Icons
Being a solo play with Abraham Cadavra, Honeybee, and new character Dciteiangel, based on the Icons adventure module, “The Mastermind Affair” by Morgan Davie. This will contain spoilers for the adventure and probably places where I deviate entirely.
As is my wont, I updated all the characters for the Assembled Edition but have removed them from this post. Usually Mr. Kenson also updates them but after I've run things, so our updated might be different.
This begins the last run of solo plays (there are six with Uncanny Justice) and I've received no commentary on them.
(Since I rarely get commentary here, I don't really expect it, but I love it if it shows up.)
Anyway, expect this blog to lie fallow after these solo/actual play pieces are done.
House Rules:
- When using Magic or Gadgets, an Extra adds +2 to the difficulty, a Limit subtracts 2 from the difficulty.
- Superspeed can always be used in place of Coordination for Initiative.
- To make things easier, I roll dice using the 1d6-1d6 method, and compare it to the opposing stat, so Prowess 4 plus Martial Arts versus Prowess 3 becomes 4+1+(dice roll)>/=/<3.
Capsule Review: I ran this with othes when it came out and apparently I was drunk or on medication at the time, because I missed so much. It's a nice adventure, gives you some good pieces to play with later, but can be a stand-alone.
Chapter 1: Trouble on Main Street
The police were starting to cordon off the area around the post office, asking the people to stand back. They were unspooling yellow tape to mark the area. People were spilling out of buildings because it was the end of the workday; a few dolts were trying to get into the post office anyway to mail Christmas presents.
“How’d we hear about this?” Abe asked.
“Tip,” said Laurel, aka Honeybee. “To the police, but also one to Uncanny Justice headquarters.”
“More tips than that,” said the new guy, Bill, aka Demiangel. The wind ruffled his hair. “One long detailed tip, followed by lots of tips from employees.”
“How detailed?” asked Abe.
“IDs of the people involved and that they’re supers,” he said.
Abe nodded. “Test of some kind. Laurel, you want to scout ahead?” She took off, and he said, “Demiangel, did you grow a moustache for November?” Demiangel shook his head. “I did—I was asked to promote it—and it turned out that the Mechanical Marauder did, too, because his dad die of testicular cancer, so I’m there with my patchy fuzz because I can’t grow a decent moustache, and he’s there, and every one of his robots has a moustache—”
Honeybee’s voice came over their communicators. “Matches what we were told: four supers, two hostages, three if you count the dog.”
“Keep an eye out for observers. Sitch?” Laurel had gotten him onto Kim Possible .
“There’s a foyer to the post office boxes, and the P.O. box room has the supers and hostages. Guy like the bully in a Charles Atlas ad, with security guard by the throat. Rest are women. One’s flying around, one’s got flame touch, one’s in black. Those last two are opening P. O. boxes. Old lady hostage with dog in corner. Door blocked by guy. Can’t actually get in without being noticed.”
“Do we need a portal?”
“Yes, please.” [1]
“Cool. I’m gonna go Elizabethan,” said Demiangel. He sprouted wings of fire and took to the air.
Abe chanted and created the portal; Demiangel and Honeybee flew in before he walked, but he had forgotten to allow for the extra mass. He gasped and stood still in the post office as mystic pain coursed through every nerve.
Without noticing, Demiangel had thrown open the door. [2] The redheaded flame girl said, “All right! A fight! Why don’t I take all of you on?”
The beach bum said over his shoulder, “I got this, Scorcher, I don’t want you getting hurt.” Turning back, he said, “I’ll hurt this guy.” He was a big wad of muscle, and the way he was holding up the security guard showed that the muscle wasn’t just for show. The effect was damaged by the smell of citrus-y body oil.
“Let this be between us, varlet,” said Demiangel. He didn’t need to talk that way, but with the wings and all, “Wanna fight, dude?” seemed inappropriate.
Honeybee zipped in. She didn’t know what the flying one did, but she was the one best situated to get rid of that backup. [3] The flying one — in a purple outfit, so…royalty maybe?…made a sighing sound and then a whump as she hit the floor and tumbled to a heap at the edge of the wall.
“Princess!” shouted the beach bum, and leapt over to the unconscious one. The security guard took advantage of him bending over the girl and pulled his pistol; a shot filled the closed space and the bullet ricocheted off the beach bum and around the room. The one in black twitched her finger and the bullet hit Demiangel.
It bounced off and to the floor, of course; the calibre wasn’t high enough to affect Demiangel. [4]
“You’re on!” said Scorcher, the redhead. Her body transformed into flame.
The one in black rolled her eyes, and finished demolishing the current box. Something metal flew out and tinked on the floor. A metal purse or wallet. “There it is!”
Abe shook off the agonizing pain and looked around. He could hear barking, and the sound of the shot was clear enough.
The flame-woman—Scorcher— flew forward to the obvious threat, Demiangel. [5] Her fist connected and fire splashed everywhere, but Demiangel didn’t seem at all affected.
Abe looked at her and wondered if his fire control might be able to douse the flaming woman. [6] He concentrated, hard, feeling the flames in her form, and doused them slowly.
Scorcher was just a woman, again.
Honeybee dipped in and zapped her in the small of the back. [7] Fire erupted around her and made her back off.
The one in black laughed. “They’ve got a muñequita!” The metal wallet was still rolling and the one in black crooked her finger. “Come to me, little baby.” She ran to its destination and scooped it up.
The beach bum growled. “A small person? That’s not fighting fair!” He swung at Demiangel. [8] He missed (by a lot) so Demiangel lifted an arm and smacked him.
“Hand over yon purse, maiden,” said Demiangel.
“I’ll shoot again!” cried the security guard. He sounded slightly hysterical that no one was paying attention to him.
“Hush,” said Scorcher. “The grown-ups are talking.” She gritted her teeth and erupted back into fire [9] again; she waved her fiery arm at the area where she had seen Honeybee. [10] Her arm went close but not quite there. “Ah, there you are!”
Demiangel said to the beach bum, “Let us finish with thee.” [11] He jabbed the beach bum, who folded and collapsed to the floor.
Abe decided that he needed Moly’s Mystic Hand to get the item, so he began that incantation. [12]
Honeybee decided not to touch the flaming woman again, but her sonic sting would do as well. [13] “Hey, red! I’m right here!” she said through the loudspeaker. She gave the redhead a full dose of sound waves, and the redhead fell down.
“Ah, but you’re going to let me go, gringos ,” said the woman in black. “I’m going to step through that door, and then the door’s going to be stuck shut.” She waved her hand and stepped through the door to outside. The door closed behind her with an audible click.
The woman in black waved as she jogged away.
Abe looked through the two glass doors and jerked his hand. [14] The wallet flew from her hand while the security guard was trying the keys and disappeared over the roof of the bank.
The woman in black looked at it, looked at them, shrugged, and sprinted around the corner.
Demiangel said, “I can break the glass.”
“No,” said Honeybee, using her speaker again. “We’ve gotten into trouble for property damage, and we have three of them.”
Abe said, “Tell me when you get out and I’ll bring the whatsit down.”
#
The metal wallet sat on the table. Abe’s maneuvers had cracked half the seam on one side.
“So, what is it?” asked Honeybee. She had grown to full size while looking.
“It looks like a wallet,” said Demiangel. “Maybe spring steel. The weld is nice, though.” He looked up. “I studied welding in high school but didn’t go further. That weld is neat, but it’s fresh and not gonna hold. A proper weld would have held.”
“So you think we’re supposed to find what’s in it?” asked Abe. “That fits my idea that it’s a test.”
There was a noise. Honeybee said, “It’s the police. I’ll talk to them.” She shrank down and flew out the door.
Demiangel said, “Do we know who that box belonged to?”
Abe said, “I know the number. The bank will pull it up. They have some cleaning up to do.”
“Should we hand over the wallet to the police?”
Abe shook his head. “I think it’s a test, which means that wherever the wallet is, trouble will follow. I don’t think the police will be able to handle it.”
“I heard that,” came Honeybee’s voice over the communicators. “I’ll ask.”
“Great,” said Abe. He looked at Demiangel. “Bill, you ready for the press? They’ll be waiting.”
“Verily, sooth, and all that jazz.”
Chapter Two: The Ruby and the Rod
The group Uncanny Justice rented a building that had formerly been a gentleman’s club--not the stripper kind, but the lounge chairs and smoking jackets kind. The room they were in had been a lounge. The chairs and table were too new for the shabby gentility of the surroundings, but it was what they had.
“Be gentle,” said Abe.
“Dude,” said Demiangel, though currently he was Bill, in jeans and a plaid shirt. He squeezed just a bit more and the seam finished cracking. He slowly let the wallet open and out fell a ruby and a rod of some kind.
“Don’t touch them yet,” said Abe.
There was a tapping at the window. Abe sighed. “Everything clear in case we need to fight?”
Honeybee shrank down; Bill sprouted a flaming spear from his hand. Abe popped on a mystic shield while he went to the window.
There was a raven or crow outside. Its head was wrapped in some kind of metal brace with vacuum tubes. Abe threw up the window.
The crow hopped in and tilted its head. It croaked, “We are coming to reclaim our property, and when we have it back we’ll destroy you and your whole city!”
“Seriously, dude?” asked Demiangel.
The crow fell off the windowsill into the room, wings fluttering weakly.
Honeybee dashed down. “Cheyne-Stokes breathing. This bird is dying.”
Abe cursed and started a spell. [15] Shaylah’s people would hold it against him if he let an animal die.
Honeybee ran her hands over the connections. “Probably goes right into the brain. Afraid to pull it out. Throat’s probably been surgically altered, too, because it talked. Creator almost certainly meant for this bird to be disposable.”
Abe felt the healing energy in his fingertips, but the crow could no longer receive it. “Dammit,” he said.
“You guys get this kind of thing often?” asked Demiangel.
“It happens,” said Honeybee, her hands probing the feathers on the crow’s head.
“Check the table. I don’t want to discover that those things are gone,” said Abe.
“It’s okay,” said Honeybee. “I can see them.”
“You look at the crow. I’ll look at the gem and stick.”
“I’ll join you,” said Demiangel.
#
Honeybee broke the phone connection. “The P.O. box room is monitored, but there’s twenty minutes missing from yesterday’s tape. Mrs. Plumrose, the manager of that post office, says the box was unassigned.” [16]
“So someone sneaked in and put the wallet in there?” asked Abe. “I hate tests,” he said to no one in particular..
“Isn’t every day a test?” asked Honeybee.
“I hate you,” said Abe fondly. “The gem — ruby? I guess it’s a ruby — is magical. The stick doesn’t make me itch the same way.”
“Okay,” said Honeybee. “I’m the science dude. Let me look at this stick or wand or rod...this phallic symbol.”
Demiangel made a questioning sound.
She replied, “A thing’s a phallic symbol if it’s longer than it’s wide. You don’t know that song? Okay. It doesn’t have the same feel as the cybernetics on the crow. At a guess, a different evil genius than the one that created the crow. There’s a name inscribed on it... U.S.S. Hardison . I can see side effects of some kind of energy running along its surface...booby-trapped maybe? Makes me not want to touch it.”
“No, I’ll bet we’re not supposed to move it. It or the ruby summons things and we get to fight them.”
“Okay, mystic hotshot,” she said, “what about the ruby?”
“I didn’t mean literally summons them, though that could be true, too. Just that someone wants it or them. One is magical and one’s scientific. That seems coded to us, somehow. Most groups are all science or all magic.”
Demiangel said, “The ruby looks valuable.”
“Might be. [17] The cut’s unusual. It’s definitely for magical works somehow. Ah. Right. It increases mental spells.”
“Okay. I’ve looked up the Hardison ,” said Honeybee. “Carries nuclear weapons, and was recently held captive by a villain named Mister Mastermind, who was—wait for it—going to take over the world. The Guardian Society defeated him and he was knocked overboard.”
Abe repeated with her, “Nobody could have survived that!” Demiangel just looked at them.
“Heh,” Honeybee said. “Right. Get this, though. He held the whole crew in his mental control, and his presumed focus of power was a ruby that he wore on his forehead.”
“Same ruby?”
She shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe it was his, he really died, and we’re being tested as part of some revenge scheme before Daughter Mastermind who nobody has ever seen before goes after the Guardian Society. Maybe he didn’t die but he wants us to think he did so he sent us a similar ruby.”
“You guys overthink everything like this?” asked Demiangel. “I mean, I figured I’d just get to hit stuff as part of court-ordered restitution.”
“It’s the job,” said Honeybee. “Police say the supers in the post office are a low-level gang called the Clique. Mostly nuisance stuff, but they’re nasty. We can go down and talk to them if we want.”
“One of them got away. Odds of a rescue attempt?”
She shrugged. “Probably even. They don’t work well together but they are a group. There might be some kind of loyalty there.”
“They the kind of people who could have set this up?”
Honeybee snorted. “Nope. I’ll bet they were guided there so we could fight.”
Abe turned to Demiangel. “Okay, you’re the new guy. Anything in your past that could cause somebody to come after us?”
Demiangel looked bewildered. “I didn’t hang around with this kind of stuff at all. I was closer to the Clique in what I did, except for that last thing.”
“Could the Sisters of Blood and Bone be going for revenge?”
“They don’t do magic. They’re mutants with religious dressing.” He shrugged. “It’s always possible, I guess.”
“Let’s talk to the Clique. Maybe you’ll get to hit one of them.” He sighed. “Better take these.” [18] He picked up the rod and ruby and gingerly tucked them into a messenger bag.
#
The police were keeping them in the IMAGE (Institute for Metahuman Analysis and Genome Expression) building. Demiangel had been there, of course, but Abe had stayed away from it. Colloquially called “double-helix” they studied metahuman powers. They were the only building in the city that was designed to restrain powers.
The director, Dr. Armatrading, greeted them. He was a man with a pronounced bald spot and a cluster of tentacles instead of a left arm. Abe introduced himself and the others. “Oh, I know young William,” he said, “and I’ve met Miss Honeybee in the course of events.”
“Just ‘Honeybee,’” she said.
“Of course. Anything you wish.” He smiled. Abe got the impression he was hitting on Laurel but he was old enough to be her father.
“The three new people who the police brought in,” Abe said. “We’re here to talk to them.”
“Of course. We have some strict decontamination procedures even for the interview room. We know their sobriquets, Beef, Princess, and Scorcher.”
“Anything we should know about their powers?”
“Beef, as you guessed, is strong. Princess can fly, of course, and has a gene complex we haven’t seen before, but the sample needle went in easily enough while she was unconscious. Scorcher can turn into some kind of fire energy, so we keep her in a positive-pressure room. Of them, Scorcher is probably the hardest to interview and Princess the easiest.”
“Even though you don’t know exactly what she can do?”
Armatrading smiled. “Where’s your sense of scientific inquiry?”
Abe decided he was creepy
#
“My daddy’s going to ruin your career for this.” Princess sniffed. “And you, Demiangel, your outfit is so… ewww.”
Abe said, “Who’s your daddy?”
“Oh, wouldn’t you like to know.” She changed, having decided on a different tack. “You’re older but not too old. I like older men.” She bit her lip seductively. “I mean, really like them.” [19] She didn’t realize there was something in her teeth.
Abe ignored her attempt. “What I’m curious about is how you knew to go to the post office.” [20]
She rolled her eyes. “Ask Scorcher.”
#
Beef, on the other hand, said, “It was all my idea. I said, girls, I said, let’s go to the post office. Because there might be stuff there.”
“You often think that about the post office?”
“Um. I had to mail something.”
“So you had to lie to them to get them to follow you?” Abe was just goading with that.
Beef slammed the transparent wall with his fist. Abe and Honeybee jumped, but Demiangel didn’t. He had told them earlier that it was too strong for him to break.
“It wasn’t like that!”
“So why did you go to the post office?”
“I told you! I had to mail something.”
“The video footage shows that you didn’t.”
“I forgot it.”
#
They had Scorcher in a suppression collar when they led her in. She adjusted her costume to show more skin. [21]
“What do you want?” she asked, loading that with as much innuendo as she could manage.
“We’re not the police,” Abe replied. “But we have sway.”
She cocked a hip. “You like sway?”
“So why aren’t they hitting on me?” murmured Honeybee over the communicator. “Maybe I’m gay. They don’t know.”
Demiangel covered his mouth. “They don’t hit on me either. Always Abe.”
Abe kept smiling at Scorcher. “Why would someone with the talents and looks you have be at a post office, though? You could twist men around your finger, but a post office?”
“Oh, that.” She laughed. “That was luck. Princess and I were actually talking on the phone and we heard this other conversation. Two women talking and they said there was a gem at the post office. So we went for it.” Scorcher shrugged. “Well, I had to encourage them. But they listened.”
“How could they not?”
“This is true.”
“That’s all.” Abe got up to leave.
“Hey! We’re talking,” Scorcher said.
“We’re done. I’ll tell the police you cooperated.”
“Come back! I’m not done with you!”
Abe shrugged and left.
Demiangel said, “Verily, I thought you a hoyden of the highest degree, in the current vernacular.” He waved as he left.
#
“Well, ick,” said Honeybee on the street outside. “They are just...ew.”
“Do you believe them at all?” asked Demiangel. He was summoning an Uber on his phone. Abe couldn’t fly and was reluctant to teleport again.
“Sort of,” Abe said. “Someone set them up. Who was the guy who supposedly died? Mastermind?”
“Mister Mastermind,” said Honeybee. “Ludwig Maurer.”
“Can we contact the Guardians, get what we can on him?”
“No need; I’m authorized on their database. There are...two different masterminds, and they’re friends. Oh, were friends.”
“ Were friends?” asked Abe.
“Usual story. Friends, one goes into a life of crime and megalomania, other friend tries to stop him and almost dies, so the first one — that’s Mister Mastermind — transplants his friend’s brain into the body of a monster. Friend drops the name Farraday Lang and adopts the name of Monster Mastermind.”
“Yeah, I saw it on a soap opera last week,” said Demiangel. “Ride will be here in five; it’s the post-Christmas rush. Do you guys even listen to yourselves talk?”
“It’s the life,” said Abe. “Is the monster one science or magic?”
“Uh….science,” said Honeybee. “According to the Guardians, new technologies, fear me mortals! That kinda stuff.”
“That gives us both science and magic,” Abe said thoughtfully.
“You have to assume Mister is alive… Oh, crap.”
“What?”
“Steve. I don’t want to see Steve right now. I’m going to break up with him but we’re kind of in the middle of this.”
“Then hide.”
“No, I’ll put on my big-girl pants.” She appeared between Demiangel and Abe, still a couple of finger-widths off the ground because the street cleaners had missed some stuff when doing the sidewalk.
“Steve Lauderdale, WBTC news, oh, Lauren! Great to see you.”
“Steve. This is Demiangel. You know Abe, of course.”
“Of course. Pleasure to meet you, Demiangel. Talk after?” he asked Honeybee. She nodded. “For the record,” he said into the camera behind him, “I’m here with the fabulous Honeybee, the mysterious Abraham Cadaver, and the new Demiangel.”
“Steve,” said Abe.
Demiangel couldn’t remember what a suitable greeting might be, so he chose to nod and remain silent.
“You were involved at the Main Street post office earlier this afternoon. What exactly went on?”
“We got a tip, we acted on it. Because supers were involved, we had the assistance of the police in keeping innocents out so they wouldn’t get hurt. A shot was fired but no one was injured. There’s not much more to it than that.”
“Oh, I’m sure there is.” Steve grinned, then put his broadcast face back on. “One of them got away; do you have plans to go after her and capture her?”
“Well, I doubt she’ll be much trouble on her own, but we do intend on bringing her in for questioning.”
“She won’t be much trouble?”
“I could always be proven wrong, but I don’t think so.”
“Any idea what they were after?”
“Yes.” Abe smiled.
“But you won’t tell us.”
“It’s ongoing. There’s our ride.”
“We’ll do the tag in a second, Colby,” Steve said to his cameraman. “Laurel, I have something to tell you. I was hoping you could come over to my place.”
“We’re kind of in the middle of something, Steve.”
“Well, my folks are only here until New Year’s…”
“See, that’s kind of the issue.” She took a deep breath and then said, “You guys go on without me. I’ll catch up.”
#
“Why don’t you ever pay?” asked Demiangel. They were threading across the front courtyard of their headquarters building, which was dominated by a tasteless statue of the three Fates. It had been carved before 1910 and loathed for nearly its entire existence. Abe sometimes suspected that the top two floors had been rented to Uncanny Justice in the hopes it would be destroyed.
“I can’t,” said Abe. “Chips and such don’t work around me. We’ve only gotten the communicators to work after a lot of trial. I’ll pay you back.”
“I’ve heard that before. —Do you hear something?” [22]
A man on running chainsaws appeared at the end of the block and almost immediately he was at the front of the Uber. With two strokes of the chainsaws, he had blown out the front tires. Because neither Abe nor Demiangel was actually dressed as a hero, the man did not stop for them but instead herded an older couple near the statue.
“Don’t move! Gonna ask the heroes if they need a hand ,” he shouted as he cut off the hand of Lachesis.
Wings of flame sprouted from Demiangel’s back and he took to the air. Another shirt ruined , he thought, and shouted, “Halt, varlet!”
Abe cast his mystic shield and began to glow with an eldritch light. “Ask away, and cut a little deeper,” he called. “Some city councillors have been trying to get rid of that statue for years.”
“Oh, I can cut it down, but it will just land on these nice people,” the chainsaw man said. He cut into the statue’s base; the smells of oil and marble dust mingled in the air.
“Speedsaw, right?” shouted Abe over the sounds of the chainsaws. “I recognize the smell and the sound. I hear Husqvarna is a better brand.”
“Like you could get stock chainsaws to do this.” He swept his arm up and cut off part of Lachesis’ cloak. The chunk of stone dropped to the ground.
“No need, varlet!” Demiangel threw a spear of fire at Speedsaw. [23] The spear splashed on the villain’s chest and enveloped him. Abe manipulated the flame to crawl up Speedsaw’s limbs and ignite the oil on the chainsaws. [24] The chainsaws sputtered and stopped.
“Aw, hell,” said Speedsaw loudly. He concentrated on getting the chainsaws working. The older couple took the opportunity to run away.
Demiangel flew down and swung at Speedsaw, but the mercenary was bent over and avoided the punch. [25]
Abe began to chant Moly’s Mystic Hand; all he needed to do was levitate Speedsaw off the ground, but it might take a moment. [26]
“Got it!” said Speedsaw [27] and straightened his limbs. [28] Demiangel used the opportunity to hit him, and Speedsaw fell down, unconscious.
“Feel free to stop the chainsaws!” Abe shouted. Demiangel did.
They trussed Speedsaw up without his chainsaws, and Abe said, “How much you want to bet that was a diversion while they tossed our headquarters?”
“But the wallet?”
“I hid it,” said Abe. In public, he wasn’t going to admit to carrying the gem and rod on him.
“Safely?”
“Yeah.”
Honeybee’s voice came over the communicators. “I think there’s something you ought to know.”
#
A block from the bridge where the meeting was supposed to happen, Honeybee told the others,“Steve took the breakup entirely too calmly.”
“Maybe he’s not that into you,” said Abe. He had a bag of roasted chestnuts from a street vendor. “Chestnut?” Demiangel took one.
Honeybee gave him a look that would have been withering if he could have seen it. “The guy was going to introduce me to his parents.”
“But instead?”
“He had a message for us that he didn’t want to go on the air. This is what he really wanted to say; he just brushed off the part where I dumped him. That was not a normal reaction.”
“The message?” asked Demiangel. He didn’t want to get involved in whatever these two had going on.
“Supposedly this monster in a high-tech suit meets him and says he’ll kill everyone in the group and Steve and Steve’s parents.”
“That would be bad,” said Demiangel, and took another chestnut to spite Abe, who cheerfully offered them again.
“So he asked me to let him and his folks stay in our highly secure base while the monster is out there.”
“Where exactly is our highly secure base?” asked Abe. “We rent two floors in a building cheaply, mostly because the landlord is hoping to save the demolition costs.”
“Hey, the lock on my room works,” said Honeybee. [29] “However, I’m thinking mental control.”
“Your use of ‘monster’ is suggestive. Does the description match Monster Mastermind?”
“It does indeed. So we have one clue obviously pointing to Mister Mastermind, but it’s tech, which is Monster Mastermind’s thing. We have a different clue that points to Monster Mastermind, but we suspect it’s a result of mental control, which is Mister Mastermind’s thing.”
“Makes the child-of-Mister-seeking-revenge less likely. The meeting is in three minutes, but you said the meeting location is empty.”
“He’s a tech guy. Might teleport in at the last minute, or a hologram projector or something.”
“True enough. Demiangel, you’ve demolished my chestnuts. Would you please carry me?”
There was no monster, hologram or otherwise.
“I hate it when villains are tardy,” said Abe. “You want to give him another five minutes or call it a decoy to get us out of our highly-insecure base?”
“Decoy,” said Honeybee. “Obviously looks Monster, probably Mister.”
Honeybee’s phone rang. A moment later she said, “Police. You’ll be pleased to know the Clique has escaped. Someone just happened to leave the door to Beef’s chambers unlocked.”
“So that gives us the Clique being maneuvered by someone, and Speedsaw being hired by someone. If we’re lucky, all the people in our headquarters had a fight.”
“Speedsaw?” asked Honeybee.
“We’ve got things to say, too,” said Abe.
“I hope they didn’t mess up my room in the search and-or fight,” said Demiangel.
“ Now you’re getting the hang of the lifestyle,” said Abe.
#
The headquarters was a mess.
Contents of cupboards and drawers were discarded and piled on the floor. Books from the library had been opened and dumped. The only neat examination was almost every access panel: removed and on the floor with the screws in a precise diamond grouping to its right. Even the access panels near the toilets were removed. Lauren’s centrifuge had been turned on its face to expose the bottom, and the spectrometer was open at the back. The only things untouched were the security panels. Abe said, “Lauren, call Mr. Wilkerson and tell him we need repairs. Also, you going to need a place to stay tonight?”
“Nah, I’m good.”
“What about me?” asked Bill.
“You’re going to stay here, because we assume the security system is compromised, and you’re the toughest of us.”
“Where did you hide the wallet?” Bill asked.
“Oh, I was carrying it. I know we have crappy security.”
He pulled out the wallet and set it on a nearby table. The ruby started to glow with an intense red light. They could feel the ruby probing their minds and then the glow faded. [30]
“Anyone got an urge to grab the ruby or the rod and walk outside?” asked Lauren.
Abe shook his head. Bill stepped forward, grabbed the ruby, and pressed it against his forehead. It stayed there.
“Just great,” said Lauren.
#
“Now-the-ruby-is-mine,” said Bill in a monotone. Abe still had Moly’s Mystic Hand ready, so he moved the rod to the far side of the room. Lauren shrank down to Honeybee and zipped behind Bill to use her sonic venom. [31] It seemed to have no effect.
Bill began to walk robotically to the rod.
Abe made an attempt to grab the ruby and failed to dislodge it. [32] He was also holding up the rod, so dividing his attention wasn’t helping.
Honeybee flew in front of Bill and hit him with a sonic blast. [33] It blew back Bill’s long hair but didn’t do much otherwise. Bill reached out for the rod [34] and plucked it from the air. [35]
Which was when the robotic bat attacked Demiangel.
“What the—?” asked Lauren. [36]
“Monster Mastermind sent it. He wants the stuff too!”
“Where did it come from?” Lauren asked as she tried to hit the mentally-controlled Demiangel again. [37]
The bat robot was no match for Demiangel in his normal state, but in his controlled fugue it could block his vision. [38]
Or not; Demiangel lashed out with his fist; sparks flew, and the bat fell out of the air, broken.
“Oh, the hell with grabbing it.” Abe used Moly’s hand and picked up Demiangel himself. “Get the ruby off him!” This won’t last long; soon he’ll remember he can fly. I think I can hold him, but I’m not sure.
Honeybee darted in. [39] She managed to get the ruby off his forehead as she passed by.
Demiangel clumsily swung for the ruby. Abe dropped Demiangel and started chanting a spell to counter the ruby’s mental control. [40]
Demiangel sprouted wings of fire. Honeybee said, “Bill, come on, Bill. We’re your teammates.”
“There!” said Abe. “In the wallet; it’s proof against whatever mental control the ruby does.”
Demiangel swatted at her [41] but missed. She dropped down and slammed the ruby back into the wallet.
They held their collective breath.
“What is that? ” Demiangel said, pointing at the robot. “You guys have to fill me in; I feel like I’ve gone blank.”
“Mental control. We’ve been there,” said Abe.
There was a scratching at the window.
“Oh, god,” said Lauren. Outside the window was a turtle, wearing little leg warmers, and with an old-fashioned CRT television screen replacing its shell.
“How did a turtle get to the third floor?” asked Demiangel.
Abe threw open the window, letting in the turtle and a blast of cold air. “That was your first question?”
The turtle flew in on rockets and landed on the table, its rockets extinguished.
The turtle pulled its legs and head in. The screen lit up, showing a rather ape-like man sitting in a chair and wearing a smoking jacket, holding a Meerschaum pipe. The sound came over their communicators. The man said:
“It is I, Professor Hominid, discoverer of fire, inventor of the wheel, and genius behind every technological innovation in the history of mankind.
“You are caught in a contest between the sinister sovereign of souls, Mister Mastermind, and the beast with the beautiful mind, Monster Mastermind. They both want the ruby and the rod. This contest will decide who is the true Mastermind.
“I’m here to add a small complication. I’ve used neutronic energy to make the ruby and rod share a resonance signature. As of now, if these items cannot see each other for more than ninety seconds, then they’ll both erupt in plasma explosions. Farewell, city blocks!
“Enjoy your battle, all of you. And may the best mastermind win.”
A gargantuan monster stepped out of the stairwell. “Bother,” he said. “That will make things more difficult.”
Chapter 4: Mastermind Supreme!
“Monster Mastermind, I presume,” said Abe.
“Indeed. If you’ll hand over the ruby and the rod, we’ll call it a day.”
Abe shrugged. “If you can guarantee to me that Mister Mastermind won’t attempt to steal it from you and cause the explosions, it’s yours.”
Demiangel looked at him. “But he’s one of the bad guys!”
“This is about the name; what do I care if this one is Monster Mastermind and the other is, I dunno, Mistermind?”
Demiangel looked at him and then at Monster Mastermind. “But the ruby!”
“Is ours,” said Scorcher. She and Princess flew in through the open window. Beef appeared a moment later, holding Destiny.
“There,” said Abe. “ Now we’ve got nearly everyone.” The ruby flew up, out of the wallet, and flashed pink light— [42]
Beef said, “Must. Touch. The. Ruby.” [43]
Demiangel grabbed for him, [44] but the room was too crowded, and he missed.
Princess, still in the air, reached for Abe [45] and made a sound of astonishment as the power rushed into her.
“Now your power is mine!” she said.
“You don’t want that power,” Abe replied.
Destiny said, “You cholos have done enough to trick and trap us. We want the ruby, we want the rod, and we want to see you flattened.” She [46] punched Abe in the stomach. Abe doubled over and then staggered to one side.
Abe gave up the idea of fighting back and took a defensive stance.
Scorcher dashed [47] at him, shrieking, “I wasn’t done with you yet!” but Abe managed to sidestep her at the last minute and she exploded into the opposite wall, splattering fire everywhere. [48] The picture on the wall and the wallpaper started to smoulder.
“Do we have fire extinguishers?” asked Demiangel.
“We did, but they were probably disabled during the search,” said Abe.
“Indeed,” said Monster Mastermind. “They might have held the ruby and rod.” Monster Mastermind touched a stud on his belt and suddenly there were three of him. One was going for the wallet. That one shouldered aside everyone else and placed his hand on it—
The sonic blast from Honeybee took him by surprise. [49] “Illusionary copies are no good when you create them in front of us, Mister Monstermind” said Honeybee. It was enough to make him pause, though his armor absorbed half of it. His good hand twitched and the wallet flew off the table onto the floor, toward Destiny. [50]
Beef turned as the wallet fell behind him and tried to grab it, missed, and sent it skittering along the floor closer to Destiny.
Princess swatted at Abe again and it seemed that Abe was not resisting. She hit him and the last bit of his magical force field disappeared. “See, I used to be married to someone from Fairyland. The divorce was…acrimonious, but I can block them out. Practice.” He ran toward the wallet. “They recognize me by my powers. The powers that you now have. Good luck blocking them out.”
Red and gold autumn leaves started pouring out of the flames on the wall, as if it were a portal. The leaves swirled around Princess and began to tighten into a cocoon.
Without his magical abilities and the threats thereof, it was like some ever-present tension had drained from him. It was a pity he couldn’t enjoy the sensation.
Demiangel body-checked Beef [51] and knocked him down; Beef’s flailing arm hit the wallet and the wallet scooted across the threshold into the next stairwell.
Destiny said a crude word in Spanish and dodged past him. They could hear the metal wallet thudding down the stairs. Then they heard a sound of gears and hydraulics and something heavy crawling up the stairs.
“Mine,” said Monster Mastermind. “A difficult chess game, but I win.”
“No. You. Don’t!” Scorcher had re-gathered herself and she flew down the stairwell.
“Is that a robot?” asked Honeybee. “I don’t think those stairs are rated—”
There was a tremendous crashing noise.
“They’re not,” said Abe. “Mr. Wilkerson’s going to get his demolition.”
“And we’ll have to find a new headquarters.” Honeybee was already down the stairwell; she was several times faster than Scorcher. [52]
Beef lumbered to his feet and dashed into the stairwell. “Scorcher?” He no longer sounded controlled, so Abe figured that now the ruby had Scorcher.
“You! You big ugly thing you!” Destiny ran back in from the top of the steps. “Mister told me it was all your fault!” [53] She ran to Monster Mastermind and hit him—Abe would have said ineffectually, but he saw the black glow of her destructive aura. Still, Monster Mastermind didn’t seem particularly affected.
“ I started this? My dear girl, you have been the victim of a gross calumny.”
“That’s what I said! You tricked us!”
“Uh, Lauren?” Abe asked over the communicator.
“Busy with giant robot crab here.”
“But Scorcher—”
“She keeps trying to put on the ruby but in fire form she can’t touch anything. Soon’s I get the robot under control— Ah, crap.”
“Sitch?”
“Second robot. Demiangel? A hand? And Abe, you want to get some fire extinguishers?” [54]
Demiangel said, “In sooth,” and then, “A moment.” He noticed a peculiar bump at the base of the Monster Mastermind’s skull, and he thought that might be a weak point. [55] He hit it, hard, and then moved on to the stairwell. [56]
Monster Mastermind stopped moving, frozen. Demiangel didn’t notice.
Destiny hit Monster Mastermind once more and then spat on him.
Monster Mastermind didn’t move.
Abe hit her from behind with a fire extinguisher, which promptly exploded in a shower of yellow dust. [57]
“I hate you!” she said before turning around.
Panting, he said, “I’m not really fond of you either. You’re not that cute.”
“ Ewww! ” Destiny yelled and punched at him. [58]
“And your outfit,” he grabbed a chair and swung it at her [59] , knocking her to the floor. “Is ugly.”
Beef looked at him and said, “You hit one of my girls!”
Uh-oh, thought Abe.
Down the stairwell, Honeybee was contending with a robotic crab and a robotic centipede. Scorcher was still trying to place the ruby on her insubstantial forehead, but sooner or later she’d think of turning solid. Honeybee had hit the crab but not done much damage. [60] It had missed her — it fired laser beams of some kind — but that increased the fire that Scorcher had unwittingly started.
Demiangel plunged down on wings of flame. He punched the centipede robot on the wall [61] and it folded its legs and fell onto the wall.
Honeybee thought, Well, that makes me feel ineffectual. She blasted the crab once more [62] and the crab stopped moving.
Demiangel said, “Just a sec,” and flew off.
Honeybee pushed the ruby into the wallet, and Scorcher said, “Hey! I had that!”
“As if,” said Honeybee over her loudspeaker. She grabbed the wallet and took off, corkscrewing up through the stairwell. Scorcher followed.
Demiangel showed up in a moment with a fire extinguisher. He spoke into the communicator. “Uh, I’ll just put out this fire, okay? Call me if you need me.”
“Busy with flame girl,” grunted Honeybee. She determined quickly that she was much faster than Scorcher, so she headed straight up and then out. Her intent was to get over an unoccupied area and then drop the components. They’d get far enough apart, combust, but there wouldn’t be anyone near.
Abe said, “Lauren? You planning to force the explosion?”
“You got it.”
“You'll have to go way out.”
#
Demiangel looked at the waste filling the stairwell. A piece moved as the door to the stairwell opened.
Steve was standing there. “Hi. Lauren said we could hide here.” Behind him were an older couple, who looked horrified. “It’s not always like this,” Steve assured them.
“I’m new,” said Demiangel. “For all I know this is typical.”
“Is that Steve?” asked Abe over the communicator. “Tell him to take the elevator up. With him, we’re one step closer to finding Mister Mastermind and ending this.”
“Go on up,” Demiangel told them. “But I’d recommend the elevator. I think it’s safer.”
#
Abe met them at the elevator. “Come on in!” he said jauntily. “Don’t mind the monster, or the dead turtle, or the unconscious gym rat. Or the mess. We’re having a thing.”
“Steve said we’d be safe, but he didn’t say from what,” said the woman. She was shaped like a block of pale wood; husband looked more like a tennis player made from leather.
“He’ll tell you it was a monster—that monster, in fact. But that monster is dealt with.”
“So we don’t need to be here. Bev, we can still manage to get to the theatre!”
“No, I’m afraid not. See, we have to help your son.”
They looked at each other. Steve looked pleasantly befuddled.
“For reasons you don’t need to care about, your son has been put under mental control. Normally I’d help, but I am currently without powers. Like I said, it’s a whole thing.”
“I’m not under anybody’s control. Why, the idea is laughable,” said Steve.
“Mr. and Mrs. Lauderdale, does your son normally drag you into a fight zone?”
“I love him, but—” started Mrs. Lauderdale.
“—He has made…questionable choices,” finished Mr. Lauderdale. “Television, Stephen? Really?”
“And, with all due respect because I’m sure she’s around here somewhere, but that Lauren girl. A superhero? That’s not exactly our kind of people.”
“I heard that,” said Lauren in Abe’s ear. “I’m having trouble shaking Scorcher. I had to dodge a plane and wham, she was still on me. If I drop the ruby, she’ll just grab it and the rod. I’m going to circle back but I’ll be a minute.” [63]
“But what about our son?” asked Mr. Lauderdale.
“Ah. We’ll have an answer when Lauren gets back. We need the ruby.”
“Well, of course,” said Steve.
“Yes, Steve,” sighed Abe.
“You don’t have to be condescending,” said Mrs. Lauderdale.
“You’re right,” said Abe. “But I’m definitely not the right kind of person.” He waved at the room. “Find a seat. Check that it will hold you up. Feel free to take off your coats. Steve, can you show me your wrists?”
“Sure, but—” Abe slapped handcuffs on him. [64] “You have to keep wearing your coat, Steve. Mind control makes you go outside without proper gear.”
Mr. and Mrs. Lauderdale made indignant noises, but Abe stared at them and they sat down. Over the communicators came Lauren’s voice. “Incoming, fast and hot, and I mean hot.”
Abe checked to see if any of the Lauderdales were in line from the window. “Mr. Lauderdale, would you move your chair back a bit? More. That should be good.” He picked up another fire extinguisher. Despite Mr. Wilkerson’s not-so-hidden ambitions, they kept several in every room.
“But— ” said Mr. Lauderdale.
A firebolt streaked through the window and splashed fire over the opposite wall. “Demiangel, catch!” said Lauren as she came out of her tight loop. She threw Demiangel the wallet; he caught it.
Abe waited until Scorcher had re-formed and then said, “Pardon me.” He sprayed her with the fire extinguisher. [65] Scorcher slowly converted from fire to a young woman and fell to the ground.
Honeybee took the opportunity to sting her. [66] Scorcher shuddered and staggered to her feet. She tried to reach out to Abe, [67] who easily dodged her swipe. “You...bastard,” she said, and fell unconscious.
“And that leaves us with only one person to deal with. All of your pawns have been neutralized, Ludwig. If you want to win the title, it’s best you appear now. You’re even likely to win, because we’re hardly the Guardians.”
They waited for another minute. Then two.
“I’m getting rid of the wallet,” said Honeybee.
“In a minute,” said Abe. “We could maybe combine them. Demiangel, if you squeeze that wallet, and then Honeybee blasts it in your hand, that might be enough.”
Honeybee said, “The extra energy the Ape Guy added should make them familiar enough to each other to combine.”
“I think you're right,” said Abe. His neck had suddenly got stiff; he rotated his head and cracked it. [68] [69] While they were working on that, Abe kept an eye out for Mister Mastermind, who should be showing up.
Ah. Steve was slumping in his chair, blank-faced, as if the item controlling him were undergoing some transformation; Mrs. Lauderdale was up and concerned for her son, but Mr. Lauderdale…
Mr. Lauderdale was up and watching Demiangel, Honeybee … and the wallet.
“If only I had my powers back,” Abe lied casually. Neither of the Lauderdales looked at him. “I’d say something like,” and he began chanting a spell. [70] While he was chanting, Demiangel and Honeybee finished. Mr. Lauderdale reached out for the new combined rod-and-gem, grabbed it, and then stood there, not sure why he had grabbed it.
“You can come out now, Ludwig,” said Abe.
Text appeared (or seemed to appear) on one of the walls.
A true mastermind knows when to pause. I shall get the rod and gem at a future date, now that you have combined them into one convenient package. I suspect that Farraday will not be easy to hold, and he will want it too.
The game is suspended, not ended.
“Whoopee,” said Lauren.
“I bet we can sell the robots,” said Demiangel. “We’re going to need first and last month’s deposit on the next place.”
[1] Short distance: range 3 should be enough, so he casts teleportation with portal (which is equivalent to passengers). Forgot to check teleportation shock last time, so I will this time. Poor Abe! Makes the spell (5+2 vs 3) but botches shock (3-5 vs 2). He’s out of combat next page.
[2] Right, initiative: Scorcher 4+6 Demiangel 6+2 Abe: 5+3 Princess 4+4 Honeybee 5+2 Destiny 4+3 Beef 4+2 Security Guard 3+1 Old Lady 2+5 Dog 2+6
[3] Princess does a -2 to notice, so Honeybee gets a +1 for being unnoticed, with a 6+2+1 vs 3, so that’s a fine hit. She manages 6 vs 2 on the affliction roll, a major success. Destiny is reduced to 0 and plummets to the floor.
[4] Destiny has used one Probability point. I squeezed that into the page because she didn’t really do anything.
[5] Prowess 5+1 vs 6 means a marginal hit, so damage 2, well under his Damage Resistance of 4.
[6] I think this is creating Trouble. “Because I have Fire Control, I can turn off her flame.” His Fire control of 5+2 vs her Flame form of 4. This costs him a determination point.
[7] She gets 6+2-1 vs Scorcher’s 5, so that’s a moderate success, that takes away 6 Stamina, leaving Scorcher with 1. However, Scorcher has an aura, so Honeybee takes 4 Stamina, leaving her at 7.
[8] Alas, he does not hit: 4-2 vs 6+1 is a massive failure, so Demiangel gets to hit back: a moderate success, but Strength 8.
[9] Abe gets his Determination Point back because she spends a point on Determined Effort.
[10] So she attacks with 5+3 versus 6+2+1, so she misses.
[11] That’s 6-1 vs 4, so he hits. 8-2, that’s another 6 stamina. Beef fall down.
[12] He spends a determination point for the spell of telekinesis. Next page he’ll be able to use it.
[13] She rolls 5+2+3 versus Scorcher’s 4, so she gets a massive success. Scorcher only has 1 stamina, so she falls down.
[14] TK uses Will, so its 6+3 vs Destiny’s 4+2 (for a grab). It’s a major success.
[15] He’s trying for Healing 3; he gets to roll for it, with a 7+2 versus 3. The spell will work, but he gets a DP because it will be too late. He’s at DP 3.
[16] I just gave this instead of having someone roll for it.
[17] That’s a sucky roll; fortunately Abe has two levels in occult. 5-4+2 vs 2 is a moderate success.
[18] I’m treating this as a Retcon, because it took me until the next day to realize he should have done that. Let’s call it a tactic: while he’s carrying the Ruby, let’s say that he can’t cast any sensory spells
[19] Oh, poor dear. She tries a seduction roll (Willpower vs Willpower) and gets 4-5 vs Abe’s 6. Not a success.
[20] Alas, he rolls almost as bad, with 6-4 versus 4, so he doesn’t impress her at all.
[21] Her seduction roll is 4+0 versus Abe’s 6. Still a failure. But Abe’s attempt is better, at 6+2 vs 4. So this is Abe’s.
[22] Demiangel got 4-3 on his Awareness roll, and Abe got 3-3. Demiangel noticed Speedsaw but too, too late.
[23] He gets 6+1 vs 6, so he hits for 4 Stamina. That leaves Speedsaw at 6.
[24] Abe’s going to use his fire control, spend a determination point, and cause trouble for Speedsaw, activating the villain’s Quality about maintenance to cut powers.
[25] He rolls poorly and misses. 6-2 vs 6.
[26] He spends another Determination Point, so now he’s at DP 1, but he’ll have the spell next panel.
[27] Speedsaw has fixed it, so both Abe & Demiangel get a Determination Point. Abe’s at 2, Demiangel is at 3.
[28] He rolls 6-5 vs 6, so Demiangel gets to hit him. Demiangel’s Strength is 8, so Speedsaw is unconscious.
[29] Let’s say it’s difficulty 5 to figure Steve’s under mental control. She rolls 6+2 vs 5, so she gets it.
[30] Does it succeed at mind control? Well, it manages 5+2 versus Demiangel’s 4, so…
[31] Demiangel isn’t flying, but he has a great Prowess. Abe rolls crappy but the rod isn’t resisting; he gets it. Honeybee is flying now, and she tries the Affliction, because that works through Damage Resistance. She hits, with 6+2+0 vs 6; her Affliction does nothing this turn, however, because he’s Strength 8 (Affliction rolls 6+0 vs 8). Just a moderate failure, so it tries again.
[32] Abe manages 6+2 vs 6+2, so he gets a marginal success: strength 2 against the ruby. We’ll say the ruby is held on by Strength 3, and Abe’s TK fails the strength check: 2-1 vs 3.
[33] She hits: 5+2 vs 6, and does a whole 2 Stamina after Damage Resistance is subtracted. Still, that’s better than Abe has managed...
[34] Sure, now the good rolls happen. It’s a grab, so it’s versus Abe’s Coordination+2, or 7; Bill rolls 6+4, or 10. He’s got the rod and the ruby.
[35] The Affliction goes again, and this time it succeeds: 6+3 vs 8, so 6 Stamina gone. Bill’s at 4 now.
[36] Intellect rolls, difficulty 4. They both make it, Abe at 5+4, and Honeybee at 5+0.
[37] Miss, with 5+2-2 vs 6. And the affliction fails (6-1 vs 8), so it doesn’t go off again. Abe manages another marginal hit with Moly’s Hand, but it’s still not strong enough to pull the ruby off.
[38] He rolls quite well (6+2 vs its 4) and hits it.
[39] Bill isn’t flying, so I’m not going to give him his aerial combat. Her prowess is 6+2-2 for the grab; his prowess is halved because he’s held and in the air. She manages, rolling a -2.
[40] It will be Nullification 5, limited to the wallet: so long as the ruby’s in the wallet, it’s neutralized. He spends his last Determination point on it. At the end of next panel, the wallet is mind-control-proof.
[41] Which misses: 6+0 versus her 5+2+1.
[42] This Trouble seems like too much fun, so each hero gets a Determination Point. Now Abe is at 1, Honeybee at 3, Demiangel at 3.
[43] Let’s roll initiative: Centropede 8+5 Demiangel 6+4 Princess 4+6 Destiny 4+5 Crabicon 6+2 Abe 5+3 Scorcher 4+4 Monster 3+5 Honeybee 5+2 Mister 3+4 Beef 4+1 Some of those aren’t present but might be by the end…
[44] 6-4 vs 4. Moderate failure.
[45] 3+1 vs Abe’s prowess of 3; hits, so she steals almost all of his magic, force field, and fire control.
[46] Her prowess of 3+4 versus Abe’s prowess of 3 means she punches him, and her aura adds 1 to her strength but his remaining force field takes 1, so 3 stamina: He’s at 6 Stamina, but no slam effect.
[47] Prowess 5-2 vs Abe’s 3+2 (for defensive) means she misses.
[48] Abe needs an advantage so he asks if that can set something on fire. Of course, I say, and he spends the Advantage to activate one of his Qualities: My Ex Is A Nightmare.
[49] She rolls Coordination 5+2+0 versus his 3: Massive success. Stun is 6-5 vs 8, so no stun. He takes 3 Stamina.
[50] What good are luck powers if you don’t make yourself lucky? She’s used it twice. And Abe's speech in a moment is a retcon, activating the Quality about his ex. Not that will ever have repercussions...
[51] Prowess 6+0 vs 2. Good enough for an interpose; does 6 stamina. Given the nature of the attack, I’m going to allow a slam check: 8+2 vs 8 knocks him prone.
[52] She spends a Determination Point to stunt Ranged Detect on her Super-senses, to reflect the fact that she has done some analysis on the wallet and knows what it is and can find it. She’s down to 2 DP.
[53] She hits, with Prowess 3+1 vs 3, and does 4 Stamina (3 for the Aura, one for Strength), reduced to 1.
[54] I feel like this should wrap up soon, so does Demiangel notice the brain case? AWR 4+6 vs 6+2, so yes.
[55] Prowess 6+1 vs 3+2, so yes, he hits. He does 5 stamina, and hitting the brain case is, um, extra good. The module says that breaching the brain case incapacitates Monster Mastermind, but not what does it. So let’s say it has its own body, Def 5, but only 3 stamina. So a hit of 8 does take it down to 0.
[56] He spends a Determination point to activate “Brain case is vulnerable”.
[57] Strike with an improvised weapon, so 3+2 vs 3; he hits. He only does 4 Stamina (STR+1), and her aura destroys the fire extinguisher. Still, that’s something.
[58] And hit: 3+2 vs 3; she does 4 stamina.
[59] Oh, thank goodness because that was a hitting line of dialogue: 3+3 vs 3, and he knocks her prone but that doesn’t really matter because he does 4 damage and knocks her out.
[60] Her Coordination is 5, +2 because she’s shrunk, and rolled -1: marginal hit. That’s 3 Stamina damage
[61] Prowess 6+3 vs 4, so massive success, and a stun result of 8+0 vs 4, so the centipede is stunned.
[62] And she gets 5+2+1 vs 6, so she does another 6 damage.
[63] This is pure invention on the GM’s part. Lauren gets a Determination Point for this trouble.
[64] Clearly a Retcon.
[65] He spends that Determination Point to cause Trouble of the disability kind, activating his “Addicted to applause” Quality because he’s clearly doing this in the most theatrical way possible.
[66] She hits (6+2+2 vs 5) and the Affliction takes effect (6-1 vs 3). That brings her to 1 Stamina. (I’m just going to roll the next Affliction roll, which is 6+4 vs 3, and Scorcher will fall down.)
[67] Well, even conscious she’s been in a bad state: 5-4 vs 3; she misses with the fire aura.
[68] And this is the point where Abe brings out that Determination Point he can hand out for Leadership, and uses it for combining the items, which is an ill-designed concept so it costs a DP and a page.
[69] This is the subtle clue that his powers are back; Princess is unconscious in the Fey Realm and five minutes have passed. He chooses not to put up the force field to avoid advertising that is powers are back, but really, magic calls for performance…
[70] He has no Determination, so this has to be an Intellect test with a Difficulty of 5. 5+2+4-3 is 8, a major success. He creates Mental Resistance Burst 5 that fills the room.
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