Blackstripe

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

9:43 AM, December 3rd
The Wedge; Hub City

Karen had just finished unloading the towels from their old rust-bucket dryer when she was startled by a loud banging at the front door. Her dad was at work, so she was, of course, home alone. Well, alone if you didn't count Sam, at least. She'd taken a few sick days off school following the attack in order to avoid a meltdown.

For a moment, she thought it might be trouble, but...it was kind of early to be trying to rob people, even for The Wedge. Most at least waited until later in the day to start with that shit. They'd been hit a couple of times before, but once everyone figured out that they didn't have all that much worth stealing, they stopped bothering.

"Now who could that be?" Samantha muttered, eying her judgmentally. "Maybe an admirer from your little battle in the sky?"

Karen shook her head in response to this. "No way, nobody knows where exactly I live. Hub City is huge, after all."

"Hold on, let me take a look," Samantha hopped down from the sofa and sauntered over to the door. Karen could see her eyes take on a green luminescence in that moment. "Hmm...looks like a big, bald meth dealer or something...no, wait."

"What?" Karen tilted her head to the side. "It's not that old guy in the fedora again, is it? I thought The Question ran him out of town a while ago!"

Samantha shook her head, "No. I sense...magic around this man. Karen, transform! Do it now!"

"Wah? That bad?" Karen took a step back. Drawing in a heavy breath, she looked to the sky.



In a blinding flash of light, the thunderbolt descended to transform her from the frail little girl she was into an unstoppable, Nazi-busting badass.

Knowing he'd already seen the lightning, most probably, and that he had showed up at her house, a disguise seemed pointless. Offering a final glance to Samantha, Karen confidently moved to open the door, standing face-to-face with what would normally be a horribly intimidating figure if she were in her human form.

"Can I help you?"

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

9:32 AM, December 3rd
The Wedge; Hub City

"This has gotten so far out of hand I don't even know where to start, Karen," Samantha growled at the images flashing across the television. Images of Karen soaring through the air with the Nazi that had attacked the city, and of her delivering said goosestepper to the police in Germany. "You're all over the news, now! No matter the channel, you're all they're talking about!"

Karen scratched at the back of her head, unsure how to respond to being the number one headline across the nation...maybe across the entire world, for all she knew. Apparently, more people than she had realized had witnessed her battle with the man, whom was apparently identified as Wilhelm Silber, a former member of Nazi Germany.

"They even have your name!" Samantha continued with her rant, glaring daggers into her without remorse. "How could you be so careless?!"

"They only remembered my first name," Karen noted. Hernandez was apparently too foreign a name for startled and confused German police to remember that late at night. "How many Karen's are in Hub City?"

Burying her face in the arm of the sofa, Samantha continued to groan as only a cat could. "You lack any sense of gravitas for how absurdly dangerous this situation could easily become!"

"Well, it's not like I actually told him or anything! He stole it all from my head. Besides, what do you mean? I'm pretty much invincible, even to guys with super mind powers!" Karen pointed out.

Apparently considering this a sufficient cause for assault, the charcoal black feline leaped across the couch and gave Karen a light scratch on her arm, eliciting a yelp from the startled girl. "Wrong! Karen Hernandez is not invincible."

"Owww..." Karen rubbed at her arm with a pout. "Was there seriously no way to make that point without slashing me?!"

"Listen," Samantha jabbed her claws towards her face threateningly. "If someone learns who you are, then they have the power to kill you before you can even transform."

Pushing down a nervous gulp when threatened with further clawings, Karen slowly nodded. "O-okay, I get it, shit...I look like I'm 20-something in that form, though, so I doubt anybody would suspect me."

"Maybe not at first, but..." Samantha exhaled sharply. "Look, we can't take back what's happened, so just lay low and hope that it all blows over."

Bolting to her feet so quickly that Sam went rolling down onto the floor, Karen furiously shook her head. "No way, Sam! Now that I've officially made my public appearance, this is the time to kick things into high gear!"

"Seriously?!" Sam's eyes saucered. "Did you not hear anything I just-"

Karen sharply jabbed a finger at the cat, silencing her. "I heard, and unless I come across any more telepaths, I won't be giving my name out...but I'm not going to just hide away in here forever! Listen, Sam..."

She reached down, scooping the cat up beneath her front legs and holding her in front of her face. "I grew up in the shitty neighborhood where you can't go five minutes here without hearing a gunshot. Mom's gone because of that, and I know I'm not alone there. Places like this exist all over Hub City and who knows where else in the world! I..."

Karen looks away for a moment, biting at her lip. Her eyes mist over slightly, but she manages to hold it together. "I want to be a hero, Sam. I want to be the hero that kids like me don't get to have, because all we've got to look up to are a bunch of thugs effing each other over. The cops don't care about us, nobody does. I know I can do so much to help with these powers, so I just can't do nothing."

"But you have a duty to-"

"I'll still fight your 'horrors from beyond the veil', but I can't just be about that," Karen explained, placing Samantha back down onto the carpet. "I want to help people!"

Samantha lowered her head, shaking it slowly. She looked...tired. "I see there's no dissuading you from this course of action. Well, so be it, Karen. It is out of mt hands...all I can do is continue to train you as best I can, and hope you do not prove my worst fears to be correct."

---

News outlets from across the United States had almost immediately began filling the airwaves with news of a domestic terrorist attack on Hub City, even as it was still ongoing. The largest scale and most prolonged attack on American soil since the Business Plot of 1934, news of the numerous heavily armed militiamen running rampant in the street dominated the airwaves until still image and video captures of an extravagantly dressed woman engaged in a midair battle with an armored man in black.

On their own, these dubious shots might have been passed off as an elaborate hoax if not for follow up reports from Germany of that same woman delivering the armored man to police within the German capital of Berlin, with several officers managing to snap pictures of both.

As more information continued to trickle in to lend further credibility to the reports, it seemed increasingly difficult for people to deny their eyes: something had happened that night that, by all rights, should have been impossible.

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

11:38 PM, December 1st
Berlin, Germany

"I believe this man might be a native of your country, officers, so I've taken the liberty of returning him to you," Karen explained, doing her best to sound all mature and adult-like in front of the Berlin police department, who were so nobly brandishing their firearms at her. It was like they'd never seen a flying amalgamation of ancient divinity and magic before. Landing gently a fair distance away from the dozen or so cops that had sortied out of the police station to greet her, she gently shoved her captive forward.

His hands had been bound with a steel girder she had twisted around them, so at the very least he wouldn't be trying to fight them in melee. "He has some sort of telekinetic abilities, but they seem to be at their limit for the time being. I don't know how long that will last, though."

Thanks to the intellect of Mnemosyne, she had been able to understand the German that the telepath had spoken during their battle with complete clarity. Now, speaking to the police, she was able to communicate with them as if she were a native of not only Germany, but of Brandenberg and Berlin in particular, perfectly mimicking their local accent and dialect.

"Judging by his attire and the things he was saying, I'm going to guess he's a Nazi," she added. "I mean, he's certainly old enough to be by the looks of him."

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

@RubyOwlYou can try for Wonder Woman. I judge by the character sheets submitted, not by how long somebody has been on the forum. ^^

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

10:32 PM
Home

"He is no normal human, Karen," Samantha explained, her emerald eyes catching the dim light within their nighttime home. "I watched him slaughter the men who stood against him by hurling entire vehicles through the air as if he were pitching a baseball."

Karen's frown deepened, an orange hue filtering through the blinds as the fires raged outside. "If that's the case, then who else can stop him but me?"

It had been about an hour since she'd returned home from Spring Grove.

She had watched the police establish a parameter around the crack house, cordoning it off from the rest of the neighborhood. Lurking in the bushes beneath the cover of darkness, she'd simply observed for roughly twenty minutes while they read the dozen plus thugs their rights before shoving them into their patrol cars. Numerous onlookers had emerged from their homes when they first heard the sirens blaring, shocked to see such massive arrest taking place in their previously ignored community.

Everything had gone perfectly.

She had thus been resting soundly in bed when Samantha had awoken her, and it didn't take long for her to figure out why: The Wedge was burning. She was still in her pajamas as she stared out the window, watching people flee in terror from the spreading fire.

"Come on, Sam, you know I have to go!" Karen pleaded with the cat who was currently camped in front of the door. She'd tried to remove her, but had been rewarded by a series of scratches on her arms. Transforming in here would surely wake up her dad, so that was a no-go as well.

Samantha firmly shook her head. "I woke you so you would be ready if he came to our house, not so you could go fight it out in the streets. You've already gone over my head enough as it is with that little raid you pulled off, but this is a level you're not even close to being ready for yet!"

"So I'm supposed to just sit here and watch my home burn?!" Karen snapped, her heart pounding with raw indignation. She had friends who lived here, most notably Clarissa. What if she ended up caught in the fire? She wasn't answering her texts or calls. "It may be a shithole, but it's still my shithole!"

Digging her claws into the old and partially molded carpet, Samantha shot a glance to the window. "Your job isn't to prevent humans from killing themselves. Such a thing would be a lesson in futility, even for one of your power. You're here to safeguard the Earth from-"

"Horrors beyond the veil, blah, blah," Karen cut her off. "Well, guess what? This guy isn't behind some veil. He's here right now, and he seems pretty fucking horrible! If I have to just stand here while people die, if I can't even use my powers to at least try and make this shitty world a better place, then I don't want them! Now get out of my way you stupid cat, before I kick you through the TV!"

Samantha seemed a little taken aback by her threat, casting her head down. Without speaking a word, she stood and moved from her path. Karen felt a pang of guilt hit her chest.

"Sam, I'm sorry, I just-"

"Hurry," Sam muttered. "If you're going to save The Wedge, then you don't have much time left."

---

10:38
North Central Street; The Wedge

Those fleeing from the fire - and the maniac who started it - on North Central Street would be hard pressed to focus on anything other than survival as the flamed relentlessly pursued them, threatening to engulf the entire area. And yet, even amidst their entirely reasonable panic, many were unable to avoid looking to the sky when it flashed with an azure light, the unmistakable crash of thunder soon to follow.

Standing now before the man responsible for all of this was a woman, the Lady in Red. Dressed in her crimson overcoat, she seemed intent on facing the monster before her alone.

~

"Who are you?" Karen shouted over the roar of the fire. "Why would you set fire to The Wedge?"

A lot of people might say they wanted this place to burn, but nobody ever meant it. She couldn't imagine why anyone would feel the need to go this far, even if they really did hate it.

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

8:24 PM, December 1st
Spring Grove, The Wedge; Hub City

Samantha hated it when she went out this late. Said it risked her father finding out if he happened to wake up. That was, of course, ridiculous. Her dad never woke up once he passed out for the night, and even if he did, the last thing he'd do was ever check up on her. Not unless he was inexplicably hungry after supper.

Besides, night was when the best crime fighting happened. Everybody knew that. The worst of the worst would stick their heads out, conducting their rotten business with impunity...and that's precisely what she aimed to put an end to tonight.

Sam had made a good point when she said that she couldn't just aimlessly beat up thugs. She had to catch them in the act of committing a crime, and the way to do that would be to raid one of their crack houses. Not only was she pretty much guaranteed to find drugs in there, but there was at least a chance of one of the gang leaders being present. That seemed like quite the worthwhile opportunity!

She had scared the location of one out of one of the Spring Grove Boys she'd caught trying to break into a home earlier today, and he didn't seem like a terribly good liar.

By this point, they knew well what the Lady in Red looked like, and would react swiftly upon seeing her approach. They might even try to burn their product if she dicked around for too long. Therefore, tonight, there would be no taunting. No introductions.

She could see the crack house from the street, her presence still masked by the darkness of the night. There were around six men standing outside, all of them likely armed. It didn't matter though, because she wouldn't be fighting them. Not at first, anyway.

Lowering herself into a slight crouch, Karen immediately surged forth at just below the speed of sound. Leaping into the air at the precipice of the front yard, she soared over the heads of the guards. Staring up at her in horrified astonishment, they were unable to even utter a word of warning to those inside before she came crashing through the wall of the crack house. Amidst a hail of splinters she met the eyes of more than half a dozen men seated around a table, and there was nary a pause before the first one drew his weapon.

Dashing forward, she drove her palm into his chest to launch him back into the far wall, the impact splintering the wood and sending the thug crumpling to the ground. The others had risen to their feet by this point, opening fire on her with semi-automatic and machine pistols alike.

She bobbed and weaved around the firing arcs in a way that would probably seem hilariously amateurish if they could track her movements, taking down each one with a simple palm strike or throw. It didn't take long for the guards outside to join the fray, but now that she was inside they wouldn't be able to destroy her evidence. Maintaining her cool and lightly inclining her head to allow a series of bullets to sweep past her ear, she dispatched yet another with a measured blow to the sternum that resulted in him crashing through the table.

Bullets continued to miss her by the slimmest of margins as she defeated two thugs simultaneously by wielding one as a momentary flail. She didn't have to dodge, of course. Sam had made it quite apparent that nothing in their arsenal could harm her, but the longcoat she wore over her "uniform" was another story. If that became riddled with bullets, then the ever surly feline would make her patch up every single one of them.

Issuing a precisely controlled headbutt to one of the last remaining thugs, she watched him crumple to the ground at her feet. There were now only three left, and they proceeded to throw their weapons to the floor the moment she turned to face them. It looked like her one-woman raid had been successful.

"You," she pointed to the nearest member of SGB, "give me your phone."

---

8:52

It was satisfying - to say the least - to see the flashing of police sirens in Spring Grove. It had been far too long since any patrol cars came through any part of The Wedge, after all. Normally, the cops would never bother coming down here for a crime report, but the promise of whole house full of contraband was a bit too enticing for even them to pass up, especially since all the dirty work had been done for them.

For the past week or so, in fact, the cops had seemed quite happy to let her do all the heavy lifting. They hadn't even bothered to condemn her blatant vigilantism, as it apparently distracted from the articles being published by her new reporter "friend" on just how messed up this place was.

It was pretty funny.

But maybe...maybe if she could clean up these streets enough, the police would finally be willing to step up and do their part. If she broke the gangs enough to where they could bring some actual law back to The Wedge, then everything will have been worth it.

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

@Ceta de CloyesYour character seems fine, approved.

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

@Rockin StringsLOL, no I don't think I'll allow that, thank you very much. :P

We still have some really good archetypes available, though, like I said...

Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and many, many others, both heroes and villains.

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

@Rockin StringsWell, we already have a speedster and the RP isn't ready for more yet. The Riddler slot is open, though, along with quite a few others.

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

4:54, November 27th 2019
Sisters of Mercy Women's Shelter; Hub City, Illinois

"Wow, thanks!" Karen perked up when The Question offered her a piece of candy. Eagerly accepting it, she popped it into her mouth, savoring the intense rush of concentrated sugar. They didn't really have Candy Shops in The Wedge. She knew that wasn't always the case, since there was an old abandoned one on 4th Street, but that was well before her time.

Continuing to listen to his tale of his first night out with some curiosity, she frowned when he mentioned barely escaping with his life.

It, honestly, had to be pretty terrifying to go out there every day when you were nothing but a normal human being...which she had just confirmed through his story. She'd be way too scared to even seriously entertain the idea of taking on any one of these ruthless thugs without her powers, never mind a whole gang of them. Her encounter with the mugger had proven well that attempting heroism as Karen Hernandez was a fast track to getting shot.

"Sorry you've had it so rough," she finally said, with no hint of sarcasm or condescension. She could sympathize with anyone that had to spend their life there, and would never wish it on her worst enemy. "Even if alone we can't make a lasting difference, maybe the both of us can."

Of course, she was still low key heroing, per Sam's instructions. Once she was ready to turn things up a notch, she'd be able to change things, she knew it. On that note...

"It was really great meeting you, Mr. Question," she offered him a hand to shake. "But I need to go now. Hopefully we'll see each other again. Maybe even do a team up! That'd be cool."

With a light wave, Karen turned to make her way back home. Walking at first, then moving at speeds no normal human could follow once she was out of sight.

---

5:01

"Not bad," Sam finished appraising her long coat. "No tears at all this time. You did well out there."

Karen grinned at this, now back in her human form. Every day when she got back from heroing, Samantha would check the coat for tears to see if she had used excessive force. She had a good number of incidents in her first couple of weeks, but was getting better about it.

Thankfully, nobody had been killed or too badly hurt since her first outing, as she had practiced on inanimate objects for a while before trying crime fighting again.

"I feel like I've got enough control now to ditch the coat," Karen stated confidently. "I could get so much more done if I could fly and really take it to these guys!"

"No," Samantha shook her head, "that's not why you were chosen, and besides...you're just starting to get a handle on your strength. Your control isn't at such a level where you can bloodlessly go around beating up entire gangs, even if you did want to waste your powers on such mundane concerns. Besides, what good would that do? Simply being in a gang isn't a crime, after all. You'd just look like a lunatic."

Karen's shoulders sagged at this. Maybe she had a point, but... "What am I even supposed to be doing? You keep telling me I'm not a superhero, but then what?"

"You're the Guardian of Magic and the most powerful sorceress in existence, should you live up to your potential," Samantha explained, taking a few steps towards her. "Your duty is to safeguard this world from the unspeakable horrors that lurk beyond the veil of what humans perceive to be reality, not beating up muggers or petty thugs. This is just practice to help you master your new body."

Karen frowned, staring down at the creature that she had once regarded as a simple - if beloved - pet. "Then how about you teach me some actual magic?"

"No, you're-"

"Not ready, of course!" Karen cut her off with a snap. "Should've known."

Samantha sighed, her head dipping towards the floor. "If you were to learn magic before you mastered your body, you wouldn't be able to control it and could cause irreparable damage to this world."

Karen didn't really have an argument she could counter that with, unfortunately. That didn't mean she had to like what the stuffy cat said, though. Folding her arms, she turned away and pouted in silence.

She then heard Sam sigh again behind her.