KaiserElectric

[Reboot]Ｔｅｒｒａ ＿ ｒ：Ｅｖｏｌｕｔｉｏｎ[Cyberpunk]

Can I throw my hat into the ring tentatively? Cyberpunk sounds fun!

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

Pacific Point
FBI Field Office

"Well, looks like the tide has turned, hasn't it Krauss?"

Wilhelm Krauss, colloquially known as the Gargoyle, said nothing. He winced slightly as the FBI detective swung a table lamp towards him to shine a light in his eyes but remained largely stone-faced.

"As I understand it, you also held that poor girl captive and interrogated her for...information on a mutant smuggling ring?" the agent recited after briefly shuffling through her notes. She shot the commander a smug grin and waved the folder in front of his eyes. "Your underlings were very helpful in regards to your actions over the last few days, Krauss."

The Gargoyle growled like an animal and jumped at her, the handcuffs securing him to the chair snapping straight. Barely even flinching, the agent returned to her notes.

"In any case, we have an interesting list of crimes here. Kidnapping, conspiracy, attempting murder, destruction of property...possibly even theft. I doubt you Hounds made this machine here on your own." She tossed a photo in front of him depicting the charred remains of the Gargyole robot. "Let's be frank here, you're going to go away for a long time unless you're willing to tell me about your superiors. Names, locations, future plans..."

The Gargoyle fixed her with a stony glare that said everything that needed to be said. With a sad little sigh, the agent got to her feet and collected her things.

"Well, if you want to tell me anything, I'll be right back," she said with an air of finality. "I must warn you, the regional team is going to be far less generous then I am, and if it gets that far capital punishment will be pretty inescapable. Consider it, Krauss." And with that, the agent spun on her heel and walked out of the room, leaving the defeated commander alone with his thoughts.

"Mutant-loving bitch," he grumbled, wincing as a stab of pain coursed through his head.

"That's not very polite, you know."

The Gargoyle looked up curiously as the door reopened and a more pleasant sounding voice filtered through it, followed by a man wearing the thick, concealing FBI SWAT armor.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

"I'm your escape, sir!" the SWAT man said, moving to undo his handcuffs. "Old fashioned jailbreak. Already took care of the guards outside so its a clear shot to the outside."

"Didn't expect you to move so fast, frankly," the Gargoyle commented, rubbing his wrists tenderly as the shackles fell away. "Well, I won't complain, lead on."

The pair of them silently and efficiently made their way through the building, the Gargoyle making sure to step on the fingers of the few guards lying unconscious outside. Dodging a few patrolling officers near one of the stairwells, the two Hounds detoured into an elevator, the door gliding shut behind them. Before the Gargoyle could breath a sigh of relief, the SWAT armored Hound quickly pressed the button for the top floor.

"No, we want to go to the ground floor, idiot!"

"But how will I ever get to the top that way?" Puzzled by this cryptic statement, the Gargoyle scowled at the man and pushed the floor button correctly, only to find it wouldn't even go in. Angrily, he tried to hit the emergency stop but the button would not work.

"The hell is wrong with the elevator in this place?" he demanded of no one in particular.

"Ohh...perhaps its a small mistake," the SWAT man said. "A tiny piece that thinks its so important but it only just messes things up. Sure it'll be a hassle to get rid of the problem, but hey. That's showbiz for ya!" The Gargoyle turned to look at the man incredulously.

"Wait with the cryptic statements until later, will you? You're supposed to get me out of here!" The Gargoyle's confused anger intensified as the man in the armor simply laughed, sounding almost playful in his joy at the circumstances.

"Oh, the commander thinks he's being rescued, only to learn the horrible truth when it's too late! What pathos! What dramatic irony!" The Gargoyle's face paled as the armored man turned to look at him, lifting up his face mask to reveal that perpetual inhuman grin.

"Nothing my audience loves better then dramatic irony, darling!"

"N-no....no...!"

"Oh, where are you going?" Primetime cooed as the Gargoyle made a break for it out of the now open doors. Running on fear-induced adrenaline, the Hounds commander spun around the corner only to come face to face with Primetime, bedecked in that teal suit once again.

"You're going to miss your grand finale if you act like that!" Primetime produced a staff from the air with a handle shaped like a microphone and held it to his face. "What are your final thoughts, Mr. Krauss? Did you enjoy your little stint on my show?"

"FUCK YOU!" The Gargoyle knocked the staff out of his hand and turned to run when out of the seemingly empty office burst another Primetime, performing a little dance as he appeared.

"Ooh, that's rude," the deranged showman pondered. "Will the censors allow it?"

"Oh I think it's okay this one time," the original Primetime responded. "It's his grand exit after all!" The Gargoyle watched in horror as two Primetimes popped out of another office to lean casually against the wall.

"And even if its just a bit part," they began in tandem as six of them emerged from the hallway.

"...it should still be a grand exit!" The Gargoyle was paralyzed with fear as more and more Primetimes poured into the room, coming from the offices, charging down the hallway, swarming from the elevator, even dropping down from the air vents and climbing over cubicle walls.

"Stop...get away...GET AWAY!" The Gargoyle pressed against the glass window behind him as the Room flooded with Primetimes, closing in and pressing against him, crushing him into the plane glass. He cried out in terror as the pressure suddenly released. Looking around, he immediately wished he hadn't as a hand closed around him.

Terror robbing him of speech, the Gargoyle looked up at the face of a truly massive Primetime, a giant dozens of stories tall, still smiling broadly. He didn't want to know how far off the ground he was.

"As I said before," the giant Primetime continued. "You were only a small part in a much larger machine, and sadly you couldn't even do that part right." Opening up his hand, he gave a nonchalant shrug. "It's a shame really. Gone so soon..."

Primetime tipped his hand and watched as the Gargoyle toppled over into the sky.

"...when the show is only just beginning."

---

"So what's the ruling here?"

"My preliminary guess is suicide," the CSI said to the FBI agent. "As best I can tell, Krauss slipped out of his cuffs, somehow made his way to the top of the building and jumped."

The FBI agent felt her stomach turn as camera flashes highlighted the mangled corpse of the former Gargoyle embedded in someone's car. Turning away from the grisly image, she peered up at the building itself, where a jagged hole had been punched through the glass several stories above.

"The workers on that floor said he was screaming his head off before he jumped," the agent commented. "You think he just went nuts?"

"Entirely possible. I can run a toxicology report to rule out any mind-altering substances, if you'd like."

"Yeah, go ahead and do that," the agent said with a sad sigh, thinking of all the paperwork she'd have to fill out for this.

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

-and-

Hound Dog

-in-

Bossa Nova Baddies: Part 2

“So let’s go over the basics, Jordan is in here somewhere; you popped off and joined the Minutemen in order to find her forming an alliance. Assuming she’s even here that is, anything else important before we head deeper and find ourselves in a jam and a whole lot of extra surprises.” Hound Dog said judging the group who had previously been enemies beforehand, unsure of their character in all this.

”...well, they found me, specifically, but that is pretty much all the important bits,” Voyager reasoned, vaulting over the unconscious guard she just felled with a PsiBlast.

“Minutemen?” Fullbright echoed curiously. “That’s...actually not a bad name for our group. Honorable soldiers always ready to fight the corrupted system…” Still musing, she blasted open another set of double doors with two fists made of light, blinding the two guards on the other end long enough for Typhoon to slide into the room and bring them down with two quick punches.

Hound Dog snapped back. “Don’t youse go misusing the name of a historical group now, they fought for us all. If you ever go straighten up your act and set yourselves right doll that’s another story.”

“Okay, dad,” Fullbright remarked irritably.

“The schematics for this building have indicated a basement area just ahead,” the robot ninja declared, oblivious to the banter going on behind him. “It is the most secure place for an internment center in this facility. I can’t imagine it will be easy to find, but-”
Almost on cue, a metal door slid open and a man with white stripes on the familiar black armor stormed out, waving a dangerous looking rod with electricity spiking off of it at the group, a manic look in his eyes.

“You fuckers think you can storm MY prison?!?” he barked, his eyes twitching violently. “NOBODY TRIES TO TAKE PRISONERS FROM LING AND LIVES TO TE-”

Grabbing the tip of the modified stun rod, the electricity bent, pushing itself back into the arm of his attacker, “I’d be de-lighted to see you shock us!” The Warden’s arm shook as Hound Dog tore the rod from his grasp, pulling him closer with his other hand as he held out his left and attracting the heavily armored man like the magnet he now was. “Good thing about electricity, with enough practice anything is a magnet and you know what, you’d make a good shock absorber.” Flipping him over in midair Hound Dog jabbed the shock baton right down the backside of his armor where the joints connected between the cheeks where light never shined. Kicking him away with a swift change in polarity as his boot touched metal. “Enjoy sticking around up there will youse. I’m sure the police will want to question your sorry ass later. I’ll bring an ice pack I swear.” As the Warden flew toward the wall he stuck right as a fly to glue as the magnetized suit of armor he so hoped would protect him now anchored him to the walls of his own Prison.

”I suspect his ass WILL be very sorry,” Voyager remarked, tilting her head slightly. [color=MediumOrchid]”With the rest of him as well.”[/orchid]

“Erm...well,” Fullbright said awkwardly. “Let’s get in there and get Jordan out, before he somehow unsticks himself.”

Before any of them could make a move, there was a loud bang and the sound of crunching metal. Voyager deployed a weak Psiblast that threw everyone out of the way as something thundered down the hall and exploded against the opposite wall. Typhoon swore violently in Japanese.

“My arm! The baka-gajin got my arm!” Indeed, the other three looked down at the sound of Typhoon’s arm clattering to the ground, following the direction it came from and spotted another soldier, this one clad head to foot in black, fire-tinged armor plates standing at least two heads taller than any of them. There was a hiss of steam and sparking between the joints as the armored hulk raised an arm to reload the cannon bolted to its other arm, preparing another shot.

“Everyone inside!”

There was another rush of air and a thunderous boom as the four of them charged into the steel doored room, Fullbright punching the close button as she came in last.

As Hound Dog hit the floor he saw the door snap shut closing them off from Thomas the tank and his jagged armor of doom.

“That guy look like he went through a chop shop in a train yard. His chassis was all parted out from god knows where, even I’d need a good bolt to break through that.” He said that but he also knew that he was pushing himself he raised up his sleeve for but a second and sighed before rolling it down.

”More importantly, I am unsure of how we will be able to get out of here,” Voyager said, sounding worried. ”If the only way out is through that metal man…” She tapered off, which would have sounded hopeless if it hadn’t been followed by a sudden burst of very Irish sounding expletives.

“You fucker’s trying to keep me awake to get your goddamn information?” Jordan Fletcher shouted hoarsely, pressing against the bars on the cell door behind them. “For the millionth flippin’ time I am not a superhuman smuggler!” There was an elated pause as the five rescuers stared blankly at Jordan as she stared back at them, then…

”Jordan!!!” Voyager and Fullbright chorused, rushing to the bars ecstaticly. Still looking dazed, Jordan scrambled backwards as Jordan charged a Psiblast and fried the lock on the door. The impediment removed, the half-alien and the knight rushed in and nearly knocked her over with the force of the hug they planted on her.

“Whoah, fuck,” Jordan said weakly. “Uh...nice to see you too, Voyager. But who the hell are you people?”

“We babe, are the rescue team. Just need to get past Trainwiz out there who’s blocking the exit.” Hound Dog said as he watched the door as the bulking man started slamming himself against it.

“Actually,” Typhoon said, his words sounding a bit more slurred because of the damage he took. “I suspect th-that the violent action against the door is not the result of out metallic e-enemy.”

Jordan looked suspiciously at the one armed robot as Fullbright lifted her up and let her hold onto the knight’s shoulders. “There’s more of you hanging around?”

”Did Fangs and Monsterk4t make it to us?”

“I know not of their actions,” Typhoon admitted. “But one of Fang-sama’s friends wanted to ‘cause some chaos’...so I sent her a message when the initial breakin failed.” Then with another slam of the door, the hard surface buckled and the entire thing caved in, followed closely by the armored soldier tumbling down after it, its armor battered and cracking, the soldier inside of it groaning in pain.

“Well ain’t that a solution to our front burner. I say we burn rubber quickly before they send reinforcements of their own.”

”But...who did you call to help us?” Voyager asked as she and Hound Dog emerged from the jail right in front of a group of black armored Hounds. In response to that question a burst of wind picked up and the armored soldiers were blown away and scattered against the wall.

“He called me, actually,” Reisen announced, her skirt and blue hair fluttering as she hovered in the air in front of them as the wounded robot ninja followed them out, Jordan and Fullbright bringing up the rear. “Arigatou for the call, Typhoon, we haven’t had this much fun smashing up a place in a long time. Hi again, Voyager!”

”Um...hello?” Voyager responded, trying to sound friendly but only sounding confused.

“You two’ve met? Wait it wasn’t one of those weird time travel things in comics where you’ve yet to meet but one of you met the other. That’s not a thing is it?”

“Uh...not that I’m aware of,” Reisen said, giving Hound Dog a briefly suspicious look. “She seemed out of it the last time we met so maybe she just doesn’t remember. Either way, I heard you guys were out here beating up the Hounds so we wanted to help out!”
”We?”

“BUENOS DIAS PENDEJOS!”

Fullbright yelped in shock as what appeared to be a massive snake slithered its way towards them, knocking aside a soldier as it approached. Voyager prepared a defensive PsiBlast, but the snake appeared to change in front of her eyes, taking a human shape, and within seconds the great serpent had been replaced with a tall, dark-haired Indian man with glasses, about the same age as Reisen.

“Rescuers, meet Viper. Viper, meet the rescuers. No relation to the mice.”

“Good thing, then,” Viper said with a laugh. “Sorry if I spooked you a bit there, force of habit.”

“I-it’s fine, really,” Fullbright said meekly, her face a little red from embarrassment.

“Good thing my name isn’t Indiana. How about we escape this snake pit, before more of theirs come to investigate. Um. No offense.” Hound Dog said forgetting the snake lad for a moment in all of this.

“None taken,” Viper said with a quirky grin.

“Hey...wait a second...we can’t leave yet.” The rescue team looked at Jordan incredulously.

“Well, I wasn’t planning on leaving for a while,” Reisen mused. “Don’t know about the rest of you.”

“No, I mean...there’s a guy here, the one who kidnapped me,” Jordan said, before grunting in exhaustion and collapsing back onto Fullbright. “Creepy military type, they call him Gargoyle. He’s a commander in this Hounds group, kept interrogating me over this metahuman smuggling ring…”

“Ooh, one of those people,” Viper said seriously. “I know someone like that from school, he thinks people are sneaking metahumans like us into the country for some sort of takeover. Really right-wing conspiracy stuff.”

“And he beat the crap out of me when I didn’t give him an answer he liked,” Jordan said bitterly.

“Jordan…” Fullbright said quietly, the cracking in her voice betraying her emotions despite the helmet hiding the tears in her eyes.
“...and if he gets away he’s just going to find someone else and do it all over again,” Jordan finished. “Unless you stop him first.” Jordan looked between Jordan’s bruised face and Hound Dog’s grim expression, knowing in her heart what had to be done.

Taking a moment to weigh his options Hound Dog knew a man like Gargoyle needed to be stopped regardless of his own condition.“We should, we cannot let him roam free not after the trouble he’s caused.”

Solemnly, Voyager nodded in agreement, energy pulsing in her eyes as she steeled her resolve. “The Gargoyle will be brought to justice.”

“I’ll take Voyager with me, she’s likely to come regardless with how she’s acting so best we go.”

“Then me and Typhoon will get out of here with Jordan,” Fullbright declared. “And get the police if they aren’t already on the way.”
”It won’t be easy getting to the top floor, though…”

“I think between us and Fangs out there we can cause enough chaos to draw most of the guards away for you guys.” Reisen said excitedly. “Ready to cause some havoc, Vipes?”

“Alwaysssss…” Viper said, his last syllable stretching into a hiss for dramatic effect as he morphed back into the massive snake. “Let’s go impose zen on the next room!” And with that Reisen flew back through the halls of the complex, the giant snake in hot pursuit.

“Good luck, you two,” Jordan said weakly to Hound Dog and Voyager as the two remaining villains prepared to escape. “Give the Gargoyle a kick in the crotch from me.” Voyager paused suddenly at the sight of Fletcher’s confident smirk, weakened by imprisonment and torture but still defiantly visible. The half-alien had spent hours thinking of the first thing she was going to say when she saved her best friend from certain death, and now that the moment had arrived, she couldn’t think of a single one of them.

“Jordan…” Completely at a loss, the alien did the first thing that came to mind, lifting up her hand and holding her two fingers apart. “Um...live long and prosper.” Jordan stared at the gesture for what felt like hours, then at last raised her own hand to give the same salute back.

“Same to you, ya crazy Trekkie,” Jordan said. “Qapla’!”

Voyager’s weak grin blossomed into a glowing, smile. “Qapla’!”

“We all have our parts then, we should take down these guys and get home before breakfast, I’d personally like some eggs.”

”Ooh, with bacon?”

“Thick maple bacon.”

---
Immaculately clean, Mrs Patton noted as she sat in William Phister’s office; one could eat off the floors if they wanted. A silly idea she mused as she sat in the large chair and turned to eye Martel. “So.” Her gaze lingered and bored into his skull almost drilling through the man who sat before her. “Not only have you been abusing company property and hiding a civilian on the premises; I suppose calling Riley was it? Yes, calling her a civilian might not be the right word. She’s the property technically of a rival company who yes, performed highly illegal and immoral scientific procedures on. This will need to be swung properly, media’s support for her predicament. We keep her in the public eye and make sure it will be difficult for them to lay a hand on her.” Martel, who had his head in his hands the entire time Patton spoke, lifted his head to contemplate an answer, looking like he had aged ten years in the time since he came clean about his involvement with Riley.

“I’ll...admit that after all of this happened, I’m surprised you’re still willing to defend her,” Martel remarked hoarsely.
Her eyes narrowed and breathing slowed. “How else am I supposed to respond, she’s a living being. I cannot simply toss her aside because she could bring troubles. Plus I doubt Darrow Engineering would publicly admit to their seedy dealings and many infractions just to recover Riley. I already expected recourse from the Hounds so Corporate Espionage might as well come standard. However we still have you…” Taking the moment to intentionally create a long of a pause she could, once her fingers settled from rapping at the desk she continued. “We’ll need to do something about your behavior.

“At this point, I just want to make sure Riley and Jordan are out of danger,” Martel said, stoic determination etched on his face. “I will accept the responsibility of my actions when I have to, but as it stands...those two are my responsibility, and it is them I am most concerned for.”

“Good good, for as it just so..” Briley stopped as a phone in the office rang. Martel immediately glanced at his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, staring blankly at a number he didn’t recognize. Not entirely thinking clearly, he answered it, forgetting he had it on speakerphone the last time he used it.

“Heyo Doc!” Jordan Fletcher shouted hoarsely over the line. “Did you miss me?” Briley raised a curious eyebrow as Martel cracked a smile for the first time in what felt like days.

“Well, I’ll be damned…”

---

Rabbit Motors was quickly turning into a battleground. With the villains and their new friends wreaking havoc on the ground floor, the fight towards the top of the building had been relatively light as most of the foot soldiers were being drawn away to fight crazy tarantula girls, feline DJ’s, and giant snakes singing Dean Martin songs. Even then, by the time Hound Dog and Voyager had reached the top floor and met some real resistance, there was no stopping them. Whether it was determination to see justice served or just through sheer blind luck, the pair of them were working like clockwork, knocking down henchmen left and right.

”Sword guys, behind you!” Voyager launched a blast at some soldiers trying to flank Hound Dog, weaving her way from pillar to pillar in what was once a tastefully elegant foyer to dodge heavy rifle fire from another Hound trooper wearing the heavy metal armor. As she blasted away a soldier with red mixed with the black on his armor, charging at her with a blade, one of the elevators pinged, briefly revealing a small crowd of rifleman aiming their weapons at Voyager before Hound Dog turned and shocked the elevator sending it barreling back down to ground level only for it to abruptly stop slamming the goons into the ceiling and rolling in pain.

“Ground floor, goons and concussions.” Before dealing with the Red Coats charging him with swords.
“What is this? The Revolutionary War? You know my powers are electric based right?” The Hounds stopped paused and dropped their swords before pulling out simple batons. Each giving the other a look as if to say, oh shit he’s right. However for them that wasn’t enough as Hound Dog loosed a bolt their way knocking one off his feet and while they charged he had created a hammer consisting of electricity. “This is a thing too, I could totally pass for Thor with this one.” With a deft swing from the two handed hammer zapped two shocked goons who tried to block it as Hound Dog brought it down quickly with an overhead strike sending the remaining charge into the floor of the old offices and disabling the last goons. “For only I am Worthy.”

”Aw, I thought I would be….HEY!” Spotting the power armored soldier turning his ponderous weapon towards Hound Dog’s back, Voyager darted out of corner and charged with a boost of psionic speed. Dodging a steel-plated defensive punch from the soldier, the half-alien kicked off of the lowered weapon into the air and with her other foot launched a kick against the side of his head, producing a deafening clang. The man within the armor groaned audibly before the whole thing tipped over like a jenga tower and fell to the ground with a messy crash, followed shortly by Voyager touching down gently. ”Hey, looks like his face rung a….uh….what’s the thing that goes ‘clang’ like that again?”

”A bell?”

”Yes! His face rings a bell! HA!” Voyager declared, directing that last bit of laughter at the downed soldier in the armor, who merely groaned again in response.

“Punny Kid.”

”You really think so? Voyager responded, practically glowing at what she perceived as a compliment.
Hound Dog smiled, “Yeah, Youse want the honors busting this place wide open?”

”With pleasure!” Mustering up her concentration, Voyager took aim and blasted her Psibeam from her eyes right to the center of the door, easily blasting it off its hinges. The two of them quickly burst into the room to find it...quiet. It was a spacious executive office, taking up half of two floors with a balcony over the entrance and a large desk centered neatly in front of them, but the place was otherwise unadorned, save what appeared to be charts and maps tacked to the distant walls in strategic places. Voyager walked to the desk, running her hand over the knotted wood surface. ”Were...were we too late? Did he get away?”

“I’ll take a good.. Loo..” Before Hound Dog could fully respond his eyes did in fact catch something as he concentrated right out of the corner as her could spot something powering up right at them, snatching Voyager by her collar and yanking her back a greenish energy blast squarely struck where she was standing annihilating the desk. “There ain’t any other Clydes around so you must be the main man.” Hound Dog said with a seriousness in his voice.

There was a response in the form of groaning metal and electrical pumps as Voyager turned to look at what had to be their final enemy. It was big; bigger then the soldiers in powered armor that they had fought. Maybe even as big as the monster with the anchor she once fought. It was shaped like a man, covered in the same fire-blackened metal but with tubes snaking across the chest, pulsing with some inhuman form of life. Stepping forward with thundering booms on the overhead balcony, the monstrous machine’s eyes glowed a sinister emerald green as it looked down on them, its great arm held out to aim its weapon at them.

“So...you’ve come at last,” the great machine spoke, the man’s voice no doubt amplified from within the monstrous contraption. “I knew once I got close to uncovering your plan, you would try to silence me. I must say I am...sorry to disappoint.” The eyes seemed to glow brighter as similar green energy particles flecked off of the weapons on the arms. Voyager’s own eyes glowed purple as she stared it down.

”You must be the Gargoyle! She shouted up at him in defiance. ”We’re here to bring you to justice for your crimes! The machine laughed in response, a laugh that would have sounded cold and inhuman even without the steel between them.

“Justice? What is just about the genocide of the human race?” the Gargoyle sneered. “What is just about seeing the slaughter of men, women and children while filthy inhumans like you get celebrated for instigating it?”

Taking the time while Gargoyle monologued, Hound Dog send a weak bolt of electricity down through the wires in a nearby outlet sending a jolt to the upper floor gaining charge along the way. “You should be careful you don’t miss something important there while you spill your evil plans. Like say a few thousand volts.” The bolt smacked into the armor and dissipated with a slight burst of energy, barely enough to cause the machine to flinch. It turned towards Hound Dog, a sinister dark chuckle emanating from within.

“Weak...like the rest of your kind,” the Gargoyle declared. “You don’t seem to understand, do you? You have already lost. The Hounds will be the saviors of humanity, and in the end...you will be…”

Energy coursed through the machine as it rose to its full height and the weapons charged up. The eyes burned with a demonic fury, illuminating a hideous steel face as wings emerged from its back.

“...EXTERMINATED.”

Mass Effect Andromeda: Frontier

I'm making a Turian by the by, most likely Vanguard or engineer.

Mass Effect Andromeda: Frontier

We’re sticking with what we saw in the game (including the limited multiplayer mode), and we’re not going to bend the lore to the point that we’re seeing quarians, drell, etc running around on the Nexus

>tfw your favorite ME species are Quarians ;-;

I can manage though, and I am quite interested in the concept, if you have room for someone new.

@Dervish Also the dancing plague knight gives me feels.

World Warriors: The Nomadic Fist (Quirky Fighting Game Influenced Roleplay)

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

-Starring-

-And-

Maddy Fen Ming

“I’m still not convinced this isn’t for a Sombra cosplay…” Yavor said quizzically, holding out the stretchy fabric in one hand.

“It’s not for a Sombra cosplay!” Maddy insisted, stamping her foot hard enough to jostle the sketchpad propped up on the easel. “Besides, I wouldn’t be using my experimental fabric for something outside of work anyway!” The uncomfortableness of the lie made her shrink an inch as she internally scolded herself for not getting a better handle on her powers. Luckily, Yavor was distracted by a content Kaiser purring in his lap long enough for her to correct the height issue.

“In my defense, it does look a lot like the pattern she has, what with the purple hexagons and all.” Yavor said, turning back to the easel. “So what do you want to use this for anyway?”

“Mostly some field testing,” Maddy said, the half-truth not causing her to slip up in her self control. “I don’t think I want it to seal me in but it should be built with protection and ease of use in mind.” Setting the cat aside, Yavor grabbed a marker and walked over to ponder the crude human figure sketches into the center of the pad before starting to make some strokes.

“Well if you’re going to do testing it should be kept...fairly simple. Close to the skin and not too bulky, like so...add some padding on the hands and feet for traction and on the chest for a little bit of protection...cut it off at the….crap!” Yavor shook the marker as it dried up and tried to keep sketching, only to give it up and chuck it in the nearby trash bin. “Your stupid pens keep running out of ink!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Maddy said sheepishly, vaulting the arm of the sofa to get to her closet and start ferreting around inside. “I think I ordered a new pack a while ago and I haven’t gotten the time to...oh that’s where this is!”

Maddy reached into an old bag she almost forgot about and pulled out an old, battered Nintendo handheld, faint pink stains covering the silver surface. “I thought I lost this on the trip over!”

“Lost what?”

“My old DS! I bet it still has...hehe…”

“What’s so funny?” Yavor asked, absently attempting to get some ink out of one of the dead markers.

“Nothing, I just...remembered how this got stained…”


-Ten years ago-
-St Moritz, Switzerland Christmas Eve-

Tinsel was hung and Evergreens dotted the inside of the resort decorated with golden ornaments bought at Tiffany's, waiters dressed as elves with green caps ran about with candy cane trousers. As three men stood near a window. “Fantastic, I have vacationed here every year and it’s beauty brings me to a loss of words. My party is in full swing and all seem to be merry and bright.” As the man held a glass filled with champagne that would put a working man’s salary in the gutter he turned so elegantly towards his well groomed pal. Alistair Wahlforth.

“I see you’ve brought your granddaughter. She seems, free spirited. You’ve also invited a personal friend Terrance Maclain,” pausing to remember what he was remotely in charge of. “He’s... the Curator of the New York Museum right?”

“Quite so, he’s had the privilege of handling some of the most impressive pieces of their collection, and I heard they acquired more. What pieces were they again?”

Stopping himself from shoveling another far too expensive lobster horderve into his mouth, he sat it down on the dish and wiped his thin moustache. “Ah, some rather interesting pieces initial carbon dating reveals some are from the fourteenth century. We’ve uncovered possible remains of a forgotten battle, armor and bucklers what survived of course, and a odd stone staff. We’ve yet to fully examine it due to it’s delicate nature. Could simply be a fossilized walking stick.”

“You cast quite a net Mr. Wahlforth.”

“As do you Mr. Braven Stonewood, even more so do you cast quite the figure. I doubt it’s an exaggeration to say you could bench press half of this room in your gym, yet you find time to explore ancient ruins and manage your vast business.” Laughing the duo picked up another glass from a passing server.

“I believe I still owe you a favor, do not you truly need anything? I still will never know how you managed to find an antidote from mamba venom in the middle of nowhere.”

“I told you, I knew a medicine man in a nearby village. That said, I do think my granddaughter has run off. Perhaps I should find her?”

Stonewood laughed, “no, let the girl have her fun how much trouble can she get into.”

Running through the halls of this massive resort, platter of shrimps in hand Eva dashed through the help spilling cocktail sauce with edible golden flakes into the carpet. Her face plastered with shrimp juice and sauce as she sprung out into another room large enough to host a dance looking for a spot she could snipe food from undetected.

“Darling, why don’t you put that away and socialize for a bit?” came a posh voice from a nearby table. Peeking out from beneath the tablecloth, Eva spotted an older woman in a smart looking evening gown talking to a black-haired girl close to her age sitting at a table, her glasses poking over the edge of a silver Nintendo DS.

“B-but Mom, I almost beat Ignatius…” the mousey-looking girl pleaded from behind her handheld.

“Madeline you can play that Flaming Emblem game whenever, can’t you? You’re ten years old, a little fraternizing won’t hurt you.” The girl named Madeline gave a sad little sigh as she put her system away, looking forlornly at the tablecloth.

Taking notice, of one of the few kids that looked even remotely her own age got Eva a little excited, this party was one for adults, to mingle and talk shop. Kids were either left at home or brought here to suffer a boring hell until night came to end the party. But perhaps Eva could have some fun yet she mused as she waited for a better moment to move.

“Good, now why don’t you introduce yourself to some people? Good to get a head start on your future when you can, after all. Oh, Mr. Harcourt, wait! It’s me, Janet!” Dashing off to find some colleague of hers, the older woman was gone. The girl made a few half-hearted attempts to be noticed by the important looking adults walking by, only to end up staring at her lap instead, looking utterly miserable.

Slipping out from underneath the tablecloth right underneath Madeline Eva spoke as she stood up. “Hey hey, that a game. My parents won’t let me have those, they say it’s trailer trash. I don’t see how anything that could bring smiles is trash, but hey we both have similar names, I’m Evangeline, you’re Madeline right, heard your mom say so. I call myself Eva tho. Never liked long names too formal, like it’s best used for someone you respect not like.” Taking the time to eye up their heights. “Bored too Maddy?” Stunned to silence by the sudden appearance of a girl covered in shrimp juice, the shyer of the two realized she had been asked a question and stammered out a response.

“M-Maddy? But...I’m Madeline...uh...wha….W-why were you under my table?” This was followed by a yelp as Eva tugged ‘Maddy’ by the arm underneath the tablecloth into the hiding spot.

“Adults are boring, always hiding their boo-, um I mean hard ciders. And chatting works.” Sitting by Eva was a couple platters she had freed from the table. “Those aren’t mine by the way. Anyways you wanna have a bit of fun? I know where they keep the room for the water pipes. Found it by myself!” Eva said triumphantly. “But they won’t let me into the kitchen and I need to be in there. Mr. Creepshow won’t budge for me, said I cause problems. Me. I make things fun I swear. You like fun yea? Come on.” Maddy, chewing on one of the shrimps that Eva yoinked from the servers, started to get a little acclimated to the weirdness of the situation before she heard that.

“M-Mr. Creepshow? I don’t know, mom said I shouldn’t lie to adul-eep!” Maddy gave another yelp as Eva tugged on her arm and ferried her out from under the table and towards the kitchen, dodging guest and serving staff to reach their destination.

“It’ll be fun! You’re not lying, you’re distracting!” Eva said as she dragged the poor girl through the halls and stopped short of the kitchen, “There. Come on, this will be grands. You’re my buddy my pal, mate even. Just get em away from the door, here.” Eva said as she shoved an expensive bottle of wine into her arms. “We’ll break that. And have him come and clean it up. It’s the cheap stuff promise. While you do that I’ll sneak by and get in there.”

And like that, Eva gave her new friend a little shove with the wine bottle clutched in her arms like a doll, right into one of the scariest looking men Maddy had ever seen in her life. Clad in a dress uniform she didn’t recognize, the man glared down at the little intruder with eyes the color of cold steel, his craggy, severe facial features looking so much like a gargoyle’s through the mist of his cigar smoke.

“Uh...uh…”

“And what do you want?” the man demanded sharply, sounding as unpleasant and jagged as his face would suggest. Maddy’s mind blanked as the gold gray eyes continued to stare at her, but right when she saw Eva sneak into a spot where the gargoyle man would certainly spot her, she reflexively presented the wine to the man.

“It’s a gift for you, Mister, uh, Cross,” she improvised, misreading the name Krauss on his lapel. Suspiciously, the gargoyle man took the bottle and looked at her, trying to deduce what was going on.

“A...gift…”

“Y-yes. From my...mom!” Maddy said desperately. “Misses Ming!”

“Janet Ming, from Yínhé?” he said, sounding both surprised and impressed. Looking closer at the year, he let out a low whistle as he admired the ‘gift’. “Not bad,” he remarked plainly. “Perhaps...I should thank her for this, then.” And without so much as a glance towards the young girl, the gargoyle man strode off importantly, revealing the inviting, bronze doors of the kitchen.

Watching, Eva snuck behind Maddy, “That was Aces, now we need some red dye.” Said Eva as she grabbed her pal by the wrist. “Look this we’ll be fun, we should chat along the way too. Can’t know nothing about my new partner can I?” Pushing the doors open Eva looked to her left, then right. For any sign of a storage closet where food dye might be kept, syrup or bloody mary mix anything with enough red in it to really make a splash.

“Now, if I were food dye, where would I be?”

“Um, my mom has some stuff for those Bloody Mary drinks she keeps in the fridge at home,” Maddy suggested tentatively as the pair of them hid behind a counter from the patrolling servers. “Is there a big fridge nearby?”

“Shush.” Eva said as the waiters came back round for a new set of platters taking them promptly outside. “Let’s get going quickly wherever the fridge is, it’s clearly not here, might be further in, maybe in that other room.” The pair slid in quietly as the room was unoccupied, and in the corner…. the prize. “That is a big fridge, like four whole doors with a small room attached. The whiskey they must have, I mean yes bloody mary mix.”

“Th-they must have it in there by the gallon!” Maddy exclaimed, actually smiling slightly as she joined Eva in trying to open the massive doors. With a joined heave the doors cracked open and through the cakes, caviar and shrimp was indeed gallons of mixers all for various drinks. Swiping a couple Eva looked to Maddy, her mouth full of a cupcake yoinked from one of the waiting trays.

“See you’re practically glowing. Now.” Taking a peek round the corner. “We need to make a break for it before anyone comes back.”

---

“Wonder what’s taking it so long?” Maddy wondered, staring at the water fountain in the center of the big dance hall. She took another bite of her cupcake as she pondered. “Maybe the pipes on that thing are really old?”

Eva eyeing the massive tree in the corner with presents underneath responded. “Could be, hey you think those are real or just for show? The presents I mean.” As Eva drank a mug of coco while they waited.

“If they are, I’m pretty jealous. Some of those are bigger than I am.” Maddy observed.

“So,” Eva a little nervously asked. “You were talking about your family earlier, the Lings right, what do they actually do?”

“Um, I don’t really know what my mom does...something with a lot of money I think,” Maddy said, sounding uncertain. “But...my dad’s a scientist. He does stuff with biology for the same company, it’s pretty cool. What about you?”

“Family’s traders, merchants, ties with old shipping company’s. Made quite the fortune. My Grandpa is the only nice one though, everyone else just wants me to be a proper lady. I do have a claim to the throne though, after a billion years or so. If I lived that long I’d be Queen of E.” Maddy giggled at the idea of her friend dressed like a fairy tale queen, complete with the robe and pointy crown. “I know right, me Queen, first official rule cake is always eaten first!”

Still giggling, Maddy got a glimpse of her mother across the room, having an animated conversation with a handful of businessmen in expensive looking suits. Spotting her daughter, the elder Miss Ling pointed her daughter out to the businessmen, who waved at her before returning to what was certainly a conversation involving her in some capacity.

“No one really asks me to behave like a lady,” Maddy mused, her smile faltering slightly. “They all just talk about how great and awesome I am. My mom always tries to bring me to meet all these important and wealthy people that care so much about ‘my future’.” Maddy added a hint of bitterness to those two words before her eyes drifted back down to her shoes. “Only here because my mom wanted me to see this person who knows about colleges and stuff. Don’t really have the time to meet...you know...friends…”

“Well, you got one here. You doofus.” Eva said smiling just as a photographer kneeled to snap their picture. Maddy turned a little red, this time not from embarrassment but from affection.

“Y-yeah, I guess I d-”

-VOOOOOOOOSH-

Eva and Maddy both jumped as the fancy fountain in the center of the room suddenly erupted in a spray of tomato-red water, the sound of the water pressure and the panicked shrieks from the guests drowning out the chintzy ambient Christmas music. Eva and Maddy dove to the ground in shock just as the photographers camera snapped, the pair of them turning around to look back just as the red water poured down on them like rainfall.

“I...uh...think the Bloody Mary mix worked,” Maddy commented, lifting up her glasses to get a better look.

“WOW, Just wow. This is Grand you know!” Eva said with a wide smile just as her Grandfather entered the room to see the commotion. Tapping his foot arms fully crossed as he inched closer.

“Why do I feel like you had a hand in this?”

“Madeline,” Maddy’s mother said coolly, stepping out from behind the older man. “Is there something you’d like to explain, young lady?”

“...Merry Christmas?” both girls said in tandem, grinning ear to ear.


-----

“...I was grounded for like six months when we got home,” Maddy explained to Yavor as he looked over the DS curiously. “And my mom didn’t bring me to one of those parties until I was old enough to drive. She had to pay for the repairs with the Wahlforths afterwards, though I heard that Stonewood was so amused he helped to pay for it too.”

“I’m just amazed you met Braven freakin’ Stonewood,” Yavor said impressively with just a hint of jealousy. “The man’s a legend, I’d give my left...whoops!” Maddy spotted a wrinkled bit of paper slip out from between the closed surfaces when Yavor flipped open the game. “Sorry, didn’t think there’d be anything in there.”

“No prob, I’ll get it,” Maddy said, catching the game system as Yavor lobbed it towards her and picking up the paper.

“You know, I think I have some markers in my car,” Yavor pondered before getting up and heading to the front door. “Let me check real fast, okay?”

“Sure, not a problem,” Maddy said absently, looking over the paper as the door slammed shut. Slowly, a smile spread on her face. It was a clipping from a newspaper, a Swiss paper discussing a holiday party gone wrong. Right in the center was a picture of the fancy water fountain erupting in a geyser of red water. In the foreground, a bespectacled ten-year old with familiar black hair and a brunette seven-year old diving for cover with a mixed look of panic and joy on their faces were identified as “Madeline Fen Ming” and “Evangeline Wahlforth”. Where the article began, a ten-year-old Maddy had scrawled out the names with a pen and written “Maddy” and “Eva”, covering the rest of the words with crudely drawn christmas trees and snowflakes. The twenty year old Maddy smiled warmly, folding the paper in half and putting it in her shirt pocket.

“Wherever you are, Eva,” she said quietly. “Merry Christmas.”

No Hope, No Glory, No Problem - A No More Heroes RP

I'm woefully unfamiliar with the game outside of the Zero Punctuation reviews, but the concept looks kinda fun, do you mind if I make something for this? :D

The Safe Haven

@Drakey@Gentlemanvaultboy

The creep with the glass wings called this place The Forge. The naming conventions this place had were straightforward, if a bit lacking in creativity, Alex pondered.

Shrugging the jacket off her shoulders, she felt the breeze pick up slightly as the fourth year traded some icy words with the girl who the teacher sent to talk with them. Nervously taking a step back, not wanting to get in the middle of a super-powered brawl on her first day, Alex inwardly breathed a sigh of relief when tensions cooled and the glass-winged kid left, taking a good deal of the sliminess with him. It was good to know that everyone at Safe Haven wasn't like that guy.

Curiously glancing over at smoke and flames pouring from a distant forge, she nearly missed it when the girl introduced herself as Elise Farlough. Before she could react, the other girl she was with stepped forward to greet her first.

"I'm Claudia. Claude to my friends. And don't worry, he would not have survived the attempt." Alex could believe that. She wasn't sure what her powers were just yet, but she'd bet money on them involving fire in some way or another, and Claudia already looked like she knew how to hold her own in a fight. Realizing it was her turn, she forced a slight smile and stepped up.

"Um, I'm Alexis. You can just call me Alex."

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

Before the storm...

It was sometime in the early hours of the morning when Jane woke up and decided not to try and go back to sleep again. Groaning slightly, she sat up in her bed and gave a slight start at a spark of light before catching herself. Just a reflection off of Monsterk4t's helmet, she realized, wondering again why the mute musician needed to camp out in her apartment. She never saw the guy's house, but she was still pretty sure he HAD one.

Nitpicks aside, Jane got to her feet and stretched out, retrieving a scarf from her bedside table (she still wanted to appear to Voyager as Fullbright but didn't want to wear the helmet 24/7, so a compromise was reached) and wrapping it securely around her face before heading out into the living room. A gentle snoring told her Fangs was still sound asleep, all six limbs sprawled across the sofa like a fuzzy rag doll. She was about to make a beeline to the kitchen to get some semblance of breakfast until she spotted Voyager staring out the window, looking oddly alert.

"Couldn't sleep either?" she asked quietly.

"Oh, I uh, don't need to sleep."

Lucky, Fullbirght thought bitterly as she finished her trek to the kitchen. "Er, well do you want anything? I was gonna make some coffee."

"No, I'm fine."

Fullbright shrugged, before busying herself with the coffee maker. "Are you nervous at all?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's the day of our assault, you're up staring off into space, and you just turned down coffee," Fullbright listed off, fishing around in the cupboards for her favorite mug. "I think the first time I gave you some of that you cleaned out my stock."

"Oh right...sorry."

That wasn't like her at all, Fullbright thought to herself. Taking a chance, she paced over to where she was standing, carefully stepping around the giant tarantula girl's arm trailing across the floor.

"You're scared for Jordan, aren't you?" Fullbright thought she saw a spark in the black eyes of the alien at their friend's name. Lips tightening, she nodded her head yes.

"Yeah, I'm scared too. She's...something special."

"She was the first person I ever met," Voyager said tearfully. "She kept me safe before I started doing this...hero stuff."

"Funny, she didn't mention you."

"Well, you are a 'bad guy', yes?" the alien girl suggested. "She would not talk about me to bad guys, even the nice ones."

"Well yeah, but she doesn't know about that side of me. Not yet at least."

"Why not? You're a villain, but you do nice things sometimes."

"Yeah but...I don't know." Now it was Fullbright's turn to be indecisive, shuffling her feet while thinking of how best to answer. "I'm afraid she'll be disappointed in me if she ever found out. She's...I don't know..."

"...special?" Voyager suggested with a slight smile.

"Er, sure that works," Fullbright mumbled, not exactly certain if coming out to an alien was the brightest thing to do. "I mean, she came around at a rough time in my life, same as you I guess. Really helped me out of a bad situation, and I'm scared of what she would think...scared that she'd be...hurt..." Rubbing away the tears threatening to pour at any moment, Fullbright looked up to catch the alien smiling at her.

"I do not know many people," Voyager mused. "But she is still one of the most...Klingon people I know!"

"I...guess that's a good thing?"

"And wherever she is, we're not going to stop until we find her!" The dramatic statement was undercut slightly by a dull thud as onee of Fang's arms slipped from the couch and fell to the ground, right as the wall began to shimmer.

"A success," Typhoon declared, holding out a set of keys in one hand. "Fang's friend, the wind sorceress in the skirt, was very kind to provide us with this."

"Excellent, we have our ride in," Fullbright said, excitedly rubbing her hands together.

"...hrm, wuzzat? Where's raiden?" Fangs grumbled incoherently as she stirred in her sleep.

"So now we can sneak our way in as members of this...institute?" Voyager mused.

"It'll at least get us past the sentries," Fullbright reasoned. "And once we're in, we find our way to wherever Jordan is being held and bust her out."

"Just like in Star Trek 5!" Voyager said excitedly.

"Whatever works for you, I guess," Fullbright shrugged. "Either way...it's time to assemble the band."

---

"Are you sure she's involved in this, Commander?"

"I am never wrong about my instincts, and my evidence is sound," Commander Krauss, often known as the Gargoyle, remarked bitterly, tugging his gloves off one finger at a time. "Even if she is stubborn, I will get what I came here for." His aide, looking at the fresh bloodstain on his lapel where the prisoner had clearly spat, was clearly unconvinced, but wisely chose to keep that opinion to himself.

"There's other considerations as well, sir," the aide said as the pair of them stepped out of the dungeon level and onto the main floor. "The team that brought Fletcher here reported metahuman activity, and it's entirely possible that one of the local-"

"None of the local freak shows are going to get past the front gate, let alone far enough to even think about rescuing her," the Gargoyle said proudly, looking over a band of soldiers marching by to relieve posts.

"Maybe so, but what about the alien, the one called Voyager? As much as I respect the skill of our men, she can still be incredibly dangerous."

"They're all the same," the Gargoyle scowled. "Inhuman garbage, brought to life to put humanity in chains, and if they dare to show their face they'll be put in the ground where they belong." Before his rant could escalate beyond that, however, the Gargoyle's phone sounded off. Giving the aide an angry look that told him to get lost, he removed it from his lapel and answered it in the friendliest tone he could muster.

"Talk."

"Ooh, so strict today. Has the girl been giving you a hard time, friendo?"

The Gargoyle's lip tightened severely, recognizing the sound of the absolute last thing he wanted to deal with today.

"Hmmm, very silent too. Contemplative perhaps? Thinking of how best to unravel the grand mutant smuggling ring?"

"Have you called me just to waste my time?"

"Oh no no no no, even better. Do me a favor though, duck into that door right on the left? You're on in five." The Gargoyle felt a vein pulsing in his forehead at playing along, but for now relented. Easily spotting the left side door, he took a look around to make sure no one was getting suspicious and ducked inside. The second he crossed the threshold the sterile lighting of the hallway blinked out, surrounding him with inky darkness. Unrelenting, he tried to feel his way forward.

"Is this another one of your games, Pri-GAH!"

Something caught on his foot, and as he stumbled forward the space around him filled with light and sound. Over the din, that voice rang out cleanly over the cacophony surrounding him.

"Dropping in now is my guest star for the evening, a top ranking member of the Hounds of Humanity and the conspiratorial genius behind the uncovering of the grand Mutie Migration, please welcome...THE GARGOYLE!"

The Gargoyle came to a sudden stop, landing in what felt like a plush armchair as applause filled the room. Looking around as he tried to catch his breath, he took in the sight of the cheesy television set he landed on, flooded with neon lights and colors, a small band in the corner playing up a storm. The 'audience' cheered and applauded wildly, grinning faces looking down at him as they chanted for the name of their host.

"And now, ladies and gents, the moment you've all been waiting for...here, live from the Hound's broom cupboard..."

The Gargoyle didn't even consider the raised empty space on the opposite end of the stage before the whole area burst into multicolored flames, showering him and most of the audience in confetti and streamers. The band roared into a new upbeat number as a tall figure emerged from the conflagration, dressed resplendently in a tailored teal suit.

"It's PRIMETIME, everyone!!!"

The crowd roared in celebration as Primetime stepped off the platform and strode to the front of the stage, posing and exchanging quips with audience members. The Gargoyle tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for the creature's ego trip to subside. And it was unmistakably a creature. It looked human from the neck down, but above that point there was a metallic looking box where a head should have been, crossed with metal looking bars that made it look like one of those old-time microphones.

Except of course for its mouth. The damned thing never stopped smiling.

"Gargoyle!" Primetime exclaimed excitedly, vaulting over the desk and landing in his chair to face him personally. "So nice of you to join us tonight! How are things with you, my daring diorite dude?" The audience laughed appreciatively as the Gargoyle looked stony.

"Perfectly fine without you and your...whatever this is supposed to be!" the Gargoyle remarked coolly. The crowd started to boo before the microphone headed being held out a hand to silence them.

"Now now, don't be too hard on him folks!" Primetime said cheerily. "After all, trying to harass a girl is grueling work!"

"It's not just about her, it's the whole mutant smuggling ring!" the Gargoyle barked over the sound of the canned laughter of the audience. "If it wasn't for you I'd be doing something more-"

"Oh, if it wasn't for me, you say?" The audience collectively went 'Oooooh' as the host leaned forward, his mouth stretching into a wry smirk. "Folks, it seems my assistance is unappreciated. But lest we forget-" There was a rushing sound and the Gargoyle suddenly found himself in his old military uniform, looking remarkably worn and frayed.

"-when we first met he was merely a lowly sergeant with a dream, and a strange idea about the mutants or two," Primetime added, soliciting a few giggles. "But let me ask the audience, who was it that pulled some strings to get our friend to where he is now?"

"PRIMETIME!" the audience responded gleefully. There was another rush and the Gargoyle was back in the Hounds uniform.

"Who was kind enough to lead him to the first clue on his efforts to take down his smuggling ring?"

"PRIMETIME!" A spotlight clicked on, illuminating the Fletcher girl, trussed up and sitting in a chair looking indignant.

"And who was generous enough to only ask for one little alien girl in return, folks?"

"PRIMETIME!"

"You've made your point!" the Gargoyle spat back before his host could parade around a facsimile of Voyager to taunt him. "Now unless you have anything productive to do-"

"Oh I do, actually!" Primetime said, surprising even the stony faced commander with that revelation. "See, the alien in question is quite powerful, and while I of course have nothing but respect for your boys in black, it seems she would be a little tricky for you to handle."

Some of the audience snickered, and one of the trumpeters made a "wah wah" sound in response.

"So me being the generous type," he continued, standing up from his desk. "I was thinking I would offer you a little gift. A certain something that will be handy when you finally get a chance to tussle with her!" Primetime gestured to the side of the stage as an attractive woman in a short dress walked on stage to cheers and wolf whistles, taking a moment to pose with what looked like a green gem. She handed it over to him with a wink and a smile, allowing the commander to feel the gentle pulsing coming from the mysterious stone.

"Don't you have a prototype that will fit onto, darling?"

The Gargoyle looked up to find himself back in his own office, as though he had just walked in and sat down. No crowds, no gaudy suits, no special effects. Just him and the gem, a gift from a benefactor who, so far, had not done him any wrong.

Smiling slightly, he paged for the engineering division.