Mutants & Masterminds: The Unlikely Prophets - Issue #3: "History is a Bomb"

[Bodhie Armstrong]

"Whatever you do, do it fast Gloom!", Bodhie yelled back keeping the impossible heavy door opened. She hoped she'd be able to keep it that way long enough for Gloom to make it back.

Click to reveal..

Strongarm will try to keep the door open as long as possible

[Thomas Froit]

Glitch groaned at facing the sudden chaos and decisions between the group members. And what the heck about us getting out of here? Aqua's pounding on the fricking door! As much as he didn't want to do this, he did it.

"Ok, folks, ladies and gentlemen, and minotaurs too, let's get you all out of here, through the doorway, no pushing!" He ordered, trying to shepherd the large group of non-combatants through before joining through to the other side, wherever it was.

[Charlotte]

Originally Posted By: OOC

Going to fast-forward a little bit.

Reluctantly, Necronaut, Eiko and Jade turned back, leaving Gloom behind to handle the preparations.

The link between doors was forged, and with a mighty grunt and heave, Strongarm pulled the door open wide, revealing what looked like a museum. It was dark inside, the museum obviously closed.

At Hex's urging, the mass of people was urged through the door. As Eiko, Necronaut and Jade returned, Eiko dashed into his room, grabbing a long white cardboard box, and hauling it awkwardly as he stumbled through the door.

Meanwhile, Gloom ran further into the labyrinth. She didn't have to go far - a group of minotaurs had stayed behind, and they were startled to see her. There were some language issues, but after a few frantic minutes, they got the gist.

"Will force shift labyrinth - seal entryway." The large female minotaur paused. "After all done to you - you still act to warn us?"

Meanwhile, the last of the prisoners went through the door, and on the other side, Strongarm hefted it closed. The magic faded...

And the hatch began to leak, the pressure building enough to burst the seam. A large pool of water formed, and lifted itself, like a long, clear tendril.

It looked around, and saw nothing.

It roared.

[Radiance]

Through the door after all the people, Hikari kept her focus on keeping them all decent, happy at least that the clothes were so life-like they didn't emit a suspicious glow. "Everyone stay together, We'll get out of here as soon as everyone's accounted for."

[Necronaut]

The Necronaut looked back at the door and resisted the urge to dash back through. His face was just barely visible through his semi-real mask, but clearly long with guilt. Letting Gloom stay behind by herself had been the wrong thing to do, he just hoped none of the increasingly obvious potential horrible outcomes of this would come to fruition.

He shook himself out of his ten second fugue and turned to Hex. "Where are we?" He looked around and added with a nod, "Good call, not taking us straight back home."

[z-Gloom]

“No one deserves to drown just for being afraid to leave their boss,” Gloom said, her hissing voice thick with annoyance. “And you don’t deserve to die just because we pissed someone else off. Just pay it forward, right?”

“What?”

“Pay it forward… if you have the chance to do for someone else what I have done for you, then do it,” Gloom ordered.

A roar rang out through the tunnels, making Gloom twist to look. “That’s my cue,” she said, turning back to the minotaurs. “Take care.” With that, she stepped backwards into the shadow and jumped for home.

Click to reveal..

I’m leaving it open like this so that Mike can screw up the jump if he wishes.

[Charlotte]

It didn't take Hex and the others long to find a door in the museum suitable for heading home.

Meanwhile, Eiko set his box down on the floor, and pulled the lid off, checking for damage to his scrolls - which were not scrolls at all. They were a huge collection of thin pamphlets, held together with staples, and with yellow, frayed covers depicting colorful men and women with colorful names like Doctor Strange, Batman, the Hulk, Iron Man, Cloak & Dagger, and the Spectre. The names were vaguely familiar to the group - or at least, the type of name was vaguely familiar.

Eiko relaxed. The man who'd done the speaking for the group of prisoners before looked at Eiko in disbelief. "You lugged that around and slowed us all down and they're just a bunch of comic books?"

"Prophecy!" He held up one. "Taught myself surface-speech with them! They made me a True Believer."

* * *

It was morning in Australia, so Gloom couldn't just appear wherever she wished. But enough of the shades in Blackjack's house were drawn, that she could appear where she wished.

The snoring from upstairs was a sign that Blackjack hadn't woken up yet.

[Thomas Froit]

Glitch looked at the comic books, drawn in by the haunting familiarity, in the names, the dress he and his fellows wore- "I murder superheroes. I killed every cape-wearing goody two-shoes we could find during the Rise." Sure, he'd be knocked for a lump by the heavy shot fired from Spartan's BFG, but he'd heard the words as clearly as day.

He took another one from the box and flipped through it. Slinging a giant red, white and blue shield and dressed in similar colors was a man, another man in a skull mask called him Captain America. And flipping through the pages, this Captain America was loudly decrying the Red Skull's attempt to 'take over the world, remove the freedom that is the right of everyone.'

Goodness, nationalism, individualism. So out of the Order's global curriculum. On a hunch, Glitch looked at the publication date. 1995. He put it back and quickly checked out the date of a Spiderman comic. 1995. Glitch put it back as well and turned to his fellow Prophets. "They're all superheroes in these. We heard Spartan say that the Order killed a multitude of superheroes during the Rise. And that's what the Gap is about. Keeping everyone unaware of not just that the Order clearly brutalized their way to power, but to suppress any memories of when non-Order values were around."

It was amazing how just a day or two could radically change your world view. "Anyway, side note, we'll have our hands full ensuring that we can supply everyone." After a moment or two of rapid thought, he quickly amended that statement. "Actually, once I get back and have the time, I can build a hydrogen combustion machine to produce water. Food is the big question. Hex, do you have anything in that book of your's for altering and controlling plants or some sort of transformational spell that can change things into food?"

[Charlotte]

"Yes! Important deeds in scrolls. Truth! Justice! American Way! Don't know what America is. But sounds great!"

Eiko's eyes lit up, having finally found another person interested in what he'd squirreled away. "And more inspiring words of all! Words that a a balm against nye-hill-ism. Words that tell me of a future that tell me that the story of the world will go on!" He took the comic from Glitch's hands and flipped it to the final page.

He pointed at the bottom of the page.

TO BE CONTINUED

"They tell me that the stories end. No more super-heroes! But I knew that their story would not end - Never The End! - and here you are!" Eiko beamed.

The ex-prisoner coughed. "I shouldn't have said to myself, 'this day can't get any weirder.' Look - uh, where are we going?"

[SalmonMax]

Hex looked up from the illustrated newsprint 'books' that the minotaur was obsessing over and at Glitch. She shook her head.

"No, the Book of Keys is about the opening and closing of ways, seeing or going places you are not...or bringing things that are not here, here. Guarding and controlling thresholds. But..."

She lifted the staff...polished white ash, with serpents of gold twining around the top fifth, and each other in a distinctive double helix until they both arched out to make two loops at the very top, then touched noses to the staff's crown. Looking closer, one could see writing on it. Small Greek letters in winding helix patterns along its length.

"...the occult significance of the snake is transformation...and healing. Among other things. Maybe when I've translated some of this writing I'll know more."

With a shrug, Hex added, "Until then, all I can do is open a door to a good takeout place."

[Radiance]

She smiled. A Time of Real heroes, even if they were simply fictional characters. The artwork ranged from gritty and what looked to be decades old, to modern and almost lifelike. As an artist, Radiance wanted to look at the "scrolls."

[Thomas Froit]

"Oh, well..." Glitch didn't understand a whit about the occult and so decided to skip over that lest he something blatantly stupid, "fine. At the moment, I'll settle for us returning to Jack's house. I hope he doesn't get a shock from learning the sudden increase in numbers of the returning party."

[Charlotte]

Radiance only had time to look at the cover of one, before the group heard footsteps.

The museum didn't have motion sensors - but apparently it did have night watchmen (not Knight Watchmen) and one or more were on their rounds.

A decision to stay or go, and if to go, where to go, had to be made quickly.

[Bodhie Armstrong]

"Guys, I think we're expecting company any minute now - maybe we should move on? I don't want to start another unnecessary fight.", Bodhie wasn't reluctant to fighting actually, but she preferred if they found a place where they could settle down for a few hours, plan their next move and shed some light on the mysteries they just recently unveiled.

Bracing herself for the worst the huge musclebound amazon got into a combat crouch facing towards the direction she heard the nearing footsteps.

[SalmonMax]

"On it," Hex said, quickly finding an unlocked door and working her magic on it. This door led to the team's de facto headquarters in Australia.

"Gloom?" she called. "Are you here? Did you make it back okay?"

(OOC - Sorry, I thought we got narrated back here awhile back...was confused...but I'll just go with it. )

[Charlotte]

Originally Posted By: OOC

I was under the impression you wanted/needed to debate what to do with Eiko. But this neatly settles that.

Hex closed the door just in time to escape the notice of their guard. They emerged in Austrailia - Jack's house wasn't big enough to hold dozens of people, but the door could leat out of Jack's house as well as in. So the masses waited outside, while Hex went inside to meet Gloom and Jack.

Gloom was there - and so was Jack's snoring, which abruptly stopped. There was muffled thumping, and then the man emerged from his bedroom, dark glasses slightly askew, wearing a bathrobe and bunny slippers.

"You made it back? Thank God." He scratched the back of his head. "Did you find her?"

[Bodhie Armstrong]

Strongarm shrank to her ´normal´ size once they were safe smiling at Blackjack even though he couldn’t see it, he certainly heard it in her voice, „Yes we did. Although she can’t speak... she’s using sign language. Fortunately Gloom knows how to.“

The still massively built woman made her way inside and headed straight for the kitchen. She needed some food or at least she felt she should and checked their stock of available food.

Click to reveal..

Bodhie would cook up something for the gang, depending on what is there.

[Charlotte]

There was quite a bit in Jack's larder, though feeding several dozen people would be problematic. But Bodhie managed to get together some basics to cook.

Jasmine Gold looked around for Gloom. When she saw her, she started signing. ~I'm glad everyone is okay. Can you tell me what's going on now?~

[z-Gloom]

Gloom had barely had time to find a bottle of beer and crack it open before the others arrived. She nodded silently to her teammates, relaxing as she counted noses and realized that everyone was here.

~This is a little awkward,~ Gloom admitted as she set down her beer and started to talk. ~You were a prisoner of the Order, the people who rule the world through tyranny and fear. We have freed you guys, but I think you've been trapped for a while.~ Gloom paused, her unusual face sympathetic. ~What is the last thing you remember?~

[IndyPendant]

Sharatur's years as a tour guide and customer service representative at the Grand Canyon Geological Museum served her well now.

She took a few minutes to change from her Jade costume into a petite, professional dress. Tying her hair back and a quick application of some makeup later, and she stepped back out to begin organizing the refugees before Jack had fully registered just how many the team had brought back with them.

The mercurial superhero was once again transformed; the uncertain young lady barely keeping up with events replaced by the calm, certain, and above all <i>in charge</i> professional. In her element, Sharatur had all the rescued prisoners squared away in minutes, somewhat cramped but organized within Jack's home, with promises of food once Bodhi was done, and later an explanation of what had happened to them. The minotaur she was careful to billet in a small room by himself, near everyone else, while asking him to make sure to keep his 'scrolls' safe.

She then appeared before Jasmine--literally; her teleportation powers were a huge help in the whole process--her eyes sparkling with a certain satisfied delight that none of you had really seen in Sharatur before. Her happiness and energy, in doing the sort of thing she truly loved, seemed to transform her, revealing a real and intense beauty beneath her athletic prettiness.

After looking to Gloom and nodding to Jasmine, she reached out her hand to the deaf woman. Taking Jasmine's hand gently in her own, she drew her out of the room, speaking softly as to a timid animal. "We have something to show you, dear. We think it may have been built by your father, a man called the Goldsmith, apparently." She stepped aside, revealing the device, stating dramatically "Jasmine Gold, meet the Loom." Then she rather ruined the effect--which was rather lost on the deaf woman anyway--by adding hesitantly "Or the Vault. I'm still not entirely sure which. Maybe it's both..."

[Charlotte]

The food came quickly - in the face of so many, Bodhie went for basic nourishment, and Jack had a great many potatoes to make do with.

Jasmine conferred with Gloom, and Gloom translated for the others. ~I remember - there was - it's unclear. There was shouting. Someone pounding at the door. I was hiding. I remember. Yes. Hiding. I had a gun in my hand. It was plated with gold.~

She paused for a long moment. ~Yes. Gold. My father was a jeweler. A very rich one. And he was also... something... else.~ She concentrated. ~It's hard to remember. I know he told me. Something to do with making gold - no, smithing gold.~

At Sharatur's urgings, Gloom translated, and Jasmine walked over to the L.O.O.M. She touched it. ~My father built this. I remember. You said - a Vault? Yes. Last time I saw him he said he had to lock down the Vault in the Cardinal building. I don't know where that is. I should. There's this - like - I can't sign it, there's no words, it's like I know the memory is there but it's like looking at the back of my own eyeball.~

"We find enough raw materials for that thing and it'll take care of the clothing issue." Blackjack turned his head in the general direction of Sharatur. "So you brought back five dozen or so of Jasmine Gold's roommates, and there's a minotaur upstairs in Lori's old room and he has a longbox of comic books with him. You all don't do a thing by halves, do you." The smile made it a compliment.

[Necronaut]

The Necronaut wanted to hear what Jasmine had to say, oh yes. Curiosity and anticipation were practically eating him up from the inside out. But there were plenty of eyes on her already and, as important as she was, she wasn't the only pressing business at hand.

The Necronaut was not good with people in any conventional sense. He was fully aware of, and even embraced, this fact about himself. Nevertheless he strode bravely into the throngs of naked rescue-ees. Labcoat in place and clipboard in hand, his vaguely doctor-like demeanor helped significantly with his self assigned task.

"Hello, you can call me Norman. Please keep calm, you're all safe here, er, I think. We'll find proper clothes and living quarters for you soon. We just want to be organized and make sure everyone gets what they need. Don't feel obligated to answer any questions you're not comfortable with..."

And with that he began making his rounds, collecting names, residences, dates, medical conditions, next of kin, reason for incarceration and anything else that seemed relevant or that the newcomers cared to volunteer. His detached coffin-side manner, if nothing else, helped to instill a sense of calm. He answered questions where possible but avoided giving too many details or specifics. Amid this many eyes and ears, he worried, some might still belong to The Order.

[Radiance]

Hikari looked at jack and chuckled. "Evidently not."

She sat down maintaining the hard light clothing. "Someone might want to go to town, if there's somewhere cheap that we can get these people some real clothing. I'm not good for much else until that happens, and If I get to far away it will all disappear."

[Thomas Froit]

Glitch scratched his head and smiled. "Gimme the time and I can make a hydrogen combustion machine... should give us all the water we need. Food... matter duplication from your fridge foods? I'll have to look into that. But, I haven't seen this Vault yet, and we should take another look, if only to make sure Jasmine can get this going. Maybe it'll help her memories?"

[Charlotte]

Norman gathered up the info on the prisoners. They came from all over the world, and all from various points in the last three decades. The emergent leader was named Matthew Cale, a lawyer from New York, and he'd been incarcerated for distributing anti-Order leaflets, that had started out mildly critical and gotten more and more pointed as the Order had cracked down harder.

There were similar stories. A few, no more than a dozen, were guilty of violent crimes against the Order's operations and bureaucracy. All of them had a common trait - none of them recanted their actions against the Order, not even when faced with prison for life. A picture began to build, of them being traded to the gorgons instead of poisoning the minds of prison populations...

Meanwhile, Jack spoke to Glitch. "That seems like an excellent idea. Take her out there while I get dressed. I'll look after our guests - you lot get first crack at the Vault when it opens. If it opens, then we get inside, we find if AEGIS-1 has any weaknesses... and we also find out just how much history we've lost. Can't wait."

[z-Gloom]

Gloom had been signing along with the conversation, keeping Jasmine up to date. At the talk of the girl getting her memory back - without really consulting the woman in question - she rolled her eyes slightly. ~They mean well,~ she added to the conversation.

At Jack's suggestion, Gloom turned to face her fully. ~We have a Vault, something of your father's. We think it has information that we need, specifically to oppose the Order. Will you take a look at it, see if you can help us get inside it?~

[Necronaut]

The Necronaut offered the assembled ex-prisoners what condolences he could for their current predicament. It was the same sincere yet muted and awkward sort of exchange that tended to occur when he accidentally crossed paths with the bereaved back at the funeral home. He tried to throw some encouragement on top of that but 'There is a chance that we may eventually figure out how to possibly put the Order on the ropes.' didn't seem to have a very encouraging ring to it.

He handed his clipboard over to Jack as the team began to mobilize for the next run on the vault. "They seem like a pretty decent crowd. I don't trust my judgement at all though. Better keep a close eye on them for now."

[Bodhie Armstrong]

Bodhie looked at Glitch and nodded in agreement. She liked his idea – anything that gave them more freedom and less dependency would help and having a reliable source of power and water was the basics to secure their future.

Food duplication on the other hand – that sounded way out there – too much Sci-Fi for her taste but who knew, maybe he was really capable of inventing something like that. She just hoped she could ensure that she would get the right amount of nutrients and carbons for her diet.

The massively build woman watched the refugees and the others trying to adapt to the new situation and gather as much information as possible to make plans for their next step while she was primarily worried when she would find the time to go on with her workout again? Would she still need to workout regularly to maintain her physique or has that become obsolete now that she had ´superpowers´.

She looked at her huge arms and asked herself if she could even find weights that would pose a challenge and provide her with a decent workout. Even if she didn’t have to lift weights anymore, she liked the routine, she liked the structured schedule and would surely miss that if she didn’t have to anymore. It would be tough letting go of that part of her live since it had become the sole purpose and her entire focus.

Someone bumped into her which snapped her out of her reverie. „Oh, I’m so sorry...“, she apologized hoping she didn’t hurt anyone. She loved being this huge but it would surely need some time to get used to. Once she was sure that it was merely an accident and that she didn’t cause any permanent damage she went to Jack and smiled at Necronaut.

„I’m ready for another go at the Vault. I suppose you guys need me anyway, no one can lift that bloody thing besides me, eh?“

[Charlotte]

Jasmine inhaled, then exhaled. ~I want to see the Vault, yes. Let's go now.~

And so, the eight of them – the group, plus Jasmine Gold – set out for the Vault. Jack stayed behind once the food was ready, to keep an eye, metaphorically speaking, on their guests-slash-refugees.

The bush pilot's hangar was not too far outside the abandoned town – a couple of kilometers. Jasmine was oddly unfazed at the group's light-lattice-ghost-plane-super-strength transportation trick. When she caught Gloom's look, she signed back. ~Is this kind of thing unusual?~

They landed. Rusty doors were drawn back, and Radiance illuminated the Vault. It sat in the midst of the hangar, the light glinting off its red exterior like the facets of a jewel. Jasmine looked at it with vague familiarity. She signed to Gloom.

~I remember this. My Dad did this. He wanted the most secure vault in the world for the most important things...~

Then the Vault lit up. The familiar – to the group – hologram of the Goldsmith stood before them. It looked down at Jasmine. Jasmine looked up at it. And Jasmine spoke, for the first time, her word malformed by her deafness, but understandable.

"Dad!"

The hologram's data display began scrolling text.

Scanning...

Facial Recognition: Confirmed

DNA: Exact Match

Neural Patterns: Within Projections

Anomaly: Projected Age Mismatch

Probability of Shapeshifter: Low But Nonzero

Prepare for Mnemonic Trigger

Use High Security Subconscious Password

Jasmine looked confused – and then the display showed a picture of a flower, a mathematical formula, and a swirling umbrella. She paused, thinking, then nodded, signing to the hologram.

Password "Unlikely Prophet" Accepted

Welcome Jasmine

The Vault is Yours.

I Love You.

And with that, the Vault slid open. The inside was the size of a small house, and filled to the brim with wonders.

There were working prototypes and blueprints for world-changing technology - hydrogen extractors that could be manufactured cheaply and bring water to anywhere in the world. Hyper-efficient batteries the size of a brick that could power a city block – and photo-voltaic paint that could extract the sun's power from any painted surface. A 3D printer that could assemble foodstuffs from fast-growing base matter – easily grown in soil the world over. All these and dozens, if not hundreds more, besides. Glitch felt like Heaven was real.

And then, there was the history. An entire section dedicated to the past hundred years. A few touches on touchscreens and the entry on "real superheroes" exploded, with colorful names and colorful costumes, like the flags of undiscovered countries. Jasmine smiled as she pulled up random entries, the memories slowly coming back to her.

She exclaimed when she saw a familiar face. She pulled up an entry on someone called the Luminary, someone who for all the world could be Radiance's sister. The hologram showed her waving to someone long since gone, and vital statistics were displayed besides her. Base of operations (Seattle,) known associates (The Goldsmith, Modus Operandi, the Scarlet Samurai,) group affiliation (the Vanguard) and known enemies (the Global League of Crime, the Sunset Saint, Doctor Possible, and Blackjack.)

At the last name, everyone paused. Seeing everyone's reaction, Jasmine pressed the hyperlinked entry with her finger.

A man in some kind of black and white leotard appeared, crouched, with playing cards in one hand ready to be thrown. His face was hidden behind a bandana, but there was just about no mistaking that grin. The entry read Blackjack (real name unknown,) abilities (arsenal of high-tech playing cards, thrown to various effect – rumors of probability manipulation abilities,) affiliations (the Global League of Crime, the Spiral) and associates (Doctor Possible, Mister Zero, the Hive, among others.) Enemies included the Scarlet Samurai, the Luminary, and Elizabeth Eldritch. His crimes ranged from armed robbery, to theft, to kidnapping.

Jasmine looked at the hologram, then to the group. She pointed towards the house, a question on her face.

--

... in Issue #4: My Own Private Kryptonite