Iceangel

"The Sly Fox? Well, I've heard rumors that he has a swanky hat. Oh, those other rumors? A man's got to have a few vices, y'know. Billy Joel always said, 'I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints,' and I think that's TSF all over."

- Iceangel; hero, java-slinger and "unorthodox information retrieval specialist"

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I cleaned you up? Jesus, I took maybe three sentances of yours and turned it into a page long addition. 0 0

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Yesh, but yours didn't have that little "You stupid wankers" flavor to it like mine did.

You cleaned me up fairly well, Meff. I do tend to ramble a bit... *cough*

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interesting...

I think most people should know this before they come here...
<shrug>

Ah well, good post

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Oh, if only that were true, Dark, if only...

You forgot one, Meff-let.

'Do not give your character god-like abilities.' This one comes in many different flavors, from the obvious to the subtle. A character may suddenly become the avatar of Phobius, god of the sun and wielder of the Nova Flame of Super Ultra Nuclear Pwnage! Or, the character may never take a hit, or get injured, or can shrug off a hail of bullets. Granted, the former is possible, should the char have certain power sets, but I don't think a Controller could take a Mack truck to the dome piece and laugh it off.

Reality good. A certain level of fantastical thinking is necessary, but being grounded makes for a better story. *takes her soap box home for some lovin'*

Slurping ramen noodles and browsing through Gina's Heroic Costume Emporium kept Mackie busy for a bit. The place had a lot of options, most of them very flashy, but only one design had caught her eye. It was cheap, considering, and it looked as functional as one could get without resorting to a pair of overalls and a flack jacket.

Mackie had been writing down the measurements she would need to send in with her order when her email chirped at her again. She suppressed excitement - it could be that Lore chap, but it could also be some jerk who wanted to send her free pharmies from Canada. Taking a deep breath, she opened her program. No Canadian pharmies here!

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From: cultureshock@yahoo.co.uk
To: she_dreams_in_digital@coldmail.com
Subj: Re: Anyone up for a striptease?

Sounds like a challenge. Ballsy, too. Count me in on the fun. This a pay job, or something we ought to be negotiating on?

- Lore

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The Hallelujah Chorus rang through her head; she'd have her distraction! Bless the man.

From: she_dreams_in_digital@coldmail.com
To: cultureshock@yahoo.co.uk
Subj: Re: Anyone up for a striptease?
ATTACHMENT: ninja_tactics.doc

You are a saint, you know that? I got an $8G advance, and I'd be more than happy to split it with you once we get through this job.

I've attached the details and notes I got from my casual peeks at the system. Gimme your 4-11 on it, and we'll go from there.

- *the_iceangel*

Feeling very proud of herself, Mackie figured she'd let Tenebre know what was going on. Likely, in a few days, he'd be licensed and ready to fight crime with the best of them.

OOC: Random thought; are you going to submit a "tail" to the devs, TSF? You'd be a shoo-in, but that's my opinion, and I am a wacky roleplayer.

Mackie smothered a yawn with her hand as she trudged into her apartment. She dropped her keys onto the small table that housed her phone and answering machine, the latter being cheerfully devoid of any waiting messages. She flicked on a light and made a bee-line for the fridge.

She'd been on patrol - yet again - but she'd run into a wiry girl by name of Tigris. Gwen, the girl's "civvie" name, had been squaring off against a few thugs, but they were overpowering her. Mackie in all her generosity, leapt into the fray, and the two young women pummeled the Skulls into submission. Gwen would have beaten a hasty retreat, but Mackie didn't let her off so easily; the blue-haired mutant caught on quickly that Gwen was a shy thing. The cat-like girl was new to Paragon City, so Mackie learned, and was doing the college thing. No friends, no acquiantances; Mackie soon rectified that, bringing the girl to the coffee shop Mackie worked at. A few cappucinos and Rice Krispie treats later, Mackie had Gwen laughing and comfortable. Gwen even shared the website of where she had gotten her costume, and Mackie was excited to be able to get something that didn't come from a mall.

Mackie had escorted Gwen back to her dorm, then took the tram home. Now back in her apartment, she needed something to balance the sugar and caffeine in her system. The fridge yielded nothing, so she started pawing through the cupboards.

"Gee," she muttered aloud. "Ramen, ramen, or - surprise! - ramen." She shook her head, but started preparing the noodles. Waiting for her water to boil, she popped over to the nook of the living room that contained her PC and laptop. She plopped down and pulled up her email program and an internet browser, to find that website Gwen had mentioned.

"You have porn!" The program chirped. Mackie grinned; she'd changed the sound file the other day, for amusement value. A few clicks opened up the listing, and she grinned at spotting the reply to her hacker request. Finally!

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From: cultureshock@yahoo.co.uk
To: she_dreams_in_digital@coldmail.com
Subj: Re: Anyone up for a striptease?

Iceangel -

Anything for a tease. Count me in. Is this a favor favor, or something you'll want a rate quote on? PC is bloody well dead on the scene lately, regardless, so no doubt you'll get offers, but...

Give us some details, yeah?

- Lore

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"Score," she crowed. Hastily, she opened up a reply and started typing.

From: she_dreams_in_digital@coldmail.com
To: cultureshock@yahoo.co.uk
Subj: Re: Anyone up for a striptease?

Thanks for getting back to me! Here's the sitch: I need to deposit some faux registration info into the PC hero database, but their systems are tight (create your own euphemism here). What I would need is someone to create a distraction for me, a decoy if you will. I can pop in and get the info in with little effort, but those security proggies they got are downright scary.

Still wanna play the game?

- *the_iceangel*

Off went the email, and with a spring in her step, off went Mackie to drop her ramen into boiling water. She hoped this Lore fellow was up to a challenge.

OOC: GO FOX GO!! *waves a little flag* Served that jerk right. I love the story thus far, though I am totally unwilling to leave TSF alone in a room of pretty debutantes.

"Take me down to the Paragorn City, where the thugs are mean and the girls are pretty..." Mackie sang under her breath as she trudged down the street. So far she hadn't gotten anything in the way of a reply from the hackers. In her usual impatient manner, she had metaphorically tapped at the registration systems at F.C., just to see how it would react.

Ha. And she thought the Mississippi PD was scary! She had jacked out of the system as soon as she could. She would definitely need a shield. Nothing else to do regarding Tenebre's "case," she took to the streets to do her noble hero duty of patrolling.

She paused at a street corner, rooting in her pocket for a piece of bubble gum. A bright orange streak of light passed her, and she could only assume that it was yet another hero going off to fight the good fight. Where did all of these people get their costumes made up? Mackie had to make good with a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. Not that she wanted an obnoxious costume, but just something that marked her as a hero. A few times already, in the process of apprehending some Skulls, a hero would step in and sucker-punch the thugs. They usually apologized after Mackie snapped at them for taking her collar, but most of the time she was so stunned that the nameless hero would dash off. She really needed a costume!

She popped the gum into her mouth and looked up. Yards away, a few thugs were harassing a co-ed, trying to yank her purse away. This looks like a job for Iceangel! ... God, that was so lame! Mackie crumpled up the gum wrapper and stuffed it into her pocket as she hurried over to make with the rescuing. The thugs didn't seem too overpowering, so Mackie didn't bother covering herself with her icy armor. Besides, they might be runners for all she knew.

"Uh oh, looks like someone else wants to try and be a hero." One thug snidely commented, espying Mackie. Now closer, Mackie could make out the details of the thugs, and recognized the squinty pig eyes of one of them.

"HEY!" she bellowed. "You're the **** who tried to steal my laptop last week!"

Startled, the thug in question lost his grip on the purse, and the little blonde co-ed dropped to the pavement. Mackie then wasted no time in wading in, leading off with a vicious right hook.

The girl scrambled away and headed for cover as the other two thugs closed in on Mackie. They were cocky; she was just one short girl, and they had, between them, a pistol and a bat.

That all changed when an icy sword materialized in Mackie's hand. One of the thugs yelped and backpedaled away. She paid him little mind, focused more on the leader of the small group. The ice sword was swung, smashing into the leader's face, shards of ice splintering in every direction. He staggered, pulling his gun and squeezed off a shot. Mackie managed to avoid his shot, but the other thug drew and shot, the bullet catching Mackie's shoulder.

"Oww! You ***!" She slugged the leader in the face again and pivoted on her heel, ice sword leading the way. The second thug tried to scurry out of the way, but Mackie was a bit quicker. The icy thing cracked into the thug's side, shattering due to the force.

Unarmed, Mackie quickly coated her fists with ice and turned back to the leader, a quick jab to his face followed by a backhand. He staggered and shot again, which Mackie took with a hiss of pain. She put her frozen fists together and hammered them into the thug's chest. He did a little air-time before collapsing onto the pavement. She turned angry eyes onto the remaining thug.

He wisely started running.

Cursing under her breath, Mackie gave chase. She took him down a minute later, tackling the Skull into a group of rubbish bins, punching him into unconsciousness. The third, who had run away long before, was sneaking back to see what had happened. Mackie got the drop on him; a few well-placed blows had him seeing stars, too.

Grumbling, Mackie dragged the runners back to their leader, dropping them atop him. The blonde co-ed rushed forward to express her gratitude, but took off when the police drone sailed over to teleport the Skulls to the holding center.

Mackie patched herself up and took a seat on a nearby bench. Leaning back, she blew a large, pink strawberry flavored bubble and let it pop. "Stupid thugs..."

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OCC: Thanks Mackie! It's nice to finally get some feedback. I was begining to wonder if my story wasn't original enough!

I have to say that the crowning moment of this game for me was stubbling upon a character that I LOVED. Loved being, loved playing, and loved creating. I'm a thespian IRL, and the thrill of roleplaying is more near and dear to me than anything else about this game.

I think I'll play for a little bit tonight, and then attempt to write the next chaper tomorrow. Hope to see you in Paragon!

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OOC: So not the case! I think the playerbase is too shy to really critique anything, and honestly I can't see anything wrong with what you've written so far. I'm actually a bit jealous, as my char's origin is nowhere near as detailed and precise.

Fox makes me think of the Cary Elwes Robin Hood; brave, witty and just a bit brash. He's got that chutzpah that likely will see him through a lot of close scrapes. Besides that, the "What Villains Think..." is hilarious. By far my favorite is Baby Genius's comment.

Trounce a thug for me! My retail hasn't come in yet. *sigh*

OOC: I love Fox's story so far, if anything for the humor and nature of the character. I've seen so many heroes have either the Noble Good-guy mentality, or the Dark Cynic one. Fox is delightfully neither. I'm looking forward to seeing how he gets away from The Wrangler and becomes a hero!

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Taking advantage of people? THEY WERE FIGHTING EVIL. Lives were at stake. We should WELCOME assistance from ANYONE. The more fighting, the faster the fight, the fewer innocents are gonna wind up injured or dead.

A HERO puts the safety of the citizens of his city before his own pride and need for personal glory.

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Color me possessive, but when I'm trouncing a thuglet, that bastich is mine until I KO him and let the fuzz cart him off. I get pretty riled when some smart-aleck thinks *I* need help and does the KO'ing for me. Maybe it's that I look like a civvie, or because I'm short, but I can handle myself just fine, and I get pretty pissed when someone jumps in when I obviously have the situation under hand.

The KoP obviously had the control; it's not their fault some uppity Statesman-wannabe punks decided to take the easy way into getting a rep. 'Cuz that's what it looks like to me; KoP had the Kraken, and these other guys wanted the glory the KoP were working for. Sure, lots of heroes get the job done quicker, but not everyone is as nobly-inclined as you, Raven. They may have wanted to help, but Gamb said the chappies ignored the "Hey, we got it!" calls. That smacks of greediness to me, and last I checked, avarice was a sin.

The low-down is thus - in Gamble's place, I woulda done the same thing. Why? 'Cuz it's just not polite to jones in on someone else's fight. Unless the KoP wanted the help, the other group shouldn't have tried to capitalize on the situation. It's not glory-hounding, it's simple semantics.

Oh, and those other heroes didn't buy the farm. If they were good boys and girls, they got their medi-patches, and got whisked away to the local medical center. So don't make it sound like Gamble went and turned a simple rout into a slaughter; those other chappies survived. Maybe now, they'll understand not to take advantage of other people.

Props, Gamble.

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OOC: Since I can't see the thread in the old forum anymore, I'm not -totally- sure what happened in the last story, so I hope I'm not stepping on any toes jumping in like this.

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OOC: No worries! I had a whole bunch of people jump onto the thread last time; I think your off-shoot should prove very inneresting.

"Character." That's the only thing I see wrong with that site! *goes to register*

Sequel to the thread from the original boards entitled "Don't Quit Your Day Job".



undrgrndidol23: so r u gonna do the job?
2fargone2care: I said I was. He gave me 8 grand!! WTH am I supposed to do with that?
undrgrndidol23: lol, buy me new cds
2fargone2care: Schmuck. I don't love you *that* much...
undrgrndidol23: had 2 try neway. give place a try, u r SMRT, I think u can mange a simple job like that
2fargone2care: I suppose. I'd better go get started then. XOXO to mom and dad for me
undrgrndidol23: kk, ttyl sis. GL!!!!

Mackie clicked her instant messenger program off and rolled away from her computer desk. Frank was right; she had the skills to at least survey the place before trying to bust it open in a digital manner. Tenebre was depending on her, too, so she couldn't just flake off now.

With a sigh, she stood up and stalked over to the hero registration papers on her fridge, Harry Potter magnet mocking her the whole time. No better place to start than Freedom Corps.

---

In retrospect, wearing the 'Hi! I'm cute and harmless!' attire was giving her more problems than her usual attire would. Not that they suspected anything, it's just that both the registrar and that Prince fellow in charge of the mutant department looked at her like she was a fluffy kitten that wandered into the wrong room. The registrar guy had even tried suggesting alternatives to heroing! Social services my lily white butt. Sure, she was pretty crappy a hero for the moment, but she'd get better, right?

Waiting for processing, and waiting for the Prince to stop getting oogled by mutant women in clothing that was better suited to a Def Leppard video than crime-fighting, gave Mackie the opportunity to check out the hardware around Freedom Corps. The OSes looked easy enough, it was finding out the IPs and the firewalls that might be the problem. Nothing she couldn't crack, she was sure of. However, it might take her longer than she'd get; certainly, the Corps likely had a great security system. To get anywhere, she'd need some kind of distraction to act as a shield.

She was admiring her new hero ID; the picture was actually not too bad, for once; while she pondered her options. She could concoct a diversionary program, but that would take too long. She could drop a bomb or two on their mainframe, but that might do more than she needed. Shaking her head, she came to the conclusion that not only did she need a distraction, she'd need help.

---

FROM: she_dreams_in_digital@coldmail.com
TO: therebellion_group@csi.hedgewood.net
SUBJ: Anyone up for a striptease?

Hey fellas; I know, it's been awhile, but I need a favor. I have a car that needs a B&E job, but the fuzz have shields the size of Texas. I think I'll be needing a striptease for this one. Any takers? This won't be easy; newest model, P.C. Elite, top-notch alarm system. I need to get an envelope into the glovebox.

Serious takers only!

- *the_iceangel*

A click sent the email along. She wasn't sure if her former hacker buddies remembered her. It had been some time since she last struck the digital world with a metaphorical crow bar. They were, though, some of the few people she could trust on this thing. If there was anyone good enough to help her crack this nut, they'd be in that group.

Proactiveness! It makes me feel warm and fuzzy (not to mention lazy... ). I'm willing to lend a hand with anything RP-board related if it's needed; I need something to do until my retail copy arrives anyway. Hit me up if you need graphics or anything.

Kay and Maria Killian were recruited during the late 1970s by the independant reseach firm known as ImageCorp Industries. Amongst its many shareholdings, ImageCorp had several subsidary plants that dealt with frozen gases and their containment units. The company was in the process of developing ways in which to perfect the process of freezing gases, such as nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide, and as such began experiments with different types of radiation. Kay was a systems engineer, and Maria a radiologist. Both helped with these experiments, often exposed to the aftereffects of their research.

An accident at the plant they were working at shut the project down, and all of ImageCorp's employees who worked on the project were given intensive clinical studies, to determine whether or not the work effected them. Given a clean bill of health, the Killians relocated to a small town outside of Biloxi, Mississippi from North Carolina to continue their work with another branch of the company.

When Mackenzie was born, they discovered that they had had been effected by their work. The doctors were puzzled about the infant's low core body temperature, yet that she was healthy in every other way. After being kept in the hospital for a few weeks for tests, the doctors let the Killians take their daughter home. As she grew older, the only other problems the little girl had was that she would get heatstroke easily if she played too long outside without a rest. They took steps to prevent this, especially seeing as the Mississippi climate was rather brutal on her, and Mackie had a relatively normal childhood.

When she was 5, her baby brother Frank was born. He seemed a normal child, and the Killians were overjoyed that he had been spared the same sheltered life as Mackie. The siblings were rather close as children, always playing together and raising hell as only siblings could. Mackie's inability to cope with warm weather continued to worsen, and it soon became apparent to the Killian family that their daughter was not human. A trusted family doctor put Mackie through several tests, only to deduce that the radiation exposure her parents had experienced somehow mutated Mackie's genetics. Mutants were public knowledge, but rare, and afraid of their small community's reactions to the findings, the Killians kept Mackie's mutation secret.

Mackie was in high school when she discovered there were other facets of her mutation, namely the ability to create ice with an exertion of will. Excited by the discovery, she immediately told her parents, who were not nearly as excited at the news as Mackie was. Concerned for her future, her parents warned her against her powers, and tried their best to convince Mackie not to use them. She acquiesced, simply to not worry her parents, but continued to practice her new-found ability in private. In order to keep the ruse up, she took to computers and found she had a knack with programming. A broken leg during the summer between her junior and senior years kept her indoors for a few weeks, and in her boredom, Mackie discovered she had an aptitude for something else: computer hacking. She started out small, hacking into her friends' websites and leaving humorous messages, but eventually she expanded her range of expertise. It was always something of a game to her, but after a skin-of-her-teeth escape from local police, she decided that hacking was not something she wanted to get caught for.

Mackie graduated from high school -- sporting blue hair at graduation, which annoyed her teachers to no end -- and started college in the University of Southern Mississippi, majoring in computer science. She didn't take to the rigors of college life very well, being far too independent and mouthy to make passing grades. She didn't like it when professors talked down to her, and she didn't like her classmates much, either. But she tried as best she could, to not disappoint her parents. Too many failing grades saw her on academic probation, and although one of her professors tried to get Mackie to fall in and start doing better, she was expelled from the USM. Not daunted by the expulsion, Mackie decided it was time for her to experience "real life."

She started working to save up money while she worked on her vision: moving to Paragon City. Where else should a mutant like her go? Instead of working 9 to 5 in some boring computer tech job, she could use her unorthodox abilities to actually help people. She let her brother Frank in on the plan, and he gave as much support as he could, which was mostly moral. A year passed, and finally Mackie had the means and finances to relocate herself. She packed up what little she had -- mostly computer equipment, a futon, and her clothing -- and headed towards Paragon City. She decided on the moniker Iceangel, a name her brother had given her several years ago as a joke, and a name she had been using in various hacker circles. She knew it was silly, but if she was going to be a hero, she'd need a name for herself.

While on the thought of the unofficial RP server (hey Tenebre!), it occurred to me that we don't really have a comprehensive listing of the various RP super groups on the server. Is there a possibility in the future of some kind of listing, so we solo heroes can check out the groups to see who to go for?