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ENTRY # : |
8 |
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TITLE : |
WIPEOUT! |
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ARC : |
THE ELEMENT OF DISASTER II |
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ENTERED BY : |
Crucible's Journal |
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DATE RANGE : |
November 6th-7th, 2000 |
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HEROES : |
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VILLAINS : |
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PEOPLE : |
General Mayhem,
CCPD Chief Mason,
Fred Norman,
Mayor Quimby,
Lawrence Schexnayder,
Victor Stewart
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OTHERS : |
MAYHEM™,
Attenborough Seismological Institute,
Beachside Scrap & Auto,
Crucible Inc.,
Stronghold Correctional Institute
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ENTRY : |
11/06/00: 06:00pm; The end of the meeting with Chief Mason
left me wanting a drink. As usual. The mention of Stronghold during the meeting had brought
something to mind, however. When I had last been there (was that
only a week ago?), Warden Norman had mentioned that Victor Stewart, the old Screaming Skull
had just been paroled. There was a little matter of a dinner I owed him, so I had the girls
track him down. He had no plans, so agreed to meet with me for supper.
After the day we had just had, this was a pleasant bit of stress relief. In addition to the
obligatory kibitzing about old times, I consulted his opinion (as a seasoned supervillain)
about this MAYHEM™ group. He could provide little real assistance, alas, having been too long
out of the loop. Disdainful about the callous tactics employed by the miscreants, he did
offer to do anything he could to help us catch them, which got me thinking. Inquiring about
his employment status, I eventually dug out of him the information that the only job he had
managed to land thus far was flipping burgers at some greasepit. Imagine that - one of the
Greatest Scientific Minds in the State, but Virtually Unemployable! Moved to pay back some
of the debt I owed this man, I called up Lawrence and arranged that we should look into the
terms of his parole and hire him for Crucible Inc.
11/07/00: 08:00am; The next day was filled with more drudgery; reports
and interviews in the aftermath of the events of the day before.
My comrades, meanwhile were more gainfully employed with investigations, though these bore
little fruit. About the only useful scrap of information was unearthed by Tribunal, who had
paid a visit to the folks at the Seismological Institute. They had pinpointed the epicenter
of the event which had triggered the tidal wave as having been located about a mile off the
eastern seaboard of Coast City. This meant that our opponents had access to some form of marine
transport.
11/07/00: 09:45pm; Another call from the villains. A person calling
himself 'General Mayhem' had contacted the mayors office and demanded that the money be brought
to someplace called the Beachside Scrap & Auto. In addition to including the standard
warnings against Superhero Meddling, he also moved the deadline up - to 11pm. We had only an
Hour to Prepare!
There followed the usual bellyaching about whether or not we were doing the right thing in
defying the villains and sending in the Knights. I've had the chance to observe similar
situations with Quimby over the years and every time its the same thing; he's all, "we do
not give in to the demands of terrorists," when the camera is rolling, but on the verge of
caving in the backrooms. Thank God that Chief Mason was there. I'm no fan of the man (nor he
of me), but he epitomizes Moral Fiber and would not let the Mayor buckle under the pressure
(though he would have preferred to see Tribunal go in at the head of a SWAT team rather than
the rest of us).
At any rate once the soul searching was out of the way, we had but little Time to Plan. It was
decided that our best chance was to strike at the enemy base whilst the ransom drop was taking
place. Correspondingly, while Tribunal and Sub-Zero took a briefcase full of newspaper in the
front gates of the scrapyard, Oberon would fly out to sea and try to infiltrate the enemy
vessel in search of the device causing the tidal waves. I, meanwhile, would act as the Reserve
Force, flying just out to sea and ready to swoop in to aid either party as required.
11/07/00: 11:00pm; I got the call from the group at the scrapyard mere
moments after they entered the premises; "It has begun.". Oberon still had found
nothing, so I made haste towards the shore, a blazing Meteor of Justice as my comrades there
came under the Assault of no less than Five Supervillains; Pike, and four new ones who
introduced themselves subsequently as Psi-Clone, King Quake, Heatwave and the Sea Witch.
By the time I hit the beach, less than a minute after it started, things were already looking
bad for us. I could see Sub-Zero Beset on all Sides and more alarmingly, Tribunal's
Unconscious Form being loaded by King Quake onto a conveyer belt which terminated in a large
compactor.
My Arrival did not go Unnoticed. As I roared towards Quake, seeking to save my Comrade-at-Arms,
I drew fire from no less than two of the villains. Thereafter things became even more confused.
I recall playing tag at high speed through the piles of rubbish, launching attacks at both
Psi-Clone and Heatwave and trying to dodge the sniping of the Sea-Witch, who seemed to be
directing the battle for the bad guys, and who was coordinating their efforts disproportionately
against me. I was Feeling the Pain, and from the looks of my two Allies, things were going
little better for them!
Outnumbered and Heavily Beset, we fell back towards the trash compactor, hoping to use it to
anchor our flanks at least. The Villains, meanwhile, pressed. Hard. In Desperation as my
Defenses Began to Collapse, I did manage to drop a crane on a momentary convergence of our
foes, sending a number of them diving for cover and taking out the Sea-Witch in the process.
Unfortunately, Big Blue was also caught and pinned under some wreckage as he forayed forth.
Mere moments later Psi-Clone nailed me with some sort of Mental Bolt, and the fight was over,
as far as I was concerned. This was Getting to be a Habit!
11/06/00: 11:15pm; When I came to, still at the Junkyard, it was all over.
My comrades reported that with the Sea-Witch down, the villains didn't stick around much longer.
Psi-Clone used telekinesis to fly the unconscious body of their leader away from the scene.
Pike, meanwhile, had obtained the briefcase, discovered the deception, and decamped threatening
that we would rue the choice not to pay. King Quake slapped around Tribunal a bit more, then
dumped me into the trash compactor and took off, counting on the fact that Tribunal would save
me rather than give pursuit. Heatwave, too, left off his harassment of the vulnerable Sub-Zero
and withdrew once it was clear that there was nothing to be gained by sticking around. Our
Ace-in-the-Hole Oberon had meanwhile found nothing at the target site. We had Failed. Utterly.
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WRAPUP : |
A Humiliating Defeat, but this was only a Lost Battle. The War was Not Yet Over.
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