The NEW Vanguard! Frostbite Issue 1 - "Frosty Reception"

Aura of Fear on all three, leave everyone else inside the building free from the aura.

OOC: Love the drops of liquid metal that solidified into scaffolding, always wondered how those guys did it.

IC: Looking at the jet and grinning from ear to ear sentinel exclaimed

"We do not exact revenge, we seek justice to all those that have wronged.....(as he thought of all those bodies, those brave souls his face dropped and stiffened) but it would be our pleasure to change are creed just this once."

OOC Lionheart, Sentinel and Frostbite/Bot are up in Issue 2

Haunt summoned up that ancient elemental power - that of fear - which resided within all sentient living beings.

It was a warning sense, a means of self preservation, and the 'fight or flight' mechanism which determined in a split second whether someone would -wisely- run against superior foes or stand their ground and die, like a fool. Haunt could do more than trigger it though. He could amplify it to levels unheard of, presenting the greatest fear to the target and shutting out everything else, especially on the weak of mind!

And so it was (OOC rolls are good on all three, though the 'boss' is effected to a lesser extent.) that two of the sinister intruders - the woman at the door and the goon about to enter Nightingales room - collapsed into a crouch and raised their hands above their heads as if to shield against something they feared most in the world!

The third - the boss - whirled about, saw his companions petrified with terror, then hissed at Haunt, baring inch long fangs and looking more like a beast than man! Haunt wondered for a split second if this 'boss' were of stronger mental fibre, but that was resolved when the leader turned on his heels, leapt for the air and the skylight in the roof of the sports hall and vanished into a cloud of smoke/mist, which drained out of the roof and out of sight!

The two left behind were petrified, Haunt knew for at least a couple of minutes, more in the mans case. He visibly shook and Haunt suspected his bowels would have let go had the man still need of them. As it was Yeoman came out of the room, flexing his fists and was about to strike the man crouched and bunched up at his feet when he realised what had happened. He opened his mouth to speak to Haunt, still angry, but looked at the woman by the door, in a similar petrified state and swallowed an angry word. "Good work." he muttered. "Know who they are? Maybe we can pump them for information." he paused for a moment. "Or shove a stick through their chest."

The man whimpered at Yeomans feet, still shielding against that imaginary horror - Haunt figured the sun.

Nightingale came out, peeling rubber gloves from her hands. "You're a trouble magnet Yeoman!" she said, shaking her head. To Haunt she turned. "Despite the odd getup, it seems you are far more useful than Mr Yeoman here. Were it up to him there'd be a fight taking place and someone would be getting punched through a wall. Can you get rid of these clowns without causing a scene?" She looked about and sighed. "So much for this place. They must have been casing it for weeks and decided to make a move when you arrived with injured supers. The Blood Knights are a new gang, eastern european. I examined a 'Vampires' blood once and it's the real deal. Oh, not Bram stoker style swirling capes and gothic horror, but a parasite that attaches to every cell of the hosts body, spreading and multiplying. For all intents and purposes, they don't register as alive. These 'parasites' feed off the host, and drive them to seek sustenance - living blood - to replenish them. In return the host is changed and empowered to better serve the parasites needs. One bite is enough to cause sickness in a normal human, but to transform them they must first be drained of blood then fed tainted blood from the Vampire. If there's a gang of these things running around, they *could*, in theory, create a plague of people like them. I suppose they are kept in check by the aversion to sunlight - it kills the parasites off, and by association, the host. A stake through the heart stops the parasites and the blood pumping round, shutting them down into a kind of sleep. Garlic seems to repel them. Forget crosses or holy ground though. In fact, they may be - perversely - attracted to such places simply because they are traditionally supposed to fear them."

She looked at the man near Yeomans feet. "I can't 'heal' these people. The only way I'd have any chance - and it's slim - is to expose them to intense ultraviolet radiation and drive the parasite out whilst healing the human host. Split second timing and a dose of luck would be required, and even then..."

She looked at Yeoman and Haunt. "I'll take care of your friends, and relocate. I know plenty of people. This place will be deserted by tomorrow. You need to find out where that other one went - through them or the leader who scarpered. They need stopping - before they turn the population of London into the walking dead!"

She looked at Yeoman and Haunt. "I'll take care of your friends, and relocate. I know plenty of people. This place will be deserted by tomorrow. You need to find out where that other one went - through them or the leader who scarpered. They need stopping - before they turn the population of London into the walking dead!"

"Their fear will wear off within minutes," the Haunt says, resuming his normal form with a slight bit of fog around his legs. "So we can question them now, then stake them and then an anonymous phone call to the authorities to pick them up. Putting them a few blocks away before the call is made, of course."

"Anything you can do for Yeoman, doctor? He is barely on his feet, as am I, though I have supernatural healing due to how I received my powers so a short rest is all I need."

"Yeoman? Would you like to be the good cop or the bad cop? If bad cop, I can play the badder cop well. Since you know the area better than me, you should probably lead the questioning."

Nightingale sighed, then nodded. "This is going to hurt." she said.

Yeoman looked at her strangely, sad almost, and nodded. "Sorry." he muttered.

Nightingale placed her hands on Yeomans shoulders, then they started to glow... Yeoman looked agitated, and Nightingale suddenly cried out! "Aiiiehhh!" she squealed, desperately trying not to cause a fuss and have those people in the sports hall come running!

Her glowing hands faded, and Haunt was astonished...

Nightingale, a beautiful woman moments before, looked like she'd been in a boxing ring with a world champion! Blackened, swollen and split eyes, puffed up lips and her nose swelled as if broken. She stumbled, and Yeoman held out a hand to help her. She took up - then cried out again! He fingers were twisted and purple, as if broken. She could barely stand, and he helped her to a chair where she sagged down, then held her ribs. "How... how do you do that?" she muttered, then probed in her mouth and pulled out a broken tooth. Spitting some blood out, she looked up through one good eye. "A normal person... a room full of normal people, would have died with the beating you've taken! Even now all I want to do is curl up and die!"

Yeoman smiled softly, and kissed her gently on the forehead. "Thank luv" he muttered. "I owe you one."

"One?!" she spluttered, then gasped and held her ribs again. "One? Ha!"

Haunt saw her bruises urn from purple to yellow, even as she sat there. With a sigh of pain, she eased herself out of the chair and hobbled over to Haunt. "Your turn?"

Yeoman glanced at Haunt and gave a slight shake of his head.

OOC Which Vampire are you questioning, or both? Are you restraining them in some way, knowing that one of them just flitted off as a cloud of mist through the skylight? What questions are you wanting to ask? Also, does Haunt need healing from Nightingale, or is he prepared to wait and heal up (super)naturally?

ooc: If I understand the healing rules right, unless there is a house rule about this, you have to heal each injury separately. So I need to heal the big mondo damage I took from the zomborgs blowing up and after all that is healed, then I heal up the second damage I took that dropped me down to 2 hit points?

And how close am I to it being an hour since I was first or last injured? If it is like 15 minutes or less then I will pass on healing and heal "naturally".  
If it is longer, I will take a healing shot. Though based on what I just saw, she would probably die if she tried to heal my major damage. So prefer her to heal the minor stuff only, if my natural healing rate is further than 15 minutes away.

ooc2: I'm really torn here. The Haunt feels the need to go and try to rescue the woman and child and it seems like other problems crop up to stop him from doing so. He feels he is on the clock here because if they are not dead already, they will be once the crooks find out that the man they are trying to get information from is already dead. He probably only has a few hours left to try to save them before his death is mentioned in the news, if it is not already too late. So it is his biggest priority. The vampires can wait, if they are not involved in that kidnapping.

As what to do, the Haunt is going to ask for the office of the good doctor, use his stretching abilities to seal the room by stretching over the door and any windows and any obvious cracks. I think he has enough stretching to cover all four walls, ceiling and floor. 13APs is enough, right?

Then he will question them with Yeoman's aid. He wants to know about Carver. He wants to know about what they know about the kidnapped woman and child or the "formula" or whatever it was called that the dead scientist invented. Only after he has learned everything he can about that stuff, then he will concentrate on the vampires and their hangouts, how many there are, their bosses, and anything else that might be of use.

After Yeoman and the Haunt drain them of all useful information, we will stake them and drop their bodies off in an alley and call the appropriate agency to come get them. DICE? Using the fog to cover us carry and dumping the bodies, of course. Public phone with fog surrounding it.  

OOC Haunt heals every two minutes (5APs) for bashing damage, and every hour (10APs) for killing damage. The healing is triggered from the time the character last took damage, so taking damage within the time shown above will 'reset' the amount of time you need to wait before you get a recovery check. The two are separate, so those wounds inflicted by killing combat will take longer to recover, so I guess that you do need to keep track of the wounds in that respect.

Nightingale looked Haunt over with a trained eye. "You boys have been properly roughed up haven't you? I would recommend resting, but I might as well talk to the wall..."

"If you can give me a little while I'll have a go at fixing you up." she says, weary and still looking battered, though the bruises were changing colour even as Haunt watched. "In the meantime I want people out of here. I have a van out back for your friends here - don't worry, I know Bulldog from old, and Retribution can keep his secrets. The rest of those people ..." she waved a hand at the homeless in the sports hall "Have to leave. It's not safe here. Compromised, thanks to them!"

Haunt asked for the use of her office and she shrugged agreement. Yeoman helped usher people out, explaining that Nightingale would set up another shelter for them in the next couple of days and to wait for word on the street. Despite the fact these people were 'off the grid' they always seemed able to find the new places that were set up within a day or two. Meanwhile Haunt coated every wall, then floor and ceiling in  Nightingales room, in time for Yeoman to drag the petrified Vampires back in by the scruffs of their necks.

He'd also broken the wooden chair legs off some discarded furniture, and tossed those with emphasis at the feet of the Vampires.

Yeoman turned to Nightingale, who was limping towards the exit. "Thanks!" he called out. "It's not our fault you know - these clowns knew about this place anyway. In fact you were lucky we were here..."

Nightingale scowled, shook her head and left "I'll be back in 20 minutes to heal your friend and lock this place up."

Yeoman nodded, turned back into the room and popped his knuckles, rolling his neck. "I'm going to enjoy this." he grinned. "Normally, I wouldn't hit women. I'll make an exception for you, love." he growled "because whatever you once were is long gone. Now you're a monster, and we don't like monsters who prey on men, women and children."

The door closed and Nightingale looked away from the sounds of cracking and smacking...

=========

With Yeoman supplying the muscle, and Haunt the questions, it was an unpleasant time for the Vampires...

"The good thing about Vampires" said Yeoman "Is that they heal fast. It means I don't have to wait long for you idiots to get back up again" he said as he bounced the male Vampires face from the floor repeatedly, then jammed a finger into the creatures eye socket, making it scream in agony.

"Plus you can throw all moral arguments out the window" he added, conversationally. He knelt, grabbed the Vampires arm and yanked it from its socket before backhanding the thing across the room. The female Vampire, staggering to her feet drunkenly, came at Yeoman from behind but was tripped when a tendril from Haunts floor pulled her down. A booted heel snapped her neck and Yeoman turned to the male vampire. "Still don't feel right hitting something that looks like a woman, even if it's a murdering leech." said Yeoman.

The Vampire grinned, black ichor replacing the blood of a normal person. "You are veak! Heroes? Ha! You play by rules we laugh at! Your 'code' is ridiculous!"

Yeoman shrugged, stepped forward and spun the Vampires head round on its shoulders. "Be quiet. I'll chat to the lady."

OOC Interrogation time. Despite their fear, these things will be tough nuts to crack. They are opposed to the heroes and that makes things a LOT harder with regards information. They also think the heroes will act according to their code and despite the pain, figure they'll get out of this one way or another. They have 4 Influence and 5 spirit each. With Charisma of 7 that means a roll of 18 required (as a minimum!) for Haunt and the same for Yeoman (he has 8 Charisma). Because of the torture/stakes and total entrapment, I'll drop the OV/RV -2CS so the target number is 13. Still hard.

Yeoman roll 2d10 → [7,7] = (14) DOUBLE plus 2d10 → [1,7] = (8) = 22 total.
Haunt roll 2d10 → [5,6] = (11)

Hard? Yes. Impossible. No. 3RAPs. Not everything they know, but maybe enough.

"Carver?" splutters the woman. "He is crime lord. Ve respect him. Ve hef been told to stay away from his patches, end he vill do same. Ven ve arrive ve maybe underestimate him. He sent ze heads of several of our Bloodknights beck in a box. Since zen? Truce. Try 'Dog and Bone' pub in East End."

"I know it. Carver hangs out there?"

"Ha? Thet sh*t hole? No. But many of his men do. If you want to find fight, you go there masked men."

The other Vampire groaned, and shaky hands righted his head on his shoulders. Yeoman walked over and rammed a superhuman fist into the Vampires chest, causing a sickening crack of bones.

"Ve heal from all of zis!" shouted the woman. "You waste your time 'hero'! Torture us all you like - you cannot kill what is dead! Everything said and done here is know by the one who sired me! He will come for you... and your death shall be painful indeed! And your woman friend? Ze Doctor? She vill feed us ze most! She vill know agony such as no other! You hef doomed her!"

Yeoman turned, angry for the first time. "You come to MY city, and feed off the most desperate people, and threaten MY friend, a woman who only ever wanted to help people? I don't care if you threaten me..." his voice went quiet. "But if that's all you're giving us..." he scooped up a stake and the smile slid from the womans face. "I don't see why I should waste my time any more. Is that it then?"

The woman hooked up and spat, landing black sludge on Yeomans chest.

Yeoman snarled, then looked about him at the white room. "Haunt? You done with this slime?"

OOC It's taken nearly half an hour to batter that small amount of information from them. It's a solid lead, but they won't tell you more unless you continue to batter them senseless and all of that takes time. In the meantime (Roll=2d10 → [3,2] = (5)) Haunt heals to full Body. Nightingale said she'd be back in twenty minutes, but hasn't returned yet.

The woman hooked up and spat, landing black sludge on Yeomans chest.

Yeoman snarled, then looked about him at the white room. "Haunt? You done with this slime?"

OOC It's taken nearly half an hour to batter that small amount of information from them. It's a solid lead, but they won't tell you more unless you continue to batter them senseless and all of that takes time. In the meantime (Roll=2d10 → [3,2] = (5)) Haunt heals to full Body. Nightingale said she'd be back in twenty minutes, but hasn't returned yet.

"We are done here," the Haunt agreed.  "Give them the justice they deserve.  Stake them."

actions:  hold them down while Yeoman does his thing.

After that is done, check and see if she is in the other room since the Haunt is blocking access to this room.

Assuming she isn't there ...

"Your doctor friend hasn't come back," the Haunt tells Yeoman. "Do you think the vampires already got to her?"

Punishment for their crimes was swift, and for the Vampires, painful...

Even so, it was no 'final' solution despite the fact that the wooden stakes jutting from the skeletal remains would prevent them from regenerating. Only direct sunlight, or the severing and separation of the head from the body would suffice, or complete immersion in running water. Yeoman stepped back, wiping black sludge from his gloves. "Foul creatures. I suggest we toss them on the rooftop. Come the dawn the sunlight will polish them off. I've run into Vampires before. All the stuff you know is mostly true, strangely enough. Well, save garlic I guess. Knew a vamp who positively loved the stuff..."

He frowned when Haunt mentioned Nightingale. "Damn... she'd better be alright! Remember she has Bulldog and Retribution with her!"

The heroes raced through the various rooms of the sports hall, then outside into the car park.

There, near the battered van Nightingale drove around, the Doctor was cornered and back up against the vehicle by half a dozen leather jacketed goons - both male and female! It didn't need Haunts incredible deductive powers to realize the Vampires had brought backup!

Yeoman popped his knuckles and rolled his neck. "Nightingale is in no fit shape for a fight, thanks to healing me. Luckily these things seem to be street 'toughs' which should present no problems to the likes of us. How you wanna play this? I'm thinking 'bull in a china shop' he said, and grinned, eager to flex his superhuman power of an energy punch that could shatter steel!

OOC Nightingale is encircled by half a dozen Vamps. Presumably Bulldog and Retribution (both still out cold) are in the Van. Haunt and Yeoman are 100' (4APs distance) away. The other people whod' been in the sports hall (vagrants/homeless types) will have run off thanks to Nightingale buying them time/offering herself up if the Vampires leave the other people alone... Of course, she's just about to become a self replicating/healing meal for them unless the heroes do something...

Yeoman popped his knuckles and rolled his neck. "Nightingale is in no fit shape for a fight, thanks to healing me. Luckily these things seem to be street 'toughs' which should present no problems to the likes of us. How you wanna play this? I'm thinking 'bull in a china shop' he said, and grinned, eager to flex his superhuman power of an energy punch that could shatter steel!

OOC Nightingale is encircled by half a dozen Vamps. Presumably Bulldog and Retribution (both still out cold) are in the Van. Haunt and Yeoman are 100' (4APs distance) away. The other people whod' been in the sports hall (vagrants/homeless types) will have run off thanks to Nightingale buying them time/offering herself up if the Vampires leave the other people alone... Of course, she's just about to become a self replicating/healing meal for them unless the heroes do something...

ooc: Man, I must be tired! I thought I read we were 44 APs away!!!! Not 4 APs.

"Take on the ones who do not flee my fearful presence," The Haunt replies.

actions: Aura of fear on the mob in front of us. Not sure if I can activate two powers in a round but if I can, a 1 AP Fog [10 feet right?] around himself.

ooc: we need to tweak him just enough so he can see out of his own fog.

OOC Understood about the tweak. Yeah, 44APs distance is quite the way. Let's see... off the top of my head? Roughly 16,000,000,000 miles (16 Billion) miles. Easy to work out. 10APs is (roughly) 1 mile. Every 10APs more than that is 1000x the distance. So 20Aps is 1000 miles, 30Aps is 1,000,000 miles, 40APs is 1,000,000,000 miles and 4APs is x16. Don't think there is any other system in any game that quite handles such big numbers so easily. Of course, in these post crisis days very few characters actually fall into the realm of those lofty numbers. For DC, the New Gods spring to mind. For Marvel, it's the Cosmic characters (Silver Surfer etc). Think the Green Lantern Corps can pretty much zip across the universe in moments too.

Yeoman glanced at Haunt, then nodded "Got it.... Pardner!"

He took to the air and looked down on the scene whilst hovering fifty feet up, ready to swoop down and clobber whomever escaped the Haunts wrath!

OOC Group attack on the Vamps...
2d10 → [2,4] = (6) Flee in terror
2d10 → [8,4] = (12) Freeze on the spot
2d10 → [6,1] = (7) Flee in terror
2d10 → [2,6] = (8) Flee in terror
2d10 → [3,6] = (9) Flee in terror
2d10 → [10,7] = (17) Freeze on the spot

Yeoman swoops down from above (Blindside) and multi attacks the four who are fleeing... Roll of 2d10 → [6,4] = (10) Hit, but it's not great, despite his powerful punch! He inflicts 5RAPs on each of the Vampires, who scatter in every direction into the night!

Nightingale breathes a sigh of relief "What took you two?" she asks as she steps around the two curled up Vampires with distaste on her face. "Never mind. I need to get my patients to a safe place. I should be fine now. As soon as I heal I'll get to work on them." She looks at Haunt, then nods "Thankyou."

Yeoman lands nearby and calls out "Turn away" to Nightingale before grasping the head of a Vampire and twisting violently to the side, eliciting a loud CRACK!

She cries out "What are you doing?!?!? You're supposed to be a hero! You can't kill these..."

"... because they are already dead! Look!" hissed Yeoman, and he pointed to the Vampire with the broken neck who lay on the ground and stared balefully at the hero. Its voice crackled through what was left of its larynx "You.. .hef made an enemy... of us this night... 'hero'..." it's eyes flicked to look at Haunt. "Both of you!"

OOC The Blood Knights have crossed you off their christmas card list and you're now on their 'to do' list...

Shellshocked, Nightingale nodded, then climbed aboard the van.

"I'll make sure she gets to where she's heading, and meet up with you somewhere." said Yeoman, plucking a small earpiece from a belt pouch. "Standard issue for the Vanguard a few years back. You might not be much of a team player, but I figure we're on the same side, all the same." He paused for a moment, then, almost reluctantly, thrust out a hand for Haunt to shake. "I'll make sure Bulldog and Retribution are ok, then I'll be ready to lend a hand."

Shellshocked, Nightingale nodded, then climbed aboard the van.

"I'll make sure she gets to where she's heading, and meet up with you somewhere." said Yeoman, plucking a small earpiece from a belt pouch. "Standard issue for the Vanguard a few years back. You might not be much of a team player, but I figure we're on the same side, all the same." He paused for a moment, then, almost reluctantly, thrust out a hand for Haunt to shake. "I'll make sure Bulldog and Retribution are ok, then I'll be ready to lend a hand."

"Thank you, pardner," the Haunt replies. "Would you make the anonymous call to DICE or whoever that they have staked vampires here needing pick-up before their brothers retrieve and revive them?"

"I'm going to see if I can still save that woman and her child," he continues, fog starting to billow further around him. "Until we meet again."

actions: enough fog to cover him and most of the alley, leaving enough open space so they can drive the van out of the alley. Then stake the vampires. Then wait and see if you have something nasty planned for me and if you don't [   ] then head over and follow the clue that the vampires gave us.

Yeoman nodded. "SMITE - I forget what it stands for* cleans up the mess left by the likes of us these days... and that includes making sure bad guys vanish and don't turn up again. Not sure I agree with all that, but the guys we sort out pretty much forefeit all rights as far as I'm concerned, so that's one thing they do right to add to the list... Mind, that's a VERY short list..."

Breaking some furniture up, he sorts out the grisly business of incapacitating the Vampires. Moments later, after brief screams and struggles, they are tied up with ultra heavy duty tie wraps that Yeoman carries and he makes the call, anonymously, Haunt notes. Though firmly on the side of law, order and justice, it's clear that for Yeoman, the scars of a few years ago, which pitted hero against hero and the state against those who tried to protect it, were still raw.

=========

Raucous laughter spilled out into the street...

The 'Dog and Bone' was a typical run down East End pub. laws banning smoking were ignored and the place spewed cigarette smoke from every partially opened window and the front door. Mean looking bouncers waved those they knew in. A group of ordinary revellers, looking to 'rough it' for the evening judging by their expensive - albeit unkempt - suits laughed and joked their way up the pavement as they looked the outside of the pub up and down. Several - wisely - doubted the wisdom of the place and suggested to their friends they continue onto the expensive wine bars they normally frequented, whilst the more bullish took the mickey and berated their companions. City workers.

Moments later the lead pair were on their backsides courtesy of the bouncers. Both were spark out cold and their friends hurriedly bundled their friends up and carried on down the street, mindful not to incur the wrath of the huge suited fellows, whilst rough types came and went past them into the pub.

Haunt watched from a distant rooftop, wreathed in fog through which he could see perfectly. The trail had lead here. Would he find the information he needed? Lieutenants of this 'Carver' fellow were said to frequent the place. Could he make them talk? Would they reveal what they knew about the kidnapped Wife and child of the dead scientist? He could wait, hope to pinpoint the men he needed. He could wait an unspecified amount of time for Yeoman to turn up, and possibly miss his opportunity.

He could charge in like a bull in a china shop. Probably Yeomans style.

The question was, what was Haunts style?

Haunt watched from a distant rooftop, wreathed in fog through which he could see perfectly. The trail had lead here. Would he find the information he needed? Lieutenants of this 'Carver' fellow were said to frequent the place. Could he make them talk? Would they reveal what they knew about the kidnapped Wife and child of the dead scientist? He could wait, hope to pinpoint the men he needed. He could wait an unspecified amount of time for Yeoman to turn up, and possibly miss his opportunity.

He could charge in like a bull in a china shop. Probably Yeomans style.

The question was, what was Haunts style?

Deciding to take the bull by the horns, the Haunt decided to enter the place and see what he could find out. Dropping down into the alley, he changed into the form of one of the men who was allowed to enter without pause. He decided to take the form of a man who went in at least ten minutes ago, that ought to make the bouncers think he had gone out back for business and was coming back in.

ooc: BTW, did I get my first heal yet for the lethal damage? Otherwise, I think I am still at 2 Body and need to wait to heal before going in the club.

OOC Enough time has passed for Haunt to make a recovery roll and he's on full Body now...

Disguised as a man who'd previously entered the pub 10 minutes or so again, haunt walked across the street, easily slipping into the role of dodgy low rent criminal.

The bouncers gave him a look up and down and one gave a slight nod, turning to look up and down the street. It was a few seconds later when he frowned, looked back at the door where the fellow had gone and he was about to speak to a colleague, but thought the better of it so as not to look stupid!

Inside, the pub was loud and smoky, with plenty of talking taking place and music playing in the background. The pub was near full of criminal types in a variety of attire both smart and casual, and some were downright scruffy. there were quite a few women in the place. Some were having a good time, some were bored.

Haunt was an excellent actor. As such he found it easy to spot when someone else was acting, unless they were more talented than he was - not likely.

OOC 2d10 → [2,10] = (12) Success, but not total.

Haunt looked through the smoke and milling bodies to see a large table with a dozen suited goons and their 'molls' sat around it. There were heavies 'posted' about it who firmly told anyone coming close to 'clear off', though used more colourful language.

Those men might be part of the organisation - the Carver Gang - that Haunt sought. He saw they were all mean looking, and mostly focused on the words of two men at the table. One was young, and have a long red scar down the left side of his face from temple to chin. His sneering arrogance, and mean '1000 yard stare' marked him as someone who was dangerous. Another man who attracted respect and attention was in his early 50s, impeccably dressed in a suit that was around 30 years out of fashion, but the bulk and presence of the man warned off any comment.

The man the Haunt was impersonating was sat at the table, but the crowd of bodies stood drinking and talking in between the hero and the criminals hopefully blocked him from view.

It was the woman who sat to the right of the young scarred fellow Haunt found interesting. She was laughing at another womans jokes but Haunt could tell it was an act. Who was she?

She was dressed in an expensive full length dress and sipped from a glass, though Haunt could tell it was barely touched.

"Hey Jacko! That you?" said a voice behind Haunt...

It was the woman who sat to the right of the young scarred fellow Haunt found interesting. She was laughing at another womans jokes but Haunt could tell it was an act. Who was she?

She was dressed in an expensive full length dress and sipped from a glass, though Haunt could tell it was barely touched.

"Hey Jacko! That you?" said a voice behind Haunt...

Before turning around, the Haunt will shift his face so it looks similar to but not that close to the face he was wearing. A face that could be mistaken for Jacko's in a crowded, poorly lit, flashing lighted club.

"Sorry Mate, not Jacko," the Haunt replies, when he turns around. "Name's Branson."

"Huh" replied the man, flushing slightly. "Coulda sworn..."

Haunt glanced about. There were more than enough people in this crowded pub who weren't drinking, making conversation or doing dodgy deals to suggest they were something else - probably security. Something told him that the reputation of the gang might be more than just bluster - they used machetes, for intimidation and to inflict harm, but why? Guns were far better, surely? And Haunt had nothing to worry about from guns. Perhaps there was nothing to worry about here.

It was then that Haunt saw in a far corner a couple of men talking. One was suited, hair slicked back, smoking, talking to another man who was in a vest, jeans, bit scruffy. His wiry arms were covered with tattoos, and he was injecting something into his arm from a syringe. The suited guy smiled, then stood back a step.

No wonder. The wiry fellow stiffened, then swelled with muscle, as if being inflated by a pump! Muscles strained at the skin and he was barely recognisable as the same person! The man in the suit smiled, patted the (now) big man on the arm and reached down to pull something from a briefcase. They looked like fingerless metal gloves from where Haunt was standing, but people moved about, and got in the way. Meanwhile the meeting at the table had paused and the participants had stood to move into a back room, door flanked by a couple of huge fellows in straining suits.

And they wore those metal gloves too. Haunt looked at one closely. On the bottom, where the heel of the hand would be, a 'fin' of steel. No need for a machete! A supercharged goon who could karate chop someones head off with a single blow was something to be wary of!

It was then that Haunt saw in a far corner a couple of men talking. One was suited, hair slicked back, smoking, talking to another man who was in a vest, jeans, bit scruffy. His wiry arms were covered with tattoos, and he was injecting something into his arm from a syringe. The suited guy smiled, then stood back a step.

"That's my target," the Haunt thought, "the man in the suit. He knows about the formula. He might have other information. Just need to get him alone or with just a few muscle with him then take him down and question him."

actions: Keep an eye on the guy and watch for my opportunity to question him Haunt-style. Maybe he hits the bathroom and it is empty. Maybe he has to wait until the club closes but he wants that guy. Meanwhile, pick up any other interesting bits of information and maybe change his face and build from time to time so he doesn't draw too much attention while staking the guy out.

"...hear about Joey Mack? Yeah, got taken down, him an' most his crew. Guy in a black suit, cloak... Word is that bullets just pass through 'im, and he roughs people up but good. I don't wanna mess wid someone like that..."

"...shipment comin' in. You want in? I can maybe hold aside a few cases..."

"...gets out next week. Says it's the easiest time he ever did. The case got thrown out on appeal, an' somethin' 'bout the main witness havin' a change o heart. Heh, might be 'cause o what big Larry threatened ta do to her parents, maybe..."

"Yeah. I'm tellin' ya, somethin' big is goin' down. Some new players in town. Watch yourselves."

"...Knights. Can you believe that? Some say they really are bloodsuckers. Hey, who can tell these days? Place is swamped with freaks..."

Haunt glided through the crowds of the pub, picking up on snippets of info. These were mostly small time crooks. The higher echelons of Carvers information wouldn't have conversations where they would be easily overhead. He got closer to the man in the suit, and the (now) big fellow turned to face Haunt, rolling and popping his neck with a loud sound like crunching twigs. He grinned, and Haunt noted the mans incisors had grown into fangs jutting from the bottom of his mouth!

The fellow in the suit glanced round the big man as he barged past Haunt and made his own path through the crowd with people parting. A bodyguard for the suited fellow stepped up, hand inside his jacket. "Mr Capello don't like visitors, or surprises. You got an appointment, or you just walkin' by, take my meaning?" said the big bull necked fellow. 'Mr Capello' glanced at Haunt, sneered, and went to sit down at a table in the corner, back to the wall. Haunt saw him count fifties off in a roll. There were plenty of them. Haunt noted that 'Capello' was in his late thirties probably, definitely not the fighting type. The suit looked off the peg but expensive, and he seemed the type to like the power his product brought. Where he got it from was another matter. The bodyguard looked like your standard bodybuilder/cage fighhter type and was probably armed. Capello's inside jacket clinked as he raised an arm to call for a drink from the stressed looking barmaid. More syringes, maybe, with more of that stuff that had been injected, quite possibly.

OOC You want to wait and watch this guy for long, or make a move now? It's busy and who knows how long this Capello fellow will be? Or the brute making his way to the door might know something. I will assume Haunt walks past on this 'run' and changes his features, so as not to cause bother with the bodyguard. If Haunt is willing to wait (and miss out on any other stuff going on) I'll cover that in my next post (plan to update later before I hit the sack for another lousy night shift )

bull necked fellow. 'Mr Capello' glanced at Haunt, sneered, and went to sit down at a table in the corner, back to the wall. Haunt saw him count fifties off in a roll. There were plenty of them. Haunt noted that 'Capello' was in his late thirties probably, definitely not the fighting type. The suit looked off the peg but expensive, and he seemed the type to like the power his product brought. Where he got it from was another matter. The bodyguard looked like your standard bodybuilder/cage fighhter type and was probably armed. Capello's inside jacket clinked as he raised an arm to call for a drink from the stressed looking barmaid. More syringes, maybe, with more of that stuff that had been injected, quite possibly.

OOC You want to wait and watch this guy for long, or make a move now? It's busy and who knows how long this Capello fellow will be? Or the brute making his way to the door might know something. I will assume Haunt walks past on this 'run' and changes his features, so as not to cause bother with the bodyguard. If Haunt is willing to wait (and miss out on any other stuff going on) I'll cover that in my next post (plan to update later before I hit the sack for another lousy night shift Sad )

ooc: Yeah, I want to wait. Maybe get real lucky and follow the guy home and have "words" with him there, where there might be some very incriminating evidence that can be used against him.

Also, help me remember to buy some kind of pocket recorder next time he has some downtime. Getting even snippets of conversations from these guys recorder for evidence would be helpful in the future and I might be able to parlay it into having a police contact to share that information with - nice police inspector who is willing to ignore the fact that the Haunt isn't registered in order to bring crooks in.

Haunt's all about Justice not Retribution, so he wants these guys in jail. He wants the big fish, not small fry like the guy who just left. Capello is a somewhat big fish or at least middle-management size. And he might know where the woman and child are or if they are still alive or where their bodies might be if they are not. Or who further up the chain would know.

I'm almost, almost mind you, thinking of turning myself into a stunning blonde and seeing if I can get him to talk to the "bit of fluff" who caught his eye, trying to impress her how important he is. But I'm not ready yet to do that because the Haunt would probably flinch the first time the guy laid his hand on "her" knee and would probably go all Haunt-like, if that hand wander way north of the knee, and take out the whole place with his Aura of Fear as he became the Wraith of Women Scorned!!!!!  

The Evening wore on...

Capello was on his phone constantly texting or calling, though Haunt noted that his telephone was plugged via a usb lead into a small plastic box - possibly some anti listening in device. Though these people operated small time, the technology required to change a human being into a muscle bound meathead in the blink of an eye would be expensive, probably illegal and connected to some kind of lab where the stuff was designed, which meant legitimate business was mixing with criminals. Not big money then, huge.

Two guys in jeans and sweatshirts made their way through the bustling crowds and spoke - after Capellos goon had cleared them - with the man himself. He smiled, glanced about, took a roll of money from each and handed them a small syringe apiece, a single small shot in a handy one press capsule.

The raised voices at the table suggested the men were expecting more.

One of the two immediately pressed the capsule to his neck, sighing and grunting before his body swelled dramatically to almost cartoonish proportions, incredible strength evident in every stretched sinew and strained length of vein popping skin!

The bodyguard reached for a gun, the other fellow raised his capsule to his neck, Capello cried out and tried to scramble back along the seats against the wall to get clear... People around exclaimed, someone shouted "Hey! No shooting!" and people started running for cover!

This situation had turned from deathly dull to very interesting indeed - and in moments Haunt might see one of his leads torn limb from limb!