Veiled Malice

Soo... are we still going here, or am I holding people up?

Okay, this is directed at Geez3r: that's a lot of changes, and we of the GM brood are going to have to discuss some of them, as I'm not entirely sure we allow that kind of extensive changes after a character is approved. Realistically, it makes sense, as it's much easier to swap out weaponry in a power suit than justify how your powerset became completely different as a (for example) mutant. (That never stopped Marvel, though ) In any case, I'd vote yes to allow you to change it, because as I said, it makes sense. I'll let you know how it goes. If you have any questions, PM me and I'll answer them the best I can. EDIT: Good news, everyone! Your changes are approved. Please make sure to note in character what you changed and how you did so. From what I've seen in your threads, you do a good job of that, but I just wanted to make sure you knew that was one of the provisos to a change this big. I'll get started on the character edit.

Okay, Nightrival's notice check succeeded, but Grimalkin's was not quite high enough. However, it was apparently high enough to get herself stuffed inside a coffin-sized bunker while under attack by lasers. ;)

Though out of sight, it appeared Nightrival was by no means out of mind as the scenery around him got chewed up by repeated laser blasts. It was only through his near-inhuman vigilance and dexterity that he managed to avoid getting perforated by energy bolts that carved their way through the metal coverings. His spontaneous display of acrobatic mastery took him out of the immediate destruction zone, but it also gave him a perfect view of his former hiding spot. The lasers were, as Nightrival well knew, extremely powerful. If he hadn't turned with the last burst of incandescent light, he would have picked up several new extraneous orifices. But it seemed the Warden had skimped on the building materials, as they were not holding up well under the assault from the very weapons he'd installed. Perhaps a couple more good hits would cut a clear path out of the deathtrap Nightrival currently found himself in. Grimalkin, however, found herself unable to devote much time to finding a way out as she madly dodged about like a demented ping pong ball in a desperate attempt to escape the searching laser bolts. Her wild motions eventually caught up with her as she stepped into a half melted groove created by a near miss and she flew head over heels into a concrete bunker. Narrowly avoiding bashing her head in on contact with the ground, Grimalkin found herself in tight quarters, with barely six feet from wall to wall on the bunker's interior. Fortunately, she now had cover on all sides and the concrete should be able to hold up to repeated pounding better than the metal outside could. Several vision slits allowed her a view of the outside without allowing the turrets a clear shot at her, but little else.

Got it.

Ren sat atop his apartment building, looking out over the neighborhood as the good people of Southside did their level best to blow it up, one tiny piece at a time. In truth, the fourth of July was a holiday he could get behind – it wasn’t like Japan didn’t have massive fireworks displays. Heck, the people that developed gunpowder in the first place only lived one country over. The displays down on the streets were far more sedate than the one taking place in the City Center, true, but he felt that the friends and families getting out and doing their thing, if only one day a year, was far more personal than gathering at a pre-designated place and gawking at some pretty lights. Of course, did wish he wasn’t all by himself tonight. For all the friends he’d made in the city thus far, one would have thought he could have gotten one of them over to his place tonight of all nights. Unfortunately, it seemed everyone had things to do. Everyone from the bar was out with their significant other or was out of town, the people from the poetry club were indisposed (he couldn’t stand amateur night), and Daisuke had taken off with some neighborhood kids. Even Lynn decided to take a break for the night… for whatever reason. Sighing heavily, Ren ran a hand through his hair in frustration. For all her faults, Lynn was a great person to be around, but still… she couldn’t spend some time? Tonight of all nights? Okay, she said she would swing by later, but that was by no means a sure thing. The girl tended to get flaky at the worst times, which was what Ren was expecting tonight. Hot and cold running superhero, that was Lynn in a nutshell. Whining about it wasn’t going to accomplish anything, though. Ren sat back against the one of the ventilation exhausts on the roof and tried to get a better view of the fireworks from his vantage point. A tight smile crossed his face as he saw a couple neighborhood kids had taken to shaking Roman candles about, laughing and giggling as the multicolored sparks cast brilliant shades of blues and reds over the street. “Hey…†the tentative voice from behind him made Ren look over his shoulder at the speaker. It was the girl from down the hall, Amber something. “You up here all alone?†she asked, cocking her chestnut tressed head to the side in a faint expression of concern. For a moment, he simply stared at her, not knowing exactly what to say. No one from the building had approached him before now. Not that he could blame them. Ren didn’t really put himself out there for people to get to know. At least, not people that lived close to him. “Yeah,†he said after a moment. “Mind if I join you?†She brushed her long bangs back out of her eyes and pointed to the piece of concrete next to him. He dumbly stared at her finger, then to where she was pointing, then back to her finger again. “I promise I don’t bite,†she said. She was quite beautiful in that moment, giving him a magnificent smile that seemed to light up the rooftop even more than the fireworks from street level did. “Be my guest.†He patted the area she had pointed at and the girl plopped herself down right next to him without further preamble. The two of them sat in silence for a while. Ren knew he should come up with something good to say, something suitable cool that would let her know that she wasn’t sitting next just any inorganic, battlesuit wearing metahuman. “Sooo…†he began awkwardly. “Come up here often?†Amber looked at him oddly for a moment, then smiled. “You don’t do this often, do you?†Ren shook his head, trying studiously to avoid eye contact from embarrassment over his question. She reached into her pocket and handed a couple firecrackers to him. When he looked up at her in confusion, she just winked and produced two lighters. “You wanna?†For the rest of the night, the two entertained themselves by tossing firecrackers off the roof. They didn’t even know each other. They didn’t have any reason to be together that night, or any night. But maybe that made it better for both of them.

Daisuke made his way down the street through the tight alleyways, trying to localize the sounds he was hearing. Unfortunately, every time he thought he was getting close, they'd get further away, seemingly in random directions. To make it worse, they were muted and distorted, like they were being funneled through a pipe or something. "Wait, a pipe?" Daisuke muttered to himself. Looking down, he found himself positioned right over a manhole cover. A sly grin crossed his face. "Oh you sneaky little..." Quick as a flash, Daisuke crouched down and tore the steel cover off of the ground, tossed it aside with a resounding clang, and ducked his head into the dark expanse. He had expected to get hit with some sort of foul odor emanating from the sewer, but to his surprise, it actually didn't smell all that bad; more stale than stinky, really. But he knew he was on the right track. The sounds of battle were far more prevalent down here. The walls literally reverberated with gunfire interspersed with explosions. Whoever was fighting down there was not taking things by half measures. With a nervous sigh, Daisuke leapt down into the darkness.

So, both of your turns are just looking for a way out? I just want to be sure before I post.

Ren shrugged impassively. “Couldn’t hurt.†He then grinned and gave her a quick hug from behind. “But it’s not necessary. I could say something really corny right now, and say that I like you just the way you are, but I won’t. You’ll just have to take it on faith that I’m not looking for a girlfriend that’ll change herself on a whim to suit my interests on that particular day.†The grin turned wolfish all of a sudden. “Of course, if you did it for yourself, that’d be fine with me…†“Oh, my digestive system is more than fully-functional, missy,†Ren replied with a pat on his flat belly. “Do you know how much excess fuel you waste? Only ten percent of what you eat is transferred into useful energy. I, on the other hand, being a far superior specimen of life - inorganic though I am – utilize all of the energy inherient in everything I eat, thereby providing me with…†At this point, Ren realized Lynn had already clambered out the window in an attempt to get away from his pontificating. “Hey! Wait up!â€Â

Wow, man. You really do have it rough. Hope you feel better... and, um, stop letting bacteria have their way with you.

Did you know that Ron Pearlman is 58? :shock: Good lord, that man's in great shape. I mean, he is in make up and everything, but there's only so much that can do for your physique.

Well, since he doesn't currently have the ability to fly, (the car didn't have anything he could use in that respect, as I remember it) he's on foot.

Well, I will say that it appears Nightrival has already found something of a way out. Remember how the gun partly melted the wall where it struck it's twin? You might be able to do something with that... ;)

Hearing his name, Nanowire spun around on Foreshadow and prepared to say something, but chocked it back. "Understood!" he shouted instead. He looked back down at Grimalkin. "Sorry about this in advance," he said with no small amount of regret. Without waiting for a response, Nanowire scooped the girl up and slung her over his shoulder. Right now, he needed both his arms for carrying people, and didn't have the time to situate her properly. He'd get yelled at later, no doubt, but at least she'd be out of there. With Grimalkin being carried like a sack of potatoes, Nanowire swung towards Rant and boosted towards him, fully intending to scoop him up while on the run.

Then he'll ready a grab where he is. No sense wandering off and letting Grim get nailed.

And Updated by V_M!

Updated by V_M (Finally! Sorry for the wait! :oops: )

No, still doing things... kinda. It'll get done, I swear! ;)

Seen it. One word: WOW. Excellently done. Beautifully envisioned and executed the whole way through. At this point, I think Pixar could take a movie about anything and make it box office gold.

I don't see why not. Note, however, that if one character loses an item/destroys the base, etc, it's gone for both of them.

At the end of her story, Ren had to clap at the performance. "Oh man, that was great! You should go into theater or something. I especially liked the little Goth girl." He stood up from his position on the bed and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Okay, since you told me a happy story about you, I guess I should tell you one about me." He thought hard for a couple seconds, then snapped his fingers suddenly. "Ah! Got it! Okay, you remember that kid I told you about, Daisuke? Well, this is about the first time I met him." "At the time, I was in a deep depression. I had been out in the junkyards for a while by then, and seriously wasn't looking foreword to hosting any company, as evidenced by my fashion sense at the time. I looked a little something like this." He pulled one of the sheets off the bed and cloaked himself in it, glaring out of the narrow slit created for his eyes. "Hey, you get to shapeshift, but I have to use props." "I kinda told you about this part already, but bear with me. Anyway, there I was, Mr. Gloom, sitting atop my kingdom of junk, when my territory got invaded by a gang of kids. About ten of them, all homeless runaways, a lot like you, I guess." He pulled back the hood, revealing his head. "Eh, that's not really working for me." "Like I said, I wasn't big on human interaction back then, so when they first showed up, I suited up for the occasion. Armor, guns, the whole nine. I dropped in on the poor kids like a hammer dropped from the sky and just started screaming at them that this was my territory, and they should get out before I killed them all... blah, blah, insert horrible threat here." Ren shrugged, and a little more of the sheet slipped off of him. "Needless to say, I scared the ever-loving crap out of the lot of them. Everyone scattered to the four winds, except for this one scrawny-looking thing, probably the smallest one there. He was scared, yeah, but he refused to run away. He just looked up at me with this… hell; I can’t even describe it now. It was like halfway between terror and reverence.†Ren chuckled and sat back down on the bed. A little more of the sheet sloughed off, leaving one arm and shoulder exposed. “I couldn’t even tell if it was a boy or a girl, that’s how androgynous this kid was.†“Then he got this hard look on his face and yelled, ‘Hey! What do you think you’re doing, scaring people like that?’†Ren relayed the boy’s rant in a higher pitched register, trying to imitate the boy. “He went on, telling me that I should be helping people like him or somesuch thing. There I was, hovering over the kid, more than capable of smashing him flat, and he’s chewing me out. It was so weird that I just stood there and took it with a stupid look on my face.†“Good thing he couldn’t see my face,†Ren said, shaking his head ruefully. Ren shook himself out of his linen prison entirely and stood back up. “It’s not really a happy story, I guess, at least not like yours, but that kid standing up to me did a lot to help me out in the future.†He considered Lynn carefully. “You remind me of him a little. Weird sense of humor, ran away from home, both of you helped me out in a time when I really needed it…†He grinned. “’Course, you’re slightly more beautiful than he was, so that’s where the similarities stop.†Ren stepped up to the window. “So, are you ready to go?â€Â

Nah, it's fine. I just couldn't understand what had happened since it seemed like I was supposed to post even though Grim hadn't gone yet.

I finally figured out what happened here. Technically, SB posted out of order, since it was Grimalkin's turn to go. However, if she posts, everything will go back to the way it should be.

Ren propped himself up against the wall as Lynn ran through her story. He listened carefully, nodding along with her a crucial junctures, then knelt down before her and took both her hands in his. "Lynn, I really respect the courage it took you to tell me that story. I know it must have been painful for you, physically and emotionally, to go through something like that. And I fully understand the allegory. So try to keep that in mind when I tell you this:" "You are the most depressing person I have ever known." He shakes his head and gave her a helpless expression. "I love learning about you, I really do, but so far, all I've heard is that you nearly killed someone, got beaten as a child, almost got... you know... and now that your arm got shredded when you were younger." "Do you know what the happiest time I've spent with you was, absent watching you sleep last night?" His eyes sparkled slightly as Ren pulled in closer to her and whispered, "When you told me about the stuffed animal you had as a child. That one wonderful moment when your eyes lit up as I showed you the little thing I'd bought for you. That was the happiest moment... I think I've ever known, maybe even more than when you hugged me the first time I stepped out of my armor - the first time you saw the real me." Ren's face crinkled slightly and he frowned and looked away. "It's not that I don't want to hear about your entire life - I do. I really do. But every time you tell me about some horror you experienced, it makes me depressed too. And I've been depressed for a very long time." Slowly, Ren turned to face Lynn again and kissed her on the forehead. "You're a very beautiful girl, Lynn Epstein, and you're all the more beautiful when you smile. So let's put the doom and gloom on the backburner for the time being, huh?"

Can I attempt to grab him? I still have my action from last time since Nanowire didn't have anything to do.