The City...of Easton

The jewel of the East Coast.

The steadfast, sterling city.

If there was ever a place that had originated the idea of the superhero, it was Easton. From the first time that the Mystery Men gathered in what was once an Easton Warehouse and which was now the Hall of Heroes through to the modern day, where no matter what sort of invasion or strife ensued, the Hall stood tall. A symbol of defiance and perseverance over the many foes that had assailed Easton over the years.

No skyscraper stood taller than it, no flag flew on its property - because it was understood that Easton's founding superheroes were not heroes for one nation or people or creed. They were the Society of Heroes, no matter their flaws and their shortcomings - ultimately the understanding was that they came together when the time was upon them.

And today seemed like any other day in Easton...

"Folks, it's high noon and a jack damn hot one! I'm your host with the boast, Papa Daddy Dannigan, bringing you the news with spice and views!" The voice of the charmingly ostentatious and loud radio host blared over old style radios and Youtube video platforms.

"The Splendid Five are returnin' from outer space after a stirring bout with Lord Nihl, keepin' that space ant's hill from a spillin' over! They'll be stopping at the least merry point on the coast before they stop by the Hall for refreshments with old pals!"

The people of Easton went on with their lives with all this going on in the background. A sense of normality in the abjectly abnormal. Unless you were new in town, Easton simply...was like this. It would take a lot more than a few interdimensional parasites and the moving and shaking in the villainous community for things to change for the vast majority of Eastoners.

As a car sped down the road past the Hall of Heroes to the second tallest building in the town, Noble Tech Tower, the sun blazed on.

Can you feel that

Ah, shit

Deep in the least bright, least sunny place near Easton, the sound of a song echoed down the hallway.

The Hold was a massive building, the distance from the mainland telling by just how little of it was visible even from the furthest coast of Easton. The building had six standing wings of the place, visibly divided in the place into towers and brutalistic structures. The dismal colors and cranking, roiling devices and gears grinding made it clear - this was not intended to be a good looking or sounding place to visit.

Smoke billowed from four individual smokestacks, clouding the sky and turning the sun into an angry, orange disc shimmering through.

The hallways inside were dismal as the outside was brutal. Sterile and empty of any customization or differentiation, beyond the kind of criminal contained in every odd location along the walls. Thick, thrumming high tech bars kept the malcontents inside from wrenching their way free, on top of various power nullifying devices resting on the necks of the villains.

In one thick, heavily reinforced room larger than most, a glowing, golden sphere rested in the middle. Covered in holy bands and rosaries.

And walking down the hall were both hired guards and volunteer heroes who ferried food and drink to the villains within the cells. The understanding was that the villains were dangerous. One should be vigilant. Cap-Storm, presently walking down the hallway blaring Disturbed, didn't see much reason to pay that much attention.

The less he had to hear from the bevy of mentally disgusting perverts, degenerates and thugs in here, the better. Once the young, red headed hero was done proving himself capable through manning The Hold, he could get back to the "real heroics", as he was wont to put it.

He had that song blaring on his arm, playing on a phone mounted on a holding device - his hands occupied carrying a tray of food. His heroic uniform an armor that covered most of his body, a cape on a single shoulder, and a visor covering his eyes.

Oh, ah, ah, ah, ah

Oh, ah, ah, ah, ah

oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Drowning deep in my sea of loathing

Broken your servant I kneel

Cap-Storm liked to think he was hard. That he was tough. As he walked by one of the cells, he put the food he carried on the floor and casually kicked it beneath the bars - through a small spot for sending food and other things through.

"Food for ya, Ronnie, food's right up," Cap-Storm then chuckled, "Not like it's much, Dork Sword." He then laughed at his own joke as he kept walking past a bunch of other people he dismissed as "loser's lane"...even as the computers further along in the command station started to whir and spark oddly.

Edited by NickTheSwing on Apr 19th 2024 at 7:04:55 AM

Tae-hyun Chong (Blue Lagoon Park)

For most people, being outside under the hot Floridian sun would be nothing less than torture, hence why many people's favorite outdoor activity was going back inside. But other people actually could function outdoors without the sun baking their brains, and one in particular liked quiet afternoons spent outside sketching.

A rather small teenage boy, with glasses perched on his nose and several pins decorating his jacket, sat on a bench in the park, delicately tracing careful details into his sketchbook (an Ideal-themed sketchbook, one he'd gotten for his eleventh birthday and had been using ever since. As usual, he was drawing a costume: the black-and-purple, high-collared, almost rocker-like look of the weather-controlling superhero that didn't actually exist, Thunderstrike!

This had been a habit of his for a while now: making up superhero personas and what costumes they would wear. Of course—he thought with a thrill of excitement—being a superhero was no longer hypothetical.

For you see, Tae-hyun Chong (that was his name) was now a true-blue superhero himself, the peerless aerokinetic Windwing! Admittedly, that was only because the last Windwing had gotten paralyzed from the waist down, but still! Putting that aside, this was the greatest thing that had ever happened to him ever!

He hadn't actually done any hero work yet, given how he'd only had these powers for a week. But! He'd made a costume, which was sitting in his backpack for when it was needed, so really, all he needed was an opportunity.

He just had to wait.

Brimsteel - The Hold

There was one cell Cap-Storm wouldn't need to stop at. After all, the prisoner inside needed no food. Within the cell was another glowing sphere with holy bands wrapped around it, this one white. And contained within the sphere was a humanoid robot, wreathed in fire, who was pounding tirelessly on the sphere.

Since being incarcerated at the Hold, at no point had Brimsteel ever stopped trying to force his way out. It didn't matter that the sphere had been specifically cast to be impervious to all his strength and his hellfire. Even though he hadn't made a single dent during his entire stay at the Hold, Brimsteel refused to stop struggling. His physiology meant there was nothing else he needed to do that would force him to stop. And in his mind, there was nothing more important than fulfilling his end of the bargain; something that could only be done once he'd escaped the Hold. So Brimsteel would break out, no matter how long it took...

Of course, when there was no chance of him freeing himself from his cell, anyone else who looked at him would likely just think he was too stupid to realize his escape attempts weren't going to work.

Magpie—The Hold

There was a younger hero among the rest of the volunteers making their rounds in the halls of the Hold. However, her equipment seemed a little mismatched. There was the colorful spandex that many of them favored, of course, but it seemed to be embedded with the kind of armor that the guards were issued, plus a utility belt with a baton hanging from it. She wasn't wearing a helmet or a visor like Cap-Storm, but it only made it more obvious that perhaps, she was indeed too young to be here. Besides, had a hero in black and white—with the black seemingly sprayed on from an aerosol can—entered with the rest of the group?

As she passed by Cap-Storm, his speakers spluttered with bursts of static interrupting his music. Perhaps the glitch in the computer system was also the product of having a revenant like Magpie around, perhaps not. But electronics going on the fritz was simply an unavoidable result of her presence. As it was, the little doppelganger seemed not to notice it, being busy with gathering up the spilled bits of food Cap-Storm had kicked through the gap in Darksword's cell door.

"I'm so, so sorry about that," she apologized audibly, her voice seeming to echo almost ethereally down the hallway. She withdrew the ruined tray of food and pushed a new one through the gap. "It was really unprofessional of that meanie. Here, this one should be better. I hope you like candy like me!" And as she stepped back, Darksword would be able to see that she had left an additional chocolate on the edge of the dessert plate.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Apr 19th 2024 at 11:30:31 AM

Nike - Blue Lagoon Park

There was a sudden, minor commotion in the park, a few heads turning to see a figure descend from the heavens, touching down by the water fountain near the restrooms.

Clad in a white bodysuit and cape with golden trim, it was none other than the heroine Nike, in the flesh. She rather casually pulled an insulated bottle from a pocket of her utility belt, and began filling it up, humming a tune to herself as she did.

Naturally, a costumed crusader drew the attention of interested onlookers, who approached her with varying levels of hesitation. Nike merely smiled and waved them over, offering selfies and autographs to anyone who wanted one.

One might wonder if this was a productive use of her time, but the park was on her patrol route, and as she herself explained to one of the adoring public: "Connecting with people is an important part of any hero's job."

The Third Tallest Tower

The fact was grating, just a little; of the three grand monoliths the black edifice of Orochi Tower was a matter of mere feet from officially beating out Noble Tech's own corporate offices. As Lily Thane looked out from her office's grand windows she could almost imagine that somewhere across town her fellow bossman was staring out his own window in an equally dramatic affect (she admitted that she didn't really know who would realistically be at the Hall's top floors to stare down on the city in a similar sense). With a sigh, she stepped away and snatched up a tablet computer from her desk to transcribe her own talking-to-herself.

"Memo to QBL head; if you see it wise, send an upcoming news story to my office. Human interest piece or... Let's go with Vali product launch. No headliners."

It was a practiced code: a piece of plausible deniability. When the message would be sent to the chair of QBL Media floors below he would dispatch one aide to bring one of the planned stories for the nightly news up to Mrs Thane's office and send two messages further down. To the newsroom went the following:

And another sent cross-department to Vali's R&D division:

Things would move quickly as two layers of the company would move in unison: In QBL Media's offices someone would in fact start working on that financial scam story while someone else checks social media scrubs to find that a hero is currently in Blue Lagoon Park and decides then is a good time to take a water break. In Vali's R&D department someone prepares a packet of information on upcoming product launches and budgetary concerns while someone else also decides to take a water break. And at the water cooler outside Faust Capital's department doors, two workers from different departments grab a cup of water, exchange pleasantries including a mention of going to Blue Lagoon Park after work and then part ways. When one of the two returns to their workstation in Vali R&D, they set their desktop background to a lovely shot of Blue Lagoon Park at sunset.

Blue Lagoon Park

A roar cuts through the chatter of this meeting between hero and public, followed swiftly by the sound of car alarms as something dire bursts into the park from the opposite side. It's an odd one, a malformed monstrosity that half resembles a hairless ape and half resembles a pile of angry muscles. As soon as it enters the park, it tries to uproot one of the smaller trees as civilians flee from it.

Martin Snow-Paragon. Blue Lagoon Park

There were few things more dangerous in a volatile city like Easton than a proper heatwave, the kind that made smart people act stupid, and stupid people act fearlessly. Which might have made it strange to the casual observer to see one of the city's up and coming heroes running around with a backpack filled with chilled water bottles on his back, handing them out freely to anyone within the park who might need one. In Martin's mind a good portion of crime fighting came down to crime prevention. People who are hydrated were shown to be remarkably less hostile especially in heat waves like today. Every bottle of water was one angry word stopped, one less fist that might be thrown, and one last person passing out from heat stroke. It was certainly nothing flashy like going off into space to fight off a multi-dimensional invader, but he liked to think that it was his way of making a difference. “Looks like I'm not the only here at the park today,” His eyes glanced through the large crowd that was always attracted to the well kept and maintained park spotting a few familiar faces and a few new ones in outfits designating them as local heroes.

As to what probably brought such a large population of Heroes to such a seemingly relaxing area that much would be obvious to anyone who'd been on the job for more than a few days. The Splendid Five returning from space would cause the smarter villains to keep their heads low to the ground for the next few days, but the ones who were in it for the challenge would crawl out of the woodwork in order to cause as much chaos as possible. It was an unfortunate reality that those who sought to use their powers for ill-gain would seek to cause chaos regardless if it would benefit them in the long run or not.

A sudden cacophony of screams and violence proved Martin correct in this instance, with him immediately being drawn to the odd creature that had begun attacking passers by. “ Never a dull moment.'' He put down the container of water by his side and leaned down into a crouch, bursting forward with enough force to kick up a cloud of dust behind him, leaping into the air and falling between the monster and the fleeing civilians. “ Take your hands off that tree you're scaring a lot of innocent people right now, and I'd rather try to talk about this before we get into a brawl.” it was a coin flip whether the creature would even be able to understand him. but he'd rather try to do his best to prevent a fight rather than just trying to fly into one. “So why don't we just sit down and share a nice water together on this hot day,” he offered the chilled bottle of his hand to the creature. Even if we couldn't understand his words, hopefully it would understand the gesture behind offering it something as a gift.

???-The Hold

Within the confines of one of the maximum security cells sat a silent and almost unmoving figure, set on a chair that was the only furnishing within the room. For the last day or so the figure had not eaten or drank anything that had been provided into the room through the sole slot on the door. The figures had been motionless, long limbs slumped forward nearly to the ground. However for the first time in hours it showed a sign of life, a smile pulling again worn and cracked skin. “ Something wicked this way comes.”

Lucy Livingston: Blue Lagoon Park

"Okay people, let's get the hell out of here! This way, away from the muscley Sasquatch! C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! And don't trample!"

It was a rather direct way of doing it, but then again Lucy had been caught out by the appearance of the raging creature in the park just as much as anyone. But she stood on the other side of it, calling bystanders over to leave the area from a safe distance as a few local heroes went in to handle the situation. Whether or not they'd listen to her was another matter—she just seemed like any other civilian, only standing out because of her stern voice and apparent confidence compared to everyone else's justified panicking.

"Hey, mister! Mind taking my place for a sec? Just make sure folks get away," she asked of a passerby, and upon his agreement she took that cue to rush further into the park and assess the situation. Yup. Big hairy ape thingy. Already there was someone trying to offer it a bottle of water.

Weirdo.

"Oy. Just make sure it doesn't swipe off your head," she remarked as she got in earshot of Martin, though not close enough to be in range of the beast. "It looks like it could bench press ten of you. With one arm."

Lucy, at this moment, didn't really look like anyone. She was a far cry from how she'd looked back in Rhode Island, and her vigilante suit at the time had been very covering. Considering she hadn't spent more than a week or two here, she probably wouldn't be recognised by appearance alone. Her long hair had been one of the only identifying features her old suit had let show, so the fact she'd cut it now would likely also throw people off from recognising her.

Nike - Blue Lagoon Park

As if on cue, trouble stirred up. A more superstitious person might take it as a sign, but this happened often enough that Nike wasn't surprised. There were a lot of superhumans running around, statistically they'd run into each other.

"Remain calm!" She called, using her power like a telekinetic megaphone to amplify her voice, even as she rose into the air. "Evacuate in an orderly fashion!"

Once it was clear the civilians were on their way away from danger, she flew over to the beast, landing near a hero who she recognized. "Not sure it's sapient, Paragon. Looks like some kind of mutant animal. Looks primate, so don't show your teeth."

She made no move to attack just yet, waiting to see how the creature would respond to Martin's offer. She did edge closer, however, preparing to launch herself at the thing and grapple it to the ground if needed.

Tae-hyun (Blue Lagoon Park)

Wait.

Was that Nike?!

Tae-hyun's eyes went wide, and an excited grin broke out on his face as he shot to his feet and started heading over. An actual superhero! Right there! Not in the midst of combat! Maybe he could get an autograph! (Wait. He was a superhero now. Could...could he get all the autographs?)

But that train of thought came to a screeching halt along with Tae-hyun when the giant sasquatch-looking-thing crashed into the park, sending bystanders fleeing screaming for cover. For a moment, all he could do was stare in shock—and then he remembered oh yeah, he had superpowers now.

Autographs would have to wait, he supposed.

As most of the not-superheroes fled, Tae-hyun slowly walked in a trying-to-act-natural-but-failing way over to those nearby restrooms, then dashed inside and pulled the door shut. Luckily, the place was empty. He unzipped his backpack and pulled his costume out, beginning the process of putting it on.

It was...a slow process. First he had to take his regular clothes off and stuff them into his backpack, and then he had to get into his suit and zip it and get the cape clipped on and the whole thing took a while but! It was eventually done!

He couldn't resist taking a moment to admire his reflection in the mirror—he'd spent a good long while making this costume, he was allowed to be proud of it—before pulling his goggles on and grinning.

"Let's roll!"

Windwing burst from the restroom with a blast of wind, attempting to launch himself at the situation with a "Halt evildooaaaaaaaah—!" But, as one can tell, it did not quite work out that way, as he tripped partway through and ended up rolling across the ground before smacking into the nearby water fountain.

Not the most promising start.

Kaygogo patrolling the sewers

The sewers of easton are perfect for any villain or crook to hide its like a labyrinth, reeked and dark practically perfect for shady business, luckily there was a hero to patrol them at record speeds.

Kaygogo was encased in a mass of water as he zoomed through the liquids swimming at the same time he moved this clean water, no way he is swimming in filth that's disgusting.

He went through every nook and cranny, any place that could be perfect for villains to discuss their plans, or maybe he would find a monster inside who knew?

Ryan Brady didn't know where life was gonna take him those years ago when he was suspended from superheroics, treated as a figure of infamy among the community. He still had his secret identity, but everyone in the community had been told, roughly, what Atomix was in trouble for. Now, he was a steroid junkie, a man trying to make it back into the good graces of a community that had ousted him - and a babysitter, per the contact with Noble Staffing.

Not that young Dane Holt was a little angel. Dane was troubled - and so in turn he was paired with Ryan, who, to put it lightly, was troubled. The young red haired kid awkwardly kicked a pebble as he and Ryan walked. "Any chance we could see the shuttle comin' in later today?" The boy asked.

Ryan sighed, he knew he shouldn't, "Well, officially I'm just supposed to keep you en route and not too far from home..." But then he smiled broadly, "Well, unofficially, I know the best lookout point in the city. How about we—-"

And then things got crazy - and upon the Sasquatch tearing things up, and being met by a number of Heroes in turn, Ryan glanced at Dane, who stared from behind Ryan's back at the ensuing violence.

"I'll—-uh," Ryan started.

"You're gonna jump into that and I need to hide and not move?" Dane spoke quickly, looking for a good safe spot. He picked a spot behind a public chair set. "You're...you're gonna kick his ass, right!? You're not gonna—-"

"I'll be right back, kid - and yeah, I'll kick his ass." And with that, Ryan darted behind a nearby restroom, and pulled out a Compression Pod. It was the newest invention from that genius fuck Kris Caulder - guy working with Mr. Noble. Pressing a button on the pod, Ryan took out his full size costume from what seemed like a pod a fraction of the size.

The Collateral costume was a lot less bright than the Atomix one. Covered in metal, blacks and grays, a visor, ear piece, and chest plate. Lots of pouches at the waist for some reason, even though Ryan never needed to use a gun. Once the outfit was on, Ryan darted out - and saw that the fight was pretty involved.

He powered up, blue energy darting across his body, gathering on his fists. He waited for a clean shot on The Sasquatch, not wanting to chance a friendly fire incident. Especially not after what happened.

The Hold

Ronnie Holbach didn't expect much kindness in The Hold.

He was young, his thick, curly light brown hair, blue eyes, and pale skin gave him a certain look, together with his thin facial features. Boyish even with his age in mind. Things were rough when you were young and looked a certain way in prison. Thankfully, Ronnie had made it rather clear early on that a pretty face did not necessarily equate to a naive, demure personality.

Still. Not many were all that nice to him. Not so directly.

Which made the sudden nice meal and a chocolate treat all the more welcome. As soon as he saw it, he pounced on the meal and started chowing down. Muttering out thank you between bites even to the point of coughing a few times.

He didn't know how she did it, but he was rather familiar with the odd revenant and her antics. Something kept her here, but he wasn't sure what.

...

As this little act went on, Cap-Storm walked by the cell line holding their more infamous prisoners. Line Nightmare, as it was called. He smirked as he saw Harry Lumm knocking on the window of Myrkaan the Darklord's cell. Was it mature for his fellow worker to be there, trying to get a reaction out of an A-Lister? No. Was it fucking funny that Myrkaan, once the scourge of New York, was now being pestered by his bro? Sure was!

"I mean, can you believe it?" Harry was a good friend of Cap-Storm's, "Once covering New York City in darkness. Now he's in a big fucking glowing ball!"

They were almost like brothers, even. Harry was just about gonna make Hero, and he was lucky enough to get the job. The guard turned and looked around the line - finding Renegade's cell, swearing he heard something from within.

"You say something, fruitcake?" Harry chuckled, knocking on the glass.

"Oh come on, Harry," Cap-Storm chuckled, "Not everyone can have good taste."

Edited by NickTheSwing on Apr 20th 2024 at 9:28:54 AM

Magpie—The Hold

By this time, Magpie had been able to extricate herself from prisoner feeding duty, and silently went over to the cell line that was so often maligned by the voices of the common people. Line Nightmare, it was called. And the more Magpie learned of these prisoners, the more she agreed that they deserved to be there. That didn't mean that they deserved to be harassed, though. It was both unconscionable and dangerous.

"I thought you were just meanies, but turns out you're dummies, too," she said to Cap-Storm and Harry, popping up from behind them out of nowhere. "If you want to be meanies, fine. But stop being dummies and taunting the prisoners. What do you think will happen if they break out?"

Edited by JumpingFruit on Apr 28th 2024 at 4:46:56 AM

Kaygogo

For Kaygogo's part, surveying the sewers would bring him to an odd sight. Far below the ground, and below the events in the park, he would find something resting in a seemingly inconspicuous spot in and amongst the grime and et cetera of the sewers.

A strange, beeping device. Silver in color, simply resting on the side of the sewer wall. The beeping increasing in frequency as time went on.

What was it? Could it be a bomb?

Then it seemed to beep louder and more vibrantly...and just as quickly settled back down to a normal beeping set rate.

Blue Lagoon Park - Angerilla vs Assembled Heroes

Surprisingly, the monster seemed to calm a little, reaching forth towards Martin... Before hitting him with a backhanded strike to try and knock him away from the fight.

Yeah surprising only very few of the assembled heroes, this monster was not interested in talking it out as it finished pulling up the small tree and began charging at Nike first and foremost with the improvised club.

Windwing (Blue Lagoon Park)

"Oh—crud it's okay it's okay I'llhelpyou—!"

Windwing attempted to scramble to his feet, succeeding only in tripping over his own costume and falling again, this time flat on his face.

Edited by LilyTheLitten on Apr 23rd 2024 at 8:10:58 AM

Nike - Blue Lagoon Park

She heard another hero show up, but only managed to catch them crashing into a fountain in her peripheral vision. The accompanying wind blast suggested they'd somehow misjudged their entrance.

Newbie, probably. Fortunately this guy doesn't look too threatening.

And then it slapped Paragon. This wasn't that big a concern, because she knew Paragon was tough, but it was a clear indication that the thing was beyond reasoning with.

The monster charged her with its improvised club, and she met it head on, swerving through the air to avoid the giant swing, throwing a superhuman right hook in retaliation.

Gold shimmered around her fist as she mentally bent the force of her blow, angling so the creature would be smashed diagonally downward into the ground, rather than sending it flying back where it could potentially hit something.

Blue Lagoon Park

"...so, how's Bobby doing?"

"Oh, he's doing just great! He's been talking about enrolling in community college, getting a degree in... oh, what was it again?"

The idle chatter of four forty-something women drifted from one of the numerous parasol-shielded tables scattered throughout Blue Lagoon Park. Usually they met for their Saturday chit-chat in each other's houses, but on a pleasantly sunny Easton day like today, hot enough to enthuse but not so hot you just wanted to lock yourself inside with the aircon on full blast, it had been unilaterally decided the park was the place to be.

One of the four cleared her throat to speak. "You know, Rose..." She awkwardly stirred her lime martini, knowing the question she wanted to ask was a potential mood killer - yet it had been long enough since they met that she felt she had a right to ask. "I've always wondered... you're fond of kids, we all know that, so... why-"

"Why did I never marry?"

The questioner started. "How did you-"

"Know? Because, frankly, I'm surprised you hadn't asked before." Rosamund grinned playfully.

It was amazing, how unthreatening a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth could be once you got to know its owner. Rosamund Dorothy Swanson was seven feet three inches tall, covered from head to toe in grey fur, with claws that could rend flesh and jaws full of tiny blades, and it did not bother the three humans she met for small talk and martinis once a week one bit. She appreciated that about Easton - it was a place where a werewolf was not even in the top hundred most abnormal things the average resident had seen.

"Sometimes I do wonder what it would have been like. Me and a nice man, and however many children we reared, living the quiet life. I'm sure it would be lovely... but life had other plans for me. Not to mention..."

Rosamund's ears had pricked up. What to her companions was a distant buzz, only just loud enough to notice, was crystal clear to her. Panicked shouting, monstrous roaring, the sound of scenery being torn asunder. Just another day in Easton...

"I consider myself married to the job. I have countless superpowered children; how would I ever find time for spawn of my own? On which note-" Rosamund rose from her seat, leaving her martini untouched. "-that sounds an awful lot like a job for me, over that way. Look after my martini for me, will you? Yes, I'm talking to you, Janet." Rosamund chuckled to herself, and before Janet could protest that "I only drank yours one time!", the wolf-woman was off to the most secluded restroom in the park.

Unlike Tae-hyun Chong, Rosamund Swanson had decades of practice in the art of changing costumes. She slipped out of her civilian clothes and into the armour and robes of the White Wolf with the kind of casual speed only achieved by reflex. Once she'd made sure everything was in order, and she had brushed a few stray strands of white hair back inside the hood, it was time for the far more important part.

"A-hem... our father, who art in Heaven..."

As Rosamund murmured the Lord's Prayer to herself, blue light buzzed in the clasped palms of her hands, subtle at first, but growing brighter by the second. By the time she had reached "the power and the glory are yours", there was a clearly solid core to it, twitching within her paws, desperate for release.

"Amen."

Her prayer finished, Rosamund pulled her hands apart with a gesture that resembled drawing a sword from its scabbard - and not for no reason. The little core of light sprang out to follow her right hand, straight forward, then splitting off to form a tapering curved blade, until within less than half a second there was a scythe of pure aquamarine light resting within her hands.

It all didn't take long by most metrics, yet knowing there was danger afoot, it felt like an eternity. White Wolf had never liked being put on the spot for that reason. How many had suffered needlessly in the prep time she needed to reach her full strength?

Approaching the scene of the ruckus, White Wolf observed two things.

Observation #1: The source of all the commotion was a monster. Given the roaring, she'd expected as much. Nothing a veteran like her hadn't dealt with before, and it seemed plenty of other heroes were already on the case as well.

Observation #2: Amidst all the fleeing civilians - it looked as if heroic intervention had prevented major casualties, thank the Lord - was a boy of no older than fifteen, in a surprisingly well-made but still clearly amateur attempt at a superhero costume, sprawled on the ground and struggling to get up next to the fountain. A perfect monster victim.

White Wolf didn't hesitate. Making a mad dash for Tae-hyun, she bent down as close to his level as she could get once she was right at his side. One arm was free, helping hand outstretched; with the other she planted the light scythe blade-first into the ground, and immediately it started losing its form, expanding outwards, congealing into a rectangular protective barrier between the fountain and the fight scene. Let the others play offense for now; over here, a young civilian was in need of defense.

"Heavens - are you alright? Are you hurt? Do you need me to help you up? To carry you? Just - you need to get away, this is no place for a boy your age-"

Lucy Livingston: Blue Lagoon Park

"What did I just say?!" Lucy exclaimed as the sasquatch did exactly what she'd described; swiping at his head in a manner that probably would've decapitated a normal person. To make matters worse, the creature then began charging after Nike, who thankfully handled the confrontation before she could even lift a finger. Then, while she was still gathering herself to help in the situation, a werewolf joined the fray to help Windwing.

What the hell am I doing...? she thought, feeling knocked about even though she hadn't even done anything. They think they can handle this by themselves...?! Why am I even here then?!

Her fists clenched with anger, and she glared at the sasquatch furiously. She knew what she was doing. She was being indignant for petty reasons, and if she didn't have an actual villain to take it out on, she'd probably start acting bitchy towards everyone around her instead. It was something she'd been struggling with ever since she was a kid, but she was aware of it now. She was better than it. Because unlike before, she knew what to do with it now.

A pair of oily black tendrils slowly emerged from her sleeves, before suddenly shooting out towards the sasquatch and wrapping themselves tightly around its arms. While it was held, if only for a moment, Lucy pulled on them to send herself flying towards the creature—leaping up in the air with her fist pulled back, detaching from one of the tendrils in order to deliver a vicious punch to its face as she came back down. It wasn't a measly punch by any means, as she had used her ink to surround her fist and harden it to a point comparable to solid concrete. So, assuming this thing didn't eat concrete for breakfast, she'd probably sent it reeling.

If she landed safely, she'd follow it up with another ink-reinforced strike to its abdomen with her other hand. Of course, for a moment she was still airborne, so if it tanked the first hit it could probably retaliate. Then again, she wasn't really thinking about that at the moment.

Edited by Enirboreh on Apr 24th 2024 at 11:52:00 AM

Kaygogo easton sewers

Kaygogo saw the strange device, he was compelled to examine it closer, the beepings unnerved him as who knows what the machine could do, he could just leave but maybe the machine was somehow recording him? If so that be a blow to his image he is trying to maintain.

Moving his hand he would move a small mass of water to clean the machine a bit see if there is any labels and also examine it closer.

Easton Sewers - Aiden Vaughn

"Do you make a habit of it to go around playing with unknown beeping devices on walls, or is today just a special occasion?"

The beam of a flashlight shone down the passage of the sewer Kaygogo was in, a flashlight held aloft in the hands of a man in a mask that covered his mouth and nose, and a tight pair of eye-obscuring goggles wearing some heavy duty boots and a wetsuit beneath a more casual shirt and jeans. Aiden Vaughn slowly strode forwards towards Kaygogo, heavy bootsteps surprisingly light and quiet within the tight space. He tilted his head to the side, holding the light between his shoulder and neck as his hands made a series of motions, wiping his black hair aside as his fingers laced in such a way to create a small gap between them to peek through with his eye. An old Japanese folklore method, the "Fox Window", of determining if somebody was truly a human, or a kitsune in disguise or possessing someone. Lesser known fact: Also a good general rote for viewing the supernatural. The heavy, yet smooth flow of energy around Kaygogo was all he needed. A denizen of the Elemental Plane of Water. Down here in the sewer, he would need to be careful of pissing them off. He also gave a look over to the device, trying to detect any traces of the supernatural over it.

He'd come down here hoping to track cult movements, but this little investigation had taken a sudden turn. If this was a bomb, they had to get out of there, and fast. Probably also warn the city.

"If it's a bomb and it blows up, I'm sending you the hospital bill provided we survive."

Windwing (Blue Lagoon Park)

"O-oh! Uh— thank you—" Windwing grabbed onto White Wolf's hand and pulled himself up, taking a moment to steady himself and readjust his goggles. "I'm actually a superhero too— oh my gosh are you White Wolf?!" A starstruck look broke out on his face, and he giddily bounced on his heels. "Oh my gosh so many superheroes here oh my gosh—!" He let out a squee, before forcing himself to calm down.

"I'm Windwing!" That was a name that would probably be familiar to White Wolf, if she saw last week's news: the hero who'd been blasted through a wall, paralyzed from the waist down, and forced to retire—a solemn reminder of the dangers of being a superhero. "Well—new Windwing. I got the powers, not intentionally but still! I've always wanted to be a superhero and OMIGOSH IS THAT INKWELL!" The sudden shriek came from seeing the dark-haired girl sprout ink tendrils from her sleeves, just like Inkwell did holy moly this is so cool—!

"I'm calm! I'm calm! Fanboy later! Fight now!" The words were yelled to no one but himself as he threw his hand out, sending out a burst of wind to knock the sasquatch-thingy off its feet.

Liberty-Girl: Easton Sewers

"Hey! You guys heard the beeping too? Suspicious, right?" came another voice, this one coming from a pretty blonde woman suited up in a flashy spandex outfit. Judging by the American flag pattern on her costume, bright eyes, and winning smile, even if Aiden and Kayogogo didn't recognise her by name they would probably put together that she was one of those patriotic hero types. The 'American Dream' style of superhero. In other words, the ones styled after the 'heroes of old' and the like, for all that entailed.

Though, for a moment, she seemed to grimace at the sewage surrounding her. Thankfully, she was hovering, so she wasn't quite touching it. Still, she managed to offer them a more subdued smile after a moment, flicking her eyes between Aiden and Kaygogo before drifting towards the latter to take a closer look at the device.

"If it's a bomb, I could take it out of here. I'd have to be quick, though. It's dark in here," she muttered, looking back at the way she'd come from for a moment. The cheery glint in her eyes had faded a little, and she was starting to look genuinely worried. "What do we do? If it's a bomb, I don't want to risk moving it. Have you guys looked around any more? Maybe there's some clues?"

She stuck out like a sore thumb in these sewers. Between her red, white and blue costume, her golden blonde hair, and generally neat and carefully maintained appearance, she certainly didn't seem like the type to go sewer diving. She definitely looked like she was regretting it, at any rate.

Edited by Enirboreh on Apr 24th 2024 at 11:44:31 AM

Kaygogo- easton sewers

The arrival of Aiden was most unexpected making the locathah tense at first believing he was the one who planted the machine but it seemed he came armed only with witty remarks and concern about explosives, Kaygogo attempts to reasure him sounding as friendly as posible with the superhero facade.

"Indeed when patroling the sewers im used to find scummy villans making their base here or the like, not full on mysterious devices. You could call it a special ocassion."

Adjusting the neckerchief of his worn out and water damaged sailor suit he calls costume he turns to the little machine.

"I dont think its a bomb though its beeping increased in frecuency when I got close but then returned back to a normal rate, maybe some kind of sensor?"

Then the locathah saw one of Easton up and coming superheroes Liberty girl.

"Well seems im not the only one surveying the effluvia tunnels, as I said before the erratic ticking of the devise when I got close leads me to believe it isnt a explosive. Im still examining it though cant discard the posibility of actually being a bomb."

Kaygogo then looked around at Liberty girl suggestion of searching for clues, the locathah placed a hand on the ground and created puddles of water, if any of the two heroes looked into these puddles they could see each one of them had an octopus inside they popped their little heads and legs out for easier surveying, then Kaygogo moved the puddles with the octopi to cover more ground searching for anything that could be a clue, that was the order given mentally to the octopi.

"I can see and feel trough them if they find something of note i'll know."

Martin Snow-Paragon. Blue Lagoon Park

Martin did nothing to dodge the blow that was flung at him by the creature being struck full on, the force of it sending him flying a few feet before landing back on the balls of his feet. “Well that's disappointing.” He scratched the back of his head and observed the situation as it escalated. The creature was certainly strong, enough so that even a day full of do gooding still hadn't been off to fully throw off the effects of a blow by it, however he had taken plenty of hits from things stronger than him during his time working on this job and he wouldn't categorize the creature as exceptional by any means. With both Nike and Lucy closing the distance and preparing to attack Martin considered his next move carefully. Two was already the optimal number of combatants against a single target of this size category, and while his first instinct was always to throw himself head first in the way of danger it would likely only result in something much more chaotic if he were to interrupt at this moment.

“Wait single target…” while it wasn't utterly unheard of for a rampaging villain to cause trouble solo that didn't make it cut and dry as for why a creature like this would be rampaging through the park by itself. “I’ll leave the monster to you guys, I’ll secure the area and create a peremitter to keep civilians away, in other words go all out!” He turned back to focus his efforts on crowd control, moving closer to where the creature had first been spotted entering.