TheRedGuy

El Huracán Dream Team

Countering the fire with my Air Control, if it's OK. Do I have to roll?

It had been a tough fight, but in the end, the heroes were triumphant. Disgusting, Aníbal thought as the pair of would-be assassins fled the scene, leaving two of their comrades behind on the battlefield. It seemed Chapter Zero didn't put too much stock in loyalty to one's own. Maybe that was another "false ideology" to overcome? The ape and the mentalist remained in custody, and the fact their team-mates left them for dead would surely help during the ensuing interrogation. There was, however, no time for patting oneself on the back just yet. They still had to deal with the aftermath of the battle. Aníbal spotted the burning engine and extended his hand, focusing his powers to create a pocket of vacuum that would hopefully starve the fire out.

Hey, sorry for the hold-up. I was gonna post today. So, should I, or do we just wrap it up? I'm okay with wrapping up.

El Huracán's taunting appeared to have no effect on the lightning slinger. Still, the guy seemed easily rattled, probably the weakest link of the team in terms of mental fortitude. He'd get to him, eventually. Aníbal quickly scanned the battlefield, feeling the adrenaline pumping through his veins. His eyes fixed on the psychic, who was sitting behind, using her powers to threaten from a distance. She was, he felt, the most dangerous of the super-terrorists. Raw physical strength and bursts of energy could easily be matched, but how do you beat an enemy who attacked you from within, wormed its way into your very mind? Determined, he swooped down and landed next to Mind Knight, who was busily attempting to overpower Miracle Girl's mental defenses. "Hello.", he looked the psionic in the eye with a cocky smirk and raised his arm, balling up his fist as the winds shifted unnaturally around them. El Huracán pulled his arm back, as if yanking back a rope, and a precisely calibrated, powerful gust of wind struck the psionic woman, knocking her off balance and blowing her away 500 feet away from the airplane. Looks like mind doesn't always triumph over matter, huh?, Aníbal thought as he watched Mind Knight's frame recede into the distance.

Moving Aníbal to the wing where the Psychic is. EDIT: O-kay, I misread the thread and for some reason thought Mind Knight was standing on the wing, as opposed to on the ground below the airplane. Will edit the IC post accordingly. Attacking with El Huracán's Blow Away (Trip) power. 1d20+10=26 If it hits, the damage bonus for knockback calculation is 10.

El Huracán: Dream Team

Chapter Zero... Aníbal cringed as he heard the pyrokinetic shout the name of the group. He had heard of them, vaguely - a strange cult who fancied themselves rational, objective thinkers, beyond all ideology. Their sympathisers would often derail online discussions with walls of text pompously denouncing all other participants, written in that insufferably sesquipedalian, self-important register so beloved by neckbeard shut-ins. They were an almost universally loathed fringe group peddling self-contradictory nonsense, and apart from those bombings a few years back it they seemed to pose no serious threat. Now, however, they had supers in their ranks, and they were going after the President of the United States. Aníbal took to the air and flew towards the plane, arriving in time to overhear the electricity controller's comments about Miracle Girl. "Yeah, Electro, listen to your boss. She's probably smarter than you are. Which is not saying much, but still...", El Huracán taunted, banking to the enemy's side, "So, what's your story, huh? Couldn't get a girlfriend so you decided to become a terrorist? Awww, I bet you're secretly pining for Firecrotch over there, but she only sees you as a friend. And you're such a nice guy... with cool thunder powers and everything." He circled over Electro's head, trying to draw his attention away from the plane, and from Miracle Girl. "My advice? You gotta play in your league, holmes. I think if you play your cards right you might have a shot with the gorilla."

Taunting Electro: 1d20+8=17

My thoughts are exactly opposite - I think a fictional city is way more fun. For one, it ties in with the rest of our cities, all of which are fictional. Two, you get to customise it to your own liking, and have fun creating a new place with demographics, history and ties to the FreedomVerse canon of your choice. Since Ex had the idea to make it Magic-focused, I think working from a clean slate would be better than grafting that theme to an existing city. Building a setting, even just a rough outline enough for play (a Visitors Guide, some metaplots, a couple of villains) takes work, and the amount of work is pretty much the same regardless of whether you choose to do a real or a fake place. Three, a fictional place avoids being tied too closely to an actual country. Cultural differences in Europe are a tad more pronounced than the regional differences between, say, an East Coast metropolis and a Rust Belt city. A city in Germany would be a German city, first and foremost, a city in France a French city, regardless of whether it's a capital or not. The question would always be - why is this city getting fleshed out into a regular setting rather than an occasional adventure location, and not any of the dozens of equally good candidates? Differences inside countries also matter. Bavaria or Berlin? Paris or Provence? Northern Italy and southern Italy, for example, are worlds apart. The reason I suggested putting the new city on a triple border is precisely to make it a liminal place, tied to but not bound by the countries that surround it. As for Switzerland, I feel it would be a poor choice, because it's both too neutral and not neutral at all. What do I mean? It's too neutral because, well, it's Switzerland. A rich, safe, orderly country where nothing much happens that's scrupulously neutral in international affairs feels like a poor setting for continuing adventures, whether superheroic or badass-normal in nature. It's not neutral at all because it's a country with a very distinct, deeply rooted idiosyncratic culture that's also legally separated from the rest of Europe. We'd be in that hole in the middle. Any character who's a native would have little reason to concern themselves with goings-on outside of Switzerland, and any outsider is presumably going to Switzerland to get away from the rest of Europe. It feels too isolated, and too particular in terms of mentality and traditions (and legal framework) to truly be a "neutral" blend of influences. Now, a lot of people have voiced their opinions and raised their concerns on this matter both in chat and in this thread, and it's clear we don't have anything remotely close to a consensus as to what this new city would be. People have different tastes and different ideas on what it should be like, and olopi in particular has raised the issue of making the new city feel sufficiently different in terms of threads and content to the existing three. Whatever we settle on will leave at least some people indifferent or disappointed. My own preferences are a fictional city in a fictional, roughly Luxembourg-sized country, and at a very distant second, a fictional city in a real country (Germany being the obvious choice, due to its size and importance). I'm very much opposed to a real city setting, and would rather just have Europe become another dedicated staff department instead.

Like I mentioned in chat, I wouldn't be comfortable replacing a city of Basel's size and importance. Somewhere near Basel, perhaps, but not the city itself. I think the list of triple borders in my previous post can suggest some alternatives. Also, keep in mind that, if it's going to be a fictional duchy, it ought to be at minimum a few hundred square miles in size, to accommodate a proper city. There's other options as well: a fictional city in a real country, a real city (I'm opposed to that one), or an island nation in the Mediterranean, though that'd be too far from what Ex was going for.

Being a Yurpean I feel like I should comment on this. A city in Europe with its own flavor would be neat. I do have concerns about adding a third extra city while Bedlam and EC are still such fledgling places, a few archived characters away from being ghost towns. But, still, it could work if enough people show interest. Now, the two things: thematic elements to be accentuated and location. 1. Themes: I gather you mean to make it more of a Magic and Myth focused place, as opposed to the others, which is fine. However, I do think that if you're going to do a European city, drawing from European comics like the Franco-Belgian or Italian tradition would be cool: a certain investigator of nightmares, a globetrotting adventurer archeologist researching ancient mysteries, an enigmatic sea captain or a dashing master thief, among others, might serve as inspirations. (Those are the ones that could fit. The pulpy Wild West yarns and weirdo Métal Hurlant sci-fi, not so much, obviously) Obviously, I'm biased, since I grew up reading fumetti more than American superhero comics, but I'd hate for this new city to be an American tourist's idea of old, mysterious, quaint lil' Europe where everything's stuck in a Medieval time warp as opposed to the gleaming modern metropolises of FC, EC and BC. At the very least, a little variety couldn't hurt, and a lot of the examples I mentioned would actually tie very nicely into a Magic-focused city. 2. Location: It sounds like it should definitely be on the border between several countries, lots of possibilities for that, although the names you said resonate the most sound rather Francophone, as does Bastion City for that matter. Perhaps somewhere near Switzerland? Our Bedlam is roughly on the location of an actual town (Manitowoc, WI), so I think it's OK to replace actual places provided they're under 50 000 people. Some possibilities are: The border between Austria, Slovenia and Hungary. (46°52'11.0"N 16°06'46.9"E) The border between Austria, Italy and Slovenia (46°31'31.4"N 13°42'27.8"E) The border between Austria, Italy and Switzerland (46°50'11.8"N 10°28'57.0"E) The border between Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia (48°37'00.6"N 16°56'17.1"E) The shores of Lake Constance (Bodensee), replacing the town of Hard or Bregenz (47°29'55.4"N 9°42'03.6"E) The border between Germany and Switzerland (47°33'29.8"N 7°38'35.1"E) or Germany, France and Switzerland (47°35'23.7"N 7°35'28.4"E) or, the border between France, Italy and Switzerland (45°48'47.0"N 7°00'44.2"E) Making it the capital of a fictional independent Duchy (or a former Duchy, now a republic) would probably work best. As for the name, I think so far Argent City's the best one (though there's apparently an Argent City in a defunct pirate-themed Chinese MMO), and the one that sounds the most like an actual place. Anyway, I think this is has a lot of potential to be a really fun addition to the site, and I'd like to volunteer my services when it comes to helping out with world-building.

Aníbal winced as he glanced towards the firebreathing girl, and felt a tingling sensation in his right shoulder. Oh no. Not again. This was a different one, of course, but once again he was going up against a pyrokinetic and, once again, an airplane was involved. Her three companions looked no less menacing, each in their own way. Four attackers and, it seemed, only two defenders with powers to match theirs. This was going to be a rough one. "El Huracán, from... ", he quickly introduced himself to the other metahuman, but his words were cut off by the explosion of a warehouse behind them. Before he could continue, they were joined by two new people, one of whom was a familiar face. At least the odds were even now, assuming the attackers didn't bring reinforcements as well. Aníbal did a double take as Miracle Girl mentioned the President, which meant this was no ordinary plane. Air Force One. Great, just great... The stakes were higher than he had thought. "This place is a powderkeg. If we don't take care of the firebreather, the whole base is gonna blow.", Aníbal remarked, "OK, so Hyperactive here takes the gorilla, Miracle Girl takes the psychic, and you take the fire girl. I'll take the wizard."

Initiative for El Huracán: 1d20+4: 13

Aníbal tapped out a message on his cellphone and attached a photo before sending it to Raina. It was a pity she couldn't join him, but he had called her every day and sent her at least three dozen photos of stunning vistas (day and night), interesting wildlife and the odd unexploded shell from the nearby missile testing site he took during his camping trip in the White Sands National Monument. Perhaps it was overkill, but the place was genuinely interesting. He sat on a blanket in front of his tent, his bare feet half-buried in the cool sands. School was out for summer, and it felt good to get away from Freedom City a bit and clear his head. As he lazily rummaged through the portable cooler looking for a can of soda, he planned the rest of the day. Flying, definitely - he'd packed his flight suit for the trip and fully intended to use it. Then, another night under the stars, maybe horse riding tomorrow, and on to the next stop on his itinerary. That said, his itinerary was less a structured plan and more a set of suggestions. Maybe he'd go see those Pueblo clowns he read about online, those seemed cool. The only other certainty was Vegas, and then back to FC to fly home to Mexico. He cracked open his last can of soda (there was still enough water left to last him the day, though) and lazily sipped. It was still relatively early in the day. The dunes weren't going anywhere. He finished his drink and, suitably refreshed, crawled into his tent to retrieve the flight suit. A few minutes later, El Huracán was in the air, soaring on the warm air currents at an altitude high enough to avoid being recognizable to anyone down below. The dunes looked just as cool from above as they did on the ground. He reached towards his side, and cursed at himself. Idiot. Stupid idiot. Knew I forgot something. The flight suit didn't have pockets, unfortunately, and he had left his cellphone down below. "Sun must've fried your brains", he muttered to himself. No matter, he thought. There was nothing stopping him from making a second flight and taking some photos later. He was nearing the White Sands Missile Range. According to the map, there were also some military airbases nearby. It occurred to him it might not be a good idea to fly over a military installation. They probably didn't take kindly to civilians, even superheroes - especially superheroes - invading their air space, even if it was just harmless fun. The last thing he needed was flak cannons firing at him. He looked around. There was an airplane relatively close by. Aníbal always enjoyed doing a flyby and waving to the passengers and the crew. It was one of the simple pleasures of being a superhero, it was good PR, and besides, according to LegalAdvice.com it was technically not illegal, so there. Cracking a smile, he banked towards the airplane, and quickly noticed something weird. It seemed like something was spinning around it. He would've chalked it up to a mirage, the desert sun playing tricks on his eyes, but then the airplane started to nosedive towards the missile range, its engines smoking. Something was definitely not right. Terror attack?, he thought. It was a distinct possibility. The range probably had a lot of ordnance, and an airplane crashing into it would cause devastating damage. Perhaps it was just an accident. Whatever it was, it seemed his assistance was called for. He swooped down towards the range and landed theatrically, his arms crossed, the winds kicking up a cloud of dust around him. Sounds of gunfire were heard through the base, as scattered groups of soldiers fired towards the oncoming plane, aiming at what was now clear were figures circling around it. Aníbal looked around for a commanding officer and spotted a guy who looked like a super talking to a soldier. It seemed he wouldn't be handling this alone. He made his way towards the pair and nodded a greeting. "Hello. Can either one of you tell me what's going on here? Where is your commander?", he asked.

One thing regarding NPCs: since this is a government team, I imagine they don't get to be as autonomous as, say, the Freedom League, in conducting their affairs. After all, this is supposed to be a major reversal of policy that's pretty much Cahill's pet cause, and I'm sure it wouldn't pass the House/Senate without some concessions made. Also, judging by the name of the law, the Dream Team is officially the Federal Extra-Normal Defense Fund (FEND). So I was thinking: maybe have the whole thing run by appointed bureaucrats, not the superheroes themselves. I figure two of them (Director, Deputy Director), with opposing agendas and viewpoints, might be interesting. Maybe they play favorites, maybe certain disasters get priority over others, maybe one of them's corrupt or even a witting or unwitting agent of <insert bad peoples>. Rough sketch: Simone "The Villain" Bonvillain, a conservative Democrat from Louisiana. PolSci degree from Loyola, got her start working for Edwin "The Lizard" Edwards, eventually ended up in the upper echelons of the Department of Homeland Security, was slated for a major cabinet position if <whoever the Democratic candidate was> had won. Think a Cajun Amanda Waller crossed with Frank Cards from the hit show, Frank of Cards. Maybe make her mixed-race/Creole of color? John Talcott Crane III, a moderate Republican from Massachussets. Accomplished legal scholar, Yale college buddy of JT Cahill, former four-term Congressman and 2016 Presidential hopeful who dropped out of the race and endorsed Cahill after a laughable showing in Iowa. Nicknamed "Frasier" for his clipped Boston Brahmin accent and stiff demeanor. That's just a suggestion, of course. (Wanted to avoid a stereotypical "Republican General Ripper, Democrat milquetoast" setup)

Aníbal needs a thread! I'm in.

Aníbal was only somewhat surprised by the dogs delivering their parting shots. He knew the strange beasts could speak, but now he discovered they were apparently mind readers as well. A year ago something like that would have stunned him, but Claremont made you get used to weirdness quickly. He didn't have time to reply to the dogs before the doors closed. It was time to head out. He reached into his back pocket just as Raina brought up that he could take care of the transportation for the whole group. A moment later, he was calling his personal chauffeur, stepping a few paces away as the rest of the group discussed shopping possibilities. "Julio? Hey.", he spoke in Spanish, "I'm going to the mall with some of my friends. Could you come pick us up in front of the school? Yeah. There's four of us, so I guess something room... NO, not that one. No. I know he bought it for me, Julio, I'm saying I don't need it. We're going to the mall, not to Syria. We don't need a bulle... Just the regular car. Yeah. OK." The call ended, and Aníbal rejoined the others. He took his place at Raina's side again as they moved towards the exit. "OK, so, our ride will be here in about five minutes."

El Huracán Early Birds Transmutation

He had almost forgotten just how weird his new acquaintance actually was, and just how foreign the ways of his people indeed were. Hearing Jann haltingly describe his vague idea of a "party", referring to it as if it were some weird alien custom, was an uncanny experience, and reminded him the avian was indeed different than the usual Claremont kid. Still, it seemed that a fondness for entertainment was something that crossed the boundaries of culture and species, and Jann seemed determined to hold a party for Halloween, even if he was a bit hazy on the details. Aníbal listened to him explain his plans, nodding along as he listed the things he had and the things he still needed to get. "Mmm... You don't have to call home for money. My family is very wealthy. They give me a big monthly allowance, and I don't really have a lot to spend it on.", Aníbal informed Jann with a confident smile, "I can pay for the place you found, and the drinks, and any equipment too, no problem." "As for the party... Uhh, see, Halloween is like a special... It's an American thing. People dress up, wear costumes, you know? It's supposed to be scary, though usually it's not really scary, just an excuse to party.", he added, speaking slowly, unsure of how much the avian understood, "So, yeah. Drinks, lights, music. And some Halloween decorations, you know, you can buy those in stores too. How... How do your people have fun? I mean, besides flying? Maybe you can show us a little of your culture".

"You know, if you want to get me out of my clothes, all you have to do is ask.", Aníbal replied as an excitable Raina dragged him along the way back to the boys' dormitories. Fred, for her part, seemed less enthusiastic about the whole affair, though maybe it was just her manner that was difficult to read. They reached the boys' dorms, and soon enough they were in front of Rivera's room. Aníbal heard the faint sounds of music coming from inside and despite making a game effort to set aside his feelings about the kid, he couldn't help but wince. "Ugh. Acoustic guitar... Of course.", he scoffed and muttered under his breath. Rivera may not have been a nerd or a brojock, but he was evidently part of a far more pestilential brood - the acoustic guitarbro. Any decent party would grind to a halt whenever one of those pendejos decided to whip out his guitar and play some tuneless frat boy dirge to try and impress the girls. Aren't you a sensitive soul... Still, he smiled at Raina and mouthed the words "team building". There would be no opportunity for guitar playing at the mall, hopefully, and he could smile and get along with dog boy for a couple of hours. Even if, in fact, no team would be built by the outing, Raina was there and that was all that mattered to him. When the door opened, Aníbal gave a curt nod to Rivera and let others do the talking.

If he hadn't heard Raina griping as she descended the staircase, it's safe to say Aníbal would have never mentioned money himself. He didn't like bragging, especially in the company of those less fortunate than him, but he enjoyed spending his sizable allowance on his friends when given the opportunity. His father once told him the tale of an Australian billionaire who, while in Vegas, heard a loudmouth Texan oil baron bragging about the 100 million dollars he made off his oil business. It went on and on, until the Australian finally snapped and told the braggart he'd flip him for it. The Texan kept his mouth shut for the rest of the evening. The moral of the story: no matter how rich you think you are, there's always someone richer than you. Even within Mexico, there were people whose wealth, legitimate or otherwise, dwarfed that of the Herrera family. His grandfather, meanwhile, was an old-fashioned padrón who shared Fred's Victorian distaste for discussing matters of a pecuniary nature, and imparted the same values to his grandson. This was all somewhere in the corner of Aníbal's mind, however, patiently waiting its turn at the forefront, which was currently occupied by the scent, touch and taste of Raina. After she kissed him, it took him a few moments to break eye contact with her and wipe the goofy grin off his face, returning to his studied nonchalance. "Oh, this is... it's... last season.", he awkwardly attempted a witticism, but nothing remotely witty came out. He realised how much he'd missed her presence and cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure. "You look great, though. Really like what you did with the jeans.", he added. Raina really had a knack with clothes, making the most modest duds look great. Of course, just about anything would look great on her, he thought. He gave a surprised laugh as Raina explained the reason for her afternoon outing. Huh... Guess it's true what they say about the quiet ones. "Of course.", he replied, flashing another smile to Raina's prim companion, "Can't say I'm an expert on malls, but I'm sure we'll find something fun to do." His face scrunched up involuntarily as Rivera's name was mentioned. "Oh, he's coming too?", Aníbal asked, a hint of displeasure noticeable under an air of courtesy, "That's nice. The more the merrier." Something about that kid always rubbed him the wrong way, and it bothered him that he couldn't quite understand why. Still, for the sake of the group, he was prepared to ignore it and focus on having fun. Maybe Rivera was friends with Fred, and they could pair off. Everything would be fine.

Aníbal's expression turned pensive as Jann described the attackers. Was there another school for kids with abilities? Whoever they were, they sounded like a serious threat, and something told him the Headmistress or anyone else on the school's staff wouldn't be too thrilled about divulging any more details than strictly necessary. Perhaps they'd strike again? It wouldn't hurt to keep one's guard up, for now at least. The avian continued his progress, and Aníbal decided to let any speculations rest for now. When Jann mentioned the possibility that the Halloween party would be canceled due to the attack, Aníbal thought back to last year's party at Huang's place, which had gone horribly awry even without the intervention of supervillains. Hopefully this year would turn out different. No toilet hooch this time..., he firmly decided. Riley and Fred would have to use their prodigious talents on something more palatable. Whatever the official school policy, he decided it would be cowardice to let a bunch of scumbags with superpowers cow them into submission. Jann seemed to be on the same page. "Sure thing. We can't let these people scare us. after all.", Aníbal replied, "What do you have in mind?".

"Money troubles?", a smooth voice interjected from the sidelines. Aníbal was standing not far from the bottom of the staircase, leaning on the wall with his arms folded across his chest, observing the arriving pair with an amused smile. He was dressed for the chilly October weather, a crew neck golden brown cashmere sweater over a plain dress shirt and expensive looking dark jeans. His eyes gleamed as they met Raina's, and he took a couple of leisurely steps forward, acknowledging Fred with a polite nod and smile. Still, it was pretty obvious who he came here to see. "If only you knew someone who was obscenely wealthy...", he continued, "Going to the mall?".

"An attack? By whom?", Anibal perked up when Jann mentioned an attack had occurred during his absence from Claremont. It seemed he had missed something important after all. Whoever was responsible didn't seem to do any serious damage to either persons or property. He hadn't noticed anything different about Claremont when he arrived, though to be fair he wasn't really paying attention. Jann certainly didn't seem too phased by it. "Looks like I missed the fun.", he commented wryly. Nevertheless, the people responsible would surely try again in the future, and next time he'd be there to meet them head on.