The Real McCoy

Another session of Mutants and Masterminds. Had to do it on Sunday this time, because Chad just got back from vacation.

Natalia O'Connor is waiting for Jack McCoy in the receiving room. She has something she wants Jack to look it. Her jammer malfunctions, so she suggests to Jack that they meet in the park. Before Jack leaves, he receives another secret missive.

Michael Schroeder and I tag along at the park, and Michael has fun popping balloons. Jack finds out from Natalia that she's part of the security detail for an important General. She doesn't know why she's in town, but she has a bad hunch about him, so she wants Jack to investigate.

She gives Jack his file. Nicholas E. Cardiff. Shortly after the Shatter-shot he got promoted, and it's hinted that he may have had something do with the disappearance of someone we know was probably a mutant. He is also credited with keeping order during the following chaos.

I visit police headquarters, and prove the police chief's mind. The general has been around for a few days, and he'll be around for a few days more. The police chief doesn't know exactly why the general is here either, just that he's visiting people or having some sort of conference.

The general's XO handled setting up the security detail. Parker McClellan is the name.

Next, I check out the warehouse the general was using. It's the same building that was seized after we dealt with Flash coming into the city. Cops can be seen outside, but there are also military personnel patrolling it as well. The building itself seems to be shielded.

There are two vans, one seems to be for a local florist and not out of the place.

I probe the minds of one of the plains clothes men. He's a Lieutenant James Allistar. I get a description of the XO from his mind, and find out that the XO is also good at poker. The Lieutenant is stationed in town, and he doesn't know much why the General is here, other than the General is meeting people.

Around 4:30 the local police switch out, and a black car leaves.

I probe one of the minds in the other van. It's Major Jacob Verne, another South Haven native. I find out from his mind where the local military offices are, and that it's headed by a Brigadier General Izikeal James Reise.

I return, and share what I have discovered.

Michael Schroeder reveals that he's been working on an invention. It's gloves that can be used to duplicate a person. From his description, it isn't entirely clear how it works, although you use one glove to point where you want the duplicate to spawn.

He calls it the "ATOMIC DUPLICATING REGURGITATOR".

I visit the local military HQ, and I probe some minds. Supposedly the Brigadier General is a nice guy.

I try to visit his office, with the intent to riffle through his papers, but the room seems shielded, and I am badly damaged. I communicate that I need a ride to Jack McCoy, and he comes and picks me up.

I spend a while recovering in the infirmary.

Meanwhile, Shroud creates a tiny portal, and Jack drills a hole through the building's shields. Shroud can finally feel into the buildings interior.

At 8 the next morning, Jack McCoy gets a call from O'Connor. The general finally sent her something about the stolen item: a video feed of Never walking out of the building with a folio and a briefcase.

We decide we should tell Natalia we at least know it's Never, and Jack calls her back up and lets her know. She's familiar with Never's gang, but has never known his identity until now.

We finally use Michael's device to create a duplicate for interrogation. Shroud creates a table out of thin air, puts the gloves on his normally useless hands, and through the portal and onto the table a duplicate of the general is created.

After he's been stunned and I've possessed him, we interrogate him.

His purpose here is to monitor/acquire active assets, which are his spies and other sources of intel in town. The briefcase contains money, which isn't a big deal as they are marked bills, but the other item, the folio, is of much greater importance as it contains a list of active assets.

He attempts to resist mental probing related to what those assets are, but with continued persistence he reveals that one of them is the Brigadier General. He also has a meeting later with Megan Black, who works for red events. His hook in her is her criminal record which he suppressed. The last is Kirk Mitchel who is an information broker about the gangs here.

He knows about Lux, and that she is Lady Lustratio. He also knows some basic information about us specifically, but only basic information which was provided by Reise. I wrote info came from particular house, what does that mean? He's not sure what Lux's goals are, so he has her under heavy surveillance. He didn't like the Sandman.

We attempt to determine if and what his powers are, but he has a hard time describing them. It seems that they can change. Shroud wonders if he knows that we duplicated him. He knows the potential of being duplicated.

With a flash of lightning, Jack McCoy suddenly vanishes. Shroud's eyes glow angrily, as he tries to determine where Jack went.

We discuss what just happened, and have Mr. Hogarth consult Lux for us. Mr. Hogarth returns and says that Jack has a number of enemies.

We let the general's duplicate melt into nothingness, and we send some basic updated information to Natalia.

Lux has found Jack. He's been captured by Never, and seems to have been captured for a while now. Never has an offer, and has some information about Jack and the general we should known. In exchange, he wants us to eliminate the general.

Lux wants that info never has on Jack, and wants to know more about general.

We meet Never at the park.

Never tells us that there's a shifter that's been impersonating people, including Jack McCoy, but Never has the Real McCoy. He believes that the general has already been replaced as well.

In exchange for Jack back and additional information, he wants us to remove the general. Discrediting him should be enough. The general's powers include the ability to mimic powers he can perceive as well as having multiple duplicates. He also seems to have high mental strength.

Never leaves us, and Jack McCoy appears before us, bloodied and beaten.

I probe his mind, and he thinks he's the real thing. His last intact memory is Mr. Hogarth telling him that O'Connor was here to see him. He also has memories of Never beating the crap out of him, but they're fragmented.

Jack has no memories of how he ended up being captured by Never. He only remembers a dark room.

I ask him if it's related to Lux's hold on him, but he refuses to say. I ask him about the secret missives, and he resists the probe and grows hostile.

I ask again, this time without using the probe, he reveals his secret.

He says he's the exiled king of Sweden, William Bernadotte. He was exiled when several supers took over, and the missives are reports from his country.

We take Jack McCoy back to the estate, and Lux confirms his story.

To sniff out her current location, we arrange a meeting with Natalia. I check to verify that she's not a duplicate. Apparently Harrisson is her middle name, and she has already set up a task force to investigate and locate Never.

Jack and Michael decide that taking out the general would be too difficult on our own, so they try to get a hold of Never at the Black Box (the bar) Jack is hostile, which doesn't bring Never over, but Michael is more diplomatic, offering use of his drone as a temporary reward for his help, and Never agrees to help.

Shroud decides to take action, and recreates his tiny portal to the warehouse. He then creates an illusion of the general being attacked by Jack, and that the general is a villian with massive powers.

The general retaliates by creating a new illusion over Shroud's as if he's just a normal ordinary Dad general, and the two illusions conflict. I'm on hand, so I attempt to possess the general.

Jack McCoy arrives, and so does Never.

The general gives up on his cover, resumes a more "natural" form, and starts killing servicemen.

Shroud goes through the portal, and before Shroud has a chance to tell me to come through too, I possess the generalganger.

Natalia comes in, sees Never and goes after him. Jack challenges Never, and Never turns towards Jack to attack him.

Michael teleports in, grabs Natalia, and teleports her out of the area to prevent her from coming to harm.

Never and Jack struggle with each other, unable to disengage.

I force the generalganger to teleport out of the area, and fight is over.

Never and Jack are disengaged, and Never demands his price from Michael. Michael reluctantly turns his drone over in its scout form.

The generalganger is strong. Too strong. I struggle contain him.

Luckily, Shroud arrives, and puts him in a box. As he's accelerating the box off of Earth, I take a few seconds to attempt to mentally probe the generalganger's mind.

The generalganger belives he has no master, but a part of his mind seems to be locked off from the rest. With no time remaining before the generalganger leaves Earth's atmosphere in Shroud's box, I leave the gangeralganger's body.

Lux recalls a creature that Quinn (The Sandman) called the Harbinger. It was all theoretical though.

The newspaper the next day has an article about a large explosion in the warehouse. It's reported that the general had a stroke, and how good of a man he was.

Natalia's investigative division is credited on cracking down on a gambling ring.

Jack McCoy fries his self phone.

3 power points