New Gladiators #21: To Serve and Protect

[jkcarrier]

Episode 21:
"To Serve and Protect"
Played on 4/20/2024

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

Resources used:
To Serve and Protect - Champions module by Scott F. Heine
Opponents Unlimited - Villains & Vigilantes module by Stefan Jones, art by Jeff Dee

The Gladiators received an alarm from the Cincinnati Art Museum, reporting a break-in by a group of costumed figures. Arriving on the scene, the museum staff reported that the intruders made a bee-line for the basement. Following in their path, the team came across a familiar sight: The mercenary group known as the Amazing Floop Brothers.

BLASTIN' BUTCH
[Heightened Expertise, Heightened Strength, Invulnerability, Power Blast]

CAPTAIN FLOOP
[Flame Blast, Force Field, Heightened Intelligence]

LODESTONE
[Arsenal (Darkness Grenade, Power Blast Grenade), Heightened Attack, Heightened Strength, Siphon (Power Points)]

PSI-DEMON
[Heightened Intelligence, Heightened Strength, Natural Weaponry, Telepathy, Telekinesis, Special Requirement (Rare Drug), Vulnerability (Psychic Damage)]

ROCKET MA'AM
[Arsenal (Poison Gas Rocket, Power Blast Rocket, Sonic Blast Rocket), Flight, Heightened Defense, Life Support]

WHIPPET
[Heightened Defense, Heightened Senses (Hearing, Scent), Ice Blast, Speed, Distinctive]

Butch was using his phone to take pictures of an ancient Aztec carving. They then made a move to crate up the artifact and take it with them, but the heroes interrupted. Having some experience in the art of clobbering Floops, they made short work of the bad guys.

Confiscating Butch's phone, they were surprised to learn that he had mailed the photos to the public email address of a superhero team called the Protectors. The Floops claimed that the Protectors had caught them during a recent robbery (Butch: "Er, I mean, while we were minding our own business..."), and offered to let them go in exchange for stealing the Aztec stone carving.

The Protectors were a fairly new team, established less than a year ago, but they had a good reputation. The Gladiators decided they'd better investigate, and decided to pay this other team a visit at their headquarters in San Francisco, California.

[Loot Drops: Captain Floop's Force Gun (Force Field), Rocket Ma'am's Rocket (Power Blast)]

Catching a flight to the west coast, the heroes approached the Protectors' Citadel, an artificial island floating in San Francisco Bay. A speaker embedded in the front door greeted them in an irritated voice: "What can I do for you?"

The team tried to explain the situation, only to get the response, "Floop? Never heard of them. Get lost." Having no patience for these shenanigans, the Gladiators opted to bash down the door and confront the Protectors waiting in ambush inside:

ACE
[Natural Weaponry, Reflection, Regeneration, Weakness Detection, Diminished Senses (Colorblind)]

BRAINSTORM
[Force Field, Mental Blast, Telekinesis, Telepathy, Special Requirement (Rare drug)]

HELIOS
[Flame Aura, Flame Blast (with Devitalization Ray carrier), Flight, Invulnerability]

HUNTSMAN
[Armor, Arsenal (Chemical Blast Arrow, Paralysis Ray Arrow, Power Blast Arrow), Special Weapon (Crossbow)]

RENEGADE
[Density Increase, Heightened Attack, Heightened Senses (Hearing), Heightened Strength]

SECURITY DRONES
[Disintegration Ray, Flight, Heightened Expertise, Size Change (7.5" diameter)]

As is their custom, the Gladiators immediately focused all their attacks on the guy with mental powers (Brainstorm: "I'm changing my name to 'Mister Muscles', I swear to God..."). With him defeated, they spread out to take on the rest of the team. The battle raged for some time, but even with the floating Security Drones evening the odds, the Protectors were outmatched.

The heroes tried to interrogate the Protectors, but didn't get much information, aside from a declaration that "The Purifier has come, and she will wipe out all evil on Earth!" Searching the Citadel, they found that Huntsman had left his computer password written on a post-it note, enabling them to access the team's records. They learned that the other half of the Protectors had flown to a location in Colombia, South America. Next stop: the Rainforest!

[Loot Drops: Ace's Sash (Weakness Detection), Brainstorm's Mask (Mental Blast)]

Following the computer flight path, the Gladiators arrived at the base of a high cliff. They could see a cave partway up, and began to climb towards it. Suddenly, a trio of flying Protectors emerged from the cave and attacked:

DOC SONIC
[Flight, Force Field, Heightened Senses (Radar), Sonic Blast, Diminished Senses (Blind)]

MAELSTROM
[Flight, Grapnel, Invulnerability, Weather Control, Phobia (Claustrophobia)]

QUASAR
[Adaptation, Flight, Light Control (Laser, Glare), Non-Corporealness]

Despite their precarious position, the team was holding their own. But shortly, the rest of the Protectors appeared as well:

DR. WRAITHE
[Armor, Healing, Invisibility, Power Blast]

PURIFIER
[Armor, Flame Blast, Flight, Ice Blast]

SILVERFIST
[Armor, Electrical Field, Life Support, Natural Weaponry]

The Purifier was not a known member of the Protectors. She reiterated her intent to "purge evil from the world", and the rest of the Protectors seemed deferential to her.

The battle went back and forth for a while, but eventually the Protectors began to fall. Eventually, only Quasar (the team's alleged leader) and Purifier (apparently the actual leader) remained. And when Purifier finally fell, Quasar suddenly shook all over, and seemed to have a complete change of attitude. "By the stars, we have to stop the machine!"

Quasar flew back up to the cave, with the Gladiators close behind. There was a large, advanced-looking mechanism sitting next to a deep crevasse. Quasar began blasting it with lasers, and the heroes, not quite sure what was going on, decided to help. Soon it was reduced to scrap, and Quasar relaxed.

Quasar apologized for the Protectors' actions. Dr. Wraithe had uncovered an old Aztec artifact -- a skull-shaped pendant -- only for it to take over his mind. It's influence spread to the rest of the team, and the spirit inside instructed them to perform a ritual to resurrect her body. The ritual was found on the old stone carving at the museum, and so the Purifier was reborn.

The Purifier was a fanatic, convinced that the only way to remove evil from the world was to kill everyone and start from scratch. To that end, she commanded the Protectors to build a "Doomsday Machine", a device that would trigger earthquakes and volcanoes across the globe. Luckily, the Gladiators arrived in time to prevent this catastrophe.

The flight back to the States was somewhat awkward, with the Protectors deeply embarrassed by how their wills were compromised.

[Loot Drops: Dr. Wraithe's Amulet (Healing), Purifier's Cape (Armor), Silverfist's Gauntlet (Natural Weaponry)]

[The characters received 3 Character Points, giving them each a total of 178]

NOTES:
* One of the players kept referring to Dr. Wraithe as "Dr. Irate". At first, I thought he was being sarcastic, but eventually I realized that he was looking at the labelled character picture upside-down from across the table, and just mis-read it.