ML

Walmageddon: Day of the Discount (Post Apocalyptic Supermarket Simulator)

I see you’ve narrowed the scope a bit this time around

《 H. E. R. O. 》

interesting

R E D U X .// 2047 //. -- Cyberpunk Superheroes -- Seeking Newcomers

Okay, did a little updating here, just in case.

R E D U X .// 2047 //.

Welcome to Denver, team. One of the biggest of cities in a dying USA. Act II starting now.

Decent time to join in, as well.

R E D U X .// 2047 //.

ACT II:
Groundwork

---

CURRENT DATE -- 24/05/2047, ~3 AM

---

Downtown

Denver was a city of rings. With the rapid influx of inhabitants in recent years, the city had tended to grow upward, more than outward. Starting from the outside, the Mile-High city had the usual suburbs and flatlands one expected in an area of the country that was still habitable. Moving in, however, there was an explosion of height: single-story ranches transformed into minor office buildings, movie theaters, and "sensory experiences". Past that was the Downtown area, a thermonuclear burst of neon lights, holograms, manufacturing, and unchecked commerce. And then, there was the Steel Citadel at the center of it all.

That was the big draw of Denver over the other megacities appearing in the fracturing United States. Envoy didn't much care about what the people in her city did, as long as they didn't cross her or her friends. When a few super-tech powered building companies had moved into the area, joined by four of the Big Six, it was a match made in heaven. It had taken just eighteen years for the city to go from a big city to one of the biggest.

ET was shook awake by Dave the Car, just in time to see the city rise up in front of him. "Lord," he whispered. Flashing lights, dancing shadows, and behind it all, the Citadel. They were in Denver, all right.

Steel Citadel

The Steel Citadel. Like something out of a twisted fantasy, perpendicular to the angular steel and glass structures surrounding it on all sides. There was an unspoken rule that no building in Denver could be higher than the Steel Citadel. This was not an issue: the fortress reached skyward like a mountain, constructed from materials sourced from three miles of ex-city. It lived. It breathed. It killed anything that got too close, screaming the entire time. Even the skyscrapers couldn't hide enormous structure behind them.

But that wasn't why they were here. ET kept silent while they drove in, but he instructed Dave to turn off the car-camo. It wouldn't do for them to get stopped on account of being invisible. He also instructed Dave to take them to the place where he figured they could start the search: TONDE. He'd found the place while on vacation. Admittedly, his idea of a vacation was a little different from most people's.

TONDE

They pulled up to the bar-slash-nightclub, which was still surprisingly active for 3 AM. Gabbie, I need you to let me go now.

Sure thing, hot stuff. But I want you back inside of me the minute there's trouble, deal? The supersuit around him folded back, wrapping around his seat and leaving him in a bodysuit.

ET rolled his eyes. "Sure," he muttered, surprising himself by speaking out loud. That was stupid. He steamrolled ahead to cover. "Okay, so here's my plan," ET said. "It looks like somewhere between then and now, that Shade lady disappeared. No harm, no foul, I guess. Anyway, this place is good for information. I found it on vacation. We're going to go in, ask a few unpointed questions, and see if anyone knows anyone who knows anyone useful. Questions?"

He didn't wait for a reply, getting out of the car and heading for the trunk. He pulled out a T-shirt and jeans. Maybe not the most stylish of choices, but he was from Midwest City. They were still going through the transformation old-timer flatland to supertech dystopia. It was fine to wear there, so it would be fine here. At least the Tower and Stardust were dressed somewhat casually. Nobody would have taken them seriously in super-gear, except Envoy. Top priority, avoid attracting the attention of Envoy.

The body bag caught his attention next. Strapped down to one side. Reynolds was in there. "Sorry," he whispered. He mentally promised her that they would bury her as soon as they could. A proper burial, too, not one of those shitty mass graves. No, a proper cremation. "I swear on my brother's grave, Reynolds."

He pushed his handgun into its concealed holster, banged the trunk shut, and headed up to the door of TONDE. He waved the other two toward him, motioning inside. Without the suit, he was just a guy. Better to let the walking tank and nuclear reactor go first, just in case.

R E D U X .// 2047 //. -- Cyberpunk Superheroes -- Seeking Newcomers

I've got an idea for a character. Should I PM a CS to you @Mercenary Lord or post it somewhere in the original forum directly? Once I've gotten it done, I mean.

The idea is, his powers always leaned more towards criminal work than being a super. People kept offering him money to do morally ambiguous things, eventually he took the offer. One offer leads to another, then another, each one getting worse and worse. Eventually it comes to light he'd broken the law, and thanks to the nature of his power, every crooked law enforcer in the world can start pinning otherwise unsolvable cases on him.
Always wanted to be a hero, though. Even now, after years of working in the criminal underworld, developing the usual array of vices-alcohol, sex, drugs, anger issues, and more than a few mental disorders. So, he thinks this meet-up is his last chance to be a 'good guy.'

This post ended up being longer than I intended it to. XD

@Necroes

Hey man, posting it in the OOC is just fine. If you don't mind using the discord, I would like to discuss this a little further. Looking forward to hearing it.

R E D U X .// 2047 //. -- Cyberpunk Superheroes -- Seeking Newcomers

This looks pretty interesting. Got a couple questions, if you don't mind;

What kind of 'powers' are the supers allowed to have? Is it based on technology, like iron man, or more like X-men where some people have one specific 'power' they can do things with? I'm assuming people at superman level are off limits.

Who's already in the group? A general, simple explanation is all I'm after. Names aren't even required, I just want to know what character concepts are already in use without needing to read the entire thread.

@Necroes

Hey there: Current active characters are a walking fortress type, a police officer with a supersuit and supercar that talks to machines, and a powerful manipulator of plasma for things like superspeed, projectiles, shields, etc. In the characters tab I maintain a list of "active" characters, even though there's only 3 so far.

Powers and power types have not been super specific so far. The fortress character was born with his powers but enhanced by the military, the plasma super got her powers in a freak reactor explosion, and the technopath's abilities manifested completely at random 8 years ago. Hex, as mentioned above, was a Dr. Strange analog of unknown power.

I'm pretty flexible with character powers and origins, since I trust everyone to keep things functional for the sake of the story. I am hoping to give everyone their chance to be Big Damn Heroes though. Hope to see you on board, and let me know if you have any other questions!

EDIT: you can also join the discord if you have any questions: I'm usually around there.

R E D U X .// 2047 //. -- Cyberpunk Superheroes -- Seeking Newcomers

forgot to subscribe to this oops

R E D U X .// 2047 //. -- Cyberpunk Superheroes -- Seeking Newcomers

R E D U X .// 2 0 4 7 //.

---

The RP Thread
The Discord Server where I spent entirely too much time
Story Concept by StormFlyx.

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May 23rd, 2047.

At 7:04 PM, a small group of washed-up superheroes raided the secret base of the hero Hex, or Harrison Moore. One of the best and brightest, Hex had been a paragon of Superhero purity for years, with friends in places both high and low.

Special Agent Addison Reynolds found him alone in his room, OD'd on a new superdrug, Nirvana. Surrounding him were gigabytes of video recordings about the "Reality Bringer"--an coming apocalypse in some form. The pieces didn't add up--Hex a drug addict?--and Reynolds was desperate beyond measure.

Using an old encrypted line of communication from the Superhero Glory Days, Agent Reynolds sent out one last call for help.

The Transmission .// Written by Stormflyx //.

05/13/2047 : 21:14
Begin transmission
So, I buried another partner this week. Jackson.

We were on a routine call out, just checking another street as always. It was one shot, and it wasn't even meant for him.

It's getting harder everyday out there, crime is at an all time high and every other week we lose officers and special agents. Hell, I'm a trained special agent myself and I've been pushed down to fill in on beat work because we're stretched so thin. Everyday there's a new threat.

It started with that new drug. They call it Nirvana. It's a synthetic creation and we can't track where it's being made, who made it, and who is distributing it. We just have to see the husks it leaves behind, the broken families, the bodies... We thought it was contained within the underbelly of society but it's spreading.

Then of course there is Luke. Luke Bennett. He's that sketchy candidate for office, he's picking up a lot of traction with people based on hate and fearmongering in our underprivileged communities. He's a hateful, power-hungry man who is building some kind of cult. We can't stop him because I'm sure he has blood money running through all sorts of departments. You know, just the usual shady shit.

The gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider, people are losing their jobs, their homes... There is a crisis about to happen with basic resources - more and more people are on food stamps, more and more people are forced between choosing to keep the lights on for a night or feed themselves. Just last week seven teenagers died from exposure to irradiated and toxic water because the nuclear plant dumped some in a pond where kids are known to play and hang out. We are expecting more fallout from this yet.

I'm trying my best... To hold it together, to keep a strong front. To be someone in the community that can guide people through these dark hours but I'm constantly stopped by something else. I'm strained, God I can't remember the last time I slept properly. I just feel that we're on the brink of a complete disaster. The wrong people are being given power and they don't want to change anything - they want to make things worse.

Cedar Fort is where I was born and raised and it used to be a great place. Now it's just ugly. I feel like I can't help anyone anymore, and that's why I'm reaching out to you...

12 years ago you kept darkness from our doors with your gifts, your powers, your spirit. We believed in you, put our trust in you. Then something happened, maybe we over-policed you... Some of you died, you had your own issues but you all disappeared, went off the radar completely. Of course, you could. Your identities were secret - I could well have walked past any of you, maybe you made my coffee... The point is that I don't know who any of you are, except for one.

Tonight I investigated an apartment in the city. Dead guy, kind of a usual call. I called it in and checked out the apartment and found in the back of his closet a suit, yeah, a suit. Turns out that Harrison Moore was the real life persona of the Superhero known as Hex.

That's not all I found, turns out Mr Moore was either going absolutely bananas, or knew something was coming. That was his power right? He was some kind of Warlock? I found his journals, his computer files - everything. He was adamant of some kind of apocalyptic event, and I've been checking and so far a lot of the things he wrote about have happened. The water thing? He wrote of something similar weeks ago. He's written repeatedly about a Reality Bringer. He seems to have died of a suspected overdose of Nirvana, he was alone when he died but I don't think this was accidental.

If my pleas and fucking sad story haven't intrigued you, I want this to. At some point, Moore was your friend and colleague. I believe that he was the only known Superhero to have had affiliations and relationships with all of the various factions around the US and globe. He was really one of the good guys, and he died alone - sitting on this discovery...

So please, if you're out there - any of you. We need you more than ever before.

Hex was the best of you, and he knew something was about to happen. So I'm asking you - if any of you are still alive, it's time to come out of the shadows. I'm sorry, I'm no storyteller - I have no superpowers of persuasion. I'm just an agent at the end of her rope, with no other options left now.

We need you.

We need hope.

At 7:22 PM, a high-yield ballistic missile impacted that same secret base at roughly 30 times the speed of sound. At 7:30 PM, the first reports of the explosion started popping up in local news feeds. By 7:40, the event had been categorized by the planned detonation of an old shipping warehouse, no longer needed in the area.

But the internet is quick to pass judgement. The conspiracy theorists latched on, and a few "superhero experts" have claimed (without evidence) that the location of the detonation perfectly matched an old hotspot for supers a decade ago. Some people are more afraid than usual.

Maybe they're right. Because whatever was inside Hex's base -- whatever was so dangerous or world-changing that a missile the size of a minivan was used to wipe it out -- didn't die in the blast.

And now it's on the loose.

R E D U X .// I N F O //.

---

Hey everyone. Welcome to Redux 2047, where you get the chance to play a damaged, washed-up superhuman that the world chewed up and spit out. We've just started the second act, in which we visit Denver, the city of Envoy the demigod.

Feel free to play whoever you want, but as this is a semi-linear story we've got here, I'd like to ask that you make a character who has some motivation to work with the other players. Maybe you're an old ex-hero, and maybe you're just a down-on-their-luck gambler with a probability-manipulation ability that used to work a lot better than it does now. Bear in mind that supers unaffiliated with government or industry are now banned by law.

• I'm looking for another person or two to join. There's only a few active characters right now, but they're pretty stable in terms of activity.
• This is a world in the process of being ravaged by the onset of rising temperatures, seas, and tensions around the globe. Worldbuilding is welcome and encouraged!
• The year is only 2047, but due to the presence of superheros and their technology, I am going to be pretty flexible in terms of what technology is mainstream. This is a Cyberpunk world. There are sprawls, there is body augmentation, and all that jazzhop. Creativity is encouraged.
• Characters with a little baggage are preferred. Mature, grizzled veterans with lives beyond their superhero years: Children, jobs, a lot of shit in their lives, etc. You were a superhero, but maybe not anymore. If you want to be a teenage super, bear in mind that this is a world that doesn't really want you around.

R E D U X .// 2047 //.

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CURRENT DATE -- 24/05/2047, ~12 AM

---

Right, he was Arbiter, not ET the alcoholic cop. “I’ve only ever worked private security, really. I’m just a guy in a supersuit, so I get a paycheck and shoot people as needed. Probably would have better served as riot control in Denver, y’know?”
--
”I’ve never been to Denver. Was busy across the pond, back home. I heard about it though, was on the news for weeks back when it happened.”

Alex stared out the window of Arbiter's super car, seated comfortably (thankfully the car's front passenger seat was just big enough for him) as they went on the five hour drive to Denver, Colorado. The last few hours had been a blur; the team had separated at Albuquerque, his sister had gone back to their hotel to return to Cedar Fort while he had followed Arbiter directly from New Mexico. He still smelled faintly of burnt fabric and gunpowder, but he was otherwise okay.

--

“The media does love covering a supervillain,” said Maysah, and then muttered, “except for when it’s one of their advertisers.”

She flicked her eyes back to Arbiter. The world was lousy with guys in supersuits who shot people for money. They usually deserved to have a bullet put in them more than the person they were hired to pacify. “So if you’re so small-time Arbiter then how did someone like you ever catch Hex’s attention?”

--

“Hex was pretty flexible about who merited his attention,” Arbiter said. That had been in the file. “And not just anyone can pilot Gabbie. You need peak physical and mental condition, and a general instinct that a lot of folk just don’t have.” He stifled a laugh: him, peak condition? Riotous. “We worked together, one time: told me to keep in touch.”

“What about y’all?” He asked, not-so-subtly redirecting. “How did you know him?”

--

”We met him at some superhero school graduation thing. April Springs, Utah. 2035. Academy of Virtue.”

Touchy subject. Alex rubbed the side of his face and sighed, his memories going back to that fateful day several years ago. When his parents died defending the young superheroes there.

”He uh...helped save a bunch of new capes at that Academy, when extremists attacked the school.”

--

Oops. ET had known that, but Arbiter hadn’t: the file on the Tower had mentioned a past catastrophe. “Sorry to hear that, man.” He sent Dave a mental signal, and the seat he was in spun around to face the other two in the car. “He was one of the good ones.”

--

“He was a drug addict and a busybody who created nearly as many problems as he fixed,” said Maysah, glaring Arbiter down. “He stopped me from doing something stupid. Sometimes I wonder if it was really the right thing, but I knew he did it with the right intentions.”

“I guess what I’m trying to say is he did more good than harm. Makes him better than most, doesn’t it?” she continued, turning to Alex. Her face tightened. Hex had invited her to April Springs, which she denied going—too commercial for her tastes. She could’ve helped him stop it sooner. She felt like apologizing to Alex, but for what? The past couldn’t be changed. It’d just be empty words.

“When did you work together, exactly?” asked Maysah, giving Arbiter a raised eyebrow.

--

Arbiter narrowed his eyes ever-so-slightly. So many questions. This was dangerous territory: she knew the dead hero a hell of a lot better than ET did. He’d have to be evasive, yet truthful. Within the last twelve years, nobody had worked with Hex: the last decade, after all, had been one of superhero corporatization and nationalization. Small-group acts like Hex, Stardust, the Tower and his sister? Less than popular.

“Man,” Arbiter put a hand to his face, more to hide any potential tells than out of a need. “That must have been….what, fourteen years ago? Maybe more?” Total lie. He’d only had his powers for eight years.

“I was just starting out as an operator, but the corp was having a hell of a time with some small-town gangsters in one of the city blocks. Small-town gangsters led by one mean motherfucker of a super. Hex was tracking them too, and saved me from walking right into a trap they’d set.”

When had he gotten so good at making up total bullshit? Arbiter let the hand drop from his face, comfortable now. “He let me take most of the credit for the bust: it really kickstarted my career. Honestly, I’m not sure it was ever officially recorded as him being there.”

Okay, that was enough of that. “Any more prying questions about my relationship to a dead man who saved my life?” He snorted in real irritation, and continued quickly: “Look, I get that you don’t trust me or my motives. It sucks, ‘cause we really, really don’t have the time to argue about it right now. We’re going to get to Denver in a little while, and we’ll have to be awake to do some groundwork. I’m going to sleep for a little while now, and I suggest you do the same. If, if we live through the next week, then we can talk about this shit, okay?”

He turned in his seat and closed his eyes, resolving himself to silence for the rest of the trip.