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This is the second adventure from Victory RPG’s Flying Solo, which was written by Fran Vaughan as an M&M Superlink module for Mutants & Masterminds 2nd edition.
When I converted characters, I used the same artwork as in the module, but I don’t see attribution on them. Anyway: no intent to infringe or take money; if it’s an issue, please contact me at jhmcmullen@gmail.com and I’ll remove the artwork.
The portrait of The Reach is by Ade Smith for the character Flux in the excellent campaign setting Stark City. It is used here entirely without permission, and again, if there’s an issue, contact me, and I’ll remove the artwork or provide better formal attribution, or something.
House Rule: Prone people are +2 to hit hand-to-hand, absent cover.
Damsel In Distress
The Reach liked riding the subway in his secret identity, Jason Crawford. Yeah, the subway was sometimes crowded, frequently disgusting, and prone to breakdowns.
But it was real, full of people who wore no costumes and didn’t try to take over the world or steal arcane relics. For instance, on today’s ride, there had been one kid who had never heard of earphones for his phone but had a complete discography of AC/DC, three university kids about Flip-Flop’s age celebrating the end of term, and one old man who really wanted to talk gargoyles and rain spouts to anyone near him. He’d seen one, the old man said. “Wasn’t a gargoyle yesterday, but was this morning.”
Jason was just standing near him, holding a strap and carrying groceries and thinking about Blake coming over. It was the first time Blake had been over, because hero stuff had interfered. Jason wanted to try a new rack of lamb recipe but Blake was gluten-free, and Jason was not used to finding gluten-free breadcrumbs. Is it red wine or white with lamb? Jason wondered.
The old man mentioned the name of the building, and it was near his house. The old man seemed so passionate about gargoyles, that Jason decided to walk past it on the way home. It was only a block out of the way. Lots of time to tidy and make dinner after that. Why not?
Well, he told himself, you could get involved in a multidimensional conflict, kidnapped to another dimension, forced to work with the counterpart of the man who killed your mentor, and miss your dinner date.
Like last time.
Still, that had only happened once, so he was probably safe.
Jason got off, waved to Old Tim, the newsstand operator, and made his way to the street. He was able to help a lady get her wheelchair through the doors (the handicapped door wasn’t working again), and then he set off at a brisk (human) pace.
He whistled as he walked past the closed store fronts and then he checked out the building the old man had been talking about. No gargoyle. There was a rush of relief: he would in fact make dinner, Blake would come over, and—
Huh.
There was a news crew and a small crowd at the construction site beside his apartment. They were filming something that they saw at the top. “That creature just threw the girl off the ground,” explained an onlooker.
Jason looked up.[1]
There was a figure at the top of the building, looking very gargoyle-like, and a girl dangled from a cable attached to one of the cranes.
Jason ducked into the alley beside Steinberg’s Chinese and changed. He was annoyed at himself for forgetting the bungee cable he could use to fasten everything to the fire escape, but instead he hid them neatly between two boxes of debris. He regretted not getting plastic bags for the groceries, but he tightened the bag around the lamb and bread crumbs very tightly.
As The Reach, he stretched to the top of the building and said, “Just hold on, miss!”
The gargoyle-thing turned its head and croaked, “No, she die.” It had such a terrible accent that he couldn’t figure out what emotion it meant, but it was clearly emotional in some way.
First, save the girl, thought The Reach. He stretched his arms past the gargoyle[2] and grabbed the woman’s ankles. The gargoyle moved aside to let him, which The Reach noticed. This is the point where my arms are vulnerable. The Reach pulled[3] her up and to the edge of the building. Fortunately her bedazzled glasses had a strap or something and she hadn’t dropped them. The gargoyle didn’t move. “You okay, miss?” The Reach asked. “Can you get your feet free by yourself? I might have an issue here.” Flip-Flop had explained that in computers, they no longer had problems, they had issues.
The woman nodded. The Reach took a giant step toward the gargoyle, keeping both of them in view. It didn’t try to stop me. Years in the business made him consider all the possibilities. Probably wasn’t a trap; not a set-up by someone who wanted video because there wasn’t a drone or camera in sight. Did she get knocked off by accident? Was the gargoyle just…here?
He didn’t want that to be true; he wanted a neater story. On the other hand, he hadn’t wanted to be transported to another dimension, yadda yadda. We don’t always get what we want.
The young woman waved at the street. There was a roar of approval from the onlookers.
But she was tied. Who did that? Her boots are there, stuck in tar, but there are no other footprints, not even the gargoyle’s.
“Did you push her?” The Reach demanded of the gargoyle.
“No. No push.” The gargoyle stepped farther away.
“Um. The Reach, sir?” said the young woman. She was nearly finished freeing her feet.
“Who did this to you?” he asked the young woman. The gargoyle turned to go, and The Reach stretched out a hand to grip its shoulder.[4]
“Uh….me?” said the young woman.
“Did he—it—help?” He didn’t know what pronouns the gargoyle preferred. Judging by the accent, the question would make no sense to it. The gargoyle shrugged off his hand. It was a casual shrug, but The Reach could feel the strength underneath.[5]
“I was tying myself and it showed up, and I stepped back but my boots stayed and I, uh, I fell.” She might be lying, and they might be in cahoots (a word he had loved since his sidekick days), or the whole thing might be an extremely detailed illusion (to what end?). Better than even odds she is telling the truth.
He said to the gargoyle, “I’m sorry. I misjudged you. You’re new here. Welcome to this city, possibly this planet.” He looked at the gargoyle. “Possibly this reality.”
The gargoyle looked at him. That sentence construction had just overwhelmed its knowledge of English. “I called Chimera.”
“I am The Reach.”
“Charmed,” offered the young woman.
“If I may?” he asked the woman. He laid his arm in a flat path so she could walk in her nylon stockings across the sticky tar. She giggled as she did so, plucking her boots as she went. “Are you from this reality or a visitor?” he asked the gargoyle — Chimera, he corrected himself. That’s a tough word for someone who can’t manage verb tenses. Maybe someone called him a chimera?
“Leaving,” said the gargoyle. “No stop you.” The gargoyle leapt powerfully and spread its wings, gliding to a building a block away. There was a sound from the street below; obviously the news crew wanted to follow him.
“Wow,” said the young woman.
“If you would, first, get off my arm, and second, why did you tie yourself up?”
“Oh! Sorry.” She examined her boots, set them down, and stepped into them, then did up the fastenings. They were hooks, rather than zippers. “I have a bad habit of not doing the top ones. I won’t do that again,” she promised.
“Again: Why did you tie yourself up?”
“To meet you, silly! Or anyone who’s a superhero, but you’re seen in this area a lot so I was hoping it would be you. I bet I could be friends with Flip-Flop.” She grinned. “I’m glad it was you and not Half-Moon. That guy’s a bit sketchy.”
“Keep to the subject, please. Why did you want to meet a superhero?” Also, why am I doing this instead of getting ready for Blake?
“To join, of course! I have a magic wand.” She brandished a stick with a star on it. When he looked at it properly, her clothes were like a costume. The funky glasses could be considered a mask.
“I see,” he said doubtfully. “I’m sure your stick…wand…is magic, but you couldn’t even untie yourself.”
“But you could teach me.”
“No. We’re not accepting new people.”
“Please?”
“No.” He bounced off the roof to the ground below, on the opposite side from the crowd.
“Pleeeeease?” she said, flying after him.
“Miss…”
“Charmed.”
He looked at her.
“That’s the code name I’m using. Charmed. Doesn’t it go well with your name? ‘Charmed and The Reach’? Has a ring.”
“No,” he said. “Miss…the two I’m teaching now, Flip-Flop and Succubus, are there because they have no choice. They can’t put their powers in a closet, and ignore them because there’s a prom. I couldn’t do that, when Blackout took me on. It’s not about costumes. It’s about controlling unwanted power. Your abilities can be controlled by putting them in a drawer.” He flowed through a sewer grating.[6]
“Oh, pooh!” he heard her say before he traveled away.
She is going to be trouble, he thought.
When he went back for the roast, it was gone. The gluten-free crumbs were there, though.
Even rats don’t want them. He glanced at his watch. Not enough time to get more.
He and Blake got take-out from Steinberg’s Chinese. Apparently they knew how to cook gluten-free.
- To previous chapter (Sewer Kings)
- To previous Flying Solo (Flip-Flop) chapter
- To next chapter (Sewer Kings)
- To next Flying Solo chapter
Charmed
Chimera
The Reach
Game Mechanics (Footnotes)
[1] He gets the Awareness test for free, because without it there is no session.
[2] Prowess is lower than Stretching: 3+3>5. He gets her.
[3] Strength test: 4+4>4 (a person is about weight 4)
[4] He manages (4+3>4) but is he strong enough? No. (4+3=7)
[5] Nobody is really trying at this point, so I’m not rolling.
[6] Stunt of alternate form (fluid) based off stretching.
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