Fantasy Superhero Times

[Deathkitten]

MacAlasdair Family
~ Mindscape ~​

"That's hardly very useful, but so be it," Dara said, shrugging on the floor of the mind, "Pleasure to meet you, Agas. You're a bit beastly, but I can always admire strength where it shows. You plan to turn my son into a proper little soldier of God, I imagine? Like a little puppy, well-trained and disciplined?"

He sighed, "Right, anyway. The only other thing I feel like telling you so far is the slave trade," he continued, trying to readjust himself. Cianan would no doubt make the joke that there were some men that paid to be stomped on if he saw this. "There are a few lines, of course, but the one that I've done a little bit of business with in the past is the one I'll give you some info about. I never bought from them personally, but I did go through them to get some materials - feathers, especially. Mixed trade route, demons and humans both. They use a port a bit south of LAX to do the handling of goods - those goods being captured and broken angels. They then sell them to wealthy people that want them, or sell off materials of those who don't make the cut."

"They went overboard on a few things, got too risky for my liking, so I wouldn't mind if they got taken out. Same port the Queen Mary is stationed in - go there in the early afternoon today, say... 1400. Sniff them out. I'm sure you'd be able to with ease once you're close enough."

~ Reality ~​

Gabriella gave a soft chuckle, "It sounds perfect. I don't mind that it's not fancy."

"Oh everyone here sucks at driving. You're just lucky it's not rush hour on a Monday. We'd get nowhere, especially in this weather," Darren remarked with a grin, "In-n-out is awesome. I could get a 4x4 - that's four meat, four cheese, Natalie. Big burger. Super awesome."

"Sounds like a piece of lumber," Cianan said with a light huff of a laugh, "It's kinda hard not to be a bully when everyone around you is so weak. Even when you think you're playing with them nicely, they snap like a thin piece of glass. I think Superman once said something about living in a cardboard world? But yeah... I am not super strong, mentally. Your friend definitely has the leg up on that one. If we weren't on opposite sides of the spectrum, I'd offer a friendly sparring match, but I feel like that'd be a hard pass from you, and a fuck no from your friend."

ManofManyRoles

 

[Deathkitten]

Bells​

Bells felt like her skin was electric she was so nervous. That feeling only dimmed a little as Sato finally returned. Gods that felt like hours. "Okay. Few things. One. A tunnel system? In LA? We have earthquakes here... tunnels are so not common. That sounds fishy as fuck. Two. I avoid them because I'm from Hell and I don't mesh well with Earth laws. That said, of course, I'm going to put that aside if there's an OA member on the freaking prowl. I am not so sadistic that I want millions to die AGAIN."

She looked back in the direction of the man, who was no doubt waiting for them to leave, "Alright. If we don't leave it may aggravate him. If we do, he'll probably disappear, but we have information now. That tunnel system. We can have some heroes go and check it out." Bells grabbed a marker from her pocket and in a flash of movement, lifted James's shirt, and wrote her number down on his belly so it wouldn't get washed off by the rain.

"Go somewhere safe. I'm going to go break into a cop car or something and make the alert for the heroes to come and deal with. Sato-no-kami?" she paused for a moment, "If he's gotten their attention James might be in danger. We don't know what their plans are. Keep him safe, please. I don't know him but he seems like a decent person, so, ya know. That. Text me when you want or call or whatever."

ManofManyRoles

 

[Deathkitten]

Dunnie​

Dunnie watched him work his magic, swinging her legs over the edge of the chair. She was small enough that her feet didn't touch the ground. "Humans are cute but squishy. I like humans when they're not super crazy and mean," she said as he asked about the cult, "The people that raised me were a cult, yeah. They were kinda proud about it too. They worshiped lots of the gods. Nyarlathotep and Yog-soggoth in particular, but also Cthulhu and Azazoth and stuff. They thought that they were chosen by the gods for some grand purpose. I think it was mostly about bringing chaos to the world. I was supposed to be like their 'anti-christ' or whatever. They made that comparison a lot."

She sighed, high-pitched and cute as though she was talking about school or something mundane and boring, "They wanted to break me. If I went wild, if I didn't care about humans, then I'd be even more useful and could be like a new god that brought chaos to the Earth. Don't get me wrong... I like chaos... but... I don't like seeing light leaving someone's eyes... it's scary."

ManofManyRoles

 

[Deathkitten]

Santa Monica Pier - Velocity​

"I'm a girl. A woman. Whatever. I wanted to run an experiment," she explained, walking up to the skeeball game, "Your friend is fine though. I'm just spooking her a bit. I'm spooking lots of people. I'm not doing any damage though. I want to see what people do when faced with common fears - like clowns, carnivals, creepy little girls, etc. Once I've got the data I'll leave. It's important to know what people do when fearful, that way you know better how to plan in the future. For instance, if a hero saves the day, you want to know where people are running. Like... fluid dynamics, but with humans."

"Of course, I can't tell you who I'm getting the data for. I don't want them in trouble," she continued, grabbing a ball to toss it across into one of the 100 point holes, "You'll probably win. I'm not very good at skeeball."



ManofManyRoles

 

[ManofManyRoles]

Natalie and Agas

--Mindscape--

"I doubt you truly find meeting me a pleasure." At his question, she started to chuckle, slow at first, sinister. And then it broke out into laughter, genuinely amused. Amused or not, however, it still sounded hateful and twisted. "Oh that's beautiful. You deeply overestimate how much I care about your spawn. No, Natalie likes him and see's good in him, so that's all it is. That was funny, genuinely. Do you have any more good jokes?" Listening intently as she gained yet another nugget of information, the hellscape seemed to roar up, the flames growing higher, only to 'settle' again. "Interesting. I told you another tidbit just now. I don't care about your child one way or another. Natalie, however, does. She intends to show your son there's meaning to life, and to get him to be less....depressed. She wants him to show people he's not a monster like they paint him out to be. And I'm sure that just fills you with disdain."

--Reality--

Natalie chuckled, shaking her head. "Darren, love. You should know that if I want to do something, it's going to happen. Traffic wouldn't stop me." Glancing at Darren she rolled around the idea in her head. It sounded large..and she could get away with eating what she liked because of the fact she was so damn active, and she made up for it by eating right as well. Ahhh, maybe. "Cianan, I think that's the first thing you've said that I found actually amusing." Attention shifting back to the road, the amusement quickly faded with Cianan's twisted philosophy in the air. "You know, I'd like to see where you're coming from, but I can't get my head that far up my ass. At any rate, the sparring match is a hard no. I don't feel like leveling a city block today, and none of my other halves 'spar'. Darren, where the heck am I going?"
Deathkitten

 

[Daniel Reaving]

Aia
Location: Streets
Interaction: ichthys

Aia continued look around frantically from her position clung to the second story brick of the building they where at though just as before as soon as he spoke to her she went silent and her eyes locked onto him in an instant. Of course she had no idea what he was saying but the multiple sayings of Mama made her believe he was trying to help. Her tail reached out to the nearby light post and wrapped around it before she let go of the wall. With her tail alone she held herself in the hair lowering her down and flipping her upside down as she hung right in front of him. Her big eyes filled with child like fear and sadness as she whimpered. “Mama.” To him slowly she dropped herself onto her hands and feet before standing up y’all as she looked around clearly unhappy now.

Where was Anne? Where was her mother? Aia felt so lost now that she didn’t know what to do. All she wanted was her mom now. Slowly it showed as she started to tear up before covering her eyes with the back of her hands. “Mama. Mama.” She repeated in scared quiet whimpers in front of the boy. In all honesty Aia knew easily how to get back home and back to her mother. But the simple fact that she had been separated from Anne due to her own childish ways was blocking any reasoning or knowledge on how to find Anne. The only thing that raced through her mind now was wanting to be back in Anne’s loving arms again, not how to get back to her.​

 

[Cam E. Leon]

Shard jumped surprised some. "zuzu! please not int he main shop area." he said flustered some before sighing hearing her concerns. "it is fine. I understand her reasoning behind this treatment, I have withheld vital information from her for entire life. It is only just of her to be angry as such." he looked at the rain, He had no customers today. Shame. Before handing zuzu a slice of cake. "here. marble cake." he said as he turned around smiling some. quite a rare sight for the shard of nowadays.

Deathkitten (smol post)

 

[ManofManyRoles]

James and Sato

James didn't have a chance to react, bells super speed too fast for him to deal with. Of course, for sato, it seemed as simple as James just standing there like an idiot while he got graffiti'd. "I'd make a comment about personal space, but it's done now and I'll deal with it." Fixing his shirt with a grumble he glanced it he direction of where Sato had gone. "You're right though, best we clear out. L.A's placed just right on the tectonic plates that it suffers frequent earthquakes, so underground structures do sound fishy."

Sato reached out in a flash, hitting James atop the head with the sheath of her blade. "Great job, you just reiterated everything we've been told, idiot." Her attention shifted to Bells, giving a small incline of the head. "He'll be safe, he never travels alone. As much as he's trouble, he is family." "Thanks Sato, that's nice of you to say-OW!" The goddess had hit him upside the head again, fixing her sheathed blade back to her side. "I-It's not like I had a lot of people to choose from! You just grew on me, like an idiot cat!" Rubbing the back of his head with a grumble he nodded. "I'll stay in touch, Bells. Thanks for the...help, I suppose. I know more than I would have otherwise. I have to find an empty area where I can let the others out...the longer I take on Hignar, the more vertebrae she bends." Raising a hand in passing he started to walk off, Sato in tow. "Do you think the rent is going to come out while we're gone?" "I'm sure Seamus will understand if it does...let's just save the world again I suppose."
Deathkitten

 

[ManofManyRoles]

Detective Marshall

"Some humans aren't very squishy. But that's only a small portion of the population. Just like not how every human is crazy or mean. Humanity, for all it's flaws and short comings, is wide and varied, meaning we have a lot of good and interesting parts as well." Hearing her bring up they worshiped Nyaralothotep earned a huff from him. Well, there was an early morning conversation to be had then. He listened to dunnie speak, finishing up the paperwork. Good God he hated paperwork, but at least it was done. "Alright, I'll drop this off to be filed, and we're good. Since you have nowhere to go, you get to come with me." He turned his attention to Dunnie, giving a small smile. There was still a chance she could be a good individual, as opposed to another deity of chaos and suffering. He was confident he could get her to go the right path. "C'mon, let's go." Standing up he moved to a small box on the wall with so many locks on it, slipping the paper into it. "Due to my role, we had to make a special area for me to leave my papers. Don't want someone getting this stuff and all. You ready to go?"

Deathkitten

 

[ManofManyRoles]

Velocity

As she approached the skeeball game Velocity 'poofed' right next to her as she darted again, listening to her speak. "I see. So this is a study to understand human reaction to volatile external stimulation, and understand their fight or flight psychological response, right? With that kind of information, someone would be able to adjust a social setting to fit their desired situation. Present the correct stimuli, and the area clears out or is subdued. Interesting." Grabbing her own skeeball she rolled it up the ramp into a 100 point hole. "That's alright. But it's obvious I'm not going anywhere and trying to fight you would go nowhere. Better to just pass the time I guess. And it's not about winning, it's about enjoying the game."

Deathkitten

 

[Deathkitten]

MacAlasdair Family​

Without another word to the beast of an angel, Dara left the mindscape with a burst of holy energy and a massive sigh from him physically. "Even with people like that, you can get somewhere with incentive, Cianan," he grumbled, though he still had a bit of a headache forming behind his eyes, "Natalie, I'm impressed by the resolve and will you must have to deal with that on a daily basis. At times, I imagine it's exhausting."

Cianan just flipped his brother off, and Gabriella cupped her hand into Dara's. Darren gave instructions, which was basically pointing at the nearest billboard for it - they're basically every three offramps in California.

Once out of the car again, Darren hung back with Natalie while his family moved in to order. He was quiet for a long moment before speaking, "I'm... not really hungry right now. I'll get some fries, but I think that's it. I think them and the stress of it all have ruined any appetite I had left. Besides, we ate not too long ago... thanks for this, Natalie. After we're done here, though, maybe we can find an excuse to just drop them off at their hotel and ditch? I'm already exhausted. I forgot how much of a pain they really are..." He was quiet again, pausing for a long note of silence.

"My father plans to drag me to a torture session he has planned... I won't have a choice. He'll make sure I don't have a choice."

ManofManyRoles

 

[ManofManyRoles]

Natalie Brenton

Natalie glanced in the rearview mirror at Dara, shrugging a bit. "Wouldn't call that have gotten anywhere, but sure. It can get annoying at times sure, but it's not exhausting anymore. I sort of find it entertaining. You two don't?" Following Darren's simple directions until the found themselves parked outside the In-n-Out, she turned off the car and clambered out, stretching a bit. As Darren hung back with her, an arm went around his shoulder and pulled him close in a sort of hug. "Not a big deal, I told you I could behave. And honestly...I can find a reason to get us out of here. Don't doubt that fact."

Keeping him in that sort of half-hug she patted him on the shoulder. "Alright, what have we been over? You always have a choice. This is your life, and your father doesn't dictate it. Hell, I don't dictate it, I'm just trying to help you not turn into your family, since that's obviously not what you want to do...plus I'd rather not have to get in a fight with you down the line. If he thinks he can just whisk you off to a torture session like he's the wizard of fucken oz, he's going to be very surprised that's not how things work. If you don't want to go to some god awful torture session, then I can make damn sure you don't go. Just don't question the method, and roll with the punches. C'mon, let's get you those fries."

Deathkitten

 

[Deathkitten]

MacAlasdair Family​

In such a public place the family was downright wonderful. Any bickering ceased to exist. They were a perfect little picture. Cianán asked if they could make it bigger than a 4x4, of course. Dara went for the double double. Gabriella went for just a regular cheeseburger. Darren went for fries alone for the moment. Everyone got fries. Once it was out, though, Darren just stared at the food. He picked at it a little bit didn’t really eat, then excused himself to the bathroom with haste.

He felt disgusting, and he knew that everything he had eaten that morning was going to come back up. He was lucky to make it to a toilet, and leaned over the porcelain throne with his mood thoroughly flushed. Sitting there, he took a pause between heaving to text Natalie.

Throwing up. Feel like shit. I guess you don’t need to make an excuse up after all... After I’m done evacuating I think I’ll be safe enough to go in a car again.

Sorry for cussing.

ManofManyRoles

 

[ManofManyRoles]

Natalie Brenton

It was sort of fascinating, watching the family suddenly turn into presentable people in the public eye. What a cute little act. The problem with it though is that she didn't think real families were this nicey nice with each other. She always figured they bickered or such even in public, at least to some extent. Natalie just got some fries and a burger, she certainly didn't know what the hell was going on here to begin with.

Darren was off to the bathroom, leaving her to her food. Feeling her phone buzz she pulled it out, glancing at the text. No problem. I'll break it to the family, I don't give a damn. Also, cuss all you want, doesn't bother me.

"Alright, so Darren's not feeling well. I'm gonna have to drop you lot off at your hotel and take him back to ours. He wasn't feeling well to begin with today though. You're gonna have to excuse us for that."
Deathkitten

 

[Kyrenka]

~Anne Beaufort and Dietrich~
Streets of L.A.
​

The calm that her new companions were exuding was infectious. It helped ground her and gather herself. Clearing her throat as she wiped the tears off of her face, Anne did her best to answer their questions without seeming suspicious. "Aia is uh," she hesitated before saying, "Sixteen." Aia was fully mature physically, but that wasn't uncommon in the animal kingdom. Short childhoods meant that they could defend themselves from predators quickly. Anne's face flushed though as she realized that she telling them that she was losing her mind over what was basically a young adult by human standards seemed dramatic. "She's mentally disabled." It was a half-truth. Aia had the body of an young adult with the mind of a child; granted, Aia was only 15 months old but if they wanted to fly under the radar it was just easier to make a plausible excuse. "She responds to her name but she's not really verbal and doesn't understand what other people are saying. She's albino if that helps. We're just visiting L.A. as part of our road trip. She loves being outdoors and might've tried going to a park, but we don't know the area that well so I don't even know if she even made it to one." Stopping by the Humvee with the two, she accepted the Tootsie Pop that the girl offered. "Thank you..." Aia got most of her nutrition from meat, but she liked a treat here and there. Maybe she'll like this too. The image of Aia just straight up eating the lollipop instead of licking it made the hint of a smile tug on Anne's lips. Giving Morgan a genuinely grateful smile, Anne thanked her again before climbing into the passenger seat.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The intensity of Morgan's stare as her mind memorized every bit of information Anne gave them mostly went unnoticed. Dietrich, however, had been around her long enough to be able to easily identify the gleam in her eye. This mystery child had intrigued her too. The description the woman gave was just as mysterious as well. Albinism was rare, but there were other things that could cause a person to have white hair and red eyes. Ever since the first human manifested powers people with all sorts of eye colors and hair colors had cropped up; and that was the most normal of the new mutations people had. Perhaps this 'daughter' has powers. It would make sense why there was no record of the child, but of course they could just be overthinking things and maybe Anne Beaufort really did secretly adopt a sixteen year old girl that was albino and had a disability.

Dietrich had a feeling that wasn't true though. It was interesting. A puzzle he knew Morgan would probably crack before he even thought up of a reasonable theory.

Dutifully striding over to their car in order to hold the door open for Ms. Beaufort, he waited for her to climb in before closing the door and reaching over to do that same for Morgan. "After you," he offered with a grin. Once the redheaded woman was settled in her seat, he closed the door and made his way into the driver's seat. "You said she likes the outdoors, right? How about we start searching the nearby parks?" He was already pulling back onto the road and aiming for one as he spoke. Dietrich might not be as critical of a thinker as Morgan, but he had a few talents of his own. One of which was spending time memorizing maps of the areas they were going to visit in case of emergencies. His memory wasn't always perfect, but he knew enough about the L.A. streets to be able to know where he was going without the use of those very unhelpful GPS devices cars had nowadays.

((Interacting with ManofManyRoles 's Morgan | Mentioned Daniel Reaving 's Aia))

 

[Deathkitten]

Zuzu​

Zuzu yawned as Ruru was reading the story. It was really nice to cuddle and listen to her talk. All she wanted was to be around her family. Even if she didn't feel the passing of time while she was dead and gone, she still felt like she missed them so much. She curled her arm around Ruru's and leaned against her, "Dragons grow their scales back though... and they don't die of age... this story is weird. I like it though. The dragon was very cool, even if he was a little stupid and too giving."

She looked at Yami, the cute little beastie that Ruru was apparently taking care of, and gave her a little pat on the head, "So what now? Are you gonna do hero stuff today?"

The Zuzu that was hugging Shard was more than happy to take the slice of cake... only to eat it more or less in one big messy bite. She rest her free hand on his hip now that he was facing her direction and licked the remains of the frosting off her fingertips. "Your cooking is the best~" she purred before giving him a kiss, "I dunno. I might keep you around just for your cooking, what do you think?" She grinned at her own teasing. Yes, it was extremely slow in today, no one wanted to go anywhere in the rain, so the only orders were delivery. It being so slow just meant she had more time with them! She hardly minded.

Cam E. Leon Daniel Reaving

 

[Deathkitten]

Hotel Robbery​

Sylvia had barely gotten the list over of those who said okay to a little chat. She was looking it over in one of the big comfy chairs at the lobby of the hotel, using her tablet to search up each of the names to see if there was any connection beyond just their wealth. So far, none. Sitting there, she finally had a chance to look at her phone... and that was... fun. It was always chaotic when Adam brought work home with him. She sighed a little and shook her head with a small smile, setting the phone back into her pocket. Well, at least it was interesting. That did mean pizza night, more than likely. Easy dinner, no one had to cook. She'd prefer not to cook when she had to worry about a weird little beastie in the other room. It was the same when spirits were harassing her a bit too much for comfort.

Speaking of which... she swatted at some of the little spirit orbs that were like flies around her head, then swapped to the next entry. It went like that on repeat; research, write notes, swat, next page.

Next thing she knew, Adam was back, and with a little purple-haired child in tow. Sylvia raised a brow, releasing the pen from her mouth and tucking it behind her ear. "Hey sweetie," she chimed, giving him a cute little chuckle, "She's the surprise, huh? She looks surprisingly normal for your brand of crazy."

Dunnie looked at the new woman. She had behaved well for the car ride, buckling up like before, not crying, not climbing onto the dashboard, or making eyes appear. Very good. Her head was on a swivel in the lobby of the fancy hotel. Everything was shiny! Super clean. Super pretty.

"She's the lady on your desk," she commented to Adam, looking up at him as she continued to hold his hand, "She's prettier in person."

Sylvia smirked, "Alright well she's good with me! Heh. Anyway, hun, go ahead and read my notes. No connection between the victims or anything, aside from being rich. Haven't visited them yet. There's six that agreed to meet. Hey, little bun? I think we have some of M&M's toys in the car. Work is probably gonna bore you, but maybe if you ask nicely Adam here will let you borrow a couple of toys to play with?"

Dunnie looked up at Adam expectantly. She had never really had toys before... or... she had, but they weren't typical toys. Maybe a giant centipede here or there... she played toss the rock at the wall often... she also drew on the walls and floor and stuff often. She was pretty sure that wasn't what they meant by toys, though. This place looked too nice to throw rocks at.

ManofManyRoles

 

[Deathkitten]

Mostly Darren​

Darren faceplanted his bed in the hotel suite as soon as he could, a mighty (if a sick dog is mighty) groan coming out from the pillow he smashed his face into. To recap, the drive went like this: bickering, more bickering, Dara giving Natalie an address for something, more bickering, and some side-handed comments about crime. Nothing surprising. They weren't too happy about him leaving, but once he came out of the bathroom looking positively green, they gave in and stopped being pissy. He clearly wasn't faking, after all.

Drop them off at the hotel they owned - expensive, of course - then go back to the room. Now here they were.

"Sorry, Nat," Darren whined, voice muffled, "I'm gonna just stare at the pillow for a few hours I think. I won't get offended if you go blow off some steam by taking an alert on or something. I sure as hell aren't gonna go anywhere. I'm a reverse flight-risk. I'm a rock. A boulder. A blobfish... urk... have fun without me."

ManofManyRoles

 

[Deathkitten]

The Pier
Velocity​

The girl let out a small huff of relief, "Oh good, you actually seem to be fairly intelligent. Honestly I was worried you were just a ball of hyper and nothing more... so... are you going to try to stop me? I swear I'm not gonna hurt anyone. It's not that sort of test. Only fear, like a haunted house. I wanted to avoid heroes as much as possible, but I didn't want you guys meddling, so I brought you into the space as well. I can't really count heroes in the data... you guys don't exactly act like normal civilians, after all."

She tossed another ball, though it missed and slid into the bottom hole. The girl gave it an eye roll, "Yeah... easy to say it's not about winning when you're gonna win." She chuckled a little, glancing at Velocity, "Are you still in school? You sound young... though with the mask on I can't really tell. It feels like there's a huge surge in young heroes recently, though. Everyone who was a kid when the OA attacked is finally old enough to register. Talk about a defining event... Was it your motivation?"

ManofManyRoles

 

[Daniel Reaving]

Yami
Location: Devils Tail Bakery
Interactions: Deathkitten Cam E. Leon

yami clapped happily as she was picked up. Curling in Ruru’s arms she nuzzled half her face into Ruru’s chest as she nestled in for the story. Turning her head she looked at the book, the end of one of her claws going into her mouth as she sucked on it while listening and resting her head against Ruru. When she was done with the story Yami clapped her hands happily and turned to face the book. Putting her hands on the pages she looked at it curiously with a big smile on her face. Looking back to Ruru she babbled at her a little as if to ask for another story as she patted the book with her left hands.​

 

[Aelia Aeldyne]

Cinna Arkenian - El Porto high security prison​

I had actually expected them to listen to me. I felt a tinge of disappointment as once more this Earth failed to meet my expectations. Weak they all were, and yet they bared their fangs at an overwhelmingly superior foe like me. In other circumstances, I would have asked whether they were brave or stupid to face me in such manner, but here I could say that stupidity was the answer. Bullets were brushing off me like drops of water off a ship's hull, miniscule annoyances that I barely noticed; put all together, it was like fresh wind blowing in my face, although slightly steely. I did not move an inch, weathering the gale of bullets as if it wasn't even happening.

My lips did not twitch in the slightest, unmoving and slightly curled up as they were in a conceited smile. I had nothing to say to them, no words, no sound save for the silence of death.

I extended my left arm, my hand dangling lazily at the end. I then violently snapped my wrist as I felt power surge through me, the homely sensation of chaos filling up my body like pitch dripping down a glass window. It flowed out in grey tendrils, writhing in unison as they became a long, thin blade. In truth it was more like a ribbon that had been given sharp edges, little to no breadth but impressive length. One hundred and fifty feet, as a rough estimate - it wasn't nothing though. Power like this had weight, and I was wielding like with no apparent strain; The truth was that I was doing a great job of hiding the clenching of my teeth behing contemptuously smiling lips. I raised it above my head, and light flickered through like prismatic shards shattered by pressure, as it looked as if the blade was going to fold on itself. Then I brought it down, scything from left through right with a sweep of the arm, and chaos crackled like thunder as it waltzed through what stood in front of me. Hopefully- no, hope wasn't something I allowed myself to bask in. With a bit of luck, the convicts would be hit in places damaging enough to not be able to confine the necrosis, and the barricade would have crumbled. I couldn't see yet, I would have to wait till the settling of dust.


ManofManyRoles

 

[ManofManyRoles]

Death's Chill, Devils Tale Bakery

As was the rule of the universe, peace was never meant to last. And even the happiest moments were fleeting. So too was the situation of Devils Tale Bakery. In the bedroom where the three sat, a simple but elegant wooden door manifested dead center, simply blinking into reality. There was no knock, no invitation, nor request to come in. The door slowly swung open, silent as death itself, and behind it stood a figure in black robe with their face obscured by shadow and hood. The figure moved forward, quiet as the grave, a smooth glide across the ground. Inside the doorway was absolute nothingness, a swirling void of shadow and mist, and the door slowly shut. As soon as it swung to a close it simply blinked out of sight, gone like a fleeting memory.

The longer the figure stood there, the further the temperature of the room continued to drop, until it had easily chilled by ten degrees. In one hand was a scythe, wielded like a walking staff, and in front of the figure a scroll of parchment that hung in the air, which rolled closed and disappeared as well. "Greetings," the voice spoke, cool and chilled like a winter night, though distinctly feminine. "I've come for the Lucrum family." The figure moved it's head from left to right as if inspecting the trio gathered. "I see two, Rurulian and Zuzulian ...where is Shardaken?"
Deathkitten Daniel Reaving Cam E. Leon

​

 

[ichthys]

Trevor Weiland / Skeleton
Streets of LA
Daniel Reaving​

Trevor nodded in relief as the alien climbed down, glad that his coaxing had the desired result. He let out a little laugh as she swung upside down in front of him, reminded of a monkey or some similar sort of animal. Though she looked more reptilian. A snake perhaps? Trevor thought that was cool. As she got down and lifted herself up to look around again Trevor attempted to reassure her. “Hey, we’ll find Mama. How about we go this way, huh? This the way you came? Home? Mama?” Trevor pointed past her, down the street that she had most likely been coming from when their paths crossed. He certainly hadn’t seen her farther down the sidewalk as he was walking from the coffee shop, so it stood to reason that she had come from the other direction. Unless she had climbed buildings and stuff. She didn’t seem to really care much about property and implied travel directions. And she was perfectly capable of such a form of travel it would seem.

Trevor continued to point his arm towards the opposite direction, ignoring a forming crowd. He should have told everyone off but it was a bit of a scene, and he wasn’t about to get distracted. He was a little concerned the alien would run off and he’d have to chase her. Beckoning her to follow him, Trevor made sure his bag was secure on his back, not wanting to lose it or his umbrella. He was still kind of disappointed about the coffee, but he’d forgive the albino alien. She seemed sweet. And she was lost.

“Maybe if we go this way, we find Mama, what do you think?” Trevor spoke to his new friend with a calm, friendly voice not unlike what one would use when “discussing” things with a very young child. But if it calmed the creature and allowed him to direct her to a place less crowded with nosey civilians and led them back to wherever and whoever “Mama” was then it was good. And luckily, Trevor had plenty of practice with that kind of gentle coaxing after helping raise his youngest sister. Careful not to get too far away from the lost alien Trevor started walking, a hand held out slightly to beckon her with him. He took a few steps before turning his head to see if she would follow him, repeating again the only word she seemed to know. At least with a toddler it was easier, they could understand you, but Trevor would make it work, he couldn’t just leave it, or let it wander off, so help it he would!

 

[ManofManyRoles]

Morgan Alder

Morgan nodded, taking mental notes of everything the good doctor had to say. She hesitated for a moment, she didn't miss it. They weren't getting the full story here, she suspected. "I see. Well, I'm certain we'll find your daughter. Those who suffer from mental disability tend to stick to environments familiar to themselves, as they operate in a comfort zone smaller than others. Hmmm...albinoism is a unique trait, but maybe not enough. Can you define her physical features a bit more, perhaps? Height, defining traits?" She wanted to know more, not only because it'd help them find the girl, but it would also her piece together this puzzle Miss Beaufort had put out in front of her. Returning the smile with a small one of her own, she climbed into the front passenger side of the Humvee.

"We can systematically run through the park systems, starting from the one nearest where the child went missing and slowly spreading out our search. At the average speed a sixteen-year-old girl can move at walking to running speed, she'd have at most made it to three parks off. But that's also supposing she had a drive to go that far out or a motivation." Glancing in the rearview mirror as she rolled the tootsie-pop around in her mouth she spoke up again. "You look familiar. You're Dr. Anne Beaufort, correct? I enjoyed your science articles, fascinating to read. What brings you on a road trip?" She turned her attention out the windshield, slipping the sucker out of her mouth to give it a lick and then put it back in her mouth. "Just trying to make small talk."
Kyrenka

 

[ichthys]

Eden Tanner / Bloodhound
In pursuit of gas station robber
Cam E. Leon / Aelia Aeldyne​

Eden grew increasingly uncomfortable with her situation as the villain did. When the bubble of force that the woman was creating forced the hero and hostage back the young vigilante scurried away, taking refuge outside the immediate area. She knew she should have stayed out of range, and this was exactly why she did! She didn’t bother to see what the villain was doing, she seemed to be in pain though, or just frantic. What kind of villain robs a dinky gas station and then panics and does this? Ameutur, but what could she say? She wasn’t that great either. In fact she was planning her escape A.S.A.P! But she saw the hostage from her retreat position and groaned. She could at least get one messy variable out of the way. But SilverBlade would have to finish this herself, Eden’s skills and abilities didn’t cover mental telekinetics using their mind buble on a street block!

While the bubble was growing more intense it was still safe enough for Eden to convince herself to rush out towards the man and drag his sorry butt to safety. And if she had any valiant heroism in her after that was achieved she could set up far away from the scene and wait for an opening in the bubble to put the purple meltdown out of commission. As it was she wasn’t willing to stick around and risk her neck. It wasn’t like she was paid for it or even known. Silverblade would get all the credit even if Eden took out the villain with a shot. Then, as if rain wasn’t uncomfortable enough, the villain threw the road at them! Eden ducked back behind the buildings she was next to, avoiding being stoned.

Counting to three after the rocks had stopped being hurled everywhere Eden sprinted towards the victim dropping to a crouch next to him, hands grabbing for his arms. “C’mon, time to go!” She grunted, pulling him towards cover. When the two reached the so called safety of the buildings Eden forced him in the opposite direction, away from the scene. She wished she could follow him too, but when they reached a relatively safe zone her steps faltered and she let out a sigh. She couldn’t go back towards the villain, she didn’t have the guts or the resources for that. But she did intend to stick around. Just, on a roof several buildings away. The rain would present a problem and a discomfort but she could manage to see well enough, especially if she stayed just out of reach of the telekinetic’s power bubble. The buildings around weren’t decent vantages though so Eden did her best and assembled her rifle, doubling back towards the villain and the hero, crouching behind what cover she could find and waiting for Silverblade to make her move. She wasn’t sure if the hero had taken notice of the gun toting vigilante hanging around, and that didn’t matter much to Eden. She was still trying to talk herself out of walking towards the fray.