Ernest says, "I've had enough of watching life in the 1890's. Let's go get barbecue." He nominates Dickey's because the food is good and the clientele is retired. Chris (Scarecrow) decides that barbecue sounds good, but he'd like to take a side journey to the Musketeer's Fashion Shop first because he doesn't look enough like a fop. Chuck (Archangel) reassures him that he couldn't possibly look too much like a fop. Tim (Sylvan Sentinel) speculates that maybe he should change characters to something slightly less mockable. Then he reassures himself because at least he's not stuck in a campaign constantly being overshadowed by Batman-of-the-Apocalypse. Bruce (Sting Ray) absolutely refuses to reassure anyone. Paul (Darren Stone) migrates in somewhat later after all the Book of Evil-worshipping is done. He just doesn't feel right about rubbing the Book of Evil all over his naked body.
Sylvan Sentinel decides that Spasm was a really odd thing, and that the homeless eventually learn about all really odd things. He dedicates himself to building up a little village for them in Freedom Park, explaining to them that it is 1897 and that some colors are the "bad color." He quickly runs afoul of the Park Police, who are none too enthusiastic about the strange arboreal shantytowns that have been growing up in the middle of the night. Things get even dicier when the Parks Department shows up with herbicide and flamethrowers to deal with the sudden outbreak of bocage. His efforts to extract information from actual homeless people are also rather questionable: most of them seem to think that he's trying to sleep with him, especially when he hands out free wood alcohol.
Scarecrow decides to read up about Spasm and the Wolf Pack biker gang in the library. This works surprisingly well, especially after he adds in his Secret Weasel Bonus. He comes up with several news articles on microfiche. Spasm is a known villain; his real name is Earl Duke. He wasn't always all twisted and spasmodic: at one time he was a professional fighter for the Global Gladiatorial Federation, an organization that was somewhat more hardcore than the WWF. During his time in the GGF, he got involved with some experimental bodybuilding drugs. Several "side effects" later, he ended up as Spasm. Since then, he's been a powerful but slightly inept villain. He usually works as a brute thug for other more capable villains. He's also known to work with biker gangs, white power groups and the South Africans. He has also been active internationally. Sadly, Scarecrow learns nothing about his weaknesses, though he does learn a variety of unsurprising things about his various horrific abilities. Spasm's skin varies in consistency from the thick mucous of a tadpole to a hard weave. His musculature and skeleton are both continually in flux. Sylvan Sentinel mentions, "Gee, that's gotta mess with his sleep patterns."
Scarecrow also learns something about the Wolf Pack, but not much. He finds this a bit odd: he would have thought that a biker gang of that size would have been better documented by those people who care about such things. He is unable to find any recorded historical rivalries or detailed history for the group.
Sting Ray guesses that Spasm is more an employee than a manager and spends his time trying to figure out who Spasm has worked for recently. Sadly, he finds only dead ends in this direction. However, he does learn that the GGF's experimental bodybuilding drugs were made by the French pharmaceutical company Renard Prochem. They were known for their poor ethical practices back before they were shut down. The company met its end some five years ago after the French government conducted an inquiry. Renard Prochem had been a subsidiary of the conglomerate Grant Enterprises, who very intelligently decided to cut their losses when it became obvious that the French investigators were coming up with scads of damning evidence. Nobody knows what happened to Dr. Dieter Schaffenfreund, the company's Head Scientist. A variety of unreliable sources suggest that he fled to Argentina with a French black squad on his heels.
Darren Stone checks his sources on the street, hoping to pin down Spasm's regular haunts. He finds a few guys who don't know Spasm's name, but who did see someone matching his truly unique description come into Miscellaneous Lowlife Bar #12 with some skinhead pals. They pushed their weight around a lot, and things ended badly. Darren asks, "You took 'em to school?" The local responds, "No way, man. They cleaned us out." Before they got knocked around, the local guy did hear the skinheads talking about some kind of event due to happen in a couple of weeks. Darren passes this along to the others.
Archangel decides that the only super who hasn't tried to bash in his head is Lady Tarot, so he decides to go and chat her up. He hangs out around Leroy's Used Books waiting for her to show up. Ezekiel eventually notices him hanging around the Occult section with a forlorn expression, and takes pity on him. He tells him that Lady Tarot pretty much stays in the Driogano compound, especially now that someone has tried to off her. If she goes somewhere, she goes with an armed escort. The one place she does go regularly is church, every Sunday at St. George's Cathedral. Still with her armed escort.
Archangel shows up at St. George's Cathedral on Sunday and attempts to speak to her while she waits in line for Communion. He does his best to persuade her that, "We need to meet and talk." She reacts to him as if he's hitting on her. She whispers back, "I will think about it." She speaks with a thick Italian accent. Scarecrow is disappointed to see that she doesn't have a thick mustachio like all good Italian womenfolk. Archangel asks Scarecrow, "What are you doing here? This is my scene!"
It is a lazy Saturday afternoon, and Sting Ray is busy reading the MassCo Annual Report when his phone rings. It is George Conner, the father of one of Kennhie's friends. The characters previously knew Mr. Conner as an angry man who refused to talk to them. He apologizes to Sting Ray, then asks if he and his friends could help out with something. Conner explains that he works as a security guard at the Ashton Mall out in the western part of the city. They've had some weird problems and strange threats, and he'd like to talk to Sting Ray and his compatriots about them. Sting Ray agrees to meet Conner at his place in a couple of hours.
The characters get into Sting Ray's car and drive over to Starmount Estates in Lincoln. Archangel tells Sting Ray, "Rule number one: we're not making your apartment our secret headquarters. You keep on handing out the phone number." Scarecrow replies, "Well, actually we could. Nobody would think we're that stupid." Sylvan Sentinel complains, "But I already paid points for a secret headquarters, and nobody seems to want to go there. You just accuse me of using it as an oubliette for homeless people!" Archangel points out, "But you don't have cable. Or electricity." Scarecrow offers, "We could install a generator, and hook Sting Ray up to it." Sting Ray grumbles and watches the road.
Mr. Conner seems a bit taken aback by the crowd of energy-crackling heroes that show up on his doorstep. He invites them in. His place isn't totally squalid, but it could use a maid's touch. Posters of hard-core rappers are plastered across the walls. He tells the characters that his boy can't stop talking about the characters' confrontation with the Wolf Pack: "And then they got their asses beat! I bet if Fifty Cent or DMX was there, he'd have put some caps in them bikers' asses!"
Once the characters have finished suppressing sour looks, Conner explains the problem. A few days ago, someone delivered a note made from cut-out newspaper letters to the Ashton Mall Security Office. His boss thinks it's just some crank, but it has Conner worried. Normally, he wouldn't take this seriously either, but things have been a little strange recently. The note says:
Attention. On Sunday 12 noon there will be a conflict of interest taking place in your mall. Please make sure all valuables are removed from your mall because the conflict is likely to cause damage. We will not be responsible for any innocents harmed by your failure to remove them.
His boss doesn't want to do anything, but Conner knows that the Grand Opening for a Fun Time Toys outlet is scheduled for noon on Sunday. The mall staff is expecting hordes of kids to attend, and the Fun Time management are pulling out all the stops. They've arranged for clowns. And balloons. And mimes.
The characters agree to check out the mall on Sunday. Scarecrow asks Conner to find a spare security radio to lend the characters. He explains, "Turns out these communication crystals Sting Ray's given us can pick up Top 40 radio sometimes, but they're useless for police radio." Mr. Conner just nods soundlessly.
The characters show up at the Ashton Mall in civilian guise at 09:00, just as the mall opens. The whole place only opened a few months before. It is intended to cater to suburbanites in the western part of the city. In the first few weeks after the mall opened, the management complained about gang members loitering and causing trouble, and took measures to address the problem. This led to accusations of elitism and racism from neighborhood activists, and then a series of apologies from shame-faced mall spokespeople.
Sting Ray takes the group to Sugarmonkey's Sticky Buns for breakfast because he wants them all wired in case action happens. Then he heads off to Iacovelli & Co. Men's Fashion with Sylvan Sentinel to get him a wardrobe. Sting Ray's experience is very much like that of taking a small child to buy a funeral outfit.
The other characters check out the displays around Fun Time Toys. According to the garish posters and displays around the storefront, Danger Boy will be there. So will the Senile Sociopathic Samurai Shrews. The Fun Time Toys staff has also assembled a sizable cardboard castle out in the middle of the plaza in a successful bid to draw passer-bys' attention.
The Ashton mall has a typical two-level design. The center of the mall includes an open plaza with a food court on the upper level and a variety of "prestige" stores on the lower level. A huge domed skylight tops the whole thing off. Fun Time Toys occupies one of the "anchor" sites, opposite Bromwell's Department Store. Other shops around the plaza include Starbase Coffee, Veronica's Secrets (featuring half-clad models with feathery wings, which really pleases Archangel), Fred Goodie's, Monsta Burger, Chopsticky's Szechuan Szurprise, Little Sicily Linguini and Lutefisk Smorgasbord, Steak Escape, Sports Jersey Limited, Mainline Maine, Raspberry Republic, Little Miss-Take, August Woman, Forgery Express, Exploratorium, and the place that only sells creepy hand-carved wood puppets in weird poses. Scarecrow goes there and buys a lot of stuff, then meets up with Sting Ray at Starbase Coffee.
Sting Ray examines his grey-head cup and comments, "Scarecrow? My coffee is staring at me." Scarecrow replies, "At least you didn't get the Anal Probe Danish." Curious in spite of himself, Sting Ray is forced to ask, "How's that taste?" Scarecrow admits, "I'm afraid to find out."
Darren Stone spends two hours in Bromwell's trying to make an informed decision between the Blasé and Pathetique colanders. He finds out that it is impossible for a black man to spend more than twenty minutes in the store before two or three rentacop types start shadowing him. He gets grim amusement out of asking them which colander they think will go better with his taupe kitchen highlights.
Scarecrow and Archangel hang out in the food court. Archangel stares lustily at the Steak Escape people making sandwiches. Scarecrow sees at least two other single men waiting around, apparently for something to happen. One of them eats a cinnamon bun and spends way too much time staring at the children around Fun Time Toys.
Mr. Conner comes out and looks around. Scarecrow walks over and introduces himself, then points out the other two guys who seem to be waiting around. Conner agrees to chase them off, once Scarecrow grabs Archangel from the Java Voltage espresso stand. Both of them move along when asked.
By the time 10:00 rolls around people have started to show up. There is a line of parents and kids in front of the store, and several people wearing FunCo International badges have appeared to hobnob with mall employees. A news crew arrives and starts setting up a camera. Amy Feng from Channel 3 Action News is on the scene; the characters know that she's got a rep for trying to interview supervillains in mid-battle. Sting Ray remembers seeing something about one of her news vans being tossed at Captain Thunder, along with speculation that Action News is trying to get her to quit and take a job with Disaster News Network so they can get their insurance rates back down.
Scarecrow heads over to the news crew to act like an obsessed fanboy and find out if they're recording or broadcasting live. The cameraman is bored and agrees to talk. He explains that this is just part of an effort to boost local business, and that they don't hand out tapes of news footage to just anyone. Nor does Ms. Feng want to talk to her drooling fans. The cameraman tells him that the tape will be aired at 17:00 and 21:00, so he can just record it then.
By 11:20 there is a frightening number of kids in line. Workmen are setting up other stuff: a stage with big wrapped boxes, big pirate ships in the fountain, and lots of other crap including a big "Barbie" display, a pallet of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru Action Sets and posters for the new Pokemon Movie.
By 11:30 the children are waving around Danger Boy toys and whipping themselves into a frenzy. Scarecrow spots Mr. Cinnamon Bun, who has wandered back to spend some more time watching Fun Time Toys. Scarecrow buys a gaudy Disgruntled Goat balloon, then follows Mr. Sticky Bun. He uses the balloon as if it were a video game targeting reticle so the other characters can follow his progress.
Three clowns and a guy dressed like a big brown dog show up and start entertaining the children. They start screaming something about "Wags!" Sylvan Sentinel warns the others, "There's people in costume here! Megastar could show up to beat them up any moment!"
Through all of this, Archangel and Sting Ray are still sitting in Starbase Coffee, watching Fun Time Toys. Archangel comments, "You know if you go off to Tangerine Gaius Cassius Antoninus and get an Orange Diabetes Treat and mix it with the Quad-Espressochino it tastes really good. And your urine comes out orange! And it'll take the enamel off a urinal!" Sting Ray grouses, "That's not fair: your urine does that anyway."
By quarter to noon some of the clowns have headed off for a cigarette break. Darren Stone watches them and tells the others, "Who woulda known. Clowns hand-roll." Scarecrow pays attention to the security radio so he doesn't have to listen to Darren Stone.
Noon arrives and nothing happens. The kids are becoming agitated. A voice on the security radio reports that Danger Boy and the Samurai Shrews are caught in traffic. Fifteen minutes more and a guy in a dinosaur suit shows up and announces that he is Toy-Saurus. He isn't a licensed character, so the kids don't care. And then Darren Stone hears an explosion-like sound from near Bromwell's Department store. He heads that way quickly but subtly. Sylvan Sentinel sprints that way with no particular attention to subtlety. Two mall security guys flag him down, yelling "We got a runner!" into their radios. Scarecrow does his best to not laugh.
Scarecrow notices that Mr. Sticky Bun is up on the balcony level, studying the kids below very carefully. Scarecrow is getting creepy vibes off him, and he knows creepy. Sylvan Sentinel whispers, "He's a liberal!" Scarecrow keeps an eye on him.
Something unclear comes over the radio about a fire at the Bromwell's cosmetics counter. Sylvan Sentinel comes on the scene to see people evacuating. He sees four Aibos playing soccer near the entrance to the shop. The cosmetics counter looks like a grenade hit it. Darren Stone shows up right after Sylvan Sentinel. He sees that one of the Aibos has been distracted by the excitement and is headed towards Sylvan Sentinel's back. He warns Sylvan Sentinel, who transforms and spins around to see an Aibo barking at him. He looks somewhere else, whereupon the Aibo explodes. Booom! Sylvan Sentinel barely even notices the blast, but his new suit is shredded. The other Aibos eyes turn red and they go for him. Scarecrow yells, "Watch out! They're set on evil!"
Two mall security guys rush up behind Sylvan Sentinel and yell, "Freeze!" Sylvan Sentinel sees another Aibo moving in on him. "Bark! Bark! Bark!" He smashes it and proclaims, "They toys are trying to destroy everything!" He throws the shattered Aibo into the nearby reflecting pool. The explosion sends a water spray up to the second level.
Darren Stone sneaks into a bathroom, transforms, and comes back covered in little blue bathroom tiles. Lots of things are on fire, but strangely the fire alarms aren't going off. He sees another Aibo closing on him. He smashes it with a great tiled fist. It explodes. Darren Stone staggers back and takes a hit.
And then Danger Boy shows up on stage. The rather mussed-up promotional directors start up their "momentous day" speeches.
And then the kids go wild as the Sociopathic Shrews show up, armed with their traditional weapons of ice pick, board with nails, chainsaw and meat cleaver. Scarecrow panics, "Are those real weapons? Are those real weapons?" He guesses that the weapons are props. He hopes they are, because the Shrews are acting all crazy-go-nuts insane.
Sensing that there is a lot of distraction available, Scarecrow gathers his wits and lifts Mr. Sticky Bun's wallet. Mr. Sticky Bun doesn't notice.
Sylvan Sentinel and Darren Stone run back towards Fun Time Toys. They notice that there is a flight of model airplanes heading towards the toy store. They open fire on the planes. Three planes break off to attack Darren Stone. The other three continue to roar down the mall. One of them drops a bomb into Stone's chest, but he ignores it. The other two dive bomb Sylvan Sentinel, levying terrible destruction all around him but leaving him leafily unharmed.
Sting Ray sees the three surviving planes buzz into the central plaza. He lights one up with a lightning bolt. It explodes in a fiery cataclysm. There is a lot of screaming. Archangel and Scarecrow sprint after the other two. Food court people scream and fling themselves out of the way. Panic starts to spread. Sting Ray decides that something must be done. He stands up in the center of the plaza and casts a huge Mesmerizing Sigil of Kulkulmectul. He orders everyone, "Be calm!" Danger Boy and the toy exec are up on stage being confused. The clowns take the opportunity to pass out promotional toys.
Sylvan Sentinel swats a plane into Raspberry Republic. It explodes. Unfortunately, there were patrons inside. They come out screaming, some of them with bits of broken glass stuck into them. Sylvan Sentinel yells, "Sorry!" Darren Stone reaches up and knocks one out of the sky. Scarecrow creates a mystic darkness barrier in front of two planes, destroying both of them. The last plane crashes into Sylvan Sentinel, again leaving him unharmed.
Sting Ray notes cartoon characters giving out flutes. He remembers that Archangel's last mystic message includes a warning about flutes. He sends a command out through the Mesmerizing Sigil for everyone to drop the flutes, but his power is overwhelmed and the children start to play. Sting Ray tastes a sweet, sweet flavor and feels something tickling him from between his frontal lobes. Many of the adults start laughing. Sting Ray fails his Will save and joins them. Sylvan Sentinel asks, "What kind of mind control guy are you to not have a Will save?" Sting Ray guffaws, "I'm supposed to shoot people with electric blasts, but I can't do that to small children!" Darren Stone mentions, "I don't know why. I'm about to hit them with rocks."
Scarecrow moves in to see what the laughing is about. Two mall security guards try to stop him, but one of them is Mr. Conner, who cuffs the other and tells him, "He's one of the good guys!"
Sylvan Sentinel swarms up into the rafters. He spots a guy with a sniper rifle. The sniper doesn't see him because he's way too busy looking at Sting Ray through his scope.
Archangel moves into the scene and spots a suspicious-looking trash can. It almost looks like it has a little antenna sticking out of it. He pulls it out. He finds it is attached to some kind of radio transmitter. He turns it off.
The big present covered in shiny green foil on stage opens up, revealing the freakish, marionette-like figure of Gepetto inside. He sprays thick goo from a little trick flower onto Danger Boy and two luckless FunCo execs, sticking them in place. The crowd goes wild with laughter. Then he tells the children, "Let us go get more toys!" He moves as if he's attached to strings.
Up on the ceiling girders, Sylvan Sentinel watches as the Mystery Sniper whispers into a radio, "Scaramouche, I'm taking the shot." Ever the thoughtful conservative, he waits until after the sniper shoots at Sting Ray, then moves in to take him out. The Mystery Sniper takes a shot at Sylvan Sentinel, misses, then yells, "Displace!" and moves back along the rafters. Sylvan Sentinel throws a couple of freakish thirty-foot punches at him, just to keep him on his toes.
The characters are baffled to notice that even with all the excitement and gunfire, one of the clowns and the man in the dog costume are still handing out toys in the crowd.
Down in the courtyard, Darren Stone smells something very sweet but doesn't suffer any ill effects. He sprints towards the stage. Then he notices three violence-packed feet of doll heading towards him from Fun Time Toys. My Size Single Mom Barbie waggles her finger at Gepetto and tells him, "You've been bad!" Then she throws an infant (doll) at him. Darren Stone leaps to intercept the baby. He grabs the baby, throws it to the restrooms and then it explodes. Oh Mother of God does it explode! It leaves a huge inferno near the restroom doors.
Archangel flies full out to reach the scene of destruction. Windows shatter in the shock waves that follows him.
And then things get really out of hand. Thundercat models swarm out of the cardboard castle. Pirate ships floating in the fountain raise Jolly Rogers and bring out cannon. And it looks like the walls are melting. Oh wait, no, that's just because those villains in Shelbyville put LSD in the water again.
Scarecrow takes DRAMATIC ACTION! He LEAPS from the second floor into the cardboard castle. He CRUSHES a half-dozen hostile toys. He FLATTENS a wall with his darkness strike. He DESTROYS two more Thundercat models. And then he presents himself to the crowd for his standing ovation. He is disappointed to realize that they're all completely mesmerized by mind-control-rich floral fragrances. And then the Thundercats turn on him. He spends some quality time trying to avoid being shot or guillotined.
Wags the Dog notices Darren Stone in the crowd. He approaches him and sprays him with a spritzer bottle containing concentrated Mind Control fragrance. Darren Stone finds himself laughing very hard, and effectively paralyzed. Behind him, Maternity Barbie leaps onto the stage like some kind of agile pregnant ninja.
The Evil Clown in the crowd pulls out an SMG and blazes away at a pirate ship. And then one pirate ship shoots him twice in the chest, blowing a hole clear through him. Lung and entrails spray all over everybody. Evil Clown looks surprised for a moment, then collapses into a heap. Two more galleons open fire on the stage. Darren Stone finds himself rattled but unhurt. He does the only thing he can: laugh.
Two of the pirate ships fire at Gepetto. The third fires at Sting Ray. Gepetto dives for cover as two cannon balls come flinging onto the stage. The cannon balls explode, catching Gepetto in the blast and tilting the paralyzed Danger Boy over at a 45 degree angle.
The characters have concluded that they have no way to keep track of their adversaries, so they barely even notice when four Rumble Robots come out of Fun Time Toys, crackle with energy and open fire with lasers. One of them attacks a paralyzed (laughing) clown and severs the man's head, in clear view of the Action 3 camera. A cluster of apparently-deranged children rush the Red Rumble Robot; four of them fall to its energy shield. Two more wrap themselves around Maternity Barbie. And Green Rumble Robot tries to grapple Darren Stone, who evades its grasp.
Gepetto notices Sting Ray as he avoids an electrical strike, then turns Sting Ray into a mind-controlled puppet. Sting Ray does his best to push Gepetto's influence out of his mind. He just barely manages to succeed in time to hear Sylvan Sentinel yell out, "Sting Ray! Get Gepetto! Make him feel like he fucked a light socket!" Scarecrow adds, "With his p____!" Gepetto turns to Sting Ray and casually comments, "Come back to me, my pretty!" Sting Ray ends up mind-controlled. Again.
Up above, Mystery Sniper pulls a grenade and rolls it down the catwalk towards Sylvan Sentinel. Sylvan Sentinel grabs the grenade and throws it into the fountain. The galleons survive, but the picturesque plaster statuette of Neptune and the Dolphins does not.
Darren Stone smashes three Rumble Robots, leaving only one to attack the children. Archangel flies very hard and smashes into Gepetto in a ram. Gepetto flies off into a wall and doesn't move. He moans, "My spine..." Archangel takes a stun hit from the impact, then scoffs, "Hah! Back in my angeling days I often ran into walls that were twice as hard! Jericho, for example. Now that place was..." The other characters breathe a sigh of relief when Maternity Barbie grabs him by the neck and flings him off to one side, strangling his story at the source. Archangel goes flying straight into the Thundercats' kill zone. They open fire on him.
The galleons open up again on the stage. One shot takes the leg off the store manager. She goes down. A second shot misses Gepetto wildly. Shrapnel wounds Danger Boy seriously and tears away part of Maternity Barbie's face to reveal a Terminator-esque metal skull with red eyes. Some of the children snap out of their gas-induced slumber. They start to scream.
Sting Ray sends an electric blast into the fountain, destroying one galleon. The other one survives, for the moment.
Scarecrow notices one of the Thundercats heading for the crowd with murder in its feline eyes. He sends a strike at it, disorienting it but not seriously damaging it. Then he taunts it skillfully enough to make it mad at him. Then he covers the top of the cardboard castle in darkness, prompting the gunners to make random shots into the crowd. Several bystanders are flung around in broken-doll sorts of ways.
The Mystery Sniper misses a shot on Sylvan Sentinel, who charges back and delivers a hit strong enough to send him off the catwalk to a messy end. He jokes, "Thank god there was a steel railing to break my fall!"
And then twenty marionettes come marching in from the corridors. They look kill-crazed. Gepetto pulls out two Desert Eagles and opens fire on Darren Stone. Wags the Dog gets up from being stunned, unlimbers his concealed SMG and opens fire on Maternity Barbie. Scarecrow comments, "Wags the Dog is a fantastic henchman. If I were him, I would have run a long time ago!" Archangel grumbles, "I'm gonna take a twelve-gauge bite outta crime!"
Archangel flies over and starts shooting up the onrushing marionettes. He destroys one. The crew on the surviving galleon opens fire on the marionettes too, to little effect.
Darren Stone delivers a blitz of attacks on Gepetto. The Puppeteer Of Perfidy staggers back and moans, "Tastes like fillings..." Darren Stone waves to the crowd and takes a victory lap.
Maternity Barbie leaps among the children to attack Wags the Dog. Wags goes down for the count. Maternity Barbie comes up with arterial blood on her fangs.
Gepetto tells Sting Ray, "Kill him! Kill Darren Stone!" Sting Ray throws off the mind control and attacks Gepetto instead, but inaccurately enough that Darren Stone is not convinced that he isn't under attack. Gepetto runs for it as his marionettes attack everyone in sight, including Amy Feng's cameraman and the pedophile, who gets his neck broken. Archangel comments, "Okay, we let that marionette live."
Sylvan Sentinel reaches down, picks up the one remaining Rumble Robot, and flings it at Gepetto. Gepetto ends up stunned, then gets caught in the blast as the robot explodes. The blast sends him spinning eighty feet down the corridor. It also stops his marionettes, bringing an end to the killing.
Maternity Barbie proceeds to grapple Darren Stone. Archangel warns, "Don't let her get ahold of you! She'll take half your stuff!" Then she explodes. Both Darren Stone and Sting Ray shrug off the effects of the blast. Darren Stone looks over to see if there's anything left of Danger Boy.
Then the last two Thundercats explode, collapsing the cardboard castle. Scarecrow desperately flings himself into the rafters to avoid injury.
The smoke clears. People are staggering around. The wounded are moaning and bleeding. Archangel starts healing people. Sting Ray calls the paramedics. Amy Feng gets some comments from Sting Ray, who doesn't remember that the characters' group is called the Redeemers. He comes off sounding like a brain-damaged member of the Bush administration. He tells her, "Gepetto hates Freedom! And sometimes, when people hate Freedom, Freedom-loving people have to fight them. And take away their Freedom. Freedom is the most wonderful thing about this country. That and the Right to Bear Arms. We Redeemers are all in favor of Freedom." Nonplussed, Ms. Feng asks him, "Do you think this attack this has anything to do with Desmond Lettem, former CEO of Fun Time Toys?" Sting Ray very authoritatively replies, "We're still investigating, Amy." Sting Ray has no clue. He does manage to avoid saying anything too objectionable. Darren Stone is only forced to give Sting Ray a "twinge" in the back of the head once.
By this time, paramedics and the STAR Squad are arriving up on the scene in force. The characters clear the area. Sylvan Sentinel comments, "I think I shredded my new suit." Sting Ray reassures him, "Don't worry, I bought three. Have another."
Mr. Conner is disoriented, but grateful. Scarecrow tells him, "For what it's worth, I think it would have been worse without us." The characters take their leave having successfully prevented most fatalities (except for the store manager, a mall manager, a couple of hoods, one inoffensive clown who got his head lasered off, and a pedophile). Danger Boy finds himself in the hospital in critical condition, but bounces back thanks to his high CON.
The characters do a bit of research on Desmond Lettem, aka Toyboy. They find out that he is a villain in his own right. He has a developmental disorder: he is 20 years old, but looks 8. His parents owned a controlling interest in FunCo International. After they died, he had control of the company. Unfortunately, the strain of their deaths combined with his managerial responsibilities and his own fragile grasp of reality pushed him over the edge. He recently lost control of FunCo as a consequence of his various villainous activities on the side. He deeply hates Gepetto as a competing toy-themed villain, and apparently attacked the mall because he knew Gepetto would be there.
Everyone gains two experience points.