You follow your old friend, Ed Johnson, into the Crown Jewel Lounge and pass by two bouncers on your way in who greet Ed cheerfully and nod stiffly at you as he vouched for you and you follow your friend into a dimly lit, smoke-filled lounge filled with about fifty tables facing towards a stage in the far back of the room. A group of what appeared to be beatnik musicians sat against the far wall, each wearing dark shades and playing their instruments lightly. The spotlight from the other end of the lounge was on a very attractive African-American woman who snapped her fingers and shrieked suddenly.
>I try to look as if I belong, walk with confidence, that sort of thing.<
WOMAN (her eyes clenched tightly as she grimaced, still snapping her fingers absently): "Fear and death are the same thing, my sister. Both chill to the soul. Both can kill."
ROB (wide-eyed): "Damn, they do that a lot in here?"ED (leaning over towards Rob as he stopped to watch): "That's who I wanted you to meet, Rob. My literary agent, Michelle...she's a closet poet who sometimes recites her stuff here. Good stuff, too. Very cool."
ROB: "Deep. Very musical. I like it."
MICHELLE (her eyes still closed tightly, slowly assuming a fetal position, her snapping fingers losing their rhythm): "Fear and death are a man's constant companion throughout life. Neither were ever invited. Neither were ever wanted. Yet without them we are left with nothing but fear and death...with no hope for tomorrow...no inspiration from yesterday. Without them we are all...fearfully dead."
As you watch, the spotlight dies, leaving the lounge in total darkness for a few seconds before the lights come back up and the audience all snap their fingers loudly in appreciation for Michelle's performance.
ED (whispering to you while snapping his fingers in appreciation): "I'm very blessed to have a literary agent with such class. I think you'll like her."
>I nod and snap my fingers.<
You notice from Ed's expression that he was at it again - he was trying to set you up with someone he knew. You should have seen it coming, with how eager he was to have you visit his circle of friends outside of your heroic identities.
>I sigh inwardly and try not to let my face show my thoughts.<
Ed slowly leads you to a table beside the open area that obviously served as the lounge stage. Already seated were three guys saying to each other how they couldn't figure how Michelle could come up with such material & a tall woman who wore glasses who hugged Michelle as she joined them at their table.
ED (winking at you as he introduced you, pointing everyone out from left to right): "Everyone, I found my friend, Rob. Luckily he was ahead of all the disaster going on in the subway. Rob, these are my friends Jace, Doug, Antonio, Sara, and Michelle."ANTONIO (shoving a beefy hand at you warmly as he half-stood up to greet you): "Hey Rob! We're glad you could finally join us at the hang-out at last."
>I shake his hand and smile at him and everyone else at the table.<
ROB (grinning): "Yeah. The trip, itself was easy – it was actually making it that was hard."
(You notice the woman in glasses, who was introduced to you only as "Sara", shared a strange look with Ed as he took his seat in between her and Michelle while leaving you to sit between Michelle and Jace.)
MICHELLE: "Ed tells me that you're an editor for a magazine? Anything widely circulated?"
ROB (shrugging): "I do freelance work for Science Fiction Age and a few others." (suddenly raising a roguish eyebrow) "Ed tells me that you've gotten him some sweet book deals."
MICHELLE (meeting your gaze, and smiling provocatively): "He tells me that you might be collaborating with him on his next project. Any ideas just yet?"
ROB (matching her grin): "Well, I've been wanting to do an e-book project, but Ed needs convincing, as usual."
MICHELLE (laughing lightly): " Yes, I know. He seems to feel that he'll be losing his touch as a writer. He's such a bibliophile. Maybe together we could convince him to join the 21st Century...?"
ROB (nodding appreciatively): "Exactly! It isn't like I want to throw away all the paper, but I think there's room on the shelf for some electronic reading."
SARA (cuddling up to Ed): "You would think that with all the digital stuff he puts into his book that he would be at the forefront of the e-book pack!"
ED (uncomfortably): "Well...maybe I could put a toe in the water and see how it goes..."
>I laugh heartily<
MICHELLE: "Not that I have any doubt you would be able to produce a product. Ed's sometimes a bit too prolific of a writer, you know. He's already submitted another trilogy set in the Quantum Arcana universe featuring a she-male mercenary fighting off an invasion of ancient, creeping horrors!"
At that moment, the lights flicker on and off ominously. Most of the people in the lounge look around curiously.
ROB (trying to ignore the flickering lights): "Yeah, I'm well aware of Ed's writing speed; the difference between us is one of our problems with collaboration. "
ED (his brow furrowed, absently gazing at the lights on the ceiling): "I could slow down a bit to be able to produce a better product, my friend. Who knows? It may even do my writing some good."
ROB (offhandedly): "Wow, the owners here really go for the atmosphere, don't they!"
JACE (looking troubled): "Flickering lights are not part of the ambiance, Rob. Excuse me...I'll go check from Helen just what the deal is. We want to avoid electrical fires, you know."
Jace walks off briefly as the lights flicker again, this time with a sickening sizzling sound before snapping off completely. Your hair suddenly stands on end as you quickly become aware of a sound near your table sounding like the gnashing of teeth. Michelle grabs your hand in the dark, obviously hearing the sound, too.
ED (softly, but firmly from where he sat): "I think we should edge our way out of here. Call it a hunch..."
>Can I see in the dark [or very close to it] with Super Senses?<
(We can say that...so what do you want to do?)
>I want to be able to see around me using my super senses to compensate for the darkness.<
To your horror, you notice Faceless Jack in the stage area, a couple of feet behind Michelle...its maw gnashing hungrily. You don't see him very well, but enough of him to know just what was making that unsettling noise)
ROB: (moving Michelle behind him, whispering): "Find the door. Get out of here. Quickly."
(You also notice that Ed was edging his friends towards the exit from his side of the table.)
>I point Michelle in the direction of the fire escape door, if I can see it.<
(You do and she scurries off with the others. You see Ed making his way towards you in the growing chaos.)
ED (under his breath so no one could hear): "I assume you can see whatever that is?"
ROB (whispering just as softly in return): "Faceless Jack."
ED (grimly): "Be right back..."
ROB (nodding to himself): "Time to get down and dirty with this thing."
You feel a rush of wind suddenly, and you know that Ed has now used his super speed to change into his heroic persona – Speedstar.
SPEEDSTAR (now shimmering in the darkness in his silver uniform): "I'll try to keep it busy while you change..."
>Using my shapeshifting, I alter my shape into my costume, instead of changing clothes, and make my fists into spiked maces.<
You see one of the tables become a blur as it suddenly shoves Faceless Jack out of the lounge...Jack howling an inhuman, spine-chilling howl.
>I follow the creature, readying my spiked fists.<
(You follow the creature outside, where the blur behind it shoves it into the alley you were in just moments ago...then you attack. You send your spiked fist into Faceless Jack's maw, a sickening crunch accompanies your punch as you shove the sucker-like lips on the maw into the jagged teeth...the creature howls in pain.)
>I attack again.<
(You send another, spiked fist into the creature's maw and it flies backward with the force of the impact, it's faceless maw bloody and raw from its uncontrollably gnashing teeth.)
>What's it doing?<
(It's rather stunned at the moment and still howling like a wounded animal...its voice carrying over several city blocks.)
>I pin it to the ground as best I can.<
(You notice a silver blur helping you with a nylon cord that suddenly appeared around its torso, pinning its arms down.)
>I unwrap my fists and use cling my fingers to the ground to help keep it down.<
LABRYNTHE (uncertainly): "Uhm, Speedstar…what're we going to do with this guy? Assuming that this thing even has a gender…"
SPEEDSTAR (grinning): "There's always Ripley's museum...it's down a few blocks on the right..."
>I laugh and shake my head.<
LABRYNTHE: "Seriously, what can we do with him?"
(As you stand over your captive, to your surprise Faceless Jack speaks to you and Speedstar in a raspy, very inhuman voice.)
FACELESS JACK: "You two have been marked by the Thirteen. Neither of you shall survive the night, for I am but the instrument of your destruction. I shall return for a third time and that shall be the moment of your doom."
(Faceless Jack hisses violently, as if the creature was, itself, a pit of vipers. To your horror, the creature again melts into the ground as if it never was.)
SPEEDSTAR (his grin falling): "Uh...is that what he did in the tunnel...?"
LABRYNTHE (frowning, rubbing his fingers as if the chill of death had just ran through them): "Yeah. Maybe when we're done, we can deliver Faceless Jack's carcass to Ripley's...?"
SPEEDSTAR: "Would it be obvious that I have a very bad feeling about all of this…? Since when could Faceless Jack talk???"
LABRYNTHE: "I'm still adjusting to Faceless Jack even existing…"
SPEEDSTAR (with a raised eyebrow): "Why do you think we were singled out?"
LABRYNTHE: "Maybe because we interfered in the subway? That seems to be the reason for everything, when it comes to our enemies, isn't it? Interfering, that is…
SPEEDSTAR (scratching the back of his neck): "I don't like the idea that our Incredible Melting Faceless Thing will be coming back and that these ‘Thirteen' people find us an annoyance."
LABRYNTHE (nodding to himself): That's another stereotypical thing that always seems to happen, too, you know. Our enemies find us an annoyance to be swat off the face of the Earth. Why can't we all just get along, Zippy???"
SPEEDSTAR: "I have some nasty suspicions...and please don't call me ‘Zippy'…"
LABRYNTHE: "Any ideas? I don't really want to just wait around before the instrument of my destruction comes to get me. Although that's something that always seems to happen too – our enemies always seem to tell us what they intend to do. I never could understand that."
SPEEDSTAR (suddenly): Remember that chick with the swords I told you about...inspired by Swashbuckler to become a hero for the city...?"
LABRYNTHE: "Yeah, vaguely. Do you plan on dragging her into this mess, too? You're not satisfied that we're the only ones marked by these guys calling themselves ‘the Thirteen'? Have you even seen her since that last time you mentioned her?"
SPEEDSTAR (distantly): "Oh, here and there. But I think we need to pool our resources...I hate having to fight anything remotely mystical on my own for reasons I'm certain you're realizing yourself..."
LABRYNTHE (nodding to himself, still rubbing his fingers absently): "You mean like how there always seems to be voices from faceless, weird creatures?"