thewizardguy

HCL 2: Twisted tinkers' triumph

Name: Stein Franken
Age: 59
Appearance:

Powers:
[Soul Manipulation]
Stein's main power is his mastery of Soular Manipulation. He is the absolute master of this art. He can adapt his soul to any wavelength, and is capable of destroying his opponent's souls with direct Soular attacks, provided he can touch them. He can further use this power to create binds using his opponent's own soul, locking them onto walls or their own weapons. His ultimate technique is to bind his opponent's body from the inside, preventing all movement. However, in order to do that he needs to enter a state of constant concentration, preventing him from moving anything faster than a snail's pace. Soular attacks are capable of killing anything with a Soul, including most 'immortal' beings, but are useless against robots or particular types of undead.

[Soul Sight]
In addition to his physical senses, Stein is capable of sensing souls anywhere within a kilometer of his position. This sense is independent of his physical senses, and very informative. He can tell what your emotions are, to what degree you're insane, and even basic thoughts. It's impossible to ambush or hide from him, and he usually uses this to predict attacks before they happen.

[Patchwork Body]
Stein's body has been altered and rebuilt, stitched together from his favorite pieces. The parts of many of the previous characters of HCL have been interred into this body, including Aono Tsukune. This makes it incredibly sturdy, as well as giving Stein immense physical capabilities. His senses are also superhuman, the best of every animal. His muscles are directly linked to his soul, forgoing the need for a nervous system. Without destroying the brain, it's impossible to kill Stein.

[Madness Resonance]
Stein resonates the madness that festers within him. Simply being near him will eat away at your sanity, and when he focuses this effect onto you, the effects are felt quite rapidly. The weak of mind will be stabbing their neighbours within days, and even the strongest minds will crumble eventually. Only those without emotions or without souls are immune. Furthermore, Stein can control insanity, manipulating their delusions to serve whatever purpose he wishes. Insanity caused by Stein is usually temporary, although the experiences can cause lasting trauma individual of Stein's powers.

[God-Killer Resonance]
Stein's ultimate technique. The greatest culmination of Soular Manipulation, and Stein's finishing move. Stein can enter a state of immense power by causing the souls of the body parts he's attached to himself to resonate with him, multiplying the power of his Soular attacks, as well as his physical strength. HeroKiller Resonance multiplies his power by 10. God-Killer Resonance multiplies his power by 100. In this state any physical attacks will usually destroy his body.

Equipment:
[Kurotane]
A black scalpel cursed by a God of Death. Any wounds inflicted by this blade are permanent, they cannot be healed by any magic until the blade is destroyed. Stein is also capable of releasing the curse on the wound, as long as he is the owner of this blade.

[Shirotane]
A white scalpel forged from the souls of Stein's victims. This blade doesn't cut flesh, but it cuts directly into your soul. This allows it to harm even beings such as fire elementals. Using this blade, Stein can perform Soul Surgery, allowing him to mess with a being's conceptual identity. This is usually used to break magical targetting systems, or resonance-based weapons.

[Mizutane]
A scalpel originally created by Mia, but now wielded by her father to complement his set. This blade contains hundreds of spirits of plague, each embodying a different disease. When Stein cuts someone with this blade, the spirit fills them, and they're instantly infected. This disease will then affect them at approximately 20x the normal rate. It usually takes an hour or so for this to kill, but long before then the effects can be felt. Stein controls what disease is used.

HCL 2: Twisted tinkers' triumph

To explain my IC post.

Once you give in to insanity, Stein has nearly complete control over you. He simply amplified the insanity Teo allowed inside of himself, and then took control of it. This is why using insanity to fight Stein is a terrible idea.

It's also why Stein previously said 'you have already lost'.

HCL 2: Twisted tinkers' triumph

Screams echoed throughout the world, as Teo fell to his knees. The anger filled him, overwhelmed him, consumed him. The world burned, as he looked out onto a plain of torment. Corpses rained from the sky, flames consuming the vestiges of his mind. The corpses were his. That seemed significant somehow. In the centre of it all stood Stein, three eyes blazing, as Teo felt the rage pump through him. And yet there was no mind to direct, no will to withstand. The flames surrounded him, coated him, as he felt tears run down his cheeks. He didn't know what he was crying for. Was it for the memories that even now shattered around him? His childhood, his friendship, the hope he had carried into every aspect of his life? Or perhaps it was for Melody, for Brown, both of whom were already dead.

That seemed a certainty somehow. They had been killed. He'd killed them. Of course. That made sense.

And when he looked up at Stein once more, the rage had formed something far colder, and far crueller. For as he looked upon the corpses around him, of the things he had once loved, he felt nothing but cold disdain. And before him stood the man who had done this to him, who had taken everything. And he could feel nothing but subservience.

Allow me to show you a new world, painted in the brightest shades of red.

It was only a little later that Teo realized that Melody was in his hand, and he was holding her by the neck. She wasn't dead. Not yet. That would soon be rectified.

And as insanity clouded his mind, Teo was forced to smile, as he realized what he had cried for. For today was his funeral. Teo had died, and all that was left was this hollow shell, this remnant of psychotic rage, of unfeeling, uncaring bloodlust. The figure standing there was nothing more than a shadow. And it would be the last thing Melody saw.

Stein smiled, as he turned to Saeid, who was still holding the blade to his throat. "It looks like somebody fell into too deep of a hole, don't you think? However, feel free to slit your throat. I'll just prop you up. And the last thing you see as you leave this world is an innocent man breaking his friend's neck. Unless you want to try and stop them, of course."

HCL 2: Twisted tinkers' triumph

@kishin asura
We can hardly go 3 hours without a post. I'd say we're pretty damn alive. Alive and kickin'!

=D

HCL 2: Twisted tinkers' triumph

@Tyki
"I believe you should understand that I do not make idle threats." Matt states gravely, as he moves his fingers over the command pad. A series of commands, as a small message was sent to Epsilon-001. Although it would be impossible for the Sergal to decode, Epsilon understood quite well that it had been authorized to use Blink Missiles, but nothing of a higher calibre. "When I stated that any ship entering my territory would be annihilated, it was not an idle threat. When I stated that I would cull the ranks of your fleet until I found them personally acceptable, it was not an idle threat. I do not bluff. I have no need to."

The first frigate moved across the line, entering Allied Space.

[Area breach confirmed. Target locked. Blink Missiles authorized. Launch.]

A great Mass Driver, equipped to one of 3 space stations orbiting Hexagon-001. A structure the size of a small skyscraper, dedicated to the acceleration of mass using the princples of false gravity and quantum entanglement. The spontaneous gain of velocity beyond measure, functioning much like an immense and versatile railgun. Within, a portal generator linked it to one of the many Arms Production Facilities spread throughout Matt's vast empire, the Allied Galaxies. A missile of the specified type had already been placed, upon having received the authorization for it's use.

Fired at Mach 10, straight into a portal above the Mass Driver. The previously mentioned "Recon" Sattelite opened the second portal, from which the missile burst, too fast and too sudden to counter. Even as the frigate's computers locked onto it, it was already too late. The missile seemed to blink out of existence, a short-distance jump module to be activated at a pre-programmed time, as it jumped past the frigate's shields, appearing just outside of the armoured hull. There was no counter, there was no reaction.

[Blink Missile, specialized weaponry.

Designed for surgical annihilation of shielded ships, this missile is capable of bypassing any shield that doesn't distort short-range quantum tunnelling. The 'Blink' must be pre-programmed by an external AI, as it has no AI nor sensory systems of it's own. It further lacks a propulsion system, necessitating a Mass Driver.

Power output of 50 kilotons]

Within an instant, the frigate was replaced with a blinding ball of light, an orb of blinding heat beyond that of any energy projection weapon, as the fusion reaction generated a nuclear explosion. No radioactive fallout, just an immense burst of heat and light, and a powerful wave of kinetic energy to crush all remaining resistance. In a flash, the frigate had been destroyed beyond the capability for repair, it's systems wiped out, it's wreckage nothing but a series of armoured plates, rapidly accelerating off into the depths of space by themselves, propelled by the force of the explosion.

"Long ago, my people discovered the tremendous energy generated through the process of fission. I then perfected it through the use of fusion, a more humane method of harnessing the power of mass-energy conversion. That missile bore approximately 3x the power of the Little Boy bomb that formed my people's first contact with Nuclear Warfare." Matt spread his hands, as the feed of the ship's destruction was feed through to the Sergal. The Sergal were not new to Nuclear Physics, but had discarded it as being too dangerous to the wielder, never managing to perfect it. Having favoured the use of energy projection and mana-based technology, they had never truly realised the power of atomic fusion. "Allow me to show you the face of God, if there ever was one. Allow me to show you His hand, my hand, through which I destroy all that offends me in this reality."

A second feed was patched through to the Sergal ships, as well as the Planetary Sergeant. It was from a variety of locations, gathered from the many Arms Production Facilities Matt's empire sported. Rows upon rows of missiles, hundreds of thousands, massive stores, entire planets dedicated to the storage of nuclear weaponry. Massive missiles, smaller missiles, hundreds of Specialized Weaponry missiles for taking down even the most bizarre of targets. Fusion powered weapons, occasionally interspersed with the inhumane Fission weapons, meant for attacks on civilian areas, in order to spread terror and anarchy. Missiles that split up into smaller copies of themselves, missiles with magic dampeners attached, missiles filled with 200+ deadly plagues for biological warfare.

"Pull back your ships. Or I'll be forced to remove a couple of zeroes from your census. I will allow 5 ships to enter my system, the same number I sent into your territory. You will perform your scans, and you will discover the weapons I have placed both on the surface, and in orbit around this planet. And you will leave."

HCL 2: Twisted tinkers' triumph

@Tyki
As the fleet leaves, Matt raises an eyebrow. "I do hope you do not take me for a fool. If you wish to perform a scan of my planet, then I can accept that. But an army of that size is not acceptable. If you move in, I will be forced to reduce it to a more acceptable number of ships." Matt finishes his glass of mysterious substance, and leans back, as he signals for his recon fleet to pack it up and come home, leaving the Sergal planets in peace. "Furthermore, you will not be allowed further into my realm. The planet Haxagon-001 is my first bastion in this universe, and it is acceptable that you might wish to scan it, but the rest of my empire is of no concern to you. Any ships that enter where they are not wanted will be destroyed without hesitation."

As the ships near the forbidden territory, they spot a number of sattelite-like objects moving through them, scanning the solar system for any intruders. Unknown to them, even now Epsilon, the AI tasked with protecting this planet, is lining up it's shot. [Prepare launch of Blink Missiles. Prepare launch of Breath of God. Prepare activation of Solar Flare.]

HCL 2: Twisted tinkers' triumph

@Teoinsanity
To Stein, there was no such thing as surprise. The souls of those around him were open books, dictating plans and intentions, hopes and dreams, ready to be broken at a moment's notice. The moment Saeid decided to fight, Stein already knew. The moment Teo had reached for his lab coat, Stein already knew what he was planning. And, as was often the case with him, he already knew how to deal with it. He was Stein, killer of heroes, torturer of Gods.

He was not to be fucked with.

Teo shot forward, only to find that Stein had turned into a blurry vision, the world seeming to twist and warp before his eyes. He tried to throw the sticky grenades, but they stuck to his hands, tiny white wires binding them to him. A string woven from the fabric of his own soul, intertwined with his weapon. Stein simply smiled, as Teo felt the blade shoot towards him, and he was only barely able to dodge aside, the metal scraping past his ribs, as it missed the target it had been going for. Stein was a blur, his exact location impossible to pinpoint, a hazy silhouette, dripping with blood.

For one whom's sanity is clouded to fight Stein was a fool's errand, for it was on insanity he thrived, and insanity he promoted. And once they fell to their insanity, they would be little more than his pawns, turned against everything they believed in. For most elegantly, and most cruelly, Stein turned everyone into puppets.

"Your weakness is your arrogance. You have already been defeated."

Saeid flew through the air, like a rocket of flesh and blood. And yet, Stein had always known he was there, and he had known all about the attack. He grabbed Saeid's foot, and simply swung around, using the force of the attack against him. He smashed Saeid into the ground, creating a small crater where the warrior landed.

"Soul Purge"

White lightning crackled, as Saeid twisted and writhed on the floor. Blood spurted from his mouth, as his internal organs were ravaged by the Soular Energy passing through his body. He twisted on the floor, screaming, even after Stein had let go, grabbing and tearing at his own flesh, the pain unbearable. For Darkside had nearly destroyed his soul, using the dark side of the Force. And while Saeid was slightly more stable than his former self, the damage remained. For one with such severe damage to face an expert in Soular Combat, also, was the act of a fool.

"Now, both of you are still alive because I wish you to be. Because both of you are useful to me. You're going to come along to my laboratory, and you're going to help me out with a pet project of mine. If you agree to this now, I will have the girl released, together with the..... the robot bear." Stein almost sighs as he's forced to name something so ridiculous, and yet subtly awesome. "If wish to continue your loss, then the girl will become Mia's toy."
--------------------------------------------
As Brown charged, Mia turned to face him, smiling as the metal claws raked over her face. But all they cut was skin, as blood harder than steel blocked the attacks piece by piece. A vector arrow appeared next to Brown, as he was unexpectedly launched forward. At the same time, a similar yet opposite arrow appeared on Mia's arm, as it shot forward as well. Her own immense physical strength, enhanced by the vector arrow, resulted in a supersonic punch.

With a bang, her punch smashed through Brown's metal chest, deep into the circuitry beneath, electricity flowing through Mia as she giggled, shaking the robotic bear off of her arm.

"Sorry dad, I think I broke it. The girl's fine though!"

HCL 2: Twisted tinkers' triumph

[@Tyki
Matt frowned, as he leaned back. "There's far too much energy down there. Even if your world were to be in a state of war, which it is not, it would not be able to use up that much energy. Furthermore, it is not relative to the energy generation you have on the planet. This is a border world, meaning it can't be there for trade purposes...." Matt went down the possibilities on his fingers, as he looked up at the Sergeant through the holographic projection. "Tell me, what reason would there be for an agricultural planet with no significant trade ports to speak of to hold such gross quantities of energy?"

HCL 2: Twisted tinkers' triumph

@Teoinsanity
Stein smiled, as Teo launched up into the air. Whilst neither Stein nor Mia were capable of flight, it would be fairly easy to bring him back down to Earth. The sturdyness of Teo's soul would make most of their Soular attacks useless, as those were focused around the destruction of Souls. However, Mia's Black Blood made her an immensely capable physical combatant, and Stein had quite the number of tricks up his sleeve. Now he'd just have to-

For just a second, time stopped. Stein was frozen, still, unmoving. All of his plans fell apart, as this unknown element hit the battlefield, even as Teo shot down. He had one second, no more no less. But using the boosts of his wings, as well as his not inconsiderable emotional power, that was more than enough time. Unfortunately for Stein, the insanity that had begun to infiltrate Teo's mind was enhancing his emotions, making him more powerful.

The hammer shattered flesh and bone, as time resumed it's usual course. Even Stein's reinforced body was insufficient to withstand the force of the hammer as it tore through the metal coating his skeletal structure. It did not stop on impact, but rather went straight through Stein's body, like a scythe.

Stein stepped back, as his arm was ripped from his side.

Teo had missed the head. Stein was capable of messing with the delusions of the insane, but that had been the limit of his ability. He had made it appear like he was half a meter to the left, and the results had saved his life, although they had cost him a limb. A swift kicked forced Teo back, although it did no real damage. He had underestimated his opponent, and had brushed death because of it. It was not his style to be so careless, and he would have to take precautions to ensure this did not happen again.

Mia, in the mean time, payed little attention to her father. He'd been beaten up worse, he'd just stitch the arm back on later. Or maybe he'd get a new arm, maybe from the fellow he was fighting right now. It made no difference. He wouldn't die. Of that Mia was sure. The toys in front of her were so much more important to her, and as Melody spoke, she simply smiled.

"Soul Purge"

Screams echoed through the village, as Melody writhed on the floor, white lightning encasing her. Gems cracked, and eyes shone, as her soul shook and tore. Mia's soul battered it like a ram, resonating with it only to use it's own power against it. Whilst her body had no vital organs, and killing her might have been hard, her soul remained vulnerable. And Mia had no intention of stopping. This was her toy to play with, her toy to break. She whispered into Melody's ears as the energy flowed over here, breaking her, but Melody would never be able to recall the words through the haze of agony.

HCL 2: Twisted tinkers' triumph

@Tyki
Matt sits down, as he relays a halt order to his Recon Drones. They cease their plans to bypass the jammers, seeming to hover in place, before reforming into a cylinder. They utilize their combined propulsion systems to launch themselves upwards, until once more hundreds of cylinders enter the portals on the side of the Drone Carrier. This is presuming, of course, that the Sergal lower the shield to allow the drones through.

"I will require an energy scan of the jammed area. If they contain any hidden weaponry, I wish to be aware of it. However, if the energy scan shows that nothing above handheld weaponry is to be found in those locations, I will retain from invading your privacy. Is this something we can agree on?"