Ampere

The Band of Not-So-Heroes: A Superhero Comedy

Lei Zhang
_Slitherman

@l0ck0n @blumenk @Cherrywitch @Utrax
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Lei's teeth grit as he stared upwards at the hulking, dripping meat-beast that had stepped out of the cauldron. He thought the harpies on their own were a handful, but this monster seemed like it could level the whole city if left unattended. Walking up beside the person with the bat, he then nodded towards the one who had helped him fend off the harpies earlier.

"That one can use ice, I believe." He answered simply, before pausing when he caught sight of a girl who was seemingly trying to divebomb the massive creature from the skies above, only to miss completely and crash into one of the nearby stands.

The reptilian man blinked for a moment, before deciding to move on without addressing it.

"...Anyways, if he can freeze up the legs and make them cool enough to touch, I can constrict myself around them and hopefully trip up our opponent, or at least keep him rooted in one spot." Lei offered before narrowing his slit eyes in the direction that rotund chef was cowering.

The woman he recognized from the mayor's office stood there as well, and the furious expression on her face made it clear that she was none too pleased with the current events. At first he was unconcerned, or perhaps even glad that the obese man was likely going to have a world of pain visited upon him. After all, hadn't he done the same in kind, to numerous innocent civilians? His creatures even tried to maim children, which put the chef far beyond the reach of mercy, in Lei's eyes.

And yet, the 'villain' in question was trembling uncontrollably as tears streaked down his round cheeks. The green-hooded man sighed as his gloved hands clenched at his side. The pitiful sight forced him to remember the fact that being a hero didn't mean only helping the people that you liked. Quickly stretching his body and slithering rapidly in front of the overweight criminal, Lei then returned to his normal shape as he straightened up and faced the heated girl.

"Don't." He stated sternly as he motioned towards the man kneeling behind him. "I know he's responsible for all of this, but right now he's terrified, and beaten. If you want to watch over him to make sure he doesn't try anything else, that's fine. But I won't allow you to attack a person who's already down."

As Lei spoke, his scales seemed to shimmer a bit. He was focusing a great deal of his energy into producing a new layer of skin, due to the high possibility that he was about to be set on fire.

The Band of Not-So-Heroes: A Superhero Comedy

Lei saw little advantage in sticking around the mayor's office to discuss strategy with the people around him, especially since one of the 'heroes' he had to apparently work with had just wrecked the entire place and almost skewered several people with tendrils of dark energy. The fact that innocent civilians were in danger was also a motivating factor.

Not bothering to look at whatever his code name was designated as, probably something that didn't sound particularly hero-like anyways, the hooded man almost became a blur as the entire length of his body stretched and shot itself through the window. Lei continued to move at impressive speeds as he made his way to the park, probably far faster than most people would expect from a man who wasn't even running, but rather dragging his stomach and legs across the ground in a sequence of grotesque slithers.

Upon reaching the park, Lei found the situation to be...a lot to take in, to say the least. Apparently a man of rather generous girth was on a rampage and somehow concocting an attack against anyone in sight through the use of culinary creature-like creations. The scaley hero's teeth grit when he saw one of the harpies preparing to breath a stream of molten macaroni onto a nearby child, who stood frozen in terror.

"No time to think now." He muttered grimly as he stretched his body to shoot himself in front of the boy as fast as he could, then spread his arms out to block most of the smoldering hot food.

"Ggk!" Lei hissed as the painful sensation of intense burning immediately began to set in, before he reflexively broke himself out of his own body, leaving a hollow shell behind. Turning his head and watching his 'shed skin' continue to scald and melt under the macaroni with the a wary glance, he then heard a woman thank him profusely as she took her son and raced to safety.

Lei then glared upwards at the flying monster who had tried to attack the child, his slit-eyes narrowing dangerously as his body began to tense in preparation. He hadn't been in his mutant form long before he entered the mayor's office, and as such didn't have the time to produce more outer layers. He'd have to avoid getting hit by the macaroni from this point on. And the quickest way to accomplish that was by destroying the things that barfed them out.

Springing upwards from the ground, his elongated body quickly coiled around the harpy in mid-air, causing both of them to fall crashing to the ground. Lei grunted as he landed on the grass, but for the most part his elastic body was able to absorb the shock, allowing him to continue to constrict himself around the creature he had caught, gradually crushing its midsection in the hopes that he could keep it from breathing macaroni again.

With the two of them interlocked and immobile on the ground, it probably opened up a good opportunity for anyone else to finish the creature off, if they so desired.

The Band of Not-So-Heroes: A Superhero Comedy

@Utrax XD I know right? Violet's quite the uh... catalyst, as well.

@Cherrywitch

@Cherrywitch I guess you could say she really knows how to make things...heated.

HUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRR

The Band of Not-So-Heroes: A Superhero Comedy

Lei Zhang
_Slitherman

Lei tried his best to separate the cacophony of loud voices that were soon flooding the room. He thought he heard a mixture of valley girl slang, offers to have fortunes read, angry yelling, and...pop culture movie quotes? The hooded man arched an eyebrow as he glanced up from his packet of papers to get a better look at everyone there. It was certainly a unique variety of shapes and faces, including what appeared to be a talking sentient teddy bear.

Sighing as he filled out what was left of the forms, he was forced to acknowledge that unless the bear was a dwarf in a mascot outfit, Lei was one of the only people there who had made an attempt at wearing a masked costume. While this wasn't the end of the world, it did make him feel tremendously silly. He supposed crime fighters these days didn't care too much about hiding their identities anymore.

After the minimally dressed woman on the desk bluntly informed him that his assumptions on her employee status were way off, he gave a light shrug as he made his way over to the odd looking man with the bolts in his head. Though his mannerisms were a bit eccentric, he was also one of few people in the room who seemed to have finished filling out their packet as well.

Glancing at the woman he had spoken to earlier, who was now apparently screaming for two people to affectionately lock lips, then to another person who could seemingly carry her voice clearly across the entire room despite the amount of people already talking, Lei then placed his hands in his pockets as he turned to the man he stood beside.

"Are you not entertained?" He remarked, in an attempt to communicate on a similar level.

The Band of Not-So-Heroes: A Superhero Comedy

<Snipped quote by Utrax>

Meh. It came off as trying to hard imo.

@Burning Kitty

I think it was perfectly in keeping with Elijah's character, though. Due to the implants in his head, he's super hyper, and movie quotes are literally the only way he can talk anymore.

Also, have to say, the thunderbuddies quote really threw me for a loop.

The Band of Not-So-Heroes: A Superhero Comedy

Lei Zhang
_Slitherman

A young man carefully approached the receptionist desk, softly clearing his throat to get her attention, then unfolding and displaying the letter he had received. The weathered woman stared at his odd ensemble of jacket, hoodie, mask, and tie with an incredulous expression, as if to ask 'this was the best costume you could come up with?' Eventually, though, she handed him a rather thick packet and pointed him towards where all the other heroes were apparently gathering.

Quickly skimming through the contents of the papers as he walked, Lei suddenly froze as he felt a reverberating buzz from the phone in his back pocket. Prying it out and turning on the screen, he sighed as he saw the bold words of a text message emblazoned on the front, reading in call caps, [WHERE R U??]. The masked man paused for a moment before writing a message back, which he discovered was extremely difficult to do while wearing leather gloves.

[It's hero business. Sorry Jin, but could you keep this a secret from mom and dad?]

[R U KIDDING ME]

[Hold on, listen.]

[UR NOT A FUCKING HERO LEI]

[TELL ME WHERE U R OR I SWEAR 2 GOD]

Lei decided that was a good time to shut off his phone. Shaking his head as he imagined the storm that was now brewing in his home life, the scale-speckled man attempted to push such thoughts aside as he opened the door to the office. Blinking for a moment as he scanned the room, the wide array of people there took him a bit by surprise. Of course he caught a few stares as well, what with his green hair and the eerily slit pupils of his yellow eyes.

Opting to simply remain silent and fill out the forms he had received, Lei realized too late that the receptionist had neglected to give him a pen, which he somehow doubted was accidental. Deciding he could probably find a spare one somewhere on the mayor's desk, the hooded man made his way there and began to search, which unfortunately put him in rather close proximity to the...liberally dressed woman who was sitting casually atop it.

"I'm uh, borrowing this." He murmured quietly to her as he waved a black pen in his hand. Since she was one of the few people in the room without a packet, he assumed that maybe she was part of the mayor's personal staff or something. She certainly seemed to behave like she owned the place.

As Lei began to fill in some of the blank lines, he realized bitterly that it was pretty difficult to write with leather gloves on, too. He definitely underestimated the amount of paperwork he'd be encountering when he tailored this crime-fitting costume, that was for sure.

Magic Apprentice

@olcharlieboi In a lot of cases amnesia doesn't wipe the entirety of your memory. Only episodic memory stores specific personal experiences in a person's life, which is what Aaron lost. Semantic memory, however, is what stores factual information, which, fortunately for him, remained largely unaffected. Additionally there's an entire separate category of memory known as procedural memory, which is sort of the subconsciously stored knowledge of things you've learned throughout your life.

For example, as the years by, you may not remember the exact events of how you learned to ride a bicycle, but when you actually get on a bike, you still know how to ride it. The accident occurred when he was fourteen, so his literacy and all his motor skills are still well intact.

With that said, while I obviously can't make any surefire predictions on how the roleplay will go, I believe I can write Aaron as a functional enough person that his condition will be relatively self-contained, and won't have much effect on the environment and overall plot of the story taking place. I mean, it would pretty much have to be, since he's trying to keep it a secret for as long as he can.

The only things its designed to affect are his motivations and the way he builds up relationships with the other characters. If it's still a no-go, though, I understand.

Magic Apprentice

I'm also very interested and filled out a character sheet as well. I know most of the talents I picked weren't listed as examples, so feel free to let me know if they deviate too much from what was envisioned, and I'll change them to something else.

Aaron Nern

Name: Aaron Nern

Age: 16

Appearance: Aaron is slightly taller than average for his age, and possesses a thin, somewhat willowy figure. His hair is brown and unruly, with long bangs hanging down and framing light, hazel eyes. A long, jagged scar runs from his left temple down to his cheekbone, contrasting reddish, damaged tissue across his normally fair skin.

Shortly after entering the world of magic, he obtains and almost always wears a large brown travelling cloak. Also visible on his person is a rather sizable satchel for holding supplies, and a large leather-bound book which is often confused for his grimoire.

Talent: Lightning, Illusion, Telepathy

Grimoire Appearance: Aaron's grimoire, for some odd reason, takes the form of a tightly rolled scroll, rather than the typical tome. There's nothing particularly fancy about it in its initial form, just long lengths of parchment wrapped around a cylindrical wooden core, and tied off with a knotted string of twine.

First Spells:
Lightning - Static Touch: Aaron places his hand on his target and emits light shocks into their body. It may be enough to properly seize up the muscles and stun smaller creatures, but can be easily shaken off by those of adult human size.

Illusion - Decoy: Aaron conjures up an accurate replica of himself in a spot he desires. The illusion can neither move nor be touched, but may be sufficient enough to trick or confuse enemies.

Telepathy - Babeltongue: Allows Aaron to translate and understand the next twenty words exchanged between him and a person he chooses, the spell working both ways. After the word limit is reached, the spell must be cast again to communicate further. This only works on languages spoken by humanoid races, and cannot be used to speak to animals.

Personality: Aloof and detached, Aaron can often come across as somewhat cold. Which isn't to say that he's apathetic, per se, but the unique circumstances of his memory make it difficult for him to know what emotions he should be evoking at any given moment. He prefers to turn to hard facts and numbers instead to dictate most of his thoughts and actions, however robotic it may make him seem.

In between writing and sketching most of his observations in a large book separate from his grimoire, Aaron usually tries his best to stay attentive to the people in his group, both to fit in better and to keep them from discovering the secret he hides.

History: Aaron has been living in a mental health institute since his parents died in a car accident two years prior. He was also in the vehicle at the time, and while he suffers no actual psychological disorders, he was inflicted with both retrograde and anterograde amnesia. As a result, he has no memories of his past, and his mind cannot create new memories either, wiping all past events from his head at the start of each new day.

With no past, no real future, and barely any time in the present to experience anything, Aaron spent most of his days like a ghost, aimlessly wandering hallways or watching television until he slept for the night. It made it easier to go to bed knowing that everything would be erased, if he never did anything worth remembering in the first place.

One day, however, he overheard another inpatient raving madly about how he had found a Clue, that would lead to a path that could heal a fractured mind, by way of magic and spells. It sounded just like all the other crazed chattering that Aaron usually tuned out around him, but for some reason, he listened intently this time. Something about the other man's voice resonated in him.

Committing everything he heard thereafter to his very temporary memory, the boy then fled the confines of the institution in search for the other clues. He acknowledged the risks, well aware that someone of his condition could easily be taken advantage of, and he'd likely wind up dead before even coming close to finding a way of getting his brain fixed. But Aaron didn't care. As hopeless as it all seemed, he had finally broken out of what felt like an endless cycle.

And even if he lost his life in his new endeavor...well, it wasn't like the life he had before was really "living", anyways.

Other: Aaron has to keep a detailed record of most events and the people he meets in order to properly imitate a person with a normal, working memory. He keeps his condition and the book he writes in a closely held secret, well aware of how easily another person could manipulate his thoughts and goals if they knew the truth.

The only thing he doesn't have to read to re-learn is magic. For some reason, likely because of its otherworldly properties, that knowledge alone sticks in his brain. This further motivates his belief that advancing in spell-craft is the key to getting his memory back.

It's worth noting that Aaron's condition easily makes him a disoriented and out-of-place character, but at the same time oddly adaptable. For example, after a day, he may be one of the few people in the group who has no attachments to the old world they've left behind, as he has no real memory of what it was like in the first place.

The Band of Not-So-Heroes: A Superhero Comedy

Slitherman

Real Name: Lei Zhang

Nickname(s): Lei, Scaley, Creepy Snake Person

Hero Name: Slitherman

Hero or Villain?: Hero

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Appearance: A tall, lithe young man who is capable of looking relatively normal when his powers aren't in use. When they are active, however, large areas of his skin shift into scales, his hair takes on an eerie shade of green, and his eyes become distinctly reptilian. His hero attire is not particularly elaborate, consisting of a dark coat, a hoodie with some snake motifs, a bandanna worn over his face like a mask, and a red tie shaped like a forked tongue.

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Weapon(s): Sharp, retractable fangs that replace his canines. Easily breakable, but they grow back quickly.

Main Power: Abilities that imitate reptiles, snakes in particular. He's capable of stretching the length of his body and slithering it across most terrain at high speeds. It's worth noting that he cannot stretch individual limbs, increase the length of his body indefinitely, or maintain his elastic form for a prolonged period of time. Usually after a few seconds his body will either constrict back towards his feet, or forwards towards his head.

As his powers progress, he may eventually develop the ability to produce venom from his fangs, but for now they only serve as sharp, pointy, makeshift weapons.

Sub Power: Shedding skin. A rather grotesque ability, Slitherman can rapidly detach a rubber-like replica of himself from his body. Though hollow and unmoving, they can often serve as decoys, or be stretched and bound around a person's body to immobilize them.

Personality: Taciturn, aloof, and perhaps a little jaded, Lei is far from the outgoing sort. While he's not particularly averse to social interaction, and will usually attempt to respond when spoken to, most learn over time not to expect him to start any conversations on his own.

History: Once a bright-eyed, hopeful child like any other, Lei had a strong sense of justice and dreamt of becoming a hero. When his mutant abilities manifested when he was a ten years old, one could imagine his mixed feelings. While he had finally attained the superpowers he desired so badly, they clearly lacked the awe-inspiring and fantastical qualities of the heroes he idolized.

To put it lightly, his powers were pretty off-putting. The appearance and slithering movements of his body were bizarre and unnerving to some, and flat-out disgusting to others. Most of his former friends and classmates stayed away from him out of fear for what he became, and even his parents warned him never to use his abilities due to the risk that he might be confused for a villain.

Some dreams don't die easily, however. And although eight years of social isolation and hiding from others have made for a far less cheery individual, Lei hasn't abandoned the idea that any power can be used for good, no matter what form it takes. And with word of malevolent villains and the mysterious 'Voodoo Man' surfacing, it didn't take him long to decide to cobble together a makeshift secret identity and do something about it.

The Band of Not-So-Heroes: A Superhero Comedy

@Cherrywitch Nonsense, I'm sure you're amazing at life. Though I have to admit, looking at your avatar while you make that statement is extremely amusing.

Anyways, really excited for when this starts up Friday.