RAD Squad GO!!

[sak0232]

Hi all,
I thought I'd share my group's adventures.
We're running a campaign set in the Marvel U, right after many of the Earth's mightiest heroes (and villains) disappeared during the Secret Wars.

The team used primarily the archetypes (sometimes slightly tweaked) from the DC Adventures core book. They are:
Counterpart -- Defected, Russian power mimic with a secret to hide
Siggerd -- Son of Heimdall, rival of Thor
The Speedster -- Out to redeem his son's legacy
Able -- Synthetic humanoid recording the human experience
Pertante -- Exiled, Kree military officer
Jack Diamond -- Gadgeteer out to prove the superiority of technology

I'll post Issue #0 soon...
Steve-0

[sak0232]

Issue #0 -- Mothballed

Jack, Siggerd and the Speedster serendipitously meet outside a supposedly abandoned warehouse that has just been broken into by AIM agents. They make quick work of the AIM agents on the main level, but encounter heavier resistance below, where MODOK is planning of incorporating Sentinel parts into his hoverchair. The heroes battle MODOK and two Mark III Sentinels, destroying the deadly robots. However, MODOK got away. Upon inspection, the heroes find the inert form of Able among the storage units. Jack takes him home.

[sak0232]

Issue #1 -- Fantastic Seige! Part 1

Some of the Earth's greatest heroes are seen entering a strange construct in Central Park, and consequently disappear. In order to head off the mayhem, Nick Fury of SHIELD sends out word to any available heroes willing to pitch in to maintain order. Siggerd (coming from Asgard), The Speedster (picked up by Daredevil and Nighthawk), Counterpart (informed and transported by an inside source) and Able (after pretending to still be inert but sneaking aboard) arrive at SHIELD's Helicarrier for the briefing. Jack attends in his civilian guise as tech support. Our heroes are assigned to safeguard the Upper East Side of Manhattan from minor criminals. However (aside from admonishing a dogwalker), nothing really happens... until the reach the corner of Madison and 42nd, where the Baxter Building is located. An explosion on one of the top levels attracts their attention.
They all enter the building through a "new" opening on the third level to find a 15 foot tall android hacking into the building computer system. Through Jack's AI, L.A.U.R.A., they learn it is a new model of the Mad Thinker's
Awesome Android. It downloaded a computer virus version of the Thinker into the system's mainframe, in order to pilfer Reed Richard's designs. Counterpart, Able and Siggerd work together to lift the Android and toss the Android out of the building (The Speedster clears the street below, but learns the building is encased inside a powerful force field). Jack Diamond is drawn into cyberspace and does battle with the Thinker's avatar. Jack is forced to merge with LAURA in order to "digitize" his weaponry, and is barely able to defeat the Thinker.
Afterwards, Speedster and Counterpart (mimicking Speedster's speed) search the second and fourth level. Counterpart finds a locked, child's playroom, who upon a very cursory search, finds nothing inside. Speedster finds several villains (The Wizards, The Trapster, Hydro-Man and Letha) battling a horde of insect-like creatures in front of the open portal to the Negative Zone. Siggerd and Counterpart join him, and then after a short observation join the fray.
The Wizard (who has worked with the villainous Speedster) asks for the Speedster's help. The Speedster tries to fake him out by feigning an attack on his allies, but the Wizard sees through it.
Meanwhile, Able repairs the power system to the building, then helps Jack find medical attention on the opposite side of the same floor as the Negative Zone battle. Jack was severely wounded in his battle against the Mad Thinker. Able does his best to see to minor injuries, but Jack resorts to imbibing several unknown stimulants to overcome the fatigue from his injuries. They then prepare to join their comrades.
At that moment, the computer system announces the arrival of an unauthorized being from the Negative Zone:
BLASTAAR, THE LIVING BOMB-BURST! With a roar of anticipatory conquest, the alien attacks...!

[sak0232]

Issue #2 -- Fantastic Seige! Part 2

With the initial burst, the Speedster was incapacitated. Jack flew into the room, leaving Able to "talk down" the Baxter Building's security system.
Recognizing a common foe, the teams eventually worked together to attack Blastaar, though The Wizard tried to mentally control the alien warlord. The heroes prevented this by pushing Blastaar back through the portal, and shutting it down.
The heroes then dealt with the Frightful Four. Siggerd slashed The Trapster into unconsciousness. The others tried to retreat. Counterpart mimicked the Speedster's speed and tied up The Wizard. And a new member of the team, Pertante (who entered the fray from his banishment in the Negative Zone), lay Letha low with a powerful punch and Jack used the Trapster's gun to snare her. Only the Hydro-Man escaped by seeping through the cracks.
The heroes had Able lock their captives in the freight elevator to await SHIELD.
Before the could leave, two things happened: over the intercom, a female voice called for help (and a mysterious simian noise). Then, Counterpart (and only him) noticed the astral projection of Franklin Richards in the room. Franklin asked them to help his mother three floors down. They found him in his playroom, but then proceeded to the living quarters (locking Franklin back into his playroom for safety reasons).

They took the elevator down to the kitchen, where they found Sue Storm, unable to defend herself due to a complicated pregnancy. The lights were intentionally cut off. From the darkness, the Red Ghost and his Super-Apes attacked. Igor the Monkey tried to "tie up" Pertante with his shapeshifting abilities, but Pertante kicked the crap out of him. Mikhlo the Gorilla wounded Siggerd in hand-to-hand combat, but Siggerd knocked Mikhlo out with a later punch. Peotor the Orangutan used his magnetic abilities to trap Jack, but Jack tried a risky maneuver: to slam into the ceiling to shake off Peotor. The gamble worked, knocking the orangutan out.
The Red Ghost tried to shoot Jack but Jack's force field saved him. The Red Ghost tried to escape, but Counterpart mimicked Sue Storm's force fields and the Red Ghost's phasing abilities to follow the villain and trap him (eventually cutting off his air and rendering him unconscious).
The siege ended when SHIELD arrived shortly after, the heroes were thanked and offered a position as reserve Avengers until the original members return. They accepted. Pertante was taken by SHIELD for debriefing, as the Kree are hostile towards Earth. SHIELD and the Maria Stark foundation is building a floating headquarters for the reserve squad, so they can better assist the other Avengers at a moment's notice.
Later, Jack finds out that his division has been assigned to assist the reserve Avengers when the HQ is completed.

[sak0232]

The Green Season -- Part 1
(adapted from Steve Kenson's "Seed of Destruction" adventure available on the website)

This issue starts out with the team enjoying a Friday night out on the town (at least for some). Siggerd is away in Asgard visiting relatives, Counterpart is on a date with his woman, Karen Keery, Able and Pertante attend a Dazzler show in the East Village, The Speedster patrols and Jack spends most of the evening in his van playing pinochle with LAURA.
At the Dazzler show, Able and Pertante show up, but cannot enter because neither has US currency, so they muscle their way backstage. After a one-sided battle with the roadies and the bouncers, both enjoy Dazzler's performance. Afterward, Dazzler tells Able to back off, since he creepily tried to follow her into her dressing room.
The Speedster foils a back robbery, but is shocked to find that another speedster is leading the group. After taking off the villain's mask, The Speedster's fears are realized as he recognizes his opponent. The villainous speedster runs off and is able to out-maneuver The Speedster.
Jack gets a message from The Speedster to help out with the bank robbery, but by the time he gets his gear on and flies down there, everyone is long gone, except for the unconscious thugs that The Speedster super-punched into unconsciousness.
While on his sojourn, Jack gets a message from LAURA, from Nick Fury, saying that he must attend a "ribbon-cutting" at City Hall, where their new team will be recognized. Jack decides to go alone and worries about how his agoraphobia will handle the crowd.
The next morning, the ceremony is going well until two things happen: Jack speaks (the crowd is NOT impressed) and two giant vines sprout up through the pavement and attack the crowd. Jack immediately removes the Police Commissioner and Mayor Koch. The Commissioner is pissed that he put her on top of City Hall because she needs to be with her fellow police down below. Jack senses an attraction, but dismisses it. He then radios the others. All answer except for Able who is too obsessed with Dazzler to answer his communicator and Counterpart, who is MIA. Able stands outside Dazzler's hotel in Midtown, oblivious to the attack being broadcast on the big screen in Times Square, and other vines the sprout up around the city.
The others get to City Hall quickly, via super-speed and flight, but quickly learn that these are some tough vines! Pertante spends most of the battle wrestling one, until he gets the upper hand and tears it out of the ground. Jack and Speedster work together to defeat the other. The Speedster frees any bystanders the vine snatches or catches any bystanders that the vine throws into the harbor, while Jack jury-rigs his equipment to spew defoliant onto the vine, killing it instantly.
While above the city, the heroes notice that many vines have sprouted up, and are causing damage. However, they are drawn to Central Park which has become a veritable jungle of vegetation. The group meets outside F.A.O. Schwartz, including Able, to decide a course of action, when three figures exit Central Park. They call themselves the "Brides of the Green Man," and they forbid the heroes from entering their Lord's domain. Then, they attack!

[sak0232]

The Green Season -- Part 2
(parts adapted from Steve Kenson's "Seed of Destruction" adventure available on the website)

We start this issue with Able stomped upon by Maxima, one of the Brides, who can grow really big. The resulting shockwave knocks Pertante unconscious, while the others keep standing. Flora spreads clouds of poisonous pollen and Venus Man-Trap uses her man-eating plants to bite pieces from the heroes. The battle goes back and forth until Able takes out Maxima with a Power Punch to the pucker. Jack sticks Venus Man-Trap with glue he replicated from the Trapster's glue-gun, then Able puts her into a Sleeper Hold, squeezing her into unconsciousness. Lastly, Jack zaps Flora with his blaster. The Speedster played support along the way, both distracting Maxima with his whirlwind and coming up with the glue then punch tactic used against both Man-Trap and Flora.
During the battle, Jack shot Maxima's unconscious form point-blank, to the shock of many bystanders. The Speedster rushed Maxima to the hospital. After the battle, the media asked the RAD Squad to answer questions, but Jack freaked out (due to his agoraphobia) and told them all to flee in terror.
Meanwhile, Siggerd was visiting Sif and Heimdall. Heimdall was extolling the virtues of Thor, to Siggerd's chagrin, when Heimdall spied the trouble on Midgard. Siggerd flew off down the Rainbow Bridge, where Sif told Siggerd to not let Heimdall's storytelling to get to him. Heimdall is proud of Siggerd. Then, Siggerd used his sword Talon to cleave between dimensions. However, when he arrived in Manhattan, he was quickly sucked back into the vortex and deposited into icy blackness.
While exploring, Siggerd learned that he was in a cavern complex, but could not see due to there being no light. Suddenly, he felt vibrations as if something was tunneling towards him. It burst from the ceiling, but otherwise stopped as Siggerd stood motionless on the ground. Being brave, Siggerd attacked the monster, but was promptly swallowed whole!
Back on Earth, the others sent The Speedster into the center of Central Park, where he found "The Green Man" sitting on a throne molded from a giant tree. The Green Man gestured and vines entwined The Speedster, holding him in place. Above, Jack and Able descended through the canopy. Able hopped down branch by branch, while Jack flew in, jury-rigging his gun to spray exfoliant. Enraged by their desecration of his green kingdom and spouting plant supremacy, The Green Man caused the plants to attack the heroes, as well as using clouds of spores to nauseate them or vines to choke them. Things looked grim as many of their physical attacks bounced off of The Green Man hardened bark exterior, but Jack's exfoliant killed many plant minions. Luckily, a missed exfoliant blast exposed someone encased in the giant tree. The Speedster pulled a girl out of the tree, though she was very tomboyish in appearance. A purple, pulsating seed was attached to her. The Green Man screamed in rage and tried to keep the girl from the heroes or hurt them with his powers, but eventually The Speedster grabbed her and took her into the harbor where The Green Man lost contact with the girl and the purple seed.
The Green Man changed back into the Plantman and his green domain shriveled and disappeared. Able knocked him unconscious with a single punch. The Speedster brought Jack to the girl and he used the exfoliant to kill the seed and set her free. They brought her to the hospital.
Elsewhere, Siggerd stabbed the monster from the inside and killed it, then followed its natural tunnel to a large cavern lit by light being reflected from some surface source. There, he found a clan of dwarves. Given their appearance, Siggerd deduced he was lost in the caverns of Niffleheim. He had fought a Worm of Niffleheim and that these dwarves were among the dishonored dead that populate this realm. He met with the dwarves's leader, a female named Durnella and her second-in-command, a warrior named Nanik. Durnella was suspicious of Siggerd's arrival, no matter what he said, but Nanik and Siggerd's mutual love of mean helped make Siggerd a friend.
During their time in the mead hall, Siggerd learned that Durnella and Nanik's people were betrayed by another clan which caused them to be dishonored in a battle against Surtur and the fire giants. Their souls were taken by Hela. Siggerd wondered if they ever tried to leave Niffleheim and regain their honor, but Durnella is too cautious to venture very far from their cavern.
Nanik arranges a meeting with the clan's mystic, a hairless female, to determine how Siggerd arrived. Her powers show that his sword is cursed, preventing him from leaving. The smoke shows them images of a giant raptor, an impending invasion of Asgard and the image of a female giant, who the mystic says is the source of his troubles and emanates a strong feeling of revenge. Siggerd deduces that the woman looks very much like his old foe, Thaddi, and that it must be his nemesis's daughter!

[sak0232]

Knockdown in Niffleheim

A couple days after most of the RAD Squad defeated Plantman, they are lounging around Avengers Mansion, getting in some downtime. The Speedster watches Wheel of Fortune after searching the city for the "other" Speedster he encounter two issues ago. Jack tries to find a way into other dimensions using technology (in an attempt to search for Siggerd), but is unable to figure out a way to do so. Able wanders the streets of Manhattan. Pertante and Counterpart do the tourist thing. Counterpart's girlfriend Karen shows up at the mansion and Counterpart gives her a short tour of the first floor. She says she must get back to her boss's office, a state senator from NY.
In Asgard (Niffleheim specifically), Durnella relents and allows Siggerd to lead her people towards the surface, and toward Valhalla. They pack up, while Siggerd and Nanik scout routes out of the cavern. Siggerd asks the clan's mystic to send out a magical distress call to his teammates. She takes some of his blood to fuel the spell, so as to overcome the curse preventing him from leaving Niffleheim.
Back on Midgard, the RAD Squad contacts Nick Fury, who contacts Dr. Stephen Strange, who they ask for help when he appears to them in astral form. In scanning the dimensions for causes of trouble, Dr. Strange did detect a faint call for help, which they identify as a hairless, female, dwarven mystic, calling for the RAD Squad. Convinced their friend needs help, Dr. Strange transports them as close as he can: the cavern entrance to Hel, the Asgardian underworld!
In Niffleheim, the dwarves leave with Siggerd at the lead, always taking the passage leading upwards. Eventually, a pack of ice/stone elementals attacks the dwarven clan. However, Siggerd cleaves several into bits, driving the rest off. If he wasn't a hero before, he was now, at least to most of the clan. Durnella was not impressed with his actions (and perhaps nervous that he was usurping her power).
The rest of the RAD Squad try to battle their way past Garm, the albino cold-beast guarding the exit of Hel. The battle persists until Garm informs them that he will only prevent them from leaving, not entering. So, Siggerd's allies enter, winding their way towards their comrades. Jack jury-rigs the communicators to triangulate Siggerd's position.
They meet at an enormous ice bridge, carved into skulls and bones. It straddles a chasm, presumably with no bottom. In the middle of the bridge is a small army of Frost Giants, and floating above them is Thaddissa. She taunts Siggerd with an inglorious death, then orders her Frost Giants to attack Siggerd and his dwarves, as well as the rest of the RAD Squad on the other side of the bridge!
The battle is a tough one: both Counterpart and Siggerd are incapacitated, by sword and Thaddissa's lightning, respectively. Counterpart is rescued from death by Jack Diamond, who flies him to the safety of a nearby cavern. Siggerd is protected by Nanik, but the dwarven warrior is ultimately downed by Thadissa and hacked apart by the Frost Giants! Pertante flew to Siggerd's side of the bridge, and engaged Thaddissa in battle while Siggerd's physiology healed him. The Speedster and Able fought their way across the bridge. Eventually, Thaddissa, wounded by Pertante transformed into a ROC, giant raptor of legend. Siggerd woke up in time to see Thaddissa-Roc grab Able and try to toss him into the chasm. Pertante, however, landed a great blow and felled Thaddissa. She changed back into humanoid form as she fell into the chasm with Able, who was rescued by a teammate. The remaining Frost Giants, demoralized by their leader's fall, scattered.
Durnella mourned the loss of her top warrior (though some whispered he was more than that). Siggerd gave a eulogy for Nanik and the other dwarven dead, finally earning Durnella's respect.
They continued towards the surface, carrying the dead with them as best as they could, including Nanik's body, which Siggerd wanted to give a proper burial. he RAD Squad prepared a daring attack plan to overcome Garm, but instead found Garm's cavern transformed into a throne room. Sitting on top of a throne of skulls was Hela, Queen of the Asgardian Underworld.
Hela was willing to let everyone leave, if Siggerd granted her a boon, to be named at a later time. Unwilling to go back on his word to the dwarves, he accepted. Hela kissed him, dripping blood-red wine. The right side of his face decayed and drooped, as a sign of her power over him.
Outside, Siggerd decided to continue on to the dwarven homeland, to bury the dead and possibly help Durnella gain revenge. Jack, uneasy with the lack of technology and LAURA's disconnection from the computer network, quickly jumped at the chance to return to Midgard.

[sak0232]

Double Vision

Our heroes return from Asgard, appearing on the Avenger Mansion's front lawn, in the early evening. The security system challenges them, but is quickly deactivated upon being scanned. The Speedster immediately left to check on his home, while Counterpart left to check on his own affairs, especially his girlfriend.
The rest of our heroes settled back into the mansion. Siggerd went to his room for well-deserved rest. Jack went back to his van. Able and Pertante went to their quarters as well. Able received a phone call from Dazzler's agent. She was giving a performance the next evening at a theater in Tribeca, and she wanted Able (and Pertante) as extra bodyguards.
Jack received phone calls from Nick Fury, who was thoroughly upset with the team's disappearance for a week (while they were in Asgard), Jack's various PR blunders and The Speedster's apparent return to villainy. To reinforce this last bit, Jack watches a news segment as a figure dressed in The Speedster robs a bank. Jack asks LAURA to run a biometric analysis on the figure. She complies but says the results may take a while. Fury informs Jack that they need to take care of this problem, and Fury will be appointing a new leader of RAD Squad!
As Jack heads into the mansion to mention The Speedster's troubles and the coming change in leadership, he is ambushed by Iceman and Beast. Inside, Able and Pertante are ambushed by Shadowcat, Havok and Polaris. In Siggerd's room, he's attacked by Banshee and Angel. All three battles go back and forth. Jack manages to most evade Iceman's ice powers, but the Beast gets in a few good shots. Polaris drops part of the ceiling on Pertante, but Able knocks out Havok. Banshee screams at Siggerd, but the Asgardian manages to incapacitate both X-Men with the flat of his blade.
Eventually, Able and Polaris clear up the misunderstanding. The adjourn to RAD Squad's new heli-base, where Beast shows them security footage of the hospital room where the young mutant Chance (who RAD Squad rescued from the Plantman) is abducted by someone or something resembling Able. Immediately, upon viewing the footage, Able experiences a flashback, as a hidden file in his synthetic brain is opened. Able was created as a new model of Sentinel, to record and observe the mutant threat. His twin "brother," Cane, was designed to hunt and destroy mutants. Jack suggests that Cane and The Speedster's double may be related, being clones of each other...
RAD Squad and X-Men part ways, agreeing to share info if Cane is spotted again. Afterward, Siggerd suggests that Dazzler may be a possible target during the next day's performance, so they sit down to concoct a battle plan. Meanwhile, Jack visits his division's lab on the heli-base, and is approached by Del Randell, an obnoxious co-worker from the genetics division. Jack maliciously (and hilariously) using his new technology-controlling headband to revoke Del's security clearance contained in their badge's CPU. Del is summarily detained as he tries to enter the genetics lab, much to Jack's delight.
LAURA also comes back with analysis of The Speedster's heist. The kinematic tests suggest that it is not The Speedster from RAD Squad, but one that is younger. This puts the kabosh on Jack's link between Cane and The Speedster, but creates another about time travel...
The next night, Pertante and Able join Dazzler backstage before the performance. Siggerd works the crowd (the girls). Jack hyperventilates outside, freaking out about the crowd. Dazzler takes the stage and creates a spectacular lightshow. Suddenly, a humongous, trenchcoat/fedora-wearing figure strides into the club (Jack radios the others). The figure moves through the crowd, knocking bystanders aside. Both Siggerd and Pertante try to stop the figure too, but are easily knock aside as well. The Dazzler stops the performance as the figure reaches the stage and yells, "Dazzler! You're coming with me! You're coming with the JUGGERNAUT!" He tears away his disguise!
RAD Squad springs into action. Able grabs and takes Dazzler outside into the alleyway, against her wishes. Pertante and Siggerd engage the villain in melee, but each have trouble overcoming his strength and armor, respectively. Jack overcomes his fears, as the crown thins out (they fled in terror, of course), and flies into the room, squirting hyper-sticky paste on the Juggernaut. This distracts him for a bit, but is eventually able to tear it off.
Outside, Dazzler hypnotizes Able (easily, I might add) and tells him to "STAY HERE!" She runs back into the club in time to see the Juggernaut tearing through the stage in her direction. She heads back out side. The Juggernaut crashes through the brick wall, into the alley. Jack flies out and gathers Dazzler into his arms, but is prevented from escaping by a blast of force. An Irish-speaking villain had fired the blast from his wooden "cane." His name is Black Tom Cassidy!
Pertante then flies out and is able to out-wrestle the Juggernaut long enough to rocket both of them into the upper atmosphere, where the Juggernaut falls unconscious from lack of oxygen. Jack flies Dazzler away. Black Tom yields to the better part of valor.
The heroes are triumphant again! Jack concocts a sedative for the Juggernaut until the police arrive.

[sak0232]

One Step a Head...

The RAD Squad is invited to a Halloween Gala in Central Park. The Speedster dressed as Charlie Chaplin, cane, derby and all. Pertante dressed as an American football player. Jack Diamond dressed as Decker from Bladerunner (and sported a redhead, librarian too as a date). Able dressed in drag, as Dazzler.
As the festivities began, a scream was heard from the interior of the park. The Speedster and Pertante rush to a bridge over a pond, where the find what looks like the Headless Horseman about the kill the Halloween Gala's main attraction, Madonna! Fortunately, they were able to destroy the Headless Horseman (who disintegrated in a puff of smoke) and dropped Madonna off at a hair salon in Hoboken.
Eventually, they tracked down the Horseman to a warehouse on the Lower East Side, where Jack discovered one of his co-workers, Del Randell, was working with the villainous Headmen to transfer the brain capacity of the Horseman's victims to himself. Jack was to be the coup de grace!
The others came at the last second, with Pertante fighting another Horseman and The Speedster single-handedly beating the Headmen (he was too fast!). Del was incarcerated before the experiment could be activated, and he swore revenge on Jack Diamond!!

[sak0232]

Race for Your Life! -- Part 1

Our heroes (Jack Diamond, Pertante and Able) start out lounging around the Sky Carrier, when they are summoned to the War Room by Nick Fury, who introduces their new chairman, The Vision. The Vision says the first order of business is to bring in their teammate, The Speedster, who has seemingly turned back to a life of crime. The heroes are stumped, and decide to contact The Speedster via their commlink. The Speedster declines to return to the Sky Carrier and is vague about why. Instead, he leaves messages around Manhattan that his teammates follow, ending up on Liberty Island.
There, again, he won't say why he's acting strange and again races off. This time he goes to an all-villain's pub called Josie's, where he tries to spread the rumor that the "Goromex Diamond" is arriving in Manhattan later in the week. Unfortunately, Hydro-Man is in the bar and calls him out. The Speedster takes off again.
The rest of RAD Squad arrive at Josie's and almost get into a fight, but Able recalls that there is a "No-Fighting" policy inside the establishment. Still, Hydro-Man sneaks outside to exact his revenge, where he fights RAD Squad in the alley. Working together, along with The Speedster who had been discreetly watching, Pertante traps Hydro-Man is a big trashcan and The Speedster dumps in a freon container he nabbed from a meat delivery truck. Hydro-Man freezes solid. The Speedster bugs out again. RAD Squad delivers Hydro-Man to Avenger's Mansion, where the rest of the Frightful Four has been locked up, awaiting transfer.
The Speedster goes home to a retirement community in Hoboken to sleep, where he forgets to take off his commlink, so The Vision sends his teammates there. Meanwhile, the older Speedster is woken up by the other, younger Speedster (remember that biometric analysis of the videotape suggested this). The older Speedster hugs the younger and calls him his son, David, who had previously been thought to be dead! The older Speedster (named Sal) asks David what's going on, but David asks his father to trust him, but wants to know where the Goromex Diamond is located. David says he and his team, The Derelicts, need it. Sal notices that David is accompanied by his teammate Angst (a shadow-weaver). Sal says the Diamond is at Avenger's Mansion.
Outside, RAD Squad is approaching and sees the rest of the Derelicts outside Sal's home. Sal races out of the house, followed by David, then David veers off towards Avenger's Mansion. Able lands and tries to talk to the Derelicts, but one of them called Riptide (a mutated Atlantean) causes water pipes to erupt from the ground and creates a wall of water to separate Able from them. Then, before the others can act, Angst teleports them away.
Sal steals a fake diamond from a party store and some oil from a supermarket and races to the lower levels of Avenger's Mansion, where he lays a trap for David, greasing the entrance and putting himself inside as bait. The Vision arrives and tries to subdue the older Speedster, but he is too fast for the android. David arrives and Sal locks him inside. Sal calls for Angst once he realizes that Sal has no idea where the Goromex Diamond is located.
Sal radios the rest of RAD Squad who engage the rest of the Derelicts on the roof of the Mansion. A battle ensues with rest of the Derelicts: Bionic (a cyborg), Animal Boy (fauna shapeshifter), Nova Girl (a Kree hybrid), Protege (a costumed crimefighter) and Riptide.
Inside, the Vision continues to try and subdue both Speedsters. As a sign of good faith, Sal agrees to put on inhibitor cuffs, but David does not.
Angst is able to teleport David out, but Sal jumps into the teleportation effect and is transported too. Then Angst is able to teleport outside, and provides escape for the rest of the Derelicts, except for Protege and Nova Girl (who Pertante knocked out earlier). Able also jumps into the teleportation effect before it closes.
Able arrives in a large, stone, Gothic cathedral. He sees Sal at the feet of a throne, where the master of the Dark Dimension, Dormammu welcomes him!

[sak0232]

Race for Your Life! -- Part 2

While the Speedster and Able face the dread Dormammu, the rest of RAD Squad (minus Counterpart who is mysteriously missing again...) incarcerate Protege and Nova Girl, putting the injured Nova Girl into a rehabilitation tank. Jack, Pertante and Siggerd interrogate Protege, initially doing poorly, but eventually (after invoking his feelings for Nova Girl) get him to talk.
At the same time, Dormammu easily causes the ground to ensnare Able and the powerless Speedster and moves them to the tower, high above the Gothic cathedral. There, they escape their bonds (destroying the inhibitor bands on Speedster) and make their way back down, encountering David, the first Speedster and Speedster II's son. David explains the situation as Protege does on Earth...
Dormammu has created a pocket dimension neighboring the prison of the Mindless Ones, and has been using it as a base to search for the Goromex Diamond on Earth, which can be used to control the Mindless Ones. Once this occurs, he will enslave the Earth dimension with the Mindless Ones as his army.
The Goromex Diamond was the last artifact that David's team was searching for before they disappeared. They found it, but recklessly mishandles it, causing a massive, mystical explosion that killed them and bound their essence to the Dark Dimension. When Dormammu created the pocket dimension, they appeared and under his control. He's been using them to look for the Diamond on Earth, sending them there for short periods of time.
After finishing his story, David apologizes because he and an approaching cadre of zombies have been sent to recapture them. David uses his super-speed to nearly take out both heroes, but eventually they get the best of him and trap him in a hole, covered by a slab of rock. They then escape the cathedral, where the rest.
On Earth, two more Derelict members, Superio and Amazia, contact Protege via his commlink, unknowing that Protege has been captured. Superio reports they have located the Diamond (not surprisingly in the Diamond District of Manhattan), but then realizes his error. RAD Squad moves to intercept.
They find the young villains on the third floor of a building owned by the Rothstein's, who run a jewelry store on the first floor. They live there, and the Goromex Diamond is in their wall safe.
A battle ensues between RAD Squad and the Derelicts. In the pocket dimension, Dormammu sends the remaining Derelicts to Earth to help their teammates.
While resting, Able and Speedster learn that the Mindless Ones are breaking into the pocket dimension, as the see a rocky fist pierce dimensional wall then disappear. They make a run at Dormammu, by literally racing into the cathedral. They make their way through a swarm of zombies. Through luck, they land a fist on Dormammu, and to their surprise, his image ripples slightly. They press their attack and knock him out. The facade drops and Baron Mordo stands revealed (he was using Dormammu's name to siphon Dark Dimension power to himself). Simultaneously, the pocket dimension begins to collapse and the Mindless Ones storm the cathedral.
They run to David's prison, who is now out from under Mordo's control, then up to the top of the tower where they were first imprisoned. They wake up Mordo, trying to intimidate him into transporting them out. He laughs, calls them fools and blinks away! Fortunately, Angst (who was also freed from control) teleports in and rescues them.
On Earth, the battle at the Rothsteins, despite destroying their apartment (mostly thanks to Pertante performing a groundstrike on the floor) and Jack almost drowning, ends when Mordo's spell ends.
Afterwards, the Rothsteins thank RAD Squad (though they still own the Goromex Diamond, legally), but the now living(?) Derelicts are arrested for crimes they have perpetrated while under Mordo's control. David is taken into custody.

[sak0232]

Changes and Surprises (as told by the Asgardian hero, Siggerd)

'Twas a strange couple of days indeed...

Firstly, there was the matter of the bizarre animal people we battled at one of Midgard's centers of learning. Apparently these animal people had decided to free some actual animals who Able and Speedster assure me were being held in accordance with human law. The battle was largely unremarkable aside from its loudness. Lots of screeching and howling. There was a hulking lizard man who acquitted himself admirably in combat, but was, of course, no match for a warrior of the realm. I mean, he may have mopped the floor with Thor, but it wasn't Thor he faced that day, it was Siggerd, protector of Midgard.

The more insignificant members of this motley crew escaped during the pitch of battle and we traced them to a lair under a city zoo. Why anyone would keep such a large assortment of animals in the middle of a city is beyond my ken, but that is hardly of consequence to the story. We found the lair of the master of the animal people, a man by the strange name of Moreau, abandoned. Able, Speedster and I gathered anything of importance and returned with it to Avenger's Mansion.

Sometime after that, the Vision summoned us for a mission briefing. It is my understanding that the Vision had treated some of my teammates quite poorly during my sojourn in Asgard, though the exact details do escape me at the moment. In any case, despite all of that, we three warriors bold agreed to sally forth into the great vacuum of space and stop a dread comet threatening the safety of all who dwell on Midgard.

Landing our Quinjet on the aforementioned comet, we quickly hatched a plot. Speedster drilled to the center of the celestial body while I followed with some sort of detectometer device that allowed Able to monitor events from the Quinjet. What we found at the center of that comet was enough to give us pause. A dread villain known even to the people of Asgard lay there encased in ice and barely alive. A dread villain by the name of Doctor Doom.

We carved the chunk of ice holding Doom prisoner free from the icy clutches of the comet and then Speedster proceeded to drill through the massive ball of space ice repeatedly until it was shattered into pieces small enough to offer no threat to the people of Midgard. His prowess in spinning was unmatched that day.

We then returned to the Quinjet and affixed icy Doom to the wing. Able, Son of Man, had been applying his considerably mechanical intellect to the matter of how best to deal with the threat Doom posed, a threat eclipsing that of the comet and likely any of the foes we had yet faced as a team. His solution was brilliant in its simplicity - we would imprison Doom in the ice at the pole of Midgard's red twin Mars, inexplicably named in homage to that Greek blowhard Ares. It was a simple matter to melt a deep pit in the ice, lower Doom into it and reseal the ice above him. We left the detectometer behind to keep an eye on him.

When we returned to Midgard, Able thought it prudent to notify the people of the great deeds we had accomplished in their name. Prying me from my mead, Able and Speedster did me the honor of letting Siggerd, protector of Midgard, tell the people our tale of glory. My words painted such a picture that brought the gathered crowd to their feet in applause and jubilation.

Then the Vision showed up looking none to pleased. He was sorely vexed about protocol and a breakdown in chain of command and lines of communications or some such thing. Truth be told, I really can't remember exactly what it was that he was so upset about - I just remember him "peeing on our parade" (I've always liked that particular Midgardism). I began to see what my teammates had been telling me about him - the Vision was nothing but a Thor-loving son of a blender and a paper punch. To compound the insult, friend Fury of the Shield took Vision's side in our disagreement and turned us out of house and home. I admit that I was a bit saddened by Fury's behavior as I consider him a man of honor, but we all have our bad days, I suppose.

It was then that we found ourselves stripped of our status as Avengers. It hardly matters in the face of the adoration of the people of Midgard, though. For truly, Siggerd is their champion.

Shortly after that, while hanging around at Speedster's apartment and enjoying a Midgard delicacy called "hard candy," we were approached by agents of the human nation called The Soviet Union. They showed us pictures of our teammate Counterpart floating in a tank and told us that it was up to us to help him.

[sak0232]

Oh, Brother...

Able remained at the Russian Consulate in Manhattan, where he continued to review the photos of Counterpart within a Bio-Tank, supposedly deep within a bunker located in the Ural Mountains of the USSR, near the town of Chelyabinsk. (Siggerd needed to depart to Asgard and The Speedster went to oversee repairs on his home in Hoboken). The Russain ambassador, Kondrati Topolov (aka The Gremlin), asked RAD Squad to investigate this strange occurrence. Topolov could not get directly involved, as this information was obtained covertly. Someone in the Russian government knew about this...
However, Able received a pager message from Dazzler's agent, requesting Able's presence at Dazzler's performance that night at a rooftop, private residence. Topolov wanted Able to investigate Counterpart's predicament promptly, but Able's programming won, and he decided to attend the concert. Topolov was less than happy, and told them, "you will be sorry..."
Meanwhile, Jack Diamond's alter ego had quit his tech job for SHIELD, coincidentally when Jack was removed from Avenger's membership. He moved his base of operations to a modified tour bus (which he has tentatively called the RADmobile). From there he created a new company called RAD Consulting, Inc., whose motto is "Radical Solutions for a Complex World." Able contacted him and he flew the RADmobile over to pick Able up at the Russian Embassy.
The rendezvoused with Dazzler on the top of the apartment building, in the Upper East Side. The concert was for a private birthday part. Dazzler had invited Kitty Pride and Stevie Hunter to work as backup dancers. Kitty informed Able and Jack about the kidnapping of Christy Nord, a geokinetic, from her New Jersey high school. She believes Cane, Able's brother, was behind the kidnapping, though witnesses report seeing a "wild eyed woman."
Jack parked the bus on the side of the roof, where it hovered. Inside, Jack monitored the party, as to not aggravate his mild agoraphobia. Able helped setup security, as party-goers arrived.
Inside the bus, Jack received a phone call, but only received silence when he answered. Using the computers to trace the call, he found it coming from a phone booth directly below the bus. Jack flew down with his jetpack, as the concert started above. Being cautious, he glue-gooed the booth shut, but a shiny, metal arm demolished the door, and out stepped a beautiful, metallic female, who LAURA identified as Jocasta, as deactivated robot who once attacked the Avengers.
On the roof, Able and Kitty became aware of a late arrival to the party, dressed in fedora and trench-coat. Instinctively, Able sensed his brother, Cane. Able strode out casually into the crowd, as to not alarm anyone, and confronted his synthezoid brother.
Meanwhile, Jack spoke with Jocasta, only to find out the LAURA had downloaded herself into Jocasta's body, calling herself Lacasta, and saying she's better than the old, obsolete LAURA! Jack was dismayed and used his Machine Control abilities to move Lacasta back to under the bus. She complied only because she trusted Jack. Jack then flew up to the bus, intent on jury-rigging a "kill switch" for Lacasta. When he got into the bus, he observed a trio of Sentinels approaching the roof.
Able and Cane communicated telepathically. Cane called Able's fascination with the mutants a "weakness," while Able countered that it was his noble function to catalog and study the mutant population. Cane disagreed, saying Able's function was to study and find a way to eliminate them. Able, not liking what he had to say, attacked, landing a powerful blow, but Cane shrugged it off. Cane retaliated by firing at Able, who dodged, but the beam struck a bystander, critically injuring her. The concert came to a screeching halt, as the crowd ran screaming.
Kitty ran over to the injured bystander. The three Sentinels landed. One entangled Dazzler in steel cables, while the other two fired upon Kitty. Fortunately, she was phased, and she carried the injured woman down to the first floor, where the doormen called the police and an ambulance.
Upstairs, Jack finished the "kill switch" and piloted the RADmobile to get Lacasta and installed the kill switch. On the roof, Able freed Dazzler, but she felt they were fighting a losing battle. Able lied to Cane, saying he had been lying to the mutants the whole time. Cane believe him and gave him a week to show results. Cane called off the Sentinels and left.