[Other OPEN] Capes: Fallen [M][IC]

gimmepie · Feb 10, 2018

Capes: Fallen

It was over thirty years ago that the first parahumans appeared and the world was changed forever. More commonly known as capes, parahumans have bought both crime and law enforcement to new extremes with their superpowers.

This is not your standard comic-book superhero setting. Being based on John McCrae/Wildbow's Worm and Ward, Capes is a darker and grittier take on the superhero genre and despite the presence of a wide assortment of superpowers, injects a dose of realism into things. Villains take part in more typical, realistic criminal endeavours; they're dealers, thieves and killers. Heroes are either government sanctioned law-enforcement or vigilantes skirting the edges of what is legal.

In Fallen, which follows the canon of the first Capes (but don't worry, new players won't have any trouble!), we are introduced to a changed city of Fallcliff. A month prior to Fallen, La Fenice and Fundation (a pair of supervillain groups) joined together and laid siege to the city in a takeover attempt. The Protectorate and Wards, government heroes, fought back against the attempt and were successful, but both sides suffered heavy losses. Now Fallcliff has become a dangerous city, and even the upper class neighbourhoods are dangerous at night. The police and Protectorate are under-manned and crime is on the rise. Nowhere is safe anymore.

Null

"We're short on numbers." Null said, looking at the assembled Hell's Remnant's capes "Any extra capes that want to join us, bring them to the meeting point. Any non-capes too. Don't worry if they look capable or not, we can find a use for them." None of the others said anything. Good. That meant that they understood he was in charge and they wouldn't question him. Mind you, there was few people who would even consider such when Nightmare was beside him. Few would pick a fight when he was being defended by the girl who had killed two out of the three previous Triumvirate.

"Vacuum and Frost, you guys spread out through the city and cause some havoc. Robberies mainly, destroy property and grab as much loot as you can easily carry. Take some of our minion friends with you and set other unpowered groups loose elsewhere. Keep on the move. You're a distraction. Spread the Protectorate and cops thin."

"What about Justice? They don't have the resources that the PRT does, but they're more bloodthirsty too." Null fought to suppress a sigh. Justice's uprising was an unfortunate side-effect of the La Fenice play for the city - or rather, as he viewed it, his play to fold La Fenice into Fundation.

"Not a problem. Confrontations with Justice will draw Protectorate presence also. If you can take a Justice cape out the picture though, I won't complain. Once everything is in place, Nightmare, Wipeout, Flashback and myself will hit our real target."

PRT Operative

The PRT operative was sitting in the command centre in front of a screen with a headset wedged firmly onto his head. Several other operatives were sitting around the room dressed in the same attire. They were monitoring cape activity, passing messages through and the like. It was hard work and they'd had to take on a much more active role recently. After the death of the previous Protectorate boss, they'd restricted or decommissioned a lot of the software he used and that included the AI that helped manage things for them. His headset buzzed and a female voice came over the system.

"Shift here." she said "Break-and-enter in progress on my patrol route. Non-capes but I'm gonna put a stop to it with the PRT guys. Send word to the cops for me."

"Will do." the operative replied, making a note of Shift's activity. On account of how stretched thin the heroes in Fallcliff were, the usual restrictions placed on Wards had been partially removed for Shift and she had been given a solo patrol aided only by a small squad of PRT backup. She was almost eighteen anyway and ludicrously powerful. It made sense. The PRT operative wasn't worried about that. He was much more concerned that this was the third case of one of the cape patrols coming across a break-in job in the past ten minutes.

"Seraph here, over." The operative sighed, and not just because he found dealing with an uptight cape bothersome. Maybe it was paranoia, but he had a deep suspicion that he knew more or less what he was about to hear.

"Go ahead, Seraph."

"Robbery in progress." she said, confirming his suspicions "Several non-Capes and Vacuum. Heavy property damage and minor civilian casualties. Engaging with Casper."

The operative ended the snappy conversation as Seraph and her sidekick for the evening went into the fray. All these robberies and now a notorious Hell's Remnant was involved? This was foreboding.

"That's another robbery job, sir." he said, turning to address his commanding officer "Cape activity involved this time. Vacuum."

"Got the same with Frost." a female co-worker the operative didn't particularly like added.

"This is going to be a busy night." the CO said "Tibbs, patch through to the emergency squads and have the get ready for dispatch. Looks like Hell's Remnants are giving us a busy night." A small-statured man in the corner set to work. Then more calls came in. Arguably worse calls.

"We've got a human hunting incident in Catany now. Alpha. Dispatching Capes now." a different woman said.

Shit.

"Justice capes seen on the move."

Shit.

It was just when things couldn't get much worse in the operative's eyes that his own headset buzzed to life again as the AI fed through a new call to him. A very agitated male's voice came through.

"Fallcliff prison." he wheezed "We've got Flashback, Wipeout, Null and fucking Nightmare here. They broke through with Wipeout's power and have already let several prisoners loose, capes included. To hell with protocol man, get us help!"

FUCK.

Chapter List

Chapter One: Crumbling

(Drakath) · Feb 10, 2018

Whoosh! It was a familiar sound. One that he used to find no greater comfort in. The Speed Demon found himself speeding throughout the city just below his limit. Unfortunately, something was off. Running hasn't felt same ever since he made that decision. He had to plan, watch out for the many he'd been on bad terms with. It just wasn't the same. Having to actually be careful almost killed the fun. He was passing through Catany when a blood-curdling scream rang through his ears. Horrified, he skid to a stop more out of style than momentum as he thought, The fuck just happened? Turning around, he headed to the source and was briefly paralyzed by a gruesome sight. The Demon stopped accelerating his brain the instant it processed the image. He couldn't bear witnessing the sight in slow motion. A screaming man with a terrified expression flew past him, partially. His lower half was gone, a very uneven tear at the waist left his intestines free and his legs separated across the street. The sight was outrageously disturbing in person, to say the least. And if that wasn't enough... Blood... The Demon sincerely regretted not accelerating. An unbelievable amount flowed from the fatal injury, some across the street and splattering across the upper quarter of his costume. Were it not for the lower mask, he would've been forced to taste it, but the way it clung to his face wasn't exactly helping him avoid that possibility. Letting out an ear-splitting scream of his own, The Speed Demon dropped to the ground, flailing in panic. Blind with fear and too panicked to accelerate his mind, he scrambled away through the now red vision of his visor and smacked himself into wall before he could get his bearings. The searing pain knocked enough sense into him to process his surroundings as he dashed into the nearest building and literally through a bathroom door. The mirror didn't help his mental condition as the turned on every faucet and rotated soaking his head through them because gravity was clearly not cooperating fast enough. A minute later he was completely soaked as he wiped his shoulders and upper torso so quickly that blood flew all across the bathroom. The tiled floor failed to handle his supersonic shivering as he checked an inconceivable amount of times that he was free of blood before dousing himself with soap and hand sanitizer several times over. His panicked inability to distinguish the red hair dye in his Peek-a-Bang from blood lead him to completely wash it out as rinsed himself once more. Saying the bathroom was a wreck would be an understatement. In retrospect he could've taken his mask off and manually reopened it inside of a running pipe while he washed his bang, but... He wasn't exactly functioning properly if his mental breakdown on the now soaked couch he'd moved to was anything to go by...

forg · Feb 12, 2018

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NICOLETTE CREST
- Telly -

----

Nicolette winced as she ripped the bandage off her right shoulder. But it appears it had hugged her body long enough for the skin underneath it to become lighter than what's surrounding. It was soft to the touch, sensitive from the sudden rip of its barrier to the outside world.

Teleporting was beginning to appear elementary for Nicolette with a job that requires its usage every thirty minutes, give or take. But even so, there are moments she miscalculates. Take for example yesterday. She may have felt too confident in her abilities, daring herself to teleport on to the topmost part of a set of steps. Unfortunately she popped into existence with only half her feet planted on pavement, the other dangling off.

She had fallen and received a tiny scrape from the clumsy show. Furthermore the customer was observing from the door's semicircle window, giving them something to laugh about.

"But I got a good ass tip from it," she rhapsodized to her coworker that evening after the embarrassing ordeal. "Can't really complain."

Fast forward to the present and one can witness Nicolette lounging in the university's local cafe, one leg propped up on the coffee table before her. The news was constantly playing throughout the day, and it was no different at her own home. It was a bad habit she had picked up from her mother, who would argue that breaking news could burst out of the replaying news at a moment's notice. Normally Nico would rely on her hearing to alert her of any new news instead of constantly glancing over in hopes of a new scoop.

Except this time there was a sleuth of breaking news, capturing the teleporter's attention amongst many in the room.

Curious, Nico raised the volume of the cafe's plasma television, live feed of what appears to be a bank robbery playing on repeat. The newscaster anxiously described the scene, informing the public that this robbery wasn't the only one unfolding at this very moment.

"...right now, police have identified the cape in question as Vacuum. We're still working on getting an update as to the events currently transpiring within these bank walls-" A red ribbon located at the bottom of the screen contained a flowing number of breaking stories not relating to the one being spoken of.

...UPDATE: CAPES HAVE BEEN SPOTTED APPROACHING CATANY... "Shit, the hell are capes going there for now-" she had begun to mumble, but was cut short by the seemingly convenient update.

"- And we are getting new information on the gruesome Catany massacre right now." The bombardment of the horrors taking place in Fallcliff took all of her attention, chin perched on a pair of knuckles. Story after story the young woman sat in silence, worry ever increasing upon the thought of any occurring near her parent's residence. What were the odds? Slim, and constantly they remind her of it, but she couldn't help but feel a tinge of panic at the possibility.

Were anything to occur she was unable to teleport to them in one go. Several teleportations are needed, translating to wasted time.

Her cell flooded with messages from acquaintances and coworkers alike...

- Wassup Telly?
- Hey! Been a while! How are you doing?
-Good work today

...varying from simple conversation to worry due to the current events taking place. Nico grew slightly disturbed upon noticing none were from her family, further fueling her worry.

- Be careful, watching the news right now. ):
- Have you seen what's going on out there???
- Hey, be safe, don't wanna start getting food every thirty minutes like before

While there was nothing wrong getting messages from the others as well, this was only because of her powers. Before she acquired them she barely heard a peep from any living soul. Seeing them fret and ask for conversation afterwards still stung, hence her annoyance upon the phone's general messaging ping.

As she continued to observe the screen's images flicker from one scene to the next she couldn't halt her mind from wandering into the realm of what-ifs. And it plagued her with images of injured loved ones.

"...oh my god, that's where my friend lives at!" One by one the students began to speak up from the silence, fueling the already tense atmosphere set by the television.

"Father, are you okay? Yeah, I'm watching, yeah yeah I'm okay -"

"- it's freaking insane right now, turn on the fuckin' news and see for yourself-"

Dozens of conversations were now taking place around her, ridding the cafe of the silence the news had first instilled. No longer could she listen without being distracted by others, but at least there were captions; they were slightly delayed, unable to match the screen's contents.

Unable to wait any longer, Nico took her belongings and left the cafe. Upon throwing herself inside her small truck she felt vibrations emanating from her pocket. The cell was immediately snatched, faint ringtone belonging to that of her family.

"Nicolette?"

"Mom, yeah, it's me," she let out in a relaxed tone. There was no sign of urgency in her mother's voice, implying that they were in no danger. It calmed the rogue. "How are you all doing?"

"Oh! We're doing just fine, here with your dad watching the news. Have you seen what's going on?!" The vehicle was turned on and seatbelt adjusted. With headphones inserted Nico can now proceed to drive with both hands like a good civilian.

"Yeah, it's ugly right now, which is why I'm going back home right now-"

"Oh no no no, don't drive it's dangerous!" her mother interrupts. "Your dad will pick you up. He's getting the keys right now -"

"W-w-wait, mom," Nicolette attempts to catch her attention, but to no avail. "Mom."

"- they're blocking a lot of areas and police are saying to stay home. I know how you get when you're nervous," she continued, tone having transformed from that of worry to harshness. In times of panic she asserts her authority, fully aware of her daughter's worrying independence and refusal to accept aid. "You can get into an accident."

"Mom, I'm fine, I'll take care of myself -"

"Don't make me mad Nicolette!" she warned, making Nico wince from the sudden rise in volume. "Look, your father is already on his way-"

Not wanting to hear her mother in such a state, she succumbed to the pressure despite the urge to defy them. "Okay okay, let me drive back and park then." As if she had spouted the magic word Mrs. Crest's tone reverted to that of a sweet and motherly one.

"Oh please be careful! Stay on the phone with me so that I know you're okay." Throughout the wait the two made conversation, albeit one that drove the mother into deeper concern and fret. Nicolette attempted to calm her down, but as expected, now her worries were pinned on Mr. Crest's safety.

At times like these she wished her powers had a far greater range. Maybe then there would be no need for transport to preserve her energy. A meager mile in any direction fell short during events such as these, where time was crucial. Furthermore a mile at her level of expertise knocked the wind out of her.

Minutes had passed when Mr. Crest made his debut. It returned Mrs. into a calmer state, no longer fretting over the worst of scenarios. Deep inside Nicolette feared the worst as well, yet she refused to admit it for the sake of her mother's sanity.

She slid right into the passenger seat. Immediately after her father punched the gas pedal, startling the young adult whom was in the process of putting her seatbelt. "D-dad, my-"

"Are you okay?"

The question hung in the air. Concern dripped from his voice, focus glued on to the panicked traffic. Meanwhile Nicolette embraced herself, always feeling vulnerable at her father's presence.

He turned the radio on, the vehicle's speakers crackling to life. "Yeah, I'm okay. Didn't wanna worry mom so I didn't drive."

"Good."

Outside the vehicle mild activity was beginning to take over. There were already a few accidents being reported scattered throughout the city. More often than not they were small fender benders, but with tension this high it was no surprise that rage was to blame for the majority.

Normally there wasn't this much disorder, yet the robberies and house break-ins happening at random locations was enough to ignite a sense of distress. It didn't seem to help that both capes and cops were being thrown left and right, spreading thin to cover more ground.

"How are you all doing?"

"Good. We're doing good."

"That's good to hear. And mom?"

"She's doing good too."

"That's awesome."

Again they kept their silence on anything other than small chat. But even then that was difficult to keep alive.

Once home they didn't hesitate to rush back inside to the questionable safety of their residence.

PastelPhoenix · Feb 14, 2018

Reza Shirazi || Freefall
Male // 18 // Hero

Back in Action

"FUCK"

The sudden shout prompted Mary to leave her half finished homework on her desk and investigate what was wrong. Stepping out into the living room she saw her brother hurriedly putting on his Freefall outfit while shoving some granola bars in his face.

"Are they just never going to give you a free night?" Truth be told never getting called in at any time of the day was probably the biggest perk of leaving cape work. Still, Reza seemingly kept getting called in more and more. At this point they were treating him like a full scale career PRT cape instead of the part-timer he was supposed to be.

"They're attacking the prison, human hunting, and a load more shit at the same time." Reza explained, tossing his wrappers into the garbage bin before pulling on his helmet. "They've got some big guns out and about too, need their own big guns."

"Can't you tell them to fuck off? They're running you ragged, and we both did our fair share during the siege."

"Love to, but I'd end up on their shit list extremely quickly," he said while fastening the last of his gear. "I still have to pay for this apartment and food, believe it or not." He pulled a window and was halfway out of it when one last thought crossed his mind.

"I'll be careful," he said, analyzing the alley his apartment faced for anyone who could spot him. "I'm not going to let this end up being another siege."

Slowing his fall just a notch to avoid busting his ankles, he landed and slipped out to the street proper. Normally he'd prefer to just adjust his own personal gravity to fall all the way to his destination above any building, but that'd likely draw unwanted attention to himself. Today was a rooftop route day.

Having to adjust his own gravity for each jump, slope, and vertical climb was a pain in the ass. His power was easiest when he could set it and then forget it, having to constantly micro-manage a single object was more intensive than simply tossing something even twice his mass. Coming across a building several stories taller than its neighbor gave him a moment to fix the janky gravity he'd been running on for the past few minutes. "Falling" while upside down was still a slightly nauseating experience. To anyone on the streets it simply looked like he rose into the air and landed atop the building.To Freefall all the blood suddenly rushed to his head as he began plummeting toward the sky before a hard 90 degree shift in gravity pushed him towards the roof.

Returning himself back to the default gravity force of planet Earth, he stopped on the largest building. From here he had a perfect view of the prison and the battle currently raging. He noticed a few of the big wigs in the fight. Null would be too much of a pain to neutralize with his powers. He'd have to constantly throw stuff at him to even be able to affect him. Nightmare… he couldn't fight her. He had ran interference on her at one point during the siege and he had been heavily affected by her powers then. No telling what would come out of her twisted head this time around.

Flashback and Wipeout though, both of those were valid targets. Flashback was the more dangerous of the two to him personally, since she could shut him down completely. But she would have to touch him, and his mobility would make that difficult. Wipeout similarly had to be touching something to make use of his powers, and simply lifting him away from anything solid would be enough. Deciding that Wipeout would be the most dangerous out of the two, he lept off his perch and started his fall into the fray.

Slight adjustments to his trajectory gave him a clear landing that wouldn't take him immediately out of the fray. Unfortunately for one of the escaped prisoners, said landing spot happened to be him. Someone falling on you hurt enough, someone falling on you at an angle was enough to cause you to crumple and slide away from the impact. Firmly on his two feet, Reza finally got a second to take inventory of those around him. A cape he recognized as a Remnant underling was duking it out with someone he unfortunately recognized belonged to Justice. How exactly she got all the way out here before he did was a mystery.

Flak Jacket, as he recalled her name was, fought with a police baton and a nasty looking knife. The Remnant himself preferred a lead pipe and seemed to radiate heat from himself. Reza felt bad for the Justice member, she was bundled head to toe in armor and her own namesake. She must be close to heatstroke just standing near him. Flak Jacket was able to dodge most of the hits, and the few that hit seemed to barely impact her at all. That probably explains why they call her Flak Jacket if she can shrug that off.

Taking his eyes off the fight and looking for his own target, Freefall shifted one of the fleeing prisoners to fall backwards into his own friends. At least that would distract them a little, he didn't want to go all out without knowing who would die from some of his stronger attacks. The view created without the runners he toppled let him see some of the tell-tale slurry Wipeout left behind. Flipping the gravity to spill the liquid all over the right side of the puddle he could at least hope it would hit his target long enough for him to sprint there.

His eyes fell back to the Justice cape, he didn't know if he could trust her but she was the closest thing he had to an ally here. The member of the Remnants she was fighting looked pretty beat, but had one last hail mary shot in him. He furiously swung his pipe at the young woman's head, only to make contact with the arm she threw up to block. Her other arm was a blur, already bringing her baton into the side of the villain's knee, dropping him from the impact. Before he could shout out to her, she brought the knife down to her foe's neck. A clean stab in and out.

Flak Jacket looked up from her kill and a shiver ran down Reza's neck as she locked eyes… or helmets… with him. She squared up at first, but dropped her aggressive stance upon realizing he was a member of the PRT. He was ready to ask for her assistance when she suddenly shouted at him to turn around.

Before he could even make it all the way around, Freefall realized his mistake. A light tap and the faint feeling in his head was all he needed. He wasn't keeping track of Flashback.

---------

Yelling drowned out any of the orders that were shouted at him. This was serious, and Freefall could barely keep from breaking down in the middle of the fight. He was somehow fighting alongside a member of the Triumvirate. One of the three strongest capes, and they wanted him next to them. Normally he'd be elated by this.

Instead he just wanted to run as far away as he could.

Somehow he had to help distract Nightmare ignoring the fact that a monster that looked exactly like one of Wretch's thralls, but bearing Maryam's face, was in a full blown sprint towards him. It's not real, it's not real. Wretch wasn't in Fallcliff… that sadistic bitch had nothing to do here. Mary was at one of the smaller battles across town. FUCK FUCK MARY WAS ACROSS TOWN.

Just shy of full blown panic mode, he dodged a scythe like claw and realized he needed to kill the apparition. This thing was bad for his health and the more he had to stare at it, the worse his mental state got. He landed near a blown out portion of a wall, several large piles of brick and pavement littering the clearing. He tried to stand up, but realized his ankle had been twisted on the way down. The creation caught wind of him and slowly advanced, as if taunting him. Finally realizing the potential of his surroundings, he pushed as much willpower as he could into moving all the pieces of broken pavement towards the creature.

The chunks of concrete blasted off, accelerating in a fall several times Earth's gravity. The first chunk missed, but the next one slammed into the apparition and dragged it into the building on the other side of the street. If that one chunk didn't finish it, the rest of the pile slamming into the wall and burying the monster definitely did.

A pressure was suddenly lifted off his mind. The worst of it over, he was ready to jump back into the fray and help the other's confront the apparitions.

At least, he felt that was until he turned his eyes and his heart sank to a new low.

In one of the connecting alleys lie the leader of his group, the triumvirate member himself. His blue amor lie battered and broken, but the slow movements told Freefall that he was alive. Next to the leader stood Nightmare, saying something he couldn't hear. Obscured by his angle, he couldn't see the creature looming over the two exactly, but bits and pieces of it were visible.

When all of a sudden, an axe like appendage fell onto the armor clad cape, and a spray of blood coated the girl who was taunting him as well as the surrounding area.

And then Reza snapped. His screaming must have alerted everyone around him to his location, and one of the lackeys in the siege rushed towards him, no doubt to finish the injured cape. Unfortunately for him, Reza was only sporting a minor injury, and his power didn't even rely on him moving. He reached out for the closest thing to throw and put as much force into it as he could, blowback be damned.

The closest thing happened to be another pavement chunk, wicked pieces of rebar sticking out of it. The cement block took off and rapidly gained speed before colliding and dragging along the unfortunate mook. The first time it happened, Reza was so blinding by anger and fear that he couldn't think straight, but this time he was able to hear the sickening crack as the villain hit the same wall he slew the apparition on.

Before he could wreak any more havoc, he found himself being dragged from the fight. He never saw who his savior was, apparently having his muscles locked by some kind of cape power, or else he would have begged them to leave him there. To let him get revenge.

Sadly, they must not have survived the fight. They no doubt would have told the PRT just what he did, and there's no way the PRT would have allowed him to just resume duty had they known.

forg · Feb 15, 2018

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ELMER PRESCOTT
- Metallikos -

----

The wind roared past his helmet, body nearly hugging the speeding motorcycle to maneuver through the traffic. It's wine red paint reflected the sun, blinding those who witnessed it at the right angle.

With the events unfolding as they are, speeding motorcycles weren't a top priority for police, allowing Elmer to indulge in the thrill of racing down the streets. Unfortunately he didn't predict the traffic as a result of the panic that's slowly festering.

He took to the raised sidewalk, tires harshly impacting the edge. "AH, fffffuuuck," he breathed out upon landing back on to the seat. Civilians clamored out of the way of the incoming bullet. But one such college student managed to recognize Elmer's costume, prompting a hollered out Metallikos! that further riled up the bystanders.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" the Justice member hollered, hand motioning for them to evade. A few failed to do so, either reacting far too slowly or freezing out of shock. Elmer maneuvered around the bodies effortlessly, but not without getting frustrated by their actions.

It was at times like these the thought of Angeles eased his nerves. She was a young woman of many talents, and within her arsenal was the ability to calm Elmer without being aware of it. The man appreciated her presence alone, albeit it was always through a cellular device. Little did she realize that he was a cape working for Justice. And while there were moments where he mustered the courage to divulge such secret, the consequences that could follow as a result outweighed the benefits. She was more than capable of driving to his aide were she to find out he was injured.

Or so he imagines. Perhaps the girl would never bother to rush to his aide. Had it not been for the new mission he was tasked, Elmer would have been immersed in another several-hours long conversation with the mademoiselle.

His train of thought was cut short upon arriving at his destination; the bank Frost had targeted with some goonies. While at first he was for bringing a teammate, he settled for going solo on this mission. Working with others wasn't his specialty, and to defeat one of Hells Remnants on his own would definitely gain him a better reputation other than "the new guy." Frankly he wanted to prove he was more than capable to hold his own.

Faint clouds emanated from the bank doors, typical of the villain's presence. Already there were police gathering around the building, but no cape as of yet. More than likely they were preoccupied with the prison and Vacuum, leaving mere civilians to deal with a cape who can freeze to the touch. Yet he wasn't willing to wait for one to show up were it the case they're simply late to the show.

Elmer eyed a fogged, vertical window before him. As he slid off his vehicle he allowed his power to dominate over his body. It started from his extremeties and spread like hands crawling outwards, halting upon converging at his chest. Had it not been for his hands exposed then there would be no indication of his power in use. That is, of course, until enemies manage to physically learn of it.

A sigh left his lips. "Gotta do this fast and shit." Already the shrill cries pierced through the bank's walls, instilling a sense of urgency in the Justice cape.

His fingers curled into fists. With titanium strength he broke through the thick glass, sending shards scattering about. Despite being behind the safety of his helmet he flinched on instinct, eyes scanning the site of havoc.

Civilian bodies scattered the main lobby, blood splattered on the walls like red paint off a flailing brush. It cried for attention when compared to the white and golden hues chosen as the theme for the bank. Yet what made him cringe were the pools of blood connected from how close in proximity the victims are, indicating that the building had been bustling with activity when the robbery had begun.

His arrival was met with a sudden barrage of artillery, to which he deflected with his metallic arms. Unfortunately his clothes received damage amidst the chaos, but it only ignited his short temper.

Metallikos advanced towards the remnant henchmen, bullets piercing anything but his body. Upon this realization one lifted a rocket launcher towards the metallic cape. "It isn't going to work," he warned, but alas none seemed to connect that the weapons wouldn't affect him.

It was a critical hit. The enemies shielded their eyes from the blast, the majority at a safe enough distance to remain standing. One became elated, having been sent down by Frost with the others to bring down the Justice cape. But it was cut short upon Elmer's appearance, trailing smoke behind from the blast. His clothes were burnt and more of his body exposed.

"Come on, I already said that shit isn't going to work."

Amongst the men one grimaced, annoyed. "The hell are you doing!? FIRE!" No sooner has the firepower been released, deflected by Elmer's metal sheen. Bullets clinked and produced their own small flashes of light upon impact, illuminating the Justice cape by the millisecond.

It took only a second for his arms to sharpen into blades, his leftmost shielding his helmet from further damage. Cracks were forming, heart plummeting due to his attachment to the gear.

No mercy.

One swing was all it took to slice the rocket launcher. Terror consumed the holder of the weapon, leaving him to fend with his bare fists and trembling body. Yet the others continued in some convoluted hope the bullets would eventually harm the metal monster.

Elmer pierced the abdomen closest to his right and proceeded to decapitate the mindless drones, leaving all but one - the trembling owner of the rocket launcher - to suffer death. Satisfying was the silence upon slicing the heads that had been shrieking or roaring in a war cry.

"Go before I change my mind," Elmer at last spoke, hand transforming off its blade form to lift his visor. Dark irises pierced through them, observing as they remained stuck in place from terror.

Unwilling to wait, Elmer advanced past them and up the stairs.

Killing the first human wasn't difficult to get over. While it led to a sleepless night or two, furthermore the gnawing feeling of rejection were his murderous persona get connected to his unmasked identity, the knowledge he may have prevented a criminal from killing an innocent child somewhat felt rewarding. There were instances he showed compassion given the right circumstances, and it didn't take much either. Easily could one sway Elmer's actions. Whether it was a show of terror, pleading for mercy, or mediocre display of tears, Elmer caved in.

Vibrations from his leather jacket grabbed his attention. Normally he ignores the trivial distraction, but the recognizable pattern of the vibrations was alarming.

A lone text brightened his screen. The text that sent his being into panic mode.

Angeles: I'm so sorry for everything I've done. I wish I could've been a better friend to you. Don't feel like you could've saved me-

Elmer refused to read the remaining message, right hand now back to flesh and skin to maneuver through the device for a call. Never had she sent such at random, instilling a sense of horror into him.

"Pick up pick up pickuppickuppickup DAMMIT." He leaned against the wall, trembling hands to his face. Was she in danger? Was he in the wrong place? Is she hurt? Is she dying? Questions piled on top of one another, sending him into the fray.

One punch to the wall before him wasn't enough to release his trepidations, the other firmly grasping the cellular device against his forehead. No longer did the mission matter, to hell with the fucking shit, he kept it to a thought.

He took to calling her repetitively, paranoid, until a different caller interrupted his activity. "Mia MIA, WHERE'S ANGELES?" he demanded with a cracking voice, aware his sister was close to his beloved as well. "MIA."

"Elm-er," she managed to croak out, dejected voice barely above a whisper. A quick sob came out before more was said. "I... I don't know. Catany. They're killing people in Catany-"

"FUCK, NO, LISTEN. WHERE'S ANGELES?!"

"Catany!" The news shut him up, a headache instantly manifesting. "Catany! She's in Ca-Catany!"

gimmepie · Feb 15, 2018

Hostage - Back to Work

Another car rushed past outside, sirens blaring. Sebastian was desperate to get out there himself, but Anita had him kept cooped up in their apartment surviving off of the funds they'd made robbing Tempestuous. He was interested, he was curious and most of all he was bored. He missed the adrenaline and at the rate they were going it looked Anita wanted them to be hermits forever. Not that the money would really last that much longer really.

Annoyingly, the television was set to the news channel. It was a boon in as much that it kept him informed, but Sebastian was getting increasingly frustrated that he couldn't be out there himself. Despite his growing irritation, he listened in.

"We have not been able to contact Fallciff Protectorate leader Shockwave, or indeed any of the Protectorate or Wards. We have however been able to elicit a brief statement from PRT Director Melissa Cameron." The scene cut to some sort of press conference where a stern-looking brown haired woman with her hair in a tight bun.

"Several Hell's Remnants groups are currently active and we have also seen activity from other dangerous groups such as criminal members of Darwin's Chosen and Justice vigilantes. This is not a crisis situation currently, but we do advise that people travel by car and keep their doors locked. Avoid going anywhere unless you absolutely have to." Sebastian switched off the tv and climbed to his feet, making for his bedroom with a look of purpose. Enough was enough and opportunity was currently rife.

"Nope." he said "Fuck this. I'm going." Anita, who had been in the kitchen rushed after him.

"What are you thinking?!" she asked incredulously "Hell's Remnants are everywhere. That means Vacuum could be out there. They all want us dead but he especially is coming after us."

"Technically, he's coming after you."

"Which means he'll hit you to get to me." she rolled her eyes "You know that, don't be an idiot. Just keep laying low, we can afford to still." Sebastian sighed, ignoring Anita's presence as he started changing into his costume.

"That money won't last forever. We can't hide forever." he began "Let me put it this way. I'm feeling claustrophobic. I'm bored. You're trying a little hard to live up to your cape name. Now, with Hell's Remnants making a mess of shit, is the best time for us to pull a job. The Protectorate are going to be busy with those assholes, so they won't have time to bother with us. Hell's Remnants will also be busy with heroes. They aren't looking for us and it's a big city. If you want to stop me, you're going to have to trap in one of your barriers. Personally, I'd rather you do something useful with your power instead and come along." Sebastian finished donning his costume, his helmet held under his arm. He gave Anita an expectant, impatient look. His friend sighed and rolled her eyes. He knew she wouldn't trap him.

"Alright fine." she begrudgingly relented "I can't fault your logic and if you don't do this now you're just going to do something even more reckless later. Better you have me with you while you do it. Hold on."

"A tiny mall" Hostage said "Quiet area. See, nothing to worry about." They were standing in the middle of a small, single story mall with an open roof. A tiny fountain with some old wooden seating around it sat in the centre. It wasn't the most glorious of places to raid, but it'd do for a fix.

"It'll do." Jailer said with a sigh and a shrug "Watch out for broken glass, I'm going to smash the windows, then we should have largely free choice. Grab what we want and get out quick, got it?"

"How exactly are you going to do that with me here?" Hostage pointed out, causing Jailer to groan. Hostage felt rather similarly. Jailer had been planning to blast the windows simultaneously with her barriers he knew and in her rush had forgotten that his lame-ass power would cause every one of her barrier-projectiles to collide with him instead and leave him as a broken mess on the floor.

"Plan B then." she said "I'll hit the jewelry store, you hit the electronics?" Hostage nodded his assent and went jogging towards the small electronics shop. In seconds he was standing before the window, drawing one of his black katana. Swinging it like a bat he shattered the glass on the storefront after a couple of swings and climbed inside. Once he was safely deep inside the store, he heard Anita's own target window shatter.

For an electronics shop, the selection available to him was pretty minor. It was mostly accessories like crappy headphones and phone cases than it was actual electronic devices. Still, the store was almost as tiny as its selection so it wasn't long before Hostage found a case full of phones of varying quality. He began loading them into his bag along with a some headphone packs and a few accessories. He was just zipping up the backpack when he heard the voices.

"Looks like someone's already been here."

"Doesn't matter, hit every store and grab what's left." Moments later there was footsteps and a chorus of smashing glass. This was a fairly large group by the sounds of it. It didn't sound like capes, with Jailer there they wouldn't have any troubles.

Hostage positioned himself out of sight as a pair of the other thieves climbed in through the convenient entrance he'd created. They didn't get far into the store before he made his move. The first one went down immediately as he hit him in the back of his head with the handle of his katana. The other whirled around and took a backhand shot to the gut, winding them and stopping them from calling out. Bringing his hands together he spiked the doubled-over thug's head like a volleyball. They dropped to their knees and he finished the job with a kick the face. With those two out of the picture, he turned and climbed out the broken window.

Suddenly, as he stepped out, he was encased in one of Jailer's barriers.

"Hey Jailer what-" before he finished speaking, three more of the other thieves flew towards him, also encased in barriers. Just before they all hit him, the barriers around them dropped and they crumpled against his own. "Fair enough then." he sighed. Which was when someone else spoke.

"You know, I thought I was having a bad day being chased by Seraph and that Ward kid." he said "Then Seraph turned around and jetted off towards the prison and the kid had to run. Now we duck in here and look who I find.

Hostage dropped the bag of loot. Sitting by the fountain was Vacuum. The suited villain wore his dad's mask as had been reported and was looking roughed up from his encounter with Seraph by the look of it, his fancy suit damaged in places and revealing the body armour below. Roughed up as he was, he was still Vacuum.

Well crap. If this asshole doesn't kill me, Jailer is going to.

moon · Feb 15, 2018

Magnet

"But it's fine, you know? It wouldn't have worked out between us anyways."

The elaborately dressed Hero leaned back in his armchair with a mix between a chuckle and a sigh. He wasn't wearing his mask at the moment, so his smooth, beardless face and long black ponytail was all visible. Tom thought Ross still looked like a teenager, even though he was already 22. Maybe his personality also influenced his appearance somehow.

"You mean that you wouldn't have wanted a relationship anyways," Tom said with a small smile, where he sat leaned forward in his own armchair.

"I didn't say that. You never know!"

"You used to say that."

"Nah, I didn't."

"But then I got married, and you figured it didn't seem so bad after all, didn't you?"

Ross rolled his eyes dramatically and tossed his mask at Tom, who caught it in one of the spiky golden lighting bolts lining the sides of the face.

"You don't have to sound as old as you are, Magnet man," the younger man remarked.

Tom only smiled more widely. He didn't much mind growing older. In fact, he was looking forward to it in many ways, unlike Ross who would probably be a teenager at heart forever. The boy had never had a relationship longer than a week in his entire life, but it was certainly by choice. The charm he radiated was difficult to match. Maybe only Jordan could, at least in Tom's eyes.

Before any of them said anything more, his comm radio beeped. Or rather, Magnet's. Tom liked to keep his identities distinct, unlike Ross who frequently changed up what names and nicknames he used for his cape friends. At least when they were in private situations, such as Jolt's own hangout area in the Protectorate headquarters on a quiet evening.

Ross sat sharp as Tom answered the call. Multiple events were happening in rapid succession, and all available Heroes and Wards were being called in. The PRT operative at the other end of the line recounted a few on-going situations, Tom taking mental notes of them all before standing up. Ross followed suit, excitement gleaming in his hazel eyes. Definitely still a teenager inside.

"Understood," Tom told the operator on the radio. "Magnet and Jolt en route."

"Wow," Ross commented.

"Yeah."

"We need to head directly to the prison, right?"

"You go. I have another place to be."

"What? Didn't you hear, Null, Flashback and Nightmare are there! We'll need Magnet to pull people away before Flashback can touch them!"

Tom tossed the mask back to the other Hero and put on his own.

"I'm going after Frost."

"That really doesn't sound like the best match-up for you."

"It's not a good match for Nix either."

"Nix? What- Oh..."

The bank Frost and her henchmen had hit was in the same neighborhood as the Fox home.

Jolt shook his lightning adorned head and grabbed Magnet by the shoulder.

"Hurry to the prison. They need you! I'll make sure Jordan's alright."

"Jolt..." Magnet started, but fell into silence. He knew his comrade was right. He solemnly put his own hand on Jolt's shoulder. "Thank you. Good luck."

PastelPhoenix · Feb 17, 2018

Reza Shirazi || Freefall
Male // 18 // Hero

Kidnappings

Blurred vision and a feeling of warmth greeted Reza for the first time in what felt like forever. He felt somewhere safe, and more importantly he wasn't acutely aware of every mistake he had ever made in his life. As his vision cleared up he began to recognize the place he was brought, Hearthhome. The little café had been a retreat for him recently, in more ways than one.

"Finally decided to join the world of the present?"

He turned towards the owner of the voice, a tall, blond man sitting cozily in an armchair next to a roaring fire. The man, Everett, ran the business and all opened himself and his doors to Reza in the past month. The sudden bond between the young PRT member and the café's staff was surprising even to himself; just one month ago he would have turned them in a heartbeat once he knew their secret.

"I'm fine now, thanks. Just was back at siege before I even knew what was happening."

Everett's smile disappeared, a small scowl replacing it. The man had lost his fair share during the siege, Reza knew that much. He lost a good friend, co-worker, and partner in crime. "Sorry you had to see that again. I wasn't even on the front line and that was enough for one last time."

"Don't be sorry," Reza said, reassuring the man, "Just know that Flashback has risen a whole lot of places in my shit list. How'd I get here anyways? Jie grab me?"

The smile returned to Everett's face with a chuckle as he motioned towards the other corner of the room. "That's actually because of your friend here; She hauled you here."

Reza turned to see who his mysterious savior was before his heart skipped a beat. Standing in the corner of the room was Flak Jacket herself. A more pressing concern flooded his mind, he didn't appear to be wearing his helmet. His face was clearly visible to the world, and more pressingly, visible to the vigilante whom he just saw kill a person. A scumbag who was trying to break into a prison, but there was no remorse in the way she finished him off.

"Relax, she's one of us." Everett said, apparently seeing his concern. "Why don't you show yourself and we can all introduce ourselves, Caroline."

The girl nodded before reaching up and pulling off her own thick helmet. The first thing Reza was able to see was extremely dark and silky hair pouring out of the helmet. The woman set down her helmet and parted her hair, revealing pale skin and delicate features. Safe to say, she was one of the prettiest people Reza had ever seen. He wondered what turned her to vigilante work when she reached behind her head and unclicked something.

Flak Jack moved one hand to her face and pulled back something that looked like a holder of some sort. She placed that next to her helmet and just sat there for a moment. She seemed nervous for some reason, that anxiery fueling the uneasy feeling in his gut. After a few comforting words from Everett she lowered her hand, and her face came with it.

What lie beneath the pale beauty before Reza shocked him, to say the least. Her skin appeared to be inhumanly pale, with lines running through it. On further inspection it also reflected the light more than normal skin should, it looked more like plates belonging to a bug's carapace than human skin. Her eyes were also strange to see, a rich gold with the iris running through the middle of the pupil, creating two small ovals instead of the normal circle.

"I didn't know there were any Case 53s in Fallcliff," Reza said. It was dumb, but it was the only thing diplomatic he could think to say. Pointing out the obvious seemed rude, and he didn't want to ask prying questions.

"I hide myself pretty well," she said, a bit on edge and nervous still. Caroline's voice had a slightly unnatural tone to it. There was a singsong nature to it, but behind the words there was a bit of an odd hum. "A tinker friend of mine made the mask. Between it and the gloves I just have to wear long sleeves and no one can tell. It also makes my facial features more… normal and makes my voice normal too."

Everett coughed and stood up, walking to a halfway point between the two of them. "Now that we've shared a few facial secrets, why don't we actually introduce ourselves. We've all been vetted thoroughly and will be working as team, so we need to know each other. I'll start.

You both know I'm Everett, former art thief and owner of Fallcliff Chronicle's best hidden gems award winning café. Reza knows me as Fiendfire, but I'll be Kerberos out in the field. Caroline, want to lead the next one?"

The woman looked calmer, having not been put on the spot as the first one. She cleared her throat a little, another slight hum following it.

"As Ev said, I'm Caroline. Case 53, missing memories, the whole nine yards. I woke up here, clumsily hid myself and met a Cape who managed to make me not a freak of nature to everyone here. I suppose my job is to keep us up to date on Justice activities as Flak Jacket, but you'll know me as Sekhmet out there.

"Reza, I guess," Freefall said, following the silent queue to continue. "You dragged me here, so I guess you figured out I'm Freefall. I keep an eye on the PRT from inside, I guess. I finally settled on Mox out in the field."

After all the introductions were said and done, Caroline finally sat down in one of the spare chairs. The nerves fully disappeared from her, and she sat with a confident posture. Silence filled the room once again, except for the occasional crackle of the fire. Caroline began chuckling, however. Even the small laughs were accompanied by a slight chirping from her throat.

"You and the main Charity people said we had an informant in the Protectorate, but I imagined it would be a civilian or some low level cape. I would never have imagined you'd have one of the golden boys on our side. Next you'll be telling me that Seraph actually pulls elaborate pranks around the office."

"Golden boy?" Reza questioned. Looking back he guesses he could have given that impression. Okay… he was a fanboy. It was a natural progression though. "Huh… guess I am. No worry about the rest though, Seraph is still the hard-ass she portrays herself as."

"Hey Rez," Everett interrupted, "as much as I'd love for us to stay and get to know each other, you've been out quite a while. I'd imagine the PRT is looking for you."

Checking his watch and realizing just how long he actually was trapped in that nightmare, Reza grabbed his helmet from the spot next to the couch he was crashed on. "Let me know if you guys need me, or if you want to do some more team-building exercises or whatever. Guess I gotta go shut down the funeral they're having for me. Or party for my untimely demise."

moon · Feb 19, 2018

Nix

It was my day off.

Since the siege, Nix had been on duty in one way or another every day. Protecting, cleaning up the streets, responding to alarms, heading out myself to seek out trouble, even paperwork hadn't escaped my relentlessness. But I eventually couldn't escape my husband.

Last night when I had started to pull my attire on for a nightly run to the HQ, Tom had stopped me, made it abundantly clear that he disapproved of me overworking myself, and lured me into the bedroom instead to make up for ruining my plans. I admit, that evening hadn't ended up ruined at all.

I slumped deeper into the couch, trying to feel what the cushions were feeling. Be the cushion. Relax.

He only wanted what was best for me. Always, he'd taken care of me. I knew that, and it did feel good. And I knew I should tell him that more often.

A noise from outside made me stir. Was that a crash?

Not your job. Your task for today is to sit here and watch sitcom shows, I told myself. I had been neglecting that lately. 'Lately' being... Many years. I also had a surprisingly exquisite latte made by our overly fancy coffee machine in the kitchen. Tom got it for my last birthday, in an effort to make me start enjoying my coffee drinks instead of just gobbling them down to keep my caffeine levels up.

He always took care of me.

Another noise, but I didn't move. This one was a car alarm. That could happen even by accident, and didn't have to mean anything. And even if it did mean something, it still wasn't my business. Not today.

The latte had turned lukewarm. The sitcom fired off joke after joke at me, followed by laughing tracks to show when I was supposed to chuckle. But I realized that I wasn't listening to it, or actually watching. My ears were pointed at the open window behind me. Was that a scream? Tentatively, feeling like it was a forbidden act, I exchanged the cup for the remote, and flipped to a news channel.

Oh.

It was supposed to be my day off. At the very least, it ended up being yet another day off for Jordan.

forg · Feb 19, 2018

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

ELMER PRESCOTT
- Metallikos -

----

Catany.

Catany. Catany Catany Catany. It was far from his destination, for one minute is too long for the distraught cape. His sister's words replayed in his mind, reminding him of his helplessness. Like an idiot it had slipped his mind to ask where in Catany she was located. Driving? In a house? Street? With somebody? By herself?

Elmer abandoned the building through the floor-to-ceiling window he had trespassed through and bolted to his motorcycle. Unlike its owner the bike remained in tip top shape. It roared to life upon his command, instantly accelerating out of the area.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

The time it took to arrive at the district felt like an eternity. Regardless of traffic and pedestrians Elmer mentally abused himself over trekking to the area as long as he did. She could be dead because of you, dumb shit.

Catany looked undisturbed. At first. Wandering further rewarded the young adult with a gruesome scene, one that appeared to have been made not too long ago; human carcasses were strewn about, houses raided and a select few viciously torn apart, cars left as is with claw marks and windows misted with sprays of blood.

It was the work of Darwin's bloody group. Many within them partook in the act of hunting innocent lives, the more well-known of these being Alpha. And yet they decided to target the one location Angeles is in.

But she could be anywhere.

His sibling was no longer responding to him, neither Angeles. Hell, he was hitting a wall upon attempting to conjure a reason as to why she would be here at this point in time. Perhaps were his mind not in distress he could explain such a paramount question, but he was not. Nor did he stop to calm his frantic state.

Elmer rummaged vehicles, residences, streets, all to no avail. He found many families in shock, hiding inside cupboards or locked within bedroom closets.

There was one such instance Elmer himself was being held at gunpoint by a brokenhearted father. "I'm not here to hurt you, I'm-"

"Leave." The gun was menacingly pointed at Elmer, eyes never parting ways from their target. "Or I'll shoot." There was a small toddler clinging to the man's shorts, head poking out from behind. Hot tears trailed down their cheeks, eyes red from sobbing. It tore Elmer's soul seeing such a young being witnessing the horrors. Innocence being drained.

But that was only one of many scenarios.

Bodies of many stumbled upon the Justice member's search, each small corpse tearing him further from reality. It was becoming harder and harder to convince of his beloved's survival.

Impatient, he began to run atop the trail the human hunters left behind, unbeknownst to him that he was not the only one who has arrived upon the macabre environment.

He didn't make it far however. Piercing cries stole his attention. Elmer paused to locate the source; a silver truck. Shrapnel and shards were scattered around it, the vehicle mangled and clawed into. The slender body inside - perhaps that of a woman in her elderly years - was disfigured, blood staining the cloths blanketing the seats.

"S-sister!" a small, panicked voice broke through the silence. It led Elmer to a young female toddler underneath the truck, red pigtails shaking as a result of her trembling. She was coated in blood and dirt amidst the iridescent oil trickling beside her. The rose-tinted princess dress slowly soaked the muk she was sprawled in, white socks now dirty brown and bloody red.

Drip.

Her breathing grew erratic and uneven, unable to control her terror. "Heyheyhey... it's okay," Elmer whispered, kneeling before the scarred child. "I won't hurt you-"

"OLIVER! OLIVER!" The cries only increased in severity, mind traumatized from the events that she had just witnessed.

Before he could open his mouth the girl curled up, face hiding behind her bruised hands. "One, two... t-three-"

"It's okay, look," he continued in his endeavor to win her over, hands reaching for his helmet. "I'm not going to-"

"-SIX, SEVEN, E-EIGHT, OLIVER!" she yelps at his advances. "Oli Oli Oli Oli!" Her legs pushed her further from the cape, refusing to trust the stranger. Eventually her counting became incoherent from paranoia.

"Please, let me help-"

WHACK!

He received a blow to the head, sending him smacking into the bloodied pavement. A gurgled gasp left the toddler's lips in response, fingers parting to allow her eyes to scope what was occurring.

The culprit proceeded to bludgeon Elmer with a rusted pipe, but by the fourth hit she watched as the weapon clinked against a hardened material. It was no longer a soft body.

With a groan Elmer pierced the ground with two metal blades, blurred vision causing him to clumsily stand. The display sent chills down the assailant's spine, hands having dropped the pipe. "Nani gogogogo! Go!" they shrieked to the toddler. Yet she didn't seem to budge. "Nani, go!"

"Well, shit, I'm not the enemy," Elmer managed to croak out, making out the voice to belong to that of a woman. Having heard her call out to the child relieved him, hoping she could listen to him speak. "I was-"

"Don't hurt her!" the teen blurts, quivering hands aiming a pistol to Elmer's cracked helmet. It was then his sight returned to normal, granting him the pleasure of putting a face to the voice; ocean blue eyes belonging to a pale-skinned woman. She stood a few inches below his cheeks, fiery red hair bundled within a dirty green winter bomber cap. It matched with the oversized, lint-riddled sweater of the same color, nearly covering the pink skirt atop black leggings.

"Just fucking... just please, I don't want to hurt any of you," he repeats himself, one hand firmly grasping the head injury. He could feel a headache coming in. "...why? Why in the hell would you do that?"

The woman's breathing evened, yet the pistol remained in place. But her rather obvious inexperience handling such a weapon annoyed Elmer. "You don't even have the safety- okay, fine." The words startled the girl, yet not to the degree upon seeing Elmer's entire skin turn silvery gray.

He doubts the shivering fool would shoot, but he took precautions. "Do you know Angeles?"

She stared blankly. The name processed far too slowly, eliciting a grunt from the awaiting cape. "I u-uh... no?" she replied with a quivering voice. By now the gun had been lowered with both hands still firmly grasping it.

"Tch." For a moment a minute feeling of hope flickered within the abyss of his despair. And with her answer it extinguished. "Whatever."

I'm just wasting so much time, fuck.

A worried expression dominated underneath the broken helmet, to which slight cracks allowed pieces of him to be seen; one above his right eye released a trapped tuft of hair.

Elmer only took a step in the opposite direction before the stranger hollered into the wind. "Wait!" They began to jog, but paused upon him turning around.

"What the hell now?! You don't know who Angeles is."

"You're a cape." There was an mmm-hmmm of agreement, albeit in a cumbersome manner. "You didn't kill us though." Elmer's lack of response prompted her to continue, pistol put away whilst the young toddler crawled out from under the vehicle's shell. "I'm sorry. I thought you were one of the bad guys." Unfortunately for her, Elmer's trepidations made him grunt in impatience, returning to dashing away from the scene. "Who are you?!"

Again he refused to acknowledge the civilian.

In a last ditch attempt she cupped her hands to her mouth and spat out the first thing in mind. "I remember where she is!" This successfully halted the cape. "Angela, right?"

"Where is she?!" he reacted immediately after her last word. "Where???"

Guilt began to knot the stranger's gut the more she continued the ruse. Then again it was also their ticket out of this cemetery with the aid of a bodyguard. "We'll take you to her."

"Then what are you waiting for? Go go go!"

Dragon · Feb 20, 2018

Veronica // ROLL

[PokeCommunity.com] Capes: Fallen [M][IC]

-------- Robot Log - 1

Two robotic warriors, face to face in a showdown. One was red and white, representing the justice of the entire world, while the other was completely shadow black, the embodiment of darkness. They were surrounded in a barren wasteland, in the darkness of night. After the short stand off, the combat has begun. The red and white robot unleashes it's signature rocket attack, only to be completely dodged by the black robot. The robot ran forward, dodging each missile over and over, until it finally got into close quarters to its foe. The black robot threw out a punch, punching its helpless opponent over, and over, and over again.

"Ha," said a familiar voice. It was none other than Veronica, better known as Roll, the Robotic Genius. It appears she was actually playing a video game: a fighting game of Robots. Roll was one who was always fascinated by robots... and surrounded by them as well. "Hit me," she ordered. Most of her robots consisted of small robots that were shaped like animals. She called for a cat, who had a small cup holder attached to its head. On top, was a can of soda, with a crazy, bendy straw. It held it nearby Roll, as she didn't had much effort to drink from. She resumed the game.

Her robot was the black one, up against an opponent from anywhere in the world. But it didn't matter to her. Roll's controlled robot punched its opponent again, and again until it was finally ready to unleash it's super-final attack: The Ultra Dynamic Laser Attack!! Dealing over 20739912253 points of DAMAGE! The match was over, as the call was made. 'Player Ron n' Roll Wins! PERFECT VICTORY!'

"Hah! Unstoppable as always, if I do say so myself," Roll complimented herself. "RobbietheFlaconator! I. Dominate. You." Soon she could hear the sound of something blinking, and rumbling. It was her state of the art electronic goggles, which had a communication feature. Roll was annoyed however, as surely she must of instructed her robots to refuse any and all going calls and messages during this time of day... but still, steeling herself to get this over with, she answered the call, by pushing the respective button on the device. The big television screen she was playing on phased out to white, until it became more to focus. The one who contacted her looked like a penguin - but it was actually another robot of Roll's; an especially named robot called PENGY, the first of her Robot Masters.

"Miss Roll," it greeted, followed up with a gentle greeting bow. "I must speak to you at once--"

"PENGY, what could possibly be so important that you need to interrupt me during my Ranked Battles?" Roll demanded.

"As you commanded, I have attended the meeting in your stead..." PENGY replied.

"Good for you," Roll replied. "Anything you'd like to say that isn't a waste of my time?"

"It appears that some plans are proceeding," PENGY continued. "Master Vacuum and Miss Frost has begun some operations through the city in a ruckus, causing chaos. Should we proceed to assist, Miss Roll?"

"Must I really?" Roll replied out of boredom. She rolled her eyes, until she pondered in thought. Then she had a brainstorm. "Hmm, I wonder, is it to draw out those Protectorate freaks?"

"There is a high possibility that it will, Miss Roll. As sharp as always," PENGY replied. "No doubt those involved with law and order will try to intervene."

"Hmmm... hmhmhmhm! Okay PENGY, I'll forgive you for the interruption," Roll stated with a chuckle. "Oh how I adore chaos. It bends, it's unpredictable, but most importantly, it's fun. PENGY, prepare and rally the troops. We'll accompany Frost post-haste."

"Yes, Miss Roll," PENGY replied. "And... shall we prepare... them as well, Miss?"

"Of course," Roll replied. "The other Robot Masters will accompany. Now, let us proceed!" Roll then put on her goggles, and pressed another button, as it flashed a bright red. "MEOWY! DRAGGY! We're going out tonight. I hope you're hungry..."

moon · Feb 24, 2018

Magnet

One thing about his power that set him apart from other telekinetics was the way in which he was also classified as a Mover. Sure, many other telekinetics made objects hover with their powers to carry them around, and some could even make themselves fly. Magnet could only "fly" in a determined direction, and only if he had a heavy object to aim for. Truly heavy. With the suit and gear on, and his own naked body underneath not exactly being petite either, he had had to learn to be very careful when attempting any superpowered grab.

If he didn't get distracted, and if he planned his route in advance, he could actually swing between buildings. Quite often, it earned him shouts of awe from people on the street.

It seemed fairly simple. He focused on the wall of a building, made sure there was no lamp post or tree in the way, and let his power take him off the ground. The sensation had been very strange in the beginning. Not quite like he imagined "real" flying was like, but also not like being pulled forward, hooked at some distinct point on his body. It was more like sitting snugly in a soft seat of an accelerating car. Only the short moment between him letting go of one anchor point and shifting his focus to another, was slightly jarring and still not entirely enjoyable. At least it let him get around crowded streets and jammed traffic easily, or skip over shady groups he didn't have time to deal with at the moment.

And also, according to Jordan, it made him look cool.

He had called his wife up the second he and Jolt parted ways. No answer. That made him certain of his fears - she had already left home. With 99% certainty, it would have been as Nix. It would do him no good to worry about a comrade in the field though. In their Superhero capes, they were partners, and had to trust that the other didn't get worried or distracted when they had duties to perform. He could only hope that she wouldn't be alone in whatever she went out to face.

As he approached the Fallcliff prison area, he saw flashes of light and heard crashes and screams from ahead. He pulled himself up towards a rooftop, by focusing on the upper part of the wall itself and clinging to the wall as he made impact. Keeping his power up let him stick to any large object or surface. Like an insect. From here, he hoped to survey the situation below.

It was worse than he had expected. Wipeout had not just torn a hole in the outer prison wall, but also basically melted a whole wall away from a building, and ruined quite a bit of other property and ground around it as well. There was an antsy battle still going on, Heroes of various colors trying to keep prisoners from escaping. A handful of escapees Magnet recognized as villains were still here, fighting in rage or glee or whichever motivations they might have for not running away immediately. But most must already have escaped. A terrible day for the city.

Null was there, in the midst of it all. Safe from many powers, but not untouchable. Unfortunately, there was the dangerous teenage girl sticking close to him. Nightmare. Magnet could see several of what must be her apparitions, spreading fear among Heroes who tried to get close to the leader of the Remnants. It surprised him, what different things people could be afraid of. Against each individual, Nightmare's power was as effective as they come though.

Definitely staying away from her, unless he could get an angle on Null and hit him hard with something from behind, using his one-way-kinesis.

Magnet could spot Icebreaker near the prison building, at work with firing off some contraption to make an ice wall cover the melted side. Shockwave himself was also here, seemingly struggling in a standoff with Flashback. It could also be suspected that Rain Dance from Justice was nearby, as there was a strangely local downpour over the prison block.

Enough surveying. He decided to try to incapacitate some of the remaining prisoners or villains before they ultimately ran off.

He skidded downwards along the wall by alternating turning his power on or off. When he reached the ground, he ran towards the battle on foot. Debris from broken property and uprooted ground littered the street, no doubt the fallout of Wipeout's power.

A prisoner with a manic laughter tossed some kind of energy ball in Magnet's direction as he approached. As it bounced on the ground towards him, Magnet simply hopped aside before pulling a chunk of broken brick wall into the prisoner's neck from behind. The man fell on his face and seemed to lose consciousness, and Magnet was swiftly there to cuff his hands up behind his back. He would have liked to stick around and make sure the prisoner wasn't faking it, but he didn't really have time to spare.

A sonic boom slit the ground up further, just ahead of him. Shockwave hadn't let Flashback get near him, and seemed to manage to keep her away from his allies well enough for now as well.

Magnet jogged towards the prison building, wiping raindrops from his visor. The yard outside of it was deserted by now, save for two capes battling it out. Icebreaker's frozen wall had been torn down and he was now firing what seemed like icicle bombs that exploded in the air close to Wipeout. The villain took a bit of damage, but stomped the ground to suddenly raise a liquid wave up from the ground, stopping the worst of it. Icebreaker paused for a moment, realizing that the dark wave was towering above him. Moments before it crashed down, Magnet had grabbed the hero with his power and pulled him out of harms way.

Icebreaker gave him a relieved thumbs up, but Wipeout wasted no time. Another attack rose up right in front of Magnet, and he barely had time to focus on the top part of the prison building and pull himself up through the air before the strange liquid wave rushed towards the spot he had just occupied. He let go and landed hard in the grass some meters away.

"Come on out already, you brat! I don't feel like waiting for you much longer!" he heard Wipeout's voice, and saw that the villain wasn't turned towards him or his ally.

Magnet glanced through the rain into the ruined prison, only quickly enough to spot a scared young person still standing inside. A prisoner who refused to escape? He pulled some fist size rocks towards Wipeout from behind, hitting the bends of the knees hard enough to knock him to the ground. Icebreaker took the opportunity to use a spray gun to blanket him in a thick layer of ice to keep him down. Unfortunately, with Wipeout's power, there was no way that would last for long, Tinker ice or not.

Fast thinking was required. Why would Wipeout be so adamant about this prisoner escaping? Were they going to blow up the prison next? But the villain probably wouldn't care about a few casualties if so. Could it be a family member? Somebody important to Null?

Seeing the ice around the villain break as the ground underneath it liquified, Magnet decided to act. He reached out with his large red gauntlet and pulled the small person out from the prison, catching them safely in both gauntlets. It was a girl, and she appeared majorly shocked.

"Let her go!" Wipeout screamed, charging forward instead of producing a wave now. That strengthened Magnet's theory about the villain not wanting to hurt the girl.

Another ice wall sprung up in between them, Wipeout all but crashing head first into it, slipping on the wet ground.

"Get her out of here!" Icebreaker advised Magnet, who nodded and took off.

gimmepie · Feb 24, 2018

Jailer - Scrambling

Jailer felt her pulse quicken as adrenaline began coursing through her veins. She'd known this was a bad idea and now they'd found themselves in exactly the kind of dangerous situation she'd been concerned about.

Between she and Hostage, Vacuum remained seated. In contrast to Jailer, the Hell's Remnant seemed completely at ease behind the blue of his mask. He hadn't moved, resting some of his weight on his arm as he sat by the fountain at the mall's centre. Jailer felt her anxiety increase. This total calm was far scarier than uncontrolled rage could ever be. It meant it was confident. It meant he had determined he had already won.

No. Relax. Anita thought to herself, forcing herself to relax her muscles and slow her breathing. If she let herself panic, she knew they were doomed. She looked past Vacuum, several of his unpowered foot soldiers were climbing back out of the smashed display windows, carrying bags of loot.

She was aware of the barrier still around Hostage, a sort of sixth sense. She saw him nod, he'd already reached the conclusion she'd drawn. They had to remove as many variables as they could otherwise Vacuum would catch them by surprise while they were forced to deal with a lesser threat.

She raised her arm and whipped it to the side. The barrier containing hostage shooting off. Like a strange game of bowling, she took out Vacuum's minions with the barrier. The next instant, there was a whooshing sound as Vacuum disappeared, sucking oxygen along with him. The next moment he appeared next to her and a blast of air rushed out, sending her sprawling. She rolled back in an effort to recover, simultaneously reaching out with her power. Vacuum kicked her hard in the abdomen, his formal-styled shoes concealing hard steel caps. The wind was knocked out of her and she coughed hard. In the next instant, the barrier containing Hostage collided with Vacuum and the Hell's Remnant joined her on the ground. She banished the barrier and Hostage was freed, black katana already in hand. He lunged for Vacuum, trying to drive the blade down into him before he had a chance to vanish but he was too slow.

Vacuum disappeared and the intake of air nearly pulled Hostage of balance. Vacuum reappeared behind Hostage, a blast of expanding air rushing out and knocking Jailer back down as she tried to stand. Hostage too was knocked over, rolling to his back and slashing with his sword as Vacuum approached. The suited villain was gone again in an instant. Jailer felt herself knocked face first into the ground, downed for a third time as Vacuum appeared behind her. Then pain erupted in her back as he stomped hard on her. Jailer formed a small barrier between her and Vacuum, then expanded the sphere suddenly. The edge of the barrier pushed her into the ground harder, but also knocker her opponent back. Jailer brought her feet under her, banishing the barrier as she did so. Pushing off the ground the thrust herself back towards Vacuum in an attempt to tackle him. Of course, though, he was gone before she cough hit him and she crashed into the brick floor instead.

"Fucking hate it when you're right!" she heard Hostage yell, rolling onto her back just in time to see her partner miss another slash with his Katana as Vacuum disappeared again. He reappeared behind Hostage the next moment and knocked him over with another gust of wind in the process. She saw Vacuum reach under his jacket, knowing instantly he was reaching for his gun. She raised her hand and a barrier former around Vacuum. She closed her hand, the barrier shrinked down as fast as she could make it. Not fast enough.

Vacuum was gone and the barrier collapsed in on itself. Jailer didn't get a chance to move to her feet, he reappeared beside her before the thought was even fully formed. The rush of wind that accompanied him sent her rolling across the ground. She heard heavy footfalls as he rushed forwards after her. Hit foot collided hard with her head and she couldn't help crying out in pain. Protective helmet or not, that shit hurt.

"Don't even try that on me, bitch!" Vacuum snarled, no doubt remembering it was the same way she'd killed his father. Ke kicked her in the head once more and her vision swam, this time she managed to hold her silence. Not that it was worth much.

As her vision cleared, she saw Hostage launch himself into Vacuum. Both villains hit the ground, Hostages weapon slipping from his grip. If only it had been tossed away in the impact it would have flown back to him. Alas, it had simply falled from his grasp as he hit the ground. Hostage didn't scramble for the blade, instead taking the more efficient root. He punched Vacuum hard in the face before the villain could get his bearings. His second attempt didn't go nearly as well, Vacuum vanished as Hostage plunged his fist down and her partner ended up smashing his hand against the hard ground. He'd be lucky if it wasn't broken.

"Shit!" he yelled, but Jailer's attention was quickly taken away from him. She was knocked back to her feet again by Vacuum. He had drawn his gun and now aimed it at her. Before Vacuum pulled the trigger she'd already snared Hostage in another sphere. There was a loud crack as the gun fired, the ear splitting sound making her wince in pain as it assaulted her hearing. The bullet never hit her though, instead jetting past her to hit the barrier she'd placed around Hostage.

"Not close enough." she said, once again throwing Hostage at Vacuum by way of her barrier. Vacuum vanished as the force field flew over her. Appearing on the other side of her once again. The barrier around Hostage disappeared as he drew his second katana and threw it like a spear at Vacuum with all his strength. Vacuum disappeared, avoiding the weapon. The sword didn't drop to the ground instead flying back towards Hostage as it was pulled by his power. He'd practiced catching the swords at times like this, this time he never got the chance. Vacuum had appeared a way behind him and levelled the gun roughly in Hostage's direction. He didn't need to aim. Jailer immediately erected another barrier around her companion. His sword hit the wall and dropped to the ground and the next second she heard the gun go off. Vacuum fired several times, each bullet hitting her protective force field and dropping to the ground.

He disappeared, appearing behind her and sending her rolling across the ground again. She dismissed the shield around Hostage, her partner immediately lunging forward and driving his fist into the back of the teleporters head.

Vacuum dropped to all fours with a grunt. Jailer didn't give him a moment to get it together, pulling herself across the bricks she kicked the villain in the side of the head. There was a scrape as Hostage collected his katana, dashing forwards and striking down with the blade to impale the downed Vacuum… except he didn't get a chance. Vacuum was gone and the weapon struck the ground instead, jarring Hostage's arm although he managed to just barely maintain his grip. Vacuum appeared just behind Hostage, levelling the gun at him. The blast of air rushing out, forcing her partner to use his weapon wedged between bricks as a brace and sending Jailer herself skidding back a few feet.

As Vacuum pulled the trigger, one of her barrier appeared around the teleporter, it's edge just in front of the handgun's barrel. There was a loud bang as the bullet hit the forcefield and ricocheted off the shield and into Vacuum's shoulder. The villain screamed out in pain, one of his ears bleeding, an eardrum burst and blood staining his suit where his shoulder had been hit by the bullet. Jailer dismissed her barrier as Hostage swung back with his sword, slashing across his stomach. The blade didn't pierce Vacuum's body armour, but the impact still hurt enough to knock the wounded Hell's remnant to the ground. He disappeared with a whoosh. A second later they heard his footsteps as he fled. Those of his minions who were still conscious soon followed suit.

"This," Jailer began, agonisingly pushing herself to her feet, "is why I was saying we shouldn't be out and about. The odds of us running into Vacuum were small, but we still ran into him and he is just one of the many people who want us captured or dead." Jailer felt like screaming at him, but she didn't. She had too much self-control for that. It was a matter of pride to her. Besides, it'd only hurt her point to yell at him. So she didn't scream… and then she did.

There was the crack of a gunshot. She felt the bullet rush past her, she saw it strike Hostage's head and then she helplessly watched as Hostage fell to the ground. One last act of hatred from Vacuum. He didn't need to be a great shot to hit Hostage from a safe distance.

moon · Feb 25, 2018

Nix vs Roll

Nix had reported in to command and been notified of the on-going robbery taking place nearby. When she arrived at the scene, police forces in the street were just preparing to make a move.

She situated herself in front of them, ready to bring up her freeze zone. It would shield the police in case of enemy gunfire. At least for a while.

It wasn't gunfire that came though, but a person. Jumping out through a tall, broken window, was a cape dressed in darkness. He didn't give Nix and the policemen as much as a glance before he took off towards a bike and sped off. Nix had to think for a while before she remembered where she had seen a cape with his outfit before. She couldn't recall his name, but she thought he was with Justice. That might mean that Frost had already been dealt with.

The police signaled that they were going to move in, and Nix nodded and led the way.

The scene they were met with was horrifying. Nix could hardly believe it was necessary to murder this many people just for a robbery. The policemen fell utterly silent as well, as they crossed the main lobby on highest alert.

At the far end of the lobby were one single human, sitting in a huddled up position against the wall with a look on their face as if they had just seen hell. Their hands clasped what seemed to be part of a broken weapon, and the bodies surrounding them were dressed similarly to the survivor. The robbers?

"That's one of the bad guys," Nix said with a voice she had meant to be low and quiet, but sounded unnaturally loud in the lobby of death. "Does that mean they didn't get away with any money?"

"Let's check upstairs. You guys are with me," one of the police said, gesturing to his team.

Nix looked around, spotting a few survivors among the civilians and directing remaining policemen to help them. Among the supposed robbers, there was only the one unharmed survivor, and they didn't resist arrest. Justice must have dealt with the situation in their usual way.

"Why would they enter a bank and harm so many civilians... Surely they must have known that would attract the police on a grand scale," Nix thought out loud. "And is Frost dealt with? Damn it, I wish that Justice Hero had stuck around. He probably took off before police could arrest him too."

Soon came the peculiar sound of clattering, and a strange echo of something squeeking. The sound was strange, as the officers looked around to see where it was coming from. Before they knew it, it was coming from what it seemed to be... a lone cat. The cat moved slyly, as it gazed upon the humans it found. It crept closer, as it then sat down, meowing a sutle way.

"It's just a cat," one of the police inquired. "Maybe it's a stray; I'll get rid rid of it." He went by the lone cat to try to pick it up. Once he did, however... he thought it felt slightly odd. The cat was fairly heaving, and had a metallic body, painted orange and black. He didn't realize it until then, but... the cat was a robot. Perplexed, he then noticed another one came inside. The another, then another. They started multiplying.

"What is this?" he wondered. The cat he picked up then struggled, clawing him on his arm. The scratch was deep; he was bleeding, until another officer signalled for a medic. The robotic cats were starting to pop up everywhere; from the lobby door, and through the lobby window. The officers outside, expericing this strange event, did everything they could to shoo away the robotic cats. Proving futile, they decided to group up together, trying to gain leverage.

That's when 'it' came by. A fairly large, robotic snow tiger.It approached the officers, as they all had their guns trained on it. "How cute," said a voice from nearby. Popping in quickly was a larger, robot; one that looked like... a dragon. On top, Roll the robotics expert was riding on top, with her right-hand robot, PENGY, by her side. The robotic dragon lowered its head, allowing Roll safe exit to the lobby ground. "Have ants decided to invade my picnic today?"

"Roll," Nix groaned. Had this been a trap? Set for her, for the police, or maybe for the Justice member?

She stepped up, signaling for the officers to get behind her. Roll's creations were blocking their way out.

"Did you have a hand in this?" Nix asked the villain darkly, gesturing towards the macabre scene of bodies around them.

"Hmm?" Roll pondered, as she gazed around the area. Indeed, there seemed to be some on-goings of a massacre. Looks like someone was busy. "Oh. Guess I was too late, huh? Too bad. Leave it to that scrub to leave work this sloppy...but it's not a total loss coming here. Guess I'll have fun squishing the ants here!"

Nix clenched her fists inside the white gloves. She couldn't believe they were supposed to use non-lethal force against monsters like these. Human criminals who gunned down civilians, villains who talked about 'fun' at a mass murder scene...

"I won't even give you the chance to," she said and started running towards the dragon robot, the pink small cape fluttering behind her.

"Miss Roll, I will examine and analyze the enemy," PENGY stated. "Analysis will be completed soon. However I can meanwhile state, probability of victory, 95%."

"DRAGGY! MEOWY! Children! Battle routine.... set!" Roll called out, pressing a few buttons upon her headwear communicator. "Execute!" The eyes of her robots glew red, poised upon a battle formation. DRAGGY, preparing it's heat cannon from it's robotic mouth, released vicious flames to its opponent. The other cat robots prepared to attack the officers on scene, setting out it's terrorizing claws.

Seeing the flames blow towards her, Nix put her zone up. It didn't quite reach the big robot itself, but it did stop the fire. To be safe though, she hopped aside instead of lingering in the blastcone of the fire.

She ran up to the officers, who were firing their guns at the cat robots without much success.

"Sorry," she murmured as some kind of apology to them before putting up her zone there, effectively freezing the cats assaulting the policemen. Unfortunately, most of the policemen were of course frozen as well. And the zone stopping the dragon fire had dissipated the instant she put up the second one. Sometimes she hated that her power couldn't actually... do anything. No harm. Not even to those who deserved it.

Keeping the frozen zone around her, she turned to face the villain again. She had to get close enough to freeze her somehow, and she wouldn't be able to control the robots for a while.

"Wait, what the hell?" Roll said, examining her opponent's strange power. "What in the world did she just do?"

"Miss Roll, analysis complete," PENGY stated. "It appears that is Nix, a cape who has the power to initiate Freeze Zones".

"Freeze... Zones?" Roll repeated. "Explain."

"In basic terms, she has the power to stop time in the zones she creates," PENGY explained. "Until the zone is overloaded by attempted movement or energy, or she creates a new one."

"Oh? Oooh... I see," Roll chuckled. "DRAGGY? Raise temperature. Continuous trigger! Expand energy to maximum intervals! There's nothing more annoying than the stingy sounds of roasting insects, but I suppose I'd have to deal. Execute!" DRAGGY raised it's head once more, preparing a spray of flames, towards it's opponent Nix.

The fire hit her zone, flames freezing in time like eerie glowing tendrils shortly after entering. The zone was already strained by the number of people and robots it had frozen though, so Nix knew it wouldn't withstand the fire for very long.

So, almost immediately, she ran off in the other direction, and up the staircase. Looking down, she realized in anger that when her zone would break, the fire would grill the bodies on the floor. Roll... More reckless than Nix had anticipated. A true sociopath, wasn't she?

If only Nix could get close enough to her. But if she did, she wasn't sure she could guarantee that the villain would live to see another day. And with the firebreathing, it didn't seem like she could get in range in the first place.

The fire broke the zone, and the cat robots and policemen started moving again. The officers had the presence of mind to throw themselves on the floor to avoid getting instant roasted.

"Hm! I must say, I'm quite impressed," Roll complimented cheekily. "...Said the spider, to the fly."

"Cover me!" Nix called out to the officers. A few of them scrambled up when the fire stopped, and opened fire on the dragon and the villain. Perhaps they didn't care as much about using non-lethal force at this point either.

Next, the hero grabbed a painting from the wall next to her in the staircase, about a meter in diameter, and jumped off the stair railing as powerfully as she could manage. With her athletic body, it was quite the impressive jump. Mid-air, she pulled her legs up and slid the painting in under her, before she created a zone.

The painting froze in time, and thus stopped suspended a few meters above the floor, Nix carefully crouching on top of it. She was lucky it was a sturdy canvas and that she was a relative lightweight. One possibility she had hoped to avoid was that she'd crash straight through the canvas. Or that she would accidentally negate the timefreeze on the object and make it fall down with her; she could consciously do that if she wanted to move a specific item or person out from her zone.

The zone still didn't extend all the way up to the dragon robot. But if she hurried, she could get closer from here. The whole manuever didn't take more than a couple of seconds, from her jumping off, freezing time, and jumping off again, heading straight for the villain. She was close now, she would be close enough for the power's radius to reach Roll before the dragon could turn its mechanical head and blow fire once more...

At least, that was the plan. Roll feigned concern at first, until she gave a cocky smirk. "Did you really think it'd be that simple?" Roll questioned. "You pompous, overblown ignoramus! I knew you'd try and go for DRAGGY's reaction speed!"

Quickly and ferociously MEOWY joined the fray, lunging itself towards Nix. The Hero's own reaction speed wasn't enough now, as she hadn't seen the other robot before it made impact. She was tackled to the ground, the mecha tiger clamping her against the marble floor with its big heavy paw. Instinctively, Nix froze time.

MEOWY froze, but it didn't do her much good. Its paw was still pressing down on her, its weight too much for her to push away, and the zone still was just out of reach from the villain. The officers ceased fire and backed away. Nix groaned.

"Teehee, you were a fiesty little moth, but I got you now," Roll boasted, kneeling nearby Nix. Roll examined her closely, until she had a realization. "You know what? You're not just a simple insect, aren't you..."

"Correct Miss Roll," PENGY cut in. "Further data verifies that she has similar characteristics to another being. One with Miss..."

"I know. It took me a while, but I recall the old data of this power of hers. My, my, have the mighty and superior have fallen, Nix," Roll replied, turning back to the helpless Nix. "Or should I say... Nozone?"

Nix stopped struggling for a moment, her pink mask turning to the villain. If Roll could have seen her glare underneath the visor now, she would have nearly been poisoned by its toxicity.

"That's not me," she spat. "Not anymore. And even when that was me? I was still a better villain than whatever you're trying to be. You're just a madwoman."

"Did I touch a nerve, Nozone?" Roll mocked. "Or are you too ashamed to admit the sad truth to what you really are. A treacherous freak!" Roll stood up once more. "I know about you, and all the evil you did. You then betrayed all the pathetic friends you made, in an effort to become a heroine and call yourself 'the good girl'? You're no heroine, Nozone, no matter how much you pretend to hide it, beneth that pathetic mask. You're evil! Always have been, always will be."

Nix bit down to prevent herself from throwing out an angry retort immediately. Roll knew nothing. She didn't know what situation Nix had gotten into with the old gang, how it happened that she left and became a hero instead. Right? She was just trying to rile the hero up, for sure. But a nagging worry bit at the edges of her thoughts. Was this how all of Fundation's members were thinking about her these days? All of Hell's Remnants? She shouldn't care. They were on opposite sides of the law, and the others had made the choice to remain on the wrong side.

"I'm not a cold blooded murderer, like you," she muttered.

"That's right! I'm what everyone call a murderer. And hey, you know what? Don't be shy! So are you! Come on, everyone it with me! Mur-der-er!"

Mur-der-er! Mur-der-er! Mur-der-er! Mur-der-er! Mur-der-er... the robots all joined in sequence, chanting. The remaining officers in the lobby backed off even more. Roll chuckled in amusment, as PENGY waddled her way, greeting her with a bow.

"I'll gladly embrace the title of murderer, and not be a passive agressive worm like yourself. Humans are like insects. No, I should say, people are imperfect. They lie, they're influenced by silly emotions... You can't expect such imperfect creatures to uphold a reasonable system of law," Roll explained. "I like robots so, so much better. They're always by your side, you listen, they obey, and if you don't like them, you can easily fix and reprogram them to your liking. Don't you agree, fellow mur-der-er?"

Mur-der-er! Mur-der-er! Mur-der-er! Mur-der-er! Mur-der-er...

"I'm not a murderer!" Nix roared from the floor. "But I'd love to take on the title, if it meant I'd get to kill you!"

She knew it wasn't a good idea to shout that with the police nearby. Many non-parahumans were wary of parahumans as it were. Although, weren't the Justice members practically revered by the public nowadays? Because they dared to do what the Protectorate wouldn't. Kill.

But there was still a difference between murdering and killing. The bloody bodies spread around her on the floor belonged to people who had been murdered. If Nix made sure Roll could never say a word again, it wouldn't be murder. It would be justice.

With another roar, just after having uttered the sentence, Nix grabbed a smoke grenade from her belt and clouded the area around her at the same time as she let her zone dissipate. The mecha tiger stirred and shifted its footing when its vision was suddenly obscured, and Nix could finally roll away. She coughed in the rubble and smoke, and was rewarded with a searing pain from her chest. Broken ribs, probably several.

"Don't worry, you're not a murderer anymore," Roll reassured. "Now, you will be dead! Goodbye, Nozone, have fun in heaven! Children! Execu--"

A high pitched yell interrupted her. "Oi! What on Earth is going on here?"

Nix felt a jolt of hope as she recognized the voice, even if she couldn't see through the smoke to the entrance of the bank.

Jolt had entered without bothering to get an update from the police officers who had managed to get out. He had been instantly faced with a horde of angry small cats, one of which he zapped when it jumped at him. When it crackled and fizzled rather than scream and run away, he had realized they were robots. Looking further inside to the lobby, he had spotted the two huge robots and the girl standing next to them. The trademark design of the creations easily told him who she was.

He couldn't help but smiling at the luck of the draw. As far as pure cape powers go, he was a hard counter to Roll. A much better match-up than Frost. But the bodies he glimpsed in the periphery suggested he deal with her as quickly as possible.

Jolt stormed forwards, disturbing or disabling any cat that attempted to stop him. He had to reach the main targets, the big robots.

"What the...?" Roll said in bewilderment. "PENGY! Analyze!"

"Miss Roll, data indicates that is Jolt," PENGY explained. "Master Jolt has the power to send a stream of electricity to his opponents, as long as he's touching them. Data now indicates that the probablity of success in this battle has been estimated to 56%."

"What?!" Roll shrieked in shock. "You know what, screw data! DRAGGY! Exterminate him!" DRAGGY once again prepared it's flame attack, charging energy.

But the flames never came. Jordan had ignored her pain and taken advantage of the momentary distraction Jolt provided. She was now crouched a couple of meters behind DRAGGY, who had been caught in her new zone.

Jolt reached out for MEOWY, and managed to touch its swinging paw. He was flung away by the robot's force, but the paw had received a well charged pulse of his power and seemed to get stuck at an angle.

"Miss Roll, MEOWY's energy has been reduced to 45%," PENGY explained. "DRAGGY has been caught in Miss Nix's zone. The Robot Master combat unit's in a critical state... if this keep's up, MEOWY will no longer function."

"I can see that, you blathering baffon!" Roll barked, turning towards Jolt, giving him a scornful glare. "That bastard! PENGY! Initiate escape protocol; we're leaving!" PENGY bowed, latching on to Roll's back. It then folded its arms around Roll's chest, and folded its feet around Roll's waist. It's back popped out, revealling two rocket barrels, which activated, sending Roll upwards. PENGY had the function to turn into a rocket jet pack, for Roll to escape.

"Initiating transport sequence," Roll stated, pressing another button on her head-gear. She then turned down towards Nix and Jolt. "Congrats, you two are now on my list. And those in my list, don't last long. This isn't over!" With that, she flew herself away through the nearby open window, out of the building. MEOWY and DRAGGY started to glow. Pretty soon, they de-materialized, transforming into light particles that floated to the sky, following Roll as she flew away. The other cat robots slumped, their eye light turning off, all eventually ceasing to function.

For a moment, the lobby fell silent, dust and smoke clearing up slightly. Then, Nix coughed again, followed by a hiss. A police officer darted to her side, but Jolt told them to tend to the wounded civilians and took their place steadying his teammate.

"Hey," he said cheerfully, "We're on a list!"

Nix wanted to slap him, but instead she just sighed. There was absolutely nothing cheerful about this scene, and fury was still boiling inside of her at the carefreeness of her enemy.

"Did Frost take off earlier?" Jolt asked.

She winced and spun around towards the stairs. "Frost! There were officers heading upstairs before the fight started, and they haven't returned!"

Jolt's grin, visible since the lower part of the face wasn't covered, faded in an instant. He took a couple of police officers with him who weren't too shaken to keep working, and hurried upstairs.

They found the troop shivering just in front of a cracked vault door, stuck to the ground with ice up to their knees. There was nothing taken from the vault. According to an officer, Frost had laughed and said that they didn't care about the money this time, before she simply left.

Of course. It had all just been a distraction, hadn't it?

Jolt truly hoped that Magnet was alright.

forg · Feb 28, 2018

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

NICOLETTE CREST
- Telly -

----

"Did you lock the doors?"

"Yes!"

"Windows?"

"Yes!" Both Nicolette and Mr. Crest secured the household to the best of their ability. Entrances were locked and boarded with leftover wooden panels with furniture pressed against them for ease of mind. Breaking the silence is news being fed to the family from the plasma television.

They huddled on the living room black leather sofa. An ocean blue blanket had been draped over its cold surface to spare them of a wince due to the sudden cold touch. Underneath them sat a large, oval rug pigmented with a fuschia hue containing white details and mustard yellow, fluffy edge.

Were one to enter the Crest household they would be greeted to snow white painted walls and creaky, dark hardwood. The entrance immediately allowed guests to walk into the living room that - without a dividing wall but a floor that suddenly changes to marbled tiles - transitions to the kitchen of equal size. A hallway before such change leads to the rooms and two bathrooms beyond.

"Will grandma be okay?" asked a small girl clutching her princess school backpack. It squeaked upon the tightened grip, the sound of air escaping amusing to Nicolette.

She received a gentle touch to the shoulder by none other than her mother. "Oh she'll be okay, there's nothing to worry about sweetie." But her forced smile quickly melted into that of a frown when glancing at the father. They knew those sweet grandparents had no way of securing their household nor protecting themselves in such times. And it pained Mrs. Crest to imagine what could take place.

"They'll be okay," Mr. Crest agreed, the reminder moreso for his sensitive wife. "Do you want to watch a movie?"

Nicolette remained on edge, paranoid. Every creak, every bark, every scratch, every little sound her senses picked up on left her on alert for more. Whereas Mr. Crest hid his trepidations without issues, Nicolette wasn't as gifted. Like a dog her body sat up the instant she processed a meager squeak, ready to investigate upon her father's permission.

Nicolette had never been in a house break-in, and the lack of such has her fumbling through her thoughts. Shit, should I go to the roof and check? No, what if they see me? Will they attack me? What if I'm not here when they're attacked? What can I do if they even do break in? Can they break in? Did we do a good job of reinforcing the place? Did we miss anything? Should I check up on relatives nearby? Will it help my mom? With that last thought Nico glanced over her mother. Her focus had been consumed by her cellphone, diligently updating herself on the robberies occurring on neighboring districts. I know she's very nervous, but can I sneak out if I go to the bathroom? Actually, what can I even do once I'm there? What if somebody needs to use the restroom and I don't answer because I'm gone. Shit. Shit. What about work? ... well... what about it? Why am I worrying about work?

"Nico." The name snapped her away from her turbulent mind. "Did you lock the car doors?"

As a matter of fact, she did not.

"No, but let me do that now." Quickly her father rushed to the living room computer before her teleportation into the outdoors. Once there he watched on the screen as his daughter swiftly jumped from the inside of each vehicle, locking them from the inside.

From the corner of his eye he grabbed a glimpse of unrecognizable men entering the property of a neighbor a few houses down.

"NI-" But before he finished her name she had long arrived back to his side. It took a moment for her to realize the pale face he sported and the mother that was now standing up, able to sense the peril that had emanated from his voice. "Isma, go take the children to our bedroom." Her soft hands covered her twitching lips, facade breaking apart. "Isma," he repeated, voice deepening. His eyes remained glued to the live feed on his screen, hands tightly gripping the edge of the wooden desk.

"Hey hey hey," Nicolette murmured as she approached her siblings. Their fears had long been swept away by the happiness pouring from the film. "Let's watch the movie in dad and mom's room. We can be in their bed and be cozy and, er, yeah."

"Will you watch with us?" the smallest sang out in glee, feet carelessly kicking into the air. The other leaped off the couch and towards the television.

"I will after I clean up a little bit. Then we can play too!"

"Let's play now!" Oops. Now she didn't want to watch the film.

"After the movie, I promise. I'm going to take some time-"

"You always say that," she mumbled under her breath, body slumping against the couch. The other sibling managed to get the disc, ready to migrate over to the bedroom.

From the other side of the living room both parents observed a robbery unfold on a neighbor. Their windows were smashed by bats, holes punctured through some via bullets, and a plethora of other weapons made their appearances. The faint sound of gunfire could be heard from where they stand, only feeding into the wife's frantic state.

"Oh my god."

"Go take the children and don't come out. Nicolette will tell you what to do later-"

"The house is fortified, come with us to the bedroom," she attempted, refusing to allow her husband in harm's way.

"No, I need to be out here-"

"We can block the bedroom door and call for help."

"Woman, haven't you been paying attention to the news? They won't help us in time-"

"We have guns, we can make time until police or the heroes get to us-"

"ISMA!" His voice rumbled throughout the house, startling the children by the couch. His hands were now balled into fists that had nearly slammed into the desk. "Get... Them into the room."

"Not unless you go with us," she insisted, prompting him to turn to the children and reveal his reddened face. Nicolette didn't hesitate to shove her siblings into the hallway, who were beginning to realize the severity of the situation.

One of them slipped from her grasp, running to her guardians. "Is everything okay? Papa?" Seeing her mother's tears of frustration led her to tear up herself, hands clasped together. "M-Mama?"

"Oh no no sweetie, everything is okay," their mother began, swallowing her fright for the sake of her kin. "Mommy and daddy are having a serious talk." She grasped the child's hand before leaving her husband to tend to the computer. Her look of sorrow pierced through his heart as she made her way down the hallway, gently pushing the other child into the bedroom.

The sound of a locked door sent Nicolette to her father's aid. She wanted to speak, but couldn't piece together a good, coherent sentence. Not one without sounding too cheesy or too embarrassing.

Nicolette gasped the moment she realized what had sent her parents to argue. Several men left the brick house with loot, yet there were some shadows still lingering inside. "The robberies had died down in the past hour. I thought..." He was unable to finish his thought before lifting the rug. Underneath was a hidden door hiding a case holding his guns.

"We'll be safe. I can carry the guns out of the house and-"

"God, I should have taught you how to use a gun." His fingers ran through his black hair, the other hand clutching at a rifle. Nico didn't continue, unable to respond to his worry. "Stay inside," he then ordered. He walked towards the flickering screen, rifle being prepped for usage. "I need you to tell your mother when it's safe to come out."

While Mr. Crest planted himself in front of the device, Nicolette began to feel... an urge to try something. The urge to use her powers, for the first time in a long time, to save somebody other than her own. The neighbors needed a hero. But they were nowhere to be found. Could she be the one who could be their savior?

Could she do it?

"Hey... dad," she murmured.

Silence. Utter silence. Faint cries of laughter burst from the hallway at random intervals.

"I can help them," Nico raised her voice, somewhat confident. This alarmed her father, who took his time in straightening himself before the parahuman. "I can-"

"No." Oh. It caught her off guard, having firmly believed her father would have showed some interest in the idea. Afterall, he was trying to get her to join the hero community not too long ago.

"...but what if I jump over there and help by surprising the robbers. Dad, I can jump back if it gets too dangerous-"

"You don't understand. You don't know how to defend yourself," he argued, voice cracking from distress. "You'll get hurt."

"I know you care. I know you're worried," Nico responded distractedly, eyes glancing over to the screen. A small toddler was being dragged from out the house. She struggled to break free, squirming against their grip, yet it was futile. It was made worse knowing her parents were possibly dead inside the household.

The old Nicolette would have extinguished the urge to help and had left the child to fend for herself, but she will no longer. Her fiance would have shown disapproval in her lack of compassion, her lack of humanity. As much as she wanted to stay and remain in the comfort of her home, guilt began to consume her. He would be... disappointed if he was watching.

"But that girl, dad!" she points, fighting against the urge to teleport. "I'm a-afraid, I know, but I can help!"

"NICOLETTE," he retorted. "You will not disobey-" His words were cut short upon her teleportation. The iconic plume of smoke and pop brought terror to the man, who immediately referred to the screen.

She was nowhere to be found on the live feed.

[Other OPEN] Capes: Fallen [M][IC]

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