ISSUE #12 "Manticore In The Dark" Game Master: Lewis Players: Chris, Jeff, Robert-S PCs: Mr. Clean, [Unnamed], Husk (respectively) Experience Points: 3 each Synopsis: In this game, players attend the funeral of Wes Craven (not the director, damnit!) who was discovered assassinated in his home in Issue Eight. Clues from the murder tied in with some kid-napped scientists to lead to a conflict with Manticore agents. Details: The heroes, in their normal human outfits, attended the funeral of Wes Craven. The Husk attended in the guise of an old acquaintance I believe. Stan Rainey showed up fashionably late in stunning attire that was somehow somber and appropriate, and yet colorful and striking at the same time. Later, a woman on a motorcycle, apparently Alley Cat (his partner) showed up embarrassingly late, even going so far as to ride her motorcycle up into the foyer (as she is used to doing). Some of the players tried interacting with her, and also with some of the other guests. In particular, some unusual-looking characters (one with black wings who hid back in the kitchen) were standing off trying to look inconspicuous in normal funeral attire. Stan Rainey confronted that one, and there were other less obviously unusual guests. After this, Roland Edwards ([Unnamed]) went to a store and bought some Titanium and went to a park by himself to test his powers some more. Husk had followed him and confronted him and asked him which side he was on (they had met at the funeral, above). Husk's speech swayed Roland to use his powers to stop crime, at least for the present. In the news, reports started being broadcast of several missing and/or kid-napped scientists who were missing from a technology research company called Tomorrow-Tech. The heroes got together and tracked down the homes of each of the missing scientists. At one location, they got lucky and noticed footprints of an invisible person running through the snow, as the Husk investigated inside (the front door was ajar). It turns out that there was a scientist who had an invisibility belt Tomorrow-Tech developed (really their only particularly amazing invention) that he had stolen from the company. 3 scientists were kid-napped but one of them (the scientist the PCs caught) had defected over to Manticore, apparently for a large sum of money and access to the Invisibility Belt. The players got the information from him on where the other kid-napped scientists (who had not co-operated) had been held, and gave them an address of where he was supposed to meet Manticore next. In a previous episode, research into the bullet that killed Wes, which had a Manticore logo, resulted in information that Manticore is a world-wide terrorist / research organization that moves into big cites. They get involved in new criminal businesses, high technology, and occasionally they ally themselves with super-villains. Between this discovery, Wes' death, and a hot clue, the heroes eagerly pursued the case. Next, the group dropped the kid-napped scientist off at a police station and told him to turn himself in. They don't really know what became of that. They then rushed over and saved the two other scientists were were left tied up and still alive at a random warehouse where they were "convinced" to defect (only 1 of 3 did). Eventually, the heroes found the 3-story brick building that the defected scientist pointed out (under pressure) as his rendezvous point with Manticore. They decided to shut off the lights by destroying the power junction boxes that fed power to the building. They wanted an advantage. After they did this, they realized that none of them can see in the dark except Husk. Oops! They went ahead and entered the building in the dark. They managed to beat up a few Manticore agents but it was difficult since most of them couldn't see. The Manticore agents had helmets that let them see, however. Eventually the tide turned against the agents, but then a HUGE Manticore agent with 4 arms and 4 legs arrived, along with a woman who spoke French but was never seen. The 8-limbed man pummeled the Husk into unconsciousness. In fact, at that point, Husk's individual 1000 bugs wandered off on their own to re-form later. However, even though he couldn't see, Roland managed to knock out the 8-limbed man, who had already been knocked around by Husk. The party tried pursuing the French lady (they only heard her voice in the darkness, they never saw her, and she fled) and they ended up leaving Husk's bugs behind (since most of the bugs ran off) and they left the fallen Manticore agents behind, as well as the 8-limbed man, because of the pursuit. The heroes (Roland and Stan) called the authorities and then they jumped in their vehicle and drove around the area for 5 minutes or so. Upon returning to the scene, all the unconscious agents and the 8-limbed man were gone. By the time any authorities arrived, someone or something had removed all the Manticore agents, and so no conclusive evidence or proof of a Manticore operation was to be found. Other than the assassination bullet from Wes' murder, a Manticore presence remains unproven.