THE NEW VANGUARD! HAUNT Issue #8

Haunt steps up to the first locked door, glances at his finger and pokes it in the hole.

Resisting the urge to whistle nonchalantly he turned...

OOC Should be a cinch.

Dex 9 + Roll(6d12)+0: 12,2,12,8,6,7,+0 Total: 24 DOUBLE (Crikey!) +Roll(2d12)+0: 1,3,+0 Total:4 (that's more like it) Total 37 vs
OV2 + Roll(2d12)+0: 6,1,+0 Total:9

+7 EV (16) vs OV 2 = 14 RAPs. Yup.

With a quiet click it opens and he steps inside. Risking a quick click of the light on and off he catches a glimpse of a very large room full of wide long thin ish boxes. Televisions. Lots of televisions. Probably stolen. So far so small time. And so it went. Next, a room full of paintings and various artworks. Next, silver and gold items such as candlesticks and such as you'd find on Antiques Roadshow. Moving about, he checked more rooms. Similar stuff. Downstairs, more boxed goods all of the same type/spec (microwave ovens this time) and it became clear that this warehouse wasn't much for the sale of Carpets. That part was probably a front. One more floor to check... He crept down the stairs and peeked into the huge open plan warehouse floor. Ah yes, carpets. Usually of the swirly kind that few people want to buy these days (thankfully).

=========

Steeplejack placed an ear to the door and listened...

"...Tellin ya, these punks are LAFFIN at us! I ain't avvin it! They use kids, KIDS against us! My boys got a code, but when kids come against 'em wi knives what they gonna do? These ****ers need sortin art." said one.

There were voices in uproar, agreeing and disagreeing in equal measure.

"We gotta escalate things. Tellin ya." said another voice.

Another added "If ya can't beat em, join em."

Uproar again.

Finally a banging table, and a calm voice "RIGHT! ENOUGH! We DON'T do drugs. We DO protect them that's we're gettin money from. We bin doin' this fer a while an' we all know stayin under the radar is why we bin doin this fer so long. We bust heads, sure, but no one dies n we stay off the news. let them punks in the fancy cars an crappy music carry on paintin a target on their ass. Us? We get pushed, we push back. We draw a line. If they cross it? We send a message, one they won't ferget."

"What about masks?"

"Pah. Dats what am on about. Make em think we're small time. We ARE small time. We ain't greedy. We make enough, the neighbourhood gets some back. We shop local, we keep people safer'n the cops, cause they got bigger fish ta fry. Any time someone gets busted, they don't have enough on 'em ta make it stick. Take dis place. It ain't mine! I get busted, they find a stash of stuff and try to pin it on me... I rent downstairs ta sell carpets! I use upstairs ta hold meetins! It's all legal, all written darn. Everywhere else is locked up. Guy who owns dis place... No one's gonna find im. Why? Cause ee don't exist! He lives up ere in me noggin!"

"You know how much that lot make with their drugs?" came the reply.

There was silence, and quite a few disgruntled mutterings.

Haunt returned and reported on what he'd found. Stolen goods for the most part. No drugs. No guns. Small time, but plenty of it.

"As much as it pains me to let these vermin run loose," Haunt told Steeplejack, "we have bigger fish to fry.  But ... Alfie and his crew need to learn that they are not getting away Scott Free!  How about I enter through the door, spooky fog and spooky voice, subdue them with my Aura of Fear and drag Alfie out for a talk?  If they wind up to be more than simple crooks, then you come in and we bash 'em?"

ooc:  If Steeplejack is okay with this, then generate Fog, walk up the stairs, open door, do a nice "I AM THE HAUNT OF JUSTICE.  I HAVE COME FOR YOU!  NO CRIME IS BENEATH JUSTICE," in my spooky voice, then hit everyone in the room with Aura of Fear, figure out which one is Alfie grab him, close the door and head to the roof where Steeplejack can play good hero to my bad hero and we can question him. The fog should obscure everyone's vision as I think it is now big enough to cover the room easily.
'

OOC Assuming Steeplejack has no objection...

Aura of Fear 10 + Roll(2d12)+0: 12,4,+0 Total: 26 vs
Int 2 + (10 rolls...)
Roll(2d12)+0: 3,3,+0 Total:6 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 12,2,+0 Total: 22
Roll(2d12)+0: 6,8,+0 Total:14
Roll(2d12)+0: 9,5,+0 Total:14
Roll(2d12)+0: 3,9,+0 Total:12
Roll(2d12)+0: 12,3,+0 Total:15
Roll(2d12)+0: 8,2,+0 Total:10
Roll(2d12)+0: 12,3,+0 Total:15
Roll(2d12)+0: 5,12,+0 Total:17
Roll(2d12)+0: 8,11,+0 Total:19
Roll(2d12)+0: 2,9,+0 Total:11

ten freeze in fear, the other five...

Int 3 +
Roll(2d12)+0: 7,9,+0 Total:16
Roll(2d12)+0: 9,12,+0 Total:21
Roll(2d12)+0: 2,2,+0 Total:4 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 1,11,+0 Total:16
Roll(2d12)+0: 1,12,+0 Total:13
Roll(2d12)+0: 2,3,+0 Total:5

All frozen in fear!

Stepping into the room Haunt fills it with churning fog and bellows in his spookiest macbeth quoting voice while pouring on his Aura of Fear!

It has the desired effect! Tough guys used to getting their own way cower in terror, shrieking and curling up! This presents Haunt with a conundrum until he bellows "ALFIE ROTHMAN! JUDGEMENT IS AT HAND!" and gets an extra loud squeak from a good looking fellow who could have (in another life) been some kind of hunky fashion model. His cheeky chappy/dashing good looks are absent at the moment as he tries desperately to cling onto his dignity and not wet himself!

"I..I...I... w...w...was only gonna flog a few t...t...tellies!" he wails.

From experience of using it on normal (ish) types Haunt knows he has anywhere from minutes to an hour or more before these guys are able to move from the spot. Quite a few will have a few grey hairs in the morning as well...

With fog trailing behind he leaves the room with Alfie tooked under a ropelike arm that's coiled about him like a snake and leaves by the window. In moments he's on the roof with the fog all about them.

Steeplejack raises an eyebrow under the mask. Alfie doesn't look in any fit state to talk (he's terrified) and iron Lady might not appreciate her friend/contact/whatever being frightened out of his wits! Mind you, they ARE criminals and Toni would only turn a blind side so far. Bigger picture and all that...

OOC you have Alfie Rothman on the roof. Fog is blanketing the area around the building and most of the street... over to you!

Steeplejack/Good Cop now takes over.

DavidMcMahon wrote:Steeplejack/Good Cop now takes over.  

Steeplejack motioned Haunt away as if restraining him in some manner...

"Alife, I can call you Alfie can't I?" Steeplejack smiled, it was as friendly as smile as he could manage under the circumstances. Truth was Haunt's fear attack was actually quite something to behold. Grown men acting like 5-year-olds, who'd seen their worst nightmare arise from under the safe and cosy environment they took Alfie's place to be.

"Now Alfie, I know you're a busy man, doing busy man stuff, or whatever it is you plan to do with those TVs. But for me and my...friend" Again with the smile, no so friendly this time. "We've got some very simple questions. Questions that a good businessman like you will want to answer because it'll be good for business. OK"

Steeplejack wasn't one for theatrics, but maybe it was his new ally, he'd never admit it but he was secretly enjoying himself.

"Alfie we want to catch up with an old friend one Roberto Cortez, who sometimes likes to be known as El Chupacabra. Ever heard of him? We'd like to 'drop-in' on him if you get my meaning." Once again he looked to Haunt with a conspiratorial wink, before turning back to Alfie, gently straightening out his clothes and generally being congenial as the words sank in and he gave Alfie time to find his voice.

OOC: Ok hopefully we'll get somewhere. I won't mention Toni, as I don't want this to come back to her in a bad way. Best keep her out of it, besides this might make him look more favourably on her if he fears Haunt etc.

Sj

The Haunt backs away to the edge of the roof while the conversation goes on. He keeps the Fog up to help keep it private but scans the skies and ground as the talk continues. Wouldn't do for some special police or the Advent or some hero to show up unexpectedly.

As Haunt kept an eye out Alfie eyed him nervously... He was sweating freely and his trousers had a dark patch that was slowly spreading...

"Just... keep him away! Cortez? Cortez... yeah. He's a scumbag. Goon for hire. Some of the drug lords got a pile of cash together and he went round kickin' the **** outta my people. Wanted to send a message. We're old school. We have a code. We try ta keep shootas out of it but when you're up against a super? What good is a shooter? Might as well bring a pea shooter." he spluttered. His eyes were wild but he was trying to hold it together.

"Tell ya what... you give Cortez a kickin, send HIM a message... an I'll tell ya where he is. pen... pen..." he muttered, mopping his brow as he looked about and tried not to look at Haunt.

He wrote an address on the back of a business card. "I did some lookin inta it to get us own back on him but he's holed up in a warehouse on an industrial estate with some others. More supers. They are gettin' a gang together. Made me change my plans. One? We'll have a go. Frankie nine fingers has a grenade and we was thinkin' it might soften him up, set some dogs on him, nail guns, knuckle dusters... give im a good goin over after softenin im up. But a group on em?" He looked at Steeplejack then at Haunt. "You two are bad ass, but word is this group are a bunch o big itters. Too big for us. We ad ta take our licks an look bad. Hence the meetin. Need a plan, but if you two... and maybe some others... You can take down a bunch of big itters. Must be outstandin stuff on them. Just... don't tell em ow ya know where ta find em..."

OOC there's no sign of the alarm being raised as yet...

"Seeking Justice cares nothing for numbers," the Haunt intones in his spooky voice. "I let you off with this warning, reform or I will visit you again."

He looks to see if Steeplejack has any other questions or words he wants to share, ready to move on when SJ is.

Alfie shrieks and shies back... "I... I know people! You are supposed to be good guys! Not..."

He held his hands in his face, desperately trying to fight the overwhelming fear that kept him petrified. He couldn't understand what was happening and collapsed in a heap, face covered and weeping.

Haunt considered the words. A group of bad guys and 'big hitters' apparently. The two of them might be enough... or they might get their teeth kicked in! His often partner Yeoman could hold his own in a fight but was still in France as far as he knew. Maybe he could get some message to him and get him to fly over ... though that would light up the Advent sensors like a Christmas tree.

Maybe Steeplejack knew some heroes who could help.

OOC I'll try to post a link of the (now) ancient Who's Who that applied to the original reality the characters were in (before their dimension hopping body changing time travelling adventures began). In Steeplejacks reality he was a member of the Executive and knew a number of the Lore Knights (Ghost Knight, Wraith, Hurler and a bunch of others). The Who's Who lists a whole pile of other heroes who might or not be available - you'd have to suggest and we'll go from there.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7xkqqc4bvszmo2i/Whos%20who.pdf?dl=0

As mentioned all this stuff is pretty ancient. I can't even access the mediafire account any more to add stuff as I no longer have that email address.

Oh yeah, we are going somewhere with this. You need two time stones, Cortez (supposedly) has one and someone else has another. With those you can go back to Thoth and he can do his hand wavey thing to get you going back through time to thwart the plans of ADVENT. That brings up another question... when moving back through time stay as the characters are or adopt a new form as some of your powers don't get transferred and maybe new ones appear in their stead... Also happy for suggestions as to the first time hop era. I was thinking gangbusters prohibition era or the wild west but I'm happy to go with whatever comes up. Anything up to the Roman era where they first conquer Britain is good

Oh yeah, we are going somewhere with this. You need two time stones, Cortez (supposedly) has one and someone else has another. With those you can go back to Thoth and he can do his hand wavey thing to get you going back through time to thwart the plans of ADVENT. That brings up another question... when moving back through time stay as the characters are or adopt a new form as some of your powers don't get transferred and maybe new ones appear in their stead... Also happy for suggestions as to the first time hop era. I was thinking gangbusters prohibition era or the wild west but I'm happy to go with whatever comes up. Anything up to the Roman era where they first conquer Britain is good Smile



ooc: I was kind of thinking instead of going back as ourselves, maybe going back and inhabiting the bodies of our ancestors of that time period? Using any powers, skills or abilities that they might have or at least using our power points to give them any such things? That might be too complicated as we would have to make new characters for each time period. Not that I am opposed to that but might slow things down too much. there I am a 14 year old boy and with the shout of a magic word, I become ....

Or maybe any tech we take with us would not work once we got back to a time period that the tech didn't exist in or some reasonable facsimile thereof. In the Haunt's case, that would be his Aura of Fear and his Fog, they come from circuits in his costume. Though he could substitute smoke bombs for Fog and scary noisemakers for Aura of Fear but wouldn't be as strong. But that would also mean that the Advent would also have the exact same problems with tech we would and would be trapped in the past for that reason, so various missions were sent in the past one-way, to live out their lives as they could after completing their missions or not.

I like the Prohibition Era and the Wild West. Would throw in the King Arthur era, maybe a Robin Hood type era and WW2 again [as new heroes]. Heck, the Great war and we are those daring young men in their flying machines! Maybe bounce around the world as well as time? Hit the Inca and Aztec periods before or during the Spanish finding and conquering them? China when the Great Wall was being built? Spain when the Muslims were trying to conquer it and the days of El Sid? Japan during the Age of the Samurai when it was closed off to foreigners?

Too bad we don't go to the mythical age of Greece when Demi-gods and heroes existed.

Admin wrote:OOC There's another file to glance at:

EDIT: Ugh. I clicked to try and it's really spammy with ads. I'll try again.

UKChampions as of 2015 but will do for now

It's knocking on for 5 years old so some may be around, others have left etc but this is the UKs Premier superhuman team as of the game time...

EDIT AGAIN: Class of Superhumans sort of works out like:

500-1000HP (in character creation terms) Class 1 -2 STONE FIST and JADE HOOD (remember them from our try out DC Heroes game started 9 years ago?)
1000-1750HP Class 2-3 e.g. STEEPLEJACK and IRON LADY
1751-2500 Class 3-4 e.g. YEOMAN, HAUNT and FROSTBITE (lower range)
2501-3500 Class 4-5 e.g. MAJESTIC, LIONHEART
3501+ Class 5 e.g. ADJUTANT, SILVER SENTINEL, THUNDER WOMAN, EVILHEART

OOC: Ok sorry for not replying I don't seem to get notifications as I do with the other list, so I will manually check this as I check the other way to keep up to date. Going to have to be a brief reply for now, as very busy.

1. I agree with Dave about periods of time, I'd also like to keep a semblance of my powers if you read the recent Spiderman comics where they brought them across from the multiverse they all had the same powers but depending on which period you had Spidey Noir with guns, Spider Lady, who had mechanical arms, etc, so I'd like to go with some facilimie so as to make it easier.

2. As regards recruiting new heroes to helps us, I'll have to look over the file, but happy to be guided by you in that. As you'll end up having to re-roll them up and whatnot.

3. Otherwise happy to get on leaving poor Alfie in a pile. But Sj will reassure him that despite his ways and means, these guys will be taken care of. I kinda want to leave him with something good from the big scary shake-up he has had from Haunt.

Sj

The pair moved on, leaving the mess that was Alfie in a heap on the roof. Fog covered their passing and by the time that faded they were long gone.

Steeplejack line swung, wondering if they needed to call on other heroes to help. Haunt flew on angel wings glad to have his powers back and hopeful that their combined power would be enough to get to Cortez through a band of super powered 'Big Hitters'. He was a little bit out of the 'scene' with regards the movers and shakers on the metahuman front in Britain having been in France for a year or so.



According to Alfie the warehouse used by these people with Cortez was away from the others. This late at night (it was after midnight) there was no one about but lights appeared to be on in the warehouse in question.

The pair hung back. If this lot were any good they'd have posted a lookout. Steeplejack was a world class thief, Haunt pretty darn good. They could try sneaking up, try contacting heroes (see the last file I posted a link to and assume the Southern chapter of the UKChampions is the one to refer to) to back them up or perhaps pile in like a bull in a china shop....

Admin wrote:The pair hung back. If this lot were any good they'd have posted a lookout. Steeplejack was a world class thief, Haunt pretty darn good. They could try sneaking up, try contacting heroes (see the last file I posted a link to and assume the Southern chapter of the UKChampions is the one to refer to) to back them up or perhaps pile in like a bull in a china shop....

Steeplejack motioned to Haunt and outlined their options.

"Ok there may be some of the old crowd still running around, and indeed some new ones that have slipped under the radar. I can outline some that I know off or have had a loose connection with. And we can either decide to go get some backup or storm the castle and take what chances we may? This Cortez sounds like he might be trouble, and trouble attracts. So my suggestion is we might like to at least see if anyone is around in answer to any hail we put out."

Steeplejack briefly outlined a few heroes he knew might work, as he counted them off on his fingers.

"Lets see Adjutant, Nah. Stonehenge dependable muscle. Crystal Queen bit brittle for my liking, Bombardier, now solid stand up sort of man, he'd make a solid asset. Starlight - cute, not even sure if she is in this galaxy anymore. Major Oak bit stiff - pardon the bad pun. But good in a battle. Majestic, he is a big hitter, not sure where we'd get ahold of him. Maybe the others might know. Then there is..."

Steeplejack stared off for a moment thinking perhaps of something more. He snapped out of it and added, "Moongirl. Moongirl, yes how powers at their peak are impressive, just depends on the moon. Hah. Anyway..." he added moving on swiftly, "We might be able to find a contact someone who knows someone. Just don't know how quick we'd get an answer, back from them. However, you never know, we might even find someone out on patrol!"

Turning back to Haunt he looked questioningly at him. "This is your gig, I got dragged into so as far as I am concerned your opinion here is as good as my own, what do you think we ought to do now?"

Sj

"Extra help is always appreciated," the Haunt mused, "if we can get them here fast enough. My biggest concern is "Do we have time to wait?" The Advent has already or very soon will be going back in time to eliminate us. We just do not know how much time we have left here. Minutes? Hours? Days? We just don't know."

He thinks about it for a bit more.

"See if you can get anyone here in the next ... oh, say ... 90 minutes. After that, we should go in and do what we can. I have a few contacts but they are over a year old and I don't know if they are still around or not. I will see if I can get in touch with them as well and see if they can get here in that time frame."

ooc: Haunt is thinking of those new heroes who helped out in the Battle of London that he had freed and set up contact numbers with. They may be too low powered for this but at the very least, they could be watch the perimeter and maybe delay any fleeing felons we want to talk to.

DavidMcMahon wrote:"See if you can get anyone here in the next ... oh, say ... 90 minutes.  After that, we should go in and do what we can.

Steeplejack nodded...

OOC: Ok is there anyway to contact these guys, other than looking around for them, does he have any secure numbers or anything?

Sj

Admin wrote:OOC Steeplejack will have a contact number for the UKChampions as he'll have been invited to join them on several occasions and has a standing invitation even though he's semi retired. Even though Steep isn't a big hitter as such, they figure the more the merrier and any old Exec or Lore Knight types are welcome so long as they aren't too 'out there'. British Bulldog is too off the grid and not four colour enough for them. This worlds Wraith would have told them to shove it, because he's mardy, etc. Other members of the Lore Knights/Exec may answer the call too, but Justin St Johns is long since retired to run his multi million pound estates and empire/plus he has various roles in the government with regards Supers. Steep could call him, but it IS after midnight, so bear that in mind when you call anyone! You can always leave it till daybreak...

David I'll take a look back in the 'London gets stomped' adventure to see who you're referring to. Most got eaten, swatted, splatted, smacked around or humiliated by Monster Dr P if I recall...

OOC: Great he'll text if anyone is awake they'll pick up that way. After all, they are supers, what else do they do at night save patrol or smack bad guys, or brood ;-) He'll give them the address, and add his own little emoji Sj and smokestack etc. See if anyone takes the bait.

Sj

ooc:  It was a group of beginning low powered heroes who had been caught and were going to be experimented on that he rescued when trying to rescue Doc P.  I figure after a year that they might not be as low powered and certainly are no longer beginners.  

Haunt fished through his phone as well. The pair of them looked like teenagers as they scrolled and messaged frantically.

Messages sent, all they could do was wait...



Lady Luck was one of the heroes who'd helped Haunt gather the elements required to find a serum to transform Dr Praetorius back into his ordinary self...

"I remember you." she said quietly as she hovered in the air addressing the pair of the heroes. "Both of you! You're Haunt, I helped you last year in the giant monster mess. And you... wow! I recognise you from the files.. Steeplejack! One of the Executive!"

She landed and rushed forward to shake hands with the pair. "I was on deputy monitor duty and sent out a call to some others to get here to help you. The UKChampions have their hands full at the moment. There might be... oh uh, I better not say. Anyway. Some should be answering the call. I, uh, also rung a few friends."

Unable to keep the grin off her face and clearly viewing Steeplejack as some kind of legendary veteran, it was clear the young heroine was eager to help. She tried to compose herself. "So! What have you been doing since I saw you last Haunt? And uh, Steeplejack... when did you come out of retirement?"

Just then the sound of thudding footsteps made them all turn. Lady Luck said "Aha! I need to get back to monitor duty... I left Rockpile in charge and she keeps breaking stuff... But you are in good hands here! We have..."

"Pixiefire!"

"Girder!"

"Urm... Bruiser."


She was subdued at the last. With a nervous glance as the big man landed on the roof she whispered "Sorry. He was on call and I couldn't really pass on using him again without him moaning. He's good in a fight but uh... watch him. He's a good guy, but ... uh... a loose cannon."

The three, including the diminutive Pixiefire, stood ready and raring to go, flitting about leaving a sparkling trail as she flew. Girder looked very nervous, but was smiling and her 6'6" height rivalled Bruisers, who scowled and looked like this was below him.

Bruiser spoke up "I'm only here 'cause someone said a bad guy needs is ead kickin in."

Girder muttered "Uh, hi. I.. uh.. um. Girder. That's me." she said, the shy girls scottish accent soft and lilting.

Pixiefire squeaked. No one could quite understand what she said.

Lady Luck turned to them. "You represent the UKChampions. Bruiser you know what that means. Ladies, you'll do great. Haunt and Steeplejack here will take the lead. Bruiser, you understand?"

Silence.

"Bruiser?"

"Yeah yeah whatever."

Lady Luck rolled her eyes and gave Haunt and Steeplejack a glance. "Right! I'd best get back to monitor duty! Hope Rockpile hasn't smashed the place up! Steeplejack, look after the newbies! They can learn a lot from you and have great power, just lack experience. Haunt, good to see you again." She flew off with a wave into the night.

Bruiser snarled, punched a fist into his hand and growled "Right, where's these tosspots?"

Just as the Heroes were about to answer, a rasping voice spoke from the shadows on the rooftop. Everyone spun and Bruiser snarled "I'm gonna kick yer head in!" as a man in dark clothes faded into view.



"Idiot." rasped the dark clad man.

He ignored the advancing Bruiser and spoke to Steeplejack. "I thought you'd retired." To Haunt he added "Nice hat." Steeplejack recognised the hero/outlaw Wraith. Haunt had heard of him. He regularly crossed the line when dealing with evil types. He was vilified in the press and by authority figures but the Police appreciated his help at street level as he regularly helped them out, only to be ordered to arrest him by their bosses.

Walking across the roof towards Haunt and Steeplejack he turned as Bruiser swung a punch...

OOC Dex 10 + Roll(6d12)+0: 12,11,12,8,8,12,+0 Total: 24 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 12,1,+0 Total: 37 (47 total) vs
Dex 9 + Fluid Form 13 + Roll(2d12)+0: 7,10,+0 Total: 39

+4 EV (to 13) vs RV18. No damage.

Bruiser smashed a fist through the newcomers head! His blow was deadly accurate, but the powerful impact simply seemed to swish through the dark hooded form as if he were made of some kind of dark matter/fog/gunk that reformed near instantly! Bruiser fell flat on his face and grunted as he rose. Instantly Girder and Pixiefire ran to settle/restrain their team mate!

Wraith ignored them and spoke to Steeplejack. "Like I said. Idiot. I've been watching this place for a while. Five supers and one they took hostage. Cortez. They are beating him up, trying to get information. All bad ones and need sorting out. You need to beware. One of them is like me. Magic."

"Oooh!" squeaked Pixiefire, squeaking as loud as she could. "I can see magic! And ... oooh! You ARE magic!"

Wraith glanced at her then back at Steeplejack. "You were in the Executive. Government sponsored do gooders but hamstrung by playing by the rules. We Lore Knights were more bothered about doing the right thing. Still, we were on the same side, still are. Not if you believe the tabloid press lies though."

He stood expectant, wondering whether the heroes would accept him or try to apprehend him. Behind him Bruiser spat "He's wanted! We need to bring him in!" whilst Girder restrained him in a full nelson.

OOC Crikey. That took a while. Four full characters fleshed out, drawn up. Five bad guys fleshed out, drawn up. The shortest part of the process was this post which took an hour

Wraith ignored them and spoke to Steeplejack. "Like I said. Idiot. I've been watching this place for a while. Five supers and one they took hostage. Cortez. They are beating him up, trying to get information. All bad ones and need sorting out. You need to beware. One of them is like me. Magic."

"Oooh!" squeaked Pixiefire, squeaking as loud as she could. "I can see magic! And ... oooh! You ARE magic!"

Wraith glanced at her then back at Steeplejack. "You were in the Executive. Government sponsored do gooders but hamstrung by playing by the rules. We Lore Knights were more bothered about doing the right thing. Still, we were on the same side, still are. Not if you believe the tabloid press lies though."

He stood expectant, wondering whether the heroes would accept him or try to apprehend him. Behind him Bruiser spat "He's wanted! We need to bring him in!" whilst Girder restrained him in a full nelson.



"If everyone is done fooling around, shall we get down to business," The Haunt says in his spooky voice, "if not, perhaps a taste of ... FEAR and doing this mission in messy smelly brown pants will help?"

"For those who do not know me, I am the Haunt, Wraith do you have any more information on the supers and their powers? Cortez is the one Steeplejack and I wish to ... converse with. He has something we need in order to save the world from the Advent."

Wraith turned to Haunt, and the pair exchanged spooky stares.

"At least someone round here has a brain." he muttered. Glancing at Bruiser he said "Let him go. He can't lay a hand on me anyway."

Girder looked uncertain and Pixiefire flitted about leaving her sparkly rainbow trail. Neither looked sure.

"Go on. It's fine." added Wraith.

Bruiser struggled free of Girders grip and span on her "We're supposed ta be on t'same team you *****!" he spat! He turned again and moved towards Wraith ... who vanished!

Pixiefire squeaked.

"Wha...? Where?" spluttered Bruiser. "What didya say shrimp?"

"I said..." started Pixiefire "He's still here."

Wraith appeared behind Bruiser who swung with all his might but simply moved through the vigilante as if he were an apparition! Crashing to the floor again Bruiser snarled "Fight me damn you!" Haunt was about to go full on spooky which Wraith recognised and waved off, adding "I've been doing this years. You're a bully and a brute, and only a harsh lesson will put you in your place."

He suddenly enveloped both himself and Bruiser in a sphere of darkness!

"Hey! What gives! Why can't I... THWACK!"

OOC Dex 9 + Roll(5d12)+0: 4,3,6,3,1,+0 Total:6 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 7,11,+0 Total:24 (33) vs
OV0 + Dev Attack 8 + Roll(2d12)+0: 12,6,+0 Total:26

+4 EV (to 17) vs RV 11 -12 (Dev Attack) = 18 RAPs. Bruiser is on zero Body!

The darkness fades and Bruiser is sparked out! Instantly Pixiefire and Girders hackles rise, and things look like to heat up very very fast!

Then Bruiser groans and sits up, rubbing his head. Already his blacked out eye is fading. "You hit hard. Luckily I heal just as fast!"

"Impressive." admitted Wraith then he held out a solid hand for Bruiser to pull on to get to his feet... People tensed... And Bruiser took it, getting up and rubbing himself down. "What?" he snarled at the two UKChampions as he stood slightly apart with arms crossed. Wraith watched him, nodded, then turned to Haunt and Steeplejack.

"A newly formed mercenary group called 'the Chaos Cabal' is in that building. Reasonably heavy hitters, some have been active before. I've poked about. They are making their name as powerful enforcers,  thugs for hire and will try any job so long as the pay is right. Sometimes they want money, other times drugs, jewellery, gadgets, even the prestige of having done over a 'named' hero. They knocked around a few Scottish superheroes last month and put Caber in hospital." explained Wraith. "In Glasgow he's a well know good guy and didn't deserve the kicking he got from this lot, so I started making... enquiries. Followed a few leads."

"Busted some 'eads?" mumbled Bruiser.

"Yes." said Wraith with a glance. "Here."

He handed out a small business card.



"You have:"

Killer Fog - turns into a cloud of poison gas
Bomberjack - he blows stuff up
Sorceress - Tricky customer. She uses Magic, and isn't bad at it.
Osmium - Tough guy, Scrapper. You'd like him Bruiser.
Supreme - don't be fooled by the all american sent from another world to save mankind image. Grapevine says he's from another dimension, an exiled Prince if you believe it. He's powerful, fast, and hard to beat. He's one to watch.

"None of them have been around enough for me to get a proper handle on what they can do or how well they do it. Inside they have Roberto Cortez also known as El Chupacabra. A small time metahuman thug, He's been bounced about by a few people, myself included at one time or another. In the old days I didn't have the means to go toe to toe with tough guys..."

"You do now!" admitted Bruiser.

"Correct. But here's the thing. Cortez is a crook, a small time player. He's a loser. So why is it important for this 'Chaos Cabal' to beat the snot out of him, and what are they after?" rasped Wraith.

He turned to Haunt and Steeplejack. "I'm suspecting you two know."

Admin wrote:Wraith turned to Haunt, and the pair exchanged spooky stares.

He turned to Haunt and Steeplejack. "I'm suspecting you two know."

OOC: Turn my back for a minute and suddenly there is 20 minutes of reading to catch up on. Oh my, shame I couldn't reply earlier.

Steeplejack looked at Haunt and let him once again take the lead. He knew more about the threat from this group called the Advent and it was his shout. But a hard stare at Bruiser gave him pause for thought. Although he towered over Sj. Jack had a presence, Wraith to, people that had been around a while kind of just had that easy acceptance with being who they were and not needing to show off did.

"We're in deep on this one, we've got all sorts of nasties and it looks like these guys might well be after the same thing. That can only mean one thing..." Steeplejack nodded to Haunt, both knew that they Advent were likely shutting off all possible routes for others to jump back and stop them before things had gone too far. That only meant the pressure was on to get back and get back quickly. Never before had it seemed that in order to save time, they had to first catch up on it.

"Wraith, I know you like to colour outside the lines, but let's play this one safe quick and simple. We need to get those guys apart from our erstwhile target before he needs a hospital and we run out of time. Besides if the Advent is behind this they may have back up. I suggest we hit hard and fast, this isn't your friendly bank job or some sort of science project gone awry. Look I seem to have have been put in charge by Lady Luck, let's hope that means something here. We go in, in teams, of two, Wraith and Pixie take the back. Bruiser you and Girder make an entrance when you get the signal. And as to what the signal is, well Haunt has a handy way to make the bad guys have their worst nightmare, whilst awake. When you see them cry for their dummies hit them hard and fast. Haunt and I will come in from above. Get Cortez and leave you guys to have the collar and get the PR, fair enough?"

OOC: Assuming all are ok with this Dave say if you want to direct this any other way, Sj is suggesting a way forward for the team, but chip in buddy.

With a nod to the team, Sj added, "Stay together, watch each other's backs, we'll do what we can to support once we've got Cortez out of trouble, he is the one they want and might well try to escape with if they can. Any questions? No, I didn't think so."

With a final glance to Haunt in case he wanted to add anything, he leapt off to get into position.

Sj