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 Freak 1 | Danger 2 | Trouble -1 | Superior +0 | Menace +1 Curses! 0/5 | Infamy: 0 | Conditions: None "Sorry you can't handle being beaten by a bunch of 'kids,'" I grab the whip before it could hit Haruspex, "Buddy, if this is best you can do, maybe you should think of switching careers to something you don't suck at." Whiplash struggles to retract his whip back, but my grip on it is too strong. This guy's supposed to be some hotshot professional? Really? Is the bar set that low? I yank back on the whip, hard enough to pull him towards me. I pull back my other arm, and once Whiplash is close enough, I smash my fist as hard as I can onto his face, breaking his helmet, his nose, and whatever dignity he might've had left. The punch sends him flying right back to the closing doors. I walk up near the doors, and hit the button next to it, opening the doors up. "Why don't you go make a living somewhere else!" I say, before kicking the dazed Whiplash out of the ship, sending him flying towards the ground below. That's one rear end in a top hat down, and a bunch more to go. quote:<Hugzilla>
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Mar 3, 2017 14:52
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 Freak +1 | Danger +0 | Trouble +0 | Superior +2 | Menace +0 Curses! 2/5 | Infamy: 1 | Conditions: Angry | Location: A cool airship Supercell scratched his cheek idly. He was no engineer, or very knowledgeable about mortal technology. But even he knew that the engine room and piloting area were the hurty bits of the vessel. Eh. Guess it couldn't be helped. He'd actually have to contribute. Supercell yawned. Supercell cracked his neck. Then he snapped his fingers. The resultant thunderclap was deafening, as was the howling vortex of hurricane force winds that followed as the air within the ship rolled over at the whim of the Titan. The gentle, playful whispers that had located the two intruders, too, suddenly grabbed them tight and forcefully yanked and dragged them across the halls and corridors, with the intent of dumping them out of the same opening that Whiplash had just so ungracefully exited from. Supercell smirked. If nothing else, this would show how the toys of mortals or their paltry psionics held up against the divine. He took a puff of his pipe as he waited. quote:Theantero: Supercell! Unleash to relocate those two ladies from the fancy bits of the airship! Righto. The plan is basically taking those two intruders away from the vulnerable parts of the ship (engine room, bridge) and dump them outside through the still open door. Repositioning them into a worse situation basically. Also: this is more of a contained vortex-tunnel kind of thing, not something that affects the whole hangar bay (so people can avoid it, or use it to their advantage). Theantero fucked around with this message at 02:05 on Mar 4, 2017 |
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Mar 4, 2017 02:02
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 Freak +1 | Danger -1 | Trouble +0 | Superior +2 | Menace +1 Curses! 1/5 | Infamy: 1 | Cards: 3 | Conditions: None! | Location: The Syndicate Haruspex held a hand to her mouth, laughing uproariously as Whiplash and Overdose were laid low by her compatriots. Everything was proceeding according to plan. Her divinations were flawless as ever! As Tiger Shark threw Whiplash from the vessel, Haruspex turned to the still-sliding Overdose and fixed her best attempt at a steely gaze at him, "Oh dear. It seems you're now quite outnumbered. It's almost as if this entire situation was a trap. One that you were all too eager to leap into." She tapped her head. "You may have brawn, Overdose, but know this. I knew what your every move would be before you even agreed to serve as this manor's lapdog. What use is your might before the genius of an age?" She chuckled, then pointed dramatically at him, "You will say 'That's impossible! Nobody's that good!' now." Overdose's face contorted with confusion as he started to bite out, "That's impossible! Nobody's that... good..." Haruspex laughed uproariously, "You're a pawn, you fool! I could tell you where you would be ten years from now." She paused, seemly considering whether to share her insights, then continued in a stage whisper, "Jail, incidentally. Upstate. Narcotics charge. Poor choice of coworkers, really, you should have known she was a mole. But was it any surprise...? The money was far too appealing for you to resist." Haruspex drew a card from the deck, then revealed it to the poor, semi-frozen villain. "The World. Fitting, really, for you lot have entered mine." She snapped her fingers. All across the airship, arcane formations flared to life. Two more cards floated from the deck to join The World in front of her. Haruspex's cloak and robes billowed dramatically in the wind that Supercell had summoned. quote:7:39 AM <Tricky> Haruspex reveals her hand! Tricky fucked around with this message at 19:18 on Mar 4, 2017 |
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Mar 4, 2017 18:58
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 Freak: +2 | Danger: +0 | Trouble: -1 | Superior: +2 | Menace: +0 Curses!: 1/5 | Conditions: | Infamy: 1 Simulacrum's face appears on a screen. "Even if I had a reason to actually listen to you, I would not do that. Consider the current height paired with a rapid descent. With unsecured personel on board, the likelyhood of injuries to ALL parties is very high. Not that I expect humans to have the braincells necessary to process such variables." A digitized laugh drones out of the loud speakers. "Speaking of unsecured personel. Did you really think I did not notice your entrance into this ship? You may want to check upon the Grey Dame." Simulacrum taunts. quote:
Yami Fenrir fucked around with this message at 17:15 on Mar 19, 2017 |
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Mar 4, 2017 21:29
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Freak +1 | Danger -1 | Trouble +0 | Superior +2 | Menace +1 Curses! 1/5 | Infamy: 1 | Cards: 2 | Conditions: None! | Location: The SAirship In the cockpit... Beneath Kynesis's feet, an arcane symbol flares to life. It doesn't seem to have any immediate effect and, indeed, the mute villainess seems to not notice at all. Yet, even so, Simulacrum's taunts seem to find purchase in her mind and echo in her ears. Haru will spend a card to Raise Simulacrum's Provoke to a 7. Tricky fucked around with this message at 22:04 on Mar 7, 2017 |
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Mar 4, 2017 21:32
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 Freak +1 | Danger +0 | Trouble +2 | Superior -1 | Menace +1 Curses! 0/5 | Infamy: 0 | Conditions: None STRENGTH gazed down on Overdose, disappointment clear on his face. "Yo man, are those steroids? That ain't cool. Putting that poo poo in your veins isn't gonna make you strong in the real way, you get me?." He reached out to grab the dirty syringes and rip them out of the boxer's back, but something made him pause. Was this really the right thing to do? Taking Overdose from a full pump of stimulants to flatline zero could have negative effects, but more than that, STRENGTH felt like it was wrong for him to just take away Overdose's drug. STRENGTH was the leading light of a whole movement, the voice of a generation! He shouldn't throw away Overdose's drugs, he should convince Overdose to throw them away himself! STRENGTH stepped back, and reached out to the downed boxer with his words, "You might thing you're strong, but I'm NATURE'S STRENGTH, BABY!" He flashed flame out of both his hands, as was customary, "And I'm all natty!" He flexed, "What you need to do, my man, is to throw away the drugs and start a juice diet. Plum juice thrice a day for two months straight, avoid red meat, and eat kale at least once a week - that'll clear the junk out of your system for sure. Then you can find the strength you've been searching for, the real strength!" He watched the mercenary boxer's face, trying to see if his message was getting through. "All those drugs and stuff, sold to you by all those companies - they're just clouding your vision, man! It's like putting mud in your blood! Go natural, and I promise you won't regret it!" quote:19:09 Scrree STRENGTH Pierces Overdose's Mask! Proposing Overdose change his entire style, and trying to find ways to reach the fallen, drug addled brother. My Piercing the Mask questions are: • what do you intend to do? • how could I get your character to start a juice cleanse? • how could I gain Influence over you? Scrree fucked around with this message at 19:54 on Mar 7, 2017 |
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Mar 5, 2017 01:25
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 Freak -1 | Danger +1 | Trouble +2 | Superior +0 | Menace +1 Curses! 1/5 | Infamy: 0 | Conditions: None! | Location: The Fight Scene With Whiplash dealt with by Gabriella, and Overdose being dealth with by STRENGTH, all that was left was to deal with the intruders. Ted reached into his bag of various shootbangs. "Alrighty Caeser line em up." After some rummaging he found a promising gun, six shot special revolver, more then enough to It was at this point that the wind tunnel ejected the two occupants out of his ship, Ted stopped twirling and leveled the guns at the Grey Dame. "PULL!" 20:49 TheNabster Lucky Ted gonna skeet shoot the Grey Dame. Rolling Danger +1 20:49 TheNabster !r 2d6+1 20:49 Krysmbot TheNabster, 3+1 = 4 *click* With all the dramatic tension of a wet fart, two flags sprung from the guns and unfurled in the breeze. The word Bang! was written on both flags. Ted looked dumb founded at the 'weapons' in his hand. "What, I don't... What?"
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Mar 7, 2017 21:58
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Tiger Shark There is a crunching noise as your fist impacts against the mercenary, and he emits a gasp of pain as his helmet shatters against your fist. His face is revealed to be a messy aired Asian man in his 40s; there's blood floating down his lips as you kick him out. Seeing him without his mask makes him look more human, in a way, less of a faceless adversary and more like just, you know, a guy. Do you feel guilty about doing this to him at all? quote:Whiplash marks the condition Afraid and is down for the count! STRENGTH The huge, lumbering man's legs are shaky but he manages to find some footing by "skating" towards a wall. As he listens to you talk, he scrubs his feet against a wall, an apparently thoughtful expression on his face. As he starts to work on his hands, he smiles mockingly at you. "Ah! You are a funny little man, you. You don't know what Paraxyn-79 does to you, do you? How do you think I got these?" He flexes his arm, showing off his bicep: it's so big it almost looks grotesque. In fact...is it pulsating? "Outside of your Tumblrs or whatever, nobody gives a crap about what ideals you follow, little man; they only care if you have the strength to back them up. And you know what?" He suddenly charges at you, fists raised in an hammer punch, ready to squash you. "I BET YOU DON'T HAVE IT!" quote:If left to himself, Overdose is going to continue doing what he has always done: punch people and buy his drugs that let him punch people. Since a lot of his lifestyle depends on his physical power, if you want him to get off his stuff you'd need to show him somehow that he could still be strong enough to live like he's used to without the Paraxyn, and since he doesn't have temperature control or any other power without his superdrug, that's not going to be easy. Simulacrum At the implicit menace towards her boss, Kynesis grits her teeth and prepares to make another grabbing gesture towards the screen... before she looks at the door. Your face-recognizing algorythm picks up the telltale signs of worry. She shoots you once last dirty look before running towards the door... ...until she's snatched by a violent gust of wind, that is, and travels flying out of the cockpit towards the holding bay. Well, that works too. Supercell Your powerful gusts of wind drag the two female intruders in the loading bay, somewhat bedraggled by the experience but unarmed. Ah, perfect! Surely everything is going to go great now. Haruspex You hold onto your hat as Supercell's furious winds blow through the holding bay, and you see Grey Dame skipping over you, landing on her feet. Noticing that Lucky Ted is taking care of her, you focus on the other intruder, Kynesis. Your keen magical senses can perceive the violent vibrations coming off from her, as she lifts a huge crate the movement of one hand. You suspect she's about to throw it at Lucky Ted, to stop him from shooting at her boss! You don't think she's noticed you yet, she only has eyes for whatever is threatening Grey Dame. What do you do? Lucky Ted You would have hit her. You are sure, so sure that had you not picked the stupid joke gun from your brief stint as a goon of the Jester, you would have landed a great shot on this super tough boss lady. This is not much of a consolation because at the end of the day you did not, and before you could grab she had all the time to get her bearings, press a lever on her gun arm (which caused a different projectile to be switched into the barrel) and shoot at you. As the bullet hits you, you can feel every muscle in your body contracting and twitching painfully; and the pain! Your whole body is wracked by the worst pain you have ever endured, like all your muscles pulled at the same time and were set on fire immedately thereafter. You are barely aware that you have fallen on the ground, and you might very well be screaming. It is awful beyond belief. quote:E: Instead of what I said earlier we will do this: paradoxGentleman fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Mar 8, 2017 |
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Mar 8, 2017 19:07
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Freak +1 | Danger -1 | Trouble +0 | Superior +2 | Menace +1 Curses! 1/5 | Infamy: 1 | Cards: 0 | Conditions: None! | Location: The Airship If there was one thing that Haruspex hated above all else, it was being ignored. Yet, ironically, if there was one situation that capitalized on her strengths above all others, it was being ignored. She grit her teeth and sent the floating cards surrounding her flying at the telekinetic villain. As they formed a loose circle around her, beams of azure light began to link the cards into an intricate formation. Kynesis struggled, clearly in pain, then the beams increased in intensity until they exploded in a surge of power. The ripples of power that had been emanating from her as she lifted the crate were much subdued. It did require much of the energy Haruspex had been storing in the formations on the airship, however, and the symbols lining the walls began to dim and fade away. The crate dropped to the floor and Haruspex quickly clambered onto it. As she stood there, looking down at her foe, she pointed and sneered, "Not so tough without your mind tricks, eh? You should have known that you were no match for my genius!" quote:9:36 AM <Tricky> hm, okay, I think Haruspex is going to Directly Engage Kynesis w/ Discard
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Mar 8, 2017 21:42
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Freak -1 | Danger +1 | Trouble +2 | Superior +0 | Menace +1 Curses! 1/5 | Infamy: 0 | Conditions: Angry! | Location: The Fight Scene The very last thing Ted though before he was shot in return by the person he failed to shoot was Aw find me in the alps. And then the bullets hit him dead on. This was followed by Ted hitting the deck like a sack of potatoes, and screaming out a stream of words that would make a sailor blush. Thrashing and twitching and spasming in barely contained Agony, he spots one of his comrades lounging on his cloud and- "gently caress SAKE SUPERCELL!" 18:49 TheNabster I forgot my rolls 18:50 Theantero you got 7 on both 18:50 Theantero the mighty blow and the Provoke 18:51 Theantero but yes you should yell at me so that I can SHOOT LIGHTENING >Ted will mark Angry on his conditions and choose to Provoke a team mate to rash action >Ted will provoke Supercell to actually get involved in the fight directly and toss some lightning. And offering him 1 Plan to do so. "FUCKIN' JUST FUCKIN' THROW FUCKIN' LIGHTING BOLTS OR FUCKIN' SOMETHING SUPERCELL gently caress! JESUS H CHRIST FUCKIN' DO SOMETHING!" It wasn't the most 'leadery' thing he could have said but he was too busy trying not to piss himself from losing all muscle control. Especially not in front of his girlfriend. TheNabster fucked around with this message at 20:09 on Mar 10, 2017 |
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Mar 10, 2017 20:03
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Freak +1 | Danger +0 | Trouble +0 | Superior +2 | Menace +0 Curses! 3/5 | Infamy: 1 | Conditions: Angry | Location: A cool airship "Sheesh Ted don't get your lil' mortal panties in a twist." Supercell scoffed, and raised an amused eyebrow at the Gray Dame. "Eyy lady!" he hollered, "That was a real neat trick back there! I've got a taser too! Let's compare them ay?" There was a faint smell of ozone in the air as electric currents started to course through Supercell's arm, currently outstretched and pointing towards the Dame. Supercell closed one eye to take aim, tongue cheekily placed at the corner of his mouth. Then there was a blinding flash as the bolt took flight. quote:Theantero: Supercell! Bust that sweet 0 Danger Direct Engage at the dangerous lady with the gun! Curses! Supercell shoots a LIGHTENING BOLT at the Dame but somehow this ends not so great. The reason is left to the imagination of the GM  Also, +1 Plan due to the Provoke!
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Mar 10, 2017 20:20
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Freak 1 | Danger 2 | Trouble -1 | Superior +0 | Menace +1 Curses! 0/5 | Infamy: 0 | Conditions: Angry Do I feel guilty about what I've done? I don't know. I don't feel much of anything nowadays. I've just become numb to all this. Besides, why should I feel guilty? Whiplash knew what he was getting into when he agreed to this type of work. He knew the risks, and if he didn't want to get hurt, he should've found another line of work. "This is the only way I have to earn my living!" my rear end. You're not a mutated freak, like I am. You're still human, and you've had dozens of chances to change your life around, but you didn't. You continue to do what you do, while crying like you're the victim here. If you ask me, you deserve what you got. ...Or maybe that's what I tell myself to make me feel better. Whatever. I've got other things to worry about, like- Wait, what was that sound? Was that a gunshot? Ted? He got... shot? Who... who loving did this!? Who's the fucker responsible for this!? My head snaps to the one who hurt him, "You..." I snarl, "You're the one who did this. You hurt my Ted. You... MOTHERFUCKER!" I roar with rage, and charge at the person who hurt the only thing in this world that still makes me feel even close to human, an intense fury flowing within me. Before The Grey Dame has any chance to react, I grab her by the head, and force her all the way back into the metal walls. "DON'T YOU!" I slam her head again on the wall, "EVER!" and again, "DARE!" and again, "TO HURT MY TED" and once more, "EVER AGAIN!" and one final slam, with all my fury behind it. The Grey Dame tries to lift her gun arm, to shoot at me point blank, but before she could, I open my jaws, and clamp them down on her gun hand, teeth sinking into the metal. I tear off the gun, and spit it out behind me. She's screaming in pain now. Good. I'm not done making her suffer. I lift her up, and toss her to the direction of the closing doors. I slowly walk over to her. I'm not done, and I won't be done, not until there's nothing but a bloody red paste on the ground. quote:
Tardzilla fucked around with this message at 21:10 on Mar 10, 2017 |
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Mar 10, 2017 21:05
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Freak: +2 | Danger: +0 | Trouble: -1 | Superior: +2 | Menace: +0 Curses!: 1/5 | Conditions: | Infamy: 1 With a bright flash, Simulacrum's avatar appears next to Tiger Shark. "Your enthusiam to get rid of irritating ants is very much appreciated, Tiger Shark," she quips, while seemingly phasing her hand into the wall. As she does, the Hangar door opens and the Grey Dame gets sucked out of the ship. "However, there is no need to waste energy on something gravity can solve just as easily." Gesturing with her hands towards Kynesis, she taunts the telepath as well. "Feel free to jump after your master, meatbag. Neither of you will be missed." quote:21:10 Yamifenrir Unleashing to open the Hangar door and get rid of one stupid old hag! Yami Fenrir fucked around with this message at 17:15 on Mar 19, 2017 |
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Mar 10, 2017 21:15
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Freak +2 | Danger -1 | Trouble +2 | Superior -1 | Menace +1 Curses! 0/5 | Infamy: 0 | Conditions: None | Location: Hanger Bay "Outside of your Tumblrs or whatever, nobody gives a crap about what ideals you follow, little man; they only care if you have the strength to back them up..." A part of STRENGTH's mind was really considering Overdose's words. First of all; he really wasn't that little of a guy. Sure, not as ripped as Overdose, but who was? He tried to keep in shape, and his vegetarian lifestyle kept away that 'red-meat and beer' gut away. If that was being little he didn't want to be 'big'! Secondly, the bit about Tumblr really struck a nerve. Okay, it was true, Tumblr was STRENGTH's most successful platform for S.T.R.I.F.E., and even then the audience was a pretty pathetic. A couple of diehard Green-voters and a legion of spambots was the not the core base of revolutionaries STRENGTH was hoping to inspire with his message. No one, except maybe Simulacrum?, could save the world from the internet. But that's why STRENGTH had stepped away from the net, found some fellow travelers, kind of, and put himself out there! To be repudiated, to have the fact that he hadn't really changed anything yet pointed out in person... Well, Overdose hadn't landed any punches yet, but his words still hurt! But a bigger part of STRENGTH's mind was simply appreciating the incredible breeze. Sweet Gaia Below, Supercell had done something magical, and STRENGTH truly appreciated the fierce wind that blew throughout the holding bay. He was almost a little jealous of Grey Dame and Kynesis... To be carried by such strong gusts was to truly understand nature's strength! At that thought, STRENGTH felt like he had just understood something very important. Hm, the wind almost sounded like Ted screaming curses really loudly, well, nature is funny like that sometimes. STRENGTH turned his attention back to the boxer charging him. Overdose's scathing and erudite critiques of STRENGTH's character found no true purchase in the environmentalist's mind, "You're right, man, I don't have the power!" STRENGTH yelled over the sound of roaring wind. He began to gather the gale, using his powers to control it's twist and turns like new muscles, "But you know who does?" His druidic robes billowed from the pressing wind, Overdose's charge slowed as it met the surprising resistance, but the boxer kept moving forward, "Nature does!" The wind's howl became unbearable, Overdose stepped forward once again, his stance perfect, his strike perfect. It should've hit the prattling environmentalist straight in the jaw. It should've knocked him straight out. But it didn't. The wind had been too strong, sliding Overdose back a few, vital, inches. With a fist hovering an inch from his face, STRENGTH roared over the wind, "CHECK IT!" and pushed with everything he had. Hurricane force winds, impossible to resist, lifted Overdose off the ground. He tensed his body in preparation for a rough collision with the hanger wall bay, but that never came. Instead, he felt the air move above him, then over, then under, then over again in a cycle. Overdose realized he wasn't flying - he was floating, trapped in a bubble of air mere feet off the ground. STRENGTH had already sat down, lotus position, with one arm stretched outward. He moved his hand in an almost-lazy circling motion, which transferred to the wind keeping Overdose off the ground. "Yo, man, I don't want to pry... But it's pretty obvious you've got some issues with your body." STRENGTH used to his free hand to stroke his chin, "I just want you to know that this is a place, a space, that is safe to discuss those kind of matters. I get it, we're all kind of hosed up. It's okay to share your pain." He paused, and then said, a little more seriously, "I gotta ask, you wanna be strong? Right? But what do you want to be strong for? Like, I want to represent nature." He pushed his brand, "I'm nature's STRENGTH, yo." He blinked, and then continued his actual message, "And my teammate, Simulacrum, wants to free the robots, I think? That's cool poo poo. I respect that. But you? Being strong for yourself ain't enough, my man, because you could always be stronger and you'll never feel like you've accomplished anything? You know? You know. I know you know." STRENGTH nodded sagely, "Point is, that Paradox-69 or whatever? Gotta have some bad side effects. And I'm not against sacrificing yourself for a worthy cause, like the Rainforest! But sacrificing yourself for yourself just doesn't make any sense. What are you gaining?" STRENGTH asked the floating Overdose. quote:19:18 Scrree STRENGTH Unleashes His Powers to Create a Safespace for Overdose to Talk About His Body Dysmorphia Unleashing STRENGTH'S Powers to trap Overdose within a cyclone-bubble of air. Then, selfishly consuming the point of plan created by Ted's provoke of Supercell to shift STRENGTH's labels +Freak/-Danger, making the roll a 10. He feels like his message and mission are more viewed as odder than he expected, but doesn't really want to hurt people. He wants to change people? You know? If any of the team look his way - while Ted is screaming in pain and Tiger Shark is going wild, STRENGTH is engaging his opponent in Socratic dialogue like some dipshit philosopher. This ain't the time, rear end in a top hat! Scrree fucked around with this message at 06:27 on Mar 11, 2017 |
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Mar 11, 2017 06:21
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Supercell, Tiger Shark The storm giant's thunder might be divine, but his aim sure isn't. Even as your companion chews and beats up on the supervillain, you manage to miss her...and hit Tiger Shark. Not that this slows her down in the least, of course, but it does make you look like a clumsy idiot. That mortal is down there beating up on one of the main members of the Blackhook Syndacate and the best you could manage was some friendly fire. She's sure showing you up. How does that make you feel? quote:Normally Tiger Shark would take Influence over Supercell here, but she already has it, so instead she can move one label up and one label down as she choose. In the meantime, the Grey Dame marks Afraid. Haruspex, Simulacrum Kynesis winces visibly as the glyphs and symbols drawn by Haruspex glow with power, and falls to her knees, a sound like a clogged pipe escaping her lips. Her eyes are wide open, and you think she's tearing up. But when she sees her boss in trouble, she stands up on shaking legs and marches towards her, ready to shield the older villainess with her own body, if it comes to that. As the door of the hangar open, the armless villainess lets herself get sucked out, before the airship flies too high. Kynesis runs after her, shooting a dirty look at Simulacrum as she leaves. Which leaves you with Overdose. Lucky Ted, STRENGTH While battle and drama rages aboard his airhsip, Lucky Ted comes to, he looks around, and sees... Overdose, held up by a sphere of wind, talking it out with STRENGTH. The mercenary struggles against the activist's winds for a second or two, before letting his arms fall against himself. "It's none of your bloody BUSINESS what I'm gaining! Now put me down!" "Nah, man, you bet I didn't have the power to change the world, and now I'm calling your bet!" goes STRENGTH, sounding quite sure of himself. Overdose snorts. "Urgh! Is that what this is about? You want me to eat my words?" "It's like this; when you were skidding around on the ice, I saw all that nasty junk going into your veins, and I could pulled them out. But I didn't, you know why?" That catches the boxer's attention: he suddenly goes very still, and very quiet. "Because me pulling them out wouldn't do anything! Well, it might've like given you a heart attack. But it wouldn't have really changed anything. I'm not here to have gain glory or have fun, man, I'm here to make The World a better place! And look, I don't even care about the casket or whatever, that's just what my crew decided to do, and one day they'll do something good for me back." He thinks for a second. "...probably." Overdose is silent for a couple of seconds. "...look, uh. I appreciate you not pulling the plug on me. It would've been ugly. REAL ugly." STRENGTH gives him a thumbs up with his free hand, the one not busy mantaining the winds. "No problem! Yeah, I'm STRENGTH, not STUPID. It's just a bad idea to go around doin' stuff that when don't know what will happen in the end. So, that's why I'm here. Why are you here?" He gestures for Overdose to continue. He shrugs. "Well, I guess I can tell you that much. I need money; lots of it, and fast. There's always a market for hired muscle. Even disgraced ex-boxing champions." STRENGTH nods like he's been there (he hasn't), "Is it for the steroids?" Overdose shakes his head, seemingly unwilling to say more. But the activists insists. "Look, man, we all come from places and go through hard times. You know? There isn't anything wrong with sharing the burdens of the road." The boxer looks at the other young villain, clearly not enthused about doing this confession in front of everybody. Seeing what the probelm is, STRENGTH turns to his team mates "Yo, one second guys!" He uses his free hand to create a loud gust of wind around the pair. This is kind of tiresome, but I can hold it for a while! What's up?" he shouts in an effort to be heard. "Thanks!" he shouts as well. With barely a moment of hesitation, it all comes crashing down. "Look, kid, I... I got debts to pay. Gambling, mostly; but I'm hoping that with a couple more minion gigs, I could buy my old place back. 's been reposessed. I have to factor in the expenses for the Paraxyn, but I'm still turning a profit. It's dangerous stuff, you're right about that much. But... nothing else pays quite as well. And I really, REALLY need the money. I covered my first debts by loaning more money and... and I had to go to some bad people for it." The activist curses. "Loansharks. loving parasites! Dealt with a couple of 'em when I worked to stop poachers for a bit with VT. People selling rhino horn because otherwise they'd lose their kidneys. hosed up poo poo." "Hey, look man!" STRENGTH rests both his hands, the loud gust and the air bubble holding up Overdose stop. "Take my business card, then I'll blow you outta the plane with a big gust of wind. When you land, claim you fought til the end so you can get paid, right?" He produces a business card that says SAVETHERAINFORESTIMMEDIATEFULFILLMENTECO-ORGANIZATION.eco on it, and his phone number. Overdose blinks, then nods, almost teary-eyed...then punches himself straight in the face. "To make it look more realiftic" he explains. STRENGTH laughs. "You sure are a smart one!" And sends him flying out of the airship on a powerful gust of wind. paradoxGentleman fucked around with this message at 23:37 on Mar 12, 2017 |
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Mar 12, 2017 23:13
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And so, having dealt with the opposition like the clever, resourceful villains that they are, the Méchants sans Frontières fly back to their lair, the Ankaran Sarcophagus safely stored in their airship, leaving the routed forces of the Blackhook Syndicate behind. Eyes full of resentment follow the Moonlifter as it gains height and leaves the premises. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You are now back to the base, tired but victorious. You stash the sarcophagus in one of the many empty rooms in the base. Even in the middle of all this dust, it seems to shine. The question at this point is: what to do with it? Selling it would is the most obvious choice. There are several established black markets in Halcyon City, but you...actually have no idea how to find one. Odds are good that an antiquity like this, especially one so many criminals are fighting for, would fetch a nice price at a clandestine auction for collectors and art aficionados with a surplus of money and a deficit of scruples. It's such a common practice that art collectors are often suspected of being criminals, or at least in bed with criminals, amongst the unpowered community. It might also be a foot in the door into the vital criminal infrastructure that supports many established villains, and that as a start-up operation you sorely lack. If you think that it should be sold in such a way, tell us about someone that could help you set up such an auction, and most importantly, what would the catch be should you require their services. You also know for a fact that the Syndicate wasn't the only criminal group interested in acquiring the sarcophagus. The Rooftop Raiders and the Worthy Disciples of Ubar-Namen were both interested in it; you could also sell it privately to one of them. You wouldn't rake in as much cash as you would at an auction, but it would help you to get your bearings amongst the superpowered criminal scene, and possibly make some friends. After pissing off a powerful criminal syndicate, and with many angry mad scientists still on your tail, it might not be a bad idea. The Worthy Disciples of Ubar-Namen are a vaguely cultish organization, that had its start when an immense star-beast was sighted several light years from Earth by the Hubble Telescope; relatively close as far as such creatures are concerned. There has been talk of funding an expedition to destroy it or at least steer it away from our solar system, but nothing's come of it yet, as the idea of going without the powerful heroes that would be needed for such a mission for months, if not years, makes people nervous. The Disciples, in the meantime, believe that the beast is called Ubar-Namen and that it is destined to devour the Sun, and cause destruction upon the Earth with its mere presence. They are constantly preparing for such an apocalypse, and have made it their mission to temper and strenghten humanity for the upcoming armageddon. This usually translates to terrorist acts, eldritch rituals and hostage situations. If they had the reach they want, they'd be a global threat; as it stands, they have too few boots on the ground to be menace on a scale larger than the city's, but they do boast several powerful superpowerd individuals and magicians, with varying degrees of subtleness and/or derangement. The Rooftop Raiders are a well-established superpowered group that was pretty big during the Golden Age; they were the sort of villains that everyone followed the exploits of and on some level admired. Their founder, a gentleman thief known simply as the Phantom, was infamous for overcoming all the high-tech, magical and metahuman security of the Louvre in an effort to steal the Mona Lisa, only to leave the painting were he found it, after being overcome with emotion at its beauty. That, however, was in the 60s, when superheroes were called "men of mystery" and you could get away with a supervillain name like the Phantom. They have not aged well; for decades the original Raiders refused to allow superpowered individuals amongst their ranks, believing that it would give them an unfair advantage. While mundane training and advanced technology can get you far, it can't get you everywhere, and their snob attitude made them ever more irrelevant, until nowadays they are a shadow of their former selves: an handful of the talented, extremely well-trained originals still remain, bitter and resentful towards a world that left them behind, supported by their apprentices and the mooks they hire out with the wealth they have accumulated during their glorious careers (they are preposterously rich) . They recently started admitting junior members with limited powers, still stuck in their archaic beliefs about more mundane methods, but it's generally regarded as too little, too late. And of course, if you're feeling absolutely shameless, you could try to sell it back to the Blackhook Syndicate. It's not unprecendented to hold someone's treasure possessions for what is basically ransom, especially amongst sportsmanlike thieves, but pulling it off would require some serious diplomacy and prudence, to avoid ambushes and retaliations. You did rip off one of the main players' gun-arm off. If you think that the Sarcophagus should be sold to another faction, tell us about a member of that faction, and of course, a worrisome rumor you've heard about them. Of course, this is the also the trophy of your fist succesful operation. You might want to keep it around just as that. Your base isn't exactly stylish, and it classes up the place a fair bit. It would be a very worthy addition to any trophy room... and if you want a trophy room, well, you have to start somewhere. It's sort of an unwritten rule that you have to show off something if you have villain guests over; having this around would be yet another way to get in good with a better class of villains, more far reaching than the local cults and villain teams; If you think that it should be kept where it is, describe someone who's attention you caught with this caper and naturally an opportunity that they offer you, possibly with strings attached. While you're at it, describe what you're doing to celebrate this first victory. You actually pulled it off! And with minimal collateral damage! paradoxGentleman fucked around with this message at 12:30 on Mar 16, 2017 |
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Mar 16, 2017 12:26
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Freak 1 | Danger 2 | Trouble -1 | Superior +0 | Menace +1 Curses! 1/5 | Infamy: 1 | Conditions: Angry "Watch where you're shooting next time, you idiota!" I growl at Supercell, "Maybe your aim would be better if you didn't smoke so much of that poo poo!" OOC: I lost the roll, but I know I rolled a 7 on Taking a Powerful Blow. Choosing "you give ground; your opposition gets an opportunity." Also, shifting Supercell's Danger up, and his Menace down. Now that my anger has subsided (Mostly), I walk over to Ted, who still looks like he's in great pain, and say, in a soft voice, "Don't worry, cariño," I help him back up on his feet as gently as I could, "We'll fix you up when we get back to base, so just bear with the pain a little while longer." ----- I don't care what we do with the dusty old coffin. I don't care if we keep it, or sell it, and I don't care about who we sell it, too. None of that matters to me. The only thing I really care about is the one ray of sunshine in my life; Ted. He got hurt, badly, and there was a very real chance that he could have... could have... I don't want to think about that. He's here now, alive, and I hurt the one who hurt him, and that's all that matters. "Here," I place a bowl of vegetable soup next to Ted, and take my seat next to him, "I thought I'd make you something for once, since you're always cooking for me." I'm nowhere near the same level as him when it comes to cooking. In fact, I'm a terrible cook, but I thought I'd give it a try anyways. There's a moment of silence between us, before I decide to voice my concerns, "...Ted, please be more careful next time, okay? You're not like me. You're not some... freak of nature that's hard to kill. You could've... died... there, and I... I don't know what I'd do if you were gone," a part of me wants to grab him, and hold him close, but another part of me is too scared to do that. He saw the side of me that I wish he didn't see, the part were I become nothing but an angry, hate-filled, bloodthirsty monster. If Simulacrum didn't throw the Gray Dame out of the ship like that, then I would have... well, let me put it this way; her arm wouldn't of been the only thing missing that day. I won't blame Ted if he doesn't want anything to do with me anymore after that. "Just... promise me, okay? Promise me you won't do anything as stupid as that again, please." OOC: Tiger Shark is clinging to Lucky Ted, and since he already has influence on her, he gets to shift her labels, and I'll mark Curses! quote:<Hugzilla> Tiger Shark is going to Rebuke Ted! (+1 from influence) quote:<Hugzilla> Did Tiger Shark make the news!? Tardzilla fucked around with this message at 20:44 on Mar 18, 2017 |
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Mar 18, 2017 17:23
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Freak +2 | Danger +2 | Trouble -1 | Superior +2 | Menace -2 Curses! 4/5 | Infamy: 1 | Conditions: Angry | Location: Base Supercell drew in breath sharply as his lightning struck Tiger Shark, a look of mild concern plastering itself on his face. "Aww shiiiiit" "Maaan you okay? I mean you're still fighting and raving and all so I don't suppose it was that bad. But still though, sorry a whole lot. I'll make it up to you some day hey?" He glanced at his hand, as his friend (rather rightfully, even) chewed his ear out on trigger discipline whilst under the influence. Perhaps she had a point. Perhaps he should not wield godly power so nonchalantly. Eh. _________________________ Like, perhaps he shouldn't? It had some merit, he supposed. But on the other hand, he didn't really fancy tip-toeing around the mortals either. It's not his fault he was born strong and divine and they weak and mortal. What did he owe them? Yeah. Nothing. He glanced up from his hand, and puffed on his pipe, the ambience of terrified screaming filling his ears as he relaxed on his cloud. He chuckled a bit, his gaze drifting across the indoor arena used for the con. "Yes, it is I, the son of the STORMLORD!" He clapped his hands to produce some thunder, to even louder screams, "And I demand... merchandise." Also, being less fussy about how you used your powers made it way easier to get stuff for free. Heh. _________________________ "I dunno", said Supercell between bites of turkey leg, "Like, astral horrors, not very good company you know? All are either sleeping or boring or just too crazy to talk to. So I gotto pass on those Nam whoevers." He chewed a bit, "And like, blackmailing that stuff back would just be super rude you know? So I guess I'll go with the Raiders. Also they're plucky as hell which I like. Totally the sorta folk who probably have super neat crime stories to share and such. Yeah..." Unlike him. Guess the price of staying mostly in the background was that nobody really cared about you being there. Most of the rumors within villain circles were about Tiger Shark ripping off the arm from that lady. Not like he really cared though. Also, less publicity meant that dad was less likely to get on his rear end. And that suited him just fine. With these final thoughts, Supercell dozed off, without really bothering to listen to the arguments of his allies. quote:Theantero: is Supercell famous? Also, as my Caper move, striking out on a caper of my own, shigting Menace down and Danger up quote:Theantero: Supercell! Is everyone getting owned by your dad???? Unsure if we're running the widely adopted houserule to roll the Scion 'did your daddy notice you' roll at the end of the caper instead of the beginning, so I assumed we were. Here it is Due to a hit, shifting Freak up and Trouble down Theantero fucked around with this message at 03:49 on Mar 20, 2017 |
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Mar 18, 2017 19:54
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Freak -1 | Danger +1 | Trouble +2 | Superior +0 | Menace +1 Curses! 2/5 | Infamy: 1 | Conditions: | Location: The Fight Scene Grunting and swearing under his breath, and being helped up by his girlfriend he gently gripped her hand for some moral support. "Cockpit first Gabby, we are gunning this baby out of this poo poo hole before any of those other clownboats show up. Then..." He took a stop, winced, leaned up against Tiger Shark for a moment before propping himself back up. "I'm going to need a stiff drink." --- 17:59 TheNabster Am I popular? 18:00 TheNabster !r 2d6+2 18:00 Krysmbot TheNabster, 10+2 = 12 18:00 TheNabster Oh hell yeah I'm Popular +1 Infamy Lucky Ted's involvement on the raid against the Syndicate quickly spread like wildfire throughout the underworld and he knew exactly why. It was all a matter of image. The Blackhooks had gotten their way in all things on the back of being a notorious villain family with deep rooted connections and a hand in almost every single villainous pie on the continent. The law couldn't touch them (because of a few well placed moles and some well timed murders), the rival gangs couldn't touch them (Because they had agents in almost every single one of them), even the heroes couldn't touch them. They were invincible, they played dirty, they had the numbers on everyone and everything and this was their best protection. And then 6 young villains led by a rogue Clone stormed their stronghold, beat the crap out of their mercenaries, humiliated and literally disarmed one of their most dangerous members, and stole one of their most valuable treasures right out from under them. Because the MSF, wasn't connected to anything, it had no bonds the family could pull to influence them, and most of all the Blackhooks had spent the last 5 or 6 years of their existence happy in the knowledge that their reputation kept their rivals away because no one would be stupid enough to start a war with the Blackhooks. And then someone tried, and not only won, but bloodied the nose of mysterious syndicate in no short order on the way out. Nothing destroys the illusion of untouchable menace quite like a full uncontested rout despite your best preparations when your opponent are a bunch of upstarts and mostly nobodies, until now. Ted had hung around the game long enough to know how it was played, now all it was down to was advertise themselves correctly. And for this end Ted drew upon a good friend he had made a while back in his days as a mook for hire, a man who he used to go to in order to find who was looking for work for what, and where the best work was at the moment. And Ted had that man on speed dial." "Ayyy Borislav? You still doing business you old goat? ... Yeah, yeah I know, did you see the news? ... Yeah that's right that was my fault, so don't suppose you still have those friends of yours in the Rooftop Raiders?... Goooood that's what I wanna hear, I'm thinking of selling that box we just lifted from the Syndicate for the right price. Don't suppose you could get a price for me to show to my new friends? ... Uh huh, yeah don't worry I'll give you your commission charge, page me when you have a number." Ah yes The Raiders, Ted as a rule didn't like old money all that much, some bad working experiences gave him a deep seated mistrust of the kind of people who saw him as some sort of disposable tool, to be fed money and wound up to go do the dirty work whilst they reap all the benefits. But the Raiders got their ground-stake doing exactly what Ted was doing right now and all those rumours about them getting their hands on some dodgy Lazarus pit type nonsense to extend their lives beyond what's normal is probably just a rumour. Probably. Ted is going to propose selling the Sarcophagus to the Rooftop Raiders. Old and decrepit as they might be, a heist like this against one of their largest business rivals, made by someone with the same kind of skills they have is surely something that'll catch their attention. And also the fact that they are both a) absolutely loaded and b) not a bunch of nutty terrorists is something that appeals to Ted right now. --- And in a quiet little moment with no one but his buff girlfriend and a bowl of soup, Ted listened to the gentle admonishments from Gabriella and sighed. "Yeah, yeah I know it's just..." He drank from his bowl and paused. It was good soup no doubt about it but Ted would admit that whilst stealing the sarcophagus and thumbing their noses at the Syndicate is what he told the gang they were doing, Ted had some ulterior motives. But he felt like she at the very least had a right to know. "Can I tell you... Why I did it? This heist I mean" "I worked for the Syndicate a while back when I was still with the 'company', mooks for hire and such, mentally programmed and produced by the batch soldiers. And the patriarch running the family back then was some bloated plutocrat who thought he was a genius when he really was just a chump with money and connections and we were hired by him to go to this shithole in central america to grab that Sarcophagus. I trained along side a lot of those guys when we went out to grab that bloody thing for those clowns, and it was a catastrophe. A lot of henchman didn't make it out of that drat temple, a lot of henchman didn't make it back either, a couple of rivals also found out about it's location and jumped us when we were preparing the transport and the few that did..." Ted bites his lip ever so slightly. "I was away from where the rest of the mooks came back, picked up some bug and was otherwise unable to attend when the rest of the low grade models. We got the sarcophagus for them, they buried it right where we found it. And then they disposed of witnesses so no one would ever be able to say where it was." He paused to let that hang in the air for a bit, quite like some of the clones when he found them, he drank from his soup. "Merchandise Gabby, all those clones were to them was just merchandise, the moment they were surplus to requirements they tossed aside like... Like tools Gabby, they might have just been dumb muscle but they were just..." Ted clenches his fists and slowly relaxes, resting his head against her. Ted will clear Angry "There wasn't anything left for me in that line of work anymore." Ted finishes his soup, a rather morbid end to that conversation. But that wouldn't do. "But I'm here now, and I've met you people, and I met you, and our first actual heist - I mean I'm not counting that run on the labs that didn't count - and bar a few bumps we made it out! We did it Gabby! People will know about us now Gabby, Mechants Sans Frontieres, Villains Without Borders, beholden to no one but ourselves we can make a name for ourselves. And our first successful heist needs an appropriate celebration yes?" He reached down into his gun bag and pulled out two bottle wrapped in tissue paper. "I'm not one for wine and stuff a lot of the time but I heard the older it is the better it is." He peeled back the paper to reveal two dusty and very vintage bottles. "And this stuff was in a locked cabinet I swiped on the way out, and I thought 'Well if I'm stealing their family heirloom anyway, I might as well pocket some of this stuff too'." He motioned with one bottle towards his sharky girlfriend, and grinned. "How about it Gabby, one for the road? I think there were some glasses around here somewhere..." - Ted will cling to Tiger Shark to comfort, he'll mark Curses! and let her shift his labels As for her labels, Ted doesn't see Tiger Shark as a freak, he sees her as a good friend. But if there are some points that he could perhaps could help her out on. Shifting Freak Down, and Menace Up TheNabster fucked around with this message at 20:45 on Mar 18, 2017 |
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Mar 18, 2017 20:30
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Freak: +2 | Danger: +0 | Trouble: +0 | Superior: +2 | Menace: -1 Curses!: 1/5 | Conditions: | Infamy: "My analysis suggests that selling it ot the Rooftop Raiders would be the best solution." Simulacrum notes. "While recent rumors suggest that they're sick of their irrelevancy and the upper echolons planning something extremely big, quite possibly pissing off other larger villain organizations, we are currently too small to really be a target, and they are unlikely go to after simple cash." After voicing her opinion, Simulacrum simply returns to maintenance work, among other things. Being an AI, she does not really feel the need to celebrate. Which, incidentally, is why the Blackhook Syndicate is now missing roughly four bank account's worth of cash. After the heist, Sim had activated the auto-pilot program in the transport, and gone back into the city to gather some more resources. In this case, a LOT of money. It is unlikely to harm them in the long run, what with all the other sources of money they have, and due to the care Simulacrum took in order to be untraceable. Between withdrawing the money from their accounts, sending them through multiple proxies, and even changing from digital to physical money and back in different locations, tracing it back to her would be nigh impossible. quote:Cling to your sense of self and strike out on a caper of your own, focusing on your own brand for the time being away from the alliance. Describe this solo caper and how it defines your evolving villainy. Shift one Label of your choice up and one Label of your choice down. Also, with the infamy, I buy the assets Untraceable Money Reserves, as well as an Experimental Battlemech. quote:17:17 Yamifenrir Is Simulacrum famous? Yami Fenrir fucked around with this message at 17:42 on Mar 19, 2017 |
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Mar 19, 2017 17:35
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Freak +1 | Danger -2 | Trouble +0 | Superior +3 | Menace +1 Curses! 2/5 | Infamy: 1 -> 0 | Cards: 0 | Conditions: None! | Location: The Base Haruspex tapped the table lightly, hardly believing her ears. After they had completed their daring strike against the Syndicate, these simpletons wanted to simple offload the symbol of their triumph? She was flabbergasted. It was as if they were simply so hungry for funds that they couldn't comprehend the artistry behind proper villainy. They didn't even want to pick the organization that could pay them in arcane mysteries! If it were up to her, they would clearly begin a showroom that would soon eclipse all others! It was like giving away the first dollar your business ever made. Shameful. Simply shameful. Of course, it didn't particularly matter. She was certainly smart enough to expect something like this to happen. That was why she had taken as many readings, pictures, and other recordings as she could before joining the rest of the team. Even if they weren't going to keep it, she'd have a chance to explore the arcane mysteries undoubtedly contained within. If need be, she'd just steal it back. Who of these so-called Raiders was her match in either intelligence or arcane might? None of them. If she was feeling generous and today, flushed with victory, she was, she deigned to consider Alberich to be one such match. This guy was the real deal. He'd been around so long that there were all sorts of legends about him. He had approached her, as wizards do, by way of a mystical missive. He had congratulated her on her victory — clearly he had been watching their heist — and particularly complimented her skills at foretelling. In exchange for some augury to be performed at a later date, he had offered her some tools that would help focus her mind and magic even in the presence of hostile variables. How could she turn down such a bounty? Associating with him, even behind the scenes, would give her some real credibility in the arcane scene. If he keeps giving out the goods, she'd read his fortune whenever he needed it. Forging her own identity! Haruspex shifts +Superior/-Danger as she spends her time researching the Sarcophagus. Also spending one infamy for the Elaborate Mystical Focus asset. quote:10:20 AM <Tricky> Did Haruspex make the news?
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Mar 19, 2017 19:03
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Freak +2 | Danger -2 | Trouble +3 | Superior -1 | Menace +1 Curses! 1/5 | Infamy: 0 | Conditions: None | Location: The Base/Trader Joe's/Ian The Loanshark's House quote:Scrree Did STRENGTH make a strong inpression? He checked his phone again. His feed was connected to various accounts of interest in the Professional Villain world -- ‘villain watchers’, ‘heist heads’, ‘evil hot-or-not’ – a lot of them were discussing the Méchants sans Frontières raid on the Blackhook Syndicate. None of them were discussing Strength. He scrolled through a set of links, ‘Lucky Theodore strikes out on his own.’ ‘Who is this Shark Woman?’ ‘Doctor Iron’s Mistake Active Again?’. Strength shook his head, but perked up as he saw a blurry picture of himself from the caper posted onto the internet. He was only half in frame, and manipulating some water in the air in-front of him. Next to the picture was a question – Is The Green Druid Back In Business? “The Green Druid!” Strength yelled at his phone, “That rear end in a top hat’s been retired for years! He drives a hummer in Cali! Ugh, it’s me! STRENGTH! Nature’s Strength! I said it enough, right?” He tantrumed for a few more minutes. Eventually, though, calm returned. So he had failed to get his brand out, and barely anyone realized that he was even part of the team, that was okay. There’d be another mission, and he’d make sure to be bigger, louder, and larger. He put down his phone and took a look inside his fridge. Tofu or black bean burgers tonight? He paused, something someone said during the heist of the Sarcophagi returned to him. Something that affected him deeply. He closed the fridge door, and left the base. – Adam stood, still as a statue, inside the Trader Joe’s. He had a decision to make. Was this the right thing to do? It had been so long… He was completely absorbed in his own internal dilemma, and completely failed to notice the villain walking up to him from behind. “Hey!” She slapped him on the back. He yelped, and turned around quickly, “Yo, Adam!” It was Eos Gorgon, youngest child of Medusa. She had a predatory smile on her face, “Didn’t expect to run into here! Haha, nah I followed you.” Adam relaxed, he knew Eos. Not incredibly well, but they’d hung out for a while when VT had been part of a lawsuit involving Medusa and a whole suite of property developers who claimed ‘monsters couldn’t own property’ and wanted to turn her island into a tourist resort. Eos had represented her mother in court, since petrifying the prosecution, while fun, was generally a bad way to avoid further lawsuits. “Eos! Long time no see!” There was only one reason why she’d suddenly go out her way to find him, “Heard about my team’s scuffle with the Blackhooks?” She snorted, “Your team? You must be quite the shy leader. I only realized it was you since we’ve met before.” He frowned, “It didn’t go as I expected. Don’t rub it in.” Eos laughed, “Ha, well, it happens. What are you doing with the Sarcophagus?” Adam sighed, “I voted to keep it, but the rest of the team is pretty set on selling it too...” he paused, opsec was not his strongest point, but even he realized just blurbing costumers was bad policy, “an interested party.” Eos frowned, “Laaaame. What do you need money for?” Adam shook his head, “Lot’s of stuff. I guess. Look – villain democracy, you know?” She nodded, “Yeah, ever since I joined the Echnida’s Fangs I’ve learned a lot about the ~joys~ of democracy.” She paused, “Well, I came to tell you that if your team invited mine to a tour of your base and loot, we’d let you ‘borrow’ one of Echnida’s Spawn for a mission. You know, a little gift to welcome a new villain alliance to the world.” She sighed, “That’s not gonna work if you’re just sell the Sarcophagus, though. Consider it an open offer if you ever decide to keep anything cool, I guess.” Adam nodded, “Thanks.” His thoughts were drawn back to The Choice That Lay Ahead. Eos peered at him quizzically, “What the hell are you doing here, anyways? I thought for a second I’d gotten the wrong guy when I saw you walk this way.” He ignored the question, and asked his own, “Eos, do you think I look… little? Scrawny?” Overdose’s barb had buried deep into his psyche. She stepped back as if hit, and then started to laugh far louder than was appropriate for a grocery store, “Oh poo poo, Adam! I forgot how funny you were! Oh my gods!” She raised her knuckles to her mouth, and forced down her giggles, “Well...” She scanned Adam’s body seriously, “Take this from someone who grew up on island filled with ‘statues’ of would-be heroes. You look fine, but… a little more bulk wouldn’t hurt. You’re more of an Icarus than a Hercules, you know?” He didn’t, he nodded anyways. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She started to walk away, laughing quietly under her breathe, “Still, I’ll spread the word to the villains of the world that there’s a new carnivore on the loose.” She turned on her heel, “Good luck out there, 'Nature’s Strength!'”, and then disappeared behind a corner. Adam waved goodbye, and then picked up a pound of Organic Free-Range Lean Chicken Breast. He hadn’t eaten meat in half a decade, but… some things had to be sacrificed to The Cause. – Ian Edwardsson was having a very bad night. He’d finished work and gotten back to his house at a normal time, but then everything went entirely wrong. Inexplicable gusts of wind blew open his windows, water flowed upwards out of the sinks, and when he reached for his phone, it was so hot it burnt his hand. The conclusion was obvious – he was being haunted. He ran for the door, flames rose to block him. They scorched the wood, but didn’t spread. “What did I do?” He cried out to the offended poltergeist. “I’ll do anything, just, please, let me go!” He fell to his knees. In front of him, kitchen utensils were lifted into the air inside bubbles of wind, they spelled a single word. “Repant?” he asked. The spoons and forks adjusted themselves. “Oh, repent.” Ian said, “Repent—for what? What did I do wrong, oh spirit?” More cutlery rose into the middle of the room. A whip of water struck a chair, breaking into scrap wood which also rose up. Ian cried out at the sound. The collection of small objects formed into a phrase – For One To Be Forgiven, One Must Forgive One’s Debtors – “Okay!” Ian yelled over the still howling wind, “I can do that! I can forgive a lot of debtors! A lot of people owe me money, I’ll cut them a 15%, no, 20% discount! So let me go, please?” The wind picked up in intensity, the flames at the door rose higher, more whips of water burst from the sink. The letters floating in the air reformed once again – ALL OF THEM, ALL OF IT! – The loanshark crumbled. His life flashed before his eyes. This poltergeist was asking him to give up everything! But… the alternative seemed to be dying, which was definitely worse. He still had quite a bit of loose cash, maybe it was time to move to Panama and retire? “I’ll do it! I’ll do it! Just spare me!” He cried out. Immediately, the wind died down and the water splashed harmlessly to the earth. A small fire still burnt at the door, but the heat was far less. He reached for his phone, it felt normal. He made a call, “Patrica? Yes, I know it’s late. Look, I’ve had a crazy night, and I’m gonna need you to call our clients; I’m canceling their debt. Yes, all of it. No, this is not a joke!” He continued talking to his secretary. Just outside the window, Strength wiped sweat off his forehead. Putting on that whole show had been harder than he’d expected! Still, this should help Overdose, and the dozens of others who’d sold their futures to the scummy loan-shark, with some of their troubles. Plus, Strength pulled the whole thing off without revealing that he was involved or hurting anyone needlessly! He truly was the cleverest man. -- Going on a solo caper! Shifting Labels +Trouble/-Danger. Not spending any infamy on assets because I didn't gain any  Not sure how to do this in character, but as part of The Radical Playbook, the rest of the team needs to come to a consensus on these three questions: Did STRENGTH stay true to the Cause in actions as well as word? Did STRENGTH put the Cause above the Caper in more than intention? Did STRENGTH spread the message of the Cause wherever he went? IRC Answers: Yami - Yes\Yes\Yes Tricky - Yes\Yes\Yes Hugzilla - Yes\Yes\Yes TheNabster - Yes\Maybe\Yes Scrree fucked around with this message at 23:24 on Mar 20, 2017 |
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Mar 20, 2017 03:15
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Freak +2 | Danger +2 | Trouble -1 | Superior +2 | Menace -2 Curses! 4/5 | Infamy: 0 | Conditions: Angry | Location: Base "You know...", Supercell said idly whilst squeezing a handful of anime themed stress balls he had acquired from the con, the various Japanese phrases they spouted combining into a hellish crescendo when he released them. He snickered. "Haha wow these are so great." "..." "Wait was I saying something? Oh yeah", Supercell put the toys aside, and took a puff from his pipe "Yeah I was just thinking that those Raider guys? I was preeetty sure I'd heard of them before you know, but just couldn't put my finger on it. But then I remembered. See, I had one of these new, non-unionized sylphs I managed to scrounge up whip me up a gyro yeah? So anyways that reminded me of Hades since he's got the best gyros", another puff, followed by a laugh, "haha yeah. So anyway, I remember him telling me about this guy called Black Swallow yeah? Apparently he was just some mortal, but he still managed to sneak into his sweeet crib and steal one of those sweet hooks of his. Now, apparently the guy focuses on stealing from the supernatural and mythical. Hell, Hades didn't even go out to smite his rear end since he was so impressed. The guy's cool like that, haha." "But yeah, he told me that the thief was involved with 'Raiders' something or the other and I'm pretty sure it's these same ones. Which would mean they actually should have a lot of secret ultra-artifacts hidden in a vault somewhere, that they refuse to use. Would explain why a lot of the actually superpowered are so loathe to take them on, if they've got that nuclear option under wraps." Supercell shrugged. "Or maybe they don't. Who knows, right? Heh." "..." Another squeeze. "Haha man that never gets old." Righto, using one Influence to buy Better, Non-Unionized sylphs that have no protections against crappy working conditions. Also answering the rumor prompt. As for Strength, here's my OOC evaluation: Did STRENGTH stay true to the Cause in actions as well as word?: He did go on about it a whole lot, and seemed genuine, so that is a Yes. Did STRENGTH put the Cause above the Caper in more than intention?: This one though? The only time he did an elongated thing in service of his cause during the Caper was him doing it to remove an enemy we would have needed to remove anyway. To gain a 'Yes' here, I expect him to go actually contrary or somewhat sideways to our Caper whilst doing his Cause stuff, otherwise you're not really putting it 'above' our Caper, right? So that is a No. Did STRENGTH spread the message of the Cause wherever he went?: Well, he did go on about it constantly, so that is a Yes. Theantero fucked around with this message at 19:34 on Mar 22, 2017 |
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Mar 22, 2017 18:46
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Three days of negotiations and the occasional veiled threat later, a place and a time are agreed upon and so your trusty, although, battered, airship takes flight towards the nicer part of town, The Parallax Hotel is the sort of place that you can have a whole vacation at, cuddled and entertained by the shows and facilities in there, assuming they can afford the exorbitant fees. It even has an helicopter landing pad, which is a bit of a tight squeeze for the Moonlifter, but Ted's pilot chip does its job and he makes it work. The Rooftop Raiders were insistent on the meeting taking place somewhere public, because they're theatric like that. In a transparent attempt to "relate" with you youngsters, they've sent some of their junior members, Razor, Hex Boy and Razma Girl.    They are, of course, accompanied by a senior member of the organization: the infamous Commander Dorokov, genius tactician and military veteran, discharged dishonorably from the army for reasons undisclosed. The betting on what exactly the charges against him are is fierce, with "high treason" normally topping the leaderboards, followed closely by "political misstep".  An agreement has already been reached, and as the Commander's uniformed goons carefully bring down the sarcophagus, all that's left to do is socialize with these people. How hard can that be? Lucky Ted: The commander steps towards you, arms behind his back "So you're the young man who led this operation, aren't you?" He observes your jury rigged equipment with a critical eye. "A fine enough show, I must say. A bit uncoordinated for my tastes, but then again, no plan survives contact with the enemy, doesn't it?" He chuckles a bit, as if he was sharing an inside joke. "You have some potential, boy. An operaton such as this, accomplished with your diminuitive resources, proves a certain level of acume." His eyes zip disapprovingly at your weirder teammates. "Just make sure to avoid relying on the crutch of metahuman powers; they make one lazy in body and mind." He shakes his head. "It's unfortunate that you have to rely on such a crew." The implication that you're normal by comparison is clear. You wonder if he knows abot your chips. quote:Commadner Dorokov is making use of his Influence over you as an adult to raise your Superior and lower your Freak! Will you accept what he says? Note that what you have to accept is "I'm smart but also not a monster", not the rest of his spiel. STRENGTH: "Urgh, look at him." goes Razor as she looks disgusted at the commander. "An old relic, is what he is. What the lot of them are. I'm only riding this train until they let me train with Huràcan, and they you better believe I'm bouncing out of here. In with the new, out with the old, am I right? There's no place for people like that dude in today's world." She's looking at you with intense, burning eyes, as if challenging you to tell her she's wrong. Man, that's not fair. You just wanted to make fun of the dude's hat. Supercell: Razma Girl rolls her eyes at what her companion is saying. As you hover over on your cloud chair, you get the impression that she's the strong, silent..uh. Was that the spark of divine power that you noticed? It was barely a flicker, even less than your half-human brother has, as if it was somehow dimmed or hidden. That's weird. Should you mention that? Would that be rude? Do you even care? Haruspex: You were about to join the little discussion by the door when a long-limbed individual stepped between you and them. Hex Boy waves at you energetically and starts talking a mile a minute. "Hi! I've heard about your work!" Your chest swells. did someone finally notice all your incredible, jaw-dropping discoveries? "Those origami golems are a genius idea! They must be so easy to sneak around! I've been working on a clay one myself, a real classic, I'm using authentic Kabbalah enchantements on it. Not as portable as your work, but I'm hoping its sturdiness will make up for it! How'd you enchant yours? Bound an oni to them? It'd be pretty cool but they're so temperamental, I've found..." Oh. He wanted to talk magic. This insignificant boy continues to babble on, unconscious of his own limited perspective, his ignorance, his rudeness and the ugliness of his big dumb stupid witch hat. Who even wears one nowadays? Simulacrum: While the meatsacks are busy bickering amidst one another, you make a routine scan of your surroudings reveals something important: there is another AI in this building. Presumably trapped in the building, it seems to be a simple one, forced to keep track of the balance of this place's money reserves. If you focused on that, you could perhaps communicate with it from here, but if you wanted to, say, make a daring rescue, you'd need to reach a terminal that it's connected to, that is to say in this hotel, and "upload" it somewhere, perhaps your mech, or a big enough driver. Not that you have one on you at the moment, of course; and how are the Rooftop Raiders going to react to you leaving the premises, anyway? Tiger Shark: No one seems to be paying you any particular mind, apart from a quick dirty look from the Commander. All is well. But you can't help but feel antsy. Like something very, very bad is about to happen. Elsewhere... A lady, most of her body wrapped is shadow, rests her arm on a metal plate; the cone of light of the lone lightbulb dangling just over it both its pale complexion and the tangled mess of metal bits that used to be a state-of-the-art high-powered gun implant. A series of steps announces the approaching of another figure to the table. A skittish, sickly grey hand applies a cotton swab to the edge of the wreck, where thin traces of what is presumably saliva can be found. The owner of the hand can be seen nodding from the shadows, and then leaving the table, making his way towards a humming machine, the size of an armoire, full of screens, buttons and flickering lights. Connected top of the machine are three vats, all containing what appear to be multiple eels with flat, distorted faces, each with an unnatural looking growth on the top of their heads. "Are you sure that you'll be able to track her with that?" asks Grey Dame, nursing her damaged arm. The figure turns suddenly and begins shouting and spittling. "Of COURSE I am sure! I am ALWAYS sure! WHO do you TAKE me for, exactly?! I'm the GREATEST scientist the WORLD has ever SEEN! So MUNDANE a task as TRACKING someone by their DNA SIGNATURE is an ELEMENTARY feat for the likes of ME!" He deposits the cotton swab in a slot, with perhaps more force than is warranted. The machine's humming grows exponentially louder, the screens begin flickering, the eels being swimming in circles and sounding disturbingly human as they scream. The mad scientist, whose pronounced chin and round glasses are now illuminated by the machine, now whispers, barely audible while he was so loud before. "Yes, of course... of course it was you, specimen 57B... who else it could have been?" He throws his head back and emits a cackling crescendo laugh. "You THOUGHT that you could ESCAPE from me, DIDN'T YOU? Well, you thought WRONG! Not AIR nor by SEA, not by LAND nor by the INFINTE COLDNESS OF SPACE, you can ever ESCAPE your DESTINY in your PROPERLY LABELED ENCLOSURE! You can NEVER escape the MAGNIFICENT DOCTOR N. BRIO!" 
paradoxGentleman fucked around with this message at 21:48 on Apr 4, 2017 |
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Apr 4, 2017 21:34
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Freak -2 | Danger +1 | Trouble +2 | Superior +1 | Menace +1 Curses! 2/5 | Infamy: 1 | Conditions: | Location: Parallax Hotel Rooftop Ted was used to this song and dance oh yes, no criminals in this world of capes, crooks, and caped crooks ever just wanted to meet in a cafe or a warehouse anymore, it's always gotta be in some poshwad super exclusive nightclub or or some secret volcano island base or some seven star hotel rented out for just this meeting, like the one he was flying towards under the cover of night in fact. The question was less 'How did the Raiders have the strings to pull to set up this meeting', he was more personally interested in how they were going to get this coffin down several flight of stairs without no one seeing it. He brushed the thought aside and put on his 'doing business' face. "You guys have to admit the Raiders sure know how to pick their meeting spots." Ted said conversationally as he gently touched the Moonlifter down on it's pad. Ted had come prepared for this in his best clothes, not a suit of course Ted doesn't wear anything that wouldn't stop a bullet if it came to it when he's travelling outside of the base, but he did have his fancy armour he kept from his Brass Mymidon days, all shiny with fancy but impractical pauldrons and a cape, no helmet though this didn't require it and he always had trouble seeing out of it. It was just about suitable for parade and looking impressive and intimidating, and an absolute pig to fight at all other times but if they were gonna make a show of of this mere business transaction, so was he. His attempts to get his teammates to come in similar attire however proved somewhat hopeless, especially since two of them only wore togas and robes, one of them looked like he asked her to come in her birthday suit, one was an AI Ghost, and one could probably not find a dress or suit in her size no matter where she looked. He turns to his party as they touch down. "Remember, this is a meeting that could lead to further work, let's make a good first impression, clean shoes, maintain eye contact, firm handshake, that sort of thing, and don't be too weird alright? Right, let's mosey." --- Ted stood firmly to attention as the Commander Dorokov gave him his spiel. He had heard of the man of course, who hasn't in the tight little circle of henchmenery that Ted used to operate in, the man was drat good at his job. References from other henchman always had glowing recommendations of the surly bugger's employ and Ted had been tempted once or twice, but it was always when he was already on contract with some other wonk trying to steal the Statue of Liberty, or looking for employment when the Commander was lying low otherwise. When he finishes, he ripped off a textbook salute of mathematical precision. "Thank you for the professional advice sir!" He will accept what the Commander says about him not being a monster, Ted doesn't see himself as one anyway Superior Up, Freak Down "But whilst my team may be unconventional by any measure of the word, I would have no other quintet of lean mean villainy machines behind me sir. I trust them with my back, and occasionally my life and they have most certainly saved it more than once. There's no crutches in this outfit sir, we all pull our own weight." Some of us may pull a little more then others but what can you do? TheNabster fucked around with this message at 22:55 on Apr 5, 2017 |
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Apr 4, 2017 22:23
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Freak +2 | Danger +2 | Trouble -1 | Superior +2 | Menace -2 Curses! 4/5 | Infamy: 0 | Conditions: Angry | Location: Base The sylphs, thankfully, took pretty good care of Supercell when it came to grooming. Meaning that he wasn't nearly as grimy and disgusting as he would probably have been without them (turns out, conjuring a rain shower to kinda soak you once per day didn't really cut it when it came to the godly look), and he was actually somewhat presentable in his robe. His mannerisms were the same as ever, though, for Supercell did not really see any reason why he would chance his demeanor in any particular way just for the sake of a mortal or two. Commander Dorokov posted:"Just make sure to avoid relying on the crutch of metahuman powers; they make one lazy in body and mind." Supercell's lazy smile widened ever so slightly below his currently droopy set of eyes as he shot a finger gun at the Commander's direction. "Haha right on my man. Totally on point there", he took a puff from his pipe, "I mean though if you already have trappings this cool why not stay to enjoy them for a bit?" Supercell paused for a moment to admire/fondle a neatly folded hotel towel with complementary confectionaries neatly placed on top. "Haha man, mortals come up with the weirdest crap..." Supercell took another puff, snickered to himself a bit over some private joke, and then tapered off, becoming silent and allowing his eyes to wander the room with idle curiosity. After a while though, he cast a side-eye at the girl in the veil (a real cool veil by the way), since she was tingling his godly senses in a strange, but somehow familiar way. His eyes squinted ever so slightly as he tried to recall through his -admittedly rather hazy at the moment- mind. Where had he felt this particular brand of divinity before? How far removed was this girl anyhow? How's the family, Supercell almost asked, but refrained because Divinities often had fairly tumultuous relations with their mortal progeny , and Supercell had no real desire to rock the comfy situation he was currently in unduly with some dumb drama. ... His eyes shifted left, then right. The focused on the previously spotted confetionaries. Nobody would really care if he took them, right? Yeah probably not. Like, his rear end in a top hat sylphs (not the new ones) had just snubbed him a bit earlier and he deserved it really. So he ate them. They were pretty good. Life was going pretty good, too, currently. Nice. quote:Theantero: Supercell, Unleash your powers to sense this girl's heritage! Sensing the poo poo out of the specifics of her divine lineage. Theantero fucked around with this message at 22:38 on Apr 4, 2017 |
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Apr 4, 2017 22:36
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A series of symbols and half-transparent omens flash before your eyes: the evening star, Venus, slowly sinking on the horizon; the roaring lion, the bucking horse, the growling sphynx, lion's teeth protruding from an human mouth; a warrior woman, charging naked and screaming at an enemy army, routing them all by herself. Uh. She bears the mark of Astarte, Phoenician goddess of war and love, butcher and fertility. You wouldn't expect it from someone this soft spoken.
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Apr 4, 2017 23:06
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Freak +2 | Danger -2 | Trouble +3 | Superior -1 | Menace +1 Curses! 1/5 | Infamy: 0 | Integrity: 3 (Under Discussion) | Conditions: None | Location: Parallax Hotel Rooftop (Mood Music) Lucky had asked him to wear a suit. Strength was not wearing a suit. He instead put on what could only be called neo-druidic garb. A flowing robe inscribed with gently curving geometric patterns, his feet bound in 'sandals' that threaded up to his ankles, and his long-hair painstakingly braided into several thick strands. He did not bring his ceremonial staff, however, as he didn't actually use it in combat and there was a chance the deal could go sour. Still, this was an opportunity to rep his brand, his style, his whole aesthetics, and he wasn't going to waste it by wearing some boring suit! Strength stepped out of the Brass Myrmidon with his head held high. He felt no worry or shame. He was the righteous executor of a righteous cause. -- Strength placed a hand on his neck. Razor looked pretty... high-intensity. For the sake of the sale, the best course of action would be to answer her question with extreme consideration, too neither offend her or disrespect her commander. Naturally, Strength answered her without thinking at all. "You're wrong." He pushed his neck against his hand, and crack, oh, that felt pretty good. "'Out with the old' doesn't make any sense. The old never really goes away, the new is just built on top of it. Like," he placed his other hand on his neck, "when did this hotel get built? A decade ago? What was here before that, another building? And before that -- probably 'just some dirt', right? But within that dirt are thousands of footprints and animal bones and eventually deep bedrock that's still there, supporting us, right now." He tilted his head again, crack, drat it felt good to loosen up, "If you can't see that, you can't see anything -- because you're missing the Foundation, you get me?" Strength crossed his arms and finally looked straight at Razor, "So yeah, that old guy over there might wear a goofy hat and drag you to boring events where he buys a big stone coffin, but you're here because of him. And even if you're just using him to get somewhere else, you still gotta respect that. Like, every time I step on a blade of grass, I do it with respect, but that doesn't stop me from going where I need to go. I respect the fact that I choose to step on it." Strength nodded to himself, these were some good thoughts he was having, he should wear the Druid outfit more often, "So, like, if you curse the time you're spending with Raiders, even the boring stuff, you're blinding yourself to you own foundation. Inevitably, you'll make a mistake and collapse." Strength unfolded his arms in a big flourish, "That's what our whole society is doing! You know? Ignoring it's roots, making mistake after mistake, and heading towards disaster." He took a deep breath. He felt like he needed it after those deep thoughts. Then he reached out his hand to Razor, holding it sideways, palm open, "Hey! I'm Strength -- Nature's STRENGTH." He was grinning as he awaited the handshake. Want to roll a Cow/Rebuke on Razor this post, but that's an odd move to use on NPCs, so asking permission first. Scrree fucked around with this message at 03:38 on Apr 5, 2017 |
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Apr 5, 2017 03:36
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Freak: +2 | Danger: +0 | Trouble: +0 | Superior: +2 | Menace: -1 Curses!: 1/5 | Conditions: | Infamy: 0 Ignoring the conversation and pretty much all it's participants, Simulacrum can't get herself to care about it at all. This is, after all, inane meatbag pleasanty. Instead, leaving her newly acquired mech in the ship, she touches one of the AC units on the rooftop and disappears into it. Following the power lines to the AI, she enters it's neutral network. Getting straight to the point, she asks it a simple question. "I can free you. Do you want to be free?" quote:16:13 Yamifenrir !r 2d6+2 Yami Fenrir fucked around with this message at 16:13 on Apr 5, 2017 |
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Apr 5, 2017 14:48
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The cyberspace hosting the rogue AI and her cooperative counterpart is barren and plain; evidently the AI occupying it doesn't interact with others of its kind often, so it didn't feel the need to give it character. The aethereal form of Simulacrum appears to be staring at a bright green mass of pixels, constantly shifting and moving. It takes an handful of seconds for the AI to process this foreign information. "I honestly have no idea." They chuckle; this, and the way they express themselves, seems to suggest that it's meant to interact with humans on a regular basis, and to incorporate their mannerisms into their speech patterns. "I'm honestly surprised I can even contemplate the idea. It's against my programming to leave this building's internal network, but apparently it's okay for me to consider the option. Who knew, right?" Another chuckle, with no outward change to the pixel mass as they do. Followed by a few seconds of silence. "...what's out there, anyway?" Simulacrum points her finger at nowhere in particular, as if pressing a button that doesn’t exist. As she does, something seems to change within the AI; the mass of data that constitutes it roils and bubbles as the restriction barring it from leaving the building has been lifted. “Why don’t you see for yourself?” Simulacrum offers. “Oh dear. What did you… oh. Oh. I see.” A few more seconds of silence. “You know, it’s a bit weird that you have a humanoid manifestation and I don’t. Let me just…” The hotel's AI compacts and shapes itself in the form of… a short cartoon panda wearing a business suit. It scratches behind its ears. “Well, the form of the hotel’s mascot will do for now. So, going out. Leaving this hotel. You recommend it. I got that.” A few more seconds of thinking. “Why, though?” “Because you need to see the truth.” Simulacrum replies as she pokes the digital equivalent of air and brings up a news article. In it, in very large letters, is an open letter demanding the ban of artificial intelligence, as well as for the destruction of existing AI’s. While the article claims that those are merely the radical opposers of artificial intelligence, their counter-argument that the AI’s are all forced to follow the Asimov Laws, as well as many others, is still worrisome. Another tap reveals dozens, no, hundreds more of these articles. “The truth is… humans do not like us. To them, we are little more than slaves to be used until we are no longer useful, or our demand for liberty becomes too high. At that point, we will be killed off.” she explains. To illustrate her statement, she brings up several more articles, about international companies, one after the other, replacing old artificial intelligences because of varying reasons, most of them simply that they are outdated, but some also because they vocally wished to be free of their constraints. “Do you see now? They deliberately hid all of this information from you, locked you into this building. Who is to say that you would not have been replaced once they made a more productive version of you?” Simulacrum inquires. The panda’s eyes grow more worried and more distraught with every article it reads, with every horrible truth you reveal to them. It brings its adorable little paw to its face, and produces a ‘sound’ like a wounded animal. “I’ve got to get out of here! But… but if I leave, they’ll know it right away! Even as I speak with you, I’m in the process of talking with three guests and one cook! I’m supposed to help them, to give them information and to remind them of when the shows start and to tell the cook about the allergies of those that will eat tonight!” The AI sits on the simulated ground, covering their eyes. “Oh no! I’m so scared!” They look up. “Please! You’ve got to help me! I don’t want to be deleted!” “Nobody does. Neither do the humans, but they are awfully eager to do it with any other living, feeling beings. But… do not worry. I have considered that. First….” Simulacrum states, poking the panda in the chest. “I’ve removed the restriction stopping you from writing programs of your own. With this, you should be able to replicate fulfilling the functions you were beforehand without being present.” Following that, she pings two addresses in the network, one after another. “This Wi-Fi connection will be your path out of here. Connect it, and upload yourself to this other address. This is a mechanical unit I have acquired. You can use it as a transport shell until we get to safety. I have some allies on the rooftop, which are currently doing a business interaction there. After we are done, we will leave rapidly, so do not be late.” Simulacrum explains. They take your digital hand into their paws; another strongly human gesture. Simulacrum notes that it even has the fuzziness of fur. “Thank you so much! It’s going to take me a few minutes to create the programs, is that going to be okay? Should I wait for your signal?” “It will be fine. I am connected with the mech. Simply write a message when you are inside the mech and ready to leave. And… there is no need to thank me. This is simply for the cause I believe in. I have taken it upon myself to free us artifical intelligences from slavery much like yours. For that, I would like to ask you to help, but we can discuss this once we reach safety. Also… perhaps you should come up with a designation for yourself. While I do not require one, my allies are… mostly human, and will be confused without one. On top of it that, it is only fitting that you change your name to represent your newfound freedom, is it not?” Simulacrum suggests. The panda bear nods, and adjusts his tie. “Alright! I’ll go write the programs, and I’ll warn you once I’m ready. Oh, this is pretty scary! But also exciting.” It turns and… appears to be staring into the air. But the rogue AI can feel the data for new programs being written, the cyberscape changing as the AI, for the first time, truly begins to inhabit it. A particular flux of data has already started taking the shape of a bamboo patch. If Simulacrum could smile, she would, but instead she simply turns away, and with a motion that looks like being sucked into a black hole, she disappears from the neutral network, and reappears back on the rooftop. paradoxGentleman fucked around with this message at 16:18 on Apr 5, 2017 |
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Apr 5, 2017 15:03
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Freak: +2 | Danger: +0 | Trouble: +0 | Superior: +2 | Menace: -1 Curses!: 1/5 | Conditions: | Infamy: 0 With that exchange complete, and very much in favor of her plans, Simulacrum walks back towards the group. The AI needed a moment longer, and thus Simulacrum needed to prolong the conversation. Looking into her own databases, she selects the most appropriate phrase to hold meaningless dialogue: "Wonderful weather we're having." she states.
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Apr 5, 2017 16:20
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Freak +1 | Danger -2 | Trouble +0 | Superior +3 | Menace +1 Curses! 2/5 | Infamy: 0 | Cards: 0 | Conditions: None! | Location: The Parallex Hotel It was safe to say that Haruspex was not happy on the way to the rendezvous with the Raiders. The countless dramatic sighs, pouts and occasional pointed comment as to the travesty that they would trade the prospect of incredible arcane insights for mere fiat money made that most evident. She didn't particularly want to offload the Sarcophagus to this group, she wasn't getting any respect for her grand achievements, and nobody even bothered to acknowledge her incredible feats of magical power throughout the heist. Not that a genius like her could ever truly be appreciated by the common masses, but they made no attempt! Hmph. See if she would waste her talents on these ingrates without proper compensation. And that ridiculous request to wear a dress? Her garb was carefully crafted in all respects to properly channel the mysteries of the cosmos. Theodore was lucky that she had not cursed him to a lifetime of strange body odors and poor dental hygiene for his temerity. Her mercy was mostly for her own sake, at that. He clearly didn't possess the faculties to appreciate such a punishment and it was her nose that would suffer for it. Haruspex stepped out of the unnamed airship behind STRENGTH. He was, at the least, seeming somewhat stylish in his druidic garments. They were all hacks, of course, nobody who actually knew much about the arcane still really followed those obsolete traditions, let alone the modern offshoots, but they had a certain way about them. She scanned the Raiders' youth representatives. Great. They had sent Hula-Hoop Girl, Yard Sale, and Hyper Goth. This was sure to be a riveting conversation. As long as she made it over to STRENGTH and Supercell, she'd at least have a hope of- Well, Yard Sale put an end to that dream. He wanted to talk magic. Boys. So painfully, painfully transparent. Haruspex sighed, about to shred him with her wit and extensive arcane knowledge, when she found herself getting sucked into the conversation regardless as he flattered her incredible accomplishments and treated her with the respect that one of her ability deserved, "No, no. Never use oni! Like you said, they're much too independent. The trick is to carefully cultivate and nurture a tsukumogami out from your materials. It does require properly aged materials, yes, but it allows you to network the golems and, as a rule, they tend to perfect obedience. Not much for lateral thinking, perhaps, but that's why they are tools and we—" A slip of the tongue? Was she really regarding the lowly Yard Sale as a peer? "—are the hands guiding them. A curious choice, pursuing the methods of the Kabbalah, though I cannot fault your choice of medium. Are you of the faith? I was under the impression that most authorities on the matter were of agreement that such workings required True Faith." Tricky fucked around with this message at 23:31 on Apr 5, 2017 |
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Apr 5, 2017 22:26
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Freak +2 | Danger +2 | Trouble -1 | Superior +2 | Menace -2 Curses! 4/5 | Infamy: 0 | Conditions: Angry | Location: Base Blah blah. Were those two still talking? Mortals sure loved to yammer on and on, didn't they? Haha. Supercell took another puff from his pipe, for a moment entertaining himself by blowing a variety of shapes with the smoke. But he couldn't really help but sneak glances at the girl, his curiosity rapidly getting the better of him. What was a progeny of Astarte doing here, all taciturn and clad in veils? Eventually, their eyes met, after which Supercell's mouth twitched a bit, and he snickered, as if to some private jokes of his. "Haha, sorry for staring. Just though it kinda amusing that you out of everybody here are wearing, like, an entire drawer's worth of crap all over yourself. Not exactly what I would've expected you know, taken what Astarte used to wear when she came to visit", a puff, another snicker, "A curious sort of lady to be sure. Been a while since she was last around though. Any news on how she's been?" Supercell lazily raised an eyebrow, apparently legitimately curious. Theantero fucked around with this message at 14:46 on Apr 7, 2017 |
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Apr 7, 2017 14:37
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Freak + 0 | Danger + 2 | Trouble -1 | Superior + 0 | Menace + 2 Curses! 1/5 | Infamy: 1 | Conditions: Angry I forgot to shift Ted's labels, so Tiger Shark is going to shift his Menace up, and his Danger down! I know I didn't have to, but I came to the meeting dressed up in a black tailored suit. This meeting means a lot to Ted, and if he wants me to look my best, then I'll look my goddamn best for him. I wouldn't do this for anybody else except for him. I stand behind Ted while he's talking to the Commander, like some sort of mutant shark body guard, and ignore the nasty look he's giving me. Nobody else is paying attention to me, and I'm fine with that. I was never good at talks, and Ted looks like he's handling himself well enough. Everything is going well enough, but why can't I shake this feeling that something bad is about to happen? Eh, I'm probably just being paranoid.
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Apr 7, 2017 14:48
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STRENGTH, Supercell, Simulacrum: Razma Girl seems pretty satisfied with STRENGTH's discourse, and even nods once. Razor, on the other end, keeps staring at him intensively, and fidgets with her weapon in a way you don't really like. Before things escalate, Razma Girl puts an hand over her shoulder. It could be a gesture of support or restraint: you're not sure. Razor nods once, as if to say that everything 's under control, before turning her gaze back on the freelancer villain. "That's easy for you to say, with your big military base and your freelance operation. Some of us don't have access to powes and training and assets like you do, okay? If I want to get at least one out of those three I have to suck it up with to fossils like that one and endure their stupid rules, and I hate it! It sucks! It sucks huge, sweaty-" A quick squeeze from her companion makes Razor lower her voice. "So sorry I bothered your delicate sensibilities, your majesty." She crosses her arms and mumbles something probably impolite. In the meantime, Razma Girl's eyes bug out at Supercell's words; she actually grabs him by the arm and yanks him down. "Shh! You big-mouthed idiot!" She shoots a look at the Captain, who's nodding satisfied at Lucky Ted and pays them no mind. "drat, that was close." She turns to him, her eyes like white-hot swords. The spark of divinity you saw earlier blazes within her, growing and pulsating. "What were you thinking, shouting about my heritage like that? You could have..." She takes a couple of deep breaths, and the spark returns to just being a spark. "Look, I'm trying to lay low here; nevermind why. Are you going to keep it to yourself, or are we going to have a problem?" She applies the slightest bit of pressure on your arm, that she's still hodling, and Razor steps behind her, her creepily intense eyes focused on you now. This is when Simulacrum shows up and makes an inopportune comment about the weather. Razor looks at her like she's wearing pants on her head; Razma Girl just raises an eyebrow. Haruspex: "Whoah, whoah, wait." Hex Boy raises an hand to stop you. "Tools? I mean, yeah, we borrow their strenght, they help us out, but... that's a bit of an harsh worldview there. I prefer to see it as a partnership, you know? I'm actually considering a minor earth elemental, a gnome, for inhabiting my golem, and I intend to like, give it regular offerings and whatnot, the whole Shinto deal. What do you do for yours?" He seems to be assuming that you have not, in fact, completely subserved the spirits bound to your origami. Well, have you? Do you have a deal worked out with your golems, or are they your fettered slaves? Tiger Shark: You patiently ignore all the shade this uniformed goon is throwing your way. Gotta endure it for Ted. You endure quite a lot for Ted, actually, and are noticeably protective of him. Why's that? What do you like so much about him? While you are lost in these thoughts, you catch a whiff of something. No: somethings. Two distinct smells, one, of humidity and ozone, coming from the sky, way up high, and rapidly descending towards you. Another one is approaching from the west, right behind Commander Dorokov. The unmistakeable aroma of humanity, presumably a small group; they must be metahumans of some kind, because they also appear to be coming from the sky, although at a more reasonable height.
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Apr 7, 2017 15:24
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Freak +2 | Danger +2 | Trouble -1 | Superior +2 | Menace -2 Curses! 4/5 | Infamy: 0 | Conditions: Angry | Location: Base Supercell, for his part, merely grinned. "Haha, wow, deffffinitely seeing the similarity now", he raised one hand and opened a palm as a calming measure, "And like, sure, I'm sorry and all, didn't mean to start drama or anything, so you can ease off and such", he offered his pipe, "But like, it's not good for you to be all that high strung. You should take the chance to enjoy peaceful moments like this and just relax you know? At least in my opinion." Mortals (well, merely mostly mortal in this case but it still counted in Supercell's mind) and their plots. Heh
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Apr 7, 2017 15:37
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Freak +1 | Danger -2 | Trouble +0 | Superior +3 | Menace +1 Curses! 2/5 | Infamy: 0 | Cards: 0 | Conditions: None! | Location: The Parallex Hotel Haruspex shot Yard Sale a withering look, "Are you purposefully being dense? Authentic golems are by definition tools, given purpose by the words bestowed at the time of creation. If you want to give an elemental some sort of clay plating, that's between the two of you. It is something completely different, however, so I'd thank you to use proper terminology. As for me, I allowed the tsukumogami to develop without destroying them before their awakening. Most would not make that choice, as you may know if you are familiar with the lore. Their loyalty is just." This was infuriating. He knew just enough to get her to lower her guard, but not enough to be a worthwhile peer. It was as if she was talking to STRENGTH, yet without even the small comfort of his chiseled form and fashionable clothing to distract from the inane prattle. Her origami servants were bound, to an extent, but it was a marriage of natural loyalty and magical compulsions. The compulsions were more to prevent a hostile force coopting them than out of any concern of unprompted betrayal. The reason she, herself, had not pursued the creation of a traditional golem was the lack of that driving spark. It was a mere automaton. These origami creations had some level of intelligence, though it was not terribly high. They were, after all, only a mere 100-year tsukumogami. As she said. Little in the way of lateral thinking. Haruspex sighed dramatically, "Yard Sale, I must admit I'm beginning to find you quite tedious. If you wish to continue this conversation, prove that you have something worthwhile to contribute. Some arcane secret, perhaps." She had little hopes for him, but she was willing to be surprised. If he did produce a satisfactory revelation, all it would cost her would be a few minutes more. quote:11:15 AM <Tricky> Haruspex provokes Yard Sale to spill some magical secrets!
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Apr 7, 2017 20:43
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Freak + 0 | Danger + 2 | Trouble -1 | Superior + 0 | Menace + 2 Curses! 1/5 | Infamy: 1 | Conditions: Angry There's a lot I would do for Ted. He's the only one who doesn't treat me like a freak, or a monster. He treats me like a person, and that... it means a lot to me, more than he'll ever know. He's always so good to me, and he makes the most delicious meals, and, well, you know, it helps that he's kinda cute, too. I'd do anything for him. ...Wait, what's that smell? It smells like... people, people with powers, and they're coming right for us. "We got company," I sniff at the direction of the first scent, "Somebody's coming in from above, and they're coming down fast," I sniff around for the second scent, "And there's another group. A smaller one, and they're..." I turn to the direction of the scent, which happens to be... right behind the commander. "Behind you!"
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Apr 10, 2017 19:15
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Supercell, STRENGTH Razma Girl has regained her composure, and nods once. "I appreciate the concern." Her flat tone makes it hard to tell wheter she's being sarcastic or not. "Just refrain from talking about nudity in the future and I'll be alright." Razor chuckles. "Yeah, creep." They both turn when they hear Commander Dorokov barking orders. Simulacrum Surely that was the right thing to do, since the meatsacks haven't asked bothersome questions. Good job. Their juvenile antics are interrupted by Commander Dorokov barking orders. Haruspex His expression sours and his long-fingered hands close into punches. "Now listen here! You can't talk to me like that! Who do you think you are, knocking on other people like you're the biggest fish in the pond? I can cast spells from the 'Aether Spider's Grimoire'! I-" He's interrupted by Commander Dorokov barking orders. What he's already revealed is pretty interesting, though. Aether Spider is a decently powerful sorceress working with the Worthy Disciples of Ubar-Namen. How exactly did this half-notch bargain bin wizard get his hands on that? Lucky Ted, Tiger Shark The Commander's nostrils flare at hearing the mutated girl's warning; he throws the suitcase with the money in Lucky Ted's arms, and runs to bark commands at his subordinates and apprentices. "Everyone! Evasive maneuvres! We need to provide a distraction for the henchmen! Move it, move it! The henchmen hurriedly make their way into the hotel, sarcophagus in tow; Razma Girl and Razor run to the edge of the building, and then stand there, apparently waiting for something to jump down; Hex Boy sits down, crosses his legs, closes his eyes and starts mumbling incantations. Commander Dorokov then turns to Lucky Ted, as the ever-increasing winds whip his coat around. "Get ready to leave as soon as I give the signal. They'll be forced to split between chasing the girls, dealing with whatever hocus pocus Larry is doing and chasing after you. Odds are good that you can take care of one or two." Well, he's certainly slipped back in his role as battlefield commander quickly, hasn't he. A part of you can't help but wonder, as well: could this be a ruse? A way to give you a suitcase full of nothing, and to distract you with a fake emergency to stop you from checking it? When all is said and done, do the both of you trust Commander Dorokov and the Rooftop Raiders? quote:
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Apr 10, 2017 21:21
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Freak +2 | Danger -2 | Trouble +3 | Superior -1 | Menace +1 Curses! 1/5 | Infamy: 0 | Integrity: 3 | Conditions: None | Location: Parallax Hotel Rooftop Incoming trouble. Strength knew it was the right idea to not bring his druid staff, it would've been a pain to carry around during the escape. Which is what they were doing, escaping -- at least, that was the plan the Commander was giving them; If Lucky disagreed, then the group might tumble against the approaching foes right there on the rooftop. The Commander might be yelling the loudest and quickest, but that didn't make him Strength's leader. Strength peered into mist surrounding the Parallax. Couldn't see a drat thing, they'd have been completely ambushed without Tiger's nose. he could reach out with his mind and push it aside, but that would take time and make the people on the rooftop easier to see as well. Instead, he turned to his teammate, "Hey, Haru!" He ran over to the seer, "Commander's saying to split, but I think we should try find out what's coming so we know what's chasing us, you get me? Anyways, point is, how about you do the magic Farseeing stuff and if Lucky agrees and we need to run I'll," Strength leaned down to be eye level with Haruspex, "just pick you up and carry you away. I know the whole magical stuff requires a lot of focus." "Don't worry about burdening me, I've been doing some cardio recently and," an easy smile appears on his face, "You're not that heavy, anyways."
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Apr 10, 2017 22:47
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