Piratecat Comics & MnM presents six issues of Code-4: Reunion (updated 4/06)

[Piratecat]

AGONY'S GAMBIT: Issue 1, Chapter 11

Jordan International Airport
Southside, Freedom City


“Show us da plane.” Boulder loomed over the tiny secretary in the aviation office. His gravelly voice rasped over the quiet Muzak.

“Wha. . .” She swallowed dryly. “What?”

The Eternal Sentinel stepped forward, eyes blazing. “We’re here,” he said, “to see the plane where the people died.” The light leaking from him flashed with every word, and the secretary pushed back in her chair until it could slide no further.

She pointed with a trembling hand towards the runways outside. “Hang. . . hanger. . . manager. . .”

“Honestly,” said Wave, “you two couldn’t charm your way out of a paper bag. Thank you. We’ll go talk to them.” She spun her surfboard 540° in the air and blew open the doors to the aviation field. The Eternal Sentinel and Boulder followed.

“What is with you two?” Wave asked. “I mean, that’s one secretary who’s sure not going to threaten us again.” Her voice was sardonic.

Boulder gave a tectonic shrug. “Whut? I’m plenty charmin’. Ask anyone.”

“Not my fault,” said the Eternal Sentinel. “It’s the eyes. No one likes the eyes.”

“Well, this time let me handle it.” Wave caught a rising swell of air and slalomed her way through parked planes until she pulled up next to the hanger manager. Boulder and the Eternal Sentinel walked up slowly.

“They’re all staring at her,” rumbled Boulder. The Eternal Sentinel gave him a look.

“They’re staring at us, too.”

“Yeah, but they’re staring at her special.”

“That’s because she’s gorgeous, flying on a surfboard, and wearing a bikini.” The Eternal Sentinel thought about Boulder doing that, shuddered, and kept silent.

Minutes later they stood in a shadowy hanger. “. . . and this is my personal phone number in case you have any other questions.” The manager gazed at Wave in awe. She gave a devastating smile and slipped the paper into her bikini top. He gulped. “Feel free to investigate the plane. The police are done with it.”

The Eternal Sentinel’s nostrils flared. “Same smell, same poison.” He turned to the others. “Agony was on this plane, and that means she killed the pilots. If she flew in from Seattle, she isn’t the head of Nine Lives’ fan club.” He tapped his ear piece. “Agent Morrison, any unsolved poisoning murders in Seattle or the west coast over the last year?”

“I’ll check.” Morrison’s crackly voice came back almost immediately. “Police reports show three unexplained poisonings, almost certainly homicides. All unsolved, but probably the work of a professional assassin or mercenary. Last one three months ago.”

“It’s certain, then.” The Sentinel turned to his teammates. “Someone wants it to look like it’s 9-L’s obsessed fan, but that’s not it at all. We’re being set up.”


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[Piratecat]

AGONY'S GAMBIT: Issue 1, Chapter 12

Kason Chemical Plant
Hanover, Freedom City


The Crime Cruiser skidded over the curb and smacked into the corner of the chain link fence. The Reformer pulled himself out of the car, face ashen.

“You know, it’s a good thing I can make myself airbags.” A handkerchief appeared in his hand and he wiped his forehead.

Nine Lives hopped out the other side. “Oh, please. Like you’ve never driven off a bridge before.” Behind them, the Omnibot rolled to a halt and extended its legs. A sensor emerged and regarded the silent building.

“Looks empty,” he remarked.

A security guard emerged from a small building as they approached the gate. “You can’t come in,” the man said in a drawl. “Plant’s closed.”

“Hey, how ya doing?” asked Nine Lives.

The man on the other side of the fence looked dumbfounded. “9-L! Oh my gosh, is it really you?”

Nine Lives smiled charmingly. “Listen, we need access to the building.”

The guard sucked in a breath. “I’m really sorry, 9-L, but I’m afraid I can’t do that. The whole plant is closed down. OSHA was here and everything, but people who go inside get sick and no one is sure why. It’s a big deal.”

“Here’s the thing.” Nine Lives leaned closer and lowered his voice. “We’re here on official business. You probably heard about that mess last night at channel 3. We think there might be vital evidence inside; the fact that people are getting sick makes it almost certain. We’ve been asked by the police and the government to solve this fast before things come to a head tonight. I’m happy to call your boss and arrange things if you want, but every minute counts.”

“Wow,” the guard said. He wiped some sweat off his brow and pushed the button that unlocked the gate. “I’m going to take a chance and let you in now. Let me know if there really is evidence there, right? I’ll call the police for you.”

“You bet.” Nine Lives shook his hand. “Thanks for the help; you may end up saving thousands of lives.”

The guard looked extremely pleased with himself as he accompanied the heroes over to the building. “Are you going to be okay in there? Do you need me to,” the man swallowed, “come along?”

“I’m immune to poison,” rattled the Omnibot. The Reformer had a cocky grin as he held out his hand and created a gas mask out of thin air.

The guard blinked. “Wow.”

“Don’t worry,” Nine Lives said, “we’ll be fine. I’d rather have you stay here and call for backup if anything strange happens. And thank you.” The guard unlocked the door, and the three heroes walked into the dark building.

“How do you do that?” asked the Reformer.

“What?” asked Nine Lives. “Just treat people with respect.”

“Man, if I could do that with women. . .” His eyes gleamed in the darkness.

“I detect something.” said the Omnibot. “Very faint traces of chlorine-based toxins. It’s a variant of the same formula that was used at the television station. She’s been here.”

“Can you trace it?”

A panel whirred open on the bottom of the Omnibot and a small remote unit rolled out onto the dusty factory floor. “A sniffer unit,” the Omnibot explained. “It’ll take air samples and track the pathogens to their source. It feeds all data back to me.” They all watched as the small robot beeped, spun, sampled the air, and began to roll.

“It’s coming through the ventilation system, obviously,” said the Omnibot. “9-L, if you would be so kind?” Nine Lives picked up the small robot and leaped catlike to the ceiling pipes thirty feet above. He opened an access hatch, inserted the small robot, and leaped down just as easily. The sniffer unit made a rattling sound as it spun through the air conditioning ducts.

“It’s headed for the basement,” said the Omnibot. They moved to the freight elevator and descended one level. The Muzak in the elevator was playing Ray Conniff. The Omnibot hummed for an eternity until the elevator doors opened onto the basement level of the plant.

“That’s odd,” said the Omnibot. “Toxic emanations are growing stronger, but it’s still in the air shaft and descending. It’s currently below where we are right now. There’s another level underneath us.” The three spread out and fruitlessly tried to find another set of stairs.

“I’m going in the hard way,” said Nine Lives. He leapt to the ceiling and used his claws to rip open one of the air ducts. He slid in and dropped into a vertical shaft. The duct narrowed, but the hero was unconcerned as he fell fifty feet. He landed lightly.

“I hit an air filter.” He used his claws to slash open the filter.

“Better hurry. The robot sensed a small surge in toxins and stopped transmitting,” reported the Omnibot.

“You bet. I’m standing on. . . hey!” Nine Lives felt intense pain in his foot. Looking down with cat-slit eyes, he could see something amorphous and fluid forcing its way upwards from the duct beneath him. It glowed a faint, unhealthy green, and was systematically eating away his leg.


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[Piratecat]

Let me ask you, how was writing this different in experience to your other SH? I know that in my supers SH I tried to give a "storyboard" approach, visualizing how certain comic book mechanics would work in print, but sometimes it aint easy. You seem to have taken to it like the proverbial duck to water.

This is much easier (and faster!) to write. I think there's a couple of reasons for that.

- It's more recent. I'm far enough behind in my D&D story hour that it's trickier relying solely on my memory. It's also a lot of fun writing comic stuff instead of D&D/horror. My D&D story hour is going to be perkier (!) once I get to the next story arc, which is a lot more planar, mystery-based and political. This SH gives me a chance to stretch and see what I'm capable of writing-wise.

- It's got to be a fun, fast-paced adventure if it's going to match the genre at all. I'm trying to write very visually here, not telling you stuff that you couldn't learn in a comics panel. I try not to write a sentence that wouldn't fit in a speech bubble. I may not always succeed, but that's what I'm shooting for.

- It's only going to be six games (of which we've had two.) That makes for an easy, no pressure, finite bit of writing.

- I have players who really love comics. Three of them aren't in my regular group (Capellan/Boulder, Blood Jester/Eternal Sentinel, and Kat/Wave) so that add a fun change to our normal interactions. Their play makes retelling what happened really easy.

I can't wait to read yours and the other MnM story hours; I haven't read them yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Blackjack]

“I’m going in the hard way,” said Nine Lives. He leapt to the ceiling and used his claws to rip open one of the air ducts. He slid in and dropped into a vertical shaft. The duct narrowed, but the hero was unconcerned as he fell fifty feet.

After several years of playing a serious and cautious character, this scene was tremendously fun.

Me: "I rip open the grate."
Piratecat: "The shaft is dark and you can't see the botto--"
Me: "I jump."

 

[Bandeeto]

The Muzak in the elevator was playing Ray Conniff.

Dontcha just love Ray Conniff?

-The Tick

 

[Paxr0mana]

After several years of playing a serious and cautious character, this scene was tremendously fun.

Me: "I rip open the grate."
Piratecat: "The shaft is dark and you can't see the botto--"
Me: "I jump."

I understand exactly what you mean. My current charcter in our DnD game is a ex-member of the Royal Dwarven Guard, so he is pretty into rules and regulations (he's loosening up a bit). In my friend's homebrew D20/CoC game I have a private eye turned college professor due to some nasty business. He is on the case to find a missing professor at Miskatonic U, and with his massive bonus to Knowledge(civics) (he teaches law, and was a PI, after all), every conversation with a police officer turns out like this:

'Um sir, I don't know if you are supposed to be doing that...'
'Well, you see Detective Jameson *makes up legitimate sounding rule*'
'Oh..'

And while my Dwarf is all about party unity, despite any glaring alignment disagreements, this is my impression of my PI:

Student, one of the other players:'Hey professor, do you need any help with your search?'
Me:*lights cigarette, and blows smoke* 'No, go away.'
Student:'But...'
Me: 'LEAVE ME ALONE!'

Not to mention the time he pulled a .45 on the other PCs..

...meddling kids...

 

[Ao the Overkitty]

Oh man. Gotta say, I love it so far. I'm not much of a comic book guy, but Pkitty strings a great superheroes game.

 

[Blackjack]

Code-4 website up!

The Code-4 website is up and running! Check it out at

http://www.piratecat.org/code4/

Just Story Hour posts and some of the character art for now; character stats and such later.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

The Code-4 website is up and running!

Very nice!

 

[Ashy]

I agree! Great job!