Sickle-cell

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

The Consortium Corporate Headquarters: Alverton Building

Downtown Boston

_{21st January, 2011}

“He is correct, I’m afraid to say,” a voice drifted from across the room as soon as the elevator doors chimed open. “The voice in your head is under your protection as of now.”

Gesturing for the two parahumans to take a seat, Maxwell remained standing with his commanding view of the city. “The Covenant have been bad for business lately, and we are finally taking steps to locate and silence the group. As such, escorting a tinker who can detect sound is the best idea we have that combines both effectiveness and subterfuge.”

Taking a swig from the glass in his hand, he gave the two an almost apologetic look. “It was not my idea. I am not entirely clear on how my superior intends for you to babysit someone who will not allow you near him, but I am paying you enough to figure that out yourselves.”

“We believe that they will move to stop the chaos in Dorchester, so finding them as they enter or leave Allston should be your priority. If you locate them, contact me and await further instruction.” Taking a pair of brown paper packets from a drawer on his desk, he placed one down in front of each guest. “Dossiers on the Covenant - incase you are tasked to engage, or something goes wrong. There is also a burner phone in each envelope which has a direct line to my office.”

“Any questions?”

@ProPro@FancyHats@hagroden

---

PRT Base

Boston

_{21st January, 2011}

“Who was I taking this to, again?” A lone PRT grunt thought, as he snaked the halls of Mission Hill to the Director’s office. Knocking on the door, he entered the room. “Miss Underwood, I have a letter here from an officer of a foreign branch, regarding a aggressive hero here?”

“No, Mr Mason. What you have is a potentially contaminated letter from a Wonderland agent,” came the agitated voice of the Boston PRT Director. “I thought our Stranger protocols were adequate here, but it would seem I have some serious safety concerns to address. Give it to me.”

As he handed the letter over, suddenly feeling rather stupid and twitchy, Underwood carefully opened the letter, and read it. Her eyebrows raised slightly. “Oh,” she said with a vulpine smile. “Well done, Mr Mason. I will reconsider terminating your employment. Now leave. I have a call to make.”

Picking up the phone, she hit number 1 on speed dial. It didn’t even ring twice before the line connected.

“Praetor. I have an invitation here.”

@Duoya

---

Gladius Border Territory

Dorchester

_{21st January, 2011}

As the cybernetic tinker launched herself, Askaryan braced for the impact.

Rising slightly, the cape slammed him onto the front seat of the car he’d been leaning against. Bouncing - and not having quite come to a complete stop - he chuckled at her through a gasp of pain. “You know, usually I use the back seat.”

Placing a hands on separate pieces of her clothing, he used his power. They pulsed with faint energy, before continuing forward with the same momentum they had. Kicking back slightly, he did a mirror on himself, causing his power to pull the two apart and carry them off in opposite directions at a meandering pace.

Cutting out the power on his own costume, he fell two feet to the ground, landing on his dodgy leg with a grunt. Taking out a number of ball-bearings from his pocket, he grinned. “Come on. Sure you don’t want a job?” he called out, launching another round of unstoppable projectiles.

Twisting round, he grabbed a crude, metal pipe from the body of an injured and fallen Wonderland goon. Despite the odds, he hobbled towards his opponent.

@Lasrever

---

VTOL

Approaching Dorchester

_{21st January, 2011}

“Kinda,” Gestalt said with a shrug. “They’ll never get back together, but they fight a bit less. If only to tell me how ‘what I am doing is dangerous and I should stop before I get myself hurt’.” She sighed. “Typical parent stuff, now, I guess.”

Kairi nodded at Knight’s description of her trigger. “Yea. Stuff like that is the worst. It’s why I wanted to become a hero in the first place.” She peered out the VTOL window at the approaching smoke. “To clean up the city.”

Looking over at Anomaly, Nola chuckled. “Guess that just leaves one.” She winked. “Care to share, or was this just a test that we probably shouldn’t share important information that easily?”

@Banana@PlatinumSkink

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

@Old AmsterdamYeah, but that OOC OP will be the start of a beautiful adventure into Darkness =P

Also, while I won't join your Tokyo Ghoul RP (since I have far to much on my plate atm, that I can't even find time to finish a goddamn CS, let alone actually post) I am more than willing to Co-GM it in return for your services here =P

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

@Old AmsterdamNot atm, my knowledge of potential problems arising from taking control of the CDC is limited at best, so I will be posting the PRT's reaction in two or three IC posts' time =P

@PlatinumSkinkI'm going to say if she creates her frozen air while also in motion, it follows her velocity via your telekinetic ability automatically. most powers come with cute little add-ons to stop a parahuman from killing themselves(al-la Manton Effect) so it would make sense that you couldn't accidentally slice yourself in half with it. You can still actively stop the frozen blocks when you are moving, but that is what then takes effort to do. At least, if you are happy with it working like that =P

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

Gladius Border Territory

Dorchester

_{21st January, 2011}

Heavy chains battered down against the car door, strike after strike stripping chunks of metal away. The barrier between the leather-clad cape and the two girls cowering behind it was getting thinner by the second. Rasping metal and harsh clashes echoed around the entire alley, until they abruptly stopped.

Sidestep swiveled her head to look at a nearby rooftop, before instantly swinging the chains in that direction. A torrent of explosive gunfire came crashing down towards her. With serpentine movements, she blocked or repelled some shots with her twin chains and dodged yet more, all the while trying to shift into position. Coiling up like an athlete, she let rip.

Springing to life, Sidestep took off at great speed towards the building, continuing to dodge shots on the way - from both her unseen assailant, and the Wonderland mooks. Running up the bonnet of a car, she kicked off the top using both feet. With precision movements, she blitzed from window-ledge to window-ledge, leaping into the air. Swinging one chain up to catch the underside of a balcony, she used the momentum to surge upwards and land atop the building - but with a chain short.

The smoke up here was thick, and the gunfire had stopped. Taking a step forward into the murky black, she was temporarily blind. Given the accuracy of her attacker, it made sense that they could see where she could not. Instead of fumbling around in the dark, she stopped and listened, holding her breath and preparing for the next round of gunfire.

---

A louder bang sounded from a nearby rooftop, and Pipeline turned to watch a large, flaming parahuman sailing towards him. He didn’t quite start grinning, although it came pretty close. “So, you’re on fire?” he screamed, “and made of metal?” The hooded figure couldn’t suppress a cackle. “Hey, you don’t rust, do you?”

While traditional acid whips were an appealing choice against a seemingly metal monster, he did have an audience, and fancied something a little more… explosive. Coating one arm in water, and surrounding the second with cesium metal. He looked his opponent dead in the eye, before firing both makeshift missiles at once.

His target was not the parahuman themselves, but rather the air slightly ahead of her. As the water and cesium slammed into one another, their was a single, brief moment of stillness.

Before the reaction began.

A deafening boom caused shockwaves enough to shatter the windows of the cars and buildings directly around the blast. A cloud of white smoke, tinged with a multitude of pretty pinks and light blues - the remains of the cesium, still reacting to the water vapour in the air - which rained down upon the battlefield.

Having gained the attention of everyone present, Pipeline raised his arms to the sky. “Who’s next?” he yelled, laughing like a lunatic.

@knifeman@Kiddo

---

Unknown Location

Allston

_{21st January, 2011}

“Ummm… Sickle?” A small voice warily called out from across the room. “I have some information you probably wanna know.”

Leaning over the arm of the couch from his lying position, the young man nonchalantly waved his hand. “I’m listening.”

The girl’s fingers continued to rapidly smack the keyboard, while she sifted through the rest of the report she’d just acquired, as if to confirm it. “According to the Protectorate logs, Praetor just sanctioned a group of Wards to go secure that punch-up in Dorchester, led by a token hero.” Switching to another tab, her eyes scanned the important bits of a second document - a recording picked up from a hacked phone. “Only it looks like Pipeline is headed that was as well.”

Jumping off the sofa, Sickle-Cell covered the short distance in seconds. Looking over the intel on the screen, there could be no doubt. She looked exactly right. Unless Pipeline got distracted, chances are Praetor had just sent the Wards into a meat grinder. Most villains in the city wouldn’t dream of stooping that low, but Pipeline was a law unto himself.

From the corner of the room, the rest of the Covenant watched expectantly. “Well,” he finally said.

“Shit.”

Breaking into a light jog, he heading towards their little equipment room. “Get ready. We need to be out of here in minutes.” Sickle turned back to the girl. “Oh,” he called across the room, “and get Donovan. We need a driver.”

---

VTOL

Approaching Dorchester

_{21st January, 2011}

Kairi’s face was a picture of grief, as she desperately tried to decide what to say. Thankfully, she got a few moments of reprieve.

“A little while ago,” Gestalt began, “ I wouldn’t have been comfortable talking about it. The therapists here in Boston, though, are so much nicer than the ones in the other places I’ve been.” Clearing her throat slightly, she bowed her head. “Sorry if it’s a bit of a dry story, but i’ll try to keep it brief.”

“My mother and father had been fighting since before I was born. Naturally, their marriage didn’t last long after she gave birth to me, and they went their separate ways. I know some couples can go on to live perfectly happy lives like that, wishing each other well and sharing responsibility for the kid, but not those two.”

“It was a constant battle. One would tell me something nasty about the other, which the other would then deny and respond to. They didn’t see me as a child, so much as they did a weapon to hurt one another.” Her eyes went wide, as she realised what she’d just said. “That isn’t to say they didn’t love me! They did want the best for me, but I was a convenient tool, in that aspect.”

“Eventually, I got tired of being two completely separate people. Never getting to be who I really wanted to be. So I packed my stuff, and when Mom sent me off to stay with Dad, I used the train fare to run off by myself, instead. Took a train all the way out to Texas from Washington, despite supposed to be going to New York. Sitting at my destination, I realised I didn’t have enough money to get home. For better or worse, I could be my own person, but I didn’t know what that meant. The overwhelming wave of anxiety crippled me, and before i knew it, I’d passed out and woke up with powers.”

“The real irony?” Nola said with a light chuckle, “I can be whoever I want to be, now.”

Kairi sat, realising her friend had just inadvertently sold her down the river. Stay silent would look really horrible, now. Swallowing, she looked incredibly ill. “I… don’t like to talk about my trigger. It’s personal, I’m sorry.” She stammered over her words. “Let’s just say I triggered trying to stop my brother doing something I thought he’d regret.”

Her tone trailed off, almost as though she was speaking to herself - but aloud. “Although I’m pretty sure he hates me for it, now.”

Seeing how the lively atmosphere died off, Gestalt chimed back in. “What about you? Anything more awesome that realising you suck, like me?”

@Banana@PlatinumSkink

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

@Kiddo...She's taking on fucking Pipeline?

Oh man, this is going to be good. =P

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

@Kiddo Sorry if i'm having a blonde moment atm, but who is Dragon attacking?

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

@DracoLunarisIkr? Quite pleased with progress so far :-P

Personally, I'd rather you make a different one - given how absolutely mental your power proved to be - but if you do use the Artisan, I'm not giving you the random power thing back :-P

Expect a post tonight, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to writing it ^.^

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

@FancyHatsThere really is =P

I am absolutely shattered tonight, so I'm not gonna be able to post anything coherent. Will get one up by this time tomorrow, though ^.^

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

@POOHEAD189@Old Amsterdam I'm not the best either :-P

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

I won't spell out exactly what a cape's power does, unless it's going to prove vital in describing how much damage you take. You are all welcome to guess based on hints, though, and I will confirm if you get it right =P