address." and shuts the door.</p><p>Roger's a little taken aback by her behavior and knocks on the door again. "Sandy something. I'm looking for Sandy something. That's you, right ma'am?"</p><p>She opens the door a crack again and glances around nervously. "Yes, that's me but I'm afraid I don't know you."</p><p>"No ma'am, you don't but I'm from the bus." he starts and has the door slammed in his face again.</p><p>Roger sighs irritably and bangs on the door with force. Sandy refuses to open it but she shouts out "I don't want anything to do with you people. I just want to live my life!"</p><p>McCrow acts like he can't hear her and once the door is opened a crack again he shoves his way in and breaks the chain. "I don't care what you want, I just need you to come with me; it's for your own good."</p><p>"No, no, no." she chants backing up. "Please, I've got children; they could be home at any moment."</p><p>"Don't worry," Roger says obliviously "I'll take them too. I've got a warehouse where you're going to stay for a bit. Of course it's secret, so you'll need to be blindfolded..."</p><p> Sandy is now outright terrified at the crazy man wanting to kidnap her and her children and bolts towards the kitchen to grab a knife. Roger tackles her halfway there and shouts for her to stop screaming. She fails to oblige and he begins to believe that perhaps diplomacy is not his forte. However a quick right hook shuts her up and dispels his doubts once again.</p><p>Meanwhile...</p><p>Fanboy and Parks meet at the warehouse and discuss what they've found. Parks points out that he never tried to deny his involvement but that his business is none of theirs. Fanboy wants details and Parks tells him that he's not at liberty to discuss these matters, but that he feels like they should keep looking for the killer. Fanboy demands to know who this killer is and Parks admits that the DHS is just as stumped as they are.</p><p>Fanboy snorts and asks if they've never heard of video cameras at the DHS and Parks points out that this isn't T.V. he can't get a positive I.D. off half a frame of a man's partially obscured face. He encourages them to keep pressing forward in their search for the killer, but to leave the past in the past before they get hurt; this is still a national security matter of the utmost secrecy.</p><p>Fanboy attempts to read Parks mind and is severely disappointed that he can't seem to pry any more information out of the agent (Parks will save is terrifying), however Parks does say that there are those in this administration that have looked forward to meeting people like them for a LONG time and that they'll be in touch officially soon. Fanboy finds this a bit ominous but is excited nevertheless.</p><p>Fanboy tells Parks about the super genius Doctor Luvless while they walk out and admits that he might be more than the two of them can handle. He asks that Parks supplies some EMP weaponry to disable the gadgeteer's toys and Parks promises to deliver some cutting edge tech to even the odds in their next bout.</p><p>As Parks is preparing to leave Roger pulls in with a van full of kidnapped children and their mother, all hogtied and unconscious. The twelve year old boy has a black eye and the eight year old girl is gagged with a sock...and might have a broken nose. Parks just shakes his head in disgust while Fanboy telepathically scans Roger's mind for what happened, and sees him chasing the children around trying to corral them into their van while they scream about stranger danger and the situation just devolves from there. Fanboy just facepalms silently in defeat.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The Time Bomb</p><p>After having Kavlight look over Sandy and her children for injuries (Just a few scrapes and bruises. Sandy doesn't have a scratch on her despite her altercation with McCrow) and being satisfied that they'll live, they set out to find the next superhuman on their list. This time with Fanboy providing the much needed restraint to counterbalance McCrow's enthusiasm.</p><p>With the help of the Prophet they track down Richard Bronson's cell phone, a scrawny fifteen year old superhuman. He's at a local arcade and they decide to visit him there to hopefully avoid a scene. There's only half a dozen people in the arcade when they get there and Roger changes tactics midstride and decides to ambush Richard before Fanboy can stop him. He grabs the boy from behind and slams him into a machine.</p><p> "You're coming with us and I don't want to hear a WORD about it. We'll explain later!" the kid freaks out and starts stammering 'What?' Roger shakes him harshly and demands he shut up. The kid keeps freaking out and the lights start flickering while the machines start blinking. Electricity starts arcing across his skin as it's drawn from the very air around him. The kid is in a blind panic and Fanboy recognizes that his isn't an intentional attack. He uses emotion control to calm the boy down and the kid shouts that EVERYBODY has to get out of here, that he can't stop this once it starts. </p><p>Roger suddenly regrets this decision and tries to talk the kid through what's happening, remembering his own power fluctuations in the beginning. As Richard tries to explain to Roger that the reaction has to run its course, the kid's energy explodes and knocks McCrow across the room stunned and scorched. </p><p>Fanboy grapples everyone in the arcade except for himself and the kid and times it to throw them out right as the next flash flares and strikes his force field. Everybody thinks that they've been thrown out by an explosion and start freaking out. Only Roger (unwisely) rushes back in. Roger charges and tries to knock the kid out to stop the reaction, and although he breaks the kid's rib and knocks the air completely out of him the aura of electricity fries him worse than his punch hurt the kid as his powers leave him especially vulnerable to electricity and he's barely able to stand under his own power. </p><p> Fanboy tries to black the kid out telepathically, but the kid explodes in a flash and strikes both of them, Fanboy is injured and his hair stands on end but Roger is out cold. Fanboy tries to blast the kid again but can't quite knock him out and the kid's energy flares again rendering Roger dying and left in a blackened, unmoving heap. </p><p>Recognizing that McCrow simply can't survive another hit Fanboy tosses Roger out of the store once more seconds before a blinding flash lights up the arcade and melts the majority of the machines. His force field barely holds and Richard is left unconscious by the experience. </p><p>Fanboy catches his breath as the gawking survivors being returning to the scene and struggles to drag the charred remains of his partner into his car before returning to half carry Richard out as well. </p><p> Once at the warehouse Kavlight gives McCrow a thorough examination and admits that there's nothing he can do for Roger, his wounds are too severe and even if he lives through the night it's unlikely he'll be able to breathe on his own much longer. Fanboy is surprised to find that he's worried about the violent and boisterous McCrow and against Kavlight's orders carries (so much of his body had dried up/crumbled at this point that he was only a fraction of his former size) the blackened hydromancer out to the docks and drops him into the ocean below. He watches the barely living Roger sink beyond his vision and holds his breath in anticipation. </p><p>Nothing happens. </p><p> Fanboy stands on the dock for almost an hour in contemplation before the churning of the waves catches his attention. It grows more and more violent until a pillar of water nearly 200ft tall bursts upwards in the shape of a man and roars so savagely that the occupants of the warehouse rush out to see if the pier is being destroyed and people in the city proper stop in their tracks at the monstrous sound. The creature bounds onto the pier bellowing and the water rapidly dissipates until McCrow is left unconscious and naked, but whole, amid the puddles.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Baritone</p><p>Roger barely remembers the fight with the kid or his near miss with death, but Richard is confined to the basement cells for everyone's safety regardless. When Parks gets word about the explosive nature of the teen's power he wants him in the Hole, but Roger of all people refuses to consider it. McCrow insists that he'll equip a quarters with heavy duty insulation and train the boy himself. Nobody's quite thrilled at the thought of Roger McCrow becoming somebody's role model, but no more is said on the subject and it's decided.</p><p>Over the next two days another 12 Italians are found with their throats cut and hands cut off thanks to Chavenski's little phone call, Roger (assisted by the Bradleys and Richard) finally finishes his underwater holding cell and transfers Depaliamo to the bottom of the sea to avoid any surprise DHS raids or escape attempts. Richard is allowed to sleep upstairs so long as he can assure everyone's safety and Sandy and the kids finally understand Roger's intent. They aren't happy at the way things have turned out, but after speaking with Fanboy and the others they at least understand that nothing (else) bad is going to happen to them. I'm starting to think that the team name should be the Stockholm Society.</p><p>Finally, Roger feels up to tackling the next superhuman and they decide to warn John Hurt that a killer's after him. The prophet directs them to a dive bar near the docks. As they pull into the parking lot a man matching Hurt's description and four of his biker friends drag three yuppies into the parking lot while kicking the crap out of them and whooping like maniacs. </p><p>Fanboy and Roger stare at each other in disbelief for a moment and McCrow rushes headlong to the defense of the battered yuppies. He throws a massive haymaker at the end of his charge and lays out one of the bikers with a single blow. The others stop what they're doing and just stare at the impulsive hero as their former victims break away and flee into the night, eliciting a 'Well sh**' from McCrow. Another biker lunges forward and Roger breaks the man's nose with a well-timed head-butt.</p><p>Hurt and his men surround Roger as Fanboy looks on nervously and Roger holds up his hands peacefully. "Come on guys, we're not looking for trouble; I'm just here to deliver a message."</p><p>The bikers chuckle and chant 'Kick his ass Baritone.'</p><p>Hurt/Baritone cracks his knuckles and laughs. "No friend," the burly biker says in an impossibly deep voice "I'm the one who delivers messages around here. Now f*** off."</p><p>Roger repeats that he doesn't want any trouble and gets spit on as a result. Every nerve ending tells him to straddle this man and start pulling teeth, but he keeps reminding himself that he's here looking for allies, not street fights. He keeps his temper in check and extends his hand "I'm serious, we've been looking for you Hurt. I think you'll want to hear us out." he says through clenched teeth.</p><p> Hurt leans forward and says 'And I was serious when I said F*** OFF' and as he says OFF he releases an earsplitting bellow that results in a 30ft by 100ft cone of sound that narrowly misses Fanboy, tosses several cars completely out of the parking lot; deafens Roger and strips flesh down to the bone in some places before throwing him more than 100ft across the parking lot to land in a crumpled; broken; bloody heap.</p><p>Baritone draws a pistol and begins advancing towards Roger's unmoving carcass, but Fanboy throws himself in the way shouting that they're there to save his life. Fanboy stammers about the serial killer tracking superhumans and needing to watch each other's backs if they're to survive.</p><p>Hurt just laughs in his deep, booming voice and holsters his gun. As he and his men mount their bikes he revs his engine loudly and shouts that he can take care of himself.</p><p>Fanboy just falls next to Roger's bloody form and begins a desperate attempt at first aid as the bikers blow past him, laughing and hooting all the time.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Session 6</strong></p><p></p><p>(Mann is played by McCrow's player, Stardust is played by my little sister who's never even had an interest in tabletop games before. We were hoping to get her into it with a short introductory session, and although she still hasn't came back yet she's voiced an interest in returning so it was a minor success. The best thing to come out of it however was the B side to our story, as Mann has since became one of our favorite characters.)</p><p></p><p> </p><p>Alternate Perspective</p><p>We start at the beginning and Stardust vividly recalls that day that her life changed. She remembers the bus ride and watching a large mustachioed man beating up a Storm Trooper. Before she could do more than gawk she watched the man in the ski mask board the bus with his hissing canister of strange green gas, then she remembers the gunshot as the man with the mustache is gunned down and the bus slamming into the abandoned theater.</p><p>She doesn't remember much after that.</p><p>It's more than two months later when she finally wakes up in the hospital, her muscles nearly atrophied from disuse and her mind foggy from her long sleep. She doesn't do much but lay there until Dr Forester comes in and seems surprised to find her conscious. The Doctor tries to answer questions as best he can and calls Agent Parks, who shows up remarkably fast.</p><p>Agent Parks explains about the bus accident and its label as an act of terror, he informs Stardust that she is to make no mention of her presence on the bus as there were supposedly no survivors. Parks goes on to lay out the non-disclosure agreement and has her sign it in exchange for him paying any and all medical expenses related to the accident. He then offers the former stripper a chance to make $10,000 for a week's work.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Russian Menace</p><p>Parks explains that he knows from past experience how effective superhumans can be, but admits that he's had a hard time keeping some of his assets in line. With a snap of his fingers Parks summons a scowling, well dressed man in dark shades with a slightly receding hairline into the room. The man's carrying a briefcase that it turns out is filled with photos of countless atrocities. Men, women and children butchered like animals and splayed theatrically for the world to see.</p><p>Parks indicates the pictures "This city used to have a sort of criminal equilibrium. The Italians wouldn't spread themselves too thin for fear of the Russians, and the Russians wouldn't come on too strong for fear of the Italians. However because of certain...individuals, the equilibrium has been upset. The Italians made powerful enemies and paid for it with their lives. The Russians have exploded to fill the power vacuum and I'm afraid that if they remain unchallenged the city won't be recognizable when they're done."</p><p>Tapping the disturbing photos Parks shakes his head. "Appallingly, I have mutual allies with these monsters and can't move directly against them. For some ungodly reason my original team have taken a liking to the leader of the Russians and facilitated his rise to power."</p><p>Stardust asks why they don't just kill the Russians and the other team if they're such a problem and Parks admits that it's gotten beyond that. He points out that they have a body count higher than most plagues and are suspected of taking the most powerful man in the city as a trophy for no discernable reason. </p><p>She seems satisfied by this so Parks lays out a few of the Russian operations: Selling captured Italian women and children into slavery, smuggling ridiculously overpowered weapons into the states for what DHS is assuming to be a major territory grab and even auctioning off the stolen infants of their slain enemies as a final insult.</p><p>Parks gives Stardust a few days to recover and consider his offer and she finally comes around. When the quiet man with the receding hairline shows up a few days later to get her answer she tells him that she wants to break up the baby selling ring immediately and he just nods his approval. She introduces herself with an attempted handshake and he just glares at her.</p><p>"I'm Stardust." she says with a wink. "But you can call me Star."</p><p>"Really...? Stardust. Sounds like a stripper name." he says with a scowl. They get into a bit of an argument over her chosen profession and he begins derogatorily referring to her as Drip, because as he puts it she's '90% chlamydia anyway.' He introduces himself as Special Agent Mann, but tells her that she can call him Special Agent, Sir.</p><p> </p><p>They drive in silence to a nice residential neighborhood and Agent Mann points out the house they're after, a two story colonial style with heavy shutters. A large man sits casually on the porch, but the more they watch him the more they realize that the nonchalance is forced; he's scanning the neighborhood under the guise of lounging.</p><p>Mann checks his weapon, a heavy 1911 Colt .45 before turning to Stardust and pointing at her exaggeratedly "I don't like the idea of working with <em>mutants</em>." he says with a perceptible shudder. "You're aberrations, not assets. This business with McCrow and Hamilton should speak for itself, you people can't be trusted. But if Parks wants you on the job, I'll follow suit. Just keep in mind that if you make ONE wrong step Drip, I will bury you beneath The Hole myself." the stern agent says, chambering a round for dramatic effect and stepping out of his vehicle; a stunned Stardust scurrying behind him.</p><p>The guard perks up as the pair approaches and holds up a hand in challenge. "Hold it right there-" the big man starts, but doesn't get to finish as Mann breaks the offered arm and drives a knee into his solar plexus; knocking the Russian out cold with the same effort it takes to ring a doorbell. Agent Mann doesn't even stop to see whether or not his victim gets up as he strolls into the front door and comes face to face with the reason they're there. Three men are tending to close to sixteen cribs worth of babies and two men in vests and carrying automatic weapons stand guard in opposite corners of the room.</p><p>It takes the guards a moment to register that two people have just strolled into their safehouse unhindered and it gives the two of them enough time to fully take stock of their situation. One of the armed guards recovers enough to demand to know what they're doing here and Agent Mann responds by putting a bullet in his head.</p><p>Everything goes quiet and then explodes in a hail of gunfire as the remaining guard opens up with full automatic fire and the three attendants draw pistols and literally hide behind the babies, each of them scooping an infant up and using them as human shields.</p><p>Stardust instinctively goes invisible and grabs a baby under each arm before booking it out the door to Mann's surprise/irritation. She drops the babies off in Mann's car across the street and like a responsible citizen calls for backup from the proper authorities.</p><p>The remaining houseful of thugs open fire at Agent Mann and his vest barely keeps him alive. He collapses against the wall and leaves a bloody streak. Stardust returns for another armful of babies and sees the carnage, she focuses on one of the thugs(forgetting about the baby he's holding) and everyone in the house is horrified to watch the man's skeleton apparently attempt to escape his own skin, reducing the Russian into putrid pile of quivering flesh and shattered bone. The baby falls from the man's grasp and shrieks in pain as it bounces against the floor.</p><p>Nobody can see exactly what happened, but that just launches them into a blind panic in itself. One of the attendants drops his baby back into its crib and bolts past the door. The remaining guard and attendant fire wildly into the room, several bullets passing through the tops of the cribs but none of them finding a target.</p><p>Stardust drops down to avoid the gunfire and focuses on the screaming baby, mending wounds that she can't even see and soothing the child's pain. Agent Mann stumbles to his feet and puts several bullets into the remaining guard. The last attendant puts his back against the wall, holds the baby up to his chest/head and presses his gun to the infant's head. "I don't know who you people are, but you leave NOW or this kid's blood is on YOUR hands!" he shouts in terror.</p><p>Mann stumbles forward, his gun raised and shakes his head. "You have two choices here. You put the baby down, get cuffed and walk out of here alive. Or you don't...and I kill you where you stand."</p><p>Stardust presses an unseen hand against Mann's side and his gushing wounds miraculously heal over, returning the agent's full focus and faculties just as he needs them most.</p><p>"Last chance!" the Russian shouts over the head of his baby shield, pulling back the hammer of his pistol threateningly. </p><p>"Right." the agent agrees. In that split second Mann squeezes the trigger of his .45 and watches the attendant's head split like an overripe melon, spraying the walls with gore. Stardust leaps forward using the unnatural speed of her flight to snatch the baby before it comes crashing down and becomes visible once again, glaring at Agent Mann.</p><p>"He had a baby!" she shouts.</p><p>"HAD, being the operative word." Mann says, holstering his gun and walking upstairs to check things out. "Now we have the baby."</p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><p>Official Investigation</p><p>While waiting for the cleanup crew to arrive, Mann searches the house thoroughly but finds nothing that would link the operation to Chavenski, the Russians or potential buyers. It was apparently just an infant storehouse. </p><p>Mann and Stardust turn over the investigation once Parks arrives at the scene and are just about to see what they can do about the city's white slavery problem, when Parks asks the two of them to look into a number of deaths around town. Six bodies have been recovered in the last two weeks, all of which died of suffocation and most of them appear heavily mutilated.</p><p>Before he can continue, Agent Mann leans in and whispers that this sounds like the Tree King but says that that's impossible because McCrow killed him. He was on the recovery crew that brought back nothing but splinters. Parks agrees that it seems unlikely, but points out that there's not likely to be many other plant based psychos running around town, the senior agent shows Mann an autopsy report that shows fibrous growths in the man's lungs, almost like plant roots had taken hold. Mann just shakes his head and motions for Stardust to follow him to the car.</p><p>On the way to the morgue Stardust and Agent Mann get into another altercation over Mann's hostage negotiation tactics, and Mann exacerbates things with liberal usage of his petname 'Drip'. Eventually he pushes Stardust too far and she grabs his hand in an attempt to rot a finger off. Agent Mann resists the attempt, quickly draws his pistol and suggests she exit his car. From now on, Stardust provides her own transportation.</p><p>Mann pulls up to the Morgue and Stardust lands shortly afterwards, becoming visible again as she does so. They don't run into any resistance as Mann's credentials are more than enough to get them admittance and they start looking the latest body over for evidence.</p><p>Stardust is terrible at this (wisdom penalty and no ranks in any skill) and she rolls terribly enough that we joke she wouldn't know he was dead if somebody hadn't told her. Mann on the other hand is built for investigation and has an eye for detail. He notices that the corpse's hands are rough and dirt is under the nails. </p><p>Without bothering to look for any other details he checks the other victims and finds that they all worked as gardeners or landscapers. Even more specific, they all worked for companies that had government contracts. He checks a little more and finds out that each of the places a victim was found was missing plants, and checking a little more finds out that there have actually been dozens of trees and bushes reported stolen in the last month, although the police have given the thefts a low priority for obvious reasons.</p><p>Stardust asks what all that means, and Mann points out that in the past Tree King only killed people that were in the way of his pursuit of vengeance and surmises that the dead men must have interrupted the mad man while he was doing something else.</p><p>Agent Mann gets in touch with Parks and asks for a large landscaping order to be set up for the Mayor's offices, almost a dozen trees and assorted shrubberies delivered as soon as possible. Parks (and I) don't exactly get what he's going for, but agrees to set it up. </p><p>By the time the PCs arrive at the mayor's office, a landscaping company has already started prepping the land and Mann sets up for overnight surveillance. He explains to Stardust that if Tree King is targetting landscapers then this will definitely get his attention. Then, since it's getting dark and the landscapers are going home, Mann instructs the five foot nothing, ninety pound girl who's just spent two months in a hospital bed to start planting trees while he checks out the perimeter.</p><p>It takes Stardust more than an hour per tree, between the fact that most of the saplings are nearly as big as she is and she can barely hold the shovel let alone use it with her atrophied muscles, this just isn't her thing. She can be forgiven for failing to notice that one of the trees she's supposed to be planting has disappeared.</p><p>Agent Mann on the other hand notices almost immediately once he's finished his rounds and suggests they split up to see if they can find anything. Stardust takes to the air and Mann rushes to the landscapers van to see if anything's missing. What he finds disturbs him.</p><p>The missing tree looks eerily similar to Tree King, its branches have begun knitting together into clawed arms and thick bulbs have began growing on its 'chest' region. The tree creature has nearly torn the doors off the landscaping van and appears to be stealing fertilizer and other chemicals for some nefarious purpose. Mann opens fire into the oblivious tree's backside with his trusty sidearm and manages to snap the thing almost in half. (He got a 20 on his attack, I rolled a 1 on its toughness save.)</p><p>Stardust hears the gunshots and gets in touch with Mann using her earpiece, he tells her that he's handled the situation and has her check the rest of the property for anything suspicious. She doesn't find anything, but that doesn't mean it's not there.</p><p>Once they've cleared the property they load up the remains of the tree and head to The Hole to brief Agent Parks on what they've found. As they enter The Hole two men in hazmat suits claim the tree and take it to the back, while Parks and Mann talk and Stardust has a look around.</p><p>She sees the six glass holding cells in the center and finds a darkhaired man sitting in one cell head in his hands, his legs mangled and held in casts. In another, apparently empty cell she notices what appears to be a stone head the size of an air-conditioner twisted in a vengeful grimace and half a hand protruding from the concrete floor. She begins growing very nervous about what they're doing here.</p><p>Meanwhile, Agent Mann tells Parks what they found and suggests that if Tree King is stealing plants, fertilizer and other gardening chemicals, it stands to reason that he may be growing himself an army.</p><p>The city is going to need all the help it can get in the days ahead. Parks makes a call to his superiors in Washington and arranges a meeting to request reinforcements.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>Infiltrating the Other Guys</p><p>While Parks is discussing the implications of Tree King's budding (sorry) army with Mann and Stardust, he realizes that it's more important than ever that Fanboy and McCrow continue to lend their support to the DHS. He mentions the deadline he imposed concerning the return of Depaliamo and decides to make sure they actually have the Italian boss before pressing any further. </p><p>Agent Mann and Stardust are instructed to reconnoiter McCrow's warehouse, but Parks stresses that they MUST be careful, if McCrow or Fanboy discovers their presence they WILL NOT survive the encounter. Parks reiterates that these two men slaughtered almost the entirety of the Italian crime syndicate in the city for disrespecting them, he points out that they do not care for trespassers and have installed military grade security measures.</p><p>Mann says that he undestands and Stardust is still pretty cocky because of her powers so they set out to investigate the very warehouse that Mann/McCrow's player strove to make impenetrable. ((Actually proud of Mann/McCrow. He completely separated his OOC knowledge and feelings and focused only on how a hardass like Mann would approach this situation.))</p><p>They stroll almost completely up to the warehouse before Mann makes his Notice check and sees a couple of hidden security cameras tucked into streetlamps and armored shutters. He doesn't believe they've been spotted so he has Stardust fly them to the roof to avoid giving themselves away. Stardust's flight doesn't confer any increased strength, so Mann is a maximum load for her and she pants and struggles their way onto the roof before collapsing to catch her breath.</p><p>Mann sneaks around as stealthily as he can and finds a skylight built into the top of the roof but protected by thick steel bars and armored, mechanical shutters. The bars are widely spaced to let in as much light as possible, but not so big as to allow him entrance. Stardust on the other hand...</p><p>Agent Mann quickly scores the glass beneath the bar with a razor knife and wraps his tie around his hand. He gives the glass a quick tap and manages to catch the dislodged piece before it can fall and give away their presence. It takes some finaggling, but Mann finally drags a large piece of glass up through the bars and places it on the roof. However he fails his balance check when he moves to get Stardust and rolls down the slanted roof, alerting the people inside that something is up there.</p><p>Stardust takes this opportunity to invisibly slip through the hole he created, narrowly avoid cutting herself and Mann stealthily scurries to hide behind the curve of the roof. Once inside, Stardust begins describing what she sees to Mann via their earpieces. </p><p>She notices some kind of computer room where a one legged man with a bushy beard and a blond haired young man seem to be looking through various monitors, apparently not even paying attention to the security cameras along the outside. To her surprise she sees six more of the blonde haired man strolling around the warehouse with guns in hand. Mann explains that the young guy is Bradley Yurtz and that duplicating is kind of his thing. He mentions that McCrow and Fanboy brought the kid down during an armed robbery and that now he works for them. The older man however is unknown, he hasn't gotten anyone's attention yet.</p><p>Satisfied, Stardust continues poking around and finds the infirmary where a man in a white coat is changing the bandages of a large unconscious man attached to a number of I.V.s. Stardust waits until the doctor finishes and leaves and grabs the patient's chart to see what it says. She finds the name Nicholai C. and Mann immediately recognizes this as Chavenski. He's disturbed to find the crimelord here and has Stardust continue searching through the notes while he calls Parks.</p><p>Mann evades the Bradley's who come outside to see what was banging around on the roof while talking to his boss. He points out that not only are McCrow and Fanboy acquaintances with Chavenski; they're paying for his recovery. He points out that Stardust can finish the Russian off without raising suspicion and asks Parks for confirmation. Parks is hesitant, he wants Chavenski dealt with, but points out that Chavenski's organization has outgrown the point where the Russian's death will cripple it and that killing Chavenski will only leave a power vacuum that may make things worse. He points out that as McCrow and Fanboy are allies of Chavenski he can't give an order like that, Fanboy's telepathy would pry it from his mind and THAT would definitely make things worse. Parks leaves the decision to Mann's discretion and Mann decides to leave the Russian be.</p><p>Stardust reads what she can off Chavenski's chart and reports that it looks like the Russian is in pretty bad shape, apparently his altercation with Depaliamo cost him a lung. Mann questions whether Chavenski will even have a place in his own empire once he recovers.</p><p>Stardust puts the chart back and continues snooping around. She investigates the 16 living spaces that McCrow installed and finds evidence that most are in use. She finds a drunk passed out in his own filth in one and an attractive middle aged woman plus her two bruised children in another. She looks at the busted lips and black eyes and (as a mother herself in RL) decides that this woman is a monster. Chavenski is a monster. The doctor saving him is a monster. Everyone associated with Roger McCrow or Samell Hamilton must be monsters and this whole place should be burned down and the people scattered to the wind.</p><p>Mann talks her down from trying to execute the inhabitants of the warehouse one by one and reminds her that this is a job and she needs to be professional. She eventually takes a deep breath and continues her search. She finds some stairs leading down and follows them to find a pair of holding cells, one of them empty and the other containing a tall, lanky teen who appears to be having some kind of seizure. Visble arcs of electricity lance across his body and his face is strained in concentration.</p><p>Stardust describes the kid to Mann who recognizes him from a description that Parks had given of a kid that nearly killed McCrow. He warns her (both IC and OOC because he's legitimately scared of this kid) not to approach and asks her to poke around a bit. She notices a large, steel trap door built directly into the floor and tries to pry it open before determining it's probably connected to something electronically. So being as stealthy as she can to avoid getting the kid's attention she starts opening various fuseboxes until she finds a large lever, which she promptly pulls. The steel door loudly begins opening and she glances down as it does, seeing nothing but a long drop and water underneath.</p><p>She's suddenly extremely surprised to see the cell door open and the kid call out "Who's there?!" as she'd just assumed he was a prisoner, instead of willingly confining himself. She doesn't answer and he asks again, suddenly the air itself is heavy with the electric charge that's building with the kid's anxiety. She glances around nervously and the earpiece she's wearing goes dead as its energy is added to the aura surrounding Richard Bronson.</p><p>Stardust doesn't know exactly what's about to happen, but she leaps through the hole to avoid it regardless. Her plan is to press against the underside of the warehouse until whatever's happening passes by, however the heavy steel door closes as the kid apparently flips the switch back.</p><p>Cursing, she decides to abandon her post and finds Mann on the roof calling for her over his piece. She explains what happened and says that Depaliamo wasn't on the property. They give Parks a call and he admits that perhaps Fanboy was telling him the truth, as unlikely as that sounds...</p><p></p><p> </p><p>Non-Disclosure Violation</p><p>The two unlikely partners are in the middle of getting something to eat when a call from Parks comes in. Apparently one of the superhumans has gotten into a scuffle and used his powers publicly, he needs the troublemaker brought in before this gets out of hand. They agree and cut dinner short, tossing the rest of their meal into the trash and doubletiming it across time.</p><p>When they pull up to the scene of the crime they find a short man, around 5'6'' but extremely hairy and bulky with arms thicker than most men's thighs ranting and raving about some slight or another. Five men lay groaning in the street, limbs broken and several have vicious bite marks, but all of them are still alive. The man seems distressed and barely in control of his actions, shouting a stream of obscenities before headbutting the roof of a car and caving it in almost a foot. With blood streaming down his face the bestial man roars into the night sky.</p><p>Mann and Stardust glance at each other and the former stripper goes invisible and takes to the sky, while Agent Man slams his car into gear and attempts to run the beast down, not wanting to risk a straight up confrontation with something this crazy.</p><p>With split second timing however, the beast man sniffs the air before fliping onto the incoming car and propelling himself nearly 60ft through the air towards Stardust, narrowly avoiding the terrified woman and catching himself on a nearby streetlight, swinging around twice before perching in place and growling. Mann slams directly into the car that the beastman was attacking and nearly knocks himself unconscious.</p><p>Stardust tries rot the beastman, but fails to overcome the superhuman's immense fortitude. Agent Mann stumbles out of his vehicle opens fire with his .45, only managing to graze the beast, before the enraged creature drops down and charges the distance between them, leaping into the air at the last second and delivering a drop kick into Mann's chest which breaks several ribs, sends the agent flying backwards into his own car and leaves him gasping for breath.</p><p>Stardust manages to get the beastman's attention by exerting her will and forming several lesions on his hide. The creature responds by leaping up onto the streetlight and using its momentum to slingshot itself onto her, where it grapples her in midair.</p><p>Agent Mann finally drags himself to his feet, but doesn't have a clear shot so he doesn't open fire. Stardust grabs the beastman by the head and exerts her power, attempting to turn him into a fleshy pile of goo, however he's just too hearty. He responds by biting into her shoulder savagely and digging in with both clawlike hands.</p><p>Mann sees that things are getting desperate and takes a shot, but it goes wide and doesn't accomplish anything. Stardust exerts all of her strength and uses extra effort to go even higher, trying to shake the monster off despite the fact that the weight of the beastman is well over her maximum load and has been dragging her down. The beastman continues squeezing and chewing on her like a wild animal.</p><p>They're far beyond Mann's range, so he simply stands there gawking up at the sky and hoping that nobody's seeing this and that's when Stardust surprises me. Her player's never really been one to think out of the box and always wants her options completely laid out for her, she won't even order a pizza unless she sees a menu that specifically says pepperoni on it. So when she doesn't bother consulting her character sheet and just says that Stardust grabs the beastman and just stops flying I have to admit that I'm more than a little shocked.</p><p>They plummet almost 200ft straight down and crash into the ground like a meteor, the Beastman provides a little cushioning for Stardust's descent and she barely manages to just be knocked unconscious instead of severely injured by the experience, the beastman is pretty much broken inside but is filled with rage and bad ideas; so he pulls out of her grasp and starts to stagger off.</p><p>Mann calls him out and states that "You're under arrest, persuant to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012. Your public indiscretions concerning the events surrounding the suspected bioterrorist and the Ventnor City city bus hijacking constitute open and unabashed treason as defined in the non-disclosure agreement you and your contemporaries willingly signed. Put your hands up and lay on the ground, or I will execute your treasonous ass where it stands." ((I'm starting to think that Mann might make a more effective liaison than Parks. He's kinda hardcore.))</p><p>The beastman snarls at his challenge and seems to forget his wounds, charging directly at Mann who immediately fires, putting a bullet into the superhuman's skull and laying it right out, although Mann discovers that the creature still clings to life. He slips a pair of cuffs onto the beastman before calling his boss to confirm the capture and request transportation, then staggers on unreliable legs to help Stardust to her feet.</p><p>Once Stardust is back on her feet she wants to finish the creature once and for all but Mann refuses, saying that he's not Parks and won't allow mutants to subvert the law under his nose.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kidjake, post: 6312386, member: 6776876"] [B]Session 4[/B] Making Plans We pick up where we left our heroes, parting with Chavenski but armed with the knowledge of where Depaliamo is holed up. They decide to check Depaliamo's home out and stroll up to the edge of his walled compound before heading home. Fanboy glances in with his ESP and is unimpressed with his first assessment. "There's like a dozen guys on patrol in there." the nerdy hero says with a chuckle. "We'll steamroll them." Roger isn't quite so sure, he points out that Chavenski most likely wouldn't be intimidated by a handful of men and urges Fanboy to check harder. Fanboy presses his ESP to the limit and simply says "Oh....sh**." at what he sees. It takes him a minute to sketch out the extent of his probing, but he counts about 30 of the well dressed soldiers hiding around the property; even more stationed inside the house at security consoles or sleeping in a makeshift barracks; he also sees two more of the assassins that nearly killed Roger and himself; Johnny on the Spot and a pudgy, balding man that they presume to be Depaliamo himself. The two of them agree that a head on assault would probably end badly, so they go home. Fanboy begins searching through the ledgers that they stole when they assaulted the warehouse the first time and Roger recruits the former super villain Bradley Yurtz to assist in building a pair of holding cells. Bradley is willing to work hard, but his general incompetence means that he's of little actual use. Bradley's 10 duplicates however manage to do the work of an extra man and he easily completes the framework of the cells. Fanboy makes great leaps and bounds with the ledger and quickly finds a paper trail for the majority of Depaliamo's organization. He discovers fight clubs, gambling parlors, arms smuggling, prostitution rings, drug running, protection scams, racketeering and major larceny. He begins the process of tracking this stuff down. Meanwhile Mr. Hamilton, Fanboy's father, is getting sick of laying in bed and wants to leave; he's worried about his business and is eager to get out of the warehouse. Dr. Kavlight agrees that he's well enough to go back to work, so long as he takes it easy. Fanboy knows that he can't keep his dad there against his will, so he assigns one of the Bradley clones to follow along and call him if Depaliamo makes a move. Screw You Depaliamo After wrapping things up around HQ, the pair decide to check out the gambling parlor first. They stop and purchase a pair of audacious suits, Fanboy also picks up a hat and pair of sunglasses to conceal the visual cues of his powers, and head to a rather seedy alley behind an old night club. A large steel door with a view slot guards the entrance. Fanboy probes inside with his mind and hears the surface thoughts of the guard inside, picking out the password "Roll'em". They enter the establishment with the stolen password and set about cleaning the place out with liberal applications of Fanboy's telepathy. They end up with $13,000 in winnings before the floor boss simply tells them to leave. Roger laughs and flat says no, before heading to the roulette wheel; and the guards approach to carry them out. Fanboy mentally dominates one of the guards into shooting another, and the rest open fire on the apparent traitor. The various civilians and dealers start freaking out and rushing for the exits; Roger cold clocks one of the guards, knocking him out, and Fanboy mentally throws the rest of them through a row of slot machines. It takes them about half an hour to tear the place apart, but when they're done they're about $180,000 richer and still in the mood for action; so naturally they decide that prostitutes are the next stop. They track down Depaliamo's high class bordello (a lovely Victorian home in a secluded neighborhood) and approach the door with the unmistakable swagger of the newly rich. They knock on the door with a heavy stack of bills totaling nearly $20,000 and the heavy-set guard that opens the door has his jaw all but drop as Roger winks and says "We won at the tables." before stuffing the bills into his shirt pocket and demanding a pair of women for himself and his friend. The guard motions them up the stairs but states that if Johnny asks, he doesn't know them. Fanboy asks what the hell Roger's doing, and McCrow suggests they each interrogate a girl to find out all that they can before they do anything crazy. Roger literally sweeps an exotic Asian lady off of her feet and carries her away, leaving Fanboy to awkwardly lure a petite blonde off to the side. Roger, it should be noted, is a whoremongering liar; and doesn't ask a single question. In the name of taste I told him to work out the details of what happens by himself while Fanboy actually does the work. It doesn't take but a few well placed questions and some gentle probing of his escort's surface thoughts for Fanboy to learn all he needs to know about the operation. About a dozen high class ladies alternate shifts at the bordello and cater to the tastes of a very small and select clientele; it only takes a few men to act as muscle so Depaliamo leaves them to be pretty much autonomous. Fanboy discovers that the guy in charge is upstairs in the office and tips the girl generously before heading up to meet with him. The Head Pimp, as Fanboy refers to him, is doing some paperwork in his office when Fanboy strolls in and declares he's got a business proposition. He's wearily told that clients aren't allowed up here, pushes his way in anyway. Before the Head Pimp can do anything, Fanboy pins him against the wall telekinetically and rifles through the contents of the room before using telepathy to delve for secrets. Around this point Roger's getting bored watching Fanboy have all the fun and demands to roll something, so since he's in the middle of...physical exertion I tell him to roll a constitution check as a crude joke. Hilariously, he rolls a 1 and I refuse to let him use a hero point to improve the roll; so it's decided that he finishes before he even gets his pants off. Everybody's laughing and I suggest that the prostitute smirks as well. Predictably, Roger mugs her in retaliation, all the while shouting that "it's been a while" and "it happens to lots of guys!" They roll initiative and quite unheroically, he beats his Asian companion up for laughing at him and steals the cash out of her purse because he's just a terrible human being. Meanwhile, Fanboy has knocked his opponent unconscious and left incriminating evidence of their illicit activities laying around the office before calling the police and claiming he heard gunshots inside; giving the police a reason to search the place and close it down. By the time he exits the building, most of the guards are severely beaten and unconscious. Roger is straddling the man they bribed to get in shouting something about poor service while beating him with the very stack of bills they used as a bribe. When Fanboy mentions that the cops are on their way, Roger slips the bloody bills into his jacket and the two of them spring to the car and take off. Fight Club They crash at the warehouse after their eventful night and plan further shenanigans. Lucky Dan stumbles in the next day, drunk as a skunk and crying between drinks. They ask what's wrong and he tells thim that his wife left him and took the kids. Roger asks when that happened and he explains that it was about a month ago according to the note he found on the fridge. Fanboy's a little confused and points out that he's been home for most of that time, but Dan just sobs and explains that he just thought his wife and kids were busy all this time. They calm Dan down and get him to sleep before assigning Bradley to watch over him in their absence. Neither of them feel like sticking around to console a depressed; drunken super human, so they randomly pick one of Depaliamo's operations to hit and run away. They decide to infiltrate the underground fighting circuit and Roger volunteers to be the muscle, still feeling pretty confident from his recent bouts of fisticuffs. They decide to start at the bottom and basically enroll Roger in a bum fight under the bridge. The whole place is seedy to the extreme and Roger points out that the thinks there's poop in the arena; but after Fanboy places a bet, neither of them are willing to back down. Roger's fight comes up and he's placed against a skinny, heavily tattooed skinhead that's covered in bruises and scars. The fight starts and the skinhead gets the jump on McCrow, he delivers a powerful blow to Roger's stomach that stuns the older man. As Roger recovers his breath, he takes another glancing blow across his brow and retaliates with a massive backhand that spins the skinhead around and lays him out flat. The crowd's quiet and more than a little disappointed, but as they're collecting their winnings they're approached by one of Depaliamo's men that hands them a card and asks that they swing by a local gym for some real action. The two of them show up the next night and Fanboy's opted to wear his shades and hat in case McCrow needs some backup in the ring, especially considering it's a tournament. The first fight is fairly brutal and Roger exchanges blows for several minutes before laying his opponent out with a wild haymaker. The crowd goes wild and Roger hams it up for a minute before limping out of the ring to catch his breath. He keeps an eye on the other combatants and sees the current champ, a hulking Russian rumored to work for Chavenski that shatters an opponent's thigh with a single kick. Needless to say he's a little worried. Roger tells Fanboy to run interference during his next fight, to give him time to rest and as soon as the next fight starts, Fanboy hits Roger's opponent with Confusion for some reason. The guy rolls a 3 on his reaction roll, so he gives a battlecry and charges into the crowd to punch Fanboy in the face, disqualifying himself; getting escorted out of the gym and sending Depaliamo's men over to apologize for that bizarre outburst. Roger shakes his head and suggests a little subtlety in the future. He sits back to watch the Russian's last bout and watches the big man nearly kill his opponent in the opening salvo, before taking the next 5 minutes to just strut around and brutalize the poor man while Roger more or less rests up. After a brief respite, Roger and the Russian face off at last. Roger gets the jump on the giant champion and throws a massive haymaker that the beastly Russian simply takes without notice before delivering a blow of his own that knocks Roger off his feet and leaves him stunned. Fanboy just barely manages to seize control of the Russian telepathically and uses his influence to make the champ strut for the crowd. When Roger finally recovers enough to stand, Fanboy forces the Russian to lean forward and tap his face; inviting McCrow to give him his best shot. Roger throws a wild punch that connects solidly, but doesn't seem to actually do anything. The crowd is loving the champ. Roger throws another punch directly into the Russian's midsection and follows it up by quickly entering a clinch and delivering a series of big knees. The Russian's nose bleeds, but doesn't seem to be affected otherwise. Fanboy momentarily loses control of the hulking brute and Roger is once again knocked off his feet, this time with a couple of broken ribs for his trouble. Before Roger is finished off, Fanboy regains control and sends the Russian strutting again. The crowd is on its feet, shouting excitedly. When Roger crawls to his feet, Fanboy has the Russian repeat his earlier taunt; but as Roger throws his haymaker it's joined by a mental blast from Fanboy and the Russian stumbles back a step or two. His mind suddenly cleared. The Russian lifts Roger above his head, about to do a Bane impression; when a mixture of Roger's well placed elbow and Fanboy's second Mental blast sends the champ reeling and leaves Roger writhing on the mat. Roger crawls to his feet spitting blood and Fanboy manages to keep the Russian stunned for another round before losing control altogether. Finally the two titans of the ring charge each other and each throw a massive punch, Roger just BARELY manages to dodge what would surely be a finishing blow and connects with a critical punch that lays the mentally battered champion out cold. The crowd roars its approval and a well dressed man helps Roger out of the ring, congratulating him on taking down the showboating Russian and asking McCrow to join him at a private exhibition in two weeks. Roger accepts and limps back to the warehouse with Fanboy. Family's Off-Limits Roger assumes his hydroform to rapidly heals and decides to be productive with the next two weeks. He manages to finish up the holding cells in about a week with help from Bradley and after a trip to the shooting lanes decides to enroll the teen in some marksmanship classes, just in case they need him. Bradley asks if he could start going back to school and see his father again, and Roger agrees that that's fine, so long as his duplicates stay here and Bradley doesn't neglect any duties. Things are pretty quiet until near the end of the second week, when a strange old man appears at the warehouse. He's dressed in old and faded army fatigues and is missing a leg, Fanboy believes him to be a homeless vet and thanks him for his service to our country; before ordering Bradley to run him out of the warehouse with a broom. As the old man is being ushered out, he passes Roger working on his forklift and shouts that McCrow will want to hear what he has to say. Roger stops Bradley and tells the old man to speak quickly. The old man says that they have to leave now and that Roger's son is in danger. Depaliamo has tracked the boy down and is about to make an example of him. Roger's about to personally throw the old man out for trying to tell him what to do, until he realizes he recognizes the voice from the phone. Fanboy's surprised to learn that Roger has kids and Roger bitterly explains that he's not seen his family in years, that they took his wife's side during the divorce and eventually just stopped talking to him altogether. But bad blood or not, if Depaliamo thinks he's just going to sit by while his family is threatened, Depaliamo isn't as smart as they thought he was. Roger and Fanboy run to the car, but the Prophet insists they bring him as well. Roger scoffs and says that the old man will just slow them down, but the Prophet points out that they don't even know where they're going. Roger's kind of hurt to find out that his boy moved without telling him, but relents and lets the old man join them. After about an hour's drive, they arrive in a nice suburban neighborhood. They roll to a stop in front of Franklin McCrow's house and stake it out for a few minutes until they're certain that Depaliamo isn't there. Roger sees his son and a lovely young lady going about their business inside and knocks on their door, hoping to reconnect. Franklin's smile disappears when he opens the door and sees the unkempt form of his father standing there and he partially closes the door, as if to bar him entrance. "Dad...I didn't expect to... What are you doing in the neighborhood dad?" Roger shrugs "Oh, I was just in the neighborhood and wanted to see how you were doing." Franklin looks a little nervous and points out that he never gave his dad his address. Roger just snorts and pushes his way in. "You're not hiding from the old man, are ya boy?" he asks coldly. He nods towards Franklin's girlfriend and introduces himself. "McCrow. Roger McCrow." Franklin introduces her as his fiancé and Roger is taken aback that his boy's getting married and nobody bothered to tell him. They make small talk for a few minutes before Roger remembers why he's here and presses five grand into his son's hand. "I stopped by to drop off a present." he explains hurriedly, rushing them out of the house and to Fanboy's car. "I want the two of you to go and get yourselves something nice. On me." McCrow says, literally dragging Fanboy and the Prophet out of the car and into the street. "Take my assistant's car, it has more room." he explains, all but shoving Franklin and his fiancé into Fanboy's car before they know what's happening. As they pull out, confused but appreciative, Fanboy is furious that Roger basically jacked his car. Roger explains that Depaliamo's men have to think that Franklin's still there, so they need his car. Fanboy and Prophet settle into Franklin's living room, while Roger ransacks the place looking for cereal and basically just being nosy. While he enjoys his stolen Cap'n Crunch, he begins filling the bathtub and sinks full of water and turns the water hose on full blast so he doesn't rupture any pipes in the heat of the moment. Roger also has a moment of insight and decides to experiment with his powers. When it's all said and done he manages to stabalise enough water to create 5 small creatures that he dubs 'Droplets'. Each of them is about the size of a cat and gaze at him with absolute adoration that borders on worship. Fanboy is immediately freaked out by Roger's strange display of power and suggests killing them before this turns into a horror movie, but Roger refuses to consider it and they spend the next hour watching the Droplets play with each other while waiting for a hit squad. When a harsh knock finally gets their attention Fanboy projects an auditory illusion of Franklin telling them to come in. As soon as the door opens however, Fanboy snatches all five of the waiting men and yanks them inside, pinning them to the living room floor. Prophet shuts the door to drown out their startled shouts and Roger advances with his Droplets. "Do you know who I am?" he asks menacingly. The men shake their heads nervously and Roger snaps his fingers, as he points to the closest man all five of the Droplets fight for position on the man's face, somehow managing to bite and maul him despite their lack of anatomy or limbs. The Droplet's victim tries to scream, but their weight drowns it out and the other men begin panicking in earnest. Neither Roger nor Fanboy does anything more than stand there and just allow the Droplets to display their vicious, if merry, nature. Two men are partially consumed by the disturbing minions before the rest manage to escape Fanboy's telekinesis and sprint screaming in different directions. Fanboy shouts after them that if they go back to Depaliamo they have more of this to look forward to. Fanboy then proceeds to hurl the corpses as far off into the distance as his telekinetic strength will allow, subscribing to the belief that out of sight is out of mind. They hang around a few more moments to make sure that noone else wants to take a swing at them, before Roger dumps his son's aquarium out in the bathtub and fills it with his Droplets while Fanboy gets them a cab. The cabbie isn't happy about Roger carrying a FULL aquarium into his car, but a wad of bills from Fanboy shuts him up. Bad Sportsmanship Over the next couple of days the Droplets continue to impress and intrigue Roger. He only intended to create a more controlled application of his power that wouldn't destroy his son's home, however the Droplets appear genuinely alive. He watches with amusement as they chase each other around the warehouse, he watches in horror when they catch a stray cat... Their behavior is erratic and unpredictable and Fanboy jokingly points out that they're basically little Rogers. Roger eventually calls up his son and apologizes for taking the aquarium. Franklin wants to know if his dad's growing pot, but Roger just laughs and says that he accidentally broke it, but isn't willing to explain why he was poking around inside Franklin's house in the first place. The conversation ends awkwardly, with more questions raised than answered. Finally it's the night of the fight and they show up at the agreed address to find an abandoned warehouse filled with Depaliamo's men. Fanboy recognizes quite a few of them from his ESP as Depaliamo's personal guard and it's decided that they've played along quite enough. Roger enters the ring as normal but once the fight begins he draws all of the moisture out of his opponent with a single devastating motion. Depaliamo's men stare in shocked silence as Roger forces his stolen liquid into the shape of a ball in his hand. "You're in a dangerous line of work." he says with a smile, blasting one of the armed guards off his feet with the stolen water. As guns begin to be drawn, Fanboy stands up and manages to grapple 90% of the men at once, thrusting them head first into the far wall. Roger leaps onto the remaining two men and unleashes a savage barrage of punches that leaves them both crumpled in a limp heap. The whole combat only takes about 15 seconds and the PCs wreck the place up afterwards to punctuate their point. As they're tearing the place up they get a phone call from Agent Parks that asks them if they've had any contact with the security guard from the jewelry store robbery. Fanboy reiterates what he remembers from the robbery itself, but Parks says that there's been a new development. The guard washed up (their affinity for throwing corpses into the ocean is what made Parks call) with a broken neck, broken back and severe lacerations around the heart. Roger vaguely remembering something about a serial killer running around lately, but Fanboy's been following this story for a while and points out that the killer's been operating for just over two months, ever since their accident. He also muses that of the five victims that they've recovered all have been exceptional individuals. They include a surgeon, a software engineer for a security firm, an Olympic boxer, a local radio personality and now one of only a handful of superhumans. Roger and Fanboy are intrigued, but don't think that they can be of any help. Parks tells them to watch out since they seem to make targets of themselves more often than not. They take a day to recover and plot and then decide on one final push to bring down Depaliamo once and for all. Final Showdown This is it they decide. Do or die, either Depaliamo walks away or they do. They begin their assault by calling the police with bogus reports concerning all of Depaliamo's known operations and giving the Italian plenty of time to scramble some interference. While Depaliamo is busy trying to salvage his empire, the PCs sneak to the back of his walled estate and after Fanboy scouts the immediate area, they toss the Droplets over the wall with a simple order: Attack. While the Droplets go into SEAL mode, Fanboy and Roger continue around the wall and call Chavenski while waiting for a distraction. They lie and tell the Russian crime boss that Depaliamo is on his last legs and that he's practically undefended. Chavenski is cautious, but agrees to give what support he can. It only takes a couple of minutes before the Droplets are discovered, during this time five creatures no larger than a cat and only slightly smarter than a monkey manage to bring down half a dozen grown men without so much as a sound. Eventually however they fail to bring down their target and a fierce gun battle breaks out however to the growing horror of the guards Droplets are bulletproof. Bullets simply pass right through their bodies with no lasting harm. Once the compound is in full panic mode Fanboy and Roger hop the wall with a little telekinetic assistance. Roger immediately sucker punches a guard, while Fanboy peaks through a window into their makeshift Barracks. As the second shift guards start stirring awake Fanboy telekinetically grabs the entire room and begins whipping them against the wall until he's sure there won't be any backup coming. Roger notices an overhead security camera tucked into a bush just in time to shout a warning before two guards run around the corner and open fire. Fanboy easily dispatches them while Roger uses this opportunity to power up using Depaliamo's pool and the Droplets continue their horrifying assault. Just when they think that things are going their way, Fanboy is struck in the back of the head at 200mph by a red blur and they remember that they're not the only superhumans here. About six more guards arrive from the north and another three come up from the south. Fanboy tosses the group of six at the group of three and knocks out all but two. Roger continues growing to his full form. The Droplets continue their rampage unimpeded and the two assassins move into position to the north. Fanboy is struck yet again by the Johnny on the Spot who doesn't stick around for retaliation. The assassins open fire on Roger, however his water form absorbs the worst of it and he grows even larger on his turn. Fanboy attempts to grab the assassins, but they easily avoid his attempt. The Droplets threaten to overrun Depaliamo altogether and even on the far side of the compound they can hear the fat Italian shouting for Johnny to do something. Since the Droplets are effectively invincible but very small, Johnny begins scooping them up one at a time and dropping them off about a mile from the house. The assassins open up with everything they've got and bring Roger down hard. Fanboy finally manages to snatch one of them up and dash him against the house, however the assassin is a master of absorbing blows and takes minimum damage. The remaining Droplets continue mauling the soldiers and the soldiers do what they can to avoid them. Johnny continues dropping off Droplets, soldiers continue barricading around Depaliamo, Roger keeps taking bullets meant for Fanboy and more or less hoping he doesn't die and Fanboy keeps trying to keep the assassins at bay for a few rounds. Things start looking bleak very fast. Just when things look like they can't get any more desperate the front gates burst open and a van slows to a stop as angry Russians with large guns start leaping out, led by Chavenski himself. Six of Depaliamo's normal soldiers are wiped out in a single volley and Chavenski's men take up a defensive position behind one of Depaliamo's cars. Johnny moves like a blur and three of Chavenski's six men lie unconscious around him. Fanboy latches on to one of the distracted assassins telekinetically and begins thrashing him around like a dog with a rag. About half a dozen of Depaliamo's remaining soldiers circle around near the gate to ambush Chavenski and the last four return fire with the Russians. Chavenski opens fire with his SAW and two of the soldiers near Depaliamo and Johnny are struck hard. The soldiers are killed outright and Johnny's side is half blown away, the surprised speedster does what he can to hold his insides in and in a final desperate burst of speed takes out the remaining Russian soldiers, but fails to lay a hand on Chavenski before succumbing to his wounds and collapsing. Depaliamo in a fit of desperation leaps out of his cover and fires his giant .44, scoring a crit and surprisingly dropping his badass Russian competitor with one well placed shot. Roger continues bleeding uselessly and the assassins continue their one sided beat down of Fanboy. Things are looking pretty terrible again...until the Droplets show back up, bouncing giddily past the ruined gate. They swarm the soldiers hiding near the gate and in the absence of Johnny there doesn't seem to be any way to even slow these damned things down. In just a few rounds the remainder of Depaliamo's soldiers, save one, have been devoured or battered unconscious by Roger's perky, invincible minions. Depaliamo leaps into one of his cars and struggles to find the right key. Roger finally wakes up with a single round left in his hydroform and wakes up in time to bat one of the assassins away from Fanboy. The assassins glance around, figure that their meal ticket is dead; and sprint the wall to escape, professionalism be damned. The Droplets smash their way in through the car's window and maul Depaliamo but good. Roger only barely manages to call them off the fallen Italian before they start doing to him what they did to the cat... Fanboy ties up the survivors and does what he can to revive Chavenski. After being satisfied that the Russian will probably survive he picks up Depaliamo's pistol and shoots Johnny in both of his knees before Roger has a chance to stop him. Johnny wakes up screaming and Fanboy kicks him in the face to shut him up. Meanwhile, Roger slaps Depaliamo until the former crime boss come to and the first thing out of Depaliamo's mouth is "who the f*** are you two? What have I EVER done to you a**holes?" Roger grabs Depaliamo by his chubby cheeks and stares into his eyes. "Let me put it this way. A wise man once said to me: 'Don't look at it like it's the end of the world. Look at it like taking out the trash.'" Depaliamo just stares at him. "You were the one who said that!" McCrow growls. "Those were your EXACT words when you sent me packing to the gutter!" Depaliamo stares for a moment before realization strikes and he gawks. "You're that drunken idiot that kept wrecking my forklifts!" Roger laughs and nods his head. "Maybe I am. Maybe I am. I won't lie, I've wrecked a forklift or two in my time. But just remember; YOU'RE the idiot that's two seconds away from being eaten by sentient water monsters that were made by ME. So who's really the idiot here?" "You are!" Johnny hisses between clenched teeth. Fanboy kicks him in the face again for good measure. Depaliamo starts to object but a bite from one of the Droplets shuts him up again. Roger calls up Parks and sets up a pick-up for Johnny despite the fact that Fanboy keeps suggesting they cut off his legs and keep him as a pet. Still can't believe how much hate Fanboy's player has for Johnny... Instead of amateur surgery, Fanboy uses his powers to probe Depaliamo's mind for hidden caches of loot, but finds that most of his bank accounts require personal authorization to access. Naturally this means smuggling Depaliamo back to their HQ and locking him in a makeshift prison until they learn how to use him like a puppet. They decide to bring Chavenski along as well for Dr. Kavlight to look at, since they feel kind of bad for constantly getting his men killed. And that's where we ended for the night, with the PCs stealing several of Depaliamo's nicer cars and locking up the two most powerful and prominent crime bosses the city has to offer in their homemade prison/fortress on the waterfront. Fanboy wants to drown Depaliamo AND Chavenski once he's robbed their bank accounts to make sure neither of them ever come back to haunt them. Roger wants to recruit/extort Chavenski into joining his growing super team and wants to use Depaliamo to cement the deal. They've also been bumped up to PL7 so that might be where some of their new swagger comes from. [B]Session 5[/B] (Computer burned out, so this was two months after the others and with a completely new set of notes/character sheets.) Return of McCrow and Friends We pick up only hours after the events of our last session with Roger McCrow and Fanboy rushing Chavenski into Kavlight's infirmary with a fist sized hole in the Russian's chest and no idea how the crime lord is even still alive. Kavlight begins surgery immediately and the two heroes decide to pay a visit to the captive Depaliamo. Formerly the most powerful man in the city, now little more than a war trophy; Depaliamo is left alone and naked in a damp; dark cell in the basement. The Italian can't even bring himself to look his captors in the eye and he's more than surprised when Fanboy tosses him a fresh suit from his closet. Depaliamo slips it on gratefully and just as he's about to thank them for returning him a shred of dignity he's blind sided by McCrow and knocked out cold. Depaliamo wakes up a few minutes later and finds that both he and Fanboy are cuffed to the bars of his cell and Fanboy has an earsplitting grin on his face. Through his telepathy Fanboy had discovered that the bulk of Depaliamo's fortune can only be accessed by the Italian himself ($2 million local, more than $12 in offshore accounts), so he explains that he'd decided to borrow Depaliamo's body for an hour or two to make a withdrawal. Depaliamo asks why McCrow attacked him if he's already caged and Fanboy admits that Roger just likes to ambush people and he went with it. It takes Fanboy several attempts to batter Depaliamo's will enough to completely switch minds with him but finally he succeeds and tells Roger to uncuff him and watch his body while he's gone. There's a brief moment where I think Roger's just going to turn off the lights and leave them both chained downstairs, but McCrow follows through with the plan and Fanboy drives across town in one of his new luxury cars coincidentally found in Depaliamo's garage. It takes him about forty-five minutes to arrive and find a place to park. Walking into the bank he sees people avert their eyes and scurry away in his/Depaliamo's presence and he decides it feels good to be respected. He catches a couple of people gawking at the bruises/bite marks that cover him, but nobody is bold enough to ask about it. The teller immediately recognizes him and starts sucking up. Or at least she does until he demands his two million in cash. She tries to explain that the bank simply can't release that much money at once but Fanboy growls his disapproval and starts asking if she knows who he is and what he does. The girl goes pale and asks if he minds if she gets a manager and he says that at this point he insists. No sooner does the teller turn away from him that Fanboy experiences a painful flash of alien consciousness that nearly flattens him and he realizes that Depaliamo's body is attempting to reestablish his old identity. By the time the manager arrives he's having to hold himself up with the counter and realizes with growing horror that if he doesn't get back NOW he's going to let Depaliamo simply walk out the door and get away. He quickly changes his demands and says that they can keep the cash, he just needs to put another name on the account; his new business partner: Samell Hamilton. The manager is just relieved that he's came to his senses and Fanboy is out the door and speeding back to the warehouse within minutes. He makes a 40 minute drive in about 20 minutes and barely manages to lock himself back in his cell and willingly relinquish control before Depaliamo took it back. Roger uncuffs his young partner and and Fanboy taunts Depaliamo with the fact that his $2 million is now THEIR $2 million and gleefully asks Depaliamo if he wants to take a trip to the Caymans. Depaliamo sags down like the sad old man that he is, but things quickly get worse as Roger demands he strip and hand over those clothes again. Depaliamo grudgingly obliges and as he finishes and gathers up his suit to hand over he's cold clocked by Roger and left unconscious in the cold, wet basement. As they're leaving Depaliamo's new 'quarters' they're flagged down by Dr Kavlight and told that Chavenski is alive, but barely. He'll be confined to his bed for a few weeks, but despite the drugs he's been given he appears to be conscious. Fanboy says that he'd like to speak to the Russian and Kavlight tells him to keep it brief. As Fanboy heads up to the infirmary, Kavlight talks to Roger about purchasing an ambulance for the base if they're going to keep bringing him gunshot victims and McCrow tells him to get whatever he wants, Samell'll pay for it. Fanboy finds Chavenski barely clinging to consciousness in the infirmary and the crime boss's drug addled eyes snap to him the moment he enters. "Where am I?" Chavenski drowsily growls. "Among friends." Fanboy assures him before explaining how Depaliamo blew a hole in his chest, but they saved him. Chavenski asks what happened to Depaliamo and Fanboy responds that he's in a deep, dark hole. Chavenski nods approvingly and says "So you killed him?" and Fanboy shakes his head and says "Nooo....he's in a deep dark hole." Fanboy explains that Depaliamo's fortune is now their fortune and that he wants Chavenski to have half of it (This REALLY threw me) for his trouble in assisting them at the mansion. Chavenski is surprised and grateful, and asks if he can use the phone. Fanboy obliges (hoping to eavesdrop) but Chavenski only mutters a few words of Russian into the receiver and then passes out anti-climatically. The Hole 2.0 Roger and Fanboy spend the next day puttering around the warehouse and watching the Droplets chase each other/Bradley in circles. Fanboy finds an article in the paper about fifteen Italians being found dead around the city (Roger's girlfriend heard that part and was disturbed hear Fanboy laughing maniacally about it) and suspected of being linked to organized crime. When Roger hears that Italians are washing up dead in droves he half panics and assumes they didn't weigh them down enough, Fanboy just facepalms. While Fanboy's explaining Chavenski's phone call to Roger they get a visit from Agent Parks who wants to know why Depaliamo wasn't recovered along with Johnny on the Spot. Both Roger and Fanboy maintain that the crime lord escaped, but neither of them are particularly good liars and Parks has a finely tuned B.S. detector. He tells them that he doesn't know why they want Depaliamo, but he'll give them a week to get it out of their system. They keep up their story, but Parks reiterates that he'll be back in a week for Depaliamo and he won't leave without him. Fanboy insists that Depaliamo got away again and Parks tells him that he'll post his pictures at the airports just in case, but to have him ready in a week. Fanboy is now ready to turn Depaliamo over since the offshore accounts are now closed to them and the Italian is useless, but Roger'll be damned if he gives up his trophy. He immediately begins work on an underwater holding cell meant for dangerous/secret prisoners. As Roger slaves away over his secret prison he gets a call from his estranged son, Franklin McCrow who invites his father to his upcoming wedding against his better judgment. Roger would be honored to attend, so long as it's not this week and there's an open bar. Franklin tells him that it's in two months, but neither him nor his fiance have much disposable cash so they're keeping the reception small. Roger pffts and tells his son to leave the arrangements to him, he'll throw him a helluva shindig. Frankling resists, saying that he's seen pictures of 'yours and mom's wedding' but Roger assures him that it'll be nothing like that, his mother obviously won't be invited. Franklin tells him to forget the whole thing, but Roger (in typical McCrow fashion) bullies his way into hosting the wedding despite his son's objections. The Investigation Roger continues work on the holding cell all through the day and most of the next until Parks calls and asks the two of them to join him at the hospital. They suspect that this might be a trap, but go anyway. Parks explains that this is way out of their league, but after their last tussle with Tree King he's severely understaffed; he explains that they'll be supplementing the police investigation, using their experience with superhumans. They agree to look in on it and discover that a 12 year old comatose girl has been murdered, her neck snapped in the night. Parks explains that she was on the bus and barely survived, since all the other survivors have exhibited some form of ability she is assumed to have been superhuman despite lack of verification, and the death of two superhumans in as many weeks is cause for alarm. If the serial killer has turned his attention to superhumans somehow it HAS to be addressed. Fanboy and McCrow fan out to look around. Roger finds nothing in her room and Fanboy can't find anyone who saw a strange man hanging around. Fanboy does however discover that an orderly uniform is missing and that the man it belongs to is massive; nearly six and a half feet tall and built like a barrel, easily a build capable of snapping a neck like a tooth pick. They're unsure if that's relevant so decide to pursue other avenues of investigation. They decide to look at the killer's suspected history in reverse order and come up with six suspected victims prior to the little girl,the superhuman security guard dubbed 'Sloth', a respected surgeon from a local hospital, a computer security specialist with a local security firm, a local DJ and radio personality, a former olympic boxer and a cab driver. Fanboy doesn't see the connection, but Roger points out that they're all exceptional individuals...except the cab driver. They check him out and sure enough there's nothing special about the man, just another immigrant trying to live the American dream. Fanboy uses his basic computer skills to learn that the cabby was killed on the same day as their accident, only two blocks away and found laying bleeding in the street. Fanboy surmises that he was killed for his cab and guesses that it was none other than the thief with the canister that killed the man since he was never recovered though the gun he shot Roger with was. Fanboy didn't get a good look at the hijacker so he uses telepathy to probe Roger's memories and discovers that the hijacker was only a few inches off from the big orderly. It's a tenuous lead, but the two of them think it's worth pursuing, and since they remember a policeman hitting the cannister while firing at the hijacker they decide to go to the police posing as private investigators (Roger tried claiming to be Special Agents, but Fanboy kept explaining that they had no identification to pull that off with. Didn't stop Roger from trying though.) and find out who was in the vicinity that day and why. They're directed to an older man that they realize is responsible for their current powers. He admits that he was in the area after hearing reported gunshots, but says that he's unable to help any further due to an ongoing investigation. Fanboy telepathically tells Roger to provide a distraction so he can probe the man's mind and Roger goes back to pretending to be a super secret agent. Fanboy nearly has an aneurism as Roger's claims grow more and more outlandish, however he plucks information concerning a nondisclosure agreement and disturbances in the area from the addled patrolman's mind and uses that information to convince the officer that they're somehow on the level. The officer breaks down and mentions being en route to a reported attack on the same day as the accident and admits to only responding to gunshots once he was already in the area, he then whispers about a security guard that showed up in the morgue and was never investigated. He gives them the name of the woman who claimed the body and that's it. They visit the dead man's wife to ask her a few questions but she honestly doesn't know much about his job. She tells them that he worked at 124 Beachum Street because she had to drop him off at work once when his car broke down, but she says that she wasn't supposed to EVER go by or call and that he wasn't even supposed to mention the address. Needless to say, he never spoke about what happened there. She says that a friend of his from the military got him the job, but that she'd never met the man herself. Roger grows irritable at her lack of information and asks if she actually knows ANYTHING. She 's offended at his attitude (he later tells Fanboy that he was playing Ungrateful Cop) and demands they leave. Roger laughs and says that they aren't going anywhere until she gives them something useful and she moves to call the police. McCrow and the woman wrestle over the phone, while Fanboy just gawks at his partner's lack of decorum, and eventually the incensed widow tearfully slaps McCrow. Roger stares at her in open mouthed silence for a moment and then rage flashes in his eyes and he head-butts her in the nose; laying her out cold and bloodily. Fanboy physically wrestles McCrow out of the apartment to keep him from pursuing the 'battle' and points out that they've got an address which is a helluva lot more than they had an hour ago. As they head over to Beachum Street Fanboy calls Parks to check in and report what they'd found so far. Parks tells them in no uncertain terms o leave Beachum St alone, it's a dead end. The conviction in his voice as he says this convinced the heroes that there must be something there that they're not supposed to see. They check out the address and it looks completely abandoned, just an abandoned building in the industrial district. The few operational businesses left say that they'd occasionally see drop-offs but never saw anything leave, otherwise they didn't know/care what went on there. Now intrigued, they search the building top to bottom and discover that it is completely empty, not so much as an office chair left behind however Roger is the first to notice that the dust indicates that a substantial amount of machinery was here until recently. Large machinery with a massive power signature, they decide to check with the power company to see if a new location suddenly started drawing as much energy as this place did. They continue searching with a fine tooth comb and Fanboy finds a false wall with half a dozen glass holding cells behind it. The cells are heavily scratched and battered, but no telling what was in them. Fanboy shudders and says that he recognizes this place...it was the first Hole. Roger makes a disparaging remark about Parks' holes but Fanboy explains that if this was here BEFORE the accident, then their powers aren't unexpected or even necessarily new. Whatever was in those canisters performed exactly as expected... They search the parking lot before they leave and find an abandoned car in pretty rough shape still there. They search inside and Roger finds a security badge with a picture of a man in a security uniform between the seats, apparently lost. They take note of the name and decide to look him up. They track the guard down still posing as as P.I.s and pound on his door until he answers. They introduce themselves (Roger calls himself Special Agent McCrow to Fanboys chagrin) and they notice an older woman watching them from her window. Roger shouts that she should mind her own business and she shouts back that he should mind HIS. The last they see of McCrow is when he breaks off and kicks in the woman's front door. Despite Fanboy's objection, her sudden shriek serves to convince the former guard that it's in his best interest not to jerk these guys around. He only worked the front and had very limited clearance, so he's of little help. He often saw men in dark suits and hazmat gear and remembers frequent deliveries of chemicals with names he couldn't pronounce. He reveals that he had an nondisclosure agreement, but is angry enough with his former employers to violate it. Apparently he lost his job overnight, after the day of the bus accident he walked into the warehouse and it was just empty. Whoever messed up and called the police ensured that all nonessential personnel were no longer trusted. Wanting to verify everything, Fanboy probes the former guard's mind aggressively for the past six months and sees firsthand the day of the accident. The guard went to the bathroom and came back to the sounds of gunshots and alarms, his friend was dead and he kept hearing that a canister was stolen. Fanboy scans further back from the accident and recognizes the equipment from The Hole and even gets a glimpse of Parks!!! Fanboy calls Parks as he heads towards the car and demands an explanation (Roger joins him on the way and Fanboy notes that the older man's knuckles are busted and his forehead has a sizeable gash on it. The neighbor is likely to start minding her own business now though.) Parks suggests he leave it alone for his own good and when pressed outright tells him that they shouldn't expect the kind of leniency from his superiors that they get from him. If they press this the best case scenario results in their death. Doctor Luvless At the warehouse Roger and Bradley rush to complete the underwater cells (Basically making an airtight shipping container that he'll raise/lower with his powers) before Parks arrives to search for Depaliamo. Fanboy meanwhile is bombarding their beleaguered liaison with phone calls of varying degrees of threats/pleads. It had been less than 10 minutes since his last call and Fanboy picks up the phone to start the dance again, when it rings and Parks tells the two of them to drop what they're doing and get to Priceless Memories Jewelry. Fanboy tells him that they're through being his lackeys until he answers some questions, but Parks tells him that people are dying NOW. That four police officers are already dead and there's no telling how many civilians are injured or worse. He promises to answer questions in person once this is all wrapped up, but they must take action immediately. The heroes consider this acceptable and rush to save the day, or at least to kick some ass if all else fails. They arrive to find a scene of absolute carnage waiting for them. There are half a dozen police cars surrounding the jeweler's and only two of them are still intact. The rest are blackened and leveled, their occupants strewn across the street and little more than clumps of ash. A man with a black and gold cloak stands on the sidewalk gripping a black and gold staff in a gauntleted hand, a purple haze surrounds him and easily absorbs the barrage of bullets that the surviving officers are firing. The man looks amused rather than angry at the constant attempts on his life, like a man threatened by children with cap pistols. His look of amusement grows even more as McCrow and Fanboy stroll closer. "Ah!" the man exclaims cheerfully. "I remember you two from the bus! You were the morons that decided to 'rassle' (he makes an exaggerated grappling motion with his hands) during a terrorist attack. I must say that I am sincerely disappointed to find that you have joined me in ascension." "The hell are you talking about?" Roger shouts angrily. His instinctive urge to throttle the man threatens to overwhelm his survival instincts. "Apologies, I'll use smaller words in the future." the cloaked man says with a smirk. Removing two cue ball sized orbs from his belt he tosses them at the heroes and a holographic display shimmers to life, giving them the appearance of black and gold robots. Despite the fact that they're only a projection they seem VERY solid. "Our mutual accident has left me as the most brilliant man living or who has ever lived. These are hard-light constructs that I designed in an afternoon. It will be centuries before drooling plebeians like you even manage to GRASP what I've done." the man gloats overbearingly. "Really?" Fanboy asks with a snort. "Centuries?" "What can I say? I've always been an optimist." the man retorts, eliciting the urge for violence in Samell as well. "Doctor Luvless will be a name remembered long after your ashes have been scattered to the wind. As the man who changed this world, and brought it to heel!" he growls. Fanboy has finally had enough and telekinetically grapples Luvless, dashing him against the wall of the jewelers. Roger calls for his Droplets and they leap free of the car and charge into the fray as well, engaging the 'Luvbots' in combat. The Luvbots open fire indiscriminately newly formed blasters. Luvless struggles in Fanboy's grip a moment before pressing one of the dozen buttons along his staff's grip, turning the purple aura into a purple tornado of energy, breaking Fanboy's hold and freeing himself to rain down destruction. An arc of red energy flashes from the power-staff and Fanboy dives out of the way before watching another of the police cars and the men behind it turn into a twisted pile of ash. Fanboy snatches one of the robots and dashes it against the sidewalk, leaving only the broken remains of the small metallic sphere behind. Roger draws water to himself, bursting a nearby fire hydrant and soaking the area. The Droplets latch onto each other like Voltron and ooze together to create a single human sized creature made of living water which engages the last Luvbot in one on one combat. Luvless fires another arc of red energy at McCrow who barely escapes becoming a pile of ashes himself. Fanboy rips a stop sign out of the ground and hurls it at Luvless who bats it away easily with his staff. Roger fires a burst of water at Luvless, but despite his best effort barely enough water to knock Luvless back a step gets through. The 'Big Drip' as the Droplets combined form has come to be called blasts the Luvbot with a jet of water of his own and takes it out of the fight. Luvless levels his power-staff and fires at the Big Drip, despite the Droplets seeming invincibility however not a single scrap of the Drip remains and Roger (and his player) shouts in surprise and anguish at the deaths of what he's come to think of as his children. Fanboy attempts to mentally dominate Luvless, but discovers that something prevents his telepathy from even reaching the man. Roger draws even more water to himself, growing into his 10ft form first battle form. Doctor Luvless fires another red tinged blast at Fanboy and Samell is too slow to escape its path, his forcefield fails and most of his clothing is burned away along with a bit of skin, however he survives. Fanboy whips a manhole cover at the good Doctor that nearly knocks him senseless and Roger finishes the transformation into his full 30ft form. Luvless looks at his staff worriedly and seems to question whether or not his staff's power will hold out, he switches settings and fires a seemingly solid yellow bolt that strikes Fanboy in the chest and carries him across the street and into the side of a van. Fanboy slumps unconscious to the street. Roger charges in his enlarged form and nearly flattens Luvless with an overhead blow. Luvless seems to rethink what he's got to gain from this and plants his staff firmly into the ground. "This was just a trial run gentlemen. Next time I'll get serious." and disappears in a flash of blue energy. Roger checks inside before recovering Fanboy and discovers that except for the cops outside there aren't any fatalities. The customers and employees inside are bound with run of the mill cuffs and only a single case was even busted. Apparently he didn't have time to snatch much before the cops interrupted. I'll Go This Way Roger drags Fanboy back to the warehouse after their tussle with Doctor Luvless and lets Kavlight patch telepath up while he sits down with the Prophet and discusses their situation. The Prophet says that while he's not shocked to discover that the government had a hand in the canister (he's a hardcore conspiracy theorist that used to run his own pirate radio station) this is the first he's heard about it. Roger's surprised because he just assumed the Prophet knew everything. The Prophet gives Roger a list of names: Richard Bronson, Sandy Clemens and John Hurt. They're all superhumans that have fallen between the cracks. Nobody is watching them and that makes them prime targets for the killer. Roger agrees with this reasoning and pops into the infirmary to see if Fanboy feels up to coming with him. When Roger walks in, Fanboy's already on the phone with Parks and tells him to keep his voice down to avoid waking Chavenski. McCrow gives him the list of names and says that they need to bring these people in before the killer gets to them, but Fanboy's already contacted Parks and he'd agreed to come by and answer a few questions. Roger decides to let Fanboy deal with Parks by himself while he visits Sandy Clemens to warn her about the killer. Roger finds Sandy living in a quiet little neighborhood out in the suburbs, in a small, unassuming house with a well manicured lawn. He knocks on the door and an attractive middle-aged woman with dark hair answers. She only opens the door a crack, apparently relying on the little chain to protect her against intruders. "Can I help you?" she asks. "Yes, I'm looking for..." Roger (and his player) draws a blank and he forgets the name of the woman he's looking for. "Sandy Hooks?" he asks questioningly. The woman shakes her head and says "Sorry, wrong address." and shuts the door. Roger's a little taken aback by her behavior and knocks on the door again. "Sandy something. I'm looking for Sandy something. That's you, right ma'am?" She opens the door a crack again and glances around nervously. "Yes, that's me but I'm afraid I don't know you." "No ma'am, you don't but I'm from the bus." he starts and has the door slammed in his face again. Roger sighs irritably and bangs on the door with force. Sandy refuses to open it but she shouts out "I don't want anything to do with you people. I just want to live my life!" McCrow acts like he can't hear her and once the door is opened a crack again he shoves his way in and breaks the chain. "I don't care what you want, I just need you to come with me; it's for your own good." "No, no, no." she chants backing up. "Please, I've got children; they could be home at any moment." "Don't worry," Roger says obliviously "I'll take them too. I've got a warehouse where you're going to stay for a bit. Of course it's secret, so you'll need to be blindfolded..." Sandy is now outright terrified at the crazy man wanting to kidnap her and her children and bolts towards the kitchen to grab a knife. Roger tackles her halfway there and shouts for her to stop screaming. She fails to oblige and he begins to believe that perhaps diplomacy is not his forte. However a quick right hook shuts her up and dispels his doubts once again. Meanwhile... Fanboy and Parks meet at the warehouse and discuss what they've found. Parks points out that he never tried to deny his involvement but that his business is none of theirs. Fanboy wants details and Parks tells him that he's not at liberty to discuss these matters, but that he feels like they should keep looking for the killer. Fanboy demands to know who this killer is and Parks admits that the DHS is just as stumped as they are. Fanboy snorts and asks if they've never heard of video cameras at the DHS and Parks points out that this isn't T.V. he can't get a positive I.D. off half a frame of a man's partially obscured face. He encourages them to keep pressing forward in their search for the killer, but to leave the past in the past before they get hurt; this is still a national security matter of the utmost secrecy. Fanboy attempts to read Parks mind and is severely disappointed that he can't seem to pry any more information out of the agent (Parks will save is terrifying), however Parks does say that there are those in this administration that have looked forward to meeting people like them for a LONG time and that they'll be in touch officially soon. Fanboy finds this a bit ominous but is excited nevertheless. Fanboy tells Parks about the super genius Doctor Luvless while they walk out and admits that he might be more than the two of them can handle. He asks that Parks supplies some EMP weaponry to disable the gadgeteer's toys and Parks promises to deliver some cutting edge tech to even the odds in their next bout. As Parks is preparing to leave Roger pulls in with a van full of kidnapped children and their mother, all hogtied and unconscious. The twelve year old boy has a black eye and the eight year old girl is gagged with a sock...and might have a broken nose. Parks just shakes his head in disgust while Fanboy telepathically scans Roger's mind for what happened, and sees him chasing the children around trying to corral them into their van while they scream about stranger danger and the situation just devolves from there. Fanboy just facepalms silently in defeat. The Time Bomb After having Kavlight look over Sandy and her children for injuries (Just a few scrapes and bruises. Sandy doesn't have a scratch on her despite her altercation with McCrow) and being satisfied that they'll live, they set out to find the next superhuman on their list. This time with Fanboy providing the much needed restraint to counterbalance McCrow's enthusiasm. With the help of the Prophet they track down Richard Bronson's cell phone, a scrawny fifteen year old superhuman. He's at a local arcade and they decide to visit him there to hopefully avoid a scene. There's only half a dozen people in the arcade when they get there and Roger changes tactics midstride and decides to ambush Richard before Fanboy can stop him. He grabs the boy from behind and slams him into a machine. "You're coming with us and I don't want to hear a WORD about it. We'll explain later!" the kid freaks out and starts stammering 'What?' Roger shakes him harshly and demands he shut up. The kid keeps freaking out and the lights start flickering while the machines start blinking. Electricity starts arcing across his skin as it's drawn from the very air around him. The kid is in a blind panic and Fanboy recognizes that his isn't an intentional attack. He uses emotion control to calm the boy down and the kid shouts that EVERYBODY has to get out of here, that he can't stop this once it starts. Roger suddenly regrets this decision and tries to talk the kid through what's happening, remembering his own power fluctuations in the beginning. As Richard tries to explain to Roger that the reaction has to run its course, the kid's energy explodes and knocks McCrow across the room stunned and scorched. Fanboy grapples everyone in the arcade except for himself and the kid and times it to throw them out right as the next flash flares and strikes his force field. Everybody thinks that they've been thrown out by an explosion and start freaking out. Only Roger (unwisely) rushes back in. Roger charges and tries to knock the kid out to stop the reaction, and although he breaks the kid's rib and knocks the air completely out of him the aura of electricity fries him worse than his punch hurt the kid as his powers leave him especially vulnerable to electricity and he's barely able to stand under his own power. Fanboy tries to black the kid out telepathically, but the kid explodes in a flash and strikes both of them, Fanboy is injured and his hair stands on end but Roger is out cold. Fanboy tries to blast the kid again but can't quite knock him out and the kid's energy flares again rendering Roger dying and left in a blackened, unmoving heap. Recognizing that McCrow simply can't survive another hit Fanboy tosses Roger out of the store once more seconds before a blinding flash lights up the arcade and melts the majority of the machines. His force field barely holds and Richard is left unconscious by the experience. Fanboy catches his breath as the gawking survivors being returning to the scene and struggles to drag the charred remains of his partner into his car before returning to half carry Richard out as well. Once at the warehouse Kavlight gives McCrow a thorough examination and admits that there's nothing he can do for Roger, his wounds are too severe and even if he lives through the night it's unlikely he'll be able to breathe on his own much longer. Fanboy is surprised to find that he's worried about the violent and boisterous McCrow and against Kavlight's orders carries (so much of his body had dried up/crumbled at this point that he was only a fraction of his former size) the blackened hydromancer out to the docks and drops him into the ocean below. He watches the barely living Roger sink beyond his vision and holds his breath in anticipation. Nothing happens. Fanboy stands on the dock for almost an hour in contemplation before the churning of the waves catches his attention. It grows more and more violent until a pillar of water nearly 200ft tall bursts upwards in the shape of a man and roars so savagely that the occupants of the warehouse rush out to see if the pier is being destroyed and people in the city proper stop in their tracks at the monstrous sound. The creature bounds onto the pier bellowing and the water rapidly dissipates until McCrow is left unconscious and naked, but whole, amid the puddles. Baritone Roger barely remembers the fight with the kid or his near miss with death, but Richard is confined to the basement cells for everyone's safety regardless. When Parks gets word about the explosive nature of the teen's power he wants him in the Hole, but Roger of all people refuses to consider it. McCrow insists that he'll equip a quarters with heavy duty insulation and train the boy himself. Nobody's quite thrilled at the thought of Roger McCrow becoming somebody's role model, but no more is said on the subject and it's decided. Over the next two days another 12 Italians are found with their throats cut and hands cut off thanks to Chavenski's little phone call, Roger (assisted by the Bradleys and Richard) finally finishes his underwater holding cell and transfers Depaliamo to the bottom of the sea to avoid any surprise DHS raids or escape attempts. Richard is allowed to sleep upstairs so long as he can assure everyone's safety and Sandy and the kids finally understand Roger's intent. They aren't happy at the way things have turned out, but after speaking with Fanboy and the others they at least understand that nothing (else) bad is going to happen to them. I'm starting to think that the team name should be the Stockholm Society. Finally, Roger feels up to tackling the next superhuman and they decide to warn John Hurt that a killer's after him. The prophet directs them to a dive bar near the docks. As they pull into the parking lot a man matching Hurt's description and four of his biker friends drag three yuppies into the parking lot while kicking the crap out of them and whooping like maniacs. Fanboy and Roger stare at each other in disbelief for a moment and McCrow rushes headlong to the defense of the battered yuppies. He throws a massive haymaker at the end of his charge and lays out one of the bikers with a single blow. The others stop what they're doing and just stare at the impulsive hero as their former victims break away and flee into the night, eliciting a 'Well sh**' from McCrow. Another biker lunges forward and Roger breaks the man's nose with a well-timed head-butt. Hurt and his men surround Roger as Fanboy looks on nervously and Roger holds up his hands peacefully. "Come on guys, we're not looking for trouble; I'm just here to deliver a message." The bikers chuckle and chant 'Kick his ass Baritone.' Hurt/Baritone cracks his knuckles and laughs. "No friend," the burly biker says in an impossibly deep voice "I'm the one who delivers messages around here. Now f*** off." Roger repeats that he doesn't want any trouble and gets spit on as a result. Every nerve ending tells him to straddle this man and start pulling teeth, but he keeps reminding himself that he's here looking for allies, not street fights. He keeps his temper in check and extends his hand "I'm serious, we've been looking for you Hurt. I think you'll want to hear us out." he says through clenched teeth. Hurt leans forward and says 'And I was serious when I said F*** OFF' and as he says OFF he releases an earsplitting bellow that results in a 30ft by 100ft cone of sound that narrowly misses Fanboy, tosses several cars completely out of the parking lot; deafens Roger and strips flesh down to the bone in some places before throwing him more than 100ft across the parking lot to land in a crumpled; broken; bloody heap. Baritone draws a pistol and begins advancing towards Roger's unmoving carcass, but Fanboy throws himself in the way shouting that they're there to save his life. Fanboy stammers about the serial killer tracking superhumans and needing to watch each other's backs if they're to survive. Hurt just laughs in his deep, booming voice and holsters his gun. As he and his men mount their bikes he revs his engine loudly and shouts that he can take care of himself. Fanboy just falls next to Roger's bloody form and begins a desperate attempt at first aid as the bikers blow past him, laughing and hooting all the time. [B] Session 6[/B] (Mann is played by McCrow's player, Stardust is played by my little sister who's never even had an interest in tabletop games before. We were hoping to get her into it with a short introductory session, and although she still hasn't came back yet she's voiced an interest in returning so it was a minor success. The best thing to come out of it however was the B side to our story, as Mann has since became one of our favorite characters.) Alternate Perspective We start at the beginning and Stardust vividly recalls that day that her life changed. She remembers the bus ride and watching a large mustachioed man beating up a Storm Trooper. Before she could do more than gawk she watched the man in the ski mask board the bus with his hissing canister of strange green gas, then she remembers the gunshot as the man with the mustache is gunned down and the bus slamming into the abandoned theater. She doesn't remember much after that. It's more than two months later when she finally wakes up in the hospital, her muscles nearly atrophied from disuse and her mind foggy from her long sleep. She doesn't do much but lay there until Dr Forester comes in and seems surprised to find her conscious. The Doctor tries to answer questions as best he can and calls Agent Parks, who shows up remarkably fast. Agent Parks explains about the bus accident and its label as an act of terror, he informs Stardust that she is to make no mention of her presence on the bus as there were supposedly no survivors. Parks goes on to lay out the non-disclosure agreement and has her sign it in exchange for him paying any and all medical expenses related to the accident. He then offers the former stripper a chance to make $10,000 for a week's work. The Russian Menace Parks explains that he knows from past experience how effective superhumans can be, but admits that he's had a hard time keeping some of his assets in line. With a snap of his fingers Parks summons a scowling, well dressed man in dark shades with a slightly receding hairline into the room. The man's carrying a briefcase that it turns out is filled with photos of countless atrocities. Men, women and children butchered like animals and splayed theatrically for the world to see. Parks indicates the pictures "This city used to have a sort of criminal equilibrium. The Italians wouldn't spread themselves too thin for fear of the Russians, and the Russians wouldn't come on too strong for fear of the Italians. However because of certain...individuals, the equilibrium has been upset. The Italians made powerful enemies and paid for it with their lives. The Russians have exploded to fill the power vacuum and I'm afraid that if they remain unchallenged the city won't be recognizable when they're done." Tapping the disturbing photos Parks shakes his head. "Appallingly, I have mutual allies with these monsters and can't move directly against them. For some ungodly reason my original team have taken a liking to the leader of the Russians and facilitated his rise to power." Stardust asks why they don't just kill the Russians and the other team if they're such a problem and Parks admits that it's gotten beyond that. He points out that they have a body count higher than most plagues and are suspected of taking the most powerful man in the city as a trophy for no discernable reason. She seems satisfied by this so Parks lays out a few of the Russian operations: Selling captured Italian women and children into slavery, smuggling ridiculously overpowered weapons into the states for what DHS is assuming to be a major territory grab and even auctioning off the stolen infants of their slain enemies as a final insult. Parks gives Stardust a few days to recover and consider his offer and she finally comes around. When the quiet man with the receding hairline shows up a few days later to get her answer she tells him that she wants to break up the baby selling ring immediately and he just nods his approval. She introduces herself with an attempted handshake and he just glares at her. "I'm Stardust." she says with a wink. "But you can call me Star." "Really...? Stardust. Sounds like a stripper name." he says with a scowl. They get into a bit of an argument over her chosen profession and he begins derogatorily referring to her as Drip, because as he puts it she's '90% chlamydia anyway.' He introduces himself as Special Agent Mann, but tells her that she can call him Special Agent, Sir. They drive in silence to a nice residential neighborhood and Agent Mann points out the house they're after, a two story colonial style with heavy shutters. A large man sits casually on the porch, but the more they watch him the more they realize that the nonchalance is forced; he's scanning the neighborhood under the guise of lounging. Mann checks his weapon, a heavy 1911 Colt .45 before turning to Stardust and pointing at her exaggeratedly "I don't like the idea of working with [I]mutants[/I]." he says with a perceptible shudder. "You're aberrations, not assets. This business with McCrow and Hamilton should speak for itself, you people can't be trusted. But if Parks wants you on the job, I'll follow suit. Just keep in mind that if you make ONE wrong step Drip, I will bury you beneath The Hole myself." the stern agent says, chambering a round for dramatic effect and stepping out of his vehicle; a stunned Stardust scurrying behind him. The guard perks up as the pair approaches and holds up a hand in challenge. "Hold it right there-" the big man starts, but doesn't get to finish as Mann breaks the offered arm and drives a knee into his solar plexus; knocking the Russian out cold with the same effort it takes to ring a doorbell. Agent Mann doesn't even stop to see whether or not his victim gets up as he strolls into the front door and comes face to face with the reason they're there. Three men are tending to close to sixteen cribs worth of babies and two men in vests and carrying automatic weapons stand guard in opposite corners of the room. It takes the guards a moment to register that two people have just strolled into their safehouse unhindered and it gives the two of them enough time to fully take stock of their situation. One of the armed guards recovers enough to demand to know what they're doing here and Agent Mann responds by putting a bullet in his head. Everything goes quiet and then explodes in a hail of gunfire as the remaining guard opens up with full automatic fire and the three attendants draw pistols and literally hide behind the babies, each of them scooping an infant up and using them as human shields. Stardust instinctively goes invisible and grabs a baby under each arm before booking it out the door to Mann's surprise/irritation. She drops the babies off in Mann's car across the street and like a responsible citizen calls for backup from the proper authorities. The remaining houseful of thugs open fire at Agent Mann and his vest barely keeps him alive. He collapses against the wall and leaves a bloody streak. Stardust returns for another armful of babies and sees the carnage, she focuses on one of the thugs(forgetting about the baby he's holding) and everyone in the house is horrified to watch the man's skeleton apparently attempt to escape his own skin, reducing the Russian into putrid pile of quivering flesh and shattered bone. The baby falls from the man's grasp and shrieks in pain as it bounces against the floor. Nobody can see exactly what happened, but that just launches them into a blind panic in itself. One of the attendants drops his baby back into its crib and bolts past the door. The remaining guard and attendant fire wildly into the room, several bullets passing through the tops of the cribs but none of them finding a target. Stardust drops down to avoid the gunfire and focuses on the screaming baby, mending wounds that she can't even see and soothing the child's pain. Agent Mann stumbles to his feet and puts several bullets into the remaining guard. The last attendant puts his back against the wall, holds the baby up to his chest/head and presses his gun to the infant's head. "I don't know who you people are, but you leave NOW or this kid's blood is on YOUR hands!" he shouts in terror. Mann stumbles forward, his gun raised and shakes his head. "You have two choices here. You put the baby down, get cuffed and walk out of here alive. Or you don't...and I kill you where you stand." Stardust presses an unseen hand against Mann's side and his gushing wounds miraculously heal over, returning the agent's full focus and faculties just as he needs them most. "Last chance!" the Russian shouts over the head of his baby shield, pulling back the hammer of his pistol threateningly. "Right." the agent agrees. In that split second Mann squeezes the trigger of his .45 and watches the attendant's head split like an overripe melon, spraying the walls with gore. Stardust leaps forward using the unnatural speed of her flight to snatch the baby before it comes crashing down and becomes visible once again, glaring at Agent Mann. "He had a baby!" she shouts. "HAD, being the operative word." Mann says, holstering his gun and walking upstairs to check things out. "Now we have the baby." Official Investigation While waiting for the cleanup crew to arrive, Mann searches the house thoroughly but finds nothing that would link the operation to Chavenski, the Russians or potential buyers. It was apparently just an infant storehouse. Mann and Stardust turn over the investigation once Parks arrives at the scene and are just about to see what they can do about the city's white slavery problem, when Parks asks the two of them to look into a number of deaths around town. Six bodies have been recovered in the last two weeks, all of which died of suffocation and most of them appear heavily mutilated. Before he can continue, Agent Mann leans in and whispers that this sounds like the Tree King but says that that's impossible because McCrow killed him. He was on the recovery crew that brought back nothing but splinters. Parks agrees that it seems unlikely, but points out that there's not likely to be many other plant based psychos running around town, the senior agent shows Mann an autopsy report that shows fibrous growths in the man's lungs, almost like plant roots had taken hold. Mann just shakes his head and motions for Stardust to follow him to the car. On the way to the morgue Stardust and Agent Mann get into another altercation over Mann's hostage negotiation tactics, and Mann exacerbates things with liberal usage of his petname 'Drip'. Eventually he pushes Stardust too far and she grabs his hand in an attempt to rot a finger off. Agent Mann resists the attempt, quickly draws his pistol and suggests she exit his car. From now on, Stardust provides her own transportation. Mann pulls up to the Morgue and Stardust lands shortly afterwards, becoming visible again as she does so. They don't run into any resistance as Mann's credentials are more than enough to get them admittance and they start looking the latest body over for evidence. Stardust is terrible at this (wisdom penalty and no ranks in any skill) and she rolls terribly enough that we joke she wouldn't know he was dead if somebody hadn't told her. Mann on the other hand is built for investigation and has an eye for detail. He notices that the corpse's hands are rough and dirt is under the nails. Without bothering to look for any other details he checks the other victims and finds that they all worked as gardeners or landscapers. Even more specific, they all worked for companies that had government contracts. He checks a little more and finds out that each of the places a victim was found was missing plants, and checking a little more finds out that there have actually been dozens of trees and bushes reported stolen in the last month, although the police have given the thefts a low priority for obvious reasons. Stardust asks what all that means, and Mann points out that in the past Tree King only killed people that were in the way of his pursuit of vengeance and surmises that the dead men must have interrupted the mad man while he was doing something else. Agent Mann gets in touch with Parks and asks for a large landscaping order to be set up for the Mayor's offices, almost a dozen trees and assorted shrubberies delivered as soon as possible. Parks (and I) don't exactly get what he's going for, but agrees to set it up. By the time the PCs arrive at the mayor's office, a landscaping company has already started prepping the land and Mann sets up for overnight surveillance. He explains to Stardust that if Tree King is targetting landscapers then this will definitely get his attention. Then, since it's getting dark and the landscapers are going home, Mann instructs the five foot nothing, ninety pound girl who's just spent two months in a hospital bed to start planting trees while he checks out the perimeter. It takes Stardust more than an hour per tree, between the fact that most of the saplings are nearly as big as she is and she can barely hold the shovel let alone use it with her atrophied muscles, this just isn't her thing. She can be forgiven for failing to notice that one of the trees she's supposed to be planting has disappeared. Agent Mann on the other hand notices almost immediately once he's finished his rounds and suggests they split up to see if they can find anything. Stardust takes to the air and Mann rushes to the landscapers van to see if anything's missing. What he finds disturbs him. The missing tree looks eerily similar to Tree King, its branches have begun knitting together into clawed arms and thick bulbs have began growing on its 'chest' region. The tree creature has nearly torn the doors off the landscaping van and appears to be stealing fertilizer and other chemicals for some nefarious purpose. Mann opens fire into the oblivious tree's backside with his trusty sidearm and manages to snap the thing almost in half. (He got a 20 on his attack, I rolled a 1 on its toughness save.) Stardust hears the gunshots and gets in touch with Mann using her earpiece, he tells her that he's handled the situation and has her check the rest of the property for anything suspicious. She doesn't find anything, but that doesn't mean it's not there. Once they've cleared the property they load up the remains of the tree and head to The Hole to brief Agent Parks on what they've found. As they enter The Hole two men in hazmat suits claim the tree and take it to the back, while Parks and Mann talk and Stardust has a look around. She sees the six glass holding cells in the center and finds a darkhaired man sitting in one cell head in his hands, his legs mangled and held in casts. In another, apparently empty cell she notices what appears to be a stone head the size of an air-conditioner twisted in a vengeful grimace and half a hand protruding from the concrete floor. She begins growing very nervous about what they're doing here. Meanwhile, Agent Mann tells Parks what they found and suggests that if Tree King is stealing plants, fertilizer and other gardening chemicals, it stands to reason that he may be growing himself an army. The city is going to need all the help it can get in the days ahead. Parks makes a call to his superiors in Washington and arranges a meeting to request reinforcements. Infiltrating the Other Guys While Parks is discussing the implications of Tree King's budding (sorry) army with Mann and Stardust, he realizes that it's more important than ever that Fanboy and McCrow continue to lend their support to the DHS. He mentions the deadline he imposed concerning the return of Depaliamo and decides to make sure they actually have the Italian boss before pressing any further. Agent Mann and Stardust are instructed to reconnoiter McCrow's warehouse, but Parks stresses that they MUST be careful, if McCrow or Fanboy discovers their presence they WILL NOT survive the encounter. Parks reiterates that these two men slaughtered almost the entirety of the Italian crime syndicate in the city for disrespecting them, he points out that they do not care for trespassers and have installed military grade security measures. Mann says that he undestands and Stardust is still pretty cocky because of her powers so they set out to investigate the very warehouse that Mann/McCrow's player strove to make impenetrable. ((Actually proud of Mann/McCrow. He completely separated his OOC knowledge and feelings and focused only on how a hardass like Mann would approach this situation.)) They stroll almost completely up to the warehouse before Mann makes his Notice check and sees a couple of hidden security cameras tucked into streetlamps and armored shutters. He doesn't believe they've been spotted so he has Stardust fly them to the roof to avoid giving themselves away. Stardust's flight doesn't confer any increased strength, so Mann is a maximum load for her and she pants and struggles their way onto the roof before collapsing to catch her breath. Mann sneaks around as stealthily as he can and finds a skylight built into the top of the roof but protected by thick steel bars and armored, mechanical shutters. The bars are widely spaced to let in as much light as possible, but not so big as to allow him entrance. Stardust on the other hand... Agent Mann quickly scores the glass beneath the bar with a razor knife and wraps his tie around his hand. He gives the glass a quick tap and manages to catch the dislodged piece before it can fall and give away their presence. It takes some finaggling, but Mann finally drags a large piece of glass up through the bars and places it on the roof. However he fails his balance check when he moves to get Stardust and rolls down the slanted roof, alerting the people inside that something is up there. Stardust takes this opportunity to invisibly slip through the hole he created, narrowly avoid cutting herself and Mann stealthily scurries to hide behind the curve of the roof. Once inside, Stardust begins describing what she sees to Mann via their earpieces. She notices some kind of computer room where a one legged man with a bushy beard and a blond haired young man seem to be looking through various monitors, apparently not even paying attention to the security cameras along the outside. To her surprise she sees six more of the blonde haired man strolling around the warehouse with guns in hand. Mann explains that the young guy is Bradley Yurtz and that duplicating is kind of his thing. He mentions that McCrow and Fanboy brought the kid down during an armed robbery and that now he works for them. The older man however is unknown, he hasn't gotten anyone's attention yet. Satisfied, Stardust continues poking around and finds the infirmary where a man in a white coat is changing the bandages of a large unconscious man attached to a number of I.V.s. Stardust waits until the doctor finishes and leaves and grabs the patient's chart to see what it says. She finds the name Nicholai C. and Mann immediately recognizes this as Chavenski. He's disturbed to find the crimelord here and has Stardust continue searching through the notes while he calls Parks. Mann evades the Bradley's who come outside to see what was banging around on the roof while talking to his boss. He points out that not only are McCrow and Fanboy acquaintances with Chavenski; they're paying for his recovery. He points out that Stardust can finish the Russian off without raising suspicion and asks Parks for confirmation. Parks is hesitant, he wants Chavenski dealt with, but points out that Chavenski's organization has outgrown the point where the Russian's death will cripple it and that killing Chavenski will only leave a power vacuum that may make things worse. He points out that as McCrow and Fanboy are allies of Chavenski he can't give an order like that, Fanboy's telepathy would pry it from his mind and THAT would definitely make things worse. Parks leaves the decision to Mann's discretion and Mann decides to leave the Russian be. Stardust reads what she can off Chavenski's chart and reports that it looks like the Russian is in pretty bad shape, apparently his altercation with Depaliamo cost him a lung. Mann questions whether Chavenski will even have a place in his own empire once he recovers. Stardust puts the chart back and continues snooping around. She investigates the 16 living spaces that McCrow installed and finds evidence that most are in use. She finds a drunk passed out in his own filth in one and an attractive middle aged woman plus her two bruised children in another. She looks at the busted lips and black eyes and (as a mother herself in RL) decides that this woman is a monster. Chavenski is a monster. The doctor saving him is a monster. Everyone associated with Roger McCrow or Samell Hamilton must be monsters and this whole place should be burned down and the people scattered to the wind. Mann talks her down from trying to execute the inhabitants of the warehouse one by one and reminds her that this is a job and she needs to be professional. She eventually takes a deep breath and continues her search. She finds some stairs leading down and follows them to find a pair of holding cells, one of them empty and the other containing a tall, lanky teen who appears to be having some kind of seizure. Visble arcs of electricity lance across his body and his face is strained in concentration. Stardust describes the kid to Mann who recognizes him from a description that Parks had given of a kid that nearly killed McCrow. He warns her (both IC and OOC because he's legitimately scared of this kid) not to approach and asks her to poke around a bit. She notices a large, steel trap door built directly into the floor and tries to pry it open before determining it's probably connected to something electronically. So being as stealthy as she can to avoid getting the kid's attention she starts opening various fuseboxes until she finds a large lever, which she promptly pulls. The steel door loudly begins opening and she glances down as it does, seeing nothing but a long drop and water underneath. She's suddenly extremely surprised to see the cell door open and the kid call out "Who's there?!" as she'd just assumed he was a prisoner, instead of willingly confining himself. She doesn't answer and he asks again, suddenly the air itself is heavy with the electric charge that's building with the kid's anxiety. She glances around nervously and the earpiece she's wearing goes dead as its energy is added to the aura surrounding Richard Bronson. Stardust doesn't know exactly what's about to happen, but she leaps through the hole to avoid it regardless. Her plan is to press against the underside of the warehouse until whatever's happening passes by, however the heavy steel door closes as the kid apparently flips the switch back. Cursing, she decides to abandon her post and finds Mann on the roof calling for her over his piece. She explains what happened and says that Depaliamo wasn't on the property. They give Parks a call and he admits that perhaps Fanboy was telling him the truth, as unlikely as that sounds... Non-Disclosure Violation The two unlikely partners are in the middle of getting something to eat when a call from Parks comes in. Apparently one of the superhumans has gotten into a scuffle and used his powers publicly, he needs the troublemaker brought in before this gets out of hand. They agree and cut dinner short, tossing the rest of their meal into the trash and doubletiming it across time. When they pull up to the scene of the crime they find a short man, around 5'6'' but extremely hairy and bulky with arms thicker than most men's thighs ranting and raving about some slight or another. Five men lay groaning in the street, limbs broken and several have vicious bite marks, but all of them are still alive. The man seems distressed and barely in control of his actions, shouting a stream of obscenities before headbutting the roof of a car and caving it in almost a foot. With blood streaming down his face the bestial man roars into the night sky. Mann and Stardust glance at each other and the former stripper goes invisible and takes to the sky, while Agent Man slams his car into gear and attempts to run the beast down, not wanting to risk a straight up confrontation with something this crazy. With split second timing however, the beast man sniffs the air before fliping onto the incoming car and propelling himself nearly 60ft through the air towards Stardust, narrowly avoiding the terrified woman and catching himself on a nearby streetlight, swinging around twice before perching in place and growling. Mann slams directly into the car that the beastman was attacking and nearly knocks himself unconscious. Stardust tries rot the beastman, but fails to overcome the superhuman's immense fortitude. Agent Mann stumbles out of his vehicle opens fire with his .45, only managing to graze the beast, before the enraged creature drops down and charges the distance between them, leaping into the air at the last second and delivering a drop kick into Mann's chest which breaks several ribs, sends the agent flying backwards into his own car and leaves him gasping for breath. Stardust manages to get the beastman's attention by exerting her will and forming several lesions on his hide. The creature responds by leaping up onto the streetlight and using its momentum to slingshot itself onto her, where it grapples her in midair. Agent Mann finally drags himself to his feet, but doesn't have a clear shot so he doesn't open fire. Stardust grabs the beastman by the head and exerts her power, attempting to turn him into a fleshy pile of goo, however he's just too hearty. He responds by biting into her shoulder savagely and digging in with both clawlike hands. Mann sees that things are getting desperate and takes a shot, but it goes wide and doesn't accomplish anything. Stardust exerts all of her strength and uses extra effort to go even higher, trying to shake the monster off despite the fact that the weight of the beastman is well over her maximum load and has been dragging her down. The beastman continues squeezing and chewing on her like a wild animal. They're far beyond Mann's range, so he simply stands there gawking up at the sky and hoping that nobody's seeing this and that's when Stardust surprises me. Her player's never really been one to think out of the box and always wants her options completely laid out for her, she won't even order a pizza unless she sees a menu that specifically says pepperoni on it. So when she doesn't bother consulting her character sheet and just says that Stardust grabs the beastman and just stops flying I have to admit that I'm more than a little shocked. They plummet almost 200ft straight down and crash into the ground like a meteor, the Beastman provides a little cushioning for Stardust's descent and she barely manages to just be knocked unconscious instead of severely injured by the experience, the beastman is pretty much broken inside but is filled with rage and bad ideas; so he pulls out of her grasp and starts to stagger off. Mann calls him out and states that "You're under arrest, persuant to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012. Your public indiscretions concerning the events surrounding the suspected bioterrorist and the Ventnor City city bus hijacking constitute open and unabashed treason as defined in the non-disclosure agreement you and your contemporaries willingly signed. Put your hands up and lay on the ground, or I will execute your treasonous ass where it stands." ((I'm starting to think that Mann might make a more effective liaison than Parks. He's kinda hardcore.)) The beastman snarls at his challenge and seems to forget his wounds, charging directly at Mann who immediately fires, putting a bullet into the superhuman's skull and laying it right out, although Mann discovers that the creature still clings to life. He slips a pair of cuffs onto the beastman before calling his boss to confirm the capture and request transportation, then staggers on unreliable legs to help Stardust to her feet. Once Stardust is back on her feet she wants to finish the creature once and for all but Mann refuses, saying that he's not Parks and won't allow mutants to subvert the law under his nose. [/QUOTE]
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