ic Stinger's Tale

[RocketLord]

GM

 

Afternoon, September 25th

Millennium Mall, Midtown

Freedom City

 

It was raining, hard. Like so many other teens, young adults and older, Muirne, Luke, Leon and Charlie had found their way to Millennium Mall to have something to do now that classes were out for the week. Something somewhere dry, hopefully. Bernadette, for her part, happened to be in the mall at the same time. Maybe just a single her, maybe several, or maybe it all depended on the moment.

 

As one would expect on a day like this, the mall was absolutely packed. People everywhere, in stores, in the food court, well... everywhere.

 

The PA system routinely mentioned events like clean up to the toilets on the 2nd floor, a missing child near a toy store, lost phones and the like.

[RocketLord]

Nevermore II

 

"Sooo... how about we head somewhere besides the food court for once?" Charlie suggested, as they made their way inside. 

 

He nudged Luke likely in the side. "You did remember to get a snack before we left Claremont, right?"

[Spacefurry]

Paper

“You should know by now Charlie, this boy could snack on the car ride here and still want to hit up the food court.”

Pulling up the rear, Leon chuckled as he shook off the last of the rainwater before it could soak in to his coat. 

“I’d say his eyes were bigger then his stomach, but we all know how big his stomach is.”

He teased Luke, giving his back a friendly punch.

“I swear you just burn it all with your fire. It’s the only way you could not put on any fat. Do you have any idea how much time I gotta put in to look this good?”

 

Still smirking, he looked back at Charlie.

“If we’re voting, I vote for the book store. Back me up here Mui-.”

Leon asked the red head as he dodged a couple. an older man in a trench coat, the man looked like had had just rolled out of bed and needed to shave, he was walking with a long stick of black wood. But walking with him was a college age brunette girl, talking as he nodded along, wearing skinny jeans and a Paramore t-shirt. Her hair pulled into a ponytail through the back of a baseball cap sporting the ECU logo. His request trailing off as he watched the other girl for a moment. Realizing he was staring he coughed into his fist and turned his attention back to the group like nothing had happened.

Edited September 24, 2021 by Spacefurry

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Bernadette O’Connell made her way through the crowded mall, doing her best to stay focused on not generating any duplicates. In addition to the normal classes at Claremont, the redheaded teen had gotten some help with learning how to focus on keeping her powers under control. As part of that, she had been encouraged to practice the techniques in various situations, such as a crowded space like the mall. So far today she had managed to keep that under control and did not have any duplicates active.

 

The Irish teen had considered also using this trip to look for a possible part time job at the mall for the weekends. But given how far it was from campus, she was not sure she really wanted to make such a long trek regularly on the weekends, so was thinking it might be better to focus on something closer to camps instead.

[Nerdzul]

"Hey, tell me again when you have to feed 12 K lbs of pure muscles." Luke chuckled, flexing to show off his muscles. Now it wasn't exactly the truth, after all having the real appetite of his true form would have been kinda hard to satisfy, but still he would have to admit that he had always been a big eater...

 

"Besides I have two perfectly sized snacks here..." He gave his friends a hungry kind of grin, before playfully nudging Leon. 

"... don't worry I'm not too hungry." He chuckled. "For now..." 

 

The young man ruffled the hair on the back of his neck. "Well... library could be nice." His voice though wasn't exactly enthusiastic though as he gave his girlfriend an imploring look.

 

"What if we check if the arcade is still open..." He suggested.

 

 

 

Edited September 30, 2021 by Nerdzul

[Kaede Kimura]

Shadowborne

 

Muirne listened to her friends exchange playful barbs as they discussed where to go. She grinned slightly as her boyfriend emphasized his distaste for the idea of going to the library, looking between the two with an exaggerated 'hmmm' of thought.

 

She paused for a moment as the feeling of being watched that she'd felt before retuned but once again no one seemed to be looking at her outside of the group. Hopefully they hadn't noticed the pause.

 

 

"Well Fýrdraca, how about we do by the bookstore and then go on to the arcade. They way I'll have something to do while you play your game."

 

 

Fire-spewing Dragon

[RocketLord]

GM

 

A large young man walked past the group, aggressively pushing his shoulder into Luke's as he forced his way by them. "Watch where you're going, brats." He wore a large duffel bag over his shoulder, but otherwise seemed rather non-descript, quickly disappearing back into the remaining crowds.

 

Not far from there, Bernadette could hear crying. It wouldn't be difficult to find a young boy, about 5 years old, standing by himself, absolutely bawling his eyes out. Maybe he was the missing child mentioned on the PA system?

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Bernadette had been looking at a directory for the mall, considering where she might want to go when she heard the crying from somewhere nearby. Spotting the small boy, the redhead took a moment to look to be sure there was no obvious parent that might be connected with the child. Then the Irish teen walked up toward the child.

 

Kneeling over Bernadette gave the boy a warm smile. "What's the matter wee one? Have ye lost yer mum?"

[Nerdzul]

"Deal!" Luke smiled, leaning closer to Muirne for a kiss to 'seal the deal', gently holding her in his arms. 

 

"Although, I'd be honored if you also join me in a game or two." He switched to a playfully formal tone as he grinned at his girlfriend. "Besides, it's gonna be f-" He was about to add something when a stranger pretty much crashed into him. 

 

"Hey watch your steps you-" He concluded the sentence with a couple of colorful words. Now, no more than a year before, he would have probably made a bigger deal even over such a minor slight, after all as a young gangster respect was pretty much everything, but today, he was with his friends (and more importantly with Muirne) at the mall and definitely didn't want to ruin the positive vibe.

[RocketLord]

Nevermore II

 

"Sure, sure. Bookstore, then arcade. Just fine by -"

 

Charlie was cut off by the guy that bumped into Luke. He instinctively followed him with his eyes, but didn't say anything.

 

"Something's off about that guy."

 

Raven's training kicked in. Looking at the guy, the way he moved, the way he had probably deliberately bumped into Luke... Yeah. Something was off.

[Spacefurry]

Leon was smirking even as he recovered from a moment ago, that was until some jerk shoulde checked his roommate. He glared after the man.

”Someone should teach that guy that ain’t cool.”

He said with a familiar mischief in his eyes. He quickly caught himself, resisting the urge to submit to old ways of dealing with jerks. He didn’t think some of the others would approve.

 

9 minutes ago, RocketLord said:

Nevermore II

 

"Something's off about that guy."

Then again…

”Want me grab his wallet?”

He offered, only half joking.

[RocketLord]

GM

 

The young boy looked up at Bernadetta and shook his head, barely being able to slow the crying. "M-my mum... she's... she's over there..." He pointed to some planted bushes over to the side, where Bernadetta could see a woman lying, her legs sticking out from between the bushes. She couldn't  quite see the woman from her position by the boy. "Please! I think she's sick!" The boy started wailing again, while moving in to hug and press his face against Bernadetta.

 

As the guy made his way away from Luke, it was clear that he kept stealing glances back at him, at least whenever he thought that any members of the little group weren't looking. Noticing that some of the members of the group were actively looking at him, he grinned back at them, then moved into the crowds, pushing his way through with little care for who got in the way. He moved down the hallway and turned to the right around a corner, right next to a sporting goods store.

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Bernadette felt a slight sense of panic as she saw the woman’s feet lying in the planted bushes, but she reflexively gave the young child a reassuring hug. As she did, one of her duplicates appeared behind her and set off immediately to try to find a mall security guard or other mall employee to alert.

 

"I will do what I can." The redheaded teen said to the young boy as she moved over towards the prone figure. "Or at least get someone that can help her." As she moved forward, Bernadette took out her cellphone and began calling 911.

[RocketLord]

GM

 

The woman was barely moving. She seemed absolutely out of it, her eyes closed, sweating heavily. As Bernadette moved closer, it became clear the woman wasn't alone. Others were lying in the bushes in similar states, all barely conscious.

 

Before the 911 responder picked up the phone, Bernadette heard a whistling sound, followed by a baseball hitting her hand, knocking the phone out of her hand.

 

"Sorry, darling. That whole split team is a neat trick, but no calling for help just yet."

 

A man in his 60'es had moved from around a corner. He was wearing a white sports jersey with blue stripes, and white shorts, ontop of a blue full body costume, with runner's shoes on his feet. He was wearing a blue mask that left his mouth and nose free, with holes for his ears and eyes, with a blue base ball cap with a stylized yellow S on the center. He had a big sportsbag slung over his shoulder, while he was throwing a baseball up and down with his right hand. He sounded almost friendly. 

 

"Run along now, no need to get caught up in all this."

 

The other Bernadette had an incredibly hard time actually finding any security. It was like they had all just disappeared. She did, however, see someone else she recognized: A group of students from Claremont.

[Kaede Kimura]

Shadowborne

 

Muirne felt rising anger at the man who'd bumped Luke, beyond what was reasonable.

 

We could hunt him down and find out what he's up to.

 

She shook her head. She didn't like what seemed to be up with him, but didn't want to leave Luke's side because of that. Was the man marking Luke out in some way? Or did he have powers that functioned on contact?

 

She channeled out her darkness, trying to keep it under her clothes while channeling some to her eyes. Secret identity be damned, she wanted her friends safe. It was easier to control her shadows, which she imagined was from Aoife.

 

With her power assisting, she surveyed the crowd for anything out of the ordinary.

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Bernadette felt her adrenalin spike at the sight of several people lying among the planters, not just the boy's mother. But she had no chance to really take in the magnitude of what was going on.

 

"Ow!" Bernadette exclaimed as the baseball struck her hand and knocked her phone away. The redhead spun toward the voice, putting herself between the man and the young boy.

 

A scowl came over her face as the man spoke. Suddenly, there were half a dozen other Bernadettes around her, one of whom started leading the young boy away from the scene.

 

"I don' know what the bloody hell yer supposed ta be, but these people seem ta have a bad dose an' I'm gonna get them help."

 

"You can either stop actin' the maggot an eff off, or we can start millin'!" The redhead stated, her Irish accent thickening with her anger.

 

Multi-Girl (Duplicate)

 

Where the bloody hell are all the security guards? Thought the duplicate Bernadette had sent to try to get some immediate help as she looked around the mall to no avail. But then she spotted a group of other Claremont students. While she recognized them all, she did not know all of them particularly well, having really only interacted with Charlie and Murine (who was on the same floor in the dorms).

 

Realizing that there was no more time to continue searching for a security guard, the redhead ran over to the group of Claremont teens. "Charlie, Murine! I….the original Bernadette is in a spot o' trouble!" The Irish duplicate exclaimed, as with the original, her accent thickening due to stress and adrenalin.

 

"There are a bunch o' people that are hurt, or sick, or somethin' an'’ before she could call 911 some wanker dressed like a baseball supervillain or somethin' knocked her phone out o' her hand with a baseball." The duplicate explained quickly. "Can one o' you call 911 to get some EMTs ta help these people an' then we need ta get back ta help the original."

[Nerdzul]

"Hey what the hell are you staring at mate?" He belligerently shouted at the guy as he noticed the furtive glances that he was throwing him. He clenched his fists, after checking his pockets if anything was missing. Bumping on someone was like, the oldest trick in the book, he would have really felt ashamed of himself if the guy had managed to get something. Not that there was much to steal in his pockets, admittedly, but that wasn't the point. 

 

Then the stranger begun pushing his way past the crowd. Yep, there definitely was something wrong going on. Luke couldn't tell what exactly, but he didn't like it.

 

"I'm going after him." He darted away, barely registering Bernadette's words. A baseball supervillain?! Sick people. Great! 

[Spacefurry]

Leon didn’t like the look on the guy’s face and Luke’s little outburst was justified as far as he was concerned. He was unsurprised when saw his roommate check his pockets. He knew Luke knew the way things worked.

 

20 hours ago, Nerdzul said:

"I'm going after him." He darted away, barely registering Bernadette's words. 

 

Leon was about to follow after Luke when another red-head ran up to them.

On 10/15/2021 at 12:04 PM, Thevshi said:

"Charlie, Murine! I….the original Bernadette is in a spot o' trouble!" The Irish duplicate exclaimed, as with the original, her accent thickening due to stress and adrenalin.

 

"There are a bunch o' people that are hurt, or sick, or somethin' an'’ before she could call 911 some wanker dressed like a baseball supervillain or somethin' knocked her phone out o' her hand with a baseball." The duplicate explained quickly. "Can one o' you call 911 to get some EMTs ta help these people an' then we need ta get back ta help the original."

 

“Wha…? Son-of-a…? Why do red-heads always bring trouble?”

He growled as he pulled out his phone and dialed 911. He looked over at Muirne as he put it to his ear.

“No offense.”

When the operator answers, Leon quickly cuts them off.

“We need EMTs and the police at Millennium Mall. There are multiple victims of an unknown assailant.”

He looks over to Bernadette.

“What entrance are they near?”

Whatever her answer, Leon relays the details and hangs up.

[Lone_Star]

Outrider

 

El was pretty late, but it didn't bother her much. She figured just a normal trip to the mall with her friends - she could afford to be a little late. Traffic was bad, as the route she took to the mall was very inefficient. By the time she reached the mall, she was starving, so what could a quick trip to the food court hurt? She text Charlie, "Be there shortly" as soon as she got her pizza. Pizza's the best, El thought, as she demolished her fourth slice.

 

It turned out that this would not be an ordinary trip to the mall after all as she finally caught up with the group. Hopefully not another supervillain attack...I was hoping to get to know the team better. "What's going on?" she asked.

Edited October 23, 2021 by Lone_Star

[RocketLord]

GM

 

Leon started talking before he realized that the line was dead. He wasn't the only one. All around them, people were beginning to notice that their phones had their signal, like something was blocking it.

 

Not long after El had entered, a man reached the doors and tried to walk out... only to find himself slamming face first into them. He got up, with people around him staring. He tried again, couldn't even reach the handle, like something was blocking him from leaving.

 

Muirne could see something was weird with the life force of the people around them. Around a quarter of the people seemed to have something that stood out among them, something that slowly spread as they touched others.

 

Luke hurried after the man, leaving his friends behind...

 

And the man in the costume that stood before Bernadette grinned, as he spun the baseball around on the tip of his finger. "Alright. Don't say I didn't give you a chance, kid. You're playing in the big leagues now."

[RocketLord]

Nevermore II

 

"Bernie? Wait, hold up."

 

Big guy bumping into Luke, before Luke ran off after him. Bernie talking about some baseball villain, hurt and sick people and... now people's phones didn't work?

 

Baseball, people being sick. He had read something about that... there was something there, something... some of the first Raven's files! He just needed a second to remember and...

 

"Oh shit."

 

He looked around at the others.

 

"Suits, now. Muirne, Leon, go get Luke. Bernie, show me and El the way to you. Nobody moves alone, and stay in touch all the time. The guy that Bernie's fighting sounds like an old villain called the Sportsman, but if I'm right, his partner's gonna be here too, and Princess Poison... well, the name speaks for itself, doesn't it?"

[RocketLord]

GM

 

Luke rounded a corner, chasing after the man that had pushed at him... and he was immediately hit by something in the face. When he regained his senses after the blow, he saw a large man in a white hockey mask with red markings pointing to the center. He wore dark grey body armor and oversized, green spiked shoulder pads, though his arms were left bare aside from elbow pads and thick golden armbands, showing off his admittedly rather impressive muscles. Black pants, a crotch guard and heavy hockey keeper boats, with a large golfing bag strapped over his back, with several different pieces of sports equipment in it. He had a heavy baseball bat in his hands, now slightly bent from hitting Luke.

 

"Shouldn't have burned my sister, freak," the man whispered, before turning and running through the crowds.

 

He easily stood out amongst the crowds, but even then, moving between them would make it harder to attack him.

[Spacefurry]

Leon nodded at Charlie and turned to run after Luke, with Muirne following.

 

As he ran, he slapped a paper mask on. He still hadn’t settled on a design he liked. This time the mask was a domino mask that extend down the bridge of his nose and tapered down his cheeks.

He had paper in hand already as he pushed past mallrats and shoppers only to spot the large, hockey masked man. He didn’t see Luke yet though.

“You find Nightscale, I’ll handle this guy.”

He called back to Nightbourne. He was sure she realized all hell was bout to break loose.

The paper in his hand twisted into a staff as he ran after the villain. His aim was good, but there were just too many other people crowding the mall to chance throwing anything. He leveled the staff at the man’s back and called after him.

”Hey, jock itch! Let me guess, didn’t make junior varsity so you decided to take it out on everyone else.”

Paper hoped the challenge would clear the pedestrians and get the villain’s attention.

[Kaede Kimura]

Shadowborne

 

Muirne nodded as Leon told her to keep going to find Luke, reaching into her portal. Quickly she brought her armour out and sucked her clothes in, almost instantly shifting into her Shadowborne costume. Quickly she dived into her own portal, running through the darkness of the Schattenwelt. She was faster here, running was effortless. Still, it was cold and she knew that the longer she was here, the more likely an attack by a shadowbeast would grow. As she reached around where she knew the villain was, she surfaced, her spear striking out to catch the man, it's tip shrouded in pure darkness.

 

Without even taking a moment to see his reaction she dropped back into the Schattenwelt and kept running. 

[RocketLord]

GM

 

Despite everything, despite Muirne disappearing and reappearing in the middle of the crowd to strike at the man... he managed to turn and stare at her, before the spear struck his body. He stumbled a few feet back, tumbling into the group of people that surrounded him.

 

Some of them looked faint, like they were about to pass out, while the man angrily tried to free himself from the tangle of people.