The Man Emperor

Recollections: Magnanimous (Cancelled)

---

Alexander Karamazov Vanburen

---

“Just don’t let Shane hear that. He might narc you out,” said Ezra. Or use them all, thought Ezra as his slight smile became pained as he turned away. Unlike Ezra and his cigarettes, Shane barely even bothered to hide his drinking anymore. It wasn’t a big stretch to think that the former supercop turned shut-in was attached to a few more vices.

"Don't worry." Alex responded. "I'm clean." Uncharacteristically, he smiled at Ezra for a split second before going back to his usual stoic expression. True, he did not really any of his half siblings much, but that could change in the days to come. He then sat back, a little tired. Though, something else came up, and he would get up to get back to the action once again.

"The Irish girl used the secret passage. It'll behoove us to do the same, since the witches and their dogs went in the direction of the gallery,"

Alex snorted, standing up from his seat and momentarily shifting into a ghostly state for no apparent reason. "Hah. Secret passages." He would then follow his half siblings into the service hallway, lagging a little behind because he was a little overcautious, and didn't feel like getting thrust into the brunt of the fighting once they found their quarry.

When they got there, though, Alex shuddered a bit, as he had never signed up to be in a close encounter with a Hellhound, but he came along anyway. Tuyen seemed to be distracting the hell dog, and Ezra threw a knife to hit one of the cultists at the chest. Alex just waited and listened; once it was all over, he could bind them in chains... except if they had fire powers like the kid from earlier. Why the hell were these juveniles running around with magic and magic dogs anyway?!

---

Raymond Salazar Vanburen

---

The Hell-Hound hit the ground, opened its mouth, and released an inferno from its jaws that... did nothing to the fireproof Justin. He was just hoping that this place didn't burn down, however, he held the steel balls in between his fingers as he threw all of them forward. He launched them directly down the maw of the Hell-Hound and then the thing loudly hacked and coughed as it thrashed around. Hopefully, the Earth-bender guy will finish it off, but they had to be quick.

Ray launched himself forward, gathering an outpouring of earth from the fissure that he had created earlier. Justin had more or less incapacitated the Hellhound with the steel balls that he had launched into its mouth, and it would take just a little more to kill it. Raymond had been sick of all of this; Hellhounds, witches, a warlock, imposters... with the return of magic to the world, it seemed that everything wrong with the town of Araminta had been dialed eleven fold, with Wiccans gaining actual powers and a curse of stone threatening to kill every single one of the Vanburen Clan.

Now, a pair of earth slabs, either of which were five feet long and weighed no less than fifty kilograms each, levitated a feet away from either of Raymond's hands. With a simple gesture, they turned into sharp stalactites that were fully capable of impaling a fully grown person into a wall, or kill a Hellhound that had been causing so much trouble lately. Shane came in, sure, but things were happening too fast for Ray to really pay attention. He was quite busy with dealing with the Hellhound, which he had stabbed with spears made of rock. For some reason, it was taking more concentration for him to do it than normal; perhaps this was another strange quirk of magic. Either way, it should be dead. Now...

"Tell us what you are here for, Morgana." Ray said, placing himself into a Hung Gar stance. "Or else we can just keep chucking magic at each other until one side gives up."

Agents of SHIELD - Concluded

Astrad Lungren

---

---

Location: Asgard

---

"I guess I'll go with Baldur, then." Astrad then bowed to Baldur slightly before heading off with the rest to the hall of feasting. The sunglasses and suncream really helped, as he was not used to hot temperatures, being from a cold, northern nation. He did not seem to notice Forseti storming off from the room, as he was too busy doing something... else. Astrad was hungry.

And then, without warning, the dagger that Sparks carried around pointed towards elsewhere. Strange had told her that it was sufficient by itself to point towards Raynor, and he did also say that he was in Asgard as well. Could it be that the love of her life was in these very halls, awaiting for his wife to come unto his presence?

The answer to that question would soon be clear as the dagger pointed them in the right direction. Raynor was indeed in here, but he was not conscious to greet anyone. Rather, he was lying there in what seems to be a coma caused by damage sustained from battle, as the scars and injuries were quite obvious to the eye. Also he wasn't wearing anything... odd. He was apparently found in a riverbed, with no clear clue to his solution.

"He's comatose..." Astrad said to no one in particular. He then turned to Nanna to ask a question. "Did whoever is the deity of healing around here check on him? He seems to be in a coma."

Nathaniel De Costa

---

---

Location: Ellis Island, New York City

---

Nathaniel coughed profusedly, getting up from the ground with an annoyed expression written on his face. "She looks a bit familiar, if anything. I think we met in another life." Once he had stood up, he looked at the wizzing little blue dot that was Andrew Rossi in his shrinked state. Not this guy again. Angstrom had knocked him out earlier with a lucky shot between the eyes, and there was no telling if a second scuffle was a good idea. Nathaniel was, after all, just a guy who tears holes in the fabric of space and time and shoots beams of energy, while Angstrom was a rich pretty boy that could make himself bigger or smaller.

"You have been trouble for far too long, Pretty Boy." Nathaniel locked his sights at small Angstrom, focusing on the suited little man to ensure that his next action will go on without a hitch. And then, he tore open a breach and sent it forward, enclosing Angstrom in it before opening up in a downward direction towards another part of the rooftop, with the intention of causing him to crash, or to force a sudden trajectory change. Either way, with that done, Nath tried to open another portal, but the energy fizzled away before it could coalesce into a breach. He tried again... and miscalculated. The portal energy exploded, knocking him back and hitting his head against the ground. It was not a fatal blow, but he had been knocked out quite a few moments ago. This time, it really hurt. Should Angstrom bother to walk up on him, he would raise both hands in surrender; only time can tell if the Rossi bought it.

Innocence Lost - A Science Fantasy RP [v.03]

Finbarr Callaghan | The Spacetime Breacher

Finbarr had been sleeping well during the transit from the Galactic Bazaar to Maiden's Reach. He rarely came out of the room, going outside mostly to eat and maybe socialize a bit. He wanted to conserve his energy as much as he could for the upcoming fights in the weeks and months ahead; tearing open holes in time and space were one of the most taxing things anyone could do, as that is essentially replicating what a hyperdrive does, but in a smaller scale. He sometimes wondered he got these kinds of abilities from the Kaisoken dust during the experiments; he had always been good at pretending he was someone else, being another character entirely. Finbarr had a good shot at the theater club back then; the directors and screenwriters adored him, and were quite ready to recommend him to the big studios. And then... it happened, and those dreams of being seen on the screen were gone. Now he's a portal chucking, shapeshifting, laser blasting mage that was accompanying his friends in a mission of vengeance. He had always been a kind soul, but now, he is going to help make a brave new universe. Blood would be shed, if it must.

It was a new day, and they had just reached Maiden's Reach. Unfortunately enough, there was a whole battle in there. Ashton proposed that he he in a strike team against the flagship of the rogue fleet, which Finbarr nodded at in agreement. "The thing has windows, so I can get us in there, ni problem. The helmsman will just have to make sure that we're near enough, or else I won't be able to reach."

Trajan Salazar | Sharpeye

A day had passed since they had left the Galactic Bazaar. Through some twist of fate, Trajan had met Tarak again, after so many years. All this time, he had drinking his frustrations and fears away, and now... well, someone from his past had seemingly come back to life. He still couldn't believe it, even if he had held Tarak in his arms after a decade and a half. Who would have thought that the kid that he used to watch in the orphanage was now a big man with muscles large enough to crack someone's skull, anyway?

After their meeting, Trajan had gotten over his hangover, wearing off by the next morning. While a little incoherent, he was still one of the best shots in the ship, and once Natasha had ordered them to man the guns, he rushed towards his station, taking his place at his favorite turret. Now, they wait...

Recollections: Magnanimous (Cancelled)

---

Alexander Karamazov Vanburen

---

Ezra's brow furrowed as he looked down at Alex with a tiny frown as he chewed the inside of his cheek. This didn't really seem like the time for levity, but then again Ezra didn't really know his half-brother that well—maybe he was the kind of man who needed to crack a joke to ease the tension. Hopefully he wasn't the kind of man who truly believed he saw a Beagle fly. Ezra's face softened as he exhaled a half-laugh, half-sigh and shook his head, "I imagine that was after you'd already have more than your fair share of the devil's lettuce. Wish that was the case here, but I truly doubt that Arabelle dosed our breakfast."

"Oh... right." Alexander huffed as the Spectre shook its head at him. The ghostly Apparition seemed to be disappointed in its charge, and even had its shadowy arms crossed in disapproval of Alex's rather shoddy work at remembering at how things occured back in the past. "Now that I think of it, I have reason to believe that I'm the one that consumed the stash of narcotics that day... Mmm. Makes perfect sense."

He was still completely out of it, though, as this was the first time that he had seen hellhounds in action, as well as the magic of the Wiccans. He was a newcomer to the world of magic, even if the Spectre had told him many things; it only spoke of topics that he asked it about, and Alex was not the kind of person that would barrage anyone with an endless litany of questions like a little child.

---

Raymond Salazar Vanburen

---

However, his attempts at forcing the vines apart were assisted by Ray's stone. Creating a massive drill out of stone that managed to cleave a way through it for him! Easier than what he was trying, but he felt a twinge of shame for not being able to do it himself. Still, he just had to say, "Thanks... Mr. Vanburen,"

"Glad to be of help, Mr. Liao." Raymond have Justin a friendly smirk as he took back the stones that he had used to drill through the vines back towards his shoes and hands. With that done, he then closely followed Justin through the hallways of the manor, though he took some of the time to sniff the vines that he had shredded through. Smells like magic vines. In other words, vines.

With the wall of annoying vines out of the way, Ray slid through the floor on his earthen shoes, using his Terrakinesis to guide the stones towards the destination; right ahead. He was right behind Justin the whole time, lagging a bit now as he wasn't feeling as well as he did in the morning. There were these crazy cultists once again, being trouble to their hapless manor as their giant dogs were still hanging around then. "Tch. I like cats more."

"Block this, asshole! Sic him, boy!" Morgana commanded and a Hell-Hound came running after Justin. The Hell-Hound roared as it charged him... and got a doorframe directly in the face. It came to a sliding stop before it got back up and continued the fight.

Ray wasn't going to let Justin fight the creature alone. Never. "Hello, doggie." He then jeered at the hellhound before stomping both of his feet on the ground in a Hung Gar-esque stance. Ray would then take another step forward, causing a fissure to erupt on the floor, culminating in a pillar of stone that would strike the hellhound right at the underside in less than a second...

Agents of SHIELD - Concluded

Astrad Lungren

---

---

Location: Asgard

---

Astrad gave a nervous chuckle at the statement by Baldur that they were the first humans to ever go into the halls of Breidablik. First time for everything, mayhaps. Sensing that this alien was quite friendly, he smiled back at Baldur. "I guess I'm honored to be among the first?" He would then follow the Asgardians into the hallways, looking at every direction with awe at the splendor of the place of myth that they were currently in. Unlike Amelia, he was following the mythical places that Nanna and Baldur were mentioning, as those were also part of his grandparents' bedtime stories. Breidablik was the home of Baldur, while Helheim, was, as the Asgardian explained, the realm of Hel, the goddess of death. The sunscreen was a weird variable, though? Nevermind. It was still unbelievable that he was living out the myths of the Nordic people in the heavenly realm of Asgard itself!

At the mention of feast, Astrad's eyes sparkled. "Uuuuhm, thank you... uh... Sir Baldur?" Everything was so warm and good; hell, even the floor was made of gold! This was literally heaven. He will be glad to be in a feast; he was very famished from everything that happened in the last few hours.

Nathaniel De Costa

---

---

Location: Ellis Island, New York City

---

It took him a while, but Nathaniel had finally come back to his senses. He had been shot between the eyes by Angstrom earlier, and had been incapacitated for a period of time that was totally unacceptable for Nathaniel and his inflated sense of work ethic. His head was still swimming from the pain that Angstrom had inflicted when he had fallen through his own portal, but now, Nath was absolutely livid at the concept of being shot at by a rich man in a suit. In this case, a rich man in a suit that could shift between big and small. It was an unholy aberration; a mad combination of Pym's shrinking technology and Tony Stark's suits. Now that he thought of it, both of those people hated Andrew Rossi with a burning passion; it was a surprise that Iron Man let that man inside his own team. Well, probably because he was desperate for more support in the fighting that was currently raging on Ellis Island.

Grumbling, he got up from the ground just in time to see the seemingly lifeless body of Folly Valeska in front of Cassandra Reed. By the looks of it, she had her neck snapped by the SHIELD agent. His vision was still blurry, and the pain was still acute in his head, so he only watched as Woolf seemed to be dead for a few moments.

And then, the unexpected happened; she sprung back to life, her injuries completely healed. Ah, right. She had a healing factor. Nathaniel struggled not to throw up at what occurred next as Folly bit her own eyeball off. "Uugggghhh..." He was physically uncomfortable at the sight, but that was besides the point. The thing he needed to do right now was to get back to the action, and his eyes glided towards Cassandra, whom he now disliked as she had snapped a teenager's neck.

Nathaniel would then attempt to send the woman into a portal of his own making, intending to throw her away from the battle by placing her into the same building from which he had tried to shoot at their foes earlier. However, whether because of the headache or the revulsion at the eyeball, he sent himself through the portal. He was back there. Again.

"No worries...", Nathaniel simply said to himself with a deep breath. This was still salvageable. Deciding to try to shoot again, Nathaniel tore open another breach, this time leading right towards his target, Ms. Reed. Beams of purple and blue would erupt from his hands in an unholy litany of hateful destruction, striking the ground several times before hitting Cass on the upper right shoulder. Finally! A hit!

Recollections: Magnanimous (Cancelled)

---

Alexander Karamazov Vanburen

---

Alexander nodded as Ezra told him not to take the words of the Wiccans as cold, hard fact. He did have a point in that people with wierd robes, animal masks, and a seemingly high propensity for stupid plans and disregard for allies were not exactly the most credible source. Their sheer incompetence was a sure sign of that, too. "I see. Huff. I'm exhausted." He had no energy nor motivation to chase after the wiccans anymore; chaining Daniel up and casually giving him threats was just about everything he was willing to do. Heck, this was like the fifth time he had been here, and he just never felt an attachment to this place, as he was in Araminta solely because of the stone curse that was taking a hold over the bodies of every single Vanburen. He didn't even like it here....

“Actually, there is James’ artifact collection. Most of it looks like junk, really, but a few of the items might be valuable. There’s a gallery past the ballroom, near the study. If you think it is safe, Arabelle can show...”

"Artifacts, huh.", Alexander glanced at the trail of dirt that Ray had left behind when he slid off with his earthen coated shoes. "Experience tells me that seemingly worthless objects often hold great power. Especially if they're very old and ancient. And magical. My, I've been watching too many movies lately."

He just sat down beside Ezra, and sighed, leaning slightly towards his half sibling, almost as if he was going to fall asleep. "Wierdest day ever. That's coming from someone who had seen a Beagle fly around a house because it had chewed on a stash of weed."

---

Raymond Salazar Vanburen

---

It wasn't long before Ray had arrived beside Justin in front of the plantine barrier, kicking up a cloud of dirt and dust as he stopped gliding along the ground with his terrakinetic Abstraction. He looked at the vines, and grumbled in annoyance of the chase being delayed by another distraction yet again. "Damn, I hate vines.", he said while watching Justin cleave through the plants. These wiccans were rather persistent in their goals, of this there was no doubt. And yet, despite being bad at what they do, the Wiccans seemed to be somehow achieving their goal, as they had successfully delayed the people chasing them once more. Their brazen incompetence was being matched by an overwhelming amount of luck and the voluminous amount of powers that they had in their disposal.

"Tch, if they're looking for some magic artifact, they certainly cannot be allowed to take whatever they are seeking." Ray would then wince, as earthbending was beginning to enact its negative effects on his body. He then took the stones that he had wrapped around his shoes and hands, and then promptly sharpened them while levitating them around his right palm. The sigil on his wrist glowed a fiery light brown as he sent the sharpened stones into a rapidly spinning spiral, shredding through vines in an effort to get to the other side as soon as possible. Waiting for Justin to clear up with his pyro-telekinesis would just make them get in each other's ways while chasing.

Recollections: Magnanimous (Cancelled)

---

Alexander Karamazov Vanburen

---

"Ah yes, you missed quite a lot.", Alexander coughed with irritation as he moved away from the wall that he had been leaning on. "I just start getting to know my half siblings, and suddenly some crazy chain fetishists and witches come around and, and, and, what, start ruining everything because of... what was it, stolen property?" If these people had a slight against James Vanburen, and were breaking into the place to retrieve some kind of magical trinket, Alex was just... hmmm... out of it. He had no care about James at all, or at least that was what he told himself, and couldn't care less if one of his amulets were taken by some wiccan.

Except that these were wiccans, and were up to no good, if they were looking for a magical artifact. He had watched enough movies and series on magic to see that when someone was looking for an old object, they were probably going to use it for evil purposes.

"Hey, Ezra.", Alexander said to Ezra, turning only his head to face the man. "Any idea on what these people could regard as stolen property amongst our father's collection? Sounds like he pissed off a lot of people in life, huh.."

---

Raymond Salazar Vanburen

---

"Don't worry about the floor, Ezziekels.", Ray answered with the rather... affectionate nickname that he had always used to refer to his older half brother. As some of the flames had been doused out by the stone slabs that he bored out of the floor, he returned the rocks to their original positions in the floor, making it seem that they were never removed from in there in the first place. Instead, the stone floor was completely whole again, though much of the fire wall was still raging in an infernal display of magic.

He then turned to Oscar as he gathered some of the stray rocks that the hellhound had scattered unto the floor, coating his hands and shoes in earthen materials. "You can deal with this fire, Oscie." He then entered into a fighting stance, causing his earth covered feet to slide on the floor by using his terrakinesis, moving at a rather quick pace to go towards the other side of the wall of flames to chase the hellhounds and their owners. They need answers, and he would like to bash it right out of someone's face.

WORM: Parahumans Manchvegas [CANCELLED]

Ray Clayton - Madjick

"Hi Myrtie, how are you today?"

Myrtle would find a familiar voice speaking from behind her, one that was quite friendly and welcoming to the ear. Once she turned around, she would see that it was no other then Ray Clayton, codenamed Madjick, dressed in a maroon leather jacket and holding a cone of vanilla icecream on his hand, which he was halfway through. He didn't have his purple trenchcoat on right now, though the duffle bag that he was holding on his left hand was probably where he had it at the moment. The band-aid that Myrtle had placed on his head was still there, though it was beginning to wear off through the test of time and weathering. Either way, the man seemed rather elated to see her, as he didn't have a lot of friends that weren't refusing offers to be heroes too, and approached her.

"Glad to see that you're around, Wallflower.", he said as he stepped forward and hugged her for a short duration. Looking back down, Ray smirked. "You gonna take up on Kotie's suggestion for us to work together or nay?"

Jeremiah Powell - Void Dragon

"No, no, no, no..." Jeremiah shook his head as he read the latest newspaper headline on the Manchester Inquirer. He couldn't believe it. Not again. This was the worst thing that could ever happen.

Void Dragon strikes again!

For the last whole decade, he had been hard at work. Jeremiah Powell had been a prominent name in the sci-tech division of the Protectorate, as he had been trying to engineer a cure for Case 53's; a way to reverse the monstrous mutations that had been plaguing that particular brand of parahumans ever since their inception. Officially, he was a Rogue; working with the Protectorate for the sole purpose of aiding in research in the peculiar biology of parahumans, which happened to include himself. And he was one of the worst possible cases of case 53's to exist right under everyone's noises: The Void Dragon.

For days, months, years, he had been focused in the singular goal of stopping his activation every midnight. He was, however, mostly unsuccessful, succeeding only in containing his dread alter ego through the strongest chains and containment procedures within the pocket dimension that he created within his home, but every now and then, the Dragon would burn through its prison and rampage through the night.

And worst of it all, he could remember all of it. Their terrified screams, the rending of human flesh with daemonic reptilian teeth, and their weeping.

Right now, though, some light may come to his life. Apparently, there had been other incidents of Case 53's with involuntary activations. If only he could get his hands on one and have the proper experiments...

Agents of SHIELD - Concluded

Astrad Lungren

---

---

Location: Asgard

---

Astrad would still be quite embarassed as they bathed, so much so that he wouldn't be seen to be moving much in the river. Rather, he was just there the whole time, his head being the only part of his body being visible above the water. It was a crazy thing, though, at how the water did not seem to become colder in his presence. Or on how the ice wall melted a while ago. It was really a blessing, though, that the Asgardian gave them all privacy, and them to each other.

He would find everything to be vaguely familiar, and yet so strange at the same time. This place was a thing of legend, the setting for the stories his grandparents told him as a kid. On how the gods of Asgard walked on the rainbow bridge, how Heimdall blew the horn and acted as watcher. And then they said it was all just a story.

Either way, he rolled his eyes as Amelia asked way too many questions; he didn't really like to be bugged a lot, and only imagine how much patience the goddess had.

Soon enough, they would meet Baldur, who called them adventurers... strange. "I think it's a very loose term for us... or me.", Astrad said to the Asgardian. "Adventurer is the last thing I could ever be..."

Recollections: Magnanimous (Cancelled)

---

Alexander Karamazov Vanburen

---

Alexander grinned in glee as the stone pillar that emerged out of the floor threw Daniel out of balance, readying his chains to tie down the wiccan once again, for real this time. He was about to wrap the green, glowing chains of dark magic around the young man when the unexpected happened; a woman, the leader of the cultists by the looks of it, had thrown her own chains into the fray, hitting Daniel with them… except that they had spikes on them and pricked the kid at the back. Alexander winced at the sight as he hesitated; true, he wanted to keep him prisoner for questioning, but even he wouldn't go as far as stick him with a spike chain, and certainly would not want to drag him along the ground while riding a massive hellhound. And… ouch… did he just hit an exposed pipe? If that boy had been unable to escape from his shackles, Alexander would have simply given him a knockout punch, but that seemed to be out of the equation as the two cultist girls erected a fire wall to cover their escape.

Sighing, Alexander simply turned to the Apparition that was always with him, the Spectre. He did not even acknowledge Justin jumping into the flames; he just had enough of this whole day, and simply wanted to get this entire shabang done.

That wouldn't be the end of it, as it seemed that they had a late sibling to the show. Her name was Aileen, apparently, and she would see Alexander just leaning on the wall of the destroyed dining room, seemingly oblivious to the wall of fire. He was just done with everything. "Oh, hi, another sister, I guess." He waved at Aileen, and then looked at the fire with a completely tired expression. "Worst. Reunion. Ever."

---

Raymond Salazar Vanburen

---

Ray stared into the wall of fire, gazing at the exact spot where Justin had crashed into the flames. He felt a little dazed from using his Abstraction, but he still had a lot of fight left in him, especially as these crazy wiccans had destroyed their house and showed blatant disregard for the safety of one of their own, letting him hit an exposed pipe on the floor whilst unceremoniously dragging his body across the floor with spiked chains. "Crazy bastard.", he simply said as he looked at Justin, whose hand was now a fiery mess.

The man scoffed, brushing off the dust off his jacket as he began to concentrate on his Abstraction once again. These crazy wiccans had done more than their fair amount of damage to this mansion, and he couldn't care less if they were here for what they called stolen property. After all, James had probably stolen a lot more than just the unwitting hearts of unsuspecting women from all over. Trinkets, artifacts, maybe. But they had threatened everyone's safety, and for that, they must be punished.

Too bad, though. Ray was not fireproof, not like Justin, and his Terrakinesis is yet to be advanced enough to be able to douse out the fire wall by causing the floor to eat itself… if that makes any sense. He would have to do this the hard way.

Putting a foot forward, a pair of rock slabs were bored out of the floor, which he would then set upon the blaze in attempt to extinguish them. Raymond was not pleased. He is ready to throw hands; literally.