canaryrose

《 H.E.R.O. 2064 》

HEROIC EGALITARIAN RESCUE ORGANIZATION
_{RETINAL SCAN PROCESSED. FINGERPRINT PATTERN MATCHED. DNA DATA FINALIZED. VOICE PATTERN COMPARISON COMPLETED. VERIFIED POSITIVE MATCH. WELCOME BACK, HERO.}

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《 H.E.R.O. Archives: An Abbreviated History of Superheroes 》
_{Greetings, prospective hero. My name is ALISA and I will be guiding you through the application process here at HERO. First, a brief lesson in our history is in order.}

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> > > Year 1764: The Beginning < < <

300 years ago, to the date, one of the strangest scientific anomalies in history occurred. A massive meteor jettisoned towards Earth at breakneck speeds, only to dissolve as soon as the meteor entered the atmosphere. What astronomers of the time prophesized as a bringer of doom to the human species appeared to have just been a simple near-miss. Life went on for a short while, until the scientists, and people all around the world, realized that the meteor, termed the 《 X-200 Meteor 》, had left something in its wake.

The meteor, upon dissolution, had released clouds of purple dust that had caused mutations in select numbers of fauna, flora, and most importantly, humans. These genetic mutations gave this specific group- only about 5-7% of the world's population, at the time- what is called the "Hero Gene." The Hero Gene runs in families and grants all sorts of superpowers. Some people grew wings, some people could spit fire, some people could cause countries to experience earthquakes, and some people could cause yeast to rise faster. All sorts of new powers came about from this revelation, and it led to one of the greatest paradigm shifts humanity has ever seen.

> > > 1770 - 1790: Formative Years < < <

The new class of "superhumans" came to recognize the implications of their newfound abilities much faster than the world governments did. The first "villains" and "heroes" were just superpowered crooks and ragtag groups of superpowered neighborhood watchmen, essentially. Small bands of these heroes duked it out with the early iterations of supervillains, and also did battle with "Leftovers," a blanket term for the creatures that had become affected by the X-200 meteor and had adopted (often hideous) super-mutations of their own. This kind of rampant havoc was troublesome, to say the least. Representatives from the major world powers of the time held a summit to determine how to address this new problem. The 1791 Austria Convention would reshape how the world thought of this new term of “superheroes.”

> > > 1791 - 1879: Heroes Gone Global < < <

The 1791 Austria Convention laid down a method of organizing the new “superhero” groups. The world was carved into regions, where each respective area would be responsible for administering a “hero company,” a governmental division of superheroes that worked for the government and fought to preserve the peace. All the hero companies would be linked to a single entity known as ICOSA, the International Council on Superhuman Affairs, centered in Vienna, the first real transnational governing body in human history.

This original convention was, in short, a failure, or at least, it wasn’t as successful as it could’ve been. The world was rife with tensions, and as such, the powers bestowed upon ICOSA were incredibly weak, with most of the power given to the individual nations. These individual nations used their respective hero companies less to police supervillains and more as cudgels for their enemies. Because of this, heroes were rarely around to actually help fight villains and more often that not doing battle against Napoleon or helping quash rebellions or pillaging villages in the Scramble for Africa. Superheroes, at this point in time, were not viewed very well, and would continue to be viewed poorly by the general public for almost a century. This was a dark period of superheroes, and after a coordinated series of supervillain terrorist attacks in the 1870s, combined with atrocities committed in the Crimean War of Europe and American Civil War, the international community reconvened for a second conference, this time in Geneva.

> > > 1879 - 1945: Reform and Readjustment < < <

The 1879 Geneva Convention moved the meeting grounds of ICOSA a thousand kilometers west to Geneva, Switzerland, and established new rules and legislation that redefined superheroism. Superheroes were no longer to be tools of the military, and were limited in their parameters to solely be guardians, not soldiers. Hero companies were forbidden from going to war and ICOSA enacted a series of hefty guidelines that every HERO company had to follow, lest they be punished by ICOSA. ICOSA was still a mostly laissez-faire organization, giving individual companies a great deal of autonomy and freedom to run things as they so choose, but finally began to crack down on the usage of superheroes as tools of war. From this point on, the public image of superheroes began to improve dramatically. Though Switzerland’s neutral position in both world wars meant that there were no superheroes to be serving on the frontlines, the imagery of the spandex-covered superhero finally began to take hold of the public. When the world emerged from World War 2, there was one image that remained untainted by the cynicism of the world, and that was of superheroes.

> > > 1945 - 2050: The Golden Age of Superheroes < < <

The next century or so is considered the golden era of superheroes. Trust in superheroes was at an all-time high, and for the first time since the inception of hero companies, civilians began to not only feel comfortable around superheroes, but openly followed them. Powerful superheroes, handsome superheroes, cool superheroes, funny superheroes, all of them began to grow in popularity with the public, and once the snowball started rolling, the hype only increased. By the 60s and 70s, consumerism centered around superheroes began to keep pace and even exceed at some points the fan obsession with actors and musicians, and becoming a superhero with a hero company not only became a viable career path, but a very lucrative one at that. Local and international funding guaranteed that no matter where in the world you are, signing your name with a hero company promised a good salary, plenty of benefits, and a ton of clout.

In the midst of a global obsession with superheroes, one company stood out- HERO, an American HERO Company that covered the Northeast and part of the Atlantic coast. HERO was known for being highly destructive in their superheroism, but for always getting the job done in the midst of one of the most populous and villain-infested cities in the world, Castleburg, New York. HERO had some of the strongest, cunning, caring, and oftentimes oversexualized and overhyped heroes in the world, and it earned a reputation as being chaotic but exciting, a hub of hero activity that many flocked to.

> > > 2050 - Present, The Decline < < <

After a hundred years of popularity, the advent of the future caused superheroes to tumble from the top- robots.

Robots have a lot going for them- effective, obedient, cool, and much less volatile than actual humans. In the late 2040s into the coming decades, police forces from around the world began implementing robotic divisions, known creatively as e-Police or Ekops..Their incorporation and effectiveness diminished the popularity of heroes. Hero companies are still around, and are still prevalent and heavily sponsored, but they aren’t quite the same as they used to be, with much of the public feeling more comfortable around the productive and efficacious Ekop than the humans that spit fire from their mouths.

Looming in the future, though, there are distant threats to Castleburg and the world, threats that a bunch of pieces of tin can’t stop. It’ll be up to the heroes to reassert themselves once again to keep the city- and the world at large- safe, like heroes have always done at the end of the day.

> > > TL / DR < < <

After a meteor hit Earth 300 years ago, some people developed superpowers. These superhumans were grouped up into regional, acronym-based companies all managed by a global organization called ICOSA that functioned as the UN of superhumans. Eventually, after being used as tools of war for many years, ICOSA forced superheroes to be superheroes, and they went from being viewed in disdain to being idolized as celebrities and role models for the 20th century and first half of the 21st century, when the rise of electronic policing has begun the decline of superheroes as a paragon of justice.

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《 The City of Castleburg 》
_{Let’s now shift our scope from the world at large onto the bustling futuristic metropolis of Castleburg, New York, one of the world’s three largest cities and the home of HERO.}

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Castleburg is a bustling metropolis located in New York State. A thriving city on the cutting edge of the future, Castleburg is the home of more than 20 million people and is the center of HERO, the Heroic Egalitarian Rescue Organization, a hero company that covers much of the Atlantic Northeast of the United States, though its main branch is in Castleburg, a city that with its great population also has a great number of supervillains looking to bring the mighty city to its knees.

Castleburg

Castleburg is divided into 7 different boroughs. The largest borough of Castleburg is called 《 New Athens 》, the bustling central district of Castleburg that's home to much of Castleburg's largest business and commerce centers. New Athens is home to many museums, galleries, and other cultural hotspots along with the towering skyscrapers of many industries. At the center of New Athens is the Center Olive Park, a gorgeous city park featuring a zoo and more, along with the Belfast Building, one of the world's tallest buildings, and a Castleburg monument. To the north of New Athens is 《 Kingsdale 》, an upper-class city district with row after row of nice restaurants, theaters, and more. Kingsdale is an entertainment hub in the city, and it's where the action is at. Kingsdale is also home to pricey residences and posh penthouses. To the east of New Athens and Kingsdale is the 《 East Flank 》. The East Flank is still an urban area but is considered to be a much more affordable area to live compared to New Athens and Kingsdale. The East Flank is home to much of Castleburg's middle-class population and many Heroes, and though it hosts its own galleries, restaurants, et cetera, is mostly viewed as residential.

Those three boroughs make up North Castle Island, while South Castle Island is made up of two distinct boroughs. Perhaps the polar opposite of Kingsdale, 《 Brookside 》 is a much more lower-class area of Castleburg, located across the Blue River south of New Athens. An area with crime rates much higher than that of the other portions of the city and featuring a much more slum-like atmosphere, Brookside is a common location for regular street crimes. Adjacent to Brookside, 《 Watervale 》 is a small borough composed mostly of residential areas. While generally higher socio-economically than Brookside, Watervale is known for its organized crime presence, and it's believed some supervillains have set up camp here as well. Watervale is also the home to several ethnic communities, most notably Castleburg’s Chinatown neighborhood.

To the east of North Castle Island is 《 Passenger Island 》, a mostly suburban area of Castleburg. It's a sleepier area of Castleburg in general, not as much going on here most of the time. Some of the more boring heroes live here. Passenger Island stands as a relic of the old way, a living memory of the early 21st century with few moving sidewalks, bullet trains, and hovercars zooming about.

Lastly, to the east of Watervale is the newest borough of 《 Atlantica 》, an entirely artificial, man-made island. It was a pet project of a local billionaire to turn a group of abandoned oil rigs into an oceanside paradise. It stands as a sort of mini-Vegas in Castleburg, with glowing neon signs and tall oceantop casinos overshadowing the rampant crime and poverty that festers beneath its gilded surface.

《 Savior Island 》 and 《 Lighthouse Island 》 are both HERO-owned and operated islands. Savior Island holds HERO One, a towering skyscraper that once was the glorious symbol of HERO and that now serves as administrative office space. Lighthouse Island holds Academy for Junior Heroes (see more below).

Technology

To be added in the near future.

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《 H.E.R.O. Affiliations 》
_{H.E.R.O. has been Castleburg's vanguard for hundreds of years now, a shining beacon of justice in a city that is all too often clouded with chaos. It is imperative you learn exactly what you're getting into before you join our ranks, and also, who you'll be up against.}

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H.E.R.O.

A hero company situated in Castleburg, H.E.R.O. is notorious for causing mass amounts of damage to its home city, but the organization is well-respected as an entity for stopping villainy in its tracks. Employing many local heroes to help fight crime, H.E.R.O. is a crime-stopping arm that works closely with police to help fight criminal activity all throughout Castleburg and surrounding regions.

H.E.R.O. runs three separate locations to help facilitate activities. Its “main” HQ, named HERO One, is located just off of Castleburg Bay on an island. Once a bustling center of hero life, HERO One has since become aged and is mostly used as administrative office space. The main hub for hero activity is the aerocarrier Paladin, a high-tech airship that patrols the skys above Castleburg and has been active since the late 2040s. Paladin is accessible through traditional aircrafts and through a beaming system. Paladin is equipped with state-of-the-art quarters and citywide defense systems in case of an emergency. Lastly, HERO operates the Academy for Junior Heroes, a magnet school specifically for young superheroes. It is a public school that accepts promising young superhumans and helps to teach them how to use their superpowers effectively and safely, and is located on Lighthouse Island, far away from where the pubescent metahumans can do any damage.

H.E.R.O. is a very generous employer, and most full-time heroes are satisfied with the paychecks, plus benefits such as medical insurance. Because of that, most heroes that H.E.R.O. employs are full time, though part-time heroes do exist. That being said, H.E.R.O. holds these benefits as a motivator and regularly slashes the paychecks of those who do not comply with H.E.R.O. guidelines and cause excessive destruction.

H.E.R.O.’s 12th executive director is Alexandra Steel, a French immigrant and former superheroine known as the Black Crow. Her assistant director is Raymond Blum Jr., another former superhero known as the Man-Titan.

I.C.O.S.A.

ICOSA, the International Council of Superhuman Affairs, is a global governing body whose primary goal is to record and research all powers and power holders, issue proper certifications to professional heroes, link and supervise hero companies, and track those that use their powers for nefarious purposes. ICOSA, itself a slow-moving body, relegates a significant amount of authority to the various companies under its jurisdiction, but it still makes sure to continuously inspect said companies to make sure they are complying with all ICOSA guidelines. H.E.R.O., having had a long history of breaking those guidelines, finds itself under constant scrutiny by ICOSA.

The President of I.C.O.S.A. is a Nigerian general named Okoye Akinsanya, a hero in the Pan-African War and a notorious hardline advocate of limited HERO involvement.

Read More Here: [link]

Xenon

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The Depths

The Depths Supermax Detention Center was founded in the year 2035 after a mass breakout at the previous supermax facility for Castleburg, Coldwater. The Depths is located down a massive borehole and is considered the hardest location to escape from on the globe. The Depths’ security detail is incredibly impressive, and the farther down one goes, the more intense the security procedures become. At the base level, which is reserved for either high-level human offenders or low-level metahuman offenders, The Depths is mostly similar to any other prison, albeit one with a number of heavily-armed guards, cybernetic defense mechanisms, and no light- at the very least, inmates get a cellmate, yard time, and visitation.

At the bottom levels, though, reserved for dangerous supervillains, inmates are locked inside specially-designed cells to nullify their specific superpowers and are kept under constant scrutiny. The lowest level of The Depths is called the Omega Level, a location for villains that have committed grave crimes against humanity, and it is rumored that those imprisoned there aren’t even allowed to move, remaining locked-in-place in a semi-comatose state for the rest of their lives. These rumors are unsubstantiated, though, because no reporters are allowed to the bottom levels.

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《 H.E.R.O. Formal Application 》
_{With that housekeeping covered, please proceed to the application and complete it to the best of your ability.}

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Pointers For Character Creation < < <

• BALANCE IS KEY! I give a lot of leeway when constructing an OC, under the assumption that everybody exercises a degree of reason when making their character. Some characters will be stronger than others, but try to balance power with weakness when making a character.
• Third-person is preferred in the character sheet, though I will accept any perspective so long as it is thoughtfully done. Please delete all the turquoise text prior to submitting the character sheet in the OOC first.
• You can have as many characters as you can reasonably manage, though I would suggest no more than 2-3 main characters. You can have NPC side characters as much as you want, though please do not godmod anybody else's characters or GM NPCs. If you want any sort of incorporation into the main story, please DM me and/or Zoey.
• The main character sheet portion and abilities section are both mandatory and can be separated or combined, up to you. If there is a relationship sheet added later, that would be entirely optional.
• All faceclaims should be some form of digital art, not a real-life faceclaim, as to keep with the established theme/mood of the RP. If you have an FC that is in a gray area for whatever reason, shoot me and/or Zoey a DM.
• When in doubt, send me and/or Zoey a DM and we'll be more than happy to clarify anything. I am pretty lenient, so any situation should be able to be worked out with a bit of communication.
• Though my goal is to work everything out and try and get as many people happily participating in the RP as possible, my word is final.

Character Sheet Example

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[ INSERT IMAGE ABOVE ]

HERO NAME

"witty character quote here"

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[ NAME ]

Your real name.

[ HERO IDENTITY ]

Repeat it one more time for the folks in the back!

[ NICKNAME/ALIAS ]

Anything you’re called outside of your name and public identity.

[ AGE ]

New heroes can be anywhere from the age of 16 upwards of 40, though the curve tends to fall towards the younger side. Younger people are generally in better shape, have a reduced fear of death, and have less to lose.

[ GENDER ]

Should be fairly self explanatory.

[ AFFILIATION ]

If your intention is enlisting as a full-time operative for HERO, that should be stated here. If, for whatever reason, you are a neutral party or, heaven forbid, a full-time villain, list that particular occupation here as well. Any “side hustles” should be considered here as well.

[ APPEARANCE ]

Describe your physical appearance, in terms of both your physique, casual clothing, and any sort of superhero suit you may want.

[ PERSONALITY TRAITS ]

The Director is not seeking a detailed compendium of every facet of our personality, but rather just a few adjectives that you would use to describe yourself.

[ BIO ]

[ The obligatory origin story. Some depth is required here, as one’s personal history does speak volumes about their character. However, some details may be left out to be discovered later, though it is critical that the Director be directly messaged about said spoiler.

| MISCELLANEOUS |

Any details you would like the Director to see.

Abilities

[ RANKING ]

Return to this part after having completed the other assessment areas. See "Power Rankings" hider below for more guidance.

[ POWERS ]

A brief description of your powers. Below will be a more in-depth examination of your abilities.

For the below-listed rankings, please rank yourself using the colored and uncolored boxes on a scale of 0-10, with a 2 corresponding to what an average, non-powered human can put out, and provide a brief explanation for the reasoning of said ranking. See "Power Rankings" hider below for more guidance.

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[ PHYSICAL STRENGTH ]
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[ AGILITY ]
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[ INTELLIGENCE ]
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[ DESTRUCTIVENESS ]
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[ LETHALITY ]
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[ ENDURANCE ]
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[ EFFICACY ]
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[ SKILLS ]

Any miscellaneous skills/talents that could ever be remotely relevant should be listed here.

[ EQUIPMENT ]

Any equipment that you like to tote around with you should be listed here.

Relationships Example

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[ CANARY ]

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[ Zoey Boey ]

[ "blah blah blah roasted" ]
[ what i actually think ]

[ Canaryrose ]

[ "it me bitch" ]
[ what can i say, i love myself ]

[ Rabidporcupine ]

[ "I know I said 'feel free to dm me' but come on" ]
[ Canary wishes sincerely that Rabid would finish anything in a timely manner. She also believes that Australians are not real, and therefore, believes Rabid is either Martian, a deep-cover agent with the NSA, or a figment of his imagination, all of which are equally likely possibilities. ]

Rinse and repeat for each character

RAW CODE EDITION

A Bundle of Raw Code

[hr ][hr ][img]LINKOFYOURIMAGE.JPEG[/img]
[color=YOURCOLOR][h1][b]HERO NAME[/b][/h1][/color]
[b][color=YOURCOLOR]"witty character quote here"[/color][/b][/center][hr ][hr ]

[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ NAME ][/B][/color]
[color=Turquoise][INDENT]Your real name.[/INDENT][/color]

[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ HERO IDENTITY ][/B][/color]
[color=Turquoise][INDENT]Repeat it one more time for the crowd![/INDENT][/color]

[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ NICKNAME/ALIAS ][/B][/color]
[color=Turquoise][INDENT]Anything you’re called outside of your name and public identity. [/INDENT][/color]

[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ AGE ][/B][/color]
[color=Turquoise][INDENT]New heroes can be anywhere from the age of 16 upwards of 40, though the curve tends to fall towards the younger side. Younger people are generally in better shape, have a reduced fear of death, and have less to lose.[/INDENT][/color]

[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ GENDER ][/B][/color]
[color=Turquoise][INDENT]Should be fairly self explanatory.[/INDENT][/color]

[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ AFFILIATION ][/B][/color]
[color=Turquoise][INDENT]If your intention is enlisting as a full-time operative for HERO, that should be stated here. If, for whatever reason, you are a neutral party or, heaven forbid, a full-time villain, list that particular occupation here as well. Any “side hustles” should be considered here as well. [/INDENT][/color]

[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ APPEARANCE ][/B][/color]
[color=Turquoise][INDENT]Describe your physical appearance, in terms of both your physique, casual clothing, and any sort of superhero suit you may want. [/INDENT][/color]

[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ PERSONALITY TRAITS ][/B][/color]
[color=Turquoise][INDENT]The Director is not seeking a detailed compendium of every facet of our personality, but rather just a few adjectives that you would use to describe yourself. [/INDENT][/color]

[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ BIO ][/B][/color]
[color=Turquoise][INDENT][ The obligatory origin story. Some depth is required here, as one’s personal history does speak volumes about their character. However, some details may be left out to be discovered later, though it is critical that the Director be directly messaged about said spoiler. [/INDENT][/color]

[color=YOURCOLOR][b]| MISCELLANEOUS |[/b][/color]
[color=Turquoise][indent]Any details you would like the Director to see.[/indent][/color]
[/hider]

[hider=Abilities]
[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ RANKING ][/B][/color]
[color=Turquoise][INDENT]Return to this part after having completed the other assessment areas. See "Power Rankings" hider below for more guidance. [/INDENT][/color]

[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ POWERS ][/B][/color]
[color=Turquoise][INDENT]A brief description of your powers. Below will be a more in-depth examination of your abilities.[/INDENT][/color]

[color=Turquoise][INDENT]For the below-listed rankings, please rank yourself using the colored and uncolored boxes on a scale of 0-10, with a 2 corresponding to what an average, non-powered human can put out, and provide a brief explanation for the reasoning of said ranking. See "Power Rankings" hider below for more guidance.[/INDENT][/color]
■■■■■□□□□□

[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ PHYSICAL STRENGTH ][/B][/color]
■■■■■□□□□□

[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ AGILITY ][/B][/color]
■■■■■□□□□□

[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ INTELLIGENCE ][/B][/color]
■■■■■□□□□□

[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ DESTRUCTIVENESS ][/B][/color]
■■■■■□□□□□

[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ LETHALITY ][/B][/color]
■■■■■□□□□□

[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ ENDURANCE ][/B][/color]
■■■■■□□□□□

[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ EFFICACY ][/B][/color]
■■■■■□□□□□

[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ SKILLS ][/B][/color]
[color=Turquoise][INDENT]Any miscellaneous skills/talents that could ever be remotely relevant should be listed here.[/INDENT][/color]

[color=YOURCOLOR][B][ EQUIPMENT ][/B][/color]
[color=Turquoise][INDENT]Any equipment that you like to tote around with you should be listed here. [/INDENT][/color]

Relationship Sheet

[hr ][hr ][center][color=YOUR COLOR][h1][b][ HERO NAME ][/b][/h1][/color][/center][hr ][hr ]
[center]
[h3][color=THEIRCOLOR][ THEIR NAME ][/color][/h3]
[ [i]"hmmm yes the floor is made of floor"[/i] ]
[ Insert thoughts about them here ]

[h3][color=THEIRCOLOR][ THEIR NAME ][/color][/h3]
[ [i]"hmmm yes the floor is made of floor"[/i] ]
[ Insert thoughts about them here ]

[h3][color=THEIRCOLOR][ THEIR NAME ][/color][/h3]
[ [i]"hmmm yes the floor is made of floor"[/i] ]
[ Insert thoughts about them here ]
[/center]

Rinse and repeat for each character

Character Help

Power Rankings

Now I bet you're asking yourself, "Canary, what is a ranking?"

Wow, stranger, I'm glad you asked!

HERO uses a ranking system to, very generally, qualify heroes, as well as villains that oppose HERO. The Power Ranking system runs from S to F to rank individuals by power level, with F denoting “weaker than an average human”, while S constitutes a “consistently dangerous threat to the city and its occupants.” Note that while the power ranking is a decent general measure of strength, it is by no means an absolute power level gauge, with individuals with a lower power ranking able to trump higher-ranked individuals with cunning, techniques, and more. The Power Ranking system is just a very general measure of threat level.

The Power Ranking system has been split into 7 sub-categories that heroes are assessed on- physical strength (measuring capacity to exert and withstand pressure with one's body), agility (measuring capacity to move swiftly and avoid attacks), intelligence (measuring application of knowledge and strategical thinking), destructivenesss (measuring ability to cause property damage), lethality (measuring ability to kill humans and/or animals), stamina (measuring capacity to use powers for a prolonged period of time), efficacy (measuring level of control over one's powers and the ability to use one's powers to control others) and morality (measuring the depth of one's moral compass).

S+ ranked heroes are like unicorns- people have claimed to see them, but they likely do not exist- the power levels required would simply be monstrous.

S ranked heroes are extremely powerful and are a consistently dangerous threat to the entire city and require countermeasures in place in case they go rogue.

S- ranked heroes are similar to S ranked heroes in magnitude, but their powers generally have some type of limitation or niche that makes them easily exploitable given the right tools.

All the S ranks make up about 1% of the hero population.

A ranked heroes can do serious damage to the city on their own and can be very difficult to defeat, but are not necessarily a threat to the entire city if let loose. They still possess an impressive amount of power, enough to endanger the lives around them, but not to the scope and magnitude that the S-ranked heroes possess.

All the A-ranked heroes (A+, A, A-) make up about 10% of the hero population.

B ranked heroes can do damage to both infrastructure and human lives and have a lot of potential but do not possess the penchant for destruction and death that the upper levels have, though B ranked heroes can put up a very good fight.

All the B-ranked heroes (B+, B, B-) make up about 25% of the hero population.

C ranked heroes have notable and significant enhancements over regular humans and can cause some level of destruction and/or multiple fatalities if given the opportunity, but have enough setbacks that make them fairly managable. They have a good deal of power, though, and should not be underestimated.

All the C-ranked heroes (C+, C, C-) make up about 50% of the hero population.

D ranked heroes have access to metahuman powers that grant some level of strength over non-powered humans. Use of said powers may be able to cause destruction, albeit at insignificant levels at that, and D ranked individuals can be easily managed.

All the D-ranked heroes (D+, D, D-) make up about 15% of the hero population.

E ranking is shorthand for an average human, and F ranking is just a regular insult. Neither is used in an official capacity by HERO or any organization.

Ranking, as the name suggests, measures the potential of a given individual’s power, not necessarily an objective ranking of ability in the real world. For example, the Dust Bandit, a D-rank villain with the sole power to manipulate dust, was able to cause multiple fatalities and was able to rob multi-millions from banks across Castleburg, defeating numerous C and B-tier heroes before being taken down.

Also, heroes’ ranking. can improve or deteriorate over time. Heroes are re-evaluated on a biannual basis, though a request for an earlier re-evaluation can be submitted to H.E.R.O. for consideration. It is fairly rare to see a hero move more than a whole rank, however.

---

《 H.E.R.O. 2064 Updates 》
_{As they teach us in AI administrator school, there's always something more to be said. Here it is.}

---

• 7/1/21: Happy Launch Day! Been very excited to launch this for a while! CLICK HERE TO JOIN DISCORD!
• 7/5/21: Relationship sheet is up! It is entirely and completely optional, but always a benefit to start at least hashing out the ties between the characters (if there are any) before they first meet. Again, only a supplement, but a good one, in my opinion. Example and raw code are above!
• 11/15/21: Due to a sudden GM change, we have decided to change threads! The previous one can be found here!

Beyond The Wall, Zombie Post Apoc RP

This seems pretty cool! If I have time I might end up making a character.

Young Justice

---

Location: Circus Tents Interacting with:The Team

---

Is that… Viktor? Although she was in the middle of fighting crazed horses, Alisa turned to get a look at ‘Rainman’- or, rather, Viktor in a knock-off Superman costume. She wanted to laugh, but her fear subsumed the part of her that thought any of this was funny.

Thankfully, ‘Rainman’ took care of her pony problem. “Got it, sir!” Alisa saluted him cheekily. Her hands were still shaking. She thought she understood some of what he was trying to do. Their cover was nearly if not totally blown if the phone cameras pointed their way were any indication, and he was trying to save it. It was smart. Really smart.

Alisa herded the remaining civilians out of the tent as her teammates continued to fight the horses. At the end of it all, she headed back to Zach’s dressing room with the rest of them.

---

Later, in Zach’s dressing room, Alisa told the rest of the team what she had told Kila earlier about the fortune teller. It seemed like they still weren’t sure who their prime suspect was, though. She was leaning against the wall, letting others sit. She grit her teeth. Had they really fucked up another mission? Alisa knew that she and Maya, with the freeing of the horses, had probably been a big part of it… but for now, they both had agreed to keep that quiet. It didn’t seem relevant. And, if Alisa was being honest, she didn’t want the others to know- about her fear or her mess-up. She hated the idea of their judgement.

“What do we do now? Viktor, you were amazing…” She giggled. She couldn’t get the sight of him as fake Superman out of her head! ”You know, as dorky Superman, but we still don’t have any leads, and the show’s nearly over. We don’t even know how any of those horses got like that, either.” She sighed and shook her head. “We won, but it just feels like we’re not getting anywhere.”

《 H.E.R.O. 2064 》

_{September 21st, 2064
'Totally Innocuous Warehouse'
Brookside, South Castle Island}

‘Strong Boy’ gave Leon a confident thumbs-up as he walked off to the back room. The heroes had totally given him a shit job, but whatever. At least he’d be able to watch them from here. He could see if they had made any progress.

He performed a cursory check of the backroom and then stood by the doorframe. Beth didn’t seem to be having any luck with the vent. SSV had clearly vacated already. And upon looking, no one could find their target. It was like she had simply vanished into thin air. It seemed that the heroes had failed.

Sam snuck out the back door, trying his best to get away before the heroes came asking any questions. His team had called him back, unable to find her either, and he wasn’t eager to go to prison. He used one of the emergency fire escapes, careful not to make any loud noises. His boss wouldn’t be happy, either, but at least he got to go home and have a nice cold can of beer.

---

_{September 21st, 2064
Academy of Young Heroes
Lighthouse Island, Castleburg}

“Haha, look, this guy has paper powers- WHAT THE FUCK?!” The goons yelled and dropped their guns as the metal folded in on itself, crumpling and breaking within their hands. A few of them clearly didn’t know what to do, cursing and panicking. One drew a taser from his utility belt, clearly grasping for straws.

Now that Drew didn’t have an assault rifle pressed to his head, he scrambled away from the armed, dangerous man and practically vaulted over the side of the climbing wall. Eyepatch Man didn’t seem to care too much- instead, he flickered out of existence and made for Michelle, trying to grab her. “Forget the heroes! The girl!”

Unfortunately for him, he didn’t see Jenna coming before too late. The young girl who had previously gushed over her favorite mentor flew at him like a bullet, her face grim and focused. She didn’t barrel into him, however. Before she could, she reached out with her powers and flung him off the island with incredible telekinetic force. He had no chance to teleport before he fell into the river with a crash inaudible from the Academy.

His lackeys weren’t having much luck with the heroes either. Graham flung himself at the winged man, who flew upwards at the first sign of provocation. “Holy shit, the hell is that thing- AAAAAAAA!” A surprisingly girlish scream came out of his mouth as he wrestled with the clawed Graham mid-air, trying to pull him off of him. He lashed out with razor-sharp wing feathers, trying to pierce Graham’s skin.

The force of Gematria’s punch threw the tall, skinny man to the ground. He looked very confused to be attacked by a human-sized mech, but he tried his best anyway. He hopped up and attempted to bring her to the ground from her back, clinging to her neck and trying to push her to the ground.

Meanwhile, the other one was handling Strain, Polaris, and Cadenza, having a difficult time. Cadenza had begun to use her flute, attempting to bring down the men, but was shocked shortly before she could do so. Polaris and Strain were wrestling up close with him, but the two were quickly beating him with a combination of powerful electricity and density manipulation powers.

---

_{September 22nd, 2064
HERO Two
Assistant Director Raymond Blum's Office}

Early the next morning, Assistant Director Blum stood in front of the surviving heroes, looking ill at ease in a suit and tie. This was an uncomfortable situation for him, and it showed on his usually jovial, tough-looking face. Raymond hated failure but hated a pyrrhic victory even more. Three of the heroes under his charge were either dead or close to it. He had a right to be upset, and he certainly looked it. The heroes before him, however, looked even more so. He had given them the night to recover rather than barraging them with a debrief so soon after a difficult fight. Some had stayed in the hospital, others had gotten to go home, but most of them were here

His office was a simple affair. It didn’t look like Blum spent much time there. The walls were a light beige color, adorned mostly with pictures of HEROes, past and current. Most notable were photos of himself and Director Steel accepting their respective positions and a newspaper clipping about his defection. The clipping showed a picture of him shaking hands with then-Director Hugo Powers. He had a standing desk with a sleek laptop and holo-projector. Three yellow-cushioned chairs sat before the desk, facing a giant window covering the entire back wall. It had a view of the Castelberg skyline, slowly changing as HERO Three drifted through the sky. The double doors were glass, too, but the curtains were drawn shut now to obscure their conversation from any nosy observers.

He cleared his throat. “I’m very sorry for calling you here so early in the morning, but I really need to talk to you all.” He fiddled with a remote in his hands and pulled up a holograph of the picture of the N Train as it appeared last night- halted in its tracks, evacuated people clustered around the tracks. “Your mission on the N Train yesterday was a success in that you did get the nuke, which we currently have under lock and key in a secure location. But it was a raging disaster in every other way.

“Thirteen people are dead, including two of our own heroes, two civilians, and nine enemy combatants- five of whom died by your hand personally-” he stared directly at Blitz as he said this, gaze unflinchingly critical- “and you made no arrests, which means we can’t find out why any of this happened in the first place,” he said, all in a gruff, dissatisfied voice.

“Samantha Everett and your mysterious assailant both got away. Sam’s plane touched down in a field near Utica last night, but by the time the local cops reached the plane she was long gone. She’s gone to ground. We can’t find her in any of her usual places. And the woman who set off the gas bomb on the train disappeared without a trace. We don’t have any records of her in any of our files, so keep an eye out. We’re going to make finding them a top priority.” He switched the screen to a picture of the downed plane, devoid of any passengers.

“But, at the end of the day, missions go wrong. It’s always a tragedy but people die. Be glad you’re alive. You’ll have a ton of paperwork in the coming days, but take the time to rest. Director Steel is giving you all an optional month-long paid leave, so do with that what you will. We’re keeping this quiet. Don’t tell anyone that you wouldn’t trust with your jobs any details. And, hopefully, this will all blow over in a few…”

Raymond’s phone dinged. Then dinged again. And again. It was a cacophony of noise, and he pulled it out, looking slightly peeved. “Who…” His lips went slack, his eyes widening. “Oh,” he whispered. “Oh. Oh, shit.”

- MISSION COMPLETE -

Young Justice

-and-

Kila rested in the dressing room, looking into a lighted mirror. He was dabbing tissue at his chest as the flimsy shirt of the outfit could not completely endure the tiger’s claws. He wondered how his chest hadn’t been torn to shreds, only having a few spills of blood here and there. Fingers absentmindedly going over the scars there, the place his most painful of memories were. Kila had come to the conclusion that his skin had become calloused.

Although he meant that more metaphorically, he came across a patch of his skin that felt off…It was abnormally rigid around where one of the claw strikes were only to return smooth in minutes…it felt like elephant skin. Before he could ponder further about the Power of The Red that lied subtly in his veins, there was a knock at the door.

Remembering quickly that they were still on a mission, despite being undercover, Kila prepared himself for any potential confrontation. However, from the other side of the surface, the voice of the android girl announced herself. Despite being one of the more verbal members of the team, Kila had rarely interacted with Alisa. Still, she seemed pleasant enough, compared to some. Moreover, her status as having robotic qualities should prove helpful to an extent in gathering information.

Thus, he allowed her in, listening to her explanation of her search of the Fortune Teller’s quarters. The more she talked, his eyes narrowed.

“The one, the man who smelled your things; likely a grunt of some sort. I am willing to say that he was coming to give the Fortune Teller some sort of message. However, your presence there instead as a newcomer, may have made them suspicious of your intent.” Kila thought aloud, starting to pace, abruptly stopping as another situation came to him.

“Something else to keep note of…These performers are very probable to have abilities as we do. The man smelling your garment was clearly some attempt to identify you. Hopefully your more inhuman qualities act as a counter to his capabilities in that sense…Have you seen anything else out of the ordinary?”

Alisa shook her head. “Besides those two things, no. I didn’t get a chance to go through her room completely, but what I saw seemed pretty normal. Have you?” She turned her gaze to Kila. The two of them had spoken little, but she knew enough to notice that something was a bit off. Only hours ago he had been acting upbeat and goofy, but now he seemed, well… serious. Had something happened? She scrutinized him, noting he was shirtless, before noticing the little wounds on his chest. Claw marks?

She frowned. He looked fine- sympathy over concern was probably the way to go. “Ow,” she said in sympathy, although she had no real point of reference for the sting of blood. “Did the tiger get you? I thought you were supposed to be the animal whisperer!”

Kila paused after what she asked, touching his chest again. Memories that did not belong to him briefly came to mind at the mention of the tiger. It was a quick flash of images; tall grass, a roar, men in black jumpsuits, tranquilizer shots. It was an intense but brief staring session into the wall. Pulling his hand away from his chest to look down at his palm, Kila blinked. That was new.

“I suppose that I am…The tiger has been through many bad things before they put her in that cage…I fear what would have happened, should it have been anyone else’s act.”

A genuinely sympathetic frown crossed Alisa’s face. “How terrible. They shouldn’t do that to the animals, let alone let them “perform” in front of an unguarded crowd. I’m glad it was you, then. Even if you did get a bit scuffed up.” She sat down in a chair by the door and leaned forward. In the month she had been on the team, she had spoken very little to Ja. He was intriguing, to say the least.

“I’m terrible with animals,” she said, remembering yesterday’s incident. She laughed. “I mean, I adore most of them, don’t get me wrong, but they don’t like me back. It’s probably why I volunteered to shove a katana down my throat rather than have to deal with anything alive,” joked Alisa, trying to lighten the mood.

Kila nodded, “Right…I imagine that would not bother you much? Given your mechanical insides.”

“Not really, no! I mean, it hurts a bit when I scrape the back of my throat and I have to be a bit careful with my vocal box, but I don’t have any fleshy bits to puncture. Or any blood.”

Kila slowly nodded again, though staring at Alisa’s eyes. It would appear as though he were searching for something, because honestly, he was. The concept of artificial intelligence vexed him quite a bit. Why would one want to create a machine with, or ability to mimic, the human mind? There seemed to be something different about her, opposed to Red Tornado who acted as their overseer.

He didn’t care much about it being awkward, but would have apologized in courtesy of possibly making her uncomfortable. What stopped him though, were the sounds of somewhat distant screams. These were not screams of joy however…they were screams of terror. Quickly snatching up the mask he wore earlier, he started for the door.

“I do not like the sound of that. We should investigate.”

Alisa stared back into Kila’s eyes, unblinking. Why was he staring? Had she done something wrong? Before she could get a chance to interrupt, however, she started to hear screams. They were rising in volume and number, coming from… the circus tent? She swiveled her head to the door before standing and walking to the door with Kila. “Yes,” She opened the door, only to hear the screams escalate in volume. “Yes, we should. I think something’s very wrong.”

She started to speed-walk down the hall and then started to dash. The two of them burst out of the tent together and raced across the field towards the main circus tent. People were streaming out of the big tent, screaming in terror.

The only possible explanation was that someone had attacked. But who? And why? Gotham had its own horde of supervillains, but an attack from them didn’t make any sense. And this was a recon mission at a circus- they weren’t invading an enemy base.

Then, they entered the stage, coming behind Zach, Daphne, Aleen’a, and Kassy. Alisa felt fear start to clog her thoughts. I fucked up. The horses that Maya had convinced her to free yesterday were here, giant and vicious. A look of horror and guilt crossed her face as she stared at the scene. This was her worst nightmare.

At least the wall offered them a moment of respite. “What-what should we do?” Her voice wavered. Kila quickly studied the scene.

“First priority is to remove innocents. If even one person dies while we are active, our mission is already a failure.” He explained, instantly sprinting off towards the group.

Alisa ran after him. They came to the forcefield. Kassy’s flickering illusory wall and Zach’s forcefield were keeping the crazy ponies away from them and anyone who had managed to duck behind them, but not much else. There were still people being terrorized outside. Alisa sucked her teeth- she truly didn’t want to go out there and fight, but it seemed as though there wasn’t another choice.

“I think Aleen’a’s right,” Alisa said, her hands curled into fists. They had come in just at the end of Aleen’a talking, so she had caught the tail end of it. “But there’s no way we can contain them while they’re like this. I think… we need to fight them and herd them all into a group so Zach and Kassy can create a forcefield to trap them.”

Once she finished talking, Alisa figured that she had to do something. People were getting hurt, and they were the only ones around who were capable of doing anything about it- even if it meant risking their cover. She still didn’t want to get close, though. So with a heft of effort, she squatted down and picked up a box- used for propa, but still considerably heavy- and chucked it at one of the horses. The rabid animal was knocked to the ground. Several more came running at her. Alisa screamed in what sounded like fear and threw a punch at one of them. The horse neighed in rage, and then Alisa was caught in a frantic melee with two horses, looking absolutely terrified.

Kila, meanwhile, lassoed one of the rabid ponies around the neck and pulled it away from someone, trying to herd it to the center of the ring.

《 H.E.R.O. 2064 》

Hey guys! Canary here. We've already discussed this at length in the Discord, but @Hitman has regretfully decided to leave RPG for the foreseeable future and has left me in charge. Although it says otherwise in the top bar, I am now GM and @Zoey Boey is the new Co-GM (thread status pending). We've already contacted a mod and it turns out that it's not possible to transfer thread ownership, so Hitman will remain the GM in the top portion unless we switch threads. The permission difference is fairly minimal, thankfully. There won't be much of a difference.

Please direct any and all questions to either me or Zoey! We're undergoing a period of reconstruction at the moment so things will be slow.

《 H.E.R.O. 2064 》

-and-

---

“I think they do… Or we get a 20% discount. Get me some chocolate milk if you’re going.”

Travis flashed the smaller girl a thumbs up and nodded, before turning to the entrance to the next car. He was more of a strawberry milk kind of guy, but his mouth wasn’t really in the condition to talk about pointless nonsense like he usually did. Now that Marcie had made sure the maimed pirates wouldn't be able to escape, he was eager to leave. The smell was getting pretty bad, and Travis had experience with blood and gore (even if it was mostly his own). The stench of death was a bitch and a half to get out of clothes.

Clothes… Travis grumbled slightly as he noticed the damage to his ‘costume’. The damage to the chest of his hoodie seemed salvageable enough - until he saw that the entire left shoulder was barely connected with a few scant threads. He didn’t even try to assess his shoes - the blood and other bodily substances made them unusable. Angry flesh poked out proudly from beneath the ruined fabric of his hoodie, blood slowly oozing out and staining the surrounding white fabric. Travis grimaced at the sight, rubbing his jaw as the pain slowly came at him now that the adrenaline was fading. Thankfully, getting shot with noise was nowhere near as bad as getting shot with lead.

‘This was one of my nicer hoodies…’

Travis carefully made his way to the door of the next car, doing his best to avoid the various pieces of debris and viscera that littered the floor. Unfortunately, with all his attention on the ground, Travis failed to notice his and Marcie's would-be-assassin until it was too late.

Before Travis could make his way over to the snack counter, however, a woman seemed to materialize from the shadows. She drew her swords, blocking his way, and attacked. Her twin katanas swung out at him, barely missing but forcing him back into the storage room. No words were spoken, no sounds made- only a look that could bring the best of men to their knees and a blinding speed with her swords. This woman was out for blood, and her strikes showed it.

Marcie, meanwhile, had sat down and pulled out her phone in the corner of the room, taking care to avoid the viscera. At the sounds of startled yelling, she looked up. Her eyes widened at the sight of the swinging katanas. “Woah! Jesus!” She hopped to her feet, and the air started to chill around her. She wanted to freeze the woman in place, but she was moving too fast, so she’d have to settle for throwing snowballs. Or, ice balls. One began to coagulate in her hand.

Travis continued to backpedal, sidestepping and jumping away blindly to avoid the woman’s strikes. Her sudden arrival and murderous glare scared the younger man, forcing him back and scrambling to avoid the woman. Not to mention the badass katanas. If it wasn’t for the gore and body fluids that slicked the floor, then the assailant would have found her mark - but she had managed to barely miss 3 blows before Travis was backed against the wall of the car.
”Shit!”

Travis instantly turned to Marcie, who was forming a ball of ice in her hand to pelt at the woman. He didn’t know why Marcie wasn’t freezing the woman in place, but the fact that she wasn’t probably meant there was a good reason why she couldn’t. If he survived, he really needed to read the mission briefings from now on…

Ducking down, Travis swept his leg out towards the assassin, hoping that the quick movement and slick floor would be enough to trip the woman over and give Marcie time to throw her ice ball. It worked well enough in the cage matches that Travis participated in… but then again, there was a big gap between half-drunk thugs and a trained mercenary.

Unfortunately for Travis, ‘sweep the leg’ was not a technique that worked on highly trained assassins. She leapt over it smoothly. Angela did, however, find her footing a bit compromised among the blood and ice shards. Upon coming down, her foot got caught in the slickness and she slid off her balance a little.

That left Marcie a chance to pelt her with ice balls. They smashed into Angela’s face and shoulder with surprising accuracy, sending her stumbling into a box.

As Angela stumbled Travis quickly moved forwards towards her, attempting to capitalize on the loss of balance that Marcie’s blow afforded them. He nearly slipped on the fresh ice shards that littered the ground in the process, but the important part was that he was close. In Travis’ mind, this left only two options - the killer could either retreat to deal a lethal strike, or be limited to only light cuts.

The fear and surprise was fading now that he was on the offensive, and Travis lunged for one of Angela’s blades, attempting to wretch it from her grip.

As Travis’s hand latched onto the katana, Angela rotated it outwards and thrust it into the meat of his hand, creating a deep wound. Then, using his shock at the pain, she dragged the blade out of his fist and rolled to her left, away from Travis and closer to the train car entrance.

“Did you seriously just try to grab a sword?” she said, almost looking stunned. “No wonder I killed your two coworkers so easily. Jesus.”

Meanwhile, Marcie was hiding behind a box, trying to lay down slick ice traps for their new companion. She planted several behind the woman, near doors, and in places where Travis could clearly see them. She was also forming some sort of a handle-less ice spear.

As the blade was wretched from his grip, Travis briefly paused his assault to check his hand. The skin was already turning brown and hardening, spreading quickly up his arm to coat the rest of his body. The flow of blood from the wound was slowing, hissing slightly as it began to clot. This was good - it’d be a lot harder for this woman to bisect him now.

More importantly, the blade only cut his palm. A deep wound to be sure - that hand would be out of commision for a day or two. But it was nothing he couldn’t heal off. Losing the fingers would be a much bigger deal.

That wasn’t the only reason he paused, however. This woman had already killed two other heroes…

The news was upsetting, but not because Travis cared about the two dead heroes. Other than Pandora and Marcie, he didn’t know anyone else here. No, it was bad because that meant 3 heroes died in this single mission. The director was sure to be dissapointed.

Travis went back on the defensive as he noticed Marcie’s traps. Dodging and taking small hits when he could, slowly leading the attacker until she was close enough to the trap to push. Travis wasn’t fast enough to reliably hit the Assassin - and even if he was, his blows wouldn’t have enough force behind them in this condition. He didn’t need to though. Travis couldn’t see the ice spear that Marcie was forming, but from the ease with which she took out the other pirates, he knew that all she needed was a chance to hit their new enemy.

Angela continued to back up while she tried to catch her breath. Eventually, she ended up warily circling Travis, waiting for an opening. She sheathed the katana in her left hand. Narrowing her eyes, she watched his body start to harden. Then, with seemingly no warning but a tensing of her shoulders, she sprung forward to get another slice at Travis’s throat.

Right before the assassin could slit Travis’s throat, however, Marcie aimed her ice-spear and fired at the woman’s right shoulder- somewhere to disable, but not to kill. Killing was bad, right? Right. Even bad guys. The spear impaled her quite neatly. It passed through and shattered on the wall of the train car. Angela staggered back as it hit her just as she was about to bring her blade down on Travis’s throat. She hissed in pain. Red was already coming through her jacket.

“Aborting mission. Meet you at drop site,” she said as she touched something in her ear.

“But before I go… I have a gift.” Angela staggered back and pulled something out of her jacket, dropping it onto the floor. She was against the melting ice now, and with a kick, it fell away, and she jumped out of the moving train into the urban landscape below.

As soon as she left, Angela’s “gift” began to exude a horrible smell. Marcie emerged from behind the boxes cautiously to investigate. The “gift” was shaped like a grenade, and it was starting to emit a quickly-spreading yellow gas... Oh, shit. She jumped back. “Fuck, that’s a gas bomb. We need to get out of here.”

Travis didn’t need to be told twice - almost as soon as the acrid fumes had been released, the young hero was already scrambling. Fucking vape smoke rendered him into a coughing mess, let alone weapon-grade gas.

Travis quickly buried his face into his arm and began running to the next car, nearly tripping over one of the dozen bodies in the train car. He paused at the door to the next car, turning back to look at the few surviving pirates as Marcie caught up. When the bomb goes off, they’d surely die - maybe Travis could try to kick the bomb out of the train, or Marcie could cover it in ice-

Travis was nearly blinded as the yellow gas lightly touched him, his vision clouded by a sudden burning sensation. Travis turned and continued running.

Their group was responsible for three hero deaths, and who knows how much damage they’d have done with the Plutonium? Besides, there was nothing they could do - they were all covered in ice already!

Excuses. He just didn’t care if they died. Fuck them.

Travis didn’t stop running for several cars, only pausing to violently rub the tears and mucus that had formed from the brief encounter with the gas. Thank god he didn’t try touching the device...

A vibration went out throughout the train. An explosion. Or, as close to an explosion as you can get with a gas bomb. Travis had no clue how far it would spread, so they’d have to keep moving. Maybe he should have grabbed one of the jetpacks while he was leaving…

They'd have to evacuate the civilians as quickly as possible. Travis turned to Marcie and pulled out his phone, typing out a message with a deadpan look.

The robotic voice spoke out.

“Ready to get that Chocolate Milk?”

Marcie bolted after Travis as the acrid yellow gas began its spread across the train cars. She wasn’t about to get caught up in this, even if it meant saving a few pirates’ lives. She felt terrible, sure- leaving them to die a terrible death- but there was no way in hell she was fucking with that gas.

Just as she was running to the next car, however, something shot out and grabbed her ankle with a snake-like grip. She screeched in terror as her body hit the floor, and she started to be dragged back into the storage car. “Jesus- FUCK! Let me go! Let me go!”

“Fuck… you…” The voice of a man, probably one of the pirates, sounded from behind her. Marcie struggled even more, freezing the man’s hand. But before she could finish, the gas enveloped her and him. She futilely held her breath, clawing at the pirate’s hand with ice, but she gasped anyway and breathed it in.

Finally, she freed herself, staggered to her feet, and started to run again- out of the cloud of yellow gas and towards Travis. She was gasping and spitting up, her eyes watering as they burned. Her lungs felt like they were on fire as she took in every breath of fresh air. Pirates were such assholes!

She looked up at Travis as he hit ‘play’, hacking up spit, and she pulled the fire alarm. “Maybe later,” she choked out. The alarm started to ring out with a deafening noise, and she pulled her headphones over her ears again. The train screeched to a halt. Time to look for an emergency exit… Conveniently, there was one nearby, and she swung it open to reveal them being an easy 100 feet off of the ground. Marcie glared, focusing, and a sort of ice slide began to coalesce out of thin air. It was hot out, which made the progress slow, but when it was finally fully formed she slid down it on two feet.

The other passengers were evacuating via a few inflatable slides on the side of the train car, which Marcie belatedly realized would’ve been easier… but still. She sat herself on the grass, gasping and coughing and crying, and realized just how much they had fucked up.

Young Justice

---

Location: Circus Dressing Rooms Interacting with: 'Madame Xanadu' (@dreamingflowers), KJ (@DClassified)

---

Sword-swallowing, it turned out, was not as easy as Alisa had thought it would be. Although she had no fleshy esophagus to pierce with the razor-sharp blade she was shoving in her mouth, it still hurt when it scraped the back of her throat. It had taken several tries (and several dozen YouTube videos), but Alisa finally figured out how to get it down her throat properly. Now, she stood in her dressing room, laptop open to a YouTube video, practicing lowering the long blade down her throat. It was one of Viktor’s katanas that he had allowed her to borrow for the show. Alisa was being extra careful with them- he wouldn’t be pleased if she scuffed up one of his swords.

After about thirty minutes of practice, Alisa left the tiny dressing room to go do something else. Anything else. Maybe I’ll go watch the performances. Or sort through some of the suspects’ garbage? Both were good ideas, although one of them was much grosser than the other. Alisa adjusted her little plastic mask while she wandered down the hallway, looking for something to do.

Just then, a sequined purple cape entered the corner of her vision. Alisa turned to see the fortune teller… one of their suspects! She grinned and followed the woman down the hallway to her room. “Ma’am! Ma’am!” Alisa rushed to meet her. “Sorry… I just wanted to catch you to tell you what a huge admirer of your work I am. I love… the occult. I’m Ava.” She stuck out her hand. “And, erm, I also wanted to get a fortune? If you have time? I’ll pay once we get our paychecks, if that’s okay.” Of course, it was all a lie- Alisa definitely didn’t want a fortune- but if it got her into the woman’s dressing room, so be it.

The fortune teller, Madame Xanadu stared at Alisa with an intense gaze, taking her time in answering the petite android. She looked to her sides, making sure they were alone before beckoning Alisa to follow her. The woman didn’t acknowledge Alisa’s faked enthusiasm and entered her dressing room. Once Alisa was inside she closed the curtains.

“Please sit, as you don’t have any money, place something of value inside the shell”
On a table there was a silver bowl, shaped like a seashell. It held the earnings of her previous reading. The woman took off her cape and disappeared to the back of the room. It was difficult to make out what she was doing there, a set of drapes concealed her from any clients in the main area of the room.

Alisa drew back, surprised. How had the woman known she didn’t have money? X-ray vision? Creepy. Still, she sat down cross-legged on the pillow in front of the low table, twiddling her thumbs as Madame Xanadu did something in the back. Something of value? Alisa was only wearing her skintight blue performance suit, black performance flats, and her mask. With a sigh, she untied the ribbon on her mask and put it in the shell, revealing her face. What was the harm in it, anyways? She wasn’t recognizable.

“I’m ready!”

There was no reply from the back of the room. No moving of curtains, or any other sound for that matter. It was suspiciously quiet. The only sound came from a set of wind chimes, which was strange because there wasn't any wind. Minutes passed and it seemed more and more likely Alisa was alone in the fortune teller's room. Madame Xanadu had pulled off an impressive disappearing act, almost as if she knew Alisa was coming to see her.

After a minute of sitting in silence, Alisa stood. Something was wrong. “Hello? Miss?” There was silence in return- Alisa couldn’t even hear the sound of breathing.

Perhaps this ‘Madame Xanadu’ was their Kobra operative. The innocent didn’t run. If she was, the team had a much bigger problem than before- Alisa had just totally blown their cover! The girl opened the curtains cautiously, going into the back room.

The back room was full of papers- bank statements, letters, notes- but Alisa didn’t bother with those. Where had she gone? There weren’t doors or windows back here, but the woman certainly hadn’t just walked out the front door. Her being a teleporter was unlikely, so she had to have gotten out some other way.

That was when Alisas eyes fixated on the wind chimes, ringing despite the lack of wind. Her eyes widened. There was a secret entrance! She began to scour the area for any sort of secret opening, upending furniture and putting aside documents for later.

“Xanadu…” A lower male voice hissed from the entrance. He stepped into the room looking for the fortune teller. His eyes shifted from left to right nervously, he didn’t want to linger around too long. On the table he spotted the money shell holding a very strange object… a ribbon?

He walked over to the table and picked up the blue satin ribbon, holding it between his fingers. The man brought it up to his nose and smelled it, it didn’t have any distinguishable scent. There were some sounds coming from the back, but it wasn’t Xanadu, or she would have answered him.

He couldn’t risk it, he had to get out without being spotted. The man quickly scurried out of the room, bringing Alisa’s ribbon with him.

Upon hearing the unfamiliar voice, Alisa stopped looking for the secret door and pressed herself against the wall. She peered out the gauzy purple curtain, not making a sound.

At first, she thought he was just some guy mad at the fortune teller… but then he smelled her mask and ribbon and took them. The guy looked nervous, glancing around, and then left.

Maybe he was the Kobra operative. Alisa glanced around the room, looking at documents. Not for the first time, she wished she had brought a purse… but while she was looking at documents, the guy was getting away! She was briefly agonized between going after the fortune teller or going after the man. One was technically her mission objective, while the other was much more interesting. And he had taken her stuff.

Alisa needed to go after the man- she would come back for the documents later. She discreetly speed-walked out the door, going in roughly the direction she had heard him go out in.

---

After a few minutes spent searching, Alisa saw no sight of the man. Goddamnit. What a waste of time! She then walked back to the fortune teller’s room, to find the door closed and locked. Evidently, Madame Xanadu had come back… and had probably found her things upended, rifled through. Alisa had no mask, had maybe just blown their cover, and had nothing useful to account for all that mess. She scowled and put her face in her hands. She had fucked up.

She still needed to go tell someone, though. Hadn’t Ja just finished his act? He had been in one of his good moods lately. She should go talk to him.

Moments later, she knocked on the door of Ja’s dressing room. “It’s Alisa. Can I come in?”

Once let in, she leaned against the wall. “I hope your act went well! I went to talk to the fortune-teller. I can’t say if she’s the prime suspect or not, but it was weird. She snuck out through some sort of secret opening in the back as soon as I came in, so I started going through her things, but then this guy came in looking for her. He seemed really nervous. He picked up my mask and ribbon and smelled it, and then left. I tried looking for him, but I couldn’t find him, and by the time I went back to her room the door was locked. I didn’t really get enough evidence to confirm anything.

“Anyways, I figured I’d come and tell someone what was up. That’s weird, isn’t it?” She looked a tad bit embarrassed as she said all this, perhaps aware of how dumb this all sounded, but otherwise looked fine.

Looking for a detailed, Long run, Slow, Dark RP with world building

This should be in the 1x1 interest check section, not RP Discussion.