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Post by dtspurrier on Sept 7, 2021 16:36:33 GMT
Hour-man curses to himself about the bad timing, then thinking, " no man left behind", Hour-man acts. Hourman picks up the body and slings it over his shoulder and starts to climb up the chains.
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Post by Adminenkainen on Sept 8, 2021 15:04:40 GMT
The climb is difficult, particularly since Hour-Man is hurt (lightly) and has never rappelled with 180 lbs of dead weight on his back before. But though the chain links tear through his gloves, he reaches the lip of the pit after one grueling minute.
There is flickering light all over the room from the kerosene fires that have not completely burnt out yet. In this inferno-ish scene, Hour-man spies the four surviving members of the Justice Society squaring off against three ...zombies? It seems a desperate struggle that has the four heroes backed to the east end of the room away from all exits. But the sight of the walking dead reminds Hour-Man of those skeletons that weren't real earlier...
Hour-Man pulls the 'Hawkman' off his back and lays him on the floor, then unholsters the flashlight from his belt and shines it around the room, looking for --
There they are! By the west exit, the three 'devil-men' are standing there, watching the fight and moving their fingers as if they were puppeteers working marionettes.
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Post by dtspurrier on Sept 8, 2021 18:16:10 GMT
Hourman yells to his new allies, " those walking dead are not real, they are parlor tricks created by those devil men. Dont let this dime store magic fool you." Hourman looks around for a weapon to hurl at the devil men, the chains (maybe the hawkman's shield if it survived the fall) to break the devil men concentration
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Post by Adminenkainen on Sept 9, 2021 14:45:27 GMT
Hawkman sees no shield laying around, so he settles for the chains. They are not good throwing weapons and land with a loud clatter in front of the devil-men.
"He's right!" Zatara shouts soon after. "They are illusions; close your eyes and run straight through them!"
Zatara and the Sandman rush past the 'zombies' and circle the pit towards Hour-Man, but Bart and the woman still think they are being menaced and cornered at the rear of the room.
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Post by dtspurrier on Sept 9, 2021 19:20:37 GMT
Hour-man realizing that escape needs to happen now acts. He runs past the two and yells, " go back and get the other two. Convince them or carrying them to the exit I am going to try something. " Hour-man grabs a club from the dead cultist and then charges one of the devil men twiddling their thumbs and strikes one, hoping to cause the zombie to disappear or shimmer.
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Post by Adminenkainen on Sept 11, 2021 4:53:12 GMT
The three devil-men must be part chicken, because they turn and run out the west exit as Hour-Man charges after them. He chases them (Han Solo chasing Stormtroopers through the Death Star-style) back to the first room, where they huddle into a corner. He hears Zatara, the Sandman, Bart, and the lady coming behind him. When they show up, they have the two dead men carried between them.
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Post by dtspurrier on Sept 13, 2021 15:40:46 GMT
Hour-man breathes for a second and comments, " lets get out of this complex and rest and heal up. I am sorry for your losses and if they have any family we should return their bodies. As for me I want to come back down here and stop this bad guy. Lets get out of here."
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Post by Adminenkainen on Sept 13, 2021 20:51:01 GMT
Unopposed, the Heroes make it out of this perilous hideout! All but two alive!
Some distance away, they stop running and gently lay their burdens down. Everyone is exhausted, save Hour-Man, who is only lightly injured and fatigued.
Of the four of them, the woman recovers first. She comes over and offers to shake Hour-Man's hand. "My name is Doris West. Like my colleague, Bart Regan, over there, we work for the federal government. Our unofficial partners are Zatara (the mustached man in combat fatigues) and the Sandman (the man wearing the weird mask, though he has since taken it off and simply keeps his back turned to Hour-Man). We also lost our police liaison, Officer Sandy Kean, and the ...well, he would have called himself a gentleman adventurer, the Hawkman. Who are you? Where did you come from? Who do you work for?"
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Post by dtspurrier on Sept 13, 2021 22:14:21 GMT
Hour-man says, " you are welcome for the assistance. My name is Hour-man and I am visiting. I am a superhero/mysteryman who is here to stop crime and bring in criminals to justice. I heard there were Justice Society members who were investing this base so I came to offer my assistance. I am also not working for the government. Its a pleasure to meet you all, so where to now?"
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Post by Adminenkainen on Sept 14, 2021 14:48:14 GMT
"Now," Doris responded, remaining the spokesperson for the team, "we have some calls to make. Sandy's department in New York and...I have the name of a friend for the Hawkman he gave me. I was to contact her if anything happened to him."
"Waitaminute," Zatara interjected. "Let's not forget our objective here. Those cultists down there are saboteurs and the Airworks company is still in danger. We need to warn them -- particularly since the cultists are sitting right underneath them with all those crazy creatures."
"We can divide our efforts from here," the Sandman said. "Some of us make the phone calls, some of us warn the factory workers, and some of us arrange for transportation of our dear companions here to the city morgue. What of you, Hour-Man? Is your work here done, or can you help us with one of those?"
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Post by dtspurrier on Sept 14, 2021 17:37:11 GMT
Hour-man says, " my work here is definitely not done. I can help warn the workers and even provide transportation as my vehicle is here. Maybe warn the military and get them involved. Otherwise I plan on going back down there are part of the assault to capture the man I saw who looked to be in charge."
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Post by Adminenkainen on Sept 15, 2021 15:12:36 GMT
The fallen heroes are carried to the south end of the American Aircraft Works, where most of the buildings are, and the parking lot where their cars were left is. When the heroes see Hour-Man's old car, Doris is quick to accept his offer, rather than put the bodies in her brand new 1940 Packard.
The Sandman volunteers to drive Hour-Man's car to the nearest city morgue, which they decide is likely not close in this rural part of West Virginia where there are no businesses other than this aircraft factory and coal mines. "I'll need to head all the way to Beckley," the Sandman says through his weird mask. "It could take an hour or two, including time to explain what happened and smooth things over with the local authorities."
Hour-Man throws him the keys and the Sandman audibly groans as he reaches his arm up to grab the keys. Which reminds everyone that the Sandman is seriously hurt. Bart Regan insists on going with him.
Zatara, also seriously hurt, refuses to seek treatment, but comes with Doris and Hour-Man to the main office of the AAW factory. Enough time has passed since the Justice Society left that a new shift is here now, but the night manager, Roger, knows all about them being here. Doris flashes him her credentials to reinforce their story, then asks for a phone to make calls.
Zatara and Hour-Man relate to poor Roger the fantastic tale of what happened, with Zatara filling in Hour-Man as well on what happened before he got there ((you can read the earliest page of this thread for that)). Roger turns white at the description of devil-like hypnotists and primitive rat-men living in caves just a mile north on the far side of the premises.
"That's incredible," he says. "If it's true, we should evacuate at once. I can't make that call on my own, though; I'll need to call the owners and get permission first."
"I think you probably should," Zatara says. "Do you agree, Hour-Man?"
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Post by dtspurrier on Sept 15, 2021 17:52:09 GMT
Hour-man says, " I agree and if we are all feeling better we should help with getting these people to safety". Hour-man comments, " Doris these creatures who they work for could be a possible Nazi sympathizers should we also get the military involved and/or the police?"
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Post by Adminenkainen on Sept 16, 2021 15:57:47 GMT
Although Hour-Man is chomping at the bit to summon the military, he finds the "getting these people to safety" part has already hit a snag. After a short argument it becomes clear that Roger is not persuading his bosses to evacuate everyone. Finally Roger covers the phone and says to Hour-Man and Zatara, "They won't close down; I'm to leave a skeleton crew here keeping operations going overnight. I can send only 60% of the employees home."
Zatara says, "Does he understand that there can be an attack on the factory at any time? Not just more covert sabotage, but a full-on assault?"
Roger holds the phone further from his mouth and says "You know...contracts and profits..."
Zatara looks over at Hour-Man as if to say Can you believe this?
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Post by dtspurrier on Sept 16, 2021 18:15:34 GMT
During the conversation with the boss, Hour-man would have liked to possibly overhear the conversation to see if he recognizes the voice. He also sees if Roger is the stranger he met down stairs
Eventually Hour-man comments, " well lets get who we can out of the factory"
(OOC is this is a private owned factory or military complex since this is WW2?)
When they leave the office, Hourman speaks to Zatarra. "One of the higher ups is involved with this somehow. Whether the main boss is being coerced to letting this happen or is the mastermind but something is not right."
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