X-Champions Issues

Issue #48 - Home is Where the Hunted Are

In his T'suara form, Hamlet briefly tells Spectrum and Sammy that he must go help Nexus, and is off! They are worried a little about Nexus, but they realize that right now they have to find Jane, who's been kidnapped, and fast, before Omega can do anything to her, and they realize that if Nexus needs help in another dimension, Laughton should probably be the one to go.

Spectrum mind scans the area but can't find Jane. Sammy sets to tracking her, his nose mutating to a bloodhound snout, and they rush off. They move through the city, to an alleyway near the bakery she was going to. There are many people gathered already, talking about some strange agent-types who got away with a woman. Ten minutes have passed. A guy with large green ears discusses it, offering to help. A couple there is on their way to see the same show Sammy was about to give, eagerly greeting Sammy/Elvis. It's a couple hours to show-time - but there'll be no show if Sammy can't find Jane. Sammy gets in touch with Rogers who says he'll handle it.

The big-eared guy says a couple vans, one white and one gray, drove up, agents piled out, shot some substance at Jane, and made away with her after a brief struggle. He identifies there were eight Omega agents. Another witness is nervous, taking a while to discuss what he saw, which corroborates the other accounts - it turns out this other witness was in the alley to be "serviced" by a prostitute, hence his hesitation.

Spectrum is still unable to find Jane by mind scan, and she is sure they've prepared against that. Sammy takes off, using his nose, to follow an extremely faint smell in the air from the van and some heavy perfume Jane has been wearing. He leaves Spectrum behind to take care of details with the witnesses and gather any remaining info. She spends time concentrating on top of a dumpster (with the lid down, of course). The big-eared guy is inquisitive and wants to help, asking to join her. He gets very disappointed as she puts him off, complaining how he never gets to do what he wants. Spectrum considers the matter, and figures he can help so long as he stays out of danger. She asks him along.

On their way to Central Park, where Sammy is now entering, the big-eared guy mentions he wants to go to a "Renaissance-type store and get a knight's outfit," as he's eager to "fight crime." Spectrum finds him a bit naïve and off-center, but well meaning.

When they get to Central Park, Sammy has found the trail dead ends in The Pond. Sammy is digging into the pond and the mud, looking around for any signs of where she could have gone. Spectrum changes from her show-going outfit into her "persona" clothes. She warns Sammy to make sure he doesn't dig into a subway! She scans the vicinity, finding nothing suspicious. She checks with others around the park, finding that some did witness a van going into the water but not coming out!

Sammy finds a sheet of rock that doesn't "feel right". He finds an edge to this rock after searching a while, and with some difficulty starts to make a tiny pinhole, just under a bunch of muck, hoping that it won't noticeably leak and tip anyone off. Meanwhile, Spectrum asks the big-eared guy his name. He pauses, and finally says, "I'm the Listener!" She says, jokingly, "Hmmm, well, our PR people will think of something more exciting if we continue this relationship." He points out he knows martial arts as she just looks at him.

But just then "the Listener" proves his worth as he says to Spectrum, "Hey, hear that?" She didn't, nor would even Sammy, but the Listener has heard voices just below where Sammy is putting his pinhole. He stops and strains to listen, and says, he said, "How did they find us?"

With the positional help, Spectrum concentrates and manages to just barely get past some serious mental barriers to get some surface thoughts. The Omega agents are indeed under The Pond, and seem to be just considering next steps. She concentrates and it takes a while for her to figure out the lay of the land - including finding the location of a manual emergency switch extremely well hidden that releases the big sheet of rock under The Pond! Eventually, after over 30 seconds that seem like an eternity, she locates Jane's unconscious mind and a probable entrance at a tree trunk a few thousand feet away.

Spectrum concentrates on mind-controlling one of the guards at the controls to believe that she and Sammy are about to enter through the top, where Sammy is. They call up reinforcements, leaving only guards at the far-flung entrances. Meanwhile, Sammy makes noises to reinforce their concern, though also looking for weaknesses and listening for sounds. Sammy then makes gurgling growls loud enough to be heard through the tiny hole he now has dug, as Spectrum builds up her mind control to leave a lasting impression.

As they prepare to go in through the tree trunk entrance, the Listener points out that when he stands next to people he can even hear what they think sometimes, much like one can hear the sound from a vinyl record if one is next to the needle on the groove. She's impressed, and also ensures to put him in her mind link so they can stay in touch. As Spectrum approaches the tree trunk, she cautions the Listener to stand back.

She manages to go in the entrance, and, having read the mind of the guard, she simply calls "Hey, Smithers," and then ego blasts him as he turns! She makes sure he's well out, as her powers against him are dulled by mental defense devices implanted in all of the Omega agent battlesuits. She picks up his gun and disables his suit. Back at the pond, Sammy increases the ruckus as the Omega agents stand by, expecting to ambush him. Spectrum moves quickly in, sneaking to Jane. She faces another Omega agent, but this one gets a shot off before Spectrum can knock her out. Suzanne requires extra time to put this one out, but finally puts her down.

Then the Listener tells Suzanne, shouting in the mind link, "someone's coming after you!" as he can hear far, far down the corridor and catches the sound of an approaching guard. She manages to get to Jane, rousing her only barely, and is warned again by the Listener. Fortunately she manages to just barely be missed, as she's forewarned, by a heavy blast that takes out a chunk of rock near her head. Spectrum turns and gives a mighty ego blast, dropping this other guard.

Now klaxons are going off and the base is crawling with guards looking for her. She uses her magical skills to reconfigure her mental abilities into a teleportation skill, and shortly disappears with Jane, warning the Listener to get out as she does. The Listener complains the klaxons are like a thousand cats shrieking, and of course does bug out. Spectrum also then tells Sammy to release mechanism, unleashing the sheet rock entrance under The Pond.  And he does, the rock opening and the famous The Pond of Central Park draining into an underground lair of Omega agents!

Sammy does, and runs to grab the Listener and ensure he's safely out of the way. His arms turn to wings as he picks up the Listener and takes to the sky - dragging the agent Spectrum knocked out, Smithers, that the Listener is holding, behind them!

As soon as Sammy is reunited with Jane he melds with her, their bodies mingling as one, quickly healing her. Spectrum drops off the Omega agent with the police. She then meets Sammy at Carnegie, and the show does go on as planned, Rogers having covered the delay and Sammy's disappearance with the promoters.

Out of gratitude, Sammy works the Listener into the performance. Sammy always has big side-show events to work friends into. Later The Listener gets Sammy's number, and as he apologizes for "bending his hear too much," Sammy makes a corny bent ear gesture back to him.

BOOM has a major presence at the event, co-sponsoring it, and Rogers is of course right there, managing all the affairs along with Kurt/Nightcrawler. The show is a big extravaganza, as Sammy-style always is, and is hugely successful. At the end Sammy does a speech, reading Laughton's poem, and gets a standing ovation, but Sammy senses it's not as rousing as it could be. In search of the big finish, Sammy does a big rhythmic number as everybody leaves to lift spirits, creating an impressive, rousing closing. And then Sammy starts writing his own reviews and sending them off to be published (under reporter aliases - more of a reportage sort of thing than a gushing piece, though).

Spectrum hangs out with Nightshade before returning to Detroit. She drops off a statement regarding the earlier event and the agent at the police station.

Sammy and Jane take the Listener on a dumpster tour. Spectrum had encouraged him to do so - thinking that would also dissuade the eager but under-powered and naïve Listener from insisting on joining the Justice Squad. But the Listener quite enjoys dumpster diving, himself having largely furnished his flop house room from dumpsters! Quite surprising to her, Spectrum finds Sammy, Jane, and the Listener all enjoying themselves as she and Nightshade pass by on patrol. Sammy, with the Listener, fly up to see them. Through the mind link, Spectrum reminds Sammy not to give anything away to the Listener and also to note to be careful as up close he can read minds. She's sure she can shield her link from him in this case, but wants Sammy to be careful.

While on patrol, Nightshade and Spectrum come across a small gang, six mutants known as the Vipers. They're the same as encountered right at the time of the Incident, snake-like thugs with quick agility and a deadly strike. Spectrum mind controls one to attack the others and then moves in. She watches as Nightshade's vampiric dark energy sucks most of the life force out of one thug, dropping him (but not killing him), and Nightshade absorbs the energy, his body growing into a sort of more intense darkness, as one barely misses him. One of them does manage to "tag" Spectrum, wounding her. She mind blasts another, though, and soon the rest are being mopped up, a couple running away. Shortly after they turn in at Nightshade's place. He offers up to have Necromancer heal her, but she says she can take care of it, and does a short meditation to make mind heal matter.

The weather is only barely above freezing, so soon Sammy and Jane prefer to get somewhere warm. The Listener really enjoys their company, and keeps bringing them to various crime scenes he's been at, either where he stopped a crime or followed up on one. Sammy visits the police station, giving his statement as well, and it turns out Listener kept some of the agent's money from his pocket! But Sammy babbles and turns on his personality so that the police become confused, and by the end of it this issue blows over.

The Listener is quite poor. He's at a flophouse called the Hotel Swanson that he spends $25 a day on, which he invites Sammy and Jane to. He's about to kill a couple roaches when Sammy intervenes to grab them up and take care of them (after all, they're edible). The Listener has a couple plastic buckets, he was using them for miscellaneous storage, which he lets them stay in. Before turning in, Sammy cleans and heals the Listener's various scratches and bruises, his liquefying goo covering them and filling in the cracks, bio-melding with the Listener. Finally Sammy and Jane get some sleep after their adrenalin-rushing day. They turn in as it's nearly dawn and feel they barely rested when the alarm goes off and they emerge from their jelly-like state. The Listener is a bus boy at a cafeteria, where he takes them, as he starts his lunch shift.

Sammy starts trying to think of ways to help him out. Spectrum meets up with them at the cafeteria, and considers making sure the Listener gets some recompense for his efforts. The cafeteria is a dive; Sammy considers whether he should do advertising for the place. It's filled with bums and criminals. Suzanne notes the salad bar only has six bins with the basics. Bacon bits seem to be a "treat" occasionally rotated in. Sammy realizes it's hard to spin the place!

They find the Listener's real name is Timmy Robbins. He doesn't even realize when Sammy and Jane show up, at first, as they look like people he hasn't seen, but he recognizes Suzanne when she comes in. Suzanne then quickly lets him in on who they are (they want to be able to eat in peace). She's disappointed that Nightshade didn't show up - not because he could have, in fact she's actually more miffed because he had a legitimate excuse (his job on the city council) and she doesn't, so she has to grin and bear this grimy eatery!

Suzanne gets info as to how to get Tim money. He insists he'll come out to meet up and "team up" with the Justice Squad. He wonders about how to get a short-term job in Detroit, and she offers up some ideas on places. And he brings up other ideas for names; stuck on the idea of putting on a knight suit (for protection and looks), he thinks of "Knight Listener". Suzanne suggests that Rogers can probably help him out. And that Nexus can probably get him better armor. But she avoids the subject of joining the Justice Squad, wanting to get him out there to slowly introduce the idea of joining the Mysterymen, who could use him, instead. Meanwhile, in response to the talk, Sammy turns into a shining knight with big ears. Suzanne reacts more than the down-and-out crowd does; when she realizes nobody cares, she figures it's fine. Sammy offers up wind-surfing as a way for the Listener to get around.

As the discussion turns to more practical logistics, Timmy indicates he has some money saved for the bus. Spectrum insists on getting him a plane ticket. By about this time, the cafeteria is out of food…literally, as Sammy and Jane have eaten it all. Spectrum gladly gives away her desert to him. The place closed due to lack of food, Sammy leaves a hefty tip; in all, the Justice Squad leaves $4,100 for the cafeteria!

Sammy thanks the Listener for everything before they head back to Detroit.

Upon returning, the Metal Men tell Suzanne that they're going to move out, that they want to find their own place. They give her an electronic contact button, and they head over to visit Sammy in his new place nearby. She tags along. As they talk, Gold mentions their new venture to Sammy, apparently partly inspired by his independence. Spectrum hears as Gold says, "Well, we'll just go out and find a house now. We'll look tonight and move into one."

So she explains it's not that simple, going over all the legalities involved and the bureaucracy and time. Mercury storms off when finding out this could take "two to three days!?" (at least) and Platinum and Gold start discussing how Platinum has to take on the "women's role" and if that entails household finances. Spectrum is blank on any such advice, trying to just avoid this inane conversation. Platinum asks Spectrum and Jane about seduction and its role. Neither really answer, although later on apparently Jane, as it turns out later, becomes quite interested in the whole topic of human sexuality.

Finally, Spectrum suggests that when Laughton is back he can research to find out about a house for them, help them through the process. Gold is most appreciative. Sammy offers to help as well, saying at least he can help smell out a place, make sure it's okay that way. As Sammy mentions the idea of them living in a missile silo, Iron and Gold argue a little about options. In the end, Gold says no to a missile silo...

[Game Mechanics - Points Awarded...

Enemy is taken care of this time, and it's interesting but not that powerful - +1.875 RP, +.125 XP for Sammy, Spectrum

Another great Sammy show, the situation is handled this time and it was a background thing - +.375 RP, +.025 XP for Sammy

Nightshade and Spectrum defeat the Vipers, the enemy is taken care of, background NPCs - +.375 RP, +.025 XP for Spectrum

Helping out the Listener, he's taken care of, essentially, and it's an interesting if not that difficult situation  - +1.875 RP, +.125 XP for Sammy, Spectrum

Act of great publicity (it is The Pond, and there was the show, and al) - +22.5 RP for Sammy, Spectrum

4 hours Neumann +3 RP, +1 XP for Sammy, Spectrum

Totals:

Sammy 29.625 RP, 1.275 XP
Spectrum 29.625 RP, 1.275 XP 

Totals to Date:

Dice 188.5 RPs, 14.95 XPs
Laughton 2250.625 RPs, 222.725 XPs (with Rep level, 50 for base, 25 for minion, 50 for reorg (note, did not use for agency or life-saving)
Neumann 899.5 RPs, 107.4 XPs  (with Rep level, 50 for base, 25 for minion)
Nexus 2302.875 RPs, 218.125 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 2146.125 RPs, 200.0875 XPs  (with Rep level, 50 for base, 25 for minion, 50 for reorg (note, did not use for agency or life-saving)
Spectrum 2067.125 RPs, 185.525 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]]