DC Villains #31: Seven Soldiers pt. 3
DC Villains
Episode 31:
"Seven Soldiers" part 3
[Inspired by:
Justice League of America #100-102 by Len Wein
Seven Soldiers mini-series by Grant Morrison]
Roll Call:
Bucky
Captain Republican
Chemical Lad
Mr. Roboto
Delving further into the time anomaly, the Secret Society found themselves in Lascaux, France, c.15,000 BC. They spotted a large cave, whose entrance had collapsed and filled with rubble. A group of Neanderthals were trying to dig their way in, intent on finding and killing someone they called "the outsider". Guessing that this person was their quarry, the villains stepped foward and offered to help, only to be immediately attacked. "More outsiders! Kill them!"
King Kull
[Density Increase, Experience Levels, Death Touch]
Ice King
[Bridge Travel, Force Bolt, Ice Armor, Ice Blast]
Magi
[Healing, Invulnerability (Biochemical, Entropy), Paralysis Ray, Shape-Shifting]
Cavemen
[Speical Weapon (Club, Spear)]
Wooly Mammoths
[Size Change (11'), Density Increase, Natural Weaponry, Lowered Intelligence (Non-Sentient)]
The Society concentrated on the three leaders, as the cavemen's spears and clubs barely tickled them. The wickedly sharp tusks of the mammoths, on the other hand, were considerably more effective, but once their human masters were defeated, they mostly lost the will to fight and fled the scene.
Using a gadget he's picked up in a previous adventure, Chemical Lad slipped through the rocks and entered the cave. There he found The Manhattan Guardian, who had barricaded himself inside. He had come down with a severe cold, and was afraid of infecting the Neanderthals and possibly altering history. Chemical Lad used his acid spray to clear away the blockage so they could leave.
Mother Box declared that they would need a piece of the Guardian's shield as part of the weapon they were building. He was not inclined to give it up willingly, but the villains concentrated their attacks on him, causing the shield to buckle and shatter. Grabbing a few pieces, they sped back towards the time warp, with the Manhattan Guardian close behind.
[Loot Drops: King Kull's Death Ray (Death Touch), Mammoth's Pelt (Armor)]
Having lost the Guardian in the winding time-tunnel, the Secret Society arrived on a small island off the coast of Italy, c.1200 BC. They were greeted by a woman named Circe, and her menagerie of strange human/animal hybrids. She assured them that they were friendly, and invited them to her cabin for food and drink.
Mr. Roboto heard a buzzing next to his audio-sensors, and saw a hummingbird, apparently desperate to get his attention. Dipping its beak into a mud puddle, the bird began scribbling urgent messages on a nearby tree: "CIRCE EVIL", "BREAK CURSE", "DON'T EAT!!!". On closer examination, Roboto realized that the bird had the head and torso of a human woman, obviously one of Circe's victims.
When the villains refused her hospitality, Circe realized they were on to her, and ordered her monsters to attack.
Circe
[Heightened Defense, Power Blast, Transmutation]
Centaur
Density Increase, Size Change (8'), Special Weapon (Bow, with a Poison/Venom Contact Attack)]
Chimera
[Flame Blast, Flight, Heightened Defense, Natural Weaponry,Size Change (9')]
Minotaur
[Armor, Heightened Senses (Smell), Laser, Size Change (10')]
Satyr
[Emotion Control, Invulnerability (Kinetic), Sonic Blast]
Sphinx
[Disintegration Ray (Area Effect), Flight, Heightened Defense, Natural Weaponry]
The Minotaur, doing heavy dammage with its horns, was deemed the biggest threat and was taken out first. The Sphinx, emitting disintegration beams in all directions, was targeted next. Circe, meanwhile, managed to turn Bucky into a human/pig hybrid that obeyed her will, but he quickly shrugged off the curse and returned to normal. She did not long survive his vengeance. The fire-breathing Chimera fell next, and the villains noticed that the hummingbird was trying to peck at the fallen Circe's wand. Taking the hint, they destroyed the wand, causing the hybrid creatures to return to human form, including the hummingbird, who was revealed as Zatanna the magician.
Mother Box attempted to probe Zatanna's mind for the magic needed used to construct the secret weapon, but she resisted. Realizing she was no match for the Secret Society alone, she cast a backwards spell: "!ekirtS sreidloS neveS"
[Loot Drops: Centaur's Bow (Special Weapon w/Poison Contact Attack], Chimera's Mane (Heightened Defense)]
The Society suddenly found themselves back in the present day, surrounded by the re-assembled Seven Soldiers:
Bulleteer
[Armor, Experience Levels, Flight]
Frankenstein
[Armor, Heightened Expertise, Size Change (7'), Special Weapon (Sword and Gun)]
Klarion
[Companion (Teekl the cat), Mental Blast, Reflection (Kinetic), Telekinesis]
Manhattan Guardian
[Armor, Shield (with Invulnerability to Kinetic), Special Weapon (Nightstick)]
Mister Miracle
[Flight, Force Bolt, Force Field, Oozing, Power Blast]
Sir Ystina
[Armor, Companion (Vanguard the flying horse), Special Weapon (Sword, with Death Touch Carrier Attack)]
Zatanna
[Experience Levels, Arsenal (Magic Spells)]
Going by their motto that the smallest and weakest-looking enemy is probably the biggest threat, the Society went after Klarion first. His psychic abilities were indeed formidable, but he was a puny physical specimen and didn't last long (his cat Teekl carried on the fight, but was declared not worth worrying about, although she got a few good scratches in). Mister Miracle was next; his "tesseract field" absorbed a great deal of damage, but eventually he was worn down. The Manhattan Guardian gave a better showing than his previous skirmish, and dented a few skulls with his nightstick, but he too eventually fell. Zatanna frantically cast spell after spell, and managed to partially depower Chemical Lad and Captain Republican [Siphon: Abilities]. But her healing magic couldn't keep up with the villains' damage output, and eventually her magic was exhausted [used up most of her Arsenal slots]. Sir Ystina valiantly dueled Captain Republican, but even the legendary sword Caliburn failed to penetrate his layers of defense, and Ystina was felled.
[By this point the game was running late, so I called it in favor of the players. Bulleteer and Frankenstein were still up, and might have been able to beat them (Bucky had already fallen and recovered once), but it was unlikely, and would've taken a while to resolve, and we were all nodding off. That'll teach me to put seven enemies on the field at once.]
Mother Box cackled with glee as she gathered the last of the information she needed for the space-time-rendering Nebula Bomb.
[Loot Drops: Frankenstein's Gun (Special Weapon), Klarion's Buckle (Reflection), Zatanna's Hat (Arsenal)]
[The player characters earned 3 character points each, giving them a total of 193.]