Supermaxx

Gamblers of Vox Fortuna

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Yalta Station Airlock | In Orbit over Arish IV
February 14th, 3061

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Captain Deckard Jones leaned against the hexagonal wall of the umbilical cord connecting the Fortuna to Yalta Station. If things had gone how he'd hoped the station's crew would've been using it to shuttle N-1 fuel cells to his ship's depleted engine. Instead the cord was empty, save for himself and his irate first officer. Madeline Lyon hadn't said a word since the two of them left Mr. Ducaine's office, but she didn't have to. Deck had learned to read Lyon's catalog of scowls through thirty-odd years together. And this? This was her angry scowl.

Deck cleared his throat to break the silence. "I don't like it any more than you do," he began, refusing to make eye contact. "But you heard the man: we don't refuel if we don't do this job."

Mads kept her lips pursed as she stared daggers into her captain's skull. The heat of embarrassment built up in his face, as if her gaze had stripped him down to his skivvies. He huffed, pushing off the wall to pace from one side of the corridor to the other. "Five million credits and a full tank, Mads. That contract with AM Ventures we're chasin' pays the same over three months. And this'll take us, what, a day? We're practically robbin' this guy!" He threw his hands up, risking a peek over his shoulder at Lyons' expression. It hadn't changed.

With a sigh, Jones' arms dropped back down to his side. He wished they could've just docked with the station, filled up the tank and gone on their merry way. He wished that Ducaine asshole hadn't declined their purchase and dragged Deck over to his office on Yalta Station with his 'humble proposal.' The man was a slimeball, that much was obvious. He wrapped himself in extravagance and spoke with a practiced swagger. Jones was a wheeler and dealer himself, in a way- he could recognize one of his ilk in an instant. Still, what else could he do? Ducaine had all the cards.

"Say something, damn it!" He yelled.

"He's lying." She replied, her tone even and restrained. "The situation's more complicated than he's making it out to be."

The captain put on his best grin. "We'll play this careful like, Mads, I swear. you know me: I always got somethin' up my sleeve." When her expression finally wavered Jones knew he had her beat. He turned away, then, and started up the umbillical cord toward the Fortuna. He lifted a finger to his ear to activate his ship-wide comlink. "Captain to exo-pilots, assemble in the hangar and prep your Frames for deployment. We got ourselves a contract. Will debrief you all when I get there."

Titans

Yeah, Wally can be in NY. Am still a fan of the action-orientated introduction arc

One Universe: Unlimited - A Marvel/DC Comics Roleplay

Maxx post in the right thread challenge

One Universe: Unlimited - A Marvel/DC Comics Roleplay

_{SEASON TWO One Universe: Unlimited}

SUPERBOY #2 Broken Boy

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_{Cornelius Blue College ♦ Blue Valley, Nebraska}

Superboy stood on a stage overlooking a sparsely populated auditorium. There were a few dozen blank faces staring back at him, eyes glazed over with exhaustion. Somebody in the back row was snoring. It was doubtful anyone could've heard him; it was a quiet, stifled sound, barely above a whisper. It screamed like a bullhorn in Superboy's ear as he tried desperately to wrap up the last stretch of his 'presentation,' if you could even call it that.

"...And that's why Cadmus has decided to give Cornelius Blue's Technical Sciences department a grant of over fifteen thousand dollars: because today's young minds are-"

The words caught in his throat at the sound of a phone ringing in the audience. Mandisa's Good Morning rang throughout the hall for several seconds too long as the sleeping man jolted awake, hands shooting into his pockets as he searched for the phone. A sleepy series of chuckles drifted through the audience. through the audience. Superboy forced a smile. 6:30 sharp. That was probably the man's alarm, if he had to guess.

"Tomorrow's future." Superboy sighed, hands falling to his hips. This was his eighteenth stop on Cadmus's media tour across the country. At least the last few had been in decent locales at normal business hours- and not Bumfuck, Nowhere at ass-o-clock in the morning. Everyone was exhausted. The audience, the Cadmus crew, even Leech. Superboy was the only one present that didn't even need sleep yet he wanted to crawl under the covers and lie there for eternity more than the rest of them combined. He was a goddamn superhero! And they had him handing out grants to colleges in Nebraska? 'Where even is Nebraska?!'

After an awkward beat of silence a polite clap started up. He gave the audience a curt wave and started to walk off stage. "I'll be around for fifteen backstage to answer questions and, uh, sign shit. Have a good rest of your mornin,' people."

"Excuse me!" Someone called out from the audience. "Mister Superboy, sir-"

He quickened his pace, stepping off the platform into the back room of the theater hall. Rex Leech was sitting on a stool nearby, a cup of coffee in one hand and an L-pad in the other. There were three similar cups crushed up in a basket at his feet. "You tryin' to kill the planet yourself, Rex?" Superboy snorted, nodding his head toward it.

"If only I could," the older man sneered bitterly without looking up from his work. "That speech was god fucking awful. Seriously, you gave those kids more money than they've probably ever seen n' they're falling asleep in their seats? Christ, kid."

Superboy's nostrils flared. He felt a familiar heat building up behind his eyes as he tried not to glare at his manager. It took considerable effort to keep his voice at an even keel. "The sun ain't even up, man, lay off."

Rex must've heard the anger hidden behind the teenager's bitten tongue given the serpentine smile creeping up his face. He set his device down and shifted his attention to Superboy. "Yeah? What's your excuse for Hub City, then? Chicago? Detroit?" Leech chuckled, though the sound lacked for mirth. "Dud after dud."

"Your script's are shit!" Superboy all but snarled. Regret mixed with barely contained frustration fell across his expression. He'd been taking shit from Leech for months, yet somehow the last week had been different, somehow. It was harder than ever to just shrug off his bullshit. It wasn't like Superboy to bite back- not like this.

Leech barked out a laugh. "How 'bout you write 'em yourself, tight pants? Or did the lab jockies not even bothering filling that skull'o yours with anything useful? You got one job: talk n' look pretty, and you can't even get one'a those right!"

Fists balled and teeth clenched, Superboy took a step toward his boss. The pressure behind his eyes grew even hotter.

The other man didn't move. A smug, self-satisfied look on his face, Leech stared Superboy down. "What? You finally fed up, shithead? Gonna do anything with all those muscles'a yours?"

"...Sorry, uhm, am I interrupting?"

Two heads swung back toward the direction of the stage where the voice had come from. A young man in cargo shorts, a tacky vest and a t-shirt for Cornelius Blue's robotics team stood with his hands shoved into his pockets. He had that awkward look on his face that said he knew he shouldn't be there but that he wasn't planning on leaving, either. No one said anything, so he took that as permission to continue.

The student pulled an odd looking device from his pocket, flipping it open. It looked like a cross between a TV remote and an old flip phone. "I-I had a pitch, actually. If you have a sec. This is a-"

"-Uh huh. That's great, kid." Rex coughed loudly, rising from his seat. "You can tell Superboy all about it," he patted the hero on the shoulder. "Crew's headed to IHOP for breakfast. You're free 'til the WGBS interview at eleven. Don't create anymore disasters until then, okay?"

Superboy sulked in silence as Leech walked off, staring into space as he tried to cool off. The other boy, seemingly oblivious to the darkness of Superboy's expression, approached and reached out a hand. "I'm Simon! Simon Valentine. Its nice to finally meet you!"

Sensation & Wonder: An Absolute Comics Roleplay [DC & Marvel One Universe Style Game]

oop

Titans

Character Name

Wallace "Wally" West
Kid Flash

Age

16

Attributes & Abilities

Kid Flash is the latest member of the Flash family to connect with the Speed Force, the mysterious cosmic phenomena that sets all of time and space in motion. Wally's link to it is rather shallow, however, granting him only a fraction of his mentor's speed; West has yet to even break the sound barrier. Also unlike the Flash, Wally lacks fine control over his movement at high speeds: he's not nearly as agile, nor can he come to a complete stand still at will- he either has to slow himself down ahead of time or risk sliding at several hundred miles an hour into a wall.

Additional abilities include friction absorption, enhanced endurance, mental processing speed and an advanced healing factor. Unfortunately, his connection to the Speed Force gave Wally a hyper-accelerated metabolism that requires a massive intake of calories per day or his body will cannibalize itself for energy.

Aside from his powers, Wally has an aptitude for the sciences and mathematics. He's fluent in English, French and is currently studying Mandarin.

Character Synopsis

Wally West always wanted to be a superhero. Even before he could walk he dreamed of racing The Flash across the country. His heart soared when he discovered his idol's secret identity: his very own uncle Barry Allen. Once Wally got the story of Barry's origin out of his uncle he quickly set out to replicate the event, building a near exact replica of the laboratory in his family's garage. And then he waited for a storm.

The boy woke up in the hospital a week later with the Speed Force coursing through him.

His parents grounded him for life, initially. After three months of arm-twisting from Iris and Barry they managed to convince Wally's parents that their son would need help acclimating to life with superpowers. They packed up his things and moved Wally across the state to his aunt and uncle's home in Central City. Kid Flash premiered two months later.

Most things came easily to Wally West. His natural intelligence let him coast through high school without dropping below a 4.0 GPA. He excelled in track despite skipping practice every other week. He made fast friends of anyone. Learning to control his powers was harder than anything he'd ever done. It was like the Speed Force rejected him; refused to let Wally understand its nature as fully and deeply as Barry Allen did. No matter how hard he trained Wally couldn't break the sound barrier; couldn't manipulate the atoms in his body to phase like the Flash could. The solution to this problem continues to allude him to this day, and Kid Flash's frustration continues to mount.

Titans

the kid

Character Name

Wallace "Wally" West
Kid Flash

Age

16

Attributes & Abilities

Kid Flash is the latest member of the Flash family to connect with the Speed Force, the mysterious cosmic phenomena that sets all of time and space in motion. Wally's link to it is rather shallow, however, granting him only a fraction of his mentor's speed; West has yet to even break the sound barrier. Also unlike the Flash, Wally lacks fine control over his movement at high speeds: he's not nearly as agile, nor can he come to a complete stand still at will- he either has to slow himself down ahead of time or risk sliding at several hundred miles an hour into a wall.

Additional abilities include friction absorption, enhanced endurance, mental processing speed and an advanced healing factor. Unfortunately, his connection to the Speed Force gave Wally a hyper-accelerated metabolism that requires a massive intake of calories per day or his body will cannibalize itself for energy.

Aside from his powers, Wally has an aptitude for the sciences and mathematics. He's fluent in English, French and is currently studying Mandarin.

Character Synopsis

Wally West always wanted to be a superhero. Even before he could walk he dreamed of racing The Flash across the country. His heart soared when he discovered his idol's secret identity: his very own uncle Barry Allen. Once Wally got the story of Barry's origin out of his uncle he quickly set out to replicate the event, building a near exact replica of the laboratory in his family's garage. And then he waited for a storm.

The boy woke up in the hospital a week later with the Speed Force coursing through him.

His parents grounded him for life, initially. After three months of arm-twisting from Iris and Barry they managed to convince Wally's parents that their son would need help acclimating to life with superpowers. They packed up his things and moved Wally across the state to his aunt and uncle's home in Central City. Kid Flash premiered two months later.

Most things came easily to Wally West. His natural intelligence let him coast through high school without dropping below a 4.0 GPA. He excelled in track despite skipping practice every other week. He made fast friends of anyone. Learning to control his powers was harder than anything he'd ever done. It was like the Speed Force rejected him; refused to let Wally understand its nature as fully and deeply as Barry Allen did. No matter how hard he trained Wally couldn't break the sound barrier; couldn't manipulate the atoms in his body to phase like the Flash could. The solution to this problem continues to allude him to this day, and Kid Flash's frustration continues to mount.

Titans

One Universe: Unlimited - A Marvel/DC Comics Roleplay

_{SEASON TWO One Universe: Unlimited}

SUPERBOY #1 Broken Boy

---

_{Daily Planet ♦ Metropolis}

ONE WEEK AGO

The sun had fallen behind the horizon and it was quiet in the Daily Planet's bullpen, save for the clattering of a single laptop's keyboard and the rumbling of a vacuum cleaner in the hallway. Tana Moon sat alone at a desk that wasn't hers, hair tied up in a loose bun and the sleeves of her Metropolis U hoodie rolled up to her elbows. She'd been slaving over this article for hours. Every detail that Superboy shared with her had to be triple-checked against the Planet's archive; even still- knowing all she did- it was a hard pill to swallow.

Cadmus was using Superboy to kidnap supervillains, like Knockout, so they could extract and replicate their powers to sell them to the highest bidder. The physical evidence for their crimes was paper thin. It was only the source of the allegations- a firsthand witness in Superboy- that gave them any water. But for God knows what reason that spandex-bound moron wouldn't let her print his name. Tana clicked her tongue in frustration. Nobody was going to give half a shit for claims this outlandish coming from an 'anonymous source'.

Her hands slipped down off the keyboard and onto her lap to fiddle with the hem of her coat. What would posting this crap do to her name? She was a nobody at the Planet. Some intern to pester about making copies and grabbing fresh coffee. Things were hard enough without being the office conspiracy nut.

'Seriously, Moon? People are getting hurt and you're worried about your career?' She chided herself, hoping the guilt would kick her back into gear. Her hands went back to the keyboard. Her fingers stumbled awkwardly across the keys. Slow, unsure. For every sentence she managed to string together she discarded three others. This was supposed to be her big break; it was going to be the story that put her foot in the door. Now, as she read back on her work she could feel only a growing disdain in the pit of her stomach. Mr. White was going to trash this the moment it hit his desk.

This wasn't going to work- not in its current state. She needed Superboy on record. She needed hard evidence of Cadmus's wrongdoing. She needed anything other than the scraps he'd dumped on her desk before running off to play hero.

"As if you can punch your way out of a corporate conspiracy theory," she sneered. Some terrible part of her hoped he'd get his clock cleaned confronting Westfield so he'd realize she was right. A shameful thought, she knew. But it gnawed at her mind irregardless.

After another half hour she gave up on the article, saving the draft to her computer before closing the laptop down. Tana Moon began to pack away her things only to freeze upon hearing something. Or, rather, not hearing anything. The janitor's vacuum had gone silent. She narrowed her eyes, drawing up her phone to flick on its flashlight. The custodian rarely finished his rounds this early. He was an old gentleman that took a half-century to do anything. She hoped he hadn't fallen or something.

Tana peaked through the door leading out of the newsroom and into the hall. The vacuum's power cord was plugged in just beside the door and snaked around to the opposite end of the hallway, disappearing around the corner. That checked out. But then, where was Briscoe?

"Everything okay, Ed?" She called, stepping out.

No one called back in response, though she could've sworn she heard feet shuffling.

"Briscoe?" Her heart beat faster in her chest. Ed Briscoe was never the type to ignore her. He was one of the few people she worked with that gave her the barest amount of respect. So if he wasn't the one making all that racket...

Tana started down the hallway with purpose, now. She moved the phone to her off-hand and reached the other into her pocket, gripping the taser inside. It seemed silly before to carry one before Superman disappeared; before everything started to fall apart.

She was just jumpy from all this Cadmus business. That was all. Just nerves getting to her.

Moon stepped lighter, the stun gun drawn partially from her pocket. The sound of shuffling feet got louder, and louder. It was right around the corner; the one she was rapidly closing on. Her heart bounded up into her throat, threatening to explode and fill her mouth with blood. The shuffling stopped. It was just Ed. He had headphones in, or-

Eddie Briscoe was slumped up against the wall, vacuum cord wrapped taut around his throat. His feet were weakly kicking against the floor as if he'd only just stopped struggling. A tall man she didn't recognize stooped over the janitor. He had the cool, uninterested expression of a bored professional, and his eyes were so cold they sucked the heat out from her chest with just a glance.

"Fuck." Tana breathed, stumbling backwards over her own feet. Frozen in a shocked stupor, she could do nothing but stare dumbly as the stranger rose to his full height and wiped the blood from his hands on Ed's old handkerchief. She didn't react even when he started toward her, a hand outstretched to take her by the arm.

It wasn't until his fingers brushed against her skin that Moon jolted into action like a spooked deer. She threw a kick into the man's ankle so so suddenly that he was caught utter unaware. There was a sharp, weighty thud as her foot smashed into his leg. He stumbled, too, catching himself against the wall with an arm. Tana used the moment to take off down the hall. He only grunted.

Faster than she'd ever run during high school track Moon bolted down the hall until she made it to the stairs. It was a long way to the first floor where the Planet's security guard was but she wasn't going to risk waiting for an elevator. She started down the stairs, clearing three floors before the sound of a door opening below her stopped her in her tracks.

Another two men stepped into the stairwell, pistols and flashlights in hand. Tana froze, shutting off her own light as quick as she could and shrinking down against the wall to make herself as small and unnoticeable as possible. It was only when she had a moment to breathe that she realized those men were cops. The first guy had a badge on his belt, too, she recalled, remembering that flash of metal as she ran by him.

What the hell did they want with the Planet's janitor?

With her?

Pariah Online: A Voyage into the Intangible Aether

Location: City Streets -- City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

Pain rippled through every facet of his being. Body broken. Blood flooded freely from the tears in his chest, his arm, his face. He'd lost his footing somehow, landed several feet away from where he'd started. Couldn't place how, or why. Thumping in his head like a jackhammer was tearing out of his brain and trying to get through his skull next. Taste of iron and vomit filled his mouth. Scent of blood- so much blood- overwhelming his nostrils. Vision was blurred from sweat, tears, other shit he couldn't place.

Graves was drowning in sensation. The magic in his veins was working overtime to block out the intense pain; to replace it with exhilaration and a need for continued violence. Those feelings tore at his attention until he felt like he'd split in half- tear straight down the center until there was a sickening snap of his halves coming apart.

He saw something in front of him. A shape, dark, impossible to place. His brain screamed threat. Urged him to act when he could barely keep breathing. Felt hands on his body and fear forced him to move. Reaching out, Graves grabbed their arm and attempted to yank them down to the ground with him. Squeeze, break the hand, twist it til their vision goes white.

'Stop stop stop stop-'

_{'You'll die if you don't.'}

Then he felt the ground shift underneath him. Heard the air twisting, bubbling, turning in ways it was never meant to. Dozens of shapes in his vision, even less defined than the person he'd grabbed. Ephemeral, phantom things, dragged up from the depths of hell to take him there. He'd never been particularly religious but if someone told him this was how the sinful were delivered to the lake of fire he'd believe them. It took Graves a moment to recognize something approaching speech in his ears. Whispers, a voice unfamiliar, growing louder and louder as something wrapped about his form and pinned him to the ground. Cold iron appeared around his wrists, heavier than anything he'd ever felt before.

'What the fuck? What the fuck?!'

The voice in his mind screamed, anguished and desperate and pleading. Terror seized his throat as he screamed, too, thrashing in a vain attempt to escape whatever tormentor had wished this upon him. He dropped whoever he'd grabbed and wrapped his good arm around himself, as if it might somehow shield him from the cacophony in his mind. The thundering of waves against the cliffs swam in his ears. Water filled his lungs yet he could not drown.

_{we deserve this}

He bucked, thrashed, fought with all his draining might to break free from his shackles. He must've looked a madman the way he bashed his skull against the ground, the way he kicked and tore and screamed. Oh how he screamed. Every terrible dream he'd had since the Glitch came roaring back into his head. Memories of all the people he'd failed. The family he'd hurt. The strangers that had died under his watch. Enos' body sanguinated. Will, lying on his back with vomit in his throat.

With one last howl Graves lifted his head as high as he could and brought it back down against the stone. The voice went silent.