Luo Jian received a phone-call from one of the sources he recently interviewed for his upcoming book about the Sacred Artifacts.
The conversation was abnormal and quite late in the night, after midnight. His friend, Jasper Liu, carried on a friendly conversation. But too friendly…and too fast. Until there was a pause in the conversation and Jasper forced out the following words with great difficulty:
“I... am... not... me...”
After a few silent moments, the conversation returned to ‘normal’. Luo tried to ask Jasper what his cryptic statement meant, but Jasper ignored the question, immersed in his hyper friendly conversation about nothing in general. Luo eventually ended the conversation and then sought out the New Champions for help.
“My friend is being controlled, I fear. I just interviewed him a few weeks ago and he was a slowly considerate conversationalist. He listened and only spoke only when necessary. But just now, he was like another person. And then he spoke the words, 'I am not me...' before returning back to his abnormal cadence.
Can you help me retrieve him? I fear that he’s being watched and controlled by the Soon Shin clan..."
Acting quickly, the New Champions moved in the dark of night to the alleyway behind the apartment where Jasper Liu lived on the third floor.
Immediately, however, they noticed the crackling energy at the end of the alley and approached to determine source. But as soon as they passed by, Gun Drones appeared. Noticing that they were powering up to release blasts of energy at the team, Lil'Rocket quickly attempted to destroy them...but was unable to damage them, only sending one of the Gun Drones careening backward.
Soon enough, the team was able to collectively destroy the Gun Drones, slicing and punching them into pieces. But one of them was able to self-destruct while in the grasp of Sandcrab. The explosion was devastating, creating a crater in the street and surely permanent scars on the wisened leader among the group.
Once the Gun Drones were destroyed, another object appeared in the electrical portal that remained, hovering in the air: a DESTROID. The robotic creature verbally announced its instructions, "Downloading instructions from Dr. Destroyer. Instructions acquired."
However, the DESTROID was in energy form, unable to be touched by the team of superheroes. The DESTROID slowly propelled itself upward and through the wall of the third-floor apartment and into the same space as Jasper Liu. The team reacted quickly, with Sandcrab, though hurt, jumping through the window, grabbing Jasper and throwing him down to his awaiting teammates below.
XO caught Jasper, amidst flames from the remains of the final Gun Drone that was destroyed by Wildthing's Rhinoceros form. All the while, Jasper continued chattering nonsensical happiness...clearly not in control of his own thoughts.
Ghost took Jasper from XO and flew off into the distance...though the DESTROID tried to follow afterward, Maximum Resistance blinded the robot creature. Quickly thereafter, the robot could be heard, "Acquiring updated information. New targets acquired." And with that, the DESTROID disappeared.
A video of the session is available here:
Rewards Granted
3XP
Missions/Quests Completed
Rescued Jasper Liu
Defeated 3 Gun Drones
Prevented DESTROID from following and capturing Jasper Liu
