shylarah

Pariah Online

I see you've added to the lore! Good luck with the rp, @mickilennial.

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

@Blizz It's the cipher that's under the arachnid hider. First post of the OOC.

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

"We are closer than you think, yet we are farther than you want.
We are more dangerous than you think, yet we are quieter than you expect.
We are more than you see, yet we are fewer than you imagine.
We are faster than you can run, yet we are more patient than you could wait.
We know what you fear, yet we fear nothing.
We are Arachnid."

keyword: spider

As cracked by @manythings

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

[ Amuné and Jareth ]

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Amuné listened to Austin's assessment. Two and a half minutes was an awfully long time in a fight, but it would probably take at least that to get up to the roof from where they were. She watched quietly as Jareth wrapped her forearm with bandages, then shooed him away so she could pack up and stow her first aid kit.

Jareth went over to Lady Blade where she lay on the ground shivering. Wiseman had suggested restraining her, but he didn't have any zip ties. He'd have to bring some, next time. For now, he'd have to make do. He took one of the woman's hands -- yikes it was cold! -- and focused his powers, moving the concrete beneath her arm a bit at a time until he'd made a form-fitting restraint. He repeated the process for her other three limbs, then called to the metal in her knives and disarmed Lady Blade completely. Just in case.

"Oracle, you want a knife as a souvenir? First job as a hero, and all."

"I'm good, thanks. But I will take them so she doesn't have them."

"Actually, come to think of it, is she going to be good?" Jareth asked, meaning Lady Blade. He was in the process of putting the floor roughly back where it belonged, but the thought had hit him like a truck. "Hypothermia can be fatal, can't it?"

"I don't think it causes full hypothermia, Terra. She can be left." Amuné looked to Austin for confirmation, and he replied with a nod. She finished putting the numerous knives in her backpack and swung it over her good shoulder. "Let's go."

Shadow Contract: An Urban Fantasy Action RP

@VitaVitaAR Okay, and thank you for your time. I think I'm going to bow out, however. Thanks anyhow!

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

[ Amuné and Jareth ]

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Wiseman scored a hit on Lady Blade, giving Amuné the space she needed to disengage. His shout of advice she immediately heeded, moving to the Indra Blade where it lay on the ground next to the broken drone and scooping it up in her hand, careful to only touch the handle. But it seemed she didn't need it, for the knife-covered woman was spun around and clearly having trouble.

The knife the villain tossed with her last ounce of strength, however, was a serious problem. It was beeping like a bomb and flashing red, and Jareth wasn't about to take any chances with the safety of his little group. "Back, back! Behind me," he said, waving a hand to send the knife skittering across the floor to the far end of the backstage area. Then he stomped his foot, hard, and tilted a large, wide piece of the concrete floor from horizontal to vertical, giving the three heroes a place to shelter from the explosion and its accompanying shrapnel. It was a good thing, too, because--

BOOM!

The knife exploded with a loud noise that shook the area, sending a hail of metal shrapnel in every direction. Jareth's quick thinking had saved the three heroes from some serious damage. He gave the other two a shakey smile, though it was hidden behind his bandana.

Amuné, still dripping blood from her injury, tapped her watch again. "Bastion, Oracle here. We've handled Lady Blade, so feel free to assist the others with Doc Holiday and those drones." As she spoke, she headed for her backpack in the corner, and pulled out a first aid kit. "Terra, give me a hand, would you? I don't think I'll need stitches, but you can tell better than I can.

Jareth checked over her arm. "You don't have a suture kit in this thing anyhow, so even if you did need stitches they'd have to wait until we got back to base," he commented, taking out a roll of bandages.

"Or until Angel-5 gets here. Wiseman, is it en route?

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

[ Amuné and Jareth ]

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Amuné’s danger sense warned her a split second before the woman covered in knives -- Lady Blade, she figured -- dropped down in front of her, Jareth, and Austin. She had a combat knife in one hand, and a menacing grin on her face. Amuné didn’t bother looking at the other two heroes, instead moving forward with purpose, her hands open, her own stance ready. “Back me up, you two.”

Almost immediately the concrete floor beneath the two combatants started trembling, then rumbling, then really shaking as Jareth used his power to form a very localized quake. It only affected the very surface layer of the ground, but really that was all he needed.

Amuné moved like a dancer on the shaking ground, her predictive sense allowing her to compensate for the motion almost before it happened. She also neatly dodged Lady Blade’s initial attacks -- one, two, three -- before venturing an attack of her own, a stiff-fingered jab that targetted a pressure point in the woman’s shoulder. Her opponent blocked, and Amuné smiled inwardly. In using her arm to deflect Amuné’s attack, the blade-wielding woman exposed herself to one of her opponent’s more useful skills. Unfortunately, the attack and the use of her power also left Amuné open to a counter, and Lady Blade scored a slice along the girl’s arm, eliciting a hiss of pain.

“Terra, feet!”

That was all the warning Lady Blade would get, as with a loud CRACK the concrete directly beneath each of her two feet opened up. Jareth was trying to pin her feet to immobilize her. At the same time, Amuné backed off. But Lady Blade was too quick for Jareth’s trick to work on her. By the time the cracks closed enough to trap her feet, she’d already stepped away.

“Attention heroes,” Amuné said, quickly tapping her smartwatch to activate it. “The primary target is not Hero Day events. It’s Hero One!”

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

[ Amuné and Jareth ]

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The appearance of Director Powers interrupted Wiseman's greeting to Jareth, but the young man didn't pursue it. The drone had caught his attention. He settled next to the older, armored hero, and watched as the man pried loose a panel, then made sure the thing was disabled. When Wiseman set the drone back down, Jareth accepted the tacit offer, kneeling down next to the drone and taking a look at the innards while listening to the other man speak.

What followed was exposition on the Fiendish Five and their capabilities. They sounded...dangerous. Then again, any villian that had killed 20 heroes was bound to be dangerous. He was nervous, but it seemed Wiseman had a good idea of how to proceed.

Amuné, for her part, had quietly taken the loose panel that Austin pried off the bot, and was turning it over in her hands. She listened attentively to his rundown of who they faced, her face unreadable behind her mask. Once Austin was done, she focused her powers and attempted a scry.

Sure enough, five figures, though only the balding man in a labcoat was clearly visible. The others seemed to be moving around, but Professor Gholem -- she presumed -- was hard at work on a laptop.

"The professor is stationary, somewhere -- I can't really make out the details, but he's got a customized laptop with him. I'm guessing that's how he's controlling the drones. The other four are blurry, but I think they're on the move. Which means..." She glanced over at Wiseman. "Attack incoming, I'd imagine."

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

[ Amuné and Jareth ]

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Jareth shook Blast -- Jake's -- hand firmly. Then the hero in green was off, over to Amuné, who nearly stepped back from him. She managed to keep her composure, however, and returned the handshake, though with decidedly less enthusiasm than Jake exuded. "Nice to meet you," she said.

They were joined by another hero, this one apparently from Boston, who introduced himself as Ardent. Jareth went over for a handshake and repeated his name, Terra. Amuné just waved from where she was, and said nothing.

Then Madison showed up, greeting Amuné with a bright smile Amuné couldn't help but return. Even though her mask hid her expressions, the smile was evident in her voice. "Wireframe! I'm doing well, and I hope you are too. Just...remember, it's Oracle when I'm in costume, okay?" Still, Amuné wasn't too upset about the slip.

Meanwhile Ardent and Jake were complaining about the decided lack of Director Powers' presence. Austin, in full armor and bristling with weapons, joined them.

"If he's just showing us off, we're probably going to slip away quietly," Jareth said aloud, glancing over at Amuné. She contributed a nod. "We're very new, and Oracle would prefer to let someone else have the limelight."

"Hey Wiseman, Wireframe. C'mere a second," Amuné said, waving them over toward Jareth. "I want you to meet Terraformer. He's the one I mentioned before, my best friend growing up." She didn't say his real name, but she didn't need to. Both should be familiar with it from her talking about Jareth in the past.

"She's talked a lot about you both," Jareth said, offering his hand to each in turn. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you two."

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

[ Amuné and Jareth ]

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It wasn't exactly a beautiful day in Castleburg -- overcast and a bit nippy was a better way to describe it. And yet Amuné was still enjoying the weather. She preferred cooler temperatures. Jareth did not. He had on a light jacket over his T-shirt and jeans, and his hands shoved deep in the jacket's pockets. The pair had hit the festival early, both in civvie attire. Amuné carried a small backpack with snacks and sunscreen and a few other essentials, just in case. They'd watched a portion of the parade -- the Hugo Powers balloon getting a laugh from them both at how poorly made it was. Then they'd meandered their way down Fifth Avenue towards the Convention Center.

Come noon or so, the pair stopped for lunch at a food truck selling hotdogs, and another selling lemonade. Amuné got herself a corndog, with Jareth going for a big dog with all the fixings. The two found a place to sit at a nearby group of picnic tables and tucked in. Then they went for a lemonade refill, and continued their liesurely walk down the avenue.

It was just passed quarter to one when a chirp in their earbuds indicated a message from their linked smartwatches:

"Attention, heroes. I need a group of you to assist me at the Johnstone Convention Center. If you are available, please come and meet behind the stage. You will be rewarded for your time."

Jareth looked down at his younger friend. "What do you say, Né? Sounds like the Director needs some help."

Amuné chewed on her lip before replying. "I dunno...he might just want us to be on stage, and I'm not willing to expose myself like that. I want to keep a low profile, y'know?"

"You really think the Director would call us for something that trivial?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but...the center would be a great place to hit if you wanted to take out a lot of heroes at once."

Jareth's expression immediately turned serious. "Have you--"

"No, no, nothing like that. I'm just a little worried. She smiled up at him as he put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"If anything happens, I'll protect you. You know that right?"

"I know."

"Okay then. So let's check out what the Director wants, and if it's a public appearance, we'll just politely bow out. Sound good?"

Amuné nodded. "Sounds good."

With that decided, the pair walked the hundred remaining yards to the Convention Center, climbed the steps, and made their way inside. Beyond the entryway the Johnstone Convention Center was filled with booths and people. Together the pair wended their way through the crowd to the stage. As they stepped backstage, Amuné triggered her earpiece to deploy her mask. She glanced over at Jareth, then elbowed him.

"Huh? Oh right, hero time." He fished his goggles out of his pocket and put them on, then pulled his bandana up to cover the lower half of his face. "Better?"

She nodded, then looked around the area. It seemed like only one other person was there, and there was no sign of Director Powers. Instead, a hero she recognized as Blast was kicking his feet while sitting on a large crate. Amuné let Jareth go to make introductions as she settled herself in a corner and took off her backpack, placing it on the floor at her feet.

Jareth, ever-friendly, approached the other hero. "Hey there! I recognize you, you're Blast, right? I'm Terra, and over there is Oracle. It's a pleasure to meet you."