It took Arx about 200 hundred seconds before he got into trouble. Before even getting off the ship, the pilot had sent a message to his dealer, only to discover the contact was already in position. He pushed his way quickly through the crowds as soon as he was cleared to leave the Noreaster behind for his personal business. In just over three minutes, the corpse of the dealer hit the floor as Arx tucked his blaster back into its holster. He flipped up his collar and quickly ducked out of the aisle to blend into the crowd. These sorts of deals gone wrong were just common here. The pilot's head hung low as he shuffled towards the meeting point for their next job. He was running low on Death Sticks... so he'd have to try and find a dealer at the earliest possible opportunity.
Arx didn't join the others at the proper meeting. He instead found himself at the bar, caught between a Devaronian and an Aqualish. He pounded drink after drink, making nice with his two new friends as he bought each of them a couple drinks as well. The crew was familiar with these sorts of antics from him at this point, and today seemed to be more tame than usual. He nearly ignored the communicator buzzing like crazy at his side. It was only when Arx turned his gaze back towards his Captain and saw her fiddling with her own device that Arx put things together. He checked his wrist and tapped away, his wrist computer revealing the text version of the crew's comms channel. He sighed, downed his drink, and stepped away from the bar. He gave a short wave to the Cap as he slowly padded out of the bar and began making his way towards the ship.
So, to take on the burden of drumming up OOC conversation: Are there any characters that haven't yet been applied for that you'd want to see?
Myself, I'm interested in seeing what a Martian Manhunter looks like in this universe. Or for someone to do a Booster Gold to go with Hound's Blue Beetle.
Personally, interested to see a Green Arrow in this universe, or a Hawkeye. Maybe a Hank Pym / Scott Lang or Ray Palmer.
So... not the concept I started with, but I think it's a character I can do more with.
C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L
C A P T A I N A M E R I C A
S T E V E R O G E R S ♦ A G E N T ♦ V A R I O U S, E A R T H ♦ S H I E L D
C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:
"I nearly died trying to save the world once... I’m not going to let you doom it now."
While not the first superhero, Captain America used to be a pinnacle of U.S. military propaganda in the Second World War. His face was littered over recruitment posters and magazines. He was an icon of freedom in a time in which tyranny threatened all. Keeping with the traditional story, however, he disappeared for decades until a few years ago. Upon his discovery and revival by SHIELD, Steve Rogers was turned into an agent of SHIELD in a post 9/11 era.
This is a Steve Rogers who fought along a variety of prominent heroes in WWII. He fought alongside Wonder Woman, and had the original Howling Commandos under his command. His backstory is an amalgamation of the initial Marvel continuity (in particular, the MCU since it cleans things up well) with the added flavor of the DC Universe’s WWII era heroes. The primary arc will pick up in the current year, with Captain America having been back in action for about three years.
C H A R A C T E R M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S:
This character is designed to deal with themes of patriotism and security, while deconstructing the idea of a government body such as SHIELD trying to protect the world in an era with drone technology and super villains, and where the lines between good and evil aren’t as clear cut. While there are remnants of Hydra that Cap has to hunt down, not all solutions to problems are as simple as punching Nazis. He will work with a Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos to deal with serious threats to the world’s security. His first major arc will be dedicated to tracking down and discovering HYDRA’s operations persisting to this day following a terrorist plot in Italy.
Cap will have to either learn to simply follow the orders he’s given in defense of his country, or stick by his rigid belief in truth, justice, and the American way.
C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:
Supporting Cast: Nicholas Fury: The Director of SHIELD and personal leader of the Howling Commandos, an elite task force designed to snuff out remnants of HYDRA and counteract global threats of terrorism.
Tony Masters: The only mutant in the Howling Commandos, Tony Masters is capable of learning and mimicking anyone’s fighting style. He is the newest member of the team.
Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow): A former Russian Spy personally recruited by Nick Fury. She is an exceptional hand to hand combatant, and perhaps the most formidable intelligence operative SHIELD has on hand.
Sharon Carter: Captain America’s personal handler within SHIELD, and member of the Howling Commandos. Formerly served as an Air Force pilot, but was recruited into SHIELD due to her lineage.
S A M P L E P O S T:
S T. C H R I S T O P H E R M E M O R I A L H O S P I T A L
11:21, 20 days after Revival | Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Steve took a deep breath as his hand hovered in front of the door. He was cradling a vase containing a sunflower bouquet in his left arm, but found he couldn’t move. He didn’t know what exactly to expect in there. The last time they saw each other was the day the plane crashed. It was the day Steve Rogers disappeared, along with his best friend and sidekick James Buchanan Barnes. Steve nearly jumped when he found his body had instinctively pushed the handle down and the door forward. He needed to see his close friend and comrade again just one last time.
The room looked unnaturally sterile, a far cry from the sorts of hospitals he had been in growing up. Strange machines, similar to the ones he had been plugged into, seemed to crowd around a sleeping figure. Through the tangled mess of tubes and wrinkles, it was hard for Steve to recognize the person who fought alongside him over seventy years ago. He slowly entered the room, gently closing the door behind him and placing the flowers by the windowsill on the opposite side of the room. A chair had been left next to the dying veteran, which Steve quickly occupied.
The patient’s eyes slowly and sleepily fluttered open. Steve’s voice was soft, but with the slightest twinge of hesitance. ”Always alert… even after all these years.”
Those blue eyes focused in on Steve’s face, and a smile formed under an unkempt white mustache. ”Ahhh shit, I must be dead.” His words were almost immediately followed by a rather deep and raspy cough and a grimace. Once you reach a certain age, it seemed that even existence was painful.
Steve reached his hand over to hold Dugan’s. ”You aren’t dead yet, you old bastard.”
The two men spent the entire day talking. Every half hour or so a nurse would swing by to check on the patient and make sure his needs were taken care of, but Steve refused to leave his old friend’s side. Dugan told stories of how the war ended, and how the Howling Commandos went on to fight in Korea and Vietnam. He served briefly as an SSR Chief in Los Angeles between wars, but kept demoting himself whenever there was a chance to fight. Dugan even served as the Secretary of Defense near the end of the Cold War. To say the least, Dugan served his country well.
”Once the attacks on September Eleven happened, I was too old to fight and nobody wanted to listen to an old coot like me. They wanted to march in and destroy the whole damn Middle East in the name of freedom. SHIELD believed in the war too. Mace, Fury, and all them other heroes saw this is a chance to try out their new tech.” A coughing fit interrupted the old man’s ramblings.
Steve gave a small nod, but his eyes could not meet Dugan’s. He took a deep breath. ”Fury has recruited me to train and serve as an agent of SHIELD.”
The silence was deafening. The old soldier’s eyes turned towards the ceiling, and it took perhaps a minute before Dugan let out a sigh. ”The war... it’s different now, Rogers. They have drones and computers and robots to fight the war. You don’t owe this world anything. You died saving it once.”
Steve stood up from his chair and arched his back to stretch. He placed his hand on his old comrade’s shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze. ”I can’t squander this second chance, Dugan. I watched the news. This world needs heroes. Now more than ever.”
For transparency, and while not as formally put together, I do have an amalgamated Outlaws team in the works, led by Green Arrow and featuring Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and the mutant Prodigy. If anyone is looking to pick up any of those characters (other than GA), feel free to reach out. This is a collaborative experience and I don’t want to lock anyone out in the early game. It also seems there will be plenty of opportunity down the line for characters to get retconned and such, so the offer is always valid.
@webboysurf hey no problem! And what a coincidence. My brother just began rehearsals for a musical. Come to think of it, I ought to audition for one...
Yeah, swore I’d not do a show this semester of college... so much for that plan.
@webboysurf you gonna make a post, or are we going to wait for the timeskip?
Started a post earlier, but caught up in Tech Week for a show where I’m the male lead. I don’t think I can promise a post before the skip. Apologies for lack of communication.
Tom gave a short nod. Elspeth always addressed him with the proper formalities, and he typically followed suit. It just seemed to be the nature of things. She wasn't bitter towards him, but Tom did not miss the slight cough from the upperclassman prefect. Tom went quiet, refusing to try and drum up a conversation at that point. He had expected this sort of mistrust, but it didn't make the sting of it in the moment any easier to deal with. Tom shuffled along behind to join the prefects for the meeting.
In a move that surprised certainly most of the people around, Tom actually took the effort to pull out a notebook to take notes. While he was certain he could keep note of everything in his mind, having a written list of his responsibilities acted as a backup plan, for when the accusations of him abusing his powers began flooding in. At least he'd have something to immediately turn to as evidence that he wasn't outside of his boundaries.
Tom was finishing placing the small pocket notebook back into the folds of his robe as soon as the meeting was over. He pulled out a small box to place in his self-refilling quill when Elspeth approached. He gave a nod as his partner approached, stuffing the box into an inner pocket of his uniform as well, giving a flash of a forced smile. "After you, Miss Macbain."