Never Let Your Guard Down

We're doing Mutants and Masterminds at Chad's place this week. No, I don't want anymore candy, thanks.

Never is a threat, but Mr. Hogarth says he has a way to draw him out.

However, first we'll need to dismantle his powerbase. He has five lieutenants, with devices of powers. He hands us a folder, which Michael Schroeder grabs and starts flipping through.

Once the lieutenants are removed, we can move to the second stage, but morally, there may be objections. But Never will not hold back at this point.

We all agree to do Lux's bidding, except Michael, who does not want to agree to a plan he hasn't seen. But he'll go along with it, for now.

Never's lieutenants are:

• Sara Walker (Serendipity) - She gets around with the upper echelons of society. She uses blackmail to her benefit, but she can also stun and suffocate those unwilling.
• Hale - A large tattooed man, resistant to powers, who works as a bouncer.
• Maggie (Rave) - Never's pet psychic. We know her. Seems interested in the Castra orphanage.
• Andrew Holen (Golem) - A man who can take many forms, and even use skills of the form.
• Nathan Trudeau - Short black hair, trimmed beard, and unknown powers

Lux needs golem for the second stage, so he needs to be taken alive, but the rest may be killed. Golem, Nathan, and Serendipity will be meeting near a parking garage near the docks late tonight. Rave is expected to be near the orphanage tomorrow morning. Those might be good places to start.

After planning for a while, we'll just go in and take them by surprise.

Shroud makes a pin prick portal to the destination. An ant hill is a great place to hide a tiny portal.

Two of them arrive. Nathan and Serendipity. Then a few minutes later, Serendipity arrives again, and the first Serendipity takes a domino out of her pocket, and starts handing it to Nathan.

Shroud opens his portal up, and Jack McCoy steps through and electrifies the second Serendipity. Nathan draws a Neilatech gun, and fires it at Jack, causing Jack's electricity to dissipate.

The rest of us step or fly through the portal, and Michael obliterates Nathan. I possess the first Serendipity. Nathan's skin fries away, revealing an alien creature. Shroud knows this creature. It eats everything and feeds on fear. Shroud puts him in his prison. Bye!

But Nathan suddenly come back, in his terrifying form. He yells at us to cease tis nonsense if we want the hostages to live. Three hostages for the three of us.

We hesitate, and Nathan touches the army of the body I have stolen.

The world turns spinning into a warehouse. Crates are stacked, and several thuggish looking men are loading and unloading boxes. One turns, sees me, and starts yelling about intruders.

I try to escape with Golem's body by giving him a vision of my normal form to shapeshift into, but before I can force him to transform, I find myself booted out.

Michael hits Nathan, but he doesn't care.

Shroud decides to play his trump card, and opens a portal to an active volcano over Nathan. The alien is engulfed in lava.

Shroud goes up to his orbital prison, and finds a hole leading out of Nathan's brief cell.

We all return to the dining room. Home sweet home.

Serendipity is tied up, and I question here mentally. The arm thing was an emergency teleport to a secret shielded location. She doesn't have anything, and Nathan can take care of herself. Rave also has something to deal with emergencies, but she isn't privy to what, since Rave outranks her. Serendipity doesn't know a Hale.

Shroud throws Serendipity in prison, and we go looking to see if we can find the hostages.

In the dock shipping area, we manage to find the storage containers via a number of confused minions wielding guns, with one question one of several girls.

Jack knocks them all out. Those Carson Valley boys are no trouble at all.

We find the hostages, and we let them out. Jack says he's in GHT. We put the hostages in the police station, and we also deal with the thugs...

Michael's drone checks out the bar where Hale normally is a bouncer at.

But Hale isn't there, and he is crossed out of the schedule. A note from Hale says he was called away on business, be back in a few days, and nothing more other than his signature and the date and time. "12:07"

Our next target is Rave.

Michael and I hang outside while Jack and Shroud go in and talks to the front desk. Jack tells the guy, Charlie Reed, that we're a HVAC repair service here on repair. Meeting at 8:30.

Michael hacks the computer, and Charlie confirms everything matches.

I sense a mind across the street suddenly appear, and Michael's drone checks it out.

Raven is standing outside, and is watching the orphanage.

I do a quick mind probe on one of the orphanage staff is who outside. Yes, Rave has been seen before. Every Saturday at 8:30 and watches. No obvious reason.

We go outside, and Jack beats her up a bit. Some thugs come out of nowhere, but Shroud puts her in a portal to his prison, and we scatter.

Rave is busy filling her cell with hellfire.

We get her to calm down a little, and she seems very loyal to Never, until Jack calls Never a bitch and asks what is in it for her.

She says fine, she'll talk when Never is taken out. She's a mercenary, and Never paid her well and upfront. But without Never, she'd be a free agent...

Hogarth suggests that we should make her one of ours after the business with Never, lest she fall under the Praeter's control.

Lacking any solid leads on Hale or Golem, we go to the Ace of Spades. It's still early morning, so it isn't open.

Jack teleports into the loft, and it looks comfy, aside from the knives everywhere that Jack teleports into. Knives on the walls clatter to the ground, and Jack matches to grab them all.

He yells hey buddy, and Carlton wakes up and all the knifes in the room point at Jack menacingly.

Jack says he just wants a friendly chat.

Carlton says you'll owe me a favor, but I'll tell you what you need to know.

Hale will be at the Horsetooth Union, to deal with human trafficking problems. The cops got involved, so he'll be bringing extra muscle.

To Horsetooth Union. It's a warehouse.

Hale is here in a truck. Hale and hearty....like...a delicious stew? Hale gets out and looks around. After a moment, Golem gets out too, and heads straight to the office.

Shroud throws a truck at Hale, and it slams into Hale, crumpling like a can around him. Jack and Michael attack him too.

I possess Golem, and run him into the office.

Hale starts slamming the wall, dealing massive area damage. Shroud puts the truck up to Hale's ears, barely missing Jack.

The ground shakes, and the truck collapses around him.

Shroud makes a portal for me to get out of there, and I exit to the dining room, where Hogarth is waiting, with a slender needle. We have Golem.

Shroud collapses the ceiling over Hale, and Michael blinds him too.

Jack teleports away.

Shroud repeats his volcano trick on Hale, ashing the warehouse. Shroud leaves one final message.

"Never is a bitch."