Yo everybody! After all long, long time the Orphans are back. Well more like Orphans 2.0...
Society of Orphans [Worm/Mage: the Ascension]
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Prologue 0.1
AkatsukiL13
An Enlightened Mind
- Location
- New Copernicus Station
Yo everybody! After all long, long time the Orphans are back. Well more like Orphans 2.0.
It's been a long time coming. In the time since I last posted anything for Orphans we had M20 released, Wraith: the Oblivion and Changeling: the Dreaming get their 20th Anniversary Kickstarters and of course...
White Wolf has returned.
Unlike my original version which was more a general World of Darkness crossover, this one is mostly focusing on Mage: the Ascension. There will be elements of the other WoD lines but they will be off to the side, much how most people would play a MtAs game. And that also means that Orphans are now all Mages instead of my original concept of a mixed group of parahumans and supernaturals.
Originally I wanted to have written the first several chapters before posting this one but I found as I was constantly coming back and adding new stuff or tweaking and rewriting sections of this chapter. I'm posting this first chapter now just to get it here and out of my system so I can work on the next chapters.
So don't expect the next chapter for at least another week.
Also I am using M20 (and to a lesser extent, the rest of the x20 line) for much this. I know not everyone here likes M20 but I do and I'm using it. PLEASE do not flood this thread with a debate on the flaws and merits of M20. If you wish to discuss that, please take it to the World of Darkness thread where it belongs.
Prologue 0.1
This isn't going to work…
It was crazy, stupid, dangerous and depending on a thousand different things all going right to avoid failure. If the diversion fails, we're screwed. If something delays us, we're screwed. If at least one Cape is among the guards, we're screwed. If the convoy changes routes, we're screwed. A single mistake, we're screwed.
And it was easily the most illegal thing I had ever done in my life. Well, at least this month. Given the direction my life had been going I'd probably being doing something even more illegal in a month or two.
But I'm sure I'll do them for very good reasons like this.
…and all my previous crimes.
I let out a sigh, leaning back against the driver's seat of the car. The car we had stolen. Yet another crime to add to my ever growing rap sheet. Sometimes I really hate how much of complicated mess my life had become. Sure I was a mage (admittedly a half-trained one) with all kinds of amazing spells at my fingertips, in a group of fellow mages (who were also half-trained or self-taught) but the last year and a half had been all sunshine and roses. My Awakened had brought me Magic and started the destruction of my normal life.
Now here I was, sitting on a cold January night in a stolen car, wearing an uncomfortable earpiece, working with a team of villains to break out a friend from PRT custody. And no matter how this turned out our group, the Brockton Bay Society of Orphans and the Disenfranchised, was going to be labelled as villains and enemies of the Protectorate and the PRT. At this rate there wasn't going to anybody in Brockton Bay that wasn't our enemy before long.
No! Stop that! This is to save a friend. Focus on the present. Worry about all that tomorrow. Nec pulvis. Nec Flamma. Nec tempestas. Nec timor.
"This isn't going to work," my passenger in the back seat announced.
"Weren't you just saying an hour ago how excited you were to take a shot at the PRT?" I replied, looking up through the rear-view mirror. "Something about a chance to 'show up those pathetic rent-a-cops'."
"It's not the rent-a-cops I'm worried about. This could all be a fucking set-up."
Translation: I don't like or trust the Undersiders therefore they're setting us up.
Sure the Undersiders were villains but they weren't the Empire or the ABB. Our handful of encounters with them had been cordial and even pleasant which is more than I could say for any of the other gangs in the city. I might have even ended up joining them if our little group hadn't come together after… after everything fell apart. "We've got a deal with the Undersiders, they're not going to betray us," I replied.
"Because of Grue's sister? You want to trust them cause of her? We've only known her—what, two weeks?"
"Three," I corrected. "Sure she loves her brother but she's still one of us. He can't help her like we can. Besides they owe us for saving them."
"They're criminal scum. I trust them as far as I can throw'em."
I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her. There were people that thought the same thing about us. Admittedly the Undersiders were criminals while we were people trying the right thing but just having to bend or break the law to do that. A lesser evil to stop a greater evil and all that. Of course most don't see that way much less admit to the things we had fought against but that was a whole other story. "Look Sophia, I know you don't like Grue or Tattletale or… well really most people but just because you don't like them doesn't mean that they are untrustworthy. And sometimes you have to trust people you don't like if you want to get something done."
"That's pretty lame Strix, even for you," Sophia Hess bluntly commented.
"Did it work?"
"No but I'm here anyway. Might as well see how badly this goes."
I shrugged my shoulders. "Well if we screw up and end up in prison you have the right to hold it over me for the rest of our lives."
"I'll hold you to that Strix."
We both started to snicker at that, the tension leaving me. Sophia may not be the friendliest person or easy to get along with most of the time but she wasn't all that bad. Well in her own odd way. Of course if half the stories she told about her former mentor were true, well that would explain a lot.
Then again our little cabal wasn't exactly filled with most normal people. So were pretty much all the mages I had met. It seemed like all of them had their own little insanities. Maybe Magic just made people weird.
"Hey Boss," a voice called out through my earpiece.
It was Armitage, our Eye in the Sky or rather Eye in the Net, the self-proclaimed 'Eternal Rival of Tin Mother of the PHO Board' and the Society's PR person. Though mostly because the rest of us didn't really care about the job. But she was very good at her job and the Magic she could work behind the keyboard was amazing.
"Anything to report Armitage?" I said into the device.
"Well I'm keeping an eye on multiple CCTV feeds, 911 lines, police and PRT channels while rushing to put the finishing touches on my super viruses to knock them out so you guys can get out of there without too much hassle while Tattletale's being annoying and distracting because she's Tattletale and that's what happens every time she opens her mouth," Armitage replied. "Oh and I've just finished hacking into the Black Dog servers and gotten the fourth edition of Revenant: the Ravishing a week early for game night. So all and all everything's pretty good here Boss. And yes, you should be impressed."
And she could also infuriatingly childish. There were times when I wanted to hug her and times when I wanted to strangle her and times when I wanted to do both at the same time.
"I would be but I know you Armitage," I replied. "You did most of that hours ago and right now you are lazing around in front of your monitors, half of them playing CCTV feeds and the rest playing an anime."
"Got me there Boss, got me there," she said, laughing.
"How are the others?"
"Artemisia and Bitch are knee-deep in a brawl with some E88 thugs with Protectorate and E88 capes inbound," Armitage answered. "Though they are having some problems with traffic jams. But the two do make for a cute couple, in a macho, buff, ass-kicking kind of way. If only they were dating. We need to change that Boss."
"No way," I replied while Sophia was snickering behind me. "We have enough headaches on a daily basis without the headaches of romance."
"Oh come on Boss. Where's your-"
"Nope, no romances, end of story," I proclaimed, cutting her off. "What about Neon and Regent?"
"Ever see a pair of stoned capes?"
I blinked. "What…"
"It's hilarious. Assault and Battery didn't know what hit them. But don't worry Boss, I'm recording it for you and everyone on the internet."
"Are you serious?"
"Mostly. They're not that blitzed. But it's still pretty funny."
I let out a sigh. "Can you be serious for a bit?"
"Of course Boss," she said, her voice slipping into a bored monotone. "Spencer's complaining about everything but he and Grue are in position and ready."
"So nothing new."
"Oh and the convoy's five blocks away. So you two better get ready."
I let out a frustrated sigh. "Armitage, what have I said before?"
"Important things first."
"Yes. And what's important right now?" I said slowly.
"Fourth Edition Revenant: the Ravishing?"
I could feel my cheeks turning red as Sophia chuckles turned to full-blown laughter. Armitage, brilliant super hacker that was thirteen years old with the mindset of a ten-year old most of the time. "No," I said, suppressing the urge to hit something. "What's important is the other teams and the PRT convoy. Your game doesn't matter right now. They do."
Armitage started to laugh. "Relax Boss. You're way too tense. Tattletale's been complaining about it all night," she said. "We all knows what this means to you. All of us are taking this seriously. Even Shadow Stalker. She just won't admit because she's a butch tough girl that denies her true feelings because that's what butch tough girls do."
Then there are the moments that Armitage proves herself to be far more mature than she seems.
"Armitage," Sophia said.
"Yeah Stalker?"
"Shut the hell up."
"Love you too Stalker. And don't worry, I'll have the new My Little Pony episode waiting for you when you get back. Spoiler alert, it's awesome!"
Sophia let out a strangled cry that sounded half like an angry curse and half like an embarrassed shriek while Armitage was giggling her head off.
Yeah, Magic definitely made people weird…
"But yeah Boss, the convoy is coming your way," Armitage added, her laughter subsiding. "So you should get ready."
I glanced back at Sophia. She didn't have her usual hockey mask on, instead the lower half of her face was covered by a cloth mask while she wore a pair of dark lensed goggles. I had a pair as well. Spencer promised that they would allow us to see in Grue's darkness but he couldn't guarantee how long they would last. But we only needed a few minutes to deal with the PRT agents. After that it wouldn't matter.
"We're ready," I answered, my hand pulling up my scarf while the other hand reached for the ignition.
The engine came to life but I kept the lights off. No sense tipping them off.
"Remember, no killing or maiming," I said, pulling down my own goggles. The world before my eyes became black and shades of green, like night vision.
"Please, I'm a trained professional."
"Half trained by a death cult."
"Better than half trained by a bunch of wimpy Harry Potter rejects," she shot back.
"Yeah but can you throw fire-"
Suddenly a black SUV followed by a large white van and another SUV came into view, cutting me off as their brakes started squealing. The first two vehicles slid out of view while the third came to a stop across from us. A thick haze started spreading across the street in front of the alley, rapidly consuming the vehicles. Grue's darkness. I couldn't see entirely through it but enough that I could see the outline of the vehicles.
I switched the car into drive and floored the gas, the car suddenly lurching out of the alley and into the street and the darkness covering it.
'Here we go…'
It's been a long time coming. In the time since I last posted anything for Orphans we had M20 released, Wraith: the Oblivion and Changeling: the Dreaming get their 20th Anniversary Kickstarters and of course...
White Wolf has returned.
Unlike my original version which was more a general World of Darkness crossover, this one is mostly focusing on Mage: the Ascension. There will be elements of the other WoD lines but they will be off to the side, much how most people would play a MtAs game. And that also means that Orphans are now all Mages instead of my original concept of a mixed group of parahumans and supernaturals.
Originally I wanted to have written the first several chapters before posting this one but I found as I was constantly coming back and adding new stuff or tweaking and rewriting sections of this chapter. I'm posting this first chapter now just to get it here and out of my system so I can work on the next chapters.
So don't expect the next chapter for at least another week.
Also I am using M20 (and to a lesser extent, the rest of the x20 line) for much this. I know not everyone here likes M20 but I do and I'm using it. PLEASE do not flood this thread with a debate on the flaws and merits of M20. If you wish to discuss that, please take it to the World of Darkness thread where it belongs.
***
Prologue 0.1
This isn't going to work…
It was crazy, stupid, dangerous and depending on a thousand different things all going right to avoid failure. If the diversion fails, we're screwed. If something delays us, we're screwed. If at least one Cape is among the guards, we're screwed. If the convoy changes routes, we're screwed. A single mistake, we're screwed.
And it was easily the most illegal thing I had ever done in my life. Well, at least this month. Given the direction my life had been going I'd probably being doing something even more illegal in a month or two.
But I'm sure I'll do them for very good reasons like this.
…and all my previous crimes.
I let out a sigh, leaning back against the driver's seat of the car. The car we had stolen. Yet another crime to add to my ever growing rap sheet. Sometimes I really hate how much of complicated mess my life had become. Sure I was a mage (admittedly a half-trained one) with all kinds of amazing spells at my fingertips, in a group of fellow mages (who were also half-trained or self-taught) but the last year and a half had been all sunshine and roses. My Awakened had brought me Magic and started the destruction of my normal life.
Now here I was, sitting on a cold January night in a stolen car, wearing an uncomfortable earpiece, working with a team of villains to break out a friend from PRT custody. And no matter how this turned out our group, the Brockton Bay Society of Orphans and the Disenfranchised, was going to be labelled as villains and enemies of the Protectorate and the PRT. At this rate there wasn't going to anybody in Brockton Bay that wasn't our enemy before long.
No! Stop that! This is to save a friend. Focus on the present. Worry about all that tomorrow. Nec pulvis. Nec Flamma. Nec tempestas. Nec timor.
"This isn't going to work," my passenger in the back seat announced.
"Weren't you just saying an hour ago how excited you were to take a shot at the PRT?" I replied, looking up through the rear-view mirror. "Something about a chance to 'show up those pathetic rent-a-cops'."
"It's not the rent-a-cops I'm worried about. This could all be a fucking set-up."
Translation: I don't like or trust the Undersiders therefore they're setting us up.
Sure the Undersiders were villains but they weren't the Empire or the ABB. Our handful of encounters with them had been cordial and even pleasant which is more than I could say for any of the other gangs in the city. I might have even ended up joining them if our little group hadn't come together after… after everything fell apart. "We've got a deal with the Undersiders, they're not going to betray us," I replied.
"Because of Grue's sister? You want to trust them cause of her? We've only known her—what, two weeks?"
"Three," I corrected. "Sure she loves her brother but she's still one of us. He can't help her like we can. Besides they owe us for saving them."
"They're criminal scum. I trust them as far as I can throw'em."
I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her. There were people that thought the same thing about us. Admittedly the Undersiders were criminals while we were people trying the right thing but just having to bend or break the law to do that. A lesser evil to stop a greater evil and all that. Of course most don't see that way much less admit to the things we had fought against but that was a whole other story. "Look Sophia, I know you don't like Grue or Tattletale or… well really most people but just because you don't like them doesn't mean that they are untrustworthy. And sometimes you have to trust people you don't like if you want to get something done."
"That's pretty lame Strix, even for you," Sophia Hess bluntly commented.
"Did it work?"
"No but I'm here anyway. Might as well see how badly this goes."
I shrugged my shoulders. "Well if we screw up and end up in prison you have the right to hold it over me for the rest of our lives."
"I'll hold you to that Strix."
We both started to snicker at that, the tension leaving me. Sophia may not be the friendliest person or easy to get along with most of the time but she wasn't all that bad. Well in her own odd way. Of course if half the stories she told about her former mentor were true, well that would explain a lot.
Then again our little cabal wasn't exactly filled with most normal people. So were pretty much all the mages I had met. It seemed like all of them had their own little insanities. Maybe Magic just made people weird.
"Hey Boss," a voice called out through my earpiece.
It was Armitage, our Eye in the Sky or rather Eye in the Net, the self-proclaimed 'Eternal Rival of Tin Mother of the PHO Board' and the Society's PR person. Though mostly because the rest of us didn't really care about the job. But she was very good at her job and the Magic she could work behind the keyboard was amazing.
"Anything to report Armitage?" I said into the device.
"Well I'm keeping an eye on multiple CCTV feeds, 911 lines, police and PRT channels while rushing to put the finishing touches on my super viruses to knock them out so you guys can get out of there without too much hassle while Tattletale's being annoying and distracting because she's Tattletale and that's what happens every time she opens her mouth," Armitage replied. "Oh and I've just finished hacking into the Black Dog servers and gotten the fourth edition of Revenant: the Ravishing a week early for game night. So all and all everything's pretty good here Boss. And yes, you should be impressed."
And she could also infuriatingly childish. There were times when I wanted to hug her and times when I wanted to strangle her and times when I wanted to do both at the same time.
"I would be but I know you Armitage," I replied. "You did most of that hours ago and right now you are lazing around in front of your monitors, half of them playing CCTV feeds and the rest playing an anime."
"Got me there Boss, got me there," she said, laughing.
"How are the others?"
"Artemisia and Bitch are knee-deep in a brawl with some E88 thugs with Protectorate and E88 capes inbound," Armitage answered. "Though they are having some problems with traffic jams. But the two do make for a cute couple, in a macho, buff, ass-kicking kind of way. If only they were dating. We need to change that Boss."
"No way," I replied while Sophia was snickering behind me. "We have enough headaches on a daily basis without the headaches of romance."
"Oh come on Boss. Where's your-"
"Nope, no romances, end of story," I proclaimed, cutting her off. "What about Neon and Regent?"
"Ever see a pair of stoned capes?"
I blinked. "What…"
"It's hilarious. Assault and Battery didn't know what hit them. But don't worry Boss, I'm recording it for you and everyone on the internet."
"Are you serious?"
"Mostly. They're not that blitzed. But it's still pretty funny."
I let out a sigh. "Can you be serious for a bit?"
"Of course Boss," she said, her voice slipping into a bored monotone. "Spencer's complaining about everything but he and Grue are in position and ready."
"So nothing new."
"Oh and the convoy's five blocks away. So you two better get ready."
I let out a frustrated sigh. "Armitage, what have I said before?"
"Important things first."
"Yes. And what's important right now?" I said slowly.
"Fourth Edition Revenant: the Ravishing?"
I could feel my cheeks turning red as Sophia chuckles turned to full-blown laughter. Armitage, brilliant super hacker that was thirteen years old with the mindset of a ten-year old most of the time. "No," I said, suppressing the urge to hit something. "What's important is the other teams and the PRT convoy. Your game doesn't matter right now. They do."
Armitage started to laugh. "Relax Boss. You're way too tense. Tattletale's been complaining about it all night," she said. "We all knows what this means to you. All of us are taking this seriously. Even Shadow Stalker. She just won't admit because she's a butch tough girl that denies her true feelings because that's what butch tough girls do."
Then there are the moments that Armitage proves herself to be far more mature than she seems.
"Armitage," Sophia said.
"Yeah Stalker?"
"Shut the hell up."
"Love you too Stalker. And don't worry, I'll have the new My Little Pony episode waiting for you when you get back. Spoiler alert, it's awesome!"
Sophia let out a strangled cry that sounded half like an angry curse and half like an embarrassed shriek while Armitage was giggling her head off.
Yeah, Magic definitely made people weird…
"But yeah Boss, the convoy is coming your way," Armitage added, her laughter subsiding. "So you should get ready."
I glanced back at Sophia. She didn't have her usual hockey mask on, instead the lower half of her face was covered by a cloth mask while she wore a pair of dark lensed goggles. I had a pair as well. Spencer promised that they would allow us to see in Grue's darkness but he couldn't guarantee how long they would last. But we only needed a few minutes to deal with the PRT agents. After that it wouldn't matter.
"We're ready," I answered, my hand pulling up my scarf while the other hand reached for the ignition.
The engine came to life but I kept the lights off. No sense tipping them off.
"Remember, no killing or maiming," I said, pulling down my own goggles. The world before my eyes became black and shades of green, like night vision.
"Please, I'm a trained professional."
"Half trained by a death cult."
"Better than half trained by a bunch of wimpy Harry Potter rejects," she shot back.
"Yeah but can you throw fire-"
Suddenly a black SUV followed by a large white van and another SUV came into view, cutting me off as their brakes started squealing. The first two vehicles slid out of view while the third came to a stop across from us. A thick haze started spreading across the street in front of the alley, rapidly consuming the vehicles. Grue's darkness. I couldn't see entirely through it but enough that I could see the outline of the vehicles.
I switched the car into drive and floored the gas, the car suddenly lurching out of the alley and into the street and the darkness covering it.
'Here we go…'
AkatsukiL13
An Enlightened Mind
- Location
- New Copernicus Station
All will be revealed in time.
EDIT: Though if anyone does have questions and the answers aren't too spoiler-ish I can answer them.
Last edited:
AkatsukiL13
An Enlightened Mind
- Location
- New Copernicus Station
Oh and Laurent did ask some questions over in the Wormverse thread. Reposting them here in case others have similar questions.
- Location
- California
I agree with Sophia criminal scum.
AkatsukiL13
An Enlightened Mind
- Location
- New Copernicus Station
Meh. Outside of Regent and his power both of which I utterly loath at best, I'm rather indifferent to the Undersiders. They're certainly less villainous than the other BB gangs and most of them are understandable and even likeable in their own ways. Though that's probably more because we see them through Taylor's eyes.
- Location
- California
Only if you compare them to psycho's.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
One of the other gangs in Brockton Bay are literally neo-nazis.
Another is run by a criminal thug who has brothels and illegal casinos.
The third is run by scum of the earth that probably love giving drugs to children.
...those are the three main gangs.
Or there's Coil, of course!
...yeah.
shadowace2400
Planeswalker Extraordinaire
- Location
- Texas
Is the speaker a guy or a girl? I can't tell from the name Strix. Is it an oc or taylor?
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Gender: Owl.
AkatsukiL13
An Enlightened Mind
- Location
- New Copernicus Station
*Looks back at the first chapter*
Huh... can't believe I missed that. Then again I've made so many changes and revisions to this chapter that I did not realize I had removed everything that made it clear that it is Taylor which Strix being her 'cape' name.
And at the same time, the next chapter was supposed to part of this chapter originally but the first half was getting too long so cut it in two. The next chapter and what's in the van will definitely confirm that it is Taylor.
But yeah, my bad there. Strix is Taylor.
Pretty much. The stuff the Undersiders did pales compared to the other gangs and Coil.
- Location
- Brazil
I don't know what is happening but I plan to find out, consider this watched.
- Location
- Somewhere!
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Why though? Regent is one of the nicer characters on that team, being honest. Like he's at least as good a person as Grue and he's the only one who actually dies trying to save a friend.
His power is pretty messed up, sure, but we see him using it on supervillains, Sophia one time, and then Imp when it's consensual which seems like the best way to practice with it?
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I think he was also shown to use it on his minions.
- Location
- Somewhere!
- Pronouns
- She/Her
The only time I remember that is when Cherish was trying to get them to hurt themselves or him, which seems like a fair use of his powers? Like, Anti other Masters is probably the safest way to do it, and that's exactly what he did with Valefor later, so it seems like he might have asked the minions for permission there too.
Since he can't keep it up full time, they must have been okay with it enough to not leave, right?
- Location
- Tarn-Vedra
I wonder:
- Does the Akashic Brotherhood have any links or agent/spies with the ABB (Azian Bad Boyz)? What do the Akashic Brotherhood as a whole and in terms of factions within the said Tradition (i.e. the Jnani, the Kannagara, the Li-Hai, the Shi-Ren, the Vajrapani, and the Wu Lung, etc.) think of the ABB (including its parahuman members such as Lung, Oni-Lee, and Bakuda)? Do the Akashic Brotherhood (especially the Shi-Ren and Wu Lung factions) have any links/ties or even influence on the CUI (Chinese Union Imperial) particularly with the royal family and the Yangban? Does the Asian section of the Technocracy have any similar hold on the CUI (including the royal family and the Yangban)?
- How have the other Traditions (i.e. Celestial Chorus, the Euthanatoi/Euthanatos, the Dreamspeakers/Kha'vadi, the Virtual Adepts/Mercurial Elite, the Order of Hermes, the Cult of Ecstasy/Sahajiya, the Society of Ether, and the Verbena/Verbenae) fared in this world of parahumans, Endbringers, Scion, Endbringer cults, Cauldron, Case 53s, PRT/Protectorate, etc.? What about the Technocracy, the Nephandi, the Marauders, and even the Disparate Alliance?
- How have the presence of the Endbringers and their actions influenced the activities and thinking of the Nephandi and other Infernalist groups/sects (e.g Wu-Keng)?
- Is the Society of Orphans truly are Orphans?
- Will the Society of Orphans ever get to meet the members of the New Horizon Council or even famous/infamous MTA characters?
Please let me know. Thank you.
- Does the Akashic Brotherhood have any links or agent/spies with the ABB (Azian Bad Boyz)? What do the Akashic Brotherhood as a whole and in terms of factions within the said Tradition (i.e. the Jnani, the Kannagara, the Li-Hai, the Shi-Ren, the Vajrapani, and the Wu Lung, etc.) think of the ABB (including its parahuman members such as Lung, Oni-Lee, and Bakuda)? Do the Akashic Brotherhood (especially the Shi-Ren and Wu Lung factions) have any links/ties or even influence on the CUI (Chinese Union Imperial) particularly with the royal family and the Yangban? Does the Asian section of the Technocracy have any similar hold on the CUI (including the royal family and the Yangban)?
- How have the other Traditions (i.e. Celestial Chorus, the Euthanatoi/Euthanatos, the Dreamspeakers/Kha'vadi, the Virtual Adepts/Mercurial Elite, the Order of Hermes, the Cult of Ecstasy/Sahajiya, the Society of Ether, and the Verbena/Verbenae) fared in this world of parahumans, Endbringers, Scion, Endbringer cults, Cauldron, Case 53s, PRT/Protectorate, etc.? What about the Technocracy, the Nephandi, the Marauders, and even the Disparate Alliance?
- How have the presence of the Endbringers and their actions influenced the activities and thinking of the Nephandi and other Infernalist groups/sects (e.g Wu-Keng)?
- Is the Society of Orphans truly are Orphans?
- Will the Society of Orphans ever get to meet the members of the New Horizon Council or even famous/infamous MTA characters?
Please let me know. Thank you.
AkatsukiL13
An Enlightened Mind
- Location
- New Copernicus Station
Regent just rubbed me the wrong way. His power even more so.
Though if you are worried about Regent bashing, don't be. I loathe bashing in all forms.
First off, some of these I haven't really put much thought into as I'm more focused on Taylor, her cabal and Brockton Bay in general. And because of Taylor's situation, she's not going to learn or see at lot of this larger world and grand conspiracy stuff.
As for the Akashics and the ABB... spoilers.
Many of the early events of the Revised Edition metaplot have happened in the years prior. The Avatar Storm and the lost of the Masters has left the Ascension War is state of uneasy cold war. The New Horizon Council is up and running. The Technocracy and its Conventions have gone through the various changes and reforms as seen in the Rev Ed CBs. The Disparate Alliance does not yet have all the Crafts it has in M20 but has been around for some time now and is gaining ground. While most of the Traditions and the Technocracy aren't aware of the Alliance, some have taken notice of their rise and keeping an eye as best they can on them.
The Marauders are the Marauders. The world could be tearing itself apart and they wouldn't notice. Though some of the more blatant ones have caused serious, public incidents. Of course such things get hushed up and classified.
The Nephandi... well let's just say we're going to be see them soon.
Mages of all stripes are mixed on the matter of parahumans. A few like Taylor and her cabal do pass themselves off as parahumans but most keep their distance. The Technocracy has its fingers in the PRT and other parahuman governmental agencies. Some Tradition and Craft mages (and for that matter other supernaturals) have a working relationship with some parahumans but those are private matters.
As for the Endbringers, they're still around and stomping cities. Though there was an incident in Bangladesh...
Though I will say this, Scion is dead. There's so many powerful entities in the World of Darkness that Scion was killed in its attempt to reach Earth. So no Golden Man. To this world, there never was a Scion.
Many of the Endbringer cults are pawns of Infernalists of all strips though most don't realize it. Few actual Infernalists and Nephandi actually revere Endbringers. At most they see them as tools of their masters. However there Nephandi that revere the dead Entities and herald their coming and all the chaos that followed as a portent of Al-Aswad, the Unnamed, and the coming global Descension.
Yeah, they are all Orphans. Though several did have an incomplete training from one of the Mage groups. Both Taylor and Sophia have had training from a Tradition respectively. While I haven't said which ones, I have hinted at them.
The Council? Maybe much later down the road. But there will be a couple of famous and infamous MtAs characters popping up.
- Location
- Tarn-Vedra
Thanks for the answers - though this has given me more questions about your crossover story, which I hope you can answer for me such as:
- With the Endbringers up and about and doing their thing (and with the increasing amounts of destruction they're causing so far, especially when Behemoth or the Simugh are involved) - I'm surprised that powerful WOD beings like the Antediluvians, the Second Generation, or even Caine himself (from Vampire: The Masquerade); or the Earthbound and Lucifer (from Demon: The Fallen); Lilith; the Weaver, the Wyld, and even Gaia (from Werewolf: The Apocalypse); the Ebon Dragon, the Scarlet Queen, and their Messengers; the Oracles (from Mage: The Ascension); the Yama Kings; and even the Shemsu-Heru and the Imkhu - to arise/awaken and deal with the threat the Endbringers posed to the planet and to all of humanity and end all of the Endbringers (including the ones that not have arisen yet)? Why is that?
- Why haven't the higher-ups of the Technocracy, the Camarilla, the Ashirra or the Sabbat or even the Garou Nation (as well as the African and Asian Beast courts) decided to hunt down and kill the many S- and A-class parahuman threats on the planet such as: the Slaughterhouse Nine, the Fallen, the Three Blasphemies, Mord Nu Nag, Ash Beast, the Sleeper, Nilbog, Blasto, Heartbreaker, the Gesselschafft, the Butcher and the Teeth, the Yangban, Lung, etc.? One would assume these various WOD organizations would seek to wipe out these really dangerous parahuman threats ASAP in order to protect the Consensus or the Masquerade or what have you? Is it because of the machinations of Cauldron and even other WOD secret organizations? Is Panopticon, the Justicars, the Consanguinity of Eternal Joy, etc. not up to the task?
- Speaking of Cauldron, do the higher-ups in the Technocracy, the Camarilla, the Sabbat, the Iconnu, the Tal'mahe'ra, the Special Affairs Department (SAD), the Arcanum, the Society of Leopold, Pentex, the New Horizon Council, the Rogue Council, etc. are aware of Cauldron and vice-versa? If so, how aware Cauldron and the aforementioned WOD organizations are of each other? How much does Cauldron and the aforementioned WOD organizations know of each other?
- Will we have Hunter/Imbued posters from Hunter-net.org posting and/or reading in the PHO website when you do write the PHO-based chapters?
Likewise, will we see Virtual Adepts from the Digital Web as well as iteration X members posting on PHO in your future PHO-based chapters? Will Greg Veder become one of the Imbued and thus becomes a poster on both Hunter-net.org and PHO?
- What do the vampires of Clan Tzimisce and the members of the Progenitor Convention think of the Case 53s, including S9 member Crawler? For that matter what do the Progenitors think and feel about powerful and skilled Bio-Tinkers like S9 member Bonesaw (Riley) and Blasto, etc.?
- What do the members of the Iteration X Convention think/feel about Dragon, the Dragonslayers (if they even know about this group), and S9 Cyborg Tinker Mannequin? What about the late Hero, Armsmaster, Kid Win, L33T, Trainwreck, Squealer, and Chariot? What does iteration X think of the Simurgh, especially when it creates and uses deadly Tinkertech of its own making whenever it strikes a city? What does the NWO and the Void Engineers think of the Simurgh, especially when it ZiZ Bombs people like in its first appearance in Switzerland, its destruction of the Cognoscenti (an organization of African Thinkers) as well as the destruction of the Sphere (a group of Tinkers led by Mannequin) and their Lunar base and the insidious mental subversion of Mannequin (who now kills Tinkers), and how its (i.e. Simurgh's) presence have prevented any attempts at spaceflight/space exploration by humanity?
- What to the Virtual Adepts/Mercurial Elite think of Uber and L33T, especially their recorded video game-themed activities posted on the Internet? Do they think of these two parahumans as lame/losers or as jokes or something else?
- Is the Birdcage (that is run by Dragon) heavily-infiltrated by Technocrat agents (mostly from the Progenitors) who are keen to study parahumans up close and even secretly take DNA samples?
- Does the Syndicate Convention have its claws on the Merchants, the ABB (Azian Bad Boyz), the Empire 88 (E88), especially in terms of their respective criminal business activities? Has the Syndicate made any attempts at controlling the criminal business activities of Coil and Accord/the Ambassadors? Has the Syndicate noticed that huge amounts of money are being very skillfully moved/hidden electronically by a very powerful Thinker (i.e. Numbers Man) and vice-versa?
- Does the NWO take an interest in parahumans that have Thinker, Master, Stranger abilities, especially the more powerful and versatile ones?
- Lastly, will Taylor and her cabal get to have new Masters to further teach them magic in order to improve their skills in magic and ensure their continued survival? Personally, I would like to have Mark Halliward Gillan to be Taylor's new mentor as well as having Amanda, Evelyn Kinsella, Theora Hetirck, and even the Old Man/Senex to be Sophia's mentors. I would also like to have Catherine Blass and Dante be Armitage's mentors. Having Lee Ann Milner, Simon Pain, and even Penny Dreadful be mentors for the other members of the cabal would be great as well.
As always, please let me know your answers to each of my questions. Thank you again.
- With the Endbringers up and about and doing their thing (and with the increasing amounts of destruction they're causing so far, especially when Behemoth or the Simugh are involved) - I'm surprised that powerful WOD beings like the Antediluvians, the Second Generation, or even Caine himself (from Vampire: The Masquerade); or the Earthbound and Lucifer (from Demon: The Fallen); Lilith; the Weaver, the Wyld, and even Gaia (from Werewolf: The Apocalypse); the Ebon Dragon, the Scarlet Queen, and their Messengers; the Oracles (from Mage: The Ascension); the Yama Kings; and even the Shemsu-Heru and the Imkhu - to arise/awaken and deal with the threat the Endbringers posed to the planet and to all of humanity and end all of the Endbringers (including the ones that not have arisen yet)? Why is that?
- Why haven't the higher-ups of the Technocracy, the Camarilla, the Ashirra or the Sabbat or even the Garou Nation (as well as the African and Asian Beast courts) decided to hunt down and kill the many S- and A-class parahuman threats on the planet such as: the Slaughterhouse Nine, the Fallen, the Three Blasphemies, Mord Nu Nag, Ash Beast, the Sleeper, Nilbog, Blasto, Heartbreaker, the Gesselschafft, the Butcher and the Teeth, the Yangban, Lung, etc.? One would assume these various WOD organizations would seek to wipe out these really dangerous parahuman threats ASAP in order to protect the Consensus or the Masquerade or what have you? Is it because of the machinations of Cauldron and even other WOD secret organizations? Is Panopticon, the Justicars, the Consanguinity of Eternal Joy, etc. not up to the task?
- Speaking of Cauldron, do the higher-ups in the Technocracy, the Camarilla, the Sabbat, the Iconnu, the Tal'mahe'ra, the Special Affairs Department (SAD), the Arcanum, the Society of Leopold, Pentex, the New Horizon Council, the Rogue Council, etc. are aware of Cauldron and vice-versa? If so, how aware Cauldron and the aforementioned WOD organizations are of each other? How much does Cauldron and the aforementioned WOD organizations know of each other?
- Will we have Hunter/Imbued posters from Hunter-net.org posting and/or reading in the PHO website when you do write the PHO-based chapters?
Likewise, will we see Virtual Adepts from the Digital Web as well as iteration X members posting on PHO in your future PHO-based chapters? Will Greg Veder become one of the Imbued and thus becomes a poster on both Hunter-net.org and PHO? - What do the vampires of Clan Tzimisce and the members of the Progenitor Convention think of the Case 53s, including S9 member Crawler? For that matter what do the Progenitors think and feel about powerful and skilled Bio-Tinkers like S9 member Bonesaw (Riley) and Blasto, etc.?
- What do the members of the Iteration X Convention think/feel about Dragon, the Dragonslayers (if they even know about this group), and S9 Cyborg Tinker Mannequin? What about the late Hero, Armsmaster, Kid Win, L33T, Trainwreck, Squealer, and Chariot? What does iteration X think of the Simurgh, especially when it creates and uses deadly Tinkertech of its own making whenever it strikes a city? What does the NWO and the Void Engineers think of the Simurgh, especially when it ZiZ Bombs people like in its first appearance in Switzerland, its destruction of the Cognoscenti (an organization of African Thinkers) as well as the destruction of the Sphere (a group of Tinkers led by Mannequin) and their Lunar base and the insidious mental subversion of Mannequin (who now kills Tinkers), and how its (i.e. Simurgh's) presence have prevented any attempts at spaceflight/space exploration by humanity?
- What to the Virtual Adepts/Mercurial Elite think of Uber and L33T, especially their recorded video game-themed activities posted on the Internet? Do they think of these two parahumans as lame/losers or as jokes or something else?
- Is the Birdcage (that is run by Dragon) heavily-infiltrated by Technocrat agents (mostly from the Progenitors) who are keen to study parahumans up close and even secretly take DNA samples?
- Does the Syndicate Convention have its claws on the Merchants, the ABB (Azian Bad Boyz), the Empire 88 (E88), especially in terms of their respective criminal business activities? Has the Syndicate made any attempts at controlling the criminal business activities of Coil and Accord/the Ambassadors? Has the Syndicate noticed that huge amounts of money are being very skillfully moved/hidden electronically by a very powerful Thinker (i.e. Numbers Man) and vice-versa?
- Does the NWO take an interest in parahumans that have Thinker, Master, Stranger abilities, especially the more powerful and versatile ones?
- Lastly, will Taylor and her cabal get to have new Masters to further teach them magic in order to improve their skills in magic and ensure their continued survival? Personally, I would like to have Mark Halliward Gillan to be Taylor's new mentor as well as having Amanda, Evelyn Kinsella, Theora Hetirck, and even the Old Man/Senex to be Sophia's mentors. I would also like to have Catherine Blass and Dante be Armitage's mentors. Having Lee Ann Milner, Simon Pain, and even Penny Dreadful be mentors for the other members of the cabal would be great as well.
As always, please let me know your answers to each of my questions. Thank you again.
AkatsukiL13
An Enlightened Mind
- Location
- New Copernicus Station
Why do think Scion is dead?
Also as I said there was an incident in Bangladesh...
*Hint* *Hint*
Some of them have been wiped out long before they became as infamous as they were in canon. Unfortunately even the Technocracy doesn't have the resources to stomp out everything.
Worse, some have inspired supernatural groups to become more open and brazen in their actions.
And funny you should mention Voormas's old cabal...
Cauldron is aware of these groups to varying degrees and supernaturals in general.
Let's just say with Scion out of the picture, their goals have changed.
- Will we have Hunter/Imbued posters from Hunter-net.org posting and/or reading in the PHO website when you do write the PHO-based chapters?
Yes, there will be PHO posts with supernaturals. As I've already revealed, Armitage is an infamous regular on site. While she would fit in the VA, she's a self-taught Reality Hacker.
I would love to have the Hunter.net also but since none of the characters are Imbued, they can't access the site.
Though the idea with Greg has some merit.
At the moment I don't really have plans for the Digital Web outside of Armitage making occasional use of it.
As interesting subjects for experiments.
But I do have plans for Riley down the road.
Those It-Xers that know what Dragon is, hold her in high, high regard and even wish to bring her into the Convention but the Convention leaders keep a tight reign on such things because A) they are leery of returning to the old ways of the Convention and B) fearful of an AI that was not created by them.
Oh and I personally hold the belief that Dragon is Tin Mother. Just some food for thought.
As for Tinkers and Technocrats and Technomancers, it's very much a love/hate thing. While the Enlightened do like that they have loosen the Consensus for them, they tend to look down on them, some seeing their specializations as limitations and their works poor imitations of Enlightened Science. Some Tinkers do work for Technocrats and Technomancers as Assistants/Acolytes.
Hero is a respected figure even among Technocrats.
Mannequin and Sphere is... well spoilers.
Sim and her powers has issues with the Awakened and Imbued. Which likewise is experienced by some Thinkers and Masters and their powers. As a result, at times her actions (and the other Endbringers') are erratic when it comes to mages. Sometimes they will intentionally focus on attacking the local chantries and constructs above all else. Other times they will avoid them like the plague.
Younger ones tend to be fans, older ones see them as lame pranksters.
That is a good idea, I think I'll take it.
rofl:rofl:rofl::lolBut yeah that's largely what I already had in mind. Though obviously Dragon is unaware of Union infiltration of the Birdcage or the PRT.
Some gangs have connections to the Syndicate and other supernatural groups but not all.
As for Coil, spoilers.
Some yes, and like with Tinkers some are working for or with the Union.
No comment.
Though I won't have that many famous MtAs characters show up. Don't want too many big name mages stealing the limelight from the Society of Orphans.
EDIT: Oh and the next chapter is nearly done. Will be up sometime tomorrow.
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- Location
- Tarn-Vedra
So which dangerous S- and A-class parahumans have been wiped out/dealt with by the Technocracy and even by other WOD organizations - if you don't mind me asking?
And are the various aforementioned WOD organizations are in turn aware of Cauldron?
Well, personally I was hoping that many of the Hunter-Net.org posters also have accounts at PHO and read/post on it as well - and even use the same usernames on PHO just as they do at Hunter-Net.org. Is it possible for you to do so when writing your future PHO-based chapters?
Also, (I'm afraid to ask) - do the Kuei-jin have thoroughly infiltrated the CUI (Chinese Union Imperial) and have links/ties/influence on the royal family and the Yangban? Is the Great Leap Outward still on - or has that been completely disrupted/scuppered by the presence of the Endbringer Leviathan? Did Leviathan still sink Kyushu (thus killing not only many humans and parahumans but also many Kuei-jin and other Asian supernatural types? Did Leviathan still sink Newfoundland? If so, how has the Void Engineer convention been trying to deal with Leviathan and its actions in order to keep the sea lanes (and global trade) open?
Lastly, what do the various Kindred Clans (as well as the Camarilla, the Sabbat, the Iconnu, and the Tal'mahe'ra), the Kuei-jin and the various Kuei-jin orders, the various Garou Tribes, the various Changing Breeds, the various Mummies, the Demons and the various orders, the Imbued and the various creeds, as well as the Wraiths and the Changelings think/feel about parahumans, the Endbringers, Endgringer cults, the Case 53s, the dangerous S- and A-class parahuman threats? How have the presence and actions of the parahumans, the Endbringers, Endbringer cults the Case 53s, the dangerous S- and A-class parahuman threats have affected the various aforementioned WOD supernatural groups?
Please let me know. Thank you.
AkatsukiL13
An Enlightened Mind
- Location
- New Copernicus Station
Some of those you previous listed because spoilers or I simply haven't though about some of those obscure ones.
Lung is alive and well and free, leading the ABB as he did in the canon.
Nilbog was killed but not before wiping out Ellisburg which has become a ghost town as no one wants to live there after that.
Some do but only at the highest levels of their leadership.
Sure, why not. Was already planing a PHO appearance by my favorite carpenter.
The CUI is the puppet of the Quincunx. Kyushu only devastated the rival Japanese Courts and leaving them vulnerable to the Quincunx. The Great Leap Outward sort of happened but not as it did in the canon. Rather it was the Japanese Kuei-Jin fleeing from the Quincunx. As a result, the West Coast became a battleground between the Anarchs, Camarilla and Kuei-Jin with the Sabbat coming as they bloodied themselves against each other. Presently the fighting has largely died down as all sides are consolidating and licking their wounds.
However the Kuei-jin have also begun making in-roads in other parts of North America.
On a side note, the Dharmas are not orders or political groups or akin to Clans. They're philosophical paths, akin to the Paths of Enlightenment.
And finally, as I said at the start, this is focusing on the world of Mage: the Ascension. I haven't put nearly as much thought into the other splats as I have them.
Further this story is focused on Taylor and her cabal, a more street-level focus. They're not going to encounter all these different beings much less get involved in their politics and conspiracies.
Prologue 0.2
AkatsukiL13
An Enlightened Mind
- Location
- New Copernicus Station
Prologue 0.2
The fight was quick and horribly one-sided. Blinded and practically deaf from Grue's shadows, the PRT agents were completely helpless under our assault. They were now all unconscious or doused with their own containment foam. With them taken care of, Grue had dismissed his darkness. Now we were around the back of the van, keeping an eye out for trouble as Spencer worked on the locks on the van's door. Searching the agents for the keys would take too much time. And time was not on our side. The longer this went on the more likely something would go wrong here or with one of the other teams.
"I trust they didn't get a call out," I said into my earpiece.
"Of course not and I've blitzed 911 with a dozen false calls. The cops and capes will be running around for an hour before they realize what's going on," Armitage casually answered.
Admittedly I didn't like the idea of tying up 911 like that when there could be people in need but at the same time I didn't want to get into a fight with police or capes. That always brought headaches.
"And the others?"
"They got out safe and sound. They're heading back now."
That didn't reassure me. This was too easy. Our luck was never this good. Something always went wrong. The question was, what would it be this time?
"Got it," Spencer announced, silencing my thoughts and fears were silenced.
Unlike Sophia and I, who dressed the part of cape with costumes and everything, Spencer always dressed casually. Jeans, leather jacket and whatever t-shirt he had on hand. Only the black goggles and metal mask that covered the lower half of his face marked him as a cape. Well that and his zap gun holstered on his leg connected to a battery pack hanging on his belt.
I turned to Spencer and gave him a look. He nodded and took a step away from the door. Slowly I reached for handle, my trembling hand grasping for it. 'Please let it be her. Let her be fine. Let it not be a trap.' I mentally recited again and again as opened the door.
There, huddled in the back of the van, wearing an orange jumpsuit and bound in heavy restraints on her arms and legs was my first and for a long time only friend, Emma.
For a moment we weren't standing in a van on a cold January night. We were back in her bedroom, me happy from camp and excited to be with my best friend again while Emma was nervous and agitated, trying to find the voice to tell me something. Before it all went wrong.
She looked ragged and thin, almost gaunt. Her once long, beautiful hair was short and poorly cut. A far cry from the pretty girl she had been. But then she had been on the run for months, probably living on the streets. Hounded by the label of a monster and the guilt of her family's murder...
God, I couldn't imagine how terrible that had been for her. That night had destroyed both our lives but A part of me was amazed that she had survived this long on her.
"Who…who are you?" Emma asked, her voice dripping with fear and panic as she tried her best to shy away from me.
"It's me Emma," I said, pulling down my scarf and goggles.
For a moment Emma just stared at me in disbelief. "Taylor…" she finally uttered, her eyes watering.
Before she could say anything else, I embraced her in hug, tears trailing down my cheeks. It had been a long road since the last time we had been together. Having just one piece of my old life back after everything I had lost was too much. It didn't matter that the PRT or Protectorate could be coming down on us at any moment or that we were both pretty much criminals right now, after over a year and a half my best friend was back.
"That's the Lupine? She doesn't look like much." Sophia called out, ending the moment in her usual blunt manner. "I thought Lupines were supposed to be big feral monsters. She looks even scrawny than you."
I let out a sigh, breaking the hug. "Stalker, can't you see we're-"
"Catch up with your girlfriend later," she said. "We need to get going Strix. And get your mask back on before someone sees you."
Okay, she was right about that. We couldn't waste time here on catching up. And I should get my mask back on before-
"Get your ass moving Strix!" Sophia yelled out as she started walking away.
I rolled my eyes as I pulled up my scarf again. She was right but that didn't mean I had to like that she was right.
"Who's your friend?" Emma asked.
"Shadow Stalker. She's an acquired taste," I replied as I helped Emma get up to feet.
"Never would have guess," Emma muttered as we moved to the open door.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to her. Eventually."
I stepped out of the vehicle first and Emma slowly followed, the restraints limiting her mobility. Those were going to have to go now if we going to get out of here in any reasonable time. "Spencer, the restraints," I commanded.
"Yeah, yeah," Spencer commented as he quickly went to work. "Wouldn't want our guest weighted down with this heavy substandard crap."
Within moments the locks clicked open and Emma's bounds fell to the ground in a clatter. "Thanks," Emma said, rubbing her wrists.
I opened my mouth to reply only for Armitage's nervous voice to fill my ear. "Boss, you got guys incoming."
"Protectorate?" I asked, my body tense with dread.
"I…I don't know," Armitage replied. "It's a motorcycle gang. At least a dozen riders. They're heading straight for you."
"We need to get out of here now," Grue hissed.
"Yeah," I said, putting a hand on Emma's shoulder. "We shouldn't take any chances. Let's get-"
A sudden roar of engines silenced me. What had been an empty street behind us had in the blink of an eye become filled with roaring motorcycles, at least a dozen, likely more. But they weren't moving. They had just appeared. It could only be Magic which meant a mage was with them. A powerful one.
They were menacing gang, clad in leather and tattoos, riding an assortment of motorcycles that I couldn't even begin to identify. But my eyes were drawn to their leader. Even if he hadn't been front and center I would have been drawn to him. While he looked no different than any other stereotypical biker but he radiated power, great and terrible. He rode a white bike with horrid black skulls and skeletons. I think it was a Harley but motorcycles weren't exactly my thing. His dark hair reached down to his shoulders in a wild mane, matched by an equally wild beard.
But then my eyes met his and the dread I had been feeling became terror.
This man… this thing was like no mage I had ever met before.
"Grue throw up as much darkness as you can!" I all but screamed, my hand griping Emma's shoulder even tighter.
But as I spoke, the lead rider raised a revolver. There was thundering roar the instant the last words left my mouth and Grue fell backwards. "The cape and wolf don't matter," the man spoke, his voice wild but commanding. "Do what you will with them but I want the others alive and relatively intact."
My mind was frantically racing as the other bikers began to dismount. They cheered and howled as they pulled out weapons, clubs and knives and chains but no guns thankfully. Some changed, becoming visibly less human with claws or fangs or small tendrils. Sophia had her crossbow raised, undoubtedly uttering one of her prayers as she took aim. Likewise, Spencer had his zap gun out, momentarily adjusting it. But we couldn't fight them. There was too many of them and I doubt even pooling our power we could stand against their leader.
We needed to get out of here. But Grue was down. He couldn't leave him but carrying him would slow us down and they'd tear us apart.
If we fought, we'd die. If we ran, we'd die.
There was no way out.
We were going to die…
"Oh God…" Emma muttered, shivering a little. "They smell… They're tainted. Like the monsters that…"
Suddenly she pushed my arm off her shoulder and tensed up. Her body began to swell, fur spreading across her skin, clothes tearing under the strain of her changing body. "Emma! No!" I frantically shouted.
But it was too late. Within moments the girl that had been standing there was gone and in her place was a giant wolf. Before I could do anything else, Emma let out an ear piecing howl and charged forward. She lunged at one biker, tearing off arm and throwing the not-man back before setting on another.
With that the floodgates were let loose. Some of the bikers swarmed Emma, trying to take her down with numbers, the rest rushing towards us. Sophia fired off a bolt, hitting one man perfectly between the eyes before discarding the spent weapon and drawing her knives, ready to cut down the first biker to reach her. Lightning from Spencer's zap struck one, the man convulsing before collapsing in a twitching, burnt heap. The zap gun was effective but its battery only had so many charges.
There was no choice now. We would fight.
I raised my hand, chanting the tried and true Enochian words as my Magic began to well up within me, the talisman sewn into my gloves glowing. And with it, clarity and focus replaced doubt and fear. I was in my element.
A howling biker with a machete lunged at me but I was faster, grabbing the man's face. The biker's howls became screams of agony as smoke poured from under my fingers. I let go, smoke wafting from my hands as the biker fell to his knees, clutching his burning face. I wasn't much of a fist fighter but in that state it was easy to punch him out. A couple hits to the head and he was out.
'One down, Gods know how many to go.'
Another came at me with a spinning chain but I was faster, jumping from his attempted attack. He swung again and again, trying to strike me but somehow I just managed to avoid each swing. All the while I was mentally recited a mantra to calm and focus my mind, allowing me to predict where his strikes were aimed at. But there was more to my evasion than just trying to escape his attacks.
Before along my back was against the side of the van. The thug grin, his arm swinging back for a vertical blow. His arm snapped forward and I dove down. As the chain bounced off the van my hand shot out and grabbed the foam gun I left lying there. Praying there was still some foam left I pointed the weapon at him and squeezed the trigger. My prayers were answered as foam hit the thug, quickly encasing his upper body in the harden foam.
With my attacker paralyzed I turned my attention to the others. Most of the bikers were fighting Emma and it was starting to take a toll on her. Her fur was stained with blood from at least half a dozen wounds but she had been giving as much as she was getting. With tooth and claw she was tearing the thugs apart one by one. Yet there always seemed to be more thugs coming.
Nearby Sophia was a whirling tempest of blades, slashing and cutting any that got close. But the numbers were starting to get to her. One biker got past her, claws raking across her side. She staggered back for a moment but only for a moment before slicing through the thing's face. Spencer had managed to keep his attackers back but the shots of his were becoming less powerful. He probably only had a few shots left.
We weren't going to win this I realized. Even if managed to defeat all these thugs we still had to take on their leader who still remained seated on his bike, dispassionately watching us. There was no way we could take him on and survive. That thing was too powerful. The best we could do was drive it off. But we didn't have that kind of power.
Unless…
An idea took root in my mind. A crazy, stupid idea but it was better than nothing.
I took off, sprinting for Spencer, dousing another biker with the last of the foam I had. "How much juice do you have left?" I demanded as I reached him.
Spencer gave me a funny look. "Two, maybe three shots," he said with a shrug. "Why?"
"Hit me with everything you have," I ordered.
"What?!" he exclaimed in disbelief.
"One shot, everything you have when I say so," I explained, taking a deep breath and then exhaling, tenting my fingers together.
"But-"
"Do it!"
I started chanting once more, readying myself physically and mentally for what I was about to do. And hoping I wasn't about to get myself killed. Power welled up within me but I drew upon more, as much as I could as quickly as I could. It was risky, it was stupid and it was dangerous but I'd be damned if I wasn't going to try.
My left arm moved, the palm pointing at Spencer. "Now!"
But nothing happened.
I turned him. Even with his mask and goggles I could see the fear and concern in his face. "NOW!"
Electricity arched from his gun, striking my palm. Hot, blazing pain shot tore my body. But somehow I held on, pulling, bending, forcing it to my will and adding it to my own Magic. Despite the furious agony I managed to move my right hand. I could feel my gloves burning, the talismans red hot and scorching. The lips of the gang leader were moving but I could hear nothing but unending roaring thunder. My eyes were locked on him as my hand was slowly and shakenly aimed at him.
"By my will it is done," a voice or perhaps a thousand voices uttered and I released all the power I had.
For an instant the world exploded before me…
…then oblivion took me.
The fight was quick and horribly one-sided. Blinded and practically deaf from Grue's shadows, the PRT agents were completely helpless under our assault. They were now all unconscious or doused with their own containment foam. With them taken care of, Grue had dismissed his darkness. Now we were around the back of the van, keeping an eye out for trouble as Spencer worked on the locks on the van's door. Searching the agents for the keys would take too much time. And time was not on our side. The longer this went on the more likely something would go wrong here or with one of the other teams.
"I trust they didn't get a call out," I said into my earpiece.
"Of course not and I've blitzed 911 with a dozen false calls. The cops and capes will be running around for an hour before they realize what's going on," Armitage casually answered.
Admittedly I didn't like the idea of tying up 911 like that when there could be people in need but at the same time I didn't want to get into a fight with police or capes. That always brought headaches.
"And the others?"
"They got out safe and sound. They're heading back now."
That didn't reassure me. This was too easy. Our luck was never this good. Something always went wrong. The question was, what would it be this time?
"Got it," Spencer announced, silencing my thoughts and fears were silenced.
Unlike Sophia and I, who dressed the part of cape with costumes and everything, Spencer always dressed casually. Jeans, leather jacket and whatever t-shirt he had on hand. Only the black goggles and metal mask that covered the lower half of his face marked him as a cape. Well that and his zap gun holstered on his leg connected to a battery pack hanging on his belt.
I turned to Spencer and gave him a look. He nodded and took a step away from the door. Slowly I reached for handle, my trembling hand grasping for it. 'Please let it be her. Let her be fine. Let it not be a trap.' I mentally recited again and again as opened the door.
There, huddled in the back of the van, wearing an orange jumpsuit and bound in heavy restraints on her arms and legs was my first and for a long time only friend, Emma.
For a moment we weren't standing in a van on a cold January night. We were back in her bedroom, me happy from camp and excited to be with my best friend again while Emma was nervous and agitated, trying to find the voice to tell me something. Before it all went wrong.
She looked ragged and thin, almost gaunt. Her once long, beautiful hair was short and poorly cut. A far cry from the pretty girl she had been. But then she had been on the run for months, probably living on the streets. Hounded by the label of a monster and the guilt of her family's murder...
God, I couldn't imagine how terrible that had been for her. That night had destroyed both our lives but A part of me was amazed that she had survived this long on her.
"Who…who are you?" Emma asked, her voice dripping with fear and panic as she tried her best to shy away from me.
"It's me Emma," I said, pulling down my scarf and goggles.
For a moment Emma just stared at me in disbelief. "Taylor…" she finally uttered, her eyes watering.
Before she could say anything else, I embraced her in hug, tears trailing down my cheeks. It had been a long road since the last time we had been together. Having just one piece of my old life back after everything I had lost was too much. It didn't matter that the PRT or Protectorate could be coming down on us at any moment or that we were both pretty much criminals right now, after over a year and a half my best friend was back.
"That's the Lupine? She doesn't look like much." Sophia called out, ending the moment in her usual blunt manner. "I thought Lupines were supposed to be big feral monsters. She looks even scrawny than you."
I let out a sigh, breaking the hug. "Stalker, can't you see we're-"
"Catch up with your girlfriend later," she said. "We need to get going Strix. And get your mask back on before someone sees you."
Okay, she was right about that. We couldn't waste time here on catching up. And I should get my mask back on before-
"Get your ass moving Strix!" Sophia yelled out as she started walking away.
I rolled my eyes as I pulled up my scarf again. She was right but that didn't mean I had to like that she was right.
"Who's your friend?" Emma asked.
"Shadow Stalker. She's an acquired taste," I replied as I helped Emma get up to feet.
"Never would have guess," Emma muttered as we moved to the open door.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to her. Eventually."
I stepped out of the vehicle first and Emma slowly followed, the restraints limiting her mobility. Those were going to have to go now if we going to get out of here in any reasonable time. "Spencer, the restraints," I commanded.
"Yeah, yeah," Spencer commented as he quickly went to work. "Wouldn't want our guest weighted down with this heavy substandard crap."
Within moments the locks clicked open and Emma's bounds fell to the ground in a clatter. "Thanks," Emma said, rubbing her wrists.
I opened my mouth to reply only for Armitage's nervous voice to fill my ear. "Boss, you got guys incoming."
"Protectorate?" I asked, my body tense with dread.
"I…I don't know," Armitage replied. "It's a motorcycle gang. At least a dozen riders. They're heading straight for you."
"We need to get out of here now," Grue hissed.
"Yeah," I said, putting a hand on Emma's shoulder. "We shouldn't take any chances. Let's get-"
A sudden roar of engines silenced me. What had been an empty street behind us had in the blink of an eye become filled with roaring motorcycles, at least a dozen, likely more. But they weren't moving. They had just appeared. It could only be Magic which meant a mage was with them. A powerful one.
They were menacing gang, clad in leather and tattoos, riding an assortment of motorcycles that I couldn't even begin to identify. But my eyes were drawn to their leader. Even if he hadn't been front and center I would have been drawn to him. While he looked no different than any other stereotypical biker but he radiated power, great and terrible. He rode a white bike with horrid black skulls and skeletons. I think it was a Harley but motorcycles weren't exactly my thing. His dark hair reached down to his shoulders in a wild mane, matched by an equally wild beard.
But then my eyes met his and the dread I had been feeling became terror.
This man… this thing was like no mage I had ever met before.
"Grue throw up as much darkness as you can!" I all but screamed, my hand griping Emma's shoulder even tighter.
But as I spoke, the lead rider raised a revolver. There was thundering roar the instant the last words left my mouth and Grue fell backwards. "The cape and wolf don't matter," the man spoke, his voice wild but commanding. "Do what you will with them but I want the others alive and relatively intact."
My mind was frantically racing as the other bikers began to dismount. They cheered and howled as they pulled out weapons, clubs and knives and chains but no guns thankfully. Some changed, becoming visibly less human with claws or fangs or small tendrils. Sophia had her crossbow raised, undoubtedly uttering one of her prayers as she took aim. Likewise, Spencer had his zap gun out, momentarily adjusting it. But we couldn't fight them. There was too many of them and I doubt even pooling our power we could stand against their leader.
We needed to get out of here. But Grue was down. He couldn't leave him but carrying him would slow us down and they'd tear us apart.
If we fought, we'd die. If we ran, we'd die.
There was no way out.
We were going to die…
"Oh God…" Emma muttered, shivering a little. "They smell… They're tainted. Like the monsters that…"
Suddenly she pushed my arm off her shoulder and tensed up. Her body began to swell, fur spreading across her skin, clothes tearing under the strain of her changing body. "Emma! No!" I frantically shouted.
But it was too late. Within moments the girl that had been standing there was gone and in her place was a giant wolf. Before I could do anything else, Emma let out an ear piecing howl and charged forward. She lunged at one biker, tearing off arm and throwing the not-man back before setting on another.
With that the floodgates were let loose. Some of the bikers swarmed Emma, trying to take her down with numbers, the rest rushing towards us. Sophia fired off a bolt, hitting one man perfectly between the eyes before discarding the spent weapon and drawing her knives, ready to cut down the first biker to reach her. Lightning from Spencer's zap struck one, the man convulsing before collapsing in a twitching, burnt heap. The zap gun was effective but its battery only had so many charges.
There was no choice now. We would fight.
I raised my hand, chanting the tried and true Enochian words as my Magic began to well up within me, the talisman sewn into my gloves glowing. And with it, clarity and focus replaced doubt and fear. I was in my element.
A howling biker with a machete lunged at me but I was faster, grabbing the man's face. The biker's howls became screams of agony as smoke poured from under my fingers. I let go, smoke wafting from my hands as the biker fell to his knees, clutching his burning face. I wasn't much of a fist fighter but in that state it was easy to punch him out. A couple hits to the head and he was out.
'One down, Gods know how many to go.'
Another came at me with a spinning chain but I was faster, jumping from his attempted attack. He swung again and again, trying to strike me but somehow I just managed to avoid each swing. All the while I was mentally recited a mantra to calm and focus my mind, allowing me to predict where his strikes were aimed at. But there was more to my evasion than just trying to escape his attacks.
Before along my back was against the side of the van. The thug grin, his arm swinging back for a vertical blow. His arm snapped forward and I dove down. As the chain bounced off the van my hand shot out and grabbed the foam gun I left lying there. Praying there was still some foam left I pointed the weapon at him and squeezed the trigger. My prayers were answered as foam hit the thug, quickly encasing his upper body in the harden foam.
With my attacker paralyzed I turned my attention to the others. Most of the bikers were fighting Emma and it was starting to take a toll on her. Her fur was stained with blood from at least half a dozen wounds but she had been giving as much as she was getting. With tooth and claw she was tearing the thugs apart one by one. Yet there always seemed to be more thugs coming.
Nearby Sophia was a whirling tempest of blades, slashing and cutting any that got close. But the numbers were starting to get to her. One biker got past her, claws raking across her side. She staggered back for a moment but only for a moment before slicing through the thing's face. Spencer had managed to keep his attackers back but the shots of his were becoming less powerful. He probably only had a few shots left.
We weren't going to win this I realized. Even if managed to defeat all these thugs we still had to take on their leader who still remained seated on his bike, dispassionately watching us. There was no way we could take him on and survive. That thing was too powerful. The best we could do was drive it off. But we didn't have that kind of power.
Unless…
An idea took root in my mind. A crazy, stupid idea but it was better than nothing.
I took off, sprinting for Spencer, dousing another biker with the last of the foam I had. "How much juice do you have left?" I demanded as I reached him.
Spencer gave me a funny look. "Two, maybe three shots," he said with a shrug. "Why?"
"Hit me with everything you have," I ordered.
"What?!" he exclaimed in disbelief.
"One shot, everything you have when I say so," I explained, taking a deep breath and then exhaling, tenting my fingers together.
"But-"
"Do it!"
I started chanting once more, readying myself physically and mentally for what I was about to do. And hoping I wasn't about to get myself killed. Power welled up within me but I drew upon more, as much as I could as quickly as I could. It was risky, it was stupid and it was dangerous but I'd be damned if I wasn't going to try.
My left arm moved, the palm pointing at Spencer. "Now!"
But nothing happened.
I turned him. Even with his mask and goggles I could see the fear and concern in his face. "NOW!"
Electricity arched from his gun, striking my palm. Hot, blazing pain shot tore my body. But somehow I held on, pulling, bending, forcing it to my will and adding it to my own Magic. Despite the furious agony I managed to move my right hand. I could feel my gloves burning, the talismans red hot and scorching. The lips of the gang leader were moving but I could hear nothing but unending roaring thunder. My eyes were locked on him as my hand was slowly and shakenly aimed at him.
"By my will it is done," a voice or perhaps a thousand voices uttered and I released all the power I had.
For an instant the world exploded before me…
…then oblivion took me.
- Location
- Brazil
I don't know what happened other that I want more of it.