Dedonus

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

Undisclosed S.T.R.I.K.E. Facility in the Atlantic

Agent Banks strolled down the prison corridor, examining the cells on each side of the hallway. Although S.T.R.I.K.E. had numerous containment facilities for dangerous individuals, whether metahuman, supernatural, or otherwise, around the United States, this one was considered the hole where no one ever saw the light of day again. Some of the most notable and notorious inmates at this facility were some of the culprits of the Pax Metahumana who had been captured after that coalition of heroes successfully put a stop to Doctor Diplodoc’s plans.

Banks was the faculty’s head medical advisor. It was his responsibility to ensure that any of the inmates with powers had their abilities negated. If this was not possible, then he would have to turn to other methods to pacify the prisoners. The Silver Sorceress posed a real conundrum for Banks. Unlike the other collaborators of the Pax Metahumana crisis, her powers did not have their origin in Doctor Diplodoc’s serum. While S.T.R.I.K.E. did develop a proto-type device that acted like a lightning rod to magical energies, Banks was not comfortable relying on a proto-type that could fail at any moment. Therefore, he turned to more conventional methods. If she was drugged with enough sedatives that would put an elephant out, the Silver Sorceress would not pose a problem.

At the end of his rounds, Banks would always check up on the Silver Sorceress to ensure that the facility staff made sure that they were keeping her on the meds that he had prescribed. When he examined the sign-in sheet next to Silver Sorceress’ cell, the complexion of Banks’ face changed to a ghostly white. Either the last shift was careless enough to forget to document their arrival and departure or they failed to show up in the first place.

“Code Red!” Agent Banks shouted into his two-way radio. “Repeat, Code Red! The Witch is off her meds! I repeat, the Witch is…”

However, Agent Banks did not have an opportunity to complete his distress call, since the glass that contained the Silver Sorceress within her cell suddenly was shattered by a blast of magical energy. This wave of mystical energy, along with the shards of glass, slammed into Banks, knocking him unconscious against the wall, along with inflicting countless lacerations from the glass.

The Silver Sorceress stepped out from her cell. The ground began to shake, while the air within the prison started to swirl around, which tossed the Silver Sorceress’ hair about. A silver aura eradiated from her body, with her eyes glowing like two silver suns.

A dozen or so S.T.R.I.K.E. agents decked out in tactical assault gear hurried to the scene where the Silver Sorceress had broken free from her cell. They unleashed hell upon her when they let thousands of bullets rain out of their semi-automatic assault rifles. However, with one wave of her hand, the Silver Sorceress turned these bullets into dust.

Then, it was her turn to retaliate. The gear and weapons that the S.T.R.I.K.E. agents had suddenly transformed into venomous snakes and giant insects. Some men were quick enough to toss these creatures off themselves and flee in terror. Others, who were not so lucky, squirmed on the floor as they were overrun with these animals. The Silver Sorceress casually strolled past the leftover men, since any other onlooker would have seen men rolling on the floor with helmets, protective vests, and firearms scattered on the floor, revealing that the snakes and insects that the S.T.R.I.K.E. agents saw were just illusions.

Once the initial response force had been dealt with, the Silver Sorceress used her magical abilities to shatter the glass containing the rest of those who were involved with the Pax Metahumana crisis. Leo and the Silver Sorceress’ sister, Sumac, were the first to depart from their cells. With a flick of her wrist, the Silver Sorceress disintegrated the wristbands on Leo and Sumac that were suppressing their powers.

Her sister rushed over to the Silver Sorceress, embracing her with a hug. This caused the Silver Sorceress to suppress the rage that caused the silver aura to appear around her. The last time the Silver Sorceress saw her sister, she had been severely burned by one of War-Pulse’s attacks during the heroes’ invasion of their base in West Virginia. After several months in the infirmary, Sumac had finally made a full recovery. However, even though her sister was well now, the Silver Sorceress still swore that she was going take vengeance on the heroes. Her rage would not only be focused at those who had hurt her sister, but against all the heroes.

The Silver Sorceress, still in an embrace with her sister, then turned her head toward the cell which had housed Doctor Diplodoc. Despite the chaos that had been happening in that prison corridor, the doctor still sat in his cell, sipping on a cup of tea.

“It’s time to go.” The Silver Sorceress barked at him. She was not so amused that he was taking his jolly old time.

“You worry too much, Victoria.” Doctor Diplodoc told his associate, “Everything is going according to plan. Effigy was able to infiltrate the staff at this faculty so that you might coincidentally miss a regiment of the sedatives that S.T.R.I.K.E. was using to keep you down. And I have the same faith that Jaws and Black Widow are gathering up more followers as we speak.”

After he took one last gulp of his tea, Doctor Diplodoc stood up from his cot and walked out of his cell. When he had joined his three associates, the security monitor that was located nearby suddenly turned on. For the next few minutes, they watched the Hounds of Humanity introduce themselves and announce their crusade against all non-human entities; metahumans, supernatural beings, and anything else unnatural were all fair game. When the figure on the screen mentioned that they had taken out S.T.R.I.K.E., it suddenly made sense why they faced so little resistance. It is hard for the body to act when the head is severed.

“Interesting.” Doctor Diplodoc muttered before the four of them made their escape out of the S.T.R.I.K.E. faculty.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

Kelly Brown | Samantha Kadowsky | Zac Wilson

Taylor basked in the summer’s warm rays of the sun. Due to the nice weather, she and her friend decided to head out to Washington Park and set up a little picnic together. They also knew that there would also be other food options there, since some vendors were offering a fish fry and other summer meals. The two girls had found a nice spot in the middle of the green where other like-minded individuals gathered to enjoy the weather and the food. They gossiped about all sorts of things, ranging from college to boys to even politics.

While she was taking another bite out of her fish sandwich, Taylor felt a sudden burst of heat surround her. She turned to her friend, who was snacking on some food that she had brought with them, and asked her whether it was just her or that the temperature went up dramatically in a span of a few seconds. Her friend shook her head. Although it was hot outside on that summer day, the temperature seemed the same as it had been when they got there.

Then, Taylor discovered that her body was beginning to profusely sweat. Her arms were coated with a layer of water, while her clothes began to be soaked. She tried to wipe off the sweat from her arm, but the liquid accumulated faster than she could remove it. While she was occupied with this bizarre situation, Taylor felt something fall on her shoulder. To her horror, she saw an ear, or what looked like an ear, since it appeared to have been melting, lying on her shoulder. She was even more terrified when she could not feel her left ear and, when she examined her hand, it was covered with a goo that had a hue similar to her own skin.

Her friend watched in dismay while her friend appeared to melt away. Just like an ancient marble statue, anything that was suspended from the core of her body slowly dissolved away. Her nose slide down her face and landed down into her lap. Whatever bust she had, since she didn’t have much of one to boast about, disappeared, making her flatter than most men. Even her arms began to descend down the sides of her body.

However, Taylor was not the only person suffering. All around Taylor and her friend, dozens of people were undergoing transformations similar to those that some had endured during the Pax Metahumana crisis back in February. Panic began to set in, both in the people who were undergoing a metamorphosis and those who could only stand helplessly and watch their friends, family, and strangers suffer. Inevitably, the panic caused the people in the park to scramble out of there in a hurry.

---

The epicenter of this incident was cordoned off with police barricades and tape. However, this did not stop Zac, Kelly, and Sammy from taking a peak at the scene of the crime. Since the transformations that happened there seemed like the calling card of Doctor Diplodoc, who had bestowed Zac and Kelly, along with hundreds of other individuals across the United States, with metahuman powers, the three young metahumans had to investigate.

Since it was already dusk, the three of them only had to sneak past a small skeleton crew that was keeping a watch on the area. Garbed in their superhero wardrobes, the they made their way towards the park. So that they could get in and out in a timely fashion, the three metahumans made sure to move at a brisk pace. Although a light drizzle impeded their ability to hurry through the park, it also made sure that no one else wanted to be out about at that time, either. When they finally reached the epicenter, Zac briefly split off from Kelly and Sammy when he noticed a marking on a nearby tree.

Meanwhile, Kelly and Sammy approached one of the abandoned picnic sheets that was lying on the ground. However, when they got closer, Sammy heard a strange squish noise under her foot. When she looked down, what she had first thought was just some waterlogged grass was actually soaked with some sort of semi-transparent goo. When she saw that there was a trail of this same substance leading to a pile of abandoned clothes, Sammy placed her hands over her mouth.

“Did I just step in someone’s gooey remains?” Sammy asked her best friend as she began to run her foot back and forth through the grass in order to get it off. “Because if so, I’m going to be sick”

“I wonder what happened?” Kelly pondered aloud, “No one, even the worst of people, deserves this kind of end.”

While the two girls were investigating what had happened to that person, Zac was checking out the markings on the tree. He discovered that someone had carved a pentagram on the side of the tree. Then he noticed another mark on a different tree. This time, it was an upside down cross. Other trees bore similar crude carvings: snakes, bull heads, etc. However, Zac noticed that each of these symbols had an ‘H’ incorporated into the design. While one possible guess at what it meant was ‘hell’, due to the satanic icons, but Zac could not be entirely sure.

Once he had finished taking a look at these carved images, Zac walked back to where the girls were.

“We better be heading out now. We don’t want to still be here when the enxt patrol comes through here.” Zac suggested to the other two metahumans. “Also, Sammy, you need to be a little more careful next time. We can’t be contaminating the crime scene.”

“I didn’t mean to!” Sammy defended herself, although the voice of her voice made it obvious that she was still embarrassed that it had happened in the first place.

“Don’t worry, Sammy. We’re all pretty green at this gig. Live and learn.” Kelly then turned to Zac. “I can airlift Sammy out of here. You’re okay getting out of here by yourself?”

Zac nodded before dashing off away from the park back towards their apartment. Then, Kelly began to beat her wasp wings, which allowed her to float above the ground. After she secured Sammy in her arms, Kelly began to fly up above the park so that they could bypass any sort of patrols that were on foot. However, as they departed, none of them realized that something began to follow them. The goo that Sammy stepped in started to slowly inch away in the same direction in which the three metahumans had departed.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

Aubrey Adkins | Kyra Muller

I shuffled the seven square tiles to figure out what word I could spell with the letters that were written on them. The Immortals do not typically go on patrol, since the Son of Osiris wanted to stay on good terms with the Tri-P department by allowing the police to handle the regular crime and we would only interfere when something like the Game Genie occurs. However, we still usually have two or three people on standby just to make sure there is a first response team if something happens. While some crazy stuff does happen in Pacific Point, it’s no Lost Haven. Some days, nothing will happen. During the wait, we usually have some sort of board game to pass the time. Kyra chose Scrabble for tonight’s game. Once I figured out my play, I placed down the tiles S-O-F-T next to the word ‘ball’.

“You’re turn.” I told Kyra as I retrieved four replacement tiles from the small, felt bag. The Immortals has their headquarters in a hidden portion of Ithakan Innovations, the corporate office of Odysseus’ company that kind of allows him to be a badass normal amongst all of us powered metahumans. We had a table set up in the center of the room, with several computer monitors, which would send an alert to us if something needed our attention, located to the side. Due to my drider anatomy, I couldn’t really use a chair without deactivating my powers, so Kyra and I found a large bean bag chair that I could use so that I wouldn’t need to stand for the whole time.

“I’m so glad Talus isn’t here.” Kyra told me as she peered at her tiles.

“Sometimes I just want to deck that tinman. That seems to be a common reaction of mine towards high-tech heroes now a days.”

“I didn’t quite mean that.” Kyra tried to elaborate on what she meant. “Normally he wants to play some complex game, like Axis and Allies”

“What?”

“You’ve played Risk before, right?”

“Sure.”

“Well, it’s like Risk, but a hundred times more complex. Sometimes we have to pause the game so that we can actually go to bed!”

Kyra then pointed to another table that was set up in the same room. There was a board on it that had a map of the world printed on it. And on the board there were countless plastic miniatures.

“We still have to finish that game.” Kyra complained as she rolled her eyes.

“Looks like it’s only five players, so thank goodness I’m the sixth person on this team!”

“Don’t get your hopes up. Talus probably would just break out the deluxe edition and have you play Italy or something.”

Kyra then placed down the tiles B-Y-R-I-E-N-D onto the board, spelling out ‘boyfriend’ with the f in ‘softball’ and the o in ‘omit’, which was two tiles above ‘softball’.

“50 point bonus.” Kyra smirked as she acquired a new set of seven tiles from the felt bag. Kyra’s play reminded me of her peculiar response to the mention of my own boyfriend. I almost entirely forgot about it.

“Do you want to talk about anything?” I asked Kyra while glancing down at the word she spelled out. “You made a weird remark back when that Game Genie guy attacked the city.”

Kyra’s face immediately turned a bright shade a red. “No.” She quickly replied, although the tone of her voice revealed that something was on her mind.

“Are you sure?”

“Well, when I went back home a few weeks ago, I met with my boyfriend, or rather ex-boyfriend. Ever since the dome that appeared in Atlanta gave me fox ears and tails, he kept being harassed because, well…” Kyra turned her head away from me, as though she was embarrassed to say the rest. “Because people think I’m a furry and that he’s sinning by dating me. We decided to break off the relationship mutually.”

“What?” I honestly cannot start to comprehend what Kyra was feeling. Sure, we’re both in the same boat as being animal-themed metahumans, by I have the luxury that only a select few people know about my powers. “Sure, you have the ears or tails, but we’re still human. It’s not like we’re a different species or something. You’ll eventually find someone who doesn’t mind a girl with nine fox tails.”

“What about your boyfriend? Have you ever wondered whether he’s only dating you because he has a thing for spiders?”

“Sure, but he has liked me long before I got my superpowers, so he obviously sees something in me other than my powers.” While we were talking, I finally realized a move that I could play. “Speaking of spiders, that’s a 50 point bonus, plus points for making boyfriend plural.”

While Kyra was scribbling down the points that I earned from that round, my phone began to buzz. Before coming here, I made sure to set an alarm to remind me to head back home to get ready for that charity event I and the other girls had to attend.

“Well, looks like that’s my cue to get out of here.”

“Do you want me to set the game aside for next time?” Kyra asked.

“Nah, we can just call it a draw or something. Are you going to be fine being here alone?”

“Of course.” She told me. “Nothing will probably happen tonight. Are you going to that fundraiser for the families of those people who have disappeared this year, like that singer in Lost Haven?”

“That’s the one.” I got up onto my eight legs and pushed the bean bag the side of the wall so that it would be out of the way of the walking lanes.

“Well, that’s nice. Hope you have fun.”

“I’ll try, but when some people might see you as the girl who replaced one of those missing people, things get a little awkward. Plus I have to deal with that Iron Knight jerk. I would almost rather put up with Talus and his board games than enduring a night at an event with that guy.”

“Well, I guess I’m the lucky one, then.” Kyra smiled as she saw me out of the Immortals’ base.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

Christopher Arthur III

Suddenly, Chris saw the woman who was attacked by the behemoth of a man jump to her feet and dash towards her attacker. However, he could only see a purple blur racing around the man. The only time when he was able to see her was when she would momentarily stop to complain to him about his own inaction.

“Then you better step out of the way. I don’t want to get a reputation of hitting pretty ladies like you.” Chris told the speedster as he sized up the man charging towards him. With his sword in hand, Chris took a swing at the behemoth of a man. However, his opponent caught the metallic portion of the blade. A stalemate ensued, as both men exerted their strength to overpower the other. One had superhuman power on his side, the other, the marvels of human ingenuity.

Chris needed to think fast. While they were currently in a stalemate, he did not know how long his armor could keep it up. Obviously, he could not brute force his way to victory. So, he needed some other alternative. However, after only a moment of pondering over this problem, he finally came up with a solution. He first deactivated the external speakers so that his enemy could not hear what he was doing.

“You might want to look away for a moment.” Chris warned the speedster before he had turned off his external speakers. Once those were off, he began to give orders to his armor. “Computer, activate the energy pila.”

WARNING: Object is in hand. Do you want to proceed? Chris saw on his internal interface of his armor.

“Affirmative” Chris said, “Set type from projectile to burst. Also, deactivate visual display and set arm to be in front of hostile’s face when the energy pile is ready.”

Everything went dark as his external video feed cut out. Right before the burst of energy went off, Chris could feel his opponent getting the upper hand as he began to drive him back. But then, he heard the man cry out in pain. When Chris turned his visual interface back on, he saw the man grabbing at his eyes as if he had been dazed by Chris’ attack.

“Hey, Speedy. You can mop things up here.” Chris told the purple speedster, “This guy here has a date with the Pacific Ocean.”

Chris shot a grappling cable around the man’s ankles before he took off. However, when he tried to take off, he discovered that the behemoth of a man was so heavy that Chris could only get him a few feet off the ground.

“You really need to cut down on the late night snacks!”

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

I'm about to head to class, but I'll be around later tonight.

Absolute Comics: A Brave New World

@Sep: Sad to see you leave, Sep. It was an honor to work with you on a variety of projects here on RPG and I wish you luck on your next endeavors.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

Christopher Arthur III

Isaac was abruptly jolted out of his sleep from the blaring noise of his alarm clock. Instinctively, he reached over and slammed the snooze button on the clock. Once his wake-up call had been silenced, he closed his eyes for a few moments before he tried to place his arm around his wife. However, as he reached over where he thought his wife was sleeping, Isaac suddenly felt his hand brush against a wall. Since he was startled from this, he immediately sat up in his bed and was shocked at what he saw.

He was sleeping in a full-size bed instead of a king, as he had remembered. He also could tell that he no longer was in the quaint home where he lived with his wife and daughter. Instead, he found himself in a cramped apartment. It was furnished in a Spartan style, since there was barely any furniture. In his confusion, Isaac threw off his covers and searched around the small abode, calling out his wife and daughter’s names, although in vain.

Thinking that he might have gone crazy, Isaac went to the one place that probably had all the answers: the internet. However, when he booted up the laptop in his apartment, he was surprised that the operating system was Windows 10 since he knew that it was several years old now. Once his desktop had finished loading up on the screen, the date at the bottom right corner seemed impossible. Although he did not believe it, the computer said that he was a decade in the past. Either the computer’s internal clock was just ten years slow or he had somehow gone back in time.

Next, he typed his wife’s name, Caroline, into the search engine. He was horrified at the results. He knew that in two years, Caroline and he were married and had their daughter, Lizzy, only a year later. But if what Caroline’s obituary said was true, she somehow died in a demon invasion of Lost Haven. Denial began to set in as Isaac came to terms with what he saw. This could not be true. But what could explain this? Could he had slipped into a parallel universe or something? But was that not just a fantasy made up by fiction writers?

Isaac’s mind raced in his head. He wondered how he could fix this situation, if it was even fixable in the first place. He racked his brain in hopes of thinking of anyone would could possibly know how to fix it. Finally, he found one name: Christopher Arthur. He remembered that Mr. Arthur was a technological genius and, if anyone could help Isaac get home, it would be him. After he learned about Mr. Arthur’s whereabouts for the night, he scavenged around his apartment for his costume and equipment. He had not donned those tights for almost a decade. He promised Caroline that he would give up the mercenary work, especially when he had a daughter to take care of. Normally, his wife would have been furious if Isaac had taken up his old job. But since he was doing it to get her and his little girl back, she would just have to allow this one to slide.

---

Chris stood in front of a mirror while he finished adjusting his bow tie. He, along with many other people of great importance, had been invited to a private event in Pacific Point. Although he was socially obligated to make an appearance at the event, it never specified when he had to do so. Sure, there was an official start time, but who arrives at parties right when the doors open? Chris indeed had other plans in mind for his arrival time.

“So, how do I look?” Chris turned his attention away from the mirror towards Maya. She wore a red dress that matched her fiery hair, along with the ruby that hung on a necklace around her neck.

“Words cannot describe how magnificent you look.” Chris sweet talked Maya. “I guess that’s why people say that a picture is worth a thousand words.”

“So, what thousand words would you use?” Maya joked with Chris.

The luxury hotel where they were staying in Pacific Point not only had a beautiful view of the city, but also the sea front, too. Even though it was already growing dark, Pacific Point was still bustling with activity. This, however, was not a surprise to Chris and Maya, since they were going to a party latter that night. The dazzling skyline was just a marvel to gaze at. It seemed the two were having a moment together, until George, Chris’ butler appeared.

“Master Christopher. You have a call from S.T.R.I.K.E.” He interrupted Chris and Maya.

“I swear they always come crying for my help at the most inopportune times.” Chris sighed, knowing that he needed to ditch Maya for a while as he dealt with whatever S.T.R.I.K.E. wanted. He could tell from Maya’s sad expression on her face that she knew that he was going to be busy for a little bit. However, he tried to console her for this inconvenience. “Don’t worry. While punctuality isn’t my strong suit, I am a man of my word. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

With a kiss goodbye, at least for now, Chris went with George so that he could make his way to the local ST.R.I.K.E. headquarters, leaving Maya behind.

---

For the last month or so, S.T.R.I.K.E. had been trying to track a new speedster on the West Coast. Not only are speedsters difficult to track, but they are also potentially dangerous too, especially if they’re not playing for the good guys. The effectiveness of the process that S.T.R.I.K.E. used to follow this new hero could be likened to the technique that astronomers used to discover exoplanets. Since you could not see the exoplanet with one’s naked eye, astronomers have to rely on the miniscule dimming of a star to locate one of these extraterrestrial planets. In the same way, since this speedster was moving so fast, S.T.R.I.K.E. could only see short blinks of where this metahuman was.

But tonight, STRIKE seemed to luck out this time. Through their massive intelligence resources, they learned that this metahuman was in Pacific Point. Agents on the ground was able to quickly confirm the sighting and call in for backup. Regular agents would be no match for a lot of metahuamns, let alone one who can run at supersonic speeds. This was where Chris came in.

When he arrived at the scene of the sighting, Chris discovered two peculiar individuals next to a large, white van: a girl wearing a neon-purple wig and a giant of a man who probably would put the Kingpin from Marvel comics to shame with his muscle mass. He made an educated guess that the man was probably not the speedster.

“Heh. Too easy. I’m embarrassed for you sweetheart, but the Hounds are just gonna love you.” The burly man taunted the girl, who was lying on the pavement of the street.

“Hey, haven’t you heard? I get first crack at the ladies around here, so get in line!”

“Finally, a real challenge.” The man boasted.

“Actually, can you just surrender now and go quietly? I’ve got places to be and stopping street crimes is a little overkill for me. What do you say?”

Instead of saying anything, the man instead began to charge towards Chris. Although it took him a little bit to get to running speed, Chris could tell without all of his technology in his armor that he had quite the weight behind his momentum

“Well, I guess that answers that!”

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

@Alternax: We also have a Discord channel, which is linked in the OP (just FYI).

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

Kelly Brown | Samantha Kadowsky | Zac Wilson

Zac collapsed face first onto the couch in their apartment since he was relieved that they were now home. Not only did they had a five-hour drive from Crown Ridge to Albany, but the escapades of the previous night would have worn out almost anyone. There was the robbery at the art museum. Then the three of them ran into Lyger and had to escape with him from both a local criminal organization and the city’s police force. While they did reach the safety of Lyger’s home, there was always that annoying fear that the criminals might have discovered their identities and therefore would have been able to attack them when they were least expecting it. Luckily, that never happened.

“What’s this?” Zac heard Sammy say. He sat up from his reclining position and glanced over the back of the couch to see what Sammy was referring to. In her hand, Sammy was holding a black ring that had what looked like a tiny diamond attached. “I hope you were not intending to propose with this thing, because that rock has ‘cheapskate’ written all over it.”

Zac stared at the ring with a befuddled expression for a few moments. He knew that ring was not his. However, he also did not want his response to come off sounding as if he was not interested in marrying Kelly someday.

“I cannot comment on the whole proposing thing, but I definitely did not buy that specific ring.” Zac finally made his response.

“Then whose is it?” Kelly took a closer look at the ring that her best friend was holding.

Sammy then noticed a small note on the countertop that she had first overlooked. Her eye naturally gravitated directly towards the jewelry instead the small sheet of paper. On that note, Sammy saw her name written on it and signed only with ‘from a friend’. She immediately guessed that this gift was from Lyger, who had promised that he would try to find some sort of device that would hide Sammy’s cat ears and tail. She first wondered why he would leave it her instead of her own apartment. However, she quickly concluded that Lyger probably did not know where she lived and therefore only could leave it at Zac and Kelly’s apartment.

“Don’t put that on.” Zac said as he jumped over the back of his apartment’s couch when he saw Sammy begin to slip the ring onto her finger, “We don’t know where that came from!”

However, Zac was just too late to make an objection. Sammy already placed the ring around her forth finger. Suddenly, all three of them heard something clank against the floor, as if it had been dropped. They discovered that it was the small device that Sammy (and Kelly) used to allow their animal-like tails to fit their clothes without cutting holes into their entire wardrobe. Sammy instinctively reached back to check what had happened to her tail. However, she was shocked to find that it was no longer there. Her hands then reached up to the top of her head, where she also learned that her cat ears were gone, too! Sliding her hands down the side of her head, she felt her old human ears for the first time in months.

“Kyle did it!” Sammy shouted in joy, “He got me something that can hide my powers!”

“I really need to get a security system installed in this apartment. Everyone and their brother has broken into this place now.” Zac whispered to Kelly as they watched their friend prance around the living room, as if she had just won the lottery.

“And it’s a ring, too!” Sammy blurred out as she held out her hand with the palm of her hand facing the floor. “Isn't that romantic?”

“I knew he would screw this up somehow.”

“What?” Sammy snapped at Zac when she heard his comment, wondering what he meant by that.

“He didn’t mean anything back that, didn’t you.” Kelly tried to save face with her best friend, although from the expression on Sammy’s face, she was not buying it.

“You two told him to tell me that we couldn’t be together, didn’t you!” Sammy yelled at her two friends. “You didn’t believe I could handle the situation, didn’t you! Well, I hate you both!”

Sammy then stomped out of the apartment and slammed the front door shut with a crash. Zac and Kelly just traded glances as they wondered how the situation could have gone even just a little better. However, they were surprised when they saw that the door creeped open again and Sammy’s head popped through the opening of the door.

"Alright, I don’t hate you two.” Sammy apologized. “I kind of need a ride home.”

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

Aubrey Adkins

9:32 AM

One of the perks that comes with the apartments that Viera provides for their models is that there’s an on-site exercise facility located inside the complex. And it’s not crammed into a hole in a wall, either. While there isn’t enough room for an indoor track, this private gym does have a variety of machines and equipment. Emily and I always try to make it over there at least a couple of times each week. Sure, having superhuman strength and enhanced metabolism kind of makes exercising pointless, but I still have to keep up the appearance that it does. Plus, I’ve found that exercising can give you some other benefits other than losing a couple of pounds.

After I took a sip from a bottle of water that I normally bring along with me while exercising, I headed towards the leg extension machine and inserted the pin on the appropriate weight. While I worked out my legs, Emily stood beside the machine and chatted. She had a habit of doing more talking than actually using the equipment when we come here. Not that it distracts me or anything, so it doesn’t really bother me that much. Plus, I suppose she's exercising her jaw muscles, so there is that.

“Have you picked out a dress for the party this weekend?” Emily asked. She was referring to this event that we’re expected to attend. Since Pacific Point is only about a little more than an hour’s drive from Los Angeles and Hollywood, apparently, there’s supposed to be a much of famous people attending. I guess meeting, or at least seeing, some celebrities could be interesting.

“I’ll probably just pull something out of my closet. I’m sure there’s something in there that’s appropriate for the event.”

“Have you seen who’s rumored to be attending?”

“No.” I responded without turning to look at Emily.

“Apparently, Christopher Arthur is supposed to be in attendance.” Emily announced to me. When I heard that name, I immediately stopped what I was doing and gave her a concerned look. “He’s supposed to be really brilliant.”

“I’ll pass.” I told her as I got up from the chair that was attached to the exercise machine. I grabbed a disinfecting tissue and swept over the pairs of the machine that I touched.

“I guess you’re not a fan of his.” Of course I’m not a fan of his! He kidnapped me after I had been kidnapped by that Doctor Dip-whatever his name was and given my powers. And that bitch, Archangel. I hated her, too. Probably even more than Arthur. I’m so glad I’ve haven’t heard a single thing about her since the whole dome crisis last February.

I then retrieved a medicine ball and headed over to the next exercise station. At this station, there was a raised bench that was elevated a little on one side. Resting my stomach against the elevated side, I began what were essentially upside-down sit-ups with the medicine ball in my arms, since I would bend down my upper body towards the ground and then straighten myself out again.

“Well, hopefully you’ll meet at least someone you don’t hate.” Emily encouraged me, probably to make sure I’m not a total Debby Downer during the party.

While I continued this exercise, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of two other models heading towards the exit of the gym. Although it seemed like they were not trying to make their conversation heard by the two of us, the volume of their voices still carried all the way back to where Emily and I were.

“I can hardly believe that Double A needs an additional medicine ball when she already has two attached to her.” Whitney told Nicole as they walked towards the exit. However, before I could hear what the other girl had to say, although I can’t say that I really wanted to know, they had already gone through the door and out of earshot.

“Well, I guess that’s at least three people who are going to be at that event who I totally cannot stand.”

“Hey, at least I’ll be there. That means something, doesn’t it?” Emily tried to show the bright side of the situation. “Also, we don’t have to meet them for lunch if you don’t want to. No need to spending more time with them than you need to.”

“No, it’s fine. I guess a promise is a promise.” A few days ago, Whitney and Nicole asked us if we wanted to join them for lunch sometime this week. Although I would have loved to turn them down, since we all are going to be living in close proximity of one another for the next five or so months, I might at least learn to endure them.

Oh, I did mention my enhanced metabolism, didn’t I?

---

Noon

“Here are three salads.” The waitress said as she slid the three bowls filled with colorful vegetables in front of Emily, Whitney, and Nicole. She then placed my dish in front of. “And a cheeseburger with everything on it, with a side of fries and a strawberry milkshake. Do you girls need anything else?”

“No thank you.” I told her with a smile. When I turned back to the other three girls, I saw them all peer down at their own tiny bowl of vegetables and then glanced up at the plate that sat in front of me. Emily was the first to speak, scooting her chair closer to mine and placing her hand beside her mouth as if she was trying to prevent Whitney and Nicole from hearing what she was about to say.

“Aubrey, you’re not anorexic, are you? I know that people in our profession don’t always follow the healthiest practices, but that’s not healthy for you.” Emily told me out of concern, as a friend.

“Of course not.” I tried to talk her out of that idea that I’m somehow anorexic. Unfortunately, I cannot just say that I have an enhanced metabolism and it allows me to eat this food without weighing 400 lbs. “I wouldn’t stoop to those extremes just to stay inhumanly thin.

“Then where does all those calories go?” Whitney asked, a confused expression stuck on her face. “What, do you have a hollow leg?”

“No.” I told Whitney, looking her in the eyes. “It obviously goes into my medicine balls.”

And that is my middle finger to you, Whitney. That's why you should be careful about what you say aloud. You never know who might hear you.

---

Later That Night

On the outskirts of Pacific Point, at a private pier, several men gathered around a metallic box. These men belonged to a minor crime organization located in Pacific Point. Their operations were not as large as those of the Shroud Syndicate and most people did not even know that they even existed, let along know their name. Or at least they were not yet as large. This anonymity was actually quite a boon, since it allowed them to small, yet decent profit without the feds or caps sniffing around.

“What’s in the box, boss?” One of the henchmen asked.

“It is what will even the odds between us and those capes.” The Ringleader told his men. He then bent down and flipped up the latches that secured the lid of the metallic container and threw open the lid. The first henchman who had asked about the contents of the container peered in. However, he was quite confused about what lurked inside.

“Fish pills?” He said. “How is that going to help us? Prevent us from getting heart disease?”

“These are not just any ordinary omega-3 supplement pills.” The Ringleader explained to his men, “These capsules contain the oils of fish that were exposed to the device that would have created a dome around Lost Haven if one of the heroes had not dropped it into the Atlantic Ocean.”

“So, does that mean if we take these that…” Another of the Ringleader’s men started to say.

“Yes.” The Ringleader confirmed his man’s speculation. “While we don’t want to stoop to those monsters’ level, there’s nothing wrong with using them to cause some chaos in the public sphere and turn the public’s loyalties against those caps! They’re nothing more than abominations wearing a sheep’s wool.”

But suddenly, the men gathered at the pier heard the engine of a motorcycle nearby. The Ringmaster signaled to his men to go deal with the intruder, whoever he or she was. He sent all of his men except for one, who he ordered to help him carry the metallic container to a boat at the end of the wooden pier. As the Ringleader and one of his henchmen hurried away from the action, they began to heard the crack of gunfire and the barely audible clang of a bowstring being released. When they were only a few feet away their getaway boat, the two men found out that someone was standing in their way. Since it was nighttime, the two men could not really see much of the man besides his silhouette. However, when electricity began to spark from his hands, they began to get a better glance at whoever it was. The man was wearing a dark blue bodysuit that covered his entire body, insolating it from the temperature of the ocean’s water.

“Out of the way, creep!” The Ringmaster yelled at the man. He drew a pistol from his jacket in order to show that he wasn’t messing around. However, the Ringmaster soon found out that he brought a gun to a superpower fight. The man in the dark blue costume took the electricity that was building up around his hands and sent out a shockwave towards the Ringleader, blasting him off the wooden pier and into the water.

The henchman, who was already freaked out by what happened to his boss, dropped the case and ran back towards where everyone else was fighting the first intruder. That intruder could not be any worse than the electric-based metahuman who stood before him, right? However, as he dashed back towards the mainland, several giant, octopus-like appendages burst out of the water and wrapped round the wooden pier. These appendages then pulled down on the wood planks, dragging them down to the ocean floor.

“Leaving so soon? The party has just started.” A sultry voice called out to the panic-stricken man. From beneath the surface of the water, a woman arose. The octopus-like tentacles obviously belonged to this woman and they were attached to her where her feet would normally be. And around her waist were the heads of feral dogs, snapping their jaws at the man. That man had already gone ghostly pale and was not sure what to do now. He finally decided to make a jump for it, over the broken pier that the woman had destroyed. However, when he tried to make it across, the woman’s tentacle snatched him out of the air and flung him into the water.

“Let’s get out of here, Hydro Shock.” The woman barked at the man wearing the dark-blue colored costume.

“Working on it, Scylla.” Hydro Shock called back as he checked the metallic container. In the distance, a shark’s fin broke through the surface of the ocean. It came closer and closer to the pier until it was right next to the wood columns that held it up. A muscular arm reached out of the water and pulled the shark-man out of the water, along with a water-proof container. Hydro Shock and Jaws quickly poured the items contained in the metallic box into the storage unit that they had brought with them.

Once they closed shut the lid to the water-proof container, the three of the aquatic villains were preparing to depart back into the ocean, when suddenly an arrow plunged itself into the shoulder of the giant shark-man. He roared more so in rage than in pain, since his tough skin prevented the arrow tip from penetrating deep into his body. With his massive hand, Jaw yanked out the arrow and tossed it into the ocean. On the opposite side of the pier stood Odysseus, with his bow in hand.

“Let’s get out of here.” Hydro Shock yelled, “We’ve secured what we wanted.”

Therefore, Jaws and Hydro Shock dived into the ocean’s waves, while Scylla sunk down beneath the water’s surface. The darkness of the night and of the ocean concealed their whereabouts and prevented Odysseus from pursuing them any further.

“This town is getting weirder and weirder every day.” Odysseus said aloud. He then heard someone trying to pull himself out of the water. The henchman who Scylla had tossed into the ocean, was catching his breath as he tried to get himself back on the pier’s deck.

“Were those freaks your friends?” He asked Odysseus.

“Sorry. I only work with land animals.” Odysseus told the man before he planted his boot into the man’s face, sending him back into the water.