lovely corte
Persistent Member
Lindsey Looseflaps
HE LOOKED AT ME! HE LOOKED RIGHT AT ME!
Posts: 1,402
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Post by lovely corte on Oct 2, 2013 23:40:10 GMT -8
The entirety of the phone call was a stuttering mess of Risto trying to explain himself, coupled with headaches from the audio peaking on the other side of the reception of the explosions. Pinching his eyelids, he sighed, before he perked up as the audio cleared.
"Uh... yeah. Sure. Later this morning. I-I'll come by your office." He said, voice a lot more excited than before. This was Creeper's first real job. "Thank you, Professor Wheeler."
Hanging up, he took a deep breath and looked at himself. There was no way he was dressed for a job interview, especially given his tattered jeans, cowboy boots and bloodied shirt. Especially the bandaging around his eyebrow and lip. He sighed and walked inside.
Moments later, he returned in what was a slightly clean pair of black jeans, which he had shrugged clean and scrubbed of the cockroach family nesting within the crotch, as well as some leather shoes which squeezed his feet. He suspected they weren't originally his, given the blood on the underside.
A rare, clean-pressed shirt was found in a box of stuff that flashbacks allowed him to remember stealing from the back of a moving truck, before he sighed and freshened up. Opening up the door to leave his apartment, a flood of cockroaches fell in his wake behind him, almost wishing him goodbye.
Their skittering was adorable. Not so much the cockroaches themselves.
Walking along, he made his way over to meet Professor Wheeler.
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Post by JW% on Oct 12, 2013 0:11:40 GMT -8
"Looks like it's going to be another nice day out today, with just a few clouds." The anchor woman said, smiling at the camera from behind her desk. "We'll be coming to our live traffic helicopter eye in the sky soon, but first, we have a guest for todays morning show. One of the Triumphant themselves. You know him from the news, or heck, maybe you've been saved by this dashing hero too! It's Hornet!"
The kid that walked out onto the stage looked incredibly geeky. It was hard to say why. His outfit looked to be well tailored and tasteful, despite being in mostly bright yellow. Slacks, dress shirt, and an open leisure suit top in black and a black mask covering his face. Maybe it was his mussed up hair that seemed to fall over his mask and eyes, or the silly grin that he looked incapable of removing from his face. It was the kind of expression that made you think he was about to wave to his mother through the camera. It also didn't help that he tripped over the carpet as he walked in.
"Whoa there Hornet," The news woman said, "You okay?"
"I'm fine! Doing great Jennifer!" Hornet replied with that grin of his, and he gave a not particularly hidden wink at her. "Just didn't expect I needed to fly in." He made a buzzing sound by swiftly vibrating the pair of insect like wings on his back. The suit, and presumably the shirt underneath, were specially tailored to allow the wings through.
"Ah yes, Hornet, ladies and gentlemen! Please, please, take a seat Hornet." Jennifer took the wink rather well, she seemed rather accepting of being flirted with by the youngest of the cities protectors. Particularly ever since he had caught her after a supervillain had thrown her out of a skyscraper. "So you're here to talk about mutants, are you?"
"What?" Hornet blinked, as though he'd been lost studying her sweater. "Right! Mutants. I'm a mutant! My wings, hyper strength, reaction time, my stingers, all of it I was born with."
"That must have been rough on your parents."
"Ah... not really. They were... kinda expecting it. I wasn't born with these powers... well I was born with them but I wasn't born with them born with them y'know? The larger physical structures were undeveloped mostly, even though I had the wings on my back, I couldn't really fly until highschool, and I was just learning to shoot my stingers when I was picked to join the Triumphants. Plus, I was sorta an experimental baby... my genetic code was tinkered with in vitro. So mom and dad knew I was going to get some kind of bug powers. Hi mom!" There, he waved at the camera. You all knew it was coming.
"You ever feel bad about being tinkered with like that?"
"Well, yeah, I guess a little when I was growing up, but I wouldn't have been born if there wasn't some tinkering, my parents were otherwise infertile. Besides, my life has turned out pretty sweet since then. I get to stop bad guys, save sexy ladies from falling out of skyscrapers, I love being a superhero!"
"That's amazing. Do you think there are more mutants like you out there?"
"Absolutely. Mutation is actually growing more and more common as time goes on. Everyone has recessive genes in their body, stuff covered up by layers of normal stuff. So while the most reliable mutations are still coming from genetic manipulation, usually several generations down the line, everyone has the evolutionary potential to be something more than what we loosely define as human at the moment. All it takes is two special people coming together to make an even more special baby."
"So everyone could be a superhero someday?"
"Someday, sure!" Hornet agreed, then tried to reign himself in as though he just thought of something. "These days though most mutations have a pretty high infant mortality rate still. I think I might have had dozens of brothers and sisters in the experiment, but I'm the only one who actually survived, because my mutations weren't too extreme. I mean, I look normal, and as a kid you had to see me without a shirt on to know I had wings. The more powerful a mutants abilities, the more likely they are to die from them long before they can pose a threat to anyone else. Most mutants might just get the superpower of being double jointed or seeing in the dark."
"That doesn't sound like it would be that useful to a superhero."
"Not all mutants are superheroes. Most of them are just regular folks, no less special for being who they are. A recent survey showed that Pinnacle City actually has 24% of their population with some kind of mutation, but only 5% of that have anything that could make them into superheroes even if they worked really hard at developing it, and even then they don't tend to use what powers they have. Not everyone can be a great baseball pitcher, and even those who can need to practice before they become great. Some of our best superheroes don't have any powers at all."
"That's right! Lizardtail, RedVendetta, and BlueVictim are all normal people who protect the city without mutations or magical abilities." The Gentleman was also a normal person, but given his reputation nobody was sure if he had magic or not. "You said Pinnacle City has a bunch of mutant citizens, what about Triumph City? Do you think we have that many mutants?"
"We don't have mandatory registration of abilities like Pinnacle City does. Makes it a bit harder to track, but for percentage wise, I'd say Triumph City might actually have more. We do have a large enough community forming though, and there's going to be a mutant rights celebration at the Triumph City Community College south campus this afternoon if anyone would like to visit. I'm sure there's plenty of sources for finding out information, just in case some of our viewers might think they're mutants. We'd welcome anyone, mutant or otherwise to stop by and listen."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
((Yes, this is all on TV, no I have no idea which of your characters were watching all or part of the interview.))
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Post by Fiery Firefly on Oct 12, 2013 22:05:08 GMT -8
Natasha had finally roused herself out of bed, and had gone into the kitchen to put a Poptart in the toaster.
"Whatcha watching?" she asked as she walked out of the kitchen and saw Mr. Ansel watching the interview, "What are you watching?"
"Something about people mutating their kids... I don't know why people would want their child to be a hero and put themselves in danger. I mean I support Isolde of course, but I don't like her putting herself in so much danger."
"I think its kind of cool. I mean my parents didn't need to mutate me to get me this way, but I'd hate being normal. Sounds so boring," she said.
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Post by Adlai Stevenson on Oct 24, 2013 18:05:24 GMT -8
"Good morning." The dark skinned girl said demurely to Karma as she woke up sandwiched between the young woman and Cesspit in the bed that really wasn't made for this many people. They were not as naked as they could have been, considering how rough the night had been, but Karma didn't remember the girl even following them home. The girl had somehow managed to press herself into the two heroes cuddling, focusing her attentions on Karma and practically ignoring Cesspit. "Would my husband like me to fix him breakfast?" The girl asked, looking into Karma's eyes with a slightly fuzzy expression that implied she needed glasses. Not that nearsightedness was any reason to mistake Karma's gender after spooning with her. "I'm... not very good at cooking, but I could try." "Oh. Uhh." Cesspit hadn't been asleep, exactly; the machinery in his husk of a body prevented him from completely doing so, and the neuro-stimulators transmitted to his brain and augmented spinal cord allowed him the perceived luxury of never feeling all that lethargic in general. He did, however, figure out a way to subvert these factors. He liked to call it 'sleep mode', though it essentially boiled down to zoning out for a few hours at a time without many thoughts. His psychiatrist, way back in the day, had taught him something that had to do with meditation or Buddhism or something New Wave-y like that. Whatever. It was Tantric. It helped him out. And normally, he awoke with little to no complications. Today seemed like it was going to be an exception. "Uhh . . ." Cesspit repeated, looking up at the third body in their bed that normally held one to two bodies, respectively. ". . . Karma, honey," he said, making an effort not to refer to her by her true name, in case this . . . intruder, he guessed one could call it, was up to no good. "Who's our guest?"
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Post by Penny Royals on Oct 24, 2013 19:02:23 GMT -8
Karma blinked herself awake, looking up to Cesspit for a moment, confused.
"Wha-?" She yawned, looking back, before jumping a bit closer to him. She regained herself when she saw who it was. "Uhm... we saved her yesterday... uhm... Why are you here with us? And... in our bed?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Isolde came out then, shirt sagging off the shoulder, and rubbed her eyes with her sleeve while she yawned.
"Why does today have to be the first day of school?" She whined, before being handed a brush by her mother to try to fix her mop of curls for the day.
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Post by Fiery Firefly on Oct 24, 2013 20:20:27 GMT -8
"I'm a little excited," Natasha replied as she heard her Poptart pop from the toaster and she quickly grabbed it, "Too bad we're not in the same year. No one to show me around or anything."
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Post by Penny Royals on Oct 24, 2013 20:24:32 GMT -8
"Huh?" She asked, looking up then. "What grade are you supposed to be?"
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Post by Fiery Firefly on Oct 24, 2013 20:58:03 GMT -8
"12th grade..." Natasha responded inbetween bites, "We don't even have 12 grades in Russia, so its really weird to me"
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Post by JW% on Oct 25, 2013 15:03:43 GMT -8
Karma blinked herself awake, looking up to Cesspit for a moment, confused. "Wha-?" She yawned, looking back, before jumping a bit closer to him. She regained herself when she saw who it was. "Uhm... we saved her yesterday... uhm... Why are you here with us? And... in our bed?" "I am the Rose Bride." The small young woman said, looking at them with almost blank eyes, as though her mind was shutting out what was going on around her. Her tone, or lack there of, implied this was rote memorization she was speaking through. "I am to stay with whomever claims me. I am to serve them however they wish." She gazed into Karma's eyes for a moment, before closing her own. "You have claimed me. I will do... whatever... you ask." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reed Lector sat at his security desk, watching monitors and effectively guarding the research and development lab. It was a boring job most of the time, and nerve wracking at other times. It didn't help that the scientists below went from the meek lab assistant who wrote papers and seldom did anything dangerous, to people who designed things that blew up simply because they were bored. Reed also did his best to ignore the fact that the majority of those people who played with explosives seemed to have strange reality warping abilities, being able to make a bomb out of a watch battery, a paperclip, and a bottle of soda. And with lab safety his job, it was no wonder he was often stressed out. Some would say paranoid. Reed thought that it was a natural response for somebody who didn't have any superpowers to develop against those that did. And now this man was trying to gain entrance to his secret, secure, facility that housed weapons of mass destruction. Reed looked over Risto Wicker's outfit one last time. "I'm sorry... do you have an appointment?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ((Tell me when Isolde and Natasha are in the car... you have social time until then.))
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Post by Adlai Stevenson on Oct 28, 2013 5:18:38 GMT -8
"I am the Rose Bride." The small young woman said, looking at them with almost blank eyes, as though her mind was shutting out what was going on around her. Her tone, or lack there of, implied this was rote memorization she was speaking through. "I am to stay with whomever claims me. I am to serve them however they wish." She gazed into Karma's eyes for a moment, before closing her own. "You have claimed me. I will do... whatever... you ask." If Cesspit had eyelids, he would have blinked. Hard. ". . . okay," he willed himself to begin, making his way out of bed with exaggerated slowness - half in an effort not to startle this strange girl, and half due to his pure, genuine confusion. "So, uhh . . . wow. This is different." Cesspit looked to Karma again. The confusion wasn't dying down. "Did you have a weekend in Vegas I wasn't told about?" he asked, good-humored in his efforts to deflate the strange situation. A light joke. Though if the joke yielded a yes, it was completely serious.
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Post by Penny Royals on Oct 28, 2013 5:29:02 GMT -8
Karma rolled her eyes over to Cesspit, giving him a crooked smile.
"Oh, you know, I just hopped on a plane after we fell asleep, hit up a few casinos, I bought you a tee shirt but I think I wore it to the wedding."
She looked back to the strange 'Rose Bride' now. She supposed there were a lot of things one could use a woman a few years younger than them to do - wait, why was she thinking about it as if she were a forty-sum year old woman, she was still 'younger than' most people - oh, but that would be really helpful - but that was against their moral code, taking advantage of a person in need - but she DID want to help, and it WAS in HER moral code, and anyways, she wasn't really sure what to do with her right now.
"Well... can you make breakfast? Like... even just toast? I always burn it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh. Yeah, you're a senior... I'm just a junior - 11th grade."
Soon, the girl was dressed (for what she considered the given amount of 'dressed' at least), and had a poptart in her hand like her friend, as they rushed out the door and into morning traffic.
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Post by JW% on Oct 28, 2013 13:31:46 GMT -8
Karma's new houseguest gave her a vapid smile that didn't reach the girls eyes. Her skin was like caramel, but her features were hard to place, ethnicity wise. Likewise she seemed to have little accent when she spoke. Or rather a mix of several accents.
"I can only try." She said with a bow of her head as she crawled out of bed. With a bit more time to inspect the 'girls' body, the adjustment of age probably increased somewhat. She was slim, perhaps underfed even, but with still curves to her body. There wasn't much grace in her movements as she fumbled for, and found, a pair of glasses on the way out, stepping out of the two heroes bedroom on silent barefoot steps.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Isolde and Natasha were riding in the back seat of the car as they drove through traffic. Isoldes father was driving, and the radio was on giving the weather forecast and morning traffic report, along with his preferred music in between. Isoldes mother seemed to be trying to make the best of it, saying how they now only had to take one car and a straight(ish) trip to drop everyone off for the day.
They made it over the bridge that Isolde had battled on for her now ex-boyfriends life the other day without any incident. However, as the car was coming off the raised highway that led to the bridge, it drove between several rather tall buildings. And the wall of one of them exploded.
It wasn't a huge explosion, but it was enough to startle everyone. Bricks and powdered concrete rained on the roadway that itself was still almost four stories in the air. Something slightly larger than a man, looking orange and tan, flew out over the road and impacted one of the cars, bouncing off the hood as that car swerved into the center embankment and crashed. The car behind it slammed on his breaks, but still caught the sideways car on the rear bumper, smashing himself.
Isoldes father hit the breaks and swerved, giving everyone in the car a bit of whiplash from their seatbuckles holding them tight. ((Agility of 20 to avoid crash: Isoldes father makes an Agility check(10), spending karma(20) to save his family from injury... success! He stops the car in time to avoid a wreck!))
The figure who had been knocked through the wall and caused the wreck on the northbound lanes bounces into the southbound lanes and is hit by a car, rolling on the ground as those lanes of traffic stop. It does seem to be a person, two arms, two legs... but with what looks sorta like a tail curled around one leg, and a heavy shell over the shoulders and back.
Further study of this figure however is ruined as what looks like a black SUV drives out of the hole in the building and shifts in midair. One could almost say explodes, had it not been following up something much more violent that tore through the wall ahead of it. The vehicles roof splits apart and becomes a pair of massive ape-like arms, as the front rotates and both folds in on itself and folds out large claw like feet. It lands in the northbound lane, smashing the front end of a car that had stopped. A heavy armored head scanning the area as it assumes the posture of a giant ape.
Northbound cars ahead of the SUV-ape flee the scene, while southbound cars ahead of the orange shelled man do likewise, heading to the bridge to get away. But the rest of the cars are left blocked by what seems to be a superfight that's spilled onto the road.
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Post by Adlai Stevenson on Oct 29, 2013 23:24:13 GMT -8
Cesspit wasn't sure of what else to say to this 'Rose Bride' character, and was partially relieved when Karma stepped in to carry on the conversation, and get her out of their hair, at least temporarily.
Partially relieved, of course, because there was still a random, vaguely creepy intruder who had apparently pledged herself to his girlfriend. A random, vaguely creepy intruder who was currently fixing them up some breakfast.
Cesspit moved closer to Karma, mostly to peer out their opened doorway to their room to look upon their mysterious guest with reserved suspicion. "So," he said, oh-so-delicately running his hands down to her hips as he stood to her back. While he couldn't technically feel anything (sensation was foreign to him ever since his life-saving operation), he had since mastered the art of safe, calculated assumption over the years. That, and he knew her well in a lot of other ways. "Never a dull moment, huh?"
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Post by Penny Royals on Oct 30, 2013 5:49:21 GMT -8
Up until this moment, the day had been hectic, but normal, and Isolde had been relaxing, humming along to the music and looking out at the scenic drive of Triumph City.
However, a building exploded. And that would trigger anything in any human.
She screamed, and dove towards the other side of the car, with her seatbelt still on, just trying to get away from the window as she was on the side that the building was on. Her father swerved and stopped the car heavily, tossing the group forward a ways to watch the commotion. Sitting back up, she started fumbling with her belt.
"Isolde, no, this isn't a goo-"
"It's okay Mom, I'll just be around the building first to see if anyone needs help!"
"Isolde-!"
"Love angel power!"
Now there with pink hair, the girl barrel rolled out of the car.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She leaned back against him, an amused smile playing about her lips to show off her teeth.
"I guess so. I wonder what this is all about. Do you think she could be a fae? She was in the cargo ship... and I mean, we didn't see her last night, right?"
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Post by JW% on Oct 30, 2013 11:12:24 GMT -8
((Just a note, the whole building didn't explode. There's just a hole in it big enough to drive an SUV through on the topfloor. I have a rough visual aid in the OOC, which will be updated as turns progress. Technically Cupid and Natasha are in combat... though they really should get their barings before I start counting turns.))
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Post by Fiery Firefly on Oct 30, 2013 13:22:58 GMT -8
Natasha had been in the back seat, doing her makeup since she hadn't had the oppurtunity to do it before leaving. She had her various cosmetics on her lap, and had been in the middle of applying eyeliner when the car swerved. As she jolted forward in her seatbelt, the cosmetics went flying, and she was now sporting a long black line down her cheek from losing control of the eyeliner.
As Isolde left the car, Natasha looked back at Isolde's parents and said, "I'm going with her, kay?" She didn't even give them a chance to respond before she transformed she transformed into Scorched Earth and rolled out of the car herself.
"Whats the situation?" she asked as she ran to Isolde... still sporting the botched eyeliner on her face, but not particularly caring how ridiculous she looked at the moment.
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Post by JW% on Oct 31, 2013 18:48:13 GMT -8
The SUV turned mechanoid ape seemed to need to take a few moments to get it oriented. An armored red visor swept the scene scanning for it's target. With a shove it crumpled the front bumper of the car it had landed on. The man in that car lurched as his vehicle was shoved back into the bumper of the car behind him. Inside that second car the scared and possibly hurt wail of a young child could be heard.
From Isoldes vantage point she could see the armored figure in the southbound side pulling himself unsteadily to his knees. What had looked like a tail before now seemed to be some kind of thick power cord plugged into the base of his shell, the other end terminating in a heavy mace like piece. Despite clear signs of the armor being technological, it also had some biological features. Leathery sections with a scale pattern on any joints not armored, and the hands were three fingered claws implying reptile origins. On his knees like he was he resembled an ankylosaurus, complete with shell and clubbed tail.
Isolde could also see the man in the car that had crashed into the barricade. His body shook as he tried to extricate himself, and there was blood on his window where his forehead had hit it. The door was warped and would be difficult to open, and his steering wheel looked to be pressed against him as well. Not to mention he seemed to be going into some kind of seizure, they way he was struggling without actually directing his efforts.
Natasha saw most of this as well, though she was looking at the other side of the road way, up at the building these two combatants had hurled themselves from. Two figures ran to the hole, details hard to make out between the shadow of the interior and the morning sun of the exterior, looking startled and confused as to why their building now had such a wide open window here, where most of the windows were much smaller. One of them pointed at the scene below, while the other stepped back and pulled out a cell phone.
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lovely corte
Persistent Member
Lindsey Looseflaps
HE LOOKED AT ME! HE LOOKED RIGHT AT ME!
Posts: 1,402
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Post by lovely corte on Oct 31, 2013 19:15:14 GMT -8
It took Risto a moment to even register the very fact that he was now inside of the building or that he had even taken the journey, let alone that he was now standing in front of the man. He was staring directly at the man for what felt like eternity, but came to realization as only a few seconds, continuing to stare into the very soul of the man with hunger and ferocity.
"You'd wear him better." He heard a voice say, darker than anything he could have imagined. He started sweating profusely, pulling on his sleeves to cover his tattoos. "Take the pen from the desk and jam it through his urethra. I know you wa-"
"Shut the fuck up!" He yelled, almost all of the sudden. Panting, he stared at the receptionist. "I- n-... I'm so-..."
Taking a deep breath, he composed himself.
"I-... I was... told to come here." He continued, hoping to God above that the receptionist wasn't smacking the silent alarm with masturbatory fury. "P-Professor Wheeler! That was his name!"
Almost all of the sudden, he clapped his hand over his face.
"I'm so sorry." He apologized, voice quiet. "S-... Should I just go or leave or some shit like that?"
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Post by Fiery Firefly on Oct 31, 2013 19:17:09 GMT -8
Natasha immediately rushed to the car that had hit the barricade. She could tell from the way the man was convulsing that he couldn't wait for someone to come to be able to open the warped door.
The car rattled as she jumped on the top of it, and she created a huge flame with her hand and aimed it at the top of the car. Her goal was to weaken the steel enough that she could easily bash it in and create an escape route for the man.
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Post by Adlai Stevenson on Nov 4, 2013 15:17:18 GMT -8
She leaned back against him, an amused smile playing about her lips to show off her teeth. "I guess so. I wonder what this is all about. Do you think she could be a fae? She was in the cargo ship... and I mean, we didn't see her last night, right?" Cesspit shrugged his shoulders. "After a magical clusterfuck like last night? It wouldn't surprise me. And yeah, she was the one in that cargo box I got blasted through, wasn't she?" Cesspit looked over Karma's shoulder, studying the Rose Bride further. Needless to say, he was still suspicious. ". . . maybe she's just, uhh, grateful? I mean, that was a pretty precarious situation. Maybe she'll just leave when she's filled her end of the bargain."
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Post by JW% on Nov 4, 2013 17:52:06 GMT -8
The girl that Karma had apparently adopted went into the kitchen and started looking around for something she could fix for breakfast. The results were... nontraditional.
Four slices of toast were buttered, and then placed on a hot frying pan until toasted. Sugar and various spices including cinnamon were mixed and sprinkled into warmed milk, which was then poured into a bowl over the toast. The results were similar to what one would get with a bowl of cereal: grains from the bread, milk from the milk, and sugar to sweeten it. Two servings, were divided out into two bowls, one for Karma, one for Cesspit, while the two heroes talked in their bedroom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reed looked over Risto Wicker's outfit one last time, not thinking the best of him. "I'm sorry..." Reed said, trying to remain the soul of politeness. "Do you have an appointment?"
"Shut the fuck up!" Came the response, yelled back at him. Reeds expression tightened as Risto's paled and he tried to draw breath back in. "I- n-... I'm so-..." He panted out before taking a deep breath to compose himself. Reed restrained himself from drawing the gun beneath the desk. Variable intensity high grade taser currently used by the Special Weapons and Tactics division of TriPD. Designed here in the lab of course. "I-... I was... told to come here. P-Professor Wheeler! That was his name!" The unstable looking man suddenly clapped his hands over his face.
"I'm so sorry." Risto apologized, voice quiet. "S-... Should I just go or leave or some shit like that?"
"It might be best." Reed said, watching Risto intently, like he was watching a rattlesnake coiled to spring at him. The worst part of it was that Reeds expression almost said he could catch the rattlesnake in mid-strike. One hand became visible and, making no sudden moves to startle Risto and not ever taking his eyes off the man, the hand moved across the desk and touched an intercom button.
"Professor Wheeler, we have a man here who says he has an appointment with you." Reed spoke slowly, trying not to let his tension show, and failing.
"Huh?" Professors Wheeler came back over the intercom. "I don't have any appoint... oh! Yes! The man who does powered armor! Yes, yes, send him right in. We were going to... what do you mean decontamination?" Wheelers voice was directed at somebody that the phone wasn't picking up. "It's only a little radioactive. Well, yes, but away from the epicenter it shouldn't... yes I suppose." The voice focused back on the phone again. "I'll be sending Travis up in a minute or two, okay?" He waited but Reed didn't reply, just staring at Risto as though the man was a Russian spy in a cold war era nuclear power plant. After a moment Wheeler continued. "Right! Travis will be up there in a minute or two."
Reed lifted his finger from the intercom as dramatically as one could make the lifting of a single finger. "Research and Development will see you shortly." Reed told Risto. "May I ask how you know Professor Wheeler?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The fireblast hitting the top of the car heated and weakened the already bent metal, doing exactly what Scorched Earth intended it to. And fortunately doing very little of what she did not intend it to. There was no gas leaking from the car, and the application of flame caused no explosion. The heat inside became noticeable to the struggling man, but not injurous. Infact, it seemed to calm him down somewhat, as he looked up at the flames and stopped jerking so hard to free his legs and lower body from where they were pinned.
Of course, that calm might have been purely illusionary, as he went from frustrated panic to terror. The man was actually pretty fair sized, muscular even. He turned to look at where the source of flames was and shouted something that couldn't be quite understood through the cracked window.
The large robot on the other hand seemed to come to life at the sight of the flames. It's body straightened and it traced the flames to their source. Leaning forward onto one hand it tilted it's shoulders forward. Tubes that had looked like exhaust pipes from it's vehicle disguise aimed at Scorched Earth as the visor lit red, the only visible indication that an invisible laser sight was trying to get a target lock on Scorched Earth.
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Post by Fiery Firefly on Nov 4, 2013 21:05:15 GMT -8
"Calm down I'm coming!" Scorched Earth said. She began bashing the softened metal with her boot, and the metal gave in enough for her to jump into the back seat of the car.
"Okay I got you..." She grabbed the man and began trying to pull him out through where she came, possibly being a bit rough, and trying her hardest not to get him burned on the sides of the hole.
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Post by Penny Royals on Nov 4, 2013 21:12:20 GMT -8
Cupid watched Scorched Earth move to the car that hit the barricade. Right now, there were lots of people in lots of other cars that were trapped by some debris - they may or may not be injured. Determined to find out, she rushed along to find out if everyone was okay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Karma looked up as they were brought along, and looked into the bowl. After a second, she took her first bite.
"...It's actually pretty good," she said, somewhat surprised. "Huh. I've never tried this sort of thing before..."
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Post by Adlai Stevenson on Nov 7, 2013 20:36:57 GMT -8
Karma looked up as they were brought along, and looked into the bowl. After a second, she took her first bite. "...It's actually pretty good," she said, somewhat surprised. "Huh. I've never tried this sort of thing before..." Cesspit looked down at his bowl with a bit of distress; he couldn't eat the meal the Rose Bride prepared for them, but he couldn't bear to tell their grateful guest that he couldn't enjoy it. He hated misleading people, especially with the whitest of lies. A people-pleaser to a fault, as his parents would call him, well before he'd ever become a decomposing, crimefighting cyborg. He quickly recalled, however, the fact that the Rose Bride was not necessarily their grateful guest as much as their grateful, vaguely creepy magical home invader. He hated misleading people, but this instance might have been one of life's various exceptions. Cesspit looked at the Rose Bride, looked at his breakfast, looked at Karma, and looked at the Rose Bride again. With a tentative nod, he raised two thumbs to their guest. "Thanks, umm . . . thanks anyways?" he offered. He was glad he didn't have a face to grimace with. Cesspit, looking for the nearest distraction, picked up the remote control from the arm of their worn loveseat and turned on their television set, archaic by most modern standards. The channel was already set to one of city's local news stations; generally came in handy, during instances when the police radio wasn't switched on (like now) and on the occasions that it wasn't reporting on local sports teams and cute pets doing tricks. This instance was not, luckily, one of the former. Cameras from helicopters panned over a long bridge and highway, with traffic massively backed up all the way to the city limits. At first, his thoughts lingered to the events at the docks and elsewhere across the city, in the aftermath of the Fae invasion, with that mermaid lady and the bigassed troll and the pirates and all that. He imagined clean-up and construction would tack quite a few minutes onto the average working stiff's commute. He hadn't imagined, however, what looked to be a pair of giant robot-type guys crashing through the side of a building on the instant replay, causing traffic on the bridge to become disastrously damaged and placed in danger. "We can never have regular-sized baddies anymore, huh," he said, half to himself, but audible enough for Karma to hear him. With increasing concern, he began counting the damaged cars, half-aloud. "Jesus, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen . . ." ". . . seventeen . . . eighteen . . ." Lauren had been at her aunt's apartment for less than twenty-four hours as of that morning, and had slept through less than eight of them. She was always an early riser, jet lag or no, and she was strict with her workout routine. It was fortunate of her aunt to have purchased a living space on an elevated floor, with access to a fire escape by the window, which the young teen found acceptable (and her guardian had given up debating her on) as an impromptu, five story pull-up bar. Her aunt, making her morning pot of coffee, eyed her niece with a watchful, amused stare. ". . . you really wouldn't believe it, Auntie, she was so beautiful," A chuckle. "Was she?" A sigh. "You--nineteen--know it. She had these eyes I got so lost in, and the cutest doll face, and . . ." "Lauren, lovey," her aunt picked up as her niece held her words to finish her final repetition. "It's absolutely wonderful that you've already found the States to be a great place, but--" "--wait." "What?" ". . . twenty!" and with that, Lauren hauled herself over the side of the fire escape, clambering through the open window and taking a labored breath. Her face was red, but her smile was as vital as ever. "Anyways, lovey, it's just that . . . don't you think you're moving a little too fast?" "Not particularly, if I'm gonna be honest with you," Lauren replied, downing a swig of bottled water. They both looked at each other with a bit of a face. They both knew, Lauren especially, that she hadn't stopped moving since everything that happened happened back in France. It was her way of handling it, she supposed, but all this, in less than a day here? Her aunt had to raise a brow. "You're doing that thing again," Lauren pointed out as she made her way to her room (the former guest room) to change. "Raising your brow. Really, Auntie, I'm fine. At least with this, I am." "I can't say you've convinced me," her aunt frowned. She could hear Lauren rummaging through her bags. "I can't say I was trying," she shot back with a snide smile, poking her head out her doorway. "Believe it or not, I'm really liking it here in America. It's a change of pace. Maybe not your style of pace-changing, but definitely mine. This city's splendid, and I just can't wait to see more of it." Lauren's aunt looked back to her coffee with a heavy sigh. This was not going to get any easier. Save for rummaging and coffee boiling, there was silence. Her Aunt flinched first, moving to the television set to turn it on. "So, this girl," she began, snatching up the remote to channel surf. At least she'd found a subject that wasn't too touchy. "she was pretty--" "-- ohmygod, Auntie, she was so pretty--" "--I gathered, dear. But, was she nice? Personable? All there, up there? A pretty face is one thing, but it's not everything." "Well, to be honest, I wasn't pursuing much intellectual conversation beyond introductions. But . . . oh, look, I know I sound like a bleeding heart here, but there was something about her. It was everything. I don't know, she was simply . . . amazing." The conversation dropped when they happened to catch a bit of live feed involving a pair or large objects smash through the side of a building and into a bridge. The same bridge Lauren had crossed on her way into the city. Both ladies were glued to the television set. "My God," her Aunt murmured, wide-eyed but not particularly shocked. "This has got to do with the ruckus those magic things caused last night. I thought they got them all, but I guess not. Lauren, I don't think we'll be going out to . . . Lauren?" Lauren had dashed into her room again. The rummaging had returned, louder and clumsier than before. ". . . Lauren, come on now, we just talked about this, and now you're picking this up all over again?" No answer. More rummaging. "Sweetie, look, there are enough costumed heroes to make up for this, you don't have to . . ." More rummaging. Her aunt bit her lip. ". . . I thought you weren't going to do this anymore." Flashpoint strode out of her room, costume-clad and hair done up. Her aunt sighed again. The teleporter strode to her last of kin and rested a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes never left the television screen. "I found someone to do it for," she said. With a brief (but tight) hug and kiss on the cheek, she disappeared, as if she were never there in the first place. Her aunt was taking her coffee off the pot when she saw the little pink dot in the live feed on the screen get introduced to another.
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Post by JW% on Nov 8, 2013 17:58:18 GMT -8
The man in the car shook his head as Scorched Earth tried to assist him. "No... no, you don't understand! You need to get out of here... clear the people out of here..."
He tried to turn to look at her, and she got a flash of mutilating bone growths under his facial features, as though he was growing a football helmet from under his skin. His eyes had already developed a hard shell over them, though it was hard to tell unless you were up close that they now had compound lenses protecting them.
That was all Scorched Earth managed to make out before the SUV'bot hit her from behind with it's shoulder mounted launcher. The force of the blow was mostly absorbed by the car frame, but suddenly she couldn't breath, she couldn't see, her body felt almost like it was floating in whiteness that stung her eyes and nose while it chilled her body.
From where Cupid stood with Flashpoint, it was obvious that Scorched Earth had been hit with a fire extinguisher. Foamy white flame retardant covered the wrecked car. It probably wasn't hurting her, though it might have hit with the force of a fire hose(the car frame soaked the impact up), but it was negating her power and more importantly nobody in that car could breath!
((You have Endurance rank number of turns to hold your breath before it starts effecting health.))
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There were actually only six cars wrecked so far. But the traffic slowdown was extending back all the way to the Liberty bridge, and the onramp, meaning that if Cesspit were counting the cars involves he would hit twenty four, with more still arriving at the end of the line.
Their house guest gave a small submissive smile to Karma, completely ignoring the television and only giving Cesspit a perfunctory glance. He after all wasn't the one she was bound to, pleasing him was only to better please Karma. "I'm glad you like it. I don't know how to cook very well, but if you tell me what you'd like I'll try to learn."
((Reason check: Karma and Cesspit recognize the SUV-bot from the one that attacked them when they were called to join the Triumphant. They would remember it's armor plated and bullet proof, has no particular "weak points", has non-lethal chemical weaponry(they were hit with knockout gas the first time, the fire extinguisher came from the same shoulder mount), excellent reaction time and agility, and while its strength is theoretically only 'equal' to Cesspits, the fact that it has exceptional leverage and balance meant that during the fight Cesspit was getting thrown around like a rag doll and was unable to mount an offense. It was defeated last time through exotic means(metal bending, phasing through it, and gravity manipulation) and teamwork. They do NOT however, recall the rest of the story, and how Professor Jackson Wheeler was involved in the robots creation, or how the SUV-bot and several more military designed ones were stolen by nefarious individuals that may or may not be the Skyraiders before they officially became supervillains.))
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lovely corte
Persistent Member
Lindsey Looseflaps
HE LOOKED AT ME! HE LOOKED RIGHT AT ME!
Posts: 1,402
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Post by lovely corte on Nov 9, 2013 5:58:42 GMT -8
"Power armor. Yeah." The anxious man muttered quietly as he fidgeted nervously with the neckline of his collar, making sure that the tattoo legacy on his skin laid underneath, hidden from the receptionist. Risto could tell that the man was checking him out, scanning him and every detail, every facet of his very Human being. "I'll wait. Sure."
Turning rapidly in an effort to find somewhere to sit, Risto came full circle as he stared at the receptionist, nodding. He took his hands and forced himself mentally to cup them over his groin to keep himself from fidgeting nervously.
"A-... A woman came to me in the hospital after a fight. The fight that I broke my power armor in." He started. He remembered that picturesque event vividly, the moment he had gained freedom from years of imprisonment. "Her name was... Mirage? I think. She said something about Nator and my armor."
"I-... I just need a job." He continued. "I-I don't care if I'm making armor or... weapons or eating shit. I just need to get my life in order."
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Post by Penny Royals on Nov 9, 2013 10:10:57 GMT -8
((Roger that, Mr. Bossman.))
Cupid realized quickly that she was joined by another person as she was looking to make sure everyone was okay. She glanced over, and stopped for a second, staring - wasn't this the girl from the previous night? Oh well... there were more important things now, they could talk later...
More important things like the fact that Scorched Earth was now in a car filled with the foam from a fire extinguisher. It took a split second for the girl to realize what all this entailed.
"Help the people in cars," she told the girl beside her quickly, "I need to go help my friend!"
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Karma, however, looked towards the TV with Cesspit, and stayed silent while the girl spoke. The video showed only a few superheroes fighting - and she'd recognize easily that most of them were just children, fighting a giant, black, metal-plated robot...
"...That's the SUV-Bot, isn't it?" She asked. "The one we fought-? God dammit." She stood up with a huff of air, going to the bedroom to get on her attire so they could rush down there. "Those kids are gonna need some help, or at least know what the hell to do with it... Let's get down there." While going out the door, she suddenly turned slight more optimistic. "Maybe the old team's gonna come down too to help fight this big lug."
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Post by JW% on Nov 20, 2013 14:46:14 GMT -8
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Botcon R&D
Reed narrowed his eyes as Risto babbled. "I do not know a 'Mirage', and I rather think that I'd be informed of one being out there... recruiting." The name 'Nator' didn't register with him either.
Reed looked like he was going to say more when the door opened up and a rather massive man walked in with a easy going smile on his face. He took a moment to look over Risto before turning his attention to Reed, ready to say something to interrupt the conversation the anxious man and the security guard.
"Now is not a good time Al." Reed said, cutting the big man off.
"You... uh... don't need any help do you?" Alphonse Eirno asked looking slightly discomforted at the exchange going on. He was just fine in most social settings, and when there was action Al was ready to jump right in. His job with Triumph City Fire Department usually gave him plenty of chances to enjoy his adrenaline addiction. The fact that he was technically superhuman, with the ability to harmlessly absorb thermal energy over a certain threshold didn't hurt either, but it hardly made him the kind of guy to go out in spandex and try to fight crime. Stopping fires was good enough for him.
"I have it under control." Reed replied.
"You do know he's got this thing attached to his spine, right?" Al said.
"I saw." Reed sighed, trying not to get mad at his boyfriend. Despite Risto's outfit, Reed had monitors watching everyone who came through the door and then some. Security in this day and age was difficult, and he was just paranoid enough to be good at it. "He has powered armor in subdermal storage. That's what he's here for."
"Oh." Al blinked, and gave Risto a smile. "Good on you. Bet that's awesome."
"Al, why are you here?" Reed tried not to snarl.
"I got a call saying my hours shifted. I'm going to be on call at the firehouse for the weekend. We'll have to cancel our plans."
"We didn't have plans." Reed was not nearly as out of the closet as his boyfriend, but he wasn't exactly intent on keeping it secret either. He'd filed a few complaints about discrimination against his lifestyle choice after all. Still, he didn't want to advertise it, and they really hadn't had any plans but hanging out on the couch and playing video games or watching a movie.
"You going to be okay without me?" Al asked, feeling a bit remorseful all the same about not being able to be there.
"Now is not the time Al." Reed repeated himself, and addressed Risto directly. "Before I send you down, may I at least have a name?"
Behind the desk the elevator chimed and slid open, revealing a black man in a lab coat, wearing oversized gauntlets that looked like miniature satellites all the way down to the solar panel arrays. Reed spared Doctor Travis Cutler barely a glance, having expected him. Though Reed did feel a surge of annoyance that the doctor of applied high energy physics had taken restricted technology out of the lab area.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Karma and Cesspit's loft.
Annastasia maintained a vapid, submissive smile as Karma ate, watched TV, and then rushed off to finish getting dressed. Her stomach growled softly, but she studiously avoided looking at the bowl of milktoast she had prepared for Karma's friend who smelled somewhat like a corpse. He didn't seem to be eating it.
"Shall I come with you?" Annastasia asked as the gunfighter seemed ready to leave.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Downtown Highway(also on screen at Karma and Cesspits loft)
The black metal ape machine took a moment to study it's handy work, having covered the car in white foam. "Fire Hazard resolved." it noted with an electronic modulated voice. For a moment it paused, as though listening to instructions from somewhere else.
"Clearing landing zone." It said, and reached down, grabbing the front end of the car at it's feet and started to lift, as though ready to throw the car. The man inside screamed and cursed.
On the far side of the highway the dinosaur themed armor had managed to get himself to his feet and tried to stagger out of traffic so it could get moving again.
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lovely corte
Persistent Member
Lindsey Looseflaps
HE LOOKED AT ME! HE LOOKED RIGHT AT ME!
Posts: 1,402
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Post by lovely corte on Nov 20, 2013 16:06:52 GMT -8
"I-I had a card..." Risto started, quietly patting himself in search of the elusive card before reaching into his pockets and ultimately realizing he had left the card in his old, ragged clothing. He slipped his hands from his pockets, clasping them over his face, groaning. "I-I'm sorry. Fuck. I-... I'm having a rough couple of... years."
"Medical thing." He murmured quietly, barely louder than a whisper. "Fuck, man."
Once the colossal figure entered, Risto felt modesty that his former self barely even could understand. Although he would have destroyed it all to get away from the 'man', Risto felt naked without his power armor. Torn off at the docks, all he was left with is the nodes along his spinal cord, illuminated and pulsating blue.
Tracing one finger along the node, Risto winced. His power had always been his intellectual superiority, combined with his ability to... harness electricity. Some would also say that his psychotic and brutal personality was also something that made Creeper what he was.
"Cre-... Risto, sir. Risto Wicker." He said, before the newest arrival caused him to turn to face the elaborately decorated man. "Uhm... Professor Wheeler?"
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Post by Adlai Stevenson on Nov 20, 2013 22:21:08 GMT -8
((Roger that, Mr. Bossman.)) Cupid realized quickly that she was joined by another person as she was looking to make sure everyone was okay. She glanced over, and stopped for a second, staring - wasn't this the girl from the previous night? Oh well... there were more important things now, they could talk later... More important things like the fact that Scorched Earth was now in a car filled with the foam from a fire extinguisher. It took a split second for the girl to realize what all this entailed. "Help the people in cars," she told the girl beside her quickly, "I need to go help my friend!" Flashpoint nodded, initially taken aback by the pink haired doll's assertive tone, but shot her a confident, if not a bit cocky, grin. "Right then, people in cars," she replied, dashing toward the automobiles nearest the big scary robot thing (doing her best to evade its path of destruction) and approaching the sea of held up cars. "Good morning! Dreadful commute, isn't it? I'll fix that in two shakes!" Flashpoint stretched her arms out to the hood of the first car she saw, In a flash, the car, along with the young teleporter, had disappeared . . . . . . and apparated on the grass of a rather familiar-looking park. "Oh, fuck me," Flashpoint hissed, inwardly berating herself. "Sorry, I'm not all that familiar with most of the city . . . happy trails!" And with that, she reappeared upon the bridge, in the same lane of halted traffic, to repeat the process. Karma, however, looked towards the TV with Cesspit, and stayed silent while the girl spoke. The video showed only a few superheroes fighting - and she'd recognize easily that most of them were just children, fighting a giant, black, metal-plated robot... "...That's the SUV-Bot, isn't it?" She asked. "The one we fought-? God dammit." She stood up with a huff of air, going to the bedroom to get on her attire so they could rush down there. "Those kids are gonna need some help, or at least know what the hell to do with it... Let's get down there." While going out the door, she suddenly turned slight more optimistic. "Maybe the old team's gonna come down too to help fight this big lug." "Well, I'll be, so it is," Cesspit nodded, noting that his partner was correct, upon closer inspection of the television. He rose from his spot, having the benefit of being all suited-up without much fuss. "Ready when you are!" Cesspit would have smiled if he could, at the thought of the band getting back together. "Maybe. Haven't heard from 'em much since we came back, but here's hoping, right?"
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