Efranof quickly turned to the television as it flickered. "Damn thing, never get a good reception h-" he was stopped as the screen started to change, he frowned, "Mechano again?" But his thoughts were taken when the song played, when the figure on the screen stepped back, his hand tightened, his heart in his throat.
He watched on, suiting up in his body armour, grabbing whatever weapons were at hand and concealing them within his protective costume. Then the hostages came on screen, he gripped his Katana as the crazed villain sat between the couple, his eyes darkening and an eerie black mist filling the room.
He carried on watching, all up to the point that Mr Maniacle said his location. His stare towards the television caused the screen to crack before the ending, he fell back into the ground, disappearing in the darkness, only to appear in Kings Row to start the manhunt.
I am the Blaster, I have filled the role of Tank, Controller and Defender
Sometimes all at once.
Union EU player! Pip pip, tally ho, top hats and tea etc etc
Having seen the broadcast, ex-supersoldier Pious Hunter of the New Heroes Union sped through the skies of Kings Row frantically searching along the co-ordinates he'd acquired. With a mighty thud, he lands outside the warehouse and checks the surroundings for open traps. He notices a shadowy man nearby and his memory suggests it could be the hero known as Efranof. He quickly approaches and introduces himself. "Afternoon, I'm Pious Hunter of the NHU responding to a hostage situation, possibly inside this warehouse. Are you Efranof?"
A swat van drove through some nearby gates and skidded to a spinning halt behind the two heroes, its doors were flung open and ten Longbow soldiers jumped out of the back of the van followed by the Hero known as Captain Fireflash. He said to the sergeant of the longbow soldiers, "Stay here, keep this place covered, we have a real psycho here, don't want you guys rushing in, just keep it covered guys".
He adjusted his mask and cracked hios knuckles before he saluted the other two heroes respectfully and approached slowly. He approached slowly just to make sure they really were heroes and not some of this nut jobs friends, and he said in a professional soldier sounding voice, "You guys think this is the place too then? So whats the plan on entering? This guy will probably be a slippery charecter".
The end is just a new beginning, Goodbye all my coh friends and even the enemies, its been a blast I will miss you all. Thank you Paragon team, you gave me a home from home I will always appriciate it.
Efranof grunted at Pious Hunter, "Yeah. In here you say?" he pointed to the warehouse. Without checking, he takes a charge for the door the kicks it down, drawing his sword he looked around. From the black mist came several tendrils, enveloping the entrance as he walked through, an aura of fear and pain seeping from the darkness.
I am the Blaster, I have filled the role of Tank, Controller and Defender
Sometimes all at once.
Union EU player! Pip pip, tally ho, top hats and tea etc etc
((Ninja'd >_>
)
A young woman appeared on the roof of the van in a flash of light, her tiny black wings holding her feet mere inches from its surface. This was Momo Serizawa, and she looked disturbingly furious. The winged girl then hovered forward briefly, ending her short 'flight' as soon as she was clear of the van and landing with the faint clicking of her own boots against the road.
"I take it you nutbars are after this creep, too?" Momo asked as she began her approach toward the others, her left fist suddenly bursting into flames as she clenched it.
Sam: "My mind is a swirling miasma of scintillating thoughts and turgid ideas."
Max: "Me too."
Stuff
The door splintered, cracked and crashed to the floor, smashed off its hinges.
Light poured in through the door, showing what lay just beyond: a small group of gang members, mostly from the Hellions, though some Skulls and Outcasts also, maybe 15 at the most, tightly packed, shoulder to shoulder across the corridor. Each carried some kind of firearm.
"Alright..." A voice came from behind the line, a Damned Hellion stepping forward, his fists burning slowly.
"The maniac said he'd pay us double if we last longer than 10 minutes. So let's do it."
@Crius
Bassai, Canadian Kid, Alruna, Kahi
Mistress Rad, Culpeo, Ms. Demeanor, Celsius
If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do. Let's go to work.
She was back in Paragon, heavy sunglasses and summer bonnet providing enough of a disguise to get her bussed back into the city, after all who pays attention to kids in a city full of demons and demigods?
The girl known to the lower ranks of the underworld of criminals across the world, as Tomb was in a restaurant that also served as a bar. She was eating a children meal, hamburger and fries it didn't come with a toy but it did come with a coke, in the bathroom was her chaperon a member of the Hellions meant to prove that they were worth joining the store, was in the bathroom. He'd found her presence somewhat unnerving and had thus ordered several beers Tomb casually ate a fry and sipped her coke. The TV flickered, the band singing about getting a cape and flying were knocked off by the static, the hostages appeared then Mr Maniacal and his little spiel about the warehouse. The fry fell uneaten from the girls mouth, the coke was forgotten as was her chaperon in the bathroom .
Eyes shinning with mischief the girl says in a breathy tone
I don't know who you are mister but I [censored] love you!
Brawling Cactus from a distant planet.
Momo stormed over to the door Efranof booted down, pressing herself against the wall.
"Hey, numbnuts," she asked as she summoned her bow from the flames engulfing her fist. "Does the word 'stealth' mean anything to you? I mean, that would have totally worked in our favour right now, you know?" With her other hand a small column of fire spouted from her hand, eventually dispersing to reveal the arrow she needed for her weapon of choice.
Sam: "My mind is a swirling miasma of scintillating thoughts and turgid ideas."
Max: "Me too."
Stuff
Ef pulled a grenade from his top and just threw it into the group of gang members, turning around and walking out as it went off.
He looked around to the Heroes and fell into the ground as a black mist, in the distance he could be seen jumping from rooftop to rooftop, cursing loudly.
I am the Blaster, I have filled the role of Tank, Controller and Defender
Sometimes all at once.
Union EU player! Pip pip, tally ho, top hats and tea etc etc
Momo just... dropped everything in shock at Efranof's actions. Even her jaw. She's never -ever- seen a so-called 'hero' pull something like that in this sort of situation.
"Wh... wha... what the hell did he just do?"
The young hero then shook her head before cautiously leaning toward the doorway, dreading what she'd find left from the blast during her quick peek in.
Sam: "My mind is a swirling miasma of scintillating thoughts and turgid ideas."
Max: "Me too."
Stuff
The Damned picked himself up out of the remains of the crate he'd been blown into.
His feet stumbled as he rose, his stance much less steady than before. He shook his head sharply, looking around the dusty corridor at what was left of the human shield he was stood behind: a sight that could be considered worse than what Mr Maniacal had broadcast. He clenched his fists once more, stumbling a little as his hands ignited.
"I'm...gonna get...my money..."
----------------------------------------------------------
Deeper within the factory, Mr Maniacal had retaken his seat between the young, bound couple.
He grinned to himself, adjusting his goggles with one hand as he hugged the girl close with the other.
"It's begun, darling. This is gonna be so much fun."
@Crius
Bassai, Canadian Kid, Alruna, Kahi
Mistress Rad, Culpeo, Ms. Demeanor, Celsius
If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do. Let's go to work.
Captain fireflash sighed, "Ok we just kick the door down I get it". He slowly walked over the shattered remains of the door after the grneade explosion had gone off. He looked around a bit, "Oh nice, clean up squad time".
He snook down the corridor and hid around a corner seeing if any of the gang members had survived before charging in and gaining a few extra holes.
The end is just a new beginning, Goodbye all my coh friends and even the enemies, its been a blast I will miss you all. Thank you Paragon team, you gave me a home from home I will always appriciate it.
Around the back of the warehouse, Ef had found another way in, albeit a few things had been broken to gain access. He crept along a narrow beam in the roof of the warehouse, now grabbing a gun, listening for any sign of Mr Maniacal.
I am the Blaster, I have filled the role of Tank, Controller and Defender
Sometimes all at once.
Union EU player! Pip pip, tally ho, top hats and tea etc etc
Captain fireflash had spotted the damned making a run for it, he was tempted to shoot him in the back with a few fireballs but the boss wouldn't approve of that. Becides this way he could follow this guy back to the Nutjob in charge of this little show, he decided to go it alone, he didn't want to loose any men. He made his way into the warehouse depths sneaking down the corridor as quietly as he could.
The end is just a new beginning, Goodbye all my coh friends and even the enemies, its been a blast I will miss you all. Thank you Paragon team, you gave me a home from home I will always appriciate it.
Ed touched down on the ground, switching off his rocket boots as the bots clanked down behind him. He flexed his new cybernetic arm, far less cumbersome than his original and glowered at the building.
"If there's something I hate...it's a copy cat...steal my Modus Operandi will he?! I cannot stand for this, yes it may be a different approach a more injection of fear rather than the sowing of chaos but still Kings Row is MY patch and it's from there my plans of chaos all stem. What good is having a secret lair within the city if this nutjob brings all the heroes down on the area like a ton of bricks looking for a warehouse and mistake his for my own little haven?!"
Edward cracked his knuckles, "kids...fire in the hole..."
The robots opened fire at the side of the warehouse, Edward was making his own entrance into this place, rockets, plasma blasts and one focused bolt of energy blew a large hole into the side of the warehouse, the hunks of concrete and steel showering anything unfortunate enough to be caught in the blast area.
Edward turned to his assembled team of bots, "alright...no doubt there's going to be some kind of booby traps, hired goons and death machines, I mean it's what I would do if I was a more classically inclinded villain, use hostages and lure the heroes into their slow, inevitable defeat...so, weapons primed, shoot anything that moves..."
"So what do we do about this guy?"
"We tell him to take his business out of Kings Row, I don't care where he takes it, he could take it to the Nazi's on the Moon for all I care but not in MY neighbourhood, especially this close to MY Paragonian lair..."
Edward raised his shields and stepped through the breach, his robotic 'children' following close behind him.
Badge Earned: Wing Clipper
A real showstopper!
As Calm landed, she scanned the surroundings and saw the fallen hellions and the shattered door.
"Well I guess I'm in the right place. No rest for the wicked." She spoke to no-one in particular as she made her way over to the building.
@Wild Red
"In the Rogue Isles, loyalty goes to the highest bidder." Wild Red
Pious shielded himself behind a wooden crate as bits of wood and debris came flying by. He peered above and could not believe what he was looking at. An army of machines had attacked the building, commanded by Doctor Mechano himself. "What on Earth is going on here?" he asked himself. "Hey!" he screamed, trying to get the machinist's attention.
Captain fireflash continued to follow the damned deeper into the warehouse, he heard over his intercom that Edward had arrived and was attacking the warehouse. His men had stuck to his orders and mvoed away from all this, that was a good thing but it made his possition rather troubling, "Oh this is just fantastic i'm the filling of a villain sandwhich". he whispered a bit of worry was in his voice but he was suprised not more worry was there, then a line to a song came to his mind and he smiled a bit under his mask as he whispered, "Clowns to the left of me and jokers to the right and I'm stuck in the middle with you". He looked at the hellion as he finished the line to that song, today was just getting better and better, he thought to himself sarcastically.
The end is just a new beginning, Goodbye all my coh friends and even the enemies, its been a blast I will miss you all. Thank you Paragon team, you gave me a home from home I will always appriciate it.
Earlier,
Headphones on listening to heavy metal and watching TV Holly seemed quite content till the television flickered disrupting her favourite show, "Goddamnit" she sighed giving the cheap television a batter and then the broadcast appeared, ".......Can't you see how much FUN we're gonna have?!", Mr. Manical's speech ended leaving Holly in shock.
Soon after the TV got back to the normal broadcast but the young legless red-head looked to her equipment, starting to attach her cybernetic legs and power gloves. It was at that point she heard a loud explosion and police sirens coming from the east of her Kings Row apartment, "Holy [censored]" she exclaimed looking in awe out of the window, it made her hurry her pace finally ready she bursted out of the apartment door.
---
Now,
Minutes later leaping from rooftop to rooftop at superspeeds she watched from a ledge nearby, Doctor Mechano's machines stood out the most followed by Longbow and a few Heroes nearby the warehouse.
In a brave and possibly stupid move she leapt from an apartment rooftop to the thin roof with a painfully loud metal clang, she had underestimated the weight of her highly flammable fuel-filled cybernetic legs. Hitting the thin roof she fell straight through crashing down to the cold concrete floor of the warehouse seemingly in the very center of the place, she hadn't quite opened her eyes yet groaning in pain.
The Damned stumbled around another corner, collapsing against a wall to catch his breath. A sharp cough erupted from him, blood coming with it.
He wiped his mouth clean and continued down the corner, turning another corner. A sharp flash of light and noise and he collapsed almost instantly. He'd found Mechano's make-shift entrance.
----------------------------------------------------------
Mr Maniacal leapt from his seat between the couple at the party crasher bursting in through the roof.
He ambled over, twirling a dagger in his hand before crouching down near the red-haired intruder. He grinned and stroked his chin as he looked her up and down before placing a heavy boot on her midriff and pressing down, holding her there.
"Well, well...this party is getting interesting" he whispered, gently tapping the dagger against one of Holly's lip piercings. Reaching into his jacket, he produced a roll of duct tape before turning Holly over and taping her hands and legs.
He stood, taking a few seconds to admire his handiwork before he heard the commotion erupting further down in the depths of the warehouse.
"Not long now till they finally get here...they're gonna love my party gifts!"
@Crius
Bassai, Canadian Kid, Alruna, Kahi
Mistress Rad, Culpeo, Ms. Demeanor, Celsius
If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do. Let's go to work.
From the cluttered roof top Justice Deliveress took in the unfolding events around the warehose ...keeping well hidden he circled anticlock wise , his feathered wing carrying him from roof to roof , mumbling some strange incantation to himself he noted the various arriving of the heroes and Edward...
Halting he pulled a faintly glowing blues gemstone from a belt pouch ....." yes as you forsaw they gather like vultures ...no there is no risk ..."
with care to remain out of sight JD awaited developments ....
Poor preparation seemingly led to Holly's current predicament, her power gloves weren't charged, and her igniters were faulty leaving her powerless. She had a handy baseball bat for these kind of situations, but she was unable to unsheath it from her back and the madman would no doubt see the weapon.
The noise in the warehouse was getting louder as Heroes ventured deeper in, the steaks were a little higher now that Mr Manical had an extra hostage, a licensed Hero from the Militia at that. The 20-something year old looked around the room best she could, trying to size-up the situation, aswell a possible soloution, she never gave up hope but prayed fellow Heroes would make it before the psychopath grew impatient.
Amid the chaos, Momo teleported her bow and arrow back to her own hands and dashed into the warehouse after Fireflash.
"Oh, this is just -not- gonna be one of my better days, is it?" Momo snarled, aiming ahead of her as she pushed onward.
Sam: "My mind is a swirling miasma of scintillating thoughts and turgid ideas."
Max: "Me too."
Stuff
Efranof hopped from beam to beam, peeking into the room below now and again, then he heard the crash. He ran, still holding the gun in one hand. He looked through a small crack in the roof to see Mr Maniacal bind the Hero. Aiming and waiting for him to move away from the hostages, he waited for a good oppertunity to fire a killing shot.
I am the Blaster, I have filled the role of Tank, Controller and Defender
Sometimes all at once.
Union EU player! Pip pip, tally ho, top hats and tea etc etc
((Warning: This could probably be classed as pretty disturbing to some. Violent to others. But I wanted to give this a go, with a very tangible, real villain that could cause some real reactions from people.))
If you have any ideas/suggestions/other, feel free to PM. Is my first time, after all))
((Another disclaimer: I have no 'real' plan. I have ideas, and I know kinda what I want to happen. But I also want this to be more about reactions rather than being all laid out. The character involved is not really methodical and will probably rub lots of people up the wrong way, but that's the idea
The television sets across Paragon City began to flicker. The screens gradually changed from the regular broadcasts to something entirely different. Something that looked like a regular warehouse interior.
The first few bars of Mr Bungle's Quote Unquote would be instantly recognisable to anyone who had heard the song before. It bellowed out through speakers across the city district.
The first lines of the song slowly echoed out, followed on screen by a shadowy figure, miming along with the words directly to the camera.
"All behold the spectacle
A fleshy limbless rectangle
Sitting on a pedestal"
He slowly backpedalled away from the camera, revealing what the song described. Switchboards across the city instantly became inundated with complaint calls, while heroes sat up and began to take notice.
The figure drew close to the camera once more as the music died down, the man's murky goggles filling up the entire screen as he began speaking.
"Paragon City..." he slurred, seeming almost drunk. Or on drugs. But neither was the truth.
"You know, for too long, I've been sat there in the "Etoile Isles"". His words were spoke with an underlying current of menace, especially over the place he mentioned.
The goggles drew back from the screen, the mans lips instead becoming the focus of the camera.
"That place is bad...but it's nothing compared to you lot."
The camera panned to the right, focusing on 6 people sat against a wall. Tied, hands and feet, each with what seemed like a roll of duct tape around their mouths.
Their eyes were filled with fear and their bodies squirmed as the man drew nearer and crouched down, his gloved hand reaching out and stroking the face of the nearest hostage, what looked to be a 19 or 20 year old female student. His lips curled in a grin as he spoke to her, instead of the camera.
"Well, most of you anyway."
He stood up and walked along the line. The student was first, followed by a typical looking businessman. Suit, tie, looked to be mid 30s. His suitcase lay next to him.
Next in line, a female in her late 30s, or early 40s. She wore typical 'civilian' clothes, though a badge on her shirt suggested she was a store assistant.
The next, another female, mid 20s. Dressed in a nurses outfit, she looked every man's dream. The leather clad figure menacingly stepped over her bound legs, staring down at her as he continued down the line.
The final two figures were the most scared, and it could easily be seen why. They were both young, likely late teens. The way the young man kept staring at the girl bound next to him gave the clues away instantly: the two were young lovers.
Trenchcoat flapping, the frightening man pushed and squeezed himself between the two, sitting in the same position they were, legs outstretched. He stretched his arms around the two, hugging them close, their muffled screams easily heard.
"The people where I come from...they're boring to hurt. They all have this...I dunno...misguided sense of loyalty. You torture one of those 'Family' goons, and all he's gonna give you is a spit in the face, 'cause he thinks his boss will be proud of him."
A gloved hand reached inside his jacket, and it appeared again brandishing a large dagger, plain...but obviously worn. He gently stroked the cheek of the teen girl with the flat of the blade before turning back to the camera.
"But you torture these people...people with a life. People with a job. People with friends..."
He looked at the young boy to his right again and smiled, before turning to the girl, licking his lips.
"...people with a love. And well...it's just so much more FUN!"
With the word, he jumped up, knocking the girl over on to her side, unable to do anything but lay there. The goggles again forced their way into the camera lens, the man's glazed eyes vaguely visible beneath them.
"I'm Mr Maniacal. May have heard of me, probably not...but that's what I'm here to change!"
He laughed and stepped back, opening his coat as he did, his free hand grabbing another dagger. Stepping back across to the girl, he lifted her back up into a sitting position.
"These six people..." He said as he walked his way down the line, one of his daggers slapping each in the face as he went past.
"...well, seven. If you count that one." He grinned, pointing off camera to the macabre remains that graced the start of the 'broadcast'.
"These seven people...you probably don't know them either. But it's you heroes...the ones this city is famous for...that I find so entertaining. It's you that made me come over here."
He paced back and forth, skipping ever so slightly with some steps, clearly excited like a child gets over the promise of sweets.
"You're all 'selfless' right? So you'd risk your lives for these people...these six people. People who, let's face it...are pretty worthless, in the grand scheme of things."
Stepping close to the camera, the man addressed his watchers.
"But whatever...I'm in a warehouse, you can probably tell by now. And I'll narrow it down for you too...Kings Row."
Pushing the camera back a little, he stepped to the side and stood in shot, with the 6 people sat down behind him.
"So, come find my little party, and we'll have a great time. I mean, look...look at their faces..."
The camera was picked up and moved in close, taking a slow pan across of each of the terrified pairs of eyes, before being turned around to focus on the image of the goggled man beaming brightly.
"Can't you see how much FUN we're gonna have?!"
With another menacing laugh, a knife was thrust into the camera lens, the image on the televisions turning to static before slowly filtering back to their scheduled programs.
@Crius
Bassai, Canadian Kid, Alruna, Kahi
Mistress Rad, Culpeo, Ms. Demeanor, Celsius
If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do. Let's go to work.