COMING SOON! The Weather Outside is Frightful: Chilly D&D Resources! Chilling monsters, cool sublasses, dangerous encounters in the frigid wastes, and a cold-hearted adventure for DnD 5E.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kidjake" data-source="post: 6567650" data-attributes="member: 6776876">Sessions 11-13We start out in the warehouse with McCrow and Fanboy recapping what happened last session.  They call up Finch, their P.R. agent, and put the final touches on their coming out party.  Finch arranges for the mayor to hold  a seemingly unrelated (and highly televised) press conference at the end of the week and starts looking for somebody to crash it theatrically.  Roger gives him a bunch of numbers from Baritone's stolen cellphone and explains that most of these guys are hardass bikers and that he personally murdered their leader with a 2x4; Finch seems pretty sure that he can work with this.With that settled, they begin looking for other things to fill their week with and pressure Prophet to track down Heiner.  The agoraphobe quickly tracks down a few leads:  Frank Heiner, the biologist, has been in Germany for the past three months; but Henry Heiner, the surgeon, is vacationing in Atlantic City this weekend with his wife.  Since Fanboy can accomplish in minutes what it may take Prophet weeks to determine, they decide to head to Atlantic City and track the surgeon down for some answers.It only takes a few hours to reach Atlantic City and the Heiners' room is easy to find with Prophet's directions.  It's mid afternoon when they sneak into the room using Fanboy's flight ability and McCrow's gusto for busting open glass doors.  They lie in wait for their target, ready to pounce.By seven o'clock they discover that people don't really use their hotel rooms in Atlantic City and realize they've been sitting and watching the door for about three hours now.  Against Fanboy's wishes, McCrow raids the mini-bar and starts drinking the boredom away.By midnight, McCrow has moved into the bathroom; turned on every faucet in sight and is wallowing naked in the tub in a drunken stupor.  Fanboy's started watching Robot Chicken reruns in addition to the door.Some time around two in the morning the door jingles and man in his mid thirties stumbles in with a petite blonde woman in tow.  The pair are laughing drunkenly, but stop when they see Fanboy perched on their bed comfortably.  When McCrow comes out of the bathroom wearing nothing but his sunglasses and dripping water the room becomes eerily silent for a moment.Just for a moment though.Seeing their target standing in the doorway McCrow gives a blood curdling scream and charges at the Heiners, weaving uncontrollably and launching a wild haymaker at Mrs. Heiner with such force that he breaks her jaw and bounces her unconscious body off the wall.  Mr Heiner retaliates punching Roger in the abdomen, but in McCrow's drunken rage it doesn't even register.Fanboy suddenly realizes that if he doesn't step in they may actually lose an important witness to McCrow's fury and lays Gravity Control over the area, crushing both McCrow and Heiner to the ground.  Roger immediately demands to be released and while Fanboy's explaining that that's not going to happen, launches a burst of water out of what's left of the bathroom that blows Fanboy off his feet and out the hotel window.Fanboy sighs and floats back in, still maintaining his gravity field and holding everyone down.  McCrow rants and raves and demands a blood price for his wrongs, but Fanboy just tunes him out and questions the doctor they're there to see.Heiner wants to know what the hell his wife ever did to them that they'd break into a hotel room just to beat her up.  Fanboy apologizes for Roger's behavior and tells Heiner that his past has caught up with him; that the canisters gave birth to people like McCrow and himself and now they want some answers.  Heiner doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.Fanboy probes the guy's mind and discovers that he really doesn't.  The only thing that Henry Heiner has ever done for the government is train field surgeons.Fanboy realizes that they have the wrong guy and sighs painfully, rubbing his temples.  He quickly gathers up Roger's discarded clothes and hoists the naked (now sleeping) hydromancer telekinetically and apologizes again.  While Henry Heiner is still gawking at Fanboy's display of power, his mind is suddenly wiped and the last thing he remembers is Roger McCrow screaming obscenities and charging them.  When he recovers enough to file a police report a few moments later, the only thing he can say is that it appeared that a hobo had scaled the side of the hotel, robbed his mini-bar, beat up his wife and ran away into the night.  His wife was unable to corroborate his story (Fanboy was a bit more thorough on her) and Henry Heiner is now spending some time in jail on charges of domestic assault.  Roger doesn't wake up until they're already home and doesn't seem to have any recollection of what happened.  He does seem to be pretty upset that they didn't get a chance to gamble while they were in Atlantic City though and starts making plans to go back soon.They spend the next day fairly mundanely; McCrow is repairing the remainder of the damage to the basement caused by Tiffany and Richard's sparring while Fanboy is speaking with their lawyer about setting up a shipping business using Depaliamo's old properties.  With a few calls Fanboy manages to get a good portion of his father's business as well as a bit of business from Bradley's father who runs a small car lot to help legitimize their money laundering operation.  McCrow calls up Chavenski and discovers that the Russians have fallen in line after his talk with the wayward lieutenant and Chavenski is grateful; what scraps of legal cargo the Russians have to offer are promised to their new company and Chavenski agrees to enter into a limited partnership with them, using some of his less shady contacts to help them establish a legitimate business.Meanwhile, on the other side of things.Agent Mann and Michael Stockton are each picked up independently by the black armored S.C.A.R. soldiers who drive them out to the country to General Wilson's property.  Michael recognizes several of the soldiers as having had a hand in putting him down repeatedly, but figures that the list of people that hadn't killed him was shrinking by the day so it's not really worth bringing up.General Wilson lives in a handsome, 2 story home on a nice piece of land with nary a neighbor within earshot.  He meets his guests personally and invites them into his home.Agent Mann suggests that all of this seems very familiar and that it might border unprofessional.  General Wilson assures them both that this meeting is of the utmost importance for the DHS.  He asks if they're familiar with Roger McCrow and Samell Hamilton, aka the Fanboy.Mann nods and Michael says that he's heard of them in passing.  Wilson asks if Michael's heard of the Ventnor City Bus Hijacking or the Viral Rally Massacre?  Michael confirms that he's definitely heard of this stuff, it's what brought him out of retirement.  Wilson explains that McCrow and Fanboy are central figures in both of these events.  Michael's suddenly intrigued.Wilson gets out a stack of dossiers and starts laying them out, he starts with one of McCrow and Fanboy and Michael snorts at the unflattering pictures of the pair.  Wilson points out that the dorky kid in the suit can generate enough force to launch a tank in the air or rewrite a mind to believe whatever he wants and that the paunchy guy with the mustache and speedo is the uncontested lord of a substance that accounts for 70% of life as we know it.  Wilson points out that these two men have a body count that's higher than most natural disasters and that they wiped out an Italian crime boss and apparently took his place within a month of gaining their powers.  The General continues to explain that they have strong ties to Russian organized crime and that they're suspected of performing gangland hits for Nikolai Chavenski.Michael suddenly doesn't find this funny any more.  He asks why these people are still allowed to walk around and General Wilson says that it was an oversight, that he's here to correct it.The next dossier is of Sandy Clemens, who Wilson explains has a regenerative factor that rivals Michael's but is still unexplored.  The next shows the Prophet and Wilson explains that the grungy looking guy is a precog, capable of predicting any major move before it happens; he explains that any attempt to launch a direct attack would fail before it began thanks to Prophet's visions.The next dossier is of Bradley Yurtz and Wilson explains that this seemingly normal teenager can multiply at will; effectively giving McCrow and Fanboy an inexhaustible army at their beck and call.  The dossier after that is of Dr Kavlight who Wilson explains used to be head of Superhuman Recovery, one of the only civilian doctors that they trusted with the greatest state secret ever conceived...that is until he left his position to become their personal physician.Yet another dossier is of Richard Bronson, who Wilson explains is a living weapon responsible for leveling an arcade in a single act of aggression.  He points out that both McCrow and Fanboy refused to turn the teenager over to the proper authorities, instead keeping what basically amounts to a walking WMD for their own purposes.((This entire segment was a blast in play because both players could definitely see how some of their choices could lead someone to believe that they were building a terrorist cell; but they also justified literally every single one of these choices as being for the greater good.))The final dossier, Wilson explains, may be the most dangerous of the group.  Wilson hands them a mugshot of a drunk one eying the camera, trying to stay awake.  He explains that the superhuman 'Lucky Dan' was the first member they recruited and that of all the known powers, his are the most unpredictable.  He points out that within two hours of him demanding to be set free, half a dozen officers had been hospitalized with various accidents; several more received minor injuries and somehow the roof of the police station managed to get caved in by one of their own cars.  General Wilson tells them that he just wants a chance to talk with Dan before he goes back to the Warehouse and get a feel for what's going on; but his men wouldn't be capable of bringing in a superhuman of this magnitude. He asks them to bring Dan in, but not to say anything about it to Parks as his existing relationship with the team could interfere with this investigation. Mann and Michael agree that something needs to be done about this group before it gets out of hand and head out to the suburbs to visit Mr. Brown.The house that Fanboy and McCrow purchased for Dan and his family is one of the nicer ones in the neighborhood, even though the yard is a little unkempt and littered with toys.  Michael knocks on the door and Mrs. Brown answers, looking at the pair of agents with apprehension.Mann identifies himself and asks if Mr. Brown is home.  She says that he is, before shouting for Dan to get the door and nervously explaining that these men are from the DHS.  Dan has a beer in his hand, but seems surprisingly sober and tells his wife to go inside.  She resists, but he tells her that this is nothing that he can't handle.Agent Mann explains that they're here because the government has concerns about Dan's associates and need to have a few words with him.  Dan says that he's already squared things with Parks, but Mann points out that they're under orders of someone outside of Parks chain of command and insists he comes with them.  Dan says that he knows this trick and that he's not going to The Hole, he turns to go back in the house.Michael lunges forward to grab Dan's arm, however slips on the welcome mat and falls off the porch, breaking his arm.  Mann immediately sees that something's up and draws his tranquilizer gun, opening fire at point blank range on Lucky Dan.  Somehow the dart gets twisted coming out of the barrel, smacks into Dan's back with the blunt end, hits the ground and rolls off the porch, lodging itself in Michael's leg as he starts to stand up."Mann, you son of a bitch!" Michael slurs angrily before passing out and hitting his head on the steps.Dan stops in his tracks and looks back at Mann with a 'what the hell guy?' expression.  Mann fires again and the dart manages to ricochet off the front door and stick in his vest.  He wisely decides to holster his weapon at this point."Mr. Brown, nobody wants to hurt you." Mann says, (I can only assume hoping that Dan didn't notice his two attempts at shooting him) "But I'm afraid that you HAVE to come with us.  You're not in trouble, we're not taking you to the Hole, this is just an unofficial inquiry.  If you keep refusing however, things are just going to escalate until The Hole is the only option left."Dan still hesitates and Mann draws his .45, offering it over as a sign of good faith.  "Now you're the only man here with a gun.  Come with us, have a few words and get it over with.  It's not like we can keep you if you want to leave."Dan points out that he was trapped in a jail cell easily enough, but Mann counters with it being almost impossible to get him into the cell to begin with, especially now that he's armed.  Dan grudgingly agrees and tells Mann to wait a moment while he talks to his wife.He reappears a minute later and says that he's given his wife Fanboy's number and that there's going to be hell to pay if this is a trick.  Mann agrees that it's a prudent move, loads Michael into the back of his car and drives Dan out to the country to meet General Wilson.  Michael wakes up on the way but still seems groggy from the sedative.Wilson meets them on the porch as they come up the stairs and offers to shake Dan's hand, though Lucky Dan refuses.  Wilson ushers him inside and tells Mann and Michael that that's all he needs for now trying to shut the door behind him.  Agent Mann blocks the door from closing with his leg, saying that Dan is in his custody and he'd be more comfortable if he could sit in on the interrogation.Wilson relinquishes and lets Michael and Mann escort Dan inside.  He asks Michael to step downstairs to help his men set up and Mann excuses himself to the bathroom for a moment.Turning the sink on to mask his voice, Mann calls Parks and quickly tells him that he just picked up Daniel Brown on General Wilson's order, but that things seem extremely shady and he's not sure what's going on.  Parks tells him that Daniel Brown is no threat to anybody and that Wilson has no reason to detain him.  Mann asks if he's being told to remove Dan from this situation, but Parks sighs and says that since he's already turned Dan over to General Wilson that he doesn't have the authority to release him.Meanwhile, Michael is in the basement and sees several black armored S.C.A.R. soldiers setting up a rough version of The Hole.  Four holding cells are being hastily built into the walls of the basement and the men are dragging a bed into the only finished one.  Michael just stands there in shock and watches them.Upstairs, Mann returns from the bathroom in time to hear Wilson demand that Lucky Dan go downstairs peacefully or he can guarantee that he'll never see his wife again.  Dan argues and does a bit of bolstering of his own, but Wilson hisses that he's got men standing by to haul Mrs. Brown off to the deepest, darkest hole they can find and that NOBODY will ever see a trace of her again.Mann steps in and says that that's enough, that the Brown family has done nothing to warrant such intrusive measures.  He demands to know on what grounds Wilson intends to hold Dan Brown, let alone his wife.Wilson snaps back that Daniel Brown's violation of the NDA led to McCrow and Fanboy's first act of open defiance against the DHS and that he must factor heavily into their plans.  He asserts that Daniel Brown is part of a seditious organization with treasonous intent and ties to known terrorists.  Mann thinks that this seems like quite a bit of conjecture and Wilson responds that McCrow and Fanboy flat out bought Dan a house the same week they decided to go public with national secrets.  Mann doesn't have a response to that and helps Wilson lead Lucky Dan into his waiting cell.  Still unsure of what's right or wrong, Mann turns to Wilson once Dan is locked in and says that Mrs. Brown was given Fanboy's number with instructions to call if Dan didn't return home and that Mr. Brown himself is armed.Wilson nods and says that if that's the case, she's too much of a threat to leave alone.  He says that he'll have her picked up immediately.Murder flashes in Lucky Dan's eyes and he reaches for the .45 he tucked into his waist band.  Mann however is like greased lightning and has his tranq gun out and fired before Dan's hand even wraps around the pistol grip.He did however forget who he was shooting at and everyone watches in a mixture of amusement and horror as the dart Mann fires ricochets off the bars improbably and lodges itself in Mann's own neck."How...do you keep doing that?  I'm...a..good....shot..." Mann trails off drowsily before passing out from his own sedative. Dan seems to be the only one not amused and opens fire at the unconscious Mann, still enraged at the betrayal of his wife after he'd cooperated.  He's  a terrible shot and his bullet goes wide, hitting the wall a few feet away from Mann.  Michael immediately throws himself between Dan and the rest of the room and tells Dan that this definitely isn't the way to resolve this mess, that if this goes any further there will be nothing ANYONE can do to reunite his family.Dan thinks about it for a moment and then breaks down crying, dropping the gun out of his cell and sliding to his knees in defeat. We rewind a little bit and pick up literally as Dan is walking out of the house.  His wife is already calling Fanboy in a blind panic and telling him that some guys from the DHS are taking Dan away.  Fanboy tells her to wait there, that they'll be there as soon as possible.McCrow leaps into the driver seat of one of their faster cars and drives like a maniac towards Dan's house while Fanboy calls up Parks and demands answers.  At this point in the day, Parks legitimately doesn't know what's happening but says that there's a good chance it might be Wilson again.  They ask where Wilson is and Parks says that the only people who know that are his own men.  Fanboy hangs up in irritation and they focus on breaking every speed limit they find.They just barely peel into Dan's neighborhood in time to see two black armored men loading Mrs. Brown and one of Dan's kids into a black van while the rest of the children scream in terror.  McCrow and Fanboy leap out of the car and warn the soldiers to let Dan's family go while they still can.The man holding Dan's wife (hereafter referred to as Soldier 1) like a human shield opens fire on Fanboy with a heavy pistol while Roger disables the van by wrecking the radiator and using the scalding water within to bind the man trying to hold Dan's kid(now referred to as Soldier 2).  Fanboy attempts to grapple the man holding Dan's wife and the man that McCrow engulfed in water manages to shake it off.The first soldier opens fire on Fanboy again, the second soldier extends his cattle prod and charges McCrow; knocking the hydromancer out cold with a single swipe.  Fanboy manages to grapple the 1st Soldier and slams him face first into the van, next to Soldier 2.  Roger's Droplets explode out of the car like a murderous wave at the sight of their 'daddy' lying there unconscious and swarm the soldiers.The kids and Mrs. Brown can't decide who they're more terrified of at the moment.Fanboy continues slugging it out with Soldier 1 while the Droplets swarm Soldier 2 and he attempts to swat them off with his cattle prod.  This goes on for long enough that Roger eventually wakes up and stumbles to his feet, just in time to get a face full of mace.  Luckily, McCrow has developed an amazing tolerance for pepper spray over the years and is only mildly inconvenienced.Fanboy eventually manages to grapple Soldier 1 and uses extra effort to hurl the man so far skyward that he loses sight of him for a minute.  Soldier 2 attempts some knife play but proves grossly outmatched by the two superhumans.  Fanboy holds Soldier 2 down while McCrow beats the hell out of him and eventually they hear an earsplitting scream that ends with Soldier 1 splatting down in the middle of the road.Solider 2 passes out from his beating while the Droplets finish off/partly eat Soldier 1.  Fanboy digs into Soldier 2's mind with everything he has and pulls Wilson's address out of the man's head.  He also finds that Wilson personally has 20 S.C.A.R. soldiers working for him and is guarded by half a dozen or so at a time.  Considering the beating they took from two of them they decide that a frontal assault might be suicide and they need to be smart about this... McCrow and Fanboy dress in the S.C.A.R. armor and call up six Bradley clones and Richard Bronson to help out.  One of the Bradleys help Mrs. Brown and her kids pack up and then escorts them to the Warehouse.Two more Bradleys truss up the surviving soldier with zip ties and stuff him in the trunk of a car.  They're not sure if these guys might have some kind of crazy GPS tracking implants or anything, so they decide to drive around aimlessly until told whether or not they need him any more.Another two Bradleys are dressed in their own stolen S.C.A.R. armor while the last Bradley draws the short straw and gets to play the role of Mrs. Brown in their little caper.  McCrow is very vocal on this point.  Richard is assigned the role of Dan's oldest son.While McCrow changes out the busted radiator in the van, the Bradleys shave the assigned 'Female Bradley' and put him in one of Mrs. Browns dresses.   They tape a pistol to his leg for quick access rig up zip ties to both Female Bradley and Richard's wrists so that they look bound but aren't actually.After they get everything together they take off in their stolen van like a bat out of hell to make it to Wilson's before anything can happen to Dan.When they finally do pull up in Wilson's secluded drive way Fanboy does some quick reconnoisance with ESP and finds a soldier walking the perimeter with one mean looking rottweiler, another soldier guarding the front door, two soldiers pacing around upstairs and a handful of men in the basement.  Two S.C.A.R. soldiers are in the basement, along with General Wilson and a pair of men in suits, one of which Fanboy recognises as Agent Mann.Strangely, Agent Mann appears to be collapsed against the wall unconcious while the second man in a suit is positioning himself between the rest of the room and an irate Lucky Dan who for some reason appears armed.  Whatever is said between them, Dan collapses onto the ground in despair as he drops the weapon out of his cell.  ((Yeah, we tried to synch it up so that everything is literally happening at the same time Pulp Fiction style.  Which means that Wilson's men already had orders to seize the wife and kids once Dan was out of the picture.))They throw a bag over the heads of Female Bradley and Richard so that nobody will get a good look at their faces and herd them into the house.  The guy at the door nods them in since they're apparently expected and after another quick bout of ESP Fanboy determines that they're the only ones on the first floor.Female Bradley/Richard (who have been placed under the control of McCrow's player for this encounter) are unbagged and they quickly form a plan of attack.  Richard will go upstairs and take care of the guards (because why wouldn't a kid with no control of his powers do better against the S.C.A.R. soldiers than two experienced heroes?) while the armored Bradleys (given to Fanboy's player for now) post up on the stairs to cover the front door, they're joined by the Droplets which were smuggled in inside canteens.  Fanboy, McCrow and Female Bradley will go downstairs and liberate Dan; government be damned.Everyone takes their positions and it all happens at once.Richard runs upstairs to take out the S.C.A.R. agents but alerts one of them to his presence.  The soldier moves in to take Richard down and Richard dances outside his reach, trying to summon his powers.  The distraction of combat makes it difficult to concentrate however and he can't seem to generate any energy.  The soldier clocks him in the jaw and Richard slams into the floor painfully.  The soldier moves to restrain him but is struck by a bolt of electricity arcing towards the teen as the lights begin to flicker and Richard's lack of control threatens to turn deadly.Downstairs, Wilson looks up as Fanboy/McCrow escort Female Bradley (head bowed and eyes averted) towards the cells.  General Wilson seems to consider this as pretty much just as planned and tells them to just toss her into a cell. Dan starts to freak out, but notices that it's definitely not his wife they've got and gets a little confused."Now Bradley!" Fanboy shouts and before anyone can react, Wilson takes a small caliber bullet to the face.  McCrow steps forward and draws out a considerable amount of water from Wilson's wounded form while Fanboy manages to grapple Michael before he knows what's happening and tosses him across the basement and into the pair of soldiers near the back wall.  The throw turns out particularly well and amazingly one of the soldiers is taken out immediately.Michael (who's being controlled by Fanboy) climbs out of the confused tangle of bodies and fails his will save to avoid PTSD.  He charges the length of the hallway and kicks Fanboy directly in the face, knocking him back a couple of steps and then following up his attack by grabbing the back of Fanboy's head and slamming his face into the steel bars of a holding cell.  If not for his forcefield, Fanboy would be out of the fight.McCrow tells Female Bradley to unlock Dan and while Female Bradley rummages through Wilson's pockets for the key, Roger kicks Wilson in the face repeatedly with his combat boots.  The last soldier opens fire on McCrow in an attempt to save his commander.Back on the first floor the armored Bradleys are in a two way fire fight, trying to hold off the guards from the second floor and the guards trying to come in through the front door.  A monster rottweiler named Cerberus is spewing green fire all over everything and the Droplets are trying to drag the beast down and eat it alive.Cerberus absolutely hates the Droplets which nip and bite him at every turn and the rest of the house is suffering as he's made it his mission to just burn everything in irritation.   One of the Bradleys takes a bullet to the throat and collapses on the stairwell, spurting blood and gurgling until he just sort of evaporates.  The last Bradley seems panicked.The lights continue flickering and dimming as a loud hum begins to pervade the air.Back downstairs, Fanboy and Michael wrestle around.  Michael is attempting to beat the life out of Fanboy and Fanboy is trying to turn Michael's brain off, but neither is having much luck with the rolls.  McCrow stops stomping on Wilson's head long enough to dehydrate the last guard downstairs and Female Bradley frantically tries to unlock Lucky Dan's cell.Wilson staggers to his feet and starts laughing through the holes in his face.  "I knew that if I gave you enough incentive, you'd come to me.  I was hoping we'd get another chance at this McCrow."McCrow just stares at him blankly as General Wilson holds one of his hands up and a water pipe bursts, knocking McCrow off his feet and stunning him momentarily.  'Wilson's' skin begins to twist and stretch and he takes on several more inches and a severely burned appearance."It's the ****ing killer!" Fanboy shouts, but is being immobilized by Michael and can do nothing as General Wilson/Warren Davis grabs him from behind.  Fanboy feels his expanded consciousness quickly diminish and the force field protecting him from Michael's savage beating suddenly disappears.With a flick of his wrist, Wilson sends Fanboy flying out of Michael's hands and head first into the wall.  Fanboy collapses for a moment stunned and Michael suddenly looks stunned, like a dog that's lost its chew toy.  Wilson lays a hand on Michael's chest and the sudden shock of losing his immortality manages to knock Stockton out of his delusions and into the real world again.Everyone watches in horror as the killer's wounds begin knitting back together.McCrow begins dehydrating for everything he's worth,  Fanboy stumbles back into the fray swinging a stolen cattle prod while Michael engages in a boxing match with the serial killer that ends up being pretty one sided considering the amount of raw athletic talent that Davis/Wilson's managed to steal over the last few months.Blows bounce harmlessly off the killer's stolen force field and what few manage to make it through are almost immediately healed thanks to his new regenerative abilities.  The three way fight is going badly for the good guys and Bradley and Dan start to get involved but McCrow shouts to keep Dan the hell away from this guy.While all of this insanity is going on, Mann wakes up.He opens his eyes and Michael, McCrow and Fanboy are whaling on a man he doesn't recognize.  Everybody's shouting about something or another and the drugs are making his head hurt and almost impossible to concentrate.  Raising his tranq gun he fires wildly into he crowd.  Fanboy takes a dart to the neck and passes out immediately, McCrow catches a dart but his system is so overloaded with foreign substances that it doesn't even stand out, Michael manages to avoid getting shot and the killer takes a dart but doesn't seem to mind.Roger leaps on Mann to stop the lunatic from taking out more of their men, Bradley opens fire but barely manages to graze 'Wilson', Michael continues exchanging blows with the monster but is getting his ass beat.  Things are looking grim.The hum, audible upstairs, is suddenly roaring even in the basement and a brilliant flash of electricity, followed by a sound like thunder erupts from the upstairs and suddenly it's very possible to see daylight by looking up from the basement.  Everybody is flattened, the house is gone, what little left is on fire...The killer decides that he's accomplished all he's going to today and launches himself into the air with his new found telekinesis, however Michael isn't ready for the fight to end yet.  He grabs one of the killer's legs and pulls himself up to punch the guy directly in the sternum.The killer responds by elbowing Michael in the face and breaking his nose,  Michael throws a volley of rabbit punches into the killer's liver that knock the wind out of his sails.  The pair plummet towards the earth since the killer can't maintain his levitation with Michael whooping the whole way down like Slim Pickins on an H-bomb.The killer starts to come to just before they hit the ground and Michael responds by driving his fist into the bastard's nose hard enough to put him out again.  They crash down directly into some unsuspecting family's home more than a mile away from where they began.Michael looks over at the broken corpse of his opponent and smirks when he sees the killer's broken neck and twisted back.  He tries to laugh but nothing comes out.  Nothing hurts, Michael realizes but he knows that he should.  It always does.  He can't turn his head to see the damage, but catches his reflection and notices that there's not much of him left; his insides are mostly on the outside now and it dawns on him that this is what shock feels like.  Before, his nerves refused to stay dead and the pain would feel fresh until the wounds were completely healed, but this...he could get used to this.Rolling his eyes again he notices that the killer doesn't seem to be in such bad shape anymore.  His head is on right side up all of a sudden and it looks like he can walk again.  "Hell of a trick you've got there Michael.  Thanks again for it." the killer says smugly.  "Assuming they eventually scrape you up, give the rest of your friends my regards." he adds with a booming laugh as he strolls out of the room.Back in Wilson's basement.  McCrow, Lucky Dan and Bradley sit there staring down the business end of Mann's .45 as Mann inches towards the stairs.  The two sides stare intently at each other until a falling piece of timber provides a distraction for Mann to sprint up the stairs and disappear.McCrow growls and throws Fanboy's unconscious body over his shoulder, instructing Bradley and Lucky Dan to fish Richard out of the rubble.  They're not leaving anyone behind...Mann's sharp eyes catch the final moments of Michael's descent and it doesn't take the agent long to track down his partner's location.  The house is empty, the family that once owned it are butchered inside; Mann worries that Michael's responsible but it seems unlikely once he actually finds Michael.What little there is left of Stockton is wheezing bloodily and seems to be trying to whisper something.  Mann keeps waiting for Michael to start regenerating and is more than a little confused when he doesn't.  Eventually, he leans forward and just barely hears "Just...kill...me..."Genuine compassion is motivating Mann this time as he places his .45 against his former friend's head and pulls the trigger....Michael wakes up in a strange, otherworldly place.  A twisted world of strange colors and flickering shapes, he finds himself drifting; unable to control his motion.  He sighs as he drifts.  "Great, I'm dead and in hell." he mutters, floating towards his inescapable destiny.  He sudenly notices a diner that he and Mann had frequented several times in the past few weeks for lunch and realizes that he's still in Ventnor City.  "Oh that's just great.   I'm dead and trapped in New Jersey.  When do I get to hell?" he mutters bitterly.Glancing around, Michael realizes that the concept of space is nearly meaningless in his new existence.  If he doesn't focus on his surroundings he can see miles in every direction at once; the experience is disorienting.  While the streets are mostly empty, he does see several inviduals in his immediate vicinity.  A ghostly figure in a security guard uniform, a hulking biker with a caved in skull and a skinless mastiff the size of a pony are among the others he sees drifting westward with him.  In the distance to the west Michael sees a pillar of eerie green light which seems to be the focal point of their journey.  Letting his gaze drift free he sees dozens of others drifting with him but much further along, many of them he recognizes from his days as a guinea pig.  The unfortunate souls who were put down when they sought freedom.Even further to the west, in the pillar of light itself, is a massive vaguely humanoid creature nearly 12ft tall with a skeletal frame, overly lanky limbs and tight, leathery skin similar to a mummy's.  Michael focuses his attention on the creature as one of the drifting souls drifts too close; the creature's jaw distends obscenely and it engulfs a young black man with sharp fins on his arms and back.  The creature seems slightly less skeletal, but all the more inhuman as its victim is absorbed.Michael is a little nervous at this point and the creature looks up, glancing around the damned spectres floating ever closer.  A hollow voice whispers "You will all return to me that which is mine." and then Michael sits up.His face slams into the metallic ceiling overhead and he glances around, he's in complete darkness; naked and laying on a cold metal surface.  It's not the first time he's woke up in a morgue so he wastes no time in kicking his drawer open and slipping out, finding himself in a room adjacent to the general testing chambers.Michael searches the room, hoping to find the clothes he was brought in with; but gives up when he realizes that they  were probably too damaged to be worth saving.    He decides to just brave the outside corridor in the buff until he can find his quarters and bolts out the door, slamming directly into a surprised Mann in the hall.Mann stares at Michael for a moment, glancing at a clipboard in hand and then back again.  "You're lucky, we didn't think you were going to come back this time.  It's already been two days. They sent me down to see to your...disposal.""My 'disposal'?" Michael asks bitterly, "The hell were you going to do, toss me in the furnace?""You were dead, what would you care?" Mann asks pragmatically."Well I got better." Michael growls "So why don't you make yourself useful and help me find some pants?"Two days prior..."Son of a bitch." Fanboy says groggily as he comes to in the car.  Lucky Dan and the unconscious form of Richard Bronson are on opposite sides of him and a Bradley wearing a dress is in the front seat with McCrow.  "What happened?" Fanboy asks, sitting up straight and looking around.Roger just shrugs.  "S*** happened."Fanboy frubs his neck and finds blood there.  "DID SOMEBODY SHOOT ME?" he asks in shocked confusion.Roger snorts, "Barely."Everything comes back to Fanboy in a flash and he starts cursing irritably; his mood isn't improved much when they show up at the warehouse and Prophet directs their attention to one of his screens.  News crews are at the scene of their last battle and a surviving S.C.A.R. agent has given a fairly decent description of everyone involved, they're calling it an act of terrorism against a government facility.  The death toll also seem to be grossly exaggerated.McCrow becomes red in the face with rage.  "Terrorist!?  They want to call me a terrorist?  I'll show them a f-ing terrorist! WE'LL show them a f-ing terrorist! Where the hell's Tiffany?"  he storms off cursing and ranting.  "Tiffany!"Fanboy starts to panic, all of their good will is burning up before his eyes and there's nothing that they can do about it.  They haven't released their names yet, but that's just a matter of time...Fanboy immediately calls Parks and tries to explain himself, but Parks cuts him off with a sigh.  "It's over Samell.  Whether you did or whether you didn't, it doesn't matter; I'm not in charge of S.C.A.R. anymore, they've given control over to Wilson and are keeping me and my men on for the time being purely in a support role."Fanboy tries to warn Parks that Wilson is actually the serial killer but Parks responds that it's the word of a group of accused terrorists vs the word of a highly decorated officer and multiple soldiers.  Fanboy insists that Michel and Mann could clear this up, but Parks responds by telling Fanboy that Mann claims to have been unconscious for most of the fight and Michael is dead.  Fanboy excitedly points out that Bradley was a witness, he shot General Wilson and watched him regenerate!  Parks points out that either Bradley is lying, or he's admitting to the attempted  murder of a United States military official; neither is going to curry much favor with the DHS.  Parks also mentions that Roger's ranting in the background about 'Showing this city an act of terrorism!' isn't helping things.Fanboy exasperatedly asks if there's any way to prove that someone's a superhuman and Parks admits that there's none that he knows of short of invasive testing and he doesn't have the clout to pull that off anymore.  Before they hang up Parks says that for what it's worth he believes them, but he's done all he can for them and is looking at losing his own career as a consequence.  Fanboy says that if worse comes to worst, that Parks is welcome at the warehouse.Parks thanks him, but says that he's not sure if moving from 'Unemployed' to 'Aiding Suspected Terrorists' is a lateral move.Fanboy is disheartened but calls Finch, figuring that this is what they're paying the greasy bastard for in the first place. Fanboy quickly explains the situation and the blackhearted PR expert seems oddly unperplexed.  "Is that all?" Finch asks with his trademark nonchalance.  "They're claiming it was a government facility right?  Well we're claiming it was a secret government prison (Fanboy points out that that's basically the truth and Finch replies that he won't let that hold him back) filled with dissidents.  They claim terrorist attack?  We say peaceful protest and an unfortunate gas line blockage.  By the time the media knows who's side they're on we'll have backdated permits and 2 dozen professional sign carriers claiming to have smelled a gas leak before the explosion.""You can do that?" Fanboy asks incredulously. "You want to claim they opened fire on your little group?  I'll get some bodies and video of-""No, no..." Fanboy cuts him off.  "Let's, umm...save that.  What about the DHS, should we be expecting them to raid our compound?""From what I hear, that lawyer Weisner is pretty good at this sort of situation; he'll keep the official stuff off your back.  Of course from what you've told me, it sounds like this Wilson guy doesn't go through official channels.  Keep sharp and stay out of sight until Friday.  I'll remind people why they love you.""What happens Friday?" Fanboy asks nervously."Friday is your coming out party.  The mayor is going to be holding a press conference about the state of crime in this city.  Don't know if you've heard, but several young men have 'tragically' been gunned down by a vicious group of bikers in the last week, I have it on good authority that these hooligans are going to have some choice words for our dear mayor."  Finch explains.Fanboy is both comforted and disgusted by their continued association with the man.Fanboy decides to share Finch's reassurances with McCrow and walks in on Bradley filming the aging hydromancer threatening to show this city terror like it's never experienced before if they don't watch their mouths.  He's ranting that when he decides to terrorise the city, IT WILL STAY TERRIFIED!Fanboy watches the spectacle in stunned silence for a moment and then wrestles Bradley for control of the camcorder.  McCrow doesn't appreciate this attempt at censorship and throws himself into the fray with both fists.  Fanboy's lack of powers makes this a fairly one sided fight, but McCrow relents when Fanboy says that he's heard from Finch.Fanboy explains the intricate web of lies that Finch is weaving for them and McCrow seems into it until he gets to the part about them being peaceful protestors."That's slander!"  McCrow shouts angrily.  "Where does he get off pinning this hippy s*** on me?"  McCrow continues to rant about Finch's solution and instructs Bradley to set the camera up again.Fanboy just groans and and shuts the door.It takes two days for Fanboy's power to return and as Finch instructed, they've spent this time inside; away from leering eyes and incriminating cameras.   The cabin fever starts catching up to them fast and everyone swears that they're being messed with.  Various personal objects disappear for an hour or two and then show up later in the strangest places.  With all the kids running around (Lucky Dan's family moved in and has started bonding with Sandy and her kids) it seems likely that they're to blame, but nothing's been pinned on them yet.Everyone's worried and gossiping about their current situation when Depaliamo pulls McCrow and Fanboy aside to speak to them.  He probes them about the killer and asks if it's true that this guy is murdering supers and taking their powers.  They don't appreciate this line of questioning and start whispering that maybe Depaliamo needs another few months in their Hole to reaffirm his loyalty.  Depaliamo grows pale and shakes his head.  He inquires if this guy is really running the DHS now and their suspicion grows."It's just...this guy's collecting supers right?"  Depaliamo says nervously.  "Didn't you turn over Johnny to DHS?"Fanboy and McCrow's eyes both widen and they stare at each other in shock as they remember the beating that Johnny casually gave them and picture the kind of damage that the killer could do if he decided to add Johnny's powers to his own.They aren't quite ready to settle the bad blood between them and Johnny on the Spot, but they know that they can't just leave him sitting in his cell.  The discussion is short and unanimous: if the DHS is going to claim that they attacked a government facility and label them as terrorists then they aren't going to disappoint them.They mull over several plans to extricate Johnny, but decide against a full frontal assault since their reputation most likely wouldn't survive the wholesale destruction of a shopping center even with Finch's gift for spin.  Instead, they settle on disguising themselves as shoppers and searching for an entrance on site.Fanboy dresses as casually as he can, but they discover that Roger apparently doesn't even own a shirt anymore, just two pairs of pants, an assortment of unflattering speedos, a pair of boots and a bullet riddled trench coat.  "McCrow....you're a millionaire!" Fanboy says incredulously.  "How the hell do you not own a shirt?  What happened to that suit I bought you?"Roger just shrugs and says that shirts have a tendency to get bloody, he doesn't bother with them anymore.  Fanboy starts to ask how the hell McCrow functions in society and then remembers their first meeting and has his answer.  Poorly.They scour the warehouse for suitable clothes, but Fanboy is closest in size to McCrow and he's still about two off.  When they finally load into their dark, windowless van; McCrow is sporting an Adventure Time t-shirt that hugs him a mite too snugly and exposes most of his navel.  McCrow grumbles that he feels ridiculous, but Fanboy quips "We're going to Walmart, you'll fit right in."Once they arrive they start poking around every nook and cranny as casually as possible, trying to find the entrance to the base below.  They're looking for a door that's locked and they find several, so they narrow their search to: A door that's locked and can't be kicked in by McCrow.  They find only one of those.It's off to the side, down a hallway marked 'Employees Only' so they aren't too concerned with being spotted.  McCrow wails against the door fruitlessly until his leg gets sore and he has to sit down.  Fanboy heads to the grocery section and purchases two gallons of water, sneaking them back to McCrow who immediately sets to work creating droplets while Fanboy uses ESP to scout the area ahead; all he sees is an immense stairwell that extends beyond his sight.The droplets slip behind the door and eventually manage to undo the latch, allowing our heroes inside.  They rush downstairs as quickly and as quietly as they can and by the time they reach the bottom McCrow is panting heavily and red in the face.  Fanboy mentions that he might want to look into some cardio and McCrow responds with an incomprehensible wheeze and dismissive wave of his hand.They're so distracted arguing with each other that they barely notice the three S.C.A.R. agents walking down the hall that they just turned into.  For a brief moment everyone stares at each other and then the soldiers shoulder their guns and open fire.  Fanboy holds up his hand to absorb the first volley and Roger dives back around the corner and collapses to the ground to catch his breath and his droplets charge forward excitedly.Fanboy slams one soldier into another, knocking the wind out of both of them and the droplets take this opportunity to leap onto one of the fallen men and gnaw at him viciously.  The uninjured soldier opens fire with a full-auto burst and one of his bullets grazes Fanboy painfully.  Roger continues trying to catch his breath.Fanboy launches the uninjured soldier back down the hallway and into the wall, but the guy rolls with the blow and seems fine.  The other two soldiers climb to their feet, one opens fire at Fanboy; the other attempts to shake off the droplets.  Roger takes a glance around the corner but continues panting, a stray bullet blows through the wall next to him.Fanboy telekinetically grapples one of the soldiers, attempting to crush the man's throat and suffocate him.  The other two men open fire and Fanboy stumbles back, his forcefield threatening to give.  McCrow rests a hand against the wall and closes his eyes, searching for water inside.The soldiers open fire once again but one of them is hamstrung by one of the droplets, the man goes down with a shout that fades away to a pained gurgle as the second droplet bites savagely into his throat.  Fanboy leaps behind cover to avoid the incoming fire and Roger erupts into his watery battleform, charging down the hallway with a roar.The soldiers open fire wildly into Roger's battleform and he collapses at their feet, his water rapidly becoming red around him.  Fanboy attempts to grapple one of the soldiers, but has to dodge out of the way to avoid a volley of his own.  The droplets continue eating the fallen soldier.One of the soldiers fires at Fanboy to keep him in cover, while the other puts another clip into Roger.  Fanboy leaps out of cover and snatches one of the men, slamming him into a nearby wall to knock the wind out of him.The remaining soldier opens fire at Fanboy, but Fanboy uses a heropoint to negate his attack.  The second soldier struggles against Fanboy's telekinetic grasp, but can't escape.Fanboy continues crushing his grappled soldier and the other slaps in a new clip and takes aim, however a thick liquid arm snatches the weapon out of the soldier's hand and Roger struggles to his feet.The unarmed soldier delivers a powerful front kick into McCrow, but his leg sinks into Roger's liquid form up to the thigh.  Roger clamps down painfully and hurls the frightened man into the wall face first, stunning him as Fanboy continues force choking his man.As the soldier attempts to regain his feet, McCrow forces the barrel of the man's own assault rifle into his rectum with all the force his hulking form can generate.  The man shouts in pain as McCrow's water form melts away, leaving Roger holding the  rest of the gun.   Fanboy's soldier finally passes out and he tosses the man aside, wincing at McCrow's display."Damn, that's just-" Fanboy starts, but is interrupted by the sound of McCrow pulling the trigger.  Roger's still panting and his shirt is riddled with fresh bullet holes, "That son of a bitch wouldn't stop shooting me." he growls, shaking with rage.  "He could dish it out, but he couldn't take it."Fanboy almost begins a fresh argument with this line of reasoning, but realizes that they just got into a firefight in DHS HQ.  He suggests that he and Roger should take a couple of S.C.A.R. uniforms to try and blend in and Roger agrees; although he has to mix and match since the uniforms are so damaged.  The droplets are sent ahead to cause mayhem and the PCs change clothing quickly.As Fanboy finishes up, he notices that Roger is going from soldier to soldier with a boot knife; mutilating the faces beyond recognition.  Fanboy asks what the hell he's doing and Roger points out that this way they won't know who's missing.  He suggests that Fanboy start dressing them in THEIR clothes to throw them off the track even further.Soldiers are on the way, so Fanboy points out that time is of the essence.  Roger reluctantly agrees, but bends down to disfigure the last face.  Fanboy grasps his arm and tells him that this guy is still alive and McCrow says that that's the point.  They argue for a brief moment, but Roger throws Fanboy off and before the telepath can react, it's too late to argue for the man any longer.  Whoever he was, he's unrecognizable now.Roger wipes his bloody hands on the Adventure Time shirt and they continue down the hallway, hearing the sound of gunfire up ahead as apparently the droplets have found their targets.They recognise the area they're in as being adjacent to the testing chambers and quickly navigate their way to the holding cells; avoiding the approaching gunfire as best they can.  The holding cells are currently unguarded and they begin peering into them, the first one they come across houses a thickly built creature that's more beast than man.  It's raging at the walls and Fanboy notices that it's left several imprints of its face in the metal walls.  He grins ear to ear and says that he'd like to get to know this guy.The creature turns around and notices the pair of them in their stolen uniforms.  "Aren't you a little small to be a S.C.A.R. trooper?" it growls at Fanboy."Are you with us, or against us?" Fanboy asks bluntly.  The creature cocks its head and Fanboy continues "We're here to burn S.C.A.R. to the ground.  Are you in or out?"The beastman laughs and nods.  "Open my cage and I'll kill whoever you want."Fanboy shrugs, "Good enough." and with a flick of his wrist he tears the creature's door out of place.  Before he can say a word the beast has burst forth and bolted down the hallway on all fours with a terrifying roar.  The creature is going so fast that as it takes the corner it briefly runs along with walls and out of sight.The only other current occupant of The Hole is Johnny himself, who's sitting on his bed dejectedly.  The crippled speedster glares at the pair when they approach his cell.  "The f*** do you a-holes want?  Come to finish the job?" he asks angilly."Johnny, we're going to get you out of here.  There's a psycho gunning for you." Fanboy explains, studying Johnny's cell door."Oh, we wouldn't want that.  What's he going to do?  Blow up my home?  Steal all my money?  Destroy my f-ing knees and leave me a cripple?  Oh wait, someone beat him to it." Johnny says with a sneer.Fanboy asks McCrow if Wilson could steal powers from a dead man and Roger just shrugs.  Fanboy sighs and removes the cell door regardless.  "We don't like this any more than you do you greasy guido bastard." Fanboy hisses, hoisting Johnny telekinetically.  "You're coming with us, but give us a reason and your crippled ass goes into the ocean once we're out of here."Johnny grumbles but doesn't seem to doubt that they'd do it, so keeps any further opinions to himself.  They flee back the way they came and McCrow attempts to call in a bomb threat to clear out the crowded shopping center above them; he finds that they're too deep underground to get a signal out.As they hurriedly turn a corner, they discover why the gunfire has stopped.  Half a dozen S.C.A.R. soldiers lay scattered across the hallway, torn to shreds.  The beastman is huddled over one of the fallen soldiers and is still raining down blows and snarling.  Fanboy gets his attention to suggest he join them and for a moment, the creature seems to consider doing the same to him.  It shakes its head and seems to clear its mind for a moment, before agreeing that it was time to go.McCrow suddenly has an idea and breaks off from the group.  Fanboy demands to know what he's doing and catches McCrow tossing a lab, the older man is releasing propane and any other substance he comes across into the air and gets a wicked glint in his eye when he suggests torching the place.Fanboy thinks for a moment and decides that they're really in too deep to stop now, so he agrees.  They go from room to room smashing anything that looks flammable and setting fires.  McCrow also begins destroying random water lines to keep the sprinklers from working.  They're pretty pleased with themselves, that is until and explosion rocks the compound accompanied by an earsplitting roar.  The roof begins crumbling and they glance back before they leave, just long enough to see a man stumble out of the morgue bathed in flame.  The man is screaming, though whether in pain or rage is impossible to determine, and plunges into a wall of flames; appearing to absorb them into himself, growing larger and more intense.  By the time they scamper up the stairs the man is more than 12ft tall and only vaguely humanoid...and still growing.They take the stairs quickly, but when they emerge into the shopping center it's a raging inferno.  A good portion of the floor has given out and the flames are spreading unnaturally fast.People are panicking, their escape is cut off and the heat is unbearable.  Roger begins removing the S.C.A.R. armor and suggests that Fanboy does the same.  Fanboy obliges but asks why they're stripping.  Roger grins and says that he doesn't want S.C.A.R. to get the credit for this.  Fanboy grins in return and slips on his mask.Tossing his body armor aside and standing barechested amidst the flames McCrow grits his teeth and forces a geiser of water to explode from the floor and ceiling, washing over the area and clearing a path outside.  Fanboy uses his abilities to keep any nearby civilians from getting caught in a sudden collapse and two of them begin directing an evacuation of the building.They're surprisingly thorough and scour the store to make sure nobody is left behind, when they emerge carrying Johnny and covered in soot, a news crew swarms them.  McCrow bows out of an interview and slips away to avoid being noticed; but Fanboy gives the camera a winning smile and says that wherever disaster strikes; he'll be here for the citizens.Somebody asks if the rumors that General Wilson has lobbed against them are true and Fanboy stares directly into the camera and responds.  "Certain factions of the government are afraid of us.  Afraid that we will make them redundant..make them useless.  I don't blame them for being concerned with job security, but stunts like THIS," he says gesturing at the fire "Cannot be excused."The crowd erupts, many are cheering the heroes for saving the day; others are asking if the government is responsible for today's tragedy.  Fanboy waves them off with a smile and causes a mass hallucination that allows him to escape without them even realizing it.Maybe blowing up a shopping center wasn't such a bad career move after all..."I'm glad you boys could join me."  General Wilson says as Mann and Michael enter his office.  The two men are confused because they thought Parks was the one who had called for them.  They're both distressed to learn that Wilson is their new boss.The General moves to shake their hands and thanks them for their assitance the other day, Mann is as professional as always and downplays his contribution to driving off the terrorist faction known as McCrow and Friends; however Michael wears a visible scowl as Wilson tries to take his hand.  Wilson asks what's wrong and Michael scoffs, saying that he's not in the habit of shaking the hands of men who have murdered him.Wilson seems taken aback for a moment and Mann frowns in confusion before Michael elaborates.  "Do you not remember me?  You ordered my death every day for six months.  You turned my life into a science experiment and then got mad when I didn't break when you were done."Wilson is relieved that his secret is still safe and shakes his head sadly.  "We try to do the right thing Mr Stockton, we don't always succeed.  Regardless of how you feel about me however, I'm sure you'll agree that what we're doing NOW is necessary.  Many of these superhumans we've accidentally unleashed on the public are monsters and MUST be contained.  Take this case for example." Wilson says, tossing a folder of pictures on the table.Mann begins laying them out and sees an attractive young woman with dark hair and and a deep smile.  The photos are an assortment from over the past few years and they're mostly your typical family outing pictures.  The last one however shows her crushed, bloody remains smeared across a parking lot."Her name was Michelle, what's left of her was buried on Wednesday." Wilson states plainly.   "She was violated and beaten with more force than any human could generate, and we know exactly who did it."Michael and Mann look up from the photos, Mann's jaw is set in anger but Michael's rage seems to have been diverted by the gruesome images."Six years ago this girl was a freshman in Professor Bryan Gerald's classroom.  He coerced her into a relationship that ended with her in the hospital and charges being pressed against Gerald.  He hasn't gotten over their time together.  From some of the police reports she's filed over the years he seems to have blamed her for the loss of his reputation, job and family.  Seems like he got his vengeance."  Wilson explains."How do you know it's him?" Michael asks."We have a short list of people of interest from the crash; people who are believed to have escaped the crash before emergency crews arrived.   We've been following him for a while now.  It seems to have been time well spent.""We'll find him." Mann assures Wilson."Make sure to bring him in ALIVE." Wilson stresses.  "We need him for questioning."Michael cocks his head.  "What kind of questioning?""I'm not at liberty to say." Wilson answers."Are  you keeping here or offsite again?" Michael presses further."Off-site.  I've got a new facility being constructed as we speak."  Wilson says, getting annoyed.Michael shakes his head "I don't like the thought of losing another prisoner due to lack of personnel, I really think that-""Luckily, you don't have to like it." Wilson interrupts bluntly, "You just have to DO it.  Now, consider yourselves dismissed."Neither Mann or Michael appreciate Wilson's attitude, but set out to find Professor Gerald regardless.  They take what files they can find on him and requisition what they need for their assignment; Mann is surprised when Michael straps on a gun identical to his but Michael explains that after getting hit by Mann's sedatives, he's convinced that Mann can handle him if things get too rough.They track down Professor Gerald's home without much effort and are surprised to see the Professor casually exiting the building as they pull up.  "Excuse me, Professor?" Agent Mann calls out as they approach.  "We'd like to ask you a few questions."Professor Gerald stops in his tracks and asks how he can help them.  Michael lies and tells the Professor that they have reason to believe that somebody is threatening his life and that they need to bring him in for further questions.  Professor Gerald laughs and waves them off.Mann cuts to the chase and tells him that they have reason to believe that he's connected to the death of Michelle Gray and the Ventnor City Bus Hijacking.  The Professor seems shocked for a moment and then smiles calmly, "How did you know I was on the bus?" he asks sheepishly.Michael admits that they didn't until now, but demands that the professor turns himself over to the authorities.  The professor agrees and extends his hands in a gesture of submission.  "Of course." he says pleasantly.They cuff Professor Gerald and lead him to their car, surprised at how easy it was this time.  As they're loading him up, he gets chattier."I knew that it was only a matter of time before we started making the news." Professor Gerald says as Mann starts the car.  "I've been waiting for someone to show up for me ever since that young man, what's his name, Fanboy?  Ever since he started making the news I just knew that someone would be coming for me." he says, sounding pleased with himself."I'm surprised that he chose such a ridiculous name.  He could have been our ambassador to you people, but instead he's just one more clown in the circus...." Professor Gerald continues, tsking.Michael snaps at him "Does this babbling have a point?"A strange sound starts to come from the back of the car, the sound of metal dragging against asphalt."Oh, just making conversation.  You know, I've adopted a moniker of my own." Professor Gerald says, his voice several degrees deeper than before.  "Don't think me pretentious, but Bryan no longer seems fitting for one such as me.  You may refer to me...as Cottus.""Who?" Michael asks as he glances back to see that the professor takes up the entire back seat at this point and is still growing.  "Mann, stop the car!" he shouts and braces himself as his partner slides to a stop.  The two of them leap out in time to watch their roof burst from the pressure inside."Cottus." the growing form of the professor repeats, shrugging off the shell of the car as he continues to expand.  "Forgive me, perhaps I should have chosen one of his better known brethren.  Perhaps you are more familiar with the exploits of Briareus or Gyges?" his booming voice chuckles.  The creature emerging from the car is nearly 30ft tall with 3 sets of arms; the first set is massive and thick; the second are leaner but still muscular and located under the first; the third are thin and gangly and protrude from his abdominals.Mann and Michael continue gawking as 'Cottus' finishes his transformation."You know.  The Hetaconchires?  The hundred armed titans who assisted the gods ascension to Olympus?" the professor shouts exasperatedly.Mann and Michael glance at each other as they draw their weapons.  Mann removes his tranq gun from its holster as Michael draws his .45 and the two of them start spreading out."WHAT DO YOU PEOPLE EVEN DO IN SCHOOL?" Cottus bellows, red in the face as he hurls the broken remains of the car directly into Michael.  Stockton is smeared over about 20ft of road before the twisted wreckage comes to a stop.Mann fires a tranq into Cottus's stomach but the hulking monster doesn't seem to notice.  It does however perform a mighty leap towards Mann but the agent manages to roll out of the way at the last second.  Meanwhile, Michael starts to crawl out of the now burning wreckage and starts popping bones back into place.Cottus lunges forward and snatches up Mann who responds by firing a dart directly into the brute's face.  Cottus drops his victim and stumbles backwards a step, light headed.  At this point Michael is back in the game and he opens fire with everything he's got.  The bullets bounce off the titan's skin; but the intent behind them enrages Cottus all the more.In the blink of an eye Cottus has snatched Michael up in one massive hand and puts his fist (along with the hapless Stockton) through the brick wall of an adjoining building.    The blow shatters every bone in Michael's body, yet he manages to mainain his grip in his gun.  Cottus follows up his aggressive display by using Stockton to crush a car flat and Michael's new .45 gets lost in the commotion.  Mann opens fire with his tranq gun again and despite Cottus's immense size, the drugs begin taking effect.Seeing that things could possibly against him, Cottus drops Michael and attempts to leap away.  His system is sluggish and he barely manages to make it halfway up an adjoining building, he spends the rest of his turn climbing the building and Mann takes careful aim; firing once more.  The dart catches Cottus in his big, bare ass and the monster collapses at the top of the building. ((I couldn't roll a Fort save to save my life as Cottus.  Even re-rolling them I couldn't hit a simple DC17.))Michael can walk again and tells Mann to get them a transport while he finishes this.  Mann places a call back to HQ and requests a helicopter to come take this thing away.  Meanwhile, Michael runs up to the building and decides to climb to the top to continue the fight.  He rolls a 10 and I tel him that he makes it just past the 1st window sill and warn him that this might take a while.  His player laughs and says "I'm going to climb this building to kick his ass or die trying!  I don't care how long it takes."  The next turn he rolls a 3 and falls about 10ft, knocking the wind out of himself.  He says "I give up, I'm just going to lay here; I'm sure Mann can handle things from here."Mann on the other hand decides to take the stairs and charges up them at full tilt.  Once Michael realizes that the stairs might be the answer to his predicament gets up and charges after Mann.  No sooner do they reach the roof than Cottus has regained consciousness and is shakily getting back to his feet.Mann raises his weapon to fire and Cottus interrupts him with a powerful overhand blow, squashing Mann like an irritating fly.  Michael, realizing he's unarmed and that Cottus is on the rampage pulls out every ounce of his acrobatic talent to run up Cottus's lower body; nearly reaching his waist.  Since a naked man has few accessible hand holds Michael makes do with what he has and bear hugs Cottus's...man parts.  Cottus is obviously unhappy with this development, but it quickly gets worse as Michael swings his legs and uses the generated momentum to donkey kick the rampaging professor's testicles.  Cottus gasps in pain and sinks to one knee, the sudden motion causes Michael to lose his grip and tumble to the roof.Michael lunges for Mann's tranquilizer gun but Cottus snatches him up first and with a wordless roar hurls the accident prone agent down the block where he bounces over and destroys several parked cars before coming to a rest as a bloody pile of meat and nerves.By the time Michael has recovered Cottus is gone and he makes his way back to the roof top to check on Mann, as he finally steps onto the roof he draws breath in shock.Mann is still laying where Cottus left him, most of his insides on the outside and suffering more broken bones than most men can name.  Neither of Mann's legs are facing the same direction  and his entire chest cavity is crushed obscenely.  Michael drops down to check Mann's pulse, but discovers that Mann's right arm is no longer connected to the rest of him and his eyes have rolled up in shock.  Mann's entire body feels like a wet sack of broken glass. Michael tries to think of something he can do, anything at all; but first aid was never his strong suit and his limited training has seemingly abandoned him after years of ignoring it.  In the distance he can hear the steady 'whump, whump, whump' of Mann's requested air support and begins waving his arms wildly; hoping that someone more qualified that himself may be able to save his partner's life.For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.  The day that Roger McCrow and Samell Hamilton decided that they were too big to bow to the DHS, the DHS decided that they were too big to ignore.   Thus was born The New Blood Project.Nobody knows how many prototypes have been produced, least of all the prototypes themselves; however know how many prototypes remain: seven.  The final line of beta testing before The New Blood Project gives the world the supermen that it believes the world deserves.General Wilson personally greets the last batch of volunteers after a thorough physical; dividing them into pairs and congratulating them, pair by pair.  The last pair he approaches consists of a emanciated asian man with greasy, unkempt hair putting on ragged clothing that smells of the street and a well manicured blonde man in an immaculately tailored suit; adjusting a neatly pressed silk tie.Wilson speaks to both men briefly, from his files he knows that the asian man's name is Adam Zing; a homeless man who'd accepted $50 and free lodging in exchange for participation in a project that (unknown to him) had a less than 50% survival rate.  Surprisingly, the blonde man is Dr Steinz; a renowned psychiatrist who volunteered for the project out of the blue; his enthusiasm was suspicious but the project needed all the bodies it could find.Once the pleasantries are out of the way, General Wilson explains that they've passed their physicals with flying colors but the project still needs field testing before the project is considered a success.  He tells the two men that he's contracted outside help to oversee their training and sends them down the hall to meet their supervisor.Several doors down, Mr. Zing and Dr Steinz find an attractive young woman milling about and she introduces herself as Tiffany.  She skips the niceties and asks what they can do, her abruptness catches them off guard and she transforms into her diamond form.  They stare at her with a little awe and with a flick of her wrist she sends a razor sharp shard past Mr. Zing's face; drawing blood (to her surprise, she didn't mean to hit him; but didn't apologize either) and opening his face.  "What. Can. You. Do?" she repeats.Neither of them had explored the full extent of their powers, however Mr. Zing extends his hands and focuses his energy until a burst of air whips about the room; lifting a table and flipping it violently against the wall.  She seems impressed and nods.  They start calling him Mr. Amazing, whether patronizingly or endearingly it's hard to tell.Tiffany asks Dr Steinz to showcase his ability but Steinz declines, saying that whatever this project may have done to him, he believes that his true strength lies in rational discussion, leading to a satisfactory resolution for all involved.  Tiffany decides that she doesn't like this pompous windbag and summons another crystalline shard to her hand, however Dr Steinz simply sighs and rests a hand on her shoulder; saying that violence among colleagues accomplishes nothing and urges her to seek a peaceful resolution to their disagreement, he points out that her diamond form is wholly unnecessary and that if they're to work together, their partnership should form from a place of mutual respect and trust; not fear and intimidation.  She walks away shaking her head, hating the weenie more than before; but no longer in the mood to eviscerate him.They discover that Wilson has charged Tiffany (and by extention themselves) with assaulting the arms storage of a local mobster named Nicholai Chavenski.  Wilson was very explicit that he wanted no survivors and the cargo intact.They requisition a truck from the garage and Tiffany forces Dr. Steinz to drive; saying that he's no good for anything else and she needs her hands free to murder.  It doesn't take long for them to make their way to a barn just outside of town, eight men in overalls are unloading a massive truck while six other men stand  guard around the perimeter, assault rifles drawn.It's impossible to miss their truck baring down on the property and the soldiers shout warnings to turn back; however Tiffany hangs out the window and sprays a volley of crystal into one of the armed men's chest; the man collapses to the ground, bleeding.  The soldiers open fire with everything they've got and everyone but Tiffany ducks for cover, she simply lets the bullets drop off her like water off a duck.  Several workmen take cover behind the truck while the rest bolt into the barn itself.Tiffany leaps out of their vehicle and suffers a barrage of bullets so severe that she stumbles back a step.  Mr Amazing panics and tries to flee, to his surprise he transforms into a thick gas and slips out of the car through the bullet holes.  Dr Steinz steps out of the car casually and approaches the soldiers with his hands up in a gesture of peace. "I'm unarmed gentlemen." he calls plainly.  "As you can see, I'm of no threat to anyone; least of all yourselves.  No, the ones you should fear are the murderers behind you; they would slit your throat to the last man if you give them the chance."Four of the armed soldiers grow panicked, spinning around and opening fire on their comrades behind the truck.  Two are killed outright and the others leap down to avoid the spray of bullets, the rest of the workmen begin loudly barricading themselves in the barn.  Tiffany lunges forward and seizes the last soldier in his right mind and snaps the man's neck effortlessly. Mr Amazing floats above the chaos and causes a powerful gust of wind which tips over the truck and crushes the men using it for cover.Dr Steinz approaches the barndoor and knocks politely.  "You're putting up barriers between us, but you know that they're unneccesary.  We all want the same thing; so please, drop your weapons and come out so we can talk this through."A single dissenting voice begins shouting, asking the rest of the workers what the hell they're doing and trying to talk some sense into them; the rest scoff and reply that everything's going to be fine.  Tiffany pops open a crate to check what's inside and finds several high quality assault weapons with various accessories.  Mr Amazing slips into the barn with his gaseous form and descends on the dissenter, cutting the man off from oxygen and causing the guy to pass out; allowing the rest of the workers to dig their way out in peace.  As the workers inside file out, Dr Steinz steps aside and calls to the soldiers saying "You see how these men charge you?  They have murder in their eyes."A quick volley of lead kills all but two of the workers who suddenly realize what's happening and charge back inside in a blind panic, one of them dives behind a crate for cover; the other huddles under a low shelf.  Mr Amazing strikes the man behind the crate with a burst of wind and knocks him unconscious; Tiffany continues pulling apart crates, finding more guns in various models."What's that man's name?" Dr Steinz asks one of the soldiers, indicating the man who fled further into the warehouse.  "Joseph." one of the soldiers replies helpfully."Ah, of course." Dr Steinz says with an appreciative grin.  He suddenly looks worried and points at the four soldiers who have gathered in a circle behind him, he tsks.  "Look at the man to your left.  Now look at the man to your right.  They're both traitors and mean to turn you in to the authorities." he says scoldingly.As Dr Steinz walks into the barn he hears four assault rifles bark repeatedly and four dull thuds, then silence."Joseph." Dr Steinz calls out.  "Joseph, please don't be afraid.  I'm a doctor, I'm here to help."He hears a whimper and kneels down, glancing until he sees the trembling form of the last Russian.  "Joseph..." Dr Steinz says with a pained sigh "I know that it hurts.  I know that you're scared and confused and don't understand what's happening, but just listen to my voice and it will all be okay.  Now take a deep breath.  Good, good...  Now NEVER exhale, alright Joseph?  No matter how much it feels like you need to."Tiffany approaches as the Russian begins turning purple and asks what's going on.  Dr Steinz waves her off dismissively and says that everything is fine.  She orders Steinz and Mr Amazing to start loading the truck but he shakes her head, smiles and says "I believe it would go faster if YOU loaded it."Two hours later Tiffany has loaded all the crates she can into their vehicle and scowls at the useless men inside, glad she kept them out of her way but unsure of exactly why she didn't want them underfoot.  She finds Dr Steinz sitting in the manager's office drinking a cup of coffee and paging through a magazine and Mr Amazing passed out on a couch, covered in chips and cookie crumbs.  She tells them it's time to go and asks what they think they should do with the rest of the merchandise.Dr Steinz says that Wilson should be informed of it and leave it at that, but both Tiffany and Mr Amazing want to sell it.  The problem is that neither knows anyone that wants it.  Tiffany suggests selling it to the Russian mob, since they bought it once they'd probably want it enough to buy it again; but not even Mr. Amazing thinks that's a good idea; so she agrees to let Wilson's men come by later and pick it up.As they climb into the car however, she sends a text to Fanboy telling him to grab McCrow and come pick up some guns; she figures that she'll squeeze them for some cash later.The drive back is uneventful and Wilson is ecstatic to hear that they're combat ready.  After getting everyone's description of the events, he says that they've even exceeded his expectations.  He extends his hand and Tiffany takes it, he smiles broadly and she feels funny; but says nothing.  Wilson turns to Dr Steinz who accepts the offered hand and also feels like he's suddenly missing something.  Wilson offers his hand to Mr Amazing, however the addled homeless man doesn't like to be touched and just waves his appreciation back.  Wilson tries to hide his disappointment, saying that they've done so well that he's going to give them each three days rest at a local hotel.  He says that he doesn't want them to strain themselves so that the next leg of their evaluation will be accurate.Mr Amazing enjoys his downtime immensely, he empties the mini-bar as fast as they restock it; orders room service so often that he makes himself sick and when he leaves; does so with his pockets full of tiny bottles of liquor and various snacks.Dr Steinz spends his time catching up on work, letting his secretary know that he expects to return to practice within another week or so and assures her that his vacation is going swimmingly.Tiffany attempts to rob a jewelry store.  I say attempts, because before her powers she was just a particularly daring shoplifter; after her powers she became a daring catburglar and successful smash and grab artist.  She discovers that her powers aren't functioning properly and calls Wilson about it while still outside the store she just attempted to tear a hole in.  He says that he'll schedule her a physical, but puts it off until the three days are up.  By the time she's looked over, her powers are back and the physician says that it's most likely just her body adapting to all of the new changes.After Tiffany's checkup is over, General Wilson assemples her and the team and says that he has the ultimate test.  Even Parks' lapdogs couldn't pull this one off.  He explains to them that Doctor Luvless has been leisurely robbing a bank for the past two hours, for some reason he's just barricaded himself inside and keeps provoking the police.  Wilson says that he's keeping the press out of this, but wants it resolved quickly and demands Luvless brought in alive.The team agrees and bolts off to save the day.  Once they arrive they discover four of the black and gold Luvbots standing on the steps like silent guardians.  They make no move forwards, however several bodies lay on the steps themselves and the police seem to refuse to go past a certain line.  The cops fire off the occasional round, but it does nothing of any note and seems to ding harmlessly off the Luvbots.Tiffany approaches in diamond form and demands to know why the police aren't doing anything and they respond that they aren't throwing their lives away for nothing.  She furrows her brow, snatches one of the officers and hurls him at the bank doors where he lands with a hard splat.  Before he can even stand up one of the Luvbots fires off a ray point blank that leaves him as nothing more than charred ash."Well that answers that..." Tiffany says with a surprised look.  Mr Amazing turns into his gas form and rushes the steps, howevever his form is incorporeal, not invisible and the Luvbots fire; their superheated rays scorching even his intangible body.  He slips into the bank itself and discovers Luvless sitting boredly, tinkering with a with a small sphere.  Doctor Luvless looks up and smirks.  "Well you're new." and tosses a pair of the spheres which quickly project a hard light exterior which becomes the familiar form of the Luvbots.Dr Steinz asks one of the still shocked officers if there's a back entrance and then heads around to try and force it open.Tiffany charges forward, smashing one of the Luvbots with a powerful blow as Mr Amazing suddenly decides that inside isn't where he wants to be and floats into an overhead vent.  Dr Steinz finds the back door and attempts to kick it in, but accomplishes nothing.  The Luvbots outside fire on Tiffany, scorching her even through her diamond exterior and Luvless fires up into the vents after Amazing, however he misses the homeless hero and instead blows a hole in the roof.Tiffany suddenly decides she doesn't want to fight the Luvbots (she hadn't fought them before and didn't realize how scary they were) and scampers up the wall everything she's got; just in time to see Mr Amazing fleeing from the hole in the roof.  As they pass each other, Amazing shouts "You don't want to go in there!" and she glances down, seeing Doctor Luvless and four more Luvbots.  Dr Steinz has found a pipe in the alleyway and is attempting to pry open the door, but accomplishes nothing.Mr Amazing smashes one of the Luvbots on the step with a personal tornado as he flies past them and beyond their range; Tiffany finds Dr Steinz and carries him to the roof; she tells him that she's going to jump down with him and then he can talk to the robots and make them stand down.  Dr Steinz looks at her like she's crazy and tells her that he isn't some sort of magic robot whisperer.  She doesn't listen and leaps down anyway.Dr Steinz hides behind Tiffany as she barely tanks the first wave of blasts from the Luvbots, he calmly explains to Doctor Luvless why the good doctor should take a nap, but Luvless shakes the mental control off and laughs appreciatively at the attempt.  Tiffany throws a crystalline shard into Luvless's knee that stops his laughter dead and nearly makes him collapse.Mr Amazing continues directing his tornado to smash Luvbots on the outside while dodging their fire.  Doctor Luvless fires at Dr Steinz with his Powerstaff, missing the gabby psychatrist and putting a new hole in the wall.  The rest of the Luvbots open fire and Tiffany lunges forward, slicing through one neatly.  Dr Steinz looks at  Luvless's staff and has an idea.  "Doctor Luvless, doctor to doctor; your contraption intrigues me.  Obviously that's more power than any one man can control, wouldn't you like to share the burden for a bit?" Dr Steinz asks pleasantly.  Doctor Luvless doesn't know why, but tosses the staff to Steinz; happy to be rid of it.  Tiffany immediately shouts for Steinz to use it, but after looking at the dozen different buttons on it Steinz refuses.  She asks why and he says that it's because he's a doctor and thus smart enough not to press random buttons on a strange device.Tiffany lunges onto Steinz and plucks the staff from his hands greedily.  She presses a random button and immediately begins to levitate; she cackles with joy.  Dr Steinz is red in the face, he nearly stammers but finds his voice and says as calmly as he can manage "You need to give me the staff so that we can capture Doctor Luvless once and for all."Tiffany agrees, though she's not sure why, and tosses Steinz the Powerstaff; however Steinz' distraction allowed Doctor Luvless to break free and he responds by extending a golden gauntlet.  There's an indescribable pull and Steinz has the staff yanked from his hands, Luvless snatches it easily and smiles.  "Thanks." Luvless says and with the press of a button he's simply gone.Both Steinz and Tiffany just stare at where he used to be, nearly slackjawed as Mr Amazing finishes the last of the Luvbots outside.  The Luvbots inside begin opening fire and Steinz rushes for the door, abandoning the hostages inside, as Tiffany suffers the brunt of their attacks.  As Steinz runs out the door and Mr Amazing is going in Steinz shouts over his shoulder "Don't go in there!"Mr Amazing smashes a Luvbot inside, providing Tiffany the chance to also abandon the hostages and bolt out the bank door after Steinz.  Dr Steinz gets to their car first, leaps behind the wheel and manages to get it cranked and in gear just before Tiffany reaches him.  As he's pealing off Tiffany fires a crystalline spray that shreds the side of the vehicle and nearly pops his tire.  Tiffany begins cursing and pointlessly runs after him, forgetting all about Mr Amazing still in the bank.It's a harrowing fight, but Mr Amazing manages to rally the police, storm the bank; kill the Luvbots and free the hostages without any further injury.  He's hailed as a hero all around although he doesn't show his true form, afraid that the public might turn away from him if they find that he's one of the homeless.Dr Steinz barges into General Wilson's office, incensed.  "That woman is THE MOST unprofessional, trecherous mercenary I've ever met.  I REFUSE to be placed under her inept supervision."General Wilson looks up from his papers at the unhappy doctor and stands to face him.  "You will go where I assign you until the project is officially over.  I don't want to hear anymore about-""You will reassign me to a professional for the remainder of my term.  You don't want to waste talents such as mine on a B-list hit-crew." Steinz says calmly and forcefully.General Wilson stares at the doctor for a moment and tells him to sit down.  Dr Steinz starts to repeat his 'request' and Wilson barks. "SIT DOWN!"A vacant look goes over Dr Steinz' face and he flops to the ground without really knowing why.  He looks around himself in confusion.Wilson's face cracks in a predatory grin.  "You will learn some respect Steinz.  Although I do agree...you seem to be wasted as a prototype.  Luckily for you, an opening has just appeared and I think you're the perfect man to fill it."As Wilson helps Dr Steinz to his feet he says "Report first thing in the morning and I'll introduce you to your new partner.  A fella named Stockton.  I think you'll like him."</blockquote>

Verification