Issue 8: Out of the Maw
General Summary
Ebony Maw continued to proclaim the righteousness of his master's mission, going so far as to blame the "Outsiders" for Abe and Johnny's personal problems. The Maw claimed that their Outsiders "spoke" to him, and he backed up this claim by correctly calling out the heroes histories, as well as their greatest fears and anxieties.
The idea that Johnny's power was to blame for all the things he hates about himself really concerned Johhny. He was confused, and Johnny Fire hates being confused. Then he remembered that this guy's master tried to kill his mom, and he wasn't confused anymore.
Bobby was on the same page as his brother, and he blasted Ebony Maw with his Ice Blast. But the air around the alien villain shimmered and crackled, and the attack was repelled. This motherfucker had a force-field!
Bobby hates force-fields. They're so annoying.
Armsmaster rushed toward Bobby and struck him square in the chest with his Stun Blade. Bobby's teeth clenched as his muscles seized up, paralyzed. Seeing his brother go down, Johnny tapped into the Wild Fire Table and flew toward the Maw. He swung a burning fist at the alien villain, but the force field stopped the blow - crackling and glowing blue around the impact area.
But Johnny was crafty, He reached down and set the carpet at Ebony Maw's feet on fire. The force-field turned electric blue at the impact areas, sparking and starting to smoke as it's overloaded systems tried to defend multiple impact areas at once. With the force-fields defenses spread thin, Johnny pushed his hand through the force-field and ignited Ebony Maw's robes.
Battery raced towards Abe, feinting a punch to his stomach as she pushed him hard but harmlessly toward the door at the end of the hallway. "Get out of here!" she hissed. "It's not safe for you here! Go on, git! Git!"
Assault ran forward an poked Johnny with one finger, sending him flying 60 feet back into the kitchen. If Johhny couldn't fly, it would have really hurt!
Bobby broke free of his paralysis and summoned Ice Ice Bobby, his freakish yet adorable ice clone, next to Ebony Maw. The icy construct grabbed the villain and squeezed him tight, vomiting ice cubes into his mouth to silence him. It kind of worked, actually.
Abe got to his feet and dashed back into the chaos of the living room. First he used his power to push Cheavlier down the hallway and out of reach of that massive sword. Then he rapidly shrank the ground between Assault and the window behind him, sending the brainwashed hero tumbling through it. The security alarm blared as the glass shattered. But Assault was barely out of the window when Assault charged up to Abe and struck him hard with his signature battle staff, knocking the wind out of our unlikely hero.
The alarm blared, drowning out the Maw's pontificating. The party felt their confusion and disorientation start to clear. Any doubts that Ebony Maw was using some kind of Stranger power to effect their minds was gone. Even the Protectorate - who had been effected by his powers for much longer than our heroes - started looking around foggily as if just waking up.
Battery grew to full size and charged at Ebony Maw, striking him five times in the back with lightning fast giant punches. The Maw tried to scream, but only choked on ice cubes. He managed to spit them out and faced the clone, ordering it to release him. When it stared at him blankly, he turned to Battery and demanded that she protect him. She punched him again instead.
Suddenly, a giant-sized Chevalier broke through the door, sending splinters flying. "WHAT IS GOING ON?!" he roared as he withdrew his gunblade, which grew larger by the second. He started to swing before he stopped, his eyes hovering wearily on all the heroes between his target and himself. He held his action and stared hatefully at the Maw.
Picking up on the situation, Abe used his power to push himself, Armsmaster, Battery, and even Ice Ice Bobby out of the way. Chevalier screamed in rage asd he brought down his twenty foot long gun blade on Ebony Maw, obliterating his force-field and shattering his armor. The roar was deafening as Chevalier pulled the trigger, sending the Maw flying across the room in a fiery explosion.
The battle was won.
With Ebony Maw out of the way, the party resumed their search for Dinah. But to their surprise, all of the Protectorate besides Battery was leaving. Chevalier turned toward her with a sad look on his face. "You have command, Battery." he said, and then he walked away.
When asked what to make of that; Battery explained that before the party arrived, Ebony Maw made them all reveal their deepest secrets and hidden shames. She said she respects Chevalier too much to repeat what he said, but he will never be able to command the respect of this team - or even himself - again.
But the real shocker was Armsmaster, who revealed that he is a complete psychopath. He fantasizes about murdering literally everyone he meets and can only get hard when he thinks of death and dismemberment.
Battery declined to say what Assault said, but she seemed very upset with him.
As she finished her story, all the color suddenly drained from her face. "Oh my god." she whispered. "Oh god, no."
"What is it? Are you okay?" someone asked.
"No." she whispered, No, I'm not. I have to do all this paperwork."
Rewards Granted
Ebony Maw's alien Ray gun, which he curiously didn't use to defend himself.
Missions/Quests Completed
Secure Dinah Alcott.
Ultimate Donny
Level 5
Brute
/ 52 HP
Abraham Springfield
Level 5
Shaker
/ 36 HP
Bobby Ice
Level 5
Changer
/ 35 HP
Johnny Fire
Level 5
Changer
/ 38 HP
Report Date
13 May 2019
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