Shattered Speedster (Episodes 38-45) PL 11

Our heroes returned from the Maw of Vhoka, victorious, but with a new Overdrive. Centuria and Overdrive became reacquainted while the others broke off to check in with their loved ones. Bowman, through his new sidekick Bolt, found two other speedsters causing havoc in Freedom City. Rather than alert the rest of the group, he went to investigate on his own and got beat down by Godspeed and Strike-Out. They took his bow, fired arrows into him, and dropped him at Freedom Hall.

The following morning, Thunderbolt knocked on Centuria’s door with a bouquet of roses, candy in a heart, and with his old biological body back. That was awkward for everyone involved, but “luckily” the moment was interrupted by everyone racing to check on the injured Bowman. Bowman expressed distrust of Centuria and Overdrive in a tense exchange and was only talked down by Resonant and the sight of an astral Seven shedding tears. Bowman was left to recover while the others went to investigate. This was where we discovered that the Synthias love the game Uno, even though Bowman wouldn’t play with them.

Daedalus revealed to the group that Overdrive’s use of the Possibility Shard caused a rift in the multiverse that brought dozens of Overdrive’s to Earth-Prime. He theorized this was because of the vibrational nature of Overdrive’s abilities and the Wellspring of Velocity’s ability to flow between universes. He also suspected it was the reason for Thunderbolt’s sudden recorporealness. Daedalus needed more information to formulate a means of solving this particular issue, and dispatched the FLD to investigate sources of the Wellspring in Freedom City.

The first led them to Dave’s house, which had become a 1950s American dream home. Centuria found Dave’s daughter, a little girl named Kaity who looked surprisingly like Centuria, and later that night they found out that Tracey was actually an evil witch who had replaced Dave’s wife and turned him into a terrifying monster man. They blew up the house and kept Kaity safe.

The group soon realized that Godspeed and Strike-Out had abducted their loved ones and faced their first major defeat when they went after the two evil speedsters. Mortis managed to save Resonant’s friend Sam, but Overdrive was taken and the group was forced to flee. The players then had an episode where they played as the abducted loved ones, working together to sneak out of their prison. Godspeed and Strike-Out brought them to a prison run by Overlord, Overdrive’s father from another dimension who was hellbent on absorbing everyone’s speed in order to seize the Wellspring of Velocity for himself. The NPC heroes found dozens of Overdrives, Traceys, and Centurias who had already been drained. Overdrive attacked Overlord to cover the others’ escape. In the fight, he disintegrated Overlord and sacrificed himself to stabilize the Wellspring. The others found themselves in Emerald City where they connected with Tracey’s friend Mongrel. The group called for help.

Meanwhile in Freedom City, Thunderbolt’s body turned back to energy and they sprang into action to lock him back in his containment suit before he exploded and destroyed Freedom City. Every other speedster lost their powers and the original Overdrive rematerialized just as Tracey called for help.

The group stormed Overlord’s prison, but didn’t find the depowered Godspeed or Strike-Out. They did find the surviving Centurias, Daves, and Traceys, and they opened a portal to send them home. Centuria and Bowman stumbled upon an A.I. named Fantasia who appeared to be working for Overdrive’s father, the real one, not Overlord. Fantasia offered Centuria the ability to put her husband and Thunderbolt back into a real body, but she didn’t trust the A.I.’s intentions so she refused.

The group staged an ambush for Overdrive’s father, Death Race, but when he arrived he was also without his powers. Death Race wasn’t looking for a fight, he wanted to let his son know that he had been searching for him because his powers were causing his body to break down and he was going to die soon. He wanted to salvage what he could of their relationship before he met his end. Dave said it would take time, but he was willing to try.

Noteworthy NPCs

Villains: Godspeed, Strike-Out, Tracey Queen of the Netherworld, Overlord

Allies: Fantasia, Death Race, Jason, Sophie, Tracey, Nick, Thunderbolt, Daedalus, Johnny Rocket, Kaity, The Atom Family