Search the Community

A hand dropped, two men screamed at each other, and they came together, limbs blurring as they struck and blocked and parried and countered. It was an amazing display of physicality, martial prowess, and controlled fury. Controlled, because when the man in the blue robe stuck the flat of his hand into the neck of the man in the orange robe, they both froze. The referee shouted, the men separated and bowed, and a few of the more knowledgeable spectators applauded. Tona Baudin was one of them. She had been especially interested in the arm-lock the tai chi master had attempted, and the way the snake-style specialist had slipped out of it almost bonelessly. Her eyes glittered in anticipation as she looked at the next few fights coming up on the docket. She hadn't even know this martial arts tournament existed a month ago, until her friend Mali mentioned that she was going to watch. In just a couple of weeks though, the young archer had become obsessed with the idea. A place where she could see all sorts of fighting styles on display, measured against each other? It was a thrilling notion to her, and she had waited impatiently for it. Tona wasn't happy that she was restricted to sitting in the bleachers, but registration had closed months ago. She had eventually, reluctantly, agreed that her own style was too wilde and improvisational to be judged in formal competition, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy what she was seeing.This was her Super Bowl, her World Cup, her PAX, all rolled into on, and Tona was determined to take in as much as she could.

Blue Jay to inherit the throne of Foix? Find out in this thrilling adventure >here. The muggers are just to get all the characters in the same place so feel free to go bad ass on them .

A Blind Alley, West End, Freedom CIty 7:30 pm 20th March 2015 Freedom City was for many a popular destination for tourists from all over the world. Yes the near by New York had it impressive buildings but only Freedom offered so many superheroes. Despite this the city still offered dangers for those who didn’t have their wits about them. The well dressed woman had obviously taken a wrong turn whilst exploring one of the lesser known area of Freedom City. She hadn’t realised it yet but she’d started walking down an alley closed at one end. The two muggers who followed in behind her did however know this and was obviously taking advantage of the situation. Luckily for the woman the were heroes here even in this area of Freedom City.

OOC thread for >this thread - robotic mayhem ahead! If you haven't guessed it already, Steampunk is inspired to one of my favorite tabletop games, Warmachine. @EternalPhoenix: if you're OK with it, Mechanized could have called Terrifica in for backup, since they already worked together. @The Osprey: Feel free to involve Endeavor in whatever way you want. I'll see if Raveled adds a character to this too. EDIT: And Blue Jay is in this too! We're ready to go!

GM Post Freedom City Bank, Wading Way, February 27th 2015 A man in his forties, his short hair starting to turn gray, stood grinning in front of the camera; he was dressed in an odd looking uniform that would suit a late 19th century military officer better than a modern day man, modified however with what looked like a steam boiler carried as a backpack, connected by tubes and pipes to the strange rifle the man was currently waving around. Behind him, the bank's surveillance cameras showed a number of robots in a similar Jules Verne fashion, some human-sized and carrying pikes or rifles, others larger, busy rounding up the terrified people that were until moments before going on with their day to day business. "For those who don't know me, my name is Steampunk, and I'm here to make a statement. Emily Stenford, better known as Mechanized, you fancy yourself a heroine and a savior of Freedom City, thanks to the high-tech suit you're wearing. A suit that by all means should have been developed by me! But I guess it was easy for Daddy's girl to get me fired and keep all your company's high tech gear for yourself. No matter! Look at what I have accomplished, with steam technology and magic alone! Come face me, if you dare, and I will show you once and for all, on live TV, who's the best engineer! Or perhaps, you're too coward to show up, and you'll leave all these innocent hostages in my hands?"

In Chicago, Sam paces her bedroom, circling her bed with the nervous energy of a caged tiger. She'd had an ear to the ground for years, waiting for this day. And now... Three letters. Three independent sources. Three clues, all pointing the same way. Dammit, why now? Not that later would be any better. Gotta go, gotta get to... but there's so much going on right now. To drop everything... But... She stops, and sighs. She may not like it, but the decision is obvious. She looks out her window to the vast, snow-covered lawn and sighs. A thief must always be ready to pack up and move. She's gathered too many attachments. This is not a mistake, but it has a price. Time to pay up. She pulls out a phone and sends her girlfriend a text, actually using proper grammar. "Hey, Tona. Something came up. We need to talk. It's important. Mind making sure there's space in the broom closet? -Sam" This is going to suck.

February 25th, 2015 Outside Silberman’s Books, Freedom City Dawn The city was never really quiet at any point in the day. Tona Baudin had crawled through the city’s guts and swung over its rooftops, and it never became entirely quiet. In the morning, though, before the streets were clogged by cars and the sidewalks were clogged by pedestrians, there was a sort of peace and calmness and attention that the city possessed. The fact that it was a dozen degrees below freezing also helped keep the streets clear. The cold didn’t stop Tona from taking her morning jog. She was wrapped up in a fleece jacket, a torque, a scarf that wrapped around her face twice, thick socks with warming pads, and mittens with warming pads. She was also carrying her bow and quiver tightly lashed to her back, though to most people it probably just looked like a Camelback. The archer had finished her first circuit and was returning to her apartment above Silberman’s, to wake up Mali and set out on the second circuit. As she closed on the building she noticed someone standing outside the store, which should not happen. The store didn’t open until just before noon, so there was no reason anyone should be here this early. Tona’s fingers twitched in her mittens and she adopted a looser, more rolling gait as she approached the tall, pale figure.

Well, you all know what this is for.

December 17, 2014. The West End, Silverman’s Books. Unknown Parallel Earth. Unknown amount of time after sunset. The books were getting a little dusty. Wynn Epstein hadn’t been inside in a few months, since the rebellion’s last gasp took a few employees…off the payroll. But today she was back, and cleaning up. New glass windows to replace the boarded up and broken ones. In the morning, a few new eager employees from Claremont would be by to help out, and best of all, a Carson security robot was schedules for delivery to keep things orderly. Everything was going to go just fine, and soon enough, the store would reopen. That was the plan. Meanwhile, Cerwyn Pefr was chasing down a thief. Yes, the world was largely peaceful and crime-free since the rebellion had been put down, but crime didn’t just magically go away. Heh, magically. The thief was fast. No. She was a teleporter. Moving from shadow to shadow. He touched his commlink. “Kit, it’s Blod. Can you catch this one? I’m having some trouble here. Seems she’s a teleporter.†Christina Vance, alias Kit, rolled her eyes. “She’s not a ‘porter. Just faster than eyes. I’ll get her.†Chris wasn’t what anyone would call subtle about it, either. A massive ball of fire flashed past the thief, stopping her short. She glanced around for a hiding spot-and found a store with the lights still on. She bolted inside, never bothering to notice that the fireball didn’t actually damage anything. In fact, there wasn’t even a wisp of smoke to prove it was ever there. Blod frowned. “You call that getting her?†He jogged up near the store, stepped into a shadow, and vanished from sight. “The freshmen can do better.†Kit popped out of the shadow next to him. She towered over the diminuative Welsh boy. “She’s off the street, isn’t she?†Inside the shop, Wynn was quite surprised by her guest’s sudden appearance. “I’m sorry, but we’re not open yet. Try again in a week?†This young woman was an archer, judging by the bow on her back. And, as Lynn abruptly learned as she stepped up to Wynn in the blink of an eyes, she was very fast. “I’m sorry. There’s a couple of people after me. They’ve got bad intentions and I’m not anywhere near invulnerable, so I’ve been on the run for a bit. Can I hide out for a few minutes?†Wynn was prepared to tell her to leave now, please…but on closer examination she bore a striking resemblance to one of her lost employees. Her heartstrings twinged, and she sighed. “All right. Bathroom’s in the back. Water…should work.†But before either of them could do anything else, Blod and Kit burst into the store. The young woman tossed a glance that screamed “HELP!†in Wynn’s direction. The timid young woman refused to lose her dear employee a second time, and she activated her fae magic. Blod and Kit had no choice but to defend themselves. Magic twisted, clashed, and surprisingly melded. There was a brilliant flash of light, and the store was empty. December 17, 2014. The West End, Silberman’s Books. Earth Prime. 7:43 PM. Cerys Pefr was taking Lynn Epstein’s offer of visiting the store. The Welsh girl and the fairy were having one of the most disjointed conversations of all time when the store was abruptly illuminated by a bright light and four people tumbled out of the air and onto the floor. The lone male of the group grumbled in a familiar accent to Cerys.“Gods curse it, Toni. You couldn’t just give me back my vid, could you?†The boy could almost be from Wales, but something was slightly off. “Now, again. We’re in another dimension, again. We’re gonna have to figure out where we are so Kit can port us back. Again.†For the parts of Tona Baudlin and Samantha Vance, the two lovebirds were enjoying a night in, when the hubbub distracted them from their activities. Specifically, Robin Hood: Men in Tights (along with a few other choice Mel Brooks movies) and a truly ridiculous amount of snacks. A certain mutual acquaintance had recommended the man’s work, and well…so far, so good.

I'm looking for two or three other PCs to be a thread involving alternate universe counterparts of themselves. These are going to be friendly, or at least non-hostile versions; the focus of the thread is going to be Jay confronting the fact that there are no alternate versions of herself. EP has graciously volunteered to GM, so he has final say on things.

20 Miles Out from the Senkaku Islands Saturday, November 29th 0800 Local Time Cannonade looked out at the listless gray skies over the East China Sea, trying to focus on the task ahead of him. Then again, that might have been easier if he knew anything about what it was. He had some idea of why he was flying over international waters in one of AEGIS' high velocity planes, but he was a bit flaky on the fine details. He could, as always, blame Commander Grayston for all of this. He'd answered the knock at his door Saturday afternoon thinking it was Andy coming over to talk about all the things that he'd experienced during the semester up in Boston. He'd actually fought to stifle a groan when he saw who was standing there instead. "Come on," he'd said, "it's Thanksgiving..." "Exactly," Grayston had said, "so think of the ones who didn't make it home to their families." That had shut Joe up real quick. Once Grayston had settled in and salvaged some coffee from Joe's kitchen, he laid all that was known on the table. An AEGIS light aircraft had experienced heavy turbulence while returning from a mission in Japan, and had gone down somewhere around the Senkaku Islands. A transceiver in the plane's black box logged the crashdown site as 20 miles out from one of the islands, and there was a chance the three agents on board had made it to shore. "The Senkaku Islands have been in dispute for years. Japan, Taiwan, and the People's Republic of China all think they have a claim to them, and each one calls them by something different. This island, however... no one seems to be champing at the bit for it. If anything, we've intercepted intelligence that indicates Taiwan has tried to foist it upon Japan in return for claims to one of the others. Our information on it is spotty at best, and neither nation wants to disclose much about it. The best we have to go on is that Japanese intelligence has referred to it as Avici." "Guessing it ain't after the DJ." "No. It's a term for the lowest level of the Buddhist Hells, the place from which sinners have no escape." "Great. So, if the survivors made it there..." "They're capable men and women. But this island has folklore associated with it going back centuries, little of it pleasant. There's no clear, concise picture of what may be dwelling on it, but whatever it is, it has teeth. We need somebody who can get in there, get the agents, and get out before that beast wakes." "Well, it's been a while since I went on a nature hike through Hell itself --" "You're the muscle for the operation. You'll be accompanied by specialists better suited for the... eccentricities of the terrain."

Silberman's Books. Saturday, October 25th, 2014. 5:01 pm Kiki, assistant manager extraordinaire, escorted the last customers out the front door, and then thankfully locked it; with her best friend and boss Lynn 'Grimalkin' Epstein being so focused on her big charity haunted house on Pier 13, most of the day-to-day operations of the store were resting firmly on her shoulders until after the 31st, and to be honest it was exhausting. When Lynn had mentioned closing early for an office Halloween party, Kiki surprised even herself with her excitement at the idea. "The customers, they are no more." That would be Gretchen on the intercom. Kiki adjusted her artistically-damaged thrift shop jacket and primly marched to the middle of the sales floor; she'd decided to go with a scarecrow for her costume, primarily because it was cheap and would allow her to wear a hat. "Boys and girls, we are closed; let the party begin!" There were whoops of delight, and Gretchen started up her new playlist, which started with a special spooky remix of 'Everybody (Backstreet's Back)' she'd put together. Lance the barista, dressed as one of the zombie football players from Beetlejuice, was serving up punch behind the bar. "Hey, where's Boss Lady? I thought this whole thing was her idea?" Kiki rolled her eyes as she scratched at the straw poking out of her sleeves. "I think she's working on a dramatic entrance..." She indicated the door to the owners' office with a nod; there was a strange mist creeping out from under the door...

It was a brand-new day in every conceivable use of the word. The sun had risen barely an hour earlier, but Tona Baudin had worked hard the other day, saving her entire homeplanet, and so she had celebrated by sleeping in for a time. Of course, there was even more work to do this morning, and a lot of special people to visit. One person in particular had been her priority. Tona walked through the front door of the infirmary carrying a large mixing bowl, covered with a dish towel, lovely smells drifting out from under it as the girl's movements caused it to flutter in the breezes. She hummed a light, tuneless song to herself as she checked the various beds, until she found the one containing a slim redhead still curled in sleep. Tona set the bowl down on the nightstand next to the bed and crouched down so that her head was level with Sam's. She watched her girlfriend slumber, marveling at the look of peace on her face. Just yesterday this (beautiful, brave, clever) girl had teleported a few thousand people many miles out of danger, and it had cost her mightily. But looking at her now, Tona couldn't imagine that there was anything wrong with her, anything wrong with the entire world. She reached out and brushed Sam's hair back, resting her hand on the other woman's cheek. "Bonjour," she said softly, not wanting to disturb the rest of the patients in the infirmary. "Time to wake up, mon amour."

I need two or three PCs for a thread that starts in a martial arts tournament and ends with fighting gladiatorial games. On an alien world. Any takers?

Surprise, it's the OOC. Seems to be tagged appropriately, too. Imagine that.

The Franklins had money, and half the city knew it. They didn’t live fancy. They didn’t have a big house, or any servants. They lacked even so much as an automobile, preferring Freedom City Transit instead. They lived in Southside, and very quietly at that. Sadie, Thomas, and their lovely little girl Hannah were, for all intent and purposes, anonymous and nobody. The problem was that Thomas’s family members, though deceased, were all unrepentant though relatively minor criminals and had been for generations. Thomas himself managed to stay out of it, but with no one left to inherit the family money upon his father’s death, Thomas was stuck with a substantial amount of illegally gained cash. This alone earned him a jaundiced look from Freedom’s criminal underworld, but the exact amount of money remained unknown, so no one took action. Yet. Sadie’s unknown great uncle dropping dead and leaving her a similarly large amount of legal money provided a fine opportunity for the couple to legalize the extra cash. Unfortunately, it also provided a fine opportunity for someone to kidnap Hannah for ransom. Going to the cops was not an option - see illegal cash. This was where NPC Investigations came in. August 30, 2014. 1:45 AM. Southside. Penny Nihara simply stood on the roof of Rocket Records. The store was closed for the holiday, and wouldn’t reopen until Tuesday. She tapped her foot, impatient. The heroes were late. She had done everything but send up a flare. She briefly considered doing just that, but discarded the idea as she was too close to the airport. Even accounting for skepticism, someone should have shown up by now. The message was simple enough. “A young girl has been kidnapped. I need your help.†Penny had it relayed by various means, as well as the location to meet. Yes…any minute now. Honestly…she was almost surprised that a hero wasn’t on the job to begin with. Almost meaning that after a few years of doing this job, she knew that an awful lot of small things slipped past Freedom’s champions. The locally focused types did what they could, but ultimately it was a numbers game. There just wasn’t enough of them, and likely never would be. Freedom had the curious habit of becoming more dangerous the more heroes patrolled it. Ah, there one was now. Good.

Outside Silberman's Books, the corner of Pratt and Frederick. Monday, August 4th, 2014. 9:58 am Sitting on the stoop in front of her shop, Lynn checked the time on her smartphone again; whoever these girls were, they were far from late, but she really just wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Her ad had introduced the store owner and future landlady to a broad spectrum of Freedom's citizens, and she was being to feel discouraged. She was basically inviting someone to move into her house, so yes, she was being rather picky, but so far...eyugh. The Poodle Twins. Mr. and Mrs. Bowling Shirt. Patchouli Pete and his Amazing Jacket of Many Smells. I just want some who's more or less normal but still interesting; is that so much to ask? Or have I turned into an old fart? Lynn had on her favorite style of sunglasses, big clunky plastic things from a time gone by, a faded Willy Wonka t-shirt, boot-cut jeans and a pair of light hiking boots; her hair was in a practical ponytail and she fiddled with the ring that hung around her neck.

OOC thread

June 1, 2014 Urgent phone messages were nothing new for Midnight Manor, even those that arrived at an hour of the day where no decent person would be awake. Was there crime afoot in the darkest corners of the city? Or more commonly, a cosmic threat like those that the newest holder of the Midnight legacy and his partner had so often battled? Not today. For once, the late night phone call had been for Erin. "Ms. White? This is Thomas Cleary, I'm the night supervisor here at Project Freedom. I'm calling you because Jessie White has had an incident with another inmate. We've placed her in medical isolation for now - but she's not communicating. we're hoping you may be able to help us figure out what happened."

OOC for >this thread, starring Blue Jay, Nevermore, and *gasp!* Orion the Hunter. Sorry for the rushed intro, fellas! Gonna just let that first post sit for a moment before we jump into the meat of the story and give you guys a chance to establish whether you're working independently, together, chillaxin', relaxin', or generally just waxing poetic before the shenanigans hit the fan. If you've got any questions, feel free to shoot.

For rolls and whatnot concerning >this thread.

Saturday, May 3rd, 2014 Later morning DeCosta High School, Freedom City The crowd had swelled beyond the gymnasium's bleachers, leaving many spectators standing on the basketball court or out in the hallway. The low murmur of conversation was an effective white noise, but the young girl perched on a top row was still able to pick out a few strains of conversation. "... Hope I can ask him about the tax on... " "... Wonder what he was thinking when he voted for... " "... Just who is running against him, again?" "... Whatever happened to his son after that fight with... " The Tona Baudin winced and purposefully turned away from that last one. It was more than a year ago that her robotic duplicate had tried to kill Aaron Walsh, and had then turned that same homicidal programming on her friends and allies. She had since repaired those relationships, but now the Congressman was back in town on the campaign trail, which her friends insisted had nothing to do with killing people. Still, Tona was making sure that no one else was going to try and attack Representative Walsh this time. She turned up the hood of her dark green hoodie with a fletching design and settled into her seat. Walsh was supposed to be out at any moment, and this town hall meeting was supposed to go on until past lunch, so she had to be ready to wait all day.

GM The Gateway, the Nucleus, Goodman Building, 1961 40th. Avenue, Midtown, Freedom City, United States of America, North America, Earth, the Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth-Prime. 10.47 AM, March 17th, Monday, 2014. The silence had grown almost unbearable as Maximus and Tesla Atom prepared the circular arch placed on raised steps in the center of the starkly-lit room. Hands tapped out short commands on the aged yet ruthlessly advanced control panels on either side as power thrummed through the portal, a kaleidoscopic miasma of shifting colors and shapes revolving in the center as dimensional energies were harnessed for a journey to the uttermost depth of the omniverse. While the the older siblings did their work, Victoria and Chase watched the bulky readout monitors beside them, once or twice calling out a word that touched faintly the edges of the visiting teen's scientific knowledge. Cosmo had a job as well, the blue primate flashing from shoulder to shoulder as he searched carefully for errant insects suck in unwieldy human hair. The destination for the four young superheroines was felt long before it was seen. A prickling across the skin, a sense of rawness in the air and a growing sense of something horrible drawing nearer had gone on for agonizing minutes before- "Got it," Tesla Atom's voice rang out suddenly, a hint of satisfaction behind the steely words as she swept her hand across a quartet of buttons, green energy flowing from her fingers to keep the triggers down, "incoming door locked." she looked up, ponytail bouncing against her neck as she quickly checked on her brother "Max?" "Everything's fine, Tess. Outgoing door just locked, no problems." The older Atom answered with a momentary glance to her. Maximus briefly flickered and passed wraith-like through the panel, solidified enough to check an errant power cable, give it a cautious nudge, and then drifted back to his station with a a relieved smile. It soon vanished though, replaced by a deep frown. "Stand by, Terminus Tunnel opening...now!" And with that, the mouth opened. Air rushed through the Gateway, a deep howling that had begun as the last word fell rose to a deep thunder, and the room trembled as a roiling whirlpool of red and white gaped before the four heroines and four Atoms. Cosmo screamed and vanished in a flash of light to reappear trembling on a rafter, and for a moment nobody said anything more, until Chase stepped over to the visitors. Regarding them with his earnest, penetrating eyes, he said in a quiet voice that cut through the howling wind "We'll shut the outgoing door the moment we know you're through, but like we said earlier, just trigger the Passport," a small metal box sheathed in a faint yellow aura slid out of his pocket and floated over to Blue Jay, "and Max and Tess will reposition the passage to Sanctuary. We will transport you and anyone you can save out of the Terminus. I guess you'll want a 'good luck'. I wish you success." he gave a stiff nod and retreated to Tesla's station. Victoria gave the foursome an encouraging grin "Don't worry, Chase, it's not like they're racing in to beat up Shady Ironpants or anything, just a quick and quiet trip there, Tona grabs her people, they get back, yadda yadda, everything's gonna be fine." Reaching up to the ceiling with an elastic arm, she gently scratched the family Moon Monkey behind his ears "Sucks we're not coming with, I want to meet this 'Steam General' jerk and show him my new Atom Punch! But this is your gig, we'll stay put unless you need us." Miming a boxing motion she turned her legs into a stool and sat with Cosmo on her lap, stroking him gently from long practice. Tesla smiled a little "What Vicky said. Keep in touch, and good luck. I'm sorry we can't go with you. Could be there's someone we know trapped in there too." The maw of the Terminus Tunnel never ceased its seething, its flickering blood-bone colors giving the sere room an ugly feel.

January 6, 2014 7:20 AM EST The first ray of sunshine came in the window and Richard Cline opened his eyes, ready for his last day off before they headed back to the West Coast for a full week of shooting. Richard sat up, pushing aside the linen sheets, and looked at the waxed-paper window on the wall of the little wooden house. Ticktickticktick Time slowed to a crawl for Richard Cline, as Fast-Forward took in his changed bedroom with all the time in the world. Linen sheets, featherbed, waxpaper windows, and I think that's a chamberpot under the bed...oh, geez, am I back in the Renaissance again? He looked down at the woman sharing his bed and reached down to gently nudge Paige awake, feeling the familiar brush against his mind that had been part of his soul for twenty-five years. Aw, geez, did I take her back with me again? She's gonna kick my ass after that thing with the Wild West... Ticktickticktick On the handwrought, overlapping planks, there was a woodcut of a man frozen in a blur of motion paired with a smiling woman in a low-cut dress, smoke and fire rising from her hands. Behind them were a young man in equal speed, and a young girl with the same energies as her mother. The legend read CIRCUS OF CRIME, MAGIC, MISCHIEF, AND MERRIMENT! STARRING THE LEGENDARY ROGUES - THE CLINE FAMILY! WITH PASSION PLAYS TO SHOW THE TRUE MORAL WAY! The smell of horses outside, the sounds of activity; a circus in the middle of waking up for the day. It's another goddamned crisis in time! Richard Cline snapped awake alongside an altered version of his wife, dressed in a long black nightdress, and asked the question he had to ask. "...Baby, is that you?"

Thursday, November 28th, 3:00 PM Thanksgiving Mali Benjawan was excited. She'd arrived at home a couple days before and had woken up promptly in the morning to help her parents set dinner up. When she proposed bringing some friends in to eat with them, they were happy to hear it. Her parents expressed concern with their less than traditional Thanksgiving meal and how her friends would feel, but she reassured them that her friends weren't very traditional either. They were asked to arrive sometime in the early afternoon. Any time before six would be fine, because that's when they were planning on eating. She wasn't sure what time they were all going to show up, but in the meantime she distracted herself by helping with food preparation.