Dramatis Personae

• Derrick K. Ratnam aka Legerdemain (NPC Ally): Spin doctor and media liaison for Project VANGUARD. Twin to Bo. Tagline: “Well, actually that’s not how it happened…”
• Layla A. de Blackburn aka Nox (NPC): CIA-trained child assassin all grown up to be Daddy’s Little Monster. Maybe a little mad. Argues with her shadow often. Tagline: “No, we shouldn’t do that…should we?”
• Stainless Steel Rat aka “Sir” (NPC Ally): Bo’s best friend and assistant. A sentient drone in the shape of a stylized shiny metal rat mindlinked to Bo. Specialties are rapid repair construction and modifications. Imagine if K-9 and R2D2 made a baby and it looks a bit like a rodent. Tagline: “Repairs and upgrades in progress.”

Previously . . .

With less than an hour to go, they try to lay down a plan of attack for Erebus. Threshold wants to port everyone into the area, wait until the trade happens and then jump when Nyx gives a signal. Nyx, instead, suggests getting Wirerat to loadout SSR and aerial drones with a lot of LEDs and batteries set to Glowworm’s frequency to cut through the darkness and drop them when the signal comes. Threshold amends that they’ll rush in after the signal to try to overwhelm Erebus. Nyx, meanwhile, tells Lynch to take Prodigy and find August, him taking the other interns, Gimmick and Fridge Boy, with him, Prodigy is suitably ticked off at Nyx for being told to leave. Nox isn’t much better when he tells her to stay out of it, and at the stroke of eleven to head out to a specific point, find a person, and get them both out of the city.

The Fall of Erebus

Nyx, Threshold, Whisper, and Wirerat
Billymark’s West
Saturday, May 9th, 2020, 1130 hours (EST) 
605 E 9th St, New York, NY 10009 332 9th Ave, New York, NY 10001

It takes a second to get the amplifier moved with Nyx appearing right after it, finding himself face to face with Erebus who looks annoyed that Nyx didn’t turn up on Erebus’s idea of being on time, almost like he expected Nyx to read his mind and know when he should show up. He comments on always thinking that Nyx was a smart man. Nyx turns it down, telling him that he doesn’t know about being a smart man, a high school dropout and all, but he got the amplifier thingie there, it was heavier than he thought. He tells Nyx that he’d have never been able to get it on his own, Grue did something to stop him, a barrier of some kind, and the bodaches. He tells Nyx that he’s free to go now, though Nyx is playing brer rabbit to try to burn through the orichalcum film to reach the negatively charged stuff.

Nyx plays reverse psychology to get Erebus to force him to sit on the device, though the reluctance isn’t a lie as he still remembers what he saw up in the mountains. Still, the plan has to continue as he sits down and Erebus activates the device with mad glee. Nyx feels nothing for a moment before a warm feeling floods over him much to Erebus’s displeasure and Nyx is bodily thrown off the device as Erebus replaces him. It only takes a moment before the foil is burned through and Erebus starts to scream and it explodes causing waves of kyberic energy to flow over himself and Nyx as Nyx pops one of Glowworm’s lights to signal the team.

Threshold portals in everyone, dropping people in position. Impulse runs in, blasting Erebus with a large amount of punches to no avail while Whisper runs up and attempts to smash Erebus’s skull with her tomahawk, missing as the tomahawk slips from her grasp. With that gone, she stabs at him with a tactical knife that he dodges away from. Wan Shi Tong moves in close with a flying kick to Erebus’s knee before summoning a staff into Wan Shi Tong’s hand and strikes, only to miss and drop the staff only for it to spring back up. Erebus stands there screaming, black-like ichor dropping from various orifices as he regains his balance and shadows start flying out of him, looking like grey-tinged people. A black and white photo of a person brought to life. The first, Night Storm, her mouth opens and a large snake and tendrils sucking them towards her, pulling in Impulse that screams and disappears like he’s been sucked into her maw. The second, Dance Macabe Mary uses her power on Whisper, attempting to puppet her but barely shrugs through it, breaking the dark strings. Shadow Moth moves into Nyx’s range and attempts to touch Nyx, which Nox had warned him about, or rather about Erebus touching him, only for Nyx to warp away, chastise the shadows for being under Erebus’s control (to no avail) and whips at Erebus, striking once at Erebus’s skull, managing to get through and actually do some damage to Erebus. The drones drop in the LED lights that annoy the various darkness users but don’t affect the black and whites, though. SSR then glues down Shadow Boxer, who’d had yet to act, before Wirerat actives the electrolaser on SSR, aimed at Erebus who doesn’t seem too overly phased by it. Chainjacket moves to wrap up Night Storm who counters by eating her chains, finding them delicious. Bubbles places a bubble around Shadow Moth, confining them inside. With Threshold now up, he stunts his Obliteration Beam to increase the width to get as many of his opponents as possible, though Night Storm devours it.

Whisper rolls back and kicks her tomahawk from the ground to her hand and swings at Dance Macabe Mary’s skull twice, hacking the shadow ghoul in two. Wan Shi Tong summons his chi instantly and throws fire at Erebus who dodges the fireball. Erebus is back to himself, his eyes turning black and shadows radiate from him. Shadow Boxer tries to remove himself from the glue and gets helplessly stuck while Shadow Moth tries to remove the bubble from around her, still stuck. Nyx attempts to strike Erebus again only for him to warp out of the way and behind Threshold. With SSR up, the chaingun roars to life aiming for Night Storm, absolutely obliterating her as she fails to get out of the way while Wirerat turns the flashlight on one of the Drone’s into a laser where it chirps happily as the drivers load. Chainjacket attempts to attack Erebus only for him to warp away again behind SSR while Bubbles constricts the bubble on Shadow Moth some more. Threshold uses his Escher Bubble to trap Erebus who warps away before it can form fully.

Whisper runs up behind Erebus and swings away at him but teleports away behind Bubbles, where Wan Shi Tong pulls something out of his messenger bag which only Wirerat and Whisper notice. Erebus attacks Bubbles when Threshold pushes himself to teleport her away to safety before she could be harmed when tentacle form out of the air around Nyx who warps away. Erebus swallows Shadow Boxer as Shadow Moth breaks free from the bubble. Nyx does the “smart” thing and taunts Erebus to get him to focus on Nyx, insinuating that Nox said Erebus wasn’t even a stand up guy in a fight let alone in bed enraging the opponent as Wirerat aims the big drone laser at Erebus who warps closer to Nyx when SSR runs the chaingun towards Erebus who warps out of the way again and activates his aura, pushing Wan Shi Tong and Whisper away. Chainjacket uses her ferro magnetism powers on Erebus, tying him up with a streetlight she ripped from the ground, teleporting out of the way. Nyx warps past Erebus and strikes the device to kill the safety on, causing what was sucking energy from both Erebus and Nyx to pushing energy into him causing Erebus to swell almost twelve feet tall, his armor growing more solid and taking on a horrific, almost insectile appearance. Threshold is pretty sure that the device is basically working as intended while Wirerat is pretty sure that things are going to explode and take the block with them as the dome of darkness condenses down overpowering even the LEDs on the ground. As Threshold is sure that the device is getting ready to blow up Erebus’s powers, he decides to anchor Erebus to the spot, centering to where he remembers Erebus being, causing trouble with Erebus’s warping abilities.

Whisper charges straight into the darkness and Erebus’s aura, taking a lot of damage as she swings at Erebus’s knees even in the darkness, but not able to deal any damage to the super powered form as she runs away from Erebus. Wan Shi Tong holds up the item in his hand, causing Threshold’s field to increase in power as Erebus walks towards Whisper and Nyx, with Nyx warping himself and Whisper out of danger as he basically flips off Erebus. To show off his power, he gestures at Wan Shi Tong and his flesh flays from his body, dropping him down before attempting to do the same to Nyx who blocks with his Shadow Cladding, somehow reflecting it back. In return, Nyx entangles Erebus’s legs, tripping him over onto the amplifier device. SSR unloads with both chainguns, barely damaging him, while Wirerat isn’t too sure when the device is going to blow up but is pretty sure he can handle it if they can take out Erebus quickly as he focuses the drone laser onto Erebus’s location, as the glowworm energy hits Erebus flesh strips from his body revealing more and more impossible colours as he screams in pain and rage. Threshold, hearing the roar, creates a singularity where he hears the roar coming from placing a black hole right where his head would have been and the damage from it causes him to pass out, they can see the machine eating him as light comes back to the town just in time to see the singularity merge with the machine coursing with various energies.

Threshold stares at the singularity as he resists the pull towards the singularity while Nyx, still having been connected to Erebus via shadow whip starts getting pulled in but feels like his skin is splitting off as impossible colours split from his skin, feeling things crawling over the whip and skin and immense pain before he can cut off the whip. His hand still looking like paint peeling from an old sun faded house. While Nyx tosses a gold star sticker towards the singularity, Threshold attempts to shut it down to no avail before seeing Wan Shi Tong motioning for him to come closer, giving him an item and saying that he knew him before meeting him, knew that he’d be there and hands him something roughly the size and shape of a metallic skull and tells Threshold that it’ll shut it down, he just has to ask not demand. Wan Shi Tong leans his hand on Threshold’s chest as though listening to Threshold’s heart and then slides down before being pulled into the singularity vortex, pulling the body apart atom by atom and turning him into impossible colours.

Aftermath

Threshold speaks with the skull, saying hello. There’s a response with the feeling that it looks and talks like Threshold father. He explains that there’s a spatial disturbance near them only for the skull to ask what he did. Explaining that the singularity was his fault, the skull says that they need to get closer. It’s pretty obvious that Threshold is heading towards the singularity as he tells others to get away. Nyx, however, doesn’t follow his instructions and gets behind Threshold to help anchor him with the aid of SSR. At this point, Threshold is close enough to the singularity that he’s lifted off the ground, held by only by Nyx’s shadow whips and SSR’s tethers. The singularity doesn’t close so much with a bang as a whimper, feeling a consciousness overlay itself over Threshold’s, guiding his hands to do something that he doesn’t quite understand like a father guiding his child’s hands, shutting the hole completely.

Threshold thanks the skull and he’s told back that he needs to stand up straighter, his posture is horrible.

After Action Report (GM)

This was a hugely long combat session with lots of moving parts, powers galore, and more. The PCs spent their resources like sailors at port – as they should have – several NPCs died or were hurt as well. Another skull appeared…wonder what that’s about ? Heh. The players really worked as a team this time and everything just came together. I was proud to GM this session for these people.

Other Notes

Bonus Report from Rory.

Soundtrack

“Burn my Shadow” by UNKLE