Lady Seraphina

Unlikely Heroes

BlessedWrath (Weaver)

Assuming she remains in captivity for three weeks, I do have plans for how Sam will react and change. I also have plans for Mantovani.

Sam, whether she wants to or not, will be forced to use her powers regularly. This is despite her weakness. Mantovani has plans for mitigating that anyway, and will attempt to exploit any benefits she can give him. After three weeks of this, there will be certain changes which will be quite understandable, given the circumstances.

If she seems too bitter or resentful, try to imagine how your characters would react to that kind of imprisonment. Sure, she was accustomed to being held in the institution, but...they didn't have guns.

Unlikely Heroes

of Dirt

Sorry about not posting in a while, I've basically been working overtime for the past 2-3 months. I should have a lot more free time starting next week, though. I'll aim to get a post up before the weekend is over.

As for character relations, I'm not too sure how Katsuro will be with most of them specifically, but (like his powers) he has a chameleon-like personality. He's good at conforming without appearing to be submissive. Since he's new to the group, he might be a little quiet at first to get a sense of what kind of people he's around, then he'll act accordingly.

I know he'll have a crush on Callie, and @Ryver et Rhine mentioned having him teach her some karate, which sounds like fun. So, if she's still down for that idea, we could say that during the timeskip he has taught her some pretty basic stuff.

I think Jenna's feelings toward him make sense and would be a fun dynamic. Although Katsuro will try to get on everybody's good side, her timidity will probably require him to go a bit out of his way, which is something he wants to avoid. He might feel like he's walking on eggshells.

I imagine him being particularly wary of Vida both for her powers and unpredictable personality.

And I guess he won't even know who Christian and Sam are until their return.

So, I'm open to any ideas anybody has with what their relationship might be like with Katsuro. Or we could just wing it =p

Unlikely Heroes

Kirra

Hey all! I just wanted to check in and see how you all are doing since things have been pretty quiet recently. Things are starting to get rolling for the upcoming mission and I've worked out a few kinks with the pms I've gotten from you all so far and I look forward to those who haven't sent them in yet (hint hint, if you haven't done so it is highly encouraged that you get to it soon). After the timeskip things are going to get pretty crazy, pretty quickly since we will be jumping right into the action but before we get to that point we need to finish things up here in the IC and wrap up the loose ends.

First of all, Ceru is going to be dropping out for now but as always there will be a spot for him if he and his crazy character decides to rejoin.

Secondly, I see that there hasn't been any posts in the IC recently and was wondering if there is something I can do to help you guys out to get your posts up, especially with the characters in the the base. I'll be more than happy to sit down and chat with you if you are struggling with a post.

In the meantime, three weeks is quite a bit of time and more than enough time for our characters that are in the base to start to get to know each other more and form opinions, friendships or even rivalry with each other. As we finish up the IC it might be a good time now to think about how these relations might grow because it can affect how things will go during the mission.

I've started up a few thoughts Jenna might have about the others but this by no means has to be the final outcome of the three weeks but rather a way to start up a discussion with you all.

Callie: Jenna would like Callie or more specifically her bubbly nature as she reminds her of a more energetic version of her best friend. She would like to form a friendship with Callie but if they do it could possibly form into a one sided one since she would want Callie to take the reigns.

Ester: Jenna would trust Ester and trust her quite a bit due to her calm personality. Although she might reveal the most about herself due to this trust, she would be hesitant to show how much she is struggling even to her.

Katsuro: Jenna would be wary of Katsuro, if not intimidated of him. It will depend greatly on how he acts in response to her meekness in terms of how exactly their relationship will form but even so she will act polite towards him and avoid any unnecessary confrontation.

Max: Jenna would be quite curious in learning more about Max's history during his time living outside the country. Even more so would be her interest in his artwork which might fuel her curiosity in finding a non aggressive use of her powers with her abilities.

Pat: The trust Pat has gained from their time together trying to find Sam has grown as they spent time with each other and whether it is due to his age or his actions during this time she holds some respect for the man although she can be a bit too cautious about his powers to the point of avoiding any physical contact.

Teddy: Jenna would have a bittersweet relationship with Teddy. Due to Teddy's age, she would be a constant reminder of Sam and the broken promise she gave her. However she would be keen on getting to know the girl better and helping her out the best she can.

Vida: Jenna likes Vida and adores her cats. Even though she likes Vida, her eccentric ways and her powers would scare Jenna especially after witnessing what all she is able to do. However between her cats and how Vida is when she isn't scary Jenna tries to build a friendship between the two.

Sam and Christian: She would constantly be worried about them and although she wouldn't be able to do much herself in trying to find them she would bug Daniel as often as she can to go and see if he can locate them or if there has been any updates from Masaru. This would probably keep up for quite awhile but would start to die down a bit near the end of the third week when she would start to lose hope in finding them.

Unlikely Heroes

Prince of Seraphs

Christian Tylers

Christian felt groggy and unfocused. Of course he didn't have any form of sight to be blurry but the noises all around him came in waves, loud and soft and completely unintelligible. The ground under his body felt strange, hard but loose and uneven like a street corner or an alley, pavement. Something about that didn't seem right in his head but Christian was having trouble concentrating. Finally an image stirred in his mind that caused everything to become clearer. No, not an image, it was more accurate to say that it was a series of sounds, smells and tactile impressions, the ring of a voice, the echo of footfall, the smell of a generic shampoo applied just a little too sparingly. A name came with these impressions: Sam.

It was like an electric bolt struck Christian's brain. Like that moment when you wake up tired and realize that you're an hour late for an appointment and in the next second you are wide awake and running for the shower. Christian shot to his feet. What had happened? he asked himself. Then the memories started to resurface. Chasing Sam through the streets using his ability to guide him, finding the girl diving for cellphones in a deserted part of the city. The mobster that had attacked the two of them. Then of course was the interrogation. Christian remembered snapping the chain on the handcuffs even if it was accidental, prying the link loose to free his hands. He'd been so close to getting them both out of there then at the last second... what had happened?

The fog in Christian's head had begun to subside and as it went he could hear the things around him more clearly. Voices, pedestrians, traffic, a bit of construction in the distance. He was on a street. Or more likely from the feel of the pavement that he'd woken up on and the brick wall he now leaned against he was in an alley. They'd simply dumped him out in public. That was when pieces of what the man in the suit had said had Christian was being sedated came back to him.

"Cut the blind one loose... pathological liar... track him... lead us straight to them... subdermal... ditching... Take the girl to Site B... not finished..."

It was still a bit foggy and disjointed but Christian could remember certain phrases accurately. He scratched absentmindedly at his forearm as he thought about what he could piece together. They'd cut him loose to track him back to the Reformers, that much was obvious even if Christian hadn't heard the conversation. Evidently however they didn't need two pieces of bait and so Sam was somewhere still in trouble. At this Site B. Though Christian didn't know how long he'd been out. He didn't feel hungry yet so it couldn't have been more than thirty two hours but that still left them enough time to have transferred Sam several times. Besides it wasn't like Christian was aware of where they had been in the first place. If he'd been able to focus his power of awareness maybe he could have gotten a better read on the world outside the warehouse but as it was Christian didn't have anything to go on.

The spot on his arm that Christian had begun to scratch suddenly exploded with pain. Christian's muscles froze and he clamped down on it to hopefully stop the pain. In another moment the stinging subsided and Christian made sense of another part of the fragmented conversation he remembered. "subdermal". The man in the suit had implanted him with some sort of tracking device, none to gently either. It stung like a bitch right now and once that subsided the itch returned. It was like the world's worse mosquito bite, except a thousand times more dangerous. For all he knew if he kept scratching at it the device might puncture a vein or an artery. It wasn't like thugs were very exact about fine detail work.

Christian used the rough brick wall to guide himself to the street. As he approached the sound of traffic and people talking grew louder. The man in the suit had dumped Christian in a highly populated area. Presumably so that he would have no trouble finding his "friends" or asking someone for help getting to a payphone. Christian felt mildly insulted that even a mob boss felt the need to give Christian an extra helping hand. He was blind not useless. Of course the feeling was instantly dwarfed by that of worry for Sam. Christian couldn't go back to the Reformers because of the implant in his arm but Sam was in far more danger. She was still a prisoner.

It happened too often, Christian getting away from harmful situations while others around him paid the price. He wasn't going to let it happen this time. Sam had a gift which it seemed the man in the suit was at least partially aware of. That made Sam valuable to him, at least for the moment which meant that Sam was useful enough to him that she would be kept alive. At least for the moment. How long she stayed alive was more than likely completely dependent on how she could help him. Since she had yet to fully comprehend her powers that meant that she might die in a moment or spent the rest of her life a prisoner. Christian couldn't let that happen, he'd failed to protect people close to him before, he couldn't let it happen again.

First though Christian had to get himself straightened out, come up with a plan of attack and of course find where exactly Sam was. None of those were exactly easy tasks so Christian decided to start with the simplest. He needed to disappear. If the Reformers found him it could very well start some sort of war between them and the Suit's mob. The TSP would inevitably get involved then all hell would break loose. No Christian needed somewhere to hide, at least for the interim. To get a decent hiding place Christian needed cash. Almost unconsciously the blond man reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out the straight hard square of plastic he'd been given earlier that day, or had that been yesterday or the day before? It was the debit card the Reformers had given Christian. What had they said about it "eight hundred dollars for the essentials" Christian considered for a moment that using the card might alert the Reformers to his location but then he reasoned that if he withdrew the money all at once at a machine in no way related to where he was or had ever been and tossed the card afterwards the Reformers would have little enough to go on.

Christian knew a couple of specialty bookstores that would have tactile maps designed for people like him. A couple were limited to New York and Christian wasn't exactly sure how far outside the city they had come but some of the stores were rather popular chains and while the blind community might have been limited they kept a small stock of useful materials just in case.

Christian asked directions to the nearest Black Bond Books and in about an hour had a set of tactile maps for the area under his arm. They were contained loosely in more of a binder type design so that the uneven surfaces would not be compressed in anyway. He found the important things, street maps marked with the braille symbols for bank and bus. It wasn't exactly difficult to get onto the bus without a fare. Christian didn't like playing the sympathy card often but when he told the driver that he was blind and had lost his bus pass the driver gave a grunt and what Christian failed to see, a hand gesture to proceed. There was an awkward moment of silence before the driver realized his mistake and restated his decision in words. Grateful Christian made his way to one of the seats and waited till his stop was spoken by an automated voice.

Christian pulled the cord and left the bus, at this point he was really wishing he had his White Cane. It made traversing unknown places so much easier. Instead Christian was forced to fish an old pair of opaque sunglasses out of his jacket pocket. He rarely wore them but always had them on hand just in case. Not everyone recognized the significance of the black glasses but enough did that Christian managed to get to the bank without too many problems though having to ask how much further his destination was was rather embarrassing.

Finally finding it Christian felt his way to the bank machine set into the wall outside the bank. He found the card slot with his fingers before pushing the Reformer's debit card into the slot. The buttons were all marked with braille to ensure that people like him could use the machine and it read each of its directions out loud. Christian requested the full amount be removed from the eight hundred dollar limit and the machine was more than happy to oblige. Christian left the card in the machine for the Reformers to find.

He had capital now, that was the easy part, now came the complicated details. How exactly he could possibly rescue someone from the mob with no sight and limited telekinetic capabilities.

Unlikely Heroes

dpickle

Patrick "Pat" Anderson

As soon as Pat returned to the base after the "shopping adventure", the weight of the whole ordeal finally caught up to him. He had barely landed on his bed when he fell asleep, more exhausted than he'd been in years.

Pat awoke the next day barely less tired than when he had fallen asleep. He could have easily slept for another four hours, but the lights had come on outside his room, shattering the near-perfect darkness he required to sleep. He instinctively reached for the pill bottle he had beside his bed at home before remembering that he was about as far from home as he had ever gotten. Pat spent to morning half asleep in bed going over the past few days events. He wasn't pleased with his situation, but it was probably the best he could hope for all things considered. It wasn't like he could just go back, all the TSP had to look for was the apartment with more drugs in it than your average street gang. Still, Pat wasn't one to let something like this drive him out of a bad mood, so when Garret came to bring him to some meeting, he made sure to put up the appropriate amount of fuss before leaving his room.

As Pat entered the room just as some new guy, "Katsuro" finished introducing himself, saying that he had just been recruited (Pat suspected "abducted" was probably closer to the truth). Was he the reason for this meeting? Some kind of new guy meet n' greet? If that was the case might as well get this thing over with so he could go back to his room.

"Pat Anderson. And we're about as new here as you are." Pat slowly walked to one of the empty chairs before taking a seat. "So would I be safe in assuming your a new Charlie?"

Unlikely Heroes

BlessedWrath (Weaver)

Samantha Cole

"Fine," Sam grated. "Ask your questions."

Mantovani grinned and his gun fell to his side. Sam visibly relaxed, but only enough that she could breathe without effort. Her captor took the time to choose his words as he withdrew a small remote from his right breast pocket.

"We’ll start with this." A monitor to her right clicked on. From the distances involved, Sam guessed it to be at least 60", which was only another indicator that the man had money to burn. The video’s low resolution and timestamp in the lower right corner suggested a security feed. It depicted an unconscious Sam, deep in the throes of auto-drawing. Her arm rapidly swept across an invisible canvas, despite her deep sleep.

"Umm..." Sam worked for the words, but the lies did not come as quickly as they had before.

"I don’t need to remind you of the penalty for wasting my time." Mantovani interjected.

Sam shrugged, though the motion was significantly curtailed by her restraints. In truth, she suspected it was important, but had never bothered to actually investigate. From time to time, when Sam was asleep –or even some times when she drifted into a daydream at her desk- she would awake to find strange scrawling in her journals, on her walls; anywhere she could find room. Sam had heard of sleepwalking, but…sleep drawing?

"No clue," Sam offered weakly. "Sometimes I draw in my sleep."

Mantovani huffed, unimpressed. There had to be more to it than that. But he had other ideas on his mind.

"Let’s try something else," he said knowingly. "Which processor does my phone use?"

Sam made a face before she could stop herself. The look she gave him was a profane amalgam of incredulous confusion and condescending disdain. Given all that had transpired, and was still unfolding, what had that to do with anything? Mantovani made his eyes hard and tapped the gun on his thigh.

"You’re not really going to make me repeat myself, are you?"

"How the hell should I know?" Sam spat back. Mantovani cleared the distance between them with three strides and shoved the barrel of his gun into Sam’s chin.

"I don’t know!" Sam screamed. She looked like a panicked animal, trying desperately to put some distance between herself and the gun, despite the fact that her restraints made that impossible. She twisted her body in any way she could to make that happen, even though the inches she gained would not have made any difference in the damage a bullet would inflict.

That reaction was what made him believe her. It was irrational; driven by fear. There was no thought of deception. The only thing that mattered to her was getting away from his weapon.

"You don’t know." Mantovani repeated. Sam shook her head, trying to choke back tears. "Maybe I’m asking the wrong question." He spent some time pacing before rewording his question. "What kind of processor?"

"I don’t-" Sam began, but realized immediately that her intended response was untrue. In the time it took her to speak those words, she saw the chip in her mind. She saw every trace, every component. She saw how the energy was directed, manipulated, stored and released. Though she had no name for any of these things, she did know what they were. Sam had been unconscious when Mantovani finally made her hold that phone. He had gotten his way after all. Sam just hadn’t been asked to recall the information she’d gained from it yet.

"I don't know what it's called." Sam tried to deflect the question with clever wording.

"But you do know what it is." Mantovani replied evenly. Sam nodded, looking at the floor.

Mantovani snapped his fingers and one of the doors opened. A man in a suit made rapid progress toward the center of the room, carrying a large notepad under one arm.

"Draw it."

The newcomer released the restraints on her right arm and tried to hand her the notepad. When she refused, he looked at Mantovani, who impatiently gestured toward her. His accomplice shoved the notepad under her arm, into her lap, and made her take the pen.

"You draw that chip," Mantovani ordered, gently placing the barrel of his gun against her temple. "Or I paint this room." This time there was no whimsical gesturing; just a click.

What choice did she have? Sam drew.

Unlikely Heroes

of Dirt

Katsuro Nakamura

Katsuro tried to soak in as much as possible as he was let into the base and shown his room. He was quiet most of the way, not sure how to feel about the situation he suddenly found himself in. On the bright side, he didn’t have much to leave behind. He was kind of a nomad on the streets of New York, living off what little he won off local karate tournaments and the well-off women he managed to woo as he wandered. There were no friends or family to speak of. His not being able to see Ariel again didn’t bother him much. They didn’t know each other well. It was a lifestyle that didn’t require him to anchor anywhere for too long. He grew accustomed to the pattern and saw himself doing it for the rest of his life.

Still not sure what his powers really were, he felt like he needed to learn to walk again. It was possible that all his skills and talents would be totally inapplicable in his new environment. He’d have to learn a new game. The thought was both intimidating and exhilarating. Although he was in an uncomfortable spot at the moment, he knew there was tremendous potential. He had an ability that possibly only he possessed and he was dying to know how it stood up with the others in terms of power level.

He was sitting on his bed when Garret came around to inform him of Cameron’s wanting to meet everybody downstairs. Katsuro gave him a nod as he got off the bed and stood up. Everybody I’m going to meet will have some sort of power, he thought, as if to remind himself. He wondered how many were like Cameron and Garret, who had years to perfect their abilities. How many were like Katsuro? He ran his fingers through his short hair and quietly huffed away his apprehension before making his way down to meet the others.

There were two petite women; one with a cat. For all his thinking about how much less powerful his abilities might be, he couldn’t have expected to see less intimidating people. Then again, he wasn’t sure what to expect. The room was awkwardly quiet, even after Jenna asked if anybody knew what was going on. “I've just been recruited,” Katsuro answered, hating to have to demonstrate his ignorance. “I’m Katsuro,” he added, forcing a small smile. “How long have you guys been here? With the Reformers, I mean,” he inquired, recalling chunks of the load of information Cameron dumped on him not too long ago. If they’re Charlies like me, then they were part of that accident as well, Katsuro thought, considering the idea that it technically wasn’t the first time he’d seen these strangers.

Unlikely Heroes

Izkripp

Vida Curacio

Vida had been stuck in her room since her cats arrived thanks to Josiah. She had spent the time since then trying to get her cats use to their new environment. Her black cat, Co-co, was quick to adjust as he was already curled up on her bed a sleep. She reached up to pet his soft fur and smiled. "We are together." She stroked his fur a couple of more times then slide down to look under her bed where her other cat had been hiding since she arrived. The tri-colored calico, Baby, was more of a scaredy-cat compared to her furry adopted brother. She reached under and gave her a good pet relieved to fell her more coursed fur under her hand. "I missed you."

Wiggling out from under her bed she sat back and looked at the contents of her room. There was a liter box, a bag of liter, and some cat food. Rest of her room was rather empty. "This space will fill with time." She said letting her eyes rest on the cat food thinking of when Josiah popped back in with her cats and the things she asked for. She had been so excited and overly joyed that she forgot for a moment her anxiety with people and gave Josiah the biggest hug she had given in a long time. She could not thank the man enough for giving her back her life.

Blinking she looked away from the cat food and to the ball of fur sleeping on her bed. "Co-co do you want to come with me?" She asked standing up. She patted his head before picking him up in her arms. There was no protest as the cat leaned against her allowing her to carry him. They had wanted to talk to them about something and she did not want to go alone. She walked to her door and turned to look back towards her bed. "We will be back Baby. Watch the house." She smiled and hugged Co-co as she made her way to the others.

She walked down the steps and stopped short of the clearing to look around gauging how many people were there. Even though she now had her cat, she was still nervous around others, especially groups. Seeing a few people she scanned for a seat quickly. As soon as she found one she darted over to it and sat down placing her cat in her lap as she did. He did not really seem the mind the motion and sat on her lap completely use to her moving where ever she wanted.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Seven and a half hours for any late submitters!

@Write

I keep feeling like I should change something, but I've only got six words in reserve and there is so much more I could say and I'm not sure what I could cut out to make room for it.

Running from the World

I guess we're gonna have to call it quits on this one. It was fun while it lasted and while I think this idea still has a lot of potential it took too long to get started to keep everyone interested.

At some later date I may revisit this so keep your eyes open. It was good working with you all and I hope I get the chance to do it again.