Crucible #12 - "Mad Dogs!"

[GM Mad]

Crucible #12 - "Mad Dogs!"


Outside Horton's Plaza...

Out on 1st Avenue, Flux and Frostbite have come across Mad Dog who is playing with cars. (Great name for him, BTW!) Mad Dog tosses a pick-up at the heroes, but Flux plucks it out the air like a giant football. At the same time, Frostbite creates a wall of ice to separate the combatants.

Flux gently sets the empty vehicle down while Mad Dog reaches for another car, an empty station wagon this time. Flux steps over the wall to get closer to Mad Dog. At the same time, Mad Dog grabs the front of the station wagon and begins to lift it into the air.

Flux reaches out with his giant hands and grabs the rear of the vehicle. "Put that down!", he commands. The two strong men begin to tug and pull on the vehicle. At the moment they seem to be evenly matched strength-wise. Mad Dog snarls the whole time. (It’s like playing tug of war with a dog!)

Meanwhile Frostbite looks for a way to get over his wall. There's nothing in the immediate area, so Frostbite decides to simply climb over it. He jumps up to grab the top of the wall. To his immense surprise, the leap carries him much higher than he ever expected. Frostbite cleanly leaps over the wall and lands on the other side, managing not to fall on his face in the process.

After recovering from that shock, Frostbite can see the tug of war going on between Mad Dog and Flux. The station wagon is beginning to break apart from the strain.


Inside Horton's Plaza...

Everything inside the open plaza has seeming calmed down again. Lily attempts to revive the fallen Serena, while Goldstar watches apprehensively. Laying close by on the floor is the unconscious form of the Harpy.

On the other side of the plaza, Green Steel has defeated the demonic Hellfire. He hears the sounds of the battle between Serena and the Monster and returns. He passes by the unconscious form of the red-skinned man and is amazed to realize that he is in fact his missing teammate Red Steel. Red begins to stir.

Keeping one eye on the red-skinned man, Green Steel moves back towards the strange fog bank that now surrounds Blue Steel. As he draws closer, he can hear what sounds like pleasure-filled moans coming from the cloud.

"Blue?! Is that you in there?" He waits a moment, as the moaning continues. "Come on, Stace. Quit fooling around. What's going on with you? Ace is dead. So's Grey. Let's clean up the rest of this mess and get back to base so we can figure out what we're gonna do."

Finally, the moaning stops and reason returns to Blue Steel's voice. "My God," she gasps in astonishment. "What have I become?"

To Green Steel she will stay, "Stay back, Green! I don't want to hurt you, but I can't control it! I've been changed into something horrible! I don't want you to end up like any of the others! I've-- I've got to get away! Just leave me alone!"

Unexpectedly, the cloud begins to recede and the sound of running can be heard. Green begins to follow but stops in amazement as something that was inside has been exposed. Laying on the ground before Green Steel is the remains of the Monster. His body is withered and his greenish skin shrunken around his bones. Its as if everything has been drained out of his body leaving behind only skin and bones!

Movement behind Green Steel snaps him back to reality. In the background the man who had been Red Steel is on his feet once more. He lets out a scream of anger and rage. Squatting down, he lifts a large concrete planter up over his head. Unleashing another scream he hurtles the makeshift missile towards Green Steel!

The planter sails harmlessly over Green Steel's head, suggesting that Red doesn't know his own strength. It hits the ground and breaks up into smaller pieces.

"Bring it on!", the former Red Steel demands as his face twists in anger. He doesn't seem to recognize his old teammate at all.


Close by, Lily gently taps Serena’s face. Behind Lily, Goldstar keeps a wary eye on the angry red-skinned man. So far he is ignoring her and the other woman.

Finally, Serena's eyes flicker open. She spies Lily and Goldstar standing over her. "I will recover," she assures the concerned women. "What transpires here?"

[GM Mad]

GM Notes:

Flux, you never said you were going to increase your Density, so at the moment you're only using Growth for extra strength.

Frostbite, you'll get to act right away as you only used a half move to reach the battle zone.

Green Steel, the raging Red Steel is about thirty feet away. There are numerous benches, planters and lampposts in the area. There's not a clear direct path to between you. Red doesn't appear to have noticed Goldstar, Lily, & Serena so far. Those three are about forty feet away from Red.

Hero Status:

Lily - 3 of 13 BODY
Serena - 3 of 54 STUN, 12 of 15 BODY

Now what?

[Serena]

Serena:

As she sleeps, Serena has the strangest dream. Before her eyes a fierce battle plays out. Oddly enough, Serena was fighting in the battle against vile Ectolian battle maidens. All of Serena's companions had been slain and the Knight was heavily wounded. Then Serena was struck with a fatal blow. With her dying strength, her killer was slain as well.

Serena fell to her knees, exhausted. After a short time she became aware that she was not alone. A strangely dressed woman appeared. Somehow Serena knew that his new arrival was not her enemy.

"Your battles have ended, Serena of the Golden Chalice," the new arrival stated in a strange accent. "Your time in this world has ended. But there are other worlds out there that need your talents and skills. Will you aid them in their time of need?"

"I live to serve," Serena manages to sputter out. Having said her final words, Serena died. Her spirit slipped free of its mortal shell and joined with the strange woman. Together they departed this world for another where her skills would be needed.

Suddenly, Serena found herself on a street unlike any other she had ever seen. It was smoothly paved. A strange, metal building appeared before her. What appeared to be two metal coffins with glass lids were close by.

"I don't understand," Serena managed to say. "What is all of this?"

"Understanding will come in time," the strangely dressed woman said. "Two genetically engineered women are being created inside these pods. They are being breed for evil, but that will not be their ultimate fate. Merge with this one here and you will be reborn here on this world. All knowledge of your past life will fade. Know that you are desperately needed here."

"That is all that I need to know," Serena responded. "I live to serve those in need."

Serena moved closer to the pod, her spirit passing through the glass covering. Inside a woman's body was being formed.

"What of this other one," Serena asked, gesturing to the other pod. "Will she be created in the name of evil?"

"No. Your presence, your purity and goodness, will affect her as well. She will become something far greater than her creators ever imagined. She will serve on the side of the angels. Go now. Time is fleeting."

Serena nodded her understanding and than sat down inside the strange coffin, her spirit merging with the body already inside. The body was strangely empty, lacking any real soul of its own. There was a small flicker of malevolence, but that was quickly extinguished. Goodness radiated from the pod washing over the pod next to it. Then there was a blinding flash of white light.


Suddenly, Serena finds herself laying on the ground. Standing over her, looks of concern locked on their faces, is Lily and Goldstar. Wearily, Serena forces herself to sit up.

"I will recover," Serena assures the concerned women. "What transpires here?"

Rising to her feet, Serena will cast a heal spell upon herself. From there she will see what the current situation is. If Green Steel is in need of assistance, Serena will suggest that Goldstar help the man out. Otherwise, Serena will go and heal the winged woman after Goldstar explains the situation to her.

[Menagerie]

Lily:

"Thank goodness!" she replies as Serena comes to and declares her fitness. "I thought we might have lost you. That terrible man - if it can be called a man - knocked you into that cloud. He went in after you and you came flying out and into this wall, but he never emerged.

"This woman that... uh, Goldstar, right?... brought is badly hurt.

"Come to think of it... I don't feel so good either. I think that mist did something to me..." Looking in the direction of the cloud, she notices that it seems to be departing. "I think that cloud woman - what did Greenie call her, Blue? - is leaving."

[Bruce]

Flux:

Flux finds himself in a tug-of-war with the Mad Dog-man and in spite of having superior size cannot manage to do more than break up the station wagon between them.

Looking real smart here, sarge. If anybody'd been in there.....

"Hey Frostbite, lock 'em up if you can. I think I've got his full attention. If that doesn't work see if you can find a rolled-up newspaper to hit him with."

I don't want to hurt this guy but my options are limited; stop him or let him hurt himself or others. And there's been enough of that already.

I don't even know if all these people down are alive or not. Yeah, time to stop fooling around.

Flux will increase density while tugging on the car, then let go of it suddenly to try to catch Mad Dog off balance thus giving Frostbite an opening......

[Goldstar]

Goldstar:

Goldstar begins to feel better when Lily says that Serena is not serious hurt, just unconscious. "Thank goodness!"

Then the Knight shows signs of recovering from whatever attacked her. Goldstar will wait until Serena is on her feet and has healed herself before launching into her explanation, blubbering the whole while.

"I didn't mean to hurt her! I guess I don't know my own strength, but she was being mean to these nice people in the helicopter, so I had to stop her and when I did there was the sound of bones breaking and now I think she's broken, so can you fix her? Please? Pretty please?"

Goldstar will continue to keep one eye trained on the rage red skinned lunatic just incase he tries something nasty to Goldstar's friends! Serena says that the guy in green armor is on our side, so that's good enough for me. He'll get the, "Hi! I'm Goldstar!", treatment at the appropriate time.

Should Red attack, Goldstar will fire off her Photon Blast first, and then move up to Ion Blast should that first prove ineffective. Right now she's too afraid of hurting someone to change into a Neutron Star again.

[Serena]

Serena:

Back tracking to Green Steel:

"Actually, Blue is a 'she', like yourself."

"Ah, thank you for the correction. Again, I shall inform you should I come across your comrade.


Back to the Present:

"I am fine," Serena will reassure Lily. "I've suffered much worse injuries than this." That comment will make Serena pause. "At least I think I have endured worse."

When Lily mentions that the cloud affected her as well, Serena will Heal her friend. "This spell should make you feel much better. What became of the creature of evil I was fighting?"

"Forgive my manners. This is Goldstar, a fellow comrade. I trust her implicitly."

After Healing herself and Lily, Serena will listen to Goldstar's story and move to comfort her comrade. Placing her armor around Goldstar, Serena will speak in a soothing, almost motherly voice.

"You had no way of knowing that she was that fragile. Your concern over a fallen foe is admirable and genuine, but you must approach this as a learning experience. You possess great powers and must exercise great care in their use. I know that you would not intentionally have harmed her. You are a good and kind person. Don't ever change."

Serena will then bend down and cast another Heal on the winged woman. What a strange creature she is! Silvery wings and ivory skin. In just this area alone, there are being with gold, red, and ivory colored skin. As Serena stated before, what a colorful land she finds herself in.

That task complete, Serena will keep on guard just incase the winged woman becomes violent. If she does not, then Serena will scan the immediate area to see if her skills are needed.

[Goldstar]

Goldstar:

Goldstar wipes away her tears as Serena speaks to her. She just feels better having Serena around. She is so smart and wise! Goldstar will give Serena a big old hug!

"You're so wonderful to be around! Thank you!"

When Serena formally introduces Lily to me, I'll respond with, "Hi! I'm Goldstar! Uhm, did I say that before? Nice to meet you. What kind of powers do you have?"

Goldstar will split her attention between the red skinned meanie and the winged woman, just in case she starts to be mean again.

[Frostbite]

Frostbite

I jump up to reach the ledge of my ice wall. Much to my suprise I clear the 6ft wall and land on the otherside. Looking back at the wall for the moment, That wall is at least 6ft tall....... How could I clear that? I say to myself dumbfounded. Quickly looking back at Mad dog and Flux having a tug of war with a station wagon. Thinking to myself ,Hate to see them explain this to the Insurance company
"Dont think I could find a newspaper big enough!"

I will move closer to the battle and try to circle the tug of war. Raise my arms and try to projet an ice blast at him to ensnare Mad-Dog in ice.

[GM Mad]

Post Continued:

Roll Call: Frostbite & Flux

Having cleared the ice wall, Frostbite skates around the tug of war to get a clearer shot at Mad Dog.

Flux sees this as he continues to struggle with the rapidly falling apart station wagon. All the while he continues to increase his density becoming stronger and stronger.

Suddenly, Flux lets go of the station wagon. Mad Dog, still tugging on it furiously, inadvertently pulls the vehicle directly into his chest! The force of the impact knocks Mad Dog off of his feet. The station wagon crashes to the ground beside the crazed canine.

Frostbite gestures at the downed dog and a thick coating of ice begins to cover him. That seems to settle the issue.

For a moment. Cracks rapidly begin to appear all along Mad Dog’s icy coating. A second later, the ice shatters sending shards flying off in every direction! Mad Dog rises to his feet growling very loudly. No, he’s not a happy camper!

[GM Mad]

GM Notes:

Flux & Frostbite – You’ll both get to act before Mad Dog can do anything else. This is a very nice fight for me—- everyone has the same SPD & DEX!

Serena will cast her Healing spell upon herself. She’s know at 19 of 54 STUN and BODY is back to max. Lily is 7 of 13 BODY after being Healed by Serena.

I’m going to hold up going any further here until Green posts.

[Bruce]

Flux:


Flux looks down at the Mad Dog as Frostbite covers his target in ice.

"That looks go...."

And as the covering cracks off, "....never mind."

Might as well still be in the Army; nothing works like it's s 'posed to.

"How about we double tap this mongrel before anything else goes wrong? I still want to see about those other problems."

Flux will move up to strike Mad Dog with obvious intent written large upon him. This will keep MD focused on him rather than Frostbite.

[Menagerie]

Lily:

A soothing warmth spreads from Serena's hands through Lily's body. As the sensation fades, Lily finds that she does indeed feel better, though there is still a cold that seems to have settled into her bones. Perhaps it will fade with time. "Thank you, Serena. That does feel better.

"We've met, actually," Lily says in reply to the introduction, then turns to Goldstar. "Yes, you did, but that's alright. It's been a very stressful day.

"As for my... powers, I don't entirely know. I do seem to be able to run extraordinarily fast, and perhaps my hearing has been enhanced as well. Whether that's the limit of my powers as well, I don't know."

Since Goldstar and Serena both seem to have concerns regarding both the winged woman and the red man, Lily will edge around behind them. They both seem far more able to deal with threats then herself.

"I'm just worried about my daughter. I pray she hasn't been affected by any of this madness. I can't help but wonder what effects becoming a metahuman - if that's what I am now - will have on my ability to function as a parent..."

[Serena]

Serena:

"Thank you, Serena. That does feel better. “

“You’re most welcome,” Serena will graciously respond. “That cold was most intense and unpleasant. Let me know if you need another healing spell.”

Serena will look around nervously. The red skinned man seems most dangerous and incredibly strong. This time Serena won’t simply go into battle against such a foe. With strength that he seems to possess, reinforcements might be required. Serena watches, wondering of the Green Knight is going to move to engage this foe or will he chase after his Blue comrade?

Serena knows what choice she would have made, but is rapidly learning that not everyone sees the world the way she does. He did seem to show more concern for his Blue comrade, so perhaps that is the choice he will make. Should he do that, then it would be best for us to vacate this area until sufficient reinforcements can be located.

“Goldstar,” Serena will whisper to her gold skinned ally. “Would you be able to fly off with carrying both myself and Lily? Be prepared to do so should the red skinned man move to attack us. Judging by what I have seen, we are going to need assistance in defeating this foe. Stand ready, my friend.”

Serena turns back to Lily as she vocalizes her concerns over raising her young one.

"I'm just worried about my daughter. I pray she hasn't been affected by any of this madness. I can't help but wonder what effects becoming a metahuman - if that's what I am now - will have on my ability to function as a parent..."

“It seems to me, that the fact you are raising such questions indicates that your ability to function as a parent remain unchanged. Perhaps you have been changed physically, but its what’s inside that counts. You are a good person Lily Pak. Your daughter could not have a finer mother.”

[Goldstar]

Goldstar:

Speaking to Lily:

“That’s really strange. That nice iceman I talked to earlier didn’t know what he could do either. Is this something normal around here? I mean, I know everything I can do, but not a whole lot else. It just doesn’t make much sense to me.”

“Oh, isn’t Serena great? She came out of the pod right next to mine. Good thing she’s not like that catwoman and windy woman. They were not nice!”


Then Serena speaks to Goldstar again. “Yes, ma’am. I can shift into Neutron Star form and easily carry all of you. In fact, I carried the iceman and his friend away from here earlier. Say, I bet they could help us if that red meanie turns on us! I’ll just fly us to them!”

When Serena gives the word, Goldstar will pick up her and Lily and fly them outside. Goldstar roughly remembers what direction the iceman and his friend went, so she’ll fly off in that direction. Otherwise, Goldstar will remain on guard.

[Frostbite]

Frostbite


Frostbite looks at the ice covered Mad Dog, "Well that settles..... Maybe not."

Looking at the growling form of Mad dog " Looks Like we will be needing that Rolled up newspaper!"

I will move around Mad dog( that is if isnt paying attention to me) and move in behind him and fire an ice blast into his legs(perferably is knees)

[Muskateer]

GREEN STEEL -

Green Steel will take a look at the raging red-skinned man and back at the departing bluish fog cloud. While he would love a good fight and never was on good terms with the headstrong Carl, his old teammate, Green Steel decides that there is a better chance to try to reach Blue Steel and so heads after her, taking to the air.

[Menagerie]

Lily:

"Hopefully, I can finish getting warm on my own. It doesn't really feel like hypothermia, but it still feels like some of the cold has settled into my bones."

The conversation shifts back to Goldstar. "Iceman? Pod? Catwoman and windy-woman? I'm not sure I understand what you're talking about, but it can probably wait until later..."

Goldstar assures her and Serena that she would have no trouble carrying them if the red guy becomes aggressive. Seems like someone who needs to end up behind bars. Lily can't help but wonder if she'll end up trying his case...

"Thank you, Serena. It's very kind of you to say that," she replies to Serena. "I hope you're right. Unfortunately, I'm not entirely certain how the legal system is likely to look on the situation. Unfortunately, I'm not an expert in metahuman law, but it looks like I'm going to need to start boning up."

Turning, she notices the guy in green armor flying off after the misty woman he referred to as Stace. "Uh... Serena, Goldstar? It looks like we're on our own with the rage-aholic..."

[GM Mad]

No, I've not forgotten you guys!

There are a couple of new characters on their way to join the game, so I've been holding this post open a bit longer than normal. Look for a new post in the next day or two.

[GM Mad]

Time to wrap this one up!

Hopefully I'll have the next post up tomorrow. This has been one nasty weekend so far...

Oh well, shutting it down...