VATROU

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

Muahahahah new characters.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

New York a thriving metropolis of lights and dreams, the home of many immigrants and Mob families. And now after two decades of silence the mob is back, the look of button men walking the streets and greeting their neighbors is gonna be a real treat for the local neighborhood watch. Still there was quite the Shroud presence and Southie was carving a small corner for himself. Having Mayor Sampson in bed with his enemy complicated matters and careful planning along with a secure supply line would be crucial.

-- Meanwhile in Vegas --

Barron sat in his robe legs shaking in place as he tracked down Ben, Duff had no leads and it was getting tense. Ben needed to be found for both their sakes and Carol came in with a grin on her face.

”You got good news I can see it.”

“Call Duff we found Ben. Or his phone.” Carol sat next to Barron setting her behind on the arm of the chair. “Paid off an employee at Ben’s cellular network texts between his phone and a number under Reid Industries?”

Intrigued Barron paused as his finger stop just over Duff’s contact. ”This Reid Industries you think they were involved with this?”

Carol unsure herself let out a sigh. “Nothing has been dug up on them yet but the exchange seems to be between teenagers, friends possibly. Multiple texts of varying length.”

A slight ringing could be heard as Barron gave thought to the idea. ”If he’s texting we’ll ask him ourselves then.” With an angry and irritated tone Duff almost demanded for any information Barron had to which he happily obliged knowing all too well how dogs act when cornered. Soon Ben would need to answer a few questions about his whereabouts until then Barron hoped he would enjoy his freedom.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

Just FYI, going to be overseas for about a month after this coming weekend. Will try to remain somewhat active, with what little time I have and your GM is already aware... buuuut I just figured I'd let the rest of you know.

@Hound55

Overseas hhmm. No longer Down under are you. Gonna live in the same time zone as the rest of us. Say hi to your past and future self for us.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

*Whispers from the dark* Join us on Discord for hijinks..

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

I have a character who I cannot find a place for. He is Kobe, a vampire with superstrength, vision, speed, stamina, flight, agility, teleportation, telepathy (no telekinesis), and he uses a magical gem that he tunes in to so he can control the element of wind low to mid-level... I felt like that would siphon me out to other website members who may have similar tastes/preferences.

I am not always too descriptive, but I think I'm OK. I hope some one has an interest? I don't want to fill out a new CS and then get no feedback from the players.

@officaz

There are a few vampires, Dracula is also around. And there are a ton of breeds out there too. Vampires are also gifted in magic and could probably even be metahumans if they were turned after the fact. I'm not sure how they would react to becoming Meta powered after becoming Vampires but that also could be a possibility. Anyways there's tons of ways to make Vampires and the kind of characters they could be. So we're always open and accepting as long as basic rules are followed.

No god modding, no reality warping powers, no player mind control. And of course basic Guild rules too. Just write up a sheet post it in OOC and once accepted post into the Character tab.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

So no shit there I was watching Riley freaking out over the prospect of venturing further into space as I looked back towards this tosser of a spaceman. The fu@# does this Andromedan know, Dickens is fine; far as I can tell he has some kinda stick up his ass I thought looking at the two conversing with Martel and Aunt Briley. ”I got um stuff to prepare then, I need to see a guy about some magic. So you all just work on your thing for now yeah I'll meet later “ By later I mean sometime after space boy loses interest Taking the time to muse over the thought while moving to lug the crate of armor through the door and disappearing with it. “Merlin’s library, as uninviting as ever. I always feel so weirded out here like it’s watching me.” A few books fell over as I turned back around and reached for the door. Stopping I just glanced searching for Merlin who I completely expected to berate me over my carelessness. “Huh, no yelling, no one calling me a incompetent brat. Guess she stepped out.” A feeling of unease washed over me and I shook the numbness from my fingertips returning home.

--- Sometime later ---

Steam poured out the door as I stood drying off my hair; the shower was nice, the hot water relaxed my bones and I had the house to myself. My next step I thought would be a bucket of mint ice cream something on Netflix and maybe I’ll stop by the salon tomorrow. Dickens flopped about on his tiny feet as the fridge was wholly raided for snacks. Arms full, ice cream, salty snacks and spicy crisps. Nioce. “And!” With remote in hand I pressed the power button and…

A warpy space distortion appeared right in front of me and who of all people pops out.

“Eva, what are you doing? And how come you haven’t cleaned up your mess after you knocked that stack of books over!?”

“Ah, Merlin. Yeah no was just getting to that honest.” Bags of crisps slipped from my hands and I struggled to keep them in my arms. “Just uh hungry.”

I could see her eyes narrow and fill with irritation. But she was a cu%t so it didn’t matter what she thought.

“It’s finally time you started working on truly mastering Excalibur, if you could be bothered too.”

I did my absolute best to keep my eyes from rolling but from Merlin’s exasperated sigh that was clearly a monumental failure. “I think I know how to use Excalibur rather well, how much mastery do I even need? I’m a walking lightsaber.”

”Excalibur is not a saber, nor does it emit any light. There is more at stake than your petty jokes.”

Of course she wouldn’t get a Star Wars reference, I didn’t know any myself until a few years ago. It was always too uncivilized to watch any fantasy or science fiction movies in back in Walhforth Castle.”So what, there’s always something threatening the world. That’s why we have an Icon.”

”We don’t need an Icon, we need a Dragon Slayer. The blood of a dragon should increase your powers and prove your worthiness to wield Excalibur. For if you cannot there are others.”

Hold on others, no that can’t be right. “What! What do you mean others. I thought there wasn’t anyone else. And I’ve fought a few magical beasts not more than I can count on my fingers. What do I do with a dragon, ask it for a bit of blood?”

”Preferably kill it. A dragon is a magical beast on par with most lesser gods. A cosmic deity of sorts. That is why all heroes of legend have some sort of help. The Gods would offer aid and send them on their way, as luck would have it aid has found its way to you. With dragons long since abandoning this world finding one will be a difficult challenge one these friends of yours should be up to the task for.”

Merlin seemed to drone on ignoring my first question and even skipping out on any such aid if she even could offer someone a helping hand.”Wait wait! Your not monologing yourself out of this one, you said there were others. And what you think it’s fine to just send me out as is without any new tools or upgrades?”

”I don’t have much to give you. I did keep one item that my Arthur left in my care. Rhongomyniad or the spear Rhon.”

A bracelet was pulled from god knows where and placed into my hand.“This is jewelry. And others?.”

”Rhongomyniad can freeze water pulled from your surroundings and turn it into a near unbreakable spear as long as it remains in your hands, it can be thrown but it will shatter. The gem that dangles underneath will be your guiding light. As for this elephant as you call them in the room yes there are others. Your Brother, Sisters, Mother. They all carry the potential and with a bit of awakening could be worthy themselves few others outside your bloodline have ever been known to even hold Excalibur let alone be worthy of it’s true power.”

“Okay question answered. So anyone of my Blood relatives got it. I still don’t know why it’s necessary. A right bloody effort to kill a dragon I suppose. ”

”The Hounds have awoken some ancient evils, and riled up the magic community. Their offshoot the Winter Court angered the Elves, and a few beings of magic so vile wander this Earth, Icon or not he is not equipped to deal with threats of these caliber. Excalibur is a weapon uniquely suited for protecting and eliminating them.”

“Alright fine.” I do kinda feel like she’s using me but yeah might as well go in, not like I can back out now. “Let me just put these food items back and grab Dickens.” I noted how much the ice cream had begun to melt while we chatted and sighed as I shoved it back into the freezer. Dickens was still hanging around the living room so scooping him up was nice and easy, all I had to do now was pack my bags. Merlin had moved about in the kitchen but I didn’t pay much mind to it as I returned downstairs after grabbing my things. I didn’t understand what she was still doing but I went for the door leading to her library on my way to find one of my friends as it were, looking back I finally understood what she was doing. I could feel my voice booming with anger. “HEY! YOU WANKER YOU BLOODY GIT! That’s my mint chip!” Her eyes met mine and the door slammed my face busting my nose good as I found myself on the other side somewhere in Lost Haven. “Well shit, where the fuck am I now..”

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

And

in

Twisted Memories

Previously part 1 https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4828948

Previously Part 2 https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4838815

The creatures’ corrosive liquids had come as a surprise, costing Richard his shield, along with a few more pieces of his armor, such as the sensory equipment on the side of his head; the liquid violently snapped and crackled as it came into contact with his powered armor, leaving a trail of burnt and dissolved metal in its wake.

It took off a layer of his shoulder armor, and damaged the side of his helmet before it subsided; the armor was still more or less intact, but any more damage might expose the inner workings of his right arm.

Unburdened, the wild beast lunged as the viscous saliva singed away at Roadblock’s plating, eating away his shield and exposing the man behind it; Hound Dog countered the beast with a lighting blast. Not to be caught off guard, the wolf had been expecting this, and with an unseen agility it nimble dodged Hound Dog’s attack, turning around for an attack of its own by making full use of its caustic fluids.

Hound Dog was pushed on the defensive as the beast slung balls of vomit through the air, forcing Hound Dog back by zipping himself along the rails as his body felt the sudden whiplash of such massive G forces imposed upon him bones. It countered the lighting user with a newfound agility, likely seeing them as prey, the beast reached down as Sinclar was dodging and with great pain to itself, loosed a howl ripping out the rails and chucking them like javelins

Impacting with a thud two steel rails became fixtures in the brick Hound Dog stated. ”I think we might be in the shop for this one.” Blasting bolts back at the beast it ducked and claws dripping swipped to grab Sinclair with a thundering shockwave that burned even Sinclair’s flesh the beast was thrown back. ”I think we have some chemistry, sparks are in the air pal and I don’t think you like me all that much. Youse come closer again and we’ll hug this out. Or are yah chicken.” A crackling formed around Hound Dog as he unleashed a barrage of rolling thunder that leaped off the ground.

The creature got on all fours, preparing to move out of the way no doubt, but it’s attempt to dodge resulted in it suddenly being dragged backwards, and a loss of balance. Richard had fired a steel cable at its feet, then tugged at it, allowing Hound Dog’s rolling flash to build up on the rails, and strike at the bound beast.

”It’s a mistake to forget about me!”

Richard shouted as he pulled on the cable again, causing the beast to come flying at him, as soon as it was close enough he slammed his fist into it, breaking it’s momentum, and sending it straight into a wall.

Hound Dog readied himself and the beast smashed into the wall and sat for less than a second stunned before it vaulted towards the ceiling and began to rip out more metal pipes to toss, but not before coating them in acid; zapping a few away Hound Dog found himself caught off guard from the acid oozing in and out of the flung pipes. When it wasn’t slinging pipes it bolted all around the tunnel, taking swipes at both Roadblock and Hound Dog, then quickly slipping away in shadows and lunging from behind.

Backing up toward Roadblock he whispered. ”We need a plan. Pin him down and finish this.”

”Pin him down huh.” Richard said as he jumped to the side, avoiding one of the creatures tossed pipes. He tossed his gaze all over the ‘werewolf’, looking for anything more he can do, and then he noticed it’s bullet wounds had somehow healed already; clearly he’d need to get up close. So Richard slipped one of the grenades at his hip into his hand and palmed it, waiting for the creature to pause, and it did. It stopped by an ceiling light, already ripping it out before it even settled, and then Richard tossed his grenade.

”Close your eyes.” Richard whispered to Hound before he started sprinting towards the monster.

The small cylinder raced towards the creature, its head turned quickly to face what Richard had just thrown, but it stood its ground, only to realize what it was a moment too late. It exploded with a white flash, and a bang that echoed through the rest of the tunnels. Richard followed up by leaping after it, slamming his elbow down onto its head. To its credit, the beast was quick to its feet, and wasted no time trying to counter attack; but it’s new found blindness caused it to miss repeatedly.

So Richard took advantage of this and poured on his counterattack, several meaty thuds echoed through the tunnel, signaling each successive hit, with him only pausing to deflect a claw or two. But he got too eager, the creature recovered and slashed at his armored breast, and then it followed up with a bile blast to separate them. Richard just narrowly jumped back, with only a splash on his feet as a reminder to his inexperience.

Steel bearings floated in Sinclair’s hand and they whipped out individually drawn back to each other due to the magnetism that he imparted onto each tiny orb keeping the creature back so Roadblock can regain some composure. ”We need to end this lug of a beast, otherwise we’ll be it’s happy meal. The acid eats through metal and I think it’s strong enough to tear through traps. If we can keep it still one of us should have something to deal with it in one go.”

”I got it to stay still!”

”Richard, I know you enjoy using your hands, but why don’t we try something a little more permanent. Try the foam grenades.”

”I don’t need backseat fighting!” Richard started shouting from the pressure, but she was right. He should have thought of it earlier, but he just wasn’t used to having such a weird tool. At least his other weapons had normal comparisons, but with this, he had to aim it right or it could backfire, literally.

”Keep your distance, Hound Dog, I’m gonna keep it down.” He cocked his arm back again and let it loose towards one of the remaining ceiling fixtures. The creature was already mid air when the grenade flew towards it.

The grenade pinged off the metal frame of the light and then violently exploded with a hiss, releasing a thick spray of foam in the area. A blueish, gray, substance shot out of the can, coating the ceiling and the creature in a sudsy substance. It tried to jerk its way out, but the foam quickly hardened, finally stopping the beast in its tracks.

”Richard, Hound Dog isn’t strong enough to defeat it alone, and your rifle isn’t high enough calibur to affect any change; as you’ve seen. Use the AC-107 in combination with Hound Dog, we’ll blow it away in one shot!”

”The wha-” Richard’s question was prematurely answered as more information poured across his screen, and a certain weapon rotated itself over his shoulder. His lips shifted into a wide grin.
”Finally I get to see what this does, but how do we do this with Hound Dog?” More information danced across his display, this time with pictures to go along with Artemis’s explanation.

Richard motioned for Hound Dog to come closer to him before starting.

”Hound, I’ve seen you use those ball bearings, I need you to do that, but form it into a thin layer in front of my gun, try to take the shape of a lens, that way your electromagnetic energy will wrap around my blast.”

”That would work. Like what we doing a particle cannon! That’s some real groovy shit. Youse never told me you were smart enough for that bit of genius.” Metal balls flew around the front of Roadblock’s mounted cannon taking position and rotating as Hound Dog stood parallel to him ensuring the bearings speed up fast enough. “I don’t know how long that prison of yours will hold so fire at will.”

”We’re underground so I’ll be dialing your power back.”

”Got it!” Richard shouted, replying to both of them, and knelt down onto one knee.

He placed a hand over his cannon and fired. Steam ejected from Richard’s backpack and the ground under him gave way slightly as a thick red-yellow bolt shot out, shifting into a blue-white as it came into contact with Hound Dog’s energy, and accelerated towards the beast.

The creature had managed to crack the foam and had freed an arm, but it was futile as the ionized wave crashed into it, and washed away its form.

Richard shot up into a standing position.

”Hahah! Finally!”

Taking a moment of silence Hound Dog walked over to Roadblock. ”We should look into what the Hounds were doing, in case there’s more of those out there or more victims. But yeah for now we did good. I’ll see what Poseidon can dig up; let’s call the rest of the Boys in Blue and secure the place, collect what evidence we didn’t blow up. Then Milkshakes. Sound good.”

”We won’t be looking into anything, you and I better make like a banana, and split. Richard said as he pointed at the ceiling. There wasn’t anything tasteless like a bloody smear, but there was a fair sized hole, and several missing ceiling accessories.

”Maybe but I don’t like the idea of Hounds still running around with any tech, so I’ll keep my eye out for them.”

”I’ll call Jen and the rest of the SCD as soon as you leave, no need to make this too easy for the regulars.”

-----

”Took care of quite a rowdy bunch, was good teaming up with you Detective Roadblock. I’d buy you a shake, but I think you still have some more paperwork to do, unless you got some time to kill?”

”Paperwork can wait, I’m hungry now, and there’s a Shipley’s down the road. Want in?”

”So long as you don’t beam up your food.”

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

@HotDogLad As Hound mentioned just reading up on what's generally going on and how the world works a bit is usually enough. It's a superhero world so things can be pretty loose. As long as you don't start bringing in the Christian God or make characters warp reality. Most of us would be happy to answer questions if we're around.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

In

THE GREAT SPACE RACE

“MAAAAAAAAARTEL!”

The helpless raven-haired intern with an armful of papers barely had a second to react before the door burst open in a flash of purple and overly excited alien barged on through.

“Aaah!” Riley yelped, literally skidding to a halt. “I am so sorry!” Not even leaning down, she picked up the intern with her psionic powers and placed her back on her feet again. “There we go, good as new!”

“Ah, thanks I guess,” the intern grumbled, annoyed as she took a moment to collect her papers. Riley gave a double thumbs up in response.

“What in blazes is going on out here?”

“MAAAAAAAAAAARTEL!”

The intern shrieked again as Riley’s excitement came back in full force and she was propelled through the door Riley came in, leaving behind a cloud of very important documents as Riley rushed up to the good (and very confused doctor).

“OhmygoshIwasatthelibrarywithwandererandwewerelookingatbooksandIpetadogbutthenIsawthatbiganchorguyandrealizedthatbigdragonthingywasabigdragonthingyIsawthenIranoverthenIsmashedthroughthedoorandthen-”

“Riley, calm down, please!” Martel said, chuckling slightly. “Don’t give yourself a heart attack before you let me know what’s happening.” The alien heroine took a deep breath, her glowing dampening down a little bit before she resumed.

“I realized something about my psionic dream!” Riley said excitedly. “The creature that I saw was the same one I fought with on the Game Genie day! The one who was with the knightly girl!”

“...you’re certain?” Martel said, mildly surprised. “Because as it happens the, uh, “knightly girl” had a package arriving for her that I just finished inspecting.”

Riley’s eyes widened with excitement. “Maybe I can talk to her about the Dickens again!”

“I certainly don’t see why not,” Martel responded. “Come on, let’s get to my office before all the interns quit.”

Riley’s sudden arrival meant that Martel didn’t have time to clear his normally immaculate desk, which was dominated by a large metal crate and various tools and technical devices scattered around it to help with the tests he just finished. With a click the screen rang in Martel’s office directly from Phister’s location which Mrs. Patton was currently using. Each ring buzzed in intensity as per usual.

“Such brilliant timing,” Martel remarked going over to his viewscreen promptly. “I should perhaps buy a lottery ticket.” The camera clicked on as he stood in front of it, showing the good doctor with Riley idly milling around in the background and bouncing slightly. “Dr. Martel here,” Martel announced briskly.

Distracted by the remaining footage of the alien creature Briley almost didn’t catch the quick response from one of the leads of SPARK. “Yes. I had been monitoring for Riley and now that she’s here, I’d like you and her along with that certain package to come along to Phister’s office. There is someone I’d like to introduce, properly this time for Riley of course.”

“Someone say my name?” Riley piped in, appearing over Martel’s shoulder. “Oh, hi Miss Briley!”

“She’s...very enthusiastic to see you,” Martel said, wincing as he tried to avoid getting hit by the alien girl’s frantic waving. “We’ll make our way over there as soon as possible. I’m of the impression that Riley has business with the recipient of this thing as well.”

“Knightly girl is getting this?” Riley asked, looking curiously at the large metal case. “Ooh, I will be able to ask about Dickens then!”

“How delightful,” Martel said in a droll tone as he ended the communication. “Say, since you’re here, do you want to carry that thing with your psionics?”

Riley nodded enthusiastically, straining for a moment before the case levitated off the desk. “Goodness...it is rather heavy…”

“Nearly threw my back out carrying that thing in here,” Martel said with another chuckle. “Let’s hurry, I’d rather not keep this friend of hers waiting.”

The raven-haired intern stumbled back through the door to the main hallway, just as Dr. Martel emerged from his office alongside Riley, the giant, heavy, metal crate hovering in front of her. With a little whimper, the intern quickly stepped to the side and let the pair of them pass, breathing a sigh of relief before she tripped over the coffee table and dropped the sheaf of papers again.

The handle turned and the door began to open as Martel walked Riley into the room with the large crate in tow careful to set it down gently and avoid damaging anything. Knightly girl stood leaned up against a stack of books with a literal bucket of pizza in her arms from Bucket O’Things likely the greasiest fast food restaurant anywhere in the world as strings of cheese hung from her lips. Mrs. Patton welcomed the two to sit with a gesture.

“Dr. Martel, and Riley I’d like for you both to meet as you call her, Knightly girl, Eva Walsh; my niece I didn’t want you to find out some other way who she was.”

With a soft wave Eva continued munching on the pizza as Briley spoke. Riley was beside herself and looked about two seconds away from squealing with delight and tackling her with a big hug. Luckily, she composed herself this time.

“I felt guilty keeping this from you as you had kept Riley’s secret for some time before I found out, I wouldn’t want you to feel I had lied to you in any way.”

“Understandable, really,” Martel pondered. “I would have done the same thing in your shoes. I DID do the same thing in your shoes,” he added with a little pang of guilt, glancing over at the overexcited alien.

Sometimes gravity has a way of anticipating incoming transformations in space, almost like a living creature with instincts, with built in codes that let it react to outside stimuli. The reaction, in this case, was a sudden, wave-like gravitational oscillation which made several small objects in the room begin to orbit around a bit of empty space behind Eva. An impromptu asteroid belt of sorts, which grew in mass as some books and, eventually, the literal bucket of pizza, joined the clutter. The very light in the room became distorted into a bizarre series of multicolored curvatures, and the air gained a cool, crisp feeling to it, like it had been purified with mostly harmless radiation.

Then it all went back to normal. Objects fell down as they remembered where ‘down’ was. Light acted normally again. The air recovered its previous smell and texture. The bucket of pizza performed a tragic reenactment of the extinction of the dinosaurs as it crashed onto the pristine floor and violently spilled its precious, precious contents in a cheesy splatter many feet wide and long.

“Aaaah, not the pizza!”

”Bloody worthless tosser!” Eva exclaimed as goop covered her, the floor and parts of the ceiling. Briley looked at the mess with disdain more so that William Phister would be outraged than anything else. ”Gonna have a fu#king terrible time getting this sauce out of my hair.” Eva said as she wiped cheese from her face, and shirt.

What the gravity in the room had anticipated revealed itself quite suddenly, in a spontaneous display of colorful cosmic energy right in the middle of where the asteroid belt of pizza, books and stuff had been. It was a sphere that was not quite a sphere, an object that was not an object at all. It was a proper rift in space, made from bits and pieces of space itself. And not just the space in that room, but the space from many places.

The rift made no sound, or at least the air around it could not reproduce it. Although, by the looks of it, whatever sound its motions could have made would have been spectacular and surreal, like the finest chillwave. There was a rhythm to its inner motions.

It must be remarked that a human body, or any body for that matter, never looks like itself while passing through a rift in space, at least until it crosses into conventionally accepted space. The cells in any body have to adapt to the fact that the space between them is now completely relative and can take nonsensical forms to maintain the body as a whole alive and sapient, and the end result of that is easily lost among the rest of the cosmic nonsense going on in the oniric spaces between spaces.

Ergo, the creator of the rift appeared at first as certainly humanoid in appearance, but a bit on the wrong side of the uncanny valley. From outside the rift, they caught a glimpse of a slender being with neon-colored hair and eyes, iridescent skin, and features that were sometimes round, sometimes sharp. And then, just as they had seen it, the being was standing in the middle of the ring of cheese, papers, pens, pencils and books, and he was unquestionably human.

Gawking, Eva stood there for a moment before she yelled. “I Assume this was your doing you giraffe-necked, carebear-reject unicorned ET wanker.”

The young human in the black and purple armor had a handful of rules he stood by at all times, no matter the context. Partly because he wanted to be a good Christian boy, but mostly because he liked them. One such rule was not engaging with abusive language.

This time, however, he had no choice but to break that rule.

“Why ‘giraffe necked’?”
Asked the young man, hand immediately caressing his neck to check its length. He had never felt insecure about it. Nobody had complained before.

He glanced around and furrowed his brow a bit, a bit confused. The cheese under his boots felt dangerously slippery.

“Man, I was aiming for the entrance hall”, he mumbled to himself before turning back to Eva. “I’m really sorry about the mess. I guess my beacon was a bit off. Usually I’m very accurate with rifts.”

“Wow!” Riley suddenly piped in, hopping to her feet. “I do not mind, that was interesting. It was like something right out of Star Trek!”

“The next generation or the original series?” He asked instinctively, not taking a moment to think about what the girl looked like. A part of his brain, thoroughly accustomed to non-human people, was probably doing the hard subconscious labor of just passively accepting the blue skin, red eyes and tentacles for hair as a perfectly normal thing to see.

“Hmm, I would say next generation, effects were a little better…” Riley pondered before her eyes suddenly lit up with excitement. “Hey, you know Star Trek too!”

“My mom loves sci-fi stuff”, said the young man, “so I grew up watching Star Trek and Cosmos with her every night. We both agree that Picard is better than Kirk.” Riley nodded with approval at this decision.

”Never saw yourself come through one of your rifts yea. Looked like an elephant laid a snake egg that somewhere between smashed a rainbow. And yeah next time use a door, even Voyager knows what doors are. And she's more energetic than a Jack Russell terrier with a can of red bull.” Riley gave an innocent wave, seemingly confirming the fact.

“I did try to look at myself through a rift once”, he answered, his consciousness on the verge of catching up to the fact that he had been conversing with an unknown alien. “Looked more like a koi fish wearing a red velvet cupcake as a wig to me...”

He paused, bordeaux eyes turning to Riley. His mouth parted slightly, a look of mild confusion briefly showing in his features, and he spoke again.

“I’m…” He hesitated, then gave his head a little sideways shake, loosening strands of his long bordeaux hair from his ponytail, and smiled. “You can call me Andromedan.”

He approached the two young women with an outstretched hand, a bit of cosmic energy lingering in the air around it like a little, multicolored cloud.

“Riley!” the tentacle-aired alien confirmed happily, much to the visible chagrin of Dr. Martel and the other humans. “Voyager works too, if you want to use the fancy name.” Like Andromedan, a little bit of energy lingered in the air around her as well, psionic to match his cosmic.

“Nice to meet you, Riley!” He answered with a bit of a chuckle.

”Pardon the sticky hands, I feel like a deep fryer fu.. I mean was smashed into a washing machine.”

“No worries”, said the Andromedan. “Mine are still coated in space dust. It’s very hard to clean properly.”

Her aunt had those eyes about her, the ones all parents give their kids that death stare when they know they’ve gone too far. “Yes well I’m glad you’re all here, but please we have a reception desk. Now you’re all mature adults here, or I’m pretty sure most of you are we haven’t quite decided on Riley yet given her unknown biological systems, far as I know she could be one.” Turning to Martel, Briley spoke. “Dr. Martel if you could open the case for Mrs. Pendragon here. And if you.” She said placing her gaze upon Andromedan. “Have any business we should get down to that.”

“Oh, right!” Said the Andromedan, reaching for Briley, his smile diminishing into a more professional style. “So… I actually have a couple things I want to ask you about. First of all, want to know what sort of equipment you’ve been buying from alien merchants.”

He then deftly pulled his phone out of one of his armor’s pockets and presented her with a picture of his newest pet. More specifically, a selfie he had taken with the alien creature and Jake, where the three of them shared a massive bowl of ice cream in bed in a sunny weekend morning.

“And what do you know about Thorian Thrashers?” he asked, not yet noticing Riley hovering behind him, looking at the selfie with stunned silence.

Briley sat silent for a minute. “You do realize we are a company that specializes in cutting edge tech, and military contracts, some are yes weapons others armor and energy consumption. While I cannot divulge all the purchases we’ve made we are just beginning to understand what makes alien technology so special. It’s use of energy and micro compression of technology. I can fit a phone in the palm of my hand, but an exosuit has more technology in its pinky or similar appendage than most home computers.” Unfazed by the picture that Andromedan showed her of a creature much like Eva’s space dragon, she calmly continued. “And that creature is what exactly.”

“It’s Dickens!” Riley interjected into the conversation, bouncing on her feet like a child with too much sugar. “But...a little different. Do you know more of them?”

“...Dickens?” Muttered the Andromedan. “Not a bad name.”

He gave the alien girl a closer look of the creature in his phone screen.

“This is a Thorian Thrasher”, he said to her, giving Briley a sideways glance. “An invasive, predatory and very, very powerful animal… at least when it’s all grown up. If you’ve seen one on Earth, that’s… a bit of an issue. It’s an issue if you see one anywhere near any inhabited planet, really.” Briley sighed but she supposed that was to be expected.

“What if I saw one in my head?” Voyager asked innocently.

“You mean… like a vision?” He raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

“Yes, exactly!” Voyager said, pleased that someone understood at last. “That is why I came over here so urgently, because I wanted to ask about Miss Knightly Girl and her Dickens. I think...someone is sending me a message, and it involves Dickens in some way. At first I thought it was some dream, but it felt...too personal.”

“It’s not out of the question that what you saw could have been a direct message,” Martel explained helpfully. “Some of the resonances in psionic energy that I’ve observed have been similar to brain wave patterns, and if so they could be deciphered by a psionically attuned system.”

The Andromedan stared expressionless for a bit, his voice even, if a bit softened, when he spoke.

“Okay, so… I’m majoring in humanities and stuff, so I’m gonna need you to dumb that down for me. A lot.”

“Sorry, bad habit,” Martel said apologetically. “In essence, the energy force that Riley can wield can also function as a messaging service. Essentially someone sent an e-mail with a message saying ‘Dickens is important, go find him’.” Martel’s grin faltered slightly, then his eyes widened in realization.

“Neat”, said the Andromedan, mostly to himself, nodding. “But why that particular ThorianThrasher?”

”Right what the hell is up with Riley getting spammed with visions of Dickens. How does he factor into, well, anything?”

“It just occurred to me...Riley, you’re certain that no one on the planet could have sent you this vision?”

Riley shook her head no. “Only one other psionic person I know about, and he could not have sent it. Why?”

Martel scratched his head. “Well, if the message came from deep space, which the Thrasher seems to indicate, then…the only way it could have reached you is from a similarly attuned system. In layman’s terms,” Martel said, giving the others a look. “The message would have to come from someone of the same species.”

There was a stunned silence as Riley clapped her hands over her mouth.

Briley surmised that considering her vast psionic capabilities that is was more than possible there would be others of her species that had similar or stronger powers or ones they haven’t encountered yet. “Perhaps your kind is trying to reach out to you whatever their intention may be. I’d be a bit careful of anyone able to enter another’s mind even to convey a psi-mail.”

Martel nodded in the affirmative. “It is a highly reasonable explanation.” He then backed away slightly as Riley started to float into the air.

“You mean...there’s more of me out there?” she said, her hands still clamped across her mouth in sheer surprise.

The Andromedan seemed to be on the verge of speaking for a moment. He hesitated. His mind had caught up to Riley’s technically-not-human appearance, but it was more than that. When he did speak, his voice sounded rather subdued.

“It’s… possible”, he said, looking at the alien girl as he stuffed his phone back in his pocket. “I have never seen someone like you, but I’ve heard of species with psionic powers. Not a lot of them, and I think most of them are extinct… but there’s that.”

He was quiet again, pensive, but this pause was shorter.

“Riley, what do you know about who you are? Do you know anything about how you got here?”

“Um...not much. I just sort of woke up in a box when Miss Fletcher found me,” Riley said, her spirits faltering slightly. “The rest is sort of...foggy.”

The Andromedan nodded and remained quiet for a little while.

“Well, whatever this all means, it involves a Thorian Thrasher, so I need to be involved”, he said, arms crossed over his chest. “Where is Dickens?”

Eva looked at Andromendan still pulling toppings out of her hair. ”What's it to you?”

“I have a sorta moral responsibility to keep Thorian Thrashers away from inhabited planets”, he explained. “They’re no evil creatures, but they are apex predators and they never stay docile for long. You can’t keep one on Earth.”

”I don't see any harm in it, he seems pretty happy, even though I don't know much about Thorian Thrashers. Anyways he's safe at home. Probably sleeping, he does that alot.”

“Look, I keep my own in my dorm room and they’re very sweet”, he said. “But one day he’s going to try to eat you or someone you love. I just want to preempt that. Find your Dickens a safe place in the galaxy where he can eat and grow and not be a danger to anyone.” He pulled his beacon from his pocket, felt its energy, and thought of planets where a Thorian Thrasher might be comfortable and harmless.

“I’m going to be taking my Thrasher with me soon, but I would really like to make sure that there are no more of their kind on Earth. If something goes wrong with mine or yours, I’m the only cosmomancer available to help and I know I’m not strong enough to fight a fully grown Thrasher.”

“Do you think I could come with you?” Riley asked, her excitement coming back in full force. “I think it is what the vision wants me to do, to help you bring the Dicken Thrasher home!”

The quiet hesitation from before returned, the Andromedan’s face suddenly impassive.

“I’m not supposed to leave Earth at all, so I was already breaking a promise by going away for just a couple hours to get the Thrashers away from the planet.”

He seemed to be musing aloud, but as soon as he was finished he was smiling again, and he spoke to Riley with a bit of enthusiasm.

“Might as well make it a long trip”, he said and chuckled. “Just so we’re clear, though, we might be going to some really far away places and you’re absolutely going to need to pack warm clothes, some snacks and old jazz vinyls, if you have any. I assume you don’t have any cash from any interspatial currency, so old jazz vinyls are the next best thing. Xenomusicologists love them and will trade you fairly for them.”

“Not that I don’t trust you to go galavanting through the cosmos,” Martel interjected cautiously. “But Riley, are you sure you’re in a position where you can take this trip?”

“I HAVE already been to space, somewhat,” Riley said, pleased with herself. “Plus if the city is in danger I know someone who can come to its rescue. I met her earlier, she is quite capable and a force to be reckoned with!”

Halfway across the city, Maddy Fen Ling was passed out on her sofa watching Jessica Jones on Netflix.

”So, what you're like the Space Police, Space Marines? You go around in battleships and mop decks? Assuming I do believe all that, and yeah Dickens has had some people before, they were villains and I scolded him so he shouldn't do it again; I'm still not exactly ready for space, breathing oxygen and all that.”

“Well...” said the Andromedan. “To answer your first question, no. I’m not really a space cop or marine or anything like that. We cosmomancers are more like diplomats and occasional rebels. And I rarely go around in battleships. Rifts in space are faster.”

Martel cleared his throat. “And in answer to your last statement, I believe this would be helpful.” Turning his attention to the heavy crate, he quickly entered a passcode into the locking mechanism, and with a shrill tone the lock snapped open, letting off a dramatic depressurized hiss. “I’ve been double checking some of the features on this bit of equipment, I think it will suit your needs, no?”

The armor was simple and knightly, pauldrons were clean and without any pronounced edges and spikes, the gauntlets had plenty of finger joints and covered the forearms, a raised chest plate would deflect blows and allow ample space for her chest. A leather looking material was underneath even though Eva assumed it was far from normal cow hide, the legs and knees had protection and the helmet was closed and seemed like it would actually hide her identity. With a cute capelet hanging off the back. ”No shit, you make this Doc? It looks more like a hero suit than my hoodie ever did.”

“I helped with the less interesting systems, power and connections and the like,” Martel said with a slight chuckle. “The design is mostly Lion’s work, it’s an impressive bit of engineering.”

“It does look especially knightly!” Riley said, admiring the sleek design.

“Speaking of which, if you are planning on heading across the galaxy, I have a suit for you as well Riley,” Martel announced. “Nothing too different from your usual, just some better armor and some backup life support, so you don’t need to rely entirely on your powers to function out there.”

“Ooh, that would be helpful,” Riley admitted, giving a nervous gulp at the thought of her barriers breaking down when she was out in the vacuum of space. Naturally though the idea of being in space reminder her that she was in fact going into space.

“We’re going to spaaaaaaaace!”

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

In

Space Oddity

Episode 04

---

The commotion at the spaceport as Andrews was picking up a package had caused great alarm in the marketplace. So much so that the seller of “gently used goods”, as they called them, had simply ditched the meeting place. Andrews and his security detail had begun pushing through the crowds as vendors quickly packed tarps and ripped off crates, while some instantly collapsed on the spot. A being sitting on what Andrews would have described as a hover chair dashed by leaving a goopy mess in its path. “We should see what the hubbub is about. Explore if there’s a angle we can exploit a bit.”

“Don’t you think we should called Mrs. Patton? Doctor Andrews?” One of the earpieces suits spoke up. “We are deviating from the current plan afterall.”

“I don’t see why we should, we’re not throwing ourselves into any particular danger.”

“I respectfully disagree.” The woman standing next to him said echoing her colleague. “I am skeptical of what would make visitors to this planet quickly pack up their wares as if the place was set ablaze. Calling Mrs. Patton should be our priority.”

Sighing, Andrews succumbed to logic presented to him, perhaps he had let his curiosity take over his own common sense. “Fine. We’ll inform Mrs. Patton. But we should ask around and get answers as well.”

While his bodyguards contacted their boss; Andrews had came up upon a merchant still packing away his goods. Short and lacking arms the bearded creature was moving things with the many tendrils that made up his thick facial hair. “You there. Fine Merchant. What is happening to cause such panic.”

Looking towards the human the Beradain rubbed his tendrils together as such a pace the sounds it produced vocalyzed words that Andrews could understand despite how high pitched and raucous it was. “A cosmic being has landed, you have fun with that one. Wish you luck. Human of Poseidon.”

Taking that knowledge in as the short being tossed crates upon a hover lift, Andrews spoke with his guards as they had just informed Mrs. Patton of the recent developments. “What shall we do. If we don't make haste and vacate this place ourselves then we could get caught up in something quite perilous. Our business was cut short and we no longer have a purpose here.”

--- Meanwhile at the Poseidon Pacific Point plant ---

The news was slowly getting wind of something happening in Davenport. The Military had kept things quiet enough; for whatever that was worth as videos surfaced of a strange being floating over lake Champlain. “A hoax.” One commenter said. Another comment was jiberish as if they smacked thier keyboard. A few minor heroes typed out evacuation instructions to anyone recording. Briley Patton was sitting in a chair feeling uneasy about the whole situation all she did know was something touched down, her Military contacts didn’t give her enough clearance to wipe a General’s ass so asking them anything was a waste of valuable time. “Andrews.” Briley called over the comms as Andrews and his team were waiting for further instructions on their way to the parking lot. “Extract to safety if such is possible and put a drone in the air, I wish to confirm a few things and speak with this armored hero conversing with such a beast. No not beast; Celestial. I think that would be more fitting of a name.”

Driving out towards the airport they readied the drone as soon as they entered Vermont Airspace. It would bounce signals off satellites once it was close enough to its target as no one would be hanging around long enough to ensure it got anywhere near Lake Champlain; this was an expensive kamikaze toy as no one expected it to return in any piece that would be recognizable.

---

Fear was one of life’s most universal instincts, or so had Takol told him once. All living creatures, no matter how powerful, felt it. Even nigh omnipotence could not make one immune to it.

However, there was a vast difference between knowing this in theory, and actually understanding it. To experience that emotion through such a great being’s perspective, to share that invisible, intangible impulse within, made the idea of universal constants seem a lot more real than he could have ever imagined.

And this being, which could so massively yet effortlessly distort space, was afraid. They felt panic, dread, and it affected them to their core.

“What frightened you?” Asked the Andromedan, sparing a sideways glance to the being’s matter as it spread towards Burlington, threatening to bring their cosmic energies to the people he had grown up with. When he turned his eyes back to the being, they emited new sound, lower than the previous ones, but also thicker, as if sound could be comprised of particles.

That did not clear things up in the least.

“Please, show me.”

They repeated the sound, and this time its resonance made the Andromedan feel like his very atoms were quivering. Not exactly a new sensation for him, but certainly a clarifying one.

An image came to him with that sound, and much like the being that communicated it, it was hard to comprehend. Yet the Andromedan understood just enough to feel the being’s fear replicated within him. Something, someone, had come for this being, hunted them down like a ravenous predator. Something from dark space, from far beyond the Milky Way.

Then another image came to him, of something relatively small, metallic, approaching Lake Chaplain with great speed. A drone, but not a military one.

The being became defensive once more, and the Andromedan felt the return of its pulsating energy, growing ever more frantic, ready to distort and destroy the incoming threat.

“Oh, no”, whispered the Andromedan. He clutched his anchor, willed it to share more of its spatial magic with him, to help him stabilize the space around them. “No, no, no, no... Please, don’t move. Don’t attack. I’m here. I’ll keep you safe. Let me keep you safe.”

He tried to keep his voice steady and mostly succeeded. There was no desperate trembling in it, no panic, but he could feel it within himself. He knew he had two choices left now: either try to cast the being out, push it through a rift in space, or destroy the fast approaching drone.

He heard a disturbingly catchy jingle play before it came into sight, a tune from one of Poseidon Energy's ads; the one that spoke about making a better world.

“Poseidon Energy! A better world today!” sang a woman’s sugar sweet, chipper voice, accompanied by cutesy high notes from a piano, easily selling him on the slogan for a brief instant.

There was a pause, followed by a woman's voice.

“This recording, I want all of this.”

The drone moved ever closer to the Andromedan and the cosmic being, its matter holding steady despite the growing push and pull of the surrounding spatial forces. Once it reached a distance close enough to converse with, it stopped and hovered in place, and the voice returned.

“I am Briley Patton of Poseidon Energy. May I ask the business of the creature in front of us? This Celestial?”

“The Universe does love coincidences”, the Andromedan muttered to himself, and felt the space around them reduce its density. Some palpable tension remained, but at least the being was not about to panic and wreak havoc.

He turned to the drone and spoke with an authoritative voice, his cosmomancer side shining through just as his human side was faltering.

“This Celestial, as you call them, came seeking my protection as a cosmomancer”, he said. “So long as we treat them kindly, you have nothing to worry about.”

The absence of sound save the tiniest buzzing of the hovering drone was all that they heard it took a full minute to respond not because of technical errors no, doubt was why the silence persisted so until Briley again spoke. “So you say hero? If I am to believe that, kept a low profile even more than most so why should I take you at your word?”

“Well, I mostly deal in outer space problems”, said the Andromedan, careful to keep a mostly abstract hold on the uneasy Celestial. “I’m the Andromedan. I have an Earth name too, if you’re curious, but I don’t know if I want to share it with a drone from a shady corporation...”

The sensation of the Celestial folding on themself made him take a brief pause. Either they were calming down or they were about to have a minor implosion.

“You should take me at my word because this is my home and all I want is to keep it safe”, he said. “Now, I’ll be happy to explain whatever you want to know about me and what I do. But right now all I want is to help my new friend here and keep them from causing any harm to the city. This is what I do.”

A beep rang out as the drone took a moment to itself. “Fine I will assume that your intention is genuine, there will be more to talk about at another time this drone can be dropped off at any Poseidon facility. Should you chose to do so otherwise it will power down for now; I do expect to see you again under more casual circumstances and any personal information you chose to disclose is of your own choice.”

“Actually…” said the Andromedan, trying not to notice that the Celestial was apparently very close to folding itself into a mass of moving crystal. “I do have something to talk to you about, Miss Patton. Give me a moment to get my friend here to safety and then maybe you could tell me where we could meet”

With a bit of help from his part, maybe he would be able to make the Celestial small enough to fit in his pocket. Although, if he had his physics right, they would probably be far too heavy in such a state.

“So…” he said a bit sheepishly to the Celestial, letting his anchor’s power course through him. “Do you have a place in mind where you’d like to stay, or is it okay if I help you reduce your mass and volume so I can carry you around?”

The shrinking being from dark space responded in their bizarre, non-verbal way, making it quite clear that they would follow the Andromedan. They felt safe with him, which warmed Gabriel’s heart quite a bit. He allowed himself a smile as he got his spatial magic to work on their matter, aiding in its decrease with just a bit of a push. In a matter of minutes, with the Poseidon Energy drone still watching over both beings ih its disturbingly voyeuristic way, what had once been a cloud of sapient cosmic dust and gas transformed into a hovering, ever-changing handful of black and gold crystals with a light of their own. Gabriel did not dare put them in his pocket, but he did sigh quite audibly, relief washing over him like a light spring rain.

“Thank you, God”, he whispered into the skies, and watched with a smile as the space around him slowly but surely returned to its past state of relative normality. Lake Champlain became a proper Earth lake again.

“Well, Miss Patton, what say you?”

Another beep from the drone as Mrs. Patton replied. “I am currently at the Pacific Point Poseidon facility. Off KeyElectric road. That would be the most convenient for myself I have a schedule to maintain so I won’t be in the city long.”

“Sounds good to me”, said the Andromedan, pulling out his phone, thankfully still intact. He found the place on his map app, made a not-quick-at-all phone call to his family (they were a bit freaked out by the ordeal but not too much, on account on their good boy Gabriel being there to save the day as usual) and he was ready to go.

With a flick of his wrist and a snap of his fingers, the Andromedan opened a rift in space and jumped through it, the Celestial following close behind in their new, miniscule crystal form.

The drone crashed to the ground with a final saddening beep as it shut off power, being of little interest to Poseidon as it was no more advanced than a civilian drone with the exception of a satellite uplink which was cut as the power cell was turned off. Briley sat in Phister’s office thinking of this new interstellar hero and checking on what heroes were available nearby should this Andromedan fail.