GranspearZX

Truth be told, Ralf wasn't well-versed enough on German history to really be offended; Harper's comment was met with a blank stare. Nazis were bad. That was generally what he remembered, which made mentioning them seem sort of illogical and strange. Ralf, after all, had an especially pointed reason to dislike Nazis. Suddenly Ralf's eyes widened; something clicked. "Oh! Now I get it. You're scared." It was the sort of brazen thing that most people wouldn't have said about someone else out loud. Ralf, however, had no such filter. "I mean, I guess I get it. The world's a big and scary place and some people just find it easier to jump at shadows. Dunno how you're gonna save anybody like that, but sure, we'll go with that. I think you might be wound a little tight though. You gotta relax, man." Ralf paused for a minute, then switched gears entirely as he looked back at John. "...I guess someone using a car like that might be a little intimidating. But that's why we're here, right?"

"Huh. 'Pleasant conversation'." Ralf's skepticism dripped from every syllable, but he never stopped smiling. As smug as Harper seemed to be, Ralf's boundless confidence was hardly shaken. At this point, his curiosity about the new student was nearly at the same level as his desire to throw Harper off his game entirely. "I wasn't aware 'pleasant conversation' looked like circling sharks but... hey, what do I know, right?" The entire time, Ralf kept walking forward. "Oh! Right. You can call me Ralf." Ralf hadn't completely forgotten about Harper's entourage; he genuinely wasn't sure how the entire thing would play out. He wasn't, after all, supposed to go full Amorph in front of people yet. He had a feeling it would come to that one day, but this seemed like a rather inappropriate time. He tugged at the plastic left on the candy cane he was eating and reached for a nearby trashcan--a good ten feet away, casually stretching his arm over and back again. "Uncontrollable threats... come on. That's a joke, right? It's not even a good joke... no puns or anything."

It still amazed Ralf at just how similar humans and animals behaved. He seemed content to just watch for a while. That was, in fact, one of Ralf's long-standing assignments: observe and learn from other students. Technically, he'd only existed for all of three years, leaving him with a lot of catching up to do. Thankfully, he had adapted relatively well given his circumstances, and he had enough of a moral compass to know when certain things weren't okay. He also wasn't in the habit of interjecting into someone else's affairs unnecessarily... which left him at a little bit of a crossroads when it came to the clearly new student. So, for a few moments, he just watched and listened, an unusually large candy cane between his teeth like some sort of sugary cigar. The new kid was alright so far, but there was no telling how long that would last. A closer look was in order. Rising off of his favored spot leaning against a nearby wall, he sauntered over towards the group like he belonged there. "I always thought that was a rude question, just ASKING what people can do... I mean, what if he doesn't want anybody to know? Might be a sensitive subject. Manners, fellas." Ralf smiled broadly, hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans. "Wouldn't want the new guy to think we don't have any."

I'd be up for an intro thread with Ralf/Amorph.

Crusader moved as quietly as the low-light conditions would allow, careful of where he was going without actually knowing where anything was. It was the thing that made him most apprehensive about the situation--unknown layout. unknown numbers. It was a tactical nightmare, but it was one he'd willingly signed up for. There was no way he was going to back down now, and he had decided quite some time ago that moving forward once he'd started was his best option. On the bright side, the other innocents that had managed to flee were long gone, giving him some maneuvering room. He couldn't help but wonder, though, why a bunch of armed goons were storming a media building. Broadcasting something seemed like more of a thing for a building with an actual studio, not a corporate office. The number of vans bothered him too; he felt as if the answer was right there but evasive, like an itch that he couldn't quite scratch. Either way, he had to do something... The moment he saw the armed man in the doorway had a problem. The hallway he'd stepped into war dimly lit, but narrow and left him nowhere to hide and no way to get close without being seen. Going back was counterproductive. And he still didn't know how many opponents he couldn't see. Ah, screw it. Crusader's right hand tightened into a fist as he prepared to hurl the impervium shield at the 'lone' gunman.

I think I'll take it, then! Shield Throw: 1d20+10 23

Quiet patrol nights were a blessing, especially in the fall.. Late football practicces often meant that Coach Clark Noble's job went on longer than necessary, and that day was no different. Two hours of sleep and several cups of coffee later and Crusader was out, and his first stop was to visit Old Freddy. Clark had visited the elderly homeless man before. He'd even tried to get Freddy into a homeless shelter, but he insisted on spending his nights wandering downtown. He was of average build, most of his frame hidden by a heavy coat even though the winter hadn't truly started yet. If Freddy saw anything amiss, he always managed to slip it into his and Crusader's usual conversations. "Lots of vans around tonight," he said. "Reminds me of my days in Kuwait..." Freddy's war stories aside, he followed the lead all the way to the New Horizons Media building, just in time to see a veritable horde enter the building. He could feel his grandfather's knowledge pushing back at him, pointing out the precision, the squad division... and the ordinance. "Great. But how do I get in..." Crusader sighed. Apart from his shield, he had little in the way of... well, anything. His wits were more than enough to deal with the typical street riff-raff but this seemed a little more involved. The one advantage of one os his past lives being of a criminal background, however, lay in the realization that none of the vans had gone anywhere near the actual delivery entrance. In moments, Crusader was there. Before he could contemplate how to pick the lock himself, a man burst out of the building, nearly running Clark over. "Shh. It's okay. You're fine." Crusader paused, letting the man gather his thoughts. "How many?" "I... I don't know. I just... I didn't see." "Don't worry about it. God your phone? Good. Call the police and head that way." He pointed down a nearby alley, well out of sight of anyone that might have still been lingering around the vans. "O-okay... what are you gonna do?" Crusader didn't respond, slipping inside the building and shutting the door behind him. That's a really, really good question...

"Ugh..." Marcus groaned and forced himself upright. Trying to remember how he'd ended up where he currently was seemed like a fool's errand; searching his memory revealed nothing. He wasn't even sure where 'here' was. Was this that cult's doing? Was someone playing a prank on him? One way or another, he needed answers, and those weren't going to waltz down the hauntingly empty corridor to him. For some odd reason, he felt like a rat in a maze. The door behind him seemed like the most logical thing to try his hand at... and if it wouldn't budge by normal means, he was hardly above knocking it off its hinges. To start, however, he did the courteous thing and knocked. As hard as he could.

I'd definitely bee interested in stretching Arcturus's legs again! Eyeballing the Entrance of the Gladiators one specifically, but Arc's interest in archaeology might also work for Rex Quondam, Rexque Futurus.

Arcturus (1) Arcturus #0: Repossession (1)

Uh... hi. My name is Arcturus. I don't know if anyone will ever see this, but if you do, it's because I want you to know that I'm... well, alive. There's been a lot happening and I haven't had time to sit down and really figure it all out, but I know people will ask where I've been for the last three years. So here goes. Somewhere in East Africa, September 2013 Marcus Irons probably should have been more concerned that he had missed his own graduation. It wasn't that his high school days were some sort of social nightmare; he had made plenty of friends and had one things he'd never dreamed of doing. Still he couldn't help but feel like he didn't belong there. While he certainly had a greater understanding of what it was to use his abilities to help others, he hadn't made much progress on understanding his powers themselves. Explaining his magic to others was one part impossible and four parts embarrassing--most didn't even believe magic was real. It didn't really hit home until his senior year and he was asked to help out with a rescue mission in Eastern Africa. It opened up his entire world, and suddenly he felt less compelled to go back. What was supposed to be a simple evacuation of flood victims turned into something much more sinister. An encounter with pirates and human traffickers nearly resulted in an innocent girl being shot. Arcturus reacted out of instinct and protected her with a Beast Rune form he'd never used before, and while the outcome was a favorable one, it left him confused. He needed answers before 'instinct' turned him into some sort of monster. The problem. however, was where to look. I knew exactly one other guy who used a similar style of magic. He put me into contact with a friend of his who looked at e like I was crazy when he examined the Beast Rune. War-Earth, January 2014 "Are ye SURE yer okay?" The diminutive artificer looked up from his magnifying glass00or whatever it was in his hand; Marcus really couldn't tell. Marcus nodded slowly. "Of course. I mean... I was born with this rune so I figured it was... hm. Normal isn't the word I'd use." Marcus grimaced a little as he felt something cold against his back. "What are you doing anyway?" "Examining. Doctor things. Shh." "...should I be worried?" "How many magical bear shapeshifters have you examined, son?" "Okay. you might have a point." "Never seen a rune fused to a person before. Not like this. Makes sense though... you said it affects all your other magic, right?" "That's right." He nodded again. "I can use magic but it always feels like the Beast Rune is part of it." "Aye... You physical types are all like that." When Marcus didn't say anything, he continued. "See, when anybody uses magic, some of that power always comes from within. So... if the Beast Rune is part of you.." "But I don't get why THAT happened. The whole... turtle thing." "You wanted to protect that little girl. Guess the Beast Rune was tryin' to do the same." I'd never considered that the Beast Rune wasn't trying to take over. It made me wonder if the key to understanding my magic wasn't in asking someone else but asking the Beast Rune itself. When I was a sophomore at Claremont, Eldritch hinted at it but he never really gave me a straight answer. I understand now why I had to come to that conclusion on my own. Unfortunately, I never got the chance.

Arcturus would probably show up for this. sure!

Arcturus is much more of a drawing and scultpting sort. He prefers the latter but he's especially adept at the former.

I figure this might be the most effective way to get the magical ragebear back into circulation. Not sure what to do, hether it's just a solo run at things or what, but if anyone has any ideas or openings...

I've put a lot of thought into this, and I think I have something for an alien psionic, quite possibly one of the original Praetorians. Still fleshing it out though, but her power set is similar to the build I made for a darkness-manipulator character I threw around.

"The Pact, yeah. It's... well, pretty much what it sounds like. An agreement, of sorts, for them to not interfere directly with humans. Otherwise, well... you saw what happened in that other dimension. Having them on Earth is pretty disastrous." Arc had, at least, done his homework. It was how the Beast Rune came into being after the Pact--Artemis didn't have to be the one to look after her worshippers if she gifted someone else with power to do so. He still wasn't sure how he felt about higher beings using humankind as pawns, but considering that he'd seen the alternative... "I don't get how that just got... erased. That shouldn't be possible on just a whim, right?" Gears were turning in Arc's head. It was a habit--he saw a problem that needed to be solved, and there he was, the shape-shifting problem solver. "I don't think they can follow us--I made sure of that--but if the person who got us there is still on the other side..." Arcturus cleared his throat, smiling faintly at the audible nature of the air quotes around Apex speaking the word 'magic'. "Well... we were in the middle of the ocean, and if Hermes is to be believed, then the whole dimension is divergent from a single event. I'd assume that a lot of the environment would be the same. Out there, anyway. I'd like to go back and investigate further, though..."

Arcturus was, in fact, rushing as much as he could, but he was also being careful. Despite it being magic, there was a certain level of scientific methodology that he had to consider. He knew time was limited, however; if Hermes was to be believed, then Neptune's attack was only the beginning. There was a twinge of guilt about leaving the situation as it was, but this wasn't at all like when he'd ended up in War World. There were innocents to consider, and he reminded himself that he, first and foremost, was trying to eliminate the possibility of casualties. He couldn't allow himself to be distracted... not now. Thankfully, Edge was more composed than he was. He was right where he needed to be the minute Arcturus considered that he needed a magical source to power his endeavor... though initially, he'd considered using himself as the focus. It was dangerous, not only because Edge was probably far more powerful than he was, but also because he'd been through something similar once already. He was sure Edge could tell; Edge knew him from before AND after his graduation, so the subtle difference in his magical ability was probably far more obvious. All things considered, he was glad that he didn't have to talk about it. There was a good chance that, if he tried it, the animal spirits bonded to him would attempt to save him... and that wouldn't go well for anyone on the ship. "Okay. It'll hold." Probably. "...I'm ready when you are, Edge."

Ralf would certainly be up for this, if for no other reason than practicing NOT being constantly stretchy!

Nothing about the situation was immediately encouraging, and Arcturus's zeal nearly got him knocked into the waiting and unforgiving ocean below. Thankfully, he managed to right himself beforehand, and by the time he took back to the air, Neptune was gone--temporarily. It would have been an outright lie to say he wasn't relieved when Starlight blasted him. Nodding a silent 'thank you', he followed everyone back to the ship. "I figured as much," he muttered at Edge's observation. "I felt us cross but I thought it was just some small tear, not... not this." Arcturus motioned aimlessly, indicating everywhere. After hearing what had gone on while dealing with Neptune, he wondered what it meant for his own powers. Given their origin, he could take a few guess at what would have transpired. There was bound to be another wielder of the Beast Rune--at least, there would have been. Neptune had, after all, said that he didn't recognize 'the blessing'... That was probably a good thing. "I can try to get us back, but... that could take a while." He was out of practice. No one he knew: Renè, Nick, even Robin--would be able to talk him through it. The physical aspects of his magic were easy, and while he was pretty well-versed in the theory, he wondered if he could even open the proper portal to get them all back where they belonged. For the moment, he figured Starlight's watchful eye on their speedy guest would be perfectly fine.

So, I'm moving tomorrow, and have 3 days of driving ahead. I might be able to do things from the hotel room Friday and Saturday night; Sunday I'll be moving in and Monday I have a job interview at 2pm, so... if no one hears from me before Tuesday, that'd be why.

"...hm. He wants to kill us now. Great." Arcturus wasn't going to mince words about this situation, so relaying it to Queenie and Starlight was just that simple. There really wasn't much else to it, even if he took the time to translate exactly what was said into English for the other two. There was only one thing left to do, and that was to defend himself. Of course, that required cementing a pact that he hadn't yet used before. They all demanded something different--Bear was childish and liked to break things; Tiger was aggressive and just wanted a fight. Turtle was... complicated. It was probably the furthest from the nature of the Beast Rune, demanding calm when Marcus's mind was always active and a little chaotic, despite the face he showed the world. It also required two runes to properly anchor the spirit--something he'd been highly reluctant to even attempt. This left him with little choice but to defend himself as he was. "Okay." Arc's wings spread wide as he propelled himself further up into the air. "If you want a fight, I'll give you one!" He charged forward, wings beating as if he'd done this numerous times before. His right hand glowed blue for a brief moment before his fist iced over with Gelus, the Ice Rune shining across the back of his hand. If nothing else, he'd buy the others some time to get that ship moved--without ending up in the ocean himself.

Definitely didn't see this coming. x_x Initiative Check: (1d20+5=23)

Arcturus A Whole New World (2)

Terra. Not Earth. That was why he couldn't pinpoint where the magic was coming from on the ship; by the time he caught it, it was everywhere. Beyond that... he was in the presence of Neptune. Fascinating as that was, Arc could tell that this was potentially bad. Magic, much like technology, had rules and laws that bound them. Magic, however, tended to bend them frequently. Breaking them was potentially catastrophic. He wasn't sure how to explain that with any amount of brevity to Starlight and Queenie yet. "I'm Arcturus. This is Starlight, and Queenie," he said, introducing them all to compensate for the language barrier. "We were hoping to figure how how we got here, actually. The person responsible for getting us here seems to be missing. In the mean time there are... several people who aren't exactly accustomed to crossing realms unexpectedly..." What did it say about Arcturus, though, the he was used to having that happen? He looked over towards Starlight. "I guess it goes without saying that we're not on Earth anymore... this is going to be a problem." Looking back at the enormous sea god, Arcturus continued. "Forgive my forwardness, Lord Neptune, but... you wouldn't happen to have seen anything else out of place around here, would you?"

Going to be making use of Arc's Shapeshift power! Making use of his array, this is what he's going with: Flight 3 [6PP] He's got a 35-point array in Shapeshift, but we'll just fluff this as Arc being unable to make the proper connection with an animal spirit.