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Capes of Samekh - A Post-Worm RP

Basilisk let out a monstrous bellow that could be heard above the rattling sound of gunfire and the battling capes behind him, he could feel each of the slugs as they hit his solid hide, welting or penetrating depending on where they struck him. Glancing blows leaving streaks of angry greenish red flesh in their wake and the shots that he could feel sinking slugs into his arms and torso spattered blood forcefully with each reckless swing of his trunk like limbs. Fallen soldiers were laid down with strikes of his palms, struck senseless and his heavy steps destroying their dropped weapons under stomps that fractured bone and gunmetal alike. One unlucky bastard would feel the spikes on the behemoth’s tail growing back as it wrapped around their torso, small but sharp, before being lifted and used as a bludgeon to strike down others who were caught with empty clips.

By the time the gunfire stopped Basilisk could already feel his body pushing out the first couple of slugs from his lungs and gut, blood dripped from his jaw where the back of his throat had caught a few more bullets and he coughed. It was always the worst wounds that were tended to first by his power, stitching his flesh together with a feeling of writhing serpents beneath his thick hide, all so he could bleed freely. These Fallen thugs wouldn’t be rising again any time soon as he stood among them, already able to feel the tacky and quickly drying blood on his skin starting to evaporate into a thick cloying green smoke. He didn’t pity the Fallen, monsters one and all, but he acknowledged that they were going to be miserable for a good long time before they were able to raise a weapon against another person. There was satisfaction to that, and with his body wafting that green smoke he turned to the rest of the powered combatants. His power may have come with healing, but that was just a perk. Basilisk's true power needed him to bleed and the bullets had given him ample opportunity to do so.

The dinosaur was gone, the woman that it had been sheltering was on her knees and burning. He heard the blast of a weapon, tinker made it seemed and firing a projectile that seemed like a massive ball of slime. The tentacled bastard seemed intent on keeping away from it and that seemed like something Basilisk could take advantage of, with the sound of tearing metal he ripped a bumper free of one of the Fallen’s vehicles and readied a throw while the focus was off of himself. He had to wait until there wasn’t a chance the bumper would slam into the two ladies, but the moment he had his shot he hurled it lengthwise, sending it spinning through the air, spinning like a massive blunt propeller towards Transcendent. Basilisk’s entire upper body strength put into the throw.

Calvin rejoiced as the older hero beside her launched his own attack towards the anchor cluster of wires, the sounds of high tension wires snapping was a good thing...right? Well, not really. A groan of metal and the shift of the shadow above them of the precariously hung helicopter was all the warning that they had before the massive vehicle snapped free of its last few reaching restraints and plummeted down towards the street.

“Heads up!” She yelled as she took off as fast as she could towards a safer part of the street. There wasn't a chance of being crushed, they hadn’t been been directly underneath the helicopter when it had fallen but the risk of getting clipped by something hanging off the chopper or a stray wire stuck into her mind and Calvin went sprinting for the side of the building as fast as she could. She could hear the sound of voices over her radio, something about Spindle and the hostages, but her mind was in a small panic. Why hadn’t she considered that perhaps the biggest mass of wires had been what was holding up the biggest suspended object!? The wires suspending the other hostages were probably a part of that mass as well and she had put them all at risk just trying to remove the possibility of a threat. What if she had gotten someone killed!? All these thoughts were running through her head as she reached the shadow of the alleyway and ducked into it, she could taste the grit of the kicked up debris on her teeth and tongue and took a moment to spit and try and collect her thoughts.

She had risked her own life with that choice, risked her team and the hostages, destroyed a helicopter that was probably worth more than she would make working for the Jr. Guard for a decade, all as her literal first move in the public eye. Then she ran, and that thought hit her hard. Here she was, having stopped running a few dozen yards from where everyone else had, hiding in an alleyway. She should get back out there, she should help! But what if she just made things worse again, what if she got someone hurt? Her lense covered eyes turned to her palms and she took a gamble, between them a second simple red sphere appeared in her hands and she reflexively slumped as she realized what it meant. Even her own power was calling her weak, something no more useful than a light breeze.

Capes of Samekh - A Post-Worm RP

Calvin barely had time to get out an affirmative before Dart had launched herself into the air, gone with only the sound of cracking pavement. It hadn’t even seemed like there had been any effort in the movement, a curl of knees and suddenly her commanding officer just wasn’t there anymore! The young heroine’s eyes darted around behind her large mirrored lenses, trying to locate Dart and keep an eye on what she was doing and where she should be pushing her own efforts. She caught sight of a wall of wires exploding above her, a hole punched through the same wires that had obliterated an entire street, Dart’s silhouette above them spurring Calvin into movement.

Giving the ball between her hands another squeeze Calvin jogged a couple of steps closer to the building and looked around for the tightest cluster of wires, the ball in her hands made her palms sweat despite the brutal chill she could feel lurking beneath the thin skin. Wind rushed past her from behind and it was the encouragement she needed to try and show off her own power. Her red ball was the size of a softball at this point and she figured that was the best pitch to aim for at this point. Her arm rotated, building up for the underhand throw. Stepping into the pitch she hurled it as hard as she could towards one of the primary anchor points that she felt she could reach. Her aim focused on the center of one cluster of wires.

The heroine’s aim was almost dead on and the effect of her throw was likely to get attention as the air in the radius of the blast froze and a wave of cold air swept the ruined street, brick and mortar cracked under the sudden temperature shift and the steel cable was suddenly encased in a thin layer of frost and robbed of all heat. Metal would become brittle at the sudden temperature shift, thinner wires likely snapping if they tried to adjust, the thicker cables snapping if too much pressure was put to them.

“Yes! Perfect shot!” She cheered out, though she’d been nearly a meter off where she had actually been aiming, she raised her fist triumphantly then turned to face the rest of her team.

Capes of Samekh - A Post-Worm RP

Basilisk let out a crocodilian hiss as he felt the fleshy tendril rip away from the body of the Fallen’s form, in the direct charge with his whole weight behind him he had hit Transcendent too hard, giving him a chance to flee. There was something in the way that they moved that suggested more of a forced push instead of a flight, not that the unnatural form could be related to a human form like this. The distance that the push cleared suggested some sort of flight or component that kept them off the ground, which made sense as the tendrils didn’t seem suited for walking. He could handle this fight, especially if the bastard was going to come apart so easily under his hands.

The tendril hit the rubble beside Basilisk with a wet thud and his bulk began to move from the pile that Trancendent’s impact had caused when he had smashed into the building. Shaded eyes scanned the street, taking in as much info as quickly as possible. Guns glinted in the daylight as a band of goons tried to get themselves organized, the tendriled monstrosity that was the Fallen kidnapper charged toward the dinosaur looking creature, and there was just a brawl happening between the two unknowns. Old training kicked in, his old team had a plan when it came to wild melee’s like this. They needed to keep it a melee, remove threats and work their way to the last one’s standing to tackle together. He was alone. His team lost in the shuffle of the worlds. But his training was something he could rely on and he left the tendriled breaker to the dinosaur. Whichever one ended up the victor was his to handle once the immediate threat of the automatic rifles was taken care of, so it was with heavier steps and bared fangs that he charged the Fallen soldiers. Throwing out open palmed slaps and whips of his tail that were meant to mangle guns and any hands that got in the way. He might have been moving slower, but there were perks to just using your arm as a hammer when it couldn’t swing a reliable punch.

Capes of Samekh - A Post-Worm RP

Calvin could feel the impact of the orb through her gloves, the damage it could deal as it brought a sensation of her fingers freezing to the bone without actually hurting her. This was one of the bad ones, one of the ones that were indiscriminate, that couldn’t be aimed. These ones were the hardest to deal with and she was in a place where getting rid of it would make an impact no matter where it was thrown. In her mind she chastised herself for letting her power get something past her like that, but that wasn’t something she should be worrying about right now. This crisis first. She almost chuckled when she realized her dismay had been overheard by the observant Werelight.
“Oh just my power having a sense of humor you know? I need a way to make things stick or stop and my shard wants to push me as close to single digits in kelvin as I’ve ever felt! All while I’m seeing all kinds of new capes and hostages that I really don’t want to end up accidentally freezing or blowing up. Funny right?”

The young heroine was talking quietly until she heard the order. She laughed and perked up as she heard Dart starting to move in, the ball between her hands swelling like the world’s slowest balloon. She was cooking it and this was not one she wanted to end up forcing into a massive burst without having someone bad on the receiving end of it or having it affect no one at all. And now she had her orders to follow after her commanding officer. So follow her she did. Only one thing stuck in her mind.

“Uhh, Dart.. ma'am? How are we approaching this? My blaster power doesn’t really help me get up the sides of a building. Are we taking the fire escape or- Oh jeeze!!”

Calvin watched as the two rooftops exploded into a flurry of activity, nearly stumbling as she moved forward to follow Dart. There were people up there?! She gave the ball she was holding a squeeze, the surface of it not giving under her fingers no matter how tight she gripped it. Cages of metal, wire that could slice through cars with such force that the street had left a wreckage littered mess. And she still didn't think that the woman deserved what she was holding.

Basilisk had taken the first aid kit kicked his way and set to work near instantly after he had cracked it open. Bandages, disinfectant, and pressure, it was all he could do for the guard right now. It wasn’t like his hands were meant for the more delicate work nor did he have the proper training to do much more than help the man not bleed out before the EMT’s arrived. A measured and vice like grip kept the bandages pressed firmly to the wound as his eyes were drawn to the bargain bin cape. He listened and tried to speak only for Exactly to basically say he was on his own to find the bastards even though the man was going to follow them somehow. He managed to shout at him to wait, but the duplicate didn’t stop and there wasn’t really much he could do with the half unconscious and bleeding guard in his grip.
“Fucking clown.” He growled to an Exactly that was no longer there, causing a couple of people who had remained in the bank to finally find their courage and run for it. “Useless. All of em..”

Then he waited, less than five minutes passing before the doors opened and he could hear the footsteps of the arriving officers. Then the questions started, descriptions of the couple who had robbed the bank, powers they had displayed, who ever it was that called in the tip. They only stopped when the EMT came by, putting their hands over the crimson bandages and telling him he could let them handle it. Getting to his full height Basilisk took a moment to look at the cops around him, could see the worry in their eyes as his tail flicked behind him. He’d had enough of this place and he’d been robbed of a fight just as the bank had lost their money. The Thinker and his artillery piece strolling out right as rain. That wouldn’t do.

Once he was sure that he was free to go, after his information had been given and he assured them that they could find him at his address, and after he’d washed the blood from his hands in the bank’s bathroom, Basilisk stepped out into the light of the day once more. He’d be paying for the kid’s dinner out of his own pocket tonight it seemed. Damn could this day get worse?

As it happened the world was already planning on lighting this day ablaze, and of course the massive reptilian man was close enough to the fire to notice as it blew up in his face. He'd had a couple minutes of walking away, heading towards a corner store that he knew had a decent pharmacy with some fair prices. He could get the cough medicine at the very least with the few bucks he had in his wallet. But before he had even reached the place he noticed a shift in the crowd, people running. Again. And this time it was a street full of people all trying to leave a central area but smart enough at least for now to flow around him as they searched for alternate ways to get where they were going. Do I really want to get involved in another bullshit fight after the last one? Thinkers, innocents, who knows maybe there would be a cape whose whole power just made punching their smug face in impossible. He should just focus on what he was doing and... then came a roar. People screamed even this far away and Basilisk felt himself grinning despite his previously downer thoughts. Thinkers spoke, monsters roared.

Down the street he took off, the traffic heading in the same direction he was going already splitting around the commotion. Like a charging tank the hulking figure tore down the street towards the fight he could now hear happening. Gunfire, screaming, impacts of impossibly large forces being thrown like there wasn't a care in the world. His kind of party. He laughed as he saw what looked like three choice targets down the road, a golem of ice tangling with a woman who seemed to have the strength to slap it around and a fucking dinosaur! He barked out a laugh, claws extending when a blue light caught his eye. Writhing and wretched something pulled itself from the dusty hole of a building front and Basilisk's enjoyment was suddenly snuffed out like a candle. Transcendent. Fallen. A bastard of the highest order. His shoulders turned and instead of heading for the biggest and meanest looking threat he went for the creature that was rumored to be responsible for a number of disappearances. Infamous enough to have his name reach Basilisk's ears. Dagger-like claws curled forward he sprang towards the Fallen breaker. Intent on driving the spikes as deep into the glowing blue cracks as he could reach. The first hand took hold of a tongue like textured tendril and the second drove forward, feeling like he was being slowed by some terrible force. But his strike didn't stop and he aimed to strike as hard as he could pointed fingertips first.

Capes of Samekh - A Post-Worm RP

Anger welled within Basilisk as he tried to think his way to get around this pest of a bank robber’s thinker power. Combat focused obviously but what was the gimmick?! He could be taken by surprise, he was fueled by emotion, and he seemed to know what Basilisk was going to do before he could even make a move. The nearby Vanish could see the spikes that the crocodillian man had clipped earlier in the morning, pushing past the flat of his scaled hide. His power healing the only thing it could find out of place as his mind rushed and his emotions flared. If I had my team here these two jokers wouldn’t stand a chance. He thought to himself, But they aren’t, they haven’t been around since the end of the world. His tail slammed into the linoleum floor with a heavy frustrated thud.

Frustration and anger, both useless right now. He needed to be smart here or this kid was going to catch a bullet, or the kid’s mother who had been to dumb to get them out of here when this shit had all kicked off. Slowly he turned to look at Vanish, his deep set eyes meeting hers without an ounce of worry. She could shread him with her power and he would still end up with a hand wrapped around her throat, but anyone behind him would suffer for any missed shots. This wasn’t something he could win, not even with a bargain bin hero trying to handle the thinker behind the counter. He leaned in closer to Vanish without reaching out towards her, squaring his shoulders and letting out a low growl. “I promise you, you’re going to regret your actions here today more than you can imagine. But not here, not right now.” He couldn’t fight this without less durable people catching a bullet. He was monstrous, but not like that. “You’ve got your money. Leave. Discount Rack, you should have caved in his skull when you had the chance, so bad job." With his piece said to those two he turned to face Percy. "You behind the counter, I will see you again. Soon. But for now I’m going to make sure the man you shot doesn't bleed out.”

Calvin stood on the curb watching as two of the heroes launched up into the air, a hint of jealousy panging at her as they went into the action. They were going to prove themselves in some way probably. She sighed in a way that sounded much calmer than she felt and watched the accent before turning to look at Dart. Her commanding officer seemed to be more intent on watching the accent of SWAT and Slingshot and the latter’s quick retreat. There were no orders, there was nothing more to do besides wait. And waiting was the worst thing Calvin could be doing after being so ready to go. Without really thinking about it her hands idly clasped in front of her and the needling feeling of her power beneath her palms sparked an orb into existence. The sphere created was nearly the size of an apple, tossed idly between each hand before she realized what she was holding and she let out an audible “Oh..that’s not good.” as she looked at it. In the back of her mind she remembered something her mother had said, idle hands being the devil’s plaything, or something very similar to that.

Capes of Samekh - A Post-Worm RP

Two gunshots rang out and Basilisk knew from the screams that people were getting hurt, the splatter of blood from the guard’s ruined shoulder spraying across the floor and causing more screams from the people scattered around the room. Hostages only mattered if you cared about them though, and these people, to cowardly to run when they saw the danger, he couldn’t care less. Ignoring the screamed threat he squared up on the shaking Vanish, her hands pointed his way but he figured that anything fired at a high enough impact was likely to puncture rather than push him back when he put his weight behind the attack. His back tensed, tail lashed, and he was about to leap upon the would be bank robber, in his mind’s eye he could already see her head clenched in his claws. Then came the whistle and the third shot.

Sunken eyes followed the line of fire from the gun to where he could see a hole pierced through the surface of a toppled table. But what he saw behind the table was enough to freeze him in place as if his own blood had suddenly turned against him. A child, clutched by their mother was wide eyed with terror, scratches on their face from the shattered floor tiles. He had shot at a kid, and if his steady aim was anything to go by he was planning on following through with the threat on the next shot.
“That’s a kid.” He looked to Vanish and his body bristled with anger in an almost palpable way. “Your buddy just shot at a little kid and their momma. I swear if he does it agai-” His threat was interrupted by the sound of Percy yelling out after a dull thud. Had the teller grown a pair of balls and taken a swing at him?

Apparently not, there was someone there dressed in...a costume? It was worse than either Vanish’s or the man behind the counter. Batons in hand he looked like he was about to bullrush the man with the gun, and that was distraction enough. Basilisk turned and charged towards the table and the kid, intent on putting his body between Percy and the table. On the turn he lashed out with his tail towards Vanish’s ankle, intent on catching her with it and taking her along for the sprint.
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The ride had been fun but Calvin Ball was just as excited as she felt the helicopter touch-down, hands moving to undo the harness straps that held her in place. In her hurry not to hold anyone behind her up she was almost clotheslined by a strap that had made its way around her neck, letting out a surprised “Hurk!” before quickly working herself free. Hoping no one had noticed she scrambled to evacuate the helicopter and get her boots back on the ground.

There had barely been enough time for her to get into line before the ground rumbled and the wind rushed, the eyes on the expressive lenses of her mask went wide and the destruction left her jaw hanging open as wires tore the street apart. Blurring metal cutting through anything in its path and left nothing standing. It was right then she was starting to feel very, very out of place. She wasn’t the kind of person who easily made friends or could talk someone out of doing something, often quite the opposite if she were being honest. And with hostages around there wasn’t a chance she could really let her power go full blast, not without hurting someone. Everyone around her seemed confident that they could do something here, make a difference. She could even hear some of them making plans already. And here she was, wrapped up in the shock and awe tactics of a supervillain, rooted to the spot. Maybe she wasn’t ready for something like this? It reminded her of the day the golden man had gone mad, and that memory was enough to leave her visibly shaking in her armor. Under her breath she murmured to herself. “Oh no..” But to her credit Calvin had made no move to back away. She would move forward, all it would take would be a word from Blur.. she could follow orders still, she hoped.

Capes of Samekh - A Post-Worm RP

A loud rasping sound, repetitive and lacking the mirth a normal man’s laughter might have carried, began to fill the room. The couple of bank robbers seemed to have mistaken him for one of the heroes, someone who would hesitate in the presence of hostages. Movements casual Basilisk extended his tail back towards the door, pulling it open with the appendage then reaching back to grasp it with one hand. “I don’t think you’re understanding me. What you rookies have is two meat shields that have given me a hard time and harassed me every time I’ve walked into this bank. And each one of them that is killed, well the heroes won’t mind if I just go that much harder on you.” His grip on the door tightened to the point where the glass cracked and he began to pull. The hinges creaked in protest as the metal was slowly torn free of the frame, leaving the reptilian man holding a twisted piece of the brass door.

He could feel the bits of glass and the places where broken metal had stabbed into his palm left him dripping blood onto the floor around his feet, the droplets hitting the ground and instantly beginning to smoke and hiss. His thin lips curled back into a shard filled grin and he pointed the makeshift weapon at the man who had spoken. “So tough guy, what’s the plan now? More hollow threats? Or maybe you are going to show you have a brain cell rattling around in there and realize you need to give up before I crack your skull like an egg shell.” His attention on Percy and Vanish and not much else. Especially on a person who specialized in not being seen.

Vanish stayed very still at the threat, tilting her head, and firing another brick at the guard. It crumbled on impact with the ground in front of him, small pieces of the shattered stone ricocheting and cutting across the prone man’s face, eliciting a painful gasp. As she turned back to Basilisk she took a small step backwards.

That step back told Basilisk all he needed to know about this girl, she wasn’t committed enough to take that life. Laughing again the massive mutant rushed forward, feet pushing against the tile hard enough that tile cracked and his claws were needed to give him balance. Legs to long for a human and much stronger than they had any right to being thrust him forward and launched him into a vicious assault that had the door leading in wide swing that had him pulling it from left to right, intentionally passing over Vanish’s head so that he could hide the momentum of his real attack. The massive bullwhip of a tail swinging around with his hips, aimed to catch the young villain square in the diaphragm. Hopefully he had measured out his strength enough that he would only knock the wind out of her and not her lunch.

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Calvin Ball was a bundle of excited nerves as she climbed up into the helicopter, taking the center seat and the helmet that was handed to her. The roar of the rotor blades above her making her bones rattle as she worked to adjust her mask and get the helmet on. It felt loose on her head but a few pulls on the straps got it in place enough that she could get the noise canceling headphones in place and flick on the communicator.

"This is a new shaker threat, so we're flying in blind. We need to stay mobile, and assume cover isn't as reliable as it seems. First plan of attack is going to be to talk the villain down, if you see a guaranteed opportunity to neutralize her without threatening the hostages, take it. Don't act without informing your other teammates. If you wanna communicate with the other squad, go through me unless it's an emergency. If it is an emergency, yell at them, or activate the button on the side of your communicator."

Talk her down or neutralize the threat, well maybe she could do one of those two things. There was a bubbling feeling in her fingertips as her power pushed to be used, reminding her of fizzy soda as she debated forming one of her balls. Quietly she murmured under her voice, the microphone on her helmet off as she made a request of her passenger. “Okay, we need something that can knock someone out, small range and powerful. I know we’ve never actually made something like that but it could be really cool if you could help me make a good impression with these guys.”

There was a moment where Calvin Ball could only hear the dull thud of the helicopter and the chatter of the other’s voices over the headset. Not a single hint of an answer from the passenger behind the tingling sensation, no change, and no sudden inspiration. Taking a deep breath she put her hands together and held them there, waiting until there was a target to try and form the first sphere. Hopefully it would be a good one.

Capes of Samekh - A Post-Worm RP

Basilisk had placed a single clawed hand against the door to the bank, intent on withdrawing the cash he would need for today’s shopping and already expecting the normal hassle of suspicion and delaying. But he did not expect the door to suddenly rip open away from him and a tide of panicking people to stream out. He heard screams at his appearance, people’s eyes wild with the terror of being trapped between himself and whatever had kicked this off. He felt a man strike him in the hip as he barreled past him and knew that he was going to need to get out of the way before someone got crushed. Reaching up, the reptilian man dug his fingers into the brick and hefted his bulk up and to the side. Frozen people saw the opening and darted away while the more sensible victims kept their bodies and heads turned his way while doing their best to not get trampled. One person tripped and his tail lashed out, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her to the side before she could get stepped on to many times. He matched her terrified shriek with a growling snarl.

“Shut it lady. Get up and go.”

The order given he loosened his grip. There was a scramble as she got to her feet and ran, the uneven sound of broken heels clicking on the road fading away quickly. As she ran Basilisk squared his shoulders, the flow of people from the early morning bank crowd quickly dissapaiting before him. This was something he didn’t want to have to put up with, the heroes were just as likely to attack him when they arrived but if he left there would be witnesses saying he had guarded the door. Nothing he could do other than act. With a low crocodilian growl he ducked down and stepped into the bank, slitted eyes scanning the scene. He could smell blood, the scent of a recently fired gun, and the whimpers of the people who had chosen to cower instead of flee surrounded him as the people saw only a new threat arriving. Two people in what could barely be called costumes, a pain in his tail if he were being honest.

“A bank robbery, a bit cliche for villains. But I guess a couple of thugs can’t think past movies. Now why don’t you just get your asses out of here before I rip you both into pieces?”

Capes of Samekh - A Post-Worm RP

A quiet alarm began to chime at four thirty in the morning. A large scaled finger swiping it away marked another night of little sleep, not that sleep had ever been a priority for Basilisk. His body rarely got tired the way it was, sore muscles just needing a few minutes of rest to get back to normal. The fibers of his muscles knitting back together and flushing away the cramps. There was never an exhaustion, even in the worst of fights. Just the worry, the fear, a bone tiredness that came from just being in the thick of things for far to long. Not that those sorts of things had plagued him in nearly a year. No, now his only worry was the sounds he had picked up through the half conscious state his altered form considered sleep. One of the kids had a cough, another had woken a nightmare bad enough that their roommate had been roused from sleep and had helped them calm down. He'd listened in but kept to his room. No matter how used the children were to his presence Basilisk's frame was still enough to freeze the unexpected who encountered him in the dark. He'd check the sheets once everyone was up and about and change them if need be. But for now he had to get ready for the day.

It took an hour, every morning, to make sure no knew spikes had grown. Nothing that could catch on his clothing or one of the kids. Any offending protrusions of scale hard bone snapped off and tossed into the flower box outside the window to rot away. Thankfully they didn't bleed so there was no reason to waste more time waiting for each snapped spike to heal. Then once the spikes were cleared away and clothes were donned Basilisk hunched his way out of the room and lumbered down the hall towards the kitchen. Thankfully none of the kids were running around this early and he could get to work preparing breakfast for the bunch. Claws punched through can lids as his tail retrieved ingredients from the fridge for the morning meal, pancakes and canned fruits. A little treat for the kids for the weekend and something simple for him to whip together, though it was using the last of the flour that they had left. He'd have to pick up more while running errands. The smell of breakfast soon began to draw attention through the halls as orphan and employee alike made their way to the kitchen to pick up their stack. They each thanked him as they grabbed the plates, but the eyes slid away before they ever reached his face. Still scared... He bit back a sigh continued to cook.

Once everyone had eaten and another one of Cynthia's people had taken over the dishes Basilisk called out, the kids who had been chattering quieting down as he spoke.
"Alright runts, I'm running out to get some sh-stuff... If you've got anything you need tell me now. Anything you want comes after."
None of the kids spoke up and he took it in stride. He had expected the silence and moved towards the exit, scooping one of the younger orphans out of his way with his tail and gently setting them to the side before he made his way out the front door. He cycled through the things he needed to get in his head. "Medicine for the kid's cough, flour for the kitchen, detergent for the laundry.. and maybe if I've got some spare cash I can pick up something to make brownies. It's been a while since I've made those. Since before the end of the world..." He grumbled as the thought came to mind unbidden and he shook his head. The flicking motion of his tail and head drawing a few wary looks from the other people walking the early morning streets. Ignoring the stares he hunched his shoulders and began making his way further downtown to retrieve the things he needed.

Samantha, Calvin Ball, was buzzing with energy as the men in charge wrapped up their speeches and the Director started to make his way towards the small group of capes that had gathered near the front of the chamber. She had to get up there, there were so many questions she wanted to ask and just meeting the man in charge seemed like something any cape looking to earn their stripes would do. But in her costume, the modified Junior Guard uniform she had been given, it wasn't like she could just run up there! There were the members of the other squads who had been called into attendance that shot her looks when she had gotten to squirrely in her seat, annoyed that the mention of super powered criminals in the streets seemed to energize the young parahuman instead of sober her. They were the unpowered, the ones that on the best of days would just ignore her in the headquarters and at worst would be on the edge of their seats waiting for even the smallest slip up. They wanted her to be punished, they wanted that dumb smile that always seemed to be on her face to be wiped away by another session of cleaning detail by herself instead of being out there in the city helping! And there wasnt a single bit of their thinking that Samantha resented.

Some of the members of other squads had been fighting parahumans since even before Gold morning, scars and cold stares told their stories. And to them she was one of the dangerous ones, reckless and unpredictable. Having bounced between Junior Guard squads since the beginning, all because of one over eager throw that had melted half their van and placed her squarely on the shitlist of everyone who hated the collateral damage that capes caused. And she had taken it all in stride. Late night patrols, hour after hour of pointless cleaning detail, running between offices acting as a glorified messenger girl in a mask, and being the only member of her squad that had attended the meeting that required attendance to be punctual or be locked out. She had accepted the task of taking notes (not realizing the event was going to be televised until she had looked up five minutes into the meeting) and now wanted nothing more than to be mixing it up with the other heroes! One of them was shaking the Director's hand even as she just sat there, staring through the wide lenses of her mask.

She had to get up there! She just had to! Maybe if she just waited a little longer she could make it seem like she wasn't so eager to rub elbows with the other costumed people in the room. So she put her plan into motion. Sloooooooowly she made her way to the table with all the food on it, warmly greeting anyone she caught the gaze of with a "Hello!" as she just grabbed a bagle and some yogurt off the trays. Then she sloooooooowly made her way through the small crowd of people. Moving between groups and trying to seem like she belonged to the conversations that immediately ended upon them noticing her presence. She continued her "casual" approach, oblivious to the fact that anyone with eyes that bothered to pay her half a thought would catch her staring at the group of five heroes with wide excited eyes.

Capes of Samekh - A Post-Worm RP

"You might want to be careful around there. The last one I threw was radioactive."

Hider

_{[ ♦ ] Bio}

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♦ Name: Samantha Hobbes
♦ Age: 14
♦ Loyalty: Junior Guard
♦ Appearance: Samantha is a young girl who is small for her age, reaching just five feet in height and barely hitting the one hundred pound mark in weight. She has brown hair, brown eyes, and a thick pale scar that curls around her right eyebrow from the midpoint of the brow to the corner of her right eye-socket. Due to a more outdoorsy and active upbringing thanks to her parents Samantha prefers to wear clothes that lean towards activities; clothes such as t-shirts, tank tops, shorts, hiking boots, and jeans filling much of her closet. A majority of her clothing also tends towards red tones, a color she considers lucky. Her hair is currently cut short now that she has joined the Jr. Guard, and she has been outfitted with the Jr. Guard uniform that has been modified into a costume that faintly resembles her old pre Gold Morning uniform. Complete with two gold bands around each shoulder, one of which bares the pawn symbol of her rank in the Guard. Her mask is the only true carry over from her sort stint as a public cape, a strange square cut mask with expressive lenses given to her by a tinker friend before GM. The mask mimics the movement of her eyes and eyelids, giving her a wide range of expressions while in costume and even blinking in time with her.

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Picture

♦ History:

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Samantha Hobbes was born January 2001 and was raised primarily by a live in nanny until the age of ten, her parents often signing her up for camps, school trips, and daily adventures. Paying their way into the young girl's heart while focusing on their individual careers. Over the course of these many summers spent away from home Samantha picked up a few hobbies that she truly enjoyed, some of which included horseback riding, hiking, nature photography, and much to the panic of the councilors that had been in charge of her did manage to sneak out into the woods on more than one occasion to try and track down animals.

Near Midnight April 3rd 2012 The parents of Samantha Hobbes are awoken to the sound of their ringing phone. Her father, a prominent prosecution lawyer, answering it to find the head of the local Protectorate team on the other end of the line and clearly agitated. The hero, supported by the team thinker, has reason to believe that one of the villains who had recently been tried and sentenced to the the Birdcage was on the move and looking for revenge. The thinker was nearly certain that there would be an attack before sunrise and that if Samantha's family were to stay in their home there was no guarantee that any of them would survive. Shocked, Samantha's father asks what he should do and is informed that they were already sending their more mobile capes that way along with a PRT van as an escort. They would be taken to the local headquarters to be watched over and protected until the villain and his team were captured.
Samantha is awoken by her mother and told that they were taking a quick trip, they were going to be gone a couple of days and she shouldn't grab anything that she doesn't need. Confused and groggy the young girl nods and gets ready before being led out of the house and towards the family's car. Her mother makes sure she is buckled in and secure before closing the door, keeping her from noticing the trio of figures standing near the end of the driveway until she watches her father approach them. As he talks his voice muffled through the car window, but something about the way he was standing felt...wrong. But after a few seconds of tired puzzling Samantha recognizes them as the local Protectorate, and when the realization that they heroes sinks in Samantha feels a rush of excitement! Her excitement only growing as she saw one of them turn her way and wave, a woman in a silver costume whose lower body is a mess of silver sparks. It is not long after this that her father is climbing into the driver's seat and the heroes take their positions around the car with a PRT Van trailing behind them.
Minutes pass and Samantha starts to doze off, her face pressed against the window to keep an eye on the two heroes she could see, the woman with her sparkler flight and a man keeping pace with two telescoping limbs, steadily falling a few yards behind then bounding ahead of the vehicle in a single step over and over. It's like a dream. But something still seemed wrong to her despite the proximity of the heroes, a kind of tension that her parents had only ever had when they had come home one day to find the front door broken open and the house trashed. It was worrying enough that despite how tired she felt she just couldn't fall back asleep.
It was in this half asleep state that Samantha realized that the man with the tinker legs hadn't caught back up to the car in a few steps and for some reason her stomach went tight. "Mom wher-" She tried to ask, but then came a slam hard enough to jar the question from her mind. Her father wrestled with the wheel as the back end of the car was struck, pushing them towards the edge of the hillside road they had been traveling, bumper scraping against the metal guard rail. The sound of screeching tires and metal drowned out her own frightened scream as she watched an arm, darker than the night sky and as thick as a tree trunk reach out from the top of the PRT Van and grab the sparkling woman from the air. The arm sent the woman crashing down, aiming to use her as a bludgeon against the small sedan only to loose grip on her as she burst into a million sparks and poured from the villainous grasp. The hand, minus it's captive, continued on its path anyway. Striking the side of the car with enough force that Samantha's door flexed inward. And in the flash of a streetlight she could see that the arm was a mass of writhing serpent like creatures molded together to form a limb. She screamed again as a feeling of weightlessness overtook her. They were off the road, falling, then came the first jarring impact. The car slammed into the earth, Samantha's seat belt locking and causing her scream to cut off abruptly as it knocked the wind from her. For long seconds the world was a tumbling roaring swirl of confusion, she could hear her father yelling, her mother screaming and all her mind could do was try to sort out this spinning whirl of near death. Flashes of red, silver, and that shadowy arm, blurred past her shattered window. Powers at war while the world around her threatened to collapse and crush her at any second. And all Samantha could do was hold tight to her seat and gasp. Until with a flash she could see someplace else. Something else. When the dizziness of the extra dimensional vision had passed Samantha found herself hanging upside down from her seat, fingers itching to reach into another space. By the time she realized she had a power the other heroes had arrived as backup and managed to beat back the villains. The newly triggered parahuman and her parents were then transferred to the PRT Headquarters for medical attention.

The following year after the attack Samantha spent nearly every waking hour trying to find time to practice her ability, to try and get a handle on it before bringing it up to her parents. Often sneaking out of the house and finding a secluded location to work at taming the wild nature of her power. It was on one of these outings that she was discovered by a patrolling hero, the tinker that had been attacked first and injured on the attack on her family now fully recovered. He announced himself and offered to watch and see what she could do while sending a message to the PRT and her parents. Thanks to his discovery and assistance Samantha was offered a position in the Wards program, which she was happy to accept despite her parent's hesitance. She was admitted to the wards one week before her birthday in January 2013 and spent most of the time before gold morning training and pushing to be put to work. By the time of Gold Morning the newly mantled Calvin Ball had only two months of experience out patrolling behind her.

_{[ ♦ ] Personality}

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♦ Motivation: Samantha's motivation is a very simple drive to make sure that the villians, like the ones that had attacked her family, would never feel like they had won. Her heroics are entirely in the service of this idea that the bad guys need to know that they will never permanently get the upper hand.

♦ Derangement: Due to the chaotic and often disastrous nature of her ability Samantha is often slow to commit to a course of action on her own. Indecision and panic easily settling in if she is given to long to think about a situation. This has bled over into her out of costume life and she can freeze if left to long with even a menu in her hand, constantly second guessing herself.

_{[ ♦ ]
Parahumanism}

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♦ Skills:
-Knows how to work a climbing kit and harness from the rock climbing activities at camp.
-Can handle and ride a horse
-Knows many of the poisonous plants that can be found in North America from her guide books (On Bet for as useful as that is)
-Knows how to swim

♦ Classification: Blaster | Trump
♦ Mechanics: Calvin Ball's ability manifests as a smooth red sphere roughly the size of a basketball that looks as if it were made of wax. These spheres take a couple of seconds to form and fully power up, and Calvin Ball can "cook" them for longer to enhance the effect that is building inside. These orbs of power almost never contain the same effect twice or react the same way to the environment. They only know what the orb can do when they summon it and have to figure out how to use it in the moment. The effects contained within the power summoned orbs tend to be AOE and rarely linger for very long unless physical material is created. Effects this power has generated include a highly compressed ball of heated air, a ball of metal that bursts into pins, bursts of fire that vary in range of high heat and low shockwave to low heat and powerful shockwave, a ball of quickly dissipating radiation, ect. The effects of course being effectively limitless and random. The only control Calvin Ball has over the orbs is how they are thrown and how intense the burst effect will be upon creation. These orbs also burst in contact with with any surface when not in contact with Calvin Ball, allowing for only two be easily created and handled at once. Her shard also grants her a temporary immunity to her own effects upon the creation of the orbs so that any splash damage from the blast wont harm the host.

♦ Equipment: What sort of goodies do you have on you when you're in costume?

ITEM: Tinker Expression Mask (Gift from her Protectorate Teammate who is currently retired after being crippled on Gold Morning)

ITEM: Standard issue Junior Guard armor and equipment. (Ear piece and vest.)