Law of the Sword (Worm/Destiny Quest)

Friday, March 11th, 2011
9:10 PM

The ABB and Empire boarder is closer to me than the Protectorate one is, so I'll aim there first.

I do need a mask and the idea of using a hoodie comes up again, of wearing the hood backwards and cutting eyeholes to see out of. I can't really wear the bloody one anyway, so destroying that one doesn't make me feel bad.

Some part of me is indignant at using my sword for something like this, but I didn't think to pack scissors, so it's the only really sharp thing that I have on hand. I take the blood stained jacket and take aim to cut holes in it before pausing. I could just tie the strings really tight so that the hood is close to my head and then use the Armsmaster mask I still have to cover my face. It's not great, but it should do the trick for now and work better than trying to make a mask the way I was.

I grab the gun as I step out just to have a backup plan, and begin the process of exiting the ABB territory I am in to get to the fringe area of the two gangs. While I travel, I rest my sword on my shoulder and let my mind drift. The Empire is my main target, but I could start to wet my teeth on another gang. With that idle thought, I run down the list of gangs and groups in the bay that I know about.

There are the big two of course, the ABB with Lung and Oni Lee as well as a handful of other less notorious capes and then Empire with its almost army of capes. On the heroes side the big two the Protectorate and Wards as well as New Wave. I consider the heroes mentally for a moment before tossing them aside, I am not hunting them and have rough knowledge about most of them anyway so there is no reason to dwell on them too much. I can think of a few other villain groups in the Bay, Uber and Leet, the Merchants, those mercenaries downtown that carved out a chunk of Empire territory, and then there is also Faultline's crew. My search through PHO when I was healing at home also gave me the Undersiders I suppose. I know for a fact there are others, but I can't think of them right now, and they didn't come up when I was doing my general searches on PHO.

The best group to attack would probably be the Merchants, really. Uber and Leet are a joke, but one that has been around this long and occasionally lets slip their dangerous side. Faultline's crew I don't know much about, I do know that she has a bunch of the monster capes on her team, but not much beyond that. And finally the mercenaries managed to cut a bite from the empire which is a bit beyond me right now so Merchants will probably be the best choice after tonight, I already have my course set.

Before long I am seeing the gang tags on the walls start to overlap, with the one currently on top changing from building to building, which tells me it's contested. Now what? Just walk around? Without any better ideas, that's what I do.

It is… boring. I am hunting criminals and nothing is happening, which feels like something that shouldn't happen. I could go deeper into the city, but I know I'm not up for that yet. The quiet actually makes me aware that I am still getting more tired and will have to sleep sometime soon. Finally, I hear the sound of shattering glass and then a rather annoying alarm a few streets over, and I quickly make my way in that direction.

I peek out of the alley and see three people in balaclavas loading the back of a pickup truck with stuff from what looks like an electronics store. I idly note to take one of those masks, because they're way better than what I have on now, and debate what to do. Now is as good a time as any to come up with a basic code of some kind. Easiest one out-of-the-way first, I'm not going to kill kids. Beyond that, if they fight me, then they are fine to kill? I'm not sure, I'll have to work on it. I look back around the corner to see if they are wearing any gang colors and promptly kick an empty pop can into the street as I feel energy surge through the Dreadnought sigil and into my bones.

Their heads whip around, and I can almost feel my eyes locking with one of them. Cover blown, I step out of the alley and let my self fall into a more ready stance with my sword, feeling my shadow copy my movements. They look at each other and shake their heads before raising their hands, one calls out as they do.

"We surrender!"

Some part of me is angry, another relieved, and the rest of me is warring to see what side I fall on. Now that I can see them clearly in the light, they are not wearing any gang colors and might just be a group of thieves.

I can feel the sigil humming in my bones as my echo continues to mimic the slight swaying as I decide what to do.

Ugh, I have three 12 hr shifts this week, so some updates might come out later again.

Now what?
[X] Call the cops, job done. Once they get handed over, I can keep going.
[X] Move on, some random thieves are not worth my time.
[X] Write-In:

Friday, March 11th, 2011
11:15 PM

"Who do you work for?" I ask, staying tense and ready to run across the street.

"Uber and Leet! We were just hired to nab some electronics, no one gets hurt. We aren't looking for a fight!" The same one that called out their surrender says.

That's annoying. Uber and Leet are not on the same level of the Empire and ABB and even if they were, these goons surrendered. Some part of me still rages, still wants to kill them and Grow, but I am not some mindless animal and there is still plenty of night left to actually find someone worth killing. I let out a disappointed sound as I loosen my stance but keep ready.

"Fine. I'm coming over there and if any of you try anything funny I'll kill you." I state plainly as I start to walk over, my echo matching each step.

They look nervous but don't suddenly pull out a gun or anything, so I don't have a reason to attack. In fact, they fall into a line with their hands on their heads, clearly they've been arrested before. I don't really want to deal with the police, though, what if they recognize me? Then I would have to be sneaky in my cape activities as well, and that doesn't sound like a good idea. Instead, a rough plan forms in my head, I need money and I can just rob them.

"Alright, empty your pockets. I'll be taking any cash you got on you." I say, standing in front of them, hands still resting on the handle and ready.

"You're robbing us?" A different one says in a confused voice.

"Yes." I reply plainly.

They seem to take that fine and hold out a variety of bills and some coins. I take them and stuff them in my pants pockets to count out later before tilting my head from side to side. I blow some air out as I decide to let them go and continue on my hunt.

"Alright, take off your masks. I am going to let you go but want to look at your faces because if I see you doing this shit again I'll kill you. I'm good with remembering faces." I lie. There is no way I am going to bother remembering these people, but it should scare them enough to stay out of my path in the future.

They all hesitate, but one folds and the others quickly follow suit. I make a show out of looking each one's face over before moving to the next one. A bit of inspiration hits me and take one of the masks from the thief closest to me so that I don't have to go buy one later.

"Alright." I say and make a shooing motion to the end of the street, and they don't need any encouragement to take off running.

I glance around to if there is anyone else watching, checking the roofs as well, before ripping the Halloween mask off my face and sliding on the balaclava. Tossing the mask aside and turn to the truck they were loading everything in. I destroy it the best I can, slashing tires, breaking windows and kicking the shifter out of place so that they can't just come back and keep going as soon as I leave. Taking off at a jog, the alarm that I had mostly tuned out making its way to the front of my mind again, meaning someone will be coming to look at it eventually.

I get a few streets over before relaxing, or trying to. My echo is still here and something tells me it is combat related, maybe that's something I got from my visit to the other place or something that the sigil is telling me now. Ultimately, it doesn't matter when it happened, but I have no reason to distrust my gut on things relating to my power, so I keep a ready hold on my sword as I carefully look around the empty road.

"Were you really going to kill them?" A girl's voice says from behind me, too close to be anything good, so I spin around, swinging my sword and biting deep into the wood of a bench. My echo then hits, and my blade sinks deeper into the cut.

I look around as fast as I can but don't see anyone, but presumably whoever is here can see and hear me. Invisibility? I jerk my sword out of the wood and get back into a ready stance, though I can't see or feel anything out of the ordinary.

"Well?" The same voice says, and I whip my head around to the bench under the streetlamp, and there is still no one there. I wave my sword through the surrounding space, even under it, but it doesn't catch on anything.


What do I?
[X] Engage in conversation, they haven't attacked yet.
-[X]Lie
-[X] Tell the truth
[X] Try to run, though I don't know their powers, and they did manage to keep pace with me for a few streets at least.
[X] Write-In:

Friday, March 11th, 2011
11:20 PM

I glance around again but can't see anything, so I talk at the empty bench.

"If they had shot at me or something? Probably. Care to introduce yourself?"

It is silent for a few minutes, and I catch myself relaxing a few times. Just before I start thinking about leaving, there is the sound of metal on brick behind me. Quickly turning around, with my sword ready, I see someone standing at the mouth of an alley a ways down the street holding two throwing knives in one hand with the other tucked into their front pocket. Looking at their outfit, I can see a black hood and cloak as well as dark face wraps like ninjas I've seen in movies leaving only their eyes visible, the rest of them is obscured by shadows.

"Shade Skip," the cape says from behind me again, making me spin around and double check that there is nothing there.

"That you with the knives?"

"Yep." The toneless voice says again.

I shift and walk back a little so that I have the bench, where their voice is coming from, and their body in my line of sight. I fish for something to say, I almost as what their powers are, but that's stupid because who would say that to a stranger, before I can find a topic they speak up again.

"And your name?"

"I haven't thought of one for us yet, me or my sword."

"You're going to name your sword?" Despite there being no inflection on their voice, the confusion manages to come through.

"Of course. Any weapon that is going to be used with any skill needs to be named." I explain easily.

"Why not just call it Excalibur?" I feel a bolt of indigence run through me.

"Because everyone knows about Excalibur and has an idea about what it is. That would, constrain my blade." I don't know where the words are coming from, this is stuff I only barely thought about, but I can tell it's true.

"What about Arondight, then?"

"What's that?"

"It's the sister sword to Excalibur and far less known." I have to bite my tongue from asking why they just had that knowledge on hand.

"Maybe." I say neutrally, I'll have to think about it. They are silent for a moment before speaking up again.

"What gives you the right to kill them?" I take a moment to think about it.

"What give them the right to pillage and steal? If the heroes aren't going to do anything about it, I will." I don't mention that doing so will make me stronger because honestly that is just a bonus, I think I would still kill them if that wasn't the case. Maybe.

"So you kill them for it?" Their stance shifts, but the distance makes it hard to tell if it's into something more aggressive, and I don't want to turn my back on the spot they're talking from, so I have to stay put.

"If I kill them, they can't hurt anyone else." I say after another small deliberation.

"Then why not kill the thieves? So they can't steal again." I really didn't come out to have a philosophical discussion tonight and feel myself getting a bit annoyed, but I don't have any idea what 'Shade Skip' can do, so walking away is a bad idea.

"Because they were just thieves and weren't flying any gang colors. If they were supporting one of them, they probably would have attacked me anyway." They stay quiet for a few seconds and the Dreadnought sigil finally quiets down, and I feel my echo disappear.

"I'm gonna get close, don't swing at me, okay?"

"Alright." I say, letting my stance relax, but very much still being ready.

Between one blink and the next, Shade Skip is standing next to the bench. Going by their name, they can probably teleport through shadows, and I feel a bit disappointed that they would just have that as their name. Now that they're closer, I can see the rest of their outfit is also completely black, and they are a girl.

The biggest thing that stands out to me though is that she is a good few inches taller than me, much to my annoyance. I know I am not tall but still.

I watch her wearily for a moment, but she doesn't make any moves to attack, and so I let myself fall into a more neutral stance, the biggest indicator though is that Dreadnought went quiet.

"Let me guess," her voice is a bit muffled, but I think she is a similar age to me. "You're new?"

"The name thing?" I guess at how she could have known that.

"And your 'costume'," she actually makes the air quotations, which prompts me to look at my outfit. I am just wearing jeans and my jacket, with blood on the arm and in a few spots throughout. It is a far cry from a proper suit, but it doesn't really bother me.

"You do want to get your name sorted out before the Protectorate gives you one, and it sticks." She continues.

"Makes sense." I say, throwing it onto the list of things I still need to do.

"No really. You'll get stuck with one like Aqualad or Shade Skip." The second one is said a bit ruefully.

"They gave you your name?" I ask, a bit curious.

"It was originally Shadowstride, but that was too close to their 'Shadow Stalker' so someone changed it, and it would be a whole process to get it changed. They posted the name before I realized what happened and—" She cuts herself off with a shrug. "Sorry, still a bit upset about it."

"I would be, too." I say, the idea of someone giving me a name? The more I contemplate it, the more it makes anger bubble in my gut.

She just shrugs in a 'what can you do' manner.

"You're out patrolling, right?" She easily changes subject.

"Yeah, I was hoping to hit the Empire, but I'm not stupid enough to go right into their territory."

"I don't know where any meetings are taking place or anything like that, but I could accompany you and teach you the ropes if you want?" The offer sounds sincere, but I don't want her to suddenly turn on me if I kill someone.

"I don't have an issue with killing, do you?" That makes her sway a bit and I can tell she is thinking.

"I don't… like it. But you didn't kill them when they surrendered, so you're not some complete nut job. As long as you don't go about killing willy-nilly, I think I can stomach it." She says, but her voice sounds uncertain.

Well, the names ended up coming sooner than I thought they would. I tried to include every name proposed.

Update: Cape and Sword votes will be done approval style, where you can vote for more than one option that you like.

Should I accept the help?
[X][Guide] Yes. Some advice might be nice.
[X][Guide] No. I should be good on my own.
[X][Guide] Just for a bit and then split off on my own.

What name should I take?
[X][Cape] Lancelot, The Peerless
[X][Cape] Conan, The Knight
[X][Cape] Lawgiver
[X][Cape] No name, forgo it entirely.
[X][Cape] Write-In:

And my sword?
[X][Sword] Arondight (The indestructible blade of Arthurian legend and sister sword of Excalibur.)
[X][Sword] Caledfwlch (The Welsh name for Excalibur, as far as I can tell.)
[X][Sword] Malum Caedo (Latin for I kill evil)
[X][Sword] Conquest (Conquest: The subjugation and assumption of control of a place or people by use of military force.)
[X][Sword] Write-In:

Update: Cape and Sword votes for Ch. 17 will be done approval style, where you can vote for more than one option that you like. I will be adding a 1.5hrs to give people a chance to edit their votes