When the Leviathan began to awake, every superhero in the city of Horizon rushed to keep the corpse of the supermassive alien slumbering. The ensuing battle could have gone better.
Now, it's up to you to use a superpower-granting serum to replenish the city's hero population, rebuild Justice Unlimited, and avoid dealing with your feelings. Should be easy, right?
Horizon, City of Leviathan's Rest – Location Unknown – September 8, 2067
Dr. Mammoth Ibis awoke and was pleased to note that he was still alive.
Most mornings—or whatever time of day it was in this dimly-lit room—it would be something he would take for granted. His days were routine: upon waking, he would immediately sterilize himself, eat a nutrition bar, and check how his latest children were developing. It was a simple life, but quiet in the world before the sun rose was when he felt most at peace. It was just him, the soothing hum of the incubators, and the endless possibility of discovery.
Ah, but he was navel-gazing, as it were. Trying to not think about why this was not most mornings.
The alien god that loomed over the city was waking up. Foolish, to build a metropolis so close to an unknown entity from stars spreading its infection. There were things rising out of the QZ. A desperate call to action rang out—if it had come from any but Uiara, it would have gone unheeded. But it was her, and soon every metahuman in the city was rushing toward the Leviathan, fighting, containing, resisting. He watched Steadfast dissolve into a mist of goldnine as even his invincible body was converted to more of the Leviathan's Blood.
Why was it waking up? It had loomed over the City of Horizon, dead, for nearly fifty years. Yet now even his children could hear its silent screams in their minds. Four voices. One unfathomably large and low; a crushing pressure who would erase them all without noticing. Another, high and sweet and full of rage. A third, deluded and cunning, begging for all, unearned. A fourth, confused and hurt and trying to still troubled waters the way you smoothed out wrinkles on a sheet.
Ah, and then there was a fifth, new. The psychic equivalent of someone opening their window and shouting at the neighbors to keep it down. Valiant Silver, arrogant as ever, even in her desperation.
The cacophony raged and bit and bled and then—Mammoth Ibis knew silence.
He rose to his feet, disquieted. It was unlike him to dwell on the past, things already done. He was a seeker of knowledge, a bearer of light against the darkness of ignorance, a man ever with an eye to the future. And yet, how small he really was. Ibis felt maudlin, lost, reflective for the first in years.
Oh, wait. His serotonin implant had been damaged. Well, that would explain it! A quick fix and then back to the lab—incubator #3348 looked quite promising!
"Excuse me, doctor, but it is upsetting to see how quickly your face changed just now."
"It can't be helped!" Ibis replied, turning to the portly figure who had just entered the room, "Early on, I realized that I could work more if I was always in a good mood! I've trained myself to not get too caught up with sentiment."
"I see." The man gave him a disapproving glance before continuing, "Well, may I impose upon you to hold onto your feelings until after we have had a chance to speak?"
"No!" the doctor replied instantly, " Much too much to do! I've wasted enough time today playing the hero as is."
Ibis tried to move past the man, but the rotund fellow smoothly stepped in the way. Frowning, Ibis tried to barrel through, but his opponent was deceptively strong. A small struggle later, and the doctor was forced to concede that he might have to actually further delay getting back to work. Vexing.
He let out a great sigh and decided to use valuable brainpower to pay attention.
The room he was in appeared to be some kind of infirmary. There was a Gatch bed behind him and some basic equipment used to monitor vitals. Aside from that, the room was bare. In fact, it was unusually small for a recovery ward—a medical professional would be tripping over themselves just trying to observe the patient. Also, the air had an odd, stale quality to it. It was clearly being fed through carbon scrubbers, which would indicate—
"Aha! I see that I am aboard Jacob's Ladder. I appreciate the medical attention, but I insist you book me a shuttle to the surface immediately."
Ibis allowed himself a microsecond of satisfaction. Jacob's Ladder, of course! The space elevator was equipped with state of the art scientific facilities, including a medbay, and was located near the Leviathan's Rest. A perfectly logical place to treat the injured.
But the man did not immediately move to obey Dr. Mammoth Ibis. Instead, he shook his head gravely.
"I'm afraid that's not possible at the moment, doctor."
Ibis flared his nostrils and let out a noisy breath. Distractions! Must he actually look at this person? Bah, fine, if he must!
Thankfully, the man was immediately recognizable. Joelle Chaucer, also known as the hero "The Famine Slayer".
His title as hero was somewhat ironic, however. Chaucer hadn't been an active metahuman for decades. He had first emerged with the hero team "SLAYERS '' as the "Thunder Slayer", with the lackluster power to produce electric jolts with a snap of his fingers. He seemed doomed to mediocrity, until he retired and entered into the world of business. Now, he was one of Horizon's most beloved philanthropists. His title as "The Famine Slayer" was more marketing than anything, but it didn't stop him from sticking his nose into others' business.
Ibis sneered at the man with the kindly face and nice suit. How dare he take up space in Ibis' brain with such triviality!
Said kindly face remained grave. "You are correct, doctor. We are on Jacob's Ladder. Somehow, Lady Leizi secured Justice Unlimited an entire base on the elevator and kept it secret. You're in their medical ward."
"Playing messenger then? Valiant Silver or Uiara were too busy, hmm?"
Chaucer didn't answer. Instead, he activated a viewscreen built into the wall like a window. It displayed a view of Horizon from above, the lights of megapolis splayed across the island of Marajó like a river of fireflies. It was an excellent view. The doctor could even make out the patch of icy wasteland in the middle of the city that marked The Frozen Throne.
But most striking, directly across the space elevator, surrounded by the fence of the Quarantine Zone and forever patrolled by the R-Train, was the Leviathan's body. Its ossified corpse towered over the city like a mountain, dwarfed only by Jacob's Ladder itself.
It was several yards closer to the city than it had been this morning. Its "head" was tilted slightly upwards. Ibis hated how the sight made him shiver.
Chaucer sat down in the room's only chair like he was buckling under a great weight. Ibis considered making a dash for it right then, but he had already invested the time. He may as well wait for Chaucer to get to the point.
However, the Famine Slayer didn't speak. He just stared at the city for several minutes in silence. His eyes were haunted, his face pale. Had Ibis cared enough to have an opinion, he would have thought the hero looked terrible.
Finally, right as Ibis' patience gave out, Chaucer spoke. He didn't even look at Ibis; he continued to stare out the window while speaking.
"She . . . had a contingency plan. I supposed she always did."
"Who?" Ibis replied, "Valiant Silver?"
"Yes," Chaucer confirmed. "If she were to die or become indefinitely incapacitated, all of Justice Unlimited's assets and resources would automatically pass to Uiara. If Uiara were similarly indisposed, it would go to Adamant, then Lady Leizi, and then every other member in order of seniority."
Ibis was tapping his foot. "Yes, yes, she's always been so brilliant. As if inventing a toaster you can control with your mind makes you some sort of genius. What of it?"
Chaucer finally moved his gaze to Ibis. "If every member of Justice Unlimited were to die, then control of their assets were to pass to me."
Ah.
"Unfortunate."
Ibis meant it. While he found their brand of do-gooding baffling at best and sanctimonious at worst, Justice Unlimited was excellent at keeping the city's more disruptive elements quiet.
"Wait, even Radiant Silvergirl? Shame. I actually liked her."
Chaucer's glare was a pleasant change of pace from his previous expression of morose emptiness.
"Oh, stop that. I'm certain Novalight will be thrilled to fill in the gap with New Dawn. She's just been aching to move back into the spotlight."
Chaucer stared him down. Ibis began to feel his scalp prickle.
"Oh. New Dawn as well? All of them? All of them? My word."
"Every hero who could fight was there, doctor. Even you."
"Do not lump in with the rest of those infants play-acting psychodramas with superpowers! I am a man of science."
"And yet," Chaucer said, unmoving, "You were there."
Now Ibis was growing irate. His timetables for the day were in tatters.
"Well, I suppose Global Justice will rule the city now!" he sneered, "All hail our lord and master, Justiciar! The Americans will be thrilled, I'm certain."
"Justiciar is dead. The Foot of the Ladder is in chaos."
Ibis peered back over the viewscreen. Come to think of it, some of those lights on Horizon looked less like electric illumination and more like fires. Well.
"The Four Seasons?"
"Little Automne is gone. I don't know about the rest."
"SLAYERS?"
"Gone." Chaucer's expression somehow became even bleaker. "Abigail just got engaged, did you know? She even asked me to be in her wedding party, man or no. . ."
Ibis hid the roll of his eyes. He cared little for the now-defunct, personal life of The Giant Slayer.
"Powers?"
Chaucer snapped out of it and grimaced. "Scarlet Maturity is still alive, but . . ."
"It would probably be better if he was dead. Of course that brute would outlive us all. And King has disappeared as usual?"
Chaucer sighed. "Yes, just when we need him most."
No wonder he looked ready to jump off the Ladder. The situation was truly dire. Still, it had very little to do with Dr. Mammoth Ibis.
"Well, I appreciate your warning. It was almost worth the delay. Now, my shuttle . . . ?"
Chaucer gave him a withering look and walked deliberately out the room. Did. . . did he assume that Ibis would just follow him? The gall of the man! That he was right was besides the point!
As Ibis hurried to match The Famine Slayer's determined strides, the haunted man began speaking.
"Doctor, you don't understand. Everyone came to stop the Leviathan from waking up. Every hero. The more villainously inclined did not," he said, "Now they rampage across the city! If it were not for The R-Train still patrolling the QZ, there would be total anarchy."
"So those were fires . . . Perhaps I'll let the more martial of my children stretch their legs when I return home."
"I'll thank you very much to not pour accelerant all over the city, doctor!" Chaucer barked, "The reason you must stay up here is that with Cisma and Steelheart both dead, Wonderland has failed. The prisoners inside have escaped. Including—"
"Le Petit Prince." The cold hatred that suddenly flowed through Ibis was quite invigorating. Maybe he had been overusing his implant. "You're mistaken, Famine Slayer. Now, I must return more than ever. I have unfinished business with that twisted lilliputian."
"Not when you're vulnerable to him! And not when you're the only person who can help solve this mess!" Chaucer thundered. With a sharp movement, he placed a hand on a panel and opened a door in a previously featureless wall. With a great pull, he yanked Ibis inside and dragged him to a contraption in the middle of the room. It was there that Ibis could see a golden liquid suspended in several layers of glass, floating in a magnetic field.
Ibis' mouth went dry. Leviathan's Blood. Goldnine. One of the most dangerous substances in existence. An ounce of it could destroy a continent. This much could end the planet.
". . . I'm listening."
* * *
Wonderful! Marvelous! Scientudenous, even! Ibis was so pleased that he was making playful exclamations! Today seemed like a total waste, but this . . . this alone made it all worth it.
He had never been this close to raw goldnine before. It was one of the few laws that were sacrosanct in Horizon: do not deal in the Leviathan's Blood. And that name was literal! Goldnine was an amber liquid that constantly seeped from the body of the Leviathan. It was the strange matter of biological material—any organic compound that made contact with goldnine would instantly be converted into more of it. When the Leviathan first impacted the Earth nearly 20% of Marajó was instantly turned. Dumb luck kept it from swallowing the rest of the island.
That was the true purpose of the QZ. Most people assumed it was to protect the city from the strange creatures that occasionally emerged near the Leviathan, but it was really to prevent any smuggling of a substance that could end the world. How Ibis rued that he was never able to properly analyze it!
Think of it! Real biological matter from an extraterrestrial creature! He salivated at the thought of what he could learn from it. Certainly dangerous, rightfully kept from lesser minds, but to deny it from someone like himself? Criminal!
"—Adamant's metallic body protected him from contamination long enough to get you and a sample of goldnine out of the QZ. His last act was to send a message to me—"
Oh goodness. Was the Famine Slayer still blathering on?
"Yes, yes, yes Chaucer. I'm certain Adamant was appropriately heroic. Heroic enough to risk transporting Levithan's Blood through the city."
Chaucer gave him a severe look. "He saved your life."
"I haven't the faintest idea why. I hardly knew the man. Good on him, I suppose."
The Famine Slayer ran a hand over his face and began to rub his temples. He looked as if he hadn't slept in days.
"I see rumors of your . . . disposition were true. Very well, doctor, I will get to the point. In front of you is one of the only samples of goldnine in the world. One of the greatest heroes in the city brought it here at the cost of his life for one simple reason: it is the key ingredient in this."
Chaucer pulled out a dataslate, bit his thumb, and fed the blood to an authenticator on its surface. Only then did it illuminate, and Chaucer thrust it into Ibis' hands.
Ibis broke away from staring longingly at the goldnine to look at the tablet in his hands. Physical media? Ibis frowned. He hadn't seen something like this in years. As he began to read its contents, eyes wide and mouth open, he immediately realized why:
This was the early work for a formula to grant superpowers.
Ibis simultaneously was gripped with admiration and envy. It was primitive, needed a great deal of additional work, but the theory was sound. Valiant Silver had begun to discover something that had eluded the world for over five decades—how to grant superpowers on demand.
Whether you were a metahuman was decided at birth, although most did not begin to express their powers until adolescence. Sure, you had fringe cases who manifested powers at birth, but those were the exception. Depending on what their power was, some people could go their whole life without knowing they were a metahuman.
It didn't help that metahumanity appeared to be random. Two metahumans had no greater chance of having a child with powers than two regular humans. Millions had been spent by every major corporation in Horizon trying to, unsuccessfully, solve the riddle of where powers came from, and here was the start of the answer sitting in his hands. He didn't know whether to shout or cry.
"Valiant Silver was holding out on us! 'Psychic fields' . . . 'backstage' . . . 'sympathetic links' . . . goldnine was the key! I knew it!" Ibis shouted.
"Then you can finish it?" Chaucer leaned forward, a wild look in his eyes.
"Can I finish it? Can I finish it? I can finish anything that upstart power-armor jockey started! She wishes she had an ounce of the brilliance that I have in one pinky finger!"
Chaucer began pacing, his eyes filled with an agonizing kind of hope.
"Then . . . then we can rebuild! This was their final contingency. The plan if all hope was lost." Chaucer captured Ibis' arm in a firm grasp. "Doctor. I will provide you with resources, a safe haven, goldnine, anything. Anything if you can complete this formula."
"I'll need test subjects . . ." Ibis said, realizing he should have played it more canny, "And equipment from my home lab. Non-negotiable."
"Of course." Chaucer bobbed his head. "And I know people. Good people who would volunteer if it meant saving this city—no. Saving this world."
Ibis greedily rubbed his hands together. "I'll give you an army to lead, Famine Slayer. Just give me what I need."
"Me? No." Chaucer shook his head. "I am no leader. It will not be I who is in charge of Justice Unlimited." Chaucer beckoned with one hand for Ibis to follow him, which he reluctantly did. Again.
They walked back down the hall to the medical wing. They stopped in front of a room labeled "ICU", but did not enter. Instead, Chaucer activated a pane of polarized glass that let them view the room inside. On the other side of the glass, nearly totally hidden by all of the machines keeping them alive, was someone Ibis recognized.
"Oh. Oh. I see."
"Yes, doctor," Chaucer said, "There was one other survivor."
* * *
At first, all you are aware of is the ache of your body and the hum of machines. Your head feels like someone tried to kick their way out of it from the inside. You need to use the bathroom, but you don't know where it is and if you also still have legs. You spend a moment annoyed and in pain. That moment is bliss, because, in the next, you remember that your team is dead.
And yet, you persist. That is what a hero does after all. For good or ill, you are . . .
[ ] . . . Nora Kim, a.k.a. Valiant Silver.
You are the most intelligent person in Horizon. While you were a starving university student, you invented "psitech" technology—technology that allowed the human mind to directly interface with machinery. You publicly outed yourself as a metahuman while defending your classmates from a villain attack and, in the process, inadvertently founded Justice Unlimited. You were the team's leader, and under your stewardship Justice Unlimited rose to be the preeminent heroic organization in Horizon. Were it not for your quick actions in the QZ, the brewing psychic storm would have engulfed the city and awoken the Leviathan.
Like Dr. Mammoth Ibis, you are an "Algernon-type" metahuman. Your power allows you to rapidly absorb, process, and synthesize information at a superhuman rate. You can learn in a day what would take most people a lifetime. You can become a master of any field of knowledge practically overnight, and can make scientific advances that can catapult humanity into the future in an instant. However, use of this power comes at a terrible cost, one that was beginning to catch up with you. Unknown to the public, your team had forced you into a "soft retirement", leaving you out of fieldwork.
When you were in the field, you fought in power armor that the Toei Company's legal team agreed was "legally distinct enough", and which granted you a suite of powers ranging from super-strength to pyrokinesis. Your versatility in battle was unmatched—many a foe of Justice Unlimited's was defeated with your bag of tricks. However, your armor was recently destroyed, and it will be costly in both time and resources to rebuild. Until you do, you remain a liability in combat.
STATS: HIT 2, ESPIONAGE 6, REPUTATION 5, OPERATIONS 10.
[ ] . . . Lei Zixuan, a.k.a. Lady Leizi.
You are the one person in Horizon who knows where all the bodies are buried. The heiress to an organized crime syndicate, being defeated by a nascent Justice Unlimited changed the trajectory of your life. Rather than swear revenge, you offered your services and became one of the most connected spymasters in all of Horizon. You've cultivated contacts on both sides of the law, and a metahuman can't so much as draw breath in the city without word of it reaching your ears. While your team provided the power and resources, you provided them the means to use it effectively and with panache.
A martial arts prodigy, your already formidable hand-to-hand skills became lethal when your powers manifested. You command the power of lighting with every strike of your fist, every kick of your leg, and even in the gentlest touch. You can produce electricity on par with lightning strikes or a subtle as a static shock. Your contact electric blasts make you a master of close-quarter combat that all but the strongest metahumans in Horizon fear. On top of that, a childhood spent evading law enforcement has given you a keen power of observation and an intuitive knowledge of who to trust.
However, your power grants you no defensive capabilities—a bullet would end you as readily as anyone else. Additionally, as powerful as you are behind the scenes, you are not-well known to the public writ-large. Those who are aware of you know you as Justice Unlimited's hatchet-woman, and you are more feared than trusted. Becoming the new "face" of Justice Unlimited will involve significant growing pains.
STATS: HIT 5, ESPIONAGE 8, REPUTATION 3, OPERATIONS 5.
[ ] . . . Yazmin Oliviera, a.k.a. Uiara.
You are the one hero that everyone in Horizon respects. You are the granddaughter of Ọsanyìn, the first metahuman, who founded his namesake megacorporation and built Horizon. But you eschewed your family's wealth, power, and petty squabbles to directly serve the people of Horizon. You were the conscience of Justice Unlimited, refusing to let your team cross the line that separates justice from tyranny. It was the strength of your reputation that drew the city's heroes to stop the Leviathan's awakening and save the city, possibly the world.
You are one of the strongest hydrokinetics in the world. Your command of water starts slow, but eventually ramps up to the point where you can drown cities. You can freely shape and move water like it is part of your body, and you can flash freeze or boil it with a thought. Additionally, while you are not invincible, you are what Valiant Silver once described as "super-durable"; you are not immune to harm, but you can take a beating well past the point where a normal person would die.
However, by your own admission, you are not the strongest planner. You're not unintelligent, far from it, but, put kindly, you think in terms of tactics instead of strategy. Put unkindly, you are hot-headed and prone to being impulsive. Additionally, you and technology have never really mixed. If you have a nickel for every time Valiant Silver or Moon River chewed you out for breaking your equipment, you would be able to buy your family's company a dozen times over.
STATS: HIT 6, ESPIONAGE 4, REPUTATION 8, OPERATIONS 4.
You are now the most dangerous metahuman in Horizon. You are the rare metahuman who was born with her powers. As an infant, you were kidnapped by an extremist paramilitary group and raised to be a weapon. However, your personality proved entirely unconducive to this and deeply frustrating to your instructors. News reports about Justice Unlimited in Horizon filled you with a deep longing, and you eventually escaped and joined Justice Unlimited as their most junior member.
You hold power over gravity on a cosmic level. Your power has left with a permanently altered appearance; your skin is like a silver glass, whorls and eddies of power visibly flowing under the surface. Spin the power clockwise and your skin turns white as ivory, allowing you to create a "white hole" in any spot you can see. Said white hole pushes all forms of matter and energy away from it with a force in proportion to its size. Spin the power counter-clockwise, and your skin turns black as onyx. Your power then becomes the ability to generate black holes wherever you wish, with all the crushing, attracting force of gravity that implies. Your gravity control lets you fly, and you're much stronger than your slender frame would belie.
However, you're whatever the opposite of a "people person" is. You struggle with social cues, don't intuitively read facial expressions, and prefer to speak directly at all times. The Red Huntress once asked you if you wanted to get a formal diagnosis, but you never saw the point. Your social deficiencies coupled with your unconventional childhood make public relations an extreme effort. And yet, now if you don't do it, there's no one else left to.
STATS: HIT 9, ESPIONAGE 3, REPUTATION 4, OPERATIONS 6.
* * *
Hey everyone! I am a long time quest-lurker, first time quest maker-poster-writer person. This is an original superhero setting that's been cooking in the back of my head for a while. I've never quite run a game like this, so there's gonna be hiccups. Please bear with me and I promise we will have, at least, and adequate time!
You will be tasked with rebuilding Justice Unlimited, saving Horizon, and maybe finally getting around that giant alien body that's been here for 50 years. You will be doing so by turning regular people into superheroes. Rules will be in the post below; good luck!
This game will run a bastardization of CKII-style quests of my own making. This is my first time designing something this in-depth, so I reserve the right to make tweaks as we go if things aren't working as intended. I'm always open to input on how to improve, so if you see an obvious flaw or just have a thought, please let me know.
Organization:
You will be tasked with rebuilding Justice Unlimited from scratch. You have virtually no resources, no reputation, and no income. Thankfully, you do have access to the remainder of Justice Unlimited's emergency funds. You have just enough to create, outfit, and train a new metahuman and keep the lights on for a bit. Upkeep costs will be kept on the main character page. As of now, they are zero. If you wish to expand Justice Unlimited, that will change.
Horizon is divided into about a dozen boroughs that all have their own governing apparatus. The primary way to make money in Horizon is to enter into a contract to protect a given borough. You agree to deal with metahuman threats in their borders, and they agree to pay you a fee every turn.
Justice Unlimited used to be contracted to protect, and thus controlled, a number of boroughs in Horizon. The destruction of the organization has called that into question. If you want to keep your old contracts, you're going to have to prove you can do the job.
This will be done via missions. Certain missions may grant a point of control over a given borough as a reward for successfully completing it. Different boroughs will require different amounts of control points to be willing to contract with Justice Unlimited.
Personal Stats:
Personal stats work off the "HERO" system. They are:
HIT - direct combat ability
ESPIONAGE - instinct, ability to engage in intrigue and otherwise ferret out hidden information REPUTATION - Leadership, ability to inspire others, how much others trust you OPERATIONS - ability to plan strategically, technological know-how, run day to day business
Each hero will have an assigned value for each stat. The value is not static and may be increased or decreased depending on events in the story. Stats are primarily increased through training and the administration of doses of Ambrosia, but more on that later. For the purpose of missions, all heroes stats will be added together. During mini-arcs during missions, a hero will roll with their individual stats.
Missions:
At the start of each turn, players will be presented with a list of missions they may choose to undertake. Multiple missions may be taken, but the amount of missions that may be taken on one turn is determined by Justice Unlimited's Action Points (AP) and overall HERO stats. Accepting a mission begins a mini-arc that will contain one or multiple votes and DCs to determine whether it is completed successfully and to what degree.
Undertaking a mission requires that you have sufficient AP and enough overall HERO. For example:
You select the following missions:
Pick Up Milk. (AP 1, HIT 1, ESPIONAGE 1, OPERATIONS 2)
Take a Shower. (AP 1, ESPIONAGE 2, REPUTATION 1, OPERATIONS 1.
Final Stat Requirements: (AP 2, HIT 1, ESPIONAGE 3, REPUTATION 1, OPERATIONS 3)
In this example, let's say Justice Unlimited's has the following stats: AP 2, HIT 2, ESPIONAGE 6, REPUTATION 2, OPERATIONS 2
Justice Unlimited would not be able to take on the listed missions because it was lacking one OPERATIONS point, although you have sufficient AP.
Some missions will have special story requirements, while others will only be available for a certain number of turns before auto-resolving without player input. Such missions will be marked.
During mini-arcs, heroes taking actions will roll with their individual stats. All rolls will be done with a D20 with a DC you will know ahead of time. Each DC will also have an associated stat check on it. If a hero has less of a HERO stat than the stat check, they may still attempt the DC. However, there will be a -1 modifier to the roll for every 2 points they are below the requirement. If a hero has more of a HERO stat than is required, the will receive a +1 modifier for every 2 points they have above the requirement.
For example, let's use Radiant Silvergirl. She has the following stats: HIT 9, ESPIONAGE 3, REPUTATION 4, OPERATIONS 6.
During a mini-arc, Radiant Silvergirl encounters the following DC:
[ ] Jump really high. (DC 5, HIT 2).
Radiant Silvergirl has a HIT that is 7 over the requirement. She thus will roll with a +2.
Now, let's say she encounters this DC:
[ ] Call a waiter over. (DC 5, ESPIONAGE 5).
Radiant Silvergirl has an ESPIONAGE that is 2 less than the requirement. She thus will roll with a -1.
Some missions may have an associated Income cost. You cannot begin a turn with a negative Income balance. Any mission requiring Income you do not have will auto-fail.
Action points can be earned by gaining bases or increasing the roster-size of Justice Unlimited. At this point, it will take two new metahumans to gain 1AP.
BUILDING HEROES:
Ambrosia
Dr. Mammoth Ibis has named his power-granting serum "Ambrosia". Yes, really. You will create the dose of Ambrosia by voting on what power sets from various deceased metahumans to include in each dose. There is no guarantee of the power that will be granted by a dose of Ambrosia, but I will take the thread's rationale for making a particular dose into consideration. In other words, if you're trying to make a stealthy hero and include powers for that purpose, I won't give the candidate a power that makes them glow really bright.
Each dose of Ambrosia will have a potency rating from 1 to 10. The higher the potency rating, the more powerful the metahuman power that will be granted by the dose of Ambrosia (and thus the higher the stat increase). However, a higher potency also means there is a higher chance of a mutation with a negative side effect.
The risk of a negative side effect is as follows:
Potency:
1-3: No chance of a side effect.
4-6: Chance of a minor side effect.
7-8: Chance of a moderate side effect.
9-10: Chance of a major side effect.
To determine if a dose has a side effect, a d100 will be rolled. 1 to 39 and there is no side effect. 40 to 69 and there is a minor side effect. 70 to 89 and there is a moderate side effect. 90 to 99 and there is a major side effect. At 100 something special happens, but that will remain a surprise for now. If a dose only has a chance to cause a lesser side effect but a roll for a higher side effect happens, then only the most serious side effect possible for the dose will take effect. For example:
There is a dose of Ambrosia with a potency of 7. A 95 is rolled. Only a moderate side effect will occur.
You will have the option of decreasing a dose's potency by 1 without making the expressed power weaker. This can be done up to three times. However, each time you do it adds a +5 modifier to the chance of a negative side effect.
I have a table of minor, moderate, and major side effects. I'll roll to determine which one takes effect. I know looking at the odds, there is a low chance of a major side effect ever taking place. Trust me though, they're nasty. Side effects have stat penalties and other factors that have long term ramifications for the candidates. Speaking of which:
Candidates
You have to have someone to whom to give the Ambrosia. Candidates come with their own HERO stats and an Ambrosia tolerance level. A candidate's tolerance must match or exceed a dose's potency level for them to be able to take it. Dr. Mammoth Ibis' research shows that higher neuroplasticity is correlated with a higher tolerance. Which is to say, candidates with crappier stats can take more potent doses.
Your candidate pool can be expanded through missions or naturally as Justice Unlimited's reputation grows.
Combat
Failing a HIT check in a combat situation will result in a character taking one injury level. The levels are as follows:
1 Injury Level -- Superficial Injury (no mechanical change)
2 Injury Levels -- Severe Injury (all HIT checks rolled with a -1)
3 Injury Levels -- Critical Injury, Adrenaline (all Hit checks rolled with +2)
4 Injury Levels -- Death or Incapacity
Injury levels are cumulative per turn. At the end of a turn, all characters heal all injuries. Any character with the tag "invulnerable" cannot take an injury level unless narratively it makes sense for them to do so, and cannot die due to injuries. Any character with the tag "regeneration" will heal an injury level between missions or when the specific conditions of their regeneration are met.
Characters may suffer injury levels from ambushes and other unexpected events, but I will not put a character in a situation where they could die or be incapacitated without a thread vote.
I reserve the right to break any of these rules if it would be cool narratively. Feel free to call me out on it though!
You are the one person in Horizon who knows where all the bodies are buried. The heiress to an organized crime syndicate, being defeated by a nascent Justice Unlimited changed the trajectory of your life. Rather than swear revenge, you offered your services and became one of the most connected spymasters in all of Horizon. You've cultivated contacts on both sides of the law, and a metahuman can't so much as draw breath in the city without word of it reaching your ears. While your team provided the power and resources, you provided them the means to use it effectively and with panache.
A martial arts prodigy, your already formidable hand-to-hand skills became lethal when your powers manifested. You command the power of lighting with every strike of your fist, every kick of your leg, and even in the gentlest touch. You can produce electricity on par with lightning strikes or a subtle as a static shock. Your contact electric blasts make you a master of close-quarter combat that all but the strongest metahumans in Horizon fear. On top of that, a childhood spent evading law enforcement has given you a keen power of observation and an intuitive knowledge of who to trust.
However, your power grants you no defensive capabilities—a bullet would end you as readily as anyone else. Additionally, as powerful as you are behind the scenes, you are not-well known to the public writ-large. Those who are aware of you know you as Justice Unlimited's hatchet-woman, and you are more feared than trusted. Becoming the new "face" of Justice Unlimited will involve significant growing pains.
JUSTICE UNLIMITED
Headquarters: The Apiary, (7/10 Metahumans) Other Bases: Unnamed Base on Jacob's Ladder, The Zenith Current Income: 0 Income/Turn: 1000/Turn Available Action Points: 8 Available Global Actions: 6
Roster:
Lady Leizi - HIT 5, ESPIONAGE 8, REPUTATION 6, OPERATIONS 5.
You are Lady Leizi, the spymaster of Horizon. As Lady Leizi, you will receive extra intel for every potential metahuman candidate. Additionally, because of your extensive spy-network, you may once per turn mission reduce the difficulty of any ESPIONAGE check for yourself or others by 3.
Name: Black Swan, Mona Merola-Morales Keywords:Fundamental Force Manipulation, Invulnerability, Regeneration, Flight Side Effect: Extreme Psychic Field Sensitivity Faction: Justice Unlimited Potency: 13 Stats: HIT 12, ESPIONAGE 3, REPUTATION 10, OPERATIONS 4
Ibis' Notes: The subject's power has turned her body into a hyperdense gravity anomaly, not unlike a supermassive black hole and with the density of several galaxies. Her external "body" is an ablative shell of orbiting energy. Subject can control the gravity at her core and reabsorb the energy body into her core body. Doing so creates a massive amount of friction resulting in magnetic fields. Said fields can launch matter from her body at relativistic speeds. Doing so will result in a reduction of her overall body's mass, which can be regenerated by absorbing radiation.
Subject can use control of gravity to fly at supersonic speeds, possibly even relativistic speeds. Abilities:
Hypernovae Mode
If a sufficient source of radiation exists, Black Swan may spend the scene absorbing said source of radiation. Black Swan will recover injury levels depending on the sufficiency of the source, as well as potentially gaining "shielded" status. If Black Swan can absorb energy beyond that, she will enter Hypernovae Mode, adding +5 to her next HIT check.
Lightspeed Dash
Black Swan may fly at speeds approaching the speed of light. Doing so will trigger atomic fusion and explosions that will not harm Black Swan, but will cause damage to the areas through which she flies. If Black Swan is in Hypernovae Mode, she can absorb the energy of the explosions to continue Hypernovae Mode and prevent any damage, except for damage to what she flies through and where she stops.
Name: Menagerie Witch, Madeline du Marseille
Keywords: Construct Creation, Energy Manipulation, Autonomous Creature Creation
Faction: Justice Unlimited
Stats: HIT 4, ESPIONAGE 6, REPUTATION 5, OPERATIONS 7 Dr. Ibis' Notes: Menagerie Witch's powers are exceptionally well-developed for someone her age. Fourteen years old and already she's reached full-maturation as a metahuman.
Clovis Laurent will burn in hell.
Ahem. Regardless of the circumstance, Menagerie Witch's power affords her amazing flexibility, if not direct combat ability. She's able to freely move her shadow and use it to "clone" any non-sapient living creature. Her clones are solid energy constructs that resemble shadows with red eyes. She's able to pour more energy into the creature during creation to make it stronger, larger, faster, more durable, or in any shape she can imagine. Her only limitations are the amount of time she has to create a creature, the energy she can spare, and the energy taken from the cloned subject.
Menagerie Witch should not use her power to the extent she did during the Third North Tower Incident. A physical revealed she is severely malnourished with a bone density only witnessed in those with osteoporosis. Her pets are not doing much better. It will take time for the damage to heal, if it ever fully does.
Once created, her constructs display a shocking degree of autonomy, by all accounts acting the same as their living counterparts including a loyalty to Menagerie Witch. They can understand and follow verbal orders from Menagerie Witch, though she cannot control them directly nor share senses with them. Once created, they appear to be able to persist for several weeks if left unharmed.
The only drawback is the constructs must remain within several hundred yards of Menagerie Witch. Once that threshold is exceeded, they will automatically disperse. Abilities:
Chimera
In exchange for taking one injury level, Menagerie Witch may combine the clones of whatever members of her menagerie she has access to in order to create a beast with all of their traits. Said chimera will boost her HIT, ESPIONAGE, REPUTATION, or OPERATIONS stat by one for each member of her menagerie involved in the creation of the chimera. She may only maintain one chimera at a time.
Name: Handyman, Rhys Gardner Keywords: Autobiokinesis, Enhanced Strength Side Effect: None Faction: Justice Unlimited Potency: 9
Stats: HIT 8, ESPIONAGE 9, REPUTATION 3, OPERATIONS 3
Ibis' Notes: Subject's power has changed the composition of his body into an organic compound known as "clay". Subject can manipulate the structure, shape, and composition of his body including being able to make scales, feathers, chitin, bone, bioluminescent sacs, secondary pairs of organs, and so on. Subject can also make constructs in his body as well—for example, the subject made organic pile-bunkers in his elbows that greatly increased the strength of the subject's punches and, after being given a diagram, the subject could create crude crossbows out of his hands.
Subject possesses enhanced regeneration and strength. The subject can also change size. The subject can change into something smaller than his base form with a proportional increase in density. The subject's ability to grow has no limitations except the square-cube law. The subject was able to reliably get to about twenty feet in height before moving required the subject's body to be made of materials too brittle to be of use.
Name: Châtelet, Opale Houdin-Reyes Keywords:Fundamental Force Manipulation, Construct Creation Faction: Justice Unlimited Stats: HIT 7, ESPIONAGE 3, REPUTATION 9, OPERATIONS 6
Ibis' Notes:Châtelet can create tube-shaped barriers in any location she can see, including around objects. The outside of the barrier can withstand strong physical damage, while the area inside the barrier has a gravitational orientation chosen by Châtelet. The barriers are not permeable, but the top and bottoms are not enclosed, allowing Châteletto fire them like a "beam" if she so chooses. The barriers can be any thickness she wishes, but the gravitational effect occurs in a strength proportional to the size of the barrier. The more barriers she creates at once, the weaker they all become collectively.
Name: Doctor Silver, John Henry Rhodes Keywords: Force Fields, Ally Empowerment, Clairvoyance Side Effect: Minor Psychic Field Sensitivity Faction: Justice Unlimited Potency: 10 Stats: HIT 3, ESPIONAGE 6, REPUTATION 7, OPERATIONS 7 Ibis' Notes: My BFF is soooooo coooooool! He has total spatial awareness of the area around himself within a 100 yard radius! He can sense movement and know what's going on in enclosed spaces within his range! Who cares if he can't technically "see", so his sense is blind to things like papers and screens?!
And he can make force fields! He has a set pool of energy he can spend to make force fields he can spontaneously manifest anywhere in his area of detection, in any shape, attached to a person, object, or just hanging in the air. Sure, the force fields decrease in strength with number or size, but he can make up to three at a time that can stop a bullet. And, and, annnnnnnd he has a second kind of barrier he can place on objects or people. This barrier absorbs part of any physical or energetic impact and then adds it back to his pool of energy. He can keep his 'Hustle' going indefinitely! And he can make three absorbing force fields at a time. He's the best! The bestest friend for the bestest doctor! Ride or die, baby!
Abilities:
The Hustle
John Henry can create shields for himself or allies that will absorb injury levels when struck. He can create three injury levels worth of shields at once. This means he can create one shield that absorbs three injury levels, one shield that can absorb two injury levels and one that can absorb one injury level, or three shields that can each absorb one injury level. These cannot stack with shield generators at the same time, but he can apply a shield to a character who has used their shield generator. If all his shields are deployed, he may only create extremely weak force fields.
John Henry may tag up to three objects or people with a "red barrier". The barrier provides no shielding, but for every injury level that occurs to an object or person with a red barrier, John Henry recharges one injury level's worth of energy to use in other shields or force fields. He may only store three injury levels worth of energy at a time.
Name: Valiant Gold, Noelle "Ellie" Han Power: The EXCEED-BEYOND Armor Side Effect: Extreme Psychic Field Sensitivity Faction: Justice Unlimited Potency: 13
Stats: HIT 9, ESPIONAGE 4, REPUTATION 7, OPERATIONS 9 Notes: Ellie wields the EXCEED-BEYOND armor, which has four modules with different power sets. Modules must be selected for a scene and may be changed between scenes. Using any power in blue will disable the module until the end of a combat encounter. Using module "dynamite" will disable the EXCEED-BEYOND armor until the end of the mission. Always Active: Anti-gravity, Energy Shielding, Mental Manipulation Immunity Module "Paper": Pyrokinesis, Energy Blaster, Drones, Targeting Suite, Railgun Module "Scissors": Psychic Energy Blades, Agility Suite, Telekinesis, Pilebunker Module "Rock": Enhanced Strength, Advanced Energy Shielding, Power Nullification Module "Dynamite": O̵̺͓̊͌͊p̵̞͕̔̚ē̵͔͜ņ̵͍͎̊ ̸͎̌̄̌ẗ̶̖͘h̶̝̮͐̋ë̵̺̺́ ̷̺͊S̵͍̊̈̕t̷̮̎͝ą̶̩̞̄g̶̮͘e̶̦̲̟͌
Reach Heaven Through Violence
Ellie's cool head under fire is contagious. Any time there is a HIT check where Justice Unlimited is subject to an ambush or sneak attack, add +3 to the roll if Ellie is present!
Algernon-Type
It was always meant for two. Qe̵̛̞n̶̫͗j̵̥̾ ̷̫̉ẕ̵̈ḃ̴̪ě̴̤ŗ̷̇ ̵̯͒O̸̭͗ÿ̴̪n̶͙̒p̵̼̚x̸̰̄t̴̪̎b̶͖̂ý̸̘q̶͖̍ ̸̬̆l̶̜̆ḧ̷͈́e̷̝͊v̸̢͛.̶̖̆ ̵̩͐W̸̙̑x̵͖̊,̶͈̎ ̸̥̓w̶̠͝x̷̨̓.̷̮̈ ̸̫̽Ő̸͍h̵̖̉g̶̠̕ ̷̛̱l̷̰̎b̶̖́h̷̻͗ ̶͚̽q̵̌ͅb̸̼̃a̷̡̔'̷͔͆ġ̸̻ ̸̱͑x̵̝́ạ̷̒b̶͕̒j̴͈̾ ̸̗͠ ̵̢̓u̴͍̾b̴̘̑j̷͚͑ ̴̯̍g̵̫̕u̶̖͐v̸̼̇f̴̺͒ ̷̟̃n̴̟̆ǒ̴͉v̴͓̒y̸͎̍v̸̟̍g̵͖̃l̷͎͘ ̷͙͗j̸̭̚b̸͘ͅé̷̢ẋ̴̪f̵͚̆ ̷̼̀l̴͚͛r̴̬̽g̶̠͋!̶̔ͅ
Global Stat Modifiers: +1 HIT, -4 REPUTATION, +1 ESPIONAGE, +1 OPERATIONS
Total Available Stats: HIT 49, ESPIONAGE 40, REPUTATION 43, OPERATIONS 42.
Affiliate Members: Dr. Mammoth Ibis (Head of Research), Joelle Chaucer the "Famine Slayer" (Director of Operations), Dr. Massive Ibis (Chief Research Assistant), Takanashi Chihiro (Director of Communications)
Analytical Precognition
Wolong has a set number of charges for his power for each mission. By expending one charge on a mission where he is presnt, Wolong can ensure Justice Unlimited will automatically pass any OPERATIONS check.
The No Spin Zone (Now with Spin!)
Once per mission, when Chihiro is present in a scene, or reasonably reachable through remote means, you may re-roll any failed REPUTATION check that relates to public relations. The re-roll is done with advantage and Chihiro adds +3 to the final result.
You Little Shit!
Chihiro has maintained her journalistic integrity in an industry that demands she abandon it, but she's still got hands. Once per mission, if Chihiro is present in a scene, or reasonably reachable by remote means, you may automatically pass any REPUTATION check where you attempt to damage a foe's credibility or reputation in the eyes of the public, so long as your negative claims are factually accurate.
Allies: Mendicant, Alice Lawson; Wolong, Gabriel Kwan; New Dawn Assets Ronin, Egawa Akane; White Tiger
Name: Gentleman James, Andre Machado Faction: New Dawn Stats: HIT 5, ESPIONAGE 4, REPUTATION 7, OPERATIONS 6
Ibis' Notes:Gentleman James can connect two points in space that he can see with unbreakable chains. He is able to shrink the chains at will bringing the points together, or extend the length of the chain as he so chooses. The weight of the objects does not affect the strength of the retraction, although it can be resisted by very heavy objects or objects fixed to the ground.
Name: Dreamcatcher, Juan Castellanos Faction: New Dawn Stats: HIT 3-9 (variable), ESPIONAGE 2, REPUTATION 4, OPERATIONS 4
Ibis' Notes:Dreamcatcher is able to manifest one object or creature from the dream he had last night into reality. The object maintains its characteristics from the dream, but the more Dreamcatcher himself begins to question the underlying logic of the item the less effective it becomes. Unfortunately, he has no ability to control what he dreams about and firmly believes that lucid dreaming is "total bullshit". (Mechanics: Roll a d20 on any mission with Dreamcatcher to determine the strength of his dream item)
Name: Palisade, Renee Mathews Faction: New Dawn Stats: HIT 7, ESPIONAGE 5, REPUTATION 5, OPERATIONS 5
Ibis' Notes:Palisade has an invisible forcefield around her body that she can freely reposition in any share or location within a thirty foot radius of herself. The barrier becomes visible when damaged, and is a dark, transparent shade of purple. If her barrier is broken, it takes approximately an hour to return to full strength, though she can use it in a diminished form before then.
Name: Miss Naught, Virginia Cunningham Faction: New Dawn Stats: HIT 5, ESPIONAGE 6, REPUTATION 5, OPERATIONS 6
Ibis' Notes:Miss Naught can "mark" a target that she can see. The mark is physical and can be seen when placed. Any objects fired by her or her allies at the target will home in on the mark. To facilitate the most effective use of her powers, she carries a quiver of "trick" arrows with various effects.
Wolong's Insight—Once per mission where New Dawn is involved, Wolong can use his power to autocrit any OPERATIONS check.
Controlled Territory: Worker's Mitt Available Territory: Old Industrial District (0/5) (+2000 Income/turn) The Worker's Mitt and OID pay their Income/per turn immediately upon being retaken in the form of a penalty clause) Resources: 1 personal shield generators, 2 Ambrosia doses worth of goldnine Available Candidates:
Candidate #1
Name: Song Yu-Jin Age: 61 Stats: HIT 4, ESPIONAGE 3, REPUTATION 5, OPERATIONS 4 Tolerance: 3 Chaucer's Notes: Mr. Song originally hails from the Old Industrial District, where he ran a small martial arts studio. He's since relocated to the Apiary following his home's destruction. A widower with a college-age son abroad, Yu-Jin has become something of a pillar of the community in his golden years. He runs a small daycare that caters to working-class families, he teaches a Tai Chi class in the morning, and he's reportedly still quite the martial artist. Rumors hold that he was the instructor of Counterstrike, a popular vigilante working out of the OID. If he's truly skilled enough to teach even metahumans, he may be a welcome addition to Justice Unlimited. Lady Leizi: My shīfù once told me there are only two kinds of aged warriors: those who abandon the fight altogether and age gracefully into infirmary, and those who bitterly resent time's theft of their prowess and train relentlessly to not give up one iota of their skill. That kind is all the more dangerous for their experience along with their ability. Mr. Song reminds me of the latter. He plays the role of the kindly grandfather, but I have a feeling that still waters run deep. The true problem presented by his age is what to do about his cover. We either give him a subtle power that could have plausibly remained hidden, conceal his identity, or somehow find a way to reverse aging. Candidate #2
Name: Soraia Del Rosario Age: 31 Stats: HIT 1, ESPIONAGE 3, REPUTATION 6, OPERATIONS 4 Tolerance: 5 Chaucer's Notes:One of the refugees who settled in the Apiary after the Movement, she quickly became one of the group's leaders. She helped distribute resources to those that most needed them, organized events to boost morale, and kept the refugees from devolving into infighting while under siege by Floating Venom Morpheme. She actually already works for us as a member of our administrative staff. She has something of a reputation as a firecracker—she has her beliefs and is not shy about sharing them. Thankfully, her beliefs seem to be of a heroic disposition: most often she voices disagreement when she is concerned that the refugees—now residents of the Apiary—are not being well-cared for or treated fairly. Lady Leizi:Nora would have loved her immediately and then found her deeply frustrating, partially because she reminds me of Yazmin. Soraia has a history of involvement in local and workplace politics, notably helping found an union in her previous workplace. It was successful until their jobs were outsourced to cheaper suppliers, after which she started a semi-legal cooperative dedicated to producing licensed medicine to distribute either for free or at very low prices. She's well-known and well-loved around the Worker's Mitt, and would certainly help differentiate us from other, more corporate hero organizations. However, she would also certainly object to some of our more . . . questionable methods if she felt they were not adequately considered or justified.
Candidate #3
Name: Shelley Marie Age: 27 Stats: HIT 1, ESPIONAGE 5 REPUTATION 4, OPERATIONS 3 Tolerance: 6 Chaucer's Notes:Ms. Marie originally hails from the Worker's Mitt, where she worked as a music teacher. She gained a reputation for her advocacy for strong unions and fair pay for those employed in the music industry in the Mitt. She eventually found her way to us with the refugees after her home was destroyed, and she was one of the people sheltering from Floating Venom Morpheme when we retook the Apiary. She is by all means pleasant and charming, but she has a habit of finding herself in places she doesn't belong. She claims she is merely "unlucky", but I believe Ms. Marie may have more of a nose for trouble than she lets on. Lady Leizi:I've heard of Shelley before— she used to occasionally make large donations to reconstruction efforts in the Mitt wherever it was damaged by metahuman combat. I know she's involved in multiple unions, and is a fixture at town hall meetings. I would say she's unremarkable, except for uncanny knack of being at the right place at the right time to do the most good. I've not been able to find hard proof, but I'm fairly certain she was the one to agitate the protests against DeLeon after we rescued Menagerie Witch. Useful to have on our side, though I'd keep a close eye on her.
Candidate #4
Name: Simão Cruzes da Silva Neto, alias "Cain" Age: 30 Stats: HIT 5, ESPIONAGE 4, REPUTATION 1, OPERATION 4 Tolerance: 7 Chaucer's Notes: What is this submission doing here? Has someone taken leave of their senses? Why in the world have we taken the time to screen this man?
For any enterprising soul who finds this file by accident, let me be very clear: "Cain" is a spree killer, a non-powered "vigilante" who was active in Brazil and infamous for his crimes. He is perhaps the most dangerous non-metahuman on the continent! It is rumored his first kill happened when he was twelve, and for years afterwards he waged a one-man war against the cartels. He killed anyone he believed to be a member without pause, despite being involved in the drug trade himself. He has an estimated murder count in the triple digits, including his own father!
I cannot fathom why this man would ever be considered for Project Prometheus. Lady Leizi: I was the one who submitted Cain for screening. Cain's life has been unbearably tragic, and it has shaped him to the hardened killer he is today. By all accounts, his father was an abusive monster responsible for the death of his mother—I am in no position to judge what one does in that situation.
My reasoning for his consideration is simple—his abnormal, natural tolerance is too high to simply disregard outright, and there is something to be said for having disposable assets. He's currently on parole, and is in Horizon to help raise his sister, Fernanda, raise her son, Afonso, following the death of her husband. The strings controlling Cain are easy to spot—we will ensure his family will always be taken care of, and he will participate on any assignment we send him on without question.
I just don't ever expect him to be a team player. No doubt his mere presence would offend some of our current members. Some may even refuse to work with him. And if his inclusion on Justice Unlimited's roster were ever made public, there would be severe consequences for us. One can only imagine what Crusade would do with that information. It is an extreme risk, but one I believe is at least worth discussing.
Available Ambrosia Samples:
KNOWN SYNERGIES: [Energy Manipulation] + [Elemental Manipulation] + [Solar Absorption] = [Fundamental Force Manipulation]
Name: Soldier X, True Name Unknown Keywords: Fitness, Regeneration Faction: The Defiance Unit Potency: 1 Ibis' Notes: I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Justice Unlimited would have samples of The Defiance Unit's DNA on file. They were the first villain organization defeated by Justice Unlimited. Soldier X was a Jane Doe, thought to be from the Democratic Republic of Congo based on her accent. Regardless, she acted as the field commander of The Defiance Unit.
It was a matter of debate whether she had powers at all—a debate now put to bed by Dr. Mammoth Ibis! She possessed peak human physical capabilities—fitness, coordinate, agility, eyesight, etc. It appears her body naturally maintained this state without upkeep, although she did not have a healing factor.
Name: Mister Hunch, Remy Deniau Power: Clairvoyance Faction: Independent Potency: 1 Ibis' Notes: ~Mister Hunch! Mister Hunch! Work with him to save a bunch!~ Ah, I remember that blasted commercial jingle well. It's taking up precious space in my brain! Mister Hunch was a private detective who was known for being psychometric. He could touch an inanimate object and then "watch" everything that happened within a five-foot radius of the object in the last 24 hours. He was particularly beloved by those suing corporations and was a frequent collaborator with Lady Leizi. Unfortunately, his talents brought him the wrong kind of attention and he was murdered in an attack by the Demon Flamez.
Name: Daggermaw, Christian Soler Power: Transformation, Enhanced Strength, Enhanced Senses Faction: New Dawn Potency: 1 Ibis' Notes: Daggermaw was an auxiliary hero of New Dawn. He was one of the better-known dysmorphic metahumans in Horizon—a metahuman whose power has caused some sort of permanent transformation or physical mutation. Many are uncomfortable with dysmorphic metahumans—lesser minds unable to appreciate the beauty of science.
While alive, Daggermaw resembled a bipedal reptile. He was something like a mix between a crocodile and an iguana, I would say. He had enhanced strength, though nothing extraordinary, and stronger senses than the average human. In particular, he could sense vibrations through his skin from great distances away.
Name: Multiplex, Ahn Jin Soo Power: Transformation Faction: New Dawn Potency: 1 Ibis' Notes: Multiplex had the somewhat underwhelming power to change his form to a copy of any inanimate object who did not exceed his body's mass. He kept himself overweight as a result. He was more of an infiltration specialist, but did stop a robbery by turning into a particularly vicious roomba on one memorable occasion. He was well-loved in the community for his jolly nature and commitment to the kayfabe of being a hero.
"Kayfabe". Ha! I've been getting into professional wrestling lately! I've become such a well-rounded person.
Name: Millions Minefield, Russel Whitney Power: Energy Manipulation Faction: New Dawn Potency: 1 Ibis' Notes: Millions Minefield was a member of New's Dawn's first-response team for metahuman attacks, Denial, and was something of a one-trick pony. Note to self: create a one-trick pony. Preferably with fangs.
Millions Minefield was usually the first member to respond to a scene. He could redirect and absorb energy that he then could store in orbs and deploy over an area like, well, a minefield. His job was to arrive at a fight and immediately take control of the battlefield while suppressing enemy attacks. The orbs would detonate if physical contact was made with them or Millions Minefield chose to have them explode. He could change the size of the mines, but the force of the blast was in proportion to its relative size. So, often he would hide larger orbs and then deploy smaller, harder to see orbs that could chain react and trigger their larger counterparts.
Name: Hydrocity, LaTrell Johnsmith Power: Elemental Manipulation Faction: New Dawn Potency: 1 Ibis' Notes: Hydrocity was a case of hyperhidrosis gone wrong. His body was always emitting fresh water from various . . . places. He could control where it came out of, but it had to come out of somewhere or the build up would cause it immense pain. He could not manipulate the water once it was produced, and, while the water was potable, there was nothing special about it.
That is how metahuman powers work. Sometimes you get the ability to level mountains and fly. Sometimes powers are intrusive and horrifying. And sometimes they're just weird and uncomfortable. Hydrocity would have been a joke if Wolong hadn't hand picked him to serve on Denial. While Hydrocity himself was no fighter, Denial's leader, Umibōzu, was a powerful hydrokinetic but one who could not produce water ex nihilo. Hydrocity's synergy with Umibōzu became an iconic feature of Denial and won him many accolades. His sense of duty prevented him from staying out of the QZ when the Leviathan awoke.
Name: Eastwood, Charlotte Martin Power: Mental Manipulation, Construct Creation Faction: New Dawn Potency: 2 Ibis' Notes: Ever have a good day and say to yourself, "Wish I could bottle this feeling?" Well, Dr. Mammoth Ibis has been saying that more often! I'm considering dating again! Wait. Then John Henry, Sandra, myself, and my paramor could double date! Genius!
Anyway, that was essentially Eastwood's power. She was another member of Denial and could "store" an emotion for later in a physical form and then deploy it. She could even mix more "volatile" emotions together and create explosions. She was most commonly used in a non-lethal context, causing enemies to surrender with bombs made of apathy and despair.
Now, to set up my dating profile . . . name? THE Dr. Emeril "Mammoth" Ibis. Sex? Sure, why not? Ha! I'm hilarious.
Name: Crimson Soprano, Balduína "Bidu" Rios Barroso Power: Flight, Solar Absorption, Energy Manipulation Faction: The Defiance Unit Potency: 2 Ibis' Notes: Another member of the Defiance Unit, this was one of their heavy strikers. Crimson Soprana was the rare metahuman who could fly. That coupled with her devastating energy blasts made her a feared presence on the battlefield. However, her power relied on her absorbing solar radiation—too long without sunlight and her powers waned. It explains why they only ever struck on sunny days, I suppose. Her name referred to her tendency to "announce" each Defiance Unit attack with an operatic serenade—she was a failed opera singer as it were.
Ironically enough, she was contralto.
Name: Steadfast, Lamar Thompson Power: Invulnerability Faction: New Dawn Potency: 2 Ibis' Notes: One of the founding members of New Dawn, later turned lackey for Global Justice, I was surprised to see his DNA on file. It only made sense when I learned he was the father of Adamant. I suppose that was something they kept quiet. Steadfast was in every way a baseline human except in one regard: he had the most potent form of invulnerability on record. He simply could not be injured in any way. He could not be stabbed, struck, crushed, or burned; he couldn't even starve or drown. To be honest, if his death wasn't confirmed multiple times over from direct goldnine exposure, I wouldn't believe he was dead.
Name: Adamant, Rakeem Wade Power: Transformation, Enhanced Strength, Regeneration Faction: Justice Unlimited Potency: 3 Ibis' Notes: One of founders of Justice Unlimited and the day-to-day commander. I suppose I owe the man my life. Honestly, I'm surprised at the lack of potency of his power—a testament to a keen mind over a superior might, I suppose.
Justice Unlimited's internal notes describe Adamant as less a person who could turn their body to metal and more of an endless fount of liquid metal wrapped in human skin. Adamant's body, when he transformed, was made of hereto-unknown metal "creatively" called adamantium. It was non-ferrous, had a melting point greater than tungsten, and was extremely durable. When Adamant touched or extruded adamantium it took the property of liquid and hardened at his command. He was able to slowly heal injuries over time by remaining in his metal form and replacing the damaged parts of his body with new metal. Upon transforming back, it would revert to uninjured flesh.
Name: Dragonsteeth, Rebecca Wade Power: Energy Manipulation, Construct Creation Faction: New Dawn Potency: 3 Ibis' Notes: Another original member of New Dawn and the other parent of Adamant. I'm beginning to sense nepotism. Dragonsteeth had retired from life as a public hero after the Susurration, but apparently she came to stop the Leviathan's awakening nonetheless. Pity.
Like in the myth of the Argonauts, Dragonsteeth could seed the ground around her with energy, which would slowly grow into solid-light constructs. The constructs were not under her direct command, but were capable of following limited orders. She had a set energy "limit" she could spend at once. She could concentrate it all into one powerful construct, or spread it out around many different ones. While she most commonly made armored soldiers, the shapes her autonomous constructs could take could be as varied as her imagination.
Name: Miss Conception, Park Myung-Hee Power: Energy Manipulation, Invisibility Faction: Independent Potency: 3 Ibis' Notes: Ah, the unfortunately named Miss Conception was a thief who made a name for herself with a string of high-profile burglaries from secure facilities including New Dawn's Zenith and Dominion Security Concerns HQ. She eventually tried to break into the Apiary where she was caught and placed on parole—which she immediately violated trying again. Rumor has it that she was imprisoned for seven days and mended her ways after an intense "chat" with Lady Leizi. Have I mentioned how, um, "fashion-forward" her glasses are? They're not impractical indoors at all!
Miss Conception could create illusions that would persist for several days if left undisturbed. An odd quirk of her power is that it could fool three of the five traditional senses, but not all five at once. An object could be seen, smelt, and touched but not tasted or heard, for example. It was very confusing! She could also render herself invisible by putting an illusion around herself.
. . . I never did get those baseball cards she stole from my lab back.
Name: Wild Speaker, Inmaculada Ruiz Power: Mental Manipulation, Ally Empowerment Faction: SLAYERS Potency: 3 Ibis' Notes: The history of SLAYERS is somewhat convoluted and tedious. But Chaucer has become a regular at our "boys-night" poker games and he agreed to not tell everyone I was counting cards if I "made a reasonable attempt at being respectful". Note to self: Edit out recorded admission that I cheat at cards.
SLAYERS began as a three person team with an "edgy" theme. The Bloody Slayer, The Shadow Slayer, and our own Chaucer, the Thunder Slayer. Abigail Reyes would later join as The Giant Slayer. Shortly after Chacuer left to go into business, The Bloody Slayer and Shadow Slayer would split over creative disagreements about the direction of the team. SLAYERS seemed doomed to fall apart until The Giant Slayer recruited the team's now-iconic roster and slew Hundred-Hands Hecatoncheires.
Wild Speaker had the ability to talk to animals. When she did, the animal's intelligence was raised to humanesque levels. It sounds like an idyllic power, but apparently animals are terrible conversation partners. Birds mostly discuss wind-speeds and the location of seeds, dogs and cats swear like sailors, and bugs are apparently uniformly "total jerkwads". Still, Wild Speaker could order them to fight, which they often did if only for the novelty of committing violence with a purpose.
Name: Sewer Rat, ??? Power: Transformation, Enhanced Senses, Self-Enhancement Faction: New Dawn Potency: 3 Ibis' Notes: Sewer Rat was a mammalian, dysmorphic metahuman whose body resembled, well, a large bipedal rat. His head was entirely human however, making his appearance all the more upsetting to the feeble-minded. He was an affiliate member of New Dawn, no doubt too "unmarketable" to allow him onto the team proper.
His primary abilities were his incredibly sensitive hearing and smell, as well as his ability to control his hair like a prehensile limb and harden it until it was more durable than steel. However, his most frequently used trick was his ability to shrink himself down to the size of an actual rat with the strength of a human, making him a potent infiltration specialist.
Name: Antaeus, Doug Matthews Power: Invulnerability, Energy Manipulation Faction: New Dawn Potency: 3 Ibis' Notes: Following his defeat at the hands of Adamant, Antaeus tried to join New Dawn. He never got past probationary status, likely because he insisted on not changing his name.
Antaeus was invincible with the ability to generate earthquakes from where he stood, but with the condition that he was touching the ground. Why he chose the name of a mythological figure with the exact same weakness is a mystery not even the great Dr. Mammoth Ibis can solve. His earthquakes grew in magnitude the longer he stood still, eventually reaching the upper limits of the Richter scale. He could generate similar forces in substances like concrete, but to a lesser effect.
Name: Fast Track, David Rhodes Keywords: Self-Enhancement, Ally Empowerment, Enhanced Speed Faction: Independent hero. Potency: 3 Creator: SaberFail Ibis' Notes: Fast Track was a relatively unknown figure, mostly due to the fact he had only been active for a few weeks before the Movement. He could project an invisible, two-foot tall and long field around himself, which would rob anything that entered it of its "speed". The "speed" would be transferred to Fast Track, who could in turn use it to increase the speed of himself or allies and objects he could touch.
His power kept him safe from the effects of his increased movement, but nothing else. If he struck someone at sonic speeds, his hand would shatter and so forth. Hence why he mostly sped himself up to escape rather than attack.
In order to steal the speed of an object, that object had to be fully inside of the field. If any part remained outside of it of the field, then it would continue as normal. This limitation led to his death as he died during the Movement when a Behemoth ran him through with its arm—the creature was too large to fit inside the field.
There is no relationship between him and my best friend, John Henry. I checked!
Name: Frostbite, Randolph Lindstrom Power: Elemental Manipulation, Enhanced Strength, Invulnerability Faction: Independent Potency: 3 Author: ScorpioSting Ibis's Notes:I must say, this one does not surprise me in the slightest. Frostbite was a prickly hero at the best of times. One could say he had a cold heart, even! Hahahaha!
. . .I digress. Frostbite was a cryokinetic, able to create ice with a thought. An odd facet of his power was that it was self-focused. He had quite a bit of range, but attacks had to extend out from him. For example, a ranged attack would cause a slick of ice to slide along the ground before spiking upwards. He was unable to freeze anything without some point of contact back to himself. Frostbite was also stronger than average, though nothing to write home about. He used his strength to wield a blade of ice he created as a melee weapon, and he'd often stab it into the ground to freeze things at range. He also used it to create an armor of ice around his body, which was more resistant to cold than average.
B-Class Powers
Name: iSpy, Iolanda Guedes Bosco Power: Clairvoyance, Invisibility Faction: New Dawn Potency: 4 Ibis' Notes: iSpy was one of New Dawn's espionage specialists. Unlike many samples in our system, her death did not occur in the QZ, but rather was the result of her cover being blown. iSpy could "tag" up to a dozen people and then, at will, perceive the world through their senses. She would hear what they heard, feel what they felt, smell what they smelled . . . if she wanted to for some reason. That, coupled with her ability to turn invisible, put her on the top of the hit list for all clandestine criminal elements. Unfortunately, it seems one caught up to her.
Name: Chatroom, Yolando Gibbons Power: Clairvoyance, Ally Empowerment Faction: New Dawn Potency: 4 Ibis' Notes: Chatroom was a support type metahuman, who never was on the frontlines. Unfortunately, her power was necessary at the QZ and she was killed by a rough Named-Behemoth, Frigg of the Dancing Mistletoe. Chatroom could link an unlimited number of allies together telepathically, allowing them to instantaneously communicate and share images and feelings with one another. She had to be within several hundred yards to maintain the effect, but it was invaluable in the heat of battle. I just wish she didn't insist on solely communicating through metal "emojis". I can't even use them on my screen, let alone in reality!
Name: Memoria, Marcos Medeiros de Canto Power: Teleportation, Clairvoyance Faction: The Defiance Unit Potency: 4 Ibis' Notes: Memoria's death marked the downfall of The Defiance Unit, so imagine my surprise to learn that he was very much alive until recently. It seems Uiara spared him and Lady Leizi helped him disappear. He was working as a "free agent" until his (real) demise in the QZ.
Memoria had the ability to take pictures of a location that would display what was happening in that location in real-time, like a fixed video feed. He could then freely teleport himself and others to any location of which he had a photograph. His file shows he could only maintain five such photographs at once. An extremely useful utility power, even if he himself was vulnerable to attack.
As an aside, I don't see DNA profiles for Nox Esurientem or Zeno—the heavy-hitters of The Defiance Unit—so I have to assume they either don't exist or are kept in the Apiary on Horizon.
Name: Bulwark, Robin McIntrye Power: Energy Manipulation, Ally Empowerment Faction: Independant Potency: 4 Ibis' Notes: Is that lawsuit still pending? Everyone is well aware of the facts. Bulwark came to the Apiary attempting to sell his services to Justice Unlimited in a mercenary capacity. He had the useful ability to shroud any person or object he could hit with a beam in a forcefield that would disperse after enough impact damage or over a period of time. However, Valiant Silver immediately recognized how his power worked and managed to replicate it mechanically.
Not gonna lie. Hell of a power move. Dr. Mammoth Ibis respects the hustle!
Bulwark grew so furious that he tried to sue Valiant Silver for "copyright infringement", but, since he had never thought to patent his powers, it went nowhere. Didn't mean he gave up though; he refiled the lawsuit in every jurisdiction he could. As far as I know, a few are still hanging around.
Name: The Outsider, Kwame Davis Power: Transformation, Energy Manipulation, Invisibility Faction: New Dawn Potency: 4 Ibis' Notes: I'm honestly not certain howDNA could be acquired for The Outsider. They were an affiliate hero of New Dawn—known more for their social advocacy than any heroics. Their power turned them into a spherical biological nucleus surrounded by an energy "body" they could freely shape and control. This included the ability to turn invisible, change their relative size and mass, and shoot blasts of energy. The Outsider was something of a spook for New Dawn and a frequent collaborator with Lady Leizi. I just . . . where did the sample come from? Their nucleus? How? Why? Why do I only get to know this after they have died?! Think of what I could have done with this knowledge!
Name: Solferina, Linh Nguyen Power: Energy Manipulation, Ally Empowerment, Mental Manipulation Faction: Independent Potency: 4 Author: Kermie Ibis' Notes:This is an interesting one—a metahuman who did the opposite of most. Unlike the average metahuman, who might find a normal job after their hero career (like Chaucer! Hey, I remembered that!) she became a metahuman after 10 years of being a successful street and stage performer. Even so, she and Crimson Soprano weirdly never held any enmity towards one another— they were even seen having a friendly coffee with each other once. She perished in the QZ, fighting a Behemoth and punching it in the eye while she was on her way out.
During her short time—5 years—as a metahuman, she proved how well a weak power could do in the hands of the right person. She could either weaken someone and make them depressed or apathetic, or strengthen someone and lift their spirits. If only I had gotten her expertise on my serotonin implant… ahem. These effects would be implanted based on the mood of whatever she was singing, as long as any person she was aiming to affect was within hearing distance and as long as they could understand the words. Notably, anyone who would hear her song would be affected unconditionally, so she used her services to hunt down a few Behemoths as an independent hire, and managed to get both of her kids full rides to their preferred universities before her death.
Name: Deadman, Richard Michaels Power: Elemental Manipulation, Regeneration Faction: New Dawn Potency: 5 Ibis' Notes: Deadman dressed like a noir detective and apparently smoked like one. I'm glad I never met him; he sounds exhausting and I despise smoking! He was a probationary member of New Dawn—probationary because he did not trust their leadership and constantly had them under investigation. It appears he was feeding information to Justice Unlimited. He's noted to have been an excellent detective, his commitment to questionable gimmicks notwithstanding, but that had nothing to do with his power.
Speaking of which, his power didn't activate until his biological functions ceased. Upon "death" his body would self-immolate and then reform itself. During that time, his blood appeared to turn to magma which he could manipulate and control. Likewise, he could summon magma from the ground, even if there was no source of such near him. Like Adamant and Steadfast, his power met its match surrounded by goldnine, and Deadman met his end.
Name: Nephthys, Hana Antar Power: Construct Creation, Ally Empowerment, Energy Manipulation Faction: New Dawn Potency: 5 Ibis' Notes: Nephthys was another member of Denial, and had an "Egyptian necromancer"theme to her which Madeline has told me was "Archmage as hell". I don't know what that means and I'm too scared to ask. Madeline acts demure in front of Lady Leizi, but she's a clear social alpha in the Apiary and I'm going to respect that!
Nephthys could revive the bodies of deceased animals and command them to do her bidding. The control only lasted a few days, and it's my understanding Denial had their own industrial freezer marked "Animal Corpses, Do Not Eat". She denied being able to manipulate human bodies, but her records clearly indicate that she could, though metahuman puppets did not retain their powers. She mostly contributed to Denial with hordes of disposable shock troopers.
Wait, someone with an Egyptian goddess theme on "Denial"? I just got that! Hilarious! Hey, Madeline, listen to this joke—!
Name: Epoxy, Chung Hye-Jin Power:Fundamental Force Manipulation Faction: SLAYERS Potency: 5 Ibis' Notes: Epoxy, also known as "The Last Nail in the Coffin" was the second-in-command of SLAYERS and a member of Powers in her individual capacity. Her power allowed her to stick objects together on a molecular level through a subtle manipulation of the strong nuclear force. The objects she stuck together could only be released by her, and apparently she charged double to unstick things than stick them together.
Her nickname comes from her uncanny ability to place enemies in positions where she could stick them to objects that would completely immobilize them. Deadman famously broke his own neck to escape from her during one fight, and revived with his head facing the wrong direction. This gave her a bloodthirsty reputation that appears to have "ruined her dating life". She and The Giant Slayer were often at metahuman mixers and speed dating events, though it appears Epoxy was usually there against her will.
It was something of an irony that a group named "SLAYERS" and who was famous for killing a Named-Ranked Behemoth would make most of their money doing non-combat civilian work. Epoxy and Vulcan were popular in construction, Wild Speaker in pest control, and even The Giant Slayer mostly did bodyguard work. They had their moments of combat as all metahumans do, but if you wanted a "blue-collar" team, SLAYERS was as close as you were going to get.
Name: Golem, Samson Road Keywords: Elemental Manipulation, Invulnerability, Enhanced Strength Faction: Independent Potency: 5 Author: wing101r Ibis' Notes: Ah, Behemoth Hunter Golem. Golem primarily specialized in hunting the odd Behemoth that escaped the QZ. He tended to avoid contracts within boroughs, although, like all heroically-inclined metahumans, he could not resist combating villainy when he happened upon it. In any case, he debuted shortly before The Susurration occurred and survived the events in the QZ, though it appears to have soured him enough on New Dawn that he remained independent throughout his whole career.
Golem's power allowed him to cover himself in an armor of earth and rocks. Doing so granted him a level of enhanced strength and invulnerability, and the more material he used in the creation of the armor the more powerful he became. He could also separate from his armor and remotely control it. While Golem could freely control any earthen material he could touch, he could not produce it ex nihilo. Thus his preference for contracts outside of Horizon proper. He died at the QZ taking down the Named-Rank Behemoth Endlessly Explosive Armordillo, sacrificing himself to use his armor to contain the explosion when it turned its entire body into a bomb. Name: Printemps, Jean-Luc Villeneuve Power: Construct Creation, Energy Manipulation, Transmutation Faction: The Four Seasons Potency:6 Ibis' Notes: We are well familiar with Printemps and his powers. But . . . there is something wrong with this sample. There is still an energy in it.
Lingering.
Name: The Red Huntress, Harper English Power: Transformation, Enhanced Senses, Fitness, Enhanced Speed, Invisibility, Energy Manipulation, Clairvoyance Faction: Justice Unlimited Potency: 6 Ibis' Notes: Well. It seems Justice Unlimited had its own secrets. The Red Huntress always seemed something like a legacy admission to me—she was an ally of Uiara and Valiant Silver before they formed Justice Unlimited. She had a great number of powers, all loosely organized around the concept of "predation", but none were particularly powerful. She had keener sense than the average person, but not that much keener. She could run faster than a non-metahuman, but not as fast as, say, a car. She could turn invisible, but it was an imperfect optical camouflage. She was a true "jack of all trades, master of none."
Or that's how it appeared. The Red Huntress had one more power that was not publicly known—she could place a "mark" on any living creature that was unremovable. The mark would let her know where the marked creature was at all times, and her body and powers would "scale up" to match the threat posed by the marked creature. She would get faster, stronger, her invisibility would improve, and so forth. How a creature's level was quantified is unknown, but the file shows The Red Huntress undergoing some dramatic transformations into a feline creature to combat particularly strong metahumans. In that form, she would gain the ability to extend blades of energy that would grow stronger to injure her prey.
Her power is . . . frightening. The Red Huntress was always the smiling face of Justice Unlimited along with Uiara, so it is disturbing to know her true capability as an assassin.
Name: Nox Esurientem, Gaspard Girardot Power: Mental Manipulation, Energy Manipulation, Transformation, Regeneration, Teleportation, Enhanced Strength, Enhanced Speed Faction: The Defiance Unit Potency: 6 Ibis' Notes: Nox Esurientem was one of the heavy-hitters of The Defiance Unit. Once Crimson Soprano softened up a target, he would arrive to engage any defenders. He dressed like a vampire, complete with cravat and breeches. This was likely a nod to his primary power: emotional vampirism—he would gain strength by draining the emotions of nearby people which would give him a suit of powers based on what emotion his victims were feeling at the time. The breakdown was:
Fear = enhanced strength
Anger = increased size
Happiness = healing factor
Sadness = energy blasts
Disgust = teleportation
Surprise = enhanced speed
He was something a provocateur to ensure he could elicit the correct emotion from a person to gain the power he sought. His victims would be rendered insensate for a period of a day or so before recovering without any memory of the incident.
Name: Féth Fíada, Saoirse Brennan Power: Elemental Manipulation, Clairvoyance, Invisibility, Ally Empowerment, Mental Manipulation Faction: Independent Potency: 6 Author: Suleverf Ibis' Notes: Féth Fíada was a fairly free-spirited metahuman who chose to do hero work or petty crime on a whim rather than for any specific goal. Her refusal to join any metahuman organizations or stay firmly in the civilian world was well-known, though it left her with few friends in the end.
She had fine control over fog in a wide area, though what exactly qualified had a hazy definition, including mist and even smoke at times. Ha! Get it? Hazy. Dr. Mammoth Ibis is truly a great mind and wit.
Anyway, for sunny days she was capable of generating a special fog that shrouded her and slowly filled her zone of control. Unlike natural fog controlled by her, this shroud couldn't be dissipated by external forces like strong winds or hydrokinetics.
Inside her fog, she could turn herself and others invisible to light, including infrared and radar. Scents and sounds coming from them could also be masked selectively, and other clairvoyant abilities trying to peer in the fog became fuzzy. On the flip side, she could perceive anything inside her fog, but couldn't bestow that power to allies.
It was rumored that she could also turn into mist to dodge attacks, but, as you can clearly see in this report, that is not the case. The rumors were likely the result of her most bizarre ability: she could "curse" those in her fog, causing torpor and hallucinations the longer they spent in it. It wore off outside her fog, and she mostly only cared to use it to terrorize tourists in accordance with urban myths.
Name: Lightstep, Lloyd Morgan Power: Enhanced Speed, Invulnerability, Enhanced Senses, Enhanced Strength Faction: New Dawn Potency: 7 Ibis' Notes: I know about him now! I do! I watched a boxing match with John Henry and he told me all about "Lightstep Morgan"! Former professional heavyweight boxer and world champion. Well, okay, his championships were stripped from him after his status as a metahuman became public, but there's never been proof he cheated! He retired because he had nothing left to prove and wished to help New Dawn recover after the Susurration. By all accounts he saved their public image, but many claim he was to blame for the change in organizational ethos afterward.
Lightstep was able to accelerate his movements to supersonic speeds for brief moments. When he did, his body grew invulnerable and his senses became stronger to compensate. He could devastate opponents with just one jab—in and out of the ring! No one could survive a lightspeed punch from the Lightstep!
Name: Umibōzu, Shishiro Ami Power: Elemental Manipulation, Construct Creation, Enhanced Senses Faction: New Dawn Potency: 7 Ibis' Notes: Umibōzu was the leader of New Dawn's task-force, Denial, and was an extremely potent hydrokinetic. She and Uiara had a famous rivalry; for some reasons hydrokinetics never seem to get along. Such unnecessary competitiveness! Dr. Mammoth Ibis would never have a petty rivalry with a peer merely because we shared the same power, believe that!
Umibōzu differed from Uiara in that she needed a source of water to control, and her control was finer, if not capable of feats on the same scale. Her preferred method of attack was to fire narrow streams of water at extremely high speeds that could pierce opponents and cut metal like paper. She could create "sentries" of water that could also fire jet streams of water and through which she could see. She was a tactical genius and staunch supporter of Wolong, which is likely why her career stalled out. She, along with Uiara, fought most of the aquatic Behemoths in the QZ before meeting her end.
A-Class Powers
Name: Automne, Ophélie du Arceneaux Power: Elemental Manipulation, Flight Faction: The Four Seasons Potency: 8 Ibis' Notes: Ah. Automne. I actually liked her. She and Radiant Silvergirl. They were . . . dating? Best friends? It was a weird little relationship. But the two of them are some of the only other people with the ability to appreciate the art of my children. They would make sure to take every job that would impact my work, and, even when they opposed me, they showed due respect. They even invited me to participate in their competitive beetle-fighting league! I was disqualified for creating a bipedal stag beetle the size of a housecat, but I appreciated being included.
Automne was too young for how powerful she was. She was an aerokinetic, one of the most powerful in the world. She could create tornadoes, generate hurricane-force winds, move the clouds themselves, and so forth. She was always present at every major crisis on Horizon, often trying to prevent collateral damage. Despite all that, her favorite thing to do was to just fly freely on the winds.
I . . . I actually think I will miss her. Goodness. I need to fix my implant immediately.
Name: Novalight, Yelena Sokolov Power: Elemental Manipulation, Energy Manipulation, Flight Faction: New Dawn Potency: 8 Ibis' Notes: Now, this is explosive. Novalight was the leader of New Dawn and a hard woman to say the least. Some would say paranoid, but I always respected refusal to compromise her beliefs. She was the architect behind Wonderland—the detention facility for metahumans too dangerous to allow to go free. She controlled New Dawn's territory in Horizon with an iron fist, but the University District was among the city's safest for it.
Her relationship with Justice Unlimited was strained. Both Justice Unlimited and New Dawn were heroic organizations, but they were bitter rivals. Justice Unlimited started as a junior team under New Dawn, and Novalight never forgave them for going independent. She would have taken them keeping her DNA profile as an act of war.
Novalight was one of the three strongest metahumans in the city. She was photokinetic, radiokinetic, and capable of supersonic flight. Her energy blasts were capable of leveling the city, and nearly did during the Susurration. She would end many a fight simply by appearing and glowing too brightly for anyone to be able to see. With her radiokinesis, she could generate heat intense enough to melt even adamantium. Her weakness, if she truly even had one, was that her power gave her no defensive capabilities. But she ended fights quickly and decisively enough that it didn't matter.
I can think of several reasons why her DNA is here, and none of them are charitable. It's not my concern, but perhaps we should keep this one quiet.
Name: Man o' War, Julio Câmara Meireles Power:Autonomous Creature Creation, Self-Enhancement, Invulnerability, Enhanced Strength Faction: New Dawn Potency: 8 Ibis' Notes: Man o' War was a violent brute who somehow found himself gaining membership in New Dawn proper. I say "somehow", but it's very clear why: he was happy to follow orders and restrain himself so long as he could harm others to his heart's content when the time came. His powerset matches that of a famous villain who terrorized the Corporate Playground, and said villain disappeared around the same time Man o' War first debuted. Rumor has it he cut a deal to keep himself out of Wonderland, and I believe it. He was firmly in Novalight's faction, which only adds further evidence to the pile.
Man o' War could manifest extra limbs from his body that appeared with a melee weapon chosen at random—swords, axes, spears, nets, tridents, a golf club once, what have you. The arms moved autonomously and were masters of their chosen weapon. The more arms Man o' War manifested, the stronger and more durable he became. Pfft, growing extra arms? That's nothing! Dr. Mammoth Ibis could give you all the extra arms you could want!
. . . is that anything? I'm working on my flirtatious small talk. I'm not very good at it! Name: The Giant Slayer, Abigail Reyes Power:Transmutation, Enhanced Strength Faction: SLAYERS Potency: 8 Ibis' Notes: The Giant Slayer was the former leader of SLAYERS and the paramour of Ms. Opale. Before she and Opale started dating, her desperation to get married was something of a running joke in the metahuman community. She, famously, is one of the only people to make King flee a battle, if only because her constant flirting made him uncomfortable.
Perhaps The Giant Slayer was merely waiting for Opale, or perhaps her hyper-competence and destructive power frightened any potential partner. The Giant Slayer had the power to increase an object's size and mass to exponential levels, and then be able to swing the object as if it were its regular size. The Giant Slayer had immense strength, so this could result in her swinging swords the size of skyscrapers. This power let her become a regular hunter of Gold-Rank Behemoths and even Named-Rank on occasion.
Name: Zeno, Camdyn Poole Power:Space-Time Manipulation, Invulnerability Faction: The Defiance Unit Potency: 9 Ibis' Notes: Zeno was the final member of The Defiance Unit and was their ace in the hole. If any heroes responded to an attack, if it got too dangerous for the unit, Zeno was their ticket out of the situation. Zeno's power came in threes, and matched his namesake's paradoxes.
First, was the impossibility of motion. To advance any distance, a person must first walk halfway there, to get halfway there, they must move halfway of that distance, and so on to infinity. This manifested in his ability to arrest the motion of anything in his light of sight, including technically non-visible things like air molecules.
Next, was the similar, but distinct, impossibility of distance. If one object was following another moving object, then by the time the first object has caught up to the second object, the second object has also moved and the first object must travel further to catch up, in which time the second object will travel further. Thus, the first object can never catch up. This manifested in an inability of any object to actually touch Zeno without his consent. Anything attempting to hit him would have to travel an infinite distance to do so. This power was exclusive and automatic.
Finally, was the impossibility of time. If time was made of infinite moments, then at any particular movement a moving object would be stationary, neither moving to where it is, nor to where it is not. It cannot move to where it is not, because no time elapses for it to move there; it cannot move to where it is, because it is already there. In other words, at every instant of time there is no motion occurring. This was his final ability—the power to lock any one person in temporal stasis for 24 hours. There was no defense to this attack, and it only worked on one person at a time.
Zeno's weakness was his lack of offensive power. He relied on conventional weapons like firearms to deal damage, which proved ineffective against more robust metahumans. Name: Vulcan, Augustus "Gus" Schulte Power:Algernon-type Faction: SLAYERS Potency: 13 Ibis' Notes: It seems doomed love and SLAYERS are inextricably intertwined, because Vulcan is the former lover of our Handyman.
He was an Algernon-type, specialized in metallurgy. He made all of the weapons and armor used by SLAYERS and often sold his creations to clients such as Steelheart and Valiant Silver.
He never pushed his power too far. He was too afraid of the Rebound. There is a certain wisdom in that, perhaps.
Name: Apiary, Rosemary Ward Power: Transformation, Matter Conversion, Construct Creation Faction: Justice Unlimited Potency: 14, Major Side Effect Guaranteed - Permanent Dysmorphic Transformation Ibis' Notes: Apiary was one of the original members of Justice Unlimited, back when they were known as NuGen, and she perished at the conclusion of The Defiance Unit saga. I never met her myself, but by all accounts she was very much beloved by her team. I know multiple memorials to her exist and they named their headquarters in Horizon after her.
Apiary was a dysmorphic metahuman—she resembled a large, four-armed, bipedal insect, not unlike a honeybee. She had vestigial wings and a full insectoid abdomen. If that was the extent of her power, I wouldn't blink twice. That's a Tuesday for Dr. Mammoth Ibis! No, the true terror of Apiary was her ability to consume and convert living matter. She would ingest organic matter and then extrude into a plasticine-like substance she could control. She often would create drones, including large combat forms. Her mind was like a hive—each body was as much her as any other. Those bodies in turn could convert matter, and now the terror should be obvious. She was living goldnine or, more accurately, a proto-Leviathan.
I will never let Lady Leizi know this, but Scarlet Maturity may have done the world a favor by cutting Apiary's life short. No matter how well-intentioned, she could have been an extinction-level threat.
We should only use her profile with great caution. Her DNA is extremely unstable, and adding it to a dose of goldnine will certainly produce a major side effect. Lady Leizi: Doctor. My office. Now.
The hatchet woman would really do us a lot of good when it comes to containing the rampant supervillainy out there now that most of the world's superheroes are dead.
We can't be reactive, waiting for the villains to strike while we handle the alien god. We need to actively seek them out and crush them before they can enact their plans so that our containment isn't disturbed. That means espionage, and Leizi is the one person best equipped for such a task. Sure, our reputation isn't that good, but that's something that can be improved as we take out villains along the way.
Radiant Silvergirl is powerful, but she's not leadership material which we need in order to lead our new group of superheroes. She's just as likely to alienate allies as she is to hurt our enemies.
Uiara would be great on the field, but she's hotheaded and too easy to goad into bad positions. We can't risk that when we're starting from scratch and the supervillains outnumber us.
Valiant Silver is a genius that could accelerate our research, but conflict with Doctor Ibis is inevitable and we really don't want the office drama produced between them when our organization's future is reliant on the Doctor.
That said, I love the starting post. The characters' personalities really shone through and made them very distinct.
Radiant Silvergirl would be good in a fight, true, but the problem is she can only be in one place at a time, her PR problems limits our ability to expand Justice Unlimited, and she'll likely have a poor relationship with our new hero/sidekick because her people skills are on the low end.
Rather, I think it's better we pick someone with a more support oriented skillset such as Leizi, and then specialize our hero in another direction such as being really good in a fight. We ideally, want to convince the public that this new generation of supers can protect them, and that'll be hard to do with Radiant Silvergirl since she'll suck up all the air in the room by being the woman who beats bad guys up by dint of having HIT 9.
Looking our options again, here's my assessment of them:
Nora Kim, Valiant Silver
STATS:
HIT: 2
ESPIONAGE: 6
REPUTATION: 5
OPERATIONS: 10
Advantages:
Algernon-type Metahuman. Supergenius inventor that can both accelerate our research of the god alien and Ambrosia, and can potentially arm our new supers with gadgets, arms, and armor that help them do their job.
When it comes to running Justice Unlimited's day to day business, there's no one better than her.
Acceptable levels of ESPIONAGE and REPUTATION. Not as good as the other characters who specialize in it, but Valiant Silver can do a well enough job at both PR, and sniffing out villains before they can attack.
Disadvantages:
Troubled working relationship with Dr. Elbis, who's responsible for the creation and research of Ambrosia. Workplace friction can potentially be crippling
Terrible combat stats since her power armor has been destroyed. Valiant Silver is practically retired and shouldn't be involved in field missions, meaning our first new hero will have to make do by themselves and if they're lucky, whatever gadget Nora can cook up for them.
Assessment:
This is my second choice. I wouldn't be heartbroken if this won, though, I would be very wary of Dr. Elbis if this went through since their relationship seems very strained. She has a good spread of stats, and while the low HIT may seem like a problem, that's fine since we really want Nora to take a backseat to let our rookies shine. Rebuilding the power armor will be our last priority if this won.
Lei Zixuan, Lady Leizi
STATS:
HIT: 5
ESPIONAGE: 8
REPUTATION: 3
OPERATIONS: 5
Advantages:
The best character for ESPIONAGE. The ability to sus out the plots of the many, many supervillains that are running around right now is essential to keeping the peace since there are no heroes left to oppose them. This is necessary for a proactive stance against supervillainy, and we'll want to be proactive since:
We can dictate engagements instead of being forced into disadvantageous fights as is standard when heroes are reactive and waiting for a supervillain to strike.
Our newbie heroes can be better prepared to fight supervillains if we know what their powers are, what they're plotting, and what weaknesses they have.
Opportunities to strike before a villain's plot is ready minimizes the collateral damage they can do.
We'll be be more aware of plots against the containment of the alien god, which we'll want to keep contained since that's our source of Ambrosia.
Acceptable HIT and OPERATIONS. Leizi will be able to support our new hero in the field as a direct combatant and can run Justice Unlimited's day to day operations just fine.
Extensive intel network on both sides of the law. Hiding from Leizi will be very difficult as a metahuman, and could serve as another route for recruitment.
Disadvantages:
Terrible Reputation, and Leizi isn't very well-known in the public consciousness. The pool of missions we can take is going to be limited, and winning the public over will be one of our many challenges.
Leizi is as durable as human. A bullet could kill her if we're unlucky.
Assessment:
My first choice thanks to Leizi having the highest ESPIONAGE score. The advantages of having a good intel network, and thus the ability to act before our enemies are ready, is really too good to pass up. There's also just something really attractive about superheroes not waiting for supervillains to pop up, and actively stopping them before their legion of death robots or something are ready. It's very thematic for Justice Unlimited's hachet woman.
Yazmin Oliviera, Uiara
STATS:
HIT: 6
ESPIONAGE: 4
REPUTATION: 8
OPERATIONS: 4
Advantages:
High REPUTATION. We're able to take high profile missions and will generally have the trust of the people on our side.
Inspiring and trusted, Uiara is an ideal figure for leadership and has strong principles.
Uiara is combat capable and has a generalist spread of stats which allows her to be more versatile.
Disadvantages:
A master of none, Uiara's generalist stat spread outside of REPUTATION isn't very good. She can do ESPIONAGE and OPERATIONS, but with only 4 in both, her ability to run the organization and keep our rookie heroes informed of what they're going up against is questionable.
Hot-headed and impulsive, Uiara can easily lose sight of the big picture at a time when our position isn't really secure. With so many supervillains running around and few heroes left to fight them, we can't really afford to be outmaneuvered strategically when we don't have enough assets to put out all the fires that are burning right now.
Assessment:
3rd best choice in my opinion. An okay but not ideal spread of stats. Too much of a generalist to really shine anywhere, but the main perk here is having our pick of missions for our rookies.
Towarri Taylor, Radiant Silvergirl
STATS:
HIT: 9
ESPIONAGE: 3
REPUTATION: 4
OPERATIONS: 6
Advantages:
INCREDIBLY KILLY. With HIT 9, Radiant Silvergirl is best suited for dealing with supervillains in the field.
Acceptable OPERATIONS. Radiant Silvergirl is surprisingly good at running the business of Justice Unlimited.
Disadvantages:
Poor ESPIONAGE. Radiant Silvergirl is powerful, but she'll constantly be on the backfoot as she has trouble uncovering plots in advance and can't really prepare our rookies for what they're expected to face.
Bad with people. Very much not leadership material, which is a problem when we'll have to take rookie heroes under our wing. It'll make raising our REPUTATION and expanding Justice Unlimited harder too, since Towarri is very bad at PR and unlikely to be able to court other metahumans to join.
Assessment:
The worst choice in my opinion. The high HIT might be attractive, but that incentivizes Radiant Silvergirl to be at the forefront of the fight rather than in the backseat. This keeps our rookies out of the spotlight since Radiant Silvergirl will be very active at punching villains, so it'll be hard for the public to grow to trust the generation of Ambrosia powered supers.
Looks like the thread is behind a more support-type leader of Justice Unlimited. The only question is: who?
[ ] . . . Lei Zixuan, a.k.a. Lady Leizi.
[ ] . . . Nora Kim, a.k.a. Valiant Silver.
Get your votes in soon! Will lock-up sometime tomorrow morning to try to get the update out tomorrow night. If we can't break the deadlock, I'll flip a coin or something. Don't leave your fate to chance!
