Fandom Knights of Checkmate | A DC Comics RP

[Lost Martian]

The Castle rose up among the tall peaks of the Swiss Alps, a beacon of importance amid the natural wonder. The structure was quite well built for having being rushed through construction in only a few months. The formation of Checkmate had necessitated such rushes in infrastructure to facilitate the effective working of the new organization.

While operating as the main headquarters for all of Checkmate, the Castle was divided into four corners, each the personal domain of one of the Royals. While there was rarely any overlap between the corners, most of the agents of Checkmate staying near their Royals, there was currently a buzz among the Pawns as they hurried into the tower of the White King.

Ash Price didn’t seem shocked by the busy movements of the Pawns, as they always seemed to be whipped into a frenzy by some new crisis. As such he relaxed, a can of cola in one hand while the other swiped through his phone. Of course this was a new phone provided to him by Checkmate, with various safeguards built in to prevent any release of information about Checkmate.

While Ash could scroll through social media, he was unable to make any posts himself. It was all thanks to the wonderful designs of Scott Universal, the company owned by Alan Scott, the White King and Ash’s boss. There was some kind of cruel irony in how Ash did end up working for the same man that had employed his parents for so many years.

But Ash didn’t ruminate on that too long, as he leaned back on the chair in the communal kitchen. While the sugary soda wasn’t his first choice of drink, even a screw up like him knew that it was far too early in the day to be drinking anything hard. Still, the allure of the nearby liquor cabinet was enticing to Ash.

But he resisted, instead gulping down more of the tooth rotting black liquid. As he finished the can with a mighty gulp, Ash decided to get up and actually make something of the day. While he could simply teleport wherever he wanted, Ash knew that he was still on probation with Checkmate. He was currently limited to the Castle, unless assigned a mission. While it was essentially house arrest, Ash did feel safer here than outside with agents of the Greek gods going after him.

So Ash went for a walk, though it was a limited area to cross. Given his probationary status, Ash wasn’t allowed in most of the intelligence parts of the intelligence sides of Checkmate. That and the fact the Castle was divided up among the Royals meant that Ash was really limited in where he could go.

Boredom would quickly overtake the magical thief, as he sat down in a corner. While there were options of things to do, from the gym to the indoor garden, nothing was jumping out at Ash. Thankfully he would be rescued from tedium when his Checkmate issued phone chimed. Glancing down at the message, Ash saw that he was to report to the briefing room.

This excited Ash as he hadn’t really had a chance to do a real mission for Checkmate. Prior to this he had done some minor solo intelligence jobs, but nothing really big. Ash wondered if this would involve his fellow Knights, as he hadn’t really met them, just occasionally seeing them around the Castle.

Ash would then take the central elevator to the briefing room, one of the few areas he was allowed in. As the elevator opened Ash saw the White King’s Bishop waiting for him. Apparently named Michael Holt, the dark skinned was some kind of super genius that the White King scooped up right out of college. Ash would question his credentials given his young age, but that would be hypocritical of him given his own personal situation.

“Mr. Price please take a seat,” said Holt, “Your fellow Knights should be here shortly.”

Ash looked around the room, most of it filled up by a large table. What was odd was the Pawns coming in and out of the room and into a restricted part of the Castle. They all seemed to pay no attention to Ash.

“Mr. Holt, what exactly is going on?” asked Ash, “I’ve never seen the Castle this busy.”

“I guess you haven’t seen the news,” replied Holt, “Just so I don’t need to repeat myself I’ll wait till we are all assembled.”

“And the White King?”

“Busy with other things. I’ll be commanding this mission.”

Ash wondered what that meant, but he did know Alan Scott to be quite mysterious. He had come out of nowhere with his company Scott Universal but now he was suddenly a Royal of Checkmate. There were a lot of things that didn’t add up in Ash’s mind, but he didn’t figure he would come to any conclusions right now. So instead he just took a seat around the briefing desk.

 

[Kikimura]

Sport was in the middle of a workout when her Agency issued phone let out a shiver across the bench she was resting upon. Picking it up and examining the words on screen she let out a sigh. "Eigo . . . Kuso." Left with no other choice she did her best to figure out the words from the context-- while the lessons certainly helped with her speaking and listening, reading English was still a chore. Either way she got the memo; heading to the showers and rinsing herself down quickly before dressing up in her classic suit embroidered with the symbol of a flower across the upper neck and hand clasps, generously gifted and fitted to her short stature by the Agency for our of mission formal meetings.


Sport made her way into the briefing room, examining her surroundings, landing on the bishop and Ash for but a moment. She was exceedingly short and quite petite, the suit sitting nicely across her figure as she leaned up against a wall most obscured by shadows.

Mentions: Lost Martian

 

[Scatterbrain]

Tristan stood in the castle library, perusing the worn pages of one of the many books that lined the shelves. The room itself was massive, its towering shelves reaching towards the ceiling, and the tomes it held seemed almost endless. The books covered a wide range of subjects, from history and philosophy to science and mythology, and Tristan marvelled at the wisdom they contained. Some were even first editions which spoke volumes of the clandestine Checkmate's vast resources. It wouldn't have surprised Tristan if all human knowledge was contained within these walls, much like the legendary Great Library of Alexandria. He had been lucky enough to visit its vast archives during his lengthy lifetime and couldn't help but feel melancholic recalling its destruction. In an age where everything was growing increasingly digitized, Tristan found comfort in the tactile experience of holding a book in his hands. The transition from scrolls to books had been jarring enough for the immortal intellectual and he cherished having a tangible connection to knowledge that only physical copies could provide.

Lost in thought, his musings were interrupted by the gentle vibration of his phone. With a curious glance, he retrieved the device and read the message summoning him to the briefing room.
Tristan left the solitude of the library behind and traversed the vast corridors of the castle towards the central elevator. Descending towards the briefing room, he took his seat at the imposing table, his gaze flittering towards some of the other Knights, who before now he had only ever seen in passing. Tristan remained silent and quietly composed while he waited for the briefing to begin.

Lost Martian Kikimura

 

[RikuXIII]

A short way from the new Checkmate headquarters stood Dr Esmeralda Ortiz overlooking a mountain lake. From where she stood she could see the current was quite strong as the water rushed to the waterfall just down river. While it was a stunning sight in it's own right, Esme was here for the unusual fog bank drifting lazily up from the waterfall. There had been chatter about it seemingly floating up the rushing water from some of the pawns coming off of patrol. She hoped this odd phenomena meant the rest of her gear had arrived.
The fog seemed to come to a stop directly in front of Esme. Sound and light seemed to be muffled as tendrils of it made it's way on shore, followed shortly by a gang plank. Esme smirked as the hull of the Baron's Dance became visible within it's shroud of fog. She ran up the gang plank and beelined for the helm.
"Was getting worried, Matthias." Esme said as she pushed into wheelhouse, her eyes focused on the human skull adorned with glowing runes. "It's been nearly a week since I saw you off."
"And I said it would be a miracle if the Baron could make a transatlantic voyage, even with it's magical charms." Drawled the voice of the late Matthias Whytlock seemly out of thin air. "If not for my expertise, the hidden currents would have taken my sweet boat to the Below several times over."
Matthias had not said anything of the sort. Esme vividly remembered his boasts that he would beat her to Switzerland. But she had learned a while ago to let such claims from the late alchemist slide.
"Well, it's a good thing I prepared enough of the goop to keep you going." She replied with a sigh. "Still holding up?"
"Yes, though I hope you would top off the reserves when you have time."
"Sure, I think I should-" Esme began before a jazzy tone from her phone told her she had a message.
She pulled it up to see a summons by a Bishop. A smile played on her lips as she responded and put her phone away.
"Sorry, Matthias." Esme said as she headed for the wheelhouse's door. "Looks like duty calls."
******
Esme made it back to the castle using her Beetle, giving it to a Pawn to park as she rushed to the meeting room. When she arrived, she found three other knights already assembled along with Bishop Holt.
"Sorry I'm late." She said, coming to loose attention before Holt. "Some of my equipment from the states finally arrived."

Mentions: Lost Martian Kikimura Scatterbrain​

 

[Karcen]

Lara after being recruited by checkmate had found their hone base annoying, she and the demon had been more at home in the decrepit abandoned church hidden away amoung the homeless and hopeless. This place was new, it was clean, and it was not soaked thin the same darkness that made up her body. It was only one thing that had made Lara come with the group, it was a little thing really, something that might seem and be minor to others. They had used her name, not the name of the nameless, but the nane of a girl dead 15 years, a little girl who had died with her family. This group knew far to much for her liking and didn't want to know what it would do if she had refused. Still thry were not on the same side Lara had made that very clear.

In the base that lacked any truly dark hidden corners, that had little time to accumulate the darkness that would likely one day drench this place, Lara had set herself up in what many might find an odd spot a chapel in the vase. Lara didn't know why such a group had one, but given they accepted the demonic they might have included it to please the angelic. Angels, like they would ever help anyone to long bound by ancient rites and pacts to send more than a few of their hunters who only cared about purging the demonic. Still the place was like where Lara had lived before thus it was some comfort even if it was far to new for her liking. Now that it was hers the entire feeling of the place had changed. It felt dark and oppressive, and should any agent enter it even if Lara was unseen she was felt. The rattle of chains, whispers spoken by no one, the feeling of being watched, it wasas if the chapel was haunted and in a way it was. The fear and discomfort was just enough for Lara to feed on.

After some time after taking up residence Lara would find the phone that she had been given ringing. There was a meeting,Lara didn't like being at another beck and call, but she put up with it. Lara waited a moment before she withdrew into the shadows and the darkness of the chapel mostly vanished, though the place was forever tainted if not blessed.

In the meeting room the shadow under the table deeped and as if moved by an unseen light stretched. It moved up onto the wall and quickly assumed the form of a human shadow. Out from it stepped no demon from the depth of hell, but seemingly a taller woman. Her skin lightly tanned, her eyes a deep red and her hair an odd white. She almost looked albino but lacked a few features that would make her one. Still aside from her odd looks the oddest thing about her had to be her clothes as she was dressed in the robes and habit of a nun. " Finally decided to put your killers to work? she asked her tone showing no respect for those gathered her and rather her words seemed chosen to cause the most hurt.

 

[NachoGod]

The little golem sat in his Room within the castle itself, Granted his domicile would be hard pressed to be called a room but still it was where he would be found when not working in the garden. There was no furniture or fixtures, just stone flooring and walls with many piles of debris. A keen eye could see the occasional book and a single boombox atop a pile of quartz. Were someone to walk by without looking for long enough they might even miss the creature.

Bouldy was reading, turning the page once every minute or so but otherwise sitting still enough to blend in. The thin Onyx beads he called eyes didn’t even shift as they took in the words on the page, no rising or falling of his chest as no need for breathing was present. Just a pile of rocks and its book passing the time.

Bouldy was utterly oblivious to the frantic motions of those in the palace around him, sure he could feel the footfalls and hurried steps, but humans were just like that. Always moving too and fro, their short lives filled with enough motion that he admittedly felt a bit dizzy when he watched them for too long. Yet eventually his reading was cut short by a different vibration. The Phone they had given him, and subsequently replaced about half a dozen times before giving him a slightly more sturdy one, had begun buzzing. Rising from his perch atop the stone pile he would scurry across his room, rather gracefully for one with such short limbs and dig it out of his gravel pile. Apparently it was time for him to go to the briefing room. The creature grumbled in a bit of annoyance before opening his mouth and swallowing the phone. He was told he could not go places without it.

Scurrying back across his room he would reach the door where his pile of sand was conveniently placed. Placing a hand on it he would seem to crumble into the sand itself before the pile rose and began quickly drifting towards his meeting place. a keen eye would see three masses of sand in the drifting cloud, one containing and moving his core, the second holding onto and moving the phone, and the third holding a simple rock around the size of a baseball.

In a few short moments the sand would drift into the room, the three masses becoming one and taking a vaguely humanoid shape before it began to compact and become rigid mimicking the rock he had brought. “why have you called me? I was at a good chapter.” He would say in his strangely high pitched yet still gravely voice.​

 

[Lost Martian]

Ash was surprised that he was first to arrive to the briefing, having been known around the Castle as somewhat of a slacker. Perhaps it was just chance that he was right next to the elevator when the alert chimed on his phone. Though Ash wouldn’t have to wait long for another Knight to show up, a petite Asian woman taking a seat at the table. The White King’s Bishop acknowledged her as Ms. Sport.

While Ash wondered what kind of name Sport was, another Knight entered the briefing room, also silently taking a seat. Apparently he was a Mr. Miles. It was only as the White King’s Knights assembled that Ash realized that he had no idea how many Knights there actually were. A lot of the inner workings of Checkmate were a complete mystery, especially for someone still on probation.

Ash considered asking Holt about the size of the team, when another Knight entered. It took Ash a few seconds to recognize her as the one with the really cool custom beetle. Ash really hoped that he would get a chance to drive it on this mission. However, Ash couldn’t recall her name as she apologized for tardiness and mentioned her equipment having just come in.

“Quite alright Ms. Reyes,” said Holt, “We’re actually waiting on two more Knights.”

Almost on cue another Knight appeared, though Ash had no clue from where. In one instance there had been no one to Ash’s left, and now suddenly there was a female figure. It was completely bizarre to Ash as she was dressed as a nun and spoke of putting us killers to work. Ash immediately flagged her as the edgy lone wolf of the team, as she gave off that vibe in volumes.

“No Ms. Aldred, this is no assassination mission, strictly intelligence,” replied Holt, his right eyebrow raised.

Ash thought of arguing with the strange lady who had come out of nowhere, but he honestly didn’t want to get into anything major. It had been a pretty low key day, save this briefing, and he wanted to keep it that way. Then a person made out of sand, rocks, and other random materials appeared.

Ash truly wondered just how out there his fellow Knights were, as the rock thing asked the thing everyone wanted to know: why had they been assembled.

“I apologize for interrupting you, Mr. Bouldy,” Holt said, the name sounding odd coming from his mouth, “However this is a critical mission.”

Ash couldn’t decide which was weirder, the edgy nun or the rock monster named Bouldy. But he did note that Michael Holt was treating them both with respect. Ash guessed that since the Bishop was the right hand person to the Royal, they would be familiar with all agents working for them. But as Ash looked around the room, he couldn’t help but wonder what had caused the White King to pick this odd assortment of Knights.

“Now that we are all assembled, I will begin,” said Holt as he took a seat, activating a holographic display in the middle of the table, “I assume that you are all familiar with the nation of Bialya? Middle Eastern nation that has been under various military dictatorships for the past few decades. Well as of yesterday the regime of Colonel Rumaan Harjavti was overthrown. Led by democratic reformer Beatriz Fadel, revolutionary forces have captured the capital of Alegab and imprisoned Harjavti.”

“While this new government is stating that they will have democratic elections soon, we have our doubts. She has already opened the borders of Bialya to all meta-humans wishing asylum. This has naturally put neighboring Kahndaq on edge. Kahndaq itself has only thrown off their own dictatorship in the past year, something Mr. Bouldy was present for, and as such is in a fragile state.”

“We also have information of various organizations already coming into the area to make use of this gathering of meta-humans. The White King has decided that we should look into any possible abuses of power in the region, and has chosen to deploy all of his Knights. You will be disguised as meta-human refugees, flying into the country. Once there you will assess the plans of Fadel and any other organization working in the region.”

“The plane will leave in two hours, and will take you to Alegab. Does anyone have any questions?”

Ash immediately raised his hand, “Yeah, I can’t speak anything except English, as I flunked out of Spanish class. Will they speak my language?”

“Of course, as most of the refugees are from the west. According to social media, most meta-humans in America don’t want to be pegged as a superhero or villain and are looking for a different option,” explained Holt.

Ash had other questions, but the last one he asked made him feel dumb. As such he shut his mouth. While two hours wasn’t a lot of time to prepare for a mission, Ash didn’t need to go anywhere to grab his gear. Thanks to the bag of holding attached to his belt, he could call forth all his weapons and armor from the pocket dimension contained within.

Ash then gazed around the briefing room, wondering if anyone had a decent question. Ash had only been gathered with his fellow Knights for a few minutes now and already felt like the weak link. Perhaps he could prove his worth while on the mission. After all, a teleporting thief could prove useful for any situation that could come up.

---

Mentions: Kikimura Scatterbrain RikuXIII Karcen NachoGod

 

[Karcen]

Aldred, Aldred, that word alone made Lara angry she had not liked them using her name when they came to recruit her and she didn't like it being used so casually. Names held power, the demon's name held power over him and her name held power over her. It was not the same level of power, but still had her name to someone with the right mystical knowledge and things got bad. She had experienced this once before fighting a user of magic that had uncovered her name. With the art of necromancy she could be seriously hampered almost controlled for Lara was very much among the dead now kept here in a fake body by the skin of a demon. The fact the mission for now was just spying was not what she expected, a skillful infiltrator with a silver tongue was one thing Lara was not. She knew she was best when just allowed to kill and hurt, she fed on it. The others who knew, but she wasn't one who relished bloodless games. She also had a little issue with the role she was assigned, a fleeing meta human, really? Lara if given her choice in this matter would have likely picked a rather surprising role of aid worker. It fit her favored disguise and she did help those with nothing before, watch over the homeless, heal their injures, even once she had brought one back from death. The refugees that weren't being given a first class flight to this place would come with nothing and those that could heal would be rare. That was the duality Lara often felt torn in two directions, following the demon that kept her alive she would become a stained in blood seeking to kill all she could, and on the other from some unknown place came a desire to reluctantly aid those at the lowest levels of society.

" Two things : Lara said " First do not use that name you works with the mystically gifted so you should know better " She said her eyes flashing a glowing green as she didn't speak with any respect towards holt if anything there was a barely held back hostility. " And two has no one learned playing king makers in that quagmire never ends well?" She asked though it wasn't really meant to be answered the middle east seemed to never work out with foreigners trying to dictate who got to have power.

While the brief was just go in look for abuses, there was an implicit if in there. If abuses were found then remove the leader and replace them with one we like more. That was how the game was played and it never ended well. Loyalty from traitors was not something to be expected, they sold out their fellows for power for what they viewed as their cause. Well that wasn't her problem in the end, if the group stumbled form the word go and made enemies then that was their fault not hers.

Lost Martian

 

[Kikimura]

Sport looked to the woman. Seems like she either had ideals, or didn't want to get her hands dirty with another mans business. She had the right of it, of course, but Sport was a long road ahead of actually giving a single f*ck. Ever since joining the agency she acquired the repute of an agent who does as she's told. A loaded gun. The agency tells her to shoot, and all she needs is a direction. At this point, everything is an occupational hazard. People no longer mattered, not in this trade. People will always end up disappointing you.

Without saying a word ever since her arrival, the sound of a cocking Deagle was heard as Sport looked down-sights at the floor as if to check if it has been dusted lately. With a fed bullet, she stashed the gun back in its holster, grabbing her incredibly large Odachi (massive katana) and walked out.

Soon she was back in her room, packing a reinforced gym-bag with a few sets of protective vests, ammo, and even a pair of NVGs.

Mentions: Scatterbrain Lost Martian RikuXIII NachoGod

 

[RikuXIII]

As the other Knights entered the briefing, Esme took a seat and settled in. She pulled a small note pad from her jacket and started making notes on the mission. International conflicts like this had not really been her wheel house before. She hadn't even served outside of the US and it's territories when she was in the National Guard. But expanding one's horizons was the whole point of joining up with Checkmate. Just boil it down to the investigation and potential crime. She made special notes to do more research into Bialya and Beatriz Fadel during transit.
While some Knights moved off to gather their gear, the one Esme was introduced to as "Hell Spawn" pushed back on the use of her name and the mission. Esme had only encountered actual demons a few times in her unlife and she usually relied on specialists to finish those cases. Someone using that kind of power for good was new to Esme, but perhaps a welcome one. Time would have to tell and Esme might have to brush up on anti-demon concoctions.
"Than let's focus on the people." Esme interjected, joining Hell Spawn and Holt. "We make sure they have what they need to choose their own ruler. I'm not in favor of establishing some puppet government either, but if this is another volatile regime now with a flock of metahumans in their debt, things could boil over fast."
Something in the briefing stirred in Esme's mind and she half turned to spot Bouldy.
"Bouldy, do you have any knowledge of Bialya?" She asked the golem. "I'd love to pick you brain on the way over to Alegab if you do."

Mentions: Lost Martian Kikimura Karcen NachoGod Scatterbrain

 

[Scatterbrain]

As the briefing commenced and Holt outlined the details of the mission, Tristan listened intently, absorbing the information with keen focus.

In his extensive lifetime, he had witnessed various regime changes and the rise and fall of countless dictators. From ancient empires to modern-day conflicts, the cycle of power and oppression seemed never-ending and he couldn't help but feel a sense of dismay at the thought of it happening again in Bialya. However, Tristan found some comfort in the knowledge that their mission was solely focused on gathering intelligence. Having devoted his life for the longest time to preserving life, it came as a great relief to him to know that they wouldn't be directly involved in any violent confrontations. Tristan couldn't help but empathize with the meta-humans fleeing to Bialya, having experienced first hand the burden of being different in a world that often tried to exploit those who stood apart from the rest for their own agendas.

As the briefing drew to a close, Tristan glanced around at his fellow Knights. They were a rather disparate bunch, each with their own presence and character, and Tristan couldn't help but wonder who would be leading the mission. In his experience, a defined leader was crucial for maintaining cohesion and avoiding infighting within the group. Raising his hand, Tristan waited for a pause in the dialog before speaking up. "Excuse me, Holt," Tristan began, his voice calm and measured. "I was wondering who will be leading our team on the ground in Bialya? Having a clear chain of command will be essential for coordinating our efforts effectively."

Lost Martian Kikimura RikuXIII NachoGod Karcen