secondling

The OOC thread for this IC thread.

The Rope

The man known variously as Devon Dancer, the One who Watches and Judges, Usurper, and Kurush, but who mostly thought of himself as the Rope crouched atop one of the mausoleums in the Lantern Hill Cemetery. As he watched, swathed in shadows, from beneath his hood for the vandals to arrive in the graveyard, the Rope couldn't help but wonder again why he had agreed to this.

"Yes, I know that he's dead, my dear Rope, but I want to know why. It wasn't us, and it wasn't his experiments in the Schattenwelt. But he's dead now and we should figure out why, in case it comes for us next!" Wu's voice had raised to nearly a shriek at the last word. Normally, such theatrics would not concern the Rope, but in this case, he agreed with his partner. Gordon Reid had been a potent mage who had delved into shadow magic - one he'd been keeping an eye on, in fact - and now he was dead. Furthermore, his grave was the first defaced. I wonder if it was the vandals that have been at it since... Only one way to find out, he supposed.

Warning: This thread may include depictions of gore.

Outside the Lantern Hill Cemetery, Lantern Hill, Freedom City

Saturday, the 29th of August 2020

11:30 PM

Rumors had been spreading about the increased tension in Lantern Hill after the first grave had been vandalized a month ago. The grave in question, that of the recently deceased Gordon Reid, had been mutilated as though someone had attacked it with a knife. Since then, it was said, all manner of ruffians had begun sneaking into the Cemetery after dark, avoiding the attentions of the warden, and had been defacing graves themselves.

Most of the time the graves were discovered with rude symbols painted on them - disrespectful, yes, but well within the scope of "children acting up." In the last few days, however, someone had gone beyond that - one grave had been painted with the most vitriolic condemnations of the corpse that lay beneath it, cursing him with foulness that was simply put, outright hate speech. Thus it was that a pair of heroes approached the cemetery to both put a stop to the violation of this sanctuary of the dead and, perhaps, for their own reasons.

Legatus

The Teen of Adamant smiled a little at Benny. "Yeah, I'm not quite sure why they haven't had a tour yet. I just heard the staff needed a guide, and I figured, well, it's not like I have anything else to do." He spread his hands in a gesture of helpless bemusement. "Might as well do the best that I can with what time I have here, after all." Oh, be careful here, XVIII. His stomach still twisted with anxiety when he thought about the future.

Kendra's comments brought him out of the pit of fear for the future. "Uh... am I Jonnie?" He tilted his, genuinely confused. I thought I was Clarkie? Well, whatever. If she perceives time oddly, no wonder she's so... odd. 

Felix shrugged his answer to Luke's question vis-a-vis the alien dragons. "I think so? I've never gotten the chance to study his biology in detail, but he was... probably different from you." Like that one time he was a whole group of people sitting on a bench. And the bench. Dio was a real fun guy. His attention returned to the present with the mention of tanks again. "Well, not much to tell. Okay, that's not true, there is a lot to tell, but since Superior hasn't come hunting for me, I can only assume that means I'm doing something right in the present." 

Shaking himself, he grinned. "Well, there's a fair amount of, uh, unusual places here at Claremont, I guess? I'm probably not the best person to say what those are, because I've never been to a 'normal' school. I still find the dorms a bit too expansive for my comfort. I'd prefer more roommates." The crushing absence of close, trusted family members still kept him up some nights. "Anyways. Where exactly would you like to go? What sort of things have you already seen?"

Legatus

Felix high-fived Luke in turn, making sure to be very gentle (relatively speaking) - he wasn't sure exactly how tough Luke was. "Yeah, I'm here for the year, at least." The thought made his stomach twist slightly as he wondered what, exactly, he was going to do when he graduated. Shaking his head to refocus on the task at hand, he smiled slightly as Luke spoke with one of the others. Settling back to watch for a moment, he rolled his head on his shoulders.

I wonder where Adam is. It's been awhile. At Charlie's question, he lifted his head and arched a brow. "I'm Felix, and I can do a lot of things. I can figure out a lot from looking at a cell's structure, for instance, and can swim rather well. I've been taking peer counseling classes this past summer, so if anyone needs me, feel free to drop by." He raised his voice slightly to let everyone there know. "But... if you're asking about powers, Charlie, well, I'm pretty tough, fairly strong, and I can fly. Pretty basic, but also very handy."

@Heritage, if you want Lulu to be stunned and unable to follow for a round of posting, I will give you a Hero Point, as the rage of... whatever it is overwhelms her.

GM

Even as Lulu asked him, the scent Luke had picked up grew stronger, coming lower, though he was fairly certain its source was still lingering above his head, moving a little faster towards the direction he'd been walking. Abruptly, it picked up speed, moving away from the two of them.

For herself, Lulu was suddenly consumed with inhuman fury, pressing down upon her. It was impossible, the sense of rage boiling within her - no human could hold this much anger within them, surely. It burned her brain, and she could practically feel her bones creaking underneath the sudden tension in her muscles. It was overwhelming, and nearly drove her to her knees under its ferocious weight.

Meanwhile, Muirne continued eavesdropping on the pair she'd noticed before, though she had to move more quickly to do so. Even as she moved, she felt a slight breeze, which would've been normal, except for the fact it was blowing in the direction she was going, and not against her face. Indoors, that was not normal - most modern buildings weren't as drafty as the ones she'd grown up with.

"I heard that there was another one just recently. Up in North Bay. The police have no ideas." The man was saying.

"Dad, please. Can we not talk about this any more? Let's just focus on enjoying ourselves, okay?" The girl replied.

As she followed, Muirne came across Luke and Lulu - one of whom was obviously under great stress. 

Legatus

Felix was already long used to living in the dorms - with no real family, no income, and a rather distinct lack of legal backgrounds, he'd been staying there all summer long. Still, it wasn't as though he'd been literally staying in the same room as he'd been assigned for the school year, so he did have some moving. It wasn't much, and it hardly took any time at all (he rather liked using the window to get in and out of the room), so he exited his newly assigned room with a cheerful smile, noticing the other students. "Hey there! Need any help carrying things?"

He wore simple clothing - an unmarked blue T-shirt with yellow shorts streaked with white, and his eyes twinkled with amusement as he approached them.

Legatus

Felix chuckled in a mixture of exasperation and amusement at Kendra's words. "With that amount of determination, you'll fit right in here, no doubt about that." He put his hands behind his head, the gesture reminding him that he'd been thinking of trying to find some quick and easy dyes or something to at least hide the distinctive blond-and-black streaks. Shaking the thought away, he rolled his head on his neck.

He turned his startlingly blue eyes back to Luke. "Well, I think we still have a dragon on campus. Other than you, of course. He did mention being... uh, extraterrestrial, maybe? I honestly forget, but he wasn't from around here, at any rate. You might have more in common than you'd think from that description, but..." Felix made a face. "I honestly don't know what's going on with him at the moment."

At Luke's enthusiasm, he squeezed his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment. Opening his eyes, he sighed inwardly. "Be careful with time travel. I've only done it once, and I ended up being beaten up by a Nazi supervillain. And a couple of tanks." He added as an afterthought.  "Anyways. Welcome, both of you. I'm sure we have all manner of staff ready to help you, and even more students eager to meet you."

GM

The detective offered Terrifica a weak smile, though his face was somewhat pale. "Gonna be honest, ma'am, it's like a butchery in there. From what we can tell, there've been two deaths here. Both, uh... well, very violent." His expression faltered into a dark frown. "It's likely that this is the same killer that's been striking for the past few months. M.O. is the same, anyways." He took a deep breath, before beckoning her to follow him down understatedly beautiful halls.

As they walked, the detective continued. "The first crime scene's in the kitchen. We've not moved too much around, but... well, see for yourself." He pushed a door open and gestured for her to enter. "Just watch your step. It's... slippery in there."

The kitchen, under normal circumstances, would have been a pretty enough room, with expensive-looking stone countertops, an advanced stove and oven, a lovely set of windows with plenty of natural light, and simple, but functional tiles on the floor. Anything else about how it might have once looked, however, was now gone. The white walls and tiled floors were spattered with blood at all angles, arterial spray at its worst. Atop one of the counters was the gruesome remains of part of what had once been a living, breathing person, while several other pieces were strewn elsewhere across the room. 

All of the body parts were thoroughly lacerated, and the stench of death was strong in the air. The detective stepped into the kitchen behind Terrifica with some trepidation. "My people aren't yet positive when this happened. Best guess right now is some time between noon and six." 

No, not really. He thinks he's heard that there's been a killing in the Fens, but, well, that might've been a month ago. Or it might've been someone else's killing. He's not really sure.

Sure, he probably recognizes her scent, especially with that roll.

You mentioned on discord wanting to know where the previous murders were. You can roll Knowledge (Current Events) for the best picture, but you could also roll Knowledge (Streetwise) for a less complete, more "down-low" idea.

GM

Lulu's ESP gave her an ear (and eyes) on the conversation between the older man and younger woman. However, even as she did so, she received an image from the past (or was it the future?) - the man entering an alleyway covered in blood, and falling to his knees to throw up, weeping. Beneath it all lurked a promise of "more," whatever that meant in this context.

Fortunately, the vision, though powerful, was brief. It released her back to the present within seconds, where she heard them continue their conversation.

"- know you miss her, but... they'll find who did it, Dad." Her voice was raw, but confident.

"I hope so." The man's voice, by contrast, was utterly defeated.

Lulu also caught sight of Luke walking in the background of the scene, though he seemed somewhat distracted.

Legatus

Felix frowned at Micah's words. "Be that as it may, you are attacking her! This is uncalled for!" At least until I can figure out what's happening. As Micah went limp, he carefully turned around to look at Alice once more, keeping himself in between the two just in case.

He tilted his head at what he saw, his eyes narrowing. Though this did corroborate Micah's story, he still was unwilling to make the final step in attacking her - many students at Claremont did have rather unusual abilities, after all.

GM

The two teens easily blended into the crowds - though for no real reason, other than to avoid the attention of the general public. To their knowledge, nothing was pursuing them or searching for them. Ironically, the two passed very close to one another within a few moments, even walking in parallel to one another as they progressed.

Muirne, her natural size working against her for now, did not see Luke moving through the crowd. However, she did get a clearer sense of the two speaking to one another. One was an older man, with pale skin, five o' clock shadow, and brown hair streaked with grey. The other was a younger, darker skinned woman, her features echoing his enough that she was likely a relative of some sort.

"- you think the Freedom League can't stop it? Or, heck, any other heroes?" The young woman was saying.

"Of course not. It's just been, you know, three months, like I said." The older man replied. "Why haven't they stopped it yet?"

"I dunno, but Freedom City's the center of heroism in the entire world. It'll stop, sooner rather than later."

There was a pause, and Muirne lost track of the pair in the crowd before she could hear anything else.

Luke, on the other hand, heard only snippets of the conversation. He had an excuse, however, as he caught an odd scent on the air as a breeze blows past him. Nothing he could put his finger on with any immediacy, just something out of place, and distinctly odd. It wasn't a scented candle or perfume. Certainly it wasn't food. It was no cleaning product he was familiar with, nor did it have the scent of body odor that was so common in places where people gathered.

I'm going to post once, but after that, I want to know if @Heritage is willing to let us continue without plot progression, or would rather we hold off for Lulu and Luke to get to know one another first.

Whoops, I wonder how I ended up with that.

And yes, I didn't have all the PP spent, I know, but I think I made that choice consciously.

Sneaky students bein' sneaky. 

Or trying to be, anyways.

The OOC thread for this thread.

Content Warning: Descriptions of gore.

Greenburg Manor

North Bay

Freedom City, NJ

Saturday, the 15th of August, 2020

8:32 PM

The Greenburgs of Freedom City were nouveau riche - their relative affluence dating back only three generations, rather than descending from founders of what would eventually become Freedom City. Their current matriarch, Jessica, had been one of the top physicians for the wealthy of Freedom City, before ascending to their ranks herself - no mean feat for a female doctor, especially in those days. Now, however, she lead the family with a firm but gentle hand to improve their fortunes and those of the rest of Freedom City - especially the impoverished minorities.

Unfortunately, not all was well in the Greenburg family, though this somewhat recent state of affairs had not yet been revealed to the public. Two hours ago, Jonathan Greenburg, one of Jessica's grandsons, arrived at the manor to pick his grandmother up for a family dinner. Upon his entry to the house proper, he discovered what looked like a scene from a charnel house - two rooms with butchered and defaced bodies. He called the police, and they swiftly set up a crime scene on their arrival.

After determining that this was, like an increasing number of murder cases in the city, opaque to their investigations, the police got in contact with one of the heroes they knew was most suited to the investigation. That was where Terrifica came in.

The OOC thread for this one.

Welcome!

Bayview Mall

Freedom City, NJ

Monday, the 17th of August 2020

12:38 PM

Though school was nearly back in session, the last heady days of summer vacation were still slowly slinking towards their end. Thus, the malls of Freedom City were still seeing a great deal of use by the teenaged population of the city. In Bayview, that often meant that there were at least some students and students-to-be from the isolated and prestigious Claremont Academy. Thus, as sunlight lanced through skylights and windows, crowds of shoppers sought the newest fad Thing and students soon to return to class fled from the reality of their impending imprisonment.

A gentle breeze wafted through the air, carrying with it the myriad scents of a mall - perfumes, scented candles, cleaning products, and even the smells of foods of varying qualities. It was a lovely day, with just the barest hints of clouds marring the beautiful blue beyond the skylights. Some people, however, brought with them an abnormal tension, and those snippets of their conversations audible over the noises of the mall were... disturbing.

"- don't think that they'll tolerate it for long, do you?" 

"No, no, of course not. It's just, it's been three months!" 

"It'll be fine. They'll deal with it. Just you wait."

"But what if-"

 

29 minutes ago, EternalPhoenix said:

Weeeeeell I was gonna say Terrifica would be all over this like white on rice.

She's welcome too! I do have a couple ideas she can follow up on whether alone or with other adult heroes.

If we get one more Claremonter, I know exactly where and how I'll start that thread.

Quote

 

Of late, there have been increasing numbers of murders in Freedom City. Victims have been discovered with vicious slashing wounds, with some being reduced to offal that is barely recognizable as human. Suspects are few and far between, especially after the second victim came to light three months ago. The victims thus far have had seemingly little relationship to one another, other than the fact that all are residents of Freedom City - no tourists have died thus far.

 

The police department is baffled, and has brought the attention of heroes to this rising tide of criminal activity. What now will the heroes find with their own unique capabilities?

 

So, with that little recruitment spiel out of the way, hello! Welcome! This is going to be my first attempt to run a story arc that includes multiple threads. I have a vague sense of where I want it to go, and a stronger sense of what exactly is going on, specifically. I'm thinking of opening at least a couple threads simultaneously, as different heroes attempt to track it down from different angles. Anyways, if anyone's interested, feel free to contact me on Discord or post down here.