"'ere, ya knows dat Mary gal from da ki'chins on the corner?"
"tha' smiley one, always treats us wi' decency?"
"Yer, tha's da one, well she's askin' dat we get ev'ryone to sign summat"
"you wha?"
"Yeah, s'truth. Some petition fing. Say's its important"
Overheard in various forms all over the East End of Kings Row from the homeless.
http://www.savecoh.com/
(( The below post would be common knowledge to anyone. Villians and Heroes, as it was broadcasted across most major TV networks and some Radio stations. Atleast from the part where the fight spills into the streets. The post describes the event happening in Port Oakes nearby the Arena. ))
"For our Lady!" Called Lazarus, the lead grave knight, as he rushed forward to attack Frederick. The other undead followed closely beind him.
"Lazarus - no! It's Frederick!"
The sword swung towards Riot with deadly force, but the giant caught the zombies wrist in one hand and twisted, snapping old bone and turning the hang back on itself at an odd angle. He pushed, the sword driving into Lazarus' chest, still held by the zombies dead hand. He pushed and the grave knight fell backwards. One of the lesser zombies launched itself forward, hissing at Freddy who backhanded it across the face, tearing its jaw loose and collapsing the skull.
"Frederick, please! Why are you doing this!?" Sarah screamed, watching him crush the head of another zombie with one hand as if it were little more than a grape.
The last lesser zombie lunged towards Riot and was met with his massive boot. The kick exploded against the undead's chest, crushing the chest cavity. Freddy shook the zombie off his foot and and turned his attention to the last grave knight. It rushed forward and lunged with the sword. It contacted with Freddy's stomach, and snapped jaggedly in half. Silently he lashed out with his big hand and grabbed its neck, lifting it up into the air and grabbing its waist with his other hand, crushing the bones until he had his hand circled around the whole waist. Then he snapped the zombie in two, armour cracking and its spine breaking apart. He tossed it aside like a ragdoll and turned to Sarah, that endless grin on his face.
"Frederick, this isn't you, you're being controlled, I know you are." Sarah babbled, backing up against the wall. "But you can fight it, you have to fight it! I won't fight my brother, I can't!"
She screamed as he ran towards her, drawing his fist back and rocketing it towards her. One punch from this behemoth would destroy her. Some deep, instinctive part of her soul and mind reached out to her arcane power, summoning up a shield of dark energies. There was no skill involved, this was a manifestation of pure survival instinct.
The damage of Freddy's fist expended on the shield, but Sarah still felt the force of it. She flew backwards, and once again manifested enough will to explode the wall out behind her before she slammed into it. Rubble sprayed out into the street in Port Oakes, just a little away from the arena. Sarah flipped and twirled out of the hole in the building as if caught by the wind before she managed to steady herself, levitating over the street.
Laugh Riot roared at her, a deep sound that was more animal than human. He crouched in her apartment then leapt from the hole in the building, flying through the air towards Sarah. She watched him soar towards her, hands reached out to hurt her. She steeled herself against her feelings and held her arms out, splaying her fingers and then whipping her arms to the side.
Her telekinesis caught Freddy in the air and changed his course, throwing him down towards the earth. He slammed into a parked car, crushing it into the pavement and smashing all of its windows with the impact. The alarm went haywire, but Freddy wasn't even phased by the collision. He was already picking himself back up.
"Frederick, I don't want to fight you!" Sarah called out, descending closer to street level still clad in her nightdress. Some people were staying to watch from places of cover, others were wise enough to run. Confrontations like this were common enough in the Isles, but they could still draw a crowd.
Laugh Riot stood up and grabbed the back of the car in both hands, sinking his fingers into the metal. He lifted and threw it up into the air effortlessly, the vehicle somersaulting its way towards Sarah. She turned in the air and pushed a hand out, the car turning ninety degree's in the air and slamming into the side of an estate agents instead. Dropping herself down to the street Sarah stood with as much dignity as she could muster, staring at her brother.
"Frederick... Freddy?"
"Come now little sparrow, this is the price you pay for not fulfilling our contract! I will collect my payment from your corpse, if that is what it takes!" Freddy called out, his usually clear, jovial voice somehow rougher.
Sarah watched him walk purposefully towards her with his broad strides, hands forged into fists. Her beautiful brother, full of spirit. Always refusing to give up no matter what the situation, loyal to a fault. Loyal, always loyal. She quickly wiped a tear from her eye, ashamed that this monster could make her cry.
"You are not my brother. I will not hesitate to harm you a second time." She said proudly. But somewhere deep inside of herself, she apologised to the brother she had only found again so recently.
Laugh Riot roared that beastly roar again and charged towards her with his feet booming off of the pavement. Sarah - Nightblood - raised her hands to her temples and focused. She flexed that muscle that she had always had, that which had always been the strongest part of her. She attacked her brother's mind, stimulating pain centre's in his brain and torturing his psyche with the things of which he was most afraid. She manipulated his thoughts to turn him away from harming her, to bring him back to who he was. All this she did in seconds with the power that only ambition can develop.
And accomplished nothing. Frederick kept running towards her, covering the distance too quickly. Too late she tried to levitate herself backwards, his right hand grabbed the hem of her nightdress. She pushed herself up and away from him as hard as she could, a huge chunk of her nightdress tearing free at the bottom, exposing her legs to halfway up her thighs. Sarah flew up and away, heedless of the view up her now considerably less modest nightdress she might be giving any spectator's. It dawned on her that the man she fought was using her brother like a suit of armour, manipulating it to his ends while Frederick himself was pushed to the side. Attacking her brothers mind only hurt her brothers mind, it wouldn't stop the man controlling his body.
She was suddenly angry, so angry that this man would destroy her life so. He had taken so much from her and now all he wanted was more. The feelings were welling up in her. All she had ever wanted was to live her life in peace but she had never been allowed. The hospital had stolen the best years of her life, and finally, finally she had resolved that as best as she could ever hope to. And now that she had tried to fix something else this... this... this ******* was going to ruin it! No! No! No!
Sarah didn't realise she had yelled out the last part, she was lost in the explosion of light that issued from her body, the purple energy swirling out from her eyes and exploding with flashes of light. Flinging her arms out to either side that same purple light issued from her hands, surrounding them like gauntlets. It continued across her, forming a transparent purple armour that overlapped like the scales of a snake. She flexed her hands, the gauntlets revealing claws as large as knives. Sarah shone in the sky, her power no longer forced out towards the mind of others, but suddenly turned inwards. She reinforced herself in every way she could, making herself stronger, faster, tougher.
"A pretty show, little sparrow!" The man in Riot's skin called up to her. "But it will not help you!"
Sarah turned her burning sight down towards him and tilting her head. She spoke slowly, every word dripping with psychic venom and power. "How funny." She intoned. "Because I don't need your help anymore. Finally, I am going to help myself!"
She plummeted down towards him, her arms out in front of her with psychic claws extended. Riot threw his fist forwards to meet her, the strength of his fist meeting Sarah's psychic aura. The fingers in his right hand broke instantly and he was driven down onto his back. The pavement beneath him buckled and spread out in a web of cracks as Sarah landed on top of him, lashing out with the strength of her mind manifeste physically. The claws ripped at his chest, tearing open his shirt. But Freddy was tougher than he was strong and he rolled, using his weight to push Nightblood down. It was his turn and he pummelled her mercilesslly, slamming his fists down over and over against her armour, each time causing a flash of purple sparks.
Lifting both hands ove his hand he brought them down with force against the chest of his sisters armour, causing another flash. Sarah screamed out in pain and repelled at him, sending him flying backwards. He landed on his feet and stumbled back a step or two before regaining his balance and moving back towards her, but by this time she was on her feet again. She ran towards him, slashing through the air with her psychic claws.
"Give me back my brother, Dealbreaker!" She spat the words out, so furious she was nearly berserk.
This time the claws sunk into Freddy's chest, leaving long shallow gashes that bled profusely. He tried to fight back but once again found his blows bouncing off of her etheral armour. She struck at his face, smashing one of the lenses of his goggles. A green eye showed through, but it had no emotion. There was no feeling there, no laughter, no love for a sister. It just made Sarah angrier.
Freddy kept fighting against her attacks, driving his fists against her armour. Beneath it bruises were beginning to show up on her skin. No armour, no matter how strong, could protect someone entirely from Freddy's strength. They battled back and forth, Sarah almost always having the advantage. But it didn't take long for the entity controlling Freddy to realise that no matter how much stronger Sarah had suddenly become, she was still as light as a feather. She was slammed into the ground, tossed up in the air and thrown against buildings. Freddy was cut open with claws and smashed around with fists forged by Sarah's mind. By the time the fight drew to a close, almost an hour after its beginning, it was already being widely broadcasted.
Frederick swayed groggily on his feet, taking a drunken step forwards before Sarah launched one last attack, her purple gauntlet striking upwards and catching Frederick under his chin. His head shot backwards and he stood still for a moment before topppling slowly backwards, crashing back onto the ruined street. A rush of cold air swept by, and Sarah felt the alien presence leave its battered shell.
Sarah stood there for a moment, light shining off her strangely crafted armour. And then she had nothing else left. The armour suddenly vanished, the gauntlets faded from existence and she collapsed forward, falling exhausted on top her brother.
"Frederick... I'm so sorry..." She whispered, hoping somehow he could hear her. She buried her face in her brothers chest and sobbed quietly, broken.
(( Posted on Behalf of Synthet/Riot/Nightblood 
))
I've just removed a section of this thread, as I was concerned that it was heading in an unpleasant direction.
Let's try to focus on the point of the thread, rather than discussions of what constitutes a rumour. If you don't like someone's idea or the way it's presented, you're under no obligation to incorporate it into your own play.
(( Written by Nightsparrow ))
Today among the headlines there are several about how Aria a.k.a. Keening Banshee was found by a Subaiku, a member of the Silent Tempest, in half dead condition. She was immediately hospitalized in Independence Port hospital and transfered to a ward for magical and transdimensional beings.
Her condition is serious and it seems that she suffered severe injuries as a result of an attack. Unfortunately true extent of her injuries are not easy to discern because all technology malfunctioned around her or is giving erroneous and impossible readings as literally having butterflies in her belly or that she is actually made of sponge (second readings showed that she is a woolly mammoth with forest instead of internal organs after which the hospital gave up on medical scans). Several magical healers were called to assist in the treatment.
The Militia was immediately and fully informed about this.
"Have you seen Miss Teen's website? It says she's giving up showbiz and the endorsements to concentrate on her education."
"Well I heard she's just throwing a hissy fit because they announced Lindsay Lohan was playing her in the movie and she had her heart set on Hilary Duff."
An overheard converstation between teenage girls over skinny lattes at a sidewalk cafe in Founders Falls.
@Romanov
Nadja Romanov, Lily Pink, Little Death - The Cadre
Estoque, Bastinado, Spidermonkey, Chic Doyle - The Militia
Miss Teen, Dead Reckoner, Dee Dee Diablo, Kaneko
"OH DEAR GOD! I... yuck! Isaac, you've got to get the cleaners in the ladies toilets, there's like a... rodent skeleton in one of the toilet basins!"
- A shrill woman in Pocket D last night, complaining to bartender Isaac.
"Yes, I would have done my shopping last night, but there were those creapy mages outside that jewellerey store near my building! They hardly ever come that close, so I wasn't going to risk it for groceries!"
Comments made rather loudly by a woman at a supermarket in Port Oaks, near the hospital.
Edit: it was this Wednesday morning
@ShadowGhost & @Ghostie
The Grav Mistress, Mistress of Gravity
If you have nothing useful to say, you have two choices: Say something useless or stay quiet.
"Hey Sandra you hear that Britanic and that White Vampyr got engaged last night here in the club?"
"You serious Tracy?"
"Yeah apparently she asked him first and he said no, but before he could break her heart he morphs his costume into a tux, drops to one knee, whips out the mother of all rocks, and pops the question himself."
"Wow thats really sweet,...but annoying though."
"Whys that?"
"One less rich guy on the open market. We need to go check check our make up."
---
Conversation between Sandra and Tracy, Pocket D regulars!
"Looks like that Roseline Thorne girl is dead then" - Comments made by numerous smarter readers of the Rogue Island newspapers while seeking job opportunities and seeing a certain ad.
http://www.savecoh.com/
"I haven't seen that half snake come out of her building lately..."
"Probably shedding again. Some guy ticked her off when she was shedding one."
"Oh? What happened to him?"
"Do you know what 'Defenstrated' means?"
"Ouch..."
-Two blue collar workers talking in Port Oakes-
-----------------------------------------------
"Daymn! Dat girl's catchin' rays naked again!"
"What? Get the camera or something!"
"Chica must be mucho loco to do that here!"
-Three minor gang members in Port Oakes, near the hospital.-
"Hey! where you goin,Brian?"
"I gotta get to Portal Co,got some nut in a red coat going back and forth between dimensions!"
"Any idea why?"
"My guess is he is on recon duty,but your guess is as good as mine!"
A conversation by two people on the Boat to Peregrine.
"Did you see that goth with the cowboy hat earlier?"
"The guy boarding the plane to europe?"
"Thats the one, He freaked out when he saw that give blood poster.."
"Prolly some gothic cult thing.."
Conversation heard between two baggage handlers at paragon airport.
"Hey, pay up!"
"Pay up what?"
"The bet we had, some months ago. That hero guy whom the papers said beat up his women."
"What, when... oh you mean that old thing? He's been in papers again, then? With actual proof?"
"No no, but get this. My sister works in Independence Port Bell hospital and she told me that the same guy beat a woman straight to intensive care. She said it was in a nick of time that she was brought in or she would've croaked."
"Eh, are you sure it was that... what's the name... Coile?"
"Sure I'm sure. So, I bet the story was true and that he beats up women for fun, and here we have a woman in hospital beaten up by him. I rest my case."
"Oh hell. Can't really argue with that. What was it, a pint and ten bucks?"
- as talked about the subject by two men on the evening of 27th March in Pocket D, upper hero bar
Polaroid pinned to the Gallows (a place sometimes used by mercs, thieves, and bounty hunter's to advertise their services, and conveniently very close to Mikey the Ear).
Looking for Work!
Devastation in Founders' Falls!
PARAGON TIMES - The evening of 4/4/2007 in Founder's Falls was disturbed by a loud and devastating explosion. The police are as of yet uncertain of the exact chain of events but a a bomb or a series of bombs is suspected.
The explosion devastated the whole topmost floor of the so called Skyclock Tower. Eleven floors below it suffered considerable damage and the whole building was evacuated. It is not yet known how badly the structural integrity of the whole building suffered but the tenants are not allowed to return before the building has been declared safe.
The catastrophe mobilized the fire department, police and a few heroes who made sure that the imminent danger was over. However much of the damage was done immediately after the explosion as rubble rained down accross the Founders' Falls.
The results of the explosion are vast. There are broken windows within eight block radius. The falling rubble dented or outright destroyed at least 43 vehicles. The material damage to the skyscraper itself and to the nearby buildings is extensive.
Unfortunately an upheaval this big is almost certain to cause loss of life, and it was not avoided this time either. Remains of a body were recovered from the destroyed apartment. 72 people in the stories below were killed by collapsing ceilings or walls or the ensuing fire, with 173 more people being injured, 39 of them critically. Two police officers just outside the apartment door were killed while their partner sustained only mild injuries due to being on the street level as the explosion occurred. On the streets below 11 more people were crushed by falling rubble with 53 more being injured. Various other injuries were sustained by people being cut by flying glass shards or in traffic accidents ensuing in the chaos.
There has been no confirmation from official sources but it is suspected that the charred remains in the ground zero belong to Melanie Kraft, resident of the destroyed penthouse. According to the surviving police officer guarding her she was in the apartment fifteen minutes prior to the explosion and she did not leave the apartment in the meantime.
Melanie Kraft was more famous as a vigilante called Nightsparrow due to her ongoing trial. She is survived by her husband Andre Kraft with whom she married earlier this year. Nightsparrow belonged to a supergroup called the Militia.
- Aww man! There's gonna be a murder, a frigging murder.
- So what else is new?
- No I mean for real. You won't believe what I saw last night!
- Try me? I'm not easily fazed.
- You know the rep that Big Lunk has, right? He wants to break your spine, your spine breaks itself just for being scared. Well, last night in Pocket D down at the dancefloor his wife was playing hankypanky with hands with a guy.
- Heh, when you're right you're right. That guy's toast.
- I'm not even at the good part yet! Do you know who the guy was? It was that guy from the papers, the one who put that hero woman in hospital and screws sexbots. Coile's the name. And Echo wasn't enough for him! There was this young jailbait all over him, pink glasses, blond hair. Could be it was just a dressup but I hear that guy likes them young as well.
- Blimey. The minute Lunk hears about it he'll go nuclear.
- Get this, he was there, on the second floor opening and watching it go down. Murder in his eyes. When I got a glimpse of him I almost crapped myself. Zero's rules or no, I didn't stick around to see what goes down.
- I'll bet by tonight that guy will be the year's most colourful crime scene. If not, maybe Lunk's losing his touch.
- I agree. Unless Coile's gone so bad he joins their posse and this was some weird European initiation rites. Damn outlanders, who know about them, right?
...as spoken by two guys in the early evening of 9.4.2007 in Pocket D and the story circulating during the evening in more and more distorting iterations
((Bloody hell man, Coile has so many friggin enemies lately, if that guy wound up dead somewhere, the Police would have their work cut out - mystery of the year "Who killed Coile" and I got almost a dozen suspects.))
[ QUOTE ]
((Bloody hell man, Coile has so many friggin enemies lately, if that guy wound up dead somewhere, the Police would have their work cut out - mystery of the year "Who killed Coile" and I got almost a dozen suspects.))
[/ QUOTE ]
(( Remember these are rumours ))
((Rumours like these are just typical to surround Coile. He has a few haters from Militia and the Gang as well as some in Tempest I think, and I wouldn't be surprised if there are any in Pocket D.))
((To true 
,i know...*gets a calculator*...damn,wont fit on screen 
So far (off the top of my head) theres five Miltia,Two Tempests,hundreds of citizens,the entire kings row community and a cat called whiskers...))
"I heard the oddest conversation last night in Pocket D..."
"Oh? I heard that degenerate Coile was in there with some young blonde."
"Nah, even more disturbing!"
"... even more?"
"Yeah, some people on the top bar were talking about necrophilla... and some of them were all for it! It's sick..."
"... Did you have to tell me this as I was eating a ham roll?"
-Overhead in a cafe in Kings Row between two men this morning.-
"You damn pesky kids, quit leaping off my windowledge! Of all the nerve! Why, back in my day we didn't try and get ourselves killed scaling buildings dressed in leather and capes, and certainly not in the night when some people are trying to sleep! Why, we had more respect for our elders, that's for sure, and let me tell you this, we did without fancy sneakers for running and jumping..."
-The continuing and rambling tirade of an old lady last night, hanging out of her bedroom window in Kings Row cursing at teen superheroes.-
"Hey Martha, you noticed Nene lately?"
"Hard not to, Jerry, she really looks something else with that new skin."
"Well yah, but she's seemed a little down lately... 'specially after that news report about Founders Falls."
"You should have seen her yesterday, Jerry. She just looked baffled most of the time... I'll have a sit down with her at some point."
"Thanks Martha... I worry about her sometimes."
-Prometheus Lake Cafe owner Martha speaking with regular customer Jerry on sunday morning, in Atlas Park.-
"They're really making some work on that Unity Vigil building. I've been seeing Zortel and a load of workers going in and out with equipment and materials."
-A person in Skyway City commented yesterday, gesturing towards a building in the Astral District.-
"That Britanic must of had to lay out a fortune to get Miss Teen to give up Show-biz and come onto his staff."
"What'd ya mean?"
"Says here in the paper he's moving his offices from Founder's to the Row. You don't move your business into the Row unless you really got to, looks like the guy has overspent on his staff budget.
---
Conversation between two men waiting at a bus stop.
((Thanks to Romanov for the Screenie! ))
Hi mate. You'll not believe what I heard yesterday! Remember that bald former hero? Yeah, that Coile dude. Get this, his dead wife is not cold yet and he already got a new woman. *laughs* Although "a woman" is a bit of a stretch here. This girl looks as a schoolgirl and my mate saw them groping in Pocket D. Supposedly it was pretty obscene.
-Part of the conversation between two Pocket D ravers
"Hey, did you see what was happening in Pocket D last night?"
"Do I care?"
"You might, some cop was kicking his heels up with that European villain group."
"A cop? Jeez... that bloody place is a menace... it's going to start making people soft against their threats..."
- Two collegues on the train from Steel Canyon to Independance Port this morning. -
"Hey, is the bathroom clean yet?"
"Yeah, it is now... you hear about that weird [censored] happening there earlier?"
"I was there! That snake lady was blocking the toilets off, and after a few minutes her minions came in with a case, and she headed inside."
"I heard that some green girl ran out of there in tears... and that there was tons of blood on the floor! DJ Zero won't like any fighting happening in there."
"Yeah! They left with the case soon after, and that half-snake freak came out with some blonde woman in black. Blood all over the floor inside."
"I wish they had the PDP back, didn't get their sort in there."
- Women gossping in the early hours of the night in Pocket D. -
"Hey you know that girl White who's usually hanging off that Britanic."
"Yeah I seen her."
"Well it turns out she is the ex-lead singer of the Gothic Undertones, and she faked her death last year."
"No way!"
"Wayy! Not only that she seems to have got herself noticed because of that hero petition thingy and she has gone into hiding again to avoid explaning herself."
"Hmm so she's off the scene right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"That Britanic guy is supposed to be loaded. Help me look beautiful im gonna try land me a rich boyfriend."
-Conversation between two female Pocket D barstaff last night!