Grip of the Mind Thieves, Chapter 15: Plans within plans!
GREETINGS TRUE BELIEVERS!
Welcome back!
We might be down to last ditch efforts, True Believers!
Our heroes are still caught on two fronts. Moon Knight, Bronze Tempest , Tesla Coil, and Loki are above ground dealing with Black Scarab and Silk Sphinx! Then, there are the mob of Overmind's drones with their mutagenic payload.
As a bonus, some mutated New Yorkers have jumped into the action... but not to help the heroes!
But just when things were turning dark, help arrived in the form of Donata, Apothecary Fu, and Poison ivy! Appearing in a blast of smoke, they tipped the scales back in favor of the heroes!
Down below, things have taken a dangerous turn for Taki, Sahara, and Statesman. With the help of an Ivory Talon Trooper who claims to be "Horus", the Science Court bailiff droids are no more.
Yet! Dr. Overmind is proving a major challenge for Sahara and Taki! Even the unexpected help from 'Silver Taki' has barely balanced the scales. The mastermind attacked Sahara and Taki in the hallway, using his full collection of Omni-drones.
And then, there was Statesman. He was locked in a battle against a woman who claimed to be his long dead fiancee! Separated from the others, Statesman is on the south side of the terminal. All alone save for his adversary.
I don't know about our heroes, but this just reeks of a classic "Overmind setup" to me, True Believers! He's already separated the team once, what's to say he has more plans to separate the team even further? Perhaps a master plan within his other master plan!
But for what sinister purpose? Lets find out!
This is Not Stan Lee saying...
EXCELSIOR!
Components
Goals
First...
The members of Mouse Force were mutated by a strange orange ooze. This is the same formula invented by Dr. Killian and almost used by the Clock King to contaminate the local water supply. Orange ooze known to the team to be made from the ultra rare and mysterious Crystal Jade Vine plant.
However, thanks to the research of Dr. Pamela Isley, also known as the eco-terrorist "Poison Ivy", they learned that the orange blossoms of the vine are known to be unstable. Citizens, even the Knights Vigilant's allies, Mouse Force, have been affected.
The clock is slowly ticking as the afflicted may explode in a fiery meta-powered overload.
How did Overmind get the chemical? How did he alter it? These questions still linger...
See the Editor's Note!
The situation is getting dire, True Believers!
'Nuff Said!
The members of Mouse Force are feeling the effects of the orange ooze! At least one member has developed out of control energy blasts out of his eyes! Another is losing control of a runaway phase or dispersal power!
The injection Donata received from Dr. Isley seems to be working. But! Will the rest of Mouse Force be innoculated in time?
'Nuff Said!
Then...
That ooze has been at the center of recent chaos from riots in Central Park, to an ambush at Pier 1 from a closed down newsstand. The results have been dire, with both citizens and heroes... such as Mouse Force... being mutated by the mysterious chemical.
Our heroes uncovered that Overmind isn't working alone!
Riddles, most appearing the famed New York Times crossword puzzles, gave hints to his criminal activity. Dr. Overmind isn't one for riddles or hints. However his new associate, Silk Sphinx, seems quite fond of them!
Riddle after hint pointed to key buildings around Manhattan and New York. Specifically museums. The Knights Vigilant scrambled to uncover why, but found themselves ensnared in one Overmind distraction after another.
Then came what may be Overmind's second associate... the Black Scarab!
Brutal, agile, and with a mysterious grudge against New York's own Egyptian themed heroes, such as Moon Knight, the Black Scarab's ambushes further snarled the Knights Vigilant's attempts to unravel Overmind's true plan.
But! Help Was Close By!
Detective Hirokoma Kozu of the Central Park Precinct, ally of the Knights Vigilant, met with the heroes atop the precinct rooftop with a bundle of evidence and clues. Overmind's crimes at the museums were bent on creating duplicates of New York City dioramas. Models that depict various parts and layers of New York City.
The heroes set out to find out what and why.
Research of city planning maps over the years, and some help from Kara's precognition, uncovered a long time hidden location in Central Park beneath the Bow Bridge. The mysterious Garden of the Heavens!
This had been taken over by the Golden Lotus and used as an underground greenhouse to grow Crystal Jade Vine plants in the light of strange and unusual glowing crystals in the lowest chamber. Somehow, both the plants and the crystals had the ability to mutate or rewrite a subject's DNA, activating their dormant Meta-Gene or further propelling their Meta-Gene to further express itself!
The Golden Lotus didn't appreciate visitors, yet the heroes were able to discover that Overmind was stealing ink powder, made from the Crystal Jade Vine by the Golden Lotus for their Meta-ink tattoos. The Knights Vigilant suspected this was connected back the Orange Ooze but they had no details beyond that.
But the details they did gain was information from a captured Disco Boy. The Disco Boy gang were using Overmind's heists as a "trojan horse" for thefts of their own. The Knights Vigilant had encountered the gang twice already in the midst of their "trojan horse thefts" but had not made the connection until that moment.
Through the Disco Boys, the heroes learned that Overmind was using the 59th Street Marine Transfer Station at Pier 99 as a waystation. A base to assemble duplicated parts of New York City dioramas with the help of captive, and mesmerized, New York City utility workers.
See the Editor's Note!
'Nuff Said!
There are countless rumors about the Disco Boys and Girls holding the 59th Street Marine Transfer Station in high regard. Even to the point of protecting it, until they feel they can't. Then they "recruit" some nearby hero to "assist". Was all of the "trojan horse" thefts they were committing, just a means to "recruit" the Knights Vigilant?
It would certainly fit the rumor, True Believers!
But only the Disco gangs know for sure!
'Nuff Said!
The diorama confirmed that Overmind's target either is associated with or in the New York City tunnel system. Was it the water supply? Perhaps related to the Stark Enterprises' Tech Expo held in Central Park!
After That!
Bronze Tempest, Moon Knight, Tesla Coil and Loki are trying to quell the all out battle that has erupted next to the Bandshell. The drones may be out of commission, but now there is Black Scarab, Silk Sphinx, an Omni-Drone and a quartet of Orange Ooze Mutants to contend with!
But! When things turned dire, help arrived. Acting fast, Apothecary Fu froze one Omni-Drone. Poison Ivy incapacitated the mutant civilians with fast growing vines. Donata rushed to Tesla Coil's aid as he had been caught by Silk Sphinx!
Below ground, Taki, Statesman, and Sahara have mopped up the Science Court's android 'bailiffs'. But the threat doesn't stop there! An uneasy truce with the Ivory Talons removes one threat, but leaves others! Such as the mysterious lady assassin who has it in for Statesman! And then there is the 'Silver Taki' who may, or may not be a threat.
And then, Dr. Overmind himself made an appearance!
... and Now!
The team above ground are using an idea of Bronze Tempest's to whittle down the drones without harming the balloons: sonic attacks! But Black Scarab and Silk Sphinx are still on the loose. True, the former is struggling with Moon Knight and the latter with Loki. But both villains have been very resourceful, will Moon Knight and Loki be able to best them?
Meanwhile, Bronze Tempest and Tesla are trying to deal with the drones and their strange payload. They have to stop the drones before any more balloons burst. Then there is the matter of the loose ooze that is starting to group together... perhaps at Bronze Tempest's expense!
Down below. Taki and Sahara work desperately to subdue Dr. Overmind while Statesman is trying to get himself loose to help his teammates. They must stop Overmind before the mastermind completes his dire plan...
Unless he's already committed his crime!
See the Editor's Note!
So much in a short time, True Believers!
It can be said that our heroes have been turned around, twisted up, and knocked about more than they can count. Overmind's altered serum, the mind controlling ooze, puts victims ... save for Bronze Tempest and Donata apparently ... under the mastermind's control.
It would be one way to commit the largest heist of all time... mass theft of a city by its own mind controlled citizens!
But...
Remember, True Believers, Overmind is in that small group of criminal masterminds that always have a plan running within a plan!
'Nuff Said!
Stakes
The heroes know the effects of the orange ooze is a ticking time bomb. Their allies, Mouse Force, have been contaminated. Several city employees and a few civilans have been contaminated as well. If the chemical timer expires, it would spell disaster for Mouse Force and others!
They enlisted Dr. Pamela Isley, aka Poison Ivy, to assist. Is even her brilliant efforts enough? Has Overmind thought of, and planned for even this?
Now, with ooze filled balloons over Central Park, the danger has increased! Would tourists try to stay in Central Park among the danger despite being escorted out by Code Blue and the NYPD?
Relations
Protagonists
The Knights Vigilant!
Sahara
Moon Knight
Taki
"Statesman" ( secretly also known as Trickshot )
Bronze Tempest
Allies
Dr. Pamela Isley, "Poison Ivy" Infamous eco-terrorist and expert on botany and botanical science. Working to analyze the mysterious fluid ... will she find something for the team that can help them?
Detective Hirokoma Kozu Veteran detective of the NYPD Central Park Precinct and contact with the Knights Vigilant.
Danny Chang Now former "Ink Enforcer" of the Golden Lotus, turned student of "The Way" or the philosophies as espoused by Statesman and the Knights Vigilant! Convinced to follow the path of the hero, he struggles with a dark past and deeds done for the Golden Lotus criminal organization.
Apothecary Fu! Apothecary and shop owner in New York's famous Chinatown area. While the public knows him as a friendly shopkeeper, the Knights Vigilant turn to him for advice as he is a retired, globe-trotting hero!
Neutrals/Bystanders
Detective Kato MacHale Seasoned Code Blue police detective temporarily working at the Central Park NYPD precinct. He helped the heroes during the fight at Manhattan's Pier I, and showed again at the Museum of New York. Is he a friend? or Foe? What is his connection to Taki?
Adversaries
Dr. Overmind! Brilliant inventor and mastermind. Expert at cybernetics and mental interface technology.
The Mysterious Black Scarab, possibly known as 'Set'! He seems to have a grudge against Moon Knight, perhaps against all Egyptian themed vigilantes. What is it?
The mysterious Mistress of Riddles, and ally of Dr. Overmind, the Silk Sphinx! She also seems to know Moon Knight, yet without the same vengence based motivation as the Black Scarab. Is she the true source of the riddles?
See the Editor's Note!
In fact, True Believer, she is!
The nefarious criminal, the Riddler, has long retired from a life of crime. Instead, taking up pursuits such as philanthropy and freelance tutoring of the younger generation of heroes and villains in the fine art of 'deduction'.
Because of this, Silk Sphinx seeks to fill this void left by the Riddler. A criminal seeking to not only conduct her own personal war against the establishment but also show these self-styled 'heroic capes' that she has the superior intellect!
'Nuff Said!
'Nuff Said!
A deadly and mysterious lady assassin! Armed and armored, she is the spitting image of Statesman's long dead fiancée. Back from the dead, she claims to have survived due one of her mutant abilities. Now? She has it in for Statesman!
See the Editor's Note!
Remember, don't believe everything you hear!
Dr. Overmind's true skill is not only mental control and mesmerization but manipulation as well. Many times victims are doing his bidding while not even realizing it. There's far more to this dangerous young woman than meets the eye.
So the real question? Is Statesman ready for the true answer to this one?
'Nuff Said!
Backdrops
Locations
Mysterious 1890's Pneumatic Train Station!
Long lost and forgotten, this relic of New York's past has been mysteriously refurbished with technology that would make SAFEGUARD surprised! Three of the Knights Vigilant are here delving in this technological mystery all the while running up against yet more, perhaps stolen, combat androids from the Science Court!
Yet! Central Park!
Overmind's plans seem to include the New York City tunnel network. Specifically, the area underneath Central Park near the Stark Expo with the latest and greatest in technological advancements.
Also, a swarm of tiny drones carry balloons over the park, primarily the following locations...
Bow Bridge
Leob Boathouse
Delacorte Theater
Belevedere Castle
... certainly not at all the area between the Great Lawn and the Metropolitan Museum of Art where the Stark Expo is located!
Plot type
Chapter
Parent Plot
Related Characters
Related Organizations
Related Locations
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