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[Marvel Heroic] Marvel Noir: Operation SHIELD- ACT 2: Power
Posts
Tabitha sits down next to Spike. She too is crying. "All I wanted was justice for my husband... but I've really have become the monster they say I am..."
"Monster? The only person here that's a monster is Slogan. So what if the cops arrest him? If he goes through the courts, he'll be out in no time and still rich as ever. I'll be dead and cold before I see that happen." Toad says. "And I'm sure you're hearts are in the right place, but your allegiance isn't." Toad turns and runs towards the power plant. "Sorry, but I'm getting my money and my revenge. Not necessarily in that order, mind you!"
Tabitha Smith: Trying Not To Feel Guilty (Team d8, Angry Widow d4): 1#1d8 7 1#1d4 4 11 d4. So she takes d10 Emotional Stress which bumps her to d12. She's out.
Toad: Trying Not To Feel Guilty (Team d10, Angry Worker d4): 1#1d10 6 1#1d4 3 so that's 9 d4 so he takes d8 Emotional Stress.
Spike: Trying Not To Feel Guilty (Team d10, Angry Worker d4): 1#1d10 6 1#1d4 4 so that's 10 d4 so he takes d12 Emotional Stress. He's out of this one...
So that also brings the Doom Pool up to 4d6.
Scene Distinctions: Sparking Power lines, Angry Workers, Broken Machines
Doom Pool: 4d6
[ ] Ironfist: 2XP [1PP]
[ ] Rogue: 2XP [2PP] d6 Physical Stress
[ ] Lucas Cage: 2XP [2PP]
[X] Colossus: 1XP [1PP]
Workers Alignment: Smith and Spike see differently, Toad, not so much...
[-]Toad -d8 Emotional Stress
[-]Tabitha Smith -d10 Physical Stress, d12 Emotional Stress- Out
[-]Spike -d12 Emotional Stress- Out
[-] Dr. Strange: 1XP [1PP]
So fight is over, but the power plant is still under attack by the workers...
And technically, it didn't even make a difference, since I had an extra d6 lying around!
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With Toad gone, Tabitha and Spike are all that remains. "So..." Tabitha says between sobs. "what now? Are you going to arrest us? I can't leave my daughter alone without her mother and her father."
"Aye, I have a record. And if someone hears I was apart of this, I'm sure I'll never get a job in this city." Spike mumbles. "And my mama just got comfortable again..."
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Cage pursues Toad into the plant.
After going through the main lobby of the plant, the gang find themselves in a dimly lit, large room full of machines and wires. The machines are still working, but every now and then, one sparks up a storm of lights, others are making loud, screeching noises, and others have warning lights blinking. Every now and then you see a small group of workers moving through the narrow lanes between the machines, hitting pipes, ripping wires, or rolling metal barrels. Colossus notices one of the barrels. On the side of it, there is a skull and crossbones and "Dangerous" written on the side. The label only identifies the contents as "X-23". Rogue notices the green ooze coming from the barrel. It covers the machines, floor, walls, and even is dripping from the catwalk above.
Further along the group hear the crowd smashing at something, metal on metal, and can smell something burning. "Just little more! Slogan can't hide our paychecks from us!"
Anna Marie investigates the container marked "X-23".
Lucas is uninterested in the barrels and heads towards the nearest group of workers with a mean glint in his eye. He moves quietly, trying to figure out what the next stage in these freaks' plan is before he intervenes.
"How much longer is this going to take?" As a large, fat man with the name tag of "Dukes" on his uniform. "The police is going to be here any minute now and I'm hungry."
"Look," the man with the torch says, "You are always hungry. Just keep a look out and tell us if anyone shows up. Once we get in this safe, you can buy all the greasy chicken your fat mouth can stuff!"
"Ok..." Dukes says as he turns towards the door. "Um... do I know you?" He ask as he notices Lucas for the first time.
Cage grins widely and waves.
"Yeah, Dukes, how you doin'? I seen you at a union meetin' a while back. Got turned around outside; what're y'all up to, reclaimin' back pay? Reckon I can help with that."
Lucas hefts a nearby beam without visible effort, casually tossing it into the air and catching it. Hopefully they'd rather "remember," him than find out how much that thing might smart.
Now batting clean-up
Solo d8 (7), Street Smart d8 (3), Superhuman Strength 2d8 via Versatile (6, 8), Crime Expert d8 (1) = 15 to create a d8 steel beam asset.
Rolling against Lucas Cage (4d6: 4#1d6 5 3 2 6 11 d6. You got a Steel Beam d8 to add to your dice rolls! And I'm buying that one you you now have 3PP. Doom Pool 3d6, 1d8.
Dukes looks surprised. "Uh... Yeah, I heard they had free coffee... Um... Summers, this guy wants to talk to you."
The guy with the torch turns around. His face is hidden behind a welding mask. "What do you want?"
Anna Marie winces and sighs. What the hell was she doing here? She didn't have super-strength. She wasn't impervious to bullets. The hell was she doing on this team? She wasn't a cop or a soldier and hadn't signed up to put her life at risk, or attack her mutant brothers and sisters. And for what, exactly? This whole thing seemed so pointless. Their presence hadn't kept things from escalating at all - it had only exasterbated the problem. Especially that Russian and his socialist rhetoric. Now it had come down to violence, again.
With the team distracted, Anne Marie slips her heels off and slides into the shadows.
Slip away unnoticed by her team: d10 Solo, d4 Sense of Responsibility, 2d6 Covert: 1d10+1d4+2d6 12 with d6 effect die and 1 PP
Colossus asks, "You need a hand with that? We should all probably get out of here before cops show up."
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"Yeah, not like my torch is doing much." Summers says. "If you can open it, we should meet everyone else in the main yard with Dillon."
If so, I do.
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The safe looks unimpressed.
Colossus decides to teach it a lesson in humility and rears back to put his fist though the door.
So, 12 with a d10 effect.
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"Holy Shit! That's quite impressive." Dukes says. "Come on, open the door!"
Summers grabs the door and opens it the rest of the way. "Empty? The hell..."
"Whatcha mean it's empty? Dillon said he saw the money right here." Dukes looks puzzled. "Where did they take Slogan?"
"The hell do I know. That's all Dillon and his Toad's part. They said they had something personal to with him to deal with. I'd just like to know were our money is."
Cage shrugs at Summers.
"Reckon the only way to find out is to go ask th' rest of everbody."
"They are headed to the power yard. Its where all the power lines connect to the plant." Summers says. "Dillon and his circle were going to put Slogan on trial or something. Its out back, behind the plant."
The group follows Summers and Dukes out to the power yard. Its a jungle of electric towers and power lines. Some damage has been done here, as the lines spark every now and then. There is a small crowd of workers, about 20 or so, standing around a platform of wooden pallets. On the pallets are Toad, Slogan, and a man with metal gauntlets. Every now and then, a streak of electricity arcs from one of the towers into the gauntlet man. "That's Dillon." Summers says. "He's been changed. His body is producing electricity. Before this old guy built those gauntlets for him, he was cooking from the inside out. Now, he can release the pinned up energy into lighting. He's kinda been the leader of the Powers Union, as we've been calling ourselves. He's crazy, but so is having fire shot out of your eyes."
Dillon is already speaking to the crowd, firing them up into a frenzy. "...and then he believes we aren't owed our fair share! Like we are slaves! I remember a man who stood against that kind of thinking, not seventy years ago. So where does that leave us? Penny-less, while this fat bastard..." Dillon grabs Slogan's arm and the man begins to shake as electric bolts pour through him. "...He eats like royalty. We live in filth and worst, while he owns a grand apartment overlooking the bay. We suffer, get changed by his new "fuel", and then he wants to not pay us at all? We are owed our fair share. We want our pay! We want our lives! We want our Revenge!"
The workers being yelling, cheering, and throwing things at Slogan. The man looks half out of it and barely standing. "Ple... Please! Its not... not my fault...." Slogan slowly lifts his head up. "We've been... taxed. By the mobs... the Government... others... The plant... I'm... broke."
"This isn't right." Summers mumbles. "I just want my pay. Not kill a man."
"What are we going to do?" Dukes asks.
Pitor hesitates. He knows he shouldn't just stand by and let this happen, but he remembers how poorly his brand of problem solving went back inside.
Combined with the empty safe, Pitor just doesn't know what to do.
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