Zad/Wizardru's Story Hour (*final update 11/12*)

[Nifft]

Thanks for the Rogue's gallery.
No session this weekend?
-- N

 

[Argent Silvermage]

Thanks for the Rogue's gallery.
No session this weekend?
-- N

Holiday weekends are always a crap shoot. They played Mutants and Masterminds. I recovered from a trip to the emergency room. (I'm fine. Just a bad scare with my heart.)

 

[WizarDru]

Holiday weekends are always a crap shoot. They played Mutants and Masterminds. I recovered from a trip to the emergency room. (I'm fine. Just a bad scare with my heart.)

And we're all much relieved that you're OK.

This weekend was, as mentioned, an M&M weekend, not an Alpha/SC weekend. The players had to face....MURDERMALL! And we discovered that Mr. Smith is one of those dark, nearly-Anti heroes we've read about.

 

[Zad]

And we discovered that Mr. Smith is one of those dark, nearly-Anti heroes we've read about.

And I have to tell you, that I'm still giggling about that even now.

 

[Piratecat]

I can't wait to hear about it.

 

[WizarDru]

I can't wait to hear about it.

I am but your humble servant.

So, first you should know about the characters. This session featured four of the members of the team (who at this time remains nameless). They include:

• Binary: Master of technology, unknowningly merged with a computerized demon

• Shooting Star: Supernatural Archer Extrodinaire and mistress of the trick shot

• Spitfire Jones: WWII English Super-Ace recently revived from the deep-freeze, he can fly and is super-strong in the air....he is also Dead Sexy.

• Mr. Smith: Mysterious and shadowy dispenser of Justice, he knows what you FEAR. Think of the Phantom Stranger and you're in the right area)

Not present was Back-Alley Brawler, who Arrests People in the Face.

Issue number One, "Intelligent Design" found our heroes fighting the oddball Dr. Genome, the man who made monkeys intelligent enough to use firearms, making Gun Monkeys. He also had MutAnimals, victims exposed to his terrible drug Orgutanin, which turned them into feral humanoids with superpowers. After tracking them to two separate hi-tech facilities (and shutting down his Giant Mechanical Ape [complete with Monkey Gatling Cannon (tm)], the heroes arrested the erstwhile mad scientist and watched helplessly as his brain was wiped by a reporter who had himself been mind-controlled.

Issue number Two, "Conspicuous Consumerism" found our heroes back at their strip-mall storefront (aka HQ) pondering how they had now managed to move from 4th on the Freedom City PD's speed-dial to maybe 3rd, when Detective Morris of the FCPD called them via cellphone to tell them that, since they were now Gun Monkey speciailists, there was a report of a loose Gun Monkey running wild at a mall in the suburubs west of the city. Deciding that being considered Evil Super Monkey Specialists was better than being considered total non-entities, the heroes made their way each in their own fashion to the mall.

Binary quickly tapped into the local radio transmissions and listened to the mall security
walkie-talkie chatter. The last known location of the weird monkey was somewhere near House of a Thousand Picture Frames...when suddenly it had been spotted near United Colors of Bob. Binary announced this to the group, thusly:

"I've found our monkey. He's by....I don't believe I'm saying this...United Colors of Bob."

Chase was soon given; of the four, Mr. Smith was the one who spotted the monkey, leaving the FYE and leaping across the wires strung across the large open-air area, descending from the 3rd floor to the first. The monkey rapidly proved elusive to catch, and seemed different from the previous monkeys so encountered. For one, he seemed...well, goofier. Also, his gun was a Banana Gun, not a Chimp and Wesson. Mr. Smith attempted to drain his wisdom, but failed. Binary was unable to grab him and Spitfire Jones took a moment to zero in on him.

"Where'd he go?
"There he is! He's jumping over that really crappy 70s artwork piece!"
"I've lost him!"
""I see him! He's making for the Orange Julius!"

The monkey then attacked the giant plaster orange and banana above the stand, apparently
transfixed by the giant banana. What ensued was then a comedy of errors, as Shooting Star would pin the monkey with her energy arrows, while Spitfire Jones kept just missing his chance to grab the energetic beast. Mr. Smith finally managed to attempt to instill fear in the monkey...only to realize the monkey didn't have any sort of true intelligence. As he realized this, it's skull split in half, revealing it was a ROBOT GUN MONKEY! A sudden humming occured, the orange in the Orange Julius sign began thrumming with radiating energy, and everyone was blinded by a flash of light.

And suddenly, the monkey was gone. It was then that Mr. Smith realized something wasn't quite right.

"Wasn't the food court...over there?"

All malls looked the same, they agreed. But this one was laid out differently than the one they'd come from. Hoping to figure out where they were, they quickly headed to an information map....as they scanned it, it's lettering suddenly changed.

Welcome to....
MURDERMALL!

"Welcome to Murdermall, LOSERS!" intoned a whiny, nasal voice. "You're gonna die here, Yeah! Hah! Suckers! You fell for my robot monkey! Oldest trick in the book! Nyah-ha-hah! You're gonna die right here in my Murdermall! Hah!" Binary rolled his eyes. Great. A Nerd Assassin. As their assailant spoke, the windows and doors sealed shut behind blast doors. So they'd been teleported, then.

Mr. Smith decided he'd better establish if he could escape this idiot's trap, and teleported away. His abilities were scrambled, though; he found himself standing in a Starbucks on the other side of the mall. Sighing in resignation, he asked for a coffee...while at the same time draining the vendor's wisdom, to ensure he was truly human. The barrista began blubbering as he couldn't remember if Venti was a large or medium, but eventually presented Smith with a latte.

He asked for a reference point, and then began walking back to his companions. No reason to tempt fate if he didn't have to.

Meanwhile, Binary had begun baiting their would-be assassin. He'd quickly hacked the information map, and quickly tapped into the whole mall's security camera system. Their attacker called himself Mallrat, and Murdermall was his personal playground. In a battle of verbal wits, Binary had him outmatched, and he quickly tricked valuable information out of him. He'd been hired to kill them, though his employers were anonymous. He had hostages, but he'd clearly not done his legwork. The only one that they knew was Inspector Morris from the FCPD. The others were complete unknowns, including "that chick you know. You know....that chick? From the THING?" They were utterly unimpressed with his selection of hostages. Mallrat wanted them to fight their way free, or he'd kill the hostages. Not much of a problem, since they were already prepared to do that.

It was then that Shooting Star heard the rumbling of an engine. Further down the walkway, near one of the end-stores was a display: "Win this SUV!" it boldly declared. The Hummer's engine gunned to life, it's wheels screeching as the vehicle did a donut. Inside, two men dressed in black suits with black hats and wearing sunglasses stared out a them...one thin and tall and the other short and stout. The Blue Brothers. As Robots. The humvee streaked their way.

"But aren't we on the third floor?"
"Apparently they don't much care."

While Binary took to the air, mostly just to avoid the fracas, he continued to hack the system. The hostages weren't here, and neither was mallrat. That meant little reason to remain...but it would take time to find a way out. They didn't even know where they were, yet. Shooting star tried to shoot out the Humvee's engine, but only blew the radiator, instead. In the distance, the sound of a police car siren, as a bunch of neo-nazi robots gave chase to the Blue Brothers. Spitfire Jones had seen enough; he flew in and yanked the humvee into the air.

Robo-Elwood leaned out of the cab, lowered his shades and looked directly at him.

"Excuse me, but....do you have any TOOOASSSTTTT?!?!?!"

Spitfire Jones nearly dropped the cab, as he considered the weighty question. Shooting star, seeing his confusion, shot Elwood in the face, stunning him momentarily and ripping half of his mask off, revealing the WestWorld-like robot beneath. Jones suddenly shook his head. "STOP THAT, you blighter!" he cried, throwing the SUV into the police car, resulting in a huge fireball.

Both cars were atomized, their parts flying in every direction. As the smoke settled, Jake walked out of the wreckage, unharmed, with nary a crease on his suit. Mr. Smith was oblivious to all of this as he rode the escalator of life to the second floor. The latte was quite good. At the 2nd floor landing, he spied the giant FAO Schwartz toy store bear. He walked towards the escalator to the third floor, hearing the sound of an explosion nearby. The bear's eyes glowed red and it suddenly began to move. It regarded him with silent malice, holding a giant alphabet block that began to glow with energy. "Welcome to our world, welcome to our world, welcome to our word of....DEATH!" it intoned, launching an explosive toy block at him.

It missed by inches, blowing up the Kitchen Kapers store behind him. Mr. Smith put his latte down...and shrouded the area in darkness. It's eyes glowed with infrared energy.

"Oh....wonderful." It fired again.

Meanwhile, Jake had addressed Shooting Star and Spitfire Jones. "Now, waaaaaiiiit a minute...!," he intoned...trying to force them to dance in a musical number. They ignored him, but Spitfire Jones wasn't about to let him have a second try. His attempt to throw a bench at it, however, was unsucessful.

Binary had now found that Radio Shack was where the central computer bank could be found, while Sears must be the holding area for the robots. He directed Shooting Star to take the store out, using an explosive energy arrow. She quickly did so, hoping the teleport scrambler would go, as well. The blast doors opened, just as someone started shooting at them. Looking up, they saw a boy in a pajamas and...Santa Claus? Both were armed with Red Rider BB Guns. "I'll put your eye out, jerks!" "HO HO HO, TIME TO DIE!"

Shooting Star was getting annoyed. Jake tried to again convince her to dance, this time producing a bullwhip and singing "RAWHIIIIIIIDE! HYAH!". She blew him up. She then turned her attention to the Red Ryder wielding robots, and she and Spitfire made short work of them.

Mr. Smith had taken a hit from the 'B' block, and was staggered for a moment. Robots were a weak point for him, but he managed to knock it for a loop. He dodged the third and final 'C' block, but still was unable to do much to harm the ridiculous but dangerous construct. Jones showed up and grabbed a kiosk of apparently explosive candles to throw at it. Then it made a fatal mistake. It grabbed Mr. Smith, perhaps intending to rend him limb from limb. It was a poor choice. Mr. Smith looked up, and teleported them both there. Then he teleported himself back to the landing. As he picked up his latte, he watched the robot fall 60 feet to it's doom, smashing on impact with the marble floor below.

Binary had now tapped into the world GPS system, and located them. They were in....the Phillipines? Well, it explained how one would hide an entire mall of death. And Mallrat had at least three more, but they were disconnected from this system. But how to get home and save the hostages?

Checking over the mall, they noted that there was still significant power channeled to the exit doors. Teleport portals, perhaps? Outside the doors were crude paintings of a fake parking lot. Binary tested one door...and found himself in different mall. His cell phone rang, as he stared up at a giant cowboy boot.

"Where are you?"
"I'm....I'm in the South Plains Mall in.....Lubbock, Texas."
"My God, Lubbock? Why...WHY?"
"Funny. I'm coming back."

Experimentation revealed that the exits and entrances led to tons of real world malls. Mallrat clearly had the ability to move back and forth between them. But where was he? And where were the hostages? Binary hacked the system, and they saw the image of the hostages, again. He teleported, again....and found himself once more in a Starbucks.

"Good Afternoon, sir. Welcome to the Mall of America first floor Starbucks! Can I help you?" The cellphone, again.

"Latte, please. Hello."
"Where are you?"
"Starbucks. I think I'm getting jumpy. When we find this guy...that's bad for HIM. I'm at the Mall of America."
"Figures. This guy has a serious fixation."
"You got a fix on the hostages?"
"Think so. They're at..."
"Sears, right?"
"Yup. How'd you...?"
"Just a hunch."

Mr. Smith teleported back to the Murdermall and collected them. He warned them that travel through his world was....unsettling for some. This proved an understatement. Frightening images, spirits of some other world and a bone-chilling cold assualted them as they passed, in a but an instant, from one place to the next. Shooting Star, in particular, had been more sensitive to the spirit world and the unpleasant place they had traversed. She gave Mr. Smith a suspicious stare, but said nothing for now.

If Mr. Smith noticed, he didn't say so...and likely didn't care. In no time at all, they walked openly into the Sears. Binary quickly hacked the security system and found the cameras that showed the hostages...in the stock room. Mallrat was here, all right. His whiny voice emerged from the PA system throughout the store, confusing shoppers. The heroes called him out, warning him that they'd deliver him a beating. Mallrat believed them, and ran for it, creating a teleportation portal and getting out of Dodge. Shooting Star and Spitfire Jones released the hostages while Binary examined his computer.

"By Jove!" cried the englishman. "Now I recognize you, miss! You were one of those mutanimal chaps. I must say I prefer your current shape!" The group rolled its collective eyes...and then watched as Jones collected a phone number and made a date. While Jones chatted up the former hostages, Shooting Star noticed a man enter the room...through a wall. She was the only one who could see or hear him; a ghost. Some discussion ensued, while the other heroes watched her suspiciously. He identified himself as Derek, a worker from Aeropostale, and Mallrat's first victim. He had been murdered by a robotic cash register that had ripped out his throat during closing one night, just before he was to meet his girlfriend Stacey at Sbarro's in the food court.

Binary identified Mallrat's real name, Desmond Lettam, and his history. He was the most well compensated stock boy in retail history, making more than the CEO of the company in an annual salary. While Binary puzzled that out, Mr. Smith noticed all the obsessive security cam photos pasted around the monitor and desk. They all had one thing in common....Stacey. Smith excused himself to investigate 'an angle', as he called it. Shooting Star convinced Derek to move on, now that he'd passed his info to the living.

Binary, for his part, found out how Lettam made so much money....he was employed not at a Sears...but at EVERY Sears in the world, all at once. Each one provided him a salary. Money was something he DIDN'T need. He did this for kicks. But how to find him? They checked his start date. First day of employment was five years ago...but not at the Mall of America Sears. It was at the OTHER big mall...the largest by retail space; King of Prussia, PA. It made sense; the KoP mall was older and had been the largest and more prestigous mall on and off again. The title of largest mall switched hands a lot, but KoP was the largest in the U.S. for store space. They would go there as soon as Smith turned back up.

He did soon enough...with a slightly giddy (and wisdom-drained) Stacey in tow. He'd been talking to her for some time, getting information and as friendly as one could with a man as mysterious and intimidating as Smith was. Several in the group weren't pleased with Smith's decision to bring Stacey along...not the least of which was that in her current state, she wasn't necessarily making clearly rational decisions. However, Smith teleported all of them without inviting lengthy debate. They found themselves at KoP Mall, and made for the Sears there.

Once more they entered the store brazenly, and this time Mallrat decided to fight back. His whiney voice rang over the PA system, confusing customers.

"FOOLS! You think you're so smart, but you're not! You'll SEE! Death Mannequins, ATTACK!" he yelled, spittle almost audible over the speaker system. As one, every dress mannqeuin in the store began moving, their hands transforming into guns.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you. Stacey's right here, and she might get....HURT." Some of the cameras zoomed in on the befuddled American Eagle salesgirl. There was a pause, as Mallrat tried to figure out what to do. Smith appeared smug, and unconcerned at all. He let the threat hang, unafraid of any development.

"Death Mannequins...uhh, uhh...DON'T Attack! I mean...uhm.....JERKS! How dare you? Our love is pure! You can't...you can't just....GAH!" The robots stopped in their tracks. Apprehending Mallrat was pathetically easy after that. He refused to fight if it meant his beloved Stacey, who had no idea who he was, would get hurt. Confiscating his equipment, they discovered he used gadgets to henahnce his personal, mall-only teleport power. Smith was incredulous.

"How far down the food chain do you have to be to have a mall-only teleport power?"
Mallrat was quickly arrested and interred, with the FCPD taking jurisdiction and promising to lock up Mallrate safely, as they'd had experiences with gadgeteers and tricks in the past. The group, for their part, returned to their storefront, except for Jones, who took one of the hostages out to dinner, and perhaps more.

 

[WizarDru]

Oh, and for those worried that I'll never post the DM's wrap-up article, never fear...it's being worked on. It just takes a while.

 

[Zad]

Mr. Smith was oblivious to all of this as he rode the escalator of life to the second floor. The latte was quite good. At the 2nd floor landing, he spied the giant FAO Schwartz toy store bear. He walked towards the escalator to the third floor, hearing the sound of an explosion nearby. The bear's eyes glowed red and it suddenly began to move. It regarded him with silent malice, holding a giant alphabet block that began to glow with energy. "Welcome to our world, welcome to our world, welcome to our word of....DEATH!" it intoned, launching an explosive toy block at him.

When the GM turns to you and says "Take a hero point" you know you're in trouble.

Still giggling. I'm starting to like Smith a lot.

 

[Argent Silvermage]

Ok.... All I have to say is it's not my fault. I was just defending myself. I also think I would have made a fine..... Zad. PUT DOWN THAT KNIFE.

PS: I think we have a replacement for Bolo and the licking/being eaten. (Boccoc save me.)

 

[Zad]

Bolo needed approval for all new spells.

Glyphandar doesn't suffer from that problem (yet), but he has had his alchemist fire privledges revoked.