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Uncanny Justice 9: SKULL & Double-crossbones aka Viper’s Nest
A solo play, featuring Abe Cadabra, Honeybee, and Demiangel. Once again, I am trying (with some trepidation) a famous beginning module; in this case, “Viper’s Nest,” from first and second edition
Champions, written by George MacDonald. I say trepidation because I have fond memories of playing this way back when, and I am afraid that the suck or sexism fairies will have gotten to it.
Still, we press on. Nothing on first glance strikes me as horrendously time-bound, so we’ll bring it into the present and use some substitute for Viper that fits this campaign. I realize that the characters aren’t beginners, but the difference in experience might mean they’re considered beginners. (In fact, I generated Champions version of the characters and they stayed within the 275 point limit, though I did have to bring forward variable pool for Abe.)
I’m substituting SKULL for VIPER, “Slab” for Brick, “Greyjay” for Bluejay, and “Fading Fox” for Cheshire Cat. Tanghal Tower stays the same, but Christopher Park becomes Sacrifice Glen Park, in partial tribute to Glenn Thain.
Also, we have some minor achievements built up, so I want to use one for each character, but I made the decision after two engagements, so it doesn’t take effect until the last part of the adventure:
-
Abe’s magic now has the extra “Instant,” and I’ll lower his determination by 1. I don’t think “Addicted to Applause” is correct but I haven’t come up with a correct one yet.
-
Demiangel spends a lot of time punching, so he should have Martial Arts as well.
-
Honeybee should up her ability to hit with the sonic blast: she now has the Specialty Power (scream).
Scene 1: Prelude[1]
“They’re tearing down the Tanghal Tower,” said Lauren.
Abe was leafing through cookbooks. Without looking up, he said, “To replace it with something taller that will ruin our view.”
“It’s an Art Deco Kaufman. They shouldn’t do that.”
“Maybe not, but you’re a bit late to stop them. The old-person news said they started last week.”
“What?”
“Whatever you saw on Redline or Instaface or Twit-Tok is out of date. They’re probably almost done by now. What’s this new interest in architecture?”
“You’re just jealous because you can’t use a computer.” Abe shrugged. His magical powers often broke computers. He had an uneasy alliance with the communicators but nothing else. “I’m going to look at it. Kaufman did brilliant things with landscaping.”
“You just started dating an architect, didn’t you?”
She didn’t dignify that with a response. He knew her too well.
Scene 2: At The Tower
[2]
One of the side effects of being able to see in the dark was that Lauren didn’t actually care when she went to look at things. The fact that it was after sunset—that it was, in fact, nearly eleven p.m.— didn’t matter particularly to her. Yes, it wouldn’t be in colour, but grayscale had its own beauty.
Also, no one was going to swat her as she flew over.
To avoid being noticed, she was shrunk; with luck, anyone who noticed her would think she was an early bat or owl. That meant she was in costume, because only her costume and her underwear were PowerOn; she didn’t want to fly around in her lingerie.
The Tower was on a corner lot. A big fence of plywood sheets surrounded it, and even from a distance, she could see the big crane beside the tower.
A quarter of the tower was gone, cut in a jagged plane across the diagonal. She could still see the arches that Chris had been going on about, though, and the interior walls looked to be made of…wood.
But how did it manage to be twenty storeys tall? Wasn’t there some kind of limit? Surely the interior skeleton couldn’t be made of wood. She angled in.
Ah. She could see steel I-beams stretching down, all the way to…
Huh. Four guys were standing around one corner, each holding something bigger than a fire extinguisher.
[3]
Another 6 were stationed in pairs around the three corners she could see, and one was in the shadows of the trailer, over by the porta-potties. And three of the guys she could see were carrying
big
weapons, like bazookas.
Presumably they were expecting the
other
superhero team in town, Brute Force. But Lauren knew that Brute Force was in some lost land right now. These guys wore trench coats, standard wear for skulking and trying to blend in. A gust of wind blew one fellow’s coat and she saw the uniform underneath. SKULL.
So somebody had picked up the SKULL franchise locally. But why start here with a building being destroyed?
She used the communicator. Bill picked up quickly. “What? I have to know now before my guild goes on a raid!”
“Sorry, no raid for you tonight. I’ve got a bunch of SKULL guys at the Tanghal Tower. They’re armed with heavy weapons, so they’re prepped for hijinks.”
“Well, crap,” Bill said, using a word other than “crap.”
“Find Abe, come here. I can get a few safely, I think.”
She dove in as stealthily as she could[4]
and hit the first with her “sting.”
The man said “Ow!”
One of his companions said, “What, Blake?”
Another said, “Did you hear that? Insect?”
“Superhero hit me,” said Blake. “Not one of Brute Force. That other group.”
“Oh. They’ll be easy, then.” Into his wrist, he said, “This is Charlie-two. We’ve got a bogey.”
Easy?
thought Lauren.
I’ll show you!
“Got her,” reported his radio. “Shrunk and flying.”[5] There was a flare of light and Lauren’s world exploded and then re-formed. She was falling.[6]
“Where is she?” she heard. She hit the ground.[7]
“Ooof,” she said over the communicator. “Maybe I need a
little help. I’ve seen at least ten of them. I got one.” She crawled up to a standing position.
[8]
“Bad day at the concussion assembly line?” Abe asked. “We’re almost there.”
[9]
A blast from a weapon came uncomfortably close. She flew and hid in a pile of rubble, squeezing between boulders of concrete.
[10]
Behind her, she could hear the agents reporting her location.
Then she heard a rough grating voice. “I’ll get her out.”
From the change in light, she could tell that the top boulder had been lifted. She heard the thump as it fell to ground. She pressed herself against the boulder just above her.
“No playing on the site, kids. Rusty nails and big stones mean somebody could get hurt,” said Abe.
Five of them shot at Abe; the glowing mystic shield made him a slightly better target than the man with the wings of fire. One hit him, but the mystic shield absorbed it.
“Cease, poltroons!” said Demiangel. He dropped Abe on the third floor of the tower and dropped down to the three agents around the corner. “You are gathered here, which indicates an interest.” They ducked from his wings.
Abe began a spell.[11]
Demiangel punched one of the agents at the cornerstone; the agent’s costume flared briefly, betraying a force field of some kind. The agent staggered back[12] and swung the torch up, but missed.
The light of his wings illuminated the figure at the pile of rubble; a man, nine feet tall, made of stone. He turned and strode toward Demiangel. “Very showy,” he said, and
[13]
swung. He almost hit Demiangel, with his fist passing through one wing.
“Hey!” shouted one of the SKULL agents. “Get the shrunken one.”
“In a second. Pretty boy won’t take long.”
Honeybee took advantage of the distraction to fly out the far side of the pile of rubble and
[14]
hit the one using the torch, who said, “She’s back!” without stopping.
The torch flared again, and three of the SKULL agents took aim at Abe, but now he was crouched behind a partial wall.
[15]
Abe gestured,
[16]
and the one who had been hit by Demiangel stiffened as though he were held in the grip of a giant hand, then fell over.
Demiangel saw that his fire spears weren’t going to be useful against his opponent. He kept on flying, but decided to attack from an unfamiliar direction: directly above. He moved over the stone man’s head and kicked.
[17]
He missed.
Unfamiliar direction for me, too. Oops.
His opponent fared better: his strike grazed one of Demiangel’s legs, but it didn’t hurt.
Honeybee thought,
Let’s finish these corner guys off. They look like they’re supposed to get…something…while the others provide support.
She[18] managed to get another, while the first one she had hit fell over.
“I don’t feel so good, Carmine,” said the one she had just hit.
“I’m almost through!” said the remaining one.
“Don’t fire,” one of the agents at the corner. “You might hit Carmine! Team Bravo, get into position!”
She saw another agent by the trailer drop to one knee and shoulder what looked like a bazooka. He was aiming up, though, and she saw his target once he fired.
[19]
The wall that was shielding Abe went away. Then two more heavy blasts headed his way. Both hit. When the smoke cleared, there was no eldritch shield there.
The blasts hadn’t hurt, but as soon as they started to fade, Abe dismissed his mystic shield. Under cover of darkness, Abe ran to a section of wall with a window and peeked out. He thought he might be better sniping at them and there were several windows; best if he weren’t glowing like a Christmas tree.
He mentally grabbed
[20]
the supervillain that Demiangel was fighting, and lifted him up and put him on the top of the crane’s arm. If the guy was as tough as he looked, he could just jump down, but this would buy Demiangel some time.
Demiangel saw the guy lift up and had a moment of thinking,
Holy shit, this guy can fly, too?
But the way he grabbed at the crane indicated that he couldn’t fly.
“I know you’d rather be on solid ground, so let me help.” Demiangel punched
[21]
him, and the supervillain flew off the crane.
[22]
His trajectory took him over to the construction trailer and he punched straight through the trailer, folding it in half above him.
Honeybee found one of the bazooka carriers who had fired at Abe.
[23]
“That guy is my friend. Hands off!” She swatted him with her venom blast. He looked at her and blinked for a minute. “Wait for it,” she said, and disappeared.
There was the sound of ripping metal, and half of the trailer slid to one side. “All right, pretty boy, that makes me mad!” called the stone man.
The air was filled with bright lights as various agents tried to hit Demiangel.
[24]
Only one managed to even graze him.
Abe
[25]
heard boots against the stairs, and moved quietly to the stairs as he willed his mystic shields back up. At this distance, no one from the ground was likely to see it.
The doors opened, and two agents, one with a bazooka of some kind, the other with a carbine, walked out.
“Hi,” said Abe.
[26]
He gestured and the one with the bazooka flew out the open side of the building and to the ground. The other tried to fire, but Abe was too close; he backed up to get a shot
[27]
and fell backwards down the stairs. His uniform flashed so he seemed to be unharmed. The other landed at the base of the building, still conscious (barely) but without his bazooka.
Demiangel dove straight for the villain, still buried to his waist in the earth. “No, I think you need to stay down.”
[28]
That punch probably knocked the villain out; he didn’t seem bright enough to fake being unconscious.
He heard someone near him say, “Team C, get the stuff and withdraw. Team A, cover! Team B, take your positions!”
Honeybee was looking for someone else, and saw someone slinking up to the cornerstone over the four unconscious agents. One of the agents had just jumped from the third floor, which showed more trust in a force field than she had. She decided to forego her venom and just fired at him.
[29]
He kept going, though, and put his shoulder against the top of the cornerstone and heaved.
The top slid to one side with a loud grating moan. Another agent, one she hadn’t noticed, reached in and grabbed a box.
A fireworks show of explosions went off near Demiangel, but none of them connected.
Another agent
[30]
jumped from the third floor but this one didn’t get up after he fell. The first one was staggering to his feet.
Demiangel looked at the cornerstone. There were two agents there. He flew over and
[31]
belted one; despite the flash of the force field, this one fell over.
Honeybee sighed and shot at the box in his hand.
[32]
She missed.
“I’m okay, by the way,” came Abe’s voice over the communicator.
Her gaze flickered up to the building; she could make out the glow of his mystic shields, but when she looked back, she couldn’t tell which of the three agents she could see had the box.
“Great. One of these has a box they took from the cornerstone.”
“Can you stop them?”
Before she could answer, there was the throaty roar of the bulldozer coming to life.
“What the hell?” asked Demiangel.
One of the agents was clearly on the bulldozer and heading for the wooden fence.
It only took Demiangel a moment to get there but by then a chunk of the fence was down.
[33]
Honeybee headed for the gate, which had swung open, but she didn’t know which agent had the box. They all had the same helmets and rough build, men and women alike. She picked one and hit
[34]
them, to no effect.
One agent flew up, screaming, to the top of the crane.
They got a few more, including the one on the bulldozer, but half of them were gone. Honeybee checked all of the captured ones, but the box wasn’t there.
“Damn it,” she said.
Abe finally walked up. “Problem?”
“They were after something in the cornerstone. A box. One of them got it.”
Scene 3:
At Precinct One
“Can we go now?” asked Abe.
Police detective Paxton shook his head. “We want to know what you were doing there.” Paxton was big and imposing, with a moustache that would have been a normal man’s beard.
“I told you,” said Abe.
“Say it again.”
Abe sighed. “Honeybee had gone to look at the Tanghal Tower. She spotted suspicious people on the site, recognized them as belonging to SKULL—”
“How?”
“The SKULL uniforms, I’d guess. She can see in the dark.”
“And?”
“She asked for help. We came as quickly as possible.”
“By ‘we,’ you mean?”
“Demiangel and myself. All of this sort of information is easily accessible. We usually work with Ms. Hermosa in the emergency office of the city.”
“You’ve said that. I’d like to hear this from you.”
Abe shrugged. “Sure. But we have an appointment later in the morning.”
“You might have to cancel. You arrived—” There was a knock at the door. Paxton’s partner got up to check, then said, “Someone to see the prisoner.”
Melanie Nelson came in. “UNLES has arranged counsel for this man.”
“I don’t see anyone,” said Paxton.
Nelson smiled. “Me. I have passed the bar in this state.” She pushed a paper in front of Abe. “This says I can be your lawyer. The other two have already signed.”
“Got a pen?”
She handed him a pen. “Once you sign that, you don’t speak any more. I’ll do the talking.”
Abe signed and pushed it back. She put the paper in a file folder. “I’ll deliver copies later.”
Abe smiled at everyone, leaned back, and laced his hands over his lap.
“What charges are you holding my client on?”
“We haven’t charged him yet, but he’s a person of interest. Being present at the scene of a crime,” said Paxton’s partner. Abe had never heard his name.
“And do you have his statement?” Paxton didn’t answer. “Do you?”
“…yes,” Paxton admitted.
“In light of his long service with the city and that you know very well where to find him, I suggest you let him go and contact him during normal business hours if you have any further questions.”
Paxton’s jaw worked silently. Eventually he turned to Abe and said, “You’re free to go. Don’t leave the city until we say so.”
“Or when asked by the city to do so,” Nelson said sweetly.
Outside, Nelson said, “I’ll drive you home.”
“I didn’t know you were a lawyer.”
“Got the law degree before I joined UNLES. My hobbies are bar exams and period costuming. Keeps me sharp.” She led Abe to a Tesla. “Also, UNLES pays for the law part of it.” It took three tries to start.
“Sorry,” said Abe. “Sometimes that kind of thing happens around me. Where are the others?”
“Went home. I got them out first. They can fly home, but you need a lift.”
“I feel so special.”
Scene 4: First Briefing
Olivia was waiting for the elevator when they walked in. “Hi! Long night of superhero stuff?”
“Sure.” To Nelson, Abe said, “How confidential is this?”
“What?”
“Give me some credit. You didn’t just drop me off, so you’re going to tell us something. Olivia works for us, but she just started. Do I have to make sure she’s elsewhere?”
“I hope not,” said Olivia. Abe looked at her. “Sorry.”
“Confidential but not secret,” said Nelson.
“Might as well start trusting you now,” Abe grumbled. “Commander Melanie Nelson, UNLES, this is Olivia Franklin. Olivia, Nelson.”
The doors opened, and Lauren and Bill were standing there with mugs. Lauren said, “You haven’t had your coffee yet.” She gave Abe a mug.
Bill gave one to Nelson. “I remember what you took back in Plainsview. Coffee or tea, Olivia?”
“Tea, please.”
They sat in the meeting room. Lauren put out some of the breakfast bites.
Nelson said, “That cornerstone was laid in 1939. There was a fad for time capsules, so the cornerstone was created for a time capsule and at the last minute the city cancelled. So there was a space for an item but no item. Nobody looked.”
“Okay,” said Bill. “That’s part of why something was hidden there.”
“The night before the cornerstone was sealed in, there was a military raid elsewhere in town. They raided a Nazi group that had just hit a university lab. Declassified materials show that the lab was doing biowarfare research for the U. S. military.”
“Oh, that never ends well,” said Lauren.
“The Nazis took a bacterial agent and the research notes; the raid was to get them back, and it failed. The notes were destroyed in a fire as a result of the raid. They presumed that the sample was also destroyed.”
“Except they weren’t?” asked Abe.
“We think the original notes were destroyed, but the Nazis had made photographs; there was equipment to make microfilm at the Nazi site. Several of the Nazis got out of the raid and were caught hours later.”
“One of them hid the material in the cornerstone?”
Nelson nodded. “We think. Microfilm and sample. In a way, SKULL did us a favour: if the wrecking ball had hit the sample, we’d have a biological emergency on our hands.”
“Some favour.”
“Who was the stone guy?” Bill asked.
“He goes by the name ‘Slab.’ He’s been at a number of SKULL incidents, so we think the larger organization has him on the payroll. They loan supervillains to the franchises.”
“Why UNLES and not STAR?” asked Abe.
“UNLES has no specific interest in this case and maintains no base in this state,” Nelson said by rote. “You are an old friend from my hometown so I intervened out of the goodness of my heart. Also, STAR hates us and the feeling is mutual so it’s kinda nice to be annoying to them.”
“That doesn’t answer my question. If you want our help, you need to tell us.”
“I’ll tell you later; not for Ms. Franklin’s ears.”
Abe looked at Nelson grumpily.
“Have more coffee,” suggested Lauren.
“I’ll go get some,” said Olivia. “That’ll help you.”
“Thanks,” said Nelson. “That’d be lovely.” She waited until Olivia had gone, then leaned forward and whispered, “We think the local STAR has been compromised by neo-Nazis. And I’m whispering in case she’s listening at the door.” Nelson leaned back.
“And Paxton?” asked Abe.
“I hope he’s just a jackass,” Nelson said.
“So what do you want us to do?” asked Bill.
“Find the SKULL HQ. They call it an ossuary. The layout will be fairly standard; SKULL provides automated robots that use alien tech to build the things. You plug in locations for entrances and the depth of the waterline, and let it go.”
“You should capture one of those robots,” said Bill.
She looked at him for a moment. Then she said drily, “We totally should, if we could. It would help us in countries where the official agency is hostile.”
Abe closed his eyes for a moment of feigned pain. Olivia chose that moment to re-enter. “Knock-knock!” she said. “Okay now? Coffee and tea.”
Abe held up his mug.
“How do you know this stuff?” asked Bill.
“Which brings us to my second request,” said Nelson.
Scene 5: Sacrifice Glen Park
Sacrifice Glen Park was in the center of town, not far from the financial district. On one side, visitors crossed the river (well, overgrown creek); the far side was marked by a railroad track, access road, and concrete equipment shed. Most of the park was inside a jogging loop, but by the equipment shed was a playground with swings and a climbing structure.
The sunny temperature encouraged shorts and T-shirts. A group of young women were roller-blading around the loop, laughing and lapping the man doggedly running the path. Some were in jeans, some in shorts and protective pads. Inside the loop, the same number of young men were throwing a football around. Businessmen and businesswomen were sitting at picnic tables, having lunch in the spring sunshine.
Nelson was wearing a power suit and sipping an energy drink at the picnic table nearest the equipment shed.
Abe was practicing juggling by the play area, and dropping items and deliberately being bad so no one would stay and watch him.
Demiangel was in a parked car in the parking lot, an electronic book on his lap and fast food containers beside him.
Honeybee was shrunk and in a tree, hidden by new foliage. She was high, so she wouldn’t get the attention of the young boy who was trying to climb the tree.
Should have picked another tree
, she thought, but this one had the best view of the park entrances.
[35]
One of the young women, in jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and pads, unfastened her rollerblades and threw them into a duffel bag. She walked over to Nelson and sat on the picnic table.
“Contact,” said Honeybee.
In the car, Demiangel said, “When do we think SKULL will show up?”
“They’re here,” said Honeybee. “Four men in trenchcoats by the barbecue pits over there. Plus probably some others that are better disguised.”
A city parks van pulled up to the equipment shed, and Nelson grabbed the young woman’s wrist, pulled her into position, and shielded her with her body.
[36]
The van’s engine
[37]
died. Three trench-coated men carrying blaster pistols jumped out the side. The driver was swearing and trying to start the vehicle.
Honeybee darted forward and under the van; she blasted one tire and disintegrated the rubber from half of it. “Their getaway is disabled,” she reported.
Demiangel didn’t notice the running figure disappear from the jogging loop but he did notice the figure suddenly appear behind Nelson and the young woman. “Look out!” he said and he managed to get between the man and the woman;
[38]
the kick
hurt
.
The young woman reached into her duffel bag and pulled out a blaster pistol.
[39]
She squeezed off a quick shot at the man but hit Demiangel’s back instead.
Really?
he thought.
Nelson suddenly had a tonfa in her grip, and she dragged the young woman — Allison, Nelson had said, but Demiangel didn’t know if that were a first or last name — to the bushes across the access road. She
[40]
clubbed one of the trench coated men in their way.
Various normal people were surprised by the sudden events. Surprise and shock spread out like ripples.
Honeybee
[41]
hit one from under the van; he lifted his foot in pain.
Abe summoned his mystic shield and then moved the fire of Demiangel’s wings so it covered one of the trench coated agents. He noticed that Demiangel did not fall.
Is the fire a side effect?
The man kicked
[42]
Demiangel once more. “You’re costing me time!” he grunted.[43]
The young woman, Allison, squeezed off a shot at one of the men by the barbecue pit, who had his hand in his coat.[44]
The shot grazed him and blasted away his coat, revealing a SKULL uniform beneath; his force field flared as it absorbed the shot.
Nelson dragged her farther. They had to get across the park to where Demiangel had left the car running.
Various men suddenly had guns and they opened fire.
[45]
One dropped to his knee and fired under the van, but he came nowhere near Honeybee. Several fired at Abe, but only one managed to graze him. One hit Nelson but she kept running, and two hit Allison but the flare of the force field showed she was wearing her uniform under her long-sleeved shirt.
They both stumbled but kept running.
Honeybee zipped out to keep pace with them. Abe cast a spell[46]. Demiangel[47] indulged a temptation and lashed out at the man, hitting him solidly—“And you’re costing me patience!”—before taking off to flank Nelson and Allison.
“The parking lot!” said Nelson. “Dodge, dammit!”
“Like I didn’t know that!” said Allison.[48]
Two of the football men were bodytexting their way, and tried to tackle them.[49]
The two women managed to avoid them and saw two blocking the bridge.
Honeybee saw it too. She grabbed one of the agents and tossed him over the bridge into the creek. A duck quacked angrily as he splashed down. Demiangel[50]
grabbed the other and tossed him a hundred feet.
Others fired at the two but missed.[51]
The women got onto the bridge when the jogger suddenly appeared at the other side. He was holding a club. “You can’t leave yet,” the jogger said. “We’ve barely talked.”
“Oh, I don’t think we need to talk to you,” Abe said over the communicator. The man suddenly disappeared again. “Move fast, before he teleports again!”
[52]
They got into the parking lot[53]
and the car was there with the driver’s door open. “In!”
The women took off, with Honeybee inside the car.
Demiangel appeared back at the van; agents were trying to drive it despite the damaged wheel. Demiangel punched the engine of the van; the engine fell out of the van onto the ground.
“You can wait, guys. I know the lawyers will get you out, but they should earn their retainers.”
Scene 6: A Sudden Failure
Lauren came into the lounge. Abe was sitting there, an open book on his lap. It was on the same page it had been on the last time she had checked on Abe. Next to him was the green bakelite phone she had found for him at a thrift shop.
“Hey. You should go to bed.”
“Can’t sleep. Police are raiding the SKULL headquarters. I wish I were there, but Paxton’s in charge and I am not tall enough to ride that ride.”
“Paxton? Isn’t he…?”
Abe shrugged. “No one’s proved anything.”
Abe’s phone rang. He picked it up and listened for a minute, then hung up. “Gotta go; police will be here any minute.”
“What? Why?”
“They went in the entrance that we told them about, in the Byrnes Hotel. Empty.”
She left and came back as Honeybee, but not fully shrunk: two hands high. “They didn’t find the base?”
“They found an abandoned subway station. So I am wanted for mischief and anything they can hold me on.”
“Why not me or Bill?”
“I’m the one who told them. I’m the nominal leader of this group.” Abe said into the communicator, “Bill, where are you?”
“Party. Had a beer but nothing else. Why?”
There was a giggle. “Is that Olivia? No; don’t want to know. I’m going to be gone for a day or two; you can get messages to me through Melanie Nelson, okay?”
“Where are you going?”
“SKULL base. Find some answers.”
“I’m coming with you,” Lauren said.
There was a pounding at the door. “Police!”
Abe slid open the window. “Gotta jump. See you.”
“Okay,” Lauren said, “I’m taking you.”
Scene 7: SKULL and Crossbones
Abe looked down at the empty alley. “This is the other entrance. It should be swarming with police, even if they can’t find the first one.”
“You told them about it, though?”
“Yeah. Through Nelson…” He paused. “Well, crap. If she’s the traitor— No; why even bother to give us the address?”
“April mentioned it in the car, in front of me.”
“She knew you were there?”
“Of course. No reason to hide.”
“And she’s the one who told us that SAT might be corrupt. Hell. Damn. Hell.” He was quiet for a moment. “I don’t want to believe that she’s the traitor.”
“Too many steps that we don’t know about; someone else could have introduced misinformation,” agreed Honeybee. “Maybe Paxton really is dirty and didn’t tell them about the second exit, so everyone could hide in the garage.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” He looked some more. “I can’t even see where the bricks are fake, so it’s a good job.”
“April didn’t say how to open it. Let me go take a look.”
[54]
The thing about being as long as a finger means that it takes a while to examine a stone wall, but eventually she spotted the seam. Now all she had to do was figure out how to open it. Maybe it was electronic, like the equivalent of a garage door opener in your car, but what if someone on foot needed to get in?
[55]
Eventually she showed up on the roof again. “I think I have the way in. —Oh. Hi, Bill.”
Demiangel was standing there. “One for all, all for one.”
“How did you know where we were?”
“I told him, seeing as how I also gave him the wrong instructions on meeting us. I broke radio silence for it.”
She shook her head and made a tsk noise. Demiangel carried Abe down to the alley.
Abe said, “I appreciate it. Are you guys sure?” They both nodded. “Then let me do something this time.”
[56]
Abe invited her to land on his hand, touched Demiangel, and then cast a spell. They walked through the wall and intangible beings. A moment later they were in the garage and solid again.
[57]
Abe gestured
[58]
and the guards and technicians turned into frogs. “Sorry; didn’t have a lot of time to think.”
Demiangel was catching frogs. “You say this only lasts an hour?”
“Unless they do frog-like things.” There were pits there for vehicle maintenance, and all of them had ladders rather than ramps. Demiangel picked one and dumped the frogs in.
“So I guess we have a time limit.”
“Guess we do. Ah. There’s the shuttle. Has to be a way to activate it…”
“This button,” said Demiangel. “No keypad so it doesn’t require a password.”
“Well, there’s not really any place to go,” pointed out Abe.
“Won’t they notice the monorail?” asked Honeybee.
“Yeah, but not all of us fly just under the speed of sound.”
“Let me go ahead, then. I can try and clear the other end.”
“No,” said Abe. “All for one and one for all. We might have to split up later but not yet.” He stabbed the button, and the monorail started moving. Abe took a moment to establish the mental link.
“We are trapped in here,” pointed out Demiangel.
Abe agreed. “Honeybee might be okay, but the two of us are going to have to come out fighting.”
“Maybe not. Let’s get up front and lie out of sight. When I tell you, cast the ghost thing again.”
[59]
“The ghost thing? Please…the spell has a name. It’s Merlin’s Coterminous Field,” grumbled Abe.
When the SKULL agents rushed the arriving monorail, it was empty. Meanwhile Uncanny Justice was plodding through the elevator shaft and then through the floor of the hall, to the stairwell. Honeybee occasionally surfaced and gave them directions.
Once they surfaced in the stairwell and became solid,
[60]
Abe had to pause and catch his breath; Merlin’s Coterminous Field did not grant the ability to breathe while intangible. He sat at the bottom of the circular stair and panted for air.
“Man, you gotta hit the gym more,”
said Demiangel.
“I’d swear at you, but I’m too out of breath. I’m sure they’re on alert status.”
“We’re here, we’ve established that they exist,”
said Honeybee.
“What now?”
“Prove to the cops that they exist,”
said Abe.
“Ideally, the leader.”
“Nelson told us there was a standard floorplan. Did she mention what the floorplan was?”
“She did not,”
said Abe.
“We’re here now,”
said Honeybee.
“Shame you punk out so fast holding your breath, Abe. Be nice to explore as ghosts.”
“‘Punk out’? Any chance we had at love is gone. Honeybee, up and down the stairwell, please. Let’s make sure we’re not going to have company.”
She was gone.
Demiangel said, “
I was going to suggest that. Have you got a clairvoyance spell or something?”[61]
“Not easily; I need a reflecting surface like a crystal ball or a pool.”
Honeybee was back.
“Cameras. We’re going to get company if they saw me.”
Abe said,
”I hate to say this because you’re the most effective fighter of any of us, but Honeybee, you should wait by the monorail entrance in case they try to move the leader.”
There was an air of grumbling from Honeybee but then,
“Ask if you need me.”
“As if I wouldn’t. Touch my hand.”[62]
He said some words.
“Now you can see what I see.”
They cracked the stairwell door open and she was gone. Visible once they opened the door, though, were four guards standing there with drawn pistols. Above them, they heard footsteps on the circular staircase.
“I’ll do the corridor, you do the stairs,”
Demiangel said.
They stood back to back.
Demiangel didn’t move into the corridor; the doorway made a choke point and he wanted that.
Abe watched the stairs and waited until he could see the feet of one coming close. He said the same word he had said in the garage
[63]
, and that one was a frog.
In the meantime, Demiangel threw open the door,
[64]
grabbed one, and pulled him in.
“I’ll….never…talk,” the man said. The glow of the force field around him showed just how tightly Demiangel was holding him.
“Don’t care,” Demiangel said. He squeezed tightly
[65]
and the man fell unconscious.
[66]
“Come on down,” Abe called. “The water’s fine.” The agents up the stairs did not seem eager to come down.
Demiangel opened the door again and discovered that the three remaining agents had backed up.
Abe said, “
Honeybee, stay hidden. Don’t help yet.”
“You’ve got two more, so there are five outside. Oooh—the big stone guy, Slab, he’s coming. Guess he got released.”
“Swap!” Abe said. He threw open the door into the hallway
[67]
and said the word of transformation. There were suddenly eight frogs in the hall, but the big supervillain was out of range. Demiangel pushed Abe out into the hall and used
[68]
his fire spear to spot-weld the stairwell door shut.
“Still nothing here in the boring hallway. Slab is coming nearer. Can I hit him? Please?”
“
No! If we press them, the Nest leader will escape by the monorail. You’ll catch him.”
[69]
“
If
you manage to press them.”
Aloud, Abe said, “Oh no. Just the big freakish stone guy. He’s no threat.”
Slab smacked his hands togethr. “Oh? You don’t think I’m a threat? I’ll show you.”
“Come on, you can’t hurt me, let alone someone tough like Demiangel.” Abe hoped that was true, that his mystic shields were up to the punishment the villain could put out. But the important thing was to get the man angry.
[70]
Behind Slab, more agents had aimed carbines at them.
“Abe, what are you doing?”
said Demiangel.
“The problem with turning these guys into frogs is that frog minds can’t tell you anything. So he’s got to tell us what we need to know. If he gets mad…”
“I’ll clean up the splatter after he hits you,”
Demiangel said.
Abe stepped forward. “Or do you want to go home to your mommy? Assuming she still loves you. If anyone can love you…I assume ‘bricklayer’ is just a dream to you, you big ugly—”
That did it. With a roar, he rushed at Abe to crush him. Abe stood still and let himself be grabbed up by the huge stone man, moving his arms up so he could touch the villain’s head.
[71]
The mystic shields kept
most
of the damage from him.
Abe said a magic word
[72]
and touched Slab on the head.
[73]
“Nest leader is behind that steel vault door and another vault door, and has a secret exit to the monorail,”
he told his teammates.
“Female supervillain, Greyjay, too.”
Demiangel flew over and tapped Slab on the shoulder.
“What?” asked the villain, who was a bit concerned that Abe hadn’t immediately screamed and folded unconscious.
“This.” Demiangel punched him.
[74]
“Uh…Freaky McFreak-Freak.”
[75]
Slab dropped Abe
[76]
and swung wildly at Demiangel.
[77]
Abe scooted back and looked at the crowd of agents crouched at the end of the corridor. “Boo,” he said, and then the word of transformation again.
[78]
One of them said, “Ribbit.” Another frog actually hopped toward them.
Demiangel made sure he was facing toward the monorail
[79]
and punched Slab hard. Slab staggered
[80]
and swung wildly, but missed, shattering the wall behind Demiangel. They could all hear things fall off shelves in the room behind the wall.
Abe ran to the security room door, angling away so he wasn’t in line of sight for Demiangel. “Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in.”
The access panel beside the door lit up. “Negative.” The voice was filtered and modified so they wouldn’t be recognized.
Outside, Demiangel hit Slab again.
[81]
The stone figure flew back and slammed against the wall of the security room. That wasn’t enough to damage the doors, but Slab slumped down, unconscious.
[82]
The doors must be built like a bank vault…
“You’re
supposed
to say ‘Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin.’ Nobody knows the classics any more.” Abe killed all his spells but his mystic shield and the mind link, then looked at the visible camera lens.
[83]
This was going to be painful because he had to use the electronics—
Done. No way of knowing if it worked until they got in.
Demiangel punched the door.
[84]
It had no effect.
“Guys, if there’s a secret entrance in this hall, there’s no way it’s as armored as the doors,”
said Honeybee.
“Just check this wall. Also, had to be Paxton, not Nelson. I’ll explain later.”
Demiangel picked up the stone guy by the ankle and swung him against the wall. The concrete stone of the wall cratered, revealing a metal plate underneath.
Abe looked at him. “The guy deserves some respect.”
“I want to make sure he’s unconscious,” said Demiangel. He dropped Slab. “Fine.”
Demiangel moved down the hall, punching the wall every few steps. Eventually, a hidden door fell in. That was when the sound hit him.
[85]
“She can do it at range? Aw man,”
said Honeybee, who took note of the frequencies.
“Don’t look at the screens, please. I’ve put a hypnotic pattern on them,” said Abe.
“Now you tell us?” asked Demiangel. “The place is lousy with screens.” He manifested a fire spear and threw it at the screeching woman, who was flying in some kind of a bird costume.
[86]
The fire system started spraying foam. Even as foam dripped down the screens and their bodies, the agents didn’t move: only the flying woman and the Nest leader were unaffected, and the Nest leader had covered his eyes.
[87]
“Sonic stuff is my jam; Abe, I’m tagging you out. You can lurk in the hallway.”
She was inside in a moment, and shrieked at the woman
[88]
—
“Greyjay. Slab has a crush on her,”
Abe said helpfully.
—but it had little effect. Maybe the suit protected her.
The SKULL leader threw a grenade into the hallway, and it exploded into gas.
[89]
Abe was coughing but it didn’t seem to bother Demiangel.
Honeybee said, “‘Scuse me, Greyjay— he’s the real target.” She
[90]
stung the SKULL leader from the front, so she didn’t have her back to Greyjay.
Abe took a moment to fashion a breathing mask from his shirt.
[91]
Greyjay stayed back from the smoke out in the hall, and screeched at Honeybee; she
[92]
missed, and cracked one of the screens, which went dark.
The agents did not move.
Demiangel tossed a spear at the SKULL leader
[93]
and missed; the flames hit a foam-covered lump of an agent, who started to move.
The SKULL leader reached into a mound of foam and got the agent’s pistol, squeezed a messy shot at Demiangel.
[94]
The shot didn’t go true and a series of shots peeled wall covering, revealing metal.
Meanwhile, Honeybee and Greyjay were wheeling through the upper level of the computer room, trying to gain advantage. Even though Greyjay was larger and had less room, she was still surprisingly agile.
[95]
Honeybee managed to hit her, and Greyjay slammed into one of the working screens, which made it not work any more…and Greyjay fell to the floor.
[96]
The newly-awakened agent pulled his pistol and aimed at Demiangel. “Don’t move!”
“Move!” said the SKULL leader. “You’re bodytexting the door.”
Demiangel shrugged. “You have few more grenades there. You want to toss them, or just give up?”
The SKULL leader’s hand went to his side and grabbed a grenade. “I’ll throw this, I swear it.”
Before he could do anything, one of his other grenades exploded. That set off the others. Demiangel watched the whole room fill with blaster energy and then subside.
In the hall, Honeybee grew to full size and dropped a grenade pin at Abe’s feet.
[97]
“That many grenades,” she said, “they might go off.”
Scene 8: Epilogue
“Wait,” said Nelson. “Why would I even bring you in on the Allison thing if I were going to betray you?”
“Honeybee realized that later, but we were already in the middle of the fight by then.”
Olivia had stopped pretending to transcribe phone messages and was watching them.
“And?” Nelson said.
“Sorry.”
“Thank you. You should probably get a local lawyer, though. You’ll get called in on the SKULL case and on Paxton’s case.”
“Oh, my dad’s a lawyer!” said Olivia.
Bill look at her. “And he let us drink at your house?”
“We’re old enough, silly.”
Bill slowly shook his head no. “Not for two months.”
“Ooop,” said Olivia.
“I didn’t hear any of that,” said Nelson. “Your dad is Craig Franklin?” Olivia nodded. “Get her dad.”
“Done,” said Abe. “Bill, take her home and ask him. So who’s going to be on the street next week?”
“Slab, Greyjay, Fading Fox…the SKULL higher-ups have too much invested in them. Probably the troops will get off. There’s not much holding them. The SKULL leader, though. Get this…it’s Paxton’s brother. Also a Paxton.”
“But we didn’t really address the suspected problem with STAR.”
“Someone will,” said Nelson.
“This has been great,” said Lauren. “But I have a date back home.”
“Architecture?”
“Gothic,” she said. Abe looked at her. “Cosplay. We’re going to a party.”
“Oooh,” said Nelson. “I want photos. I’ve been looking at Visigoth outfits.”
Abe shook his head and waved them off.
Finally. Peace and quiet,
he thought.
A small man appeared suddenly and said, “Abraham. Shaylah, your ex-wife…she has need of you. Come with me!”
Or not.
Cast
Supervillain: Slab (Brick)
| PRW |
CRD |
STR |
INT |
AWR |
WIL |
STA |
|---|
| 7 |
4 |
7 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
11 |
| Specialties |
Powers- Good (5) Damage Resistance
- Weak (1) Life Support (breathe underwater)
|
Qualities- Big & Heavy
- Sensitive about freakishness
- Clumsy
|
VIPER Agents
VIPER Assault Agents. What’s not to hate?
| PRW |
CRD |
STR |
INT |
AWR |
WIL |
STA |
|---|
| 3 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
7 |
| Specialties Guns (+1) |
Powers
- Poor (2) Force Field uniform
- Poor (2) Dazzle Resistance
- Fair (4) Dazzle Extra: Burst Limit: Preparation
- Good (5) Gadgets (Viper Weapons):
- Autopistol: Fair (4) Shooting Extra: Burst Limit: -2 accuracy
- Carbine: Good (5) Blast Extra: Burst Limit: -1 accuracy
- Energy Bazooka: Incredible (7) Blast Limit: Preparation every shot
- Jet pack: Average (3) Flight
|
Qualities- Loyal criminal
- Remember the mission!
- Minion (optional)
|
- Aerial Agents: Jet pack, Autopistol
- Assault Agents: Carbine
- Heavy Weapons Agents: Energy Bazooka
- Undercover Agents: Stealth (+1), Technology (+1), Autopistol
- Torch operators: Incredible (7) Corrosion Limit: Runs off batteries
