Vote closed
A Good Girl
Kkutlord
Prince of Breath
- Location
- Indianapolis, Indiana
@Lunaryon okay so Renu just wants to double-check things once he's finally done (I had four other commissions going), but here's the thread for his art. He's amazing, I totally encourage people to get commissioned artwork from him. Now, behold, a totally unfamiliar person!
She's a very sweet girl, that's a face you can trust- she has no idea what a 'bonesaw' is, but it sounds bad- something a good girl like herself should never be affiliated with.
Also, for clarification's sake, she's not an Open Cape- that's just an Unmasked version so everyone can see how pure and innocent this adorable little doctor is.
For her actual mask, I dunno- something you'd expect from a medical professional? Regarding her Cape Name... "Scalpel"? Nobody really disapproved or gave me something better...
The medical profession is one that requires delicate, precision work, and a scalpel is more of a precision tool than whatever a 'bonesaw' is. That's very important, little miss Riley would never want people to think she's some crazed psychopath.
----
She's a very sweet girl, that's a face you can trust- she has no idea what a 'bonesaw' is, but it sounds bad- something a good girl like herself should never be affiliated with.
Also, for clarification's sake, she's not an Open Cape- that's just an Unmasked version so everyone can see how pure and innocent this adorable little doctor is.
For her actual mask, I dunno- something you'd expect from a medical professional? Regarding her Cape Name... "Scalpel"? Nobody really disapproved or gave me something better...
The medical profession is one that requires delicate, precision work, and a scalpel is more of a precision tool than whatever a 'bonesaw' is. That's very important, little miss Riley would never want people to think she's some crazed psychopath.
FictionPack
Monochromatic Ursine
- Location
- Tennessee
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Amazing art!
This however is weird because a bonesaw is a medical tool, so she should know exactly what that is, and that it can save lives.
As for a mask, plague doctor style is probably too intimidating, so just a fairly basic medical mask is probably fine.
Kkutlord
Prince of Breath
- Location
- Indianapolis, Indiana
Shush, it's a secret and I shouldn't tell anyone... outting a Cape is bad juju... But, if you really wanna know...
Once upon a time, there was a little girl- she had a normal life, with normal parents, despite her incredible gifts. Then, very bad people found her, wanting her gift for themselves- since they couldn't take it from her, they took her instead.
However, they couldn't take the little girl as she was. No, they had to... convince her. Molded into something she never wanted to be, she even acted as something she never wanted to be.
Until, one day, she was somewhere completely unfamiliar- her and the people that 'convinced' her were stopped, finally, and locked away. She was no longer a weapon for bad people, that was good enough.
But someone realized she didn't have to be a bad person- he did everything he could, and eventually she remembered who she truly was. It was her fate to be there forever, but that was fine.
However, the universe seemed to have a cruel sense of humor- though she had rediscovered her true self, she was effectively forced to watch the one person who cared die before her.
'If only I wasn't such a bad girl, I could save him' she thought, it was all she wanted- but she used to be a very bad girl, she wasn't allowed any of the things that could of saved him.
Rage and despair flooded through her- 'if only, if only, if only' then, the world broke, and she realized something- she was never a bad girl, it was that other girl pretending to be her- how she hates that other girl, she could of saved her savior if it wasn't for that other girl.
However, they couldn't take the little girl as she was. No, they had to... convince her. Molded into something she never wanted to be, she even acted as something she never wanted to be.
Until, one day, she was somewhere completely unfamiliar- her and the people that 'convinced' her were stopped, finally, and locked away. She was no longer a weapon for bad people, that was good enough.
But someone realized she didn't have to be a bad person- he did everything he could, and eventually she remembered who she truly was. It was her fate to be there forever, but that was fine.
However, the universe seemed to have a cruel sense of humor- though she had rediscovered her true self, she was effectively forced to watch the one person who cared die before her.
'If only I wasn't such a bad girl, I could save him' she thought, it was all she wanted- but she used to be a very bad girl, she wasn't allowed any of the things that could of saved him.
Rage and despair flooded through her- 'if only, if only, if only' then, the world broke, and she realized something- she was never a bad girl, it was that other girl pretending to be her- how she hates that other girl, she could of saved her savior if it wasn't for that other girl.
Last edited:
Kkutlord
Prince of Breath
- Location
- Indianapolis, Indiana
Part of me was even "Taylor has to defend Riley from getting Kill Ordered and being given the responsibility of being her Cape Handler", but eh… it was just some random idle thought I had…
Oh and that was 135 US Dollars in case anyone was wondering. Also that's like highest quality art, which it why it cost so much.
well... those are some tsun-dice if I've ever seen them.
Who Laughs Last Part 5 - The Circus
Lunaryon
Dual Aurora Wave
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Speed-Dial XLR8, get outside the effect area of this thing, call Dragon
Something is wrong. Very wrong.
You are all of a sudden completely and totally exhausted, actually gasping as you sit there, trying to understand what is going on. Glancing around, you realize something strange and definitely worrying. Emma has collapsed back, the girl still looking up at the spectacle above, even as her face takes on a worryingly ashen color. The same is happening to everyone around. Sophia is doing slightly better, the girl gritting her teeth, hands clenched and shaking, and yet she still looks up to the sky as well. Zoe's red hair is turning paler and paler, like she's growing older even as you sit there, watching.
You try and struggle to your feet, gasping and heaving even as you try to do that much. You need to do something.
You have to do something!
Stumbling out of you seat, you try and make your way towards... No... Away from the center of the tent. But with every step, you find your vision starting to grow dim, and you can barely even think. Stumbling down into the cold and comforting dark, you...
You need...
Do something.
While it wouldn't be right to call what happens next instinct, it is perhaps some kind of ingrained thought, a reaction that you have managed to drill into your head over and over in the short time that you've had the Omnitrix on your wrist. Whatever the reason, even as you shake and shiver, barely able to keep to your feet as you stumble away from the seats of the big top, one shaking, shivering hand reaches up.
Your fingers only just manage to slide across the activator of the dial on your wrist, and with a soft cheerful beep, the dial raises. Green light spills out from the Omnitrix and across your face. It isn't much, but even that little bit of change is enough for you to be able to start to try and focus, to actually think instead of just reacting.
You need... Gah... It is so difficult to think. Being here, in the dark, it is seeping into your thoughts, staining your mind black with indecision and... and...
Even the words are fading out of your focus, and you can only barely realize that even now you are still wavering back and forth, eyes starting to flutter close.
You don't have the energy to focus, nor the capacity to... to...
Words!
So choosing an alien right out is just not an option. You'd probably end up screwing something up and choosing the wrong one. Thankfully, you have a way to choose without choosing, You don't press down on the dial, instead allowing your fingers to curl like a dead spider. With a jerk of the wrist you pull upwards, dragging the dial with.
Your world goes Green.
Taking a deep breath, you allow the differences in your senses and your body to take center stage, your tail slithering back and forth in the air behind you as you click your claws against one another, and slide the balls of your feet across the ground, spinning around once as you settle into your new skin.
Then you stretch up, grinning as a single word slips past your lips. "XLR8."
You still don't know exactly why it is that your other selves feel the need to announce themselves when you transform. But all together it just feels right, and all together it seems like the kind of thing that you should do. Reaching up towards the sky, you stretch, allowing your back to pop in the most decadent of ways before you drop down, claws resting against the ground.
You don't know what the hell is going on inside of that Tent, but it is certainly bad, and not just an ordinary bad, but the actively bad of a Parahuman. A part of you wants to hurry back in and grab everyone, dragging them all out in order to get them free of the effect, but you don't know what that effect is, and you don't know how to handle it.
There is a single moment where your instincts to try and help everyone clashes against the training and the instructions not to use your powers that you have been given. Were you anyone else, that might have taken a while, but while transformed like this you can think and react so fast that it isn't an issue.
And in the end, what wins is something of a mixture of the two battling instincts. All around you, friction fades down, shorn away from your form with the exception of your feet, and you press forwards, blurring into motion and sliding out through the fairgrounds at such speeds that you would be little more than a blur to anyone lucky enough to have missed the big top show.
Out into the streets you spill, zipping around the cars so quickly it is almost like they aren't even moving as your head swivels back and forth, trying to find something, anything that you can use to try and call your mentor.
Ah! There!
You stop dead in front of the doors of a phone booth, changing from blurring along at speeds that humans would barely be able to comprehend to a dead stop. You slide the door of the booth open and with careful claws you bring the receiver up to your head, even as your fingers dance across the number pad.
7 2 7 2
P a r a
Thankfully, like other emergency service numbers, you don't need to pay to call the PRT. It only takes a moment for the person on the other end to pick up, but that is still so very long when you are XLR8.
"Parahuman Response Team, what is your emergency?" A voice on the other end calls.
"This is Prospective Ward Ten of PRT Department ENE." You immediately say, before rattling off the series of numbers that you had been given for such a situation. There is an achingly long moment where the man on the other end of the line types in the numbers, confirming your identity.
"Identity confirmed Ten." The man says, "Do you want me to transfer you over to Armsmaster?"
"Yes please." You say.
"Gladly." The operator says, before there is a click, and there line isn't even on hold long enough for the waiting music to kick in before there is another click.
"Armsmaster here." The Protectorate leader says shortly.
"This is Ten." You say, before quickly spilling into an explanation of what is going on. The way that you and a friend came to visit the carnival that was in town, and how exhausted and drained you ended up feeling and how the same was happening to everyone else. The words just spill out and it takes everything you have to keep them from speeding up faster and faster.
"I don't... I don't know if pulling them out of the Big Top will help." You admit, "And I don't know what's causing it. Who is causing it."
"You did the right thing." Armsmaster says. "A Trooper team is on the way, as is Dragon. I'll be making my own way there, but it is going to be ten minutes at the earliest. Focus first on getting everyone out, and avoid getting into a fight unless you absolutely have to."
You nod slowly, before remembering that Armsmaster isn't able to see you. "Yes sir."
"Again, Ten." Armsmaster says firmly. "You did the right thing. Tinker tech is always something to worry about. Armsmaster out." The man says, before hanging up.
You take a breath, trying to clear your thoughts and ready yourself for what you are about to do. The idea of fighting is still really scary, but you aren't going to let that stop you from helping people.
Stepping out of the Phone booth, you ignore the stares that you are starting to attract, simply turning and giving the small crowd a quick wave before bursting back into motion.
4d100 == 23 + 96 + 12 + 85 = 216
[???]
[???]
No matter, you aren't going to let anyone else get hurt, grabbing hold of the closest person, before zooming out, and carefully laying the person out of the ground. Dazed and confused, the tall brown haired man groans, eyes unfocused as he blinks and tries to understand what is happening. Back and forth and forth and back, you dive into the big top again, grabbing hold of someone before zooming back out to set them down out of the way so that they won't get hurt.
After the man comes a woman, and then two kids - Light enough that you managed to pick them both up with one hand each and carry them out. Once you get out of the dark and into the light, you start to realize that there is something familiar about the two.
A young boy, ten or so with short brown hair, a black and white shirt... And a girl, dressed in blue with short red hai-
This is Ben and Gwen! Those cousins from your summer camp! What in the world are they doing here?
Beside visiting the circus that is. That part should really be obvious. With a groan, it's Ben who manages to open his eyes first, watching as you put down another circus goer. "Wait..." He groans out, blinking in surprise. "I... You..."
"Stay still." You tell the boy, blurring over to his side. "You need to rest, get back the energy that's been stolen."
The boy opens his mouth, trying to say something, but you don't have the time to wait. Not here, not now. What's even more surprising is the fact that once you manage to grab hold of her, Zoe manages to open her eyes, even before the you pull the woman free of the tent. She groans out something, but you can't tell what, not with how tired she seems to be.
Bringing her out, you set your best friend's mother over next to Ben and his family, the group having managed to at least sit up. "Ben." You say, catching the attention of the whole family, Gwen gasping out in recognition when she sees you. "Can you keep an eye on her for me." You ask, and the young boy is already managing to pull himself up to his feet.
"Yes Ma'am!" The young boy says, even giving you a salute.
As you start to make your way back in, you can hear a cruel laugh starting to spill out from the depths of the tent. "Well well," A voice growls out, and it takes you a moment to start to put it down, to figure out where you've heard that voice before. "What do we have here?"
That... That is the voice of Zombozo the Clown, the ringleader of the Circus. You don't have time to try and figure out what is going on, not when there are still people to save, but even as you rush down towards the seating...
This is taking longer than it did before. the distance from the entrance to the seats is somehow more, is somehow further than it was before.
That isn't all of it either. finally managing to reach the center of the tent, you find...
You find the whole of the tent is different.
The whole of the ring is far larger than it was when the girl first arrived, stretching out so far that the distant end is fading into the depths of the darkness. The tent poles have changed, expanding and growing up is massive gnarled looking... To be honest, they might look like trees, but they aren't made of wood...
What was once wooden tent poles are now writhing pillars of blood and muscle and bone, with cruel laughing faces that run up the sides. There are snarling maws filled with massive gnashing teeth and bloodshot eyes that spin and dance, looking to and fro, never blinking.
This is... Disturbing. You run along the ground, making your way to stands that have shifted to being made of rusty, corroded steel... The things look like... Pens. The kinds of pens that you would imagine cows being kept in as they are sent to the slaughterhouse. Leaping up, you barely manage to slip over the top, grabbing hold of Emma before turning.
What's worse than anything else however... Unlike so many of the different people that you have rescued so far...
Emma is awake, she is aware. The girl is terrifyingly thin, his face sunken and gaunt and all the luster lost from her hair. She quivers in your grip, leaning in close, before one near skeletal hand reaches up, just barely brushing against the Omnitrix set on your chest. "Tay..." The girl girl manages to croak out, her voice just as rusty as the horrifying place that you've found her. Pulling the girl in close, you leap up over the edges of the rising cages that are still expanding and warping. Even worse, all through the air there is an unending laughter. One that seems to get crueler and crueler with each passing second.
As you land down on the ground outside of the cages, you feel something scratching up against your legs. There, skittering across the ground and all around are tiny...
Tiny little things, you don't know what they are. Shaped like spiders, and with bodies like that of tiny pigs, the things are made all the worse by the fact that their limbs are all the fingers of a hand, and each one is topped with a head.
Zombozo's head. One of the creature snarls out a warped oinking noise, before it starts to charge at you, opening it's mouth and spilling out maggots as rotten teeth flash in the dim light of the big top.
Yeah. Fuck this noise.
Blurring through the madness, you dodge around the creatures and through the still yet further tunnel that separates the circus from the rest of the world. You've never seen powers like this. That isn't to say that you don't have an idea of what it is that you are facing... but this...
You've heard of Shakers, and been given examples of what their powers are capable of...
But even Vista... Shaker 9, the strongest Shaker on the East Coast...
This... This makes everything that the girl is capable of look like nothing. And if Vista is a 9...
Coming to a stop after nearly a whole ten seconds of hurrying down the length of tunnel that Zombozo has created... You finally make your way back out into the light. Soaring over towards where Ben and Gwen and Zoe all are, you come to a stop, setting the girl down carefully. "Gwen." You call out, catching the eye of the red headed girl. "Can you watch over her for me. There are still others I need to save."
The girl gives a single nod, but she is clearly determined. Grinning at the two, it is back into action. Back and forth, again and again and again, you slowly start to move out person after person, but it is taking time, and slowly you can feel the ticking clock running up in the back of you mind.
You... You aren't sure how long you've been transformed at this point, but it is definitely getting close to Ten minutes at this point. Standing there outside, you carefully look through the crowd that is still tired and exhausted, with only a few having the energy to get up to their feet.
The bad news is that they are still way too close to that monster for you to be comfortable, but the good news is that with them all down on the ground, it is easy to get something of a head count and get an idea of who all you have saved.
...
Wait. Glancing across the crowd one final time, you burst into motion, running along the crowd and taking a look at each and every person.
Sophia isn't here. She's still back in the tent. You don't have long at all before the watch finally gives way, leaving you back in the form of Taylor Hebert.
And yet, for all of that, it isn't even a question. Immediately you start back down the tunnel once more, and the seconds tick by as you hurry further and further until nearly twelve whole seconds later you come out into the terrifying mess that the circus has transformed into.
Not only are the tent poles even wider and taller, now seeming more like a forest made of meat and flesh and bone instead of just the two trees, and the copper scent of blood is everywhere. The creatures you saw before are still there, and have gotten even bigger, their bodies all the more like pigs while the walls of the tent have twisted into a bloody iron cage, reaching up towards the ceiling.
There, high above everything else, Zombozo floats, the thing that once looked like a clown laughing uproariously, but it is not a happy laugh.
It is the angriest laugh that you have ever heard. Even worse, the man himself has become twisted and warped in a terrifying way, his limbs becoming long and spindly like a spiders, as he hangs down from what might have once been the tightrope. The man's whole head has twisted, rolling so that it is entirely upside down on his shoulders. There is only one thing that manages to get your attention more than the horrifying creature in high above, and that is the figure darting across the ground near the far side of the tent, being chased by a number of the strange finger pig monsters.
It only takes you a second to recognize the outfit that Sophia has been wearing, given that she seems to have found something somewhere to cover her face. You aren't sure why she is covering her face, before the girl stops. Turning back towards the creatures she darts right at them, and already you are in motion.
You don't know what Sophia is trying to do, but-
And just like that, Sophia vanishes, her body scattering into a thick black mist that flows forwards. The pigs barreling straight on through it, before it collapses and collects back down, taking on the shape of Sophia once more.
Sophia is a cape. Now that you've got a slightly better look at the girl, you can tell that she has a rusty iron poker in one hand, and just as you start to realize that, you hear one of the Zombozo headed beasts squeal out, before collapsing. The far side of the creature has been sliced open. Immediately, the rest of the creatures turn away from Sophia, falling onto the collapsed pig and beginning to just tear the creature apart, eating everything that gets within inches of their mouths.
"You can't avoid my pets forever, girl." The whole of the Tent shakes and shudders under the booming voice that rocks this whole warped world, "Just give up. Everyone else has gotten away, and I will not lose my meal this night. Not when I have worked so hard for it."
...What the fuck are you planning on doing?
[ ][Do] Seriously. What the fuck.
FictionPack
Monochromatic Ursine
- Location
- Tennessee
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X][Do] Use the Melodic Multitool to draw attention to yourself, then yell at Sophia," Hey Misty! I'll draw their attention, you get with the stabby!", until the Watch recharges.
Architect Iront.
Verified Cosplayer, Verified Living Doll
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X][Do] Sophia's bought you an opening. Hot swap to Pele and BURN EVERYTHING!!!!
We're not wearing a mask right now, are we? Might want to fix that before drawing attention our way.
- Location
- Louisville, KY
[X][Do] Use the Melodic Multitool to draw attention to yourself, then yell at Sophia," Hey Misty! I'll draw their attention, you get with the stabby!", until the Watch recharges. Then Change into Pele and BURN EVERYTHING!!!!
A merger of the two plans.
A merger of the two plans.
- Pronouns
- He/They
[X][Do] Use the Melodic Multitool to draw attention to yourself, then yell at Sophia," Hey Misty! I'll draw their attention, you get with the stabby!", until the Watch recharges.
Kkutlord
Prince of Breath
- Location
- Indianapolis, Indiana
The bolded part was were you referred to Emma as "his" face and you had included girl twice in a row. Just thought it worth pointing out.
FictionPack
Monochromatic Ursine
- Location
- Tennessee
- Pronouns
- He/Him
OK.......I just realized I totally misread a sentence and thought Taylor timed out and has 4 minutes till she can use the watch again....not 4 minutes left as XLR8....sooooo
[X][Do] Quickly fight your way to Sophia, then carry her to somewhere you can get some breathing room to exchange information and come up with a plan. Tell her you are Taylor to try to get her to cooperate.
[X][Do] Quickly fight your way to Sophia, then carry her to somewhere you can get some breathing room to exchange information and come up with a plan. Tell her you are Taylor to try to get her to cooperate.
Sailor_Skarro
The Lurker
[X][Do] Sophia's bought you an opening. Hot swap to Pele and BURN EVERYTHING!!!!
We can set a huge fire in under 4 minutes, probably.
We can set a huge fire in under 4 minutes, probably.
- Location
- Louisville, KY
[X][Do] Quickly fight your way to Sophia, then carry her to somewhere you can get some breathing room to exchange information and come up with a plan. Tell her you are Taylor to try to get her to cooperate.
Changing, cause yeah I missed that too.
Changing, cause yeah I missed that too.
- Location
- California
[x] Get Sophia, let her know who you are, and swap to Pele. Tell If you have contact in the tent, tell the PRT that this is an A, possible S class event. If you can't do it, have Emma do it, but this kind of shaker ability, coupled with the biotinker creations means it's an all hands on deck situation.
[X][Do] Quickly fight your way to Sophia, then carry her to somewhere you can get some breathing room to exchange information and come up with a plan. Tell her you are Taylor to try to get her to cooperate.
Also I can't but feel again that setting a tent with numerous incapacitated people in it on fire is a very bad idea. Would be much better to try to attack and destroy whatever is letting Zombozo drain people instead.
Also I can't but feel again that setting a tent with numerous incapacitated people in it on fire is a very bad idea. Would be much better to try to attack and destroy whatever is letting Zombozo drain people instead.
- Location
- The Hub
[X][Do] Quickly fight your way to Sophia, then carry her to somewhere you can get some breathing room to exchange information and come up with a plan. Tell her you are Taylor to try to get her to cooperate.
- Pronouns
- He/They
[X][Do] Quickly fight your way to Sophia, then carry her to somewhere you can get some breathing room to exchange information and come up with a plan. Tell her you are Taylor to try to get her to cooperate.
Alright, switching to this.
Alright, switching to this.