Superhero Adventures, UK Style

The morning after Sam had sent in the application, a call came in on their public line from a Ms, no make that Dame Murdoch, Director of the UK chapter of Heroes without Frontiers. Frankie passed it straight through to a very excited Sam.

Dame Madison Murdoch, ‘Just call me Maddie’, quickly confirmed that their application for the team to be affiliated had been received and before Sam could ask any questions or even offer his thanks, Maddie jumped in, “I understand you are flame resilient, but how flame resistant, fire retardant are you? Could you cope with lava from a volcano for example? And Banshee can turn herself and others insubstantial, is that right?” His “ye…” reply was again cut short with another quick fire-related series of questions. “Can Akira create telekinetic constructs? Nothing fancy, just walls and again would they be fireproof? Who else is on the team?”

She seemed slightly frantic as she finally explained, “We’ve a very reliable Precog’ who’s confirmed a major volcanic eruption in less than 48 hours. Can you and your team clear your schedules in time? Your transport, is it capable of international flight, like say to Bali? We would need the team for a fortnight, starting as soon as possible; you’d be part of the initial response. Are you available?”

Sam very briefly explained about Mace and their support team, though he did admit he didn’t know who would be available to go.

Checking with Adam revealed that the Raft, provided it went supersonic when away from crossing landmasses, could be there in just over eight hours. It would take Mace twenty-six hours on her bike, but Adam had an idea. Bethany had a larger Grav-Van he might be able to borrow; whilst not as fast as the Raft and definitely lacked the manoeuvrability of Mace’s bike, it was fast enough to get there in less than twelve to fifteen hours (it could travel overland since it wouldn’t be breaking the sound barrier).  It had room enough to carry essential supplies, Maces’ bike and even act as a temporary shelter for the team.

Sam turned back to Maddie, “I need to talk to the team, ok if I call you back in ten minutes?”

Time for a team conference; Akira had left the building already that morning on a personal errant and had to be contacted via the team’s comm-channel. He seemed to have someone else talking to him at the same time as Sam was trying to explain that the team was needed in Bali. This other man was saying something about rough pebbles becoming shining gemstones? Akira agreed to return quickly and a few minutes later appeared in the Teleport Room, smiling.

Sam’s enthusiasm for the task was infectious. He was extremely keen to go.

Mary stated that she was always up for saving and protecting folk, and it will be something of a relief to deal with a natural disaster without any Machiavellian scheming behind it to be puzzled out!

They voted (with Sam voting with both hands, though to his disappointment the team didn’t allow him double the votes) to undertake the mission and again whether to contact Bethany and see if she would lend them the van to act as a bit of a hub when they arrived. The benefits would outweigh the extra couple of hours it would take to get there and it would be faster than Mace’s cycle on such a long haul. He kept on discussing how they might be able to help the local people; Mary would be able to use her healing powers, Akira had a whole slew of practical spells and then there was Mace’s technical skills.

If they could fit her in, he wanted Mikey along too; he was sure that with Adam and Mikey’s creativity and insights they would be able to come up with something useful and supportive while they were there.

Mikey also made it clear she wanted to go and suggested taking ‘Hercules’ and ‘Xena’, two of her roboguard-dogs. At first, the team seemed dubious until she pointed out that Annie before leaving had already planned for just this sort of contingency and had designed a specialist routine that reprogrammed them to assist with Search & Rescue missions. The final roboguard, would remain behind to guard the junkyard. Since Jeeves made it clear that he was too old to be traipsing through Jungles (and was unwilling to leave Rascal) that he would stay behind and ‘Gabrielle’ would be answerable to him.

Sam was all for calling Maddie back immediately but Mary stopped him and suggested they needed to speak with Bethany first. This was the team sponsor, Mace was told. Finally, she would meet their mysterious benefactor. She was willing to go with them but really wasn’t keen on leaving her bike behind even if it did mean taking a lot longer to get there.  It was also partly nerves, what would she be able to do in a volcanic eruption since she didn’t have any superpowers?

The Screen came on and to her utter amazement, this mysterious sponsor turned out to be a young girl in a school uniform, couldn’t be more than 11 or 12 years of age. Bethany immediately welcomed her to the team.  She explained that she had already approved her membership which apparently included a regular monthly wage on top of her HCP fees and a share of the merchandising rights of the team and said that either Jeeves or someone Bethany called Jimmy the Fish would explain what that actually meant. Seems she was already financially better off than she thought. This young girl was obviously used to conducting business and had a mind like a steel trap.

As soon as Adam explained their transport issue, she told him to leave the ‘rust bucket’ he’d requested and take the newer grav-van (apparently she had a fleet of grav-vehicles at her personal disposal; how rich was this kid anyway?) as it was larger, faster and able to hold more. She’d transfer it over as a back-up vehicle to the team when she had a chance. In the meantime, it was available for this mission.

She asked what they needed as far as equipment and Sam started listing Masks, oxygen, goggles, heavy-duty gloves and boots – it’s this kind of thing that they’d need to take. To that, she added that she’d arrange a supply of emergency shelters, water filtration systems and food to be diverted as soon as possible. “In the meantime…” and suddenly a pretty blonde female, possibly in her late teens shared the now split screen with her as she initiated a joint conference call. This girl was apparently the world famous Tesla Challenger-Wildeman (on speed dial!) and Bethany quickly explained the situation to her. The call ended in about a minute with The Challenger-Wildeman family donating a portable fusion generator to their list – it would be capable of powering the island’s emergency infrastructure indefinitely once properly installed; and she and Adam would be expected to install it!

The essentials in place, Sam placed the return call to Maddie; they needed time to pack but would be on their way in a couple of hours. She actually squealed with delight. They would be working with half of the Australian National Team, the Southern Stars and some independents from the region as initial responders.

The practical stuff was sorted next; Adam and Mace would need to act as pilots. The van, which was a lot larger than they expected, was capable of carrying not just the arc fusion reactor but also at Jeeves suggestion her fabricator and her sky-bike as well as enough supplies to last for several weeks.  Mary and Sam would fly in the ‘Raft’ with Adam and some essential rescue equipment in the spare seat; Mace would pilot the slower ‘Crate’ with Akira, Mikey and the two robotic dogs on-board as well as the rest of the supplies.

Mary also decided to contact Marcus and Superintendent Cunningham to let them know that they would be away for a couple of weeks dealing with an emergency. Together they agreed that they would arrange for London Watch to cover Wessex during their absence – Marcus was aware that they already have at least one contact in the area. Sam was pretty sure he meant Lance.

Sam also decided to give Jack a call at the Endeavour to make him aware that the team would be out of the Country on a humanitarian mission.  Could he whisper to the other do-gooder patrons that they could call in a favour for a little neighbourhood watch for the next couple of weeks during their absence? Jack also promised to buy in another bottle of Royal Dragon for their return.

Bali

It had been a long, uncomfortable trip at top speed to Bali and they landed at the temporary HsF camp at the base of the volcano, Mount Agung. Adam, Mary and Sam were acutely aware that the others were still several hours out.

Communities closest to the volcano had already been evacuated, to try to avoid a repeat of the tragedy in 1963: last time Mount Agung erupted, around 1,600 islanders had died.

Whilst Adam rushed off to make the necessary preparations for installing the incoming portable C-W Tech ARC Fusion Reactor, with emphasis on making sure that the local hospital was fully supplied.

Meanwhile Mary and Sam were introduced to their Australian counterparts, The Southern Stars; Blue Ensign, Australian Spirit and Kindle as well an Indonesian geomancer called “Penggerak-Bhumi”.

The local head of rescue operations, a Steve Mitchell, had called a conference. He started the meeting by declaring that their precog had predicted that they had a day and a half at most before the volcano blew. Others would be turning up soon, but in the meantime, they had to be ready for anything. Penggerak-Bhumi, Peni as he was happy for them to call him, had predicted the safest areas on the island and local people were being directed to go there immediately.

Thousands had already been evacuated, but there were still a couple of hundred locals who refused to leave until they were certain they had no other option; that and the tourists who had to visit to take selfies in front of the volcano.

One team would be directed to try create barriers to make sure that the lava was redirected away from the refugees.

Sam pointed out, “well, for volcanoes, I understand it isn’t usually the lava flows that are the issue: it’s the ash, the Pyroclastic flow. So what is the best way to go about reducing ash? Displacing it away from the innocents: encouraging it to blow away from the largest concentration of people.”

Australian Spirit, an attractive woman capable of turning insubstantial, nodded, “Volcanic ash consists mostly of sharp-edged, hard glass particles and pulverized rock. It is very abrasive and, is largely composed of siliceous materials. It is usually accompanied by gaseous solutions of sulphur dioxide which, when combined with water creates sulphuric acid, chlorine which can create hydrochloric acid as other corrosive chemicals. We need to figure out a way to direct it away from settlements.” Bet she is a geologist or teacher in her secret identity, thought Sam.

Steve smiled, “and that’s why we have Weather Witch hopefully arriving within a few hours. Her powers will create a centralised tropical storm to blow the ash safely across the ocean. We’re lucky to have a super coming in who can get the fish in that area to flee before the ash fall hits and decimates the sea life in the region. He’s an Aquan, for those who know about them..? No, and I thought their existence was the world’s worst kept secret; seems we ‘surface dwellers’ have cousins who became aquatic millennia ago and now live under the sea. I can’t tell you more without you undergoing a top level security clearance but Triton is one of them, an ambassador if you will, and he has the ability to control sea life.

Let’s make sure we reduce the ecological impact of Agung’s ‘temper tantrum’ as well as saving lives, people.

While one team is dealing with the ash fallout, I want another team, ah Peni, Sam, Kindle and ah, Mace when she arrives, I need you to conceive a realistic plan to reduce the lava?”

They broke into teams, Kindle, a woman who seemed to be permanently on fire, joined Sam and Peni.

Sam suggested possibly lancing the volcano to create additional flows in safe areas to reduce pressure. That give Peni an idea and they worked out whether the three powered could melt and move enough rock to redirect and reduce the lava… Sam also wondered how crazy it would be to organise an expedition into the core of the volcano to excavate even more rock to prevent the explosion?  Needless to say, that idea got voted down quickly.

While this was going on Steve continued, “The rest of you we need to try moving the innocents: There will be a number of people who refuse to leave their homes despite the likelihood of dying by the exploding volcano.

It may just be a case of using powers, such as persuasion or compulsion spells – that kind of thing; I believe magic is your and Akira’s skillset, Banshee. If necessary, and only as a last resort, you can  start forcibly removing them from their properties or even use fear powers on them. It’ll be unpopular, but it’s the lesser of two evils and must be a last resort. We can’t afford court cases. Please just try and persuade them that this a real threat.”

Banshee admitted her ‘aptitudes’ don’t really lend themselves to dealing with the volcano itself (though her destructive screaming was always available if the rest of the team can come up with any use for it) – but she would be good for evacuation and Search and Rescue. It was time to try and persuade the locals and tourists to move to safety. She was joined by Blue Ensign and Australian Spirit.

Mary decided she’d activate her Banshee powers but stay in her Young Mary image, so as to avoid scaring the bejezus out of rescuees… She had her healing skills and her insubstantiality as did Spirit, but she had an ace that she didn’t; it was agreed that she would act as emergency evac grabbing trapped folk, turning them insubstantial and get them out of wherever.

As they did the rounds, the number of people who refused to leave their homes despite the likelihood of dying by the exploding volcano was unbelievable. Instead, they were marked on a map so that the HSF teams could evacuate them later.

In the meantime, Sam and Kindle worked with the geomancer Peni to create channels into the sea and then begin melting and tunnelling into the volcano. The next day they were joined by Akira and Mace.  Akira temporarily shored up the tunnels as Sam and Kindle melted several paths towards the core while Peni moved rocks in place to create a release tube.

The aim was to reduce the magma pressure and syphon off some of the lava before it erupted. They got so close to the core that even Sam feared the intense heat. Instead, it was down to Mace to shoot several specialist explosive bolts from the surface, one after the other in quick succession down the artificial tubes they’d created to finally crack the last metre of rock and start the magma flowing in a controlled manner into the coastal areas that Triton had cleared of marine life.

This was then repeated several times in a number of different locations.

The precog back in Edinburgh confirmed that their lava reduction bypasses had reduced the volcanoes explosive impact by 56%. It would still blow, but the impact globally would now be negligible though the impact on Bali itself was still likely to be high.

When Agung started to blow a day later, it was all hands on deck.

Adam moulded sheet metal into rafts to make it easier for Sam to pull the natives possessions (and animals) to safely, Mikey’s robotic dogs and Banshee hunted out separated families and guided families to safety; to many locals they were forest spirits incarnated and had more success in persuading families to move than anyone.

Mikey herself was busy creating self-erecting homes and dwellings as well as solar panels for those who hadn’t been able to draw power from their only generator.

Mace’s 3D fabricator worked nonstop creating power connectors, circuit boards and almost anything else electrical they needed, though raw components were starting to run out.

At one point while rescuing a family who’d remained to the very last minute, Sam was forced to use his draconic persuasion on them but they had left it too late as lava started flowing down the hill and threatened to engulf them. In the end, Sam elected to throw their three young children up to Mace circling on her grav-cycle. She caught them safely and made them sit carefully on the two metal stretchers Adam had manufactured for either side of her cycle. It looked as though Sam and the adults would be caught in the lava flow but Akira managed to throw up a TK barrier causing the lava to start gathering behind it.

The intense heat emanating through the mystical barrier almost made him collapse but he was determined to hold the lava back until Sam and the parents escaped no matter what, only to see Mace fire a succession of her experimental ice arrows into his barrier. The intense cold made the red-hot lava instantly solidify creating a solid if temporary barrier and giving Akira time to drop his barrier and escape.

Banshee and Spirit were the last out, having rescued several families trapped behind the lava flows with Banshee transporting them up to Mace and Adam who then transported them out of the area in the grav-vehicles.

Thankfully, no one died in the eruption but several families were trapped, forcing Banshee and the two robotic dogs to undertake search and rescue operations. They found over a dozen people still alive but trapped by the explosion. She then found herself using her skills to find and rescue cats and dogs trapped in collapsed houses.

Peni was still throwing up earth and stone barriers a week later to divert the lava flows away, whilst Weather Witch worked incessantly for over 60 hours maintaining a storm to blow the bellowing ash safely across the ocean and away from land. In the end she collapsed from exhaustion and plummeted towards the ground and certain death, unable to maintain her flight only to be caught by Banshee who turned them both insubstantial and landed her unconscious and utterly drained passenger to the ground where she slept for over 36 hours.

Banshee, using a dowsing spell guided the locals as to where to drill for fresh water deep under the Earth helped by Mikey using her cybernetic mole-creations who drilled down where she directed.

For a week, they fought the exploding volcano and won. Sleep had consisted of grabbing a 30-minute snooze when they could but no one died, though hundreds of people were injured. The generator was powerful enough to replace the entire output of the islands power stations and Tess promised that the Challenger-Wildeman family would donate and build a full fusion power station as soon as they possibly could.

Once the first week was behind them and the Volcano began to settle, they began to relax at least in the evenings. It was then that Sam realised that Blue Ensign of the Southern Stars seemed very homophobic towards Adam. He was about to have a word about his archaic attitude when Adam stopped him and explained that it didn’t bother him and anyway he was sure that the man “doth protest too much” and it was his opinion that he was likely gay himself but feared to come out of the closet. Not sure that he fully agreed with Adam’s assessment he did make sure that he was always present when his brother and Blue Ensign were both together.

Triton was curious to know if Mary knew his sister Nereid, who’d apparently also come to the surface world and who now served with the Aontacht Éire and was surprised when she said she didn’t.

That night Australian Spirit came on to Akira, and bluntly asked him to share her tent that night. Akira still wasn’t totally sure whether he wanted to rededicate himself to celibacy and he was also very taken with Mai-Li so he respectfully declined this cougars offer. She laughed and kissed him before going over to chat to Triton and a few minutes later, they both crawled into her tent.

Next morning he felt his decision had been justified when he discovered from Kindle that Spirit had a regular girlfriend, Deadeye, who’d had to stay behind with their teammates Kupe and Night Haunt to provide cover in Australia.

Time went quickly, too quickly. At the end of the second week they were called in by Steve, who thanked them for all their efforts. He then reminded them that a team from South Africa, SASHA, would be replacing them tomorrow as promised.

Sam did ask why they were being rotated out after only two weeks when there was obviously so much still to do, but was told that it was policy that the newest First responder team only stayed for two weeks until the recovery teams could arrive. This was to ensure that the new team didn’t suffer burn out and then decide not to help out when needed in the future. Triton would be leaving at the same time as them, The Southern Stars, Penni and Weather Witch would also be returning home in another weeks’ time and a team that specialised in disaster recovery would replace them. The team made their goodbyes with their fellow rescuers and literally thousands of locals who came to thank them and wish them a safe journey home. Everyone was asking them to return when they could.

They returned to the UK to discover in their absence that the team had become a merchandising success – their action figures had managed to be manufactured in time for distribution to toy stores across the UK as a last minute Christmas item and had proved extremely popular with parents and children alike. Mace was surprised to see that she had been included and in fact, the most popular models had been a figure of her with a fictionalised version of her Sky-bike and Sam, but all of the figures have sold well with Akira being the parents favourite and Banshee in full roar, popular with the teen market.

It was the morning of Saturday the 23^rd of December; they had made it back in time for Christmas.