The NEW Vanguard! Haunt Issue #6

"This is the Haunt," he says over the communicator. "I need some place to lead this guy to reduce any more damage and loss of life! Where can I lead him? And bring everyone you know. He keeps getting stronger as he gets attacked!"

actions: Try Aura of Fear again against Doc. Put HP into it.

Haunt pours on the fear...

OOC buying two dice 13HP, Haunt is on HP300

Roll(4d10)+0: 6,2,4,3,+0 Total:10 Oh dear. That's not great. AoF 9 + 10 vs TN11 + OV5 (16). +2 Effect (to 11). 11 EV vs RV25 now (increasing all the time!). No effect!

Haunt throws his Fear at Dr P/The Beast...

Nothing! No, not quite. He got it's attention and it turned towards him! Great! Now...

Crackle...

"...to the river! East of your position! Stick to the parks if you can! We are liaising with the authorities and will evacuate where we can!"

"Who's that?" squawked Yeoman over the comms.

"This is Captain Power of the UKChampions! We will assess and take control of the situation when we arrive, ETA 3 minutes."

3 minutes? He watched as Dr P scooped up a Mercedes and tossed it into the sky! It would be a while before it came down, but would hurt someone when it did!

Just then...

OOC Roll(2d10)+0: 4,7,+0 Total:11+Int 8 (19) vs OV8 + TN11 (19). Success. Just.

Haunt recalled a conversation with Dr P a few years ago. In it the good Doctor was rambling on about trying to ensure his experiments had 'an off switch', a way to reverse the effects. He figured that there may be times when a weapon or solution got into the wrong hands and wanted to give Haunt or the authorities every chance to stop the abuse of his genius.

He glanced back in the direction of the 'Gentlemans Club' he'd come from. If there was a way to undo the damage to his friend then it was there! Unfortunately that would leave Yeoman and the UKC to deal with his friend! And if they couldn't stop him... well either London would be flattened or his friend killed!

He looked at the beast. It must have grown another ten feet high and wide while it chased him! And the speed! Nothing that big should be able to move so fast!!!

Torn between what he wanted to do and what would happen with his friend, the Haunt hesitated a moment and then yelling to make sure Doc was going to follow him, created some wings and flew east towards the river.

actions: Meet up with the others and hope for the best.

He'd been chuffed to bits when the call came.

Mind, you, it wouldn't do to show that. No, just take it in his stride. Rory had said he needed to wait, but what did he know? He wasn't powered by the atomic might of a small sun, after all! Sometimes Captain Power wondered at what stage the UKChampions had first noticed the brightly coloured hero. His patrols, that time when he stopped the armed robbers, or the epic battle with the villainous Hit Squad? Of course, they'd escaped, but mostly empty handed, and Captain Power had been relieved anyway. His solar energy had run low and he felt sure the bad guys had noticed.

That had shaken his confidence somewhat when he battled the Black Rhino, but he could have beaten the brute. Would have beaten him, had that oaf Yeoman not turned up. Fellow was sticking his nose in! Upstart! All Captain Power needed was a breather. He'd done all the hard work, walloped that brute time and again. Despite Black Rhino laughing and ignoring his blasts, he felt sure he'd softened him up. Done the prep for a glory hound like Yeoman to finish him off. It was Captain Powers victory really. Yeoman had told Captain Power he was an amateur, playing at being hero and not suited to it. Had the media not been on the scene he'd have put the fellow on his arse right away!

Anyway, a victory against the frogman, Crazy Axeman and a stalemate against the dastardly trickster meant he was on the up. The death of the reporter had been unfortunate, but they knew the risks. He suspected the UKChampions had contacted him with an offer of membership to keep an eye on him and train him up. As if he needed it? Like these others... he didn't recognise any of them. What kind of name was Silver Fox anyway? When this 'emergency' had popped up on the monitor he knew it was a job for Captain Power! He'd show the UKChampions, and these newcomers, what a force for good he was! No matter he'd been told to wait. Justice didn't wait! No need! The bigger they are the harder they...

"Oh sh*t" he muttered when the creature came in sight.

It was HUGE! Bigger than a house, and chasing what appeared to be a white bird... no, was that a cape? Chasing a super of some kind, unless they were in cahoots. He glanced at the others behind him in the UKC Jet. They were near the riverside now and plenty of waste land to battle this thing...

Silver Fox - agile, fast, cheeky, an annoyance at best
Rockpile - a heroine whose skin was clustered with rocks. Ugly, but strong, he figured.
Stalemate - a hero who could stretch, and tied enemies up, using their own strength against them, supposedly. Looked nervous.
Brushfire - a young hot head who could immolate, fly, and blast flames from his mouth. Likely to cause bother unless put in his place!
Zebedee - a joke! A ping ponging teenager who annoyed Captain Power with his chirpy incessant chatter and banter
Morpho - a shapechanger Hard to tell if he was a he, a she or an it. Currently in the shape of a bulky 7 ft wrestler type.
Girder - a Scottish heroine who had recently been accepted into the UKChampions testing program, for heroes who needed training in teamwork and the use of their powers. Like Captain Power. The insult of it!

Captain Power looked at the size of the thing flying through the air. It was... no matter. He would simply blast it between the eyes, bound to have a weakness and all that, eh? Time to show these newbies who was the real deal, and show the UKChampions that they'd greatly underestimated his abilities and he needed to be elevated to a high position in the main team, alongside Adjutant probably.

"Wait here! I'll show that beast what for!" he bellowed and leapt out of the hatch into the sky!

"Wait!" shouted Morpho. "Bloody idiot..."

=========

Haunt had done a decent job of getting his friend to follow, and this stretch of riverside was one of the few needing redevelopment... well, it'd get that soon enough!

He saw the UKChampions jet closing fast and hoped they brought some heavy hitters!

"Out of the way, freak!" shouted a red and yellow blur as it sped past Haunt in the direction of Dr P! What on earth? Had this madman completely lost his marbles? Haunt spun in the air and made to give chase, but the red and yellow blur had already paused in front of Dr P, who'd landed and was in a crouch... Uh oh! No time to...

"Right then, you horrible looking beast! Listen here, I'm Captain Power and I'm leader of the UKChampions... well, this team anyway, and I hereby..."

SWOOOP!

GRAB!

CRUUUUUNCCCCCCHHHHH!

Haunt winced as Dr P scooped the flying hero from the air, shoved him into his mouth and bit down hard! He then spat the top half out and tossed the other aside! There was no reasoning with Dr P now - he'd killed a superhero!!!

OOC Something a bit different  The battlefield is mostly waste ground and buildings waiting to be demolished near the river, the UKChampions jet is hovering and the team - who Haunt doesn't recognise at first glance - are disembarking... and Dr P is an enraged beast bigger than a house with incalculable power!

The Haunt tried to control his stomach, wouldn't do to throw up in front of the others, even worse, he might not get the lower part of his mask off before doing so!

Taking a few deep breaths, he managed to control his stomach.

He then flew down to the group coming out of the jet.

"OK, I'm going to do this fast, folks," the Haunt said, for once not using his spook voice. "I'm the Haunt, the Specter of Justice. That beast is a friend of mine who was kidnapped, tortured and experimented on by a group of very evil men, changing him into that monster. There is a possibility I can find a cure for him or at least lots of evidence to bring these evil folks down but I need you to keep Doc busy while I do that."

"The more you hit him, the stronger he seems to become, so try to distract, immobilize him, attack him indirectly. Just keep him here and busy while I investigate."

"Oh yeah! Call in every super you know! Get Wandafar here if you can. Going to need a super-scientist or twelve to help restore Doc to normal ... if it is possible."

"Bye!"

Casting a cloud of Fog [hmmm .. can I put HP into the area effect of the Fog to make it larger? If so, will do so], the Haunt disappears into it and then flies away as fast as he can back to where this first started.

"Wait!" spluttered one of the heroes as Haunt took off... then they turned back to the beast...

"I only know how to hit stuff" said Rockpile. "How on Earth are we to keep that thing busy without it biting us in half and us not hitting it?"

"Whatever we do, we need to work it out fast! It's coming this way and... how is it possible something so big is so FAST! RUN!" shouted Silver Fox

=========

Haunt flew as fast as he could, trying to ignore the roars and sounds of crashing devastation behind him!

It wasn't hard to find the 'Gentlemans Club' - smoke boiled into the sky from several fires from the place.

When he got there police and the fire service were on the scene, as was a costumed person - a female - who appeared to made of glass... no... water.

She turned upon hearing shouts and seeing pointed hands and stretched up from the floor as the bottom half of her body jetted up like water from a hydrant. Curiously enough the water she put out didn't flood the place, but instead collected into a puddle that seemed never to grow around her. Living water? Haunt had seen stranger things.

"I am Torrent she declared. State your intentions and know that if you are here to cause trouble, I am not alone!"



Haunt glanced about. He couldn't see anyone else...

He didn't have time for this though! Was she going to stop him going inside?

"Big monster," he said quickly while slowing down a bit, "over that way. Will destroy London if we don't stop him. He was changed into that monster in there." He points to the gentleman club after he points to the direction he just came from. "Going in to find clues and find out how to change him back. Lots of super-powered thugs in there too, unless they have fled."

"Bye"

With that, he keeps moving and dives into the destruction to try and find clues. Lots of HP into Detective Skill here. And if she attacks, take the damage and keep moving inside.


ooc: Dawns on me that her water will probably eliminate his fog is she wanted to attack him, just by adding more water to the fog and turning it into rain.

The water woman spluttered, shouting "Wait! You can't just... Tom?"

"GOT IT!"

Haunt spun his head round. The voice had sounded loud, in his ear! What the...?

"GEE, SURE IS FOGGY, YOU GOT A SMOKE MACHINE TUCKED IN YOUR COSTUME PAL?"

Haunt look around again. Someone right behind him? No.

Pushing on, he moved through the wreckage of the building, aware that it was still crumbling, burning in places, and being tackled by firefighters.

Then he realised that his fog might hamper their efforts, as well as allow those in the building to slip out before police could round them up if they were criminal types. Then of course there was the voice in his ear.

He was just about to address that when the sounds of battle came from the depths of the building. Part of the walls had fallen away, crumbling concrete all around. Dust rose all about.

Just then a body flew from the darkness, a man in suit with a thin trail of blood spiralling from him!

"WHOA! WHAT'S IN THERE?!" went the voice in his ear.

Haunt winced. The guy flying through the air had been punched or thrown and that suggested superhuman strength - those other guys he'd been fighting before Dr P showed up? That would make things trickier. Those thoughts flashed through his head even as he considered that saving the guy in the air might leave him vulnerable to attack by whoever was in there!

Turn himself into a giant catcher's mitt and catch the guy. Then access how seriously hurt he is.

Haunt scooped the fellow from the air with a giant white mitt and rested him down.

Looked like some kind of jumpsuit, dark blue. Weapons belt, comms, ski mask... special forces of some kind?

"HMMM. LOOKS GOVERNMENT. I THINK IT MIGHT BE SMITE, OR WHATEVER THEY CALL THEMSELVES THESE DAYS. NICE SAVE BY THE WAY." said the voice in his ear!

Slightly irritated, Haunt peered through his mist and into the ruins of the building. He could hear silenced gunfire, and distant cries. A battle was taking place! About to launch himself in, he also noticed another thing - the building was perilously poised to collapse! The damage it had sustained from Dr P's incredible strength had left it very unstable! A glance around revealed it might fall safely in one direction, but in any other it would flatten members of the emergency services, press and public! He couldn't delay though - it was clear every second counted in order to find any antidote his friend may... no, MUST have left. Dr P was a good man. he knew what would happen to him, so rather than let others suffer had taken the fall himself. His friend needed him, as did the people of London!

"WELL, YOU GOING IN THERE, SPOOK?"

"Who are you? Where are you," The Haunt asks a bit exasperated. This guy. whoever he was, was stealing his shtick of spooky guy. "And what can you do besides being invisible or speaking from a distance? I've got to find the antidote to save my friend and all evidence possible to bring these super-criminals to justice. And worry about the building falling and killing folks. So some help would be appreciated!"

"THE NAME'S TOM..."

"TOM THUMB!"



Despite 'growing' the man was only 6 inches or so high!

"I can fly, have amazing strength and I shrink!"

And he disappeared!

"PLUS I CAN SEE HEAT SOURCES AND OTHER STUFF. I FIGURED MOSQUITO WOULD MAKE PEOPLE COME OUT WITH COMMENTS ABOUT SWATTING ME SO CHOSE TOM THUMB. BIT LAME I KNOW." said the voice in Haunts' ear.

"I GUESS IF YOU ARE DOING WHAT YOU ARE SAYING YOU WANT TO I SHOULD TRUST YOU. PRIORITY IS GETTING PEOPLE OUT OF THAT BUILDING THOUGH, RIGHT?"

"Nice to meet you, Tom Thumb, I'm the Haunt. IF you are strong, then you get them out while I search for an antidote and clues to bring these guys down," the Haunt replies. "And if the building looks like it is going to collapse the wrong way, I will do my best to make sure it falls away from folks so keep the area clear where I can drop it."


actions: If TT agrees, then head out and search using HP to Detective skill. Also prepared to stretch my utmost, which I guess is HP too in order to stretch beyond normal, to "support" the building as I push it over into the clear area mentioned earlier. If he doesn't agree then will have to rethink what to do.


Guess he isn't an Austin Powers fan, otherwise he could have called himself Minime!

OOC Apologies for the late update. This week and last have been the busiest I've had at my current employers. It *should* get easier over the next few weeks as I have some time off...

"I'LL GET RIGHT ON IT!" came the loud yet tinny buzzing voice in Haunts ear. That could get annoying quick...

The White Clad Spectral Avenger moved with purpose through the shattered building. His friends rampage had destroyed whole floors, and the structural integrity of the place was in very real doubt!

He saw a number of coughing people moving through the smoke and didn't doubt for a minute that whilst they were patrons, they'd also probably be criminals. Even so, Haunt had a job to do, and he pointed to them the way out as he made his way deeper into the heart of the collapsing ruin. Water sprayed from sundered pipes, there was a strong smell of leaking gas and a number of fires had broken out. He didn't have long!

Then he heard distant cries for help! "Tom?" No answer, doubtless busy elsewhere. An ominous creaking as metal beams and floorboards buckled under the strain, and somewhere a loud CRASH! was heard.

Just then a BOOM! rang out somewhere in the building and it was followed by the RATATATATATA of gunfire! What now?

Haunt knew time was running out. He was practically invulnerable, and whilst he couldn't hold up the ruins of the building had no fear of it falling down on top of him. That said, there were people still in the ruins, somewhere a fight was taking place and he still had to search the lab for the antidote he knew his friend must have left. Dr P always had a backup plan, and would have known his friend would come rescue him, or at least hoped so. He'd taken the serum in order to stop the villains creating an army of super monster freaks with amazing strength who could ignore bullets, but had lost his humanity in the process!

That cry for help again! Stifled this time, sounding more urgent! And... a smell of gas! Using his Detective ability and common sense it was clear he had delve into the depths of the building, but if it collapsed completely all hope of finding the antidote would be lost!

Another BOOOM! RATATATATATAT! Grenades and machine guns? What on earth was going on? Had whoever it was doing the fighting gone mad? Fighting in a ruin with people trapped, leaking gas and ready to explode - or collapse - at any moment?

OOC Go down, deeper into the ruin, answer the call for help, shore up the building somehow or go see who is fighting?

Standing still for a few moments while he debated, The Haunt finally decided the cry for help was the biggest priority for the moment. He moved in that direction. Any gas pipes he passed on the way he simply crimped the ends of them to keep more gas from leaking out.

"Too bad there's not three or four of me," he muttered as he moved, "be a lot easier to take care of everything that needs taking care of."

Where Haunt could obviously smell gas he took a moment to crimp gas pipes closed but knew there were more buried under rubble.

This place was a bomb waiting to go off!

Tearing collapsed brickwork and concrete aside, ignoring the dust and fragments glancing off him, Haunt moved ever closer through the treacherous debris as it threatened to collapse. Listening, he moved ever more carefully and finally saw a hand - female by the looks of it - waving from underneath a fallen concrete beam. Her voice was weak, but she spluttered "Is someone there? Please... please help... I smell gas. My legs... I think they're broken! I can't feel... " she stifled a sob.

Just then Haunt heard another voice "Hey! HEY! Who's there? Get me out! Hey! I need help here! I'm bleedin' out! Whoever that is, get yer ass over here NOW!"

The voice was east end London cockney, gruff, demanding... It was an easy choice to help the lady in distress until the man added "Oy! Get over 'ere now, or I swear I'll blow this place ta kingdom come wi all this gas! Bring the place down on top over everyone! Get yer arse over ere now!"

Close by Haunt heard gunfire!

Shouts, and Haunt heard "Get the stuff! Get the notes!"

The smell of gas was suddenly very noticeable...

If possible, stretch out both arms and lift debris from both folks. IF not possible, ladies first then loudmouth.

ooc: Almost thought about turning him into a giant fan and blow away the gas but was afraid it would hit a spark and then blow the place up.

The smell of gas got much stronger when Haunt hefted the fallen brickwork in both places, stretching and barely feeling the weight thanks to his incredible strength!

"...bout time! Don't you know who I..." spluttered the man, dust covered in his suit and bloodied in places. He gaped at Haunt, then gulped. Haunt noticed him grimace as he tried to slip a hand inside his jacket, then thought better of it. "I'll give ya 10 grand ta get me outta here, right now."

That gunfire was getting louder and closer, and Haunt saw the young woman under the other pile of rubble. She was unconscious, and turning blue...

Another shout "Here! I got some..." RATATATATATAT!

What on earth was going on?

Then a crash!

"Who the ...?"

"Get 'im!"

RATATATATATATATA!

Haunt knew just one spark would light this whole place up! Were these people truly the lunatics they appeared to be?

"I gotta stop this somehow," the Haunt thought to himself. "These people, whoever they are, will probably wind up blowing us all to kingdom come! Now, do I try "reason" or "unreason"? The girl isn't breathing, she needs CPR now. Unreason it is!"

actions: Activate Aura of Fear, leaving the girl out of it, but not loudmouth. Put HP into range and effectiveness if such a thing can be done.

OOC First of all, apologies for the delay - don't know if you managed to catch it in the OOC post but a change of job AND a change of house - complete with no internet as of yet and a day off on a bank holiday where everything is closed and I can't sort anything out - has meant I'm somewhat frustrated. Exams this and the coming weeks, but need to find time to update to keep me sane!

As for Aura of fear, it attacks everyone separately with no penalty of multi attacks. instead, you may be better off reigning it in as you want the combatants, whoever they are, to flee the scene rather than stand transfixed in fear!

With that in mind I'll assume you use 5 APs of AoF instead of the full 9. That's because ordinary folk have 2-3 Aps of mental stats, maybe as high as 4 if they are trained or toughened. I'll also assume you pull your punch, as 'knockback' from a high roll may clobber them too.

Roll(2d10)+0: 8,10,+0 Total:18 Probably a good job.

AoF 5 + Roll 18 (23) vs TN 11 + OV 4 (15) = Success +4 Effect. Oh, that still bumps it up to 9. Doh. 9 EV vs 4 Mind +2 (pull punch) = 3 RAPs

The mentally tougher of whomever is fighting in the next few rooms shriek, drop their weapons and start to run!

Those of lesser mental fortitude, including the two in the room with Haunt, simply freeze in fear with white faces and in one case - that of the Gangster trapped under rubble - there's a horrible smell coming forth from him!

"Ah." thinks Haunt. There's such a thing as being TOO scarey. Still, the shooting had stopped, even if it meant he needed to scoop up petrified people

Moving rubble aside, mindful of sparks and anything that could set off the gas, he rescued the two in this room and moved to the next. There he found black suited military types in body armour, four of them, and they'd been blasting away at suited goons like the one Haunt had under his arm. Who smelled a bit.

There were four in the room and corridors nearby, and they'd certainly been effective, putting down - with lethal force - half a dozen suited goons.

No ID, military grade weapons. Maybe SAS or government types? It was hard keeping track of SMITE, SPRITE or DICE these days, what with government changes and cutbacks.

Haunt was still left with the problem of the notes Praetorious might have left. The gas was still leaking out. He had to be quick!

Looking about in what appeared to be labs of some kind, he figured it was here or nowhere, but the 'labs' covered a floor.

With a sigh Haunt knew this would only go one way. He had to make a decision. Rescue these people and get them out or search for the notes that his friend would have left, either on a memory stick in all this rubble or hastily scribbled handwritten notes. The latter most likely but he couldn't be sure. He didn't have enough time - this place was about to blow!

ooC: I'm getting ready to move myself. Getting a new TV as well, now a HD one, so that's going to play havoc with me for a bit. Moving on the 12th. Packing up every day after work.


I wonder, can I do both? Save folks and search? Use my stretching, maybe HP in lengthening my body, turning into kind of a conveyer belt to the surface, using one hand to place folks on the "belt", while stretching my neck and other hand to sift for clues us HP in Detective?

So folks will get dumped into a pile on the surface but I figure some kind of authority is up there now and could move them to safety.

Forming his body into a conveyor belt machine albeit with pincer machine arms and eyes, Haunt started to scoop the petrified people on even as he stretched his body to the limit to deliver them to the outside!

Again and again he moved through the rooms, then smelled gas stronger than any other! Time to get ou...



Haunt coughed and cleared rubble off himself. It took what felt like an age, but in reality only minutes to climb clear of the collapsed building with the use of his terrific strength. Considering that it would take a huge explosion of military proportions to even dent his skin, he wasn't perturbed by the fact a building had collapsed on top of him. He was bothered about the people he'd gotten out though - were they clear? It was too hard to see through the dust at first but extending his eyes on stalks and stretching them clear of the dust cloud allowed him to see... the dazed emergency services were dragging the petrified victims clear!

Breathing a sigh of relief Haunt realised that he'd lost the opportunity to get the chance to search for any cure that Dr Praetorius had left for...

Haunt was about to retract his eyes when he saw men in black pinstripe suits with bowler hats dragging clear the SWAT type troops and to plain black Range Rovers for extractions. Several of them were conferring. Morphing his eyes into binoculars, Haunt observed... A notebook.

Written in Dr Praetorius' handwriting!

"Finally! Hope that notebook helps," the Haunt mutters to himself.

turning on his fog, he moves closer, close enough to stretch his arm normally up over the heads of the group looking at the notebook. Then stretches his arm down into the group and attempts to snatch the notebook for the bowler-headed man.

"Sorry chaps," his spectral voice comes out from the fog, "but I have need of that to save the city! Cheerio!"

With the sudden fog swirling round Haunt gave a quip as he plucked the Notepad from the firm - but not firm enough - grip of the pinstripe suited man!

Immediately there was chaos, shouting, drawing of weapons and agents spreading out, looking for Haunt...

Who was already away, leaving the mist wreathed scene behind along with the chaos of the collapsed building and moving out of sight as wild shots rang out in the mist and caused more chaos as jittery police and special forces started shouting and spreading more confusion, wondering who was firing and why!

OOC Roll(2d10)+0: 5,9,+0 Total:14 + Int 8 (22) vs TN11 + OV6 (17). Success.

Haunt's heart sank when he saw a series of glyphs, marks and coded phrases in the code book. Then he recalled an afternoon with Praetorious at his home as the pair of them sat in his drawing room. Rush was trying to memorise lines for a play, Dr P was blathering on about a personal code based on his name and date of birth. With that in mind he stopped, stood on a flat rooftop, and studied the codebook. Hastily scribbled, with stains that could be blood... No! No time for that! He applied the codebreaker to the glyphs in the form of a stencil formed from his hand, then overlaid it on the page. The glyphs suddenly became words, chemical symbols and numbers.

For Dr P, very basic stuff and despite his lack of scientific skill, Haunt knew with only a few minutes in Dr P's lab he could take the listed ingredients, quick swirl in the mixer and...

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

Haunt whirled. Oh no.



The woman hovered in the air without visible means of support. Haunt looked about. His mist was still working, so how...?

"They call me Lady Luck, and you're has just run out, especially as my friends will be here in moments!"

"Listen very closely to me," The Haunt says within his fog, "if you haven't found out yet, a monster, who was a good man forced to transform into that thing, is tearing up London. This notebook holds the key to reversing the affect. I just decoded it and I'm off to make the cure."

"I don't have time to fight you and your friends over this. You can try to stop me, follow me or head over to where the fighting is hottest and try to contain the damage until I return. Your choice"

With that, the Haunt launches himself into the air without waiting for her reply, forming a futuristic jetpack on his back, since subconsciously he feels he will fly faster that way than with his normal angel wings. He then shapes his body into a more aerodynamic shape to try to reduce air friction to go faster.

actions: Heading to Doc P's lab as fast as he can. Will HP to flight help him get there faster? If so, spend a point or two on it. If Lady Luck attacks, he will do his best to suck up any damage and continue to the lab.