Burdened with a Great Purpose
Life, Crime
Loki Orinson joins the Knights Vigilant supergroup! There are basically 3 members of this team who did not start out their careers as villains: Mr. Glass, "Statesman" (Trickshot), and Taki. One of those is retired, one of those is on the fence as he was a mercenary for hire, and one of those keeps recruiting all these villains.
Greetings True Believers!
New York! The city where anything could happen … and often does!
But we can’t waste a second sightseeing! At this very moment, our heroes – the Knights Vigilant – are in hot pursuit of the Disco Gang and their stolen Egyptian bangles!
That’s not all, two days before STAR Labs in New York reported a theft of Egyptian artifacts as well! But those weren’t the Disco Boys or Disco Girls … but the Golden Lotus? What would Cobra and AIM find interesting about that?
It seems they’re all doing the sand dance!
And what has any of that got to do with Loki teleporting through Central Park as if a wolf is snapping at his heels?
Looks like we're going to get some straight answers this time, True Believers! Lets see what happens!
This is Not Stan Lee saying … EXCELSIOR!
Starring
Loki joins the Knights Vigilant— because: why not? Tales of Justice Adventures: "Burdened with a Great Purpose"; Friday, March 28th, 2014
Where did the first episode wind up?
Our heroes broke up a black market auction run by the Golden Lotus, and took down groups from AIM, Cobra, and Hammer Empire!
They've recovered more artifacts than they expected ... which are the fakes.. which are real?
And where does GRAB come in?
Also ... they have a new member... LOKI!
Greetings True Believers!
You made it! Great! Luckily, so did our heroes!
What could possibly be so important to AIM, Cobra and the Hammer Empire? After all, it's only some old artifacts, right?
And why make so many duplicates? Sounds like someone was planning on double crossing someone … but who?
And what of Loki and the League of Shadows? We know the League hasn’t turned a new leaf, but has Loki? What is he up to? Is this another of his mysterious plans? Or does he really need help?
So many questions, so few answers … and so little time!
Let's peek in on our heroes and see what they’ve figured out so far!
This is Not Stan Lee saying … EXCELSIOR!
Meanwhile ... on a rooftop not far from the Brass Buddha restaurant …
A lone figure separated from the shadows of rooftop air conditioning units. Lithe and graceful, Mercedes “Mercy” Graves moved like a black cat along the gravel roof. She made little sound while she shifted to a new sitting position. The woman reached out to adjust a control on the apparatus in front of her: a combination whisper microphone and sniper camera pointed at a restaurant three buildings away. She looked once more through the lens. However, she had already seen what she needed, this was a precaution just in case something unexpected happened. It was New York after all. Another moment slipped by, and she tapped a concealed bluetooth ear-piece.
“Colby Investments, how may I help you?” The receptionist was an even mix of pleasant, yet bored. It was as if this was the highlight of his day, aside from a cold cup of coffee.
Mercy voice brightened; her vapid tone a mismatch for the rest of her. “Hi, yeah, I need to check in on my, uhm, y’know, account? Could I speak with someone, please?”
“Certainly,” the young man replied. “A moment please.”
There was a click sound. Not a loud click, but one so soft that it resembled the usual tick of a poor cell phone connection.
“Connection secured,” the young man confirmed. He hung up as the call transferred.
“Yes?” A deeper voice asked.
Mercy cleared her throat. “The secondary meeting was at the Brass Buddha restaurant. James Bertelli arrived with two bodyguards, and identified the items as fakes. No id on the Chinese woman or her driver yet who brought the fakes to the meeting.”
“Interesting. Did the Golden Lotus present any problems? They do lay claim to that part of Chinatown.”
“No, none. League of Shadows, yes. They arrived after a local group of vigilantes that call themselves the Knight’s Vigilant did. GRAB also was here. The Knight’s Vigilant seemed interested in the items and Mr. Bertelli. The fight almost knocked the restaurant to the ground. Looks like SpectorCorp’s construction crew will be putting in some major overtime.”
“Indeed? And the staff, was it recovered?”
“I’ve eyes on the League of Shadow’s courier who has it.”
The man on the phone sounded pleased. “Wonderful. Detain the courier. Recover the main housing of the staff. Replace it if possible, or arrange a ‘technological mishap’ if not. Remember, it must appear as if the Golden Lotus took offense to the courier’s travel plans.”
Mercy looked through the sniper lens. A single figure had slipped away from the Brass Buddha restaurant and scaled a nearby building. Dressed in a loose, wrap around, hooded tunic and trousers, he almost blended in with the weathered Chinatown skyline. She recognized him as a League of Shadows’ assassin, or in this case, a courier. She granted herself a small, feral grin.
“Consider it done. What about the gem or crystal in the staff?”
“Unimportant to the goal, and most likely a perfect natural distraction to the local hero community. Oh, and Mercy?”
“Yes?”
“Excellent work so far. The jet will be waiting at the usual location when you’ve recovered the staff’s housing.”
Mercy’s feral grin widened. “Thank you, sir. I’ll have another report within the hour.”
The line clicked, and the call ended. Lex Luthor closed the leather case on his secured cell phone. He reached over and picked up a squat glass from atop a thin, wooden cabinet. Lex swirled the golden liquid in the glass tumbler before he took a small sip. After a moment’s thought, he walked back into his library.
Slade “Deathstroke” Wilson looked up from the blueprints sprawled over one table.
“Problems?” His rough voice grated over the word.
Lex blinked and glanced at the mercenary. His thoughts snapped back to the moment. “Ah, no. Just considering some information I’ve learned.” When Slade raised the eyebrow over his good eye, Lex Luthor nodded. “SpectorCorp and Knights Vigilant.”
“Ah.” Was Deathstroke’s initial reply. “The first is somewhat interesting, the second not as much.”
“Oh?” Lex set his glass tumbler down on the table before he folded his arms over his chest. “How so?”
Slade glanced down at the blueprints, then back over to Lex with a small shrug. “SpectorCorp is run by a guy I ran across a few times. Mark Spector. Mercenary, or at least was. Bad man in his own way. I think there might even be some outstanding warrants in parts of South America for him over accusations of ‘grave robbery’. It seems they take it personal if you walk out of their country with some of their ancient history you dig up. Sometimes it doesn’t even matter if you really are to blame. Anyway, word was he semi-retired and started his own company.”
“Understandable, and the Knights Vigilant?”
“Local New York vigilantes,” Slade said with a smirk. “They deal with street crime most of the time. Every so often they land something serious. Like that fiasco of a science expo Stark Enterprises put on. They were wrapped up in that.” Deathstroke shook his head. “I’m surprised they’ve not wound up in the hospital by now.”
Lex, however, did not smile. “I remember that expo. There was something about a scientist with some questionable approaches towards a ‘singularity generator’ or similar nonsense. What was his name? Cavendish?”
“That’s the one,” Slade replied.
“Wonderful. Once we’re done with our current project, I’d like for you to find him, and recover him from whatever hole he’s locked in. The usual retrieval fee of course. Remember, he’s only any good to me if he’s alive, and willing to freelance.”
Slade grinned. It bore a remarkable resemblance to a hungry, one-eyed wolf. “That’ll be no problem. I needed a weekend project anyway. Now, what about this?” He gestured to the blueprints.
Lex scowled at the diagrams. “Simple. They’ve taken a winged mutant. We take him back, get him medical attention, then send him on his way home.”
“And the aliens?”
“The Kryptonians are an invasive species,” Lex explained. “When a gardener finds an invasive plant in his garden, he pulls it out by the roots. So we pull this weed out by the roots. They need to learn, aliens have no place here. Earth is for humanity and all its rich variety from normal to mutant. We convince them to leave, or we ‘convince’ them.”
Slade’s chuckle was full of dark promise. “That works for me.”
A nice day for a SMASH and GRAB
Greetings True Believers!
The League of Shadows! G.R.A.B.! And can you believe, the artifacts were fake? Except for that one of course!
And what about the Brass Buddha restaurant? Mark Spector will be paying for that one!
But! The League of Shadows is getting away with Loki’s staff! According to Rough Cut Bartelli, GRAB has the remaining real artifacts! Speaking of GRAB, they escaped also, but in a different direction!
And what about the Golden Lotus? They held the auction in the first place, but … where are they now?
Looks like our heroes are hip deep in the kimchi this time! What will they do?
Let’s check in on them and see what they’ve decided before those artifacts fall into REALLY wrong hands!
This is Not Stan Lee saying … EXCELSIOR!
Starring
