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    1. Shard 12 yrs ago

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I'll start tinkering on a character.

You okay with a mutant (meta) who is neither a villain nor a hero? Someone on the start of an anti-hero path, as a gang-member and a bit of a hoodlum? A character with powers but no actual, formal experience.

In summary - an inexperienced mutant living in a bad neighborhood, and does some bad shit for reasons they believe are right.

Or would you rather we play more battle-hardened and experienced soldier-type characters?
I am interested in this.

Location
💀 Brookside Bar.

Time
💀 Evening.

Interactions
💀 None.



Change. It was the bulk of what had transpired following Azhar’s involvement in the destruction of a mobster family known as the ‘Guglianos’. Whether a positive or negative shift, Azhar was quite unsure, but a twist in the narrative it truly remained. A bright smile had made way for a far more mellow expression, and a talkative young man had paused ceaseless chatter. He recalled the countless conversations held between himself and the ruling bodies of HERO, which in turn allowed for a spiritual journey to follow. Fifty-seven people killed, or rather, erased. What remained was fabric, each individual article of clothing scrubbed clean of DNA. ‘As if they had never existed’, was a sentence Azhar had been afforded during the many interactions now drilled into his pale skull. Perhaps most shocking of all was Azhar’s lack of a new bracelet, despite the old trinket’s destruction. Additionally, he was assigned rather specific assignments, all of which were less than public in their execution.

One would be forgiven in response to confusion, but the development of this specific mutant’s career maintained a single path. He could not escape who he was, and denying his nature was a child’s naive dream. No, for Azhar, other doors had opened. Of course, the change came hand in hand with his growing control where a man by the handle of ‘Morocco’ taught the deathly creature how to conduct himself. Had the story been written by a more lighthearted author, perhaps Azhar would have surpassed his inner desires, his biological programming. However, such was not the case, as reality dictated.

Rather, for the dark mutant now enjoying a glass of whiskey in a street-side bar, the outcome found itself split down the middle. He did, indeed, manage to profess control over himself, but that desire to extend a deathly touch would forever remain. Azhar was a virus, an entity with one sole purpose, which was to spread. Such was the nature of any creation such as himself, be it a mindless infection or an inhuman being neither homosapien nor ‘gifted’.

What then, was one to do? Coldwater was a waste of Azhar’s abilities and the grayscale world they all lived in demanded more than the golden hand of heroism. Nothing quite as grand as Division X, Zee was prescribed a more singular group, one that consisted of himself, an Angel of Death, if the dramatic statement once ascribed to him held any value.

It would be fair to consider Azhar an Operative, rather than a Hero. He most certainly wouldn’t classify himself as the latter, nor did he find any interest in the concept. Not anymore. Indeed, the boy still remembered thoughts as presented where he claimed a position of fame, a stage where he could prove that Monsters were Heroes, as well. He was proven wrong. Despite his best efforts, Azhar was unable to deny his biology, what he truly was, and that was assuredly not a Hero.

His friends, despite their collateral shortcomings, claimed such a title with flamboyant zeal. As for Azhar, he was done pretending. Morocco had taught the boy much, a wise and experienced man with an ability to tame the Devil. Zee was thankful for the opportunity, something which saved his life, in all fairness. Something which had been gifted by Samson, a young Hero by far surpassing his age with wisdom and foresight. Despite a blatant difference in personality, Azhar could see how Morocco and Samson confessed to a relationship akin to father and son.

Clicking his claws against the glass between those taloned fingers, Azhar’s attention rose to the bartender as she spoke, thoughts occasionally drifting to a party his companions were currently attending. Blake had extended an invitation to the Devil as well, and where Zee would have jumped at the opportunity a select few months earlier, this changed individual now occupying a bar in Brookside found little interest in such gatherings.

Yes, change, it was indeed a heavy word which encapsulated the passing of these months. From Hero to Operative, from bright to mellow, and most notably, from denial to acceptance. Azhar had embraced the darkness within, the emboldened yearning and horrific joy erupting from destruction. He had embraced it, and in its wake he had abandoned futile attempts at another outlook. If HERO had a less reputable section of secret assignments drenched in moral ambiguity, Azhar was unquestionably there, wielding powers previously sealed, in secrecy.

“I’ll be honest,” began the bartender, her attention lingering on the young man before her. One could likely note his age, nineteen, and that drinking in an establishment such as this required an additional two years before the law looked favorably upon the act, but Brookside merely laughed at the notion. If you had the money, you had the right. “I never thought I’d be serving whiskey to a Demon.”

"Just don’t seal a deal with me, and you’ll be fine," Zee commented, his sharp teeth revealed where the boy managed a small grin.

“I dunno’,” she offered, followed by a shrug of her shoulders, “lotsa’ folk around here would be more than willing to sell their souls.”

With that tail slowly swaying from one end to the other, Azhar tilted his head, a grin persisting. It would be a lie to claim that he didn’t find comfort in a rundown establishment such as this, one of many in Brookside. All of the layers had been peeled away, leaving nothing but the raw truth meeting an onlooker’s gaze. "I’ll keep that in mind," Zee sipped his drink, gently swirling the golden-brown liquid within.

“So, got a name there, Lucifer?” Came a question dotting their friendly conversation. Indeed, Azhar had abandoned the Heroic name he once bore, for it belonged to someone else entirely, someone who in the passing of a mere few months had faded. A boy who enjoyed singing, a young man who sought to stand beneath the sun despite its unforgiving rays, a fond if naive memory which it now embodied.

"Lucifer works," Azhar agreed, before he proceeded to lean against the counter, "or Zee. Lucifer’s a bit too dramatic for this place, isn’t it?" Despite the overhaul this specific Devil had suffered, his flair for the dramatic had lingered to some extent. No, he scarcely stepped onto stages anymore, and didn’t sing like he had before. However, the theatrical young man residing within was not going anywhere, and only found himself developing further through a mellow, withdrawn position. Perhaps that was what gave rise to his new handle, but whatever had gifted him the title, Azrael would forever translate into ‘The Angel of Death’, which Azhar had now fully accepted.
@EurmalEye

I am actually going to dip out, so feel free to take the spot I had been gunning for!

Thanks for the opportunity, and I hope you all have fun!
Modern times would be a bit easier to navigate, I think. Additionally, I think it would be easier in a social setting, if this took place in Modern times, in where Dracula has attempted to bring the Monsters into the limelight.

Location
💀 Mafioso Mansion - Underground Warehouse.
💀 Mafioso Mansion - Underground Tunnel.

Time
💀 Evening.

Interactions
💀 @canaryrose
💀 @Danvers
💀 @Jumbus



Azhar’s slender tail limply hung down the length of his legs, its tip brushing against the cold floor beneath. An appendage that had previously moved in tune with the mutant’s excitement. Often described as having a life of its own, the boy’s tail was quite a perfect indicator of his emotional state, much to Zee’s embarrassment. Inhaling a deep breath, Azhar shifted his attention towards the vast interior of their surroundings. Blake had run through a door in the distance, alongside Joseph. Taking a step forward, the monstrous teen halted his stride. Was he going to help them, further? A once active bracelet lulling his powers to sleep was now broken, rendering Azhar unable to regulate the lethality of his abilities.

It would be a lie to claim that the bracelet’s absence didn’t afford comfort. Towards the end of its service, the trinket was choking Azhar, as if robbing him of air. A metaphor, of sorts, but one that adequately described the discomfort accompanying its embrace around his slim forearm.

With those black orbs fixed on a pathway previously burst open, Zee’s thoughts spiraled within his mind. He was in no shape to help anyone, least of all himself. The mutant could barely distinguish left from right, and found himself scarcely registering those circling him. Jamie, Brie, and this newly arrived individual, Doppel. "I just..," Azhar tried, "I need some air, I think..," he managed. The others were worried for him, clearly, and none of them knew what had transpired only moments prior. Despite its short duration, a massacre had taken place. An atrocity none would be able to identify. Echoing the lack of cadavers, each article of clothing was missing DNA. Every organic molecule had been erased, but for Azhar, he was standing in a mass grave.

Clenching his teeth, the boy turned his attention towards an exit that appeared far more attractive by the second. ’It’ll be alright’, Zee noted, a statement afforded by Jamie. Perhaps thanks to Joseph, it would be. Hopefully, he was doing well alongside Blake. However, the sounds of combat echoing from the mansion, a warcry seeping into the warehouse spoke of dangerous aggression. Uncomfortably, Azhar’s body stiffened, the mellow sway of his tail coming to a halt. If he used his powers again, he could lose himself to the sensation, a second time, and there was no telling if he’d be able to climb down from that high without one of Joseph’s runes. No, they would need to manage the situation without him. Azhar had read the file on this Mafia Family, a mandatory section of information that was distributed amongst HERO’s active employees. Vinnie Gugliano was, from what Azhar had gathered, a beast. Regeneration and physical capabilities, each one of a high tier. The others likely displayed difficulties when combating this specific power-set. Either way, they would need to pull through. They had to. At the moment, Zee was far more afraid of himself than any villain Castleburg had to offer. Where the young monster kept speaking of how he desired reliable companions on fields of battle, he most certainly didn’t live up to those requirements. Not now.

Shutting his eyes, the deathly creature expressed another sigh before starting towards the tunnel. Azhar never indulged in alcohol the way Joseph did, but taking a page from that man’s addictive habits did not appear all too ridiculous following transpired events. Making sure to avoid stepping on any of the scattered fabric spread across the now silent, empty warehouse, Zee slipped into the moonshine room where Blake had left an additional small group of cadavers. Again, Azhar clenched his sharp teeth. "We’re the fucking Heroes..?" he mumbled to himself as the boy continued into the darkness of an underground tunnel. Tears were still fighting against the mutant’s composure, eventually winning the bout with droplets repeating their ceaseless stride down Azhar’s cheeks. He needed to vacate the warehouse, and that ladder would make itself known, eventually.
I may be interested in this. Thinking about a WW1 experiment that’s still hanging around. A mutant, to tick that ’Misshapen castoffs of the most extreme fringes of science‘, box. Hopefully this gets more interest.
I am interested in this. I have actually created a species I would love to use. Sending you a PM.

Location
💀 Mafioso Mansion - Underground Warehouse.

Time
💀 Evening.

Interactions
💀 @Jumbus
💀 @Danvers



Joseph’s second rune had initiated its purpose, beyond Azhar’s knowledge. It was only when the boy’s bloodlust faded, and was replaced by nauseous melancholy that the pain in his hand trickled to the surface. Where droplets of black blood traced a path down the mutant’s pale appendage, Zee noted the wound’s shape slowly closing, yet again the courtesy of a man he had previously chastised. It was impossible to tell exactly how disastrous the outcome would have been if Azhar’s sanity remained fractured. Who would he have proceeded to hunt? Where would bloodlust and a desire for death have led him? The monster could not claim to be blissfully unaware of what had transpired. He remembered every second, every intoxicating moment of ever-growing power. The dark 'Hero' wanted to claim that someone else took control, that a different individual entirely wrapped their clawed hands around his throat and confiscated Azhar’s mind. That would, however, be a lie.

Throughout the boy’s life, Azhar had been told that he was a force of Death. He was the very opposite of Life, and a mockery of its visage. Something that could be dotted with a mere glance. Where Life radiated color, Azhar afforded onlookers little more than a monotone scale of grey, white, and black. Additionally, where a mother’s love had, however, maintained Azhar’s warm heart, he could not say the same for his father. A man he proved right, this day. A less than desirable gestalt in the young monster's life who had always waited for his son’s collapse, when the Devil truly took hold.

Trembling, it was a far-fetched feat for the deathly mutant to register his surroundings. Still in shock, the massive strike against his state of mind vibrated mercilessly against every thought. The creature's father echoed across ripples of time, a lapse from early years until recent, unwanted exchanges. Words of discouragement, warnings of what was to come if Azhar remained free.

Despite his ceaseless tears, voices were beginning to slowly caress Zee’s pointed ears, his attention stolen by an individual Azhar had yet to meet. A dark-skinned young man he could not place, nor identify. What was it that he had said? It was impossible to clarify. Though silence lingered between them, the boy was very much struggling to comprehend even the simplest of developments. A spoken word, an added presence, simplicity at its finest wrapping itself around complication and difficulty.

’You are safe now,’ Azhar managed to deduce, ’HERO reinforcements..,’ it continued. Slowly, the monster lifted his head, tears coating his cheeks, to fully meet the young man’s gaze with his own. Azhar was never unsafe. He didn’t require reinforcements, no. The situation was ironically reflective, but in another manner, entirely. No, Zee was never at risk. Everyone else was, however, and he was the unfortunate reason.

Attempting to speak through the sniffles, Azhar flinched as he saw a shoe heading towards the mysterious visitor. That voice, the string of words echoing across the warehouse only moments before footwear was being thrown, he could identify it. Brie. Mere seconds passed before she approached the broken mutant, her green eyes meeting his own. She called the stranger ‘Doppel’, a codename Azhar had heard in the past. However, he had never come across the Hero. "I..," Zee tried, raising a hand towards his face before wiping tears from silken pale skin. "The.., the others..," he continued, pointing a claw deeper into the warehouse. "They went that way..," he finished, completely ignoring questions aimed at him.

In truth, Zee did not know how to respond. ‘Stop crying’, and ‘Are you okay?’ Words he was unable to truly meet. How many had Azhar killed, only moments prior? Fifty people? More? One would have to count the many clothes scattered throughout, before settling on a number. Attempting to stand, Azhar still felt his heart pounding against the surface of his ribs. He dreaded the eventual count, rather lowering his gaze to the floor, before turning towards the Hero dubbed ‘Doppel’. Distance was being kept, which was a reaction Zee was all too familiar with. After what had come to pass, none could blame Doppel.

Raising his arms towards himself, the deathly boy attempted a pitiful embrace of his scrawny shape, those large, obsidian orbs shifting to Brie. "Are you..," once more, Azhar wiped his tears. "Are you okay..?" The situation was, despite everything, being handled. As Doppel had said, reinforcements were coming, and whoever else required aid in the mansion was most certainly getting it. As for Azhar, he required a moment to collect himself. A moment to brace his mind for the countless nightmares to come.

Location
💀 Mafioso Mansion - Underground Warehouse.

Time
💀 Evening.

Interactions
💀 @Rabidporcupine



"Slipping..?" Azhar blinked, his thoughts circling within the confines of the boy’s mind, as if a swirl of distortion. He had not afforded Joseph an answer, but rather lowered his gaze towards the runes resting in his hand, the mutant’s head tilting as he proceeded to gaze upon them. "Am I.., slipping?" Zee continued, attempting to center himself, but to no avail. It had been as if Joseph spoke someone incapable of understanding the man’s words. Indeed, he would be correct in assuming the fact. Rather, Azhar raised his attention to guards who were charging in his direction, towards all of them in the Heroes’ many, scattered locations. Gunshots rang throughout the warehouse, deafening sounds forcing a frown to Azhar’s features, before it was soon replaced by frenzied glee. The runes between his claws were far from the boy’s mind, worlds away.

The scent of burnt flesh, the screams of those crushed beneath debris, and chaos unfolding, it was the scenario surrounding Azhar as his feet brought the small mutant further into the warehouse. A slow stride, one where every sensation soon found itself replaced by emerald damnation. He noted how Jamie, the other S ranked individual in their company, had made her way deeper into the large, underground building. Was he to turn, the boy would likely have seen Blake making himself scarce in an unhindered stride towards the mansion where his girlfriend and further allies found themselves.

Irrelevance happily replaced concern, however. Thoughts of the man he had arrived alongside, Joseph, faded in response to rising excitement, with Spectral Force now extending its reach from where Azhar was standing. The very air encircling him brimmed with Necrotic Energy, an outstretched hand conjuring forth a chaotic wind which proceeded to pass through an incoming threat.

If one was to maintain vigilance, the sight of an ever-growing horde was amassing in the warehouse. It was impossible for the young mutant to dot the source of their increased numbers, but as his black gaze laid witness to skin, meat, and bone shredded into naught but emerald particles following a gesture, Azhar’s sharp-toothed grin widened.

”M̴͓̆o̴͚̚ṟ̷͆ḙ̴͝.̴̘̍.̵͔̕.̴̮͂” Zee’s distorted voice howled, his clawed hands rising in response to further approaching enemies, or rather, victims. Gunshots continued to roar, bullets whisking past him where the mutant stood.

“I can’t see anything!” Came a scream, a response to the now massive swirl of Necrotic Force surrounding Azhar, as if a twister, a tornado engulfing him and his surroundings. Opening his mouth, the dark mutant exhaled a long breath, ecstatic bliss washing over him as bullets proceeded to fly past the creature now a the mercy of his own growing insanity.

"B̷̰̿ô̷̡w̴̢̔ ̵̹́t̴̯̋ó̷̙ ̸͕̓m̵͕̀e̸̦͝,̴͉̄ ̵̢͆ǐ̴̱n̵̘͝ṣ̸̅e̸̩͌c̴͓̓t̸͇̎s̵͉͂!̸͚̇" Azhar screamed, his phantasmal voice rising in volume, which in turn was echoed by the chaotic storm of Ghostly Power, following suit. The boy was unsure of how many goons had answered the call, but he most certainly had the ability to hear their screams. With another swipe of his hand, Zee willed a second wave into the storage building, swallowing several shapes in its hungry embrace. "E̷̞̓v̵͉̈́e̴͕̚r̶͉͂ÿ̷̭t̸̒ͅh̸͕́i̶̥̕ṅ̷̘g̶̮͛ ̴̬̿n̵͍̍e̶̺̕e̵͖̓d̴̡͐s̴̨̀ ̸̡̀ṯ̶͠o̷̟̾ ̴̥̈́d̴̺̎ȉ̴̥ë̵̳́.̷̱͠.̸̹̍.̵̤͐” Laughter emanated from the epicenter of chaos, the nexus of Azhar’s herculean storm which was engulfing the main warehouse, and in turn, an equally massive gathering of mobsters sent to end a threat beneath their mansion headquarters.

Throughout the growing emerald hurricane, Zee noticed the retreat of some who had not yet been swallowed by its wrath. A notion he found unacceptable in this current state of insanity. Again, he proceeded to laugh, a large blast of Necrotic Force swallowing the escaping goons with bodies erased beneath its weight. Extending his power’s range to the underground exit, one designed for truck-loaded deliveries, Azhar spared no expenses. As if a dance, the mutant moved his body. Each motion of those clawed hands, in their fluid gestures, conjured yet another wave which found itself whipping out from an ever-growing tornado of death, each one overtaking another gathering of goons now attempting to fall back.

Friend, or foe, it mattered little. The deathly mutant could only consider himself lucky that no allies were present within range of his frenzy. Indeed, Azhar had developed into little more than a blood-crazed beast. His demonic, echoing laughter proceeded to slip past the boy’s lips. It was no longer a mission aimed at rescuing allies, nor was it one designed to apprehend a high-standing mobster. Zee was indulging in a single sensation. Massacre.

Screams bouncing across walls and traveling by air soon faded. A warehouse previously filled with mobsters stood empty, countless collections of clothes riddling the floor haphazardly across its massive interior. It was only when Azhar allowed his berserker storm to lessen that those black orbs witnessed the erasure, without obfuscation. "Ṁ̷͖ō̶ͅr̶̫̒è̴̜.̸̜̏.̴̫̑,̶̰̈́ ̷̭͝I̶͕̒ ̷̟́w̸̏ͅa̷͔̒n̴͎̆t̶͇̾ ̶͓̈́m̶͇̉ỏ̷͉r̷̰̆e̸͔̎!̴̱̈́" The boy, or Demon shouted, taloned claws digging into his palm with enough strength to draw blood.

One could compare it to a halt in time, the very fabric of reality stopping inside the mutant’s mind. He had pressed down on Joseph’s rune, the gift so utterly disregarded upon reception. A rune that sent a calming wave over the young Reaper’s senses, piecing together what had previously been shattered. A mirror rising to reveal what was glaring back. A mother’s voice beckoning.

Silence. Azhar stared ahead at the devastation he had caused, a scene taking the shape of absolute emptiness. No corpses, no remains, but rather clothes once draping themselves over actual human beings. "Wh-..," Zee tried, his body trembling with breathing growing ever-heavier. "No.., no, no..," he pleaded. Taking a single step forward was enough to push him to his knees. Green, spectral particles began to fully fade, leaving Azhar in the shape he had assumed long before chaos took charge.

Again, the boy desperately turned to scrutinize his surroundings, tears trickling down his pale cheeks. Easing those clenched fists, Azhar saw how Joseph’s runes fell to the floor beneath him, one of which had been activated. ’You aren’t yourself.’ The man’s words echoed across the recess of Azhar’s fractured thoughts. Unable to manage another utterance, the mutant screamed. A loud, terrified, and most certainly heartbroken expression where he sat, in the middle of abyssal emptiness.
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