|
Post by Yoshimitsu on Oct 3, 2012 15:42:57 GMT -5
Had this knocking around for a while now, but didn't post it yet because I initially wrote it for the newer charms people so they could get more acquainted with the universe. Anyway, low-level skirmish-style RP, don't expect it to be too long but you never know. Phones had never been a normal kid. Ignoring the most obvious, he'd never followed anything mainstream. His music was obscure, his fashion was random and his personality was cold. As far as other people were concerned, unless they immediately benefitted him, he wasn't interested. Keeping himself to himself suited him just fine. Easier to think that way. Less questions, less attention, less hassle. A much nicer life, as far as he was concerned. At least, until he realised his potential. "Phoenix, give me something." Thing is, then you got to his powers. He was young when he discovered them, but he embraced them once he learned about them. As a kid, he'd had some pin badges. Just random things, things he thought would look good on his jacket. A flame symbol, a snowflake and a gear. Just stuff he'd found pretty cool when he was fourteen. He pinned them on his school jacket and hadn't thought anything else about it. Destiny, as far as he was concerned, had other ideas. At school, he'd gotten into a fight. Pretty standard as far as schools like his went. He was different so he was victimized. For the first time, though, Phones stood up for himself. After being smacked around, he just shoved his palm into his attacker's face without thinking. Later, he learned the guy had stopped attacking him because his face had been badly burned. No one could prove anything, since Phones wasn't a smoker and the police search hadn't turned up anything suspicious, but he'd still been expelled. The fire had to have come from somewhere though. "Introverted Male, this unit cannot supply assistance without a proper medium to observe events through." So he'd spent some time. He didn't really know why the guy's face was suddenly on fire. All he knew that his memory of that, something near his chest and his hand had suddenly felt warm. He hadn't had science class or anything so there was no chance it was a weird chemical reaction, not to mention the police swabbing his hands to make sure. There was no real explanation for it, except for one errant thought that he remembered having. "I wish I had some fire right now."His mind had strayed to his pin badge, he remembered that much. It was just an errant wish though. Something desperate, just to stop the guy from kicking his ribs into his lungs. Just like his arm, it was a desperate defense. Still, there was no mistaking that his hand had felt hot, as had his chest, and the guy was suddenly in hospital with severe burns and he hadn't been hurt any further. Phones looked at his badge, the one with the flame design. Something was there, he knew that. "... Phoenix. You're tracking my headset. Give me something." It had taken him a while to get a grip of what had happened. As soon as the pin badge was in his hand, he felt it's warmth. The downside being that he kept on setting fire to things. He faked a smoking habit to convince his parents that was why his room had so many burns - they lived in Winstone, after all - but continued learning more about what had happened. All three of his pin badges held some power. The flame let him start a fire wherever he wanted. The snowflake let him make a pillar of ice whenever he wanted. The gear turned into a weapon, a chainsaw that looked like a sword. It was heavy, but he could swing it around as well as the next person. He took up exercise after that, trying to build up his arms, and started learning some parkour and basic martial arts. Basics, sometimes more, from his local mixed martial arts tutors. "I apologise, Introverted Male. This unit has lost track of the target. Most beneficial course of action would be to gather information on foot. If Introverted Male had not insisted on blocking this unit from his headset, this unit could have been of more assistance." Phones landed back on the sidewalk, his hand on his forehead. As much as Phoenix had a point, Phones valued his privacy. Having a technologically incredible robot that could hack through any system prying into his life wasn't something he was keen on. Sure, denying it access to his personal information could be an annoyance, as it was now, but he'd rather that be the case than have an artificial intelligence knowing every detail of his life. He thrust his palms into his pockets and dodged into the passing people, blending into the crowd. After fumbling around in his pockets for a moment, he pulled his phone out and held it to his ear. It didn't help his signal or anything, it was just less awkward than looking like he was talking to himself when he was using his nearly invisible earpiece to talk to his companion. "... He was the most dangerous, right?" He asked, keeping his voice low. He already knew that the microphone fitted onto his backmost molar would pick up his voice. "Affirmative. Several other supernatural humans have appeared across the city. This unit would suggest tracking down anyone possible and not focusing on a singular target. This unit is updating your celluar communications device with the necessary information." "Keep me posted." The was the other reason he didn't want Phoenix in his head. He was ridiculously wordy. What was so wrong with saying 'cell phone'? Without any further speech, he turned a corner and checked his phone. Four different icons appeared on his map of the city, flickering slightly. One one was missing, but that was his own fault for not getting a tracer on his target. One at the docks, one at the factory district, one causing trouble on the high street and one keeping to alleyways for some reason. Five Powers who had cropped up overnight and abusing their skills. And, of course, to try to pacify the general population, Phones, Sebastian and Evita were on the case with Phoenix for support. He hadn't heard from Evita or Sebastian yet, but there was no doubt in his mind that they were on task. "...What are the Powers, again?" Phones asked. "The Power present at the dock is displaying limited hydrokinetics, capable of moving over or through water as well as using it as a projectile. The Power present at the factory district is capable of creating small incediaries from his palms. The Power present at the high street is showing the ability to break anything she places her hand on as well as showing formidible martial arts prowess. The Power hiding in the alleyways is showing the ability to disappear in shadows." "...So a hydrokinetic, a bomb man, a breaker and a shadow bender. Any intel on the mystery man?" "No data available." "Wonderful," Phones muttered to himself, ducking into a side alley again.
|
|
|
Post by StellarWind Elsydeon on Oct 3, 2012 17:36:33 GMT -5
To the untrained observer, "Petals in the Breeze" was just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill floral and gardening supplies store, one of the many small and colorful shops one could find along Winstone City's high street. The same could be said for the trained observer - although they would probably take note of the unusual verdancy and vivacity of the assorted plants sold within - but would probably chalk it up to careful care by skilled employees who loved their job. They would only be mostly right.
For the most part it was a quiet day. It wasn't exactly high season for flowers and gardening supplies - and now, as sunset was approaching, it was the last shift before closing. The young woman who was manning the counter stretched softly, briefly surveying her surroundings with a green-eyed gaze. She liked this shift - there were very few customers around at this sort of hour, which meant she rarely had to deal with people (she winced as she thought of her early days in this shop, where she got to handled some of the more rushed shifts) and she could give the plants the attention they deserved.
Evelyn Ryatt was a bit of what one would call a "crazy cat lady" - although instead of cats, she had plants.
She was in her mid-twenties, of average height, freckled, with curly auburn hair tied back in a neat ponytail and green eyes behind a pair of delicate-framed rectangular glasses with curved edges. She was in her work uniform - a long-sleeved forest-green tunic emblazoned with the store's logo and a black belt over casual blue jeans and a lighter green shirt - a decent fit yet not perfect. She had the looks of a woman who could probably turn heads if she wanted, but opted instead to be as inconspicuous as possible. She had her reasons, although they probably weren't the reasons that most people would think about.
And right now, something was bothering her. Something was not quite right with the world that evening, although the source of the disturbance wasn't really localized - which made it even more disquieting. She gazed at the wall clock for a moment, with the faint hopes that whatever it was, it'd at least have the decency to wait until after she had to close up shop.
A faint cracking sound drew her attention - a noise that was growing louder and louder. There was a silhouette at the door - someone was outside, seemingly waiting for something.
To her dismay, she realized the cracking noises were coming from the door itself. This made no sense - the store was not closed. Whoever it was could have walked straight in if they wanted. Was this just vandalism for vandalism's sake? Her first instinct was to dial the police - although considering the speed the door was cracking, it would do little good. She would have to make do with what she had. She collected herself, assuming a composed, businesslike expression.
The door finally shattered like a glass window hit by a wrecking ball. "Someone's insurance policy has better cover this, or there's going to be hell to pay.", she muttered to herself as the dust cleared. She briefly surveyed the stranger at the doorframe.
"May I help you, miss?" she proceeded to flash her most businesslike smile. "I suppose the door must have gotten wedged or something."
|
|
|
Post by Testbug on Oct 31, 2012 11:33:18 GMT -5
Each gem glittered in the sun like they intended to turn into stars themselves and fly off through the city, bouncing off of rooftops and finding themselves a home in someone's hearts. They were beautiful, yes, and expensive as hell, but they weren't what he was looking for. None of them quite sang at his touch like they should. They were just... Normal crystals. Imported from far away lands, beautifully devoid of any impurities whatsoever, no doubt, but normal crystals and gems nonetheless.
"Well," the clear, female voice of Carbuncle chimed in his mind. "That's unfortunate. Another wasted trip."
It's not as bad as it could be. I'd sooner have people without summon stones just as soon as I'd have me finding them.
"If you insist. Are we done in this town?"
No, we're already here and we should probably check every store for them. I'd hate for a jeweler to accidentally cut through a gem and wind up with a disaster on their hands.
Taylor reached his arms up in the air, and stretched them out. He gave a smile and an apologetic sigh to the woman behind the counter.
"I'm afraid you don't have exactly what I'm looking for," he reasoned, giving her a pleading look with his grey-blue eyes. "Thank you very much, though. You were really kind."
After a few parting words, Taylor turned away and left towards the beach. Maybe a quick stroll, just a glance at the sea, and then he can head over to the jewelers and see if they'll let him look at their uncut stones. Probably not. They usually don't even carry the raw gems in-store. Asking never hurt, though. As Taylor walked down towards the dock, he shed the russet brown jacket he was wearing and slung it over his left shoulder. He smoothed out his green tee, starting to leisurely stroll across the wooden docks of the port town. His eyes ran over the watery surface, and he noticed a welling dome of water breaking up the surface. Expecting a lost scuba diver or shallow-water fish, he was surprised to see an small, uncovered, human head pop up from the water, especially one that didn't look even remotely out of breath. The diminutive figure rose to the top of the water, and turned his head to look at the dock. He seemed to walk out of the water as if they were stairs, shocking Taylor at first. The boy, looking to be maybe 12 at most, jumped onto the dock and splattered Taylor with the salty water of the ocean.
"Hey," Taylor vocalized, looking at his offender. "What the hell, kid?"
The kid gave his voice no thought, and kept walking along with no mind for the onlookers that he had gathered from the marketplace. Moving past Taylor, the kid shrugged off any cries from those who were watching him. Taylor placed his hand on the youth's shoulder as he walked by, and the black-haired child turned suddenly to him and waved an angry hand towards Taylor's body. The water from the boy's clothing seemed to peel off, and forming a small, localized wall of water, struck the man in the side. It caught Taylor off guard, and sent him reeling back for just a moment before he regained his bearings.
“Well that wasn’t very nice.”
No. No it wasn’t.
Taylor pulled off both of his gloves, revealing a blue and red gem set into a metal recess on the back of his left hand.
“Let’s teach this little guy a small, but important lesson about messing with me,” Taylor muttered, brushing water from his sandy blond bangs with his off-hand. "Hey kid. I think you owe me an apology."
|
|
|
Post by Yoshimitsu on Nov 7, 2012 16:41:39 GMT -5
"That's the problem with children," a voice came from behind the pair. "No one teaches them any respect any more."
A figure was walking along the dock casually, hands thrust into pockets and sword strapped to his back. He had an easy grace about him, blonde hair ruffled only slightly by the breeze and holding himself with a strong posture. He briefly pulled one of his hands out of his pockets to brush his hair back into place and adjust his sunglasses, looking like he should have been walking on a catwalk and not a dock. His black-and-silver shirt was only held together across his chest by a single button, each breeze that rolled by giving a glimpse of a toned, lithe body and his skin-tight jeans were leaving little to the imagination. He stopped a short distance from the two, the child who was wearing the most arrogant smirk he had ever seen and the other man who's hands looked like he'd had an accident carving precious gems.
"I like the bling, but it's a bit gaudy for my tastes," Sebastian said, nodding towards the other man's hand. With a casual, easy motion, he slipped his sword from his back. It had an interesting shape, the guard circling around the entire hilt, the blade looking more jagged than an average sword and a spiked hook towards the end of the weapon. It was a good job he probably wasn't going to use it to attack, since it looked more like a weapon for lethal force than it did for routine security. Even though he loathed routine security.
"Annoying Male," the robotic voice rang in his headset. "Exercise caution. The adolescent is unlikely to have a full understand on the range of its Powers."
"Yeah yeah, whatever," Sebastian replied, waving his hand dismissively. "So what's the deal, kid? Bed with no supper? Didn't get that videogame you want? Oh I know, you got turned down by the prettiest girl in school 'cause you're an annoying little shit?"
As a response, the kid sent a surge of water at him. Sebastian swiped his sword lazily, cutting through the torrent before it could splash on his meticulously planned out clothes and ruin his day. Sea water was not good for fabric. Not this fabric anyway. At a thousand dollars a shirt, there was no chance he'd let some hyper-active little twerp destroy a perfectly good top that showed off his features in all the right places. Kid looked surprised. Probably didn't expect his oh-so-powerful water skills to fail him. Sebastian hoped to god he'd finish this quickly, since he didn't want to be subject to a temper tantrum. The police weren't on the scene yet, though they were undoubtedly on their way. Probably didn't know how to handle this. How to stop a supercharged kid without using guns. Not exactly something they covered in basic training. Idiots.
"Sh-shut up!" The kid piped up. Even his voice was annoying. Like a nasal whining fly that kept buzzing past Sebastian's ear. "I've got this awesome power now and I'm gonna do whatever I want with it! Now no one's gonna ignore me!"
"Oh right, should've guessed. Daddy issues? What's up, twit, didn't get hugged as a child? Mommy and daddy always away on business? Caught mommy with the pool boy?" Sebastian mocked. God he hated kids. Not the quiet ones, the uppity little brats that thought the world revolved around them. Figures he'd be matched up with one. "Get a grip, kid. Stop playing with things too dangerous and go back to your lego or something."
Another easily stopped jet of water came his way, droplets barely missing his hair. Kid was getting panicked, that was for sure. Probably didn't know the first thing about Powers. How he knew how to use his own was anyone's guess. Must be some how-to bullshit guide on the internet or something. Sebastian didn't care. He wasn't even being paid for this, just Phones and his holier-than-thou morality, social justice, blah blah blah. Maybe that was harsh but Phones' attitude got on his nerves sometimes. All Sebastian wanted out of life was some excitement and some new clothes every day. Dealing with snot nosed brats like this just rubbed him the wrong way.
The kid kept on stepping backwards with every step forwards Sebastian took. He was approaching the end of the dock now, so sooner or later the kid would have to stop. With any luck, he could incapacitate the brat before he fell in and drowned or something. There was only a couple of feet left before he'd have to stop. Sebastian raised his sword slowly and deliberately, tracing an arc in the air in front of him with the tip of the blade. His eyes flashed white for a second and the air in front of him illuminated like a flash grenade. The kid raised his arms to try to shield the light but staggered and fell off the end of the concrete, into the water. Sebastian sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, shaking his head.
"Little shit fell in the water and no force on Earth can make me dive in after him," he said into his mouthpiece. "Hope the runt can swim."
"Annoying human, the human child is a hydrokinetic."
"Yeah, so?"
"The human child has just been submerged in a vast quantity of water."
"Your point?"
"Annoying human, the human child can control that water."
Oh.
Whoops.
He was swept off his feet unexpectedly by a strong wave. It didn't hurt, but he did go sliding along the dock, ripping a chunk out of his shirt and nearly tearing a sleeve right off. A thousand dollars worth of material and some snot-nosed little punk just turned it to ribbons. Sebastian jumped to his feet, sword in hand again, death glare visible even underneath his sunglasses. The kid was in the air, his lower half enveloped in ocean water that was keeping him aloft as it spiralled around.
"Kid, you owe me a new shirt," Sebastian snarled.
~*~*~
Evita was perched at the edge of the roof, looking down. It looked mostly quiet, but she knew the trouble couldn't be that far away. The visor covering her right eye was displaying a transparent map of the city, flashing every time there was another movement on her target. For some reason, she'd chosen the rogue Power that kept on moving around. Probably an arsonist, she didn't care. The problem wasn't the vandalism, it was the consequences that'd no doubt follow. Some idiot up in Winstone would probably get entirely the wrong idea of what had happened. Hell, even if they helped out, some spin doctor would twist it into a bad fanfiction about how a faction had some civil war and nearly broke the city apart in a rampage.
She sighed as she stood again, looking to her right as her visor flashed again. Two or three roads down, the Power she was tracking appeared again. After quickly adjusting her bright red ponytail, brushing her fringe from her face and tucking it behind her ear, and making sure her gun was fixed securely to her waist, she turned in the direction of the signal and started running. The gap between the buildings was about fifteen feet, but that was nothing for a girl with her talents. As she leapt, she lessened the strength of gravity on her by a tiny amount, allowing her to travel a distance much further than she should have. She rolled as soon as her feet touched the ground again, resetting the pull of gravity as she did, and started running again. If her visor wasn't lying, she was directly on course with the target.
Moving lightly, she slowed but still kept a brisk pace as she approached the edge of the building. A quick glance below told her there was a fairly unremarkable girl stood in front of a door below, a strangely smug expression on her face. It was smug, there was no mistake about that, but there was something off in it. A small degree of worry. Her hands were glowing faintly, a glow that was fading rapidly. No doubt this was the Power she was after. Evita pulled her gun from her hip and pressed a button on the side. The gun, a lot wider than the average gun and a lot shinier too, was probably her pride and joy. A firearm, but at the same time... She flourished it, and three metal strips unfolded easily and snapped into place. A collapsible sword.
Without even a hint of fear, she stepped over the edge of the building and changed gravity again. In an elegantly fluid move, she was standing on the side of the building as though it was completely normal for her to be doing so. She set off in a sprint again, descending the building quickly. When she was a few meters above the girl staring menacingly into the shop, she jumped and flipped, bringing her right foot forward first, and let gravity reset again. A strong, solid kick the the Power's chest, just above her stomach, that sent her sprawling across the floor.
Evita glanced into the shop (a florist, she noted vaguely) and saw the girl working.
"Sorry, this'll just take a minute," she reassured, before turning her attention to the Power that had gotten back to her feet. "What's your goal here, then? Why the random arson?"
"None of your business," the girl snapped back, moving back into a stance. A mixture of kick-boxing and karate, Evita noticed. An actual martial artist. Been a while since she'd fought one of those.
"If you don't want to share, I don't mind beating it out of you," Evita replied, snapping her sword back into a gun and fixing it back to her hip. She fell back into a combat stance of her own, waiting for the other girl to make her first move.
|
|
|
Post by StellarWind Elsydeon on Nov 7, 2012 18:05:47 GMT -5
And it was shaping up to be such a nice, quiet day, too.
Much as Evelyn mostly kept to herself, living in this particular neck of the woods - figuratively speaking - you couldn't avoid but hear news of major events involving so-called Powers. She always felt that the sort of random Power Battles were things that happened to other people, though. Definitely not around her workplace.
And just her luck - this certainly looked like one was brewing - and if what she heard about Power Battles was true (most of which, she imagined, was just sensationalism) she might as well prepare to consider the entire shop collateral damage. How would she break that to her boss was a good question.
The thought of calling the police ran through her mind again - after all, the door-breaker was now distracted. But then again, what could the police do? Probably just get in the way and get themselves hurt. Something told her that it was best to leave well enough alone and let these obviously violent sorts resolve their difference by beating each other up like civilized people.
... Well, as long as they stayed out of her shop. She'd have closed things up and go home while the battle was going, but someone left the store bereft of a door. Leaving would just be plain irresponsible.
Failing that, she figured she'd do the next logical thing and call her boss. And watch the match while she was at it. Part of her lamented she didn't have any popcorn. The other part suggested that she could always grow some. The more sensible part of her mind just sighed.
The sad thing is, she probably could.
|
|
|
Post by Yoshimitsu on Jan 25, 2013 17:31:34 GMT -5
Evita ducked, then thrust the heel of her palm upwards into the other girl's chin causing her to stagger backwards. She ducked around the Power and cracked her foot into the back of the girl's knee, making it buckle and the brown haired girl to kneel. Leaving no room to recover, Evita roundhouse kicked the girl in the side and sent her rolling across the road. To her credit, the opposing Power got to her feet quickly but still looked slightly breathless. Evita fell back into her stance again, her eyes wary as she waited for another attack.
So much for a true martial arts fight. The mixture of karate and kickboxing was interesting, that was true, but she lacked any finesse or focus. Her new Powers must have been throwing off her concentration. Not that it really mattered. Evita was being paid to take her down, not engage in a fight that would throw most Olympic medal winners to shame. Thank Christ she hadn't managed to keep Evita in a grapple hold, though. Powers like that, they'd probably be able to shatter bones just as efficiently as she'd destroyed the door. It was a relief, really, that it took a second for the brown haired girl's powers to kick in and take effect, otherwise the fight would have been horrendously one-sided.
"Are you going to share your motivation, yet?" Evita asked as the other girl struggled to regain her breath. "So far, you've broken down the doors to Prada, Armani, Louis Vutton, Pandora and... a florist."
"Do you know what it's like to grow up poor?" The girl replied between deep breaths, her teeth gritted. "Barely had enough money to buy a pint of milk, let alone new clothes or entertainment. Most nights my family scavenged through bins just to get something even resembling a meal. It's a miracle we managed to make it this far in life. You bastards don't realise how lucky you are just to be able to have a proper dinner, let alone a nice t-shirt or jeans that actually fit you."
"So your solution was to break a few doors?" Evita asked, deadpan. "I didn't grow up that differently to you, but you don't see me smashing doors in so I can steal an expensive shirt. If you were so poor, how did you learn martial arts?"
"I still had friends," the girl snapped. "They helped me, taught me stuff in case I ever needed it."
"I see..." Evita sighed. "I sympathise, but if you're trying to make a point, this is completely the wrong way to go about it. I'm sorry, but I have to stop you."
Even when the brown haired girl lunged again, Evita was ready. She grabbed the front of the girl's shirt and flipped her over her non-gun-holding hip. She then brought her heel crashing down at the girl's stomach, but her target rolled away and sweep-kicked Evita off her feet. Without missing a beat, Evita flipped to her feet and caught her opponent's chin on the way. Before the other girl could react Evita grabbed her and swung her around, throwing her in the way of the wall. Unfortunately, despite being off-balance, the girl managed to jump and smash through one of the windows. Evita winced, not wanting to know what the glass was going to do to the girl's skin.
~*~*~
Tyrell set down the bag on his shoulder with a muffled clinking sound, the bag easily unfolding as it touched on the smooth concrete of the roof. Ignoring it for a moment, he pulled down the goggles that were situated securely on his head. The goggles were ergonomically designed to be comfortable on his face-plates while fully protecting his eyes when he needed them, which was now. He whirled the dial on the side, flicking through to the heat-sensitive filter.
"Target has been spotted," he said quietly in his deep, almost gravelly voice. Below him, in one of the factories, he could see a roughly humanoid figure glowing a bright yellow against the background of red and purple. It was moving, but there was no rush behind its actions. He flicked the dial back to reset the filters. The factory in front of him had a number of windows he could use to avoid having to directly engage whoever was inside. "Moving to incapacitate."
"Acknowledged, Tyrell-Alien."
He turned back to the bag he had dropped and pulled back one of the flaps. Concealed within was a fairy substantial array of weaponry. Mostly various firearms, but being nothing if not practical Tyrell had also packed a couple of combat knives and a stun baton. He lifted one of the two sniper rifles, weighting it briefly. One of his experimental guns. Instead of firing bullets, it could fire barely a pin-sized strip of metal that was wrapped in a shielding of plasma. One of his weapons that was designed for non-lethal warfare. He placed it down again carefully, and picked up another sniper rifle. A higher fire-rate, more like an assault rifle with a scope. Good for suppressing fire.
He positioned himself at the side of the roof and aimed at one of the windows, covering only one eye with his goggles. He flicked the filter back to heat-sensitive and looked through the scope with his eye that wasn't looking through the goggles. The figure would pass by a window in barely a minute, if he was right. Why they'd chosen this factory, he had no idea. It wasn't as bad as any of the others in the area. Probably some political reason. Some people with Powers evidently found ways to abuse them. He waited patiently for his target to pass by a window. No kill shots today. A warning shot. Maybe skimming a bit of skin, just to let them know they were being aimed for.
It was a male figure, probably late twenties, with brown hair and a decently built figure. Leather jacket. Tyrell aimed for the man's arm and pulled the trigger. He was too far away to hear the yell of surprise, but he saw the mark left behind. Perfect shot. Straight through the leather and through the topmost layers of skin. He ducked back so that the man wouldn't see him, but kept an eye on him anyway.
|
|