Shard

Heroes of Azure City 🎫 Always Open

Nico's Apartment

Interactions - None

A cold, sterile interior greeted the two as they stepped into George's workshop. Reminiscent of a movie set reminding an onlooker of the secret, hidden basement riddled with computers and screens, George's most precious space followed along the same theme. Silvery steel rowed walls, floors and ceiling alike, clearly revealing the large man's reluctance to ever move from their apartment. One could only imagine the hours spent on constructing the venue, not to mention the favors he had called in. However, in this sequence, it would be fair to state that Nico and George had been hired by the most obscure and obfuscated parts of the American military to deal with issues otherwise kept at a distance. Payment was issued in the way of technology which George gleefully accepted. This would, of course, dredge the issue of Nico's secret. Indeed, there were a negligible number of officials who knew who the pop star actually was, but a mutual understanding brought the two parties to a leveled field, and it was a beneficial relationship to utter the least. "Welcome to Georgia." Came a joke from the veteran, before Nico scoffed at him.

"Nerd," the boy smirked, "ey! Don't lick anything!" Azure's pop star continued and pointed at his dogs who curiously followed them into the workshop. Noting the many screens and panels throughout the room, one could make a guided guess as to what other role George played between himself and Nico. The man was a respectable hacker, offering Nico, or rather Rayne, assistance on the field in the form of Intel. At times, one would be surprised by how organized their outfit was, and it was safe to consider them assassins, with accepted missions from officially non-existent parts of the military. Old friends of George, people he had worked with in the past. "Ever considered playing anything else than Bob Marley in here?" The small, pale mutant thinned over his shoulder towards the laptop with 'Three little birds,' paused on the screen.

"Boy, you don't fix what ain't broken," the larger male stated in response. Bob Marley had without a doubt been part of George's life for quite some time, an assumption safe to make following the parafinelia ever so common amongst his belongings.

An initial image to greet whoever stepped into the room was quite clearly the many blades professionally displayed in large, glass cases and illuminated by internal lights. They were the various weapons Nico had used throughout his career as a vigilante, each blade designed with one purpose in mind. Killing. Blades of varying sizes, weight and structure were laid bare beneath the light, each quite unique in its build. One would take into consideration the fact that none of these weapons were designed for normal use, but rather specifically for Nico's abilities. Most lacked handles, rather being a long, slender blade stretching from one end to the other.

Of course, no vigilante armory would be complete without its very own glass display of suits. For Nico, it was mainly a presentation of masks. He quite hated leather and spandex. Some followed along a theme of beauty, others of horror. Some were plain and a few were actually cute, a sense of morbid mockery in the face of chaotic bloodletting.

Each mask offered the same repertoire of functions. They distorted Nico's voice, allowed for constant communication with George back in base, and contained lenses which showed the dark-skinned man exactly what Nico was seeing through a camera. Other than that, Nico quite enjoyed the simplicity of his selection. "Alright, so where is this beauty of yours?" The boy asked, slipping his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, a piece of fabric easily swallowing his tiny form.

"Here's our new baby," George stated, pulling out a section of the examination table, as if a drawer, and revealed the sword within. Though somewhat simple in appearance, the blade offered an incredibly elegant build. Double edged, like every sword in Nico's selection, the silver colored surface of this sword interlocked and slithered together along its length as it accumulated in a sharp tip. Entirely straight, the sword lacked a handguard as such an addition would string along complete irrelevance, with how Nico wielded swords. The blade did, in fact, have a handle, as Nico had found himself in a position where he was forced to arm someone else. Though a rare scenario, the difference between life and death warranted preparation. Of course, there were also times where he forced people to fight to the death and he would spare the winner. Nico was somewhat tyrannical when wearing his mask, returning all the wrongdoings of his opponents tenfold, with twisted satisfaction. Also, he didn't often spare the winner. "Let me present to you, The Serpent." George carefully lifted the sword onto the examination table, a silk cloth beneath. "Ninety centimeters," he indicated the blade's length, a finger traveling from one end of the silken cloth to the other as he did not want to touch the perfect surface with his bare skin. "Two pounds, slightly above average for a sword," George continued, "cutting out the excess weight and making it more aerodynamic," he explained, motioning toward the holes in the sword's length. Too heavy and the blade would be difficult to launch effectively. "I designed it from Arctic Steel, army is still testing that stuff."

"Arctic Steel?" Nico tilted his head, placing a hand on Lucifer, the most mischievous of the three brothers and kept him from wreaking havoc in the workshop. Where Belial and Mephistopheles were calm, collected and most all, disciplined, their youngest brother was anything but. Nico would have found this infuriating, if he wasn't the exact person Lucifer had learned this from.

"Real damn sturdy. With the force you launch these things, it'll get stuck in a metal wall. Won't cut through it, but you won't be slashing metal anyway," the engineer finished. Nico's swords were launched with fearsome strength, but while the momentum would allow a bullet-like shot from his blades to sink the sword into metal, actually slicing it was another matter. Physics played a large part in Nico's powers. Something he needed to understand, because no one was more aware than him, that without his powers, Nico was powerless. "Finally, it's full tang. Same piece of steel from top to bottom. Handle is bolted on."

Learning about the sword, Nico's dainty, pale fingers carefully traced a path across the rubber handle, followed by gently wrapping his digits around the sword's shape and turned it. One could clearly see the metal between each half of the rubber hilt, the boy's eyes drinking in the sight of this weapon in the process of successful imprinting. He needed to learn about the shape, he needed to lift it to reveal the weight in his hands, and he ever so carefully padded the side of the edge with a finger, growing accustomed to its most immediate danger. "This thing feels like sex."

"... Classy," George cleared his throat. With a very dim hue licking past the sword's entirety, George could make the conclusion that Nico had managed to imprint with the weapon, a small smirk edging across the man's lips.

"Alright," the boy carefully lowered his new sword, "let's go to the festival."

"Dude, we're two hours early." George raised a brow, as he crossed his arms.

"Correction, we're two hours Nico," the pop star winked, and stepped out of the workshop, leaving George dumbfounded.

Following a bout of silence, the man finally responded. "That makes no sense!" 

Attachment

The Serpent

Heroes of Azure City 🎫 Always Open

@Archmage MC

It's a free roam type RP with overlaying events I put up, and players can request. You do what you want, interact with who you want and go where you please. So far, most people have taken an angle on slice of life for a start. There is no hero force. I do not know where that impression originated.

Heroes of Azure City 🎫 Always Open

@Pirouette
✅ Approved.

@Moyai
✅ Approved.

@Salrynn
✅ Approved.

@Bartimaeus
✅ Ian McApproved.

@soph
✅ Approved.

Well done, everyone.

Heroes of Azure City 🎫 Always Open

@Cryptek12

No limit.

Heroes of Azure City 🎫 Always Open

@GamerXZ A human with powers is a mutant.

Heroes of Azure City 🎫 Always Open

@GamerXZ No, you can make a non-mutant character, that's a human.

Heroes of Azure City 🎫 Always Open

Azure Festival - Chaos and Bloodshed

🍁Combat oriented event.
🍁Azure Park is in flames.
🍁People are dying in hordes.

Heroes of Azure City 🎫 Always Open

The first post is up.

I'd like to ask everyone to write in a header with each post, where they are, and who they are interacting with.

Heroes of Azure City 🎫 Always Open

Nico's Apartment

Interactions - None

"You'll die, if you go in there," came a young, somewhat tensed voice, Nico's unnatural eyes remaining fixed at the point of interest, without a moment's pause. It was clear that the pop star found himself in a less comfortable position, a gulp traveling down his slender, porcelain throat. Indeed, one would be forgiven when mistaking this creature for a doll, neatly cared for and presented upon a dusted shelf. Such was the nature of Nico Devina, a mutant known throughout the world for his long-spanning music career. He quite enjoyed the prospect, a statement the time-frozen boy had made clear on interviews, where he leaned against his porcelain appearance and adopted the persona on stage several times. He had, since a time back, learned to embrace his inhuman appearance, finding the attention endearing, rather than apprehensive. Perhaps an ironic twist, then, that ball jointed dolls had been made in Nico's image, one of which he had at home. The given name was obvious. Mini-Me. Granted, it was not Nico who procured the display, but rather his close friend and bodyguard.

"Don't worry fam', I've got this," a dark, gruff voice returned, a clear contrast to the melodic state of Nico's tongue. There was a clear tension in the air, only pierced by the occasional sip of a soda bottle, as the large, flat screen television on the wall warranted the roommates' attention and undisturbed focus.

"Dude, you have two bullets left," the doll-like boy commented as he turned to his friend. Chocolate colored skin, clearly visible muscles and a tight, skin fitting tank top drew the man a complete opposite to the minuscule, pale mutant he was tasked to protect. Of course, this arrangement was merely what the public knew as the full performance. If one was to delve deeper into the truth of their relationship, one would note that George, Nico's bodyguard, had put his militaristic knowledge of weapons manufacturing into good use. He was a weapons engineer in the army, something which had not been hidden as a secret. The mysteries began where Nico's life as a now retired vigilante found itself beneath the spotlight.

"You know two bullets is all I need," George smirked, leaning back against the large sofa where Nico had fallen asleep more often than the boy would like to admit. With three large dogs sitting amongst them, it was difficult not to indulge in their warm fur.

"Two bullets isn't all Leon needs," Nico motioned towards the screen at the remake of Resident Evil 2 George was playing.

"Son, you've gotta' have faith," the dark man offered before shifting into Leon's inventory and produced a grenade, throwing it into the zombie infested room. "See?"

"Son?" Nico grinned, his slender fingers tracing their way through Lucifer's fur. There was a joke in that, one the pale figure had often brought to the forefront. Lucifur. "I'm like, old."

"Nah, kid, you've just been sixteen longer than most." A large hand came to flick Nico's side. He wasn't wrong, of course. Despite the mutant's age, Nico never displayed a behavior akin to an older male. It was safe to say that his mental wiring had been somewhat affected by the boy's inability to age.

"Ugh, fine," the popstar leaned against his three dogs, each one challenging him in size. "We need to leave in two hours." It was fair to give credit where credit was due. Nico had performed at charity events more than once and doing it out in the park made the show accessible to everyone, while raising money to the cause at hand. This specific event was designed to raise money for the homeless, an issue even the spectacular Azure City wasn't above.

"You think this will help more people than chopping bad guys into hamburgers?" Though phrased in a peculiar manner, Nico saw the purpose behind George's statement.

With a short pause sealing the boy's lips, Nico eventually offered a response. "No," he said, "but it's something. I know you want to start the crusade again."

"I did make you a new blade," the larger man stated casually, Nico's attention perking like a meerkat. Though the boy had left his days of punishing the wicked behind, there were times where he wished for nothing else than to wield his blades to sever the limbs of villainy. He had done so six years ago, the name Rayne conjuring fear in the ears of those who would do wrong. Every impacting moment he found himself in was left a horrific scene of blood sinew and bone. A statement Nico was happy to make. A monster for the monsters themselves.

"Stop tempting me," the porcelain-skinned mutant waved his hand, "I'm all about singing, now. And soda." Nico pointed at his picture on the plastic bottle held between the boy's scrawny fingers. Initially, he hated the idea of having his face on a brand of beverage, but once he grew positively addicted to it, he couldn't complain.

"Isn't that creepy? And kind of vain?" George laughed, shaking his head as a hand lowered itself to Belial's back, muscular fingers combing across the dog's fur.

"You're just jealous that your mugshot doesn't taste like carbonated strawberry," Nico winked, the boy teasingly shaking the drink in front of his friend before taking another sip. It was fair to say that the two had a professional working relationship, and it was no lie that George acted as a full-time bodyguard for the pop star. However, one would be more accurate when considering the bachelors a pair of roommates, for that was what they ultimately were.

"Alright, princess." The dark male rose to his feet with a stretch. "Why don't you finish that Nico juice of yours on the way and I can show you what I've been working on." Having a workshop presentation in one's home was not a major oddity, but the secret room in Nico's apartment was not what one would consider a legal addition.

"Why do you tease me so? T'is it thine desire to see blood soak the streets once more?" Came a theatrical display from the once anti-hero, as Nico lowered his small feet to the floor, each dog loyally following their master where he stood.

"Just have a look and if you really don't want to disembowel some bad boys afterward, we'll keep soothing America's ears with your fruity ass voice," George finished, reaching for a button which exposed the secret doorway into his workshop.

Heroes of Azure City 🎫 Always Open

@DarkRecon

She is good to go.