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[Other FULL] Titans: Reborn [Prologue]

1,446
Posts
8
Years

Druid

As light filled his vision, seemingly from the man's hand, Eric went blind. It was a temporary blindness, but blindness nonetheless. After only moments of clutching his face in horror, a large crash sounded and a boy's voice could be heard. Only, Eric was having trouble paying attention to anything other than waving his hand in front of his face.

"What's going on? I can't see!"

He tried to listen to what the boy was saying, but the thought of being blind plagued his mind. He thought he heard the boy say his name was Lighthouse be he wasn't certain.

After a few seconds of panic, his vision was slowly returning. First, light and shadows, and then shapes and color. He had stopped thrashing his hand in front of his face, and stood more confidently. He was stunned by the usefulness of an ability like that. Light may seem like a lame superpower, but use it the right way and it becomes a powerful weapon.

"T-that was pretty cool. Are your abilities natural, or magic-based?" he asked, genuinely curious. He once read about a spell that could make a person's tattoos burn their flesh off, but it never produced light like that.

Then, he noticed the hole in the wall, and the child that stood in front of it. Who let the kid in? Doesn't he know it's dangerous to be out by himself at night? And what the heck did he do to break through the wall? He stared at the kid for a moment, and then realized what the tattoo man said moments before.

What's with all the children at this meeting? He rolled his eyes.


 

Nakuzami

[img]https://i.imgur.com/iwlpePA.png[/img]
6,896
Posts
13
Years
Chthonia
24 Years of Age
Wednesday, October 14th, 2020
Night :: Bayside
"Spiritual Return"


Maiara Rayen Huerta Cheshire was a girl of simple pleasures. As she bounced down the dark streets in her overly revealing miniskirt, crop top and schoolgirl pigtails, she was all smiles. The city had so much to offer, after all.

As she rounded a corner, she "accidentally" bumped into a couple clad in some rather expensive attire.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry mister!" she exclaimed as she helped the man that she had just knocked down to his feet. "Are you alright?"

He was tall, dark haired, somewhere around forty years in age. Short stubble. Graying hair. Lecherous.

"Perfectly fine, my dear," he responded with a chuckle. His arm returned to its interlocked position with the woman he was with as Mai began to walk past him. "Be safe now, you never know what could happen on these streets at this time of night."

Of course she noticed his longing stare as she skipped away down the sidewalk. That was part of the ploy, after all. A miniskirt, already too short for its wearer, fluttering up and down with her bubbly movements? What old creep could resist? She allowed herself a small giggle as the woman slapped her companion across the face for the unwelcome gesture. She allowed herself a larger giggle as she turned another corner and admired the gold Rolex she had just looted off of the man.

"You're going to fetch a pretty little price, my pretty little friend," she mused as she pocketed the watch.

She was about to continue her merry little stroll when she heard a scream emanate from where she'd just left. It was the woman from that couple, no doubt. It sounded like those two were having a bad night.

Against her better judgment, she decided to turn around and investigate the source.

She peered around the building she had taken her little respite by. The couple hadn't made it very far from where she'd left them. The man was lying on the ground, whether dead or just unconscious, she wasn't sure. The woman was being dragged off into a nearby alley by one man. The second man's pants were practically already halfway off.

"Shut the bitch up, we don't want any 'heroes' showing up!" she heard the second man say to his friend.

Well, "hero" might be stretching it a bit, but it's too late for that, darling, Mai thought.

She began creeping closer so that she could hear the rest of the conversation, making sure to stick close to the wall and out of reach of the street lights.

"Heroes? You're kidding, right? Ain't no heroes 'round here, just a bunch of pansies dressed up in costumes, who ain't no shits."

"Well I heard that Resistance group is trying to find more freaks for its cause, and they're having some sort of meeting tomorrow night to find 'em."

The first man snorted. "Yeah, sure. Doesn't matter anyways. That's tomorrow, and this is tonight. Screw the 'Resistance' and it's freaks."

Mai scowled. She'd heard of the Resistance, but she hadn't paid it much mind. The last time a group of supers had tried teaming up in Hyperia, the "New Champions" as they'd been known, they'd failed miserably. Mai hadn't been a part of them then, and she didn't really care for the idea now.

Though, she had been tied up in some government freak nonsense at the time, so maybe a chance to stick it to the meta-force could be fun.

It was a thought she'd save to entertain later. For now, she had a couple of thugs to deal with.

By the end of the conversation, she'd reached the alley way where the men had dragged the woman. She turned into it, and was promptly greeted by the sight of a man's bare ass. It wasn't even a pretty one, at that. The woman was still struggling as the man fumbled with ripping off her clothes. She couldn't let out any more screams, however, as the other man had already made sure that her mouth was too preoccupied for that.

Disgusting.

"Oh, boys!" Mai called, stretching out the word with a cheery tone. She gave her chest a little wiggle as the men turned to her, startled. She waved to them as she spoke again. "Mind if this lil' girl joins in on the fun?" She ended with a giggle and a head tilt, for good measure.

The men stared at her for a moment, then glanced at each other.

The idiots were too ravenous to realize it was an obvious trap. Then again, she made a fairly convincing whore, if she did say so herself.

As the man that had been removing the woman's clothes stood and began to approach her, Mai gave him a broad smile and raised her right arm. He reached out for her, and she snapped her fingers. Instantly her hand was ablaze in abysmal flames, and they scorched the man's fingers, causing him to reel backwards with a shout. Before he got too far, however, Mai reached out and slapped him across the face, melting his skin and sending him to the ground.

If he was lucky, he'd have died from that slap. The burn from a dark flame did not heal easily, and the resulting scar was not something anyone should care to live with.

An instant later, she was pushing the second man off from the woman with her regular hand. She used her flaming hand to grab the appendage that was freed from the woman's mouth, burning it off.

Mai couldn't help but smirk as the man let out a terrible scream.

He fell to the ground, unconscious and unmanned. There would be no salvaging that part of him. It was exactly what he deserved.

She silenced her flames and helped the trembling woman to her feet. She could tell that the woman didn't know whether to be terrified of her as well, or thankful for having been saved. Mai didn't give her much time to decide.

"There, you're fine now. You should probably call an ambulance for your friend on the ground over there, though."

With that, she strolled out of the alley and was gone.

Now, to figure out where this "Resistance meeting" was being held.


The next night, she decided to stay home. She had already pawned off that stolen Rolex, and had managed to figure out that the meeting she'd heard about was taking place in some abandoned warehouse in Bayside. It had taken less spying than she'd thought it would to glean that little bit of information off of random passersby.

If that's all it took to find out the Resistance's plans, their future didn't seem too bright.

Despite that, she was still curious. While she might have been staying home, that didn't mean she couldn't also be at the meeting.

She laid down on her bed and began to concentrate. After a few moments, she felt her spirit detach from her body, and suddenly she was looking down on herself.

After all these years, it was still an incredibly interesting experience.

In this form, no one would be able to see her. She could attend the meeting and learn everything she wanted, and to everyone else, it would be as if she'd just been home asleep.

Her spirit took flight, soaring out her bedroom window and rising into the skies above Helios. It took only a few moments for her ethereal self to reach the Bayside region, and only a few moments more for her to reach the warehouse district.

As she slowed down and descended to the ground, she noticed a fair few people wandering around the district. Or, more accurately, wandering towards a single warehouse in staggered time.

A meeting isn't so secret if you make the location so obvious, she thought to herself. Sure, the only people around seemed to be the ones attending the meeting, but what things seemed to be and what the truly were were two separate things entirely.

Her invisible form was proof of that, albeit proof that no one else could see.

She glided towards the warehouse doors, taking a quick peak in to see how many people had already arrived.

She counted twelve figures in and around the warehouse. Two seemed to be keeping their distance, and one was trying to hide. She was doing well enough with it, but it wasn't the easiest thing to hide from a spirit whose eyes could pierce shadows with relative ease.

Inside, there was a girl in a sheep mask arguing with someone on her phone. Two boys appeared to be fucking with each other, though they weren't exactly fucking each other just yet, despite a few innuendos she overheard. Another had decided to crash through the warehouse wall Kool-Aid Man style. The rest just seemed to be standing around for the moment.

As far as Mai was concerned, it didn't appear to be a very promising bunch. At all. They'd be lucky if they weren't all discovered or even killed here tonight.
 
5,025
Posts
8
Years

Rex Raze


Tracking a person with no movement or smell was hard. Especially, tracking down someone like the person above roof. But that's not what matter for Rex right now.
"Damn! Can't wait anymore".

Suddenly a small fight broke out between two guys. Rex found himself analyzing their moves and watched with amusement the simple effective move that blinded the guy fighting with "tattoo guy". The first move by the other guy was completely nothing, just a little touch which created something in tattoo guy mind, then tattoo guy used light to blind other guy.

Standing a little behind the cocky fella who just destroyed a wall with energy blast, leaning on the wall, Rex had one thought running in his mind. 'Well well, maybe these guys are good for something after all.'

Rex was absolutely relaxed, but ready to jump in action any second. Then why didn't he?

There are actually two explanations.

The first is…..that he just doesn't give a **** about this thing."

"The other is that he is waiting for something, but what can it be?" Nobody knows.

Seeing everything he finally pushed himself off the wall. 'Man this is it !' He sighed

With that he started to slowly walk toward someone.

 

Foxrally

[img]http://i.imgur.com/omi0jS3.gif[/img]
2,791
Posts
10
Years
sLZYIMt.jpg

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Nerites Ekitai
Child of The Ocean

"And this carving right here was also made by the ancient Athenian people around 750 B.C., in honor of the city's alleged protector, the goddess Athena." the tour guide explained, motioning towards an large slab of stone pinned to the wall. Various figures in greek togas were kneeling and bowing down to an imposing, giant woman. The woman, whose spear and shield were pointed at the sky, bore and inscription on her toga: 'For Wisdom and Conquest.'

"This carving is one of many praising Athena, which was thought to bring luck to Ancient Greek Warrio- ah, ma'am?" he stopped abruptly as he noticed a woman's hand slowly approach the slab of stone. "Excuse me, hey! Hands off the exhibits, please!" he called out.

Nerites pouted. "Hmpf, who is he to tell me to stop? It is more mine than his." she muttered, pulling down on her beach hat as she retracted her hand. The woman in front of her looked back in confusion at her statement, then hurriedly continued ahead, following the guide. Hundreds of tourists came to the island at this time of year, hoping to escape the darker, foggier weather in the rest of the world- and Santorini island was just the place. Sunny weather almost all year, fantastic architecture, fascinating history, beautiful beaches, high peaks and even higher prices made it one of the top destinations for the most opulent of tourists to enjoy a luxurious sun-packed vacation. This museum, a large white building built on the edge of Santorini and near the beach, was just one of hundreds around the country, all of which Nerites had visited time and again. Tourist agencies swarmed around landmarks like these - luckily for Nerites, this particular one wasn't very good at keeping track of their clients, so she could easily blend in as another snooty visitor.

I will never understand why humans portrayed Athena as being so big. From what father told us, she was just as tall as anyone else. she thought to herself, scribbling down the ancient inscription on her notepad before catching up to the rest of the group.

"Now this exhibit is extremely precious." the guide explained as she caught up. The group was gathered around a balcony overlooking the ocean, where a pedestal with a glass box on top of it rested; though Nerites couldn't see what was inside the box.

"Discovered by the Andreas Marinos himself, as well." the guide said. The name seemed to trigger a hushed excited reaction in the crowd of tourists. "The locals here call it Evlogía tou Poseidóna, or Poseidon's Blessing. It was recently transferred from another museum, and we have the privilege to display this priceless gem to you."

Suddenly hearing her father's name, Nerites suddenly looked up from her notebook. Father's...? She had never heard of this necklace before, even in other museums. Could it truly be... father's pendant? As the guide continued his exposition on the gem, Nerites began pushing through the crowd, oblivious to the grunts and curses sent her way as her eyes fixed on the jewel.

Nerites placed her hands on the glass, eyeing the artifact curiously. "Now we move on to- hey! Madam, I said hands off the exhibits!" the guide shouted.

Taking no notice of the man's words, she pressed her face against the box. I must see for myself... After a brief moment of concentration, she pulled back her head... and slammed it straight into the glass.

The box exploded into shards of glass and alarms blared as the crowd screamed in terror. "Everyone! Calm down!" the guide yelled, attempting to calm the tourists who were now scattering in fear. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a communicator. "Security, assistance required at balcony C, now!"

Amid the chaos, Nerites calmly reached inside and picked up the pendant. There is energy left in this... father's energy...

"You! Hands in the air, now!"

Nerites turned around. Two security guards were slowly approaching her, stun guns in hand. "Put the jewel back in its place and raise your hands calmly." the guard instructed.

"Yes, yes... whatever you say..." she mumbled absentmindedly, still examining the necklace carefully. "I have to show this to Chris..."

"I'll repeat myself one more time, lady! Put your-"

Before the two guards had time to react, Nerites ran over to the fence of the balcony, and leaped off edge, plunging into the ocean thirty feet below.

---------​

The streets of Athens were always a fascinating place to walk through for the ocean goddess. Despite the hundreds of years separating the two eras, the streets were very much like she knew them - noisy, busy and crowded, with stores loudly advertising their various local products to tourists, narrow alleys separating houses and stores, and the smells of various food stalls filling the air (though she wasn't a fan of the grilled fish stall). Balconies lining the colorful houses were the perfect spot to observe the ocean, and Chris had a perfectly-placed one overlooking the beach.

Now, which of these buildings was Chris' again... Nerites thought to herself as she walked through the street. Upon reaching a tall, white building, she stopped. Aha! That is the one.

Slipping past the rusty gate, she made her way up the building's stairs until she reached Chris' apartment. A large plaque reading 'Dr. Coleman' was fixed to the door.

I'll never understand why Chris insists he is a man of coal... Nerites giggled to herself and grabbed the doorknob. It didn't budge. He must have locked his door. He cannot be at work, he is on holiday. Maybe he is asleep! I suppose I will have to wake him up. she thought to herself. She put down the pendant and closed her eyes. For a slight moment her form shimmered - then suddenly collapsed down into a puddle, allowing her to slip right underneath the door and unlock it from the inside.

"Chris?" she called out as she picked up the jewel. "It is I, Nerites! I took the freedom of unlocking the door."

She made her way to his bedroom. Nobody was inside. "Are you there? Do not worry, it is only me, Nerites! The ocean goddess, have you forgotten? Unless there are other ocean goddesses out there, in the case of which I understand your confusion." she continued as she checked the kitchen. Empty. "Although if you did meet other ocean goddesses, please let me know! It is sort of what I have been trying to do for the past few centuries or so." Nobody in the bathroom either.

She crossed her arms and stroked her chin pensively as she walked back into the living room. Where might I be if I was a coal man... she mused. After a few failed attempts which all resulted to her assuming he was at the beach, she sighed, throwing herself onto the sofa.

"Ouch!"

She sprang back up, rubbing her bottom. There was a notebook on the sofa - the very first one she had used in Hyperia. How strange, I thought Chris stored these near the balcony. He must have been- wait a second! She suddenly snapped her fingers. Today is his flight day!

Running out of the apartment (and gracefully leaving the door open) Nerites hurried out of the building and into the street. "Horseman!" she called, before smacking herself in the forehead at her own ignorance. Humans use cars now, of course. "I mean, carman! Please, I demand a carman!" she yelled, waving frantically at the cars driving by. Moments later a taxi stopped next to her.

"Where to, madam?" the driver asked as she hurriedly hopped into the cab.

"Take me to your air docks, quickly!" Nerites urged.

"Ah, you mean the airport?"

"Yes, please hurry!" she said, tapping the front of the taxi nervously.

"You got it."

---------​

The taxi screeched to a stop as it reached the Athens International Airport. "That'll be 13 euros, madam." the driver said.

Nerites looked at him in confusion "Thirteen you-what? I'm sorry, I do not have thirteen of myself. I knew a person who could make ten of himself, though! He was a very kind person." As she noticed the driver reach in pocket for his phone, she suddenly realized what he meant. "Oh, you require payment! I do not have currency, but I do have this, though..." she said, pulling out Poseidon's Blessing from her pendant and placing it on the driver's lap. "I don't think I have much use for it now... You can have my father's blessing instead, for your service. Thank you for the transport!" she exclaimed and hopped out of the cab before he had any time to respond.

Running into the airport lobby, she looked around. There must be an Amanda in this building... She noticed a desk with a sign marked 'Info'. Ah, that must be it!

Nerites made her way over to the counter. "Hello there, miss Amanda!" she beamed happily.

The secretary raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I'm sorry, maam? My name isn-"

"Oh, I apologize. You are an Amanda. It seems like an enjoyable profession." Nerites corrected. "Please, Amanda, I must know something. What time is the next airship to Hyperia departing?"

Doing her best to ignore the strange woman's description of 'Amanda', the secretary nodded. "Y-yes, I can help you with that." After a few moments, a list of flight appeared on the screen. "I am afraid today's flight to Hyperia just left half an hour ago."

"Drats!" Nerites cursed, slamming her fists on the desk.

The woman cleared her throat and looked back at her screen. "Though if it's any consolation, the next one is in a few days, if you-"

"Thank you!" Nerites called out, already long gone. I remember why Chris was going to Hyperia, now... I must go to him. she thought. Not a moment to lose!
 
25,439
Posts
11
Years
Giron: Resistance Comedy Club
AKA Basil DeLeon | Aged 30 | Male | Reptilia

giron_by_fraisechaton-d93flop.png


Giron stood there with the few other people, none of whom he recognised, for a while. He wasn't even completely confident he had the right place; anybody could have been having a secret meeting in that warehouse after all. Soon enough though, his confidence in the situation returned as through an extremely convenient skylight, in quick succession, two familiar faces (for want of a better word in one instance) descended into the building.

Quantum was first, in a suit that looked kind of different to Giron. He was pretty sure it was her though, it seemed kind of unlikely that there were two flying energy beings in robo-suits hanging about and he knew for a fact that she was still actively crime fighting around Hyperia.
""… Uhm. Hello," she began in typical Quantum manner. Giron started to move towards her to say hello, but it was at that moment that the second familiar face landed. Stargazer was one of the ones he'd heard literally nothing about, so he was extremely pleased to see her doing well. This confirmed to him that this was not only the Resistance meeting, but also that he'd be seeing old friends again (obviously). Things were shaping up to be worth the risk.

Giron once again begun his walk across the room to greet his fellow ex-Champions, completely forgetting at that moment that neither of them had the faintest clue who he was. He never made it all the way across to them however, as suddenly a tattooed man strode forth.
"I bet you're wondering why you've been gathered here today." He paused, an agonizing moment of silence." He paused briefly before breaking into laughter ""Yeah, me too."

The tension in the air suddenly broke and was replaced by a feeling of aggravation and disappointment, something that Giron was oblivious to as he started laughing hysterically. Not even noticing that the tattoo guy ended up in a tussle with a weirdly dressed person over the joke, that Giron loved. He was too busy trying to not fall into convulsions because he was laughing so hard at the joke.

With considerable effort however, he managed to pull himself together and resume his leisurely stroll towards his former teammates only for a moment later a wall to explode, and some guy to leap through it screaming "OH YEAH!" It was at that precise moment that Giron fell to the ground in complete hysteria.
"Its…" he managed to choke out between bouts of laughter "Just like… the Kool Aid guy!" he continued to laugh like a moron for several minutes, completely unaware of how strange the childish reaction sounded in his deep rumbling and not at all stereotypical voice. He was also completely unaware of the fact that several of the people in the room hated each other and that several of them likely were not very fond of him either at that point.

Completely not bothered, and ignoring the weird looks some people had given him, Giron struggled to pull himself together so he could speak and managed to walk over to where Quantum and Stargazer were at last. He then opened his mouth and tried to speak but ended up laughing again and once again took a few moments to compose himself.
"Sorry-" he begun, taking a few deep breaths to get control of himself "It's been a while, how are you guys! I've missed you! What have you been doing? Well I know what Quantum's been doing I have to read about her a lot at work. You vanished though! What's new guys? Are you in the Resistance? Are you joining? Tell me all the things!"

When the response Giron received to his sudden torrent of remarks and questions was a quizzical stare. He stopped suddenly.
"Oh right! I'm some guy right now!" He took that opportunity, to change to his normal appearance: an enormous green lizard creature. "It's me Giron!" he chirped happily, paying no attention to how his sudden change into an enormous reptile might effect the gathered people.​

 
944
Posts
9
Years


HARPER BURTON
harper_by_fraisechaton-d94ez9t.png

Old Dog, New Tracks

23 // Spectrum // Female

"Jesus, time has not been kind to you, has it?" Kane exclaimed carelessly as his hooded companion made their way to his table. The person before him looked nothing like the girl he remembered. What was once a vibrant excitable young lady had become…whatever it was he was looking at. Her skin was pasty, as though she'd been avoiding the sun for full days at a time. Her hair was all over the place, a state in which the girl he met four years ago would never been seen dead.

"Sorry, I wasn't aware that I had to put my face on, just to meet you in a coffee shop." Harper replied with a sigh. Her voice was gravelly and her tone flat. She glanced away, quickly grabbing the attention of a passing waiter. "White hot chocolate please." She almost resembled an addict in her demeanour and attire. "You've got money on you, right?" She enquired as she returned her attention to Kane.

"You ordered knowing that you don't have the cash?" Kane sighed digging through his pockets in search for his wallet. "Painting not going so great then, huh? I thought Archie got a promotion anyway. What happened to that?" He mused, as he continued rummaging. Harper wore a blank expression on her face.

"Y-you brought me here to ask me about my home life? You know I have a cell phone, right?" The hooded girl retorted with a raised brow. It was the most life that had sprung to her face since she'd arrived at the coffee shop.

"I'm buying you a hot chocolate, the least you could do is humour me." Kane chuckled in defeat. Seemingly on que, the waiter arrived with Harper's hot chocolate in hand, but was quickly dismissed by Kane once the exchange was complete. "Obviously I brought you hear for more than that. Wouldn't want the government tapping into our conversation now, would we?" He muttered, slipping an envelope across the table. Though she had been absently sipping the hot beverage from her cup, the mention of the government seemed to catch Harper's attention. She glanced down at the letter, before looking back at Kane. "Check it out then." He pressed, urging her on.

"Resistance?" She questioned after taking a few moments to scan the documents.

"Yeah. I'm not sure how, but it looks like the meta-force missed this file somehow. It's a pretty strong lead too. They've got us searching day and night for any information or rumours concerning activity involving the champions, so I'm surprised this tidbit slipped by." Kane continued to explain.

"Or maybe it didn't slip by. Maybe we have a few more guys working on the inside than we think." The blonde let out a relieved sigh. "Still…I don't see what this has to do with me." She let out a second sigh, this one inspired more from contempt than contentment.

"Harper, let's not do this. You were obviously an asset to the meta-force, otherwise they would never have been so annoyed about you leaving." Kane responded, with a clear lack of sympathy. "And no, it wasn't just because they wanted to retain information within their employees." He added, knowing Harper would take any chance she had to interject. "I'm begging you. Go to the meeting and find out if it's worth the cause."

"What about Mai and Helen?"

"I'm asking you personally. This has nothing to do with them." Kane responded sharply, at this point staring intensely at the now bashful hooded women. His face lit up as she responded with a faint nod. He stood up, and opened his arms for a hug, but Harper was hesitant. She stood up, taking her hot chocolate and turning away rather apathetically. "Thanks Harper." Kane added, lunging in for the hug anyway. Despite quite clearly showing her discomfort, Harper accepted the hug before swiftly slipping away and leaving the coffee shop without another word.​

 
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Legend

Kingslayer
1,308
Posts
15
Years
Spectrum
23 Years of Age
Overdrive
28 Years of Age

Wednesday, October 14th, 2020
Night :: Suburbia
The Grass is Greener



Later that day, Harper sat at home, watching the late night news. She seemed unphased by the state that her living room was in. The painting canvas littered with a palette of unorganised oranges, purples and greens, the discoloured pile of clothes that had found themselves blocking the door to her office even the curtains had been hit by a mess of stains. There was barely a ray of light from the lamposts peeking through the drapes. She preferred it that way these days. The droning of the news anchor was atmospheric, and having the curtains closed gave her that sense of security alongside it. She felt safe. She could see everything going on outside, while shutting it all out.

She almost felt a literal bubble popping inside her as unfamiliar and unwelcome sound came from the kitchen. A second later, a rush of wind smacked Harper in the face, and in less than a second, an all too familiar face was staring at the young woman. The face had not aged a day since the first time meeting this figure. If anything, she may have looked better than she did 5 years ago, seeming slimmer and more energetic even her average clothing of a pair of blue jeans and a plain, but low cut t-shirt (far less revealing than her spandex suit). "Hey, Harps. Did you move the spoons? Oh wait," the voice said. Less than a second later, the familiar woman returned, this time with a spoon and tub of ice cream in hand, munching on the cookie dough flavored delight. "Found them."

Helen? Harper was stunned into silence. A multitude of questions flooded her head at that moment. How did Helen know where she lived? Why was she here? How did she get in? WHAT THE HELL WAS SHE DOING EATING HER ICE CREAM?!?!? Her gaze slowly lowered to the tub. She resisted the urge to pounce then and there. "Helen...before I ask why, I think I'm gonna need a how and a when, oh, and of course the obvious, why are you eating my ice cream?" She ended with a harsh but passive aggressive tone.

Helen's eyes widened as she ate the ice cream at an accelerated rate, with half the tub gone by the time that Harper finished pestering with her questions. "Did you want that answered in order?" She asked, rushing back to empty her hands before seemingly teleporting back in another gust of wind. "Sorry, ice cream was gone and I wanted to at least be polite and put it in the trash, but you know I couldn't find your trash because I swear your apartment feels differently than last time but it's whatever, since I found you eventually which I guess answers your first question of how I found you which wasn't really that hard really." Helen said all that in a garbled mess of words with her mouth flapping at a mind numbing pace. "Oh, I should probably slow down, huh? It's been a while since we saw each other after all." With a pause, Helen attempted to reset herself into normal people time. It was nigh impossible for the speedster to do that.

"Okay, I found you pretty easily since I am a reporter. It was a matter of asking the right questions and zipping around the city. I got here about...45 seconds ago. And I was hungry. So I nabbed some food. I actually checked this place a couple of times, but couldn't find you. Probably came a bad time, between all the times I was trying to fight crime in the city like we were supposed to do all those years ago," Helen said at a slower pace with a smile. She was so proud of herself adopting the Overdrive persona on an unofficial vigilante basis, having even teamed up with the occasional other hero. "Oh, and before you ask the obvious, I vibrated through your door. It's okay, I didn't break it like the last time you saw me try to do that."

"Wait, wait, wait...you're a reporter?" Harper chimed in at the most surprising of the information that was fed to her. For the most part, when dealing with Helen, there was very little that she found surprising anymore. Despite that, the fact that the eccentric woman had an actual formal job completely threw her off guard. She'd long since gotten used to the explosion of words that one would be expected to endure when in a conversation with Helen, but that part left her completely bewildered.

"Oh, yeah! Helps keep me in the loop about things, especially when it comes to crimes and what not. I work under an assumed name though, since we still have to stay somewhat on the down-low given who we used to work for. 'Ada Keller.' I made it sound foreign so people wouldn't think twice. Also, it's funny to say," Helen said fondly, sighing with a glimmer of happiness. She was clearly proud of herself. "The old guys still try to catch me when I am super-hero-ing but I got about 5 times faster so they got nothing on me. How are you holding up?" Helen asked, genuinely interested in how Harper was doing. Helen always liked Harper a lot more than Mai. She was kinder and less judgmental. Also, she handled the headaches that Helen induced far better.

Harper felt a warm fuzz, when Helen asked how she'd been. She could definitely be annoying, but she did care, and it meant a lot to her. The question definitely made her more self aware. She was a mess. Seeing Helen was ironically like a breath of fresh air, and helped her remember the good old days, back when things were simpler. When she was still going to school, living with her parents and seeing her boyfriend. Now she was self employed, with a job that wouldve been ten times better had she been in the capacity to advertise her brand, her boyfriend had moved away on business and her parents...well. She wasnt particularly fond of either step parent. All the competition for her affection left her at odds with both parents, so that was rarely ever an option. In short, life sucked, but she wasnt about to tell Helen any of that. "Ummm..haha, I've been doing well." She said with a very forced chuckle.

"Okayyyyyyyy," Helen said. She was hyperactive, but not stupid. She knew enough about Harper to know that she was lying, but she wasn't going to pry. Not yet, anyway. That would come later after Harper got off her ass and did some things. That's what Helen was here for. "Look, Harps. I caught a rumor in my reporting, superhero-ing thing. Apparently a group is shaping up to help out the city. It's called the Resistance or something. I think we should join. After all, we were supposed to do this thing anyway. We were part of a team, so why not join another one and do things like the good old times?"

"Yeah, I've been informed." Harper replied, her tone dropping at the mention of this stupid superhero thing again. "I'm not interested. If it was meant to be it wouldve worked out the first time." Harper replied coldly. She really didnt need this. The first time around, being a superhero was a get out. Life was boring and everything was running so smoothly she needed a get out. That wasnt the case now however. It was all an inconvenience to her.

Helen frowned before snickering. Harper got really depressing, really fast. Almost Helen fast. "You do know that I could force you to come with me, right? So why not just check it out willingly so I don't have to kidnap you. Looking around your place, it looks like you need something to restart your life. You aren't going to find it wallowing in your dark place here, Harps."

"Pfft, you've got nothing on me." Harper dismissed the ridiculous notion with a role of her eyes. Blackmail wasnt going to work on her. "Not sure why everyone's so caught up on the resistance thing anyway, I'm sure they've got more than enough support already." With that, she headed for the already invaded kitchen; the whole ordeal had left her with quite the appetite.

Helen sighed. She didn't want to have to do this, but it seemed like she had to. With a flash of wind and lightning, Helen grabbed her friend and in a matter of a couple of minutes, found themselves in the warehouse district of the city despite Harper's protests. Helen was supporting her friend's head and let go as soon as the rush of speed ended. "I learned that sometimes I give people whiplash, but I stopped that after a couple of weeks. Grabbing the head seems to help."

As she was released from Helen's dastardly clutches, Harper fell straight to her knees, gasping as much air as possible. "Helen...I think I might just hate you." She somehow managed to blurt out in two breaths. "How do you even..." She began, unable to finish her sentence. After taking a moment to recover, she looked up at the dark setting, much to her discomfort. Practically no light at all. She thought to herself with a frown. What if this whole thing was a trap? She'd be practically useless if it came to a confrontation. There was no sign of super heroes...her train of thought began to stutter as she came to a realisation. She looked up at Helen, before looking down at herself. At her pyjama vest and short shorts. "Helen...we...we need to go home, now!" She exclaimed with a shiver.

Helen waved Harper off, with a dramatic wave and a strange noise from her mouth. "Harps, you are being overly dramatic. Look, if there is any trouble, I'll bolt us out of her in a hurry. I'll go a bit slower for you so you don't get motion sickness. It takes a little while to get used to it, I'll admit. Probably should've warned ya about that one. My b, bae," Helen snorted with a little chuckle. We just need to find the right warehouse...." her voice trailed off. "I don't know which one that is, so give me a second. Or three." Helen disappeared in that instant, scanning each and everyone warehouse in the area. It took about 5 seconds. Two more than she wanted, but she was distracted by the fact so many people were already gathered in one of the houses. "Found them! And I totally don't think it's a trap"

Harper let out a small whimper at the fact her companion couldn't seem to care less at the fact that she was practically nude. She hoped that those inside the warehouse would share the same sentiment or lack thereof that Helen showed.
 

JukeboxTheGhoul

Rocking Round the Clock
737
Posts
12
Years

Robert Wixter
Q-85487384
R-52769365

Episode 1
Road Trip
Amarillo, Texas


The TV was switched off, however that was fairly recent. He had turned off the TV as it had went from Football to the news. He did so with a flick of a wrist. For a man with a talent for computers, he had no Personal Computer, nor a smart phone. His phone was a tiny Nokia phone. The reason for this was simple.


Robert sat back in his arm chair, he closed his eyes and reached out for the internet. He pictured Google. He went to one of his frequent sites. It was a forum of many things however he liked a particular section. In the News Subforum. he found a thread debating the recent news of Hyperia. He had already posted in it before. He had enquired previously about the truth about the life in Hyperia. People described how awful it was. They needed help. There was also conflicting posts about the existence of a "collective of super-humans" that wanted to fight back against the "tyrannical meta-force" however it was met with healthy scepticism.


His train was distrupted by the sound of whirring wheels. A silver box on wheels came to his side. The lid of the box opened up and the cold wispy cloud from the refrigerator crawled outside. A platform raised up with bottles of beer on them. "For you." A robotic voice came from every direction.
Robert took the beer and opened it on the side of the coffee table. "Thanks, House." He was confused at why he had been given a beer at random. "House, run a self diagnostic."
The House responded listing off everything. "Manufacture Information: Class 6 Artificial Intelligence originally manufactured by Mayclare International Industries on the sixth of June 10 Years Ago." Robert sighed, he knew all of that. "Retrofitted and Enhanced by Robert Wixter. First Activa- The Diagnosis has been completed. There is a slight fault in my service subroutine. All other systems nominal." The computer cut itself off.
"Let me fix that for you." He accessed House's code through his mind and realigned the data. "That better?"
"Affirmative."
Robet attempted to lift himself out of the armchair. He sighed when he was done slowly getting up from his low armchair. He walked out in to the garage. R-52769365 was sitting at the desk tinkering with a piece of machinery. Q-85487384 was recharging on his station. He looked at both of them. He addressed Q. "Activate, Level: Gamma."


Whirring and the acceleration of a disk accompanied the robot's powering up. Fans started up internally. A woo sound was made, going from low and quiet to a non-deafening high pitched sound. The robot opened it's eyes, its white camera iris opened revealing the black pupil. The camera was inside a glass ball with a blue glow. State of the art cameras, smaller and better. Robert had to replace it quite a few time during Q's lifetime. The robot stepped down from his platform, extending his leg gave out a vvt sound. "Android Online. How may I help you today, sir?" He turned his head towards Robert.


"Q, get your self on the trunk of my pickup." He turned to his other robot "Son, grab the inverter for you and portable charger for your brother and get in the passenger's."
As Q grabbed on to the to the side of the truck and pulled itself over it, Son stood and asked his father, "Why?"
"We're going on a Road Trip."
R nodded and went through the back door of the garage and in to the main house. He went in to his room where his own personal work shop was. He put the module down on the workbench. "Private Comm, House." R asked the Class 6 machine in control of the house.
As requested the House only talked to him directly. "Yes, sir?"
"I want to continue with my project, but I can't while I'm away. I want you to progress on it for me. When I can I will guide you with a hologram."
"Acknowledged."
Large factory yellow robotic arms unfolded from beneath the table sticking outwards. They came up and faced the framework on the table. A welder started up and extended towards the object.
"Encryption code: Alpha, Beta, Alpha, Alpha. Confirm?"
"Encryption confirmed"
Son grabbed the large case and the black car inverter and his charging lead. He returned to the garage. Robert put a desert beige cover over Q, pulling cables and straps over it and fastened them to the base. Son got in to side of the car, putting the case in a specially designed compartment underneath the seat. Robert loaded a few boxes in to rear of the truck and got in the driver's side. He turned the ignition and put his foot on the gas pedal. It chugged forward before getting smoother. Son looked to his creator "Where are we going then?
"We're going to Hyperia, to find out what is happening there. And help in any way we can?"
"Hyperia? Are you serious?" He looked at Robert like he was deranged. "It's far away, it doesn't affect us."
"My family have been protecting the innocent and jailing the injust for generations. I aught to do this. Just as you, as my son, aught t'ah"
"You stopped as a police officer when you retired."
"What about my powers? I can't selfishly keep it all to myself."
"Fine." Son conceded. He wasn't happy, but he wasn't going to argue all the time in Hyperia. To be honest, he wanted to see other places, but he didn't like that he couldn't be working on his project.
"Can you get a CD?"
"Can't you?"
"I'm driving."
"I still don't see why you didn't get a new one so you could drive with your power. "He opened the glove box. Some papers slid around slightly. Robert's gun sloshed around also. He took out the CD labelled "Have Gun, Will Travel." and slotted it in.
"Because I can drive."
He turned it on. Son turned to the window.


It was about midday, the pick-up was running low on fuel. He pulled over to the nearby gas station. Discreetly, he put his gun in his holster and covered it with his shirt. He jumped out and put the gas nozzle in the truck. He put half a tank in to his car and then went in to pay. There were already a few people in the line. The two in front of him were Hyperians gossiping about the meeting at the warehouse this evening.


R was feeling weak, he was low on energy. He got out the inverter and plugged it in to the cigarette lighter adapter. He slid the two prongs in to their holes and then lifted up his shirt just above the middle of his belly. He pressed the button inside his belly button which moved aside for a socket. He put the charger in to the socket and let his shirt rest above it.
A beaten up van drove in to the gas station grounds. Q was scanning the area and it was alerted to this van. It wriggled its head free of the blanket and took a look at the van, using automatic registration plate recognition, it noted several tags on the vehicle for hit and runs and weapons. The driver was also wanted for breach of parole. Q began untying the restraints.


As the first customer was finished and left. Another man joined the line, he was rugged and had a long coat and a bandanna. The couple of guys bought their items and then it came to his turn. "Pump Three please, oh and a bourbon." He pointed behind the counter. The tender took the money and gave the bottle to him. There was something suspicious about that man. He took his item and walked towards the door. He opened the door and saw Q standing up from the truck. The bell above the door had chimed. It was changing in to his Police Mode. A visor came down, obscuring its face. Its armour became black as the layer unfurled over Its body and sticking to him. Q clambered off the truck. Robert ducked behind an aisle.


The man pulled out a 12-gauge shotgun from the inside of his coat. He levelled it with the shop assistant's head. "Don't touch the alarm or you're dead, open the till and give me everything."
Robert first willed the audio alarm to be disabled, then he pressed the button to set off the alarm. He interfaced with Q to tell it to take cover out of sight. He took out his pistol from his holster. He took the clip from his back pocket and slipped it in to his gun and cocked it. The criminal heard the click of the gun and turned around. From its cover around the corner, Q packed his right hand in to his arm and barrel came out. Robert carefully moved from one aisle to the next aisle. The criminal turned around. "Hurry up."


Robert took advantage of this, he ordered Q to charge in. Robert revealed himself, "Put down your gun!" The door chimed as the android ran in and aimed it's arm at the assailant. The assistant had already half packed the bag with money. The criminal grabbed the bag and brandished his weapon towards the large window and pulled his trigger. The glass shattered and fell to the ground. The man escaped. Holding fire, Q pursued. An attachment jutted out of its lower arm, that fired out two prongs attached to wire. They impaled the man and electrocuted him. He began spasming on the floor. Wixter went up to the man and restrained him. A siren came closer as a motorcycle arrived.
He transferred the man to the police's control and went on his way. R turned hibernation mode off. "What happened?"
 
Last edited:
865
Posts
13
Years
  • Age 38
  • Seen Feb 24, 2024


Crimson Circuit
Crimson%20Circuit_zps4rtzr6gh.png


After so long, even the most cautioned approach can prove to be fruitless. Chie had remained focused on her task, observing everyone as they approached and entered the warehouse. It had been quite the colorful assortment of characters that had gathered so far, including some plant-like man, a strange... thing in a suit that covered its entire being, and even some kid who seemed to think it would be a hoot and a half to burst through one of the walls like some sort of fake juice mascot. The last of which was more than a determination that the warehouse was probably safe, at least for now. The woman determined that if anyone would have been killed, it would have been the kid.

"Well... I guess the only way I'm going to find out for myself is to just go for it," Chie determined. "It's not like it'd be the first time someone tried to get the jump on me anyways."

Not wasting a moment further, the cybernetic woman hopped down from the rooftop she had been surveying from, coming to land before the warehouse and more importantly, two women who appeared to have just arrived. At first, Chie did not pay either of the two girls much mind. However, it only took a moment for her attention to glance over at one... who seemed to be quite scantily clad. If Chie had not known any better, she would have guessed the woman, who seemed to be wearing nothing more than a pair of short shorts and a pajama vest, was dressed for an entertaining evening at some strip joint, not entering a meeting of powered individuals for some resistance.

Her visible eye narrowed as she examined the woman for a moment, before quickly turning away to hopefully avoid making this any more awkward than it already was. "...Not exactly the most durable outfit... But I guess it enhances your movement at the very least."

 

Etherion

Guest
0
Posts


Renier "Reid" Cullen (hover)

Kingside


PROLOGUE 0.2

"Oh no," Reid slightly loosened his scarf.

"Other people," he muttered to himself, but even so, his voice trailed off. He grew more and more anxious as more people appeared. He they that they were suppose to have kind hearts, they were here for the Resistance meeting after all, but still, his social uneasiness kicked in. He loosened his muffler more as he remembered the pain.

OOOOO

A fat man clenched his fist, a vein popped out of his forehead. He swung his arm, the impact made a thundering thud. Reid began to feel light-headed, his legs gave way and he crumbled to the ground. His vision blurred as tiny droplets of sweat ran down his forehead. With nothing else to do, he ran to his classroom and silently held in the pain and went into recluse with his books.

Another group of bullies approached him and stop in front of Reid, "What do you think you are doing here? Huh?" But he didn't his my eyes off the book in his hand and pretend that nobody's around him. A boy snatched the book from his hand and throws it away.

"I'm talking to you," he yelled. Reid, still didn't look at him, seemingly tired of having people beating him up.

"Get up," he exclaimed pulling him up from the his seat, grabbing the hem of his t-shirt. Before he could get on his feet properly Reid felt the boy's fist colliding with his face. He felt on the ground, ashamed, as the group stood over him, looming like pillars. Laughter erupted from the others in the classroom.

"What a loser!"

"Freak!"

"Nerd!"

"Smartass!"

His eyes moistened and tears began to form and drop. His hands fidgeted as he tried to wipe his tears while covering up his bloody nose. Lately, he had been wondering what the reasons why his classmates loved bullying him so much, he had no money, so theft wasn't the option, but then it hit him - they were bullying him to show him that he didn't fit in, and for their own amusement.

OOOOO

He shook the hurtful memories of his past. "Just keep calm Reid," he muttered to himself again, trying to be optimistic. He reminded himself of the promise he made the day when he got his powers: to protect those who are oppressed, just like he was all those years ago. Admittedly, he was still a novice at controlling his abilities, and he this "Resistance" group as an opportunity to practice perfecting his powers and maybe, just maybe, to make so called "friends".

There were a lot of interesting individuals for sure. But he hesitated in conversing with them, after that tragic flashback. Reid leaned at a nearby lamppost, produced a small book from his pockets and began to read. With this, he felt more calmer while he waited for the meeting to start.




 

Sir Bastian

Christina - Crossroads
1,621
Posts
12
Years

Quantum
Prologue:Organized Chaos


Just after entering the warehouse, the entire thing practically exploded in motion. The first surprise to her was that her old team-mate Stargazer dropped down seemingly just seconds after her. She'd stared at the woman for several, long seconds, just about to say something to her, as a multitude of… very 'colourful' individuals began entering the warehouse.

Within just a few minutes, people were showing off their powers, someone was talking on their phone, and one kid even seemingly thought it funny to burst through a wall. Letting out a heavy, electrical-sounding breath, Quantum reached up to rub the back of her head, eyes trailing slowly over the gathering.

"What… a mess. I really hope this was a good idea…" She paused, taking note of a few individuals who seemed a lot more composed than the pranksters and what seemed to be smartasses. At least some of them seemed to have an idea of the gravity of the situation. Then again, more or less everyone who'd showed up here were nothing more than kids, or teens at best. Quantum found herself frowning somewhat behind her helmet, stepping forward and raising her hands.

"Alright… alright! Everyone just… calm down, okay? We're all here for the same reason, and there's no need to get so… uh, rowdy, yeah?"

Her take-charge attitude very quickly faded as she received a few odd looks, causing her to quietly clear her throat and take a step back. She turned towards Star Gazer, in order to at least speak to someone she knew. "So, uh… hey Star! How-" But before she was able to properly do so, the dark-skinned man walked towards the two, showering them in questions. Raising her brows, she gave him a confused, quizzical look. She was fairly sure she'd never seen him before, but…

And that's when he changed into Giron. The glowing, energy-eyes widened behind the visor before she took a quick step forwards, wrapping her arms around the reptile in order to give him a fond squeeze. "Giron! I haven't seen you in so long! It's –so- good to see you!"

Beaming a broad smile behind her helmet, she put down the reptile-man again, looking back and forth between him and Star, planting her hands on her hips, shifting her stance a little to the side. "You have no idea how good it is to see familiar faces again. Especially with the state of… uh." She paused, peering back at the mingling group, if 'mingling' was even the right word for it. "… Well, either way, I'm really happy to see you both. Where've you been?"
 
944
Posts
9
Years


HARPER BURTON
harper_by_fraisechaton-d94ez9t.png

The Cover Up

23 // Spectrum // Female

Harper glanced at the woman who just jumped down from the roof. While she should've been more surprised by the fact this women just jumped from a rooftop and didnt even seem to flinch at the impact of hitting the floor, she, like the woman, was more concerned with her own lack of clothing, which she understandably blamed Helen for. She shot her companion a sharp glare. She didnt care that she didnt seem to be paying attention, just glaring was expression enough of how she was feeling. She returned her attention to the woman that had jumped from the roof. She was far too flustered to come up with any clever retort to the woman's remark.

"Maybe we should just head inside." She squeaked, doing her best to avoid furthering the conversation onto her...assets. "Hopefully if no one's inside I can find something to keep me warm." She added, as she awkwardly scurried past the mysterious woman and towards the entrance of the warehouse. Much to her dismay, they weren't as early as she'd hoped. There was already a collection of people waiting inside, all fully clothed. She recognised a few of the faces, with a number of them being the former champions that she'd been made to study so religiously when she was part of the meta force. She managed to ignore her predicament for a moment, hoping to recall some of the faces she could recognise. As for the rest, she knew nothing. By the looks of it, they were all a bunch of kids, messing around. One woman seemed to be standing around having trouble with her phone, and another stood triumphantly in front of a large hole in the wall that vaguely resembled his shape. The kid was demanding attention in such a cringe-worthy fashion. Speaking of which, she glanced down at herself, before looking over at the group of faces she knew.

Quantum
A female suit of energy with a mass of powers that involved flying and shooting energy blasts. She wasnt hard to remember since she'd been making a name for herself by continuing her vigilante work against the wishes of the government.


Harper wasn't really sure what it was about being a 'hero' that appealed to the woman so much, but the intrigue of such things had long since lost its appeal since she'd left the meta force. She glanced around, noticing a couple other recognisable individuals. It had been a long time since she'd had to study them, almost five years in fact, so Harper wasnt exactly clued up on every detail.

Huron
Or something along those lines. Giant lizards tended to stand out quite a bit, so he was easy to recognise. If she remembered correctly he had the ability to shapeshift...or was he the sea champion? It was honestly all a blur at that point. She did remember something strange about a VISA though. He was the subject of genetic experiments right? How would he get a VISA?


Star Gazer
She wasnt really sure how she remembered that name so well, but given the name, it was probably a safe bet that she was the one that crashed on the planet. The meta force had clearly collected a lot of information on the group, and kept it a secret for that matter.


The last of the faces she recognised was the girl with the red scarf waiting alone in a corner. She really couldnt remeber anything about her, not her name or anything. She'd have to think about it later. By now she'd been standing in the warehouse doorway for at least ten seconds recalling all she could about the collected group.

Another cold gust of breeze hit, and she was reminded what she was wear. Her face flushed a bright red, and quickly did her best to cover what was revealed of her breasts. Pushing them together did her no favours in the direction of discretion. Her best bet was to pull up her vest, but that would just leave her stomach exposed. She sighed in defeat, before shooting another glare at Helen.​

 
865
Posts
13
Years
  • Age 38
  • Seen Feb 24, 2024


Crimson Circuit
Crimson%20Circuit_zps4rtzr6gh.png


Following the two women inside, Chie finally got a good view of those who had actually assembled inside of the warehouse. While a few of them appeared to be actually respectable in terms of their appearance and attitude, the woman was not oblivious to the fact that there were quite a few kids inside as well. Immediately, Chie's gaze fell to the boy who was standing in front of the now gaping hole in the wall, the one she had witnessed being destroyed from earlier. Combining the ****-eating grin on his face with how proud he looked, Chie could only assume that he had an ego that needed taken down quite a few pegs, or his parents did not do their job properly and he merely needed a severe ass beating.

Regardless, she (and what she assumed to be many of the older occupants of the room) was not too impressed. She decided to make a mental note to try her best to ignore him for the remainder of the time she was in his presence. Chie had a bad feeling otherwise what may befall him if she did not.

Glancing over to her side, Chie took better note of the two women who had arrived just a few moments ago. From the dirty looks the scantily clad one was shooting her companion and the way she kept trying to cover herself, the Asian woman was starting to get the feeling that her state of dress... or lack thereof, was not entirely her fault. Chie adverted her gaze for a moment, her eyes drifting down to the cloak that she wore around her neck and shoulders. The woman did not exactly know why, but she felt a tiny bit of sympathy for the girl's situation. Sighing to herself, Chie reached up and unwrapped her cloak from her shoulders.

"Here," she said rather flatly, holding her cloak out towards the fidgety woman. Her expression was blank, Chie not even turning to look in the direction of the woman she was helping out. "A loan. Just give it back before you leave."

The girl's eyes lit up. Despite the way she snatched the cloak, it was obvious that she appreciated it and made short work of wriggling through the head hole.

"Thank you so much!" She blurted, throwing herself at Chie with her arms wide open. She didn't seem to care much for Chie's reaction. Chie's eyes went wide for a moment, her form visibly tensing up at the open sign of gratitude from the blonde girl. "I'm Harper, by the way." She added with a welcoming chuckle.

Chie remained silent for a moment, glancing at the girl while so very subtly managing to eventually break free of her grasp. The woman was honestly surprised that Harper had out right told her her first name. Did not she not realize how risky and foolish that was? It was not as if the two had known each other for several years. Hell, Chie did not even know this woman existed until about ten minutes ago.

"Crimson Circuit," she eventually responded quietly, figuring it was at least the right thing to do to give Harper some form of knowing who she was.

 
Last edited:

Oddball_

Magical Senpai and god of the closet.
866
Posts
9
Years
002: First impressions are the most important 3

Light Force
Roxas-kingdom-hearts-18961799-648-968.jpg



"Geeze, other than Barney the not so purple dinosaur and the dimwitt, these guys are taking this whole thing pretty seriously. Well they're pretending too at least." Lightforce mumbled under his breath, pulling the hood on his coat even tighter.

It wasn't like they were actually serious about being members of the resistance, I mean he had crashed through a wall and nobody had even tried to attack him. I mean sure, in the split seconds that had followed it was almost as if they hadn't had a chance to react, but then again they were supposed to be bigshot heroes who were going to take down the meta force and when he mentioned his thoughts about it being a possible trap, not a single person even blinked an eye.

He of course shouldn't be criticising them. He, of all people, wasn't taking this whole resitance thing seriously. Even though he had arrived early and scoped the place out, and noticed several of the others arrive.

Perhaps they were being more crafty. Perhaps some people had drones spying on the meeting or some other means of gathering the information that he didn't understand...

Irregardless it put him off. Either they needed to be completely serious about the job or they needed to not care like he did. You simply aren't allowed to play both sides of the field. Who likes being a neutral person from the planet neutralia. Thats lame.

Lightforce felt a breeze blow through the warehouse, presumably from the giant hole he had created. As he looked outside he saw an silver colored flash in the far distance, somewhere else in the city.

"Was that..?"

He flew to his feet, almost litterally and stood at the edge of the warehouse as he stared into the distance towards where he had seen the purple light. The silvery flash had vanished as fast as it had appeared. Where had he gone? What was he doing? Lightforce clenched his fist and glared in the direction of the silver light as he cursed the silver light for showing up the one night he was busy.

"Anybody else see that?"
 

JukeboxTheGhoul

Rocking Round the Clock
737
Posts
12
Years

Robert Wixter
Q-85487384
R-52769365

Episode 2
Navigating
Zephyr Forest, Hyperia

As the sun began to drift to its sleep. It peeked through the curtain of tall trees, some being standard oak, others having long green needles sprouting from their spindly branches. The road was merely dirt. The shade was a foreshadow to the coming night. Robert yawned and knocked on the wall behind him. "Q make sure you keep your temperature up. Wouldn't want your joints to seize."​
While still staring at the blanket, it responded, "Enabling insulators and radiators as you command." Robert looked over to his Son.​
"I can regulate my own body temperature without prompting, Robert."​
"Alright."​
He followed the path that seemingly formed as his headlights hit it. The overcast of the canopy turned a waning sunset in to twilight. With the trail winding around several long-standing remnants of the age old war of earth versus mankind, he had to make adjustments as they went along. Luckily, the treacherous paths from the forest were no longer an issue as the dust transformed in to old ill-maintained tarmac. In long straight lines which was the markings of civilisation. Nature's City turned in to Man's agriculture, large farms lost to time. The sign of a red and white barn threw him back to his days working on Evie's farm when he lost his job. His experiences was something that couldn't die. The skyscrapers of Hyperia filled the horizon. The city's skyline eclipsed the tired star. As the Chevrolet rumbled through the humble fields, it occurred to Mr. Wixter that he'd need a map. No problem.​
"You still there, buddy?"​
"This Unit is online, battery remaining: 68%." Instead of rattling off it's serial code, the robot would refer to itself by "This Unit" or "Android"
"Okay, can you switch on your modem? I need a signal." After a few minutes of scanning for an uplink, it connected. Robert looked at Son, "Will you hold this for me?" R sat forward and held on to the steering wheel. Robert closed his eyes and pictured Google Earth. Hyperia... Hyperia... Ah yes. He saw a map inside his head. He grabbed the wheel again. "Thank you. Yes, we have to go straight and head for the Bayside Docks. Then we'll look around for it. There's 3 major intersections between here and there. Hold on to your hats."
"I do not have a hat, sir." Q responded to the command.
Robert smiled.

He took the second exit on the first and second roundabout, swerving around the island in the middle. The cityscape went from rural farmers to family homes and whatnot. The kind of place where'd your family is too big for the city but not strong enough to work the field. Hence why most of the farming nowadays, House did by taking control of the harvesters and tractors because honestly, Robert was not in his prime. After the suburban houses melted away he followed the flow of the main road off to the right and turned left at the third roundabout.
He drove along until the sky was filled with chimneys and the clouds that came out of the monstrous city-sized cigars. He took a left and headed as far as he could to see the sea. Boy, isn't that a sight for sore eyes? He thought, since he really only had lakes and rivers inland in north Texas.

"Alright, kid, fly up there get us an aerial view, find where there's a load of people going to an abandoned warehouse." Almost instantaneously, the android got up. Small pieces of his back armour lifted up and to the side so that two sets of panels stretched out like wings with thrusters on them. He activated his thrusters on his wings and shot up above the car, the frothy trails of his jets were like a line of ice cream with a hot ball from the thrusters on top. Only after he was clear of the car did he turn on his feet thrusters.
"Are you crazy, old man? People are going to notice a flying robot in the sky. This is an underground group, remember? The resistance! They don't want much attention."
"Look, if they wanted that, why didn't they tell their superheroes that? Because I've been seeing loads of random people flying to this very secret meeting everyone and their dog knows about. Look, I want to make a powerful entrance. Q can do that for me, people won't be impressed by me off the bat. But my work, maybe. I want to have some fun, I aint on this earth forever." He looked up at the sun roof. The trail of 6 thrusters had moved, Q had found the place. Son looked at Robert. "I am going to go make sure he doesn't do anything dumb."
"Right, I'll find a parking space."
Son got out of the car door.

Multiple life signs detected converging on this location. Quality of structure: Poor, unmaintained, large hole in ground level wall. Conclusion: Run-down, recent activity. Correlation with objective – Go to Run-down warehouse: Meeting place
The robot leaned forward, it glided through the air with the graceful aid of the thrusters. Entry point – Open skylight. Excessive momentum detected, preparing for impact. Emergency Landing Protocol: 433. The robot was going too fast, it dropped through the hole in ceiling. Son legged it towards the house when he saw his brother flying too fast. He could run faster than a human because he was a robot after all.Q retracted its wings and put it's feet below itself, but also his fist to spread the impact. The android hit the ground, its very sturdy skeleton, armour and hydraulics absorbed the shock. It stood up, barely dented, and looked around the room at the humans.

Just after he landed, R entered the building. He saw Q standing in front of all those eyes, a feeling of embarrassment gripped him. This was not the discreet entrance he wanted. He stood there by the other robot, gob smacked.



**Affects Warehouse**
 
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TheSignWriter

Forever is an illusion.
37
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8
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  • Age 25
  • Seen Aug 24, 2016

Helios
The Sun's Radiance​
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What the boy 'Lightforce' said to, seemingly Nick, surprised him.

"First things first, because I can see you're obviously overcompensating in the bright department, we won't mention the rape vibes I just got off of you." The boy said, winking at Nick. "Second of all, if any of you ever call me Lightfarce or pipsqueak I will personally overload every molecule in your bodies until you end up in more pieces than a Pinata and a five year olds birthday party."

"I was almost sure I was thinking to myself when I said that, but I guess I said it out loud... I really need to stop doing that." Nick muttered through a facepalm. "And I'm still gonna call you Pipsqueak. I like it. And rape? In your weirdest of dreams, kiddo." He finished to himself.

After telling himself to just ignore the boy, as he was just looking for attention, he returned his focus on the homeless looking man he flashed just a second ago. Nick could tell the poor man was panicking, and Nick was starting to as well. He actually wasn't sure if he summoned too much power, and accidentally blinded the poor guy. He just wanted revenge for that... thing he did to him. Whatever that was, he just assumed it was some sort of weird torture power. Never the less, he watched Hobo Gardener until he regained vision... if he did.

With a huge sigh of relief, Hobo eventually did. Nick could tell by the way his eyes eventually focused back on the world around him. Smirking with a 'I wasn't even worried' type of face, Nick asked all smug-like, "Bet that really lit up your life, didn't it?" Not expecting an answer.

"T-that was pretty cool. Are your abilities natural, or magic-based?" The grass-man asked. Nick raised an eyebrow to this, as he wasn't expecting someone to be interested in light He was almost stumped.

"Uhm. Well, you see, I guess it's natural? I'm pretty sure my light is straight from the sun." Nick scratched his scruffy chin, pondering. "But it's magical 'cause I kinda just... got blessed with it. I don't know is my honest answer." Clearing his throat, he ended with, "Well, my name is Nick, you can call me Helios though. It's a lot cooler. It was nice to meet you, man." Nick reached out to shake the mans hand. "What's your name, and if I may ask, your weird touchy feel-y power?"

Before the man could answer, Nick looked over his shoulder to look at what appeared to be some humongous lizard. Nick mouthed out the words, "So cool! Where did he come from?!" like some 11-year-old boy. Nick wondered if the pipsqueak was thinking the same thing and snorted. Eventually he returned his attention to the man when he started speaking.
 
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1,446
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Years

Druid

"Uhm. Well, you see, I guess it's natural? I'm pretty sure my light is straight from the sun." Nick scratched his scruffy chin, pondering. "But it's magical 'cause I kinda just... got blessed with it. I don't know is my honest answer." Clearing his throat, he ended with, "Well, my name is Nick, you can call me Helios though. It's a lot cooler. It was nice to meet you, man." Nick reached out to shake the mans hand. "What's your name, and if I may ask, your weird touchy feel-y power?"

Eric took the man's hand, shook it, and then replied.

"Oh, my name? Well, you can call me Druid; I only let friends call me by my real name. And my 'touchy feel-y' power was one of the many spells I've perfected. I'm like a magician, but cool. The one I used on you causes rapid degeneration of internal organs upon contact with a living organism. But I also have some ones that are more, explosive."

Eric paused, not sure why he was talking as much as he was. What about this guy makes me feel so comfortable? Usually I end up grunting or scaring people away when I talk to them. Why is he so different?

Then, he figured it out. The tattoos, the sense of humor, it was all flooding back into his head.

"Oh, crap. I, I gotta go." he blurted out before rushing over to the hole in the wall. It only took a few seconds before he vomited all over the ground. This isn't happening. I swore I'd forget about him. It wasn't my fault!

His mind reeled with memories of his brother, of his past.

I killed him. It was all my fault.

Why now, of all times do I have to remember?


He started to cry, tears running down his cheeks. The first time he had attempted that spell it went wrong. What made him try it again? His brother. His brother always had that kind of effect on him.

Why did I listen to him? I knew I wasn't ready. It's all my fault!


 

Ozymandias

i'm going on a journey
1,069
Posts
10
Years

Abraxas - Back in Black!

Jessie took a draw from her cigarette as she waited on the street corner. Her foot tapped impatiently, it was half past one, thirty minutes after they had agreed to meet. It wasn't unusual for these sort of affairs to be a little... off schedule, but his lack of punctuality made her restless nonetheless. After all, today was the day of the Resistance's meeting.

It only took her going through four more 27's until she felt a hand tap her on the shoulder. "Sorry I'm late."

Recognizing the voice, Jessie turned to face it, putting on the fakest of smiles. "Why, if it isn't my good friend, Christopher." She responded, her voice so icy cold that it could've frozen the cigarette in her mouth. She pulled the man in close so that the lit end of her cigarette was only centimeters from his ear. "Punctuality was a part of the deal... remember?"

The rather tall young man dressed in raggedy clothes gave a nervous laugh before pulling something out of his pocket and handing it to her. "Sorry, sorry, I got you a little gift to make up for things."

Jessie looked over the pack of Newport Reds the fidgety fellow had given to her. She released her grasp on him, slightly pushing him away from her. "Next time you try to make a peace offering go for the Marlboro 27s. But I suppose these will work for now." She started walking down the street, before calling to him over her shoulder. "Hurry it up, I don't have all day."

The bumbling man known as Christopher was one of the newer informants on Jessie's contact list. He could be rather stupid at times, and she wasn't completely sold on keeping him around long term, but somehow he was one of the most well informed guys on the street when it came to the Resistance.

The pair arrived at Dickey's, a small Oldtown diner, one of Jessie's favorite spots in the whole city. This section of town was quite the sh*t hole, but there were a few bright spots if you knew where to look.

After finding a booth in the back corner of the restaurant, the much prettier of the two ordered a pastrami sandwich along with some fries on the side. Christopher also began to order, but Jessie cut him off with a wave of her hand. "This isn't going to take that long."

After the waitress left them alone, they began to speak in hushed tones, starting with the fidgety male voicing his concerns.

"Are you sure this place is clean? There could be all sorts of people listening in on our conversation." He looked around the restaurant, with an expression filled with equal parts anxiety and suspicion.

Jessie gave a smirk as she leaned back into the cushioned seat. "Listen kid, I know that our working relationship hasn't been going on too long, but trust me. There's a reason that I'm known as the best at what I do. Now go ahead and spill the beans, where's the meeting being held?"

Chris gave one more suspicious glance around the diner before responding. "Alright, there's this abandoned warehouse over in Bayside." He pulled a folded up map out of his back pocket. "You probably could find it yourself, but just in case."

The woman sitting across from him could hardly contain the grin starting to spread across her face. She snatched up the map, memorizing the warehouses's coordinates immediately. As she pored over the other details provided on it, she noticed that Christopher was still sitting there watching her. Clearing her throat, she addressed him. "Good work, you're dismissed."

"And your part of the bargain?"

"Good as done, take my word for it, and if not take the word of any of your lowlife thug friends. I get sh*t done, and I appreciate someone who can do the same." She said with a wink. "I'll drop off the papers within a couple days, and if I don't I'll let ya have your way with me."

The man stood there, presumably trying to think of a response, but ended up just nodding his head and leaving the diner.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jessie rubbed her hands together in anticipation. The sun was beginning to set on Hyperia. It was finally time.

Today was turning out to be quite the great day. The Cuban Sandwich from Dickie's was superb as always, she pulled the number of that cute waitress she had been flirting with for some time, those Newports that Chris had gotten her turned out to be pretty decent, and most important of all, the black trench coat was back.

When Jessie flipped on that coat, she almost started to tear up out of sheer excitement. The black trench coat seldom saw use, as her brief crime fighting stint had ended five years ago. The only time it was ever used was during her more... involved cases. It was a little strange that she didn't wear it more often, considering she loved the piece of clothing so much, but a special outfit had to be saved for special occasions.

She had suited up quite a bit early, making her way to Bayside even before sunset. She sat from afar, watching the entrance of the warehouse, indicated on the map, with bated breath. It wasn't until much later that she saw a number of figures walk in and even so she waited for even more to arrive. As excited as she was for this, she wasn't going to let that get the best of her. After all, this could've been just some sort of trap set up by someone out to get her, or those interested with the Resistance in general.

Following the arrival of a few more people, Jessie decided that the scenario seemed safe enough. With two shots out of her hand, she was standing in the entrance of the warehouse to find a number of people inside, many of whom were fraternizing and making conversation with one another. While it wasn't necessarily surprising, it seemed much more like an awkward middle school dance than a top secret meeting of an underground group fighting against an oppressive government.

After scanning the room, Jessie realized that she recognized many of those that had gathered. Some from her brief stint with the New Champions, and others from private cases that she had taken over the years. Whether or not they knew her, was a different story, but it was quite clear that this was a gathering of "super-powered" individuals.

It also didn't seem to be the most promising bunch, but that was besides the point. her goal was to gather more information about the Champions' disappearance, and that could be fulfilled without the Resistance's plans succeeding.

Resisting the urge to join the rest of the group in socializing, Jessie stood by the warehouse's doorway. She silently observed the gathered individuals, taking in all the details that she could. In her line of work she'd learned that information on these types of folks could be quite useful.​
 
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Ice1

[img]http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-xy/icon/712.pn
3,447
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9
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  • Seen Nov 23, 2023
Smiley



Prologue: Reevaluation

"What? How do you even plan to get us through there?"

The reaction was basically the same from all five people.

"It's way too high, we can't reach there!"

"And even if we do, we're fully out in the open there!"

"Not hard for a killer robot to take us out there. Or anywhere, really, for that matter!"

James sighed simultaneously through all his bodies.

"I don't want to hear a word anymore. It's our only option. I will distract the robot, you will leave through the window. There's literally no other way out."

The Clockwork Man shot by. It was weird, James thought. It seemed to either move at incredibly speed, or at a snail's pace. The thing was probably incapable of keeping balance at a normal pace. He wouldn't be able to draw it out, but knowing more about the enemy never hurt.

Group 2 stopped in its tracks. James signed to Zara that she should keep quiet. They could hear the robot stepping closer, as its gears ticked a deadly rhythm. The two pressed themselves tightly against the crates, hoping it wouldn't notice. Angled through the crate, a sword appeared, straight through James' chest. He screamed out in pain. It didn't kill him, but it hurt incredibly.

"Run!"

Zara rushed away, and James saw her dive between the crates. He quickly sent multiple duplicates off from the other two groups, trying to find her.

"Zara!" He exclaimed. "Find the voice nearest to you!"

The two James's that accompanied David, Mikael, Damion and Craig guided their groups towards each other, and from there on towards the stairs. They stayed behind the foursome, so the machination couldn't sneak up on them from behind.

"Steps are broken! Can't go up!"

Dammit, James thought. There's too much happening right now. He started overlooking the room to find another way up.


Zara ran for her life, with no clue as to where she was going, and even less of a clue as to where the robot was. She could only hear the heartbeat in her ear and her feet striking the pavement.

"Left!" one of the masked men said, and she took the first turn possible.

"Don't stop. Keep running," he said, as they continued crisscrossing between the crates. "I'm getting as much manpower here as possible. Don't worry." As he said that, the brass blade beheaded him, and he turned to ashes. Another masked man jumped on its back, and with all his weight, tried to pull the thing down. Zara took her moment of heroism and pushed it. It wiggled and gave in, but it quickly regained balance. With the sword it wielded, it spliced the man on its back.


"I got it," James said. "You, Mikael, give me keys to a forklift."

With what felt like an eternity of fumbling in his pocket, Mikael presented the keys.

"Okay, I'll stay here," the other body accompanying them said.

"I'll be back in a second," said the James leaving them.

James raced towards the nearest forklift, put in the key, and started driving it. The weird steering wheel immediately threw him off as he tried to drive himself out of the corner it was parked in. Instead of cleanly driving backwards, he turned and pushed three huge crates of fish over with the fork.

"Well, I got priorities."

The pace of a forklift felt ridiculous in this rushed situation. He tried his best to make it go as fast as possible, but it still only moved forwards at a safe for work pace.



The ticking gear man suddenly spun into another direction, with complete disregard for Zara. She put on a final sprint, and slid away into a narrow pathway between two crates. Smiley #5 rested his hand on her shoulder.

"It's unable to focus if there's too much happening," he whispered in Zara's ear. "I hope, at least, because that's what I'm planning around. There's nine of me, so I'm hoping to keep him sufficiently distracted. Keep in mind I'm not here to fend him off for you, now. Just run, run, and only look back once the death wish sets in."

A muted whistle came through a yellow hockey mask, from far to the other side of the facility.

The machination didn't react. It just continued its rush towards the forklift, the frightening rhythm of its legs hitting the concrete increasing in pace. Smiley #2 leapt at its legs, intentionally missing. It turned around, sliding to a complete standstill as it walked over at its slow, maybe even more frightening pace. Its leg came down on Smiley #2, shattering his spine, as it grabbed the rusted blade from its back, and slowly lowered it. Smiley #2 turned to dust, and a couple of feet behind him, Smiley #4 split off a new duplicate.


The forklift now stood in position, and Smiley #8 guided the workers up.

"Quick, quick," he hushed, trying not to draw attention to the people escaping. The whole set up was unstable. The forklift lifted the crate up as high as possible, making the ledge of the office-floor reachable by jumping.

James clenched his fist as the clockwork robot kept destroying his duplicates in fell strikes and painful stabs. It was distracted, yes, but it didn't feel great being impaled. Especially not in quick succession.

Only the fat man and the short man were left to go up. James agilely scaled the make-shift tower, and tried to pull them up. The short man wasn't a problem, but the fat man just didn't seem to want to raise himself.

Zara hopped onto the forklift, climbing not only over the crate, but also over her overweight colleague as she rushed to get up.

"Fucking hell!" he exclaimed. Suddenly, the steel on concrete tapping started again, as the robot had turned around and started running towards the escapees.

"You bloody idiot!" James yelled, through nine different hockey masks, from nine different locations. "Now it's onto us again. Run! Run! Run!"

They all took off, rushing towards the windows. James braced his umbrella, as he rocketed towards the glass, and smashed it with the steel handlebar. He landed on the scaffolding on the side of the building. Quickly the workmen followed him.

"Get me something to cover this with!"

"Mikael, grab the cover of that crate!"

"You could fucking help, dude!"

The cover didn't exactly fit the window, but it would do the job. James had planned the next couple of hours out completely. Bar all exits, and keep fighting the robot inside. The gears would stop turning at some point, and it would need to be wound up again. Until then, James need to make the sacrifice of constantly dealing with the rusted steel cutting through his skin.

He sighed.

"I'm a bloody idiot," he said and he sat down on the scaffolding. He could see a lonesome figure move around on the docks three stories down. Vanessa.

"I shouldn't have listened to you. I shouldn't have taken your bait," he yelled to her.

"Want to talk about it?" She yelled back, with her refined British accent.



 

Ice1

[img]http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-xy/icon/712.pn
3,447
Posts
9
Years
  • Seen Nov 23, 2023
double post for planning's sake. This post takes place as deadlast before the prologue ends.

Smiley



Prologue: Reintroduction

It was 7:30 AM. It was too early in the morning, for most people. If the people passing by the coffee shop's window didn't hate their jobs, they at least hated their morning routines. Baggy eyes, tired drivers, and expensive cups of coffee dominated the too early mornings.

"Don't you miss having a job?" Vanessa asked, going through her coffee with the plastic stirrer.

"I don't," James answered, "but I miss having a purpose. I could fill my bank accounts out, and I'd have lost it within two years. I can't take anything with me when I move."

"What's a purpose, though?"

"Something to work towards."

"Why isn't a job something to work towards, then? You could always just save up for a tele-"

"I don't watch TV."

"Point still stands."

"I'm content with what I have."

"Except you aren't. You miss a purpose."

"I miss my purpose like narcissistic millionaires miss friends. I know I don't have it, but at this point, I've come to accept it."

"Replacing it with existential dread doesn't sound much more appealing."

"You get used to it."

"Of course you do."

James took a sip of his tea. English blend, as always. He was glad the coffee shop offered it, but slightly disappointed in their lack of milk and sugar. But knowing America, the tea would probably be pre-filled with sugar anyway. Although, knowing modern times, the sugar would probably be a chemical compound instead.

"Why don't you make your own?"

"Tea?"

"Purpose."

"Because I can't. It needs the impediment of time. Death is its greatest motivator."

"Man, you're grim."

"Look, I'm not saying I've given up on everything. I, well," he paused for second, staring out the window dreamingly. He still hadn't gotten used to the cars racing by, and the sidewalks being as busy as they are. He had lived in London for a long time, but the population of London back then was only a fraction of current Hyperia's.

"I've just stopped caring about a lot of it."

There was a long pause. Or maybe it just felt long, like pauses tend to feel once tension is applied. All James really knew is that it went on for too long.

"You act like you're ancient, you know that. Like you've seen worlds fall and rise up again, as if a country was just a rotten leave breezing by in the wind. But there are people, and I mean people without powers, mind you, just as old as you out there."

"It's not about age. It's about aging. The world is drastically different every 20 years or so, and I've lived quite through quite some 20 years. I'm still drastically the same. I turned 120 this year. And, yeah, that's nothing in the grand scheme of things. Me as universal dust, that's nothing, but when I reach a million years, and I have no doubt I will, it'll still be nothing. I see my world through my eyes, with my experiences and memories. I'm my own filter. And my filter is sepia colored, and only fit to hang on the walls of this bloody coffee shop."

He pointed towards photos on the wall. Photos of young man with wild mustaches, looking through a magnifying glass at coffee beans, digitally toned to look sepia. He continued.

"And even then I'm too authentic. I don't ask you to understand, I understand you won't. I'm asking you to admit my mind won't change, accept that, and walk away."

Vanessa clenched her fist. She quickly got herself together, before unprofessional outbursts would become her staple here in Hyperia.

"Maybe you feel too grand, too ancient to stop those bank robberies, but you don't have to stop fighting. There's a lot looming over us here. If there's a resistance against it, you know there's trouble."

"Well, to be honest, Renegade has always stricken me as the rebellious type."

James laughed. Vanessa would to, but she'd rather maintain the serious tone.

"There's a lot of people in this city. And I mean a lot. Apart they might be dust to you, but if you'd put them together, and I'm doing that, you're saving a giant. Don't give up on this city as you gave up on your daughter. The world doesn't deserve you giving up again."

There was a long pause. It didn't just feel long, it was. The robot in the warehouse killed eleven of his duplicates while the pause lasted.

The first got stabbed through the neck.

The second got beheaded.

The third got his skull beaten against the ground.

The fourth received a blade through the heart.

The fifth got beheaded.

The sixth got cut open through the back.

The seventh beheaded.

The eight beheaded.

The ninth got his throat slit.

The tenth broke his neck.

The eleventh beheaded.

"How deep did you dig?"

"Deep enough."

"I'm not one to be morally extorted."

"I'm not trying to extort you. Just trying to convince you. Look…" she took a sip of her coffee that had been thoroughly untouched, but plenteously stirred, "go to the resistance meeting tonight. They'll show you how dire it is."

"I'll attend."

"Good."

"But I can't guarantee anything. I let you convince me to move out once already, and I didn't like the result of that."

"You beat the bad guy, right?"

"I think that if you get down to the nitty-gritty of it, I was the bad guy. I was lucky no one got harmed."

"I'll attribute it to skill, if you're alright with that."

"Attribute it to stupidity."



James took a bite of the sandwich he had just bought at the night store. It tasted alright, but it wasn't good enough to distract him from the robot slaughtering him. Luckily the Clockwork Man had started to slow down a bit. He estimated 4 more hours of it before he could get himself out of the warehouse, and stop being continuously stabbed.

Currently, he was focusing on another warehouse, a mile further on the docks. It was riddled with holes, and sometimes flashes of light erupted outwards. He purposefully kept his distance. A warehouse being blown to bits and just a constant barrage of powers being activated was sure to draw out the meta-force, or other curious onlookers. James rather keep away from that. He entered the warehouse as a man in a dark suit, carrying a briefcase, made his way to the center of the room.

 
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