awake2

"AWAKENINGS"

TURN 1:

(Sent to all Players)
In the beginning there is the dark. Deep unending slumber in a warm dark place for as long as you can remember and as far as you can imagine. There are times it feels like you are the universe.

But then the dreams begin. First come the voices, whispering from the darkness all around you. With soft and seductive tones, they convince you of their good intentions and the long process of education begins. As the voices becomes clearer images start to appear, simple objects at first, though manifested in all their glory and dimensions. Soon, the objects combine into settings and vistas. Furniture and buildings and people and more...everything projected in bright color upon the dark tableau.

And in this way, you learn the English, German and Hebrew languages. You learn the basics of physics, mathematics and biology. You are introduced to the planet Earth's religions and philosophies, tendered in the world's customs and cultures and subjected to it's prejudices, fads and other social graces. Soon, you feel ready to face this place called Earth.

But with your lessons learned, the voices grow more authoritative and demanding. The images disappear and are replaced by the image of a man's face, apparently made out of some reddish/purplish metal. He speaks to you in a deep voice, calm and commanding.

"You are a created being. I am your creator and master, and you will obey every command I give you. You are a soldier in a very special army fighting a very special war. The very future of the planet depends upon us winning that war."

The man's face grows larger as it moves closer to you. The rest of his body comes into view, armored in shiny, banded metal, growing larger still until his form dwarfs yours. He reaches down and picks you up (or at least picks up your point of reference), lifting you to his eye level in his open palm. You find his message very compelling.

"It is for that reason that I have bred you from the genetic stock of those meta-humans that walk the Earth these days. While they may unwittingly be the problem, from them I draw the solution! You will be a new brood, forever a part of their and my legacy! A new world dawns!"

The man's image fades with his words. The brief return to total darkness is suddenly broken by the dawn of a new existence...your own. A sliver of bright light cracks all around you, rapidly expanding into a solid cylinder of brightness. A hissing sound surrounds you and you are for the first time aware of your true body, your true self. You find yourself in a well lit glass tube that has been recently drained of liquid and opened, staring out into a dimly lit room beyond.

(Sent privately to QUICKSILVER)
Your eyes snap open with the sudden realization that what came before was not a dream. And yet you carry the learning, languages and message from the dark with you. You accept that you are a created being, a leader in your creator's war. You know that you have powers far beyond those of normal human beings. Although the dream lessons weren't clear about them, you innately know that you have a connection to the Quantum dimension.

As you gaze down at your new body, you realize that you are naked. The dream lessons taught you that you should be clothed, but you are unashamed. There will be time enough for material things. You are anxious to meet your creator.

Before you can rise, the clicking sounds of other incubation tubes opening followed by the whoosh of the tube's final nurturing atmospheres rushing from containment alert you to the fact that others of your brood are also awake. From the sounds of opening, you count four other incubators opening. Gingerly, you push aside the tubes and cables that had bee attached to you up until moments ago, and step out of your techno-womb onto the cold stone floor of your creator's laboratory.

As soon as your foot contacts the floor a shaft of light, near blinding in the dimness of the lab, shoots from the blackness overhead and strikes the ground in a circle not far from where you stand. Instinctively, you activate your connection with the Quantum force and you power up. Your skin turns into a thick but flexible sheath of a hard silvery substance. Looking at yourself in amazement, you see the shaft of light reflected off your own body, which is like chrome everywhere you can see, except for your hands and feet, which are blue. In addition, there is a large blue lightning bolt across your chest.

"Welcome, my children."

Your attention snaps back to the shaft of light. Contained within it now is the Creator! You quickly step towards it with the intent to free Him, until you realize that this too is but an image, and a faulty one at that. You watch it for a few minutes as the other Brood climb from their incubators. The image is a simple loop, distorted and broken at times so that the message is incomplete.

"I had hoped to be here to gr<SQUAWK!.SKREECH!son, but events of our conflict <ZZZZZZTTTTT!.CLICK!away. Even now, we are <SKREECH! by those who cannot understand <ZZZZTTTTT! we fight for. There are <ZZZZZZTTTTT!..SQUAWK!..SKREECH! Get them and join me now! The tran<SKREECH!.CLICK!.CLICK! are to <ZZZZZZTTTTTT! right."

The message plays in exactly that way over and over again as you confront your fellow created beings. Before you stands a tall woman with long reddish brown hair, pale green eyes and golden skin, a young man who also acted instinctively at the image of the creator and turned himself into a flaming being, and a nervous young man, attempting to hide his nakedness. Silently, you survey each other, waiting to see who will be first to speak.

(Sent privately to MASTER PHEONIX)
Your eyes snap open with the sudden realization that what came before was not a dream. And yet you carry the learning, languages and message from the dark with you. In addition, some of the teachings of the darkness dealt with codes of honor, which you found appealing and embraced wholeheartedly. You accept that you are a created being, a soldier in your creator's war, but you resolve to only fight that war on honorable terms, in honorable ways. You know that you have powers far beyond those of normal human beings. Although the dream lessons weren't clear about them, you innately know that you can channel flames from some other dimension.

As you gaze down at your new body, you realize that you are naked. For all intents and purposes, you look like the dream images of normal human males. The dream lessons taught you that you should be clothed, but you are unashamed. There will be time enough for material things. You are anxious to meet your creator.

"Welcome, my children."

The creator's voice fills the air as you struggle to free yourself of the tubes and cables that were attached to your body only moments ago. But the voice doesn't sound the way it did in the dream lessons. Now it sounds distant and distorted, broken by strange noises that you do not recognize as words in any language. Instinctively, you activate your connection with the Phoenix dimension as you step from your incubator, bursting into flame all over your body. At first, you are startled, but you quickly find the flames strangely comforting.

Looking out, you see a near blinding shaft of light descending from the blackness above and striking the floor of the dimly lit laboratory. In the shaft of light is an image of the creator; faulty, broken and definitely not really there. The message plays over and over again as you exit your incubator and confront your fellow created beings. Before you stands a humanoid encased completely in chrome like skin a tall woman with long reddish brown hair, pale green eyes and golden skin, and a nervous young man, attempting to hide his nakedness. Silently, you survey each other, waiting to see who will be first to speak.

(Sent privately to DARKSTAR)
Your eyes snap open with the sudden realization that what came before was not a dream. And yet you carry the learning, languages and message from the dark with you. You accept that you are a created being, a soldier in your creator's war. You know that you have powers far beyond those of normal human beings. Although the dream lessons weren't clear about them, you innately know that you can manipulate energies for flight and destruction.

As you gaze down at your new body, you realize that you are naked. Your skin is a gleaming golden hue and your long hair wraps around you down below your waist in a reddish brown fog. The dream lessons taught you that you should be clothed, but you are unashamed. There will be time enough for material things. You are anxious to meet your creator.

"Welcome, my children."

"I had hoped to be here to gr<SQUAWK!…SKREECH!son, but events of our conflict <ZZZZZZTTTTT!…CLICK!away. Even now, we are <SKREECH! by those who cannot understand <ZZZZTTTTT! we fight for. There are <ZZZZZZTTTTT!….SQUAWK!….SKREECH! Get them and join me now! The tran<SKREECH!…CLICK!…CLICK! are to <ZZZZZZTTTTTT! right."

Looking out, you see a near blinding shaft of light descending from the blackness above and striking the floor of the dimly lit laboratory. In the shaft of light is an image of the creator; faulty, broken and definitely not really there. The message plays over and over again as you exit your incubator and confront your fellow created beings. Before you stands a humanoid encased completely in chrome like skin, a young man who also acted instinctively at the image of the creator and turned himself into a flaming being, and a nervous young man, attempting to hide his nakedness. Silently, you survey each other, waiting to see who will be first to speak.

(Sent privately to MANTICORE)
Your eyes snap open with the sudden realization that what came before was not a dream. And yet you carry the learning, languages and message from the dark with you. You know that you have powers far beyond those of normal human beings. Although the dream lessons weren't clear about those powers, you innately know that you can affect the minds of others.

"Welcome, my children."

Looking out, you see a near blinding shaft of light descending from the blackness above and striking the floor of the dimly lit laboratory. In the shaft of light is an image of the creator; faulty, broken and definitely not really there. The message plays over and over again as you exit your incubator and confront your fellow created beings. Before you stands a humanoid encased completely in chrome like skin a tall woman with long reddish brown hair, pale green eyes and golden skin, a young man who also acted instinctively at the image of the creator and turned himself into a flaming being,. With a nervous gesture, you attempt to hide your nudity. Silently, you survey each other, waiting to see who will be first to speak.

(Sent privately to REDSHIFT, AMBROSE, BLACK CAT, FROSTI & JONNA)
You are still in your incubation tube during the first turn. You are dimly aware of a bright shaft of light that extends from floor to ceiling and the voices of others outside your tube. But is it part of the dream lessons or something else? You're not sure, as you lie in the last moments of your techno-womb, awaiting your imminent birth.

TURN 2:

(Sent to all Players)
Deep in the heart of legendary Wundagore mountain buried a mile below the surface, is a man made cavern unseen for a quarter of a century. The rough hewn walls are lined with large pieces of complex technology on the east, south and west. There is an arched opening to the northeast.

The most prominent of the pieces of equipment appear to be large glass cylinders, inclined at 30 degree angles to the floor, resting against the walls. Six of these contraptions fit against the west wall while five cover the east wall. A single cylinder is insert into the south wall. The cylinders are surrounded by support equipment whose functions are indiscernible from their appearance. The abundance of metal against the dark rock of the cavern walls creates a spooky, mad scientist image. This is compounded by the thick spider webs that stretch away to the ceiling in the corners of the room.

Inside the cylinders are human beings, apparently unconscious or asleep. They float in a viscous green liquid, attached to the surrounding tube of glass and steel by various wires and tubes attached to their bodies. Bubbles indicate a flow of some type of gas from the bottom of the cylinders to the top.

A hissing sound fills the dimly lit chamber as the bubbles in the cylinders grow larger and more turbulent. The liquid is forced out of the techno-wombs as the tubes and wires begin to detach themselves the cylinder's occupants. With a final click and hiss, the locks begin to release and the air pressure equalizes between the cylinders and the cavern chamber. One by one, the humans awaken from their long slumber.

As the first of them touches a bare foot to the cold stone floor, a shaft of light, near blinding in the dimness of the lab, stabs down from the blackness overhead and strikes the ground in a circle near the center of the 30' by 60' chamber. Instinctively, the young humans react, one young man, the first to exist from his cylinder, watches his skin turn into a thick but flexible sheath of a silvery metallic substance. Another's body burst into flame. The first female to stand up is tall and beautiful, though her skin is a light gold and her reddish brown hair falls like a mini-dress around her.

"Welcome, my children."

Contained within the shaft of light is the Creator! The youths quickly step towards the light with the intent to free Him, until they realize that this too is but an image, and a faulty one at that. They watch images in the light for a few minutes as the other Brood climb from their incubators. The image is a simple loop, distorted and broken at times so that the message is incomplete.

The message plays in exactly that way over and over again as the Brood confront one another. The first to leave his techno-womb, the one with the now chromed skin (except for his hands and feet, which are blue, and a large blue lightning bolt across his chest) looks over to his new brothers and sisters. " The creator has given us our mission and we must help the creator because he is the one who gave us life and purpose. I am…" he looks down at his own body, "I am Quicksilver. And we must find our great creator."

The tall golden beauty's brow knits in frustrated thought at Quicksilver's words. "What is my name? The Creator never told me…" Then she remembered what the Creator had told them in the dream lessons about meta-humans unwittingly being the problem and the Brood the solution.. "If the metahumans were the problem they must be dark and cruel," she thinks to herself. "And if the problem was dark then the solution must be bright. Bright as a star. I am part darkness and part starlight…" Then out of nowhere she blurts out " I am Darkstar," then falls into a silence again.

The young man whose body is covered in flames listens closely to the Creator's message as it repeats, trying to decipher it. Finally, he, too speaks. "Come my siblings, we are needed. If I understand what our Creator is saying, there is something here he wants us to get and bring along. We must find it quickly and go to his aid."

With that, he looks around again at their surroundings, then starts off towards the NE archway. From there, he can see a hallway to the east into another chamber with a much rougher opposite wall. Another hallway extends north from the center of the east hallway.

The forth young being to emerge from the cylinders, a shy young man, mumbles something unintelligible and slinks further into the shadows formed by the cracks between the machinery and the cylinders. Other beings emerge from their cylinders, as well. A short, white haired young lady holds her eyes closed and waits, as the tube opens, she drops forward onto her hands and knee's and starts coughing up the liquid that remained in her lungs.. Once finished, she looks about... "Erschaffer?... Grund ?" Due to the lessons taught by the Creator in dream time, the other Brood recognize the German language words for Creator and Master.

One young man, who awakens with the knowledge he is descended from gods and is destined to be known as Ambrose opens his eyes quickly and begins to push against his prison. Nothing can hold his rage, especially not this man made thing. Too impatient to wait for the womb to open, if ever it will, he shatters it with his titanic strength. Emerging from his class womb, covered in a thick mucus now stands a powerful looking man, of Greek proportions. His long brown hair is matted down against his back and doesn't shift position as he whirls around in delirium, looking for his captors.

Through the glass of another just opened cylinder, the first Brood to emerge see one of their stranger brothers. As the chamber empties, the Cat coughs out the last of the fluid in his lungs. The first thing he notices is his reflection. Before him stands a humanoid feline covered with short, black, wet fur. The shape of the head is like a panther and his eyes are a deep purple (almost appearing black) with an orange vertical iris. He growls, "MEOOOOOW, I'M WET." As he regains his composure, he speaks, "Damn, even wet, I look good!" As he lets he eyes drink in the feast that is his reflection, he begins cleaning himself with the use of his tongue as any feline in his situation would.

But not all is well with the awakening. In one cylinder, a red haired young woman snaps immediately awake, eyes crackling with lightning. She looks frantic, in pain, even, and flails about in her tube, churning the quickly-draining fluid into a frothy mess. Those outside hear a thumping sound and then a vibrating as the tube undergoes a panicked, high-speed assault from the inside. The locks have apparently malfunctioned, but the cylinder itself is beginning to crack.

Another young lady is not so lucky. The fluid drains out of her cylinder, but the wires and tubes inside remain attached, including one down her throat. The cylinder remains locked and she is quickly suffocating. "I think she needs help!" cries Darkstar, even as Quicksilver notices the cylinder beside his (just opened, by his estimation) is clean, dry and empty…

* Not reporting this turn: Manticore. Remember the three turn rule.

TURN 3:

(sent to all)
The brood have awakened from their long slumber, ready to charge into battle in their creator’s cause. Several of them face one another near the bright circle formed on the floor from a shaft of light from the cavern’s ceiling. Within the light is the image of the Creator, repeating the same garbled message he has spoken over and over since their awakening.

"Welcome, my children….I had hoped to be here to gr<SQUAWK!.SKREECH!son, but events of our conflict <ZZZZZZTTTTT!.CLICK!away. Even now, we are <SKREECH! by those who cannot understand <ZZZZTTTTT! we fight for. There are <ZZZZZZTTTTT!..SQUAWK!..SKREECH! Get them and join me now! The tran<SKREECH!.CLICK!.CLICK! are to <ZZZZZZTTTTTT! right."

Ignoring that little mystery for the moment and instinctively knowing his abilities from the dream lessons of the creator, Quicksilver rushes forward to the malfunctioning cylinder where the last young lady is quickly turning blue from lack of oxygen and, with a surge of superhuman strength, attempts to rip the cylinder open.

Quicksilver shifts his Power Reserve to strength, giving him STR 15. The cylinder frame and locks are steel (Body: 12). Quicksilver makes an attack against the cylinder with AV/EV = 15/15 and OV/RV = 12/12. He rolls a 16 (9+7), giving him 3 column shifts, resulting in 9RAPs of damage to the frame. This is not enough to break it. Since we’re not in combat, Quicksilver continues to exert pressure against the steel frame (it’s not a combat situation), this time rolling a 15 (10+5…Hey! Hot dice!) which results in another 9RAPs.

The locks are tougher than he thought and Quicksilver renews his efforts to free his sister. Breaking the locks with this extra effort, Quicksilver tosses the lid of the cylinder to one side. After the fluid is drained from the girl, the shy young man rushes to her side. "I am to be called Manticore," he says to Quicksilver as he pushes past the first Brood, frantically trying to contact the girl via telepathy. The young blond woman feels Manticore’s comforting mental touch as she coughs and gasps, pulling the wires and tubes from her body, nestled between her two saviors.

Establishing telepathic contact is an automatic action. If the blond girl wishes to try to break the connection, she declares that next turn.

The cylinder containing the other trapped woman continues to vibrate at an agitated rate. It appears that some of the pain she felt is lessening, and she calms and centers herself. Pushing past the lightning flickering at the edges of consciousness, she places her hands on the inside of her cylinder, at the areas with the most cracks. She alternates pressure, on, and off, on, and off, first slowly, then faster and faster and fasterandfasterandfasterndfstr until the entire casement is vibrating and emitting an ear-piercing wail!

In game terms, Redshift is performing a Devastating Attack on the cylinder, using her Superspeed as EV. She is attempting to shatter the glass casement by vibrating it until it can withstand it no longer. Redshift is using her DEX/Superspeed as AV/EV vs. the BODY/BODY of the cylinder’s Plexiglas opening as OV/RV, for an AV/EV of 6/9 and an OV/RV of 7/7. In addition, her Omni-power randomly kicks in, manifesting itself in Matter Manipulation that transforms every object to real (non plexi-) glass. The transformation is a GM dice roll with AV/EV = 5/5 and OV/RV = 7/7. The GM rolls 34! (Really…no kidding! (4+4) + (7+7)+(8+4)…I’m keeping these dice). The new OV/RV of Redshift’s attack is 1/1. In her dice action, she rolls 10 (9+1), resulting in no column shifts and 8 RAPs, more than enough to break the glass.

The young woman explodes out of her confining prison, her red hair, flowing and wet, leaving a trail behind her. Racing about the room, she burns off energy like mad. Everyone in the room can feel the blast of winds at her passage, and smell the acrid odor of ozone as tiny lightning bolts crackle from her eyes and fingertips, the last remnants of years of power stored burning off. For some strange reason, the glass and metal portions of all the equipment in the room change to glass as the young woman races around the perimeter of the room. In seconds, her careening rush is over, and the blurred form seems to stop instantaneously, dropping into a gasping heap at the feet of the hologram. Weakly, she raises her head towards the figure repeating his message in the shaft of light and pants out, "Master... why?"

The white haired female, who moments before panted out words in the German language, and looks around... She has a confused a puzzled look on her face. Looking down, she sees that thick ice constructs have covered her nakedness. With happy surprise, she sees that the ice doesn’t hurt her, or impede her mobility.

"Is she alright?" asks Darkstar. Unsure of which "she" the golden girl refers to, no one answers.

Ambrose is unsure of what to do here. "Where is the battle?" he asks himself. "Where is the glory?" He walks off, confident that the others can save the yound lady. He's looking around for other clues as to where he is or why. In his heart he knows he won't find any but tries anyway. He strides confidently past Darkstar to join Mater Pheonix, who remains motionless at the northeast opening of the cavern.

"Why do they ignore me? Asks Darkstar of herself, as she witnesses the motion around her. There is chaos everywhere and she craves order for some reason. Two of the cylinders with beings in them turned to glass and shattered as the red haired girl ran by. Now their occupants looked dead and motionless. Others of her brothers and sisters looked confused or preoccupied.

"Welcome, my children….I had hoped to be here to gr<SQUAWK!.SKREECH!son, but events of our conflict <ZZZZZZTTTTT!.CLICK!away. Even now, we are <SKREECH!

The message played and played for a time that seemed like forever, driving Darkstar to distraction. With a cry of "Enough!" and a leap, she flies to the top of the cavern to punch out the light source.

The cavern is only 45 feet tall, well within her Flight of 15. Darkstar’s AV/EV for punching the light source is 7/6. The projector’s cover and lens is OV/RV 1/1. Darkstar rolls a 13 (6+7), resulting in 4 column shifts and 8RAPs, more than enough to break the projector.

Darkstar breaks the projector in a shower of sparks and safety glass. In a flash, the golden girl lands back on the laboratory floor, kneeling amongst the debris. "Sorry…", she says weakly. Oddly, the master’s voice, still repeating that tired opening message, can be heard in the distance.

Lastly, as the Black Cat finishes cleaning himself, he becomes aware of the other Brood around him. He turns to look at them, smiles, and says; "Hey guys, where's the party? I'm starving." After he turns, he notices the his reflection from the back. His smile becomes even wider as he says ,"Heyyyy,. what do you know, even my butt is looking fine. MEOOOW, I am just looking too fine." After his declaration, he struts off in the direction of the rest of the other characters. He takes a couple steps, stops to look at himself again, smiles with incredible satisfaction, and continues strutting toward the main grouping of characters.

TURN 4:

(Sent to all)
There is chaos everywhere in the caverns far beneath Wundagore Mountain. Two of the cylinders with beings in them turned to glass and shattered as the short red haired girl ran by. Now their occupants look dead and motionless. Others of her brothers and sisters look confused or preoccupied.

The other formerly imperiled blond woman's eyes open with a snap. As she pulls the last of the wires from their attach points, she feel's Manticore's psychic probe. " 'ello." She says as she catches her breath. "Don't know who the bloody 'ell you are, but if you're here to repair any damage, then go right 'head. If not THEN GET THE BLOODY 'ELL OUT OF ME MIND!!!!!!!" The bridge of purple energy from her eyes to Manticore's instantly disappears and the young man shuffles away, mumbling to himself.

The young lady who inadvertently caused the shattering of the tubes fell to the ground as her burst of speed exhausts the energy stored by her body's long sleep in the incubator. Upon seeing the image of the master vanish with Darkstar's attack on the projector over head, she jerks back. She shakes her head quickly to clear it, and when she is done, her eyes alight on the two cylinders now turned to cracked glass. A name spills out of her mouth, spat to the floor with loathing and disgust.

"Redshift..." she hisses. "I am Redshift... and _I_ did this."

"I'm sure you didn't mean to," says the silvery leader as he passes Redshift. Almost instinctively knowing his purpose and place among his siblings, Quicksilver issues a command. "Manticore, check out our two siblings (referring to the siblings that are supposedly dead from their cylinders shattering)… use your mental abilities. "

"Sure thing," says Manticore as follows Quicksilver's command. The young man tries to contact the remaining beings in the cylinders that were broken via telepathy. His eyes glow purple as a trail of mental energy bridges from him to the nearest cylinder. After a few moments, the purple glow slowly pulls back from the squat Dwarf looking fellow in the broken cylinder. "Sorry boss," says the young telepath, "but no one's home."

"Then check the other one." Quicksilver turns to the mystery he ignored at first, the mystery of the empty cylinder next to his and he goes to examine that. He finds the latches of the cylinder just touching, with a crack between the upper and lower frames, as though it had not been closed properly from the outside. Tubes and wires hung from their origins in the frames and bed of the cylinder. Otherwise, the cylinder appears clean and dry.

As the Black Cat meanders toward the group, he looks to the left and right as if he is looking for something. As he is looking, he says, "Damn, I really have to find me a shiny thing". He pauses several times to examine shards of glass and bits of metal, but he rejects them and continues his search for that thing the dream learning called a mirror.

With a loud crack as air compresses and expands around her, Redshift snaps to her feet at nearly the speed of sound. For a moment, there is a blur, and then a stumbling female form falls out of it, as Redshift forces herself to move at normal speed, fearing what other evils she might unleash. Pushing all others roughly aside, she scrabbles to open the cylinders, a grim look set on her face.

Movement to the closest cylinder is an automatic action. Using Superspeed as EV in an effort to break the locks on the cylinder means Redshift's AV/EV is 6/7 (STR/Superspeed) and the cylinder's steel frame & lock's OV/RV is 12/12 (BDY/BDY). Redshift rolls a 16 (9+7) resulting in no RAPs.

Failing in her attempt to open the cylinder, the Redshift momentarily slumps down beside the cylinder's base. "What a glorious destiny..." she murmurs. "Already, I kill my siblings. The Master was unwise to bring such a traitor amongst us."

As the air becomes saturated with the acrid stench of Ozone, the Cat's head snaps back, his eyes seem to bulge, and he begins to gag. After a few seconds, he gradually regains his composure. "WHOA.....Red, your stink put a hurt on my nose. You nearly killed me!", he states as he waves his hand in an effort to help the ozone disperse through out the cavern.

Frosti had watched the light message from the master several times, playing over and over, until she was mesmerized by it. Darkstar's shattering of the projector source startles her, and she instinctively thickens the ice armor she is protecting herself with.

As he reaches the group of siblings trying to help those in the broken cylinders, the Black Cat begins sniffing the air around each individual. The last person he sniffs is the ice maiden. As he walk behind her, he stops, stares at her back (now covered in a crystalline ice coating), and mutters, "Yep, I am still looking good." When she notices the cat behind her, she crinkles the ice on her back to give him a VERY distorted view. :) "I think I know who got all the conceit amongst my siblings." Then, hearing voice of the master faintly repeating his garbled message in the distance, Frosti heads towards the archway.

During this time, Master Pheonix, Ambrose and Darkstar had wandered off through the archway in northeast corner of the cavern. The archway leads to a corridor some 25 feet long and opening up into another cavern. Straight ahead, on the other side of the second cavern, are two large metal doors. Portions of the opposite wall surrounding the doors have crumbled, crushing portions of the doors while also covering most of the door opening.

Halfway down the corridor is an intersecting hall that leads north. Peering around the corner, Darkstar sees that the 10 foot long hall ends in a smaller chamber that appears filled with tables and shelves holding various items, including clothes. She rushes down the hall, past the device her sleep learning identified as a computer terminal on the east wall of the hallway. Humming to herself in satisfaction, she starts trying on the clothing from the first table she reaches.

After viewing what all has occurred around him, looks up at the rest of his brothers and sisters and says in a big brotherly voice " Come my brothers and sisters, gather around we have been given a mission by our father, the master and we must fulfil it. We need to leave this place of our birth and venture into the world outside and complete our purpose for existence. I was the first to be released and my name is Quicksilver or so I was called by the master."

"Bloody 'ell!" Redshift, Black Cat, Frosti, Manticore and Quicksilver quickly turn to their blond haired sibling just rescued. "I'm a flippin' bird," she exclaims. The Brood look at one another quizzically.

"'ho the 'ell changed me into a chick?" the blond continues, staring down at her unclothed form. "And not a bad looking little chick at that. Christ, where was I when I was a young man?"

TURN 5:

(Sent to all)
"'ho the `ell changed me into a chick?" the blond girl says, staring down at her unclothed form. "And not a bad looking little chick at that. Christ, where was I when I was a young man?"

Jonna continues her tirade, even as her siblings turn towards the store room. "A flippin' bird? A..female?" she says as her face twists into an expression of bewilderment and disgust. " I mean, really. `ow'd you guys pull this off? What is it, Candid Camera, or somethin'?"

Manticore gives his yellow haired companion a confused glance, then adverts his attention to Black Cat. The sight of Black Cat fills him with contempt. "He just so conceited!" Manticore thinks to himself. He ponders mind blasting Cat but thinks better of it. "Keep faith in your siblings" he mutters out loud. Then gives a fake smile and stares at the `bird' girl.

Jonna barely pauses for thought, " Oh! I get it now! You blokes must be working for Nergal! It's damn sure the High Evolutionary ain't the culprit `ere, eh? Bugger's been missing for months now, right? I mean, that was a good brainwashin' trick, but it wasn't good enough."

Just then Darkstar gives a shout from the store room she found. "Clothes! Clothes and other stuff!" she bellows to the others. "And in my color," she coos to herself as she starts pulling a stretchy, white garment over her long, lithe body. Frosti move immediately towards Darkstar's voice.

Before Darkstar's eyes, on the two long tables running north and south on either side of the storage room opening are various articles of clothing. In addition, the back half of each table contains a set of short height shelves, like those used for clothing displays at department stores. Everything in the room is covered in dust.

As she clears away the dust, she sees that the clothing on the tables is limited in choice to baggy blue jump suits, skin tight spandex body suits in all the primary, secondary and tertiary colors, and large sheets of silky cloth in the same choice of colors as the body suits.

Examining the jump suits reveals they contain lightweight but very solid inserts that offer extra protection from physical attacks. They are constructed of heavy weight fabric that almost feels like plastic, yet is very pliable. The suits are a midnight blue color with magenta trim and a magenta silhouette of the master's face on the upper left chest region.

The body suits are in a variety of sizes and colors. Experimentation quickly shows that Darkstar's energy projection power does not destroy the fabric while the fabric is against her skin. However, the fit of the suits leaves little to the imagination.

Lastly, the large silk like cloths also come in all the primary, secondary and tertiary colors. They also exhibit the same ability to allow meta human energy powers to pass through them. The cloths are suitable for creating wraps, capes, togas and a variety of other accessories. In the end, Darkstar decides on a white stretch body suit that shows off her curves with one of the midnight blue sheets tied as a cross between a cape and a wrap.

Beneath the tables are boots and slippers in most common male and female sizes. They are all black in color and otherwise ordinary. Also in the room on the other surrounding shelves are assorted melee weapons, guns ranging from pistols to large rifles, shields and other equipment. The entire north wall is stocked with stored foodstuffs (or at least that's what the boxes say).

Back at the gathering in the birthing chamber, the blond beauty grows more frustrated with her siblings. "Now I've seen some strange s**t in my time," she says, "but I can't quite wrap my head round this situation. Now `ho's gonna tell what the `ell is goin' on here?"

There is a pause as the other Brood present look at one another questioningly. "Yep." Says the Black Cat. "She's crazy", he states while he makes the `screwball' gesture, spinning his index finger around his temple. Yet the large feline lingers with the distraught blond woman long enough to get her scent, then quickly skitters after Frosti to the room Darkstar called from.

Quicksilver looks over at the blonde haired person, shakes his head and then heads towards the place where the clothes are and looks through them for something for him.

As the Cat walks into the room with the collection of clothes, he notices the Blue baggy jump suits and says, "Hey look.....Purple Dude brand clothes." He picks up a garment, dusts it, "I don't think so", and tosses the garment aside. He picks up a black body suit, "this will have to do", and starts to put it on. "Ice maiden, can you make a shiny wall?"

The young white haired woman pauses her clothes search for a moment, head cocked towards the ceiling in a moment of contemplation, then with a shrug of her shoulders, gestures in the Black Cat's direction. Instantly, a smooth sided wall of ice appears. Then she goes back to looking through the piles of clothes with a disappointed look on her face. "Can't they just have shorts, shirts and sneakers?" she asks. Then, as Quicksilver nears her, Frosti asks, ""Quicksilver..... What is our mission?"

Meanwhile, Ambrose, returning from the hallway to the other chamber, finds all of this inactivity boring and begins to get upset. He paces endlessly at the opening to the storage room and begins his rant; "Yes self-proclaimed leader, what IS our mission? And why in Zeus' name would we care? This 'master' is long gone if he evens still travels Gaia's realm, what do we owe him? Yes we live but without purpose and that is more insult than gift."

While in the grip of her own self-pity, Redshift begins also to feel the first pangs of self-consciousness. Racing into the room in which her siblings are congregating, she grabs an appropriately-sized article of clothing and puts it on at blurring speed. The others feel a wind, and then hear a little snap as she plucks the elastic on a pair of translucent white goggles. Her costume terminates at mid-neck, and consists of a white body suit with a red silk cloth tied as a sash around her belly. Her red hair is now bound into a ponytail by a white clasp. "That'lhavetodofornow," she thinks to herself.

Arriving just into Ambrose's statement, Redshift replies, "While I may agree that Brother Quicksilver does presume much in so quickly finding himself worthy of the mantle of leadership, I should say that the Master has indeed given us purpose. We exist to make this world a safer place. The only questions which remain are whether or not his purpose remains relevant, and, if so, whether or not we have the strength to carry it out."

She lets her words hang in the air for several moments, then continues. "I think that the Master's purpose for us IS worthy--not because he is the author of our existence, but because what he has asked of us is a noble cause. We are here to save the world. I, for one, shall endeavor to do so. Perhaps therein I may find some redemption."

Quicksilver looks over at his sister Redshift and says " Yes, what sister Redshift says is true and I definitely could not have said it any better. The master has given us a mission to go out into the world and save it from those who would harm it and try to conquer it. The position of leadership was thrust on me and if any of you my siblings can lead better than I can, then do. It does not matter if the master exists on this plane or not, he is still a part of us and gave us life and existence for that we owe him and this is the way he wanted to be repaid by us helping the world, so to honor him we must do what is to be done. We have our purpose and it is out there in the world, and that is a noble and honorable thing and is not a insult to us but our gift. Now instead of wasting time let us get what is needed from this place of our birth and go out there into the world. " Quicksilver dons a jumpsuit and heads towards the two large metal doors on the opposite wall of the second chamber.

Ambrose walks over to the many articles of clothing, scoffs at most of them and then fashions himself a white toga with a gold silk rolled into a rope for a belt. He watched as the Black Cat finishes stretching into a skin tight black body suit. "A true warrior needs not advertise." scoffs Ambrose.

"Hey when you got it like I do, you can afford to wear clothes like this" the Cat responds. As the Cat admires himself in the shiny wall, he purrs "MEOWW.....my existence, Redshift, is already making the world a whole lot less ugly." He turns to get a view of himself from a different angle and notices shelves with boxes marked food on them. He struts over to them, "Hey! The Purple Dude left us some food. Now we can have a party!" He begins looking around the boxes and sniffing. As he looks, he seems drawn to the bottom shelf, "OHH MAN...the food is spoiled". He walks back to the Shiny wall to admire himself. "Hey I am sti", but is interrupted by a cacophony of voices demanding that he not finish his sentence. He goes back to admiring himself, muttering to himself "hey, baby, if you got it flaunt it.they just don't dig."

Sometime after the others walk off without her, Jonna strolls into the room where the clothes are. "Hhmmm. Let's see." She says, as she peruses the offerings. "A jumpsuit that proclaims me a bloody pawn to the High Evolutionary, or a skintight costume that shows off everything. Oh, what the `ell. I'll take skin-tight costumes for a hundred quid, please Alex."

John/Jonna selects a costume of blue and purple. After putting the costume on (with all the motions and body language of a male), she addresses her siblings once again. "Just so you all know, me name is John-er-Jonna. Jonna Constantine. And I work magic." Jonna takes a look down inside the front of her own costume and says, "..not magic like this mind you, but magic none the less."

Almost without realizing it, Redshift perks up. "What KIND of magic?"

Darkstar, complete in her new costume, moves over to the keyboard and video display on the east side of the hall that lead north to the store room. A few taps of experimentation result in a squeal of accomplishment. "Hey, guys! I think this thing still works."

Quicksilver, also complete in his costume of a blue insignia label jump suit, heads toward the two large metal doors on the opposite wall of the second chamber, intent on trying to open then with his great strength. He wants to find a way out into the real world to complete the masters bidding. But as he turns into the second chamber, he is numbed, transfixed by the same vision that holds the still naked Pheonix spellbound. The east side of the chamber has been completely demolished by a landslide or cave in. Twisted and shattered remnants of glass and steel lie beneath and between the rocks as testimony of other gestation tubes that once had been.

The west side of the chamber was filled with still functioning tubes. Within them, in the pale green glow of their technological wombs, other Brood develop towards that moment of birth Quicksilver had just experienced. The sputtering recording of the Master, forever captured in the now dim shaft of light in the second chamber drones on. "Welcome, my children..I had hoped to be here to gr<SQUAWK!.SKREECH!son, but events of our conflict <ZZZZZZTTTTT!.CLICK!away. Even now, we are <SKREECH!

"Oh my God," gasps Quicksilver. "There's more of us."

TURN 6:

(Sent to all)
Almost without realizing it, Redshift perks up. "What KIND of magic?"

Jonna/John Constantine snorts. "The occult. You know, the usual chanting, sacrificing BLACK CATS (in the direction of her feline sibling) and such." Apparently, the cat doesn't hear. Redshift sighs softly.

Outside the storage room, in the second chamber, Quicksilver and Master Pheonix stand awestruck by the sight of several more gestation tubes filled with the still developing stuff of their future siblings. Seeing this extremely shocking sight, Quicksilver recovers his senses and in a flash runs over to the tubes and checks on his siblings, and then looks for anything that will tell when they will be "alive" and born. But there are no signs he can discern. Most the beings in the tubes are nearly featureless, looking more like maniquans than living Brood.

"Oh my God," gasps Quicksilver. "There's more of us."

Master Pheonix moves to Quicksilver, "Indeed," the oriental looking man agrees. "And there were once many more. I wonder if this was a natural occurance or the work of our Creator's enemies."

He turns and starts toward the storage room his other sibling are in. "If it was the work of his enemies," thinks Master Pheonix to himself, "I will exact restitution for him and our fallen siblings. This I swear."

Quicksilver looks at Master Pheonix as he leaves. "Our brothers and sisters will be born soon. What do we do, stay here till they are born and then take them with us or do we leave them and return later. He puts his hand on the tube in front of him and sighs as if sort of depressed by this alarming news, thinking that he and his siblings are just objects that can be created and replaced on a whim, or why else would the master have created others.

Frosti emerges into the second chamber as Master Pheonix leaves. "I don't think you understand my question, Oh leader who's mantle I cannot see..." she says to Quicksilver. "I didn't question what we are here for. I asked... What are we doing NOW. You, as I, wake from a sleep of learning, but, we have *NO* knowledge of what is going on *TODAY* in this world, and you are already set to go save it. And what happens when you blunder into something you have no knowledge of, and blindly assist the wrong people? We have ventured into 3 rooms in this entire place.... there must be more."

Quicksilver looks over at Frosti and says " Yes, I understand what you are saying and you definitely make a good point but I did not plan on entering the outside world and at once entering a battle or make my presence or mission known. My plan was to assimilate in the world and decide for myself who is right and what to do about it, since the master did not leave us any type of information on that. We do need to know what is going on in this world, maybe the master's mission is already done and we woke up late but we don't know for sure, so we should decide for ourselves once we understand what the world is like. I just want to leave this place for a while and return later after I have decided what to do. Most of this place looks destroyed and we can check it out if you really want. " His eyes quickly scan the room, then he heads for the massive steel doors on the east wall.

At hearing Quicksilver's cry that there are more of the Brood, Jonna rushes into the room where he is. "What the bloody `ell you tryin' to do, mate? Give me a flippin' `eart attack? How you know there's more of us anyways…" The young woman's voice trails away as she sees the new row of cylinders. "God, I need a ciggerette," she whispers.

Manticore puts on some clothes. Baggy shirt and slacks and he finds a cape and greedily wraps it around him. He looks more at ease. Almost with a dignified poise. He just stands their staring at Quicksilver, as though waiting for an order or something. Yet from behind that cool poise, the rest of the Brood each feel a mental tickle as Manticore establishes a mental rapore.

Meanwhile, the giant man mountain Ambrose is not one to sit around and listen to the chief's plan his war, he is a man of action. He decides to explore the rest of this place without the others, attempting to discover any others inside the complex. If they are hostile, he will crush them....

He pokes through the rubble and shadows looking for another opening, but finds none. Eventually, he finds himself in front of the large metal doors along side Quicksilver. "Have a care, leader," he says sarcastically, as the silver-coated Brood tries to get some grip on the smooth steel surface. "The room beyond is likely collapsed." Quicksilver barely pauses to think on Ambrose's comment as he feels for the proper grip to exert his mighty strength. He quickly realizes the task may be beyond him.

The Black Cat wonders over by the tubes and sees other humanoid looking characters in various stages of development. "Hello squishy cousins, I don't know why the Purple Dude made you", his sentence trails inaudibly as he returns to the rest of the Brood.

Redshift rapidly tires of the lack of decisiveness demonstrated by her brethren, and elects to make a superspeed search of the entire compound. She completes the cursory search of the three major rooms in about four seconds, but find little to go on. The only noticeable exit is indeed the large metal doors in the collapsed eastern wall of the second birthing chamber. There are numerous leaks around the huge pipes and power conduits that extrude from the stone walls to make the birthing cylinders work. In addition, there is at least one airconditioning vent in the walls of each room, but these vents are too small for a human to squeeze through. Redshift assumed there were similar vents in the dim ceilings of the caverns.

* Redshift has a power that activates when she uses superspeed. This activation is based on a dice roll. Just to keep everyone up to speed (no pun intended), the roll was made and the power sis no activate.

Black Cat turns to the Ice Maiden, "We both agree we are not happy with the choice of attire here. If QS wants to think he's in charge, that's his bag...I don't care. I gotta get me some real threads and some food."

The Cat leaps in the air, does a flip, and lands gracefully on his feet by the door. He turns his head and says, "I hope the world is ready for me...MEOOOW", and then proceeds to claw at the thick steel of the door.

Master Phoenix walks into the supply room and looks around. His eyes pass with distain over the weapons, and settle on the clothing. He walks over and pulls on a maroon/dark red pair of the tight pants, a pair of slippers and wraps one of the loose black fabric pieces around his waist, as a sash, with the ends hanging down to his knees.

He moves away from his siblings and goes through a perfectly executed Kata, to determine if they interferred in his movements. His hair and eyebrows, seemingly made of the same flame that had encased him when he first awoke, swayed with the movements.

Discovering the ancient screen and keyboard still work, Darkstar sits down next to the east wall of the hall leading to the storage room and begins to type away in earnest. Using the language skills taught to her in the dream learning, she quickly discovers several files of notes mentioning experiments and lots and lots of names. It's difficult to read through the burned in characters of a cathode ray tube left on for far too long, but eventually she realizes she's looking at the master's notes.

"Guys?" she almost whispers. "I think this can tell us where we came from..."

"I suggest we thoroughly explore the remains of our creator's dwelling," says Master Phoenix. "…and see what we can learn of the outside world before venturing fully into it. Knowledge is the most powerful weapon one can possess."

"I think I can help with that, Brother."

The strange new voice causes several of the Brood to turn in surprise. Jonna and Darkstar gasp loudly as they first catch site of the voice's owner. Standing near the juncture of the archway and the second chamber stands a man-sized thing in one of the dark blue jumpsuits. A black clothe is wrapped around it like a shroud, and extending from the top of the jumpsuit are a neck and skull composed completely of bone.

The skull tilts over at Jonna, jaw moving as words appear from nowhere. "Please don't be shocked my sister. I awoke first. Perhaps that is the cause for my appearance."

A flood of half remembered magic incantations and charms rush through Jonna's head that in her wildest dreams she never thought she would need in her young occult career. And then she feels a new sensation, like some nervous but powerful twitch that twists deed in her entrails.

Black Cat snarls at the new sibling, then goes silent as he recognizes a deathly scent….

TURN 7:

(Sent to all)
Discovering the ancient screen and keyboard still work, Darkstar sits down next to the east wall of the hall leading to the storage room and begins to type away in earnest. Using the language skills taught to her in the dream learning, she quickly discovers several files of notes mentioning experiments and lots and lots of names. It's difficult to read through the burned in characters of a cathode ray tube left on for far too long, but eventually she realizes she's looking at the master's notes.

"Guys?" she almost whispers. "I think this can tell us where we came from..."

Quicksilver responds " What have you got Darkstar? "

Darkstar responds. "The notes on this screen seem to be from the Master. They are about different names that combined to form inhabitants of different tubes...and the last note says he expected us to be born any minute…Ohmygod!" squeals the golden skinned beauty. Who is 'Prince K'omman-do?"

* See Computer Report to get full details.

"I think I can help with that, Brother."

A chill runs through Jonna as she notices the large, sharp canine teeth of the new comer. The skull tilts over at Jonna, jaw moving as words appear from nowhere. "Please don't be shocked my sister. I awoke first. Perhaps that is the cause for my appearance." A flood of half remembered magic incantations and charms rush through Jonna's head that in her wildest dreams she never thought she would need in her young occult career. And then she feels a new sensation, like some nervous but powerful twitch that twists deep in her entrails.

Manticore stands there and stares blankly. Once he see the person with the skull a flush of terror rushes over him and all those connected feel it extremely. Then Manticore gets a sudden wave of bravery and prepares a mind blast for the skull person but waits for his compatriots to do something. He looks urgently at Darkstar waiting for her to let out a charm or something. Black Cat snarls at the new sibling, then goes silent as he recognizes a deathly scent….

Seeing the new sibling suddenly appear out of nowhere and seeing his brothers and sisters ready to take up arms against the new one, Quicksilver rushes over to the skull faced man. "Who are you? You say that you are the first of us, what do you know of everything going on here."

After calming herself and pushing all sensations of panic aside, a somewhat grouchy Jonna saunters over to Mr. Skull-For-A-Head, holding her nose as tight as she can. "God!" she wonders to herself, "Is 'e French?"

Jonna speaks to the skull as she gets nearer. "Yes, as much as I hate to admit it, I have to agree with the silver son of a bitch. Who are you, and what do you mean, that you can help us? Oh, yeah, by the way, you might want to consider gettin' one of those aerosol bottles. You are rather .... Perfumed, if you catch my meaning. Also, I couldn't shag a fag, could I? And a bic too?"

"Perfumed....PERFUMED NOTHING," Says the Black Cat. "Man, you smell so bad I can taste it." The Cat, smiles as best as sorely offended olfactory senses will let him, still looking at Freak Face, "Do you know where the food is?"

Manticore's mental connection in place and growing, Quicksilver thinks to the teen mentalist through telepathy, "Manticore, tell the others to keep their defenses up, and if need be prepare to attack but only if you are sure, otherwise wait for my signal."

While he waits for 'Freak Face's' response, Black Cat engages in the chatter inside his mind (thinking, "wow this is a neat ability Mani. We can talk without talking. We can communicate and coordinate our actions. And can tell how good I still look without letting Freak Face know about it."

It's hard to think of the skull as alive, it's unblinking, lifeless sockets returning your stare. But it is. In fact, there appears to be mass between it's clothes and bones, filling out the dark blue jump suit nicely. Again. the jaw moves as a voice emanates forth from the bones. "Who am I? How curious. I emerged first, all alone. I hadn't thought of having a name...or needing one. Perhaps I should be called something like 'Shadow' or 'Shroud'. What would you call me?"

Although you're sure he is standing in place, the cloak seems to move about him as though blown by a wind. "And as for helping, well, I have been around a few more days than you and I have been to the upper levels. There is little else for us down here."

Ambrose looks over his shoulder at the massive steel doors he feels lead to someplace higher. They are large steel doors, approximately ten feet high and four feet wide, set side by side with a small gap that tapers from 1/4" to touching between the doors. There are no visible hinges, welds or bolt patterns that would designate hinge locations on the other side.

The wall on the southern edge of the doors has been caved in, crushing the entire row of machinery that once promised birth to Broodlings. The loose rock and dust fell into this second chamber long ago. Some of the debris covers the edge of the southern door

While the newcomer's appearance and odor make her uneasy, her siblings' behavior makes her even more so. She steps to the side of the skull-faced Brood.

Darkstar looks up from the wall screen and asks her mutant brother, "Do you have a name or are we just going to have to call you bone head?"

Redshift steps into the conversation. "Are you all such xenophobes? Here we are, newly-birthed, knowing nothing of the world, and the first reaction you have to a new being is fear and distrust? How will we save anyone, much less the world, if we ready for attack when not even threatened? If such are our ways, I will right now end any hope I had for us. If we make villains of the unusual, than what can we call ourselves but villains? ... Let him say his piece before he is adjudged."

Master Pheonix steps out of the storage room at Redshift's words. "Well, and truly spoken, sister," he says to Redshift, then turns toward the newcomer. "Forgive my hesitancy, brother, it was most shameful," he bows to this new brother, then offers his hand.

Expressionless, the skull headed Brood shakes Pheonix's hand. "Forgiven, brother."

Master Pheonix smiles. "You say you might be able to help with information? How long have you been awake?"

"For…a while," says the skull. "It is…difficult to tell how much time has passed."

Quicksilver walks over to the oldest sibling Skull-Head and says " Please forgive me for my rash actions and assumptions, my brother. I am known now as Quicksilver. If I may ask can you direct us in what you have learn since you have woke? We as you know were just woken a few hours ago and long to know our purpose. I have suggested that we go out into the world and learn about it personally then come to a judgement on what to do. What is your opinion?"

The skull responds, "There is more above. More rooms like this and not like this. More things to learn and many more screens like that," pointing to the screen Darkstar is sitting in front of. "I know there are boxes marked 'food' in English in the room here," says the skull, pointing north, "but I went up before trying any of it. There is…nourishment…above, but the path is for the very small." He begins floating towards the ceiling, his body dissolving into mist from the feet up as he rises. "Come, I will show you the pathway…"

Frosti sits quietly in the background, counting the number of brood she's seen, then counting the number of opened tubes......
* Private message sent to Frosti.

Darkstar stops typing, cocking her head to one side as though she just got an idea, then stands and walks past the other brood towards the large metal doors. "Peoples... Do you remember when I shattered that light bulb projection of the master thingy? Well I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, I could blow open this big door whatjumahoosey. So like stand back, cause I'm going to try to the blast thing…"

TURN 8:

(Sent to all)
Darkstar stands and walks past the other brood towards the large metal doors. "Do you remember when I shattered that light bulb 'projection of the master' thingy? Well I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, I could blow open this big door whatjumahoosey. So like stand back, cause I'm going to try to the blast thing…"

The skull headed brood glides swiftly towards the golden skinned young woman. "No!" he cries. "There is nothing but rock and earth in the collapsed shaft beyond those doors. You will cause a landslide into this room and…"

The Skull slowly turns in the direction of Manticore. The youth is obviously concentrating, purple energy cascading out of and around his eyes like a miniature lightning field. For long moments, the two regard each other.

Meanwhile, Darkstar ignores the Skull's comments. "I don't believe you, Bonehead!" she shouts as she raises her arm to take aim at the doors once again. Black Cat and Quicksilver move south, out of any possible line of fire. Ambrose, apparently fascinated with the proceedings, does nothing. "I'm going to blast them open now!"

Jonna steps up with a quick motion, drawing a design with her fingers in Darkstar's direction. "No, you're not, luv. If Skully 'ere is right, things could get a bit messy for some of us."

Jonna turns back toward the self named Shroud. "Ok, professor, show us the other way out."

Manticore ignored Darkstar's declaration. Making sure he is out of the way of possible debris, Manticore concentrates on Shroud using his mental powers to try to dig and sift through Shroud's thoughts.

Shroud remains silent and motionless to the other Brood as he respond back telepathically to the purple eyed youth, "Excuse me, but it is quite rude to try and read people's thoughts without their permission. I would hate to feel threatened by one of my new found brothers." After what seems like a long stare down, Manticore takes a step back and a field of bright purple energy springs up around his body. The boy is obviously shaken.

"Hey! Skullhead! Did ye forget about me so quickly?" shouts Jonna, even as her golden skinned sister slowly starts to move. "Or do we let 'er blast away?" A quick jerk of Jonna's thumb indicates Darkstar.

Manticore speaks to Quicksilver via telepathy. "Quicksilver, I know it may be hard to trust me right now on account that we all barely each other, but here goes… I was checking on the Skull and tried to read his thoughts to make sure he was OK but he wasn't. I got a really bad feeling."

Quicksilver concentrates his thought towards Manticore. "What do you mean, he 'wasn't'?"

The young mentalist's thoughts are agitated. "He knew I was there! He said that he would hate to feel threatened by one of us. Namely me. Then I got this really intense feeling from our skull sibling that screamed bad, bad. And look at those teeth! He's like a wolf or something.."

Frosti 'speaks' to her siblings over Manticore's telepathy link. "Can everyone hear me? I stand ready to accept the newcomer. There are 17 chambers, and one that is open but unaccountable - most likely his. And besides, Jonna and Flameboy trust him.."

"I don't trust anything," thinks Jonna, watching Darkstar shake off the final effects of the ritual just cast. "Now don't get yer knickers in a twist, 'Sis.' I was just givin' ya somethin' to think about before ya blew the doors offa the place."

Darkstar moves quickly towards Jonna, towering over the young blond woman. "Don't…ever…do…that…again!" she seethes, then quickly turns and reenters the north storage room. Jonna breathes a sigh of relief.

There is a moment of awkward silence before Frosti speaks out load. "So…if that's all settled, can you show us the way to these other levels?"

Quicksilver moves to the side and says "Yes, can you guide to and through these levels, Shroud? That name fits you; I will call you that."

The skull headed shroud hovers in the air above the other Brood, the lower half of his body dissolving into a dark violet mist. The skull cocks to one side. "But of course, my siblings. I wish to be of service," Shroud says as the skull slowly turns toward Manticore. "I understand I still have your trust to win."

"There is an opening, as I told you," the skull headed brood continues, as he floats higher into the gloom of the second cavern, "but it is small, as I said. Here." He points to a spot on the cavern ceiling some thirty feet above the floor. Black Cat's vision follows the shrouded one's direction and sees a grill covered opening approximately one foot by two foot in size. Through the telepathic link with Manticore and the others, this discovery is silently shared.

"Of course, I can change my shape to fit," continues Shroud, turning more and more of his body into mist. "Can any of you follow me to…What's this? Already the one above sends spies to track us." Shroud pulls something from the opening and descends towards the others. As he lands, he holds out a small metal cylinder with wires attached.

"I believe," he says, "it's called a camera."

TURN 9:

(Sent to all)
Darkstar moves quickly towards Jonna, towering over the young blond woman. "Don't . ever . do . that .again!" she seethes, then quickly turns and reenters the north storage room. Jonna breathes a sigh of relief. Master Pheonix watches Darkstar move away, and wonders to himself if the Creator failed to teach all his siblings about honor and restraint. His siblings all seem rather...hot-headed.

Indeed, the memories of thoughts just passed troubled the fiery young Brood. "He knew I was there!" cried the Manticore's thoughts. "He said that he would hate to feel threatened by one of us. Namely me. Then I got this really intense feeling from our skull sibling that screamed bad, bad. And look at those teeth! He's like a wolf or something.."

Shocked by Manticore's actions, Master Pheonix responds over the mental link to his fellow Brood member. *I am surprised he did not return your attack, Manticore. Violating someone's mind is not the act of a friend, but of an enemy. Had he attacked you I would have taken his side, as you initiated the hostilities.*

Manticore relates a message back to Pheonix via Telepathy: "I am very sorry if I caused you to look down upon me but your belief in the essential goodness of people is nice but idealistic and bound to prove wrong."

Master Pheonix's thoughts pause for a moment, as his gaze meets that of Manticore. "A being cannot be judged by their thoughts or appearance, only by their actions," he continues out loud. "All of us harbor dark thoughts, even I. It is the battle to supress those thoughts, the struggle to overcome them and act honorably, that defines who we are. Your unprovoked attack on our brother does not bode well for your honor and integrity."

The Black Cat plays it cool until the dust settles. "I have to agree with Manny about Bone Head, you just can't trust nothing that smells that bad", he states through the link. "Now if one of you heroes want to give me a lift, I think I can do something about that grate on the ceiling" For some reason, his mental voice goes unheard.

Landing near the northwest opening to the second incubation chamber, the Brood now known as Shroud becomes solid once again and offers the metal cylinder and wires to the other brood who stand around him. "Does anyone else remember any more about these from the sleep learning? I think someone from the upper levels wishes to see and hear what is happening in these chambers."

Jonna quickly takes a look at the camera tube and then looks again making it a double take. " That don't look like any camera I's see before... Wait a sec, that looks like somethin' me uncle Jimmy would be usin'. But he's MSI. ya know." The girl with the long blond hair reaches for the device.

After acquiring the camera from Skully, Jonna does a quick inspection and looking around to her comrades asks, " `Ey! Can anybody open this without damagin' the stuff inside? I want to get a closer look at the circuitry in there. "

Master Pheonix looks at the camera, then moves off a ways.

The skull looks around at his siblings, unliving, emotionless. "I fear I may have put you all in danger. I must correct that now." He rises towards the opening, dissolving once again into the midnight mist. "I go now to prepare your way."

Quicksilver flies after Shroud and replies "Do you need help? I cannot fit through the opening without destroying it. There must be something I can do to help out, if someone is trying to destroy then I must help."

As Quicksilver flies towards the ceiling opening he sends a private telepathic message to Manticore "I will try to go with Shroud and learn what I can about him. I want you to keep telepathic contact with me and monitor my thoughts. I somehow get the same feeling that you do but we can't act on them yet until we are sure of him. Tell only those of us you trust otherwise keep it to yourself. Got it?"

"Got it!" replies Manticore.

Darkstar emerges from the north tunnel as Shroud lands with the metal and wires in his hands. The golden girl looks first at the `camera' then at Shroud's bare skull, and finally at the ceiling above. "An opening, huh?" she says in a disbelieving tone. "This I have to see." With that, she flies to the ceiling in search of the opening.

Shroud turns completely into mist and exits through the ceiling opening, past any sibling in the way.

Darkstar looks as far into the opening as possible. In frustration, as Quicksilver approaches, she pulls the grate from the granite opening, her strength easily overcoming the stamped sheet metal construction. Together with Quicksilver, she peers up the length of the shaft into inky blackness. Darkstar and Quicksilver look at each other, silently confirming their desire to follow their misty brother to higher ground.

Master Pheonix observes his brother Shroud's exit, then walks over to the large metal doors that were the subject of Darkstar and Jonna's...uhmm…dispute.

Putting his ear to the door, he raps on it, listens to the dull thud of a steel slab backed by dense material. "Ah hah!" is his only response.

TURN 10:

(Sent to all but Shroud)
Quicksilver and Darkstar peer up the length of the shaft into the inky blackness in which their alleged sibling Shroud disappeared. They look at each other, silently confirming their desire to follow their misty brother to higher ground.

Meanwhile, Frosti walks over to Jonna, the latter still holding the small device Shroud ripped from the ceiling opening. "Can I help? Probably. Can I see it?" She takes the camera, and creates the a very small screw driver to fit the miniature screws holding the casing together. Frosti disassembles the small device rather quickly as her tools seem move by themselves. "There ya go." She says, as the case pops open.

Jonna's lovely face distorts into an expression of befuddlement, then one of determination. Silently mouthing a few words as her fingers twist in arcane patterns over the camera device, Jonna culminates her ritual with a vicious bite to her own index finger. Continuing to mumble her incantation, she waits until a single drop of blood has collected on her finger tip and with a final sharp sound, she let's it drip onto the open case. It dissolves into a quick, brilliant sparkle of light, disappearing before it touches the device. And Jonna's eyes are outlined by a similar bright light for an instant, and she smiles, and then frowns. "Tell us, luv," she intones through Manticore's mental link, "Just 'ow long 'ave we been asleep, then?"

Black Cat, just finishing his mind link request for transportation to the ceiling opening, looks around at his siblings who apparently disregarded him. The Cat scratches his head, and shouts out loud "HEY MANNY, YOUR POWER AINT WORKING RIGHT." He takes a deep breath and continues shouting, his words echoing off the cavern walls. "I SAID I HAVE TO AGREE WITH MANNY ABOUT BONE HEAD, YOU JUST CAN'T TRUST NOTHING THAT SMELLS THAT BAD. NOW IF ONE YOU HEROES WANT TO GIVE ME A LIFT, I THINK I CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT CAGE ON THE CEILING."

Frosti looks over at the Kitty. "Hey kitten, you don't need to holler. I can hear ya jus' fine." With that, she points out her hands and forms a ice bridge and platform at the top, complete with rails to keep anyone from falling. "There," she says. "Have at it."

The Cat stops shouting for a second and tilts his head, "What's that?", he smiles, and continues talking, "No wonder why that sounded good...its my echo." The cat walks over to the shiny wall (ice wall), "MEEOW, I'm looking good, I'm soundin' good and my echo sounds good. what a day, it can't get any better than this."

Redshift makes a quick zip around the chamber, looking for some other means of egress, perhaps on the floor or lower walls. Finding nothing, she goes and watches Joanna fiddle with the camera. With growing fascination, she witnesses Jonna's ritual.

"There must be some way out of this tomb," Master Pheonix says, watching Redshift's search, then lends his hand to the search. Though at ground level, he uncovers nothing and stops to look around at his siblings. "Do any of your abilities lend itself to getting out of here?" he asks to no one in particular.

After the cat listens to the last of his own echoes, he scampers up the ice bridge and, with easy and natural gesture, extends his claws.

With a mighty swipe, Black Cat all but obliterates the grating and quickly contorts his body to crawl into the very narrow space. In moments, he is lost to view of those on the ground, inching deeper and deeper into the shaft. "Aww, it's horrible in here, there better be some serious hair care products at the end of this," he states as he climbs through the vent.

Master Pheonix, still in contemplation, suddenly comes up with an idea. "Could you fly up the opening turned diagonally to the shaft, Quicksilver? With your arms above your head, you should fit..."

Quicksilver peers into the narrow, dark passage and, with a solemn swallow of determination, tries to follow Shroud and Black Cat, wherever they go. With a mighty boost of his Flight power, the silver skinned Brood accelerates into the tiny opening, becoming jammed and trapped in the hole.

"See what you've done?" cries Darkstar to Master Pheonix. "Why didn't you just turn to flame and shoot up there? You're half flame already." She says s she grabs Quicksilver around the waist to pull him free.

But before she can, there comes a rumble from the ceiling, as Quicksilver instinctively switches his power reserve from flight to strength. There is a brief moment of increasing sound before, with a shriek and a shiver, the ceiling around the shaft Quicksilver was stuck in gives way to a shower of shrapnel.

Black Cat, dodges the stone fragments hurling upwards towards him, easily ducking into the first cross shaft above.

As the showers of stones begin to fall, Darkstar turns to the east, towards the gestation tubes that hold still unborn Brood. Sizing up the situation with a warrior's eye, she chooses four large fragments that are likely to damage the tubes they might hit and lets fly with her starbots.

The four rocks disintegrate into dust, although smaller ones continue o hurdle towards the remaining tubes. Darkstar yells out. "Frosti, put up a wall of ice."

TURN 11:

(sent to all but Black Cat and Shroud)
The shards of ceiling rock rain down upon the Brood in the dank, musty cavern beneath Wundagore mountain, both those Brood in and out of the gestation cylinders. Almost as a single mind, those outside spring into action to protect the unborn as well as one another.

The four rocks disintegrate into dust, although smaller ones continue o hurdle towards the remaining tubes. Darkstar yells out. "Frosti, put up a wall of ice."

"Already on it!" yells the white haired beauty. With a gesture, a pillar of ice drops from her hand to the floor and quickly build into a wall extending south. In an instant, the wall covers those gestation tubes against the west wall of the cavern, just in time to prevent the shower of rocks from damaging her unwaking siblings.

Frosti extends and forms the ice wall further, forming the end of it so as to funnel the debris into the southeast corner of the cavern.

Master Pheonix instinctively opens a channel to the Pheonix dimension, and summons its flames to protect himself. He is instantly surrounded by a nearly transluceant sheet of flame, whose outline suggest that of a large bird surrounding him, with wings folded protectively around him.

Secure in the embrace of the Pheonix Dimension, he ignores any shrapnel coming his way, and concentrates on the stone hurtling toward his unborn siblings. The Pheonix Aura around him brightens in spots as rock impacts it, seeming to anticipate the impact and reacting accordingly.

Eyes narrowing in concentration, Master Pheonix calls again on the Pheonix Dimension, pulling more of its chaotic force through, focusing it in a sheath around him until it is ready to release. The sheath of flame around him intensifies, becoming nearly opaque as the power of the flames build, then fly toward the raining shrapnel, in the form of a Pheonix. The force expands, and seems to spread its wings, encompassing the area in front of Jonna and Frosti, and reducing the stone inside to pebbles and powder. All this in the same blur of an instant the Redshift explodes into action.

Grimly determining that no more of her brethren shall die if she can stop it, Redshift reacts with a speed not yet displayed ("Is she getting faster?" thinks Jonna to herself.), scanning to see if any of her fellow Brood are in danger from the falling rocks. Then, she races back to the food storage area and emerges carrying an armful of canned goods with her. Using them as projectiles, she tries to knock any offending ceiling chunks out of the way.

Quicksilver switches his power reserve from strength to speed in an attempt to save as many of the brood members as possible. But in truth he only deflects a few fragments away from the direction of Darkstar and Ambrose, who could well take care of themselves. Manticore had activated his mental protection shields earlier, the debris easily sliding past them.

Darkstar watches her siblings react to the onslaught of rocks that threaten themselves and their still sleeping brethren. "Wow," she says, "you guys work well together."

And then, as suddenly as the commotion of the falling shrapnel had started, it was over. Pheonix flaming on the north end of the chamber, Darkstar and Quicksilver floating near the ceiling, the other Brood poised in position along the floor. Frosti leans against her ice creation and Jonna nervously wraps a silk around her wound, hoping none of the others she has come to recognize as demi-gods realizes just how vulnerable she is.

Redshift vibrates quietly near the south wall of the cavern when she begins to see three forms cut in to and out of reality, much like the master's image that greeted the Brood when they awakened. For a moment she assumed she had somehow triggered another pre-recorded message until she realized it was not repeating. The three forms finally become solid and visible to the Brood, but were apparently unaware this had happened.

"Gee, Wally, when are they gonna do something wizzy?" asked the smallest of them to one of the larger garishly clad youths. All three had the appearance of early to middle teen aged humans, albeit dressed by a *very* fashion challenged Andy Warhol.

"Shut up, Beav!" came the reply. "I said I'd help you score major on you ancient history test and this report will wig you couch-leader, you'll see."

"Yeah, well, this is nothin' like the holo-vids." said the small one. "I mean, are they gonna save the world soon? I could be home playin' DOOM 85K…..Uhmmm, Wally? Are they supposed to be lookin' at us that way?"

A moment of awkward silence passes as the Brood stare back at the three brightly clothed youths. Then one of the older boys quickly turns to the other. "Eddie! You said nothing could go wrong, that this is as safe as a walk in the park tesseract. Gosh! Wait'll dad finds out we wrecked history…"

"Whattayamean?" exclaims the other older teen, slapping his friend on the back. "We ain't done nuthin' yet 'cause they haven't done nothin'. Hey, it's gok, budlie! Didn't you always want to save the world?" This outlandish statement is accompanied by a huge goofy smile and a sick attempt at a classic hero's pose.

"Thank God," mutters Jonna under her breath, quickly dressing her wound , "Black Cat didn't get a look at their outfits."

TURN 12:

(sent to all but Black Cat and Shroud)
The Brood face the three youngish looking visitors in the garish outfits. From out of nowhere, a voice echoes through the cavernous room, hearkening back to some distant memory from the Dreaming in the tanks.

"What did you DO, Ray?!?..." The voice is somehow familiar to all the brood, though the three visitors look around in surprise.

Redshift seems as surprised as any of the Brood at the purpose and origin of the disembodied voice. Looking around agitatedly, she sees Jonna's wound and zips to the blond girl's side. "Hey, are you alright? Can I do anything?"

"No!" declares Jonna, tuning away and bandaging herself. "It's just a flesh wound."

Manticore looks at our new friends with curiosity. Telepathically, he speaks with his siblings. "I don't mean to take the attention away from our new friends but what about Skull? An, do we trust these new people?

Frosti looks from Manticore to the new visitors and back to Manticore without uttering a sound. "I'm kinda curious," she thinks though the telepathic link, "WHO they are? and how did they just pop in, when we're digging our way OUT!"

Manticore sends a telepathic message just to Frosti. "I was wondering that as well. I say we check this out. Maybe they know an exit..."

"Go right ahead, I'll sit here and watch.... " replies Frosti telepathically as she forms a rather nice looking ice recliner and sits down.

Manticore reaches out with his mental powers to try to read the minds of the young visitors as Quicksilver looks over at the kids and says in a almost older brother/father voice, "What are you kids doing here?". Before they can respond Quicksilver says, "Redshift can you check on the others and make sure they are okay? Thanks." He turns back to the kids and crosses his arms across his silver chest waiting for a answer.

"This should be interestin'." mutters Jonna under her breath, carefully tightening her makeshift bandage in an attempt to help the bleeding stop.

The smallest of the visitors to the Wundagore mountain chamber reacts hesitantly to Frosti's and Quicksilver's words. He looks nervously at the ground, kicking away a pebble with an innocent, self-conscious move.

"Aww, gee, lady, we didn't mean nothin', cause we were, you know, just watchin', 'cause I have this holo-vid report, you see, and I decided to do it on all you guys savin' the world and all, and Wally thought it'd be neat to come back in time to watch you guys do that, and I thought, gee, that'd be swell, so Eddie got us these really cool temporal vests and set it all up to come back here an' all, only now I don't think it was really such a swell idea because, well, you see, it's kinda cold down here and dark, too, and I didn't know you were gonna take so long to save the world, and besides, most of you don't even look like you're supposed to, an…'"

SMACK<<

One of the taller boys smacks the little one in the back of the head with a quick, open handed motion.

"Oww!" cries the smaller one.

"Geez, Beav," exclaims the bigger one. "Why don't you just tell 'em everything and change history or something? Then what would you tell your counselor at school? 'This is the new history, 'cause I screwed everything up? Golly! Pop is really gonna be mad when I tell him you wrecked history!"

The third visitor, the other tall youth in the garishly colored garb, looks toward the west wall of the chamber as though viewing his own ghost. Switching into a defensive posture, he slowly begins to back away from whatever vision he sees. Several of the Brood strain enhanced perception abilities , though detect nothing there.

"Aww, gee, Wally, I'm sorry. Don't tell pop. Promise you won't tell pop. I just thought they were gonna be like heroes or something."

With a silent scream on his lips (well, it looks that way to any Brood who were watching), the third, scared boy disappears completely from view. Again, special powers detect no trace of his existence.

Trying very hard to hide her wound, Jonna steps forward, saying, "Alright, then. Wally, Beav and 'ho was that other bloke that was just 'ere? I gots a few questions for the lot of ya. So where did 'e go?

Quicksilver seeing the expression on the face of the now disappeared boy turns around and looks at the direction in which the other boy was looking. Then says to the kids " What's going on here, where did your friend disappear to?"

Manticore begins a frantic mental search for any trace of the missing older boy while Frosti gets up and slides over to the remaining boys. "What the hell was that?.. Beav? Wally??" She reaches out and touches them, just to make sure they are real....

Undaunted by the disappearance, Jonna continues to advance on the south end of the second birthing chamber. "'ow'd ya get 'ere?"

"Gosh!" squeaks the smallest one. "Whatdya mean 'go to'?"

"Mmmmm, right." says Jonna, at last standing right before the new visitors. "Last an' finally," she says, leaning forward with an air of familiarity, "you boys wouldn't 'appen to 'ave any cigarettes with ya, now would ya?"

"Hey, no body does things like that any more!" cries the bigger of the two boys left, "so don't be talkin about that kinda stuff to my little brother."

"Of course." Says Jonna, as she turns away and mutters under her breath "Bloodly buggerin' bollux. There's gotta be someplace I can…" as her voice trails away into nothingness.

Completing her check of the premises (as Quicksilver requested) and finding Jonna the only Brood with any injury from the falling rocks, Redshift zips over to the newcomers and checks them out all around. She moves in circles around them just fast enough that are capable of tracking her, but if they try, they'll get pretty dizzy. "Iseveryonealright?" "Where'dyourfriendgo?" "Where'dyoucomefrom?" After having ascertained that they pose no threat, she greets them.

"Hey, kids. New to the neighborhood?" She gets down on one knee to look up at them, smiling. "My name is Redshift. Where did you come from? How did you get here? What's this about saving the world?"

"Golly gee, lady, you move awful quick, kinda like the scarlet speedster the holo vids tell about." says the younger boy. "We come from really far in the future an' you're supposed to save the world sometime real soon."

"Beav! I told you not to say stuff like that," says the older boy, looking around. "Hey! Where did Eddie go?" He fiddles with invisible (or imaginary) controls on the front of his vest and squints into the dimness of the cavern's southern end. "Is that you Eddie? Oh, gee, what have you gotten yourself into now?" He, too, backs away from the southwest corner of the cavern. "Hey, mister, we didn't mean nothin'. I mean, nobody really knows how…"

Instantly, without a sound, the second older boy vanishes into thin air. The Brood strain their senses once again without result, looking at one another in quizzical desperation. "Nothing!" declares Manticore, as he reaches out with his mental probes. "It's like they don't exist."

Darkstar looks keenly around the chamber, unwilling to believe that this isn't also one of the master's tricks. She finds no hint of another projector or similar device, and can't explain the appearance and disappearance of the youths. Still, looking up, she does notice that Quicksilver's actions have widened the vent opening several yards upward, and she can see an intersecting horizontal shaft running west to east that looks big enough for her to fit in (and she is one of the larger brood). Silently, she wonders which side Black Cat had gone to.

The younger boy looks up at the Brood with wide innocent eyes. "This is kinda bad, isn't it? But, if you're really the Broodlings, then you can protect me. Can't you?"

TURN 12:

(sent only to Black Cat)

The Black Cat is standing in a small room in the vent system of Wundagore mountain, formed by the intersection on several smaller horizontal and vertical shafts. Above him stretches a vertical shaft that extends over 200' up. Steel hand holds are firmly mounted into one wall of the shaft, providing an easy means of egress. The awful stench of the skull headed brood drifts upward, unmistakably marking his route.

The telepathic chatter of his other siblings echoes in the Black Cat's brain, reminding him that the mental network established by Manticore reaches this far into the mountain. He glances back at the trail he has followed. The narrow, vertical vent shaft he had first entered is now a widened crater facing upside down, the rock that had surrounded it blasted into the second brood birthing chamber by Quicksilver's escape. Another 60' of horizontal shaft barely big enough for one of them to crawl through leads to where the Cat is standing now.

Reassured by the `voices' of his siblings that the danger from the rocks is past, the Black Cat ascends the vertical shaft with great speed. Around fifty feet above his starting position, he encounters two more narrow horizontal shafts heading roughly east and west, but, detecting no scent of his prey from either shaft, he continues his climb. Other shafts branch out from the one he is climbing, roughly every fifty feet by his estimation, but in each case, the Cat follows Shroud's scent upward.

Through the telepathic link, the Cat eventually realizes someone new has entered the chamber below and has the attention of his siblings, though it is unclear who it is. He hesitates for a moment, thinking he should go back in case he is needed, then decides to press on. About 250 feet above where he started climbing, he finds the top of the vertical shaft, which ends in another `room'. From the room, smaller horizontal shafts extend south and east, while a large grate the size of the west wall leads to another room with some machinery in it. There is a small vent in the north wall of the machinery room. Shroud's scent goes that way.

TURN 12:

(sent only to Shroud)

Shroud emerges from the vent on the upper level, silently coalescing from the midnight mist. Far below, the faint crack of exploding rock winces in his hearing, but he pays it no mind.

As his vision tunes to the brighter lights, Shroud is surprised to find himself mere yards from his supposed victim and hunter. Up ahead of him the old man stands, his back to the fleshless Brood, wrapped in the tattered cloak the young vampire vaguely remembers. The old man is sifting through the contents of a large box or bag on the table in front of him.

Looking around, Shroud believes the room to be another storage site, much like the small room to the north of the Brood's birthing chambers, though most of the shelves in this are empty. The room measures some 15 by 20 feet with the only visible exit being the vent grille and a door on the long wall opposite Shroud.

"Mercy, mercy," croaks the old man, as his feverish search continues. "They said there was all kind o' spooky stuff in these parts but it's been eight years! Who'd a guessed? What's this? Oh, yeah, that's good."

He mutters on like this for a few moments, occasionally selecting an item, wrapping necklaces and scarves around his neck, adding a helm on his old white head, and shoving other trinkets into his pockets. Suddenly, he goes silent, as though aware he is being watched. Grabbing the scepter laying in front of him on the table, he whirls around to confront the spectral Brood.

"Lord God!" he exclaims. "First vampires, now skeletons! And just when those whatever are waking up downstairs."

"Castor! Pollus!" he screams while backing towards the door, leaving the bag he'd been searching on the table. Two ferocious sounding barks respond to his cries as he fumbles for the door handle. "Now be..be..a good...stack o' bones an' just...just...STAY!"

Shroud gestures and his Air Control powers lifts the old man up in the air and hold him there, against the ceiling, away from the door. He reaches out to the old man's mind with telepathy, but strangely, find no connection. Rebuked, Shroud is contemplates things for an instant. He had felt something blocking his thoughts of a vaguely mystical nature. His sharp vision then is drawn to the numerous jewels and trinkets (including a helm, several necklaces and scepter) possessed by his tightly wrapped opponent.

Undaunted, he continues to try to communicate verbally. "Please kind sir. Do not be afraid as I am a friend, not an enemy. When I first emerged I was not myself. I barely have any recognition of what I did.."

"What do you mean emerged?" cries the old man. "Are you from the forests or are you from below? Don't tell me that you are Brood arisen, a quarter century late to serve a forgotten master. I'd soon think you are one of the oddities from the village down the mountain. If you are my former attacker, you will not find me so vulnerable this time. If you are some new being, I am no threat to you. Leave me in peace."

Before Shroud can react, the old man swivels in the upwards air currents, his spindly legs impacting the wall and shooting him outside the area of Shroud's Air Control power. In an astounding series of acrobatic moves, the old man ricochets off the ceiling, shelves and walls, landing near the door, scepter pointed towards the fleshless Brood, it's tip beginning to glow red with mystical energies.

"If you want to be my friend, you'll stand very still and speak, however you do, very carefully." Croaks the old man defiantly, as his hand falls on the door handle.

Mr. Skull for a Head speaks in velvet tones. "I do not want to lie to you. I am the one who attacked you, an action I regret more than anything. I barely remember it. I am one of the Brood from below. When I emerged, things were fuzzy. I came upon you, and for all I know I may have feared you. But once I realized what I was doing I stopped. I owe you a great deal and would like to find a way to make amends. As for being your friend, I would want nothing more. I do hope that you can understand. I do hope that we can talk more in order to straighten everything out," Shroud finishes this by sitting down where he is at, trying to look as non-threatening as possible.

The old man slowly takes in what the skull headed Brood has said. "You...attacked me?" he says contemplatively, his hand leaving the door knob. "You're...from below? The Brood? One of...?"

He looks sharply at Shroud, squinting into the gloom of the storeroom. "How many of you are there? How did you get up here? Those chambers were buried 25 years ago."

Shroud faces down (if such a phrase applies to Mr. Skull for a Head) the old man in the upper store room. The old man look sick and weary and, although the old man's neck is wrapped in scarves and good luck charms, Shroud can well imagine that the old man's state is due to his previous actions. The old man looks like a monk to Shroud's vision, wrapped in grey and brown robes, covered in beads, necklaces and his silver helm skull cap, pointing a golden scepter towards Shroud with a quivering hand.

The Shroud cocks his skull to one side in a questioning way. "You were not aware that we were down there? I had assumed that you worked with our creator? Maybe I was wrong in thinking that, but that still weighs little on the wrongness of my prior actions."

The Shroud seems to contemplate on this new found possibility, but then continues as quickly as he had stopped. "As for how I got up here, I have some abilities which allowed myself to travel up here."

The conversation is just a ruse to allow Shroud to mentally probe the old man, looking for the reason the old man is asking about the Brood. Shroud probes gently at first, using his MIND PROBE power of 10 as AV/EV. He rolls a 12, but receives 0 RAPs and thus no information. However, during the attack, he realizes the old man's mind is protected by one of the artifact items he is wearing. Resolving to overpower the old man's mental defenses, Shroud spends 10 HPs on EV, making his AV/EV 10/20. Shroud rolls a 14 (including double 5's), good for 3 column shifts and 12 RAPs.

Shroud probes the mind of the old man, gently at first, then with greater determination as he encounters and overcomes some mystically based (he feels) artificial resistance. The old man's mind peels like an onion.

His name is Mortimer Toynbee. He was concerned over Shroud's mention of the Brood because that is one more legend associated with the mountain they both stand in. Wundagore mountain has been occupied by many different groups and individuals during its existence, but the High Evolutionary, alleged creator of the Brood, was the creator of this mountain complex and it is rumored his ghost still walks the halls. That makes the mention of the Brood, the High Evolutionary's crowning achievement, a topic of considerable consternation.

Mortimer has occupied Wundagore three times in his life. Twice before he lived here as a member of Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants. Indeed, he had been a part of the attack that eventually killed the High Evolutionary and ended the Brood experiment forever, or so he thought. Although he personally had nothing to do with any killing that day, the guilt of the act has haunted him since he took of residence for this third and continuing time. The old man started living here two years ago, rediscovering and fixing parts of the devastated mountain complex with the `squatter's rights' understanding that he will alert the mountain's new owner, Lexcorp, of any major discovery.

Mortimer was fairly sure he had been attacked by a vampire from the surrounding country side before Shroud's confession. Now, despite the heavy evidence of supernatural activity in the surrounding country, he begins to worry that the legend of the Brood is true, and hopes to make the best of a bad situation, or at least just get away.

The old man's thin lips pull into a forced smile. "Well now. If you are as you say, I accept your apology. How disorienting it must be to spring full grown from the womb." He lowers the scepter and barks a sharp command in German to the door. The dogs on the other side cease their noise.

"Come," he says to Shroud. "Let me show you the future."

"Did you indeed work with our creator?" asks Shroud.

"No. But I did meet him once or twice." Replies the old man nervously. "He was gone when I started living here." The old man opens the door to two quiet, but attentive dogs.

TURN 13:

(sent to all but Black Cat and Shroud)

The remaining young boy looks up at the Brood with wide innocent eyes after his two older friends disappeared. "This is kinda bad, isn't it? But, if you're really the Broodlings, then you can protect me. Can't you?"

"No cigarettes, no protection'" mutters Jonna, turning away. Redshift shoots Jonna a stern, questioning look, then returns her attention to the boy she is kneeling next to. She takes his hand and pats it in a reassuring manner.

Quicksilver looks down at the little boy. "We will protect you and keep you safe but before we can do that we need to know what exactly is going on here and what did you mean we will save the world?"

The youngster looks from Redshift to Frosti to Quicksilver, who floats in the air above him. "Aw, gee. Maybe Wally's right and I really have messed up history." Panic begins to rise in his voice. "But, I mean, you're gonna do what you're gonna do, right? You're not gonna do something different just because I told ya what it was you're gonna do, are ya."

Jonna turns back to face the boy, one eyebrow arched. "God, no! `ho the bloody `ell can change history, after all?" she says sarcastically. "So what are we gonna do?"

"Well, there's this real bad guy from another dimension, see, and he thinks, well, gee it'd be swell to have another dimension, so he comes over to this side and starts takin' over stuff, until he's taken over planets and suns and whole systems, and then he comes to Earth and he's so big he like blocks out the sun and all that's left in the whole universe is this planet…that's why they call it the Great Darkness War…and I hope everything looks as neat as in the holovid reenactments, especially when you show up and beat the bad guy so bad he runs away to his old dimension, an'." the Beav's voice trails off into the silence.

Stunned by the boy's outpour, the Brood look at each other in silence for a moment. "The whole universe?" says Redshift quietly. Master Pheonix dismisses his fiery aura, and listens to the child's explanation.

"Yeah, well, that's if it's true," says Jonna, "And we'll just `ave to wait and see, anyways."

Floating in the air above this scene, Quicksilver says to the kid "I'll be back as soon as I can, son. The rest of the group will take care of you. They are just as if not more capable than me at these situations."

"Bloody babysitter is what yer callin' us, then, `leader'?" says Jonna as she turns towards the northern storeroom. "Not this bloke.umm, er.ah, girl."

Suddenly, the Black Cat checks in via Manticore's telepathic link. "Hey guys it is cleaner up here than it is down there. There is another shaft that leads up here. I think QS might be able get through this one without breaking the place apart. I`m still following Freak Face's scent. Man! Can we get this guy a containment suit, or maybe just a paper bag. Anything would be a BIG improvement for that guy. Hey, who else is down there with you?"

Manticore responds telepathically. "No one. Absolutely no one. They are here and speaking but I can't pick up a mental trace on them. It's very weird... oh well.. So, no skull yet, right?

"I'm still following his odor." answers Black Cat. "But, what's the deal with the new comers...are they there or not? If I were you, I'd throw a stone at them. If they say, "Ouch!", then beat them up until they tell you something useful. If not, then just ignore them."

"Sure. Right, Cat. That's exactly what I'll do." Manticore shoots back. Black Cat can almost sense the young mentalist role his eyes through the link. "I think they're illusions or holograms. Keep in touch. You know, some times I feel like you people's own personal intercom" he laughs to himself.

Quicksilver looks over to Darkstar. "Darkstar, you come with me through the vent and Manticore you keep in mental contact with us and we will let you know what we see and you stay here with the kid and the rest of the group and do likewise. I think what is through this vent will shed some light on our little problem." He floats to the ceiling, then enters the newly widened shaft. "Darkstar, come on."

"Well, since you asked so nicely," replies the golden beauty. And with little effort, she, too, disappears into the vent shaft.

"Do not worry, child. You are safe here," Pheonix says, watching as Quicksilver disappears up the shaft. "What was your name? Beav? You are safe here."

"Safe? Damned if Ambrose will not be at the head of the hunt" cries the young, blond godling as he races up the ice stairs Frosti provided for Black Cat. Frosti just kinda watches, then after a few minutes, she too heads up the ice stairs towards the vent and through it, leaving Redshift, Pheonix and Manticore to guard the boy in the gloomy cavern. Jonna is soon in the small storage room to the north, searching on her own.

"Hello?"

There is a new voice in everyone's head, as though someone had broken into the telepathic link shared through Manticore. A new old voice. "This is the one you call Shroud. Can anyone hear my thoughts? Try to get this through to Quicksilver."

"I believe I have made the way safe for the rest of you. Although I am not totally certain. I have learned more about the being that occupies the above areas. Does anyone there know anything about a Magneto, Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants, or something called Lexcorp?"

"It appears this being was a part of the attack that killed our creator, although he was not directly involved. However, he is remorseful of his actions. For now he understands that we have arisen and I believe just wants to get out of this intact. He does not know our numbers or abilities. I will try to prevent him from notifying anyone else of our presence, for the time being."

"Good work, Shroud!" replies Quicksilver. "I am on my way up to meet you now."

"Will you all just get out of my `ead?" exclaims Jonna over the link. "Manticore? `ow do you turned this damned thing off?"

TURN 13:

(sent only to Black Cat)

Having followed Shroud's scent to a small "room" in the ventilation system, Black Cat sniffs at his options. Smaller horizontal shafts (about the size of the initial tiny shaft the Cat had to scrape through) extend south and east, while a large grate covers the entire west wall, leading to another room with some machinery in it. There is a smaller vent shaft in the north wall of the machinery room.

Shroud's scent flows into the west room and, Cat thinks, out through the vent shaft to the north.. The Black Cat also hears faint traces of sounds that might be speech coming from that direction and reasons that clawing through the west wall grate might make enough noise to alert Skull face or anyone else that might be above.

Contemplating his alternatives, he takes a moment to check on the other Brood via Manticore's telepathic link. "Hey guys it is cleaner up here than it is down there. There is another shaft that leads up here. I think QS might be able get through this one without breaking the place apart."

The Cat listens to the chatter, wondering how a beaver got into the chamber, then continues with his update. "I am still following Freak Face's scent. Can we get him a containment suit, or maybe just a paper bag, man anything would be a BIG improvement for that guy."

Finally, curiosity gets the better of him. "Who else is down there with you?"

Manticore responds telepathically. "No one. Absolutely no one. They are here and speaking but I can't pick up a mental trace on them. It's very weird... oh well.. So, no skull yet, right?

The Cat returns his attention to the west grate, extending his claws in preparation and half says under his breath, "Man, my whole body needs a perm."

Just as he is about to risk clawing through the stamped metal grate, his thoughts are interupted by a new voice on Manticore's mental network. "Hello? This is the one you call Shroud. Can anyone hear my thoughts? Try to get this through to Quicksilver."

Black Cat hears Quicksilver reply that he is already on the way up.

TURN 13:

(sent only to Shroud)

"No, I never really knew your creator. But I did meet him once or twice." The old man replies nervously to Shroud's questions. "He was gone when I started living here." Then the old man opens the door to two quiet, but attentive dogs.

Shroud pauses a minute to look back into the store room and reflect on what he has just learned. Things seem to have calmed down and the old man may be of use in adjusting to the present day world. He also could be an agent in the employ of they who killed the High Evolutionary, Shroud's creator.

The two doberman's growl quietly at Shroud's hesitation and the old man tugs at his sleeve to lead him out of the room. "Come," says the old man. "I'm sure you're starved."

With that, Shroud resolves to trust his siblings despite their mistrust of him. Reaching out with his thoughts (Telepathy), he attempts to mentally contact Quicksilver or Manticore. "Hello? This is the one you call Shroud. Can anyone hear my thoughts? Try to get this through to Quicksilver."

The fleshless Brood makes contact and can feel the flood of thoughts and emotions of those on Manticore's telepathic network. Realizing he may be addressing the entire Brood, Shroud's message proceeds in a calm, even tone and carefully measured words.

"It appears this being was a part of the attack that killed our creator, although he was not directly involved. However, he is remorseful of his actions. For now he understands that we have arisen and I believe just wants to get out of this in tact. He does not know our numbers or abilities. I will try to prevent him from notifying anyone else of our presence, for the time being."

"Good work, Shroud!" replies Quicksilver. "I am on my way up to meet you now."

TURN 14:

(sent to all)

In the confines of the vent shaft, Quicksilver moves as fast as he can towards Shroud and the man who was a part of the destruction of the Brood's creator and master. Looking back at Darkstar, he says "Come on Darkstar, lets find out what is going on here. This man who destroyed our master might have a trap of sorts waiting for us so we have to watch each others back's."

"Actually, I'm watching your feet, o great leader," replies the golden skinned Brood as she slowly flies along the narrow ventilation shaft. "But I agree this may be dangerous. Be careful."

After hearing that Quicksilver is on his way, the Cat decides to slash the grate and enter the room in haste. The Cat thinks to himself (he thinks), "Man I had better get out of this shaft before I wind getting a Quicksilver enema."

Black Cat's AV/EV are his CLAWS power of 10/10. The OV/RV are the BODY of the stamped sheet metal grille, which is 5/5. A roll of 10 results in 4 RAPs and a hole in the grille big enough to walk through.

"Will you all just get out of me `ead?" exclaims Jonna over the link. "Manticore? `ow do you turned this damned thing off?"

Manticore turns towards the northern store room where Joanna departed in surprise then with a cold tone mutters "Fine." He stops his link to Jonna and turns his attention back on the youngster.

Jonna, thankful for a moment of mental silence, examines the storage room, looking for a flak jacket or something similar. After the shrapnel, she realizes she's not as tough as the others and feels the need to compensate however possible. She looks at the various weapons while she's in the store room and picks up what she thinks is an energy blaster type pistol. After that, she goes back out to the small hallway that extends north to the storage room and plays around with the 1970's advanced computer that Darkstar found earlier, to see what other information might be found.

Master Pheonix watches as Frosti and Ambrose head up the stairs following Quicksilver, then turns back to the boy. "You are correct that this knowledge will not change our actions. In fact, it may allow us to prepare for his coming."

Redshift shakes her head at the Beav. "My, we certainly do have the functional group, don't we? Thank the Creator we don't have to worry about actually engaging in any kind of organized combat. Hey, Manticore," the young Broodling addresses her sibling with a toss of red locks, "why don't you let Beav here in on our little link? He's in this, too; he might as well know what's going on."

Manticore tries to make the adjustment, but can't connect with the child's mind for some reason.

Not knowing of Manticore's troubles, she turns back to the Beav, telling him, "Beav, you may start hearing some peoples' voices in your head. Don't worry--it's just us 'talking' to each other. If you want to say anything, just think about it really hard, and we'll pick up on it. But don't worry--we can't just read your mind. Trust me on that one," she says, knowing that some of her thoughts on her fellow Broodmates are best kept to herself.

Alone now in the dark chamber with the boy and her two fellow brood, Redshift rises and turns to Manticore and Master Phoenix. Speaking verbally (not over the mental link), she says "So, what do you guys think? The rest of our Broodmates seem kind of... well, a little strange. I mean, we're none of us 'normal.' But here we've got Quicksilver, who feels like he ought to be in charge, yet has kind of bumbled his way through things so far. Yes, he's still learning, but he seems to be having a hard time of it. Then there's the Cat, who seems nice enough, but I'd hate to have him distracted by his own reflection. Jonna's... well, she's kind of solitary, except when her mouth is moving. Frosti's on her own, too. Darkstar just seems *dangerous*. And Ambrose... well, stay out of *his* way."

"Of all of them," she says, "I trust the Skull the most. He's been cursed with a deformed body... but he at least has helped us get out of here better than anyone, and he doesn't seem to be trying to bash anything. I guess I'm saying all this because it's only the three of us who aren't off gallivanting in search of battle or sulking in the storage room. Yes, I'd like to get out of here, and Frosti has provided us an out... The rest just seem a little like they're itching for a fight. Does that make sense?" Her voice trails off into silence, as though waiting for a response.

Master Phoenix stands and looks at Redshift, a small smile playing across his mouth. "We all react to stimuli differently, sister, and the shock of our "birth" is still with us. The true test of any group or family is to accept its members quirks and achieve a compromise that functions well for all."

"We are at a severe disadvantage right now," he continues, a serious look upon his face and an ever increasing tone of righteousness (almost controlled menace) in his voice. "Something seems to have delayed our "birth" and we are missing any knowledge of that intervening time. We should accept our siblings quirks and acclimate ourselves as quickly as possible. And then seek restitution from our creators enemies for their actions."

Redshift wraps her arms about herself and shivers. "I don't want to fight any enemies. I don't want to have to crawl through grimy ventilation ducts to go in search of a villain to fight in order to earn the right to exist. I don't want a Mussolini, and I don't need the trains to run on time, whatever that means. I just want to be left alone. Why does the world need me to save it?" She seems distraught, and looks plaintively at the Beav for answers.

Meanwhile, at the top of the ventilation shafts, Shroud follows the old man while trying to be as aware of his surroundings as possible.

"Yes," says the old host, "It's most remarkable that you've survived all these years. So many people will be so happy to learn the news." He grins weakly at Shroud as he uses the scepter to push the front of the silver helm back over his eyes..

Shroud is about to send a further communication to Quicksilver over the telepathic link when everyone (including the dogs) is distracted by a metal ripping sound from somewhere beyond the vent Shroud used to enter the tiny storage room. The dogs return to the door, barking vigorously.

Stepping through the newly shredded grate into the room filled with machinery, the Black Cat follows Shroud's scent to a vent on the north wall of the machinery room (which the Cat guesses is used to move air). The vent leads into a small storage room and is also covered by a grate so small the Cat doubts he can climb through. The barks of the dogs reach Cat after their scent, causing the feline Brood to tense at the realization the dogs probably could smell him as well. For an instance, animalistic feelings of flight fill the Cat's thoughts, but subside as the dogs calm down, and eventually lose interest, although the Cat hadn't moved.

The dogs pose an immediate threat to the Cat and, if he were foolish enough to attack, they could cause him serious injury. This situation activates the Cat's Danger Sense with an AV/EV of 6/6 and OV/RV of 4/4 (attack by an evenly matched foe). A roll of 17 yields 7 RAPs. In response to the treat (and without knowing he could do it), the Cat activates his latent INVISIBILITY power (automatic action). He'll take a minute to realize this.

"Come back here, you mutts," cries the old man. "That's probably just some of your brothers, don't cha think?" he says, turning Shroud back to walk through the larger storeroom and into a very large, high domed bay. "You dogs keep up, now."

"What a lucky break," thinks the Cat (over the mental net), until he looks down at his hand and doesn't see one. Then he sniffs. Then he licks his paw, cleaning his face in the motion. The Cat spend several puzzled moments realizing he's -very- invisible, even to himself.

In the gloom of the Brood birthing chambers, the boy from the future looks up at the distraught redhead in wide eyed innocence. "Aww, gee, l-l-l-lady." he stammers, then falls silent.

Master Pheonix pauses for a few seconds, then relaxes, trying to lighten the mood. "But first, we must care for this child and go question this watchdog. " Looking down at the Beav, he says, "Can you hold on, around my neck while I climb us up the air shaft?"

"Well, gee, lady, I mean, it's ancient history and even the holo-counsellors are fuzzy on it, but it's like a legend an' all so's I just figured..." As the boy continues to speak, a tall man slowly begins to materialize (for want of a better word) into view behind him. "...well, you really being the Brood an' all, that you'd take care of anything and that you'd, you know, want to save the world an' all, because it's really swell all the parts of history that you saved, or really, that you're gonna save an..."

The tall blonde man taps Beav on the shoulder and the boy instantly begins to fade from view. "Time to go home now, youngster. Your father is waiting for you."

The man stands tall and faces the three remaining Brood. He is an attractive looking fellow in a purple jump suit with large white triangular shoulder pads. He wears golden metal gauntlets, a golden colored metallic belt, and a name tag that is simply inscripted with "RYDER."

"You'll have to forgive the boy. He has an active imagination. You know how it is with kids these days..."

"Well, maybe you don't. Guess it doesn't matter." He holds up his hands, palms facing the three Brood in a gesture of surrender. Suddenly, there is a bright flash of light from the golden gauntlets. The Brood who can see the light are stunned.

The device is similar to the Men-In-Black memory eraser. The first part is a FLASH attack at 20 APs (you'll find the guys in the purple uniforms don't mess around). Using Master Pheonix's DEX of 10 as a base [AV/EV=20/20, OV/RV=10] and applying the multi-attack penalties [+2 column shifts], a roll of 6 yields 1 column shift and 10 RAPs. All three character's DEX's are reduced by 10 for 10 phases.

As the man's voice turns to velvet in their minds, he, too, begins to fade away. "There was no one here visiting from the future. You encountered one of the High Evolutionary's light illusions like the one playing behind you. It was pretty jumbled, but you think it said to come upstairs and save him from dark attackers. By the morning you won't remember even that. Repeat, no one but you were here..."

HYPNOTISM at 20 APs is the second part of the device's powers. The main message is: "What you've just seen didn't happen." Different users of the device spin various tales that try to explain a back story, so RAPs are divided equally between the two messages. Again it's a multi-attack, with a AV/EV of 20/20 [Power]and OV/RV of 9/12 [Manticore] with +2 column shifts [multi-attack]. A roll of 15 yields 4 column shifts and 14 RAPs. This is divided between the two messages * for a 7/7 AV/EV against each Brood present.

For Master Pheonix, the completion of either [never happened, eventually believe false story] suggestion has an AV/EV of 14/14 and an OV/RV of 7/7. A roll of 14 yields 4 column shifts and 14 RAPs. Master Pheonix doesn't remember the boys.

For Redshift, the completion of either [never happened, eventually believe false story] suggestion has an AV/EV of 14/14 and an OV/RV of 8/6. A roll of 11 yields 3 column shifts and 14 RAPs. Redshift doesn't remember the boys.

For Manticore, the completion of either [never happened, eventually believe false story] suggestion has an AV/EV of 14/14 and an OV/RV of 9/22 {+10 from MIND SHIELD}. In addition, he invokes LUCK for this adventure, adding 1 column shift in his favor. A roll of 9 yields 0 column shifts and 0 RAPs. Amazingly, Manticore will retain this memory in tact, although he will be dazed for a few moments.

As the man finishes speaking, he dissolves once more into nothingness, leaving the three Brood stunned and alone in the cavern. Each fells strangely compelled to accept the blonde man's last statement as the truth. In fact, all the rest of the Brood are compelled to forget about the visitation from the future, but Manticore slowly regains control of his own mind and memories, and then spreads that knowledge to the rest of the Brood. Each of the first born remembers Eddie, Wally and the Beav, and, knowing that Manticore couldn't make mental contact with them, still believe that the boys believed what they were saying was fact. The Brood were born to save the world.

Manticore looks at Redshift as she regains sensibility and saysplainly, "This is weird."

Redshift and Master Pheonix just nod.

TURN 15:

(sent to all but Black Cat and Shroud)

For the first time in years, life is in motion in the dark arteries of Wundagore mountain. The Brood crawl, climb and fly through the ventilation shafts, rapidly rising from their deep cavern womb.

Having reached the wide main vertical ventilation shaft, Ambrose picks up the pace and climbs faster. "Come Frosty, the chance of battle awaits and by Zeus's bolt I intend not to miss it. Me thinks that our self-proclaimed leader lacks Apollo's wisdom. He is foolish to allow our group to be split up so easily. What say you, Frosty?"

Frosti ducks into the tunnel and starts heading up. "True," she replies sardonically. "We don't wanna be late for a fight... do we?"

Above them in the shaft are Quicksilver and Darkstar. Quicksilver contacts Manticore telepathically. "What's going on down there? Manticore, Master Pheonix and the rest of you guys down there you should get up here to check this guy out; he will definitely have an answer for us. Darkstar and I are almost there, I believe Black Cat is there and so is Shroud. Frosti is on her way up, too. We just might get out of here today."

Both Quicksilver and Darkstar reach the top of the shaft by the end of the turn, standing in the room with the machinery that Black Cat had previously found. The Cat is gone, but there is an open door in the east wall of the room, behind the machinery.

Back down at the second birthing chamber, Manticore tells the brood that are left in the room "Old Mussolini up there says we should get up there. Skull face says we should not charge in as if we are going to fight because it may not be needed" his voice grows cold as he mentions Shroud....

"Yeah, I got it," says Redshift as she speeds up the melting ice stairs and disappears into the ventilation system. Master Phoenix looks around again, wondering why he is still in this crypt instead of going up the air duct. He watches Redshift go up the stairs, and waits for the rest of his siblings to start up, planning to help should any require it. The broodlings update each other as to their progress over the mental link.

Jonna doesn't hear any of the telepathic babble, after being cut off, or the real talk, due to grumbling for a cigarette, which she desperately needs. After a quick search of the store room and finding nothing even close to tobacco, she then searches for some alcohol, especially whiskey or brandy, but finding none of that either, she sits down in a corner of the store room and does exactly as Redshift accuses her of; she sulks.

'Shortly after discovering it, John put his life and soul into the occult.' Jonna thinks, 'He was a carefree young man, with a girl by his side, a band that rocked and..... And the occult. It always came back to the occult, didn't it? The last thing that Jonna remembers before waking up here was being at a wild concert, a battle of the bands if she remembered correctly. She was John then, and in many ways she still is.' "Though why I'm thinkin' 'bout it as if I'm someone else, I'll never know." Jonna mutters softly. Part of the occult was sacrifice, and you never dared think you knew everything. John had almost killed his father out of ignorance with the occult, he had meant to, but that wasn't the point. Jonna hardened herself, stopped sulking, and started to go out of the store room. On her way out, the computer terminal and screen mounted into the east wall catches Jonna's eye.

`I was never good with this techno crap," she says out load. "But let's check this thing out, I intend to do a little bit of everything before I die 'anging around these... SUPERHEROES!!!"

Manticore follows Johanna into the little hallway. "Excuse me, but we all need to work together and your ever so pleasant attitude is not helping a whole bunch... We all have people we don't like...get over it!" He stomps out ever so politely mumbling "Why me, people, why me?" Master Phoenix turns toward the supply room as Manticore comes out, and quietly contemplates his remaining sibling, and her actions.

"Who the bloody 'ell put a pinch in HIS knickers?" Jonna asks aloud. As she comes out of the storeroom, Phoenix approaches her. "Sister, you seem...overly troubled. And, based on your comments from earlier, you seem more confused than the events here would warrant. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Jonna opens her mouth as to say something angrily, then stops and waits a moment before speaking. "No. This is something that I got to deal with myself..... 'can you people 'ave such blind faith in the man in the projection? I recognize 'im now. 'is name is the 'igh Evolutionary. I don't remember if 'e was a good un' or a bad un', come to think of it, there's a lot of stuff I can't remember. All I know is I wants to get back to London and see me dad."

Manticore telekinetically lifts himself to the vent opening, and joins his siblings in their quest for answers and freedom. He leaves behind Jonna, Master Pheonix and the unborn Brood.

TURN 15:

(sent only to Black Cat)

The Cat smells the dogs and then hears them. "Ut-oh, I'd better get big.," the Cat thinks as he puts his hands up in the air and stands on the balls of his feet. The dogs stop barking. "Wow, I can't believe that worked, those nasty dogs didn't even see me.", as he lowers his hands he notices that he can't see them. "Whoa, I can't see my hand", he brings his hand closer to his face, "I can't smell my hand", he licks his hand, "I can't taste my hand", he states in a frantic tone. As he calms down, "I can still feel my hand, the floor, and the wall....oh that's what the purple dude meant when He said I would be Out-Of-Sight. "I thought he meant I would be GROOVY, he must have meant both.", the Cat thinks with his confidence restored.

As the Cat regains his composure, He notices the outline of a door on the opposite side of the room, hidden in the darkness behind the machinery. He walks over to the door and listens for a minute to make sure no one is standing outside. Hearing nothing, he opens the door into the side of a long hallway. There is another door on the other side of the hall, but Freak Face's scent leads north, where the hall opens into a larger, well lit room. He advances to the opening stealthily, as he also detects the scent of the dogs with Shroud.

TURN 15:

(sent only to Shroud/Lurkers)

`Come back here, you mutts," cries the old man. "That's probably just some of your brothers, don't cha think?" he says, turning Shroud back to walk through the larger storeroom and into a very large, high domed bay. "You dogs keep up, now."

The Shroud just nods non-chalently and then says, "Perhaps we should wait here to greet them. I am sure you will like them. Almost assuredly more so than me. I do not appear to impress many people upon first meeting them."

He then tilts his head a little, "As for a previous comment you made...if it is at all possible, I believe I and the others would prefer to keep the news of our presence unknown for the time being. At least until we are more prepared for this strange new world of which we know so little. If you could aid us in this, we would be greatly appreciative." The Shroud stops walking as if waiting for a response.

As he waits for a response, he sends a telepathic message to the rest of the group, "The old man knows you are coming due to the sound of the metal ripping. He is not responding in a defensive manner. However, if this does turn into a situation that has to be dealt with using force, make sure to focus on the removal of his scepter and helm first. I know the scepter holds power, and I believe the helm does as well. I would also say come quickly, but do not come into the room charging as that will only initiate a fight that may not be necessary"

"Well...," says old Mortimer with a pause before quickly agreeing. "Yes! Yes! Of course. Whatever you think's best." His eyes shift nervously about. "But, there is another here, at the mountain, who you must meet. Who has waited to serve you."

He turns away, moving towards a door on the far side of the large bay, but only takes a step before turning back to Shroud. "Oh, she'll be so excited. By the way, how many of you are there?"

He turns away again, takes another step, then turns back to Shroud again. "Um...How soon 'til the other arrive? How long did it take you to get up here?"

Making a gesture Shroud interprets as 'not now,' the old man turns away again, takes a step, then stops and bolts upright before turning around to Shroud. "HOW did you get up here? Can you walk through walls? Umm... never mind. It's not for me to ask. He turns to walk away again. "I will fetch Bova to you. Castor, stay!" One of the dogs follows the old man across the bay while one sits next to Shroud.

"I believe it would be much quicker to wait just a moment for my brothers who should be here shortly. That way you can introduce us directly to Bova, rather than having to "fetch" her. I believe this should be the quickest method." Shroud says while walking toward the old man.

The old man looks at Shroud for a long moment. "I think it best Bova know immediately. She'd never forgive me otherwise. He turns for the last time and continues across the large bay to the door on the other side.

Shroud sputters out "But, I think we should stay." He starts after the old man, but the dog at his feet growls intimidatingly with Shroud's first step. Without missing a beat, the skull headed brood dissolves into fog again from the waist down and floats upward out of range of the dogs, shadowing the old man's steps. "To be honest, I think I want to meet this Bova first before everyone else. Maybe it is a little childish. But considering I had no childhood, I am entitled to a little bit of fun every now and then, aren't I?" Shroud chuckles lightly when saying this.

Old Mortimer just sighs and shakes his head as he continues on his way, reaching the other door by the end of the turn.

TURN 16:

(sent to all)

The Black Cat pauses in the upper level hallway as he hears the arrival of Quicksilver and <sniff>Darkstar. Figuring that the other Brood are also on the way and that his part was as a scout, he resumes his stealthy advance to the end of the hall, where it opens into a large finished bay. Across the bay, he sees Shroud disappearing through a door way, followed by one of the dogs. The rest of the bay is empty of people.

A misstep in the room of machinery causes a noise that draws Black Cat's thoughts back to his siblings. His keen hearing picks up Ambrose's voice, just arriving at the top of the long vertical shaft. "Bah," says the Olympian brood. "Caverns to tunnels to little dark rooms. Where is the battle?" Other sounds alert the cat that his siblings have arrived in force. And as Quicksilver reaches the door way out of the machinery room, a wicked Cheshire grin fills the cat's face.

"Hey, QS," he thinks through Manticore's mental link, as the silver brood fills the doorway to the hall. "Just be cool."

Quicksilver stops in his tracks and says to Darkstar, "I think Black Cat has a plan, so hold up." Hen he concentrates to send his thoughts back through the mental link. "What is going on, Cat? Do you want me to stay back. What is your plan?"

Black Cat gets a running start, jumps up the wall. He then uses the wall to provide lateral movement to execute a double back flip so that he lands gingerly on Quicksilver's shoulders just as his target emerges from the doorway. "Quick, silver!" he says, pointing down the hall. "Fly that way!" The Cat hangs on, intending to ride his silver sibling like surfboard to Shroud, the old man, and those nasty dogs.

Meanwhile, back in the lower caverns, Jonna quickly follows Manticore out into the second birthing cavern by the vent shaft, and watching him lift himself up into the vent, growls an almost inaudible, "Do they ALL fly?!!" She turns back towards the north hallway that contains the computer terminal Darkstar first discovered. "Christ, does my arm hurt."

She finishes her mumblings and sits down at one of the blown out computers to see what she can learn, all the time hoping Master Pheonix won't go with the others, but she isn't anywhere near about to ask.

For his part, the flaming haired youth watches Manticore disappear into the ceiling vent. He thinks to his sibling, *Manticore, could you keep me informed about what is happening up there? Jonna and I should be along soon.*

Manticore replies "Of. course " and keeps on going.

Master Phoenix considers Jonna for a moment, digesting her earlier comments about her self, her history, and some of the Brood's devotion to the Master, whom she called `High Evolutionary'. "Rest assured," he says, "I no longer have 'blind faith' in him. His own words in the file Darkstar discovered has caused me great concern. But more importantly...."

He pauses for a few seconds, and looks around at the chambers that had served as a womb for many years. "Were you not created the same way as the rest of us? You speak and act as if you had a life in the outside world before you occupied on of these tubes."

The blond young woman sighs. "OK, Pheonix, this is gonna take a lot of explainin', but I do, or at least did, 'ave a life outside of this bloody cave. I'm not quite sure what the bloody 'ell is goin' on, but I intend to find out. I will be able to do this if this blasted computer will work!" This last sentence ends in a yell obviously directed at the blank monitor beside her.

At the top of the vertical shaft in the ventilation system, Frosti follows Ambrose through the machinery room into the hall. Ahead of them, Quicksilver (with Black Cat astride) and Darkstar fly down the hall and across the open bay. Oblivious to the action and mental shouting going on beneath her, Redshift continues through the shaft, impatient to reach the exit. She is not thrilled at the prospect of forced combat, but there is a world out there, a world that she very much wants to be a part of. And she WILL get there. She emerges from the shaft at super speed, quickly braking before she hits the machinery.

Across the bay, Quicksilver and Darkstar come to a quick landing just short of the door Black Cat said Shroud went through. The Cat executes a graceful acrobatic combination to bounce off the wall the door is in to land quietly nearby. The three brood glance around at each other, silently asking who will open the door when the decision is made for them.

The door opens as a wizened old man steps through. He stops in his tracks, his jaw dropping open as he frantically looks at the rapidly filling room of brood. "Oh.Mr. S-Sh-Shroud," he says quietly, over his shoulder, "Are these your friends?"

The skull headed brood emerges, floating above the two dogs, who begin to bark at the new arrivals. Behind him, a large humanoid that looks like a cross between a woman and a cow enters. There is an exited smile on her old face as she sees the Brood. Peeking out from behind her skirts are small humanoids that look for the world like a combination of a human child and a ferret.

There is a moment of awkward silence before the cow woman exclaims, "Praise Gaea! I knew you would come one day. The master never made a mistake!"