"Let's get this straight. YOU'RE the sidekick!" A Mutants & Masterminds Camp. Journal

[Sith_Happens]

Oh yeah, who's been making those character portraits and using what?

[Kid Jake]

I just reread this. I am so jealous of your players, it sounds like you run a great game.

Thanks

I'm continuously surprised that things are going this smoothly, we've tried playing over Roll20 in the past but the games always fizzled out from lack of commitment(Fanboy said he physically dreaded playing D&D). Neither of them liked the idea of us sitting around a table playing nerdgames and pretending to be characters, but I convinced McCrow with things like random gaming podcasts, The Gamers: Dorkness Rising and his love of Justice League. Fanboy we invited to smoke a cigar in McCrow's study and just sort of ambushed with 'We're playing this now! Sit down!' which his why his first version of the character looks like he has special needs.

In person though I can violently gesture (which is like 90% of my communication strategy) and sort of feel out what they're into and what they're not, so I can say 'Welp, this storyline isn't panning out; better throw a murder in here.' Plus our banter sort of builds up and encourages them to go crazy. We're laughing and joking around and then suddenly McCrow shouts that he head-butts a widow for not telling them enough about her dead husband, or Fanboy decides to permanently cripple a super-speedster for pissing him off.

Oh yeah, who's been making those character portraits and using what?

HeroMachine. It's an awesome little site that makes whipping up a portrait/token super easy. They made their own (which is one of the reasons I think they got so into their characters, 'cause they could show me how ridiculous they wanted to look) and I made all of the villains. Here's Luvless and his Powerstaff if you're interested:

Spoiler

Show

[Sith_Happens]

HeroMachine. It's an awesome little site that makes whipping up a portrait/token super easy.

Does it have any other poses or just the one?

Here's Luvless and his Powerstaff if you're interested:

Spoiler

Show

Hm, I was imagining something more like this:

Spoiler

Show

[Kid Jake]

I think that might be the way to go

But I'm pretty sure it's just the one pose per body type. The paid version might have more, but I'm a cheapskate so I wouldn't know.

[Kid Jake]

Alright, we had another session Saturday night and we made some more progress. We also had a new player join us, Roger's girlfriend caught the last twenty minutes or so of the session we had teaching my sister the ropes and thought it looked pretty fun. So we put together someone who'd fit right in with the group (a high class shoplifter who's stolen jewelry ended up becoming the basis of her power, the ability to become a diamond like substance at will) and did what we could to introduce her to the setting and leave a good first impression. Hopefully she'll be back for future episodes.



Picking Up Where We Left Off

Spoiler

Show

We open up where we left our heroes. The bikers are driving off laughing over their shoulders and Roger is splayed out in the middle of the street; his very bones exposed to the elements thanks to the force of Baritone's mighty bellow. Fanboy falls down next to McCrow's mangled body and frantically begins trying to resuscitate the hydromancer as he phones Dr Kavlight in hopes that their ambulance is ready to go.

Miraculously (Needed to roll a 15, rolled a 20), Fanboy not only stabilizes Roger but even manages to wake him up. McCrow is none too happy with the state of things and isn't completely sure if his spine still works, but he's clinging to life with all he's got.

Bradley and Kavlight finally show up in the ambulance and Dr Kavlight reveals that he's installed what basically amounts to a plastic tub filled with water specifically for Roger's unique physiology. McCrow's wounds begin knitting themselves together of their own volition once he's submerged and he spends the rest of the ride home isolated in his tub, napping in peace.

When they show up at the warehouse they discover that the Prophet has collapsed at his station and one of the Bradley's claims that it looked like he had a bad trip, screaming about burning alive out of the blue and then passing out. Roger is moved to finish recovering in the privacy of his own bathroom while Kavlight gives the fallen precog a full exam.

Morning comes and Fanboy gets a call from Agent Parks saying that something's come up and he'll be in Washington for a week or so. Parks emphasizes that he still intends on recovering Depaliamo once he returns and Fanboy continues playing stupid. Parks is obviously irritated but tells Fanboy that he'll be picking up a couple of experimental EMP grenades to deal with Doctor Luvless's toys after their little talk the other day all the same. Fanboy almost considers trading Depaliamo for the grenades as a symbol of good faith, but quickly decides against it.

Parks also takes this opportunity to warn Fanboy that some of his agents in the field have reported that Tree King may not be as dead as previously believed (Fanboy's player actually groaned and called shenanigans about that since McCrow had previously turned the guy into firewood, but he rolled with it.) and that he's planning something big. Fertilizer and other chemicals are being stolen from various government contractors and the field agent that discovered the thefts believes that Tree King is growing an army. Fanboy isn't convinced that it's as cut and dry as that, but tells Parks that he'll look into it.

Parks starts to hang up before he remembers his initial reason for calling. A new superhuman woke up in the hospital a few days before and as much as he hates the idea of having McCrow and Fanboy having an influence on her, he needs somebody to look out for her with the serial killer running around and his go-to man is already breaking in a new partner. Fanboy doesn't like being put on babysitting duty, but agrees to pick her up anyway.

Diamonds and Chauvinism Are Forever

Spoiler

Show

Fanboy wakes McCrow up in his tub and tells him to get dressed, they're having company over. Roger stumbles around until he's basically dressed (Trench coat? Check. Sunglasses? Check. Good to go.) and rides with Fanboy to pick up the new girl, Tiffany.

They get to her apartment and she lets them in after a short introduction. Roger tells her to get her sh**, it's time to go; but Fanboy is a bit more diplomatic and explains that they woke up from the accident a couple of months ago and have been using their powers to aid the Department of Homeland Security ever since. Fanboy explains that in exchange for their services the DHS has been lenient with their repeated, and sometimes public, abuses of power.

Tiffany's a pretty reasonable girl so she sees the wisdom in this arrangement and agrees to join them... but of course McCrow can't ever let anything go smoothly. He snorts and says that he's glad she decided to come easy, he wouldn't want to hurt her.

She stops in her tracks and just gawks at him. "Excuse me?"

Roger smirks and says "Less talking, more packing. Chop, chop now."

She warns him to change his tone or he'll be the one limping back home and he bursts into laughter. "But...but you're a woman!" he says between guffaws.

Tiffany lunges at McCrow and they roll initiative.

Now this is generally the portion of the story where the sexist tough guy gets taught a lesson and learns to grudgingly respect the fairer sex. However if you've been following the campaign you know that Roger has 2 powers: Control of water and a superhuman ability to avoid comeuppance.

She rolls a 3. He rolls a 20. He gives her a right hook to the midsection that knocks the wind out of her and stuns her for a round, uses his improved grab to move into a clinch and head-butt her (she's rolling terribly) and staggers/stuns her again, and uses his free turn from her being stunned to throw her through her own coffee table where she lays unmoving amid the glass and wood splinters. Fanboy just stands there with his mouth agape as Roger towers over the unconscious girl panting and looking for an excuse to kick her while she's down.

Fanboy finally sputters "She said she was coming with us! Why the hell would you do that?"

McCrow rarely has a reason for anything and just shrugs. "She had an attitude problem. Pack a bag, I'll load her up."

Fanboy doesn't argue, there's no point. He just sighs, grabs a bag and starts shoveling in necessities.


A few hours later Tiffany wakes up in a dark, damp cell. Her head is ringing and she's bandaged up pretty good, but there doesn't seem to be any lasting injuries. She takes stock of her surroundings and notices a young man sleeping soundly in the cell next to hers and a set of stairs leading up.

With a smirk she rubs 3 large diamonds embedded in her right palm on the day of the bus accident and as she does so she becomes a living diamond herself. She assumes the classic knife-hand pose and cuts through five bars with a single swipe. In seconds she's escaped from her cell and starts to free the young man as well in an attempt at an ally, but finds his cell door unlocked and decides not to trust him.

Tiffany sneaks upstairs but is unprepared for the barrage of security cameras and Bradleys patrolling the area and is quickly spotted. Shouts ring out and she lays one of the clones out with superhuman blow across the temple and advances like the terminator as the remaining clones open fire to no avail.

She calls out for that son of a bitch McCrow to face her, but there's no response. Fanboy and Sandra step out to see what the hubbub's about, but McCrow is nowhere to be seen. Everyone steps out of Tiffany's way as she climbs the steps towards McCrow's indicated sleeping quarters still enraged from their earlier tussle.

She reaches his room and presses her ear against the door and hears movement inside. "I hear you in there you cowardly bastard, come out and fight me NOW!"

There's no response, so Tiffany digs her claw like fingers into Roger's door and simply tears the whole thing off its hinges.

There's a watery explosion corresponding with the removal of the door that flings Tiffany off the catwalk and seems to follow her down.

She stumbles to her feet a little rattled and then gazes up and notices that the water doesn't seem to be flowing away, but is shaped suspiciously like a 30ft monster.

"You want to fight? Alright. We'll fight." McCrow says lifting his forklift over his head like Cain with his rock.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Tiffany says, assuming a fetal position and protecting her head; unsure whether a four and a half ton hunk of machinery is a match for diamond skin, but unwilling to test the theory. The fight gone out of her, she grits her teeth and hopes for the best and is more than a little relieved when the forklift goes back down.

She continues protecting herself even after Roger reassumes his old form and just asks "What the hell are you?"

While this is going on, nobody really notices the handful of Russians that arrive or that Chavenski is out of bed and dragging himself towards the door. One of the Russians clears his throat and gets the PCs attention (although Tiffany is still convinced that Roger is going to kill her, so she doesn't get up.) so that Chavenski can have a word with them.

The crime boss speaks in a ragged whisper because of his injuries and seems to have trouble catching his breath. He thanks Roger and Fanboy for their help and shakes their hands before asking them to come work for him. He admits that men who can spontaneously hand him a million dollars for no reason probably aren't hurting for cash, but he offers them a chance at power and prestige as his lieutenants.

Tiffany jumps at the chance, but Chavenski's entire introduction to her was watching her curl into the fetal position and cry, so he specifies it's an all or nothing deal. Neither McCrow or Fanboy or happy with the idea of working for somebody, so they turn him down. Chavensky isn't offended and gives them his personal number in case they need to get in touch with him in the future.

With their goodbyes said, Chavenski leaves with his men to assume his rightful place as boss of the city.

Baritone, Round Two

Spoiler

Show

Roger irritably attempts to repair the damage that Tiffany inflicted on his warehouse with the help of Bradley and Richard. While Tiffany gets settled in and Fanboy checks in on Prophet.

Prophet has woken up but is still slightly shaken and explains that he just experienced his own death. He explains that his powers rely on seeing through his own eyes in the future and that he's basically just been reading headlines to the PCs that he finds there. He doesn't know how he died but he was in a strange place and burned to death in a flash, as such he locks himself in the control room and refuses to come out, as a side effect of his experience; his powers are on the fritz since there's no future him to see through.

Things go pretty much as they always have for the rest of the day until Prophet calls everyone to his new room for a disturbance. Apparently superhumans have just went crazy today and both Doctor Luvless and Baritone are mid-crime spree. Doctor Luvless is robbing a bank and is pretty much monopolizing the police's time(which happens when you drag robots into a bank and start vaporizing things), whereas Baritone is apparently vandalizing a pharmacy in a quest for prescription drugs (they can tell it's Baritone because the squad car that reported it in did so from on top of the pharmacy).

Both of them have an axe to grind with one of the villains so I assumed there'd be a little bickering, but Fanboy doesn't want to engage Luvless without EMP grenades and Roger is going to attack Baritone (for spitting on him, not nearly killing him) whether he's got backup or not.

They speed to the pharmacy and find that there is no police presence, if there were any officers here they've decided to evacuate the area. Instead there's four bikers and the big man himself loading stolen drugs into the saddlebags of their bikes. Either the bikers don't notice them, or simply don't care; but they continue loading without a care in the world.

No PC in the history of ever has accepted an NPC not paying attention to them while they're being heroic, so they go into full battle mode to get the bikers attention. Tiffany turns diamond, Roger blows up half the neighborhood summoning water to himself, Fanboy begins glowing with telekinetic energy.

Baritone stops what he's doing, looks at them gathering power and tells them to piss off; he doesn't feel like kicking their asses again today. Roger responds by launching a burst of water at the hulking biker who braces against it and manages to do little more than get drenched before responding with his mighty bellow. Tiffany spends a hero point to interpose herself between Baritone's blast and McCrow (I tell him that this is why he should be nice to people) and the force of the blast is so severe that the majority of her diamond exterior is simply wiped away.

Tiffany leaps forward with what's left of her power and cleaves one of the bikers in half while Fanboy grapples two more and throws them at Baritone although none of them are injured in the process.

Baritone bellows again at the woman who killed his man and her broken body rolls across the parking lot. Roger seems to be having a flashback of his previous fight and just runs away in abject terror. Fanboy grapples Baritone and lifts him up, putting the squeeze on the big man.

Baritone winces but tells his men that he has this and orders them to leave. As they ride off he shouts again and Fanboy is flung into and partially through a neighboring building, surviving only because of his force field. The biker smirks as the unconcious telepath releases him and he lands on the ground with a thud. He turns around to finish looting the register when McCrow (who'd circled the building to sneak up behind him) breaks a 2x4 across his smug face, injuring and stunning the big man.

Roger brings the remains of the 2x4 down again on Baritone's head a second time and cracks his skull but fails to stun him again. Baritone opens his mouth to bellow again and Roger uses a hero point to force a burst of water down his lungs, nullifying his power.

Baritone chokes on the water, tears running down his cheeks as Roger lands another blow with the 2x4. And another. And another. And another. Baritone dies choking and terrified, whether through drowning or blunt trauma is impossible to tell and unimportant. But McCrow lifts the bloated, bloody corpse up by its leather jacket and spits in its broken face with a savage growl before dropping what's left of Baritone back to the ground as his partners come to. Only Roger knows exactly what happened, but neither of the others believes it was self defense. Self defense usually leaves something recognizably human.

R.I.P Baritone

Spoiler

Show

]

Now we'll never experience the joy of watching a superhuman biker drunkenly assault a teen pop concert.

Powerless

Spoiler

Show

They return to the warehouse in silence and Fanboy dwells heavily on how close to death he came. He decides that with their vast wealth it's ridiculous to rely solely on powers for protection and begins designing a new costume. He (and his player) withdraws from the group to look into his options.

Meanwhile Sandy and her kids approach McCrow about getting some things from home. What with the kidnapping and everything they didn't have any time to grab anything. Roger agrees to drive her to the house and Tiffany decides to come with him. Fanboy says he's too busy and shoos them away.

Roger tells Sandy to leave the kids, that he's not interested in listening to them on the way there (he didn't like driving with his own kids at that age, why would he want hers?) and drivers her out to the suburbs.

As they pull into her driveway there's an extra car in it that Sandra recognizes as belonging to her husband. She's surprised because he wasn't supposed to be home for another two weeks. McCrow tells her to wait in the car and asks Tiffany to step in with him to make sure things are alright.

The door is unlocked and they creep in unannounced. They immediately notice the corpse of Sandra's husband sprawled on the floor and covered in blood and Tiffany notices a large man pressed under the stairs in a ski mask.

She points the man out and demands to know what he's doing here and the man responds by leaping forward like a cat and taking a swipe at her with a Bowie Knife. The blow fails to connect and she responds by turning diamond and cracking him in the jaw, sending him stumbling back. Since their powers are now on the table, Roger blows up the kitchen sink and puts a prowler sized dent in the wall with a burst of water.

The man holds up his hands and Tiffany simply passes out where she stands. Roger barely manages to avoid joining her and feels extremely sleepy, but spends a hero point to shake it off. This is when he realizes that it's the serial killer.

The killer lunges at him, but Roger grapples and the two of them fight over the knife. As they're fighting for the knife the killer grabs Roger's hand and McCrow feels absolute panic as he realizes he can no longer feel the presence of nearby water.

To Roger's growing horror pipes burst in the ceiling above and a wave of water crushes him to the ground and lets the killer slip out of his grasp. The killer takes a moment to admire his new ability before Roger explodes out of the crushing wall of water gasping for breath and delivering a wild haymaker that knocks the serial killer on his ass. Still panting and coughing up water, Roger manages to choke out "I'll take my powers back from what's left of your broken corpse."

The killer was expecting a single superhuman, a middle-aged woman unaware of his presence until it was too late. Instead he finds himself in a fight with two completely different superhumans in a third superhuman's house. Obviously he's no longer in control of this situation, so he decides to bolt and finish this later; one on one.

Roger gives chase with everything he's got and manages to tackle the fleeing killer, raining down a flurry of blows despite his lack of powers. When the killer responds, his blows are like jackhammers driving Roger back and feeling like they've broken something with every strike. The last man who'd hurt him so thoroughly was the Russian prize fighter and he only managed to escape that fight with the help of Fanboy.

The killer however doesn't want to fight, he doesn't know how many superhumans are nearby and is only interested in getting away with his stolen power for now. The next time Roger lunges forward the killer simply trips the older man and leaps a fence. By the time Roger realizes the fight's over he has no idea where the man went.

McCrow stumbles back to Sandy's house and finds Tiffany reverted to her natural form and sleeping soundly on the floor. He smacks her awake and staggers to the car bruised and angry. Sandy freaks out when she sees the shape that he's in, but he manages to convince her that everything is fine and that they need to get back to the warehouse. He explains that the killer ambushed them, but decides to lie and claim that her husband must've been out instead of laying in a pool of his own blood. Tiffany plays along.

Back at the warehouse Roger immediately rushes to gather Prophet, Fanboy and Kavlight together to explain what happened. He's freaking out when he explains that his powers are gone and the killer has them now. Fanboy immediately starts laughing and pointing at Roger. "You...you're just a regular non-powered ******* again. How does it feel peasant?"

Roger's rage flashes and he socks Fanboy in the jaw, however the super-nerd's protective forcefield absorbs the blow easily and McCrow suddenly realizes that the telepath might actually be a threat without his powers. With a flick of his hand and a smirk Fanboy sends Roger flying back across the warehouse into a wall. Tiffany steps in in diamond form before things can escalate and the Bradleys move to position themselves between the heroes, Fanboy was ready to smack Roger around some more and Roger already has his cell-phone in hand; preparing to activate the auto-turrets. Kavlight helps Roger up and leads him to the infirmary while Prophet talks Fanboy down.

Dr Kavlight runs a few tests and discovers that Roger's system still shows the same abnormalities (superhuman cells emit a faint, harmless radiation) however the signs are weak, as though they've been drained. Kavlight's confident that the effects are temporary, but isn't sure how long temporary is going to be.

Roger's relieved knowing that he's not going to lose his powers permanently, but is still irritated that he 's relegated to a mere mortal for the time being.

Loose Ends

Spoiler

Show

They spend the rest of the day talking with Prophet about the killer and he reveals that before his episode he'd discovered a pattern that predates the bus incident. Over the past eight years there's been eight murders in or related to government facilities, all commited by a single stab to the heart.

8 Months ago Glenn Howard was found dead in the American Embassy in Egypt. 2 Years ago Robert Landry was found murdered in the DHS Records Office in Utah, a farmer with his identity retracted in the area was also killed. 5 Years ago Angela Ericson was found dead in the Pentagon Records Office. 8 Years ago a Dr Richard Tennison and Carrie Price were found in a Florida CDC Office. Around the same time Lt. Gerald Marshal and Colonel Daniel Rampert were discovered dead in Eglin Airforce Base in Florida. A Captain Warren Davis was also officially reported missing from Eglin Airforce Base a few days later.

Roger notices that only Captain Davis's body was never found and reasonably assumes that this might be their man. He tells Prophet to get him a file on Davis ASAP and Prophet says that he'll do what he can, although his sudden bout of agoraphobia has somewhat limited his investigative skills as several of his contacts require meeting in person.

They wrap things up with Prophet (it should be noted that at no point does anybody think to sit down Sandy or the kids to talk about the death of her husband so the poor woman still believes that he got away. I'm sure this will never come back to bite them in the ass.) and retire to their rooms for some much deserved sleep.

They're woken up in the middle of the night by a horrible clattering and they stagger out to see what's up. Lucky Dan is sprawled at the bottom of the stairs amid a puddle of various liquors and shattered glass, he appears pretty well trashed and doesn't seem to be able to stand up by himself. Fanboy and Roger move to help him up and more or less drag him back to his room.

Dan has moved from happy drunk to sad drunk pretty hard and he's sobbing about the loss of his family. He admits to being a lousy husband and worse father, but the thing that really gets to him is that according to the note they left while he was still in the hospital. If it had been his own doing (and in fact probably would have been his own doing) he thinks he could've accepted it. But he lost almost a month through no fault of his own and that was the one which broke the proverbial camel's back.

Roger tries to console Dan and tells him that he knows exactly how he feels. His own first marriage fell apart because he wasn't around enough. So did his second one. His third marriage though he blames solely on his wife. Roger starts to say something else, but Dan starts to sob harder and Fanboy claps a hand over his mouth before we can any more of his sordid history.

"What he MEANS, Dan, is that it's not too late." Fanboy says, glaring at Roger. "If you want your family back then call your wife, you can still fix this."

Dan explains that he's been trying to get in touch with his wife for days now but she won't return his calls or answer the door when he goes by. Roger and Fanboy volunteer to talk some sense into her. (They say 'talk' but Fanboy asks how severely he can Mind Rape somebody so this seems destined to end badly.)

Lucky Dan thanks them both and gives them the address of his sister-in-law who his family's been staying with. With that off his mind they get him to sleep and then return to their rooms to leave this one until the morning.

The next day our heroes set out to fix Lucky Dan's life and hopefully give him a reason to stop drinking so damned much. They find his sister-in-law's house in a bad part of town and notice an unusually high amount of wear and tear in the neighborhood. Several homes are just abandoned and graffiti covers everything, a number of street punks are hovering near their intended destination and one of them brazenly tosses a rock through one of her windows while shouting obscenities.

Tiffany is extremely against private property damage apparently and she fires a blast of crystalline shards from her palm into the crowd, lacerating and terrifying the punks so that they scatter to the wind; bloody and no longer in the mood to fight.

Roger is of course proud.

They knock on the door and a heavyset brunette with a southern draw (no idea why I stressed an accent when I did the voice but they immediately claimed that she's West Virginian, so I went with it.) answers the door with a bat in hand, screaming about what she's going to do to these a-holes if they don't leave her and her home alone.

She's more than a little surprised to see a Rolls Royce in the driveway and an attractive young lady; a well-dressed young man in a sharply pressed suit; and a hairy, shirtless middle-aged man in a trench coat and shades standing in her doorway. She's even more surprised when the shirtless man starts putting on the 'charm'.

She's about to close the door to avoid McCrow's extremely explicit advances when Fanboy steps in and says "Ma'am, we're friends of Dan. We're looking for Mrs. Brown."

The woman screeches for Lorraine to get the door and a similar looking woman with a slight build, prematurely greying hair and perpetually exhausted expression comes to the door. Roger sort of invites himself in to continue his attempted seduction of Dan's sister-in-law and Fanboy explains that they're friends of her husband and they need to speak with her.

Lorraine threatens to burst into tears. "He's dead isn't he? He's dead and you're bookies and you're going to rob me and my sister aren't you?"

Fanboy sort of stares at her for a moment "That's... a very specific fear ma'am, but no. We're not bookies and your husband's fine, we just need to speak with you."

Lorraine isn't exactly interested in hearing from Dan or those close to him and says as much so Fanboy decides that it's time for brainwashing. He starts subtle by using Emotion control to induce a deep feeling of regret in Mrs Brown but that's as far as he gets. She breaks down in tears and admits that she still loves Dan but she can't support their five kids AND her husband on her own. She goes on about how the bills are piling up and the bank is seizing the house and her oldest son has pissed off the local street gang. Her problems seem endless but Fanboy has a very direct solution.

"Lorraine. Go pick out a house." he says with a shrug.

Lorraine stares at him and asks "What?"

Fanboy repeats himself. "Lorraine, I want for you and Dan to go pick out a house. On us." he says, slipping her his business card. "Don't go crazy or anything, but get something nice. On me and my associates."

Lorraine is flabbergasted, she asks what kind of things her husband is wrapped up in and seems ready to bolt. But Fanboy just flashes that winning smile (he's began beefing up Diplomacy) and assures her that Dan's not done anything wrong. He reveals himself to be the heir to the Hamilton Furniture fortune to ease her worries and says that Dan saved his life once(not a total fabrication, he just doesn't mention that he was blind drunk when he did it) and he just wants to return the favor. Lorraine is literally speechless and Fanboy tells her where to pick up Dan before calling for McCrow to stop '******* around' and leaving before things gets mushy.

Revenge of Tree King

Spoiler

Show

Things are looking up as they return to the warehouse and they're feeling pretty good about their latest act of philanthropy. Lucky Dan is off picking out houses with his wife, Roger is patching up the warehouse (some little bastard managed to break his skylight! Bugs have been getting in.), Fanboy is putting the finishing touches on his new costume and everyone else is going about their business.

Then suddenly Bradley starts shouting for everyone to turn on the T.V. and the day gets shot all to hell.

Across every channel is the headline: School Bombing, 35 Confirmed Dead.

Everyone's shocked, but while listening to the broadcast Fanboy hears the phrase 'fertilizer bomb' and knows exactly who's responsible (to be fair, he called it the second he heard Parks say 'missing fertilizer') although can't fathom WHY he'd do it.

Prophet had already been looking into the details of Mann's discovery and points out that this school was one of the landscaping contracts of the men Tree King murdered. Fanboy scans the list of other contracts and finds other schools, the mayor's office, a courthouse, fire and police stations and of course a metric crapload of work in a local park. A park which Prophet points out is hosting a live televised rally featuring hundreds of people for the Mayor, who just happens to be running on a platform focused on his handling of the tragic Bus Hijacking. A noted sore point for the Tree King.

Before they've even left there's been another explosion killing 15 people in a courthouse records office, 'coincidentally' the same records office where a friend and contact of Prophet's worked. Everybody with a phone starts calling places on the list to warn them to evacuate, but the lines are so backed up that only a handful of their warnings make it through.

They rush towards the park and Fanboy dials Bradley (the real Bradley) and asks him to reinforce them at the rally. He then dials Parks and demands backup. Parks is still in Washington but promises to have his best man back them up and says he'll do what he can to get through to emergency personnel with their warning. They debate calling in Chavenski, but worry that having his men slaughtered by Tree King by the droves might dissolve the good will they've built up with the surly Russian.

They get to the rally after the rally is in full swing and Roger stops at a water fountain in the park while everyone else fans out. McCrow's connection to his powers is faint, but he can feel the water again and that's heartening. He concentrates with all of his might and slowly begins forming Droplets from the fountain, figuring the vicious little bastards will be useful when it hits the fan.

Roger strolls the park grounds trying to feel for a water source and eventually finds a sprinkler line that he and the Droplets (sneaking around as mobile puddles) camp out on. Fanboy pushes towards the front as the mayor takes the stage and Tiffany approaches the camera crew.

The mayor does a truly inspiring song and dance concerning the city's strength in the face of adversity and particularly embellishes his own part in holding the city together after the unexpected chemical attack. He's just getting to the part where he guarantees that under his opponent's leadership the city would have turned into Thunderdome when a striking figure emerges from the tree line.

Tree King slowly approaches the podium slowly clapping, a hollow; disturbing sound without flesh to soften it. "A fine speech Mister Mayor. A fine speech." he says clawing his way up the stage and towering over the terrified politician in all his wooden glory. An eerie silence falls over the crowd as they watch a real life monster take the stage.

"I've got one of my own if you don't mind. One that might invalidate a couple of your talking points." Tree King says, far more cordially than the PCs have ever heard him. "You see you're wrong about there being no survivors. I survived. In a manner of speaking."

The crowd gasps. ((Fanboy's player is like Parks really isn't gonna like this.))

"They tried to lock me away, to be their little science experiment. But I was a man once, with flesh and blood and a beating heart. But I wake up to some ******* in a cheap suit telling me that I'm going away for the rest of my life because I no longer LOOK the part?!" there's murmuring amongst the crowd at this.

"I agree, it was unfair. But then, life is unfair." he says with a cold sneer. "And I'm afraid I have some even more disturbing news. Agent Parks wanted a monster, expected a monster and that's what I intend to give him."

Looking directly into the cameras Tree King almost seems to smile "You wanted to see what I could do Parks? You want to see what effect the chemicals had on me? Then watch closely. Because I'm no longer a man. No longer bound by your PATHETIC laws." he shouts, the murderous rage seeping through like always.

"Get the F***ING camera woman!" Roger shouts out and Tiffany springs into action, slicing through the camera nearest her with a single blow and using a hero point for a second action sends a spray of crystalline shards unerringly through the second camera near the stage.

There's another gasp from the crowd and Fanboy steps out, snatching Tree King with his telekinesis and lifting the creature high into the sky, applying considerable pressure and eliciting a number of creaks and cracks as the living wood gives way.

"Shut up tree." Fanboy quips with a smirk. "We've done this before and it always ends the same way. You kill a few people, we kill you..."

Tree King begins laughing horridly, a raspy sound that carries surprisingly well. "Oh I remember you two. I remember you well. I was hoping you would show up, because I wanted to thank you in person."

Fanboy squeezes harder and the crowd parts as Roger and Tiffany move to stand with him. "Thank us?" Fanboy asks confused.

"If it wasn't for you, and the axe of course, I never would have realized the true extent of my power. You see I thought that I was nothing but sovereign of...plants." Tree King sneers with disgust. "But you boys, you boys have given me SONS to rule."

At his proclamation I pull back the fog of war of the park area and reveal close to 30 identical Tree Kings sauntering towards them from the heavy tree line and a single monstrously large version coming up the center. All of the players give a collective 'Oh sh**."

Initiative is rolled and the Tree Kings go first. The massive version charges into the crowd and just begins eviscerating everything he can lay claws on. People begin panicking but the regular sized Tree Kings have the entire perimeter surrounded so there's nowhere to go. The army of Tree Kings open up their bulbs and release a massive cloud of spores which Fanboy/Roger narrowly avoid, Tiffany is immune to and a few dozen civilians choke to death on. Fanboy hurls his immobile Tree King into the larger one, killing the one he held but barely scratching the large one. Roger focuses his energy and all of the sprinklers within range explode upwards in mini-geysers. Tiffany leaps forwards and punches directly through one of the Tree King clones.

It continues like this for a few rounds, the Tree Kings are resilient and vicious and they seem to ignore the heroes in favor of murdering as many innocent civilians as they can get their hands on. This isn't subtle, it's a direct message: I can kill who I want and nobody can stop me.

Roger begins flooding the area, knocking Tree Kings down and smothering their spores, his Droplets have climbed the large Tree King like he's one of the Colossi and after a few rounds of gnawing like the crazed monsters they are eventually brings him down. Tiffany is hacking her way through one Tree King at a time while Fanboy is picking up groups of them and throwing them at other groups of them, although as tough as the bastards are that's mostly just slowing them down.

They're starting to feel a little overwhelmed when suddenly there's a volley of gunshots and 10 men in button down shirts and ski masks wielding 9mm pistols advance into the park. The bullets don't do much against the living trees but one or two are brought down by the sheer volume. Fanboy laughs and welcomes 'Duplex' to the party.

The Tree Kings are getting more aggressive and Fanboy and Roger are having to burn hero points to keep from succumbing to the spores in the air. Well over half the tree clones (all the ones to the east) are dead and the heroes position themselves between the remaining Tree Kings and the civilians. Bradley's clones are throwing themselves into the fray as fast as he can generate them but while the Bradleys are fearless(they know that so long as one of them survives, they all kinda do) the Tree Kings are downright suicidal, like they enjoy showing what they're willing to give to take just one more life.

Fanboy switches tactics and focuses on crushing one of them at a time and Tiffany covers her hands in lighter fluid soaked rags to make being in melee range with her even more unpleasant. Roger of course has no sense of moderation so it can always be assumed that if I don't mention otherwise then he's using a water-powered Kamehameha to hose down one tree after another.

There's a scant handful left by the time a well dressed man with dark shades and a receding hairline steps onto the field firing a .45 at anything that looks at him funny. He seems to be shouting to himself to check for survivors, but miraculously a few of the injured begin to stir and pick themselves up.

"This is the best Parks can send?" Fanboy asks with a snort. "A schizo with a peashooter? No wonder he keeps his hand hidden."

If Agent Mann heard him or cared he doesn't show it and just keeps executing trees, one of the Tree King charges in an attempt to tear him apart but stops about 10ft away like it hit an invisible wall and rots like a time lapse video. He barks that he doesn't need a babysitter, when he says check on survivors he means NOW!

It doesn't take but a few more rounds to finish up the remainder of the murderous clones and survey the area. The death toll is estimated to be at least 90 with more than half that still on the fence. The heroes meet up near the stage and Mann seems to be distressed and speaking into his earpiece.

"This was ANOTHER damned diversion." he shouts, motioning for the PCs to follow him. "The REAL Tree King is at The Hole RIGHT NOW."

Fanboy holds up a hand "Wait, wait, wait. I need to mindwipe these people before we go anywhere."

Mann curses. "There's no time! The three of you get there and subdue him, I'll secure this area with Yurtz and tend to the wounded until you're back."

Fanboy doesn't like this at all. "I don't know how far back my mindwipe can go, if I don't do it NOW it might not take!"

Mann shouts back at him "There are TWO HUNDRED people here, by the time you're done Tree King will have killed every man in the Hole and did God knows what with our facilities. Not to mention the fact that the ENTIRE city just heard that they've been lied to about a major terrorist attack from the mouth of literal monster. I give this twenty minutes before its plastered on Youtube, so discretion is a secondary concern now."

Fanboy looks like he's about argue more, but Roger half carries the telepath in a mad rush for the car. "No time dammit, we need to move if we don't want him to get away."

The three PCs pile into the car and Roger drives (he's got the highest driving skill since he has a +1 Dexterity modifier, it's kinda sad) as fast as he can manage across town. Several times he gets stuck in traffic and by the time he arrives The Hole is completely silent.

They poke around and discover Parks' last six men have already been murdered. Deep claw marks have shredded several hazard suits and the men within them. The rest are bloated and look to have choked to death, their throats swelled to the point of bursting by what looks like fibrous roots.

Roger curses and strikes the walls, vibrating with rage. Fanboy looks around and finds that Johnny and some ill tempered hairy guy are still in their cells, however to everyone's horror the floor of Brick's cell is missing, along with the invincible superhuman it housed.

Just when it looked like things couldn't get worse, the Tree King has found a terrifying new ally in his war against the world.

[Sith_Happens]

Wow, when you make a recurring villain you go all out on the "recurring."

I've been waiting to see when you were going to shake things up in the most obvious way.

[Grim Portent]

Tree King is a lot more intimidating sounding a character than you'd expect a walking vegetable to be.

[Kid Jake]

Yeah, the thought behind it being that since as he's statted up he can regenerate so long as a sliver of him remains in sunlight; turn him into a woodpile and all the slivers will eventually grow if left alone. Once HE realized that he began mutilating himself to make new 'sons'. I figure that if your players' first instinct is murder then making a villain that feeds off it is the only way to keep from running out of villains.

And yeah, there's only so long superpowers can be kept a secret. I am going to give them a chance to remain anonymous (it seems like they like the shadows) if they choose to take it, but I'm also going to try and throw some stuff at them to entice them into the spotlight. Not sure myself where exactly it's going to go.

[Kid Jake]

Tree King is a lot more intimidating sounding a character than you'd expect a walking vegetable to be.

My concept surrounding Tree King focused on two things: Making a villain who's entire motivation was 'f*** this world' so he really can't be reasoned with and making a plant based character that didn't turn into an ecological straw man. I think the constant senseless murder helps

[Grim Portent]

So in essence Tree King can regenerate from cuttings like most plants... and they just had a fight with him in an open space and broke several of him into pieces...

Unless they get a damn good clean up crew there's going to be a ton more of him growing and trying to slink away. He may just be a villain that can't be killed by your player's abilities (not permanently anyway). Water can only crush, shatter and break him, diamond can only cut him and telekinesis can only move or break him as well. All these just make more shards, so they only temporarily solve the problem.

Fire should work though, or dessication, which should make a plant go dormant as it dries out, but might not kill him.

Thinking about it, sentient plants are really hard to kill without fire.

[Kid Jake]

I know, the long term implications are absolutely terrible. I did forget to mention though that Roger dehydrated several of the Tree King clones to devastating effect, but it's not an ability he uses often. Or at least often enough.

I'm sure eventually they'll start setting every villain on fire just to be safe.

[Grim Portent]

I'm sure eventually they'll start setting every villain on fire just to be safe.

In the end fire solves all problems. Except fire mutants. Fire definitely doesn't solve them.

[Kid Jake]

If fire isn't working, you're not using enough. Even fire mutants die if you burn up all the oxygen.

[Grim Portent]

Part of me hates myself for thinking about this... but if Tree King is now plantlife, I wonder if he blossoms in Spring.

[Kid Jake]

He's an odd specimen, he only blossoms during the fall....of mankind.

[Kid Jake]

Alright, we had a short session earlier tonight so I figured I'd throw it together while I had a chance. McCrow/Mann's player and his girlfriend (Tiffany) were the only ones here so we decided to make it another parallel session starring Mann and Tiffany. I discovered something tonight: sometimes crazy cancels out crazy. Without McCrow's influence to keep her in check she turned scary fast.

With a little luck we'll be having another session this weekend so the tale of McCrow and Fanboy should continue soon.

Cleanup

Spoiler

Show

We start off by retconning Tiffany a bit: basically when McCrow and Fanboy went to the The Hole to interrupt Tree King she stayed behind to secure the area with Mann, Stardust and Bradley.

They do what they can to look after the survivors and find about 120 living people among the devestation of the rally, the mayor is among the survivors. Mann has paramedics/police quarantine the survivors 'for their own protection' until Parks can decide how to handle this situation and gets to work with Tiffany and Bradley gathering up the splinters of Tree King into a growing bonfire in the park. Tiffany gets it into her head that the bodies of the victims need to be burned as well as the splinters to keep Tree King from coming back (Maybe she's expecting plant zombies? May steal this...), but Mann won't hear of it.

She tells him that he's being ridiculous and sentimental. He points out that in lieu of Parks he's the authority on superhuman activity on the East Coast and that he WILL NOT deny people the chance to bury their dead. Tiffany says that she's not taking any chances and tries to blindside him, however Mann is unbelievably fast on the draw and puts a bullet in her chest before she even gets a chance to assume diamond form. She falls to one knee and spits blood, too stunned to move. Mann puts another bullet into the side of her head and Tiffany collapses into a bloody, unmoving heap.

Mann keys his earpiece and tells Stardust that he's got a superhuman in need of medical assistance. So while the former stripper attempts to save Tiffany's life Mann goes back to business as usual and surprisingly manages to find every scrap of Tree King left in the park.

Tracking

Spoiler

Show

Tiffany wakes up in the car with Mann just before he stops at The Hole. He casually explains that she tok an aggressive position against him and he had to put her down. He warns that she won't be getting up next time. She asks why he brought her along if he doesn't trust her and he points out that he needs muscle on this job and Stardust is busy tending survivors.

They pull into The Hole and enter nervously, though the place seems deserted; if Fanboy or McCrow found anything they haven't shared it. They notice that the place is trashed, but more as an afterthought than anything. Johnny on the Spot and the unidentified beastman are still locked in their cells, however Mann notices to his horror that Brick is missing and his cell is torn to pieces.

He curses profusely and explains to a smirking Tiffany that of all the superhumans he's encountered Brick is one of the most dangerous by virtue of the fact that you just can't hurt him. She flexes a diamond covered arm before returning it to normal and asks "Oh really?"

Mann just says that he hopes for all their sake that he's wrong.

They search the place top to bottom and find considerable damage and bodies everywhere. Men in hazard suits have been shredded by wooden claws, the rest simply suffocated from Tree King's horrific spores. Mann also notices that the Tree Clone brought in by him and Stardust has disappeared along with all of the splinters recovered from the scene.

With a growing sense of urgency Mann and Tiffany question Johnny and while the former gangster isn't happy about cooperating with his captors he points out that Tree King came in along with a couple of clones with tools, murdered everyone and tore up the floor of Brick's cell to free the berserk rockman, haphazardly wrecked the place and then took off.

They search outside and Mann discovers tire tracks that look like they belong to to a van. Tiffany points out that a security camera probably picked it up and they go inside to track down the footage. They scan through it and sure enough they find a delivery fan parked against the side of the building with the name 'Green's Nurseries' printed on it.

It takes almost no time for Mann to get an address from local authorities along with a tip that the owner has been reported missing for almost a week. When they finally show up they find a fairly large enclosed area with 15 greenhouses divided into 3 lines of 5 and a quick search of the area turns up their target.

The center greenhouse is empty, all of the plants tore up; the equipment missing; only a handful of bags of fertilizer and plant food to suggest something used to be here. Mann points out that this must be where they grew the clones. Looking at the area he points out that they must have moved on once Tree King got what he wanted; not wanting to risk prolonged exposure here.

Mann calls up Parks and asks for a team to secure this area until they can make sure it's actually of no use to them and Parks tells him that it'll be another two hours until he touches down and asks Mann and Tiffany to keep an eye out until he arrives with the new team.

For an hour they look the area over in case they've missed a crucial clue and then suddenly the delivery van appears again, so weighted down that it nearly drags the ground. Driving it in a poorly conceived disguise is one of the Tree Clones; heavily pruned and in clothing. As it comes to a stop Brick steps out and the sudden release of weight causes the whole van to bounce visibly and violently. If Brick notices the PCs he doesn't seem to care and goes about his business, opening up one of the untouched greenhouses and walking inside.

Mann and Tiffany stare at each other for a moment before Mann motions towards the greenhouse and whispers that Tiffany should handle Brick while he gets the tree. She's spoiling for a fight and agrees.

Brick is picking over the contents of the greenhouse when the eastern wall explodes in a flashy display of force and Tiffany leaps in in full diamond form, she brings both arms down in a savage power attack and...accomplishes nothing. Her blow is powerful, yes, but barely manages to scratch his powerful exterior, let alone leaving any lasting damage.

Tiffany's eyes widen in alarm and Brick's face scrunches into a look of irritation.

Meanwhile: Mann sneaks up on the Tree Clone, pistol drawn and raises the gun threateningly. "Homeland security! You've got one chance to make it out of this alive!"

The Tree Clone hisses and reaches for the door, its head explodes in a shower of splinters and sap and it collapses against the side of the door quietly.

"I told you." Mann says, narrowing his eyes and searching over the van.

Back in the action: Brick throws a massive haymaker but fails to make contact with Tiffany who counters the blow with a pair of her own, neither of which manages to dent the monster.

Agent Mann hears the commotion inside and calls Parks, all but demanding some form of assistance. Parks explains that he's in the air with the team and there's nothing he can do, however he'll make a call to a few policemen he thinks he can trust and promises backup within ten minutes. Mann's not happy since ten minutes might as well be ten years with this creature, but decides to do what he can to slow Brick down until help can arrive.

When he pokes his head into the greenhouse he sees Tiffany and Brick exchanging blows like titans, Tiffany's blows rain down on Brick harmlessly while the hulking brute's massive attacks are easily dodged by the much nimbler superlady. Mann opens fire from the broken wall and his bullets are similarly ineffective against the invincible Brick.

Brick however doesn't feel very invincible with attacks coming in from every angle and decides that he's had enough of this, he charges through the greenhouse and snatches a hydroponic growing system in both hands, tearing it out of its fixtures to carry it back to his partner in crime. Tiffany attacks Brick's legs, trying to slow him down; however there's no part of him that's a soft target. Mann has a different idea and opens fire on the hydroponic system itself, rendering it completely unusable.

Brick stares at his shattered trophy for a moment and with a roar of irritation hurls it directly at Mann. Now he's no more accurate at range than he is up close, however I rolled a pair of 20s and to Mann's horror he's flung about 20ft back by the wreckage and left a bloody, mangled wreck himself. Brick charges out of one greenhouse and into another to steal his prize from there, however Mann buys off his stun and opens fire (at a significant penalty for firing at something he can't see and just assumes is there) and actually manages to riddle a second hydroponic system with bullets, much to Brick's growing irritation.

Tiffany and Brick get into another melee while Agent Mann pulls himself free and as he does he notices that several bloody ribs are poking through his suit and blood is pooling around him with every step. With a half-hearted effort Mann pushes a rib back into place with a grunt, but decides that it's of secondary importance to actually catching Brick and starts shuffling forward on unsteady feet.

Brick realizes he's not going to find what he's looking for here and bolts past Tiffany towards the van, unaware that his ride is no longer alive; however Tiffany is faster and just barely manages to beat the hulking brute to the parking lot. Brick and Tiffany eyeball each other for a moment and both lunge towards the van, Tiffany manages to hoist the vehicle over her head and send it crashing directly into Brick's unprepared face with enough force to cause a fiery explosion that consumes a good portion of the parking lot. (Just barely enough damage to cause him an injury and stun.)

Mann is still near the greenhouses, but is within shouting range of the now smoking Brick. "Here's how this is going to go 'Brick', you're going to lay down with your hands up and wait for a security detail to get here. In exchange for your cooperation I won't kill you where you stand." (he fails the intimidate roll)

Rage flashes through Brick's mind and I buy off his stun, giving each PC a hero point and having him stand with the flaming wreckage held above his head. He hurls it towards Tiffany, knocking her back almost 30ft; partially cracking her diamond form and stunning her temporarily. (Mann's player points out that this is absolutely terrifying from his pov.) "I've got a counter proposal." Brick says through clenched teeth. "The two of you leave and let me get what I'm here for and I don't pull out your skulls through your open mouths." (Brick it should be noted, does not fail.)

Mann starts to limp away, firing over his shoulder and Brick breaks into a sprint towards him; charging like a raging bull. At the last second Mann uses a hero point to find a fuel tank for the greenhouse's gas generators and fires into it, letting a second explosion tear through Brick and send the rock man staggering back a couple of feet.

With a shake of his head Brick decides that this is pointless and sprints off full speed away from the heroes. Mann knows he can't keep up so he limps towards his car while Tiffany chases Brick down, spraying crystalline shards into Brick's exposed back but not even slowing the big man down. Mann swings by to pick Tiffany up and the two of them pick up Brick's trail pretty easily, however when they pursue on foot they find that it's hard to follow an inexhaustible colossus who doesn't care about civilian casualties. Mann and Tiffany split up to cut him off, but Mann can barely stand and I point out that a stiff breeze could kill him at the moment.

His player gets into character and kind of smiles "I know, but I can't him hurt anyone else. I don't mind dying, but I won't let him go. I've gotta hold him until Parks gets here."

It was a great moment, but the reality was less inspiring. He fell behind due to Brick's breakneck pace and after Brick stopped running through every wall in his way Mann had an increasingly harder time tracking him and eventually passed out from his injuries. Tiffany carried him back to the greenhouse just in time to meet Parks and their new team.

Deadly Force Authorized

Spoiler

Show

Parks has Stardust heal Mann's injuries while the new DHS team sweeps the area. 32 large men in black body armor sporting fully automatic weapons and grim faces along with a motley assortment of 10 dogs. Tiffany attempts to play with them, but they're well trained and the only one to give her the time of day is a gangly mutt referred to as Lycaon.

Parks openly explains that the men have been trained to deal with their kind of problems and that the dogs are meant to handle what the men can't. Mann seems skeptical but Parks asks "Remember the last...batch? Well these dogs predate them. Only they obey orders."

Mann scowls and voices his opinion that if they've got anything in common with the mutants they should just be euthanized to save everyone trouble but Parks suggests taking one of the dogs with them to see their value. Tiffany suggests taking Lycaon and the dog lowers its ears as Parks agrees. Telepathically they hear "These people? I was hoping for a higher priority assignment."

The PCs are shocked to hear the thing talk and Tiffany is a bit offended that it doesn't want to be assigned to them after its friendly display. Parks explains that Lycaon's particular mutation gives him human intelligence and a limited form of telepathy that allows him to communicate (I nearly called him Blood but decided against it) but nothing that can be used offensively; he's primarily used for intelligence gathering since nobody gives a second look to a mutt.

While Tiffany and Lycaon get better acquainted, Parks pulls Mann to the side and tells him that after Tree King outed him in front of half the world (the video went viral as only a video of a tree monster murdering an entire crowd of people can) his career may very well be over. Mann doesn't want to hear it but Parks waves him off and says that if the DHS decides to pull him from the superhumans that Mann himself will be the one to take his place, he warns Mann that if that happens he'll need to utilize the 'assets' at their disposal instead of just tossing them aside. Man lets it be known that as much as he respects Parks he'll still execute every mutant in the city the second it's within his authority to do so. Mann reiterates that he'd rather Parks keep the position than to be forced behind a desk himself.

Parks suggests that they need to show the DHS that they're making progress in Ventnor if he's going to keep his job and directs Mann and Tiffany to the operation of a Sergei Reschkov, one of Chavenski's lieutenants and one of many to clamor for the injured Russian's position after his encounter with Depaliamo's .44 Magnum. Parks tells Mann that he's authorizing an official raid, but wants Mann to use superhuman assistance to prove their value overall.

Mann and Tiffany requisition an armored car and megaphone and drive to the docks, where Reschkov is in the process of selling captured Italian women overseas. Tiffany and Lycaon sneak to the back of the warehouse while Mann parks the armored car out front and loudly calls for their unconditional surrender.

The Russian gangsters start gravitating towards the front of the warehouse as Man details the nature of their crimes for the world to hear and promises that acts of foreign aggression against US citizens will be met with deadly force. He points out that he was trained by the U.S. government, authorized by Homeland Security and granted the chance by God to put a warehouse full of Russian sex-slavers six feet in the ground and that he's not about to disappoint ANY of those people. (Basically milking his intimidate skill for all its worth and channeling it through his blind patriotism.)

While everyone's distracted (rightly so) Lycaon (under the control of Tiffany's player) begins sneaking girls out through the back by acting like his telepathic voice is coming from his collar and Tiffany herself sneaks up to the backs of the guards. Mann and the Russians are exchanging fire when suddenly the warehouse becomes Hell on earth.

Tiffany turns into a swirling dervish, turning grown men into screaming piles of flesh and cackling as the hail of gunfire simply bounces off her nearly impenetrable skin. I won't go into the gory details but it started out with nearly 30 men in the warehouse, she murders them as fast as she can lay hands on them; pulling out spines, severing limbs and generally reveling in the bloodshed. The gunshots give way to panicked screams as the terrified Russians try to flee, only to first have their escape cut off; followed by their heads.

Mann barges in to see what the commotion is and can barely make Tiffany out for the gore that covers her head to toe. He shoots one of the fleeing Russians in the knee to take at least one prisoner out of this mess and has throw himself in front of Tiffany to keep her from torturing the man to death.

He draws his heavy .45 and warns her to step away, but after the hail of bullets that failed to harm her she simply starts laughing, a lilting and frightening sound and starts to lunge forward. Mann manages to act first and fires directly into her face point blank with everything he's got, barely managing to make a scratch but succeeding in stunning her for a moment. A moment that he uses to snatch the injured Russian and drag him to the waiting car.

She tries to give chase but Mann just barely manages to peel out and down the street before she can claim her prize. Mann calls Parks to tell him that the girls are safe and that Tiffany is a monster, he suggests a minimum sentence of life in The Hole but would prefer to see the woman executed for her constant disregard for human life.

When Parks and Mann shows up later with a handful of men and two dogs they just stare at the grisly sight that meets them.

Tiffany has built a bonfire taller than she is filled with the burning bodies of the slain Russians and all of the girls who had died during the fighting. She's in her human form but still covered in the innards of the men she's killed and smiling. Ear to ear, she's smiling.

Epilogue, Old Friends

Spoiler

Show

Parks and Mann sit across from each other in Parks new office in the third Hole. They sit in tense silence for several long moments and Parks finally says "Mann...times are getting desperate. You know the same as I do that desperate times, call for desperate measures..."

Mann raises an eyebrow "Just how desperate sir?"

"I think we need Michael Stockton." Parks says with a sigh of defeat.

"No. Sir, no! If you've ever respected my opinion then take it now, we DO NOT need Stockton. He's a monster.A f***ing devil in a mansuit. The LAST THING we need is Michael Stockton." Mann nearly shouts at his superior.

"I know...I know he is Mann. But look at what we're left with at the moment. You know him better than anyone, is he really worse than this?" Parks asks.

Mann thinks for a moment. He thinks of the sound of Tiffany's laugh as she's covered in the gore of her victims and faces him down. He thinks of the bloated faces of Tree King's victim trapped in The Hole. He pictures all of the waterlogged and mangled bodies they've recovered from their supposed 'heroes'. He thinks of Brick hurling the flaming remains of a truck that failed to do more than knock him down and shudders.

"Much worse sir. Much worse."

[Sartharina]

Mann is definitely my favorite character so far.

[Kid Jake]

Mann is definitely my favorite character so far.

He saw that this morning and had the biggest grin plastered on his face.

But I liken Mann to a squishy Robocop.

[Sartharina]

But I liken Mann to a squishy Robocop.

That's why I like him.

And I know he also plays McCrow, but I really hope McCrow ends up in the hole or dead. I'm still trying to decide whether or not there's anything salvageable in Fanboy. Dr. Xavier is disappointed in how these supers have turned out.

[Kid Jake]

And I know he also plays McCrow, but I really hope McCrow ends up in the hole or dead. I'm still trying to decide whether or not there's anything salvageable in Fanboy. Dr. Xavier is disappointed in how these supers have turned out.

Of the two of them I'd say that Fanboy is more devious, if for no other reason than his stated goal is to become a bodyless being that possesses one victim after another without regard to who they are to perpetuate his own life forever.

McCrow is just a violent, impulsive, racist with a history of substance abuse (Depaliamo referred to him as a drunken idiot and in a sort of one off joke that didn't make it to the journal he himself admitted to huffing paint semi-regularly) and a chip on his shoulder. He doesn't plan to hurt people, they just keep pissing him off.

All things considered this wasn't at all where I thought they were going to go, but I kind of like it. They're less Justice League and more The Seven, all they need is a good PR guy though and noone'll know the difference. There aren't really any superheroes, just different brands of supera**holes who basically just keep fighting each other because they're there.

So it looks like Mann is right

[the OOD]

Mann is the best! It's even better beacuse he is played by the same player as McCrow, and I love seeing the super-powerd agent of chaos playing the patriotic defender dealing with McCrows crimes.

[Kid Jake]

Mann is the best! It's even better beacuse he is played by the same player as McCrow, and I love seeing the super-powerd agent of chaos playing the patriotic defender dealing with McCrows crimes.

Heheh yeah, and if Parks loses his position as head of the Superhuman Containment And Recovery team then I'm giving Mann command of the newly formed hit squad so he'll end up actively hunting himself.

[Grim Portent]

I must say I love reading about the antics of this bunch of dysfunctional closet-psychopaths. They always make me smile.

So far McCrow is my favorite, he's got some pretty good innovation under his belt and his outbursts sound hilarious. Though the Diamond Dame is certainly a rising star in my list of favorite maniacs.

[Kid Jake]

I must say I love reading about the antics of this bunch of dysfunctional closet-psychopaths. They always make me smile.

So far McCrow is my favorite, he's got some pretty good innovation under his belt and his outbursts sound hilarious. Though the Diamond Dame is certainly a rising star in my list of favorite maniacs.

I always look forwards to our sessions too, I never know what's going to happen.

McCrow's a fun character because there's always method to the madness, I don't always see it right off but it makes sense to him. Tiffany though is just crazy, I asked why she wanted to burn the bodies and she just said it was cheaper than cremation. She just got it into her head that she wanted a flaming corpse pile and she kept at it until she got it.

[GorinichSerpant]

Tiffany got fussed with her rings to give her diamond powers, Tree King got fussed with a potted plant to make him Tree King. By that logic, at least one person got fussed with their clothes, it's statistically improbable that didn't happen.

On another note, is Stardust going to play as a PC anymore? I'm curious how she'd interact with McCrow and friends.

[Kid Jake]

Tiffany got fussed with her rings to give her diamond powers, Tree King got fussed with a potted plant to make him Tree King. By that logic, at least one person got fussed with their clothes, it's statistically improbable that didn't happen.

Yeah, I'm guessing that's one of the guys that didn't survive the crash.

On another note, is Stardust going to play as a PC anymore? I'm curious how she'd interact with McCrow and friends.

Stardust was played by my little sister who's got a hectic work schedule, she works twelve hour shifts about 5-6 days a week and has to leave her daughter with me most of the week so she usually prefers to spend her free time with her kid instead of a bunch of half-drunk nerds. We don't usually start playing until 11 or 12 at night, but if we can schedule an earlier session so my niece isn't cranky she might jump in with us again. I'm sure her and McCrow would become inseparable if given the chance.

[Sith_Happens]

Tiffany says that she's not taking any chances and tries to blindside him, however Mann is unbelievably fast on the draw and puts a bullet in her chest before she even gets a chance to assume diamond form. She falls to one knee and spits blood, too stunned to move. Mann puts another bullet into the side of her head and Tiffany collapses into a bloody, unmoving heap.

Mann keys his earpiece and tells Stardust that he's got a superhuman in need of medical assistance. So while the former stripper attempts to save Tiffany's life Mann goes back to business as usual and surprisingly manages to find every scrap of Tree King left in the park.

Please tell me Parks brought those ICERs I recommended.

[Tiffany vs. Brick]

Was she really using blunt attacks the whole time, because that's what you made it sound like and I spent the whole description of the fight thinking "SWORD ARMS YOU IDIOT, SWORD ARMS!" Piercing or cutting stone is a lot easier than smashing it if your tools are the right material, which diamond is.

Tiffany though is just crazy, I asked why she wanted to burn the bodies and she just said it was cheaper than cremation. She just got it into her head that she wanted a flaming corpse pile and she kept at it until she got it.

Yeah... I don't even know what to say about that.

[JBPuffin]

This is a masterpiece of human engineering. The mindless violence, the explosions, the grey and black morality of it all...your players are monsters, but talented ones to be sure. Well done, sir, well done.

[Kid Jake]

Please tell me Parks brought those ICERs I recommended.

Mann requisitioned some himself actually, he just hasn't found a place he cares to use them yet.

Was she really using blunt attacks the whole time, because that's what you made it sound like and I spent the whole description of the fight thinking "SWORD ARMS YOU IDIOT, SWORD ARMS!" Piercing or cutting stone is a lot easier than smashing it if your tools are the right material, which diamond is.

She tried about everything under the sun but everything was equally ineffective against Brick. Her diamond coating is scary effective versus flesh, but Brick is 8'9'' and more than a ton of angry, solid stone. In game terms he's exchanged almost all of his Defense for a higher Toughness save, so it basically takes a crit + power attack just to have a chance of scratching him. He's not so much an opponent as a particularly deadly puzzle and even McCrow and Fanboy had to settle for just holding him down with everything they had so Parks could freeze him in their last fight.

That's why they were so distraught that Tree King had let him go.

This is a masterpiece of human engineering. The mindless violence, the explosions, the grey and black morality of it all...your players are monsters, but talented ones to be sure. Well done, sir, well done.

Heh, thank ya. They're a fun group and I'm always glad to hear that others enjoy them. They certainly keep me on my toes.

Speaking of which, I just now got back from another session so after I wake up later today I'll try and type it up. They've went in an even stranger direction than usual.

[The_Werebear]

They've went in an even stranger direction than usual.

Ominous.

Tell me, are you or your players familiar with Steelheart
?

(warning, TV Tropes Link)