Rade

Ultimate Comics: DC - Shadows Among Us

Gowi said
That's expected, I've seen larger in games like this anyway; liked the post.

I couldn't find the link to the one I had used on the old Guild which was slightly smaller. Sloth found this one for me, though.

And thanks.

Ultimate Comics: DC - Shadows Among Us

Apologies, the Batgirl logo is a tad large. I wasn't able to edit it properly as this laptop's editing programs weren't able to handle the shadowing/transparency of the image correctly.

Ultimate Comics: DC - Shadows Among Us

December 31st, 2013.
Gotham, New Jersey.


As Harleen Quinzel walked up the Kane family estate's driveway side-by-side with Bruce Wayne and Richard Grayson, she couldn't help but think how much of a difference a year could make. Twelve months ago to the day, Harley had been frustrated with the lack of progression in her training, and angry with Bruce for his unwillingness to allow her an active role in his crusade against crime. Now, though, Harley had what she wanted; Bruce had finally inducted her, along with Richard, as a soldier in his war. As Batgirl she was Batman's partner, and as such she was no longer relegated to stay in the cave and watch from the sidelines as Bruce donned the cape and cowl on his own. Now she played an active role in saving this city; in curing Gotham of the rampant disease plaguing it. So, even though she would rather be in costume forcing Valestra or Falcone thugs to spill information regarding their bosses, she would play the part of the good little girl and accompany Bruce and Richard to this New Year's Eve party.

If Harley were to be completely honest with herself, she'd recognize she needed the time off for relaxation anyways. She hadn't spent much time away from her role as Batgirl in the past year, and the strain her absence has caused is beginning to show in her social life. Harley's friends, although they didn't understand the reasons, realized that she had been pulling away from them, and they were constantly trying to get her to join them in activities outside of school as a result. That was part of the reason Harleen hadn't fought Bruce when he had informed his wards as to his decision to give them a night off with his extended family. She hoped that spending time with one of her friends, Bette Kane, at this party would appease the rest of her friends, convincing them that she was fine and there was nothing to worry about.

The door to the Kane home opened and a woman of about forty greeted them. She had on a blue party dress, and had her golden hair done up in an extravagant manner. Harley recognized her from photos as Bette's mother, Bethany. Harleen had never met Bethany Kane, despite having been at the Kane residence several times before in middle school at the invitation of Bette, but Harley had heard much about Bethany from her daughter. Bette had often said her mother was as fake as they came; full of vanity with little genuine compassion for anyone, and Harley could tell this was the truth as soon as the socialite opened her mouth.

"These must be those children you are supporting in that program of yours," she was saying.

Harley didn't know whether she wanted to laugh, or punch Bethany more at that moment, but she managed to not do either as Bruce introduced them.

"Yes. This is Harleen." Bruce waved his left hand towards her and she offered a polite, innocent smile, but if Bethany were to have looked in Harley's eyes at that moment she would have recognized the hostility behind them.

Bethany Kane didn't see this however, barely looking over the young girl before offering to take her and Richard to see Bette. Harleen followed behind closely, even though she already knew the way to Bette's room, staring daggers at Bethany's back the whole way. When they came to the closed door, Bethany knocked lightly.

"Mary Elizabeth, sweetie, your friends are here." The door opened before Bethany could even finish her sentence.

Bette grinned when she saw Harley and Richard. "Thank God, I was dying of boredom."

Mary Elizabeth Kane - Bette to her friends - was a very pretty girl; a near duplicate of her mother with the same blonde hair, blue eyes, and model-like figure. She was even wearing an identical, red version of Bethany's dress, though Bette's was more modest. Unlike her mother, however, Bette didn't find the life of the Gotham elite to be enjoyable. Although she would dress up when her mother had a social gathering, Bette would rarely make an appearance, instead opting to stay in her room where she could be free from the boring interactions with her parents and their guests, and tonight was no different.

"Thank you, mother." Bette said. "You can go now."

If the elder Kane woman was at all bothered by her daughter's dismissal she didn't show it.

"Have fun, sweetie." Bethany glanced at Richard, her phony smile still in place. "Make sure to leave the door open, and I'll come to get you before midnight so you can all join us for the countdown. Richard, Harleen, it was a pleasure to meet you both."

As soon as Bethany was out of view, Bette pulled Harley and Richard into her bedroom, shutting the door behind them.

"Hey, Harlz." She hugged Harley and smiled at Richard. "I was starting to worry you two weren't going to show up."

"Sorry, we got held up because Dick couldn't decide on what to wear." Harleen said, using Richard's nickname, and tousling his hair playfully. It was a joke between all of the girls in Harley's group of friends; Richard liked to think of himself as a bit of a ladies' man, which resulted in constant teasing from the girls at his expense.

Bette grinned again, knowing that Richard wouldn't get too upset by the teasing. "Well, at least he didn't wear a dress like mine. That would have been awkward." She winked at Richard.

All-Star Marvel: Age of Heroes

You're putting forth the same exact CS here and in the Sentinel Initiative game - even using your IC post over there as your sample for this RP?

Doesn't that come off as slightly lazy? I don't mean to be confrontational, but wouldn't it show more respect for each RP if you took the time to individualize your apps? I don't believe posting copies as opposed to sheets unique to each game and their respective universe/history demonstrates much passion for the role. But that's just my opinion.

Ultimate Comics: DC - Shadows Among Us

Celeste said
Hey, I'm Dyaus. I've been considering re-applying for the Penguin... but I can't find my original character sheet. =/

I had to redo my sheet from scratch as well.

I hate to say it, but it looks like I'll be postponing my post until tomorrow, again. Haven't been able to secure time with the laptop.

All-Star Marvel: Age of Heroes

Rade said
I was unable to secure the laptop as planned during the day, and so I won't be posting until tomorrow.

I lied. Or I guess since it's technically tomorrow I didn't. Whatever. Spider-Man post up. Let me know if it sucks.

All-Star Marvel: Age of Heroes

September 2nd, 2013. 4:18 pm
Manhattan, New York



The rest of the school day hadn't gone much better than it had begun. During the four classes I had with Gwen this semester she hadn't so much as cast a glance my direction, and she had even gone out of her way to sit on the opposite side of the classroom from me by switching seats with another student. I on the other hadn't couldn't stop thinking about her and how she must be feeling; how hurt I must have made her. I didn't really expect anything different, but knowing in advance she would ignore me during class didn't make it any easier. At lunch she hadn't even bothered to show up. I later learned from Harry that she had spent the period up in the library alone.

As if that wasn't bad enough, I had been so distracted by the Gwen issue that I had forgotten about the other big problem a new school year would bring. Between second and third periods I was cornered in the hallway by Flash Thompson and several of his cronies. Both Flash and his number one brainless minion, Kenny McFarlane, took turns tripping me while playing monkey in the middle with my textbook. I could have easily taken the two of them without even batting an eyelash, but the last thing I needed was to draw attention to my sudden growth in strength. Wasn't going to do me any good to have to explain how "Puny" Peter Parker had won in a fight against both a football quarterback and his rather large linebacker friend.

So, instead, I continued to play the part of the victim while Flash reminded me that, without Eddie Brock in the school to protect me anymore, I would be at his mercy for the rest of the school year. Which, really, wouldn't have bothered me all too much; Flash had always been a bully, but I could always make a couple self-deprecating jokes and he would eventually lose interest. But today was made worse by the fact that my long-time crush, Liz Allan, had been nearby to watch my pathetic flailing as I pretended to struggle in my efforts to get my textbook back. Not that I thought I had a chance with a world-class beauty like Liz anyways, but I certainly didn't want her to have more of a reason to think I was a complete dork.

So, needless to say by the time school let out I had been feeling less-than-spectacular. Which is why I was currently in costume high over the streets of New York. I wasn't really in the mood to fight crime, but swinging through the city with a cool breeze running over me was a freeing experience, and it always helped to de-stress me. Unfortunately, this was New York, and you couldn't exactly go far before passing by some kind of illegal activity, whether you realized it at the time or not.

I was traveling along Midtown Manhattan, making sure to stay as high in the sky as I could so as to avoid being spotted, and getting closer to Clinton with every second. It wasn't a conscious decision, but most of my patrols took me there, so I guess habit had taken over while I was focusing my attention on just enjoying the freedom. Clinton was a pretty rough neighborhood known for it's gang troubles. But, really, with a nickname like "Hell's Kitchen" it didn't have much of a chance to be anything but a crime hot spot. So, I suppose I shouldn't have been too surprised when I passed through the industrial district of the neighborhood and saw some suspicious activity below. With a sigh, I dropped on the roof of a warehouse to get a closer look.

At the building across from me I could see three men dressed in dark clothing, though nothing so conspicuous as ski-masks. They weren't dressed all too oddly considering it was Fall, except the gloves they all had on weren't the kind meant to protect you from the crisp Autumn air, but the ones I've seen many times before on the hands of burglars. I could have passed them off as mere movers transporting merchandise to or from the warehouse, only there were no moving trucks of any sort around; just a black SUV. Definitely suspicious, but not enough for me to act on, so I waited.

Two of the men were close enough for me to hear their conversation while the third opened the rear hatch of the SUV and began to rummage around.

"...You know what's in there?" One of the closer two asked. He had a shaved head, bulging muscles, and a stupid goatee. Like how John Travolta looked in that one movie about Paris.

"Nah," the second said. He was taller than his friend and had dark, curly hair, but wasn't any less physically fit.

"Ain't you curious what's so important inside that we were told to hit it in broad daylight?" Asked Goatee.

Curly shook his head. "I just do what I'm told. And so should you. You start questioning why Rose has us do these kinds of jobs and you end up disappeared."

Rose. That was a name I hadn't heard before. I didn't know who she was, or what she wanted with that particular warehouse that she would be willing to risk these idiots getting caught breaking in during the day instead of waiting a few hours for the cover of night, but I didn't like it. Up until that point I hadn't dealt with any organized crime, just individuals or relatively small groups of thugs causing trouble in various areas of the city. I hoped this Rose chick was just another two-bit crook, but the way Curly talked about her had me thinking otherwise.

I waited a little longer to see if either Curly or Goatee would bring Rose back up, but apparently time for small-talk was over, and the two remained silent as they watched the third guy. By this time muscle-man number three had removed a pair of bolt cutters from the back of the vehicle and had made his way to the warehouse door to cut open the padlock. I wasn't about to let them actually break in just for the chance they may continue their discussion, so I decided to make my move. I could already feel the adrenaline kicking in as I jumped down from my perch on the roof and landed silently behind goons one and two.

"Excuse me," I said, my voice muffled by my mask. "But that doesn't look like the proper key to that lock."

"Wha-?" Curly spun around almost immediately, and was in time to see my right wrist flick out and a strand of greyish-white webbing shoot past his face.

I had aimed not at Curly who stood a foot in front of me, but at his buddy holding the bolt cutters a dozen feet past him. I tugged on the web-line and the cutters flew out of his hands, skittering across the ground out of reach. I released the pressure on the trigger resting high on my palm and the nozzle of the web shooter closed, detaching the web I had just fired.

My next shot, again from my right web shooter, was a short one that struck Curly's hand as he reached for the gun tucked in his waistband, leaving his left hand glued to his stomach.

Goatee Guy, who was apparently the slow one of the group, finally reacted. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm sorry, I'm not taking questions at this time. Please try again later."

My head tingled sharply and I leapt over Goatee and landed on the roof of the SUV. The two bullets that the bolt cutter man had fired at me struck harmlessly against the concrete wall. Two more quick flicks of my wrists and the third goon's arms were webbed to the warehouse door.

"Excuse me, sir, but your friend and I were talking. Please don't interrupt."

I turned my attention back to Goatee who had begun to try and tear apart the webbing on Curly's hand and stomach. One final shot and now Goatee's own hands were stuck to Curly's, which I'm sure was too close to Curly's crotch for comfort.

"Aw man, what is this shit? Get it off me! Why won't it come off me, get it off!" Goatee was panicking. Curly, to his credit, just stared at me apparently stunned to silence. Not that I could blame him; wasn't everyday a weirdo in spandex shot ropes of sticky gunk at you. Or maybe it was; I didn't know these guys' personal activities, and hey, it was New York, I wasn't going to judge.

"Answer my questions and I'll take it off." Yeah, right, like I would really do that.

"Wha- what do you want?" Goatee stuttered.

"Who's Rose?" I asked. "What did she order you to do here?"

"She?" Goatee looked confused. "Rose ain't -"

"Shut up! You don't tell this freak any-mmpf!" The bolt cutter dude suddenly found himself with a mouthful of web.

"I asked you not to interrupt. So rude. Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

I looked back at Goatee expectantly, but he just stared at my wrists. I guess he was afraid of getting webbed again.

"Well," I prompted, "you were going to tell me about this Rose chick?"

"Uh... I don't think I should be saying nothing 'bout Rose."

"That's a double negative."

He stared at me blankly.

"You said that you don't think should say nothing about Rose. That means you think you should say something about her." I explained to him. "So say something."

More blank staring.

I sighed, but before I could question him further police sirens sounded off in the distance. Somebody must have reported those gunshots earlier. I wanted to stay and find out who this Rose was and what was in the warehouse that was so important, but I wasn't going to get caught by the cops wearing a mask at the scene of a crime. Definitely didn't need that on my personal record.

I webbed Goatee's and Curly's feet to the ground to make sure they wouldn't run away before the police arrived, and then made my exit. I should have been getting home already anyways. It was Aunt May's day off, and I was sure she would want to know how the first day of the school year had gone.

Ultimate Comics: DC - Shadows Among Us

So, as I said in ASM, I wasn't able to get a hold of the laptop until five minutes ago. As it's relatively late in my area, I won't be able to post the Harley bit until tomorrow.

All-Star Marvel: Age of Heroes

I was unable to secure the laptop as planned during the day, and so I won't be posting until tomorrow.

Ultimate Comics: DC - Shadows Among Us

Will get a Batgirl post up tomorrow. Since it's just a social interaction at a party, it'll be short.