Project Prometheus (Original Setting Superhero Quest)

Hmm another way for SM power to work is lending base. He boost other power at a cost but the more and longer the boost lases the more tehy get once the person they boosted dies or stops taking the boost. With the amount of power SM gets based on the POwer and potential of the person they boosted.

We know atleast Natural Metahumans need to grind inorder to fully mature their power and its why those who get powers at a young age tends to be more powerful since it means they can hone their powers for a long time.

Towarri was born with powers ans its explicitly noted she was considered the most dangerous metahuman and she was still pretty young then.

EternalObserver said:

I won't deny that it's possible he could easily murder his battery once the contract has been signed and be off with it. Faust might've put some conditions to how Scarlet Maturity powers up then loophole it enough to where the mortality of the receiver is of no consequence.

I'm thinking there could be another way to it however: he could put meta humans to just in an inch of death, then Faust would use Lethal Anondyne's drugs to the point where they would just be alive but nonfunctional, thus becoming actual batteries.

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I can see them hunting down weak or developing metahuman and using the boost to trick them yeh.

We know hydrocity power sucked so much that he would have taken an SM boost if not for wolong being a badass and pairing him up with umibouzo.

Also if SM boost both anansi and stockpile the 2 of them area really gonna be a pain with whatever tehy end up making.

MrKermie said:

Oh shit, can't water vapor get in your lungs? @ScorpioSting, @LucidProp, have you two taken that into account?

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We can probably say that Blue Skies needs to focus to do something that precise, and with Chew Toy, he'll be too disoriented from Hiver's repulsion, and then distracted by Maddie's constructs to do anything like that before he gets bonked on the head by Lady Leizi and Handyman.

random_npc said:

One suggested alteration to this, up and away. To my understanding his power lacks any sort of long rang movement ability so blasting him a few hundred miles away into the sea will take him out of the fight. Going straight up means he might come back down close enough to make it back in time.

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I generally think straight up is better since he'll be at the mercy of air and gravity until he lands back down. Makes him a sitting duck for Mona to further attack him.

Sending him backwards does run into the problem that his feet will eventually find purchase on some land to jump straight back to Mona.

EternalObserver said:

I won't deny that it's possible he could easily murder his battery once the contract has been signed and be off with it. Faust might've put some conditions to how Scarlet Maturity powers up then loophole it enough to where the mortality of the receiver is of no consequence.

I'm thinking there could be another way to it however: he could put meta humans to just in an inch of death, then Faust would use Lethal Anondyne's drugs to the point where they would just be alive but nonfunctional, thus becoming actual batteries.

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I think Faust is a new recruit actually, because the "Metahumans inexplicably getting powered up" thing is relatively new. Nobody knew about him--not even Lady Leizi and her meme tier information network.

If Scarlet Maturity is--in fact--only vulnerable to someone who he's empowered, then the last thing he'd want to do is empower experienced metahumans who might be able to swing back. He'd prey on inexperienced rookies or people with non-combat abilities instead. Faust coming in though with his "Unbreakable Contracts" means that Scarlet Maturity can finally start boosting his faction without having to risk weakening his invincibility. Just "In exchange for an enhancement to your power, you must never oppose Scarlet Maturity in any way"

Huh SM being vulnerable to those he boosted in exchange for getting massively powered works yeh. Explain why hed need faust.

Though it could also be they were rightfully warry of JU and ND since at full might they could figure out SM powers and plan how to kill him. We know copycat died in just 3 days afterall and SM power is in a way more dangerous if run free.

Also Faust called himself the founder of dominion concerns and Earth owls called him boss. So either he just got his power or someone replaced the guy with someone who had actual contract powers.

... You know, I just realized something.

Scarlet Maturity's durability and strength isn't actually a matter of physical strength and mass.

And I'll tell you why, because Mona was still able to manhandle him. She couldn't hurt him, but she could damn well push him.

If he was actually physically as strong and tough as he was, he wouldn't have moved.

I think it's some kind of Tactile Telekinesis thing going on, or just some kind of weird "Weight of Existence" bullshit like from Dies Irae, where he just has the effective "Weight of Existence" of the people he's empowered (And presumably devoured at some point--I don't think he's had access to Faust since day one, so he's likely been raising and then killing people before they showed up on anyone's radar). It doesn't stop him from getting sideswiped, it doesn't stop him from being able to exert unreasonable amount of force.

But it doesn't reflect on his Mass in any reasonable fashion. That feels like an important detail. He can dig in, but he has to actually push back, if you catch him unprepared, you'll still be able to punt him somewhere if you've got high enough mass, like Mona does. She didn't hit him with her full supermassive black hole mass, but she still knocked him hella far away with her charge. And it was a blow that surprised him, so he wouldn't have had a chance to dig in.

Power Nullification will lock our E-B user out of Rock, so they'll have to swap to Paper or Scissors to deal a killing blow to SM.

What way would you want him to go? Burned alive? Blasted by a barrage of drone fire? Cut into pieces by energy blades? Crumpled like a tin can under Telekinetic weight?

ScorpioSting said:

Power Nullification will lock our E-B user out of Rock, so they'll have to swap to Paper or Scissors to deal a killing blow to SM.

What way would you want him to go? Burned alive? Blasted by a barrage of drone fire? Cut into pieces by energy blades? Crumpled like a tin can under Telekinetic weight?

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umm it only locks out of rock after a scene of using Blue power. Rock still gives enhanced strenght so just null his power and punch his head off.

... I'm not actually sure if Rock is the silver bullet that Valiant Silver thought it would be.

I'm starting to wonder if Scarlet Maturity's bullshit isn't actually his Metahuman Power, or rather, it's a side-effect of his actual power. Shutting down someone's Metahuman Powers doesn't actually suddenly make them a normal person--like, Handyman won't suddenly turn back to a normal human, he'll just lose his Autobiokinesis and his ability to reshape himself. But he'll still be a dude made out of magic Clay. I don't think it'll just kill him on the spot, or else that would have been the perfect time to nuke the Catch-22, while their respawn power was down.

If Valiant Silver thought his durability and strength was his superpower--like everyone else does--when it's in fact a byproduct of his actual power... Shutting his power down... Won't actually make him any weaker in battle, will it?

It's still stupidly powerful, but I don't think it's going to be as easy as "Get EXCEED-BEYOND and gank Scarlet Maturity", I think he'll actually still functionally have his full combat effectiveness even with his power down, if this is the case. ... He..

He's evil One For All. Good God.

My guess as to Hiver's escape was that he actually already followed through on the paperwork on the marriage to that Slayers one and took her last name instead of the other way around.

For this to happen they would have had to have never managed to get to the ceremony before Leviathan's Movement, which I can't recall if that timing is right.

On Scarlet Maturity, I have a feeling that there is some sort of consumable nature to his power. There has to be a reason he's playing to the beat of Faust's drum, and I feel as if it might be that Faust and Scalet Maturity signed a mutual contract where Faust facilitates to strengthen SM in return for being able to call in favors when he needs it. A side effect of this deal would be that the obvious target to SM's power boost is Faust hmself, so they loop in on themselves to empower both.

Jesus. I hope to god that you're wrong, Alectai.

Otherwise, the Sorrow route I discussed briefly of having a powerful psychic attack leave him depressed, feeling guilty, and grieving might be our best choice.

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Though another side note I think of is that nothing in his repertoire improves his sensory capabilities, so stealth should work on him, in theory. This is not useful in the slightest, aside from Swan getting behind him for a blindside briefly, but it's worth a thought.

...If we're working off of the "empower then kill" theory for Scarlet Maturity's current power levels, then perhaps Scarlet relied on the super-saturation of metahumans in Horizon to pick out targets that never made it to the spotlight or wouldn't be missed. But Leviathan's awakening changed the game; now metahumans are a scarcity and are quickly being scooped up by the remaining organizations, so Scarlet couldn't continue his original M.O. without someone eventually figuring things out. This new arrangement with Faust was a compromise; still getting a steady supply of metahumans to empower (and be empowered in turn) while having their silence guaranteed by the contracts.

Theres also SM simply looking for targets outside of horizon before. Remember Metas exist all over the world, its just Horizon had the biggest capita to the point there were a lot of independents along with villains and heroes.

Not to mention guys like hydrocity would be perfect prey for SM.

Let's turn back the clock and look at our rewards.

(Chance of recruiting Hiver, Intel about Powers, Chance of intel about Scarlet Maturity's true power, Chance of new metahuman DNA, Chance of Income, Chance of +1 to control of OID) [1 Turns Until Expiration]

Hiver recruitment is simple. The DNA would, presumably, be if he bought the dust during the rescue. We've got some intel about Powers and Scarlet Maturity now. Income... accepting the carrot?

OID control is up in the air, though I assume it'll be from putting up a good fight against these guys.

Wing101r said:

or thus his bigger form slow him down too much?

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The problem with big forms is that they are more frail. Square cube law a.k.a. stretching himself too thin was the limiter on his size during power testing. The fog and Handyman's high espionage score might actually make this the ideal time to take a stealthy form and go for a sneak attack given his limited mass right now.

ScorpioSting said:

hate, greed, and wrath in his heart

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Scarlet Maturity strikes me as someone who has more boredom in his heart than anything else, like an even less heroic version of Saitama. Calling him out as a standard villain anyway might still work if he feels compelled to correct it or gets bemused by it, but I'm not as confident about it.

[X] Plan: Homing Instinct
-[X] Menagerie Witch and Hiver: Menagerie Witch instructs some Nevermores to spread out and link up with the Nevermore carrying Lady Leizi and Handyman using bird calls. Apep splits off to flank the enemies, preferably the married couple at an opportune time. Hiver feels free to air out all of the family's dirty laundry to royally piss them off and stop them from coordinating, using barriers to harass and split up opponents. He should work closely with Menagerie Witch and Echidna to first isolate Blue Skies, take him out, and get the fog to clear. If fog fails to clear, focus on taking out Printemps then Ete in that order. Once there is an opportunity to escape with everyone, do so.
-[X] Lady Leizi and Handyman: Their Nevermore should follow the other Nevermores back to the others after linking up. They should take separate birds back. Handyman returns in a small and stealthy form, so that his bird appears to be returning alone. Depending on situation he can dismount discreetly for a sneak attack or go in with a dynamic entry to tip the scales. Other Nevermores along with Lady Leizi comes diving in with Handyman.
-[X] Black Swan: Play the part of the cocky and naïve dogooder that Scarlet Maturity should enjoy smashing in. Take full advantage of air mobility to try to avoid taking anything more than glancing blows, play dirty by using blinding lights and blasts to the eyes to blind him even if it's only for a short time. If he shows signs of leaving, draw him back in with a taunt about how it's much more fun to fight with someone on his level rather than punch in some bowling pins for a stodgy old dude. If Scarlet Maturity requires jump off points for air control, try to limit aerial debris and instead juggle him with blasts. Do not underestimate his speed in the air. Be willing to use a few powerful blasts to appear committed to the fight. Disengage once it's confirmed the others have escaped or if Black Swan is in danger of being incapacitated. Retreat in a direction away from home base at first to lose visual contact before rocketing back home.

These are the assumptions for my plan:

• Shadow animals retain the sensory abilities of the animal they're cloned from. If so, ravens and snakes should have better tracking abilities than humans in fog (noise and scent). I believe certain birds/ravens also have a pretty good homing instinct for finding their way back to a landmark that isn't purely based on sight.
• By sending out multiple crows in a search pattern for bird calls, the enemies shouldn't be able to really pinpoint a definitive direction for them to come from, especially with the fog blocking visual sight.

In exchange, we aim to keep our injured heroes in the air until it's time for them to fight. I don't see much point keeping the heroes separated when the success of the entire operation hinges on taking out Blue Skies and having some spare Nevermores to escape with. Unless of course we could just fly straight up higher and higher out of the fog, but that'd be boring and Menagerie Witch and Hiver probably can't remount in time until the 3 enemies are tied up somehow.

The greed part I think is founded, he is literally a mercenary who sells his services to the highest bidder. Honestly, one angle of attack I had for Mona was for him to ask what he gets out of all of this, if he's satisfied with his position and work, in a way that indicates that he could swing higher. He could take over a country with his power, or buy a private island and retire with his money. What more do you want?

ScorpioSting said:

Let's turn back the clock and look at our rewards.

(Chance of recruiting Hiver, Intel about Powers, Chance of intel about Scarlet Maturity's true power, Chance of new metahuman DNA, Chance of Income, Chance of +1 to control of OID) [1 Turns Until Expiration]

Hiver recruitment is simple. The DNA would, presumably, be if he bought the dust during the rescue. We've got some intel about Powers and Scarlet Maturity now. Income... accepting the carrot?

OID control is up in the air, though I assume it'll be from putting up a good fight against these guys.

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New dna could be anyone we kill here too, or any of our chars who gets killed off.

Edit: BTW apart from Bulwark giving more HP I just realizied this situation is where a teleporter is really useful. If we had someone with memoria it would have been easier to bailout of here. So something for John, I know there was a idea for Chatroom+Memoria in order to go for something like boogie wogggie.

But having someone with teleport means we can have those at 1 hp leave the battlefield safely. as long the teleporter is there.

You know, this is why i find the conceot of heroes bad. On a very basic level. We took leizi, the most grey choice there is, and her personal agent was nice enough that taking hostages is a joke. A random guy with a gun could get black swan to stop fighting by grabbing a random civilian. Probably even the others. We are figthing people that are actually more powerful then we are and still going full paragon.

Idf handyman gets his hand on a slaver, the least he could do is prevent him from ordering his slaves to kill us. But the only possibility was kill(?). And that is never an option.

I know it was not part of the plan, but im very disapointed in leizis concept. She and her people are very close to full paragon. Much of that is on our decisions, but much of that is not.


All i wanted was for him to punch fausts teeth in when he got the chamce.

He is the brain, and the master.
If anything below paragon wasnt an option, we should have picked anyone else.



This is a frustration i have with all superhero media.
Either they are too nice to actually help effectively, or they go full punisher.


Sorry for the rant. This is just normal for superhero storys, you are just following the format.

I had some real hopes when we got the sligthly grey option, i just have to readjust me expectations.

eh there wasnt a really a time to go for a grey option without it being stupid.

Killing maddie wasnt a grey option. The FVM had lots of benefits apart from saving people. We needed a firm alliance with new Dance that going for aggresive or deception wouldnt really build.

As for here Faust just outplayed us in having a better shield generator and SM just being peak Metahuman even if Handyman really did go for attacking outright it would have just let SM free to kill everyone.
Hell none of our Heroes really reacted to SM just killing people as collateral just made sure he couldnt kill anyone else while running away.

I guess letting Hiver just die would work as grey option but that meant causing problems internally and needing to prop up GJ instead meaning having to work closely with currently potrayed corrupt american governent just to somehow recruit stockpile and stop whatever problems his gonna cause us in the future under powers thumb.

Narasan said:

I had some real hopes when we got the sligthly grey option, i just have to readjust me expectations.

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I think the option to lean more strongly grey was back when it was Leizi deciding whether to give up on Maddie and kill her. Going above and beyond to save her in line with "You can be better" set the tone for all of her voting options going forward, locking out other gray actions like thinking of getting Wolong to pull the plug on Arc for her DNA.

As for Rhys hesitating with Faust, I was also a bit surprised by him losing confidence in his own threat given his background. Though in practical effect our leverage over Faust was not that much, and indeed I believed that even killing him wouldn't have helped very much with Scarlet Maturity in the moment. Because the only real purpose of taking Faust hostage if not to kill him would be to do a prisoner exchange and leave with Hiver. Faust inferred that and thus had little to fear, regardless of whether the threat failed due to morality or practicality.

Do note that we have several people on the team itching for revenge as well. Maddie and Ibis have grudges, as does our candidate John Rhodes. There's some potential for grayness there, and I haven't seen anyone make the case for letting people like Le Petit Prince live. Maybe "You can be better" will also crop up in those cases too, but who knows?

I am all for Maddie icing LPP. She's earned it.

The problem with killing Faust in that moment is that it doesn't actually get us anywhere. The deal's off, sure, but then, what's stopping Scarlet Maturity from just killing us all? It was a gambit to get leverage over Powers by holding their boss hostage, but Faust called our bluff because he knew that he's the only reason Scarlet Maturity didn't go full power on Lady Leizi.

Handyman taking faust hostage was gamble that we unfortunately lost out on. Though atleast it made clear that next time no pussy footing around with faust in either going for kill or incapacitaiton. Since faust being knocked out atleast would have cause problems in chain of command, with how ete needed to use his name to get blue skies to cooperate.

Realistically it was probalby better for handyman to attack printemps and ete with a backstab so taht they couldnt interfere when escaping. Still I cant blame handyman either since Hiver might have instinctively protected them.

Also Handyman is still knew and while an agent I doubted hes ever taken people hostage before.

ScorpioSting said:

I am all for Maddie icing LPP. She's earned it.

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That was alway a question if any our heroes manages to do it first. really.

Like here I dont really mind us not going for the kill since while assholes to JU personally none of them have really done a crime we know of thats worth death, granted since tehy plan us kill us its perfectly fair to go for the kill right back.

For LPP though standing order will be go for kill.

We have 3 plans so far. Interference Play V2 is leading with 3 votes, Chew Toys at 2nd place with 2 votes, and Homing Instinct with 1 vote.

As I've said before, Interference Play is dangerous in that there's the possibility that Faust has his metahuman goons running around in search for us. Blue Sky was a bit of bad luck in that he coincidentally was in our way, but since we know part of Scarlet Maturity's secret and Faust wants every one of our allies dead, he's likely mobilizing the others already to assist in hunting us down.

Lady Leizi and Handyman are both critically injured, if they encounter any of Faust's goons while trying to get some public transit, it's over for us. In particular, Quick Gorilla who's a speedster and Brass Shield with his power armor are particularly dangerous since it would be trivial for them to catch up to us.

Homing Instinct meanwhile is pretty good, but my problem with it mainly stems from the fact that it leaves our initial ambush entirely up to Handyman instead of doubling up on that with Lady Leizi who's left in reserve. Handyman has enhanced strength, sure, but the ambush would hit harder if both of them were present instead of having Lady Leizi follow-up after the enemy is already alerted.

Handyman and Lady Leizi can only contribute to the fight with the fog around since without it, they'll be springing an ambush in broad daylight when our enemies are two summoners with a lot of minions. They need to go for one big punch instead of two.

You are right. Scarlet maturity would have tried to kill us if we did that.

Did you forget that faust ordered all of us killed anyway?
Handyman dying is already a failurestate for me, and he was doing it anyway!
If faust got punched his teeth out, our only opponents would have been scarlet( same result) the two braindead( just really scared and unsure this time) and no backup!

But that isnt actually my problem!
The situation isnt my problem!
My problem is that the secret agent of THE leizi didnt even get a roll for intimidation, because to a serious threat,leizis reuptation as dangerous is worthless.

Half of her character advantage, lost! Her people are just normal heroes with no practicality, her intimidation useless, and any playstile except paragon is now very difficult to get.
You dont have to be nice to be good, you know.


I would have rather picked anyone else, if this was how she was going to end up.

Being the grey one in a hero team is like being the strong guy in star treck. Why are we even here?

edit:we are the strong dude who gets beaten by tech in scifi, the smart dude who gets punched in the face in shonen.

So, would you have voted to kill Maddie, Narasan?