New Gladiators #12a: Pawns of Time

[jkcarrier]

New Gladiators
Episode 12a:
"Pawns of Time"
Played on 12/10/2022
Inspired by:
"Pawns of Time" (DC Heroes module by Steve Crow & Cris Mortika)
"Assassin" (Villains and Vigilantes module by Thomas Dowd)
"Sands of Time" (Villains and Vigilantes module by Stewart Wieck)

Roll Call:
Claw Master
The Dude (with Donny Kerabatsos)
Hulk
Sonic Boom
Walter Sobchak
Weather Wizard


Hanging out at their headquarters, the Gladiators were surprised to hear people moving around in the front lobby. They asked HAL, their A.I., how anyone could get in, to which HAL replied, "They are authorized users".

Rushing to the lobby, the team were shocked to see several heroes who had been members of the original Gladiators back in the 1980s. They were searching through the displays of trophies and memorabilia from throughout the team's history, and warned the new heroes to stay out of their way. One of them grabbed a fancy metal urn from the collection, and headed for the exit. Confused, the New Gladiators decided they'd better put a stop to this until they could find out what was going on.

Achilles
[Animal/Plant Powers (Avian: Flight, Heightened Senses), Armor, Vibratory Blast, Weakness Detection, Special Requirement (Daily prayer to Greek Gods)]

Aquanaut
[Adaptation, Companion (Pip the Dragon), Force Bolt, Force Field, Heightened Intelligence]

Pip the Dragon
[Adaptation, Size Change: Smaller, Flight, Flame Blast, Lowered Intelligence]

Eagle Ray
[Animal/Plant Powers (Avian: Flight, Speed), Disintegration Ray, Heightened Agility, Force Field Gear, Low Self-Control]

Sagitarious
[Heightened Agility, Darkness Control, Dimensional Travel (Astral Plane), Gravity Decrease, Gravity Increase, Phobia (Spiders)]

[Loot Drops: Aquanaut's Trident (Force Bolt), Eagle Ray's Egg (Disintegration Ray)]

During the melee, the urn was dropped, scattering ashes all over the floor. Once the Old Gladiators had been subdued, the heroes cleaned up the mess and determined that the ashes belonged to the old team's most powerful enemy, Doctor Apocalypse.

Examining the prisoners, HAL determined that the "Old" Gladiators were in fact physically much younger than they ought to be. He calculated three possibilities:

1. These were clones of the original heroes. One of the old team's enemies, Doctor DNA, was an expert in genetics and cloning. He was currently serving a lengthy sentence in prison for his many crimes.

2. These were chemically-grown android duplicates. Dr. Raymond Long was the leading expert on such technology, having had a hand in the creation of both the ex-Gladiator named Gamma Ray, as well as the villain known as Force. Long was currently employed at an Arizona-based biotech company called Synthetic Technologies Corporation.

3. THe old heroes had somehow travelled through time. The villain known as Hourglass had employed time-travel technology in his crimes. By all accounts, however, he was deceased.

The team opted to investigate Dr. Long first. Scouting the Syn-Tech facility in Arizona, they spotted some suspicious-looking costumed characters lurking around the loading dock, and immediately moved in to attack:

Antaeus
[Heightened Agility, Heightened Strength, Invulnerability (Kinetic), Natural Weaponry, Size Change: Larger, Special Requirement (Invulnerability requires contact with the ground)]

Avalanche
[Absorption (Energy, Replenishes Power), Heightened Endurance, Heightened Expertise, Shaping (Rock)]

PsiStorm
[Emotion Control, Flight, Mental Blast (with Area Effect, Selective), Telepathy, Physical Disability (Mute)]

Ward
[Energy, Force Bolt, Force Field, Heightened Defense, Heightened Endurance, Phobia (Causing serious injury)]

[Loot Drops: Avalanche's Stone (Durability), PsiStorm's Mask (Mind Probe)]

However, this turned out to be a false alarm. The "suspicious characters" were in fact security guards employed by Syn-Tech. With the misunderstanding cleared up, the heroes were able to speak to Dr. Long. He claimed to have no knowledge of the duplicate Gladiators, but offered to examine them to definitively determine if they were androids. Accompanying the team back to Cincinnati, he confirmed that they were 100% biological, not androids.

From there, the heroes decided to look into Hourglass. The Gladiators' files indicated that his last known headquarters was hidden inside an ancient Egyptian temple. Arriving in Giza, the team found that Hourglass' old partners in crime were there, apparently also looking into his old technology:

Felina
[Animal/Plant Powers (Mammal: Heightened Agility, Natural Weaponry, Speed), Heightened Defense, Invulnerability (Entropy), Oozing, Phobia (Water)]

Mummy
[Heightened Endurance, Heightened Strength, Invulnerability (Kinetic), Poison/Venom, Willpower, Physical Disability (Slow)]

Phoenix
[Absorption (Energy, Replenishes Power), Flame Aura, Flame Blast, Fiery Flight, Heightened Endurance, Regeneration]

Set
[Elongation, Heightened Defense, Natural Weaponry with Paralytic Poison Contact]

[Loot Drops: Mummy's Bandages (Willpower), Phoenix's Mask (Regeneration)]

The captured villains claimed to know nothing about the duplicate Gladiators; they had merely been trying to retrieve Hourglass' namesake weapon, in the hopes of using it for their crimes. The heroes examined the device, but found its technology beyond their comprehension. As they contemplated their next move, they heard approaching footsteps. Another team of former Gladiators had arrived, demanding to take possession of the Hourglass.

Hell Storm
[Flight, Special Weapon (Trident) with Flame Blast Carrier, Weather Control, Phobia (Holy Symbols)]

Sgt. Freedom
[Multi-Function Gear (Buckler: Armor, Special Weapon), Heightened Agility, Heightened Strength]

Super Chicken
[Cybernetics (Natural Weaponry, Sonic Blast), Non-Corporealness, Regeneration, Weakness Detection]

Waste Case
[Chemical Blast, Chemical Body, Heightened Endurance, Heightened Expertise, Heightened Strength]

[Loot Drops: Sgt. Freedom's Shield (Special Weapon), Super Chicken's Medallion (Non-Corporealness)]

Taking the second team of "Old" Gladiators back to America with them, the heroes turned to their last possibility, Doctor DNA. Visiting the doctor in prison, he told them he would be willing to genetically test the captives to determine if they were clones...in exchange for a reduced prison sentence. The Gladiators spoke to the authorities, made arrangements, and DNA was released into their custody. He ran extensive genetic testing on the duplicate Gladiators and said he was sure they were not clones.

As the team chewed on this information, the captured "Old" Gladiators all abruptly vanished, giving further credence to the theory that they had travelled through time. Moments later, HAL alerted them to a news report that indicated yet another group of former Gladiators had been spotted in Toronto, Canada, battling the local authorities. In a perhaps not-unrelated story, Toronto was being wracked by a series of earthquakes.

Racing to the scene, the team found themselves being targeted by the heroes of the Canadian Legion, apparently believing them to be in league with the other group of Gladiators.

Canadian Shield
[Force Field Gear, Heightened Strength, Natural Weaponry, Speed, Willpower]

Fleur De Lys
[Flight Gear, Force Bolt Gear, Heightened Agility Gear, Life Support, Shield, Vulnerability (Electrical Attacks)]

Hawker
[Flame Aura, Flame Blast with Vibratory Blast Carrier, Heightened Senses, Heightened Strength]

White Cape
[Adaptation, Flight, Heightened Endurance, Power Blast (all with Ability Loss: Requires Cape), Reduced Cool]

[Loot Drops: Hawker's Emblem (Flame Aura), White Cape's Cape (Energy)]

After a lengthy skirmish, the team managed to convince the Canadian heroes that they were not affiliated with the "other" Gladiators, whom the Legion had already captured.

They interrogated the trio (former Gladiators named Ox, Pulse, and Transformer), learning that they were in fact responsible for the earthquake, using it to expose an ancient underground cavern. They further revealed that they were working for an unnamed "Master", who tasked them with using the ashes of Doctor Apocalypse and the Hourglass device to perform some mysterious ritual. Unable to retrieve those items, they instead kidnapped Sandra Montuori (a woman whom Apocalypse had been intimate with) and planned to take her to the underground "Vortex" in the hopes of completing the ritual anyway.

The fourth member of their group, the sorceress Morgana, had evaded the Canadian Legion and was taking Montuori to the Vortex Chamber even as they spoke.

To Be Continued...!

[The characters received 3 Character Points, giving them each a total of 148]