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Devon Metzger

"I guess you could say that I'm living on borrowed time. Then let's not waste it."

0 · 2,565 views · located in Atlas City

a character in “Hadean”, as played by chaotix14

Description

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Theme 1 – Camouflage - Sabaton
Theme 2 – Heart of Courage - Two Steps From Hell (FalKKonE Cover)
Theme 3 – Hell's Kitchen - Dream Theater
Theme 4 – The Light - Disturbed
Theme 5 – The Brave and the Bold - Disturbed
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Full Name: Devon Arnulf Metzger
Alias: Freischütz
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Germanic

Hair: Dull brown kept mostly unstyled and hanging down to his ears.

Eye color: amber

Body: Muscular well built conforming to his broad shoulders and long limbs.

Height: 1.89 meter / 6'2 feet

Weight: 97 kg / 213 lb

Hometown: Seevetal, Germany

Affiliation(s): Minnelinde Brewery(owner & brewmaster)

Personality: Cynical, empathetic yet a big fan of schadenfreude and dark humor.

Likes:
- Coffee

- Military gear

- Tranquil silence

- Discussions

- Biochemistry



Dislikes:
- Abuse of power

- Crowds

- Hot weather

- Artificial sugars

- Overly upbeat people




Fears:
- A slow painful death

- Zealotism

- Losing his way

- Being experimented on


Skills:
- Warrior mindset, capable of keeping calm in life or death situations and able to quickly asses a general situation and form a plan of action.

- Braumeister, through his superior Germanic roots.... Nah, Devon has gone through studies, courses and a proper apprenticeship both in the US and Germany(really good for branding) to become officially recognized as a brewmaster in the US and a braumeister in Germany. A good set of taste buds, curious experimenting mind and an unwillingness to accept lower standards do the rest.

- Aware, through the imparted skills and knowledge of the weapons he uses on a regular basis he has become much more aware of his surroundings, able to feel the gaze of someone who is actively aware of him even more so if said individual has hostile intentions. Making it quite hard to catch him completely by surprise, unless it's an attack of opportunity made the moment one sees him Devon will already be somewhat aware of the assailants presence.

- Industrial navigator, with the combined experience in his time as a volunteer fire fighter and his work in breweries Devon is more adept at covering the mazelike terrain of the industrial kind, clambering, jumping, running, sliding down and squeezing through mazeworks of ducts, pipes, catwalks, ladders, manholes, cabling and machinery are as second nature to him as opening a door.

Costume Identities:


Equipment:
- Freischütz' signature set of clothes. A black helmet attached to which is an armored mask covering his entire face with deep red glasses covering his eyes. A black long sleeved armored vest covered by a brown trenchcoat, a pair of black jeans hiding thin gamberson pants below, brown steel toed boots and a pair of black gloves with an armor plate strapped to the back. The helmet and face mask are equipped with radio equipment, air purifier with a back-up enclosed air supply(in case things get too hostile outside) and thermal & low light capable functionalities embedded into the glasses. The suit as a whole is heavily thermal resistant, electrically insulated, stab and slash proof under conventional means(superpowered data unavailable) and sufficiently blunt force protected that while the suit may be thrown around the contents should be mostly okay.

- A set of Glock G20 10mm pistols. While their appearance may deceive you into thinking they are just regular old handguns the moment the bullets start homing in on your position that illusion should be dispelled quite quickly. Thanks to Devon's power they sport a wide selection of ammunition they can unload in rapid succession without a need to reload. Bullet types available include: Regular, Rubber, Armor piercing full metal jacket, Incendiary, Cryogenic, Explosive, Electrical, High kinetic and Structural fire suppressing foam.

- A highly modified Haenel RS9 .338 lapua magnum marksman-rifle. Sporting an advanced multi-magnification scope, a custom shortened magazine and a somewhat oversized looking muzzle break, this bad boy is the weapon that earned him his reputation in the shadows. Just like it's brethren it's bullets are capable to home, but due to an increased velocity and emphasis on firepower it amounts to little more than a minor course correction. As mentioned the firepower of this beasty was increased quite a bit thanks to Devon's power and the ordinance it carries is also quite a bit more lethality packed behind it. Ammunition types he seemingly conjures from the void include: Regular, Rubber(depending on distance can still lead to excessive internal hemorrhaging and organ damage), Armor piercing APFSDS, Explosive, Fragmentation air burst and Incendiary.

- A 6 bladed flanged mace. A 1.5kg(3lb) heavy and 70cm(27inch) long flanged mace with 6 blades made from tool steel. It has some minimal decorations in the form of clover shaped holes along the blades to improve the handling of the mace. While severely neglected in comparison to the fire arms, one shouldn't be surprised should an electric charge be delivered through one of the blades, as the mace itself has been enhanced to be more suitable for non-lethal engagements able to perform more in line of what would be expected of a stun baton, though the low impact ability and static charge itself can also be used independently if so desired.




Background: Devon was born in one of the more well of parts of the town Seevetal, not too far from the original border with the DDR(Eastern Germany) and while tensions have been lower since the reconciliation between east and west Germany the area was still heavy with military activity. As such Devon's parents not quite convinced that their backyard won't just suddenly become a warzone have always kept an eye open for the potential relocation to another safer country. One such opportunity came when his father Bernard Arnulf Metzger was invited to teach at the university in Atlas City as one of the leading experts in field of biochemistry, though when the invitation came suddenly what seemed like a logical choice became a very difficult step to actually make to throw away the lives they built up for a new chance in an unknown land. After many a night of long discussions and both sides switching stance on an almost daily basis they finally made the decision to go for it and try to build up a new life in the US.
Having done quite a bit of research before their move they managed to find a small house in one of the suburbs and could settle in quickly, despite this it was quite a culture shock for the entire family. Devon had to learn an entire new language, which he managed to master in a relatively short order thanks to his parents who had already been fluent in English due to their respective jobs nature. Both parents had a hard time doing groceries given that the cuts of meat they were used to were cut slightly differently and some items which had become common fare for them were simply unavailable or only available as products designed for a completely different flavor palette, to name just one of the oddities they had to adapt to.
After months or perhaps better said years though one could hardly differentiate them from second or perhaps even third generation immigrants, sure they still had their own cultural ideas and weren't quite sold on the white picket fence, millimetred lawn and flagpole idea but fit in well enough to have established friendly relations with their neighbors. Devon for his part had a rather uneventful, but good, time in middle school with good grades and a fair few friends who he'd end up hanging out with in high school.
Then high school came and rather quickly the teachers found out Devon shared the same passion and affinity with the biochemical excelling far beyond what could be expected from a high school student(also thanks to his father tutoring him on the side) and given his mother language he quickly found himself swamped by kids from the German classes trying to polish their language skills on a native speaker. overall it was a bright and flourishing time for him, that was until one day at school he was called to the principals office. Once there he was informed that his father had just passed away, a radical environmentalist super had penetrated the campus and gone on a murder spree killing all affiliated with the beta faculties in cold blood. The perpetrator had been killed in the process of capturing him, but for many of the victims it had been too late for help to arrive including Devon's father.
Things were never quite the same after that, Devon still excelled at chemistry and biology and he still was surrounded by many who at the very least could be considered good acquaintances, and his mother still smiled the same way at him, but the happy peaceful life Devon's parents had gone through such lengths to attain had been shattered. Through it all Devon powered on unwilling to waste away the biggest gift his dad had left him, his aptitude and ability in all things biochemical.
Devon had frequently joked about it, but never really considered he'd pull through with it when he had said that he'd take an apprenticeship at a brewery instead of going to college to "honor his Germanic roots", but there he stood working under the wing of a master brewer, following a couple courses applicable to the field in his spare time and prepped for the eventual next step of starting a brewery of his own. And after 5 though years there he was with both an American and a Germany certificate of brewmastership and a small brewery and still to his name, although most of it sponsored by his mother. In the meantime he had also followed his tutor in his footsteps and joined the volunteer fire fighters following the logic of "We who toil day in day out near heat, fire and flammables ought to know how to put them out should we need to." it made sense at the time and he did indeed learn a decent few valuable skills along the way.
Then one fateful day disaster struck once more a day Devon can remember vividly the smell, the sounds, the heat. A forest fire had been raging and everyone available was called out to help with whatever they could. Devon had been helping civilians from the area when his vehicle was smashed by a dead tree, pushed over by the winds the forest fire made, as he checked a cabin along the road for people. Utterly stuck far away from any assistance and the fire quickly encroaching Devon felt like that day may have been his last. Though thinking it would be an exercise in futility he ran as fast he could back the way he came, only to be faced with the flickering light of a thousand embers all around him. It was at that point when the desperation truly set in that a soldier in a car stopped right next to him and offered him a ride. Devon thanked the man for saving his bacon as he got in the car and introduced himself then asked his saviors name. The soldier said with a chuckle "They just call me Arsenal." As they made their way back to a safer location they were met with burning branches from the trees and whole trees themselves toppling down along the roadside, but as through a miracle none seemed to have hit them, at least the car wouldn't have survived the impact of a tree... Right?
When a fire trench under construction finally came into view the soldier stopped the car and said "You go on ahead, I still have unfinished business back there." Devon got out of the car and they said their goodbye. Devon got quite a few curious looks as he walked over the embankment of the fire trench and into the view of the people in and around the trench, after all he had come walking out from an area where they knew there was fire. When he told his story to one of the guys intercepting him and dropped the name "Arsenal" a quiet murmur among the soldiers in the trench spread. One of the guy then took him by the arm to one of the trucks next to the ditch mumbling as they walked. "Hell, we always thought he was joking, but damn... It's real them." He then opened the back and said "This here is Arsenal, passed away a few hours ago... Here, his dog tags... I guess they are yours now." His voice cracking as he handed Devon a set of dog tags with a slip of paper twisted around them.
In a half dazed state, unable to completely comprehend had just happened in these last few hours, Devon helped the soldiers with the fire trench and rode the truck back to base camp. When the forest fires finally died down through a change in the weather, he got to go back home, with the dog tags and the slip of paper in hand. Once home he took a silent moment to reflect on it all and finally looked at the slip of paper, in it was a letter written by Arsenal to "whomever it may concern" detailing all he knew about the dog tags and their history ending with "No need to mourn me, I was just glad to be of help to a friend."
In the end aside from the dog tags sticking to him like a puppy with abandonment issues nothing seemed different, the onset of his powers was rather subtle. Appliances in his house didn't break down, the microwave lost that annoying cold spot making defrosting easier, his bed felt more comfortable for some reason and he always seemed to be able to get closer to fires than his colleagues. The moment when he realized something was off only came when he grabbed a knife to dice some onions and his mind was suddenly flooded by short bladed combat techniques and he had reflexively sprung into a defensive stance, one he could name and dissect to the tiniest flaws and strengths as if it was just common everyday knowledge. From that point onward Devon started experimenting with his powers finding out what items triggered what kind of knowledge, eventually determining that if it could be a halfway reasonable weapon it would trigger his powers. Eventually he did discover the other part of his power, after the very subtle signs became a bit less subtle and he started experimenting with those powers as well.
Within a year after the incident at the forest fire Devon had scourged together the items that would eventually make up his iconic costume and a set of pistols. He quit his volunteer work for the fire fighters claiming that he just couldn't continue doing both his job at the brewery and the volunteer work, but promised that he'd drop by occasionally, with the others jokingly adding "with a few cold ones preferably".(and to be fair the brewery was doing quite well after the name started spreading through the high society with a few resorts even commissioning a unique exclusive beer to serve) Under the alias of "Freischütz" he took government courses on subjects he already had plentiful experience through his volunteer work, including various rescue training courses and first aid. Utilizing this training he built up a decent reputation with the public, after all it's hard not to like a hero who willingly jumps into burning buildings to get every last person out, even when said building is about to collapse on itself. On the shadow side though, there have been a number of cases where criminals have been shot, but no bullet remaining at the scene nor any signs that they were physically removed. Also a fair few cases where shoplifters, pick pockets and other petty criminals were found minutes after committing a crime restrained in some sticky goop that dissolved into nothingness after a short period of time. There may be those who have an inkling of who might be responsible, but without proof and most of them not living on the right side of the law... All they can do is speak his name in hushed tones.



Powers:

Artisan of war
[Thinker(4)]
Devon is capable of gaining mastery(including muscle memory) of the use of weapons / fighting styles by creating a connection with said weapon or an attribute used for said weapon style, however to maintain the connection he must stay in physical contact of the item and once the connection is lost almost instantly all of the gained mastery will drain away only leaving a tiny fraction of the skill as residual(dependent on the length the connection remained). Due to the residual mastery that remains after each use it is possible to train up mastery to the point where reliance on the ability is no longer needed, however given that usage of the skill usually requires the weapon in question to be in hand it's only really useful for unarmed fighting styles.

Tsukumogami Maker
[Shaker(5)-Blaster(8)-Striker(2) ]
Items that are frequently used by Devon gain the ability to grow stronger and gain beneficial features through repeated use. The growth of these objects quite slow, but has shown no upper limit as of yet and the direction of growth is subconsciously steered into desires properties. One limitation that has been found is that the core functionality of the item in question can't be changed. For example a microwave won't be able to gain the ability to freeze things, the more complex and directed the original function the less leeway it has.

Wraith Form
[Mover(3)-Changer(3)-Stranger(5)]
Devon is capable of freely shifting into wraith form, which turns him into a black smoke with no real physical properties only giving a spatial representation of where Devon’s consciousness is located rendering him invulnerable to anything aside from direct mental attacks on his consciousness. When shifting into raith form it appears as if Devon dissolves in the air around him leaving only wispy strings of smoke leaving little ways to track him other than keeping a close eye on the smoke as it moves. When shifting away from wraith form the smoke converges making it appear as if he is walking out of the cloud of smoke rather than it reconstructing him. Shifting into and out of wraith form can be reversed at any point during the transformation. With conscious effort Devon can take others with him into wraith form, but it requires there to be a physical link between him and any others, lowers the maximum achievable speed, creates a larger amount of smoke proportional to the amount and size of the people he takes with him and increases the time it takes to shift into and out of wraith form. Not to mention the sensory overload the passenger might experience while in wraith form.
While in wraith form Devon can freely move through any non-solid materials even allowing him to squeeze through the tiniest cracks and holes with ease. It also allows him to move at increased speeds depending on the how restricting the materials around him are, with cramped spaces and highly viscous liquids being the slowest. As a side effect wraith form also gives Devon vision, hearing and smell for all directions within and around the smoke clouds as well as bodily awareness of the smoke


Power Origins: Anomalous Incident. Devon received his powers through the inheritance of a special set of dog tags. The origin of which can be traced back to a marine on his deathbed stating their dying wish to save one young marine from certain death, the manifestation of this desire then did end up saving one such marine. Who in turn took over the tags, gained new powers and became the next in the cycle, saving one more life after theirs was extinguished and passing on the torch. The true nature of these dog tags has yet to be determined, the same goes for the question on whether the first marine was the one to start the chain or that it's power dates back further.





Color Code:dark red
Spoiler: show
#2F4F4F

So begins...

Devon Metzger's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger Character Portrait: Jericho Amile Character Portrait: Sasha Belov Character Portrait: Richard Mackenzie (The White Death)
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Vic thumped down onto the sidewalk like a passed out drunk, her clutch on the monster's lungs released. She looked down at the pincushions that were her arms with a quiet, monotone "Ahhhhhhhhh" of pain. They stung like crazy. There had to be some kind of venom in these quills, something sourced from the biggest, angriest wasp. Vic pulled down her mask, hissing out a string of curses, and tore each quill out with her teeth, spitting them out to the side. Her eyes flicked across the battlefield towards her opponent as she did, in time to see Cannonade blasted across the street. ...Damn.

She hauled herself up to her feet, blinking through the flow of blood dripping down into her eyelashes. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand then smeared it thoughtlessly across her chest, giving the NSFW print of a 90s style cat girl splayed out there a bloodbath. Her target was bubbled by an impenetrable force and just ate the man who'd done it. Well, that was a shame, she supposed, as her gaze already locked onto the new biggest brute on the field. She pulled her mask up and disappeared...

... reappearing half a second later between a truck door and some guy who looked way better equipped to deal with the threat. She tapped her foot, which was entirely unnecessary in her power using process, like every movement was, and the hurtling truck door was sent flying upwards a good fifty feet and sent soaring over their heads to become somebody else's problem. Her hands then shot out, and a wave of air tore through the onslaught of fire and salt. That wave swiftly built into a powerful vortex, charging at the behemoth and contesting his control of the salt. It crashed into him. Small, stinging grains of salt tore through his attire, bit at the skin beneath and assaulted his eyes, while the roaring wind obstructed his hearing.

Vic glanced over her shoulder to the man behind her, as she nonchalantly rolled her wrist with a finger pointed skyward, like she was conducting the tornado, other hand in pocket. That suit's technology looked state of the art, NAHLA worthy. Her eyes flicked up and down it, then she quirked a brow at him.

"Hey. You packing a laser beam in that?" She asked, with the same tone of someone asking if you have a lighter. Her shoulders jostled with a small shrug as she turned her head back around to Balthazar. Still struggling and failing to escape the salt flinging tornado following him around while Vic kept on moving her finger in a continuous circle. "Think we could all do with a classic right about now."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger Character Portrait: Jericho Amile Character Portrait: Sasha Belov Character Portrait: Richard Mackenzie (The White Death)
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"There it is," grumbled Yue, snapping her fingers as she pushed back to her feet. The leader was calling in his trump card, the enormous brute that had thrown her through the window in the first place. Somehow she'd lost track of him during all the fighting. Yue's eyes darted across the battlefield, taking stock of everything that was happening. She couldn't help but flinch as the car landed on the Witchfinder leader. She didn't feel bad, these were people that had not only threatened her, but her family as well... still that would have been a promising lead to bring back.

She clenched her fists. This was it, do or die, no turning back; this was the time to take action and end this. She took a deep breath, filling her chest with energy and- Vicki was already there, intercepting the truck door and pushing back the stream of molten salt with blasts of wind.

Yue deflated slowly, slipping her hands into the pockets of her track pants and observing from the rooftop. Vicki was a lot stronger in person than her database file had implied. In fact Yue guessed she was the most dangerous super on the field at the moment. Lacking imagination maybe... or perhaps having skipped a few too many science classes. The thought tugged the corners of her lips into a frown. Perhaps it was just jealousy that Vicki had an ability that didn't destroy everything it touched, herself included. She was just pushing the notion from her mind when she noticed the shapeshifter slurp up the young man that had gone in to contain it and adopt a defensive posture. Yue clucked her tongue in thought, glancing from one battle to the other.

That's when she dropped from the rooftop onto a lamp post, sliding down gingerly and then striding purposefully across the street. She paused only momentarily to casually step on the groin of a Witchfinder that was trying to get up.

"Stay down, or I'll break it," she warned in a tone that suggested she was just... done.

Yue approached the metallic creature, stopping at the edge of what she'd guessed its striking range was and locked... she couldn't find its eyes, but she leveled her burgundy gaze at it purposefully and prepared herself with a breath, just in case. She was still for an excruciatingly long moment, as if observing its reaction. The morning light glinted off the fragments of glass embedded in her arms and blood dripped slowly from her fingers to the asphalt. Her shirt was torn where she'd been hit by the salt, exposing a deep, bleeding scrape in her side, and the flesh on her right shoulder was already red and peeling from where she'd been burned by flames.

"'Oi, Cannonade! They have a bruiser, 'Windbreaker' needs your help so get off your ass! I'll take care of... this," she called out in the direction Cannon had been thrown without taking her gaze off the creature.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger Character Portrait: Akiko Bong Character Portrait: Jericho Amile Character Portrait: Sasha Belov
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#, as written by Nulix
As Sasha peered into the broken window a queue of frightened civilians burst out the door beside him. Cannonade lay sideways in what was once a display of produce, bananas mashed against their form. The bodega shopkeeper coward behind the counter. Cannonade let out a long sigh before giving a thumbs up to the unknown voice of Sasha. "Ya. Ya I'm good."

WIth a grunt they pushed themselves to their feet, brushing some of the mush off their body. WIth their forearm they wiped their helmet clean and gave a huff. They were bruised up from toe to back. "Oh god, this sucks," They exclaimed as they began to walk to the exit, their helmet swiveling to face Sasha as they moved.

The bodega's shop bell rang as the the door swung open. Cannonade exited miserably, looking out onto the scene with the strange oil-slick demon of super. "Whoever did that was a literal dickhead," Cannon commented.

"'Oi, Cannonade! They have a bruiser, 'Windbreaker' needs your help so get off your ass!" An authoritative voice called. Their eyes narrowed onto a woman circling the creature Cannon had tried to take out when they had been suckerpunched from behind, though it's form was shifting into something silvery. Gross. The woman taking this thing on had the voice of someone who'd done this before. NAHLA or a lesser government agency, maybe even a private company.

Cannonade's gaze shifted to the front of the diner. The massive leader of the witchfinders blasted out fire and salt at the surrounding supers. He screamed as his attacks were interrupted and he was caught within a chaotic looking whirlwind. They saw their opportunity.

Cannonade cracked their neck before leaping into the air. They hovered high, sailing across the battle-field until they reached an apex. And then they plummeted, down into the eye of the Vortex. Bits of banana flew outward and sprinkled onto the surrounding supers as they descended within. Boots first they collided with Balthazar, making contact with the witchfinder's back, smashing him into the earth then leaping off the man and landing beside Violence Vic. Cannonade breathed heavily, their knees feeling like they were ready to collapse.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger Character Portrait: Akiko Bong Character Portrait: Jericho Amile Character Portrait: Sasha Belov
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The situation had seemed relatively under control, however the leader of the witchfinders just had to open his damn mouth, unleashing the giant from before who decided to take about 7 times the recommended dose of that drug they carried along with them. The monster roared and threw attacking in the direction of the most recent addition to the battle, all while suppressing a few other with burning molten salt that he launched in similar ways to what the other Witchfinders had done.

It all had been a flurry of heroes trying to contain, first Mackenzie stepped up to the plate trying to use good old gunfire, and a bladelike ice shard when those failed to kill. A secondary attack with modern ballistics proved more successful, except Devon just couldn't feel quite comfortable about that brown liquid that was 'bleeding' out of the monster, he had no clue what that stuff was and no intention of finding out. Meaning explosives and anything else that would cause that liquid to splatter all over the place was out of the question. A few more shots from an unknown source were fired from an attacker he couldn't quite see, though their projectiles did reveal they were using something rather extraordinary.

The second attacker was the skater girl, though upon closer observation of her powers and the few red hairs that escaped her disguise in all likelihood he was faced with either miss V herself, or a copycat who had been ever so 'fortunate' to receive similar powers though would such a person actively try to hide their identity, he doubted it. She had thrown the truck door into the air, no doubt with no particular destination in mind, so while she was busy keeping our drugged up Frankenstein's monster from killing anyone Devon made sure that the door wouldn't squash someone like an overripe watermelon. Of course the best solution to this problem was a 'moderate' course correction caused by a hail of high kinetic bullets allowing the door so 'gently' land against an already damaged nearby vehicle. The vehicle in question may or may not have been reduced to scrap value in the process.

Yue then agitated the loose cannon into action, who almost as if it were it's instinct to disregard anything other than the adrenaline rush, jumped into vortex of scorching hot salt performing a move straight out of super mario... And causing a spray of banana mush to fly everywhere, as if they couldn't make a single move without causing a mess. They subsequently jumped out of harms way, quite visibly fatigued.

With miss human cannonball out of the way and the vortex keeping any other potential melee attackers at bay there was finally a window to unload on the ironically named berserker. Devon did not waste a moment and lay siege to the brute with a hail of bullets. First there was lightning arching wild after each and every impact ravaging the nerves and ceasing up muscle to the point where muscle fiber started to tear itself apart.

The beast roared in agony unable to move more than it's face without tearing up it's own muscle, but even that thunderous roar was cut short when the second wave hit... Frost, the first of which was aimed at the homunculi's windpipe which he had conveniently exposed with it's roar, because Devon was quite honestly getting a headache from hearing the only words it's peanut brain could form and a nice chunk of ice forming inside there should help keep it quiet. As the other cryo ordnance impacted the patches of frozen flesh and cracking metal started to form, forming new inhibitions of movement.

Finally the third wave a nice and friendly mixture of high kinetic rounds aimed at the frozen spots hoping to shatter them like an ice cube under a sledgehammer, Armor piercing rounds aimed where one normally would expect vitals to be and more electrical bullets just because he liked how it made the slab of rotten meat twitch the first time. However it seemed the creature had both spotted his position and hadn't been fully restrained as a wave of that burning salt was sent his way. Devon ducked away as best he could using his trenchcoat as a shield, but it could not prevent a few of the grains gazing him on his left cheek. God damnit, that hurt! Throwing salt in the wound and trying to cauterize you at the same time, yeah... This thing wasn't going to leave this place without being destroyed to the point to where you'd need to mop up the remains.

Cursing under his breath Devon ran away from the ledge that had been his vantage point, back down the fire escape. If he had been in his whole suit instead of just the trenchcoat he would have happily stood there taking the brunt of the damage and laughing it off while dishing out a torrent of destruction, but this is the real world there are no what if scenario's, you just have to roll with the punches and that meant pulling GTFO and finding a new firing position.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger Character Portrait: Akiko Bong Character Portrait: Jericho Amile Character Portrait: Sheri Galloway
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As the goliath Witchfinder turned its attention to Devon, Sasha reviewed the situation, activating his power once again as he waded into the hailstorm of superheated salt. Balthazar had taken a lot of damage, and his head had begun to take on more of the shape of a potato than a human skull. Despite this, the savagery and insanity in the Witchfinder's eyes was no less intense.

"You're certainly big," Sasha growled, impervious to Balthazar's salt and seemingly unbothered by the heat. "But drugs were the wrong way to make yourself stronger."

Balthazar turned at Sasha's voice, and threw a punch the size of Sasha's entire body at the calm Russian. Sasha sidestepped the blow almost faster than the eye could see, his own fist lashing out to connect with the giant's knee, creating a loud crack that was followed by an even louder bellow from the Witchfinder.

As the knee buckled, Sasha twisted, his foot lashing out with a blur, slamming five times down the midsection of the giant, each blow striking a vital point. Grasping the collapsing Witchfinder's coat with a roar, Sasha flipped what remained of Balthazar over his shoulder and into the concrete, cracking the pavement.

"Surrender," Sasha said to the downed cultist. "Don't make things worse on yourself or your... friends."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger Character Portrait: Jericho Amile Character Portrait: Sheri Galloway Character Portrait: Sasha Belov
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Richard raised a hand to cover his eyes as Cannonade came crashing down into Balthazar, soon followed by a flurry of attacks from some guy up on the roofs, and another fellow who approached looking like something from Dante's Inferno. The monster of a man looked almost inhuman now, his flesh melting and dripping to the ground like thick mud or rotten fruit. Richard flicked a few bits of banana off him as that realization kicked in.

Balthazar gazed up to the demon man that stood before him, the Witchfinder's face was now a nearly bleached skull with metal and wires stitched around, keeping his warped looking head together. The creature could no longer speak, but it wasn't hard for Sasha or others to tell that it was laughing, up until its loose hanging jaw-halves dislodged from its face and fell to the ground.

Its chest burst open as a torrent of thick brown fluid fired out at Sasha, who managed to dodge in time for the liquid to hit the ground, causing toxic burns on the pavement. Before Sasha could do anything else, the group noticed Balthazar was holding something in his hand now, which he had pulled out from under his coat.

A grenade launcher.

As the long tube aimed up at the group in front of Balthazar, Richard quickly got to work firing back at the monster again, hitting it in the arm, chest and neck, with the pistol in his left hand. Richard's right hand was empty, aimed towards the grenade launcher now, his eyes widening and heart pounding against his chest as he tried to prevent-

Balthazar pulled the trigger. As the grenade inside hit the ice wall that was built in the barrel, the whole device exploded, tearing through the Witchfinder's arm and reducing it to ribbons of flesh, and shards of bone. The creature swayed a moment, its flesh and body parts beginning to steadily fall from its body, a result of all the damage sustained by the onslaught. It toppled onto its back, laid there a moment not moving, before Balthazar began to violently spasm and shake, ending in a crescendo as an explosion tore through its chest and the rest of its body.

Richard gazed upon the shredded remains of the monster, then took a quick look around at the rest of the group. No one seemed to have moved for the last moments of its life. The explosion had come from something inside of Balthazar.

"Nice bit of teamwork." He muttered to the others, giving an approving nod to everyone who'd helped in the battle of Atomic Anne's. "Everyone okay?" He asked sympathetically. It soon became apparent to him he'd not been fully aware of other events in the battle, taking notice of the other monster that had seemed to absorb some big guy who'd been here only a short while. Richard took a short few moments to take some breaths, and plan his next move against this... Thing.


__________________________________________________________________


Maxwell sighed as Sheri made a call, to whom he wasn't entirely sure, but it was evidently either law enforcement or a hero organization. "I do believe I was quite clear on communication devices." Maxwell muttered over to Kingsley, a soft smile on his face, but great agitation laying in his eyes.

"Well Miss, it appears you've interfered with my business transaction with my client. Normally I would take a different approach with a situation like this, but it appears there is no rectifying this situation." Before Sheri could react, he pulled a gun from inside his jacket, aimed, and fired.

The bullet went through Kingsley's head, sending it back to the ground as blood quickly pooled out. "A shameful waste of time and money. And for what I wonder?" He smirked as he turned back to Sheri. "I assume you're being paid for this. Well, I congratulate you on that. For what it's worth though, I expect the pay could be far better. Indeed, the pay I offer is almost certainly far better. He smiled warmly at her as he placed the gun back in his jacket.

"At the very least, your powers could be put to far better use than... This."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger Character Portrait: Akiko Bong Character Portrait: Jericho Amile Character Portrait: Sasha Belov
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The battle was over and an opportunity was created as Sasha walked towards the others. The main Witchhunter was dead and Akiko could see a small glowing orb where it had stood in its final moments. None of the others seemed interested. They didn't see it after all.

Akiko's breath grew slightly colder and she began to walk cautiously but quickly. She had a couple of minutes before the orb would disappear and she knew the others wouldn't be still for much longer. The strange monster was now the one carrying the attention but it wasn't for a good reason. There was tension in the air and Akiko wanted to be out of the area if things went sour. Not that it would affect her much but it was better to be careful.

Her steps were light and Akiko navigated the debris with ease. Her movements were deliberate and practiced because ghosts can't make sound. Akiko could however.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger Character Portrait: Jericho Amile Character Portrait: Sasha Belov Character Portrait: Richard Mackenzie (The White Death)
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It had looked like Jericho was finally coming to their senses but once again the universe just couldn't do Alex a solid. Jericho was running on instincts so strongly that apparently all they had gotten out of what Alex had said boiled down to the need to protect their only friend. He hadn't been given any other warning before he was suddenly engulfed in Jericho's shifting form. He tried to struggle without harming Jericho but was quickly swallowed up.

Crap.

The feeling of being surrounded in a cavity of flesh was not pleasant at all, Alex was just lucky it wasn't entirely wet. On the downside it was still a tad damp in here, it smelled weird in a not so pleasant way, and he wasn't sure if Jericho had made it so he could breath while in this bizarre cocoon. That only left one other option. Lucky for him, everything around him seemed soft. Alex knelt down and put his hands onto The "floor". This was gonna get weirder really fast. Alex began to tickle the shape-shifter from the inside.

Jericho found themselves in a peculiar spot. Their mind was still running at an overclocked state, and they could hear someone else approaching. The torso may not have held eyes or a mouth, but the entirety of it's skull was three gigantic eardrums. The bladed arms were a blur as they swept into motion. Yue was probably lucky that there was a dome in Jericho's way, as the tips of eight separate blades slammed into the side of the dome with lethal force.

Beastly anger pulsed through J-3 and the head of the torso shook violently for a moment before ripping open to reveal a jagged toothed maw that stretched nearly halfway around the entire head. Another monstrous roar made it's way out of the Shapeshifter, and for but a moment was held...

Before it was cut off entirely by the absolute worst sensation of Jericho's life. The rush of adrenaline and the call of the hunt was immediately thrown to the proverbial wind as the sensation of TICKLING burst through the nerves of Jericho's form. They split apart from the top to the bottom, to the source of the horrendous sensation. Their form became mostly ink, swirling and shifting, coalescing around Alex in the form of a startlingly large serpent-like beast. It's snout held the same knife-blades that the other combat form did, though down its outward facing sides were rows and rows of spines and barbed needles. The face was adorned with two sets of eyes, the forward-most set twitching and rolling about at all times, and the back set holding steadfast on the visage of Yue, and the others at a further distance.

On the tip of the tail was a collection of blades, as if someone took a collection of katana blades and attempted to make a 'rattle' there. Jericho spoke not to her, however, but to Alex, whom they glared at with the sort of anger that one's friend might have after being FUCKING TICKLED AT RANDOM.

"The fuck!? What did you do to me!? Don't EVER do that again, please!" Came the distorted voice, as if Jericho was speaking through the booming growl of a tiger.

The swirling ink and rush of movement all around Alex was disorienting but still put a smirk on Alex's face. When in doubt it was usually a good bet to touch a nerve or two. Was it smart though? Well probably not if you didn't want some snake monster that also happens to be your best friend glaring at you. He had just been blinking to try and get his vision clear again when he both heard and felt Jericho's voice.

" Good, you aren't going full instinct on me anymore. And DUDE! If you cocoon me like that when its not even close to necessary then of course I'm tickling my way out. What else was i supposed to do? I cant do much when you are going autopilot on me that wouldn't hurt or scare you. Give me a break big guy!" An exasperated sigh escaped Alex's lips followed by a facepalm that sounded loud enough that it would probably give a normal human brain damage. At least Jericho was lucid again. Now if only they could... there was somebody else right there approaching the two of them. Given the situation she was probably one of the supers that was dealing with the demented church guys.

Oh that's not good.

On reflex Alex threw a hand out in her direction and started forming a layered wall of force fields to make some form of buffer between the two of them and her. At this point he really, REALLY wasn't in the mood to fight a full on super that wasn't obviously some street level thug.

"Hey uh, sorry but we are kind of having a moment here?" That probably wasn't going to work. But it was worth a shot.

Yue's eyes narrowed but she didn't budge. One could practically see the cogs turning in her head as she examined the barriers between them. If they were closer she may have reached out and touched one experimentally, but for the time being she stood her ground and listened to what they had to say.

"You have a dangerous pet. Are you really willing to fight with me to protect it?" she asked. As if to emphasize her point she flicked the blood accumulating on her fingertips to the pavement like she was just waiting for an excuse.

Alex's eye twitched behind his temporary mask. Ok, that was strike one for her. He cleared his throat loudly and did his best to sound calm.

" My friend here has finally come back to their senses and the both of us would really like to just go home. So yeah, if you really want to do this, I wont hesitate to protect my friend." Alex made a fist with his right hand and punched it into his left palm. The sound cracked like a small thunderbolt. Without breaking eye contact with Yue, he spoke softly so that only Jericho could hear him.

"If this goes south, I'm not fighting her. When we get the chance, we bolt out of here. Already too many professional looking supers for my taste anyway. Besides, I haven't eaten and I'm getting hangry."

"Hmm," she replied shortly, her head tilting just a tiny bit to the left. Her gaze cut like she could see straight through him: the man's head was moving very very slightly, as though he was communicating to the creature. Yue's eyes narrowed further... what were they plotting? She looked them both over carefully. Male. Large build. Taller than her. Judging from the sounds his fists made when they clapped together, the muscles weren't just for show. And the barriers...

Yue took a couple of slow steps back until she was standing on top of the Witchfinder she'd walked over to get there, lifted him off the ground by his neck one handed and dragged him purposefully straight up to the barrier. She crushed his face up against it unpleasantly hard, curious about the barriers, but not wanting to touch them herself.

"Answer my next question carefully," she warned. There was a noticeable pause before she continued: they could probably see her eyes flicking back and forth between Alex and the creature; she didn't make any efforts to hide it. Besides testing the barrier, her goal was to get a closer look at the creature. Calculated risk since she wasn't in control of the barriers. "Do you have any affiliation with the Witchfinder Generals?"

Jericho's tail-tip set itself to rattling, bringing a cacophony of clattering blades into the air as their viper-head whipped about and locked squarely on Yue. Their maw opened and closed as they talked, at times slamming shut and giving themselves and odd accent to their speech.

"No. The title of the idiots in tall hats? Good food. I would like to consume them sooner than later. They are 'bad people' and thus they are food, you understand-agree?" Jericho's form slowly rotated around Alex, spreading out from around the man's body and instead pressing up against the dome walls. Their gaze never left Yue's form, and through the fields of telekinetic force, a hiss scraped out into the open air. Another mouth opened on the 'inner' facing side of Jericho's body, scales splitting apart and spreading out to allow for lips and a tongue to come lolling out. They spoke quietly to Alex, their attention splitting between Yue and the other supers at a distance.

"I can probably carry you faster than you can run. Or we can... Uh... Sled-dog this. Make a barrier under your feet, I can give you some reigns for you to hold on to, and I'll take a faster-stronger form. Can hide you as well, camouflage against an alleyway or the side of a building"

Yue let go of the Witchfinder and let him slide down the surface of the barrier, seeming satisfied that he didn't melt, catch fire, or vanish into some alternate dimension, then tentatively pressed her fingertips to it at about waist level, lowering her head slightly so the creature would have a harder time reading her expression.

"I understand," she answered, trying to come up with something heroic to say on the spot. It wasn't working... and this wasn't the right place to be fighting anxiety over something so stupid, but she felt her toes scrunch up inside her shoes. "L-listen, I don't think you're bad guys. I appreciate that you were both here when I was in trouble, but if you can't keep your 'friend' from killing then I don't have a choice."

Of course she was one for hard rule of law. Damn! Alex had been hoping for at least someone more lenient. Oh well, guess that left plan B. He really didn't like where this was going.

"Was happy to help, really I was. But unfortunately me and my friend here are vigilante's of a sort soooo... sorry but I'm going to have to disappoint you miss." With a thought, the dome around Jericho and him dissipated into nothing. Alex quickly jumped and scrambled onto Jericho's head. "Time to go!!" Alex used one hand to brace himself atop Jericho and threw his other hand out towards Yue. The barrier in front of her quickly expanded and was curving into a dome around her, leaving no openings in the front and only a chance of getting out by backpedaling. Once Jericho really started moving he was going to have to make sure to cover their retreat further... he really hoped she wasn't a speedster or teleporter or this was going to get annoying fast.

There was a bare moment of hesitation before Jericho made the world's ugliest noise: A hyena cackle mixed with a boars squeal. Their form shifted mid-move, swirling with ink and pulsing with liquid before slamming into the form of a six-legged, horse like beast. The skull was still viper like, though the mouth widened into a massive line that sucked air in like a vacuum. Three pairs of holes opened in the chest of the beast, and air flowed in as rapidly as the massively muscled form charged away. Jericho's voice ripped up towards Alex, rumbling under the man's thighs as he was shuffled into the proper place for 'horse' riding. "I'm so sorry..."

In the place where they once stood, a wad of four twenty dollar bills was left in their place. Fuck you lady, have your damn breakfast in peace.

For one brief moment her eyes flashed red, and it looked like she might try and punch straight through the barrier to try and grab Alex. The light went away as quickly as it appeared, however, and she threw herself backwards out of the closing bubble instead. Of course, Jericho's form was much too fast for her to catch without her powers, but she still made a show of sprinting after them for a block before jogging to a halt.

"That should be enough for the paperwork," she muttered, exhaling slowly. She wasn't that committed to chasing them after they had helped save her life, and she was still under suspension after all: she wasn't supposed to be using her powers anyway. She sighed, clasping her hands behind her head and heading back towards the diner.

Yue paused as she reached the site of their encounter, kneeling down to pick up the money they'd left behind before continuing back to the diner. The fight with Balthazaar had ended by the time she arrived and she stopped for only a moment to reach down and pick up the coffee cup she had been launched through the window with. Miraculously it had somehow survived the battle. Almost blankly, she walked past everyone and went back inside to her seat, lowering herself back into her stool with a note of exhaustion. She placed her coffee cup on the far edge of the counter with the bills underneath it, carefully adjusting the mug until the handle was facing magnetic north. Yue pulled one knee up to her chest and resting her forehead on it with her arms clasped together.

"Nante fuyukai (How unpleasant)," she muttered.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger Character Portrait: Akiko Bong Character Portrait: Jericho Amile Character Portrait: Sasha Belov
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#, as written by Nulix
Cannonade watched as the witchhunter's beast of burden blasted away, faster than any human could, and disappeared through the traffic of the street. The woman who had been attempting some sort of negotiation with the beast seemed dumbfounded for a moment before retreating through the ruined street, back toward the diner.

Cannon stood, their weight on one leg and their arms folded. "What the fuck was that?" They asked in disbelief as Yue entered the diner. The witchfinders who survived lay bleeding or unconscious, and the ones who perished had... hella perished. Doors to vehicles cautiously unlocked, civilians beginning to emerge as the battle had finished. At the edge of the park police sirens grew louder, the ACPD having to travel through the green space on account of the street blockage.

Cannonade turned back to the assemblage of heroes on the street. "Right, cards out," They called, flicking what looked like a business card out from their pocket and raising it into the air.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger Character Portrait: Jericho Amile Character Portrait: Sasha Belov Character Portrait: Richard Mackenzie (The White Death)
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Devon was barely halfway down the fire escape when an explosion shook the surrounding buildings followed by another not long after. He rushed down the fire escape and to the front of the diner, for nothing as the brute forming the last bastion of the witchfinders was reduced to flesh confetti. There wasn't even a single piece large enough for him to vent his anger on. Marking the end of the battle as the out of control monster also seemed to be gone.

Now came the hard questions, what should he do from here? The options present were all a big hassle as far as he was concerned. He had fired his guns in plain view of witnesses, used special ammo and homing bullets, and he had no method of paying he realized as he pulled his phone out of his pocket... Scheiße. This was going to be a long day.

Also there was that matter with the scalded grazes on his cheek he wanted them checked just to be sure it was merely hot salt that hit him and there wasn't something else funky in there, might as well wait for the emergency services to arrive and have it checked by them. Speaking of which... Shouldn't they have been on the scene by now? Devon sighed and walked back to the stool he had been sat on before everything went to hell. He picked the half eaten muffin out of the spilled coffee on the counter and looked at it for a moment. It was still perfectly edible and maybe with the infusion of coffee it would be extra good, coffee with blueberry liqueur was quite nice after all, on the other hand it's a soggy muffin and would a soggy muffin ever be able to taste good... Probably not. He sighed once more as he placed the muffin back on the plate and turned the mug that once held his coffee back upright. He sat down on a stool one spot over, since the one he had occupied was now kind of stained with spilled coffee. He placed his right elbow on the counter allowing it to become the supporting pillar for his head as he rested his chin on the palm of his hand. He was already getting a headache from thinking about the fallout of this little skirmish, or it might still be from that brutes blabbering.

He looked over to see Yue enter the building, walking to the stool she had been not so gently ejected from, putting some money below her mug and sitting down. She muttered something he couldn't understand, what he could understand though were the wounds on her body among which more than a few were bleeding. "You need a hand with those wounds? There should be a first aid kit somewhere around here." He asked her without raising his head.

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Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger
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When the big Witchfinder exploded, it seemed that was a wrap. The perfect cover to slip away, undetected. There was enough rubble to make for good cover, not too tall, good enough to peer around. There was still the matter of the beast, but that has been....taken care of? Either way it has fled, another super in tow.

And then I'm the distance...sirens. Great, more civilians the agents could question. Best to make himself scarce. But where could be go? Agents were just around the corner and a crowd of reporters and other unwelcome eyes, potential obstacles in the way of him getting to do what he needs to do in this city.

He glanced back towards the diner. That woman...the target of the Witchfinders had casually walked back inside. She was joined by someone else. Henry vaguely remembered seeing him in the restaurant as well. Was he a hero too? There were so many in one place here, he wouldn't be surprised if this was some sort of team....team.

Perhaps, there was a chance. A risky chance but...

Henry walks into the diner, hands in his pockets. "Not gonna lie..." Henry began, pointing a thumb backwards outside. "If all those guys are your teammates, y'all need to work on your coordination." He stated, taking a seat. "...You are pros, right?"

Setting

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Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger Character Portrait: Sasha Belov Character Portrait: Vicki Vortex Character Portrait: Cannonade
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Klaus nodded his thanks to Vic as she blasted the car door meant to take his head off out of sight.

"You have a laser in that thing?" She asked him, gesturing to his suit. He simply shook his head as his focus was on the Goliath Witch Finder. In a flash, the battle was over, his eyes darted around the battlefield as he began to collect the temporal distortion disks he'd used to slow the WitchFinders, and irritate the shape-shifter, J-3, AKA Jericho if he remembered the materials he'd studied.


With the disks recovered, sirens began to fill the air, everything in him wanted to run, but where could he go? There was a reason he'd appeared now, and while he had a vague understanding of the future ahead, things were going to begin to change. He could not go forward beyond this date, and these people, these supers were the key to unlocking the answers he sought, so for now, he'd stay.


He took a hesitant step into Atomic Anne's before striding behind the counter and pouring coffee into an empty mug. He also took the liberty to refill the mugs that sat in front of Yue and Devon.


He put the mug to his helmet, which simply parted to allow him to drink without compromising his identity. After draining the mug he refilled it and rested it on the counter. He made a small gesture as if removing a hood, with one hand and his helmet seemingly vanished, the nanobots it was composed of resting now against his neck, ready to conceal his face at a moment's notice.


Henry walks into the diner, hands in his pockets. "Not gonna lie..." Henry began, pointing a thumb backwards outside. "If all those guys are your teammates, y'all need to work on your coordination." He stated, taking a seat. "...You are pros, right?"


Klaus grabbed a glass and filled it with some juice, if the files he had were correct, the man before him didn't enjoy coffee.

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Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger Character Portrait: Klaus Zeit
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"It's okay, I don't think any of it is serious," she replied. "Ichiro will tend to me once he's done patching up anyone who got hurt," she explained, lifting her head to check and what the aftermath chaos was going to be like. She was already shifting uncomfortably in her stool in anticipation of the backlash. Yue turned to Henry as he came in, breathing an exhausted sigh at his question. Was it that obvious? Well... the Witchfinders don't try and publicly execute just anyone she supposed.

Another stranger came in from outside as well, and Yue followed him with her eyes for a long moment, at least until he re-filled her empty coffee mug. She stared at it for what felt like a long time, as if trying to decide whether or not it was safe to drink. Finally she picked it up, cradling the mug in both hands and sipping the coffee in thought. If everyone involved was legit then there wasn't an issue... on the other hand, if everyone in the room was legit, she'd most likely recognize more of them from their database files. Because of the casualties and property damage a lot of them would most likely get rounded up and taken to jail for counts of vigilantism.

Yue clicked her teeth against the mug quietly, gazing over the rim at what was happening outside. She didn't think it was fair that they'd be getting in trouble for getting sucked into an incident that she had caused even though it wasn't intentional. That was part of the reason she'd let Alex and the creature go when they had run from the scene. With her under a suspension and dressed in plain clothes, however, she didn't carry any authority.

"L-look, I'm sorry everyone got dragged into this mess because of me. If you guys hadn't been here, my brother and I may have died, so... thank you," she said, retreating behind her coffee cup a little further. "To answer your question, however, none of us are 'teammates.' I don't know about the others, but I am a completely ordinary, non-suspicious citizen who teaches 'self-defense' classes at a gym and I happen to be having a critically bad morning," she explained unconvincingly, taking a sip from her mug to hide the flushing of her cheeks.

"But," she continued, clearing her throat to hide the anxiety. "If someone from the right organization showed up, who is obviously someone other than me... since I am an ordinary citizen, they might be able to smooth things over outside and make some of this trouble go away," she said, clearing her throat again and sipping thoughtfully. The idea clearly went against her hilariously strict adherence to the rules, but she didn't want the others to suffer for the mess she brought down on them either.

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Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger Character Portrait: Klaus Zeit
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Henry looked up and combinatorics another super had joined them in the diner, immediately producing drinks for each of them. Even a glass of orange juice for him who didn't quite like the taste of coffee. How did he...

Henry snatched the glass. It came from the restaurant, but he couldn't always be so sure. He took a glance. Looked fresh squeezed. As far s he knew, no super was after him. But as far as he knew no one, not even a super should know he wouldn't prefer a coffee after all that madness like any average person would. Plus, you never know with those agents. Maybe they finally let's the supers in on their games.

Could the blue man be a mind reader? Even worse then. He'd thought he had a solid defense against those...Even more reason to check for anything. Could never be too sure where those baseboards would place a tracker...though a cold drink would be nice.

He turned to look at Yue. "If it's all the same to you...I'd rather just avoid being seen by any prying eyes altogether. I just need to get out of here....quick," he informed her, his eyes returning to examining the orange juice and finally deciding to take a sip once he figured it checked out.

He looked at the super decked in blue. "And you...you're gonna have to talk. Fast. How'd you know I wouldn't want coffee?"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger Character Portrait: Akiko Bong Character Portrait: Sasha Belov Character Portrait: Richard Mackenzie (The White Death)
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Sasha picked up his jacket from where he had tossed it, brushing the dirt off and zipping it shut, grimacing at the holes the fire and salt had left in his clothes. He looked around what remained of the street, noting the incoming police with a small sigh. As Cannonade began yelling about cards, Sasha's frown deepened.

Although he figured he would probably be released from custody, he wasn't too fond of the idea of spending the weekend (or longer) in a jail cell. Sasha technically had an American citizenship, but he wasn't too sure how far that would fly now that he had used his powers. Being an ex-Russian asset certainly made things complicated.

With the big guy and the shapeshifter having rushed off, most of the remaining superhumans had gathered in the diner. Sasha walked up to the diner's broken windows in time to overhear the last bit of conversations between Henry, Yue, Devon and Klaus.

"If you're looking to get out of here," Sasha said, leaning through one of the diner's window frames and smiling in a friendly manner, "now would be the time. Police are just arriving."

Sasha glanced about the diner. "That being said, it'd be a shame to part ways so soon now that fate's pulled us together. My place isn't far from here..." Sasha grinned. "I promise to treat you all to a more peaceful meal, what do you all say?"

Setting

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Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger Character Portrait: Akiko Bong Character Portrait: Sasha Belov Character Portrait: Cannonade
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It had quieted down a lot sooner than Akiko had expected. The flashy one, Cannonade, was talking about cards but some of the group had already walked off. Police sirens were in the distance but fast approaching. All of this faded into the background as Akiko reached out tentatively. It was beginning to fade. The other souls were already gone. She had to get this one at least. Her fingers began to close around it...

...And Akiko collapsed to her knees.

A light thump accompanied her sudden fall but the sirens and distance lent some aid in hiding the small slip-up. She gritted her teeth as a memories of the battle played before her eyes which had changed colors to a deep purple. She had to be quiet. No noise. Please let it be loud around her. No noise. You have to be silent. Noise.

Akiko looked up as the memories subsided and saw another orb ahead of her, in what used to be the diner. A pulsing light. She shakily and slowly got to her feet. That light was beginning to fade too as the beating of her own heart stopped thundering in her ears. She took a small deep breath and exhaled but her breath was still warm. The light faded and as Akiko stealthily got closer, close enough to hear the conversation, she caught the last words Henry spoke. They very same Henry whose pulsing soul had brought her dangerously close to the other supers.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger Character Portrait: Sasha Belov Character Portrait: Richard Mackenzie (The White Death) Character Portrait: Cannonade
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Devon raised an eyebrow a the reponse Yue gave him. She didn't 'think' of any of it was serious, well if she feels she can wait until her brother comes back to patch her up he should probably ignore the bleeding all over the place for the moment. The question Henry threw at the both of them made Devon chuckle for a bit, but he didn't feel like answering that. Either he'd have to lie a lot, or it would cause a whole lot more trouble than it was worth.

Another one walked into the diner and he.... Refilled the mugs of coffee for Yue and him... Well he hadn't had the chance to enjoy his second helping of joe, so in a way it was quite welcome. He sipped away at the hot brew as Yue tried to get her cover story straight and tried to mention how 'someone other than her' would attempt to smooth things over. Devon just shot into a fit of laughter, and after a second or two of trying to regain his composure responded to her. "Miss I think you're worrying too much, because I highly doubt they'll have the legal power to put blame on any of us. With that loose cannon on scene we could easily pass any and all property damage on to them, since most of it is caused by them in the first place. As for defending ourselves... The place got shot at and because we still have the old stand your grounds laws from before any legislation was made for supers, nobody has the duty to retreat and can intervene with lethal force if needed to prevent the imminent death of themselves or another. I think that quite fittingly covers the situation here, seeing we stopped a terrorist organisation from executing someone and taking us all as collateral, if not I know a few good lawyers who'll certainly make sure the judge and jury agree. But let's hope it doesn't come to that."

He then looked over to someone who talked to them through one of the broken windows mentioning that the police were almost on site, and indeed there were sirens that sounded pretty close by. Then offered a more peaceful meal at his place under the reasoning of fates pull. "Fate, coincidence, luck or be it some other force... But I could use a breakfast that doesn't include violence and an unhealthy amount of salt." He said glancing back at the soggy muffin on his plate.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger Character Portrait: Akiko Bong Character Portrait: Sheri Galloway Character Portrait: Sasha Belov
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"You know Miss, you're being rather irksome." Maxwell chuckled from the darkness. As Sheri continued to move about the darkness, she couldn't detect it letting up in any spots, though the reason for this was partly that it moved with Maxwell, and he now moved with her. There was a slight clicking sound in the distance, something being picked up from the darkness. More noises, sounds that unmistakably originated from a gun.

A moment later, something clattered to the ground and slid towards Sheri. It was her gun, stripped down to nothing more than the grip, guard, and lower half of the slide. Everything else seemed to be missing.

Before she could even think to reach down and get it, a hand pressed against her neck, pushed her against a wall, and kept her at enough distance that she would need to struggle to remove the grip. A small knife was now pointed to her face, steadily held only an inch or two from her left eye.

Maxwell was toying with her.

Sirens blared from the distance, and the silver haired man gave her a soft smile as he let go and took a few steps back, before she could try to counter him. He hadn't hurt her in any physical way, but he certainly wanted her to think he could have. "Seems we're going to have to part now Miss. Such a shame, but I suspect we'll be seeing each other again soon. Perhaps my offer of a job will even still be open to you. If you can learn to be a little more grateful." He chuckled again as he continued to step back into the darkness, his dress shoes lightly clicking against the ground.

"Till next time."

After a few moments of standing in darkness, light finally began to return, and Sheri could see the park, chaotic street, diner, and all the rest of the world around her. She could even spot the remaining pieces of her gun scattered on the ground, in tact and ready to be reassembled. All that was missing now was the silver haired man.


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"Right, cards out." The voice came from the rather unfully dressed, helmeted super identified as Cannonade.

Richard eyed them up and down a few moments, a little confused by the whole gesture. He was familiar with Cannonade, enough to hear rumors and gossip about less than savory recreational activities. And yet they seemed rather intent on everyone showing off their 'super ID' like this was a police traffic stop? He smirked slightly at the irony.

Several other supers had already begun making their way to the diner, and he decided that was probably best for him too. "Sorry," he called out with a shrug. "Left it on the nightstand next to my cape. I'll ah... Send it as a facsimile." He said with a somewhat irreverent tone. "Thanks for the help though, we did a uhh..." He looked around at the chaos, death, and the hulking corpse of Balthazar. "We did an alright job. Appreciate the help Cannonade and ahh... Miss Hurricane? Maybe we ought to team up again some time." Richard said this to both Cannonade and the masked girl with the skateboard, whom he kinda thought he recognized, and was going to ask, but thought maybe it would be rude to, so he left it alone for now.

"Oh, dig the shorts by the way, but you might wanna take a seat and get checked up on once folks start arriving here." He indicated with his body where cuts and scratches on Cannonade's body would be.

He gave a little playful salute with his right hand's index and middle fingers, and made his way back over to the diner, grabbing his jacket from the ground and pulling it back on. Richard noticed quite quickly he had something extra in one pocket. He took a quick peek, noticing the card and number on it, and cocked a slight smile. These two seemed to be rather sweet, despite the fact they probably worked for the law.

Richard had overheard some of the conversation between the other supers in their as he made his way over to the counter, giving a slight rap on it directed at the man in the Sci Fi getup. "One glass of orange juice barkeep." He took a glance at Devon, then Yue, and finally Henry.

"I'm more worried about SINS than anything else. They don't particularly care about what North Carolina's laws are, particularly when it comes to unregistered heroes. Not that I'd know anything about that." He smirked slightly before looking back to the window where the man who'd previously been a demon stood.

"And I won't say no to a friendly meal, just so long as the Devil won't be joining us. Bad blood there." As he got ready to look back to the others, he swore he saw something near the doorway... Like the air wasn't still, or something weird like that. Now he was the one feeling a little on edge.


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March 11th, 2045, 7:00am: Atlas City, North Carolina, USA

The smell of freshly roasted coffee wafted through the air of the diner, the waitress hurriedly getting one ready to go for the first customer of the day. She placed the cup down on the counter, '7:00am' and 'Peter' were written on the side. A man dressed in a grey three piece suit smiled as he picked up the cup, and replaced it with a $10 bill. "Keep the change." He said with a soft, yet somehow incredibly cold, smile.

He left the building shortly after, and continued walking South for a few minutes before crossing the street where the Southern portion of buildings that surrounded the park was located. As he continued on his way, he passed a young man with short, dark hair, and wearing a black leather jacket. Seemed a little old fashioned perhaps for someone his age, but then he also bore the look of someone who perhaps had already had a small taste of what life could dish out.

It was a beautiful morning so far though, sun coming up over the ocean, and storm clouds slowly getting pushed back across the land.

Peter was going to have a great day today.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger Character Portrait: Sasha Belov Character Portrait: Richard Mackenzie (The White Death) Character Portrait: Klaus Zeit
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"You're both correct," she interjected, tapping her teeth against the mug a bit nervously. "It really depends on who arrives first to take control of the scene. If NAHLA arrives first, everything should be fine, you can argue 'stand your ground' and only be inconvenienced with a day of questioning," she explained, gazing into the bottom of the cup and swirling the liquid.

"SINS is much shadier, and will likely side with whatever nonsense Cannonade comes up with. They'll bend or break whatever rules they can to put you in a bad situation. The best case in that scenario is they drag skeletons out of your closet to pressure you to register and join their organization," she continued, setting the mug on the counter and reaching into her pocket.

"My guess is SINS is already here somewhere and is looking for the right opportunity to poach the scene."

"Yareyareda (Good Grief)," Ichiro grumbled as he entered from the kitchen door, moving straight to Yue to inspect her injuries. "Ow, what?" Yue rapped his knuckles with lightning quickness.

"Them first," she ordered. Ichiro rolled his eyes and rolled a miniature med-kit out onto the counter. "Regardless, the worst that happens to me is a slap on the wrist," she said. It looked like she was removing something from her pocket for a moment, and then she seemed to think better of it and picked up her coffee again.

"There's already some suspicious looking suits talking to the staff and other customers. I don't know who they're with but they got here during the fighting, so whatever it is you guys are planning to do should happen in the next... two minutes," Ichiro warned, approaching Devon with a swab and a damp bandage. "If any of you were struck with salt I have to thoroughly clean your wound: it was spreading on one of the customers a few minutes ago."

"I don't want any of you to get into trouble on my account, so I'll back your play, whatever it is," said Yue. Ichiro nodded seriously as he was treating Devon.

"I have to treat Yue wherever she ends up, sooner rather than later preferably so I'll help however I can."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Henry Stewart Character Portrait: Yue Bayushi Character Portrait: Devon Metzger Character Portrait: Sasha Belov Character Portrait: Richard Mackenzie (The White Death) Character Portrait: Vicki Vortex
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Klaus poured another glass of Orange juice for Richard who seemed delighted that someone was behind the counter. He smiled warmly and placed the glass before the ice wielder before turning his attention to Henry,

"You don't have enough time for the explanation you're after, but I promise I will explain soon," He nodded, hoping Henry would trust him, "You have to get going, but perhaps we will see one another soon," He gestured for Henry to make his way out the front door. Ichiro's warning should tell the man the suits are after him.

The sonic boom shook the restaurant and the ACPD would be in the building momentarily. He wasn't worried, he had the correct papers, even if they were a little out of date. The nice thing about time travel is that it allows you to be prepared for something even after being unprepared, to begin with.

"Well no matter what they'll ask, the writing is all over the street that we weren't at fault. A known terrorist cell operating inside Atlas city is a failure on many department's parts, we did what needed to be done to minimize casualties, nothing wrong with that," he then drained his second cup of coffee before finding a couple of muffins and placing one in front of Devon, who kept looking back at a soggy muffin on, what Klaus could assume was his table.