Mercinus3

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

In

A Man Out of Time #2: A Hound’s Night of Hell

Time: Present day, 11:45pm
Location: Pacific Point, California

The Wanderer had been sitting on a bench in a small park for a couple of hours. His thoughts had been all over the place and had spent the time since he sat down to collect them and process everything. The first thing that came to mind was the group Hounds of Humanity. Sure, there had been a small amount of infighting in the people in Settlement 149, but those were resolved around the common idea of surviving against the mutants that roamed the wastelands. Most of those arguments had been around the idea of him being one of the key protectors of the base, especially with the use of his psionics. Eventually, before The Officer betrayed everyone, everyone settled on the idea of the mutated sentinel for the base. If people in the future, even with the knowledge of everything that had happened in the past, could understand the fundamentals of using people with extraordinary abilities for the common good, then why aren’t people in the current time understanding that, even with the innumerable amount of knowledge they have? It was this fundamental question that The Wanderer thought that had made him dislike the Hounds of Humanity so much that the thoughts of killing them had crossed his mind, breaking a code he tried to stick to in his previous time.

The other main thought that he was processing was what happened immediately after seeing the group’s message. What the hell was that thing? was the main question that kept repeating his mind. There had been something in the future that was masking his psionic-detecting abilities, but not enough that it completely disrupted them. This being… not only did it shock his abilities from the shock of time travel, but it completely blinded him again until it disappeared. Not only that, but it seemed that whatever it was, it was looking at the area where the city was. And then just like that, it disappeared. How is there a being in this powerful that can mask that energy? Somehow, The Wanderer thought that whatever this thing was, it would be making an appearance to every key being on this planet.

Suddenly, a scream from nearby pierced the sounds of the night. With the origin appearing to be close by, the mutant sprung up from his perch and ran towards the source of the noise. A minute later into the city, he got to the origin of the source. A group of seven men in dark tactical suits were slowly encroaching a woman, assault rifles pointing at her. One of the men held a machete in hand. “So, you think you can align yourselves to the metas and not face any repercussions,” the man with the machete spoke as he walked up to the fallen woman. She scrambled backwards, her white coat dragging across the alleyway floor and hands getting cut up on the broken glass. “You know what we’ve said, ‘We will no longer tolerate the meta human threat to our world, nor those who support them.’ Well, guess you will be joining with your ‘friends’ shortly.” Taking one great stride, the Hound raised the machete and swung down.

Instead of the metal hitting textile, flesh and bone, it hit something hard, the blade shuddering with the brunt of the blow back up the man’s arm. As the man looked on, The Wanderer had suddenly phased himself into his field of view, his all-familiar psionic blade parrying the blow of the machete without any show of force. Before the man could react, the mutants left fists whipped around and connected with the tactical helmet on his head, sending him flying through the brick wall. As the other six men cottoned on to what was happening, they raised their firearms and aimed at the mutant. However, the same left hand that slammed their colleague through the wall was thrusted towards them, a purple veil rising between the two groups. Shots from the assault rifles rang out in the streets, but to no avail as they bounced off the barrier and settled, flattened by the impact. The Wanderer, while focusing on the Hounds, spoke to the woman, ”Get to safety and warn others about what has happened. I’ll deal with them. Now go!” The woman, without taking a chance to process the life that flashed before her eyes, scrambled to her feet and started running.

Now that innocent life was protected the mutant gave the men his full concentration, the flames of anger within his blue eyes. ”You think you are the future of humanity, wanting to protect them from what you call the metahumans. Instead, you are agents of chaos that will cause the ruin to this world. I am the future and I will be your reckoning.” As he spoke, the purple flames of his psionics rose, licking the air with unrelenting fervor. In his time, the psionic aura would be barely detectable to other psionics in the immediate area. With the abundance of life in this time, the strength of the aura could be felt for miles by other psionic users who can detect it. He phased from his position to the nearest two Hounds. Grabbing their rifles, he pirouetted them around and threw them at the others. The two men knocked one of them to the floor, stripped of their rifles in the attack. With his newfound strength, he crushed the rifles as rivets sprung from the weapons. The other three fired their rifles, though hitting thin air as he phased again. As he reappeared, the psionic blade reappeared. With such speed and ferocity, he began cutting through their weapons. Now with his enemies disarmed, he now began his beatdown.
-------
As the police arrive, The Wanderer had been waiting. His back was leaning up against the wall as he watched them. His left hand was raised as the seven men remained unconscious. As a precaution to these ‘Hounds’ waking up, a domed barrier was placed around them. As the police, unsure if the mutant was friend or foe, raised their own guns towards him. However, the woman that The Wanderer saved ran in front of them. “No don’t! He saved me!” Before anyone could react, The Wanderer disappeared, phasing both himself and the barrier from view. As the police looked around for him, the mutant watched on from the rooftops. As their search ended with nothing, the police went on to arrest the unconscious men. Satisfied with the conclusion, The Wanderer turned and began walking away, his left hand reaching up for the bullet wound on his right shoulder. Just before he disappeared from view, the woman caught a glimpse of him, smiling with a faint ‘thank you’ leaving her lips.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the opposite rooftop, a blue flamed wolf watched, examining the scene reach its conclusion.

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

And just when everything couldn't get any better, The Psionic Nexus has arrived.

On a serious note, its arrival is noticeable throughout the world.

@Mercinus3

@fdeviant, just as a heads up for you to be aware of as I didn't see a response to at least the earthquakes that have been produced :)

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

And just when everything couldn't get any better, The Psionic Nexus has arrived.

On a serious note, its arrival is noticeable throughout the world.

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

In

A Man Out of Time #1: Time Adjustment

Time: Present Day
Location: Pacific Point, California

Time had passed since the large burst of Cherenkov radiation emanated from the vicinity of the Esper Estate. The Wanderer had been doing what his name suggests, wandering around the new landscape, taking in the new sights that the past held for him. The sight of the trees and the pristine buildings were a grand contrast to the stark ruins and barren wastelands he was used to back in his time. Since his arrival, as he realized it, he had lost the functionality of his psionic eye. His right eye had been blank, which he pegged down to him going back in time, so his eyes just need to get adjusted to everything after the travel through time. Maybe once the eye comes back will I begin my investigation as to what happened to the Espers, he thought, everything in monovision as he gazed in wonder at the buildings around him.

During his sightseeing experience, he came across store fronts adorned with TVs of better technologies that he was used to in his time. Back then, cathode monitors came back to use as the LED TVs got burnt out with the damages that caused the blackout. As he walked past, he noticed crowds of people watching televisions. As he came into view of one of these televisions, it just so happened that a silhouette of a man was on the television. Whilst there was no sound amongst the hustle and bustle of the city, the subtitles were more than enough to get the message across.

Tonight, we have completed multiple, simultaneous operations against known threats. We have also eliminated the organization known as STRIKE, for their failure to act against hostile forces. We will no longer tolerate the meta human threat to our world, nor those who support them. We will continue to act, until all meta humans, as well as those who provide material aid or support for their kind, are wiped from the face of the Earth. Inaction is no longer acceptable. We are the last line of defense against these monsters, and we will not rest until every last one of them is eradicated. We are here, we are everywhere. We are the Hounds of Humanity.”

While everyone started to shrug off the news as nothing, seeing as Pacific Point hadn’t been affected by what this group had done, the news had struck a chord with the mutant. Even in a time such as this, there is still infighting amongst us, he thought, his hands curling into fists, trembling with the anger that was welling up. Don’t they even care that things like this could be the beginning of the end of their world as they know it? Don’t they even try to get along, no matter what their background?! Venting out his anger, his right fist snapped out wide, shards of brick and cement flying off into the alleyway. Passers by jumped in the sudden outburst and slowed down to notice the unusual man who seemed to punch through a wall as if it was nothing. Noticing the unwanted attention, The Wanderer flicked up his greatcoat and wandered away.

An hour passed of wandering, The Wanderer heard some commotion in the street up ahead. A man was struggling with a woman, throwing her to the ground as he snatched her handbag in the process. The thief began running away, the opposite direction that the mutant was coming from. With the anger from what was on the television still present in his mind, The Wanderer ran up to the woman to check and see if she was alright. Then, without missing a beat, he raised his right arm, the familiar purple flames licking off of his forearm. Normally he would set the oncoming beam to kill as that was the rule of the land in his time, he set the coming strike to throw the retreating man off balance. At least he owed this time that much to not kill anyone.

However, before he was even able to send off the beam, a sudden surge of psionic energy of unknown origin pulsed through his body. At that moment, multiple things occurred at the same time. Firstly, his psionic eye regained its use and had been blinded by the sight of the psionic energy naturally flowing in this time. That was before the surge he felt came into view, rushing over his sight in a purple tsunami. Secondly, his entire body felt stronger through the increased psionics, his nervous system oozing with renewed psionic energy that was much stronger in feeling than what he was used to in his time line. Finally, as a result of his body reacting to the increased psionics available, the psionic beam launched from his hand at a much larger force for what he was intending. Whilst the purpose of the beam remained in place and would serve to cause the thief to stumble, the strength behind the force hit the thief with a force of a freight train on his right shoulder, sending him spiraling forward 50ft to the ground. The force certainly knocked him out cold and with broken bones in his right shoulder and arm.

Once the beam was fired, The Wanderer flinched with what he was seeing with his psionic eye, covering the eye from the bright energy. As the burning sensation resided, he opened the eye, giving it time to adjust to his surroundings. The psionics of his birth planet were, indeed, much stronger than what he was used to. “Maybe the abundance of life on this planet has strengthened my psionics,” he muttered under his breath, finally adjusting to the brightness that the eye was seeing. It was when everything in his system settled to his new surroundings that he felt it. Normally he could sense how far and the location of a low-key psionic user, he felt a huge psionic presence that didn’t give away the distance that the user was. Only the direction, which he immediately looked for as his eyes darted straight for the sky. ”What the hell is that?!” he gasped, his jaw dropped as he stared at one spot in the sky. That presence… It’s massive and I can’t even see who or what it is. It’s bigger than anything I have ever felt in the future. It was shortly afterwards that he felt the tremors from the ground, almost knocking him off his feet.

--------

Location: Halfway between Earth and the Moon.

At the moment the mutant in Pacific Point raised his hand, The Psionic Nexus arrived at a point in space that was in the centre of the Moon from the view of the planet. As the cosmic entity slowed down to a stop at that point, the mass of psionic energy that it was pushing as it sped throughout the universe carried on travelling at super-luminal speeds, shockwaves of the energy slamming across the planet. The psychic forces of the shockwave inflicted a convincing illusion that a 6.0 earthquake rocked the entire world, though the entire buildings somehow remained intact during it. For those that use energy-based superpowers or are supernatural, the shockwave could be felt through them, but not as a slamming presence but as a smothering force. For the psionics or psychics, the shockwave is felt full force through every pore of their psychic being, surging like electricity and enhancing whatever ability they were using tenfold.

For a few moments, the psionic entity remained still, eyes gazing at every other place but the planet it had travelled to. Finally, the black eyes focused on the planet, the darkness behind it glazing over the blue orb. So, this is the planet that I have felt such a strong presence, it mused to itself, taking in the psionic energy the planet was emanating. This planet was a lot closer than I do recall. Then again, I have travelled a lot faster than I had anticipated. During the time it took to travel from the galaxy it had been at to here, he had gathered all of the information that had happened to this curious ball of rock in this part of the universe. There had been numerous beings, some with the names of Icon, War-Pulse, Nightmare amongst others, had achieved feats that the primitive planet that it had been on. They had stopped beings of another dimension from overrunning the planet, the survivors of that calling it D-Day. Some had stopped a mad man from forcing extraordinary abilities onto others. Some of them even stopped another being, the aforementioned being Nightmare, from killing thousands of beings. Now, there were more of these ‘heroes’ on the planet, whether they are naturally good-natured or it was in their destiny to be heroes and had to do horrible things before they realized it.

The Psionic Nexus then moved, walking towards the planet itself. The dark eyes focusing on a region on the planet that felt close to where the time-travelling being had arrived. There… The place that the inhabitants called Pacific Point… That is where the presence I had felt arrived at. That is someone who has the potential to have my gifts. There are also other potential candidates there as well. There were others that had the potential that lived in the city named Lost Haven, but the cosmic entity was drawn to the time-traveler.

The Psionic Nexus then noticed something occurring in a place near Lost Haven, in a place called New York City. The location seemed to be the gateway to another realm where a being known as The King resided. It seemed that the human group known as the Hounds of Humanity had drawn first blood and had strained the relations between those who are supernatural and those who are mere mortals. Looks like there’s another conflict on this planet that needs to be mediated, seeing as how it is the few that caused this and many will suffer the consequences, the entity thought, pondering on the thought. While something like this would be damaging to the flow of psionic energy that flows throughout the planet, the damage would be minimal. That would be something that it would ignore for now unless something more damning occurs because of that explosion. Then it may or may not flex one or two fibres in its psionic essence to set this so-called King in place. But, for now… Now then… let’s see who this being is that has drawn my attention. And with that, The Psionic Nexus teleported, masking the enormity of its psionic energy at the same time as to not draw attention from those who are adept at detecting the energy.

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

<Snipped quote by Mercinus3>

I think the Gang War is gonna be a bit more disruptive than that. Hellis noted in his post that LHPD have basically roped off Chinatown and Little Tokyo for them being way too dangerous.

@DearTrickster

Ok... maybe participate then :P

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

Chinatown Mob War: Started.

Any street level heroes in LH is invited to join.

@Hellis

Fletch might be pre-occupied with the current War-Pulse/Evergreen/Fletch team up, but if you want, I can post things related to Fletch i.e. have the Penose perhaps be an observer/participate.

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

Location: Chinatown, Lost Haven, Maine.

Ten minutes after leaving her motorbike, Fletch had made it to the rooftops close to where the dust and smoke originated from. Panting from all of the running and climbing she had to do, she rested behind the parapet of the building as she looked down at what was supposed to be the middle of a fight between two metahumans. As she looked, she noted that one of the metas had a silver and black suit and recognized the meta as War-Pulse, one of the metas that had helped the city during D-Day. The other meta that the mercenary was fighting was an unknown entity, though it does beg the question to Kayla’s mind: Why is War-Pulse duking it out with another meta in Lost Haven? She wasn’t even aware that there were other metas in the area, but there was only one thing in her mind in seeing these metas fighting each other, punching each other in the middle of the ruined street: I am so under equipped for this city.

It wasn’t long before the fight came to an abrupt end. The first thing Kayla noticed was the metal, drone-like objects appearing in the horizon. As they approached where the combatants were, one of the drones appeared to focus on the pair of them. Before she realized, a piercing sound erupted in the area, causing her to cover her ears and flinch. As she looked up to see what was happening, it was when the second drone deployed its own weapons. Her response to the weapons was abrupt, realizing what kind of weapons they were, ”Shit!” She began running away from the fight, not caring if she was seen or not as it would have been redundant if she was caught up in the explosion that came. The detonation started to level the building that she was on. Thinking fast, Fletch grabbed one of the grappling arrows and loaded it into her bow, attaching the loose strand of cable to the opening in the shaft of the arrow. Not even checking to see if the cable was secured to both the arrow and the cable-retracting mechanism on her arm, she drew and fired the arrow at a building across the street. As soon as she felt the grapple connected after detonating the small charge to destroy the shaft and launch the hook further, she sent the retractor into overdrive. She was yanked away from the building as it began to crumble underneath her feet. Due to the emergency of such a move, she collided with the building she was travelling to, causing her to groan in the impact. Fortunately for her, the building she arrived at was stable enough after the explosion to not crumble.

Looking up at the fight, she saw the van at the center of the explosion and the men grabbing the unknown meta. A few second later, the van began pulling away, going in the direction of… The Financial District? That small bit of information alone was enough to confuse the hell out of Fletch. If the men had been smart about it, they would have taken the bridge away from Chinatown and go to the next county. The Financial District was the least likely place where meta-kidnappers would have taken someone to. Whatever the case, seeing the destruction of the buildings, she needed to question War-Pulse. He was the only person who would know the details on what happened here and possibly why the occupants of the van took the other meta. However, she was unsure on how the meta would do once he regains consciousness. She drew an arrow from her quiver and drew it back, the sight aimed at the unconscious man. Slowly, she crept forward from where she stood, the let-off from the compound bow allowing her to hold the drawn bow with ease.

A load groan announced the return of War-Pulse to the world of the conscious, the mercenary groggily pushing his torso to a sitting position.

“Ugggh... talk about your explosive climaxes....” The mercenary growled to himself as he rubbed the back of his head, never one to lose his sense of humor. “Not exactly the way I pictured that fight ending, I was hoping for more of me winning and less finding myself underneath a pile of rubble...again...for like the fortieth time.”

Of course, this grumbling didn’t bely what had just happened. Not only had he failed to reign in the dangerous bioweapon, but something had managed to interfere with their fight as well, ending in her escape. With a strained grunt, the mercenary tugged a piece of rubble off of his lower half, hucking it into the burning piles now surrounding the crater in which he lay. It was rare for him to feel any sort of soreness, but the amount of fighting he had participated in had worn him severely, and it showed. His clothes were not much more than tattered rags, remnant of a pristine battlesuit now smudged with ash and dirt. His skin had held up considerably well, only minor bruising and cuts littering his body, his kinetically charged healing factor would hopefully allow him to recover within a few hours, slowed only by the mass amount of energy he had expended tangling with the young Racheli. Clearly Warden had not been exaggerating when he explained that the girl was extremely dangerous, everyone seemed to want her or wanted to protect her. What exactly had given her such power that even he would be taxed by it?

Of course, once he got to his feet, his attention quickly changed to the sight of another costumed vigilante, a young woman by the looks of it. She was garbed in orange and black, carrying a light load for easy travel, though the most peculiar feature was the bow she currently had drawn, now aimed squarely at his chest.

“Oh good, just when I thought I had my fill of costumed vigilantes.” The merc jeered loud enough for her to hear. “What, you coming in to get the kill steal and take me in? I just got exploded, Lego-lass, I don’t think the pinnacle of the stone age is going to put me down.”

Fletch paused her advance when the mercenary announced that he was conscious again. The entire time, she felt nervous, standing this close to someone who made her bow and arrows seem like a toy gun to a tank. She still kept the bow’s aim at him as he removed the rubble that was on top of him and getting up. What are you doing, Kayla? she thought to herself as the mercenary acknowledged that she was there. This is the kind of person that can snap you in half and not even blink. She didn’t hesitate when he spoke to her, keeping her cool as he jeered and tried to intimidate her. ”Well, considering that you did look extremely exhausted fighting that other meta before getting knocked out by a couple of high-tech drones, this pinnacle of the fucking stone age is a good enough of an insurance policy in case you went off on one.” She was cutting it a little bit close, seemingly goading the mercenary on to a confrontation. ”Besides, I think I would be the least of your worries considering the direction the van went.”

“Wait, there was a van?” War-Pulse said, his eyes widening in shock. The pieces began to click together, the sudden explosion becoming much clearer to what exactly had occurred. “That means...the explosion...that wasn’t a gas line popping...I got sucker punched by a third party!”

The Merc scoffed in annoyance, soccer kicking a dog-sized boulder down the street in frustration, the sidewalk getting chewed up at the rubble’s landing point with a loud thud. “I didn’t even get compensated for my hard work! Bastards probably let me soften her up to sweep her out from under me. How did I not see this coming in the city of Freaks, Geeks, and Demon Portals?”

He turned back to Fletch, who still had her guard up and her bow drawn, still ready for anything the unpredictable kinetic warrior was going to do. He gave her a steel glare, one that rang out his frustration at the current revelation. “So I’m going to go out on a limb here and you know which way the soon-to-be scrap metal and dead interlopers are, so I’ll be blunt. Tell me where they are so I don’t have to beat it out of you.”

“Yeah, there was a van,” Fletch responded to the mercenary’s question. Her thumb was relaxed, away from the trigger to the release aid. “I guess you didn’t notice that the person who you were fighting, whoever it was, is nowhere to be seen in this rubble.” As she listened to him rattle on about what she concluded was ‘the job’, she was keeping both eyes on him, trying to predict when he went off the handle and lunge at her. While yes he was much stronger and probably quicker than she is, but launching an arrow from a compound where it can reach its peak speed of 350ft/s in less than 2/10ths of a second at this distance, he would certainly feel it in the state he is in. But would it puncture his skin? That was something she didn’t know and, hopefully, won’t find out.

When she saw his gaze turn to her, feeling the frost coming from them, she remained calm. Yeah, she was nervous all the way down to her core from the mercenary, but she needed to retain her focus on the steps of her shot cycle. As his viable threat was said, she slowly brought her thumb to the trigger and slowly squeezed the muscles in her shoulders, ready to shoot if he makes a move.

“Owww….my head…” Groaning could be heard in an alleyway as a figure lied slumped against a wall. On closer inspection, it turned out to be the plant-based hero Evergreen...and needless to say, he looked in pretty rough shape. One of his arms was just gone, leaving a stump where it once was, much of his plant-like body had a wilted, dried-up look to it, and there were a number of gouges all over his body.

He was having a tough time recalling what had happened with that fight against the merc and his technopath friend. Had he won? Well, he was alive, that was a start...but he couldn’t see Nemesis anywhere...did this mean he had failed to protect her? His reserves were running close to empty and he needed some sunlight...fast. Despite his blurry vision, he managed to make out some rays of sunlight peeking out over the rooftops.

For a moment, he just lied there, staring, as the sun came up...before groaning, “Where the heck were you when I needed you like an hour ago…? Nevermind…” He dragged himself over to the spot where the sun’s rays had landed...and almost immediately, he felt his strength coming back. The wilted sections of him became rejuvenated to a more healthy shade of green as the gouges in him started to slowly close up. He focused and the stump where his arm once was grew out and reformed into a new limb.

After flexing it to get a feel, he let his cloak reform as he finished adjusting everything, “Not quite a hundred percent, but it’ll have to do...yo Gaia?”

A groan could be heard next to him as her spirit self formed next to him, yawning, “Ughh...ah, about time you came around, partner. Now, let’s go find that girl before she causes more trouble for us…” The plant man nodded and scaled his way to the rooftops before taking a look around the area.

Evergreen actually winced at the destruction, “Ohhh….something tells me Nemesis had a hand in all this..”

“Wow, your deductive skills are truly amazing. You sure you’re not related to Sherlock Holmes?” Gaia snarkily remarked which caused her partner to roll his eyes.

They headed towards a particularly large cloud of smoke...and down below they saw a crater where a certain mercenary was standing, facing off with a person whom looked like a modern version of Robin Hood...and by the looks of it, things were about to get ugly. Not if he got anything to say about it.

“Alright, I think that’s enough!” The plant warrior called out from the rooftop where he stood before swooping down on a pair of wings and morphing his arms into shields as he landed between the two individuals.

As a third voice rang through the tense air, Kayla relaxed again, thumb shooting away from the trigger. This had been a good thing as the person behind the voice came into view between her line of sight with the mercenary. It was a good thing her thumb flew off of the release aid trigger as the newcomer had a startling appearance of the wings being made of plants. The shield that was facing her would have taken the arrow without any problems, but it was something she definitely wouldn’t do as it would had been perceived as an attack. God knows what would have happened to her then.

The mercenary’s face scrunched up into a bitter scowl when the plant warrior called out his entrance. “Oh great, you’re still here. I was hoping ol’ tinbucket could take care of you, but apparently technology hasn’t conquered mother nature yet!”

“Look...I got no idea what’s going on right now but we all need to relax! And to give you an incentive….LOOK AROUND YOU!!!” He suddenly roared, pointing to the destroyed scenery.

“I think I speak for all of us when I say we’ve caused enough damage to the city for one day...so you got a choice...either zip your lips and listen, or both of you go through me...your choice.”

Pointing the bow down to the plant man’s feet, she relaxed the compound bow, the strength yanking the string to the string stopper. ”I hadn’t been here for what caused the damage and the bow was for my safety in case he went off once he gained his consciousness,” she responded to the plant man, releasing the aid from the D-loop and placing the arrow back in her quiver. She then turned to War-Pulse ”Besides, I would be glad to give you the information about the van that took whoever you were fighting as I was nearly caught in the blast.”

A tense silence followed after both Evergreen and the bow wielding woman had their say, the force of nature flitting his icy glare between the two vigilantes. Then, in a deep huff, his face seemed to relax, his frown melting from tense to defeated as his body drooped slightly, the signs of exhaustion more evident now as a weary admission left him.

“All right, fine.” He scoffed, “We’ll play this your way, Greenpeace...for now.”

With those words, he took a brief hop to get out of the crater he had currently been embedded in, turning his attention to the destruction. “Though...as much as I want to know where that van went and what it looked like...cops are probably going to show up within minutes and I’m a few solid explosions from being out here in my birthday suit. I’d say we leave Lost Haven’s lovely new national monument of destroyed buildings and high tail it to somewhere less conspicuous.” He turned his attention back to the other vigilantes. “Either one of you got a ballin’ secret hideout we can crash in?”

“...Huh…” The plant man scratched the back of his neck, looking a little surprised with how easily he’d managed to get them to listen, “That was actually way easier than I thought it would be...guess I’m better at this negotiating thing than I gave myself credit for…” He took a look around the area before waving to the others, “I wouldn’t exactly call it a “hideout” but I do have a place where we can lay low and work out a plan. Trust me, it’s the last place anyone would think to look for us. Also…”

At this, he addressed Pulse, “I got some stuff back at my place that you can use to patch yourself up...and you look like you need something to refuel with anyhow.” True, he was taking a gamble by letting the merc in on his turf, but for the time being they were on the same side. Besides, desperate times called for desperate measures. Evergreen was going to get Rach back...and there was no force on Earth, within the Earth, or above it, that would stop him from doing so.

Fletch seemed to be at ease when the mercenary agreed with the notion about leaving the place before people came to the scene. All the meanwhile, she followed the events that led to the explosion, keeping track of the van details that she would then relay to the group. Unbeknownst to the two metas, she blushed slightly when the mercenary mentioned about being close to being ‘in his birthday suit’. It was more because she felt embarrassed about the thoughts that came from him mentioning it. Nevertheless, the plant-manipulating meta suggested going back to his place. ”That sounds fine with me,” she commented, confirming that she would tag along. Suggesting her place would have been a pain as it was on the other side of Lost Haven and the risk of Mia walking in seeing both of them in her apartment as well as her in this outfit. That would be difficult to talk myself out of it. However, she needed to get to the plant man’s place. ”I’ll need to get my bike though, but I do agree that we need to work out a plan to deal with whoever caused this. Especially when the people I saw at the scene might have seen me in the aftermath.”

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

Hey to all the higher ups of the RP. Just a heads up that I've modified Fletch's CS to remove the stats of Kayla in her mech form. I need to rework on those stats and think that they are not needed at this moment in time as the suit hasn't been activated yet.

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

In

Ponder on the Past IV: A Man Out of Time

Time: What is supposed to be Midday, 200 years in the future
Location: Settlement 149, what was once Pine Bluff, Arkansas

The Wanderer worked on the machine over the course of the night. He had been familiar with the workings of the machine his father made for the purpose of going back in time, but to work on it was taking time. Sure, dismantling the part of the machine where the fuel was supposed to go was simple enough, but to get it all back together and to fit with the length of the fuel rod that he brought back from Arkansas Nuclear One, that was something that took some time. But he finished it, exhausted from the concentration needed to ‘tweak’ the machine. Sitting back down in the chair, he rewatched the message his father left behind, more importantly to the information about where everything started to spiral out of control in the past. I’m… about to go to the past? was the only question that went through his mind. He didn’t know what to expect from the past, seeing as there were little texts from the local library that had survived these years. I wonder what the past would be like? Is there actual tree life in the world? Is there less fighting in the world? These were all questions that ran through his mind. The more he thought about it, the more… excited he was. Sure, it’s a terrifying change from the life he has lived so far, but there was nothing left here for him to be anchored to.

His rambling thoughts were changed when he heard movement in the main power room. Thinking the mutants were back to wipe out any of the people that weren’t there at the first attack, The Wanderer slowly got up from the chair, his revolver in his hand ready to shoot once he entered the room. Taking a deep breath, he burst through the door. On the other side was not a mutant. It was something much worse. “All this is your fault, Mutant!” The frame of The Officer stood in the doorway, with two of his personal entourage in the room, assault rifles trained on him. “That would have been what I would have said if I had been there. Alas, I can now say that one of our own betrayed us, killing all the civilians in here.” Throughout the settlement leader’s taunts The Wanderer was shaking with fury, the thoughts of the lone hand in the doorway prevalent in his mind. “You leaving a few days ago had been awfully convenient for my plans, makes the transition all the sweeter. However, I see that the loose end of this string is still around seeing as the men I sent to kill you are not here.”

”All of this just to get back to me?” The Wanderer spat at The Officer, fury within his eyes. ”You slaughtered all the men, women and children in this place just to get to me? You are more pathetic than I had anticipated.”

“Of course I didn’t do all of this just for you. Of course, you’d think that I’d do all of this because of you. But I have to admit… your abilities intrigued me.” That took the mutant by surprise. “You think you were so handy with the little amount of, now what was it called… psionics? Well, you were not the only being who has knowledge of them and it just so happened that I would have been capable of wielding them. However, my ‘benefactor’ told me the price. A hundred of people or so was a little cost. They even offered to throw in the Behemoth to help wipe out a particular problem for free, so much for a freebie. No matter, you will not live long enough to see this place become a mutant paradise!”

As The Officer finished his spiel, the entourage began firing. The Wanderer didn’t take long for his own psionics to activate and was speeding towards the first one, landing a solid punch onto the man’s chest with enough force to crush the man’s ribs. However, the punch connected with a little thud. The entourage seemed to have been a part of whatever deal their leader was offered and had gained mutant abilities as well. This became apparent when a punch was thrown to his chest that caused him to stagger. It hadn’t been enough to overcome the enhanced strength his psionics gave him, but it was enough to leave a bruise in its place. ”Well, seems you wanted your men to be modelled after me,” The Wanderer chuckled, his voice audible to The Officer. ”Well, I do remember a book from the library having a nice quote: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” Finishing the quote, he sped up to the punching man and grabbed him by his garments. Using the full force of his strength, he threw the man at the other one, both of them hitting the wall with a loud clang. Without breaking stride, he raised his arm and fired a beam at them, incinerating them before they had the chance to get back up.

The Officer gritted his teeth, taken aback by the relentlessness of his nemesis and, supposedly, a new ability. “Curse you, Mutant! I suppose I better finish you off.” Much like The Wanderer did moments ago, the man raised his hand and fired a beam at him, seemingly hitting the man at full force. The dust from the room flew up into the air, making the room seem turbid in air quality.

Thinking that he had finally vanquished, The Officer trembled when the dust cleared and The Wanderer remained standing, his left hand creating a barrier between them. ”Seems your benefactor hasn’t told you about the extent of psionics now, didn’t it?” The Officer, seeing how outmatched he now was, began to stumble out of the room, but a blast to his back slammed him against the wall opposite the power room entrance. Getting back up onto his feet, he didn’t know what hit him when he was whipped around and pain erupted in his right chest. Looking through now broken glasses, he saw The Wanderer had another ability showing – his psionic blade – piercing through the right side of his nearly-collapsed chest. ”And one more thing, child killer. Mutant is such a derogatory term to me. Just call me by my other nickname, one that you’d be familiar with: The Psionic Warrior.” With his nemesis seemingly vanquished, The Wanderer deactivated his psionics, allowing the man to collapse into a heap, and walked back into the office.

Moments to get everything ready, the mutant was ready, strapping himself into the machine. Beforehand, he attached a bracelet-like devise to his left arm. He remembered everything his father told him about the machine before learning about the possible fuel problem that he got sent out to do. ”This device is to help you confirm that you arrive at the correct time that is set to the machine. This should be fine after you teleport to the past, but metals like your revolver will be superheated and can burn through anything if it hasn’t melted on the other side.” He also remembered one thing about the machine that would deter any man. ”While we do have the coordinates and the machine should be able to get you back in time, there is a huge chance that with the power needed to send you back will be spent and you’d be unable to get back here. And we can’t get that much power from the power room here. In summary…” ”Well… let’s see if this hunk of junk works.” Without another word, he pressed the button and closed the capsule. He hears the machine whir up in power and sees the display showing the machine building up energy. After a while, the machine suddenly stopped making any sound and everything seemed to be frozen in place. Thinking that the machine didn’t work and that there was nothing he could do to stop the nightmare he was in, sparks started flying everywhere in the power room as things started to explode. Shortly afterwards, a bright blue light stung his eyes as his conscious and subconscious simply melted away into nothing.
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Meanwhile…

Time: Present day, time unknown.
Location: On a planet somewhere in the galaxy.

This galaxy has a lot of prospects. On a planet where the sky was, unlike Earth, had red skies in the middle of the day and the folia was orange in leaves to absorb the light coming onto the planet, a wolf-like creature was standing on the edge on what was the equivalent of a forest, the trees being fungi in appearance. Unlike a lot of the creatures seen on this planet, this wolf seemed to be on fire, blue flames covering its entire body. It looked all around to observe the creatures that roamed the planet, the majority of them primitive in appearance. Even the more intelligent species were primitive, using crude weapons to try and chase others around the meadow. This planet doesn’t seem ready yet to have my gifts.

The wolf looked towards the sky, as if something got its attention. Without a trace, it disappeared from the edge of the forest. It reappeared later several thousand meters from the surface of the planet, its black eyes scanning the vast darkness in front of it. It seems that something is coming to this very time, it thought to itself, eyes focusing on something in the darkness. There’s a planet that looks like it’s about to receive something big to it. It paused for a moment. This planet… Earth. Seems that there are a group of beings on it that are capable of feats that transcends above the main population. It paused again, concentrating on something. It suddenly chuckled. And it looks like these beings had fought back against Umbraxis. That’s something that it will never let down. This will require some observations. Now judging by the distance, it looks like it’ll be some time before I reach the planet’s vicinity. What this planet would call 2 weeks.... I suppose I could do with the travel time to get more information on this curious planet. Not before long, it began to run, charging off into the unknown and leaving a blue and red trail in its wake.
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Time: Present Day, Early Evening
Location: Near the Esper Estate, Pacific Point

The sun was waning towards the end of the day, though still high up in the sky to keep the sky blue. As the wind gently whistled through the leaves on what was once the Esper Family estate, a point in the nearby wood had shone a bright blue light. As the light faded, The Wanderer appeared, collapsing onto the ground. As it took a moment for him to get to his senses, the various tones of green was the first thing he noticed when he regained his vision. Then, as his sound returned, his hearing was filled with the chirping birds of the summer evening. As he got up, he touched the living grass that he was lying on, his eyes looking around in wonder. Being the first experience in the past, he was taking in what he thought was utopia, seeing living trees and flowers for the first time. While he did think about pinching himself to see whether he was dead or not, the intense heat from the revolver was enough. ”I’ve made it back,” he croaked, his mouth seemingly dry from the journey.

Before he got carried away, he looked at the device that was on his left arm. The time on the device seemed to match at least the position of the sun in the sky and judging by the warm air, it looked like he was also in the ball park of the day and month. However, he was not sure on the year. As he got up, ne notices a building through the trees, recognizing it from the former picture he had seen in the news article. It looks like this is the Esper family estate, he thought. His mind steeled itself back to the reason why he was back here in the first place. He remembered reading that the Espers were powerful people that had psychokinetic abilities, so they might be aware of his sudden appearance on their estate. He made his way through the wood to get a closer look.

However, as he drew closer, the sinking feeling started to fill his stomach. The building looked damaged from what seemed to be a battle, with plastic tape still surrounding the building. He left the wood and walked through the damaged door. Looking through the wreckage, his heart sank as he sees the outlines of where the family had perished. He looked up at the clock, though the cracked face didn’t help with his time dilemma. Walking through the building, untouched from the destruction, he looked and saw the date and time that was on one of the clocks. Apart from the few minutes he had been here, the time the teleporter was set too worked. But The Wanderer looked worried. The Esper Family was to be in peril next year, yet they were already dead. Did something change in the timeline? was now the main question in his mind. He needed answers and he needed them soon. If the family’s death was the starting point of the chain of events that led to the apocalypse of his time, then something had triggered the events much sooner and he needed to find what caused this and fast. He walked out of the damaged doors and looked on at the city that was nearby. ”Somewhere in this city, someone has the answers to what has happened here and who did this.” Without another word, he walked on the lawn of the estate and began to approach the city, the name Pacific Point unknown to him.

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

In

Ponder on the Past III: The Call of The Mother

Time: What is supposed to be Midnight, 200 years in the future
Location: What was once Pine Bluff, Arkansas

The journey back to Settlement 149, unlike the journey from it, had been relatively straightforward. The Humvee had been more durable over the fissures and raised tarmac than the motorbike had been. That plus The Wanderer would have struggled to get the fuel rod back to the settlement just with the bike, so the attempted murder that The Officer orchestrated was in a way convenient. Still, the nerve of the man trying to get him killed had gotten underneath The Wanderer’s skin. As the light was failing, the sight of Pine Bluff was seen in the near distance, which would have pleased the Mutant. However, the failing light had shown smoke rising from the city, which is of concern. With little to hasten him, he pushed down on the pedal and moved quickly to get to his destination.

When he arrived, the slight fear he had about where the smoke was coming from had been realized; during his absence, Settlement 149 had been attacked. The mutants must have found this place by chance or someone in the settlement got sloppy, The Wanderer thought as he got out of the Humvee. Grabbing the fuel rod, he rushed through the main entrance to the settlement. The sight of torn bodies and the gore had turned his stomach, the first time in a while he had seen something this severe. The further in he went, it was clear that the mutants had ravaged at least the upper- to mid-levels of Settlement 149. The majority of the bodies found were the men, leaving a glimmer of hope that the women and children were at least spared from this horrible attack. But he needed to know for sure. He reached the power room, the bodies here had been smelling due to the increased heat. Stepping over unrecognizable limbs and heads, he reached towards a door, the sign ‘Engineer’s Office’. Unlike most of the doors he’s seen on the way down, this door had a few dents but it hadn’t been busted through. Punching through one of the dents, the mutant opened the door and stepped in. The room had been clear of blood and bodies, which was a good sign. The machine in the corner, looking more elaborate than anything else in the power room, or the entire settlement, remained dormant and slightly dirtied from the dust that had been gathering. The Wanderer placed the fuel rod beside the machine and walked back out, slamming the door shut so no one of human strength could get through.

For the next hour, the mutant had ventured further down into Settlement 149, getting lost along the way. This is the first time in a long while since he had been down this far in this place. This was one of the conditions that were made by The Commander in order for him to return from exile since he had gained the mutation and the abilities to use psionics. However, the man was now as dead as the majority of the men in this place. The good news he had seen was that the further down he went, the gore and limbs went down as well. Hope had been rising for the women and children. That was, until the smell started to rise. He reached the bottom level of Settlement 149 and the smell of copper in the air had increased. Going through the rooms, his boots clanging on the metal floor, he reached the final door. However, he didn’t dare to open it. Congealed blood oozed from the partially open door, a small arm propping the door open. The Wanderer did everything in his power to keep his stomach from flipping over on itself. But the thought of all the innocent women and children being herded into this room, where the only exit was a single ladder to the surface closed by a latch, had made it very difficult to keep it in check. Dejected from imagining the slaughter, the mutant made his way to the office in the power room.

Once back in the office, he slumped into the chair, this index finger and thumb pressing gently in the corner of his eyes on either side of the bridge of his nose. I need to fix this future so no one can suffer this fate, he thought, sinking into the chair. From the corner of his eye, he noticed a flashing red light on one of the consoles, leading to a small screen. Moving the office chair to the screen, he noticed the light was next to a button. Thinking that it was a message left by someone, most likely his father, he pressed the button, lighting up the small screen to begin what was the message.

The view of the message looked like it was made in the main power room. The view was dominated by the face of the Engineer – his father – as the workers in the power room were scrambling. The man looked on either side of him, worry apparent on his face, before looking to the screen that was there. “Listen, my son,” he started, his voice cracking under the nervous emotion that he was feeling. “We don’t have much time. Hours after you have left to go to Arkansas Nuclear One, a mutant raiding party had found the vehicle depot and is storming through the site as we speak. The Officer has disappeared shortly after the mutants had arrived and ordered the women and children down below and from judging by the cameras, he had blocked the only escape for them…”

”That coward…” The Wanderer muttered, gritting his teeth in anger.

”… so far, no one has a clue on how to leave this place in one piece without the mutants responding. But one thing we have observed from them is this. The mutants are organized. They didn’t stumble onto the vehicle depot by accident. It is as if something knows that we are he-“ The power room shook like that seen in an earthquake, everyone visible to the camera falling to the ground. A loud, but dull, groan emanated through the room as if something large was close by the power room.

”There’s something large underground?”

”We think that whatever made that sound is controlling these mutants, maybe more of them. It appeared to be huge. But to the point of the message: I think I have found the beginning of the chain of events that created the time we are living in now.” The engineer pulled up a newspaper clipping. How it had survived was a mystery, but on it the large words ‘THE ESPER FAMILY ESTATE DESTROYED: FAMILY KILLED’. “From the looks of this article, dated October 23 2017, this might be the event that had started everything. Events after this started to become more common, ranging from city blocks to whole cities…” As he was saying this, he was showing more articles, main stories ranging from ‘LA STRIP DESTROYED: SOURCE UNKNOWN’ to ‘A CITY IN RUIN: LOST HAVEN DESTROYED’. “… Being destroyed by some creature. Using some of the power in Settlement 149, I have been able to set a date and time on the machine so you can go back months before this day to find and destroy whatever starts these events.”

Large banging sounds could be heard in the room, with everyone in the room rushing to the only entrance in. “You know what to do. Go back then, find whatever started all of this and bring an end to this nightmare. You might still be alive as a time fragment once the mission is completed, so I want you to live out the rest of your days in the peace I know you deserve.” The engineer looked down, eyes welling up at a fate that has been sealed. “Even though I have not said this to you before you left, I could not be more proud of you of the man you have become, mutation or not. If only your mother was here to see you become the champion that we will need in this desperate time. I love you, my son…” Men started to fly from the entrance to the power room before a large hand grabbed the engineer’s head. Static appears a second after that.

By the time the message had finished, The Wanderer started to fight through the tears. He started slamming his fist down onto the console, however not as strong as he usually does it as to not break the console. ”You didn’t have to go out like that. Not because of some coward refusing to do his goddamn job!” After a few moments, he got up from the chair and looked at the machine. However, he was once back into it when the earthquake came. The now more audible groan could be heard, similar to that of a whale underwater. Much like the recording, this sounded very close. ”Well, I don’t have much time before you come back and learn that someone is here. I best get this machine ready. Time to bring this fucking nightmare to an end.”