Emerald City Bulwark
Posts 153
Power Level 22
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Post by Titan on Jul 12, 2016 23:33:20 GMT -7
He couldn't remember a thing. All that he could recollect were brief images. Some were vivid, as if they were happening right in front of his eyes, others were blurred to the point he could barely make out what it was supposed to be. As he watched these memories flash past him, all he could do was wonder to himself if they had won. Gradually, it all came back to him. He remembered tearing at the dragon's insides, before there was a sudden flash of heat followed by blackness. There was no trying to avoid it, since he was there at 'ground zero' during the blast. Titan would have actually believed he died, if it weren't for the extreme pain. At least, until he heard voices. The burning pain across his body was soon relieved, but when he opened his eyes, there was no one to be seen. When he opened his eyes, it was clearly early in the morning. He knew it was morning, because his eyes were assaulted by bright stinging lights. Looking around, he noticed that he was leaning against a mostly-intact building. This didn't look like their battlefield. Either someone moved him here or the blast sent him flying. As he made an attempt to get up, pain shot through his body. Even with most of his grievous wounds taken care of, he was still suffering from the strain of going at full size. It was then that he remembered everything about the fight, in horrid detail. Titan felt like beating his head against something. If he hadn't been so headstrong, if he had just kept a cool head and actually thought it over, perhaps he could have done more. He remembered how his eagerness to fight lead to the crippling of his right arm, which was...just fine. Lifting it up to inspect it, it looked practically good as new. The effects must have worn off after the dragon was killed. But even with his arm taken care of, he still had a deep pit in his stomach. He remembered that he vowed not to let another person die. If he was just a bit faster, if he hadn't charged in at the beginning, maybe he could have saved...Blue Jay. Tears welled up in Titan's eyes as he remembered watching his friend and ally die horribly in front of him. As if trying to relieve pressure, Titan slammed an arm into the wall behind him, holding back the tears that threatened to break loose. But then he realized something else. Most of the Bulwarks had been there, except for one. Docket. He was conspicuously missing from the battle, despite him being the leader of Bulwark. Anger started to burn from inside. If he even bothered to show up, maybe they could have had a better chance. Maybe Blue Jay didn't have to die... Blue Jay
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Pandaemonium
Posts 343
Power Level 30
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Post by Blue Jay on Jul 13, 2016 0:50:41 GMT -7
The time after the dragon died passed in a blur. Blue Jay woke up in the interior of an apartment complex almost two blocks from where the dragon had finally met its demise, a broken window and scattering of glass hinting as to how he’d gotten there. The sun was beginning to rise, but it was still chaos in the area around the dragon’s corpse.
Blue Jay got slowly to his feet. After keeping hold of it the entire battle, the sword had at last been blasted from his hand. His knuckles were bloody. He looked around for the blade as walked to the broken window. The blade was leaned against the window, waiting for him. The air felt quiet, filled only by the scramblings of supers and the ringing in his ears. He scanned the distance for his allies. None were found.
He asked the nearest few people to the location of the wolf super or Titan, to which he got nothing but surprise and no answers. The people who had caught the face of the super who had died were the hardest to deal with.
It took nearly a dozen interactions before he found someone who had any idea as to Titan’s whereabouts. It was only a lucky glimpse and a vague direction, but Blue Jay would take it. He departed from the battlefield quietly.
The silence was almost overwhelming, the further he got from the scene of the fight. The number of people around quickly dwindled off. He found himself zoning out as his mind went autopilot to shoot quick glances down alleyways before displacing once again. His body ached and his mind felt distant, and he felt like he was just biding time until he found Titan. Everything felt raw.
He nearly stumbled as he landed a displacement. His eyes had, at last, found the one he was searching for. Some part of him had prepared himself to not find the super. Doing so was a shock, enough so that, after catching himself from falling on his face, he stood motionless and speechless in the middle of the street.
“Titan!” He yelled. Warmth was welling up in his chest and he could feel his face growing hot again. Relief to find him alright, and to find a friend at all after what had just transpired, flooded him. Blue Jay vanished from where he stood and appeared a moment later in front of the other Bulwark. He leapt up at what would have been a tackle hug for someone about his size, but was probably more akin to throwing a lump of dough against a board.
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Emerald City Bulwark
Posts 153
Power Level 22
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Post by Titan on Jul 13, 2016 3:04:19 GMT -7
He continued to lament the loss of Blue Jay. The same scene of the dragon grasping him before tearing his friend in half, kept on replaying in Titan's mind. Each and every time it played, he thought of how he could possibly save him. If he just had the use of his right arm, maybe that wouldn't have happened. But it was useless to think of what could have been done to prevent it. The damage was already done, and there was no changing it, no matter how hard one could wish it. The only solace he had was that he managed to avenge his friend, but that seemed to be a hollow victory. All of that hatred and rage was spent, only sorrow being left in its wake. He'd have to face the facts and live with this. That was the reality of the situation; once people were dead, they never come back.
But apparently they did. In the distance, Titan caught sight of a familiar figure. Was it...was it him? No, it couldn't have been. A chill went up Titan's spine when he realized that he might be going crazy, hallucinating people that weren't really there. Looks like he took a worse beating than he thought. Unless...could it really be him? Titan swore that he remembered the image of him being torn in half, clear as day. And yet, there he was. Perhaps the thing wasn't done with them, and was playing some sick mind game. As if to confirm his own existence, Blue Jay suddenly slammed into the larger Bulwark, who was slowly attempting to stand up. The impact forced him back against the wall, and Titan only stood there, attempting to process everything. It was true! Blue Jay was right in front of him! This couldn't have been some trick, he was real! Returning the hug, Titan had to ask how exactly he was still here.
"You're alive? How?"
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Pandaemonium
Posts 343
Power Level 30
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Post by Blue Jay on Jul 13, 2016 3:25:30 GMT -7
As the initial relief subsided, Blue Jay felt all of the exhaustion he’d been building up and storing wash over him. It’d been a long time since he’d used his power this much, and the sleep he thought he’d gotten after he hit the ground a little too hard had been hardly restful. His muscles ached. His lungs still hated him for the stress he’d put them through. His legs became jello and he slumped away from Titan, sliding to a sit on the pavement.
When Titan asked the obvious question, much of the joy he’d felt waned away as well. His face fell with his shoulders. He looked down at the pavement. It was like rubbing salt in a wound, how he had to be the one to tell people that the him that had died was not him. He’d done it five times already. It’d only gotten a little easier, and that was only because he’d worked out how to say it without stumbling over his words. He hoped those he told would help spread the name of the true hero they’d lost.
“It wasn’t me. It was Stunt Double, wearing my appearance.” The words came out mechanically. They felt empty, unhelped by the lifelessness of the street around them. The city felt dead.
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Emerald City Bulwark
Posts 153
Power Level 22
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Post by Titan on Jul 13, 2016 7:39:33 GMT -7
While Titan had anticipated something like a clever trick being the reason behind Blue Jay's survival, the truth of the matter was far worse. Stunt Double was the one to have been killed, taking Blue Jay's place as the dragon's target. Titan's relief turned sour as he heard this. While he hadn't known Stunt Double personally, his death was a severe blow to not just the Bulwarks, but to every super that lived in this city. The chances of at least one of them dying were high, but the death of a fellow hero still hit Titan hard, and he was sure Blue Jay fared far worse, given how he knew Stunt Double better. Titan had to stop himself from rationalizing that his death was worth saving Blue Jay. Just because he knew one better didn't mean their lives weren't equally valuable. He'd prefer if both of them were still alive.
So the point still stood. Docket had failed not just the Bulwarks, but the entire city with his absence. He should have foreseen this, came in their hour of need, and yet he was nowhere to be seen. Emotions certainly ran high, but Titan restrained himself from showing his anger. Blue Jay didn't need to see it, there were enough negative emotions. But Titan still felt he needed to make his point.
"Where was Docket?"
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Pandaemonium
Posts 343
Power Level 30
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Post by Blue Jay on Jul 14, 2016 12:02:31 GMT -7
Blue Jay shrugged. He hadn’t the slightest clue where their leader was. Not at the fight, that was for certain. He knew Docket was the absent sort, but of all the times to be gone… The Bulwarks felt like a somewhat scattered and disorganized group; though he considered all of the Bulwarks to be his teammates, Lobisomem, someone not even a part of the Bulwarks, was a closer ally than anyone besides Titan in his faction. If there was any time the Bulwarks needed their leader to unite them, it was when a dragon attacked. Maybe if he’d been there, they could have killed it before it killed Stunt Double.
He quickly pushed that thought out of his mind. It wasn’t useful or helpful and only made him feel sick to his stomach.
What replaced it was a flash of anger. “We’ve known for two months when the dragon was going to attack.” He knew this for a fact; he’d been the one to get that information to the Bulwarks. It wasn’t like Docket could feign ignorance or claim this battle had been unexpected.
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Emerald City Bulwark
Posts 153
Power Level 22
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Post by Titan on Jul 14, 2016 15:15:15 GMT -7
Titan's anger directed at Docket became even more intense when Blue Jay mentioned that they had a two months notice. All of that time to prepare, and the apparent leader of Bulwark didn't even bother to show up? What kind of person was this? What kind of event could be more important than a monster butchering thousands of people? If there was one, Docket sure didn't tell anyone else. And where was he in the aftermath? Definitely not anywhere near the site of the battle. Did he seriously think he was above these people? Titan involuntarily clenched his fists from the emotion that welled up in him.
When Titan got the invitation, he spent days, perhaps even weeks, agonizing over whether he would join. He considered the consequences of everything. Not just to himself, but to his loved ones. Everyday of his life, he was terrified of people finding out just what he was. The years spent in isolation were agonizing, but necessary, at least he thought so. To put himself out there, even with a mask, had so many risks. Those concerns conflicted with his own desire to do something good with his gifts. To actually make a difference, instead of hiding away like a coward.
But when he saw that dragon, and the Bulwarks struggle to battle it, he knew what he had to do. When the dragon fell, he never felt anything like that before. The feeling of doing something amazing and saving lives with those powers stayed with him. He had never felt anything as great as that. He could help people, prove to everyone that not all supers would abuse their powers, be a hero
And now here they were. Among the thousands of dead, in a city that they barely managed to save. Where were the supposed 'heroes' when it attacked. How many innocents died because of the inaction of that 'hero'? Perhaps the Bulwarks weren't the people that Titan thought they were. Maybe there needed to be some change...
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Pandaemonium
Posts 343
Power Level 30
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Post by Blue Jay on Jul 16, 2016 15:43:44 GMT -7
As much as he wanted to push his ally’s death from his mind, Blue Jay was unable to. The scene kept playing over in his head, and the weight that they’d lost someone he knew was heavy in his gut. He knew supers were very likely to die in dragon battles and he knew that the fact that only one had perished in this one was some kind of miracle, but that didn’t change the fact that he’d seen both himself and a fellow die today. He’d greeted Stunt Double at the start of the battle, happily, in fact. A thought he’d had at the time returned to him. He’d trusted Stunt Double not to get himself killed, counted on him to make it out of the battle. He tried again to push the image of the dead super - the dead him - out of his head and again failed.
He needed to talk about this, and Titan was the nearest person. “You know, when I first became a super, I thought I’d be okay with death.” His voice was low and quiet, a whisper that would’ve been inaudible had the streets not been perfectly silent. “I thought a lot about it actually. What it’d be like to die, or if a friend died, and that I was going to die in battle sooner rather than later. I’ve seen death before. Supers killing upowereds, mostly. I was there when that super killed all those police officers. But this,” he trailed off, his gaze wandering back down the street towards the dragon attack. “It was the first time it happened to someone I knew.” Suppressing a shudder, he looked down at the pavement. “I thought I’d be prepared for something like this. Damn that was naive.”
And this was just his second dragon attack and his tenth month being a super. Just as they were lucky to lose only one super in that fight, he was probably really lucky this was the first friend he’d lost in a fight. Maybe he was supposed to find relief in that, that so far good graces had been on his side, but he could only think of how this was just the beginning. Aurora had said it; things were going to get a whole lot worse before they got any better.
“Damn, though, what a joke.” He spat, frustration welling up again. “We weren’t prepared at all, were we? None of us. What are we going to do, the next time a dragon attacks? What if the next one’s stronger?”
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Emerald City Bulwark
Posts 153
Power Level 22
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Post by Titan on Jul 17, 2016 15:24:03 GMT -7
The two were just there in complete silence. They didn't say a single word to one another, but their thoughts were on the same thing. The heaviness of Stunt Double's death, as well as the loss of thousands of lives, weighed heavily on both of them. As much as he wished that the fault was solely on Docket, he believed that it was just an excuse to shift the blame away from himself. It happened right in front of him, and Titan could only watch as his trusted ally was ripped apart, spending his last moments staring down the gullet of a dragon. Not to mention, he could hardly imagine what it must have been like for the people killed by the dragon, as it tore through them like it was an afterthought. What kind of mind did that thing possess, that it could take thousands of lives with such callousness.
But it took a special mind to claim to be a hero, then ignore the pain and suffering of people who were supposed to be your comrades. Titan's thoughts on Docket were interrupted when Blue Jay spoke up. Death was always a possibility when doing something as dangerous as fighting on the streets. Not with just criminals, but people just as, if not even more, powerful than he was. And yet, the attack was the first time he had ever seen so many people die. He may have just been lucky to have never seen such destruction, but it ran out soon enough. Not even his first dragon fight had any casualties. It was so much easier than this. And to think he thought that was the extent of their power. Just a small challenge to be overcome. What a fool he was.
It was when Blue Jay talked about them not being prepared that something clicked in Titan's head. All the inter-faction fighting and scheming did nothing but distract them from the true threat; the dragons. If they wanted to stand a chance against the next attack, any preconceptions of sides and rivalries needed to end.
"Hear me out, but I've got the craziest idea..."
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Pandaemonium
Posts 343
Power Level 30
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Post by Blue Jay on Jul 21, 2016 2:25:12 GMT -7
He was stewing in his anger, his arms crossed and his eyes closed. It’d taken how many supers to take that dragon down? At least two dozen, probably more. Yet not a single one of the faction leaders had shown up. Pandaemonium and the Keepers he could understand to a small degree, but the Bulwarks were supposed to be leading this city. He’d complained in the past how, in being part of the Bulwarks, he was often held to a high standard, and, while it was circular reasoning, he didn’t see why if he was supposed to be a hero how Docket thought he could get away with not participating in such a central battle and still be respected as the leader of the Bulwarks. He wanted to call the super a coward or a hypocrite or some other name that sounds insulting when you say it. Normally, when out and about like this, Blue Jay tried to let such feelings pass, tell himself he could think about it later when he was supposed to be getting some sleep, but only Titan was around and sleep was out of the question anyway. And so he was on the ground, fuming.
It was Titan’s voice that snapped him out of it. “Shoot.” He said, giving him a curious look.
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Emerald City Bulwark
Posts 153
Power Level 22
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Post by Titan on Jul 23, 2016 0:22:40 GMT -7
Titan realized just how crazy this idea seemed once Blue Jay told him to explain. In the spur of the moment, it just seemed so easy. Who wouldn't want to come together to defeat a common threat, especially on the heels of such an attack? But deep down, Titan had to accept that some prejudices never died, and some loyalties didn't either. As bitter as he felt about Docket's apparent abandonment, Titan couldn't conceive the notion of leaving the Bulwarks, but he wasn't so sure about Blue Jay. The other hero seemed to have his own doubts about things, perhaps even before their battle last night. He had heard a few cruel words from some Bulwarks back at HQ, during those brief moments where he hung out there, but sharing those to Blue Jay would probably be too hurtful. Maybe it wasn't the right place for them, but this new group didn't necessitate leaving.
"What do you think...of a group without banners? If we want to fight the next attack properly, we need to forget about being Bulwarks or Pandaemonium. Hell, even the Keepers would be welcome"
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Pandaemonium
Posts 343
Power Level 30
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Post by Blue Jay on Jul 23, 2016 1:06:02 GMT -7
Arms crossed, Blue Jay pondered Titan’s idea. Forming a team was not a suggestion he’d been expecting to get from the Bulwark, but the sheer number of words he got from the guy meant it was very unlikely he was joking.
“I’ve always thought faction lines were silly.” He thought aloud. “The obsession with ‘us’ and ‘them’ is one of the big motivations behind the fights you see between supers. If we’re going to fight against dragons, we can’t afford to be divided.” He tilted his head to the side and furrowed his brow. How often did he and other supers face hostility just because of the color they wore? Just in his own experience, he’d been faced with a situation where he had been discouraged to help a Keeper just because he was a Bulwark, like that meant something. “Yeah, I’d be a part of a group like that. One where we all work together to try to better stop dragons, regardless of faction?” He gazed around the empty and ruined street, and at the plumes of smoke rising into the sky in the distance. “We really need it. If we’re not going to get help from our faction leaders, we need to band together. I think it was by luck more than anything else that we managed to beat this one at all. It got… kinda close a couple of times there.”
Coordination had been near non-existent in that fight. After the com lines went down, no one tried anything else; the one bit of collaboration he’d done had been with Titan, with a ‘technique’ they’d done before. Imagine what they might have been able to do if they had all been working better in sync with each other, or if they’d had more information on how to fight the dragon.
“We’d invite anyone?” He asked. “What kind of rules would this group have?”
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Emerald City Bulwark
Posts 153
Power Level 22
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Post by Titan on Jul 26, 2016 19:27:49 GMT -7
The reality of trying to create a group like this was apparent by the time Blue Jay started talking. But it was a necessary move, an alliance seemed to be the only option they had. Of course, they wouldn't be recruiting types like Aurora, and definitely not the more volatile members of Pandaemonium. Both Blue Jay and Titan knew some people outside of Bulwark, perhaps even better than the people in their own faction. On the top of his head, Titan could think of two potential members; Siren and.....Sanduleak. Titan really hoped that the guy was alright, he took a pretty bad beating during the fight. But there was little he could do from here, he was sure that the healers had it handled. If he was alright, he could extend an invitation. Of course, they needed to think about certain rules to live. With some members, there would be some tension, which they needed to stop from causing issues.
"Uh...no killing each other?"
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Pandaemonium
Posts 343
Power Level 30
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Post by Blue Jay on Jul 28, 2016 19:15:13 GMT -7
Blue Jay nodded. “Yeah, I think that’s necessary.” He furrowed his brow and put a hand on his chin. What other rules could they try to impose? Or, perhaps more importantly, how would they enforce them? Without knowing who exactly was going to be in the group, it was hard to tell what degree of structure they would need for a group to function. On one hand, he didn’t want too strong of a ‘code’ of sorts to follow; that had the potential to lead to tension in the same way the Bulwarks had it. However, if they got the wrong sort of people and not enough rules, they risked falling into the same chaos as Pandaemonium. It’d be hard to get anything done.
Perhaps they’d have to see how the group developed to know. Depending on their gathered teammates, they might be able to function perfectly fine without much structure at all. He hoped for this to be the case.
“Where could we meet?” He asked. There needed to be a designated place where the group could gather to discuss important issues or to meet up with each other. “There might be an old building somewhere no one uses,” he mused aloud. “Or, you know,” he looked up at Titan, an idea dawning on him, “I live at a boardinghouse for supers. Most of the residents there are supers, so it’ll be safe for us.” His gaze drifted off again as he returned to though. “I wonder if some of the people there would be interested in join. And if Aunt Nora would let us…”
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Emerald City Bulwark
Posts 153
Power Level 22
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Post by Titan on Jul 30, 2016 7:28:11 GMT -7
So it seemed settled now. What Titan had thought would be a crazy idea was now going to be reality. For the sake of every innocent killed in the attack, they would make sure to prepare the way. He had to purge himself of personal vendetta and the idea that your affiliation tightly defined who you were. The dragons did not differentiate its victims; they were all prey. But now the prey was fighting back, harder than ever. For the fallen comrades and loved ones. Stunt Double would be the last of their comrades to die, Titan vowed that.
It was when Titan decided to straighten up from where he was leaning and walk did a pain shoot across his body. His wounds were healed, but his body was badly strained from being at full size in his previously injured state. Gripping his aching mid-section, Titan leant back up against the wall, cursing to himself. Looks like they were both going to be here for a while, whether they liked it or not.
Blue Jay had recommended his boarding house as a possible meeting point for this proposed group. Sounded like a good idea. A secure sanctuary was ideal for a group of supers like them. Laughing weakly, Titan extended a hand to pull Blue Jay up. Time to get started.
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