Fight Intro – Nightwing, Wolverine, Iron Man, Black Panther and Luke Cage vs. A Whole Lotta Killer Croc Clones
Location: New Orleans, LA – New location of the alleged Schmidt Technologies
Time: 12:25 p.m. same day as the Battle on The Bayou
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Nightwing,
Wolverine,
Iron Man,
Black Panther and
Luke Cage headed into the bowels of the facility. The Falcon, despite his initial reservations, agreed to stay with
Nick Fury and his
SHIELD troops to brief the arriving police and medical personnel and to provide containment in case the
Croc clones, or anything else, should get past the assault team.
Wolverine took point as the heroes worked their way through the halls of the Schmidt Technologies building. Iron Man wasn’t able to download blueprints of the building from New Orleans City Records as they had hoped, but Logan’s nose would lead them to their destination without any trouble. It took the group about 10 minutes to work their way to the lower level area where the Croc clones awaited. Nightwing and Black Panther had been talking strategy the entire time, while Luke Cage kept making wisecracks to keep the team loose. Even though all of them had been in situations like this before, and far worse, they were all tense. Knowing that they were all that stood between the return of Captain America and Superboy to the world at large added more pressure than many of them had felt in a long time.
They descended the final stairwell and entered the hallway leading to the large room. They worked their way forward cautiously until they were about 10 feet from the open double doors leading to the room. They could hear the Croc clones growling and growing more restless by the second.
“You guys ready for this?” Nightwing said, pulling out some Nightarangs.
“I was born ready,” Cage replied. “…and sexy…”
“Since when did you become the merry quipster of the group?” Iron Man asked with a slight chuckle.
“Hey, I hung out with Spider-Man a lot the past couple a’ years; his bad habits rubbed off on me.”
“I just hope we’re all laughing when this is done,” The Black Panther said, shifting into a ready stance.
“We will be,” Iron Man said as a missile launcher rose up out of the shoulder piece of his armor. “I’m not failing Steve again. Stand back...”
Iron Man led the group into the room, immediately drawing the attention of the nearly 50 Croc clones. He fired a barrage of missiles into the group of Crocs with his missile launcher, sending over two dozen of them flying. Only a handful got back up. Once the Crocs had been scattered, Cage, Logan, Nightwing and T’Challa all moved quickly towards the center of the room with Cage and Wolverine taking the wing positions.
Their plan was to get to the rooms holding their friends first and let Iron Man deal with most of the Crocs. And the plan worked perfectly. Iron Man continued to mow down the clones with his Uni-Bream and Repulsors while the others dealt with the stragglers as they blocked their path. A few of the clones got to the grouping of heroes, but Cage and Wolverine were able to take out any of the clones that got past Iron Man.
Nightwing and The Black Panther picked off a few along the way also with some well placed Nightarang and Energy Dagger shots. Wolverine took a few good shots from the Crocs on the way, but gave far better than he got. In less than a minute, they made it to the other side of the room and by then, Logan’s healing factor had him nearly as good as new physically. And taking his aggressions out on the last few Croc clones did wonders for his mood as well.
As the last of the Croc clones fell after a Repulsor blast from Iron Man, Nightwing assessed the area around the 3 doors. Black Panther stated, “That was easy…a bit too easy, I think.”
“Speak for yourself, T’Challa,” Wolverine said, checking the cuts on his sides and face that were healing up as they spoke.
After a few more seconds of checking things out while the others looked on, Nightwing replied, “No, The Panther’s right. The Red Skull would have thrown more Crocs at us if he really wanted to stop us. And I’ve checked all around here for booby traps or any other little surprises he might have left for us and I can’t see anything.”
“Me, either,” Iron Man said as he scanned the area with his multitude of sensors from his armor. “I don’t even think the doors are locked. I can’t tell if the guys are definitely in there, or not but we don’t have any reason to think otherwise at this point. Just to be sure, let me open the first door, in case of…”
Before he could turn the handle, his commlink clicked on and Nick Fury’s voice came through all of their commlinks. “Um, guys,” he said, sounding concerned. “Are you OK?”
“Perfect, Nick,” Stark replied. “All the Croc clones have been neutralized and we’re going in to get Cap.”
“I…don’t think ALL the clones have been neutralized. The monitors are showing a whole ****load of them heading our way…”
“How many is a ****load?!?!?” Luke Cage asked apprehensively.
“A helluva a lot more than we can handle right now, I think…looks like 40, 50 at least…”
“OK, hang on Nick, we’re on our way!” Stark said as he turned and fired up the rockets in his boots.
“No, Tony,” Wolverine said, putting his hand on Iron Man’s shoulder. “Me and Luke can handle them. You guys get Cap and the others.”
“But, Logan, we…” Nightwing started.
“He’s right, ‘Wing,” Cage said as he started to trot back towards the other door. “You three stay…get Cap, the super kid and X…get up there when you can…we’ll represent upstairs. C’mon, Logan, let’s move!” With that, the two former Avengers teammates took off at a dead sprint back the way they came.
Nightwing, Black Panther and Iron Man looked at each other. They each moved towards the door they most wanted to open. Black Panther moved to the door that opened into the room where Josiah X was held. Nightwing prepared to open the door where Superboy was. And Iron Man took a deep breath and reached for the door to the room that contained his former best friend, Captain America.
Simultaneously, each man opened their door…
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Door 1: The Black Panther opened the door and peered in cautiously. He could see that near the back of the well lit room sat a sedated and bound Josiah X. Before T’Challa could take more than a step in the door, he heard someone speaking loudly to him.
“Well, well, well, lookee what we got here,” said the man dressed in a white and red hood and outfit who was standing in the middle of the room. “If it ain’t the legendary Black Panther, comin’ to save his boy just like they said he would.”
“And you must be the so-called White Knight,” Black Panther replied, relinquishing his cautious stance and strolling into the room confidently. “I’m not at all surprised to see you here. I suppose this confrontation was inevitable.”
“Look at you, using them big words for an African *racial slur*. I heard you was one of the smart ones,
BOY, looks like they was right. Doesn’t matter, though; smarts ain’t gonna help ya when I’m burying my foot in your black *rear*. I’m gonna enjoy this one,
BOY. Get ready to see what it’s like to fight a REAL man!”
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Door 2: Nightwing opened the door slowly and took a scan of the area. The room was very dimly lit, with shadows enveloping the sides and corners of the room. The lone light hung just above the bound and blindfolded figure in the chair near the back of the room. It looks like Conner, Nightwing thought as he slowly crept into the room, but I’m not going to be convinced until I…
Before he could finish his thought, he caught some movement out of the corner of his left eye. He eased his Escrima sticks from his gauntlets. Then, he saw movement all around the room. From the shadows of came 5 lean figures, each wearing dark bodysuits and iron masks. He could see that each of them wielded dual bladed tonfas and each had a swastika emblem on left breast of their uniform. They slowly and silently advanced on him.
“I don’t suppose there’s any point in asking you all to stand down, is there?” Nightwing asked, knowing full well the answer.
He received no response as a couple of them began to spin their blades. As they got closer, he could hear faint clicking and whirring sounds, seemingly coming from their bodies.
“OK, then,” Nightwing said, mimicking their movements by twirling his Escrima sticks. “Let’s do this…”
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Door 3: With his heart racing, Iron Man opened the door. As he had hoped, sitting in the back of the dimly lit room bound and blindfolded was Steve Rogers. Thank God, Tony Stark thought as he walked into the room. After a couple of steps in the room, he heard a “click” and a door on the wall to Roger’s right slid open. As Iron Man raised his left hand and warmed up his Repulsor beam, a figure slowly shuffled out of the secret room.
The male figure wore familiar blue tights with a red cape trailing behind him. I knew it, Stark thought, they cloned Superboy...
But as the figure moved into better light, Iron Man realized that it wasn’t Superboy at all. His skin was pale and the “S” insignia on his chest was backwards. And when he spoke, Iron Man’s heart rate picked up even more as he realized who he was dealing with.
“Red Face man said Metal Suit Man come to save yellow hair. Red Face Man me worst enemy. He say Metal Suit Man me best friend…
He tell Bizarro not to kill Metal Suit Man. So I not kill you…I not kill you, bad…”
Coming up next:
The Final Battles!!!
Nick Fury, Falcon, Luke Cage, Wolverine and SHIELD vs. more Killer Croc Clones!
Nightwing vs. The Kroenen Clones! (Or as I like to call them, the Cloenens…)
Black Panther vs. The White Knight!
Iron Man vs. Bizarro!
Set Up: Since it will take a little while for them to get to the lower level I will rule that Nightwing and Black Panther will both have time to activate their Master Plans. I’m going to rule that their plans will run one after the other, extending the time of the bonuses. Black Panther gets a 17, Dick gets a 20 so there will be 3 rounds at +2, another at +1, then 3 more rounds at +2 and one last one at +1 to attacks and checks for the group. The room is huge, 80 feet wide and 160 feet from their door to the back wall where the 3 doors leading to the captured heroes sit.
Initiative/HP: Luke Cage 23/3hp, Black Panther 20/3hp, Nightwing 17/2hp, Wolverine 11/2hp, Iron Man 10/2hp, Croc Clones 6/0hp. There are 46 Croc clones in the room (to start). We’re running Minion rules at the moment. Stark and Wolverine are completely healed as well and Cage, Panther and Nightwing took no damage before so everyone is starting out the fight in top shape. Here we go..
Round 1: The Crocs were awaiting their arrival and there was really no other way in that room (for the heroes anyway) so I’ll skip the surprise round. All the other heroes will hold their actions for Iron Man who will set the tone with an area blast with his missiles which hit (barely) with an adjusted 15. It’s a +14 area explosion attack so I will rule that it will hit 28 of the clones. Dang, that’s 28 Toughness saves against DC29….Oh, well, here we go…OK, that was wicked. Only 4 of them save. That’s pretty dang efficient. 22 left. Next up is Cage who could reach a couple with his move and Takedown but their goal is to get to Cap and the others, so he, Black Panther, Nightwing and Wolverine all double move and make it close to the center of the room which was cleared by Iron Man’s missile blast. Wolverine and Cage will take the flanks. The Crocs are up. They will attack the heroes, but only about 4 of them can get to them this round. Man, they rolled well. They all hit. 2 hit Cage, 2 hit Wolverine. Cage doesn’t take any damage because their attacks do not get pas his Impervious Toughness, Wolverine takes two bruised and injured conditions.
Round 2: This time the heroes go in order. Cage leads and takes his regular move, then he can attack one Croc clone. He takes 10 and hits. But the Croc makes its save. Black Panther takes his move and can attack another with his Claw Strike as well. He takes 10 and hits, and the Croc fails its save and falls. 21 left. Nightwing takes his move and fires a Nightarang at one, taking 10 and hits. That one fails its save and falls. 20 left. Wolverine moves and can get to one as well, takes 10 and hits and this one makes its save. Iron Man takes to the air to be able to move fast enough to catch up to the others. He fires his Uni-Bream which is a line area blast that will be able to catch 5 in its path. They all fail the Reflex saves, then all fail their Toughness saves and are all down. 15 left. 8 will be in range to attack this time. I’ll split them up evenly 2 on each hero other than Iron Man who is flying a bit higher than they can reach. 2 hit Cage but neither gets past his Impervious again. 1 hits Black Panther and he makes the save easily. None hit Nightwing and the last two 2 hit Wolverine. Logan makes the first save, but blows the second and is Bruised, Injured and Stunned. He’ll burn an HP to get rid of the Stunned condition and Regenerates one of his Bruised conditions to still have 2 Bruised and 3 Injured conditions.
Status: Logan Bruised x2, Injured x3.
Round 3: With Iron Man’s last blast, another path had been cleared for them to double move to within 10 feet of the doors. Cage, Nightwing, Black Panther and Wolverine all double move and are where they want to be. Iron Man cuts loose with another Uni-Beam blast that catches 4 more of the Crocs. Again, all fail their Reflex saves, but this time one of them makes his Toughness save. They’re down to 12 left. I’ll rule that 3 of them can get to the heroes. Only 1 hits and hits Wolverine who…dang, fails his save again and takes another Bruised and Injured. Again, though, one of his earlier bruises heals and he’s still got two bruises, but his injuries are still climbing. The remaining Croc clones use the round to get within range of the 4 floor bound heroes. Black Panther’s Master Plan drops to +1 after this round.
Status: Logan – Bruised x2, Injured x4.
Round 4: Now that the heroes are where they want to be, it’s time for them to start doing some work. Cage starts it off again and he can get to 2 with his Takedown Attack. He power attacks for 1 and drops both clones. 10 left. Black Panther fires his Energy Daggers at one of the Crocs and hits with an adjusted 20 for +2 Auto-Fire. But the clone saves with a natural 20. Nightwing takes 10 and whips a Nightarang at a Croc and hits easily, but the Croc makes his save. Wolverine can get to 4 with his Takedown Attack. He will Power Attack for 2…hits them all and drops them all. 6 left. Iron Man just uses his Repulsor Ray this time and pretty much cuts one in half with a natural 20. I’m not even going to roll the save. 5 left. The Crocs fight until the end, attacking Wolverine and Black Panther. Only Wolvie takes a hit with an adjusted 23, but he makes his save and regenerates another Bruised condition.
Status: Logan – Bruised x1, Injured x4.
Round 5: The heroes should end this pretty quickly. Cage drops the one he can get to, leaving 4. Black Panther fires an energy dagger at one, taking 10 to hit, but the Croc makes its save. Nightwing uses his round to assess the doors, searching for traps, checking the cameras outside the door, etc. He gets 17 on the checks. Wolverine can reach 3 Crocs with his Takedown Attack, and he will roll for the hits, All-Out/Power Attacking for 3. He hits on all 3 rolls, the 2nd one is a crit. All the Crocs fail their saves. 1 left. Iron Man takes 10 with a Repulsor blast and drops the last one. Logan heals his last bruised condition.
Round 6, 7 & 8: The heroes will have a chance to breathe and check out the set up of the doors before the next phase of combat starts. The reason I mention this is for my rolling for Wolvie’s Regeneration from his Injuries…he heals 3 of them. Nightwing gets 22, 16, and 26 on his Searches. Iron Man searches the last two rounds with a 9 and 19. They find nothing, but there is nothing to find. I guess it’s the old GM in me that MADE me have to roll those, just because I was supposed to since I playing this kind of like a real game.
Entering the Rooms: The only room where a check is really necessary is for Nightwing to notice the Kroenen Clones and he makes it with a 26. The White Knight ain’t sneaking up on nobody, and neither is Bizarro. I will give BP, Nightwing and Iron Man HP’s for the complication of dealing their opponents while trying to save their friends, yet trying to get back to help Fury and the others.
Final Status for Part 1: Luke Cage 3hp, Black Panther 4hp, Nightwing 3hp, Wolverine 1hp – Injured x1, Iron Man 3hp.
Notes: The heroes performed well in this warm up to big finale. This was really a set up for the final 4 fights, which will be much more of a challenge for them as you can see…
My only concern was that Logan seems to take a whole lot more whoopin’ than I thought he would. He got beat down by Stark before, and now that I think about it, just about every fight I’ve seen with him on Roll Call, he’s gotten whooped pretty good. I’ll have to think about a rewrite for this build.
Kudos for putting Bizzaro in during a clone series.
