Project Prometheus (Original Setting Superhero Quest)

[Pitchouli]

It appears that there are plenty of people submitting characters, and at least one adapting a TTRPG character, so it is my duty as a lurker to contribute with one of my own.

Name: Michiko Katou
Age: 17
Stats: HIT 3, ESPIONAGE 1, REPUTATION 1, OPERATIONS 3
Tolerance: 8
Chaucer's Notes: Michiko is a student attending a well regarded private academy, though her status does not seem to reflect her actions. She's more likely to be found fighting people in airsoft matches than participating in the school ecosystem. Perhaps unsurprisingly, she was very fast to express intent in working with Justice Unlimited regardless of how minor the position is as a necessary part of her cirriculum.
When interviewed about being able to develop superpowers in an entirely hypothetical scenario posed as a question during her hiring process, Michiko was initially surprised before proving herself to be very receptive to the idea. In particular, Michiko discussed her enjoyment of heroes with Energy or Elemental Manipulation abilities, including our own Black Swan, and directly stated that she would want abilities in a similar vein if given the choice.
Leizi's Notes: You don't get into a prestigious school without good reason. During an incident where Michiko was in the immediate vicinity of 'villainous activity', she was the one who initially alerted emergency services by taking the taser off of a downed guard and using it to shock the sprinkler system of a nearby steakhouse into activation. Rescue operations would later find her in the walk-in freezer of the same steakhouse, having broken the doors' padlock by using the kitchen's gas stove to heat a metal knife to the point of being able to cut the lock off. She has more creativity in her than she would want to admit.

Spoiler: Designer's Notes

Michiko was a character I played in a Persona TTRPG (she was the Devil Arcana, if you were going to ask) that used some homebrew magic rules, and the elemental imbuement spell I had chose to give her ended up getting quite a lot of creative usage; both the "electrocute the fire alarms on" and "heat metal to effectively blowtorch off a lock" moments shown in Leizi's notes are real ways I used the spell during the campaign, though obviously reworked to fit Michiko's nonmagical background. It's because of those kinds of moments that I tried to set up Michiko as someone who wants to use some form of manipulation ability and can make good on that request by having the potential to make the most out of its' use cases.

 

[Bitterman]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Plan: Sucker Punch
-[X] DNA Profile 1: Outsider (Potency 4)
-[X] DNA Profile 2: Adamant (Potency 3)
-[X] DNA Profile 3: Daggermaw (Potency 1)
-[X] DNA Profile 4: Soldier X (Potency 1)
-[X] POTENCY REDUCTION (-3 POTENCY)
-[X] TOTAL POTENCY OF DOSE: 6

Horizon, City of Levithan's Rest – Worker's Mitt – December 1, 2067

After Black Swan's explosive "debut", you're running out of clandestine locations to conduct potentially dangerous scientific experiments. It's embarrassing actually. Thankfully, your recent resurgence in popularity in the Worker's Mitt has paid unexpected dividends. As has Black Swan's childhood growing up here.

"Yeah, so this is the abandoned warehouse where everyone would come to drink after prom. Hey, that's where Rei threw up after chugging, like, eight beers! Wild!" Black Swan says pointing to a corner.

You wrinkle your nose. "Delightful."

John Henry chuckles from where he and Dr. Ibis are assembling the Ambrosia administration machine.

"What's the matter Leizi? You never got up to anything wild in your youth?"

"I'm still young, darling," you say, "And no. My father was not the permissive type."

"Ah." John Henry bobs his head in silent apology. "Maybe my girls were just wilder than I gave them credit for. The number of times Sandra and I had to wait up for them to come home . . ."

Dr. Ibis finishes assembling the final components and begins running a diagnostic, "My daughter was also something of a wild-child. She used to like to take her friends' lunches and mix them together into unusual combinations and make everyone try them. She called them her 'experiments.'"

John Henry gives another chuckle and starts running his own calibrations. "That so, Doctor? Kids will make you old and keep you young at the same time."

"Too true," Dr. Ibis says, shaking his head, "Wait!? Did we just bond? Are we having a moment?!"

"We were."

"And I ruined it by pointing it out instead of living in the present! Blast it all!"

"You'll get 'em next time, doc!" Rhys says from where he waits, surrounded by curtains, "Keep your chin up!"

You turn your head from the disaster that is Dr. Ibis' social life, and step through the curtain to where Rhys sits in a Gatch bed in a hospital gown. Menagerie Witch has a death grip on his hand, a pallid complexion on her face, and her friends protectively huddled around the two of them.

Mittens twines around your legs as Black Swan follows you.

"I thought we weren't coming in! Can't you see Rhys' butt in that gown or something?" Black Swan chirps.

"Don't worry, I'm sittin' down!" Rhys calls, "Thank god it's sweltering outside. Otherwise I'd be freezin' in this flimsy thing."

"Are you crazy? It's so cold right now."

"Ugh," Rhys says to Menagerie Witch with an exaggerated eye-roll, "Horizon-natives, always cold, amiright?"

Menagerie Witch doesn't respond and just squeezes his hand tighter.

"Menagerie Witch, darling, are you certain you want to be present for this?" You are going to strangle Black Swan for telling her that you were administering the dose tonight.

But Menagerie Witch just furiously shakes her head, Apep hissing in protest as her hat wobbles back and forth.

"I wanna be here for Mr. Rhys. I know what it's like to be scared."

"Hey, gimme some credit, shortstack! I'm Rhys "Crusher" Gardner! I ain't afraid of nothin'!"

Menagerie Witch just squeezes his hand tighter and stares you down.

You raise your hands in surrender. "Very well. You're a member of Justice Unlimited too. But you'll be watching from a safe place with the rest of us, understood?"

"Fine . . ." Menagerie Witch mumbles, "Butthead . . ."

"Pardon me?!" You're glad she's feeling comfortable enough to assert herself, but she just called you what?

"Excuse me, excuse me!" Nataile Rhodes calls from the otherside of the curtain, "But the machine is calibrated. We're ready to begin the administration!"

". . .yes, thank you Natalie," you say, "We'll be right out."

Black Swan covers her mouth to hide her laughter as Menagerie Witch sticks her tongue out at you.

W-when . . . when did you stop being her favorite?!

* * *​

Black Swan takes Menagerie Witch to the viewing point well away from the administration site as Dr. Ibis and John Henry secure Rhys to the machine. You're probably being over-cautious, but, after the Black Swan incident, you're not going to take any risks.

As you leave to join them, Rhys asks for a word.

"Hey . . . LL—"

"I detest that nickname,"

"Well that sucks, because it's sticking. Anyway, I wanted to ask you something."

You glare at him over your glasses, but then soften your gaze. "Of course."

"So, um, you know how I was datin' Gus?"

"Vulcan? Yes, I was aware."

"Yeah, yeah . . . Gus was an Algernon-type. He told me what using his power was gonna do to him one day. I tried to convince him to stop, but . . ."

"He never would," you finish, with a painful smile. An argument you were well-familiar with.

"Yeah," Rhys licks his lips and looks away, "You think . . . you think he was scared when he used his power?"

Rhys is squeezing at his restraints, his knuckles white. There's a nervous twitch to his foot as he tries to tap it.

You never really knew Vulcan, or any of SLAYERS for that matter outside of their leader. Augustus Schulte struck you as an ambitionless man, content to live a comfortable life in mediocrity. Still . . .

"Yes. I think he was, darling. But he pushed forward anyway."

". . .'cuz that's what heroes do," Rhys finished, squeezing his eyes shut, "Yeah, figured as much. Thanks, LL—um, Lady Leizi."

You nod at him. "Of course. And, Rhys, this is your last chance for second thought."

"Fuck that," he says with a grin that doesn't meet his eyes, "I hope I get turned into a dragon."

* * *​

Compared to Black Swan, the administration of Rhys' dose of Ambrosia is almost anti-climatic.

Oh, it's still disturbing to see raw goldnine swirling in the machine, a substance that could end the world turned into something useful. And watching it flow in Rhys' veins makes your hair stand up on edge. But there's no explosion of light—none of the annihilation—that turned Mona into Black Swan. Ambrosia pours into Rhys and he remains still on the bed.

And then he melts.

"Ummmm?" Black Swan wordlessly questions as Menagerie Witch gasps in horror.

"Wait, wait," Dr. Ibis says holding up a hand, "I think it's about to start to take effect!"

"No, really?"

Rhys' liquefied remains stay on the table for a second. Then two. Then three. Then—

They boil and fizz and congeal into something else.

It's a matte, platinum-blue substance that almost looks like living stone. It bubbles up from Rhys' remains and consolidates into a solid, rectangular block. But even as it unifies, it starts moving again, thinning out at the corners and stretching into two arms and legs with sharp joints and claws on the hands. His feet only have two toes as a powerfully built chest stretches into a featureless head. The head's crown curves backwards into a crescent shape and two pits for eyes emerge.

The process takes minutes, and you left staring at a seven-foot tall facsimile of a man.

The creature groans, tears free of its restraints, and rubs the back of its head. As it does, a seam forms in its face and a mouth emerges.

"Ow, fuck, man. Anyone get the plate of that truck that hit me? Yeesh!"

"Rhys?" you tentatively call from your vantage point, "Is that you?"

"Yeah? Who else would I be—whoa!"

Rhys holds up his hands in wonder and looks at the rest of his body. Then he falls backwards in despair and says, "Awwwww, I wanted to be a dragon!"

"Are you quite alright? Menagerie Witch is hyperventilating."

"Oh shit! I'm fine, Maddie! I'm fine! Just a fursona unfulfilled, sorry Gus . . . Anyway! How freaky do I look?"

"7 outta 10!" Black Swan calls.

"That's not too bad! I can live with that!"

"I don't understand it," Dr. Ibis mutters, "The dosage wasn't potent enough to cause a dysmorphic effect. What in the world . . . ?"

"Honestly, it's an improvement," Black Swan continues, "Not like you were handsome before!"

"Hey! I had my nonna's eyes! My face had character!"

"Was the character a clown?"

"Why you . . . !" Rhys mock shakes his fist, "What a shame, no one will see my beautiful mug again! I can almost remember what it looked like—whoa!"

As Rhys speaks, his head twists and shifts until you're looking at his face as it was again.

"Oh shit, look at what I can do!"

Rhys stands up off the table, his human head looking bizarre on the rest of his monstrous body.

"Is it just your head?" you ask, "What about the rest of your body?"

"Y-yeah, let me see—here we go!"

Rhys' whole body snaps back to its original shape, right down to the scar on his abdomen. He raises both arms in triumph.

"I'm back baby!"

"Maddie, cover your eyes!" Black Swan says covering her face as well.

"What?! I'm a normal guy now!"

"Yes," you agree, looking up with a twitching lip, "And you're au naturale."

Rhys blushes and covers himself. He then squints his eyes and frowns. He screws up his face in concentration and—

"Hey, hey guys! Guess what? I can do pants too!"

* * *​

Jacob's Ladder – Justice Unlimited Satellite Headquarters – December 1, 2067

The next day, you arrive at your meeting with Chaucer and Dr. Ibis to receive the preliminary report on Rhys' powers. Chaucer greets you politely, if still a little put out he missed the administration of Ambrosia. You feel for the man, but someone had to hold down the fort. Dr. Ibis is sleeping on the table, surrounded by papers.

"He's been like this since I arrived," Chaucer says, "I decided to let him slumber, but now that you're here . . . Doctor! Doctor! Wake up!"

Dr. Ibis jerks awake, sending papers flying in every direction, "Wha? What? I was just resting my eyes!"

"Doctor," Chaucer sighs, "You're the one who asked to have this meeting moved up. We could have waited if you needed your sleep."

"No! John Henry asked me if I was watching the fight tonight! I said yes and offered to watch it with him and he agreed! We're going to view it at a bar! I have to get this meeting out of the way!"

"What fight?" you ask, genuinely curious.

"I don't know!"

Chaucer clears his throat. "Well, yes . . . the report, Doctor?"

"Yes, yes, I'm getting to that!" Dr. Ibis says, flapping his arms, "Ahem. The Ambrosia appears to have permanently transformed Rhys' body into a malleable organic material denser than the human body. We've taken to calling it "clay". Like Adamant and his namesake metal, Rhys' body seems to produce clay in amounts without end."

"Well," you drawl, "That explains the melting. But his transformation?"

"Again, similar to Adamant, he's able to freely shape and structure the clay however he chooses. On second thought, it's actually closer to what The Outsider was capable of. But he has no 'nucleus' or anything of the sort."

"Is he immortal?"

"No, I wouldn't say that. More . . . his entire body is one great redundancy. He's not only able to shape and mold the clay, but transmute it. During testing he was able to make scales, feathers, chitin, bone, bioluminescent sacs, secondary pairs of organs, and so on. He was able to make constructs in his body as well—we had him create organic pile-bunkers in his elbows that greatly increased the strength of his punches and, after being given a diagram, he could create crude crossbows out of his hands. He even at one point turned himself into a horse to amuse young Madeline—unfortunately her power did not work on him in that form."

"That's . . . astounding," Chaucer breathes.

"It is. He could reliably imitate people, down to their voices, once he figured out how to shape his vocal cords. He also has regeneration on an incredible scale. He's no Scarlet Maturity, but he would be exceedingly difficult to put down through physical means in a fight. Especially if he generated any organic armor."

"I noticed his height changed when he turned back into his human form," you muse.

"Yes, he can control his size as well. Like The Outsider, anything smaller than his base form will be proportionally denser. But his ability to grow has no limitations except the square-cube law. He was able to reliably get to about twenty feet in height before moving required his body to be made of materials too brittle to be of use."

You're grinning. Are you grinning? You're grinning, aren't you?

"Marvelous. Anything else we should know, Doctor?"

"His strength is noteworthy if not impressive. He's stronger than either Adamant or Daggermaw were, however. What's the old expression? 'He can throw a car, but not a building?' Something like that."

"Doctor," you say, "That's just icing on the cake."

Spoiler: Rhys Gardner

SYNERGY FOUND:

[Transformation] + [Transformation] + [Regeneration] + [Regeneration] + [Fitness] = [Autobiokinesis]

Name: Name Undecided, Rhys Gardner
Keywords: Autobiokinesis, Enhanced Strength
Side Effect: None
Faction: Justice Unlimited
Potency: 9
Stats: HIT 6, ESPIONAGE 9, REPUTATION 2, OPERATIONS 3
Ibis' Notes: Subject's power has changed the composition of his body into an organic compound dubbed "clay". Subject can manipulate the structure, shape, and composition of his body including being able to make scales, feathers, chitin, bone, bioluminescent sacs, secondary pairs of organs, and so on. Subject can also make constructs in his body as well—for example, the subject made organic pile-bunkers in his elbows that greatly increased the strength of the subject's punches and, after being given a diagram, the subject could create crude crossbows out of his hands.
Subject possesses enhanced regeneration and strength. The subject can also change size. The subject can change into something smaller than his base form with a proportional increase in density. The subject's ability to grow has no limitations except the square-cube law. The subject was able to reliably get to about twenty feet in height before moving required the subject's body to be made of materials too brittle to be of use.

"Now," Dr. Ibis whined, "Can I please go figure out what fight I'm going to watch?"

"Not yet," you say, "If I have to suffer this next part, so must you, Doctor."

Chaucer snorts. "Honestly, you two act as if public relations were some kind of torture . . . actually, it may be."

______________________________________________________________________________

What will we call our newest hero?
[ ] Sucker Punch
[ ] Crusher
[ ] Changeling
Write-in (subject to QM veto) [ ]

What is Rhys' Emblem?
Write-in (subject to QM veto) [ ]

Rhys' base form will serve as his costume.

Also, CHOOSE YOUR FILL-IN ISSUE:

[ ] EXCEED! (Valiant Silver, Catch-22, The Woman in Blue)
[ ] Flight of the Bumblebee (Apiary, Scarlet Maturity, The Defiance Unit)
[ ] Goodnight, Avô (Uiara, Ọsanyìn, An Interlocutor)

 

[Bitterman]

"Ophélie! You do not take that tone with your sister!"

"I shall take whatever tone I please, for I hate you!" Ophélie cried, slamming the door to her room behind her. She threw herself onto her bed and burst into furious tears.

It wasn't fair! She loved and respected Gwendolyn, the heroine Été, for taking care of her after their parents' untimely deaths, but her sister was simply too much! Ever since Ophélie's power came to her, Gwendolyn had tried to control every aspect of her life. What she wore, how she styled her hair, what she ate, who she associated with! She wasn't even allowed to go to school! If Harrier hadn't helped her secretly get her general education diploma, she would be more ignorant than a child.

Just how her sister wanted her.

And now that she finally found someone who made her happy, Gwendolyn wanted to take her away! She was twenty years old and she was yet to have her first kiss, let alone anything else!

Well. . . until last night, she thought with a smug smile. She and her petite copine had been flying over the Marajó Várzea when she had broached the subject. Towarri hadn't seemed particularly interested; she claimed to not have the same impulses as everyone else and found the concept of kissing "baffling". Ophélie had almost given up on it entirely, when Radiant Silvergirl had suddenly flown over and pulled her close and . . .

Ophélie let out a happy shriek into her pillow as she blushed and kicked her legs. How bold Towarri was! She had pulled back from Ophélie and shrugged while saying, "I still don't get it, but it was less unpleasant than feared. Let's try again in case I did it wrong."

So romantic! Ophélie rolled over, hugging her pillow with a silly grin on her face. It was perfect.

Or so she thought. Unfortunately, an enterprising paparazzo had been following them and snapped a picture of their kiss. This morning she woke up to it splashed all over the front page of Hero for Hire.

Now, Gwendolyn was demanding she break up with Towarri and renounce any relationship! She called Ophélie a "harlot" and "traitor", insisting she was too young to know what she wanted in a partner! As if she hadn't been throwing her at that executive from AGL at that last charity ball!

Still, it was better than the suggestion from Gwendolyn's wretched husband, Jean-Luc. He said they should tell the media that Radiant Silvergirl forced the kiss on Ophélie in order to quash the rumors. He said Justice Unlimited would navigate the fallout just fine, while preserving Ophélie's "beloved innocent character!"

The very nerve of that disgusting man! And he called himself a hero? Printemps? More like . . . like . . . ugh! Just thinking about him made a windstorm erupt from her body.

Her brooding was interrupted by a knock on her door. Then the knob turned as someone entered, "Hey Ophie, I—OH GOD!"

Harrier's nose exploded in a spray of blood as Ophélie blew the door shut into his face. She jerked up immediately with her hands over her face when she realized who it was.

"Harrier! Oooh, I'm so, so, so sorry!"

"Ibs 'ine, ibs 'ine! 'On't wor'y Ophie!" Harrier said through a bloody nose. Ophélie quickly got some tissues and guided him to her bed to sit down while the bleeding stanched.

Ophélie's vision blurred as she cried, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It thought you were Gwendolyn or Jean-Luc!"

Harrier, the metahuman Hiver, tilted his head back and put the tissues on his nose. "It's fine, really. And it's probably lucky it was me. God, could you imagine the fit that Gwen would throw if you smashed her nose?"

"I don't care! I hate her!"

"Yeah, she's kind of a bitch," Harrier agreed. Ophélie's mouth opened in shock. "What? You know she sucks."

"Language!"

"Leviathan's Blood, you're almost twenty-one! I know Gwen did her best after your folks died, but she sheltered you way too hard."

"Tell her that!"

"I did once. Jean-Luc told me to shut up and I'm scared of him, so I did, in fact, shut up."

Ophélie snorted the way Gwendolyn always told her not to, and curled up in a miserable ball.

"So is this about Gwen finding out about the kiss?"

"What? Did you see it on Hero for Hire too?"

"Nah," Harrier said, shaking his head, "Nora called me. You should check your screen; Towarri thinks you're mad at her."

"I'm not!" Ophélie cried in despair, "And I can't! Gwendolyn has taken it from me!"

"Oh, that sucks. Wait! Do you mean this screen?" Harrier said, pulling it out of his pocket like a magician, "She's not as good at hiding things as she thinks."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Harrier!" Ophélie cried, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. She took her phone and saw the many, many missed messages from Towarri. Oh, her poor amour! She thought Ophélie regretted the kiss!

"I hate my sister," Ophélie grumbled as she messaged Towarri back.

"Look . . . Ophie," Harrier said with a sigh, "Your sister's an overbearing control freak . . . but she's the reason we're not out on the streets. Your dad was a drunk who hit your mom. Then the two of them died and you guys got saddled with all his debt. You want to know why you're not an indentured servant to a corp? You wanna know why Gwen was able to pay for me to get treated by an oncologist from Ọsanyìn? Because she took the four of us and made Les Quatre Saisons into a brand."

"Then she married someone just like our father!" Ophélie sniffed.

"Jean-Luc's an asshole and a bully, but he treats your sister right." Harrier sighed. "Just . . . cut Gwen a little slack. She's scared of going back to nothing so she's holding onto you too hard."

"I can't believe you're taking her side!"

"I'm not taking sides! I know I owe her my life because she reminds me five times a day. You think I like that? I'm just . . . Look. I need her to be in a good mood for a bit, okay?"

"W-why?" Ophélie wiped her eyes with her sleeve. No, sister, she did not care if it was indicative of "lower breeding"! Her eyes were wet and her clothing was there!

Harrier shifted his eyes side-to-side and made absolutely sure the door was closed. Then he leaned over and said in a low voice, "Check it out."

He pulled a square box out of his pocket. Inside was a diamond ring.

Ophélie had to put another pillow over her face to muffle her squeals. When she was done, she hugged Harrier. "You're going to propose to Abigail?"

"Yeah," Harrier's eyes were shining, "I was at her place the other day. I was going through some stuff and we wound up talking for hours again. I told her some things I never told anyone else and afterwards I had this feeling like, 'I want to be with her forever'. So I asked her to marry me—"

"Without a ring?!"

"Yeeeeeeah. I got ahead of myself. You know how Abbie's waaaaaaaay into the romance stuff. She said, 'It's not a no, but it's a try again.' So I got the ring—"

Ophélie pulled him into another bone-crushing hug. "I am so, so happy for you Harrier! Oh! But Gwendolyn. . ."

"Is going to fucking freak? Yep. Which is why I need to butter her up."

Ophélie giggled, "How betrayed she will feel! Her own cousin is marrying the leader of SLAYERS, Les Quatre Saisons' archrivals!"

Harrier ran a hand over his face and groaned, "You know the rivalry's totally one-sided! SLAYERS doesn't hate us! We don't even take the same kind of contracts. Gwen just can't get over the fact that Abigail killed Hundred-Hand Hecatoncheires on the same day we debuted."

It was an unfortunate coincidence, but the death of a Named-rank Behemoth overshadowed the announcement of a new metahuman team. The Giant Slayer secured her legacy the same day she permanently earned the enmity of Été. It was a mess.

"She will hold that grudge for eternity," Ophélie whined. And then, "Wait, do you think Abigail will let me be in her bridal party?"

". . . sorry, Ophie. I don't think you can be a bridesmaid."

"O-oh."

"Because I need you to be my best man! Seriously, I don't have any friends . . ."

Ophélie hugged him yet again. "Of course! Of course I will be! And if Gwendolyn does not like it, she can keep it to herself for I care not one whit what she thinks!"

"Thanks Ophie," Harrier said. He smiled to himself and looked around the room. "Y'know it's weird that I live in a small house with my cousin, her husband, and her kid sister, but I'm gonna miss you when I move out."

"Move out?"

"Yeah. Abbie and I are gonna get a bigger place. Maybe somewhere we can start a family? I dunno yet; I gotta figure some stuff out first."

Ophélie's face fell before she caught herself and forced a smile. "Y-yes, I will miss you too, cousin."

"Now, none of that 'cousin' crap. I'm not leaving you high and dry. You know that Joelle Chaucer guy? The Famine Slayer?"

"I do!" Ophélie scrunched up her face as she remembered. "He was the only businessman at that ball not looking down my dress!"

"He's a stand up guy apparently. Also loaded. Abbie's gonna talk to him and see if he needs metahuman bodyguards or something. I figure, if he can put Gwen and Jean-Luc on retainer, maybe they won't care as much when Les Quatre Saisons breaks up. Y'know give them a soft landing?"

"But . . . what about me?"

"Well . . . I think it'd be good if you and Gwen had some space. Abbie and I want you to stay with us. Take a break from being a hero. Go to college or something. Y'know, live life as a normal kid for a bit."

Ophélie started crying again for the third time that day, but this time it was out of happiness. "Do you mean it? For true?"

"Yeah, it's gonna take a bit—we gotta save money 'cuz real estate and weddings are pricey—but we're setting the date for a year out. Assuming the world doesn't end, it's a done-deal."

"A whole year? Oh, drat," Ophélie sighed, "Well, we've waited this long to escape my sister. How bad could one more year be?"

"Shhhhh," Harrier said, holding a finger to his lips, "Whoever's in control of irony may be listening."

 

[chickenbouillon]

Candidate L
Name: Aiden Greyson
Age: 18
Stats: HIT 2, ESPIONAGE 5, REPUTATION 1, OPERATIONS 4
Tolerance: 6

Chaucer's Notes: An orphan and a street urchin from the day he was born, Aiden eked out his living in the Industrial District by embarking on a life of pickpocketing and petty theft. He responded to our call for applicants in hopes of receiving a better life and a full stomach, but his criminal record might pose a few problems should anyone recognize him. He possesses a surprisingly laidback disposition despite his rough upbringing.
Lady Leizi: He's quick on his feet and possesses a lot of street smarts which is to be expected, but despite this, he's hopelessly out of his depth in other fields due to his lack of formal education, which may prove troublesome.. his questionable record certainly hasn't won him any friends either.


A/N: My first Ambrosia Candidate.. sorry if anything is wrong! I did my best

 

[Bitterman]

You are Mona Merola-Morales. At night, you dream . . .

Horizon, City of Leviathan's Rest – Location #$^&!@ – February 21, 2067

You are Nora Kim and you are going to murder someone.

Well, okay. You're going to murder someone eventually. Metaphorically. The situation you're in currently can't be solved with murder right now, which is a shame because you could really go for some murdering right about now.

What were you talking about again?

The cauldron of growing psychic energy that will swallow Horizon and possibly the entire world?

Right. That.

"Valiant Silver, are you there?!"

"I'm here, Moon River," you say into your comm, "I can confirm that five of the Catch-22 have united. Get Lady Leizi out here. The Red Huntress too, unless she thinks she can take one out."

"I tried!" The Red Huntress cries, her voice already low and guttural from her transformation. Wait, she's changed that much already? Things really are going to shit. "They just regenerate its—it's too much!"

"Drop your mark," you order, "We're past the point of conventional violence."

"What's left then?" Moon River asks.

"Unconventional violence."

Your HUD's colors change to cherry red as you activate the "paper" module. Jets of fire created ex nihilo by your suit's pyrokinesis erupt around the nearest Catch-22, who currently looks like a female office worker. You engulf her in flame, searing her very bones to ash. Despite this, it mindlessly continues her march toward the where five of them had already joined.

What idiot let them get this close together?!

You violently curse under your breath. The Catch-22 were an enigma. They were twenty-two people who all randomly appeared in different parts of the world on the same day. No one knew where they came from—they just showed up and starting play-acting in society like they had always been there. One, resembling a firefighter, walked out of a burning building. Another who looked like a nurse worked a shift at a hospital, and so on and so forth.

Except, they weren't really people and they couldn't fully blend in. It was like watching a child who only half-understands what a job entails. Sure, it understood that a firefight puts water on fire, but not where, why, or when it was appropriate to do so. All of the Catch–22 were quickly apprehend, and then, something became apparent—they were nearly mindless. Unable to communicate, unable to learn, and unable to do more than blankly act out a facsimile of their given role.

Until two in Horizon got within a hundred yards of each other. Then the nightmare started.

Because the Catch-22 were a hivemind. And for every member that was in proximity to another, their intelligence grew exponentially. Two together were as smart as the most brilliant person in the world. Three were more intelligent than any human had ever been. Four had psychic powers on par with Valkyrie at her apex. Five could sculpt reality like marble.

And there were currently thirteen all on the loose in Horizon right now.

What moron—what fucking idiot—let two of them get next to each other? There was a reason even Wonderland couldn't house more than three at a time. All the Catch-22 wanted was to reunite, and, the more that rejoined, the easier that got. You couldn't kill them; they were impossibly tough and if you deal a fatal injury then they would just come back in a different place and in a different form. All you could do was keep them separate and keep them stupid.

And now five were together.

Today has really started on a sour note.

A tendril of pure thought whipped and disrupted your flames. You sent a jet to burn the five, but the fire died as soon as it reached them. They telekinetically lifted the office lady and pulled her into the collective.

Fuck.

"Six together!" you shouted, "Do we have eyes on the other seven?"

"Yeah, boss," Moon River said in her synthesized voice, "Two are free. Adamant encased another one in adamantium and Uiara is keeping that one underwater. She's frozen yet another one, but they're both still making progress. Radiant Silvergirl has three separated in black holes, but it's taking everything she has to keep them still."

"Moving to link up with Uiara," you say, your antigravity field letting you jump hundreds of feet in the air and land safely. "Any response on back-up?"

"Global Justice has finally responded, but they said they're not risking Justiciar," Moon River relays, "Her power doesn't work on them anyway. They're sending Shutdown and Joules instead. Shutdown might be able to seal one of them."

"New Dawn?"

"Novalight said they would be prepared in case we failed—"

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"—but Wolong is scrambling a team including Heavenly Astrologian, Cisma, and Umibōzu. Also your old mentor has some drones on the way. ETA ten minutes. Calm down, boss lady. Don't get your panties in a twist."

"Good. Tell SLAYERS and Les Quatre Saisons to stay on standby."

"One sec," Moon River went silent for a second before coming back, "SLAYERS acknowledges. Été used some choice language at being given orders but Hiver thinks he can help with his gravity fields."

"Good thinking. Get him—"

Your words are drowned out by a massive explosion that sends a glacier's worth of ice into the air. The six are suddenly ahead of you where Uiara should be. You don't see her—where is she?!

Suddenly, the color of the world changes as two more are absorbed by the Catch-22. Eight together. More than have ever been in one place at one time. Around them is a shimmering bubble of power that bends and distorts your vision, like looking through a funhouse mirror. They're all moving in unison, heads perfectly synchronized. They're pointing and laughing at something hovering in the air—a shattered figure in the shape of a person.

Yazmin!

You move faster than you have in your entire life, jets burning bright on your back. You grasp Uiara in your arms when you feel it: the weight of gravity here is unnatural. At least several dozen times that of the Earth. The air is thick and burns your throat to breathe. Your senses reverse; you can feel color and taste joy.

Uiara is floating by dint of the Catch-22's telekinesis, the enhanced gravity suffocating her and causing all her limbs to snap under their own weight. You feel it start to pull your brain through your skull and pulverize your bones as the Catch-22 turn to look at you all at once.

Nope. Nope. Fuuuuuck this.

Two can play the telekinesis game, you think as you change your loadout to "scissors". You slash a nearby Catch-22 with a blade of psychic energy extending from your arm and fire a stream of pure force from your suit. It knocks the wind out of you, but it drags you and Uiara out of their area of effect.

Yazmin desperately gasps for air as you hold and watch the two free members join the collective. Now only Radiant Silvergirl is keeping them separate.

"Yazy? Yazy? Are you okay?" you grunt. Uiara is still unable to move, coughing and weezing, but twitches a hand in acknowledgement.

"Boss. . . y-you can see them from space now. It's like a pillar of energy as tall as Jacob's Ladder. I . . . w-what are we gonna do?" Moon River says.

"I. . . I can hold these three. Lure the rest closer and I will use my repulsion to scatter them," Radiant Silvergirl says over comms. You can hear the strain in her voice.

"Wait, no! New Dawn's almost here, guys! Hang on please!"

You lie back and think. Towarri isn't invulnerable. Yazy could barely survive being next to the Catch-22. Towarri's plan might have had merit before, but, as they are right now, the Catch-22 will go through her like a scythe through wheat. New Dawn is too far away to help—if they even still can. On top of that, the Catch-22 could teleport before subsuming four more members. What can they do now?

". . . how much is Scarlet Maturity asking for again?" you sigh.

"Eight-hundred million, unlimited access to your lab, and three free commissions from you," Moon River says.

Ha! Is that all? And would he like a massage with that? Someone to rub his feet?

"And King's still MIA?"

"Y-yes, b-but I can keep trying to find him! Boss . . . Nora . . . you not thinking about using it are you?"

You blow out a breath as you make your decision. You press a button on the arm of your suit. You look to the sky and wait.

"Yep."

"Nora, please, no! Please! Y-Yazmin! She's gonna use that armor again! Stop her!"

You feel a hand grab at your chest. Uiara is barely able to stand, her body still in ruins, but she holds you with an iron grip and her eyes burning. You take your helmet off and gently pry her hand away. You guy to her the ground and stroke her face, memorizing every line of it.

God, she's beautiful when she wants to strangle someone.

"I love you, Yazy," you say, "But I must go."

There is a loud thud and spray of earth as a drone drops off a pod containing what you need nearby. You walk towards it, only to feel Uiara's hand on your leg.

"Why . . . you . . ." she chokes in little more than a whisper.

You give her a sad smile.

"Because, if not me, then who else? I can't just wait and hope someone else solves this problem."

That's not what heroes do.

You leave your heart behind and walk away. The pod slides open at your touch, revealing a round, modular device the size of your fist. It hums with an uncomfortable power.

Algernon-types tended to have specific fields of study where they used their power. It only made sense. Every use of your power brought you closer to the Rebound, so it was better to become the world's leading authority in one area of study rather than merely knowledgeable about multiple. Ọsanyìn had medicine, Steelhart has robotics, Mammoth Ibis has genetics, Anansi has computers, and Leathal Anodye has being a fucking asshole.

You put your helmet back on, reach behind your neck, and slide the device into the waiting port.

So what was the thing Valiant Silver knew more about than any other person, living or dead? Power armor? Energy Shielding? Psychic Fields? All close, but no.

The device crackles as it deconstructs itself and melds with the rest of your armor. Your armor's plating becomes more extensive, sharper. Your visor becomes a flat eyeshield over your eyes. You get cool shoulder pads and the crest on your head expands. You close your eyes and breathe in as you feel a connection jab into your neck and touch your spine.

The thing Valiant Silver knew more about than anyone else was . . . The knowledge gained in exchange for life, health, and sanity was about . . .

A message flashes across your HUD. A warning, a promise, a prayer.

. . . metahuman powers.

ACT IN THE NAME OF GOOD, YE WHO BEARS THE CONSEQUENCES OF THY ACTIONS.

FIND THY LIMITS.


Ė̴͓̩͓̗̞̘̒͌͗̎̓͌̒͆̑̐͗̉̅X̵̘͉̲̘̯̣̄͆̈́̿̒͠Ć̵̖̗̘̙̽͑̈́Ȩ̵̛͚̲̣̜̖̳̰͙̠̠̫̳̎̏̄͐̆͜É̸̢͔̥͈͛̿́̓͗̅̔̐͠͝D̶̜̑͗̃̉̃́͛̍̆͘̕͝͠.


* * *​

The lounge was the same as the last time you had been here. You were sitting on a couch in front of a low table illuminated by a flickering candle. The whole room was dimly lit, with the most light coming through a crack in the curtains that formed the wall behind you. Faint strands of music drifted in the air, the sounds of a great chorus muffled from behind the curtain.

In front of you was a bar with an impossibly expansive stock that stretched as far as the eye could see in either direction. As you approached the countertop, a seat was already pulled for you with your usual drink waiting.

You sit down. You don't have forever, but time is fluid in this place. The Woman in Blue seated next to you gave you a smile behind her opera mask, martini glass held to her lips. To anyone else, she would have been stunning with her slight, elfen frame beautifully accentuated by her long, deep blue gown that pooled around her bare feet.

To you, she just looked like she didn't eat enough.

"Going back out there?" she asks, smile still on her face, "You can't keep doing it. Your soul can't handle it."

You snort and take a sip of a drink that tastes like starlight and your father's old bedtime stories. "Soul? Getting metaphysical, now?

"What else would you call it? Your essence? Your psyche? Your oar in the sea of the collective unconscious? 'Soul' is as apt a description as any."

You don't argue the point but roll your eyes and take another sip flavored like your first kiss.

The Woman in Blue studies you for a moment before tracing the lip of her glass with a long, delicate finger. "You haven't found them, have you? Those who I told you to seek. The rotting-corpse of a man and the child-who-never was?"

"As I told you, I will take advice from strangle hallucinations when you clearly and concisely explain why. None of this 'you're not ready to know' crap. Just say what you mean or shut up."

She laughs, a clear, bell-like sound that you think is too raspy to be cute.

"That's not how this works. I can hide here because they don't know to look for me. Telling you too much will let Augur know he's not alone."

". . . so you can see the future?"

She laughs again. It's really ugly, you think, like she's gargled sandpaper. "No. No one can see the future."

" . . . neat."

"Not very trusting, are you? But I know that." She leans forward, grabbing your arm with a feather-light touch made of iron. "But if you won't heed my advice, will you at least take me on stage with you?"

You gaze back and pry her fingers off your arm. "Depends. I don't perform with strangers. Ready to tell me who you are?"

"Of course," she takes off her mask and gazes back at you with your face, "I'm Nora Kim."

"Nope. Nuh-uh. Fuck this. I'm out."

You get up from the table and got to approach the stage. But, before you do, you see something new. Something you've never seen here before.

There's another girl. She has dark skin, platinum blonde hair, and brown eyes so rich they look red. She's wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt with a picture of you in your armor on it and pink, fluffy slippers shaped like rabbits. She pauses mid-bite in the middle of eating the giant plate of spaghetti in front of her.

". . . who the fuck are you?"

"Oh, me? I'm, uh—wait. . . "

"What's going on?"

"What's going on?"

"I don't get it."

"I don't get it."

"Stop it!"

"Stop it!"

Reality shifts and distorts and your vision stretches like you're looking through a filled glass of water. Your head feels too small for the space it has to occupy, and you think you're going to vomit for a second. Then, just as quickly as the feeling comes, it passes.

You see Nora stumble grabbing her head and groaning. She looks at you with bleary eyes and asks, "Seriously, what the hell was that? What are you doing here?"

"I don't know!" you cry, "I don't know where 'here' is!"

"Wait," Nora says, "I recognize you. You're Mona, right? You're one of our interns in the Worker's Mitt? You make a really good chili?"

"The best chili!" you say proudly, "And yeah, that's me! I guess I'm dreaming or something? Crazy."

Nora shakes her head. "You're not dreaming. This is really happening. I think . . . you must have an extreme sensitivity to psychic fields. You subconsciously picked up on the burst from the EXCEED armor activating and got dragged her."

She considers you with a frown.

"Are you a metahuman?"

"Um, as of a month ago?" you say, trying to think.

"Huh. Remind me of this if you can when you wake up. We should train you. It's time for Justice Unlimited to expand anyway."

"Uhhh, yeah!" you say, freaking out a little, "You have noooo idea . . ."

Nora approaches the curtain. "Don't follow me. It's . . . not safe out there."

You look from Nora to her doppelganger at the table. "Is it safer to go with you than it is to stay here with . . . you?"

Nora sees where you're looking and presses her lips together so tightly they disappear. Then sighs and motions for you to join her.

"Fair point. Okay kid, pack your bags. You're about to go on a trip."

You take Nora's hand and she guides you to the otherside of the curtain.

It is a dissonant din of whiling voices all speaking, screaming, singing, supplicating and sensations you don't have the words for. Whorls and eddies of harmony swirl filling your heart with a rainbow spectrum of emotions that smell like fresh laundry. All the while there is a constant, low, droning note of a blind idiot god. A child could age from infancy to elderly age in the time it took to speak one syllable. Smaller and quieter, but just as distinct is the cry of a betrayed mother drifting from an unending imprisonment. There is a quick flash of a curious new life that is also somehow ancient looking at you, before it turns its gaze away. Finally, there is a gurgling of fetid meat amused by its own majesty. You've heard it before.

Really? Where?

It answered the cries of a child with a trillion eyes. You dealt it a wound. It was but a nick in a great sea of flesh, but it was enough that it became leery of voyeurism. The new sensation of ignorance was driving it to madness.

No way! Coolio.

Coolio, indeed. But the time in the spectral sea of the subconscious is over. It is time to wake up. It is time to


Ė̴͓̩͓̗̞̘̒͌͗̎̓͌̒͆̑̐͗̉̅X̵̘͉̲̘̯̣̄͆̈́̿̒͠Ć̵̖̗̘̙̽͑̈́Ȩ̵̛͚̲̣̜̖̳̰͙̠̠̫̳̎̏̄͐̆͜É̸̢͔̥͈͛̿́̓͗̅̔̐͠͝D̶̜̑͗̃̉̃́͛̍̆͘̕͝͠.

* * *​

You . . . are Nora Kim? You shake your head and focus. Holding on to what happens Backstage was always like trying to hold water in your hands—it just trickles away. You have no time to try to hold on to memories right now anyway. The Catch-22 has just subsumed the last three members and is now turning toward you.

Thirteen of the Catch-22 together, all at once. You can feel the world shudder.

Oh wait, that's literal. The ground splits and shatters as space folds like a napkin. They're trying . . . they're trying to bring the rest here. The nine other members. The Catch-22 wants to be whole.

Fuuuuuuck that.

You fold space yourself and in an instant you're in their sphere of artificial reality. But it's yours too. With a thought, ten-hundred-thousand of the sharpest blades of psychic energy The Red Huntress has ever produced appear and fall onto the Catch-22 like rain. You dice them down to the atom, but their component particles drift back in place like the wind assembling a puzzle.

They try to strike you with thousands of bolts of primal lighting, the air splitting as they try to dig through your armor and into your heart. You touch the lighting and it becomes streams of water shaped like a woman, which drives the Catch-22 down and pounds them over and over again with such titanic force that the ground turns molten.

All of this happens in the space between heart beats. You feel blood vessels burst in your eyes and the capillaries shatter in your nose. If it weren't for your power, the sheer calculations needed to control the psychic force from the Stage would have already caused an aneurysm. As it is, every second is another year off your life. You can only keep this up for moments longer before your body fails completely.

More than enough time.

The Catch-22, though mighty, don't have the same experience living that you do. They can't adapt like you are, see the metaphors for the truth behind them and the lies made real. They can't shape the world like you can and they know it.

So they go for overwhelming force.

Space and time switch places. The finite nature of space becomes unlimited, endless expanses of world stretching in every direction. You could walk for a billion years in any direction and make no progress so, paradoxically, you can't move at all. And time, which once would go on forever, compresses to a definite amount that concludes with a single, fixed ending: you would be pulled into the Catch-22 and cease to exist.

There's nothing you can do to escape. They're power outmasses you the way the sun outmasses the rest of the solar system. They were being cute before; this is real strength. Your death will happen, is happening, has already happened. You will end like this.

So you cheat.

You change your armor's loadout to "rock". Pylons extend from your elbows as your shield doubles in strength. With the might of EXCEED you can use its final function. You embrace your fate and fall endlessly toward the Catch-22. As you do, you prepare yourself. You will need to time this perfectly.

Except you fall faster than you think. With horror, you realize the Catch-22 has been subtly bending the light around you, fooling your vision. They realized you were up to something. You're closer than you think. Too close to use your final trick. Time ends—

And something pushes you back. A blast of light? A gravitational anomaly? Both? Either way, you have just enough time now. You prime your armor and it releases a pulse—

Nullifying every metahuman power in range.

The bubble of unreality pops and the Catch-22 separate, twitching and thrashing mindlessly. You grab each of them and, with the enhanced strength in your armor, throw them as far away from each other as possible. Some suddenly stop midair before rocketing away at ridiculous speeds—Heavenly Astrologian is here. As you reach the last one, it hisses at you like a feral animal. You punch it in the face so hard it's head explodes.

Whoops. Gonna have to track down the new member now.

A shrill beeping lets you know the EXCEED is failing. Your armor explodes off of you as it loses the ability to contain the psychic force you're pulling from the Stage. It explodes away from you, driving you into the ground.

You, uh, can't feel your legs. Probably nothing.

As your vision starts to gray out, you hear people speaking nearby.

"Hey, finders keepers, Chump Jr.! And you, Lady Leizi. How would you like to know what it's like to be with a hero instead of a zero—Leviathan's Blood, you just kicked me in the nuts!"

Heh. Good ol' Zixuan. Guess you can pass out now? But as you let go and let unconsciousness take you, you can't help but think about that last moment with the Catch-22. When you were pushed back in the heart of that anomaly . . . something helped you. Someone?

For some reason, as you finally drift asleep, you remember the image of a swan in a black hole.

______________________________________________________________________________

Mona's Side Effect Discovered!

??? —> Extreme Psychic Field Sensitivity!

 

[Rovos]

you know might as well throw in a suggestion in the ring

Candidate B
Name: Khaela Ghudura

Spoiler: reference image

Age: 32
Stats: 3 Hit, 2 Espionage, 1 Reputation, 1 Operations
Tolerence: 7
Chauser's notes: Not the oldest of our candidates but definately on the older side of the spectrum. Miss Ghudura works a dayjob as a Bouncer for one of the many clubs around the city by the name of the Djinn and Tonic. She has no outstanding police records. She however also lacks any Academic achievements, by her own admission she dropped out of high school at age 16. The reason for this was rather simple, her older brother and at the time recently married wife died in a villain attack while out in the city, this left Khaela to care for her Recently born niece Mensha. All in all she is a woman in great physical fitness due to the demands of her job even and a high tolerence to Ambrosia.
Lady Leizie Notes: I am aware of her for a simple reason, the Djinn and Tonic is one of the major mob fronts of the city, Perfectly legal itself of course. It isn't surprising that a 16 year old in need of a job to support an infant would fall into this type of place. Khaela herself is not a major member of the underworld for all that she has spend much of her time on it's surface. Her official job is that of a bouncer, it's also how she spends most of her time, but on occasion she fills the role of bodyguard during particulairly... Delicate buisiness meetings. She is someone we would need to keep an eye on for some time after joining, to be sure if nothing else. I should also look into who was behind the attack that killed her brother, just in case.

don't know if i made the tone of the notes right but i think it works. Khaela was my most recent cities of mist character and i am currently also using her in another thing. but i think her backstory broadly works in this scenario

(also just to note, her Mythos in cities of mist was Scylla, so dog headed tentacles from her waist, wonder if that's anything we could do, maybe by using maddie's sample somehow)

 

[Suleverf]

This is a delightful new quest to have found, the setting is quite intriguing and even the offscreen characters feel very distinctive!

Like many others I couldn't resist the urge to try and write up some hypothetical candidates. After seeing the power of tolerance 10 I wanted to try and see if something interesting could be done with candidates at tolerance 1. I haven't deeply considered the balance (as opposed to cool-sounding ideas and homages) or how far the starting stats can be cranked up before veering into metahuman territory. It's also kind of fascinating to compare stats for existing characters though difficult to draw direct comparisons for because HERO covers such broad categories.

Name: Alonso Salazar
Age: 50
Stats: HIT 1, ESPIONAGE 1, REPUTATION 1, OPERATIONS 1
Tolerance: 1
Chaucer's Notes: Alonso signed on with Justice Unlimited in its early days and requested to work as a hero despite having no powers whatsoever. When informed that it was far too dangerous a job for civilians, he claimed that he had a tremendous latent power that would awaken if only we would give him the chance. Any protests about how that was impossible at his age merely strengthened this conviction. We persuaded him to work in the office instead, but somehow he convinced himself that we were just waiting to call upon him when the time was right. That didn't stop him from begging any heroes passing by his desk to regale him with tales of their adventures though.
Unfortunately when Project Prometheus launched, his Ambrosia tolerance tested as one of the lowest we've seen so far. With no other remarkable qualities to speak of, I cannot recommend him. It should go without saying due to his insufficient clearance level, but please refrain from mentioning the project around him, as it would probably break his heart.
Lady Leizi: After Dr. Ibis completed his work on raising tolerances, he asked to review Alonso's data again, curious as to how a candidate with undeveloped abilities could also sport an extremely low tolerance. Much to our collective surprise, he discovered that Alonso could receive exponential benefits from successive treatments of refined goldnine up to an unprecedented ceiling. However, each successive treatment will have to be calibrated ever more precisely to avoid death.
It would be a massive investment that we can ill afford at the moment, and Alonso's delusions of grandeur and black-and-white views on justice may not play well with the realities of hero work. But I can't dismiss the possibility of needing such potential in the future.
Special: Each "A Spoonful of Sugar" treatment will give exponentially increasing bonuses up to a maximum tolerance of 16 (first is +1, second is +2, third is +4, fourth is +8, and then no more can be administered). The price of the treatments will also increase exponentially, tripling after each time.

Name: Samuel Minamoto
Age: 44
Stats: HIT 6, ESPIONAGE 6, REPUTATION 1, OPERATIONS 6
Tolerance: 1
Chaucer's Notes: Samuel is a former underworld assassin notorious for having the audacity to target metahumans and the skills to get away with it. He killed minor heroes and villains alike for a large criminal syndicate until it was destroyed by a metahuman coalition, after which he worked freelance and then disappeared entirely. According to Lady Leizi he became a wanderer during the long interim before entering into her service.
Though his Ambrosia tolerance is abysmally low, he wields custom-made weapons paired with a well-honed combat style that is especially effective against unaware or arrogant metahumans who fail to guard. In addition to combat prowess, he has a keen eye for assessing the abilities of his targets and figuring out countermeasures in both preplanned strategies and improvised tactics.
Personally, I have serious doubts about bringing a "reformed" hitman onto the team, let alone someone who killed heroes. Whatever loyalty he has, it's likely to his own personal code rather than to Justice Unlimited's ideals or even Lady Leizi.
Lady Leizi: Rare is the person who has spent their entire life killing to grow tired of it on their own before they get caught or killed, and rarer still is for them to genuinely try for atonement. Perhaps it's hypocritical to even think about extending this opportunity to someone like him, but it's no more hypocritical than giving clemency to rogue metahumans because their powers might do some good in the future.
He's deeply cynical and may clash with more idealistic teammates or bring much needed perspective depending on the situation. My impression is that he feels it is all too common for the world to make hollow mockeries of those who believe in the ideals of higher causes rather than those derived from the self.

 

[Bitterman]

Jacob's Ladder – Justice Unlimited Satellite Headquarters – December 4, 2067

There is too much happening in Horizon and there is especially too much happening in Horizon that you don't know about. The last time you called on your intelligence network, it failed you. Corrections had to be made.

Spoiler: Stat Check

Minor Success: DC 5. Moderate Success: DC 10. Major Success: DC 15.

Stat Check: ESPIONAGE 10. Justice Unlimited has a collective ESPIONAGE 26.

You rolled: 17.

17 + 8 = 25. Critical Success!

Corrections were made.

You pruned the rotten branches from your information tree and now there's not a movement in Horizon that escapes your notice. You can confidently say you know as much as there is to know about the mover and shakers in the city as you can be given that you have no metahuman powers aiding you.

You think of Rhys and smirk. No metahuman powers, yet.

You're still cackling to yourself when Mona walks into the room you claimed as your office. She has an unusually subdued expression on her face, and she sits down wringing her hands. She's notably not wearing your costume—you thought she had sewed herself into it with how little she took it off.

"Hey. . . LL?" she asks.

"I'm in a good mood, darling. I'll ignore you calling me that."

"I figured from all the evil laughter. It was pretty cool," she says demurely, looking down. Okay, now you're certain something is wrong.

You tilt her chin up with a finger. "Mona, what's wrong?"

"Heeeeeeeeeeee. . ." she says, taking on a dopey grin with your touch. Then she pulls back. "Wait, I don't have time to enjoy this! Lady Leizi . . . I think I'm either psychic or psycho and I don't know which!"

She punctuates that statement by sticking her hands on her hip.

". . . elaborate." You raise an eyebrow.

Spoiler: Stat Check

Minor Success: DC 5. Moderate Success: DC 10. Major Success: DC 15.

Stat Check: ESPIONAGE 3. Black Swan has ESPIONAGE 3.

You rolled: 5.

5 + 0 = 5. Minor Success!

She frowns and speaks slowly, thinking through her words, "I've been seeing . . . things around the base. Little flashes out of the corner of my vision of eyes on purple tentacles. They always disappear as soon as I notice them, so I thought I was just seeing things but . . ."

Your eyebrow is still up. "Why bring this to my attention now? Did something change?"

". . . well, um, lastnightIkindofastrallyprojectedintothepastandmetValiantSilverwhotoldmeIwassenstivetopsychicfieldsandIhelpedherbeattheCatch-22."

Your expression stays perfectly still. Your face is like a stone as you slide backwards, grab the bottle of bajiu Yazmin got you for your last birthday, crack the seal, and take a long, long sip.

"Mona," you say after the burn subsides.

"Yes, LL?"

"Next time lead with that! Now tell me everything. Start from the beginning. Now."

* * *​

By the time Mona finishes her story, you've finished the bottle and your stomach is churning for many, many reasons.

Spoiler: Stat Check

DC 15.

Stat Check: OPERATIONS 5. Lady Leizi has an OPERATIONS 5.

You rolled: 14.

14 + 3 (You Choose Fill-in Issue: EXCEED!) = 17. Success!

Not the least of which because someone with metahuman powers has been spying on you. The words Mona recounted from her dream ring in your ears:

It answered the cries of a child with a trillion eyes. You dealt it a wound. It was but a nick in a great sea of flesh, but it was enough that it became leery of voyeurism. The new sensation of ignorance was driving it to madness.

The creature Mona saw when she gained her powers was obsessed with not being seen. She also begged her "father" to not make her "watch" anymore. She was a spy. In Mona's dream, she was told that the damage she did to the "Father" made it "leery of voyeurism". It had been watching you through its "child". And now, the fact that it couldn't spy on you was driving it to madness.

If Mona has kept seeing this creature's eyes, then it means they haven't given up. But they're too scared of discovery to spy while she's around. You look at the nervous girl in front of you. But-for her psychic sensitivity born of a side effect of how she gained her powers, would someone know all the details of Project Prometheus? Would they know everything you've been up to, with you none the wiser?

Your blood runs cold.

Not to mention, what you've learned about Nora. You have extremely mixed feelings on that—more information your best friend never told you—but chief among them is envy. You would give anything to talk to her, any of them, just one more time.

"Tell no one about this," you instruct Mona, "This stays between you and me until we're certain they haven't only stopped watching when you're around."

"R-right," Mona nods her head. Good, she understands the gravity of the situation. She's a smart girl you think as you pet her head.

"Now, please go, Mona," you say as you taste bile, "I believe I may be ill."

"Ooooh, you look Rei did right before she—oof. Yeah, Rei did that too. I'll get some towels."

* * *​

Jacob's Ladder – Justice Unlimited Satellite Headquarters – December 4, 2067

The next morning, you sit down at a general meeting of the new Justice Unlimited, more than a little hungover. Unfortunately, you're not the only one who's had a rough night.

"Hiver is in mortal danger," Chaucer says immediately. There are deep, deep bags under his eyes. "He sent me a message last night to say goodbye. He thinks he's going to die."

You jump up from your miserable slouch. "Did he give details? What is he afraid of?"

"He's not afraid," Chaucer says, "He thinks there's nothing anyone can do to help him. He didn't use the precise word "die", but it was clear what he was discussing."

Chaucer slams the table. "Leviathan's Blood, Lady Leizi! The man was engaged to a woman who was like a sister to me! I know him as well as anyone, and I've never seen him this defeated."

"He askin' for a rescue?" Handyman—Rhys—asks.

Rhys had taken the name because "he did a little bit of everything". You honestly didn't get the joke, but you could appreciate a name that obscured someone's power. You once knew a villain who called himself "Antaeus". His combination of invincibility and ability to cause minor earthquakes proved troublesome until Rakeem, on a hunch, lifted him off the ground and rendered his powers moot.

Handyman is sitting in his "base" form, having declined a costume citing a lack of need. Given that he can freely change his shape, you understood his point.

Spoiler: Handyman

"No," Chaucer says through gritted teeth. "He specifically told me 'not to worry' about him. Martyrsome fool!"

He slams the table again. You've never seen him so worked up. "We have to help him, Lady Leizi!"

"Joelle . . . he sent me a message last night too. A coded message. He specifically warned us that Été's invitation was a trap." You sigh. "Can we really afford to not heed him right now? As understrength as we are?"

Chaucer doesn't answer, his eyes wide with betrayal.

"Unfortunately, Hiver isn't the only individual in dire straits," you say, not meeting his gaze, "I've gotten disturbing news about New Dawn."

"W-what is it?" Menagerie Witch asks, looking between the two of you.

"Wolong has been hiding how devastated they were during the movement. He's no doubt driven himself to the brink overusing his power. New Dawn doesn't have fifteen metahumans left on their roster. They don't have ten. They have five."

Even Dr. Ibis looks agog at that. "Five? Why that's . . ."

"As many as we have," you finish, "And with twice the territory. And possibly, twice the problems. It seems that nearly every escaped prisoner from Wonderland has converged on the Uni District."

Black Swan covers her mouth in horror. "Oh god, those people . . ."

"It must be a bloodbath," Chaucer breathes, ending his glower, "Those monsters all in one place?"

"That's the most concerning part: It isn't a bloodbath yet. They've been keeping a low profile. There's some havoc from those who truly can't control themselves like Third Person, but they're not rampaging," you say, "Nor are they fighting amongst themselves."

Handyman sits up, "Wait, you saying . . .?"

"They're organizing," Chaucer breathes, "And if New Dawn falls, there will be nothing there to stop them from taking control. Leviathan's Blood."

"But we can help New Dawn, right?" Black Swan says, "We're all good guys!"

"If it was the New Dawn of old, you would be right," Dr. Ibis says, "But diminished as they are? Given the sheer resources it would take to build them back up? We'd be better off spending it on Project Prometheus. At least then we would be guaranteed loyal metahumans."

You don't say anything. The doctor isn't wrong per se.

"Well, while we're talking about bad news," Handyman says, "My old buddies in Global Justice have been talkin'. The brass back in the States are talking about pulling the plug on the whole organization."

"But . . .why?" Menagerie Witch asks, "Isn't Global Justice there to help people?"

Handyman gives a sad laugh and ruffles her hair. "I wish, pipsqueak. No, the Ol' Red, White, and Blue fronted AGL and created Global Justice because they wanted Jacob's Ladder."

Menagerie Witch slaps his hand away, but looks attentive. You're honestly interested yourself—you've never heard the opinion of a former U.S. agent on the matter.

"See, the U.S. tried to build their own space elevator near Washington D.C. a while back. Called it the 'Liberty Tower' and everything."

". . . don't space elevators need to be near the equator or they'll fall?" Menagerie Witch asks.

"Yep."

". . . oh."

"Yeah, the Liberty Tower failing was a huge black mark on the ruling party. That's how President Thule and his cronies got swept in. They promised to 'assert American exceptionalism at home and abroad'. Everyone knew that meant 'take control of Horizon from the savages'. Real stand up guy, that Thule."

"Then why pull the plug on Global Justice?" Black Swan asks.

"'Cuz it didn't work! They never got further than the Foot. And now that Justiciar's dead, they got nothin'. Better to cut your losses now and claim it's to 'put America first' or whatever."

"Which will further destabilize Horizon and give Powers an opening," Chaucer sighs.

"Might even be what they're going for. Cut a deal with Dominion while saving face so you get something out of all of this."

"So we . . . convince them not to?" Menagerie Witch asks.

Handyman leans back and blows out a breath. "It's gonna be hard . . . If you want to keep them around, you're gonna have to give Thule a win. A reason to convince his voters that Global Justice isn't a waste of time and money. Something like . . ."

"Project Prometheus?" you say. That would be a victory for the Americans. One that would cost you dearly. Of course, there's another option . . . "Or, perhaps, we give them more information on the pieces of the EXCEED armor they stole from Valiant Silver. Enough crumbs might be too tantalizing to pass up."

"Or it would be just enough for them to work Stockpile until he Rebounds adn then cut bait anyway," Handyman shoots back, "Speaking of which, you wanna poach that kid?"

"I was considering it, yes."

"Look, I know that kid. He's a true believer in Global Justice, a real die-hard. He worshiped the ground they didn't let Justiciar walk on. You want him? You're gonna have to convince him that Global Justice is dead in the water and you did everything you could to save it. Long term investment is what I'm sayin'."

"For an Algernon-type that young? It might be worth it," you sigh, "Of course there's also possibility they'll force him to overuse his power regardless of what we do to recoup their investment."

"Yeah," Handyman says, "There's that too."

You rub your aching head and wish you had a hundred of the people at this table and a hundred hours in the day. Then, maybe you could handle everything on your plate.

But you can't. It a bitter truth every hero learns:

You can't save everyone.

Spoiler: Missions

MISSIONS

Making the Rounds (AP 1, HIT 2, REPUTATION 3): The Worker's Mitt is a series of "blue-collar" neighborhoods in Horizon, and the former territory of Justice Unlimited. The strife there is not as bad as in other parts of the city—perfect for a rookie hero on her first patrol. Go show the flag and remind everyone Justice Unlimited is still here.
Lady Leizi: Reports are limited, but there's been some rumors of two Silver Rank Behemoths being sighted in the area. It's nothing our current Justice Unlimited can't handle, and it isn't immediately pressing. However, the bounties would be nice for our coffers as well as being seen taking appropriately heroic actions.
(Chance of permanent global +1 to REPUTATION, Income +1500, Random event off the events table)

Pest Control (AP 1, HIT 3, REPUTATION 2): Odd monsters called Behemoths live in the QZ. It's a fact of life in Horizon, but, since the Leviathan stirred, they've been more active than normal. A few have even tried to get into the city proper, which would be very bad. A general call has gone out to anyone willing to help thin their numbers near the border. It might be good training for a newly-revived Justice Unlimited.
Lady Leizi: Again, routine work for us and money is always nice. More interesting is the potential to scout the QZ for possible routes to retrieve goldnine and avoid the R-Train.
(Income +2000, Chance of +1 to HIT, Intel about current state of QZ, Encounter with Gold-Rank Behemoth, Chance of Encounter with R-Train)

Cenotaph (AP 1, REPUTATION 3, OPERATIONS 2): You've had your private ceremony, but your team was beloved by many in the city. You owe it to them to let them mourn too. You owe it to your team. You owe it to yourself. Have a public ceremony to honor the fallen members of Justice Unlimited.
Lady Leizi: No public ceremony has been held in honor of those who fell in the QZ . . . or for Justice Unlimited's former members. It . . . would be nice. And, in more practical terms, it would give us an excellent opportunity to scout for potential candidates for Project Prometheus without arousing suspicion.
(Chance of permanent global +1 to REPUTATION, Recruit 2 to 4 low and medium tolerance candidates)

Meet the Rookies (AP 1, REPTATION 4, ESPIONAGE 3. OPERATIONS 1): The public needs to meet the newest members of Justice Unlimited. Surely, a carefully vetted interview will be a harmless way to introduce Black Swan, Menagerie Witch, and Handyman? What could possibly go wrong?
Lady Leizi: Takanashi Chihiro was Nora's old roommate in college and a current anchor on the Ọsanyìn Centralized News. She is also a fiend for hero culture. She has been salivating at the chance of an exclusive interview with the new interaction of Justice Unlimited. Doing her this favor would put her in our debt, and perhaps let us poach her from OCN.
(Chance of increase to REPUTATION for Black Swan, Menagerie Witch, and Handyman, Chance of eventually recruiting Takanashi Chihiro as a Public Relations Manager—+1 Global Action and New Global Actions Unlocked)

Smoke on the Water (AP 1, ESPIONAGE 4, OPERATIONS 4): The Demon Flamez were a gang of metahumans notable for their lack of concern for collateral damage and their fire-based powers. They were inmates of Wonderland until recently, and word is they've made moves to secure their former territory in the Old Industrial District. Which makes it all the odder that you've received a private communication from one of their members asking for a clandestine meeting.
Lady Leizi: We can thank our renewed control of the Worker's Mitt for the tip I received on the Demon Flamez. Certain elements of the OID are desperate to renew their contract with Justice Unlimited. Unfortunately, Powers is also making a play here, including possibly legitimizing and absorbing the Demon Flamez. Which makes it all the odder that Sparksurfer is telling every one of my informants he can find that he wants out and needs our help.
(Unlocks mission Fire in the Sky, Intel of current state of Horizon, Chance of new metahuman DNA, +1 to control of OID, Chance of eventually recruiting Sparksurfer and Jorōgumo) [3 Turns Until Expiration]

Mahou Shoujo no Justice Unlimited (AP 1, HIT 5, ESPIONAGE 3, OPERATIONS 2): Good news! Justice Unlimited's new, affiliate hero-squad is a massive success. Bad news! Justice Unlimited doesn't have a new, affiliate hero-squad. What is happening?
Lady Leizi: . . . it appears a metahuman team themed like "magical girls" are going around and calling Justice Unlimited. Including taking contracts out in our name. To make things more unusual, my information network in their territory has been subverted. They haven't gone quiet—they're feeding me bad information. I would have no idea if one hadn't used his "duress" code phrase.
(Unlocks mission Puella Magi Justice Unlimited Magica, Chance of new metahuman DNA, Chance of + 3000 Income, Chance of eventually finding supplier of goldnine, +2 to control of OID, Chance of eventually recruiting high-tolerance candidate) [3 Turns Until Expiration]

Seid ihr das Essen? Nein, wir sind der Jäger (AP 1, HIT 5, ESPIONAGE 4): Wonderland was home to some of the worst, most dangerous metahumans in Horizon. And some less-monstrous metahumans who were more politically expedient to make disappear. Its extralegal nature always offended Justice Unlimited, but, now that it's fallen, some monsters are on the streets. Find them and stop them.
Lady Leizi: See my notes concerning New Dawn. The situation in the Uni District is . . . deeply concerning.
(Chance of new metahuman DNA, Chance of global +1 to HIT, Income +1000, Intel on current state of Horizon, Chance to unlock mission Long Shadows of Night, Chance to unlock mission The Air in the Valley, Chance to unlock mission Grand Theft Person)

Hero Worship (AP 2, HIT 10, ESPIONAGE 6, REPUTATION 10, OPERATIONS 4) Following her sister's death, Yara Oliviera finds herself the new minority owner of 11% of the sharers of the largest megacorporation in the world. The exact number of shares her father, Jair Oliviera, needs to take control of said global megacorp. Even if it wasn't Yazmin's final request, it would be prudent to keep those shares out of his hands.
(Unlocks mission Reality Check, Chance of eventual sponsorship with Ọsanyìn—sponsorships grant Income and resources per turn, Chance of eventually recruiting a high-tolerance candidate)[3 Turns Until Expiration]

Break Glass in Case of Emergency (AP 2 , ESPIONAGE 8, OPERATIONS 10) Rakeem left you a cache of emergency supplies should the worst come to pass. He also left it hidden in a shipwreck at the bottom of the ocean floor. The ocean floor that has recently shifted due to the Leviathan's movement. This had better be worth it.
(+ 3000 Income, New Metahuman DNA, 1 of Mendicant's healing symbiotes, 3 of Valiant Silver's shield generators, 1 Ambrosia's worth of goldnine, a gift meant for Lady Leizi)

Train Kept a Rollin' (AP 2, HIT 6, REPUTATION 8, OPERATIONS 9) The R-Train is the main reason goldnine hasn't proliferated unchecked throughout the world. It is also the reason most Behemoths will never get anywhere near Horizon. It is automatic, unfeeling, and uncompromisable. It has enough firepower to level nations and the ability to continue on indefinitely. And Nora believed you can talk to it. She better be right. Black Swan's extreme sensitivity to psychic fields should allow you to reason with it. Or, if you'd prefer to do it personally, Nora claimed there was equipment in her lab that could let you do so.
(Unlocks Mission Tracking the Trackmaster, Eventual chance of establishing permanent supply of goldnine, eventual chance of alliance with R-Train)

Drove Through Ghosts to Get Here (AP 1, HIT 9, ESPIONAGE 7, REPUTATION 5, OPERATIONS 11): Time to go home. The Apiary was the headquarters of Justice Unlimited, and your home, for the last decade. The automatic defenses should last that long and more. Going back will be painful, but there are all the resources, tech, and information you could want. It's just not going to be the same.
Lady Leizi: Reclaiming the Apiary was already going to be more involved than simply walking through the front door, but there are additional complications. Someone has been spreading rumors that Apiary was a safe haven, and it appears there are people living there. Not the worst situation, but there is apparently a Named-Ranked Behemoth prowling near the Apiary and keeping those people trapped. We'll have to prepare ourselves for a fight if we are to go home.
(Gain the Apiary as a base, +1 to ESPIONAGE, +1 to OPERATIONS, New Metahuman DNA, unlock new personal actions, -1000 income per turn, access to Valiant Silver's lab and the EXCEED-BEYOND armor, Chance of alliance with Mendicant, Encounter with Named-Rank Behemoth—Floating Venom Morpheme, Income +4000)

Revelations (???): Someone tried to wake up the Leviathan. How? And more importantly, why? [Story requirements not met]

The Dragon of the New Dawn (AP 2, ESPIONAGE 4, REPUTATION 5, OPERATIONS 3): New Dawn was the original, and largest, hero team in Horizon, and the bitter rivals of Justice Unlimited. Like you, they suffered heavy losses stopping the Leviathan from awakening. Now, they're under new management, by Wolong, a.k.a Gabriel Qwan, a metahuman who is a potent force multiplier but individually weak. He now proposes an alliance to keep the city from burning. You could at least hear him out.
Lady Leizi: Wolong has done very, very well hiding how desperate the situation is for New Dawn. No doubt he's worked himself to the bone. Initial estimates put their manpower at between 10-15 metahumans. This is a clever bit of misdirection—he's been mixing up team compositions and listing the names of dead metahumans on reports. New Dawn has five active metahumans including himself. Baba Yaga is fully retired, and Arc hasn't been seen in public since the Movement. On top of that, it seems like nearly every prisoner from Wonderland has converged on their territory—I've gotten reports of Shroud, Third Person, and Abarimon in the Uni District alone. New Dawn is about to collapse, and, given his tone, I think Wolong believes we are in a similar situation and is hoping to recruit us. We may have unexpected leverage.
(Unlocks mission Long Shadows of Night, Unlocks mission The Air in the Valley, Unlocks mission Grand Theft Person, Chance of New metahuman DNA, Intel about potential location for a new Wonderland, Chance of Eventual Income, Unlocks University District as potential territory for Justice Unlimited) [1 Turns Until Expiration]

Who's Left Behind (AP 2, HIT 6, ESPIONAGE 5, REPUTATION 4): Les Quatre Saisons, or The Four Seasons as they were better known, were a four-person hero team with powers themed around the seasons. They were also all family members. Which makes the death of Automne, their youngest and most powerful member, all the more painful. The team is desperately proud, so the fact they're requesting a meeting and possible alliance with you means they must truly be in dire straits. You can give them a meeting, if for Automne's memory if nothing else.
Lady Leizi: Été sent a message demanding a meeting with her usual insulting demeanor. I believe she blames us for her sister's death and is seeking to extort money. Hiver, oddly enough, sent an extremely unusual private message with a more conciliatory tone: "To be honest, I'm sorry about my cousin. Really isn't the way to talk to people. About the meeting, I hope you won't worry about it. Perhaps we can meet again another time."
(Chance of recruiting Hiver, Intel about Powers, Chance of intel about Scarlet Maturity's true power, Chance of new metahuman DNA, Chance of Income, Chance of +1 to control of OID) [1 Turns Until Expiration]

Olympus has Fallen (AP 2, ESPIONAGE 4, REPUTATION 6, OPERATIONS 4): Of all the heroic teams in Horizon, Global Justice fared perhaps the worst in the QZ. No loss was more significant than Justicar, their leader whole single-handedly kept the Foot of the Ladder under control. Justicar's death has plunged the area beneath your feet into anarchy and it's not clear help is coming anytime soon. They are now led by Stockpile, an Algernon-type hero who, notably, is nineteen years old. That he's in charge does not bode well to how many of their members survived. No wonder he's willing to pay you just to speak with him.
Lady Leizi: Global Justice is down to three metahumans: Stockpile, Plasticity, and Perspective. Plasticity and Perspective have powers built around enhancing others while Stockpile is a very young Algernon-type. Global Justice has held the line with their non-metahuman security forces, but the writing is on the wall. The people who live in the Foot are flooding AGL with demands for increased metahuman security daily, but it seems the Americans are considering cutting their losses. Dominion and, interestingly enough, Ọsanyìn have been heavily increased their advertising in the Foot in recent days accordingly. Finally, Stockpile's offer of funding is genuine—it appears to be his personal life savings. He's yet to be seen in public without an extensive escort from AGL, when he is seen at all.
(Chance of new metahuman DNA, Income +2000, Chance of eventually recruiting Stockpile, Intel about why Justiciar was at the QZ, Unlocks Foot of the Ladder as territory for Justice Unlimited) [1 Turns Until Expiration]

Wider than a Mile (AP 4, HIT 45, ESPIONAGE 36, REPUTATION 39, OPERATIONS 38): Moon River was the seventh member of Justice Unlimited. To the world, she was a super-advanced AI created by Valiant Silver. In reality, she was the world's greatest technopath, able to control technology like it was her body. The only problem was, she had no ability to sense the world aside from technopathy. She didn't even know where in the physical world her actual body was. And now she's disappeared. Everyone else is gone; you won't lose her too. Find her.
Lady Leizi: I will find you, Eve. I swear it.
(Recruit Moon River, Intel about ???, Unlocks mission ???, ???) [9 Turns Until Expiration]

PERSONAL ACTIONS (Chose 1 Per Hero)
Lady Leizi

A Face that Toils So Close to Stones is Already Stone Itself (AP 0): You could always use some practice. Now, more than ever. Take some time to train a skill, maybe see if you can improve yourself. [Must Choose to Train HIT, ESPIONAGE, REPUTATION, or OPERATIONS] (Chance of improvement contingent on how high a skill already is. Higher skills will have a higher DC to raise)

The Spider's Web (AP 0): There are threats in Horizon that you know will only fester if left alone. With your intelligence network, you are a surgeon. Start cutting out the rot.
[ ] Le Petite Prince
[ ] Socialite Butterfly
[ ] Catch-22
(Choose 1. ESPIONAGE roll to gain intel about their movements and actions.)

Hit the Bricks (AP 0): Your new organization needs money. Money is exchanged for goods and services. You can provide a service in the form of an . . . endorsement. See if you can find a—Leviathan's Blood!—sponsor.
(REPUTATION roll to find a potential sponsor for Justice Unlimited—sponsorships grant income and resources per turn).

Beach Episode! (AP 0): Everyone has been pushed to the bring, and even you could use some time to relax. The Elysium Station on top of Jacob's Ladder is the most luxurious vacation destination in the world and you have a contact who can smuggle you and the rest of Justice Unlimited in. Go. Do it. You've all earned it.
(Intel about an Unfortunate Truth of this World)

Black Swan

Whispers Through the Web (AP 0): Intelligence work isn't all glamor. In fact, it's mostly boring. A lot of sitting around, watching, and occasionally talking to the right person at the right time. Have the rookie go do some of it. (+1 ESPIONAGE for Black Swan)

The Fourth Estate (AP 0): Public relations? More like public rela. . . shames? Right? Right. Something like that. Point is, you don't want to do it. Thankfully, you have a rookie for that. (+1 to REPUTATION for Black Swan)

Read the Manual (AP 0): Adamant was obsessed with creating proper procedure and protocol for basically every situation you could imagine. And he documented all of it. In 47 thick, thick volumes. If you had to suffer through reading them, so does Black Swan. (+1 to OPERATIONS for Black Swan)

Water-Cooler Talk (AP 0): Black Swan is now comfortably established in her role with Justice Unlimited. Maybe she should get to know the people around her. (Choose to talk to Joelle Chaucer or Dr. Mammoth Ibis) (Chance of Intel depend on who is chosen)

You're Not My Real Dad! (AP 0) Marisa Merola-Morales, Black Swan's mother, has been spending a lot of time with Chaucer lately. A lot of time. Black Swan has enlisted the rest of you in figuring out what exactly is going on. (Chance of random reward off rewards table)

Menagerie Witch
Who Doesn't Love a Power Testing Scene? (AP 0): Madeline is experienced with her power, but it is probably a good idea to test how she can use it without further damage to her body. Hopefully, somewhere deserted. (+1 HIT for Menagerie Witch)

Whispers Through the Web (AP 0): Intelligence work isn't all glamor. In fact, it's mostly boring. A lot of sitting around, watching, and occasionally talking to the right person at the right time. Have the rookie go do some of it. (+1 ESPIONAGE for Menagerie Witch)

The Fourth Estate (AP 0): Public relations? More like public rela. . . shames? Right? Right. Something like that. Point is, you don't want to do it. Thankfully, you have a rookie for that. (+1 to REPUTATION for Menagerie Witch)

Read the Manual (AP 0): Adamant was obsessed with creating proper procedure and protocol for basically every situation you could imagine. And he documented all of it. In 47 thick, thick volumes. If you had to suffer through reading them, so does the rookie. (+1 to OPERATIONS for Menagerie Witch)

Water-Cooler Talk (AP 0): Menagerie Witch is still getting comfortable in her role with Justice Unlimited. Maybe she should get to know the people around her. (Choose to talk to Joelle Chaucer or Dr. Mammoth Ibis) (Chance of Intel depend on who is chosen)

Madeline-Bowl LVIII (AP 0): Following the death of her mother Menagerie Witch needs a legal guardian. Fortunately, she has no shortage of people willing to volunteer. Unfortunately, she has no shortage of people willing to volunteer. There can only be one.
(Chance of random reward off the rewards table)

Handyman

Who Doesn't Love a Power Testing Scene? (AP 0): Your newest member has an unknown power granted to them through untested super-science. It's probably a good idea to figure out exactly what they can do. Hopefully, somewhere deserted. (+1 HIT for Handyman)

Whispers Through the Web (AP 0): Intelligence work isn't all glamor. In fact, it's mostly boring. A lot of sitting around, watching, and occasionally talking to the right person at the right time. Have the rookie go do some of it. (+1 ESPIONAGE for Handyman)

The Fourth Estate (AP 0): Public relations? More like public rela. . . shames? Right? Right. Something like that. Point is, you don't want to do it. Thankfully, you have a rookie for that. (+1 to REPUTATION for Handyman)

Read the Manual (AP 0): Adamant was obsessed with creating proper procedure and protocol for basically every situation you could imagine. And he documented all of it. In 47 thick, thick volumes. If you had to suffer through reading them, so does the rookie. (+1 to OPERATIONS for Handyman)

Water-Cooler Talk (AP 0): Handyman is a friendly guy. Maybe he should get to know the people around him. (Choose to talk to Joelle Chaucer or Dr. Mammoth Ibis) (Chance of Intel depend on who is chosen)

Lost Lenore (AP 0): Gus never told his parents that he was a metahuman, a member of SLAYERS, or that he had a boyfriend. He always wanted to come clean, but didn't know how. They don't even know how he died. Handyman feels like he owes it to them and Gus to let them know the truth.
(Chance of random reward off the rewards table)

Global Actions (Choose 1)

Justice Unlimited Wants You! (AP 0): If you're going to make new heroes, you'll need candidates who are the best of the best. Your current crop is fine, but small. Get out there yourself and find new candidates for Ambrosia. (New low to medium tolerance candidates, number depends on DC, - 500 Income, DC 5 ESPIONAGE Check to avoid revealing Project Prometheus)

Project Prometheus (AP 0): [No Ambrosia available, missing goldnine](Create new metahuman, -1000 Income)

A Spoonful of Sugar (AP 0): Dr. Ibis believes he can use refined goldnine to artificially boost a candidate's tolerance. Now you just need a candidate who's willing to give it a try.
(-2000 Income, Increase on candidate's tolerance by 1)

______________________________________________________________________________

You're going to fail someone.

Put your plans in the following format:

[ ] Plan But We Act Regardless
MISSION 1
MISSION 2
TOTAL AP: X
TOTAL HERO: HIT X, ESPIONAGE X, REPUTATION X, OPERATIONS X.

The vote will remain open for 48 hours.

TWO HOUR MORATORIUM ON VOTING.

 

[Kermie]

Kermie's Corkboard:​

Alright. We've seen a lot of things so far, and in the span of ONE ISSUE, we've seen some top tier worldbuilding. Like seriously, I wish I could do foreshadowing this well.

However, we've also seen a lot of things that we and anybody who we might team up with will have to solve. Call them "spinning plates" or "running problems." Since we've got to make a plan (and soon) we've got to have somebody to say what's important and what isn't.

So here I am. Think of this as a conspiracy board, for everything that we've seen so far. And if you see anything missing, make sure to comment so I can fix it. I'll be updating this every issue start.

(CURRENTLY UP TO DATE WITH: ISSUE 3.6: EIDOLON PT. 3)

---

Non-Starry Crusaders

• Also known as Crusade.
• An opposing hero team made up of four factions: Dominion and AGL (Mentioned Below) Qsanyin, and some of the Horae Guard, who are the metahumans from up in Elysium.
• Currently waging a PR campaign against us, saying that Valiant Silver caused the Movement.
• Will show up on Wonderland Missions.

Members:
(This list was made by @ScorpioSting. Thanks!)

Leaders:
-Gertrude Von Goethe. Acting CEO of Powers. Almost certainly Christopher Mason/Faust in a funny hat trying to lay low.
-Jair Oliviera. Osayin's son. Yazmin/Uiara and Yara's father. Slimy and ambitious, desperate to control Osayin. Needs Yara's shares to do so.
-General Oliver Bringham. CEO of Allied Global Logistics. Former Brigadier General of the US Army.

Powers Hires:
-Anansi. Algneron, computer specialist, brainwashed/mind controlled/hypnotized.
-Ete. Lethal Anodyne addict. Transphobia makes her PR weak link. Opale can open up about her abuse to try and get her banned.
-Ronin. Absorbs combat skill of people she kills, reason why there's no yakuza in Horizon.
-she's also our double agent, and extremely cool. The people in her head are also just… still there. Somehow.
-Brass Shield. Power armor user, makes hard light constructs. Stole his armor from a company, was forced to hero to pay it off.

Horae Guard Drafts:
-Seraph. Photokinetic of some sort, can send telepathic messages, has wings. Now dead and replaced by Socialite Butterfly.
-Sunlight Knight. Construct creator/photokinetic. Down horrendous for Opale, lovable and chivalrous idiot.
-White Hawk. Nepo baby from Elysium. Seems to be second in command, or at least in charge of the PR of Crusade. Unsure if naive and (figuratively) brainwashed, or knows what Crusade will do and just charming enough to hide it.
NEW ISSUE EDIT: May have been Ladder "rung trash" before rising up to become Horae Guard.

Global Justice Hires:
-Plasticity. Support hero.
-Perspective. Support hero.
-Joules. Coward. Sex pest. Got bullied by Chihiro into growing a beard.
-Stockpile/Valiant RWB/Valiant Justice. Algernon. Used scraps of Nora's EXCEED to build a new suit, PREVAIL. Has been fed doctored information that convinced him that Nora was tapping the Leviathan for a power source, and not The Stage. Leader. Emotionally immature and unstable.
(See EXCEED section for more on him.)

Steps Towards Solving:
Complete Wonderland questline. Fight them a lot more, PR-wise and physically. Clear Valiant Silver's name.

---

POWERS/Dominion (Or, Why Scarlet Maturity Is A Huge MOFO)

• Man, fuck Scarlet Maturity. He killed Apiary, and POWERS is mostly just his personal squad of body shields.
• And he's working under Dominion Security Enterprises, who are a bunch of annoying bastards that will save you… if you're rich.
• And Dominion's lead by this guy named Faust, who can sucker you into unbeatable contracts (unless you sign with a deadname). There's also Scarlet Maturity (see his entry in Anomalies below) And don't fucking get me started on Hero For Hire, the mercenary/tabloid bullshit thats going on. (Which is also a chatroom, becuase of course.)
• We managed to save Opale from them, but we found out something else: they're connected to Hand, the organization that Towarri was under, and they're planning some nefarious things. Also, SM is the Metahuman power-up guy for them.
• Currently under Gertrude Goethe (Faust in a funny hat) and laying low by laying off SM… for now.

Spoiler: Members:

Faust, Scarlet Maturity. (See their entries in Anomalies.)

The Giant Slayer. The leader of SLAYERS. Could shrink or grow objects while personally treating them as the same weight and size. Died in the QZ.

Epoxy. Member of SLAYERS. Could permanently stick two objects together on the molecular level, only capable of being separated by her. Also died during the Movement.

Earthen Owl. Could move through soil like water. Prehensile vines growing from his body. New ability to create clones of himself out of vines.

Blue Skies. Hydrokinetic specialized in the ability to manipulate water vapor. Could create and move clouds.

Marrow Spider. Osteokinetic assassin. Most commonly killed targets by firing shards of his own bones out of his body.

Lethal Anodyne. Algernon-type specializing in chemicals that affected the human body. Glorified drug dealer, tended to use neurotoxins in combat.

QUICK GORILLA. A literal orangutan named Peaches. The only non-human example of metahuman powers ever observed. Unparalleled speedster, capable of breaking the sound barrier. (OOC info: Not any smarter than the average orangutan.)

Ronin. Blademaster who gained the martial skills of whoever she killed. Personally destroyed the entire Yakuza presence in Horizon. Generally a pacifist, but recently has seemed to have returned to her previous violent ways. (Also our current double agent.)

The Brass Shield. Some sort of power-armor user. No idea if they made the suit themselves or not. Commonly employed hard-light constructs.

Shell Game. Con artist who could swap the positions of two small objects roughly equivalent in mass so long as they were not being directly observed by a living creature.

pHarreit. Capable of extruding acidic and alkaline compounds from her body at will. Arrested for attacking several of her classmates at Stonehaven College, now seemingly free.

The Bloody Slayer. Original leader of SLAYERS who left after disagreeing with the direction of the team. Made weapons out of his own blood.

Anansi. Algernon-type hero who specialized in "computers". Was a friendly rival to Moon River, and former member of New Dawn. Her defection to Powers shocked everyone.

Steps to Solving:
Slander them into the floor, and watch out for any other mercenaries.

---

The Hand Of Mysteries and Other Bullshit
(Partially contributed to by @Potato12345.)

• A strange militaristic cult.
• Related to Towarri.
• Identifiable by their tattooed "marks" on various places.
• Related to Leviathan???

Spoiler: Members:

Fish
- Not willingly working with them, is affected by Star / Hand through an 'improved' method (likely some form of brainwashing or mental alteration)
- State is deteriorating over time, not that we can do anything about it.
- Might be Uiara???

Star
- Female
- Is apparently responsible for Fish and Sun.
- Had a predecessor who was ignorant, who is probably now out of the picture.

Sun
- Male
- Probably toast beyond our recovery, likely requires the ultimate form of micromanagement to utilize.

Key
- Female
- Eusocial. "Society should be organized in a strict caste system organized around the needs of the reproducer"
-Socialite Butterfly?

Moon-over-Crown
- Male
- Has access to LA
- Social darwinist. "The strong become stronger or they are left behind."
- Intends to go somewhat loud, and to consolidate / ally with our opponents America & Allied Global Logistics in order to do so.
- Wants Worthy Opponents (up to a certain extent)
- Faust.

Lantern
- Female, probably young
- Impulsive, likely another of the Voices and can be detected by Black Swan / Apiary.
-Likely the childish voice/spy

Speaker
- Female, Japanese; possibly one of the Voices?
- OIC of the group?
- Speaks on behalf of Hand?
Valkyrie:
-Has calmed down from her crazy phase that got her locked up, if her meeting with Ellie is any indication.
-Knows things about the Stage and is worried about the effects of E-B, and does not like other Valiants, owing to her relationship with Takeshi/Valiant Red.
NEW ISSUE EDIT: Named Kyoko Shirayuki
-Has a connection to the Woman In Blue, via her memory. Was "unresponsive" after whatever Theodore pulled.
-Might be possessed by something. That, or whatever happened to her warped her personality.
-Believes that the existence of decay means that free will doesn't matter.
-Uses technology to track psychic phenomenon.

Hand
-'Blesses' people with something, and the method has been improved recently. (The blessing and the method may be distinct things)
- Psychologically cannot tolerate unknown factors
- Likely the 'disgusting' Voice?

Unknowns: Do they have more ways of effectively enslaving people than LA?
- They will be doing something major soon, but what?

Note: King is probably aware of something being really weird in the background, and now has help (Valkyrie?).

Interlocutor is an opponent of this group, took someone from the QZ?

Steps Towards Solving:
Probably just take mission Wider Than A Mile, since this organization mentioned that they're hunting down Moon River rn.

---

Global (In?)Justice
The Americans on Horizon. Run by Allied Global Logistics (American Feds), and currently all dead except for Stockpile and two other metahumans.

• They ordered Justiciar to the QZ, for currently unknown reasons.
• Stockpile is working with them, and has access to a piece of EXCEED armor from Nora.
• Thanks to a call from the Hand, we knew that that we had a double whammy coming up. Stockpile's had been suckered into evil, and we'd have to face the consequences later.
• And now, EXCEED will have a rival, piloted by Stockpile. EXCEED-BEYOND, meet PREVAIL Valiant Red, White, and Blue. (Which is a stupid name, btw.)

Steps Towards Solving:
See Crusade section.

---

Four Three Two One Season
(Partially contributed to by @ScorpioSting.)

• A superhero team filled with the members of one family. They are each themed after one of the seasons.

Ophélie = Automne = Autumn
Gwendolyn = Été = Summer
Jean-Luc = Printemps = Spring
Harrier = Hiver = Winter

Click to shrink...

• Their best member, Automne, is dead. Meanwhile, their other best member (morally) Hiver, might die.
• The Four Seasons are at the very least, somewhat associated with POWERS/Dominion. Scarlet Maturity's involvement is likely one of the reasons why Hiver's scared for his life. They invited us to a meeting (which was clearly a trap).
• NEW ISSUE EDIT: Hiver has come out as a trans woman named Opale! Gwen turned out to be a transphobe. (Boo)
• Opale has been saved! She's a part of the team now.
• Gwen is alive, still under Faust contract, and will probably seek revenge. A joke about adapting Majima Everywhere from Yakuza has been made about her.
• Gwen is currently working under Crusade. She doesn't seem too healthy.
• Jean-Luc was absorbed by Scarlet Maturity, and Maddie nabbed his corpse. His power is still usable in Project Prometheus, but it still seems to be connected to SM.

Since they're all dead/on our side now, we can consider this team dead and SOLVED.

---

A New (Old) Dawn
(Partially contributed to by @ScorpioSting.)
The old people that JU came from.

• They really did want our help, but they think we're as screwed as they are. We had to reveal Prometheus.
• Also, if we didn't do them, everyone in the university district would have died to Wonderland Criminals. And then those criminals are our problem.
• Wolong has agreed to work with us on Project Prometheus. He's given us the Uni District, the Zenith (their base) and New Dawn's heroes as summons per mission. When we wish, he's also willing to dissolve the whole New Dawn organization. He can also help us figure out Ambrosia synergies.
• However, he wants us to help out with the problem of Monarch. (See Anomalies for my reports on her)

Spoiler: Members:

Arc:

• One of the higher-ups from New Dawn, allied with Lightstep before his passing.
• Capable of 'reflecting' any attack, including insults. Made someone cry once through that.
• This does not stop the effects of goldnine, or at least didn't do her much good against it, however.
• Has lost both legs, one arm, and a few fingers on the remaining one.
• Medicant treated her, and she's currently recovering.

Wolong:

• Analytical metahuman, capable of processing vast amounts of information. Probably the world's best accountant.
• Can auto-crit OPERATIONS checks.
• Weakness: overuse gives him migranes.
• Is officially a consultant for Project Prometheus, and will be assisting Ibis with his processing to find synergies.
• Very grateful for what we've given him.

Gentleman James:

• Wears a tribly, and has developed a Cool Hat Club with Maddie because of it.
• Sociable and polite. Likes cool cars.
• Power: Can connect two objects, including people, with an unbreakable chain, which he can also shrink or grow as he pleases.
• Good for restraining targets nonlethally.

Dreamcatcher:

• Power: Can use weapons from his dreams. Cannot control what he dreamed of.
• Also a trans dude! Cool!

Palisade:

• Icy. Rakeem's ex. Not the best with Leizi because of that.
• Power: Creates a barrier around herself, can extend it around others.

Miss Naught:

• Archer. Power: Can call out a target, and then give her projectiles a homing capacity.
• Currently mentoring Maddie in the arts of snark.

Steps to Solving:
Work with them on stopping Monarch. Missions Long Shadows of Night, The Air in The Valley, and Grand Theft Person take down her weaker lieutenants and push her back in time for us to gain more metahumans, and LL can run espionage on her. Fighting the Ghost Dragon Triad also ruins her funding.

---

Legacy of Trilogy
(worked on by @ScorpioSting)

A trio of heroes who want to take Monarch down, but like, in a much more chill and subtle way than Crusade.

Marvelous Shine
-Male, Japanese, in his 50s
-An oldhead with experience. Was considered a peer of King and Novalight in his day.
-Power: Basically an Ultraman-he absorbed energy and used it to transform into a hard-light body that could fly, was strong, and big.
-Disappeared after the Sussaration because he didn't like the way heroism was transitioning. Ready to get back into the game.

Samsara
-Female, 20s, Indian? (off name and skin color)
-Marvelous Shine's step-niece
-Glamorous.
-Power unknown. Possibly related to spinning. Maybe psychic?

Gerridae
-Female, 30s????
-Kidnapped by Marie Marionette and then became a victim of Stitches, which left her face malformed or ugly and her body scarred.
-A hydrokinetic. Owing to her gear, probably cannot create water ex nihilo.
-Owing to her name, can probably walk on water?

---

Hearing Four Voices

• Thanks to multiple reliable sources (Dr. Ibis, Valiant SIlver, a glimpse from Mona's perspective) we have knowledge that there is something that all sentient beings's minds are connected to. It's called "The Stage". On the Stage during The Movement, four different voices (and Valiant Silver) were identified by Dr. Ibis, louder than the rest of everyone.
• It's reasonable to assume that they're connected to the Leviathan metaplot.
• We only know a few things about these voices: they're all evil as fuck, and they're all connected to the Leviathan.

The Leviathan

Four voices. One unfathomably large and low; a crushing pressure who would erase them all without noticing.

Click to shrink...

Directly confirmed by QM.
Extremely, extremely old. Came from outer space and died (but also lived)
Described in Nora's Fill-In Issue as a "blind idiot god".
It's blood, goldnine, instant kills people, spawns Behemoths, and can be used in Ambrosia.
Awoken by the Woman In Blue's team(???)

Valkyrie

Another, high and sweet and full of rage.

Click to shrink...

The most powerful psychic in the world. For reference, she's more powerful than EXCEED Valiant Silver.
Tried to throw a crap ton of goldnine on the world in order to kill everyone and shut down Jacob's Ladder.
Currently escaped from Wonderland and missing.
Capable of telepathy and telekinesis.
Mad because of Princess being taken?
S-Lister metahuman. Top 1 psychic. Went insane a few years back, causing the Susurration.
May currently be working with King.
Somehow affected by the Ladder, Princess's mom?
NEW ISSUE EDIT: Has calmed down from her crazy phase that got her locked up, if her meeting with Ellie is any indication.
Knows things about the Stage and is worried about the effects of E-B, and does not like other Valiants, owing to her relationship with Takeshi/Valiant Red.
May have had some sort of miscarriage?

Rotting Man

A third, deluded and cunning, begging for all, unearned.

Click to shrink...

-Clearly some sort of weird shadow manipulator dude. Described as a sack of fetid meat or something like that by the Lady in Blue.
-The… parent(?) to the next voice.
-Really into voyerism (I have a feeling I misspelled that) which is considerably bad considering that our whole thing is being the group with the intel.
-was blasted by Mona, currently MIA.
-Motives and goals completely unknown.
-Probably a relative to the Leviathan in some way.
-Almost certainly in Hand, or at least a client to them.

The Unseen Child/Lantern

A fourth, confused and hurt and trying to still troubled waters the way you smoothed out wrinkles on a sheet.

Click to shrink...

-Seen right at the beginning of the story, when Mona
-It's childish, and doesn't want to be seen.
-Like some sort of living spy drone.
-Also probably a Leviathan relative.
-AKA Lantern (see Hand section).

Steps Towards Solving:
Take the mission to save Moon River when that's available, as that unlocks a set of missions that are currently all question marks and may be connected to this.
Have more encounters with the R-Train, who is deeply connected with the Leviathan.
Progress the story.

---

EXCEEDing And It's Consequences

EXCEED

• The first iteration of this advanced form for Valiant Silver.
• Caused Nora to have to use her Algernon powers at full intensity, shaving off a year of her life per second used.
• Demonstrated a variety of powers, which seemed to be imagination based. Red Huntress's energy blades, and a facsimile of a water Uiara were highlights.
• Able to keep up with the Catch-22. At 13 members. Had a pulse that totally negated all metahuman powers.
• Allowed Nora to have a direct connection to the stage, and reach Backstage.

EXCEED-BEYOND

• The sequel to EXCEED. Created by Nora as a version of EXCEED that wouldn't kill the user within a few minutes.
• Found in the Apiary, along with Nora's second-to-last message.
• Has all the powers of the first one. Just like EXCEED at base, the powers are separated into three modules, plus an extra one that allows for Opening The Stage (read: likely reality warping)
• To be used, someone has to take a modified version of Nora's DNA (which is 13 Potency, so we need a max Tolerance candidate), which will guarantee them the side effect Psychic Field Senstivity. However, unlike Mona, the user will only suffer the side effect out of the protective suit.
• Almost certainly broken as fuck, and likely necessary to deal with certain Leviathan things.
• Piloted by Noelle "Ellie" Han, the daughter of Heavenly Astrologian. AKA Valiant Gold.
• Nora mixed up the instruction manual for it with… her VS/Uiara lesbian fanfic. Yay.
• Transported Ellie to the Stage, but we didn't get much info on how.
• Protects against psychic attacks while the user is inside it.

PREVAIL

• Also known as Valiant Red, White, and Blue. (Stupid name.)
• Piloted by Silvio, formerly known as the Algernon Stockpile.
• Seems to have taken bits and pieces from the original EXCEED.
• Powers unknown, but QM has compared it as the "Vergil to EXCEED's Dante". Likely has one really good mode instead of multiple modules.
• in possession of Telekinesis focused of slashing, Power Null, and Teleportation. Again, not beating the Vergil allegations.
• Also seemed to trigger warnings of Psychic Interference in EXCEED-BEYOND. Making Silvio angrier???
• NEW ISSUE EDIT: Works by absorbing psychic fields of others. Big danger to anybody with Psychic Sensitivity.
• Silvio's gotten better at using his teleportation. Like, he's really good at teleporting now.

Steps Towards Solving:
Try out Open The Stage. Kick Silvio's ass. Train up Ellie.

---

A Lady In Blue, A Man With Clarivoyance(?)

The Woman In Blue

• A mysterious woman, who lies Backstage. She runs a bar filled not just with food, but with experiences. Comes in such flavors as "your father's bedtime stories" and "your first kiss". Scrumptious.
• Doesn't do too much, because she doesn't want Augur to find her.
• She gave Nora instructions to find two of the Four Voices. Nora never did, but we don't know. After all, we still haven't seen what lies in the deepest part of the Apiary.
• Also, is apparently Nora Kim?!?! Or at the very least, has her face. Weird…
• Nora's "counterpart", whatever that means. It has been theorized that Algernon types need a partner to safely use their power, similar to Pacific Rim's Jaegers… but take that with a grain of salt!
• Was part of a team that awoke the Leviathan???
• Also referred to herself as the "mother of psytech" despite the fact that Nora invented psitech.
• Alternate Universe Nora, Zero Escape Style? Time Traveler???
• A complete enigma.

The Stage

• The "collective consciousness" of all sentient beings.
• It's likely that the Susurration affected it somehow, but we don't know enough to confirm.
• Just like Backstage, which is where the Woman in Blue resides, it runs on non-linear time. Mona was pulled back in time to when EXCEED activated, which helped Nora beat the Catch-22, which in turn likely inspired Project Prometheus.
• currently very fucked up thanks to the Leviathan's awakening.

Augur

• The Woman in Blue told Nora this:

"That's not how this works. I can hide here because they don't know to look for me. Telling you too much will let Augur know he's not alone."

". . . so you can see the future?"

She laughs again. It's really ugly, you think, like she's gargled sandpaper. "No. No one can see the future."

Click to shrink...

• Augur's power is almost certainly not just some future sight. That's one thing we can be sure about.
• the Woman In Blue seems to be opposed to him.
• Also a time traveler/AU refugee??? Assuming that he's "Oscar", who took "a device" and "ran away". Whatever that means.
• NEW ISSUE EDIT: Related to Theo, whoever that is.
• Searching for a "Golden Route". Time looper/Zero Escape style SHIFTer highly likely. Perfectionist streak?

Steps Towards Solving:
???
(Take leads on Hand? Idk.)

---

Blood Of The Leviathan

• We gotta get more Ambrosia.
• And to get more Ambrosia, we need more Goldnine.
• And to get more Goldnine…
• New issue edit: we can pay Yellow Qilin for Goldnine. It's expensive though, and gets into Monarch's coffers.

Steps Towards Solving:
Take missions Train Kept Rolling.

---

Kingdom of Thieves
(Partially contributed to by @ScorpioSting)

• Most of the Wonderland escapees, who have unified around Monarch.
• Have taken over the NID. Nobody allowed in or out.
• Unified around Princess, Monarch adoptive daughter.

Monarch
-A petty thief, who was unjustly thrown into Wonderland due to her power making it extremely easy for her be an escape artist. Now she's out, and she's slowly starting to organize the Wonderland escapees.
-Can create "gates" which allow for teleportation to anywhere, conserving momentum as well.
-Bitterman has stated OOC that she would have linked the Uni District with the QZ, where the Leviathan is, if we had let the New Dawn mission expire. This would have turned Uni District into goldnine hell. Let's not have that happen, shall we?
-Trying to take control of NID to give Princess a safe place to live.

Princess
-Monarch's adoptive daughter. Extremely, extremely dysmorphic. On her back she has two head-like lumps, one of which looks like Scarlet Maturity, the other, a woman's face.
-May be boosting others powers. Power copier? SM power copied?
-All Wonderland villains are (apparently) unified in making sure that she stays safe.
-The Horae Guard want her for some reason.
-Born in Wonderland, mother and father unknown. Confirmed by Bitterman not the result of rape/sexual assault.
-Loves her mom, but also really likes Mona and the deceased Apiary.
-10-12 ish in age.

Hercules
-Monarch Lieutenant.
-Strong and durable. Notably, completely immune to ranged, energy-based attacks, and elemental attacks, vulnerable to only physical damage from close quarters.
-Current best counters: Ellie (Rock), Rhys, Mona's Lightspeed Dash

Warpstar
-Monarch Lieutenant, serial killer.
-Dysmorphic appearance, a black outline with jagged edges who moves like he's being fast forwarded and rewound.
-Shockingly affable personality.
-Power: Strong, can teleport parts of his body anywhere he can see, making him hard to pin down and adept at attacking from unexpected angles quickly.
-NEW ISSUE EDIT: also apparently a Chihiro fan.

Acid Rain
-Monarch Lieutenant.
-Algernon-type. Specialization: Acids, bases, dispersion methods. Mass casualty event waiting to happen.
-Has not said a single word out loud yet.

Marie Marionette
-Monarch Lieutenant.
-Hydrokinetic, specialization in manipulation of bodily fluids, aka Bloodbending.
-Got an arm torn off by Warpstar, as one of Monarch's "punishments".
-now basically has a blood arm. Fun.

Dollman
-Monarch Lieutenant
-Algernon-type. Has a toys/childhood aesthetic sense.

Currently Arrested:
(Note; all these guys are going to The Brig, the Wonderland replacement Silvio whipped up.)

Luftwaffe
-Former Monarch subordinate
-Actual Nazi
-Flying, dropped energy bombs below him (hence the name, the German air force responsible for the Blitz in England during WW2)

Enforcer
-Former Monarch subordinate
-Political prisoner/vigilante, killed guy that sold off NID food stores.
-"Punches your organs". Telekinetic, speciality in piercing through into the body?

---

Two Rich Families, 11% In Stocks

• Qsanyin was the first metahuman and first Algernon. He revolutionized medicine, funded Wikipedia and Ao3 (now Ao2) forever, created Horizon, and created the Ladder. (See below)
• Now that he and Uiara are dead, exactly 11% of his corporation's stocks are given to her kid sister, Yara. Just enough for her father, Jair the nepo baby, to take control of Qsanyin, which is the company founded by Qsanyin and the biggest megacorp in the world. Belle Sabreuse, a Ladder-born but down to earth mercenary is currently protecting Yara out of goodwill.
• On an unrelated note, Harper English (Red Huntress of old JU) had a sister 12 years older than her. Socialite Butterfly, who could create metahuman clones via touch forever. These clones kept their powers. They were part of Mc-Leod-English Construction, another megacorp. Now, Socialite Butterfly is gunning for Yara. We don't know why— perhaps to get those stocks. She may or may not (leaning towards latter) be hired by Jair. Or maybe she's a Philosopher.
• May have cloned all of New Dawn during Crusade Fill-In.

Steps Towards Solving: Finish Eidolon, and then see what comes of it.

---

One Way Ladder

• The Ladder. Megastructure created by Qsanyin as world's first space elevator. Qsanyin died before it finished.
• Elysium, one of the top most stations, is a rich people haven.
• All the orphaned kids living in the empty spaces in the middle are called "rung-trash", relegated to being grunt workers for the Elysiumites. Belle was one, implied that White Hawk may have been one before betraying them for Horae Guard.
• Horae Guard comes from here, they're bodyguards for Elysiumites.
• There's some sort of space port being constructed, but it's currently unfinished.
• Ladder itself some sort of psychic amplifier? Boosting powers? Made Valkyrie go insane?
• NEW ISSUE EDIT: Seems whatever went on up there had something to do with the Defiance Unit. Defiance Unit prob made contact with rung trash but got sold out.

Steps Towards Solving: Take "Beach Episode" global action to actually go up there. Kick White Hawk's stupid ass. Take either Sussuration or Defiance Unit fill-in.

---

Anomalies
All the weird individual figures who are super powerful and super mysterious.

Faust:
CEO of Dominion. Is bankrolling some really bad things.
Has the power to sucker people into psychologically unbreakable contracts.
Said contracts can be beaten… if you sign with your deadname or deadname equivalent. Unfortunately, most of our characters are not trans or NB.
Also Moon-Over-Crown from the Hand.

King:
Top 1 Metahuman. Always MIA.
May have the power to control nuclear forces (the strong and weak forces) and deatomize people.
Fought SM once, but stopped because of reasons mentioned below.
Hunting the Interlocutor.

The Intelocutor:
A child (???) of the Leviathan.
Gave Yellow Qilin the piece of the Frozen Throne.
Does not have a name.
Associated with both the Leviathan and the FT???
NEW ISSUE EDIT: Sees the world in "Me" and "not-me" terms.
-Body hijacker seems likely. Using Nora's body at the moment? Felt Nora's pride in Ellie inside themselves.

The Frozen Throne:
A mind controlling entity, who can warp and change space within its domain. It's perimeter is increasing by 1-2 inches per year. It's also somewhat sentient.
Apocalyptic Powers.
Wolong is thinking of putting a Second Wonderland on its perimeter.
Thanks to Noelle, we saw OOC that goldnine counters its freezing effects.

Catch-22
22 idiots. Put just four together, and we're already screwed. Don't put them all in one place.
One in the Apiary, one in Frozen Throne, others in non-Horizon locations.

R-Train:
Makes sure the Goldnine doesn't get out. A fleet of giant robots, drones, and Terminators. Uber-powerful. Also may be negotiable with???
Probably Valiant Red's creation.
NEW ISSUE EDIT:
-Brain is split in two: a purely logical robotic mind that only cares about it's designated zone/Goldnine detection, and a snarkier, more human one who sees the bigger picture.

Medicant:
Best healer in the world, using symbiotic creatures to heal. Uses they/them pronouns.
Currently holed up in the Apiary. While not formally associated with Justice Unlimited, they're selling their extremely powerful symbiotes to us for a cheap price of 3000 Income. That's an extra life for a character, btw.

Scarlet Maturity:
(This entry was contributed by @ScorpioSting!)

• Real name: Christian Marlow.
• Power: Can increase the abilities and strength of others through some sort of agreement. Can often come with new tricks.
• However, whenever Scarlet Maturity is killed with sufficient enough force (which is quite hard at this point), he can collect on anyone he's loaned power to, killing them in order to regenerate his body, stronger than before.
• His own body uses tactile telekinesis to hold his own atoms in place, has extreme regeneration and strength, and is very tall, growing taller for each collection.
• Known enhanced allies: Ete, Earthen Owl, Shell Game
• Maybe enhanced list: Blue Skies
• Collected on and killed: Pritemps

Socialite Butterfly

• Harper (Red Huntress's) sister. A power copier, which is terrifying in this setting.
• Can make copies of anybody on touch. If they were a metahuman, the powers carry over.
• Clones die quickly, but the clones can be cloned. Clones are also terribly bad at acting.
• Possibly working with Wonderland Inmates, as the supplier of Power Enhancement for them.
• Also targeting Yara. Likely to kill and replace her.
• Vain and likes to monologue.
• NEW ISSUE EDIT: Was abused by her parents who wanted the family fortune, absolutely snapped.
• Has clones of many top tier metahumans that aren't psychic. Justiciar+Scarlet Maturity is a notable instant-win combo.

Yellow Qilin
-Leizi's half-sister.
-Has the power to imbue small powers into certain objects. Limits increase based on the "quality" of the material.
-Used chunks of the Frozen Throne to power up herself and a group of "magical girls", at the cost of needing goldnine to stay not frozen-throned.
-funding Monarch.

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A Tally Of The Dead
A lot of people died in the battle against the Leviathan during the Movement. Here are some of them.

• Everyone whose DNA profiles we have. (They will not be named, but note that anybody who we're considering to use in Ambrosia must be dead)

(The Original) Justice Unlimited:

• Valiant Silver (?)
• Radiant Silvergirl
• Uiara
• Literally every single hero except for Lady Leizhi and Moon River.

New Dawn:

• Steelheart (Algernon Type, Wonderland is open now since he's gone)
• Heavenly Astrologian (One of the Top 5 Metahumans, could control a fundamental force, inertia, Ellie's mom)
• Lightstep
• Cisma
• A lot of others.

Global Justice:

• Like, literally everyone except for Plasticity, Perspective, Joules, and Stockpile. Which is bad, because the first three are completely garbage, and Stockpile was genuinely willing to put up his life savings.

POWERS/Dominion:

• Jean-Luc, Gwen's husband. Lmao get deaded bozo.

Crusade:

• Seraph, after a run-in with Socialite Butterfly.

Civilians:

• The old boss of the Worker's Mitt, Lucien Tossaint. (Died in a riot a few days afterwards, Name may be spelled wrong)
• Natasha (NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH NATALIE), John Henry's oldest daughter. (Died in attack from Demon Flamez after Movement)

Others:

• A lot of Socialite Butterfly clones.

Steps Towards Solving:
Just wait for more of the story to be revealed to us.

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C-c-c-COMBOS!
Well, we've got some ideas for Ambrosia later. Here's a easy way for you to find them.

@Arcus also has a list that's more up to date, right here.

Chimera

Chimera

• Keywords:
  • 3x Transformation (Daggermaw, Adamant, Red Huntress)
  • 2x Fitness (Soldier X, Red Huntress)
  • 2x Regeneration (Soldier X, Adamant)
  • 2x Enhanced Strength (Daggermaw, Adamant)
  • 2x Enhanced Senses (Daggermaw, Red Huntress)
  • 2x Energy Manipulation (Crimson Soprano, Red Huntress)
  • 1x Flight (Crimson Soprano)
  • 1x Solar Absorption (Crimson Soprano)
  • 1x Speed (Red Huntress)
  • 1x Invisibility (Red Huntress)
  • 1x Clairvoyance (Red Huntress)
• Side Effect Chance:
  • Major Side Effect: 99-75
  • Moderate Side Effect: 74-55
  • Minor Side Effect: 54-25
  • No Side Effect: 24-1

It was a choice between adding Steadfast or Crimson Soprano to Chimera, and I ultimately ended up deciding to go with the latter. Steadfast's Invincibility would be very strong, but we already have Adamant's Regeneration so it would be a bit redundant. Instead, I opted to guarantee a more versatile set of powers that has an answer for every situation.

With Crimson Soprano and Red Huntress' Energy Manipulation, Mona has options for melee and range combat, and we guarantee her some form of much needed mobility by having both Flight and Speed at 1x. We're unlikely to get both, but chances are high that we'll get at least one of them. Enhanced Strength is self-explanatory, but it's a much-needed addition to make Mona even deadlier in melee, while Enhanced Senses makes sure that she can spot ambushes and any surprises in advance.

The star here, however, is Transformation. We need someone iconic to carry the legacy of Justice Unlimited, and there's little more iconic than being able to turn into a dragon whose breath are beams of energy and whose scales actively grow back. The stat boost is nice too.

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Metamorph

[X] Plan Metamorph
-[X] [The Outsider] (Potency 4)
-[X] [Adamant] (Potency 3)
-[X] [Steadfast] (Potency 2)
-[X] [Crimson Soprano] (Potency 2)
-[X] [Daggermaw] (Potency 1)
-[X] [Soldier X] (Potency 1)
-[X] Potency Reduction (-3 Potency)
-[X] Total Potency of Dose: 10

A very... ambitious plan. The hope is a powerset that's both highly flexible and highly powerful. Tags are:

Transformation x3
Energy Manipulation x2
Enhanced Strength x2
Regeneration x2
Enhanced Senses x1
Fitness x1
Flight x1
Invisibility x1
Invulnerability x1
Solar Absorption x1

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Sir Suffering

Deadman (5) + Adamant (3)

Adamant was explicitly described as "a fount of Liquid Metal in human skin". Deadman could turn himself into magma, (edit: his blood, close enough) which can be the result of overheating metal. There are our clues, but what about our powers?

With this combo, our poor, poor candidate can:

• Transform themselves into walking magma (try and punch this, villains)
• Immediately kill themselves with the metal in order to trigger the Deadman powers.
• Heat up almost any metal in their vicinity. (This includes themselves!)
• Make some sort of… liquid admantanium. Oh god.

Edit: this is just the "make 5 Tolerance and up candidate suffer" plan.

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After further deliberation, when we get our next character for this plan, the plan will be called… "Sir Suffering".

Sir=Man, like in "Deadman"

The suffering part is self-explanatory. But Rhys got zero votes in that candidate vote, he can just get used to it.

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Sir Suffering (Revised)

[ ] Plan Sir Suffering (Revised)
-[X] [Deadman] (5 POTENCY)
-[X] [Adamant] (3 POTENCY)
-[X] [Daggermaw] (1 POTENCY)
-[X] POTENCY REDUCTIONS (-3 POTENCY)
-[X] TOTAL POTENCY OF DOSE: 6

THE SUFERRING

THE SUFFERING IS REALLLLLLLL

(Daggermaw was added for more transformation and enhanced senses. Henshin!)

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Wade Family Combo

This is a very good one, not gonna lie.

Also, I'll say it now since the front runners are pretty well decided, there is an absolutely *busted* combination for only 8 in here that I left clues for. I wonder if anyone saw them?

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Wade Family

• Potency 2 (Steadfast) + Potency 3 (Adamant) + Potency 3 (Dragonsteeth) = 8 Potency
  • 1x Invulnerability (Steadfast)
  • 1x Transformation (Adamant)
  • 1x Enhanced Strength (Adamant)
  • 1x Regeneration (Adamant)
  • 1x Energy Manipulation (Dragonsteeth)
  • 1x Construct Creation (Dragonsteeth)

As we can see, it defies what we thought would make for a good build since there's no overlapping keywords that guarantee the appearance of a superpower. Only Invulnerabilty from Steadfast is guaranteed since it's his only keyword, but perhaps since we're using DNA as a basis for our superheroes, the familial connection makes all of these powers appear?

If so, supers who're part of the same family tree just became real important assets for us.

If we use this for Rhys, we have to reduce the Potency by 2, but we can also fit Daggermaw into this to 2x Enhanced Strength and Transformation. Though, doing so is probably inadvisable since if the key here is the genetic connection, then adding someone unrelated may spoil the entire bunch.

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I would say you're focusing too much on keywords and not enough on what the powers actually do. Dragonsteeth made minions but was limited by the energy she had. Adamant was a endless source of a regenerating super metal. Steadfast was unkillable. Even with a lack of overlapping keywords, the nature of those powers synergizes really well.

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Bulletproof

[X] Bulletproof, Math Right Edition
-[X] [Adamant] (3 POTENCY)
-[X] [Steadfast] (2 POTENCY)
-[X] [Daggermaw] (1 POTENCY)
-[X] [Soldier X] (1 POTENCY)
-1 Potency Reduction
-Total Dose Potency: 6

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My explanation for Bulletproof is simple: As said, we need a guy who Punches Good.

Punching Good does require a degree of durability, certainly, to get in close and not get blown away. But Punching Good also needs you to, you know, punch GOOD. Aka, Strength.

Daggermaw and Adamant provide Strength, which we don't have in any other profiles. Fitness from Soldier X will also provide a minor boost in all attributes, Steadfast and Adamant provide the defense to get in close, Daggermaw might also add in some extra utility via a sensory ability.

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Astral Chains

Wanted to go for something like E-123 Omega or Emerl from the Sonic series (might need more DNA samples before we reach that point) so i went with a more unknown switch game astetic, Astral Chain (fighting off aliens with Chained Aliens as a a Anime Cop is just a mood)

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[X] Plan Astral Chains
-[X] [The Red Huntress] (6 POTENCY)
-[X] [Adamant] (3 POTENCY)
-[X] [Dragonsteeth] (3 POTENCY)
-[X] POTENCY REDUCTIONS (-2 POTENCY)
-[X] TOTAL POTENCY OF DOSE: 10

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Looking at this plan, keywords are:

• 2x Transformation (Red Huntress, Adamant)
• 2x Energy Manipulation (Red Huntress, Dragonsteeth)
• 1x Enhanced Strength (Adamant)
• 1x Enhanced Senses (Red Huntress)
• 1x Fitness (Red Huntress)
• 1x Speed (Red Huntress)
• 1x Invisibility (Red Huntress)
• 1x Regeneration (Adamant)
• 1x Construct Creation (Dragonsteeth)

This does run into the same problem most Red Huntress plans do. In that Red Huntress requires a very specific combination of powers to work well, and this really only guarantees Transformation and Energy Manipulation. The rest will be up to the roll of the dice.

Any plans with the Red Huntress probably need to be like Chimera, in that you want more than 2 of her Keywords at 2x to make the most use out of that 6 Potency cost.

If I had to do something like those pictures you provided (Transformation into Energy Being, with Metal Constructs for minions), it'd probably look like this:

Astral Chains:

• Potency 4 (Outsider) + Potency 3 (Dragonsteeth) + Potency 3 (Adamant) + Potency 1 (Daggermaw) + Potency 1 (Soldier X) - 2 Potency = 10 Potency
  • 3x Transformation (Outsider, Adamant, Daggermaw)
  • 2x Energy Manipulation (Outsider, Dragonsteeth)
  • 2x Enhanced Strength (Adamant, Daggermaw)
  • 2x Regeneration (Adamant, Soldier X)
  • 1x Invisibility (Outsider)
  • 1x Construct Creation (Dragonsteeth)
  • 1x Enhanced Senses (Daggermaw)
  • 1x Fitness (Soldier X)

The key component for fighting with a Stand is Construct Creation and Energy Manipulation, but since we have no other supers with Construct Creation, we can't guarantee we'll get it. That said, you'll definitely get your energy being transformation at least, along with some very likely powers that will allow for frontline face punching such as regen and enhanced strength.

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Being From Star X

[X] Plan The Being From Star X
-[X] [The Outsider] (Potency 4)
-[X] [Novalight] (Potency 8)
-[X] [Soldier X] (Potency 1)

The Being From Star X would be fucking Ultraman because Energy+Energy Body=bigger energy body. Merola would be able to manipulate its form and constitution to exciting degrees, all from the safety of her nucleus. Said nucleus would be improved by Soldier X's power of Fitness, tho whether that'll mean a hardier nucleus or a better projection is anyone's guess.

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Multiple of My Own Combos

Mad/Sad/Glad/Rad Bomber
Nox(6)+Eastwood(2)+Millions Minefield(1)=(9)
Millions Minefield and Eastwood both allow for energy explosions of different sorts. Nox nudges the explosions towards emotional blasts. Assuming that I'm right, this could allow the user to give nerfs to anyone hit by the explosions, or even buff allies.

This is my prefered powerset for Shelley Marie, btw. It just seems cool and fitting, and assuming that she stays at 6 tolerance, she'll be able to get this immediately.

Uiara 2
Hydrocity(1)+Umibozu(7)=(8)
This one's competing with Wade Family for John's power. Pretty self explanatory. Next!

2000/20 VISION
Memoria(4)+Chatroom(4)+iSpy(4)+Mr. Hunch(1)=(13)
THE BEST CLARIVOYANT.

Memoria allows for keeping track of pictures and teleporting to them.

ISpy can tag people, so then the people could teleport to each other. She also allows for sense sharing; which could be transferred to being able to turn the photos into dioramas.

Chatroom brings the 5 and 12 limit for the previous two up to UNLIMITED PEOPLE, as long as they're in range. She also combos well with iSpy, allowing for the chatroom to be a mini-Stage.

And Mister Hunch would allow anything to be transformed into a way to connect to the instantaneous psychic network. Awesome.

Underdog Boxer
Lightspeed (7)+Sewer Rat (3)=(10)
The goal of this combo is to make someone who can consistently do this.



Basically, since Sewer Rat can transform part of himself into steel; it's likely that the candidate would be able to transform themselves into something aerodynamic, for better punches. Also, makes for really good David vs Goliath scenes.

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Iron Sights

Iron Sights

• Potency 3 (Antaeus) + Potency 2 (Steadfast) + Potency 2 (Crimson Soprano) + Potency 1 (Mister Hunch) - Potency 3 = Potency 5
  • 2x Invulnerability (Antaeus, Steadfast)
    • Antaeus is invincible.
    • Steadfast has the most potent form of invulnerability on record. He cannot be injured in any way.
  • 2x Energy Manipulation (Antaeus, Crimson Soprano)
    • Antaeus can generate earthquakes so long as he's in contact with the ground. The longer he stands still, the stronger it is.
    • Crimson Soprano is able to use devastating energy blasts, fueled by solar radiation.
  • 1x Clairvoyance (Mister Hunch)
    • By touching an inanimate object, Mister Hunch can see everything that happened around said object in the last 24 hours.
  • 1x Flight (Crimson Soprano)
    • Crimson Soprano can fly by using solar radiation as fuel.
  • 1x Solar Absorption (Crimson Soprano)
    • Crimson Soprano uses solar radiation as fuel for her powers.

Unlike Helicopter Parent, which is a pure support build that's meant to operate away from the fight, Iron Sights is a hybrid build between investigation and direct combat.

To explain the latter first, this build is focused entirely on the concept of Resonance Disasters. We know that Antaeus caused earthquakes by causing vibrations in the ground, but Iron Sights is more versatile in that he can apply it directly on other surfaces thanks to Crimson Soprano giving more versatility to Iron Sight's use of energy manipulation. The energy blasts are great and so is coating his hands with energy to augment his punches, but what about laying hands on someone to vibrate them apart after finding their natural frequency?

His hands can be a vibroblade straight out of sci-fi! Cut through things he has no business cutting with his bare hands.

But wouldn't using vibrations this way also harm him since vibrations go two ways? That's why we have 2x Invulnerability! Iron Sights will potentially be our tankiest hero this way.

Then there's how Antaeus interacts with Mister Hunch. Iron Sights is potentially our greatest detective, because by imbuing his energy around an area like Antaeus does with his earthquakes, he can see everything that happened in that area in the past 24 hours. Potentially, he can go even further back or increase his range by staying still for longer.

There's an alternative build here where we replace Crimson Soprano with Millions Minefield which frees us up to use another Potency 1 DNA profile, but I think Crimson Soprano with her higher potency energy manipulation is better to augment Iron Sight's strengths.

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Defy Together

Plan Defy Together

• Potency 6 (Nox) + Potency 4 (Memoria) + Potency 2 (Crimson Soprano) + Potency 1 (Mister Hunch) - Potency 3 = Potency 13
  • 2x Teleportation (Nox, Memoria)
    • Nox can teleport decent distances when he's absorbed the emotion of disgust.
    • Memoria could keep five photos active, and then teleport to the locations shown in those photos. Notably, this was enough to get him out of the Frozen Throne.
  • 2x Energy Manipulation (Nox, Crimson Soprano)
    • Nox Esurientem could shoot energy blasts when he absorbed the emotion of sadness.
    • Crimson Soprano is able to use devastating energy blasts, fueled by solar radiation.
  • 2x Clairvoyance (Mister Hunch, Memoria)
    • By touching an inanimate object, Mister Hunch can see everything that happened around said object in the last 24 hours.
    • Memoria could constantly view a live feed of what was happening at the locations he photographed.
  • 1x Flight (Crimson Soprano)
    • Crimson Soprano can fly by using solar radiation as fuel.
  • 1x Solar Absorption (Crimson Soprano)
    • Crimson Soprano uses solar radiation as fuel for her powers.
  • 1x Transformation, Mental Manipulation, Regeneration, Enhanced Strength, Enhanced Speed (Nox)
    • A grab bag of Nox Esurientem's possible powers. These are extremely likely to give out some sort of synergy.

Build-wise:
The goal of this build is to make some sort of power copier. Failing that, the second goal of this build is to make Taskmaster. On steroids. Let me explain.

Teleportation and these specific forms of Clarivoyance work together really well. Memoria's five photo limit will both be scaled up to 8-15 thanks to potency, and it could be likely that since Mr. Hunch is in there, we no longer need to have Memoria's teleport waypoint be eyes anymore. So if we conveniently mailed a letter to Dominion that conveniently happened to have this candidate's mark on it… well, it's Dominion's problem that we're in Faust's private room now.

And the energy blasts are likely even better. Aside from powering up in sun (which the marked objects could absorb for the candidate) while they'd lose out in power, they'd make up in precision. Our enemies will be losing sniper battles.

To clocks/letters/photos/basic household objects shooting fireballs. While our candidate is still. At. Home.

And that hasn't even gotten into the best part. With Mr. Hunch's power focusing on the past, we have some terrifying options as to how that can affect Nox and Memoria's powers. For some examples…

1. When Nox's powers absorb emotions, the candidate can do so to whoever was pictured in Memoria's "cameras". This automatically gives us incredible control over the battle situation if we manage to take a quick pic of say, SM or Faust. Nice complex powers, now go to sleep.
2. Whoever is in the picture can have any of their emotions retroactively applied and absorbed, from up to 24 hours ago. This completely ditches any problems with Nox's "grab bag" powers; similar to Chimera, they are now an extremely offensive multitool.
3. The best yet: The user can copy the fighting styles and possibly even some of the powers of whoever's in the picture. Nice idea going for the teleporter idiot, they're as good as Lady Leizi in hand to hand combat.

And yes, this may not be the most "optimized" build. But thematically…

Thematically:
On one hand, it would be easy to get a Fundamental Force Manipulation with this, by swapping out Mr. Hunch for Hydrocity. But that would just add more HIT (as a reminder, that's more HIT when we have Mona and EXCEED-BEYOND) in exchange for possible completely losing an incredible ESPIONAGE/OPERATIONS power. Now Lady Leizi's espionage network can be anywhere! Fear!

And Mr. Hunch fits in very well with the rag tag revolutionaries of the Defiance Unit. The Defiance Unit attacked the rich, while he helped people sue corporations. Meanwhile, from what we've heard, Hydrocity was just… a decent man. And if we want a decent man, Admant and Steadfast are right there.

And I don't need to tell you why putting 3/4 of the Defiance Unit into one candidate to partner with our Zeno candidate on missions would be cool.

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More Kermie Plans

Plan Bat…singer?
Solferina (Potency 4)
Nox Esurientem (Potency 6)
Potency 10

Focused On: Mental Manipulation, Energy Manipulation

Possibly could get: Transformation, Ally Empowerment, Enhanced Senses Equivalent???

When I submitted Solferina to Bitterman, he described sound as something that fits into Energy Manipulation. Do you know who else uses sound? Bats, with their echolocation! And do you know who transform into bats? Vampires!!!

This combo aims to get someone who can both manipulate emotions overtly, while also sending secret messages to be picked up with our own [Enhanced Senses] people. Also, emotion based
echolocation!!! (Don't ask how that works!!!)

Plan All The Homies
Eastwood (Potency 2)
Dragonsteeth (Potency 3)
Nephthtys (Potency 5)
Potency 10
Focused On: Construct Creation, Energy Manipulation

Possibly could get: Autonomous Construct Creation??? Ally Empowerment? Clarivoyance Equivalent?

The goal of this build is to smush together three types of soldiers into our personal army.

We can make ghostly and armed to the teeth soldiers, all with the ability to have and control emotions! No way this goes wrong! Heck, for all we know, these infinite and easily regenerate soldiers may even be connected mentally to our candidate! We could even add Adamant for extra efficiency!

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Plan [COPYRIGHT PROTECTED] Princess
Solferina
Eastwood
Wild Speaker

Potency: 9
Keywords: Mental Manipulation x3, Energy Manipulation x2, Ally Empowerment x2, Construct Creation

Yeah, this one just allows Shelley to buff up and talk to animals. Eastwood might allow her to create instruments, like say, trumpets! (Reference to the weapon she used in Space Oddity) This would allow her to focus Solferina's AoE effects, or perhaps boost them to reach all the animals in an area.

I'm willing to also swap out wild speaker for a Steadfast+Mr. Hunch combo, to make her tankier and get a telepathy synergy. [Clarivoyance]+[MMx3]+[Ally Empowerment]. Of course, that might not work since there's only one Clarivoyance instance, so it's a backup plan.

Plan Courageous Carmilla
Nox Esurientem
Eastwood
Daggermaw
Multiplex

Optional:
Millions Minefield
Steadfast

Potency: 10-13
Keywords: Mental Manipulation x2, Transformation x3, Energy Manipulation x3, Enhanced Strength x2, Construct Creation, Invulnerability, all those other ones from Nox (Hopefully Regeneration)

I'm making Shelley into a Kamen Rider and none of you can stop me. Here's how.

Nox allows for the consumption of emotions. The hope is that the Millions/Eastwood combo allows said emotions to be stored in the form of consumable transformation items— think like Gotchizos from Kamen Rider Gavv.

Daggermaw and Multiplex are where I'm hoping to get the Kamen Rider influence from. Crocodile scales for armor, and Multiplex to allow for size based shapeshifting. Which combos weirdly well with Nox, since his Transformation tag comes from him growing in size. Steadfast is there to do the obvious Invuln.

The name comes from the famous lesbian vampire novel (see what I did there? ) and a synonym for "Valiant". (Only Ellie has a right to that title, but I feel Nora and Takeda would be ok with something close.) I'm willing to cut one of Daggermaw or Multiplex to account for Tolerance restrictions, but I'm insistent on the Nox/Eastwood/Millions core. (It was another 9 Tolerance plan of mine, you see).

I'm willing to downscale for Tolerance, but the goal of the build is a bruiser that can also take advantage of the Mental Manipulation tag and Transformation's inherent stealth options, for a Shelley specializing in HIT, ESP, and a sub-specialty in REP.

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[chickenbouillon]

CANDIDATE J
Name: Lily Parker
Age: 30
Stats: HIT 1, ESPIONAGE 2, REPUTATION 4, OPERATIONS 2
Tolerance: 7
Chaucer's Notes: Lily originates from the Worker's Mitt, and seems to have lived a relatively normal life. She doesn't have any violations on her record, and lives with her elderly mother in their own apartment. She admits to being a massive fan of Justice Unlimited back in the heyday, but some of her expectations might be.. difficult to deal with.
Lady Leizi: She possesses the desire to do good that is essential for a good hero, but I fear that the pressure of being a hero might be too much for her. Lily means well, but at the end of the day, her idealism can be a hindrance. She believes that she can save everyone, and possesses frankly unrealistic expectations for her heroes; she'll have to shed that to be a true addition to Justice Unlimited.


METAHUMAN INSECTA
Name: Franz Marshall
Age: 39
Codename: Hive
Stats: HIT 7, ESPIONAGE 3, REPUTATION 1, OPERATIONS 5
Powers: Franz's body hosts a swarm of flesh eating insects that he may expel from the holes on his body. They are loyal towards him, but indiscriminately hostile towards every being in sight. The swarm actively replicates after they devour organic matter, and can chew through seemingly anything. The insects in his body are too deformed to bear any similarities to any known species, but they vaguely resemble locusts. He may also disperse his body and reform it to avoid damage.

Franz's power actively demands that he devour matter to expand and grow, and it has actively taken a toll on his sanity, turning him into a raving lunatic. If he allows himself to starve, the insects will turn on him and begin devouring him from the inside out.

Origin: Franz was by all means, an ordinary businessman. All those who knew him described him as a meek, solitary figure. He kept to himself and never bothered anyone, and it was not known if he had any family. His apartment was always empty, and all his lights were off when he was at work.

One day, his neighbors complained of hearing an odd sound from his apartment, and Franz himself hasn't been seen in weeks. Worried, they broke open the door, only for a veritable swarm to shatter the door and begin attacking everything in sight. In the resulting chaos, he escaped.

Now, the neighborhood hears rumors of a disheveled man wandering around, leaving a trail of half devoured animal carcasses in his wake.

Franz does not wish to hurt anyone, but the insanity caused by his powers may result in him being a danger to everyone in his wake, despite this, he still holds an impossible wish, a desire to be a hero. A wish to do good. It is the one thing his feverish mind has held on to even after all this time.


A/N: New ambrosia candidate!! And a metahuman too.. MrKermie inspired me with his Jun sheet.. anyway here's Franz! He's an old OC of mine. Also I'm not good at planning, so take this for my apology for such a dry reply.