It seemed like Torrent was still alive, which was great news, but Oberon felt like most of the credit for her recovery belonged to Digbie. He had made it to the Lesserwurm in time to cast both his Shield spell and his Minor Heal, which had surely contributed, but after everything else he had done during the fight with the Flak Beetle and to protect himself he hadn't had much mana let for Torrent and when that mana had run out the Sprite had all but given up.
But Digbie hadn't, the others didn't, and they were able to pull out the extra power needed to keep Torrent alive. He was happy it had all worked out, but he was less than proud of his own contributions to it.
Torrent was still severely injured however and with the arrival of the Goblins it seemed like they weren't out of the woods just yet. Crispy sounded almost gleeful about the fact that one of them was almost dead and one of his minions was pulling a knife from his belt to apparently finish off the job; Mourningstar, as was to be expected, took offence at this and began trying to cow the Goblins into submission through intimidation, using her new form as well as some magical effects to create a fairly terrifying image.
As effectively terrifying as it was, Oberon didn't think it would have the intended effect however. He felt like a fight was about to break out and Torrent was still in desperate need of healing which made his complete lack of mana something he needed to address as soon as possible. And speaking of drawing out additional power, something had happened in the middle of everything which he thought was worth exploring.
Flying over to Digbie the smaller Sprite placed a hand on the Goblin's shoulder to get his attention before speaking into his ear. "Watch over Torrent for now. I'm going to recover my mana so I can finish healing her." With that said he flew up into the branches of the trees above them, flying high enough to clear the initial layer of foliage until he was hovering in the bright light of day. Oberon looked around until he could find a branch that was wide enough for him to comfortably sit on which was also exposed to direct sunlight, alighting on it and sitting down with his legs crossed as he had before.
Once settled in he began to meditate again, clearing his mind of everything, the extra distance between himself and the ground helping him to ignore what was going on below as he opened himself up the he flow of ambient mana. This time he also tried to focus on the light hitting his body, the feel of the suns warmth on his skin, imagining the light filling his being alongside the mana.
Name: Ryuhei Takagi Age: 22 Gender: Male Race: Human Ki Colour: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
Personality:
A disciplined, focused individual who always manages to keep a level head no matter the situation, Ryuhei is someone who is dedicated to his chosen path and seeks only to live a good and respectable life. He is polite, friendly if a bit distant with strangers, a little bit cocky at times but maintains humility in the face of defeat.
However this was no always the case. Ryuhei was a troubled child, one who was often getting in trouble or starting fights and it looked like he was well on his way to becoming a trouble teenager as well. He was a delinquent with anger management issues and a distain for authority who was destined for life as a thug or criminal. The Ryuhei now is a changed person, but he still feels that old anger rising to the surface sometimes and worries that that side of him is not completely gone, merely suppressed.
Biography:
To Ryuhei, fighting is the most important thing in the world. Not because he enjoys fighting, though he does, or because he likes winning, which he does, but because he credits martial arts with saving his life. When he fights he is able to feel the progress he has made, see the results of his training. When he fights he can show his master that his teachings worked. When he fights in a tournament he can win titles, earn prize money and show the world how great kyokushin karate is; he can give something back.
As a child Ryuhei grew up in a working class household in Kyoto. His father was a construction worker and his mother worked a series of retail jobs; they had a comfortable life, but money was always a little tight and there was no room for luxury. Ryuhei was a normal boy with a normal childhood, average in school and with a close group of friends, he was happy. As he grew older however he began to fall in with a bad crowd; nothing too bad at first, they were still only children after all, but he began to misbehave at school and at home, his grades fell and his attitude changed for the worse.
Over time and as he grew older Ryuhei fell more and more into a delinquent lifestyle; graffiti, vandalism and shoplifting were common occurrences, as was running from the police or being dragged home by an officer. Once he was in his early teens, Ryuhei was regularly getting involved in fights for one reason or another, enough that he got quite good at it and was even starting to earn a reputation as a dangerous individual among his peers.
It was during one of these fights, a routine clash with a rival “gang” from another school, when he was first approached by Master Goichi. He and a couple of friends had been ambushed on the walk home from the arcade by a dozen students from a nearby school that they had fought in the past; outnumbered as they were it was a surprise for his attackers when Ryuhei managed to beat them all, though both of his friends were also knocked out in the fight.
It was as he was preparing to beat another kid’s face in that a middle aged man approached him. He’d been watching Ryuhei fight and asked him why he felt the need to continue to beat a defeated opponent, Ryuhei replied that it was as revenge for the ambush and so that they would know not to try this again. The man asked him if he would stop just because of something like that and Ryuhei had to admit that the answer was no, he would find another way to get back at the person who did this to him. The man asked if Ryuhei wanted to become stronger; the answer was yes.
That was how he met Master Goichi and that was how he became his student. Master Goichi began to train Ryuhei as his dojo, even waiving the normal membership fee that he charged, and taught him the art of kyokushin karate. Goichi had strict rules for his students; a code of conduct, obedience to the master while in the dojo, a commitment to always give your training 1000% or your effort, and no fighting outside of spars. To break any of these rules was to be expelled. Ryuhei wasn’t sure it was worth the effort.
He changed his mind the first time he saw Goichi demonstrate a Hundred-man Kumite.
Master Goichi took the term a little more literally than most. Rather than fight one hundred separate spars he simply challenged one hundred people to fight him at once. People of all skill levels, some of them not even practitioners of kyokushin but coming from other disciplines instead. Goichi beat them all.
After then Ryuhei dedicated himself to his training whole heartedly, rapidly advancing in his skill level and physical strength. Although he originally agreed to join the dojo so that he could grow strong enough to beat anyone who tried to challenge him or his friends on the street, his masters rules prevented him from using his karate for this purpose; even without this rule, he found himself spending so much time training that he no longer had time to get into trouble and was only able to see his friends in school.
His parents began to see another change in Ryuhei’s personality over time, this one more positive, as the teachings of kyokushin to always be courteous took root. His dedication to his training spread to dedication in other areas and Ryuhei even started to see improvements in his grades at school. Over time he began to spend less and less time with the bad crowd he was a part of, his friends growing tired of his lack of free time and changing attitude. From afar he watched as one by one his friends were kicked out of school or dropped out themselves; he saw the injuries they would bring to school with them from the constant fighting, sometimes missing school or even ending up in the hospital because of them. By reflecting on his past and by watching his potential future play out, he began to realise where the path he was heading down before led and how much Master Goichi had done for him by taking him away from that.
Upon graduating from high school Ryuhei opted not to go to college, but instead to join Master Goichi at the dojo as an assistant teacher. He also began to take part in tournaments, which was something he had done in the past but not at the level he was trying to compete at now, giving any prize money he won back to the dojo along with any titles he matched to win. A few months prior to entering the World Martial Arts Tournament for the first time he reached 4th Dan in kyokushin karate, meaning he had to complete his own Hundred-man Kumite and although he was able to complete it, the experience showed him that he had a lot of progress to make before he could reach his master’s level.
Combat:
Abilities: Kyokushin Karate - A style of stand-up, full contact karate routed in the philosophy of self-improvement, discipline and training developed by Mas Oyama, also known as the “God Hand”. Ryuhei has been training in this style of martial arts since he was a teenager and through a gruelling training regimen he has earned the grade of 4th Dan. Hardened Body - Years of training his body to be able to endure as much physical punishment as possible has left Ryuhei with an unnaturally durable body. This aids him both in terms of defence and offence, as not only can he take a lot of punishment he also is able to hit harder as a result.
Stats: Strength: 6 Ki: 3 Endurance: 7 Speed: 4
Techniques • Kaiten Geri [OFFENSIVE] – Also known as the “Kyokushin Wheel Kick”, this technique involve the user performing a forward side roll towards their opponent in the air, rotating their body and striking the opponent with their heel. While already a powerful technique that puts the users full body weight behind the attack, it can be further enhanced by the user empowering their leg with ki energy • Morote Zuki [OFFENSIVE] – Literally translating as “double handed strike”, while this technique isn’t unique to Kyokushin it is taught to its practitioners as general karate technique. It involves striking the opponent with both hands simultaneously, as separate attacks, in order to make it difficult for them to defend against both at the same time; sacrificing the ability to defend to improve the chance of a hit. This too can be enhanced with ki to make it stronger •Mae Geri [OFFENSIVE] – A forward snap kick that can be aimed at either the face or the midsection. What makes this snap kick different is that it is designed to strike with either the ball of the foot or the toes instead of with the base of the foot; while a normal front kick is mostly use to push the opponent and create distance, this kick delivers a piercing attack to the chin or the liver. As with all of Ryuhei’s physical attacks, this technique can be enhanced with ki • Ki Block [DEFENSIVE] – The use of ki energy to strength the body by creating an aura around certain parts of the body. While useful as a defence against physical attacks this technique is most useful at reducing damage caused by other ki-based techniques
Trademark Techniques
•Ki Flash [OFFENSIVE] – One of the few ranged ki attacks Ryuhei knows, this is a short ranged but wide burst of ki release from the palm; it resembles a fire suddenly flaring to life. This technique can be performed with one or two hands, with the two handed version taking longer to prepare but being stronger as a result
Ultimate Techniques
• God Hand [OFFENSIVE] – The ultimate ability taught to Ryuhei as part of his training in the Kyokushin school of karate; while on the surface it appears to be nothing but a simple punch, this deceptively powerful move requires the utmost concentration and perfect technique. The God Hand involves focusing all of the users remaining ki into one last attack, concentrating all of the power they can muster into their fist and striking the opponent with everything they have, gambling the outcome of the fight on a single power punch.
The technique strikes the opponent with the sum total of the user’s power, but a lack of focus or a sloppy technique means that power is wasted. The user needs to be wholly focused and they need to strike with perfect form to ensure not a single drop of energy is wasted.
Transformations • None - None
Miscellaneous:
Other • Likes - Teaching at the dojo and being able to give back to Master Goichi
“Damn.” It seemed like even Mana Dart wasn’t enough to pierce through the Beetle’s armour, though it certainly put a crack in it; whatever this thing was made out of it tougher than any creature they’d fought so far, tougher than his Shield spells and even tougher than the rocks back in the cave. If they wanted to do any kind of damage to this thing it looked like they’d need more firepower than they currently had, or maybe just be a little more creative.
The beetle wasn’t completely unharmed though. He had been able to crack the chitin slightly, so he could keep hammering away at its shell with his Mana Dart’s until a big enough gap opened up for them to attack its main body. Alternatively they could flip it over somehow and attack its softer underside; either Torrent or Mourningstar looked like they might be strong or large enough to do so.
As he was about to say something the Beetle opened its mandibles wide to expose its mouth as at the same time its chitin parted to reveal a set of iridescent wings and a brightly coloured thorax with some kind of opening at the end with was pointed directly at them. As a blue glow began to emanate from inside its mouth and as the swirling blue of its thorax became agitated, Oberon drew a conclusion based on the results of Monster Analysis that they should probably get behind cover. “Get back! It’s going to- NO STOP!”
Torrent launched a fireball from her mouth towards the beetle, the one which currently had its sac filled with combustible material exposed for the world to see. Before his world went completely white Oberon had to confess that the resulting explosion was, admittedly, quite impressive.
WARNING: YOUR HP IS LOW!
His ears were ringing and everything hurt; those were the first things that came to mind as Oberon came back to his senses. He was still in the air, somehow, and he couldn’t have been dazed for more than a couple seconds at most but the world was suddenly on fire, both literally and figuratively as the flames spread further and wider and his body continued to feel like he was covered head to toe in sunburn. He heard someone shouting but couldn’t make out the words, though the urgency they carried was still clear even now.
He cast Minor Heal II on himself at it seemed to help; without the pain covering his whole body he was able to concentrate more at least and it seemed to lessen the ringing in his ears as well. He heard shouting again, a different voice this time, and he finally caught on to the fact that Torrent was hurt. He looked around urgently, taking in the scene; Digbie and Ash were here, unhurt and helping to clear a path to Torrent, Mourningstar seemed fine as well as his Shield or some resistance kept her relatively safe, but the Lesserwurm wasn’t so lucky.
The evolved lizard had been the closest to the blast and was still trapped within the inferno; the Sprite could just make out her body from where he hovered. Casting Shield III on himself Oberon began to fly towards her, the temperature rising as he approached the edges of the nearest flame and counting on his shield to keep him from bursting into flames. He kept a healthy distance from the fire as he flew above it until he was hovering above the lizard, lowering himself down as low as he could until the heat became unbearable, before casting first a Shield III on the Lesserwurm to prevent further damage before casting Minor Heal II as many times as he could manage.
Cast "Minor Heal II" on self Cast "Shield III" on self Flew over flames towards Torrent Cast "Shield III" on Torrent Cast "Minor Heal II" on Torrent
Name: Malcolm Winters Super Hero Identity: Quarry Age: 24 Nationality: American Ethnicity: Caucasian Location: Austin, Texas Ultra Type: Psychic
Appearance: Malcolm is a man who appears to be in his mid-twenties, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He is above average height and has a muscular build with broad shoulders, something which seemed to become more prominent after his powers awakened. He has a solid, angular face, with a strong jaw covered with light stubble and thick eyebrows.
His costume include a tight-fitting vest that leave his arms bare, coloured slate grey with a jagged white line like a seismograph recording an earthquake across his chest. His trousers, also grey, are baggy and made of a tough, canvas material and he wears heavy duty steel capped work boots. His mask covers the top part of his head, including his hair, leaving only his mouth exposed.
Personality: Quarry is a stubborn individual. It’s something he credits his survival to and something which defines the way he chooses to tackle life; he still considers himself fairly inexperienced as an Ultra and the villains he faces day to day are usually more experience, stronger or more skilled than he is. His stubbornness, his refusal to give up or stay down, his determination to keep going is what allows him to continue saving people.
And saving people is what is important to Quarry. He’d describe himself as a little idealistic, though his time as a costumed hero as tempered that a little, and his reasons for choosing to become a hero can boil down to wanting to be like the heroes he grew up reading about. It was pure comic book fantasy that led to him making his own costume and using his new powers for good, even though he should have been old enough to know better. He still kind of believes in the idea of good ultimately triumphing in the end even after all this time.
Backstory/Origin: Growing up in Austin, Texas was kind of a boring affair for the most part; the city was more than large enough to have things to do but not large enough to really have to deal with the Ultra issue that places like LA or New York seemed to deal with every other day. There were a few costumed heroes and villains in the past, the latter appearing all the way up to the late 80’s, but when Malcolm was a child at least they weren’t active anymore and no one seemed about to take their place.
Then Fuse showed up with a bang.
Fuse was a villain who just appeared one day, a made a pretty big deal out of himself in the process. Austin had apparently been growing complacent after a few years of not having to deal with Ultras so when one with the power to blow things up with his mind appeared no one was prepared to deal with it. The villain started off his career by robbing the largest bank in the city, not even trying to be subtle about it and sticking around long enough to confront the police when they responded; he blew up cars, tore apart building and generally just made a mess of downtown. Zero deaths, but a lot of injured.
That was the beginning of a new era in Austin. With no heroes to slow him down Fuse took over the crime element in the city, establishing himself as the top dog of the city. Suddenly, Austin was a hub of Ultra activity as villains arrived looking to either oust Fuse to take over for themselves or just looking to work for someone stronger and more successful for themselves; it should go without saying that the latter had more success. Heroes flocked to the city as well, either out of altruism or because they were looking to make a name for themselves; none of them stuck around very long after they realised how tough Fuse and his allies actually were.
All through this, the years of Fuse’s reign over the city, Malcolm’s life continued more or less as it had. He graduated High School and was accepted into the University of Texas in Austin where he studied engineering and materials science; something that would likely come in useful since the increase in Ultra activity meant that there was a lot more rebuilding going on. The city itself had become more hazardous and the chances of being caught up in trouble of some kind had increased, but the chances of property damage was far higher than the chance of being injured and Malcolm had managed to avoid everything so far. Until one day, one of Fuse’s fights took place in the University’s campus, right next to the building Malcolm was in.
The building Malcolm was in was damaged during the fight, the corner collapsing as the walls were blown open and the roof caved in. Malcolm himself was trapped under a couple tons of rubble, pinned to the ground but fortunately not crushed instantly. It was while he was pinned, while he lay there with a giant slab of concrete pushing down uncomfortably on him as he listened to the battle waging outside, that Malcolm discovered he was an Ultra. A psychic, to be specific.
Late bloomers weren’t unheard of, but they were certainly less common than those people whose abilities showed up early on in life or upon hitting puberty; it seemed that some people, while they had the potential for mutations, psychic abilities or even magic never reached that point. For a rare few, something later in life could trigger an awakening, without that person even knowing they were different until they suddenly started farting fire. It seemed Malcolm was one of those few. His new abilities allowed him to move the concrete off of himself with ease, freeing himself from the rubble and escaping before the rescue crews showed up and started asking questions.
It took a while for him to come to grips with his new reality and a while longer after that before he found the courage to find out what his power could do. Once he’d done that though, he started thinking. It seemed to him that Austin was in desperate need of a hero, a real hero, not just someone looking for publicity but someone who wanted to help the city and would stick around once Fuse was dealt with.
That was a little over two years ago. He’s still kind of working on beating Fuse, but he’s getting there.
Tools/Equipment/Weapons: N/A
Skills: Knowledge of engineering and materials science
Abilities/Powers/Mutations: Tactile Geokinesis – Quarry has the ability to move any earth and stone that he is in contact with. This allows him to lift multi-ton objects by simply placing a hand against it and move it as if it weighed nothing, provided it is made of the correct material. In order to activate this ability he must be in direct contact with the object in question, so placing his hand on a mound of loose soil and dirt will only allow him to manipulate exactly what he is touching and not the whole mound, as such his ability is most effective when used on large singular objects such as stone or man-made materials such as concrete. He cannot change the shape of the matter he is controlling only its position and orientation.
Stone Creation – In addition to being able to manipulate earth and stone Quarry is also able to create matter seemingly from nothing, in the form of a material similar to granite in appearance and weight albeit much harder and more durable; he does this by pulling energy from the Realm of Creation and manifesting it in the physical world. This ability is range limited, so he can only create matter within 20-30 feet of himself and takes longer the more mass is being created. He can control the shape and size of the matter while it is being created.
Increased Durability – On top of his other abilities, Quarry is considerably tougher than the average person due to his connection to the Realm of Creation allowing him to maintain a constant level of increased durability. He can survive a bullet from a small calibre weapon with nothing more than a bruise and survive a fall from a four storey building with a sprain. He is far from invincible, but he is certainly tougher than average.
Name: Richard Hardwick Super Villain Identity: Fuse Age: 38 Nationality: American Ethnicity: Caucasian Location: Austin, Texas Ultra Type: Mutant
Appearance: A man on the cusp of middle age, Richard is starting to show a few streaks of grey amidst his short cut brown hair. His eyes are a steely blue, deep set in a ruggedly handsome face with a neatly trimmed beard. His height is well above average at 6’ 3” and he has a somewhat stocky build, with a wide chest and a well-muscled physique.
Richard’s costume as Fuse is surprisingly understated for someone with the power to create explosions. A black head covering that hides his entire face. A tight fitting, long sleeved shirt with a black torso gradating to red along the arms until his forearms are a vivid crimson with similarly coloured gloves; this is then covered by a heavy, dark brown duster with shortened sleeves to reveal the brightly coloured sleeves underneath. His lower half is covered by a pair of plain black military fatigue style trousers and black combat boots.
Personality: Cunning, devious, intelligent and ruthless; Fuse is not someone to be underestimated. Ever since he made his first appearance in costume he has shown himself to be a devious individual, his actions well considered and thought out but executed with the level of brutality you would expect from someone with his power. He is not the type to shy away from violence as a means to an end; in fact he seems to favour it.
Those who interact with Fuse will find him well spoken, erudite and calm; he is more than smart enough to run rings around the people he usually deals with. However, he is not without a temper and not above personal grudges, even if he usually has the restraint not to lose control.
Backstory/Origin: Born and raised in Chicago to a middle class family, Richard’s early life was fairly easy going compared to most. He was a good student, with high grades, who graduated near the top of his class before moving onto university to study economics and accountancy. The only really notable occurrence during this time is that when he was thirteen he developed the ability to make explosions with his mind.
Richard falls into the category of mutants whose powers first develop when they hit puberty. It came as quite a shock to him, as you would expect, but somehow, through sheet luck or cunning, he was able to keep this ability quiet. No one, not even his parents or his best friends, had any idea what Richard was suddenly capable of. Keeping this hidden also meant he didn’t have much chance to practise or explore his ability, at least not until he left home to attend university at which point he began to learn as much as he could about his mutation.
In spite of the fact that he was now away from home and had more freedom to do what he wanted, Richard still kept his powers hidden and continued on as if nothing was out of the ordinary. He spend the next four years studying and finished university with a bachelor’s degree in economics, before moving south to Texas to find work; or at least, that was what he told anyone who asked. For years Richard had been planning what to do with his new power, even since he had first discovered it, and while most teenagers that age might have come up with plans to become a hero or famous or rich, Richard had a different plan in mind.
Upon moving to Austin, a city he had chosen very carefully for its complete lack of prominent Ultras, he waited two years before, at the age of 26, he made his debut as Fuse.
It went as well as he had expected; the police were completely unprepared for him, as were the existing criminal element of the city which he soon took over, and with an ease even he did not expect he soon found himself in charge. The next few years were spent consolidating his power, expanding his operation, and variously recruiting and dealing with heroes or villains who sought to challenge him.
For the next ten years things went off without a hitch. Not a single hero operated within Austin for long, there wasn’t a single criminal enterprise that earned money in the city without giving him a cut and even the major villains and crime bosses in nearby cities new better than to try and remove him from power. Fuse had built himself his own little kingdom and everything was running smoothly.
Then the kid with the rock powers showed up and started making a mess of things.
Tools/Equipment/Weapons: A criminal empire, Ultra subordinates and lieutenants, a small fortune in stolen wealth and a robotics genius to outfit him and his lackeys with equipment.
Skills: Accountancy, economics, expert negotiator, a good eye for distances and boxing.
Abilities/Powers/Mutations: Explosion Creation – This ability allows Fuse to create randomised explosions by visualising a line in the air within his range of vision. Once the line has been visualised, explosions will occur randomly within a certain distance of this line, varying in size and intensity; the positions of the explosions vary but are always within a certain distance of the lines and are triggered sequentially down the length of the line from start to end.
The explosions are caused by the rapid compression of reactive components in the air around these lines to cause an explosion; the randomness and imprecision of the explosions are in part due to the unpredictable nature of these reactions and it is entirely possible for Fuse’s power to occasionally be a ‘dud’ in some cases. The size of the explosions is somewhat dependent on Fuse’s perception of how large the line is, i.e. they can be either close and small or far away and large based on where Fuse perceives them to be in space, as well as environmental factors such as the quantity of reactive materials in the air as well as current atmospheric conditions.
Despite the randomness of this ability, there is a maximum range to it as well as a maximum size and power to the explosions. Fuse cannot create a line any further than 200 feet from himself regardless of how far he can see and the explosions themselves are never stronger than to be able to cause a concrete structure to fracture or chip. The explosions themselves are more flash than substance, being loud and bright but creating more fire and heat than a shockwave.
Name: Dominic Reeves Super Villain Identity: Payback Age: 26 Nationality: American Ethnicity: Caucasian Location: Austin, Texas Ultra Type: Mutant
Appearance: Being slightly shorter than the average male and having a lean, lithe build Dominic doesn’t strike the most imposing figure, especially when compared to his boss Fuse. His hair is a dirty blonde, spiky and unkempt, and his eyes are blue; he has a short goatee that he keeps neatly trimmed. His narrow face is decorated with multiple piercings including several ear rings and studs, a nose stud and a few lip rings.
His costume is simple, designed to invoke images of a boxer approaching the ring; the main item is a long flowing hooded robe, similar to the kind boxers wear when entering the ring but made of a thicker material, coloured orange. Aside from this his clothing is fairly typical, often wearing a plain black t-shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans with a chain hanging from the belt loop over a worn pair of brown work boots. When expecting a fight his hands are covered by the kind of black padded gloves that martial artists use to protect their hands while sparring or fighting.
What his costume lacks, however, is a mask. He makes no attempts to hide his face while operating as a villain, probably because his identity was compromised a long time ago and he realises there is no longer any point in trying to hide it.
Personality: In Dominic’s world it is power, more than anything else, that rules the world. Power doesn’t come from respect or fear or money or anything else, it is the other way around; power, is the source of everything. This is the way Dominic was raised, the way he was taught, and the way he lives. He has seen what happens to those without power when faced with those who do, he has been both the powerless and the powerful and he would very much rather be the latter.
Currently Dominic considers himself powerful, though he also knows that he is employed by someone even more powerful. He is self-assured because of this, confident and cocky and sometime brazen in his actions. He is someone who lives in the moment, someone who likes to enjoy the pleasures of life while he can because he knows he can be made powerless at a moment’s notice. He doesn’t always think things through and can be driven by his emotions, especially his anger, if given reason to.
Backstory/Origin: Hailing from New York City originally, Dominic had a tough live growing up in one of the poorest areas of the city. He can barely remember his mother, who left when he was young, leaving him to be raised by a father who didn’t know much about raising a child and didn’t even particularly mean well. It should come as no surprise that Dominic fell in with a bad crowd under those kinds of circumstances and he was constantly getting into trouble both at school and with the law.
Trespassing, graffiti, shop lifting, fighting; Dominic led a life of petty crime from his early teens onwards and violence was often part of it, whether it be at home or on the streets. Things only escalated once his mutation kicked in and he started using his abilities to get back at anyone who had bested him in the past and started committing larger and more dangerous crimes.
It was only a couple of years later, aged sixteen, that Dominic found himself locked away. It was an armed robbery gone wrong, only with his power as the weapon and not a gun, which led to a stand-off with the NYPD that didn’t go in Dominic’s favour. Turned out his power didn’t make him as invincible as he thought and by this point the police had had years of practise dealing with Ultras of all kinds; his over confidence worked against him and he found himself in front of a judge with a rather harsh opinion of Ultras. He spent the next two years in a juvenile detention facility, the fact that he was a minor saving him as even though they wanted to impose the harshest sentence possible on the ‘evil and violent’ Ultra they couldn’t try him as an adult.
One consequence of his arrest however was exposure; with his trial came media coverage and after his sentence his name, face and even a description of his ability appeared in several newspapers and on websites both in the state of New York and even Nationwide. Now, anyone with an internet connection can find out who he is by searching based on a description of his appearance or his ability; both are likely to turn up a news story of his arrest or trial. This lack of anonymity poses certain problems for Dominic, especially given his chosen criminal career path, as his ability has become a glaring, recognisable trait that gives him away; making use of his power is like leaving an instantly identifiable fingerprint at the crime scene, meaning he has to give up on being a criminal or go completely off the grid.
About a year after being released from detention Dominic caught word of a villain in Austin who was making a name for himself on the national level. Fuse had seemingly taken over the city of Austin a few years ago and had so far managed to resist being captured by the heroes who tried to arrest him, or being ousted by the villains who wanted to take over; as the list of people who had lost to him grew the villain was being recognised more and more as a legitimate threat. With no other options and seeing an opportunity to put his skills to use, Dominic travelled to Austin with the intention of getting in touch with Fuse and offering his services. They have now been working together for six years
Tools/Equipment/Weapons: No permanent set of equipment, but he occasionally uses items provided to him by Fuse to complete a specific job or task.
Abilities/Powers/Mutations: Momentum Manipulation – Dominic has the ability to generate a field around his hands that can steal the momentum from an object and store it after converting it to kinetic energy. These fields appear as a glowing orange aura surrounding Dominic’s hands and feet and extend a couple inches past his wrist and above his ankles respectively; whenever an object strikes these fields their momentum is almost entirely stripped away, roughly 90% of it, absorbing it and reducing that objects speed and force. Dominic is then able to release this stored kinetic energy at close range, often taking the form of a punch of kick with the energy released at the point of impact.
Each field is separate and has its own store of energy and Dominic is able to approximate how much energy is held in each one, at least to the extent of knowing which one contains the most and when one is nearly empty. The energy cannot be stored indefinitely and the stored energy has to be released before the aura can be turned off. Dominic has never reached the point where he has lost control of the energy he is storing, mostly because he always makes sure to begin releasing energy when he feels his control start to waver at all; his current max seems to be storing enough energy to allow him to punch his way through a bank vault door.
Rider spun to face the monster behind him only to see the creature already being fired upon by Archer, the Servant creating and discarding one weapon after another as he attacked; it seemed he had the situation in hand already. Leaving that one to his ally the Achaean turned his head this way and that to find an opponent who had not yet been engaged before sprinting to meet the two Chimera approaching from the left.
The monsters rushed to meet him just as eagerly and as the distance between them closed the nearest Chimera leapt towards him with its mouth open and teeth bared to tear him apart. Rider struck the creature in the jaw with the back of his shield, swinging his arm out to the side and diverting the airborne monstrosity so that it sailed past him to crash awkwardly to the ground. He then brought his shield around in time to slam in down on the snout of the second creature charging towards him, the rim on his shield forcing its maw shut and pushing its head into the dirt. Holding his spear so that the bronze tip was pointed down Rider drove the weapon through the top of the creature’s skull and pierced the ground below, effectively pinning the Chimera in place; the monster began to spasm and flail wildly, still able to move even with its brain damaged but unable to control its actions enough to pushing itself up and free itself.
Rider turned to face the other Chimera as it was standing, drawing his sword from its sheathe and pacing towards the growling creature. It dove for him again, leaping above him and seeking to crush him under its forelegs, and he caught its claws on his shield; as the weight of the monster pressed him into the dirt and its claws sought to gouge groves in his shield he used his free arm to drive his sword upwards into its chest, the bronze blade easily piercing through to its heart.
Pushing the Chimera off of him and letting it fall to the ground Rider turned to regard the other one still pinned to the ground behind him before sweeping his eyes other the melee to see if anyone else needed assistance.
The flow of mana suddenly picked up in intensity, shocking Oberon out of his focused state before the system message had a chance to. He opened his eyes, blinking rapidly as they readjusted to the bright sunlight before he read the notification he had receiving, confirming that he had indeed learned the skill he had seen the Wisp use earlier. With this he would be less at risk of running out or mana while outside the cave, though the fact he couldn’t use it during battle meant he would need to be careful not to run out of mana during a fight.
Speaking of which, as Torrent was digging out the plants he had asked her to retrieve the Wurm was suddenly attacked by an obscenely large insect that erupted from the ground. The rounded shape of its carapace and its four long mandibles made it look like some kind of beetle, though whether it was called that or not in this world was up in the air. He rose from the ground, wings flapping as he lifted into the air, when a large and strangely coloured Wisp rushed in to tackle the insect, shouting something in a voice that sounded a lot like Mourningstar’s.
Taking in the suddenly chaotic scene, Oberon used both Monster and Magic Analysis on the beetle and the evolved Wisp as he considered what to do. He was going to just fire a Mana Dart at the creature, but Mourningstar’s attack put her in a position which meant there was a risk of hitting her instead. He could try using Mana Orb; the description of Mana Dart implied it was the more accurate of the two but he had a feeling that was only because it was larger and therefore more likely to hit, which was actually a detriment in this case. He also wasn’t sure if the blunt magic would be able to pierce through the beetle’s chitinous armour in the way the dart would.
With a sigh the Sprite flew forward so that he was closer to the fight, casting a Shield III on the Corpselight for good measure, before raising his hands and lining up an attack on the exposed portion of the insect’s body. “Mourn! Hold it steady and don’t move.” Once he was sure he wouldn’t hit his friend by mistake, he let fly with Mana Dart.
Used "Monster & Magic Analysis" on Beetle Used "Monster & Magic Analysis" on Mourningstar Cast "Shield III" on Mourningstar Cast "Mana Dart I" on Beetle
It was faint, but he felt like he could feel the meditation starting to take effect. It was subtle, not like a great inrushing of energy but more like something that used to be a trickle, his natural ability to recover lost mana, becoming a small stream. Was that enough? Was this how meditation was supposed to work? If he did this for long enough would he acquire the skill or did he need something else, another push, to reach that level?
Oberon could feel his focus begin to waver as he thought about how to complete the skill, thoughts muddying his mind as the stream slowed back to a trickle. He cleared his mind again and tried to regain the feeling of emptiness that he had managed before; unfortunately meditate wasn’t the kind of skill where overthinking things or trying different solutions would work. In a way it was skill completely unsuited to the way he did things, but as a magical creature he desperately needed a way to restore his mana without the use of consumable items.
Focus. Calm. Empty your mind. Just feel the mana flow into you. Nothing exists but you, your spirit, and that mana. Focus on the flow of energy. Try to widen the channel to let more mana flow at once. Focus.
Turning "Oberon continues to meditate" into 200+ words
Following Archer as he walked away from the elevator, Thomas listened as the Servant spoke; the other gentleman was being quite ambiguous with his words, but the experience Magus caught his meaning nonetheless. “Given that your reputation precedes you Archer, I’m going to have to ask you to clarify your meaning. I’d rather win this war and survive than not, but I hope you are not suggesting we do something that might risk attracting the attention of the Church or the Clocktower?”
Upon seeing his opponent seemingly disappear Rider immediately pointed his shield in that direction and began turning his head back and forth to locate his opponent. Was this teleportation, invisibility or something else entirely? He had known a fight with an Assassin would not remain a simple duel, no matter what his opponent appeared to be on the surface.
When he finally located his opponent it was in the air above him, the samurai already descending towards him with her sword flashing downwards. Shifting his weight the bulky warrior leapt back, seeking to move himself out from under the attack while also being fully aware that he would not be able to dodge it completely; at the same time he raised his shield arm up, positioning the object between himself and the quickly descending blade.
Making it just in time, Rider’s shield rang out as Assassin’s sword collided with it. The force of the blow forced his arm down and the Carthaginian stumbled back ungracefully before he caught himself, coming to a stop a few feet away from where the Japanese swordswoman had landed.
Breathing a little more heavily, Rider raised his shield up in front of him again and retook his ready stance. It was clear by now, as if it wasn’t just from looking at them, that Assassin was much faster than he as well as being the superior swordsman; in terms of power he had the advantage, just due to his attacks having more weight if not more strength behind them and his shield was allowing him to fend off her attacks in spite of his other disadvantages. This was still a winnable fight in Rider’s mind; although he didn’t know how she had disappeared as she had he had seen nothing to suggest she could survive his Noble Phantasm should he decide to go all out. “Aah. I’m too old to be fighting like this. Holding back your full strength is a young warriors ploy.”
Raising his voice to be heard by the familiars that his Master was no doubt watching this fight from, Rider spoke. “Have you seen enough to judge her worth yet Master? Should we accept their alliance, or end this now?”
@Weird Tales I think Sully was waiting for the submission deadline before approving any characters. The deadline has now passed so hopefully we hear something today.
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