II. The New World
10 years after the Battle of Paragon City...
Formerly Boston, MA
A Council Tank rumbled slowly down the street, propaganda blaring out of the loudspeakers.
"Honorable Heroes, The Council is your friend. Come peacefully and you will have a place in the ranks of our mighty army. You will be given food, shelter, clothing, and the dignity you once had. We are not your enemy, we defeated the Freakshow, Crey, the Sky Raiders, the Circle of Thorns, and all the other villians that took the lives of so many of your friends and family. The enemy is those so-called heroes who would have you fight a hopeless battle against those who want to create a single, unified world. One without crime, without prejudice.
Those who oppose The Center and his legions of soldiers are doomed. The Council defeated the meta-humans when they were at their strongest in The Battle for Paragon so long ago. We are only stronger and larger now. The meta-humans are only weaker and fewer now. The only meta-humans that are heroes are The Council Elite Soldiers. Any criminals with meta-human powers are sentenced to death.
The message repeated as the tank slowly rolled down the dark street. Sounds of gunfire could be heard in the distance occasionaly and flashes could be seen from battles between the heroes and The Council in the night sky. The city was ravaged from the day that The Center captured nuclear missiles (That day was called "The Cleansing" and was declared a world holiday by The Center).
On the roofs of several broken homes several heroes waited to ambush the tank. It wasnt so much for tactical gain of ground as morale for the underground resistance of heroes that survived or emerged after the cleansing.
Flurry, the team leader clicked on his communicater, "Target in sight. Is everyone in position?"
Earthquake replied with his gravelly voice, "I am ready master."
Earthquake was an ancient golem that, fortunately, was found by the right people. He was awakened and when he asked for his orders they said "Help us defeat the Council" and fought them as passionately as any hero could.
"Hitman for Hire, Lady Mindstrike are you ready?"
"I would be if I didnt have to stop to answer you." Hitman radioed in.
He was a [censored] but a good shot, priceless in a fire fight.
Lady mindstrike just sent a mental message "ready!" in her usual chipper tone.
"Base, this is Team 27 leader in position for ambush on propaganda tank, requesting permission to engage."
"Team 27, this is Base, you are cleared hot. Engage at will."
"Honorable Heroes, The Council is your frie-"
The speakers were blown away by the grenade blast. Flurry raced to the tank at incredible speeds as Earthquake ripped the tread right off the track and proceeded to pulverize the thick armor. Lady Mindstrike sent a mental blast to the men in the tank. They all were screaming and grabbing their heads but one was able to send out The Council's newest distress signal. An antennae raised on top of the tank.
"Earthquake, get this door open!"
"Yes master." the golem said with all the emotion of a rock as he ripped the door in the back of the tank off its hinges, revealing all the screaming Council tankers.
Flurry rushed in and beat them all to a bloody pulp in a matter of seconds. They were dragged out, and handcuffed for interegation later. Hitman placed an incindiery device in the tank and they watched it erupt into flames.
"Base this is Team leader Flurry, mission accomplished. Zero casualties."
"Good work Flurry, how does some R&R sound back at base? A 48 hour chit and a movie for you and your team when you get back."
Pleasures in life were few for heroes, but what little they had was cause for much excitement.
"Sounds great base!"
"I get to pick the movie this time!" Lady Mindstrike said.
"No way!" said Hitman, "You always pick some chick-flick, remember Titanic?"
"That was a good movie, and I read your mind, you were trying not to cry!" She said then stuck her tongue out at him.
"I did not cr-"
"SHUT UP!" Flurry hissed.
"Listen."
They listened for a few seconds but heard nothing but the dull roar of the fire.
"I didnt hear anything." Hitman said.
Then they all heard it, a clanking sound like metal hitting the ground.
"Warcries?" Lady Mindstrike asked.
"No, its different." Flurry said.
They heard a growl come from another direction.
"Base, this is Team leader Flurry requesting assistance immediately!"
"Roger that, a team will be assembled and en route in 15 minutes."
"We dont have that kind of time base!" he whispered into the microphone. "Get ready for an ambush." Flurry said, the rare look of fear on his face.
-FILE ACCESS_TEAM27_FINAL_TRANSMISSIONS-
Hitman for Hire "Oh my god, what are they?"
Base Commander "What is it? What do you see?"
Flurry "OPEN FIRE!"
<sounds of gunfire, stone melee strikes, mental blasts>
Base Commander "Team 27 report damnit!"
Lady Mindstrike "I cant stop them! Flurry lookout!"
<sounds of screams, gunfire>
Hitman for Hire "He's dead! He's dead! RUN!"
Base Commander "Team 27 retreat, I ORDER you to retreat!"
<sounds of gunfire, heavy breathing, running, growling>
Lady Mindstrike "Where is Earthquake!?"
Hitman for Hire "I dont know, dont stop running! NO! Sarah! He's gone, RUN!.... NO!"
<sounds of gunfire, screams, growling>
Base Commander "Jesus... somebody tell me whats going on!"
<sounds of gunfire, growling>
Hitman for Hire "AAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
Base Commander "Team 27 retreat to a safe location and report in"
Base Commander "Does anyone read me? Team 27? Jesus..."
TRANSMISSION_END
Michael walked up to the entrance of the bar. He was about to enter when someone got kicked out on their rear.
"We dont want no damn trolls in our bar!" an overweight balding man said, shaking his fist in the air.
"Im not a troll! I didnt even do anything!" Xyfen said.
"Get outta town freak!" The man replied.
"Hey" Michael said, "Who the hell are you to call a freak when you look like a sweaty bag of hamburger meat."
Gaaah! Great insult Michael! He thought to himself.
The man snickered a little and looked at Michael. He was about 25 years old, 7'0 and 390 lbs. Normally quite intimidating but from the man's dilated eyes he was high on Superadyne and had a great boost in strength and energy.
He swung at Michael and connected with his face. Michael's face was pushed to the side but he turned back to look at the bartender smiling. Michael returned the favor and the man fell over unconscious.
He turned to the troll, extending his hand "Hi, I am Michael, whats your name?"
"Sam, and Im not a troll." He said getting up on his own, "And I coulda took him."
Sam was a healthy male, and wore a green shirt with camoflouged pants. He wore some goggles and gloves that matched the rest of his outfit.
"Oh" Michael said, "I was just trying to help."
"Ok, where are you headed?"
"I dont know, I'm just going through town, I am on my way to Baltimore. Looking for some friends there."
"Well, I dont really have anywhere to go, you mind some company?" Sam said.
Michael really didnt need anyone finding out just where he was going but he figured he could use someone to talk to and would ditch his company before he got to baltimore.
"OK" Michael said smiling, "You know how far Baltimore is?"
"No"
"Which road should we follow to get there?"
"I dunno. You dont know?"
Michael groaned "AAAAAWWW! No, I dont. I was kinda just going in the general direction."
"Sounds good to me" Sam said.
Just then more goons burst out and saw the unconscious Bartender. "Hey! Get that guy and that troll!"
"Oh Crap" Michael said.
"IM NOT A TROLL!" Sam yelled.
They both took off running, quickly ditching the goons. Now heading in the general direction towards Baltimore.
They were walking through the little town minding their own business when some of the local gang came out from their hiding place.
"Well, well, well, look what we have here. A toughguy and a troll."
"I am not a troll." Sam said through his teeth.
"Shut up freak!" said another as they circled them.
There was six of them against the two.
"You better have more than that to take me on" Michael said.
"I think you need more of you to take us on." said the leader.
With that they encased their fists with ice and launched an attack. Michael smashed one in the face as he tried to jump at him. This gave another the opportunity to jump on his back and start choking him. An arc of electicity jumped from Sam's hand to a gang member's body, causing him to shake violently and drop to the ground.
"Too bad water conducts electricity, frozen or not." Sam said.
Michael flipped the gangster over his shoulder, causing the gangster to hit the ground with a loud crunch. Sam held some of the others with his electrical blasts. This allowed Michael to beat mercilessly on the convulsing badguys. All that was left was the leader.
"You wont get away with this!"
His skin turned blue and a layer of ice covered his entire body.
"Noone can stop Ice Hammer!"
Michael gave him a spinning kick to the chest, causing a slight spider web crack followed immediately by Sam electricuting him with a loud cracking, pop. Ice Hammer punched Michael in the chest sending him back a few yards.
"OOF!" He grunted with the impact.
Michael got up immediately and charged Ice Hammer. He picked him up and ran with him in his arms until slamming him against the back of a car. Chips of ice flew everywhere and some of the armor was gone, Ice Hammer slumped to the ground and felt wet.
Getting back to his feet he screamed "Thats it! Im not playing with you two any more!"
He formed a hammer of ice in his hands with dangerously sharp icicles on the end. Sam noticed some gas leaking from the car and that Ice hammer was standing in a puddle of it.
"Mike get back!"
Michael saw the puddle and immediately jumped back.
"Oh Crap!" said Ice Hammer as Sam sent an arc of elctricity to the puddle.
He immediately burst into flames and the intense heat caused both to put their arms up and look away. Ice Hammer ran off into an alley screaming, rounding a corner and out of eye sight.
"Cool." Sam said, "Pun intended."
Michael laughed but stopped abruptly, "Wait you are a hero arent you?"
"Yeah, well... you are too! Like anyone could throw somebody into a car and cause that much damage." Sam said referring to the crushed up trunk of the car.
"Ok, got me. Well, you might as well know my hero name, its 2020 Vision, what's yours?" Michael said.
"I am Xyfen. Nice to meet you... again."
"Nice to meet you too." Michael said smiling.
"Well lets get out of here before we get more attention." Sam said.
Michael nodded and they started again for the general direction of Baltimore.
((That one took a while, hope you like it. I have tomorrow off so I will be able to write another chapter hopefully. I am having alot of fun writing this. Please post comments about it. I am a little nervous that I may not be doing a good job with people's characters. I am trying to stay close to them but some of you have characters so deep (Steele Magnolia) I really have to study them.))
Looking great so far. Yay apocalypic near future! ;-)
Captain Neem, the greatly esteemed...!
I love it. Young Michael (2020 Vision) has grown up... going to bars, picking up strange heroes, thwarting the Council.
Waiting with baited breath for the next piece!
Together we entered a city of strangers, we made it a city of friends, and we leave it a City of Heroes. - Sweet_Sarah
BOYCOTT NCSoft (on Facebook)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/517513781597443/
Governments have fallen to the power of social media. Gaming companies can too.
so far so great. 
-=Crey Threat Profile=- : : THE CHALLENGERS on Virtueverse
Shoot for miracles - the VALVe email campaign
((Thanks for the compliments everyone, here is chapter 3. I think its time to introduce some villians))
III. Shadow of a Demon
New Council City (formerly Washington D.C.)
The bus came to a stop next to a woman in a sharp council uniform with polished boots and slicked back hair. The new batch of citizens had just arrived from the education camps. They filed out of the bus and waited for their next orders from her.
"Welcome to New Council City, the greatest city in the world. Here you will find the best jobs and living conditions, the least crime, and no terrorist organizations of meta-humans. The only metas here are with the Council, protecting you.
If you will step this way I will scan you and tell you what jobs you will have."
They immediately got in line and one by one she scanned the bar codes on the backs of their necks to get their information.
"Next." She said as one man walked up to her. She scanned him and looked at him with a suspicious face, "James Keenan."
"Yes" He replied with monotone.
"It says here you were in the education camps for 10 years, you resisted The Council's wisdom for quite some time. We wont have any problems will we?"
"No." He replied.
"Very well, it says here you are to be a garbage pick up man for the Capitol building. Congratulations on your new found citizenship. This is your apartment, your housing is in door 4C." she said gesturing to the building behind her."
James walked up to his apartment, as he touched the doorknob he felt the lock click open. He walked inside and shut the door behind him. Looking around he could see he was to be a second class citizen, small apartment, little furniture. Everyone who went to the education camps was. First class citizens were those who had come to New Council City willingly looking for a better life swearing allegience to the Council.
He walked into the bathroom and stared at the mirror for a moment. Then he reared up and smashed it to pieces with his fist.
Council Headquarters, New Council City
Sonic Boom was banging his head to heavy metal in his room when the call came.
"Sonic.... Sonic! SONIC!"
"Huh? what do you want?"
"Turn that... music off and come to the briefing room."
"Fine, I'm coming"
Sonic Boom loved noise, the louder the better. He had implants in his head that constantly played heavy metal music. After the war he had come to the Council with a prototype armor he had modified from some Council weapons he had found. It wasnt much then, but with the help of some scientists his initiative was turned into an armor which when worn would allow someone to control sound waves into destructive force. It was grey with black stripes and looked very sleek. There was a seam in the form of a circle on his chest which could create noise at decibal levels so high they would cause normal humans death if nearby. He also had to similiar, yet smaller circles on the palms of his hands so he could direct the blasts of noise. Sonic Boom had long since lost his natural hearing to his own lust for noise, but Council scientists were able to create synthetic ears for him, which didnt get damaged as easily and remained sensitive to even the slightest noise. Other than that he had normal features. He had blue eyes and short blonde hair.
"He is coming" Metal Tooth said.
Metal Tooth was a Warwolf with cybernetic implants that looked like they came off of a Warcry. In his wolf form he had jet black fur and piercing yellow eyes. His mouth was completely mechanical and quite powerful looking as it had hydrolics to snap its deadly metal teeth shut. He was in human form now though and had black long hair with those same yellow eyes. When in human form the mechanical parts looked too large for him and were quite disturbing in appearance.
"I swear I am going to kill that boy if he does not turn that noise off." Black Sky said. Black Sky was a vampire from the victorian days, and held much contempt for humanity. She saw this as an opportunity to eradicate as many humans as she could. That and she feared The Center, she had been near his presence once. Not even in the same room and she could feel his power. It felt like he was always watching her, no matter where she was. She wore tight black leather pants a black metal bustier, and a long black leather trenchcoat. She also had mechanical claws on her wrists she made in the 1800's which were quite interesting looking, since they were from the steam era and quite ornate in appearance.
Then there was The Captain, he appeared completely normal. He always wore a sharp Council Uniform, dark grey and black, with sharp creases and very short hair. He rarely spoke and only a few people knew his name. None of them were in this room which made for quite a mysterious man. It was rumored that he had cheated death when in battle with a group of heroes on Striga Isle. No one knew for sure though.
Sonic Boom walked in. "Whats going on?"
The Captain turned on the recorded image of Requiem.
"As you know there are pockets of resistance all over the world. It has recently come to The Center's attention that they are trying to unify and create an army of metas again. In The Council's back yard even, They are believed to be in the Baltimore area. If they are able to unify the war could last twenty more years, if we crush this new "Circle of Resistance" now we will have total victory in less than two years. The leaders of the resistance, Steele Magnolia and Captain Neem, are key players in this defiance against the empire. They have been placed on the Council's "Most Wanted Terrorists" list along with the rest of their Circle. The Center, in his wisdom, has not only sent some of the newer experiments (Which have had VERY succesfull field tests) to the last known location of the Circle, but has advised me to tell you to personally supervise the dispatching of these terrorists. You know the rewards of success, you know the cost of failure. That is all."
So, Helen, you survived the Battle of Paragon, I knew you would. I will personally watch as your spirit breaks before me.
"Sonic Boom, can you handle these pests?" The Captain said.
Sonic Boom was banging his head to the heavy metal playing only in his head.
"SONIC!" The Captain yelled with such authority that Sonic snapped his head to him, now waiting for reprimand with anxiety.
"Go, hunt down Steele Magnolia, Captain Neem, and the resistance group known as the Circle. Report back to me when you have accomplished this."
"Yes sir!" Sonic Boom said, and with that he left the conference room.
----
Somewhere near Baltimore
Steele Magnolia was working on some armor for the other members.
Steele Magnolia was 5'7, had almost shoulder length brown hair that partially hid her face. She looked good for her age, if not for the stress.
Since they had found Acier and Techsupport the work load had become alot easier. It didnt stop her from working feverishly to stop the Council, they had taken so much from her. When she thought she heard something. She spun around in surprise.
"W-Who's that?"
No answer. She immediately felt dumb for saying that out loud, and chalked it up to lack of sleep and it being so late at night. Then she heard a familiar voice.
Dr. Helen Markov.... I have found you
She froze in place, tears welling up in her eyes. The hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up. His image flashed in front of her eyes from that night. The lightning flashing behind him like he was the devil himself.
She shook her head and dismissed the thought as lack of sleep and bad memories. She continued her work on the armor. She had designed much of the base with the help of some of the other heroes and it was quite impressive. There were conference rooms and training areas that rivaled the Council's. All this too, with only the ingenuity of the heroes. Many buildings were scavenged for this base and it had paid off. Each heroe had their own room. There was even an entertainment area with a lounge and bar! Not to mention a large kitchen with alot of food for those heroes who seemed to eat endlessly.
She found some relief in admiring her accomplishments. It was late she could go to bed now. In her room she looked at a picture of her loved ones from the past. She sat down on her bed as she remembered that day she lost everything.
---
The giant metal behemoth once more let his gun whir to life with a ground shaking force. The gun lit up the ground before him, destroying a large group of heroes. As it walked towards the battle buildings crumbled to the ground in giant plumes of smoke while it walked in a straight line.
Steele Magnolia had heard the call to arms and was leaping towards the battle. When she arrived she gasped as she saw the lumbering giant. Then what she saw next made her gasp again.
It was hard to see at first because there was a circle of Council around an area. Then she saw Requiem stand up covered in blood. With a demonic battlecry he held up the mask of Statesman. He was defeated and carried off by some minions. The heroes were losing quickly. The metal beast turned and aimed its massive gun arm at her. The booming whir struck such fear into her she couldnt move. Steele Magnolia looked down the barrel as a red glow started from deep inside it. As the giant beam streaked toward her she was pulled out of the way. The beam crashed into a building, punching a hole right through it causing it to collapse in a giant cloud of dust and debris.
"David!" she said as she hugged him. "Statesman... They-"
"I know, I know, listen. If anyone can figure ou how to stop that thing its you. How do we stop it?"
She watched it for a moment waiting for its weakness. Then she saw it, some ventilation leading to the engine of the war machine.
"There! Something that big has to be powered by a nuclear generator, if someone went into those vents and overloaded the core it would melt down. But they wouldnt survive the melt down."
David looked at the beast for a moment, it was charging up its gun arm again aiming for more heroes.
"I love you Helen. I will always be with you." David said and he took off after the vents.
She screamed, begged, and cried for him to come back but he wasnt going to listen to her.
He entered the ventilation system and went down to the core. A few minutes later the Council's war machine started glowing red at its chest from the heat. When the reactor finally overloaded the machine exploded into two haves crashing to the earth seemingly in slow motion. The overloaded core melted through the earth all the way to the crust, cracking the earth for miles around Paragon city.
It wasnt over for poor Helen though. When she saw the streaks in the sky she knew what the Council had done.
"You sick [censored]!" She cried.
After the blast she came out to find her friends, anyone who survived the horror. She went to her home, Whitmoore apartments, only to find the burning skeleton of a building. She had made so many friends there. There were others looking for their loved ones as well. She screamed out for her son but he was nowhere to be found. She did however find Tick-Tok carrying a flag looking around in shock for someone to help him.
"Tick-Tok!" She yelled and ran up to him, kneeling down.
"You have the flag?"
"I have to keep it safe" was all he could manage to say.
Helen put the picture back down. She got under her covers. Then she cried herself to sleep.
----
Listening to the latest heavy metal song, Sonic Boom was approaching Baltimore. He saw a man walking down the street picking up cans so he could get some mony for them.
"YOU!" Sonic shouted.
The man froze with fear looking up at the 6 foot tall man in strange armor. "yes sir?" he said with fear running rampant through him.
"Where is the Circle?" growled Sonic.
"What? I dont know what you are talking about."
"You know the price for aiding terrorists is death dont you?"
"Yes sir"
"THEN TELL ME WHERE YOU HAVE SEEN METAS GO!"
The man pointed in the direction he had usually seen meta-humans go.
"The Council thanks you." Sonic Boom sneered as he lifted his palm to the man's head.
"But I told you what you want to know!"
"Yes. You did."
The sound was focused in one direction so know sound was heard by anyone except Sonic Boom who loved it, and the man who collapsed to the ground with a cracked skull and bleeding ears.
((Wow, that took alot darker turn than I thought it would. Without telling you too much, the next chapter will be lighter. I thought I would even use whitmoore apartments since its such a popular thread it has become a location in Paragon City, and therefore deserves mention in a story about heroes in Paragon City. Dont worry Acier and Techsupport, you will get more than mentions in this story. Everyone will have interesting roles. I promise 
))
Actually, I didn't think this last Chapter was that dark at all. But then again, everyone's definition of "dark" is different, and I'm used to much, MUCH darker material than most
Anyway, you're doing a fine job, Blood_Wolffe. Just one thing, though: You should be more DESCRIPTIVE!
This last Chapter was MUCH better than the first two in this respect; you gave a brief history for each Villain, as well as (for the most part) giving a description on how each Villain looked.
Now, I KNOW all of the Heroes you're using are "borrowed" from other Posters, so their personality and descriptions are well-known, but it would still be nice if you gave a brief description of each Hero as they're introduced; that way, you let the reader know what each Hero looks like in case they've never heard of the character.
Following descriptions of characters, you should also give more description of the setting. You don't need to go into INCREDIBLE, unecessary detail (ex. "New Council City had 15 restaurants, 7 fire hydrants, and in the window of 'Great Council Silverware!' you'll find..."), but just a brief overview of where these characters are (similiar to how you described the "Hero Base" towards the end of this latest Chapter) would help us, as readers, to "see" this world the way YOU want us to see it
All in all, you're doing a very good job, and I look forward to reading more of this fanfic
Supplemental Galactic Protectorate Fanfic
Things are looking very interesting to say the least.
By the way, if any of the people in the more 'established' threads can help me... I'd like to go start in Whitmoore, but I feel a little overwhelmed at the immensity. Any PM-ed tips would be welcome.
Back on topic... Keep it up. I love Dystopian stories 
Got a few of my own lying around somewhere...
TechDefender Rad/Ele Defender
D'20 Gladiator DM/SR Scrapper
Cyclonite Cat Fire/Fire Blaster
[url="http://www.dutchfurs.com/~taross/w/screenshots/Ferretgal/Ferretgal.jpg"]Ferretgal Claw/Inv Scrapper[/url](Virtue)
@Cyclonite Cat
(Names changed at GM 'request')
Dont worry unkown, more details will be revealed. As well as better descriptions for heroes and environments as they appear in the next few chapters, I saw a necessity for it in the 2nd chapter. To give you all an idea of how long this story is going to be, my character, Blood Wolffe will not be in it for another 5 or so chapters at least.... at the halfway point of the story. It might even be longer since the flow is getting progressively more descriptive.
It's a great read for lunch. I can't wait for the next instalment!
((Mostly an introduction chapter, the next one will be alot of action.))
IV. The Alliances of strangers
"Are you sure we are heading the right way?"
"NO! Im not sure. I never said I was! I said I was going the way I thought Baltimore was, YOU are just tagging along anyways Sam!" Michael yelled.
"It's not my fault we are lost! You said we shouldnt take the highway. 'It's too dangerous' you said! 'I know a shortcut' you said! Tell me, how the HELL do you know a shortcut to get to a place you dont know the location of!? Now we are stuck going through this crappy little town. Who knows what will happen next. I wouldnt be surprised if we are in Nebraska by now!"
The long day of walking, no town in sight, had worn them. Each hero at their wick's end. They were tired from walking all day. No vehicles passed by, and when they found one of the many abandoned ones that littered the country for quite a ghost like atmosphere they never started. They were dirty, hungry, cold, and tired. It was also getting dark, and looked like it might rain.
"I am about to choke the green out of yo-." Michael growled.
"Wait... What's that?" Sam said pointing down the road.
"It looks like... lights. We hit a town! Finally!"
Their hearts soared as they approached. It was an old-fashioned Inn that smelled of heavenly grease, and had faded red paint chipping off the sides.
"Hair of the Dog?..." Michael said.
"Sounds cozy. Shall we?" Sam asked.
"We shall."
The Inn was very old fashioned to say the least. Probably ripped out of medievel times were it not for the technology inside. There, one could buy a bed for the night. Get some food to eat, or drink themselves stupid. Inns like these became a necessity after the war, since most cars made before the cleansing didnt work afterwards from all the EMP's. Travelling on foot became quite common. Those who could make vehicles were in high demand and often went to the Council cities.
Unlike the bar in the last town noone really seemed to notice them. The Inn was in between towns and they were all just passing through.
"What'll it be?" The bartender asked the two strangers.
"Two stiff drinks and two beds for the night." Michael said.
"I can do the drinks, but all we got left is a room with one bed."
Michael and Sam looked at each other for a moment, wide-eyed.
----
Two Council soldiers apparently were terrifying a man in the muddy parking lot of an old gas station. Eternal Twilight stealthily darted from shadow to shadow, coming closer and closer to the two thugs.
No honor, it truly is disguisting.
"What do we have here? Are you a protestor?" A Council soldier said.
"Look man, I dont want any trouble."
Eternal Twilight was waiting in the shadows about to strike. Just a few more seconds... perfect!
"Call me man!? I will teach you, you [censored]"
As he raised his gun to butt stroke the man he dropped it and grabbed his head screaming. The other council soldier turned to his friend. Eternal Twilight ran out screaming. The Council soldier went to fire but the gun was jammed, banging on it in a panic didnt help. Eternal Twilight cracked him across the jaw with an elbow smash that knocked teeth out, sending the man to the ground unconscious and bleeding.
"Thanks man." The other man said.
"Yeah, no problem, but what happened to the other guy?"
"I kinda messed with his head. I'm Hippie Mage, nice to meet you."
"Dont you know how dangerous it is too reveal you are a hero?" He sighed, "I'm Eternal Twilight."
"Far out. So what are you doin' in this part of town?"
"You really are a hippie arent you? Just great."
Eternal Twilight had a particular dislike for hippies. Being in the Marine Corps will breed that. Especially when one is a Recon Marine. He was 25 years old and stood 6' tall with a good size build on him. He wore silver wrap-around sunglasses and had a metal chest plate that looked quite armored. On the chest plate was a red jewel, the size of a fist.
Hippie Mage on the other hand was about 37, standing 5'6 with green hair and beard with yellow skin. He wore psychadellic patterns on his clothes.
"So what are you doing out here again?" The hippie said.
"I am going to Baltimore."
"FAR OUT! Thats where I am going. Its like, destiny or something."
"No, its not destiny, its coincidence. I rarely work with anyone, and definitely not with hippies. So you can just go your way and I will go mine."
"Jeesh, you need to calm down. Fine I will go my seperate way."
Eternal Twilight sighed with relief and started walking down the road with Hippie Mage right behind him.
"You know whats funny?" Hippie Mage said.
"GAH! Why are you following me!? I told you I work alone, SOLO LOBO, and all that stuff! Now go your own way!"
"I am goin' on a seperate path man, it just happens to be right next to yours so I figured we might as well talk to each other from our paths. Its like, we're path neighbors or something, huh huh huh."
"THATS!... WHAT!?.... PATH NEIGHBORS!?... AAAAAAGH!" was all Eternal Twilight could spit out.
"You know I was in the marines? Yeah! I was sent by the government to KILL people. I work for the government!" Eternal Twilight said, trying to get Hippie Mage to hate him.
"You know what's wrong with the government man?"
2 hours later...
"Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP! All you talked about for two hours was how when you were in seattle you had an awesome apartment, doobies, and a monkey who I hope is a pet."
"Heh heh heh, monkeys. What do you think about time travel?"
"This is going to be a long trip." Eternal muttered to himself.
----
Captain Neem leaned back in his chair staring at the computer screen. He had dossiers on many heroes, his cooperation with the police when they werent Council had gotten him some connections. He looked over the files, most had died in the war, or after. Some had even joined the Council either out of fear, or lust for power. He had found a few heroes this way though. Tracking them down before the Council could get to them. By now most of the files were closed, alot of heroes had chosen their paths already, which ever way they led. Then he came across a particular file, one he knew.
"NO! I am not going there. I am not seeing him." He said as he deleted the file.
"Who arent you seeing?" The Core Being asked.
The Core Being was an odd one. It was like she was seeing everything for the first time, and she didnt quite understand human emotion.
She had pointed ears and teal skin with pink hair, glowing eyes and a tattoo on her chest that had been there since her "birth". Right now she wore a t-shirt and shorts, far different from her gold, metallic armor.
"Huh? Oh, hey. What are you doing up?"
"You know I dont sleep. What were you doing?"
"Looking for more possibles."
"You found someone you know?"
"Knew. A long time ago. Since you are up would you mind looking around for a bit?" He knew she wouldnt mind a bit but he still felt guilty, even though she never needed sleep.
"It would be my pleasure." The Core Being said.
"I am going to bed, I will see you tomorrow. Good night."
"Goodnight" Core Being said, not turning from the computer.
Captain Neem went to his room and locked the door behind him. It was a small room but quite luxurious for the standard of living, a bed, dresser, closet, and bathroom was all he needed. He threw his black and purple armor to the floor.
He had purple skin with darker purple hair which fell over his forehead a little bit, a goatee and a scar over his right eye. He had many scars from the war but this one was from someone else, the former "hero" in the file.
"You can rot right where you are [censored]." he said muttering to his scar in a mirror with a scowl.
----
Council Research and Develepmont division, location unkown
Requiem entered the sleek highly polished stainless steel Council lab. Around the room were tables with various instruments and vials of strange chemicals. In the back of the room was a giant tube. In it, the feint figure of a man could be seen through the dark green liquid, attached to hoses, IV's and several other strange devices.
Requiem was a large muscular man who wore a sharp black Council uniform with grey stripes and many medals. You could hear them chime together very time he took a step anouncing his approach with authority and darkness that would send chills down a hero's spine.
"How is our project doing?" Requiem asked looking at the man smiling.
"He is well sir, another six months and he will be the ultimate weapon. He is making exceptional process." one of the scientists answered.
"Excellent. Crey Industries made some incredible acheivements in their time. I am glad we found some after the war willing to join us, this one's willingness to betray his fellow heroes was amazing. Who ever said revenge isn't good? It is good for the Council."
Requiem thought for a moment, "Can he hear me?"
"Yes sir, he shows much brain activity and sometimes opens his eyes and looks around even. Just speak into this microphone here and he will hear you." The scientist handed him a microphone.
"Leave us alone for a moment." Requiem said still staring at the man in the tube.
"Yes sir." the scientist responded, and they all quickly and quietly left.
Requiem waited until the door closed.
"Let's see if we can say something that will get your attention." Requiem said to the motionless, almost lifeless looking man.
Requiem leaned into the microphone, "Blood Wolffe." echoed across the room.
The man snapped his eyes open and started thrashing about in the chamber.
Requiem began laughing. "So much hate. Good."
((Just noticed some of the spelling on the last one and its too late to edit, grrrr. Thats what I get for writing until early in the morning. Thoughts on this one? Glaring grammar errors can be pmed, I dont want them to haunt me with your posts too.))
Excellent writing. You are doing great. I definitely look forward to more.
And don't worry about minor spelling mistakes that you might miss. Most of us will probably overlook them anyway. ;-)
Three Cheers for Captain Neem!
Seriously, I love the way he's written. Very intriguing and interesting. I'm enjoying reading him every bit as much as seeing how my own characters have grown over the years.
Together we entered a city of strangers, we made it a city of friends, and we leave it a City of Heroes. - Sweet_Sarah
BOYCOTT NCSoft (on Facebook)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/517513781597443/
Governments have fallen to the power of social media. Gaming companies can too.
Oh, for those who don't read the Whitmoore Apartments RP thread, I'll describe my two characters (with the age they are in this story)
Dr. Helen Markov AKA Steele Magnolia
Caucasian female, 42 yrs, 5'7" 130 lbs, shoulderlength auburn brown hair, hazel green eyes.
Technology AR/DEV Blaster
Michael Flagg (at least that's the name he registered for his Paragon ID) AKA 2020 Vision
Caucasian male, 25 yrs, 7'0" 390lbs, black hair, hazel green eyes.
Mutation MA/INV Scrapper
Together we entered a city of strangers, we made it a city of friends, and we leave it a City of Heroes. - Sweet_Sarah
BOYCOTT NCSoft (on Facebook)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/517513781597443/
Governments have fallen to the power of social media. Gaming companies can too.
*itches for more, oh no, wait, that's warwolf fur that got under my armor. Sorry. My bad.*
TechDefender Rad/Ele Defender
D'20 Gladiator DM/SR Scrapper
Cyclonite Cat Fire/Fire Blaster
[url="http://www.dutchfurs.com/~taross/w/screenshots/Ferretgal/Ferretgal.jpg"]Ferretgal Claw/Inv Scrapper[/url](Virtue)
@Cyclonite Cat
(Names changed at GM 'request')
V. A test of Their Mettle
A giant black Council helicopter flew over the ruins of Baltimore. It was nighttime and no life in sight for miles, not the most welcome conditions one could ask for. It was a transport helicopter and the loud, slow thump of the blades seemed to warn those who heard it of what it carried inside.
A voice crackled in over the radio. "Hawk's Nest this is Black Stork, we are over the drop zone. Request permission to drop cargo."
A Council Communication Officer turned from his terminal to Requiem, "Sir, Black Stork has arrived and is awaiting orders to drop."
Requiem grinned, sending shivers down the officer's spine.
"Drop the cargo."
"Black Stork this is Hawk's nest, you are green for jettison."
"Roger that Hawk's nest. Dropping cargo and returning to base."
The pilot yelled over the roar of the engine, "We're green. Drop it."
The Crew chief opened the rear hatch to let the six rows of giant metal boxes, each one about 6'6 long and about 3'6 wide and tall. They were all the same, sleek, metal capsules with a seam down the length of them. Other than that, they were featureless.
The crew chief went to guide the first one out the hatch. The second he touched it he felt cold all over and heard a voice whispering in his head. He let the others slide out on their own from the automatic rollers. Even if they banged on the sides.
The pilot turned to ask him if he was done. "Why are you letting them bang arou-"
When he saw the crew chiefs face, white as snow he stopped.
"Lets get out of here." The pilot said.
The six capsules fell to the ground about fifty yards apart from each other, all standing up out of the ground they buried into at odd angles. A sound like cracking ice came from one as it opened slightly.
----
Acier and Techsupport worked on some new detection equipment they promised Captain Neem and Steele Magnolia would be blown away by.
Acier was a young hero of the group but was a genius who created his own armor and contributed many things to the resistance. He was 5'11 and had a big build, probably from wearing the armor. His armor was very high tech. It was better than the old Crey tanks. It had rivets in it and looked very heavy and armored white and blue steel. He also had a red jewel in his chest that was quite mysterious. Noone ever saw him out of his armor which led some to believe he might be a robot. He never really talked about it.
Techsupport, another genius inventor of the resistance was quite human. He used to have a boring job, Tech support operater for a large coorporation. Eventually he started tinkering with electricity which eventually developed into an armored suit that shot electricity and was powered by cold fusion. He was about 6 feet tall and his armor was white mostly, with sleek lines and smooth curves. He had white long hair and wore a rebreathing device that was more in keeping with his old style than for purpose now. Although the cleanliness of filtered air gives one more energy to lug around in armor than the choking dust of the destroyed cities.
They both were wearing their armor now, since they were both up they could stand watch.
"This is going to be great! This will help us so much!" Tech support said.
"What is going to help us so much?" Rose Cross said.
"Oh, hey Marjorie, what are you doing up so late?" Acier said.
Rose Cross stood shorter than the other two with long brown hair, a red headband, white steel armor and shoulder pads with red trim. On her chest was a red cross. She was another young hero of the group, roughly 26.
She was quite intelligent herself but she wasnt an inventor. Her talents lied in helping other people. Ever since she discovered her as a teenager she had miraculously healed people, ending so much suffering.
"Its 7:30 in the morning. Its almost time for the meeting Captain Neem and Steele called for."
Again, Acier and Techsupport lost track of time with their new invention. This one was especially exciting and they had just finished in time for the meeting to present to them all.
"What is that guys?" Marjorie said once again.
"You will have to wait for the meeting." Acier said teasing her curiosity.
"Yeah, its a surprise. Its going to help us out so much." Techsupport said only making her more curious.
Steele Magnolia came in over the intercom "Everybody, its time for the meeting, please come to the briefing room."
----
Hair of the Dog Inn (Continued from Chapter IV.)
"What, one bed!?" Michael and Sam both said in unison.
"Sorry, its all we got." The bartender said.
Tired and cold with it dark and now raining outside they really had no choice.
"Fine." Michael said frowning and gave the man a wad of cash.
"Michael, look." Sam whispered.
Two men were leaning over a woman, much smaller than them snickering and saying rude, vile things to her.
She was quiet and attractive. She was only 4'1 but she carried herself with pride and confidence. She had red hair and wore a grey sweater and tight jeans with black boots.
She merely sat there until one of them touched her hair. 2020 Vision and Xyfen were about to intervene but before they could even lift a foot off the ground to walk to them she sprung into action.
Swiftly kicking one man in the groin and scratching the man's face she put him out of the fight fast. The other man grabbed her by the throat ready to hit her. She hissed at him which made him stop in surprise long enough for 2020 Vision and Xyfen to jump him. They promptly beat him to the ground, leaving him bleeding and broken.
A shotgun fired into the ceiling. On the second floor a once sleeping man now stared wide-eyed at the hole in the bed next to his head.
The whole bar turned to the bartender as he lowered the shotgun to the three.
"All three of you out! NOW!"
Michael was not pleased and thought of asking for his money back just to be smart. He thought better of it though, looking at the shotgun and smelling the gunpowder.
The three left and the woman kicked one man as she stepped over him.
"Just great, now we have nowhere to sleep and its raining and cold and I am tired. NOW WHAT!?" Michael said.
"I know where a barn is up the road." the woman said, "Its not as good as the Inn but its better than nothing."
"Great! Lets go!" Sam said.
"On one condition." She said, "Let me go to the next city with you."
"No way" Michael said.
He couldnt let her know they were heroes.
"Fine. Sleep in the rain then." She replied and started to walk off.
"Wait!" Xyfen said, "Dont mind my friend here, he is just a little stand-offish at first. Sure we can take you to the next town."
"What are you doing?" Michael whispered to Sam.
"We will just get rid of her in the morning and go on our merry way." Sam said.
"Sam Girkikoff" Xyfen said smiling, holding out his hand.
"Michael Flagg, now show us where that barn is please." 2020 Vision said with another smile and offering another hand.
"B. J. McPherson, follow me." She said smiling.
----
Captain Neem and Steele Magnolia stood quietly as all the heroes came in to take their seats. Rose Cross, Tick-Tok, Lord Raymond, Acier and Techsupport were seated and ready.
Steele Magnolia began, "As you know we have sent out a call to heroes to come to our aid. The other factions have reported that the word has spread fast through the underground and heroes are coming from all over to help us. I would like to welcome our two newest members. Please welcome Eternal Twilight and Hippie Mage."
Hey dudes." Hippie Mage said while Eternal Twilight gave a slight nod.
They all introduced themselves and offered any help that might be needed until Captain Neem spoke up.
"On to other news we have gotten reports of strange occurances and dead bodies popping up in our area. Lord Raymond has found something interesting as well. Care to tell the team what you found Lord Raymond?"
Lord Raymond gave a slight bow in his seat and got up.
"It would be my pleasure sir." He said in a charmingly refined british accent.
Lord Raymond was about 40 years old now. He was a mere 4 feet tall, which he was very sensitive about. However, he was as thick as an oak tree with muscle. He weilded a giant medievel axe and wore white armor with gold celtic designs. His face was always masked, even when out of costume, and while cheerful on the outside a perceptive person could see that inside he was a very sad man.
"I was patrolling the city not 15 kilometers from here when I found six strange objects. As I moved closer to them I saw they were open containers. Upon further inspection I realized they had been previously occupied by some type of humanoid beings. They could only be Council judging by the technology it must have taken to make those containers. They were dropped from the sky and did not have a dent in them."
"Thank you Lord Raymond." Captain Neem said, "We will have to double patrols and for god's sake be careful, who knows what the Council is up too."
Acier and Techsupport decided this was the perfect time to present the latest invention.
"Captain Neem. Steele. If we may?" Techsupport said.
They both nodded.
"The extra patrols or any for metas will be unecessary from now on. You see, we have essentially created a super-power rader." Acier said.
"Go on." Steele said, quite impressed.
Techsupport continued, "How it works is it sends out a harmless small radiation pulse. The waves bounce off a wide range of the energy coming off a meta or high energy technology. Anyone with powers or high powered inventions will show up on the map. In addition, anything with a high energy power source will show up too, like robots or vehicles or even nuclear power plants."
"Very impressive." Steele said.
"When can you install it and link it to our computer?" Captain Neem said.
This was as good as his compliments got. He wasnt being rude, he was pushing them to do more.
"That can be done today, but for now we have a laptop with the program up and running. Shall we see who is in our city?" Acier asked.
They all nodded. As he started the program and the screen came on Acier went from being happy to suddenly quite worried.
"I see six signals... heading near our location." Acier said grimly.
"Everybody suit up, lock and load, and be ready for anything!" Steele ordered.
----
Michael, Sam, and B. J. were now in the barn on the dirt floor, soaking wet, trying to build a fire next to the beds of hay they had made.
The barn was old and broken down but they found a spot the rain didnt leak through the roof which made for a promising spot to rest their weary bodies.
"GAH! Its hopeless!" B. J. said throwing down the two sticks she had been rubbing together for half an hour now.
"Why dont you see if you can find some more wood, I will try to start the fire." Sam said.
"Good luck!" She said, frustrated.
As soon as she turned Sam pointed at the small pile of wood and hay and sent a little arc of electricity to ignite it. Within a few minutes they would be in front of a roaring fire.
"Hey I saw that!" B. J. gasped, "You're a hero arent you!? This is great!"
"Damnit Sam! Now what are we gonna do!?" Michael yelled, "We cant let the whole world know we are metas. Why didnt you wait!?"
"She walked off! I could have sworn she was out of sight! I dont know what happened!" Sam defended.
"Guys." B. J. said.
"You are so wreckless Sam! Why did I bring you!?"
"Guys."
"If it wasnt for me you would be laying face down thanks to Ice Hammer!"
"Guys."
"What!?" They both yelled.
They turned to see B. J. with razor sharp claws extending out from her hands.
"I wouldnt worry too much, I am not the enemy here."
They looked at her in shock.
"Oh.... uh....Thats great. So whats your hero name?"
"I am Tabby Cat. Who are you?"
"Xyfen"
"2020 Vision. So why did you want to come with us if you are a meta? You can take care of yourself right?"
"There is alot worse things out there than perverts and thugs. Safety in numbers, I say."
"Well, we are going to Baltimore to join the resistence against the Council. You should think about coming." Michael said.
"I will think about it." she said dismissing the subject for now, "Its time for sleep now."
She stretched out like a cat and closed her eyes as she laid down on her bed of hay. The other two laid down in agreement in front of the now nice, warm fire and went to sleep for a night's rest they hadnt felt in a while.
----
They all stood next to each other outside waiting to see what was coming down the street. It was morning now but the sky was overcast and very grey. It seemed unnaturally dark and was getting darker by the second. One would expect the sky to erupt into a violent storm from the darkness but not a single drop came from the sky.
The street was littered with trash and a few scattered, burnt up vehicles and charred buildings lined the streets.
"Techsupport, how close are they?" Captain Neem asked squinting down the street.
Techsupport looked at the laptop connected to their new Meta-radar.
"300 yards away and closing fast." He replied.
"250 yards."
The sky was black as night now. the only light was coming from the few street lights that worked. The rest was pitch black.
"150 yards"
"Its cold." Rose Cross said, her breath showing. She held her arms.
"100 yards" Techsupport said.
They watched as a puddle of water began to form ice around the edges, slowly at first, but in a few seconds it was solid. Then they heard what sounded like a person breathing out, not quite hissing. It wasnt that aggressive. It was more like a sighing sound, but it was loud, constant, and echoing from far away.
"50 yards, just around the corner in front of us."
Steele magnolia cocked her gun. Now she was wearing her green Jadenium armor and looked much colder than she did in the base.
The sound was loud now, the sky was black, and the air was chilled. The sound of something moving towards them was now apparent.
Six creatures that were apparently equinoxes appeared beneath a street light for a moment. But these were different. Running down the lengths of their backs were two rows of transparent containers with a grey, opaque liquid inside. They had longer limbs than normal and were very bony. Their teeth were like a shark's but there was even less alignment than that making for a horrific appearance. Instead of goggles they had large, completely black eyes.
One of them, presumably the leader, pointed at the group and made opened his wretched mouth. They could see the breath coming out of his mouth as he made the loud sighing noise they heard from before. Then, on each one's back one of the containers pushed the grey liquid down into the creature so it now only showed a metal piece in the tube where the liquid once was.
They crawled on all fours at them at incredible speeds.
Captain Neem and Steele Magnolia fired at the monsters advancing on them. Neem hit one and sent it flying back. In two seconds the rest had crawled from 50 yards away to their location.
Acier wrapped his hands in energy and caught one in the stomach. He went to swing again but it moved so fast he ended up swinging at nothing. Lord Raymond swung his axe down at one and struck nothing but dirt. Steele was firing on full auto at one crawling on the side of a building but it quickly darted back and forth dodging the barrage of rounds.
Hippie Mage was able to catch three in an area mental attack. They grabbed their heads and writhed in pain. As his mind touched theirs he reeled back in horror at seeing what was in their minds.
Techsupport then shot a glob of radioactive waste at the center one, making the it and the rest slower and weaker. Lord Raymond took advantadge of the immobilized monsters and cleaved into one head. Not stopping until slicing into the stomach.
The leader let out another sigh and the monsters used two more vials on their backs.
The heroes dispatched the immobilized two and turned to the others.
One charged and lept onto Rose Cross. She screamed and surprised it with an energy blast to the chest. It was sent into the air a few feet and screached so loud it sent chills down her spine. Before it came back down Steele blasted it with a slug and Tick-Tok burned it with an arc of electricity. It came down next to Rose Cross with third degree burns and a shotgun wound to the chest. It was dead but she still screamed again.
Another one lept to a sighed building and screached at the group they all turned to it and fired as it quickly dodged the incoming fire.
As all their attention was on that one the leader lept onto Steele Magnolia pinning her to the ground. She raised her rifle to its chin but it knocked her gun away. She could see herself in its giant black eyes, then she looked at its hideous teeth.
It spoke in a sigh so quiet only she could hear. "Hhhhhhhheeeeelllllllleeeeeeeeeen"
It knew her name, her real name.
Eternal Twilight turned and saw the beast on her. He ran up to it and kicked it so hard it lifted off the ground and landed a few feet away.
It got up and saw it was the last one left. All the rest had been slain. It let out a sigh louder and longer than all the rest before and the final three capsules on its back pushed into its back. The capsules started bursting, one by one, until they were all gone and there were six holes in the creatures back, showing its ribs and insides.
The sounds of bones cracking and resetting could be heard. Its arms grew in length and it grew webbing between its arms and its sides. Its ears grew bigger as did its mouth.
They stared at it in awe for a moment then Captain Neem yelled "Fire! FIRE!"
As fast as they attacked it, it healed. Lord Raymond ran up to it and swung his axe at its head. It swatted him a few yards away and started walking towards the group.
Rose Cross ran to Lord Raymond and surrounded him with a green glow.
"Are you okay?" she asked with much concern.
"Quite alright m'lady, Ive had much worse."
The thing was advancing and seemed unstoppable.
"Wait! Distract it!" Techsupport said.
Acier, Tick-Tok, and Eternal Twilight nodded and ran up to the thing and punched it squarely in its temple, gut and electrocuted it, knocking it off balance.
Techsupport flew around to face its back. Aiming at the holes he charged up his cells. He built up toxic waste until he was sure it would be enough and fired. It splashed against the creatures back filling the holes with the burning waste. The creature screamed as it burned from the inside out.
"Techsupport duck! Everybody FIRE!" Steele Magnolia said.
They all peppered the monster with various blasts as Techsupport laid flat on the ground with his hands on his head. After several seconds the beast screached in horror and exploded, sending a green and black bile all around it.
Moments later the sky started to get lighter, the air warmer, but Steele Magnolia could still hear what that thing said to her in her head.
"Is that all there is to that?" Lord Raymond said.
"How does everybody feel?" Captain Neem said.
"Tired, lets go home." Techsupport said.
----
"Sir, I just lost the signal from the super equinoxes you sent."
Requiem thought for a moment. He began a smile.
"Good I would hate to have no use for the other projects. Inform me of when the others are done feeding. Oh, and inform Sonic Boom of their last location."
----
Marjorie entered her room and sat down on her bed. Lord Raymond had almost gotten hurt and she blamed herself for it. She would never fail again. Not again...
[ QUOTE ]
As all their attention was on that one the leader lept onto Steele Magnolia pinning her to the ground. She raised her rifle to its chin but it knocked her gun away. She could see herself in its giant black eyes, then she looked at its hideous teeth.
It spoke in a sigh so quiet only she could hear. "Hhhhhhhheeeeelllllllleeeeeeeeeen"
It knew her name, her real name.
[/ QUOTE ]
/emote shudders
Together we entered a city of strangers, we made it a city of friends, and we leave it a City of Heroes. - Sweet_Sarah
BOYCOTT NCSoft (on Facebook)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/517513781597443/
Governments have fallen to the power of social media. Gaming companies can too.
Good Show. Especially the part where I cleave a guy in half. Good stuff...good stuff.
Crane kick for knockback to the big ugly on the blaster... yeah, I've done that entirely too many times.
"If I didn't enjoy the ludicrous mayhem of an 8-person pick-up team and my eventual glorious triumph over seemingly impossible odds bereft of lucid and competant comrades, I would have left this game a long time ago. " - mean_liar
That's some mighty fine Defending ;D
And to think... Tech only 'accidentally' discovered what is now his main power while trying to invent more powerful tazer-gloves :P
Glad he did.
TechDefender Rad/Ele Defender
D'20 Gladiator DM/SR Scrapper
Cyclonite Cat Fire/Fire Blaster
[url="http://www.dutchfurs.com/~taross/w/screenshots/Ferretgal/Ferretgal.jpg"]Ferretgal Claw/Inv Scrapper[/url](Virtue)
@Cyclonite Cat
(Names changed at GM 'request')
Great fight! As always I look forward to more. Seems like we have many trials and tribulations ahead.
((At first I was having trouble with this one, but I think it turned out really well. Shorter than the last one too.))
VI. Skeletons in the Closet
Captain Neem, Eternal Twilight and Lord Raymond entered the breifing room silently, closed the door and locked it behind them. They took seats right next to each other at the metal "U" shaped table in front of a giant screen connected to a computer. They spoke quietly in case anyone was trying to listen in on the conversation.
Eternal Twilight began "Have either of you ever seen anything like that?"
They both shook their heads.
"No. Not since Crey was around was there any freakish looking things like that." Neem said.
"Yes." Lord Raymond agreed, "They were abominations to be sure. They must have been experiments and they were definitely Council, only they have the resources to create something like that."
"Plus they were equinoxes." Eternal said matter of factly.
"It seemed like they came specifically for us, didnt it?" he added.
Captain Neem thought about it for a moment. "Yes, they were definitely after us. The question is why? We are not the only group in the Ring of Resistence or the highest on the Council's threat list. Plus they had to bypass other bases on their way to us. It doesnt make any sense."
"Unless someone in the Council has a personal vendetta against us." Eternal Twilight said.
"I will search the computer tonight to see who has made enemies with who. Not a word of this outside these doors, No one needs to know we are being hunted. Understood?" Captain Neem said.
They both nodded. It was alot to trust a new member of the group like Eternal Twilight, but with his extensive military background and insight he felt he could be trusted.
"Leave this to me. I am doing this by myself." Neem said.
Eternal nearly protested, he wanted answers, but Lord Raymond placed his hand on his shoulder and shook his head. They knew each other since the Day of the Cleansing, so he decided it best to obey Lord Raymond.
After they left and Captain Neem was sure of it, he stared at the monitor of the computer for a few minutes thinking. Leaning back in his chair with his fingers interlocked in front of him. He turned off the monitor. There was no need to do any investigating, he knew exactly who sent those things.
----
(Paragon City: Moments after the Cleansing)
A few seconds after the roar of the Nuclear bomb stopped Rose Cross was running out of the shelter. As soon as she opened the door she could feel the wall of heat. The ground was smoking from the heat and what remained of the mighty buildings that once stood in Steel Canyon was burning, twisted, and broken. The sky was blackened from the dust now and burning pieces of debris were falling like small meteors. It looked like the world had ended, no, it didnt just look like it, it had ended. Off towards Atlas Park she could see the massive mushroom cloud dwarfing mountains she had seen as a child. It was the biggest thing she had ever seen.
Rose Cross began running down the street looking for people who needed help. She saw the figure of a man staggering towards her in the distance, his shirt ripped and hanging off him in a few loose threads. As she approached, she realized it wasnt his shirt. It was his skin.
"Help me." he wimpered.
Tears ran down her face at the sight of him. She surrounded him with a green glow and healed him, comforting his pain. New skin grew instantly, but so did the scars, which couldnt be fully healed. He showed much appreciation to her regardless of his new scars.
"Are there others?" She asked fighting the tears.
He nodded and pointed towards the direction he came from.
"Thank you." She said to the poor man.
As she was leaving he grabbed her arm. She turned to look at the man, tears running down his face too.
"Thank you. Get him for this, for us. He is pure evil."
She nodded and ran off. The Center would pay for this.
As she ran towards the direction the man pointed she saw the shadow of someone but not the person. It was scorched into the wall.
Approaching Blyde Square Rose Cross started to hear the screams. Thousands of them. Rounding the corner she saw the broken statue and a sea of people surrounding it. They were all moaning in agony. Begging for help. If you have never heard thousands of people screaming all at once in pain, rest assured, you are blessed that you havent.
Frantically she ran from person to person healing as many as she could. There were so many and they were all dying. Some time later Captain Neem and Lord Raymond had found her and had to pull her away before she exerted herself to death healing so many. She would have protested but was so tired she merely passed out.
Marjorie sat up in her bed, waking up with a start. That same dream again. It seemed as soon as she got it out of her mind it came back to her, haunting her.
Then she thought about how Lord Raymond had almost gotten hurt.
"Never again." she whispered to herself as she rocked back and forth, hugging her knees.
----
Tick-Tok knocked on Steele Magnolia's door. A few moments passed by then as he was about to knock again she opened the door startling him.
"Uh, hey Helen, can we talk?"
"Sure Larry come in, I was just tinkering with my rifle."
He stepped inside and shut the door behind him.
"I know it's been hard since you lost David and Michael, and you and Captain Neem have been great leaders..."
"Get to the point Larry." She said turned away from him looking down at her rifle on the large mechanic's table she had in her room.
"I am worried about you. You are alot different than the Helen I made inventions with in her apartment... Not that anyone is the same after all that happened. You were hit the hardest too losing a son and husband."
Helen was fighting back the tears now and Larry immediately regretted his choice of words.
"But lately you have seemed even more withdrawn and preoccupied. I just want to see the old Helen, the one who helped me out with all my inventions, no matter how crazy. Remember my revolutionary plans for the toaster?"
She cracked a smile and wiped her eyes. "Yes, I know I have been withdrawn lately. Alot has been on my mind. I'm sorry to have worried you Larry. I will be more outgoing from now on. I promise."
"Thank you Helen. It would really lift everybody's spirits."
He paused for a moment trying to think of something else to say to make her feel better.
"There is always hope Helen. There is always hope." he said in her doorway. Then after looking at her for a moment with concern he shut the door leaving her to think about what he said.
He was talking about her son, who was missing after the Cleansing.
She didnt hold out much hope though, since she and Captain Neem had searched the city for years, slowly getting more heroes and growing in numbers, sometimes losing numbers. But never her son.
----
Eternal Twilight couldnt stand it anymore, he had to see what Neem had found out so far. Walking up to the door he looked around to see if Lord Raymond was around. The coast was clear.
When he stepped inside he discovered the room was empty. Captain Neem hadnt spent much time looking obviously. He either found out quickly who it was (highly unlikely) or he already knew. What was going on here? What wasn't Neem telling us? He hated being left in the dark and went to the computer.
He was about to look through the villian database but noticed another folder that caught his interest more. It was Captain Neem's personal folder.
"Let's see what you are not telling me Neem." He said as he clicked on the folder.
In it were numerous newspaper articles on him defeating various enemies as souvenirs, files on the many villians he fought, and other things of little interest at the moment. Then he saw a small file seperate from the others off in the corner. He clicked on it. In it was a single article and a file taken off of the hero database network that all the groups of the Circle of Resistance shared.
He clicked on the article:
CAPTAIN NEEM FIGHTS FELLOW HERO!
There was the picture of two silhouettes on a rooftop, one leaping at the other, the other blasting blue energy at the leaping man.
Thursday the hero known as Captain Neem was seen on the rooftop of an apartment in King's Row engaged in combat with another hero who has yet to be identified. The two were seen arguing at first, apparently over the death of a particular man. It then escalated into violence resulting in the other hero injuring Captain Neem. Witnesses say that the man stood over Captain Neem for a moment ready to finish him with a deadly blow but instead, left him there and fled the scene.
One witness, Thomas Ryerson, said "That so called hero was standing right there and Captain Neem was on his back, I think I heard him say 'go ahead, do it'. The other one reared up and punched one of the brick chimney right next to his head. I darn near got hit by the chunks flying everywhere."
Captain Neem suffered a large cut over his right eye, he required several stiches, but said "It was nothing."
When asked about the other hero and the argument that led to the fight Captain Neem simply stated "No comment". He has not given the police department a name or description at this time. This is highly uncharacteristic for Captain Neem, as long time ally of the Paragon Police Department he has worked closely with them on many occasions.
Cont. on Page 4
"Very interesting Neem... let's see who this hero was."
He went to click on the file pulled from the database. Before he could do it though the computer interrupted him with a flashing message on the screen.
>>>SUPER POWERED ENTITY DETECTED<<<
"Damnit! Some other time Captain."
He alerted the rest of the group and they quickly came to the briefing room.
Captain Neem and Steele Magnolia stood before the group sitting at the table.
"I know everyone is tired from the last fight but we need to stay frosty people. If the Council only sent one of whatever this thing is then it has to be powerful." Steele Magnolia said.
"Also, do not attack until we are sure this thing is Council, remember people that the computer tracks power, not intention." Captain Neem added, "Everybody GEAR UP!"
As the heroes ran to get their armor and weapons Eternal Twilight hung back and tapped Captain Neem on the shoulder.
Staring at Captain Neem, Eternal Twilight asked "Find anything out on what we talked about earlier?"
"We dont have time now, we will talk later." Captain Neem said.
"Okay." He replied, still staring at him hiding his thoughts.
----
They crouch-walked slowly down the row of buildings, sticking close to one side for cover. Weapons were pointed out ready to strike anything that dared threaten them.
"How close is the signal?" Steele Magnolia whispered to Techsupport not taking her eyes off of her field of fire.
"End of the street, turn left. It will be right in front of us." He whispered back."
Slowly, cautiously they approached the end of the street. All they had to do now was turn the corner and it would be there, right in front of them. Their hearts pounded and every sound they made seemed amplified by a hundred.
Captain Neem turned around to the group and gave a thumbs up to see if they were ready. Everybody replied back with a thumbs up. He nodded and started to count down silently with his fingers to signal the ambush.
3...
2...
1...
"GO!" He yelled and the lept, flew and ran around the corner at incredible speeds to see the source of the power.
The woman looked up at the other heroes with an exhausted, dirt-smudged face.
"She is breathing, but I cant wake her up." The woman said, referring to the other woman she carried on her back.
Using the last bit of energy she had to speak, she passed out and fell over.
((Again, I really like how this has come out, one of my favorite chapters so far now. What do you think?))
Very good indeed! You've given us insight into the personalities of the different players, something hard to do, and the conversation and descriptions flow very smoothly!
Now, the big question... How long until the next chapter? 
Together we entered a city of strangers, we made it a city of friends, and we leave it a City of Heroes. - Sweet_Sarah
BOYCOTT NCSoft (on Facebook)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/517513781597443/
Governments have fallen to the power of social media. Gaming companies can too.
Tres Magnifique Mon Ami!
But seriously, great job, although I can't decide which I like better this one or the one before it. Oh well, its all good.
Doing a great job with the myriad personalities you have to keep track of. Terrific storytelling. I definitely look forward to more.
((This is the beginning of the story I promised starring heroes volunteered from the boards. This is a what-if story so artistic liberties will be taken. This is actually a second attempt at this post because my computer killed my post while I was completing it the first time
. Minor spoiler in this about Ernesto Hess TF, but its really small and you probably already know about it.))
I. The Council Victory
In the near future
"Team Justice! ATTACK!" Hellfire screamed as they made their way into the volcano room. The sight was awe-inspiring. The robot filled the entire mountain. The walkways surrounding it were filled with Council. At the top was Burkholder.
"You are too late heroes, this is just a cog in the Council Machine!" Burkholder boasted as he started the countdown sequence. The alarm buzzed and rotating red lights started up as the giant steel doors at the top rumbled to life.
The heroes made their way up the catwalks, fighting tooth and nail until they reached the top.
Iron Fist punched Burkholder, getting his attention. The team struggled but an ice blaster and a katana scrapper managed to deal the finishing blows to Burkholder. Collapsing to the floor Burkholder mumbled something under his breath.
Hellfire ran to the console and shut the countdown off with ten seconds to spare.
"Well that wasnt even dramatic." he said smugly.
Burkholder stirred to life, with his last bit of life he pulled out a remote and pushed a series of buttons, making the countdown passcode protected.
"Shut it off!"
10...
Hellfire entered the sequence to stop the countdown again but nothing happened.
"It wont let me!"
9...
"Do it again!"
8...
Computer: ACCESS DENIED
"SHI-!"
7...
Winter Ray ran to Burkholder "Tell us the code or so help me god!..."
"The time... of heroes is... over" Burkholder died in the hero's grip.
4...
3...
2...
1...
"Oh god."
James was sitting on the floor of his parent's apartment playing with his statesman toy. His parents hadnt come home yet and he had free reign of the house. He had built a fort out of the couch cushions and was watching cartoons, eating more chips than he was allowed to when the emergency broadcast came on.
"This is not a test. I repe-"
"Boooring" James replied. Nothing good seemed to be on so he turned off the TV. What to do now? Suddenly the fire alarm in the Steel Canyon apartment kicked on. James covered his ears and went to the window to see if he could find out what was going on. He could see flashes of light in the distance and heroes flying and leaping towards them. The quiet, muffled boom of explosions in the distance were following the flashes. Then he heard something else, a low whistle. James had seen enough war movies to know that meant incoming. He ducked just as the explosion ripped into the apartment. He ran and hid under the kitchen table yelling "MOM!"
A few moments later two Council Soldiers burst through the door scaring James and causing him to scream.
"There! Grab him for the education camps!"
"Yes Sir!" the subordinate replied, dragging him out by the shirt kicking and screaming "MOM! MOM! MOM!"
The Council were flooding the streets. An army of thousands had invaded Paragon City. Heroes by the hundreds were fighting the advancing line of Council Troops. Captain Neem, a somewhat experienced hero found himself leading a group of almost 200 heroes. He wasnt as experienced as some but he had natural leadership skills. He could see the odds were against them but knew they had to win this or... he didnt even want to think about it.
Requiem, Vandal, and Nosferatu were personally overseeing the battle while mowing through heroes foolish enough to challenge them. The Centers absence was noticeable.
The ground shook for a moment. Almost going unnoticed at first but growing louder and louder the fighting slowed down until it stopped completely. All heads were turned towards the sound. Around a building the giant metal beast from the volcano emerged. It observed the group for a few moments then raised its gun hand towards the heroes.
"FALL BACK!" Captain Neem shouted.
The gun started a low whirring sound so deep and loud that it too shook the earth. It fired a giant beam of energy at the heroes. The explosion was big enough to engulf two football stadiums at least. Many heroes were burnt away and more were thrown hundreds of yards in all directions from the blast. Its gun whirred to life again and shot twice more at the crowd of heroes.
----
Deserts of Nevada, Nuclear Missile site 107
Alarms were going off everywhere.
"What the hell is going on!?" General McDougal said.
"Sir, we have no control over our missiles. I dont know how to explain it."
You better god damn find out!"
A voice came over the loud speaker, it was The Center. It will do you no good General, this missile base and many others are under my control."
"You will never have control without the codes!" The general screamed.
The Center appeared, floating in the air in black armor with ornate gold designs. He had a cape and helmet to match his armor.
"I have them general. I am using them too. The world has been reduced to several people bickering over trivial personal vendettas and lust for petty material gains. I am going to cleanse it. Start over. With The Council's guidance I will create a eutopia. All under my rule."
"Not on my watch." General McDougal growled, pulling out his pistol and firing it at The Center. All the rounds ricocheted off of a force field The center put up effortlessly.
"So be it."
The General screamed as he struggled not to put the gun to his head. Inevitably he put the barrel in his eye and fired.
The heroes had fallen back to Atlas Park now. Once considered the safest place in Paragon City it was now the site of death and destruction. An explosion ripped into the Atlas statue as heroes pushed back against the hordes of Council troops. There had been a call to all heroes including the surviving eight which were nowhere to be found.
Captain Neem's team had been reduced to 50 heroes. He was bleeding heavily from the side. The situation was desperate and he could see they were losing. He looked around and saw a young boy, maybe 14 years old firing electrical blasts at Council soldiers trying to get inside the City Hall.
"YOU! BOY! Whats your name?" He yelled over the explosions.
"Tik-Tok"
More explosions ripped into the Atlas statue and it crumbled to the ground. Captain Neem looked on as the symbol for inspiration to countless heroes for years was destroyed in front of his eyes. Some who saw it cried at the sight of it, others screamed in anger, all fought harder than they ever had before.
Captain Neem flew up to the flag brought it down and flew back down to the boy making sure the flag never touched the ground.
"Take this flag and run, get out of Paragon City and hide! As long as there are heroes who remember there is hope!
"But-"
"TAKE IT!" Captain Neem yelled.
Tik-Tok reluctantly took the flag and lept away. Captain Neem watched him until he couldnt see him any more.
He turned back around to see the council retreating. Heroes were cheering but Captain Neem was disturbed. They had us beat. Why did they retreat? He looked up into the sky. In the sky was a streak of smoke going all the way into space.
"RUN! RUN! EVERYBODY GET TO SHELTER!"
Some of the heroes heard him and looked at the streak he was pointing at. Soon heroes were either hiding or sweeping the streets warning civilians who just cheered them on, thinking they had been victorious. Captain Neem being one trying to warn them. In the last few moments he grabbed as many people as he could and went into a sturdy looking building and waited.
A few minutes later the missiles came back down. All over the world missiles came down and wiped everything away, just as The Center had planned. A new world order to be ruled by The Council had begun. The Center smiled inwardly.
"Begin the second phase."
((Well thats the beginning of my story, introducing two characters, Captain Neem and Tik-Tok. Again, taking some artistic liberties here, what-if story. I will be happy to answer any questions though.))