I see the Pilgraim Caravan RP is working at a comeback as well, and a certain old occult-experienced man might have his services needed along the way....hmm...
Would anyone even be interested? Hmm, the psychic had no idea. It wasn't her most personal first choice, but it was something she felt would better catalyze travel and the like if she was ina a group. More people and Pokemon to look out for each other, support each other, etc and all of that. It was the sort of thing her grandmother had often talked about from her own past.....one that had lied outside of the Orre region for a while. Had always felt fantastical to Clarissa herself, but then again traveling in groups for safety was also something she had been used to back home as well. Especially when it was a longer journey through the wasteland and such to go visit one place or another. They had brought the bikes they'd used back in Orre with them, even, when they'd moved to Eidda.
....Maybe one day she could ask about hers again, if she happend to pass by home. But for now, she needed to see if anyone else was-
Breaking out of his thought bubble, Ripley took it upon himself to approach the offer casually, walking up to Clarissa until her attention visually shifted to him. His features rose as he offered a smile in greeting.
"Heya- Clarissa, yeah? I wouldn't mind waitin' around for a day if you're lookin' for a partner or two!"
Hmm? It was the boy who had bluntly called them something like 'lab rats' prior, yes? Albeit he'd done so as excitedly as ever, it seemed, from the impression he'd left on her back there. She didn't lambast him for it, as socially awkward as the moment felt by her witnessing it to some extent, but the younger man also seemed genuine in his offer as well. Eager. A bit opposite to herself, admittedly, but perhaps that'd make for a good dynamic when traveling? Hmm. Still, with no one else biting at her offer at least someone seemed to be interested in coming along with her at least....mandatory stop by the Contest later, and having to stay in the city overnight as well, aside.
"Pa's always said I need to cool my heels when it comes to making big decisions, so maybe that day could be what I need for the journey-ta-come. Well - if you'll have us, of course!"
Clarissa nodded at the boy in a generally polite manner. Perhaps a bit formal, but it was what she was accustomed to when restraining herself and more importantly her powers properly.
"I'd be happy to have you along, if you still don't mind waiting with me tonight due to the Contest and such. It was...er...an unexpected thing pushed on me in the heat of the moment at the airport. But at least it gives us a chance to rest tonight here in Byjerfal after doing some Pokemon hunting and seeing the Contest, if nothing else, before tomorrow comes."
She'd no idea what Valerie had in mind for her. It did send a small chill down her back to think about it, though, before the psychic trainer lightly shook her head and looked back up at her new group member. It was time to get moving...and preferrably before Professor Camphor got too grumpy perhaps.
Commercial District, Byjerfal City
(Urban Exploration)[/center]
She....she didn't have a clue how popular Valerie was around here, did she? No, actually, less than a clue. Ignorant compared to perhaps anyone worth their salt who knew of the contest scene. At least that was the vibe the woman's face being plasted all over the place gave to Clarissa as she and Ripley walked down the streets of the city's Commmercial District. Not to mention all of the faces plastered across the ads for the Master-Rank Contest that would be going on, who likely had their own fanbases to some extent or another. Or perhaps some of them sought to overthrow Valerie herself, perchance? Er, she got the feeling that anything involving competition at this level likely would result in quite a bit of viciousness in some fashion or another internally....both personally and with Pokemon battles for all she knew. Or perhaps the dangers of Orre really weren't so bad here in this place, and she was assuming too much on a whim?
Though it was also frustrating she couldn't get a scan on the flocks of seemingly two kinds of bird Pokemon heading by them, even as she'd tried to scramble to pull out her device only to let out a defeated but mild sigh before putting it back up again. At least they seemed to be going in a couple of different directions they could search, right?
Further, her suitcase was being carried on her back, Sir Lopsalot sitting on it keeping an eye on their rear, and she felt she was becoming somewhat used to the weight on her back at least. Meant she was carrying enough supplies for the road, and if it got tiring she could pull it along in urban areas or such she figured. Plus the Contest Hall was not too far away either from this place, so once it got time to go there it would at least be simpler for them if nothing else if they kept close enough to this area at that.
Hmm?
The psychic trainer's eyes were drawn to a familiar green cat and trainer in the distande. Laurel, one of the trainers from Camphor's Lab, seemed to be going into the park along with her Pokemon. As it also lied off in the distane from them, Clarissa's eyes felt drawn after this over after this toward the local Museum, where something seemed to be going on outside of it.
It was certianly a lot going on in general they could do, really, but Clarissa would take note of things before looking over to Ripley.
"Don't have to be at the Contest Hall until things start, Ripley, so we have some time before I have to be there at least.
In the meantime, the Park seems like a good place to look for some Pokemon if you wish. Though I'm also curious where that flock of bird Pokemon went as well admittedly.
What about you?"
Holding out her left hand, the psychic pointed in the direction the flock of Murkrow had gone. Something about them had stood out to her eyes compared to the others, and if there were a lot of them it bode well for trying to catch one...she hoped. At the same time, going to the Park was a reasonable idea for starting things off in her mind as well. A more natural place certianly more like the Poke-Spots of Orre due to how small it was, maybem, and so potentially that would make it a place where she might get better adjusted to Byjerfal in that sense. Still, all she was going was pointing out what she felt like initially doing for the most part. Perhaps they could even get some training in for their Pokemon through battles to capture Pokemon at that!
Even so, she wanted to see what Ripley wanted to do as well so they could get started on things before too much time passed.
@Crusader Lord But... Like I said earlier, there are no mana gems or tails left to harvest from the three nearby corpses, dood. Laynea already did that, and gave the items to Cecilia, who tried to pawn them off to the rest of you. :P
@Qia Welcome back, luvly~ Hope you brought me that souvenir.
.....Ah, I see. I left my brain in the dumpster the other day then. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaa!!! XD
As Simon led her to where her sought-after informatin lied, as it were, the mage felt some relief at the fact the man seemed to be well enough used to being asked about such things. Or at least was familiar enough with the Library and willing to guide her to what she needed here. Albeit she didn't know what particular information she might run into within the realm of 'combatting spirits' as it were, so she would have to see if she could find something particularly useful to try to pick up first before their journey. Would it be some spell to scare off undead? Would it be something to harm spirits? Would it be something useful in capturing or containing them? She had no clue of all the potentiatlities, though as an aside she did seem to have freed the poor younger man Simon had been talking to from his professorial prison.
"So..." he said over his shoulder. "A new student, you say. Are you an adventurer or just a researcher? For your sake, I hope you're not a Cleric."
"An adventurer and intellectual alike. No, not a Cleric thank goodness, though my party has one as our party leader."
James wasn't a bad guy, and she had agreed he was perhaps the most fit among the group members to be the leader as well. The head. The face of the group. Whatever term one wanted to use for it. She couldn't imagine being at the whims of local deities just to be able to do anything on her end, though, but such had been the fate of James regardless it seemed. Or something of the sort. Wasn't that how Clerics worked in effect?
"These two books should give you a broad perspective on the subject." He handed them to her. "But for combatting spirits specifically, I'd suggest you get to grips with your Spirit Bolt spell. It's pretty easy to get the hang of, but there's some tricks that will speed up your casting and reduce the cost of your energy, enabling you to fire more often without getting too fatigued."
The mage would grab the books as she tried to cradle them in her one free arm, letting them be stacked up and the weight of them rest back on her body in the meantime. Not something she wasn't unaccustomed to doing, yes, when carrying her latest finds from the local library back home or to the car to carry back. Not that they had much of a library for the subjects she'd wanted to look into back there, but...well it was certianly better then going back to a college campus library in some ways. Even so, she would follow the man into the adjoining study room with some sense of relief as she got to finally place the stack of books down on a provided table.
Carying books was normal, so she hadn't really reacted to it all. Carrying them with a magical staff of some kind in her other hand and not having it free to help her carry things was another one. More difficult, but another challenge she felt was going to be more normalized in this new world perhaps. She would at least take a look at the book the man opened, and lean her staff against the table gingerly before returning to the opened pages of the tome to read.
Yet...even then she wasn't going to get the chance to just 'read' yet, was she? Ugh. Part of her just wanted to settle down with the books for a comfortable bit. Even so, she sought to maintain a polite front as the man instructed her to 'test things out' on him for a moment and she nodded back silently and moved to acquiese to his request.
Could she really do that already though? She hadn't even-
"It should already be sitting in your mind somewhere, just think for a second."
When she was ready, he walked ten paces away from her and turned to face her. "Fire a Spirit Bolt at me. Don't worry, I'll block it with a Magic Ward."
Fine! Fine. It should be fine, right? Things did work different enough here, as she'd seen so far. And, eh, he had a defensive ward of some kind to use at least. Not like she'd cause any damage to the room in such a case if someone who knew this place well was so comfortable making that request like this on the fly. Not that some student couldn't perhaps go too far in such a thing and damage the building....maybe. Mundane students had back home without magic well enough at times, it seemed, so in a world of magic she hoped the place was well-prepared if nothing else.
The mage held out her hand at the man, whose name she hadn't even asked for yet, before taking a calming breath and trying to concentrate. Spirit Bolt. Spirit Bolt. Spirit Bolt. She tried tapping into the information on magic she had in her head, but something didn't quite seem right. There was no 'Spirit Bolt' coming from her extended hand, and neither was there the 'Spirit Bolt' information stitting in her head as she'd been told would be the case.
Pulling back her extended arm and hand to look at it more closely, the mage raised an eyebrow at it all as she tried to peruse her mental library for something. Anything like unto 'Spirit Bolt' at this point. Maybe if she expanded the search beyond just specifically 'Spirit Bolt' she could find something?
"Something's not quite right here-....hmm?"
Huh. 'Spirit Gun'. Not 'bolt', but 'gun'. What in the world was that?! It was peculiar, if not abnormal, compared to what she should have had availible perhaps. At the same time it was curious enough she felt like attempting to give it a try if nothing else. So the mage extended her arm back again toward Simon, this time her hand adopting the pose of a somewhat silly 'finger gun'. Not that she knew if anyone in this world had such a concept compared to the firearm-using world of Earth. Hmm. Either way she didn't want to just do something out of the blue without fair warning to the person on the other end.
"Well, I can't find 'Spirit Bolt' but it seems something else of an equivalent is there instead in my mind. Ah, let me see if this works....ahem:
Spirit Gun!"
It felt silly, and yet unlike her attempts to use a 'Spirit Bolt' this one seemed to bear fruit of some kind for her efforts. At the tip of the extended pointer finger (or 'barrel' of her finger gun) A small swirl of magical energy seemed to coalesce around the tip of her finger very rapidly, and for but a moment, before a pale white and almost misty-looking magical projectile 'fired' off straight and true toward the other man.
...If nothing else, it all had a very anime-esque vibe to how it worked. What it would do in effect she would see in a moment as Simon tried to defend himself with the aforementioned ward (hopefully sucessfully).
“Better he runs around here than anywhere else.” Camphor grumbled, though still wearing her usual tired expression, seemed to perk up a bit. “You sure I couldn’t convince you to be a full time assistant?” Frieda was behind Camphor making an ‘x’ shape with her wrists and shaking her head briefly.
She got the feeling Freida was trying to be her metaphorical lifeline, that and she felt the idea of 'make the psychic girl bring me coffee with her MIND' felt very Camphor-y on second thought. That or becoming a target for the Impidimp....or Sir Lopsalot doing something to the Impidimp for that matter. Or worse! Maybe. She had no idea if that sort of stuff would be the potential case for her as an assistant, but she wasn't taking any chances. So politely, the girl shook her head side to side to reject the last-second repeat offer.
"No thank you, Professor, I'll be fine as things stand."
Though from there things seemed to wrap up well enough. The trainers getting their first Pokemon would congregate back eventually, the Professor would try to get them out of her lab and on the road, etc. There was also a warning about an abandoned manor house, which was concerning but curiosity-sparking at the same time, and they would get a quite interesting sort of Pokedex. Came with Lab ID and everything! Not to mention it would ping off about Sir Lopsalot the moment she booted it up and registered it, electronic voice and mini chibi Camphor (seemed happier than the real one in her eyes) ringing in her ears and moving on the screen as she listened to Freida explain its functions. Phone, weather, map, all good an nessecary things to have at least. Then the direct line to someone who didn't want to be bothered, potential to get Pokemon in boxes and get sent others from them, and-
Don’t go to some powerfully electromagnetically charged area or super far underground, or extremely rural area and expect it to work.
...Well, some might take that as a given perhaps. At least back in Orre they had. Still, it was good to know. Not that Eidda would be the same type of wasteland, really, as she knew that much at the very least. But it would have open, wild areas with...yeah. Filled with Pokemon. It still felt strange enough to the psychic trainer that places could be so full of Pokemon, according to everything she'd been told or learned about since leaving Orre.
At any rate, she had five Pokeballs, two potions, her Pokedex-type device, a bit of money to go with, and a dream to boot if she was counting everything. Luckily her suitcase had optional shoulder straps for walking in this case as well. That would at least make it more bearable to move things at least.
There were also a few people standing around her who seemed to be starting to 'group off' already. In particular Richard seemed to go toward a sickly girl who seemed like she'd fall over with the lightest breeze, not that she literally would that is, and one of the other people who had an Eevee on her shoulder seemed to be asking around as well somewhat. Or rather...
“So who else will be going out of the city?”
...yeah. What felt like somewhat of a timid attempt to see if anyone was going the direction she wanted to go. Timid? Er, well nervousness in this situation was certainly something Clarissa herself could understand if nothing else. Nerves were never a fun thing, but they had to get going some way or another. However, leaving the city so soon was not much of an option for her now after the ill-fated run-in she had at the airport. A contest star was wanting her to come and get backstage after the show, and a VIP ticket had alraedy been pushed on her at that! But until the contest, she could at least try to do some more local things.
It was likely, really, she'd be getting out of the city the next day if nothing else after having to stay overnight. Could likely find a spot to rest at a Pokemon Center, unless Camphor let her bum on the reception room couch or the like for just one night. Hmm.
"I intend to look for some urban Pokemon in the meantime myself, though later I have to...go to the contest after someone at the Airport forced me to take a ticket to it. Likely I will have to stay the night and leave the city tomorrow with that in mind, but if anyone wishes to 'group up' still despite this I am willing to do so."
Clarissa sighed to herself as she pulled out the nearly glistening VIP ticket the woman had pressured her to take. Valarie, was it? Contest star, and gym leader perhaps too? She'd heard a few things in the crowd, one or two she wished she hadn't heard, but she felt it'd be worse for her if she snubbed a potential gym leader's invatation to the show....a-and backstage and all that. Right? Ugh.
"Bun. Bun bun."
Sir Lopsalot commented in what seemed like a consoling tone as he lightly patted her on the back of the head from where he sat on her right shoulder now. For a Buneary, he seemed rather in-tune with her mood for the most part. But...perhaps their time together so far had helped that along as well. Now she could at least pay him back by seeing how they could both get stronger! Become the best them that they could! Or at least that was the general idea. Not to mention they could bring some friends along with them too, depending on what they found and caught.
Still, the psychic felt it would be best to see if anyone took her up on her offer of 'group up' for this work before heading out. While in part she felt comfortable alone with her Pokemon, she had to at least admit that, having someone else to get to know would be good as well. And, perhaps, she could get a scan with her Dex' to see what the lazy looking sleeping Pokemon back in the lobby was in passing. It seemed...somewhat cute? Interseting at the very least, but yes she did feel it had a properly cute aspect to it somehow as well.
@Rune_Alchemist@Bartimaeus@Thayr (And @ anyone else not mentioned in the post if they're interested in grouping up too potentially.)
They certainly were still in a situation of sorts, primarily that being in the middle of the woods without cover, help, or civilization nearby. Not unless one counted their chances of running into more ratmen anyway. On top of that the adventurer who had found them left once more after giving them a direction, which was a bit helpful at least despite the fact they were being left alone. Again. Albeit they did seem to handle themselves well enough thus far at least, but that was no guaruntee at all for the future either. No guaruntee that a dragon wouldn't ambush them off back to some dungeon either, for all she knew, but this was at least 'similar' to Earth in some capacity. How else this world different from it had yet to be seen, outside of the things that had been made obvious at least....like magic. Did she mention magic? Because that was a thing now.
Though before she was done being lost in her own thoughts about their current situation, Charlotte was snapped out of her focus by one of the others talking.
“I’m not really sure what happened there,” she muttered, before looking around at the other girls, intending to pawn off the hot potatoes that were the rat parts to someone else. “Would anybody else like to carry the rat bits?”
"D-don't look at me!" Sayu quickly protested. "I'm… I'm not good at that kind of stuff!"
"We should try to get the gems or something like the tails as well before we go. Less stuff that way.
So instead of hauling all of this crap, I'll do the dirty work."
Why did she get stuck with the girly-girls in all of this? Seriously? No one wanted to touch the dead bodies, and based on what they'd seen from Laynea this sort of stuff was potentially retty normal for those taking up merc or adventuring jobs. Had to be willing to get dirty to live, and you had to live to be able to find out where they could take a bath anywho. So yeah, she'd apprently have to get her hands dirty because she both didn't mind it and no one else seemed to want to so far.
Besides, even if they couldn't get inside the walls, the chances of peddling outside of it or making camp next to the main gate could perhaps be sucessful in at least keeping them alive for the night. But whatever the case, the bunnygirl walked over to the dead ratmen and began trying to get to work. If she could tear off their tails in one piece she'd try her best to do so, since it seemed logical enough, despite having no idea if the minority of her abilities regarding crafting gave her any knowledge that would help in this. Hunting? Harvesting parts? Either way she was after the tails, and if she could dig into the mess of these corpses she'd try to look for something carefully that felt or looked like a 'gem'.
Though as something came to mind as she tried to get started, causing the girl to let out a sigh, she would turn her head back toward the others to-
“Not necessarily. It’s possible there are smaller towns, establishments, or even a market outside the city walls,” Cecilia pointed out, drawing on her historical knowledge. “I’m sure there will be ample opportunities to get some kind of money or accommodation before the gates…”
"Hmm, I suppose that's true…" Sayu stroked her chin. "We can try looking for a village instead… But I doubt they would buy magical cores unless they had an alchemist that could use them… What, that's how it goes in this kind of setting, no?"
Well, at least they were trying to think ahead or something. Depended on how this world worked in one way or another compared to 'medieval Earth' or something. Either way she had something to ask about, and she was going to before continuing things. Even if the chances of each others' stuff not working magically was one thing, maybe something as simple as a sharp sword would still work like a basic cutting tool in application. It was in that vein her question was aimed at Cecilia in particular.
"I'm going to need to borrow something sharp to cut things with to hurry this up, something like your sword, unless we want to be stuck around here all night before get start heading in the direction of civilization in any case. Can I borrow it?"
She was not going to sugar-coat it, a blade or something would be helpful right now. Besides, she'd be giving the blade back after wiping it off or something with leaves and the grass in the clearning. Not that she was saying more than she felt nessecary right now anywho. But she was not going to haul entire dead rats along with them. So in that vein....a tool, please?
While it was certainly a bustling campus, it was enough to make the mage almost feel like she was in college again simply from the people im robes shuffling quickly about the place. Some seemed to stop and take a bite to eat, or goof off with friends in-between classes while they had some time to kill. Others seemed to look for corners or elsewhere to sit and pop open a book or begin scribbling things down on paper of some kind, like they were doing some kind of studying or homework. Some naturally would continue on carrying bags and books and all sorts to most likely hurry to the next class at that! Indeed, the mage somewhat paradoxically seemed to relax a bit more as she walked along and tried to avoid getting run over. A hall of education and learning, something she'd always enjoyed the presence of in comparison to many other places she'd been in life....well, her prior life she supposed.
Whatever the case, the mage found herself able to go about to a variety of places in the meantime. But where to start? Where to begin? Certinaly she wanted to perhaps focus her efforts on what she could do and what magic she could actually use, so that seemed as good a place to start as any. Even then, though, where to go? Sure she could seek out something regarding her lightning, though....they were going to head to a Temple of Hades. Sounded like a place that would involve a lot of undead or spirit romaing around or such, at least if she went by the old Greek Mythology god as any sort of basis. Then again, she hadn't asked much abou the deities of the world either for that matter! Ugh. Simply another thing to jot down in her mental notepad of a 'To-Do List' for later, she supposed, though it was on that note that the mage felt looking more into her Spirit Magic was a good idea in general.
She was already on the trail of wanting to look into the life of a dead adventurer, whose presence in the Mazy Hillocks among other things had left a distinct impression on her. What kind of impression she couldn't fully grasp, and yet it was enough to compel her to look into his life and death all the same. But if she was going to be ready for anything else regarding such matters, or able to handle running into such spirits in the future who were far less helpful, then it seemed prudent to at least branch out her knowledge some into the relevant field of magic that pertained to them. Simple? Eh, simple by her standards at least.
It was in this vein that Lillianna would try to ask around breifly about any literature related to Spirit Magic and where she could locate it. From here she would get simple enough direction to "The Grand Library of the Light and Dark Domains", though as she would make her way to said library-
Among the men and women in the main hub of literature pertaining to the Light and Dark Domain, a Cleric named Simon was giving a lecture to a younger and newer Cleric. The library itself was dominated by light, the thematic decorations showing the difference in the number of shelves commited to each Domain. Dark magic was largely illegal, and what wasn't illegal was highly regulated behind licensing laws. However, there was information available, just not nearly as much as the books, scrolls and tomes dedicated to the Light Domain.
Simon's lecture was nothing academic. He was simply venting to an up-and-coming adventurer about why he retired early and became a teacher.
"Restoration magic is a perfectly valid school of magic," he grumbled. "In fact, it's probably the most important. But do you get the thanks and the credit for that? Quinity, no! Clerics are constantly overlooked and underappreciated. People would rather be enamored by the fancy light-show of fire and lightning, while we Clerics are doing all the work."
The twin-element mage silently raised an eyebrow as she overheard a conversation while passing by, drawing her eyes barely away from the rows and rows and shelves of tomes sitting before her. A vast swath of literature, gathered in one place about a particular 'school' of magic. Certinaly such a thing was beautiful to consider the existence of, though it also made enough logical sense to organize things in such a manner to help direct students in a 'school of magic' to different locations to study. Distribute the various students across the board, as it were, rather than try to make one titanic library....not that such a thing wouldn't have been cool actually. It would have been very cool! But she was getting a bit more distracted besides the point.
Yet she still couldn't help but imagine some poor soul in an MMO game talking angrily to someone as she heard the older cleric's rant, but at the same time felt a small pang of relatability. Unlike certain 'majors' she'd seen back home, something like healing magic seemed a lot more applicable and serious to take note of. Something perhaps akin to medical field? Ah, but that was the fun dichotomy of the word 'clerical': It could mean both medical matters and religious ones, which at points in Earth history had been one and the same it seemed. Yet again, though, she was getting off-track too easily in this place when it came to her thoughts. But what else would she do in here than get to thinking about things on the premises of a seemingly wide-topic-encompassing scholastic institution? It was only natural!
No! She had to focus, and focus she would. No more distractions.
Walking up to the lecturing Cleric and his either fortunate or most unfortunate student, the twin-element mage would try to politely get the attention of Simon. Albeit it felt as awkward as her approach in some aspect likely was, in her mind, as she semi-nervously tried to tap the man's shoulder lightly. Her staff, meanwhile, was gripped tightly in her other free hand as said hand seemed to grip it a bit tigher in mild anxiety while she tried to make her approach.
Perhaps it would be worth asking him about where she could find some pertinent information that might be of use to her, and see if she could narrow down her search for literature from there to one thing or another to focus her studies today on in this case. Because she wasn't spending all day in here wandering around randomly for information on a topic she was still coming to grasp! That would be simply silly and foolish really. No, she'd have to have a nice long off-week for that sort of thing at the very least! And a comfortable chair. Maybe some coco if she could find it. Ah, that'd be the stuff~
"Pardon me, and apologies for the interruption of your lecture here, but I am a rather new student to the field of Spirit Magic in particular. New to this library, in fact, at that.
You seem to be an experienced person around here, and I was hoping you could perhaps help point me in the direction of information regarding matters of say...combatting spirits and undead?"
...Though part of her hoped she hadn't found the crazy nut on campus who complained to everyone and stressed out at his day job all the time. Eh, too specific a niche to have in mind there? Perhaps, but her chances of running into such people back in college in-person had been surpsingly higher than she would have liked back then. Ugh.
@Mintz Eh?! #4 is that good??? I mean, I could add it back to the list I suppose. I didn't expect such a good reception after I saw we had at least two people with vehicles or smarts already I mean. Heck, I kinda got the idea partly from the latest Armored Core game. (O_O)
What would you prefer between #1 and #4, just out of curiosity?
Nani?! Another stand user! That can only mean one thing....
You are in good company then, oh King of Memes. XD
~~also no worries on the erase since I’m prone to being self-conscious also. Didn’t get a chance to answer right away to your questions since I was trying to be good and finish my profile before reading through everything lol~~
Then you are doing better than me. Been looking at the other apps and worrying about what to make on my end. Lol.
I will confess that #1 as actually inspired in part by "Spiders-Man", who I never read the comics to see but discovered on the wiki like a year ago and have just continued remembering existed from time to time since then. That's an oddity in and of itself really I think. :P
Albeit in this case, the more nitty-gritty details of that idea's way of working was:
Some kind of alien ship whose occupants were developing bioweapons is shot down over Earth really long ago, all as they were being pursued by another spacceship, and along with what little wreckage that fell to Earth and didn't burn up in the atmosphere was a container with a bioweapon inside in the process that fell into the ocean. Container is advanced and holds a bioweapon inside, a highly modified organism similar to wasps from the aliens' former home planet, in stasis. This species was made to be a highly resilient tool, something capable of surviving horrible war conditions (including radiation), rapid populating, and to have capabilities for eating away at enemy infrastructure or electronics and kill enemy soldiers or the sort. Something that would make itself a pest and nuisance, a long-term problem, and in Earth terms be a big rapid-spreading and hardy warcrime.
These bioweapon creatures can be readily crushed, squished, smashed, destroyed by shrapnel and explosives, destroyed with strong enough super acids, and even be killed with fire and likewise be slain by being immersed and frozen in some sort of liquid to boot. They aren't invincible by far, but that's also the deceptive part of their design. Individual ones are easy to kill in general.
In return, they are basically un-aging, immune to radiation, able to survive very extreme temperatures (fire kills them via the chemical reaction, stay alive (at least) in a vacuum for an extended time period, conduct electricity rather than get hurt by it, and live without food for like eight to ten months and water for like six to eight months. Their mandibles can chew through even advanced alien alloys, their stingers possess a 'universal paralytic' only really lethal with an excessive dose of it, they can rapidly make hives and reproduce, can internally process metals and alloys and minerals and alien organic substances into what is needed for their metabolism, and could merge their biomass together to mimic the appearance of other living thing so potential enemy civilians or soldiers or prey might be drawn closer to them before they attack and go for the kill.
In short, they were made to be a ridiculous menace that can very much be destroyed but is also super hard to kill in other ways. Something easy to underestimate in small numbers once one realizes their weaknesses, but which aren't a very 'smart' threat overall and thus were made resilient to match up with that.
So to move on with the story, the stasis-holding container is poweerd by a radioactive means that has kept it functioning for hundreds or up to a few thousand years. Before the power source goes bad, though, the container washes up on a West Coast beach. The same beach the character himself and his family traveled a long ways to see and go to for one reason or another on vacation. Guy gets curious and carries it off to a small corner or changing room on the beach, etc, and tries to crack it open....and unfortunately manages to succeed.
The bioweapon creatures inside the container are stupid hungry, because its been a long time being kept alive by stasis on their part, and immediately most of them (not all) swarm the guy to devour him in a blind hunger after being awakened.
At this point the guy's mutant genes kick into gear, because his had not awakened yet to reveal him as a mutant, which awakens his power. What is this power? To psychically assimilate other living things, placingthem under the control of his mind/consciousness. Thus it would allow him to control their bodies like an extension of himself, though smarter and more intelligent creatures would be difficult to use this power on. Something that, had it been his power alone, would be useful mostly against animals and such but very un-heroic to try to use against other humans and sapient life.
In this case, however, his power lashes out in an effort to save the guy's life. Tries to assimilate the swarming and hungry alien bioweapons, albeit not well enough to save his body and life. However, the mutant power does enough to merge his conciousness into these alien wasp-like creatures and turn the ones that ate his body into a massive hive-mind with the guy's mind/consciousness being the mind controlling them.
The few free ones that escape terrorize the beach to try to eat anything in sight out of a drive to survive, ultimately leading to animal control, police, and then SHIELD involvement respectively as the situation escalates.
Meanwhile, the creatures the unfortunate guy was eaten by merge their biomass into a form that looks like his old human self. This is how the guy wakes up, wondering if the whole thing was a dream and he had some bad food for breakfast. But nope. He finds out his body is now made of the biomass of the creatures. He finds out he can turn into a large swarm of these creatures. He finds out things about himself over the following days what had can do as he experiments with things, even if still in a bit of horror at it all, and eats left-behind food and stuff from vending machines as the abandoned beach and nearby hotels. Becuase the whole area has been cordoned off by SHIELD, who along with a few heroes are doing a sweep over the area to make sure they killed all the specimens (and any potential nests they made) that escaped and terrorized people.
It it at this point the guy gets discovered, attacked, then captured, and ultmately contained and questioned. He no longer registers as a mutant, because his originally body is just outright gone, but now he has become basically a sort of "Spiders-Man" in his own right. He explains what he can when interrogated, gets questioned by a peculiar bald man in a wheelchair who runs a special school, who sensed a new mutant pop up that day that suddenly disappeared just as fast, and ultimately SHIELD tries to put him through some testing and training to get a better idea about him and what he can do.
In the end he gets recruited to Avengers Academy after an offer is made to him to join it, because hey he has nowhere else to go and he seems good-aligned enough to at least see how he does. Besides, unless he went into pest control he had not much else he could do after being locked up and contained anywho. But at least he got more of an idea of what and how he can do things in the process of all of this.
Yet it seems to consensus so far is that idea #3 seems to be the most versatile/cool one thus far, one #1 as a close second even if it is admittedly a bit of a creepy/crazy origin.
I also confess that the #2 Idea was inspired by stuff like Ranma 1/2 and magical girls, or things such as superheroes that got powers and such without warning or choice in the matter, but trying to fit a more tragic and superhero-esque type of approach in this case. So the greater details behind it were:
Basically just tossing the guy into an unfortunate situation he would have died in otherwise of not for the accidental swap, one caused by some alien or other power that was just trying to save human lives involved in some incident/accident it happend to pass by as it was traveling by.
As a result the guy ends up being the only survivor in the process, now having powers and being alive but on the other hand having to deal with the unintended and unforseen side effects of all of this. New body, new powers, and a new reality of life entirely. Eventually joins Avengers Academy because its a way he can help the world, perhaps, though either using said powers or some kind of miniature projector disguises himself as his 'original self'. Why does he do this? Because he worries, as SHIELD who took him initially in did, that its an at least awkward situation when someone else's parents or relative out there potentially might see you and think you are their child or loved one who survived a horrible situation (but in reality you aren't).
The themes of #2 were meant to be that getting superpowers isn't always a 'fortunate' situation or circumstance, sometimes we must live with the effects of choices and conditions outside of our control, and that power comes at a price. So I figurd it 'fit' in that sense. What will he do in the future? What will his future be? He hopes trying to become a hero will be something worthwhile, since his chances at living a normal life are kinda entirely shot full of holes...
Ah...otherwise Idea #3 was inspired by a little indie game on Steam I played. Its mostly self-explanatory in terms of what the power does, and thought I could toss in some reasonable weaknesses such as: No passive regen (has to actively focus on 'regrowing' himself), can still very much be killed, can't mimic the genetics and such of others living things even if he can take on their form/appearance/voice in detail using his power, and can't match those with the greatest super strength and such things in turn (aka: can't mimic that using his powers beyond a certain level). Body redundancy would be ricidulous and on the level of his very cells at that, should the need arise, thus meaning his ability to actually survive being a single lump of flesh of around a certain size would at least make some manner of sense.
Or simply put, someone who has a lot of sheer versatility. A "jack of all trades, master of none" who can survive like some super-cockroack through crazy situations and recover from quite a lot despite not being the strongest thing ever. His genetics are, however, passively regenerating to a ludicrous degree and otherwise have made him biologically immortal (as in not dying of age specifically that is) once he hits the stride of his prime at like 25-27 years old. So guy could get irradiated the most horrendously he could be and not see genetic damage from it.
As for the details of how he and his powers came to be? Maybe had a parent or parents who was/were/are alien(s), maybe he was some bioweapon project or alien brood captured and experimented with in a human lab until he escaped and took on a human form, maybe he is a mutant or byproduct of some mutant power that took on a life off its own, etc. I kinda left it blank because I don't have all the answers on that. (@_@)
((Note: There was a fourth idea that didn't quite make my list. really, which was, well:
An arms-producing company tries to make a 'combat suit to surpass Iron Man', but turns out the thing is too fast and harsh on the human body for a normal pilot to handle. Normal human pilots, and even some mutant test pilots who were hired on, were injured or hurt to varying degrees by it to boot. The company decides to shelve the original projct in favor of greatly dumbing down the original idea in a new project aimed at selling for use in SWAT teams or for police or even military police. Etc.
However, the company's Head of R&D saw 'potential' in the original project. What if, instead of dumbing down the project to match the pilot, a pilot was created to match the original project's potential instead? Cue said Head of R&D opening up a secret 'black site' underneath things, getting his hands on some Extremis because he has tons of personal money to use as well, and hiring on a sketchy german-named scientist to help alter and develop the Extremis to better suit the project. Original project in this sense keeps going and being pushed along in secret, with plenty of illicit and appropriated funds and 'side gigs' and such done to fund it all in good part.
Yet as batches of 'New Extremis' and such are developed and tested on hush-hush hired or 'volunteered' test subjects, it seems nearly impossible to create a stable and strong enough subject at first. Those who don't simply detonate or go unstable (existing weaknesses of Extremis) still cannot withstand the equipment in some aspect or another due to changes in the Extremis affecting them in different ways at times. Eventually this leads the german-named sketchy scientist tto propose, after some looking into this over time, that a fully-grown person is not the best subject. Rather, a growing and maturing subject might be their best bet who can be adjusted along with the Extremis through constant immersion and exposure to it. This corrupt Head of R&D ultimately agrees, and a child is either donated by one of them or is 'procured' for this.
Starting at six this kid is forged and tested and so forth, turning them over the following eleven years into the pilot and operator the original project 'needed' as it were. Super regenerative, durable, strong, and so forth as Extremis is won't to do, but also acclimated to the use of the original project's suit/equipment. Like they are a human mecha, moving about at high speeds and able to do quite a bit (including powering their own equipment/suit from within) with a weapons loadout and such to boot.
Then SHIELD launches a sting, because they had eventually discovered the illicit stuff the Head of R&D at this company was doing and traced it back to the company. Company ultimately cooperated with them to 'root out the bad seed' from their ranks, which was hurting them by getting them in trouble, and this in the end led to the sting operation that leads to the capture of the pilot/test subject and corrupt R&D Head and the german-named guy and such. Shuts down the project, but leaves a combat-trained and tested younger pilot with permenant Extremis effects and powerful equipment.
Avengers Academy is eventually seen as a chance to help said pilot, after a year or two of therapy on their part, have some meaning to their existence and be able to help people and such. Pilot agrees to go to the academy, and BAM! New student.
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