Event Horizon (an rpg campaign journal)

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I thought that I would post another of my rpg campaign journals (Classic MSH rules), for whoever might get a kick out of it. The thing is that this particular campaign, while set in Canada, isn't set in the Marvel Universe or in MU's Canada, so if you decide its cluttering up your forum with unrelated material just let me know and I shall cease and desist.

This campaign takes place in a world next to identical to our own, with virtual ignorance reigning amongst the general population of the existence of any kind of "super powered" beings. And with no existing "super"-power extending beyond the reach of conventional science (eg. steroids, bone grafts, etc.). Of course, that is all beginning to change.


Hero 1 (as yet unnamed)

Real Name: Jamey Robinsson
Occupation: Housedad
Identity: Secret
Place of Birth: Oromocto, New Brunswick, Canada
Marital Status: Married
Known Relatives: Shelly Johnson (wife), Sandra Robinsson (daughter), Edward Robinsson (son)
Base of Operation: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Height: 5 ft. 11 in.
Weight: 145 lbs (apparent), 200 lbs (actual)
Eyes: Green
Hair: Brown

Strength Level: This hero is capable of military pressing 400 lbs with relative ease, 800 lbs with substantial effort, and up to 1 ton in rare moments of both extreme distress and ideal conditions. Even at his slight 145 lbs, he is capable of lifting with the strongest of super heavy weights ... and surpassing them.

Known Superhuman Powers: Beyond his super human strength this hero has limited invulnerability, enabling him to shrug off both the blows of most trained and untrained regulars, as well as bullets up to 9 mm. Hisnaked body is capable of withstanding prolonged exposure (active or idle) to temperatures "extremes" ranging from 32 degrees C to -1 degrees C without effect ... sunburns, dehydration, and goosebumps included. His level of discomfort doesn't even begin until after said extremes. (Body Resistence at Good power rank)

He also possess the ability to see patterns of energy across the electromagnetic (and perhaps other) spectrums, and can fire blasts of cosmic energy from his eyes capable of burning through steel plate. (Energy Generation and Energy Detection at Remarkable power rank)

Finally, he possess the ability to fly at speeds reaching up to 300 mph. (True Flight at Incredible power rank).

Fighting - Good
Agility - Good
Strength - Excellent
Endurance - Excellent
Reason - Good
Intuition - Good
Psyche - Good

Health: 48
Karma: 24
Popularity.: 0
Resources: Typical

Character notes: 30ish years old, smart, compotent, goodlooking, a daydreaming procrastinator, quiet amongst sorted company, a toughguy amongst friends, scrupulous to the point that you could trust your hot sister or girlfriend with him, but not an unrealistic idiot who expects the impossible or allows "evil" to win, and more than capable of handling himself when it matters.

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Hero 2 (as yet unnamed)

Real Name: Gerard Wilson
Occupation: Unemployed
Identity: Secret
Known Aliases: G-Man, No-Regardo-Gerardo
Place of Birth: Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Janet Hallaway (girlfriend), Matthew (younger brother), Richard (uncle)
Base of Operation: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Height: 5 ft. 11 in.
Weight: 235 lbs (apparent), 255 lbs (actual, increased muscle, reduced flab)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown

Strength Level: Slightly increased to that of a man his age, height and weight who engages in regular exercise. He can military press up to 200 lbs with a fair degree of effort, and probably more under the right circumastances.

Known Powers: Beyond physical modifications to correct imperfections and slightly enhance strength, stamina, and overall toughness, Gerard's mind has been enhanced giving him telekinetic powers, as well as limited powers of telepathy. With his TK he can lift up to a ton with a fair degree of effort (Remarkable power rank), and can exhert that strength over a distance and on multiple targets that are adjacent to each other. He can also create an ambient TK shield around himself strong enough to halt even large calibre bullets when at full strength (eg. defintely .357, maybe .50 cal), and use the power to fly at speeds of up to 150 mph.

Gerard also has an instinctual ability to telepathically scan the surface "thoughts" of opponents in combat situations and thereby predict their actions (Combat Sense at Amazing power rank). In less hectic situations he can forcibly delve deep into the psyche of an adjacent target and scan it for desired information (Mental Probe at Excellent).

Fighting - Poor
Agility - Typical
Strength - Typical
Endurance - Rm
Reason - Typical
Intuition - Poor
Psyche - Excellent

Health: 39
Karma: 24
Pop: -2
Resources: Feeble

Character notes: a nice, easy going guy, with a heart of gold, but blithely ignorant of his lack of social etiquette, and very outgoing at the same time ... especially around pretty (and not-so-pretty) girls. Very impulsive.

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Event Horizon #1

NOUN: The region, usually described as spherical, marking the outer boundary of a black hole, inside which the gravitational force is strong enough to prevent matter or radiation from escaping.

SLANG: The "region" marking the outer boundary of any situation, beyond which the force of inevitability is strong enough to prevent escape; the point of no return.

While taking the scenic route through Cuthbert Holmes Park, a wooded park situated behind Silver City movie theatre and Tillicum Mall in Victoria, British Columbia, a duo of unlikely friends, Jamey and Gerard by name, were nearly killed when a flaming object plummetted out of the sky and crashed landed near to them, sending all manner of tree splinters, rocks, stone shards, and dirt flying in all directions. Shaken, but uninjured, the friends quickly picked themselves up off the ground and rushed to the sight of the crash to see what there was to see. They soon found a fair sized crater, at the bottom of which sat a partially intact vessel of some strange, advanced-looking design.

Making their way to the bottom of the crater they found an opening in the ship. Deciding to investigate even closer still, the two entered the craft, but no sooner had they when a number of mechanical tendrils reached out from the ship itself and overwhelmed them. They were quickly strapped to cold, steel upright beds and rendered unconscious.

----

When the duo awoke they found themselves sharing a hosptial room in Victoria's Royal Jubilee Hospital. Each had a strange sense of themselves, and recalled fragments of a profound dream, but before they could really discuss it between themselves, an old nurse came in. She explained that they had been brought in yesterday evening, that their kith and kin had been notified of their whereabouts, and she also remarked that they were very lucky to have survived the meteor crash, especially with all of the strange, toxic gases it had been releasing. When they asked her about this, she told of how the government quickly moved into the area and sealed it off for public protection due to the toxic nature of the meteor.

For the rest of the morning both the friends were quiet and withdrawn, unsure what to make of their experience yesterday eve. Then, around noon, a doctor came in, gave them both a clean bill of health, and "released" them. As they made their way out of the hospital "Jamey" remarked that "it looked like a ship to me". "Me too", replied "Gerard".

These comments led into greater and more open conversation about what they had experienced. Both admitted that they felt they had been enhanced by the ship, and each did in fact have a keen sense of what those enhancements were. Both of them also had a patchy memory of being spoken to by an idealised human man of wisdom and authority. From what they could recall from the foggy, fragmented memory, this "man" spoke of somekinda of threat making its way toward Earth. Gerard thought the being had said that they had been given their powers to help fend off this impending threat, but Jamey remarked that this was an assumption, and that as far as he could recall, the message had not been so precise. Amidst the garbbled fog that comprised most of the message, it merely referenced, indirectly, that the gift of the powers was somehow related to the impending threat. Whether they were to use these powers to fight against the invaders, or for them was either not stated or stated in those parts of the message that were "lost". And afterall, if their bodies could be altered so easily by the alien technology, why not their minds? Did the "memory" itself not imply the ability to manipulate the mind? And how about how the ship gave them their powers?

Parting ways at the downtown junction of Douglas and Yates Street, the friends agreed to get together within the next few days to test out these supposed powers of theirs ... if indeed they really had powers and this wasn't all somekind of shared delusion ... perhaps brought on by the strange gases this "meteor" supposedly released.

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Event Horizon #2

Making their ways to their respective homes, both Jamey and Gerard slept for well over 12 hours after arriving, as their bodies adjusted to their new powers. When they at last woke up, neither spoke to his significant other regarding their supposed "super-powers", but over the next couple of days small self-experiments began to increase the belief of each in their powers. This belief was solidified in both of them when they intervened in early evening/late night swarmings that they each witnessed in their respective neighbourhoods.

The following weekend, Gerard called up Jamey, eager to go down to the YMCA and test himself "better". Jamey liked the idea but said that they should go to a real weight lifting gym, with lotsa free weights and as little chrome as possible. And so they found a place on the outskirts of the downtown core called Odyssey.

When they entered it was full of muscular, but mostly average sized guys engaged intently in their work outs. Most of them were in honest gym apparel, but there were a few all decked out like somekinda fitness glamour models. In fact, two of the more glamourous clients also happened to be the biggest guys in the house ... one sitting at around a muscular 240 lbs. and the other a real bull at around 285 lbs. Some observation revealed that they were not above intimidating other clients off of equipment, and sneering at how "puny" all the other guys were.

So, after a few minutes of wandering about, Jamey directed Gerard over to them. Without making a big scene, the newly dynamized duo proceded to both humble and stun the super heavyweights with some quick demonstrations of strength; Gerard using his TK to appear exceptionally strong. Then, before a crowd could gather they left, agreeing that it was a bad time and place to start showing off and testing their limits.

Making their way to the downtown core, the two next went to a small grease-diner on Yates Street, just off of Douglas. They spoke of the aliens, and their intent in given them these powers, and both agreed that either way, there was little point in not exercising these "gifts" ... for the good ... until the threat arrived, whenever that might be.

Before they could talk much more however, 3 gangsta-type thugs entered the premises and pulled out shotguns. While Gerard suffered some slight flesh wounds from catching some pellet-spray, and Jamey some severe bruising from a point blank shotgun blast full to the chest, the gangsta wanna-bes were subdued in the end and handed over to some dumb founded cops and EMPs.

After making his statement, Jamey refused any great medical attention and went home, while Gerard willing went to the hospital to be treated for his flesh wounds. Most figured that the shotguns must have been firing somekind of faulty rounds, and no great matter was made of it other than to tell the dupo how very, extremely lucky they were ... and how it was in their own best interest to let bad-people, and especially bad-people armed with shotguns, have their way with society.

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Event Horizon #3

Later in the week, following a brief phone conversation in which they agreed not to talk about this stuff on the phone anymore, Gerard dropped by Jamey's home. They talked about taking these powers of theirs more "seriously", seeing the good they could do, and that they should get costumes, go out on regular patrols, et al.

So, spending some time on the internet, they found a few costume designers that could handle what they were looking for. In the meantime, they decided that makeshift costumes were better than none at all. Gerard went home, grabbed some heavy clothing (by Victoria standards) to beat the mild cold outside and donned an old ski-mask ... making sure to chop off the littel ball on top. Jamey on the other hand grabbed an old red t-shirt, poked some eye and mouth holes into it and tied it to his face, but otherwise retained the jeans and t-shirt look.

Then, after Jamey explained to his wife Shelley that he was going out with Gerard to get a few beers and talk about the accident the other week, the dynamic duo met near Gerard's atop the highest hill in Cairn Hill Park. Jamey informed Gerard that he checked out the crash site on his way over. It was still blocked off and being patroled by somekinda government/military types. And the ship was gone ... with only the faintest residual of it's energies still apparent to him at the bottom of the crater.

The two then commenced with the first night of their patrol. Both found it a little chilly flying around in what was otherwise mild cold, but neither were the worse for it. They called it quits around 1 am and the night went by without incident.

While patroling the downtown core that weekend, the duo came across a trio of gangsta-type thugs who had chased down a fourth homeboy-type guy, who they proceded to lay a beating on. When Victoria's heroes swept in and demanded their attention, the big 240 lbs "gangsta" strode forward to deal with "... these X-Men rejects". He was lifted off his feet by a powerful blow from Jamey, and sent hurtling back into the brick wall some feet off, crumpling at the walls base. The other two were then quickly subdued. Gerard then decided to probe their minds to see what had gone on here. He learned that the guy they were chasing was ajunkie and owed their "boss" drug money, and so needed some "motivational therapy". Probing further, Gerard pulled an image of the boss from the thugs mind, and also learned that the bosses name was Tom, that he was a core member of a new American gang in town called the Interlopers, and that he lived in a wellknown drughouse on Esquimalt Road.

When Gerard was finished, the two heroes rounded up the lot of them, filthy addict included, flew over to the downtown police station, and tossed them in the front door, before flying off again.

They settled atop the Johnson Street Bridge and there decided that they would go down to the drughouse and send this new gang a message from the people of Victoria ... old school style. While there was some arguement as to whether (Jamey) or not (Gerard) they should pocket any money they might find there, they ultimately made their way over to the house leaving the issue unresolved.

As Gerard made his way around to the backdoor, Jamey landed at the front and smashed it in. He found a livingroom full of partiers, comprised of about 5 homeboys and a like number of girls. As the masked Jamey announced that the community belongs to the people, and that he was here to express that fact, one of them drew out a .45 and took aim. Before he could fire off a shot however, the hero slagged the gun with his energy vision. This set off a couple of rounds and left the thug on the ground, in a world of hurt.

As the others began to scramble upstairs -- except for the severe stoner tripping on the coach -- a muscular black guy came barreling at Jamey. Or so it seemed. However, this guy somehow tripped (?!?) as he sprinted forward and went sailing past the hero and out the front window. Before Jamey could move upstairs however, gunfire erupted from the kitchen in the back.

Busting through the doorway leading from the livingroom to the kitchen, Jamey saw two thugs on the far side of the kitchen, one of which was holding a smoking handgun ... a 9mm semi-auto. Startled at his sudden entrance, the guntoating thug fired again, this time at Jamey. The shot was dead on, but merely bounced off the heroes skull. Time seemed to stop for a split second, as anger flashed across Jamey's face, then the second, baseball bat wielding homeboy began to advance. Before he could make it half way across the kitchen however, Gerard, who was laying on the ground after almost having his head blown off himself, lifted the thug off his feet using his TK and hurled him straight through the backdoor. At the same time Jamey advanced, plucked the gun out of the other homeboys hand, and landed a textbook punch that sent the gangsta hurtling out the back door along with his buddy.

Jamey barely had time to help Gerard to his feet when they both heard a number of feet come rushing down the stairs. A moment later, three more gangstas, each sporting a shotgun charged into the kitchen. The first in was knocked silly by Jamey, while Gerard used his TK to slam the other two into the roof and then down to the floor.

With sirens growing ever closer in the background, the duo had no time to look for this Tom guy, who was not amongst the stomped. As they left out the backdoor, Gerard pointed out the other three guys in the backyard that he had taken out. Then, they flew off and bid each other farewell until next time.

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Event Horizon #4

For the next couple of weeks Gerard and Jamey went on regular patrols, but all was relatively quiet (or became so quite abruptly upon their approach) as talk of the heroes quickly circulated amongst the folk of "the street".

During that time Jamey told his wife about was going on with his frequent late night outings, and while Gerard was initially apprehensive about telling his girlfriend, due to her job as a Canadian soldier, he decided in the end to let her in on the secret as well. The news went over well with both women, though Jamey was reminded that his first obligation was to the children. Of course, so long as he was there for them when they needed him, ie. mostly after school and until 6 pm these days, all was fine and dandy.

Finally, before those two weeks were up, Jamey's modified supercostume at last arrived in the mail, while Gerard "splurged" on a wetsuit, a ski-visor and a ski-mask, racing gloves and a bed sheet for a cape. Jamey remarked how G-Man's overall look resembled that of the Gimp from Pulp Fiction; guarenteed to strike fear into the hearts of criminals, and ... others.

And so, it eventually came to pass that one chilly afternoon, just after 1 pm, both heroes heard a large explosion resound from their respective communities. It seemed to have come from the downtown area, where a large plume of black smoke could be seen rising into the air. Quickly changing into their costumes, the duo made their way to the scene of the explosion. Arriving in the space of a few minutes, they found a scene of carnage. A barge and tugboat, both aflame, sat slowly drifting out of the Gorge and ever further into the inner-harbour, the small crew on the verge of jumping into the cold waters. The barge must have exploded as it passed beneath the Johnson Street Bridge as numerous vehicles had come to crashing haults thereon. A public bus sat teetering precariously over the edge of the bridge, having smashed through the guard rails.

Gerard was the first on the scene and sprang into action to keep the bus from toppling over the edge of the bridge. While his TK was strong enough to accomplish this task, he found himself unable to pll the bus back onto the bridge. Before he had time to sweat the matter however, Jamey came swooping in, adding his own strength to Gerard's TK. Between the two of them, they managed to haul the bus back onto the bridge, thus saving all those onboard. Then , noting that EMP's had themselves just arrived and were already beginning to check on the other crash victims, the duo next flew over to the tugboat and hauled its crew of three out of the water, flying them over to a nearby ambulence.

As they landed, they were approached by a female reporter from CHEK 6 News. She asked them their names, and after a moments uncertainty they responded with "Captain Valiant" (Jamey) and "Mindbender" (Gerard). She then asked if their, "ahhhh, "superpowers"" gave them any insight into what went on here, why the barge exploded? Capt.Valiant responded with a more-or-less honest "I don't know", before giving Mindbender the cue and taking to the air.

(image) (http://forum.alphaflight.net/album_pic.php?pic_id=490)

Settling atop the bridge, Capt.Valiant told Mindbender that he saw some strange residual energies in the air around the area of the explosion ... and concentrated around the barge.

That night, the news reported that a barge, reportedly hauling dirt and gravel on behalf of a company named Lafarge Inc, exploded while passing beneath Johnson Street Bridge. Lafarge issued a statment that it was a freak accident; somehow significant amounts of gunpowder, used in blasting, got mixed in with the dirt and gravel, and then was somehow ignited. And of course, other than the accident itself, the news hardly failed to mention the appeance of these "superheroes" for the lack of a less-silly-feeling term.

Capt.Valiant however was more concerned with the trace energies he'd picked up at the explosion, which cast doubt on the statement given by Lafarge. So, he and Mindbender began to stake the company out. Valiant noted a number of vents jutting up from the ground here and there on the companies waterfront property. Some of these emitted strange energies, somewhat similar, but in nowise identical, to the energies Capt.Valiant saw at the barge. Most likely, the heroes theorized, there was an underground installation here. So, as it was getting late, they decided that they would pay Lafarge another visit tomorrow night, and have a closer look around its interior.

As chance would have it, Mindbender had his own ideas on how they would establish if there was an underground facilitiy beneath the company grounds. So, just before lunch on the following day he donned his costume, flew on over to the company by himself, performed a few stunts for the men in the workyard, and then headed over to the main office. There he found a trio of men in nice suits on their way out, and stopped them, introducing himself as Mindbender and asking if any of them was in charge around here? The tall, handsome man responded that he was, introducing himself as Donald Hamilton and shaking the superheroes hand. As they clasped hands, Mindbender reached inside Hamilton's mind, where he saw a clear image of an underground installation all outfitted with hi-tech equipment.

Feeling this intrusion, Hamilton pulled away from Mindbender, but nevertheless managed to keep his composure. Mindbender asked him point blank about the installation beneath these grounds, what was going on there, and how he could get to it. Hamilton denied any knowledge of a secret installation, while his shorted hawknosed friend began to threaten Mindbender with legal action.

So, losing his patience, Mindbender took control of Hamilton telekinetically and flew off up into the sky with him, eventually landing on the roof of the infamous View Towers apartment building in downtown Victoria. He tried to question the shivering Hamilton further, but found the businessman highly resistent. When Hamilton at last attacked Mindbender, the superpowered-being quickly beat him down, following which he used his power to reach into Hamilton's mind and pull forth the location of the accessway to the underground facility.

While Capt.Valiant wasn't at all keen on how Mindbender got the information, especially after his "dirty-money" speel --- really, isn't all money dirty? And who pray tell does it for free? Cops? Doctors? EMP's? Firefighters? --- that same night they launched an assualt on Lafarge. Smashing through the iron doors that helped secure the elevator, the duo soon met with resistence in the form of a handeful of mercs in black fatigues, armed with C-7's (M16-like, standard issue in Canadian Army). The fight was brutal, but when the last of the guards fell, a scientist looking guy suddenly came racing through the foray the battle took place in, yelling in panic ... something about damaging a power converted-thingy and something or another being set free.

But a moment later, a deafening explosion erupted from the far end of the large hallway the scientist had come running from. When the smoke cleared the saw a 10' tall, heavily muscled gorilla, with light brown somewhat longish, orangutang-like (sp?) fur. Its eyes glared with bitter fury at Capt.Valiant and Mindbender, before beating its chest, letting out a deafening roar, and beginning a charge.

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Event Horizon #5

Bursting out of the large iron door at the far end of the corridor, the 10' tall and heavily muscled gorilla-like creature (http://forum.alphaflight.net/album_pic.php?pic_id=496)began it's ferocious charge at the startled heroes.

As hurt as Captain Valiant and Mindbender were from the fight with the security personel, they mustered the courage to at least try and stop this intimidating brute. And so a desperate battle began. Initially, the duo was able to stay one step ahead of the beast, but all that changed when Captain Valiant blasted it full in the face with his energy vision. The pain galvanized the huge-footed "gorilla", setting it on an all-out assualt that sent the duo scrambling for the elevator. Before they could fly up the shaft, the brute slammed into the elevator door and surrounding wall at top speed, causing it to implode in on the heroes and knock them unconscious.

When the duo at last awoke and freed themselves from the rubble and twisted remains of the elevator, they quickly found themselves confronted by a number of Canadian soldiers. Somekind of special forces unit judging by the look of them. Within a few moments they were joined by a strong, rough-looking man of slowly advancing years, who grufly introduced himself a Brigadier-General Alfred Sampson. He lost no time in letting the duo know that he knew all about the spacecraft, their powers, and their secret identites, before letting them know that the 2,000 lbs. "gorilla" that busted out of here had just begun to rampage in downtown Victoria. He further explained that, judging by the way it went through local police and S.W.A.T., it might take some heavy ordinance to take the brute down ... which might potentially cause as much damage as just letting the thing run it's course. So, if the heroes felt up to it NOW, he was authorized to give them first shot.

Needless to say perhaps, Captain Valiant and Mindbender both took the Brigadier-General up on his offer. Before they left to confront the gigantic brute, both were injected with special cocktails to temporarily boost their stamina and resistence to pain.

Quickly flying toward the downtown core, Captain Valiant and Mindbender soon spotted the rampaging beast at Douglas and Yates St. A path of death and destruction sat in it's wake, and it continued to vent its fury as it moved ever further down Douglas St. The duo thus resolved to end this fast, and so Valiant matched Minbender's speed and they both charged it. While the doubleteam charge left the creature visibly shaken, its fury quickly returned as it turned to face them. So, the heroes quickly picked themselves up off the street and the battle began in earnest.

Before long the brute's wounds, from it's previous battles, at last began to take their toll and its strength began to wane. Thus, after shrugging off Mindbender's attempt to telekinetically restrain it, it began to flee up Yates St. When Captain Valiant pursued, nailing with another blast of his energy vision, it tore up a cement garbage receptacle and hurled it at him. The cement garbage can hit Valiant dead-on, sending him flying back a couple blocks and crashing into the ground.

As Capt.Valiant slowly pulled himself out of the street, Mindbender, who had taken to the air, decided it was now time for an all or nothing divebomb on the fleeing brute. Luckily, his divebomb connected knocking the huge-footed gorilla-like brute senseless.

As Mindbender struggled to rise to his feet, he called the Brigadier-General using the communication device he had been given. A few moments later a shakey-limbed Capt. Valiant swooped in and helped his friend complete the journey to his feet. The two then stood guard over the creature until the military at last arrived, and then helped bind it and load it up into a truck for transport. As they did, Mindbender at last decided to peak into the creatures mind. He saw mountains and hills and endless stretches of alpine forest ... he saw others of the brute's kind, much smaller, muchly loved ... he saw fierce fights with equally fierce "monsters", sensed the dignity and pride of victory .... and he saw snow, and more snow, and cold beyond belief.

Before he could think to look for more, the creature was bound and loaded.

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Event Horizon #6

Even as the military truck carrying the giant gorilla pulled out, the heroes found themselves confronted by Brigadier-General Sampson. He commended the duo on a job well done, adding that this was a fine example of the level of cooperation that the government would expect from them in all future dealings. He then informed Captain Valiant and Mindbender that their illegal activities to-date would be "buried" provided that they say nothing to anyone, but especially reporters, of Lafarge or the installation beneath it. He then shook their hands and told them that they were free to go.

So, after a brief run in with the press, and the weathering of a never ending string of questions regarding the giant gorilla, its origins, and even one regarding a certain home invasion that took place on a drughouse in Esquimalt not all that long ago, the battered heroes made a timely exit.

The next week went by without incident, save that each received calls from lawyers asking them to appear as witnesses in assualts they witnessed/foiled back when they first got their powers. Both agreed. It then so happened that some military people showed up at their respective doors, saying that they were under orders from Brigadier-General Sampson to accompany the duo to CFB (Canadian Forces Base) Comox and see them onboard an awaiting airplane. And also that they should expect to be gone up to a week, all expenses paid and responsibilities accounted for.

So, accompanying their escorts up to CFB Comox, they were driven straight out onto the airstrip and loaded into a small cabin onboard a military plane. Within a half hour after take off, both fell strangely unconscious. When they awoke, they were in hospital gowns and beds, in a windowless hospital-looking room. No sooner did they awaken when they were greated by a tall, bookish, brown haired man wearing a doctors coat. He introduced himself as Dr. Robert Forsythe, and explained that they would be undergoing a thorough physical and psychological examinations, along with a number of tests designed to determine the upper limits of their various powers.

Some of the power-extent tests were quite grueling -- particularly on Captain Valiant, who boasted "invulnerability" as one of his powers -- but with the full cooperation of the superhumans, the tests were completed within the week. And with that, the duo was once again sedated, loaded onto a plane, and returned home.

Arriving back in Victoria early in the evening, Mindbender got in touch with his girlfriend. She was frantic, as she had just been accosted by two thugs outside of her apartment. They commented on the assualt case Gerard was supposed to testify in, and implied that they would hurt her if he testified.

Getting in touch with Valiant, Mindbender learned that Shelley had also received a similar visit while at work the other day. So, Valiant had Mindbender pull out images of the thugs from the minds of both women, and 'Bender recognized one of them as one of the Interlopers they'd trashed at the drughouse the other week. With that, the two doned their costumes and took a trip down to Centenial Square, where they confronted a trio of drugdealers at the Square's fountain and roughed them up before Mindbender mind-raped the "leader" of them ... determining a link between the dealers and the Interlopers, getting the name and address of their Interloper supplier, as well as what places, poolhalls, and Nightclubs the gang members frequent. They then threw the lot of them into the fountain, and flew over to the apartment of the supplier, some guy called "Cheezewhiz" (?!), at the notorious View Towers --- made notorious by an ever-mounting number of suicides by occupants over the years.

Arriving at the apartment, they found that no one was home. Busting in to have a look around, Mindbender soon found himself confronted by a pitbull that had been locked in the bedroom. He quickly took control of the beast telekinetically, but when it wouldn't shut up, he simply threw it off of the 5th floor balcony (losing 10 karma points in the process!!). As they made a quick ransack search of the place, they found a handgun and a goodly stack of money ... over a $1000 no doubt. While there was at first some qualms about taking the money, Captain Valiant explained that if the money wasn't honestly earned, it couldn't be "stolen", and they were in fact hurting the economy of crime by taking this money out of criminal circulation. So, the gun's barrel was melted, while the living room, plasma tv, cutting edge sound system was trashed, and several hundred dollars was left spread haphazardly across the living room, before the two made a timely exit ... ie. as sirens pulled up out front of the highrise apartment.

They next staked out a downtown bar that the Interlopers were known to frequent. After a couple hours of watching, and with Captain Valiant off getting some Wendy's fastfood, Mindbender noticed a trio of "gangsta-looking" black guys and a girl come out of the bar and make their way over to a car. Knowing that one of the guys that threatened his girlfriend had been black (in white-yellow-red Victoria), Mindbender swooped down to their vehicle before they could depart, landing near the drivers door, and demanding that they all step out immediately. He was barely able to erect his TK shield when the muzzle of a handgun appeared out of the back window of the car and began firing. Fortunately, the gun exploded in the gangsta's hand with the second shot, but even so, the driver (6'3", a soft 245 lbs) and the passanger (5'10, a muscular 170 lbs) were already out of the car and fixing to lay a beating on the startled hero. And after the big guy caught him in the back of the head with a lucky blow, it appeared that they might do just that. Mindbender fell to his knees from the blow, inviting a barrage of kicks and stomps, when a single and sudden blast of cosmic energy nearly seared the gangsta's to the bone.

Batterd, bloody and shaken, but still with it, Mindbender lept on the big guy, lest he should die from his burns, and immediately began digging through his mind for information. He quickly learned that this guy was also an Interloper, currently visiting from Seattle, and that he knew the black guy that had threatened 'Bender's girlfriend. Getting his name and address, the duo took off even as the police and medics arrived.

Making their way over to this "enforcers" apartement, in Esquimalt, the duo kicked in the door to find a small party going on. 4 of the five guys immediately raced for the bedroom, but Mindbender pursued and forced them all to the ground before they could reach a supicious looking box on the far side of the room. It turned out to be full of handguns. In order to ease the stress on Mindbender, the two biggest guys were released on Captain Valiant, and knocked senseless, in succession. Then, as Valiant took the baggy of crack he found in the room and began emptying it all over the apartment, Mindbender mind-raped the "thug" that had threatened his girlfriend to find out the names of the others involved.

With police sirens again approaching, the duo then took flight, calling it a night and making their way to their respective homes.

[Powersurge]

Howdy folks!

I'm sorry to say that Capt.Valiant and Mindebender have decided to hang up their tights for awhile and get back to playing some DnD instead. Eeek!!

I posted two final pictures of Valiant and 'Bender in the Everything Else Gallery.

As for the DnD, for those who might also be sword and sorcery fans, we will be playing in my "And Dragons Shall Rule ..." storyline set in my customaized version of the Forgotten Realms. Its an interesting story that focuses muchly on the misadventures of an amoral, near Faustian mage, and how his desire for power and acclaim end up brining the entire Forgotten Realms to the brink of an apocolypse. Here are some links to the original (and extensive!!) campaign journal, along with a supplamentary timeline and history. I would suggest holding off on reading the cult history until Hector has received his education from Bry'th ... you'll know where I mean as/if you read through hte journal.

the "And Dragons Shall Rule" journal (http://www.candlekeep.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2821)

The Hidden History of Sammaster the Mad and the Cult of Tiamat timeline (http://www.candlekeep.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3595)