Up next in 10
This week on Masks, our new superhero team comes together to defeat a new threat: paralyzing hero worship as they meet famed Silver Age hero Perseus Pyrite. Could the team be on the trail of a Silver Age villain come back to haunt the city? It's time to make plans (and maybe make friends). If you like Young Justice, Young Avengers, and Teen Titans, you'll probably like this game.
GM Phil Ulrich helps our young heroes find their footing in Halcyon City, as the newly named superhero team The Mavericks takes on a new (or possibly old) threat. Here's our team:
- Joan as Vida, aka Little Marvel (Beacon). At just five inches tall, you could miss Vida entirely (or only see her service dog Lobo), but she's determined to prove that she can be a hero despite her size.
- Joe as Alex and T.L.O.N., aka Talons (The Host/ed). After a lab accident, Alex found themself merged with T.L.O.N., the Tailored Living Organism Neuropathic-Connection. Living with T.L.O.N. is sometimes complicated, but Alex is committed to using his new powers to help others.
- Matt as Arvana, aka Shrike (Scion). The daughter of interdimensional conqueror Nabasu the Annihilation, Shrike led her father's armies to earth. But, impressed by the heroes of Halcyon City, she decided work with these heroes and turn against Nabasu.
- Liz as Charlie, aka Jade X (Delinquent). Charlie has a habit of getting into (and usually out of) trouble using her power to create illusions. But when she finally got caught, one of the agents of A.E.G.I.S. saw her potential and assigned her to a team of young heroes for training.
This is the second in a three-part game of Masks: A New Generation by Magpie Games. Be sure to listen to the first episode if you haven't yet! If you like our game, you can pick it up for yourself from Magpie or DriveThruRPG. It's a Powered by the Apocalypse game, so characters are based on playbooks, and there are some great fan-made playbooks that expand on the official options. Joe played with a custom playbook called The Host/ed, which you can find here if you're interested.
Music for this game is "Hero Stuff," written and performed by Joseph Perez/Mad Shaman Studios. (Hey! We know that guy!)
Subscribe to Tavern Watch in your podcast player of choice to keep up with our latest liveplays:
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Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tavern-watch-podcast/id1788120623
Visit us at https://blizzardwatch.com for the latest news on Blizzard games, and don't forget to subscribe on Patreon to support our efforts! https://www.patreon.com/blizzardwatch
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
[Music]
0:24
welcome friends to the supremely spectacular superpowered Saturday morning show join our marvelous and
0:30
mischievous miners of Mirth and Marryman as they battle the malicious and malevolent forces making moves to
0:35
manipulate Hian City tavern Watch is proud to present the Mavericks
0:47
[Music]
1:12
last time on the Mavericks we meet our team as they make their way toward day
1:17
one trading cards and comics charlie's there people watching making sure well I
1:23
don't know what do you do when you people watch we don't know yet because we didn't get a chance to find out window smashes mirrored entities start
1:30
streaming into the store there's a shriek of panic from everybody as they try to get out of the way on their way
1:37
Alex and Ton make a break for it as they see they're coming there uh to defend those that can't defend themselves you
1:44
see uh Shrike and Vita make their way through as they're discussing what a taco is a very important question that
1:52
must be answered at some point the team comes together and quickly makes easy work of the villains but what's this
1:59
shrike has a revelation that shakes them to their very core humiliate a oldtime
2:05
rival turned well quite a jerk uh save the day and then decide that they're
2:10
going to go ahead and get some pastalitos uh join us as we enter the
2:17
episode two of the Mavericks thank you which is of course uh Tavern Watch plays
2:24
uh Masks our game of teenage superheroes let's just recap again real quick who everyone is playing joe thank you for
2:29
that wonderful starter who are you playing in our game uh I will be playing Alex Lucia and Tilon otherwise known as
2:35
Kens all right uh Liz Harper i am Charlie technically my superhero name is
2:41
Jade X but I don't I not much for this superhero stuff i had to put something
2:46
on the forum and apparently people take that really seriously yes people he just loves their paperwork
2:54
uh Matt Rossi howdy i'm Matt i'm playing Arvana Nanabasu aka Shrike uh little
3:00
Marvel named me i don't know what superhero names are exactly i'm a little confused by this whole thing uh my dad
3:06
is an evil planet conquering super villain who has tried to invade this world at least once and I have no idea
3:13
what's going on i'm now picturing you having the oh we're using our fake names moment from from Endgame but 100%
3:19
seriously uh and last but not least Joan Albbright i am playing Vita Moreno Perez
3:24
aka Little Marvel all righty and uh we guess we meet up with our uh with our
3:32
with the Mavericks uh fresh off their fight having uh what was it they were going out for
3:38
There you go uh gathered around a table uh I assume having uh a a nice team team meal and uh
3:46
just discussing what just happened to them and what their next move is i think I would have invited everybody back to
3:51
the my parents' lab cuz like my parents are not exactly an unknown quantity uh
3:57
that I think they know the team at this point and the team knows them so we'll go back to the Santa Lucia lab uh and
4:04
you know it's a multi-story building so there's like there's a cafeteria and stuff like that so I think
4:10
we're we're there it's kind of like off hours and we can talk about what happened as uh I get some uh some of
4:16
mamas uh basitos yeah I believe your uh your parents are biogeneticists was that
4:21
uh Yeah they are they are bleeding bleeding edge biogeneticists yep so I'm sure they wanted to run a battery of
4:28
tests on you but that can wait till after dinner your friends look hungry all right um as we walk in I look around
4:34
and I notice that the one of the people on the cooking staff is watching YouTube videos of people cooking extremely small
4:40
meals in extremely small pans cuz that's a thing that's really a thing by the way
4:45
i've seen this on YouTube for real so yeah he's like trying to figure out how to make really small food and he sees us
4:52
coming he goes "Hey Vita I've been working on it i think I can do this." My parents might have uh subscribed to that
4:57
channel too yeah your parents are watching all kinds of
5:03
things now about how to make miniature things except it's practical for them yeah it's not just displays they
5:08
literally have made you a small house to live in yeah they've ordered those things where it looks like you have a little diarama in your bookcase except
5:14
it's just like a cool place for you to hang out small house i navigated it with my grappling hook
5:22
and I think as we sit down I uh I have like a huge pile of food like it's like way bigger than it should be uh because
5:30
battle makes me use you know energy and uh I have to replenish it somehow so you
5:35
see another head pop out from like my shoulder and both me and Ton are both just like shoving food down our gullets
5:42
does Ton have does Ton have their own hand in this case are they like do they have like their fork okay so they're
5:48
absolutely just feeding themselves it's not like you have to feed both your heads nope is this weird for you guys alana does actually have to eat a lot
5:55
too uh for one thing she's got various superhuman abilities and she does need
6:01
to feed them so she's kind of eating that way too but she's feels awkward about it and I think mid mid like
6:07
stuffing my face Alex looks over up at everybody as Ton keeps going and go "I'm I'm sorry this isn't weird for anyone
6:13
right?" Like "We're good we're good." Yeah yeah my great great grandmother's
6:18
TMAT oh sweet and I just keep shoveling food down my throat so what were they after there was
6:26
some from some sorry uh they were after some shield what
6:32
what's up with that it's the mirror shield of pyite and she goes on into some details cuz she's been looking it
6:38
up on her smartwatch which is like a TV screen
6:43
i want to say Charlie picked up the real shield like either to take it back to the owner to put it back in its display
6:48
after the fight did it Did it feel strange was it super heavy super light
6:55
super anything uh I think if anything it was lighter than you would expect it to
7:00
be uh and you're kind like huh well-made shield and then you're kind of moving it you're like no this is lighter than it
7:06
should be for something well I think we would have also probably on the way back I think being responsible Alex would
7:12
have probably called Aegis and told them what the target was at the the invasion force or whatever they were were trying
7:18
to get that so that they could lock it down i have to call to the apartment that I I
7:24
technically live in and tell my technically my foster parent that what
7:29
I've been doing so I'm also telling you just what's happened except I'm telling her in a way that doesn't make any sense
7:35
because I don't know what that was like uh we went to the temple of costumed
7:40
people and there were sim simuloids attacking uh I recognized that they were
7:46
simul they they got blown up harley is
7:52
supposed to check in if she gets into any altercations but um she figures Alex is checking in with someone and Shrike
8:00
is checking in with someone so they know she's okay and she's you know she's
8:05
never going to turn on turn down a meal so she's she's she's chowing down
8:10
intently so I think you I think that'll I think that'll work for the time being but your
8:16
foster parent also or excuse me Shrek's foster mom is also your parole officer um so you She knows and you you are on
8:24
camera she may get a text later uh I think Charlie gets I think Charlie's phone buzzes and she gets a text and
8:31
it's literally just a verbatim copy of what Shrek just said followed by six
8:36
question marks she spelled similoid correctly
8:45
phonetically yeah so now Charlie's trying to untangle what this means as Okay maybe we went to
8:54
the temple of super pupil did wasn't that maybe I should have called myself I that's that's one way to describe it yes
9:00
it's it has a name A1 comics and books and superhero things i I glance over to
9:08
Vita because she always knows the norm on the sign
9:14
i I I saw the sign i I do read your strange language but I I just assumed I
9:20
mean they go there and offer their worship and leave with items i I don't
9:27
Shouldn't they be bringing the items to the temple not taking items from the temple i This is the part I don't
9:33
understand it's a transaction they changed it they bring it for the items do you have shopping malls in your um
9:41
dimension i look at Vita we have their father's a conqueror i don't think they pay for much no I I I am given whatever
9:48
I require remember we had the the explanation about money yeah you tried to tell me
9:54
that there's there used to be paper items and metal discs which I kind of
10:01
get we we have we had those things before Nbasu conquered the world but then you tried to tell me that there was
10:07
just not that anymore and instead people just had machines that they would tell
10:15
other people would give them things that you couldn't see and that was the part I
10:21
was a little confused about like how can you not you don't even hand them anything you just wave your your phone
10:27
or your watch at them or you push a card into things and push buttons none of this makes sense it's like why would you
10:33
just not just give people what they need and at this point Alex like looks up and just Exactly i have been saying that for
10:40
years but nobody wants to listen well it's probably too too advanced for most
10:47
of them it's we'll we'll just call it barter but it's not barter their
10:54
computer computer money for things to put on their walls so this is the
10:59
discussion going on while we're eating i'm trying to not look like an absolute pig while I am eating a lot of food
11:05
almost entirely protein uh while they're having this conversation Charlie is on her phone trying to type out an
11:11
explanation of what just happened that makes some kind of sense i don't know if anyone notices Shrek overeating if only
11:17
because Alex and Ton are Oh yeah we're paying We've probably gone back for like thirds at this point his share yeah it's
11:24
great actually because for once no one's paying attention to me so heroes need
11:29
their to keep up their strength exactly i think I think Alex will once he's like
11:34
slowing down and him and him and Ton are full we'll just like kind of sit back pet pat his stomach and go right so the
11:41
shield the way you described it Vita you're you we're looking at he fought aliens like Oh so
11:48
let me show you right here and she pulls it up on her her smartwatch the uh the article on Perseus pyite and the mirror
11:56
yeah there's a uh there there are articles on Heropedia and of course there's been there's been documentaries about the life of Perseus Pyrite who
12:02
since has retired to become a you know philanthropist and just kind of a a a public figure in the city but yeah he
12:08
was a he was a hero in the uh the what they refer to as the silver age of heroing in uh in um in Hian City kind of
12:17
the second generation of heroes um whether through coincidence or on purpose yes a lot of the threats that
12:25
Perseus faced despite being seemingly an ordinary man uh were from outer space or
12:31
from other dimensions and his he had a lot of signature weapons because he
12:36
would you know often pay uh you know the the people who crafted the finest gear
12:42
for other heroes to craft him things that would give him even a little bit of an edge on top of his peak human uh
12:47
training but um his most famous was his mirror shield which he used to uh as
12:54
someone said someone a a a villain once attempted to unleash a colossal space hydra and his shield proved to be one of
13:01
the only materials in the city that could withstand its breath and even deflect its blows back at it which turned out to be its one weakness um it
13:08
was really light too that seems Charlie still Charlie's still typing on her
13:13
phone but she just comes up with that in the middle of this yeah that that seems rather poignant though doesn't it i mean
13:20
Shrike you said that these reminded you of your like father shock troops or or fodder right they were no they didn't
13:27
remind me they were saman they're the the the metal not men in your language
13:35
their bodies okay uh but but they they were but they
13:40
that mirror thing was like a disguise or something that wasn't that that's not
13:45
what the Sardon looked like alex gets serious for a second i I don't think that was an accident right like mirror
13:53
mirrors refract and but mirrors refract and refocus light and energy that's what the shield does i'm going to guess
13:59
that's what some of the armor does too we're odd right and I look at all of us not like that not like that i'm sorry
14:06
but like all of our abilities are more physical focused right
14:12
but a lot of the other heroes a lot of the adults they're energy based i don't think that's an accident i Does it say
14:18
where the shield came from like who made it cuz I wonder if he like got it from space and these guys are here to come
14:24
and take it back to where it came from uh the backstory on the shield is fuzzy
14:31
allegedly he uh was uh sought it from a mystic craftsman in some fictional
14:38
country out in the far east that doesn't exist in our real world um and came back with it just in time to
14:44
deal with this threat but the story's changed over time um I don't think that
14:50
would be from from Eritsu my father would not have allowed a device like that to just leave the world
14:57
and he definitely would have come for it before now um during during the time that we were during the first invasion
15:03
he did not initiate any attempt to reclaim it when it would have been the easiest time to do so like your
15:10
superheroes were all over the place fighting they they there wouldn't have been anyone to stop them but they didn't know it was here which I also don't
15:18
think would be the case if it was created on our world he he is a many things and like I rub my jaw i think
15:25
only Charlie would actually know that like in the past he used to discipline me by grabbing my face and squeezing
15:31
until my jaw dislocated uh and I'm like rubbing it where he used to do that as I
15:37
say that Alex looks at you and just kind of like doesn't know what to say but like winces a little when you describe
15:44
it so Perseus is how long ago were they active uh please hold
15:50
just I have to remember when the setting says the silver age was uh the silver age was the uh heroes born in the 50s
15:57
and 60s so they would have been active uh he was probably active in some Yeah
16:04
is Perseus still alive uh Percy's pyite is still alive do we know where they are all that uh you can probably find him
16:12
he's uh I said he is a think like if Bruce Wayne didn't hero anymore he is a he is a you know a philanthropist a
16:19
businessman he maintains contacts in the hero community but he does not do any uh
16:24
superheroics himself anymore um I know somebody probably knows him who do you
16:30
know go see him well I'm going to use that influence I have over blue blazes
16:37
i'm literally going to cash it in through my Aegis contact oh my goodness i want I want the contact information
16:43
for Perseus all righty um so little mechanical pause for the people at home influence is pretty much exactly what it
16:49
sounds like it means that uh if you Yeah if you have influence over someone it's a currency that says they care about
16:54
what you say um and when you take advantage of your influence over someone
16:59
you surrender it uh and you can choose uh you you have uh various effects you
17:05
can do in this case you are basically cashing it in to get info about how to get a hold of Perseus Pirate mhm i
17:12
figure he's he's probably right around the right age that he would have interacted with them in in Superhero in any way yes uh so he would have he would
17:19
have definitely been uh if not a peer of the original Blue Blazes definitely uh
17:25
not long after him on the scene and yeah you can definitely follow that chain of uh that chain of command to get your uh
17:32
to get a hold of him i think you're I think uh so how are you how are you doing this how are you how are you
17:37
setting up this contact with your uh you do you have an eegis contact you said well I figure we would at some point
17:43
right like we're not there there's no such thing as like unchecked superheroing there's vigilantes and if I
17:49
remember the if I remember the book correctly and it's been a while agis generally frowns upon vigilanteism uh
17:54
and the fact that we have at least two members that are directly linked with Aegis uh I think is not a mistake and I
18:01
also probably think my parents are a little bit tangled up with that as well so yeah I'm sure your parents have done
18:07
work for Aegis in the past maybe special agent Abasi is just kind of the handler for the whole team she was already
18:12
looking after two of you in different aspects yeah so I think I'll give I'll I'll give
18:17
Abasi a call and just be like "Hey so I need to get in contact with Perseus we
18:25
think it's related to the events that happened today i" and I I say "I have a
18:31
I I look at uh but you can probably get the information from Blue Blazes he owes me one." And she laughs and she says
18:37
"Yeah some of that some of that video has been going live today you kids um
18:43
put on a good show out there." Uh got to make Yeah give me just a second okay um
18:49
yeah I'll uh I'll get a hold of Blaze he'll probably have uh he'll probably set up an appointment uh
18:55
Perseus is still a busy man despite retiring so you know if you guys get a chance to see him don't miss it and
19:01
don't mess this up of course not have our rookie cards flying off the shelves
19:08
she says "Yeah that's uh that's the other weird thing um I meant to tell you that we we sent someone to check in with
19:14
A1 and the uh one of the uh robots that was flattened uh leave before the only
19:21
thing they dislodged out of the rookie card uh room was someone appeared to be
19:26
attempting to make off with your all's first editions this was personal wait I have a rookie what well yeah we all do
19:34
of course you do i like Alex alex goes and gets his binder yeah you didn't know
19:39
and he like just throws it on the table what and I think like everyone else's is
19:45
like a nice candid or like an action shot or something and Charlie's is just like Charlie's is this one where like
19:51
you were clearly not trying to be photographed you may have actually been trying to like It's one of those ones where like your hand is for works you're
19:57
trying to get the guy to quit taking a picture of you despite your best efforts it looks cool as heck
20:03
yeah it's got like it's got like a giant X behind it like the Jade it's got Jade at the bottom with the giant like red X
20:09
behind the picture like in the background okay that does look pretty cool
20:15
photographing Super Mario is also a super Oh yeah that reminds me since you all are here do you mind like signing
20:20
them cuz that'd be great oh yeah absolutely give me a pen he gives you the tiniest pen really oh my god no no
20:27
it's okay i can do the big pen i've been practicing sweet what i mean I mean Oh I
20:33
Yeah I collect things i'm sorry i'm sort of a I'm sort of a And he looks he looks
20:39
really embarrassed he's like I'm kind of a a nerd for for this stuff i'm sorry it's okay if you don't want to i'm like
20:45
looking at the card like do they like what's on the card besides just you know a picture and like
20:51
you know my my hero name is there anything else on it do they have any of my backstory here uh no cuz I think your
20:58
backstory is pro like there's little bits of it that have leaked out and I think there's like I think what it is is
21:04
like a loose fictionalized version of your backstory with no real details because I think some of the info of
21:11
exactly you know who who Nabasu was and what exactly he wanted and where you were from is like either not widely
21:17
known or not is actively suppressed yeah he just doesn't want people knowing that there's an international conqueror i
21:24
think you're just like the turncoat daughter of an of a failed interdimensional invader is like as much
21:30
as they would put about it and of course it's got like you know heightweight team affiliation as best as they can guess
21:36
how do they know what I weigh they don't that's just what she's saying she's like they guess they guess and they always
21:43
guess to try and make it as flattering as possible this this is certainly a thing i don't
21:49
understand any of this um you wanted me to sign it yeah yeah yeah like he looks
21:55
way too excited oh Lobo i hold up my hand and concentrate for a second and then just
22:02
Lobo has his own card absolutely and when I'm done the the my signature is just on the card it's actually in Kuneao
22:10
form because that's the language I grew up writing in so my name is written in Kuneaoa form on the thing it just
22:16
appears it like raises up slightly oh that's a neat trick it's the first uh use of my power I was ever taught sign
22:23
your name harley is like Yes to that to to gain control you must learn to write
22:29
because it is delicate because writing lessons are taught on on clay and you
22:34
don't want to break the clay but cool but weird no it was a
22:40
it makes sense it's like you you're learn like you have a lot of power and I'm not going to say that the why of it
22:47
is is right but like that makes sense to me like you're learning how to not break the clay while still exercising your
22:53
power it's control it's learning not to go too above and beyond and Alex just
22:58
kind of like looks back at the training room that his parents put him through like at least once a week thank you um
23:05
Alex and you can tell like I was going to call you Tlan then I stopped myself and called you Alex and then you you see
23:11
like Tonal pop up i mean and we and unison we're both here yes but he was the one speaking to me then and it would
23:17
have been rude to to address you when he was talking even if you are one you are still also too we just kind of like look
23:25
at each other and just kind of shrug and talent goes back in it's interesting that you developed that technology here
23:30
as well uh yeah um my parents whenever you like have tried to talk with them in the past about it have very quickly and
23:39
shut down that conversation like they don't even like pretend to divert they just literally look at you and go "No
23:47
I'm I'm not going to push that." State secrets while while all of this emotional stuff is happening Charlie has
23:52
like a scrap of notebook paper and she's like practicing how to sign her name like "Oh does that look cool does that
23:59
Hm." She does eventually slide in the card yeah Alex is you don't want to You don't want to mess up the signature on the card then you've you know then you
24:06
have to get another one yeah no that's Yeah that'd be terrible and then I I'm assuming that I'm assuming you have a
24:11
stamp pad so that Lobo can put a paw print on his oh 100% and then after everybody signs and
24:17
everything I I slide it into the slide them back in very gingerly into the the binder and uh I disappear and and go in
24:24
my room and put it back on its reverend place on the shelf while he's gone I I turn to Charlie was
24:32
Was he being serious about the card thing i think so all right so we'll we'll we'll we'll round out we'll round
24:39
out this little thing here with uh one uh I hate to bust in with the rules cuz this is so cool but um a lot of what has
24:45
happened here has kind of seemed like if you look at your playbooks you each have a set of team moves for when you share a
24:53
triumphant celebration or a moment of vulnerability with someone uh I I'll
24:58
open up this opportunity for each You've both kind of done both um all each uh allow you to open it up for people to
25:05
make these moves with or at other people specifically if you would like to because they're kind of designed they
25:10
kind of seem like they're designed for one-on- ones and everybody's kind of been here so if there's somebody your character uh clicked with here and you
25:15
would like to make that move with them then now is the time uh let's start with
25:21
uh Vita um you share a triumphant celebration with someone make them your
25:26
love or or rival immediately that's the bowl no I scroll down too low i'm like
25:33
wait this doesn't look familiar okay scrolling not that far i'm not seeing it
25:39
on here i went too far uh the beacons then I also went too far the beacons say
25:44
when you share a triumph and celebration with someone tell them how they're awesome and add a team to the pool if
25:49
they tell you you're how you're awesome in return add another one or if you share a vulnerability or weakness with
25:55
someone ask them to confirm or deny whether you should be here if they confirm mark potential and give them influence over you if they deny it mark
26:02
angry and shift one label up and one label down your choice okay so I can
26:08
only do one of these uh yeah pick one or the other unless you unless you think
26:13
that in the course of this Vita would have done both um I think she's in a
26:18
pumping up the team mood right now and she's going to tell everyone um how
26:25
amazing that they were during that fight i mean that's teamwork right that's why we're all together yeah you were all so
26:33
impressive and so much cooler than me and and impressive and awesome i want I
26:40
wish I could please never ever wish to be like me i I cannot tell you how much more
26:47
pleasant it is to be around you than it is to be me you But I love you you
26:52
understand things that I just don't understand like I I actually put my hand out so you can hug it cuz otherwise
26:59
you'd get a hole like no when I look at you I see actual things about other
27:06
places i know about other places from the perspective of the boots stepping on the faces of the people there i you know
27:13
you actually are brave a I thought I was
27:18
raised to think those born without real powers are nothing and you you've go
27:24
fight things like my father with a dog and a watch no of the two of us you are
27:31
far far more of a hero than I would ever be if I was even trying to be one it's It's ridiculous it's like turning her
27:37
cheeks are all pink oh well we'll jump to we'll jump to Shrek next shrek do you want to do you want to make one of your
27:43
team moves um are we This isn't a triumphant celebration is it it doesn't feel like we're doing that uh so I'm
27:49
going to go with sharing the vulnerability which I think I just did so I'll say to Vita I know I believe
27:56
that you would defend me against people like Blue Blazes who think I'm a monster
28:03
imagine if they knew who I really am you know would you still feel like defending
28:08
me of course you're here because you wanted to be different right you wanted
28:14
to be a hero you absolutely belong here oh okay uh it sounds like uh you clear a
28:23
condition you shift savior up and any other label down okay I'll clear that afraid off savior's up to two and I
28:32
guess I'll bump mundane down again so now mundane's at negative -2 okay uh
28:38
just keeping is that yeah just remember though that if something does lower your mundane uh that will be bad for you but
28:44
right now you're feeling you're feeling pretty out of the ordinary you're feeling like a hero your friends have
28:50
your back uh Charlie or Talons does either one of you all uh want to make one of your team moves i I would like to
28:57
do it this does seem like a a very lowkey triumphant celebration
29:02
yeah it definitely it definitely was it it definitely like started triumphant and then you all started getting introspective it's very cute
29:10
but you know we can say that your your moment of triumph and celebration came up earlier in the uh when you were still signing that card for Alex that seems
29:17
like the ideal moment for this one exactly i'm signing this card and I'm practicing my signature and I'm giving
29:24
it back to Alex and I'm like do you think is this cool does this am I this
29:31
looks cool but am I is this okay you are you are absolutely cool Charlie and this
29:37
is amazing okay okay thanks okay so this is interesting because uh the two of you
29:45
should trade influence on each other by doing this but I believe you both already have influence over each other
29:51
so each of you shifts one of the others labels up and one of the labels down your choice oh duh so Charlie you get to
29:59
move two of uh Talons's labels and Alex gets to do it right back to you i should
30:05
also point out that uh I have two sets of labels yes uh yes Alex and Ton
30:11
technically have two separate sets of labels i can't get as high or as low as the rest of you but I I have a combined
30:17
like label scheme yeah he gets to he gets to combine them together i would give the
30:23
Yes so we're five uh seven actually you've gained a few from these other
30:28
moves as well i was keeping track but not very well okay um I would give Alex
30:35
plus one savior and plus minus and minus one freak I think because I just think
30:42
Alex is Alex there's nothing a little weird but not a freak okay all right uh
30:48
and I think I'm going to shift Charlie's savior up and what's your danger at
30:56
right now zero i mean if that's if that's what you want what are what are your lab what are your labels at right
31:01
now uh danger zero freak zero savior was at one superior and mundane are both at
31:07
two i think I'm going to take your superior down oh because I think I think
31:13
in this moment justification I think it brings you closer to the team not
31:18
further away and so it makes you feel less in my opinion what we're doing I
31:24
think puts you a little less aloop that's also what I roll for my big move but okay I mean freaks what I roll for
31:31
my big move too okay we're messing each other up it's going to be It's not This
31:36
is the game the game is about shifting the stuff and things can shift your labels up and down in combat and they're
31:41
they're constantly changing so don't don't worry too much also to be fair does anyone mess each other up quite
31:47
like teens no i mean really uh and last but not least uh Alex uh I believe you
31:53
you have two sets of moves as a uh one for when it's just you and Don and one for when it's everyone else so um but in
32:01
your case they're the same move when you when you share a traffic celebration or moment of vulnerability with someone ask
32:07
if they think you either of you will ever be individually as much of a hero as they are yeah but the question is is
32:14
who do I ask that to i mean I think it would that I think is up to you i think it would wind up being Charlie it's
32:20
because you you were the out of all of us you were a part of an actual team
32:26
whether or not you wanted to be um you are probably the closest thing to an organized hero we had before we all came
32:32
together i was just kind of on my own and Alex looks up to you a little bit cuz that's that Charlie looks up to Alex
32:39
because Alex came in and seemed to have this purpose to help people and Charlie
32:45
just kind of stumbled into it alex is an insecure kid he just uses his mouth to hide it
32:51
and Alex you I mean you don't need Talon
32:56
i And no offense Talon but you're a hero of your own cuz you decided to go out
33:02
there and help people you didn't You decided to do it on your own i think
33:08
that's I think that's what being a hero is about maybe
33:13
decide to go out there and do it so I get to mark I get to mark potential and you shift my labels again oh my gosh
33:23
you could you could literally you could literally undo what you just did as you wanted to
33:32
[Music] i don't know do you have to shift labels
33:37
or is it optional but it's it's the fluid it's the fluid weirdness of this
33:42
that's kind of exciting they do they they have to shift labels so like you could push one of one of Alex's up and
33:49
you could push one of like one of the Tons's down cuz I think in that moment you kind of did that a little like maybe
33:56
Talon is not as dangerous as uh you know maybe we take Ton down one
34:02
there and move Alex up something uh yeah let's take uh Ton down one danger
34:07
because she does not see Ton is dangerous ton's unusual but not
34:13
dangerous um and it's like yeah you guys are you guys are a team you're you're heroes
34:20
together but you're also you decided to be here and be heroes that's You did
34:25
that not um I want to bump Savior up another one
34:31
because she Charlie really thinks that Alex has it together and has this concept of what a hero is way better
34:39
than she does spoilers Alex is me i my concept of heroes is a comic book
34:46
i Charlie has this impression that you like understand this which maybe you do
34:52
through this through this fictional medium maybe she should read more comic books maybe that's it maybe so
35:00
uh let's see and does that one does the joints add anything to the pool i don't
35:06
believe it does right i don't think so uh that's correct that's a lot of them do u but not all of them add team to the
35:14
pool yeah there's uh yours is more about your um whether or not you and your um symbiosis symbio work with each other or
35:21
independently okay cool yeah so that actually gives you guys a lot more team uh two of them came off of VAS um both
35:27
because she uh uh you called you guys awesome which is an automatic one and then somebody sent it back to her so
35:33
that's another one and then you picked up a seventh one yeah it's five and six
35:38
and you picked up a seventh one off of Charlie's so good job you guys isn't
35:43
that cool so uh eventually Tan doesn't get a move what's that didn't Tan get a
35:48
move no it's all mine are all together yeah they act together u they have what
35:53
it is is the So the joint for people who uh for the people at home is a a fan-made playbook there are something
36:00
like 130 fan-made playbooks for mask yeah this one is
36:05
141 sheesh that's so many um yeah and the hosted has a slightly unusual set of
36:11
team moves in that it's triumph and celebration and moment of v vulnerability are kind of the same but there's one one set of moves for when
36:18
it's just you and your symbiote high-fiving each other by yourselves and one for when you're with other pe it's
36:25
uh it's really cool and uh we'll have a link in the show notes maybe I can do that okay cool uh cool so uh dinner kind
36:34
of like I said dinner your dinner kind of starts off uh celebratory and then
36:39
you know gets kind of you all get kind of kind of deep in that way that only like people who are far too in their own
36:44
heads can do and I think eventually teenagers uh deeply introspective adults uh I
36:52
think eventually everyone kind of calls it a night you guys kind of go your separate ways although uh Shrike are you
36:59
I know you're hanging out with Vita a lot are you actually living with Vita or are you living with uh Agent Abasi at
37:04
this point i technically live with Agent Abasi but it's like you know when you
37:10
your kid brings home that friend that they make and then that friend is constantly at your house to the point
37:15
where you just give up yep you're just the you're the adopted other kid that they didn't actually have yeah didn't
37:21
have or want but you know there I am and so they feed me and I actually get along really well with her mom because I
37:27
didn't I didn't have my mom so she likes to do your hair because it's easier than doing mine
37:34
i also think you know people know that you're powerful we've seen you and I think that despite your questionable history I think Vita's mom is really
37:41
happy that there's someone who can watch out for her daughter i think she trusts you in a way that a lot of adults don't uh
37:48
i was just curious i was just curious where you ended up going back for the evening but I will probably I would probably fly back and then therefore
37:55
Vita and Lobo would be flying with me um Lobo actually we we actually let him
38:00
kind of like strap onto me and he like tries to lick my face a lot while we're flying which I'm like "No no puppy no no
38:07
you don't do that no not my nose." But I secretly actually love it [Laughter]
38:13
he's absolutely doing that dog thing where he hangs his head out the window and lets them in you know his ears
38:19
yeah it's just all the time yeah okay cool so you guys call it an evening you're feeling you know you're feeling
38:25
maybe different about yourself feeling probably pretty good uh you're feeling less afraid about the threat that your
38:30
father represents because you've got your team at your back and before you all know it it's a new day um Alex I
38:36
think you wake up with a text message from uh it's from a number you don't recognize you can probably work out who
38:41
it is um but it just basically says uh 12:30 p.m uh and it gives you an address
38:48
and it says lunch with Pyite don't be late all right what do you do i uh respond back with like the thumbs up
38:55
emoji because I'm a kid
39:01
i don't think there's a response i don't think uh I don't think Strang knows exactly what to do with this he's
39:07
kids so oh god uh yeah the the original blue blaze was his uh he has to actually show
39:14
it to his grandson and say "What is this?" Mhm yeah i'm I'm sure things were not great
39:20
in the uh the Blazes HQ that night because uh you know Blue Two is kind of
39:26
a jerk and I'm sure the others probably had to uh stay out of his way um I think
39:31
he's so self-absorbed there's no there's no comforting or supporting him he just kind of sulked his way to bed um I think
39:38
I think the video you guys can find the video of uh Talons giving the thumbs up to the camera and talking about how uh
39:44
how dumb Blue looks in this moment i think if you uh if you look very carefully uh Orange has liked it
39:53
but uh yeah so you guys have your uh you guys have your meeting with uh with Perseus Pyite are we all going yeah I
40:00
would I would absolutely like it's all of us it's all or nothing so I uh
40:05
messaged the rest of the team i don't think Let's do this i don't think I actually going to make a Go ahead
40:12
charlie's going to make an effort to look like presentable and like together which she's neither of those things but
40:18
she's okay we're doing this super we're meeting this important person I guess um
40:26
yeah and what you guys don't see because Alex doesn't do this very often with you not around uh is that the transmute
40:33
flesh also uh goes to Alex's appearance so Alex and Ton are going through like
40:40
they're standing in front of a full- length mirror and they're going through different outfits they're going like they're literally forming into different
40:46
outfits uh different complexions different like hairstyles uh until they
40:51
settle on like what looks like a very smart like suit with a a like not a
40:57
turtleneck but like a a nice high- necked uh uh t-shirt underneath with you
41:02
know the the stereotypical Puerto Rican jewelry that that all my family wears at every time we go to someplace fancy uh
41:10
and like the hair is like sllicked back and like perfectly quafed uh and like
41:17
yeah he's just going to look enough different from yesterday that you all are going to notice i think on the way
41:23
out of your on the way out of your house your your mom can't help but like even though your lapels are perfect because
41:28
you strap them exactly i think she can't like help but like straighten your lapels and like kind of slick your hair
41:33
you clean up so good these days you you'll be good right i'm always good ma
41:39
okay i I I worry about Me and your dad worry about you you know that right i I know mama don't worry don't worry i got
41:45
this we got this okay you and your You and your You and your little friends have uh have a good lunch and uh just
41:51
just take care of each other yeah and I give her a really deep hug and I think Talon also gives her a deep hug
41:58
i think your mom le I think your mom is like momentarily weirded out but then she's like "Okay it's cool it's a double
42:03
hug." In a way they're kind of talented parents too yeah yep yep oddly enough I
42:10
did much the same thing except with you know my weird cosmic powers instead of my parasite because I don't have one not
42:15
a parasite when I show Yeah well you know symbiot symbiot um when when I show
42:21
up and actually part of this is from Vita actually helping me pick it i've I've caused the sides of my head to get
42:27
shaved down and my hair is like sticking up spikily at the top but goes like down
42:33
into really long hair around the sides uh and so basically I have kind of like
42:38
a punk mullet uh with with like fauxhawk shaving on both sides and I'm wearing
42:44
clothes that are have like glowing bits all over them cuz it's essentially it's an oretu
42:50
athletic gear it's it's what it's what I would wear to the gym and it has like weird gloves that go all the way down to
42:56
the hand they're like opera gloves they're just part of the outfit even though they're not connected to the to
43:02
the the tank top part they're just there and they all like they also have weird little glowing lines in them and I have
43:09
like tattoos all over my my shoulders that I didn't have before like they're just there now like cuz I thought they'd
43:15
look cool so I put them on all right yeah this suffices for looking cool it may be gymwear back in your world but
43:21
you look you look really cool on Earth well I mean there are plenty of people who wear gymwear to look cool on this earth exactly i probably I probably
43:29
spent a lot of time on fitness Instagram because I'm like or Tik Tok just trying to figure out what I'm supposed to look
43:35
like oh no Vita you've got to keep her off social media vita what do you look like uh we've got everybody else's fit
43:41
tell us how you're coming to lunch dressed as you all show up outside uh manor grounds i've got a a cute
43:49
little skirt and a and a nice blouse and my hair is done up in like a not quite a
43:54
bun but almost a Sailor Moon adorable vita um I had a thought oh yeah do you
44:01
want to be like taller nah okay i
44:07
actually have nightmares about being tall sometimes and then like nobody recognizes me because Lobo isn't with me
44:12
and Okay okay i got Why would Lobo not be with you he will never leave your side he is your faithful you know squire
44:19
squire is the right word isn't it and we're walking up as we're having this conversation so we should bump in yeah it works yep likes it he's pants
44:30
yes Lobo will be allowed along because he is a ser he is a certified service animal service animals rule ali is the
44:36
goodest boy he is the goodest boy yes um Okay so Pyite uh lives a little ways
44:44
outside of Houseion in one of the uh larger uh suburban uh like one of the suburban outlying areas of Houseian City
44:52
uh kind of a big house on a hill um not it it's it's a modestsized mansion which
44:58
is a weird sentence to say um it's like a micro mansion yeah it's it's like it's big enough it's got a it's got a gate
45:04
and you know walls but it doesn't have like you know three sprawling wings and like there's not going to be a butler to
45:09
meet you at the door no it's it's like better than big nice houses smaller than
45:14
like the real mansions i think they call them McMansions in California is this a real thing okay yeah it is no absolutely
45:21
yeah it was a a coin a phrase coined after World War II yeah okay he has a micromanion then yeah cuz he uh Yeah so
45:30
um you guys can get you know though you you buzz yourself into the gate and much you're surprised Percus himself actually
45:36
answers um the Hello hello who's who's here are you Are you my 12:30 uh yes we
45:44
uh it was an honor to meet you sir we we are your 12:30 yes oh come right oh you
45:49
have a name marvelous uh Mavericks and he kind of says it like he's trying the word on Mavericks i like it got a good
45:57
energy come on in and then there's kind of a buzzing noise and the the gate opens and uh ahead of you there's kind
46:03
of a straight path through some lightly manicured blondes um and the the door opens and he is actually you know he's
46:09
answered his own door he's he's there to meet you guys he is a older gentleman um he's uh probably in let's see uh I said
46:18
they were born in the '7s excuse me 50s and 60s so he's active in the 70s ' 80s
46:23
so 60s he's in his 70s at this point probably but he is a youngl looking 70
46:30
he's like a really buff older gentleman um silver hair cropped shorts sllicked
46:37
back um wearing um I guess what you would call business casual uh slacks on
46:43
a polo nice shoes um but like you know tailored to kind of show off his physique he's he's in his time he was in
46:51
peak human condition obviously he's aged but he still works out and he's just like "Welcome uh I was just come on in
46:59
come in come in." And he kind of holds the door open for you all to come yeah immediately go in yeah he will he will absolutely like shake everybody's hands
47:06
and get your name um including Vita he kind of he kind of offers you a kind of a one one finger handshake lobo will
47:12
also offer a paw oh he will absolutely everyone shakes paws with Lobo lobo's so
47:17
cute lobo's team mascot uh I will aside here to say by the way that there are
47:22
moves uh in there there is a mechanical rule in the beacon playbook for if the dog will get hurt that is not going to
47:28
happen i I already I am not taking a swing at Lobo that is terrible anyway so
47:34
back to the story uh yeah so he meets everybody he's you know he's kind of repeating your names he's memorizing
47:40
them and he leads you to a room kind of off the main hallway it's a um it's a
47:45
little dining room uh nice like nice view of the lawn out the out of the windows and a wind a table set for
47:52
everyone um he does in fact I I guess somebody told him that you were coming with a service animal cuz there is a
47:58
bowl of um it's not really what you would think of as dog food it's actually
48:03
looks like they took like something nice like a steak or a hamburger or something and actually like prepared it with some
48:08
vegetables for a dog like it's artisan dog food um for Lobo and for the rest of
48:13
you he has kind of a um just kind of a nice spread of like lunch type food sandwiches and things like that um for
48:20
everyone to partake in and he'll kind of gesture please come come in sit down sit down sit down sit and uh he'll take a
48:26
seat at the head of the table when he said "So I didn't get a whole lot of information on why you wanted to meet
48:32
with me um but I always uh love an opportunity to reach out to the young
48:37
heroes of our city so tell me what can what can old Perseus do for you?" I
48:42
think Alex is a little bit kind of starruck i think he's got like you know
48:48
Perseus's like some paraphernalia from Perseus uh like cards or comics or whatever um well sir we thwarted an
48:56
attempt at stealing one of your relics actually yesterday um the shield that
49:01
you have on display at uh at A1 uh they were gunning for it pretty specifically
49:08
and knowing your history your past it seemed targeted and we were kind of
49:16
curious if you know why somebody would go specifically after the shield if maybe you've had any I don't know
49:22
interdimensional rivals that you have anything that hasn't been resolved with uh anything that you could tell us that
49:28
might lead us in a direction because we we don't think the the incident is isolated and we don't think it'll be the
49:34
last kind of leans forward and he kind of rests his arms on the table and he goes hm the mirror shield huh he says
49:41
well I'm sure you've all heard the stories about where that shield supposedly came from I know I've told a
49:46
few in my time uh he kind of looks around the room and
49:53
he kind of presses a button on the bottom of the table and uh of silence
49:59
yeah exactly and you hear like anybody who's kind of attuned you know like that background hum you hear when like TVs
50:06
are on in the next room you realize you've all been hearing that and you didn't realize it and it just goes dim
50:11
and he says "All right you kids are monitored by Egyp so I guess I can share this with you they're the only ones who
50:16
know this so far he says that I've told a number of yarns about that shield in the past but the truth is that shield
50:23
came from a metal that we can't identify uh a strange meteorite uh but no one you
50:29
know there was no record of it falling it simply appeared in a park one day he just confiscated it uh and the metal
50:36
within which we still can't identify um was worked into a shield because of its
50:42
reflective properties it's actually the shield is actually the mirror on the shield is a perfectly functional mirror
50:47
obviously but it's not backed with silver it's backed with this metal which is part of why it's so light and strong
50:54
um but part of the reason I I didn't really understand this he just kept
51:00
working on their quantities afterwards um and they told me that part of the reason it had its strange powers is that
51:06
it was able to how did they put it transmute energy
51:13
signatures through other dimensions like take the take the hydra that I fought
51:18
for example it didn't it looked for all intents and purposes as though I simply reflected its breath um at its one
51:25
weakness um what actually happened was the shield absorbed it and then shunted it as it were into a nearby dimension
51:32
and then shot it right back out at it uh you know reflection by extremely complex
51:38
means it it is very cool the metal is silver looking silvery do I do I believe
51:46
this do I believe he's telling us the truth uh I'm not going to make you roll here because you can detect uh lies or
51:53
truth yes um you can tell that the parts where he talked about like the stories of like you know you know the picking it
52:00
up from the craftsman in the far deepest reaches of blah blah blah like all that was fake that was stuff that he that
52:06
they made up as cover stories that's why the story changes over time so no one ever investigates it too deeply um yes
52:12
he is absolutely telling you the truth here uh I want to do an assess the situation here okay what are you uh how
52:18
are you how are you assessing uh I'm in this case I'm looking at him and listening to what he's saying and then
52:23
I'm thinking about the best way to put it is this something I know what it is from from my ursetsu from my version of
52:31
Earth does my is this something my grandfather my father would have had like is it it's not made of the same
52:37
material as the tablets of destiny or anything like that what is it is it made from those i mean I just I have no idea
52:44
what this is but I want to see if I if I should see I Yeah I won't make you roll
52:49
for this this doesn't No the description doesn't sound correct to be something
52:54
from your world this seems like it's maybe something that could have been used to contact
53:01
your world in some fashion if someone were foolish enough to try to do that um but like it's not like a meteorite that
53:08
warped here from your you know your home dimension and landed that way that part may be a coincidence okay um but it
53:15
doesn't it no it does not remind you of anything uh from your home world and he'll he'll continue his story a little
53:23
bit and he says there was always and he kind of shakes his head he said "I can't believe he'd still be active but um are
53:30
you you kids are you kids familiar with the mirror master?" Alex probably absolutely is familiar with this i would
53:37
assume Alex is immediately familiar with it um yep uh so you can find him on
53:42
Villainedia the of course uh extremely biased version of Heropedia uh locked
53:48
down for edits at all times because villains keep trying to edit their own profiles um the mirror master is was one
53:54
of uh Perseus's arch enemies um and it was always the comics writers love it
54:00
because it was one of the ones where he couldn't just use the shield to styium because the mirror master seemingly had
54:05
some of the same powers um he uh a lot of his powers uh like any good
54:12
silver age villain manifested around mirrors you know he could create illusurary copies of people or things he
54:18
could uh trap you in a hall of mirrors he could summon them as barriers and he
54:24
frequently outfitted his minions in mirror armor but he hadn't he hasn't
54:30
been heard from as will tell you in probably 10 or 15 years uh I don't think
54:35
anyone actually you know we never we never caught him but he kind of he he went underground and so that was that
54:43
was good enough for the city i would he like to would he dress robots up in mirror suits if you had them sorry I
54:49
should have said similar my apologies yeah he Yeah he Oh that's exactly the kind of flashy nonsense that he would
54:55
have gotten up to and he kind of he says "Hold on just a second." And he kind of gets up and he kind of disappears into
55:01
another room for a sec and he comes back and he has a photo album and he kind of goes flip flip flip flip flip and he
55:07
goes "Ah here you go." And he sets it down in the middle of the table and it's this it's a newspaper clipping from
55:12
about 1986 um and it's him uh standing
55:17
next to it's not the mirror master himself it's basically the headline is Perseus captures uh chief henchman of
55:24
mirror master and he has this guy and he looks like imagine Judge Dread but his armor is entirely covered in like mirror
55:32
plating like it is it is shiny it is chrome yeah it looks like that except
55:38
Yeah except it's on a real person um and he says yeah so you can see that's exactly his his aesthetic is Yes ever
55:45
did he ever use robots before not that I knew uh you know there of
55:51
course robotic technology wasn't as advanced back when we were clashing daily but uh uh you know time times have
55:58
changed yeah hensing isn't asiveative as it used to be father's robots be reprogrammed no simuloids are extremely
56:05
difficult to control unless you have the controller right yes the the commander
56:13
of whatever troop they were sent with would have a control unit because you
56:18
need to control them but do we need a control unit from the drop ship there
56:23
were thousands of control units on the drum drop ship yeah going going back to that day like we don't know if
56:29
everything that was everything that wound up staying got recovered properly by Aegis or not like there and all the
56:36
confusion and everything that was happening everywhere it's possible that maybe some of that technology got loose
56:42
the uh the the five of you uh kind of all look at each other uh as if slowly
56:48
realizing some of the things some of what might be going on here lobo of course not looking at anyone actually
56:53
Lobo kind of looking at everyone while we're talking I just kind of like reach out to hand and pet lo yeah Lobo
57:00
loves this he loves it lobo will remember this we're going to have Okay
57:05
well I think that answers a lot of the questions the chief hench that you caught sir was
57:12
he is he free now uh he says "I didn't really follow the
57:19
trial i He may still be serving time did he just lock up?" Um or maybe not um his
57:26
name was Thirsten Winthrop a very unusual name for a hench I know but uh
57:33
yeah Thirsten Winthrop your uh Egypt contact should probably be able to tell you more his is what what happened to him would have been a matter of public
57:39
record he went through the public justice system well I think that is incredibly helpful sir i I cannot thank
57:44
you enough for your time well thank you and may I just say it is marvelous to see young heroes like yourself taking up
57:51
uh as much as I hate to have that that we left any fights unfought it's marvelous to see such heroes like
57:57
yourself stepping up to uh carry on the good fight can you sign his thingings
58:02
that have your face on them has many things that Alex like literally
58:07
literally like in just like head and hand faces red is helping pull him out
58:14
of the bag yeah he's got this one oh and this comic
58:20
I'm Alex I'm going to let you make a like a choice here do you think you need to roll to take a powerful blow uh
58:28
I kind of think I kind of think this is a powerful blow emotionally cuz like literally like I grew up on a steady a
58:35
steady diet a steady stream of uh heroes and wanting to be one and wanting to do
58:40
the right thing uh yeah so I think I'm going to have to roll here uh yeah so
58:48
this is a 2d6 plus conditions marked and you want to roll low on this one yeah I
58:53
don't have conditions marked so that's fine uh six well that's what you want
59:00
okay on a miss you stand strong mark potential as normal and say how you
59:05
weather the blow as your friends out you as a giant hero nerd to this hero idol of yours um I think at this moment I
59:14
think Alex has to flee like I think I think he just like Thank you so much for your time sir thank you so and just like
59:22
starts walking for the door like head down shoulders up like did we get any of
59:29
his memorabilia out of his bag before yeah like he would have he he he like he left it like it's there but like he's
59:36
like and as he's tell the bag and take this stuff out yeah t's like I don't understand this is what you want not
59:42
like this not like this come on man you We talked about this tell embarrassment
59:48
i I don't know what that was but he does really respect you and it would be mean a great deal to him if you could write
59:55
your name on his things percy's just kind of laughs it off he says "I get it it's uh I've had my number of Starruck
1:00:02
fans in the past i some I I get it." And he kind of pulls a pulls a nice pen out of his pocket and signs his his card
1:00:08
elegantly tucks it away and he says "I hope that will suffice to overcome whatever momentary social uh disability
1:00:15
these two men had." Apparently I'm bad at everything involving people but nevertheless thank you
1:00:22
you're new you'll get there well thank you uh I'm glad to have had join is there anything else I can do for you all
1:00:27
while I'm here i think you helped us quite a lot really yes you You did more than we expected charlie herself is
1:00:35
actually surprisingly a little starruck like it surprises her it's like this guy came and answered the door himself and
1:00:42
he's like talked to them instead of sending like a secretary to press them off she's actually actually she herself
1:00:50
is surprised that she is impressed with this guy he's he's a he he's rich but he's not a
1:00:56
jerk it's very weird but that's the power of That's the power of fiction everyone
1:01:03
all right uh so um yeah we'll let you guys uh catch up with uh with Alex and
1:01:10
then uh you all can When we get there I hand him his signed card as you as you come outside I wrote his name on the
1:01:15
card yeah as you guys come outside you see like T Ton has like formed a
1:01:21
physical like body like that's still attached to Alex but like the two of them are like very animatedly like
1:01:26
talking back and forth to each other and like like Ton's literally trying to talk
1:01:32
him down like trying to understand like why is this a bad thing you you wanted this you this is this is a hero from the
1:01:37
silver you love the silver age we what I said to Vita that you wanted this that
1:01:42
you liked him so we should get Why Why are you not liking this uh I have the
1:01:48
card in my hand he very very carefully takes the card and like puts it in like
1:01:53
the protector and like tucks it away um and then just like I I I don't know if I
1:01:59
could explain it i'm I'm sorry i'm really sorry we should go beat things up i I really good at beating things up we
1:02:05
should go beat things up okay he's actually kind of cool could you maybe recommend some comics to read i mean I
1:02:13
haven't really He seems like a good guy yeah and as we as we're moving away um
1:02:19
he's quite fit yeah as we're as we're walking away like I'll I'll it'll be like one of those things where like it
1:02:24
fades to black as we're like walking into the next scene where like I'm explaining like maybe a little bit
1:02:29
reluctantly at first but then getting a little more excited like which comics to read and like which books to to that
1:02:35
which are total garbage and which ones are actually like good which ones are your favorite favorite adventures and I
1:02:41
think I think the next scene opens up with us calling our handler yep you've you've found Alex's sleeper agent
1:02:46
activation phrase and he is telling you all the comics now
1:02:52
i think uh I think for this you guys can meet in person with Agent Abasi um I have to go home anyway i haven't been
1:02:58
home in like three days oh no she insist she insists I come home even though I
1:03:03
know she's on the phone with Vita's mom constantly i know she's checking up on me but regardless I I need to go home so
1:03:10
if you want to come with All right uh Matt tell us what uh tell us what Agent Abasi looks like as you guys arrive back
1:03:16
at your all's shared residence she's uh she's she's like from Alers originally
1:03:23
so you know dark-kinned her hair is white like you know straight up you know
1:03:29
she's she's in her 60s now most people would have retired she's just retired
1:03:35
from fieldwork because she's just she has like a 36-year career as a
1:03:40
completely unpowered aegis agent who just survived everything like in alien
1:03:46
invasions superhero super villain attacks superheroes going rogue because of mind control you name it she has been
1:03:53
there and seen it she was an Olympic level judo yeah she was like a like an Olympic
1:03:59
level judo uh judoka she speaks like h you know dozens of languages she's you
1:04:06
know she's the person that like she's actually lived through stuff that they make movies about and is constantly
1:04:14
correcting them like "No that's terrible that didn't happen." She just she has she's like a force of nature except that
1:04:19
now she's also the like constantly nagging me that I have to eat right and that I should I should go out and hang
1:04:26
out with my friends and I don't have to be training all the time and I don't have to be in the gym all the time and
1:04:33
you know my powers are great but you know I should have a life and it's kind of really annoying me cuz cuz it's like
1:04:40
she wants to tell me what to do and take care of me like I I don't mind her from Vita's mom because Vita's mom is just
1:04:46
very good at it agent Abasi is absolutely terrible at it she has no idea how to be a mom but she really
1:04:52
wants to help me she probably really wants to help Charlie too and then Charlie doesn't want to deal with her
1:04:58
either so she she's constantly a little bit on edge but I think Alex like has met Abasi a few times probably gets
1:05:05
along way too well with Agent Abasi like he's that one friend that like super into your parent type thing like because
1:05:12
Yeah I could see it yeah I can absolutely see it uh we've all had that kind of friend I
1:05:18
think yep okay so uh you guys follow uh you follow Shrike Home and you Yeah Age
1:05:25
Nabasi is there and she is has different levels of greeting for everyone she I
1:05:30
don't know if she would have met Vita in person but she's very pleased to meet you uh and then uh Charlie and Shark
1:05:36
she's just kind of like you know y'all aren't getting up in y'all aren't up to any trouble I assume uh how was your uh
1:05:44
how how was your all's uh you you had your meeting with Pyite right you didn't tell me tell me you didn't stand him up
1:05:50
okay thank you you saw him today he was signed things yes he he signed Alex's card alex gets a little red in the face
1:05:56
again and you just kind of him but doesn't say anything charlie thinks he was cool uh I
1:06:03
was impressed by how his his physique is pretty spry for a non-powered man in his
1:06:10
80s it looks like he works out continuously jesus okay that's all lovely did he have
1:06:16
anything to say about yesterday's situation oh right uh we want a guy
1:06:21
named Throgmorton was that his name alex pulls out uh the notebook uh that he wrote everything down in uh well so and
1:06:30
I he kind of looks and I assume that this is a secure location as per the ages guidelines and we are safe to speak
1:06:36
freely yes of course all right so we think that they were targeting the the
1:06:42
shield because it's made out of that very specific metal or alloy that you had found um it seemed that they were
1:06:48
dressed up like the mirror master's minions uh and we were curious where
1:06:54
while he hasn't been seen in 15 years we know that Thirstston uh Warthorp his
1:07:00
first or command his chief minion or or henchman uh was actually apprehended uh
1:07:07
and taken into custody do we know if he is still in custody or has he been out on parole uh she says "Uh give me give
1:07:14
me just a second." And she kind of pulls up her phone and while you're at it if he is still in custody has he had any visitors or contact recently that might
1:07:21
be notable ah okay like you guys are seeing like a completely serious Alex at this point like the jokester is set
1:07:28
aside for right now she says she says "Yeah he's uh he's been out for uh he's
1:07:35
been out for about 5 years uh got out a little early for good behavior uh he uh
1:07:41
yeah he last we heard he was uh living down the docks district had a job on a
1:07:48
uh loading uh loading and unloading uh the larger ships that come down in there
1:07:53
down there um I could give you his address you kids are you're you're not
1:07:59
going to like just immediately go beat him up I assume talk first beat up is always a secondary thing okay you're
1:08:04
good surveillance seems in order well an additional question maybe that I don't
1:08:10
know if you or Aegis is willing to answer and I completely understand i'm assuming that the meteorite was not an
1:08:15
is not an isolated thing she kind of sigh and she says "Well it was just the
1:08:22
one but it was larger." And she kind of snaps her phone shut she says "The sample we needed to that uh Mr pyite uh
1:08:31
paid for or excuse me donated a large amount of money to Egyp's public operations in exchange for uh was less
1:08:39
than the full amount um there was obviously a great deal left over for Egyp to experiment on um a and a a let's
1:08:49
say a nonzero amount uh of that material went missing uh in the hands of a
1:08:56
disgruntled uh Aegis employee uh who felt he was being overlooked for
1:09:02
uh promotions due to uh corruption in the higher ranks uh whether proven or
1:09:07
not rather than solving his case the right way he quit and took this metal with him and uh you may uh know him as
1:09:14
the mirror master um so he is fully aware of he he has always been fully
1:09:20
aware of what that metal can do um and of course made pyite his archeneemy on
1:09:25
several occasions but uh as as you've already said Pyate captured his chief
1:09:31
henchmen and we have not heard from the mirror master himself in quite some one last question then um and again maybe
1:09:39
this is something you can't or won't answer and I can again did any of the control boxes from the invasion go missing as well uh that is strictly
1:09:46
classified as an investigation that is still ongoing i'll take that as a nondescript yes um do we She winks
1:09:56
uh do we does Aegis have a way to track the signature of the metal uh she says I
1:10:04
Yes should be able to get a hold of that for you just don't take it near A1 obviously the original will uh set it
1:10:10
off and completely stop the signal but uh I wink I wink when I say yes the
1:10:16
original yeah but uh it can uh yes the uh I should be able to and she kind of
1:10:23
she says is are any of you capable of tracking energy signatures natively or do we need to get you an actual device i
1:10:29
can okay yeah cool vita would like a device preferably a
1:10:36
small one she kind of goes over superheroes here
1:10:43
real superhero so she kind of goes over the rest she says "Well redundant redundant measures never hurt." And so
1:10:48
she's going to pull this thing she's going to open a drawer on her desk and she has this stack of things that honestly just look like Star Trek
1:10:54
triquarters and she's looking at something from a database in her hand and she kind of
1:10:59
punches a set of uh numbers into it and then hands it to well actually she kind of sets it on Lobo's back in front of
1:11:05
Vita and then she'll show the numbers to you i don't know if they'll I don't know if they'll mean anything to you Shre she
1:11:11
says "This is the resonant frequency of the uh the meteorite material uh it should help you track it again as long
1:11:18
as you don't get near the uh the prime source at A1 which is large enough to throw off all tracking um any other
1:11:25
occurrences of this metal um either that uh device that your uh young friend is
1:11:30
carrying or your innate ability should be able to uh hunt it down write down the numbers is the original safe uh it
1:11:40
yes after uh yesterday's occurrence uh after the the occurrence at A1 knowing
1:11:45
that it was a targeted object of interest has taken it under uh uh into
1:11:50
our protective custody and replaced it with a uh extremely uh convincing replacement keep that under your hats
1:11:57
for now uh we'll we'll return the original when we're sure it's you know safe to do so uh how are we supposed to
1:12:04
keep the detector away from it if we don't know where the real one is uh because and I look at everybody i
1:12:10
look at everybody we're not going to be searching for the mirror master at like Yeah she Yeah HSH HQ is a known quantity
1:12:15
she kind of taps her nose she says "You're smart kids you'll figure it out." I look at everybody i guess time
1:12:21
to suit up we have to i turn to Alice can I have my Can I have my armor back
1:12:27
now uh yeah it seems like you might need it so she can kind of bring it out to
1:12:32
you and she'll Yeah she brings you She brings you your your armor and she says "Just remember bring this back home
1:12:39
don't conquer any worlds young lady." I don't even want to conquest is the
1:12:45
last thing on my mind and I think uh I think at this moment uh when uh Shrike
1:12:50
is like getting armored up or whatever and not paying attention uh Alex will
1:12:55
hand like a dossier report of like all the good things Shrike has been doing to
1:13:00
Agent Abasi like like here's here's the breakdown here's everything that's been done here's the good actions here's the
1:13:07
current level of understanding of humanity blah blah blah like a a full thing and just kind of like looks at the
1:13:12
rest of you and just kind of like puts a finger up to his lips yeah i'm not even I'm not even paying
1:13:18
attention nope we won't mention the vending machine that thing didn't have It was It kept
1:13:24
the chocolate rations from me to to be fair i mean and I I I kind of like to be
1:13:31
fair Ton's kind of done the same thing a couple times when it's hungry it's hungry
1:13:36
exactly ton understands me well Ton can sneak in there when the machine doesn't
1:13:42
take his coins i could have done that if I thought of it and I think uh it's time like as everybody's getting suited up I
1:13:49
think I'll suit up as well uh and I'm gonna look very much like the uh reboot
1:13:54
of Connor Young's uh Darkhawk armor with the black and reds and the visor and stuff like that it's a little more a
1:14:01
little more solid looking after seeing Shrikes armor like okay maybe a little less uh skin suit a little more physical
1:14:07
armor would be in order yeah you might you probably still have a nasty sunburn on your back from blocking
1:14:14
a bunch of lasers with nothing but really a flesh shield on the clothes on your back okay fine
1:14:20
i'll wear a costume whatever do you actually have a costume i know
1:14:27
you hated your old costume in the blazes uh yes yes it was it was a whole
1:14:33
colorcoordinated thing that she was required to wear um I
1:14:38
think she does have a costume she just doesn't like why do you but it's um I it's probably a pretty plain black
1:14:44
jumpsuit and it is actually you know maybe a little armor like a tiny bit armored or padded or something but it
1:14:50
helps it helps keep her out of sight which is her usual thing and I think also at this moment Alex will reach into
1:14:57
his backpack and there was a like a plain paper bag wrapped type thing uh
1:15:03
that he had in there when you guys were going through his stuff uh and he hands it to Charlie and as Charlie unwraps it
1:15:12
it's a punk rock battle vest with a giant red X on the back of it uh and it
1:15:18
is jade green with a bunch of like cool spikes and like whatever on it and he
1:15:24
just goes you know kind of whatever if maybe you wanted to not look like the blazes cuz they're kind of jerks you
1:15:30
could maybe do your own thing and kind of you know be rad
1:15:37
charlie is just like staring at it and she like comes and hugs Alex she's like a bear
1:15:44
hug on Alex i don't know if Alex is bigger than I am or Charlie is i don't know oh he's like five He's 5'3 and like
1:15:51
weighs nothing hug like she's probably never hugged any of you people before
1:15:58
but this is She doesn't quite know how to deal with this gesture but so this is
1:16:04
what she's doing that's it she'll put it on over her jumpsuit ton Ton's head will
1:16:09
pop out be like I don't understand was that a good thing or a bad thing what just happened
1:16:14
she's not crying definitely not crying it's fine thank you Alex appreciate it i
1:16:20
mean it's just whatever is that kind of a good spot to end issue two you guys think yeah I think so take us out yeah
1:16:27
absolutely and so with our uh our heroes suited up for battle and knowing that they're hot on the trail of either the
1:16:33
mirror master or someone who's certainly aping his gimmick uh there's still
1:16:39
mysteries to be solved but now there's also bad guys faces to be punched next issue on the Mavericks
1:16:54
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