Jan 28th, 2021

## Enhanced Interrogation

The Contenders found themselves in a subterranean prison facility. They were in the company of several despondent Chinese prisoners, all supervillains condemned by the state, and the entire facility was under the effect of a powerful suppression field that robbed them of their powers.

They were soon introduced to their warden, a Chinese official named General Feng who had been given the task of interrogating the prisoners. From behind armored glass he told the Contenders that their fate was sealed-- they would be executed as soon as President Xi Jiping could make time to come view the proceedings-- but their comfort in the meantime was dependent on their 'cooperative attitudes.' He asked them repetitive questions about their associations and when the team proved hesitant he had them painfully electrocuted, even to the point of unconsciousness. Some of the questions asked included:

* What is the extent of your alliance with the Plutonian?
* When did you first conspire with the traitor called the 'Time Wizard'?
* What is the extent of your activities in Hong Kong?
* Are your terrorist activities orchestrated by PRIMUS?
* What is your connection to the British MIS?
* Have you ceased your covert operations in Australia?

Over the course of days, these questions (and the torture) were repeated with little variation. The team never gave Feng the satisfaction of answering his questions, though both they and the other prisoners paid a heavy price for that obstinance.

## The Big Day

On the final day of their imprisonment, the Contenders saw that a large number of officials and soldiers had come to see their execution. At the head of the entourage was the Chinese president, who had been greatly haunted by the brief time he'd been imprisoned by the Plutonian and wanted to personally see the guilty parties dealt with. While speeches were made by General Feng and the other officials, the team were visited by the ghostly phantom of Mentat.

The astral projection was Mentat as they had never seen him: calm, peaceful, even beatific in death. He told the team that, while they had been imprisoned, their allies had been working feverishly to free them. The Plutonian, along with dissident members of the Tiger Squad, were even now mobilizing to assault the base. He made it clear that the Contenders must survive, though he couldn't properly explain why, beyond implying that the team factored heavily into the plans of the 'Old Ones of Mars.' As a result, he had come to offer his own aid: an influx of Martian psychic energy that allowed the team to briefly overcome the power-suppresion field that blanketed the prison facility.

Now with their powers unleashed, the team wasted no time in breaking free of their prison. They quickly overpowered the guards while the Chinese officials fled. Destroying the suppression field, they formed an alliance of convenience with the imprisoned Chinese supervillains. Hearing the rumbling of combat far over their heads, they quickly usurped the facility's teleportation device and made their way to the surface.

## Showdown

On the snow-covered surface of the Chinese military base, the team saw an incredible sight: a massive group of supers had invaded the facility, and now stood arrayed in two mobs facing off against one another. One side was comprised of the Tiger Squad's most loyal members, while the other was comprised of dissidents, vigilantes, and even supervillains from across China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The Plutonian led at the forefront of the dissident side, while Eight-Paths Lightning led the loyalists. After a brief discussion of the fate of Xi Jiping (held hostage by the dissidents), a massive brawl broke out.

At first, the sides appeared evenly matched. The Plutonian summoned a handful of temporal duplicates with his remaining chronitons, reinforcing himself with a whole squad of Plutonian look-alikes to better fight the indomitable Eight-Paths. This time manipulation also allowed the wayward Bugaboo to find his way back to Earth, with the severed head of the Time Wizard in tow.

Hardback and Bugaboo entered the fray directly, while Ghost Dance summoned whirlwinds and lightning to disrupt the enemy line. Justicarius, recently empowered by the just execution of General Feng, laid waste to the foe with his mystic flames, while Cort nearly got himself killed by trying to intervene in the fight between Eight-Paths and the Plutonians. The fight began to turn against the dissidents, but they received last-minute assistance from the mutants of New Canaan: Radiant, the Arachnids, and even Slush teleported into the fray to help win this decisive battle for mutant-kind. They were also joined by mutant-supremacist Coriolis, who never misses an opportunity to strike a blow against repressive anti-mutant authorities.

With this mighty force assembled, the battle quickly turned against the loyalists. With Radiant's assistance the Plutonian finally managed to overcome Eight-Paths Lightning long enough to immobilize him, and Ghost Dance banished the man into the Spirit Dimension where he could do no further harm. Bereft of their leader, the loyalists surrendered, and were disarmed and forced into the prison where they could be more easily managed.

## Symposium

As the dust settled, an ad-hoc group convened to discuss the next move. This council consisted of Hardback, representing Contenders and American interests; Summer Gale, representing China; the Plutonian, speaking for himself and for Hong Kong; Radiant, representing New Canaan; Coriolis, representing mutants everywhere, and finally the supervillain Soul Cage, representing the villains who had aided in the battle.

The group briefly debated what should happen next. It was agreed that while the repression of mutant-kind should come to an end in China, the Chinese government could not merely be overthrown; even Coriolis recognized the chaos that would erupt if the government simply dissolved. It was instead decided that Xi Jiping would be replaced with someone more agreeable. Mutant refugees would be offered a place in New Canaan, and the official oppression of mutants by the Chinese authorities would come to an end. The villains present agreed to a qualified amnesty and were allowed to go their separate ways with no interference from the heroes. And the Plutonian agreed to step out of geopolitics, reasoning that he would be no better than the deposed Jiping if he forced nations to follow his well-intentioned orders.

Leaving the Chinese heroes to pick up the pieces and rebuild, the Contenders gratefully bowed out, hopping a portal back to America to rest and see what had transpired during their absence.