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[Story Hour] Daring Tales of Adventure
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<blockquote data-quote="mikeawmids" data-source="post: 6442724" data-attributes="member: 6776411"><p><u>Savage Worlds / Daring Tales of Adventure / To End All Wars / Part 7</u> </p><p></p><p>By the time the effects of the paralysing agent had ended, Adler’s goons had the heroes seated in – and securely tied to – a circle of chairs in the cool, dry wine cellar beneath Starkweather’s mansion. Brett strained his muscular arms against his bonds but was unable to break them. </p><p></p><p><strong>“Don’t worry,”</strong> Nicolas whispered, <strong>“As soon as Columbus realises that something is wrong, he’ll be along to rescue us from this pickle.”</strong> </p><p></p><p><strong>“Ook, ook,”</strong> said the chimp. <em>(“That would be a good plan, if I wasn’t tied up as well.”)</em> </p><p></p><p>Footsteps sounded on the stairs and three villainous figures descended. First came Klaus Adler in the uniform of a German officer. One side of his <em>(already none too comely)</em> face had been mangled by fire and broken glass during his escape from the laboratory explosion. Behind the Nazi thug came Miss Knight, sweet and treacherous as poisoned candyfloss. Bring up the rear of this wicked procession was Doctor Henry Starkweather himself, who swaggered down the steps without so much as a limp. </p><p></p><p><strong>“You’re not disabled at all!”</strong> Brett accused. </p><p></p><p><strong>“Hahaha!”</strong> Starkweather chuckled, <strong>“Pretending to be in a wheelchair provided me with a great cover story, plus I get all the best parking spaces.”</strong> </p><p></p><p><strong>“Bastard!”</strong> Emilio spat. </p><p></p><p><strong>“Since you’re all going to die in the immediate future, I might as well explain my plan in painstaking detail.”</strong> Starkweather continued. </p><p></p><p><strong>“But doctor, what if they somehow manage to escape and use that information to foil our evil plot?”</strong> Claudia cautioned. </p><p></p><p><strong>“Nonsense!”</strong> Starkweather chortled, <strong>“They’re tied to chairs – with rope! How could they possibly escape?”</strong></p><p> </p><p>The doctor went on to explain his plan, which has been omitted here for the sake of brevity. In a nutshell: Over the last ten years, Starkweather Labs developed a potent nerve gas that could annihilate the population of an entire country. Recognising that his discovery had the potential to end all wars, Starkweather approached congress with research. Instead of rewarding his genius, the bureaucrats from Washington called him a genocidal maniac. Rather than accept defeat, Starkweather sought another superpower with the will to use his weapon and came into contact with a sleeper agent of the Third Reich <em>(Claudia Knight)</em>. </p><p></p><p><strong>“You’re insane!”</strong> Emilio said, <strong>“The Nazis will use your research to conquer the world! Whole countries will be subjugated without a bullet being fired!”</strong> </p><p></p><p><strong>“That’s the idea.”</strong> Miss Knight agreed. </p><p></p><p><strong>“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a zeppelin to catch,”</strong> Starkweather said, <strong>“Those preening politicians in Washington won’t be so dismissive of my work when they’re coughing up their own spleens.”</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>“Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about you,”</strong> Miss Knight said, as Adler wheeled over a serving tray covered by a silver platter, <strong>“Dinner will be served in, oh, five minutes. I wish I could say you proved worthy adversaries, but….”</strong> She shrugged apologetically and headed up the stairs after Starkweather. </p><p></p><p><strong>“Claudia!”</strong> Emilio called. </p><p></p><p>She paused to glance back down into the basement. </p><p></p><p><strong>“If I make it out of this alive, perhaps I can take you to the opera?”</strong> </p><p></p><p><strong>“She’s a Nazi!”</strong> Nicolas objected, <strong>“You can’t date a Nazi!”</strong> </p><p></p><p><strong>“I’ll think about it,”</strong> Miss Knight answered, blowing the Italian a kiss. Adler followed her out and locked the door. </p><p></p><p><strong>“Really?!”</strong> Brett demanded, <strong>“The opera? Are you kidding me?”</strong> </p><p></p><p>Emilio sniffed disdainfully, pitying his friends lack of class but happy to exploit it in pursuit of love. </p><p></p><p><strong>“Ook, ook.”</strong> Columbus offered. <em>(“In my culture, you demonstrate affection for a female by eating the fleas out of her fur.”)</em> </p><p></p><p><strong>“Are we really discussing this now?”</strong> Nicolas cried, then turned to his monkey, <strong>“And eww, by the way, thanks for sharing.”</strong> </p><p></p><p><strong>“He’s right,”</strong> Brett agreed, <strong>“We have to stop Starkweather before he dumps a blimp load of nerve gas over Washington.”</strong> </p><p></p><p>The chairs they had been tied to were not secured to the floor. Rocking to and fro, Brett was able to topple onto his back.</p><p></p><p><strong>“My knife is in my right boot,”</strong> he told Emilio, <strong>“Those goons overlooked it when they searched us. Can you reach it?”</strong> </p><p></p><p><strong>“I’ll try… yes, I have it!”</strong> </p><p></p><p>Slowly, Emilio started sawing through his own bonds. Meanwhile, Nicolas used his amazing powers of telekinesis to unknot the ropes around his own wrists. Columbus flexed his monkey muscles and his own bonds tore apart like tissue paper. </p><p></p><p><strong>“You chaps carry on with what you’re doing,”</strong> Nicolas said, as Brett and Emilio glared up at him, <strong>“You’re doing ever so well, truly you are.”</strong> </p><p></p><p>As soon as he was free, Brett lifted the silver cover from the serving tray, revealing a complicated tangle of wires and dynamite.</p><p></p><p><strong>"Is that what I think it is?"</strong> he asked, face pale.</p><p></p><p><strong>"If you think it's a toaster, then absolutely not."</strong> Gizmo said, ambling over to investigate, <strong>"What we have here is a rather unimaginative explosive device intended to detonate after a certain amount of time has lapsed, predetermined by whoever activated it."</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>"Emilio's new girlfriend said we had five minutes."</strong> Nicolas said.</p><p></p><p><strong>"She's not my girlfriend... yet."</strong> Emilio added.</p><p></p><p>Brett unscrewed the outer plating with the point of his dagger. Gizmo reached in and pulled out a handful of the device's guts.</p><p></p><p><strong>"Isn't there supposed to be a red wire and a blue wire?"</strong> Brett asked.</p><p></p><p><strong>"Don't crowd me, kid."</strong> Gizmo grumbled, adjusting his goggles, <strong>"Brainwork obviously aint your speciality, so why don't you put those biceps to some use and help Mister Fancypants break down that door."</strong></p><p></p><p>Wiping sweat from his wrinkled brow, Gizmo scrutinized the bomb. One wrong move and he might trigger any booby traps on the device, but with less than two minutes left on the clock, there wasn't a whole lot of time for delicacy. Applying every ounce of scientific knowledge in his brain, Gizmo isolated what he believed to be the fail safe - paused momentarily to reflect upon his life - then cut the wire. The timer stopped counting down and the old man exhaled a long sigh of relief.</p><p></p><p><strong>"I knew you could do it."</strong> Nicolas lied, grudgingly handing his gold wristwatch to Columbus.</p><p></p><p><em>To be continued....</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="mikeawmids, post: 6442724, member: 6776411"] [u]Savage Worlds / Daring Tales of Adventure / To End All Wars / Part 7[/u] By the time the effects of the paralysing agent had ended, Adler’s goons had the heroes seated in – and securely tied to – a circle of chairs in the cool, dry wine cellar beneath Starkweather’s mansion. Brett strained his muscular arms against his bonds but was unable to break them. [b]“Don’t worry,”[/b] Nicolas whispered, [b]“As soon as Columbus realises that something is wrong, he’ll be along to rescue us from this pickle.”[/b] [b]“Ook, ook,”[/b] said the chimp. [i](“That would be a good plan, if I wasn’t tied up as well.”)[/i] Footsteps sounded on the stairs and three villainous figures descended. First came Klaus Adler in the uniform of a German officer. One side of his [i](already none too comely)[/i] face had been mangled by fire and broken glass during his escape from the laboratory explosion. Behind the Nazi thug came Miss Knight, sweet and treacherous as poisoned candyfloss. Bring up the rear of this wicked procession was Doctor Henry Starkweather himself, who swaggered down the steps without so much as a limp. [b]“You’re not disabled at all!”[/b] Brett accused. [b]“Hahaha!”[/b] Starkweather chuckled, [b]“Pretending to be in a wheelchair provided me with a great cover story, plus I get all the best parking spaces.”[/b] [b]“Bastard!”[/b] Emilio spat. [b]“Since you’re all going to die in the immediate future, I might as well explain my plan in painstaking detail.”[/b] Starkweather continued. [b]“But doctor, what if they somehow manage to escape and use that information to foil our evil plot?”[/b] Claudia cautioned. [b]“Nonsense!”[/b] Starkweather chortled, [b]“They’re tied to chairs – with rope! How could they possibly escape?”[/b] The doctor went on to explain his plan, which has been omitted here for the sake of brevity. In a nutshell: Over the last ten years, Starkweather Labs developed a potent nerve gas that could annihilate the population of an entire country. Recognising that his discovery had the potential to end all wars, Starkweather approached congress with research. Instead of rewarding his genius, the bureaucrats from Washington called him a genocidal maniac. Rather than accept defeat, Starkweather sought another superpower with the will to use his weapon and came into contact with a sleeper agent of the Third Reich [i](Claudia Knight)[/i]. [b]“You’re insane!”[/b] Emilio said, [b]“The Nazis will use your research to conquer the world! Whole countries will be subjugated without a bullet being fired!”[/b] [b]“That’s the idea.”[/b] Miss Knight agreed. [b]“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a zeppelin to catch,”[/b] Starkweather said, [b]“Those preening politicians in Washington won’t be so dismissive of my work when they’re coughing up their own spleens.”[/b] [b]“Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about you,”[/b] Miss Knight said, as Adler wheeled over a serving tray covered by a silver platter, [b]“Dinner will be served in, oh, five minutes. I wish I could say you proved worthy adversaries, but….”[/b] She shrugged apologetically and headed up the stairs after Starkweather. [b]“Claudia!”[/b] Emilio called. She paused to glance back down into the basement. [b]“If I make it out of this alive, perhaps I can take you to the opera?”[/b] [b]“She’s a Nazi!”[/b] Nicolas objected, [b]“You can’t date a Nazi!”[/b] [b]“I’ll think about it,”[/b] Miss Knight answered, blowing the Italian a kiss. Adler followed her out and locked the door. [b]“Really?!”[/b] Brett demanded, [b]“The opera? Are you kidding me?”[/b] Emilio sniffed disdainfully, pitying his friends lack of class but happy to exploit it in pursuit of love. [b]“Ook, ook.”[/b] Columbus offered. [i](“In my culture, you demonstrate affection for a female by eating the fleas out of her fur.”)[/i] [b]“Are we really discussing this now?”[/b] Nicolas cried, then turned to his monkey, [b]“And eww, by the way, thanks for sharing.”[/b] [b]“He’s right,”[/b] Brett agreed, [b]“We have to stop Starkweather before he dumps a blimp load of nerve gas over Washington.”[/b] The chairs they had been tied to were not secured to the floor. Rocking to and fro, Brett was able to topple onto his back. [b]“My knife is in my right boot,”[/b] he told Emilio, [b]“Those goons overlooked it when they searched us. Can you reach it?”[/b] [b]“I’ll try… yes, I have it!”[/b] Slowly, Emilio started sawing through his own bonds. Meanwhile, Nicolas used his amazing powers of telekinesis to unknot the ropes around his own wrists. Columbus flexed his monkey muscles and his own bonds tore apart like tissue paper. [b]“You chaps carry on with what you’re doing,”[/b] Nicolas said, as Brett and Emilio glared up at him, [b]“You’re doing ever so well, truly you are.”[/b] As soon as he was free, Brett lifted the silver cover from the serving tray, revealing a complicated tangle of wires and dynamite. [b]"Is that what I think it is?"[/b] he asked, face pale. [b]"If you think it's a toaster, then absolutely not."[/b] Gizmo said, ambling over to investigate, [b]"What we have here is a rather unimaginative explosive device intended to detonate after a certain amount of time has lapsed, predetermined by whoever activated it."[/b] [b]"Emilio's new girlfriend said we had five minutes."[/b] Nicolas said. [b]"She's not my girlfriend... yet."[/b] Emilio added. Brett unscrewed the outer plating with the point of his dagger. Gizmo reached in and pulled out a handful of the device's guts. [b]"Isn't there supposed to be a red wire and a blue wire?"[/b] Brett asked. [b]"Don't crowd me, kid."[/b] Gizmo grumbled, adjusting his goggles, [b]"Brainwork obviously aint your speciality, so why don't you put those biceps to some use and help Mister Fancypants break down that door."[/b] Wiping sweat from his wrinkled brow, Gizmo scrutinized the bomb. One wrong move and he might trigger any booby traps on the device, but with less than two minutes left on the clock, there wasn't a whole lot of time for delicacy. Applying every ounce of scientific knowledge in his brain, Gizmo isolated what he believed to be the fail safe - paused momentarily to reflect upon his life - then cut the wire. The timer stopped counting down and the old man exhaled a long sigh of relief. [b]"I knew you could do it."[/b] Nicolas lied, grudgingly handing his gold wristwatch to Columbus. [i]To be continued....[/i] [/QUOTE]
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