Dedonus

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

Aubrey Adkins

I paced outside the entrance to the the 5th Street Promenade. Emily and I had originally made plans to stroll around the 5th Street Promenade, partially to just hang out and partially to get my mind off the Hounds (although she was unaware of this motive). However, after waiting for fifteen minutes, I had not seen nor heard from her. It was not like her to stand me up like this. Some of the other Viera girls, maybe, but not Emily. What could be holding her up?

I then felt my phone buzz in my hand. She finally sent a text, alerting me that she was running a little late. She suggested that I could start walking around without her, since she would just catch up to me once she arrives. However, she never did mention why she was running late. Nevertheless, I did not press the issue. I guessed it was none of my business, anyways.

My first stop was a store called Yellowjacket. It sold all sorts of posh clothing, although their inventory was mostly targeting a female demographic. I normally don’t shop there, even since I became employed by Viera, but it never hurts to window shop from time to time. Once I passed throughYellowjacket’s entrance, I began to amble around the store.

Eventually, I stumbled upon a cute dress that I just loved. A year ago, this dress would have fit me like a glove. But, alas, no so much now. Now, I have to spend hours rummaging through tons of clothes to just find something that would fit my figure. I normally run into one of two problems. If I try something that fits my bust, the rest of the dress or shirt would be draped in front of me, creating this awkward empty space between the fabric and the rest of my body, which would make me look thicker than I actually am. But if I try for the opposite, to get something that fits my slim figure, I either get a seam running across my bust or my bust would look like it would pop out at any moment. Thank God that Athena had already altered my entire wardrobe so that it would fit me properly, after that magical trafficker had irreversibly altered my body several months ago. That’s the perk of having the goddess of weaving as your friend. Well, I don’t know if I could call our relationship as ‘friendship.’ More like a ‘positive working partnership,’ or something.

But the dress was just way too cute. So, I pulled off the rack a dress of the same style, along with two other ones that also caught my eye. Then I headed towards the back of the story where the changing rooms were located. Once inside, I hung the three dresses up and pulled the first off its hanger. After I had stripped off my shirt and pulled the first dress over my head, I took a look in the mirror. With a little of Athena’s sewing magic, this one would look pretty nice on me.

As I removed the first dress and turned to the second, I heard someone entering the dressing room stall next to me. When I heard sobbing, I got a little nosey and started to eavesdrop. When I heard a pair of boots entering the stall with the woman and a gun cocking back, I started to get concerned. Could the Hounds be here? How could that be? Slipstream and I exterminated those cockroaches.

How should I approach this? I could easily change into my costume right in this changing room and intervene. However, I don’t think I could easily change back into my civilian identity. Although it is probably above the store’s employees’ pay roll to keep track of when customers come and go, it is better safe than sorry. Leaving the store and reentering would be the best option without compromising my identity.

While I was placing the first dress back on its proper hanger and pulling my shirt back on, someone threw open the door to the dressing room stall I was occupying. A woman stood in my only way out. While she was not wearing the usual black tactical gear that the Hounds are accustomed to wear, she held a pistol in one hand and a portal device in her other. I bet she was wearing this civilian disguise to prevent everyone else from panicking and ruining whatever the endgame that the Hounds had in mind for Pacific Point.

“Jackpot,” the woman declared, “I found another one.”

“Hey! Just because we’re both women don’t mean you can just barge right in!” I replied while trying to keep my cool. The question that was running through my head was how did she know I was a superhuman. Was it that device she was holding in her hand?

“Don’t worry, you witch. You will have a part in helping the Hounds remind the world that they are sheep surrounded by wolves in sheep skin. The Hounds will be like the shepherd dog, chasing the metas out for the good of the flock.” She holstered her gun and pulled out a second device from her pocket, circular in shape and no bigger than the palm of her hand.

“Witch? You must be mistaken!” It is definitely a relief that she has not figured out my real metahuman powers. But why would she think I’m a witch?

“You have trace amounts of magical energy in your body. This device doesn’t lie.” The woman responded.

“Wait! I think I can explain this,” I answered back. Oh God, I think I know what this residual magic could be. “A few months ago, a witch used her magic to alter my body. I think that’s what your little scanner is picking up.”

“Unfortunately, you are still stained by the witch’s touch. Humanity will thank you for your sacrifice.” The woman then approached me with her hand stretched out with the circular device aimed at me.

“Wait! Can’t we talk this out?” However, she was definitely in no mood for rational thinking. Struggle ensued, as she tried to attach the device to my skin. I did my best to keep her away from me. I have no idea what that device would do, but it could not be anything good.

“I said stop!” I shouted at her before I threw a punch at her face. It dazed her for a second, but she quickly recovered. She dropped the power scanner on the floor and drew her Glock and aimed it at me.

“You’re going to regret that, witch.” The woman threatened. However, before she could pull the trigger, someone grabbed the woman and slammed her against the wall, which temporarily knocked her out. Behind the Hound’s grunt, there stood a brunette woman wearing a costume inspired by 40’s and 50’s Americana (writer’s note: something like this, but obviously not Wonder Woman). Instead of a domino mask, only a pair of large sunglasses covered her eyes.

“Don’t worry, citizen. You should be safe now.” The costumed woman told me.

“Emily? What are you doing wearing that getup?” I asked my friend, seeing through costume inspired by the 40’s and 50’s. Has she been a metahuman this whole time and I did not recognize it? It makes sense she would not tell me, but how could I not see this coming?

“What?” Emily tried to deflect my response, “The name’s Pinup. I don’t know anyone named Emily.”

Before we could continue this conversation, we heard a voice coming from a radio that the woman had also dropped when Emily (or Pinup as she preferred to be called). Whoever was on the other line was asking for a progress report on whatever that woman had been doing. The woman then quickly snatched up the radio, since we were momentarily distracted with Emily’s secret identity.

“Cry havoc and unleash the hounds of war,” the woman responded back to the Hound commander on the other side of the radio. Then I could feel the air inside of the building grow frigid. The air became more difficult to breath in, as if it were solidifying. How were the Hounds causing the air within the store to freeze?

Suddenly, I felt someone yank me backwards. I knew it was not Emily since she was standing right next to me. One moment I was inside, the next Emily and I sitting outside the store, unscathed. Furthermore, somehow my powers had been activated and my costume was on me instead of my regular clothes. When I looked up to see who had saved us, I discovered Athena standing before us.

“You are welcome,” Athena told me without looking me in the face. Instead she was gazing at the Yellowjacket building, which had been entirely encased with ice. “And before you ask, yes. I got all the civilians out, too.”

“I’ve noticed that you haven’t been around as often as you used to. What’s up with that?”

“I’ve had some important business to take care of.”

“Anything that will involve me?”

“There is a high probability.”

“And are you going to tell me what it’s about?”

“When the time comes, yes. But for now, let’s focus our attention to the task at hand.”

“Great,” I sighed.

“That was great thinking on your part,” Emily, still dressed as Pinup, congratulated me. She had obviously not heard the conversation between Athena and me. She probably can see her. “I don’t know how you did it, Aubrey, but—”

When she saw my costumed drider appearance, Emily’s sentence was cut short by her own shock and bewilderment. It took her a moment before everything registered in her head.

“When did you become a spider person?” Emily asked. “And how did you make your bust smaller?”

“I think we have some more pressing questions at hand, like what the hell is that!” I exclaimed as something broke out of the ice that had engulfed the store. An individual, almost seven feet tall, with an almost crystalline body, tore its way through the ice until it had breached its icy prison. When I realized that the ‘creature’ was wearing the tattered clothes and the circular device that the woman had tried to attach to me a few moments ago, I dreaded what might be the reality: was this the person sobbing inside before the Hound attacked?

Then, a tiny owl fluttered towards Athena. When it had landed on her shoulder, it began to constantly hoot at her in an agitated fashion, as if it were trying to say something.

“I see, Bubo. There is at least a half a dozen of these rage-induced metahumans within the immediately vicinity and many more around the city, correct?”

The owl then nodded its head. I was going to say something about her talking to the owl, but I already knew she would say something about her being the patron goddess of owls and being able to speak every dialect of owlish or whatever bull she would give me as an answer. It would definitely save me the headache.

“I can tell that this evening is already going to suck.”

Character Post Index

My biggest issue is transferring the compiled data (i.e. the entries for each post that lists which characters are featured in the post) into some sort of format where I can copy and paste automatically generated bbcode onto the forum or upload it to GoogleDocs/Sheets.

For Microsoft Access, I found a way to query the data into an organized list and exporting it to Microsoft Excel, but in order to sort all the entries, I had to assign each character a unique "code" (e.g. 'ara' for Arachne) and number the posts (e.g. ara1 for the 1st Arachne post). Furthermore, I had to repeat post entries for each character who makes an appearance in that post, which is less than idea.

For Microsoft Excel, I found a way with macros to filter the entries and copy them into individual tabs for each character. Then, this document can be uploaded to GoogleSheets. However, my concern is that, when I have over 500 entries, it might take a long time to run through the macro. Furthermore, I would have to figure out how to make an automatically generated table of contents (ideally with hyperlinks) and how to mark out where certain character/story arc begin and end.

Is there any way I could do this in C# programming? Maybe something like the following (obviously it is not code, but it should give a good idea what I am looking for.

//variables
character Character //each character in the roleplay (class)
post Post //each post in the roleplay (class)
postnum Postnum //the chronological order of each post. a value in the post class
charpres Charpres //what character is present in the post. a value in the post class If I cannot assign multiple charpres, then I could do an individual value of each character and have it true/false (default = false)

For each character, create a new list

For each post where character matches charpres(or true/false check), add to list

Sort post by postnum

If I could build in the bbcode, this might be the idea option.

Character Post Index

For the last couple years, I have been tossing around an idea for a long-running RP that compiles a list of entries hyperlinked to individual posts for each character in the roleplay to give easy access to certain posts (e.g. easy reading order for new players or a convenient way to find a single post out 1000 IC posts).

When I first tried this, I just typed out the lists by "hand," so to speak. However, I quickly realized that the word document quickly became unwieldy and the process was time-consuming. I needed something a little more automated. I have tried messing with Excel and Microsoft Access to varying degrees of success, but both programs have their limitations. For instance, for both Excel and Access, I had to develop a system to sort the data in those programs and I had to keep entering that sorting data for each individual post entry.

So my question is does anyone have any ideas/suggestions for what's the best way to tackle this project? I would like it to look somewhat like my initial attempt at this project. My ideal optimization/automation would be being able to create only a single entry for each post and tag it with each character that appears in that post so that that single entry will populate each character's list.

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

Christopher Arthur III

Chris slowly descended with Maya in his arms once they had arrived at the Sherman Center. Since the situation was so dire, Chris made sure to hurry as fast as his armor’s engines could take him. However, before he landed on the rooftop, he noticed that Icon had just landed in the empty street in front of his renovated high rise. Chris swore he programmed the messages to meet at Sherman Center, but he guessed that meeting outside first was close enough. Therefore, he redirected his projectory and landed within the vicinity of Icon. Once they were earthbound, Chris set Maya back on the ground after carrying her the entire way.

After his arrival, Chris saw several other heroes, who helped him deal with the Pax Metahumana crisis. Besides Icon, Radiance and Lyger also showed up, while Slipstream was a newcomer, although Chris had previously team-up with her back in Pacific Point. However, he also noticed that several heroes had not shown up. With their current numbers, they would surely be undermanned for the task that they were about to undertake. He hoped that there would be some stragglers. Nevertheless, he did not place much stock in that small glimmer of hope.

“How come the only time I ever see you all is when shit hits the fan?” Chris asked everyone as they started to settle in, although Chris was not actually expecting an answer.

The other four heroes began to discuss the severity of the Hounds’ threat. However, Slipstream seemed to propose the right question: how were the Hounds causing this destruction. The heroes seemed confused and at a loss for answers to the questions. But Chris fortunately knew some answers.

“If you all remember back to the Pax crisis three months ago, a heroine named Archangel used orbital strikes surgically to destroy quite a few of the dome-generating devices hidden across the country. I believe that the Hounds have somehow stumbled upon one of these satellites and have repurposed it for mass destruction. I have no idea how this WMD had fallen into the Hound’s hands, although I can only guess that S.T.R.I.K.E. saved one as an insurance policy. But I do have a plan.”

“I’ve repurposed one of Archangel’s old chassis. Since they both should have the same technology built into them, we should be able to exploit the satellite’s programming. Maya here has graciously agreed to help us out by running the exoskeleton.”

Chris decided that it might be best to not mention that Maya was currently stuck inside the old Archangel armor. There was no need worrying the others about her condition. They needed to focus on the task at hand. Maya, on the other hand, quickly introduced herself with a shy wave.

Suddenly, a metallic clank resounded and dust began to swirl around the heroes. Since his suit filtered the air that he breathed, the dust did not affect Chris’ respiration, although he could tell that others were not so lucky. Chris immediately turned to see who had caused what seemed to him as an attack on the heroes. Even before he found the blonde-haired girl, his armor’s weapons system had already locked onto the young woman. However, she immediately made it clear that she wanted to join them, not to pick a fight. She even brought some tech that she had looted from the Hounds. While Chris mused that it would probably not be useful for taking down the orbital satellite, but it might prove insightful for whenever the heroes would turn to strike at the heart of the Hounds.

Icon immediately welcomed her with open arms into the group of heroes, although the woman, who called herself the Alchemyst, was not giving them much of a choice anyways. Icon suggested that the heroes moved inside the Sherman Center where they could discuss their plans without anyone eavesdropping on the conversation.

“I was about ready to make the same suggestion,” Chris cut in after Icon proposed their change of venue. “We need to make a plan of attack so the Hounds can’t use that satellite to murder countless people in cold blood.”

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

This is an elsewhere story and does not affect canon...yet

“90’s” Aubrey Adkins

Earth-99, Nautican Island (Not Destroyed)

3:15 A.M., January 22nd, 2011

“Wait!” I shouted after my bus while I shuffled my feet, which were handicapped by my high heels that I wear for ‘work’. I usually would bring a change of clothes, including some tennis shoes. However, one of the girls at the Lotus accidentally grabbed my bag and took my change of clothes home. Therefore, I was stuck with a ridiculously short skirt and no coat. While the Nautican Island’s winters were far milder than any island this far north should be, the nights could still get a little chilly.

However, despite my best attempt to flag down it, the bus zoomed forward, leaving me behind in its dust. I cursed under my breath before pulling out my phone and then I cursed again when I discovered that the next bus home would not circle around again for another hour. This would be my luck. First the kidnapping, then my healing factor did not revert my body back to normal, even after two weeks had passed since Catherine had last used her powers on me. And now I was stuck looking like a stripper in the middle of the night, when all the weirdos come crawling out of the shadows. I debated whether I should just walk home, but I thought that wouldn’t be a wise move, considering my heels would making running away from any danger impossible, especially since all of my powers, except my healing factor, have been nullified.

“Hey there!” A peppy voice said behind me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Just a moment before, the bus stop had been deserted, or at least I thought it was, although my attention was on catching the bus and not seeing who did not hop onto the public transit. But when I turned around, I discovered a woman decked out in a purple and gray superhero costume with some goggles resting on her forehead. The purple was slightly on the red side of the color spectrum, which made it match nicely with her green skin.

“Where did you come from?”

“Oh, I’m not actually here.”

“What?”

“What you’re seeing is a psionic image projected from my mind into your your brain, where it is translated into what looks like a physical person.”

I gave the woman a blank stare in response to her explanation for how she suddenly appeared before my eyes.

“Anyways…” The woman tried to change the subject. “I’m here to help you out!”

“Unless you’re going to teleport me home, I’ll pass.”

“I don’t have the ability to do that,” The woman pondered aloud. “But I can help you become a superhero!”

“Pass,” I coldly respond, while checking my phone to see where the bus was. I rolled my eyes when I saw that I still had another 55 minutes left until the bus would arrive. “I don’t have time for that nonsense. And even if I did, my powers are negated.”

“I can fix that!” The women pulled out a small device from her pocket and mashed down one of the buttons on it. Suddenly, I heard the seams of my skirt begin to stretch and tear until I beheld a shower of confetti flutter around me. Somehow, my lower body had been reverted back to its drider form.

“What the hell? That was one of my better skirts!” I snapped back at the woman because of what she had done. I was not sure whether I was really angry about the destruction of my clothes or if this woman reactivating my powers just hit a nerve. All I knew was that I was pissed.

“Our tech geniuses found out a way to bypass the power nullifiers without big brother ever knowing!” The woman said while being totally oblivious to my reaction over my ruined skirt. However, after a few moments, when she realized that she did not get the excited reaction from me that she was hoping for, she presented another offer. “Or I could turn the nullifier back on if you’re so mad about it.:

“Don’t you dare!” I yelled at her. “I’m not wearing any pants because of you!”

“I can fix that, too!”

“Please don—" I began to say, but I was interrupted by the feeling of my clothes becoming tight on my body. Suddenly, I found myself wearing a totally different outfit. My arachnid forelegs were now covered by fishnet stockings with spiderweb patters, while the other six had plain scarlet and gray stockings. I had a dark gray bomber jacket with red trimming, which was much appreciated due to the temperature. However, the long sleeved spandex shirt underneath was less satisfactory because of the spider shaped boob window on the front of it (thank God the spider legs were printed onto it). Not quite sure how to feel about it. Finally, the mask that came with this costume left my jaw, nose, and hair exposed. Not sure what’s the point of a mask with all that skin exposed, but whatever. “Great. Now I look like a stripper trying to pull off a spider motif.”

“Now you have everything you need to be a hero!” The woman gave me a thumbs up and then slowly faded away, as if she were made of smoke.

“Wait! Are you going just leave me like—bitch,“ I cursed as I saw her mental hologram, or whatever she called it, vanish. The only thing that remained was the small device that she used to turn off my power nullifier. I guess I could count this as a consolation prize. Looks like I’m hiking my way back home, since I’m not getting on that bus in this costume.

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

Christopher Arthur III

Although all of Chris’ injuries had been miraculously healed by the Egyptian themed hero, the Son of Osiris, his expert team of doctors still requested that he stay and rest. But Chris did not have the luxury of time at the moment, since the Hounds had decided to up the ante. The first time the Hounds had used the orbital satellite, the power they unleashed was only enough to destroy his mansion and its immediate surrounds. But now, they were destroying city blocks and even entire cities. For a brief moment, the thoughts of why no one had tried to take this satellite down after it had placed him in the hospital creeped into Chris’ mind, but he soon shaked them off. It was not a time for the blame game. Instead, it was a time for action.

Even though his mansion was destroyed, that did not mean Chris was powerless. He had made sure that he did not stick all of his eggs in a single basket. While he did not have an unlimited supply of Daedalos-class armors sitting around, but Chris did have a set that he rotated between so that he could allow repairs be done on them without sidelining him. Or, if one were destroyed or damaged beyond repair, as was the case, Chris would not have ot scramble to put together a new set of armor in dire circumstances.

It did not take Chris long to acquire one of his backup suits and prep it for flight. Since both his mansion and S.T.R.I.K.E. had been wiped off from the face of the Earth, Chris had only one destination left to mount his counter-strike: Sherman Center, which was the location where he ran the operation to foil Doctor Diplodoc’s scheme to grant superhuman powers indiscriminately to the entire human race. In fact, Chris had purchased that has-been building just for this type of situation.

Having a nice and shining base was the easy part. Gathering together a group of heroes for a common goal is an entirely different ball game. During the Pax Metahumana crisis, he relied on his assistant, Minerva, to get the message to the various heroes. In fact, Chris still was not sure how she gathered the heroes so quickly. He had been meaning to ask, but the thought kept slipping his mind or she kept deflecting the question whenever he did remember. Furthermore, he had made sure all of his family and his employees who worked closely with Chris were hidden away in secure locations, safe from any potential Hound attack. He could not risk Minerva’s life just to gather this country’s heroes, especially since he had a plan B in his back pocket.

Chris had long ago devised a plan for a situation such as this. Back when the team of heroes had had assembled had squashed the Pax Metahumana crisis, Chris had secretly attached nanorobots that he could use to contact these heroes again in a time of need, like the current situation. Since he knew that some of the heroes, namely Lyger, would be extremely pissed off if he had been tracking them this entire time, Chris had to think outside of the box to come up with a method to contacting them. Instead of sending back data about each individual’s location, the devices instead were programed to play a generic message that would suggest that they head to Sherman Center whenever they have received a specific radio signal broadcasted by Chris. While he expected that some of the heroes, especially Lyger, would still be fuming once they have discovered the devices, he believed it was a happy medium.

But a nagging thought that had been bothering Chris was still lingering. What did the Son of Osiris mean when he suggested to check in on Maya? What did he know about her that he did not? He had tried to contact here via her cell phone, but his calls always went to voicemail. If anything had happened to her, especially since he was unable to do anything about it due to the coma, the Hounds would soon wish that they had never dared to threaten his family and friends if they happened to be behind this.

Before he jetted off to head towards Lost Haven, Chris something in the corner of his eye. At first, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, especially since he just got out of a coma, but after a second quick inspection, he knew it was no mirage, even though he still did not believe it. Hiding near the hospital, the Archangel exoskeleton stood. When he took a step towards her, she shrunk back. Nevertheless, she had backed herself into a corner and therefore could not go anywhere unless he propulsion systems were still working.

“Chris—” Archangel whimpered. However, from the way her voice sounded, a chill instantly ran down his spine. This was not the old Archangel back back from the grave. This was entirely different.

“Maya?” Chris puzzledly asked, “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Maya admitted to Chris as she turned away from him, obviously wishing that he did not have to see her in this damaged form. “I went to bed last night and then when I woke up, I was like this.”

“Recently, I’ve been looking into applications of remotely controlled armor and I’ve been reverse engineering Archangel’s technology,” Chris mentioned to Maya as he tried to figure at what could have went wrong. “Of the top of my head, the only thing that could have caused this would be one of the untested prototypes I’ve developed. But you would not have access to those.”

“I guess you have to go now,” Maya muttered as she turned away again.

“When the Hounds started to wipe entire towns off the face of the Earth, I’ve got to act.” Chris responded, “However, it shouldn’t take me long to get you out of that robotic shell, assuming your actual body is still in your home.”

“No, you can’t put my own well being over that of millions of people!” Maya protested to Chris’ surprise.

“Are you sure?” Chris asked back. Maya, in turn nodded. “I just feel terrible that you’re trapped in that form.”

Maya then darted forward into Chris’ arms, while she wrapped her arms around his torso. Chris heard her weeping, even though no tears left her eyes since the robotic suit did not have tear ducts. Chris knew he had to do something. She was obviously distraught.

“The Hounds must be using one of the hidden satellites that the original Archangel had secretly assembled in Earth’s orbit. It might be a long shot, but that old Archangel suit could possibly still connect to that satellite and at the very least delay any future orbital strikes. Do you want to help out?”

Maya tentatively nodded, although her mood seemed to have improved.

“Then we better get going. The others will hopefully be waiting for us.

Heroes

Receive Signal:
-Icon
-Lyger
-Slipstream = tagged during IK/Slipstream crossover
-Radiance (NPC)
-Vigilante = MIA
-Raptor Pack (buried underground atm)
-Thunderbolt and Boom = MIA

Did not Receive Signal:
-Arachne = Costume change
-Eva = Considered too young (plus Aunt “scolding reinforced his decision”)
-White Witch = Costume change

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

Sorry about the late post. I've been a little busy/stressed the past week (and that probably won't change this week either).

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

Christopher Arthur III

A hospital in Virginia

The hospital room was quiet, except for the electronic beeps emitted from the patient monitor. Just like the last couple days since the incident involving the Hounds, the team of doctors, tasked at finding some sort of solution for Chris’ coma, left for the night empty handed and defeated. In most cases, the only cure for a coma was time and patience. However, due to the audacity of the Hounds of Humanity, neither could be a luxury for the hero.

Suddenly, a swirling portal slowly developed in the room, growing larger and larger until it was about the size of an average man. Once it was stable, two figures entered the room via the portal. The first individual was the Son of Osiris, wielding his ankh-bearing staff. Meanwhile, he was followed by another member of the Immortals, Firefox. Although the Son of Osiris could easily create portals for himself, the energy necessary to heal not one, but two critically injured people would sap his magical energies quite quickly. Therefore, Firefox came along so that, once Osiris needed to return to his meditative state, she could provide warp transportation with her powers.

“I wonder why that girl didn’t come along with us?” Firefox mused aloud while the Son of Osiris, making sure not to trip any alarms, carefully examined the comatose hero.

I believe that armor used to belong to this man’s ex, who happened to turn out to be an advanced and intelligent android.

“Doesn’t want to look like his ex when he wakes up? Makes sense.” Firefox replied while checking the vitals displayed on the monitor next to the hospital bed.

Now that everything was ready, the Son of Osiris held his staff over Chris. The ankh that crowned the staff began to grow blue while emitting a light of the same color. These rays of light penetrated into the comatose man’s skin. After a a few seconds basking in this healing aura, it soon became clear that the treatment was working.

Jolted awake by the mystic energy, Chris immediately sat up in his hospital bed. At first, he was clearly disoriented and confused. However, as he got ahold of his bearings, he finally calmed down.

“If you keep this up, not even my fortune could ever repay the debt that I would owe you.” Chris said with a smile and a laugh.

I believe there are more pertinent matters at hand than that.

“Like the Hounds,” Chris said as he suddenly remembered how he found himself comatose in a hospital in the first place. He tried to pull himself out of the hospital bed, but Firefox rushed over to stop him.

“You still need to rest a little,” Firefox told Chris. “While Osiris did heal you, that doesn’t mean you’re at 100 percent yet.”

I’m sure the other heroes can handle things while you get back on your feet.

Then, just as quickly as they had appeared on the scene, the Son of Osiris and Firefox departed, this time through one of Firefox’s portals. However, before they left, Firefox gave Chris some parting words.

“You might want to check in on your girlfriend,” Firefox recommended. “She was awfully distraught about your injury.”

And with those words, they were gone. This left Chris alone to ponder his next actions, or at least until the standby medical staff burst into the room once they had become aware of Chris’ miraculous recovery.

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

Jeffery Zimmerman

Giza, Egypt

A light breeze tossed about the desert sand around the Giza Pyramid complex. Hundreds upon thousands of tourists flocked to the site, since they hoped to see the last remaining wonder of the ancient world. However, unbeknownst to the tourist travel below, a man, hidden by his god-granted powers, hovered over the Great Pyramid of Giza. The Son of Osiris, after he had used an excessive amount of his powers, would teleport to this Egyptian relic and meditate there while his magical strength was restored.

Once the aura given off by these Egyptian pyramids had revitalived his powers, the Son of Osiris opened up a warp-gate with his magical abilities. When he passed through this mystical construct, the Son of Osiris bypassed the thousands of miles and several hours worth of travel with only a few steps. One moment, he was hovering over the Great Pyramid. The next, he was standing in the Immortal’s base of operations.

He found Odysseus leaning back in a chair facing a monitor that was showing a rerun of a press conference from earlier that evening.

“About time you showed up,” Odysseus mentioned once he noticed that Osiris had entered the room. “You’re a wanted man.”

For what reason?

“You can hear it for yourself,” Odysseus answered the question that he heard in his head. He then snatched up the remote and dialed up the volume so that his fellow Immortal could hear the woman speaking on the television screen.

“—have Hound Dog’s assistance as well. Who cannot be here due to a broken arm. That said if there are any metas gifted in healing Poseidon would like to speak with you, like Osiris of the Immortals,” the recording of Briley Patton announced, probably for the umpteenth time this evening.

“I wonder what that rookie got himself into to land him into the hospital? Probably went head first against those Hounds. Dumbass.”

I guess that makes you a dumbass, too.

“I ain’t no rookie.”

Well, I better go down there. God know how long that kid has been cooped up in a hospital bed.

“Could be a trap.”

Possible, yet unlikely. Poseidon Energies does not seem to have such devilish intentions.

Once again, Osiris opened up the warp gate and walked through it. This time, he found himself standing in front of the Poseidon Energies Pacific Point facility. He was not sure where the boy, whom he first met during the Game Genie’s attack on the city, was being kept. He assumed that someone here could at least point him in the right direction. And if nobody happened to be home, he could try tomorrow, although he wouldn’t want the electric hero to suffer any more than he needs to.

The Son of Osiris suddenly heard a noise from the side of the building. He decided he better check it out, just in case someone was trying to do something dastardly against Poseidon Energies. However, what he found was something he was not expecting. Hidden away from the lights given off by the Poseidon Energies’ building, there stood what looked like a woman in a white colored power suit with angelic wings. Her armor was cracked in places and covered with dirt and grime, which tainted its normally pure white color. What Osiris thought was the most peculiar thing about this was that it sounded like the woman’s sobs were being translated through a voice synthesizer.

“He needs your help,” the woman finally told the Son of Osiris.

Don’t worry. I’m here to find the location of the boy.

The woman paused for a moment, as if she was unnerved by Osiris’ telepathic communication. However, the distraught woman pushed through this unusual experience.

“No, not him,” She said while still crying. “Chris.”

You know where he is?

The woman nodded, before continuing.

“And I need him to get me out of this thing. I tried pulling it off, but—”

She then held up her left arm. The Son of Osiris was shocked to see that she was missing her hand. However, instead of some sort of bloody wound, only wires and tubes stuck out of the opening of her wrist, which revealed that there was not an arm in there, or perhaps even a person.

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

Kelly Brown | Jeanette Forestier | Samantha Kadowsky | Zac Wilson

Zac dashed out of Washington Park while carrying a straggler bystander out of harm's way. Ever since he, Kelly, and Sammy found the Silver Sorceress terrorizing the Albany city park, Zac had been zipping around the immediate vicinity to make sure people were not in the line of the SIlver Sorceress’ fire. As long as the magical villainess was around, nobody was safe.

After Zac had helped the bystander across Madison Avenue, he dashed back to the epicenter of the Silver Sorceress’ attack. On his way there, he gave out a sigh of relief that he did not spot any more civilians left to be endangered by the Silver Sorceress’ magic. When he returned, Zac found that Kelly and the Silver Sorceress were still gridlocked in their magical duel. However, this was not flashy like something you might see in Harry Potter or some other generic fantasy movie. Instead, it was more akin to a mental game of chess, where each spellcaster would try to find a weakness in the other’s strategy and exploit it. Since he guessed that his girlfriend needed to focus her entire concentration on the Silver Sorceress, Zac knew better than try to interrupt.

At that same moment, both Sammy and Jeanette also returned to the rendezvous point. Jeanette was still battling the major gusts of winds that the Silver Sorceress had summoned, since she basically had sails for arms. Therefore, whatever help she could provide was limited until something was done about the winds. Sammy, on the other hand, did not have that same problem.

“I had to save some kid’s cat from a tree just to get her to get her to safety.” Sammy complained aloud.

Zac, however, just placed a finger up to his lips and then pointed towards Kelly and the Silver Sorceress in an attempt to tell Sammy to keep quiet.

Meanwhile, an opportunity seemed to have opened up for Kelly. While for the entire time the Silver Sorceress had kept her attention on the brunette standing in front of her, for just a moment, turned his gaze away, as if she sensed something happening far away across the country. At that moment, Kelly tried to press her advantage to end this magical duel and stop the Silver Sorceress’ plan. Such a mistake like this was just what Kelly had been waiting for.

Yet, even with this opening, the Silver Sorceress was not down and out. Instead, it soon became apparent that the Silver Sorceress had not been exerting all of her energy on the duel until she was on her heels. But just like a cornered rabid animal, the Silver Sorceress swung back with an overwhelming blast of magical energy. Since Kelly might have pressed the advantage a little too much, she was caught off guard by this counterattack and was thrown backwards by the impact of the magical blast. She landed with a hard thud in front of her three friends and allies.

“Sorry, darlings,” the Silver Sorceress declared as she approached the four young metahumans like a predator does its prey, “I would love to prolong this little tussle, but I have a bitch to fry. So I just have to end this with one fell swoop.”

She then snapped her fingers while mumblings an incantation. Suddenly, Zac, Kelly, and Sammy’s feet (or serpentine tail in Sammy’s case) began to sink into the ground, almost as if they had fallen into quicksand. And just like quicksand, the more the three metahumans struggled, the faster they sank into the park’s soil. It was not long before they were shoulder deep into the ground.

Jeanette did her best to do what she could. Since the Silver Sorceress thought she had achieved victory, the powerful winds had died down to a gentle breeze, allowing her to take advantage of her flying abilities. However, even when she tried to pull Sammy out of the terrestrial trap, she could not raise her up faster than she was sinking. Once their heads had all but submerged under the earth, Jeanette in vain scratched at the soil with her feet talons, since her avian hands were useless at such a task.

“What am I going to do?” Jeanette asked herself aloud.

The Silver Sorceress, on the other hand, had summoned an incorporeal parchment that had several names scribbled on it. Using her finger, she crossed out the first name on the list.

Silver Sorceress revenge list

Zoo Crew
Iron Knight
Icon
Catman
Girl with Sword
Spider-Girl
Speedster Twins
Annoying Black-garbed Person
Annoying Witch
Electric Bitch
Loud-mouth Mercenary
Lady Liberty

Once that was done, the Silver Sorceress used her magical abilities to teleport herself out of the park, leaving the harpy-like heroine wondering what she could do to help her friends, if she could even help them at all.