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This is from Victory RPG’s Sewer Kings.
House Rules
- Prone people are +2 to hit hand-to-hand, absent cover.
Cleaning The Sewers
The Reach was humming while he worked in the headquarters. He was humming because it had been a good dinner and evening, and he was working because the headquarters always needed something. Silkworm, the original owner, had jury-rigged everything; jury-rigs eventually fail. In about three years, he figured, he would have replaced everything with real fixes and it would be the HQ of Theseus. Today he was fixing the combat simulator. Last week the Trouncy Castle had knocked Flip-Flop into a wall and left a dent, misaligning one of the projectors. (At some point alien friends of Silkworm had given her hard light technologies and the combat simulator’s mechanisms were—pardon the expression—utterly opaque to anyone not familiar.)
The phone rang as he was setting out the parts. “The Reach.”
“Detective Girard here. You guys have dealt with the Sewer Kings is why I’m calling.” The woman sounded distracted.
“Go on.”
“There was a service problem in the sewers at pump station 4. A maintenance worker, Manny Freitas, went to fix the problem. He didn’t go in, because he saw that the pump station had been converted into a barracks of some sort. He heard voices and saw a large group of gang members talking to a woman dressed like a rat. Freitas got out of there as fast as he could. We hope you can investigate pump station 4 and arrest any trespassers. We have a feeling Sewer Kings are there and have paranormal support.”
“A woman dressed like a rat?”
“Which is why we think she’s part of the parahuman support. Don’t know her.”
“Me neither.”
There was a pause.
“Unless you don’t want to?”
“No, that’s fine.” He regarded the dent: serious but not critical. “I’ll call the others, but it’s the middle of the afternoon…”
“Gracias. And ASAP.” Girard gave him the address. “I’ll meet you there.”
He texted the group chat. Flip-Flop was willing to skip class to come. I’ll get notes from Stefan.
Instead of responding by text, Succubus phoned and spoke in the hushed tones of a woman hiding in the washroom. “I’m working.” The Reach waited without speaking.
Finally Succubus said, “All right. I can come back to this Etruscan mosaic later tonight.”[1]
“I thought art restoration takes as long as it takes.”
Her laugh was perfunctory and ironic. “No. Give me the address.”
The address was another alley, this time in the financial district. Girard was there with two uniformed officers and a man about fifty in maintenance clothes. Girard seemed distracted. “Baby problems?” asked The Reach. He couldn't remember the due date, but it was soon.
“Due in a week, but Eugenie’s blood pressure is low. She’s on the way to the hospital. I appreciate you doing this; I gotta go meet her there.”
“What do we do?” asked The Reach.
Girard looked at the maintenance man. “Manny?”
“You go west—that’s left when you get off the ladder—about fifty yards, and then there’s a kind of a switchback where the old system joins the newer. Then about twenty yards after that is the pump station.” He handed The Reach a piece of paper with a crude map. “The pump station is big, about fifty feet across. There’s a control room here. The main room has four pumps. You’ll be coming in this entrance, but there’s two more corridors in and out.”
“Got it,” said Flip-Flop above them.
“Glad you’re here,” said The Reach. “Succubus?”
She stepped out from behind a dumpster. “I’m here.”
The Reach asked Manny, “Anything else we should know?”
Manny shrugged. “It’s a sewer, and the real deal. Not a storm sewer. So it’s not pretty, you know? Also, any of you throw fire?” Everyone shook their heads. “Good. There’s methane pockets. The pump station has a venting system but it’s broken. That’s what I was supposed to fix.”
“Light?” asked Flip-Flop.
“We got lights every thirty feet. Over half of ’em work.”
“I see in the dark. I will go first,” said Succubus.
“Those shoes look awful nice, miss,” said Manny. “It can be kinda slick down there.”
She briefly smiled thanks. “I have good treads,” she reassured him, and stepped into the manhole.[2] The other two followed.
The sewer tunnel was damp and dim. The sewage itself was in a large concrete pipe bulging into one side of the walkway. The concrete path was wet and stained; trash had gotten down here but apparently no one wanted to touch it to pick it up.
“Give me a moment,” whispered Succubus. “The smell is…strong.”
“I know what you mean,” gasped Flip-Flop.
“Don’t you guys go camping? No worse than outhouses in a heat wave.” The Reach seemed remarkably comfortable.[3]
“You can…take us, sometime,” said Succubus, breathing shallowly.[4] “All right.”
There was a retching sound from near the roof. “It doesn’t smell better up here,[5] ” said Flip-Flop. “Hope I didn’t get any on you, Reach.”
“I’m okay. Let’s wait until you’re ready.”
They waited. Succubus observed that Flip-Flop looked sweaty and white. They stood there for another minute, while Flip-Flop struggled to gain her composure.[6] Finally she said, “Let’s go.”
Fifty yards in. Succubus reasoned that the Sewer Kings had not placed a guard, or Manny would not have got in and out. Unless he was a plant and this was all a trap.[7] Now I sound like Half-Moon. Half-Moon was famously paranoid; The Reach used him as a cautionary tale. Still, she was careful as she approached the switchback.
She saw a glint ahead. Some kind of trip wire — she looked to see what it was attached to. A stick supporting a bucket. Step through the wire, pull away the stick, spill the bucket’s contents. Crude but effective.
She looked up and saw a member of the Sewer Kings staring at her, obviously interrupted in the process of marking his territory.
She lunged for him and missed; he ran. She had one last chance—
She ’ported to a place in front of him (finding shadows wasn’t a problem) and grabbed him.[8] She lifted him to carry him back, with her hand over his mouth.
He wriggled but she held him firmly. She held her breath for a few seconds to make sure she could do it without harm to either of them; then she ’ported back with the member of the Sewer Kings.[9]
Once on the other side of the tripwire, she marched quickly back to the others. Flip-Flop gave her the thumbs up. The Reach extended a hand and did up the thug’s fly. “Sorry for the familiarity,” he whispered. “Now: Going to shout?”
Behind Succubus’ strong hand, the man tried to shake his head no.
“Excellent.” Succubus lifted her hand. “What’s your name?”
“Tomas,” said the young man instantly, and then cursed.
“That’s okay, Tomas. I’m The Reach, and this is Succubus, and that’s Flip-Flop. How many of you are there?”
“More than you can beat!”
“That many?” said The Reach. “We can beat a lot. Flip-Flop and Succubus are good for five each and I’m old so only four. More than fourteen?”
The young man’s eyes widened. “Uh…we have supers!”
“We heard. Are these two as good as the ones at the bank?”
“Better!” he insisted bravely.
“We beat the ones at the bank. Without breaking a sweat. But you say these two are unbeatable?”
“I guess… I mean, yes, they are!”
“Both strong, I guess.”
“Fusion is, he’s stronger than any of you. And She will beat you.”
“She? The one dressed like a rat?”
“Not a rat, a dog! She hates when people think it’s a rat. ” Then, more brightly he said, “But we all love her!”
“I’m sure you do. Now, we can’t risk that you’ll help, Tomas, because we are clearly out-matched. So Flip-Flop is going to knock you out. It will hurt, I’m sorry about that, but it won’t leave any scars or marks.”
Tomas fell over, unconscious. Flip-Flop said, “I thought we were trying to inflict less pain?”
“Circumstances call for it. And faster than having Succubus drain his Kirlian aura.”
“Pity; I am peckish,” Succubus said.
“Here? How? I don’t think I’ll eat for a week,” said Flip-Flip. She handed The Reach duct tape and zip ties from the bag, and he tied up Tomas.
“Two supers,” summarized The Reach. “One is strong and tough; the other is…Tomas said everyone loves her, but he said it in an odd way. Mind control, maybe? I dunno. The Fusion one will be a slog so maybe one could keep him busy—”
“Or her,” pointed out Flip-Flop.
“Or her, yes. Maybe a dozen gang members.” He frowned. “Mental powers are such a hassle. Flip-Flop, you’re the only one with range—keep She busy. Succubus, you delay Fusion and I’ll mop up the gang.”
“We have to put the gang-members down first, or one can run and tell the rest of the gang,” said Flip-Flop.
The Reach shrugged. “I don’t think we can prevent that, not with all the exits.” He grinned. “I hope they’re mind-controlled to fight; then no one leaves. Clear?”
The others nodded. “If she is a mind-controller, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s the real brains behind this,” said Succubus.
The Reach nodded. “Succubus, we still need that recon.” She nodded and slipped away.[10]
When she returned, “Eight gang members left. There’s a kind of office with a window, and I could see both a man and a woman in there.”
Flip-Flop stayed near the ceiling; the area was high, and it wasn’t difficult. She was pretty sure the gang-members couldn’t hurt her with her force field active —certainly they couldn’t reach her. The Reach had told her not to wait, to just use her pain power on the woman. So that’s what she tried: Flip-Flop spotted the woman through the window and mentally twisted. The woman sagged and placed one hand against her head. The man looked around[11] and finally spotted her and reached down to touch something, but she couldn’t see what..
At the same time[12] The Reach’s arm shot through the room to[13] punch four of the gang members who were playing cards. They were knocked out.[14] Succubus appeared on the far side of the room in the shadow of one of the pumps, near the other knot of gang members, and[15] grabbed one of the gang members. The youth stiffened. The other two had seen it before: Succubus was feeding off his life force.
“You’re going to do that? Really?” asked The Reach, loudly. “You know that takes longer.”
“It instills fear,” she replied. “And I was hungry; I skipped lunch. But very well.” She[16] elbowed the young man so that he flew against one of the pipes to fall, unconscious.
“Ew,” said Flip-Flop. She touched her forehead again and the woman passed out. “One super down.”
Shining like steel, the man burst out of the office through the wall. He jumped at Flip-Flop but failed to grab her.
“It’s inefficient,” The Reach replied. Suddenly he had oozed through all the pipes and was with her. “Go feed off him, I’ll take care of these.” He punched again and all three remaining gang members fell unconscious.
Succubus was gone in an instant, behind the steel figure — “Fusion,” he called himself. She reached out[17] and brushed her hand against him but she couldn’t get a sense of his mind in that organic steel.
Flip-Flop said, “Give me a moment.” She retreated to the far side of the pump room, where she could still see him.[18]
Fusion turned and saw Succubus. He swung[19] but she managed to duck under his arm.
“You both missed? Am I going to have to come over there?” asked The Reach as he stretched into the control room to check on the woman.
Succubus said, “Sorry if we’re not as efficient as you are.” She tried a simple punch but the steel man stepped out of the way. Uh-oh, she thought. This guy, Fusion, has actual experience fighting.
Flip-Flop found his mind was curiously bent.[20] She got a slight grip, twisted a bit, but not much.
Fusion grinned and swung again at Succubus. “You’re hot,” he said, “but you’re not gonna be soon.”[21] Succubus managed to get out of his way for this one, too. She thought, Not the stance of a boxer or karateka or a judoka. Nothing formal, street fighting. Still good, though.
The Reach checked the presumed mentalist woman—unconscious, good—and then the control displays. Nothing was flashing red.
Succubus tagged Fusion[22] and tasted a bit of his life force. “Better men than you have tried.”
Flip-Flop tried again,[23] felt like she had a more solid connection with his psyche. There. The man fell down.
Succubus said, “And they all failed.”
“You seem to like that ‘instilling fear’ thing. I worry about you sometimes,” said Flip-Flop.
“I heal very fast,” Succubus told her, “but I still feel pain. Healing just means I recover.” She looked down at the gang members. “It’s better not to be hit at all.”
The Reach was examining paperwork in the office.24 “Fortunately we were asked to go in by the police.” he commented. “I don’t like fighting without asking questions.”
“We talked to Tomas.”
“Tomas didn't tell us about these.” He held up papers. “Floor plans and blueprints for the West Side Treatment Facility, and a shift schedule for the facility.”
“Is that supposed to be here?” asked Flip-Flop.
“We are not near the West Side,” said Succubus, “so I think not.”
Flip-Flop got her phone out and photographed the plans and the schedules. “For insurance,” she said.
“Good idea. We've gotten four of the Sewer Kings parahuman help; I think that's nipped this in the bud,” said The Reach.
“Thank goodness you didn't do a Dad joke,” said Flip-Flop. “Like, ‘This flushes away their plans’ or ‘It seems their scheme has come a crapper.’”
“I like that second one. You should consider making more jokes,” said The Reach.
“Really?” asked Flip-Flop.
“No,” said Succubus.
- To previous chapter
- To previous chapter of Sewer Kings
- To next chapter (Flying Solo, Succubus)
- To next chapter of Sewer Kings
Flip-Flop (Henny Barker)
The Incredible Reach (Jason Crawford)
Succubus (Tara Kleine - Birthright)
Fusion (Max Albert) (Transformed)
Lovebite (Lucy Gantz) (Transformed)
Sewer Kings Gang Member
Game Mechanics
[1] She gets a DP because this is clearly Trying to be a hero.
[2] We start with an Average (3) Affliction vs STR but the smell is a quality that we can evoke at any point. Affliction vs Succubus: 3+2<5 (Marginal success, no Stamina loss, test again) Affliction vs Flip-Flop: 3-1<3 (Moderate failure; test again).
[3] Because the Affliction failed against him. The Reach: 3-2<4 (Major failure of the affliction, so he’s acclimated)
[4] Succubus: 3-1<5, Major failure so she’s acclimated. Flip-Flop: 3+0=3. No effect, but got to keep trying.
[5] Ew. On Flip-Flop’s next panel, it’s 3+5<3. She loses 3 Stamina.
[6] The affliction gets a marginal success, then a moderate, then finally rolls a -4. Flip-Flop has lost another 3 Stamina, though. Now she needs a recovery and she wants an Advantage: a maneuver: she calls on her military training and Willpower vs difficulty 3, and gets 7-3>3. She has the Advantage and activates “Mind over matter.” She recovers the Stamina back.
[7] Is it actually a set-up? Iconic Hero says 5,2: No, but… So no, but there is going to be someone in place to see them.
[8] 5+3>3, massive success
[9] She’s taking Trouble: Page loss as a maneuver to get the advantage for “Passengers” on her Teleport.
[10] Still not a great roll: 5+1-2>3 But it makes it.
[11] She’s difficulty 4 to see, and Fusion gets 3+1=4. So he notices but it takes him the full panel.
[12] The Reach uses “Not His First Rodeo” and spends a Determination Point to stunt Burst, and then he stretches to hit as many as possible.
[13] Prowess: he rolls a 4+1>3.
[14] Also, they suffer from the minion rule.
[15] Prowess: 5+0>3; effect is 5-1>2
[16] 5+4>3, so she scores a massive success. The stun roll is also 5+4>3, so he falls unconscious. (Which he would anyway because he’s a minion.)
[17] She gets +2 for surprise, which is good, because otherwise she’d miss. Her energy drain fails miserably: 5-4<4
[18] Alas, 6-3<4.
[19] And misses; 6-3<5. Only a moderate miss, but a miss.
[20] She gets a marginal hit with 6-2=4, so that’s 3 Stamina.
[21] But no one’s hitting anyone else. 6-4<5
[22] 5+2>6; Drain is 5+2>4, so another 3 Stamina
[23] 6-1>4, so moderate success. Another 6 Stamina…and he falls down.
[24] 5+3>5, so a major success on investigating the papers and such.
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