PHOENIX CON - Adventure 3 - The Horrors of Hyperion Our group of heroes (Aurora, Ice Storm, Jinn, Morph, Razorwing, Sphinx, and Volt) rest briefly again after the superhuman bar fight at the Ringside Night Club. In the morning the Ad Hoc Committee (as the heroes are starting to be known as) go their own ways to follow-up on the clues they have. Sphinx investigates the Device. Razorwing investigates the Orb. Aurora interviews Spence at the hospital. Volt investigates the names on the customs manifest that the device was supposed to be sent to. Morph makes funny faces at kids in a day care. Jinn and Ice storm never answered the call.
(The heroes find out later that Jinn never answered the call because he had been possessed by the Golden Sword of Anthor and Ice Storm had to stop Jinn (without harming him badly) before the possessed hero used the mystic sword to commit a bank robbery, and end Jinn's career as a super hero...)
All of the heroes efforts are fruitful. Sphinx discovers that the device is probably a time machine, although it lacks a power source - although the orb would fit inside it perfectly. Razorwing research into the orb reveals that the orb is a shaped piece of meteorite that is known for the ability to absorb energy and release it in gradual manner, essentially working like a natural battery. Aurora convinces Spence to fold like a deck of cards in order for a lighter sentence, and he reveals that the man paying him was Ichabod Stanz. Volt noted that the customs manifest said the device came from a Josef Hossfelder in Italy to an Ichabod Stanz who lives in Strand, and so he found the address and rode the lightning to Ichabod's house (an old house in an industrial district that gradually being converted).
As the heroes begin sharing their information, they take action. Sphinx crushes and blasts the time travel device, so that no one can mettle with forces man was not meant to know. Razorwing put the orb in a safe. Volt began to investigate the building as Aurora hauled ass in her VW bug to lend Volt some assistance. Volt phased through the wall of the garage as ball lightning, and discovered an industrial elevator existed within the facade of the garage. When he phased into the house he discovered that it too, was largely a facade, although the front and back doors were rigged with high explosives - Volt was kind enough to tell Aurora this before she knocked down the door.
The party reunited as a team (Aurora, Morph, Razorwing, Sphinx, and Volt), and entered the garage and activated the elevator. They went down underground and discovered a secret base. Immediately a gentle alarm went off and over a P.A. system, the man demanded the surrender of the heroes in order to protect the lives of innocent bystanders in Strand. Sphinx cut the demands off in mid-speech by going over to a security console, hacking into it with his suits' systems and running "Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows" (the 1965 pop song from Lesley Gore) over the loudspeaker, thus ending negotiations, and adding a sense of the bizarre to the entire proceedings...
Moving beyond the cargo/storage chamber that the elevator opened into, Razorwing took the north tunnel, Volt took the South tunnel, and Aurora and Morph took the West tunnel. The mercenary super soldier named Solo appeared and yelled over the pop song "I got your sunshine right here, babe!" and shot Aurora with his plasma rifle - sending her flying back into the cargo chamber. Razorwing came up behind him from the north tunnel, and the two engaged in close combat, as a security guard tried to stop Morph with her machine gun. Sphinx stayed at the computer console and began to scan the systems of the base, and finding a comprehensive historical database that was eating up much of the complexes power, decided to trigger a reformat on those sixteen main frames in control room. And all the time he was tapping his toes to Lesley Gore's perky ballad.
Volt went up the South tunnel past a throne room filled with statues of World War II Super Soldiers (both Allied and Axis), and noted the power literally behind the throne - an energized chamber crackling with electricity, except for a central pad. Standing on the pad was an older muscular man in a leather one piece costume with a cape who was giving instructions over a cell phone (loudly due to Sunshne, Lollipops and Rainbows) to another mercenary. And energizing the chamber was the electrical mercenary named Overload. Overload and Volt exchanged electricity to no great effect, so Overload gave a full charge to the chamber's tech. Volt looked at the opposite console and realized (01 on a % roll) that they were standing in a time machine chamber, and the time machine was set for August 23, 1919 to some place in Europe. Volt tried to change the date, but all he managed to get was the day, and so he switched the time machine from August 23, 1919 to August 30, 1919. With a great crack, the chamber was filled with power and then the man on the pad was gone.
The leader's commands told Hound to engage, so the speedy mercenary rounded the corner and ran into the cargo cavern where he began fighting Aurora, who happily began exchanging punches with the feral man. Razorwing and Solo exchanged punches, and one kick to the groin and a dented cup later, it was clear to Razorwing that Solo was a dirty fighter. Morph tried to distract and harm Solo, but the guard was surprisingly adapt at distracting him, and he focused on smashing her repeatedly with his stretchy alien fists! Sphinx continued to tap his toes, and began over loading power junctions in the cargo cavern, putting hound on the receiving end of a massive electrical explosion.
Distracted as he was by helping Aurora with Hound, the mercenary in the Equalizer armor took the time to route a few systems through his suit, to stop Sphinx's reformat command (only 5 of the 16 mainframes had complied at that point), and so Sphinx and the Equalizer began a tug of war over the system for control. Morph beat up the security guard, and somewhat frustrated by the way the battle was going, went to the bathroom. Razorwing got in a lucky punch, and managed to knock Solo flat on his back, and began to scoop up the guns, knives, greanades and other weapons that he was covered with. Aurora used Hound as a punching bag.
Overload and Volt continued to battle, but neither could easily overwhelm the other's electricity, and taking a queue from the fight at the customs warehouse with Aquarius just a few days before, Volt tried to teleport on top of Volt and tackle him. But Overload is much faster than Aquarius and Volt hit the ground hard as the pad blazed white and the leader returned. He looked bigger now... stronger... angrier. "No! You ruined everything! For 30 years I've planned! To end my torture at the hands of the Nazi! To stop them from torturing me for two decades and creating the man called Ubermensch! I am Hyperion! And because of your meddling I couldn't change the past! All I got back was a fragment of my glory... but it will be enough for you and your pack of rabble!"
Meanwhile... Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows...
Volt: "Uhh... guys? A little backup?"
Aurora hit the South tunnel running as Sphinx overloads Equalizer's interface with the network, and then begins overloading the power grid for the complex. Razorwing was reluctant to end his shopping trip at Solo's Gun-R-Us, but eventually heard the call. As for Morph, he took the time to shake and wipe before returning to the battle.
Volt decided to assume his energy form and was relieved when Hyperion's powerful fist flew through him harmlessly and shattered the wall behind him, causing the power to the chamber to normalize, and the electricity to ground out. Overload managed to get some small licks in against Volt, but it was never enough to take him out.
Sphinx grappled with hound as the beast man focused his rage on the armored man who wouldn't make the music stop! But Sphinx shot him with a force blast and he went good night even as the power failed. And with it, the music died.
"Yay!"
RAMBLE
|