X-Champions Issues

Issue #16 - Dark Days in Detroit

With the Troll's depression deepening as Aela departs for Atlantis, he plans to nab and interrogate the killer of his mother. Sammy assists by disguising his voice as Eduardo's and arranging a meeting in an abandoned warehouse with Vito, the perpetrator. Vito is easily duped and walks into the trap; even when he walks into the dark and bright lines are shone on him by strangers, his cockiness is as unabated as his stupidity - it takes a while for him to even realize anything's wrong.

After a brief "interrogation", wherein the light dawns on Vito, the Troll can no longer control himself. The morally ambivalent Laughton wanders off and the naïve, impressionable Sammy simply considers it Charles Bronson-like street justice as the Troll begins to attack and shortly to literally devour the young thug. Only Suzanne Palmer gives a thought to stopping the Troll but her innate caution and concern over how she's perceived by the team forces her to hesitate too long. She turns away as the ugly job is done, and then she hears a small hiss of one of the voices in her head say simply, "Goodbye". She doesn't know what it means, but knows it can't be good. Meanwhile, Vito's death is slow and painful. Only after the fact does the Troll realize that his sentient hand, Lefty, also participated in the attack, absorbing a bad lesson.

As Laughton ensures that the scene is properly cleaned up, looking after the distraught yet thorough Troll (little is left of Vito anyway), he receives a call from Maddy Hayes. She's already at the office and expects to see him right away. Laughton arrives to hear Maddy begin the expected ranting; among other things, she's upset with the way Caruthers has been treated. Her rant is cut off, though, by Laughton's offer to buy out the business. After discussion and some disagreement over staff (she had wanted to take all the detectives except Hell) she agrees in principle and the process begins.

Close to midnight Laughton gets the word via his underworld contacts that the Kingpin pick-up of the Tocci cash tribute is about to occur. He rushes to gather the team, who are all essentially ready anyway. Sammy's up getting a late night snack (as usual), and is pleased when he gets the call from Laughton since it gives him an opportunity to enjoy his new wristband cell phone, on which a picture of Laughton sits where the picture would be if it were a Dick Tracy- style wristband picture phone. The sleepless Dr. Sihn is grimly working away, frustrated with what seem to be failure after failure as the evening wears on. Palmer is half-wake, tossing and turning, still upset over Vito's killing, and having just turned down an offer to go out with Buffy and the gang.

As they convene to go to the pick-up site (the same strip club once attacked by Medusa and Shooter, issue 12), the Justice Squad members note that even in Sammy's "everyman" appearance he now bears an Elvis-like pompadour, but little that Sammy does surprises the team anyway. Rogers shows up in the Black Buick and whisks the team there, though they find it looks like they're a little later than the mobsters, including Kingpin's lieutenants, whom Spectrum locates in the bar. She's surprised by some sort of strong mental defense they have - but much more surprised to find her mental powers are reduced. Apparently her alter ego has done some manipulation in response to the Troll's murder of Vito. From further investigation they find that all the dons formerly reporting to Tocci are there, plus an apparent new mob boss.

An armored car pulls up. Sammy changes into a cat form and scampers towards the truck, but even in cat form he retains a big floppy pompadour. The two Kingpin lieutenants that the team had heard of from Eduardo Tocci are out front, and one notices the cat and apparently recognizes it as he shoots a beam of some sort of hot energy at it. Sammy deftly avoids it and climbs up under the truck, changing into a form intended to mimic engine parts. He's surprised to see that in this form his form is white and polyester-like, apparently in the form of one of Elvis' better-known stage shirts. In the meantime Spectrum attempts to grab and squeeze the attacker's mind but even though she hits her mental blast does nothing. Rodin tries to turn the attacker to stone but misses, turning a nearby thug into stone instead. The Troll leaps into combat and bashes the other Kingpin lieutenant as he turns into a miniature mountain; the Troll finds this mountain is volcanic and he is burnt by it, as well as finding himself enmeshed in molten lava dribbling down the sides of what was once a normal-looking person. This is Volcano, and he is continuing to grow rapidly, absorbing the earth around him, including engulfing and killing the Tocci mobsters. The other lieutenant is a mutant Troll has heard of, a criminal known as Dexter who is amazingly fast and almost never misses.

Sammy picks up the truck and smacks Dexter, who is momentarily stunned, but finds himself threatened by the still- growing Volcano. Spectrum telekinetically lifts Sammy and pulls him to safety, then she is knocked out by a couple doses of energy by Dexter - who is apparently feeding off of the Volcano. Rodin tries his powers out on Volcano but finds that this creature is too difficult to turn into a statue quickly.

Meanwhile the Volcano keeps growing. One Tocci mobster manages to get away in his car but the others are slowly killed by the strange menace. The Justice Squad can barely keep away as the Troll frees himself and grabs Hamlet and the passed out Suzanne (though in mid-air, the Volcano is reaching her level) as he leaps to safety. The Troll uses his medicines to awaken Sammy, hit by his own blast reflected by Dexter, and Spectrum.

Things look grim as the Justice Squad realizes that Dexter can recover from any blow quickly and doesn't miss. Just then Laughton turns to a strange form that they've not seen before; an established mind link by the awakened Suzanne makes clear its purpose. Rodin becomes a multi-faceted crystalline structure capable of reflecting beams and such with ease and amazing accuracy. The Troll grabs it as Dexter shoots another blast and then Dexter manages to reflect that back and like a ping-pong ball the energy beam bounces. Dexter finally lets it fly past him, worried he can no longer reflect it. Dexter attempts a shot on Sammy to find the same result. As Dexter realizes he's at best stalemated and at worst about to be caught by the Justice Squad, he goes desolid and quickly slips away, leaving the Volcano to be pounded upon. The Justice Squad is lucky; apparently the Volcano still can only take so much damage and quickly seems to go unconscious (or the equivalent thereof) as it burns out. They find they can use the crystalline Rodin to increase damage and it doesn't take long to put the volcano out.

As they hear sirens arrive Laughton gathers up $50,000, the only remaining money left intact from the Volcano, sitting in a corner of the tipped-over armored car. As he scoops up the last of it, he gets a phone call tipping him off to a meeting of Rosicrucians that he needs to investigate in a couple hours in New York and takes off. Meanwhile Rogers in the Black Buick has easily apprehended the surviving Tocci boss and brings him to the Justice Squad base beneath the Laughton Agency, then takes off with Laughton to get him to New York in time.

As the police arrive, the Troll gets to show off his new media relations skills, taught to him by Rogers with acting lessons from Sammy. He acts horrified at the carnage, garnering special attention and sympathetic coverage as he tends to the wounded as best he can. He also manages to use his knowledge and drugs to concoct something to turn the unconscious Volcano back to his human-looking guise. As he does and as he examines him, he finds that the Volcano has some sort of brain implants that apparently account for the unusual mental defense. Lisa Walters interviews the Squad and of course they dodge all details. Sammy makes a more-than-minor boo-boo as he tells a reporter he's off to "help Sihn", to which the Troll simply chuckles and says, "No sin until this is all over!" The shy Spectrum retires to the edges, escaping the cameras as quickly as she can, and hears the voice back in her head. Her powers are returning to normal but her voice warns her she must deal with the Troll. Meanwhile the Troll is careful to call Terwilliger and quickly the feds show up to claim Volcano. The Justice Squad departs as the by- now normal scene in Detroit of federal and city authorities arguing over jurisdiction takes place.

Back at the base the team sans Laughton but with Hell and Manny decide to go to O'Malley's for a few well-earned drinks. Suzanne hits the sauce hard. As O'Malley thanks the Justice Squad for their work, Sammy replies it's simply "our duty". O'Malley, noting Sammy's pompadour, asks if he knows Elvis to which Sammy replies, "I see him every day!" earning an elbow in the ribs from the Troll. Manny adds that he met Elvis when he was an investigative reporter, down in Florida. He thought Elvis had aged a lot and isn't sure this new Elvis is the real one though he grants anything's possible. The Troll attributes this new Elvis persona to "collective hysteria". Suzanne simply stays head-down in her whiskey.

The bartender notes Suzanne's drinking but seems unusually willing to keep pouring and even offers to keep the bar open as long as she wants. She knows it's no doubt some by-product of her schizophrenic mental powers although she doesn't personally want O'Malley to stay open all night just on her account. Her mood only degrades despite Sammy's best efforts at lightening things for her. Sammy drinks along with her for a bit but finds alcohol abrasive and switches over to the same choice of the Troll, milk. Manny starts putting serious moves on Suzanne but suddenly turns white and quickly leaves. The Troll gains a serious headache, something he's not accustomed to. Even Hell moves on to find happier grounds.

But the Troll is determined to see that Suzanne is okay as she tries to drink herself into a stupor, something that requires a lot of liquor. She resists being take home by him but after some struggling he gets her home, primarily with Sammy's presence allaying her anger. Sammy stays with Suzanne and ensures she's okay, tucking her into bed. Suzanne awakes a bit disoriented, taking a few minutes to recall how she got neatly into bed, and then finds she has a clean kitchen - at least in terms of being bereft of food products.

The Troll spends the rest of the night taking care of an experiment gone awry - nothing a little acid-washing and robots can't clean up.

The next day finds Velda upset over being "ignored" by Sammy as well as feeling she's not being let in by him emotionally. As she insists on calling him by his "real" name, Elvis, Sammy tells her he really wants to be called Sammy and identifies more with his new life. He implies though still won't quite state that he is the same Elvis performing, the one getting all the attention.

Elvis (Sammy as Elvis) gets a visit from Michael Ovitz, the famed publicist/agent, whose been courting him for some time. They meet over at the Sihn-Tech building as the Laughton Agency is in a state of disarray with the Hayes/Laughton split, besides which they want to downplay any Elvis-Laughton connection for fear of it getting back to Sammy. Given Sihn-Tech's orientation to studying "all sorts" of humans, it's a convenient guise.

Sihn passes by, snooping as always for any mutation leads, and finds that Ovitz is some sort of mutant. Suzanne is present to advise Sammy on any legality and feels Ovitz attempt to get into her mind - to which she gives a painful retort. As Ovitz knows that Suzanne knows, he blurts out finally, "Well Sammy/Elvis, whatever." As Sammy realizes Ovitz has been reading his mind he unexpectedly gets up and slugs Ovitz, knocking him out like a light, and leaves in disgust. Sihn, who wishes he could take the moment to get Ovitz onto the lab table, thinks it's a good thing for Ovitz that Laughton isn't around or he'd be going through his pockets, then goes off to attend to his experiments lest anything be left alone too long. Suzanne splashes water on Ovitz' face, bringing him to, and they reach a mutual non-disclosure understanding.

The evening finds everyone recovering, enjoying what will be an all-too-brief respite from the Kingpin war. Suzanne plans to attend Buffy's birthday party with Sammy in tow. Lefty gets word and wants to join. Sihn is in a funk over recent events, less fun to be with than ever, but finally relents with Suzanne's assurance she'll look after Lefty (Suzanne has no beef with the young offspring of the Troll). He also swears Sammy to watch over Lefty, testing the young being. In the meantime, Sammy has made Sihn his new project, attempting to help Sihn through his depression, but he can't get Sihn to join the party.

On the way, Sammy dons some jazzy clothes and uses the Laughton company credit card to get some presents for the party. At the party the three Justice Squad members (if one counts Lefty) have fun, meeting weird sorts of beings, including fire demons such as in issue 1. They have a conversation with an odd drooling demon with a speech impediment, Oklog. Oklog seems a jovial enough being, apparently in league with the Scooby Gang somehow. He entices Sammy to a game of Parcheesi.

As Suzanne talks with Willow she finds out that Oklog has mistaken the game of Parcheesi to be some human equivalent to a game of honor his race plays. Sammy finds this out as well, having just lost a game against the experienced Oklog, who then announces that Sammy is now his slave. Sammy is confused and bemused, and decides to just ignore the issue and continue to pal around with Oklog a bit. As they rejoin the party Suzanne over-hears Oklog wanting to take Sammy home. Sammy is finally forced to resort to violence and in a few mighty swings knocks out the demon. Upset by the turn of events and reminded of his time as a slave of sorts to ABC, Sammy leaves the party. Lefty stays behind with Suzanne, failing to talk Sammy into staying. Suzanne stays mind-linked with Sammy just to ensure he's okay.

Sammy flies back to the office, using his new ability to camouflage himself by blending into the sky and remaining invisible to casual on-lookers. On his way he spots a mugging at an ATM that he handily stops, swooping down and grabbing the gun. The victim doesn't want to get involved and wants to just let the mugger go, so Sammy agrees he can let the mugger go - right then and there, to just mug the guy. So the victim reluctantly agrees to accompany Sammy to the police and make a statement.

Meanwhile back at the party Lefty has a good chat with Suzanne, quizzing her on the Justice Squad and what he might do with his future, and generally enjoying the party. Willow takes a few quiet moments with Suzanne to give her a shoulder to lean on, sensing her friend is unhappy.

As Sammy arrives back at the homestead, he sees Sihn on the roof with Gere-luce. The two have been quietly communing, Gere-luce having torn Sihn from his failing experiments to take a few moments to quietly get away. Sammy lands to visit with Sihn, and gets an earful from the grieving doctor about leaving Lefty. After a bit Sihn relents, knowing that Sammy's judgment to leave Lefty with Suzanne was after all sound. As Lefty and Suzanne get back before too long, Sihn is momentarily happy to see Lefty remembered to bring him a couple samples of strange beings from the party.

The next day the team leaves to meet up with Laughton. On the way they head out to Winchester near Boston so that Sihn can show Lefty the New School for the Gifted; he's been encouraging Lefty to think about going to school there. Also, although he's absorbed in the drama thrust on the Justice Squad by Kingpin, he's concerned about the disappearance of Professor Xavier and several of the on- site alumni, his friends. He investigates a bit while there, sifting through some data his old chum Squiggy the Squid points him to. He also encounters another old acquaintance, the Imperial Falcon. The Falcon is his usual arrogant but insubstantial self, alienating the Justice Squad at once. He offers Sihn and the others membership to his own developing super-group which they politely decline. The blowhard Falcon attempts to relate on the Justice Squad's level and offers his "help" though indicates he's pretty busy of course. Given his powers are primarily somewhat fast flight and moderate-to-low (for a super hero) strength, he's never been taken too seriously anyway. Sihn does get a lead as he finds multiple references to a government organization known only as "Dark Force" in Xavier's files.

Before leaving they visit the cafeteria, which Sammy is enthralled to find has self-replenishing buckets of food, with more variety than the baloney he gets back at the base. The cook/administrator is happy to see Sihn and pleased to meet the others.

But Sihn's reverie for days gone by and Spectrum's, Sammy's, and Lefty's fondness for the exciting campus are dimmed as they must move on to bring the fight to Kingpin's backyard.

[Game Mechanics - Points Awarded...

Winning against a marginally superior opponent for the battle with Dexter and Volcano - +13.125 RPs for Rodin, Sammy, Troll, +.875 XPs for Rodin, Sammy, Troll; +17.5 RPs for Spectrum, +1.75 XPs for Spectrum

(you can't really expect even thoroughly defeating an inferior opponent points for the Vito slaying! - but good role-playing and that all counts into session play)

3 hrs Session Play - +2.25 RPs for Rodin, +.75 XP for Rodin

4 hrs Session Play - +3 RPs for Sammy, Troll, +1 XP for Sammy, Troll; +4 RPs for Spectrum, +2 XP for Spectrum

Totals:

Rodin +15.375 RPs, +1.625 XPs
Sammy the Slime +16.125 RPs, +1.875 XPs
Spectrum +21.5 RPs, +3.75 XPs 
Troll +16.125 RPs, +1.875 XPs

Totals to Date:

Rodin 683.5 RPs, 63.625 XPs
Sammy the Slime 654.25 RPs, 61.1625 XPs
Spectrum 429.375 RPs, 45.425 XPs
Sprite 46.5 RPs, 24.75 XPs
Troll 667.75 RPs, 69.85 XPs]