20 Sided Stories

MARVEL: Survivors of The Snap

Introduction

Air Date: January 22, 2020

[Subtle anticipation music.]

Sage G.C.: This podcast is an improvised parody, and has absolutely no affiliation with Marvel Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company or any other associates or official cannon.

[Podcast Intro music crescendos.]

Jessica Dahlgren: Thank you and welcome to 20 Sided Stories.

[Intro fades out.]

Introduction

[Gentle music.]

Narrator: Back in 2008, billionaire Tony Stark built an iron suit and the world was forever changed. The Avengers first assembled in 2012 to fight off an alien attack in New York City.

[Laser guns fire and ships fly overhead.]

They won, but the scale of threats only increased. As did the casualties.

In 2016 the United Nations created the Sokovia Accords in response.

[A gavel bangs. Background chatter from the courtroom.]

This agreement puts the Avengers, and all enhanced individuals, under supervision. It splits off the team ideologically, causing in-fighting. A civil war. The conflict was never truly resolved.

Which brings us to 2018.

[Masha’s action theme plays.]

Meet Masha Mirova. Superhero name: Roulette.

Masha is about to graduate high school and move on to college and adulthood.

[Phone beeps.]

Masha: Hello?

Man: Am I speaking to Masha Mirova?

Masha: That is I.

Man: Hello, Masha.

Masha: Hello.

Man: I’m overseeing the vetting process in the September Foundation.

Masha: [gasps] Oh, yes.

Man: From Stark Industries for young prodigies.

Masha: Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Narrator: Masha has six completely different powers, but she can only use one at a time and at random. She was orphaned at a very young age from Russian parents with no idea of their whereabouts, why they abandoned her or where her powers came from. She floated around the foster care system until adopted by the Klines

Man: It says here you have two sisters.

Masha: Yes, I do. Lily and Rose. I am the oldest. Uh, Lily is the second oldest. She’s in eighth grade right now.

Man: They probably both look up to you quite a bit, don’t they?

Masha: Yeah. I hope that I can be a good role-model to them.

[Lily’s action theme plays.]

Narrator: Meet Lily Kline. Superhero name: Bloodhound.

At least, it will be. Lily doesn’t have any powers beyond being an angsty eighth-grader, but all that’s going to change.

Man 2: Lily, wake up! Lily!

[Lily grunts.]

Lily: Hmm? What?

Man 2: You fell asleep on your desk again.

Lily: I was, um, examining the molecular structure of the desk. And therefore was still doing my work.

Narrator: Soon to graduate, Lily hopes to get into a special music program playing guitar at Hamilton High, but right now she’s stuck with bass clarinet.

Lily: Don’t forget to empty your spit valve right in front of Greg so he slips.

Boy: Okay.

Lily: Tip- tip it upside down.

[Liquid splashes on the floor.]

Ah, that’s a splash.

[Boy groans.]

That was gnarly. You got a lot o’ spit in you for a little man.

Boy: Yeah, I salivate a lot.

Lily: Yup.

Boy: I have—

Lily: Okay.

Boy: I have generalized—

Lily: Nope! No, we’re good.

Boy: Okay.

Lily: We can stop there.

Narrator: Can’t stray too far from Avengers talk without mentioning S.H.I.E.L.D..

Formerly led by Nick Fury, the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division maintains national and global security threats. Especially those regarding enhanced individuals.

In 2014, Nazi organization Hydra, infiltrated and attempted to take over. They mostly failed, but S.H.I.E.L.D. has never since been the same.

[Alarm clock buzzes.]

Eric: [groggy] Saturday. Great.

[Alarm clock clicks off.]

[groans] Okay. What’s happening?

Narrator: Meet Eric Stanton. Agent designation: Scry.

Eric is a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent recruited at the age of 17, practically against his will. He has the ability to tap into one of the five senses of anyone he’s come into physical contact with. Like a radio signal, his ability gets weaker the farther away his target is. After the Hydra Incident, Eric fled to Bolivia and used his leverage and information to work in private investigation.

[A swish is heard and glass shatters as something crashes through the window. Eric’s Action theme plays.]

Eric: Jesus! It’s happening. Okay.

[Rustling is heard as Eric gathers items.]

Money, uh, supplies for a safe- uh, gun!

[Gun clatters.]

Gun. Alright.

[A door opens.]

Shit!

[Gun clicks as Eric raises it.]

Who’re you? What d’you want?

Man 3: [whispers] The end is near.

Eric: Is this Hydra or is this like, 10 Ring shit, I’ve- look.

Man 3: You know too much, kid.

Eric: God dammit!

[Gun fires. Man gags on his own blood and collapses with a thud.]

I gotta get outta here.

Narrator: Entering the back-end of his twenties, Eric has been alone for four years, pitting drug lords against each other and using his powers to pay the bills. But now, his spying has caught up with him and he’s being hunted. It’s time to return to Los Angeles.

[Phone dial tone rings.]

Man 4: Hello.

Eric: Listen, I am interested in getting back into the fold, and could use an immediate interview. And after that potentially an extraction.

Man 4: [tsks] Oh. You’re an enhanced operative. Only at level 4, it looks like. There is a helipad. It’s west of your position.

Eric: Oh, shit. ’Kay.

[Footsteps stomp on tile as Eric runs. A door bangs open.]

Christ.

[Gentle music.]

Narrator: Since the formation of the Avengers, many other heroes and exceptional beings have come out from the woodwork, introducing Earth to a whole multitude of cosmic-level threats, including the immense power of six Infinity Stones.

These stones were scattered across the universe at the dawn of all things. And within them, control all aspects of our very existence. They’ve been fought over and sought after by many. Including an ambitious, mad Titan.

[The Snap is heard.]

A genocidal warlord, working in the shadows of space for years.

[Radio static.]

Man: Hold on.

[Rustling and a loud crackle.]

Masha: Mr. Dickets? [laughs nervously]

[Phone disconnect tone.]

Hello?

[Ash crackles.]

Boy: Oh, no. [groans] My eyes. Wait…

Lily: Oh my god. What is this?

[Distant screaming.]

Is this…dust?

Boy: Uh, uh, Lily…

Lily: Ted, oh, oh—

[Ash crackles.]

Pilot: What’s happening?

Eric: I-I don’t know. I don’t know. What do I do? What d’you need?

Pilot: [weakly] Get us outta here.

Eric: What? Me? [groans]

Narrator: Stepping out with a master plan to end all suffering.

[Radio static. Suspenseful music.]

Various Voices: You are not hallucinating and if you’re hearing this...you’re one of the lucky ones.

[Radio switches stations.]

If you are a survivor of The Snap, it is recommended you stay indoors.

[Radio switches stations.]

I repeat, half the population—

[Radio switches stations.]

Really fifty…have they counted…okay. Fifty percent of all living lifeforms—

[Radio switches stations.]

There’s- No one is safe from this desolation.

[Radio switches stations.]

Ash flooding the sky. Chaos is—

[Radio switches stations.]

[A man screams for a few seconds.]

[Radio switches rapidly between stations. Voices overlap.]

Exactly fifty percent of all life. Fifty percent of the trees—

—and it’s times like these, I wonder—

—world born is the brave and gallant souls, half of which disappeared—

—there is, uh, so much room in my neighborhood now—

—medic!

—everybody gone!—

—billion lives gone...in a snap.

[The Snap is heard.]

Narrator: And just like that, Thanos won. His plan to wipe out half the universe succeeded. They were all gone within minutes and that...was that.

[Traffic rumbles in the background. A horn honks. Feet scuff on pavement. Slight feedback is heard as a man turns on a loudspeaker and speaks into it. People shout indistinctly in the background.]

Inciter: Avengers, Avengers. Where are the Avengers?

[Calm guitar music plays.]

High up in their high castle. Out in the scenic back country of New England, chewin’ on shawarma and cruising in their Audi’s, funded by the corporate shroud, the killer’s weapons. Settin’ up brick after brick to keep us on the ground floor, walled off.

You wanna know where the Avengers are? Not savin’ us. That’s for sure. They’re callin’ it an Infinity War. Yeah. Can you believe that?

But we know the truth. The Avengers and Stark Industries and the United States government and the 1%, they’re fine. They’ve always been fine! And they’ll always be fine. So it’s time we stop beggin’ for scraps and hoping to be seen.

Heroes of Los Angeles! You heard me right. You are a hero! No need for no Big Apple or the crack o’ thunder at your fingertips.

You sick o’ S.H.I.E.L.D. turnin’ their backs on you? Then you come to The Fort. Old Griffith, she’s observed better days, but we’re building a new timeline. A revolution, one where the freaks don’t need to hide in the shadows.

Surely you’ve heard o’ The Castle, yeah? Think they got all the answers? They don’t. Bunch o’ bootlickers. Stark-lovin’, authoritarian, Orwellian, bullshit-spreading pigs! Don’t trust a single Castleton. Not one! Yeah, that’s right.

[Crowd begins cheering and whistling.]

You wanna make the world a better place? You wanna see the corporate boogey man squirm in their high rise apartments as they look down on our movement? Then you come to The Fort! Come get work! We’re gonna fix this city, and we’re gonna bounce back from The Snap like it was the best damn opportunity that ever did show itself!

Indie heroes, let your voice be heard! Let your powers be known! Assemble! Assemble! Assemble! Assemble!

[Cheering grows louder.]

Game Rules

[Rock-style Marvel Theme music.]

Sage: As per 20 Sided Stories fashion, everything in the ten episodes that follow is improvised. It will all be brought to life with detailed sound design and original music and is assisted by an original table-top role-playing system.

Each hero has two sets of stats: Personal and Powerful.

The Personal stats use a d6 and are represented by the six Infinity Stones. Power, Soul, Reality, Space, Mind, and Time.

The Powerful stats use a d20 and are represented by the official Marvel Comics power grid. Strength, Energy, Durability, Combat, Intelligence, and Speed.

When you hear this sound…

[Stat test chime.]

It means a character needs to overcome some difficult obstacle or test. One of the aforementioned categories will be called upon. By rolling their respective dice they may succeed…

[Success chime.]

They may fail…

[Failure chime.]

Or they may land somewhere in the middle.

[Net chime.]

Whatever the result is, we have to stay in character, act it out, and carry on.

Narrator: Half of everyone and everything is gone. Thanos has fled. The Avengers have failed and, for the next five years, Earth is a depressing mess. But in the fragmented city of Los Angeles a revolution is brewing.

Small time crime fighters like Roulette, Bloodhound, and Scry are leading a new scene of superheroes. The ones who never got their movie. Who never got their tv show. Who never got their shot to shine. In the wake of The Snap, there lies a colossal vacuum of power and opportunity. With devious forces aiming to take control of the anarchy. It’s anyone’s game.

Thank you for tuning into 20 Sided Stories.

This is MARVEL: Survivors of The Snap.

[Music fades out.]

Sage: Episode One of our Marvel series will premiere Wednesday, February 5th.

By the way, those snippets featuring main characters Masha, Lily, and Eric are from their pre-Snap prologues. Available exclusively to those who snag an Adventure Pass.

Go to patreon.com/20sidedstories if you wanna check ’em out. It really does help the show out a whole lot. Totally optional, though, of course.

You can follow us on social media for free @20SidedStories. Otherwise, I’ll see you on the next one. Later.