Halo

Veritas

It's just not my best quality, as it's late and I rushed it; that's the only reason I'm apologising. ^^ I believe firmly that my contributions to a collaborative project should be of my best ability whenever possible, it's just a principle.

Veritas

It's not a great post, sorry - I'm terrible at action scenes. :/

Veritas

It was almost imperceptible, at first - with each step that the creature took, the shadows edged a millimetre, then an inch, then a foot closer. They seemed to pulse, blacker than black, as the trail of blood had been redder than red; it was inky velvet, darkness incarnate. Amis was not really sure whether those tendrils of shadow pushed him, insubstantial until they brushed him and then suddenly solidifying to shunt him, sentient, or if he simply cringed away from them on some primal instinct - but soon he found himself shoulder to shoulder with his companions. His eyes were inexorably drawn to the black-eyed creature before him, a myth brought to life, its power reverberating through his chest and gripping his heart. Anxiety took him. Here was destiny, the culmination of his entire life so far, the turning point in his search for the truth. Potentially here, also, was his death. The Guardian's darkening eyes spoke of depths of evil, to Amis. Distorted truth, the abuse of power, an arrogance beyond mortal comprehension... such confidence, no matter how evil its source, was compelling, even as it was repulsive.

And he could not tear his eyes away even as the darkness parted to reveal the rain, running in sheets down the nonexistent glass projected by the force of the Guardian's mind.

At moments like this, moments at which futures and pasts collide and the meaning of life changes, the external fades, fades. One's reactions are slower, their mind fixed inward. The rushing of rain outside, vaguely muffled, was obscured by the rush of Amis' caprizant heartbeat thumping in his ears. A Guardian. Finally, finally the truth was revealed, confirmed with his own eyes. Finally!

Distracted as he was, it was only for a split second that he heard a roaring, caught sight of the surge of water. His eyes opened wider, and he snatched a breat-

The world was chaos. Water and shadow waged war on one another and him, tossing him as easily as a giant would swat a fly. Internal and external merged at last, his primitive instincts suddenly screaming in the interests of survival, discarding the conscious and human part of him - the part that gave a shit about the philosophical and emotional repercussions of finding a Guardian. His suddenly hyper-alert body smashed into something hard; and again; once more; the unstoppable force of the water gave no heed to its unwilling passenger, and battered him against many an immovable object. Flashes of pain speared through him, spiking through his nerves and veins. In a moment, it was over, but it left him coughing, choking, water brutally forcing its way out of his lungs as aching pain blossomed through his body. He couldn't even see, blinded by rivulets of liquid - blood, rainwater, who knew - running into his eyes as he struggled to sit up.

Desperately, he wiped at his eyes, his vision bleary as he looked up. He heard the shot; ducked behind a pew, heartbeat spiking even higher, acting intuitively, feeling something soft against him; flickered a glance back up, an unfamiliar Latin chant echoing throughout the church. David's voice, somewhere behind him - Amis recognised it. He scrambled for his own pistol, the weight in his hand reassuring him as he glanced about him, trying to figure out what was going on - and realised the oddly still softness behind him was Varrina.

Her eyes were closed. She barely seemed to breathe. Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Dumbfounded. He knew she had to get up. She had to. She couldn't be dead. None of them could be dead. They needed to either fight, or take to flight. Finally, after a moment of blank stupidity, he found his voice, his tone whiplike with a tone of command. A mind ruled by adrenaline deals only in imperatives.

"Shit... shit, Varrina... Varrina, open your eyes!" His shaking hands clasped the pistol, and, not waiting to see if she listened, he steeled himself - acting without thought, finding his mettle in this moment of life and death - and stood, aiming his gun at the Guardian. They had to fucking kill it, or wound it, or something - maybe they needed their questions answered, but dying would serve no purpose. He knew it would be distracted by David, the man still screaming in Latin - "volumus veritas!" The words, ones of truth, hardened Amis' nerves. Unable to breathe past the tension in his throat, the creature that had enslaved and controlled humanity, had defiled freedom and truth, standing before him, Amis took aim, careful, hoping beyond hope that the Guardian wouldn't notice him... and squeezed off a shot with a harsh, meaningless yell, no words finding their way into his angry, fearful mind, then another, the recoil surprising him, before dropping back behind the shelter of the pew, limbs quivering, his eyes wide. Now the creature either knew where he was, and had two targets - him and David - or hadn't seen him, and would be searching for its second attacker - and his seemingly-unconscious companion beside him - even now.

The Skytower Rebellion

HounderHowl said
I may or may not still be here :/ people can't communicate apparently

Siphran said
Im having some...relationship problems at the moment. Might need to wait a few more days for that reply.Sorry all.

To both of you: it's fine (in my books, anyway), and Siphran, no need to apologise (not to me, anyway). Real life has to come first and I'll definitely still be around, so no worries about the RP dropping or anything. Take care of yourselves. And you can drop me a PM if there's anything you want to talk about.

drallinix said
can i join?

It's obviously up to Cathy, but it does say "Always Open", so you may as well put together a CS and submit it! :)

Veritas

Yeah, I'll post. I usually like to wait to the "end" of a round before posting - I suppose I'm naturally reactionary to other characters than a plot-driver - but I'll just crack one out to get the ball rolling again now the Guild seems all fixed up post-server update.

Veritas

To be fair to Aria, I don't even have a good reason; I got distracted by precisely fuck all - I haven't done anything today and yet it's just disappeared - and now I'm watching the football instead of writing, because I'm terrible like that.

Veritas

'Kay, so, Prom was fucking amazing. Not that I can admit that to my friends, they'd never let me live it down after saying I wasn't sure if I even wanted to go. xD Anyhoo, I'll try to get an IC post up today!

corneredbliss said
Have fun at prom Halo! Be safe :P

Lel. It's hard to be safe where I live x) 'specially when the World Cup's on. But nothing happened while I was around, at least, it had blown over by the time I dropped home to get changed, and didn't kick off again 'til after I'd headed back out.

Veritas

icmasticc said
Got more work today. Loving the conversation going on here. To add to it, I didn't go to my prom.Yeah yeah, poor me, I know XD. The thing is, I wasn't nearly as cool as I am now back then, so I had no one to go with lol. Hope you peoples enjoy yours that are going (unless I misread and no one is going XDDD). In any case, I'll see ya'll when I get off. And I also hope to see some IC posts soon too. Finally... Destiny is freakin' amazing. I didn't give a shit before, but after playing the Alpha for a while, this is a must-have game if you liked Halo (HA, Puns XDD) or any other shooter game.

Luckily our Prom isn't really a "date" thing - even people who're already together don't go together. Although I suppose there are a couple of people I could have asked if it were, if it were that sort of event I wouldn't have attended on principle. *shrugs* I don't blame you for not wanting to go. And I am, unfortunately, going, so I will do my best to enjoy it.

How'd you get in on the alpha? I didn't realise it was out yet! Apparently it's a bit too Borderlands-esque? :/

Enjoy work :P and I will hopefully be able to IC post tomorrow morning assuming I'm not all of the hungover.

Veritas

NotExceedingTheNines said
That's basically true. I enjoyed the acting side of the singing a lot- the church scene with valjean was great, and I can see why people thought hathaway was great (even though seeing it on cinema was basically LOOOOOOK AT HER ENOURMOUS FACE 20 CINEMA SCREEN FEET OF FAAAAACE). But you can't really put it on a level with a broadway production. Because of how they can get so much closer than the audience in a theatre, the acting quality more important than the singing. Remember too, that this is most people's first exposure to it- obviously people who've seen it or sung parts are gonna find some of the singing grating, but the aim wasn't to produce an excellent musical, it was to produce an excellent muscial - unfortunately that means compromises.Also, Halo- you're a guy. Just go rent a black tie suit and have done with it. Planning clothes for smart events isnt meant to be difficult..

That's all fair comment - I agree wholly, and I wouldn't argue that the singing is as good as it would be in theatre, but that's a far stretch from saying it was horrid. The singing was excellent - just not necessarily up to par with some of the best singing voices in the world, i.e. those selected to play in such a prestigious musical in the London West End.

The problem with that being that it's tonight, and that because the Prom of most of the schools in Edinburgh apparently seems to fall this weekend, there aren't many places with stuff left on short notice (remember, it's a ceilidh - I'm meant to be wearing a kilt, not normal black tie, though I know some others aren't wearing one either). It's not gonna be hard, I just have to go buy shoes 'cause my usual "nice" ones are #rekt. It's just irksome because I'm gonna have to explain to people why I didn't get a kilt.

Design a Super-identity for the User above you (game)

[Note: originally Meta Power Manipulation came up, but that seemed way too OP.]

While his name defies typical superhero nomenclature, randomness being favoured above derivation from their goals or powers, the hilariously-named "The Zump" is nonetheless a foe that the evils of the world should fear. All that is known about his original identity is that he was a petty criminal, a man who leant close to the dark and criminal side of the human psyche himself, and he utilises this as he fights to protect the world from men like the man he used to be.

The Zump's prior criminality was a product of a bad childhood. When his father abandoned him, taking his brother away too, The Zump was left to care for his sick and eventually abusive mother on his own. Struggling to cope in such a toxic environment, he was desperate for friendship and companionship - a fact that the criminal underworld in his area was all too happy to exploit. They befriended him, and his undying gratefulness and loyalty allowed them to use him, and to twist him away from the path of the light. When his mother died, they took him in, and his transformation was complete. He became a criminal in his own right, raised to have a backwards and confusing moral code of his own that told him that he was right to attack society - for none believe themselves to be evil, only to be acting by a different moral compass.

He gained his powers when attempting a heist - the armed robbery of a scientific laboratory deep in the bowels of the earth, as an unaware henchman of another supervillain. He was injured in the raid, thrown through the glass wall of some bizarre machine, and, living up to their mercenary reputations, his comrades abandoned him to die or be imprisoned. While down there, locked in the depths, in the darkness, something occurred - something terrible, for those who found him later rumour that his mouth was bloody from a throat stripped raw by screaming. He was purged of his criminal intent, either through supernatural force or through an epiphany that his "friends" had never really cared about him and a subsequent rejection of their twisted philosophy. It turned out that the machine he had been thrown into, glass and metal piercing his body, was designed as an experimental way to transfer consciousness into machines - and, though it was only in testing stages before it was broken, it had worked on The Zump, giving him the power of Bionic Surrogacy.

Something else had happened to him, however. Either as a conscious, cruel play on the darkness of his criminal mind prior to the incident, or a result of being trapped in the pitch darkness below the Earth's crust while he was changed, when he emerged from the darkness, a part of it stayed with him. A shadow lurked over his soul, a constant reminder of his past evils and of the fear of the dark he had felt during his ordeal, and along with this sliver of shade constantly piercing his heart he gained the ability to manipulate shadow into whips - and only, specifically whips, a reminder of the cringing, dutiful, obeying dog he had been to the criminals who had once used him.

Now, The Zump fights for both the right and wrong reasons. Both personal revenge and a need to rectify his past wrongdoings motivate him beyond the simple call of justice and altruism that many superheroes feel in defeating evil. Regardless of whether he is doing it for the right reasons, however, he fights for the side of good, now - and any criminal should fear his wrath.

.

EDIT: I was bored and avoiding going shopping, don't judge me. D: