IMRC - Assignment Number One

The affable and always " innocent" Angie hooks up three villains for a job for the IMRC.  They include his acquaintances Billy Hill (AKA Hill Billy), Precision, and Mr. Putty.  Precision and Mr. Putty are not exactly pleased to hear that Hill Billy, known for his crazed uncontrolled spurts of violence, is along for the ride.  But they're told it's a well-paying job.  Only Hill Billy is a bit confused, believing he's supposed to simply beat up the contact Angie is referring him to.

They all show up at the docks to meet a man in a purple raincoat.  Instead a guy in a yellow slicker shows up - ticking off Precision who, although inured to this misdirection, can hardly stand this messing about with the instructions.  Precision shows up exactly on time, meeting up with Mr. Putty who recently arrived; he takes an immediate, unusual liking to Mr. Putty.  The man in the yellow raincoat mentions he's from the "Independent Mutants' Resource Center", which is essentially some sort of organization that matches super villains up with paying, usually illegal, jobs.  He stresses the need for the organization to remain an absolute secret, at about which time Hill Billy shows up.  Hill Billy is unsure if he should wallop the man but instead decides he should probably wait for the man in purple.  The yellow slicker man relays his instructions and hands over the 25% down ($50K apiece) to Mr. Putty.  He also (just as Hill Billy as well does) immediately trusts Putty and wishes he could give all of it and vows to lobby on his behalf to get the rest transferred over to him immediately!

Apparently the IMRC knows what it's doing as an innocent and blissfully ignorant man in a purple raincoat shows up and is struck down in short order by Hill Billy.

At that point, as per the instructions, a very odd being arrives.  It's a round ball figure, about 18" in diameter, on two stick figure legs and with a distinct derriere shape on its backside.  Hill Billy refuses to believe he sees it, believing instead the moonshine he habitually drinks is causing some issues.  But he does follow Precision and Mr. Putty all the while denying he sees such a thing for fear of being committed.  

The little ass-ball leads them deep underground, a couple miles under the Earth, and they meet, in a ridiculously ornate and self-centered "royal" room none other than the heretofore unknown self-proclaimed evil mastermind, the self-announced "OG, KING OF ASSHOLES!".  In the same way that Mr. Putty's very presence ingratiates him to others, Og's presence annoys those around him.  Hill Billy, convinced he's gone to hell, attacks Og and feels a mental blast from Og while he is brought down by over a dozen of the little ass-balls who surround Og.  Og explains in condescending tones what he needs, indicating he's too "large" (he's a big fat pussy man) to carry out the task himself.  He needs them to find a compound called "duotentarium" that may yield nearly inexhaustible power; the key to finding it is an arms dealer, Gerald Geraldi, who dabbles in magic and has some sort of deal with MIT to develop this compound.  Their job is to grab all the duotentarium and destroy whatever might be useful that is left behind.  Geraldi has a large party in two days at his house in Concord, presenting an opportunity for infiltration.  There's one catch; the famous and powerful Boston area super hero Nite Owl is apparently also after the compound for some reason, likely to stop it from falling into the "wrong hands" (ie, theirs).

The three villains leave and make their way back.  It's late in the evening and first thing in the morning Putty sets a car dealer's mind at ease and they "test drive" a Mercedes - off the lot and on the way to Boston.  Hill Billy gets to drive - until he's cut off for the third time and feels compelled to shoot the tires off of the car that cut him off.  Mr. Putty, who's suddenly handed the wheel ("Here, take this"), decides he should handle the driving so that Billy can "ride shotgun".

Arriving at a hotel outside Boston safe and sound, they manage to find a fairly nice one.  Mr. Putty indicates he's with the hotel chain and examining things and the staff takes his word, giving him a suite and his friends nearby good rooms.  Billy orders up room service (a bottle of Jack Daniels) and is happy to get it quickly enough that he's not irate.  Precision and Mr. Putty, with Billy tagging along, go to get clothing for them to get into the party with.  The clothing store is poorly kept despite being one of the finer stores.  Precision flies into a barely-controlled rage and insists, at first somewhat politely and then aggressively, by shooting and wounding a clerk, that they fix up the place, especially making the hangers face the same direction.  The erratic Billy gives the clerk some of his moonshine (a radioactive concoction) which heals him quickly, somewhat mitigating the scene.  A couple of would-be shoppers rush out quickly.  With everything settled and clothes properly tailored for the natty Mr. Putty (Precision requires no tailoring - he's a perfect fit), they're off to find dinner.

After a fairly uneventful meal (which includes Putty cashing a check for extra money that isn't really in any account he has), they decide to find a bar.  Hill Billy feels they have a good chance of picking up a rich woman.

The first club they go to is a ritzy, trendy place in Newton that allows people in arbitrarily, judging their looks.  Mr. Putty immediately sets the bouncer at ease and the three are admitted.  Precision's run-in with a waitress with a not-so-tidy table leads them to a bar, where Mr. Putty smooths out Billy ordering a whole bottle of JD (not something the liquor license normally allows).  However, Precision's problem with an attempted order of exactly 3.8 ounces of vodka gets Billy riled up as Precision threatens the female bartender.  They set to fighting and Billy winds Precision, who gets only one shot in on Billy, not enough to stop him.  The fight causes everyone to start fleeing the club.  After Precision rises, Billy is pleased to have had a good if brief spar and then the three decide to raid the cash register.  Unhappily they notice that the briefcase with their money (the 25% down) which Precision took along to keep tabs on is gone.  When they find it, it has the trademark of Rorshack in it, an "R" with its mirror image in a folded piece of paper, and with of course no money.  Precision and Mr. Putty have vaguely heard of Rorshack and know he's affiliated with Nite-Owl.

They move on just before the police arrive and decide to move on to another bar, this time near MIT in order to see if they find anything out about Geraldi's project.  They don't get too far in the local college bar before Billy gets in a fight.  He disrupts the noisy juke box which doesn't play any country, and is attacked by a few stupid jocks who apparently have terrorized the place in the past.  He puts them down in short order (but they're tough , it actually takes a few seconds to put them all down! )   They decide to leave after intimidating the bartender a little.  

They end up at a biker bar and manage to have some fun, although a few errant overly sloppy people force Precision to skulk back and teach them a few life lessons (or more accurately death lessons).

The next day they get to the party.  Mr. Putty easily persuades the unusually tight security staff that they belong and they get in.  As an over-eager guests struggles to recognize Putty, thinking him a DuPont, he adopts that family name readily.  

As they mingle, without realizing it they find the house has an effect on them.  Billy is even slightly more aggressive (although it's barely noticeable with him), smashing down the door to the bathroom ass he has no patience upon arrival.

At first Putty attempts to lie his way upstairs, indicating he's supposed to go.  The security guarding the main stairway is very sorry as they do trust him, but they're told by people upstairs that it "isn't time yet" and all is going along well, intriguing the villains but not producing an easy opening.

Then they seek out Geraldi.  Putty immediately manages to entrust himself to the arms dealer and wants to discuss a deal with him.  Geraldi takes the three of them into his sort of hobby/work room, where he has some mysterious alchemical experiments and admits to dabbling in witchcraft though claiming only a little has come of it.  Despite his trust of Putty, he claims ignorance of duotentarium.  Precision wants to shove Geraldi into one of his own barrels of alchemy but Putty dissaudes him.  Then Precision notes that many of the work tools are not put up and busies himself straightening things while exhorting Geraldi to do so as well; the effects of the house seem to be exacerbating Precision's issues with imperfection.  At this time someone sees Geraldi and indicates that all is going well and he should be mingling.  Geraldi excuses himself and guides them out of the room.

Precision sneaks off to find another way upstairs.  As he goes through the kitchen he is appalled by the mess as the busy staff worries about cleaning and straightening later.  Eventually he feels compelled to take the master chef out back (as the chef attempts to throw him out) and finish him off.  Satisfied with that, he heads on to find a back stairwell.  He notes that this first floor of what is a two-story library has been slightly disturbed; apparently someone is in the house rifling through Geraldi's things as well - perhaps Rorshack or Nite Owl, he thinks.  He continues up the stairs, finding nothing downstairs, and keeps looking.

Mr. Putty moves up the main stairs shape-shifting to appears as Geraldi.  He sees some slight blood stains on a floor near a door and then stumbles into a room that apparently has a large orb and a concerned mage who insists Geraldi not see anything before the ceremony.  He continues on and comes across Geraldi's master bedroom, an octagon-shaped room with a strange large symbol in the carpet.  The house working its magic, he pauses to enjoy a fine cigar and good wine in the plush room.

Downstairs Billy Hill is having a good time getting into a couple one-punch tussles.  However, he comes across a large man who isn't such an easy match.  Enjoying the company, they go outside the house to talk.  It turns out the large man is a mutant in the employ of Geraldi and he offers Billy the opportunity to do some work as well, helping ensure there's nobody in the house at 11:55 other than a select group upstairs.  The easily distracted Billy agrees.

At this point Precision is in the upstairs library which adjoins the master bedroom.  He hears a noise in the bedroom and moves into it, discovering the reclining Putty.  As he fumes at Putty's relaxing, the power suddenly turns off and on.  Then it goes off completely.  Precision and Putty start to move back into the library as Precision hears books falling in there, but in the dark Putty is suddenly grabbed and strangled.  Precision doesn't know this and fires a shot off in the general direction of the library, causing a flash of light.   Meanwhile, Billy runs upstairs, remembering his comrades were finding their way up earlier, and slowly makes his way to where he sees the flash of light Precision set off.  Putty passes out and is thrown onto a nearby couch.  Precision turns, in part to figure out what's going on, and suddenly is also grabbed by the throat.  Billy makes his way towards a now audible struggle.  The mage from the other room is approaching and casting light which trickles into the room, now illuminating Rorshack holding onto Precision.  Precision shoots Rorshack but the blow of the blast throws Rorshack out of the window and into the bushes - on top of the body Precision previously did away with!  Billy jumps down but barely misses the dazed Rorshack.  Precision moves to the window, seeing the famous Nite Owl airship coming to rescue Rorshack.  He gets off another good shot, putting Rorshack out just as the Nite Owl vehicle fires a blast barely missing Precision and taking out a chunk of the nearby wall.  Nite Owl manages to rescue Rorshack but Precision manages to grab some paperwork dangling out of the limp Rorshack's coat.  It turns out to be instructions to some MIT property in Bedford.

The mage enters the room and wonders who these people are.  Mr. Putty, now looking like Eisenhower (!) manages to smooth things over, and they quickly take off as the power is returned to the building.  Hill Billy's new friend approaches him and indicates that given the events of the evening, they need to rush people out immediately.  Billy is a bit aggressive about it, requiring some guidance, but quickly the place is vacated.  The three villains then make off to get to the secret lab.

They find a tree stump as mentioned in the instructions and hastily dismantle the not-too-hidden opening, alerting whoever might be inside.  They find a couple places to go, a door and a ladder leading down.  Billy tries the ladder and takes a nasty fall onto some spikes at the bottom, getting a bit hurt and briefly stunned.  He however quickly climbs back up handily!  Precision opens the door and is blasted and stunned by some sort of radioactive weapon.  Some agents arrive and the villains fairly quickly dispatch them, Precision and Billy taking the lead.  The villains, knowing their time is limited, grab the materials labeled "gamma components" from the room and make a hasty exit.  They figure they probably have the duotentarium.

But when they get back analysis reveals they do not!  The IMRC is not happy and indicates they "may" get another chance.  The villains don't know, though, that in fact they did a reasonably good job (don't expect praise for anything short of amazing work from a villain organization!).  Nabbing the gamma components allows Og to do some research he couldn't have otherwise while they got out just before both Nite Owl and Rorshack showed up.  Chances are the villains could not have stood up to the two super heroes.

[Game Mechanics - Points Awarded...

Drawing against a superior opponent (Rorshack, Nite Owl, others), getting part of the mission done - +15 RPs for everyone, +1.5 XPs for everyone

Money gained (would be more but for Rorshack's intervention) - +3 RPs for everyone, +.15 XPs for everyone

Session play - +3.5 RPs each, +1.75 XPs each

For achieving reasonable success, 1 "IMRC" point each

Villainous behavior, 1 IMRC point each

Totals:

Hill Billy +22 RPs, +3.4 XPs, 2 IMRC
Precision +22 RPs, +3.4 XPs, 2 IMRC
Mr. Putty +22 RPs, +3.4 XPs, 2 IMRC

Totals to Date:

Hill Billy 222 RPs, 3.4 XPs
Precision 222 RPs, 3.4 XPs
Mr. Putty 222 RPs, 3.4 XPs

JT 2 IMRC
Mark 2 IMRC
Miq 2 IMRC