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Character you have created: Christopher “Chris” Arthur III

Alias: Iron Knight. Also known by: Daedalos Mk. 5, Project Theophonos (god-slayer)

Speech Color: Standard Forum Text, Silver (C0C0C0)

Character Alignment: Hero

Identity: Public.

Character Personality: As a playboy billionaire, Christopher beats his drums at his own tempo. He’s business by day, party by night, although he allows his leaned back nature bleed into his business affairs. Beyond his business life, Christopher enjoys Greek culture and history, utilizing his companies funds to support archaeological digs in search of new finds in this field, even though they are rare. He is also protective of his half-sister, since she is his only family left (see Origin Info/Details for more info).

Uniform/costume:

Origin Info/Details:

Season 1 Summary:

Season 2 Summary:




Hero Type:
Power-Suit / Gray Matter (Super-Smart)

Power Level:
C. World Level (Ex. Flash, Superman)

Powers: Powers beyond the things listed in the “Attribute” (flight, strength, etc) will be listed here. Furthermore, Iron Knight can make revisions and updates to his armor to prepare the armor for different situations.
-Energy-based Sword
-Energy Pila
-Energy Shield: Iron Knight’s shielding must be activated to be used. Shielding must be lowered in order to use offensive weapons.
-Rockets and Missiles: Iron Knight has several different projectiles at his disposal to use against foes at a distance.

Attributes: Physical attributes are at Normal Human levels when not in the Power Suit.

Weaknesses:
-Still a normal man under the suit.
-Armor can become overloaded if enough energy is pumped into the suit.
-Takes some time to prep suit for usage.

Supporting Characters (Does your character have a significant other? A mother? Friend? Who are they, what do they have to do with your character?):
-Veronica: Christopher’s half-sister. She is currently a freshman in high school.
-George: The Arthur family’s butler, helped raise both Chris and Veronica, especially the later when their parents died (“If Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark can have a butler, why can’t I?” ~CA3).
-Maya Hoffman: Girlfriend. She is secretly a nagini, known only by Arachne and Athena. What is her real motives for dating Chris is anyone’s guess.

Do you know how to post pictures on RPG boards?: Yes (see last app).

Sample Post:

Character you have created: Zachary “Zac” Wilson

Alias: [The] Raptor (originally Raptor-Man when I envisioned the character a few years ago, but I thought having a character named Raptor-Man and a player whose name is also Raptor-Man would be confusing.)

Speech Color: Standard Forum Text, Peru (CD853F)

Character Alignment: Hero

Identity: Secret

Character Personality: While Zac always has good intentions and is dedicated to both his family and friends, he can sometimes be extremely stubborn and, sometimes, have a short fuse. His was raised in a traditional Christian household. While he is not extremely religious (going to church on Wednesday and Sunday), his parent’s beliefs have shaped Zac’s character. After his transformation, Zac is self-conscious of his height (he shrank down from barely 6 foot to 5 foot, 4 inches). With his short-temper, sparks might fly if someone mentions his height deficiency...

Uniform/costume: Until he gets a costume, the Raptor will wear normal clothing. His eventual costume will consist of two shades of brown (darker and lighter) with several black stripes on his back, arms, legs, and neck.

Origin Info/Details:
Season 1 Summary:


Season 2 Summary:




Hero Type:
Speedster

Power Level:
B. City Level (Ex. Spider-Man, Cyclops)

Powers (Be Specific):
-Super Speed (see below about limitations)
-Obsidian-Black retractable claws between the knuckles (i.e. 3 claws per hand – velociraptors had three claws). Not indestructible and needs time to regrow.
-Sickle Claw attached to foot, slightly below the inside ankle.
-Raptor Tail.

Attributes:

Weaknesses:
-At higher speeds, he cannot maintain that speed for as long as slower speeds.
-No super-human strength or endurance (beyond running endurance), so can be vulnerable if caught.
-Claws are not impervious and can break. If they do break, it takes time for them to regrow.
-You cannot walk around in public with a raptor tail and not go unnoticed(negated by power nullifier)

Supporting Characters:
Robert Wilson: Father – Laid-back, outdoorsman
Meredith Wilson: Mother – Over-obsessive about her son, wishing he was still his little boy (imagine what the thoughts of injury does to her)
Kelly Brown (Wasp): Girlfriend - Met at college, Nursing Major. As of the beginning of Season 3, an unknown entity has transformed her into a parallel universe version of herself who has the power of the Silver Sorceress.
Samantha Kadowsky (Bast): Kelly's childhood best friend. Happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, which resulted in her being transformed into a human-headed cat. She subsequently was restored back to a humanoid form. As of the beginning of Season 3, an unknown entity has transformed her into a parallel universe version of herself who looks like a Nagini and goes by Anaconda.
-Taylor Parks (Amoeba): Member of the Raptor Pack. Received her powers from the Washington Park incident. Her entire body is made of liquid.
-Jeanette Forestier (Blue Jay): Member of the Raptor Pack. Received her powers from the Washington Park incident. She has the appearance of a blue-feathered harpy.
-Darren Norton (Hellbender): Member of the Raptor Pack. Received his powers from the Washington Park incident. Has fire and water powers.

What can you bring to the RPG?:
-I feel that I am flexible and can get along with people.

Do you know how to post pictures on RPG boards?:


Sample Post (Minimum Four paragraphs containing dialogue. As this is an Advanced Level game, Sample must also meet the RPG forum's minimum requirement of 12 lines):

Character you have created: Aubrey Adkins-Grant
Alias: Arachne

Speech Color: Standard Forum Text, FireBrick (B22222)

Character Alignment: Hero

Identity: Secret to the public, known by several individuals

Character Personality:

Uniform/costume:

Origin Info/Details:

Season 1 Summary:


Season 2 Summary:





Hero Type:
Muscle/Acrobat (i.e. Spider-Girl)

Power Level:
B. City Level (Ex. Spider-Man, Cyclops)

Powers:

Attributes:

Weaknesses:
-Vulnerable to Pesticides, especially ones targeted towards spiders.
-The effect of caffeine on Arachne is similar to alcohol.
-Able to “run dry” of web fluid, if she uses too much.
-She is vulnerable from attacks from behind because she cannot turn her body all the way around to deal with it.
-She is (over-time) invulnerable in body, but her spirit and mind do not have the same luxury.

Supporting Characters:
-Emily Prichert: One of the Viera models and a friend of Aubrey's. She is also originally from Ohio. As of the beginning of Season 3, an unknown entity has transformed her into a parallel universe version of herself who goes by the alias Pinup.
-Ashley Winston: One of Aubrey’s ex-roommates.
-Felicia Blackwood: One of Aubrey’s ex-roommates.
-Kristin Harding: One of Aubrey’s ex-neighbors and friends.
-William Grant: Boyfriend. Aphrodite's joy in uniting people into an unlikely couple brought Aubrey and Will together.
-Athena: Greek Goddess of Wisdom. Still feeling guilty about the transformation of the ancient Arachne into a spider, she has decided to provide her aid to Aubrey, whether or not Aubrey likes it.
-The Immortals: A superhero group to whom Arachne belongs. Includes the Son of Osiris, Odysseus, Talus, Gajana, and Firefox. As of the beginning of Season 3, many of their members have been transformed into parallel universe versions of themselves.

Do you know how to post pictures on RPG boards?:


Sample Post:
Yes
Character you have created: Victor Donovan

Alias: Speed Demon

Speech Color (Actually say what you're using, don't go "Like this", or what not): Bold

Character Alignment: Walking The Line

Identity: Secret


Character you have created: Victor Donovan

Alias: Speed Demon

Speech Color (Actually say what you're using, don't go "Like this", or what not): Bold

Character Alignment: Walking The Line


Looks pretty good. Just a few questions before I accept the sheet.

1) How involved are the gods you mentioned going to be? The gods of most ancient relgions (Greek, Egyptian, Norse, etc.) are bounded by a sort of prime directive once the worship of their pantheons had died out and eclipsed by the current major religions. I would say empowering someone to fight an ancient evil would be an exception to this ban on human intervention (that's what I'm doing with the Greek gods), so you're fine on that front.

1b) Mercury should be Hermes, as the Greek counterparts are the canon versions of these gods.

2) You mentioned the Super Speed Hell in your power section, but don't really explain it. I'm getting a "Speed Force" vibe, but just wanted to have it spelled out.

Otherwise, your CS looks pretty good. Just a few tweaks and I would say you're ready to go!
This series is infact still open and active. Feel free to follow the discord link in the OP.
The Mandela Effect: Part 15


Aubrey Adkins | Kyra Muller (Earth-201)

Pacific Point, CA

Well, I think I can officially mark this down as one of my worst days. That’s saying a lot because I have had quite some doozies. First I woke up in some strange factory without an idea how I got there or what had happened in the past two days to make me look like an exaggerated version of myself. Then, Firefox showed up and looked nothing like herself, nor did she seem to recognize me. And now, the building spontaneously exploded! I am starting to debate whether the splitting headache from my caffeine-induced hangover or the ringing in my ears from the explosion.

I found myself inside a pocket of the debris of the now defunct factory: bricks, metal, pipes, and whatever else was in the building. Although the water levels in the pocket were not rising at any significant rate, the dampness of the floor indicated that the explosion caused the building to cave into its basement. I noticed my webs were intertwined with the patchwork of debris that surrounded me. I guess it probably was the only thing keeping the bubble from collapsing on itself.

I then heard some moans across from me. I had been so occupied with the peculiar situation I had found myself in that I had forgotten that Firefox had entered the building right before the explosion went off. She was just now shaking off the fall, but what I was more worried about was the rebar that pierced through her thigh and the blood gushing out of the wound.

“Kyra, you’re leg!”

“I’ll be alright,” Firefox shrugged her wound off as she propped herself up on her feathered elbows. “I normally could just melt it, but I would exhaust our oxygen supply in the process. But a hand would be appreciated.”

I approached my friend, gripped the base of the rebar, and applied my spider-strength on it until it snapped. I tossed the piece of metal to the side and returned my attention to Kyra, who was already pulling out what remained of the rebar. But I was surprised when I saw Kyra’s dripping wound nearly instantly heal itself.

“See, good as new,” Kyra pointed towards her leg.

First Kyra had my physique and now she has a healing factor she never had before. If she had been a drider instead of a bird lady, I would have guessed she had become a near copy of me! Was that what happened? But who did I become until my healing factor started to fix me up? And if Kyra did become a near replica of me, why didn’t she become a drider? Whenever we get out of this pickle, I really need to get some answers.

“So now what? Should we start digging our way out?”

“We probably would cause a cave-in before we could get anywhere near the surface. Our best bet is to wait and hope Will brings some help soon,” Kyra replied as she sat up against the wall of the debris pocket we were trapped in.

“Wait, you saw Will?”

“He seemed to have been calling someone when I picked him up. But what’s peculiar is he wasn’t supposed to be here for another two weeks.”

Well, this just further confirms that we’re both being affected by the same thing. Sure, her memory loss was longer than mine, but it definitely was a symptom.

Wait, what the hell did she mean that Will wasn’t supposed to come to Pacific Point for another two weeks? Does that mean they’re—but that’s impossible. Unless that futuristic phone was lying to me, we’re still an item. Yet it sounds like she has become me in all but name, face, and theme animal. This is so messed up.

“Since all we can do is wait, I have a question of my own,” Kyra spoke up again.

“Sure. What is it?”

“How are you here?”




A suburb of Columbus, OH, Earth-201

October, 25th, 2008


Will struggled to break the surface of the green liquid he had found himself submerged in. Yet, calling it a ‘liquid’ was generous at best, as it was rather a sludge or a goo, extremely viscous in nature. Worst still was the substance’s near sentience. Whenever Will would come close to the surface, he would sink into the liquid. He was pulled. This made Will’s situation ever more problematic, as he had not been able to catch his breath.

Yet, despite the clear risk of drowning, the green goo presented another, more present danger. Once, when Will managed to break the surface with his hand, he tried to use a webline to pull himself out. However, once Will was again dragged down, the spider silk almost instantaneously disintegrated after it made contact with the liquid. Will did not want to admit it, but the green liquid was trying to dissolve everything it has engulfed, including Will.

Will was beginning to feel lightheaded from holding his breath so long. Small patches of his skin, where the green goo had already eaten through his superhero costume, had also started to burn. He needed to get out of here. He did not even want to imagine the alternative.

With what little remaining strength he had left, Will tried to swim through the viscous liquid towards the surface. The desire to inhale became harder and harder to resist after each passing second. Nonetheless, he persevered. He felt his hand break through; he was almost there.

But the green goo yanked Will back. Was this it? Will had used his last bit of energy, his last breath, and his last piece of willpower to escape.

However, at the same time, something had taken hold of Will’s arm and pulled him out, just like a person would do when drawing a string out of a hot pot of wax. When Will realized what was happening, he yanked up his mask until it uncovered his mouth and nose. He desperate gasped for breath.

A blue glow gleamed from Will’s savior. The light illuminated the room that would have otherwise been cloaked in darkness besides the faint green luminescence given off by the goo. Now that Will was not struggling for his survival and he could see his surroundings, he recalled how he got into this mess. He and Kyra were minding their own business at the Halloween party when chaos broke out. Will had been tossed into the basement by some invisible force at the onset of the chaos, so he was not fully aware of the damage that might have been done. But whoever was behind this surely was a serious threat. They must have known about Will’s metahuman abilities. Why else would they have specifically targeted him?

Will then glanced at his savior and saw a familiar sight: Athena, the Greek Goddess of Wisdom. At her giant stature, she was forced to hunch over even with the basement’s high ceiling. She lifted Will until he was able to cling to the ceiling. With one gesture, the goddess magically removed any of the ooze that still clung to the Spider-Man costume Will had worn to the party and repaired any patched that the ooze had eaten away. With her task completed, Athena vanished, leaving Will alone in the darkness.

“Well, I guess it’s time to see what the heck is going on,” Will muttered as he crawled towards the basement exit.

Will’s jaw almost hit the floor when he saw what had happened to the party in his absence. As he walked around the house, he found dozens upon dozens of what looked like mannequins made of unusual materials: glass, wood, fabric. He even thought he saw some composed of stainless steel and red plastic. But what really crept Will out was the furniture and the cups the mannequins held. All the normal furnishings had been replaced with horrible nightmare fuel: these items were created not with regular building materials, but rather with human body parts. It took Will a few moments to connect the dots, but he was horrified when he realized these were his fellow classmates and partygoers!

“Shit! Where’s Kyra?” Will uttered as he desperately searched the house for his girlfriend. Fortunately, if one could even utter that word in such a situation, his classmates were still garbed in their Halloween costumes, despite their bizarre shapes. Will was looking for a Firestar costume, although he prayed he would not find one in the hopes she somehow had escaped this horror show.

“Hey, who taught you to investigate? A blind man?” Will heard a nasally voice call out when he had entered the living room during his search. Will peered around the room for the origin of the voice, but he did not see a single soul. The only thing present in this room, beside the mannequins and the furniture-shaped humans, was a creepy ventriloquist doll sitting on the ‘couch.’ It was wearing a black dress suit with a red bowtie. Something felt familiar about this doll, but he could not put his finger on it. Will guessed what had happened to his schoolmates had unnerved him. He must have imagined the voice.

“Yes, I’m talking to you, fox humper!” Will turned his head back towards the doll. Was Will imagining this voice? As he approached the doll, an eerie sense of deja vu bothered him. Why was this creepy doll so familiar?

“What? Surprised we’re always watching?” the doll said as he spontaneously animated.

“What the fuck?” Will blurred out when he realized that the doll was alive. He immediately leapt away from the talking doll as soon as it started to move. He already thought the puppet from the TV series was creepy. This thing was ten times worse. Goosebumps broke out all over Will’s skin. Will had no idea why he had this irrational fear, despite what he had already seen in his young superhero career.

“Really?” the doll responded with a spine-chilling laugh, “You’re freaking out about a talking doll when you’re surrounded by misshapen flesh bags? And people call Slappy the crazy one!”

“Wait, shouldn’t you have red hair?”

The doll began to rattle with anger at what Will had said. His eyes twitched and he grinded his wooden teeth together.

“How DARE you confuse me for Mr. Wood, that two-bit hack! He only lasted as the main antagonist for a single book!”

Slappy then revealed a kitchen knife he had hidden behind him. Will was taken by surprise when the dummy leapt at him. He did not think the wooden doll could have the distance between it and him. Yet, before he knew it, Will was fending off Slappy’s knife-jabs.

“Keep your creepy hands off me!” Will shouted. With one swift motion, Will grabbed the hand Slappy was holding the knife in and ripped his arm from his wooden body. Slappy screamed in pain from the loss of that limb. While the demonic doll was momentarily occupied by his pain, Will tossed Slappy against the wall. The doll landed with a heavy thud.

The Masked Mutant warned me of people like you. This is only a setback!”

As the doll uttered these words, Will anchored it to the floor with his web shooters. He would have normally dropped something heavy on it, but he could not in this case because everything he could have used was actually a person and not an unliving inanimate object.

“What did you do to everyone?” Will demanded answers from the living dummy, but he only received laughter in response.

“Oh, I wish this were my master scheme. But you’ll aren’t quite my target audience.”

Slappy let out yet another creepy laugh after he revealed he was not behind everything. Will simply webbed the damn thing’s mouth shut, as he did not believe he could get any more information out of the living dummy. Plus, he did not want to hear that thing’s voice anymore.

Will then noticed a silver light shinning down the nearby flight of stairs. On the upper floor, Will found a glowing, silver door that he swore was not there at the beginning of the party. Whoever, or whatever, was behind this fucked up madness had to be behind those doors.

When Will pushed open the silver doors, he found a giant room that could not have possibly fit inside the house. He guessed the domed ceiling rose up to about 40 feet. However, considering what Will had seen so far, this did not faze him at all. In the center of the room stood a brunette woman clad in a silver dress.

“It is about time you arrived,” the woman declared in a condescending tone, “I thought you would have come sooner, but I guess you are still a teenager during the Aughts.”

“Who are you?” Will asked, “And what have you done to everyone?”

“You will know me as the Silver Sorceress in the future,” she responded, “You heroes have become quite the nuisance in my time, so I have traveled here to squash you before you can become a problem for us.”

Time traveling villains. This can’t be good. Will thought. Although he kept his head directed at her, his mask hid where his eyes were looking, allowing him to take better stock of the situation. The Silver Sorceress had several ethereal tendrils wrapped around her hands, as if she were holding a leash. Following the magical cords with his eyes, Will found an unconscious Matt, with the tendrils driven deep into his chest. The Silver Sorceress must have been tapping into Matt’s reality bending powers to cause all the horrors Will had seen downstairs.

“I had originally planned quite a poetic death for you, but I ran into an unforeseeable roadblock,” the Silver Sorceress began to explain. She snapped her fingers on her other hand and a billow of ethereal clouds arose from the floor and began to twirl about. Once the smoke had dispersed, another teenager had miraculously appeared out of thin air, a girl Will instantly recognized: Aubrey Adkins.

“Let her go!” Will begged, “she has nothing to do with this.”

“Au contraire, she’s as involved as you are. How sweet it would have been to kill to birds with one stone, to imprison her in some monstrosity and to watch her tear you apart, limb by limb,” the Silver Sorceress began to gloat, as some villains are want to do. As the witch spoke, she gestured with her free hand and caused Aubrey to levitate. The hapless blonde tumbled in midair, as if she had found herself unaffected by gravity, but still tethered to the same spot.

“I should have foreseen someone had taken precautions to protect both of you, no doubt the work of that Greek goddess. I thought I had been robbed of my revenge even before I broke the barriers of time and space,” the Silver Sorceress continued, “Yet, once my fit of rage had subsided, I realized this past was not identical to the one I had intended to travel to. The most minute details had been changed.”

“For instance, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that everyone’s favorite blonde was bereft of any metahuman powers. Or how romantic relationship between the two of you never materialized. Since I knew I had cast my magic flawlessly, I reveled in my consolation prize, the thought that my mere presence in the past had caused a butterfly effect that robbed her of these life experiences. I would almost admit that would have made my trip worthwhile.”

“If you can’t do anything to her, then let her go!” Will demanded again, “It sounds like this is between you and me.”

“Sure, I might not be able to do anything, but she can,” the Silver Sorceress gloated as she gestured to something behind Will. As he turned to see what the witch was pointing at, something swooped down and nearly grabbed him. Yet, he was able to roll out of the way at the last second. But when he got back on his feet, he was shocked at what he saw.

On an ledge that ran around the perimeter of the room, about a third way up the room’s height, a harpy stood perched, who resembled a creature Will recognized from a card game anime he used to watch back in elementary school. Even her outfit looked familiar. But on further inspection, Will recognized the woman’s face, her dyed red hair, and the yellow, red, and orange color scheme on her clothes.

“What have you done!” Will cried out when he realized that Kyra had been transformed into a winged beast.

“I found it amusing you and that supposed goddess of wisdom failed to extend her precautions to this fine feathered lady,” the Silver Sorceress mocked as she gestured to Kyra. “If I cannot fulfill my original plan, having your new squeeze do my dirty work is a fine compromise.”

While the Silver Sorceress had continued her gloating, her levitation spell ended, dropping Aubrey to the ground with a thud. Now free, Aubrey tried to crawl away while the witch was preoccupied with her self-congratulations. But the harpified Kyra leap off the ledge and swooped up Aubrey with her feet talons. She then darted towards the ceiling high above.

“My job here is now over,” the Silver Sorceress declared, “but I would recommend you hurry. My last instructions to our little friend over there was to start reverting things back to normal. It would be such a shame if your girlfriend would turn back to normal in midair.”

After the Silver Sorceress had muttered the words of her spell, she blinked out of existence, returning to her own time. Will noticed parts of Matt’s body was starting to flicker in and out of existence. Therefore, knowing the urgency of the situation, he scurried up the wall in the hopes of reaching the two girls before Kyra could return to normal. He found Kyra flying in spot at the apex of the ceiling. He had not noticed it until now because of the initial shock at her changed appearance, but her eyes were clouded and blank, as if she were not in the driver seat. He tried not to think about the possibility that she was helplessly watching everything like a prisoner in her own body. His first priority was to get both of the girls safely to the ground.

Will knew he did not have much time left, as one of Kyra’s fox ears had reappeared and one of her hands had returned to its original size and human shape. It would not be long before she could not keep herself and Aubrey airborne. He first tried to tackle Kyra and use a webline to keep all three of them from falling to the floor, but Kyra dodged out of the way. This was not going to be easy.

Will then descended from another webline until he had reached Aubrey.

“I’m going to need you to hold onto her legs,” Will suggested to the blonde teenager.

“What?” Aubrey asked, but she soon found out way. One of Kyra’s avian talons spontaneously changed back into an ordinary human foot. Aubrey screamed as she thought she was going to be dropped. Had the other foot reverted in turn, Aubrey would have fallen over 40 feet to the floor. She reached out and held onto Kyra’s remaining harpy foot for her dear life.

“I’m hoping this will help you until I figure how to get both of you down,” Will told Aubrey as he wrapped some spider silk tightly around her wrists so she would not have to hold onto Kyra’s ankles forever.

“Hurry!” Aubrey pleaded. As soon as she spoke, Will’s spider-sense began to blaze in his head. When he peered up, he saw that Kyra’s wings had finally given out. Now that Kyra could no longer propel herself in the air, she, along with Aubrey, began to free fall.

Almost as if Will were watching these events unfold in slow motion, he reached out in desperation. He barely managed to wrap his arm around the bottom of Kyra’s ribcage. He could hear Aubrey’s panicked streams as she was tossed about below.

“Come on, Kyra. Wake up,” Will whispered into the fox ear that had just reappeared on Kyra’s head. In fact, she had already almost returned to normal, including the Halloween costume she had originally wore to this party. When he peered down towards Aubrey, he noticed that the blonde teenager was now dangling from Kyra’s foot, as Will had not thought about the anatomical differences between humans and birds.

Will struggled to lift the arm holding Kyra to his webline so that he could free up his other hand. He had no idea how he was going to get out of this situation without Kyra waking up. What was he going to do? Even if he could somehow hold onto both women, how could he safely set down both of them from such a height?

When Will had finally clutched his webline with both hands, he heard Aubrey scream again. The webbing he had used to keep her attached to Kyra’s foot, had slipped off and sent Aubrey plummeting to the floor. Will managed to prevent her fall by hitting her shoe with another webline, but he strained trying to hold Kyra and the webline in one hand and Aubrey in the other.

With much difficulty, Will tried to pull up on the second webline and transfer it over to his other hand. Once his other hand was holding both the weblines, he started to draw Aubrey up, arm length by arm length. However, Will began to feel intense pain in the arm holding Kyra and the two weblines. Although Kyra was still knocked out cold, her body was burning up. Will was puzzled when he realized her kitsune features were slowly disappearing and the harpy appearance started to return.

Will tried to resist the burning pain, but eventually he gave into it. His grip on the two weblines loosened and Kyra slipped through his arms. Because Will was not holding everyone up with these weblines, the three teens started to fall to the floor. Panic began to set in Will’s mind. His heart raced. He needed to regain control of the situation. He reached out and snatched the webline that was attached to Aubrey. He also used his legs to catch Kyra, while he shot another webline to hold all of them up again.

Once this crisis passed, Will sighed in relief. But something felt wrong. The webline dangling below felt way too light. When he looked down, he saw that only a shoe was attached to the spider silk. The webline slipped through his fingers as Will experienced the numbness one experiences before an explosion of emotions slams into one who has experienced a loss.



“Wait, I’m dead?” I gasped after I heard her account of her supposed past. Throughout the entire retelling of this story, Kyra had not looked at me. And even still now she focused her glance at the floor. She didn’t have to say, but here body language told the entire story: she blamed herself for the death of her world’s me.

“Hey, you can’t blame yourself,” I tried to console Kyra, “If anyone is to blame, it’s that Silver Sorceress bitch. I’ve seen how she can do quite number on people.”

“Sometimes, I wish it were that simple to cast aside your guilt. God knows how I have gotten by these past few years without being able to get drunk from my powers.”

“I know, right? Although it’s fantastic I can down all the fruity drinks I want without wearing about a giant hangover the next day, sometimes you need something to take the edge off of our shitty lives.”

“Wait, you have a healing factor, too?”

“Well, I did find out the hard way that caffeine acts like alcohol when I consume too much of it. Once when I unknowingly got buzzed from eating some chocolate, I accidentally let slip that my friends and I thought my friend’s roommate was a porn star to her face. So embarrassing.”

I then heard Kyra give off a sigh. For a moment there, I saw a flash of a smile on her face. But as soon as I mentioned my slipup with Danielle, it suddenly disappeared.

“What? Was it something I said?”

“Well, it just reminded me of something that happened my last year of undergrad that I have tried to block out of mind the last few years.”

Long before Kyra had told me that story, I had already noticed she had kind of become a copy of myself. With the further confirmation of a relationship with a Will from her world, I think I could probably guess what she was referring to here.

“Please tell me a shapeshifter didn’t sign you up for the Viera modelling contest.”

“Oh, how I wish I could. What pissed me off the most was I had to turn down a couple offers from graduate programs due to some legal bull crap I didn’t even sign. How did you know?”

“The same thing happened to me,” I told Kyra, although I added a quick disclaimer, “Well, except for the grad school stuff.”

“So, I guess it’s safe to assume you’ve crossed paths with Katherine?”

“Who?”

“She was a human trafficker who used her powers to transform the victims she kidnapped according to the tastes of her clientele. It was super messed up.”

“Oh, her. Yeh, I had the misfortune of experiencing her handing work. I try not to think about her.”

“Considering you look like you’ve drawn the short straw between us, that’s reasonable.”

“Oh, I don’t normally look like this. I usually have a figure like yours, minus the feathers and claws.” I responded. I paused for a moment before I interjected another comment. “Although I wouldn’t be surprised Katherine was responsible for my current appearance, too.”

“See, we have more in common than you thought.”

Kyra sighed again.

“What now?”

“I know you’re trying to make me feel better, but it just makes me think I’ve robbed everything from you. I’ve stolen your powers, your boyfriend, and your life.”

I tried to figure out what I should say next. However, I never got a chance because a golden, mystic light shown through the gaps of the rubble above our heads. The debris began to shake uncontrollably until everything started to float. Little by little, the remains of the factory slowly cleared out. Hovering just in view was the Son of Osiris, sitting in a meditative posture.

I pulled on my mask before I prepared to climb out of the crater where we had been trapped. But after I had taken a few steps, I turned and offered a hand towards Kyra.

“Hey, I’ve got wings,” Kyra replied. She finally gave another smile before ascending into the air. Seeing that she didn’t need my help, I crawled my way up to the surface.

When I reached the surface, I found the rest of the Immortals waiting. Although both Odysseus and the Son of Osiris seem normal, I immediately recognized that Talus and Gajana were not. Out of the four of us who did not look like our normal selves, Gajana was dealt the best hand. He no longer had his elephant head. Instead, he looked the the Thing if he looked human and not all rocky. Plus, he was wearing a costume so campy that I would have guessed it was pulled right out of an old comic book. He even had an elephant head logo printed on the front of it.

I smiled when I saw what had happened to Talus. Normally he would look like a modern, sleek android. But now, he was a short, boxy robot, something straight out of the Jetsons.

Then I saw Will, dressed in a costume quite reminiscent of my costume. Well, I mean my normal costume. I shot a webline at him and dragged him into a big embrace. Even though I had faith that someone would have come to our aid, I would be lying if the thought of being trapped under that rubble didn’t cross my mind at least once. But when I wrapped my arms around my boyfriend, I noticed he was holding back.

“What’s wrong?”

“Are you back to normal?”

“Do I look like I’m make to normal?”

“Then that’s a yes,” Will said as he reciprocated my original embrace.

“Wait, we wasted all night trying to figure out how to restore your mind without your healing factor scrambling your brains!” Talus blurred out. An electric static masked his voice, which normally already had a slight robotic tone to it.

“Well, I’m not the only one with a healing factor here,” I replied while looking towards Kyra.

Meanwhile, the Son of Osiris had finished placing all the rubble into piles. With his work done, he opened a portal to the Immortals’ base.

We’ll make sure Firefox gets the proper treatment for her condition, the Son of Osiris telepathically communicated with the Immortals. He turned his head towards Will and me and specifically talked to us. Arachne, you have been through enough the last few days. So, go home and rest up. We’ll be in contact once you have recuperated.

Will and I watched as the five other Immortals walk through the portal. Soon we stood there alone with the collapsed factory all around us.

“So, ready to go home?”

“Am I ever?”
The Mandela Effect: Part 14


Aubrey Adkins

Pacific Point, CA

When I finally woke up, my head felt like someone had ran it over with a semitruck, then placed it in reverse, and proceeded to drive forward again. I have not felt this hung over since I was a freshman in college. Yet, I had no clue why I was hungover. I need an insane amount of alcohol to even begin feeling buzzed because of my superhuman physiology. While caffeine has a similar effect on me as alcohol does on normal people, I know that I had not consumed enough to give me such a splitting headache.

Once I could finally think straight after the ringing in my head had subsided, yet not entirely gone, I suddenly realized that I was no longer in my apartment. I found myself lying on a giant web that seemed like something I could create, but I had no memory of making it. How did I even get here? I remember falling to sleep in my own bed last night.

I then heard the faint buzzing of my cell phone reverberate through the abandoned factory’s dead silence. I really hope it didn’t fall down to the factory’s floor. Although my phone was clearly still functioning, a fall like that would probably force me to buy a new phone. God, that would suck, as I had just purchased a new one.

“Where could it be?” I muttered aloud as I scanned the web just in case it had somehow stuck to the sticky strands. While I was looking around, I suddenly felt something made of hard plastic in my hand. When I peered down, I discovered a cell phone had spontaneously appeared, as I knew it had not been there a few seconds ago. But this could not be my phone, as it looked nothing like mine. Sure, its design does match my tastes and therefore would be something I might have bought, but I have never seen a model like it.

<You have received one new email from Viera. Would you like me to display the attached images via my hologram projector?>

I was definitely not expecting the cell phone to speak without me using one of the usual prompting phrases that normal AI, like Siri, would normally possess. This thing is way more advanced than I would have thought from my initial inspection of the device. I guess you really can’t judge a book by its cover.

“Sure,” I answered. However, after I gave my response, I suddenly realized something. Why would my work be sending me image files? My photoshoot for August was scheduled for later this month. What could this be?

Then “my” phone emitted the projection just in front of me. What I saw was quite bizarre, for several different reasons. First, the image was not a 2D projection. Instead, the phone must have extrapolated from the image file and generated a 3D replica of the scene captured by the camera. In fact, the hologram was almost as realistic as those hologram cubes that the Game Genie used.

But the weirdness did not stop there. The “me” in this illusion was wearing the exact same softball uniform that I had picked out when all us Viera models had to divide up several sports related occupations for the August issue. But this should have bene impossible. I never participated in this photoshoot! God, was that damn shapeshifter screwing with me again?

Yet, the bizarreness did not end there. The image looked like someone had loaded it into Photoshop and had turned up the ridiculousness of my comic book physique to 11. What was up with the thickness of my hair? My softball uniform, in turn, did not fit my body in the picture, as it had been tailored to my actual body. God, if I wasn’t already ridiculously stacked, I probably would have been mortified at how it looked like someone had stuffed two overinflated balloons under my shirt.

I then continued to slip my finger across the phone’s touch screen. With each swipe, the next image from the photoshoot appeared before my eyes. Once I finally arrived at the last picture, I gave out a sigh of relief. This imposter could have done way more damage. Sure, there were some sultry poses, but this other me did not do anything ridiculous, like stripping off her clothes.

“Alright, turn off projection,” I told the phone. Since I did not see any visual buttons that would have turned off the hologram, I guess asking the phone to terminate that function would have been my best bet. And Sure enough, the phone followed my request.

Ever since I woke up, something was bothering me. Something felt off. Up until now, I could not quite place my finger on what it was. I probably could explain this feeling partially from my mind being groggy from just waking up and partially from my preoccupation with my discovery that someone was impersonating me again. Yet, when I realized that the silk of the giant spider web I had be reclining on was making direct contact with my skin, I contorted my human half and peered over my shoulder. What I saw just compounded the confusion I had felt ever since I woke up.

“Where the hell are my clothes?” I muttered aloud once I realized that the only articles of clothing left on my body were some spiderweb-patterned fishnet stockings and my usual red boots I wear whenever doing my superhero work. I did find the part of my costume that would cover my spider half lying next to me, but the rest of my costume was missing.

It was in this state of undress that I realized that the “me” I saw in my supposed photoshoot was not an impostor or a manipulated and doctored picture of me. Well, I guess there still could be an impostor, but I looked exactly like the woman in those pictures: the hair, the even more ridiculous body proportions. What the hell could have caused this?

<You discarded your wardrobe during a romantic encounter with your boyfriend last night>

“What?” I asked when I was taken off guard by such a specific answer, let alone an answer at all.

<You asked what happened to your wardrobe. I provided a factual response.>

What the hell is going on? First I have no memory of how I got in this abandoned factory. Now, I apparently participated in a romantic evening with Will that I have zero recollection of. This was feeling like I have been stuck in a bad dream.

“Do you know what happened during our...err...‘romantic encounter?’ We didn’t have—” I felt so ridiculous asking a cell phone what had happened last night. While I asked my question to this futuristic device, I found this gray bomber jacket on the web where my human half had been lying. I had never seen this jacket before, but it possessed a patch on its sleeve that matched my spider icon on the back of my costume. While it was the middle of summer in Southern California, it was better than staying topless. At least it appeared that the sleeves had often been rolled up to elbow length. I began to place my arms through sleeves of the bomber jacket when the phone replied to my question.

<You and your boyfriend engaged in a short bout of foreplay and some cuddling before you both fell asleep. No bodily fluids were exchanged outside of saliva during osculation and perhaps sweat through physical contact.>

That was quite a peculiar way to say that nothing really happened. Yet the news was much welcomed. I don’t know how I would have felt if my first time with Will had happened during this gap in my memory.

“Alright, could you explain how I got—” I interrupted myself as I continued to have difficulties with this bomber jacket. I was able to zip it up halfway, but the rest of the way felt like trying to zip up a suitcase overflowing with clothes. “My God, was this even designed to zip all the way up?”

<Please repeat your request>

“Sorry, just having a little wardrobe difficulties here,” I answered as I finally was able to zip the jacket all the way up. Wow, this thing is quite tight around the chest. Anyways, how exactly did I end up here in the first place?”

<Before your romantic encounter, you and your boyfriend went on patrol. You then proceeded to lead him to this place on the pretext of following an unknown, winged assailant.>

“Will has powers? How could that be?” I asked when I heard this new revelation. The artificial intelligence within the phone seemed to be ‘thinking’ before it responded to my voice.

<You are correct that he should not have powers. Yet, evidence from yesterday seems to contradict this. I will project an article documenting your escalades. It will take me a moment enhance the accompanying image due to its poor quality.>

“What? How could it be the 8th?” I exclaimed as soon as I saw the publishing date of the article that was being displayed by the phone.

<Today’s chronological date is indeed the 8th of July. Is this an issue?”

“But it can’t be the 8th. I clearly remember it was the 5th when I fell asleep last night. How could I have lost two entire days?”

<Checking logs. Error. Yesterday was the 7th, not the 5th. My logs indicate that you were indeed active yesterday. While the amount of caffeine that was in your bloodstream could have wiped out your memories from last night, I cannot explain the rest of your memory loss.>

Well, that would explain my splitting headache that I woke up with. But whatever erased my memory must also be linked to my my change in physical appearance. Otherwise, I have no other possible explanation for losing two entire day.

Meanwhile, ‘my’ cell phone had finished enhancing the picture it had been displaying for the pass couple minutes. Although the image displayed clear alterations to my superhero costume, the color scheme and some design elements remained familiar. The bomber jacket the “me” in the picture was wearing was identical to the one I found this morning. Once I saw the jacket, I was confident that the image was not doctored. That was me, or at least some version of me.

“Phone, could you juxtapose one of my Viera photoshoot pictures next to this image? Could you pick one that has a similar pose as the currently displayed image?”

As soon as the second image appeared, an acute dread washed over me. The costume that I had wore ever since I became a superhero used a mask that covered my entire face. But this alternative costume from this image left my jaw exposed. Although it would require someone examining the image under a microscope, it was only a matter of time until someone made the connection that both Arachne and Aubrey Adkins had undergone several bizarre physical changes. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but I have tried to keep my driderness under wraps ever since my run-in with the Pacific Ghost a month ago.

After a few moments, guilt crept into my mind. For this entire time, I had been keeping my parents in the dark about my superhero career. I convinced myself that ignorance was bliss. But if my identity as Arachne were outed because of these images, the little white lies I had told my parents to keep them from worrying about their little girl would be all unraveled.

“Phone, could you call my parents?”

<Dialing. Would you want me to convert it to a video call?>

“No, no. Just audio.”

While the dialing tone of ‘my’ phone softly echoed through the abandoned factory, something dawned on me. I had yet to reveal my secret identity on my own volition. My friends from college deduced my identity from my voice. The few heroes who had learned of my real name discovered it through various means other than me voluntarily giving that information. In fact, I might not have told Will about my arachnid condition if I had not slipped up and revealed one of my spider legs.

The butterflies began to flutter in my stomach. The feeling intensified with each ring of the dialing tone. Maybe I was not ready for this. My hand shook as I reached for the touch screen of the phone. However, before I could cancel the call, I heard my mom’s voice echo through the phone’s speaker.

“Aubrey! Your dad and I have just finished up some yard work. Your dad left to grab us something for lunch, but he’ll be home soon. How is our favorite daughter?”

“Mom, I’m your only daughter.”

“Yet, it doesn’t make it any less true. So, how is the West Coast treating you?”

“Oh, it’s fine,” I answered my mother. Yet, the butterflies that lingered in my stomach caused my voice to fluctuate.

“Aubrey Rose, you wouldn’t be calling your parents just to say you’re fine. Is there anything wrong?”

“No, no. There’s nothing wrong,”

“Aubrey Rose,” my mother repeated.

“Fine, I have something I need to tell you, but I don’t quite know how to say it.”

“Are you pregnant?”

“What? No! That’s ridiculous. I’m not pregnant.”

“Aubrey, you can’t blame me for asking. How is a mother supposed to act when her daughter denies anything being wrong despite the tone of her voice?”

“Okay. But promise you won’t freak out.”

“Alright, alright. What do you have to tell me?”

“Fine, I’ll just say it. I’m Arachne.”

“Oh, I didn’t know they were making a movie about her. That sounds like a wonderful opportunity!”

“What? No, that’s not what I mean. I’m not playing her in a movie. I am her!”

After I made my clarification, my mother did not provide an immediate response. Dead silence was the last thing I wanted to hear. Damn it, what have I done? I must have freaked my mom out with the image of me with a giant spider fused onto me. Had it been the right thing to call and tell them the truth? Surely hearing this from me was better than from the news, right?

“Mom?” I cried out into ‘my’ phone.

“Sorry, Aubrey. I just can’t get my head wrapped around what you said. Arachne is all spidery and creepy-crawly. You’re nothing like that.”

“I know this sounds impossible, but I wouldn’t lie about something like this.”

“When did this happen? How?” My mom asked.

“Do you remember that scare at the hospital when I went missing for a day after I suffered that injury that we thought was going to cut my last year of college ball short?”

“Of course, I do. I was worried sick every single moment of that day.”

“Something happened to me while I was gone. Although my leg was miraculously healed, I gained another condition, one that caused me to take on those spidery characteristics.”

“Why didn’t you tell us about this, Aubrey?”

“I was afraid. I wasn’t sure how you would respond to the news of what I had become. I still wanted to be your little girl and not some giant spider creature.”

“Oh, Aubrey—”

“I’m so sorry I lied to you and Dad,” I began to break into tears as a wave of guilt washed over me. “I thought it would be easier to tell you little white lies instead of revealing the bizarre world I joined when I had received my powers. There were things I just could not explain without revealing my condition. Would you have believed that I got my job at Viera because a shapeshifter impersonated me? Or that a breast reduction you suggested me to get a few months ago would have been a waste of money because my powers would have made them grow back? God, I don’t know how you and dad believe me when I said that I actually liked the ridiculous size of my boobs.”

“Your dad and I just wanted you to be happy with who you are.”

“And I have started to accept the new me. But I’m so sorry for lying to you. I didn’t know how to explain the extraordinary things that had been happening to me.”

“Aubrey, I’m you’re mother. I’ll always love you. It’s my maternal instincts. Sure, I’m disappointed that you thought we wouldn’t accept you and what you have become, but I understand why you did it.”

“Thanks, mom,” I said while I wiped the tears out of my eyes.

“Is there anything else you want to talk about?”

“No, I don’t think I have anything that can top what we just discussed. In fact, I probably should be heading out soon.”

“Alright. But could you call back this evening so we can talk with your father about this?”

“Sure. I can do that.”

“Remember we love you, Aubrey.”

“I know. I love you, too.”

And so, the phone call was concluded. I felt like I had removed a heavy weight from my heart, now that I gotten my secrets off of my chest. Sure, I was not quite ready to make my identity public but telling my parents about it was a good first step.

I finally stood up on my eight, spidery legs and stretched out my limbs. I was quite ready to get the heck out of here. After I had tied up my unruly locks of hair into a ponytail in a vain attempt to control it, checked out my immediate vicinity and found a large window that I guessed I could just barely squeeze out of. By the time I was sticking my human half out of the window, something else dawned on me. I almost left the rest of my costume behind; I needed to retrieve the remaining pieces, else I would be leaving too many breadcrumbs of my identity.

I therefore hopped back down to my web. Because of the lack of light that was reaching the building’s floor, I basically would be wandering blindly in the dark if I were to descend and search for the rest of my costume. Instead, examined the power nullifier around my wrist. Although its design was definitely different from my own, there were still some similarities. One function of my power nullifier allowed me to recall my costume, even when I wasn’t wearing it. I assumed the power nullifier I was wearing shared that function.

After I located what I believed was the button that would initiate the aforementioned function and pressed it, I waited to see if anything would happen. In my rush to retrieve the missing parts of my clothes, I overlooked that it would also affect the bomber jacket and leggings I was currently wearing. As soon as I noticed that they were dissolving off my body, I quickly pressed the button again. This not only stopped my clothes from disappearing, but it also started to cause the rest of my costume to cover my body. In a few seconds, I soon was clad in the weird alternative version of my costume that my phone had shown me before I called my parents and revealed the truth about me. Well, at least my spider half was now covered up. Despite my lower half being arachnid in nature, it never felt right leaving it exposed.

At that same moment, I heard the soft beating of some feathered wings from outside and something landing right on the window I had intended to use as my escape route. I recalled that my phone mentioned that I had supposed encountered with a villain with wings last night. My mind wondered whether this person had found me again. Yet my spider-sense was not going off in head. I soon got an explanation for my internal warning system not going off when I heard Kyra’s voice come from behind me.

“We need to get out of here,” she warned me.

“You have no idea how relieved I am to hear your voice, Kyra,” I responded, but when I turned around to face my teammate and friend, I was shocked at what I saw. She had somehow been changed, much like I had been. She no longer had her fox features. Instead, she had pointy, almost elflike ears, along with elongated arms covered with avian feathers that made her limbs look like bird wings. Furthermore, unless I was mistaken, the physique of her human half almost reminded me of my own figure before whatever the hell had happened to me.

“Kyra, what happened to you?”

As I spoke up for a second time, I saw a puzzled look form on Kyra’s face.

“How do you know my name?” Kyra urged me to response.

“Kyra, it’s me, Arachne.” I tried to explain, but her expression did not change. Maybe this could explain how I lost two entire days of memories. Unless out of sheer happenstance, the changes that both of us had undergone must be related. Maybe it had also changed my own memories, too, and it took my healing factor a few days to restore my original consciousness. But that still leaves a few questions unanswered: who or what did this to us and how could it be reversed?

“Bleaching your hair and taking a cover name won’t fool me, Black Widow. So answer me, how do you know my name?” Kyra asked for a second time. After she had spoken, she then hopped down onto a ledge that the giant web I was standing on was connected to.

“Don’t you recognize me? It’s me—” As I spoke, I pulled off my mask and revealed my face to Kyra. “Aubrey.”

As soon as Kyra saw my face, her face went pale, almost as if she had seen a ghost. She pressed her hands against the wall behind her and her legs began to buckle, although she still had enough composure to keep her footing.

But before either one of us could utter another word, several large explosives ignited on the first floor of the building. The flash from these explosions momentarily blinded me. After that, I could not recall much else. There were only bits and pieces of what happened before everything went black. The web gave out from underneath me, while Kyra and I plunged down to the factory floor with the entire building caving in on itself.
[quote=@Gallows]

[Hider=CS]Character you have created: Dr. Jacob Harding Reagan/ St. Uriel

Alias: Mal’Ahk

Speech Color: Mediumaquamarine

Character Alignment: Dr. Reagan (Hero)/Uriel (Walking the Line)
[/quote]

Accepted, assuming you make one tiny change. Since the Greek gods exist in this setting, could you either change the reference to Tartarus or differentiate it from the Greek version.
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