Behind the Hero: The Board Breaker's
By SolarGemX
Cherio! Welcome to another cheeky little episode of Behind the Hero! *Ahem* Sorry for any British blokes out there, but having some British writers in this show, they pretty much took control of today's script, so expect a lot of British slang. As I was saying, Good ol' Britain is known for a variety of cultural staples, history, landmarks, food (…I call Bollocks) and of course heroes. Like any other place in this big wacky bloody world, heroics has steeped its feelers into the economy, politics, and everyday life. There are apparently a Chockablock of hero groups running around the ol' land, and just as many supervillains. If I had a dollar for every "Arthurian myth" hero or "Jack the Ripper" wanker running around, I could actually afford a house in Elysium Station, not that I would mind you; the missus prefers staying closer to the ground, afraid of heights she is. (I am so sleeping on the couch after this… T3T). Anyway, there are quite a few heroic teams running around, but todays team has an interesting gimmick, this team was actually named by British fans that managed to find a connection between their aesthetics, all thanks to board games of all things. On todays episode, we take a look at the hero team stations at Knightsbridge London, The Board Breaker's.
Disclaimer: Here on Behind the Hero, we accept a heroes choices (as long as they are reasonable) when it comes to branding, but we really recommend upcoming heroes or hero teams to come up with their own names, not everyone will be respectful and give you a good or flattering name, don't let your image get ruined before it even begins. This is ignoring the fact that if you suck at naming conventions, don't expect people to not make one for you.
The Board Breakers are a seven strong team that has been around for around 10 years. Its founding members were a trio of young teenage girls who became friends via a mutual love in online games, mostly card based, team based or farming based games. From what information we managed to scrunch up from interviews with the founders, the 3 heroines met in real life after a long gaming section and discovered each other's metahuman abilities a couple of months after the fact. The trio made their "heroic personas" together and named themselves after a combination of "Alice in Wonderland" characters and a dream one of them had of being a "pretty pink princess" when they grew up. Nobody knows whose dream that was, but they admit that the individual in question was quite embarrassed after the fact. The rest of the team joined as the trio began their heroic career culminating in the full roster in around March 12, 2063.
The first of the 3 founders is Alice Smith, also known as Rozen Queen. Dresses in a flowing Black and Red regalia, Ms. Smith is probably the most dangerous member of the original trio. Her metahuman ability is the power to summon a huge swath of black thorn like tendril in a dome surrounding herself, these deadly appendages can reach up to 10 yards in length (30 feet) and can easily pierce metal, while RQ can soften the tendrils to grab objects or injured civilians, her modus operandi is bunching them together to either bludgeon or pierce her opponents, which leads to her more dangerous ability: Fluid absorption. Like the world's deadliest Rose, RQ's thorns can absorb the water and blood of organic creatures she pierces, draining them in minutes if not seconds. The heroine has used this ability to drain the blood of different monsters like Behemoths and villains. While she has a very fine tune control of her tendrils, enough to just drop an opponent instead of killing them, she is actually the only known member to have a body count. Most of the villains who she has killed were the scum of the earth or incredibly dangerous, but the fact she is more than happy to drain a human dry of all its blood has earned her quite a reputation, but she continues to work tirelessly to help as many people as she can. An interesting factoid of this heroine is the fact that she has an EXTREMELY bitter relationship, with a previous mentioned heroine, Blood Fang of the Fabled. From what little info we can gather the two heroes ended up clashing when a known serial killer had escaped into English wilderness in order to escape his execution and Rozen Queen took the job to find the escapee and take them down, with complete freedom to eliminate him if necessary. The problem began when the cat and mouse chase led them getting caught in the middle of a solo behemoth hunt being done by Blood Fang, where she witnessed RQ piercing and eventually draining the prisoner of their blood. This lead to Blood Fang confronting the heroine and from what some of RQ's teammates statement's: "Rozen Queen rolled a Nat 1 in charisma and somehow insulted her without even trying" which led to the two nearly killing each other, before both teams managed to separate them. It would have probably ended there if Red Queen hadn't and I quote: "Rolled ANOTHER 1, this time in insight" and said that Blood Fang's power would be extremely useful in villain fights, not knowing of the latter's no villain fighting rule. This has pretty much killed any probability of the two teams ever cooperating. Ouch.
The next member of the group is Shade Queen or Olivia Jones to her friends and family. Ms. Jones actually comes from Detroit, Michigan and moved to England when she was around 10 years of age, due to family troubles back in the states. With long black hair and moderate brown skin, this young woman does make an interesting difference to her two paler friends. Known as the strategist of the Board Braker's and their go to PR expert, Shade Queen has taken a more "armored" look to her royal regalia, thanks to her chess inspired summons. Yes, Ms. Jones metahuman power is the ability to summon 5 small black translucent figures which she refers as her "pawns". These pawns may be unassuming at first, but they are packing heat! Each summon has a small "handgun" that shoots small energy "pellets" these rounds hit as hard as a paint ball gun, which may not sound like much, but these things sting when they hit, and a well-aimed shot can easily take an eye out if they aren't careful. But the main strength behind the automatons is their ability to "rank up." Every single summon will increase in size and strength depending on various factors like time, enemy numbers, and enemy strength. These factors can make them rapidly evolve in strength in a matter of seconds if the situation is dire enough. Among the evolutions there's, the Knights fast cavalry with automatic rifles (Which now impact as fast as actual bullets but are incapable of piercing organic material), Rooks that carry incredibly dense shields which are used in heavy tackles or shotguns, Bishops who carry sniper rifles and Queens that can use all other weapons and switch at will. Talk about a one-woman army.
The third founding member is the Pale Queen or Ada Walker, among close associates. Ms. Walker has the ability to create two translucent white wings from her back, granting her the ability to fly above the battlefield. While not as fast as other known fliers, her main strength isn't her flight capabilities, but the ability to shoot her feathers towards her allies and encompass them in barrier that covers them from head to toe, just a couple of inches from their skin. This protection is capable of blocking automatic gun fire, keeping her allies safe, and while she cant use her feathers on herself, she can use her wings as shields in case of enemies attacks. Pale Queen is known as the "mother hen" of the group, making sure every member is safe from harm, even at the cost of herself. A known event in their early career was the when they confronted a silver rank behemoth that had wandered into the nearby waters of the city. Shaped like a mutated barracuda, the fish behemoth nearly tore the hero's arm off when she got distracted shielding her companions, it was only the combination of A Bishop summon and Rozen Queen's Thorns that saved her arm.
After the founders we have the long-range specialist of the Group, Howitzer. Known by fans as a living Battleship, Abel Green has a more support-oriented role in the group thanks to his powers. While his primary strength lies in his ability to see heat signatures and function as a living sonar that can reach 40 yards, this hero unlike other many other support-oriented individuals, can actively defend himself, this is where his name comes to play. Howitzer can launch energy blast that are affected by gravity, these shots release a physical shockwave when they impact organic material, creating a burst of energy that can ragdoll opponents, he specializes in sitting in hidden locations and bombarding the opposition from afar, especially if he's within a secure building. Yes, I mean building, not roof. The baffling thing about Howitzer' s energy it the fact that it ignores ANY inorganic material, including stone, metal, and concrete. It just phases through with disrupting any of the materials, exploding in contact with things like grass, animals or yes humans. This ability to ignore things in his way has made him a terror in evacuated areas, letting him rain death from above with reckless abandon.
The next two members are an interesting duo. A known gay couple, who left America after being rejected by their peers Lucas Evans and Charles Williams make for quite a pair as the heroes Misstep and Lucky Seven, respectively. Originally from Las Vegas, the couple left the city and moved to England in order to find work and avoid some personal issues in their country of birth. Misstep is capable of creating vibrations from his hands and launching them at opponents, giving them a potent sense of vertigo causing them to fall like a house of cards. Meanwhile, the more offense oriented of the two, Lucky seven exemplifies his home city by having a power with a weird rule set, dice. The gambling hero can generate up to two six-sided dice and throw them. Whatever number the dice falls on will give the hero the ability to "upgrade" his armor or weapons into stronger forms, but with the caveat that if falls on a one it will "downgrade" or worsen the original equipment. The effects are only temporary and will revert within 2 hours, making sure the items aren't lost after a fight. Each dice has a timer of 5 minutes before they can be used again, so the gambling hero can't just roll over and over again. As for the effects of the dice, we can use his most known object, his personal revolver:
1- Dud removes all upgrades.
2- Slight upgrade, normal pistols/revolvers gain unlimited ammo.
3- Pistols have become automatic machine guns.
4- It becomes a heavy-duty automatic shotgun and riot shield.
5- It becomes a Sniper Rifle, with two fives leading to a 50-Caliber anti-tank Rifle.
6- It's an RPG. A Bloody RPG with infinite rockets and NO RELOAD. There are no known instances of two 6 being rolled at the same time. (What is this a sparking COD game?)
Finally, we have the only dysmorphic member of the team, Agent Croak, no known civilian name. This meta human takes the appearance of a rather colorful tree frog, but don't let those colorful colors fool you, any animal, especially reptiles with bright colors in the wild is dangerous, and Agent Croak is no exception. The metahuman is capable of creating a potent poison from his skin that can be absorbed via skin contact, this poison causes temporary face blindness and scrambling of the brain that leads to the recipient speaking gibberish, making him a deadly foe in group fights, disrupting the communication of enemy teams and making them all have to play a deadly game of Guess who? Not only that he can raise his own bodies temperature slightly to cause a smokescreen of his poison, letting catch several people at once, although he needs to be careful around allies. One of the teams more infamous combinations is Agent Croak covering Rozen queens thorns with his poison.
"Unknown to the public, if Agent Croak's poison reaches the boiling point, it becomes a deadly neurotoxin that can kill normal people in a matter of seconds." The hero makes sure to never fight if the temperature rises to high, which has led him to in more than one occasion to nearly getting killed by a stray bullet.
That's quite the play set, isn't it? It's been a while since I've been across the pond, but it's about time I start heading back to America. Things have been heating up back home and the team needs me back in order to prepare a new script that's in the making. Here's hoping no more surprises come out of the woodwork. Either way, this has been Behind the Hero, signing off!
Authors note: Still not the JU chapter, but that's at 2k words now, just need to talk about the current members, but that needs to wait still. Other than that, college works and exams have kept me busy, so my omake spree basically died, for a long time. But seeing all the omakes being made (especially Kermies), inspired me to at least make one more before the teams public debut (seriously so many omakes in such rapid succession). So, here's another episode of BTH, featuring the Board gam inspired heroes, The Board Breakers!
Rozen Queen- Based on Alice in wonderland, Maliss (yugioh), Black Rose Dragon and a shop name from a video game series I like.
Onyx Queen- Based on a series of shorts based on FPS Chess (Yes, that's a thing)
Pale Queen- Based on Stardust Dragon, also chess.
Howitzer- Based on Battleship, the board game.
Misstep- Based on Jenga or knocking down a house of cards.
Lucky Seven- Based on poker and dice games, with a roulette motif for the name. Hey, Dream Catcher now has a power gambling buddy.
Agent Croak- Based on spy movies, a bit of Floating Venom Morphine, poison dart tree frogs and Guess Who.
So, coming up we have Cenotaph, which is the first time you guys have chosen an action that can result in new candidates. Depending on your rolls, you can get between 2-5 candidates. In that pool will be user submitted characters.
A quick note on that: by letting me use your submitted character, you are giving total control over them in this story. That means I will write in the way that fits the story best. I will try to honor the spirit of the character, but events can change people. Also, I won't be able to treat anyone with kid gloves. You have a sense of where this story can go and what can possibly be included (body horror, psychological torment) and what I will not be writing (sexual violence).
Bad things might happen to your character. They could die.
If this makes you uncomfortable, please let me know. You can DM me. No judgement, I totally get it. I feel like I need to give this warning, given that some of these characters are from other works and near and dear to people's hearts. Again, I will do my best to do them justice, but you will have no special voting power or ability to decide what happens with your submitted character in this story.
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THE SHOW OF PINSERVAL THE GREAT, THE INCREDIBLE. THE ONE TRAINED BY THE GREAT MASTER FWOOMBUS HIMSELF! — chickenbouillon (canon)
THE SHOW OF PINSERVAL THE GREAT, THE INCREDIBLE. THE ONE TRAINED BY THE GREAT MASTER FWOOMBUS HIMSELF!
An omake by chickenbouillon
Once upon a time, it was a lovely morning in the city of Horizon. It was a fragile, transient peace. Marked by the chirping of birds, the laughter of children, and the smell of flowers.
And that peace is immediately, promptly shattered by the appearance of a man.
The man promptly throws himself into the middle of the park, clears his throat once, and snaps his fingers. He's wiry thin, with a mustache that's equally as lean, and wears a dapper gray suit that is quite stylish if I do say so myself. With the snap of his fingers, a nearby tree is immediately turned into a massive magician's stage, complete with curtains and everything necessary to perform a show.
However, the people merely groan in agony. Not the agony of someone tortured, but the sheer pain of someone who has seen the same antics repeated again and again without end.
"ATTENTION!!!" The man bellows, his wiry frame somehow possessing an extremely loud voice that absolutely thunders across the field. "YOU ARE INVITED TO ANOTHER SHOW BY PINSERVAL THE GREAT!!! THE GREATEST WIZARD OF ALL TIME!! A MAGICIAN BEYOND COMPARE!! TRAINED BY THE GREAT MASTER FWOOMBUS HIMSELF!!"
The audience winces at his extremely loud voice, before sighing and resigning themselves to clapping sarcastically. If he notices their lack of fervor, he does not let it show.
Oh who am I kidding? He probably didn't notice anyway. Because Edgar Pinserval is a lunatic beyond words GREAT WIZARD WHO DOES NOT CARE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS BEHIND HIS BACK!!!
Once again, he basks in the applause for a few seconds longer, before turning to the audience and pointing at a particularly unfortunate woman who was in the middle of jogging. Resigned and tired, she simply turns to him and recites the lines: "Oh.. hooray.. how may I help you today, Great Wizard?"
"I AM GLAD YOU HAVE ASKED!!" He screams loudly. "I SHALL HAVE YOU BE MY ASSISTANT TODAY!! HA!" He points at her, and a bright beam of light flies towards her direction before anyone can react. When it hits her, there is a puff of pink smoke.
When the smoke clears.. she is replaced by.. a massive pig wearing a tophat. With monocles. If her reaction is any indication however, she is very clearly aware of her new transformation. And not pleased whatsoever.
"YOUR NAME IS NOW WADDLES!! WADDLES, CLIMB TO THE STAGE!!!" He yells again. And can he stop doing that? I'm getting tired of my job as a narrator consisting only of describing him yelling. But either way. It works. The newly christened pig climbs up to the stage with all the enthusiasm of an prisoner who is facing the guillotine.
"NOW!! For my first trick!! WADDLES SHALL PERFORM AN OBSTACLE COURSE!" He points towards a table in the middle of the stage, and yet another bright beam of light shoots towards it. Immediately, a massive obstacle course appears out of nowhere. Complete with a massive pool with platforms sticking out of it.
Before Waddles the Pig can perform this grueling task, an observer takes pity on her and promptly clears his throat. "Mister Pinserval, sir?" The Great Wizard immediately hurls his head towards the direction of the voice, and the observer immediately regrets it, still he persists.
"..I was just wondering if you could stop turning us into animals? I'm sure you're really strong and powerful and all that.. but it's getting kind of tiring having to explain to my in-laws why I smell like a dog every family meeting." The brave audience member says. And like a fuse, other people immediately begin voicing out their complaints as well.
"Uhh.. yeah. I had to explain to my family why I smelled like a bird. At least you turned me into a peacock, so I was kind of pretty? I think?" Another man says. "You're so lucky! I got turned into a SNAIL." A woman snarls out in envy.
"Yeah.. we'd really appreciate it if you'd stop.." The audience nodded as one. Edgar stood there for a moment, confused beyond belief. Before his BRILLIANT MIND came to a conclusion! Clearly, they are not happy enough because he is playing favorites! He must give them all equal treatment!
"I see.." The Great Wizard says. "I am sorry.." The crowd sighs in relief. "I AM SORRY THAT I HAVE NOT GIVEN YOU ALL EQUAL TREATMENT!" He yells suddenly, and they immediately groan again. "YOU ARE ALL CLEARLY EXCITED TO HELP ME IN MY SHOWS ALL AT ONCE! UNFORTUNATELY, I ONLY PICK ONE OF YOU TO HELP! Quite an oversight I have made…" He strokes his mustache.
"I SHALL RECTIFY THIS MISTAKE IMMEDIATELY!" And with that.. the audience prepares themselves for more painful explanations to give to their families as to why they smell like animals.
And just like that, ends another show of PINSERVAL THE GREAT AND POWERFUL, dear reader. If you happen to stop by at the Uni District, perhaps give him a try? I hear his shows are quite.. fun to those who enjoy audience participation.
Just don't complain if you smell bad for weeks to come.
Have You Come To Put Me Out Of My Misery??? - ThaTrueRealmWalk (semi-canon)
A group of armed and masked individuals cheered at the announcement of their leader, the sounds muffled by the animal masks they wore as they raised their weapons into the sky in excitement.
These robbers stand inside of a bank, in front of a large vault opened wide, it's contents depleted and placed within several duffle bags set up in the middle of the room.
Around the complex many civilians lay bound rope and gagged, tied up to furniture and structures to make escape highly unlikely.
It was a planned heist, set up through a month of scouting and research. So far their preparations have rewarded them, everything had gone to plan and they were even able to stop any calls to any would be super heroes and police.
The one wearing a yellow bear mask, the leader, continued his announcement, "Now that we have everything, get gathered near the money lads! We're heading home!"
Several shouts of agreement echoed out as the mass of armed robbers flowed out from the vault room to an adjacent one, set in the middle of the desks and paperwork within a large pile of duffle bags.
The robbers, ones wearing brown bear masks, others rabbits and a few chickens and foxes, found positions on top of the pile, doing their best to compact the amount of space for their leader's power to work.
The leader's grin grew under their mask, raising their hands up into the air as they felt the power they were granted surging within. The area their men and spoils sat began to fuzz and churn, like one had put a filter of both static and water upon it.
Another place began to be overlayed on the space, adding the visual blend of colors and contrasts. The room surrounding shook along with the leaders hands, the world rejecting the folding of two spaces upon themselves yet failing against the yellow bear mask's gift.
It was to reach a crescendo in just a moment, where two places fully crossed through the will of a power.
Just like all other times, it would take the leader just a moment to place something within the overlap on the other side- themself and their men.
Oh the joy of it, the thrill of being able to drop an entire squad of goons someplace along with their equipment and overtake it all with an ambush. The fear and surprise at something not there suddening being, the jumps and flinches as innocents reached a hand over their heart to try and lessen the scare's shock to their system.
Oh this was bliss to the leader- of course they had gripes. The wind-up was simply slow, even if it was just moving themself across town, so you can imagine how horrid transporting an entire group would be.
But their getting better, slowly pushing that needed charge up bit by bit, and now with this cash they can finally upgrade their team to the next leve-
"MIKU MIKU BEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMM!"
Wha-
"AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
This band of armed criminal's leader heard a scream as a bright light engulfed their vision. Blinding everything in an instance.
There was nothing, no feelings for a moment.
Then the wearer of the yellow bear mask realized that they were the one screaming.
Their body lit up in pain as awareness returned to them, like fire had been exposed to every inch of their skin regardless of their clothing. However like a lightning bolt the pain was only there for a moment before fading.
By then the damage had already been done.
The Leader's mind blurred in internal yells as a second pain slowly grew to replace the first, signaling to themself that they had been launched by the surprise attack upon them.
Their attempts to move were met with their body screaming once again and the knowledge they were embedded inside of a wall. A horrible position to be in.
They had not even realized that their eyes had been closed this entire time, a headache pounding into their skull as they slowly began to open their eyelids, the light of the room far harsher to their sight then moments ago.
With blurry vision they could only look in horror, their goons, loyal comrades who followed their lead for so long, layed unmoving about the area, despite the fact that the bags of money from their well planned heist sat perfectly unharmed.
Their fuzzy gaze moved from the estimated direction of whatever had stuck them and-
Blue. They saw blue- maybe closer to cyan. Their vision coming and going not helping them grasp whatever danger they were in.
Blue or green hair… a uniform… a green… green stick in their hand.
That was all they could make out, their headache beginning to cause their thoughts to slur.
However their fellow ne'er do wells were in danger, and as the leader the bearer of the yellow bear mask couldn't just let this assault on them go unpunished.
They pushed and pushed with everything they had-
Nothing.
They couldn't move, their bodies both sleek and wedged.
Their gaze blurry, unable to see farther than the immediate room.
They couldn't even tell if this was an internal dialogue or not- could they even hear?!?!
The Leader's eyes closed for a moment, and then the next the enemy who struck them down in a single attack were right in front of them, close enough that the bear masked leader could make a clearish picture.
They felt their jaw drop as they spoke with no thought.
"HATSUNE MIKU?!?!?"
-----
A police detective stood outside of a bank, the same bank that was rescued moments ago.
The band of masked individuals were all in cuffs, their leader knocked out cold by the hero who stepped in to stop their attempt at stealing away countless dollars.
They looked over to the hero in question, standing in front of the bank and talking to the media with her roboticish voice. Keeping a sort of presence that snared the reporters to her and away from any other police working on the crime scene, moving civilians to ambulances
It made sense after all, it was Hatsune Miku, or more specifically, a person playing the part.
This officer didn't know the specifics, not like a corporation would spare information on their roster of heroes to their current office without any sort of legal bindings.
Still, there were rumors and sightings and postings online, and a detective like herself would be shameful if they didn't look into the defenders that handled more esoteric crimes.
It seems a corporation in Japan was attempting to make their own sort of hero team, to perform operations on their behalf and to raise awareness of the Vocaloid brand by having those beloved idols being the ones to save peoples lives.
She wasn't sure exactly what was behind Vocaloid-Armada, the trails leading to the identity of the exact corporation these people were under the command of were actively hidden on the net.
There were guesses and assumptions they could make- after all those attempts to hide the trail didn't extend to partner corporations and affiliates. It would still do good to find more clues before pointing fingers.
Still, the girl dressed as the hit sensation Hatsune Miku still aided in catching the culprits of this officer's current case, no matter what mysterious organization was behind her. They had to give them points for being useful (unlike some local heroes).
And yes, the detective thought this actor was human. Unless a corporation somehow cracked not only AI, but perfect human looking robots and the ability to give said machines powers, it was best to classify this person as just an actor for the role.
Maybe.
There could be some bullshit power or other force that could explain it.
Keep it as a possibility.
Miku's victory against the Fazzy Bears, a criminal group backed by their leader, called the Father Bear, with a teleportation power, was a boon for the town all the same.
They had been terrorizing this Florida town for a while, no doubt due to some sort of range issue with Father Bear's power.
The crime group seemed to originate from Utah from their officers' findings, having been related to a string of murders in a small town this officer couldn't trace. It was annoying but they could look into it further in their free time.
Right- right the power.
They wanted to go over the power this Miku girl used in her mind before she forgot any details.
Using her notebook could leak something she might not want to, or could show to whoever is behind that corporation that someone is looking into them.
Of course people were, a japanese based hero team doing a tour around the americas was suspicious, but still.
Caution is best when powers and the unknown are involved.
It seemed to be some sort of sight based power, able to unleash terrifying pressure upon anything she looks at- either it has some sort of control as the ability only affected the criminals or, possibly it can only affect living things.
She wasn't wearing any eye gear so this Miku cosplayer can at least choose to turn it off.
Anything else?
Damn- no she doesn't have anything else. She should have napped a copy of the security footage when she had a chance.
Maybe she can see if the office she's currently working with has a copy she can look at.
Reaching into the pocket of her standard police uniform, she pulled out her bag, a name engraved upon it to signify its own.
'Barb Shelly'
There was something she didn't know after all, and she would be a Shelly if she didn't do all she could to find out what it was.
---------------------
Candidate "Barb Shelly"
Name: Barb Shelly
Age: 33
Stats:
HIT: 1
ESPIONAGE: 7
REPUTATION: 3
OPERATIONS: 7
Tolerance: 2 Lady Lizi's Note: Barb Shelly can be described as a paranoid ace in the detective field. She inherited her late father's skill to sniff out things she shouldn't have, but due to the 'accident' that claimed her father's life Barb pushed for hiding in the background and keeping her impact minimal on a case. "Caution is best when powers and the unknown are involved," is practically her motto, and while her skill in finding hidden truths is useful, that nature and mindset of hers could be a liability if she ever finds a single inkling of something being hidden from her.
Realm's Note:
I… was originally just making this as a funny haha Miku as a superhero fic but… I somehow got to the point where I made a candidate.
Expected when you stop working on something for a day hehe.
Still, silly fic with a dumb joke! I did get an idea for another one so I'll see about making that too!
Well two but one is for one of my characters and not something made on the spot.
[X] Plan Goldborne
-[X] Valiant Gold
-[X] Mainly blue with gold highlights, and a green scarf.
-[X] A golden rose, always pointing towards the sun.
Horizon, City of Leviathan's Rest– The Apiary– January 12, 2068
Luck Check: 4. Unlucky!
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♦ Topic: Fighting in the NID UPDATE: Crusade FTW?!
In: Boards ► Breaking News
Sweetwoman (Original Poster)
Posted On Jan 13th 2068:
Holy shit. Did anyone else hear those explosions coming from the NID? Place is lit up like a lightshow. I think a bunch of metas are throwing down?!?! Anyone there, be safe!!!!
(Showing page 1 of 3)
►icarus527
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
dude where do you live? you seem to witness live events everywhere in horizon at once. The NID, Worker's Mitt, Corp Playground are nowhere near each other
EDIT: no, im not askign for a dox, obviously! ►BodyinaBag
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
What is the layout of Horizon anyway? I'm new and it's super confusing. ►EarthScreamingRed
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
Shhhh, no one tell him.
And can confirm there's a big fight going on in NID. I think it's Crusade--I can see Sunlight Knight and Seraph in the air. ►REALEarthenOwl (Powers) (Verified User)
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
Yo, HOLY SHIT, you guys see White Hawk swoop in a crush that guy? BIRD GANG RISE UP! ►LunarCrystalY
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
. . . why aren't you doing anything? and I think they're fighting the nazi? luftwaffle? the one who drops all of the engery bombs? ►anApple
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
YOU GET EARTHEN OWL'S NAME OUT OF YOUR FILTHY MOUTH!!!! ►Sweetwoman (Original Poster)
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
Oh shit, they're really struggling. They have enough fliers to get to Luftwaffe, but he just drops bombs when they do and they have to stop them from landing and killing everyone. Good thing White Hawk is apparently immune to them and super fast? Dang. ►Cure71
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
OH SHIT ►TaurusKiss
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
YOOOOOOOOOOO
End of Page. 1, 2, 3
(Showing page 2 of 3)
►Foot202f
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
wow ► Piggie
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
What's happening?!? I'm not there, don't leave me in suspense!! ►Sweetwoman (Original Poster)
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
Valiant Justice just showed up and did something where, one second and Luftwaffe was in the sky, and the next he was on the ground. He's, uh, beating him up pretty badly. Oh well, Nazi-fuck had it coming. ►EarthScreamingRed
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
There's a bunch of soldiers all over the roads now. They have those laser guns the GJ guys used to use. Looks like they're stopping a bunch of trucks? ►Foot202f
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
those trucks have guns in them ►AmbiguousHinderance
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
There's some stuff going down on the southside too. A bunch of fire people are going after Enforcer's gang. ► Piggie
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
Who's that again? ►TaurusKiss
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
He's the guy who can punch your internal organs. He got thrown into Wonderland 'cuz he killed that politician that sold all of the NID's hydroponics to AGL. ►AmbiguousHinderance
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
Enforcer's surrendering. They're locking him now. Wow. Big day for Crusade! ►EarthScreamingRed
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
I just wish they had a different name. Surely SOMEONE has opened a history book before?
End of Page. 1, 2
(Showing page 3 of 3)
►Crusade_Official
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
The Americans insisted.
Full announcement about tonight's actions here: [link].
End of Page. 1, 2, 3
■
♦ Topic: MONARCH FACES THE CRUSADE
In: Boards ► Breaking News
Crusade_Official (Original Poster)
Posted On Jan 13th 2068:
In the early morning hours of January 13, 2068, Crusade has made good on their promise to resist the vile Monarch and her hoards of villainous minions!
Crusade's top-notch intelligence program was alerted to Monarch attempting to smuggle weapons, drugs, and other contraband into the New Industrial District to feed her war machine! Crusade acted without hesitation, launching a strike team consisting of White Hawk, Sunlight Knight, Seraph, and Horizon's own Valiant Red, White, and Blue!
Our fearless protectors engaged the wretched reichsman, Luftwaffe, and defended the borough with their own bodies! Things seemed dire, but Valiant Red, White, and Blue decided he had enough and knocked out the nasty Nazi!
While their teammates protected the innocent, Plasticity and Perception led a team of loyal peacekeepers to seize the contraband! They did successfully, and denied Monarch her war material. A devastating blow against the rotten regent!
Meanwhile, the veteran heroes Été, Joules, and Ronin, alongside promising newcomer The Brass Shield, moved to liberate the south side of the NID! They struck a decisive blow against the would-be-king, Enforcer, who surrendered without a fight! Over one hundred of his henchmen will join him before bars!
Speaking of which, Valiant Red, White, and Blue has been working tirelessly with the top scientists of Allied Global Logistics, Dominion Security Concerns, and Ọsanyìn Conglomerated Industries to create a new, secure prison for the worst villains in this world! No one will escape the Kaitlyn Meyers-Williams Memorial Detention Facility—a.k.a The Brig!
More details here: [link]. Want to show your pride for the Crusade? Check out their official store: [link].
(Showing page 1 of 1)
►DrFartDFA
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
crusade rulles!! they r da real heroes, ohters are fakers!!!! JU more like j poo. and new dawn is new done. Curasde!!!! ►AmbiguousHinderance
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
Wow. Love them or hate them, Crusade's done a lot of good today. Kinda makes you wonder what Justice Unlimited and New Dawn have been up to. ►YeehawBody
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
Freeing people from Marie Marionette and Dollman [link].
Everyone's doing something to fight Monarch. Crusade just struck the bigger blow. ►AmbiguousHinderance
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
Oh wow, I somehow missed that. New Dawn and Justice Unlimited patrolling together though? makes you wonder if the rumors are true.
Only Gentleman James, Palisade, Miss Naught, and Dreamcatcher have been confirmed in the field, even if New Dawn's official reporting is different. And now JU lends them Black Swan, who is their big gun? Seems like New Dawn is worse off than we thought. ►BodyinaBag
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
Makes you question if Valiant Silver really was responsible for the Movement if New Dawn is willing to work with them. Or maybe she was really sick and JU tried to stop her. ►TaurusKiss
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
Unrelated, but has anyone read that story Valiant Silver wrote before she died? It's CRAZY good even if there are way too many sex scenes. I can't believe they banned @Ellie_Starfish23 for posting it! ►What? (Moderator)
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
Look, I cried when Obdurate and Madam Dianmu finally confessed their feelings to each other, just like everyone else. But then there were thirty pages of explicit sexual content and we don't host that here. We're not prudish but, Leviathan's Blood, did it go places. ►Hyperbola
Replied On Jan 13th 2068:
The world not only lost its greatest scientist during the Movement, but also its greatest poet.
You're feeling disconcerted this morning, but it has nothing to do with the Crusade.
You have very mixed feelings on their recent strike against Monarch. On one hand, anything that keeps that woman on the backfoot can only be a boon. On the other, there is something about their heavy handed actions and jingoistic rhetoric that sets your hair on edge. Not to mention the PR coup. They've not demanded that you submit to an "audit" again, but you know that is coming soon thanks to Akane.
Speaking of her, it was Ronin who warned you about Crusade's operation a few hours before the attacks happened. Opsec was very tight—she wasn't even told about them until they were already in motion—but her tip kept you from being caught totally off guard.
What you know now is that Monarch is being boxed in from additional sides. The pressure is mounting. But you're unable to launch a decapitation strike just yet, and the harder you press, the more apt she is to feel her back is against the wall and do something desperate.
You need to start dealing with her. Soon.
You shake your head and try to focus on the real reason you're scrambling this morning: the man on the screen in front of you, Marvelous Shine.
You, Châtelet, and your second-newest member, Doctor Silver, all sit in the conference room with a video call displayed on the wall opposite you. On the call is a handsome, Japanese man in his mid-fifties. He's built like a slab of meat with a square head, large shoulders, and a short neck. But his eyes twinkle from behind a blue domino mask and his tired grin is infectious. He wears a white bodysuit with red gloves, red boots, and a red diamond across his chest.
"Lady Leizi," he says with a smile, "Thank you for taking the time to speak with me! I know it's short notice."
"It's no problem at all, darling," you lie.
Actually, his message had been something of a poorly-timed shock. Ellie had been strangely withdrawn after her empowerment, only saying she needed time to "process". You had been brooding over what it meant. . . and had been neglecting your rest. You had just managed to fall asleep in the wee hours of the morning when Marvelous Shine's message rocketed you out of bed. Only Châtelet and Doctor Silver were awake enough to join you, and even then you had to scramble to get everything arranged.
Châtelet is naturally an early-riser and looks perfectly polished, with nary a single hair out of place. Doctor Silver had actually still been awake from the previous night, putting the finishing touches on his costume and ensuring his cover was in place. He looked quite dashing, if you were being honest.
The rest of your team was either asleep, or indisposed.
Thankfully, Marvelous Shine doesn't seem to take offense at not talking to all of Justice Unlimited.
"Hmm, I hope you're just an early bird and not neglecting your rest," he says with a knowing look, "You can't take care of others if you don't take care of yourself!"
He says that with such paternal authority that you flinch. Doctor Silver laughs and Châtelet nods her head in approval.
"I keep telling her that," that traitor tells him.
He laughs again. "Good! An ally who cares for your health is a true ally indeed!"
He grins again before turning serious.
"But I didn't ask to meet in order to lecture you. I need to discuss the situation in the NID. No doubt you've heard about Crusade's actions this morning?"
"I have," you tell him, "What's your take on them?"
"Honestly?" he says, "Part of me is just glad someone is finally helping do something about the escaped prisoners from Wonderland."
You, Châtelet, and Doctor Silver all wince.
Minor Success: DC 5. Moderate Success: DC 10. Major Success: DC 15.
Stat Check: REPUTATION 32. Justice Unlimited has a collective REPUTATION 35.
You rolled: 17.
17 + 1 = 18. Major Success!
He sees your reaction and winces himself.
"That was not to cast aspersions on Justice Unlimited of course!" he adds quickly, "You were reduced to one member. To have reclaimed your home, slain a Named Behemoth, and replenished your roster to nearly full strength in a matter of months . . ."
He trails off looking at Châtelet and Doctor Silver.
"Well, it's a miracle by any means. And that Black Swan of yours is a gem! I shudder to think what would have happened if she hadn't saved those poor people!"
He rubs a hand over his face. "No . . . what I'm frustrated by is the politicking. We should all be setting aside our differences for the greater good! Not moving like a monster with a thousand heads in all different directions and fighting each other. The current state of heroics in Horizon is something I find deeply disappointing."
"It's how things have been for a long while, Marvelous Shine. Since you retired. It's what the rest of us have to work with," Doctor Silver says, crossing his arms, "Seems precious of you to criticize everyone else for what they did while you were on the bench."
"Doctor Silver!" you admonish.
"No, no, Lady Leizi. He's right," Marvelous Shine says, running a hand through salt and pepper hair, "I left the hero's life after the Susurration. I believed in Takeda's vision for what heroes could be. When he died, when I saw what was happening to New Dawn . . . I wanted no part of it anymore."
He looks down. "I thought by not participating I was making a stand for what I believed heroism was. Instead, I let it degrade to what it has become today."
"That's what happens when you take your ball and go home," Doctor Silver says, crossing his arms, "You lose your vote in what happens next."
"Doctor Silver," you repeat, "Enough."
"It's no more than I deserve," Marvelous Shine says with a wave of his hand, "All I accomplished was removing my ability to influence what was happening in order to preserve my sense of moral superiority. Foolish."
He shakes his head ruefully and chuckles. "My goodness, are you a father, Doctor Silver? I feel like a child again!"
He gives another chuckle and smiles, and the tension eases.
"How are things on the ground?" your second-in-command asks, keeping you all on task.
"Dire," Marvelous Shine admits, serious again, "The NID is sealed tighter than a drum. No one comes in or out."
"How are the people taking it?" you ask, worried.
"Surprisingly well," he replies, "Monarch, for all her crimes, runs a tight ship. She's successfully kept her lieutenants in line and exiled the metahumans won't cooperate. There are murders and killings here and there, but not enough to set off any kind of panic. People will endure nearly anything if you let them largely live normal lives."
"You make it sound like she's actually . . . governing her territory," Doctor Silver says.
"About as much as any corporation does," Marvelous Shine replies, "There's no real law enforcement, but neither are the streets burning. And now that she's taken control of aid distribution . . ."
"Aw, crapbaskets . . ." Châtelet sighs while you do likewise. Doctor Silver looks around in confusion.
"Anybody gonna try to teach an old dog new tricks? What is Monarch doing?"
Châtelet looks at you, but you nudge her to explain. She's as knowledgeable about this as you are.
"Uhhh, me? You sure? Me? I mean—uh, it's a common reputation laundering scheme with organized crime?" Châtelet explains, "You're a criminal organization in an area hit by disaster? Seize control of all aid coming into a territory and then redistribute it yourself. Then you get to claim credit for doing the 'right thing' and slander everyone else for doing 'nothing'."
She turns to Marvelous Shine, "I don't think the NID has much in the way of hydroponics? And certainly no cropland. They import most of their food. And with the borders being closed . . ."
"We're running out," he says grimly, "That shipment Crusade intercepted was mostly food and medicine. Food and medicine to prop up a monster to be sure, but we needed it. And now Crusade has only further entrenched the blockade. It seems they want to starve Monarch out."
"What's she after?" Doctor Silver says frowning, ". . .legitimacy?"
"Exactly," you say, "That's exactly what she wants."
You gesture to Châtelet to take the lead again. You are determined to build up her confidence. Everyone turns to her, and she ducks her head and blushes. But she very quickly gathers herself and speaks.
"Monarch has to know there's a target on her back. She and everyone else from Wonderland are convenient boogeymen for people like Crusade who want to be seen as doing 'something heroic' and 'fighting the bad guys'. Moooostly because they are actually the bad guys, to be fair."
Châtelet says that last bit with a shrug.
"The only way she's going to achieve any protection is to be viewed in the same category as something like, uh, I dunno, The Frozen Throne? Y'know, no one likes it, but it's more trouble to deal with than just ignore."
"And having a loyal—or at least dependent—civilian population is an excellent way to ensure that," you add. "Anyone trying to unseat her will face a hostile populace."
You turn to Marvelous Shine. "Has she already started with the rhetoric?"
"That she has," he confirms, "A lot of 'you have been abandoned', 'we will protect you from a hostile world', 'they care not if you live or die'. . . Most know to ignore it, but she's found some receptive ears. It was no great help that a number of innocent bystanders were killed in the battle with Luftwaffe—a battle that Crusade started."
"Nor," a musical voice behind Marvelous Shine says, "Does the fact that Enforcer was beloved in the NID despite being in Wonderland. And many people had a family member or knew someone arrested and detained for 'collaborating' with him."
A dark-skinned woman with short black hair sticks her head around Marvelous Shine's shoulders. She's wearing a golden domino mask and golden armor over purple robes. She gives an apologetic smile while elbowing Marvelous Shine.
"Apologies for interrupting," she says, "But I believe my uncle forgot to introduce the rest of his team."
The tips of Marvelous Shine's ears turn red. "I was just getting to it! I hadn't forgotten!"
The woman raises an eyebrow.
". . . okay, I had forgotten. But no time to make up for it like the present! Ahem," Marvelous Shine coughs into his fist, "This is my step-niece, protege, and the woman who dragged me out of retirement, Samsara!"
Samsara rolls her eyes, "I simply asked for training, Uncle. You're the one who insisted on a whole regime before I was allowed to don a mask."
"Yes, well, it's a dangerous world and I wanted to—"
"Ensure my survival, yes, Uncle. I'm well familiar. But we're being rude, ignoring the people we asked to meet with us."
Marvelous Shine flushes again while Doctor Silver laughs in sympathy and says, "I know that feeling! Don't argue with kids, Shine—they're smarter than us."
Samsara rewards him with a smile. "Quite. Speaking of which, please let me introduce you to the final member of our group. Gerridae, can you step on camera?"
Samsara looks off-camera. A moment passes and no one appears. Samsara minutely frowns in annoyance.
"Gerridae . . . please?"
You hear a loud, put-upon sigh and another figure steps on screen. She's a tall woman, maybe six feet, wearing a helmet that fully encloses her head. Straw-like blonde hair sticking out the back of her helmet, and terrible scars run down her neck and under her clothes. You can see more marks on her arms as she sullenly crosses them. Strapped to her back is a large tank of water—it looks heavy but she moves easily enough with it.
"This is Gerridae," Samsara introduces, "She's a new metahuman and member of our team. She—"
"Enough of this," Gerridae interrupts, moving in front of Samara. Then to you, "Are you helping us hit Monarch or not?"
Samsara pushes her way back to the front, "Excuse dear Gerridae, please. She—"
"You don't need to speak for me," she interrupts, "Marie Marionette likes to collect other hydrokinetics. I was one of them. Then, she got tired of me and sold me to Stitches. Now, I want payback."
"Leviathan's Blood," Doctor Silver breathes while Châtelet's eyes go wide. You second the feeling. That certainly explains the scars.
"Gerridae, you can't—"
"Don't tell me what to do you—"
"Girls, enough, please," Marvelous Shine says, no longer smiling. They both stop and sit up straight.
He turns to you."Lady Leizi, I apologize for this display and wasting your time. I'll get right to the point. I have two requests for you: supplies for everyone in the NID—food, medicine, clothes, other necessities—and your help with a plan to cut off Monarch's stock of drugs for her followers."
"The first is easy," you say, "There's some risk running around Crusade's blockade, but I'll see what can be done."
"Wonderful," he says with a relieved smile, "I know good people here who can make sure they get to the right places."
"But the second," you say, "That's intriguing. What did you have in mind?"
"Monarch has been buying from Lethal Anodyne. The drugs help her keep her more unruly followers in line," Marvelous Shine explains, "The transactions happen at one of his nightclubs. Too many civilians in the line of fire to risk a direct assault, but—"
"Perfect for an ambush," you finish.
"Exactly. We know Lethal Anodyne lets in any young women of a certain . . . attractiveness. I believe Samsara can get in—"
"But I'm ugly and he's old," Gerridae says.
"Gerridae . . . " Marvelous Shine sighs.
"What? I am. I know it. It's fine."
Marvelous Shine shakes his head as if he's resigned to her expressing this kind of sentiment. He turns back to you. "We could use your help scouting and planning an interception. Back up for Samsara too if you can risk it. But I understand if you're otherwise engaged."
"We'll try to help. It's promising," you assure him, "And we'll see about the supplies."
"Thank you, Lady Leizi," he says with a smile, "I'm . . . happy there are true heroes like you. It makes me rue my missed opportunities all the more."
You exchange a few more pleasantries, and eventually the call ends.
"I think this guy's the real deal," Doctor Silver says, "I don't envy him trying to keep up with those girls of his though. I know what that's like."
His smile is bittersweet.
"I'm worried about Monarch's plans. I mean, when you think about it, there's depressingly little daylight between her and someone like Faust," Châtelet says, "If she can get the NID's population on her side, any action against her will be nasty."
"Are people really that foolish? We just heard two of her lieutenants were trading folks," Doctor Silver protests.
"John Henry, darling, you would be astounded what people will tolerate so long as it doesn't affect them directly," you say.
"Yeaaah, I guess you're right," he sighs, "It's depressing as all get out, but you're right."
You all sit in silence before you move to the other thing on your mind.
"How has Ellie been?" you ask carefully.
"She comes to dinner every night," Doctor Silver says, "She tries to be social too. Sandra loves it. She's fine, Zixuan, just has a lot on her mind."
"And you're certain what you and Black Swan experienced—"
"It was Nora," he says simply, "I dunno how I know, but I do. The person who told me to help Ellie was Nora."
You close your eyes. It means nothing. You repeat the same lie you've been telling yourself for days. It means nothing.
But if there was anyone in the world who could think of a way to cheat death . . .
"Zixuan," Doctor Silver says gently, "It was probably a failsafe built into the EXCEED-BEYOND. That's something she would do. Don't . . . don't go wishing for miracles, okay?"
"Of course," you say, maintaining your composure. It means nothing.
Unless it means everything.
* * *
You are Rhys Garnder, also known as Handyman.
Right now, you're hitting a speed bag for all it's worth in the Apiary's gym. Physically, it doesn't actually do too much for you. You can grow and change your muscles anytime you want, and boxing is more a sport than a serious combat art. No, you're doing it because you like doing it. It's calming.
Centering.
You never really fit in as a kid growing up. New York City was a lot better off than a lot of places in the States, but everybody knew to avoid Manhattan like the plague. The rich folks made their homes there and made it clear who was and was not welcome. Growing up in Queens was a little easier, even if you nearly got kicked out of school for napping through Bible-study.
As a kid, you never really stood out. You weren't too tall or too short; too fat or too thin; too quiet or too loud. You were just kinda there. Unobtrusive. Easy to overlook.
When your old man made it clear there was no money for college and he expected you to work the pumps like him, you signed up for the military. You figured you'd get shipped to the Mid-East or South Pacific, keep your head down for a few years, avoid getting killed, and then you'd have some capital to set yourself up at home. Sure, you had to hide your preferences, but that was easy for you. Again, unobtrusive. Easy to overlook.
Which is probably why Naval Intelligence approached you in Basic.
They had a deal for you: pick up your whole life, move to Horizon, and feed info to good Ol' Uncle Sam, and they'd pay you enough to keep your sisters in silks. You couldn't have leapt at the chance faster—Horizon was a dangerous place stuffed to the gills with metas, but no one gave a shit who you spent the night with or who you woke up next to in the morning. You packed your bags, moved south, and probably would still be a good little Spook if you hadn't fallen in love.
You and Gus met at the bank. Some maniac wizard was turning people into animals, and Gus pushed you out of the way of a laser and blocked it with one of his super-metal shields. You mean, dang, how could you not date him after that? Sure, you two hid in the bathroom until Inmaculada showed up and calmed the transformed folks down. And then you three had to wait even longer until Abby and Hye-jin beat up Percy or whatever, but it was special!
It was the first time you had really connected with some in basically . . . forever. You liked that Gus actually saw you, and he liked that you didn't demand too much. You were content to just be together. It was nice, easy even.
At least at first.
You two dated for . . . six years? Maybe five and some change. And it was great! But . . . by the end you started wanting a little more. You were twenty-eight now. Nearly thirty. And you wanted to know if you and Gus were gonna be in it for the long haul, y'know? But Gus . . . guy was so private. Nearly died of a heart attack when you found his fursuit in his closet. You never really got a read on how he felt. You were certain he loved you—but marriage? A family? House in 'burbs or something less mind-numbing dull? Guy was a fuckin' cypher when it came to his wants.
Then he fuckin' died, and now you'll never know.
Thank god Lady Leizi found you. She was always a great boss—you quickly realized ONI did not have your best interests at heart and jumped ships immediately—and then she gave you superpowers? Made you a hero? Shit, it was everything you ever dreamed of.
It's just . . . she, Opale, and Doc Rhodes are busy meeting with friggin' Marvelous Shine. Man, were you kicking yourself for oversleeping, but that's kinda how it went. Double L and Opale ran the show, and Doc Rhodes seems like he'll slot right in with leadership.
Maddie and Mona are running some deliveries to those poor ice-girls, and the two of them were like sisters. Not to mention, they were kids. They were smart and you'd trust them with your life, but you'd feel weird just hanging out with them all the time, y'know?
Chaucer is on a date with Mona's ma, and the Ibises are . . . well, you're happier not knowing what mad science they're up to. So, you're all by your lonesome in a big Apiary. Which was fine! Fine! You're a big boy. You can take care of yourself.
It's just . . . becoming a pattern. You love your team—you really do—and you don't feel neglected. It's just that you're . . .
Unobtrusive. Easy to overlook.
The timer goes off and you stop with the bag. You sigh. This did nothing for your mood. You wipe down the equipment—you don't sweat but it's still polite—and you're about to leave when you bump into someone unexpected.
"Handym—Rhys," greets Ellie. She's wearing a loose t-shirt over a sports bra with black leggings. She looks you over and nods her head. "Perfect. I wanted to talk to you."
"Ah, sorry," you say insincerely, "But I'm busy. Talk later."
You try to push past her, but she doesn't let you by. She's surprisingly strong.
"You don't like me," she says.
You sigh. "Look, it's nothing personal. We're gonna be teammates and I'll have your back—"
"You don't like that I pointed a gun at Menagerie Witch. It makes you mad everytime you see me."
You narrow your eyes. You're way stronger than her. You could make her move if you wanted. But that would be rude.
Rude like what she says next, "But it's not really me you're mad at—I was never going to shoot her. I didn't when I had the chance. You're mad because looking at me reminds you that you suck."
"Yo, the fuck did you say—?!"
"I suck too."
That brings you up short. "Wha—?"
"You've been a liability on nearly every combat mission you've been on," she says, "I have no formal combat training and have been trusted with world's most advanced power armor—for some reason. We both suck. So, let's train and suck together so in the future we can suck less."
"Uhh. . ."
"The sex joke was unintentional," she sighs, closing her eyes, "I also suck at talking to people. And now I've said 'suck' so many times that it doesn't feel like a word anymore. So can you please put me out of my misery and come punch me in the training room?"
She walks toward the training hall behind the gym and you find yourself following her. Maybe it's because this is the most she's ever spoken to you, or maybe you really are that lonely, but you find yourself going along with her to train. She turns around to face you and takes a stance. You look her over and hesitate.
"So, uh, you know I lift cars and stuff, right? Training's fine, but I don't wanna hurt you—"
"I'll be fine," she says, holding up her wrist. You didn't notice it before, but she's got a big watch on. And now it's . . . glowing and getting bigger?
"Hey, what's—was that a transformation sequence? Oh, damn that armor is awesome—ohshitfuck you're punching me!"
* * *
You are Black Swan.
". . . and then I go visit her in the infirmary! And I know the food there is yucky and I would want sweets if I were there, so I bring her that cheesecake they sell at that bakery—the really cute one—and it's topped with strawberries! But then she gets annoyed because she's deathly allergic to strawberries and it's 'in her personnel file'. How was I supposed to know?! I haven't read all of it yet!"
"Mona," Maddie says, lifting her head from the back of her Nevermore, "It's been two hours. Shut the fuck up about Ellie."
"Language!" you scold, "And it hasn't been that long!"
"You're right," she says slowly, "It's been days. You've been talking about Ellie nonstop since you met her. I am so tired of hearing about your chronic fumbling. Please, talk about something else. Anything else."
You glare at her and pout.
She glares back, but scary. She's gotten good at that lately.
You hold your pout for a little longer.
"Why doesn't she like me?! Everyone likes me!"
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Maddie screams into her mount, "You want to know? Fine. I'll tell you. It's because you made a terrible first impression, and now you're trying way too hard. Anyone would be annoyed if the person constantly chasing them down was thirstier than a guy eating crackers in the Sahara."
"I don't know what that meeeeans," you whine, "It's not faiiiiiiir! I want her to like me!"
"Why? Do you even like her?"
"I don't know! I don't know her that well, because she doesn't like me!"
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Maddie screams so loud that the real Nevermore flaps his wings and regards her reproachfully.
You and Maddie are in the air bringing supplies to the magical girls that everybody but you got to meet. Ellie wanted to come, but Lady Leizi said it would be too provocative to let the Ghost Dragon Triad see their enemy's leader returned to them. So, instead, Ellie entrusted you with a packet of letters and begged you to deliver them.
"Please take this seriously. Please. I don't care if you don't like me, but make sure my girls get these. Please."
You pout furiously. Of course you were going to deliver them! What kind of butthead did she think you were?!
Maddie is with you, supplies ladened on her Nevermores. She's now scrolling on her screen, earbuds in so she can't hear you. You stick your tongue out at her. Everyone is being so mean today!
You're about to go make her listen to you when both your screens go off. Maddie sits up straight and you focus. You've hit the Ghost Dragon Triad's territory.
You're on high alert when you see figures flying in the distance. They're wearing skirts. They're sparkly. They're blue.
Magical girls.
You resist the urge to squeal as they approach you.
Minor Success: DC 5. Moderate Success: DC 10. Major Success: DC 15.
Stat Check: REPUTATION 10. Black Swan and Menagerie Witch have a collective REPUTATION 14.
You rolled: 14.
14 + 2 = 16. Major Success!
The magical girls, however, squeal freely.
"Ohmigod!" one dressed in cerulean shouts, "You're Black Swan! You're Black Swan! You're sooooooo coooooool!"
"Black Swan, I love you!" a periwinkle one shrieks.
"Are you here to help us with the big assault? I knew MAGICAL was planning something! They didn't just ditch us!" a sapphire girl says.
"Oh wow, you're all real! So cooooooooooool!" you shout, joining the girls in their excitement.
Maddie is less enthused. Spoilsport. She narrows her eyes and asks, "What did you say about MAGICAL?"
"Uhh, they've been in the Apiary Jr. since Double L came to visit," Periwinkle says, "No one's seen any of them except White Tiger, and she won't answer any questions."
"Yeah!" Cerulean seconds, "And we're out of power gems! White Tiger says we can't hand them out anymore."
"And we can't carry around mana anymore," Sapphire pouts, "We have to go pick it up and ration how much magic we can use. Can you tell them to give us more?"
"Weeeeell," you say carefully, "I'm certain there's a good reason. Double L doesn't do anything without a plan. You'll just have to be careful!"
"Awww," they all groan.
"But you can fly with me and tell me all about being a magical girl!" you say with a grin.
"Yaaaaaaaay!"
You fly off into the distance, magical girls in tow. You're already having the best day.
". . . at least she stopped talking about her fucking crush," Maddie mutters under her breath. Then, she kicks her Nevermore and follows.
* * *
You are Rhys Gardner.
You lie on your back, exhausted, next to a similarly-tired Ellie. She's no longer in her armor, chest heaving as her lungs greedily gasp air.
"That armor is so fucking cool," you say looking at the high ceiling.
"Right?" she gasps, ". . . I picked the colors myself."
"They're rad."
"Not too gaudy?"
"No, no," you reassure, "It's fucking sweet. That scarf—"
"It's for my mom," she says. And then you two fall into a companionable silence.
Luck Check: 13. Lucky!
You feel . . . better. That was a hell of a spar. Ellie is fucking scary. Not so much because she knows what she's doing, but because she just doesn't stop. She's got a good head on her shoulders, and nothing seems to rattle her. Next time you get into a scrap, you'll be glad to have her watching your back.
HIDDEN BONUS: Ellie has a bonus trait!
Reach Heaven Through Violence
Ellie's cool head under fire is contagious. Any time there is a HIT check where Justice Unlimited is subject to an ambush or sneak attack, add +3 to the roll if Ellie is present!
Beyond that, it was just good to get some combat practice in. You feel like you've learned a few tricks for the next time you're in a fight.
Handyman gains +1 to HIT! Valiant Gold gains +1 to HIT!
"You're alright, kid," you admit, "You're alright."
"Thanks," she replies, "And thanks for helping me test 'Rock'. You're sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, that power null thing was weird, but it didn't hurt," you reassure her, "I just couldn't change my body or regenerate. I could still move though. Wonder if it'd work the same on Black Swan?"
"As far as I can tell from Nora's notes, it shuts down any active instance of a power," Ellie says, "I think it would disable her construct body. If I could ever get close enough to hit her with it . . ."
She grumbles that last part.
You laugh, "Hey, Mona's a tough cookie. No shame in losing to her. Just ask Scarlet Maturity!"
"Hmm," she grunts. Then, "You feel better about what was bothering you?"
"Whaddya mean?" you say quickly.
"You were brooding. I know brooding, and you were definitely brooding," she says, "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but . . . sometimes it helps."
She says that last part with such certainty—like she knows for sure it will make you feel better—that the words spill out.
"Gus' parents invited me to dinner."
Ellie gives you a blank look.
"My, uh, boyfriend. Old boyfriend. We didn't break up; he died. He was Vulcan in SLAYERS. Before the Movement, I mean," you say quickly, like ripping off a bandaid, "We were together for six years and he . . . he never told his parents we were dating. They just thought we were 'roommates', if you can believe it."
You close your eyes. You know Gus didn't tell his parents much of anything—they didn't even know he was Vulcan—but that shit . . . hurt.
"That's bullshit," Ellie says immediately.
"No, no, he had his reasons. He just—"
"Bullshit," she says, giving you a look.
You close your eyes and exhale. "Yeah . . . probably. But either way, they keep inviting me over. And I have no clue what I'm supposed to do about it. They don't even know how he died, y'know?
"Do you want me to go with you?" Ellie asks.
"Wha—?" you ask, nonplussed.
"Do you want me to go to dinner with you?" she repeats, "Will it help if someone else is there?"
"No, it would . . . actually, yeah," you say, "It actually might help."
"I've gotten good at family dinners," she explains, "They're fun but so stressful."
You laugh at her. Ellie's alright! She reminds you of your baby sister, Jessica. God, she must be, what, twenty-three now? All grown up. You let your family know you were alive after the Movement, but you haven't seen them since coming to Horizon.
You probably won't see most of them ever again. Uncle Sam doesn't take kindly to people who go AWOL.
You and Ellie sit there, recovering for a bit, until she says something else.
"Can I ask you two questions?
"Weirdly specific number," you say, "But sure. Shoot."
"Do you like . . . tennis?" she asks with an oddly intense gleam in her eye.
"Actually . . . yeah. Tennis rules. I haven't played in forever though."
"Ms. Del Rosario and some other residents got a court set up," she says, "I know where we can borrow rackets. You wanna play?"
"Yeah . . . yeah!" you say, liking the idea more and more, "That sounds great."
"Good."
She keeps looking out into the distance.
"Sooo . . ." you venture, "What was the second question?"
She furrows her brow. "How do you know if you're gay?"
". . . so we rent these rackets or what . . . ?"
"Rent," she confirms," . . . so tennis first?"
"Tennis first. And then after: I have questions."
* * *
You are Black Swan.
If meeting all of the Elizabeths and hanging out with real-life magical girls was a dream, then this is like waking up into a nightmare.
The whole neighborhood gives you the creeps. You've never been this close to The Frozen Throne before, and you feel like you can hear whispers coming from its direction. Everytime you look at the icy border, it feels like it's a little closer. You want to leave as soon as you can.
But that's nothing compared to the warehouse you're in. There's four or five dozen adolescent girls in various states of being frozen. The most human-looking of them have pale blue skin and milky eyes, while some girls are little more than blocks of ice with spindly limbs. In the very center of the room are several large shipping containers filled with carefully-packed glass vials of a shining, golden substance: goldnine.
The warehouse itself is sparsely decorated with cots strewn everywhere. The girls were wary when you and Menagerie Witch first arrived, but you assured them that you were with the "real" Justice Unlimited. You were brought to two of the oldest girls there—Jenny and Dee—who Ellie left in charge.
You're speaking with them when someone recognizes you.
"You're Black Swan!" a little girl squeaks, "Wooooow. You're so pretty!"
She can't be older than eleven and her skin is as blue as a corpse. But she has a big toothy smile and twiddles her thumbs shyly.
"Thankies!" you say, flying over and kneeling down, "What's your name?"
"Juanita," she says without making eye-contact, "Are you here to take us all home? I miss my dad. And my dog, Biscuit!"
You feel your heart shatter into a million little pieces. You scoop up Juanita in a big hug.
"No . . . not yet," you admit, reluctantly. You keep a big smile on your face for her, "But soon! Ellie is helping Lady Leizi find a cure for everyone!"
"Ellie?" she says, her eyes sparkling, "She didn't forget about us?"
"Never!" you say with your hands on your hips, "She even sent letters to everyone! And if she did forget you, I'd beat her up for being a meanie-pants!"
Juanita giggles as some other girls come nearby.
"Ellie sent letters?"
"What's in the crates?"
"You're like real Justice Unlimited, right? The real one without a stupid name?"
"Yes, go check it out, and yes!" you answer in turn. Maddie opens up one of the crates, and it's filled with . . . blankets and screens?
"Awesome," one girl says, grabbing a screen, "It's been so boring here! I gotta check my Hero for Hire DMs! Wow, My Dad is a Lawyer, My Mom is the Demon Lord, and I'm Not Sure Who's More Evil! has nine new updates?! Sweetwoman needs a life."
The other containers are filled with books, movies, pillows, board games, posters, and other various forms of entertainment and decoration. You spy a stuffed rabbit and give it to a delighted Juanita.
"We don't need to eat and we can't sleep," one of the older girls says, "So our biggest problem was getting bored. Thank you for all of this. This will keep everyone's spirits up."
"Can't you just go home?" Maddie asks, "Even if you look . . ."
"Cool?" you offer.
"Shut-it, Black Swan."
The girl smiles sadly. "Once you get to the point where the gem merges with your body, you need 'mana' every few days. It's not safe to keep it near anyone without our condition. It's . . . lonely."
For a second, the mask slips and you see how scared she is.
"The screens are read-only," Maddie warns her, "We can't risk one of the girls posting something or contacting someone. If people found out The Frozen Throne was involved, they'd try to destroy everyone here just to keep it from spreading. No matter what the consequences may be."
"We understand. And, again, thank you."
You look around. Everyone feels so . . . sad. For every girl who's delighted with your delivery, there's one staring into the distance or not talking. You've given them some distractions, but that's it. No one is really feeling much better.
You have to do something.
"Hey, everyone!" you shout while flying into the middle of the room, "Menagerie Witch and I have to go soon, but, before we do, I challenge you!"
". . . to what?" someone asks.
You eye the big boxes of dominoes you spotted earlier. A predatory gleam flashes in your eyes, born of the yearly cutthroat Christmas competition in your home.
"Ever play . . . Mexican Train?"
* * *
You are Madeline du Marseille.
It's four hours later and Mona is preening after demolishing everyone at dominos over and over again. You have no idea how she did it, but you two walk back into the Apiary and she's still smug.
Still, the golem-girls loved it. Mona promised to come back next week, and, as you left, you could still hear them playing and strategizing on how to beat her nex time. Defeating her had become something of a shared goal, and everyone seemed much more lively.
You smile and shake your head as Mona greets everyone you pass by. As much of a blockhead as your best friend/quasi-sister is, she's a hero down to her nonexistent bones.
Plus she finally shut the fuck up about—
"Yeah, so I never really clicked with any of the girls my family introduced me to. No sparks, no butterflies in the stomach, no heat, y'know? I just thought that was what romance was like and the "how great love is" stuff was Hollywood crap. Then, this guy, Mike Bledsoe, and me were seriously vibing at this party and all of the sudden he leans over and kisses me! And then, bam, I was like, 'Ohhh, this is what I've been missin' out on!'"
Mr. Rhys and Ellie walk around the corner carrying tennis rackets. Mr. Rhys is in his human form, while Ellie is wearing a tennis skirt and tank top. Her body shines with a thin layer of sweat. You see Mona's pupils dilate as she stares slack-jawed and flies directly into a wall.
"So there's no way to know for certain?" Ellie asks, not yet noticing you and Mona.
"Yeah, it's all about getting out there and figuring out what makes you comfortable. Don't feel like you have to put labels on things if you don't want to either. Whole thing's a spectrum—everyone's a little different."
"I see," Ellie says, tugging on her lip, "Thanks, that's really helpful."
Mr. Rhys scratches his head. "So what brought this on anyway—?"
"Ellllllliiiiiiieeee!" Mona cries as she flies into Ellie, giving her a bear hug.
"Get off me. Get off me right now."
"I met the ice girls!" Mona sobs, "It was so . . . sad."
Ellie freezes. "Are they okay?"
"Yeah!" Mona says, "I gave them your letters and we played Mexican Train for hours. I just feel so bad for them. Junita is so young . . ."
Ellie looks down. "Yeah."
"They really miss you," Mona says, "But I told them that you're here looking for a solution and you're still thinking about them."
You sigh and take out your phone. Cue Mona fucking this up in five, four, three, two, one . . .
"It's just so tragic!" Mona wails, "They didn't have blankets! They didn't have anything! They had to rely on you until the real heroes showed up and saved them!"
Ellie's smile falls off her as she shoves Mona away. "What does that mean?"
"Yo, Mona, what the hell?" Mr. Rhys asks, looking surprised.
"What?" Mona says, "I just mean Lady Leizi saved them? She pretty much fixed almost all their problems all at once. They don't even really need you!"
"What. Is. Your. Problem?" Ellie says through gritted teeth.
"What do you mean?! I was complimenting you!"
"You were being passive-aggressive!"
"I'm not passive-anything! I'm aggressively nice! I'm trying to be nice to you!"
"You don't care about being nice to me. You just can't stand the fact that someone doesn't like you."
"No! I can't stand the fact that you don't like me!"
"Well, I don't!"
"Why not?! I'm cute!"
"Not that cute!"
You sidle over next to Mr. Rhys as you keep recording. He's staring aghast.
"She's not even doing it on purpose," you whisper to him, "She's just got the curse of the turbo-fumble. The giga-botch. The omega-flub."
He shakes his head in wonder. "Holy shit. I don't know whether to laugh or cry."
"Welcome to my life," you say, "Also, Mr. Rhys?"
"Yeah, Mads?"
"Sorry we haven't been hanging out much, it's just . . ."
He gives you a smile. "Hey, it's cool. It's been as much my fault as anyone's. No one likes a brooder. 'Cept you, of course!"
You nod. "Ellie's agreed to not chomp my flavor."
"Nice," he says watching the two girls go at it, "So, I'm getting back into tennis. I, uh, know it's not too 'goth', but if you ever want to learn to swing a racket. . ."
"I'd like that," you say, "Anything to get away from having to watch this trainwreck."
"Yeah," Mr. Rhys agrees, "Mona sure doesn't get the idea of 'know when to fold 'em', huh?"
"She only doubles down," you agree, "She'll take a hint eventually when Ellie—was that a transformation sequence? Wow, can she move fast in that armor."
* * *
You are Lady Leizi.
You wake up on the floor, in the dark. You're . . . in your room? Ugh, your head. Why did you drink that much? What—oh.
"Lady Leizi, can we talk?"
"Of course. Sit down. What is it, Ellie?"
"I . . . I met Nora when I bonded with the EXCEED-BEYOND armor."
You desperately grope for the light, only to wince when the illumination sears right through your eyes and into your pounding head. Your room is a mess. You need some water.
"She's not alive. She's not dead either. Someone is keeping her . . . between. I don't think she's aware most of the time."
"Where is she?"
"I don't know. But I think she needs help."
This has not been your finest hour. You own a great many people apologies, Ellie first of all.
"You just left her?! She saved you and you left her in that place?!"
"I didn't have a choice."
"Go back. Go right now and bring Nora back with you."
". . . I can't. I don't know where she is."
"So you just abandoned her."
"Even if I could find her again . . . Lady Leizi, she's gone. The most we can do is give her peace."
"You don't know that."
". . . I do."
"You don't know that. Out. Get out!"
"Lady Leizi—"
"Get. Out!"
As soon as Ellie left you stormed over to your room and drank yourself into a stupor. You shake your head in disgust and then clutch it as it starts pounding. Alcohol has never been your vice, but you've been drinking more than you'd like lately. After this . . . display, you'll be teetotaling for quite a while.
You hiss as your door opens and more light scorches your retinas. A figure walks in while you're blinded and hands you a glass of something.
Well, if they meant you harm there would be easier ways to do it right now than poison. You put it to your lips and find that it's water. You then guzzle it down.
"Lady Leizi," a voice whispers, "Are you alright?"
"Yes—Ellie?" you shout in surprise and wince at your own volume.
"Shhh, drink up."
"Ellie, darling, why are you here? I treated you badly. The things I said were unacceptable—"
"It's fine," she says sitting down next to you, "I didn't take it personally. And I wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Okay?" you hiccup, "I don't know about that."
Hot tears burn in your eyes. "Why can't that woman find peace even in death? Why must the world insist on digging up her grave to make her suffer again?"
"I don't know," Ellie says, pulling her knees to her chest, "It's not fair."
You half-laugh, half-sob. "Ellie, truly, why are you here? I'm not—"
"I miss her too," she says, staring at her knees, "I only knew her for a moment, but I miss her too. Like I miss my mom."
That brings you up short. You let your head loll.
"What a pair we make. Sitting in the dark, miserable."
"Take a piece of my heart," she says, "And I'll take a piece of yours. Then maybe the holes won't feel so big."
Those words sound so familiar that you can't help but smile. "You truly believe that, don't you?"
"Of course I do," she says, "I'm Valiant Gold after all."
"Valiant Gold," you muse, "It has quite a ring to it, doesn't it?"
You chuckle.
"Any other ways you wish to remind me of my dearest friend?"
". . . I might be gay."
Your laughter flows out of you and fills the room and some of the empty spaces in your chest. You sit with your newest member for a while longer before finding your way to bed. As you do, you think about your old, first family.
And about your second, new one.
You fall asleep, not happy, but not bleeding either.
When Lady Leizi awakens, she will have a half-dozen angry emails from Chihiro waiting for her. The memorial is next. You have three speeches scheduled. Lady Leizi is expected to give one, though is not required to. It will, however, seem odd if Justice Unlimited leader does not speak.
Pick who will speak at the memorial and whether they'll do it in their heroic or civilian capacity. For different people, this will mean different things. Lady Leizi has no meaningful civilian identity, while "Maddie" and "Menagerie Witch" are thought of as different people by the public:
[ ] Lady Leizi
[ ] Mona
[ ] Rhys
[ ] Maddie
[ ] Opale
[ ] John Henry
[ ] Ellie
[ ] Chaucer
[ ] Dr. Ibis Sr.
[ ] Dr. Ibis Jr.
[ ] Mendicant
[ ] Wolong
[ ] Gentleman James
[ ] Palisade
[ ] Miss Naught
[ ] Dreamcatcher
[ ] Write-in (Subject to QM veto)
Next, you can have up to four members working the crowd. Everyone else will be running security. A person cannot both work the crowd and give a speech. Choose up to four:
I made a map of Horizon. It has a bit of a slapdash feeling to it and I think I messed up a few locations, though.
Edit: I changed a few things around after @Bitterman's advice, the compass rose now points the other way and the Leviathan is on the shore.
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THE ADVENTURES OF PINSERVAL THE GREAT AND SIR ALFRED HOGGINGTON — chickenbouillon (canon)
THE ADVENTURES OF PINSERVAL THE GREAT AND SIR ALFRED HOGGINGTON by chickenbouillon
Edgar Pinserval was having a surprisingly good day.
His show was very rudely interrupted by a group of so-called "heroes"." Well he doesn't know why anyone in their sane mind would call them heroes considering the sheer brutality in how they disrupted his show, but this world is filled with some very odd people, to say the least.
Waddles the Pig had been lost in the skirmish, and therefore.. he was forced to meet a new companion! Sir Alfred Hoggington proved to be the perfect conversation partner, if a bit foppish, but a little bit of foppishness would not kill anyone! So he was tolerated.
Currently, they were talking about the finer bits of theater with each other, and if anyone was confused about the man talking to the pig he was holding in his arms, they had enough common sense not to point and stare.
Either way, there would be no sense in letting a bunch of wannabe heroes ruin his day! He and Sir Hoggington had a whole day of fun activities planned ahead, and he'd be damned if he lets his new friend see him in a dour mood!
—
The park was lovely. But it was moderately stained by the fact that there was a little boy crying about a lost cat. Sir Pinserval, being the brilliant, brilliant being that he was, looked around for a solution. And so he discovered the perfect fix! There was a bully nearby, a thuggish looking little boy who was running around and causing problems for others, generally causing a mess.
Sir Pinserval promptly zapped him with a beam, and when the smoke cleared there was nothing but an adorable little kitty cat. Picking the new cat up by the scruff and handing it over to the boy, Pinserval watched as he leapt in joy!
Truly, his kindness knows no bounds.
—
The ice cream store was also lovely. So many flavors. Sir Hoggington was a sucker for the chocolate flavor, and therefore that was what they went for. Too bad that he had no money, so he settled for introducing Hoggington to a new friend instead. They might not have received ice cream, but they did find a new friend!
It's a shame that his amazing wizard powers are almost reaching their limit, but between all the magic he expended in the fight earlier, he was quite exhausted and wanted to relax for a bit, so they went to the theater.
—
Again, he had no money to buy the tickets, so Hoggington received yet another new friend and he finally received the money this time. The theater performance was.. mediocre, and the leading actress's acting left a lot to be desired, still, he had a fun time with his friends.
So they stopped at the park one final time.. and he sat down upon a bench as his new friends surrounded him.
"..Am I doing something wrong?" He asked them. "They interrupted my show. I just wanted to make people smile." He zapped a nearby tree and watched as it melted into a magician's stage in a puff of pink smoke. "I don't get it."
"..Well, at least I have all of you! And a true wizard does not bother with the opinion of his lessers!" He yells out, puffing up again. The pigs sigh in exasperation, or at least they would if they could make any other sound than oinks.
Edgar Pinserval, the greatest wizard who's ever lived.. stares up at the night sky. And for once, he is happy and content.
He hardens his heart, and makes a promise to himself that he shall never stop performing. Never stop doing what he loves. And above all, he shall never deprive the world of the magnificence that is PINSERVAL THE GREAT!!
And so, yet another day ends for the Greatest Wizard Who Has Ever Lived.
Hello! If you're reading this and new to Project Prometheus, you've probably just binged through all of the threadmarks. These top 10 (+one or two more) questions are a quick overview of what you'll probably need to know before discussing with us long time readers about the current vote.
Q: Can we only use a DNA sample in Ambrosia once?
A: No! Unlike shield generators and goldnine, each DNA sample is not a one-and-done resource. It's closer to a lego brick, which you can use over and over again in different combos/builds.
The only thing that we cannot do is reuse specific plans. So we can't reuse the Novalight+Crimson Soprano+some other dudes combo that got us Black Swan, but we can use an Automne+Crimson Soprano combo.
Q: How do Omake/fanwork rewards work?
A:Check here.
Q: Ok, how can I apply +1s?
A: After each rolling session, which Bitterman does after the vote closes, he lets them come in after the fact. If it's a blind roll, usually he'll say if it would make a difference.
As for applying +1s, just comment that you want to when Bitterman raises the opportunity. Only a cumulative bonus of +5 can be given to any one roll. +1s cannot be given to side effect rolls.
Q: What happens if Lady Leizi dies?
A: Then one of our other characters (it'll be up to a vote) will be the leader of Justice Unlimited and main POV character, we're all gonna cry, and we'll get a new DNA sample.
Q: How the heck do the New Dawn summons work?
A: During the planning phase at the start of every issue, missions marked as "New Dawn" (Magical Girls and Wonderland Escapees) are eligible for us to bring along one of five different heroes from JU's partner/subordinate organization, New Dawn. We may then also assign two ND members to temporarily come along with us on another, non-ND, mission.
Any mission where a ND member participated also gets one OPS check autopass thanks to Wolong being on comms.
Q: Where did the art come from?
A: Bitterman's personal friend, @BKNK.SHOP! Her commission sheet is here.
Q: Can Mendicant heal (x)?
A: Go ask Bitterman, but the answer is usually yes. Automne is the exception to this rule.
Q: Could we have talked to Global Justice to prevent the rise of Crusade?
A: Yes, but at a cost. Due to a lack of heroes, we only had 5 total AP between Issues 1-2. Only enough to take three out of the four timed missions, which would have cost 6 AP in total. Us voters simply didn't feel like negotiating with America (who were always shady) over helping out Opale, New Dawn, and Maddie.
While Crusade's rise was a consequence of letting Global Justice go, not taking the other timed missions would have had their own consequences. Letting New Dawn go would have turned the Uni District into goldnine hell, letting Four Seasons go would have had Opale murdered, and then we would have lost -10 REP+started a war with POWERS, while letting Maddie go would have Petit Prince gain her as a metahuman.
Q: Hey, can we revive people using the Sta—
A: No, dead people stay dead.
A Phantom Page: EXCEED-BEYOND Test #47: Module "Thread"
Soundtrack: N/a
In an empty, sterile testing room, three onlookers from the observation above hurriedly prepped the last minute checks and settings for the coming test.
Lady Leizi was in check on the coms, making sure the three participating members of Justice Unlimited were ready, and if there were any last minute complications.
Behind her, on their own consoles, making sure the automated systems of the empty testing room were working correctly and would react perfectly to any strikes or blasts the three down below would perform, was the father and daughter duo, the Ibis's.
The other hero members of their organization sadly couldn't make it. It was getting busy with emergencies today, requiring most of their crew to set out and get those handled.
In truth, LL wanted to cancel the test, but Ellie and Massive, the two who had worked together to prove that the theory behind today's test subject was possible in practice.
The test subject?
As Leizi gave the all clear for the three members of her team to enter the testing room, a door below the observation deck opened wide.
Stepping inside was Black Swan, Doctor Silver, and Valiant Silver, each of them dressed in their usual uniforms.
Well, except for a few changes.
Swan and Silver both had headsets on, wires flowing like hair as metal clamped close to their heads. Mona didn't exactly need it to be there but her power broke a lot of rules about reality already, so it still would work.
On the back of Ellie's suit, sticking up into the air with its long antennae and sticking a bit out like a backpack, was an ugly bare set of machinery, made to resist damage but not streamlined or made to look appealing.
Why shorten the long attentats, neaten out the wires, compress the machinery to fit flush with the suit, if this was a prototype?
Yes, the test subject for today was the prototype for a new Module into EXCEED-BEYOND.
Inspired by the fact that (currently) the most common side effect of using Ambrosia was sensitivity to psychic field's and the talks about giving EXCEED-BEYOND new modules after facing the copycat Valiant, it was Ellie who proposed this idea.
And for no other reasons.
Definitely.
As the three individuals tasked with giving their current working model of Module "Thread" a stress test entered the center of the empty testing room, walls bare gray and without a single piece of furniture or likewise in sight, the door they entered in shut close as Mammoth Ibis activate the room's special features.
Cameras faced them from every direction and all were wired up to projectors hidden in the walls, firing up as the visual data was processed in real time to keep track of the condition of the room.
Soon, holographic goons, made to look like cartoonish gangsters leaning towards realism appeared around them. They weren't made with hard light or anything of the sort, but the cameras tracking their movements and actions allowed the central computer running it all to make these fake criminals react as if they were real.
Sure, they couldn't actually hit the three heroes, but this test didn't need them to.
Lady Leizi held a hand up to the headset she was wearing, speaking clearly into her mic as she kept an eye on the stability of the room's holographic systems.
"Everything seems to be in order. Silver, could you step out and let Swan and Silver have first go?"
*"Right, we need to make sure linking up after the initial activation actually works. I'll step aside, you two have fun playing tango."*
Both young girls gave sounds of denial at the remark, only making Doctor Silver smirk before he stepped off to the side of the room to wait his turn to join in.
"Right girls, remember, keep to low power attacks. If you break this room the repair costs are coming out of your paychecks."
They both gave affirmatives, getting into position back to back, each facing roughly half of the artificial goons.
She should really thank Massive, Lady Leizi though as the three overseeing the test gave a final check of everything.
She really is a prodigy, able to take what was only an idea and have a working theory in a week's time. It took a long while before they were able to get to this point though, but it's still impressive what she was able to do for this project.
Had Nora ever thought they would do this? Add a new Module into EXCEED?
The framework for changing forms was there, and she had left them with everything they needed to repair and rebuild the armor, so adding something new wasn't impossible but…
After the incident involving Ellie fully inheriting Exceed, there was always this constant fear of 'What else did she forget to include? What else did she forget to say?'
Were they making a mistake? Break some unknown balance built into the armor by installing new Modules?
As the free light for getting the test fully underway was given, Lady Leizi put those fears to the side.
If there was a risk, they would figure it out. Worst case they would simply have to give up improving the armor and let it stay as it is…
Hopefully.
Light flashed down upon the testing floor as Ellie began to activate the prototype attached to her suit, a wave of psychic energy expanding out from her and into the air surrounding her.
At the same time, Mona pressed a button upon the headset she was wearing, the moment she did Ellie and her flinching in union, a good sign.
The wave of energy was hopefully unneeded in the final design, but here it acted as an authentication key and connection for the headsets, allowing them to link up to the prototype, and by extension, Ellie.
As both girls down below moved their bodies slowly, feeling out what the prototype module was enabling, LL ordered a hologram gangster to strike at Ellie.
Even though Mona shouldn't have noticed it, with no sound to signal its approach, she turned her head at the same time Ellie did, both reacting accordingly and dodging out of the way.
Mona's back, exposed to another hologram, had Leizi order it to strike.
Even though she shouldn't have been able to notice, she had dodged out of the way anyways, all due to Ellie staring in her direction when the hologram had moved.
And then another moved to strike Ellie out of view.
Then another for Mona.
And soon enough the test truly began, with both fledgling heroes beginning to strike back.
The holograms, due to the nature of the room, reacted as if they had been physically struck, flying back as a new one spawned to take its place.
One hologram fell from above, only to be punched by Ellie when Mona had noticed it, the girl yelling about Ellie 'kill stealing' as she moved to roundhouse kick a hologram behind her that Ellie had seen.
Back and forth, they danced, bickering at each other as their minds slowly got used to the prototype module's function.
To allow EXCEED to share senses with its wearer and another, and to allow them to function like one.
The dance continued, as both of them dodged and blocked and parried blows they wouldn't have seen coming, as more and more light made goons appeared to attempt to 'strike' them.
And just at the brink of them being overwhelmed by the mod of modsters, John pressed the button on the side of his headset.
Instantly, something shifted.
It was first a flinch, more prominent in Silver then Swan and Valiant, which left the latter two scrambling to keep up momentum, but soon, as the heroic doctor jumped into the massive mob of 'villains', it began to shift back in their favor.
The three of them began to settle into a new dance, Mona creating a blast right above Ellie to ward away a hologram, Ellie who in return punched away a mobster beside John, who then blocked an attack on Mona with a barrier.
But the most important part? The one they hoped would work when John entered the sudo gestalt?
His sixth sense.
Ellie and Mona could both pick up on it too.
They didn't actually have it, so had to account for where John was, something they would have to add in for the module to do automatically when it was finalized, maybe with a framework in place to allow for more other senses to be automatically handled, but still- it didn't matter now!
As the test wound down, the three heroes acting as one 'finishing' off the last of the hologram goons, Massive was squealing about the success as Mammoth cheered his daughters victory on.
But when Ellie tried to turn it off…
It didn't.
They would need to fix that wouldn't they?
-----
Module "Thread": Ally Empowerment, Sense Sharing, Central Processing Unit, Overclock Design Notes: Module Yarn allows Valiant Gold to Sync with someone else with Psychic Sensitivity, allowing the two or more fighters to act as one in the field, sharing each other's senses and becoming extensions of each other. Using EXCEED-BEYOND's technology to act as a central processing unit, it not only offers everyone who is linked to Valiant Gold Mental Manipulation Immunity but protects the connected Egos from merging. This Module has downsides however, as those mentally linked together share pain with each other and if they gain distance from each other the shared experiences will begin to cause disorientation and unsteadiness.
Overclock allows for all connected minds to temporarily speed up, allowing for a sort of "Chain Attack" to occur, allowing for each hero linked together to fight in perfect sync, chaining their attacks together to most effectively take down their foe. (Get an Overkill and Drop-rate and EXP will jump way up!... Joking of course this isn't Xenoblade)
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A Hunter Bound To His Role - ThaTrueRealmWalk (semi-canon)
The large behemoth roared, its iron scales shining in the setting sun's rays as it charged forward, madness in its eyes.
A dodge to the left, its left side left open.
A jab from a blade, a sword, crafted from sharped bone and blackened leather, sinked deep into flesh, parting scales that should have blocked such an attack.
The creature is stunned, the pain, it's unused to it. So confident in its survival, its green eyes widen in shock as it attempts to scurry away, away from the pain as it obey's instinct over the budding mind within.
Let it get distance, give time for another weapon to be drawn out.
The beast jumps back, its legs a mockery of reptiles and a kangaroo, its acceleration once great now nothing more than a tumble.
Arm to one's back, gripping a handle.
It's moving erratically, it wasn't like this before.
It must really not be used to pain.
Handle pulled, a large weight dragged along with it.
A hammer, made with hardened stone sourced from a beast composed of it, a perfect substance to bring out destruction with only a motion.
It had no special traits, a disappointment compared to weapons of the past.
It's still useful, and as this beast, its front legs ended with sharpened claws where digits should be, struggled to remove the foreign object within its side, the fear and pain turning a predator to prey, it will be more than enough for the job.
Leg muscles tense as motion occurs, the large hammer readed, brought high as distance is traveled faster and faster-
The beast noticed.
Good, this was getting pathetic.
It's in slow motion now, the micro motions of the monster's expression, the tenseness of its body as it tries to will itself to move.
The hammer continues forward, charing forth within the grapes of its wielder.
No backing off, full comitance, force out the desire in this freak to survive, to live, to escape and kill and eat.
Let the abomination to the natural order experience life in a way it has never before. A genuine, most honest way.
It will make the weapon crafted from its flesh all the more enduring when the hunt is done.
As seconds tick by, a metric needed as speed becomes the only factor in this dance, hammer over head, wielder in range, the beast readying to dodge out of the way, its body almost there but the question induced in the air begging to be answered.
Will It Dodge?
Hammer aimed for the neck, blunt force to ignore the hard scales and instead shatter the spine. The scales will defuse some of the impact, so more strength than estimated is needed.
There is more strength to give, as hands grip around the handle and leverage is applied, a force multiplier as the hammer begins its arc from behind a hunter's head and down upon a beast's.
The beast is tense, its breathing ragged, fear causing shaking, heart beating faster, all explained not by experience but from its eyes meeting another's.
In eight three percent of a second it will move.
It will move and the hammer will miss the target, instead impacting the lower back or nothing. Higher chance of striking the lower back, would damage the spine but would not kill.
Would not be a satisfying display of skill.
The hammer will reach impact in one second and 12 percent of another. A twenty nine percent difference.
In this single moment, where speed is all that will determine the outcome of this battle, if it shall continue or the hunt shall end, only able to be expressed within seconds…
A hunter started to exhale, yet the range of time made the action meaningless.
Muscles within the monster's legs bunched to their limit.
Hands around the pole of the hammer tensed.
Tendons began to expand, beginning the process of releasing enough force to make the hunter's attack miss their target, extending this dance of life and death onwards past the time of the setting sun.
A hammer head is brought down.
It makes contact.
An impact is dispersed through skin and muscle and bone, enough to drive like a nail downward, deeper until it has crashed through the important skeletal cable that kept the monster's body functional.
Muscles sag, eyes widen in pain, a body drops.
The hunter looks their prey in the eye and smiles.
-----
It took you some time, because of course it did.
Your head fucking hurts like you drank a pack of beer and crashed into a hard concrete floor then got kicked several times right in your forehead before you were lightly slapped awake.
It was aggressively slapped awake a few minutes ago, so at least it's fading.
And your body?
Oh oh OH! After you dragged this motherfucker into the bed of your truck it was just begging to be murdered in a back alley with a gatling gun as it hanged itself like that would help it escape the pain.
Of course you don't allow such mutiny on this ship, so all of that was denied and instead you drugged it up with five pills of Ibuprofen, ate a granola bar, drank some water, jumped out because of course you fucking forgot to tie down the beasty in the back of your truck, tied it up, got back in the truck, and FINALLY LEFT.
Gosh how long did you fight this guy? Maybe an hour or two? You didn't keep track and by god was it really even a fight? Most of that time spent was wearing the damn thing down so you could actually hit it, and you're sure when you're home you're gonna need to change these bandages over the countless scratches the bastard left you with.
Not to mention the tracking- do you know how-
Your hands tilted the steering wheel, avoiding the large rock that you were heading straight for before you went back towards the general direction you're trying to go to… hopefully.
The dampness of the ground as you drove on undeveloped and unclaimed land, away from the elder god or whoever the fuck is sleeping at one edge of Horizon towards actual civilization kept your focus for a bit, as you tiredly but with trained focus gazed out into the landscape beyond, making sure nothing was about to attack you from afar.
Oh and none of that 'Goldnine' shit.
Last time you encountered the shit you almost lost a leg, last time you're going that deep into the Quarantine Zone until you have much more gear.
Once you made sure nothing was, at least to your best ability to tell… what were you-
RIGHT! THE FUCKING TRACKING!
How the fuck do you think this went, oh imaginary vent buddy that may be a sign my sanity is in fucking piece!?
Three hours, hauling my ass as this super sonic wannabe of a reject velociraptor for jurassic museum- a movie you haven't even fucking seen mind you!- just decided at random moments, because you know for a fact it never saw you- NEVEEEERR- to just… speed.
For the fun of it.
Just go zoom and leave your ass to chase it down and JUST-
You breathed out.
"Hast I really require to waste my time bickering with my heart over this matter? Nay, how wouldst Master think of me if I let such a harrowing hunt, one I have conquered and triumphed through, plague me so?"
Master, when will you come for me?
When will we reunite?
Must have we parted ways?
You breathe again, knowing the answers already, but yet your mind always asks those questions all the same.
As this old, dirty vehicle charged forth like a steed in the many a tales regarded to you by your master, back towards your workshop where you shall make this troublesome little bastard in the back of the truck into a fine armor, you recite the words your dearest Master spoke to you on the day of her departure.
"'We will meet once again, like we have met before, when you come of age when this tale repeats once again. Now off I go, to await the day you meet that fated beast once again.'"
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Name: The Fated Knight, Harvard Sol Keywords?: Unknown Tolerance?: Unknown Stats: HIT 10, ESPIONAGE 1, REPUTATION 1, OPERATIONS 6 Chaucer's notes: I don't have much about them, but they seem to be new in Horizon. We at least have some records of his activities in the city though. He seems to be focused on taking down behemoths within the quarantine zone, and from what we can gather, uses them to create weapons and armor. The means he does this is unknown however, nothing really telling if it's a power or if he;s simply skilled at it. It's surprising that he hasn't been taken in by a corp, but it could happen soon. Maybe picking this new Hero would be a good investment?
Abilities: A Hunter's Mark Keep your focus, keep your wits. A hunter must know that the line between predator and prey is only the width of paper. You must become part of the world, a force of nature, if you wish to survive.
At the beginning of a combat scene, an enemy combatant may be declared. This enemy will be Marked by Harvard, and will be the only enemy they will attack for the encounter, and will not stop until their Mark is deceased. They will also get advantage in any defensive checks from anything other than their Mark. If they deal the majority of the damage to the Marked Target, and it is possible, they will use the Target to create a new set of gear.
A Hunter's Armory To be a Hunter is to seek to always evolve. To evolve your body, your mind, your scales and claws. I will make sure of the first two, but it is up to you to forge the evolutions of your tools.
Harvard has various weapons and armors he employs, forged from enemies conquered. He may only wield two weapons and one armor at a time currently, and cannot change them during a scene.
-Worn Marrow Sword
A blade that Harvard created during the time he spent under his Master's guidance. Even after all this time, it has still proven to be a useful tool for the hunt, able to pierce through defenses one would think a bone blade like it could never puncture.
-Living Rock Hammer
A hammer made out of a behemoth composed of living rock and a tree bred to withstand the forces its head can produce, capable of shattering through walls and crippling opponents with a single swing.
-Iron Scale Armor
A recent addition to Harvard's armory, an armor made from a behemoth capable of moving at great speeds and bore a hide of iron like scales. It greatly increases Harvard's resistance to slashing and piercing damage and shines wonderfully in the sun.
-The Inherited Blade When the Fated Beast arrives, you shall know, and when that time comes you shall draw that sword. There is no escape, there is no different outcome. It shall be as it has always been.
Can only be drawn when the Fated Beast arrives.
Realm's Note:
This man has been brewing in my head for a while as a sort of "Build a hero" kind of deal. Someone who can be modified to meet the coming challenges but those options only unlock after beating certain foes. I think it would make for an interesting mechanic for this quest.
Also the personality of being someone to internally be a sailor while on the outside be a knight is just really funny to me.
Not sure if I should talk about my ideas for the character further though. I have ideas yeah but they might not click with this setting so I'll leave only the bits sprinkled in as is.
Oh I will say I do want him to have the mystery of the Master and if weapon crafting is a power or not, so I added in a bit of unknowns to his character sheet.
I made a map of Horizon. It has a bit of a slapdash feeling to it and I think I messed up a few locations, though.