Guardians of the Galaxy # 10/Avengers Issue 28
"Gem's Down Under"
Part 2 (of 6) of the Avengers/Defenders War
Written by Space Jawa and mikeinmke
Edited by GarganisScorpion


With a flash of light, Adam Warlock, Jazinda, and Bruce Banner appeared on top of a small, half-constructed skyscraper in the Australian city of Perth.

“I’m not sure I’ll ever get used that,” Bruce said, shaking off the after-effects of Dr. Strange’s teleportation spell.

“You going to be alright?” Jazinda asked.

“Absolutely; I just need a second,” Bruce replied.

“I think I see the gem,” Adam said from the edge of the building.

Bruce and Jazinda joined him by the edge of the building and looked down, seeing exactly what Adam was talking about. In the middle of the construction zone, a group of workers had formed a circle around… something.

[quote=Jazinda; Skrull]It was hard to tell what it was at first, but when we saw the light reflect off a small, red object, we immediately knew what it was.[/color]

“Do either of you have a plan?” Bruce asked. “I don’t suppose we can simply walk in and take it, can we?

Adam stroked his chin as he considered the situation.

“I can,” Jazinda said. “Give me a few minutes, and I’ll see what I can find out.”

Adam and Bruce watched as Jazinda walked off to find a way down, then Bruce turned to Adam.

“What is she planning to do?” the doctor asked.

“Give her time,” Adam said.




After several hours’ flight, Wonder Man and Tigra finally arrived over Australia. “I’ve always wanted to visit Australia,” Tigra said cheerfully.

Wonder Man didn’t reply. He was monitoring the instruments that registered the emanations of the Power Gem. He directed the Avengers’ VTOL craft toward Perth, the largest city in the western half of the country.

“It looks like the gem is in a populated area,” Wonder Man said with a slight shake of his head. “This might get tricky.”

The readings led Wonder Man and Tigra to a construction site. They could see that several of the workers had gathered around a spot on the site, and a couple of them were pointing into a small hole. When the workers saw the craft approaching, they made sure to leave enough room for the Avengers to land safely.

“It’s a good thing you’re here,” said the foreman as he greeted Wonder Man and Tigra with a handshake. “There’s something strange over there. The men say a red meteor fell into the concrete, but we haven’t made much headway in getting it out.”




Adam and Bruce watched the crowd below, though it was difficult for either of them to spot Jazinda right away. That was exactly what Adam was counting on. However, as he paid close attention to the new arrivals, he was eventually able to pick out Jazinda based on her movements.

“There she is,” Adam said, trying to point her out. Bruce tried to follow Adam’s hand but he failed to spot her. Not sure what he was supposed to be looking for, his attention was caught by a trail of smoke rising into the air in the east. It did not appear to be natural in any sense and it was approaching their location – fast.

“What’s that?” Bruce asked, taking his glasses and trying to clean them in hopes of getting a better look.

Adam looked in the direction of the smoke. A worried look passed onto his face. “I don’t know,” he said, “but I can sense a great deal of energy from it.”

As the smoke reached the edge of city, the sounds of destruction could be heard. Explosions and sirens sounded in the distance, and still the smoke cloud came closer, but it had now developed into a cloud of debris. The ground began to shake as it continued to approach, and it sounded like a stampede produced by a single individual, if such a thing were possible.




Tigra and Wonder Man turned in the direction of the approaching smoke cloud when they heard the noises. Around them, most of the construction workers looked at each other nervously, then began to scatter, not wanting to be around when the source of the rumbling showed up. A few of them remained, among them a woman that hadn’t been there when the two had first arrived.

“See if you can get to the gem,” Simon said to Tigra. “I’ll find out what’s going on.”

Before he could investigate, the cause of the destruction plowed through the nearby line of buildings that bordered the construction zone. It continued directly towards Wonder Man and Tigra, and when it plowed through the smoke cloud, it was revealed to be a man. His body was such as to rival the Hulk himself, and he wore a suit of dull red armor, complete with a domed helmet.

Wonder Man turned to meet the man head on, his every intention being to stop his path of destruction in its tracks and hold the line. “Stop right…”

His words were stopped short as the two opposing forces collided, with the man striking Wonder Man with a backhand. The blow sent Wonder Man him flying backwards. Still, the red-armored man kept going.

“STOP?! Don’cha know who I am?!” The man shouted. ”I’m the ing JUGGERNAUT!”

The Juggernaut came to a thundering halt directly on top of the Power Gem’s resting place as Wonder Man crashed into a half-completed building, causing it to tumble over.




“Uh-oh!” Bruce said as the building he and Warlock were on top of began to fall over. Had Warlock not been so concerned about the building, he might have noticed how Bruce seemed less concerned than he should have been about how far a drop it was.

For Warlock, the matter was as simple as lifting off the building and flying the ground. Bruce, however, didn’t have that ability, and was left to the mercy of gravity. Fortunately, Adam spotted him before he hit the ground, allowing them both to land safely near the Power Gem and Juggernaut.

“Bruce?” Tigra asked, surprised to see that the scientist was there.

“Hello,” Bruce replied.

“Rah!” Juggernaut shouted as he tried to pound the Power Gem out of the ground. Fortunately for everyone else there, Adam had placed an energy barrier over the gem, temporarily keeping it out of his reach.

“Get away from the Gem!” Jazinda shouted at him, while still in her construction worker guise.

The outburst was enough to give Juggernaut pause. He looked up towards the sound of the voice, and laughed.

“HA! And who’s going to stop me from taking it?!”

A rumble could be heard from the nearby skyscraper ruins, and Wonder Man plowed his way out of them and flew into the air. A barely-visible aura of purple energy crackled around him as he hovered in the air, and he looked none too pleased by the situation.

“You’re not taking it anywhere!” Wonder Man ordered. He then turned to look towards Adam Warlock. “Tigra and I are taking it with us.”

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that,” Adam said.

“You don’t have a say in the matter!” Juggernaut growled at them both. “The Power Gem is mine, and nobody - but NOBODY – is going to stop me!”

The Avengers:

1) V Wonder Man (Avengers) 117
w/ Hold The Line 4
2) V Tigra 54
w/ Sneak 5
Total: 180 points

The Guardians of the Galaxy:

1) Adam Warlock 61
2) Jazinda 25
3) LE Incredible Hulk 113
Total: 199

The Juggernaut

1) E Juggernaut FF065 140

Map: Construction Site

Setup: Players start in the corners of the maps instead of the usual starting zones.

Before the power gem can be picked up, the square of blocking terrain on it must be destroyed. Then it can be picked up by a character occupying that square as part of a movement action.

Power Gem: A character holding this gem gains Super Strength, the Unstoppable feat, +1 Attack and +1 Damage. If the character already had super-strength showing when they picked up the Gem, heal them of up to 2 click of damage. The gem is dropped if the character carrying it is KO'ed. If a successful close combat attack roll against the carrying character is doubles, the attacker takes the Gem (even if the attack did no damage).

I'm relieved it's not the new, incredible Juggernaut iteration (which i also do not own -- yet? ever? so expensive!... )...

I presume this is essentially a three-player game with the primary objective being the recovery of the gem?... Is there an end-point prior to the 16-turn limit?

Initiative: 6+2=8

you are correct, three player game. The gem is mostly useful as a weapon; it gives no XP bonuses, and if everyone wanted to you could just play it as a regular game and just ignore it, I suppose, but where's the fun in that?

For story purposes, the "winner" will be either the last player with figures on the board (in the case of a clean sweep) or whoever is holding the power Gem after 16 turns.

Alright! Who gets to play Juggy?

Guardians roll for Initiative: 6,5

You volunteering, or you just asking who's going to choose to be the 'villain' for this issue?

Well I would play him! But I wasn't sure if the Editors had someone in mind?

Is the Avengers manager playing Simon and Tigra?

Yes, i am playing Wonder Man and Tigra... :-)

Carry on, then. And good luck to all!

I think the only people that were specifically in mind were Me and Mike for the Guardians and Avengers respectively, and all we need is for Mike to do initiative roll and a Juggernaut player to do the same and we'll be good to go.

Ok Juggy it is Init roll (2,3)=5

My initiative roll is above (second post of this thread): 6+2=8...

Mike and Space:

Here is my email for dice rolling:

[email protected]

Please post yours or P.M. yours

Thanks,

If you want to do your rolls by email that works for me, but unless Mike has any objections, I'm going to plan to take the prerogative of being one of the 'home' teams to roll real dice when I take my turns.

Sending PM for my email.

Oh. Sorry. I'll get right on placing my figures.

Realized a rule question - how far out do the corner starting zone go?