Holding Out For A Hero: An Original Superhero Quest
- Thread starter Agent 99
- Start date
- Original Superhero
- Location
- Calgary
Never use electricity on somebody in a suit of armour. Metal is so much more conductive than skin that the moving electrons won't actually ever touch the person and will only use the armour to reach ground. Plate is an excellent defence against electricity. You would have to use a high enough voltage to heat the armour up to the point it burns the person wearing it, which is a lot of power for such a broad piece of metal. Fire and Momentum are far more effective.
...
You gather magical energy in your hands and while he's talking. You thrust a hand in the air and a sphere of electricity forms above Profligate. You don't see it from where you are, but a panel on his back opens, and a lightning rod pops out.
The lightning bolt comes down and goes right into the spike. Instead of coursing through his body, electrocuting him, the lightning is absorbed into his suit. Several of the panels on his suit, including the two that make up the suit's "eyes" start glowing a bright blue. You can almost see a sneer under his helmet.
You take out your sword and charge. You don't know what he's planning, but you don't want to find out the hard way.
With a speed that rivals your own, he holds out his hand and takes aim at you. A large blue ball of energy, powered by your own lightning, forms in his palm. You jerk to the left as he fires, and the plasma(?) ball sails past your head, nearly hitting a speeding car, and keeps flying to who-knows-where.
Meanwhile, back at your base, Jasmine is trying to hack into the cameras on a nearby toll road so she could see what was going on. She could see the fighting n the distance, but the camera was both far away from the fighting, and at an odd angle, so watching the two people fighting was not unlike watching two ants in the upper right corner of her screen.
"Vigil, I'm trying to get eyes on the fight, but, these cams are putting up a fight. I'll give you info when I can." She says.
"Got it" You say quietly as you swing your sword downward, aiming right for his head, but he crosses his twin blades, catching your own and pushing back. Unlike the last time, the synthetic muscles don't creak when fighting your strength.
"Like the new muscles? I've been working on them ever since we last met. Not much else you can do in jail, you know?" Proflegate says, before giving a giant push up, knocking you off balance. He then attempts to charge at you, swinging his blades to cut you to ribbons. You raise your shield, blocking the blows easily.
"Well, technically, I had several engineers work on them, but I suppose it's much the same thing." He finishes. You respond by trying to punch him with your shield, but he moves back, barely avoiding you.
"You talk too much." You say before you football tackle him. There's a loud crash as metal strikes metal and the Profligate flies over the edge of the divider. You lean over the edge, shield up, expecting to see him falling down onto the main highway below to either splat when he hits the ground or get ground under several sets of tires. But when you look down, you don't see him.
But you see, around where he went over, a grappling hook stuck near the bottom of the ramp before it retracts out of view. You turn around and on the other side of the ramp, Profligate, having used the momentum of the fall to swing himself up in the air, underneath the loop, and back up.
While in the air, he points two fingers at you. You dodge to the left, the lasers melting the concrete where they strike. Profligate lands gracefully on the other side of the highway. Before either of you can close the distance, another car speeds past in between you both, going at a full speed just like only a Hartford driver can. When the car passes, you...
[] Charge at him again. He's better at long distance so you want to keep him from taking advantage of that. (Roll Broadsword or Brawl)
[] Stay on the defensive and look for an opening. (Roll Shield)
[] Throw a fireball. You don't know if his suit's fireproof, but you're pretty sure that being on fire would distract him at least.
[] Write in.
The lightning bolt comes down and goes right into the spike. Instead of coursing through his body, electrocuting him, the lightning is absorbed into his suit. Several of the panels on his suit, including the two that make up the suit's "eyes" start glowing a bright blue. You can almost see a sneer under his helmet.
You take out your sword and charge. You don't know what he's planning, but you don't want to find out the hard way.
With a speed that rivals your own, he holds out his hand and takes aim at you. A large blue ball of energy, powered by your own lightning, forms in his palm. You jerk to the left as he fires, and the plasma(?) ball sails past your head, nearly hitting a speeding car, and keeps flying to who-knows-where.
Meanwhile, back at your base, Jasmine is trying to hack into the cameras on a nearby toll road so she could see what was going on. She could see the fighting n the distance, but the camera was both far away from the fighting, and at an odd angle, so watching the two people fighting was not unlike watching two ants in the upper right corner of her screen.
"Vigil, I'm trying to get eyes on the fight, but, these cams are putting up a fight. I'll give you info when I can." She says.
"Got it" You say quietly as you swing your sword downward, aiming right for his head, but he crosses his twin blades, catching your own and pushing back. Unlike the last time, the synthetic muscles don't creak when fighting your strength.
"Like the new muscles? I've been working on them ever since we last met. Not much else you can do in jail, you know?" Proflegate says, before giving a giant push up, knocking you off balance. He then attempts to charge at you, swinging his blades to cut you to ribbons. You raise your shield, blocking the blows easily.
"Well, technically, I had several engineers work on them, but I suppose it's much the same thing." He finishes. You respond by trying to punch him with your shield, but he moves back, barely avoiding you.
"You talk too much." You say before you football tackle him. There's a loud crash as metal strikes metal and the Profligate flies over the edge of the divider. You lean over the edge, shield up, expecting to see him falling down onto the main highway below to either splat when he hits the ground or get ground under several sets of tires. But when you look down, you don't see him.
But you see, around where he went over, a grappling hook stuck near the bottom of the ramp before it retracts out of view. You turn around and on the other side of the ramp, Profligate, having used the momentum of the fall to swing himself up in the air, underneath the loop, and back up.
While in the air, he points two fingers at you. You dodge to the left, the lasers melting the concrete where they strike. Profligate lands gracefully on the other side of the highway. Before either of you can close the distance, another car speeds past in between you both, going at a full speed just like only a Hartford driver can. When the car passes, you...
[] Charge at him again. He's better at long distance so you want to keep him from taking advantage of that. (Roll Broadsword or Brawl)
[] Stay on the defensive and look for an opening. (Roll Shield)
[] Throw a fireball. You don't know if his suit's fireproof, but you're pretty sure that being on fire would distract him at least.
[] Write in.
Alright, it looks like this just isn't Sonya's day.
Well, I'm get started on writing the next update. But first, I'm going to roll to see if that fireball hit anything.
Edit: Shit. I am so sorry.
...;
You gather your power and a fireball starts to appear. Steam drifts off of it as the rain hits it and is evaporated. Not letting you get the chance to throw it, Profligate fires another finger laser at you. You pivot on a foot, and the laser sails past, and you toss your fireball as if you were throwing a dodgeball at the supervillain. But the fireball goes wide, sailing over his shoulder and keeps flying, until it starts to arc down.
But before you can see where it goes, Profligate charges at you, both blades in hand. You re-summon your shield and block the blade. You barely hear a slight humming coming from his shortsword, and feel the sword cutting through your shield. You kick the man backwards and he stumbles into the middle of the road. A pair of beeps is all the warning he gets before he jumps towards you and a car sails past where he once stood. He tries to perform a spin kick on you while mid-air, but you catch him and slam his body into the ground.
You summon your sword and point it at his face. "Don't move. Or you're gonna go to prison with more than just a bruised face." You say in your disguised voice.
"You needed help from that archer last time. But now? You're all alone" Profligate says. He then gives a swift kick to your leg.
"Fuck!" You yell as you stumble backwards. A pain shoots up your leg. THe armor is cracked and bent inward. You don't know if your bleeding or if the crack is letting the rain in, but you don't have time to check because before you know it, he's on you.
Profligate grabs you and tries to toss you over the edge. If you were lucky, you'd fall and land in a tree. And the wright of yourself and your armor would break the branches and you'd still hit the ground. If not, then you'd land 30 feet closer and end up on the highway running below you. As he tries to hoist you over the edge, you swing an elbow into his gut, and you hear a loud *clang*, but it's enough for him to loosen his grip. You turn around to face him before he can regain his grip, and the two of you start wrestling, him trying to throw you off the edge, and you standing your ground, and so far you seem to be winning.
After a few seconds of stalemate, you summon another fireball in one hand. Once again, steam wafts from it as the rain falls. An SUV starts to slow down and you see a teenager take out her phone and take a picture right as you clock Profligate in the face before the SUV speeds off. As Profligate stumbles backwards, you see some black smoke just past him.
A level below yours, where the loop has 3 lanes of traffic, you see black smoke rising from a car. The vehicle is crashed into the edge of the divider, pinning the driver's side door closed. The passenger's side is on fire. A deep coldness forms in the pit of your stomach when you realize that that fire probably came from your own fireball.
If you wanted to drop down to that level, you can do it from here. You'd have to run to your left, against traffic, until you could get to a place where your level is right over that level and you could drop down. And then, you'd have to run towards the car to help. With your speed, it would take less than 15 seconds. But you're still fighting for your life against Profligate. And if you try and safe the driver, he's probably going to use the chance to attack you.
[] Go down and save the whoever is in that car. (Possibly gains Trait Civilian Savior. You will do whatever it takes to make sure no innocent people get hurt when you're fighting)
-[] Toss Profligate off of the edge to the ground first. At the very least, it'll keep him busy.
[] I'll help that civie after I take care of Profligate. You need to make sure that Profligate. (Possibly gains the trait Pragmatic. You can't help people if you get shot in the back by a villain who fight dirty. You're likely to prioritize neutralizing enemies before saving others.)
[] It sucks for whoever is in that car, but I'm fighting for my life here and I need to focus on that. (Possibly gains the trait Something To Come Home For. You're willing to fight for the people of Hartford, but at the end of the day, you have a family to come back to.)
[] Write in.
The Vigil
HP: [10] 17/20
FP: 8/10
Profligate
HP: [10] 11/14
FP: 10/12
But before you can see where it goes, Profligate charges at you, both blades in hand. You re-summon your shield and block the blade. You barely hear a slight humming coming from his shortsword, and feel the sword cutting through your shield. You kick the man backwards and he stumbles into the middle of the road. A pair of beeps is all the warning he gets before he jumps towards you and a car sails past where he once stood. He tries to perform a spin kick on you while mid-air, but you catch him and slam his body into the ground.
You summon your sword and point it at his face. "Don't move. Or you're gonna go to prison with more than just a bruised face." You say in your disguised voice.
"You needed help from that archer last time. But now? You're all alone" Profligate says. He then gives a swift kick to your leg.
"Fuck!" You yell as you stumble backwards. A pain shoots up your leg. THe armor is cracked and bent inward. You don't know if your bleeding or if the crack is letting the rain in, but you don't have time to check because before you know it, he's on you.
Profligate grabs you and tries to toss you over the edge. If you were lucky, you'd fall and land in a tree. And the wright of yourself and your armor would break the branches and you'd still hit the ground. If not, then you'd land 30 feet closer and end up on the highway running below you. As he tries to hoist you over the edge, you swing an elbow into his gut, and you hear a loud *clang*, but it's enough for him to loosen his grip. You turn around to face him before he can regain his grip, and the two of you start wrestling, him trying to throw you off the edge, and you standing your ground, and so far you seem to be winning.
After a few seconds of stalemate, you summon another fireball in one hand. Once again, steam wafts from it as the rain falls. An SUV starts to slow down and you see a teenager take out her phone and take a picture right as you clock Profligate in the face before the SUV speeds off. As Profligate stumbles backwards, you see some black smoke just past him.
A level below yours, where the loop has 3 lanes of traffic, you see black smoke rising from a car. The vehicle is crashed into the edge of the divider, pinning the driver's side door closed. The passenger's side is on fire. A deep coldness forms in the pit of your stomach when you realize that that fire probably came from your own fireball.
If you wanted to drop down to that level, you can do it from here. You'd have to run to your left, against traffic, until you could get to a place where your level is right over that level and you could drop down. And then, you'd have to run towards the car to help. With your speed, it would take less than 15 seconds. But you're still fighting for your life against Profligate. And if you try and safe the driver, he's probably going to use the chance to attack you.
[] Go down and save the whoever is in that car. (Possibly gains Trait Civilian Savior. You will do whatever it takes to make sure no innocent people get hurt when you're fighting)
-[] Toss Profligate off of the edge to the ground first. At the very least, it'll keep him busy.
[] I'll help that civie after I take care of Profligate. You need to make sure that Profligate. (Possibly gains the trait Pragmatic. You can't help people if you get shot in the back by a villain who fight dirty. You're likely to prioritize neutralizing enemies before saving others.)
[] It sucks for whoever is in that car, but I'm fighting for my life here and I need to focus on that. (Possibly gains the trait Something To Come Home For. You're willing to fight for the people of Hartford, but at the end of the day, you have a family to come back to.)
[] Write in.
The Vigil
HP: [10] 17/20
FP: 8/10
Profligate
HP: [10] 11/14
FP: 10/12
- Location
- Head in the clouds
[X] Go down and save the whoever is in that car. (Possibly gains Trait Civilian Savior. You will do whatever it takes to make sure no innocent people get hurt when you're fighting)
-[X] Toss Profligate off of the edge to the ground first. At the very least, it'll keep him busy.
We've been highly focused on civilians for awhile. And there are way too many people on all sides that ignore the bystanders intown.
-[X] Toss Profligate off of the edge to the ground first. At the very least, it'll keep him busy.
We've been highly focused on civilians for awhile. And there are way too many people on all sides that ignore the bystanders intown.
Valkur
The True Valkyria, Valkur!
- Location
- Fólkvangr
[X] Go down and save the whoever is in that car. (Possibly gains Trait Civilian Savior. You will do whatever it takes to make sure no innocent people get hurt when you're fighting)
-[X] Toss Profligate off of the edge to the ground first. At the very least, it'll keep him busy.
-[X] Toss Profligate off of the edge to the ground first. At the very least, it'll keep him busy.
- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Go down and save the whoever is in that car. (Possibly gains Trait Civilian Savior. You will do whatever it takes to make sure no innocent people get hurt when you're fighting)
-[X] Toss Profligate off of the edge to the ground first. At the very least, it'll keep him busy.
-[X] Toss Profligate off of the edge to the ground first. At the very least, it'll keep him busy.
Valkur
The True Valkyria, Valkur!
- Location
- Fólkvangr
I feel like I should explain why i'm picking this. I know its a bit cliche for a hero to do hero things and martyr themselves but I genuine feel for the people of Hartford. Gangs, Villains, and others just create so much negativity that creating more honestly feels bad. I hope we can make it out of this alive.
[X] Go down and save the whoever is in that car. (Possibly gains Trait Civilian Savior. You will do whatever it takes to make sure no innocent people get hurt when you're fighting)
-[X] Toss Profligate off of the edge to the ground first. At the very least, it'll keep him busy.
-[X] Toss Profligate off of the edge to the ground first. At the very least, it'll keep him busy.
That's a valid reason to try and save a civilian. And I'm sure that they will appreciate that there's a Vigilante that cares about them.
As for everyone else, like that time, if you gain the quirk, Sonya will go out of her way to help keep civilians safe by default. Resisting will require either outside circumstances, or a Self Control Roll. If you don't want this quirk, you can opt to roll to resist it. But the question is, do you want to?
[] Roll Will to resist picking up this quirk.
[] Don't roll to resist the quirk.
Also, I'm sorry for calling it a trait and not a quirk in the last post.
- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It was mostly roleplay purposes to shape character personality. However, I could grant bonuses for acting in accordance with a quirk. I'm already doing something similar with the Daredevil advantage. It subtract 1 from any roll for any action that puts the character in danger. Like subtracting 1 from a dodge roll when the character is running through gunfire. I could do that for these quirks.
For example, Sonya will need to roll a Dex roll to safely jump down and a Strength roll to pry the car door open in this case. The Civilian savior could subtract 1 from those rolls.
- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
That sounds like a good idea. Right now, there is no incentive to take a quirk whilst there is plenty of reason not to. In fact, if Civilian Saviour had mechanical effects that weren't completely negative, I like it enough narratively that I would probably vote to keep it.