Science Fiction Origins: Matthew Berger and John Rose

Adrian Luthor
Washington, DC

Adrian smiled through the smoke.

"Oh, go on," he said. "Americans wouldn't vote for someone styled 'the world's smartest man,' we both know that. They don't trust smarts and they don't trust charitable works. They only elect simpletons that surround themselves with geniuses. Present company excluded."

He raised his glass. "Besides, I'm from New York. I'd be knocked out of the primaries immediately. And remember my costume? I may as well have been marching in the Pride parade, for all the Bible Belt could care. No. Leave political office for oil-men and the Starks."

TAG: Blu

 

Raven Jamison
Los Angeles, Ca - Busy Intersection

Raven rushed to help the poor little man across the street. She was surprised by his answer to her offer of help. The little man refused her. Raven didn?t expect that, Though admired his Independence. Maybe she offended him. Raven remembered her grandfather upset at the sign of anyone helping him. It made him feel rather useless at his age. Raven wondered if it was the same with this little man here.

She was about to leave the man alone, when all of a sudden a car passed by hitting the little man?s chair. It flew up in to the air only to split in to pieces before landing. Raven gasped as she put her hand over her mouth in shock at what just happened.

The little man turned back at her saying "Surely you must be a fortune teller. How did you know I would need help with my chair?"

Raven still in shock answered back in a somber tone. ?I truly did not know sir. I am no fortune teller. I....I...I only wanted to help you.?

Raven tried to shake off her nerves as she stared on at the little man as he started to pick up the pieces of his walking chair. Raven walked toward him trying to stay clear of traffic.

?Please sir, let?s get out of the street. I will help you get a new walking chair. Just please let?s cross now before we get hit.?

TAG: Dink, Blu

 

Heather King or The Fireman
New York City

Fire licked at Heather?s heels as she carried the elderly woman along. The destruction was incomprehensible to Heather, who had never seen such things up close and personal. Heather could hear her heart pounding in her chest. She must hurry if she was to make the fire truck. Her boots, brilliant red, dug into the pavement as she charged along. ?Wait!? Heather roared, though no one could hear her. The fire truck had rolled to a stop outside the café. Cursing, Heather tried to fun faster. The two disturbances that had risen blocked Heather from the café. She had to leap.

Diving behind a massive green creature, she waved at the fire truck. Almost squashed, Heather avoided several flying objects. She landed on the pavement outside of the fight. Heather sighed in relief as she hurried to the fire truck. Once she noticed the guy she had spoken to before, she pointed at the elderly woman angrily.

?You can?t believe what I?ve been through to get her!? Heather shouted at him. She hefted her onto the fire truck and patted her leg. She turned to look at the man.

TAG: blu (I?m so behind! Just trying to speed myself up to date. )

 

IC: Gavin Carlyle
Location: San Francisco


Damage slapped a palm to Wally?s face, causing the latter to grab his face and fall to the ground in pain. ?No offense Wally, but I could pick you up with my pinky. I?m 345, SOLID. If he can lift me, that?ll be a start. And you, Carlyle, come over here a use that absorption power of yours and get some juice from Wally.?

Wally, holding his nose, stomped his foot in protest. ?You can?t just volunteer people?s powers to be taken, jackass. But fine, if it will get you out of my house, then whatever. Come get some speed, Gavin. Not a lot,? He grinned. ?Wouldn?t want you not coming back.?

Gavin looked over at Wally. He hesitated. He had tasted speed before. It was a rush. It ended up giving him several broken bones, as he ran into a wall after losing control. But that was over a year ago. He had learned much about controlling his powers since then.

Gavin nodded and stepped over to Wally.

?Actually, it doesn?t work that way?when I mimic a power, it comes in full?I just have to learn how to control it.? Gavin explained.
He took a deep breath and cleared his mind while he reached out and touched Wally?s hand. Gavin sensed the mutant genes in Wally?s DNA and it was a rush. Almost immediately time slowed down for him. Every nerve ending in his body burned as the pyro-kinetic powers he was using before left his body.
He felt emptiness in his chest; it was quickly replaced by a feeling of impatience. He felt like every cell in his body was waiting for him to go.
Go.
GO!

He resisted the impulse and closed his eyes for a moment and balled his fists in concentration. He fought against the impatience. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He could feel the power take hold. He could not control how fast he went yet, but it would come in time.
Without waiting for a second word he dashed out the front door, everyone was moving in slow motion. He ran past cars that seemed to be dead stopped in the middle of the road. He saw his target, In and Out Burger.
Gavin tried to stop but only succeeded in tripping himself and tumbling nearly a quarter mile down the sidewalk. He lay in the street, looking up into the sky. He had a few scrapes and bruises but didn?t break anything this time. He would need a new pair of shoes though, looking at the smoking, battered pair on his feet. He got up and walked into the restraint, bought a meal and then sped back to the Titan house.

Gavin was back three minutes after he had left and put the food on the table.
?
Had some issues stopping?? Gavin said, brushing off the remains of a dragonfly he had run into on the way back.

TAG: Blu, Reynor

 

OOC: Matt: Nice namedrop there! Also, blu, some light godmoding here for narrative purposes - let me know if anything's out of line.

Iron Bat

Washington DC

Three, then. One close by, two closer to the nearest entrance to Stone's office. Well out of throwing range, had he been armed with the batarangs he'd experimented with over the years.
Fortunately, he didn't have to throw.

He took enough time to have the suit's HUD paint and track the targets, even as he dipped a gauntleted hand into a compartment in the waist area of the suit, producing two small pellets from therein. Quickly loaded them into the small launcher on the suit's right forearm, then swung the weapon upwards even as he started to move. Computer-assisted targeting and Stark Industries' own weapon systems swung into action as the launcher chffed twice. The two pellets streaked across the distance -- substantial though it was -- and cracked open with impact against the building closest to the guards, discharging a chemical cocktail with a name as long as your arm in a weaponised format: stun gas.

There were other cocktails, of course, in the inventory. Six of the pellets in his inventory were not outright stunners. He'd recovered the original substance from a madman named Crane which he'd modified so, rather than the concentrated dose that could stop the heart from fear, the formula in his pellets left a victim reliving their last nightmare for twenty minutes or so.

The two guards near Stone's office dropped, unconscious, as they should remain for a good ten, fifteen minutes. Time enough, anyway.

Which left the third one, closer in. Who was already starting to turn towards the Capitol, which gave him enough time to get in close and deliver a quick chop to the nerve cluster at the base of the neck. He'd had to learn to restrain himself, wearing the suit; its amplification of human strength was impressive, but he wasn't intending to kill. Had sworn an oath never to do so. The third one dropped. Taking one more quick sighting to ensure he wasn't seen, he crouched, removing the earpiece and radio that the guard held. Held it up to the suit's eyepieces.
"Tony, I've got a guard's radio."
"On it." The sound of muted typing over the suit's radio. Then: "Huh, Zanath 300 series. Justin Hammer's group; guess the CIA's been holding out on us. Transmitter's good out to a mile or two, crystal clear receptionnnn..." More typing, and then a punctuation of the Enter key being hit, "...aaand all the encryption protection of pig latin. You're in, Bruce. Got their frequency and decrypts, so we can listen in. If they rumble you, you'll know about it because they'll be sounding the alert over their radios."
He stuffed the radio back into place, rising, moving quickly through the arborteum to the entrance. As he did, he turned the suit's sensors to the infrared spectrum and the auditory sensors to detecting the microscopic whirr of cameras operating anywhere nearby. The latter should reveal heat sensors and infrared lasers. The former would determine what he needed to take out with brief shots.

Once that was done, he moved into the Capitol building, turning the sensors to audio anywhere near and around Stone's office.

TAG: blu, possibly Matt

 

New York City, 2005

The markings began to appear on Solid?s legs, slowly making their way down with each passing minute. The pain would begin in his chest, seemingly picking up where it had left off, sliding its way through Solid?s chest, again laboring his breath and hurting each time it expanded for air. Wesley, like always, merely stared.

?This universe is vast, many terrors in its dark corners. Few more terrifying and powerful than a being known to your world as Hades, as he has appeared before to this world to destroy it, being pushed back by mutants and superhumans like myself through the ages. He is seeking to invade this earth again with his forces from the world of Apokolips. In the past, our?? He rethought his words. ?My kind has always been united to stop him, but we are shattered and few now, our kind being thought of as mythological gods of the past and nothing more.?

Wesley coughed. ?Now, mutants are scoured and broken, no longer united to fight this evil. Darkseid will come to this planet and he will destroy it?I cannot stress this enough, Matthew Berger. I need your help to begin to unite the forces of earth against him. I will save this world, with or without you willing to help me. But it will be substantially easier if I don?t have to control you the entire way.?

Tag: Fin

------
Washington D.C

Senator Stone coughed out smoke as he laughed. ?I guess so, Luthor. Leave politics for us tortured souls.? Stone was an oil man, or rather, his father had been one while Stone just inherited the money while serving in the military as a Navy Lawyer. Tipping the ashes of the cigar in the ashtray and sipping down more scotch, he twisted his face and grunted. ?This stuff could peel the paint off the walls.?

Stone then leaned back, preparing for business. ?Luthor, I?m not going to pretend like you don?t know about the Project Cadmus group, our own little government sponsored superhuman group. You have your connections everywhere. But I am here to ask you whether would be willing to invest in my own little nasty project. We have these mutant bastards out walking the streets, killing, robbing, what have you and frankly, I?m sick of it?You were once a crimefighter, vigilante, you know how it is. How about letting your pockets do the fighting for you now.?

He took out a file and slid it across the table Luthor. Inside, should Luthor open it, would be a bill titled Superhuman Control Act and at the bottom, circled in red, would be something called the Sentinel Program with designs of what appeared to be a giant robot. Sci-Fi things to say the least.

----
Iron Bat had made it into the Capitol Building, workplace of the United States Congress. Stone?s office would be down the hall, unguarded and locked. Maybe the suit would even pick up some of the audio, only in pieces, coming from the office. There were cameras in the hall, but nothing the Bat would have trouble sneaking past.

Tag: Matty, Saint

------
Los Angeles

The card gambler won another hand from a customer, but it was so fast that Mary would not know exactly what happened. Pauly noticed and made a curious sound. The card dealer looked at Mary, and raised his eyebrow. "Now ain't that strange. Seems your parrot might be on to me. What be your name lovie?" The crowd attempted to follow who he was talking to, but they just...couldn't grasp what was happening in front of them. They noticed Mary, but their minds immediately overlooked her. The card dealer, however, made no such mistake as he was looking Mary right in the eyes, making her feel like the most important person in the world with his charming smile and piercing gaze. Some might say it was...hypnotic.

Tag: Ktala

 

Iron Bat

Washington DC

Inside.
He moved down the corridor, conscious of the history and the corruption that flowed through this building like a river of gold dust mixed with sand. The cameras at least were simple enough to avoid; he'd memorised optical sweep patterns in the first six months of this role, and knew well enough when were the right moments to step seemingly into a camera's arc and when not to.

Telltales flared inside the visor, and the suit's AI broadcast to him: "...paint off the walls." {skrack} "...Project Cadmus group, our own..." {skreek}
Though the sentences weren't complete, he knew the voice; had heard it on TV and at tiresome dinners in Gotham from time to time. His voice lowered to the minimum possible volume for the audio pickup. "Stone's in his office. Having trouble hearing him."
"Yeah, I know." Tony's voice was clear enough. "Must be interference from the structure. Lot of heavy metal girders in there. Got the recorders running, anyway, for what we can get -- maybe JARVIS can pan out some gold from the dross with a few hours. You might hear more if you got closer."
He thought on that for a second, looking up at the high, twenty-foot ceiling for a second. Getting closer he might have to try entry into an office, or...
Perhaps not.

He turned his left wrist to face inward as he took about a dozen more steps up the corridor. Tapped a button there. ROOST flickered on and off inside the suit's helmet, and the Iron Bat put his hands to the floor, pushing the suit up into a handstand...
...that became a sudden fall upward as the magnetic coils in the suit's repulsors reversed polarity and the metal in the boots pulled him upwards to the ceiling, pulled by the magnetic attractive force between the magnet and the girders holding the Capitol together. The bafflers on his feet gave him a soft landing, and there he crouched. Upside down, on the ceiling, at a closer spot to Stone's office than he'd been a few moments earlier. Human perception was a strange thing: though peripheral vision to the left and right and downward was impressive, its weakness towards upward things was a famous myopia.
"Coils won't take that strain for too long, Bruce," said Tony.
He ignored the words.
And listened.

TAG: Matt, blu

 

Deadpool
Rio de Janeiro

"Yeah man." He gave a thumbs-up. "Totally can."

He looked around.

"Kinda weird that you'd ask that, though. I mean, look at me, dude. Swords, guns, crazy wildman outfit that accentuates my buttocks."

I swear I don't mean to say these things...

He stretched and yawned. "So these here criminals...they a superstitious and cowardly lot? Or are they, y'know...some of those un's....y'know..."

Clearly the man did not. Deadpool leaned in closer.

"...muties," he whispered. He sat back in his chair quickly. "Hey, hey, I'm just quoting. Academic, uh, y'know, and all that. I thought they took back that word, man!" Issue 467, right?

He smiled beneath his mask. He assumed the prospective employer would notice this by how the artists drew his mask, but his face remained as unreadable as ever beneath the mask.

"I think we need to talk prices, dude."

Tag: Blu

---

[b]Erik[/b]
[i]Germany, 1945[/i]

Erik's smile was one of childlike awe and wonder. He'd never imagined any day quite like this, and now...so much!

"Train me? But what...train what? This?"

He looked at the Captain's ring, stared at the metal he was manipulating.

"How?"

[b]Tag: Ramza[/b]

 

Doctor Doom
Latveria, 6 Months Ago

Doctor Doom had fired off a power blast, but it was too late - the man's now armored skin was made of tougher stuff.

There was a loud clang! of impact as metal flesh collided with armor. Automated electrical stun fields crackled ineffectively against metal fingers. An organometallic man with a nonconducting hide. Impressive. Evolution had dealt a card worthy of the Lord of Latveria himself.

A clanging thud brought spots to his eye as he felt a rib crack as his protective suit buckled under the pressure of impact. Even in agony Dr. Doom's thoughts were on the failures of those around him. This suit was not to specifications! Any reservations about employing that tactic had evaporated.

Crashing through multiple floors, ironically, provided some relief. He was slightly dazed, probably another cracked rib or two, shoulder at risk of being dislocated, inferior substandard suit. Doom was not broken. Doom was angry. An ordinary man would have been crippled by his injuries. An ordinary man's will would have faltered. Tons of angry metal Eastern were hurtling down towards him.

Doom is not so easily crippled!

AND THE WILL OF DOOM IS INSURMOUNTABLE!

As if on cue, twin jetpacks popped out of the sides of his armor. "The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom." - Sun Tzu. How appropriate.

Rockets kicked into action, blasting him well clear of the metal man's impact site and rocketing him up, up, up towards the roof of what had previously been his palace, his force field shielding him from the impact against the various ceilings.

"A valiant effort, metal man, but a wasted one! Worry not, Doctor Doom shall repay his debts in good time."

And then he threw the switch that controlled the palace's destruct system.

TAG: Blu

OOC: Golden rule of concealed jetpacks - keep them concealed until the giant angry metal Russian is hurtling towards you. Or something.

A destruct system seems very Doom-esque, hence I ran with it, but if it's a problem, just ignore that part.

Steve Rogers posts tomorrow, most likely. I've listened to too many songs by the Swans to write optimistic good guys right now.

 

Matthew Berger
Cage

The pain came and Matthew sighed and wondered if it was actually funny. "When your only tool is a hammer all problems in the world must be nails, hm?" He laughed over to Wesley and kept on lying. Breath began to hurt. So be it. Rather dead than a puppet. And pain was a rare, welcomed experience these days.

?This universe is vast, many terrors in its dark corners. Few more terrifying and powerful than a being known to your world as Hades, as he has appeared before to this world to destroy it, being pushed back by mutants and superhumans like myself through the ages. He is seeking to invade this earth again with his forces from the world of Apokolips. In the past, our?? He rethought his words. ?My kind has always been united to stop him, but we are shattered and few now, our kind being thought of as mythological gods of the past and nothing more.?

Well, he had established that the man was dangerous and a psychopath. Uncertain and possilby suffering from strong problems with sexuality. God, did this little speech fit that pattern.Probably from some point of view there was truth to it, but the only difference between Wesley and the other guy was Wesley was an evil with lesser power.

?Now, mutants are scoured and broken, no longer united to fight this evil. Darkseid will come to this planet and he will destroy it?I cannot stress this enough, Matthew Berger. I need your help to begin to unite the forces of earth against him. I will save this world, with or without you willing to help me. But it will be substantially easier if I don?t have to control you the entire way.? Matthew laughed again.

"Sorry pal, you can stop playing with me and we can talk or good luck. Both fine by me." He closed his eyes and allowed it to happen. The shock from the first time was now gone. Sooner or later Wesley would exhaust and until then all Matthew could do was keep his psyche intact. Which was actually the tough part, as he was not so sure he had a sane soul to protect to begin with.

Tag: blue

 

Mary and Pauly
Los Angeles

Wow!

This guy was good. She watched carefully, as the card shark won another hand from the customer. He was FAST too! That was too cool for words. She had watched many a street magician, but this guy was simply freaking awesome!

Mary turned, when Pauly made a curious sound. She tickled Pauly under his chin. "Oh..so now you see something?" she whispered to Pauly, a small smile on her face. The smile faded however, when the card dealer looked at her, and raised his eyebrow. "Now ain't that strange. Seems your parrot might be on to me. What be your name lovie?"

Mary nearly chocked on her bit of pretzel, as she whipped her head around to look at the man. And he WAS looking at her, there was no mistaking that!! She didnt even mind the strange word he used..'lovie'. She was trying to hard not to look like a deer in the headlights. Funny enough, the first reaction in her mind, was to run, and to run fast. He SAW her. She could hear the murmor in the crowd, as they wondered who or what was he talking to. And he saw and heard Pauly too!!

But as much as she wanted to run....it was also kinda NICE to have someone address you directly. Sure, Pauly was a hoot to hang with and all, but being able to talk to someone who can string a normal sentences around was a rare treat. Suddenly, she felt the heat of her cheeks rise. He looked pleasant enough. And a nice smile too. And he was looking at her, straight into her eyes...so there was no mistake who he was talking to...

"OWW!" Mary suddenly yelped as she blinked hard as Pauly nipped her on her ear, causing her to turning to look at Pauly.

"What?!" she muttered to Pauly, as he ducked his head. She looked over at the man. He had asked her, her name. She still had not replied. Looking down a bit, she muttered softly a handle she had chosen for herself. It seemed to work so far. And cute or not, she was NOT going to tell him her real name.

"Zero. Name's Zero." She glanced at him slightly. "What's yours?" she asked the strange man.


Tag: Blu

 

Los Angeles

The man flipped all of the cards in the air before they all landed exactly in his palm, in a deck, which he stuff in his coat pocket. ?Show?s over folks.? Amidst the grumbles and mumbles of the crowd as it dissipated, the man walked over and bent down to Zero and laid a hand on her head, giving her another charming smile. ?Name?s Gambit, lovie. Nice to make your acquaintance.? Gambit pulled a couple bills out from his winnings.

?You hungry, lil miss? Let?s go get some real food. Whatcha in the mood fer??

----
Kiara?s mother waited until the girl got into the car before speeding off. ?I?ve had just about enough of your acting out.? Her mother was red in the face, her fingers anxiously tapping the steering wheel as she focused only on the road, consciously avoiding looking at Kiara because she knew her anger would get the best of her. She took a sip of her Starbucks coffee and sat it back down as they approached the freeway. ?Your father doesn?t care. He just says that you are acting out because you?re a teenage girl. You want to know what I was doing when I was a teenage girl; maintaining a 4.0 GPA, captain of my soccer team and cheerleading team, and homecoming queen. But look at you. You don?t do anything. Not involved in any extracurricular activities, barely good grades, no friends. What is wrong with you, Kiara??

They rode on the freeway until traffic became clogged. Her mother through the car in parked, cursed, and folded her arms. Her gaze shifted to her daughter. ?I don?t even know how something like you came from me.?

Tag: Spacey

------
New York City, 2005

Wesley?s marks had covered Matthew?s thighs when the mutant began coughing again. He fell from the chains that hung him by his ankles and slumped unto the ground in a ball. His figure was small and frail and the ball would remind Matthew of a little child, or an elderly person. Wesley placed a firm palm on the ground and pushed himself into a sitting position. For the first time, he showed a clear emotion on his face: Regret.

?It is because of people like you that my kind is suffering now. Your friends, Olivia, and the rest of this world will suffer when the dark times arrive because of people being complacent, such as you, or feeling victimized by the world. You will not be prepared and will not be able to protect anyone, as you have done in the shadows of the night in your neighborhood.?

He coughed again before finally raising a palm towards Solid. ?There is nothing I can tell you from in here that will convince you and I have wasted enough time with your games.? The palm laid flat in the air and slowly rose as Wesley said, ?Now rise and-? As Solid would feel a movement in his thighs signaling he was about to be forced to move, the turn of the lock at the door of the room twisted open and Olivia and a guard stepped through. She had bruises around her throat; bruises that Matthew had placed there. She walked over to his cage and rubbed the bars. Her face red from crying and her voice light as it struggled through the sore throat.

?Matthew?are?.you okay?? She swallowed hard and Matthew would see it pained her to do so. ?I swear I didn?t?didn?t know any of this was going on. I thought the same as you. I?m so sorry you ended up here.? She began to cry as she struggled to swallow and she placed a hand over her throat. The other hand reached through the cage for Matthew?s hand.

Wesley lowered his hand and instead of looking at Wesley as he had done for a long time, turned his bluish green gaze towards Olivia, staring, as his eyes were common to do.

Tag: Fin

------
Latveria, 6 Months Ago

As the Doctor rose into the sky, he would feel himself colliding with a plane that propelled him into the earth a half a mile away from the palace and in a large explosion, claimed the life of the pilot. Doom would be injured, severely so, but he would have to continue moving before Deathstroke?s search parties figured out his location and alertedtheir Commander. The palace, in the distance was destroyed, claiming the l

 

Puck
Los Angeles, Ca - Busy Intersection

"A new chair?" Puck asked the woman, an expression of near shock upon his face. "This chair is my friend." His lower lip began to pucker outward, a pitiful expression of sadness that could only be matched by a child. Suddenly, without warning, his expression changed to pure glee as he snapped his fingers as if having come across a wondrous discovery.

"Silly me!" With that he quickly reached out and grasped a hold of the womans hand, "Hold tight now." In just a moments time the street before them disappeared, and the next moment they were standing on the roof of tall building. The pieces of Pucks' chair stacked neatly before them on the ground.

"There, now we won't get hit." A look of deep thought, then confusion crossed his face. "Though I am not sure who was going to hit us in the first place." He somehow seemed satisfied that he may never know the answer, and that it didn't really matter to him anyway.

"Now, my chair." With another snap of his fingers his chair began to reform, it's pieces coming together as if it had never broken in the first place. Only a few seconds later it stood there in perfect condition. Looking up to the woman Puck commented, "There, I should have done that right away."

A comical grin, almost impossibly large and spreading from ear to ear, crossed his face as he looked at his new friend.

Tag: TEE, Blu

 

OOC: Here I go, ready or not!

IC as Kiara Paige

Kiara stepped into her mother's car, pulling the car door to a shut after her. Her mom didn't even wait for her to buckle her seatbelt before she drove away from the curb, an obvious wave of irritation surrounding her. The young girl could only sit in silence and stare out the window as her mom spoke. "I've had just about enough of your acting out." She began, drumming her fingertips on the steering wheel, her tone telling the truth of her words. Kiara winced inwardly, trying to not look to her left, just as her own mother tried to not look to her right.

Through the outer layer of numbness that had built up over years of the same talk and the almost same situation, those same emotions burned to life in the pit of her stomach. Tears pooled in her eyes, but she continued to stare out of the window, not letting her mother catch on to the sadness, anger, fear, and hopelessness clinging to her very own daughter. There was no way she could simply tell her the truth. One, she wouldn't understand, or believe her, and...it just wouldn't work like that. Her mother was a very strong woman, always believing that as long as you put your sweat and tears into something, you can accomplish it and that there was never a free meal. You had to work hard for something you wanted and there was no time for games. But...she couldn't have always been like that, could she? There had to have been some point in her life that she was...more like how a kid should be. Play, fall, and scrape your knee...or maybe she had had too many scraped knees in the past and learned from her mistakes. And maybe some of those scraped knees weren't always physical injuries. But no matter how well she knew her mother, Kiara would never know the true extent at which her mother believe certain thoughts or know why the way she acted the way she did. It wasn't her life. Neither was Kiara's her mother's life.

?Your father doesn?t care. He just says that you are acting out because you?re a teenage girl. You want to know what I was doing when I was a teenage girl; maintaining a 4.0 GPA, captain of my soccer team and cheerleading team, and homecoming queen. But look at you. You don?t do anything. Not involved in any extracurricular activities, barely good grades, no friends. What is wrong with you, Kiara??

Kiara said nothing to her words. There was nothing to say. Anything she could say would either be taken as lies, or her mother wouldn't even hear them. That's how it was. If only she could be the perfect superhero...she really wanted to, but how could she save people's lives if she couldn't even rescue herself from her own torture, day in and day out? How could she be able to do something like that if she couldn't even tell who she was each day? She couldn't even be the perfect daughter she had always wanted to be. There was nothing left for her, no one really cared. Sure her parents did, but beyond that? Any teachers she had always thought she was just looking for trouble, and any friends she had abandoned her as soon as they realized she wasn't who she said she was. Nothing had ever gone right for Kiara. And nothing ever would. Only loneliness and darkness, pain and torture. Who could seriously love someone who was completely a different person the next day? Why would they even want to?

Traffic then became apparent on the freeway, even the overpass they were on to switch freeways was backed up. The car came to a stop behind another car and heavy tension and silence filled the inside of the smaller car. A sigh came from her mother and and she folded her arms. Finally, for the first time, the blue eyes Kiara inherited, gazed sharply over at the young girl, both angry and exasperated. ?I don?t even know how something like you came from me.?

Something like you. So...that's how she viewed her own daughter. Well, it wasn't like every parent loved their children, she knew that some didn't want to be parents at all and would give up their kids. Espe

 

Mary and Pauly
Los Angeles

"Zero. Name's Zero." She glanced at him slightly. "What's yours?" she asked the strange man.

The man flipped all of the cards in the air before they all landed exactly in his palm, in a deck, which he stuff in his coat pocket. Woah. This guy was something else. Something special. After all, he did see and hear her. She gave a slight grin, as she watched him put away the cards.

"Show?s over folks." Amidst the grumbles and mumbles of the crowd as it dissipated. Wow. He was even shutting down his game? Mary smoothed a hand over her favorite jacket as the man walked over and bent down to Zero and laid a hand on her head, giving her another charming smile. "Name?s Gambit, lovie. Nice to make your acquaintance."

If she was not blushing before, she certainly was now. Gambit. His name was Gambit. A loud squak reminded her of her manners. "OH...and my friend's name is Pauly." she added with a smile. It had been a long time that someone had actually touched her liked that. Not just a simple accidental bump. She watched as Gambit pulled a couple bills out from his winnings.

"You hungry, lil miss? Let?s go get some real food. Whatcha in the mood fer?"

Oh wow. Well....she could not really get the foods she liked unless she swipped one from someone else who happened to order what she liked. But some stuff was harder to get than others.

"Welllll..." Mary stated as she thought about what food to get. "If you're buying... I would really like some spaghetti. I havent had good spaghetti and garlic bread in ages..and its kinda hard to get an order for the stuff...if you know what I mean." she said, tilting her head slightly as she gave him a wide smile. "The canned stuff....kinda bites." she added with a grin.

Mary reached up, petting Pauly's head gently. So, Pauly seemed to have a streak for noticing special stuff. She could only grin happily. She was in such a good mood now. She turned to follow. She still had time to find her a place to hitch for the night. If nothing else, she could sleep in the mall. That was a pretty safe place. But right now, she had someome she could talk to. AND he was cute.

She knew there was a place to get spaghetti not too far away.

She loved the big city!




Tag: Blu

 

Solid
New York 2005

Matthew recognized many things the same time. That he loved Olivia. One. Two was . . . indeed he had been right, Wes could awlays only control one person. which made him dangerous to individuals and useless against the power he had described himself to be his enemy. Three. Wesley had no control over him. Four. Wesley did not know everything about him. He only knew the past. Otherwise him trying to convince Matthew would simply be foolish, as Matt thought he was insane. Five. He should now act with caution, as this was a chance to regain control over the situation.

Six. Matthew was not in control. Solid was.

As Olivia struggled he pushed himself against the cage. There were more clever ways to do this, but he could not think about it. he felt the need to act. With all his power he leaped against the metal, his superhard shell and weght hammering against them until they would break. He did not scream or shout. He did not reflect on the possibility of traps and mistakes. Solid would not allow anyone to harm Olivia anymore.

Tag: Blue

 

Domino
New York City

Domino groaned in pain as she lied on the hard concrete with various shards of glass stuck in her body. There was no point in bothering with them now, she still had a Beast to kill.

She'd lost her guns after the Beast's counterattack in the street, so now there was some improvising to be done. Just as this thought crossed Domino's mind, her eyes fell on a couple of fallen cables spouting electricity on the floor a few yards away. Would that do the trick? Probably not because apparently this ****** was invincible, but it was worth a shot.

Domino, using her elbows to crawl sideways on her back, started inching closer to the cables. "That the best you got!?" she shouted at the Beast, taunting him. Damn thing probably didn't understand English. "Come at me, ugly!" She was close now. All it would take was one leap from the Beast and bam, two electric cables to the sides of his head.

If that didn't work, well, it'd been a good run.

Tag: Blu

 

John Rose
San Francisco

John watched as the goateed man sped out of the house using Wally's transferred abilities, and then looked back up at Damage who'd requested a mental lift. The only problem was, there was no way in hell John would be able to do it.

Well, not in the usual way.

Damage requested John to lift him up. As in, get him off his feet. No specifics.

This could end bad.

John looked around the room to find something he could use for this task. No, no, no... hm, that could work. The telekinetic narrowed his brow a bit and mentally unplugged the cord from the Xbox and lifted it across the room past all of the other Titans and behind Damage. He lowered it behind the big man's knees, stretched it out horizontally, and slowly wrapped it around his knees.

And then he pulled. And Damage was now off his feet, and on his back with a rather loud thud.

Tag: Blu

 

Deadzone

His running would lead Cletus to a street where in a long line waiting, he would see Carnage and Parallax. The beings were hard to fathom without one being combined with the other, even for his eyes, but there they were and the line lead to a large, fat demon beside a man in a Sapphire robe with the hood covering his face. He held and wrote in a book, ignoring the demon beside him devouring individuals as their turn in the line came. Looking up from the book, the man noticed that Cletus was late.

?I never heard someone being late to their death.? The voice of the man was everywhere and nowhere; Inside Cletus? mind and under the ground itself. ?I hear you were given a chance to live, and denied it.?

Tag: Sinre

------
New York City, 2005

The cage buckled and broke as Solid?s mass flew through. Wesley rose to his feet, adrenaline beginning to flow through his veins. He raised an arm and the markings on Solid?s arms began to light up like a Christmas tree and one of them swung backwards, knocking the guard that had been with Olivia unconscious onto the floor. Wesley then pushed open his cage and stepped out, cracking his neck while doing so.

?We?re leaving now, no more games Matthew.?

Solid?s body moved towards the door, Wesley following quickly behind. Olivia, shocked and confused by the happenings of what was unfolding in front of her, stood and jogged after Matthew. She didn?t know what was wrong with him, but she couldn?t allow him to be killed by the guards. But Solid wouldn?t be killed by the guards as Wesley was using the man to tear through the halls of the facility, guards standing no chance against Solid?s body. Wesley bent down, picked up a gun, and tucked it in his pants.

Alarms began to buzz around them and Wesley broke his hold over Solid. ?You?re a wanted and dangerous mutant now, you will be hunted like my kind are and maybe it will humble you, Matthew.? With one last exert of the control he wielded over the other man?s body, he slammed Solid?s body, or rather made the man slam himself, into thick cables in the side of the wall.

----
At that particular moment, Bruce was performing a test on experimental gamma rays in a secure room. The impact of Solid on the cables that led to room caused a temporary loss of electricity and power. In the moment without absolute control over the rays, the machine overloaded and exploded Gamma Rays in Bruce Banner?s face.

----
After the lights reappeared in his part of the facility, Solid would no longer see Wesley and no longer be under his control. But that would be the least of his worries as Solid would now have to escape the facility or risked being captured and put into a cage again. Like an animal. Though, maybe he was exactly that.

Tag: Fin(For your breakout moment?so to speak )

------
Above the planet Jupiter, Undetermined Time

The ship?s coordinates had been correct, but something had gone wrong. Very wrong. They were now in a place that was uncharted in a system that would look familiar; familiar only in the appearance of planets, but would be foreign in all other ways to the crew. Scans were being performed for life and atmosphere, only one planet promising both.

[image=http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect16/full-20earth2.jpg]

Landing on the planet would no doubt provoke military action by the somewhat technologically advanced natives, but the moon appeared to be in almost utter darkness and was a place the ship could orbit while maintaining its invisibility. The white armored man approached a dark armored man after the readouts and info had been transmitted to the man?s screen. ?It appears an anomaly has taken us far off our course, my Lord. What will you have us do??

Tag: No one?or someone

 

IC: Marric Johnson
New York City

?Don?t worry about it, kid. You have quite the power. I can help you control it. But first, we need to get away from this place. Fast. We?re going to this shelter, I want you to take your father, get near him and keep your heads low.?

Marric nodded as he dusted himself off, still unsure what to make off the person who looked like his sister. He knew on thing though. If what whoever this was said was true, he could help Marric control these abilities. Maybe then he would no longer have to be afraid of accidentally hurting those he cared about, like his sister, wherever she really was at the moment, or even some stranger who caught him in a bad mood. For the first time in what seemed a very long while, Marric felt hopeful. But such dreams were not for the present. For now he had to get into the nearby shelter, that when it was pointed out to him, he saw the familiar faces from earlier entering, including the two that carried his dad.

"I'll hold you to that." Marric said before heading into the shelter following everyone else. Eventually he found his unconscious father in one of the corners with a cluster of frightened huddled together people nearby. But then nearly everyone here was frightened to a degree. They had a reason to be. As he sat down nearby he idly wondered how many people there were in the world like him, and not for the first time either, though today had clearly proved there were others. For now though, he would merely wait here with the others for their entire neighborhood to be blown away.

Tag: Blue, Livi

 

Adrian Luthor

?Luthor, I?m not going to pretend like you don?t know about the Project Cadmus group, our own little government sponsored superhuman group."

Adrian smiled. Just as well: he knew thing or two about government sponsored superheroes.

Outside the door there was a soft thunk. It came not from the floor, but from the ceiling. Perhaps from the floor above? The man who was once Ozymandias knew better than to take such things for granted.

"But I am here to ask you whether would be willing to invest in my own little nasty project. We have these mutant bastards out walking the streets, killing, robbing, what have you and frankly, I?m sick of it?You were once a crimefighter, vigilante, you know how it is. How about letting your pockets do the fighting for you now.?

Inside the file that slid across the table was the write up of a bill. It bore the title "Superhuman Control Act." At the bottom, circled in red, was a section titled "Sentinel Program" with instructions that designs were attached. Adrian flipped to the back of the packet, and saw readouts for what appeared to be a giant robot. He would scoff if he hadn't seen crazier.

"You'll excuse me, Senator," he smiled, "if this reminds me of the proposed Keene Act from the eighties." Giant robots? "Still...even us old masked avengers didn't pose the sort of threat these mutants and, ahem, 'metahumans' do."

He paused. It wasn't so much that he didn't know what he was going to say next, but that he wanted the Senator to think so. "May I take these designs with me? I can have my engineers take a look at the specifications of the project, give me estimates on feasability - " He held up a finger to silence the politicians' protests. "I'm sure your figures and projections are all entirely accurate, Senator, but there's no harm in just being sure, especially when it comes to throwing around considerably large sums of money. Who knows? We may be able to do things better and cheaper. And let's keep it quiet. You never know...who's listening." Let them deal with that.

He continued: "I appreciate you coming to me before the Stark, of course."

He leaned forward.

"Why did you come to me before Stark?"

TAG: Blu, Saint

 

OOC: Tremble at my return. For the End Begins. Now!

~????~
The Moon?s Orbit, Sol System

The Dark Armored man stared at the viewport and watched quietly, his rhythmic breathing the only sign he was still alive.

How had I come to this to this place? This planet. This system. I do not know this area and I have been to many places. But there is always a reason for an event's happening.

Before long a subordinate marched over to him, executed a brief bow, and told him of the anomaly and asked for his orders regarding the situation.

The Dark Man stood quietly, as still as a statue made of pure shadow for a few moments. Then suddenly turned to face the man. His size, armor, audible breathing, and very presence increased the simply act's intimidation factor a hundred-fold. But the soldier was a professional and used to his superior, holding his ground. Barely hiding the tremor that even a seasoned fighter as himself that quietly shook in his core when being next his master.

?Captain, I need the scans refocused on the small planet up ahead. I sense there to be many disturbances in the Force occurring throughout. Find where the quietest area is, then land a small scouting party at that location,? a warning finger held up in front of the man?s face, ?And make sure it is done discreetly, Captain. Then await further orders. I will not tolerate any failures.?

As soon as the soldier left to deliver the orders to the entire crew with a 'Yes, sir!' as his only audible response, Darth Vader swiveled back to face the mysterious planet before them.

?The Force is strong here, but it is also wild. Untamed,? more breathing, ?This planet shall prove useful I sense.?

He turned, his cape billowing behind him like a dark cloud, heading for his personal quarters aboard the Star Destroyer. It was time for some meditation as he waited for the stormtroopers and ship crew to carry out their current tasks.

It is only the beginning.

Instinctively, no matter what was to happen in the coming days, the Dark Lord of the Sith knew this.

And, as always, he would prevail. For behind him, stood the power of the Dark Side of the Force. And none, were outside its grasp.

Vader had arrived.

Tag: GM

******
OOC: This was all approved of by the GM, blubeast1237!

Character Sheet

Name: Anakin Skywalker (now discarded)
Alias: Darth Vader
Occupation: Dark Lord of the Sith
Age: 30 (For now, may decide on a different age later pending on talks with GM)
Appearance: [image=http://www.southafricabooks.com/images/DarthVader.jpg]
Powers: The Dark Side of the Force, Ability to wield his Red Lightsaber to deadly effect, and his Star Destroyer and the fabled 501st Legion at his command.

?Has a Purge of another kind begun? Only the Force can show us the way?

 

Matthew Berger aka Solid
New York 2005

Matthew sighed and came to his feet. "Olivia?" He whispered and when he saw he smiled. At least the psychopath hadn´t taken her. He sat up and put his finger to his mouth. "Psst." In total darkness they would only be found if they were heard. "Find a way to block these doors, they will think it is a lockdown." Solid walked over to one of the guards. beaten up badly he gave him another punch to keep him unconscious and then he took his Glock and vest. He put it on and his gown over it. He whispered Olivias name once more, and turned to the wall. And outer wall and not an especially thick one. Pushing Wesley away for a moment he took a deep breath and began to punch. Concrete was hard bu not solid. He punched as hard as he could. His hands felt np pain, they did not break. He punched and punshed until the material began to crumble. When he broke through he kept on punshing until the hole was big enough to leave. The parking lot had to be down there. Beyond this a fence. He turned to olivia with a sad smile. "I am sorry I dragged you into this. listen you must leave the US. I know these guys in Heidelberg offered you a job. take it, but before that you must do me a favour." He went to hear and gently stroke her hair out of her face. "I know." he said befroe she could say anything, then he took her to him, embraced her and kissed her forehead. He felt nothing. None of it. Taking her up slowly he held her in his arms and jumped out of the window. His legs did not break upon impact, even though it had been three levels. Hell, he did not even feel the jump. Or the impact. He felt nothing. Nothing at all but despair inside of him.

Wesley could come back any ssecond into him. He could take control any second. The only hope was now he needed to control someone else to escape. That gave him a little time. A little.

They ran. The fence was even less of a problem than the wall. And finally they were in the streets. Empty, dark streets of the night. Finally they had a second. Solid, no Matthew smiled at her and then took his watch. He set the countdown to 24 hours and closed his eyes. "Olivia." "Yes?"

Gilroy had been right. They were dangerous, these Mutants. Wesley was the best proof of this. So was he. Howmany had he killed? 20? It was pure luck Wesley had not made him kill Olivia. "Listen. We have little time, so listen. I love you. I hoped I could tell you on another occassion,but it is true. And because I love you, we can never see again. Wesley controls me. e is in my brain and in my body. And even if not. I am dangerous, Olivia. That experiment, it made me indestructable. in a way. And I used it. i killed people. Bad people. But did they all deserve to die? Something inside of me thought so. Something began to like it. Gilroy is right. I am better locked up. But i am also the only one who can stop Wesley now. I´ll try. I swear I´ll try, but if i fail I hope they find a way to lock me up and never release me."

He knew he was crying, but he felt no tears on his cheeks.

He was a pawn now. A plaything. a weapon of an omnipotent psychopath. Wesley would know all he knew. When Wesley wanted he coulkd take control whenever he wanted. Do whatever he wanted with him. With Solid. He considered pushing this Glock into his mouth and pull the trigger. But Wesley would find another one like him, probably. Or something else even worse.

"You must go to the press. Tell this Louise Carlyle from the New York Times. She will believe you. You are a top scientist. tell her how dangerous we are, that the institute exist. They will deny it, but you´ll be safe. Harming you would only give you credibility. Then leave. Run and forget about me. Forget all about me. Matthew Berger is dead. Wesley killed him tonight. And if Wesley survives, so is everything else I have become."

He looked at her and before she could answer, he kissed her. Kissed her and did not feel a damned thing, except his heart pounding. "Please. Don´t make this any harder on me." He whispered and under tears she nodded.

 

[image=http://www.film.com/wp-content/uploads/2003/11/26161553-26161555-large.jpg] [image=http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/126/e/0/Jason_Todd_Profile_by_Beckx.jpg]

Gotham City P.D. File #98423798-A

Subject: Jason Todd (presumed)
A.K.A. "Rorschach"
D.O.B.: Unknown; birth certificate missing from Gotham City Births, Deaths, Marriages Registry
Current status: At large/Arrest Warrant issued
Description: 5'8, athletic build, dark hair, brown eyes presumed, est. late twenties.
Bio (Abstract):--Juvenile record (ref. 84821978-AR) assault occasioning serious bodily harm - conviction expunged (see Dept. Social Services file 6798-F) on State assumption of legal custody and entry to foster home.
--Suspect, homicides Gerald Grice, James Lee Berkowitz.
--Wanted, assault (vs. Gotham PD SWAT) Cpl. Joseph Crenmeyer
--Wanted, resist arrest (vs. Gotham PD SWAT)
--Wanted, escape legal custody, Gotham City Police HQ
--Parents deceased (Ref. File 033928-K, narcotic-related)
Profile: Subject is vigilante in pursuit of punishment against criminals, prelim assessment (Dr. H. Quinn) indicates obssession with Rorschach inkblots as illustrative of existential truths. Highly physically capable, strong intellect, trained (instructor unknown) in martial arts, capable of extreme violence in pursuit of objectives. (Ref. File 178989-L re: capture of Big Figure) Believed to operate out of Crime Alley district, but fear in local underworld keeps them silent as to his whereabouts.
WARNING: Subject extremely dangerous. Do not approach or attempt solo arrest.

OP on blu's tag.