Question Vegas, Baby, Vegas!

Nice song to start the story off with, Band on the Run by Paul McCartney. Smart move to call a relative to trick the MCO into thinking they are heading that way. Heading back the way they came, heh, authorities may or may not expect that. Wonder what Chris is working on, should be interesting.

Four out-of-state high schools sending students to Las Vegas for some kind of competition, what are the odds of that. Mack, Eddie, Rachael, Chris, Roxie, Marly, Yvonne, Sparky, and the rest, forgot how big this group was. Suzy, Billy, Megan, and Rick, plus the dog if he isn't joking about Sparky, 13 in total, dang. Ah, homework, the one thing you can't escape at that age. More UNITY fronts, just how many of them can there be.

Smart kid, no evil organization would put everything in one location, spread out to avoid disrupting their plans easily by taking out one location. All that nowadays just to cover someone's history or 'legend', could see criminal seeing identities of dead people this way for sure. 'Ginny', just why did Marly drop this girl off with them.

MGM Grand, very nice hotel. Just what is that UNITY gizmo, some way to remote hack computers or what. Okay, didn't see that coming. Ginny is a telepath, reads minds and knows all about them from bumping into Marly. Yikes, subjected to the others of others, especially the thoughts of teenage boys, poor Ginny. School guidance counselor sending the MCO after her, having to go on the run. Salem, Oregon, good grief, think they would learn not to be bigots with their history.

She was going to use her mind-reading to make money until she figured out what to do. *facepalms* *eyes bug out* Vegas is that bad for psychics, dang. Well, at least they pointed out all the faults with her plan, would hate to see an innocent teen end up in MCO hands or worse due to not knowing what Vegas is like. Interesting, wonder what is going on with Yvonne and the others that Ginny's telepathy has trouble with.

That thing Megan used, has to be a devise, handy to escapes though. Clairvoyance and Psychometry, nice. Scary how UNITY functions, like a freaking cult. Whoa, a 'charm' effect, now that is potent. Mind blasts, PK blasts, panic attacks, one to make no one notice you, good grief, the list goes on, with all those gadgets Megan will be very dangerous to deal with. Either all those things are devises or something very weird is going on to let non-psychics use psychic abilities through them.

Weird interior of that gadget, hope Ev doesn't get hurt messing with it. Ewwwww! Jellied brain as part of the gadget from a large cat or small dog, that is sick. And how they went about it, feel like I'm going to upchuck, that is all kinds of wrong. Trying to come up with ideas and Suzy goes with the riskiest, most foolhardy one can do, let someone get kidnapped to follow them, good grief.

Whoa, Vegas has some great security against super-goons, guess they would have to in this universe. And House Superheroes, wasn't expect that to be a solution for the hotels and casinos. And Pro Wrestling, Las Vegas style with superhumans, nice. And Vegas just keeps getting better and better. Now that is a smart plan for what to do about the warehouses, but when has everything ever gone according to plan.

Dang, having to leave Yvonne behind while they go inspect the warehouses, if that isn't a set-up for trouble to happen I don't know what is. At least Sparky is a good dog to leave her behind with.

R&D labs and manufacturing firms in Vegas, out in the desert, interesting. Suzy, acting before asking questions. Megan's psychometry is very handy. And nice to see some friendly teasing among them, so goofy even in a serious situation.

And a recap of what happened inside the Chemical Recycling Plant. Phony plates to fool inspectors, this is why you check plates to see if they are removable. Cover for that kind of operation, huh, wonder if there is something similar done in the real world.

"Hey, they could be using recycled dry-cleaning chemicals," I pointed out. "Just because you are irredeemably evil doesn't mean that you can't go Green. Even supervillains can have a social conscience."

Loading a space shuttle lookin' aircraft, why does that make her nervous. Longhaul, definitely sounds like a G.I. Joe codename. Or Transformer name. G.I. Joe reference and snarking, two things that go great together. Totally silent VTOL and cloaking, now that is a nightmare to deal with. They plan to steal this from Longhaul and use it to get to Chicago, nope, nothing can go wrong here, nothing at all.

Ev has a very good point, how do we know the ship isn't booby trapped or UNITY didn't plan on the kids stealing it, then take it over remotely. These kids definitely know how to plan things out and think through the risks when they have the time, nice to see. *eyes bug out* All that just north of Colorado Springs, dang, didn't know my grandfather on my mom's side used to live so close to all that. Talk about highly monitored, even without the 51st Metahuman Special Operations Command Wing.

Ev knowing all that, knows more about the base they lived on then I recall of any army base my family lived on. Denver Gold backed by Ms. Guzman, wonder how much of this is rumor and how much is true about Denver Gold and Ms. Guzman pushing them. All those steps to get to Denver, this is getting more and more complicated to avoid various authorities and hero groups.

That kind of energy research, if UNITY is behind it they are nuts! Robot combat units tested in their yard, these villains are cocky if nothing else. Long-term goal, just hope none of the evidence they collect against UNITY gets destroyed. Escrow warehouse, interesting way for criminals to do business. Information on UNITY from the mob, easier said than done. When dealing with an organization like UNITY, I would rather be paranoid and prepared, then caught off guard. And good thing they know all the tropes and aren't being greedy idiots.

A supervillain pawn shop, seems both like a good and bad idea at the same time, unless you have a lot of security and defenses against idiots just trying to steal back their pawned stuff. Pawning something to get into the backroom. All that for plan A, they are coming off as pros, wouldn't want to be protecting that pawn shop right now.

And of course the plan had a lot of hitches. Safe bolted to the floor, guy in a turban, guy and chick who almost fried one of them, electrified safe and wiring panel had a demolitions charge on it, self-directing blasters protecting the place, and Billy went for one of the Maltese Falcons, *groans* If I didn't know better, I'd think Murphy was nearby.

House super, armed guards, capture gel, Eddie got shot 6 times but regenerated already, Evan is a girl now and Ginny is freaking out about it, almost sounds like cluster fuck covers what happened. They just weren't prepared for everything that pawn shop had to deal with potential thieves, luck of the draw. And interesting point about those weird statues, nice way to keep gold and jewels around.

"A half MILLION?" Billy squawked as he clutched the 'falcon' to him like a teddy bear.

110k in cash between 4 of them, dang. Oh boy, Eddy is right, they need to get out of Vegas soon, before anyone figures out it was them and comes calling. Information, all to clear their names and send the authorities after UNITY. Just hope they don't end up giving the information to a UNITY mole.

Panic and run, they need to escape Vegas unnoticed or fast enough not to get caught, but need to keep their heads. *sigh* They are in one of the biggest messes we've seen in a while. Having to prove their identities, avoiding the authorities, hope no more of them end up dead along the way. Oh boy, almost falling for Roxie, more complications.

At least they learn from their mistakes, more research before hitting the escrow place, hopefully it goes much better this time. 'Charm' dingus is potent, to get that kind of reaction so quickly from someone Ev knows. Marly, no messing with friend's attitudes, bad girl.

Documents rigged to burn if the place ever gets raided, never even know that was a thing before reading this story. A button to trigger it all. And all these kids have messed up histories, Rick included it seems. Psychic invisibility, hope what Ev said about them isn't foreshadowing. And Mack points out what is obvious to the readers, they seem to be weirdness magnets.

Yeah, what Evan and Roxie can do with data, forgot about that until now, spooky seems mild to describe it. Yikes, those kind of parents are nightmares, both for their kids and for others to deal with. Pushing their kids, grades never good enough, living through their kids and just keep pushing them, ugh.

Ooo, we get to see it first person this time. Marly and Ginny using telepathic link to sync those they are overseeing, Billy dealing with the burner trigger cable, so far so good. All those files and nothing certain on Mr. Bland, darn. Oh crud, sounds like another group is trying to rob the place at the same time, imo. Having to leave already, this guy inside and moving too fast for the CCTV, right now it feels like the universe is messing with the kids.

North exit shut down, only way out south exit, they are being herded, this is UNITY! After Evan, psychic invisibility not working on him, very bad. BRIGAND, just what the heck is going on and who is this guy? Arrgggh! Can't wait for the next part of this story, Bek. Wonderful read and interesting to see a group of teens operate almost like a team of pros who have been at it for years, at least with their planning.

So... Tulpas... ... Wow... There's a lotta preternatural force-based entities... Galvanomorphs... Spirits as hosted by Avatars, etc...

Where are Tulpas on the Entity spectrum? ... Any relation to Hobgoblins??

Okay, told Brigand everything, yet sounds like they shouldn't trust him. Quit 20 years ago and still has those habits, yikes, smoking is brutal. And Mr. Bland's job sounds like a nightmare to deal with. Future Dynamics Front, Science Unchained, the Invisible College, the Instrumentality, SYNERGY, WASP, a lot of groups out there, scary. And details about Dr. Diabolik, nice. And ouch, setting up a safe website sounds like a huge pain with all that can be done to it, add in all the additional things in the Whateley Universe and sounds like you would need a programming and security expert to keep it safe.

D'oh! Perfect storm for their little nightmare they are living, thanks to various people and organizations. Computer ninja Summer, nice job title. Working with Brigand for their raid on the warehouse and on his job, better to have people with experience, don't want to imagine what might happen if they try to do it on their own.

Rae's rundown on Brigand is scary, sounds like dammed if they do, dammed if they don't situation here. Trust Sparky, if he is half as smart and observant as they make him out to be, he knows what is up. Ev has a good analysis of the situation, just hope Brigand doesn't screw them over.

Bwhahahaha, greeting Brigand like he is a teacher, priceless. Hhhm, makes sense to me, need to appear to be raw amateurs to draw the attention of the authorities. *smacks forehead* He explains it that way and they still don't get it, proof they are regular teens. At least someone is pointing out acting like pros is hurting their case.

Good, was worried about Iron Butterfly, hope she recovers quickly. Helping them build a case against these creeps, liking Brigand right now. *eyes bug out* Okay, that is a lot of popular support. And fighting corruption, sounds more like an anti-hero than a true villain, imo.

Having to act like that, with the people who are after them, yikes doesn't come close to covering it. A balancing act found out the hard way, why do I have a bad feeling we might lose one or more of the current group before this is over. I just hope by the time it is all over, Knight Commander Swive is serving jail time or worse. Media feeding hysteria, ugh, sickening to think about.

Curiosity mixed with drama, heh, seems to be part of human nature. Oooo, loving the ideas to draw attention to them and the tags to help prove who they are. And not make themselves look dangerous, hard to do with who they are up again. Ugh, Ev's old man is a real piece of work, unless he doesn't know the truth, forget if he does or not. Get in and out quickly, yet be seen, good grief, this just keeps getting more and more difficult. Win-even-when-you-are-losing thinking, never thought I would see it in a Whateley story until now.

That much power for a place and that kind of shielding, why hasn't anyone looked area, that is highly suspicious. Nice plan so far, but plans never survive first encounter with the enemy. Wonder how much of their plan will work like they plan. Las Vegas storm drains to escape, better hope you don't have to rip off any iron grates. Ev and Marly have a point, they attract weird things and coincidences all the time.

Blackheart, Rawhide, and Prettyboy, plus Evil Eye, great, a group of supervillains show up in town, what are the odds they get involve in the warehouse operation. D'oh! Completely forgot about these goons, gunning for the kids for breaking up a deal, talk about low-class. Ugh, they know the truth about the MCO's BS, and just want the bounty from Dugan on the kids among other things. Have fun with one of the girls, these guys are true scum.

Emergency bolt hole that leads to roof, what happens if the building is on fire or the private helicopters have mechanical failure. 'Go bags', convenient for our group, wonder if those in the labs ever thought of the possibility of it falling into enemy hands. Mission already off to a good start. All their bases belong to us, nice reference.

Nice to see hackers have to have outside help to know the layout of things, not just pulling things off like computer hacking is magic sometimes. Megan's psychometry is more and more impressive, highly useful and diverse ability. Uhm, if a lock is designed to keep something in, it might not be a good idea to open it. I've seen enough horror movies and sci-fi shows. *eyes bug out* What in the world did they do to those men, that is inhuman.

Hiding folders due to office politics, oh brother. 2 to 3 minutes to read 2 binders worth and 3 paper-bound reports, just how fast does Ev read!?! Synthetic tulpas, these people are insane! Those things have the possibly of going rogue, no telling what would happen then. And Brigand has dealt with something like these before.

Oh boy, to take it or not, if the goons of this place somehow escape with the research it would be a huge building threat. Ah good, Brigand has the right idea, was worried about that for a moment. Oh crud, this just had to happen, find the people they are using to create synthetic tulpas and one of them seems to start manifesting one, this is where the whole mission starts to go sideways, I'm guessing.

MCO Field Operative Haines, and just great, they are having to deal with KoP scum Swive and two of his men, along with HeroWatch crew. McDaniels pointing them to the YouTube video of the kids' Camera Crew in action, hope Swive and his KoP don't go in guns blazing. Swive trying to dismiss it, scumbag trying to cover up the truth. Great, the MCO and KoP already on the way and there in minutes, not good.

At least Haines is figuring out the whole point of this, even leaving fingerprints that can be lifted from spraypaint. And Haines having that reaction to what they find in the single holding cells, we have a human being here, hopefully one who will listen. Why would Haines think it is a good idea to send in four lances of KoP Knights, what scene of chaos could call for that.

Ouch, Megan looked at the strange pillar. Ev's idea is good, but with how fast that fog is building up, they might not have that long before things blow up. And the psychic invisibility gizmo doesn't work, just great. Oh shit! It formed into a nightmare monster like that, this is worse than I thought it would be. *tries to keep down lunch* And tries to attack the thing with an energy sword because it works in all the animes, good grief.

Okay, even worse from Roxie's perspective, HP Lovecraft would be proud of that nightmarish thing. Dang it! Shattered into hundreds of lesser abominations, very bad day. Evan out like a light with those things around, just what we don't need. Female again and might be unconscious for 8 hours, ouch. Oh good, at least the lesser 'things' are fading out with time or isolation. D'oh! Those idiots show up right at the worst possible moment.

Figures Swive would be cheering on these six powered armor creeps. Please tell me the two who were shot aren't dead. Swive things the kids set demo charges again, at least Haines is keeping a clear head about this whole mess.

Great, Roxie in a restraining cage stacked by Billy and Megan, plus rigged where if she tries to escape she electrocutes them, just plain sick. And Mack, Evan and Chris captured and locked up as well, great. Out of their powered armors, that seems like a mistake, especially with MCO and KoP gunning for them right now. Bwhahaha, it was a trick by Brigand, caught them off-guard without their gear, too good. Takes down the 6 idiots with the help of his crew, but Blue Thunder is closing in, out of the frying pan and into the fire. And they are going to have to jump out of the ship to survive, oh boy.

Waking up in a hotel room, nice bit of recap of it all and glad everyone got out of that mess alive. Geeze, that is one cordoned off location and fast for the police, weird. The Instrumentality of Reason, amoral scientists thinking the ends justify the means, that never ends well. Brigand is very good at seat-of-his-pants plan execution.

Over 18k hits in the 9 hours it took the feds to get YouTube to shut it down, not bad for 2007. Fox News being more reasonable than NBC, boy, their universe is different. Swive and his KOP asses taking credit for the rescue of people from their cells, ugh. All those details on the Black Lab scene for Denver that fast, Summer does great work. Okay, if Brigand is worried for their safety if they help him on his job, it has to be very bad.

Interesting bunch on the shuttle with Mercer. Madam Syn, Sapphire on there, picked up a guy called Nightwolf, wonder what they up to. And that group, all those things mixed together in their theme, if one of them shouts COBRA I'm going to loose it. Supervillains and minions going to a place to bid on hardware, this sounds very bad. Smell of slightly rancid pork, don't tell me that one woman is a necromancer and her two attendants are zombies.

Dr. Napalm, fitting codename. Darth Viper, dressed that way so they will be dismissed as cosplaying kids or a publicity stunt, dang, that is ingenious. Boy, that uniform of Darth Viper's is very effective at hiding details, could even claim to be a victim put into the costume by the real Darth Viper and forced to play along since no one knows what he or she looks like.

Baroness Cimitiere, definite voodoo vibe. Syndicate auction, interesting, wonder what kind of goods they have. Interesting vehicles, Darth Viper and Major Threat seem to be playing it smart, checking out the vehicles which can blend in instead of stand out. Though I can definitely see the thrill of Porsche Spyder, tricked out, hope and so on means the oil slick as well.

Interesting way to do bids for the auction, secure at least. Whoa, so this is the job which Brigand wanted their help with, see now why he thought it would be too dangerous for the kids. Close one, don't want to know what Darth Viper's energy sword could have done if Ev hadn't blocked it with his own. Ouch, knock down Dr. Napalm only to be hit by Major Threat. Devises that can make duplicates of the wears and their gear, okay, Major Threat didn't come understaffed, 2 to 256 that fast.

Great, Major Threat trying to act like he is running the whole thing and will just complicate it for everyone else, our kids and his unlikely allies in this situation. Black Sapphire going to the roof, smart lady. Wonder which one of the kids is facing her flying on that golden disk. Nightwolf going after the super-speedster, please let him have missed with that move. Baroness Cimitiere going after the tank of our group, dang, summoning spooks like that, dangerous woman.

Sarcen, stony-fleshed boy versus man who transformed into stone, not good. Madam Syn targeting the one kid who stands out from the rest, not fighting someone and looking for something to do. Great, hit Rick with that. Darn it, Darth Viper herding Evan like that, things are very bad, fear we are going to lose some of them. Nice move by Billy, messing with the 'officer' to leave the doppelganger troops confused. Megan hitting Mercer with that special gun, things are starting to turn around but for how long.

Crud, Chris on the golden disc with few areas to go with Black Sapphire closing in on him. Ooo, Nightwolf taking a hit and crashing into Sarcen. Roxie coming to the aid of Mack against Baroness Cimitiere, darn, gets Mack free by distracting her only to be shot in the back by Black Sapphire and then attacked by BC herself. Eddie grappling with Sarcen and breaks off one of his arms, dang. Darn it, just grew another arm, this guy is tough.

Madam Syn still draining Rick's vitality, shocked by how much he has and still draining him. She shouldn't have gone after that core of energy inside him, greed will always get you in the end. Psychokinetic storm, great, helping our side but can also hinder, how to get Rick back in control. At least that didn't last long,

Chris and Evan steal the 'Spy Car', Eddie, Megan and Billy in the Flying Saucer, Mack and Rae in the near-Batmobile, Suzy, Roxie, and Rich in the 'Landspeeder'. All of them escaping in the vehicles and leaving everyone else shocked that a bunch of kids did this, Nightwolf especially. Chris noticing Evan is a girl again and liking what she sees, hehe. At least she took her mind off that by noticing Mercer following them, so they can act before he catches up. Figures, the machine guns weren't loaded, guess the Syndicate doesn't trust their customers all that much. Ejector seats and saved, even messed up the paint job so Mercer won't get a discount on the car, nice.

Major Threat at a casino in civilian clothes, good grief does he carry a lot of weapons on him. Major Threat's troops in that bad of shape, kind of feel a little sorry for the goons. He's the father of Psike, dang. Nightwolf there, along with Jabberwock, Dr. Photon, the Mamba, Jack Devil, Brillante, the Strix [don't even want to know what that person's powers are], and Power Lantern. And the Man-Eater, another I don't wish to know the powers of, hope she doesn't literally live up to that codename.

Corrective lens in his mask and not used to normal eyewear anymore, Power Lantern is more interesting already. The Strix taunting Major Threat like that about his son, she is playing a dangerous game. And now Psike sounds even more insane that before, seesh. Ah yes, that incident with Jobe, never mess with the girl, even when she is in that state. And they know who Jadis is, think her father disowned her and are left wondering what is happening at Whateley. Boy, that puts it in perspective a little, things are crazy at Whateley for a group of supervillains to be wondering that.

Oh boy, they know who the kids are from the incident at the Black Lab and now at the auction, not good. And now as they are talking about the kids, they show up once more, breaking in on their card game, wonder what is going on this time myself.

Ugh, Hero Watch idiots lead by Danica Hanson going to film with the Treasure Island's bogus pirate battle as backdrop, there is that strange luck at work again. Doing this shoot, I don't like this woman. Why did she have to use this place as the backdrop for her report, showboating diva needs to learn how to report news the right way. And she called the group loose cannons, heh.

A super fight breaks out and she just keeps having them film, *rolls eyes* Blue Mack aka Daniel, fighting someone dressed as a devil with flamethrowing pitchfork, good grief. Having to save innocents from a sign blasted by the Red Devil [Jack Devil and probably annoyed at her getting his codename wrong], at least it is showing the kids being heroic. Nice way they all back each other up so quickly. What sounds like Nightwolf against Eve, and on the hover disc Chris if I'm correct has just been given the worst superhero name ever, Spotlight Girl.

Ouch, Chris attacked by Power Lantern while Daniel deals with Red Devil. *smacks forehead* Calling a kid throwing around electricity the Shocker, is she trying to get Marvel's lawyers after them! Danica is shocked when 'the Shocker' uses electricity to take Power Lantern's glasses and figures out the guy is near-sighted. Woman made of glass, don't tell me that is Dr. Photon, interesting. Power Lantern ends up blasting the Strix, ouch, and Daniel's attack on Power Lantern takes him out, MVP move of the fight to also have it foul up Nightwolf.

Throwing around Maltese Falcon between them, boy, if that doesn't draw attention to the Loose Cannons nothing will. Shifting around in the water while a 40' giant, this operation definitely was about attention, or so it seems. Buccaneer, in-house superhero, at least he acts like a real hero and helping the patrons escape first. 6 more of those Maltese Falcon statues, dang, just how many of them do the kids have their hands on now.

Volcano and Lady Luck as well, this is going to become a 3-way battle between the supervillains, the kids and the local superheroes at this rate. Robo-Thug, seriously, Danica needs training on coming up with better codenames for supers. Blue Djinn, Silver Centurion, Gunslinger, Flamingo, Crimson Cavalier, Golden Pharaoh, Leo the Lion, and Captain Nevada, that is a lot of heroes. Glad the kids decide to book it right then and leave the supervillains to the heroes.

Didn't plan on being filmed and break up into 3 groups, trying nice simple strategies, when will they learn. Rachel, Eddie, and Mack disguised as service personnel, Gwen, Marly, Roxie, and Chris as the 'Cool Kids', and Evan, Rick, Ginny, Suzie, and Billy as the 'weenie' group. Roxie is sometimes male and goes by Rocky, oh brother, the way he acts.

Billy is going to mess up their plan. *groans* A 30 lbs. canvas bag from Brink's, at least Evan is able to come up with a plan quickly of what to do. Billy, you bonehead, getting greedy and stealing stuff like that, there goes the whole mission. Ouch, Evan gets sandbagged by something coming out of left field.

Blackheart ambushed them, she has figured them out too well, especially Billy. Rawhide, Pretty Boy and Evil Eye, great, the group of supervillains back for revenge. Billy at least is showing he is good in a fight, dazing Rawhide and pulling Blackheart off his feet. Prettyboy blocked from harming Ginny by her PFG, while Evil Eye sounds like a psychic who can fight, scary. Great, just great, Evil Eye messed with Rick's mind and his defense triggers again, creating a psychic maelstrom of flying objects again.

And add in the money from the Brink's bag, boy, bet these wish they never met the Loose Cannons. Blackheart black Rawhide on accident, Billy stuffs money down Blackheart's mouth, talk about an embarrassing way to die. Prettyboy having Rick in his embrace, makes my skin crawl reading that. Flailing away at Ginny's mental defenses and she holds him off, just how much power difference is there between them that experience can't make up for.

NOOOO! Not Rick, not like that, Prettyboy needs to die! Daniel comes crashing through a way and scares Evil Eye away from Ginny. The rest of the kids show up and they have to book it, with Blackheart and his crew having Rick's body and their clothes, which they are going to hand over to Dugan. Really want to see these villains dead now.

All of them hurting from the loss of Rick, dang, they need a mission without so much risk. Okay, at least Brigand is thinking clearly, they need to get the hell out of Las Vegas and fast or all of them could end up dead or worse. Velthar the Vanquisher's Star Corsair, well, definitely sounds like a Silver Age style villain. Great, they have to steal it from Darth Viper. All this so Brigand can locate a very elusive character, hope this all works for the kids and we don't lose another one.

Madam Syn meeting with someone, brought in to ID Rick's body, sick f****. Ouch, no wonder Rick was so angry all the time and in such pain, rusted metal braces that should have been removed months ago. And would have burnt out within a year, *sigh* And Blackheart thinks he has the kids mapped and plans to kill more of them, makes my blood boil.

Seesh, way to keep a 'low-profile' on that repair yard. Brigand does a nice rundown of everything, including the benefits to him of the kids leaving Las Vegas. Leaving out one or two vital parts until final payment, makes sense when dealing with supervillains. Well, that is one way to get ready for a major job against a place with a lot of security. Nice splitting up into five teams, this operation is very well planned out. Now if only that weird luck that keeps happening doesn't mess it up. Interesting idea with the Clusterfuck run, never heard of doing that before.

Tricking the police into thinking it is just kids filming for a school project, wonder how many others would come up with such an idea. Poor Ginny freaking, even their test runs are stressful. Oh crap, I think Blackheart and his crew found them and used the Clusterfuck run to pick them off one by one. Nope, Brigand's men and just that good. Evan trying to get the group to respond and work off a new plan, but nothing. Tripwire to set off flashbangs and Brigand has sandbagged Evan. That creep double-crossed them after all, arrgggh! Having to wait until the next part to find out what is going on is going to be torture.

Ev waking up in what is basically a prison cell, great, feels like Brigand has betrayed them for sure now. A way to cause them pain if they try to use their powers, dang. Guard comes in and tells Ev to come with him, how much worse can it get. Wait, why were Ginny, Marly, and Yvonne separated from the others and given what look like overseer jobs of the other kids, at least that is what the clipboards and different outfits suggest to me.

Wonder if the two triangular red jewels on the backs of Madam Vicious' hands have anything to do with her powers. Las Vegas Mutant Death Matches, Brigand sold them out to these creeps, he is in so much trouble once they escape. And I hope none of the kids die here.

She is a complete psychopath! Killing Cannon like that because he was at the bottom of the list, she is sick. Kill collars like that designed to deal with them, hope Madam Vicious ends up dead by the end of this. God, the kids are being put through the ringer, Brigand has a lot to answer for.

Ugh, sick woman only has Ginny and Marly because she wants personal assistants she doesn't have to talk to. Ouch, knows how to get around telepaths, this sucks more and more. Yeah, I'm as curious as Ginny about why Brigand would sell them out, seems he has more to lose if they are caught. Using them to get an in to the Las Vegas Death Matches without telling them seems like his style though.

Yet Rachel has a point, double-cross to tie up loose ends is also Brigand's style from what we've seen. Great, this is complicated to deal with, signal interrupted without the collars off and they are all dead. No, no, no! Not Megan, if Brigand got her killed by handing them over to this psycho he is a dead man.

Place like this built for just this purpose, everyone involved needs to locked away for life or ended. Ginny and Marly as their big edge for once, boy, things change fast. At least Roxie knows they can't bug the collars with explosives attached. Grilled about what is going on in the outside, how long how these people been kept down there. People paying to see this, all of them should be arrested as accessories. Contract sold, so not only is Vicious a psycho, but a lier about them being given their freedom.

Great, Swive and he knows where they are, yet not where they are. Out in the desert outside Las Vegas, oh boy, that is a lot of area to cover. Dang, all that by the police and authorities to find where they are operating out of and nothing. And no way to prove the real identities of those supervillains involved in it. Good grief, that is a lot of codenames given, wonder which ones are those given to the kids.

Groan, Blue Max, Hexblade, Robo-Thug, Shoxx and floating in on a silver metal disk [nice Static reference], Spotlight, The Squid, Stonewall and saying that about him, and Trubble. Those announcements for each of them, those costumes, Madam Vicious just wants them even more pissed at her, don't she.

Swive identifying Ev, great. Trying to figure out who they are, yet Ranney saying they aren't supposed to figure out if they are the Martin Sammish kids, ugh. Ranney is an idiot and Swive is still lying out his ass, can't wait for the truth to come to light. And Swive thinking 'Blue Max' is the leader of the crew, oh brother. And Swive's thoughts, if anyone picked them up right then would realize he is a self-serving psycho.

Congarr, bwhahaha, that name, how could anyone take him seriously. Hard Light imaging, nice but good grief, to pay for that, just how cash does the guy have to burn. A size warper who can grow or so it seems, not good. Knocked out in one blow by 'Hexblade's energy sword, talk about a bad showing.

Wonder if audience members would burst out laughing upon hearing Congarr the Conqueror or keep a straight face.

Hard Knox is definitely going to be a lot tougher opponent. Blue Max against him, hope he survives this. Brutal and fast fight from the start, wonder what those collapsible throwing irons are made of.

Flying into an obstacle block and then using it, 'Blue Max' is clever. Yikes, that fighting line of Knox is scary. Using his own weapon against him, very nice move, 'Blue Max' isn't going down. Brutal fight just getting more and more brutal, 'Blue Max' using the fighting line to strangle Knox, dang. Blue Max wins on points due to time out and we find out how Vicious keeps sore losers in line, scary.

Blood Witch against Shoxx, great, I have a bad feeling about this one. Turning in blood-red mist and then coming out of it with a sword, how is Shoxx going to win this. Expanding mesh whip charged with electricity, seems to slice Blood Witch in half, seems she uses substitution techniques. Ouch, pulled off his flying disk by the Witch's whip, now seems he is dealing with summoned or conjured beasts.

A freaking dragon as well, good grief. Blood Cocoon, nasty. At least Shoxx blasted his way free, this fight is already looking bad for him though.

A whip duel and time runs out, a tie this time. Thraex the Golden Gladiator and he wants to face Mr. Z, the head of the list, one kill from being free if Vicious doesn't sell his contract. And explaining to Swive they are using Roman gladiator rules, not sure if they ever let anyone free.

Yikes, if no one is dead by the time the bell rings, both die, brutal. Spiked pendulum, interesting way to spice up the fight. Brutal, fast, and somewhat sickening to watch fight. Thraex winning like that, dang. And of course Vicious gives the thumb down. Anyone who can watch that and not get pissed off is more than a little twisted.

Spotlight against Diamond Girl, no, no, no, anyone but her. Ooo, someone needs to smack Vicious for that comment about teenage girls. Ouch, hit by an obstacle block. Blinding blast of light, followed by keeping her distance until time runs out, that is our girl. Darn, lost by 0.6 points due to the judges, glad Spotlight is alive to fight again.

'Robo-Thug' against Thundergun, each fight I'm worried one of the kids will die. A Robocop redesign cyborg, very not good, no telling what he could pull out. Uh oh, T-Gun seems to be an intelligent fighter. Game of cat-and-mouse in the framework, this could go on a while. Weow! RT ripping off T-Gun's weapon/appendage, now the fight has shifted. About to finish off T-Gun when the timer buzzes. And RT wins on points.

Trubble vs. Draconis. Great, Draconis either bought tech or is a gadgeteer or devisor with that harness and backpack. Suit that makes her like a dragon-woman, even worse. Trubble luring Draconis into booby-traps, very nice. Leap with cable for bungee cord but has it used against her by Draconis, ouch. Yeow, her poor left leg. Saved by the bell, thank you.

Ranney, you ass, making a comment like that. Stonewall against a bigoted psycho named Ultiman, wish Vicious had just smacked the creep down. Nice move, Ev, getting them to move it to a ring with nothing in it, better odds for Stonewall. *eyes bug out* That is a brutal trick Eddie pulls off, Ultiman might not have survived the first hit. Missed but then Ultiman doesn't realize how dangerous it is to deal with a size warper who can shift sizes rapidly.

Pounded Ultiman unconscious but spared his life when he had him as his mercy, Eddie is a class act. And Swive, getting a DFA order on Stonewall like that, you are one sick man. Man-Eater against Squid, no, this might be the fight where we lose one of the kids. Ugh, this is going to be bad unless Billy can pull something off.

Trying to hide, running and screaming in fear, seems reasonable when faced with a threat like Man-Eater. Darn, why did he has to shift into a vivid shade of red, he was doing so good surviving. Collapsing the thing on top of them both and getting out first, Billy is tougher than he looks. Saved by the bell and by the rules, good going Billy. Registered as losing this fight twice, ouch, poor Billy. Oh shit, Ev having to go back in again and this time face Man-Eater, bad day.

At least Man-Eater refused. Glitter, another flying blaster, come one, give your audience some variety.

But the second that the 'Go' klaxon sounded, Hexblade scampered toward one chain that had just crested its swing and held motionless for a split-second before it began its return swing. Hexblade for all practical purposes ran up the length of that chain at a full sprint.

Jedi trick/Anime stunt right there.

Ouch, Glitter was ready for that, impressive powers too, at least visually. At least Ev is able to recover quickly, nice sash as well. Ouch, 20 feet of chain that size crashing down on you, not a good day for Glitter. Ev is doing good but I'm curious what Glitter's power is with those glittering whirlwinds, electrical, magnetic or what.

Nice eyeblast and sending all those chains coming down on Glitter. A makeshift cage to shield herself from the falling rubble, smart trick by Glitter, only to be knocked out by Ev's energy sword through her center mass. No kills by our kids and only 3 of them lost on points and survived due to timeouts in one case. Wonder what will happen next time, I hope they figure out how to escape and shut down Madam Vicious and the Real Las Vegas Mutant Death Matches for good soon.

... Is Whateley's Cyber Crew going to come and be good enough to find these guys, and get them caught?

Or are the MDM protected by Syndicate and stuff??

'Cause the only ways that the LCs are getting out, are:

A. Winning

B. Escaping

C. Getting Raided.

And, Meg, the Esper Psychomet, could be sold by Madam Vicious to a buyer?

Hmm... Hard Light that's strong enough to be walls... Grab a generator, make a shield under the collars? Or use one of the durables to tank the blast?

"for those of you who could survive such a blast; for you, the pain induction charge will be increased in intensity and duration to the point where coronary seizure will be triggered"

Lol, assuming some of them have hearts to blow and stuff... Also Psychic tinkering could stop pain?

Is it just me, or is the first mention of the collars a bit sudden? "namely, trying to figure out how to get out of that stupid collar-"?

...

How many are gonna survive, and is the next stop in their story really gonna be Denver??

Lol if Swive gets into the MDM to fight Hexblade as a Power Armorist or somthing, 'cause of his grudge.

Ooohh... The LCs could escape if someone infiltrates, gets into a fight, tags all the LCs with Transporter Tags and gets them out that way, while another crew infiltrates, presumably as part of the audience, and disrupts all the MDM defenses.

With enough people, a lot of things are possible.

Whoa, the run up the chain stunt and one hit KO on Congarr were unexpected, leaving Ev wondering how he/she pulled them off. Reaming over taking out Congarr in one hit, good grief. T-gun looking like that without a big chunk of his chassis, how much of his bulk is in removable cybernetics. Ewww, Vicious gets off on all this, that is just sick.

The way 'Glitter' is talking, a big favor for sparing her life could mean the edge they need when they finally try to escape. Dynamorph Challenges, dang, almost sounds like something out of Highlander, but without needing to kill your opponent to take some of their power. 'Resident gladiators' having a good number of dyna-hosts, and Vicious' twisted nature just keeps getting worse.

Double-cross by Freddy on Slipstream, in this kind of place it is hard to trust anyone. All of them dyna-hosts, which is good as it means Vicious won't toss them away on a whim. Blood Witch able to use her powers for healing, interesting. Wonder why they should talk to Draconis, things are getting more complicated the longer they are there.

Don't tell me someone is spying on them in the infirmary, from the look Mack gives Ev sure sounds like it. Yikes, being stuck in one of those suits, I would go stir-crazy in minutes. Bwahahaha, that babbling from Suzy, too good. Escape Committee, a group trying to figure out how to escape this place, just what our kids need.

All those details about the Loose Cannons, Suzy is either a blabbermouth or Draconis has good intel. Brute-force hack sounds like a quick way to set off all the collars and kill all the 'gladiators'. The more I read about the signal routers, the more complicated things seem to be for them getting out of there. At least Spring-heeled Jack left some stuff behind, one step closer. Ev, never complain just because all of the work was already done for you, saves time which you have little of right now.

These instructors are sadists. They way she talks, this woman sounds like she is used to instructing individuals with powers. Wardance, so this is who Draconis told Ev to take up the offer from. An Italian who knows the history of the 'Crying Indian", very interesting. Whoa, she knows her stuff to figure all that out about Star Wars. And already has Ev's fighting style and training pegged, sharp.

Vicious should know not to go cheap on security, even at night, that is mastermind 101 right there. Now that is a big gap in security for the Infirmary. No trackers in the collars, it is a bluff based on the assumption of the prisoners, arrgggh! That is frustrating to learn. Ouch, battered into the infirmary, works, but still don't have to like it.

Wonder how much Ev and Billy can do in one night with that computer and scanner.

Having to trust these people, hope it doesn't blow up in their faces with some idiot thinking he can actually cut a deal with Vicious. And now Marly and Ginny has to deal with Hovis for the plan to work, he is terrified of Vicious, he might work against her or be so scared he rats out anyone who comes to him with a plan to work against her. Fear can make you do things that aren't logical or even close to sane sometimes.

Release everyone, oh boy. Once freed of the collars how do we know some of them might not turn on each other seeking revenge for past slights. Test it out on someone, oh boy, why do I feel a new trauma coming for the LC.

Techno-demon, Thundergun and Draconis volunteering for this, talk about pressure. *eyes bug out* Draconis targeted like that, makes my stomach churn. Ouch, poor T-Gun, that sucks to live like that. Vicious made TD kill Daisy Mayhem, on edge, shoot, I would do a suicide run at Vicious by that point.

3 days pass, Marly and Ginny got what they need from Hovis without trouble thankfully. Ugh, this Death Ghost is a real creep, checking out Ev like that. Oh boy, Power Lantern wanting revenge on Ev for what happened at Buccaneer Bay. Figures PL's ring is a bluff, old trick with power types to fool foes into going after what isn't their source of power. Contacts when he isn't used to them, PL really is letting his hurt ego and loss of power get to him. Telling her how to best deal with a dyna-host, DG must have a huge bet on Ev to spill all this. So that is who DG is, creep needs to be put out commission.

So, they know the Punishment code for sure, but what Hovis feed Marly and Ginny for the other codes could be false. Testing them out, yikes, hope this doesn't kill someone or Ev or one of the others might blame themselves.

Sounds like a good plan, wonder what could go wrong. Draconis as the test subject and the release code worked, yes! Now if they can do this before Vicious figures out what is going on and somehow has the codes changed.

Starblaze showing up with powers like that, saying Draconis sent her, why does something feel fishy to me. Good plan, still worried things could go sideways on them. And Suzy mobile with a walking cast, stay out of her way, she has a built-in battering ram now! Back-up plan, always have a back-up plan, especially in a place like this where a second chance might never come.

Dang, now I want to see a drawing of Suzy zipping around in her walking cast. Dam it! I knew this would happen, someone ratted them out to Vicious, betting it was Starblaze who lied about being sent by Draconis. At least she spared their lives, for now. That was the back-up computer, wonder if they changed the code or somehow got to the button in Suzy's cast.

Ginny watches all this and wondering if she will see any of her friends get killed again today, ouch. And jealous that Ev is cuter as a girl than she thinks she is, *sighs* Betting Ring A is because Power Lantern wants a fight in a similar location to the one he lost to Ev in. Golden Gladiator going after Mack, ewww about 'Dark Moon' and how she is acting towards Shoxx, Chris against 'Star Falcon', why do I suspect he might be a hero in disguise.

Rachel against WarMech, Death Ghost creeps me out even more with how he talks, like it is all an act for the crowd. Eddie versus Jotun, oh boy, this is bad. And Billy against Packmaster, I'm now worried we might lose Billy to this psycho. Knew Power Lantern was a coward, trying to go for the empty ring when a special one was set up for their rematch.

Love that song by Evie and Vicious' response, how is that Bugs Bunny, never heard him sing that song. Bwhahaha, all the Cannons joining in singing, perfect. Awesome move by Evie, once this is over PL isn't going to be able to say their last fight was a fluke. Lots of action, PL tossing barrels and power blasts and still only hitting Evie once which she recovers from quickly.

*holds sides* Hitting him with the barrel and the idiot boils the water around him. Power sputters out for PL, but it is a fake out to lure Evie into coming out, as he blasts her and has her pinned. Until she brings down a sail and rope, trying to get some distance, he sets rope, wood, and cotton on fire. Ah, nice surprise with the eyebeams by Evie, blasting PL back hard and the ship can't take much more.

Whoa, energy shield by Evie, didn't know she could do that. Energy sword to his gut and PL is down, eyeblast again and Evie in his face, PL taken down like that and Evie and the other Cannons continue the songs, now that is awesome.

Madam Vicious looked into the camera with a sour expression. If anyone brings a PUPPET into the pit, I cannot be held responsible for my actions!"

Now I want to see someone bring a Muppet into the ring, just to see her response.

Haines had his PDA out. "I'm checking to see if Martin Sammish high school did a production of 'The Pirates Penzance'..." "While you're doing it, check to see if there are any laws against Wanton and Gratuitous use of Gilbert & Sullivan."

Aww, but it made the fight more enjoyable to watch.

Thraex, the Golden Gladiator against Mack. Boy, Vicious just can't make up her mind about music. Ouch, sword-thrust on move-by 4 times, poor Mack. At least he takes out the crane, only to chase after Thraex and have a part of a tower cut off and dropped on him, Mack is getting brutalized out there. Mack getting pushed back until he turns the fight with a palm-heel strike to GG's chin and in a weird clinch.

Don't like how Vicious and DG are so interested in the fight now. Dang, tearing up the false cityscape until only one tower still stand, glad it isn't in a real city. Dang, Mack would have had him if the five-minute bell hadn't ended it and they said it was a tie. Boy, Mack really wants to beat GG down.

If those things about Wardance don't worry DG what does. Uh oh, he noticed her sending gesture signals, he could ruin any part of the plan that still might be pulled off or the back-up to the back-up plan. Noting Wardance and Draconis are sending signals to each other, really bad. Worried she is giving advice to Draconis on him, hehe, he doesn't know as much as I thought he did.

Darkmoon against Shoxx, hope he doesn't slip up with the creepy 'flirting' she will probably do during the fight. Uh oh, already Roxie has lost her whip to Darkmoon. Three-bladed throwing irons that home in on her, just what tricks does Darkmoon have. That staff, plus sneaky, good grief. Wonder what those fibers that made the cocoon were composed of, Roxie blasting them apart like that.

A 'web' of electricity, very nice stunt by Roxie. Ooo, never laugh at your opponent in a life-or-death fight, only ticks them off. All this use of barrels, starting to feel like a Donkey Kong game. Ouch, Roxie should have known not to grab the staff. Now a blinding burst of light, no! Ah, did not see that coming, no bra under Darkmoon's breastplate and not much under there, scream of indignation and Roxie shocks her unconscious. And Darkmoon wants a rematch, calling Roxie a perv, oh brother.

DG still trying to get a translation of what Draconis and Wardance are saying to each other.

Star Falcon leers at Chris, wanting Arena B, my guess earlier about him being an undercover superhero seems off base now. At least Chris is a flyer and can match this creep. Fighting like that, leaning over her, SF either did something or said something to Chris that set her off. *eyes bug out* Chris is trying to kill him, what the hell did he do to her. Coping a feel, the way he keeps trying to get close to Chris that has to be it, sicko. And bell again with SF winning by a point, leaving Chris enraged, not good.

'Black Sapphire' wanting a match against Spotlight now, sick woman, there are a lot more creeps out there than suspected before.

Warmech wanting the fight in Ring B, oh boy, that ring is getting a workout tonight. Rachel studying the mech and fight off a fast start, Rae takes out the missile rack first, smart move. That is a lot of firepower on that mech. Ejection chair in the mech, at least Warmech is smart about that option. Pounded unconscious and Rae about to blast him in the head with energy rifle when the five-minute chime rang, another saved by the bell.

Ring C, Stonewall vs. Jotun. Growth plus ice frosting, yikes. Whoa, each giving up their gear and grappling hand to hand, talk about earth shaking. Eww, poor Ginny has to clean up after Vicious' sexcapades. And it is a tie, thought Jotun said good fight, talk about an old fashioned brick fight.

Techno-Demon vs. Ogre, with a name like that it is going to be brutal. One spot below Squid, yikes, I take that back, poor Ogre. Pillow-fighting and Vicious is going to take control of TD again to kill Ogre, this is very bad. Monster! If Vicious isn't dead by the end of all this, I will be annoyed, she is a true monster.

Nightwitch, the 4th 'Nightwitch' to appear in the Mutant Death Matches and at the bottom of the list, yikes. Ultiman against the poor girl, this is just cruel.

Wardance trained Molly aka 'Nightwitch', wonder what she can do. Messing with the fluid of his inner ear to upset his balance, now that is a great trick. Boy, Vicious knows how to make things interesting, that dynamorph tap is going to be tricky to get around. If she isn't bluffing, that is. Ooo, flaming tar, even if can't be hurt by that still would freak out over it. Sawdust explosion, bluff or only a fool would risk it.

Tricked into an impromptu trap, Ultiman enraged by laughter at his expense and goes after the barrel he believes Molly is still in. Only to get hit with a smaller dust explosion, classic. Another collar and possibly another bluff about a dynamorph tap by Molly, how much bluffing can she pull off before it blows up in her face. Tricked into slamming into the concrete floor and KOed, ouch. At least Molly won, nice use of trickery and traps.

Nice use of that bubble and force of attacks to push her out of the way, very tricky. And DG double-crosses Hung, only paying him 30 grand instead of the 100 grand he promised, cheapskate. But now he supposedly knows what Draconis and Wardance were communicating to each other.

Packmaster with that gear, talk about pissing off someone to get them off Billy's back, strange. Thinking Man-Eater would go after him if he kills Squid, Mamba has a point as does ME, longshot bet could work out, but it is a huge risk even if it is Billy.

Oh boy, Ring B against this guy, hope Billy survives this once again. Firing between BIlly's legs to get him to run, that horn and the 'hounds' it summons, scary. Billy runs, everyone thinking he is dead meat or Evan hoping Billy shapes up quick. Ginny worried by her reaction, not scared for Billy, they need to get out of there already.

Using two of the hounds to sweep the rest and Packmaster, then trashing out madly at him and his hounds, Squid has upped his game. Ripping apart the hounds and injesting them somehow, yikes, just what has happened to Billy. Taking out the hounds one by one, Billy is acting like a monster in a horror movie with his tactics, effective and scary to watch. Pulled all those things off him, disarmed him and Packmaster is at Billy's mercy now, dang.

Ginny just sat there blank-faced and wondered. 'When did Billy grow a pair?'

Packmaster beaten badly and five-minute chime rings, Billy bumped up two rankings, Billy can be scary when push comes to shove.

Death Ghost vs. Draconis in Ring A, wings and tail so we know where Draconis gets her name from. Ghostship, setting the ship on fire to leave little places for DG to hide, smart first move. Making the water in the pools boil, trying to broil him alive, painful way to go. Dang, DG rising up through the deck and nailing Draconis in the solar plexus, this is extremely bad. No! We just met and got to like her and he snaps her neck. Just how much more horror and trauma are these kids going to go through before they escape this nightmare.

like Brigand playing a deeper game and so planning all this. Yay. Awful, but also sweet.

At least Ev still has a sense of humor after all that has happened. Roxie getting Jerred about ripping his opponent's top off because she was a woman, good grief. Ah, so that is how Billy went all badass, reminded him of a****le from back home with a mean dog. Dang, Billy did that to Mike Kelso's dog, Logan, don't corner him.

And Rachel pissed at WarMech, knowing why he was doing the match and trying to kill her, that would tick anyone off. *eyes bug out* Now that is a good reason for Chris to have gone 'Dark Phoenix' on Star Falcon, doing that to a girl and treating her like a sex object instead of a person. Chris being told the hard truth, it sucks, but she has to get used to idiot guys hitting on her now and some not taking no for an answer. Still, doesn't mean she can't kick their asses a little for it. Ouch, Roxie getting messed with by body and hormones when a guy. Switching physical sexes back and forth is a lot rougher than most depict it.

'Death Ghost' at the casino of the Venetian resort, thinking he will walk out better off than the schnooks as he refers to everyone else. Makes you want to slug him one just for that attitude. Working for the casino, getting men to gamble away even more money, ugh. Star Witch. Manipulating Star Witch into going after 'Hexblade', DG is just a big coward afraid of a fair fight. Mixed doubles, her and DG against 'Hexblade' and 'Blue Max', not good.

Vicious wanting them dead, the woman makes me sicker the more we learn about her. Okay, now that is just plain dirty, a stunt if figured out Vicious would punish them for pulling. Pulling the collar in an unseen way, easy to go too far to kill the kids. Ewww, other considerations, anyone got any brain bleach to remove that mental image from my mind.

Chris able to control the hard-light constructs, dang. Evie thinking they have no hope since their big plan to escape failed, wanting Chris to just escape without the rest of them, now that is scary. And he thinks Marly and/or Ginny sold them out, just what we don't need, loss of trust among the group. Thinking all that about Ginny, ouch. And thinking Marly would betray them to protect Yvonne, this is the worst possible scenario. That is a very dark attitude for Evie to have, I hope it doesn't come to all of them dying except Chris.

3 new guys brought in and Ultiman killed by his collar, dang, just gets bleaker. Symbiots, now there is something different with this group of newcomers. All 3 of them having symbiotes wonder where they were captured and where they got the symbiotes from. Crud, Evie figured out they are targets for the two other vacancies to arrange, please don't let any of them die.

Blackheart and his sick friends, tickets bought for them and come to watch, if it is the kids hoping they get to see them get wasted. Really hope something happens to these guys. Cheesy mustache, look similar to Blackheart, who could this be. Wonder if it is Brigand, finally come to check up on the kids somehow or finally executing his plan, if he ever had one for putting the kids in this hellhole.

So Swive is an all-purpose bigot towards any non-baseline. And rattling cages and thinking he is covered, he really doesn't know Vegas that well or he would be a lot more worried about ticking off the local mob. Swive is good at gathering data and evidence, I will give him that. Danica Hanson, like how she is getting on Swive's nerves already. Boy, she is like a dog with a bone, won't let go once she picks up the scent of a story.

Of course they still stick it to you at the snack stand, all places with one do that, it is where they make most of their money. And the arenas are different once more, wonder if they ever repeat previous arena set-ups on request.

Tyrranex looking at the Venom-guy like he is mental, boy, that is bad. Deathwatch, the Black Beetle, Workshop, and Toxin for the Venom-guy, she really doesn't care about copyright infringement. Wonder who metal wolf mask guy is. And Star Witch plays up the cliche, would love to see a witch theme with a more subdued costume sometime.

A lot of new guys showing up tonight, betting the silver bracers and trident on wannabe Aquaman are more than they appear. Boy, they come out of the woodworks. The Asian chick who Evan vaguely remembers from somewhere, could it be one of Brigand's crew or one of the local 'superheroes' perhaps. Congarr back under a different name and motif, oh brother.

Nightwolf, hope the creators of Mortal Kombat don't find out. Herded to one of the towers and tries to go on the offensive, only to pass right through Nightwolf, dang. Cartridges for his wrist units, possibly something to increase the power of his punches. Viable samples of the symbiote, yikes, don't want to think of who he could sell those to. Ouch, Toxin never had a chance.

Oh crud, already sending them in against DG and SW. And Evan spots Blackheart's crew before going into the arena but doesn't recognize them. Even if they die, take down DG, at least they would take down a monster with them. Whoa, arena right out of Wonderland, freaky. And their gear is disabled, now this is just cheap.

Weirdest hunch and dodges DG's attack, could it be Evan has a danger sense. Breaking the swinging blades so they aren't a factor in the fight, awesome. Mack makes his way towards SW, yet won't hit a woman, what is he planning. And her mist hinders DG, making his outline visible, bet he didn't think about that when he teamed up with her. Bwahahaha, Evan draining all that power from DG into himself, priceless.

Mack slamming DG and on the ropes, Evan charging SW and deflecting her stars, then keeping her from fleeing, this fight is awesome. Mack swiping the staff as SW was powering up for a big attack, forcing her to retreat and use another option, only for Evan to duck the cloud of dust. DG hit by his own ally's attack, too good. Dang, almost gets SW with energy blade but blindsided by DG. And DG goes for Evan's collar!

Collar pulled that hard and didn't go off, hard-light having a signal emulator without the 'Boom' or 'OWIE' signals, they could use this against Vicious to get the collars off safely. Whoa, Evan yelling that to all the gladiators, hope this works and Vicious doesn't just kill any of them outright. But that guy from earlier with the look like Blackheart calls out and somehow causes all the collars to fall off, it has to be Brigand like I guessed earlier.

Whoa, saved by Chris using the hard-light to shield them, HMGs sliced off their mounts and Workshop making them man-operable weapons, things just turned around fast for our side. Evan having SW's staff and Wardance KO'ing the bitch. Crud, flanked by Blackheart and his buddies, not good. Every man for himself except for the LCs, Wardance, Black Beetle, Workshop, Thundergun, Blood Witch, Diamond Girl, Vibrex, Glitter, Starblaze and Iron Tiger. Still more remained to help them then I expected.

Definitely Brigand, mixing it up with Blackheart and his crew like that and ordering the heavily armed and armored troops who show up. Crap! Vicious escaping like that with Ginny and Yvonne, nooo! At least Marly is able to talk Eddie down and reveal Ginny is okay, just scared shitless. Wardance was working with Brigand and he reveals himself by taking off the disguise.

Sparky is there, he led them to the kids and Vicious' death matches, good dog. This is what Brigand was after all along, Vicious's death matches, Vicious having her hand in all that, talk about conspiracy. Vicious was a telepath this whole time, so no one betrayed our group, she read their minds, no wonder no one escaped before now. And Wardance tried to give them hints without saying anything outright, but they didn't understand.

Wardance hand-signal all of that, dang, wish I knew how myself. Hard-knocks level training in fighting and staying alive, brutal but effective, I hate to admit. This was the safest thing he could come up with, good grief, Brigand needs to have more backup plans in place in the future. Megan alive, yay! And cleared out the cash, 100k in each bag, nice. Okay, why did Brigand freak out when he went to call Summer and figure out where Ginny and Yvonne are.

Great, Danica sticking her nose in where it will cause trouble again. Only 2 security guards for the Xanadu Resort, that is suspicious. Swive is an idiot, trying to intimidate these 'gladiators' into talking won't work. Danica seems good at reading them at least, hope she isn't wrong about Gigantic or he might get upset at being manipulated. Is that Nightwitch, already hitting the casinos after her escape? Heh, after surviving in this real death matches, do you think Nightwitch is going to let some idiots catch her easily.

Don't tell me the exits from the arena include some teleportation portal or that the real death matches arena was under Xanadu this whole time. Wishing to live a nice, quiet, peaceful life after surviving that hell, seems she is smart. Ooo, brother sold her to gangsters who sold her to Vicious, he isn't going to be around long.

'Deathrace' shows up next, looting whatever cash he can get his hands on,

Damn it! Suzy goes back for Ginny and Ginny gets taken hostage by Vicious, who threatens to kill them all if they move. Humanoid reptile, at least he goes after the buffet instead of killing Buck Starr, at least I don't think he killed him. All of those gladiators flooding out and Swive shows up with KoP, after the hell they have been through it could be a bloodbath Swive and his men might not walk away from.

Endangering civilians and they will use whatever force is necessary to bring you to justice, great, the KoP idiots might endanger the civilians more than these guys. Marty aka Backbreaker, given that offer by the KoP before they shot him to hell anyways and he barely survives, ugh, the KoP deserves whatever happens to them. Mad Dog trying to run for it and taken down brutally, ugh.

Techno-Demon turning the odds against the casino 'gladiators'. It took all that to drop Techno-Demon, dang, just how cybered up was he. Suicide by KoP, guess it is the way TD wanted to go after what Vicious made him do.

Swive acting like he is charge of this situation, that he and his KoP can just take down any more that show up, hope he gets the shock of his life when that doesn't work. Great, the creeps who showed up to fight and try to kill the unwilling gladiators, KoP is in trouble now with this group. Magna, Robot-Killer, wonder how she got that title or if it is self-appointed.

D'oh! Under the Xanadu Resort this whole time, no wonder the authorities couldn't find out. Swive shooting up the place and looking like a hero doing it, oh brother, what we don't need. Dyna-gems from Megan and the Unity devices, nice. Evan luring Swive around, at least they know what is going on up above.

"Perfect! Gimme the gizmos, and I'll get my Bugs Bunny on!"

Hehehe, love how Evan puts it.

Danica is being stupid, ordering Loreen to operate a camera in this kind of situation when she isn't trained to use one in the first place. Two of the supervillains already bolted, some of them show common sense for once. Vivamort, the Vampire King, *tries not to burst out laughing* Evie shows up and blast him like it is nothing, dressed like that on the bike and flips off Swive before reviving off on the motorcycle, bwahaha. Swive takes the bait, what a mook.

Synturion wanting Evie for himself, while Swive tries to get the KoP moving to try and capture/kill her. McDaniels trying to keep up to get footage of what is going on, hope he gets recorded proof of Swive's lie, the idiot will probably yell it out as he goes to kill Evie himself.

Taking down the 'special guest gladiators' instead of trying to avoid their notice, only so many options in this situation. Billy snatching the 'scepter' and trident, nice. Rae is scary when pissed off and able to get at the source of her anger. Ginny is close but up on high, don't tell me she is in the penthouse suite of the resort. Plus Vicious messing with Yvonne, really want this sick b to die already. *eyes bug out* Now that is a cover identity I didn't expect Vicious to have. Time to go and take her down finally, I hope.

Brett Cummings outside behind the police barricade, Evie trying to escape but SWAT stopping her almost, while Synturion the Living Weapon, talk about cheesy. And while he rants about how he will kill Evie, she escapes on the motorcycle, classic.

Flying or by other means going outside to get to the top of the building, nice. Ouch, own tactics working against them as Eddie slips on Blood Witch's blood. Ouch, 5 large caliber bullets, at least Eddie is tougher than he looks. Dang, figures Vicious would have a lot of security and firepower to protect herself in this place. Vicious and the girls are there and Vicious is pulling something, please let them not lose more of their own, especially to brainwashing like I think Vicious is doing to Yvonne.

Crud, all this and Glitter in bad shape along with Vibrex, at least Brigand is prepared for this. All the 'guards' down and Vicious shows up, hand on Yvonne's head and the pistol aimed at Ginny. Ouch, Chris tries to go towards Ginny to get hit with a telepathic static attack by Vicious. Vicious taking off in a jet, not carrying if she would kill her own men in the process. Too close, at least they got various shields up and survived the penthouse blowing up.

Whoa, nice improv grappling hook using the trident by Workshop. Eddie holding it down at max size, while the others go after Vicious on her airship. The body of aircraft separated and not to let it land in swimming pool, it is a sub with a secret passage connected to the swimming pool for alternate means of escape!

Stopped that and she still won't give up, using Yvonne as a hostage and threatening to bring down the hotel as long as she can escape. Champagne bottle upside the upside by Ginny, yes! One hit not enough, but Yvonne and the handset were dropped. Dang, Ginny keeps wailing on her and ranting out all the snubs, insults and offenses she has subjected them all to.

Awww, that is cute.

Finally, Eddie, down to 10 feet tall, grabbed her arm with the bottle in it, and lifted her off Vicious. Putting her down, Eddie said in a voice of pure adoration, "Baby, you're the greatest." Ginny gave a delighted squeak, her fury completely snuffed, and threw herself into Eddie's arms.

Meeting up at a Walgreens, heh, that is different.

Evie in the MGM Grand resort now, on the run from Leo the Lion, the in-house superhero. Ouch, my sides, laughing so hard from Evie's taunting of Leo the Lion, too funny. Swive and the KoP show up, guns out and much more of a threat to civilians than Hexblade or Leo are. Deliberately leaving her fingerprint and betting Swive a million dollars it won't last an hour, she has him. And bargaining with Swive, yet he tries to say she is in no position to when he is interrupted.

Hehehe, making the KoP look bad while on a live news broadcast, Swive needs to learn when he is beaten. D'oh! Synturion just has to show up and ruin everything. Leo goofs, shoving Evie into the MGM Showroom where a floorshow is going on. Synturion going into the showroom after Evie, ouch. Bwahahaha, Evie hitting Synturion with the brass bell while singing that. Distracting him with a phone, Evie is full Bugs Bunny right now. KO'ing him like that and exiting like that, if they go to Whateley someone is going to insist Evan/Evie join the drama department. That woman who complained was Bunny's mom!?! Well, we see where Bunny gets her looks.

Evie riding on the staff using the Gravity gem to fly like a witch, if only Brigand gave direction to where Walgreens is.

Dang, the MGM staff knows how to keep calm, wonder if they have been through this kind of incidents more than a few times in the past. A large-bore round perfectly hitting the spot where Evie left her fingerprint on the mirror, Swive doesn't miss a trick in covering his own ass.

Waiting for their ride out of town, at a Walgreens. Vicious had private files to blackmail those in power, not trusting or understanding computers or the Net, talk about a Luddite. Ouch, Glitter dying in Billy's arms, plus losing Vibrex like that with no body. Evie out of the loop on what happened, aww. And my guess about the escape pod being a sub and underwater escape tunnel in that swimming pool seems to be right.

Oh, so that was Yvonne and we know what she is now, with a telepath like Ginny or Marly she is dangerous. Darn, doing the mindblast sent her retreating back into her shell, poor Yvonne. Black Beetle, Blood Witch, Thundergun, and Diamond Girl along for the right, if they don't double-cross they good to have more allies even for a short time. All that money and gear, boy, they are well prepared for the next leg of their trip. *eyes bug out* Don't tell me Wardance has no powers, dang, another badass normal.

Crud, Death Ghost is still alive and wants revenge against Evie. Survived and plans to make his own gang help deal with Evie's 'gang'. Great, another loose end for them to deal with. How many does that make now for the Loose Cannons?

Excellent story from start to finish. A lot of twist and turns that kept both the kids and audience guessing what would happen next. True villains who you wished to see taken down and those who you have to wonder about what their motives are. More answers for the kids, lost another along the way but survived in a place close to hell and came out stronger. But they still need to get the authorities to listen to the truth and evidence they provide. Wonder what will happen next in ROCKIN' THE ROCKIES! And will Swive ever get caught in his lies. We can only hope.

the thumbprint proof.

When Hexblade was fighting with Lion the House Hero, he could have spoken sotto voce saying "The MCO are trying to frame me and kill me. Take my thumbprint to the DoD and the DPA." Touches a shiny thumb-print-holding part of Lion's costume.

Still speaking sotto voce, "Watch this for proof."

SHOUTS, "HEY SWIVE!..." Follow through rest of scene.

And when Lion sees the deliberate destruction of the thumbprint on the window, he would know that Hexblade was likely to be telling the truth.

Whether the thumbprint survived on Lion's costume would be another question, but it would give another route to bringing in more political-factions to the longer-term story-arc.

finger print evidence what about the bike she rode, did she touch any part of it other than the controls? There are lots of surfaces that would probably hold finger or hand-prints on the gas tank, just for one.

So, Chapter 1 is near the end of March... How many weeks has it been since then? ... Each round of fights is a week, right? Since Bunny's still at school, Chapter 6 is before summer? I can't find mention of Bunny talking about her mom in Veni, Vidi, Cutie , so the next step is going backwards...

I'd scan All the King's Horses , but I've gotta do a thing. TTYL.

Okay, no, Combat finals seem way too late.