Hideouts & Hoodlums: Justice Society of America

Game Master Scottenkainen

After setting up a meeting for his alter ego, Wesley, along with Mr. Belmont, rejoins Dian and the incomparable Ed. "So, Dian did you manage to get any driving tips off of our friend here?" Wesley smile. "Ed, you might consider trying to get some tips on interrogation from Dian, she's craftier than she looks."

Not sure if there is more information to be gathered here, Wesley plans on sticking around until he and Dian are chased off by the two DAs.

If nothing more occurs, we can move along to . . .

That evening Wesley dons the garb of the Sandman, heading out a bit early to make his meeting with DA Belmont, hoping to case the joint, just in case of a trap.

Trug took the south door into the hallway and Dr. Fate followed. He read in Trug's mind that he was concerned about how much magic he detected and, when Trug glanced backward, it was because he thought he heard a floorboard squeak behind him. He had; that had been Dr. Fate's doing.

Trug opened the door to the dining room and light and voices filled the hallway. A small dinner party of an older men and two older women in fancy dress had gathered around Magico.

Magico was a swarthy Indian with a curled mustache, goatee, yellow turban, and purple suit. He sat at the table peering into a crystal ball in front of him and waving his hands over it. "The spirits tell me they are ready," Magico was saying. "It would be wise to summon your other guests from the library and game room so we can begin the seance. But first, one moment," he said as he noticed Trug and leaned in to hear Trug whisper to him.

"I think Dr. Fate is here," Trug whispered.

Dr. Fate steps behind Magico bringing the strange mystic into the focus of the amulet. Does Dr. Fate recognize any of the guests?

Fate will attempt to counterspell any attempt to detect his presence or dispell his protections.

Wesley gleaned no more at the prison than Ed had gleaned Wes was slyly ribbing him, to his and Dian's amusement.

That afternoon was spent in comfort, relaxing. Wes felt like a new man after supper, so long had it been since he was feeling at his peak Finally back up to full hp!.

At 10:30, Wes was on a rooftop across from D.A. Belmont's office. He could see there was no light on in the office yet. He had a choice of means of getting there from here -- the direct, front door approach, a wirepoon launched over the street and then hand-over-hand across the wire to the window, or swing to the roof from a taller neighboring building and work his way down...

"Oh, that's okay!" the thug said to Flash. "There's lots of people out there still without much in their pockets. But tell you what, you could always work off your dues, maybe sweeping the floors or such. Ever done janitorial work?"

While Flash was making up an answer, he was pushed into the gym. Four scrawny young men were already there with the thugs now, being told to strip down to their shorts.

"C'mon, you too!" Flash was told. "Let's see if there's any muscle on you bunch of girls!"

Dr. Fate did not need his amulet to tell him who two of the people in the room were. His recent crash course in the society columns had provided portraits of the widowed Mrs. Ross-Cooper, a white-haired lady wearing lots of jewelry, and the man was William MacIntire, who's house this belonged to. Who the other woman at his side, Fate could not yet say.

Magico spoke before Fate could read anything in his mind. "Ladies and gentleman, I am afraid I sense an evil spirit is loose in this house. It is a danger I regret accompanies some seances. I will have to combat this foul thing." And then he stood up, almost bumping his chair into the invisible Dr. Fate.

"Oh, this is so exciting..." Mrs. Ross-Cooper said.

Maybe I should arrange some sort of signal that blazes out over the night. A Sand Signal, perhaps. I can see it now, an hourglass flashing out over the night sky," the Sandman thinks to himself as he swings over to a taller building, and then pauses to consider his surroundings, suspecting threats from both the NYPD and Mr. X. Assuming his finds that he is safe, he will then slide down to the roof of the DA's office.

Mr. Belmont? the Sandman hisses, trying to catch the attention of whoever is waiting for him on the roof.

"Of course, nothing to it!" Flash grins vacantly at the thug.

He strips down as directed.

Magico began to cast a Protection from Good spell, but Dr. Fate recognized it at once and counterspelled it. Magico resisted, but found his spell unraveled before he had finished weaving it.

This will not turn Dr. Fate visible, but Magico understands counterspelling enough to know what happened and that Fate has to be in the room with him now.

Sandman did some mental trigonometry and figured the best angles for reaching the roof of the D.A.'s building. He needed the taller building next to his, so he fired his wirepoon gun to the roof of that building and the grapple line caught on something. Sandman reeled himself in to the other building and then rappelled up the side to the roof. Piece of cake.

The swing to the D.A.'s roof did not go as smoothly. He had miscalculated and came in low, smacking into the wall 1 pt. of damage, so much for being fully healed! and dropping to the window sill on the floor below the roof.

He was able to climb up the side and onto the roof, but was lucky that he arrived early so D.A. Belmont didn't see it. Indeed, Sandman had a 15 minute wait before Belmont finally showed up.

"Sandman," Belmont said as if he didn't enjoy saying it. "I came alone, as we arranged. We have a mutual desire to end the career of Mr. X. Tell me, do you have anything we can use against him?"

Flash noticed everyone looking at him, and it wasn't because he was so good-looking in his skivvies. Indeed, he had forgot all about being scraped up and bruised on his arms and legs, as the sting of the light injuries had dulled hours ago.

"Haha, what happened to you?" said the bald man who had been in a suit earlier. Now he was wearing just his undershirt and boxing shorts and you could see he was actually in great shape. "See, this is why you need our services," he said to the skinny young men. "This poor man was probably knocked down by bullies, pushed around all his life, and look at the state he's in. Do you want this to happen to you? Or do you want to look like me when you're my age? Here, I want everyone of you to lift one of the weights by you. Go ahead, try and pick up a dumbbell. You two, bub," he added for the Flash.

Flash nods sheepishly, and makes a show of having difficulty lifting the weight.

The dumbbells left out for the new recruits said they only weighed 100 lbs., but Flash had a strong suspicion they were much heavier. It was well within his lifting capacity, though, so he really did have to make a show out of trying to struggle to lift it.

As expected, the other recruits were having a terrible time with their dumbbells.

"It's worse than I thought!" the boss of the gym said, shaking his head with his hands on his hips. "If any of you ever expect to have a chance with a dame, you can't be such wimps! I'm going to make a man out of every last one of you, as soon as you've signed your membership contracts! Now, the membership dues might seem a little steep to you, but don't worry -- we have an excellent loan program for you, right?"

"That's right, boss," one of the thugs said, returning to the gym from an office with a handful of contracts and pens.

"Can I work off the dues?" Flash asks the boss, "I really want to join but I don't think I can afford it otherwise. I'd be great at any odd job you may have around here for me."

Magico began to cast a Protection from Good spell, but Dr. Fate recognized it at once and counterspelled it. Magico resisted, but found his spell unraveled before he had finished weaving it.

This will not turn Dr. Fate visible, but Magico understands counterspelling enough to know what happened and that Fate has to be in the room with him now.

Any indication of how powerful Magico is?

Still unseen Dr. Fate listens to the amulet and prepares to counter the working of Magico and minion.

The Sandman gives a very visible shrug. "I fear that we at the society have probably not been able to uncover much more that you have. Mr. X controls much of the underworld. He is trying to undermine the United States by forging alliances with the Nazis and the Japanese. He's been using Stauffer Chemicals for some sort of nefarious purpose."

"Stauffer Chemicals?" D.A. Belmont said. "Oh yes...I heard about that investigation upstate. So far, no line of investigation has led us directly back to Mr. X. Yet I'm sure his weak spot is his lieutenants. I learned earlier today that his lieutenants believe that one of them is actually Mr. X, masquerading as his own underling. We're trying to work that angle by getting the lieutenants we already have in custody to spill the names of the other lieutenants. But these men have been tough nuts to crack."

Belmont looked at the Sandman, as if waiting for more input.

The gym boss looked concerned at Flash's question, then looked angrily at his recruiter.

"I told him he could..." the thug said sheepishly.

The other nerdy, soft young men began to ask for the same preferential treatment.

"I can use him," the boss said, referring to Flash, "but the rest of you will need to get jobs on your own."

Everyone signed the contracts.

"Good! Now be back first thing in the morning so I can make a man outta' ya! Not you!" the boss added as everyone got up to leave, pointing to Flash. "You stay here! Pick up a bucket and mop and get scrubbing this floor!"

Dr. Fate observed a nod passed between the two Punjabi warlocks and gleaned its meaning immediately in Magico's mind. Magico was going to delay to begin casting an Invisibility spell on himself while his minion -- no, not minion, equal companion -- cast a Dispel Magic spell in the room. Dr. Fate could counterspell one of them.

"Thanks, boss!" Flash hastens to do as directed (on second thought, maybe not that fast considering what Flash is capable of! lol)

He sets to work efficiently, meanwhile keeping an open ear for any goings-on.

Not bothering to interupt their castings Dr. Fate simply walks out of the room before his own protections are compramised.

That is if I am reading the order of combat correctly movement (and about everything else) comes before spells, right? Fate moves to the hall through the northern door and into the pantry if needed to avoid the area of the dispell. If I am wrong about this thaen Fate will counter the dispell. The detect thoughts will render the invisibility largely irrevelent.

Flash's stomach was tied up in knots from hunger by evening, and it killed him to have to take hours to do cleaning he could have got done in a minute. Worst of all, he overheard nothing of value. Of course, it was his first day on the job, so naturally the thugs were not comfortable yet with talking in front of him.

At 5 o'clock, the thug that had recruited Flash came up to him and said, "You can head home now, pal. Come back tomorrow."

Yes, if Dr. Fate just moves he can act before spells. The H&H rules are not clear (because S&W isn't) how big an area Dispel Magic affects, so I went with the 30' cube it effects in 1st ed. AD&D. Dr. Fate would know this and only need to run to the north end of the kitchen to be safe.

A still-invisible Dr. Fate successfully fled from the room and the radius of a magic-dispelling enchantment. There were raised voices, both male and female, coming from the previous room and one of the voices was clearly one of the Punjabi warlocks.

Dr. Fate was deciding on his next move when he heard a loud ghostly wail come from the room to the west!

"Hmmm . . . ," the Sandman pauses, trying to think of anything else that would be of use to the DA. "Which of Mr. X's lieutenants do you have in custody? The Flash and I tangled with a Dr. Flammond when we rescued your daughter. He was taken into custody by the local sheriff. Last night, Dr. Fate ran into one of his old foes–a Mitsuhirato–as we were disrupting Mr. X's little treasonous shindig."

Is there something else the Sandman should be telling the DA about?

"I fear that this Mitsuhirato was some sort of wizard. I wouldn't believe it myself but . . . well . . . dealing with Dr. Fate has opened my eyes to some things."

"No, no," Belmont said, shaking his head. "The lieutenants we know of so far are 'Flame' Farmer; the head of the Kidnappers Union -- he was this guy named Grossmith, not Dr. Flammond who worked with him; and Pullman, the head of the jewelry store gang. As far as we can tell, Mitsuhirato wasn't a part of Mr. X's organization, but was hoping to get in good with them by helping them against Dr. Fate.

"Say, I just had a thought...I don't believe in wizards, but if Mr. X's goons do, maybe we can use that against them. Tell the lieutenants we have in custody that Mitsuhirato has told us who Mr. X really is in return for his freedom. Then we set the Jap free and wait to see if anyone makes a move against him. What do you think?"

A still-invisible Dr. Fate successfully fled from the room and the radius of a magic-dispelling enchantment. There were raised voices, both male and female, coming from the previous room and one of the voices was clearly one of the Punjabi warlocks.

Dr. Fate was deciding on his next move when he heard a loud ghostly wail come from the room to the west!

Dr. Fate listens intently as he moves dack towards the dining room.

It all sounded like gibberish in the dining room, as muffled as it was, even as he moved back to the south end of the kitchen. What surprised him was what he detected in the family room -- not the thoughts of a ghost, but of the Atom!

"The Atom! Here?"

Wasting no time Dr. Fate moves towards the family room.

The moaning wail died down as the invisible Dr. Fate threw open the door to the family room.

Sure enough, it looked like the Atom. He skulked quickly across the room, throwing himself behind the door that had just flung open, thinking he had escaped detection by whoever had opened it from the kitchen.

Door? Open archway in the floor plans. Oh well I can roll with it.

The Mystic marvel presses himself into the wall as the others enter.

Thinking. "What is the Atom doing here? Is he investigating Magico? And why wail?"

Is the Atom hurt? Tied up? How did he get in?

"It is a fine plan, Belmot; but I will have to consult with Dr. Fate. Mitsuhirato is his foe. Perhaps he would have some thoughts regarding the advisability of releasing Mitsuhirato. Have you interrogated the man? Does he know anything of our Mr. X?"

D'oh! That's what I get for posting from memory without checking the map first! No, maps are sacrosanct and must always be observed! The flavor text can be modified thus:

The moaning died down as the invisible Dr. Fate stepped through the archway to the family room.

Sure enough, it loked like the Atom. He skulked quickly across the room, throwing himself behind a couch when he thought he heard a noise coming from the kitchen.

Puzzled, Dr. Fate touched his amulet and reached out to touch the Atom's surface thoughts. The Atom was just as puzzled by the wailing sound, but thought it might have been a distraction from the sound of a footstep he heard in the kitchen. Darn squeaky floorboards.

The Atom appeared both unhurt and un-tied up. His surface thoughts did not reveal how he had got in.

"Hmmm, could the Atom have triggered thir alarm?

Dr. Fate moves towards Atom's hiding place.

Any action by Magico et al?

Whispering; "Atom. It is I Dr. Fate. Magico and his partner are in the dining room. I am not sure if they are simple frauds or a real threat. Whay have you found?"

Flash's stomach was tied up in knots from hunger by evening, and it killed him to have to take hours to do cleaning he could have got done in a minute. Worst of all, he overheard nothing of value. Of course, it was his first day on the job, so naturally the thugs were not comfortable yet with talking in front of him.

At 5 o'clock, the thug that had recruited Flash came up to him and said, "You can head home now, pal. Come back tomorrow."

Flash nods, puts the mop away, and leaves. However, he hangs around the area for a while to watch any further goings-on.

"Ahhhh!" the Atom yelled. "Geez, Fate, don't do that!" he said in a harsh whisper after his heart came down out of his throat. "Are you invisible or something, or am I going blind?"

So flustered was the short pugilist that Dr. Fate had to repeat the question.

"Magico and his partner are scamming rich people with these seances," the Atom said, "getting people to reveal personal financial information. But when I observed Magico casting a spell of what looked like real magic, I knew I shouldn't try to tackle him alone. I made that call to the hotel in New York to get at least you here, but I never thought you'd keep such a low profile all day!"

Just then, Magico's partner appeared at the south end of the family room and began casting a spell. Dr. Fate could hear Magico casting a spell too, though Magico was invisible like Dr. Fate! From the incantations, as well as their surface thoughts, Fate could tell Magico was casting a Web spell and his partner was casting a Suggestion spell.

"Invisible, no need to disturb these kind people if this was all innocent. Magico and his partner have some magic but no real power."

When the mystic fraud appears to the south.
"Rush him NOW!

Dr. Fate leaps the sofa and charges Magico's partner. Careful not to spoil the Atom's line of attack Dr. Fate moves to within 10 feet of the partner and casts Protection from Evil II

"It is a fine plan, Belmot; but I will have to consult with Dr. Fate. Mitsuhirato is his foe. Perhaps he would have some thoughts regarding the advisability of releasing Mitsuhirato. Have you interrogated the man? Does he know anything of our Mr. X?"

Oops! Thought I'd responded to this already.

"My understanding is that Mitsuhirato knows nothing valuable, but he could be holding back, I suppose. If magic really does exist, I wish I had a spell that allowed me to detect thoughts! Anyway, I'll hold off on that plan until after you've talked to this Dr. Fate, Sandman. I trust you know how to contact me when you're ready."

Flash nods, puts the mop away, and leaves. However, he hangs around the area for a while to watch any further goings-on.

Around 5:30 pm, two of the thugs from the gym left together. They headed east on foot. Flash tailed them quietly and followed them to a bar.

Flash tries to stay out of sight. If it's a busy bar, he'll slip inside to watch more closely to see who (whom?) they meet, otherwise he'll stay outside.

Dr. Fate leaps the sofa and charges Magico's partner. Careful not to spoil the Atom's line of attack Dr. Fate moves to within 10 feet of the partner and casts Protection from Evil II

The Atom trusted Dr. Fate; when the helmed wizard said to charge, the Atom charged. But single strands of webbing soared from Magico's fingers and snared the Atom's wrists, holding his punches back from landing on the other warlock. This is a heap of Editor's discretion flavor text. In actuality, Dr. Fate was right and Magico canceled his spell when he saw the Heroes melee his partner, but since the Atom incredibly missed on two to-hit rolls - since the dice roller wouldn't roll over a 4 for him -- I needed an explanation for how the Atom could possibly miss

Dr. Fate finished casting his Protection from Evil II spell, but the other warlock also finished his Suggestion spell. "Wait, Atom!" the warlock said. "I am the real Dr. Fate! Our enemy has made us switch forms! You must defeat him! Strike him with your fists!"

The Atom paused before the suggestion took hold, but then he turned and pounced at Dr. Fate. Second time in one game week Dr. Fate has had to fight another JSA member!

Sandman prompt
Sandman left the scene of his rendezvous with the District Attorney and went...?

Earlier that day, Flash found the bar was not busy (as most bars are not so early in the evening) so he stayed outside, starving and looking miserable. Someone gave him a dime while he stood out there, but he learned nothing useful during his vigil.

Flash will wait until the thugs leave. He'll let them see him, and ask if it's OK for him to sleep at the gym.

"The gym ain't a flophouse, you vagrant!" one of the thugs told Flash angrily.

"There's a flophouse you could try over on 7th Street," the other thug said more charitably.

Flash nods, and heads in the indicated direction.

Flash was accepted at the flophouse, paying for a space to sleep and a dirty cot with the dime he'd been charitably given earlier. The flophouse was more than half-filled with vagrants who looked as hungry and miserable as he was. It continued to be an enlightening experience for the rich boy, flush with trust fund money he was not touching now, who had never wanted for anything.

Eventually he fell asleep, his last thought being that he hoped this cot didn't have fleas in it...

May 5, 1941
I think. Someone let me know if I'm wrong...

It was a cool Spring night in the Bowery, but it was hot in the Hunkel apartment where "Hunk" and his brothers were playing poker and fouling the air with smoky cigarettes. The Cyclone Kids were asleep and Abigail "Ma" Hunkel just wanted to get out. She longed to run free as...the Red Tornado.

Donning her costume and the pot she wore as a helmet, she launched herself outside, intending to patrol the Bowery. The Red Tornado was the champion of the Bowery. Defender of the poor and downtrodden. Except...the Bowery was kinda dirty and smelly. Ma hopped onto the back of a passing truck and rode it to Midtown.

It was the dead of night and the Red Tornado was now patrolling the rooftops of Midtown Manhattan just like a real superhero would. That was when she saw a suspicious looking character racing across a neighboring rooftop, wearing a cape. It was hard to see more in the dark.

Meanwhile, the Sandman had just left his rendezous with District Attorney Belmont and was racing across a rooftop before returning to where he had parked his car. Then he spotted someone suspicious looking on the neighboring roof. A big bruiser, by the looks of him, wearing a cape and some sort of metal helmet it was hard to tell in the dark.

May 6, 1941

The Flash woke up early in a collegetown flophouse. He was still determined to live like the poor, though his stomach was in knots from hunger this morning.

Before heading into work at the gym, Flash checked on the alley where he had stashed his costume to make sure no one had disturbed it. It was still there.

The new recruits all showed up bright and early to start their workouts. They were worked alright, but it looked more like cruel bullying than useful instruction! Several of the wispish young men screwed up the courage to complain to the manager before lunch, but were rebuffed with, "Sorry, no refunds. If ya' don't like it, scram!"

It was worse for Jay. Because he was working off his lessons, he was told he wouldn't get them until after a full day's work. Of course, they probably expected him to be so tired by then that he wouldn't be able to work out, essentially working for free. Assuming he even lived that long. He suspected it was his faster metabolism at work, but he was already feeling half-dead from hunger.

May 5, 1941

Dr. Fate cast his spell, dispelling magic on the Atom alone. Truj's charm spell broke like a twig before the force of a gale force wind.

"Huh? Me do what now?" Atom said, confused, as the hold of the suggestion ended almost as soon as it began.

But by now, Magico and Truj had bought themselves enough time to run across their respective rooms and tear down curtains. They advanced on Dr. Fate's general location with them now.

"Your spells betray your presence," Magico said. "I know where you are..."

"As do I," Truj laughed evilly, as the two thought of snaring Dr. Fate in the curtains like nets.

Red Tornado AKA Red T..thought she had run into an "old friend", if it was that someone she wasn't fond of them. She remembered the old saying "keep your friends close, and enemies closer." She tries to walk up to him, "hello there" with a wink that was lost beneath her pot mask. She waited for a response from this friend or foe.........

Flash perseveres in good spirits, still hoping to overhear a vital clue and ingratiate himself with these thugs.

However, he decides that he'll have to give Joan a call for some spending money for food when he gets an opportunity. He won't call from the gym, obviously.

Flash was given 15 minutes to go find lunch. At which time he raced out of the building, made a collect call to Joan, and explained the situation -- without references to the Flash, of course, since there was an operator on the line with them.

"Oh, Jay," Joan said teasingly. "You and your little social experiments! Of course, I'll wire you however much you need. Are you sure you don't need me to come too?"