Stories RPG Crossover: Gigacity Guardians 4 Tusk Tower Tension

Summary

Podcast Summary: Stories RPG Crossover: Gigacity Guardians 4 - Tusk Tower Tension

Episode Information:

• Title: Stories RPG Crossover: Gigacity Guardians 4 - Tusk Tower Tension
• Host/Author: Starglow Media / Wondery
• Release Date: February 6, 2025
• Description: This special crossover episode features the Giga City Guardians—a team of unique superheroes—as they navigate a high-stakes mission at Tusk Corporation. Utilizing interactive RPG elements, listeners are taken on an engaging adventure filled with suspense, teamwork, and heroic deeds.

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1. Introduction to the Giga City Guardians

The episode kicks off with the introduction of the Giga City Guardians, highlighting their diverse and unconventional team members:

• Dan: The writer of Stories Podcast, serving as both narrator and supporting character.
• Ape Canaveral: A miraculous space ape who survived an experimental spacecraft explosion, now using his newfound powers to protect both monkeys and humans.
• Scriv (Animus): Once an office worker, Scriv is the newer member of the Guardians, excited to harness his unexpected super abilities.
• Firefly (Jillian Jayes): The charismatic leader played by Amanda Weldon, renowned for her heroic spirit and strategic leadership.

Notable Quote:

• Ape Canaveral ([02:23]): “All apes are great, but he's the greatest.”

2. Recap of Previous Events

Dan provides a brief recap of the previous session to set the stage for the current adventure:

• Werebear and Firefly were injected with spores from the Scarlet King, Firefly's formidable arch-nemesis and her grandmother.
• Ape and Animus decide to investigate Tusk Corporation, the source of Ape's powers and the perpetrator behind the mutagenic spores.

3. Initiating the Mission at Tusk Corporation

As Ape and Animus approach the towering facade of Tusk Corporation, alarms begin to wail, signaling imminent danger.

Notable Quote:

• Scriv ([05:10]): “These alarms sound terrifyingly similar to the alarms that were going off when I first fled the scene.”

4. Introducing the Drama Clock

Dan introduces the concept of a Drama Clock, a game mechanic representing intense, time-sensitive moments where characters must achieve specific goals to ensure a favorable outcome.

Key Mechanics:

• Triumphs Needed: Seven triumphs within six moves.
• Triumph Rolls: Players must roll dice to achieve successes, with special abilities allowing for dice boosts.

5. The Chase and Infiltration Attempt

Ape leaps into action, attempting to chase suspicious figures carrying bundled objects. Simultaneously, Animus strategizes to stealthily infiltrate Tusk Corp.

Notable Quote:

• Ape Canaveral ([12:20]): “Maybe I'll jump down there after that, that Catman do.”

6. Confrontation at the Port

A dramatic confrontation unfolds at the port where Ape faces off against a colossal centaur-like figure and a menacing cat-like creature. Amidst the chaos, creative tactics come into play, including Ape's humorous yet heroic banana peel maneuver.

Notable Quote:

• Ape Canaveral ([44:15]): “I was definitely going to try to outpace them. And just as a little side thing, I'm going to get on the radio like Firefly.”

7. Firefly’s Tactical Intervention

Back at the Lighthouse, Firefly takes command, utilizing her hacking prowess to manipulate surveillance drones. Her strategic thinking plays a crucial role in turning the tide of the battle.

Notable Quote:

• Firefly ([33:23]): “I wonder if there is a way that we can hijack the drones or something. Or hack the drones.”

8. Climactic Showdown and Rescue

The Guardians successfully navigate through Tusk Corp's defenses, culminating in a tense rescue operation where they uncover unsettling truths about the corporation's experiments. The team faces moral dilemmas and physical challenges, reinforcing their commitment to justice.

Notable Quote:

• Scriv ([57:24]): “Maybe after he's done feeding Ape an ab sandwich. Get those McRibs.”

9. Character Reflections and Growth

As the mission concludes, the Guardians engage in a reflective conversation, acknowledging each other’s strengths and contemplating future developments in their heroic journey.

Notable Quotes:

• Dan: “I'll give a shout out to Scriv, AKA Animus, for the Werebear channel. Pretty cool.”
• Amanda Weldon (Firefly): “I think a big part of what is important to Gill is making her grandpa proud, Grandpa Jack proud, and also her dad.”

10. Conclusion and Teasers

The episode wraps up with the Guardians assessing their progress against the Drama Clock, setting the stage for future adventures. Listeners are invited to engage further through merchandise, personalized messages, and social media interactions.

Notable Quote:

• Scriv ([60:06]): “Josh, I appreciated that moment from a storytelling perspective. I appreciated the difficulty or the challenge there.”

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Key Takeaways and Insights

• Team Dynamics: The episode emphasizes the importance of teamwork, with each member bringing unique strengths and perspectives to overcome challenges.
• Interactive Storytelling: Utilizing RPG mechanics like the Drama Clock, the podcast engages listeners in the decision-making process, making the experience immersive and participatory.
• Character Development: Moments of reflection showcase the growth of each Guardian, highlighting their personal motivations and evolving relationships.
• Humor and Heart: Balancing intense action with light-hearted moments (e.g., the banana peel tactic) adds depth and relatability to the characters.

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Conclusion: "Stories RPG Crossover: Gigacity Guardians 4 - Tusk Tower Tension" delivers an enthralling blend of superhero action, strategic role-playing, and heartfelt storytelling. Through dynamic character interactions and high-stakes missions, listeners are drawn into the vibrant world of the Giga City Guardians, eagerly anticipating their next heroic endeavors.

Transcript

[Dan]

Hello.

[Amanda Weldon]

Welcome to Stories Podcast. I'm your host, Amanda Weldon. Today's story is a crossover episode from Stories rpg, our Play at Home, Listen and Learn game that helps people of all ages tell amazing stories together. Tune in for a regular episode of Stories Podcast later this week. We have Stories Podcast merch, [e-mail] shop. We're also on Cameo for all of your personalized video message needs. And don't forget to follow us on Instagram oriespodcast. If you send us a drawing of your favorite scene or character, we'll share it on our feed. Now, here's a word from our sponsors. This episode of Stories Podcast is sponsored by Squarespace. Squarespace is the all in one website platform for entrepreneurs to stand out and succeed online. Whether you're just launching a new venture or managing a successful business, Squarespace makes it possible to create a beautiful website and engage with your audience. And Squarespace makes it so easy to sell anything from products to content to time, all in one place, all on your terms. With Squarespace payments, onboarding is fast and simple. Get started in just a few clicks and start receiving payments right away. It's even easy to invoice clients and create proposals, estimates and contracts. Simplify your workflow and manage your business on one platform. Also, Squarespace has integrated SEO tools. Every Squarespace website is optimized to be indexed with meta descriptions, an auto generated sitemap, and more. So you show up more often to more people in global search engine results. Head to squarespace.com for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch squarespace.com dragon to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That's squarespace.com dragon for 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Thanks. Enjoy the episode.

[Dan]

Hello and welcome back to Stories rpg, the podcast where we tell stories better together. And because this is Giga City Guardians, I am joined by the most misfit crew of pro superheroes anybody's ever assembled. Uh, let's find out how everybody's doing today. Dan, tell them who you are.

Oh, I'm Dan, the writer of Stories podcast. And I am Ape Canaveral, the miraculous space ape who survived an explosion in an experimental spacecraft. All apes are great, but he's the greatest. He was a test pilot for Tusko. Things went bad, he got some powers, and now here he is trying to make the world a better place for monkeys and men.

[Scriv]

Hello. Yes, I am Scriv the Bard. But here in gigacity, I am animus one of the newer Gigacity Guardians, office worker, now turned Guardian. And I am very, very excited to learn more about these powers, which have been a little bit of a surprise as we go along and see how this new super suit feels. It's a lot of leather, I'm not gonna lie. But you know what? I was promised pockets, so. So here we go.

[Dan]

And last but definitely not least, the leader of the Giga City Guardians, Firefly, played by the Voice of Stories podcast, Amanda Weldon. Why don't you say hi?

[Amanda Weldon]

Hello. This is Amanda Weldon. I am the Voice of Stories podcast, and today I am Jillian Jayes, also known as Firefly, also known as the leader of the Giga City Guardians.

[Dan]

Champions of the city, defenders of the peace, heroes of justice, the Giga City Guardians. Welcome back to Giga City Heroes. So let me take a second and just recap exactly how dramatic things got before the end of last session. Werebear and Firefly, after their fight with the Megapedes, have both been injected with a mutagenic substance that has since been identified as the spores created by the Scarlet King, Firefly's old arch nemesis, and, incidentally, also her grandmother, Drama. While they are in the hyperbaric chambers back at the Lighthouse, without the ability to go superheroing about, Ape and Animus have decided on their own to take a little field trip across the city in the middle of the night to check out Tusk Corporation, Animus, former employer, and also the corporation responsible for Ape's experimental powers. And you've made it there. You're on the top of the buildings, and as you get close to the gleaming golden towers, alarms begin to sound.

[Scriv]

Well, these alarms sound terrifyingly similar to the alarms that were going off when I first fled the scene. And I'm starting to possibly regret a little bit coming over here. I'm hoping no one recognizes me in the new clothes. I think there's, like, a hood that I probably have over my face as much as possible. But, of course, we are using the badge that I ran away with that has my identity.

[Dan]

And, Dan, are you feeling the same thing, or does Ape want to go in stealthy? Because I was thinking scriv can, you know. Sorry. Animus can wear the mask, but Ape's a little identifiable. Yeah, you got a furry pal who occasionally walks on his knuckles. There's not many of those running around in the city.

Yeah, well, for a minute, I was thinking that maybe we'd get some, like, illusion magic or maybe a disguise. I'm sure there's some Kind of hero who handles that kind of stuff. But if we're getting close and there's alarms going off, I think, I think posing, you know, we're the heroes here. We saw the explosion and now we're. If anybody catches us, that's our story, I think.

[Scriv]

Oh, hide and play.

[Dan]

That's what Abe say. Hey, if anybody catches us, we were just going in to help.

[Scriv]

Yes, it's part of my on the job training. We gotta go.

[Dan]

Okay, what do we see when we.

Get up in there?

All right. As you near the compound, you can hear these alarms going off. And you're hidden up on the rooftops. Down below. You hear some movement and you peer over the edge of the building to catch a glimpse of a group of people moving through the alleyway. Um, they're, they're carrying something. Something bundled. It, it, it could be bodies, it could be equipment. You have no idea. And one of them, and this is what's weird, it's too dark. Nobody should be able to see you up there. But one of them turns and looks up and pinpoints your position and snarls. And you catch a glimpse in the dusk of a reddish colored face, that same familiar reddish color of a brick. And now I'm going to introduce something called a drama clock. So drama clocks are a way in the game to represent those incredibly intense moments in stories where you're right at the end of a big dramatic arc and all the characters have to lay it on the line to try to make sure that things turn out for the better. What it means in the game is you're gonna have a limited number of moves per player to score a certain number of triumphs. You can think of this kinda like a branch in the story. If you succeed and you get the number of triumphs you need, then things are gonna go your way. If you fail to successfully roll the number of triumphs necessary to. To beat the drama clock, then things are gonna go. Well, let's just say they're gonna go dramatic. This is one of those moments for your characters. If you do nothing, whoever's down there in that alley is gonna get away. And something bad is probably going to happen to those bundled objects. It won't be good. You also run the risk of discovery. You are not doing something heroic necessarily right now. And you know already that gig is pretty good at bending public attention and public opinion their way. Amanda, you may not think you're in this scene because you and Werebear are back at the lighthouse and Animus and Ape are out there on the buildings. But this is the other cool part. Drama clocks are just like scenes in a movie. You may be in a different location, but that doesn't mean you're not involved. We can cut between scenes. You can be on the radio persuading people. You may even decide to ditch your hyperbaric chamber and come rescue them if things get really insane intense. So the bottom line is there are three of you. Three players. I'm going to give each of you two moves. And in that total, six moves, two for each, you're going to have to score seven triumphs.

[Scriv]

Okay, that doesn't make sense.

[Dan]

Ah, so here's the trick. You ready? You can get two triumphs, but you have to roll double sixes.

[Scriv]

That's going to be hard for me.

[Amanda Weldon]

So the. The chances of this happening are very slim. Correct.

[Dan]

Unless you use your power. Have you checked your power's boost lately?

[Amanda Weldon]

No.

[Dan]

Ah, so each of you has a power. And remember, your power can add a die when you're using it. So for example, when Firefly's using her armor, she can get a boost to use those jets to do something amazing in flight once per game. What that means is she gets to move up the result of her role by one category. So a complete failure, a 1 to 3 instead gets moved up to a 4 to 5. Now it counts as triumph. With a trouble, a 4 to 5 can get moved up to a full success. A full success can get moved up to a double success. So. But that's once. So now look at each other. One of you has got to score a six and move it up with your special. That's what's going to help you with this drama clock. All right, so to remind you, here's the. Here's the dramatic consequence. Something or someone is being taken from TUS Corp. They are currently being chased through the streets. You see a flash of red below and a face looks up at you and snarls. It's cat like and its eyes are huge and yellow and they narrow and then it dashes off. You need to choose what you're going to do. You hear the hum of drones and a fleet of these tiny little golden drones, very similar to the ones that you saw near the Mega Pete attack comes zipping through the streets again.

[Scriv]

Are they recording this again? I wonder if this is another staged thing because those drones were used before to record that whole encounter.

[Dan]

There's another trick I like to use when people don't take action and a drama clock has started. If you don't like it, Remember, everyone, you can X Card at any time, but if you start to wonder too much or wander too much, I will do a countdown. I'll say, five, four, three. And if you do nothing, something else will happen, and the drama will get more intense. That's how we keep the drama clock going. So who would like to do something?

[Scriv]

Hey, Ape.

[Dan]

So I'm going to look at Animus, and you should be like, all right, you want to go in? Heck of a distraction.

[Scriv]

Yeah, but I'm kind of worried about what's happening over there. You saw those gold drones. Is this something that they're staging? Are they about to pull something?

[Dan]

I saw a little animal. And, you know, I don't think I like them experimenting on animals because, you know, they almost killed me. Of course I can't be killed, but they tried. And, you know, other animals might not be so lucky. So maybe I'll jump down there after that, that Catman do, and you take this opportunity to slip in the building. What do you think?

[Scriv]

Yeah. Okay. You got your radio on you, right? Just in case?

[Dan]

Yeah.

Okay, so here's the thing, Abe. Are you jumping down to the alley?

Yeah, I'm gonna jump down on top of one of those drones and try to ride it down to the street.

Here's the thing. Those drones are no bigger than a softball. You jump, and the drones literally, like, scream out of the way. And as he jumps, something cruises overhead. Animus. And dives down into the alley behind him. Ape, you can see down this alleyway. Whoever this is, they're running towards the docks, towards the port, and they're struggling because there's something heavy. There's a massive figure down there who looks like it has. You can't see in the darkness, but you swear it looks way bigger than a person. And there's a couple of smaller figures. And when you hit the ground that you hear, like, a muttered talking, and then, like, they run faster. The drones all are hovering and swooping down, and something big goes down over your head. It's those two guys, the ones you saw flying next to the Megapeds. They're giving chase.

Yeah, well, I'm giving chase, too. Pounding right after them.

Are you gonna make a move here?

Yeah, I'm gonna make a move.

Is this your get physical move? Do you want to, like, catch up? Do you want to, like, outstrip, you know, these two giant figures? This is two Ton and Gyro riding on top, who just showed up chasing after these. These figures. Do you want to try to, like, cut them off? Do you want to, like, what's the move here? What exactly are you looking to do?

Oh, my pride is still bristling from earlier, so I'm definitely going to try to outpace them. And just as a little side thing, I'm going to get on the. Get on the radio like Firefly. If you're done in the nurse's office, we could use you out here.

You hear specs on the radio. Go. Don't bother her with that stuff. Just take care of it. She's got that stuff in her. Jillian, don't do anything, okay?

[Amanda Weldon]

I'm not going to do anything right now, but, like, Kimi posted so that I know what's going on, please.

[Dan]

Okay, While this is going on, you're saying this, I need you to make the roll. I need to. I need to know, are you, like, brachiating? Are you, like, fire escape? Like, are you using the tops of the buildings? Are you jumping on dumpsters? And tell me what parts of your character are going to let you do this fast enough to outstrip this guy who apparently is able to control his own personal gravity?

Yeah. So I'm just moving. I mean, this is the urban jungle, and I am the king. I am swinging.

[Scriv]

I am.

[Dan]

It's fire escapes. It's telephone wires. It's cable, like Comcast cables that I am tearing out of brooms to swing on. It is fast, and it is sort of careless, but it is fast.

Did we just get a sponsor placement? Did you just drop Comcast? Did we just get money from Comcast?

Well, no, they just go out a lot, so I imagine this is one of the reasons why I love it.

Tell me what tags you have that are going to help you do this. You've got your drive, your dream, your dialogue. What do you got?

Well, I definitely have. They call us the great apes, but I'm the greatest that there is. That's my dialogue, and I think that fits. And then I could think, I will use my deed, which is the unbreakable ape. The ape Canaveral.

I suppose that could speed you up. I can see how, like, maybe you could move faster if you just didn't have to worry about hurting yourself. Like, you can kind of fling yourself and, like, land really hard, and it won't hurt you. So it allows you to just keep moving.

Yeah, I'm, like, grabbing power wires. There's sparks and stuff. It's aggressive.

I can imagine you, like, slamming into, like, the pavement and then just rolling and, like, bounding up to grab something else.

Yeah. And then My downfall is kind of rash and cocky. So I don't. I think that would apply here too, if I'm heedlessly chasing.

Okay, all right, let me hear them bones. Let's go.

All right, rolling. That is a six, a three, and a six.

You got two sixes straight out the gate.

[Scriv]

Yeah, Take that clap.

[Dan]

Dang. Okay. All right. So currently you only have five triumphs left to go and. And five moves. So as long as you don't blow any of these moves, apes, speed is going to make up for a lot. Wow. All right, so Ape, let me tell you what happens. You actually cut through a back alley and you're going so fast, you cut them off, you've figured out where they're going, and you land at the port, right underneath a bridge that you know they're going to have to come through if they're trying to stay off the main streets. And what happens is you're standing there when this, this huddle of figures bursts through out of the shadows and screeches to a halt right in front of you. The one in the front is that cat like creature you saw earlier. They hiss really powerfully and a whole bunch of gleaming claws go out behind her. There's this massive reddish figure, huge, hulking, with unbelievably shiny hair. Like even in the dim lights, it's just like it. It gets tossed back and it's. There are sparkles, chiseled musculature, and the bottom half of a Clydesdale. Riding on top of a pile of swaddled bodies is what looks like a little kid in a puffy coat. But you can see two little antennas sticking out and a pair of mandibles underneath. And he looks like he's got more than two arms too. The one in front goes get back. The big one goes, hello, wee friend, and starts trotting forward. I'm gonna cut to you, Animus. What are you gonna do?

[Scriv]

Hold on. I just need to mentally recap that there was a cat, a sparkly centaur type of being, and a bug child.

[Dan]

Yeah. Huh.

[Scriv]

Okay. Just wanted to make sure.

[Dan]

Yeah, you can ask their names and you guys can swap propers and socials later.

[Scriv]

My goodness. Okay, so I. It seems like Ape traveled pretty far for that, right? So just for some clarification. So I understand what I am seeing right now, I am probably. Am I even close enough to see that?

[Dan]

No, he.

[Scriv]

I didn't think so.

[Dan]

And you saw, you saw 2 ton and gyro tracking him. And that's the thing, is you Saw them go off down through the alleyways, and then they popped back up above. And they look like they're running surveillance. They're definitely going to find him if he finds whoever's running back from Tuscorp. You can hear the alarms going off, and you can hear sirens in the city. Are you headed to Tuscorp or are you headed to the scene of the ports?

[Scriv]

Oh, this is a tough decision, because on one hand, Ape said, go to Tuscorp, and I feel like I'm learning. But on the other hand, I really don't like the look of that. And you know what?

[Dan]

Three to make the call.

[Scriv]

Oh, no. Okay, I'm going to Tusk Corp. That's the right decision.

[Dan]

Okay. You take off towards Tuskorp as fast as I can.

[Scriv]

I am sprinting and trying to keep to the shadows because I know my new super suit is dark, and while I am running, I want to keep my power activated.

[Dan]

So I think this is a great moment to point out when, as a storyteller, you want to push a roll, and when you don't, there's nothing exciting about making Animus roll to get to TUS Corp, because right now in the story, we just want to see what's happening at TUS Corp. Yes. So I could, of course, torture Animus who's an office worker and has been, like, you know, living out of pizza boxes for the last couple weeks, you know, not really fully equipped to run across, you know, Midnight city.

[Scriv]

Landscape stress is good for cardio, right?

[Dan]

This is true.

[Scriv]

Maybe not.

[Dan]

You do have some cortisol. But this is something that I don't think would be fun for us as story. Now, if you, as a. As a player, decided this is where I want to make my stand, this is my dramatic move that would be totally cool. And if anyone decides, like, I know what I want to do here, here's my move. Always jump in and tell me. But I'm asking you, as. As. As a storyteller, as a fellow storyteller, do you want to just get to TUS Corp? Because I kind of want to get you there.

[Scriv]

I do want to just get to Tuscorp.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Scriv]

And while. While we're there, I do want to. Because my. My power is to sense the emotions of people around me. I am not. I want to use that passively as I go. And as I'm entering TUS Corp, because even though I don't have any other, like, super senses in terms of visual acuity, I want to try to feel when people are near enough to me, to be in range and what they are feeling more as a way of being able to, like, navigate through them.

[Dan]

This is when superpowers get cool, y'all, like, you're. You're already thinking about creative ways to use that ability, right? Like, I like that Ape's invulnerability. It sounds kind of one note, but then when you think about it, he can throw himself really fast and just have no regard for his physical. And you. You may be able to. Right? You can sense emotions and manipulate them, but, boy, sensing emotions becomes this crazy Spidey sense. It's great. So, yeah, you arrive on the scene and this is the thing is you were pretty close to TUS Corp. You were around the front. All you had to do was make your way to the back of the building. There's an area where Tusk Corp has a loading dock for semis, and they have helipads up top. And there are supposed to be some really fancy suites, but there are supposed to be massive research structures that go down into the underground. And it's there that the alarm has gone off. You can see security all over. They appear armed with Tasers, and people are yelling things into. And you can see these drones are sort of moving in like flocks. They're sort of like in little swarms around the building, clearly trying to find things. There's a high. A high level of alert. This is not going to be, wave my card and go in. What do you want to do?

[Scriv]

Okay, okay, so there are people there with Tasers, and that's the only way that I can see to go in.

[Dan]

You could try to, like, go through a sewer tunnel and come up inside, you know, see if you can find where it connects. You could try, like, sneaking through one of the trucks. You could try just, you know, waltzing past these guys going, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, we got to do that thing and make them feel really nervous, but comforted by you. You could go with, you know, use your power to be like, this person knows what they're doing. They're going to go find out how to fix things if you pulled it off. Of course.

[Scriv]

Of course. Of course. Okay, so I am going to. Because if there are trucks going, it does look like people are dropping things off, like, their supplies being accepted. Because if the. The ramps.

[Dan]

The trucks are stopped.

[Scriv]

Oh, the trucks are stopped.

[Dan]

The trucks are stopped. Yeah. This is like. It looks like they were probably, you know, doing some of their normal business and something happened and everything's being shut down. So there's a fair amount of chaos.

[Scriv]

Yeah, it's.

[Dan]

It's very alert chaos, but everybody's running different places.

[Scriv]

Well, I think we need to keep moving. That's the problem. So I'm trying to paint this picture in my mind. All right, so the trucks are there. People aren't really going to pay too much attention to me. If I perhaps, as I'm walking along, open up one of the backs of.

[Dan]

The trucks, that would be hard to do. People spot you, but you would need to make them feel like it was okay for you to be there. You don't think you're getting in there. You know, if you were better at hiding and sneaking, I mean, you could probably pull it off. But you've never really had cause for ninja skill.

[Scriv]

No, I haven't. You know, my idea is if these are supplies that are supposed to be in there, I'll just, you know, hold. Carry something with me.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Scriv]

As I'm walking up and finding another way in.

[Dan]

Okay. I will tell you. You feel a lot of things. You sort of grab a box from the trash, near the trash, and you're like, yeah. And you just start walking up wearing a cowl and a mask. Leather pants.

[Scriv]

Heck, no. Yeah.

[Dan]

No, no, no. I like this.

[Scriv]

I'm doing it now.

[Dan]

Okay. All right. So you're rolling up, and you've got the box, and you can feel a whole lot of nervousness. There's a lot of people who. Who you feel like they're just kind of like, what the heck? There's a lot of confusion, like, what's going on? You can feel a lot of that. One weird piece you feel is somebody's really sad. And you can feel that sadness right down in the center. And it's powerful enough, the emanation is powerful enough that you catch this whiff of it, and you're like, what? It feels very strange. It's like, imagine you're eating, you know, a salad, and you find a piece of cake in it. It's very much not what you expect. And it's a very powerful feeling of, like, grief mourning. You're walking up the stairs to the back ramp where the trucks are, and a couple guys are like, hey. Hey, you. One of them comes up.

[Amanda Weldon]

Hey.

[Dan]

Hey. Who are you? Hold up. We got an issue here. This is not regular delivery. Wait a minute. You got a mask on. And, like, he's like, everybody. You hear a bunch of, like, clicks and shifting, and you can see there's a whole bunch of guys with tasers.

[Scriv]

So I'm Going to try that. That trick of. You know what? No, no, no, no, no. I'm here to help. Just calm down.

[Dan]

This is.

[Scriv]

And I'm going to do that again.

[Dan]

Cue the theme song.

[Scriv]

Because it seemed to work the first time. And I'm going to say. No, no, it's okay. It's okay. I'm here to help. Okay, Calm down.

[Dan]

Give me the tags. Let's go.

[Scriv]

Okay, so I once worked for evil. I went to undo the wrongs Tus Corp committed. So within that, I did work for Test Corp. So I. I'm familiar with the vicinity. I'm not going to walk up looking lost. I look like I know what I'm doing. And some of these people I may or may not recognize. So I might be able to use that to fuel my power a little bit more. It's like. No, I know you. You can calm down. It's okay.

[Dan]

Who's the head of security here? I want to know that. What's the name of this. This person?

[Scriv]

Josh Phillips.

[Dan]

Okay, Josh Phillips.

[Scriv]

I think names with two first names are funny.

[Dan]

Okay, so Josh Phillips is there. He doesn't recognize you, but you recognize him. What's the secret about the way he feels about, like, the way he acts that you're going to use against him?

[Scriv]

Josh Phillips is scared. He doesn't know what's going on. He has a give. He sometimes laughs nervously when something unexpected happens.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Scriv]

And I could see that.

[Dan]

Okay, so he is laughing at the utter ridiculousness of you walking up, and he. He steps in, he goes.

[Scriv]

I probably do look ridiculous.

[Dan]

Okay. Okay, everybody, Taser's on. That's one. Die. What else? You got your powers, too.

[Scriv]

Yeah, I. Yep. My power is another one.

[Dan]

I don't know. You could persuade me if you want, but I kind of like the idea of you have to roll two dice here because, let's be dramatic about it, you know, you're not always gonna get the three.

[Scriv]

Okay. Oh, heck. All right, just so I know, the boost can be chosen after the roll. Yes.

[Dan]

Well, it's your power. Correct. You're using your power. Yes. And your power, your boost, is that you can amplify a roll used to modify emotions with your abilities. Yes. So, yes, you can use your boost.

[Scriv]

Okay, cool. All right, let's see. Let's see what happens. Only two.

[Dan]

Only two.

[Scriv]

I got a five and a two.

[Dan]

Excellent. So you have a triumph with a Trouble. Okay, do you want to move it up or do you want to accept the trouble?

[Scriv]

I'll accept the trouble.

[Dan]

Okay, wonderful.

[Scriv]

Because I Did something a little bit reckless here.

[Dan]

So here's what happens. Josh is laughing. You say. You look at him, and you say his name. Do you say Mr. Phillips, or do you say Josh?

[Scriv]

Josh.

[Dan]

Okay. You're like, josh. What do you say to him?

Also, I think we call him J. Lips, right? Wasn't that his nickname?

[Scriv]

J. Lips Phillips.

[Dan]

Phillips. Yeah. Come on. What's the line? He's looking at you. All these tasers are waving at you. You're holding this flimsy cardboard box, and you feel the tug of that sadness.

[Scriv]

So I'm gonna say, josh, you can trust me. It'll be okay. And I'm recalling a memory where Josh and I probably ran into each other at, like, the coffee bar. And I probably. We've talked about things before. We've probably shared some ideas of what we think is going on here or not. And I've probably used that line like, josh, you can trust me. And I want to tap into that.

[Dan]

So I'm gonna say, all right, then. I know what your trouble is. I could have cost you a heart on this one. But the trouble is, Josh knows it's you.

[Scriv]

Yeah.

[Dan]

His eyes widen a little bit, but he feels that emotion waving out, and so does everyone else. And he looks and he goes, oh, it's all right, guys. It's gonna. It's fine. They're. They're with us. And he just kind of waves you by, and he goes, don't make it any worse. I gotta keep this job. And he kind of says that under his breath as you walk by. And then he says, I'm just gonna. I'm just gonna go back down and make sure everything's good. He's going with you.

[Scriv]

Okay?

[Dan]

He's not letting you go alone. He just lets you in. But he's. He's coming along with, that's okay.

[Scriv]

I will accept that.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Scriv]

And to show that camaraderie, I'll give him a shoulder grab.

[Dan]

Okay. You have to drop the box.

You drop the box.

[Scriv]

That's okay. I dropped the box.

[Dan]

Okay, man. The. The. Your ruse is completely gone. All right, you guys head in. Josh is, like. He starts muttering under his breath. He's telling you what's happening. He says, perfect. I don't know what you're doing here. And I. I'm not going to ask. And if anybody asks, I don't know that this happened, but. And he takes you right up to the door, and he says, listen, I've heard things downstairs. There were these things. They broke in from underneath. They Got some of the people who were in the Megapede attack. I don't know where they're taking them. And I saw something like, they're keeping people down there, not just the people from the Megapede, like, other people. Look, I don't know what's going on, but just be safe. And then he kind of pushes you through the door. All right, you now have four triumphs to go and four moves to go back at the lighthouse, and we can flip however you want. If one of you wants to get involved and you're like, I want to take my second move, that's cool. But if you take it out of turn and everybody's cool with it, it just means that it'll change the balance of play. Yeah. So usually we'll go one at a time, but if we ever decide that for story reasons, you want to double down, Totally cool.

I think that I just. As a scene transition, I think we see Firefly in her pod and she can hear Ape over the radio. Firefly, we got a situation out here. Trying to follow.

Specs is the one who replies. And he goes, I told you to handle it. And then he stops for a second. He goes, oh, come on. And the screen next to Specs flickers. And Firefly, you can see this through the hyperbaric chamber. He's got eyes on what's happening. And you see 2 ton and gyro on his shoulders, floating down out of the sky towards the port. And you see multiple, multiple feeds up. Clearly, it's being filmed and livestreamed.

[Amanda Weldon]

Wait, the part that's being filmed and live streamed is the part with Ape Canaveral?

[Dan]

Not yet. They don't have eyes on Ape. They have. They're following two Ton and Gyro. Ape outran them, and they weren't focused on Ape. Ape is now right in front of the people they're chasing. And if he does nothing, those. Those little drones are going to catch up and they're going to catch Ape on tape in front of these guys. Now you have to decide right now what you guys want to tell him about what's about to happen. And you also have to decide whether you want to do anything about it.

[Amanda Weldon]

I think we have to tell him that he's about to be filmed, just so that he's aware. And then I would. Ape, they're. It looks like they're filming this again, and I think that they're about to catch up to you, and you're going to be on camera.

[Dan]

Dude, you're the Gadget Expert. Can't you out gadget them?

[Amanda Weldon]

That was what I was going to say next, because I would. I would like to do that.

[Dan]

How are you going to out gadget them? Let's go.

[Amanda Weldon]

I wonder if there is a way that we can hijack the drones or something. Or hack the drones. Hack the drones and send them. Send them somewhere else, just in a different direction altogether.

[Dan]

All right, let's see what you got, Firefly. That's going to help you hack these drones.

[Amanda Weldon]

Okay, so I'm looking at the bottom parts, right? The quirk, downfall, dream deed, bond and dialogue. So I think that the number one.

[Dan]

And you can look at Drive to drive always helps.

[Amanda Weldon]

Okay. I think that the bond is one of the ones that I think would be really good because Specs is. Specs is my wingman and my best friend, and he's someone I'm going to ask for help here. I defeated the Scarlet King and saved Giga City, so I've been good at things before, and then I'm going to be good at it again.

[Dan]

Makes you good at hacking. I don't know if I buy this. I don't know. What do you think? Do you really think you can bend it that far?

[Amanda Weldon]

Well, maybe it's that same thing with the cockiness or kind of thing that Abe Canaveral's got going on where he just, like, thinks he's going to, like, I can figure it out. I did this. I, like, I defeated somebody important before. Like, we can figure this out now.

[Dan]

Mmm. Okay. I wanted to remind you of the bond you formed with Jorge. You could totally bend.

[Amanda Weldon]

I can use two bonds.

[Dan]

You can use as many bonds as you have. Remember, we added one to your sheet because we decided you were rivals with Jorge and, boy, you could bend that.

[Amanda Weldon]

Yeah. Because. Okay, so Jorge is my academic rival, which means. And I. And which means I've studied extra hard in that class because I needed to beat him. It was very important to me and my pride, so.

[Scriv]

Nice.

[Amanda Weldon]

Yeah. So I. I have a lot of ability in this area, so I think that is another one that I can use.

[Scriv]

Fantastic.

[Dan]

So you have your super science training and your rivalry with Jorge that has made you a much better coder than you were before. You've. You've sort of specialized in judo and, like, flying the suit and, you know. You know a lot of super science. But you've gotten good at coding because of Jorge. And then you've got Specs, who's there, and can back you up.

[Amanda Weldon]

Yeah.

[Dan]

I wish you had a piece of gear this is why lines become important. And if you're playing the game at home, this is why if you write a whole bunch and you get a whole bunch of, like, ideas and put them into your character, it gives you a lot of flexibility for doing different kinds of things. All right, so you got two dice. Do you have anything else you can add? I think it's two. Yeah.

[Amanda Weldon]

Don't I have a power?

[Dan]

You do. Are you flying in your suit right now to hack the drone?

[Amanda Weldon]

No, but my suit. Suit was something that.

[Dan]

I mean, she built the suit, right? That's a. That's a gadget proficiency.

[Amanda Weldon]

Oh, I did.

[Scriv]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Oh, wow. That's a sneaky way to get that extra die. I'm impressed, though.

[Scriv]

Come on. Come on. Yes.

[Dan]

I'll take it. I'll take it. All right, so you've got three whole dice by a series of impressive verbal and story creative acrobatics, which is exactly what you should be able to do. That's exactly the point is, you know, think about how your character would use their abilities. So perfect. All right, three dice. What do you say to Specs?

[Amanda Weldon]

Specs, let me out for now. I'll get right back in after. Something like that.

[Dan]

Okay, Specs looks at you, and he goes, you're just gonna bang on the glass if I don't say yes? And he hits the.

[Amanda Weldon]

Yeah, you're right.

[Dan]

He hits the button and slides open, and he goes, you're so annoying.

[Scriv]

And he.

[Dan]

Then he pulls over one of the chairs, and he points at the thing, and he goes, listen, I'm already working on this. This guy's crazy. He's typing away. He's like. He's got unbelievable levels of encryption, and I can't even tell what kind of programs he's using. I can actually use your help on this one. Give me the roll, and I'll tell you what happens.

[Amanda Weldon]

I got a one, a six, and a five.

[Dan]

All right, so a full success. I don't think you can move up on this one because you're not flying in your suit, even though you were able to bend your suit to give you extra hacking ability. Precisely. What do you want to do? Do you want to control these things?

[Amanda Weldon]

I would like to control them. I'd also. I mean, Specs just said this guy's crazy. Like, the encryption on this. Who is this guy? Like, do we know who specifically did this? Like, I would also be interested in the. Potentially, like, just. I would like to get all the way in them so we can also kind of, like, know where they Came from.

[Scriv]

Oh, you're gonna trace the source?

[Amanda Weldon]

Yeah, and, like, look at the whole history of all.

[Scriv]

Oh, that's cool.

[Dan]

Okay. You can trace the signal.

[Amanda Weldon]

Okay.

[Dan]

So the first thing you know about these things is they are moving. They've got a really impressive suspension field tech. They don't seem to have engines. They don't have those little hover things. They're literally just hovering in midair. And it's. It's a type of technology that is shockingly close to the one that's used on your suit. The second thing is they're mostly visual, and you realize really quickly you can. You can shut off the video feeds. The third thing is all of the sources trace back to a really high spire in Tus Corp. There's a signal emanating. You guys get in control of these things. You cut them off, and for a moment, a bunch of them drop. Do you want them to, like, completely fall out the sky, or do you want them to just, like, fritz a little?

[Amanda Weldon]

I would like to control them and fly them back. I just. I want to cut the video feed. Like, I think you said that. And then I want to fly them back to. To where they came from. And I want to ask maybe Animus, who I think is there to, like, find them.

[Dan]

You're going to send them. You want to send them to Animus's location?

[Amanda Weldon]

Well, isn't Animus at Tus Corp?

[Dan]

She doesn't need to get the drones, though.

I love this. I like the idea of a flood of like. Of, like, golden drones suddenly, like, diving into the basement of Tus Corp.

[Scriv]

So am I hearing the conversation with this? Are you, like, telling us, like, hey, the signal's coming from somewhere in. Because we've all got our little communicator thing, right?

[Amanda Weldon]

Yeah. So it's coming from somewhere in. Oh, go ahead.

[Scriv]

Sorry. Okay, okay, okay, okay. So maybe. Crazy idea, right? If you could somehow send them to me, we can expose whatever is in this lab to everyone. Because I'm about to try to break into this lab, and we could show it and plaster it everywhere.

[Amanda Weldon]

Yeah, I want that.

[Scriv]

If that's somehow possible.

[Amanda Weldon]

Yes.

[Dan]

Oh, my gosh. That's a hoist. Hoist on their own petard? Who?

[Scriv]

Okay, so I'll say, wait, wait, don't send them back. Send them to me. I'm about to uncover something big. I'm in.

[Amanda Weldon]

Okay. Yes. Then we're going to send them back to you.

[Dan]

Specs is like, oh, boy. This is. This is actually kind of cool.

He's like.

[Scriv]

He's how fast can they get here? How much time do I have?

[Dan]

He leans back a little. He goes, five minutes or less. They're fast. And then he says, I just. I just out hacked the elliptus. Ellipsis. He goes, we. We out hacked ellipsis. And he gives you a high five. He goes up for one. Do you take it?

[Amanda Weldon]

I do it back? Yes. High five back.

[Dan]

Yes. Okay.

[Scriv]

It's the power of friendship.

[Dan]

Well, it's a nice. It's a nice moment after he kind of, like, got upset with how down on. Down on.

You got to have, like, an elaborate secret handshake at this point.

[Scriv]

Oh, yeah. It can't just be a high five.

[Dan]

I feel like they'd probably be past that.

[Amanda Weldon]

No, I think it's. We just are. We're really good at a high five now. Like, it's not. It's. We don't need anything special. We don't need bells and whistles. We just, like, we know how to do. We don't even have to look at each other. And it smacks right in the middle. It, like, reverberates and resonates and stings just a little after. It's exactly perfect.

[Scriv]

It's not just a high five.

[Dan]

The no eye contact high five is a flex. Yeah, that's a flex.

[Amanda Weldon]

Yes. Yeah.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Amanda Weldon]

Yeah, we're good at it.

[Dan]

All right. All of a sudden, this stream of golden orbs goes streaking backwards through the city. You hear this, like, commotion behind you. You're already at the elevator. The elevator doors are just closing. And this flood of golden drones comes, like, burning into the elevator with you. And you have to, like, kind of grab the doors and hold it, and they all pile into the elevator with you. And then the door closes. Josh gave you his pass card. You're going to be able to swipe it and go to the lowest level.

[Scriv]

Josh is the best. I have to do something very nice for him later.

[Dan]

J Lips.

Ape. Meantime, you see something rustles in the back. The big guy comes forward and he goes, out of the way, little ape. We don't have time. He is, by the way, inarguably the best looking person you've ever seen in your life. He looks.

He a mirror or.

Yeah, no, I said best looking. Let me say best looking. Naked Ape. At least the top half of him is naked Ape. The bottom half of his Clydesdale. Yeah, he's incredibly good looking. Like, just model gorgeous, but at a huge scale. He's massive and he looks like he was cut.

[Scriv]

Does he still smell Like a horse.

[Dan]

Though Ape hasn't gotten close enough to sample the musk. He might. He might. I'm not sure. The cat has claws out and she whips them sideways and these gleaming darts go flying in and hit the pavement right in front of you. And she goes, you heard him, out of the way. Behind them, you see the forms of 2 ton and gyro under in the flickering street lights, coming straight towards the port as though they're falling towards you, which, in fact, they are.

I say, hey, are you with these guys or what's going on?

The big guy just starts to run. The giant centaur is barreling towards you, and he doesn't look like he's gonna move. He looks like he's waiting for you to get out of the way. And as he does, the little bug dude on top looks down and goes, sorry, dude. And gives you, like, little peace signs with, like, four arms. And the. The cat, like, hisses again, grabs the side and whips herself up onto this giant pile. And you actually see a hand fall out of one of the sheets, and it's slightly pinkish. And that's when 2 ton and gyro come screaming down out of the sky and land like a meteor with an impact. What would you like to do?

Wait, just. What are the. What are the piles? Were they moving? The piles?

There's a pile of cloaked bodies on the back of the centaur. The little bug dude is standing on top of them. This guy is about the size of a truck. He's huge. He's really enormous. And he's clearly very fast, too. Once he got started running, he's pounding the pavement and his hooves are a blur.

Yeah, this might not work, but it's. It's. It's what Ape would do. He's gonna stand his ground. He looks like it's like I gave a chicken, right? This guy's, you know, barreling at him Ape nonchalantly. Just fast enough, as slow as he can, though, reaches in the coat, pulls out the banana, squeezes it. Banana. One bite. And then just at the last minute, he's going to step to the side and throw down the banana peel.

Oh, no.

[Scriv]

Please let this work. Please let this work.

[Dan]

I almost don't want this to be a move. It's just too perfect. Do you want this to be a move, or do we just want this to be a beat? Because we can make that decision.

Let's have this be a beat, because I think, yeah, the, the move is what's going to happen when all These guys come together, I think.

Yeah. Okay, so.

[Scriv]

Oh, that's amazing.

[Dan]

You do the, like, 1, 2, 3, very casually toss it over your shoulder, and. And this giant Clydesdale hoof comes down, pounds into the pavement, and then slips, Skitters, and this entire giant pile of bodies on top of his back goes flying. The cat immediately flips and tries to catch a few of them and is, like, snarling. The kid, too, is, like, looking panicked. And really quickly, you are surrounded by sheets. Effectively, these look like hospital sheets. People in what look like hospital gowns who are in various. Various shades of pink and red. And. And this thing has clobbered you, and you are now covered in Centaur because it went sliding and flying, and you got clobbered. And that's when 2 tons and gyro hit. Immediately, Tuton sort of jumps, floats through the air, and then slams down onto the Centaur, slamming into you as well, and begins crushing you both under his weight. You feel like you've just had, well, two tons dropped on you. Ooh.

And I'm not. I'm not, you know, I'm not super strong. I'm stronger than the average human, but that's about it. I'm going to turn to the big guy kind of next to me.

He's on top of you. He's all over you. Every chiseled ab Is being. Is being cut into your face right now.

[Scriv]

Oh, this is horrible.

[Dan]

You're getting real. How musk now, actually, he smells like. Like cotton candy. He smells amazing.

[Scriv]

I can't stand this guy already.

[Dan]

He's actually really nice. So much judgment. Jeez.

Yeah, he charged at me. I didn't do anything to him.

[Scriv]

That wasn't very nice.

[Dan]

Wasn't very nice. I don't know what's going on, exactly.

There you go. That's the key element. You don't have context, y'all.

Yeah. So I'm going to. Hey, I can't be hurt. I don't think they know the extent of it.

I'm going to cut to scriv. I'm going to let you squirm under there for a second. Is that okay? I kind of feel like you're figuring things out, Animus.

[Scriv]

I'm in the elevator.

[Dan]

Yeah, You. You wave it, and it's one of those. It's a. It's an elevator with a pure white panel. There are no buttons. You just wave your. Your card, and then it takes you to the floor you're supposed to go to. This is part of the Tusk security setup. You wave your Card. And you see all the normal little white numbers, and then all of a sudden, it goes yellow, and then it goes red and it's way down below. You've ever seen these lights light up? You didn't know there were lights down there? They're lighting up behind this smooth surface, and you're like, whoa. Whoa. What? Finally, when it opens, you see in front of you a long white corridor with doors and little observation ports. Everything is bathed in reddish lights. There's some signs of scuffle. There are some overturned hospital beds in the corridor and some like. Like, what are they called? The drip bags. IV bags on rollers that have been tossed around. And you can hear. You can feel that sadness now. Absolutely. Pouring from the end of the corridor.

[Scriv]

Oh, from the end of the corridor. Okay, so I'm gonna. As I step out of the elevator, and I guess I'm still accompanied by all the drones, right?

[Dan]

Yep. They're hovering around you. Firefly, you're seeing this? You and Specs have this on your. Your visual.

[Scriv]

Perfect. Okay, I'm just gonna confirm that in my earpiece. All right. It looks like this is a place. You catching all of this?

[Amanda Weldon]

Yes, we're catching all of it.

[Dan]

Specs goes, wait a minute, wait a minute. No, no, no, no, no, no. And then he's like, we're losing the feeds.

[Amanda Weldon]

Wait, why?

[Dan]

He's like, I can't. I got the drones, but the fiends are gone. You hear a voice come over your radio that's awfully impolite. Taking other people's things.

[Amanda Weldon]

Oh, no, this. The villain is British.

[Dan]

Maybe. Maybe he's just doing a bit.

[Scriv]

That's the only question we have.

[Dan]

He's a Brit.

[Amanda Weldon]

Like, that's.

[Scriv]

Oi.

[Dan]

By the way, as. As you hear this voice, you see three dots appear on all of the Lighthouse's screen, and they do, like, a little loading, like, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot.

[Amanda Weldon]

Oh, crap. Because earlier, Spec said, ellipsis. Is this the ellipsis?

[Dan]

The ellipsis?

[Scriv]

No.

[Dan]

You didn't think the rest of Giga City Gold wasn't going to be involved, did you? Allow me to remind you, you currently have. So Dan has taken one move. Scriv has taken one move. Amanda, you've taken one move. So Firefly, Ape, and Animus have each used a move. So you have three moves left, one each. And you have currently scored a total of four triumphs, which means you need three triumphs before the drama clock runs out. Okay? Originally, you were. You had seven triumphs you needed, but you only had six moves to make it, but Ape managed to nail that double six and completely blow away the opposite. I never thought he was going to catch up. I thought he was going to, like, come up behind, but he headed him off at the pass. So you have three moves left. Each of you has a move. And each of you must triumph if you wish this drama clock to go well. But don't worry, if it goes badly, you know, there will be consequences and the story will change. It'll be great.

[Scriv]

So I imagine that you're going to try to get the feedback.

[Amanda Weldon]

Yeah, I guess that's kind of what, what are our, like, options right now? I think we, we have to, we have to get the feedback.

[Dan]

You could talk to this guy. You could try to get the feedback. You could try to out hack him again. You're imagining. Part of the problem is you sent them back to Tusk Corp. He's sort of. They're as close to the source of the signal as they could be. And you don't know what kind of tech he's using.

[Amanda Weldon]

Yeah, and we don't know where he physically is, Correct?

[Dan]

Correct. You only know where the signal was coming from.

[Scriv]

Which also means he probably knows where I am.

[Amanda Weldon]

Oh, for sure.

[Scriv]

So we, we probably don't have a lot of time. Okay, how about this? I probably have my phone on me and my phone has a video camera.

[Amanda Weldon]

Oh, yeah, you could use that.

[Scriv]

Maybe we do that instead. It's like, okay, okay, fine, jerk. Take out my phone. Just access my phone. I'm going to start recording now and I'm going to go.

[Dan]

When you say. When you say, fine, jerk. He goes, harsh language. We've only barely met you. You flip.

[Scriv]

Yeah, that's more than enough for me.

[Dan]

And you start recording and you start running down the hallway and I'm trying.

[Scriv]

To capture every observation bay.

[Dan]

He goes, phones, please. That's awfully basic, don't you think? And then you, you're basic. Your phone goes dot, dot, dot. You're holding it up and it goes blank. And you get the three dots. The loading thing. No, you run down the hall. You can feel the grief down the hall.

[Scriv]

Okay. At this point, I'm just gonna stick my tongue out at the phone and I'm gonna keep going because that, that feeling of the grief is probably going to start becoming overwhelming.

[Dan]

Yeah, it's pulling at you.

[Scriv]

So time is of the essence. I need to go. So as I'm going, I'm trying to catch glimpses though, of these observation rooms. Since you said there are like Bays, they're just kind of looking as I'm going, so.

[Dan]

If you recall, they had reported on the news that the survivors of the Mega Pete attack had been taken to TUS Corp for some.

[Scriv]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Some help with a vaccine that was going to immunize them to whatever this stuff was. Unfortunately, what you see is evidence of empty beds. And at the very end of the hall, there's a guarded door. And the guards are both in full tactical gear. They are looking incredibly alert and incredibly fierce. And there's a few extra of them. There's kind of a crowd. And they immediately see you. And all of them take up defensive positions. One of them yells, halt.

[Scriv]

I don't care. I'm going to use my power again. Run at them.

[Dan]

Come on. Flex some emotion here.

[Scriv]

In this point, I am angry, pissed off, and really, really focused on whatever is behind that door. You're gonna scare them, and I'm going to. Yes, I want to scare them. I want to go back to that bond when I had that mental link with Werebear, and I'm gonna try to channel Werebear again.

[Dan]

Ooh. Okay. That's the bond.

[Scriv]

Because I've had some time to let it process and marinate, and I want to scare the pants off them.

[Dan]

All right, you've got the power. Yep. You've got your bond with Werebear. Do you have a third thing, or are you gonna stick with two?

[Scriv]

I am going to also tap into that bond. Starstruck by Firefly.

[Dan]

I like this.

[Scriv]

We are working together directly in this. I'm working with one of my heroes, and I think it's so cool that they were even able to send the drones this way. And I'm like, you know what? I might be in technically, like, physically in this hallway alone, but I feel like part of the Guardians, and I feel like they're behind me in this. You're not gonna let them down.

[Dan]

You can't let her down.

[Scriv]

No.

[Dan]

All right. So do you roar? Are you just charging at them? Do you want, like, the specter of a bear to kind of somehow, like.

[Scriv]

I want the specter of Werebear in the angriest possible form I can imagine. I want these emotions to come rolling off.

[Dan]

Give me the roll.

[Scriv]

Focused on those people.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Scriv]

Channeling everything that I could feel from Werebear. I'm going to let out the fiercest roar as I can with that, hopefully, that spectral kind of presence behind me, possibly even enveloping me as, like a shroud as I'm running towards them as fast As I can. I got a five, a five and a one.

[Dan]

Okay. Success with a trouble.

[Amanda Weldon]

Mm.

[Scriv]

Can I boost it?

[Dan]

Would you like to.

[Scriv]

I would like to boost it.

[Dan]

You didn't boost your last.

[Scriv]

Because I feel like this is a. I didn't boost my last.

[Dan]

Well, then this.

[Scriv]

Because I took that trouble.

[Dan]

Okay, so you feel it?

[Scriv]

Yeah.

[Dan]

So when you boost, what these poor guys see is this massive, thundering, spectral bear like creature just charging down the hall at them. There's a few wild bullets, and they're rubber bullets. These guys are. Everything's non lethal. They. They collapse backwards. You hear screams. You hear a couple people crying for various parents. There's definitely this. The smell like a few of them have probably, you know, there's been some pants. You are terrifying. You terrified, though. You absolutely just. Ugh. And you charge up and the door is. It looks like it's been bashed open. So that's why they were. The guard was so heavy. There's no lock on this door anymore. And you burst into the room and there's a. A small figure looks like on a sit seated with a group of people huddled around him. And he looks up and you see it looks almost like giant hat, really broad. And you realize it's not a hat. It's some kind of like a mushroom. This person looks like they're a mushroom of some kind. Like a fungus. They're brick red. And they look up and they go, can you get us out of here? And that's where we're gonna end.

Ape is still stuck under a centaur.

Yes, you are. Just wait till you learn his name. I was dying to tell you his name. All of them have names. They haven't had a chance to introduce themselves. No socials have been exchanged. But. Yeah, I'll save that. I'll save that.

[Scriv]

Maybe after he's done feeding Ape an ab sandwich. Get those McRibs.

[Dan]

All right here at the end of the episode. Now. Now you see why these. These lines of your story become so important, right? These touchstones for who you are, what you've done, and what helps you in a moment of danger or, you know, high drama. So what do you all think, if anything, you. We should do some shout outs and then talk about, you know, what lines you might want to add to your story to reflect your growth. Both. If you think you've learned anything or grown or had a significant moment.

I'll start with shoutouts. I'll give it to. I gotta give a shout out to Scriv, AKA Animus, for the Werebear channel. Pretty cool. Bring. I like the way to bring that power back. I like that. Definitely imagine, like, a Werebear of, like, raw emotion behind you. Like that. It's very. It's evocative. I like that.

The spectral, raw, powerful. I wanted to give a shout out to Firefly for bending the suit. Like, no, I can hack. And then. I like the moment.

[Amanda Weldon]

Yeah. Thank you.

[Dan]

I like that you did the no eyes high five. Felt really satisfying after all the drama between you and Specs. I love that.

[Amanda Weldon]

I would like to recognize 8th Canaveral for the banana. I thought that was.

[Scriv]

That was amazing. A lot.

[Amanda Weldon]

That was very funny.

[Dan]

Classic. I mean, that was so perfectly timed, too. He was going to run you over. I was not sure how you were going to deal with that. That was a great moment. Is the banana going to become a shtick?

I don't want to lean too hard in the banana.

[Scriv]

But it was a moment out of anything that should have been captured on camera. That should have been it.

[Dan]

I know.

[Scriv]

Iconic.

[Dan]

Yeah. He's going to be mad later when he finds out you pulled his coverage.

[Scriv]

The audience is gone.

[Dan]

Did you see that?

[Scriv]

Not a drone to be seen.

[Dan]

So, Scriv, what's your line? I want to know.

[Scriv]

Yeah, I kind of want to add another bond.

[Dan]

Is it J lips?

[Scriv]

Okay. Maybe two bonds.

[Dan]

Oh, no. Okay, please.

[Scriv]

Okay. So. Yes. So, Josh, I appreciated that moment from a storytelling perspective. I appreciated the, you know, the. The difficulty or the challenge there. And. Okay, well, now my cover is blown. But I liked taking that risk, and I really like how that played out. So thank you, Michael. That was very, very cool. And I'll add that as a bond, as, you know, a colleague. But I feel like we still have each other's backs, and I still want to do right by that friendship. Another one that I was thinking, though. I appreciate that Ape pushed me and encouraged me to still go to the tower because there was definitely a moment of inner conflict there, seeing everything going down, thinking, no, no, no, I have to go. That's not good. I should go with Ape. But he probably knows what he's talking about. Okay. Let's hope this plays out.

[Dan]

He doesn't know, but he believes himself.

[Scriv]

Yeah, but you say it with confidence. And Animus is still trying to figure out, like, how much is like, oh, oh, no. He really knows his stuff. Or how much of it is just bravado. We have met. I've known all of you for maybe, like, what, 24 hours, maybe intense.

[Dan]

24 hours. This has been a heck of a first date.

[Scriv]

I still don't know these things.

[Dan]

You've been. You've been on the ultimate interview. Like, this is definitely trial by fire. All right, do you want the bond with jlips, or do you want the bond with. With Ape? Because I think. One or the other.

[Scriv]

One or the other. I think. I think the one with J lips, if that's the name we're gonna use now, is probably more significant at this time.

[Dan]

Okay, that's. That's absolutely. Put it on your sheet. All right. Amanda. Dan, what are you thinking? Do you have anything that's. That's glowing for you as a line?

I think I gotta be honest on this one. I don't think. I don't think. I don't think I'm gonna take a line on this one. Ape didn't do. Didn't do a lot of growth in this one. Kind of played to his strengths. I think. I'm gonna get a line next episode when I sort this whole mess out.

I like how you're like, I'm gonna sort this whole mess out. Hold on. Let me disentangle all these bricks and bodies. I got this.

Yeah.

Yeah. Amanda, did you have anything that stood out to you?

[Amanda Weldon]

Well, I guess not necessarily, like, from what we have just done, but I was just thinking about the dream one and thinking about how so much of Firefly is legacy. And I feel like a big part of what is important to Gill is making her grandpa proud, Grandpa Jack proud, and. And also her dad. And I don't know if that's. I mean, I. I don't think that that's specifically related to anything we talked about today, but that's something that I felt like I would have. I would maybe include or that I kind of think about for her.

[Dan]

That would be a wonderful one. If we were, like, playing offline, I would say, boy, that's a good one to write a story about in between sessions so that we could share that story and build that. That legacy of, like, what does it mean to her? Like, what does she find? Does she. You know, she finds an old piece of grandpa, something Grandpa Jack used to always have, and remembers him and feels that connection. Does she have dreams about him? Sometimes? You know, there's a lot you could do there to build that, and I totally think that's it. That's one we could work with. I was wondering if you didn't want a rivalry. I kind of feel like ellipsis. Really?

[Amanda Weldon]

Yeah. I really hate him.

[Dan]

Into your guys stuff.

[Scriv]

Oh, man.

[Amanda Weldon]

Yeah. After I did such a good job demonstrating my really, really good coding abilities and hacking abilities. And then he was all on my screen. And I just think that's really rude. And also, I did not like his tone of voice. I thought he was too calm and, like, a little quippy, which is a thing that I don't. I don't respond to quippiness well. I don't. I don't ever have a good comeback in the moment. It makes me feel very upset. So I'm not a fan.

[Dan]

He's definitely smarmy. This is a guy who you gotta remember.

[Scriv]

Quippy Marmbag.

[Dan]

Yeah, that's right. Okay, so if you want, you can have that. I can add that, like frustrated by or, like, can't stand, wants to get back at. You know, you could do any of those. Whatever works for you. All right, so we'll wrap it there. You have two moves to go and two triumphs to score. And who knows where this will end? I hope to see everybody next time. Please check us out wherever you get your podcast and check out patreon.com backslash stories RPG so you can get ad free episodes, downloadable game books so you can play along at home right alongside these heroes and hope to see you next time. Everybody say bye. Goodbye.

[Scriv]

Bye, everyone. Don't forget your bananas.