A Dilemma of the Horns

A screech of tires and a series of loud bangs pulls you out of the back alleys and to a major intersection, where you see that a spill on the road has apparently caused a multi-car accident. Traffic is beginning to back up, and horns are blaring as unhappy drivers try to navigate the accident scene. None of the drivers appear to be seriously hurt, though, as they have all gotten out of there cars and are milling around, making the traffic issues that much worse. There are sirens in the distance, so police help ought to be on the way in a few minutes, but some traffic direction now could prevent a giant traffic jam later.

Then your jaw drops as you realize that you know one of the men in the crowd. His name is Richard Horn, and this is the man who killed your uncle and stole his car. Wait, did I say "killed"? I meant "shoved." And it wasn't so much "stole his car" as Richard "snatched 50 chips from out of his hand in a casino and ran away." Anyway, even though your uncle is alive and in good health, you really hate that Richard Horn guy, and you think someone should teach him a lesson. But he's walking swiftly away from the accident.

Options:

• Avenge your uncle's murderer. Er, robber.
  
• Try to prevent major gridlock
  
• Try to do both at once
  

What do you do?

Results

If you chose Avenge your uncle's murderer. Er, robber.:

With Great Power Comes Great Revenge
You figure the traffic jam is inevitable whatever you do, but avenging your uncle is something you can only do once, so you dash off after Richard Horn. Something must have alerted him, because he starts to speed up and then breaks into a full run as you get close. But a mere mortal is no match for your heroic speed, and you catch him easily.

Of course he doesn't recognize you in costume, so you have to take several minutes just to explain why you've chased him down. And naturally, he's terrified the entire time, because he doesn't understand why someone in your strange outfit is after him. Eventually he catches on, though.

"Chips? You want chips? Here!" He reaches into his pocket and grabs a handful. "This should make up for whatever family members feel cheated. Just leave me alone!" You let him run off and pocket the chips, figuring the debt is balanced. You'll give the chips to your uncle next time you see him, which at this pace might be in a decade or two.

You gain 30-60 chips.

Moves your reputation to be less Selfless.

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If you chose Try to prevent major gridlock:

With Great Horsepower Comes Great Responsibility
You survey the situation and decide that your personal vengeance isn't nearly as important as serving the public trust by sorting out the traffic jam. You let Richard Horn skulk off into the distance while you focus on getting hundreds of commuters from point A to point B in a reasonable time frame. It takes a few minutes to get things cleared up properly (picking up cars, setting them down on the curb, etc.) but when you're done there's a spare hubcap that doesn't belong to any cars you can identify, so you get to take it home with you. Sweet!

You got an item: dented hubcap

Moves your reputation to be more Selfless.

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If you chose Try to do both at once:

An Electron You Are Not
You practically dive after Richard Horn, while beginning to shout increasingly loud instructions to the people standing in the intersection. Unfortunately, your noise makes Richard turn around, and he seems to realize that you're tailing him. Meanwhile, nobody in the accident site can hear you over the sound of the car alarms and horns that are still blasting into the air.

Pretty soon Richard is gone, and traffic has backed up for more than a block in every direction, meaning your efforts are wasted. You should really learn it's just not possible to take care of two major issues at once.

Location(s)

• the streets of downtown Twilight
  

References

• The name is a play on the idiom "being on the horns of a dilemma".
• Two of the outcomes refer to the Spider-Man credo, "with great power comes great responsibility".