PERC Presents: Liberty Tell me a Story Contest

Hey Liberty, I want you to tell me a story!

This is a complete forum based event, but if you so desire you can give me a screenshot of the character you wish to tell me about.

Here are the objectives:

-Pick a character of yours.
-Write the beginning story of that character.
-USE YOUR IMAGINATION, no real life story of how you created them.
-You may not use any slang or internet lingo; unless you are using it in a conversation.
-No longer than 1500 words
-Punctuation and grammar count!
-You may write in any Point of View! (1st, 2nd, or 3rd.)
-Be creative, it can even be in journal entry form to look a bit more realistic!

Prizes:
1st place gets 100 (now 200!) mil influence
2nd place gets 60 (now 120!) mil influence
3rd place gets 40 (now 80!) mil influence.

FAQS:
How to send in an entry?

Just post it on here. As well as a screenshot if you desire! Those wishing to submit a private entry may PM it to me.

How will it be judged?

Each Reader will read and score your entry using a basic story rubric. Then each judge’s total score will be totaled for the final score.

When they are due?

October 15th , 2010

Just a reminder folks, there are still 2 days left until the deadline! So keep working on those submissions! You can also enter on other servers if you would like, but you need to enter with a different story (each server has separate prizes and judging).

Just for fun, I am going to go ahead and DOUBLE the prizes!!

First - 200 mil
Second - 120 mil
Third - 80 mil

Good Luck!

((Being the mercenary punk that my character is your offer is very lucrative))

Psychocyber

Greaaaaat not another one of you reporters! Seriously! Do you people not believe me when I say that I don't give a crap? Wait until I clean out another round of the Resistance before you start kissing my metal-chromed a-

How it all began?

Pfffft! You people wouldn't even recognize me if I told you who I was! You bastards never gave a crap about anyone else but your own peace! Let me tell you something about Justice! When you get down to the nitty gritty, it's all about "Just You". Do you really believe that your living in a happy ending? "Happily Ever After" is all about the people who matter, and anyone else who doesn't agree with the majority being happy is flushed down the toilet!

Okay... I'll humor my public. Seriously, I'm the most honest person I know. I make no bones about why I do what I do. Why I do it? Because it pays. I used to be an engineer working at the Clockwork Factory in Praetoria. No, I wasn't adopted, abused or any of that crap... I just wanted to be with my inventions. People fail you. I believe in myself and only myself, which is why I rely on my robots.

Some idiot Resistance thought it was funny to blow up the lab. My mom and dad spent everything they had to put my butt back together, and I lost both my legs. I kept rummaging around the junkyards with my friends. The first weapon I ever made was my laser rifle.

Ohhhh, the Powers Division didn't like it when I whipped it out to protect myself against a couple of destroyers. I got caught red-handed, but I thought my condition would let it slide. Who wants some cripple fighting crime, right?

WRONG!

Oh, I wanted to shove my laser rifle where the sun didn't shine! Still, I managed to stay out of the limelight working behind the scenes. Man, I tried skipping town at least twice, but those PPD's have a bloodhound's nose! Finally I decided to strike a deal with the morons.

Gimme money, gimme power, and give me access to all your university files and I'll Cyber myself up to clean up your little mess.

Knowing how to trick out the Clockworks, I through an e-mail request to the rest of the Power's Division asking for any spare parts they found on their journey to implant myself with cybernetics. A couple of them owed me a favor or two and I even got them to give me one heck of a paint job. So I had a thing for hot pink and neon green! Sue me!

Playing around with things, I found out the waves that directly connected to my brain to make the cybernetics work also connected to other people! Heeeeey! I could work with this! See, I also had access on how they trained the Seers... just, make that off record, okay? Using the technology they used to help trick them out, I modified my armor to sync my brain waves to others. With a little bit of thought process, I can induce regeneration into biological creatures! ... And yes, even my own "Meat Shield Squad" of robots. I name all of them after pet food. The technology I used in them is the same trick out as my suit, so they respond internally as well.

If I gave you my real name, you wouldn't believe me. Half of the idiots who crapped on me in high school can shove a sock up their rump! If I have anything positive to give to you people, then let me say this much;

This hero/villain thing is bull. You have the power to be anyone and anything you want. It just so happens that one organization allows all the guns. If you want to pick one up, do it. Stop idolizing me and these other freaks! Look in the mirror and worry about them. Ask that person what the heck they want to do with their lives and do it!

Now if you excuse me, I have an itch to scratch in the Underground... my favorite perfume is the scent of laser and charred flesh, and I need a little pick-me-up after waking up this early to do your little interview.

Ciao!

Okay, so you know how most military stories start with "No kidding, there I was..." or "This is no lie...", and then they end up being some fantastic story? I wish that was the case with this one.

It all started after my second "trip" to Afghanistan. My team got back Stateside looking for a little down time to rest and refit before we went into training again. We'd been busy this last time over and were due for a break. Things were heating up in Iraq and we figured we'd probably be getting tasked for something over there as well, so better to rest up now while we had the chance.

We'd just come back after a four-day weekend when the group commander called down to the company asking for me to come up to the headquarters to see him. Not sure what he could want, I threw on my beret and headed over. Now in the special ops community, we don't stand on a lot of formality in general, however, going to see “the old man”, or the group commander, isn't something that I like to do, especially when I have no idea what it's about.

So I show up at his office and he has me come in and sit down. Right away I'm on edge. Why is a full-bird colonel having me sit down in his office like we're old buddies or something? Either something's really wrong with my team, or we're about to get really hosed.

That's when he tells me that what we're about to talk about is completely “off the record”, we're talking classified to the utmost, and then some. He told me I had been selected for this project called Operation Geronimo. Something that was being planned at the highest levels of government. He couldn't say much more than that, other than that it had been an honor for him to have been my commander and that he wished me all the luck in the world. Normally I'm okay with someone wishing me luck, but when they add on, “You're gonna need it!”, then I get a little tense.

Before I know it, I'm packing up my gear and moving out to this place in Rhode Island. Apparently part of Operation Geronimo had to do with me getting poked, prodded, and operated on by these doctors who worked for the government. After a few months of this I was starting to go stir crazy. Sitting around not doing anything, other than working out, which is another story all together, tends to wear on me. I'm not the kind of guy who goes for that, which is why I got into special forces.

Then one day, out of the blue, this Army general shows up. Says he's the commander for Operation Geronimo and that it's time for me to find out what I'm really here for. I'm brought into a room with all these other people, male, female, and some I'm not too sure about, but what the heck, I'm here for the ride. The lights dim in the room and a picture of this huge space ship is projected on the wall, followed by pictures of what I can only describe as aliens. The general says that these are the Rikti and they are on there way to Earth.

Now maybe to some of these other characters this was run-of-the-mill stuff, but I'm used to fighting people, not science fiction characters, and this was stretching my imagination to the limits here. It wasn't until the end when the general started calling out names that I got more focused. I would be leading an assault team, something I could handle, to the Rikti homeworld. The members of my team all went by comic book names, like Hero 1, Ajax, Glacia, and Infernia, but they were all capable fighters. We were called the Omega Team, and we had our marching orders.

I don't remember much about the initial assault. It all kind of blurred together after a while. There was a lot of fighting though, and a lot of people getting hurt, as well as some who wouldn't be coming home. We all thought we would make it back. I never thought it would take me five years to get home. I'm glad I'm back though. After what the Rikti subjected us to over those five years, I'm ready for some payback. Thanks to Operation Geronimo and the powers I was given, I know just how to get even with those Rikti scumbags! Fortunately for me, the people that rescued me, Team Veritas, brought me right back to Paragon City. Now, not only do I have all the tools and powers I was given, but there are a lot more super-powered beings here who can help take the fight to the Rikti.

My name is Sergeant First Class Vance Grissom, but you can call me Geronimo 69.

The Origins of Electrical Bernie:

As he fell towards the now-electrified lava, Bernie Borkowski couldn’t help thinking this wouldn’t have happened with the Meerkat.

The reasons why the Malicious Meerkat had become a super-villain were transparent to anyone who spent five minutes with him: Gary Pinter was half-sized and double-angry, always trying to be the bully for once in his life. He thought that people would finally stop laughing at him if he could only figure out a way to shout loudly enough. Still, as an employer he really hadn’t been so bad. After 20 years of marriage a little yelling didn’t bother Bernie, and the jobs were usually banks-and-bandannas as opposed to death rays. Lousy returns, admittedly, but low risks. He knew he could go home to Maude every night, take off the ears and tail, and have supper like a civilized person. If that meant a little more soup than steak… well, at least he was saving on medical bills.

The riggings of the geothermal power plant exploded around him as he fell with a crackling, spitting sound that reminded him of frying bacon. He watched the dizzying blossoms of electricity and fire, wondering exactly what was making the explosions that beautiful baby blue. It was fascinating, surreal—almost enough to make him forget the gravity of his situation.

Working for the Doc had always been like that. He called himself Doc Torrential, the Human Typhoon; and he was a real name in the business. He’d tangled with the Phalanx once or twice, actually fought the Vindicators to a stand-still once. Word was that he and Scirocco were on a first name basis. He was the kind of villain who had schemes instead of plans. With the Doc it was always something spectacular and audacious, no expense spared and no risk un-taken. He had style, unlike the Meerkat.

Bernie had argued with Maude for a week about taking a job with him, but the idea of living on an honest-to-God tropical island hideout was just too good to pass up. He made sure his contract specified lair-only work (he was getting too old for field teams anyway) and that both the complex and the bungalow had adequate evacuation options. And then he went to work. The base was attacked a few times, but Bernie never really felt like he was in danger.

Until now. He saw his assistant Ted running back and forth above him trying frantically to shut off the power, but he knew it was useless. With an overload like this the best thing would be just to shut the blast doors into the shaft and wait it out. They could always pick up the pieces later. Well, Ted could.

Doc Torrential had hired Bernie for his engineering expertise more than anything else. He had never imagined himself in management, but he had a degree and more on-the-job experience than any of the other technicians. His first big project had been to figure out a better way to power the island. When he was hired, the Doc was actually powering the island himself with a few well-placed wind turbines; but that was too labor-intensive for him, and the power lines kept breaking anyway. It was Bernie’s idea to draw power from the volcano they already had, and he’d been responsible for overseeing the construction of the plant. When it first hummed into action, he’d grinned like a proud parent. It had been running smoothly ever since.

His last thought before he hit the magma was disappointment that he’d never find out what had gone wrong.

When he woke up in the infirmary, the Doc was standing over him with an excited look on his face. He started explaining something about the accident and physiological changes, but Bernie was too muzzy to keep up. When his boss finally finished, he blinked a few times and asked, “You mean… I have super-powers?”

“Yes!” the Human Typhoon enthused. “I believe your body now emits an exotic form of charged plasma. You may even be able to control its shape. You’re a real villain now, Bernard!”

Bernie just closed his eyes and groaned. “Maude is going to kill me.”

At the grave of...

Celina Simpson
Born - October 4, 1955
Died - December 11, 2007

"Celina, my love... I miss you so much. This was the last place I thought I would ever be to see you. They told me that I killed you. It's just not possible. I love you dearly. I would never harm a hair on your head. Still, they said they found me, standing over your broken body with my hands drenched in your life essence. I could never do that.

They took me in and convicted me without a trial. I don't know how that could happen? I thought we were all innocent until proven guilty. I asked them why and where was their proof and they simply stated, "you were covered in her blood, how much more proof do we need?". I had to find my own proof of my innocence. But I couldn't do it alone. I needed to find our son, Jack, but he had disappeared. No one would tell me, no one would help me. They sentenced me to a life in prison with no hope of a parole. They liked to call it justice. They wouldn't even call it a crime of passion. No trial, no jury, just guilty.

They wouldn't let me make arrangements to have you properly buried, inform your family, or even to pay my own respects... nothing. They took all my rights away and scoffed when I wept for the loss of my beloved life partner, my wife, my life. "He plays the role well.", they said. Mocking me every chance they could. What has this world coming to? To have such uncaring, unfeeling people in it. No one was happy unless I was unhappy. I'll bet they would laugh at me now, and say I'm nuts sitting here, talking to myself. But I know you can hear me. You know the truth. I will clear my name. I have to find our son. What happened to him? Can you know?

I have to tell you more, so that you know... maybe so I can know that what I heard and saw was not my imagination. While they were dragging me to my cell, a representative from Zigursky Penitentiary was talking to my lawyer, Everett Daniels. Odd thing about Daniels, he's a corporate lawyer, not criminal. Why would he be assigned to my open and shut case, so it was coined. Odder still, I distinctly remember hearing Daniels say, "Jacob Simpson is deserving of nothing but a spring bed and the four cold walls to comfort him. Murdering his wife in cold blood, good thing his son turned him in.". How could Daniels represent someone he thought was guilty? What did he stand to gain? He didn't even try to help me. What about what he said about Jack... could he have turned me in? It's all too surreal. I didn't hear the rest of the conversation because suddenly everything went black.

When I awoke, alarms were going off all around me. My cellmate was dead, hung himself or so it looks like. Will I be blamed for that one too? My cell door was open and I could see prisoners and guards running back and forth. I am telling you no lie Celina, I feared this was my only chance at redemption. I had to run. Or I could stay and face the inquisition about my cellmate and probably end up in solitary confinement for something I didn't do. Anyways, most of the prisoners were being caught and cuffed. Love, I truly am sorry, but I had no choice. I had to do whatever was necessary to find the truth about your murder. I promise you this. I will find our son, wherever he may be. I will uncover the truth behind your murder. I will not rest until I find the answers...

Even if it is to confirm my worst fears. That I might have been the one to kill you."

On a note left at the grave...

"Please don't think badly for what I will have to do to find the truth. Love, Retrospective."

@Tax E - RIP CoH 2012

Framed for the murder of a Crey corporate executive, Captain Amanda Stevens of the Paragon Police initially turned herself in, expecting to get cleared during her day in court. But with the district attorney up for re-election and eager to prosecute a high profile case, and hotshot Crey lawyers acting as "friends of the court" to submit falsified "evidence", it soon became clear to everyone that the police woman had no chance at all if the case came to trial. And after the trial...she had put a lot of bad guys behind bars in her time. She wouldn't have much of a future in the Zig. Her attorney urged her to plea bargain, but Stevens flatly refused to plead guilty to crimes she didn't commit.

But she still had a lot of friends on the force. One friend left her cell door open one night, and a few more looked the other way as she fled the Talos Island jail.

Amanda eventually found her her way to the Rogue Isles, where she would be safe from extradition. But someday, she vowed, she would return to Paragon City...and get her revenge.

*Edited for content*



The Beginning of the End

The desert plain was cold and unforgiving. As Samuel West looked out upon the horizon his thoughts drifted to his family. The family he had loved so dearly. His wife, Martha, would always worry about him on those long cattle drives he used to frequent and his daughter, Roeyn, would always be so excited when he would return. Not the last time though. The only thing they expressed was horror, which was written on their cold lifeless faces. They were tortured, defiled, and murdered by a viscous demon named Kro.

Ever since then, West had worked for The Order of the Shadow Eagle, trying to put an end to all the unearthly suffering in the world. He had driven many creatures back to the dark pits from which they sprung, but had not found the one responsible for the death of his soul. That is until now. The Order had given West the location, the gear, and all the holy ammunition he could carry.

“Its all going to change tonight. Its all coming to an end, one way or another,” West thought to himself.

A small whirlwind kicks up sand as West spurred his steed to a blinding speed. He road toward a small orange light near the cliff face his was told of. Thoughts of revenge, honor, and hate raced through his mind. He would have teared up if he had a tear left to shed. All that drove him now was justice.

As he got closer he noticed the fire went out. He rode harder, determined to meet his quarry. As he got closer, West dismounted and walked the remaining 50 feet as silent as a shadow. He inspected the fire to find that it had been out for quite some time. Longer than he had been on the plains.

“WHERE ARE YOU, YOU DEMON SPAWN?!?!” West’s rage was burning with the thought that once again he had missed the opportunity to avenge his family. Just then he heard that cracked, high pitched, squeal of a laugh.

“No need to get upset there partner,” the voice seemed to come from all directions. West quickly drew his gun, just to find that it was too hot to hold. West dropped his ivory handled peace keeper and looked at his hand. The design of a blindfolded warrior angel was imprinted on his palm. Just then a shadow moved from the shadows. “I just wanted to give you that feeling of utter disappointment,” Kro said as he stepped into the moonlight. West tried to rush him, get him on the ground, but he could not move. “What have you done?!”

If he had not been so hasty to find Kro, West would have noticed the enchantment circle drawn out on the ground around the fire pit. He had fallen into a trap. “You haven’t been able to truly track me down for 10 years, and you honestly thought someone would just give me to you so easily? You are about as dim-witted as that jezebel of a wife.” West’s rage was blinding, so all he could do was hear the cackling that came from the bowels of his foe.

Just then the fire pit exploded an eery green fire, and Kro began to chant. West tried all he could to get away. He could only imagine what Kro was going to do to him. Kro grasped the sides of West’s head and leaned in real close. “Now its time to finish what I started all those years ago.” With that, West and Kro were engulfed by the ghostly, green flames, sending them to Kro’s home. Sending them straight to Hell.

Great entries! Judging will begin shortly and we'll announce the winners soon.

Suspense... is... killing... me...



lol so did you guys have alot emailed to you?

All of the entries are in this thread. This last weekend, all of PERC was busy with the Mr. and Mrs. Paragon Universe contest - I saw some of you there . I will do my best to get the judge's reviews done and results announced this week, but I may not be able to announce until Monday or Tuesday next week.

Update: I should be able to announce the results tomorrow.

And we have our winners!

First place: Untitled, by Geronimo_69
Second place: "The Origins of Electrical Bernie", by Tempest Teacup
Third place: "The Beginning of the End", by Dead_West

Congrats to the winners!

Thanks everyone for participating. We had a nice lively debate to determine the winners as many of the posts were good. Please PM me with your Globals and I will email you your prizes.

Congratulations folks!!! Good stories!

@Tax E - RIP CoH 2012

Despite only 6 entries, I know there are many more creative types out in the land of Liberty. I know this because I read the bios of every toon I see, teamed or not. It's just that not everyone comes to the forums on a regular basis, and some just aren't willing to put the time in for a story that's simply not as good as the one posted previously.

Grats to the winners!

Excellent job all, and grats to the winners. A job well done P.E.R.C. I really enjoyed this event.

AV

grats to all the winners and thanks PERC. I pulled my story off of our forums. We had been using those forums since our newer ones the host site went belly up. Well the day after posting my story those forums' host went belly up too.

Glad i was able to save it before disaster struck.

oh and also my global is @Dead West

To echo everyone else: nice work was done by all. It's always good to see good stories. :-)

Crap...how did I miss this? Back on my Champion days, I had loads of followers that would read my character stories I would post.

Loads being about 3 people.

Kidding aside, it's one of my life long goals to write a book. Some day...

Had I been more observant, I would have entered the contest. Oh well.