ErsatzEmperor

Marvel - Dawn of Heroes

Until this Roleplay is classed as open it will be Invite Only, unless you were in a previous version or were applying to Dawn of Marvel.

Oh hey there. Fancy one more?

Rogue Continuum: The Singularity Crisis

B L U E B E E T L E

---

Unbeknownst to those in the closed-off arena, the roar of the crowd dies down, settling into an apprehensive silence as the warriors grudgingly take their places on the battleground. The gladiators' frames, however large they might appear up close, are dwarfed by the sheer scope of their surroundings. Lifeless monoliths reaching high and statues of spectres long since past jut throughout the landscape. Yet life still finds a form in which to subsist here; withered, ruddy grass sprouts in the gaps afforded to them by the cracked floor and strewn tile. One can not divorce the feeling that those plants had collectively seen more death and borne witness to more suffering than the most prolific of serial killers. And yet the silence drones on. That wouldn't do. As Cassie Lang takes her first steps into the absurd, she moves to keep her spirits high.

"What do you think, Bug-Suit? I don't see anyone coming to us. Time for us to get this show on the road?" The Scarab is momentarily silent.

The action is not entirely unviable. Proceed.

Cassie shrugs at her companion's glowing approval.

“That's the spirit.” She looks forward to a particularly large chunk of debris, not more than fifty feet away from her at present, sizing it up in her head. Outstretching her arms rigidly as she hunkers down for stability, the armor surrounding her livens up some in response to some telepathic command. Her arms transform with a metallic whirr, her human appendages contorting and expanding mechanically, joining together with a click as they assume the shape of a large, clunky cannon. Wider than her form, the weapon boast considerable heft in contrast to the supported but slight form its wielder; Cassie takes a few seconds to retake her footing as a low-humming blue glow fills the the barrel. It's ready.

“Let's make some noi--”

Cassie's cold-cut quip is starkly interrupted as a barrage of energy hurtles through their stupefied vessel . The bolts, temerarious in the face of her order, almost miss their intended target, blindsiding the column but causing a raucous noise regardless. At this second, her mind turns to the spectators that must be crammed in to watch every detail of fights like this. Cassie wonders what the appeal for watching such a sport could be. Hell, she wanted to know how you got tickets. Somehow, she didn't see it being something advertised in a kind of inter-dimensional Craigslist.

“I'd say that should have drawn someone's attention. Are you reading anything?”

I'm reading everything. Host should be more specific.

"I don't know. Anything new on the half-dozen or so metahumans we're trapped in here with? Something useful like that?"

Nothing to report.

“God... It's like pulling teeth talking to you sometimes." She retorts, aloof.

Fail to see how...

"I'm sure you'll keep me in the loop when it becomes necessary.” She cuts off. Breaking into a walk, the cannon dissolves in a fashion, her arms regrowing in record fashion. She shakes her right hand, wincing.

“Arm's fallen asleep.” She grimaces, chuckling slightly as the sensation returns. As they make it to the newly fashioned rubble, she breaks into a run, her right foot connecting with a loose chunk with a kick.

“Yeah, you better run...” Her head turns almost automatically a few degrees south.

“Hey, what gives?--”

Assailant at flank. Immediate response required. Superseding host. Preparing countermeasures.

“Bugsuit, I can't see a--”

The air seemingly ripples as a figure moving at great speed turns towards them. He would be on them in an instant. In a flash, a jetpack, wings and two arm-mounted cannons materialize, with some screeching of armored plates. The figure comes into view as Cassie is involuntarily flung into the air as the thrusters at her back push off and force flight. As this happens, an arsenal of blue energy is deployed towards the ground and this hostile actor. A scatter-shot, a handful of bolts make nest in the target before fizzling out, causing apparent physical stress. The streak's body visually pauses. This leaves a small window for the Scarab.

Preparing trajectile response.

“Trajectuh... No, no! Stop! He's down!” She shouts aloud as control of her body floods back. She stops, looking at the silver-topped, still moving figure. "Uh, he was down?..." A noticeably more nervous smile takes her face by surprise. "Talk to me..."

Barrage was not intended to be lasting solution. Open to suggestions.

“For the speedy guy? You want me to--”

Host takes offence to lethal approach; Host can take control. Will be watching intently.

"Right... Okay..." Cassie jumps into a defensive stance. "Okay..."

A spark of confidence lights in her chest.

"Yeah, alright..." She turns her attention to the decidedly more vertical mutant, meeting his apparent glare with a cocked eyebrow.

“Bring it, Just-For-Men.”

Fists clenched, she readies herself, fixing in place in the air.

Peaceful thoughts.

Rogue Continuum: The Singularity Crisis

_First.

Rogue Continuum: The Singularity Crisis

B L U E B E E T L E

---

Running diagnostics. Gap in memory suggests physical trauma to the head or an active chemical agent. High levels of foreign compounds in blood indicate latter. Brain activity is up. Muscles, relaxing. Blood concentration returning to normal.

The body lay across the floor of their glowing red cage begins to shudder, shook awake as the last of the sedatives and the neuroleptics wear away. Having an alien scarab with the ability to regulate the body's functions could really come in handy some days.

"Nice, uhh. Nice to see you too." The occupant yawns with a tired smile, worn as it was. Shaking herself awake, she notes the looseness around her neck.

Collar that suppressed neural link was removed following induced sleep. Connection now reestablished but Cassandra Lang is weak. Blood sugar and body fat are concerning. Suggestion: search for a new host.

Cassie sits up, scouring her blonde, matted hair with a tingling hand and a dumbfounded look.

"Okay, assuming that that's off the table..." She asks, equal measures perturbed and enthusiastic, as her eyes begin to gravitate to the red energy field surrounding her, and her hand continues to wander. Pinching down, she pulls out a particularly damaged hair from her untended scalp and brings it close to her face. She looks at it for a moment, before refocussing.

Pause and collect.

"Inspiring. You could have made a killing as a motivational speaker. You are so wasted with me"

Agreed.

Cassie smirks, stretching her leg out from her seated position, her other foot mooring her as she attempts to get up. Having already caught a few glimpses of the amphitheatre below, she suddenly feels all the more exposed. Her arms move guardedly to her torn attire in an effort to preserve modesty. The ruined architecture jutting from the floor gives her a pang of unease as she struggles on her feet.

If you are set for us to continue on with this faulty host, it would be logical to rest.

"Concern now? What's wrong with you today? Usually you're the one getting me hurt. Seriously. It's like it's your job." While a gratuitous smile does invade Cassie's lips, she does take a moment to comply with the scarab's request and gently takes a knee. "Anyone else might think you were softening up, Bug-Suit."

Two months is a long time to have only yourself to talk to.

Cassie's expression softens a little. Her thoughts linger on the unrelenting solitude she had faced during her internment. Those thoughts threaten to linger a little too long, before she shakes herself out of it.

"Hear, hear. Amen to that." She smiles, stopping. Her eyes optimistically fix on the mechanisms surrounding their prison bubble, following the wall of energy down to a sturdier looking wall made of a shinier and far more solid looking material. Its bulk was intimidating while wholly impressive but they'd broken through tougher looking she thought.

"What are you making of all of this?" A silence draws as she becomes aware of her other, hard at work.

This would seem to be the arena the cyborg supporting the multiple appendages --

"-- Arm-Freak-Lady."

...The arm freak lady briefed you on before you passed out of consciousness. Not unrelated, you will be pleased to know that my access to your memories has been restored."

"Can't have you slumming around my brain without you knowing my private thoughts and desires now can I?" She smirks, relieved at least that her sense of humour had survived the beatings and torture. Incidentally, she hoped nobody had been taping her during all of that. She really wasn't at her best.

I fail to see the relevance of our captors --

"Shush. We need to focus on finding a way out of here." Feeling a little sharper, she hesitantly finds her feet again, standing loosely but with conviction. Shuddering but with some force, she extends her arms to the force field. At their touch, she draws back sharply as a short burst of pain hits her fingers.

Caution: energy field likely to be engineered to inflict pain during interaction with organic material.

Sucking the tip of her index finger, she scowls.

"You seriously need to work on your timing." The pain begins to ebb away as she surveys the field again. "What now?"

I would suggest attempting to breach again. Statistically speaking, there's every likelihood you were just doing it wrong."

"...I really missed you, Bug-Suit."

Irrelevant but noted. We have to find a way to extract ourselves.

Cassie had been through a lot to get this far. She was trapped on some alien world, possibly billions on billions of miles away from home. Her father and everyone she had ever cared about were all on Earth, possibly fighting the remnants of whichever invading force deemed her fit for this mess. She owed it to them to get out of there. She owed them at least that much.

"How about we shine some light on this situation? I can't do much like this. And if it's a fight these guys want, I wouldn't like to keep them waiting." With a single, shared thought, the two begin to change drastically, as the scarab begins to expand, tendrils reaching out from her spine. Such black legs stretch across her body, intertwining and weaving. Blue armour juts out from her with some sensation as her alien mail materialises and solidifies. Continuing up her neck, it ends in a familiar mask as the host tenses.

"It's uhh, business time."

How do you sleep at night?

"Better knowing that you're ground against my mattress all night."

How ever did I survive without you in my...

The train of thought careens off its tracks as the cell begins to change. Taking a darker shade of red and humming violently, the energy shield throbs with changed and invigored purpose. A loud, thumping klaxon can be heard as the shield fizzles away. It recedes down to little more than a transparent aura.

"...Did you do this? I feel like you had something to do with this." She asks, taken aback. A single prod confirms the expected: the barrier was gone.

Highly unlikely. Reason: I haven't actually done anything. Proceed with caution.

The horn dies down as the floor beneath them seems to shudder.

"Yeah, to hell with that..." She laughs, leaping out of the emptied sphere gleefully with a confident push, her arms stretching out as a pair of wings grow to catch her. As the cell decends behind her, she gracefully hovers toward the ground, turning her attention to those to her left and right. She grows increasingly aware that she's not the only one in there anymore.

Scans are picking up multiple lifeforms. Their energy signatures are... Perplexing. Advise that you neutralise them before they can cause any more harm to the host.

"Our priority is returning home. If I can help it, I'm not going to be playing into these guys' hands. It's possible whoever we're stuck in here with are in the same boat as us. You, know against their will?" She pauses briefly, biting her lip. "Or maybe they're just blood thirsty maniacs. Regardless. the less time we spend hanging around, the less likely we are to find out.

Suit yourself.

"Cheer up. I really thought this might be your scene. We got to see aliens. We're part of a gladiator match - a real one this time. It must be just like Christmas for you, you lunatic."

I cannot contain my joy. Searching for structural weaknesses.

This is going to be fun.

X-Men Noire: A Nation Reborn [High Casual]

I think it's safe to say I have some tentative interest in this one. I'll see how I'm set before deciding if I'll throw my hat in.

Rogue Continuum: The Singularity Crisis

Cassie Post up. Very excited about that.

Rogue Continuum: The Singularity Crisis

B L U E B E E T L E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBkliCY-6Zk

---

Running diagnostics. Gap in memory suggests physical trauma to the head or an active chemical agent. High levels of foreign compounds in blood indicate latter. Brain activity is up. Muscles, relaxing. Blood concentration returning to normal.

The body lay across the floor of their glowing red cage begins to shudder, shook awake as the last of the sedatives and the neuroleptics wear away. Having an alien scarab with the ability to regulate the body's functions could really come in handy some days.

"Nice, uhh. Nice to see you too." The occupant yawns with a tired smile, worn as it was. Shaking herself awake, she notes the looseness around her neck.

Collar that suppressed neural link was removed between induced sleep and current place. Connection now reestablished but Cassandra Lang is weak. Blood sugar and body fat are concerning. Suggestion: search for a new host.

Cassie sits up, scouring her blonde, matted hair with a tingling hand and a dumbfounded look.

"Terrible suggestion. Assuming that that's off the table..." She asks, equal measures perturbed and enthusiastic, as her eyes begin to gravitate to the red energy field surrounding her, and her hand continues to wander. Pinching down, she pulls out a particularly damaged hair from her untended scalp and brings it close to her face. She looks at it for a moment, before refocussing.

Pause and collect.

"Inspiring. You know your real calling is clearly motivational speaking. You are so wasted with me"

Agreed.

Cassie smirks, stretching her leg out from her seated position, her other foot mooring her as she attempts to get up. Having already caught a few glimpses of the amphitheatre below, she suddenly feels all the more exposed. Her arms move guardedly to her torn attire in an effort to preserve modesty. The ruined architecture jutting from the floor gives her a pang of unease as she struggles on her feet.

If you are set for us to continue on with this faulty host, it would be logical to rest.

"Concern now? What's wrong with you today? Usually you're the one getting me hurt. Seriously. It's like it's your job." While a gratuitous smile does invade Cassie's lips, she does take a moment to comply with the scarab's request and gently takes a knee. "Anyone else might think you were softening up, bugsuit."

Two months is a long time to have only yourself to talk to.

Cassie's expression softens a little. Her thoughts linger on the unrelenting solitude she had faced during her internment. Those thoughts threaten to linger a little too long, before she shakes herself out of it.

"Hear, hear. Amen to that." She smiles, stopping. Her eyes optimistically fix on the mechanisms surrounding their prison bubble, following the wall of energy down to a sturdier looking wall made of a shinier and far more solid looking material. Its bulk was intimidating while wholly impressive but they'd broken through tougher looking she thought.

"What are you making of all of this?" A silence draws as she becomes aware of her other, hard at work.

This would seem to be the arena the cyborg supporting the multiple appendages --

"-- Arm-Freak-Lady."

...The arm freak lady briefed you on before you passed out of consciousness. Not unrelated, you will be pleased to know that my access to your memories has been restored."

"Can't have you slumming around my brain without you knowing my private thoughts and desires now can I?" She smirks, relieved at least that her sense of humour had survived the beatings and torture. Incidentally, she hoped nobody had been taping her during all of that. She really wasn't at her best.

I fail to see the relevance of our captors --

"Shush. We need to focus on finding a way out of here." Feeling a little sharper, she hesitantly finds her feet again, standing loosely but with conviction. Shuddering but with some force, she extends her arms to the force field. At their touch, she draws back sharply as a short burst of pain hits her fingers.

Caution: energy field likely to be engineered to inflict pain during interaction with organic material.

Sucking the tip of her index finger, she scowls.

"You seriouslyneed to work on your timing." The pain begins to ebb away as she surveys the field again. "What now?"

I would suggest attempting to breach again. Statistically speaking, there's every likelihood you were just doing it wrong."

"...I really missed you, bugsuit."

Irrelevant but noted. We have to find a way to extract ourselves.

Cassie had been through a lot to get this far. She was trapped on some alien world, possibly billions on billions of miles away from home. Her father and everyone she had ever cared about were all on Earth, possibly fighting the remnants of whichever invading force deemed her fit for this mess. She owed it to them to get out of there. She owed them at least that much.

"How about we shine some light on this situation? I can't do much like this. And if it's a fight these guys want, I wouldn't like to keep them waiting." With a single, shared thought, the two begin to change drastically, as the scarab begins to expand, tendrils reaching out from her spine. Such black legs stretch across her body, intertwining and weaving. Blue armour juts out from her with some sensation as her alien mail materialises and solidifies. Continuing up her neck, it ends in a familiar mask as the host tenses.

"It's uhh, business time."

How do you sleep at night?

"Better knowing that you're ground against my mattress all night."

How ever did I survive without you in my...

The train of thought careens off its tracks as the cell begins to change. Taking a darker shade of red and humming violently, the energy shield throbs with changed and invigored purpose. A loud, thumping klaxon can be heard as the shield fizzles away. It recedes down to little more than a transparent aura.

"...Did you do this? I feel like you had something to do with this." She asks, taken aback. A single prod confirms the expected: the barrier was gone.

Highly unlikely. Reason: I haven't actually done anything. Proceed with caution.

The horn dies down as the floor beneath them seems to shudder.

"Yeah, to hell with that..." She laughs, leaping out of the emptied sphere gleefully with a confident push, her arms stretching out as a pair of wings grow to catch her. As the cell decends behind her, she gracefully hovers toward the ground, turning her attention to those to her left and right. She grows increasingly aware that she's not the only one in there anymore.

Scans are picking up multiple lifeforms. Their energy signatures are... Perplexing. Advise that you neutralise them before they can cause any more harm to the host.

"Our priority is returning home. If I can help it, I'm not going to be playing into these guys' hands. It's possible whoever we're stuck in here with are in the same boat as us. You, know against their will?" She pauses briefly, biting her lip. "Or maybe they're just blood thirsty maniacs. Regardless. the less time we spend hanging around, the less likely we are to find out.

Suit yourself.

"Cheer up. I really thought this might be your scene. We got to see aliens. We're part of a gladiator match - a real one this time. It must be just like Christmas for you, you lunatic."

I cannot contain my joy. Searching for structural weaknesses.

This is going to be fun.

Rogue Continuum: The Singularity Crisis

We forgot to hire guards. Keep bluffing for a few hours until he goes away.

Rogue Continuum: The Singularity Crisis

There's only two of us here xD

Rogue Continuum: The Singularity Crisis

It's about damned time.