Hideouts & Hoodlums: Justice Society of America

Game Master Scottenkainen

It does not take much coaxing to get a scream out of the Sandman's vertical traveling companion; he only has to tilt her so she can look down and -- "EEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

The streams of water below part like the Red Sea and a searchlight is trained on the Sandman, which actually makes rappelling easier for the next two floors down. Glancing below, he can see that a trampoline is being lined up beneath them.

Meanwhile, on the top floor, the remaining hoodlum notices that Hourman is distracted and tries to bolt for the exit ((free attack on his back side if you post before tomorrow...)).

The Sandman tries to maneuver himself so that he, rather than the woman he is holding, absorbs most of the force from the impact of landing on the trampoline. He then leaps up and makes sure that the woman is passed on to one of the nearby firemen.

After that, he takes the free attack on the backside of the bolting hoodlum! No? . . . darn

"Do you know if there is anyone else trapped in that building," the Sandman asks as he transfers the woman to the firefighters.

The Sandman and his unwilling companion land safely on the trampoline. After delivering the woman delicately into the hands of her other rescuers, the Sandman bounces off and heads straight for the firemen. He sees three fire trucks and crews around the hotel now and, although there is no love lost between the Sandman and the authorities, at least one fireman will speak to him. "The hotel manager made it out with the registry book, so we know there's still two dozen people inside that we can't get to yet without that sprinkler system turned on. What happened to Flash and Hourman?"

Meanwhile..

*COUGH* *HACK* *CHOKE* goes the Flash. Hourman has completely lost the last mobster in the thick smoke and the mobster makes it out the door into the hallway outside.

Meanwhile, on the top floor, the remaining hoodlum notices that Hourman is distracted and tries to bolt for the exit ((free attack on his back side if you post before tomorrow...)).

Hourman finally (!) notices the hoodlum trying to escape and pounces, spinning him around and socking him in the jaw. Once the hood is dispatched, Hourman will check the control panel.

The mobster makes it as far as the door to the stairwell before Hourman spots him through the smoke. The mobster sees Hourman coming, perhaps thanks to that bright yellow costume, but instead of turning to attack he frantically tries to get the door to the stairwell open. Hourman is able to spin him around and sock him in the jaw, dislodging his gas mask and knocking him back into the door. The mobster, apparently one tough customer, is still able to stand straight and face Hourman after that. Hourman can smell the stink of booze on the man's breath now that his gas mask is loose. ((Next turn intentions? Hourman's Impervious power has now expired, but his Hold Breath power is still ongoing.))

"I'm not sure what happened to them. I'm sure they're okay. I better get back in there and you'd better get back to fighting the fire before anyone sees you talking to me. Turns out I'm not so loved by authorities. "

The Sandman tries to slip into the burning building. As soon as he get in, he begins yelling: "Is there anyone still here? Shout and I'll find you." He tries to quickly, but thoroughly inspect the first floor before moving on.

The fire alarm is particularly loud on the ground floor and the Sandman is unsure if he could be heard over it. At least the ground floor is thankfully free of the blazing fire and smoke claiming the upper floors. However, while doing a quick once-over here, he finds an old man slumped over on the floor behind a chair in the lounge. The man is unconscious and clutching his heart.

Hourman paused, perhaps waiting for the smoke to disable the hoodlum for him, but the smoke doesn't seem to bother the man yet. Instead, the hood turns on the acetylene torch he still clutches, though Hourman is able to jump back and make sure he's missed by a good margin.

((Hourman can still go at the end of this turn and Flash can be back on his feet as soon as he starts posting again.))

I've angsted over this one all day. The old man's had a heart attack. Should the Sandman try CPR? Does the Sandman know CPR? Do people in the 30s know CRP?

Seeing that the man is in very bad shape, and unwilling to remove his gas mask, the Sandman grabs the old man, lofts him over his shoulder and races out of the building. "This man needs medical attention. Quick!" he shouts to the emergency workers.

The Sandman finds the old man weighs about 160 lbs., not difficult for the buff Mysteryman to hoist over his shoulder and carry at running speed.

Outside, he grabs the attention of some ambulance workers who, until now, had been lavishing attention on the young woman he had just rescued last.

Flash struggles back to his feet, still gasping and choking for breath. Noting that Hourman currently has the hoodlum occupied, Flash stumbles towards the control panel and tries to see what's wrong through his tearing eyes. If he can figure out how to turn on the sprinklers, he will do so.

The Flash found, though the smoke, the water holding tank and the release valve - only to find it had been smashed and bent beyond his ability to turn. Only someone of Hourman's strength would be able to to it now...

Hourman, though, had leaped back from the remaining mobster and lost sight of him in the smoke of the hallway. However, instead of using it to his advantage and escaping, the drunken hoodlum launches into a verbal attack. "Hey, Hourrrman! You ain't so tough! Come back over herrre an' I'll show ya' how fireproof ya'--*COUGH**COUGH*COUGH*"

Having taken too big a breath to boast, the mobster defeats himself and falls to the floor gagging.

Meanwhile, outside, Sandman watches on as the paramedics work on resuscitating the old man. They prop him up and push on his back until one of them says, "He's breathing again!"

"Good work gentlemen, " The Sandman says to the paramedics. Then, he returns to the blazing building. "I fear a lawless scoundrels work is never done," he quips to anyone who can here as he races back into the hotel, working his way towards the second floor, looking for anyone still stuck in the fire. I hope Hourman and the Flash can get those sprinklers on soon. I'd hate to lose this expertly tailored suit.

"Hourman! *COUGH* Over here! *HACK* See if you can do *COUGH* anything about this." Flash calls through the smoke.

((Since we're missing our Hourman, I'll wrap this scene up for him.))

Dragging the last mobster back to the 'employees only' room, Hourman is quickly apprised of the situation and heaves a mighty shoulder into unbending the wheel and turning it.

Floor by floor, the water sprinklers start up again, finally reaching Sandman on the second floor and letting him know that everything is okay up above.

Soon, all three Heroes emerge from the hotel, confident that the firemen can deal with searching for anyone who cannot now leave the hotel on their own. The Heroes have two prisoners to occupy themselves with. Since neither mobster is unconscious, but was temporarily incapacitated by the smoke, there is plenty of opportunity to interrogate them before handing them over to the police.

"We already know who put you up to this, Flame Farmer. Maybe if you tell us where he'll hit next it'll go easier on you with the judge."

The three Heroes interrogate their prisoners in the hotel lobby. One of the two mobsters remains tough and blustery, saying, "You'll never make me sing!" But the other mobster is leaning forward and resting with his hands on his knees. He moans, "Ohh, I'm gonna' be sick...just get me to a toilet and I'll tell ya anythin' ya wanna know..."

"Hourman, you watch this one," he indicates the incalcitrant one. "Sandman, you want to come with me, or work over Mr. Tough-Guy?"

Flash leads the sick (or wily!) mobster across the street to a nearby diner or someplace which would have a public toilet. He's on the watch for subterfuge.

"Hourman, you watch this one," he indicates the incalcitrant one. "Sandman, you want to come with me, or work over Mr. Tough-Guy?"

Flash leads the sick (or wily!) mobster across the street to a nearby diner or someplace which would have a public toilet. He's on the watch for subterfuge.

Hourman picks up the mobster by his lapels and slams him against the wall. "Look, buddy, we know all about Mr. X and the Flame Farmer. You're just a small fish in a big puddle. But if you answer some questions for us, we'll make sure you get out of this alive." Each sentence is punctuated by another slam against the wall. (Not hard enought to break him, just enough to hurt him.)

The drunken hoodlum is amazingly obstinate, even past the point where being slammed against the wall starts injuring him.

"Aw, you don't know anythin'!"

*SLAM* ((1 pt. of damage))

"I'm a bigger fish than you'll ever be!"

*SLAM* ((2nd pt. of damage))

"You think that hurts? I can take you on all night!"

*SLAM* ((3rd pt. of damage))

The hoodlum, already hurt by Hourman earlier, finally passes out from the pain before talking.

Meanwhile, Flash leads his prisoner away, but only gets a quarter-block away, looking for an open business, when his prisoner leans forward and barfs on his shoes. "Ooohhh...I feel so awful...just take me to jail so I can sleep this off...Flame Farmer...he's gonna set more hotels on fire tonight..."

I guess the Sandman stayed with Hourman

"Wow, he was a lot tougher than I would've expected. I guess we should dump this one with the cops and see if the Flash has had any more success."

The Sandman begins to get out his handcuffs. "Uh, you might want to drop this fellow off. The police and I don't get along so well. You can blame his injuries on me."

"Which hotels?" Flash asks urgently, as he turns around with the hoodlum and heads back towards the action.

((Actually, Sandman was free to choose which Hero he went with.))

Sandman and Hourman emerge from the hotel with their unconscious prisoner -- right into the waiting arms of the police, who have finally returned to the scene.

Meanwhile, Flash is leading his sick prisoner back to the hotel and coaxes more out of him along the way. "The Hotel Chelsea...he's torchin' it next..."

"C'mon, Sandman, let's see if the Flash had any better luck."

Hourman spies Flash coming down the street towards them and gets so excited that he momentarily forgets to hand over his prisoner to the police first. Sandman is loathe to do so because he is unsure of how the police will react towards him. And so the crook is just left there, sleeping on the sidewalk, for the cops to gather around and scratch their heads over.

Flash is quickly able to fill in Hourman and Sandman on what he's just learned. The Hotel Chelsea is maybe eight blocks away to the south and, if the silence and lack of smoke on the skyline is any indication, is not ablaze yet.

"Let us proceed with haste! This is our chance to catch Flame Farmer!" Flash gives FF's description to Hourman and Sandman to refresh their memory, before darting off towards the Chelsea. Instead of rushing right onto the scene, he will pause someplace where he can watch the hotel entrance (hopefully!) unobserved.

Leaving Sandman and Hourman, not only to get to the Hotel Chelsea on their own, but to deal with Flash's prisoner...

Meanwhile, Flash sees nothing immediately suspicious at the Hotel Chelsea.

Flash uses the surrounding streets to zip around much like a swift breeze, pausing only momentarily to study the Hotel from different angles.

Hourman motions to Sandman to follow the Flash, then drags the sick mobster over to the unconscious mobster and calls to the police. "These two are henchman of the Flame Farmer, lock 'em up, boys."

After the police take the two prisoners, Hourman races off to the Chelsea.

"Well, I'll be..." one of the police officers says by Hourman. "Flame Farmer, ya say? We've been after him for so long now...if these boys set this fire for Flame Farmer, we'll be puttin' them away and throwin' away the key, sur'n we will now!"

((Is Sandman driving to the Hotel Chelsea? Will Hourman be running to the Hotel Chelsea at normal speed or expending a power slot to run faster? He's starting to run low for the night...))

Following the Hourman's suggestion, the Sandman races to his car and then speeds to the Hotel Chelsea, hoping to reach the Flame Farmer before the Flash finishes the job.

"Well, I'll be..." one of the police officers says by Hourman. "Flame Farmer, ya say? We've been after him for so long now...if these boys set this fire for Flame Farmer, we'll be puttin' them away and throwin' away the key, sur'n we will now!"

((Is Sandman driving to the Hotel Chelsea? Will Hourman be running to the Hotel Chelsea at normal speed or expending a power slot to run faster? He's starting to run low for the night...))

Normal speed.

Sandman, feeling a bit competitive with the Flash now, hops into his roadster and tears off towards the Hotel Chelsea. He knows right where that is in the Chelsea District and, given the lightness of traffic this late at night, makes it there in five minutes.

For the last five minutes, the Flash has served as an invisible barrier around the Hotel Chelsea, but no one suspicious has approached or left the building. He does recognize the Sandman's car approaching, though.

And meanwhile, Hourman decides to conserve his strength and runs at a normal pace through the city streets, his yellow cape billowing behind him as the blocks of sidewalk whiz past beneath his feet.

Flash pauses to flag down Sandman.

"I haven't seen anyone fitting Flame Farmer's description enter or leave the Hotel. Either he hasn't arrived yet, or he's already here..."

"In either case, surprise would seem to be our best advantage at the moment."

Sandman parks somewhere ((let me know where in relation to the hotel)) and exits the vehicle to talk to Flash ((in front of the hotel, or somewhere else...?))

While jogging along at a good clip, Hourman sees a big green automobile careening past him in flagrant disregard of safe driving skills. Hardly a crime as worthy of fighting as arson, but Hourman has to briefly consider it when he thinks of the strong lead Flash and Sandman have on him when it comes to reaching the hotel...

The Sandman stashes his car a block away from the hotel, hoping to make a more stealthy approach. It is going to get blown up, isn't it?

I'm not sure where we are in relation to the hotel. I'd prefer to be a bit circumspect. Perhaps in a nearby alley? That could also be where I stashed my car. (Which is food for the flame farmer . . .)

"Any suggestions on how to achieve that surprise? At least one of us should probably head into the hotel and see if the Flame Farmer has already entered. I'd take off my mask and make a less heroic entrance, but I fear that my singed suit might still draw attention."

Flash helps Sandman find an alley a block away from the hotel wide enough for his car to fit. By the front of the car, still in the alley, they make their secret plans.

"...but I fear that my singed suit might still draw attention," Sandman says, realizing as he looks at it that his suit and, particularly his cape, are actually badly singed.

Flash verifies that he has not actually been in the hotel yet, leaving them to decide who is better suited for the task of doing so.

"Hmmm. And I left my duds back in my car with Joan. Maybe we'd best keep watch and wait for Hourman."

The wait for Hourman may be taking longer than either Hero expected, as eight minutes later there is still no sign of him. However, a big green automobile has pulled up across the street from the Hotel Chelsea and, while a man in a blue fedora waits behind the wheel, four men exit the automobile. One is a short man is in a tan suit with a green cap. Another is a tall man in a brown suit and green fedora. The third man is beefier, wears a blue suit and brown fedora. The last, wearing a brown pin-stripe suit and black bowler, looks just like Flame Farmer. The tall man and the beefy man are already holding acetylene torches while the other two step around to the trunk of the car to open it.

((You are 70 ft. from the car and the arsonists and, so far, unseen. Intentions?))

"We'd better take them now, before they do any damage to the Hotel." Flash says to Sandman.

He takes one last look around for Hourman, then says: "We can try to take them from two directions at once, I'll loop around and come at them from the other side. Disabling their car could be useful to prevent them from fleeing, but I can't think of any way we can do so quickly."

"Unless you have a plan?"

For someone as fast as the Flash, it seems to take an eternity for Sandman to think of a plan.

Meanwhile, Hourman estimates he's two blocks from the Hotel Chelsea.

Is anyone else getting security certificate warnings from Paizo? I'm not sharing any vital information here, but it prevents me from writing posts via Google Chrome.

"Perhaps you can zoom around to the other side, Flash, and I'll start our intervention with a volley of gas from my gun, see how many of them I can take out before you clean up?"

I guess the plan is for the Flash to come around to the other side of them, for me to launch a gas grenade, and enter the fray. Once the gas dissipates, the Flash can clean up, or he can chase anyone that decides to run.

Flash nods. "Sounds good. I wish Hourman were here, but we can't wait."

So saying, Flash takes off in a blur.

(He rushes off in a very wide loop ((perhaps around the block?)), reckoning that by the time he gets to the other side Sandman's gas should be going off.)

Once the Flash speeds off, the Sandman launches one of his patented gas grenades at the Flame Farmer and his fiends. He then launches himself at the criminals, announcing in his most menacing voice: "Miscreants, your criminal dreams are about to become nightmares, courtesy of . . . the Sandman!" He will then punch out any of the criminals that are still standing, focusing on the Flame Farmer if he hasn't succumbed to the gas.

((Newest rolls here on the OOC board. Read here first then return there for post-combat discussion.))

Flash is gone in a flash, racing away from the mobsters, but only to go around one city block first and come at them unseen. While rushing around the block, he fails to observe Hourman jogging towards him just one block away, and vice versa.

Sandman launches his gas grenade and the car and all four hoodlums around it are engulfed in sleep gas. While they cough and choke, they hear the menacing words of the Sandman draw nearer as the caped mysteryman rushes them.

Before Sandman gets there, Flash reaches them from around the block and catches one on the chin closest to the edge of the smoke cloud, delivering a moderately damaging blow.

But the violence seems to have been unnecessary, as one by one all four villains fall to their knees, succumbing to the sleep gas. Only the driver of the idling getaway car seems to be immune, the windows of the car being rolled up. In a panic, he stomps his foot on the accelerator and starts to peel out from the gas cloud.

Flash races up next to the car and knocks on the drivers-side window, keeping pace with the car. He smiles as he motions for the hoodlum to roll down the glass.

This getaway driver's no dummy. He looks over at the Flash, looks at how high the speedometer goes on the dashboard of his Ford Coupe, looks back at the Flash, and pulls over to the curb. He emerges from the car a moment later with his hands held up.

With no crime having been committed at the Hotel Chelsea, there is no police coming until they are summoned. But, appearing as if summoned, Hourman can be seen running towards you.

Flash waves to Hourman, "Sorry, you missed all the fun!" He escorts the driver back to rejoin Sandman and the other Hoodlums.

"Well, we've stopped Flame Farmer at least. But we've got to find out more information about Mr.X before we turn this lot over to the police for justice."

He moves over the the Flame Farmer and gives him a couple of gentle slaps. "Wakey-wakey!" He looks over to fellow super-heroes, "Either of you got a glass of water?" he asks with a smile.

Sorry for my absence yesterday. Home improvement project grew out of control.

"I'm afraid that all my water evaporated in the fire." The Sandman looks for something to bind the villains. I think I left my handcuffs somewhere. If he finds some rope, he'll tie the Farmer and his thugs up tightly and then help the Flash wake up the Flame Farmer.