DC Villains #39: Apokolips Now

[jkcarrier]

DC Villains
Episode 39:
"Apokolips Now"

Roll Call:
Bucky
Captain Republican
Chemical Lad
Mr. Roboto

The Secret Society woke to the news of a world in panic. A mysterious energy-field had circled the globe, and was slowly dragging Earth out of its orbit. All efforts, including those by the likes of Superman and Green Lantern, had failed to penetrate the barrier. Manhunter, consulting with Mother Box, confirmed that this was Darkseid's ultimate gambit: turning the Earth into a giant projectile to collide with the distant world of New Genesis. Of course, the seismic upheavals and freezing temperatures of interstellar space would kill everyone on the planet long before they reached their destination.

In a desperate move, Manhunter strapped on a jet-pack and placed Mother Box in direct contact with the force field. The resulting energy backlash killed them both, but Mother was able to briefly open a Boom Tube that breached the barrier. The Society raced through, only to find themselves transported to Earth's Moon. To their surprise, there was a survivable atmosphere -- Darkseid's minions had erected a large complex on the lunar surface to serve as a base for his operations.

At the center of a large crater was the so-called Omega Tower, and atop it stood Darkseid himself, swollen to giant size by the power pouring into him from a trio of modified Mother Boxes that lay along the perimeter. Surrounding the crater were the assembled hordes of Apokolips: Parademons, Aero-Troopers, Dog Soldiers, Female Furies, and more, their numbers stretching out to the horizon. The Society took this in, wondering exactly what they were going to do against such numbers, when a voice piped up next to them:

"Wok! Wok! I knew you boys would be lost without your old Uncle Pengy!" Stepping through a glowing portal was the Penguin, carrying a giant umbrella-gun that looked like it could stun an elephant. And behind him, the worst of Gotham's criminal elite: The Joker. Killer Croc. Poison Ivy. Mr. Freeze. Clayface. And more.

Another voice came from the other side: "Who do you think you're kidding, Penguin? Everything these fellows know about kicking ass, they learned from me!" Stepping forth from another portal was Amanda Waller, likewise loaded for bear. And with her came a whole alphabet soup of spy organizations: Checkmate. ARGUS. The DEO. The ASA. GEORGE. GOOD. MAZE. SKULL. OGRE. HURRICANE. HIVE.

More portals opened:
Gorilla Grodd led an army of apes from Gorilla City. They grunted and beat their chests in greeting.
Queen Hippolyta and the Amazons of Paradise Island raised their swords and shouted "Hola!"
King Vulko and the bubble-helmeted soldiers of Atlantis stepped forth with tridents and laser rifles.
The Seven Soldiers walked through yet another gate, past conflicts forgotten.
Finally, they saw John Constantine and the man known as the Phantom Stranger.
Stranger: "Is that everyone?"
Constantine: "As many as I could sneak through the crack in the dike. If you were wanting more, you're out of luck, squire."

Waller spoke again: "We'll handle the riff-raff. You take the fight to Darkseid."

The team briefly considered going straight for the master of Apokolips himself, but opted to try and take out the devices empowering him first. But Darkseid had not left the boxes unguarded...

Dynamism Box
[Density Increase, Electrical Field, Size Change (10'), Siphon (Power Points, Area, Replenishment, Usable On Others)]

Kanto
[Disintegration Ray, Invisibility, Special Weapon (Sword), Weakness Detection]

Steppenwolf
[Armor, Experience Levels, Special Weapon (Axe, with Electrical Bolt Contact attack)]

Once the Society realized that the Dynamism Box was slowly draining their energy, they concentrated on dismantling it first, ignoring Kanto the Assassin's disintegration pistol and Steppenwolf's Electro-Axe as they wreaked havoc on them. Sadly for Steppenwolf, a too-wide swing [critical miss] caused his axe to be shattered on the moon rocks, hampering his effectiveness. While he continued on bare-handed, Kanto used his keen hunter's eye to find his enemies' weak spots. But despite his precision and protective camouflage, Kanto and Steppenwolf both fell.

[Loot Drops: The destruction of the Dynamism Box gave them a boost to their Power Points.]

Precision Box
[Density Increase, Electrical Field, Size Change (10'), Transmutation (Area, Inaccurate, Usable on Others, Linked), Heightened Expertise (Area, Heightened Expertise, Usable on Others, Linked)]

Doctor Bedlam
[Duplication, Emotion Control (Rage only)]

Mantis
[Absorption (Energy damage), Force Field, Power Blast, Siphon (Power Points)]

Again, the team went after the Precision Box first, to prevent it from dampening their attacks (and boosting their enemies'). Meanwhile, Doctor Bedlam activated a pair of mechanical "Animates", turning them into exact duplicates of himself. He then proceeded to drop samples of his "Paranoid Pill", inducing blind rage in his targets, while the Animates delivered massive punches. Mantis alternated between absorbing his foes' vitality and firing off energy-bolts. It took the Society some time to beat down all three Bedlams and punch through Mantis' protective barrier, but they succeeded in the end.

[Loot Drops: The destruction of the Precision Box gave them a temporary boost to their chance to hit.]

Vitality Box
[Density Increase, Electrical Field, Size Change (10'), Siphon (Hit Points, Area, Replenishment, Usable On Others)]

Devilance
[Density Increase, Power Blast, Special Weapon (Lance, with Flame Blast Contact attack)]

Kalibak
[Density Increase, Disintegration Ray, Special Weapon (Beta Club), Size Change (8')]

While the team worked on dismantling the health-draining Mother Box, Devilance and Kalibak thrashed them with their respective weapons. Much like Steppenwolf before him, Kalibak had a bit of bad luck [critical miss], and his Beta Club got wedged into Mr. Roboto's shoulder. Repeated attempts to yank it free failed, so Kalibak continued on bare-handed. Luck continued to be the Society's side, and they eventually felled the two Apokoliptian warriors.

[Loot Drops: The destruction of the Vitality Box gave them a boost to their Hit Points.]

Battered but still on their feet, the Society made their way up the Omega Tower (Captain Republican had been literally carrying the whole team on his back as he jogged the miles between the various Boxes and back to the tower. Comical-looking, but it gave his teammates a much-needed chance to catch their breath [recover Power Points] between battles).

Darkseid waited for them at the top, blown up to giant size from the power he'd absorbed from the Mother Boxes. "The conquering heroes arrive to bring light and goodness back to the world. But can any world exist without balance? Without light, we would know no shadow-- And without shadow...? Good and Evil! Day and Night! Waking and dreaming! And when the dreams grow most vivid, it is Darkseid that you see! You have much to learn. Come and kill me -- if you can!"

Darkseid
[Death Touch (Ranged), Flight, Force Field, Size Change (30'), Super-Speed]

The Lord of Apokolips blanketed the battlefield with his zig-zagging Omega Beams, hitting everyone simultaneously. He supplemented this with a few contemptuous back-handed slaps, while his energy-shield deflected most attacks aimed at him. Chemical Lad dropped during the melee, and Bucky was on his last legs, but finally the remaining heroes managed to penetrate Darkseid's shields, and delivered a fatal blow before he could reconstruct it. His stony flesh began to split open, leaking energy and slowly disintegrating until there was nothing left but a pile of grit, mixing with the lunar dust. (Mr. Roboto: "We should grab some of that, it's probably worth something.")

With Darkseid's spectacular demise, his troops lost their will to fight, and were soon routed by the Earth forces. As the Secret Society emerged from the Omega Tower, they received a thunderous round of applause. Without Darkseid's evil will tugging at it, Earth settled back into its natural orbit. The quartet took a moment to appreciate the beautiful blue-green sphere they had saved. Would they remain on the side of good, or fall back into their former criminal ways? Only time would tell. But for now...they were Earth's greatest heroes.

[Thus ends the DC Villains campaign. I'll be starting a new campaign eventually, but not for a few weeks at least. Watch this space.]