The four classmates boarded the bus that led from the college to the a apartment complexes that most of the students used.
One guy pulled out the local newspaper. "Look guys, Tim's robot rampage made the front page!" He showed them the article. "The second page has Maria article about Tim's rivalry and why he fixed up his bought before it went nuts."
Maria glanced at the paper. "Hey, Mason, your article made the front page."
Mason Dean looked where she pointed. "Good, my rent is due."
The fourth person, Dirk, stood on the tips of his toes so he could see over their shoulders. "That Vyper guy's becoming a local hero."
"Are they sure it was Vyper?" Maria asked. "Nobody actually saw him."
Johnny, who held the paper, shrugged. "According to this, the robot had no bullet holes and no power surges from electricity. Whatever knocked him down, nobody could see."
"That's what happened to the mugger who attacked me," Maria added. "I didn't see anything, but I heard a thud and the guy flew back into the wall."
Johnny smirked. "Well, Mace, looks like your buddy, Vyper saved the day. Think you can get an interview?"
"I'd hardly call him my buddy," Mason said, "especially since the most he ever said to me is 'move.'"
"That's too bad." Maria smiled and fluttered her eyelids. "That'd be so cool if you were friends with a superhero."
Tempting, Mason thought, but he need to keep this whole thing a secret for as long as possible. Instead, he simply shrugged. "Sorry."
"Then how'd you write the article?" Johnny asked.
"Yeah," Dirk added. "You're out cold the whole time, but Mr. Bose still thought you wrote the best article. How'd you pull it off if you're not buddies with that guy?"
I realize I haven't done any gaming to this point, and this looks like the perfect spot for a Bluff check.
Mason looked from Johnny to Dirk. "I watched the online videos and I talked to people who Were there. It's called research, you know, our job?"
Mason's Talk + his Bluff is +2. I'm making the Difficulty a -1 RS because they're actively interrogating him. That still leaves it as +1.
(Q) Does Mason succeed with his Bluff? (+1 means Likely) Yes.
"He's got a point," Maria said. "I mean a dozen of us all wrote articles. Mr. Bose just chose Mason's for some reason."
"Considering Mr. Personality here," Johnny gave Mason a wry look, "I'll go with luck."
"Agreed," Mason responded, to their surprise.
So Mason's first challenge of the adventure was to throw off suspicion while avoiding be tempted by popularity and pretty faces. Neither of those are easy challenges. And that isn't even the adventure yet.
Speaking of which . . .
This adventure is different in that I know the who and why, but my character does not. The challenge will be in discovering the rest.
As Mason returned to his apartment, he saw Mr. Ashby waiting outside, holding a briefcase. "I tried texting you," he said.
Mason glanced down at his phone. "Sorry, it's on silent. What's wrong?"
They entered the apartment and Ashby set his briefcase on the kitchen table. Opening it, he pulled out some pictures of several young females. "Do any of these look familiar?"
Walking over, Mason glanced at the pictures. "I think I've seen a couple of them around the campus, why?"
"Recently they disappeared, one by one," Ashby answered. He lifted one picture. "This young lady's father is a colleague of mine. He said she went to the movies last night but never came home."
"Have you called the police?" Mason asked. "They can probably help more than I can. I'm not a detective."
"They're working on it," Ashby said, "but there's something else going on." Reaching into his briefcase again, he revealed an electronic scanner. "We pinged her phone this morning and got nothing. Then he told me her phone has a sensor so she can he located in case of an emergency."
Mason rolled his eyes. "He tracked his daughter's phone?"
"To be fair," Ashby said, "he did that to all of their phones, even his own. He said they couldn't be too careful nowadays." He pointed to the scanner. "Now with this we were able to trace her phone and the path she took." He pressed a button and a map appeared of city streets. A blinking dot appeared and moved first slowly down the street, then it paused, and then it moved faster."
Mason nodded. "She was kidnapped."
"I think so." Ashby suddenly went grim. "What bothers me is this." He showed the scanner and suddenly the blinking dot vanished.
"So her kidnapper found her phone," Mason said, "and destroyed it."
"It's not so simple," Ashby responded. "It's a tiny chip. Even if the phone was destroyed, it could still be traced. This is like it vanished completely."
Mason looked up. "And you think she did as well."
Ashby nodded. "The police are trying, but I'm afraid this might be a job for Vyper."
Mason frowned. "For the record, the newspaper named me that. I had nothing to do with it."
"Nevertheless, we could use his help." He held out the scanner.
Mason thought about it for a moment but then took the scanner. "I'll see what I can do."
That night, Mason suited up and flew to the rooftops. Taking out the scanner, he studied it, trying to match the map on it to the streets.
This time, Mason is in full Vyper gear, but he's still trying to be careful. Let's see if he finds anything. His Mind is +1 and I'll give him another +1 for the scanner. Because the trace went pretty far, there's a good chance the kidnapper didn't notice the phone. Therefore, I'm making the challenge 50/50.
(Q) Does Vyper locate the location? (+2 means Very Likely) Yes.
The blinking down had moved along several streets. Vyper followed it until it came to a stop, or rather moved in very short spurts, like someone moving within a building.
(Q) Is it a house? (Unlikely. Kidnappers who have multiple victims need something bigger than a house.) Yes - Random Event.
(Random) Mundane Goals.
Vyper found himself before a single story house. As he approached, the garage door opened. ducking behind the wall, he watched.
"I'll be back lady, my lovelies." he heard a voice say.
Turning invisible, he tried to sneak in before the garage door closed.
I'll admit, I know the villain's stats already, and his Mind is +1. I'll use that to see if he notices Vyper, who'll use his +3 Heart to turn invisible and sneak inside. This gives Vyper a +2. I'm also treating both as Effects.
(Clash) Does Vyper sneak inside the garage? (+2 means Very Likely) X-Yes.
Vyper slipped easily into the garage, and the man drove past him without pausing. Behind him, the garage door shut.
(Q) Does Vyper see anything suspicious inside the garage? (Very Unlikely. Too easy to be seen.) X-No
With the light from outside shining through the window, Vyper saw the garage seemed mostly empty. Maybe a few basic tools, especially for cars or trucks, but nothing that stood out. He decided to try the door.
(Q) Does the door have an alarm? (Likely but hopefully not) No - Random Event.
(Random) "Gain," "Setback."
He reached for the door to the house, but it was locked. He had never tried an incredibly small force field before, but maybe he could use one to trick the lock.
This would be an incredibly difficult attempt. i'm going to say Nearly Impossible. That, combined with his +3, makes the challenge 0.
(Q) Does Vyper trick the lock? (50/50) Yes.
Concentrating, he peeked into the lock and pictured a small field entering it. It slithered along the parts of the lock, pushing up until the mechanism clicked. Turning the knob, he opened the door, closing and locking it behind him.
Now here, I'm might be asking some rapid-fire questions to get an idea of where he is and what he sees. This could trigger more than one random event, which makes sense because the villain could be back at any time. However, I will ignore questions if the answer seems pretty obvious.
Vyper found himself in the laundry room. Walking past there, he entered the hallway. He listened for voices but didn't hear anything.
(I know why he doesn't hear any voices so I'm not even rolling here.)
Looking around the living room, he searched for clues.
(Q) Does Vyper find anything suspicious in the living room? (Unlikely) Yes
(Meaning Description) What does he find? "Helpful," "Beautiful."
On the coffee table, he spotted a folder. Opening it, he found pictures of several young woman. Most of which he recognized from Ashby's notes. So he had been stalking these woman. But who is he?
(Q) Does Vyper find anything with the villain's name? (Likely) X-Yes.
On the kitchen counter, he found several envelopes, most likely bills, with the name Dyron Zavve. Underneath the envelopes he found a notepad with his name and under it, several attempts ot modify it. The last one, underlined, was Sire Suave. Doesn't this guy think highly of himself?
So far though, he still hasn't located the missing young women. It's kind of hard to hide several of them in a house. Unless . . .
(Q) Does Vyper find a door to the basement? (Very Likely) Yes.
In the kitchen, he found a door and opened it, seeing stairs going downward. Slowly, he followed them until he was in the basement.
(Q) Does he find the missing women there? (Very Likely) Yes.
Finding a light switch, he turned it on. Then he froze. The women were definitely down there, but they were all statues. Each one with faces frozen in terror. What was this guy doing? Walking around them, he found the daughter of Ashby's coworker. If she were trapped in stone, he phone would still ping. Did the person actually turn them into stone?
Racing up the stairs, he searched for a phone?
(Q) Does he find a phone? (50/50) Yes.
Finding a phone on the wall, he grabbed it dialed for the police.
"What is your emergency?" asked the voice on the other line.
"The missing woman are all in this house," Mason answered. "They were kidnapped."
There was a pause. "Who is this? What is your address?"
Mason cursed himself. In his rush, he forgot to check the street and house number. "You can trace this call, right? Just send the police here." He deepened his voice. "And pray they get to him before I do."
(Clash) Did Vyper succeed? (+1 Talk means Likely) X-Yes.
Mason knew the police took most threats seriously. Not waiting for a response, he hung up the phone.
I'm not sure what the Exceptional result means so I'll ask.
(Q) Did the police arrive immediately? (50/50) No - Random
(Random) "NPC." "Fears."
Seeing headlights outside, he noticed the van had returned. Ducking into the basement, he went downstairs and hid in the back, remember to turn the light back off.
A few minutes later, the door opened, and he heard footsteps. A large man, a little over 6 feet tall, dragged a gagged woman down the stairs. He turned the light on, and when the woman saw the statues, she screamed through her gag. Leading to an open spot, he lightly covered his mouth with her fingers. Then he removed her gag.
"Please, please." She shuddered.
"Shhh," he said softly as he removed his gloves, "I'll keep you safe."
He touched her face, and she screamed before turning into stone.
"Don't worry," he whispered, "nothing will harm you now."
(Q) Are the police here yet? (Likely) X-Yes.
His eyes shot up as he heard pounding on the front door. "Police, open up!"
"Police?" Suave looked around. "How'd they know?"
Vyper then stepped out. "I told them."
Suave's eyes went wide. "You're him. You're the Vyper."
"And you," said Vyper, "are a sicko."
Suave is a Level T Villain. For Abilities, he has +1 Body, -1 Agility, +1 Mind, +1 Talk, and +1 Heart. His power is that he can turn people to stone with a touch.
Vyper will launch a force field bolt at him (Damage). Suave has no way to counter so I'll use Escape to avoid the attack. Both will use Heart, so it's Vyper's +3 vs. Suave's +1.
(Clash) Does Vyper win the Clash? (+2 means Very Likely) No - Random.
(Random) "Change," "Fight."
"Wait!" Suave held up his hand. "I've seen what you can do. Do you really want to fire what when you can hit one of them?" He motioned to the young woman. "And if you kill me, I cannot bring them back."
Just then, they heard footsteps and police officers stormed downstairs. "Freeze!"
"Don't shoot him," Vyper said. "He turned the woman to stone, and you might need him alive to reverse it."
The cops looked from Suave to the statues. "You sick son of -"
"You!" One cop pointed his gun at Vyper. "Step forward."
Suave may have had a point about using force fields around the statues. Raising his hands, Vyper slowly stepped forward. "I'm the one who called."
"He broke into my house," said Suave, "Arrest him!"
"Both of you, shut up!" The lead cop pointed. "Now stand over there."
This seems like the perfect time to attack. Now the cops know they need Suave alive so he can take a few risks. And Vyper is within reach.
(Q) Does Suave attack Vyper? (Nearly Certain) Yes.
Before anyone could react, Suave reached out and touched Vyper's shoulder and head. "One less obstacle in my path."
This is a reverse of the previous Clash, with Suave's +1 vs. Vyper's +3. Suave will go for an effect (turning Vyper to stone) while Vyper will go for Damage (blasting Suave at close range, safely away from the women).
(Clash) Does Suave win the Clash? (-2 means Very Unlikely) X-No!
Suave touched Vyper but nothing happened.
"Must be the clothing," Vyper said. Then he shoved Suave in the chest with a blast that sent him flying against the stairs.
Suave suffers -2 RS.
(Q) Do the police react? (Very Likely) No.
Vyper looked around. The police were frozen in terror. Taking matters into his own hands, he started forward.
(Clash) Does Vyper win the Clash? (+2 means Very Likely) Yes.
-3 RS.
(Incap) Is Suave Incapacitated? (+3 Damage vs. +1 Body -3 RS for +1, or Certain) Yes
Vyper caught Suave as he bounced off the stairs. Grabbing the man's wrists, he pressed them against the first female statue.
(Q) Does the woman turn back from stone? (I'll say Likely because Suave is still alive) Yes - Random.
(Random) "Help," "Competition."
The stone faded away, and the woman returned to normal. Falling to all fours, she let out a scream. Cops pushed past Vyper and helped her to her feet. One by one, Vyper freed the women from their prisons while the cops assisted them.
(Q) Is anyone arresting Suave? (Very Likely) Yes - Random Event.
(Random) "Decrease," "Communicate."
The cops put Suave in handcuffs, but the man remained groggy and made no effort to fight back.
"Cover his hands," Vyper said, and they did so.
(Q) Is anyone trying to arrest Vyper? (Very Likely).
One cop pointed his pistol at Vyper. "You, hands up, and take off your mask."
Vyper raised his hands. "I can't. I need my mask to breathe."
Let's see if this bluff works.
(Q) Does Vyper bluff the cop? (+2 vs. the cop's 0 Talk means Very Likely) Yes.
"All right, then just come with me," said the cop, "and no funny business."
The walked up the stairs and through the front door. Vyper say in the openness of the area and the night, he had his chance.
This will be a Clash to see if Vyper escapes. I'll use his Heart, but with a -1 since again he's turning invisible and flying away. I'll use the cop's +1 Agility, leaving Vyper with +1. But since there are multiple cops in the area, I'm giving him another -1.
(Clash) Does Vyper win the Clash? (0 means 50/50) Yes.
As the cop's attention waned even slightly, Vyper vanished from sight. Leaping into the air, he flew over the house and buildings before anyone could respond. Returning to his apartment, he snuck back inside his building, changed, and then stood in the shower, trembling from the nightmare of that night.
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