Avatar of Silver Carrot

Status

User has no status, yet

Bio

User has no bio, yet

Most Recent Posts

Is Umbra using somebody as a vessel of possession by a demon/ghost (which makes the vessel a poltergeist aka telekinesis) on the table or do they strictly alter the person themselves to make *them* a creature?
This is very interesting! One question that I can't find a clear answer to;

Were these people given supernatural powers by Umbra or were they people who were already supernaturally inclined before they were abducted?




PRT Headquarters, 9:23 am
June 19th, 2021


Faith felt sick, but the adrenaline wasn't letting her dwell on it. She had her phone in hand, flicking through some of the information they'd posted to everybody's phone while she listened to the briefing. She was completely out of her league when it came to three of the members. One of them, however, stood out to her. Kintsugi. Faith wondered if her gift would work on the monsters. They weren't human, but they were beings designed to follow orders telepathically. Would that make them more susceptible to her or less?

Faith agreed with the broad, discussed plan of her sneaking in and convincing the hostages, but she wouldn't exactly be able to sneak them back out. The others would need to open a path, if not outright defeat Blackburn. She did notice something in the schematics, and that was that the ground floor had a PA system in the central office that may just about be audible on the second floor as well, possibly. She could use that to get the hostages out easily if she could get them down that for this the first place. And as the others had their earpieces in, she could use it to confuse enemies too.

Faith noticed that Ashley seemed a lot more jittery than usual, flickering in and out of existence as her clones popped from one seat to the other, before she disappeared from the transport entirely when they were close enough to the bank. Faith hoped she was going to be okay.

They were finally dropped off, and Faith saw the bank, and the carnage that already existed. Were these twisted metal animals the constructs? She gulped. If anything went wrong with her 'plan', these things would rip her apart very fast and very easily. She needed to be careful.

Muninn landed besides the group, and Faith noticed that one of the first things he did was to look down at her. She gave him a nod, and tried to smile, hoping that the gesture would be reassuring. It was clear that she still needed some reassuring herself. Shattercrash immediately addressed Muninn with whatever the opposite of a reassuring speech was, before leaving the group. Not long after, the sounds of banging and crashing would be heard.

She heard Ethan speak next, and his deductions made sense. Plus, with his gift, they were most likely the truth. The hostages would be kept higher up. Faith didn't know how she'd be able to go about sneaking up there. She might have better luck slipping in the wake of the strike team. That way, she'd have somebody to defend her. She had been trained how to fight, but that wouldn't help much against a machine gun, or any Blackburn's gifts, if she got caught. Muninn set off into the air, before she'd hear his voice through the earpiece. He offered to give people lifts. Decree shook her head, and tapped her own earpiece as she started briskly walking to the entrance Shattercrash had bust in.

"That's okay. There's no way into the building that high unless we break a window, and that might attract attention. Could you look out for the hostages and if you see them, let us all know as soon as possible?"

Decree then adjusted her earpiece to Tandem's frequency.

"Tandem. If you find the hostages, or any members of Blackburn, could you please let us know where they are? Oh, and please be careful."

She knew she'd just spoken a command, but Tandem had her earpiece in. Besides, Decree hoped she'd keep those words to heart anyway. And this was it. She knew that even the slightest hesitation about using her gift on real people today could get them, or herself, killed.

Finally making her way into the large hole that was once the main entrance, Decree saw the carnage inside the bank. The debris, and bullet holes. And she froze. She...she didn't want to go up to the next floor. There might be a member of Blackburn up there. All the bravery she though she had outside was gone. She was scared.




PRT Headquarters, 9:10 am
June 19th, 2021


Faith watched as the Vice Director walk in, and her face dropped as she listened to him talk. Well, that answered her question at least, though she now wished it remained unanswered. a bank robbery. By superpowered mercanaries. Why would mercanaries be robbing a bank? What could she do to help in that sitation. She looked over at her teammates. Many of their powers were better suited to fighting. Faith would probably be most useful as crowd control. Still, she'd be putting herself in active danger to do that. Was her training enough to fight mercenaries?

She turned to see that Munin had grown. A lot. He was the size of a building now. She couldn't even reach higher than his leg let alone pat his back. She noticed he still wasn't wearing his earpiece. She could say it. She could say 'calm down' and get him to shrink. It would help them all, and help Landon. But she couldn't bring herself to say the words. Not to somebody she liked and trusted. She didn't want him to change in any way, even one as small as being calmer. Because she knew from experience. Little things that you think will help are how it starts, and before you know it, they're no longer the same person you were friends with. Instead, she patted his leg wordlessly, hoping the gesture alone would hopefully reach him. She pulled at her necklace, slipping the crucifix out from underneath her costume, and kissed it before tucking it back in. If there was a time in her life she needed God, that they needed God, it was right now.




PRT Headquarters, 9:08 am
June 19th, 2021


Faith nodded in silent approval as Evie took the earpiece from her, and saw that Landon had also taken one, before watching him as he grew in size slightly again. She assumed it must be because he was about to speak again. She wasn't sure whether he'd have been this shy and anxious as a person before he changed into this bizarre form but it certinly wouldn't have helped. He gave a full explaination of his powers before retreating behind Faith. She turned to him and gave him a reassuring smile and thumbs up to wordlessly communicate 'good job' before the abrasive boy then gave the explaination of his power. After him, the girl in the black catsuit went next.

Faith went cold listening to her. Was she describing her own power or Faith's? No, her power apparently worked by touch. So, she was another Master. And her tone was not one of somebody giving a warning. No, she was proud that she could do those things. Faith felt a little queasy as she listened to her. Somebody with the same power as her but none of the guilt disgusted Faith to the core. Was this person even a hero? Did she want to be? What was she here for? Was it no deeper than the same 'join or prison' choice Faith had been offered? Why had somebody like this even been given the choice!? Faith realised she wasn't the only reason for the earpieces. She wasn't even the main reason.

Ethan and Quinn had a little back and forth, followed by Evie also admonishing Quinn. Faith may have been too harsh on Shattercrash. She was full of herself and had a bad attitude but it was clear that she was taking this seriously and cared about being a good cape. Maybe the group needed people like Ethan and Shattercrash in it and greatly benefitted from their prescence. After all, they were the kind of people who could speak their mind and put somebody in check if they needed it. Faith was still trying to gague everybody and wanted to make as many friends and as few enemies, so was holding back many things she wanted to say.

Ethan wasn't done and turned his attention to Landon before talking about the admin password and the walls. When she saw him raise the knife to his own throat, her face became one of surprised concern as she took at step forward and was about to yell 'wait!' before she caught herself. He wasn't going to hurt himself. As he carried on talking it was clear that was merely to make yet another point. Not everyone was wearing their earpieces yet. In fact most of them weren't. The last thing she wanted was to significantly delay today's plan because everybody was standing around waiting for no reason, knowing it was all Faith's fault.

So, Ethan could never turn off his ability off. He also looked a lot happier and more relaxed getting all of that off his chest. He must be holding in a lot more than he said today, at all times. The girl in the the yellow bodysuit said a lot of the things that Faith wanted to see.

"I agree," she added. "You don't-I don't think you need to worry about letting it all out around us. Now we've heard how your power works, we'll understand."

The girl who reassured Ethan then gave her power of teleportation, before the boy who had been dozing on the sofa decided to instead disintergrate a coin and told them absolutely nothing about how he just did that other than that it's based on proximity and he couldn't turn it off. Well, that wasn't terrifying at all. Faith made a mental note not to get too close to him. Finally Shattercrash gave her own power, which looked strong and certainly fit her cape name to a tee.

Grandmaster then left the room to take a phonecall, leaving Axiom to brief them. So, they start patrols tomorrow, huh. So, today was more...orientation? Faith asked her own question after Ethan's.

"Yes, I have a question. Besides getting our schedules, what else should we do for the rest of today?"




PRT Headquarters, 9:05am
June 19th, 2021


The boy who pulled a knife upon Evie's arrival shed a bit more light on their visitor with his next words to Grandmaster. Faith did recall hearing snippets of news and gossip about a teenage vigilante. So, this was her? No wonder she seemed to have a chip on her shoulder. This girl immediately referring to the rest of them as a 'clownhouse' certainly didn't help Faith's impression of her.

Grandmaster was talking to the boy about power dampeners. She supposed he and possibly others in this room may have an easier time with a power dampener but as long as they all wore the earpeices as instructed, That's all Faith could ask for in regards to her own power. Axiom then stepped foward and removed her helmet. Faith had of course seen her without the helped several times during her frequent visits here the past month, but it was still surprising to see her take her helmet off in this room. Axiom's words were reassuring. Despite the training she'd already been given by the PRT that very few others had received yet, Faith could still tell she was among the least experienced people in this room when it came to, well, anything relating to Hero work.

Shattercrash's comment rubbed Faith the wrong way. Not all of them have been fighting crime for over a year. Just because the PRT hadn't taught Evie anything of value didn't mean they hadn't taught anyone anything. Faith was very proud of how far she'd managed to come in only a month due to the Protectorate's heavy training schedule. It was more than she'd ever dreamed of and she was excited to see how much she'd improve in the future. She kept this to herself of course. She still wanted to at least try to get along with everybody.

When she asked them all their powers, Faith relaxed a little. It was a good idea for everybody in the room to get to know each other, and their powers. The majority of the room as of yet hadn't even tried to break the ice with one another. Tandem went first. Faith had been shocked when she'd learned of Ashley's history. She was in Faith's eyes a good girl with a heart of gold, so to learn where she'd came from was very surprising. Faith had already listened to Ashley's explaination and seen it in action so instead of listening intently, she grabbed two of the metal cases, opened one, and put her earpiece on.

She turned and approached Shattercrash and Tandem. Ashley was showing bags of candy to the room. Faith gave Ashley a raised eyebrow. She hoped that wasn't too old. Or if it was fresh, that it wasn't stolen. Faith had tried to get Ashley to think and act more morally. Some little progress had been made, maybe?

Faith sighed, and looked back up to Evie. Normally Faith would have tried to put on a smile but she could sense that Evie would appreciate fake friendliness even less than honest weariness.

"My power, explained simply, is that if I say a command, anyone who can hear me is inclined to do it. The effect is more potent, the more those people trust me." Faith explained, before holding out her hand and offering Evie her earpiece. Faith was very tempted to tell Evie to take it and put it on. The effect in itself would be the best advertisement for why she should keep it on at all times. She decided against this. That action still went against her principles. "Even if people don't trust me at all, it still has an effect. So I merely suggest it might be a good idea for everybody to keep their earpieces on. That is what they're for."




PRT Headquarters, 8:56am
June 19th, 2021


Faith watched Landon sit up with more confidence and as such look visibly taller. His wings also stopped subconscioualy covering him as much. He was still a little nervous which let Faith breathe a sigh of relief. He must have some natural resistance to her power. If she'd have made that mistake with mom or dad, they'd never have worried about anything ever again for their entire lives, even if it was something they genuinely needed to worry about. She couldn't afford to slip up like that again. She needed to be much more careful. Her own slight nerves in introducting herself to strangers had caused her to start rambling. Faith could not afford to ramble. Every single sentence out of her mouth needed a great deal of thought, attention and care put behind it.

He was hesitating slightly in answering her, and this gave her the opportunity to look at him properly. his forearms and lower legs were green and scaly, ending in talons like an anthropomorphic bird of some kind. The rest of him was feathers and fur. She wasn't sure his his head resembled a canine or a giant bat. The fur was thick enough to obscure all of his facial features besides his eyes, and when he opened it, his mouth. It was a combination that should in theory look scary and intimidating. But with Landon's body language and behaviour, it all just made him look more like a pup. During this time another blonde girl walked in with a tight black catsuit and a white cocktail dress over it. She sat down without a word to anyone. Faith thought that costume was a little...indecent, but kept that to herself.

Landon finally gave her his reply, tripping over his words as he gave her both his code name and first name. He then gave a groan of embarrasment and hid himself back inside his wings again. After a beat, Faith gave a slight, quiet giggle. She felt relieved and comforted that she didn't stand out in this group. One of her bigger fears when she'd agreed to join was that she would be in a group full of trained, serious kids who had no time or patience to humor the green new girl. She placed a reassuring hand on one of his wings.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Landon," she greeted with a relaxed, casual cheerfulness. "My code name is Decree. Do you-"

She was about to ask a question, but it completely slipped her mind never to be found again when after the seemingly last girl arrived, quite late too, the adults addressed her, followed by everybody else. There was apparently supposed to yet one more coming, but she had apparently not showed up. One of the adults then placed a decide on the coffee table, which glowed before leaving behind several small devices. One for each other them, she assumed, though she hadn't been keeping a strict count of everybody in the room.

When Axiom started explaining what they were, Faith took her hand off Landon's wing, and got to her feet, staring at the devices. These earpieces blocked her powers? So even if she accidentally slipped up in the future, she wouldn't be altering the free will of her friends. Or in extreme cases, altering who they were as people. Not this time. Not anymore. She was positively beaming with the unbridled joy of a child looking at the christmas present they asked Santa for.

There was a loud crash as the door was kicked open, causing Faith to jump and let out a very brief shriek. She turned round to see what the cause of the noise was. There was another teen, who looked very much likle a punk. This must be the ninth member they had been discussing. Faith instantly got the feeling they would not get along. She din't like this girl's attitude, or expression, or behaviour, or piercings. She looked to Landon and saw that the loud noise had caused some of his feathers to fly off and float down around him as he hid himself in his wings. Poor guy. Must not like loud sudden noises. Maybe his power made his hearing sensetive too. He didn't have human ears, after all. It had shocked Faith too. She was glad she hadn't picked one of the cases up, because she would definitely have dropped it.

Faith continued to silently watch Evie disapprovingly through her own white venetian mask as the ninth Ward walked into the room properly.




PRT HQ Ward Quarters, 8:07am
June 19th, 2021


Faith woke up from her bed in the Ward Quarters of the PRT Headquarters. Today was the day. She hadn't been able to sleep well. From the moment she was recruited, she had been back and forth from her home to this building several times. She was given a tour, a debriefing on what her new role would entail, and a little bit of combat training which did not go as well as anybody hoped. She had moved in permanently one week ago, so she could get used to this lifestyle.

It was Faith who had made the call to move out. She didn't want to rely on getting driven to work every day. That was not a particlarly....heroic entrance. Plus, while she was learning how to avoid using her powers and training herself off accidentally using commands in everyday speech, she'd made a lot of mistakes with her parents. They were now unnaturally nice, and it was all her fault. It was putting a strain on things. She no longer felt qualified to live with them for fear she'd make things worse. They trusted her too much, and were far too vulnerable to her powers. She would still visit them whenever she got the opportunity. Maybe during holidays. But otherwise she had effectively moved out.

She took a quick shower, dried and brushed her hair and did her makeup, before putting on her costume. She hadn't even worn this four times total in her life yet, and she still wasn't used to navigating this....dress. Oh well, it will probably come with practice. She was going to be putting it on a lot from now on, after all.



PRT Headquarters, 8:46am
June 19th, 2021


The sixth Ward to enter the room, one minute later than intended (which Faith still counted as being on time. Most people accounted for a five minute grace period, right?). Faith entered the room. She had been in this room several times this past week to watch television in her free time, but she was usually alone. This room felt a lot more natural with more people in it, sitting on the couches and filling the space up. Faith was familiar with Grandmaster and Nightstalker, and had seen Axiom around though they'd never really spoken as Faith had not been given gadgets yet. The rest of the people in this room must be her teammates, then!

Faith's costume, being on the brigher side, was definitely standing out. There were two intense-looking boys in hooded cloaks, a girl in a more sci-fi bodysuit, and a boy with green skin and dark grey fur and feathers....not a lot of bright colors to go around. That may have influenced them when they designed and her costume soon after she joined.

Grandmaster hadn't made any move after she arrived. She was worried she may have been the last one here when she was running late from getting ready, but it looked like they were still waiting on more. She looked around, her eyes resting on Landon. Besides being by far the most eyecatching stranger in the room, he also seemed like the most approachable, if clearly nervous. She smiled and sat beside him.

"Nervous? She asked reassuredly. "Don't worry. I'm nervous too. I-"

She cut herself off as her eyes went wide with shock and she put her hand to her mouth, acting as if she'd just said something really bad. Strangely, he'd find himself calming down ever so slightly. It was as if all of his worries had shrunk just a little. They weren't gone entirely, however.

"Sorry, that was..." she shook her head, signed, and then smiled again, a little more sheepish this time. "I'll start over. My name's Faith. What's yours?"
© 2007-2024
BBCode Cheatsheet