Veiled Malice

Ren had been up all night, just as he was every night, but he still didn’t feel ready. Going into this engagement half cocked would get him killed. Preparation, then, became paramount. He’d checked over his instruments a dozen times. He made sure everything was in its proper order, ready to find and employ at a moment’s notice. The game plan was on a constant loop in his mind, every inch examined with a mental microscope for the slightest of flaws. His uniform had been carefully chosen for maximum impact. There was no way the enemy would stand unimpressed after seeing it. But there was still one problem. He couldn’t find his damn shoes! “ But this, this thing he had with Lynn… it was completely different. She’d stormed into his life with intense force and blown away all his previous preconceptions about damn near everything having to do with the opposite sex. She was funny, witty, mischievous, kind, and supportive all at the same time. It made him want to be a better person for her, frankly, and that wasn’t easy to pull off. He’d been in a deep depression since his transformation, but when she was around… none of it seemed to matter. Of course, seeing as how they had literally met right before he had to fight some superheroes that had a problem with him, and were subsequently sucked back in time thanks to a faulty teleport, (thanks a lot, Icarus!) Renichi hadn’t had the time he might have otherwise liked to get to know her. She felt the same way, which is why she’d suggested they try a date. “See how things goâ€Â, was the phrasing she’d used. And he was ecstatic she’d even allow him that. Up until he’d met her, Ren had been heading down a bad path. Armed robbery, drug deals, that kind of stuff. The fact that they were on different sides of the crime equation had not escaped either of them. He was willing to change, though. But only if he could find his damn shoes! Ren stumbled out of his closet, tripped over a stack of old magazines, and fell to the floor. “Chikusho! †Renichi reached under his bed and scooped up the shoes he’d chosen for today. Nothing special, but he felt they went along with the rest of his outfit. He’d collected a fair number of fashion magazines to pick out the “look†he wanted. From them, he’d figured out an approximate style choice he figured he could be seen in public wearing – something called “Indieâ€Â, whatever that meant. It was supposed to mean independent, but at the point where celebrities were wearing it and name brand designers jumped on the bandwagon, didn’t that make it mainstream? He’d never understand Western culture, apparently. Starting with a fairly standard pair of black slacks, he added a reversible bomber jacket with the patches “Bomb Iceland†and “Give Peace a Chance or I’ll Shoot You†on alternate lapels. It was the little touches that mattered. His shoes were actually overly loose boots whose laces only came up halfway. How new boots could look so beat-up was beyond him, but the lady that sold them said they would hold up just fine as long as he didn’t get them wet. Ren had declined to comment about that. The pièce de résistance was his shirt. He really hoped Lynn would appreciate it, since he had to have it made custom. A black t-shirt to start with, with the words “Villains Have More Fun†in badly-scrawled red letters. By the end, the effect felt more like a billboard than a fashion statement, but he hoped Lynn would look past that. His hair, however, was not cooperating the way his ensemble was. No matter what he did, he couldn’t get the stuff to lay down. The time he’d spent in his armor had apparently had a detrimental effect on his ability to control it. Even that “Bed Head†stuff he’d bought had no chance against the monstrous bad hair day his life had turned into. He looked into his bathroom mirror, grimacing. Ҡhe mumbled. But maybe not all was lost. He took one more stab at it, this time combing his hair straight upwards in a spiky doo that made him look a little like a character from Final Fantasy. ҠHe gave himself one more look in the mirror before walking to the door of his apartment and undoing the half a dozen locks to be found there. Southside was a dangerous place, after all. He would have gotten a place in a better part of town, but anything to the north of there was ludicrously expensive, and anything south was hardly better. But he didn’t mind too much. No one bothered Renichi there, and as long as he made his rent on time, no one would. Now he was off to Riverside, to where Lynn was waiting. He offered up a quick prayer to whomever was listening that today would go well. Perhaps this “Valentine’s Day†would give him some good luck there. Wait, did he need to get her a gift? “â€Â

Ren had been up all night, just as he was every night, but he still didn’t feel ready. Going into this engagement half cocked would get him killed. Preparation, then, became paramount. He’d checked over his instruments a dozen times. He made sure everything was in its proper order, ready to find and employ at a moment’s notice. The game plan was on a constant loop in his mind, every inch examined with a mental microscope for the slightest of flaws. His uniform had been carefully chosen for maximum impact. There was no way the enemy would stand unimpressed after seeing it. But there was still one problem. He couldn’t find his damn shoes! “ But this, this thing he had with Lynn… it was completely different. She’d stormed into his life with intense force and blown away all his previous preconceptions about damn near everything having to do with the opposite sex. She was funny, witty, mischievous, kind, and supportive all at the same time. It made him want to be a better person for her, frankly, and that wasn’t easy to pull off. He’d been in a deep depression since his transformation, but when she was around… none of it seemed to matter. Of course, seeing as how they had literally met right before he had to fight some superheroes that had a problem with him, and were subsequently sucked back in time thanks to a faulty teleport, (thanks a lot, Icarus!) Renichi hadn’t had the time he might have otherwise liked to get to know her. She felt the same way, which is why she’d suggested they try a date. “See how things goâ€Â, was the phrasing she’d used. And he was ecstatic she’d even allow him that. Up until he’d met her, Ren had been heading down a bad path. Armed robbery, drug deals, that kind of stuff. The fact that they were on different sides of the crime equation had not escaped either of them. He was willing to change, though. But only if he could find his damn shoes! Ren stumbled out of his closet, tripped over a stack of old magazines, and fell to the floor. “Chikusho! †Renichi reached under his bed and scooped up the shoes he’d chosen for today. Nothing special, but he felt they went along with the rest of his outfit. He’d collected a fair number of fashion magazines to pick out the “look†he wanted. From them, he’d figured out an approximate style choice he figured he could be seen in public wearing – something called “Indieâ€Â, whatever that meant. It was supposed to mean independent, but at the point where celebrities were wearing it and name brand designers jumped on the bandwagon, didn’t that make it mainstream? He’d never understand Western culture, apparently. Starting with a fairly standard pair of black slacks, he added a reversible bomber jacket with the patches “Bomb Iceland†and “Give Peace a Chance or I’ll Shoot You†on alternate lapels. It was the little touches that mattered. His shoes were actually overly loose boots whose laces only came up halfway. How new boots could look so beat-up was beyond him, but the lady that sold them said they would hold up just fine as long as he didn’t get them wet. Ren had declined to comment about that. The pièce de résistance was his shirt. He really hoped Lynn would appreciate it, since he had to have it made custom. A black t-shirt to start with, with the words “Villains Have More Fun†in badly-scrawled red letters. By the end, the effect felt more like a billboard than a fashion statement, but he hoped Lynn would look past that. His hair, however, was not cooperating the way his ensemble was. No matter what he did, he couldn’t get the stuff to lay down. The time he’d spent in his armor had apparently had a detrimental effect on his ability to control it. Even that “Bed Head†stuff he’d bought had no chance against the monstrous bad hair day his life had turned into. He looked into his bathroom mirror, grimacing. Ҡhe mumbled. But maybe not all was lost. He took one more stab at it, this time combing his hair straight upwards in a spiky doo that made him look a little like a character from Final Fantasy. ҠHe gave himself one more look in the mirror before walking to the door of his apartment and undoing the half a dozen locks to be found there. Southside was a dangerous place, after all. He would have gotten a place in a better part of town, but anything to the north of there was ludicrously expensive, and anything south was hardly better. But he didn’t mind too much. No one bothered Renichi there, and as long as he made his rent on time, no one would. Now he was off to Riverside, to where Lynn was waiting. He offered up a quick prayer to whomever was listening that today would go well. Perhaps this “Valentine’s Day†would give him some good luck there. Wait, did he need to get her a gift? “â€Â

Ren had been up all night, just as he was every night, but he still didn’t feel ready. Going into this engagement half cocked would get him killed. Preparation, then, became paramount. He’d checked over his instruments a dozen times. He made sure everything was in its proper order, ready to find and employ at a moment’s notice. The game plan was on a constant loop in his mind, every inch examined with a mental microscope for the slightest of flaws. His uniform had been carefully chosen for maximum impact. There was no way the enemy would stand unimpressed after seeing it. But there was still one problem. He couldn’t find his damn shoes! “ But this, this thing he had with Lynn… it was completely different. She’d stormed into his life with intense force and blown away all his previous preconceptions about damn near everything having to do with the opposite sex. She was funny, witty, mischievous, kind, and supportive all at the same time. It made him want to be a better person for her, frankly, and that wasn’t easy to pull off. He’d been in a deep depression since his transformation, but when she was around… none of it seemed to matter. Of course, seeing as how they had literally met right before he had to fight some superheroes that had a problem with him, and were subsequently sucked back in time thanks to a faulty teleport, (thanks a lot, Icarus!) Renichi hadn’t had the time he might have otherwise liked to get to know her. She felt the same way, which is why she’d suggested they try a date. “See how things goâ€Â, was the phrasing she’d used. And he was ecstatic she’d even allow him that. Up until he’d met her, Ren had been heading down a bad path. Armed robbery, drug deals, that kind of stuff. The fact that they were on different sides of the crime equation had not escaped either of them. He was willing to change, though. But only if he could find his damn shoes! Ren stumbled out of his closet, tripped over a stack of old magazines, and fell to the floor. “Chikusho! †Renichi reached under his bed and scooped up the shoes he’d chosen for today. Nothing special, but he felt they went along with the rest of his outfit. He’d collected a fair number of fashion magazines to pick out the “look†he wanted. From them, he’d figured out an approximate style choice he figured he could be seen in public wearing – something called “Indieâ€Â, whatever that meant. It was supposed to mean independent, but at the point where celebrities were wearing it and name brand designers jumped on the bandwagon, didn’t that make it mainstream? He’d never understand Western culture, apparently. Starting with a fairly standard pair of black slacks, he added a reversible bomber jacket with the patches “Bomb Iceland†and “Give Peace a Chance or I’ll Shoot You†on alternate lapels. It was the little touches that mattered. His shoes were actually overly loose boots whose laces only came up halfway. How new boots could look so beat-up was beyond him, but the lady that sold them said they would hold up just fine as long as he didn’t get them wet. Ren had declined to comment about that. The pièce de résistance was his shirt. He really hoped Lynn would appreciate it, since he had to have it made custom. A black t-shirt to start with, with the words “Villains Have More Fun†in badly-scrawled red letters. By the end, the effect felt more like a billboard than a fashion statement, but he hoped Lynn would look past that. His hair, however, was not cooperating the way his ensemble was. No matter what he did, he couldn’t get the stuff to lay down. The time he’d spent in his armor had apparently had a detrimental effect on his ability to control it. Even that “Bed Head†stuff he’d bought had no chance against the monstrous bad hair day his life had turned into. He looked into his bathroom mirror, grimacing. Ҡhe mumbled. But maybe not all was lost. He took one more stab at it, this time combing his hair straight upwards in a spiky doo that made him look a little like a character from Final Fantasy. ҠHe gave himself one more look in the mirror before walking to the door of his apartment and undoing the half a dozen locks to be found there. Southside was a dangerous place, after all. He would have gotten a place in a better part of town, but anything to the north of there was ludicrously expensive, and anything south was hardly better. But he didn’t mind too much. No one bothered Renichi there, and as long as he made his rent on time, no one would. Now he was off to Riverside, to where Lynn was waiting. He offered up a quick prayer to whomever was listening that today would go well. Perhaps this “Valentine’s Day†would give him some good luck there. Wait, did he need to get her a gift? “â€Â

"Ah... no problem," Ren replied, somewhat puzzled. It was dangerous around here? It seemed like such a good neighborhood. But whatever. He pushed himself back from the table as well and bowed slightly to his hosts. "Thank you very much for the food and your hospitality, Mr. Parker, Mrs. Parker. I hope that I can be as accommodating to you in the future if we should meet again."

"Ah... no problem," Ren replied, somewhat puzzled. It was dangerous around here? It seemed like such a good neighborhood. But whatever. He pushed himself back from the table as well and bowed slightly to his hosts. "Thank you very much for the food and your hospitality, Mr. Parker, Mrs. Parker. I hope that I can be as accommodating to you in the future if we should meet again."

"Ah... no problem," Ren replied, somewhat puzzled. It was dangerous around here? It seemed like such a good neighborhood. But whatever. He pushed himself back from the table as well and bowed slightly to his hosts. "Thank you very much for the food and your hospitality, Mr. Parker, Mrs. Parker. I hope that I can be as accommodating to you in the future if we should meet again."

No problem, but this is going to totally ruin this joke I just heard today. Okay, stop me if you've heard this one before. A Christian, a Jew, and a Shintoist get hurled back in time by an unknown gravitic incursion into the Nth wavelength of the parachronic spectrum... :D

No problem, but this is going to totally ruin this joke I just heard today. Okay, stop me if you've heard this one before. A Christian, a Jew, and a Shintoist get hurled back in time by an unknown gravitic incursion into the Nth wavelength of the parachronic spectrum... :D

No problem, but this is going to totally ruin this joke I just heard today. Okay, stop me if you've heard this one before. A Christian, a Jew, and a Shintoist get hurled back in time by an unknown gravitic incursion into the Nth wavelength of the parachronic spectrum... :D

Only fifteen left! Yay! Okay, The Emissary, Sonic and Captain Wonder are all in the same area with the SHADOW people, while Megastar has been left behind, shaking off good ol' Fred's blow. The initiative order is as follows: Captain Wonder, with an inhuman 27, Sonic next with a fairly superhuman 19, The Emissary after that with a no less superhuman 18, Megastar, though superhuman, has a less sensible 14, and the skulk-in-their namesake SHADOW troops have a 13. Don't worry about posting in order. Just tell me what you're going to do, and I'll make some allowances if you both go after the same target. (Like that naughty bazooka guy.)

Only fifteen left! Yay! Okay, The Emissary, Sonic and Captain Wonder are all in the same area with the SHADOW people, while Megastar has been left behind, shaking off good ol' Fred's blow. The initiative order is as follows: Captain Wonder, with an inhuman 27, Sonic next with a fairly superhuman 19, The Emissary after that with a no less superhuman 18, Megastar, though superhuman, has a less sensible 14, and the skulk-in-their namesake SHADOW troops have a 13. Don't worry about posting in order. Just tell me what you're going to do, and I'll make some allowances if you both go after the same target. (Like that naughty bazooka guy.)

Only fifteen left! Yay! Okay, The Emissary, Sonic and Captain Wonder are all in the same area with the SHADOW people, while Megastar has been left behind, shaking off good ol' Fred's blow. The initiative order is as follows: Captain Wonder, with an inhuman 27, Sonic next with a fairly superhuman 19, The Emissary after that with a no less superhuman 18, Megastar, though superhuman, has a less sensible 14, and the skulk-in-their namesake SHADOW troops have a 13. Don't worry about posting in order. Just tell me what you're going to do, and I'll make some allowances if you both go after the same target. (Like that naughty bazooka guy.)

While the free-for-all between Megastar and Captain Wonder was playing itself out closer to the walkway around the park side, The Emissary made his presence felt in grand form by the treeline. He cut through the ranks of furiously retreating Nazis like a scythe through wheat, badly scattering their already tenuous formation. Men flew through the air, bouncing off trees and each other, before finally slumping to the ground and laying still. The Emissary's blows were calculated to be just powerful enough to knock out the men without permanently harming them, however. "'Bout damn time I got some backup," Sonic said as the weight of fire shifted away from his position. He rushed out from his hiding place and laid into the side of the shaken SHADOW troopers with his specially modulated blasts. A couple more were disabled by it, and their losses were finally starting to tell. There couldn't be more than perhaps fifteen left. But those that were left struck back with some sort of shoulder fired weapon, a massive laser burst flashing out, but missing the Emissary as he laid into their ranks. The man desperately tried to swivel his targeting sight over the quickly moving construct, but it seemed unlikely that he'd be able to get off another shot before getting hammered. Captain Wonder's blow landed cleanly, smashing Megastar backwards and rendering the metahuman temporarily insensate. Fortunate, seeing as how Megastar didn't seem to be acting sensibly anyway. Captain Wonder's spirits were buoyed by the appearance of another superhero, though. His chrome exterior belied an apparent verbose lexicon - always nice to see in such tough times.

While the free-for-all between Megastar and Captain Wonder was playing itself out closer to the walkway around the park side, The Emissary made his presence felt in grand form by the treeline. He cut through the ranks of furiously retreating Nazis like a scythe through wheat, badly scattering their already tenuous formation. Men flew through the air, bouncing off trees and each other, before finally slumping to the ground and laying still. The Emissary's blows were calculated to be just powerful enough to knock out the men without permanently harming them, however. "'Bout damn time I got some backup," Sonic said as the weight of fire shifted away from his position. He rushed out from his hiding place and laid into the side of the shaken SHADOW troopers with his specially modulated blasts. A couple more were disabled by it, and their losses were finally starting to tell. There couldn't be more than perhaps fifteen left. But those that were left struck back with some sort of shoulder fired weapon, a massive laser burst flashing out, but missing the Emissary as he laid into their ranks. The man desperately tried to swivel his targeting sight over the quickly moving construct, but it seemed unlikely that he'd be able to get off another shot before getting hammered. Captain Wonder's blow landed cleanly, smashing Megastar backwards and rendering the metahuman temporarily insensate. Fortunate, seeing as how Megastar didn't seem to be acting sensibly anyway. Captain Wonder's spirits were buoyed by the appearance of another superhero, though. His chrome exterior belied an apparent verbose lexicon - always nice to see in such tough times.

While the free-for-all between Megastar and Captain Wonder was playing itself out closer to the walkway around the park side, The Emissary made his presence felt in grand form by the treeline. He cut through the ranks of furiously retreating Nazis like a scythe through wheat, badly scattering their already tenuous formation. Men flew through the air, bouncing off trees and each other, before finally slumping to the ground and laying still. The Emissary's blows were calculated to be just powerful enough to knock out the men without permanently harming them, however. "'Bout damn time I got some backup," Sonic said as the weight of fire shifted away from his position. He rushed out from his hiding place and laid into the side of the shaken SHADOW troopers with his specially modulated blasts. A couple more were disabled by it, and their losses were finally starting to tell. There couldn't be more than perhaps fifteen left. But those that were left struck back with some sort of shoulder fired weapon, a massive laser burst flashing out, but missing the Emissary as he laid into their ranks. The man desperately tried to swivel his targeting sight over the quickly moving construct, but it seemed unlikely that he'd be able to get off another shot before getting hammered. Captain Wonder's blow landed cleanly, smashing Megastar backwards and rendering the metahuman temporarily insensate. Fortunate, seeing as how Megastar didn't seem to be acting sensibly anyway. Captain Wonder's spirits were buoyed by the appearance of another superhero, though. His chrome exterior belied an apparent verbose lexicon - always nice to see in such tough times.

Geez, so much for my "and the leader gets away scott free" plan. :)

Geez, so much for my "and the leader gets away scott free" plan. :)

Geez, so much for my "and the leader gets away scott free" plan. :)

Daisuke had to crane his neck waaaaay back in order to keep the immense elephant's head in view, and even that wasn't helping all that much. He'd never seen an elephant walk on two legs, and certainly never one that could talk, so this was fairly cool in his opinion. "Um... Mr. Elephant sir? I kinda work here, which is why I'm here. Of course, I kinda got captured and thrown in a cage, which I really didn't like, which doesn't really make me wanna stay, so if it's all right with you, I can just go," he said hurriedly, motioning wildly with his arms.

Daisuke had to crane his neck waaaaay back in order to keep the immense elephant's head in view, and even that wasn't helping all that much. He'd never seen an elephant walk on two legs, and certainly never one that could talk, so this was fairly cool in his opinion. "Um... Mr. Elephant sir? I kinda work here, which is why I'm here. Of course, I kinda got captured and thrown in a cage, which I really didn't like, which doesn't really make me wanna stay, so if it's all right with you, I can just go," he said hurriedly, motioning wildly with his arms.

Daisuke had to crane his neck waaaaay back in order to keep the immense elephant's head in view, and even that wasn't helping all that much. He'd never seen an elephant walk on two legs, and certainly never one that could talk, so this was fairly cool in his opinion. "Um... Mr. Elephant sir? I kinda work here, which is why I'm here. Of course, I kinda got captured and thrown in a cage, which I really didn't like, which doesn't really make me wanna stay, so if it's all right with you, I can just go," he said hurriedly, motioning wildly with his arms.

Wow, nice work bringing in a bad guy from Jade Empire. Love that game.

Wow, nice work bringing in a bad guy from Jade Empire. Love that game.

Wow, nice work bringing in a bad guy from Jade Empire. Love that game.

I found the following Valentine's cards on this site. Now that last one is just disturbing. :shock: