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ENTRY # : |
7 |
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TITLE : |
SURF & TURF |
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ARC : |
THE ELEMENT OF DISASTER I |
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ENTERED BY : |
Crucible's Journal |
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DATE RANGE : |
November 6th, 2000 |
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HEROES : |
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VILLAINS : |
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PEOPLE : |
Mayor Quimby,
CCPD Chief Mason
Former CCPD Chief Motz
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OTHERS : |
MAYHEM™,
Coast City,
CCPD Headquarters,
Crucible Inc.,
Sacred Heart Hospital,
3rd National Bank
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ENTRY : |
11/06/00: 08:30am; Report Day. On a Glorious Monday Morning
I could think of nothing better to do with my time than to fill in the copious amount of
paperwork related to the recent events. That's not true. I
could think of a lot of things I'd rather be doing, but alas, Duty Called. At least we'd
have an opportunity to get together as a group and discuss the formation of a team.
This sit-down gave me a better chance to get to know Sub-Zero (who in mundane ID was a
Substitute Algebra Teacher named Stanley Robinson), who struck me immediately as an earnest,
likeable young man. New to the superhero business, he was off to a fine start indeed. I was
furthermore quite impressed with the recent demonstration of his
abilities. I can think of many an occasion where it would have been handy to be able to encase
a villain in a Block of Ice. My Fire Walls, though flashy, just weren't terribly effective
against a truly committed (or paranormal) foe.
As stated this meeting, in addition to letting us complete the onerous mounds of paperwork
demanded by Chief Mason (Chief Motz was always a lot more reasonable in this regard), gave us
a fine opportunity to discuss our recent collaboration, and methods to improve the lines of
communication in the future. I gave everyone my direct cellphone number and offered the
services of the Crucible Help Line staff to coordinate matters. Tribunal and Oberon
likewise shared their phone numbers (the latter's cellphone and pager numbers being clever
anagrams of 4-OBERON and 4-AVALON, which I quite admired). We all agreed that given the
recent spate of Supervillain Activity in Coast City, that the formation of a proper group
would be For The Good. I, In Particular, was Quite Excited at the Concept.
11/06/00: 10:00am; Our discussion was going along quite swimmingly when
suddenly the Building was Rocked by a Minor Tremor. As we had all dwelt in Coast City for
some time, none of us were particularly disturbed by this (which I would estimate to have been
only about a 4 on the Richter scale) until we heard the hubbub outside our conference room.
Heading out of the meeting room we found most of the staff clustered around the western windows
where we could see an Astounding Sight; the street below was flooded almost to the top of the
vehicles trapped therein!
As we rushed outside I was filled with a sense of utter horror. If the ground was flooded
as high as we were, it didn't bode well for anyone down in Dropaway Beach (towards which
the water was slowly ebbing). And - Great Hades! - what if Midtown and the Libby Tunnel
were flooded?!? The casualties could number in the Thousands! [Aside: Luckily the wave
came from the East and hadn't broached the peak of the Northgate district. People in
Midtown weren't even aware of what was going on in the east end of the city.]
Although Water is Not my Strong Suit (to say the least), I immediately flew down trying to help
as I could, plucking people from the raging waters and flying them to safe regions above
the flood. Nearby, Oberon was performing a similar task and I was pleased to see Sub-Zero
outperforming us both, freezing large sections of the flood to form Ice Bridges for people to
clamber onto. We were working our way Eastward, spreading out to cover more ground when
Tribunal popped in front of us to announce that the police band radio had reported some
Supervillains taking Advantage of the Situation to Rob the 3rd National Bank!
My comrades immediately dispersed by their various means towards the East, eager to engage
these miscreants and I was torn whether or not to follow them. In the end, I did not, feeling
that my Duty to try to save the innocents caught up in the ebbing tide was more important than
the protection of the bank's lucre. (I do not wish to sound critical of their choice not to
do the same. Mundane rescue efforts were ongoing everywhere in the stricken end of the
city and while our help could have aided them only incrementally, we were the only hope of the
innocents caught up in the bank robbery.)
When I finally arrived on scene some ten minutes later, I found the bank cordoned off by
a number of soggy police officers, who reported that my comrades had managed to penetrate the
outer screen of the defenses thrown up by the villains, our old friends
MAYHEM™, and were fighting them in the interior of the bank. I was about to head in and help
them when I heard the unmistakable sound of a helicopter warming up from the roof of the bank.
I flew up there to check it out, but although the sound grew to a pitch announcing that take-off
was imminent, I could see nothing to account for it; the villains had a Cloaking Device!
Cloaking device or no, now that I knew they were there, they would not escape this easily.
I Flooded the Roof with Flame and observed from the way it blew about where the helicopter
must be located. I followed up with an intense barrage of Flames. There was an explosion, and
shrapnel from the rotors Hurtled About Me! Revealed on the roof as the smoke cleared was the
shattered husk of the copter, with one of the Agents trapped in the wreckage and weakly
Signaling his Surrender.
What followed was a mere mopping-up operation. I worked my way down from the roof and
met up with the rest of my comrades below, where they had captured a handful of the Agents
themselves, along with a psycher named Flechette. Two other villains had managed to
escape the bank; our teleporting nemesis Pike and another villain, named Mace, who had escaped
by dematerializing and fleeing through the earth below.
11/06/00: 5:00pm; The Final Toll on the City has Pretty High. It looked
like at least a dozen people had either drowned or were presumed dead, having been pulled out
to see with the receding wave. (We were lucky that this number was not far higher. Quick action
on the part of the Coast Guard and Fire Department had kept the death toll down.) Hundreds
more were injured, and the damage looked to be in the millions of dollars.
Exhausted from having helped out all afternoon, we were enraged to find out that the flood had
been no act of nature, but an orchestrated event designed to help cover the bank robbery.
These Evildoers didn't care how many people died in their Greedy Pursuits! What's more, they
threatened to flood the City again - this time targeting the vulnerable downtown core - unless
a large ransom was paid to them at Midnight Tomorrow! Mayor Quimby and Chief Mason were both
furious and demanded Action, and we were no less inspired to Deliver!
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WRAPUP : |
While we had foiled the bank robbery and captured one of the villains
responsible, we could take no comfort given the nature of the disaster which had befallen
the City, and of the Threat which Loomed Over Us Yet. The fate of Coast City itself was In Our
Hands!
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