RUBY CITY DEFENDERS! Issue #3 - Calm before the storm...

Darkraven took his leave before the other heroes headed back to the base with the family.

"I have to go get showered and grab an hours sleep if I can before... uh... work commitments." muttered the dark clad hero. "Sure was good to join up with your guys, I think I learned some stuff."

He shook hands and ended with "I'll see you around. I patrol on a nightly basis so happy to team up if needed. In the meantime I'll keep looking for clues as to who killed my ... predecessor."



It would be easy enough to contact Conway, the police detective who had to balance looking like he was hunting down the vigilantes popping up in the city with calling on them to save it!

Until then, with the sun breaking over the sky the van closed in on the location of Lightning Bullets' hide out. The family were safe and would soon be reunited with the former Nazi scientist wanted by criminal gangs AND Soviet super spies to develop superhuman powers for their insidious schemes!

Conway would be the man to take the plan to the next stage. He would have to arrange a meeting with the FBI so the Scientist could be handed over to Uncle Sam. Who knew what would happen then - would the battlefields of the world see superhuman soldiers ignoring bullets and leaping behind enemy lines to cause havoc?

For Captain Conduit and Lightning Bullet, a well earned rest and a shower beckoned. The night had been long and tricky to get through but they'd made it, and avoided the attentions of the Soviet super agents... for now...

OOC I assume Fred Aster and Max Dane will also have to tend to their lives away from their costumed antics? The matter of who gunned down the original DarkRaven is also to be resolved. You have a short time to get your affairs in order before the storm really hits!

Captain Conduit goes out to his car and drives away to a secluded spot where he can change into Fred Aster. He then rings the doorbell holding a briefcase full of sale sample.

"Hello Max? It's your old friend Fred Aster. I was in town looking for someone to honor with great deals on the latest electronic equipment and thought I'd swing by your place first. Care to see what we have to offer?"

Fred is acting like he's just his old buddy visiting and in the 1950s business between personal acquaintances was a regular practice. It's time for Fred to earn his paycheck and a reason why he's staying in this town at the home of the wealthy Dr. Adam Maximillian Dane!

"Come on in and show me what you got Mister Door to Door Electronics Salesman! How are you on vacuum tubes? Need a few for some Television sets I'm building," Max said to the salesman with a grin.

It would be chump change for a rich man like Max Dane to equip his house with a TV and radio in every room. Probably overkill as well unless you liked watching 'I Love Lucy' or 'The Ed Sullivan show' and didn't want to miss a moment.

Downstairs in the basement the scientist and his family were set up and safe for the time being. The reunion had been joyous and tearful - the heroes had done a good thing, though it hadn't been easy and the threat of Soviet Super Agents in their city was one very few people knew about. Masked vigilantes and criminals weren't exactly the authorities favourite people so suggesting some of them were Soviet Spies might get them ALL labelled as Soviets and Un-American so it was a fine line to tread.

Whilst the pair of Superheroes (in their civilian identities) caught up about their lives since high school the coffee boiled and a new day dawned. They'd have to sleep first but a number of questions needed asking and solving...

1) Who killed their former schoolmate DarkRaven, and who was this new version? He seemed trustworthy but inexperienced, and when bullets started flying that could get someone killed!
2) The Scientist and his family needed handing over to the FBI. Problem was, the mans' knowledge was so valuable the Mob and the Soviets also sought him.
3) The Soviets. There were several of them and they were no pushovers. Might it be prudent to seek out other costumed crime fighters to form into some kind of League or Club that could battle these people?
4) How to balance crime fighting with a regular life! It was important to keep your identity secret aside from several well trusted confidants, the less the better to keep them safe.
5) Perhaps some sign, call, machine or signal, like a floodlight shone into the sky, might be in order to call those of a heroic persuasion to action and gather at a pre determined spot. Of course such a thing would have to be devised that would not easily lead to the home of max Dane, millionaire or Fred Aster, mobile salesman!

With breakfast almost finished and a healthy sales tally racked up for Fred Aster, the man otherwise (and secretly) known as Captain Conduit could hear his bed calling. Max wasn't immune to such things either - they'd been up all night rescuing the scientists' family and...

"...Breaking News!" came a voice on the wireless in the 'den', a sprawling bachelor lounge/office with all that a rich man about time might need to run business from and relax. "There are eye witness reports of what is said to be a Giant Ape rampaging in Ruby City! People are screaming in terror and several cars are said to have been overturned! The creature is said to measure more than twenty feet high at the shoulder! Police have ordered all citizens to stay indoors and away from the area! One eyewitness claimed to have seen a Policeman fire at the creature only to exclaim that it was 'Like firing blanks!' More on this breaking story when we get our roving reporter on the scene!"

A Giant Ape on the rampage? Well it was heading in the direction Fred Aster would be staying at his motel room, but surely the authorities could deal with this? Mind you, it seems that bullets weren't that effective against it...

OOC Though bear in mind in this game system/genre a Police .38 has an Effect Value of 3 or 4 I think. That would make Batman bulletproof...

Oh, I couldn't resist the Giant Ape thing guys. It seems comics in the 50s needed a goofy kid, female swooning damsel in distress and giant ape on the cover to sell.

Captain Conduit pulls the German scientist away from his family to tell him about the giant ape. "Is this one of yours? And do you have any idea how we can take it down? You've obviously got some expertise in animals and their abilities. We just helped you out big time, so if you can return the favor by helping us save the city, it'd be much appreciated."

Lightning Bullet remained upstairs while Captain Conduit talked to the Nazi scientist. He made a huge pot of very strong coffee since he figured he wouldn't be getting any sleep today and needed a shot of caffeine to keep him going. While sipping his coffee, he began some meditation exercises that he used to help access his powers. He felt more in tune with his mind now and felt like he could bring about more changes in his abilities. Maybe all that running around and getting knocked out had helped him?

The Scientist blinked, pulled his glasses and cleaned them then squinted at Captain Conduit. "Giant Ape? Nein! No, never to the animals viz ze experiments! Some other though... there vaz vun. I explained, I say 'you make ze animals big but zey are still animals und he say nein! I make zem smart!' "

He shook his head. "A smart animal vud not vant to go to war! Zey vud do vat animals do but smarter! Gather together, strengthen their tribe, drive out intruders, reproduce, live their lives! Zey are, after all, still animals! Zis... A giant Ape climbing buildings... is something else. Some vun else. How did ze Ape get into ze middle of ze City? Vy is it climbing buildings? Vot for? Are zer any pretty blondes it vants to greb? Heh I vatch King Kong, very good Amerikaner film, yes. You make very fine films. Laurel Und Hardy. Very funny."

Though distracted the Scientist had a point. How did a Giant Ape get into the city centre and start wreaking havoc? Surely... it would have encountered someone, been noticed, intercepted before now?

"Perhaps someone... controls Animal. Maybe it is trained or ... mind controlled. One of scientists was vurkin on zet. Not great progress - zey could spell using Ants or make stag beetles lift a sack of potatoes though... lots of squashed Beetles when some lost interest and wandered off." he admitted.

"I take ze abilities of ze animals und transplant zem into subjects but is very ..." he leaned left and right as if weighing up "hit und miss. Many times make subject crazy or die. Lowering power und duration helped a lot. More power... longer duration..." he spun a finger around his temple. "Make target crazy and no good und big big problem. Like need lots of bullets to stop zem. Make plenty mess, big shouting from General, labs smashed, soldiers broken like skittles mit ze ball..."

"Zis... I sink maybe someone found a vay to control AND grow animals. So Vat are they doing vile Giant Monkey climbs on building? Or... maybe someone figured out how to turn into Giant Monkey and likes trashing stuff. Who knows?"

=========

The coffee was good. Lightning Bullet was tired but knew they'd done good work over the last day.

It was just a start though. This thing on the radio, the Russkies, those other Nazi Scientists out there, the Mob chasing them and who knew who else... The world was changing rapidly. Ruby City seemed to be a focal point for crazy stuff happening! DarkRaven - the original - who was murdered needed justice. Someone had killed a cape and probably thought they'd paved the way for others to do the same.

Whilst he pondered he ran through his powers. They felt like... like muscles. The more he exercised them, used them, pushed and tested them, the faster and more powerful they grew. Of course it wasn't a clear cut thing and the chance of overextending or biting off more than one could chew was an issue, but something told him he and Captain Conduit - and the new Darkraven plus anyone else they could trust who could hold their own would have their work cut out. Those Russians... he winced at the thought. Powerful, fast, experienced... and they'd only encountered a few of them...

OOC Checking out the Ape?

There was a King Kong cartoon in 1966 which I vaguely remember. Here's its intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wwntMbi8gg

"Welp, Guess I'm going monkey hunting," Lightning Bullet sighs as he finishes his last cup of coffee and heads to his bedroom for a spare costume. "Will have to see if Captain Conduit wants to go after it too."

"Good point about how the ape got there without being spotted. The mystery will have to wait until this thing is stopped. It you can't whip up a tranquilizer for it, it'll have to be shock therapy for Ruby City's Kong look-a-like."

When Captain Conduit sees Lightning Bullet has the same thought, Fred asks if the two of them should just fly there in costume. CC is new to town and not sure how far things are, but he's sure he can spot a 20' ape with a bird's eye view. He even wonders if his thermal vision could tell him anything about it. Is it a real primate, a robot or just an illusion?

"I'm a bit faster now," Lightning Bullet tells his teammate once he rejoins him, "and I can get a bit smaller too when the time comes. Guess being knocked out helps focus the mind to survive and grow. So I guess flying is the way to go."

ooc: If he stays at Shrinking 3, he can fly at 7 APs. If he shrinks to 5, he can fly at 5 APs. Though it looks like CC can fly at 6 so LB can shrink down to size 4 and keep up with him. 6 is about the speed of a car, if memory serves.

The Scientist splutters. "Wha...? Cook up enough of a sedative to knock out an Ape the size of a house?"

He gapes then raises an eyebrow. "I don't know vat you hef here. Ze Zoo might hef sedative to put ze animals under though. or a hospital." he suggested.

"I am sinking ze Zoo mostly though."

OOC Flying towards the city? Heading to the Ape... or the Zoo? (Update later today/early tomorrow. Got loads done this week so I can relax some )

"You wanna split up or what," Lightning Bullet asks his partner while floating in his now smaller size [about 18" if my math is right]. "I'm all for flying to the giant ape and see if two electrical based heroes can shock him into unconsciousness."

DavidMcMahon wrote:"You wanna split up or what," Lightning Bullet asks his partner while floating in his now smaller size [about 18" if my math is right].  "I'm all for flying to the giant ape and see if two electrical based heroes can shock him into unconsciousness."

"Sure, but let's call Conway to see if he can get the sedative set up in case we need it. Do you have an untraceable phone somewhere in this joint? If not, we can call him from a payphone on the way, if you've got the pocket change and it doesn't shrink like the rest of you."

"Everything shrinks with me," Lightning Bullet says with a grin. "I can even change my size a bit. Look!"

He goes from about 3' tall down to about 18" tall and back again.

"I'll grab you a couple of nickels from the change jar on our way out. No untraceable phones here."

"Herr Doktor Professor, you and your family be good and stay down here in my base, my Brain Trust. Read some magazines and listen to the radio. Doors are locked. Don't try to get out of them or we are going to have problems. Understand?"

"So Mr. Size-Changing-Expert, do you know what could enlarge a gorilla or how to shrink one down to a normal size?"

"Afraid not. My power mostly comes through mental control," Lightning Bullet says, not wanting to say much more with Herr Doktor Professsor around to listen in.

The 'Doktor' waved absently as he looked around the basement lab.

Locking up, the pair of heroes made their way out, checked the coast was clear about the house and took to the sky!

Making sure to pass several payphones on the way, they swooped down and caught one on the corner of a block with little to no traffic or people about.

Connecting the call took a few minutes to get through the switchboard.

"Uh yeah. This bedda be important. My ulcers got ulcers an' the ex wife has been on the phone this mornin' so I ain't in a good mood. This is Conway. Who are ya and whaddya want?"

OOC Will look to update later today, honest! Things (finally) should start to calm down a little now as my personal life changed focus last night. It's been coming and I apologise for making you guys wait for updates but being nowhere near a keyboard quite a lot this year has been a problem...

"It's Captain Conduit and Lightning Bullet. We heard there's a hairy ape even bigger than you terrorizing the city. We want your help collecting tranquilizers from the local zoo, just in case our powers can't finish the job. You think your ulcers can hold out until we save Ruby City from King Kong? Maybe you can even use your ex-wife as bait, like Fae Ray."

OOC I don't know about Conway but reading that made me snort tea through my nose! Lol! Thanks for the laugh on a Monday morning which is already dismal as I'm waiting for a physician to call me back after an hour on hold to get into the doctors. 'Why didn't you get in to see the Doctor sooner?' was the question from my employer. I had to bite my tongue to stop from replying with something that would be difficult to retract.

Back to our scheduled...

Conway spluttered down the phone. "Why you! I ought ta..."

The phone went 'away' for a moment as he covered the receiver and he bellowed "Get outta here ya flat feet. Ain't ya got somewhere else ta be?"

There was a pause then Conway got back, sounding a little less enraged. "Wondered if you would get in touch. How's our mutual friend an' family? Keep 'em stashed. I'm makin' enquiries in between..." <shuffling of paper> "...bank robberies, murders an'a Giant Ape..."

"Bear in mind the Mayor an' the Governor are leanin' on th' Commissioner an' he's leanin' on all o us. I guess th' *expletive* rolls downhill an' I'm at the bottom." He sighed. "Look. I can't ask you fer help cause I'm s'posed ta be arrestin' ya an I can't request that you head downtown pronto 'cause the beat cops are tryin' ta bring this Giant Ape down an' a police issue .38 don't make a dent. Also I can't suggest you make it sooner rather than later cause th' National Guard has been called out an' they are likely ta start shootin' up th' place with heavy ordnance. I will head from here ta th' Zoo an' see if there's somethin' ta help explain or take this thing down. Then I'm headin' downtown ta stand there with my jaw on th' floor an' my thumb up my *expletive* like the rest of us downtrodden city cops who have ta deal with this whilst dealin' with an Ulcer that decide to invite its friends over fer a party."

"Oh, an' if you see my ex Wife, I cannot condone throwin' her as bait fer th' Ape. I don't hate th' Ape that much." there was a slight pause then "Remember, Capes are bad. Leave us ta do our job an' stick ta th' funny pages an' if I see ya around again I'm shootin' first an' askin questions later!" he bellowed down the phone.

The phone went dead. Conway was officially unable to ask LB and CC for help and had to put something of a show on for anyone listening in...

Captain Conduit hangs up the phone and turns to Lightning Bullet. "Conway sends his love. Let's go."

andyman wrote:Captain Conduit hangs up the phone and turns to Lightning Bullet. "Conway sends his love. Let's go."

"Giant Ape," Lightning Bullet said, nodding his head he was ready to fly with his partner. "Wonder who grew up watching King Kong and Might Joe Young? Wonder if any of our other college buddies will show up and turn out to be a Tarzan fan and can talk it down? Doubtful. It's amazing enough that three of us became heroes and one died before I even knew he was out there."

OOC As far as I can tell (what with all the drama I've had going on lately) the HP totals are:

Captain Conduit 155HP
Lightning Bullet 13HP

I suspect CC has some other HP knocking about somewhere so will scour through the last thread for a clue. I generally put the totals in huge caps like those above...

Updated LBs character thread with the latest character sheet (nov 22) including heightened Flight power.

The heroes took to the sky and headed for the city, growing more comfortable in each others company.

Natural distrust might have sprung up from other masked mystery people but these two were friends of old. They were new to this way of life but adapting quickly and with an enviable success rate... so far.

As buildings grew large in their vision they knew they wouldn't have to scour the city for long to find trouble. There were four large distinct coiling columns of smoke rising from several places in the heart of the city!

Traffic was nose to tail with people honking horns and no wonder. The first column of smoke they came across whilst flying between the canyons of high rise buildings and offices was a fire! Several burning cars blocked the street - two were upended, another on its side! The flames were fierce and people backed away but still seemed to dance about looking for a way to get closer. Why...?

"Help!" screamed a distant voice. "HELLLLLPPPPP!!" the voice screamed. Female and in trouble!

Sirens rang out - Fire Engines were trapped en route to the scene with cars unable to move forwards or backwards!

People were also running down the street towards the scene... no... not towards, away from something else!

A car flew through the air and smashed against the side of a building about forty feet up, spinning and crashing to the street with pedestrians screaming and running for cover! It looked like a Police car but was so mangled it was hard to tell - thankfully it hit no one and nobody was in the car! lucky!

OOC That last part (hurled car) happened around 2-300 yards away at the top of the street from the burning vehicles the heroes are approaching.

"Person Trapped in a burning car," Lightning Bullet snaps out. "Gonna see if I can help get them out!"

Captain Conduit hears the lady screaming. Is she the 'person' Lightning Bullet is going to help? Maybe not, he can't take that chance. "Fine, I'll go see what that broad is screaming about. Then let's check out where that flying car came from. I'm guessing that's where we'll find our ape."

Captain Conduit flies toward the woman screaming.

Lightning Bullet swoops down towards the burning car.

Smoke pours out, people scream, point, lean in, try to... grab, grasp, open the door...

Captain Conduit turned to where the woman was screaming...

The screaming woman was beside herself on the sidewalk away from the burning car. There was an overturned truck wedged against the wall and sliding slowly towards lying on its side...

The woman was trying to reach inside the gap between the truck, the wall and the floor, trying to retrieve something.

"My baby!" she screamed "MY BABY!"

OOC You have two problems (and they are the start of a growing list!)

The burning car has someone inside it. It's on its side, gas is pooling out around it and will soon ignite!

The truck on its side is sliding as the weight shifts inside and the walls crunch up with the weight pressing against the wall of the building. Trapped underneath that shrinking 'triangle' of space is a pram with a baby in it!

Other people are dashing about, the place is pandemonium! A cop is injured on the floor and there are numerous - too many to count - fender benders blocking the street up with traffic. Smoke is filling the area and the fires are spreading to other vehicles and will cause an explosion at some point!