Ugly Ghost Squad #5 recap
Mar. 13th, 2016 01:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jkcarrierUgly Ghost Squad #5
"Stepping Stones to Conquest"
Played 3/12/2016
Roll Call:
Black Panther
Bucky
Captain America
Hulk
Martian Manhunter
Thanatos
Experience Level: 2
Enemies Fought:
Morgaine Le Fey and her Gem Monster
Basilisk
Doctor Destiny
Eclipso
The Doom Patrol (The Chief, Elasti-Girl, Negative Man, Robotman)
Metamorpho
Mole Man and his Moloids
Moon Man
NextWave (Elsa Bloodstone, Machine Man, Photon)
Starro
Xorak
Other NPCs:
The Happy Harbor Heroes (a AA baseball team), their unnamed opponents, and the fans watching the game.
Adventure Modules Used:
None
Synopsis:
The Ugly Ghost Squad were invited to participate in the opening day ceremonies for the Happy Harbor Heroes, the local minor league baseball team. As the Hulk stepped out to the pitcher's mound to throw out the first pitch, a mystical energy field surrounded the field, cutting it off from the outside world. The heroes realized that everyone on the field but themselves was frozen in place, as if suspended in time.
Out of a pillar of black smoke, a regal woman appeared, announcing herself as legendary sorceress Morgaine Le Fey. She threatened to kill everyone within the mystic sphere if the Ghost Squad did not agree to obtain six magical gemstones for her. The heroes reluctantly agreed, and she gave them a device called a Gem Destabilizer, which would absorb each item as they found it. Morgaine then opened a portal to each location.
The first stop was the sewers of Gotham City, directly underneath Arkham Asylum. There they found Doctor Destiny, who had created a miniature clone of Starro the Conqueror, which he planned to use to tear down the asylum from below. The psychic terror of the inmates above would be absorbed into his Materioptikon, giving him godlike powers. Destiny summoned a living nightmare in the shape of Batman, and Starro managed to take over Bucky's mind, turning him against his teammates. But in the end the Ghost Squad triumphed, and took possession of the Materioptkon gem.
The Squad next transported to the Pyramids of Giza, where The Chief and his Doom Patrol (Elasti-Girl, Negative Man, and Robotman) were performing an experiment on Metamorpho, trying to use the Orb of Ra to return him to normal. The heroes attacked, making short work of The Chief, and then taking out the rest of the Patrol as well. Metamorpho assumed the form of a toxic cloud, but Thanatos and Bucky combined forces to weaken him until he could no longer change shape. The Orb of Ra was absorbed, and they moved on.
Diablo Island in the South Pacific was the next location. There they found the unlikely duo of Eclipso and the Moon Man, building a device that would block out the Sun, leaving Earth in permanent darkness. Despite Eclipso's laser-blasts and Moon Man's magnetic/gravity powers, the Ghost Squad dispatched them without much difficulty and acquired Eclipso's Black Diamond.
Another portal took the Squad to the caverns of Subterranea, deep below the surface of the Earth. There they saw an army of Moloids, led by the Mole Man himself, dragging a giant war machine through the tunnels. The puny Moloids were more of a nuisance than anything, and the heroes concentrated on taking out their leader. With the Mole Man defeated, his army fled, although the so-called Omega Cannon continued to fire at them. With their ghost abilities, the heroes phased inside the tank and confronted the operator (and power source), the man known as the Basilisk. Without the cannon amplifying his powers, his defeat was inevitable, and they used the Gem Destabilizer to remove the Omega Stone from his body.
The ruins of an ancient temple in North Korea turned out to be a gateway to the dimension known as the Crimson Cosmos. The sole inhabitant, the demon Xorak, attempted to bind the heroes with his Crimson Bands, but they proved too powerful for him. The Gem of Cyttorak was soon theirs.
The sixth and final destination was the floating city called State 51. The Ghost Squad arrived just as the members of NextWave (Elsa Bloodstone, Machine Man, and Photon) were finishing a skirmish with their old enemy Devil Dinosaur. Bucky naively asked Elsa to surrender the Blood Gem she wore around her neck, to which she replied with a shotgun blast to his face. A heated battle followed, but the Ghost Squad emerged triumphant, taking the Blood Gem with them.
Back at the ball field, the heroes insisted that Morgaine free the hostages before they would give her the Gem Destabilizer. She refused, and the heroes attacked. She managed to magically snatch the Destabilizer, and used the combined gem power to summon a gigantic crystal Gem Monster.
Morgaine expected the creature to be obedient to her, but it had a mind of its own and immediately turned on her. She teleported away in a panic, leaving the heroes to confront the beast. Morgaine had dropped the Destabilizer in her haste, and the Black Panther managed to use it to significantly weaken the creature. The rest of the Squad pounded it into fragments, and the six gems were magically transported back to their proper locations. The hostages were freed, and the heroes had triumphed.
Memorable Quotes:
"Which one of you is Will Smith?" - Captain America, confusing the Doom Patrol with the Suicide Squad.
"It's ok, Dennis Rodman sent us." - The Hulk, explaining their presence in Korea.
Sources and References:
Well, I promised/threatened more comics trivia this time out, and I think I delivered...
The Basilisk: The alien race known as the Kree acquired two powerful gems, the Alpha and Omega Stones, but they were lost when a Kree spaceship exploded near Earth. The stones were found by a human crook named Basil Elks, and their power transformed him into the being called The Basilisk. In his short-lived career, he battled Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, and the Fantastic Four:
http://marvel.com/universe/Basilisk_%28Basil_Elks%29
Doctor Destiny: An old enemy of the Justice League of America, a scientist who created an anti-gravity device, as well as the Materioptikon, a machine that could turn dreams into reality. Later stories revealed that the Materioptikon was actually powered by a magical jewel stolen from Morpheus, the god of dreams (aka The Sandman):
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/doctor-destiny/4005-10453/
The Doom Patrol: Disabled scientist Niles "THe Chief" Caulder gathered together a group of outcasts, convincing them to combine their abilities for the good of mankind (later stories claim that Caulder deliberately *caused* the accidents that gave the members their powers, which is just creepy). Cliff "Robotman" Steele is a human brain in a robot body. Rita "Elasti-Girl" Farr can change size, from gigantic to tiny. And Larry "Negative Man" Trainor can summon a lightning-fast energy-being to do his bidding. The interesting thing about this series is that it debuted just a couple of months before Marvel's X-Men, which also had a wheelchair-bound genius leading a group of "freaks":
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/doom-patrol/4060-5701/
Eclipso: Scientist Bruce Gordon was on a remote island, photographing an eclipse. The superstitious natives attacked him, and during the battle he was scratched by the witch doctor's black diamond. From then on, whenever there was an eclipse, he would transform into the evil being called Eclipso:
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/eclipso/4005-3763/
Metamorpho: Rex Mason, soldier of fortune, was hired to retrieve the mystical Orb of Ra from an Egyptian temple. But a radioactive meteor inside the temple transformed him into Metamorpho, the Element Man. He could change shape and manipulate the elements of his own body into any form, from a cobalt fist to a cloud of chlorine gas. But his freakish appearance made him long to return to normal:
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/metamorpho/4005-2384/
Mole Man: The very first enemy the Fantastic Four ever fought. Shunned by the world because of his ugly appearance, he discovered a vast underground realm and became its ruler:
http://marvel.com/universe/Mole_Man
Moon Man: A very minor villain who once fought Supermand and Batman. An astronaut named Rogers, his space capsule passed through the tail of a comet, giving him a split personality and the magnetic powers of the Moon Man. The Jekyll/Hyde personality and the moon theme reminded me of Eclipso, so I thought it would be funny to team them up. Should have beefed up their powers, though:
https://babblingsaboutdccomics3.wordpress.com/2015/05/24/worlds-finest-98-superman-and-batman-vs-the-moonman/
Morgaine Le Fey: The classic femme fatale from the King Arthur legends. This particular version comes from Jack Kirby's 1970s comic, The Demon. In that series, she was always after a magical crystal called the Philosopher's Stone, so I decided to have her try and construct her own Ultimate Magic Gem, with predictably disastrous results:
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/morgan-le-fay/4005-6891/
NextWave: Probably the most recent comic I've ever referenced, this was an early-2000s comedy series, taking a bunch of minor Marvel characters and treating them with all the respect and seriousness they deserved (i.e., none). Members included Photon (aka Captain Marvel), who can transform into any type of energy, the robotic Machine Man, and immortal British monster-hunter Elsa Bloodstone. Not seen in this adventure: Boom-Boom, a mutant who causes explosions, and "The Captain", a generic strong dude who drinks a lot:
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Nextwave_%28Earth-616%29
Starro: The villain from the very first Justice League of America story, he's a giant alien starfish who can control people's minds. He was defeated when Green Lantern poured bags of quicklime all over him:
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/starro/4005-23345/
Xorak: A demon who's job was to guard the powerful Gem of Cyttorak. The X-Men had to fight Xorak and steal the gem as part of a plan to defeat their old enemy the Juggernaut:
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Xorak_%28Earth-616%29
The Gem Destabilizer comes from the cartoon show "Steven Universe":
http://steven-universe.wikia.com/wiki/Gem_Destabilizer
"Stepping Stones to Conquest"
Played 3/12/2016
Roll Call:
Black Panther
Bucky
Captain America
Hulk
Martian Manhunter
Thanatos
Experience Level: 2
Enemies Fought:
Morgaine Le Fey and her Gem Monster
Basilisk
Doctor Destiny
Eclipso
The Doom Patrol (The Chief, Elasti-Girl, Negative Man, Robotman)
Metamorpho
Mole Man and his Moloids
Moon Man
NextWave (Elsa Bloodstone, Machine Man, Photon)
Starro
Xorak
Other NPCs:
The Happy Harbor Heroes (a AA baseball team), their unnamed opponents, and the fans watching the game.
Adventure Modules Used:
None
Synopsis:
The Ugly Ghost Squad were invited to participate in the opening day ceremonies for the Happy Harbor Heroes, the local minor league baseball team. As the Hulk stepped out to the pitcher's mound to throw out the first pitch, a mystical energy field surrounded the field, cutting it off from the outside world. The heroes realized that everyone on the field but themselves was frozen in place, as if suspended in time.
Out of a pillar of black smoke, a regal woman appeared, announcing herself as legendary sorceress Morgaine Le Fey. She threatened to kill everyone within the mystic sphere if the Ghost Squad did not agree to obtain six magical gemstones for her. The heroes reluctantly agreed, and she gave them a device called a Gem Destabilizer, which would absorb each item as they found it. Morgaine then opened a portal to each location.
The first stop was the sewers of Gotham City, directly underneath Arkham Asylum. There they found Doctor Destiny, who had created a miniature clone of Starro the Conqueror, which he planned to use to tear down the asylum from below. The psychic terror of the inmates above would be absorbed into his Materioptikon, giving him godlike powers. Destiny summoned a living nightmare in the shape of Batman, and Starro managed to take over Bucky's mind, turning him against his teammates. But in the end the Ghost Squad triumphed, and took possession of the Materioptkon gem.
The Squad next transported to the Pyramids of Giza, where The Chief and his Doom Patrol (Elasti-Girl, Negative Man, and Robotman) were performing an experiment on Metamorpho, trying to use the Orb of Ra to return him to normal. The heroes attacked, making short work of The Chief, and then taking out the rest of the Patrol as well. Metamorpho assumed the form of a toxic cloud, but Thanatos and Bucky combined forces to weaken him until he could no longer change shape. The Orb of Ra was absorbed, and they moved on.
Diablo Island in the South Pacific was the next location. There they found the unlikely duo of Eclipso and the Moon Man, building a device that would block out the Sun, leaving Earth in permanent darkness. Despite Eclipso's laser-blasts and Moon Man's magnetic/gravity powers, the Ghost Squad dispatched them without much difficulty and acquired Eclipso's Black Diamond.
Another portal took the Squad to the caverns of Subterranea, deep below the surface of the Earth. There they saw an army of Moloids, led by the Mole Man himself, dragging a giant war machine through the tunnels. The puny Moloids were more of a nuisance than anything, and the heroes concentrated on taking out their leader. With the Mole Man defeated, his army fled, although the so-called Omega Cannon continued to fire at them. With their ghost abilities, the heroes phased inside the tank and confronted the operator (and power source), the man known as the Basilisk. Without the cannon amplifying his powers, his defeat was inevitable, and they used the Gem Destabilizer to remove the Omega Stone from his body.
The ruins of an ancient temple in North Korea turned out to be a gateway to the dimension known as the Crimson Cosmos. The sole inhabitant, the demon Xorak, attempted to bind the heroes with his Crimson Bands, but they proved too powerful for him. The Gem of Cyttorak was soon theirs.
The sixth and final destination was the floating city called State 51. The Ghost Squad arrived just as the members of NextWave (Elsa Bloodstone, Machine Man, and Photon) were finishing a skirmish with their old enemy Devil Dinosaur. Bucky naively asked Elsa to surrender the Blood Gem she wore around her neck, to which she replied with a shotgun blast to his face. A heated battle followed, but the Ghost Squad emerged triumphant, taking the Blood Gem with them.
Back at the ball field, the heroes insisted that Morgaine free the hostages before they would give her the Gem Destabilizer. She refused, and the heroes attacked. She managed to magically snatch the Destabilizer, and used the combined gem power to summon a gigantic crystal Gem Monster.
Morgaine expected the creature to be obedient to her, but it had a mind of its own and immediately turned on her. She teleported away in a panic, leaving the heroes to confront the beast. Morgaine had dropped the Destabilizer in her haste, and the Black Panther managed to use it to significantly weaken the creature. The rest of the Squad pounded it into fragments, and the six gems were magically transported back to their proper locations. The hostages were freed, and the heroes had triumphed.
Memorable Quotes:
"Which one of you is Will Smith?" - Captain America, confusing the Doom Patrol with the Suicide Squad.
"It's ok, Dennis Rodman sent us." - The Hulk, explaining their presence in Korea.
Sources and References:
Well, I promised/threatened more comics trivia this time out, and I think I delivered...
The Basilisk: The alien race known as the Kree acquired two powerful gems, the Alpha and Omega Stones, but they were lost when a Kree spaceship exploded near Earth. The stones were found by a human crook named Basil Elks, and their power transformed him into the being called The Basilisk. In his short-lived career, he battled Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, and the Fantastic Four:
http://marvel.com/universe/Basilisk_%28Basil_Elks%29
Doctor Destiny: An old enemy of the Justice League of America, a scientist who created an anti-gravity device, as well as the Materioptikon, a machine that could turn dreams into reality. Later stories revealed that the Materioptikon was actually powered by a magical jewel stolen from Morpheus, the god of dreams (aka The Sandman):
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/doctor-destiny/4005-10453/
The Doom Patrol: Disabled scientist Niles "THe Chief" Caulder gathered together a group of outcasts, convincing them to combine their abilities for the good of mankind (later stories claim that Caulder deliberately *caused* the accidents that gave the members their powers, which is just creepy). Cliff "Robotman" Steele is a human brain in a robot body. Rita "Elasti-Girl" Farr can change size, from gigantic to tiny. And Larry "Negative Man" Trainor can summon a lightning-fast energy-being to do his bidding. The interesting thing about this series is that it debuted just a couple of months before Marvel's X-Men, which also had a wheelchair-bound genius leading a group of "freaks":
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/doom-patrol/4060-5701/
Eclipso: Scientist Bruce Gordon was on a remote island, photographing an eclipse. The superstitious natives attacked him, and during the battle he was scratched by the witch doctor's black diamond. From then on, whenever there was an eclipse, he would transform into the evil being called Eclipso:
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/eclipso/4005-3763/
Metamorpho: Rex Mason, soldier of fortune, was hired to retrieve the mystical Orb of Ra from an Egyptian temple. But a radioactive meteor inside the temple transformed him into Metamorpho, the Element Man. He could change shape and manipulate the elements of his own body into any form, from a cobalt fist to a cloud of chlorine gas. But his freakish appearance made him long to return to normal:
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/metamorpho/4005-2384/
Mole Man: The very first enemy the Fantastic Four ever fought. Shunned by the world because of his ugly appearance, he discovered a vast underground realm and became its ruler:
http://marvel.com/universe/Mole_Man
Moon Man: A very minor villain who once fought Supermand and Batman. An astronaut named Rogers, his space capsule passed through the tail of a comet, giving him a split personality and the magnetic powers of the Moon Man. The Jekyll/Hyde personality and the moon theme reminded me of Eclipso, so I thought it would be funny to team them up. Should have beefed up their powers, though:
https://babblingsaboutdccomics3.wordpress.com/2015/05/24/worlds-finest-98-superman-and-batman-vs-the-moonman/
Morgaine Le Fey: The classic femme fatale from the King Arthur legends. This particular version comes from Jack Kirby's 1970s comic, The Demon. In that series, she was always after a magical crystal called the Philosopher's Stone, so I decided to have her try and construct her own Ultimate Magic Gem, with predictably disastrous results:
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/morgan-le-fay/4005-6891/
NextWave: Probably the most recent comic I've ever referenced, this was an early-2000s comedy series, taking a bunch of minor Marvel characters and treating them with all the respect and seriousness they deserved (i.e., none). Members included Photon (aka Captain Marvel), who can transform into any type of energy, the robotic Machine Man, and immortal British monster-hunter Elsa Bloodstone. Not seen in this adventure: Boom-Boom, a mutant who causes explosions, and "The Captain", a generic strong dude who drinks a lot:
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Nextwave_%28Earth-616%29
Starro: The villain from the very first Justice League of America story, he's a giant alien starfish who can control people's minds. He was defeated when Green Lantern poured bags of quicklime all over him:
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/starro/4005-23345/
Xorak: A demon who's job was to guard the powerful Gem of Cyttorak. The X-Men had to fight Xorak and steal the gem as part of a plan to defeat their old enemy the Juggernaut:
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Xorak_%28Earth-616%29
The Gem Destabilizer comes from the cartoon show "Steven Universe":
http://steven-universe.wikia.com/wiki/Gem_Destabilizer
