Prof Wynde and Wonder Man TEAM UP! Issue #1

Getting up and stretching, loosening his muscles for action, Prof. Wynde watches the robots more than the human guards. Taking a risk since the guards told him not to talk AFTER he was supposed to sit down, he remained standing and now scratching his head under his turban. "So ... is that rubble that everyone is trying to remove is for digging us out of the cave-in to the surface or digging further down into the base?"

He is mentally preparing to use Wind Blast since that is his only attack that will affect both human and robot guards, though he has worries that it will be strong enough to take down the robots.

The guard frowned, glanced at the ground, at Prof Wynde, then his buddy and shrugged. "There was a man they were looking for, dancing about, punching holes in the planes and tanks, tearing the place up... bullets wouldn't stop him, we tried grenades..."

The other interjected. "Then some more strange dressed people came in, including a white skinned giant. Things got crazy. One of them blasted something from his hands, missed the guy in red and detonated a fuel storage tank... then things went REALLY crazy. The guy in red started rescuing some of us and shouting to get out. I think. He wasn't so bad after all I guess."

"Then the white guy and others attacked him even as the roof was coming down and... Now they are trying to rescue others in there and get to their equipment and things. This place is a plane and bomb factory. We don't know much about it."

"Should we tell him this stuff?"

"He's our prisoner. What can he do? Where can he go? We have guns."

"True. But he might say stuff. That we were bad guards or something."

"You're not going to say that are you? We'd have to gag you."

Prof Wynde blinked. These two must be the worst security guards since Laurel and Hardy...

OOC Here's me trying to rattle out as many replies as I can before the girlfriend gets round (and the evening begins with beer and telly, not the NYE we expected...) and I got wrapped up in reading the old posts back from when we started out, with Kitten, Darkshadow, Stormwarden, Frostbite (of course), Putty (who became Haunt), Yeoman (who Frosty has known since his earliest superheroic days, though of course that was a different reality Yeoman) and others.

We've been on here 10 years and a year before that on RPG Beat/Endless Flight/whatever he wanted to call it after messing us about forum (think the guy runs RPGPub now, which is fine, but I'm more than happy for the home we have here) and I just want to say to you (Dave E) and Dave M how grateful I am to have you as players over the last 10-11 years. We've all been through thick and thin over the years and this game has been a constant in my life I can enjoy and fall back on when everything else (e.g. marriage break up, various job changes and several financial disasters etc) threatened to drive me nuts!

Hope you had a nice xmas and here's to a better 2021 to us all. I'll try to update as many of the game posts as I can in my dwindling remaining time but if I can't update, it will probably be Saturday and from there ramping up to (fingers crossed) every day.

Cheers, Paul

OOC: DANGGIT! You've written me into a corner here, Paul. I now like these two guys. They remind me in many ways of Sgt. Schultz from Hogan's Heroes. Gotta figure out some way to get around these two without hurting them.

Hogan's Heroes info.
The character of Schultz is a bumbling, but ultimately lovable German guard at a World War II prisoner-of-war camp. The camp is used by the prisoners as a secret staging area for sabotage and intelligence-gathering. Schultz is forever becoming indebted to the prisoners, which they use to the Allies' advantage for their continuing espionage work. His main goal is to avoid any trouble with his superiors, which often leads him to ignore the clandestine activities of the prisoners. (On those occasions, he often used his catchphrase "I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know nothing!" As the series went on, this became simply "I know nothing. Nothing"!).

Prof. Wynde thought it over a bit. He could try blasting his way out but Wonderman seemed to be trapped below so maybe it would be better to wait until after he found his partner before doing so.

"Say, since you are rescuing folks, I guess it isn't against the Geneva Convention for me to help out. So why not let me help you dig them out?"

ooc: muscle power, not any magic to be used if the offer it taken.

The guards look at each other. One gives a gallic shrug. The other lights up a cigarette, takes a drag and passes it to Prof Wynde.

"If you behave."

"And help."

"Yes, and help, then we might get praised for getting you to help."

With the pair of them shrugging then nodding they led Prof Wynde over to the fallen rocks from the cave in.

"You two! What is the prisoner doing here?" asked an important looking man in technicians clothes.

"He's helping move rocks."

"And he's behaved so far. Seems alright."

"He's a prisoner you idiots!"

"Well we're getting the prisoner to help move rocks!"

The three of them turned to see Prof Wynde move alongside half a dozen men who were trying to roll a rock. He wrapped his arms around it.

"Don't put your back out." said one of 'his' guards.

"My uncle did that once. He was sat on his backside for months. Mind you, he was pretty much sat around before he put his back out too." replied his other guard.

Prof Wynde stood with the rock in his arms. It must have weighed nearly a ton and there were gasps of amazement as he turned and staggered with it to one side, setting it down. The gasps of amazement turned to joy as several of the workers saw a pocket of rocks with several trapped workers inside! They were unconscious and injured but all three seemed to be alive!

After that there was much hand shaking and back slapping and standing back in astonishment as Prof Wynde moved rocks time and again to clear the place faster than even thirty of the work shy workers could. The hero scowled, getting the idea
they'd been looking for an excuse to get out of the work.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" barked an officer in uniform pointing a pistol at Prof Wynde then gasping at the dirt covered hero as he wobbled about with car sized rocks whilst the rest of the men shovelled and moved smaller rocks.

"We figured the prisoner could help." said guard A.

"And he has." said Guard B.

"A lot." said A. "Even those strange guards that don't say anything, smoke or talk about girls can't move what he's moving."

"What's this?" called out a technician.

Prof Wynde glanced over... a hand jutting from the rubble... with a ring on a finger!

ooc: I'm so liking those two. I'm wondering if I can capture them, take them to the US and have them renounce Mussolini and then become his two bumbling sidekicks.
And me and Batman, ultimate human strength of SIX!!!!


"What's this?" called out a technician.

Prof Wynde glanced over... a hand jutting from the rubble... with a ring on a finger!



"Let's find out," Professor Wynde says causally. Doing a quick check to see if he can feels a pulse on, hopefully, Wonderman's wrist, then pulling the rocks off of him.

There IS a pulse... albeit a weak one. It appears there are limits to even Wonder Man's astounding endurance!

Moving rocks revealed an arm draped in torn red ragged clothing... and blood.

The Italian workers, previously set on to build, service and equip bombers that could launch from here to any point in Europe, were now digging, hefting rocks and moving rubble aside.

Trying to remain casual yet fearing what he might find Prof Wynde lifts/rolls a large shard of rock to the gasps of the workers around him... who suddenly start moving back.

A gap clears in the workers and the two Advent robots stand with weapons pointed at Prof Wynde!

"You. Prisoner. Why are you not restrained?" asked one in a monotone voice.

"He's helping us dig." said Guard A "Look how much he's ... gurrrrk!" A robotic hand thrust out to grab the guard by the throat and dangle him a foot off the floor, legs thrashing!

The workers moved back, nervous now especially as the two Advent Robot guards had those powerful looking cannons they carried in their hands.

With Guard A thrashing impotently one of the Advent robots stepped closer to Prof Wynde. "On your knees prisoner. Hands behind your head." and it levelled a gun at him!

"Hey! You ever hear of the Geneva Convention," Prof. Wynde yells out, "I'm just providing humanitarian aid! So why would you stop me from doing that?"


ooc: Probably can't bluff the robots but I have to wonder at their programming and if the observed niceties of war convention was programmed into them or not. IF not, maybe I can get the Italians on PW's side and have them help him deal with the robots. IF that doesn't work, then he will do as commanded and hope that Wonderman's regeneration will kick in and he will revive soon.

"Kneel, hands behind head. Comply or be pacified." stated the robotic guard in a monotone.

"He's helping us!" said Guard A.

"Yeah, he's very strong." Guard B.

"And he found someone alive." A.

"Plus that Turban is really unusual. I'm wondering if the girls in the local village would like it." B.

"You think?" A

"It can't help but try. Did you see the girl with the big..." B

"ENOUGH!" said the Officer, who turned with a pistol pointed at Prof Wynde. He clicked the hammer and pointed at Prof Wynde's chest. "On the floor, hands behind head!"

Guard A and B gaped at each other but wisely kept their mouths shut, though Guard B was eyeing up Prof Wynde's turban...

"OK, OK, I'm complying," Prof Wynde says, getting into the demanded position.

ooc: Will wait and see where this goes for now.

With Advent robotic guards on either side and the officer behind him, pistol held at his head, Prof Wynde could only watch as the workers laboured at the mountain of rubble that was pinning his friend down.

It took an age, but finally they started dragging at his arms to pull out a half naked battered and bruised form. One of the workers knelt. "His injuries are grave, but ... he's still alive! How can someone survive such a catastrophe?"

"Look!" said another, and pointed to where the super villains who'd entered the mountain were lying in the rubble.

"Someone must have held up the rocks just enough to prevent them from being crushed!" said one.

"Someone held up a mountain? That's insane!"

"Insane? Even after what we have seen these last few weeks?"

"Enough! Dig them out!" barked the officer.

Prof Wynde looked at his friend. Wonder Man was in a bad way. He could heal very quickly but the injuries he'd sustained would be more than enough to kill any ordinary man. At the very least he would have broken bones. Who knew how long those would take to heal?#

"This one needs taking to a cell." said the officer to a robotic guard.

A metal hand grabbed Prof Wynde and hoisted him up then started to drag him away...

Prof Wynde went along quietly. He wanted to make sure his pal, Wonderman, was up and ready for action before he did anything further.

Prof Wynde was taken through the underground complex to a corridor where doors set into the walls suggested it was a prison block of sorts.

Sturdy, thick doors, nothing to sit on save a bucket which was presumably for the toilet, and sat in darkness.

BANG!

The door closed and CLUNK! Locked.

The corridors had been too perfectly cut, carved into the rock with barely a blemish. Either a superhuman had some strange ability to do this or ADVENT had helped out. Their meddling was - more and more - becoming apparent in this war. Despite being at the beginning of the war if ADVENT helped the AXIS carve an empire it would forever alter this timeline. A timeline that Prof Wynde would have to call his own unless he could escape from it!

He pondered that. Time Travel was something he'd not got much experience of. OOPS had declared it off limits but he knew some used it for their own purposes, including 'stealing' from the past to be rich in the future.

Now it was being used to change the timeline to radically alter history! Anyone and everything who was here would be affected by Advents meddling.

There HAD to be some way to... to get time itself to rebel! Some power, someone... who could reset things to the way they were!

In the meantime his friend was in a bad way. Thousands of tons of rock had fallen on him and he'd been messed up pretty bad. Could even Wonder Man's power of recuperation help him out of this one?

OOC Any attempt at escape? There is a robotic guard outside the door that PW can see through the small barred window. The door is steel, heavy and will take a fair bit of pounding. The walls in the cell are solid rock and there are no lights on in here, just faint light from the corridor. No windows. You are deep underground!

Curious about the robot and what its programming would and would not allow, Prof. Wynde decided to test it.

Going up to the door, he shouts out, "Hey! Anyone else here a prisoner?" He says this in both English and Italian. "And you, robot, I need water and nourishment or your prisoner will escape from your watch by perishing." Wondering just how advanced its logic circuits might be.

The robot seemed to tip its head to one side then responded "Your nutritional requirements will be provided for. You will be watched until superiors arrive to take charge and interrogate you. Your attempts at escape or deception shall be unsuccessful."

Huh. The cold shoulder.

"Hey! Who's that?" called out a voice from somewhere along the block. An Italian voice.

"Be silent or you shall be shot." stated the Robot to whomever it was.

That seemed to quiet the other voice, but Prof Wynde knew he wasn't alone!

"Which one of us will be shot? Him or me if we converse?"

The robot stares impassively at Prof Wynde from across the corridor.

There's a chuckle from the other cell and the hero sees the robot do something to its arm - to changes, morphs, to a fork style prong. "Silence" states the robot as it shoves an arm between the bars, there is a ZEEEEEACCCCKKKKK!!! and flash of light then a THUD! on the floor. The robot turns and walks back to its place watching Prof Wynde's cell from across the corridor.

It seemed there was little he could do but wait. His magic wouldn't work on the robots and his wind was so/so on these things. They were tough and...

Clunk!

Footsteps...

"We brought food." said a voice. One of the guards who PW had been speaking to earlier.

"That's right. Tasty, too." said Guard B.

"And a drink. Nice wine. Want some?" said A to the robot.

"I do not require sustenance." said the robot.

"Well we will just make sure the prisoner gets his nosh. It's very tasty. Did we say that?" said B.

"I think you did. Did you mention the wine? Lovely. We tried it earlier." said A.

"A lot of it. Very tasty." replied B.

The Robot was unimpressed. "Give the food and drink to the prisoner then leave or you shall be placed in a cell."

"Pffft. Touchy." said A.

"Very. Like my girlfriends father. THERE was a guy you didn't mess with. There was this one time when I climbed up..." said B but he gulped as the robot stepped towards him. "Okay okay." he said. He passed the bottle through the barred window then the plate of food. "Enjoy." said the guard, winking.

They then hurried off.

Looked like a traditional sunday dinner. Meat, vegetables, gravy... and something grey in the midst of it. Prof Wynde glances at the robot which is making sure A and B leave before fishing in the meal, lamenting that the food might not be that tasty having covered up... a magnet? It was U shaped, a couple of inches long on each prong but otherwise...? what could he do with that?

Magnet? Or cattle prod or early prototype of a taser? Prof. Wynde pondered it and then looked at the robot, specifically at its neck to see if it could fit around it or not.

ooc: pretty much blank here if neither of those ideas work out.

The magnet was similar to that used in schools (OOC ours were red and black if I recall) and looked of too low power to do anything.

Were the bumbling guards trying to help him, or trap him in some fashion?

The robot seemed to be armoured and impregnable even at the joints. Heck, the hard armour casing didn't even look like metal. Chances were the magnet would do nothing!

OOC Your call as to whether to use it and how...

Prof. Wynde checks to see if the robot is within arms length of him and if his back is turned to him. If it is, he will try placing the magnet on the robot's head. If not, he will try to think of something else to do. Though he still wonders if it is time to break free or if Wonderman needs more time to heal before making his play.

Is this a simple cell lock of the era or some kind of more advanced electronic lock on the cell door? If electronic, the magnet might affect that and open the door. If not ... bide my time I guess. Still need to know if Wonderman is up and around yet.

OOC The door is modern era, constructed by ADVENT. As such it has deadlocks and will be reasonably resistant - it migth be easier to punch through the walls!

Prof Wynde kept an eye on the robot standing in the corridor and passed the slim school classroom type magnet over the lock. Then he waited. Nothing. There was no keyhole, proof ADVENT didn't trust the Italians and it would require a keycard or something in built to Advent robotic personnel.

Frustrated, he sagged back and summoned up a tiny whirlwind in his hand. Then he glanced at the magnet. Then back at the whirlwind. The Robot would see the whirlwind and the magnet if it floated through the gaps in the bars and headed towards it though, not to mention hear it unless it was deaf.

Of course he could just wait, then something occurred to him.

Wonder Man's magic ring... if they took it off would Fred Carson succumb to his injuries? Even now, he might be waiting for a friend who was lying in the morgue whilst the Axis and their Advent allies studied a magic ring which was useless to anyone else!

"Hey You! Robot! Where's the sickbay or infirmary or whatever you call it? I'm starting to feel a little sick and may need to go there soon!"

Maybe he could get some more information out of the robot or maybe the robot would fall for the ole "I'm sick, come in my cell and check on me" routine.

The robot considers, then marches over to the cell door. "Step away from the cell door prisoner. Place your hands above your head and turn around."

It then moves a hand near a panel on the outside of the door and there is a CLUNK as half a dozen deadlocks ping open.

OOC Comply with the robot or lay it on thick? Prof Wynde isn't like Haunt (one of the world's great actors) so it may be a tough sell to get the robot to fall for his tricks!