As Coldfire walked down the hall after the last Hellion who survived, he grabbed him by the throat. Then, he did the stupidest thing any enemy ever did to him. He tried to light him on fire.
"You're the smart one aren't you?" Coldfire said as he slammed him into a corner and put his bulky motorcycle boot on his neck. Blasting a hole through the floor, he saw some heroes jump back and then look up to see what had happened.
"I got one of them, get up to the seventh floor if you want to question the punk. If you don't hurry, I can't promise my foot won't crack his neck."
Looking down at the punk, he kick him in the face and watched a tooth roll on the ground, "You should get a safer line of work."
"Yo," said Solid Shot as the other heroes and Journey Man showed up. "Nice to see some more folks joining the party. And a girl no less! Aren't we the lucky band of adventurers."
Shouldering his rifle, Solid looked around at the heroes and then at the fires raging around them.
"Let's save the happy, fuzzy introduction phase for after we clear this building and maybe keep it from burning down, kay?"
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
"I hate to say it, but Solid Shot has the right idea," Solar Freeze replied. "I'll head up to see what the new arrival has found. Hermod, join me ASAP so we can start putting out the fires after. Solid, can you and Cali take care of the goons in there?" Not even looking to see if anyone did as he asked, he started flying up through the hole in the ceiling to the floor where the new hero on the scene said he had captured one. He arrived just as the hero was about to put his boot in the nearly-unconscious thug's face.
"Maybe we should save that until after we start asking him questions," he stated simply. "This should hold him until we can ask a few." A blast from Solar Freeze's negation wave rooted the thug in place, forming an icy mound encasing the Hellion. Turning to the new hero, he said, "There's a whole roomful down there. Can you either help the two down there fight or help us put out the fires?"
Cali nodded and refreashed everyones boost before sending another ultrasonic croon at the remaining Hellions. Well aware that one of her erst-while allies was bound to shock them back to thier senses before too long, but at least this bought them a bit of time.
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
The Journey Man nodded at the suggestion to keep going, he needed more action shots anyway. This story wasn't even worth printing at the rate things were going, and he hoped things heated up soon. He might have left if it weren't for the feeling in his gut. Something was going to happen, he just knew it, and he was going to see it.
He followed Cali, standing behind her as she let loose her sonic assault. In a fluid motion, he pulled a spray canister out of his pocket, one that looked like it might be some kind of spraypaint or cologne, but had a ring around it that seemed to be labeled with different markings. He turned the ring until it clicked into the right place and shook the can vigorously before stepping to the side and letting loose at the gangers.
A spray of misty green vapor surged forward from the canister, surrounding the Hellions and setting to work right away. The chemical weapon blurred their vision and set them off balance, which was always a plus when dealing with heroes who want more than a clinger-on.
The Journey Man adjusted the ring once again, shaking the can even harder before pointing it back at his allies and spraying them as well. Except, this time, instead of a biological weapon meant to harm, the vapor stimulated the heroes' senses, making them quicker and more aware. He took a moment to spray himself as well, taking care to get him armpits as well.
"Show me the money." he suggested as he grabbed his camera and got ready to document a serious beating.
Hermod nodded and took off putting out the few remaining fires. An artic blast of wind was all it took to put out an entire hallway. As he super speeded about looking for any more fires he tripped as his foot went through the floor. He picked himself up and moved away from the hole. This building had been condeemable before the fire, now there was no doubt that there might be a collapse. Hermod made one more quick sweep before finding Solar. "Looks pretty clea..." He looked at the Hellion, "Ow... what did you guys do to him?" He asked as he stepped foward and the floor creaked. He looked down a bit nervously, but the danger seemed to have passed. Then the whole floor broke away. Hermod flipped and ready his Hibernation spell to survive the fall when he hit the floor far too early. A very soild wall made out of tiles.
He blinked and stared about as the other Heroes and the Hellion joined them. It was an all too familiar sight for some. The drap insitition yellow walls, the bare floor, unflinching florecent lights baring down on them and the heavy metal door. It was a Council Prison cell. Hermod looked up at the ceiling looking for a quick escape to find the wall perfectly complete. "Son of a-"
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Cali felt a tremor go through the building. She felt the whole building tremor back from her echo location and the floor seemed messy. In to many places at once. It shouldn't be like that. It took her a moment to figure out what was actually happening as the floor fell apart and she fell into the cell with the others.
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Solid Shot felt the floor fell apart and he felt his sense of balance go off. he couldn't figure out which way was up and felt his world spinning. His CPU struggled to compansate, but the artifical horizan kept flitting about. It finally stopped when he hit the floor of the council prison.
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Chance Card. Processed to Go, Do not Collect 200 dollars Went off in Hallucinogen head. It was a forgein voice, one he had never heard before. Suddenly a Hellion barreled out of the Building looking for a safe get away and saw Hallucinogen. He paused and pulled out an unlit moltov cocktail and just chucked it at him. It smashed into Hallucinogen and forced him to take a step backwards. Which unfortunately was into an open Manhole. He regained his footing in the Council Prison cell looking at everyone else. Hermod waved, "Nice to meet." He said. "This everyone? Alright, so, any ideas on what happened to us and what that means?" He pointed at some writing on the wall.
It read, "A man is locked into a Prison Cell seven years. His only access to water was in the room next to him. A thick iron door stood between him and the water. Yet the man managed to survive his sentence. The Gaurds Never gave him water, only food and he had no tools to make a hole in the door or wall. How did he survive?"
((All good games have rules and here are the rules for the Council Prison Cell.
1. It is completely indestructable. No power, no matter how great can break it in anyway.
2. No power can mess with the lock, all attempts to pick the lock will fail.
3. Phase Shifters can not pass through it.
4. Any outside communication has been cut. Abilities with great range can not exit the cell. Almost as if the universe ends at the edge of the cell.
5. There are no secret doors.
Alright, now you get to try and find a way out. I promise that there is one and the Riddle is the clue. Good luck. Hermod will give a few hints later if no one gets it.
And I promise it won't be all riddles. But A Simple Game is set up to be more of a thinking game than a Hack and Slash. Oh, and if I missed anyone I'm sorry, please insert yourself falling into the Cell. No method is too contirved. And just to clear up, I left Journey Man out because I think he was Solar Freeze and Coldfire, so he fell down with them and Hermod.))
"Hmmmmm," Hal said, looking at the writing on the wall. "I think it's some sort of riddle, but. . ."
Ugh. Didn't he already have enough complicated problems to sort out?
"Woooo boy," Solid said, clutching his head and staggering around a bit. "That was a doozy of a fall."
Solid shook his head as though doing so would actally help, of course all these theatrics served a purpose, letting his allies know what was wrong and giving him enough time to identify and repair any damages.
"So, uh," he said once he had oriented on the writing on the wall. "What the [censored]? Why are we in a cell, a Council prison cell no less, and why is there a riddle on the wall? Why don't we just blow the door open? Why the hell am I talking instead of blowing the door open?"
Answering his own question, Solid strode over to the door and started beating on its hinges, his fists overcharged with electricity. After about twenty fruitless seconds of this, Solid pulled away and looked back over at the writing.
"Right then, evil genius's trap. First objective: Solve the riddle. Did the guy, uh, use a straw?"
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
That fall had happened far too quickly. No time to even activate his flight thrusters. And now we're in some kind of trap, Solar Freeze thought. Calmly walking over to the wall with the riddle written on it, he proceeded to read it over slowly, a few times.
"Maybe some water leaked through the cracks at the bottom and sides of the door," he said. Probably not the solution, but it could be a start.
Coldfire had fallen directly through the floor. Hadn't even thought to activate hover.
"Dammit, that was a stupid thing to forget..." Coldfire said as he stood and looked over at the writing on the wall, "They had to let him out some time."
The first thing to chime into Coldfire's mind was the obvious solution. No, that wasn't right. It was TOO easy.
"No...a hidden passageway?" Coldfire said scratching his head looking around the room, "Anyone got a way of finding something like that?"
"I do, and I can assure you. These walls are seamless." Cali sighed and she sat up holding her head. A falling peice of rubble had cluncked her on her head, otherwise she would've been able to start hovering insteed of falling into the trap with dazidly.
Her senses told her the hellion was still with them so she tapped the man's vital energy and spread it around the room, healing herself and everyone else up before another wave refreashed everyone.
"Ok, now that the small details are taken care of, what's this riddle you all are talking about? I can't see anything except the surface of the walls."
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
Coldfire ignited his hand and moved it closer to the writing. It baffled him. He WAS a scientist and one point. A genius. Why couldn't he figure this out.
"God I hate riddles..." Coldfire sighed as he racked his brain thinking, "What did he drink his own piss or something?"
Vulgar as that sounded, Coldfire took it seriously. He didn't think that was it though. The claustrophobia was setting in and was agitating him. Thinking about the riddle wasn't helping either. Coldfire liked to solve things with brute force. This was just an annoyance. When he got out of here, he was going to fry the fools he inprisoned them.
The Journey Man had somehow managed to snap some fantastic photos of the fall, but was feeling dazed as he got up again, taking pictues of the agitated heroes. Best part about a digital camera this nice: it could take thousands.
He examined the riddle, snapping some clear pictures of that as well before sitting back and watching as the heroes thought everything out. He took a small notebook and pen out of his pocket, writing down their suggestions.
"Maybe," the photojournalist piped up, "The door is locked from the inside, or the key is in the room." he suggested.
"Or maybe he had a very long straw." he mused to himself with a smile.
With the flash from the camera, Coldfire turned to the camera man. As his eyebrows dropped, Coldfire gave the man an evil look and walked toward him. As he looked up at the ominous hero, Coldfire could tell he was not afraid. Working under these conditions had obviously trained him well.
"Delete any pictures you have of me. NOW." Coldfire said to the man, "I don't care about rights, you will delete those pictures, I have no qualms about killing you."
Coldfire didn't trust the press and he knew that any reports on him would garter more trouble form the Freedom Phalanx and the persistant idiot Statesman.
"I'm serious."
((Violent, yes. But it is relavent.))
((OOC: The camera doesn't flash much, he tries his best not to effect the goings-on in any fashion, and flashes would definantly ruin a lot of the reality by drawing attention to Journey Man.))
The Journey Man shrugged. "Sorry, it's my duty as a member of the press to report the happenings and goings on fo the city, but if you'd really like to be left out, I could blur you and omit your name." he explained without really seeming at all concerned. "No need to get angry, buddy, I'm just doing my civil duty here."
((Ah, understood.))
"Just keep me out of it and we don't have a problem." Coldfire said turning back to the important matter at hand.
He made a big deal over that. It was bound to make the others suspicious of him. They probably had already heard about him and his unheroic actions. Thinking hard, Coldfire focused on the riddle. The image of it burnt into his mind.
"How...how...dammit..." Coldfire mummbled to himself as he leaned against a wall and began rubbing his eyes.
Jail cell. No way out. No water. Food. Water in other cell. How. How?! Coldfire's mind was racing for a solution.
"Where are the Mythbusters when you need them..." Coldfire said thinking about the previous nights episode.
"Hmmm... Condensation? Rust? Definitely no teleportation or incorporeality..." Solar Freeze was in the middle of rattling off ideas when he heard Cali claim to not be able to "see" the riddle. "There's a riddle written on the wall. 'A man is locked into a Prison Cell seven years. His only access to water was in the room next to him. A thick iron door stood between him and the water. Yet the man managed to survive his sentence. The Gaurds Never gave him water, only food and he had no tools to make a hole in the door or wall. How did he survive?' Now, it never says he doesn't bypass the door, but that would be the obvious way. I'm thinking the solution ignores the door completely."
"Well," said Hallucinogen, "It never says the guards aren't willing to open the door. This is probably silly, but. . . maybe we should just ask to be let out."
"Interesting. Perhaps there was a window or other opening?" Cali mussed, tapping her chin. with one hand while her other toyed with the police badge hanging from her belt.
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
Solar Freeze turned to Hallucinogen with a start. "Now that's an idea that I hadn't considered. It may not be the solution, but considering our situation, I don't think we can ignore any possibility, no matter how remote..." Walking over to the door (OOC: Assuming this cell has one... I don't see that good of a description anywhere...) Solar Freeze states simply, "May we please be let out?"
Hermod sighed as th presistant camera man made himself a nucience. The bottom floor seemed rather clear and he had put out all the fires he could find. The building seemed to be cooling downing, maybe it was his imagination. He let out a blast of Artic wind at another fire as he climbed the stairwell. There didn't seem to be many Hellions left. So all that was left was getting the last few, smothering a few more fires and finding out what the Hellions were up too. Hermod opened a door and found the rest of the heroes. "Just slacking off in here?" He asked looking around.