yoshua171

Capes of Denver: A Worm RP

Chatterbox

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His eyebrows rose fractionally, then fell as he steeled himself. Vanishing and reappearing damage while people continued to panic and react...or otherwise remain unaffected. The phenomena coupled with the words of a thinker on scene made for a worrisome implication.

"Move the brainiac around, see if we can get anything else" he whispered. He got a number of responses from his thralls, mostly them complying. A more involved dialogue began between the thinker and the other thralls. He turned his attention elsewhere.

The reports kept coming in, but they weren't helpful...not immediately, that was until he had a thrall or two start receiving them and organizing them into a map of sort. It told him that the effect was particularly consistent anywhere. It was flickering, just like it had—and still occasionally was—for him. An unstable power? Something hard to nail down. Tinkertech?

By all reports it wasn't stronger in any particular area, there was no way to correlate it to any particular flight's arrival, and it didn't even matter if it was through a device.

"Update. Effect is widespread and wholly inconsistent everywhere. Recording is the same as direct visual contact I'm sending the empowered out to try and regulate panic."

As he spoke he rapidly used his tapcode to notify thralls of their directives. Some he sent outwards from the airport, making them check to see if there was a clear place that the effect stopped and if it was consistent. Others he directed to investigate areas that had apparently been damaged and to do it thoroughly with all five senses and to report regularly and in detail—preferrably through text message. He wanted to see if any of the damage was truly real and being obscured, or the effect was truly just in their heads.

"This feels like a diversion or a way to hide actual damage that is done. Perhaps to obscure the intentions of whoever is doing this. Make sure not to take on your guise yet, we don't want this event to be pinned on us."

Even as he spoke he got more reports and status updates, telling him that individuals had arrived in prime zones where people were freaking out—consistently or otherwise. The empowered—and some normal thralls—began the process of trying to get people evacuated, with many of them being with security, while many more of the empowered remained in the throng, assisting security and improving morale as best as possible. He made sure someone called 911 as well, after all, the instance of panic and suddenly manifesting damage was just a recipe for any number of accidents. They'd need the assistance.

Then he got some useful information, something usable.

"The effect has a fairly consistent radius. Reports on Blucifer have stopped, no damage on that front. The rest of the damage also appears to be totally illusory...except for the tram. Someone wanted to shutdown transportation between the areas of the airport. Not optimal. The radius of the effect appears to end around the parking lot, so it's moving east."

These bits of knowledge gained, Chatterbox sent the thralls at the edges inwards in straight lines, going from the estimated middle of the effect and following a straight path as best as possible. They would hopefully run into the source.

"Going to attempt to close in on the source. I think it's a parahuman, rather than tinkertech. Furthermore, I'll clear the way for you Hunter, but I need you to get a vantage point to see if we can get a better idea of the situation."

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Evelyn Chambers – Tulpa

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At Margrave's words she tried to catch his eyes, to no avail. Tiger Lily's response softened her heart a little, but then the gates were kicked open as pure vitriol poured from her other teammate's mouth. Her jaw muscles clenched, her eyes shot to him and briefly went from cold detachement, to abject anger, before cooling into hard unforgiving iron. It was that coldness he'd see when he looked to her. She might have given him a chance before, but now? After taking out his frustration on their youngest most vulnerable member? The one who had arguable gotten the worst of the situations the'd been through.

Afterwards, when he had left, there was mostly silence, before Kend—Mastar's, words broke the fragile glass of quiet. She saw that Tiger Lily certainly wasn't okay and that apparently Messiah wasn't either. Still their team leader pulled it together and managed to address the group.

Evelyn nodded in response to Messiah's gesture. "Certainly, but please excuse me a moment," she stood up, not seeing any real problem with their eminent leader's plan, "...make sure that you only contact the Director through text. Otherwise Collin will hear it. I'll be right back, I'm going to talk to Mar—Elliot."

She then turned and left the warm comfort of the shop. As the cold hit her, she briefly embraced it, letting its chill bring her thoughts and emotions into order. She had to do what was right, even if it meant she had to compromise what she wanted...at least this time.

Moving so Elliot could see her, she didn't turn his way, feeling it would be too personal after so long of not being even remotely close. "That was poorly handled, but I'm...not going to judge you for it." She was silent for a time before she managed to work the disgusting words out of her throat. It took her two tries to say it. "You're right. I discounted you before I ever tried getting to know you. I won't defend it other than to say...you seem to put a barrier between yourself and others. Still, it's my own fault for not even trying to get past that wall you put up. I appreciate how dedicated you are to the idea of the team, despite, well...the team. Myself included."

She then fell silent, even though inside she felt herself seething. He felt justified to attack a vulnerable child, a girl who was meek enough already. Yet she had to stand outside in the cold, telling him he was right. It wasn't right, but his words had been. They represented his side of the story and they were also representative to the reality of how he'd been treated...at least since she'd joined the Wards. "I'll try to be more mindful in the future, not sure how else to bridge the gap." She took that empathy and used it to choke down the anger and guilt.

This was necessary and it was good. She'd been the least affected of the others, she felt, so it was her job—even though she wasn't the team leader—to try and make ammends as best she could.

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Outsider

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Had it not been so serious, Outsider would have sighed as the pilot reacted badly to his appearance. Swiftly he shifted into motion, swimming through the air with frightening speed and startling grace. A tendril shot out, wrapped around the tail of the helicopter, followed by one on each side of the main body, and one entwined with the landing gear. With his strength holding it and his flight, he guided the helicopter into a stable flight. Keeping his tendrils in place he moved to a side door and debated opening it.

He decided against it and instead used his strength and flight to guide the helicopter further upwards and clear of buildings. Unfortunately, without proper eyes, he couldn't locate a proper helipad for it to land.

He'd just have to make due with a stable, flat, open space on a high rooftop. This in mind he paid close attention to his senses, locating just that and also measuring the size of the helicopter itself. All this in mind, he slowly guided the heli to the chosen roof and then started descending. Hopefully the pilot got the hint and started turning off the engine.

Yoshua's Character Storage Mark VII

Ashai, M. Rhazan

V I T R U V I A N

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Name: Ashai, Mannis. Rhazan.
Alias: Vitruvian.
Age: 27.
Alignment: Villain.
Loyalty: Last Minute.
Appearance:

Mask

History:

Hider

Trigger: It’s been like this for awhile now, days spent at clinic after clinic, treatment after treatment. The cancer waxes and wanes, but each time you fight against the odds, each time it goes into remission, another few hours proves the treatments futile, the tumor still prominent. After years of this, you're desperate for a treatment that will last, something to break through it all. That's why you took up Dr. Ignar's suggestion of amputation. Even living life as a cripple would be preferable to this hell of unending pain. After you wake up, the first thing you notice is relief. The pain is absent, blissfully gone. It’s only when you try to scratch your nose that you remember the cost of this treatment, your limbs--and agency--gone, replaced only with a sense of helplessness. The next few weeks prove to be difficult to adjust to. No limbs means every action requires help, every movement being a burden on others; it’s paralyzing. Still, the pain is gone, and it’s enough. Then comes the regular checkup, a month after the operation, and the news that a tumor has re-emerged, this time on your back. The dread settles within, knowing that you gave up all of yourself, any chance of living your own life, but in the end, none of it mattered. Trigger.

Personality

Motivations:

Sexuality: Straight.
Likes:

Dislikes:

Derangement:

Parahumanism

Skills:

Classification: Tinker|Changer.
Details: Ashai’s power is one of monstrous refinement, allowing him to generate additional biomass in the form of crude tumorous growths or a steady flow of flesh from the terminating points of his shoulders and hips. Furthermore, his power alters his nervous system, giving him enhanced awareness of his own body and things ‘jacked into’ it, enhancing his dexterity and body control. Furthermore, the power output, or ‘voltage’ of his nervous system is drastically enhanced, growing as he generates more biomass. Beyond this, his ability to safely digest substances--including toxins--is significantly increased as his power will translate them into usable material.

However, the central aspect of his power is what he can do with the biological material he generates, as he can harness it in mundane or alien ways, fashioning his flesh into limbs, augments, physical enhancements, tools and weapons. Precisely what he ‘builds’ with his flesh is fairly open, but the actual focus of his tinkering isn’t. Their specialty is Augmentation, Refinement, and Weaponization. Despite using biological material, his power allows his biotech to produce effects that would not typically be physically viable.

Limitations: First and foremost, Ashai’s power is limited solely to his own biomass. While the aforementioned removes a need to gather resources like most tinkers, it doesn’t remove the time that it can take him to build effective augments, tools, or weapons. Furthermore, Ashai’s power requires all of his biotech be jacked into his nervous system for power and control. This means that he can become more easily overwhelmed by stimuli than the typical individual. This sensory overload is caused by his altered nervous system’s enhancement of input delivered by his sensory organs, causing him to experience the world more ‘vividly’. As he creates additional augments and tools the possibility for overload increases. Lastly it should be noted that his power’s focus means that tech which allows him to more directly make an impact in the world is favored over more indirect means. The further away from this ideal of direct impact he gets, the more unreliable, unstable, frail, or otherwise deeply flawed his biotech becomes.

Equipment

ITEM:

ITEM:

ITEM:

ITEM:

Coding Playground

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dolar set amet. Lorem ipsum, dolar set amet. Lorem ipsum, dolar set amet. Lorem ipsum, dolar set amet.

One Piece: New Horizons!

Lilliana Merrycure

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Watching intently, despite hardly understanding the nature of the contest beyond its basic concept and rules, Lilli hoped that their ally would win. At Bonekid's interjection, she glanced away, “I am not sure myself, but I am curious to see where this goes.” She turned her eyes back to the situation, frowning as she noted each disgusting dish served by the enemy crewmate. It kept getting worse as disgusting turned to dangerous, and dangerous turned to potentially lethal.

With each successive meal eaten, she found herself more and more perplexed by Runch's lack of reaction. Even hearing Hachirou's explanation, she could hardly believe it. It was incredible, even if implausible. There were so many amazing things in this world!

As Runch's final meal was eaten her eyes widened and her mouth opened slightly in a small gasp. “Oh wow,” she muttered quietly as their ally won. Then, as she realized it was over, a big smile—if a tired one—spread across her face. Though she had not the energy to cheer or clap, she managed a big thumbs up. While Feya tried to bring her into the huddle, her seated and weak position had her ducking out of that little situation. She smiled at her crew, happy for the enthusiasm, even if she couldn't mirror it. Then she looked back to Runch as he began returning and offered her compliments to the chef.

“Very Impressive,” she said, managing a measure of gusto.

Capes of Denver: A Worm RP

Chatterbox

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Reading the text, his smile fell, then quirked slightly at the corner of his lips, before vanishing again. All as planned.

Tap, tap tap tap, tap tap, tap. Pause. Tap tap.

He began relaying messages through his network of thralls. Investigate, keep an eye on the cameras and report. Report suspicious activity from staff or civilians. Report anyone paying too much attention to certain groups—those around the Jacks—and the Jacks themselves. Additionally he reinforced a set of directives set in place to never rat him or the Jacks out. These he'd programmed deepest into the psyche of his thralls. It would take a lot to out them. He'd even instructed them to lie about what comedians they went out to see, varrying things so even that was hard to connect to him. Anything to obscure the path, but enough of that, he had a job to do.

He activated his bluetooth.

"Blucifer's been blown up. Flights cancelled or grounded for search. Cause unknown. Trying to figure out what the fuss is." He didn't say it too seriously, no more seriously than someone having a casual conversation on the phone. His team would understand, but those around would think little of it, if anything.

Updates began coming in from his thralls. Flights truly were being cancelled and grounded. No one had been informed just yet. Clearly a security measure, something to reduce panic. With something like this, he wanted to know if they called in cape assistance or—....

Perhaps there were capes already on scene other than them?

"We might have some other brainiacs on scene. With security and the airport. Unsure."

He left the bluetooth connection open, but muted so they couldn't hear his surroundings. He began tapping again, sending messages to the highest ranking thralls in his bunch, trying to go up the chain of command to locate any thinkers on scene. He wanted to see of they could use them...even if he couldn't control them.

He wanted to know what their reads were. He wanted information and he wanted it yesterday.

"Besides you Hunter, stay packed up. You don't need anything in your carry-ons yet." He said it, implying they shouldn't gear up just yet. He took his own advice, making a note of the various drop off points he had his gear delivered to. He didn't have one, because he wasn't sure where the threat would come from, but he didn't want to have to make a huge detour just to arm himself. He wanted it to be on the way.

Hopefully his careful planning would pay off.

Capes of Denver: A Worm RP

Evelyn Chambers

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Raising an eyebrow, Evelyn glanced at the reactions of the others in the circle, before she crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair. While Lillian spoke, Evelyn listened intently, drinking her coffee with an almost eerie, detached calm. In her chest she felt a faint tightness and she couldn't help the muscles in her jaw flexing from time to time, but it wasn't like before.

At the admission of Sonar's betrayal, and how deep it was, she simply gripped her coffee cup more tightly and stopped drinking. Slowly, the action tightly controlled, she set the rumpled cup on the tabletop.

She took a deep breath and met Lillian's eyes before looking to Alessa, their team leader. Her eye twitched faintly, she swallowed, but ultimately still spoke.

There was no fire in her eyes, only something cold and controlled. She'd been seeing her therapist more often, but surely this wasn't what they would have wanted. "If you can set the bait, I can close the trap," she said, leaving the 'how' of it ambiguous. She turned back to her coffee, and drank some more letting the others pitch in.

Capes of Denver: A Worm RP

Chatterbox

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The Denver International Airport, a place with high security, higher even than many airports—which were already well guarded and surveilled to begin with. It was a true behemoth, something most criminals would find themselves skulking away from, setting their sights lower.

He was no average criminal. No, he was a performer and a mastermind and he knew how to play a crowd. Thralls in security, thralls entering as civilians, thralls watching cameras. It had taken quite a bit of effort to coordinate it all for this day, but he'd managed to. Schedule switches, work accidents, small things...things no one would think terribly strange. Cameras might pan to see a new region, follow a civilian acting suspicious, a security guard might let someone through who would normally not have passed. Someone watching the items going through security might search someone to distract while contraband got through.

Beyond even this, he'd instructed the other Jacks not to enter all at once, though for Thunderbolt and Whimsy to go together. Their gear got in, getting through checks, though some other poor civilians—fans--were pulled aside for contraband. He'd checked statistics, making sure it wasn't abnormally high for the day. He didn't want people to catch on to how they'd infiltrated retroactively.

He wanted this done carefully and so it was.

Finally, last of the Jacks to enter, Drake went through security. However, he didn't look like his normal self. Indeed he'd donned very light make up—with the help of several fans—and an ensemble different from his usual clothes, to help obscure his identity.

He got through, though with a search of his person. A brief patdown, just to make things look fine. The cameras caught it all, and indeed it was to make him appear even less guilty. After all, they'd checked him and all his luggage extensively and found nothing. It was on camera, it had caught his face and still...they'd have nothing on him.

As he finished passing through TSA, donned his shoes, stylish black jacket, put his built back on and of course reactived his bluetooth, he felt quite satisfied with his performance thus far.

Heading past the first bathroom he saw, Drake used tapcode to notify a few thralls, who converged on his position under the guise of getting food. As he headed for his gate one of his thralls tripped and splashed his clothes with coffee. He made a brief scene, the thrall was apologetic, and then he moved on his way understandably heading back for a bathroom. At the precise moment of his entry his thralls obscured him from the cameras in what would appear total happenstance. He entered with several regular civilians, took care of his business, and washed off his face thoroughly. He also changed his clothes, drying off and getting out of his ruined clothes, all the while muttering angrily.

When he left the bathroom, again with a group, he was not the same man who had entered.

Just one more step taken to obscure his identity. Thereafter he headed for the gate, notifying his teammates that he had gotten in fine. Briefly he used tapcode to check with a number of his thralls, then notified the team that everything was in place. Their eyes and ears were open now all they had to do...was wait.

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Evelyn Chambers – Tulpa

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She'd woken up that morning with the intention of doing some last touches on some homework and perhaps later do some a bit more shopping to fill out a set of new outfits in her wardrobe, but as she dressed, applied light make-up and ate her breakfast she found that her plans would go unfulfilled.

Warning: Do not speak any of the following out loud. Emergency mission for the Wards, approved by Decoy. Details to follow. Meet at the Little Owl Cafe ASAP in civilian clothing. Tiger Lily will provide crucial details on what could be the most important mission of your whole careers.

Frowning slightly, Evelyn laughed a bit to herself, glanced at her phone to check the weather, and then retrieved a coat. When she felt sufficiently prepared she told her parents she was going out for morning coffee with some friends before school. Her mom gave her a kiss on the head and her dad told her not to be late.

She smiled, waved, and headed out getting a taxi to the address. When she got there she thanked the man, tipped him, and got out to walk down the block to the Little Owl Cafe. All the while, unseen, her 'shadow' passed through the street and the walls around her, never visible in her vicinity, but always there...ready.

Pushing open the door with a shoulder Evelyn entered, giving her team a wave and a slightly guarded smile, before she got a coffee—with plenty of cream—and then headed over to sit down with them. Though her makeup was still light, she seemed to be wearing more than normal, though it was perhaps something one might notice only if they were particular observant.

The rest of her demeanor seemed about the same as usual.

"Hey guys. Same message?" She asked, making sure the others had come her for the same reason she had. Frankly she didn't much like that her routine had been interrupted, but oh well...she could tolerate an interruption from time to time. Perhaps this time things might go somewhat smoothly....

....

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Jake Krain

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Typing away behind his desk, Jake frowned as he heard a faint crashing noise. Then, all of the sudden things went crazy, glass shattered as something struck the building. He ducked under his desk, mind racing, eyes narrowing. People started screaming, some from what sounded like pain, but most in panic and fear.

Not a good sign. With the windows gone he could hear that the chaos was much worse outside. Immediately his mind raced and while he felt no panic or worry he felt a sense of urgency. He had to do something, but how to get out of this situation and not reveal his identity?

Go to the roof.

Quickly he moved and began helping others evacuate, but at the nearest opportunity he slipped away and headed up. He bid others not to go outside as it was more dangerous there than in their office building.

Some listened, some didn't. After a few minutes of straining to keep going up stairs he reached the top of his building. It was a tall one.

His legs hurt pretty badly from the climb. He'd be feeling that later. Fortunately he wouldn't be feeling it now.

The air warped, he felt a sense of nausea, followed by a blast of intense emotion, like surfacing after being underwater for a long...long time. The first breath was most intense, and pleasurable, but quickly it eased off and he could focus.

His senses ecpanded, immediately, and rapidly, giving him a mapping of electrical and bio-electrical activity. Showing him warping fields of magnetic energy. Sound bouncing off things, giving him an incredibly accurate read of the situation.

In short: Absolute Chaos.

Unacceptable.

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Outsider

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Feeling the sheer size and strength of his Second Vessel, he rose into the air off the roof of his job, taking off and accelerating suddenly in a burst, displacing air around him. He whirred down from the rooftop and then slowed all at once, his senses honing in on what so many people were retreating from.

That was what he'd hit. As he slowed he whipped the tendrils of his body, entwined to make a wide flat surface like wings, causing a powerful gust of wind to blast down at the cape. Amplifying it, Outside unleashed a barrage of kinetic blasts, uncoiling his tentacles to rush down at the cape.

From what he'd heard and the result of the individual's present, he hazarded that it was Eyeblight.

"Stand down," his deep, hollow voice rang out. Then, less threatening he spoke to the civilians "Exit your vehicles and head away from my location. Do not look in my direction. Villain, Eyeblight on scene."

As he spoke he whipped a three tentacles down through the air at Eyeblight, their speed frightening, the weight behind them potentially devastating.

Capes of Denver: A Worm RP

Chatterbox

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Intrigued by the newcomer, he let her speak, as well as allowing the others to chime in. Something of a back and forth it was. Amusing, though perhaps not as satisfying what with the lack of his involvement.

No matter.

"Welcome to the team, ah, Alloy." He flashed her a grin, "I'm Chatterbox, but you can call me CB." He walked over to the table and sat down. Briefly he considered her power, "It will be useful to have someone with your talents on the team. I can't wait to put your power to good use, so to speak."

He paused, considering something, then snapped his fingers, "Did the boss inform you of our abilities beforehand?" It was good to know if she needed to updated on the state of things. Of course, he was wondering a host of other things, such as her tactical and strategic ability. Her intelligence. Her tendencies.... Perhaps her phone number. However, those would come in time.

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Evelyn Chambers – Tulpa

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While she felt some relief at the Director's words, there were other parts of what he was saying that made something in her itch and balk. She kept her mouth shut thought, her eyes darting around occassionally. Deep breaths, slow, quiet breaths. They didn't respond well to her emotions, the fact that this mattered to her. They didn't see it, they didn't really understand. So rather than say anything further to Kens or the other she just nodded and turned to go.

On her way out, however, Alessa got her attention. She stopped, but didn't turn back, onoly moving her head slightly in recognition of her teammate. She wasn't happy with how this had turned out, or started, or went. What more could Alessa offer? She wasn't really in charge, all she did was push the paper for the wards and take point on the field. She couldn't change anyone's mind at the top, she didn't have any clout, any pull...any control.

"Thanks Alessa," she responded. When she turned and looked at the girl there was a weak, but seemingly genuine smile, on her face. It even went to her eyes. Still, there was something almost...defeated about the Evelyn that anyone looking would see.

It only lasted a moment and she didn't even make an attempt to communicate further, instead turning away and walking out. She'd felt so good about today, they'd put bad people away, protected innocent civilian lives. She'd thought it would be two less villains out there where they could hurt people. Instead it was just one...and the other one would go back out—presumably in the guise of a hero. The thought was a twisted one, it perverted everything she'd thought she knew about the PRT, the Protectorate...the Wards.

As she walked down the hall and made her way out of the holding area, she glanced down at her hands.

'Am I the only one who knows the difference?' She wondered.

'Is my view just as warped as theirs...by association?'

A frown crossed her features and she brushed hair from her eyes absently. In doing so she caught a glimpse of a silver 'shadow'. She looked at it, then turned her attention to it through her power. Her projection was...sprawling. A huge net spreading through the walls and floors and anywhere that people weren't.

The realization of the amount of space it was covering, the sheer mass froze her midway up the stairs. She stood there a moment, breathing with slow practiced breaths. She'd forgotten that she was trying to stay calm, but was glad that she'd kept up the practice, glad that she'd had the training and that it had really stuck with her.

Focusing, she made the silver shadow shrink, condensing it and warping it to hide with her. She kind of understood it now, in a way. It was like the others in the meeting room, but it was like her too. It started out pure, but in the world it...it didn't stay that way. It was a more fragile thing than her in its way, its mind decaying the longer it was exposed.

Yet, it was predictable now. Now that she knew that. Now that she understood it.

She started walking again and when she got to the ground floor she gave a few tired waves to the staff before leaving. She didn't want to be around anyone right now. Or well, she didn't want to be around any of them.

To get her mind off things, maybe once she got home, she'd go shopping. Somewhere she could go alone. She'd pick up a music player too, that way it wouldn't just be the quiet of her mind.

That would be nice. Yeah, she'd go buy a new outfit or two.

What a good idea.

Capes of Denver: A Worm RP

Evelyn Chambers – Tulpa

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Her eyes darted between the heroes and on some level she registered their reactions, their sudden wariness, the worry, the tension, and perhaps the smallest hint of fear.

Her idols...opposing her, no, opposing what was right. Putting away the bad guys, the evil in the world. Protecting people from them. Making sure they didn't have a chance to hurt anyone again. How did they not see it??

Interrupting her consideration of how to handle this revelation, Alessa arrived...getting between her and Lillian.

Her thoughts snagged on something, a trauma, ugly and painful. Guilt. She wouldn't hurt Lillian...even if she was furious. Her power had done it once, she wouldn't let it happen again. The fact that Alessa was protecting the younger girl, as if she was going to hurt their teammate. As if she was some--

Alessa's words struck her and a hot flash of rage rolled through her, it felt like her vision went red for a moment, just a flash. She clenched her hands into fists, digging nails into flesh, the tension in her jaw apparent. She exhaled, but it came out in two strangled words, hurt, affronted, disappointed, "You too?" She turned her back to 'Messiah,' what a traitor. How dare she.

As Inkscape spoke she honed in on him. Already, through her mind went permutations of the powers in her grasp. Materials cinched together like puzzle pieces, concepts fitting into place.

Silver light began drifting down from the ceiling, becoming the silhouette of something long and many limbed.

The Director's words interrupted her and a surge of outrage flared then rapidly cooled, warping into something less, but more twisted. She gripped the cloth of her shirt at the bottom, then her leg, clawing at herself even as she exhaled. The silver silhouette 'relaxed' into something vague, more like a cloud of indistinct light, and then vanished.

She swallowed, her head...clearer, but...but it didn't feel right. Her emotions were tangled, chaotic. She stumbled, even while the others entered the conferance room. She managed to follow, but appeared faintly disoriented.

Still she didn't sit down with the others, even despite feeling suddenly shaky, as if her stance maybe weren't so strong and righteous, as if her beliefs maybe weren't quite so valid...maybe because everyone clearly did not agree with her. She stood as far from the others as she could while still being in the room.

Something in her didn't want anything to do with them in that moment, but she couldn't leave either. She felt too strongly about this...too strongly. She felt her frown deepen. She'd been frowning? Was she really so disconnected that she hadn't realized what her face was doing?

Crossing her arms she hugged herself as if cold and found that she was shaking. Adrenaline maybe?

Director Kens kept going on about the situation about Shatte—no...about 'Quintana,' the boy behind the mask. Around their ages, abused, bullied...driven to this. She saw the path that could lead someone to the actions she'd witnessed and read reports about, but...it didn't connect.

Just because there was a justification, a reason, that Shatterpoint had done what he'd done didn't make it right, okay, or excusable.

She swallowed, shuffling her feet, then made a decision. Yet, when she spoke up, there wasn't much conviction in her voice and she couldn't meet anyone's eyes.

"If you induct him into the Wards, I'm not working with him and if you intend to make me, you can consider this a resignation." She fell silent, averting her gaze so she stared sidelong at a wall, trying not to look at anyone.

The 'shadow' of her power occasionally blipped out from the ceiling, its form expanded in an unseen shroud between floors, looming over and around the conference room. It wasn't a conscious manipulation or an attempt at escalation or intimidation, but it was there.

One Piece: New Horizons!

Lilliana Merrycure

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Returned to her crew after the fight, Lilli sat near Bonesword and leaned heavily into her chair, thoroughly exhausted. Still, she watched the next bout intently, largely administering to her own wounds as best as she was able. A shot from one of her syringes helped perk her up a bit, but she knew that she wasn't really in any condition for a second bout.

Frowning at the vitriol the badger spat throughout, Lilli was entirely unsurprised when Joane lost. Still, it had been fairly impressive, she wished that perhaps she could see the honey badger in a more fair fight in the future. Perhaps then her bravado would be worth something.

Glancing away from the proceedings between matches, she looked to Bonesword as he got up. She tried, and failed, to grab his boney hand. Fortunately, her son knew his limits well and returned, asking Boone to fight instead.

Grateful at their captain's response she smiled, letting out a relieved sigh. “Come back over here you boney boy and keep me company,” she said, beckoning Bonesword back, a tired smile on her lips. Even B-M.O seemed sluggish, the metallic organism barely apparent as little metal stubs at her shoulder blades and a faint silver tint to her skin.

If she hadn't known her body so well she'd have thought she felt like death.

If.