X-Champions Issues

Issue #13 - There is a Season...

Between the events of issues 12 and 13, Laughton is busy writing a sort of manifesto of his own in the current mutant crisis - see below - and is at a public computer kiosk for some time, transcribing from hand-written, to-be-destroyed notes.  

Sihn busily diagnoses the new specimens he has of Shooter, Medusa, and Dr. Normal (who is simply "normal").  

During this issue "off stage" at about December 27th, Laughton gets in another trip to Medusa/Andrea, responding to a letter from her.  He asks about how she could co-exist with a cockroach without it turning to stone; it turns out that animals of lower or no self-awareness, even on-human higher primates are unaffected.  In the course of the conversation she indicates how certain supernatural sorts, such as elder vampires and werewolves, "creatures of the Damned" as she puts it, have been unaffected.  

He also asks her about Dr. 13 and what she can say about him.  In her own particular idiom, she rambles on about how when she was a senior in High School, she was desperate to stop the cruel treatment heaped on her for her ugliness.  At some point she slips, by the way, that her given name is Tina Phaurt (which sounds very similar to "fart"), and from that when he has a chance Laughton finds that in fact she was a somewhat homely though by no means hideous young lady.  But kids are cruel - anyway, she had several acquaintances into the various goth trends, vampirism worship/romanticism, nihilism, and the occult.  She pestered some of those into the occult until someone finally relented and assisted her.  She tried various curses on her classmates but they didn't seem to work.  Getting more serious than her superficial goth-mates, she searched the Wiccan shops and asked a lot of questions.  A few small curses seemed to work but she wanted "looks that would kill".  A smiling shopkeep, whose shop no longer exists, gave her an address.  She went to it and inside there was Dr. Thirteen, shrouded in shadows.  He offered to "give her looks her classmates would never forget."  There was no discussion of fees.  She hastily gulped down a tonic while he drew a strange shape around her, a sort of disproportionate pentagram with an alpha that she stood on, and read ancient Greek as best she could tell.  She passed out and woke up alone.  She felt very strange and walked outside (there were no mirrors) and became terrified at the effects on those who looked at her - then she saw herself in a mirror.  Obviously it didn't have the same effect but she realized what she'd become, something truly hideous. As she was already melodramatic and self-pitying, she quickly became a mutant (mutate) creature of the night.

Laughton also gathers more information on Damien and his place, what she describes as a posh squat below a gay disco where several of the patrons have disappeared.   

As Laughton leaves Andrea, he hears her faintly say, "I wish I were pretty."

As he follows up on Dr. 13, he finds other victims are spread about the US (the Wallflower in Boston who is literally a flower living in walls, a sort of floral ivy, and Gas Attack in the desert who has a severe gas problem along the lines of the Spleen but worse) and Mexico (Mama Pudding, who is in fact a bowl of pudding that communciates telepathically to a limited few) and Russia (intrigueingly, rumors link Dr. 13 to Dr. Doom, but more solidly there's Natasha who is a 2-D but live animated-looking copy of Natasha from the Rocky and Bullwinkle show).

As this issue starts, something's come over The Captain as it's obvious his powers and even appearance have started to change.  In one evening he finished carving out what is to become the Justice Squad's underground base, much to the amazement of an observing Gere-luce.  It appears in a haze of super-speed and super-strength he single-handedly carved and cleared tons upon tons of stone and smoothed out the walls.  

Moreover, as The Captain, in the guise of Marty Davis, converses with Sihn, Palmer, Laughton, and Sammy in the morning, it's apparent he's wearing a skull-cap sort of piece to hide what is real full hair.  When it comes up he mentions he simply went through Dr. Sihn's lab and found a few chemicals and grew his hair out.  He thought it only seemed becoming for a hero of his stature to have natural real hair.  And they also notice that Marty is actually several inches taller and not due to lifts.  The Captain can only guess that his recent increase in strength has caused him to grow.  

Sihn rushes down to the basement to check his supplies, figuring out what chemicals The Captain might have used.  He also locks up the lab while he does so.  Though his inventory isn't exactly up to date, after some work he figures out which ones are low and which ones might have been used and soon finds that somehow Marty Davis figured out a hair-growing tonic.  As he finishes working he tells whoever's knocking on the lab door to wait, then answers the door to find Suzanne Palmer there.  She confides in Eliot that when she first met The Captain she sensed some nascent mental power - perhaps this is a manifesting of that.

The Captain is chock full of news.  He wants to meet the other Justice Squad members at a private dinner just after Christmas and discuss "the future", hinting that he's leaving soon.  As Eliot wants to get him coffee or some-such, The Captain seems unusually sharp (for him) and freely offers a lock of hair as a sample.  

In the meantime mutant-related news has dominated the media.  The mutant city believed to be started by Magneto, now known as Origin, has attracted considerable attention as a haven for unregistered and wanted mutants.  It refuses to acknowledge any higher authority and has been referred to by Arizona and the federal government as an "unauthorized municipality."  Tensions are mounting day by day.

Amidst this a website, publicized via newsgroups and a wildfire underground publicity campaign, has come to the fore, competing for attention with Magneto's manifesto.  It exists only for a few days as a homepage titled "Hate and Bigotry Have a Harsh Wardrobe" hijacked from a registered web user who has no knowledge of it, and includes several photos of Dr. Normal in various poses and both humorous and frightening mocking states.  The text accompanying the photos pokes at the NME and other anti-mutant organizations comparing them to Hitler, the Stalinist regime, and Kiam Bok (the North Vietnamese terrorist who killed and tortured only black soldiers in the Vietnam War err police incident).  It goes on to explain that Dr. Normal (AKA Homer Grigsby) here let his bigotry and hatred stroke his own fear to the point where he let it cloud his own judgment.  It closes with a quote by Maddy Hayes, "Don't hate me because I am beautiful; love me because I am different."  There is no mention of Magneto or his manifest.  Implicitly it creates another position in the recent mutant/normal polemics of the last few weeks, and nobody knows the author is actually Hamlet Laughton, AKA Rodin.  Particularly since nobody even knows that this Dr. Normal was fought and captured by the Justice Squad - well, no one except those in the NME who worked with Dr. Normal...

But Christmas is also on everyone's mind and the Justice Squad members have their own ways of observing it.  Sammy morphs into Santa Claus and uses his mob money (last issue) to give out gift certificates for Toys R Us.  He attempts to get the local branch to totally fund it but they defer to matching instead, still a victory for the children and Sammy.  Suzanne seeks out presents for her new-found friends, giving Sihn and The Captain gift certificates to Nordstrom, Caruthers a nice tie, Jonas Hell a bottle of Laphroaig with a flask, Laughton a cool detective-like hat, Sammy gift certificates to various buffets, and Lefty a remote control car built by none other than gadgeteer extraordinaire Gere-luce.  

But other than visiting Suzanne's Christmas is generally a lonely one; her father, already upset at her decision to work in the public attorneys' office rather than a more prestigious private firm, is even more disturbed to hear she's quite the law profession nearly entirely.  Her work defending Sammy also hasn't endeared her to the driven, ambitious old man.  

Eliot Sihn and Aela Oceanchild have their Christmas typically punctuated by Eliot's mother as she pounds on the door at 6 AM in the morning.  She's brought Eliot a pair of socks, packaged in a Nordstrom bag, and is surprised by his gift of $2,000.  She momentarily loses her composure but quickly makes a comment about a good gift finally and then demands to know where they'll eat dinner, letting herself in.  She invites Aela along as well, without even knowing that Aela is pregnant. 

Lefty isn't forgotten about, as not only does he get a present from Suzanne but Eliot, taking Lefty aside as he tells Aela he has to "stop by the office for a bit", reveals the prototype for a Frankenstein-esque body allowing Lefty to move about.  It's a still-ugly biomechanical device that isn't polished and isn't quite fluid enough for normal movement but Lefty is excited.  He pleads to take it out and is cut off by Eliot.  Under his breath, as Eliot continues to say "no", he adds, "So I can't take it out when you're awake?", the "you're awake" part barely audible.  At the end of the "discussion" Lefty conveniently takes their agreement to be that Lefty can't take it out when Eliot's awake but otherwise can use it - of course unknown to Eliot.

No one's Christmas is as isolated as Hamlet Laughton's as he assiduously avoids public attention (after all, too many enemies are watching) and holes up alone in a motel room with a Hungry Man dinner.  Shortly after Christmas he gets a message from "Maggot", a deep government operative whom he's known since his teenage years.  He met Maggot while moving around in the black BBSes, popular in the '80s, and they traded information on the Iran-Contra affair.  Maggot tipped the young Laughton off when the government was closing in on his kind and thus saved him from federal prosecution.  So when Maggot indicates he's got important information regarding the NEA and what Hell's on about, but doesn't trust Hell with the info, Laughton listens.  He goes to the area to meet Maggot early, noting it looks like Maggot is also there, though quite still.  After taking his anti-surveillance precautions and finally moving close, his worst fears are confirmed.  Maggot is dead.  Bulky electronics on his body concern Laughton and as he attempts to check out Maggot's person, realizes he's set off an explosive.  He hollers to nearby pedestrians and turns to stone.  No one is injured and looking through the aftermath Laughton determines Maggot had been shot some time before and brought there.  He also finds a message - "Stop here."  Little does the party who intended the message seem to realize that this will have the opposite effect on Hamlet.  Later studies of the electronic remnants indicate that MIT is a likely source of the components.

Meanwhile, as time permits around Christmas Day, before and after, Dr. Sihn studies The Captain's sample and finds his power confirmed to be greatly enhanced.  The cells seem to be in a mutating state and growing at such a rate it's unprecedented without immediate stabilization or break-down.  It's unclear what will happen next.  In any case The Captain seems to have additional powers as well, and his general "scale" of power is off the charts, comparable to heavy-weights such as Magneto.  He also finds several correlations to the Superman gene, the SI owned specimen of the first great mutant available for mapping.  Sihn's not so sure this is a good thing.

The approaching holidays bring continued gang war against the Toccis, at least at a lower level than before - until Christmas day itself when Gino (Eduardo's brother) Tocci's family is found brutally murdered in a slaying unpleasant and ill-timed enough to get the city's attention.

After Christmas, The Captain's dinner with the squad is a bittersweet and somewhat disturbing affair.  He's more proper than ever, forbidding alcohol at the table and chiding the others to change their ways, to become more heroic and not rely on brutalizing or reading minds.  They nod politely.  He goes on in a Messianic tangent about his responsibility, his destiny, to "lead" the human race and protect it.  The Captain indicates he'll always be around for them when it's necessary and launches into a histrionic re-reading of the Grapes of Wrath penultimate speech, paraphrasing it as, "When a villain threatens innocents' lives, I'll be there.  When the public good is marred by those who would condemn it, I'll be there.  When a cat is up a tree, I'll be there..."  In some respects he's still the same old Captain.  He also mentions that he should be able to hear the Justice Squad's cry for help if he's within a state or two - prompting the gang to wonder just how many calls for help and just plain uses of the word "captain" might confound his attempts to navigate.  However, he touches a genuine nerve with Sammy when he suggests that Sihn submit Lefty for scientific study by more objective observers.  Sammy attempts to explain that as Lefty is sentient like all of them, he should be free and shouldn't be studied in laboratories, caged like a rat.  The Captain shakes off the suggestion as overly sentimental and speaks highly of scientific methods as well as the necessity to study such truly strange off-shoots.  The Captain leaves, off to study Origin and report to "the government in Washington."  He leaves particularly Suzanne and Hamlet worried about his new-found extreme need to be part of the government.

As the year turns, the Tocci war heats up; a new character known as Wrath comes to town and from all accounts is leading the anti-Tocci forces.  The Wrath is a particularly violent vigilante, usually killing equally violent criminals.  There are a couple scattered accounts accusing him of killing innocents as well, as Sihn checks his scrapbooks of mutant activity.  Not much more is known about this extremely secretive character who has stayed out of the limelight.  When a Tocci messenger comes to the Laughton agency to ask the Justice Squad for more help, Sihn and Laughton lead the two sides of the debate on whether to do as asked.  They finally resolve to lead things as is, in large part because it appears the Toccis are fighting a losing battle and in some part because their names have become too attached to the underworld crime organization.

Laughton and Palmer do some more digging, though, checking up on Valentine, the only mob member left standing during Shooter's last killing spree at the casino.  The nervous mobster, attempting to stay out of the fray, is panicky as Laughton presses him.  Behind him Suzanne begins to work her skills and reaches into his mind.  It turns out he's not a stool-pigeon for the Kingpin nor does he even know anyone connected to Kingpin.  But he has sold information to the police about the Toccis.  They leave the shaken gangster to stay holed up afraid in his home.

Meanwhile Sihn spends more time researching Lakura, Namor's lost would-be bride, and what might have happened to her.  He spends hours through several of the nights, when Aela will tolerate it, researching rumors and initiating correspondences to Oceanic mutants and organizations.  It will take some time and all his skills to ferret out information...

On January 5th the whole gang takes a trip up to the state super-pen near Harrison in upstate Michigan.  On the way Sammy gets to stop with everyone at McDonald's and the typical food confusion ensues.  Once at the correctional facility, they begin questioning Shooter, who cops a serious arrogant attitude.  They get his goat by pointing to the successes of Wrath and how quickly he's been forgotten.  They point out it's apparent his former employer doesn't need him badly enough to get him out.  Though the Shooter becomes upset nothing notable slips.  Suzanne reaches into his mind and determines he was contracted for the Tocci killings by someone simply known as "Bert", a large fat guy with brown hair and a moustache, but has no knowledge of the Kingpin.  Shortly, though, she's interrupted as security guards are alerted to psychic activity and the facility is placed on yellow alert.  The Justice Squad is questioned for a bit and she is isolated from the group, eventually moving out front and back to the car with their "chauffeur" Bob Rogers.  Only Eliot remains to question Shooter more, primarily interested in his reactions, while Hamlet goes to see the infatuated Andrea d'Ennui AKA Medusa.  She has no real news though she's as elated as ever to see him.  The device isolating them has been altered so more is made visible to each other, so Laughton can make out her expressions for a change.  She is left with her dreams of union with Hamlet while Shooter is worked into a state of aggravation such that he's vowing to get out and prove he's better than Wrath - as well as to bag the Justice Squad.

When the heroes get back to the agency they find that it's unsecured and behind the reception desk, on the floor, are Caruthers and Velda, each tied up and immobile.  Velda clings to Sammy as soon as she's freed while Caruthers takes Laughton aside.  He's got to show him something he's clearly embarrassed about.  It turns out he's been tattooed with the King's symbol on his left cheek (not his face).  He and Velda individually received warnings to "stay out" of things and that this was a "friendly" warning.  Velda has also been tattooed, as Suzanne confirms, not allowing for the prying eyes of the other heroes.  It turns out these tattoos are less deep than normal and easy to wipe away, though still requiring a minor anaesthetized procedure.  

It turns out that they were kidnapped separately earlier that day.  Caruthers was in a car monitoring the subject of a case when he was ambushed and put to sleep.  Velda was getting lunch at a nearby sandwich shop and was grabbed off the street and into a car.  The next day the Justice Squad investigates the shop and asks the employees questions.  They had called the police, a Detective Roslindale and someone they just remembered as "Stan" showed up, but of course by then little could be done.  Not much is remembered though the fragment of the license plate spotted, when checked out, does lead to a stolen car, later found mostly destroyed.  As the gang is ready to leave, none other than the annoying anti-mutant Detective Berger arrives, having been forwarded to the shop by the agency.  He accuses them of a publicity stunt and asks about "the King", haven gotten some information from Velda.  Sammy makes light of it with Elvis allusions and Berger is worked into his usual snit.  He's told eventually, "You should go find the bad guys" and Sihn checks him out with his mutant scanner as he leaves in a huff.

Back at the agency, as Lefty spends a little time with Sammy, he hatches a plan to meet Sammy in the middle of the night.  Lefty hasn't stopped his late night sojourns, learning the fine points of when Eliot has to be home and when he prefers to rest with Aela.  And now he wants to show Sammy his new body and go out with him like regular buddies.  Sammy agrees as it sounds like fun, and he likes the sense of having a secret with his good friend Lefty.

Bowing to increased pressure from Damien and Buffy, and now, due to the luck of having found out his hiding place due to Andrea, having solved any mysteries related to this elder vampire, Hamlet decides it's time to go after Damien.  Buffy isn't available until 7 PM due to her cheerleading schedule and while Hamlet's sure the best thing is to catch the vampires during the day (Damien lives in a nest under a gay club with several other vampires), he relents.  Buffy explains that during the day they may be have too much strength from the feed of the night before, plus they may even be up and about since little sleep is needed and these types get up late.  Suzanne also supports Buffy by offering to pick her up immediately after practice as well as Willow, whom she's offered up on Hamlet's pressing for someone with some occult strengths.  

Once in the car, Laughton gets perturbed at Willow's obvious shyness and youth, a clear sign to him she's no mistress of Wiccan arts.  Buffy speaks up for her friend and while Willow's self-effacing to a fault, she does have a few tidbits that at least give her some credibility.  Suzanne, having partied with the younger ladies, has a quiet confidence in them and eagerly helps Buffy check make-up and they begin discussing vampires and such.  Suzanne asks, in jest, about giant slugs though Willow takes it too seriously and starts to wonder about such things.  Laughton simply resigns himself to his fate.

Once at the club under which the vampires sleep, they carefully set up a quick surveillance.  Sammy oozes an eye into a corner to spy on the vampires and finds many of them having woken, a total of thirteen down there in all.  The area used to be many rooms of some sort, now the walls are mostly rubble and coffins line each wall.  A couple vampires stir and head in his direction.  The heroes enact their plan, devised moments before, to bust through the floor and take the vampires as much by surprise as possible.  Buffy and Willow make their hole and way through one end of the space while the Justice Squad blasts through another, moving a bit more quickly through as the Troll breaks through the floor in a swift movement.

Quickly Damien pounces upon Hamlet whom he recognizes/sees first, his fangs cutting into his neck and draining his life, forcing him to start to pass out, Hamlet barely holding on.  The team is all properly outfitted by Buffy with a few stakes apiece.  Sammy stakes Damien and the elder vampire disappears just as the Troll comes to his feet, having slipped after the fall.  Spectrum hovers above and uses her mind to focus and throw her stakes.  The vampires begin by pig-piling on the Troll - who looks like good meat indeed.  A few try to get Sammy but he's too slippery.  At the other end of the room Buffy staves off several who attempt to grab her as Willow appears to be praying, giving Laughton further heebie-jeebies.  However, just as the gang is about to hit full-steam, they realize they're even faster - Willow has cast a spell of some sort that enables just the "good guys" to move faster.  The vampires are doomed as they are staked one by one.  The Troll moves upstairs to head off any who might get up the stairs as many attempt to flee, some of them having woken up just due to the attack.  Buffy moves in front of the stairs herself, though, and holds off several.  As they start to flee in the opposite direction, they find themselves cut down quickly.  Knowing the vampire slayer's "no prisoner" policy, none attempt to surrender.  Besides which, even as the Justice Squad wishes to catch one, Buffy slays the last.  As the vampires explode into dust as they are slain, nothing is left to clean or cover up.  Buffy and Willow realize they have to break their engagement to go clubbing with Spectrum, at least until fairly late, as they need to catch and kill the many vampires who will start arriving for the club above to feed on the victims or visit Damien's clique below.  

Before leaving, they find several obscure works of art, some by reasonably but not famously known masters.  The one exceptional find is an autographed original minuet written by Mozart and signed over to Damien personally.  Apparently they were somewhat close friends.  While the area is hardly as "posh" as Medusa indicated, it does have its moments.

In the news the next day it turns out Eduardo Tocci's daughter is kidnapped.  The following day, the 11th of January, she's returned - and miraculously the gang wars end.  However, the Wrath is continuing to kill mobsters on his own.

Friday the 12th, as the weekend approaches, Eliot and Aela spend a quiet, romantic evening at home.  Meanwhile, as Sammy waits for Lefty at the Laughton Agency, it gets later and later.  After Lefty is an hour late, Sammy decides he'd better check on his friend, and rushes over to Sihn's home.  Oozing through the door and then turning to a rat, Sammy scouts through the house, first stopping to check out the refrigerator.  Since neither Eliot nor Aela are found of "processed" meats or much in the way of vegetables, a neglected old collection of Chinese left-overs sit far in the back, providing a tasty snack for Sammy.  Refreshed, he makes his way to the couple's bedroom and spies on them, hoping to catch a glimpse of Lefty still on Eliot's hand.  Instead, he sees Eliot's left arm topped only with a stump.  

Sammy heads back to Laughton Agency and calls Eliot - from a safe distance.  As Eliot and Aela wake up to the phone, Eliot realizes he's sans Lefty and hides his left arm behind him as he lifts the phone with the other.  He hears Sammy say, "Hi!  Uh, how are you?  Ah, is Lefty around?"  Not wanting Aela to find out yet about Lefty, Eliot responds, "Call me back in 5 minutes," tells Aela it's a work call, and rushes downstairs.

Sammy calls again, "So, I was wondering if Lefty's there?"

To which Eliot responds, "No, and I'm wondering why you're asking that, Sammy.  Why would you call about Lefty in the middle of the night, Sammy?"

"Um, just wondering how he is, you know, just worried about him since you mentioned he's not there."

"Sammy, why would you wonder that?"

"Ah....because I'm Lefty's friend and I just was concerned for him."

"Palmer's not calling to see how Lefty is and she's a mind-reader.  Laughton's the "greatest detective in the world" [in a half-serious, half-mocking tone of what Laughton often refers to himself as] and he's not calling to see where Lefty is.  The Captain isn't calling to see where Lefty is.  So why would you call to see where Lefty is, Sammy?"

"Uh, well, I'm just worried, uh...."

"Were you supposed to meet Lefty, Sammy?"

"...Well, yeah..."

"Where were you supposed to meet him?"

"Over here at the agency."

From there Sihn asked Sammy about how Lefty was going to go all that way, which Sammy hadn't thought much about.  After a few more minutes on the phone, Eliot checks the house and finds Lefty's "toy" car, the Christmas present from Suzanne, missing.  He hastily gets dressed and calls the other Justice Squad members...

[Game Mechanics - Points Awarded...

Laughton's web page posting and investigation work, Act of Great Publicity/general - +22.5 RPs for Rodin, +1 XP for Rodin

Drawing against a roughly equal opponent just as a representation of the general investigative follow-ups and work against the mysterious challenges posed - +3.75 RPs for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Troll, +.25 XPs for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Troll

Thoroughly defeating an inferior opponent for the elimination of the Damien clan - +.75 RPs for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Troll, +.05 XPs for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Troll

Works of art gained via Damien's defeat - +22.5 RPs for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Troll, +.75 XPs for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Troll

4 hrs Session Play - +3.5 RPs for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Troll, +1 XP for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Troll

Totals:

Rodin +53 RPs, +3.05 XPs
Sammy the Slime +30.5 RPs, +2.05 XPs
Spectrum +30.5 RPs, +2.05 XPs 
Troll +30.5 RPs, +2.05 XPs

Totals to Date:

Rodin 543.5 RPs, 42.875 XPs
Sammy the Slime 513.5 RPs, 40.6625 XPs
Spectrum 269.75 RPs, 19.05 XPs
Troll 527  RPs, 46.85 XPs]