Issue #4 - "Crackling" (Continued)
Scene 2: "Becoming Comfortable"
Harpy peered out the large picture window overlooking San Francisco Bay, watching the sailboats on the water and planes fly overhead toward the airport. Life goes on with or without us, she thought. There is so much to learn, to understand...
"There's a storm coming," Torpedo remarked in the nearly-empty living room.
Harpy barely turned at all to acknowledge the Atlantean hero. "I know."
Torpedo closed to Harpy, standing next to her at the window. "The sea is remarkable, isn't it?"
She did not respond, but continued to watch everything happening on the bay.
"It almost pains me to remain on the surface with the rest of you," Torpedo said. "The sea is... comforting."
Electrostatic poked his head into the room, looking for Harpy, whom he saw standing at the window next to Torpedo. There she is, he thought. Does she even know I'm back? Does she care?
But Harpy had noticed that the absent United Heroes had returned. She could sense their presence through her telepathy. It was good to know they were back, and Harpy was relieved that no one was seriously hurt. But someone was missing...
Harpy turned to see Electrostatic's head peeking around the corner. "Lectro," she asked, "what's wrong?"
The electric hero entered the room fully. "Didn't Seraphim tell you guys? I thought he explained everything."
Torpedo, who had also turned to see Electrostatic, was concerned. "What is it, man?"
"The Scoundrel," Electrostatic replied. "No one knows where he is."
I'm tempted to say 'good riddance', Harpy thought. "What could have happened to him?"
"I don't know," Electrostatic replied. "Johnny* says he saw him laying unconscious and then a black cloud covered us. Then, when the smoke cleared, the Scoundrel was gone."
* Pathfinder - ed.
"This is not a good sign," Torpedo remarked. "Something is happening in this city, and we need to be at full strength to deal with it."
"We need to find out more about this Trickster person," Harpy said, "and why he would be working with Bombardier and this Cyber-Knight."
***********************************************
The United Heroes (minus the Scoundrel of course) were all gathered in the study of Hadley Manor. MorningStar and Pathfinder sat on a vintage leather couch, Electrostatic sat in a Louis XVI chair, Iron Dragon on a wooden bench, Torpedo behind the desk on a plush office chair, while Seraphim and Harpy stood on opposite ends of the room.
"Let's start by laying out all of the details that we know," Harpy suggested.
"Everything that has transpired in the past few days," Seraphim added. "In a way to perhaps tie them together and make some sense of these events."
"We must stick to what we know," Iron Dragon cautioned. "Adding opinions or possibilities to the mix will only confuse things."
"Agreed," Harpy replied.
"It all began with the Scoundrel discovering some thugs planning to steal a glowing cylinder from a warehouse on the pier," Torpedo said. "The Scoundrel said that the thugs mentioned that Klimordial had hired them, which goes against what I learned from my trip to Atlantis."
"Right," Electrostatic said. "Your governor friend confirmed that Klimordial is still imprisoned and has no contact with visitors, and therefore couldn't hire anyone."
"Also, we know that Barracuda attacked me," Torpedo said, "even though he was clearly after the governor."
"You said Barracuda is well-known to have worked with Klimordial in the past," Pathfinder stated.
"Yes," the Atlantean hero replied. "So that ties up those angles, at least from the Atlantis perspective."
"Wait," Electrostatic said. "Why do you think Barracuda was going after the governor? How does that tie everything up?"
Torpedo considered the electric hero's valid point. "Hmm. Klimordial, or someone posing as Klimordial, hired some thugs to steal a cylinder, and may have had his old friend Barracuda make an assassination attempt on Governor Wayed. But for what purpose?"
"Indeed," Pathfinder added. "I don't see that the two have anything whatsoever to do with each other."
"Let's table the Atlantean issues for now," Harpy said. "What about the cylinder?"
"The police took that cylinder into custody," Seraphim said, "only to have it stolen from under their noses."
"In my vision," Pathfinder said, "I saw two men with powers stealing the cylinder, and the police stood by and let them take it."
"Those guys you described," Electrostatic said, "one of them definitely was Lodestone, ugly and with magnetic powers. I know because I've tangled with him in the past."
"We also know that the illusionist known as Trickster was somehow involved," Seraphim remarked. "We spotted him at the scene, and it was likely that he used some form of mind control to blind the policemen into letting Lodestone and his companion steal the cylinder."
"That's the kind of leap I was talking about, Seraphim," Iron Dragon said. "We don't know for sure that Trickster was in league with Lodestone and his friend. It does seem very likely though..."
"What about your run-in with Bombardier and Fang?" Harpy asked Iron Dragon. "Remember, Trickster later showed up with Bombardier and this Cyber-Knight character. Obviously, he was the 'employer' Fang and Bombardier were waiting around for in the alley."
"That seems likely," Torpedo said.
"So we've got at least five supervillains working together," Harpy said. "And adding Barracuda and Klimordial to the mix, all of these events in some way relate to this cylinder."
"Maybe Trickster and Klimordial are both after the cylinder," Electrostatic proposed. "Maybe if we knew more about it..."
"Yes," Torpedo said. "If we understood the cylinder's importance, we could better judge the level of threat posed by these supervillains."
"Do you think the cylinder is of Atlantean origin?" Iron Dragon asked Torpedo.
"It seems likely," the Atlantean replied. "Otherwise, I don't understand why Klimordial would be interested in it."
"I believe another trip to Atlantis is in order then," Seraphim said.
Torpedo stood. "You don't have to ask me twice. I have contacts in Atlantis that will be able to help me. I can also check into the Klimordial situation a bit more." With that, he left the room.
"One question remains," Iron Dragon said. "Where is the Scoundrel? What if he has been captured?"
"And if he has been captured," Seraphim added, "what do these villains plan to do with him?"
*************************************************
He couldn't see anything, but the Scoundrel could hear people talking in the room next door. Where am I? he wondered. Last thing I remember, I was fighting that Trickster guy. Man, is he a good shot. I need to be more careful.
He concentrated, but couldn't make out details of whatever conversation was going on in the next room. There may have been two or three people, and one of them was definitely female due to the higher pitched tone. Nothing more was forthcoming.
(The Scoundrel attempts a Listen check (DC 20 due to the thick walls) and gets a result of 11 - not enough.)
The door opened. The Scoundrel could tell that whomever entered the room was not particularly large, as the footfalls were of average depth.
"Comfortable?" the voice asked.
The Scoundrel decided now would be a good time to find out how well he was restrained. Only ropes? he thought. Do they know who I am?
"Yeah," he replied. "I'm doing great."
"Good," the voice responded. It was male, and with an American accent. East Coast, maybe New York, but pretty subdued. "You have been asleep for some time, Scoundrel."
"It's THE Scoundrel, buddy."
The voice laughed. "A thousand pardons, good sir. The Scoundrel it is then."
"Look, what do you want with me?" the Scoundrel asked.
The figure walked slowly around the room. From the sound, the Scoundrel figured it to be a small room, maybe 15' x 15' at the most. "You are in no position to make demands or ask questions," the voice stated. "I have a question for you."
"Ask away," the Scoundrel replied. "I guess I'm not going anywhere."
"No," the voice replied. "You're not going anywhere. We have taken and destroyed your equipment, including your weapons and your communicator, so you are at quite a disadvantage, lest you had any thoughts to escape."
"All right, Trickster, what do you want from me?" the Scoundrel asked.
Trickster was a little shocked, but undeterred. "So, you are more clever than you appear. Good for you."
The figured stopped pacing. "I want to know where your friends are keeping Fang."
The Scoundrel laughed. "This is all to get that loser back?"
"Do not begin to assume anything where I am concerned!" Trickster commanded. "You will tell me where he is. I know that he has not been remanded to the police. My conclusion is that he is being held at the United Heroes headquarters. Is that true?"
"Yeah, that's where he is," the Scoundrel replied. "Are you going to try to trade me for Fang?"
"Don't take me for a fool," Trickster answered. "They would never agree to such an exchange, and would backstab me anyway, even if they did agree. No, I have something better in mind."
"I'm not telling you where the HQ is, so you can forget it. Torture me, whip me, beat me, make me write bad checks, whatever. I won't tell you."
"Oh, you will tell me, hero," Trickster said, his eyes glowing green. He pulled off the Scoundrel's blindfold and glared into his prisoner's eyes. "You'll tell me everything!"
Watch for Scene 3, Coming Soon!