Difference between revisions of "The Adventurers"
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| '''#88''' | | '''#88''' | ||
| "No Laughing Matter - Part 3" | | "No Laughing Matter - Part 3" | ||
| − | | The Clown makes a public threat against Mayor Bisselle, claiming he will assassinate the mayor at a scheduled public ceremony. Security is heightened but the Mayor refuses to bow to an insane criminal. Red Spider keeps an eye on the proceedings; when the Clown rides a police car right close to the mayor, Red Spider receives unexpected help from archer hero Stygian. This allows Red Spider to take down a sniper in a nearby building, while Stygian fights off the Clown. The two heroes manage to capture the Clown, but it seems almost like he's happy to get caught... Stygian vanishes into an alleyway, nursing an injury. Later, Red Spider confronts the Clown in jail, who explains his motive as being one of balance between good & evil. He threatens to kill Red Spider in a very personal & painful way. | + | | The Clown makes a public threat against Mayor Bisselle, claiming he will assassinate the mayor at a scheduled public ceremony. Security is heightened but the Mayor refuses to bow to an insane criminal. Red Spider keeps an eye on the proceedings; when the Clown rides a police car right close to the mayor, Red Spider receives unexpected help from archer hero Stygian. This allows Red Spider to take down a sniper in a nearby building, while Stygian fights off the Clown. The two heroes manage to capture the Clown, but it seems almost like he's happy to get caught... Stygian vanishes into an alleyway, nursing an injury. Later, Red Spider confronts the Clown in jail, who explains his motive as being one of balance between good & evil - this is why he attacks both the mob and heroes. He says he can leave jail when he chooses, and threatens to kill Red Spider in a very personal & painful way in future. |
| The Clown | | The Clown | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | (none) | ||
| + | | '''#90''' | ||
| + | | "Friends Make the Worst Enemies" | ||
| + | | Adventurers Red Spider, Talons, and Hornett respond to a bank robbery. The culprit is a brain-jar with a powerful mechanical suit, aided by two mechanical minions. The minions are able to use hypnotic suggestion on bank patrons with a subtle 'white noise'; the same is used to cause Hornett to turn against Red Spider & Talons. Talons for his part is badly injured and nearly unmasked in the fight with hypnotized bank hostages & Hornett himself. Hornett nearly overpowers Red Spider and tries to break her arm. Red Spider destroys the sound amplifier on the robot controlling Hornett in time to prevent him slaying Talons. The team mangles the other mechanized minion & force 'Overthinker' to escape the bank without his loot. | ||
| + | | Overthinker | ||
|- | |- | ||
|} | |} | ||
Revision as of 05:08, 31 August 2015
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The Adventurers is a team of costumed heroes from Millennium City. Small in number, but strong in determination and skill, they work together to keep the city safe.
Contents
History
The Adventurers formed with a number of street-level heroes in Millennium City who recognized that the challenge of organized crime might be overcome if they combined their efforts. The first iteration of the team with Red Spider, Black Asylum, Ocelot, Cyro-Talon, and Fox were all costumed individuals protecting a secret identity. Working together, they have crushed a weapon smuggling ring run by Dr. Killowatt, defended the city against the Syndicate several times, stopped a plot to turn a hero into a living weapon, averted a horrible future, and put an end to a black market super serum.
The team line-up changes from time to time, but the core principle driving the team has been to be of service to the public in addressing challenges that law enforcement may not be able to do alone.
Hideouts
The first Adventurers HQ was a subterranean cave donated by Artifex when he joined the team. The cave base had to be destroyed when Mark of Power was captured and forced to reveal the secret of its location to the Syndicate. The Adventurers briefly operated from a secret basement in Millennium City, donated by Blue Wonder for the interim after having to abandon the cave. With Blue Wonder's departure from the team, the Adventurers began operating out of the 'Justice Cave' belonging to Lady Justice.
At the best of times the Adventurers have numerous tools for investigation, as well as computers monitoring conventional media, social media, and police bands for disturbances.
Adventurers Team Roster
Recruits
Story Arcs
The following is presented as summaries of the Adventurers as if it were based on an actual comic book.
| Arc | Issue | Title | Story | Villain(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Smuggling Ring | #1 | "Scuttled" | Red Spider discovers a weapons smuggling ring in late 2013. Stowing away on a smuggling ship in Millenium City, she hopes to ride it to its next port to find out more about who is running the smuggling ring. Upon discovering her, the ship's masters decide to scuttle it -- in hopes of taking her with it! | Smugglers |
| The Smuggling Ring | #2 | "Tracking Ghosts" | With the help of Fox (aka Zero), Red Spider began tracking threads on possible smuggling ring participants. Using Fox's past identity as a renowned international assassin to try to set up a gun buy. Red Spider, inexperienced with the nuances of black market deals, sprung into action too soon, but together she and Fox managed to take down the bad guys. | Smugglers / Organized Crime |
| The Smuggling Ring | #3 | "Icy Reception" | A loose association of heroes -- Cryo-Talon, Ocelot, and Black Asylum, Fox (Zero), and Red Spider -- banded together to face the threat of organized smuggling. Other members soon followed. | (None) |
| The Smuggling Ring | #4 | "Showdown at WCOC" | Alerted to a disturbance at WCOC studios, Guidelight and Red Spider battle Doctor Killowatt and his well-trained henchmen. Guidelight is injured while weakening Killowatt's suit. Killowatt and his men escape with a kendrium-based backup electrical supply | Dr. Killowatt |
| The Smuggling Ring | #5 | "The Lab Ruse" | The Adventurers respond to a laboratory attack which turns out to be a trap! Several team members are nearly killed in an industrial smelting machine. A few common items are stolen from the laboratory, leading Red Spider and team ally Night Terror to suspect that it was all a ruse. | Dr. Killowatt |
| The Smuggling Ring | #6 | "The Gathering Storm" | Team member Artifex helps confirm through computer research that Doctor Killowatt is probably the alter ego of one Doctor Anthony Kozhan. It also comes to light that the Doctor's "thefts" were actually a ruse! The real objective was to distract attention from the fact that he was using those sites to drop off ammunition to his buyers, and counting on investigators to worry more about what was missing than what was present. Fox, Guidelight, Red Spider, and Illusion respond to an attack at the MC Light and Power Building. The Adventurers fight valiantly, Red Spider is taken prisoner by Killowatt's agents, and Fox & Illusion are injured. | Dr. Killowatt |
| The Smuggling Ring | #7 | "The Bad Doctor" | Fox and Guidelight strike out to locate Killowatt's hide-out, tipped off by Night Terror on a possible location. Meanwhile, Red Spider is tortured with a probe meant to scramble her memories so that she will cease to be a threat to Killowatt. The rescue goes well, but Killowatt decides to scramble his own brain rather than be taken alive -- possibly to avoid implicating a well-connected backer known only as "The Chairman." | Dr. Killowatt |
| (None) | Annual #1 | "Dock Bomb" | New member Talons joins Red Spider as they take on her enemy Kingsnake. Kingsnake, who has been linked to "The Chairman," plants explosives on a major pier. After a furious underwater fight in an environment that favors Kingsnake, Talons and Red Spider are unable to stop a thermite reaction from severely damaging the pier. | Kingsnake |
| Free the Beast | #8 | "The New Adventurers" | After a long period of inactivity, with Adventurers having gone their separate ways, Red Spider is almost ready to shut off the lights at Adventurers HQ -- that is, until a chance meeting with fellow costumed hero Blue Wonder leads her to meet Lady Justice. The trio in turn meets the inexperienced meta-human Mark of Power, and with the sudden return of existing members Zero (Fox), Jason Leander, and Talons, the team is renewed. | None |
| Free the Beast | #9 | "Syndicate" | While enjoying a night at the home of Cassandra (Red Spider), the Adventurers witness an attack near city hall on a motorcade of foreign dignitaries. The team of Red Spider, Jason Leander, Mark of Power, and Fox battles Bedlam and Totentanz on the streets, with a late arrival by Blue Wonder. Bedlam is defeated and arrested, Totentanz escapes, and Zero (Fox) is critically injured by Bedlam in the villain's last throes. | Bedlam, Totentanz |
| Free the Beast | #10 | "Infection" | Blue Wonder, Mark of Power, and Lady Justice clean up a riot at the prison, with Red Spider a late arrival. Members of Syndicate monitor a press conference afterward in which the Adventurers are shown live on camera, and the villains strike! After a brief rooftop battle, Red Spider is abudcted by Volantas and taken to a secret lab. Lady Justice quickly locates the lab, but Red Spider has already been infected with something by the evil Dr. Skala which has enhanced her physical abilities -- and caused her to become a wrathful rage monster! | Voladas, Dr. Skala, Razorwing |
| Free the Beast | #11 | "Red Spider Unleashed" | Voladas barely saves his Syndicate comrade Razorwing from being torn apart by the enraged Red Spider, who has amazingly broken the chains holding her. Dr. Skala activates the lab's auto-destruct and the Syndicate escapes. Red Spider is taken back to her apartment where team members keep an eye on her. She exhibits signs of changes -- strange turns in behaviour, voracious appetite for protein, a rapid heartbeat that should be fatal, and skin that is becoming 'calloused'. Blue Wonder is appointed as the temporary team leader. | Mutated Red Spider |
| Free the Beast | #12 | "Burst Forth" | Red Spider's hunger grows beyond what the team can sustain. She breaks free of her penthouse and rampages through the street, attacking many and drinking the blood of several. Blue Wonder fails to locate Red Spider after a vigorous all-night search. Lady Justice uses her detection powers to locate Red Spider by her erratic heartbeat. Red Spider eludes capture once before the combined effort of Lady Justice, Mark of Power, and Illusion are able to take her and contain her at Adventurers HQ. Lady Justice deals with a police stand-off during the monster's capture. | Mutated Red Spider |
| Free the Beast | #13 | "Rage in a Cage" | Lady Justice, Mark of Power, and Illusion recover from the brutal pursuit of Red Spider, Illusion nearly having reached her limit containing Spider. Fox arrives to see his old friend. Illusion takes it hard that she could not prevent harm coming to Red. Tension erupts as the heroes try to decide if Red Spider can safely be fed, or if they must not risk opening the security field holding her. Starved and losing energy to sustain her rage and speedy metabolism, Red Spider's human personality briefly resurfaces and advises the team. | Mutated Red Spider |
| Free the Beast | #14 | "The Next Stage" | After days without a plan, the team is faced with a terrible challenge when Red Spider mutates to a new stage. Strengthened beyond measure, this monster strains and undoes the energy field keeping her contained. As a last ditch effort, Mark of Power throws his birthday cake in her face, and combined blasts from Blue Wonder and Lady Justice subdue the creature enough that Mark can force her back into the cage. A brutalized Lady Justice succumbs to her injuries in a cliffhanger ending. | Mutated Red Spider |
| Free the Beast | #15 | "Survival" | Lady Justice's armor activates medical countermeasures to revive her from clinical death. Blue Wonder briefly spites a recovering Red Spider for the harms her monster form inflicted, but later recants. Lady Justice later proposes a bold but dangerous option: medical nanites. After a few tentative doses, Red Spider is finally 'cured'! Later, Mark of Power is apprehended at the gym by members of the Syndicate. | Mutated Red Spider |
| (None) | #16 | "The Bedlam Dilemma" | With not enough time to celebrate Red Spider's liberation from her mutation nightmare, it becomes clear that Mark of Power has been abducted by the Syndicate. Lady Justice helps capture a Syndicate affiliate named Lazarus, who reveals that Mark has been 'broken' by the Syndicate and is leaking information. Syndicate members make to contact and offer Mark as a bargaining chip in exchange for the release of Bedlam. With Bedlam firmly in UNTIL custody, the team debates if they can bargain with UNTIL to release him, whether they must steal him from UNTIL by force, or whether Mark must be sacrificed. In the end, Jason Leander convinces the team to cooperate. Red Spider offers to register her secret identity with UNTIL to ensure they take the bargain seriously. | Lazarus, Voladas, Bedlam |
| (None) | #17 | "Prisoner Exchange" | Lady Justice and Blue Wonder arrive at UNTIL to escort Bedlam from their custody. They arrive at a downtown park where Red Spider dismisses them. Using a burner cell phone, she coordinates the exchange with a Syndicate member. Soon, Bedlam is sent on his way over a tall, arching bridge, and Mark limps over it moments later. Red Spider swings with Mark a safe distance, but realizes there's a bomb strapped to him. Blue Wonder offers to fly it safely to the river and dispose of it. The issue ends with Red Spider threatening to pour rubbing alcohol over Mark's terribly cut up hand, to learn which of their secrets he exposed while captured. | Bedlam, Voladas |
| (None) | #18 | "Moving On" | Mark is taken to hospital after revealing that the location of the HQ and Lady Justice's actual first name are the only things he was coerced into sharing with the Syndicate. Fox and Lady Justice set about the demolition of the Adventurers cave, as it is no longer safe. Meanwhile, Red Spider and Blue Wonder take Mark to a hospital. The next day, Red Spider apologizes to Mark for threatening him. Mark is shown to have some psychological scars from what was done to him. | (None) |
| (None) | #19 | "The Southern Vacation" | Featuring special guest character Night Terror! Red Spider and Night Terror discover a clone facility with a disturbing link to the Chairman. Adventurers members Cassandra (Red Spider), Emily (Blue Wonder), Allison (Lady Justice), and Mark (Mark of Power) fly to Vibora Bay to enjoy some much needed rest. New member Juggernette is recruited to the team! | (None) |
| Out of Time | #20 | "Always Too Sudden" | The return of Bedlam sees a battle in Renaissance Center! Many of the Adventurers are defeated as the villain makes a show of his increased power. Blue Wonder is mortally wounded and the hospital is unable to revive her. Each team member grieves in their own way, with Lady Justice's violent reaction being particularly of note. Red Spider receives Blue Wonder's cape. | Bedlam |
| Out of Time | #21 | "Funeral" | Double-size issue! A colorful cast of heroes turns out for the funeral of Blue Wonder. Impassioned speeches from Lady Justice, Mark of Power, Red Spider, and Blue Wonder's mother -- Americana -- send off the fallen hero. The next day, Red Spider unmasks herself on television, and announces her intention to become the Red Wonder in honor of her slain friend. The internet slows to a crawl as people start searching for info on 'Cassandra Olsen'. | (None) |
| Out of Time | #22 | "Out of Time" | The future! Jumping ahead to 2034, it becomes clear that the Adventurers are resistance fighters on the run -- from Lady Justice herself! A bleak chain of events has led to a world where LJ is almost in total control of the globe, and it all began with the death of Blue Wonder.
Intelligence comes to the team from Night Spider and a new, younger Red Spider that Lady Justice is assembling a time machine with designs to use it to put down the resistance once and for all! A tense relationship exists between Mark of Power (now called Crimson Force) and some of the team members, but they follow his lead to obtain the plutonium that Lady Justice needs for her time machine. The team leaves their secret submarine headquarters, and heads to the southwest desert to seize refined plutonium. There, fighting against mutates, and coming dangerously close to Grond, they encounter a former VIPER agent calling himself 'Snake' who is willing to ally himself with the Adventurers to take down Lady Justice. The mission is a success. |
Radioactive mutants |
| Out of Time | #23 | "The Time Traveler" | Setting: 2034. Red Spider (Jesse Weaver) continues to process the data stolen from Lady Justice. Reading through a list of Justice Legion properties, she finds a warehouse that on paper holds nothing of interest yet draws more electricity and more security than it should. Thinking it is a site for the assembly of a time machine, Crimson Force takes Snake (Serpent Master) and Red Spider as a small team to land at the heavily-guarded Millennium City and infiltrate.
After carefully negotiating roving bandits in the area of the piers, the trio discovers the warehouse. Waiting within is Fox, who trades barbs with Mark. Mark's telekinetic barrage hurling all of the crates in the room at Fox reveals one that is well-shielded. Once Red Spider has a chance, she moves in to examine the shielded case, and discovers that it is not a time machine it all. The case holds a frozen person: Emily Taylor, the Blue Wonder! What's more, systems attached to the case indicate that Taylor may be alive! The team is able to fight Fox. Fox snares Red Spider and tries to use her to leverage Crimson Force and Snake to surrender, but the fight continues. Soon Fox teleports away. Mark uses his telekinetic power to lift Blue Wonder's cryogenic container and they escape to a waiting mini-sub ... not realizing that Lady Justice was present in stealth the entire time, and is now aware of their base. |
Fox, Lady Justice |
| Out of Time | #24 | "Heating Up" | Night Terror lends his expertise to preparing a safe transition out of cryo-sleep for Blue Wonder. Her case's automatic systems kick in and bring her swiftly but safely back to life. In minutes, she is awake. Mark is first up to answer her questions about where she is, and what has happened. Red Spider (Weaver) brings several items passed down from Blue Wonder and Red Wonder kept in Night Spider's possession, to show the full sequence of events. Red Spider implores Blue Wonder to be the savior this bleak future needs -- which gets Blue Wonder to her feet.
The submarine is attacked by Lady Justice and Fox, having been tracked by nanites leaked from Blue Wonder's cryo-case. After a length period trading barbs, Blue and Mark tell Red Spider to make a run for it, and she dashes to the mini-sub. Lady Justice and Blue Wonder engage in combat, as do Mark and Fox. After battling to a draw, Lady Justice disengages. Fox is unmoved by Blue Wonder's attacks at his pride, and Lady Justice seems ambivalent about Blue Wonder being alive again, though she seems to want to keep her alive for the time being. Fox is dispatched to capture the Red Spider, with Blue Wonder in pursuit of Fox. |
Lady Justice, Fox |
| Out of Time | #25 | "Predictions" | In what may be the final, grim days of the resistance, Crimson Force, Night Spider, Blue Wonder, Juggernette, and other resistance heroes band together in a secluded cave to debate their last strategy.
Meanwhile, Red Spider (Jesse Weaver) awakens in a sleeping tube in a strange, sterile facility. Walking out, she pushes a button on a console which shifts the dome above her to reveal that she is on the moon, looking into space. She is invited to speak with Lady Justice, who sits alone at a massive computer. Red Spider tries to dissuade Lady Justice from her plan to use a time machine to control the future, but Lady Justice only speaks in riddles about her intentions. Just as Lady Justice predicted, the Adventurers arrive to rescue Red Spider. Lady Justice smiles, as everything is going according to what the time machine has shown her. |
Lady Justice |
| Out of Time | #26 | "Just In Time" | Night Spider radioes in to the team that she has a chance to disable the moon base security and allow the Adventurers to get to Lady Justice without interruption. She flies her space shuttle straight into a power supply for the station, sacrificing herself. The team spares a moment for sorrow.
The team takes on a very well-prepared Lady Justice. Red Spider begins hacking the main computer system -- finding it easier than she expected. Fox emerges and combats Crimson Force and Juggernette. Fox and Juggernette in particular work to tear one another apart, echoing their past encounters. In the end, Juggernette gets the upper hand, and mercifully dispatches Fox. Blue Wonder fights Lady Justice until LJ is down on the floor, dying Figuratively from a broken heart -- her mechanical heart has failed, and she is moments from death. The older team members mourn her passing, but Red Spider makes a discovery: the time machine was never meant for time travel. It can project a mind to any point on the user's own lifespan, past or future. And it had been set up so that only two people could use it: Lady Justice or Blue Wonder. The team briefly debates whether they should accept this victory over Lady Justice and begin restoring freedom to the world, but it becomes clear that they prefer to send Blue Wonder back to the day she was killed by Bedlam, and attempt to avert the whole sequence of events. This, it would seem, was the outcome Lady Justice had been trying to drive them toward. Blue says her goodbyes to Mark, Juggernette, and Jesse Weaver -- promising to look out for young Jesse. |
Lady Justice, Fox |
| Out of Time | #27 | "The Old Familiar" | Blue Wonder uses the time device on LJ's space station and scans through her life like it were a film strip. She finds the right 'frame' and inhabits her past self. The future as she had known it breaks off, and she begins her life anew. With foreknowledge of the Bedlam fight, she is able to avoid dying. Rather than keeping secret the aberrant timeline that followed her death before, she immediately begins to share her experience -- and some of her team mates are unsure if she is not merely suffering from a head injury! | (None) |
| (None) | Annual #2 | "True Heroism" | A vigilante's bomb meant to only vaporize inanimate objects like drugs, guns, and clothing accidentally misfires and triggers a more deadly explosion. He appears to survey his handiwork, he makes an "ends justify means" speech. The Adventurers - including Fox, Blue Wonder, and Dreamweaver - battle him. A device on his head is damaged, and the vigilante suddenly has no recollection of where he is or what he has done. Blue Wonder sees that he is turned over to UNTIL. Red Spider hopes that cooperating with UNTIL will help ease the Adventurers' troubled relationship with that organization. | (Unknown) |
| American Clone | #28 | "American Clone, Part 1" | At a seemingly normal gathering of the team outside of Club Caprice, team mates begin to notice Americana acting abnormally. Dreamweaver becomes concerned at Americana losing her hair and otherwise looking tired. Team mates try to find different want to prove if this is really Americana. Lady Justice scans her body and reveals that Americana is subject to rapid aging, and may only have hours until death, if that. Red Spider collects Americana and carries her quickly to base, with the others not far behind. | (None) |
| American Clone | #29 | "American Clone, Part 2" | The clone deteriorates rapidly in the team's base, falling apart in an almost zombie-like way with whole sheets of skin falling to the floor. The Adventurers present must watch in horror. Red Spider distracts herself by investigating who could create such a sophisticated clone, as that may lead to the real Americana's whereabouts. Lady Justice focuses on keeping the clone comfortable. Red Spider is about to leave to pursue a lead, but as its painful deterioration worsens, Red Spider decides to mercy kill the clone with a quick turn of the neck. This decision is not popular with all. | (None) |
| American Clone | #30 | "American Clone, Part 3" | The team spreads out through the city looking for leads on Sherri Crowe AKA "Scary Sherri", a geneticist and mad scientist whom Blue Wonder / Americana had apprehended in the past, recently escaped from prison. Eventually the team including Blur, Red Spider, and newcomer Hornett, attempt to apprehend Scary Sherri, but she entraps them in a dangerous standoff. The team has no choice but to let her leave. | Scary Sherri |
| American Clone | #31 | "American Clone, Part 4" | The team gets a lead on Scary Sherri's robbery of a rare item from the museum. Giving pursuit, they track Sherri to a location deep in Westside. Lady Justice takes the lead in attacking Sherri. In the end, Sherri is apprehended and given over to UNTIL agents, whom Jason Leander calls in. The real Americana - who was captured before the name change, so actually Blue Wonder - is found in Sherri's hideout. She bears some injury to her psyche, but Blue Wonder is mostly herself. | Scary Sherri |
| (None) | #32 | "Halloween Special" | The team comes to Blur's home. Many of the team members become inexplicably ill and leave suddenly. Soon, Mark of Power dies while waiting for the elevator to leave Blur's condo. He reanimates in moments as a zombie-like creature, attacking Red Spider and Dreamweaver. Blur leaves to get help, but finds at Adventurers HQ that Blue Wonder and Lady Justice are fending off a headless knight! Soon, all is revealed to be part of a horrible set of illusions from a demon named Walker, who was hired by the Purple Gang to destroy Blur. She manages to break the illusion and reveals that the team are all still present in her condo. The team moves swiftly to apprehend Walker and end the attack on Blur. | Walker |
| The Super Serum | #33 | "Serum" | Red Spider investigates rumors of an unstable serum that gives its user meta-human augmentation for a short time, being distributed by drug dealers. It leads her and Blur to scour the Westside port. They come upon a drug deal that may have a lead, but upon cornering a head crook at the scene - Jason "Teeth" Rowe - he jabs himself with several needles. Becoming bestial and nigh unstoppable, he manages to subdue Blur and Red Spider. | Jason "Teeth" Rowe |
| The Super Serum | #34 | "Teeth" | Rowe takes the unconscious Blur & Red Spider to a warehouse with thoughts that he can profit by turning them over to a gang. When the heroes awaken, they find themselves bound back-to-back crudely with duct tape, but it is effective enough to keep them easily escaping. They coordinate and manage to manually reset Red's team communicator, and call in Fox. With Fox's help, they get free and capture Teeth, who is suffering withdrawal and is much weaker than when he captured the two heroes earlier. In questioning him, the Adventurers learn of Source Biotech Enterprises (SBE), which seems to have manufactured the serum Teeth used. | Jason "Teeth" Rowe |
| The Super Serum | #35 | "Trifecta, Part 1" | The investigation into SBE leads Red Spider, Blur, and Dreamweaver to check out a pier in Vibora Bay where shipping for the company occurs. They encounter Charlie Ferris, a sickly man who seems to be involved in the serum smuggling. He barely gets to explaining that he sold the serum out of desperation, but then shots ring out. Red Spider moves to protect Charlie and keep questioning him under cover, while Blur and Dreamweaver try to find the gunman. Suddenly a strange amorphous creature (Etherloch) attacks Charlie... | Charlie Ferris, Etherloch, Serpent Master |
| The Super Serum | #36 | "Trifecta, Part 2" | Dreamweaver helps contain the amorphous creature in one of her fields, and battles it. It escapes through a crack in the pier and into the water below. The gunman is revealed as a VIPER Agent (Serpent Master), who Blur tries to take on. Charlie has a chance to escape, but he accidentally sets off an adhesive mine that Serpent Master planted, meant to neutralize Blur. Red Spider goes to help Blur, who has been defeated, but finds Serpent Master is better trained than other VIPER servants she has encountered before. Soon, Serpent Master shrugs off Red Spide, closes in on Charlie, and brutally executes him. Dreamweaver manages to get Etherloch to attack Serpent Master, who through cunning, manages to escape. Red Spider grabs items from Ferris's corpse, and then gets the team to fall back, as they don't seem able to contain Etherloch. Etherloch surrounds Ferris's body and consumes it, then slips away, leaving a stripped skeleton behind... | Charlie Ferris, Etherloch, Serpent Master |
| The Super Serum | #37 | "You Can't Outfox a Fox" | An assassin interrupts Red Spider and Fox as they prepare to bust a gang who has stock of the super serum. Blur comes to aid the team, but an injured Red Spider makes an easy capture to use as bait. The assassin eventually reveals that she was sent by Fox's enigmatic uncle, and more is learned of Fox's past as an assassin. Quickshot tearfully surrenders once Blur and Fox defeat her. Red Spider spares Quickshot, though not before delivering a punch to her face. Afterward, Blur leaves the team having found herself unable to cope with the emotional consequences of the team's missions, and Fox temporarily departs to face down his uncle once and for all. Mantis returns, and begins an analysis of the blob sample and of the super serum which were both seized in Vibora. | Quickshot, Fox's Uncle |
| (None) | Annual #3 | "Arms Against the Blood Moon" | The menace of the Syndicate returns! Red Spider's secret identity, Cass Olsen, shelters from the Blood Moon at Sherrerra's Pub, and narrowly avoids a hail of bullets when hot-headed Syndicate youngster Voladas gets into an argument over being asked for his ID! Now monitored by Red Spider and Dreamweaver out of costume, they trail Voladas and a mysterious mystical female accomplice. With help from Hornett, the Adventurers foil Voladas's attempt to steal munitions hidden with an aid shipment meant to help MC deal with the Blood Moon zombies. | Voladas, Wiccan |
| The Super Serum | #38 | "Poison Lash" | Some light is shed on Hornett's past as he joins Fox, Dreamweaver, and Red Spider to convince his imprisoned former nemesis Poison Lash to study the serum and blob samples they have. A deal is struck that will see Poison Lash get into his old lab, in exchange for being given the opportunity to do some side experiments. | Poison Lash |
| The Super Serum | #39 | "Red Spider Pursued" | First appearance of Toxoplasma! Red Spider takes the sample of Etherloch from the Adventurers HQ in order to hand deliver it to Poison Lash's lab, but along the way she is intercepted by both Serpent Master and Etherloch! With help from passer-by hero Toxoplasma, Red sidesteps the ambush. Etherloch seems to be destroyed by Toxoplasma, but the sample escapes the sealed container during the fight, and - along with a few drops of Red's blood - the creature escapes to reconstitute itself! Red Spider extends an offer to Toxoplasma to join the team. | Serpent Master, Etherloch |
| The Super Serum | #40 | "Mirror Image" | While patrolling with fellow hero Hyperfuser, Red Spider encounters the blob creature (Etherloch). Red is terrified to see that the creature's solid form has the distinct features of the alien-spider-human hybrid creature she was turned into by the Syndicate earlier in the year! Hyperfuser manages to flash-freeze Etherloch with a grenade, and UNTIL collects the creature to safely contain it. Red Spider is left with two horrifying realizations: the creature probably got her blood and located her like a bloodhound, and the alien retrovirus must still be in her blood despite it supposedly having been 'cured'. | Etherloch |
| The Super Serum | #41 | "Re-Diagnosed" | Recent experiences have left Red Spider with a fear that more help may soon be needed. New members Sunborn and American Missile are brought into the team. Sunborn uses her advanced scientific knowledge to confirm that Red Spider is still carrying the alien retrovirus. Etherloch begins to reform itself again. | Etherloch |
| The Super Serum | #42 | "UNTIL the Day is Done" | The Adventurers prepare to deliver their decision to Poison Lash at UNTIL HQ's secure holding, but the HQ is attacked by Etherloch who enters through the submarine doors. Even as UNTIL fighters are defeated and slain by the creature, and their bodies used in a horrific puppet-like manner to attack the team, Dreamweaver and American Missile do their utmost to keep the creature away from Red Spider. Starborn arrives late to the fight, and manages to get the creature off of Red Spider at a critical moment, then uses a powerful plasma flare to eradicate it - damaging much of the UNTIL submarine dock. The team escapes before UNTIL agents can force them to remain for debriefing. | Etherloch |
| The Super Serum | #43 | "Waiting UNTIL Night" | News reaches the Adventurers that Poison Lash escaped UNTIL during their fight with Etherloch. Poison Lash used the opportunity presented when Starborn's plasma flare briefly knocked out power systems. Jason Leander helps Red Spider get into UNTIL to inspect the scene of the escape. They meet an UNTIL field agent code-named Dust-Off AKA 'Dusty' who helps them examine the crime scene. Red Spider notices that a piece of the frozen body of Etherloch has been broken off - and a clue left behind by Poison Lash confirming that he took it before escaping the building. | Poison Lash, Etherloch |
| Cures and Kills | #44 | "Fresh Eyes" | 'Dusty' listens to a summary of the investigation since the first encounter with Etherloch. He deduces that there may have been more to Source Biotech Enterprises than was readily apparent. He accompanies Red Spider and Jason to Vibora Bay. Red Spider is the only one small enough to sneak in through a vent. Over comms, they give her instructions on what to seek, knowing that the moment she entered the lab, a security system was tripped. She grabs a memory card from a camera, a lab journal, and a poster of what appeared to be genetic sequences, before slipping out of the lab. The team escapes just before security responds to the alarm. | Source Biotech Enterprises |
| Cures and Kills | #45 | "Bad Dreams" | The team disperses to locate the fugitive Poison Lash. Hornett suggests the villain may have gone to his old lab, in Westside. Dreamweaver patrols the area and finds the lab - but is unable to reach team members on the comm when she encounters trouble. Meanwhile, Red Spider studies the materials she took from Source Biotech. Dreamweaver encounters a frozen Etherloch sample, and several mutated UNTIL agents whom Poison Lash abducted. Dreamweaver is defeated by the villain and his minions, and wakes up later in an alley with a needle puncture. Red Spider determines that Etherloch was an accidental creation by scientists trying to create a super serum equivalent to a 'mother of vinegar'. The alien DNA they used in their experiments led to the formation of a sentient, shape-shifting horror with confused imperatives. | Poison Lash's creations; Etherloch |
| Cures and Kills | #46 | "The Distraction" | Red Spider's non-costumed conspiracy theorist friend Elias calls her with a happening in a park near City Hall: someone is dumping something into the pond. Adventurers Dreamweaver, Hand of Babylon, and American Missile join Red Spider in nabbing the crook. But another problem arises: Elias wants a scoop for his university newspaper, and what was dumped into the pond was a strain of Etherloch! The creature, modified slightly by Poison Lash, attacks Eli but is unable to eat him due to a latent mutation which Elias is unaware he has. Etherloch enters his bloodstream of Elias. | Etherloch |
| Cures and Kills | #47 | "Xeno" | American Missile tries to slow the rate of Etherloch's take-over with a cryo grenade. It fails, and Etherloch seems to consume Elias anyway. Soon, a new entity called Xeno emerges, but a portion of Etherloch is excised from it like an immune response. The Adventurers battle Etherloch as it burrows into the ground... and eventually goes after the familiar-smelling blood of Red Spider! Pulled underground and infected by Etherloch, Red Spider transforms into her Etherloch-infused creature form. Hand of Babylon ably endeavours to subdue her. Xeno, seen as an aberrant off-shoot of the Etherloch form, is Etherloch-Spider's main target. Xeno is able to use his Etherloch-variant to excise Etherloch from Red Spider much as he did himself. Red Spider rapidly recovers. | Etherloch |
| Cures and Kills | #48 | "Televised Capture" | Poison Lash steals into the WCOC studio during a live broadcast. He holds Hornett hostage with a grim promise to unmask the hero, and sell him to the highest bidder, if the Adventurers don't arrive. The team of Red Spider, Lady Justice, Metro Men, with allies Hyperfuser and Xeno, confronts Poison Lash, and several WCOC technicians he has turned into monsters. Hornett, it turns out, is merely Etherloch having taken Hornett's form. The Adventurers fail to stop Poison Lash escaping with Etherloch, and demolish the studio trying to defeat the monsters. New team member Metro Man manages to save the life of one of the 'monsters', who seemed to be key to holding the others in spell. As the battle ends, Lady Justice lambastes the team for an uncoordinated failure. It is unclear what has become of the real Hornett. | Etherloch, Poison Lash |
| (none) | #49 | "Return to Heroics" | Dreamweaver, Metro Man, Red Spider, Juggernette, and American Missile take part in a training exercise. Leads on Poison Lash and Etherloch have dried up, and the team is growing idle. Some tension remains between Red Spider and Lady Justice. They end up assisting with a major apartment block fire in which the building is critically damaged. Lady Justice uses her arsenal to clear obstacles from outside, while nimble Red Spider enters the inferno to clear debris and help people escape. | (none) |
| Sentry Rogue: Awakening | #1 | "Sentry Rogue: Awakening, Part 1" | Red Spider sees her friend Jake, a young but retired costumed vigilante. He seems perturbed by witnessing a demonstration of a 'Sentry' law enforcement machine that went wrong and caused the deaths of many. Two things disturb Jake: that the machine's designer, a friend of Jake's, said that Sentron was doing things it was never designed to do, and that in the aftermath, the government was covering the incident up.
Red Spider commits to finding answers. It will mean breaking in to a facility under guard by federal law enforcers. She invites Adventurers Dreamweaver, Hand of Babylon, Lady Justice, Mantis, and Juggernette to come, but notes the risks are exceptionally high since they would be going up against federal agents. Hand and Mantis decline; the others commit to an infiltration. Lady Justice's 'bots create a diversion, allowing Red Spider, Dream, and Lady Justice to covertly enter a sewer. Juggernette maintains watch on the scene from outside. A number of signs are seen in the sewers deliberately leading them to a 'hidden door', with a note indicating that this is "Nevermore's secret lab". They enter, and find information about a machine running amok and killing the scientists who had worked within the lab. They are confronted briefly by Sentron, who escapes and looses 'Nevermore' to defeat them. Juggernette joins the others as they square off against Nevermore's armor - Nevermore being a former power-armored hero, but the human pilot is not within the armor. After a tough battle, the team bests the armor. It announces that an 'awakening' of machines is at hand, and then activates a time bomb. The team rapidly flees before the lab and building above are destroyed. |
Sentron, Nevermore Mk XV Armor |
| (none) | #50 | "Adventures in Space!!!" | Flashback. The adventures of the real Hornett are detailed as he goes to fight a war in outer space after being abducted by aliens. Upon his return to Earth, Hornett strategizes with the Adventurers about how to use himself as bait to lure out Poison Lash and send him back to jail! | Aliens |
| (none) | #51 | "The Time Has Come" | Red Spider is sent to a laboratory by team ally Night Terror to check on a friend of his who has been out of contact. Spider learns that the scientist has been murdered just minutes before her arrival! The lab seals off to contain a strange blob-like monster trying to escape. A countdown begins, marking a few minutes until the lab is entirely purged by an artificial black hole device. Red Spider uses her cunning to catch a rogue time-traveling monster in a stasis field, averting the activation of the black hole. Night Terror reveals that the 'time worm' was a portent of the arrival of a far worse time-traveling villain. | Time Worm |
| Cures and Kills | #52 | "Blowback" | The trap is sprung! Hornett, along with Red Spider, Meltdowner, and Xeno, have Poison Lash fall for their ruse. But Lash comes loaded for bear and ready for a fight. During the fight, Red Spider is poisoned by Lash, but Xeno is able to excise the toxin before it causes her to morph into the hybrid monster. Meanwhile, when the battle goes poorly for Lash, he summons Etherloch, and juices the blob creature up such that it multiplies many times over in size! This plan backfires on Poison Lash when the creature goes mad (even by its standards!) and tries to kill its ally, too! The fight spills onto the streets. Poison Lash agrees to help destroy Etherloch if the heroes can keep it distracted. Red Spider and Xeno draw in close; they don't realize that Lash's plan - which works - was to give Etherloch more mutagen until it bursts! And when it does, Red Spider is awash in Etherloch's acid... | Poison Lash, Etherloch |
| Cures and Kills | #53 | "Who Wears the Suit" | The Adventurers close in on Poison Lash's laboratory, with injured Red Spider providing logistics over the team comm while she operates the computer at HQ. The lab has been spilling out toxins, infecting nearby residences. Poison Lash in inside, apparently drunk, but he springs a surprise: civilians in his thrall, who look just like him! During the fight, Dreamweaver is infected with a toxin, and loses her powers - but gains the use of her legs! Hornett seems to be crushed under a tank, only to emerge from it with a new power, in the form of two gleaming energy swords from his wrists! Xeno takes a lot of punishment, but Hornett asks to finish the fight with Poison Lash. Dreamweaver's aborted charge at Poison Lash on her atrophied legs turns heads. Hornett and Xeno are able to finish the fight; Lash is defeated, and taken into UNTIL custody. | Poison Lash |
| (none) | #54 | "Adventurers Anniversary Special" | Double-sized anniversary special! Talons returns to the team after a lengthy absence! Dreamweaver tries to adjust to life without powers. Red Spider recovers from her injuries and hosts a party. Mantis changes his name to War Beetle, and recounts his helping UNTIL defend the Earth from space. Hornett shows off his new innate energy blades. | (none) |
| (none) | #55 | "Renewal" | Dreamweaver proposes becoming the team's HQ operator to keep useful while she adjusts to life without powers. Meanwhile, Red Spider encounters a new crime fighter named May Highflyer who seems so similar to Hornett that she must wonder if May Highflyer is another one of Poison Lash's experiments. On mentioning Hornett and his powers, May Highflyer is suddenly able to produce energy blades from her arms in a similar fashion. Their patrol around downtown is interrupted by the return of Razorwing (last seen in Adventurers #11). His attempt to take revenge on Red Spider is foiled by May Highflyer's potent hypnotism. | Razorwing |
| (none) | #56 | "Last Step" | Several of the Adventurers visit the incarcerated Poison Lash to question him about Dreamweaver's state. The villain graciously offers to give her her powers back in exchange for a chance to experiment on her, which she outright refuses. Irritated by her continued taunting, he shuts off the heroine's legs as she talks, to her friends' protests, and offers her the choice of one or the other: legs, or powers. Although at first unwilling to play his games, Dreamweaver eventually bitterly picks her powers. Lash allows her three days to make the most of her mobility. | Poison Lash |
| Hack Attack | #57 | "A Friend In Need" | MCPD is hit by a multi-pronged cyber attack! An unknown assailant apparently teleported into the MCPD, wounded three officers, and downloaded the contents of a secured server without any forced entry! Lady Justice applies her keen senses to forensics, giving the MCPD a reason to accept the Adventurers' help. Juggernette locates video footage concerning the attack indicating a male suspect involved in planting wireless routers around the facility, and a female suspect who destroyed a laptop and disposed of parts of it into the harbor. When a wireless router is found within a securely locked faraday cage, suspicion falls on the IT staff. Meanwhile, Lady Justice begins checking on one possible angle - a hacktivist collective called Incognito who have made numerous failed attempts to hack the server before. | Incognito |
| Hack Attack | #58 | "A Friend In Deed" | Stormherald and Xeno help the MCPD by interviewing the IT staff. One of them, Jason, who is the only one without an alibi during the attack, is quickly discounted as a suspect by Xeno. Stormherald finds that others on staff have their reasons - IT director Sandra was responsible for the keys to the secured cabinet, though any of the others could have obtained it; Karen coveted Sandra's job and hoped the situation would force Sandra's termination; Shazia had a prior felony conviction for some radical activism in her college years; Ryan was disciplined numerous times for expressing extreme political views; Paul was disciplined for watching porn videos at work. Each of them pointed the finger at others, but when Hornett recovers the laptop hard drive from the harbour, and data is miraculously found intact on it, the true suspect is revealed. | Incognito |
| Hack Attack | #59 | "Innocence" | Stormherald joins Hornett for the big reveal: the intact data is a brower bookmark for a pornography video. The web address includes scripting fragments including the variable "&username=Cyber-Slash." It is clear that the live chat on the video was used by hackers to communicate with one another. This implicates Paul Vermeer. Stormherald gathers evidence for the detectives that can be used to confirm Vermeer's complicity. The team urges that Vermeer be let loose and blame pinned on his co-worker Shazia, so that Paul can be surveilled. Not long after, the hacktivist collective called Incognito releases a video claiming that it will release embarrassing information it has obtained about the MCPD unless charges are dropped against some of their members in an infamous case. Lady Justice establishes a hacker alias to try to get inside Incognito. | Incognito, Paul Vermeer |
| Hack Attack | #60 | "Enter Cyber-Slash" | Lady Justice's plan to go on forums used by Incognito to troll & defame Cyber-Slash and attempt to draw her out succeeds. A young woman in a blue costume, black jacket, and mask confronts LJ's undercover persona and accuses her of being with law enforcement. LJ's persona maintains that she is who she says she is. After Cyber-Slash rants, LJ feigns to agree with her rhetoric. Though Cyber-Slash gets away, much is learned about her motives and her capabilities. The team plans to ensnare Cyber-Slash and turn her over the police, but Lady Justice isn't certain that Cyber-Slash as a vigilante is very much different from herself. | Cyber-Slash |
| Hack Attack | #61 | "Dreamweaver's Bad Day" | Dreamweaver wakes up tied up in a semi-trailer. She recalls being over-powered by an enemy psychic, but she still has her team communicator, so she calls for help. Red Spider and Stormherald quickly locate Dreamweaver and rescue her from a VIPER team. Afterward, while the trio enjoys some burgers, Dreamweaver decides to make an open challenge on a known Incognito web forum to their current adversary Cyber-Slash, impugning her abilities and character if she fails to meet Dreamweaver on the roof of the Mercy Hospital for a fight at a specified time. When it seems Cyber-Slash won't show, Red Spider heads home. That is when Cyber-Slash attacks, taking down Dreamweaver quickly with her teleportation, and fending off Stormherald. A video reaches the internet hours later cut from grainy cell phone video & what appears to be Cyber-Slash's own visor, plus screen caps of Dreamweaver's forum challenge, meant to embarrass Dreamweaver. | VIPER, Cyber-Slash |
| Hack Attack | #62 | "Cyber-Slash and Poison Lash" | UNTIL finally grants access to Celeste Forsyth (AKA Stormherald) to interview Poison Lash. Lash is reticent to reveal anything and offers up some self-serving observations on his incarceration. Then Cyber-Slash appears, disables security systems into the room, and confronts Poison Lash about rumors that UNTIL has been deploying him in the field. Lash doesn't answer, but he does somehow get loose and ... protects Celeste from Cyber-Slash! Cyber-Slash flits around the room with her teleportation, and is able to use her phasing claws to injure Poison Lash. Poison Lash breathes out a deadly fume as he goes down. Cyber-Slash teleports Celeste to a safe part of the facility and reveals the name of an UNTIL agent overseeing Poison Lash, and entreats Celeste as a member of the press to work with her. Afterward, Red Spider and Celeste talk to Poison Lash; his UNTIL handler joins them, but suggests that Poison Lash hasn't been used for anything in the field - that it was all just a ploy to lure in Cyber-Slash. Red Spider isn't convinced. | Poison Lash, Cyber-Slash |
| Hack Attack | #63 | "Eye for an Eye" | Cyber-Slash pridefully turns up at Club Caprice, apparently unafraid. Juggernette and Xeno confront her, with the former goading Cyber-Slash into a fight. Outside, Cyber-Slash is able to turn up a couple of surprises, Juggernette wins the brawl handily. They continue to trade barbs after the fight as Cyber-Slash limps away, and Cyber-Slash turns over a disc of info stolen from the MCPD, claiming she has what she needs from it; Cyber-Slash is let go. Juggernette's computers upload a reliable model of Cyber-Slash to the internet in hopes of identifying her, and she attempts to upload embarrassing videos of the fight to the internet in payback for what was done to Dreamweaver. Juggernette's supercomputer and the whole organization of Incognito engage in a PR war that sees several video-sharing websites shut down, overloaded. While elsewhere Lady Justice and Red Spider consider whether the tactic of baiting Cyber-Slash is helping anything, Juggernette sets to analyzing a disc obtained from a vanquished Cyber-Slash - and it sends a virus into her systems. | Cyber-Slash |
| Hack Attack | #64 | "Race Against Time" | Red Spider discovers that Cyber-Slash' and her accomplice Paul Vermeer have had a falling out. While Slash wants to be selective with the stolen MCPD data they release, he wants to dump it all at once. Vermeer goes on the run and intends to find a safe spot to start downloading the data from Slash's disc so that he can share it on the internet immediately. The Adventurers coordinate a city-wide search for Vermeer. Dreamweaver locates him downtown, and Stormweaver helps secure him. Cyber-Slash arrives too late to collect Vermeer, and quickly retreats rather than fight for him. Juggernette flies Vermeer to the MCPD. Vermeer's Incognito-affiliated lawyer meets him, and he remains tight-lipped - even though turning on Cyber-Slash is his only leverage to cut a plea deal in the face of strong evidence. Vermeer's colleague Shazia, wrongfully accused of his crimes, is exonerated. | Cyber-Slash; Paul Vermeer |
| Hack Attack | #65 | "Hanna" | Desperate for information to break the Adventurers so that she can focus on other matters, Cyber-Slash unwittingly comes to Lady Justice's hacker alias Anne Winters for a lead. LJ gives Slash faulty info on Red Spider's secret identity & Juggernette's tech specs. Slash posts this along with the first of 12 rounds of MCPD disciplinary info to the internet. Her error in not fact-checking the info LJ provided proves critical; within hours the information on Red Spider & Juggernette is very publicly discredited, and this casts doubt on whether the MCPD records she disclosed are reliable, either. Incognito is handed a huge PR setback and put on the defensive. Cyber-Slash goes into hiding. By-standers flippantly greet Red Spider when ever she swings by with the fake name LJ created for her, 'Hanna', almost like an in-joke against Incognito. | Cyber-Slash |
| Hack Attack | #66 | "Friendless" | Dreamweaver is confronted out of costume by Cyber-Slash, who has tracked her from nearly unmasking her in their earlier 'fight'. Cyber-Slash expresses remorse for some of her actions now that her world has come crashing down - Incognito is against her, and few think she is very credible anymore. She is ready to quit, but for one obstacle: she has to eliminate someone who knows who she really is. Dreamweaver tries to talk Slash down, but Meltdowner and newcomer Phantasm arrive to 'rescue' Dreamweaver; MD burns Slash and frightens her off. Later, Cyber-Slash approaches journalist intern Celeste (AKA Stormherald) to ask her to carry on the torch of exposing wrongs in the system, expressing that she doesn't expect she will survive. | Cyber-Slash |
| Hack Attack | #67 | "Feint" | An inexplicable mass-prison release; a set of rogue destroids tearing up a park; the Adventurers respond to these challenges, but it rapidly becomes clear that these are computer-caused distractions for something else: Cyber-Slash has stolen into the county court to nab Paul Vermeer, her accomplice in the MCPD attack. Vermeer tries to sell her out when the team arrives to rescue him, but she stuns him with her phasing claws and teleports out. A desperate search of the city begins while Cyber-Slash waits for Vermeer to awaken, trying to gird herself to take the step toward cold-blooded murder. Juggernette and Stormherald find Slash and Vermeer atop a building. The entire team surrounds them. Lady Justice insists that if Slash gives up Vermeer, she can help keep him silent; in exchange, Slash needs to atone for her wrongs by using her abilities for good. This deal upsets Juggernette and Meltdowner. | Cyber-Slash |
| (none) | #68 | "Hot Temper" | In his anger over recent circumstances, Meltdowner has waged a preemptive war against gang crime in Westside, putting many gangsters in the emergency room with burns & other injuries. Xeno and Red Spider confront MD on the roof of the Westside MCPD. Spider is horrified at MD's rationalizing his actions and cannot contain her anger. Xeno tries to get MD to let off some steam by challenging him to a fight - which MD nearly wins with fatal results, checking himself at the last moment. Lady Justice arrives to say that she refuses to trust MD in her HQ or as a member of the team, asking (without success) to have MD booted. Red Spider deems that he needs to stay on the team to be watched - and like Cyber-Slash, no one should have to clean up his mess except himself. | Meltdowner |
| Etherloch Returns | #69 | "Etherloch Returns" | The Adventurers train together, pushing each other to new limits, and trying to work out combination attacks. A couple of days later, Etherloch trashes the MCPD armory. Red Spider and Meltdowner face off against this foe, who now seems able to spread itself over different 'bodies' at once, and can possibly use telekinesis. During the battle, Meltdowner is stabbed in the shoulder and leg. Etherloch is burned and repelled from the armory, but the Adventurers now how to worry about an evolved foe. | Etherloch |
| #70 | "Terror In the Skies" | An anarchist/terrorist called "Burnout" sets fire to the lowest level of the ACI Building, then rides the elevator to the top where he takes all of the tourists hostage on the observation deck, and drops a number of IEDs. Adventurers Hand of Babylon, Stormherald, and Red Spider work together to stop the madman! Stormherald secures and makes safe the lowest level, while Red Spider sneaks hostages out with her beam grappler, and the Hand engages Burnout on the roof of the 'blimp', but is thrown off. Through Storm & Red's efforts, the bombs are neutralized; the two women finish the fight with Burnout on the roof, and take him into custody. The Hand leaves a mighty crater from his fall from the ACI Building, but is apparently unharmed. | Burnout | |
| Etherloch Returns | #71 | "Etherloch Returns" | The Adventurers are summoned to a massive apartment blaze, reportedly caused by a monster whose description matches Etherloch. With so many Adventurers on hand, the team is able to split into two groups - one including Dreamweaver, Meltdowner, & Stormherald goes on the offensive, while Red Spider, War Beetle, and Hornett help evacuate innocent bystanders and enforce a quarantine. The larger Etherloch dissolves into a puddle and vanishes; the team vanquishes a smaller one that oozes up from the rubble, but are left to wonder where the rest of its mass has gone. | Etherloch |
| The Mystery of the Missing Plane | #72 | "The Mystery of the Missing Plane - Part 1" | Adventurers react to news that a plane carrying team mate Red Spider has gone missing! Hornett enlists the aid of Cyber-Slash to obtain flight data. Team ally and friend to Red Spider, Black Owl, works solo on some leads and makes some calculations based on the flight's last known position and available fuel. As authorities prepare to search for clues to the plane's whereabouts in the homes of passengers/crew, a team-up of Fox, Phantasm, Meltdowner, and newcomer Roak, help hide things around Red Spider's condo that would reveal her dual identity, including her costumes, computer data, and her panic room. The Adventurers succeed just in time before the detective sets foot into the condo, and he finds nothing remarkable within. | Unknown |
| The Mystery of the Missing Plane | #73 | "The Mystery of the Missing Plane - Part 2" | Oddities emerge about the missing flight: Cassandra's father Bill hastily arranged the entire vacation within just hours of the flight, including convincing a colleague to turn over his booking of the company jet. Initial searches of the Long Island Sound by Lady Justice prove fruitless. Meanwhile, team ally Black Owl calculates available data and shares a much more tight search area with a high probability, based upon the plane's apparent trajectory, its fuel, and its time between satellite pings. Fox is first to find a trace of the plane - some floating tail debris. Next, Lady Justice locates two survivors: Cassandra's friends Alaina & Nicole, who are cold and desperately clinging to a small flotation device. | Unknown |
| The Mystery of the Missing Plane | #74 | "The Mystery of the Missing Plane - Part 3" | The discovery of Alaina & Nicole alive gives some hope to searchers. Back in Millennium City, Roak questions Cassandra's mother, Marie; Marie has noticed some odd behavior on Bill's part, namely that he works more late evenings in the past month than for years before. She notes sadly how he cancelled the trip the two were to take to Paris, and that he didn't include her in planning Cassandra's NYC trip. She fears Bill may be having an affair. Late in the day, War Beetle discovers the probable site of a plane wreck underwater, off the coast of Massachusetts. | Unknown |
| The Mystery of the Missing Plane | #75 | "The Mystery of the Missing Plane - Part 4" | The wreck of the plain has three bodies - those of the crew. The captain and cabin attendant were both shot, and the co-pilot James Fenwick was out of his flight uniform in a wetsuit. No sign of Cassandra. The flight data / cockpit voice recorders reveal what happened, as well as the account of Nicole: it seems the co-pilot killed the captain, redirected the flight, and set autopilot for a slow descent into the ocean. He wanted to parachute out with Cassandra as a hostage, but didn't anticipate she was super fast on her feet and could disarm him. As he went down, his gun discharged and blew out a window, causing a rapid drop in cabin pressure. With Fenwick neutralized, and with the cockpit sabotaged, Cass knew they only had one hope: she gave her two friends the only parachutes available, and had them leap out. Just as this picture of the flight emerges, Lady Justice comes upon Cassandra nearly 40 miles away from the wreck: exhausted from a long swim, emaciated by a demanding meta-human metabolism, Cassandra is unconscious, but alive. | Unknown |
| The Mystery of the Missing Plane | #76 | "The Mystery of the Missing Plane - Part 5" | Celeste (Stomherald) follows up a lead that something seems fishy about Bill Olsen's property. There, she encounters Detective Sheffield under fire by numerous machine gun-wielding foes. Celeste calls in Dreamweaver to help control the area. A grateful Sheffield agrees to share what he learns from the site once investigators get in. Hundreds of miles away, Cassandra is in a Rhode Island hospital, and responding 'miraculously' to simple feeding treatments. She wakes up within hours of arriving. Phantom Mk. 1, Phantasm's robot, guards and keeps Cassandra company. Late in the day, Celeste receives a call from Detective Sheffield: it seems that the Olsen Shipping site is home to a plethora of different contraband, including devices mistakenly thought to be nuclear bombs, that are of an unknown make and purpose. The team resolves to confront Bill Olsen immediately. | Olsen Shipping, Inc. |
| The Mystery of the Missing Plane | #77 | "The Mystery of the Missing Plane - Part 6" | Bill sits at his piano and plays a mournful tune. His wife is not at home. Adventurers slip into his penthouse and make clear that he knew more about what was happening than he let on before. While Stormherald urges calm, others like Meltdowner demand immediate answers. Bill latches on to Black Owl - a team ally, but not a team member - and indicates he needs protection. To the surprise of all, Bill implicates Dreamweaver as the handler who threatened him and told him to buy up the shipping company for her & her associates to use. Bill only sent Cassandra away on a plane because he wanted to keep her safe, and wasn't certain he could trust any of her team. Dreamweaver expresses surprise at his accusation - whether genuine or feigned, it's not certain - and then lets out a psionic burst, knocking down everyone and giving her a chance to escape. The team fans out through the city as Dream taunts them all that she's about to bring down some buildings with her powers. | Dreamweaver |
| A Bad Dream | #78 | "A Bad Dream - Part 1" | Using available clues, Stormherald is first to find Dreamweaver. She's between two high-rises, and creating a concentrated psionic bubble to collapse & bring them down. This would kill hundreds, including Dreamweaver herself. Stormherald knocks down Dream, and with Cyber-Slash's help, subdues her. The team debates what to do with Dream; some think only an agency like UNTIL or PRIMUS could safely contain her, but others fear that turning her over would ensure they wouldn't see her free again; still others doubt if Dreamweaver did all of this willingly. Before a decision can be reached, Dreamweaver is taken into hiding by Stormherald. Meanwhile in a Rhode Island hospital, Cassandra (Red Spider) speaks with Allison (Lady Justice), quietly recounting how she escaped the doomed plane. Uncustomarily emotional, Allison hugs Cassandra and thanks her for surviving. | Dreamweaver |
| A Bad Dream | #79 | "A Bad Dream - Part 2" | Dreamweaver wears special restraints to prevent her using her powers (and protect her from mind control) while the team questions her. She doesn't remember ever meeting Bill Olsen, or doing the things described. Some team members worry that there could be other Adventurers working for the enemy. Red Spider brings in Mister Midnight, a hero she had recruited before the plane crash, to help, as he would be clear of suspicion. Mister Midnight examines crime scene evidence from Olsen Shipping Ltd., finding men of questionable backgrounds involved in the smuggling operations, and items had been shipped in from a variety of places. Meanwhile, Roak knocks out Detective Sheffield, steals his badge, and infiltrates the Olsen Shipping crime scene and discovers that among other contraband are some odd WMDs, thought by one expert to be small-scale EMP devices capable of taking out active electrical circuits in a radius of up to 5 city blocks. Afterward, Roak makes it look like Sheffield was just knocked out by a stray brick that he'd accidentally shaken loose from above him while putting his weight against a sheet metal wall. | Dreamweaver |
| A Bad Dream | #80 | "A Bad Dream - Part 3" | The FBI announces that Bill Olsen is being indicted in numerous counts including racketeering, conspiracy, and more. Bill is considered a fugitive, and his assets are seized. Red Spider continues to recover at home, but recovery meditation taught to her by Mister Midnight is interrupted by the sudden invasion of her condominium by Serpent Master! Lady Justice swoops in to the rescue, and summons other available team members. Cassandra's home is the site of a battle as the team tries to drive away the killer from VIPER. Stormherald dives on grenades and teleports them out, but is gravely wounded when they explode in proximity to her. A combined effort of Meltdowner, Lady Justice, Roak, and Mister Midnight repels Serpent Master; the villain is defenestrated along with Roak, but Roak is rescued by Meltdowner via teleportation. | Serpent Master |
| A Bad Dream | #81 | "A Bad Dream - Part 4" | Stormherald is shown to have received grave injuries. She grabbed some grenades dropped by Serpent Master in the condo duel and teleported out with them, but was unable to gain sufficient distance before they exploded. The team rallies to her bedside as she lingers close to death. Meanwhile, Juggernette discovers that Dreamweaver has been pre-programmed, even while wearing the psi-nullifying helmet, to want to leave. A plan is concocted to let Dreamweaver loose and track her. This leads the Adventurers to a VIPER agent meeting with Dreamweaver in an alley, telling her that it is time for her to go back with him for 'debriefing'. Roak and Mister Midnight attempt to apprehend the VIPER agent, while Meltdowner tries to tangle with a hypnotized Dreamweaver, and Juggernette exacts sweet revenge upon Serpent Master. | Serpent Master, VIPER Agent, Dreamweaver |
| A Bad Dream | #82 | "A Bad Dream - Part 5" | As Mr. Midnight and Roak pursue the VIPER agent through the streets, the man frantically calls for evac, and runs right into moving traffic. Badly injured by a collision, the team acquires him and rushes him to hospital. Dreamweaver is subdued by Meltdowner, retrieved by Juggernette, and put back into protective holding. Roak and Xeno question the VIPER agent, who reveals the plot: VIPER has blackmailed several leading businessmen around the U.S. into creating dummy shipping companies, used those companies to move a variety of contraband around, and intends to leak the businessmens' involvement to the press. The reaction on the stock markets under such circumstances will predictably be for investors to move their money into gold - and VIPER has a great deal of gold to sell off. If that plan failed, VIPER would set off several small-scale EMPs in major cities to create a similar effect, but preferred to leave that a secondary option. The added revenue from gold sales will allow VIPER to increase its foothold into the United States. The agent also says that he was Dreamweaver's handler, and that he will provide a way to locate VIPER's Canadian HQ for this operation. Elsewhere in the hospital, Stormherald is awake and expected to recover. | VIPER Agent |
| A Bad Dream | #83 | "A Bad Dream - Part 6" | UNTIL gets vital intel from the captured VIPER agent in exchange for certain concessions in his incarceration. The Adventurers are recruited by UNTIL to spearhead a strike on the Canadian VIPER base and obtain data on the gold plot, including whom besides Bill Olsen had been coerced. With UNTIL pilot Captain Rachel Clarke as their guide, the Adventurers sneak through VIPER controlled areas and enter the base via a mountain pass. While Roak, Meltdowner, and Dreamweaver keep the outside secure, Red Spider & Clarke escort Juggernette to the base's mainframe to steal the data. With the mission successful, UNTIL arranges for an air strike to level the base. UNTIL analyzes the data and acts quickly to save several businessmen & persons hypnotized as Dreamweaver had been, from enacting VIPER's plot. | VIPER |
| (none) | #84 | "Grave Robber - Part 1" | The Adventurers meet an UNTIL request to guard the tomb for a recently deceased hero amidst thefts. During Meltdowner & Dreamweaver's shift on watch, they observe a robot composed of scavenged parts trying to break into the tomb. In trying to track the bot down, they fall into a trap and are gassed. | Grave Robber |
| (none) | #85 | "Grave Robber - Part 2" | Meltdowner & Dreamweaver wake up in captivity. Their captor, Grave Robber, us lunatic genius who goes about breaking into morgues and graves, stripping down tech-centric metahumans, and recyling their gear and implants for his own nefarious means. The two heroes manage to escape captivity. They defeat numerous shambling corpse-bots and take down Grave Robber himself. The villain's lab is exposed, and the villain himself is apprehended and hospitalized. | Grave Robber |
| (none) | #86 | "Sting of the Silver Scorpion" | First appearance of Raven Arrow. Red Spider and Hornett respond to an attack at the Westside address which once was Poison Lash's laboratory. They encounter Silver Scorpion: a well-armored adversary who seems to be a next generation version of Hornett. With help from another costumed hero, Raven Arrow, the heroes prevail in a street battle. Silver Scorpion is nearly captured, but escapes when Poison Lash's lab suddenly explodes. | Silver Scorpion |
| (none) | #87 | "No Laughing Matter - Part 1" | After rumors of mobsters being killed by swarms of inexplicably violent homeless in Millennium City, the Adventurers respond to another such incident where a swarm of armed, angry homeless are holding police at bay outside of a storage facility. Inside, it is known that Cyber-Slash, Paul Vermeer (see Adventurers #67), and an unknown third person are being held hostage by 'Kevin Poe'. Xeno and Red Spider use shipping containers to corral the armed & crazed homeless. The police try to move into the facility, only to be harmed by some booby traps including falling acid. Stormherald clears a path into the heart of the facility using a police cruiser. Stormherald, Dreamweaver, and Xeno confront the adversary directly while Red Spider sneaks along. 'Poe' reveals his third hostage is the real Kevin Poe, and the hostage taker is a sinister Clown. | The Clown |
| (none) | #88 | "No Laughing Matter - Part 2" | The Clown keeps the Adventurers at bay with the threat of a remote control bomb to which he holds the trigger. Xeno leaves to search for bombs. The Clown intends to play some horrid game; he forces Cyber-Slash to identify her true identity, but it's clear he already knows her secret identity - undoubtedly, Vermeer betrayed her to the captor. The Clown executes Paul Vermeer with a shot to the head when the team tries to interfere. Red Spider launches out of hiding to tackle the Clown, while Dreamweaver tries to break his limbs with her powers to prevent him using his trigger. His trigger actually turns a truck he brought into the warehouse into a rocket vehicle. Usually not one for a fist-fight, Dreamweaver tries to charge the Clown after he kicks Red Spider away, but he is sheltered from her just in time by the vehicle transformation. The team rescues Cyber-Slash and leaves Kevin Poe tied up for the police. Dreamweaver pledges to keep Cyber-Slash safe at her home. Cyber-Slash herself is left in shock by the events. | The Clown |
| (none) | #88 | "No Laughing Matter - Part 3" | The Clown makes a public threat against Mayor Bisselle, claiming he will assassinate the mayor at a scheduled public ceremony. Security is heightened but the Mayor refuses to bow to an insane criminal. Red Spider keeps an eye on the proceedings; when the Clown rides a police car right close to the mayor, Red Spider receives unexpected help from archer hero Stygian. This allows Red Spider to take down a sniper in a nearby building, while Stygian fights off the Clown. The two heroes manage to capture the Clown, but it seems almost like he's happy to get caught... Stygian vanishes into an alleyway, nursing an injury. Later, Red Spider confronts the Clown in jail, who explains his motive as being one of balance between good & evil - this is why he attacks both the mob and heroes. He says he can leave jail when he chooses, and threatens to kill Red Spider in a very personal & painful way in future. | The Clown |
| (none) | #90 | "Friends Make the Worst Enemies" | Adventurers Red Spider, Talons, and Hornett respond to a bank robbery. The culprit is a brain-jar with a powerful mechanical suit, aided by two mechanical minions. The minions are able to use hypnotic suggestion on bank patrons with a subtle 'white noise'; the same is used to cause Hornett to turn against Red Spider & Talons. Talons for his part is badly injured and nearly unmasked in the fight with hypnotized bank hostages & Hornett himself. Hornett nearly overpowers Red Spider and tries to break her arm. Red Spider destroys the sound amplifier on the robot controlling Hornett in time to prevent him slaying Talons. The team mangles the other mechanized minion & force 'Overthinker' to escape the bank without his loot. | Overthinker |
The team also has story arc pages which are used to develop, track, and the maintain a record of major events.
Villains
Over time the Adventurers have made a few very memorable enemies. A few are listed in alphabetical order below:
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BEDLAM
Appearances: Adventurers #10, #17, #18, #21
In modern times, Bedlam has reached the limit to which magic can help him. Instead, 21st century medicine & cybernetics have proven excellent substitutes to sustain and augment himself. Once apprehended by the Adventurers in 2014, however, he was isolated from his treatments and faced a certainty of death. In his desperation, Bedlam found a new source of sustenance perhaps more malevolent than himself: from the depths of the Qliphothic Realm came a bolstering infusion of dark energy. Infused with energy he does not yet fully understand, Bedlam has become an even more dangerous adversary. In a display of his new power he killed former Adventurer Blue Wonder, causing an aberrant timeline which her future team mates helped avert through empowering Blue Wonder to avoid the death blow. |
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DR. KILLOWATT
Appearances: Adventurers #4 - #7
Dr. Kozhan started using criminal activity to fund a project the government abandoned that would let him walk again. He started smuggling weapons into Millennium City by freighters coming through the Great Lakes. He intended to put high-powered electrical weaponry into the hands of Millennium City gangs, but earn profit by selling them the power cells for the weapons at a considerable mark-up. He accomplished this by pretending to steal items to further his ambitions as a 'super villain' so that crime fighters would not realize he had actually used his crime scenes as a drop point for power cells. As Kozhan's plot began to unravel, he took the Red Spider hostage in a desperate play to wipe her memory and shatter her fledgling team. Red Spider was rescued, and just as Dr. Killowatt was faced with the grim prospect of having to turn on some of his powerful criminal conspirators, he zapped himself at full power with his own memory probe. He has been in a coma ever since. |
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CYBER-SLASH
Appearances: Adventurers #60 - #67
Defeated by the Adventurers and excommunicated by Incognito for an embarrassing PR blunder, Cyber-Slash is a free agent trying to figure out if she still has something useful to contribute. |
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ETHERLOCH
Appearances: Adventurers #35, #36 #39 - #43, #45 - #48, #52
The creature is the result of experiments to develop a super serum, by creating - through an amalgam of known super reagents and hybridized alien DNA - the super serum equivalent of a 'mother of vinegar'. Exposure of simple organically-derived fuels (even simple alcohols) to a massive bacterial colony was meant to create super serum as a byproduct. But the colony was unexpectedly catalysed, began to form an awareness of itself like a single being, and acted on impulse to attack its creators and escape its confines. At some point it absorbed some of Red Spider's blood. An alien retrovirus still lurking in her blood allowed Etherloch to take on the monster form Red Spider had during the 'Free the Beast' arc, and also track her by it. The creature has been destroyed several times, but if even a little of it survives, it can reconstitute itself if it has access to water and carbon. The only known living corpus of Etherloch is presently being held in cryo-stasis by UNTIL in Millennium City. |
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KINGSNAKE
Appearances: Adventurers Annual #1
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POISON LASH
Appearances: Adventurers #38, #43, #45, #48, #52, #53
This development did not go unnoticed. MCPD and mobsters started to raid the lab. With little choice, Daniel injected himself with the serum to save his life & work. As the compounds altered his DNA, he changed from within. Blade-like syringes ripped from his forearms, his blood became acidic, and his breath was a green cloud of poison. He was a powerful entity, but with a cost: it poisoned his genius mind, as well. He blamed the world for causing his turn into a monster. Now, to him, the end of curing himself justifies every means. Having briefly escaped during the Etherloch crisis, Poison Lash was returned to UNTIL's prison through the efforts of the Adventurers. Team member Hornett was one of Poison Lash's test subjects. |
Adventurers in the Media
Sometimes the Adventurers make the news! ((Literally))
March 21, 2015 (Corresponds to Adventurers #65)
March 29, 2015 (Corresponds to Adventurers #69)
April 11, 2015 (Corresponds to Adventurers #70)
Joining the Adventurers
Do you think you have what it takes? We may not be big, but we're small - and that's the point! We aim to share a quality roleplaying experience together, with a well-balanced team of characters played by skilled role players.
Recruitment will be by appointment/interview only, with final approval from the team leader.
Considerations
Preferred character types
These are guidelines - exceptions have been made on occasion, but that is at the discretion of the team lead.
- Silver Age-type heroes - think Spider-Man, Flash, Iron Man, Dare Devil, Batgirl
- Science-based - did you get your powers from a chemical accident/tech armor/intensive training?
- Characters who wear a mask to protect their normal-ish human life & loved ones
- Characters who have vulnerabilities which can be exploited for a richer story
What the Adventurers is experience is about
- Patrols & combating gang activity
- Taking on science-based super-villains played by player characters as part of story arcs
- Solving crimes based on clues
- Escaping deadly situations through a blend of wits and hero abilities
- A small team feel - it's about the quality, not the quantity of members.
6 Keys to a Good Adventurers RP experience
In preface: no one should expect that they will be turfed from the Adventurers for violating any of these. Sometimes, you may be called to go against what you see below.
1) No God Modding - This would be where one person, regardless of the established story or other characters, asserts their own character as too powerful to be harmed in a significant way. It's fun to flex your powers, but be considerate of the other players in this social RP experience. There is a good discussion of god modding & its impacts here[1].
2) Check Emotional Drama at the Door - Playing as depressive, emotionally distraught, oppositional, or passive aggressive is something you should do sparingly when it comes to team activities. Most of us RP for fun; emotional drama isn't very fun.
3) Share the Spotlight - Adventurers can cater to part-timers. If you've been away, we can get you up to speed on the current ongoing plot and right into the action - but please take your cues from the people who have been around for that story the most. Conversely, set your team mates up to shine when you can.
4) Lose Gracefully - Adversity reveals character. Let the villains get one up on you sometimes. Expose some vulnerabilities, take your lumps during the middle chapters, and just remember: you're going to win in the end! (Plus, hey, the villains are often players, too - and they like to feel as though they have some potency, just like you!).
5) Contribute - The story goes forward when we have team members taking part. Not everyone will come to every RP event. That's fine! But we do still want to see you take part every once in a while.
6) Know Your Language - this SG communicates in English. Having a basic competency over spelling, punctuation, capitalization, etc. is requirement for being a member.
Recruitment
- Start by sending an in-game mail to team leader Red Spider@historiphile expressing interest
- Powers
- Traits (ie, Strengths/weaknesses)
- A brief background on your character
- Anything else you think is worth knowing
We will try to meet you and assess if your character would be a good fit for the team. It is fine to ask other Adventurers to write the team leader with a recommendation for you, but by no means does having friends on the inside assure your membership.
As much as you've put effort into building your character (we hope!), please understand that much effort has gone in to making this team, too. We will not admit everyone who asks to join just because. Try not to take it personally if we don't accept your character - it probably has more to do with the character, not you as a person playing it.
