YOU are BIANCA B. BENTLY, an incredibly dork and college student newly enrolled in SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY, the best college that is still in your price range! You're studying English, working at the local 7/11 across the street from the college to make ends meet...oh, also, the world is ruled by an openly evil cabal of vampires, werewolves, demons, and worse who quietly took over in the 1980s using capitalism. But what's far more important is that you just saw the LATEST DISNEY MOVIE and IT WAS PRETTY RAD AS FUCK.
However, in the past few years, a new force has emerged to stand against the Dark.
They're called Sparks. Because, uh, Disney bought Marvel and...owns the copyright on superheroes.
And you, BIANCA, are Sonoma County's newest one.
Assuming you can survive your first week...
***
SUPERS. VAMPIRES. THE WORLD OF DARKNESS. More likely than you think? Based off the fantastic and amazing novel All Those Explosions Were Someone Else's Fault by James Allen Gardener, this is gonna be a QUEST THREAD.
1) Write ins allowed!
2) Democracy wins!
3) The system will be WILD TALENTS (which will be familiar to any of those who did my Double Trouble thread, but I'll be copying over the rules from there to here.)
It's eleven PM on a Thursday and you have a trig test tomorrow and you and Brad are just completely totally fucking bored out of your goddamn minds.
Brad is handling the mop in the back of the place, cause if your super does one of those bullshit surprise visits, or if he checks the security cameras, or if he's just feeling surly and grumpy, he might get on either of your asses for working the mop. You, meanwhile, are behind the front counter, bouncing on your feet to try and not have tired feet. It kinda works, if you don't mind the fact that it doesn't...actually.
Work.
At all.
Brad pushes the mop along the ground.
"So, did you hear?" he asks, casually. "About the-"
"Giant squid attack?" you ask. "Oh! The robots that attacked New York? Space alien invasion!"
Brad looks at you.
Really…
Looks.
Brad is a round cheeked boy, about twentyish, like you. He's got freckles. He's not very cute. He does not wear his 7/11 uniform well. It's too baggy in some places, too tight in others, and the cap he wears is constantly almost falling off his bowl cut of mopish brown hair. But when he shoots you a look like that, you feel like you're in high school again, trying to hit on Naim Corker, and he's looking at you like you're a bug that squirmed out of the locker and into his lap, and then his girlfriend shows up, and then you panic, and hit on her too, then get detention when you run screaming away and smash into the Principle at full tilt. Wait...Principle or...Principal? Fuck.
Your face flushes. "What?"
"Disney bought Marvel," Brad says.
"Oh." You blink. "...for a lot?"
"I mean, is a billion dollars a lot?" he asks.
"I…" you stop. "Don't...yes? I mean...that's, like, five zeroes."
Brad sighs, then continues to mop. You're looking down at your fingers. "Ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand...hundred thousand...million, ten million, hundred million, fuck, I was way off," you say, looking down at the nine fingers you're holding up. Well. Seven fingers and two pinkies.
Brad pushes the mop down the way. "I think they just wanted to kill the competition, since Artificer was in talks with Marvel studios," he says, shrugging.
"Oohhhh, do you think that Disney is gonna make, like...an…" you pause. "...a...whose the guy? With the, you know…" You flick your wrists.
"Spiderman," Brad says.
"No, the guy with the red suit," you say.
"Spiderman," Brad says.
No, that's not the one you're thinking of. "No, like...you know, he can do the thing…" you pause. "He can move metal!"
"...Magneto?"
"Magneto!" You say, excitedly. "Ohhh, his comics would make such freaking cool movies!" You put your hands to your face.
Brad looks at you. "This? This was your magnetic powers? This?" He makes the same wrist flicking gesture you did. "That's what you use to denote magnet powers?"
"Yeah, why?" you ask, as Brad groans. "Ohhh, maybe they'll make it like the Universal movies. That'd own. Like, Magneto can have a movie, then Mysterio could have a movie, then they team UP!" You squeal excitedly. "Like, did you see Dracula II: The Wife's Curse, where, third act twist, the Wolfman showed up, and he just fucking belts this evil vampire hunter right in the jaw, it was so freaking cool."
"I don't watch Universal Monster movies!" Brad says, angrily.
"You don't!?"
Brad looks at the ceiling. "Oh my god, Bianca, we've worked here for two years together, and you don't remember I hate those fucking movies!"
***
Flashback: Black and White
February 16th, 2018
Bianca B. Bently smiles at Brad. "Hey, Brad! I'm your new coworker!" She thrusts out her hand, beaming. "And, you know, I only sometimes set things on fire?" While Brad is processing that, Bianca bounces on her feet. "OH! There's a new Wolfman movie coming out this weekend, we should go see it!"
"No." Brad's voice is flat.
Flashback: Black and White
April 27th, 2018
"Duuuuuuuuude!" Bianca bounced into the 7/11, holding a massive bucket of popcorn with Dracula on the front, his cape spread wide, the rest of the Universal monsters fanning to the left and right under him - Frankenstein, looking all brooding and sexy, Wolfman with his claws out, the Mummy hunched low. "Dude! The Dark World Part I was soooo freakin GOOOD! All of them teamed up to fight the Helsing INstitute and-"
"I literally could not give less of a fuck, Bianca."
Flashback: Black and White
July 6th, 2018
"Hey, Brad! Brad! Brad! We're off work and you are never going to guess what's coming out TODAY at the metroplex!" Bianca said, brightly, as Brad struggled to lock the door up. The single buzzing light outside of the 7/11 is ringed by small flying insects, and the heat of the air is thick, even this late. Brad looks up to the infinite starry sky, though most of the stars are washed out by lights from Sonoma.
"...what?"
"The Invisible Man...AND WIFE!" Bianca exclaimed. "The Invisible Man was funny as hell, but now he's going to team up with his wife? Whaaaat? Wanna see it? We can catch the 1 AM showing!" She grins, wiggling her eyebrows. "Maybe there'll be some actual Darklings there!"
Brad begins to beat his head against the door with a muffled thump thump thump.
***
You frown.
"Now that you mention it…" you say. "Why do you hate Universal Monster movies so much? They own! They own bones." You grin. "Skele-bones?"
Brad groans. "Fine. You want to know? It's because they're all unapologetic, completely fucking blatant vampaganda!" He throws his arms wide. "I can't stand them!"
You blink. "Vamp...a...ganda."
"Like copaganda, but for vampires," Brad says.
"...cop...a…"
"Like propaganda, but for cops!" Brad says, smacking his knuckles against his palm. "Goddamn it, Bianca, we sit in the same social studies class! Are you not paying attention?"
You flush. "Listen. Mark is...Mark, uh, Dervin, is...really…" you spread your hands. "Like. Whoa." Then you frown. "Also, wait. You're telling me that Disney is making a bunch of propaganda? But...what's the benefit, how...could that...even happen?"
Brad puts his hands over his face. "Ugh! Vampires, demons, werewolves, every single kind of Darkling in the world, they're all rich." He walks forward. "It costs a hundred million just to get on the waiting list to become a Darkling. Every politician is a Darkling, every CEO is a Darkling! Every billionaire is a Darkling. Did you not notice that our last Presidential election was between a bloodsucking ghoul and a fucking preying mantis with a bad toupe!?"
"I mean...I didn't vote," you say, shrugging.
"You weren't old enough to vote in 2016!" Brad shouts.
"Oh right!" you say, grinning.
Brad's face is red. He turns around. He stalks off. And that's when the front door to the 7/11 crashes inwards with a bang. Safety glass goes flying and clatters down onto the ground, sprinkling everywhere with a crunch and a clatter. The woman herself groans as she sprawls outwards, and you gape at her, because...well.
She's in spandex.
Silver spandex, specifically. Man. Tongue twister. Oh, shit she's bleeding too. You scramble over the counter and Brad runs over to her too, and both of you kneel down. She's Hispanic, with dark brown skin and a wild mane of brown hair. Her face is concealed by a domino mask, and her eyes are screwed up shut. Her cape is long and fluttery, and it has a silvery lightning bolt on the back. She has a quiver at her hips and her right hand holds a bow with no string. THe quiver is empty too. Her left hand is splayed out, open.
And inside of it, you can see a small green gemstone.
"Ohhhh my god, she's a Spark!" you whisper, kneeling down. "Oh my god, she's Artemis! She's Artemis!"
"I can tell she's Artemis!" Brad hisses, putting his hand on Artemis and rolling her onto her back.
You are jazzed. You are so fucking jazzed. Artemis is the Spark that has taken up residence in Santa Rosa, about ten, fifteen miles away from Sonoma. She splashed onto the scene with a totally rad bank robbery foiling. There was some awesome cell cam footage of her dropping from a roof and shooting lightning bolts at the bank robbers from her bow. She had gone on the local talk shows, but she was still pretty small, in so far as Sparks went. Like, she was no Vixen or Inventor or Diamond. Oh, wait, Diamond was evil.
Eh, still famous.
Then you notice the bleeding wound in her stomach.
"Oh my god," you whisper, your excitement turning to fear.
"She's been shot, this isn't good," Brad says, while you pull out your cellphone. He smacks it out of your hand.
"Dude!" you exclaim. "We have to get her to a hospital!"
"We get her to a hospital, they're gonna yank her mask off, call the fucking cops, and before you know it, she'll be vanished into Gitmo or something!" Brad says, his voice firm. "Darklings hate Sparks! I bet it was some of their fucking Renfields who shot her or something."
You snort. "Listen, you are sounding really fucking paranoid. Like, what, some spooky spooks are going to show up in a big armored car with, like, guns?"
A big Humvee that looks like it has been armored and painted black drives past the 7/11. Then it starts doubling back with a squeal of tires - and you can see the windows are mirror black in the yellowy light of the street lamps. Your blood goes cold.
"We have to hide her!" Brad hisses.
"Uhhhh…" you look down at Artemis.
Shit.
WILL YOU
[] Hide her behind the counter
[] Hide her in the break room
[] Hide her in the bathroom
"The bathroom!" you say. "It's got a sink, so she can wash her suit."
"...and a lock," Brad hisses, as he hoops his arms under Artemis' arms. "Get her legs."
"Right!" You say, grabbing her ankles. "On three. Three, two, one!"
You hup softly, lifting her up as the Humvee comes into the parking lot. You and Brad hurry into the back - and as you move, Artemis' hand opens and the gemstone she's holding starts to fall. You yelp, drop her left ankle, scrabble, reach for the gemstone - and it slides into your fingers.
ZZZT-
Slimewrithing eyes open staring looking watching greetings [[HELLO]] [[HOWAREYOU]] [[DOEGGS???]] Immensesize yes yes yes yes!subsign: GREET || STATION. Blink along the externalities and-
You scream and throw the gem straight up into the air - the stream of alien sensations, of writhing flesh and pulsating sacks and dripping mucus and slime and goop and the feeling of something inside of you (and not in a fun way) making you want to get some new skin for a bit. The gemstone flies up.
Brad's mouth is opened wide.
The gem starts to drop.
Artemis groans.
The Humvee parks.
The gem hits the floor with a crash and shatters. Green light explodes from it and smashes you in the chest.
It hurt.
A lot.
But what happened between your feet leaving the floor and hitting the ground was way worse.
***
Bianca B. Bently was ten years old and she had dislocated her kneecap by falling off the overpass that led over the storm drain. No one could hear her for hours.
Bianca B. Bently was fifteen and her father was walking away from the house, shouting over his shoulder. "Well, if you want to ruin your fucking life, bitch, I wash my hands of it!" And Mom's shouting back. "How fucking dare you! How fucking dare you! She's RIGHT here!"
Bianca B. Bently was thirteen and she had told her first crush, a girl named Helen, that she wanted to give her a valentines. "What, are you a dyke or something?" Helen had asked, with the callous cruelty that felt worst from kids. "Also, like, no. Ew."
Bianca B. Bently was eighteen...and that's it.
The memories stop flashing and everything snaps into focus.
***
You're in the back of Carl's car. Carl was one of the most popular kids in high school and you were just super jazzed to be along. He was driving and the rest of his friends - mostly kids you don't know - are chatting happily. "So, uh, Carl, uh, thanks for, uh...you know…" you say, blushing. "This is super cool!"
"Eh, you've really had a glow up, B3," he says, casually.
"Beep boop!" you say, laughing. That's your nickname cause you've got three Bs.
"Plus, you're cool," Carl says, nodding.
"Right?" one of the other kids - a kind of nervous looking girl asks. "Like, this party is for people who can keep it chill. That means…" She mimes zipping her lips shut. You nod, giving her a pair of fingerguns.
"I'm amazing at applying makeup," you say, beaming at her.
"...what?" she asks. "No, keep your mouth shut."
"Why?" you ask - but then Carl pulls up to a house. It's his house, but you can't see any sign of life upstairs. But there's also this crazy sleek, super expensive looking motorcycle parked out front. Carl grins.
"So, everyone, be chill. I met Vlad at my dad's country club," he says, sliding from the car. Your eyes widen in excitement as the rest of the kids come out and you head inside with the rest of them, finding that there's a vampire in the house. He's so cute: He has a square jaw and sandy blond hair and pale, pale skin and bright red eyes. He's dressed in a T-shirt that costs more than your entire house and he grins at Carl as Carl walks up to him.
"Yo, Vlad," Carl says, bumping his knuckle against his. "These are my friends from school - Liam, Mark, Tandi, and B3."
"...is she a robot?" Vlad asks, grinning at you.
"Beep boop, Mr. Vampire," you say, holding your arms up and swiveling around. "I am a normal hu-man."
Vlad laughs. Then he pauses. "Wait, seriously, is she a robot?"
"No," you say, giggling. "I'm Bianca B. Benlty!" you thrust your hand out to him. "See, they call me B3 cause I got three Bs in a row last year, in English, Math and Theoretical Applied Magic!" You beam brightly. "I studied, like, so hard!" Your cheeks flush as Vlad takes your hand, then squeezes it, grinning at him.
"Oh, uh, is it cool if I brought some of my friends too?" Vlad asks.
"Whoa, really?" Carl whispers.
"Yeah!" Vlad says - and then the other vampires come in. They're all pretty as hell and sleek and glittery and...yet, when they enter the room, you start to feel...nervous. Like, just Vlad by himself was cool in a kind of edgy spooky way. But all the vampires together were radiating a spookiness that made you worry you might be vampracist. Which was like being racist...but against vampires. The other vampires look bored as hell - but Vlad starts chatting with you. You do all your best party tricks. Vampire impression with straws in your mouth, which makes Vlad burst out laughing. You tell him about your planned major - "Oh, I'm going to write SUPER trashy romance novels! It's gonna make me biggety BANK!" - and the two of you end up sitting beside one another as the rest of the party drips and sludges around you.
And…
Then…
"I'm so freaking bored," Carmilla groans as she steps up to Vlad. "You said these mortals were fun. Lets have fun!"
Vlad, who glances away from you to her, blinks. "Uh...I mean, you can always head home, Illy."
Carmilla scowls at him. Then her smile becomes wicked.
And you remember what happens next. Uhhh, no, you know, we could totally stay here! You think. But it feels like your body is locked into the pattern of what happened.
"I know!" Carmilla claps her hand. "Tenny, lets take these humans out for a bite."
"Uh…" Carl looks nervous.
"Oh, we're not going to be biting you," Carmilla says, scoffing. She blurs out of the room - moving at superhuman speeds between blinks. When's standing before you again, she's holding a sleek air rifle that looks like it's come straight out of, like, one of those TV shows about people shooting animals with tranquilizer darts. Like...you can't think of any, but you know you've seen a bunch.
"Come on, it'll be fun!" Carmilla says. "I brought six."
Vlad looks skeptical.
Tandi, though, ooohs. "Like...how does this work?" she asks.
"I'll show you," Carmilla croons, then before you know it, you're holding a tranq rifle and are following after Vlad and Carmilla. Vlad is frowning intently, and he's not holding a rifle, but every mortal has one. Carmilla leads you away from the suburbs and towards the city itself - and as you glide through the night, you scream at yourself. Come on, Bianca! You know this isn't okay! Do something!
"Oh, there's one!" Carmilla puts her hand on your back and pushes you forward. She whispers to you. "See him?"
You can only see a homeless guy who is walking down the sidewalk, wrapped up in a bazillion layers of clothes. "No?" you ask. "I just see a homeless guy."
Carmilla rolls her eyes. "God, Vlad said you guys were cool. Yes. The homeless guy. What do you think the rifles are for?" she grins. "We can bag a few an Vlad, Tenny and I can have something to drink."
"Carmilla…" Vlad sounds disapproving.
Your brow furrows. "W-Wait. Um, don't...you...I mean, like, blood goes for, like, twenty a bucks a...gallon?" you ask. Carmila snorts.
"I wish," she asks. "But why should I pay my hard earned money to some lazy human parasite that just makes blood by sitting around?" She tosses her head, brushing her hands through her long, straight hair. "So, we tranq them and feed. It's very clinical and...I mean, I think it's legal. This is America, after all."
You gape at her.
Don't do it! You say to your past self.
But...your past self had. Carmilla had been right there. Vlad had been right there. And you'd wanted to be cool. And...like, it wasn't really hurting him, was it? Vampires didn't kill to feed. The homeless guy would just go to sleep, then wake up a little dizzy. Who really got hurt, right? That's all the things you'd said to yourself at the time, but...you knew, even then.
It's wrong.
It's wrong.
"God, Carmilla, do you have to be so gauche?" Vlad asks.
"Pfft, like you're going to turn down some free blood," Carmilla says.
"Come on, B3, take the shot!" Carl hisses, and you can hear a faint bit of panic in his voice - he doesn't want to look lame.
You don't want to look lame.
And Vlad is cute.
Don't DO IT! You shout at yourself. Come on, Bianca, you may still not know the difference between a crocodile and alligator, and you sometimes walk into walls, and what even IS algebra? But you know right and you know wrong and this is wrong wrong wrong wrong!
Your hands lift the rifle up. It's just like when Dad took you shooting, before he divorced Mom.
You aim down the sights.
The homeless guy pauses and turns, as if he's kind of aware that something is nearby. He has a huge bushy beard and crinkly black skin and he wears a purple beanie that needs to be washed. He could have seen you out of the corner of your eye, but Carmilla must be using some vampy mojo to make you all...obusticated! That was the word.
Your rifle quivers.
Carmilla's fangs are showing as she grins at you.
And you feel like a barrier has broken. You can move your arms - not just let them be puppeted by memories and the past. You can speak. "Fuck this," you hiss, then swing the rifle deliberately to the left and fire the shot directly into the storefront of a glizy Apple store. The window shatters and Carmilla gapes at you, her eyes wide as saucers. You grin at her. "Oops! I accidentally missed. Oh, wait, except it wasn't an accident!" you say as the homeless guy, startling at the noise, turns and runs.
"You-" Carmilla's claws twist and her eyes flash.
"...wait, no, I mean it was an accident!" You stammer as you realize she's going to rip your head off.
Pop.
***
You groan as you lay on your back. Your head pounds and your mouth feels like it has been sandpapered and you are able to lift your head. "What the fucking freaking frick was that?" you whisper, hazily. A weird rhythmic crunching noise seems to also be a symptom of being zonked by weird mind going into the past space radiation.
Then you realize it's footsteps.
A man in a black suit steps out and stands above you, frowning down at your face.
"...hi?" you whisper.
The man has sunglasses on despite it being night. And an earpiece. He puts his fingers to it. "A mortal," he says, quietly - and you see no fangs. He's breathing like a human. "Understood." He says, then pulls out a pistol that looks like it is the size of your entire whole body, with a super long tube attached to it. The kind that makes guns go 'fft fft fft' in movies, rather than Bang bang bang! That kind of gun.
You start to scrabble backwards along the ground as he levels the gun at your chest.
The gun does NOT go 'ffft.'
It goes BANG!
You scream. "AHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...h...hn…" you trail off, blinking, cause you did not get shot. Your eyes widen as you see that the bullet has stopped about an inch from your chest. It is being held by a glowing, purple arm that has manifested in the air. The arm ends at the shoulder, not like, in a gory way. Rather, in a flat pane of white energy that it emerges from, like it is reaching through a portal. It is a big, strong, muscular bicep arm, the kind of arm you'd see on a ripped as hell dude. It was kinda hot?
Oh.
Also, the arm has caught the bullet between pointer finger and thumb.
The man gapes at the arm, then frowns and lifts his gun.
BANG BANG BANG BANG!
There are now five arms glowing ahead of you - each holding a bullet in the same way, each emerging from different portal. Then as one, they all release the bullets and they clink and clatter onto the ground, some falling onto your belly. Hot. They're hot. The man in the glasses looks around and you can see, past him, there are four others, hurrying over.
"There's another Spark in the area," one says.
"Artemis has an accomplice?" the other asks.
"...you just TRIED TO SHOOT ME!?" you squeak.
WILL YOU
[] ...fuck these guys! (Punch with arms!)
[] Fuuuuuuck these guys! (blast with arms!)
[] Fuuuuuuuuuck this! (escape with arms!)
Which is why it's mildly shocking when you are lifted up and off of the ground by a glowing white palm, big enough that the fingers are cradling the back of your head and your feet are resting on the thumb. "Whoa, thanks, mysterious spark!" you shout, thinking maybe lying would be a good idea before the arm cocks back. "Ah, wait, no no no no-"
The arm throws you.
Hard.
You go shooting in an arc, up into the air, zipping above the narrow line of trees that separate your workplace and your college. You fly above the Sauvignon dorms, above the bacon and eggs statute, and are starting to realize that your arc is going to intersect with a building moments before you recognize that the building is your dorms, in Zinfandel. You have just a second to throw up your arms before another pair of white hands grabs the window, opens it, and you land directly on your bed, bounce, then thump onto the floor, unharmed and unhurt.
You sprawl on your back, blinking.
"...holy meep," you whisper.
A loud crunch comes from the next dorm over and a groggy, angry sounding voice calls through the door that leads from your singleton room to the shared bathroom that you split with your roommate, Jasmine. "Bianca, stop fucking SLAMMING THINGS!"
"I…" you close your mouth, your body trembling from your head to toes.
Then it hit you: You'd just freaking noped out of that whole situation. While leaving freaking Brad behind! And Artemis. You put your hands on your face. Wait, no. You hadn't noped. That had been the arms. Right? You bite your lip, hard, then focus, glaring at the seat next to your desk. A pair of glowing purple arms thrust from the air, shimmering as they take hold of the seat, then heft it up. They start tossing the seat back and forth between one another as you focus, grinning slowly. One of the arms puts the seat on the tip of its finger, twirling it.
Your arms.
"Ohhh freaking sweet…" you whisper. You're a Spark. You just got superpowers. You got freaking superpowers. Oh holy what!?
...Brad.
You look back, frowning. "I need to rescue him, but those spooks will be totally sus…" You bite your lip. "Auugh, arms! Do you know what to do?" A glowing white arm appears before you, holding a book in its hand. You pick it up, frowning, and find that it is a shimmering book made of ethereal light - and it says: HOW TO BE A SPARK, BY THE POWERS OF THE LIGHT, PROVIDED BY BIANCA B. BENTLY'S SUPER RAD DO ANYTHING ARMS.
"Oooh…" you whisper, then turn the first page.
STEP ONE: PUT ON SOME KIND OF DISGUISE.
STEP TWO: GO BACK AND SAVE YOUR FRIEND, YOU DINGUS!
WILL YOU
[] Purple and Gold, Cape, Domino Mask. Spark ID: Fourarm
[] Black and Red, Cape, Full Face Mask. Spark ID: Armsenal
[] White bodysuit, no cape, glasses. Spark ID: The Scribe (since you did make a book and all)
[] JUST PUT A BAG ON YOUR HEAD AND FIGURE THIS OUT LATER
ROUND ONE: DECLARE
Renfield 1 will shoot Bianca
Bianca will RUN AWAY by thwoing herself with Useful Arms, then catch herself with her General Arms.
Rolls!
Renfield 1 gets: 2x1
Bianca gets: 2x10 [ formatting her useful power to have SLow (-2) to get 2 levels of booster, giving it a range of 2,000 meters, more than enough) and 2x5 to catch herself once she lands.
Results
Bianca goes flying, lands, and the Renfield shoots the ground.
Then, out of combat, Bianca formats her Useful Arm to have the power of "Tell me what to do" and it gets 2x10.
"Okay…" You brush your hands through your hair, breathing steadily. "Okay. You have arms that can do anything." You pause, then snapped your fingers. "Costume, please!"
A pair of glowing, bright white arms appeared. But they didn't look human. Instead, their fingertips were each long and needle like, and their knuckles had long spools of glowing wires wrapped around them. Like if Freddy Kruger had gotten into sewing. They stab at you and you yelp as, in a blur, they buzz along your body, whirring and clattering and clicking, sewing a skintight outfit onto your body, after ripping your old one up to pieces, leaving you standing in tatters of your 7/11 uniform.
Red and black, with a long flowing cape. But no mask. You're about to open your mouth when the left of the Freddy Sewer (like...sewing, not...like the...nevermind) hands turned around, holding out a palm to reveal a sleek black mask that will cover your entire face, with a handprint symbol daubed onto the black material, giving you a really cool look. "Ooh...freaking swag. Thanks, Arms!" you put the mask on, shiver, and then wish you had a mirror.
Another glowing white hand appeared, holding a looking glass mirror, like the kind the invisible Man used when he looked at himself, then smashed it? Rad. You look at yourself and feel a jolt slamming through your body. It's like you're standing near someone electrifying and amazing - the same kind of raw, buzzing excitement you had felt looking at Artemis. It was like the inverse of the dark nerves that vampires had filled your veins with.
"...whoa…" you whisper - and you think your voice even sound different. "Okay, hand...lets do this…" You step onto the bed, onto the sill, then jump out.
It's easier than it sounds.
You live on the first story.
A glowing white palm appears under you - then flings you out and up and over the school.
But then it gets hard again as you see the 7/11 shooting towards you. You yelp - but then glowing red arms catch you out of the air and set you down gently, right behind the two spooks, who are both aiming their guns into the 7/11. The third one, though...is sprawled on their back. You don't have a bunch of time to think about that because the other two spooks spin around at the sound of your feet hitting pavement and the dramatic snap of your cape.
"Halt, evil people!" you say, four glowing arms appearing around your body. "I...am…" you pause. "Arm...senal! Armsenal! It's like...arsenal, but with arms, you know?" You chuckle. "Drop the guns, you're under arre-"
One of the spooks pulls out a badge, then flips it open, showing you a DHS badge.
"Oh, uh…" you pause. "...crap?"
The two spooks aim their guns at you.
"Eep!" You squeak, throwing up your hands - glowing purple ones that contrast themselves against the red ones you had around your body currently. They snatch the bullets out of the air, one of them having been heading straight for your shoulder, the other towards your head. That one was stopped only an inch from your forehead, but you don't have time to feel scared or anything.
Instead, you see the two spooks rushing to left and right, clearly planning to flank you out - but you snarl. "Oh no you don't!"
A glowing purple hand puts its palm over the barrel of the right spook's gun, the bullet slamming into the palm with a meaty thump. The other guy jerks his pistol out of the way, moments before the purple hand closes down. He is just about to fire off a wild shot past your grasping arm when...a new kind of arm appears. You've seen glowing red, glowing purple, glowing white, the sewing arms...and now…
Now you saw the freaking Terminator arm, from the best Terminator movie, Terminator 3. The one with the lady Terminator, who had the GUNS in her arm? That kind of arm, because this arm had a bunch of, like, pods and barrels attached to the wrists and shoulders. The knuckles had barrels too, and there was an underslung, like, flame thrower on the palm. The whole thing looked like it was really good at using every single kind of pew-pew you could imagine.
But instead of pewing any pews, it just clenched its robotic fingers into a fist and brought itself smashing down onto the spook's forearm, smashing down with a meaty crack. The spook dropped to the floor, his gun rattling away, and gasped out. "Hoollly fuck that hurts!"
"Sorry!" you exclaim - then see that the other spook has jerked his gun free of your purple hand. As your purple hand tries to grip him, Mr. Persuader (that's the name for the big Terminator looking arm) whistled across the scene and smashed into the guy's jaw. His glasses went flying, revealing that his eyes were yellow, and his teeth were all very sharp. Since they were...kinda...scattered off the floor.
The spook dropped and you stood there, your arms moving into formation around you with a faint whistling, before all but the four red ones faded away.
"...whoa," you whispered.
Then you blink. "I did it!" You pump your hand into the air. Then you stalk over and kneel down beside the guy whose arm was currently broken. Your red arms heft him up and you shake him slightly. "Okay, bustero! What's the Department of…" You pause, then pick his badge up with one of your red arms and peek at it out of the corner of your eye. "...Homeland Security doing hunting a Spark?"
The spook doesn't respond. He just glares at you, his sunglasses knocked all askew. And his eyes are pure midnight black. "What the freaking heck is wrong with you?"
"He's a Renfield," a tired, feminine voice says. You shift the man around, still holding him up with your red arms - it's so easy! It takes literally no effort.
Artemis is walking out of the bathroom, with a bandage wrapped around her belly and her hand running through her long brown hair. She's got her bow in her other hand, but as you watch, she twirls it, folds it in half, then holsters it with a click and a swoosh. She walks forward, confidently, then nods to you. "Artemis," she says.
"I'm Armsenal!" you say, then hold out your real fleshy hand to her, grinning excitedly. "Uhhh...hi. Uh. Wow. Okay. Uh." You flush. She's so hot up close, it's not even funny. Your knees quiver slightly, then you blink. "Oh, uh...what's a Renfield?"
"They drink Darkling blood. Gives them minor buffs - mostly light armor, regeneration, night vision, immortality...limited immortality…" Artemis walks around the Renfield. "In exchange...there are some...side effects!" She jerks back and snatches at the same time - grabbing onto a black scorpion tail that had jabbed free at the last second, ripping free from the man's jacket.
"Dude!" you exclaim. "Don't freaking try and scorpion stab us!"
The Renfield scowls.
"We're going to have to let him go…" Artemis says, shaking her head. "Reinforcements are going to be on the way…" She frowns. "And Renfields don't talk."
"Not even, like, about the weather?" you ask, sounding shocked. "Or new movies and stuff? Does drinking the blood, like, destroy their throat or-"
"No, they don't talk about their bosses!" Artemis says, angrily, as the Renfield looks at you.
"Are you, like, retarded or something?" he asks, frowning.
"Hey!" Artemis smacks the back of his head. "Fucking apologize!"
"Yeah. Sure." The Renfield mutters, as you casually toss him onto the ground next to his two knocked out fellows. You scowl at him, then bite your lip.
"Do you have a hideout?" you ask.
"Yeah, Vinci and our newest member are waiting there," she says, then frowns. "Got a mobility power?"
"Yup!" you say.
"Okay, follow me." Artemis says, then pulls her bow, snaps it out, then pulls back on it. A glowing string crackles to life along the bow and an arrow made of shimmering force appears. She shoots it and it thuds into the sky, trailing a rope that she grabs and swings on - arcing off into the air, despite the fact that you're in the middle of freaking Sonoma Count and not New York. She's Magneto-ing it up out there!
Sonoma County is...well, it's basically wine country. There's lots of rolling hills and broad fields, with huge wineries and old houses, with the nearest towns being like, a long bike ride away. You get to admirer this as you fling yourself into the air, laughing as you shoot past Artemis - then an idea hits you. You focus, and create a huge glowing white palm, which lifts you into the air, flying up under Artemis as she swings. Seeing you, she drops down and lands right on the palm. She grins at you and you grin back.
"Just like Adventure Time!" you say. "...wait, no, Steven Universe. Which was the one with the hand?"
"I have no idea," Artemis says as you soar out above the fields of grapes - then come down towards one of the large, ramshackle houses that serves as the focal point for most of these places. As you settle down, a figure steps from the shadows, looking up at you. He looks like he's trying to figure what it is.
The hand settles down, tilting forward and letting you and Artemis slide off.
Up close…
UHHH
"Why is everyone SO HOT!?" You think.
"It's a spark thing," Artemis says, casually.
Oh shit, did I say that out loud? You say. When no one responds, you blush furiously and make sure your mouth is shut. But seriously. The guy who had stepped out is sexy as heck. For a robot. Because he is a robot. But not like, a robot from...like...he's got abs, basically. Clockwork abs. His entire body is covered in brass reliefs and whirring, buzzing, ticking, clicking gear work that moves with elegant precision. Teak wood serves as highlights, and his face is elegantly carved to look as handsome as you can possibly imagine, while his hair is quite literally pure raven black silk. You want to touch it, but instead, you sweep your fleshy arms behind your back and make sure your red arms have vanished, in case they get any ideas.
"H-Hey," you say.
"This is Armsenal, she's the other new Spark," Artemis says.
"There's another new Spark!?" You ask, excitedly. "Oh, uh, also, is Brad safe?"
"Yeah, he's safe," Artemis said, nodding. "I made sure he got out of there…"
"Ahem." The clockwork robot man says, then reaches out for your hand. You offer it with a flush, and your heart hammers as he takes your hand, then kisses your knuckles and you almost explode into being dead. "Charmed, Armsenal. I'm Vinci."
"L-Like…the composer?" you ask.
"Actually, Da Vinci was primarily famous in his day for the construction of fortifications," Vinci says, cheerfully. "As, I'm afraid, will I." He sighs. "Come into Olympus."
"We're not calling it that," Artemis says, flatly.
"It does seem appropriate, considering our Greco-Roman heroine was first," Vinci says, casually. Artemis grumbles under her breath as you walk inside and find that inside, the house does not look cheap and crumbly. Instead, there is all sleek furnishing and fancy, modern looking appliances, with a stair leading down into a basement, which is super illegal. This is California! There are freaking earthquakes!
Vinci leads you down into the basement, and then gestures to the other man in the team and he's just...stupidly hot. Fucking. Why? Hot? Also, metal themed. Where Vinci is a clicky whiry roboty type, this guy is gold. Like. Solid gold. And ripped as hell, since he has no shirt on, and his chest is just...nothing but muscle. He's got short cropped gold hair, golden eyes, golden lips. Like. Metal gold, not just golden colored. Gold. Just. Wow. You might as well call yourself Goldmember, cause, you wanted...his...member. Inside...you.
Heh.
Wait, was that the right James Bond movie?
...more like...Guy with the Golden…
"Uh, I'm thinking...MIdas?" the gold guy says.
"Midas, quite good," Vinci says, cheerfully. "Though, I believe we're all going to need to take the step of unmasking - being the only Sparks in this region, we're going to need to form a team. Teams require a certain level of trust between one another." He pauses. "And, well, a shared team name, gimmick, and associated iconography is proven to assist with the occlusive effects that we're all going to need to survive."
You blink.
"Zuh?" you ask, cocking your head.
Artemis, who is leaning against the wall of the underground room - which, you note, has a lot of clocks (heh) and a huge computer that looks like it is all running on steam pipes and tubes and whiring gauges and there are levers and dials and knobs and a keyboard with wooden buttons and visible springs and it just looks so freaking cool. But Artemis then draws your attention by translating: "Sparks' all have the same power: Secret identities. If you wear a mask, have a name, adopt a persona, people won't connect you to your civilian identity."
"Cooooool!" you say.
"It gets stronger if we work together," Artemis says. "Who wants to go first?"
"I believe I shall," Vinci says, while Midas nods, looking deeply nervous.
"I-is, uh…" Midas trails off as Vinci's body clicks, whirs, and then starts to unfold and clatter. Plates shift aside, gear retracts, and slowly, the entire thing spreads outward, then folds in on itself, then retracts behind Vinci's back, shuffling underneath their T-shit. Or should you say…
HER T-SHIRT!
Underneath the Vinci robot skin, there was nothing but an ordinary looking black girl with frizzy hair and glasses and a mole on her cheek right next to her nose. She grins, slightly. "Tada," she says. "My name is Shandra."
"You're a GIRL!?" you say. "Wait! No! Are you a...trans? Is that your thing?"
Shandra snorts. "You know, uh, it's generally considered kind of rude to call someone 'a trans'." She wiggles her fingers, while Artemis glares at you and you feel tiny and stupid. You blush.
"I-I mean...it's super cool…" you say.
"Thanks," Shandra says, then grins. "I'm genderqueer."
"Ooh." You say, nodding. "...what's that?"
"I enjoy being male and female," she says.
"Oooh!"
Artemis sighs, then tugs off her mask, brushing her fingers through her hair, revealing a...really cute hispanic girl. Which, like, you had kind of expected. She frowns. "You can call me Tessa," she says, casually. "When I'm not Artemis."
You grin, then blush, and tug your mask off, your glowing arms appearing to brush through your hair. "Uh, my name's-"
"BIANCA!?"
Midas is gaping at you. Then, before your eyes, his golden skin is softening, shifting, flowing and transforming him from Golden Boy McHottie to Brad! Brad from the 7/11! You squeal, then throw your arms around him - your red arms, that is, hugging him from five feet away, squeezing and lifting him up.
"AHHH! BRAD!" You drag him close, then hug him with your physical arms too.
Brad lets out a choking, gasping noise. "Arms. Arms. Arms."
"I know, right, they're so FREAKING COOL!?" you ask, laughing.
Once you had set him down, Shandra asks you some questions - and you got to learn what Brad (slash Midas) could do with his powers. "He appears to manipulate, control, perceive through and move through...gold," Shandra says. "He was able to teleport from where he was to my commemorative golden coin, and he was able to fire a solid chunk of gold at one of the Renfields that were so bothering you, before Artemis told him to make a break for it. We're not exactly popular enough where we can go up against DHS goons and still have the American public be in favor of us."
You nod, slightly.
Tessa sighs. "You two go to SSU too?"
"Yup!" you say.
"So do we," Shandra says. "I got my powers in a lab accident two weeks ago - Tessa was hit by a lightning bolt thrown by Zeus, ah...was it three months ago?"
"Yeah," Tessa says.
"What did Zeus want to do with you?" you ask.
"Fuck me," Tessa says.
Your face flushes. "Oh. Well. Uh. Uh…"
"He didn't," she says, her voice flat. "I'm not into men."
"Very appropriate," Brad says.
"I did choose the name for a reason," Tessa says, looking faintly blushy. She shakes her head. "Though, now, I have to tell women that I'm not into them all the time too."
"Wait, if you're not into men or women, then...who are you into?" you ask.
"Who cares?" Tessa asks, her voice flat.
"I mean…" you pause, then flush. "Nevermind! So, um, what was the dealie with the gemstone?"
"That's what Artemis and I are trying to figure out," Shandra says. "It was being shipped in an armored car from Sacramento to San Francisco, through Petaluma - and that was when the armored car got attacked by these friendly fellows.' She taps at the console, bringing up a grainy image of really cool looking bad guys. They're tall and have silver skin and long elven ears and huge bows, but they also have antennas sticking out of their backs.
"What are they?" Brad asks.
"They pack a punch," Tessa says, rubbing her shoulder, wincing slightly.
"I've designated them Seeliebots, because they're robots, but they are designed to look like the fae. Which may be offending the fae, now that I think about it," Shandra says, rubbing her chin. "Anyway, once Artemis took the SBs down, she retrieved the gemstone, then was attacked by the Renfields, who came on the scene with...undue haste, considering that it was not a government van that got attacked, and there was no radio transmission for help beyond a ping to the PPD…"
"Oooh, sneaky!" you say, clapping your hands.
"Artemis attempted to escape - got shot," Vinci says, frowning. "Which is why I say that you need people to watch your back out there, Tessa. People like me."
"We need someone on the computers…" Tessa mutters.
"Oh! I'm a people!" you say. "I can watch your back!" you grin. "And so can Brad! Brad! BRad!" You bounce. "Brad, Brad, we're going to be freaking superheroes together!"
Brad sighs, slowly.
"Not for the rest of tonight," Sandra says, rubbing her thumbs against her knuckles. "The adrenaline rush is going to wear off in about five seconds."
"What? No it's-" you pause and yawn so huge that you need to manifest a red arm to cover your mouth. "Not...that was an excitement yawn…" you mutter, but you can already feel the night's excitement piling up on you.
"We'll meet and talk about how to investigate this tomorrow evening," Sandra says, firmly. "Start thinking of a team name too, because Tessa and I are stumped."
You nod, then scratch the back of your neck. "Right. Um...how do we get back to our dorms?"
"I have a spent my weeks productively," Sandra says, cheerfully, then stands and walks to the back of the room, where a large glass booth stands. She opens it and gestures you into it. You step inside, smile - and then scream as the entire room SLAMS down into the ground. It rattles and bangs along a track that whips by so fast that your head blurs, then emerges, with a faint hiss noise, from the ground. You step out of it, shoving your mask on in case anyone is around - and find yourself standing under the Bacon and Eggs.
The big modern art statue sits about ten yards away from Toast - which is the third part of the whole shebang. The bacon is metal, the eggs are stone, and all of them are situated in the quad that sweeps between Stevenson and Darwin halls, which are two of the biggest student areas. But as you turn around, you see that the exit has a small clockwork device on it that buzzes a soft, subliminal hum...and...as you step away from it, you find it harder and harder to notice that anything is there.
Once you're five feet away, you can't even see it when Midas arrives.
And you know it's Midas, because he's gold. And...this is going to sound weird, but it's had as hell to...to…
Think of him?
As? Brad?
Like, he just looks so different, he stands different, he poses differently. He glares at the Bacon and Eggs differently. "Oh, that's clever…" he says, stepping away from it. Then he looks at you. He nods. "Armsenal."
And then he sinks into the ground, melting like...well, like gold, becoming a puddle, which then flows into the cracks in the pavement. Once he's gone, you bite your lip, then whisper. "Is it safe to change?"
A glowing white hand appears, giving you a thumbs up.
You grin, then focus and white hands blur along your body, vanishing and leaving you in your street threads.
And with that, you start tottering off home, whistling the tune to Adventure Time's ending credits song to yourself.
"Man, how am I ever going to sleep?" you whisper.
You walk into your dorm after swiping your keycard and punching in the number, then faceplant into bed and immediately pass out.
BIANCA "ARMSENAL" B. BENTLY HAS BECOME A SPARK! One of the big changes between being Joe Schmo and a Spark is WILLPOWER. Bianca now draws motivation from her deepest passions and fiercest loyalties. By playing to these strengths, she will gain more willpower, which is spent to improve powers, resist damage, buff dice, and generally not die.
Bianca has 7 points to distribute between PASSIONS and LOYALTY. The more points in one area, the more she gains from it...but inversely, the more dangerous it is if it is damaged. Indicate how many points you are devoting to your passions/loyalties.
EXAMPLE: Bianca has 4 points in Diasterously Bisexual. If she foregoes hitting on a cute boy and or girl, she will lose 4 Willpower. But if she plays to her DB status, she'd gain 4 WP!
PASSION OPTIONS
[] Face...PUNCH!
[] Being a Good Friend
[] Disastering in Bisexual
LOYALTY OPTIONS
[] Brad, my best friend
[] Tessa (oh my god, she's so cool!)
[] Sandra, the best nerd
[] Truth, Justice and the American Way
Bianca formats her Useful Arm to "make me a costume" and gets a 2x10.
ROUND ONE
Declare
Bianca is going to punch and defend
Ren1 is going to shoot, while Ren2 is going to shoot!
Rolls
Ren 1: 2x6
Ren 2: 3x10
Bianca: 3x10 for defend, miss for punch
Results
Blocked!
ROUND TWO
Declare
The same as Round One
Rolls
Ren 1: 4x4
Ren 2: 2x9
Bianca: 2x10, 2x6
Results
Bianaca's defense noms 2 dice from both enemy sets, meaning the 4x4 becomes a 2x4, meaning her 2x6 goes off first, doing 5 shock damage to his arm, taking his arm out and rendering him unable to shoot.
ROUND THREE
Ren 2: 4x6
Bianca: 3x10, 2x8 - uses the 2x8 on defense.
Results
Bianca's 2x8 noms up the 4x6 down to 2x6, so her 3x10 goes off first. She pulls all her extra damage adds save for 1 to only do 4s.
NAME: Bianca B. Benlty
ARCHETYPE: Spark [Conduit (Source) | Power Theme [Arms!] (Permission)]
PASSIONS: Disastering in Bisexual (2), Face...PUNCH! (2)
LOYALTIES: Brad, my best friend (2), Shandra, the best nerd (1)
SKILLS
"Functional" Zoomer (B/F/I) [All]: 3d
Weekend Martial Arts (B) [Brawn]: 5d
Dark Universe Movie Facts (-) [Mind]: 2d
Bravery (-) [Command]: 5d
POWERS
Arms! Arms! Arms! [Hyperbody]
Dice: 1wd
Effect: This hyperbody does anything that a normal body dice roll can do. Lift, carry, throw, block, punch, and so on. Due to radius, the arms can act on anything in a 10 meter radius. Controlled effect means it ONLY effects what she wants. Endless means the arms can do anything she wants. Booster and the Attack Quality increase means she hits for +2 damage and can lift about 10 tons. No Physics means there's no worries about inertia. On Sight means that she can manifest arms through cameras or scrying devices, even if they're out of her radius (reaching through the cameras, for example.) However, her flaws mean the arms are bright and glowy, can only do arm things, and she cannot use them if she can't see the area where they need to go (no reaching into a safe, for example.)
Attack
Attack Quality (2) [+2] Booster [2], Controlled Effect [+1], Endless [+3], Radius (1) [+2], On Sight [+1], No Physics [+1]
Obvious [-1], If/Then (Must be used in line of sight) [-1], If/Then (Must be Arm Things) [-1]
Defend
Controlled Effect [+1], Endless [+3], Radius (1) [+2], On Sight [+1], No Physics [+1]
Obvious [-1], If/Then (Must be used in line of sight) [-1], If/Then (Must be Arm Things) [-1]
Useful
Booster [2], Controlled Effect [+1], Endless [+3], Radius (1) [+2], On Sight [+1], No Physics [+1]
Obvious [-1], If/Then (Must be used in line of sight) [-1], If/Then (Must be Arm Things) [-1]
Helpful Arms!
Dice: 9hd
Effect: This adds +9 dice to any multiple actions roll, allowing her to multitask more easily. It also makes any non-combat action done with her arms 9 steps faster on the scale track, meaning she can do arm-related activities that take centuries in...a round.
Useful [Do Things Faster]
Endless [+3], Self Only [-3], Attached (Arms! Arms! Arms!) [-2]
Useful [Multiple Actions]
Endless [+3], Self Only [-3], Attached (Arms! Arms! Arms!) [-2]
Mr. Persuader
Dice: 1wd
Effect: This arm has missiles (Area 5d), Lasers (Penetration), hits hard (Attack Quality +3), and can even knock people back (power capacity.) It's also great at shooting a whole heck of a lot (Spray.) This arm is for serious fighting Bizniz. Like, it does shock/killing damage, like a gun does. Ouch. You can also move up to 2 zeroes from range to mass.
Attacks (Range: 1000 Meters| Mass: 25 kilograms)
Attack Quality [+3] (+3), Area (5d) [+5], Booster [2] (+2), Penetration [4] (+4), Power Capacity [Mass] (+2), Spray (+1)
Attached [Arms! Arms! Arms!] (-2), Obvious (-1)
Purple Arms!
Dice: 5hd
Effect: Interference means this defensive action "goes first" even if enemy sets are wider. This means it's VERY defendy. It can also defend at range, allowing the purple arms to snatch bullets or block hits meant for others.
Defend (Range: 160 Meters)
Interference (+3), Power Capacity [Range] (+2)
Attached [Arms! Arms! Arms!] (-2), Obvious (-1)
White Arms!
Dice: 2wd
Effect: These arms can basically do anything useful thanks to Variable Effect (which allows you to "format" a power each time you use it into a new power.) They can provide flight, they can throw, they can hold objects, scan areas, create objects, heal people, anything you can imagine an arm doing, they can do, assuming you're willing to spend the WP to power the more extreme effects.
Useful (-)
Endless (+3), Variable Effect (+4)
Attached [Arms! Arms! Arms!] (-2), Obvious (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect Only] (-1), If/Then [Must be some kind of arm based effect] (-1)
Tutorials Shamlessly Copied from my Double Trouble Quest
The base mechanics of this quest are simple: You roll a pool of d10s, and look for "sets." The "higher" the set (the value of the number, that is), the more skillful. The "wider" the set (the more numbers in the set) the faster it is (and the more damage you do in combat, if combat is happening.) The dice in question are d10s!
All Examples will use She-Ra characters for ease of use and definitely NOT because I'm lazy and am just copying a post from my Double Trouble quest. No sir-ee-bob!
Example: Double Trouble is trying to pretend to be Glimmer around Adora. They roll their Charm+Lying Liar Skill, which comes out to 8 dice. So, roll 8d10 and get the result of: 10 9 9 6 4 3 3 3. DT has two sets: 2x9 and 3x3. 3x3 is faster, but 2x9 is a more skillful lie, and so, they use 2x9. Adora...prolly won't see through it.
There are two special kinds of dice: Hard Dice and Wiggle/Wild dice. Hard Dice are always set to 10s, while Wiggle/Wild dice are set to whatever value you want after you roll. Hard Dice have the downside of you either have to use all of them or none of them - making them powerful, but inflexible.
The most important statistic for you to worry about is your WILLPOWER and BASE WILL! Base Will is a resource that can only be renewed by spending XP, but is lost very rarely. Willpower, meanwhile, is gained and lost far easily. Base Will is invested into passions and loyalties! When you work with your passions and loyalties, you gain Willpower equal to those passions and loyalties.
Willpower is also used to mitigate damage and to push your powers beyond their limits, and can be expended to permanently improve your character during moments of extreme crisis. If your Willpower hits 0, your POWERS STOP WORKING. So, uh, be careful!
("Wait, isn't DT's main passion lying? So, if I tell the truth, I lose 4 willpower?" ...only if it really matters, but yes.)
EDIT
If your dice pool goes above 10, then you DO NOT ROLL THOSE EXTRA DICE! You can NEVER ROLL MORE THAN 10 DICE! Excess dice are useful, though, as they allow you to take penalties to use dice tricks without "actually" losing your dice!
For example, you have 13d in your punching skill. This means you can take the Powerful Attack, Fast Attack and Daze and STILL roll 10d10!
EDIT!
Okay, so, there are some FUN TIME DICE TRICKS you get to use! All dice tricks inflict a -1 dice penalty. Dice penalties remove, in order, Hard Dice, Normal Dice, then wild Dice. So, if you have 2 hard dice, 5 regular dice, and 1 wild dice, then you'd need to lose -7 dice before you'd lose your wild die.
You can use multiple dice tricks (like, combining fast actions and multiple actions, or combining heavy damage with knock down), but you can't stack the same one multiple times (you can't take extra damage three times in a row!)
Called Shot/Expert Action: Count one of your regular dice as being a number of your choice. This is normally used to target a specific body part in combat (called shot) or to get the best possible result out of combat (expert action.)
Example: DT is using their Coordination+Sneaky Sneak (7d) skill to slip by Catra. They want to succeed, so they reduce their dice pool to 6d to "set" a die to a 10. This means they roll 5d and have a 10 automatically!
Choke: Requires you to also get a called shot at the head. If successful, deals 1 shock to the head per turn.
Example: Hordak attempts to choke Adora. He rolls his 2hd+5d+1wd for his brawling attack, losing his hard die, getting 3x10 vs Adora's 2x8. He grabs onto her and she takes 1s each turn until she beats his 3x10 , someone disrupts it by inflicting two gobble dice on him- or she passes out.
Daze: Target suffers [Width] rolled in penalty dice for [Width] rounds.
Example: DT throws some sand in Huntara's face with Coordination+Shapeshifting Spy. That's 9d, reduced to 8d. THey roll stupidly good and get 3x10 - reducing Huntara's dice pool by -3 for 3 rounds.
Disarm: Take the enemy's weapon - has a difficulty equal to their Body dice.
Example: Huntara tries to knock a shock baton from Rogelio's hands. Rogelio's body is 5, but Huntara gets a 2x10 while his attack against her is 2x8. Her disarm goes off first, and his weapon goes flying.
Fast Attack/Action: Add +1 to [Width] for the purposes of INITIATIVE ONLY. This can be used out of combat too!
Example: DT has to shift in a hurry! They roll their 2d+1wd shapeshifting power, but drop one die from it. They get a 2x6, but shift on "3x6" effectively.
Knockdown: Target falls over, taking 1 shock to the torso in addition to your normal damage, and have to spend their turn (or roll an action using athletics) to get up.
Example: Huntara does a running missile drop kick! She gets a 3x10 against a Horde Prime Clone, beating his defense, doing 1s to his torso and 3s to his head. He's going to have to either successfully roll an athletic or acrobatic skill to get up and do something (requiring two sets, one to get up, one to act) or he'll spend a full round getting to his feet.
Multiple Actions: This is special! Normally, you can do TWO ACTIONS (using two sets.) But if you want to do three+ things, you take -1d for each action past the first, requiring a set per action! If you are trying an action requiring two different skill sets, you use the LOWER of the two skill sets! Dice number is what matters, not type (5wd is less dice than 10d, even if wild dice are much more powerful.)
Example: DT needs to flirt with Catra, flirt with Adora, and avoid getting shot. They're using their Charm+Shapeshifting Spy+Lying Liar (13d) because they're being very dramatic, but they're ALSO using Coordination+Shapeshifting Spy while having shapeshifted to be more flexible and nimble (11d+1wd). This means they use their 11d+1wd pool, which is reduced to 10d+1wd because they're taking three actions! They get 3x10 and 2x6, 2x3. But which to use as a dodge, and which to flirt with which girl!? That's the REAL hard choice!
Powerful Attack: +1 to [Width] for the purposes of DAMAGE ONLY.
Example: Glimmer really wants to smash this guy! She rolls her sparkle power 6d+1wd, but drops it to 5d+1wd to add +1 to the damage: She gets 2x10, doing 3s/3s to the head, for a total of 6s. SMASH!
Vicious Attack: Your attack does killing damage instead of shock. Catra uses this, like...at least 3 times during the show.
Example: Catra, snarling, sweeps her claws along She-Ra's back. She gets 2x6, doing 2k/2k to her back, drawing deep red furrows through She-Ra's uniform.
Grapple: Target takes 1 shock and is grappled (meaning they need to beat your dice to escape!)
Example: DT tries to restrain Catra while she tries to kill them. They get 3x9 against Catra's 2x10 to slash out their throat. Catra now needs to beat a 3x9 to escape the grapple and takes 1 shock to the head!
A glowing red hand reaches out and smashes down the snooze button on your phone, which has woken you up with your customary alarm song - the opening to the album of Mouth Sounds by Neil Cicierega. You groan and lift your head out of your pillows and hear a thump from the next door over.
"Can you turn that fucking awful song down?"
You grumble, then mash your face back into the pillows.
T-MINUS S-DAY
168 HOURS
"The ice we skate…" you half sing to yourself, trying to sing around the toothbrush in your mouth while, next to you, Jasmine is applying some makeup. She's a short, round cheeked, dark skinned girl from...it starts with a K, you know this one. "Getting...thin…" You mumble and then spit into the sink, and beam at Jasmine, who is looking at you with bags under her eyes.
"Why are you so happy, Bianca?" she asks.
"Oh, I dunno. I just had a pretty...super evening last night," you say, cheerfully.
Jasmine snorts. "Did Brad get hit by a van or something?"
"What? No!" you say, shaking your head. "No, no, what? No. Why would that be a super evening?"
"Cause he's a huge dick to you constantly?" Jasmine says, rolling her shoulder. "And he doesn't even have the excuse of being your roommate."
"Brad's not a dick to me," you say, scoffing. "I would have noticed."
Jasmine arches an eyebrow.
"I would have!" you say, hurriedly. "Now get on, shoo! I need to use the shower."
Once she's out of the bathroom and you're in the shower, you notice that you...don't actually look all that difference. Yes, you can pick up the soap by pointing at it and whispering 'arm power go go, zoom!' and then a red arm appears out of thin air and picks the soap up for you. You try and make invisible arms, but...it doesn't work. Hm. That's okay. You'll just need to be all careful while in your regular, civilian identity.
You towel off, pop two airpods into your ears, then jam on Bills Like Jean Spirit, and start out of your room, backpack in your hand, as you think to yourself about how to deal with the fact you're a freaking Spark now. And more, Brad was a Spark. Of course, you didn't share any classes with him. Also, you'd need to find Tessa and Sandra...or was it Shandra? No, you were pretty sure it was Sandra…
You almost run right into a fellow sophomore who is walking backwards out of his dorm, holding a tray of clattering glass tubes contained in an intricate framework of wood and plaster. He scowls at you as you hold your hands up. "Whoa, sorry about that!" you say, grinning at the guy. "Uh, what's all that stuff?"
"It's a project," he says, sounding grumpy. You try and remember his name. It's...L...enny?
"Right, Lennster," you say, giving him the double finger guns.
He looks at you with an expression of pure confusion, then shakes his head and starts off. You pop your airpod back in to start the song again.
Okay, you think. I have classes...homework. Friends. Goals! What is your schedule again, Bianca? You pause, then pull your backpack around, glance left, glance right, then open it. ANd inside of it, there is a single glowing white hand. The hand opens, revealing a book that shows you your schedule. Nice!
MONDAY
Composition II (9:00 AM -12:00 AM) | Intro To Media Studies (3:30PM - 5:00 PM)
TUESDAY
Film Study (10:00 AM-12:00 AM) | French II (5:00PM-7:00 PM)
WEDNESDAY
Composition II (9:00 AM -12:00 AM) | Intro To Media Studies (3:30PM - 5:00 PM)
THURSDAY
Film Study (10:00 AM-12:00 AM) | French II (5:00PM-7:00 PM)
FRIDAY
Medieval Fiction 201 (3:00 AM-7:00 AM)
Okay. It's 8…
Food.
Food, you need to food.
WILL YOU
[] Try and find Brad at the caff at Zin? Wait, no, he lives in Booje, they have their own kitchens. Go check and find him there!
[] Scope out the quad near the student center and see if you can spot Tessa or Shandra out in their civilian form. Use your useful arm to MAKE FOOD out of THIN AIR! Ahaha!
[] Eh, fuck it, get free food at the caff. Maybe they'll have fresh fries today. Also, possible cuties who aren't sparks, that you can meet and impress with your brand new Spark confidence (Warning: Bianca does not actually have any new dice for being charming or confident.)
CURRENT STATUS
Willpower: 15
Change: I beat up TWO spooks! (+4 WP per spook)
Health: Fine!
You take your spot on the little concrete rounding that surrounds one of the planters that sits near the flight of stairs that runs underneath the contained tunnel corridor thingie that connects the second story of the library with the Schulz & Cullens Informational Center. It had been the Schultz Information Center until last year, when a big rich vamp family had decided to slap their name onto it by donating a few bazillion quintillion dollars to the campus.
...or...something like that.
It did mean that the library had new computers.
That was pretty cool!
Even if you couldn't really call it Peanuts anymore. Cause, the Schulz in Schulz Information Center had been the guy who made that comic, Peanuts? The one with the stuffed tiger and the kid? Yeah, that comic.
You had a pretty good view of students walking by, and no one was paying much attention to you. You had your phone out and you were tapping away with your thumb, biting your lip, then glancing around. "Well, uh, it sure would be a shame if a magical glowy hand gave me a sammitch…" you murmur. A faint rustling in the brushes behind you makes you grin and you stick your arm behind your back and Mr. Helpful Hands drops a sammitch right into your palm.
You start chowing down and holy shit, this is the best BLT you've had in your entire life, when you spot Tessa walking down the steps, her backpack slung over her shoulder. You perk up, then wave excitedly. "Yo! Yo! Tessa! Hey! Tessa! Over here! Tessa!" You grin as she slowly looks at you, then sighs and walks over. "Hey Tessa," you say.
"Hey," she says, then frowns. "You got that from the Sip?"
The Sip is a Starbucksalike that lives under the Library. You can get the best chocolate chip cookies and milk there and also other things, but mostly the former. You grin and nod. "Yeah. I sure did." You wink at her. "You might even…" you wink again. "Say it was pretty handy." Wink wink.
Tessa looks at you. Then, slowly, she grins. "Got two?"
"You know it bows it!" You say, reaching behind yourself again. More rustling. Then you hold out another BLT. Tessa takes it, and then you slide off the side of the concrete, your shoes slapping on the ground. You settle, then grin at her, whispering. "Magic. Hands."
"They're not magic, you know?" she says.
"Zuh?"
"Darklings are magic," she says.
"Oh, wait, should we be talking about this here?" you ask, looking around suspiciously, holding up your half eaten BLT in your hands, using it to cover your face. This is when the tomato starts to slide out. You yelp and hold the BLT above your head, the tomato and the bacon slipping free, slapping against your face, splattering your T-shirt. You squall as Tessa watches you with a furrowed little brow.
Once you've wiped your face off and gotten the sammitch into the safest place for it (your belly), Tessa says: "People don't really listen in on conversations that often. But yeah, also, I got a white noise generator that Vinci made for me. It replaces my words with stuff that's not going to get us in trouble."
"Nice!" you say, grinning as she holds up a small arrow bolt necklace to indicate the gizmo. "But wait...Darklings are magic. But...we're not? I have…glowy punch arms that are like...woaaa! Pah!" you karate chopped at the air. Tessa sighed, then put her hand on your head, pushing you to the left - so your next chop didn't smash the face of a girl walking by with her phone held up. You blush as Tessa explains.
"Okay, so, Darklings are magic. Sparks are all creatures of mad science and wish fulfillment. Everything we do is capital S science with an exclamation point." She nods. "I'm an electrokinetic with hyper-enhanced reflexes and improved regenerative abilities. Everything I do is perfectly logical, rational, and explicable."
"...so…" you pause. "My arms are...from...the punch dimension?"
"Yes," she says, grinning. "And a lot of other dimensions too." She leans in close, muttering. "The more wiggle room you have for plausible deniability, the better. Once something seems like it is impossible for you, that's where your subconscious puts in the brakes."
You nod, slowly. "So, like, I can't do legs?" you ask.
"Well, yeah, now you can't," she says.
"Ah dang it!" you hiss.
The two of you start walking - she has a class in the same general region as you. Your hands slide into your pockets and you frown a bit. "So, okay. I got a question."
"Yeah?" Tessa asks.
"When you touched the gem, did you get a, like, a mind zonk?" you ask, biting your lip slightly. "Cause I got a mad mind zonk. Right to the…" you pause. "Okay, have you ever had that dream where, like, you're super pregnant, but they're monster babies, and they like, chew their way out of your ribcage?"
Tessa lifts her head. Opens her mouth. Closes it.
"It was kinda like that, but, like, worse?" you ask, scratching your jaw.
"...okay, you got that, and you're...just…" Tessa look at you, and you scoff.
"Dude, that dream's, like, not even that bad," you say, casually, flipping your hand casually. "Like, sometimes, I get the super bad nightmares. Like...a dog getting it's legs eaten by piranhas. That's way worse."
Tessa closes her eyes. "Bianca. No. I did not get a...mind zonk…" she brings out the word with a mild kind of irritation. "It's possible my powers insulated me from the worst of it." She bit her lip. "Was there any kind of communication?"
"I mean, kinda?" you ask, scratching your chin. "But it was sort of...confused?"
Tessa frowns as you emerge from underneath the library and start winding your way towards Carson Hall. Carson Hall was also known as Cam Central, because it was where the, like, six Darklings who went to SSU for their own various reasons hung out in their own little social circle. Right now, none of them were there, which made you feel faintly relieved. The actual buildings were really nice: They were basically a series of four rectangular structures with, like, holes in the middle, where greenery and gardens were placed. So, the rooms were like inside the donuts, and the donut holes were gardens you could walk through, and also, the donuts were rectangles.
Your Composition II class was in the rooms near the back, and as you stood in the entrance to one of the gardens, seeing some other students chatting as they waited for a teacher to open the door, you glance over at Tessa. "How do we follow up on a garble message from the gem dimension? ...can my arms punch a hole into other dimensions?"
"If you don't know what the other dimension is like, that is an extremely bad decision," Tessa says, frowning. "I...shit!" She ducks behind you.
"What?" you ask, then blink as you see a few students pointing and gasping.
"Aww, a swan!" you exclaim as a large, white bird waddles into the garden. A teacher follows after it, nervously. He's tall, dark skinned, and his accent is really sexy. Like...it's not American...but it's not British, so, you have no idea what kind of accent it is. But it is sexy.
"Everyone, remain calm," he says. "It wandered in from the lakes, we're just going to...ah…" He scratches the back of his neck, frowning as students walk backwards, looking terrified and nervous. Which did make sense, you wouldn't want any of them to hurt the swan.
...Tessa does seem to have vanished, though.
WILL YOU
[] PET SWAN!!!!
[] Pet Swan? Carefully?
[] Gently shoo swan away
[] "Tessa? Where'd you go, this rad swan is RIGHT here? Tessa? Hey, did anyone see Tessa, she was right here! You know, super hot hispanic girl, amazing hair, great bod, totally perfect in every way? Anyone?"
BLT creation 2x10! ...twice!
CURRENT STATUS
Willpower: 15
Change: None...yet
Health: Fine!
There was only one logical thing you could do here. "SWAN!" you cried out, then ran forward. "Ahhh!" Your hands caressed the swan's head. Or at least, you tried to - the swan jerked his head back, squalling at you. "Hey! I'm going to-" You started.
The swan bapped you.
He bapped you! Right in your whole of your body with his wing. Hard enough to knock you onto your butt too. You gaped, while the teacher cried out. "Bianca! Get away from-" The swan's wings flared wide and it let out the most terrible honk and you scowled.
"I am going to PET YOU!" You snarled, then locked your legs around the swan's legs. It's wing beat out and you wriggled aside, using every bit of training you'd had at the student judo club to swing yourself around, lock an arm bar across the swan's throat, then hold it still as it writhed and squalled. You started to pet the top of it's head, the swan's wing beating weakly against your side, unable to quite get the right leverage. "Fucking adorable asshole, I-"
Artemis dropped from the roof.
Like…
Artemis in her outfit. Not Tessa. Like.
It's easy to see, now that you've seen both, the difference. Artemis exudes a raw, crawling, stunning presence. It's hot, but like how a volcano is hot. Scary too. Pyroclastic, even! That's when a girl's hot and you kind of want her to step on you?
"Let go of the swan, kid!" Artemis says, drawing her bow.
"But-"
"Now!" Artemis snaps.
"But I'm petting him-" you mutter.
"ENOUGH!" The swan roars. In a male, human voice. "UNHAND ME THIS INSTANT, MORTAL!"
You unlock your arms and legs and roll backwards, coming to your feet, bouncing on your toes, your hands lifted up. "Oh my god, it's a talking swan!" you say, excitedly.
"No, it's-" Artemis says.
Lightning. Thunder. A roar of brilliant light. Your hand goes up, covering your eyes - and when you lower it, you are looking at a tall, handsome, bearded guy who looks kind of like the guy who made the best churros at the mall. You know, those warps, with the meat in it? They're kinda like a kebab, but, breadier? And they have veggies too. Anywho, he looked a lot like that guy, but more so. More beard, more shoulders, more muscle, more togas. Okay, the guy at the churro stand didn't have a toga. This guy did.
"Hi," you say.
"I have never been treated with such disrespect!" he growls, glaring at you. "I came to woo the fair Tessa Ferreira, to take her to be my latest lover, to shower her with the wealths and gifts of Olympus itself. But instead, I have been...set upon by this...this…" He looks you up and down. "This…" He pauses. "...actually…" His hand strokes his beard as he eyes you and you grin, giving him double finger guns.
"Eyyy," you say.
The others in the quad are gaping at you.
"What? I know I got it," you say, cheerfully. "Like, have you seen my boobs?" you gasp. "Oh! Oh! Also, I just shaved my legs, and, I have this really cool tattoo-"
"Hey Hera, yeah, wanna go to facetime?"
Artemis sounds bored and casual - but it makes the big buff guy spin around, his eyes widening, forgetting you entirely. "Hey!" you say, pouting. Artemis is on a sleek phone that looks like a fancy communicator from space, with a bright arrowhead stenciled on the back.
"You don't have it connected to the wifi?" Artemis asks. "Listen...just...ask Hephaestus-"
The big guy flashes with bright light. You blink a few times, and once your eyes are cleared of their sparkles and dots, you can see no sign of the big guy or the swan. Instead, there's just a floaty cloud of golden white light, which shoots up into the air, sliding away from the quad, and out of sight. Artemis snorts, then pockets her communicator. "Like I have Hera's phone number, dumbass…" She mutters, under her breath.
"...I almost hit Zeus with a broom…" the teacher whispers.
"If it helps, I'm still not sure if he is Zeus. Like, is he Zeus, is he just some Spark who thinks he's Zeus? Is he a Darkling from the olden days who thinks he can start up a century old scheme? Or is he actually from another dimension and just took on the Zeus persona?" Artemis pauses. "I mean, I know I'm not actually Artemis. I guess it doesn't really matter, but…" She looks at you. "And what the fuck were you thinking, kid?"
"Hey, don't call me kid, I'm old enough to drink...in...a year!" You say, flushing. "I think. Is it 18 or 21? For the age of drinking?"
Artemis shook her head. "Listen. If you ever meet a god, here's some free advice, kid. One: Don't fucking wrestle them. Two: DO NOT." She baps the top of your head. "FLIT!" Bap Two, Bapvengence. "WITH ZEUS!" Bap Three: Bapaggedon. All three head baps leave you feeling faintly discombobulated and deeply irritated.
You scowl - but Artemis is leaping up onto the roof, to turn back into Tessa. Grumble. You'd get her for that.
Your teacher walks over, sighing slightly. "Are you all right, Bianca?"
"I didn't even get his number!" you say.
He pinches the bridge of his nose. "Bianca, I...weren't you in Mrs. Galveston's course in Greeco-Roman Mythology last quarter?"
You nod. "Yeah, why?"
***
By the time your class is done, your stomach is grumbling again. But you know what hasn't stopped grumbling? You. Getting head bapped is not how you planned to spend your afternoon, or the morning for that matter. However, as the class ended and you started to cram your laptop back into your backpack, full of notes, some other students walked by, both boys. Marvin and Trevor, two kids who you...okay, you were pretty sure they weren't brothers, cause Trevor was black and Marvin wasn't, but they spent enough time around one another that you were pretty sure they were excellent bros.
"Hey, Bianca, we heard that the 7/11 got robbed!" Marvin says.
"Yeah, are you okay?" Trevor asks. "Since you work there?"
WILL YOU
[] "I was out of it at the time, so, I have no idea what happened."
[] "Yeah! There was a Spark, Artemis, and guys with guns, and a humvee, and some new sparks showed up too, and one of them was made of gold, and there was this crazy magic gemstone, and it was really fucking cool!"
ALSO, AFTERWARDS
[] Find Tessa for lunch. She owes you for ruining a god thing. See, it's like a good thing, but...it's a pun.
[] Find Brad for lunch. Touch base on the rad new powers.
[] Find Sandra for lunch. Figure out if it's Sandra or Shandra. Also, leads on gemstone?
PET SWAN!!!!!!!!!!! 2x10 vs swan's attempt to escape 3x5
CURRENT STATUS
Willpower: 17
Change: Flirt with Zeus...can knock THAT one off my bucket list! (+2 Disastering in Bisexual)
Health: Fine!
"Yeah! There was a Spark, Artemis, and guys with guns, and a humvee, and some new sparks showed up too, and one of them was made of gold, and there was this crazy magic gemstone, and it was really fucking cool!" You say, the words tumbling out of your mouth at a million miles an hour, your body bouncing in your seat as you put your palms on the desk. "It was so cool, Brad and I got to watch while hiding in the BATHROOM!"
Trevor and Marvin both whistled, slowly.
"Weren't you scared?" Trevor asks, while you get to your feet, picking up your backpack and swinging it around - Marvin ducking for some reason as you swing your backpack over your shoulder.
"Pff, no!" you say, casually. "I didn't get to hit on Artemis, though…" you sigh. "Lame."
"You are a weird girl," Trevor says, shaking his head.
"I am?" you ask. "Why?"
"Just…" Trevor blinks. "Most girls...don't...talk about how they didn't hit on another girl? Like, aren't you worried?"
"About what?" you ask, your brow furrowing.
The two exchange a glance, then Marvin spread his hands. "I dunno, people talking?"
"Uh, why would people talking about me be bad?" you ask. "I'm cool, and I do cool things, and what are they gonna say: Whoa, that Bianca chick, she totally had sex with a cool Spark. That's apparently not cool, somehow." You snort. "Yeah, that's totally something that would happen."
The two of them exchange a glance again.
"Bye!" you say, waving at them, heading at the door. Then you stick your head around the corner. "Oh! Also, beware of swans!" You nod, then close the door, locking the two of them, trapping them in Carson Hall. FOREVER! Or until they turned the knob at least. You started out, into the bright sunlight and the balm, crispy day - and you sweep your eyes around, looking for Tessa. You find her tapping away with her phone while ignoring the students walking past her, so you hop over, then elbow her.
"Hey!" you say.
Tessa frowns, pocketing her phone. "Yeah?"
"We should get lunch," you say, cheerfully.
"You're right," Tessa says. "We should."
Your eyes widen and excitement thrums through you. That sounded ominously cool. Like, you're about to go to a SPark special caff that Vinci made or-
***
You frown down at the somewhat ugly hamburger and stale fries that are heaped on your plate, while across from you, Brad picks at leafy greens that look as sad as your mom on the anniversary of the Big Breakup.Sandra is sitting next to him and Tessa is sitting next to you. Sandra has put one of her little gizmos in the table.
"So," she says. "I've been informed you got a flash from another universe, Bianca?"
"Yup," you say, happily, as Brad sticks his fork through the salad. "It was a weird creepy feeling. Kinda like the feeling you get when you have that dream where your bone marrow turns into maggots, and the maggots start crawling out of your flesh, and you're like, ahh, ahh, ahh! And then you feel them coming up your throat, because your ribs are bones too, and then they're coming out past your eyes and…" You pause, blinking, because Brad has dropped his fork and pushed his bowl away. "...can I have your salad?"
"...sure," Brad says.
"Sounds like a reasonably similar universe to ours," Sandra mutters. Or is it Shandra?
"Sandra, does your name have an H?" you ask.
"Yes," she says.
"Shandra it is!" you say, nodding, picking up lettuce and putting it into your hamburger, then adding fries and croutons too. "So, wait, if that's a similar universe, what is a different universe like?"
"More pleasant from the perspective of psychic connection…" Shandra murmurs, softly, her eyes unfocusing slightly. "The average human mind cannot process information being sent to us from a universe that is sufficiently different - meaning it translates it all as nothing at all. It's like neutronios zipping through lead - there's barely an interaction. This is more like gamma rays hitting flesh. Damage is caused because of...interactions…" She frowns. "Bianca, why is your hamburger crunching?"
Tessa wrinkles her nose, slightly, but Shandra is nodding to herself. "Okay," she says. "There's a dimensional research lab in school. They have devices for the monitoring of nearby universes."
"Whoa, really?" you ask.
"Yeah. At least one of the graduates of Sonoma State is a Spark. They donated, secretly, a bunch of money to the science department to do some CapeTech education, to counterbalance all the magic courses," Shandra says. "It's mostly theoretical stuff, but there's enough lab space for some basic experiments. Dimensional study is pretty regulated, so they have nothing more powerful than an oscillation backscatter emitter."
You nod, like you have any idea what that is.
Brad pauses. "So, it sounds like what we need is to use that device, right? To figure out what the dimension is, to try and figure out what the gemstone was about and why the Seeliebots wanted it for and what the Spooks are all about?" He nods. "Since, like, it sounds like there are two factions: Whoever built the SBs and whoever sent the Spooks, right?"
"Yeah," Tessa says.
"Wait, says who?" you ask. "They might be working together."
"Sparks and Darklings don't really work together," Shandra says. "Especially if we're dealing with a mad genius. Mad geniuses don't even work with other Sparks most of the time."
You nod. "Like the guy…" you snap your fingers. "The guy, you know?"
"Diamond?" Shandra asks.
"No, the one who filled the Youtube headquarters with anthrax," you say.
"Diamond," Shandra says.
"No, he tried to blow up Waterloo a year ago," you say.
"DIamond," Shandra says. "That's Diamond. Diamond did those things."
"No, the guy I'm thinking of is an Australian," you say.
Brad rubs his temples, while Shandra pulls out her phone, brings up a youtube video, and shows it to you. A guy in a glittering power armor suit made of silvery, shiny, reflective material is standing before a building while men and women run screaming from it. "So, like I was saying," he's saying. "Content ID and Fair Use laws are being utterly mismanaged, and it's just a complete travesty, it is."
"Oh, yeah, that guy," you say.
"That's Diamond," Brad snaps. "He's only a world famous super criminal who has killed more than three thousand people."
"...wow…" you whisper. "That's like, ten 9/11s…"
"No, it's just one...you know what, nevermind," Brad says, rubbing his temples.
"So, yeah," you say, cheerfully. "Diamond worked with Darklings once, didn't he?"
"No, he didn't," Brad says.
"Oh," you say. "Nevermind, then." You smile. "So, we need to find out who's making the SB bots are, and what the dimension the gemstone was related too…" You snap your fingers. "I know! I could go and examine the battlefield with my arms from the punch dimension!"
"How would that help?" Brad asks.
"Spark powers are versatile when first developed - and the Light-" Shandra stops as you raise your hand. "The Forces of Darkness give the Darklings their powers. The Light give us our powers. They're mysterious." You lower your hand and she continues. "And the Light does give everyone a useful set of powers to deal with a wide range of situations…" She nods. "But we still need someone to get the OBSE. I figure, we'll go in pairs - inexperienced Spark with experienced Spark."
"Sounds good," Brad says, sounding very cheerful for some reason. "And, I mean...I totally can study the battlefield. After all, money talks. I have gold powers. The metaphor just barely works."
"That's all you need!" Shandra says, cheerfully. "See, you got it!"
WILL YOU
[] Go to the battlefield site with Tessa.
[] Go steal the OBSE with Shandra.
Becky Rolls Charm+Zoomer: 2x7
CURRENT STATUS
Willpower: 17
Change: None, yet.
Health: Fine!
