X-Champions Issues
Issue #39 - Pumpkin Town
As we left last off, the Justice Squad,
awaiting the effects of an anti-pumpkin defoliant to take hold, is fighting a
holding action against the mad Bogeyman and his strange henchmen. Neumann
is down hard as Laughton and Nexus stage a strategic withdrawal (Nexus
teleporting them far away) and Spectrum and Sammy hold as best they can.
Laughton turns to his newest and perhaps strangest
form..."Clockwork". This large gizmo resembling an intricate set
of clockwork gears has incredible destructive power but must be wound up by
someone else. Nexus does the winding.
Meanwhile Super Ollie, the mercenary
Australian skateboard whiz, blazes back into action, attempting to face-slam
Sammy but missing. Sammy gets in a mighty blow with hammer-hands on
Bogeyman, but to little avail as Bogeyman is god-like in his native
element. Mocker shouts out, "Heh, you're funny!" at Sammy, and
Sammy feels his will to fight sapping. Spectrum moves to a nearby rooftop
and mentally blasts Artless Dodger, whose infamous luck is of no avail as he is
stunned by the blow. However, he gets in a last - and lucky - strike just
before succumbing to her shot, grabbing at her and as he falls and hitting
nerves in her ankle, causing her to pass out.
Nexus' summoned fire demon is surrounded
by a pumpkin wall of Bogeyman's making as Sammy is further taunted, losing his
will, by Mocker. Things look grim...
but Clockwork is wound up and suddenly
lurches into battle much as a wind-up toy across a linoleum floor, a chest
cannon suddenly revealed blasting at Bogeyman - still to seemingly little avail,
although he is knocked off his feet. At the same time, the hapless Sammy
is presented with something to eat by the strange cheese-holding bystander and
he happily, lacking will, dives into it, ignoring the battle. The fire
demon strikes out of his pumpkin imprisonment but misses Bogeyman. Super
Ollie skates to Clockwork but only strikes his mechanical-spring legs and
bounces off, barely retaining his balance.
Bogeyman gets up and starts sputtering
incoherently at Clockwork at the unfairness of this new creature and his desire
to fight Nexus. Nexus is upon the scene, firing at Super Ollie, trying to
foil the fast-moving terror, but missing as Super Ollie dodges into a nearby
building. And just as suddenly Ollie appears back on the battlefield,
attempting a face-plant on Clockwork, landing a blow but not hurting the
mechanical thing.
Bogeyman, still largely in control, then
tries to rile the fire demon, using mind control, against Laughton/Clockwork,
which, though successful, does no real damage against the new form.
Clockwork broadcasts, megaphone-like, "You're forcing my hand," as off
comes a flywheel, dangerously spinning down the street as he falls apart slowly
from various strikes. Mocker also tries to get at this strange new figure,
belittling his appearance, but this time his strange ability to wear at beings
is of almost no effect, Clockwork feeling only a slightly strange sensation but
nothing more.
Then Clockwork grows bigger and turns on
his battle saw! At 18 meters tall he towers over Bogeyman and the building
Bogeyman continues to fight from. He slices at Bogeyman, just catching him
and dazing him - as part of the roof of the building is taken out and Bogeyman
collapses down into it.
Meanwhile Nexus rushes to Sammy and,
using his mystical powers, grants Sammy increased willpower, allowing him to act
of his own accord. Just before he can complete the transformation, though,
Sammy, under a command from Bogeyman, strikes at the fire demon and stops him,
snapping him back to his own senses as he is momentarily stunned. For a
bit, given his earlier delusions, Sammy thinks of the fire demon as a spicy
pumpkin.
Super Ollie goes into the building
looking for his boss, as Clockwork laughs at him. Bogeyman, though, is
getting back up. And Artless Dodger also revives, stealthily, grabbing a
bobby pin carelessly left in Suzanne's hair and launching it into Clockworks'
gears! Clockwork swerves a bit as he starts to short-circuit!
Clockwork shrinks down to regular (just bigger than human) size. As Sammy
comes to, nearby, he apologizes to the fire demon.
But then Mocker gets in a snide remark
that drains Clockwork's own self-motivation noticeably, Clockwork almost - but
not quite - pausing rather than acting for a moment. Nexus meanwhile moves
on to heal Suzanne, waking her up, as Sammy blasts his acidic spit at Artless
Dodger, causing him to wince in pain.
Bogeyman is still inside the building,
and never sees the flashes of light as Gere-luce's anti-pumpkin defoliant
missiles explode; in moments the pumpkins that are growing in the street begin
to decompose. The pumpkin deity can sense his power dwindling as he is
suddenly reduced to half his god-like status. Spectrum meanwhile moves
towards Artless Dodger, kicking him in the head for effect but primarily
launching another mental blast, probing and causing pain in his
head.
Finally Bogeyman gets out of the
building, hoping to quickly end this before he is restored to normal - or less -
power, and calls out Nexus. He then gets a nasty mental blast in on Nexus,
penetrating the Master of Dimensions with a fear rarely known to men, even to
the mystical traveler. Nexus swings at Bogeyman, summoning twisted energy
from other dimensions, but misses the facile pumpkin being.
A few yards away (as Nexus has joined
battle with Bogeyman), Spectrum invasively scans all of Artless Dodger's brain,
sending him reeling in pain, falling to the ground. She then flies out of
range of the other combatants.
Clockwork, having gone inside the
building after Bogeyman, short-circuits and releases massive energy, which
interestingly creates a feedback loop, another of the many surprises of the
strange energy-gear-clock-thing. Some of the nearby pumpkins which housed
people begin to go off, exploding, in an evil trap laid by Bogeyman.
Still, Mocker calls out, "That's
all ya got? I don't care!"
As Nexus barely hits Bogeyman, Clockwork
hears a slamming sound as the roof collapses around him and Neumann's creaky
body hits the outside sidewalk. Then Bogeyman plays a trick on Nexus'
mind, making him believe he's switched places with Sammy. Sammy spits at
Bogeyman but misses, while Spectrum tries to get a mental fix on the
pumpkin-thing but fails.
Clockwork then blasts out of the
building, hitting Mocker in the process, but exhausting himself, his gears not
only winding down but starting to grind and cause sparks to fly, forcing the
mechanical being to shudder uncontrollably (GM note - Clockwork started burning
STUN as it had run out of END). Super Ollie also flies out of the
building, ramming into Spectrum and winding her.
Bogeyman turns and surprises Nexus,
hitting him badly, while Mocker and Sammy face off, Mocker again draining
Sammy's willpower step by step. And in the confusion Bogeyman uses his last
ounce of energy to KO Nexus! But he stands there panting, unable to
move. Yes, he's bested the mage but only at the expense of grounding
himself...he's a sitting duck as Sammy gets on a control seat atop Clockwork
(looking like Secret Squirrel in the process!) and moves the thing into Super
Ollie as Super Ollie equally strikes at Sammy. Both are hurt, and Sammy is
suffering from Mocker. But Clockwork is able to communicate and cause the
asleep-at-the-wheel Sammy to wind him back up.
That's enough - as Mover Shaker (who had
been maneuvering the citizens in pumpkins though to little avail against the
much faster supers around them) moves Spectrum far away, Clockwork is back to
life and smashes into Mocker, sending him staggering back and falling down and
out. And then straight to the panting, slumped-over Bogeyman, who attempts
a final hit with what little energy he can gather, but to no avail as Clockwork
finishes the arrogant villain, now exposed and exhausted. Bogeyman is
completely knocked out.
As happens so often, Mover Shaker simply
starts to evacuate quickly, already having positioned for the majority of
"themselves" to get away. Spectrum, however, reaches to their
minds and warns them to leave Artless Dodger and the others behind, lest she
make it a point to ensure they never rest. Mercenary and self-serving as
always, the Mover Shaker duplicates gladly strike the deal.
The search for the strange man holding
cheese, who disappeared after one missed attempt at influencing Spectrum seconds
before, now begins. Clockwork grows big, looking into buildings and
broadcasting "Here, mousie, mousie, mousie." Spectrum begins to
scan for the man, whom they find out is called the Big Cheese, and gets a sense
of where he is but they realize as they close in he is desolid, unable to be
affected physically by them. Clockwork then switches back to Laughton and
revives an embittered Nexus (as he's had bad luck in this and the last
fight). Nexus fixes Sammy again, while Laughton gets out the duct
tape. Spectrum keeps tabs on the Big Cheese, letting him know he may be
able to dodge them physically but he can't escape.
Nexus is ready for someone he can
finally get at! After surrendering himself for his actions as the Troll
and being beaten (even if clearly all the while luring Bogeyman out and forcing
him into capture), he can't take much more. As Master of Dimensions he
easily phases into the Big Cheese's own "cheese dimension," which
holds his corporeal form in the same position as his incorporeal inhabits this
world. Then Nexus wallops - just using mystical energy and no real damage
- the flatfooted Big Cheese, who goes down like a log (of cheese).
Nexus also treats Sammy a bit to the
cheese dimension, where he's basically been at some point prior in the fight
(last issue) due to the Big Cheese's efforts. A little string cheese from
a garbage can, animated in this strange parallel world, speaks in a high voice
to Sammy, "You (referring to both he and Nexus) have defeated our
master! Don't take our master away! Wait, you're Sammy! You're
famous! You give us purpose in your dimension!" Sammy only
leaves the cheese dimension with great hesitance, at Nexus' insistence.
Nexus communicates with the cheese beings and explains, "I'm sure your
master will be back soon...the way our justice system works, he should be back
real soon."
Sammy meanwhile muses on taking Jane to
the cheese dimension...
Adjourning to an alleyway, the Justice
Squad takes Bogeyman aside. Nexus mulls over the advice he's gotten re
Bogeyman and resolves that Bogeyman must be eaten. Sammy naturally wants
to do the job and is so eager he's about to do it, pulling out his ever-ready
(though largely symbolic) knife and fork set. While Sammy salivates, Nexus
asks him to hold off so he can honor his commitment to the fire demon, uniting
the demon with the fire-worshipping demonic beings of Detroit - popping back and
forth as he teleports to and fro. And when he returns, Nexus whips up 
over
a thousand beastly little things with big teeth and little round bodies - in
fact they are only little round bodies, with little stick-like legs and arms,
their bodies rounding out to butt-like cleavages in the back. These beasts
set to devouring Bogeyman, but Sammy is so eager he won't be restrained and
lunges to get his fair share. Suzanne, pulling a trick she's learned,
produces a pillow case out of thin air and pulls it over Sammy's head while
Nexus casts a traditional spell, turning Sammy into a toad - a hacky-sack toad
in a pillow-case!
The last thing they hear of Bogeyman are
his desperate shouts, as he hollers after Nexus, "What about all the fun we
had?" and finally, "Wait - I AM YOUR FATHER!"
And Bogeyman is heard from no more...
The townspeople begin to gather in the
street. At this point Laughton sets to disassembling Mocker - though Nexus
watches the crafty detective carefully. One of the townspeople walks up to
Laughton, inquiring, "Are you one of the 'red shirts' with the Justice
Squad?" Laughton nods his head. To those who start to gather,
Spectrum dismissively (shyly) demures that a press release will come out the
next day.
And as the townspeople come forward and
as the Justice Squad asks around, they recover $300,000 from the preceding
thefts in Detroit, under Bogeyman's influence. Nexus takes the opportunity
to deliver a stirring speech, preaching forgiveness and understanding as well as
smoothing over the trauma. Spectrum intones to those around her that it
wasn't their fault. It's necessary, as the town is in shock. Some
have died, many have been party to all sorts of crimes.
As both atonement and reward, the mayor
of Morton comes out and gives Nexus the key to the city. Nexus immediately
realizes this is no ordinary town key; it's magical, emanating the energies of
the Bogeyman's pumpkin patch! He then realizes this is the scepter of the
pumpkin patch, probably secreted here by Bogeyman some time back. He
considers that it's probably good for the Justice Squad to hold this - aside
from one member...
Laughton asks the mayor how they'll make
another key, and the mayor simply responds, "It's just wood, we'll have it
handcrafted here." Apparently nobody but the Bogeyman and now the
Justice Squad know the power of the key. Laughton gives the mayor his
3" thick manuscript on mutant-human relations. Nexus adds, "You
don't really have to read that." Then he points out to Laughton that
he should probably write a sequel (which he reasons would be ten times longer
and, as Laughton wouldn't trust such a "pivotal" document to be on a
computer, would be done on a manual typewriter - i.e., tying down the wily
detective at least for a bit).
And then the Justice Squad is off!
Back at the base, Nexus arranges with Rogers for ample funds to rebuild Morton.
And Sammy is turned back from being a
toad.
[Game Mechanics - Points Awarded...
Bogeyman is taken care of once and for
all - and all things considered he was a worthy challenge - +26.25 RP,
+1.75 XP for all (including Neumann from first half of battle, granted at faster
rate of +35 RP, +3.5 XP)
Nexus - the culmination of research and
becoming Master of the Pumpkin Patch - an act of enduring heroism - +120 RP, +.5
XP (note to any interested - JT did a lot of playing up to this, from Troll to
Nexus days)
Money regained/spent/used ($300K plus
funds from Nexus for the town, it all counts) - +22.5 RP, +.75 XP for all (again
will include Neumann, granted at faster rate of +30 RP, +1.5 XP)
4 hours in character - +3.75 RP, +.5
XP for all
Totals:
Laughton 52.5 RP, 3 XP
Neumann, 65 RP, 4 XP
Nexus 172.5 RP, 3.5 XP
Sammy 52.5 RP, 4 XP, 3 XP
Spectrum 52.5 RP, 3 XP
Totals to Date:
Dice 188.5 RPs, 14.95 XPs
Laughton 1648.375 RPs, 147.125 XPs (with Rep level, 50 for base, 25 for minion,
50 for reorg (note, did not use for agency or life-saving)
Neumann 442 RPs, 59.05 XPs (with Rep level, 50 for base)
Nexus 1761.375 RPs, 151.125 XPs (with Rep level, 50 for base, 25 for
minion, 50 for reorg (note, did not use for agency or life-saving)
Sammy the Slime 1594.5 RPs, 154.6125 XPs (with Rep level, 50 for base, 25
for minion, 50 for reorg (note, did not use for agency or life-saving)
Spectrum 1508 RPs, 140.05 XPs (with Rep level, 50 for base, 25 for
minion, 50 for reorg (note, did not use for agency or life-saving)
Steely Danelle 86 RPs, 10.75 XPs]]