X-Champions Issues
Issue #21 - The French Connection
Sihn, Sammy, and the rest reach Hunter
Island, spending the first day there exploring it and the sea caves
underneath. The sea is rough and it's difficult to search much
underwater. As night falls they notice that Manny Wulfenstein is
missing. Sammy and Sihn go searching. With Sammy's tracking scent
they pick up on Manny's trail and follow it up the Hunter Island volcano.
As they reach the cone, Sammy notices the scent changing, becoming animal-like,
and suddenly they hear a howl. Sihn turns and says, "Stop that,
Sammy," mistaking the source. At the crest of the volcano, where
intense heat radiates, they find a werewolf chained to a rock, no doubt
Manny. It is howling madly, trying to escape from the shackles, ignoring
the two visitors. When it does see them it becomes angrier. Sammy
turns into a werewolf, attempting a female form. The werewolf becomes
slowly calmer, and as Sammy approaches slowly it motions for help escaping the
shackles. Of course Sammy won't do that, and were-Manny returns to
howling. Sammy moves back to camp at the bottom of the volcano, trying to
rest over the howling and knowing with his sharp senses he will be awoken if
trouble happens. Eliot Sihn stays up near Manny, watching over him.
In the morning Sihn sees Manny slowly
changing to human form as the sun rises. Manny, consciousness and
intellect slowly returning, doesn't even notice Eliot as he digs for a key
apparently placed earlier deep under some rocks. He is startled to see
Eliot out of the corner of his eye, but tries to maintain his usual casual air,
still calling Sihn, "Ellie." Elliot has a talk with Manny,
impressing upon him that they can help him - but that if Manny doesn't get help,
he can't be responsible for what happens as they struggle with his bestial
form. Manny agrees to work with Sihn when he gets back. They discuss
lycanthropy a bit more and head down the volcano.
At the campsite, Sammy is eager to
display his werewolf form. While Manny has arranged photos of himself
before, it's still rare so he's quite interested. Sammy discusses and
theorizes on the female form quite a bit, wanting to get it right. Eliot
shakes his head and says, "Sammy, you make me nervous sometimes."
Back in the States, the rest of the
Justice Squad becomes a bit anxious, not having heard anything from the others
and being aware of the prevalence of disappearances in that part of the
world. Of course Jonas Hell feeds their fears, mentioning the likelihood
of problems. But that doesn't get him a Pacific vacation, which Suzanne,
Hamlet, and the new Squad member Neumann eagerly move on to. Suzanne uses
her considerable resources to charter a private plane. They catch up with
the Justice Squad as Suzanne senses their presence as they get within a few
hundred miles of the remote island, itself scattered among other lightly
populated remote islands. By then Sihn, Sammy, Gere-luce, and Rogers have
scoured more of the island, another day having passed as their teammates
traveled. Sihn has found house keys and notices nearby large, strange burn
marks in one of the few flatter clearings on Hunter.
On the keyring is a Spanish name, "Rodriguez" and the picture of a
house.
Just as they secure Manny for the
evening, the other members arrive. Neumann is introduced (though the
raised metal letters on his "chest" bearing his name make the name at
least self-evident). He's eager to meet Gere-luce as he's heard the
inventor can fix him. Gere-luce is equally excited to meet Neumann.
As he discovers some sort of nuclear material in the robot, he's offering to
build a nuclear self-destruct button for Neumann, but Neumann isn't sure how
that will help people. Gere-luce also discovers Neumann's human brain,
causing more interest on Sihn's part. They begin to discuss using parts
from the Black Buick to do some projects with Neumann immediately, but Rogers
parks himself on the hood of it, nay saying any such suggestions
strongly.
Sammy, not paying much attention to the
raised lettering and just hearing the name pronounced, asks if Neumann is the
man responsible for the jellies, which he particularly likes, and other foods in
the grocery store bearing that name (Newman). Neumann is confused.
But
there's no time to straighten out this point; a strange giant figure (as shown
to the left) appears. He's 24 feet tall, towering above the heroes, and
identifies himself as a "god" of volcanoes and fire. He spends
considerable time boasting and threatening, then determines to let Hamlet and
Suzanne, who look like hapless tourists, leave. He demands that Neumann
stay behind and face him with the others who desecrated the island the last
couple days. This gives time for Sihn to both turn into the Troll, which
the being is unimpressed with, and prepare a drug from his kit to strengthen his
leather, rugged skin. To make his point, the fire god strikes the Black
Buick, basically destroying Rogers' prized possession in one fell swoop.
But this is insufficient and the heroes
refuse to stand down (well, the majority - Suzanne and Hamlet make like innocent
bystanders and hurry off), as much out of confusion and a desire to determine
what the god knows about Lakura. The god apparently knows something of her
but isn't clear other than he's an enemy to her. He believes them now to
be in league with her. Spectrum/Suzanne attempts to read the volcano god's
mind but it is hard to penetrate. Still, she gets that he is very
concerned about the volcano and foremost on his mind is that no one desecrate
it. He finally spins fire from his fingers at the Troll - missing
him. The Troll is typically easy to hit, and he's used to being hit.
When this allegedly mighty god-like figure can't hit him, the Troll simply busts
out laughing. This angers the fire god to no end, and he goes berserk
attacking the Troll. Determined to hit, he blindly spews massive volcanic
lava out of his mouth, covering an entire area. Rogers and Gere-luce
retreat into the woods. Sammy jumps up into the sky, hitting the fire god
on the head, but apparently he isn't even noticed, and worse yet the god's body
is apparently burning hot. Sammy falls to the ground, dazed. Neumann
speedily rushes him towards the nearby lagoon, hoping to revive him, while the
Troll rips off an arm and begins beating the god with it. His arm burns
but not seriously, and his flailing with all his strength on the god slowly
wears at him - but the volcano god's spews of lava wear moreso on the
Troll. Meanwhile Suzanne and Hamlet investigate the volcano; Hamlet turns
to his Rodin form and Suzanne tosses him down into it, reading his mind as he
goes.
Sammy recovers and, from a distance,
launches his acidic spray at the strange being. It seems to have full
effect, searing into its skin. But the being is too tough to be brought
down by this and is still preoccupied with the Troll for having laughed at
him. Neumann, having gotten a little information on Sihn's mission, goes
to the shore and innocently inquires, "Water-lady, where are
you?" Seemingly a world away, Hamlet finds himself in a strange cave
that is somehow below the lava, which shoots from arteries inside the volcano
but not from underneath it. Thus the cave is safe. It isn't even too
hot. He notices army ration containers abandoned on the floor, puzzling
him.
Meanwhile, the fire god eventually
notices Spectrum by the volcano cone and comes to his senses. He spews a
lava flow at her; heroically the Troll leaps into mid-air to catch the spray on
himself, guarding Spectrum from it. The Troll's body so close to the god's
mouth causes the spray to scatter every which way but straight. In the
process, the Troll is dazed for a second but still standing as he comes to
earth. The god speedily takes off towards the volcano. Suzanne takes
off, speeding away from the wrathful deity. The Troll takes after it,
briefly pausing to recover Lefty who tried to hold on to the god as it
left. But the god disappears into the side of the volcano, flowing as lava
into it.
Meanwhile
Lakura (left) appears to the naive Neumann! She pleads with him to join
her to be safe from the volcano god; Sammy joins along as he's right there,
calling her "Grandma!" Lakura drags them through the waters into
one of the underground caves, where there's an air pocket. She assumes
that Sammy at least needs air, and she doesn't know what the robot needs.
Ironically, none of the three need air. Sammy explains their search for
her. She is pleased to save them from the volcanic being but hesitant to
do more as she is fearful of it. Apparently it cannot navigate water, just
as she is essentially powerless on land.
Hamlet explores the cave, which seems to
go on forever, but soon realizes he's being followed. He sees the cave is
on a decline of some sort, so he turns back to Rodin form, this time in a ball
shape, and rolls along. He rolls up to the volcano being, who looks at him
oddly. Then the volcano god stops Hamlet and toys with him a bit, then
strikes him with fire. The fire does nothing of course. But then he
uses another strange attack, that seems to heat up but not physically hurt Rodin
- which is very odd as Rodin does not feel heat in his stone form. This
mysterious attack also triggers Rodin to transform back into Hamlet, already
unconscious from the onslaught. The god drapes Rodin over his shoulder
(turning a portion of his heat off) and takes off. Spectrum, having been
in mental touch with Rodin, can see no more as Rodin is completely unconscious.
The Troll and Spectrum catch up with
Lakura, Sammy, and Neumann. The Troll delivers an impassioned speech about
his child, Lakura's grandchild, to be born. Eventually Lakura agrees to
tell him her story, and to help him at least partially. It turns out that
after she escaped Namor, whom she indicates is the ruler of what humans have
known as Mu, she wandered throughout these islands. The people of Yassur
did help her; their counseled her to meet the legendary cargo "god,"
Jon Krum via the magical caves that are under Hunter Island. She wasn't
entirely sure what to believe but she was desperate to find a safe place.
It turned out that in fact there is an ancient, several thousand mile long cave
that starts out on Hunter Island in Vanuatu and extends all the way to another
island called Hunter near Tasmania. This cave is a magical refuge built
many eons ago by mighty humans who, back then, were escaping from the Mu people
and others, she believes anyway. Whatever the case, this cave does keep
anything in it eternally young. Jon Krum did end up there, and she did
befriend him. In fact, she did more than that as they are now
lovers. The cave, though, is also haunted by the fire god. While the
fire god apparently is "pro human," it has some grudge against Krum
and her, moreso her. Perhaps because she is not strictly
human.
Sihn resolves it would be a bad idea,
for Krum's health let alone whatever issues Lakura has, to tell Namor any of
this. He decides he should discuss it with Aela. Lakura is very
afraid to meet Aela, fearful it will get back to Namor. But she does want
to, and they make arrangements for later.
Spectrum picks up Hamlet's mind as he
regains consciousness in a French-run jail in New Caledonia (still a French
territory). Lakura explains that there's been increased activity lately as
New Caledonia has some sort of plot to enforce its claim on Hunter Island and
Matthew Island, the two islands it contests with Vanuatu. Apparently New
Caledonia has employed the fire god somehow, or the fire god has sided with
them.
Suzanne's chartered helicopter is
untouched, and everyone manages to fit in reasonably well. On the way to
New Caledonia a couple of helicopters appear headed to intercept them.
Spectrum again reaches out with her mind; without difficulty, she convinces the
pilots they must head back, that there's nothing out here. They manage to
land safely and quietly. Quickly they then blend in as possible with the
New Caledonia night life, as there are a few rowdy bars and an outdoor party
going on. Sihn rests on the docks with the drunks, Neumann joining him,
staying out of the way. Sammy and Suzanne enjoy a party for a while and
eventually find a hotel to stay at. The volcano god is scouting the
island, so they deliberately play it cool, leaving Laughton in jail.
Hamlet Laughton is by no means enjoying
his stay. He is stripped naked and the holding cell seems to be well
equipped in general for a super. Some force keeps him from changing
form. He tries to engage the guards in conversation but they are
steadfastly obnoxious. The overnight guard speaks in a thick caricature of
a French accent and insults Hamlet the whole time, pointing out how he knows he
is Rodin. Hamlet shrugs that off.
Sihn calls Terwilliger as Tuesday turns
to Wednesday; Terwilliger is dumbfounded. Throughout that evening and
Wednesday during the day, bridging the various time zone differences, he
contacts people he knows in France who then contact the island. New
Caledonia steadfastly maintains that they do not have Hamlet in custody.
Given that the only evidence is Spectrum's mind-reading, Terwilliger advises
that going vigilante is probably the only practical route.
Laying low, the free portion of the
Justice Squad enjoys a day of tourist activities. Suzanne buys some local
professional clothes so as to blend in as well as doing other shopping.
The stunning woman is propositioned crassly by a local; he suddenly takes
a notion to wander the streets naked. Sihn visits the small Chinese
community. He acts mysterious, dressing in traditional Chinese garb, and
turning the questions around that he gets, as he is the newcomer. Sammy
goes about looking like a secret service sort of person. Neumann
looks for people to help - which is not too hard to find. He comes across
a store front on fire and rushes in, saving a woman. The townspeople
celebrate this strange hero, forming an impromptu parade. But a priest
doubts this robot and causes a scene, and soon a full-scale commotion takes
place. Neumann escapes at some point and heads to Suzanne's hotel, as
they've arranged to meet there.
At the hotel, Suzanne and Neumann sit
waiting for the others. Suddenly the power goes out. Sihn is outside
and told to stay out, along with other civilians, as a few police go in the
building. Police form around the outside as well. They've traced
Neumann there and realize he's associated at least somehow, if not from the
volcano god's eyewitness account. They launch sleeping gas into the
room. Neumann grabs a stunned Suzanne and leaps out.
Sammy, also nearby as Sihn, becomes a large bird and flies around, watching to
ensure they're okay. Neumann stretches his fantastic spring-like body and
rapidly gets away from the police. Sihn grabs a taxi and heads towards the
jail, knowing their cover is blown.
Shortly they all meet a few blocks from
the jail. After a brief reconnoiter, they decide to follow Sammy who can
tunnel into the basement. As they approach underground, Sammy with his
keen senses can hear considerable movement inside. Spectrum scans
and finds many police in there, ready for the heroes. Apparently they have
a seismic detector for just such a person. They are busily giggling to
each other about "ze fooolish 'erooos." Spectrum adjusts the
seismic operator's mind to make them think the JS is approaching from the
opposite side. Then the squad bursts in and makes quick work of the police
with a flurry of hot, burning steam, burning acid, mental attacks, and the
Troll's brute force.
They
proceed upstairs quickly, where surprised guards simply surrender, throwing down
their arms. Sihn sees Manny (left) in a jail cell and frees him.
Other prisoners yearn to be free, and Spectrum obliges, figuring due process is
such a joke that they may as well be. Hamlet is freed, although Suzanne
gets a few snapshots of the naked detective for her amusement. The
day-shift jail boss swings into the room, holding a major weapon on one of the
prisoners and warning the JS to freeze. They rush the unprepared woman,
Suzanne mind-controlling her while Hamlet stones her.
Always in touch with Suzanne's help,
Rogers is prepared with a helicopter up above. They scramble into it and
take off. On their way, Neumann employs his radar, and detects the volcano
god a few miles from them, closing in on New Caledonia too late.
In the wake of the New Caledonia fiasco,
the government there attracts a lot of attention from the mother government in
France. Within days it is replaced and new officers are installed.
Friendly (or at least non-hostile) relations with Vanuatu are restored.
Back in Detroit, the team finds things
start to calm down and life resumes a more leisurely pace then they are recently
accustomed to.
Pictures of a nude Laughton turn up in
the nether regions of the Internet, though they are typically cleaned up
quickly. In one of the many illegal bulletin boards not on the Internet,
alt.pictures.erotica.superheroes, they are often found. Laughton is
generally dismissive of the whole thing, though a tad annoyed.
At the Laughton Agency, Hamlet receives
a crayon-written note from the "Martian Counsel" demanding its
property.
Lucy
Coe (right) contacts Hamlet Laughton to discuss the ANT case (which is Suzanne's
of course). She doesn't want to ruin ANT's life, and agrees to stop
pushing his trial back - in return for a dinner. When Sihn hears about it,
he notes that Laughton shouldn't let Medusa find out. Only recently has
Laughton seen her again and she's in generally good spirits thinking of her
"stone soul mate."
A few weeks later, Suzanne Palmer has
one of her greatest victories as she wins the ANT case against Detroit.
Considering all the ANT did for them (or at least tried to do), she's very
pleased.
And this gives her time to settle into
her new home, though she's having bad nightmares there - what with the murdered
souls on the grounds and all. She contacts Buffy and the gang to dig
deeper into the haunted house. They find that all the previous owners of
the house have gone mad and become killers. One of the many spirits
finally speaks directly with Suzanne, questioning why she's there. confirming
this, and mentioning that they were all men, and visited violence mostly upon
women, suggesting things might go differently for Suzanne. Suzanne tells
the spirit that she's going to stay to help them get over their torment -
"I'm just here to help you."
Meanwhile Laughton continues to work
with Frank Eyes of the 719 Society. He continues to keep the case out of
the public and quiet, gathering witnesses and facts. The Blue Moon is
still getting clients away from the Laughton Agency, and Laughton assigns
Pagliacchi to work on getting their client base back.
He's also busy working on pursuing Dr.
13. He visits Gas Attack out in the desert, wearing a gas mask. Gas
Attack, living in a shoddy shack in the middle of nowhere, invites him in for
beans. He reveals how he came to know Dr. 13 through his friend Chris
Carter, now a famous producer (X-Files, etc.) in Hollywood. Gas Attack
offers to do work for Laughton, whether hurting people or more reputable
work. He also wants some money for the information. Laughton gives
him $40 and his business card, then leaves and back in Detroit works on syncing
his calendar up with the reputedly reclusive and enigmatic figure. He
finds it difficult as Carter will only speak face to face, so they have to find
a time where they are both available.
Laughton and Palmer discuss the
Necronomicon, comparing their findings. When they realize that in fact
there is some odd evil history and that Sihn has it, they ask him about
it. He indicates he's sent it back to Kietersling. But he
hasn't. Laughton believes he's lying, with his skill in that arena, and
consults with Dr. Chiang to see if they can get a hold of Kietersling/Daemon
Wodin. Chiang will set up a séance shortly as Kietersling is not
reachable otherwise.
Eliot has been busy working on his
Unified Mutation Theory, long into the night and with various test
subjects. He makes a big break-through, identifying genetic strains that
are enablers, without which nobody can be a mutant. He finds strange but
clear findings suggesting that the strains are easiest to identify and utilize
from those who've died in violent shock.
Sihn-Tek is doing well, beginning to
grow. Stark Industries farms out some work ot hem, and Dr. Sihn's Miracle
Creme is now quite profitable. There's an infomerical for it for a
distributor in Mexico with George Hamilton, although the show is not officially
sponsored or connected with Sihn-Tek.
His home life is not going as well,
though. Aela tells Eliot she wants him to "let me in." She
mentions that he's constantly working, and very self-absorbed. He's upset
at how she feels, and he replies that he's carefully determined that
(particularly as he doesn't sleep and can free up time) he spends 2-3 more hours
a week with her than the average husband. She gets angry at the
quantitative approach, and he finds himself hit with a strong spray of water,
then his veins start to constrict a bit. She snaps, "Just go work all
night!" Sihn doesn't get it; the work he's doing ultimately is for
both their good, and besides he's finally getting closer with the mutation
theories. And the ability to perhaps create (or recreate) life...
Neumann spends time with Gere-luce,
working with him to determine how to use the tapes which hold the clues to his
history. He uncertainly works with Gere-luce on a self-destruct button,
though it's not yet employed. After a time they begin to get the
components to read the tapes, identifying the necessary materials and making
some basic decoding steps. The tapes can soon be at least partially
decoded. Soon, Neumann hopes to know his history in some detail.
Otherwise Neumann keeps busy trying to
help people. Pagliacchi passes on charity cases to Neumann, and the robot
also seeks out lost dogs and the like. He gets entangled in a domestic
dispute, but a friendly policeman gives him advice. He also warns Neumann
to stay clear of Berger and "say nothing" if he runs into him.
And of course he does. Berger gives him the third degree, and, as
instructed, Neumann says, "I can say nothing to you." Berger
becomes livid, and (without cause) insists on taking Neumann down town.
Neumann simply holds his arm-like appendages out and offers himself up to be
handcuffed. Having hoped for a more resistant, perhaps even belligerent
attitude, Berger becomes enraged and tells him to just leave. Which he
does.
Unwittingly Neumann becomes a ploy for
Velda, who attempts to romance him and makes a few sexual references to the
robot in an attempt to make Sammy jealous. However, Sammy is equally
unwitting in the whole thing, and she continues to pine for him, becoming even
more upset when Gere-luce builds Neumann a "secre-bot" for his own
unique needs. Hurt in the way she'd hoped to hurt Sammy, Velda runs back
to Sammy and admits her ruse. He's no more adept, or interested in being
adept, with human women. She believes he just needs to "grow
up."
Sammy is more interested in his
developing career as an investigative reporter. Under Manny's tutelage,
he's learning more. He invites Velda to help him out, saying she can
drive. She only becomes more upset. Jonas Hell is also teaching
Sammy (which does not help his way with women), and between the two teachers,
Sammy has begun writing free-lance stories for the local alternative and free
papers.
He's also getting feedback from ABC that
they want to be "friends". Through the media (as there is a
restraining order) they make it clear they made a "mistake."
Sammy is bitter, with good reason, and it shows. Neumann asks him about
it, and in the conversation reveals that he also feels ABC is a bad corporation,
as they unearthed him only to take away his equipment and home.
Lisa Walters begins a series of talk
shows, each with a segment on a Justice Squad member. The first she
interviews is Sammy, asking him about the events in the Pacific. Sammy's
been guided on what to say and doesn't relate too much, though comes close by
indicating he was looking for his "grandmother." This plays well
with the empathetic Walters and she magnifies it for the public as a human
interest story. He shrugs off the fight on Hunter Island, just stating
that someone was there who didn't want to be friends, so the Justice Squad
left. She's impressed by their open attitude. She also drops a
"hint" (almost an outright statement disguised as a hint) that The
Captain will be capping the series of interviews with the Justice Squad.
Later she interviews Neumann. As
with Sammy, Rogers has done most of the coaching. He is prepared and comes
across as a genuine good guy. Walters tries to trip him up on morality
issues, asking him, since he is a robot, if he would do anything for
anybody. He almost stumbles, not catching the precise meaning of her
inquiry, thinking that of course he would help anyone. But it becomes
clear that he would never do so if it involved creating harm for someone
else. She applauds him as the most charitable, kindest local super since
The Captain. She also announces a contest with a trip as the reward for
guessing who the "special guest" at the end of the Justice Squad
series is.
Sihn introduces Neumann (and the others,
though it's for Neumann's benefit) to the Metal Men. It goes well; they
are intrigued with his very different architecture, and he with theirs,
considering himself primitive. Platinum, the randy voluptuous creation,
takes a special liking to Neumann with his extensible appendages. She
educates him...
[Game Mechanics - Points Awarded...
Drawing against the Volcano God, a
superior opponent - +11.25 RPs for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Trol
+.75 XP for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Troll, +15 RPs for Neumann, +1.5 XPs for
Neumann
Thoroughly defeating the French
Caledonian conspiracy, an inferior opponent - +.75 RP for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum,
Troll, +.05 XP for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Troll, +1 RP for Neumann, +.1 XP for
Neumann
"Winning" by finding Lakura, a
roughly equal opponent (in this regard) - +5.625 RPs for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum,
Troll, +.375 XP for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Troll, +7.5 RPs for Neumann, +.75 XP
for Neumann
6 hrs Session Play - +1.5 XPs for Rodin,
Sammy, Spectrum, Troll, +4.5 RPs for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Troll, +3 XPs for
Neumann, +6 RPs for Neumann
All points below are dedicated XPs as
noted, they are included in totals but note they should not be rearranged (note
- some skills costs are too much in Champions, don't get hung up on how they
affect character points totals):
Neumann - 2 XP for robotic sexuality
(and believe me, Platinum will be spreading the word); 2 XP in general to apply
to any related skill(s) for the continual "helping people" (this won't
be on-going necessarily but clearly Neumann is doing considerable work and has
had some campaign time for it); for same reason, adding 15 RPs
Rodin - 3 XP for PS: lawyer (12/less)
(yes, this is in addition to the existing KS)
Sammy - 4 XP to journalism
(professional)
Spectrum - 3 XP to knowledge of spirits
(mostly specialized in those killed violently, but some general knowledge as
well); +1 XP to legal skill
Troll - +2 XP biochemistry; +1 XP to bureaucratic
(managing business primarily, but also working by the book with Terwilliger in
New Caledonia); bonus 11.25 RPs for the heroism/selflessness in battle with the
volcano god
Totals:
Neumann +44.5 RPs, +9.35 XPs
Rodin +22.125 RPs, +5.675 XPs
Sammy +22.125 RPs, +6.675
Spectrum +22.125 RPs, +6.675 XPs
Troll +33.375 RPs, +5.675
Totals to Date:
Neumann 93.5 RPs, 17 XPs
Rodin 950.75 RPs, 91.875 XPs
Sammy the Slime 883.625 RPs, 86.2125 XPs
Spectrum 773.25 RPs, 85.175 XPs
Troll 919.625 RPs, 94.9 XPs]