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ENTRY # : |
11 |
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TITLE : |
SEPARATE LIVES |
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ARC : |
THE CURSE OF CADMUS I |
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ENTERED BY : |
Crucible's Journal |
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DATE RANGE : |
November 11th - 14th, 2000 |
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HEROES : |
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VILLAINS : |
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PEOPLE : |
Tribunal,
Dr. Karl Manning,
CCPD Chief Mason,
Dr. Cadmus Orlac,
Philip Porter,
Lawrence Schexnayder,
Victor Stewart
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OTHERS : |
Humanidyne Inc.,
The Myriad Machine,
Pinging Pete,
Team Cyclops,
Victor's Communicators
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ENTRY : |
11/11/00: 10:00am; Released from Hospital At Last. By my
count, I've been hospitalized for more than 8 days in the last three weeks alone. I've
really got to give this place an Endowment.
Returned Home to the usual crop of messages; reporters asking for interviews, Lawrence
with a bunch of stuff to sign, Chief Mason calling to bawl me out for "Reckless Disregard
for Public Safety", etc., etc., etc. There was still no word from Tribunal, which had me
concerned. I would have heard if he had murdered Flechette, and barring that, there
should have been word of him from now. More alarmingly, my contacts in the CCPD could
tell me nothing, and Chief Mason wasn't approachable at the moment. I threw myself into
getting caught up with the drudgery when a more pleasant distraction provided itself; I got
a call from the switchboard about a young man who wished to join our organization. Sensing
a Chance for Some Relief, I had him brought up to my offices.
The Novice Hero in question called himself "Hazardman" but seemed normal enough, wearing a
red Zorroesque mask and leather jacket, which led me to wonder if he were one of Lawrence's
finds. When I asked him what he could do, he offered to show me, and asked for me to open
a window. I must admit to not having been at the top of my game that morning, for I did
as he bade without a moment's thought. The young man leapt out and immediately began to
plummet. Not to Fly, not to Change into a Mighty Bird, but simply to Fall, Shrieking all
the Way Down.
I almost crapped myself. This definately wasn't one of Lawrence's boys. I could
see the headlines now, about how I assisted some nutbar to commit suicide. Chief Mason
would finally have the excuse he needed to strip away my credentials. Although it was
hopeless, I launched myself after him, Flaming On as I fell in Vain Pursuit of a man who
was demonstrating no more Super-Heroicness than your average rock. Then he Hit the
Ground.
I must have closed my eyes at the crucial moment. There was the expected thudding sound,
but without the element of the ripe *squish* that I had feared. Slowing my descent, I was
astounded to hear a dull groan, and to open my eyes to find the young man Sitting Up and
Holding his Head!
The next few minutes were a bit of a blur to me. At some point, I asked him back up to
my office, and asked the secretaries to get us both some coffee (although something more
soothing to my jangled nerves would probably been better) and found out a bit more about
the would-be recruit. Hazardman boasted that he was able to withstand Superhuman Amounts
of Damage (he let it slip that he was a stuntman in his mundane life), and claimed to
"have the moves" to back it up. I was Quite Excited, let me tell you! Not two months
before I had been acting independantly for the most part, but now I was part of an
honest-to-goodness superhero organization, that was Attracting Recruits!
There was a lot to be done! Giving Hazardman one of Victor's new Communicators, I bade
farewell to Hazardman and contacted the marketing department. We needed an expansion to
the Crucible Action Figure line. We needed a team base. We needed a name for
Crying Out Loud! One that would Stike Fear into Villains Everywhere, and Let People
Know What We Stood For! I got the marketing folks on it right away and sat back,
brainstorming about the team issue ("The Decency Squad"? I think it's been
used already. "The New Decency Squad"? Doesn't have the right ring.)
13/11/00: 8:00pm; Still no word from Tribunal. Chief Mason refusing
to divulge either whereabouts or status. There was no helping it now; we would have to
look into this Ourselves. We Had A Right To Know. I contacted Oberon and Sub-Zero to
arrange for a meeting tomorrow to discuss the situation. Victor claims to have had "an
idea" as well. ("The Idea Men"? Doesn't suit. Besides, doesn't invite female
recruits.)
Regarding the team and base idea, I got in touch with Silver Sorcerer, who has invited me
to tour the Hero Collective's base of operations. He seemed enthusiastic about the
creation of a new team for justice ("The Justice Team"? Nah, too corny.) in
the West. We made arrangements to meet up and discuss the idea.
14/11/00: 6:00pm; Victor delivered again ("The Deliverers"?
Right spirit, but it makes us seem like a bunch of pizza guys.). He was able to adapt a
version of his Pinging Pete device to home in on the unique radio transmissions emitted by
Tribunal. As long as Tribunal was still alive, we should be Able To Locate Him!
My Concerned Allies and I met up presently to discuss the Tribunal Situation. ("The
Council of Justice"? I like it, but it needs to imply action more, methinks.)
After a final fruitless attempt to find out what had happened to him Through Channels, we
agreed that it was time to Track Him Down Ourselves and actived Pinging Pete.
The Searching Tones of Pinging Pete led us unerringly North of the City to the Danbury
district, and there to the glass structure of Humanidyne Industrial Corp. This
seemed a somewhat strange place for our comrade to be held, but then we knew little about
his past or true relationship with the police. ("Action Force"? "Active
Element"? Hmm, I would like to include something to suggest where we are based.)
All Seemed Well at Humanidyne. Seemed being the operative term. Although we had an
unexceptional conversation with the security guard at the door (who with some persuasion
admitted that Tribunal was within, under the care of "the Doctor"), I could feel that
Something was Amiss. Drawing upon my command of Elemental Flame, I blew open the doors
and demanded to be brought to Tribunal. (The "Coast City Commanders"?
"Coast City Crusaders"? Naw; makes us sound like a sports franchise.)
My instincts were On The Mark as usual. Even as the guard escorted me to the second-floor
lab where Tribunal was being 'treated', the lab itself came under the assault of some
familiar old faces - Bludgeon and Cobweb, accompanied by a fanged evildoer with a bad
haircut who called himself Lamprey. Even as my two comrades flew up outside the building
to Brace the Villains from without, they came under assault from an Unexpected Quadrant,
as a Tyrannosaur Dropped From the Sky to land atop the hapless Sub-Zero. Battle was
Joined!
Arriving at the scene, I found my comrades Heavily Beset, and so called Hazardman upon our
new Communicators. Luckily, he had sensed something was amiss (a handy talent!) and was
nearby. A Fierce Battle raged within the confines of the lab and it wasn't long before
the miscreants became aware that They Were Outmatched. Stymied in whatever plans they may
have had for Tribunal, they began to bug out, teleporting away the doctor who had been
treating him and some of the bulky lab equipment.
During this time the group had been having to contend with an Additional Problem. Big Blue
- at least I would assume it was Big Blue for the overall build and features seemed to match,
even if his color scheme had changed - had emerged from one of the machines and was
rampaging around attacking Friend or Foe alike! God Only Knows what the Corporate Fiends
had done to him to render our Stalwart Ally so Deranged! ("The Rangers of the
Coast"? Not bad...) In the end, he passed out, saving us the Unwelcome Task of
Taking Him Down Ourselves. Some lab techs eventually crawled out of the woodwork in the
aftermath of the battle, and began tending him, claiming familiarity with his case.
14/11/00: 7:00pm; Some explanation was forthcoming at last when the CEO
of Humanidyne, Philip Porter, arrived on the scene. He explained to us that Tribunal had
been the 'product' (what a Soulless Term that was for one of the City's Most Noble
Defenders, a veritable Knight of the Coast [hmm...]) of Operation Myriad - an
experiment to combine two willing subjects into one 'morphological entity'. Tribunal had
been undergoing treatment by Dr. Karl Manning for 'instability' arising from the process
when the Miscreants had attacked, Kidnapping the Doctor and the Heart of the Project, the
Myriad Machine, which was absolutely Vital to Recombine the Separate Forms of
Nightshade and the Hound of Justice with that of Big Blue!
("The Knights of the Coast"?!? I like it! It says who we are, where we're
from and brings up all sorts of stirring Noble Imagery. Must bounce it off the Legal and
Trademark people.)
There was little else Porter could tell us. Although he had had a prior run-in with
Bludgeon when that entity had been sent to kill him at the behest of a Dr Cadmus Orlac,
Porter could give us no hints as to the motive behind this attack, nor where we might be
able to locate the Villains. He and I agreed that we should try to put a positive spin
on todays business lest public reaction to the company's business harm their ability to
preserve the life and stability of Tribunal.
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WRAPUP : |
What small measure of Triumph we had felt at Driving Off the Villains Turned to
Ashes in our Mouths. The Evildoers had accompished exactly what they came here to do,
despite our efforts. They had also Escaped with two of the three Heroes comprising
Tribunal, and the one portion we had left seemed both Mentally and Physically Unstable...
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