Deviation Actions
Literature Text
Other possible traps.
A variation of trap 2, the four kids return from dealing with the satellite and check in with the others before heading to meet with NASA. When they enter, a masked figure appears on the laptop and delivers the ransom demands for Jessica Burroughs. Behind him are four gurneys.
Knowing about White Sorceress’ wish spell, it’s suggested Phoenix Force teleport to the location. As they don’t know where it is, they can’t teleport there. So it’s suggested Renee use her spell to wish they were on the stretchers so they could take the kidnappers by surprise.
Phoenix Force thinks it’ll work. With the rest of Phoenix Force and the dozen burly body guards standing behind them to back them up, White Sorceress cast the spell and she, Static, Charmer, and Dreamer vanish.
The laptop shows the quartet appear on the gurneys. Instantly a pair of figures in ski masks surprise each of them with handcuffs and secure their arms to the metal frames. As they move to restrain their legs, a third grabs the kid’s heads and smother them in large wads of cotton soaked in chloroform. While they are distracted by the events on the screen, Mover, Element, Byte, and Shrinker are jumped from behind by the bodyguards and smothered in pads soaked in the same powerful anesthetic. They are then carried to the garage where the rest of the kids are. Placed on their own gurneys, they are all loaded into the back of trucks and taken to Jessica’s sprawling estate.
The next possible trap is a spinoff of trap 1. The rest of the kidnapper are waiting at the warehouse to ambush Phoenix Force. They however go to Jessica’s estate and “rescue” her there.
There are three keys to this trap.
First, they don’t know that she’s involved. Thus telling them the kidnappers are out grabbing other kids, she persuades them to pose as captives. They can then surprise the kidnappers at the right time. This is reinforced by the knowledge that the beds won’t affect their powers for several minutes and the “show gags” will still allow Charmer to talk to hypnotize the kidnappers.
Second, they know the kidnappers have beds for Static, Charmer, White Sorceress, and Dreamer. They however, think the other four beds are for the preschool age children she originally planned to abduct. Having found out about the other four super kids, Jessica has decided to abduct them instead. Thus, the other four beds are now for Mover, Element, Shrinker, and Byte. Security cameras detecting the arrival of police, she tricks Phoenix Force into believing they are the kidnappers in disguise. In the moment of urgency, she gets Renee to “wish” them into the beds “prepared for us.” Consequently, all eight kids wind up strapped down in the beds.
The cops are real. Greeting them at the door, Jessica has little problem convincing them the call was a prank. As they leave, her henchmen return. Once she’s sure the police are gone, she opens the panel concealing the entrance to the nursery. In the beds, Phoenix Force. The ether soaked cotton she secretly planted in their gags sealed tight against their noses and mouths making sure all eight kids remain quietly asleep. Their powers neutralized in the cocoon of gold satin and lame bedding, the illusion concealing their identities fades. Thus, going bed to bed to remove each of their gags, the proud new mother enjoys her first real look at the sleeping faces of her new sons and daughters.
Was also looking at coming up with individual traps to grab them.
The one for Shrinker has him befriending a girl a few years older than him. She uses his ego to get him to show off his powers. She simply handcuffs him to a stretcher so he can use his power to escape. Before he can, she breaks down, admitting that she was hired to kidnap him. Tearfully, she apologizes and leans over to free him…. and chloroforms him.
That is the easy one. He’s a ten year old boy who wants to show off his powers to a cute, adoring fan. The others will be a bit trickier. Those I haven’t worked out, but will take suggestion.
The traps are still a little rough, but I still have a ways to go before I need them.
Comments or suggestions would be appreciated.
Overall Vision Originality Technique ImpactNice job with thinking this set of traps out and explaining them!
Trap 2-A
It sounds pretty interesting. The nice thing about it is that it ensnares both groups of heroes at once, with the danger of one providing the distraction so that the second group gets hit as well.
I suppose that it's probably that the kids won't reveal their survival in space until they have dealt with the immediate threat. But the worry might be there.
I like the idea of the kids using a wish to travel to an unknown location that ends up being less than 50 meters away or so! Jessica's bodyguards than turning on the distracted other four.
But the plan requires they get transported into the gurneys. All they need to is wish to safely transport to where the gurneys are, or where the masked man is.
Trap 1-A
Why does Phoenix Force go to Jessica's estate? Do they think that she's being kidnapped at her own estate? Did they teleport her there from the warehouse?
Why are the police en-route? Did Phoenix Force inform the police of the kidnapping scheme?
This trap utilizes the wish spell used against the kids. I like how the idea that the kidnappers may have children to use as hostages and the police being said to be the kidnappers forces Phoenix Force to act quickly and without thinking carefully.
One thing though, why should all eight kids play act? Do the kidnappers know that there are eight of them? Four could just hide in the house and burst out later?
I sort of like the idea of Renee just "repeat after me" what the somewhat desperate Jessica suggests as the spell wording "Transport the Phoenix Force members into those beds prepared for us". This resulting in all eight of them getting transported and KOed, when Renee thought that it would only be the main team?
I sort of like it as it's a sudden bait and switch maneuver that Jessica creatively utilizes when the real plan seems to have fallen apart.
But can Jessica soak eight gags in this way without revealing them? I think that the beds themselves dosing the kids with gas might work better.
Another tack might be having Phoenix Force still split up, with the kids still trying to protect their secret of there being only four of them, not realizing that Jessica knows already. The 2nd team hanging back outside, or en-route themselves, or even back at the warehouse, or returning to the 'clubhouse', suddenly vanishing and appearing in the beds meant for them.
The beds might even be labeled with the heroes' codenames, the known heroes present can even see the labels on the beds, but the other four beds have the label out of view?
Individual Traps
This is frequently how superheroes get captured. Nolan getting fooled is pretty cool.
Makes me wonder if a similar ploy might be used on Element? A supposed Geek girl appears for him to impress?
But, again, this wouldn't work unless the public already knew of these secret heroes?
I still like the basic idea of your original 'drug commercial' trap. There would be differences, of course. They wouldn't change uniforms or anything, the difference being that the microphones or headsets that the kids would wear for the commercial actually dispense gas from the mouth piece to be breathed in? Or the headset might produce a hidden needle that injects each hero in the neck or something?
That would leave the other four heroes. They might track their fallen teammates to another location that is another trap for them. This might be setup as a melodramatic comic book villain's trap. They might burst in and get trapped, told that they can't break out or the other team will suffer for it, so they have to play the game.
While looking for their missing team, the four wander into a room, or individual traps, that explode a charge, sending golden, sticky goop all over them, It cuts off their accumulation of omega energy, and blinds their helmets. They might have to take their helmets off to see?
If they do take off the helmets, they might be overcome by gas in the room? Especially if they are stuck to the floor until they can free themselves? Breaking free from the floor via flight might send them careening around and setting off similar charges and more goop?
The trick here is to blind the heroes, to make it hard to move, and confuse and scare them. They may use their powers wildly and exhaust them all the faster. If their helmets vanish, they'll be gassed by the drugs in the air. One big problem is that they might teleport away, threat or no threat.
A question here, is--if the belt control is covered in a liquid goop that becomes coated in a tar-like substance-would the belts still function? Especially if the gloves are also coated?
A similar tack might be to have them walking on a trapped floor, and have trap doors slide open under them, with the heroes falling into the golden tar before they could activate their flight. Then they would probably be unable to activate their belts? Paintball guns firing more of the golden goop might then fire from around the room(s) to ensure that the kids stay trapped, or at least are blinded. Hopefully removing their helmets would KO the four?