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

The rhythmic click-clank of boots striking the polished granite floors echoed through the hallway as Travis Murdock traversed the long corridor leading to the Hounds of Humanity’s situation room. In the hours since launching the attacks that leveled three American cities, the people had begun rising up against the organization that had been responsible. Cells in Mexico, Las Vegas and Pacific Point, among others had fallen under attack, and even the President of the United States himself had come out threatening to rain hell down upon the heads of the Hounds.

It was a challenge that he looked forward to meeting head on.

Upon entering the situation room, Murdock immediately made his way over to the large computer array in the center of the room where Clancy and a few others were gathered looking over the reports that were coming in from numerous cells throughout the country.
“Status report.” He said to no one in particular as he briefly glanced at the vast computer array.

“More of the same, sir.” Clancy said. “We’ve been under siege all over the country. Pacific Point, Vegas, New York and Boston cells have all reported losses. We were also attacked by an unknown paramilitary outfit in Mexico, and it looks as if the same group, or at least an affiliated group has attacked the warehouse district here in Lost Haven.”

“Interesting. Anything else?” Murdock asked coolly, if he were angry over the losses they’ve suffered recently, he wasn’t showing it.
“Yes sir. Since the President declared war on us, we’ve suffered total cell collapse in Miami, Baltimore, and San Francisco. Also, the weapons cache in Chicago is currently under attack by a marine task force. I’ve calculated that they’ll be a total loss in under an hour.”
“Damn it.” Murdock spat out. “Does anybody have any good news?”

“Perhaps. The heroes have proven to be predictable, and as you suspected they’ve gathered outside of Sherman Center in Lost Haven.” Clancy told him.

“Ah yes, Arthur always was a creature of habit. What do you say we not keep them waiting? Let’s hit them with everything we’ve got.” Murdock said. “Now.”

***

Within moments of the order being given, the Hounds of Humanity had mobilized. From the hidden base just outside of Lost Haven, nearly a dozen Black Scorpion series assault choppers lifted off and headed into the city. The futuristic helicopters made the Apache class crafts look like sight seeing helicopters that you might see at a state fair. The Black Scorpions were heavily armed, however, despite the machine guns and missiles that they adorned the craft, each one also came equipped with a bunked buster bomb, capable of destroying enemy encampments even meters underground.

Following behind the Black Scorpions were several dozen trucks, each loaded with Hounds of Humanity foot soldiers. The wave of heavily armed vehicles raced from their secret base to Sherman Square. The traveled at a high rate of speed and with little abandon, forcing other motorists who were unfortunate enough to be in their way off of the road, and early running down a number of pedestrians who were caught in their path.

Several blocks East of Sherman Square, the ground shook as half a dozen Hounds of Humanity troops piloting large mech suits that stood nearly a story tall rumbled toward the gathered heroes. Each of the mechs were equipped with two mini guns as well as a pair of rocket launchers. Taking up the lead toward Sherman Square was the armored Hound known as The Judicator, and the man known as The Revelator followed just behind the mechs in an armored transport van.

***

From the bunker, Murdock watched as his army advanced on the heroes gathered at Sherman Square. Excitement washed over him as his forces moved in to finally finish what he had started weeks ago. To finish what he set out to do the day that he lost his family.
From the camera in one of the Black Scorpion cockpits, he was able to see what the pilots saw, and what he saw made him grin. A collection of heroes gathered just in front of Sherman Center, though the gathering of heroes looked to be anything but a cohesive unit. From the looks of things, they not only hadn’t agreed on a plan of action, but they looked to be arguing with one another.
Idiots. Murdock thought to himself as a grin formed across his face.

“Take them out, now.” Murdock said coolly. “Open fire.”

And the collective forces of the Hounds of Humanity did just that, firing off an opening volley that rained destruction down on not only the gathered heroes, but on Sherman Square as a whole.

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

As the gathered heroes turned to make their way into Sherman Center, Icon was surprised by even more arrivals. A man clad in black and gold, who appeared to be known to another of the new arrivals, the woman who called herself The Alchemyst, arrived on the scene. After making some bold proclamations, he and the Alchemyst had a meeting of the minds, much like the one that had taken place when the woman calling herself Lady Hex arrived on the scene. However, unlike when the two women spoke, this was not a conversation about how the metas couldn’t be trusted to deal with the issue at hand. This was a more intimate conversation between two people that were genuinely concerned about one another. Though he could hear every word that they were saying, he did his best not to listen.

However, he had certainly made a mark on the newly formed “team.” The young archer was the first to speak up, followed by the newest arrival, the woman in black who had arrived just moments before.

“You know, asshole, if you think we’re weak then why don’t you go off and save the fucking day by yourself. No one is making you stick around,” she snapped then pushed into the building. The door slammed open then cracked on impact, leaving the glass with a spiderwebbed surface. It slowly creaked back into place, now lopsided.

“And you can take your friend too since she doesn’t trust metas to get the job done.”

Icon took a look around at the group that had gathered there in Sherman Square, his eyes meeting with Alexa’s, whose expression was one of concern. She simply shook her head and looked down to the ground as if she were able to read his mind.

“Are you kidding me right now?” Icon finally blurted out. “We’re facing a threat that is capable of wiping entire cities off of the face of the Earth, and you’re out here bickering like children.” He said as he looked around and made eye contact with everyone. “We’re here to do a job. We have to take that satellite out before it can ever fire again. We’re here to save lives. If you’re here to help us do that, great. But if you can’t get your act together, step aside and let us do what needs to be done.”

“He’s right.” said a voice seemingly out of nowhere. Then the source of the voice materialized out of thin air before the gathered heroes. Icon and the others were surprised to see a rather striking young woman, who’s teal skin and blue hair stood out in contrast to the black and grey leather suit that she was wearing.

“These Hounds of Humanity are fanatics, and they have to be stopped.” She said. “I’ve seen what people like this are capable of, and I know all to well what happens when nobody stands up and does something. It happened to my home, I won’t stand by while it happens to another .”

“If you’re here to help, we’ll gladly take it.” Icon said to the strange young woman. “And you are?

“My name is Chr...Flux. You can call me Flux.”

“Alright then, let’s get inside and figure out our next step.”

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

An Undisclosed Location

President Jefferson Blake stood at the makeshift podium before the cameras in a daze. Just an hour ago, he had been pulled from his office in the West Wing and hurried away from the Whitehouse, to a series of underground tunnels that beneath Washington, DC that had been built during the height of the Cold War. The tunnels lead to what could almost be described as an underground city, which had been meant to function as a safe house for the entire US government in the event of an attack on the Capitol. And while Washington, DC itself had not been attacked, the country itself was under siege. As he was relocated from the White House, his security staff had briefed him on the attacks that had been carried out on Paris, Texas, Nautican Island, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

He knew that he needed to be strong. Not to put on some self aggrandizing show of power to stroke his own ego and to appeal to his base, but he had to be strong for the American People as a whole. He needed to show that although things were bad, he was still here for them, and he would be sure that everything would be alright.

Even though he wasn’t so sure that it would be.

The man behind the camera began counting down to the moment they would be going live to address the nation.

Three…

Two…

One…

As the red light on the camera came on, indicating that they were now live, President Blake’s mouth was dry. Without the aid of a teleprompter, he tried to find the words that had been dancing around in his head from the moment that he learned of the attacks. As he tried to speak, his tongue felt like sandpaper.

The words just wouldn’t come out.

So he looked down at the podium and took the small plastic cup that was sitting off to the side and took a sip of water, and then a deep breath and looked directly into the camera.

“My Fellow Americans.” He began.

“Earlier today, the United States was attacked by the terrorist organization The Hounds of Humanity. Over the last several months, these terrorists have waged their personal war against the people of this great country. However, none of their actions, as heinous as they were could have prepared us for the devastation that they caused today, in an attack that is completely unprecedented in the history of not only the United States, but in the history of the world. Three cities, full of hard working people, full of families, full of hopes and dreams, completely and utterly devastated by the Hounds and their so called ‘Finger of God.’” He paused for a moment as if to collect his thoughts.

“Today we pray for the people who were lost in Paris, Texas, Philadelphia, and Nautican Island. We mourn with the families that were left behind, and we grieve together as a nation.” He paused again as he attempted to put what he was feeling into words.

“I know that you are frightened, however, now is not the time to give in to your fear. Now is the time for the people of this great country to stand up together and tell the monsters that were responsible for these attacks that we will not be beaten, we will not be bullied, and we will not stand for such evil acts of terrorism on our shores, or against our people.” He said, his voice becoming stronger as he spoke, the anger that he felt beginning to show in his words.

“I am authorizing the use of the full strength of the United States Military in order to hunt down the so called Hounds of Humanity and bring those responsible for the atrocities witnessed today, to justice, as well as to search out and destroy the orbital weapon from which they launched their attacks.” He pounded his fist against the podium, clearly impassioned as he spoke.

“There is no place in this world or the next, where these monsters will be able to hide. As I leave you today, I have a message for the Hounds of Humanity themselves. You have hit us. You may have hurt us, but you can rest assured, we are a strong and resilient people, and we will persevere. You can run, you can hide. But we are coming for you, and hell is coming with us.”

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

Very short bridge post. More to come shortly

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

No sooner had Icon and the gathering of heroes turned to go inside of Arthur’s Sherman Center, did another newcomer arrive on the scene. This young woman had arrived on a motorcycle, and before introducing herself had expressed her desire to help take down the Hounds of Humanity before they could do to Lost Haven what they had already done to three American cities. It was a sentiment that he shared, and he was glad that so many people had come together to stand up against the evil that the Hounds of Humanity embodied. As the newest arrival finished speaking, Icon looked to Radiance and Arthur, then to Lyger, who all seemed to nod in agreement.

“In that case, why don’t you join us? Icon said to the woman. Before the woman responded, he was suddenly aware of another presence.

“How many more are going to show up?” He heard a female voice say. He looked around, and after a moment his eyes locked onto the source. It was a lone figure dressed all in black, a hood partially concealing a mask.

“Hopefully, as many as we need.” Icon responded to the woman who stood firm away from the group. “Now I think it’s time we took this inside.” Icon said as he motioned for the gathered heroes to follow him. If they were going to do something about the Hounds of Humanity, they needed to act fast. The Hounds had already proven what they were capable of, and Icon was afraid of what they might do to top their latest attack.

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

The images of Philadelphia’s destruction were burned into Icon’s mind as he rocketed from the ruins of the City of Brotherly Love back to Lost Haven. He had done what he could to help with the rescue an recovery efforts, however, a surprise message from Chris Arthur had lured him back to his home city.

“We are currently experiencing a crisis. Please report to Sherman Center immediately.”

Icon had assumed that Arthur has somehow tagged his suit with some sort of device the last time they had worked together during the Pax Metahumana crisis. Though some would see this as a breach of trust, he didn’t, not completely anyhow. And in this case, he was glad that Arthur had done it. It was clear to Icon that it would take a united front to take down the Hounds.

As he flew over Lost Haven, he found it striking at how empty the streets were, though, the empty streets were not isolated to Lost Haven. It was clear that the Hounds had succeeded in instilling fear into the entire country. Icon slowed and began his descent as he approached Sherman Square. Though Arthur had indicated that the meeting would be in the high rise Sherman Center, Icon felt that it was more important to remind the people that he was still here, so he touched down in the middle of the empty street.

It seemed that others had the same idea.

A moment later Icon could hear what sounded like a jet approaching. He looked up and to the left and saw the familiar figure of the Iron Knight approaching, with Radiance right behind him. Slipstream was the next to arrive, with Lyger following suit.

“Was it as bad as they’re saying?” Radiance asked Icon as she put a hand on his arm.

“It’s worse. Paris and Nautican Island are gone. Philadelphia is completely devastated.” Icon told them.

“How did this happen?” Slipstream cut in, her tone resonated with doubt.

“What’s important is how do we stop it from happening again.” Lyger said.

As the heroes talked amongst themselves, none of them noticed that they when a tall, masked woman began to approach them, calling out to them.

“H-hey.” She had said, yet the group of heroes didn’t acknowledge her, they just continued their conversation.

Suddenly there was a banging sound, as if someone had hit something against the street, and the troupe of heroes were engulfed by dust and wind. They all looked around in surprise, and when the dust had settled they all laid eyes on a single tall, slim woman who’s face was concealed by a mask and a pair of goggles.

“You don’t know me. There isn’t a single person here to represent the magic folk getting terrorized by the Hounds of Humanity the same as you guys. My name is the Alchemyst.” She told them as they looked at her, clearly surprised by her approach.

“I was at the university the day it was attacked, I destroyed those towers. This is the bit of technology I fished out that they used to hurt metahumans with - a special sound frequency. Probably the same shit we’re going to run into again. If you want to dismantle that satellite you’re gonna to have to do it properly.”

“I’m the woman for the job. I have as much at stake, Lost Haven is my home. And. . .” She paused looking each hero in the eye, “I’m going to help whether you like it or not.”

“If you’re willing to fight, we can use all the help we can get.” Icon said to the woman. “Maybe it’s time we took this conversation inside.”

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

Philadelphia was burning.

The moment that Icon saw the broadcast about the multiple Hounds attacks he dropped what he was doing and took flight. From all of the reports he went straight to the City of Brotherly Love, or at least what was left of it. He chose to go to Philly first because those reports made it clear that is where he would be able to do the most good, as much destruction as had been wrought on the city; it was in pretty good condition compared to the other two cities.

But that wasn’t saying much.

Many of the iconic landmarks that made Philly a must see for many people, Independence Hall, the Rocky Statue, Frankin Square and even Geno’s Steaks had been razed. The Liberty Bell was gone, and the US Mint was in ruins.
In his time as a hero, Icon had seen a lot. He had seen men and monsters do unspeakable things, yet he had never seen such wholesale destruction. As he did what he could to help, mostly pulling survivors, and those not so fortunate from the rubble, a persistent feeling gnawed at his gut.

Guilt.

He felt guilty that he had let things go this far. He knew that he should have gone after that satellite the moment that the Hounds of Humanity had used it to destroy Chris Arthur’s home. However, try as he might, he couldn’t find it. He didn’t know where it was, or if it had even survived its initial attack. It must have been a mobile satellite, or cloaked with some sort of stealth technology. The fact was, when he had looked for it, it didn’t seem to be there.

Then he let it go.

He never investigated it further. He never thought that the Hounds would use it in such a massive scale. He had underestimated the depths that the Hounds would sink, he underestimated the atrocities that they would commit in the name of their cause.

He underestimated the Hounds of Humanity.

He would not make that mistake again.

***

Lyger stood in a stunned silence as he watched the footage of the simultaneous Hounds attacks which left two cities wiped from the face of the earth and another in ruins. He had suspected that the Hounds of Humanity were planning something big, however, he never imagined that they were capable of the utter destruction that they had wrought.

“Harry, are you seeing this?” he said into the com in his mask without taking his eyes from the large video screen in the middle of Crown Square.

“Yes. It’s all over the news. I’ve never seen anything like it.” His mentor confirmed. “Kyle, this…this is bad.”

Lyger had no response. The sights on the large screen shaken him to the core and left him utterly speechless. How did they allow things to get this bad? Why didn’t they take out the satellite the moment they learned about it?

As far as Lyger was concerned, the blood of those lost in these attacks was just as much on his hands, and the hands of the other so-called heroes as it was on the Hounds. They failed to act when they should have and that was a mistake that he was determined not to repeat.

“Harry, how did we…” before he was able to finish asking just how they’d managed to screw up so badly, an electronic voice broke in over his com system.

“We are currently experiencing a crisis. Please report to Sherman Center immediately.” The robotic female voice said. Lyger did not know how Arthur had managed to send him the message, either he had integrated some sort of device into his tech or Arthur had hacked his systems.

Neither possibility was good.

“What the fu….”

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

Maya is approved

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

The 5th Street Promenade had become a go to destination for tourists as well as Pacific Point residents alike. The massive outdoor shopping and entertainment complex was made up of a number of palm tree lined “streets” that were only open to pedestrian traffic. Within the Promenade one could find any number of shops which offered a wide variety of goods which served the wants and needs of just about anyone who entered the complex. There were also dozens of restaurants scattered throughout the Promenade who’s kitchens filled the air with aromas that would tempt even the ficklest of eaters.

The 5th Street Promenade was also one of Pacific Point’s main entertainment hubs. At the far western point of the property, which overlooked the waterfront as well as the city’s iconic boardwalk and pier, was the West End Gazebo, which served as a free concert venue. There were also a number of street entertainers who performed everything from street magic to juggling and balancing acts, to singers for the hordes of shoppers who descended on the Promenade on any given day or night.

“And then he said ‘See you around.’” Amanda said between sips from her giant sized soda that she had gotten when they had stopped at In ‘N Out Burger for a snack. She had regaled Izzy with the story of her first meeting with Icon at least five times, and now was Gemma’s turn. Gemma, for her part was a good sport. Though she heard the story several times she acted just as excited as she had been the first time. Amanda was one of her best friends, and she could see how much it meant to her, so Gemma continued to indulge her.

Besides, it was kind of a big deal.

As they walked past one of the Promenade’s two megaplexes, CMA Cinema 12; Amanda’s gaze was drawn to a poster featuring Marlon Wayans. The movie was called “The Bad Doctor,” and featured Wayans as Dorian Von Trapper, AKA, the Bad Doctor. From what she could tell, he was a wannabe dictator who had grand plans for world domination, yet lacked neither the means nor the skill of seeing those plans come to fruition. It was a big studio spoof of the now deceased villain The Good Doctor, who had reportedly met his hands in South America at the hands of War-Pulse, sometime after the Pax Metahumana crisis, and was advertised as being brought to us by the minds behind “Homeboys in Outer Space.”

“You know, I have no desire to see that.” Amanda said as they passed the poster. “The actual guy was a bit of a lame ass, I don’t need to see a spoof.”

They continued their trek through the crowded streets on their way to their destination, Musicall, the new music store that boasted a massive inventory of CD’s and Blu Ray of all of the latest and greatest acts in music history. Everything from Elvis to David Bowie, 2Pac to Taylor Swift, they had it all. Or at least, that was what Amanda and Gemma were determined to find out.

“You know, I could go for a pizza. Want to stop at Dough Boyz?” Amanda asked.

“What? We just had In ‘N Out. You’re still hungry?” Gemma asked astonished.
“Super fast metabolism remember?” Amanda said with a grin.

“Shit. I wish I could eat like that and keep my figure.” Gemma said with mock annoyance.

Amanda’s next words were lost when she saw the images on the massive TV screens that adorned the walls of the CBN Scene, a family restaurant that was branded after the CBN television network and was more of a cross between a sports bar and an arcade.

“Oh. My. God…”Amanda’s words trailed off as she saw live footage of a destroyed city. The buildings were in ruins and the city itself looked to be on fire. If the network hadn’t identified it as Philadelphia, she never would have recognized it. She was not the only one who stopped to take notice; soon a large crowd had gathered before the screens and was watching in a grim silence. The news reporter had reported that Philadelphia was in better condition than the two other cities that had been struck, Nautican Island and Paris, Texas, both of which had been completely destroyed.

Then they played the message from the spokesperson for the Hounds of Humanity, who had claimed responsibility for the atrocity that they were now just standing witness to.

“We warned you. We told you that compliance was non negotiable. Yet you chose not to listen.

The time for talk has past. From this moment on, you are either with us or you are against us.

We are coming, and you will either stand with us, or you will burn with them.”

Amanda stood there in silence along with the rest of the crowd as the Hounds of Humanity's message finished. There was a knot in the pit of her stomach as she processed what she had just seen. Then she was suddenly overtaken by a renewed feeling of resolve.

“I have to go.” Amanda said without looking away from the jumbo screens.

“Where are you going?” Gemma said, her voice barely above a whisper as she tried to hold back tears.

“Lost Haven. I’m going to Lost Haven.” Amanda said, and with the blink of an eye, she was gone.

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

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