Grip of the Mind Thieves, Chapter 11 : Race Against Overmind
GREETINGS TRUE BELIEVERS!
Welcome back!
It looks like our heroes shut down Dr. Overmind's drones with a bang! And! They rescued the mesmerized city workers as a bonus! Was there any doubt? I knew they would find a way.
But the battle is over. The marine transfer station? Like always, the historic landmark still stands with only a few bumps and bruises. Nothing a new coat of paint, and... maybe a window, won't fix.
That still leaves an important... just what is Dr. Overmind up to? What is his master plan?
Well, the Knights Vigilant seem to be circling in on an answer.
Loki recovered the answers to the mysterious crossword puzzle. The same crossword that has been the source of the perplexing riddles from Overmind and his accomplice, Silk Sphinx. But now there are two new riddles, not from the crossword, for our heroes to solve...
"At night they come without being fetched. By day they are lost without being stolen. What are they?"
"At the risk to misreport... what is said to be like trafficking and so similar to escort... yet most certainly is not a teleport?"
They don't seem to relate to anything or each other. But Overmind's plans are a multi-layered cake of crime, so they must be important. Then! There is the diorama of New York City.
Our heroes have deduced that Overmind's focus is on the complex tunnels underneath New York City. But why? What has captured the criminal mastermind's attention? How does the Crystal Jade Vine plant and the strange Orange Ooze factor into Overmind and Silk Sphinx's plans?
... and would those plans have anything to do with the small swarm of flying drones, each with their own mysterious orange balloon payload, flying in random directions over Central Park?
It's seems that Overmind may be in his end game, True Believers! If so, it may be a race against time... a race against Overmind... to stop him!
Will our heroes unravel Overmind and Silk Sphinx's plans before it's too late? Can they find a way to counter the effects of Overmind's Orange Ooze before victims begin to explode in meta-powered overloads?
Let's find out!
This is Not Stan Lee saying...
EXCELSIOR!
Components
Goals
First...
The members of Mouse Force were mutated by a strange orange ooze. This is the same formula invented by Dr. Killian and almost used by the Clock King to contaminate the local water supply. Orange ooze known to the team to be made from the ultra rare and mysterious Crystal Jade Vine plant.
However, thanks to the research of Dr. Pamela Isley, also known as the eco-terrorist "Poison Ivy", they learned that the orange blossoms of the vine are known to be unstable. Citizens, even the Knights Vigilant's allies, Mouse Force, have been affected.
The clock is slowly ticking as the afflicted may explode in a fiery meta-powered overload.
How did Overmind get the chemical? How did he alter it? These questions still linger...
See the Editor's Note!
The situation is getting dire, True Believers!
'Nuff Said!
The members of Mouse Force are feeling the effects of the orange ooze! At least one member has developed out of control energy blasts out of his eyes! Another is losing control of a runaway phase or dispersal power! Then poor Donata is slowly transforming into a plasma being! While researching how to help the Knights Vigilant, Tesla Coil is working overtime to invent gadgets to stabilize Mouse Force until the other heroes find a cure!
'Nuff Said!
Then...
That ooze has been at the center of recent chaos from riots in Central Park, to an ambush at Pier 1 from a closed down newsstand. The results have been dire, with both citizens and heroes... such as Mouse Force... being mutated by the mysterious chemical.
Our heroes uncovered that Overmind isn't working alone!
Riddles, most appearing the famed New York Times crossword puzzles, gave hints to his criminal activity. Dr. Overmind isn't one for riddles or hints. However his new associate, Silk Sphinx, seems quite fond of them!
Riddle after hint pointed to key buildings around Manhattan and New York. Specifically museums. The Knights Vigilant scrambled to uncover why, but found themselves ensnared in one Overmind distraction after another.
Then came what may be Overmind's second associate... the Black Scarab!
Brutal, agile, and with a mysterious grudge against New York's own Egyptian themed heroes, such as Moon Knight, the Black Scarab's ambushes further snarled the Knights Vigilant's attempts to unravel Overmind's true plan.
But! Help Was Close By!
Detective Hirokoma Kozu of the Central Park Precinct, ally of the Knights Vigilant, met with the heroes atop the precinct rooftop with a bundle of evidence and clues. Overmind's crimes at the museums were bent on creating duplicates of New York City dioramas. Models that depict various parts and layers of New York City.
The heroes set out to find out what and why.
Research of city planning maps over the years, and some help from Kara's precognition, uncovered a long time hidden location in Central Park beneath the Bow Bridge. The mysterious Garden of the Heavens!
This had been taken over by the Golden Lotus and used as an underground greenhouse to grow Crystal Jade Vine plants in the light of strange and unusual glowing crystals in the lowest chamber. Somehow, both the plants and the crystals had the ability to mutate or rewrite a subject's DNA, activating their dormant Meta-Gene or further propelling their Meta-Gene to further express itself!
The Golden Lotus didn't appreciate visitors, yet the heroes were able to discover that Overmind was stealing ink powder, made from the Crystal Jade Vine by the Golden Lotus for their Meta-ink tattoos. The Knights Vigilant suspected this was connected back the Orange Ooze but they had no details beyond that.
But the details they did gain was information from a captured Disco Boy. The Disco Boy gang were using Overmind's heists as a "trojan horse" for thefts of their own. The Knights Vigilant had encountered the gang twice already in the midst of their "trojan horse thefts" but had not made the connection until that moment.
Through the Disco Boys, the heroes learned that Overmind was using the 59th Street Marine Transfer Station at Pier 99 as a waystation. A base to assemble duplicated parts of New York City dioramas with the help of captive, and mesmerized, New York City utility workers.
See the Editor's Note!
There are countless rumors about the Disco Boys and Girls holding the 59th Street Marine Transfer Station in high regard. Even to the point of protecting it, until they feel they can't. Then they "recruit" some nearby hero to "assist". Was all of the "trojan horse" thefts they were committing, just a means to "recruit" the Knights Vigilant?
It would certainly fit the rumor, True Believers!
But only the Disco gangs know for sure!
'Nuff Said!
'Nuff Said!
The diorama confirmed that Overmind's target either is associated with or in the New York City tunnel system. Was it the water supply? Perhaps related to the Stark Enterprises' Tech Expo held in Central Park!
And Now!
Overmind's drones, at least these four, are disabled and the city workers are free from mind control. But a new taunt and two new riddles exploded, literally, in front of the Knights Vigilant. These are...
"At night they come without being fetched. By day they are lost without being stolen. What are they?"
"At the risk to misreport... what is said to be like trafficking and so similar to escort... yet most certainly is not a teleport?"
And then, there are the sudden appearance of the tiny drones carrying orange balloons over Central Park... coincidence?
The Knights Vigilant have a bag of trouble on their hands. From here they have to...
See the Editor's Note!
It's a tall order, True Believers!
The heroes have what they think is the solution, or what may be Overmind's target. But there are up to a dozen or two dozen drones, buzzing their way randomly over Central Park. That's a lot to contend with!
But! No matter what else is happening, Overmind is going to use this Knights Vigilant action as a pay per view streaming event, if he can!
'Nuff Said!
'Nuff Said!
Stakes
The heroes know the effects of the orange ooze is a ticking time bomb. Their allies, Mouse Force, have been contaminated. Several city employees and a few civilans have been contaminated as well. If the chemical timer expires, it would spell disaster for Mouse Force and others!
They enlisted Dr. Pamela Isley, aka Poison Ivy, to assist. Is even her brilliant efforts enough? Has Overmind thought of, and planned for even this?
Relations
Protagonists
Allies
Dr. Pamela Isley, "Poison Ivy" Infamous eco-terrorist and expert on botany and botanical science. Working to analyze the mysterious fluid ... will she find something for the team that can help them?
Detective Hirokoma Kozu Veteran detective of the NYPD Central Park Precinct and contact with the Knights Vigilant.
Danny Chang Now former "Ink Enforcer" of the Golden Lotus, turned student of "The Way" or the philosophies as espoused by Statesman and the Knights Vigilant! Convinced to follow the path of the hero, he struggles with a dark past and deeds done for the Golden Lotus criminal organization.
Neutrals/Bystanders
Detective Kato MacHale Seasoned Code Blue police detective temporarily working at the Central Park NYPD precinct. He helped the heroes during the fight at Manhattan's Pier I, and showed again at the Museum of New York. Is he a friend? or Foe? What is his connection to Taki?
Adversaries
Dr. Overmind! Brilliant inventor and mastermind. Expert at cybernetics and mental interface technology.
The Mysterious Black Scarab, possibly known as 'Set'! He seems to have a grudge against Moon Knight, perhaps against all Egyptian themed vigilantes. What is it?
The mysterious Mistress of Riddles, and ally of Dr. Overmind, the Silk Sphinx! She also seems to know Moon Knight, yet without the same vengence based motivation as the Black Scarab. Is she the true source of the riddles?
See the Editor's Note!
In fact, True Believer, she is!
The nefarious criminal, the Riddler, has long retired from a life of crime. Instead, taking up pursuits such as philanthropy and freelance tutoring of the younger generation of heroes and villains in the fine art of 'deduction'.
Because of this, Silk Sphinx seeks to fill this void left by the Riddler. A criminal seeking to not only conduct her own personal war against the establishment but also show these self-styled 'heroic capes' that she has the superior intellect!
'Nuff Said!
'Nuff Said!
Backdrops
Locations
Historic 59th Street Marine Transfer Station!
At the 59th Street Marine Transfer Station, the Knights Vigilant have just finished rescuing the kidnapped city workers and shutting down Overmind's shape-shifting Omni-Drones. The battle was anything but quiet, so the police are on their way there.
As the Pier is outside the Central Park Precinct's jurisdiction, these officers may not look favorably on the Knights Vigilant's help!
Yet! Central Park!
Overmind's plans seem to include the New York City tunnel network. Specifically, the area underneath Central Park near the Stark Expo with the latest and greatest in technological advancements.
Also, a swarm of tiny drones carry balloons over the park, primarily the following locations...
Bow Bridge
Leob Boathouse
Delacorte Theater
Belevedere Castle
... certainly not at all the area between the Great Lawn and the Metropolitan Museum of Art where the Stark Expo is located!
Plot type
Chapter
Parent Plot
Related Characters
Related Organizations
Related Locations
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