Launch Code 3
Structure
Exposition
Something in the air
On campus at the Steinhardt School, The Shadow and Agent Chameleon see the end of Bryn Oh's speech. There is an odd feeling in the air, a faint prickling on the skin. Is a storm front coming through? Or something far more unnatural?
At Rise and Grind, or rather behind the Rise and Grind, criminal dealings fair poorly against Sahara and Psypher. Sahara stands atop a fire escape, holding the duffel bag full of ill-gotten gains. But don't count Tar Pit out just yet! He is running down the alley, with a goal of some sort in mind, while pointing a threatening finger at the sand-shifting masked crusader.
Conflict
Sahara is up the fire escape. Psypher is in pretty bad shape. Tar Pit is going for the back of Tony's House of Ribs.
Have a nice list of viscous liquids in bulk that are at that restaurant:
- barrel or keg of rib sauce, may contain honey, may contain molasses
- industrial strength dishwasher (machine) detergent
- machine grease
- ketchup and mayo, again in vats or minikegs
- chocolate sauce
- batter
- milkshake mix (first Joey needs to break the bags open with a different body)
The band themselves are not culprits. If approached in a non-hostile way, a RAP on a 6/6 gets that they did a limited run of the bumper stickers last year because that's all they could afford to print at the time, but now they have plenty of fresh new ones. (The one on that van was weatherbeaten.) 3 RAPs, they did not keep a LIST of who bought them, but most of the people who bought those bumper stickers are repeat attendees in the audience.
An off-duty cop is doing bouncer duty at the front door. Her name is Sandra Carpenter and she looks a lot like Lucille Ball. If you show her your ID and prove you are 22 or older, she will stamp your hand with some very cool holographic ink that flouresces when alcohol touches it.
Of course, some dirty deals are going to happen in the alley behind the place. Relevant stats:
- The New Purple Gang
- Tar Pit
if somebody detectives their way to 5 RAPs or more on a roll vs 8/8, the metahuman crime guys dress well. They wear purplish suit vests, like bartenders at those really fancy nightclubs? Only these have little yellow hearts on them that glow under a blacklight. There aren't many of them, and they have an accent like they're from Philly or something. You know. They say “wooder” instead of “water”. Not Boston or Jersey, that's for sure
if somebody detectives their way to 5 RAPs or more on a roll vs 12/12, being PERSUASIVE or Charismatic instead of SCARY, this particular gang member thinks the REAL problem is the latest round of the metahuman drug is too cheap for good business. Steel Breath, Silent Dreams, whatever, now we got "StarGate" on all the uni campuses and it's supposed to give you a new view of the universe. So it's probably a psychoactive or something? Because MDMA is not going to lose its market share any time soon, anybody knows THAT, why somebody gotta keep trying to invent the wheel here? Stupid college chemists, man, I heard that's how the Scarecrow got his start down in Gotham.
Rising Action
Meanwhile on campus!
The mysticism-and-arts symposium is winding up. Professor Rita P. Wright continues to do nothing of interest. The Shadow and Nathan Borne (Code Name: Chameleon; AKA Kitsune) think she is the secret ringleader/instigator for PPZ. She is not. If led down the right primrose path, she has been concerned about two of her students recently who seem to be obsessing on a sort of Universal Theory of Ancient Superstition. Which she actually thinks is bunk. The closest you get, she says, is the indicators in artifact and language of a root religion, sort of an Ur-religion, that is either Ancient Mesopotamian or a precursor of same. She pointed them at Sumerian studies such as http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/ but Bob Megalos more or less blew that off. He wanted voudoun and metahuman theory to fit.
But something is happening in the small city park behind the building, something that starts to create a general feeling of unease in anyone at all sensitive — such as our heroes!
I don't know what the ritual actually is, or what it was supposed to be, other than it's a combination of test run and prep work for the eventual goal. If questioned, participants will claim that this magic rite would:
- align the forces of randomness toward their goal
- it's insurance – a curse on anyone who tries to thwart them
- it's a cure for the common cold, just in case any of them have caught something, so their senses will remain clear for the rite
But of course what matters is what happens. If the ritual is completed, shadowy figures pop out of nowhere and menace the heroes. Here's the Anime version of the three Furies, that should be fun! Whips and sonic attacks.
Relations
Protagonists
Adversaries
- Tar Pit
- The New Purple Gang
- PPZ a.k.a. Psi Phi Zeta
- Three alien combatants from Europa on Earth 12 who have taken the form of the Three Cute Furies
Plot type
Chapter 3: more of the same from 2
Parent Plot
Related Characters
Related Organizations
Comments