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Lair of the Wrathmaster
I was going to do a solo play with Uncanny Justice, but I’ve got myself into a situation with them, and until I can figure out exactly why Abe got called to the realm of Faerie, I can’t go forward with that.
Instead, here is a solo play with other new characters, based on Fainting Goat Games’ “Lair of the Wrathmaster,” and using the new characters Flip-Flop, The Incredible Reach, and Succubus. All are 45-point characters (I rolled them up but started fiddling so I said the hell with it and changed them to 45 points).
House Rule: Prone people are +2 to hit hand-to-hand, absent cover.
Scene 1: The Crepes of Wrath
Flip-Flop got to this Crepes of Wrath restaurant first but stayed up above the buildings until The Reach arrived, then swooped down. The crowd beyond the police tape cheered and someone yelled, “Get’em, Reach!” He waved casually until he found the officer in charge. At the building itself, Succubus appeared in a shadowed doorway and walked out to Flip-Flop. Both male and female police stopped and looked at her. There were cat calls from the crowd, but Succubus paid them no mind; they were a distraction.
“I wish the restaurant were open,” said Flip-Flop. “Kinda nibbly.” Succubus shrugged elegant shoulders. She too was hungry and hoped they would find someone to fight soon. “Ever been in a Crepes of Wrath?” asked Flip-Flop.
Succubus shook her head. “That sort of thing does not nourish me.”
“Hoity-toity. I know you spent part of your childhood in Europ, but hey, they have McDonald’s in Europe.” She grinned. “Reach isn’t the only one who can research on a computer. So I’m helping you with background. Krevitz there, he was the Wrathmaster, big villain in the seventies-eighties. Big robots, all kinds of gadgets. He retired after the Invasion, and after a token prison sentence, started these restaurants.”
“Did The Reach ever meet him?”
“Krevitz retired when Reach was a sidekick but I’ll bet they met. Reach has met everybody.”
“The Reach is still talking. Let’s get started on things to impress him. Can you sense anything in the building?”[1]
Flip-Flop closed her eyes. “Place is trashed. It’s decorated with hero and villain memorabilia, and a couple of items are taken down from the wall. Gonna have to re-drywall that hole.”
“Is there blood, anything like that?”
“Eww. I don’t see anything, but maybe. Forensics people everywhere.”
“I believe they’re called CSIs.”
“I believe that’s a TV show,” said Flip-Flop, imitating The Reach at his most didactic, “and it differs by jurisdiction.”
The Reach stretched over to them with one giant step. “New teen supervillains, beat people up, tried some of the items on the walls but they’re supposedly all deactivated—”
“Restaurant Inspection would make sure,” said Flip-Flop.
“Unless they’re paid off,” agreed The Reach. “So Krevitz apparently has a base he’s never touched—” Reach paused as if rolling his eyes, though that wasn’t visible through his mask “—and they beat him up until he gave the location.”
“You did not talk to Krevitz,” Succubus pointed out.
“Why bother? Lying is like breathing to him. This new teen group, The Young Anarchists, has three visible supers: pudgy boy who’s good with machines, goth girl with shadow bats, and walking pile of mud.”
“Goth girl? The one who did that prom thing?”
“I think so. And I suspect a fourth teenager. Although some of the cuts were clawmarks consistent with the shadow bats, some were cuts from blades and that doesn’t sound like pudgy, goth girl, or mudboy.”[2]
“Did you get the address?”
“Not my first rodeo.” He repeated the address to them. “We’ll take the sky cycles.”[3]
Scene 2: The Lair
They circled the long row house at the address and saw that the back door had been forced open.
They set the cycles down in the backyard. The police were out front arguing with a representative from the homeowner’s association about whether they could cordon off the area but they weren’t entering: The Reach had asked them not to go in, because there was suspected supervillain activity.
“I know it doesn’t always work,” he asked Flip-Flop, “but can you see inside?”
She grinned. “I happen to have been practicing that.”[4] She closed her eyes and said, “Furniture moved.[5] Security cameras up in the high corners. Moving from the kitchen now. Dining room. Bad taste in artwork.”
“Flip-Flop,” said The Reach.
“Just saying,” said Flip-Flop. “Mud in various places, so I’m figuring it’s Mudboy and friends.” Flip-Flop was almost old enough to drink and just barely out of her own teens. “Two exits, trying one, into the hall. Stairwell going up, and let’s cover the rest of the main floor, because I can’t imagine that the secret entrance to the base is upstairs.”
“Some places do,” said Succubus. “There’s a castle in Europe where the secret entrance is up on the higher floors. It was an emergency exit for the nobility.”
Flip-Flop continued. “In the study now. There are no pictures of dogs playing poker but that’s his style. Ah, bingo,” said Flip-Flop. “Everything shoved to the walls and hidden elevator gracelessly unhidden. Well, elevator shaft. The elevator is not there.”
“Not a surprise,” said The Reach. “Ladies, I don’t think we want to take the elevator anyway; it’s a confined space and probably trapped to excess.”
“To excess even. I can fly,” said Flip-Flop.
Succubus said, “I can probably teleport.” Teleporting blind was painful for Succubus but she could do it.
“And I can stretch very thin. I’ll go first and make a shadow for you, Succubus, if you need it.”
“Much obliged. What about the cameras?”
The Reach shook his head. “With luck, the teens haven’t got into the security center to see the camera views, and I think it’s more important to get there than to be unseen. We’re not taking the elevator because it’s slow and a possible trap, not because of noise. The cameras might be slaved to a security computer but with luck, the security system is dealing with the teens right now.”
“Lame-ass security AI if it can only deal with one threat at a time,” said Flip-Flop.
“Theoretically it’s 1980 tech because Wrathmaster ‘hasn’t touched it.’” The Reach shrugged. “I doubt that, and besides, the teens might have restarted anything. Let’s go .” The Reach’s arm stretched out longer and thinner and reached into the house. “Pardon, gotta look,” he said, and his head and shoulders followed. His feet dismounted from the sky cycle and began walking to the doorway. The women followed, but The Reach’s lower torso stayed outside for a long minute, then disappeared inside.[6]
Flip-Flop looked at Succubus. “The elevator has an emergency hatch on top; I’ll open that and you can go in—a bit easier than blind teleporting.”
“Also thanks.”
“De rien. It’s also the only way I can get in, because I don’t stretch. Why does Reach never remember that?”[7]
The elevator was gleaming metal and avocado accents, very 1970s if an elevator could have a decade. Flip-Flop flew through the hatch,[8] and a moment later Succubus followed, teleporting to the top of the elevator, and then through the open door, into the shadow of The Reach.
He was shaped like a sail or sheet, but stayed there, frozen. There was a spitting sound nearby, and Flip-Flop said, “Ew!” Succubus stuck her head out from under The Reach and saw the gun coughing out bullets. Some of them were clearly cryogenic, because The Reach had been frozen into shape. She didn’t see bullet holes in him, but…
Succubus had no idea what to do, so she stepped in front of the gun. The first bullet was just a regular one, and it sank (painfully) into her thigh.[9]
“I can’t take two of those,” she said to Flip-Flop. Bits of her thigh from the exit wound decorated the floor.
“Just a sec.” Flip-Flop interposed herself between the gun and Succubus. The next bullet bounced off her force field. “Get me the emergency hatch to the elevator.”
Succubus had to ’port up to the top of the elevator to get the hatch and then it was just easier to ’port back. By the time she returned, she had healed a bit, but she was very hungry. She handed the metal to Flip-Flop, then picked up the cartridge that had been inside her.
“Bullet looks odd; it still has a casing. Some other kind of propulsion?”[10] She turned it over. “Got rifling but the gun’s too quiet… It’s made to fire regular ammunition but not use the propellant. Airgun, maybe?”
“Airgun I can deal with,” said Flip-Flop. She waited until after the next shot, looked in the hole, and wiggled her fingers, her “tell” that she was doing telekinesis.
The hissing got louder.
“Pulled out the hoses,” Flip-Flop said. “Let’s see if Reach is okay.”
“I think he just needs some time. I need some healing time myself. If you leave, that door is protected by ankle-level infrared beams. The other one isn’t.”
“We should go in the direction of the beams.”
The Reach was slowly resuming his shape when the three security robots flew in. They were small, about the size of basketballs, gleaming white with a single purple lens. Succubus saw them first. “Incoming. Protect The Reach.”[11] She reached up and swatted at one but it was just out of reach.[12] They fired at everyone: they missed Succubus but had no effect when they hit the other two.
Flip-Flop mentally grabbed one and smashed it against another; both broken robots fell to the ground.[13]
Succubus grabbed the third and squeezed it. Its lens went dim;[14] and the robot fell to the ground.
Behind them, they heard, “Oh. Ow.”
“We have heard people curse, you know,” said Flip-Flop.
He shook his head. “I don’t curse. And…We’re in a place where anything could be recorded and used out of context. Remember that.”[15]
Flip-Flop nodded.
“Do we have any idea where to go?”
“ESP shield, so not sure. That way has an alarm and the security ‘bots came from there.”
“Why is this room so tall?” asked Succubus. The room and the corridor beyond was more than four meters tall.
“At a guess?” The Reach said. “They needed to get tall robots through here. His war-droids were twenty feet tall, and easier to move if you let them walk under their own power.”
“Will we encounter a war-droid?”
“Who knows? Let’s go that way.” He carefully stepped over the beams and moved forward; Flip-Flop beat him to the next junction and Succubus came last.[16] Reach said, “I don’t see cameras straight ahead, but there’s a gun turret to the right. I hate leaving space behind us, though. Flip-Flop, you want to open some doors straight ahead?”
Flip-Flop made a pushing motion with her fingers and the nearest door opened. Nothing happened. She did the same with the next; again, nothing. Reach said, “Nothing obvious. Flip-Flop, do a quick recon.”
“This will take as long as actually going there…because we will,” complained Flip-Flop, but she took off.
In a minute she was back again. “Showers, unused. Workshop, unused. Generator room, very complicated and I didn’t touch anything. Before you ask…unused. Place needs a dusting, but it’s not decades worth of dust. Maybe years.”
Reach nodded. “Let’s try this way.” He sidled up to the autogun turret. “Airguns, you say?”
Succubus quickly punched the wall, breaking the drywall in the corridor. “I believe that Flip-Flop pulled out those hoses.” She reached in and yanked. There was a loud hissing sound. “And that happened.”
The Reach nodded and tried the nearest door. It was unlocked, and beyond it was a small gym, funky with decades of disuse.[17]
Flip-Flop wrinkled her nose. “Let’s pretend we searched that one.”
Succubus stepped into the doorway. “It does smell foul.” She flipped on the light. “Weight machines, treadmill, some free weights.”
“And no one paid attention to that,” said Flip-Flop, pointing to the sign that said, Clean up after yourself .
“What do you expect?” asked the Reach. “I imagine none of them fished their hair out of the drain, either, like certain heroines I could mention.”
Flip-Flip chose not to dignify that with a response.
The door across the hall was locked. No one could get it open, and it was too tightly fitted for The Reach to squeeze out. He looked at Succubus. She said, “I will, if you insist, but there might be other doors to bypass. Could we check for them and prioritize? Blind teleporting takes a toll.”
“This corridor. Then we’ll prioritize.” Succubus nodded thanks.
#
The next door was locked, but The Reach opened[18] and they saw that the lights were on, and some kind of teleportation portal was active.
“Blow it up? Disable it? Ignore it?” asked Flip-Flop.
“They’ll just use it to try to get away,” said The Reach. “Take a moment. See if there’s a way to turn it off. If not, we accept that it’s there.”
“Give me a minute. Go check the next room,” said Flip-Flop.[19]
The door across the way was also locked, but The Reach managed to figure out the key and made his finger fit.[20] He heard the lock click — but Succubus said, “Incoming.”
Three robots, gleaming white spheres each mounted with a gleaming purple lens flew in. The spheres were about the size of a basketball.
“Did you trip the alarm beams? I didn’t trip the alarm beams.”[21]
The Reach stretched up with enlarged fingers and encompassed all three of them.[22]
As he did that, Succubus opened the unlocked door and reached in to switch off the light switch.[23] Something nicked her finger as she did so.
She appeared at the far side of the room, and in one range of vision there were six teenage boys but in the infrared, only two of them had heat signatures. She reached for the nearest one, the one with the visible duplicates.[24] There was a thrumming sound, on the edge of infrasonic, and the teenage boy fell down. The copies of him disappeared as well.
The other heat source broke and ran.
The Reach was taken by surprise by his appearance, and failed to catch him.[25]
“Headed for the end of the hall!” said The Reach. “I’m after him!”
Both Succubus and Flip-Flop appeared in the hall and saw The Reach’s back. “Sure,” said Flip-Flop, “he’s always telling us not to go haring off.” She took off down the corridor.
Succubus licked her lips and followed. “Don’t trip the—” but it was too late; The Reach had just broken the beams.[26]
She could see the robots flying toward her. They had no life force to drain, and they could stay out of her range. What to do?
Lure them into a place where there are things to throw.
“Ahoy!” she shouted at the robots, and waved her arms, and stepped through the doorway into the control room, and waited for a robot to come through the doorway.[27]
Two did, and she brought her arm down on one, knocking it into the floor. It made a fzzzt sound and stopped.
By then the other one was out of range.[28] She skipped over to where gadget lad was lying unconscious and pulled his utility belt free.[29]
She found cover on the far side of a console and pulled out the first thing she found: small wire cutters. When the robot appeared, she threw them.[30] They hit the robot right on the lens, cracking it and sending the robot careening to one side, where it hit a display on the wall and fell down.
She took a moment to get all of gadget lad’s stuff. Some of it must be a control device.
Both The Reach and Flip-Flop were huddled on either side of the door. A robot was lying on the ground.
“There you are. Goth girl has some kind of mental enhancement helmet on. Good news, while it’s on she can’t use her shadow powers. Bad news, it will affect us, and it’s line of sight. If Flip-Flop sees her to whammy her, she’s just as exposed.”
“And the Katana Kid and mud boy are also looking for anyone coming through the door.”
“So this door became priority one?”
“It did.” The Reach drew on the floor. “There’s a firing range a little way in, take a right turn. Mudboy’s in there. To the left is the actual laboratory. Goth girl was there, but she might have moved. She was in one corner and Katana Kid was in the other. Work benches in the middle.”
“Is it dark?”
“I thought you’d ask. Yeah. I flipped off the lights. Seemed only reasonable with sight-based powers. Hard to shut off the lights in this corridor, though.”[31]
“Give me shadow,” Succubus said. The Reach stretched over her to hide her from the overhead fluorescents, and Succubus was gone.[32]
She appeared behind and to one side of the girl, and she struggled hard not to make a sound as the pain of the blind teleport went through her. The helmet is keeping her teammates out, she thought. So the helmet had to go. Though it would be satisfying to drain goth girl’s life essence, the first step was to get the helmet off her. With luck, she hadn’t fastened the chin-strap. Succubus moved stealthily to get behind the girl.[33]
She could hear the girl muttering. “Don’t keep me waiting. I hate waiting. Why don’t they come out and fight? They’re cowards. Like the bullies at the school.”
I feel for you, girl.[34] Succubus reached out and snatched the helmet off the girl’s head, and she shouted as she did so. She did not put it on her own head; mental powers scared her.
The Reach was inside almost immediately and trying to wrap himself around the mud pile, but to no effect. Flip-Flop rocketed in and floated like a nice target right in the middle of the room, high up. She touched her temple[35] and the mud pile roared in pain. “I am Landslide! I will hurt you!”
“Give that back!” the goth girl raged, and shadows thickened around her to form a bat.
The mud pile—Landslide—easily avoided The Reach and headed directly for Flip-Flop, but Flip-Flop was too high up.
Succubus felt[36] a sharp pain, and saw that a shuriken was sticking out of her upper arm.
Succubus ignored it. Instead, she reached for the girl[37] and got her wrist. Life essence flowed into Succubus, as much as she could take, and she felt the wounds and fatigue wash away. Clear-headed, she let go.
The girl stared at her. “You’re like me.”
“Au contraire. My prom was uneventful.”
The girl screamed, “You don’t even know why I became Lily Gloom!” and swung at Succubus,[38] who stepped aside; the unexpected claws barely scratched her, but she felt the hunger for her life essence in that swing.
The Reach stretched out and turned on the light switch, rather than tackle “Landslide” again; Flip-Flop seemed to have her. Instead he looked for the katana kid.
Flip-Flop looked at Landslide again while touching her temple,[39] and he went to sleep. The katana kid there threw a handful of shuriken at the ceiling and broke the light tubes,[40] casting the room into shadow again.
“We will talk about your needs later, Lily Gloom, when you are in custody.” Succubus reached for the girl[41] and took more of her life essence out—not too much, but that caution meant she did not knock the girl out, either.
The formed bat swooped at her[42] and missed. Perhaps it got unclear orders? “Lone Shadow! Help!”
The ninja boy appeared and sliced at Succubus.[43] Maybe his goal was to get both teens free, now that Landslide was down?
Succubus held up one arm to stop the blade, but the katana made a long deep cut along her forearm. “Foolish boy,” she said. “You do not kill a succubus with a katana…especially a North American mass-produced knock-off. Let me finish with Lily Gloom, first.”[44] Nothing happened. Succubus laughed. “You’re learning,” she said to the girl.
The Reach got a flashlight from his belt[45] and shone it on “Lily Gloom,” Succubus (whose wound had started to seep blood), and “Lone Sword,” in his hockey mask and with his katana. The Reach felt a moment of anguish. They all looked so damned young .
“I see you,” sang Flip-Flop, but Lone Sword had already moved out of the light.[46] Flip-Flop wiggled her fingers, and the door slammed shut, blocking all exit. “Oh, I don’t think you’re going anywhere.”[47]
Lily Gloom stumbled back from Succubus, and a dark aura began to form around the teen.
Reach asked Succubus, “Is that you?”
“No, that’s her. Lone Sword is down in the target area now, looking for an alternative exit. Flip-Flop, you should take care of this poor child. I will deal with No-Backup-Boy. Please guard the exit.” She was gone.[48]
Flip-Flop said, “I hate it when she gets like this.” She looked at the goth girl and said, “And we called you ‘Goth Girl.’”
“What?”
“You’re tired. You should sleep.”[49]
Lily Gloom fell unconscious.
To his credit, the teen never lost his cool. He was dodging and trying to be hard to hit. But the slim cool hand touched him[50] and he felt tired. He swung and felt the katana connect with something[51] and he heard laughter.
“Silly boy, have you not learned that I just heal?” The hand boxed him on one ear this time.[52]
He swung again, and he could smell the blood and feel the connection. He felt her near him.[53]
“Do you want to know a secret?” she said quietly from somewhere near him. She reached out[54] and touched him. She whispered, “I can see in the dark.”
The teen fell unconscious.
The light flickered over them. Succubus was examining the long gash in her sleeve.
Flip-Flop said, “I hate it when you get all goth like that.”
“When you are a freak, sometimes you must act freakish,” she said. “Have we something to tie them with?”
Scene 3: A Confrontation
Once all four of the Young Anarchists were divested of all gadgets and tied so that all of them were touching Lily Gloom (Succubus insisted), Flip-Flop lifted the entire bundle so they could haul them to the elevator.
“Actually,” said The Reach, “we need to search the rest of the place and find the exit. He had to be able to get those Damocles War-Droids out of here somehow.”
“But keep the teenagers off the ground,” said Succubus. “I feel as though the myth of Antaeus applies here.” Then she had to explain the myth of Antaeus. “Have neither of you read Ovid?” she asked.
“I was sick that day,” said The Reach.
“Graphic novel version was checked out of the library,” said Flip-Flop.
“Pardon me for interrupting your banter,” came over the loudspeaker. Krevitz’ voice. “You have my greatest thanks heroes; it seems that these youngsters didn’t quite know who they were dealing with. Please bring them to the auditorium so we can hasten their journey to the authorities.”
“We don’t know where the auditorium is,” said The Reach. He made the hand sign for “trap,” and Flip-Flop suddenly saw the utility of those hand signals he had made them learn.[55]
“The other door in the Control Room leads to Stores, and Stores has a second door which opens to a corridor that leads to the auditorium. The farthest door leads to the security center, which is of no interest.”
“Of course,” said Flip-Flop, and she hoisted up the Young Anarchists.
The corridors branched out, and at the control room they turned inside, then to the storeroom.
“Hold on,” said Flip-Flop. “I haven’t ever carried this many people for so long,” she lied. “I need a rest.”[56]
There were no cameras in Stores; the shelves were full of bedding, out-of-date cleaning supplies, electronic components, wire, light bulbs, and more. Flip-Flop set down the Young Anarchists, but the tannoy sounded: “Keep moving!”
Flip-Flop also noticed alarm beams and stepped through them as she walked. Succubus did, too.
No security robots appeared, so Flip-Flop figured that Wrathmaster had control of the base.
At the door to the auditorium, The Reach spoke up. “Leave the kids in the hall. If it’s a trap, they’re safer here. If it’s not, we can bring them in.”
“It’s not a trap, I assure you,” came the voice over the loudspeaker. The Reach opened the door.
The auditorium was dark.
Succubus muttered, “Big robot center of room.”
“You’ll have to come get us!” The Reach shouted. “Put the kids at the end of the corridor,” he told Flip-Flop and then he heard the sound he’d heard as a kid: the whine of a War-Droid’s sonic stunner warming up. “Go down the hall with them!”[57]
Succubus didn’t listen. Instead, she leapt into the dark auditorium as if she were doing a cannonball into a pool.[58] The Reach cursed and said, “Flip-Flop! Take them!” He took cover by the edge of the doorway, hoping it would lessen the sonic stunner’s blast.
Flip-Flop roughly dumped the Young Anarchists at the far end of the hall.
The stunner went off, affecting only Succubus, who had a sudden onset of spinning, nauseating vertigo.[59]
The Reach swore and stretched his hand to grab her, and pulled her out.[60]
Flip-Flop flew to the doorway and then staggered backward, blocking the doorway.[61] “Some kind of reflector…returning my mental attacks!”
A rocket flew up and hit her in the torso; though her body blocked the explosion, it knocked her against the far wall, and she fell on top of the Young Anarchists. “Oof,” she said.
Can’t get my balance, thought Succubus. Everything’s spinning.[62]
The Reach stretched down so only his head remained in the corridor. “The stunner works on the inner ear,” he said conversationally. I’m keeping my inner ears here.”[63] Down beneath, his body stretched and covered the canopy of the War-Droid so that Wrathmaster couldn’t see anything outside, except through his cameras.
Flip-Flip got up from the ungainly pile and flew to the doorway even while she heard the whine of the stunner again. It went off, and The Reach’s head said, “See? I’m fine.”[64]
The Reach was busy with his hands. He had pulled a concentrated acid from stores,[65] used by plumbers for cleaning persistent drain clogs.[66] He had enough to apply it twice, so this first application was in the thing’s “knee” to eventually immobilize the ’droid. But it was moving now, and that made the acid hard to pour. He had planned to pour some on the canopy—one the canopy was breached, Wrathmaster couldn’t use the stunner without hurting himself—but he needed to use both for the leg joint, and even then Flip-Flop might still need to deliver the last blow to break it.
Flip-Flop[67] said, “I can ram it but you’re in the way!” She readied herself to block any missiles coming her way.[68]
I can do this, thought Succubus. I can fight this vertigo. Or I will end up feared and alone like that poor girl.[69]
The lights in the auditorium went on. The tannoy spoke. “Convenient of you to be within shooting range. You’ll note that the War-Droid is immune to its own weapons.”
There was the grumble of another missile moving into place, and the thundering hiss of launch.[70] The missile curved out and came back at The Reach-covered canopy. There was an explosion; The Reach might have screamed.
The acid container was vaporized, and acid splashed everywhere, forced down and away by the explosion.[71] While everyone’s ears were ringing, Wrathmaster said, “Oh, that was fun. Thank you for protecting me, Reach.” And he cackled.
Succubus said, “I think I can teleport into that pilot’s booth, but I need to see into it; that’s what I was trying to do earlier, and I had my shape wrong: I couldn’t teleport into the robot’s structure.”
“I’ve poured acid from Stores on the left knee joint, so it should be physically weaker there,” said The Reach.
“I took this stuff from gadget boy earlier; is any of it useful?” Succubus spread out the tools. “I used the pliers earlier.” The Reach stretched back into the doorway.
“Gotta keep him busy. My turn,” said Flip-Flop and flew down, ramming herself into the canopy and hoping that her force field would protect her. Don’t use the stunner don’t use the stunner—[72]
She hit the War-Droid at hundreds of miles an hour; there was a resounding crack and the War-Droid was pushed to the edge of the auditorium stage.
There was the high pitched whine of the stunner warming up and then going off.[73] Flip-Flop felt a second of disorientation but was able to fight it off.
“Left knee?” asked Succubus, as she grabbed the micro-torch. She had used similar tools in restoring ancient statues.[74]
The Reach got one hand on Flip-Flop and pulled her back to the doorway.
“Again!” said Flip-Flop and shook off The Reach’s hand.[75] She charged forward into the canopy again.[76]
A rocket launched out and hit the corridor through the doorway. Its explosion filled the corridor, licking down to the unconscious teens, though The Reach and Succubus took the brunt of it. The Reach was thrown down the corridor to the teens. His body shielded them. He got up and scrambled for the doorway again.
Succubus was thrown forward, into the dark auditorium. Her costume was in tatters, and she was so hungry and kept thinking of oysters. Pry open the War-Droid and there’s a succulent person inside…
Rather than get up, she ’ported to under and behind the War-Droid, hoping she could get to the thing’s knee before he spotted her.
Angrily, Flip-Flop used her mental blast. Maybe the extra damage had been enough to stop the shield. Angry, she missed. Fortunately she couldn’t see Succubus, but the mental overload affected her own mind and made her sluggish for a moment.[77]
“Good-bye, my dear,” said the Wrathmaster, and fired a rocket up at her. “This will also get Succubus, wherever she landed.” The rocket hit and exploded.[78] Succubus was shielded by the War-Droid itself.
Succubus got up and used shreds from her costume to tie the torch to one of the War-Droid’s knee joints.[79] She was just starting a second set of knots to be sure when the War-Droid started to walk away from her and up to the door. There were three tiers, and the big War-Droid could only climb one tier at a time
Another missile shot up to the corridor. It missed, slammed into the auditorium wall and blew up.[80] Flip-Flop’s force field protected her, and Succubus was still in the shadow of the blast.
The Reach had no idea of what was happening. He quickly checked the teens: Landslide was gone. Or maybe he was there amidst all the debris from the explosions; it wasn’t possible to know. The other three were still tied.
He had other problems right now. He needed some items from stores, so he quickly went there. All four of the Young Anarchists were gone.
Flip-Flip took a breath and looked carefully at the man within the scarred War-Droid. The canopy was too scratched; she couldn’t get through it.[81]
Succubus managed to run under the War-Droid and ignite the torch.[82] It hissed happily, making part of the joint hot. She didn’t know how long the torch would last, but maybe it would complete The Reach’s idea to immobilize the War-Droid. He had already used half of his missile supply. Soon there would be nothing left but the stunner.
The War-Droid climbed one more tier of seats. One more and it would be at the top.
Flip-Flop thought, He didn’t take the ramp. A ramp extended from the bottom of the auditorium to a red metal throne at the top. If he walked the War-Droid up the ramp, he’d destroy the throne, but he’s doing worse damage by climbing up the tiers. So he doesn’t want to destroy the throne. Why? If only there were no ESP shield, she’d take a peek.
Instead, she telekinetically grabbed the War-Droid’s bad leg and only the leg[83] and yanked.[84] The War-Droid tumbled down the tiers to the center of the auditorium,[85] past Succubus, who was on the first tier of seats.
There was a whine of the stunner.[86] The stunner must have been damaged in the fall, for it had almost no effect: a flash of nausea, but that was all. Succubus had a thought, and dropped down as if she had been affected. Flip-Flop saw the same thing and immediately figured that Succubus was faking it. She fell from the ceiling and disabled her force field (just after hitting the floor).
In Stores, The Reach connected the welding torch to the tanks. He saw (and grabbed) ear coverings. Glad it’s well-labeled.
There was a long, long pause. Nothing moved but for fake writhing from Succubus.
Krevitz slowly clambered out of the War-Droid. He got his cane and moved to the ramp as quickly as he could. He walked by Flip-Flop and took the opportunity to put the ferrule of his cane on her hand.[87] She stayed motionless.
He glanced up at the doorway. The Reach wasn’t visible. He looked at his watch and paused to flip through the cameras displayed there.
“Welding torch, huh? I’ll be gone before you get here, and then the self-destruct will deal with all of you.” He unfolded a seat that attached to his cane, and straddled the cane to sit on the seat. Flames shot out of the bottom of the cane and he flew to the throne.
Neither of the women moved.
Krevitz moved from the cane-chair to the throne.
Suddenly Succubus was laying across his lap. “I assume this chair travels, but you get to take me.” She put her hand around his thin biceps[88] and tried to draw a little energy out. He was surprisingly strong-willed and fought it.[89]
“Give up, Krevitz. We’re taking you in,” said Flip-Flop, as she rose into the air before him.
“Faking it, huh? I suspected. And you, how nice of you to provide yourself as hostage.” Suddenly there was some kind of blade at her throat. “From Lily Gloom’s statement, you and she are both energy vampires of some kind. The protections I had against her will do fine against you.”
He pressed a button under the right arm of the throne. The throne dropped like a stone into the tunnel beneath.
The Reach and the teens — got to warn them!
She flew to the corridor. The teens were gone, and The Reach was wheeling welding tanks out.
“He’s escaping! Hidden tunnel—I’ll carry you.” She scooped him up, tanks and all[90] and returned to the throne tunnel, with The Reach shedding welding torch, mask, and gloves as they travelled. She dove down, slowed down by the limited range of The Reach’s flashlight.
Succubus tried again and this time there was a sizzling sound[91] as his shield burned out.
“I don’t think I’m trapped with you,” she said. “I think you’re trapped with me.”
He stabbed her in the shoulder[92] and drew the knife back. “Are you sure about that?” he said.
The throne's path curved, and now it was going horizontal: she could see rails stretching ahead of them.
“Very sure.” Succubus tightened her grip on his shoulder and fed.[93] There was the low thrumming of her hunger, and he yelled. Her shoulder was healed.[94]
“Die!” he screamed and stabbed her twice more.[95]
“You won’t last as long as I will.” She fed again,[96] and he fell unconscious.[97]
The throne burst into an underground cave. It slowed and came to rest on a dock, near a mini-sub. She gingerly got off the throne and attempted to lift him. It didn’t work; her shoulder was still too messed up.
Behind her, Flip-Flop and The Reach appeared.
“Is he…?” asked Flip-Flop.
“No,” said Succubus.
“Search him,” said The Reach. “He might still have surprises. Flip-Flop, we can’t use radios down here. Someone has to leave to get help, and you’re the fastest.”
“Plus I can, you know, fly.” She said to Succubus, “Did you go all vengeance-is-the-night on him?”
“I would not say so,” said Succubus.
The Reach was already removing gadgets from Krevitz’ pockets. “Oh, of course she did.”
Flip-Flop said to The Reach, “You going to take us for a meal after? Because I’m up to hungry.”
“I will pass,” said Succubus. “I am absolutely sated.”
Cast
As usual, the writeups that are actually in the product are not here.
Next Flight
Their team. Young people that The Reach is training.
Qualities:
- Prepared for anything The Reach has heard of.
- Learning to work together.
The Incredible Reach
| PRW | CRD | STR | INT | AWR | WIL | DP | Stamina |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
1 | 9 |
|
Specialties Investigation (+1), Leadership (+1), Technology (+1) |
Powers
|
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Qualities
|
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Flip-Flop (Henny Barker)
| PRW | CRD | STR | INT | AWR | WIL | DP | Stamina |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 9 |
|
Specialties Military (+1) |
Powers
|
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Qualities
|
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Succubus (Tara Kleine)
| PRW | CRD | STR | INT | AWR | WIL | DP | Stamina |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 10 |
|
Specialties Art (Painting) (+1), Stealth (+1) |
Powers
|
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Qualities
|
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The Lair
| Security Sphere Robots | Silver sphere (size of soccer ball) w/one purple lens at front | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRW | CRD | STR | INT | AWR | WIL | Stamina |
| 4 | 4 | 1 | - | 2 | - | 2 |
| Powers: Flight 1, Blast 4 | ||||||
| Autoguns |
CRD 4 Blast 5 |
|||||
| Spy Cameras | Difficulty 2 (AWR+Invest.) | |||||
| Entry room | Autogun; cameras | |||||
| Vehicle Bay | War-Droid | |||||
| Hmn Security | ||||||
| Pen | Locked: Diff 6 (INT+Tech.) | |||||
| Lavatories | Unused | |||||
| Workshop | Shut down robots | |||||
| Generator | Power & disposal | Material 7, Diff 8 | ||||
| Robot Security | Locked: Diff 8 | 45 Spheres | ||||
| AI Room | Locked: Diff 6 | Uplink is diff 4 to beat | ||||
| Stores | ||||||
| Mess Hall | ||||||
| Control Room | Brainbox & Lone Sword; door is diff 4. Finding evidence in database is diff 4. | |||||
| Portal | Locked: Diff 2 | |||||
| Hench Dorm | ||||||
| Lab | Lily Gloom & Landslide | |||||
| Auditorium | Secret exit to lake under throne | |||||
[1] Stunt ESP off Telepathy, using a Maneuver: Willpower roll. 6+3>6, so ESP visual.
[2] Now we stunt, based on “At this a long time” and asking for Insight. This is a maneuver, based on Awareness, difficulty 5. 4+3>5.
[3] I could fiddle with stunting based on the “At this a long time” but I’m happy to get people to the problem faster, so hand-wave it.
[4] Her ESP is still stunted; we haven’t changed time systems or ended the session.
[5] Difficulty 2 to spot cameras, so 4+1 > 2 (Major success)
[6] He gets shot once (Major success) but it’s a bullet, and his rubbery nature. Deflects it.
[7] We’ll assume some kind of cryogenic weapon that nullifies stretching and heat powers: Nullify 5, intermixed with the regular rounds. Secondary effect: Stunning vs STR. One sixth of the rounds are cryogenic (roll a 6 on a d6)
[8] This bullet’s cryogenic, so it takes away his stretching and resistance; major success on stunning, so he’s stunned for 5 pages. That means the next shot is really likely to hit…but it misses because that’s a -5. And then Flip-Flop’s there.
[9] It’s not a question of if it hits; she’s blocking it intentionally. She’s Coordination 0 for this. The autogun gets 4-1, so a major success. Possible Stun damage, but that roll’s -1 as well: 5-1<5..
[10] INT roll to figure it out, you can call that a maneuver if you like. 5+1>5.
[11] Initiatives: Succubus 11 (5+6) Robots 9 (4+5) Flip-Flop 7 (4+1+2) Reach 5 (4+1)
[12] Or if she’d rolled better… 5-2<4. Robots roll +1, so miss her, hit Flip-Flop but her force field’s up, hit Mr. Reach, but even though he’s still stunned, he’s got 4 Damage Resistance back..
[13] Grab was 6+1>4, a Major success; the hit was also 6+1>4, and damage was 6 stamina for each of them.
[14] Well, that’s a good roll: 5+5>4, and just strength because the security robots have no WIL.
[15] And he recovers, if necessary, trading a lost panel for Advantage and activating “Not my first rodeo”; Succubus gets 1 Stamina back.
[16] Awareness rolls: Reach: 4+0, Succubus: 5+3, Flip-Flop: 4+0; Succubus gets 1 Stamina back after next page.
[17] Yes, I swapped the gym and the AI Room. I just figured the showers should be closer to the gym. Live with it.
[18] Intellect to open door. The Reach: 4+0, Succubus 5+2, Flip-Flop: 4-4.
[19] Intellect test: 4+1>4. Okay. She knows how to enter. This is not a thing done with DP: she’s changing the exit destination to a jail cell. Wrathmaster could fix it, but he’d have to undo the changes that Brainbox made, and Brainbox is as smart as he is. So Flip-Flop is just piggy-backing off Brainbox’s work.
[20] Call it intellect, with +2 from his power: 4+2+2>4
[21] Initiatives: Succubus 10 (5+5) Lone Shadow 8 (5+3) Brainbox 7 (4+3) Reach 6 (4+2)
[22] Stunting Burst with a maneuver (+2 to anyone firing on him, in hands or out), and he Grabs. 4+3>4, so he’s got them all in a Full Hold. Next turn he crushes them, with his Strength of 4 and they have Stamina 2 each.
[23] Lone Shadow throws a shuriken. Small target (-2) but she’s not really expecting it. 5+2-4=0+2
[24] Odd: Lone Shadow; Even: Brainbox. She reaches for Brainbox. She rolls 5-1>2, major hit. Energy drain is 5+3>2, or 6; she only gets 5 of that. Too bad he only has 5.
[25] Lone Shadow has a Prowess of 5 and he’s being defensive (+2). Reach gets 4-1<7, and misses his grab.
[26] And she gets a Determination point for that because that was the deal. Also, she has regenerated the nick on her finger.
[27] Initiative: Succubus 7 (5+2) Robots (4+2)
[28] It fires on her, of course. 4+4>5, major hit. No slam effects, but she takes 4 stamina
[29] She wants to retcon this as “belt came loose” which is okay, but the GM is calling for an Advantage. She chooses Tactics: she takes Trouble (easier to be hit) as she gets it free. Robot fires again: 4+2+0>5
[30] First, she recovers (DP for 5 Stamina) Yay! Then she throws: 5+2>4, so she hits it with the pliers for 4 Stamina, and it falls out of the sky.
[31] This is a retcon: Do it as a maneuver, and as long as he beats his own INT, he remembered: 4+1, so he did. That’s a done deal. If you care, he activated the “Training” quality.
[32] Initiatives: Succubus 10 (5+5), Reach 10 (4+6), Flip-Flop 10 (4+1+5), Lily 8 (3+5), Landslide 6 (2+4), Lone 6 (5+1)
[33] Stealth: 5+1+4> 2 (Landslide), >5 (Lily), and >4 (Lone Shadow).
[34] Succubus spends a DP and activates “trying to be a hero” for +2 on the grab, and +2 for being behind her and moving from surprise. Excellent, because that’s a bad roll: 5+2+2-3>3+2
[35] Mental blast: 6+4>4
[36] And Lone Shadow throws a shuriken (5+2>5 so no extra) and then moves to a new hiding spot. He sucks at stealth this time, though: 5+2-4<5
[37] 5-1>3; Energy drain is 5+5>5, so 5 Stamina.
[38] 3+2=5, so marginal damage: 1 stamina, and energy drain is 1+0<5.
[39] Whew. 6+1>4, 6 Stamina. He goes nighty-night.
[40] Call it a retcon of his own; every hero gets a determination point because he used an Advantage.
[41] She hits (5+3>3) and gets 5+1>2, or 4 stamina removed from Lily Gloom. One goes to healing herself.
[42] And missed: 4-4<5
[43] He’s good with a sword: Prowess 5+2>0, but no killing or stun effects.
[44] She hits: 5+1>3; Energy drain does 5+0=5, or nothing.,
[45] This is a retcon, activating “Not my first rodeo.”
[46] At least, that’s the excuse I’m going to give for 6-3<4.
[47] She had to stunt Fast Attack off her telekinesis, so she spent a DP & activated “Mind Over Matter.”
[48] She doesn’t need much of a Stealth roll to move into the darkness, and gets 5+1+4>4. Lone Sword cannot notice her.
[49] Well, actually it’s a mental blast: 6+0>5, and does 6 stamina.
[50] 5+1>5, energy drain gets 5+3>4, or 4 Stamina.
[51] Excellent shot: 5+2+3>5, but no effect on killing: 4+0<5
[52] 5+0=5, marginal.
[53] He hits, 5+2+2>5, but no killing effect (4-3<5)
[54] 5+2>5, drain is 5+2>4, for an effect of 3 Stamina.
[55] This is a Team Quality: “Prepared for anything The Reach ever heard of.”
[56] She stunts Mind Link, using a DP and activating “Psychic Secrets”
[57] Initiative: Succubus 9 The Reach 9 Flip-Flop 9 War-Droid 6
[58] She has a plan, but the GM pushes a Determination Point at her in return for it not working.
[59] And she’s immobilized for 6 pages….level duration.
[60] She can’t act, so she has an effective Prowess of 0. 4-2>0.
[61] Flip-Flop hits well (10>6) but his reflection splits the damage between them (8-2=6)
[62] Succubus has now been inactive for 1 page. 5 to go.
[63] He’s stunting immunity to the stunner, and paying for it with a maneuver: -2 to Prowess.
[64] Succubus inactive 2 pages. 4 to go.
[65] Retcon, activating Not his first rodeo.
[66] Corrosion power 5, stunted off Training The next generation, so it will reduce this section of the hull to 2 rather than 6, in two pages. Crd Maneuver gives him an Advantage. Prowess to pour it on the leg joint, at 3+1-2=2. Only a marginal hit, so both applications will have to go on the leg joint.
[67] I’m going to decide that the thing takes Strength 7 to lift (it’s functionally a tank), so she can’t turn it over.
[68] She’s going to do a Block telekinetically, but that has to wait for Wrathmaster to do something.
[69] She’s going to take that DP and recover from being Stunned. For drama, she’s going to take this entire page.
[70] Given The Reach’s position, the War-Droid doesn’t need to aim. Second of eight missiles fired.
[71] GM’s ruling: The acid eliminates the Damage Resistance in that one area, and will eventually reduce the Material Strength on that joint to 5 (I’m assuming that the whole thing has a material strength of 8: Steel)
[72] She hits the canopy (not tough:the thing’s 24 feet tall): 4-1>2 and does one Stamina to it.
[73] Lucky! Stunner hits, but gets 6-3<6 and fails.
[74] Not asking for any DP because they specifically said they were taking the stuff. However, claiming the torch takes the panel.
[75] She hits again: 4+1>2. She fails to slam the target, though.
[76] She hits with 3+2>2, a major success.
[77] Well, no: normally it would just be a miss. But she’s taking 2 (easier to hit across the board) as Trouble for an Advantage, disabling the mental Reflection for 1 opportunity, and activating “Psychic secrets.”
[78] The rocket hits: She’s taken -2, and he rolled well: 2+2+4>2 but her force field takes all the damage. Still, she gets blown up against the ceiling (slam result: 6+0>3). Her force field still protects her.
[79] Creating a quality, “Damaged and Immobile.” She creates the quality but doesn’t activate it (difficulty 4): 5-1=4.
[80] On a D6, 1-2 means she’s open, 3-6 means she’s still in the shadow of the blast. A 4. This makes 4 missiles, I think, out of 8.
[81] Because she rolled badly: 6-1<6
[82] She has created the Quality; how well. Difficulty 4: 5+0>4; one activation.
[83] Call it equivalent to a grab: +2 difficulty.
[84] First acid did 3 and eliminated the Damage Resistance. Then the torch did 2 (it would do 2 more on the next turn, but she didn’t realize the torch was there: there’s an ESP shield). So it’s Material 3 now, and she yanks with strength 6. Even if it doesn’t come off, this is clearly not a working leg any more.
[85] Does Succubus get out of the way? Let’s say the difficulty is 4 (original Coordination and +2 for the size). Coordination test 5+1>2+2
[86] It hits everyone in the auditorium, and does 6-1 on the effect roll, which fails to get either of them.
[87] Will test vs difficulty 3 (weight; she takes 1 stamina) to avoid moving: 6-1>4 She gets a Determination Point.
[88] Hitting isn’t a problem, but doing damage? 5+2>6, but only 1 Stamina
[89] Or his Ability Resistance rolled a 6, so it works fine.
[90] She spends that new Determination point on being able to pick him up and move. (She has plenty of distance in the move.)
[91] The burnout shield burned out…
[92] He activated his insane planning quality to have the knife, so she gets a Determination point. Her effective Prowess is 0, so he gets 2+3>0, a possible killing attack. She takes 4 Stamina, and maybe more. Nope: 4-2<5
[93] No attack needed (she’s still holding him). She activates “Must feed daily” for +2 on effect, so 5+2+4>6 so she takes 5.
[94] Okay, for a master planner, this is kind of freaky, so Willpower test, difficulty 4 to keep from losing his shit. 6-4<4 Uh. Hmm. I figured he’d win that one, with a 6 Willpower. He’s stunting Fast Attack; she gets another DP.
[95] She takes 8 Stamina, and other damage? 4-4<5 (nope) and 4+2>5 but not enough.
[96] Again, activating the same quality for +2 to effect. 5+2+2>6, so 4 effect and he’s out.
[97] He only has 2, so she only gets 2.
[98] Also new, and using Krevitz’s Gadgets ability.
[99] Yes, this is new. Wrathmaster jury-rigged it in case he had to fight Gloom Bats or carry Lily Gloom with her force field on…hence the Unreliable limit.
[100] 4+2>4, 4 Stamina…but Servants don’t have Stamina.
[101] Initiatives: Reach 10 (4+6), Flip-Flop 10 (4+1+5), Succubus 10 (5+5), Lily Landslide 6 (2+4), Lone 6 (5+1)
[102] Attack: 4+1>3, so moderate success.
[103] Going to give her +2 because of the infravision. His stealth is 5+2, her awareness becomes 5+2. 5+2+1>5+2, so she spots him. 6+3>3 His danger sense goes off.
[104] 5+2>4: Major success. Slam: 7+1>3, so Flip-Flop knocked against the far wall.
[105] 5+2+3>5: Massive success. 2+0<5 so no killing result.
[106] 5+2>5: Moderate success, 5+2>4 is 3 stamina, and yeah, I did it out of initiative order.
[107] Maneuver: CRD to stunt Fast Attack so he can do two things. Failure. Different different tactic.
[108] Life rule: When in doubt, make the opponent angry. He didn’t state he was doing this, but she does have a Quality that applies.
[109] Sorry, dear, but when you roll like that… 6-3<4k
[110] Two hits (4+1,4+3,4-1) but no Energy Drains.
[111] Hits (5-1>4-2), and 1 Stamina gets through her force field. Slam result is 7-2>3, so she hits the ceiling and another 1 gets through the force field.
[112] 5+2-2=5. Marginal hit, 2 stamina.
[113] She hits (5+2>5), and the energy drain does well (5+4>4) for 5 Stamina damage.
[114] Flip-Flop tries again, and barely gets Landslide’s brain: 6-2=4, for 3 damage.
[115] And does not hit: 5-4<4
[116] Now he’s trying to create a quality (Off-Balance) so a maneuver and activate “Not my first rodeo,” to create the Advantage (Prowess, to tap her on the shoulder from behind: 4+1>3), and activate her “Anger Management Issues” to make her mad enough to drop the force field. [He doesn’t know she has the Quality; he just wants to make her mad]. Difficulty 2 to make her mad; he gets 5+3>2, for three activations. GM slides him a DP in return for Trouble: The complication that she’ll go berserk. Her claws & energy drain are at 4 until she’s calmed but her force field is off.
[117] 3-1<4
[118] 4-1=3, marginal hit, 2 Stamina.
[119] Fortunately, Lily’s Prowess is 3: 5+1>3, but she really wants this to do something, so she activates “Trying to be a hero” for +2, so damage is 5+1+2>5, for 3 Stamina loss.
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