No one can fully explain what occurred on March 9, 2015. Scientists, religious leaders, politicians, conspiracy theorists- they've all tried, but it's only conjecture. The facts are not in dispute, though. All over the planet, the skies were abruptly blocked by a thick and unbroken cloud cover, shot through with an ominous sound of thunder. Panic broke out as people tried to seek shelter and find out what this meant. And then a gentle, warm rain began.

It was not water, though. It was something more the color and consistency of skim milk, that evaporated soon after touching the ground. Though it has been endlessly analyzed, no one has conclusively proven the origins of the White Rain. The rain lasted for precisely thirty-one minutes before abruptly ending, the clouds dissolving away like nothing happened. No one exposed to it seemed to have incurred any real harm. Humanity simply shrugged and moved on.

However, within a week of the rainfall, things began to change.

A tiny number of those who had had skin exposure to the White Rain began manifesting incredible and widely varied transhuman abilities. At first the reports were scattered and disbelieved, but gradually started to increase in frequency. Finally, when a woman used her mind to levitate a crowded passenger train in downtown Nagoya in front of thousands of witnesses, the world could no longer dismiss these reports. They were called the Caught, short for “caught out in the rain”, a useful shorthand and somehow less scary than the phrase superpowers. The Caught were estimated to number around twenty million in total around the globe. Emboldened by the rise of superpowers, members of the underground magical community also began to come forwards. Shamans, vampires, lycanthropes, witches, and warlocks the world over outed themselves.

A new age was beginning.

Most of the Caught preferred to live privately, some never even using their new abilities. However, some displayed them brazenly, openly, and dangerously.
The superpowered crime sprees began. In Johannesburg, a man went from bank to bank ripping open the vaults with his bare hands and helping himself to cash. The president of Pakistan was mind-controlled by an ultranationalist Caught and nearly forced to start a war with India. A fire-breathing woman rampaged through a crowded soccer stadium in Lima, killing scores. In the United States in particular, perhaps inspired by the country's long history of comic book characters, the Caught criminals adopted outlandish costumes and identities.

In response, the more civic-minded Caught began to don personae of their own and fight back against the rising tide. Some of the new costumed heroes didn't even possess superhuman abilities, they were regular people using their own skill and bravery to make a difference. They were remarkably successful, and the new superheroes were enthusiastically embraced by beleaguered law enforcement officials. Working together, the superheroes and police managed to subdue most of the supercriminals and place them in specially constructed prisons.

Three years have passed, and the date is June 21, 2018- the summer solstice. Almost every major American city has several superheroes and a few more supervillains. By now they have fallen into a comfortable, almost intimate routine. The villains try another crime, the heroes stop them, and so on and so forth. Normal people are caught out in the middle and killed, of course, but on the whole the superheroes do a decent job of preventing greater loss of life. Some are media darlings, some are embarrassments, most are simply acknowledged.

Cleveland, Ohio, is like many other cities in this aspect. Four well-respected superheroes, several lesser-known vigilantes, and a rogues gallery of colorful and dangerous criminals imprisoned just south of the city. With no supervillains running around at the moment, time can be devoted to charity work and fighting street crime.

But then things go south in a big way.

Just as the sun begins to set, Cleveland's premier heroes suddenly and painfully burst into flames, blazing with vivid purple fire. Hologram falls burning out of the sky into Lake Erie, Pokerface is charred black while on patrol in East Cleveland, Miss Understood is immolated in her private home in University Heights. Worst of all, Captain Cuyahoga dies screaming in front of horrified onlookers at a black-tie benefit dinner.

Just south of the city, off Highway 71, disaster unfolds at Northeast Ohio Penitentiary. Every door quietly unlocks and opens, the power nullifying bracelets required for Caught inmates stop working. The guards are slaughtered wholesale as Cleveland's supervillains (along with numerous garden-variety criminals) break out and head for the city. Vicious killers, mad schemers, manipulative chessmasters, powerful mob bosses- all are making an unopposed return to Cleveland.

Cleveland is gripped by panic. The mayor implores other cities to lend aid, as the CPD and Ohio National Guard do their best to maintain order. Slowly but surely, superheroes begin to arrive from all over the region, and the stage is set for a massive battle.

But questions linger: who killed Cleveland's heroes? Who released the villains? And why?

Up to two characters permitted. You may play as a hero or a villain, or something in between. Superpowers are not required.

Please post your CS under the CS tab for review. A character sheet posted in the OOC will not be approved.

Name: Your character's real name.

Codename: What they go by when fighting or committing crime.

City of Operation: What city your character is based out of. If not Cleveland, it probably makes the most sense if it's fairly nearby.

Appearance: A detailed description or picture is fine. No GIFs and no anime, please. Also, some people were physically altered by gaining superpowers, so don't be afraid to get creative here!

Age: Your character's age.

Gender: Your gender.

Superpowers: Here is the real fun part. If you have magical or Caught abilities, describe them here. Please be detailed about your abilities and their limits/ requirements. I'll accept virtually any power as long as it's internally consistent (no changing how it works just to get out of a jam) and not too OP. Use your best judgment for that last one- a superstrong character who can lift a car is totally fine, a superstrong character who can lift the moon is not. Basically, others should be able to realistically pose a challenge to you, and powers should have some kind of cost.

Skills/ Talents: What are things you know how to do? Are you an expert martial artist? A speaker of five languages? This is the space for things you have learned how to do through practice and experience.

Equipment: What does your character normally carry? Weapons, supplies, communications equipment, armor, vehicles, that sort of thing. For mystical or high-tech stuff, please refer to the superpowers rule in terms of what it can and can't do.

Weaknesses: Everyone should have a few of these, particularly if they have superpowers. It can be something that physically harms them (like kryptonite for Superman, or silver for werebeasts), or maybe a character flaw (for example, they tend to rush into things without a plan), or conditions that prevent the use of their powers. Maybe certain things cause them emotional distress, maybe they lack certain useful skills or resources.

Psyche: What makes your character tick? How do they view the world and people around them, and how does this make them react to things. No one's perfect, even heroes are capable of greed, pride, and other vices.

History: I don't need more than one or two paragraphs here, but the more detail the better.

This is an RP for mature players. There is fighting, violence, swearing, player characters can be killed or badly injured.

Respect one another, be civil with disagreements and conduct them in the OOC.

As GM, my word is law, though I am happy to discuss things with you. I wish to be fair, so please tell me if you think I am failing at that.

Please post as often as you are able to!

A Romani girl whose grandparents were experiments of nazi scientists who is very wary of her powers, and afraid that she's a part of a whole new experiment. Her superhero name would be Phoenix- her power is multifaceted. The basis is that every time she is killed, she is resurrected in a burst of flames. If she dies of a cause not inflicted by another (i.e. illness, suicide, or natural disaster), she will not come back. While alive, she is basically fireproof- she cannot control fire or anything like that- and is able to fly, via a pair of wings on her back. She is deathly afraid of drowning, as she never learned to swim. The Lake Erie frightens her, and she refuses to go anywhere near it- however, sometimes, she has no choice.

She changed her name when she turned 18, from Pietra Maximov, as people are often prejudiced against Romani people. She studies biology and engineering, and is working to create cybernetics to enhance humanity- i.e. cyborgs. She herself is an amputee- she lost her arm when she was overseas, she was a marine- and she built her own new arm, which receives neuron signals from her brain, utilizing tech she invented herself. She is not rich, she merely has a rich boy or girlfriend, who provides her with the tools she needs to continue her research.

A Muslim girl who is petrified that if she is discovered for her abilities, she will be sent to the electric chair. Her power? She is basically a walking wifi hotspot. The entire internet is accessible to her, in her head- her brain acts as a computer and router at the same time, her mind a monitor. Because of this, any superpowered person who has ever said anything about their abilities online is catalogued in her head. She knows the secret identities of more superheroes- and villains- than she can count. However, she keeps them secret, though she has in the past been tortured for information. Rather than getting directly involved with any fights between heroes and villains, she acts as a source of information to heroes, communicating with ones she has befriended via bluetooth devices in the midst of battle. Sometimes, she is the leader of a mission, if only behind the scenes. She is not known to the public.

Her name would be Zarqa Nadir- she's from Saudi Arabia (so she knows Arabic, it's her first language), but when she was very little, her father brought her to the states for a better life. He was an actuary, so he was able to just move around all the time. She was raised mainly by nannies (they taught her spanish). Her father was killed when a villain decided he was evil, as he decided how much peoples' lives were worth, so she began to use her power to help others indirectly. She found a place in Detroit, before coming to Cleveland.