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Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul)

"Hey! Hey! HEY! Do you think it'd be fucked if I ate your face? Like, literally?"

0 · 2,365 views · located in Capetown, Texas

a character in “Project Oddity”, as played by StorminJericho

Description

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Jericho Amile
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Image
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Personal Information:

Description:
Jericho stands 'tall' and confident... Though more often than not staring with an expression that portrays curiosity with a bit of confusion at most everything that he's made to witness. His hair is straight, black, and rather average, all things considered. Without much to give anyone any reason to stare for too long. With deep brown-green eyes and tanned skin, he looks just about average; enough so that most wouldn't pay him any mind in passing or conversation. Most would write him off as part of 'that weird group' every city attracted. The one thing that does stand out about Jericho is his face, or the paint that covers it, as from hairline to collarbone, his face is painted to match a skull from the Dia de los Muertos holiday. Many can't even describe where he might come from as a result, or what his parentage might have been, and Jericho is never eager or open enough to give out an explanation. His movements can often be described as 'cat-like', striding easily even with his slightly shorter than expected stature, and more often than not he conducts himself with purpose and thought in every movement made.
When in costume, Jericho 'stalks' when he moves, for want of a better word.

Age:
19

Gender:
Male

Honorifics|Titles|Nicknames:
"Skully." by those who know him closely out of costume. "Ghoul" or "Wendigo" when in costume.

Marking|Tattoos|Piercings:
After his trigger, and during the day that it occurred, Jericho had applied some face paint to himself in honor of Dia de los Muertos, for his grandmother and grandfather. The two had always taken care of him during his childhood, so he chose to honor them in anyway he could.
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Height:
5'8"

Physical Condition:
Jericho is in healthy enough condition; not too thin, nor too thick. An average build that made his shorter size that much more... plain. Which only helped give his peers and harassers ammunition with which to assault him with during high-school. Current day, were he not adorned with a painted skull face, he would escape the notice of people more oft than not. Before his trigger, those who weren't keen on bullying him called him a '6 out of 10'.

Organizations/Clans:
None. Jericho likes to set himself as a 'loner'. He would much rather avoid any group or organization; hero or villain or otherwise. Not ever having had a reason to trust people all that much, considering the childhood he led.

Disabilities:
Jericho is otherwise healthy, save for whatever disabilities he would give himself in order to pass as nonthreatening in human form.

Personality:
Jericho is flighty by nature, though when prompted into a situation that he is unprepared for, one can be sure than rambling will ensue. He often chooses to just observe and stand peaceful when confronted by others that he's quite close to. He speaks, often, and mostly just when addressed directly; though when stressed or nervous, he'll rant and ramble. Before his change, he was easily distracted and not completely capable of holding focus on one particular subject after another, but he tries. Usually. Regardless of his absentmindedness, Jericho is a gentle individual and tends to be much too kind for his own good, even when the other person is clearly being rude in an attempt to get a reaction out of him. Save for when he's hungry, or eating, never get between a man and his food and all that, right? All of this adds to his 'innocent' appearance to many, and his tendency to forget even the most recent of happenings makes this no better. If he weren't so keen on being in a non-human form, he might even be called endearing.

Sexual Orientation:
Bisexual

Likes:
- The colors red and gray.
- The quiet in the dead of night.
- Tacos and Sweetbread.
- Face paint (heh) and tattoos.

Dislikes:
- The colors pink and yellow.
- Overly noisy people.
- People who act superior to others.
- Corn dogs and Chihuahuas.
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History
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Early life:
Jericho lived a relatively 'normal' life, granted that he was an orphan for a short time before his grandparents picked him up from a foster home while he was in New Mexico, they were 'traditional Hispanics' as his grandfather put it, hard pressed to accept... but accepting all the same. He grew up in the poorer areas of his hometown in El Paso. He learned many things under his grandparents, respect and kindness to others above all else, and never truly came home to an unhappy home. He had only the barest musings as to what had happened to his mother and father both, but never truly thought too hard about it. His grandmother and grandfather had more than enough love for his childhood to be a happy one at home. It was only when he began attending public school, that Jericho learned what it meant to be 'unwanted'. Even though he was eager to learn and participate, his peers were merciless against him, taking advantage of his inability to fight back and his diminutive height to beat him down physically and mentally day after day. Most would take out their pent up anger out on him, others just because it was fun. More oft than not, Jericho would come home angry, stressed out and easily irate... Only to have his 'parents' calm him and allow him time to lick his wounds and recover. He spent most of his elementary life as so: wary of school, but eager all the same to learn, angry and stressed when home, and then calm before he ever had a chance to internalize it all too much. He had no true friends through elementary, and found he was more than okay with this.

Highschool:
Upon entering Highschool, Jericho quickly learned that it wouldn't be the place for him. His grandparents were old, time having worn down their bones and their minds both. He watched the two guardians, the two who gave him such unconditional love for so long, break down at the seams. They began to snap at him and would be irate and angry when he came home late from school. The bullying hadn't ever stopped, and his lack of height just made it that much more abusive. His bullies knew what they could get away with, and were exceedingly partial to just how far they would push. Throughout it all, Jericho kept turning the other cheek, knowing it would do nothing but incite them further, but still holding onto the life lessons his guardians had given him: respect and kindness to others. It was in his junior year, when his grandparents got to the point of age that they could no longer be left alone at home, that Jericho dropped out from school. In an attempt to try and take care of them on his own, he neglected to try and get them into better care.

Trigger Event:
It was in his junior year, when his grandparents got to the point of age that they could no longer be left alone at home, that Jericho dropped out from school. This led up to Jericho's trigger. They abhorred him, never understanding or recognizing the teenager who was coming in and out of their house, and as such spent most of their nights shouting at him. It was the eve before Dia de los Muertos, a day that his grandparents had taken to painting his and their faces in the sugar skulls that so often decorated the day, that the final break came. His event was one that had built up for so long, at the hands of unloving and uncaring peers, and then at the decisive fall of his guardians mental states. Dementia and Alzheimer's overtook his once loving grandparents, their memories fading and their tempers flaring at the now unrecognizable grandson. He had been gathering the last of his things from the now forcibly abandoned home, when he took a moment to pause before the mirror... It had been another long, grueling exercise in patience with his grandparents and another long test of physical abuse, and he was sporting a black eye to top it all off; finally wearing a mark of the pain he had been experiencing for so long. His eyes caught there, and for a long moment he merely stood and stared at himself before he began painting, starting out from his bruised eye to the rest of his face, a painted on mask that was all the respect his grandparents had instilled in him. He knew they couldn't remember him, but he chose to always remember them for himself; and that was enough to push it. He couldn't ignore the problems any longer, the pent up stress and rage- the angst and anger that he had always sequestered away inside some deep part of himself- aimed at himself, for being so weak, so small and far to caring. It rushed out of him, and filled up his thoughts, tearing out of his throat a keening cry that pushed at his very mind. Jericho could feel it then, amidst the rushing explosion of withheld no-longer emotions, a click that solidified first in his face. It spread, and so did his awareness, the ink seeping into his skin and staying even when he came to his senses later and tried to wash it off. It spread to the rest of his body, shaking the slowly shifting form of the teenager who screamed and stared into the mirror before him, a sensation of 'solid.' Jericho could feel it then as well, the change he had inadvertently made to himself; a fire-hose thick length of ink black muscle and sinew whipped forward, and he could feel the connection it held to his body as it shattered the image in front of him. Shattered the weaker Jericho that he was no longer. It was with that, that he made up his mind. He would leave El Paso, and wander until he could no longer wander further.

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Current History:
Jericho has taken to a life of practiced crime, and aiding the police in equal measure. His philosophy on kindness and respect had yet to change, but the grumbling of an empty stomach and the weight of an empty wallet made for an awkward stance in society... He couldn't really join the HLA or the PCRT. He knew enough about parahuman reputation when the ability wielded was one that allowed for the changing of shape; especially in such a gruesome manner. Yet he found that the local law enforcement were more than happy to have his aid when they needed it, whether it be as a 'police trained' canine, or as a fellow officer who was capable of easily subduing even the strongest of non-parahuman suspects. As it stands now, Jericho is a villain who robs stores with variety of different monstrous forms, always taking sugary sweets, or simply stealing for the sake of giving some cash to the homeless who can always be found in every big city.
Upon entering Cape Town, he took the form of a German Shepherd of unusual size after the original dog kept bothering him without end, and unsuccessfully robbed a sandwich shop.

Psychological Condition:
Jericho isn't obviously damaged by any meaning or stretch of the term; his only slight might be his illogical amount of loyalty to those he counts as close friends, going so far as to forget to take care of his own personal problems and livelihood if it means that his comrades might make it further by themselves... This unfortunate- if only for him- quirk translates over to almost all things. Perhaps one more issue with Jericho, might be that he has a tendency to be extremely forgetful, whether by accidental lack of focus, or forcibly paying no mind to something. Jericho is also, perhaps, worse for wear after his Trigger; his stance is twitchy and constantly restless, quietness of the mind doesn't come easy too him anymore, and inability to simply turn the other cheek now exists. Jericho also seems to show ADHD, or just a severe amount of air-headed ramblings in his own thoughts as well as aloud. Don't ever expect him to show extreme focus to nearly anything; or seriousness.
Addendum: As of 9/19/17, Jericho has killed one person, severely wounded another, and eaten two. He didn't show signs of shock, and seems to be okay with murder and cannibalism... A result of the Trigger?

Alignment:
Jericho's inclination is only to those he holds dear or himself; chaotic neutrality would best describe him.



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Equipment:
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Attire:
At the time that he enters into Cape Town, Jericho wears nothing other than a thick fur collar jacket, made for winter weather. A pair of tattered jeans adorns his lower body, but the wear and tear is more than obvious. Holes along the knees, shins and thighs expose the brown skin underneath. His face paint is the only thing unblemished or damaged, looking as new and as pristine as the day he applied it to himself. However, these clothes will always change unless some tinker makes clothing that changes with him that won't deteriorate. He usually makes his own clothing following a transformation to a non-combat human form.

Protection:
Presumably none, but as a Changer is wont to do, this can and will change.

Weapon(s):
None

Accessories/Misc:
None

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|Abilities|Traits|Racial|
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Classification:
Changer 7; Sub-classifications in the other groupings dependent on the form he takes.

Shapeshifting:
In the loosest sense, Jericho is capable of completely and half-way changing his physical appearance, though this doesn't do justice as to how varied his power can become; so it shall be sectioned accordingly, from what he can do now, and what he will do later- From being able to create weapons of horrific gore and power, out of his own muscles, sinews, bones and teeth, to changing his physical form into something from a nightmare- a creature that could easily be natural, and yet is so clearly not. He isn't limited to a slow changing either, so long as he isn't interrupted during a change, Jericho can shift forms on the fly, literally if need be. However, Jericho can't change his shape in any way if he doesn't have excess, or more biological material than on his current person. If lacking, whatever form he takes will more likely than not be weak and emaciated- useless during any confrontation.

Digestive Shapeshifting:
Starting with the most important, and concerning part of Jericho's powers- at least to the security of his enemies; The ability to take the shape or change a part of himself into whatever he has consumed. Whether they be dead or alive, any organic creature that Jericho consumes will be 'slotted' as sorts into Jericho's memory, letting him access it's DNA and form however needed. The limitation here, is just how much of the creature he has consumed: a finger/toe/wing/fin just won't cut it. A sizable portion is needed. An arm or leg. Of note is that when Jericho consumes another human, or a parahuman, he gains more mass than he would an animal of near equal size. While he can digest just about anything that counts as 'organic', plants and slushes/slurries/smoothies or anything similar don't give as much mass as meat. And while he hasn't ever done so, cooking a human and then eating would be... A ridiculous boon. Jericho is also capable of simply consuming something or someone through touch. However, he refrains from doing so, as it's generally unappealing and has often left him with a sensation of being covered in slime. As well as psychologically disquieting.

Appendage Generation/Natural Weaponry:
To continue on from Digestive Shapeshifting, another power that Jericho learned to control is the capability to generate additional body parts on his own person. This entails arms, legs, hands, feet, mouth, head and all other appendages. Appendage Generation. This is intertwined into what makes Jericho's powers and abilities so dangerous; Natural Weaponry as he is not only ability to generate human arms and legs, but add onto the limbs and extremities, change them; whips of muscle and sinew; claws of bone so strong and sharp they'd be akin to steel; chitin and enamel that grows so thick, that to call it stronger than concrete would be appropriate, creating armor around a certain portion of the body. He can even create organs that wouldn't otherwise be found on something other than whatever it belonged to. Like the bladders of air around the throat of a Bearded Dragon, for a harmless example.

Mobility:
Jericho is capable of taking on a varied many forms, some with the ability to move with the same speed as sound or faster, at the cost of highly decreased 'defense'. Flight, the ability to swim as fast as any other form can run, a form so dense he can charge through brick walls... Anything goes. Manipulating organic material is oh so fun. Something noteworthy is just how HEAVY Jericho is. Even though he looks light, he usually outweighs most normal people, and if having eaten enough, can even outweigh some parahumans in the brute category. This comes as a result of taking in biological mass from organic sources: it all has to go somewhere, and it can't just go nowhere. His muscles and skeletal system subconsciously change in order to support this extra weight as he puts it on.

Limitations:
Jericho isn't capable of changing his brain size, composition, or volume(consciously), only its position in his body. He can add onto it, but changing the original organ itself is a no-no. His digestive track must stay the same as well, not a single change can be made there, unless its the adding of another digestive track entirely, which (unfortunately) the boy just isn't smart enough to think of. If either of these should be changed substantially in some way during a transformation or battle, Jericho immediately drops into human form and suffers week long after-effects in the form of intense nausea and migraines. He is also incapable of changing into a form that would excrete or produce corrosive substances. Jericho suffers another handicap in the sense that no matter what form he takes, should it hide the skull painted on his face, the form will dissipate and leave him human again; suffering migraines and photosensitive eyes and facial skin.

So begins...

Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul)'s Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Mara Haruka Black Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero)
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Jericho stood under the awning to one of the nearby shops in downtown, his mouth- snout really- opening in a yawn that threatened to spread down the length of furry neck that he had. The 'Changer', hate that stupid title, was wearing the form of some medium sized dog, he couldn't remember the breed name quite honestly. It had been constantly barking, and he was over and done with listening to the thing bark at him. With another yawn after a few moments of quiet rememberance, Jericho turned his head to and fro in order to get some grasp as to where he was... He knew he was in Texas, traveling for as long as he had, the signs that pointed out what cities and towns he was passing through were a welcome reprieve from the otherwise green and brown boredom that was nature. Overrated, is what he thought of it.

A man passed by him, an office worker on the way home by the looks of him, not even sparing a glance at the dog that was standing underneath the cover of the awning that extended out from the hotel. His day had been a long one, and his focus wasn't on the dog that otherwise wasn't in his path... Though that focus changed quickly when the canine began barking at him, dragging his gaze down to the German shepherd, one that was rather large for a dog breed that was usually only big enough to reach his thighs. This one, barking at him with a pitch that didn't match it's size, was big enough to reach his stomach as it was, sitting. It was a mildly disconcerting sight, which quickly escalated to anxiety, and then fear, when the beast of a dog stood up and began stepping toward him; still barking away without a care in the world. The fear then tripled when he took notice of the markings on the dog's 'face', a patterned skull that would've otherwise been unimposing if it weren't on the face of a creature that was apparently displeased with him!

Jericho was finding endless amusement in the 'teasing' of this man, some random passerby who wasn't even doing anything all that inconspicuous; walking wasn't something that you could be found suspicious for, was it? Either way, he kept barking, trying to match the pitch to the size of the dog as best he could... Something that was a little more difficult than it appeared. Eventually he found it, that perfect pitch for the vocal cords of such a big dog: a deep basal sound that rumbled in the air as expected for something so big. He only stopped barking and advancing when the man took notice of the skull that always painted itself on his face, and bolted with his 'tail between his legs'. A small snicker was spared at the expense of the thought.

The dog remained standing, tilting its head for a moment as more people began their walking pass by it without really paying attention; the exception being a freckle faced boy who reached out and shamelessly began running his fingers through the fur of Jericho's neck. It wasn't as obvious as it could've been, but the boy was homeless, his scent gave it away to the 'changer.' The boy's stomach growled, and while the nameless child didn't take notice, Jericho did. The sound was a pitiful one, a simple groaning and churning that he was all to familiar with as he traveled from New Mexico to Texas... And so his mind was made up, a decision that wasn't really thought all to hard about as he made it. To the boy, the dog knelt down and turned its back to him, bowing its head and shaking its body in an effort to get him to hop on. The offer was taken, and with a sudden burst of speed that made no sense to even the 'dog' himself, they were on their way.

Trotting through the city, the canine and his rider found a relatively 'priced' sandwich shop, one that didn't seem to expensive, and yet wasn't so cheap that it would give something that the kid couldn't eat. Jericho wasted no time, forgetting for a moment that most establishments didn't take well to a dog just waltzing right on in, and padded up to the counter, sitting down again and letting loose a single, near deafening, bark at the employee who stood behind it. He remembered at the last moment to wag his tail, having come to the conclusion that most people who didn't deal with dogs found it a 'good' sign when the tail was wagging away. Another bark followed, and Jericho gave the best 'smile' he could as a dog, staring hard at the clerk who by the point of his second bark, looked as if she would rather be anywhere else. Yet another bark followed, and the freckled boy leaned on the dog, his stomach making another quiet growl as he too, stared at the clerk; puppy eyes- eheh- and a pouting lower lip peeking out at the woman in the hopes that she would take some small mercy.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Alexander Dalton Character Portrait: Mara Haruka Black Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero)
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Alexander Dalton




Why was it that every time Alex tried to get home by bus, he was always late? As The public transit bus finally came close to his stop he could help but scowl ever so slightly. With all the fidgeting he had been doing it was clear he wanted off already. every moment seemed to tick by at a snails pace before the driver finally announced his stop and opened the door. With little hesitation, Alex jumped out the doors and began running down the sidewalk, not so much as caring to wave back to the driver. He was just thankful to be on his side of town already. College had been so mind numbing that Alex swore he could have found more mental stimulation from beating his own textbook against his forehead a few times. Of course he didn't actually do such A ridiculous thing. Let alone in public. the sheer embarrassment alone would probably kill him. on top of that Traffic had stalled to a crawl. Probably due to Cape activity. He seriously considered that he should just find a route he could run all the way home. at least then there wouldn't be any need to worry about traffic setting him back. Plus it would count towards his after school workout. never can have too much cardio after all.

Alexander's thinking however distracted him enough that he had failed to see an elderly man making his way across the sidewalk to his car. Luckily he got out of his own head fast enough to realize what was about to happen. While still running almost full tilt, Alex coiled up and sprung into the air. Flipping over the surprised man. Having had just barely missed the mans head with one of his feet and knocked the poor gentleman's hat off. After A brief awkward apology, some scolding about needing to watch where he was going and returning the mans hat, Alex went about his way. Making sure to pay attention this time. Perceptive onlookers would have noticed that new cracks had formed on the sidewalk square Alex ad launched himself off of. Lucky for him nobody seemed to have payed attention and went back to what they had been doing. Just average people living their average lives in a not so normal world.

Three blocks of running later and he was finally at his house. Not really in the mood to stop and unlock the front door, he instead decided to take a more fun route. And that involved climbing up his drain pipe to crawl through his bedroom window. Again. After his successful shimmying Alex began dropping his things on his bed in the corner and undressing before announcing himself. "I'm hooooome!!" He was quickly greeted by the voice of his grandpa. "Boy how many times do I have to tell you to stop climbing through your window?! You don't have to keep breaking into your own home like some hoodlum!" Alex couldn't help but chuckle. His grandpa might complain but at least he was breaking into his own house instead of other peoples. A couple minutes passed as Alex went about checking his social media and email. No new mail, as usual. And the traffic didn't seem to have been backed up by any sort of known cape activity. Go figure. Time to get dressed and head back out. Pulling on his usual attire. Thin hoodie grey, hoodie black jacket, jeans, running shoes and of course his off-white beanie. He grabbed an unassuming duffel bag by his desk and checked its contents. Snacks, bottled water, phone charger and extra battery. Most important was the his hero costume. All neatly folded up and ready at a moments notice. He was glad he practiced changing in and out of it for as long as he did. Made it easier when something was going down and he wasn't suited up yet. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, Alex pocketed his phone and wallet then climbed back out the window. Time for a night on the town.

Climbing to the roof, Alex began his nightly rounds. Vaulting, sprinting, jumping and climbing. Alex skittered across the rooftops. every know and again activating his powers to give him an extra platform or a foothold where there wasn't one. Given the current streak he was having it was probably going to be another quiet night. with most criminal activity being taken care of before he even shows up. Nobody said being a vigilante by choice wasn't easy in a town full of capes. After taking a quick break to catch his breath there was an audible growl and gurgling sound. Looks like the tank is empty. While eating a power bar and calling it good sounded appealing, real food was a smarter option. After a quick survey of the area Alex spotted A fairly small shop. better then nothing. He climbed down the building he was perched on and jogged over. He was greeted with the usual ringing of a bell followed by a "Welcome!" when he walked in. There were already a few patrons inside, including a . . . Dog? Shrugging it off, Alex walked up to the counter grabbing a sandwich, some chips, and a monster energy drink. He took a seat away from everyone else and began enjoying his food. trying not to make eye contact but not look like some creep.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Alexander Dalton Character Portrait: Mara Haruka Black Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero)
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Capetown, TX. 09/17/2017, 6:33 PM. 85°F,
Partly Cloudy. Arc 1: Provenance.



The sandwich shop next door to Jasmin Lehtinen's appartment was a "Which Wich," and Jasmin just got half of a meatball sub, as she wasn't feeling particularly hungry. She sat at a table, brushing some crumbs off of the unwiped table, and took a bite out of her sub, leaning her body to the right with her arm propped up on the table, supporting her head. As she chewed, she put her sub down and swiped her bangs out of her eyes with her free hand. The pose she was striking made her look grumpy, with each chew of her sandwich making her head exaggeratedly bob up and down, as her jaw and right cheek rests in her palm, scrunching her face in an irritable position. In doing so, she ended up biting her cheek, muttering choice curses at herself, before sitting straight, pulling out her phone, and taking another bite of her sub, all in one motion. Jasmin
either sat still as a rock, or was overtly animated, with almost no in-between. Right now, she was animated, fidgeting, lightly drumming on the table, and swiping through her phone, staring with an unfocuzed expression at the screen. When she refocused her double-vision to take another bite of her meatball sub, a video posted by one of her 674 Capebook friends showed a villain in Capetown beating up a cop. He was a blur of movement, circling the cop, zooming down the block, then back to the cop, before focusing enough for the camera to catch him throw a punch at typical human speed, before becoming a blur again.

Mover 3 or 4, enhanced speed. Jasmin thought. Has to drop out of his super-speed to throw a punch. Likely that he can't exert force or interact with matter whilst in super speed. This is a Breaker trait. She noted his costume, a red hoodie and ripped blue jeans, a bullet proof vest under the hoodie, and a leather bondage mask likely purchased from an adult store to hide his face. New villain, don't know his name. No one major, just a powered thug. She squinted at her phone. Not someone even remotely interesting enough to invite to the gang.

Jasmin was abruptly snapped out of her concentration by the words "Mind if I sit here?" She looked up to see a woman sitting in the chair next to her. Jasmin was momentarily caught off guard by the blatant... Rudeness? No, it was more uncaring. To be rude generally implied intended maliciousness or inconvenience. This woman seemed less rude and more of a disregard, as if she expected Jasmin to say yes. Jasmin studied the woman for a second before opening her mouth. She noted the obvious stark contrasts, where Jasmin was so pale as to almost glow in the low light of the cloudy evening filtering through the shop's windowed front walls, the woman next to her was much darker. Not that that wasn't normal in Texas,
or Capetown, just an obvious thing to note. She noted her straight dark hair, a contrast to Jasmin's wavy multi-colored hair, and her red sportswear, still lightly damp with sweat, as if she had just come from working out somewhere, yet again contrasting Jasmin's more causal hoodie and yoga pants.. Interesting.
She thought, an eyebrow furrowed lower than the other, her face contorted in thought.

Jasmin shook her head at the newcomer, indicating she didn't mind, but didn't open her mouth to explain further. Instead,
she took another bite, and switched her phone from the social media it was on to some sort of online book, her screen white with black letters and nothing more. Jasmin read a paragraph, then two, before her concentration was yet again interrupted by the ding of the shop's bell and the clerk exclaiming their welcomes, reminding her of why she didn't enjoy going out in public as much as she thought she did when she was bored at home. It had been a man and a young girl who entered the shop, nothing worth glancing at twice before she went back to religiously devoting her eyes to whatever interesting story caught her attention today.

Ding. Third time's the charm, apparently, as her attention was torn from her online book to that of a large dog strutting into the shop and consequently barking at the cashier. The bark was less of a low woof and more of a high yelp that reverberated with some of the glass in the shop, before dropping to a lower, more natural, pitch with the next bark. As the dog wagged it's tail, Jasmin took notice of the small child that entered with the dog. Presumably, the dog was his. That made more sense. Still pretty god damn annoying. A few seconds afterwards, another man entered the shop. With Jasmin's irritation came the flickering of the lights in the shop. It was a quick flicker, and with a small shop as this, the patrons probably wouldn't pay too much mind as it would not be much out of the ordinary, but it was there. Jasmin took it as her cue to leave and began to stand up, as she was minorly annoyed, her sandwich was finished, her powers had leaked a tiny bit, and the shop was already nearing capacity with a dinner rush better than it had gotten in days. She knew, she ate here most nights.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Alexander Dalton Character Portrait: Terry 'Tess' Farina (Hush) Character Portrait: Mara Haruka Black Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero)
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◄:Terry ‘Tess’ Farina:►
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“Ah, let’s see here…” Juggling a few books to her chest while trying to fumble around her bag for the store keys, Terry was just finishing up her shift at the unfortunately named ‘Bookies’. The owner, Mrs. Gretin, insisted that she’d never heard the term before, and thought it would make for a cute and appealing name as a bookstore. Alas, that did mean that Terry and the few other staff in her employ had to deal with the odd gambler looking to place some bets on horses. But that wasn’t the issue at hand. Terry had been working for Mrs. Gretin for some time, and as such, had been entrusted to do the odd night shift and shut up shop. So why was it that she couldn’t find the keys?

“I know I had them in here somewhere…” Mumbling to herself slightly, Tess sighed as despite a frantic scrabbling of her hand at the bottom of her large handbag, no pleasant jingling informed her of the location of her keys. Setting the books down beside her on the brick fence, Tess relented in her ‘quick’ approach and instead knelt to the floor, opening the bag and beginning to rummage through. Eventually she found what she was looking for clicking her tongue in mild annoyance as they’d gotten stuck tucked away into one of the lining pockets. Standing back up promptly, she quickly worked to lock the door, before striding down the few steps of the stoop and calmly heading down the street. Moments later she came running back, recollecting the books she’d left behind and tucking them under arm, jumping down the steps this time and jogging slightly as if her small forgetful moment had made her late in some way.

In truth, she wasn’t in any particular hurry. Whenever she had a late shift, her mother would usually have something in the fridge for her, but given this had been an unexpected shift, no one would be waiting up for her. Most would be saddened to work on a Sunday, but she didn’t mind, and she’d even found a few odds and ends new stories to take home. Still, it meant she’d have to pick something up to eat on the way home. Strolling down the street, Terry pulled out her phone briefly, taking a look at the time and any messages she would have received. Given how quiet work was though, it was unlikely anything would have changed since she last checked it five minutes ago. Almost 6:30… No wonder she was getting kind of ravenous.

Eying the various places along her route home, Tess briefly considered stopping at the ‘Which Wich’ on the way home, but visibly grimaced as she noticed the cloud of people inside. Seemed she wasn’t the only hungry person tonight, but that looked a little cramped for her liking, much as she loved a big doofy dog to hang around. Animals were much more pleasant company then people, and that one looked so smart and cute sitting in front of the counter - especially without a collar or leash or anything! It was probably a good thing she didn’t see the dog’s face. Not that Terry knew that. Re-shouldering her bag strap and straightening out the books under her arm again, Tess instead went back a block to cross the street, giving a polite wave to the car that stopped to let her past.

A burger probably wasn’t as healthy as the sub or wrap she’d get from a Which Wich, but a little indulgence never hurt anyone. It also came with the added benefit of little to no waiting as the queue was negligible. Soon after she’d ordered, she had her takeaway bag in hand, though now she was having trouble working out how to carry everything. Well, she certainly could carry everything, but she did want to get home soon, so she planned to try and eat on the move. Taking a small handful of fries as she mulled over her options, she decided she was impatient enough to try it. Carefully turning the books into a makeshift platter, she set the bag down on top, and began precariously balancing the load with one arm. Tucked in the elbow of one arm she kept her drink, the same side as her purse. That left her with one hole hand free to eat her burger with. Heading back out the door and across the street, she happily began munching away as she made her way home past the Which Wich; though it was annoying how her handbag strap kept slipping off her shoulder...

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Alexander Dalton Character Portrait: Terry 'Tess' Farina (Hush) Character Portrait: Mara Haruka Black Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero)
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It had taken the woman long enough, but the clerk who worked behind the counter finally grabbed a sandwich for the boy beside Jericho, giving a strained smile to the boy in question, who quickly turned and left; giving one last pet to the dog that had managed to get him some food- For whatever reason. The moment the boy was out of sight, the employee was treated to another sight that promptly made her yelp, which then escalated into a sort of quiet horror. The 'dog' that had previously been barking at her, wagging its tail and looking friendly enough was on it's hind legs and staring at her, leaning forward with enough conviction to give her the impression that it had some amount of intelligence.

Jericho continued to stare at the cashier, letting his jaw split into a smile that he had hoped would look endearing... It was terrifying in reality, the Dia de' skull that adorned his face was split along with the fur and skin, giving show to all the teeth that lined the gums of his mouth. When the woman started staring, and then shouting at him, he paused and let the smile fall. He couldn't quite understand what was so discerning, weren't dogs cute? A shrug followed then, and he dropped the form in its entirety.

Black ink-like vines and marks spread over the fur of the dog; coiling in some places and pooling in others, giving way to a rather sudden shift in growth and size, legs becoming 'properly' bent and chest broadening enough to show a humanoid sort of figure. The 'sugar skull' painted on his face remained, as the skull itself rounded out and took on the proper shape for a human. The skeleton done, the muscles followed and then the skin; though over the chest and lower portion of the body, ink coalesced into a pair of blue jeans and a soft cloth hoodie, with what could be considered actual fur around the inside and lining of the hood and torso portions. Jericho grinned again, leaning on the counter once more and speaking as if he hadn't just been an overly large German Shepherd. "Hey! Thanks for feeding the kid. He was really hungry, and I figured that he could do with a meal. Except... I'm also kinda hungry!" He finished, cutting his long explanation short and standing straight up again.

The cashier hasn't listened, instead having chosen to just keep shouting and stammering, vastly unhappy that the dog that had 'coerced' her into giving some random child food, was apparently a teenager... Who also looked well off enough to pay for the food outright! She voiced this greievence aloud, angrily as well. Which of course left Jericho in a bad enough spot. Oops.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Alexander Dalton Character Portrait: Mara Haruka Black Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero)
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Her table mate seemed not to be the friendly type, but she didn't object, so River seated herself. The girl kept her attention fixed on her phone and River settled into her seat with her chips, watching with mounting fascination as the shop began to fill, first with a teen and a kid who stared at her sandwich like she had never seen one before, then with a grungy street kid with a dog who began to bark at the clerk, and then an older teen who seemed to see the same madness as he entered, but grabbed his sandwich anyway and sat down to eat. Surreptitiously, she took a quick video of the scene and sent it to her brother. He should have been finishing up his patrol of the city by now. Maybe she could get him to grab a pie from their favorite cafe on his way home... Her phone buzzed, but she heard the message without checking.

Do me a favor. Check out the blond kid in the black jacket. I need to know his deal. River blinked and flicked her eyes to the boy who had come in last. He was possibly the least interesting thing going on at the moment. Just as she was about to respond, something happened. The security cameras around that store that River had been tuned into flickered, all of them at once. River blinked and glanced around. Had the lights flickered too? A moment later, her table mate stood without a word and left. River watched her leave with a bemused smile "Bye then," she said, mostly to herself, popping another chip into her mouth. She drummed her fingers on the table top a moment and then hit reply.

Fine. But I don't work for free. She added a cake emoji on the end of the text to drive her point home. She stood from her table and made her way over to the trash cans near where the kid was sitting. She had no clue what she would do to strike up a conversation with him... Just as she was beginning to fret, she caught sight of the counter. The dog was ballooning, rearing back on it's hind legs, it's skull reforming, its fur receeding. In a matter of seconds, a boy stood in the dog's place. River reeled back in shock.

"Holy shit!" she yelped and then flinched as she slammed right into the boy, her soda slipping from her grasp and splashing over his shirt and jeans. River blanched. That... had not been a part of her plan. "Sorry!" she exclaimed, reaching for the napkin dispenser. "Sorry, sorry, oh man, I just... did you see that? I'm not the only one who saw that, right?"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Alexander Dalton Character Portrait: Mara Haruka Black Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero)
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Alexander Dalton


The sandwich never stood a chance. Food tended to disappear into his mouth quickly. it wasn't that he wolfed down his food or anything. He was just a fast eater. After making quick work of his sandwich, Alex Popped open his bag of chips and absently snacked on them. He noticed The kid that was with the dog at the counter was leaving the store. Seeming happy enough with a meal in hand. Alex couldn't help but smile a bit at it. He was the kind of guy that had his faith in humanity restored after seeing such acts of kindness. His mind wandered again. Wasn't that what the wold needed more of anyway? People showing acts of kindness and decency? Maybe there wouldn't need to be any heroes if society was just a better, nicer place. The lights in the store suddenly flickered for a bit, dragging him off his train of thought for a moment. Probably just another power problem. been getting a lot of those lately. He shook his head. As optimistic as that sounded, that wasn't the kind of world he lived in. At least there were heroes in reality now and not just comics. Comic book heroes. Maybe someday there would be a comic about him. People going to conventions dressed as Aegis. Alex had to force himself not to laugh out loud at the thought. He let out a snort anyway. Yeah, that would be the day. More likely would he just be a B list vigilante that will fall into obscurity when he gets bored of almost getting his ass kicked at night.

What happened next almost made Alex choke on his chips. The German shepherd at the counter got up . . . on two legs. After what almost looked like reverse body horror, what was once a dog now stood some dude in face paint. Now Alex would have normally reasoned that this guy was just a parahuman. Most likely a changer type given the display of shapeshifting that everyone in the store had just witnessed. Normally yes. But he didn't notice the dark skinned woman slamming into him suddenly and having her soda spill all over his shirt and jeans. He barely moved an inch from the collision thanks to how heavy and solid he really was. But he really, really wasn't expecting the only normal shirt and pair of pants he had on him to get soaked in someones soda.

" Ah F@#$, Really?!" Alex swore loudly and quickly snatched up a few napkins and tried toweling himself off. "Sorry!" The woman apologized. " It's fine, Its fine. Not the worst thing i had spill on me." He was in the middle of trying to wring out his shirt when he looked up to see who bumped into him.

Alex was DEFINITELY Not expecting to see such an attractive woman. Not saying that Alex really had a "type" when it came to people. But she was certainly pretty. She was in the middle of reaching for some napkins while in shock over the shapeshifter. That's when his phone started buzzing against his thigh and he snapped out of it. The alarm. Shit he was going to miss his practice time before patrol. " Hey its no big deal. Listen I got somewhere to be like, Right now soooooooo . . . . .Bye." Almost fluidly, Alex pivoted out of his seat and slipped around the distracted woman. He Bolted out the door, his exit being heralded by the soft "Ding!" of the entrance bell.

Alex took no time climbing his way back up to the rooftops and heading down his normal route. Only slowing down to take out his phone and shut off the alarm. Thank goodness he had the damn thing set. who knows how long he might have gotten caught up in that scene happening at the "Which Wich." He stopped for a moment and had a thought. what if that guy back there wasn't just some prankster with powers? The creeping feeling that the shifter could possibly be up to no good almost made Alex want to go back and make sure everything was okay. Something in his gut though made him feel like he wouldn't be needed even if something went down. Granted he got that feeling a lot but this was more genuine then Him psyching himself out as usual. After a few more minutes of indecisiveness Alex just went back to his original plan. He vaulted off the old boarded up building he was standing on. landing with a thud that cracked the concrete under him. The abandoned parking lot before him saw little to no traffic or people for that matter due to all the junk and state of disrepair it was in. Nobody really saw much reason to come this way and it was secluded enough that Alex didn't have to worry about prying eyes. Well, lets do this. He quickly stripped down, unzipped his duffel bag, and changed into his costume. Alex hung up his shirt and pants and dowsed them with one of his water bottles. They should be alright by the time he got back. After hiding his bad and cloths, "Aegis" went about checking that his suit was all together and ready to go. " Alright, lets warm up." He put in his headphones. Blasted the song, and went at it.

He started with nothing special. Mostly just standard warm up drills anyone would do at a gym with a few decent punches and kicks here and there. It was afterward that Aegis started Doing things like punching concrete blocks into rubble, crumpling metal junk into balls and tossing it high in the air. That was when his goggles glowed sky blue. Throwing his had toward the metal, He bubbled it in a force-field. Alex played around with it for a bit. Making it fly around at various speeds, changing the barriers shape, even making multiple barriers and juggling the scrap ball between them. After a few minutes of this he set the junk down. That was fun and all, but now to try something else. Making his finger in the shape of a gun with his pointing finger and thumb, Alex aimed at the ball. A small blue bubble formed at the end of the "gun". After a second of aiming he fired off his "Bullet" the bubble zipped through the air and collided with the ball, bursting on impact but sending the ball flying a few feet back.

He grinned behind his mask. Looks like that works, better use it wisely and make sure he doesn't accidentally punch a hole in someone, or use a sharper shaped barrier. He shuddered at the thought. That would be bad. very bad. Villain levels of bad. " Alright, that's enough of that for the night, lets try and do some real hero work." Just before he was about to run off however there was a loud crash not to far from the lot. Followed by the sound of yelling. Huh, perfect timing. Hr hopped up a few midair barrier platforms onto a roof to get a view of the scene. There were three nasty looking men trying to corner another guy in an ally.

Alex swore this felt almost cliche. The one not looking so hot. All three of them men had weapons of some kind, no guns though. at least none visible. Not that it would be a problem. No time like the present. Snapping his fingers, a wall of transparent blue energy formed between the thugs and the injured man. The goon squad panicked and looked all around until they spotted Alex. " Sup." He jumped down in front of the three, shacking the ground so hard one of them fell on his back. " Alright, so hi. I'm Aegis, lovely night tonight huh? Okay, so here's how this will go, you punks can scram," He started to crack his neck and knuckles, sparks coming from the metal studs. " Or I knock you all senseless and leave you with a nice bow on you for the police to find. whats it gonna be?" The two standing simply looked at each other before dropping their weapons and running in the opposite direction. The third however got up and started to glow green. That cant be good. Alex lifted his hands open palmed, ready to bubble the guy. Nobody who has powers is ever going to just leave or come quietly are they?



Note: Work out music used Mick Gordon (feat. Omega Sparx) - I'm Back

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Alexander Dalton Character Portrait: Terry 'Tess' Farina (Hush) Character Portrait: Mara Haruka Black Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero)
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#, as written by Tanman
◄:Terry ‘Tess’ Farina:►
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Slowly making her way home, a normal person would’ve probably continued along without a second thought. But Tess wasn’t a normal person. At first, it was just something she could faintly hear, but with the slightest amount of focus, she was able to make out what was being said, and from where. "Do me a favor. Check out the blond kid in the black jacket I need to know his deal." Blinking once, Terry looked up towards the roof of the building across the street, squinting slightly as she could make out a figure up there. Immediately, she regretted her decision and looked back away, hoping that her glance was more subtle than it felt. Looking back into the Which Wich, it seemed the dog was still inside, along with the swarm of patrons. Of course, one stood out a little more in this situation.

The boy eating by himself at one of the tables matched the description she heard. Was he being targeted or something? Taking a last bite of her hamburger as she moved slightly past the doorway, Tess kneeled by the window of the store, reorganising her bag and the food as she tucked the burger wrapper away. Maybe it wasn’t any of her business, and maybe it wasn’t something untoward, but it wouldn’t hurt to watch for a few moments more. Pulling out her phone, Terry pretended like she was popular enough to receive a message, sipping from her drink while looking over the screen. Fortunately, she didn’t have to pretend very long before shouts and swearing could be heard from inside the store. Pivoting quickly on the spot, Terry immediately regretted the decision as she covered her mouth.

The dog- No, the… Whatever that was, began to shift and morph in a gruesomely disturbing twist of inky blackness. It was disconcerting and more than a little terrifying, Terry reflexively taking a step back from the scene. She really wished she hadn’t just been eating. Forcing down the uncomfortable feelings, soon enough, the transformation was complete; a young man standing at the counter and receiving more than a few stern words from the cashier. A shapeshifter? That really creeped her out… Shivering involuntarily, the mood in the store seemed to have drastically shifted with this new revelation; the parahuman in the middle of the room drawing everyone’s attention. Was he the one connected to the male on that roof?

Tess decided to tear her eyes away from the intimidating boy with the skull paint. At least, for the moment, though she still kept him in her peripheral vision in case he was an actual danger. The blonde man seemed to have gotten involved in some sort of mess with a lady in the confusion, though no sooner had they began speaking did the blonde fellow seem to remember something, suddenly darting around her and out the door. “Uh excuse me-“ Tess felt she had an obligation to warn the boy to his observers, but he was quick, and she wasn’t exactly loud. The fellow slipped out of earshot and into the nearby alleyway before she’d gotten more than two words in. Moving to briefly bundle her belongings up again, by the time Tess followed to the sidestreet, the boy was already gone. Parahuman as well? It wouldn’t be unheard of in Capetown. That might have explained the interest of the other party in observing him. Still, if he was a parahuman, he could probably handle himself. Hopefully. There wasn’t exactly much she could do at this point.

“I really need to stop sticking my nose into other people’s business… “ Tess finally concluded, checking her phone once more for the time. It was pushing closer to seven now. Not exactly the safest time of day for a lone young lady in a town full of super powered individuals. She really should start heading home before her father began worrying. Pocketing the device again, she made her way to pass the sandwich store for the third time that evening, briefly looking inside to see if the commotion had resolved, while at the same time glancing back to the building opposite. She couldn’t see anyone there anymore, so hopefully she was just being overly paranoid for that other boy’s safety.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Alexander Dalton Character Portrait: Mara Haruka Black Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero)
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Capetown, TX. 09/17/2017, 6:45 PM. 85°F,
Partly Cloudy. Arc 1: Provenance.



Something caught Jasmin Lehtinen's attention as she had her back turned, facing the door, about to walk out of the Which Wich. A strange flash, in her electromagnetic senses, one that differed from the background noise she ignored on a daily basis. See, when humans move or think, chemical reactions cause little flashes of electrical energy to expand or contract a muscle, or to connect a neuron. By itself, it would be nearly unnoticeable to her power. But with millions, or billions, of these chemical connections going on inside of a human body at a time, people tended to light up like Christmas lights in her electromagnetic senses. Combine this with the feeling of moving electrons she feels every time she enters an area with different background static charges, more in places with more bodies, more cloth, and the fireworks she feels whenever someone shocks themselves on a door handle, or another person, and her senses tend to get overwhelming. So she throws it on the backburner, ignoring it, like closing your eyes to stop sight, she simply usually turned off her electromagnetic senses. However, just as one can see bright lights through your eyelids, she, too, sensed this strange pattern, and immediately opened up her senses to see it happen. At the same time, she turned to watch with her eyes. She watched the dog that had been barking be consumed by tendrils of ink, the ink form a skeleton, and then organs form inside the skeleton, followed by muscle growing around the skeleton, and finally skin and hair, before the remaining ink formed clothes on the man who was standing where the dog had been seconds ago. All the while, her electromagnetic senses picked up the vibrant flashes of the muscles being built and connecting and making small movements, and the stream of electricity that flowed from the brain, down the spine, and along the muscles as the man shapeshifted.

Unknown villain, not a hero. She deduced, public display of identity and powers unsuited, villain behavior. Maybe she wouldn't leave just yet, she'd stay and watch, even as a few of the bystanders ran or made their way out of the shop, including a couple with a kid and a blonde man who had a drink spilled on him. By this point, very few people were left in the shop, all more or less focused on the Changer. Will this break out into a fight? Jasmin wondered, unable to fully read the situation. Ever since she received her powers, she'd done extensive research on parahumans, powers, power classifications, and she even browsed online forums enough to know many of the big name and smaller heroes and villains. Still, she'd never actually been in a fight with a parahuman, and she was suddenly wary, wondering if the Changer would turn violent, after displaying his powers to a bunch of people that could only be assumed to be unpowered.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Alexander Dalton Character Portrait: Mara Haruka Black Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero)
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Jericho's hands were raised, his otherwise unsettling face pulling into a sort of concerned frown. The clerk was still shouting at him, though by now he was just getting frustrated. "Hey hey... jeez. Chill out, I'll pay I'll pay, Christ." His voice tried and tired, eyelids dropping with a sort of languidly restrained irritation. Apparently the promise of payment to the clerk wasn't enough to placate her, and that only pushed his and her irritation further. "Look lady-" He tried again, only to find a hand in his face with the palm held out, a now silent voice still speaking volumes of expectation through an accompanying stare. She wanted money, and he said he would pay...

Another rippling transformation of ink pulsed out along his wrist, rolling down to his hand as a two inch long extension of bone pushed out through the now goopy and clumped skin; stained with ichor dark and inky- Eheheh. After a moment, the bone flattened out and shifted, seeming to fluctuate in its density before it became paper thin, and so bright a green that it may as well have been stop light green without the luminescence. Jericho held his breath, and then sighed it through his nose, stretching his hand out to the woman as she gave a scream- an actual scream. A full on, 'I'm being slaughtered and my kids are next', shriek. What the hell.

He voiced his thoughts on such, jerking his hand back and away as the formation of green ink and paper fell to the countertop and collapsed into a puddle of regular, good 'ol black ink. Ink that he- "I can't get that back." Another deep sigh, followed up shortly by the quickly put together revelations of many things at once.

She screamed, that was fine, but there were other people in here, that wasn't so fine; they might think he was attacking her- which he wasn't- but that would definitely fall in the line of being really not okay at all. He turned around and faced the people in the sandwich shop; he hadn't looked at the name, oops, and held his hands up innocently. " I didn't touch her, really, she's fine, I promise." The changer- hate that title so much- stated as calmly as he could, brown-black eyes staring at each face in the shop in turn; from the pretty woman who had bumped the blondie, to the two who were sitting at a table by themselves... and then to the chick- he thought she might be at least- who was staring inside the shop, directly at him. She looked like she was scrutinizing him, and it was vaguely unsettling, truth be told.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Alexander Dalton Character Portrait: Mara Haruka Black Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero) Character Portrait: Jason Riley (Quantum)
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River flinched when the boy swore, shrinking away. It was an old instinct, one that always surprised her when it resurfaced. That time of her life when she could expect shouting to be followed by blows seemed so far away now. She was safe now, and knew how to protect herself if she wasn't. It was silly that her body was still reacting as if she was still 18 and trapped in a house with a ticking bomb. Shaking her head slightly at herself, River tried again to reach for the napkins, but the boy brushed past her smoothly.

"Hey its no big deal. Listen I got somewhere to be like, Right now soooooooo . . . . .Bye." He practically dashed from the restaurant. River rolled her eyes despite herself.

"Oh, no problem, just a bunch of women and children here with a skull-faced half-man-dog-thing, don't worry about us," she muttered under her breath. She cast a glance around the room, alarmed by the number of children she saw looking back at her. The boy hadn't done anything threatening so far, but in her experience, Paras who flaunted their powers were just gearing up to wreak some kind of havoc. She was loath to reveal her powers publicly, the police were sure to have some difficult questions about her income if she was flagged, but she couldn't just leave this restaurant full of people to fend for themselves...

"Hey, um, dog guy," she called. She straightened her back, hoping she was projecting her usual casual confidence instead of the complete baffled uncertainty that she felt. There wasn't much she'd be able to do herself if the guy turned violent, but she was at least sure she'd be able to take whatever he would dish out better than the others in the shop. It was better to draw his attention to her than let him stay focused on the poor shop girl. She ran a hand through her hair and there was a quiet click as the handful of security cameras shut themselves off and all of the cell phones in the shop lost reception. If she had to act suddenly, she'd rather not have to worry about purging evidence afterward. "You're not planning on robbing us or anything, right?"




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It seemed that no sooner had River agreed to watch the kid than he exited the restaurant, nearly knocking over a girl lurking near the door and dashed back into another alley. A moment later, he was back on the rooftops. Jason followed quickly, again making sure to keep out of the boy's line of sight. He was heading in a straight line and he looked familiar with the route. Jason wracked his brain, trying to remember if he had seen the kid in this sector. He was usually relinquishing patrol to someone else by now.

The boy came to a stop in a dangy worn down part of town, in a cracked and abandoned parking lot surrounded by shuttered buildings. He's training, Jason realized, watching the boy throw junk around, shrouding it in sky blue energy. Jason crept closer, crouching down around the corner, careful to stay out of the boy's line of sight. His energy didn't seem to damage what it interacted with, it seemed more like a manipulative shield, similar to Jason's own power. And he was strong. Jason was contemplating revealing himself when there was a loud crash from a nearby alley. They boy heard it too and charged toward the commotion. Jason shadowed him and quickly came upon the scene. The boy generated a shield, protecting the civilian and challenged the three thugs. Two ran off, while the other glared and began to glow a poison green. Jason swore and sprang into action. He'd ran into this villain before and if he didn't act quickly a lot of people were going to get hurt. He dropped down to land next to the boy and shot a broad ray of red light at the villain. He flew backwards out of the mouth of the alley, arching high in the air. In the split second before he hit the ground, Jason jumped, executing a neat flip over the top of the force field and threw his arms out, projecting a second shield around the civilian trapped there.

"Brace yourself!" he shouted at the boy. A moment later, the villain hit the ground.

BOOM

The explosion was huge. He must have been gearing up to blow even before he started glowing. If it had gone off in the alley there's no way someone wouldn't have gotten hurt.

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Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Alexander Dalton Character Portrait: Mara Haruka Black Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero) Character Portrait: Jason Riley (Quantum)
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#, as written by Lin
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During the time she waited for her second sandwich, some interesting identities entered the store. Like, that dog that didn't really seem act like a real dog at first. It turned out that it really wasn't a dog. It was something not quite human, and the scream indicated that it wasn't just her who found this kind of power... special.

Mara tilted her head in curiosity. What kind of power was that? Changer? She would have said something if it wasn't for the look Ace gave her. She remembered the general rule he followed: If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it. Mara intended to follow the rule, so she kept her mouth shut.

As she munched on her sandwich, she kept her eyes glued to the table. How many capes were here? How common could you run into someone with abilities? She wondered.

"Hey, um, dog guy," a woman said. Mara didn't look at the woman. Ace, as expected, noticed and was immediately on guard. Another cape? Was she going to attack? "You're not planning on robbing us or anything, right?" The girl still munched on her sandwich, but finally peeled her eyes from the wooden table to look at the woman and the other cape.

Oh. She was that adult woman who was talking with the other adult woman from when she first entered the restaurant. Mara could only watch on in to see what would happen. She wasn't quite done with her sandwich yet. Besides, she'd never gotten attacked before. To hurt her is a difficult task for weak capes if they didn't know her ability. Her guard was mostly down, but Ace's guard was most certainly up.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Alexander Dalton Character Portrait: Terry 'Tess' Farina (Hush) Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero) Character Portrait: Jason Riley (Quantum)
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#, as written by Tanman
◄:Terry ‘Tess’ Farina:►
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The tension was still in the air of the store, with only a few remaining people inside. The shaper was still the focus of the attention given his earlier display, but as of yet, hadn’t made any dangerous motions. At least, if making a mess on the countertop didn’t count as something sinister. Still, it was impossible to ignore the screams and panic of that clerk. A few of the scared individuals that had fled the store were now getting well clear of the scene, and judging by the phones in their hands, it was likely the police or a hero agency had been called. Awkward as the situation was, it was handled… Right? It’s not like she could step in without drawing undo attention to herself – Anyone with the confidence to do so was basically telling those around them that they were likely a parahuman themselves. She could probably slip off to change, but despite the loud cashier and heavy air, it seemed unnecessary.

Indecision plagued her. Or perhaps it was more she’d made the conscious decision to wait? Regardless, that confident woman had the guts to ask the important question that would either defuse or escalate the situation. Maybe she could’ve done that if she’d been in the room, but as it stood, she was an outside observer. She’d made up her mind. Heeding her earlier advice to herself, Terry finally stepped back away from the window, continuing her way down the street and back towards home. Even so, her ears were peaked to try and eavesdrop on the changer’s reply, just in case. She wouldn’t get to hear too much more then that as she made her way from the store. Well, unless things got really messy and broke into a huge fight – and at that point, she’d be able to make her way back.

The trip home was peaceful. Well, relatively peaceful. Since she was running behind, Tess decided to take a couple of the shortcuts she’d learned in her time living in Capetown, moving through the odd alley and busted up chain link fence. Her family wasn’t exactly poor, but they weren’t extraordinarily well off. Still, her mother was a shrewd woman. Which was another way of saying she was a cheapskate. As such, a cheaper rent in one of the shadier neighbourhoods wasn’t much of a concern for her parents; at least for a few years until they reconsolidated their funds to purchase something more substantial and not have a crippling mortgage. Either way, it wasn’t a huge concern of Tess’. She had a modest savings from her casual work, and hopefully the grades for a scholarship of some sort. If not, it was just a matter of finding some like-minded individuals to be roommates with. No sweat.

A crash sounded off in the distance, quite far by Tess’ estimation. She’d found she was getting better at judging sounds and the like, especially when it was quiet enough to focus on them like this. An accident? Or something else? Shaking her head, she decided to continue on her way. She’d already made up her mind that she couldn’t keep stopping for each and every little sign of danger. There were plenty of actual heroes for that, and if she didn’t get home, her parents would worry. She couldn’t risk having her secret out. Just as she was thinking that, an explosive green light lit up part of the horizon, a rumbling sound and rush of wind reaching her after a short delay. Must have really been something if she could feel it from here… Her hands fidgeted slightly as she looked in the direction of the explosion. Giving an exasperated sigh, Tess continued on her way, moving parallel to the distant blast. Something like that wouldn’t go unnoticed. Heroes would be there. They could handle things.


It wasn’t long before Tess stumbled upon some people. Striding down the street, she cocked her head to the pair of panting voices, eying the two scruffy gentlemen in her way, though neither seemed to have noticed her. The two looked more than a little shaken, so perhaps that was why she was so fortunate. Not wanting trouble, especially in her civilian wear, Tess tried to stealthily cross the street to avoid them, not making eye contact and keeping her head low. The one on the left was tall, thin, with a number of piercings and one of those large ear spreaders. His hair was tied behind him in a greasy rat’s tail, his outfit a decidedly punk ensemble, and although she wasn’t the kind to judge books by the cover, she visibly grimaced. His partner didn’t look much better, a balding fellow in stained white tank top, some degree of muscle showing. Both were panting as they caught their breath, leaning against the brick wall for support.

“Shit, how do the freakin’ capes get there so fast?” Ratty spoke, resting his hands on his knees before sitting up. “Think someone snitched? Or maybe that guy’s psychic?”

“I don’t know how them freaks work! Just be glad we got out of there before that guy exploded! Whoever that Aegis guy was, he’s got to be toast now!” Baldy replied, spitting a wad to clear his mouth. “Not that we’re gonna find any cash in that mess. Damn it, let’s get the hell out of here!”

“Whoah whoah, easy there Buck. This is our chance.” Rat-tail grabbed his friend by the shoulder, raising a finger to indicate he had an idea. “While our friend draws all the focus of the heroes that way, we just need to find ourselves another target, snatch us some quick cash, and get off scot free.”

‘Buck’ as he was revealed to be, gave rat a look of disbelief. “You crazy man? You still wanna go after getting that close to that mess? What if another fre-“ Baldy didn’t get to finish his sentence as Rat-Tail interrupted. “What’s the chances we run into another one? Our luck’s not that bad you dipshit.” Slapping Buck on the back, Rat took a few jogging steps away, spreading his arms wide. “Come on, stop being a chicken bait. We-“ Ratty stopped speaking, and Tess knew that was a bad sign.

Pheeew~, See? When life gives you lemons…” Ratty whistled, then whispered to the bald fellow, and Tess distinctly heard the sound of jogging footsteps coming up behind her. “Hey, hey, missy, what’s the hurry? Those are some big books, need some help?” Ratty was closing in, and Tess wanted no part of what he was planning. Hastening her pace, she hoped he’d give up the chase, but the gangly man wasn’t slow. “Hey, hold up, I just want to talk!” Tess risked a glance behind her, and was startled to see him less than a couple of metres from her, reaching forward to take her arm.

Breaking into a run as the snatch came in just wide of Terry’s hand, she heard Rat-Tail shout to Baldy to get after her as well, but was confident she could escape given her abilities as a parahuman. At least, until she heard the rumble of an engine. Stealing another backwards glance, she spotted Ratty clambering onto a motorbike with Buck at the front, gunning it to follow after her. There was no doubt in her mind that she could deal with two ordinary individuals, but she couldn’t transform without completely revealing her identity. She had to find somewhere to hide or outrun them, and then Hush would make sure that they ended their night in a jail cell.

Knocking a trashcan behind her in an attempt to slow them down, Tess really hoped she’d get that chance as she ducked into another side alley. She could handle it... Right?

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Mara Haruka Black Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero)
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Jericho gave a heave of a sigh, his hearing not well enough off to hear the cameras clicking offline, nor in any position to do anything about it. After a thought, he shifted his stance and let a rising formation of ink and sharpened bone flow up from his shoulder blade- an extension of that very bone- and roll down towards his palm as he spoke to the cape who had posed her question. "Yeah no, chica I had just wanted some food- I was goin' t' pay but I mean hey ya know, people see somethin' they should be used to with all th' capes we have around here and they immediately flip and scream at me like I'm a freak or somethin'. Kids love the face paint when I'm smilin', and yet this lil' lady here shrieks once and..." He trailed off, letting his rambling tirade fall away to silence. He frowned again, focusing on the ink on his face as it softened; the skull becoming more prominent and colorful while the eyes of its 'wearer' shifted to a brighter, mellowed brown and amber.

The boy shifted again, glaring now with a sort of expression that seemed to scream 'this isn't my fault.' In his hand was a deep blue rose, colored as if someone had taken blue pen and colored in the petals and stem. It looked as authentic as one could get a flower, and as Jericho snapped it off at his wrist, it remained. He spoke no more either, turning to the counter and leaping over it instead as his form rapidly shifted as before: swirls and collections of ink taking over the form of his humanoid form.
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The sound of claws clacking on the floor made itself loudly apparent, where Jericho once would have landed now stood a humanoid form of another creature. A pair of onyx black antlers sprung into the air, extending from the curve of a fleshless deer head that was ridiculously predatory. Changed and gone were the flat teeth that all deer had, in their place was the sharpened canines of... well a canine. The front of the skull held two nostril holes that led to an otherwise unseen nasal cavity. Above that, where the orbital cavities would've held the eyes of the deer, another hole seemed to expand outward, steaming faintly from an unseen source of heat. The skull, modified as it was, was attached at the base to a thickly furred neck that broadened out into a torso that was as broad around as a barrel. The flesh that would have covered the sternum and some small parts of the ribcage was missing, strips of fur and flesh hanging down and swaying in the air as the beast moved- long arms with long fingers and surprisingly short if sharp claws touched on the floor behind the counter.

Though the hind legs were hidden, the tapping of the claws that were on them was still audible, made into scraping sounds as the now monster turned and ducked into the kitchen behind the counter; vanishing from sight with immense speed and some amount of grace. The sound of bone clacking against metal and packages being opened began to echo from the back, the Changer's attention apparently having shifted to filling his stomach.

The rose stayed on the floor, dropped during the change, and shining faintly in the glow of the fluorescence of the lights overhead. The clerk was screaming. Again.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Mara Haruka Black Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero) Character Portrait: Splatterblood's Crew
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Capetown, TX. 09/17/2017, 6:56 PM. 85°F,
Partly Cloudy. Arc 1: Provenance.



Shit, Jasmin Lehtinen thought. I have to do something about this.

Jasmin watched with an intensity that bordered on awe as the Changer leapt over the counter and Jasmin saw fireworks,
and behind it swirling darkness, obscure the form of the Changer as her electromagnetic senses picked up the currents flowing through the Changer's body as he reconfigured his biology. In that split second, she looked down to her phone to note that both her cellular service and LTE data were cut out, displaying "No Service" at the top left of the screen. Can't look him up on parahumans online to learn more about him. She thought gravely. Time for Plan B. She pulled out a plastic container filled with very fine iron filings and poured the powder on her face. It magnetized, sticking to her face, leaving small spikes in the iron sand on her face to follow the magnetic lines. It was her temporary mask, when she was forced to use her powers, to help conceal her identity. She also threw up her hood, for it to conceal her short hair, and dropped into a boxing/fighting stance.

Then she realized something. Cameras. Shit. She looked at the nearest one, in a corner of the room, and she noticed, or more accurately felt, no current actively flowing through the wires. They're off. She wondered, thinking it was strange. They still had gotten her civilian identity on camera before they flicked off, but she didn't risk destroying them, as she didn't want a lightning strike to be seen as an act of aggression by the Changer. She would let him know she was armed, however, as there was a high-pitched zzzzzt sound as electricity crackled and popped in arcs between her two fists.


"If you are not a parahuman, leave the shop at once!" She shouted, startled at the sound of her own voice. First time she had spoken in about two hours. She saw a couple leave the shop, before she turned back to the Changer. "Let me guess, you named yourself something super-edgy." She sarcastically quipped, mainly to settle her own fear at the situation. "Like 'Inkdeath.' Nah, pretty sure that's a book. Hmm. That form looks more like a Wendigo. Is that it? 'Wendigo?' " She recived little more than what she assumed to be a grunt, in response. She changed tactics.

"Hey, look, I'm not sure if you don't know the unspoken rules between villains in this city, but before you go committing crimes, you gotta see what local gang owns the territory. Otherwise, you're causin' crime that'll potentially piss off the local kingpin. I don't work for the guy who's claimed these few block, villain named 'Splatterblood,' another edgy-as-fuck name." Jasmin paused her monologue, eye-ing Wendigo, noticing that he opted to ignore her and start eating all the food in sight behind the counter, virtually swallowing bread and various unmixed ingredients. "But I do like this shop, and would appreciate villains not robbing it for no reason." Lightning popped in the air around Jasmin filling the shop with the smell of ozone, blue light momentarily combating the shop's bright white light and lighting up the building across the street with blue flashes through the shop's front window-walls.

((All percieved power-gaming of me controlling Wendigo is premeditated between me and StorminJericho. I had his permission. No power-gaming/god-modding at play.))

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Mara Haruka Black Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero) Character Portrait: Splatterblood's Crew
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The sound of crackling electricity reached Jericho's shifted ears before the actual sight of the girl who wielded it. He chose to ignore it, even ignoring the following shout of. "If you are not a parahuman, leave the shop at once!" He would've kept minding his own business if he could've... But of course, whoever the cape was decided that she had other ideas. He could hear the feminine voice talking to him, words that in the moment meant nothing to him considering that food was more important than whatever the hell this cape wanted. He wasn't hurting anyone, jeez.

"Let me guess, you named yourself something super-edgy... Like 'Inkdeath.' Nah, pretty sure that's a book. Hmm. That form looks more like a Wendigo. Is that it? 'Wendigo?' " Wow. That was pretty presumptuous and rude, wasn't it? What if he didn't even have a name made yet? Sure he was a parahuman but he wasn't a villain or anythin'. He made a single grunting noise, a mix between the 'mhh' that humans are capable of making and a crackling insect-like hiss that humans aren't. She kept talking at him, Jesus christ- "Hey, look, I'm not sure if you don't know the unspoken rules between villains in this city, but before you go committing crimes, you gotta see what local gang owns the territory. Otherwise, you're causin' crime that'll potentially piss off the local kingpin. I don't work for the guy who's claimed these few block, villain named 'Splatterblood,' another edgy-as-fuck name... But I do like this shop, and would appreciate villains not robbing it for no reason." Which, as he listened to it, Jericho found that the logic wasn't necessarily wrong or anything.

But then lightning popped and crackled in the air, and if that wasn't some amount of threat towards him then Jericho really hadn't a clue as to what could be considered so. If the little lady with the bolts wanted to be all big and threatening well hell. She could have her cake and eat it too. The 'Wendigo'- heh that name might actually stick, pretty good, even if he hadn't already thought of it himself -turned, finally paying attention to the monologuing cape that was so insistent on paying attention to him. A metal mask adorned her face, that much he could see, but her 'costume' was pretty lackluster. Oh well, he understood that enough too... Even if he was pretty ticked off that he couldn't finish his own 'cake'. Wendigo's voice- oh hell yes, that title will fuckin' do quite nicely, thanks very much -rattled out of the open holed barrel chest, sounding to the ears like someone threw a rock into a washing machine and set a muscle car engine to half throttle. "This form is hard to talk in, so I'll be quick," The I's in his speech were lost in the humming rattling growl of a voice, sounding more like 'ay's', "I don't want to fight, innocent people out there. Hungry, so back off." There, she was properly warned! ... When the girl stayed, Wendigo decided that there wasn't much point in continuing to talk, ignoring her once again and going back to his scrounging of a meal. He was annoyed sure, but if the lightning cape decided she was gonna just stand there, then that was fine by him. As long as there wasn't anymore threatening behavior, she was fine to stay there as she pleased.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Mara Haruka Black Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero) Character Portrait: Splatterblood's Crew
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#, as written by Lin
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The parahuman said something, and Mara was reminded of a certain character from the Harry Potter series. What was his name again? Tom? Well, all that mattered was that the parahuman seemed a little pitiful. Someone not accepted even among his own kind. She didn't have much time to think.

As his very form started to shift again, the boy who came in with the dog looked especially alarmed. Scared, she corrected herself. Someone was screaming again and that annoyed her, but it didn't matter in comparison to what was happening right before her eyes.

Gazing upon the ink swirling and taking form from behind the boy, Mara was captivated. She'd never seen a power quite like this before. Then again, she was never out much so she might be lacking in knowledge. The transformation was completed, and the final result made her heart pound. It was ugly. It was something not human. It looked frighteningly dangerous. And yet, she still wanted to run her fingers through the fur swaying elegantly as the thing moved. She was sure that her thoughts were something her brother would disagree with.

Not soon after, the parahuman seemingly disappeared from behind the boy. There was suddenly noise from the back of the restaurant as if an animal was ravaging and running into things. It did well to snap her out of whichever trance she'd been in. And then, the girl watched in wonder as the room lit up yellow and white with buzzes and crackles echoing around the room. An electricity user. She was seeing all kinds of wonderful things today!

"If you are not a parahuman, leave the shop at once!" A voice shouted. Mara tore her eyes from the entrance to the back of the restaurant to the source of the loud voice. She saw a woman, maybe a girl, with her hood up and face covered by black. Her voice was confident, and she looked ready to fight. Mara thought along the lines that maybe she was a hero, but Ace obviously thought differently. He also dropped into a fighting stance, guarded against both the girl and the other parahuman.

Everything was silent. The clerk had screamed and ran out of the shop, and the boy had left too.

The woman (who was a self-proclaimed villain) talked. And talked and talked and talked. She was using words she didn't understand about things she didn't understand. Unspoken rules between villains? Local gangs? Local kingpin? Splatterblood? Wendigo? Unlike the tense residents in the shop, her confusion became more obvious. It was written all over her face. At least she had a name for the parahuman now.

Mara never did have time to ponder over these things (again) since something smelled funny before the lightning started doing weird things. She knew these things couldn't hurt her much, but she was worried about Ace. Lightning was deadly to even parahumans, and it looked like the villain finally had Wendigo's attention.

"This form is hard to talk in, so I'll be quick," the voice growled. It was a bit hard to understand. "I don't want to fight, innocent people out there. Hungry, so back off." Again, Mara was confused, but all she did was pull at Ace's shirt.

"What is it, Mara," he demanded more than asked. Ace looked really serious. Mara bit her lip.

"Ace... Wendigo said he didn't want to hurt anyone," Mara whispered more than said her sentence. "Can't we all just calm down? We don't need to use force to make him stop stealing food, right? Right?" Ace still didn't meet her eyes, more wary of the lightning woman than Wendigo now but he paused. Mara desperately hoped that he took the course of action that did not result in violence.

"Hey, you. The one with lightning. The lad looks like he won't hurt anyone. Let the heroes deal with this. We don't want any violence or destruction. I would appreciate it if you cooperated. It would make things a lot easier on all of us." His voice was clipped and tense, still on guard in case someone decided to attack. Mara noticed how Ace didn't try to address Wendigo and couldn't help but look in the parahuman's direction for a brief moment before moving to protect her brother. She could absorb things, he could not. He was also out of his element. It was obvious who would be doing the protecting here.

Still, even among this, Mara thought that she wanted to touch his fur...

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Devon Metzger(freischütz) Character Portrait: Mara Haruka Black Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero) Character Portrait: Splatterblood's Crew
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Last night Devon had been clocking a couple hours of overtime, searching for the last members of a group of parahumans. They were known for using their powers to rob people and small businesses, and they'd been sentenced a few times for non-violent crimes as the law hadn't exactly caught up with the fact that people didn't need to wave around obvious weapons to commit an armed robbery, not to mention the general difficulty of proving that someone actually used their power to threaten someone(let's just say unless there's 4 or 5 witnesses backing you up, it's pretty much pointless to persecute them for violent crimes). Yesterday however, they got sloppy and were caught red-handed by Devon's spying eye, he called for backup and what ensued was a wild goose chase, those kids knew those backstreets a lot better than the heroes patrolling the block. Around 4 am they quit their search figuring the last of them had escaped too far to be viable searching for, still 7 out of 9 that could now be properly persecuted for violent crimes felt like a big win to the heroes and the pcrt.

Today however, after sleeping in till 12 to catch up on sleep he had a lot of paperwork to look forward to until it was time to hit the road again at 6pm. Arrests like these always delivered a lot of paperwork, especially since the main witness in question was a hero on duty, he'd have to write every detail as best as possible otherwise those kids could still get off scot-free, well a couple of them. One had hurt himself badly climbing a fence trying to escape, another had been caught and roughed up the locals, and a final one had been shot with rubber bullets as he repeatedly tried to get away(that one was going to have sore legs for a couple of weeks). He turned on the radio for some background noise as he went about making him some lunch. As he closed the jaws of his contact grill around a bacon and cheese sandwich he heard about the accident on the 7-9. Good thing he could write that report on his home computer, driving to the HHQ would have been a nightmare with that traffic artery clogged up.

Waiting for his sandwich to be grilled to perfection he grabbed a glass of milk and set himself down in front of his keyboard. After a few minutes of reading up on the news he had missed since this morning, aside from something about a slaughterhouse being under investigation for mixing horse meat in the ground beef it seemed he hadn't missed much, he stood grabbed his sandwich from the grill and under the enjoyment of a salty and spicy sandwich he started writing his report of last nights events. After a couple hours of writing reports he looked at the clock, 2:23 pm, leaving some time to cook and eat dinner he figured he'd have more than enough time for a couple of games.




His patrol started like any other, just walking around looking for crime, troublemakers, parahumans out of control or any people who need his help, even if all it's just rescuing a cat from a tree. The neighborhood he patrolled today contained areas under the control of some nutjob who calls himself 'Splatterblood', a very imaginative name. While the chances were pretty much zero that he'd run into someone the local kingpin considered worth a damn, it's always smart to at least know who the local kingpin is. especially when the he is seen as either bloodthirsty or actually beneficial to the area.

6:47 pm The end of a so far peaceful patrol. A couple calls came in about a changer making a mess about a block away from his location, Devon was to check it out. From the information the callers gave there had been no signs of violence yet, but there was a PCRT team on standby just in case. He picked up his pace and rushed to the scene.

A short run later he arrived at the scene, a sandwich shop with the name "Which Wich". "No expenses spared on the name." He thought to himself as he walked to the door. From the outside he could get a decent picture of what was going on inside, it seemed that there were two... And a half vigilantes trying to handle the situation, and the changer in question seemed to be happily gorging on the shops stocks. "I might need a bigger gun for that." He thought looking at the changer. Safety off, rifle aimed at the ground, finger off the trigger, no need to look more threatening than strictly necessary. With his free hand he opened the door and almost immediately he went into negotiation modus.

"So I'm guessing you are the changer we got those calls about. Though going by the callers it sounded like this place was to be wrecked by the time I got here. Nope, just a couple bucks worth of veggie, meat and bread getting devoured." He said with a jovial tone of voice as he motioned to the two in fighting stance to calm down and back off. He walked a couple steps further into the shop taking a look around at the amount of civilians still inside the building, most of them looking scared, confused, angry or a combination of the three. Devon then leaned on one of the tables keeping an eye on the changer behind the counter. "I would like to ask you all to please leave this fine establishment for a moment. So this gentleman and I can have a couple of words without me having to worry about what any third party might be doing." He then asked addressing the people within the shop, but looking at the two who were standing like they planned to duke it out any second now. Last thing he wanted was to escalate a peaceful situation due to some loose cannon vigilante, or have a civilian trigger a violent response from the changer.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Devon Metzger(freischütz) Character Portrait: Mara Haruka Black Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero)
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  1. possible wrong location

    by NethanielShade

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Capetown, TX. 09/17/2017, 7:08 PM. 84°F,
Partly Cloudy. Arc 1: Provenance.



Jasmin Lehtinen took a step back when she heard the growl of Wendigo's voice, a momentary feeling of trepidation passing through herself. Whether he was aware of it or not, Wendigo was pretty equiped in the intimidation department.
"This form is hard to talk in, so I'll be quick, I don't want to fight, innocent people out there. Hungry, so back off." She opened her mouth to comment, even as Wendigo began to turn away to shovel more sandwich materials into his skull, but another voice caused her to whip her head around and look towards a man and a young girl. "Hey, you. The one with lightning. The lad looks like he won't hurt anyone. Let the heroes deal with this. We don't want any violence or destruction. I would appreciate it if you cooperated. It would make things a lot easier on all of us."

Conflicting feelings passed through her, at that. On one hand, she agreed with the man. The heroes could deal with it. The PCRT might even be here, soon. She didn't want to fight. Hell, she was even pretty scared looking at the Changer behind the counter. She had no fighting experience whatsoever, and Wendigo looked to be pretty in control of his own power. However, at the same time, she enjoyed coming to this sandwich shop every other day, and now it would probably be closed for a week to restock. She also felt the urge to go against this man's definition of 'cooperation.' Who was he to tell her what to do? Maybe he was an undercover cop, waiting for backup. or maybe he was a pretentious asshole who wanted to exert authority in a moment of crisis. Maybe-

Ding!

For the second time in a two minutes, her train of thought was derailed as she whipped her head to find the source of a sound. A man, no, a PCRT officer? No, the uniform wasn't quite right. Either way, someone stood in the doorway rifle trained on the floor, wearing a trench coat, body armor, and a black helmet-mask hybrid with tinted lenses she couldn't see through. Then he spoke, his voice changed by his mask, and her heart skipped a beat as he motioned at her. Shit, he's an HLA member.
"So I'm guessing you are the changer we got those calls about. Though going by the callers it sounded like this place was to be wrecked by the time I got here. Nope, just a couple bucks worth of veggie, meat and bread getting devoured. I would like to ask you all to please leave this fine establishment for a moment. So this gentleman and I can have a couple of words without me having to worry about what any third party might be doing." She nodded, relief flooding her. He didn't recognize her as the villain who'd robbed three convenience stores. I mean, who would? In a city filled with crime and heroes, three small not even noteworthy events wouldn't be remembered.

She exited the sandwich shop with the remaining patrons, and made her way down the street with her iron shavings mask still on and hood still up, well aware that someone could get her identity if she dropped it now. They were downtown, and many office buildings had parking garages across the street, so she made her way into one, and covered her tracks.

Gotta make an EMP. Disable cameras, anyone who might have been following me. She knew it was a paranoid thought, but you never know. She erected a large magnetic field around her, and ionized air, and soon electricity was crackling around her. She pushed outwards, and it dissipated. At the same time, every car in the parking lot did a final beep-beep , and their were a few honks, as circuitry fried and batteries drained. With that, she poured her iron shavings mask back into it's flask, took off and tied her hoodie around her waist, and walked home.

Ten minutes later, she was home in her studio appartment, kicking trash on the floor, and plopping down onto her futon with her phone in her hand, logging onto ParahumansOnline, a forum website maintained by hundreds of thousands of people, complete with it's own wiki of the amalgamation of public knowledge, and first-hand observations from citizens, information about almost every cape that has a cape-name. Jasmin even had a page, but the only information on her was that she had "lightning powers" with no elaboration, and that she's a villain that's committed three convenience store robberies. A few keyword searches later, and she discovered the information she was interested in. Freischütz was the HLA member who appeared at the scene. She was mildly interested, because Capetown's HLA branch consisted of two teams of ten members each, and out of the twenty, he was one of the ones with less media interest, but lots of "Cape Geek" interest. He was popular on the ParahumansOnline forums, and there was lots of discussion about his equipment and his powers. The other bit of information was a bit harder to find. Ghoul, a Changer last seen in New Mexico, seemed to be the best fit based on the description of the power. Swirling ink, ghoulish, skeletal preferred form, but can take the form of animals, or even just change a single part of the body. There wasn't any information on his crimes, and there was a single thread that mentioned him in three posts, as two users debated whether he was a Rogue or Villain, but other than that, no more online information.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... Brrrrrr. Brrrrrr. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... Brrrrrr. Brrrrrr.

As she searched, a high-pitched emergency-alert sound emitted from her phone, and she jumped in surprise at the sound. She expected it to be an Amber Alert, but her stomach dropped when she read the notification. State Of Texas Issued Abhorrent Emergency Alert System Broadcast Test. Right, it was a test. The last Abhorrent attack had been in India, four and a half months ago. The Abhorrents usually attacked three to four months apart, so the next attack was expected to happen any day, any hour, any minute. She had read articles online about how every time an Abhorrent attack is late, the HLA and the THA are basically on 24/7 stand-by, waiting for the attack, so they can go an defend, international or not. She herself had no plans to attend any Abhorrent fight, but it got her thinking.

If Capetown was attacked, would she help defend? It wasn't technically a law that parahumans had to defend, but that was for good reason. Firstly, it didn't make it look like the PCRT wanted villains on their side. Secondly, villains were more likely to help against Abhorrent attacks because it wasn't a law. They weren't being forced to. But it was a weird and shaky balance, because people expected you to. Fighting an Abhorrent is like fighting a tornado throwing around nukes, and if you have the power to stop it or let people die, you stop it, whether you're a villain or not. There's unspoken rules between capes. If an Abhorrent attacks, you put aside Hero, Villain, Rogue, lables, and you help. If you don't have the firepower to go toe to toe with one, you help recover and save the wounded capes, you help with the evacuation of civilians, you help relay information in battle. And you never, ever, use it as an opportunity to get revenge or learn an identity. It's been an honor code stronger than the strictest laws for over forty years now, and it's only ever been broken twice. Because when adults dress up and play cops and robbers, it's just a game. But when the Abhorrents attack, the facade ends, and things get serious.

The thoughts sat wrong in her stomach, and her shoulders felt cold as she caught herself staring blankly at the wall. She couldn't help but feel that the EAS broadcast test was a bad omen. Was Capetown a likely target? It's population was just over five hundred thousand, so it wasn't a particularly big city. But it keeps to it's namesake and has a dense cape population, ranking number five in the nation. Anything's possible. She thought grimly, before laying down on her futon and dark thoughts drifted her to sleep.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jasmin Lehtinen (Sähkö) Character Portrait: Jericho Amile (Wendigo/Ghoul) Character Portrait: Devon Metzger(freischütz) Character Portrait: Mara Haruka Black Character Portrait: River Riley (Zero)
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#, as written by Lin
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After Ace said his piece, things were still relatively silent and tense.

Ding. Mara couldn't help but but shift their attention from Wendigo to the new presence. Only a moment passed before the man seemingly chirped his piece.

"So I'm guessing you are the changer we got those calls about. Though going by the callers it sounded like this place was to be wrecked by the time I got here. Nope, just a couple bucks worth of veggie, meat and bread getting devoured," the man said very cheerfully. It was slightly weird for her to hear such a tone coming from a hero dressed like this man - a man dressed in full body armor and armed with weapons. It was something she'd only really seen on her brother while he was on duty.

Regardless of what she thought of his outfit, Ace relaxed his stance at seeing a comrade but he was still wary of the two villains. Mara, however, naturally distrusted this new character. His actions were relaxed, but the way he moved in and eyed Wendigo contrasted his movements. She didn't know if that was due to experience, but it unnerved her slightly. It spoke of deception. Mara also noticed that he seemed to have a sense of humor that her brother liked, but she never saw the amusement in jokes like this. Though, she could at least observe that his very aura was de-escalating the situation. It seemed to reassure the people who were still left inside the shop.

"I would like to ask you all to please leave this fine establishment for a moment. So this gentleman and I can have a couple of words without me having to worry about what any third party might be doing." At that, Mara looked up at Ace and he looked down at her. They could certainly take care of themselves, but they would leave. After all, staying here might complicate the situation. They silently agreed. For now, they would do as he said. They both left the shop and were the last ones to leave. It couldn't be helped that most of the people were all too eager to get out.

Right after they closed the door, Mara felt more than heard windows trembling before it stopped. By the time she shut the door to the car, she heard a familiar growl from the opened car window. At this point, Mara was also at an angle where she could actually see the windows trembling as if they were scared. Her eyes drifted back to her brother, but Ace did not start the car.