Sickle-cell

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

@SkinnyTyDo whatever you feel comfortable with. I'm going to slowly move the Circus along now anyway. It might be occurring at two different times of the day, but you don't need to show up before your match, if you don't want to, so it all works out =P

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

There we go!

ANyone wanting to compete in the Circus that isn't mentioned, let me know. I can add in another round with you all. I was sorely tempted to make the two Protectorate capes fight one another to see Knight's reaction, but I have other plans for her =P

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

Interlude 1 - Pipeline

My life was boring, before it all happened. Tame

A waste.

I frittered time away with useless endeavours - mostly studying for exams - and yet wasn’t even a very academic person. Coasting through school, college and university, the only redeeming feature I had was my ability to play up a crowd.

The only guilty pleasure I had was the debating club. Tearing people apart in front of an audience was exhilarating. Listening to an argument and picking holes in the finer details, the insignificant pieces of information that the speaker didn’t realise contained a hundred different weaknesses, was the only thing I lived for.

At least, until I stupidly tried drugs.

It didn’t take long for me to be in huge amounts of debt to the local dealers. What was worse, they had a union. Well, it was more of a gang. The Wolfpack. The longer I hobbled on, crippled by debt and desperately trying to stop, the more addicted I became.

Then came the offer. Join the gang, they’d waive the debt. Supply me for free. I hated the idea of being a puppet for a bunch of scumbags, but there was no other choice. They had my number.

So I agreed.

At no point during the time I spent working for the Wolfpack did I ever expect to look back on it fondly. As I sat here with a bag over my head, though, it did seem increasingly appealing.

Somewhere around me, a voice boomed. Kidnapped by Imperium after being assimilated from Wolfpack gang. “Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we have a battle between two members of The Imperium’s latest conquest - The Wolfpack!”

“Here for one night only - for one of them, anyway - we shall see if there really was any honour amongst these thieves as they attempt to murder one another for your entertainment!” The crowd roared in cheer, so much so that I could feel the vibrations. The bag was removed. Light burned my eyes, as I found myself kicked forward into a caged arena.

Across from me was someone I recognised. A complete asshole, who had made my life a misery, despite being pretty pathetic himself. Scattered around the arena was various tools of conflict, ranging from baseball bats to metal pipes. Between us, neither had ever been in a situation quite like this before. It came down to wits, rather than physical strength.

So when I stood over his body, watching him gasp and crawl along with a broken leg, I wasn’t particularly surprised. It wasn’t even a shock that it felt damn good. The same principles applied here to debating club, except with actual tearing apart, rather than verbal hyperbole. Someone rose in the crowd and held a hand out, hovering between a thumbs up and down. The crowd reacted, and it was deemed that my competitor would die by my hand.

Without hesitation, I brought the pipe down hard on his skull.

Afterwards, once the adrenaline had faded, I felt sick.

This cycle continued. For how long, I’m not sure. Days? Weeks? Months? Time lost all meaning to me, through the haze of adrenaline addiction and drug withdrawal. In the midst of it all, deep within a red mist of battle rage, something inside me changed. It flushed the drugs from my system, made my grasp on reality much stronger.

And, I could make liquid.

People in the crowd noticed too, cheering me on even harder. I oiled the floor, causing my opponent to slip, and killed him then and there. The leader of the gang that had kidnapped me came down from his metal throne. Octavian grabbed my hand, pulled me close, and showed me off to the crowd.

“Well done, my boy. You lived.” He chuckled. “And now, life will be so much better.”

He was passing all my suffering off as a joke with that laugh. Promising me comfort and relief from here on out. My blood boiled. I swallowed my rage causing my words to have an icy-cold edge.

“Yes,” I replied. “I couldn’t agree more.”

A swipe of my hand scarred his face with acid. He screamed and staggered back, slipping in the oil on the floor. He reached out a hand to use his power - on me, on his bodyguards, on anyone to try and keep himself alive. Instead, I scraped two metal pipes together. The faintest little spark drifted off.

And hit the oil.

The entire centre of the arena went alight. People watched in silence, as Octavian howled in pain. No-one moved. Not even his elite bodyguards. Not out of fear, either. Octavian had ruled all with an iron fist, making everyone constantly fear him and his power. Now that he was helpless, and them out of his reach, none would come to his side. Slowly, his screams faded to silence once more.

“As of today,” I bellowed out to the congregated masses, “the Imperium is no more. Octavian’s passing will mark the end of this farce. Everyone in this room has killed in order to survive. This is a basic fact of life. We are murderers, and society will not accept you back into their fold after breaking their cardinal tenants.”

“I offer an alternative. From the ashes of the Imperium ruled by a single man, I will create a new society where the only rule is freedom of choice. A place - the only place- where we can truly fit in. A wonderland for the everyman. Everything will be permitted without arbitrary rules to hold you back. Consequences will mean nothing within these walls, and each and every man will be on equal footing.”

“However, that does not mean you will run free. When the heroes realise what we are - a freelance gang of murderers - they will come for us. As each of you have killed before, the price for keeping your freedom may well be to kill again. To counteract this, we’ll set up boundaries for our collective as a whole to follow - which will be the only thing standing between us and complete annihilation at the hands of the Protectorate.”

“This is where you decide how much freedom means to you. My offer is open to all. Accept it, and join me in making something we can be proud to call home. Or do not, and wander aimlessly around in the wastes, until a hero claims your bounty. Under my new banner will be your only hope for amnesty.”

Each person in the room shiftily looked at one another, considering the words. I could tell that I’d hooked a great many of them. They needed somewhere to stay now that the Imperium had crumbled around them in the course of a single act. Reading people was easy and getting them to do something you want them to is even more so. As for this decision, it had to be their own.

So he’d simply given them the facts.

All but 7 of the Imperium’s members transferred over to my new Wonderland. Which worked out perfectly. The raw power we possessed was the only way to rival the Protectorate in Boston. As such, we had enough threat that the heroes couldn’t lay siege and kill us all. Since then, we’ve grown as an independent city-state in our own right, attracting the world’s worst scum to stay in a place with relatively few rules and plenty of likeminded individuals.

It seems strange to look back on that day and consider that we were the only viable threat in the city.

So much has changed in these last twenty years.

---

The Van

As Far Away From Vector As Parahumanly Possible

_{21st January, 2011}

As the concrete blocks were knocked clear of the van, it sped forward across the bridge of light and straight through the junction ahead.

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, the Covenant could breath a sigh of relief.

“I’m not going to admit you were right, but I am damn glad that worked,” Donovan said, unable to hide his grin. “Where to?”

The empty black eyes of Sickle’s mask fell upon the two girls. “That all depends. I trust you know who we are, what we’ve done and roughly what we plan to keep doing. You interfered in the conflict today for a reason, I’d hope, rather than as some morbid death wish.”

He laughed, slightly. “Not that it would matter either way, I guess.”

“My point is than my little group is recruiting heavily. My offer to you is simply. Lend us your help for a little while longer, and in return, you can rest easy knowing you did all you could to support a city buckling under the weight of the filth infesting it.” Reaching under the secondhand couch, he pulled out a box. From inside, a roll of notes were produced. “That is, providing you work for the good of the people. If the alternative interests you more…”

The money - roughly $5000 - hit Holly’s lap.

“I have plenty more where that came from. So,” he said, relaxing on the sofa. “What’d ya say?”

@knifeman

---

Gladius Border Territory

Dorchester

_{21st January, 2011}

The concrete chunks didn’t even go near the van. They didn’t even have to swerve. Something wasn’t right. A missing factor. The Covenant didn’t have any powers capable of doing that without being obvious.

Or at least, they didn’t before. Did she have to update her parameters?

More to the point, they’d escaped.

“Fuck!” she screamed, as the little green marker on her HUD vanished. They were out of range.

Taking a running jump, she dived off the building. Twisting in mid-air, a grappling rope bit into the lip of the roof from a gauntlet-mounted device, and she repelled down to the ground. She strode up to Knight, her voice had an audible edge. “I gave you a single order, and yet we just lost our single biggest chance to kill Boston’s most wanted.”

PRT cleanup vans were beginning to appear, along with the local authorities, who had been waiting in the wings for all the parahumans to clear off. “If I were you,” she warned, “I’d start coming up with excuses now.”

@PlatinumSkink@Banana

---

The Zenith

Above Boston

_{21st January, 2011}

Praetor sat at his desk, face barely hiding his fury. “We lost a VTOL, a Ward is in the medical bay and we have literally nothing to show for it but a couple of unpowered junkies.”

“When I heard we’d be welcoming the daughter of Retribution into our fold, I expected that it might just be possible to turn this city around. But as of then, I thought you might be capable of delivering results!”

Taking a deep breath or two, he shook his head. “You know what? We don’t have time for this. While you were allowing the most dangerous cape in the city to escape, Wonderland extended an invite to the Circus. And for once, I’m not declining.”

“I have too many untested newcomers on my force. I need to know what you’re all capable of so that a farce like this doesn’t happen again.” He pressed a button on his desk. “Send Ifrit to my office, now.”

“I’ve already sent your name to Pipeline. And Ifrit’s. Unfortunately, capturing or killing everyone who shows up isn’t going to be possible, so i’m giving you a much simpler task.” The tone of his voice lowered, but remained as powerful. “Don’t make a fool of my heroes again.”

He rose and walked to the window. “You won’t win. I don’t need you to. Make an example of anyone you face. Show them what happens when you cross the Protectorate. Meanwhile, I’ll see if the medical team can’t fix your mistakes.”

@PlatinumSkink@Banana@SkinnyTy[@OldAmsterdam]

---

Unknown Location

Boston

_{21st January, 2011}

“My point is than my little group is recruiting heavily. My offer to you is simply. Lend us your help for a little while longer.”

The Covenant were recruiting. Useful information to know. A phone bleeped somewhere nearby with a message from Maxwell. Change of plans. Head nearby the Circus tonight. Report on everything said. M.

@ProPro

---

Unknown Location

Boston

_{21st January, 2011}

A message came back in seconds. Pictures unavailable. Data frequently wiped by outside sources. Suggest looking at Circus, Victory Road, Boston, tonight. Target is vain. May make appearance.

@Migyudon

---

The Circus Maximus

Victory Road

_{21st January, 2011}

The crowd was slowly beginning to filter into the arena through the various doors. Most people headed for the betting booth first to look at the first round matches and see who was actually competing. Maybe even buy a program, or some tacky, knock-off merch whipped up in a hurry by budding Wonderland ‘entrepreneurs’.

For the evening’s entertainment, the battles were:-

(Ind. tags are used for both Independent Capes and Faction Capes that are not entered as the official faction entries)

Automation(Ind.) vs Sickle-Cell(Cov.)
Vegas(Cov.) vs Arms Race(Gla.)
Geryon(Ind.) vs Nightlight(Con.) vs Askaryan(Won.) vs Vector(Ind.)
Switchboard(Fun.) vs Caustic(Won.) vs Fodem(Con.) vs Singularity(Gla.)
Knight(Pro.) & Ifrit(Pro.) vs Black Kaze(Ind.) & Talion(Ind.)
Funhouse(Fun.) & Pain-Killer(Ind.) vs Achlys(Ind.) & Pipeline(Ind.)

@Duoya@Lasrever@PlatinumSkink@Banana@SkinnyTy

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

@Old AmsterdamSo...

He's a combination of Leet(or is it Uber?) and Contessa =P

I'll allow him. Should make for an interesting interaction with a member of The Funeral Parlour =p

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

Glass-tick When-yay.

I'll never forget the first time I realised I was pronouncing her name wrong =P

In other news, been super busy today and won't get a post up tonight. As such, might as well just officially make my posting response time once every two days. That's not half bad, all things considered =P

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

Maybe there are a handful who are actually that well commited because of their personalitities

@SkinnyTy

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

@Old Amsterdam'A bit'

That's 'a bit' of an understatement :-P

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

@Old Amsterdam0.0

Alice?

A hero?

Oh wait, this is Boston. =P

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

Alright. My next round of IC repsonses (either tomorrow or the day after) will consist of Pipeline's Interlude, Knight and Anomaly's Debriefing, Holly and Mandy being given an offer by the Covenant or released back into the Wild, Anon's listening skills picking something up depending on where he ends up, and finally the setting up of the Circus. That should take me about a week to write xD

Worm - The Malfesant Throne

The Sewers

Under Boston

_{21st January, 2011}

“Oh, you’re new here?” Vegas asked, gasping for breath. “Well, you survived. That’s more than some manage around here. Congratulations!”

Backdoor - the parahuman jester - chuckled frantically. “Your prize is more of the same.”

The woman half-laughed, half-scoffed. “Yea, it’s basically like this all over, now. Bloody city is a warzone.”

“Speaking of,” Gubbins butted in, “shouldn’t we be getting out of here?”

Vegas shrugged. “Fair point. You two should come with us. We’ll drop you off somewhere after we flee the Protectorate’s assassin.”

The gang of renegades bounded through the underground tunnels like they’d been there before, moving to the nearest exit and heading topside. There, parked and waiting for them, was a silver van. Nothing special, and nothing that would stand out. As they approached, the door opened from the inside, revealing two figures.

The first was a man - dressed quite formally, and looking professional. A girl sat on one of the couches lining the back of the van, buried underneath a hoodie and frantically battering a keyboard. Only the man spoke. “Hop in. We’re looping round for Sickle.”

Gubbins smirked. “He’s still kickin’ then.”

“For now.” The hooded girl spoke. “But we have less than a minute before Vector arrives.”

@knifeman

---

Gladius Border Territory

Dorchester

_{21st January, 2011}

From the highest rooftop surrounding the chaos below, a blue haze rippled through the air.

Each inch it passed over revealed another piece of metal. Strangely, the light didn’t cause it to glint like it should have. A few seconds later, standing silhouetted against the rising dawn sun, was Vector. Bow in hand, her other one was touching her ear.

Over Knight’s communicator, several harsh crackles rang out, followed by another set a few seconds later. Only after the third time did they finally begin to form words. “Knight! Respond, goddamn it! I’ve been trying to raise you for the last two minutes. What the fuck is the situation?”

She asked, but a quick battlefield scan revealed that her target had fled the scene. Cursing under her breath, she accessed the satellite feeds via her optics. Providing her with a bird’s-eye view of the whole of Boston, she zoomed in on her current location. Then she widened the search area, and switched to thermals. Then she activated the x-ray function. And then she ran all current matches through the PRT database.

And found a match.

He’d made it to transport, and was hoofing it in a straight a line as possible. He knew she was coming.

@PlatinumSkink@Banana

---

Sickle ran like hell through the shop. The blood wall would definitely buy him time - it would probably put them off following him altogether - but he still had to move. Even if the heroes backed off, Vector would not.

The back of the shop was completely wall, and he didn't feel like trying to chisel through. Instead, he headed to the second floor and dived out the window. Using his power, he slowed his fall and took off at full pelt down the street. People watched him from the windows - he wasn’t exactly subtle, dressed as he was.

A street or so away, he found a van. Inside was the entire Covenant - plus two extras, but he didn’t have time to argue.

“Donovan! Floor it!” he barked at the driver.

The man nodded sharply. “Buckle up, boyos. It’s gonna be one hell of a ride.”

---

She smirked. He was still in range. Although, only just. He’d made surprisingly good progress with his escape attempt.

His current speed and position meant she’d get a single shot.

She was confident that was all she’d need.

Her targeting software took all the known factors into account. From this range, she probably could hit the van. Assuming she did, even with Sickle and Vegas’s shielding potential, it would probably blow the vehicle to smithereens.

Probably.

She didn’t like leaving anything to chance, so she changed tact. Instead of aiming for the van, in front of where the car would be by the time the arrow caught up. The blast would shatter the concrete, sending a torrent of stone chunks into the van, through the windscreen and any occupants.

On her viser HUD, a large green reticule appeared. It grew smaller and smaller the more calculations it took into account. The speed of the car, the direction of travel, windspeed, potential traffic concerns, removal of potential collateral damage. Hundreds of calculations all dealt with in the blink of an eyes, leaving a pinprick green dot exactly where she had to aim.

Raising her bow to the sky, she pulled the string. As it moved, a swell of energy formed between the string and the bow, swirling around a central core. The blue energy grew brighter and brighter, constantly swirling, until the string was pulled taut. Then it settled into a single, arrow-shaped mass of brilliant energy. Aiming at the dot, it flared brilliant green.

“Death from above,” she said, smirking. “Motherfuckers.”

Releasing the string loosed the arrow with complete silence. It soared over the battlefield like a shooting star, up and up into the sky, vanishing over the rooftops.

---

The hooded girl in the van began panicking. “We’ve got a pretty big problem!”

Turning the screen round, it was a garbled map of the city covered with all sorts of complex information. Including a tracker for an inbound energy-based projectile weapon aiming right at the van.

Sickle sighed. Today was proving to be one of those days.

Donovan looked over his shoulder. “We need to speed up and outrun it.”

“No,” Sickle replied. “That’s what she’ll expect us to do. You need to slow down.”

“What?” Donovan asked, incredulously. “We slow down, we’ll give her another chance to fire!”

The masked man growled. “Slow down, Donovan!”

Rubbing his face in almost disbelief, the driver said nothing. But complied.

The entire back of the van suddenly shifted, taking a lot of effort to stay upright. After two seconds or so, Sickle shouted back. “Good, now floor it again.”

Donovan didn’t bother arguing.

“What are you planning?” Vegas asked almost reluctantly.

“I’ve gambled. That arrow is going to either sail over us and blow up the road. If it does, we survive. If she’s aiming for us, though,” he chuckled. “Then I’ve just killed us all.”

“Vegas. When the arrow hits ahead of us, I want you to use your power to create a bridge of light over the hole. Don’t be put off by the fancy wording. It’s basically just a shield over the opening.” He turned to the two newcomers. “One of you is a telekinetic, right? Good. When the debris comes flying at us, I need you to stop it shredding us. After that, you either come with us, or we drop you off somewhere. Your choice.”

Seconds after he spoke those last words, a bright flash lit up the street ahead. Vegas lept forward and extended her power over the gaping hole in the road, giving them a surface to drive on. Large bowling-ball-sized chunks of concrete scattered in all directions - several heading right for them.

@knifeman