Psychopomp [Worm]

The next morning, Casey found himself looking over the contents of his closet with dismay. Yes, he had been lucky--his apartment having been far enough from the fighting that it had been undamaged, and it even still had electricity--but now his luck had run out. He had no costume and was expected to go on a patrol with Miss Militia and Vista the next day. He had a fairly large selection of sweaters, t-shirts, jeans, skirts, and an impressively large catalogue of shoes.

But no costume. And no costume meant no caping. Something that caused him to feel a sort of phantom itch, not truly present, more a memory of the situation he had awoken too.

Luckily, he knew the basics of sewing and had some artistic ability (or so he told himself) and thought that he might be able to throw something together... and if worst came to worst, he did have the domino mask he'd taken from Skidmark still. A bit of contouring, maybe some contact lenses, and he thought he could at least disguise his identity. But it wouldn't exactly inspire respect, hope, or even fear.

One step at a time, Casey reminded himself.

The first thing he needed to do was come up with a cape name, and maybe do some research on the local cape scene. He pulled out his phone and got to researching

A few hours later, he found himself seated near the Boardwalk, examining a stone, garbed in his temporary "costume." It consisted of the domino mask, with some contouring to give his face more of a feminine appearance. He already looked androgynous, he knew, and he could push it pretty far. Casey figured it'd be a good idea to distance himself from any "legal" gender markers, to further throw off anyone trying to discover his identity. Beyond the domino mask, he had managed to rip apart several pieces of clothing, and then sew them back together into a robe that covered his body. He had even managed to include a hood! Of course, the materials and colors clashed in several places, but the ultimate result looked not entirely terrble.

Casey knew confidence was the name of the game. He had to present himself in a certain way, wear the costume like it had been intentional, and not something he had thrown together at the last minute. He knew he'd get a better one eventually, but this was what he had for now, and he'd make the most of it.

The stone he held in his hands was a small one--he had found it to be a necessity, when testing the "modified" power he had created. A small glow emanated from it, slowly shifting through the colors of a rainbow. He knew that if he tossed it, it was simply continue onwards, ever accelerating. When it hit something it would finally stop, all that energy released. Unless he willed it to stop, then it would gradually slow. Essentially, he granted his superspeed power to anything he touched.

He looked over his phone. He had found an interesting site--Parahumans Online--and it appeared to have an active message board about Brockton Bay. It had been exploding in activity the last few days, starting with the Bakuda Bombings and especially when Leviathan hit. Apparently, the devastated city had been "lucky" to only be as damaged as it had been, and many people were hopeful that clean-up would go well and the city wouldn't be abandoned as other places had been.

Casey also learned their had been many deaths from the attack. On the side of the heroes, Velocity and Dauntless had perished, as well as Aegis, Gallant, Panacea, Manpower, Shielder, and Browbeat. Casey could admit to himself, he had only really ever heard of Dauntless on that list. He had been something of a hometown hero, a source of local pride. And now he had died.

The villains had also suffered. Firstly, and most importantly, was Kaiser's death. Casey certainly knew about the local neo-Nazi. They were a large part of the reason he'd been looking for an excuse to leave the city, even if that had been running away. He'd begged his parents to allow him to move into Boston, anywhere not here, but they'd been insistent. They didn't want him in their home, not anymore, but they wanted him nearby. Somewhere to stay under their thumb.

It wasn't just Kaiser that died. Othala--a healer of some sort--had also passed in the battle, when Leviathan had unexpectedly struck the medical tents. Fenja and Alabaster both had fallen as well, not that he especially knew who they were. Speculation on the boards suggested Alabaster might still be alive, but most people thought that was crazy talk. Sure, he had apparently been nearly unkillable, but Leviathan wasn't considered an Endbringer for nothing.

Interestingly, a group that had been making it in the news recently had managed to survive unscathed. The Undersiders had even recruited a member, though rumors abounded that they had some sort of falling out with Skitter. No one seemed entirely sure precisely what, just that the few sightings of the enigmatic group had notably not included the bug controller. She had been seen several times engaging remnants of the Empire and attacking Merchants, though, so she clearly survived.

"Protean?" a woman's voice asked.

Protean looked up from her phone to look at the speaker. She was a woman garbed in American flags, a gun holstered at her hip, and a young girl beside her. Miss Militia and Vista, the two capes she had been told to expect.

"It's wonderful to meet you," Protean put a bit of bubbliness into her voice. "I've just been looking up what's been happening in the city, since..."

"Leviathan," Vista replied. The young ward put despondence into that word. Protean couldn't exactly blame the girl, according to PHO she had lost three of her team-mates in the battle.

"It's been difficult. That's why we really want to work with you, Protean. The city needs its heroes, whether Protectorate or not, and you can do a lot. But it's also more dangerous than ever. We'd like you to have this phone. It isn't traceable, and you can use it to contact us if you need anything. It also has an emergency beacon function. You just press this button here and it will alert the local Protectorate HQ and PRT HQ, as well as act as a beacon for your location. Otherwise, it isn't something we can easily track," Miss Milita hands the phone over.

Protean eyed it for a moment before she pocketed the phone. That was one thing she was happy about. She had included pockets all throughout her costume. With this exchange done, it seemed that it was time to patrol proper.

"Normally, we don't send inexperienced capes into more dangerous territories, especially not on a patrol like this. But, in light of your Brute rating and the exceptional circumstances, I've been given permission to ask: we can patrol the Boardwalk, it's likely to be safer even now. Or we can patrol further into the Docks. We aren't entirely certain what we'll find there. If we don't go it's likely they'll send Battery in the next few days to establish contact."

[] Patrol the Boardwalk. After Leviathan, even this once safe area contains some dangers. Still, it is unlikely to be anything too bad.
[] Patrol the Docks. Always a dangerous area, now it's even worse. Rumor has it that Skitter is laired somewhere in this area, though sightings of the bug controller have been elusive.

[][POWER] Utilize PSYCHOPOMP to create, modify, or break apart powers.
-[] Add a KEYWORD to [existing power]
-[] Add motes to [existing power]
-[] Break apart [existing power] and reclaim all motes and keywords (requires at least eight hours of rest).
-[] Do nothing for now.

POWER PANEL
CURRENT MOTES 0