X-Champions Issues

Issue #11 - Shadowboxing

The night before his trial, Sammy returns from his lunch/dinner with Tocci to tell Laughton about the rapid attrition of the Tocci gang, in particular due to the efforts of Shooter.  Laughton's first reaction is, "So Tocci asked you to tell me this?  Where were you with Tocci?" quickly realizing the fastest way to Sammy's head, heart, or whatever his strange putty form may have is through what must be a tremendously elastic stomach.  Sammy tries to play it off like it was just casual contact but is unconvincing to the savvy detective.   Laughton discusses the situation with Sihn, debating the merits of involving themselves in what is likely a Fisk take-over of the Tocci territory – as Laughton mentions that the Justice Squad could exploit the inter-gang warfare into a domino effect that takes down all the bad guys one at a time, Sihn argues that the dominos could lead to and blow up in their office.  A naïve Sammy is eager to help the “good guy” mobsters out, still believing Eduardo Tocci’s line that his gang engages in only the most trivial of vices, all with good intentions of keeping the streets safe from the real bad guys.  This leads to Sihn and Laughton trying to explain that at best the Toccis are a darker shade of gray – though this ends up inviting comparisons to the press the Justice Squad used to receive.

On the day of the big trial over Sammy’s ownership by ABC Corporation, as Suzanne Palmer, with Hamlet’s sometimes-questionable help, prepares the group for the trial, the shapely Velda announces Dr. Sihn has a visitor.  As the Dr. goes to the lobby, he’s surprised, but not shocked given Professor Xavier’s warning, to see a barely-disguised Magneto greet him.  Magneto announces he also wants to see Sihn’s compatriots.

In the Laughton-Davis conference room, Magneto addresses the Justice Squad, referencing the manifesto just delivered to the world and warning them to leave him alone in his quest.  He also hopes they’ll come to their senses and join him someday but doesn’t trust them yet.  Laughton plays a bit with Magneto but receives a chilly response.  He also refuses any coffee – stating he doesn’t need to be “studied” to Sihn.  He does offer them a laminated card of reading material, books on philosophy (including Rand) and bio-physiology – Laughton dismisses it bemusedly and offers it back though Magneto simply ignores his held-out hand.  Then he leaves a method for the team to get in touch with him, though he warns it’s not a quick process, by leaving word with Father Fitzgerald (he’s fuzzy on the priesthood, at first calling him a Reverend and generally ignoring Christian nomenclatures) via the confessional at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament – the same church the Purple Hat gang used.  He indicates that he’s spoken with the other major area mutants except for the reclusive Dr. Magnus and asks them to pass the word on to him should they see him.  After wondering where The Captain is, Magneto announces he needs to leave as Palmer says they have to get going to court.  But he mainly takes the opportunity of the formality of saying goodbye to prod each of the members of the Justice Squad present with barbs relating to their life among the humans.  He commiserates with Sammy on his sorry plight of having to defend his own sentience.  He pities Sihn for his slow climb to success, impeded by dealing with human bureaucracies and rules and their interference by having him battle mutants – when instead he could be purely dedicated to studying and thereby helping the mutant species.  When Suzanne repeats that they have to get going, he agrees but takes that moment to wonder why she’s no longer in the DA’s office – and then points out how it’s a pity the humans can’t deal with her extraordinary abilities, alluding to her ability to see the truth.  He finally departs with a shot at Laughton for what Magneto sees as his human-inspired paranoia, thwarting what should be a full and trusting life for Laughton.  He isn’t bemused by Laughton’s quip that he’s merely perceptive rather than paranoid.  Before leaving Sammy eagerly shakes the mighty and well-spoken Magneto’s hand.

Traveling via the refurbished, augmented Black Buick, they finally get to the courtroom, the heroes making their way through a media feeding frenzy – only responding to one question, stating that The Captain is on a top secret mission!  The heady atmosphere inside is quieter but incalculably more tense.  The ABC lawyers bring on their expert witnesses, concentrating on biological studies and attempting to prove that Sammy is merely a highly imitative non-sentient being and that this is not so uncommon.  Laughton objects to each witness but is muzzled both by the judge and the more courtroom-savvy Palmer.  The ABC lawyers call Sihn to the stand in an attempt to get a hostile witness to lend credibility to their notion, with little success, though they attempt to exploit Sihn’s argument that he would make stimulus-response attempts at communication into bolstering their case that in part they need to study and do the same tests on Sammy to determine more about his exact nature.  They also attempt to stop the use of the name “Sammy”, believing it prejudiced their case, but Palmer and Laughton convince the judge otherwise and their objection is over-ruled. 

When Palmer’s turn comes she calls her own expert witnesses and character witnesses.  Finally, as is commonly done in these cases, Sammy is called to the stand.  He comes across warm and child-like, indicating he has goals in life and they are, “Be a superhero, have lots of people love me, and save everybody.”  But he stumbles and fails his coaching a bit as he confuses the difference between acting like someone and “becoming” that someone, subsuming his own identity – later in the trial Palmer calls a character actor to demonstrate how this line of thinking is consistent with fully “normal” human actors.  Laughton takes Sammy through his coming to consciousness and emotions in his early years.  He also talks him through the objects he portrays, detailing what Sammy’s perception of what is sentient and directly asking him if he is sentient – to which Sammy replies, “I think so.” which recalls Descartes' famed, "I think therefore I am".

The ABC lawyers retaliate by attempting to tear Sammy’s testimony asunder and resort to asking him to portraying his “true” self.  Despite objections by Palmer and Laughton, the judge agrees to it.  The shocked jury sees Sammy degenerate into a loose oozing jelly. 

Both sides make strong closing arguments, each with some drama.  During ABC’s, Sammy speaks out, crying that they intend to enslave him, possibly kill him.  The judge calls Palmer and Laughton to the stand and hisses a threat to keep their client quiet or he’ll summarily rule against him, throwing any jury verdict out!  In her closing argument, Palmer relates and emphasizes that the jury should remember that Sammy is in fact an impressionable four year old.  The jury makes a very quick decision.  In 30 minutes they rule on Sammy’s very life – indicating that he is sentient and not the property of ABC Corporation.  Before the trial is officially over, the judge makes a stunning $1,000 contempt charge against Laughton for his behavior   A hot Laughton and ebullient Sammy are rushed out of the courtroom by Palmer and Sihn.  Under his breath Hamlet vows to wreck the judge’s car by turning into a tree right underneath it as it passes over him. 

Sammy makes a brief media statement – including that “Truth and justice have prevailed!”  - a sound bite the media quickly runs with.  They then quickly rush off, joined by an equally happy Jonas Hell, to a Chinese Dim Sung restaurant to cap a long day.  Palmer prefers something good and non-smoking to Hell’s preference, O’Malley’s bar.

Moments after sitting down to a meal on Dr. Sihn, they are joined by the enigmatic Flaming Carrot who is apparently aware of Sammy’s victory and applauds him.  He also orders, despite the venue, Margaritas for everyone – and apparently someone on the staff knows where to go get them, rushing off.  The Carrot doesn’t have much time – he has to “fight crime and go on date with Gigi Boom-Boom” – but he has composed a free-style beat-like poem for Sammy and gets up on the table to perform it.  He leaves before drinks are served, but after asking Sihn, whom he met a long time ago in a drunken stupor in Sihn’s office for some minor medical attention, to craft him an exploding third arm.  He claims this will strike fear in criminals as they are a “cowardly, superstitious lot”.

Just as Hell finishes explaining that he’s found a link between J. Jonah Jameson’s son and the Game Show Host that suggests that the Jamesons may actually be breeding mutants, Laughton, who realizes just how much sense this makes (in his mind), spots a figure that’s shadowing them sitting at a nearby table.  It’s a trench-coated middle-aged balding man smoking a clove cigarette – in a non-smoking restaurant.  Sihn and Laughton join his table.  At first he ignores them and then tells them to leave, ignoring their “friendly” questions on what he’s interested in.  He resorts to asking the waitress to make them leave but then relents.  While he claims they make him sick, he says little else.  They ask his name and he says nothing.  Laughton attempts to get Palmer’s attention to read his name but she’s not sure the situation warrants such an intrusion and tosses a Chinese fortune cookie at Hamlet’s head.  Besides, she’s busy dealing with 6 Margaritas that have just arrived and Hell telling the waiter that they’re on Laughton-Davis and he needs a receipt. 

The strange man begins to openly tinker with the devices that Laughton and Sihn see under his coat.  Sihn tries out his own mutant detector, finding the man is not a mutant.  The man works some sort of self-satisfied "magic" with a device, then reworks it for a bit – and disappears into thin air.  No trace is left behind of where he might have gone, even as the heroes venture out into the developing blizzard to look for any trace or tracks.

As they retire to their various endeavors as it’s late in the day, Suzanne calls Buffy Summers, who surprisingly invites her to a rave at 2 AM.  Suzanne turns in to get a quick nap.  Later that evening she meets Buffy and her friends, noting a bit of blood on Buffy’s otherwise stylized clothing.  She blows it off as no big deal, just a bit of fall-out from a vampire that nearly got Willow – Willow stares at the floor, a retiring wallflower type.  Then Buffy’s beautiful girlfriend chimes in, asking Suzanne what she does.  As Palmer mentions she’s doing the super-hero thing, Cordelia retorts, “Oh, I guess that’s why you don’t have time to look after your appearance,” and turns to go to the bar, followed by the nerdy teenage male accompanying them.  Suzanne considers that Cordelia may not be so light on her dancing feet tonight…

Back at the Laughton-Davis Agency/Sihn’s lab, Lefty, Sihn’s sentient left hand (for whom Suzanne has provided Eliot Sihn with paperwork to get registered as a sentient mutant) wants to be with Sammy.  And he mentions they might have to go out to the store.  Out of both concern for the naïve infantile hand as well as concern for keeping his needed appendance nearby, Sihn insists they stay downstairs with him and watch TV and play video games.   Lefty protests, attempting to concoct strange grandiose scenarios that would require him to leave but Sihn stands firm, resulting in a frustrated Lefty who settles into hang out with his new friend Sammy.

Upstairs Laughton receives a visit from a Tocci gang member.  The thickly inner-city accented, none-too-bright hood implores Laughton for his help.  He mentions not only Shooter but a strange villainess who turns men to stone – and then they can be smashed to pieces.  Some of these stone victims have been carted away by her and Shooter.  The mobster mentions they call her Medusa because they’re clever that way.  Laughton, bemused, tries to get more details from the muddled Tocci agent, and learns that Medusa and Shooter just made a major hit on them at an exclusive and well-fronted strip club in Gros Pointe Heights called the “Gentleman’s Tennis Club”.

As Laughton lets the hood sneak out the back and goes to tell Sihn about this development, he runs into Sammy and Lefty in the hall.  Lefty excitedly says, “You’re an adult,” hoping to get Laughton to take them to the store, but Laughton just says, “No!” and then explains that they can use the TV in his office but he shall find no crumbs, no moisture, no messes, and then shuts his office with its special hermetic seal, locking them in.

So Sammy and Lefty get into Laughton’s computer and surf the net – Sammy searching for “Shooter”.  He comes up with many pages of “leads” – as well as leaves a big trace for the Feds to research.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Sihn is wondering where Gere-luce has gotten off to as he’s nowhere to be found.  He calls his house, getting his wife’s chilling reception.  She’s never fond of Gere-luce’s venturing out and leaving her at any given hour (he’s the hen-pecked type) and blames Sihn in particular.  She tosses off a few sarcastic and leading remarks which Sihn deliberately appears to miss. 

Then Laughton enters, relating the tale told by the hood.  They become absorbed in debating whether they should help the Toccis – or let Fisk topple their organization.  When Laughton reveals that the new villainess has the ability to turn people to stone, Sihn becomes intrigued and begins inquiring of Rodin’s origin and Laughton’s childhood.  Laughton holds back, though, and simply continues talking without answering Eliot – such information is something he needs to keep secret, given the many forces out to get him.  They finally agree that they should help the Toccis – this will allow Sihn to collect samples of Shooter and Medusa while allowing Laughton to get deeper into Fisk’s organization – which he realizes now may be linked to the Department of Education and National Education Association and their insidious plot to turn much of America into unskilled servants of the wealthy.

During their discussion, Sammy and Lefty, determined to find out more about what’s going on, escape from Laughton’s office as Sammy uses his acidic powers to make a hole at the bottom of the hermetically sealed door and seep out.  They arrive in time to hear the tail end of Laughton’s and Sihn’s decision to help the Toccis and they burst in, Sammy saying, “Yes, let’s go help the good guys!”  Laughton attempts to again define the shades of gray but Sammy and Lefty seem caught up in the passion of going to battle.  Sihn bolsters Lefty’s confidence reminding Laughton that Lefty’s part of the team.  But he also mentions that given they’ll be at a strip club, Lefty needs to be re-integrated with Sihn for sure.  Lefty’s seen nudity – but doesn’t get the appeal in any case.  The rest of the body just isn’t as appealing as a hand…

Suzanne Palmer, deep in a slumber of warring voices in her head, misses the call from the Justice Squad members as they trudge out into the Detroit winter weather to head to the Gentleman’s Tennis Club in search of clues.

[Game Mechanics - Points Awarded...

Winning against a marginally inferior opponent for the court battle over Sammy (whole team participated) - +1.875 RPs for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Troll, +.125 XPs for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Troll

Act of great publicity, the courtroom and media scene - +22.5 RPs for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Troll

Losing to a superior opponent (I'm not going to say...) - +.75 RPs for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Troll, +.5 XPs for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Troll

3 hrs Session play - +2.25 RPs for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Troll, +.75 XPs for  Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, Troll

Totals:

Rodin +27.375 RPs, +1.375 XPs
Sammy the Slime +27.375 RPs, +1.375 XPs
Spectrum +27.375 RPs, +1.375 XPs
Troll +27.375 RPs, +1.375 XPs

Totals to Date:

The Captain 255 RPs, 23.175 XPs
Rodin 421.875 RPs, 34.8 XPs
Sammy the Slime 414.375 RPs, 33.5875 XPs
Spectrum 239.25 RPs, 17 XPs
Troll 427.875  RPs, 39.775 XPs]