Zombiedude101

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

I'm cool with that.

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

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Jennifer Caspin, Meifeng Vuhong, & Quentin Taylor.

_{@ToadRopes@BurningDaisies}

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Going with Jen's suggestion, Meifeng thought that they could slow down tall, and brooding here. She raised her hands in the air, and pointed her palms at the ground, and a jet of water came spraying out of her palm. It created a puddle of water, and she quickly knelt down, and the water turned into solid ice. The Nemesis walked on the ice, and nearly slipped. It quickly caught itself, and slammed his hand on the wall to maintain balance.

What threw it over was an operating table flying at it at high speeds. Courtesy of Ratchet. The operating table hit the Nemesis in it's head, and knocked it backwards. It created a loud slam the second it hit the ground. Ice and concrete shattered underneath it's back.

"Let's go!" Meifeng shouted, turning tail, and the rest of the girls followed her. Jen looked back, and saw the Nemesis slowly climb back up to it's feet - which prompted her to go a little faster. The group turned a corner, and Meifeng opened a door, and gestured for everyone to go inside - before entering the room herself, and closing the door behind her.

"Thank God..." Jen sighed, as she panted. Not that she was particularly tired - her regeneration cycles out the lactic acid - just scared out of her god damn mind. She took a look around the room, and saw that they weren't quite in one of the labs, or operation rooms, that seemed to be so common in this place. No... on one side of the room, there were bars, and a metal door. Like this was a prison of some sort. On this side of the room, there were cabinets, and the such.

Taking steps closer to the cell, Meifeng looked and saw that there was someone in the cell. Some older dude, had to be like in his late twenties, African-American, and had a collar on. "Hey... are you okay in there?" She asked, taking steps closer to the door. She looked down, and saw that the door had a padlock on it. She put her hands on it, and looked at it, searching for any crease or crevice for her to put water in and freeze. She was going to get this thing off, and get this guy out of here.

Setting Anna on one of the cabinets, Jennifer put her hands on Anna's shoulder to get her stable (and from falling face first). She turned her upper body around, and looked at the cell. "Be quiet, Meifeng." She warned her friend. "We don't know when that thing will come back around."

The cell's occupant stirred from his deep thought, glancing towards the door. It took a moment for him to realise he wasn't alone, prompting him to tense up in a defensive posture. Initially, he didn't answer the voice, instead analyzing the face staring at him through the gap above the cell-door. He glared at her contemptously for just a moment, before realising she was skulking around, unlike whoever'd seen him before.

"Who're you?" He asked reticently.

"Alright, I'm Meifeng Vuhong," Meifeng started off, pulling water out of her pocket dimension, and covering the padlock in water. Forcing as much of the water inside of it as she could. "Back there is Ratchet, blondie is Jennifer, and she's holding up my other friend, Anna. We've been captured too, but we managed to break out. I think their collars were broken, or something, I don't know." Meifeng said as she did her work.

Skeptical, the prisoner pushed both palms into his knees to stand, approaching the doorway cautiously. "These things?" He scratched at the metallic surface of the collar around his neck "If you can get it off, I'll take it as proof you're not fucking with me" he cynically added, approaching

"Yeah, alright." Meifeng didn't know what this guy's problem was - his attitude was a bit unnecessary - but if it was to get his trust, then she'll gladly do it. She kept fiddling with the padlock for a bit, before closing her eyes, and focusing. The water inside the lock snapfroze, and expanded. Breaking the lock open. The lock dropped to the floor, and Meifeng slowly opened the door to his cell. She nodded and he approached.

"Trust me." Meifeng said.

She summoned some more water out of her pocket dimension, and forced it into crease where the collar opens. She froze that water, too, and the water froze solid. Popping the collar right off. She nodded her head. She felt very dry... thirsty. God, the dehydration's kicking in. Meifeng thought to herself as she put a hand to her head, and took a step back.

"I got it off... do you trust us, now? W-we're just trying to get out of here." Meifeng said.

"Yeah, appreciated. You people, you're all.... powered, right? That's what all those fuckers are after, I think." Taking that collar off gave him the look of a man who'd just surfaced after almost drowning.

"Far as I can tell, I'm the only one here with a power." Meifeng said, grabbing onto her arm. She looked around for a moment, hoping to find a source of water. "I don't know why they'd grab some unpowered people."

Should I...? Jennifer thought to herself for a moment. Since, she never told Meifeng that she had a power of her own, and probably doesn't know that Ratchet has an ability, either. Then again, maybe she should keep it to herself for now. Don't ask, don't tell. Another part of her wanted to mention what she was told a few hours ago.

"Um, hold on a second." Meifeng eyeballed a sink. She quickly skipped over to it, and leaned forward over it, and turned the knob. She turned her head sideways, and started drinking water right out of the tap. The water tasted like it rust in it and the stranger suggested she avoid it, but she didn't care. She'd need to get rehydrated before the next monster comes out of no where to attack them.

Which meant that Jennifer would be the one talking while Meifeng was getting a dink. She coughed, before saying, "We're trying to get out of here. We were trying to spring as many people as possible so we can get some help... but we ran into some big thing. He had a helmet, and a coat, looked evil as hell... Meifeng and Ratchet knocked him over before we ran in here."

"That fucker?" He recognised their description of that... thing. "You'll need some firepower. What other powers have you people got?"

Meifeng raised her head... she probably caught something from the water - but hey, she's at risk of being murdered, why worry about a little bacteria? She turned back towards Quentin, and leaned up against the cabinet she closed her eyes, and shrugged. "As you can see, I can control water. The docs at NEST told me that I have a little pocket dimension that I can store water in, and I can pull it out at any time. I also have ice powers, but they're not that spectacular." She shrugged again.

Maybe it was time for Jen to say her power. "I'm... I'm a Regenerator." She said letting the words hang in the air.

"Yoooo, you didn-" Meifeng tried to say, before she got cut off by Jen.

"I know... I was just scared of the likes of the Pure, and NEST.... that's why I didn't tell you." She scratched the back of her neck nervously. "I haven't really tested it yet... but I can survive lethal wounds. I was... shot multiple times, and I healed it in a few minutes.... I know it won't help in a fight."

Meifeng would have been a little upset that Jen was giving her so much flak about hiding her power, when she was hiding an ability of her own, but she couldn't find it in her to get mad over the petty things. At least not now. Meifeng sighed. She figured that she should tell about Anna... since she doubted if she could talk on her own. Poor thing.

"My friend Anna over there is a little... out of it," And that was the understatement of the year. "She... might be a Metahuman. We talked about it, and she has something to do with other Metahumans. Like, she enhances them? I don't know."

"They experiment on her as well? I don't recognise her."

"I..." Meifeng said, unsure of what to say. She shot a worried look at Anna. "... don't know. She's been badly drugged. I hope she's... okay."

"They dosed me with that stuff, wasn't as potent though," It didn't look like he wanted to memorise the experience, "Just... these bastards have a lot to answer for. Things they did to... yeah."

"You're damn right." Meifeng said. She raised her fist valiantly to chin level. "And I promised I'll make every one of these bastards pay for what they did to Anna, and every other person here."

"Ummm..." Jennifer asked, after Meifeng heroicness ceased. "You're a Metahuman, right?" She pointed at the collar that was left behind. "What is your power? They wouldn't have put a collar on you otherwise."

"I can pick up other... MetaHumans' powers and use them myself... or give them to others."

"So... you can..." Jennifer thought to herself outloud. "... Take people's powers away, and give them to other people? That's..."Useful. Maybe I can get my powers removed so I can live a normal life. Without any of this nonsense. Jennifer thought to herself after cutting her sentence short. She disregarded those thoughts, since she should be focusing on staying alive. Her power might be the only thing that'll save her.

"Maybe you could snatch that big bastard's power, and beat him?" Meifeng suggested, shrugging again. "Because I don't have too many other ideas. He kept getting back up."

"If I can get in close enough, it's possible."

"Well, we knocked him on his ass a few minutes ago." Meifeng noted, shrugging. "Nothing says we can't do it again."

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

Two questions. One, would Quentin be held captive within close-ish (speaking) proximity to the others? Two, would a character comprised of liquid metal/a similar material ala the T-1000 from Tw be considered too far, given the right backstory? Idea popped into my head.

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

@Mr Allen J Got the post from our collab up. Sorry for the wait, had to get an opportunity to do it on my computer rather than my phone browser.

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

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Quentin Taylor

_{@Mr Allen J}

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Unlike quite a few people, Quentin hadn’t managed to avoid work despite recent events. Most of the places where he got contracted out to - corporate sites, public events and local nightlife outlets - had stepped up security in an effort to deter troublemakers from causing a scene on their premises, leaving him with no shortage of shift-work. It had left him feeling somewhat bored by it all; half of the time he spent standing watch close to a doorway whilst others (like right now) he’d be sat in an office monitoring the CCTV feed and making the occasional call over the radio about one thing or another.

‘Oh well,’ he’d mused ‘At least I’m getting overtime pay for this.’ And it was bringing in more than the ‘other job’ as of late, something that his contact, an Americanised immigrant from the Eastern Bloc by the name of Lyosha, hadn’t brought him anything else worthwhile to the table for quite some time, due in part to the fact that people were becoming a little more cautious in light of things - the likes of the Fiends were always bad for business.

As he downed another gulp of his cool beverage in the AC-supplied office, Quentin sank back in his chair and watched the security footage as time flew past, dwelling on the conversation he'd had with Reed a couple days back. Eventually his shift was done for the evening, earning him a couple of hours to relax back home before he bedded down for the night.

The drive home was steady, if a little drawn out thanks to traffic. Verthaven never slept after all. When he finally made it home, the first thing he did after pulling into the garage was to head upatairs to the spare room, unlock the unassuming storage cabinet in the corner and check the antiquated celllphone inside for anything noteworthy. Never hurt to check after all. A couple key clicks later, he found a simple message printed in bold across the screen.

"MISSED CALL - L"

Quentin immediately recognised the caller's ID, prompting him to dial it back. The dial tone chimed for a brief moment before transitioning into the droning tune that frustrated many when left unanswered. Fortunately, the call was picked up and after a brief moment of silence was followed by a familiar voice at the other end.

"Speaking." Lyosha's voice bore an accent that was nigh indistinguishable from any born-and-raised Verthaven dweller's save for a couple hints here and there of his slavic origins.

"L, got your missed call. Problem?" Quentin inquired.

"Can't talk here. Need to speak with you in person, ideally today." Lyosha sounded

Sighing, Quentin asked yet again "Is it that urgent?"

"I wouldn't have called if it were otherwise."

"Fine. I'll see you at the usual spot." He relented, his final suggestion reaffirmed with a simple "Yeah" on the other end of the phone before he cut off the call. Switching off the phone, he stuck it back in the corner of the cabinet and locked up before heading back out.

This time, he took his motorbike for a cruise through the downtown area before arriving at an autoshop. The front entrance was all dark, locked and barred, yet Quentin knew that Lyosha kept a key for the backdoor wedged behind the "FIRE EXIT" marker.

Letting himself in, he stepped into the dim lighting of the autoshop and glanced around for any sign of Lyosha, just before he barrel of a revolver was pressed against the back of his head, taking full advantage of his distracted state.

Heartbreaker leaned in and whispered into his ear. "Hey... don't move, and put your hands where I can see 'em, heh." She grinned ear-to-ear like a fool.

Heavy footsteps coming up stairs, approaching fast, signalled the arrival of the titanic Nemesis, who was standing in the doorway, with his glowing red eyes shining through the darkness.

Heartbreaker turned her head back towards Nemesis then went back to Quentin, pressing the gun against his head even harder.

"Alright, let me tell you what's going to happen," She started off, "Your pal? Yeah, he set you up. You see, someone with your talents is needed by our organization. So, we're going to take you back to our little base, and use you for our... projects. You'll help us begin a new age of super science and all that nonsense."

She giggled for a second. "And don't feel bad about your bud screwing you over. One of our guys is probably tearing him piece by piece as we speak. Loose ends, and that jazz."

"Yeah, that's reassuring.." Quentin finally retorted below bated breath as he raised his hands, his entire body stiffening as he felt the barrel pressing against the back of his skull. These people meant business, that he was certain of at the least. "So, what the fuck do you expect from me?"

"Your little... power swapping trick." Heartbreaker chuckled, before she turned back to Nemesis. "Now, Nemesis,.would you do the honors?"

The Nemesis started walking up, and pulled a syringe out of his coat, and jagged Quentin in the neck with it. Pushing all the contents inside. Within a few moments, everything would go dark for him.

Some time later, Quentin would awaken inside the Hands of Science base, strapped to a chair. The first thing he'd see is Berlioz staring right at him.

"Good, you're awake." He said, "You're our newest asset, Quentin Taylor. You're going to be doing much work for us... before we ship you off to our associates. Now, your job will be switching powers between test subjects whenever neccessary... say if someone is about to die due to our "projects", and we have someone who's in perfect shape. You'll transfer powers from the dying one, to the healthy one. Do you understand?"

Quentin initially remained silent, a scathing glare fixated on his captor. Eventually he spoke up, muted contempt in his tone, "And what exactly do I stand to gain from this... "association" with your little snuff project?"

"Absolutely nothing." Berlioz laughed, his voice gruff, he added, "Only we will profit... the Hands of Science will greatly benefit from this."

Quentin had no answer for that, save for the scathing glare he'd displayed for the duration of their conversation. This guy sounded like a fucking Bond villain, all clichés included, yet this wasn't a film and he had no intention of being reminded of his mortality.

Instead, he clenched his jaw and awaited his fate.

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

<Snipped quote by Zombiedude101>

I prefer that we use something like Titanpad because google docs is such a chore.

@Mr Allen J

Sure thing. PM a link to me and I'll work with you on it.

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

Whatever makes sense. They could use the associate, then use his family as leverage to get him to do what they want.

<Snipped quote by Zombiedude101>

Whenever you want, I'm going to be free most of today (Though, I do most of my writing at night).

@Mr Allen J

Sounds fine with me. So... what, do we just work via a PM based collab or google docs?

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

<Snipped quote by Zombiedude101>

Diiiiiiissssssappoooooooooointment.....

<Snipped quote by Zombiedude101>

This was something I had in mind myself, they'd totes capture him. Probably would just straight up grab him, or if you really wanted to go with your ideas, probably use a family member as leverage.

@Mr Allen J

Dunno about straight up grabbing him, Quent's been working through an associate to avoid having his identity exposed so far so maybe it'd make more sense if they set up an ambush using said associate. When can we start?

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

@swich01@Maxx@He Who Walks Behind@Zombiedude101@Dragonbud

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I feel as if it's necessary to put out a homie call. Who is here, and who isn't?

@Mr Allen J

I'm here and trying to work on a post. Ideas for integrating my character into the RP with everyone else are kinda stalled but I think I'm getting there. Might help if I can work with @Maxx. I also had an idea for a subplot where the Hands of Science would be interested in capturing Quentin given his ability to transfer powers from one person to another in addition to storing them, if you're interested in helping me out there. I have a few methods in mind (one involves using his family members as leverage, another involves an associate).

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

Posted the timeskip. Introduced the villains for the HoS arc (... who I'll have to make some fucking NPC sheets for), and got everyone to morning. Anyone can talk to Meifeng, or my band of many NPCs. Dunno what to do with Maxine or Jen at the moment, so they're benched.

Also, any NEST agent could be in the raid with Michelle.

@Mr Allen J

Would it make sense for a detective from the VPD to participate in the raid? Had an idea for getting Quentin involved.