Sickle-cell

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

@POOHEAD189@Old Amsterdam I'm not the best either :-P

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

I won't spell out exactly what a cape's power does, unless it's going to prove vital in describing how much damage you take. You are all welcome to guess based on hints, though, and I will confirm if you get it right =P

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

Tony’s House

Boston

_{21st January, 2011}

“Well, Robby replied, “take your pick.”

Holding out two envelopes, one was coloured in a deep red, with the other was a paler, platinum blue. “We’ve got a delivery to make to the Covenant via a little cafe Pipeline seems to think will be able to get them the message. Sickle-Cell made his debut in the Circus, about a year back. I think Pipeline wants to ensure he gets the chance to step back up, if he wants. Maybe we could convince him. He made Wonderland a small fortune last time.”

“Alternatively, we have an invite bound for the Alverton Building. Probably just hand it to reception and ask them to make sure it gets to Maxwell.” A wicked grin spread over Robby’s face. “Unless you wanna try hand it to him personally?”

He thumbed across a final envelope, of alabaster white. “This one is for the Protectorate, of all places. He wants it handed to the PRT base in Mission Hill. Although, there doesn’t seem to be one for Gladius. That’s strange.”

@Duoya

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Protectorate Headquarters: The Zenith

Above Boston

_{21st January, 2011}

Gestalt cracked a smile as she fiddled with the mask in her hands. “Not half bad. Finally feel like I’m settling into this city.”

Chuckling, Septima began to stretch her arms left and right, limbering up for the coming conflict. “The people here are… colourful.” Her eyes creased at the corners, only just visible behind her mask. “You might not always like it, but you’ll never be bored.”

Taking stock of the Ward, she tilted her head. “Come to think of it, you haven’t been here too long, have you? We’ve never met. I’m Kairi,” she said, beginning to offer a hand before realising her mistake. “O-oh. Um… sorry. Damnit, this is not the way to make a good first impression.”

“I’m Nola!” Gestalt suddenly called out, as if to distract from the subject. “Kairi’s been a Ward here for almost a year. She’s a good person. A bit of friendly advice, though. Don’t even switch sides. Her power is scary.”

Kicking her friend in the shins, Kairi grumbled. “Hey, it’s not like I picked it or anything.”

@Banana@PlatinumSkink

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Gladius Border Territory

Dorchester

_{21st January, 2011}

Liquid fire burned into the back of one of Askaryan’s legs. It instantly began to buckle from under him, although he kept enough control to pivot mid-fall. From the corner of his eye, the air was a faint shimmer, and a blade outlined with blood from his new wound arced through it. Using his power on his costume, it continued to drag him to the ground without slowing. The movement wrenched him around, and a second blow caught him straight in the face.

A sick crack accompanied the strike, causing his power to falter and sending him reeling into the door of a nearby car. Whatever was keeping his assailant hidden began to fail, revealing a female figure bearing down on him - one he didn’t recognise. Blood coated one hand, and a blade held in the other. Pain radiated through his entire face, and his nose was bent at a crooked angle. Pressing it with a finger, he lazily smirked.

“You bitch,” he laughed. “Definitely not one of the regular Gladius fuckwits. That’s good, I like a broad with a bit of fight.” As he tried to stand, the wounded leg slightly buckled, sending him back to the floor. “Nice shot,” he said, grabbing a handful of small pieces of concrete knocked loose from the conflict. “My turn.”

Rising to a knee, he focused his power through the objects and hurled them at the girl.

@Lasrever

---

A few of the Gladius mooks, noticing the sudden display of power, turned their attention to the young girls and leveled their weapons, preparing to fire. “No,” the cape in biker gear barked at them. “She’s mine.”

Taking off at a dead sprint, the chain from the end of each hand made a rasping sound as it scraped along the ground. Leaping several feet in the air, the cape spun and brought both of the heavy chains to bear on her target.

@knifeman

---

In the middle of the battle, a man strolled out of an alleyway. His browny-yellow cloak fluttered in the winds kicked up by the various parahuman abilities on display. Taking a single deep breath in, his exhale was long and drawn-out

“Ah, there is nothing quite like the smell of chaos in the morning,” he proclaimed to no-one in particular. With a bit of focus, a glob of petrol appeared around his right hand, which he promptly threw atop the burning car. A vicious hiss sounded, before the flames coating the vehicle redoubled in a roaring bang.

“Well. Time to have some fun!”

Vendui riluss!

Bloodbenders, Unite!

Welcome to the Guild. Won't take you long to settle in and find something awesome. Gimme a shout if you have any questions, or post it over on my Worm RP thread. Everyone there is awesome ^.^

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

@FancyHatsCan't do anymore posting tonight anyway, heading to bed in about a half hour. Work's a bitch =P

@ProProIt's funnier from my end. You have no idea the influence the Consortium wields in Boston =P

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

The Consortium Corporate Headquarters: Alverton Building

Downtown Boston

_{21st January, 2011.
7:14 am}

Maxwell

I couldn’t stop the pitying smirk from spreading across my lips.

No cape was immune to delusions of grandeur, but it seemed so much more common in Thinkers. Still, most of the Consortium’s operatives believed themselves to be beyond the organisations reach. The new ones, anyway. After a few months, even the most stubborn usually realised how tight a leash they were kept on.

The city below looked so small from the top of the building. Dots scurried below, beginning to start a new day in their endless routine. Pawns in other people’s games. I checked my watch. Quarter past seven. Our operatives were due shortly. With a flutter in my heart, I allowed a small hope that it wouldn’t be just another pointless exercise. Finding the Covenant would make putting up with distasteful company entirely worth it. With a bit of luck, we can wipe out a number of inconveniences in one fell swoop.

Early thought it made be, that thought led me to pouring a glass of brandy.

@ProPro@FancyHats@hagroden

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Protectorate Headquarters: The Zenith

Above Boston

_{21st January, 2011.
9:24 am}

Gestalt

As my fingers brushed Knight’s cheek, a ripple of static energy passed over both of us, causing my hand to go numb. A faint throb of power pulsed deep inside, as my eyes flared and changed to a pale blue - before returning to their natural brown. A wash of images flicked through my mind like a superfast slideshow. Armour, swords, cages, restrains … vials? Giving me a quick primer of the power and how to use it, a dull-blue sword appeared, hovering in front of me.

I grinned.

“Thanks, Knight,” I said, beaming at her. “You certainly have an interesting powerset. Should be fun to see what two Knights can do, huh?”

Septima tapped me lightly on the shoulder. “We should get moving before Praetor yells again.”

Sheepishly looking tos ee if he’d heard, I nodded, and we made our way towards the hanger.

Nowhere was the sheer size of the protectorate flying pyramid fortress more noticeable than here. Rows upon rows of VTOLs stood ready to be fueled and deployed at a moment's notice. A runway large enough to support 4 simultaneous take offs or landings punctuated the scale of the base. Each of the aircraft were equipped with specialised armour plating to allow them to pass through the electromagnetic shield engulfing the air around the base, too, without the need for a manual deactivation every time a squad needed to be despatched.

The handbook on this place was like a bible, and I’d never bothered to read half the stuff.

Piling into the VTOL preparing for takeoff, I sat ready to make polite conversation with the people who - very soon - I’d be knocking heads together with.

@Banana@PlatinumSkink

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

@Old AmsterdamYou are literally the best parts of Panacea, Bonesaw and Bakuda rolled into one =P

Side note to anyone interested. After I finish writing this IC post, I'm going to switch back to writing in third person. First person usually helps me get inside of a character's head more, but I don't need that for these characters - I know them inside out - and it is feeling forced and damned unnatural switching between several FP viewpoints. So much so that I slipped into third person in one post already, wrote it in seconds and didn't even notice until literally right now that i'd even switched =P

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

@FancyHatsOoooo, enjoy! ^.^

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

@Old AmsterdamThat would be such a passive-aggressive use of her powers =P

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

I'll be around in a half-hour if you want my input on a collab, once I get a shower. If not, i'll respond to the ICs I currently need to, and wait for the two of you to arrive in Maxwell's office.

@Old AmsterdamAlso, I am both horrified and intrigued. I feel the need to point out that an S-Class threat appearing in the first 20 posts might be overkill for the city =P