#87 – Virtual Reality – Months pass, with the only encounter being the finding of Tempest floating near a spatial rift.  The massive ship Warp Star comes out of nowhere, and the Devil appears before them in dramatic fashion.  After an offer from the villain is refused, he detonates Quiasar’s explosives.  The heroes awake in a smoky room surrounded by Homer Grimsby, the Organizer, and other shadowy figures.  These beings turn out to be aliens called the Gorvum, who claim to have saved them again.  They are returned, with Shadow Knight missing, to the Odyssey.  They approach the Primordials, but Dr. Desist discovers it to be a fraud, and they awake in virtual reality pods.  They confront the Gorvum, and reality shatters to reveal that they are actually captives of Dr. Destroyer!  He attempts to persuade his son, Shadow Knight, to join him, but the hero resists and defeats his father in battle, saving everyone.  The group learns that they were captured before Olmok IV, and that none of their adventures in the past few months ever happened.

As you'll soon be able to see, I split up "Dawn of the Devil" into two segments.  I ran the Earth part first (where space pirates ravage the Earth), then we all took turns for a couple of years as the group journeyed into space (an opportunity for GMs to run some sci-fi stuff), and then here (issue #88) is where we picked the module back up again, with the heroes finally landing on the gigantic world of Primion...

#89 – A Serpent Among Us – The team splits up, sending out Quiasar, Crutch, and Crocodile as a scouting party.  Three large snakes attack the group at the shuttle and are fought off.  While the heroes recuperate, Shadow Knight is driven berserk by Destiny and suddenly assaults Entropy and Dr. Desist, only to be incapacitated by White Leopard.  More menaces, in the form of snakes and a gravel shark, are faced, and eventually the two teams unite.  Near the mountains they spot small, intelligent feline creatures.

#91 – Inner Peace – For over a week the team travels northeast over the frozen wasteland of Freezeron.  They use the key to open the door to the gargantuan Crystal Ziggurat.  While journeying by shuttle deep into the structure, Dr. Desist discovers that they are on the wrong path and need two more items, so they reverse direction.  They venture south out of the temple and across the icy Lanteran Ocean, eventually reaching the Peninsula of Dor.  They befriend the sentient birdmen that live in the mile high trees, and live with them for two months.  During this time the Guardians learn patience and forge stronger friendships and tactics, and are a more united team when the She-Eagle finally returns with the key.

#93 – The Devil’s Sunset – The heroes again make their way to the Crystal Ziggurat and use the keys to pass through the three doors.  They enter a monorail and fly through a void to the foot of the Endless Castle, taking an elevator to the top.  There they meet the Primordial, Qwun, who appears as a massive, black sphere.  He kindly refuses to help them, but they plead and persuade him to intervene.  His son, the Eye of Qwun, aids them by giving them counsel and teleporting them aboard the Odyssey, now just outside Pluto, where they are reunited with Moonstar, Crutch, and Sinder.  Slipping past the MASTER armada, they dock with the massive starcruiser Warp Star and go straight to the Devil’s suite, where they find him surrounded by many pirates.  The villain instantly mesmerizes the vigilantes with his charm, but White Leopard breaks free and is killed.  The shock from this snaps Entropy free and he uses the holy sword Excalibur to rally most of the team to his side.  Shadow Knight makes a mighty attack with Destiny, but is killed as well.  Combining their assaults, the remaining Guardians fell the near-deity.  Suddenly the Eye reappears and seals the Devil back in Chaosia, destroying most of the pirate ships and restoring Earth.  Crocodile, Dr. Desist, Entropy, Quiasar, and a restored Shadow Knight and White Leopard find themselves outside Guardians headquarters, with all of their special items but the Staff of the Great One gone.

#95 – The Guardian Quest – Shaman takes Entropy to the site of the missing Guardians and the hero receives a package and a message from Dr. Desist’s brother, Jonathan.  From this Entropy learns that the Doctor had used the time chaos to save his brother and hide his family.  Joined by Magnet Master of A.R.T., Entropy finds that the Eye of Qwun’s restoration of Earth has created temporal rifts.  Using the information from Dr. Desist, he constructs a portal to rescue the others.  He is unsuccessful in his first attempt, grabbing Necrom from the past, but calming her before hostilities result.  She is returned, and on his second try, he rescues White Leopard from Asia in the time of Genghis Khan.

#97 – Return of the Destroyers – Finally back home, the team finds that more than a year has passed since their disappearance into the rift, and that C.H.E.S.S. is extremely distrustful.  They settle into their headquarters, and life starts to return to normal.  At a bookstore in Washington, D.C., Entropy, Quiasar, Shadow Knight, White Leopard, Magnet Master, and Warp get into a battle with the Destroyers.  Behemoth and Electrocutioner are captured, but Annihilator is able to escape with the downed Shapeshifter; Ratman and Iron Maiden get away as well.  A mysterious person sends information to C.H.E.S.S., making it appear that David Lens has been involved in counterfeiting and forgery.

#99 – The Inferno – David Lens/Shadow Knight finds his world unraveling as his companies are taken over and his assets are frozen by the I.R.S.  His close friend (and Guardians attorney) A.J. Thornton is accused of perjury and disbarred.  In Colorado, Shadow Knight resists arrest and fights police officers, then is humbled by C.H.E.S.S. agent Tremor and jailed.  Supervillain Stallion threatens Lens bodyguard Sean O’Brien and his wife.  Entropy and NaPali bail out Shadow Knight, and the trio are called to Washington, D.C., where O’Brien fills them in on elements of the setup he has discovered.  The four of them are attacked by the Stallion, and they barely ward him off.  NaPali is introduced to Crocodile, Quiasar, and Hematite, and he explains his assignment of monitoring them.  Entropy attempts to defuse a bomb found in the Guardians' base, and is caught in a huge explosion when it detonates!

#100 – Deceptions – In the aftermath of the destruction, C.H.E.S.S. sets up a temporary headquarters for the Guardians at a hotel and tells Quiasar that they will handle the investigation.  Crocodile, who had secreted away Entropy’s comatose body to the Henrickson Institute, hatches a desperate plot to save his friend: in order for Entropy to be healed and the Guardians to continue, it is imperative that the team lose their next battle!  He hires Thunderbird, steals a prototype suit of C.H.E.S.S. battle armor, and meets secretly with Quiasar.  With Shadow Knight in Colorado and Warp in California, it leaves only Hematite and NaPali to aid Thunderbird when he enlists their help for a security detail at the Advanced Institute of Genetic Research in Virginia.  “Supervillains” Tank (Crocodile) and Stillfire (Quiasar) smash into the government facility and power their way past their unsuspecting teammates.  With Thunderbird secretly scouting the building, and a hacker shutting down the containment grid, they make a brilliant robbery of the genetic material needed, and then flee.  Back in Washington, D.C., Eli Senovis is able to restore Entropy to life.

#102 – Tackling T.O.T.E.M. Too – The entire team: Hematite, Entropy, Quiasar, Shadow Knight, NaPali, Warp, and Crocodile, gather at their hotel and plan their strategy against the Crimelord.  C.H.E.S.S. enlists their help, and together with some Knights they make a raid of a Montuori Corporation facility in Maryland.  They discover a T.O.T.E.M. operation underground, and clash with many human/robot hybrids as evidence is destroyed.  Miles Gresham (Crutch) is rescued and is the only T.O.T.E.M. experiment to survive; the dead are found to have been brainwashed homeless victims.

#104 – Doomsday Robot – The full squad: Entropy, Crocodile, Quiasar, Shadow Knight, NaPali, and Hematite, are drawn to the Retni Circus in Washington, D.C.  Nothing appears amiss until an immense Doomsday robot lands among the rides and attractions and starts causing massive devastation.  They stop the machine and destroy it, finding that it was manufactured by the Juniper-Adams Company.  This clue leads them to upstate New York, where they find a remote building near Lake Erie.

#106 – Turf War – NaPali closes his investigation of the team, and Quiasar retires from active service.  The group welcomes new recruits Cipher and Portal.  Their new C.H.E.S.S. liaison, the King’s Bishop, sends them to the Caroline biker bar in Richmond, Virginia to meet an Alliance informant.  The new charges wait outside with Crocodile and Hematite, while inside Shadow Knight and Entropy meet a Priest from the Alliance and witness him being attacked by an unseen assailant.  The Priest directs them to a Global Industries warehouse, where the champions interrupt a territorial dispute between many Alliance thugs and Intercrime Assassins and Power Infantry.  After a three way battle, the Guardians defeat and capture all involved.

#108 – Supertemps – Guardians Portal, Entropy, Crocodile, Lapke, and G-Force (formerly Cipher) clash with Neutron, a man who has suddenly gained extraordinary powers.  Joined by Shadow Knight and Warp, they travel around Washington, D.C. dealing with the problems that result from ordinary people inexplicably exhibiting paranormal abilities.  The group ends up intensely scrutinizing the life of subway driver Roger Johnson, a man who is inadvertently causing haphazard powers to appear in random people along his route.  C.H.E.S.S. examines the man, and the strange phenomena seem to no longer be happening.

#110 – Day of Death – Pressure from the media intensifies against underage superheroes.  A clone of Crocodile returns with Portal to the base and sets up a device which keeps her gateway open. T.O.T.E.M. associates Menton, Chillblade, and Karnage pass through, and join the evil duplicate in assailing the team on their new, isolated platform, catching the heroes completely by surprise.  Hematite (unarmored), Warp, G-Force, Portal, Entropy, and Lapke attempt to fight them off, but the Crocodile clone kills G-Force before they can be subdued.

#111 – The Breakout – The Guardians assist C.H.E.S.S and Crutch by preventing Solomon Roberts from disabling the Cerberus system and freeing his brother (and other superpowered criminals) from the dimension of Finity.  They stop Roberts, his men, and Dr. Travis, but are then attacked by a different group of paranormals.  Hematite, Lapke, Portal, Warp, Crocodile, Shadow Knight, and new ally Kodiak struggle against Comforter, Brain, Brawn, Cyborg, and many strange creatures.  Shadow Knight is badly injured and disappears, and the villains get away.  An upset Ambassador William Wills informs the team that he is bringing a lawsuit against them for the wrongful death of his son (G-Force).  Evil Dr. Light tells Death (formerly of the Night Parade) to switch bodies with Quiasar or one of the other Guardians.

#113 – Paradox Crisis – The group engages the supervillains in combat.  In the skies outside, Entropy and Hematite pursue a fleeing Psi-Prime, and Entropy is forced to let the criminal fall to his apparent death when he rescues Hematite.  The rest of the group battles Dr. Slaughter, Power Surge, Venom, Supreme and Fractor, and take them down.  The heroes discover that they have time traveled to World War II-era Germany, and take steps to erase clues that they have interfered with the timeline.  The nuclear weapons are recovered and the team returns to the present, destroying the Paradox Machine in the process.

John wrote on Dec 27^th, 2010 at 1:20pm:


Every single one of these was done in person (face-to-face).  Our group has varied over the years, anywhere from about 6-10.

We take turns GMing, so we have constant variety of stories, styles, and adventures.

You're more than welcome to use whatever you like; glad you're enjoying them!