Realistic or Modern Heroes Among Us (CLOSED)

[DevlinRoss]

Roleplay for Heroes Among Us. As a closed roleplay, there are limted participants.

Character and lore files and other things will be added later I suppose.

 

[McCrackasaurus]

Liam enters his office undoing the buttons of his vest as he sits at his desk running his fingers through his hair. The time shows 11:43 PM.

'Twice weekly of this isn't so bad, I guess.' He thinks to himself. He starts filling out the attendance of the new night course. Elective variance control was the words the Dean used to describe it to him. It felt odd, 20 years ago Newton was one of a handful of Variants in the world. Now they had elective classes for them.

'I had to do this on my own.' He selfishly thought. 'Why can't they?'

He remembered Alyssa who sat in the front row that night. She had the ability to redirect the path of photons. In essence she could make an area brighter or darker at will. She had accidentally blinded someone once by focusing them too much in their direction. That's why she wanted help with this.

It felt similar to an AA meeting. Everyone introducing themselves and their problems. Perhaps he was just jealous that he didn't have anyone to discuss his with anymore. Not since Owen left.

---
Time skip of two weeks.
---

Liam once again was entering the attendance of the night course. Alyssa was surprisingly absent. She had been so enthusiastic over the past three sessions. Maybe his apathy finally got to her.

He noticed an unlabeled, unaddressed envelope on his desk. "What now?" He asked annoyed. This was always how Unknown made contact about a new job. Newton almost always didn't reply.

The letter described a list of young Variants that have gone missing. Connections to crime rings who have been exploiting them. Alyssa's name wasn't there, but her power was described in enough detail for him to know.

---
Enter Fragment?
---

 

[DevlinRoss]

"Have a nice day!" Noelle half sang as the customer walked out the door of the coffee shop. It wasn't until she was completely alone that she let the customer service smile drop. Being nice was exhausting. Turning around, she started cleaning the mugs in the sink.

The bell rang, and she stifled a roll of her eyes as she turned with the smile to greet the newest customer, a young man with glazed over eyes that still managed to analyze her.

The smile did not drop from her face, but her tone was clipped as she talked to him.

"Asking for more charity work?" she said, leaning on the counter.

The Unknown man sighed and said, "No. I need your help before it's too late."

He pulled some cash put of his pocket, but she caught the flash of an envelope hiding behind it.

"Your payment will be half upfront and half later. I've wired you the money, and everything else you need to know is in the letter," he said. Glancing at the menu, he tapped his finger against his chin and said, "I'd also like a strawberry smoothie to go."

"Coming right up," she said and quickly fixed up his drink. As the money switched hands, she palmed the envelope and gave him the drink. They nodded at each other, and when he was completely outside, she noticed that the young man now seemed confused as to why there was a strawberry smoothie in his hand.

---

At home, Noelle studied the letter in her pitiful kitchen. A bare lightbulb illuminated the contents of the letter: missing Variants around her age, crime rings, blackmail. It sounded like home.

The job itself was primarily reconnaissance. If neccessary, it would become a rescue mission, but hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

She wrinkled her brow and scowled as the letter described a meeting place with someone else who might be working this job. But, since he paid her, she wasn't going to complain too much. Also, there was always the possibility that this mysterious partner wouldn't show up, so she had her fingers crossed.

With a final look at the letter, she noted the time and place to meet and where to head out from there. She suited up before heading to the meeting place.

 

[McCrackasaurus]

Newton, as he always called himself when embracing his power, sat in a supply closet in a building that was on the southern edge of the University. This building had a view of the small river that ran out into the large lake nearby. He was adjusting simple cloth mask that covered the majority of his face. It made him uncomfortable, but notoriety was simply unacceptable for his position. He mentally went through the elements and compound that he had in his pouches and quick uses he could make of them. After, he studied the tattoos of the chemical compounds that he had on his forearms of common elements he could manipulate in a moment's notice.

With a sigh, he adjusted a strapped pouch on his thigh and he noticed his hand was shaking.

Unknown always picked odd places for a rendezvous for new jobs. He never could piece together why. The door cracked open slowly and Newton's body became taught, hand instinctively attempting to grab the Magnesium in his vest pouch ready to blind an unwelcome visitor. He saw a young women enter matching the bare-bones description provided by Unknown of who might be accompanying him that evening. He allowed himself to relax.

He shook his head at himself for his jitters. 'Relax. You've done this before.' He stands to the newcomer. "Hello." His voice managed to resonate with confidence. "You can call me Newton for tonight. You may not know but I have the ability to change the molecular composition and structure of most any objects I can touch, provided I know what they are made of. I'd like to know the basics of what you are capable of before we leave. I need to know what I'm working with."

 

[DevlinRoss]

Before she entered the supply closet, Noelle adjusted the bright blue and white scarf around her nose and mouth. Since it was night, she was wearing her regular glasses instead of sunglasses (she did need to see after all). And it did keep her appearance changing constantly.

When she opened the door, she noticed the man and his many, many pockets. She reached for her glasses when he reached for one of his pockets but relaxed when he did. Or at least as much as she could. Other Variants made her nervous.

"Fragment," she said in response to him. She crossed her arms and sighed when he asked her what she could do. "I'm not really in the habit of telling people what I can do. But I doubt you'd take that for an answer... So, I can manipulate glass. Break it, put it back together, so on and so forth." She took her glasses off and concentrated so that one of the lenses cracked. She held it up for Newton to see and then waved her hand over it so that the cracks fused back together.

"So," she said, putting her glasses back on her face, "since we'll be working together, we should come up with a plan of attack, yes?"

 

[McCrackasaurus]

The door opens as if to answer her question. A burly night janitor stands there with a glazed over expression that is familiar to both of them. He turns and locks the door behind himself and then addresses himself.

"Newton," the janitor begins. "You know the layout of the river science building, correct?"

Newton replies with a simple nod.

"Good. Tonight will just be information gathering. Please do not engage and inform the ring that we are after them. My sources state that they are using variants there somehow. I can't personally investigate as the lasting affects of my reach might still tip someone off." The janitor continued. "Find out how many they have working for them, where specifically in the building they are holding captives, and the count of the captives. Any additional details will be rewarded based on their usefulness and validity."

Newton nods and stands and prepares to leave following the janitor who continues walking down the hall and begins mopping before looking around confused. Newton proceeds down a set of stairs in a separate direction before speaking. "What are the range of your abilities, a rough estimate?"

 

[DevlinRoss]

Noelle nodded her head at Unknown's request to be stealthy. She could be stealthy. It was something she'd practiced at and perhaps struggled with because of her powerset, but she could be stealthy.

Noelle followed Newton, taking note of the building's layout as best she could, and while she did so, she gave him an annoyed side-eye. He was a nosey bastard. There was a small part of her that wondered if it was customary to exchange information like this, like they were students in a classroom. It would be nice to have a confidant, but that idea was quickly squashed down and stuffed into a deep part of her psyche. It was just business. If she understood his power correctly, he could create more glass for her to manipulate, which would make him a powerful tool.

She thought back to the time she outed herself back home and guessed at the radius of damage she created.

"At my strongest, I've broken things about 120 feet away from me. I've only managed to do so once... However, my reliable range is up to 60 feet," she said, snapping her fingers. "Within that range, I can break glass, move the shards, change them into a new configuration, break them again, et cetera... But I don't think it's fair if it's just me talking. You can manipulate matter, yes? What does that look like?"

 

[McCrackasaurus]

Newton exits the building and begins proceeding down a hill that leads to the river. "You'll see in a moment." He replies.

He walks following the bed of the river approaching a two-story building that rests nearly on top of it. Attached the the building was a small dam equipped with hydro-electric generators. After checking for any persons on the exterior of the building Newton takes a few steps into the water and places his hands into the water.

A small surge of purple energy sparks from his hand into the moving water. Although this wasn't a change of molecular shape rather distance between molecules it didn't take a whole lot of effort for the water of the river to begin changing into a billowing cloud of fog. Newton returns out of the water and whispers as they are closer to the building.

"Any questions? I'm sure you'll see more as the night goes on." Although he is wearing a mask the presence of his cocky grin was apparent. Using the fog for cover Newton continues walking down the river towards the building.

 

[DevlinRoss]

Noelle was impressed. Was she going to tell Newton that? No, because she could feel his cocky grin underneath his mask. However, she could feel her curiosity getting the better of her, stepping in front of him and walking backwards toward the building.

"How much did you change? What's it feel like? Has it ever backfired on you?" she said, one rapid-fire question after another. It took her a brief second to realize her guard dropped, and she adjusted her scarf more firmly before moving back behind Newton. She let silence build a wall between them again before she spoke.

"Smart idea to provide cover," she said, following behind him. "Know how long it'll last? Just in case things go south. What else can you tell me about this building? You seem to be familiar with it. Exits -- does it have windows or is it built like a prison?"

 

[McCrackasaurus]

Newton raised an eyebrow at the torrent of questions from the same girl who recently was irritated with him for a few. However, he really didn't mind too much. He took a handful of sand from the river bed.

"That was about 20 liters. Any more would have been an uncharacteristic amount of fog for this time of year on this river." He began as he came to one of the exterior doors with a window on the flush wall, ensuring he wasn't in line of sight of it.

From the silicone in the sand and the oxygen in the air he altered the molecular composition to create a silver-dollar sized piece of glass in his hand with a black carbon backing to create a small mirror. "It honestly doesn't feel like anything in particular. Just feels like I'm putting parts in different places in my mind and the material follows." He continues in a whisper. He offers her the small mirror. "Can you use this to check around corners including this window?"

He would answer the questions about the building in a moment.

 

[DevlinRoss]

The way he described rearranging material felt very similar to how rearranging glass felt. But there would be other times to think about how similar their powers were.

Noelle took the mirror with a nod. She opened her hand and gently sent the mirror to a point above both of their heads around the corner. She adjusted the angle until they both could see around the corner, careful to avoid creating a flash from any nearby light sources.

 

[McCrackasaurus]

Through the window they see no movement and no people inside.

Newton nods and stands up to the door, placing his hand on the handle. 'Locked, of course.' Newton thinks to himself. He sighs and another small burst of purple light escapes from his hand as he separates the lock from the door frame in a clean cut.

He then opens the door. "Ladies first." He says with he same grin as before. Through the door is a hallway that continues for about 40 feet with a classroom immediately to the left where they viewed through the window.

"Building is 3 floors. Base level where we are now. Upstairs are more classroom and the lab that monitors the generators. Basement floor has access the the generators themselves. If there are captives here it would be near there as people only go there when maintenance is required. Any ideas?"

 

[DevlinRoss]

The mirror zoomed toward Noelle before abruptly slowing down so she could snatch it out of the air. She ran her fingers around the edges as she thought about the layout of the building. She rolled her eyes at his comment, but entered anyway.

"If the lab has any cameras, we should check there. Unknown does want us to keep a low profile," she said, slipping past Newton. "If that gives nothing, then we should head down to the basement and see what's going on down there."

 

[McCrackasaurus]

"I believe it does, good idea." He says and gestures to the staircase up ahead to the right. "Take the lead. Continue to check corners. " He says in a whisper then follows her up the stairs.

Newton began to worry about the implications of himself, a professor, breaking into a university building late at night. "Also, lets make sure we also don't get caught on any cameras." He lets out in an uncharacteristic croak.

 

[DevlinRoss]

Noelle sent the mirror back out to roughly the same spot as before. She keep to the side of the walls, and whenever she noticed a camera, she sent a spiderweb of cracks through the black dome things that covered them. She did this regardless of what Newton wanted, although the croak in his voice amused her.

"An old man like you afraid of being caught on camera?" she said with a slight chuckle. "I thought all old timers were showy, like Phase Shift. Or Absolute." Her tone darkened at the thought of Absolute. Tiny cracks started to appear in the tiny mirror, and her heart jumped. She took one deep breath and let it out slowly. As she did so, the cracks in the mirror fused back together. She didn't move forward until the mirror had been completely repaired.

It was probably good that she didn't move as she caught the flash of someone in black holding a rifle standing at a door in the mirror. She held her hand out in a fist and pointed at the mirror. She turned back to Newton and struck her fist against her hand before tilting her head. It was at this point Noellr cursed Unknown's desire to give her a partner. She was never good at charades.

 

[McCrackasaurus]

Newton understands the signal of knocking the guy out and shakes his head, pointing to a near classroom instead. He slowly and silently opening it, allowing Fragment to follow, and closes it behind her.

"If whoever is in charge finds a guard knocked out, they will know that their operation is under surveillance and they most likely won't come back here and the trail is gone." He starts in a whisper, trying to keep an eye out the window into the hallway for movement.

"We could distract him?" He suggests. Searching his pouches coming up with a vial and dripping a few drops of sulfuric acid into it. He transmutes the acid into carbon disulfide after breathing into the vial providing the carbon and the waste material throwing into a nearby bin. Afterwards he repeats a transformation of the air grabbing nitrogen and oxygen creating nitrous oxide and containing it within the vial, he stoppers it.

"If we ignite this it will create a loud repeating bark sound." Newton states while going to an exterior window and opening it. "You can manipulate the glass to bring it outside and cause a small fissure for the gas to escape and then you can bring a match down to ignite it." He continue while grabbing a match and offering it to her with an additional vial."

 

[DevlinRoss]

Now Noelle knew what all the pockets were for.

"Impressive," she said quietly as she waved her hand toward the window. Both vials flew out the open window, and she changed the shape of one vial to better hold the match. In quick succession, she struck the match against the side of the building and created a crack in the other vial. She brought both vials together in a place that would draw the most attention from the guard. Like Newton said, it created a barking sound.

She used the mirror to watch as the guard walked away from the door to investigate. She motioned to Newton to move before the guard came back.

 

[McCrackasaurus]

Under the mask a giddy smile is apparent. "Perfect." He says in a whisper.

He opens the door and follows Noelle to their target room. They enter the room and he looks at the vast security equipment as well as the monitoring system for the generators.

"I hope you're better with computers than me." He muses. "Although this is pretty telling."

Newton points out flashing warning signs on the center generator about overheating. "I have no idea what would be causing just one of them to fail."

 

[DevlinRoss]

Noelle looked at the computers and shrugged her shoulders. Most of the jobs she did required brute strength or intimidation.

"Computers were never too interesting to me," she muttered as she took stock of everything in the room. She walked over to the computers and examined the keyboards and the desks, looking for a clue on how to activate the cameras.

Glancing over at the warning signs, she said, "I would bet a month of rent the Variants have something to do with it."

 

[McCrackasaurus]

Newton nodded standing for a few seconds thinking about how to proceed. "We probably only have a minute before the guard comes back.." He says trailing off while approaching the computer.

"You'll vouch for me, right?" He says while typing in his university login information at the computer to access the system. He hadn't wanted to do so because it would be worse than a thumbprint at crime scene, but he was low on alternatives.

In the system now, he accessed the cameras that observed the lower maintenance area of the generators. Attached to the center one were a series of small cages that are portable. Inside were four adolescents. One was actively watching for patrolling guards while another was tinkering with the generator behind them.

There is a panning camera that views from the other side of the room, showing three guards in the observation area as well as one that is roaming.

"That's five guards total. Assuming none of them are variants that's and easy snatch and grab if we want to take the opportunity now. Or we can do as ordered, leave and report and these kids won't be here tomorrow." Newton says without looking up.

 

[DevlinRoss]

"Yeah, I'll vouch for you," said Noelle, keeping an eye on the door, just in case the guard came back. She flipped the mirror in her hands, using it to keep herself in the moment and not let her mind wander. Her eyes flicked back to the screen and when she saw the cages, her heart caught, and without thinking, she cracked one of the computer screens.

"Shit," she muttered as she sent the mirror through the crack in the door. From the reflection, she caught the guard coming to investigate the noise, rifle held at the ready. "Of course he heard it... Looks like this is going to be a smash and grab."

 

[McCrackasaurus]

Newton locks the computer quickly and runs low to the ground and slides to be up against the door frame. As the guard walks into the room Newton places a hand on the rifle right above the magazine transmuting he metal into a useless shape and the gunpowder within the bullets to Potassium and more Nitrous Oxide. A small puff of gas escaping the weapon.

He then jumps back not wanting to severely harm the man. "Go!" He says in a whisper shout to Fragment.

 

[DevlinRoss]

Noelle ducked under the guard and pulled the cracked screen with a wave of her hand as she did so. It morphed from shards of glass into a sheet of glass and promptly smacked the guard in the face, sending him stumbling backward. She kept the sheet from shattering so that he wouldn't be stabbed, but let him fall and crash to the ground. With a flick of her wrist, the sheet shattered again before it formed itself into a glass rod. It flew to her hand with a smack, and she took off toward the stairs. Newton could probably handle himself.

The guard scrambled to his feet and tried to use his rifle on Noelle. When it didn't work, he let out a snarl and used it as an impromptu club, swinging at Newton's face.

 

[McCrackasaurus]

Catching the rifle and repeating a similar transformation, breaking the metal into pieces to a near complete disassembly, Newton then places his other hand on the man's forearm separate the particles that held the guards tendons to bone. This caused his arm to drop lifeless to his side.

"Sorry," Newton says with a smirk under the mask. "I was more than satisfied simply disarming you." Newton then led with a fist into the man's temple, attempting to knock him out. He was unsuccessful but guard did stumble, dazed from the blow.

Newton then gave chase to catch Fragment.

 

[DevlinRoss]

Noelle glanced behind her and winced unconciously for the guard as she noticed his arm flopped lifelessly to the side. Once she turned the corner she slowed down a bit so Newton could catch up.

"Lead the way," she said. "You seem to know the place better than I do." Something clicked in her head. "Shit. One of the Variants were tinkering with the generator. We should hurry or else they might blow this place sky high."