July 3rd 2000, Monday
2:10 pm
Undisclosed Island in Michigan Lake
It takes the eggheads another couple of hours to finish the necessary mathematical equations to get the XDG to spit out the final location of the last crystal shard. Once that’s done the Dead Men make their way back to the R&D floor, gear up, and head to the Saucer. The location is arctic this time, and the team has to wait to resuit up in cold-weather gear.
July 3rd 2000, Monday
2:30 pm (time is frozen)
The Mountains of Madness
Once on the other side they are greeted by a snowy expanse in front of them and a sheer cliff with no end in sight behind them. With no other way but forward, the Dead Men began to head up the mountain. Alex, realizing how cold it is (just at -60º F), casts a spell to inure his teammates to the cold, though he finds that he is strangely unaffected. After nearly an hour trudging through the snow, the Dead Men come across a monk in a bright orange robe standing out in the cold. After speaking with Alex, a lamasery and long set of stone stairs appear that the Dead Men must climb. Once at the top they are brought inside the thick stonewalls of structure. Inside, the Grand Master greets them, gives Jon the last piece of the skull and then asks to speak with Angel alone. The remaining Dead Men file out and find things to do while they discuss secret matters.
Outside, Hachiko, Alex, and Jon encountering a novice monk who is crying silently in a corner. When they ask the boy what’s wrong he tells them that his pregnant dog, Amala, has left the walls, and that he fears she may have her puppies out there. Hachiko, who loves dogs and is an animal telepath, agrees to help them. Since they already found the remaining skull fragment, Hachiko gets Jon to use his seeking ability to find the dog, which he readily does. After nearly an hour, they find Amala in a crevasse that they must cross a treacherously narrow pass to get to. Though it takes them sometimes, both Jon and Hachiko get in, while Alex shores up the walkway by creating a path of crenulated ice to walk across. Once inside, they notice Amala has already begun to give birth, but her first pup is a breach. Hachiko approaches the dog and when he tries to use his telepathic ability on her discovers that she is not quite canine, but is, in fact, part foo lion. He asks her if she can help and then proceeds to turn the child and delivers the firstborn’s six brothers and sisters. The last of the litter is a runt, and despite all of Hachiko’s efforts doesn’t want to breathe. Handing it off to Jon, the grief-stricken pair try desperately to get the little fella to breathe and then Jon begins to sing. First, Hang On Sloopy (changing the lyrics to “Snoopy” instead) and then “Gypsy, Joe, and Me.” Accepting that he would be forced to pay for what he’d done later, Jon used his “karmabending” ability to create a destiny for the dog when there shouldn’t have been one. The three then head back to the lamasery, the little dogs wrapped in blankets and carried in hastily emptied backpacks. Once back, the little boy introduces himself as Kuraines, the leader of the monks. Alex guesses (rightly) that helping him had been a test and Kuraines (who Angel had figured out was the actual Grandmaster) tells her that her Guardian (Jon) has a pure heart. When the others ask what that means, she shrugs and says, “I’m the Avatar, whatever that means.” The Dead Men then head back to the gateway and then back to Undisclosed.
July 3rd 2000, Monday
2:30 pm
Undisclosed Island in Michigan Lake
Within an hour after the Dead Men return, the crystal skull is whole once more and the XDG is used to close the tears that had been getting wider since it had been turned on nearly three days ago. Afterwards, the Dead Men are rounded up by Colonel Islington, who imprisons them in a cell as he assumes command. Angel realizes he’s going to try to use the XDG as a weapon hatches a plan with the others to blow Undisclosed right to Hell. Ten minutes after, they get the Russian to simply rip the wall apart and moments later there is a hole big enough for them to get there. They then free both Jessie and Director Halusko, who’d been separate rooms. The Dead Men make their way to the XDG, disabling any guards along the way (without killing them!) and take the crystal skull while Director Halusko starts the self-destruct. The rest of the team either rescue their family members or loved ones (Hachiko, Sergei, and Noah), get their gear (Jon and Alex loot nearly the entire R&D floor – while also disabling the Halon system), or causes distractions (Angel, the Russian, and the others). Colonel Islington and his loyalists are forced to flee (taking all the choppers), while the rest are forced onto the dedicated ferry. The team barely make it out alive and end up taking Colt’s truck and running it off the pier (Dukes of Hazzard style) and onto the ferry. Seconds later the base begins to explode while the boat heads to the nearest port in Chicago.
July 3rd 2000, Monday
3:30 pm
Calamut Harbor, Chicago, IL, 60633
Once in the harbor they are again greeted by Col. Islington, who has convinced some of the soldiers that everyone on the boat must be quarantined due to a dangerous pathogen. Before Angel can react, Jessie stops her and looks at Jon. Who crosses over from the ferry to the pier and right up to Col. Islington who dares him to do something: Jon breaks his jaw with a single punch. A new figure appears and asks Islington what’s going on and then sends him to the makeshift infirmary and looks at the others. He begins listing off the names of the Dead Men and gets them to follow him. After in the command tent, the basset hound looking, red-haired man introduces himself as General Beardsley of the U.S. Marines and asks them for a full situation report. After he gets it (in the form of a telepathic download thanks to Angel) he informs them that he’s supposed to put the city under martial law, but doesn’t have the manpower to do it (thanks to a carnivorous fungus at Naval Base Great Lakes and “missing” members of his men). Jon introduces the possibility of using a local criminal, Same MacHeath, who has access to lots of trained men to fill in the holes in their ranks. The General gives Angel authorization to parley with this criminal as well as an amnesty agreement. The Dead Men then take off to regroup at Angel and Jon’s home, the Ramova Theater before heading out to find Same.
July 3rd 2000, Monday
4:00 pm
3518 S. Halsted St., Chicago, IL, 60661