Unaligned
Aw, what's wrong? Don't you trust me?
Posts 235
Power Level 30
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Post by An0nymou5 on May 7, 2016 21:24:21 GMT -7
It is a wonderful day: the sun shines brightly, the birds chirp happily, and the cold stream imbues into Myrtle Lake with its crystal-clear water that would bring refreshment to anyone place their feet in the water. If one found themselves thrives in the beauty of Mother Nature, then this is a wonderful place to have a camp. Far away from the busy street of Emerald City, its constant sirens and crowded streets, one would think of nothing more than the peaceful silence that nature grants them in its solitude.
Anonymous takes in a deep breath of the cool crispy air, and feels the wondrous sensation of the wind blowing on his face. For a short moment, he feels at peace, and would let out a small smile of satisfaction if that is what he here for. Standing on top of the tree, he turns his attention back to the small camp set near the lake, and with that the peace is gone. He needs to focus on his goal now, no time to enjoy the scenery until it is done. He looks at a small newspaper clipping with a face of a man and compares it to the man setting up his camp to make sure he got the right target.
“Victor Holloway,” he read the news clipping, “after being charge of embezzlement and fraud that caused bankruptcy to his company, he was later set free after spending ten month in jail and his family paid for the fine of over nine thousand dollar…” the rest was cut off.
What the newspaper forgot to mention was how the bankruptcy have driven many of the employees into a large amount of dept. Some, driven by the desperation, threw themselves into committing crimes in order to live through the day. Other, who suffered from unemployment and poverty, got targeted by the scum of the city and other wealthy people who preyed on the weak like a beast hunting down a defenseless rabbit.
And while the poor struggles to live by, here’s Victor and his family, living on as if nothing has happened. The wealthy think that with a lot of money, they can get away with whatever crimes committed, that everyone have a price to be bought, and pay no attention to what their action affect everyone else. It isn’t surprise Anonymous anymore: beneath Emerald City’s glamour and bright light is a dark depravity mess where the rich get richer, and the poor scrambled beneath them, feeding off any scum they left like animals. And what have the law did to bring them closure? Or bring them the justice that they deserve?
Nothing! After all, the laws demand hard evident in order to charge a man with a crime, but any evident they found against Victor is merely circumstantial, not enough to put him more than just a small misdemeanor and pay a minor fine. From this view, he seems very happy, playing with his two daughters and spending quality time with his wife. He’s probably forgotten everything about his crime.
“Well, enjoy your vacation while it last, because there’s no running from your judgment any longer.”
He thinks he is safe, but he’d just signed his own sentence when he decided to have a family camping trip here in Myrtle Lake. The area is isolated, and no phone reception can be found anywhere:
“Perfect: no interloper, no interruption, and whatever happens to him, no one will ever find out until it’s too late.”
Anonymous couldn’t have asks for a better setting for his show, and it will be glorious.
---
SCHEME: punish/torment the rich business man for his crime. No exception and no mercy; he will suffer until his sanity is no longer intact.
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The Keepers
Posts 234
Power Level 31
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Post by Azoth on May 8, 2016 13:16:51 GMT -7
Azoth stood silently in the shadows of the thick trees. It’d been a long walk here - not a particularly hard one, with the slow pace she’d taken - but after expecting to get up here before noon and not arriving until two, she was more than ready to get this over with.
The super did not like camping. Not in the slightest. It was dirty, it was cold, you had to carry everything yourself, and modern necessities like ovens, toilet paper, and bathtubs had to be substituted for terrible attempts at maintaining one’s general comfort. As far as she was concerned, nature was a terrible host. Hiking wasn’t as bad in the same way being stung by a bee wasn’t as bad as being stabbed. But a job was a job, and this was one of the better one’s she’d gotten in a while.
Few people can go through life without making at least a couple of enemies, but some were luckier than most. Some got away with glares and rude jokes on April Fools. Others anonymously request the death of said person to the keepers, only to have it handed down to fairly low-ranking members of the organization. Azoth was not an assassin, not really, but she was certainly willing to play the part if need be. So, today, she was out to kill a man named Victor Holloway, a once-billionaire whose life was now only worth the effort to send the first hands that were free and not needed for anything more important.
The whole of this job was shrouded in mystery. Azoth didn’t know who had hired them - that was supposedly to be revealed afterwards, if at all, along with the prize of the mission: information on something or other that was supposed to be useful probably. Maybe some respect within the organization for a job well done. When she was first given this job, Azoth felt a small part of her pride die. She wondered how many keepers had rejected the monotony of a long walk for some unspecified reward before it’d finally dropped and clanked its way down the ladder to her. At least, she’d told herself then and told herself now, she was getting jobs from the keepers. This would be an opportunity to prove her capabilities.
Now she was here, she was ready, and the time to strike would be soon upon them. While the man’s daughters played in the deep blue water of the ice-melt lake, Holloway stayed back by the camp they’d built in the trees. The wife was off wandering around the far side of the lake.
For a moment longer her eyes lingered on the two girls in the water. She didn’t know them personally, but they were classmates of hers. One was in her english class.
She let this fact roll around in her mind before letting it pass. She needed to focus on the job. Giving the signal she was ready when her her teammate was, she prepared to make her move.
Before long the man would be deeply isolated; with no phone service and a camping place chosen specifically so they could have the peace of nature to themselves, the only ones who might be of the slightest aid to him was his family. Quiet was the goal of this mission, and indeed was why they’d been sent after him now, on this trip. The chances of someone being about to stop them were supposedly slim.
Not impossible, though. She hoped if others arrived, Unhallow, her teammate for this mission, would be able to alert her of them. Azoth didn’t know the other keeper well; indeed, this would be their first time working together, and she couldn’t say the rumors about the super’s abilities weren’t a little disconcerting. But if they were going to succeed, she’d have to put her trust in the other super.
---
SUPPORTING: for business reasons.
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Pandaemonium
I need a gingerbread man, the one I'll eat
Posts 154
Power Level 28
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Post by Bloodbath on May 8, 2016 15:39:43 GMT -7
Bloodbath rubbed his scarred hands wearily, why had he taken this mission again? He raked his mind for an answer and received nothing, out of all the things he could remember, he still couldn't remember anything about his own mind.
It was a simple mission, get this fraudster and get him to pay up some hush money, otherwise Pandemonium had some evidence that he really didn't want to be revealed. His lips curled back, he supposed that this had some underlying meaning, Pandemonium needed no money. Still, for the life of him, he couldn't fantom what.
He sighed and glanced at the family from the foliage that he sat invisibly in, a perfectly normal family, about to see the most terrifying thing they had probably seen. Too bad...
He blinked as he spotted various shapes gathering in the campsite, definitely not The family's friends. A man with no face and...a Keeper. His mind clicked into place, oh, here was the reason.
As far as he knew, Pandemonium and the Keepers hated each other, this was probably an excuse to eliminate some irritating people! A smirk crossed his face as he carved a long line down his wrists, they must have thought he'd be good at this if they put him in this role!
Opposing: Bloodbath could care less about the man, but he definitely wants to prove himself useful in Pandemonium's organization!
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Inactive
Posts 78
Power Level 20
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Post by Timezone on May 8, 2016 15:56:49 GMT -7
Timezone fast forward through the forest laughing gleefully, take that police! He was pretty sure he lost some few miles back but decided to keep moving to practice his powers. And he had only crashed, like six times! He was getting better!
Well, make that seven times. He flew forward and, forgetting he could rewind, slammed into the ground, hard. "Man...now I gotta try that again!" He pulled himself up, regained his smile, and prepared to fast forward again, before he heard some laughter behind him. Deciding to rewind to check out what was going on, he ended up peering down towards a clearing. "Oh they're camping, cool!" He almost yelled a greeting but stopped, seeing movement behind the people. Was there somebody there?
There was! Behind them stood a girl in black clothes and goggles, making some signal. He followed to where he assumed she was looking at and saw what was probably the creepiest guy. The man had no face! Alright, he knew the girl, well he knew someone who looked like her was in the Keepers but he didn't know her name, all he knew is she was definitely a villain and he faceless guy was probably a villain too. The girl looked right at the people below, was she going to do something to them!? He threw himself into a fast forward without hesitation, he was going to protect these people! In a few seconds he stood a few feet away, smiling confidently, he did get his dramatic entrance perfectly without a eight crash after all. "Hey there! Wanna tell me what you're doing?"
Opposing: Timezone plans to be the hero for these people! (Even if he doesn't know exactly what's going on.)
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The Keepers
Posts 206
Power Level 30
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Post by Unhallow on May 8, 2016 16:15:25 GMT -7
Unhallow was entering their fourth week of officially being a member of the Keepers. Looking back on those three weeks, Unhallow could only feel extremely disappointed. So far, their presence in the organization had been a colossal failure. Sure, they managed to accomplish a few things under the guidance of a few more experienced people, but the success of those missions were largely thanks to them. Unhallow was little more than a radar, an easy way to look around and find things before doing anything, while occasionally being asked to destroy locks or cameras. Their first time working alone was quite possibly one of the worst experiences of their life, rivaling even that of a deadly dragon encounter. Not only did Unhallow fail, but the actions of a few supers caused their power to go completely haywire. It was the first time Unhallow saw what it was really capable of.
After that, Unhallow was worried they wouldn't get another opportunity to do anything, an opportunity to make up for that. They were a liability in teams, not competent enough to work on their own, Unhallow wouldn't have blamed the Keepers for not letting them do anything else of value. Much to Unhallow's surprise, they did get another chance. They wouldn't be working alone, and they were more or less expected to just be a reconnaissance drone again, but that was enough for Unhallow. Just being able to do something again filled them with a combination of great joy and relief that Unhallow didn't even care that they didn't receive a lot of the details in the mission. Unhallow was basically just expected to do whatever their partner, Azoth, said. That was fine, Unhallow could do that. Unhallow would make sure that everything would succeed with no problems this time.
Before getting their power, the forest was one of Unhallow's favorite places to go. Unhallow always loved nature, to the point that they even had their own little garden in their family's backyard. Last year, they were hoping to be able to plant some vegetables this year, but the nature of their power made that difficult to do. It also made walking in the forest a little bit awkward. The feeling of all the life around them was even more intense than it was before, but more than that, so was the feeling that it was all dying with every step they took. It was awkward and made venturing out to this part of the city much less pleasant. The worst part of being here in costume was that they had to feel all that without feeling any of the nice things, like the wind through their hair. It wasn't her first choice of places to go for a mission, but they weren't about to complain.
Meeting up with Azoth wasn't hard. The hard part was finding the balance between staying close enough that they could communicate, but not being so close that Unhallow might accidentally kill her, or at least make her too wounded to actually complete her mission. Unhallow wouldn't have any trouble hearing Azoth, she could whisper under her breath and Unhallow would still hear it as clearly as they would if she shouted in their ear. However, being able to see the area wouldn't be much good if they couldn't report what they saw, thus Unhallow had to stay close enough to communicate back, without being too loud. Unhallow eventually settled on staying a few feet away. Azoth would likely feel some of the effects of their power, but it would be minimal as long as they finished this job quickly. Sadly, the trip there took much longer than they were hoping. Azoth's pace was painfully slow, and Unhallow had to get away for a little while just to prevent too much damage. They would get close again once the campsite was in their sensory range.
Once it was, Unhallow made their way back, careful not to move too quickly or exert themselves too much. There were other people here too. One made them freeze, momentarily forgetting to even breathe. It was Anonymous, the one mostly responsible for what happened at the train yard. Unhallow felt a lump form in their throat and quickly took a deep breath. They couldn't let themselves get nervous or scared, not here.
"I see them. And others. Supers. The first is Anonymous, I believe the second is Bloodbath. I don't recognize the third. He's moving quickly, weirdly. Disappears sometimes and reappears somewhere else. He's approaching--," Unhallow stopped as the third super disappeared again. "--Right in front of us."
Unhallow took several steps back to get away from the unknown super. Being at that range was probably more dangerous for him that it was for Unhallow. There was absolutely no reason to fight at close range here, not when it would hurt everyone else that much.
---
SUPPORTING: Hi Azoth!
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The Keepers
Posts 76
Power Level 24
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Post by Arcanum on May 8, 2016 18:23:47 GMT -7
Arcanum heard whispering about this Mr. Holloway, and the nameless request for his death. After wasting a few minutes researching why that name sounded familiar, she appreciated the fact that no one felt like taking the job. Killing someone for being a former criminal? The Keepers are not vigilantes—there's not enough justification to murder someone unconnected to the organization.
Besides, this Holloway already served time in jail and lost his job. Sure, the latter was his own fault, but even if he deserved worse punishment. . . that didn't explain the leap to assassination. Not for this price. It was going to take more than some mystery prize to motivate anyone into action.
Now that she had this information, was there any practical use if Arcanum wasn't going to kill him? Can she go out there to save that guy out of moral superiority? No, whether Holloway lived or not wouldn't effect her daily life. Whoever hates him is making a bad decision, but that has nothing to do with her. Can she warn him, protect him if the reward is high enough? No, he has nothing worth going against the Keepers for. All he could give her was a massive amount of money, which wouldn't directly help her goals. Hopefully this would get ignored until the client decided to provide more information.
Of course, the universe never missed an opportunity to ruin her day. She should have expected that some of the newer members wouldn't know how to select appropriate assignments. Usually some one else chose where and when to mobilize. They lacked the experience to easily point out jobs that were an inefficient use of time.
If this was going to happen, Arcanum at least wanted to make sure they survived. She slithered through the grass like a snake, trying stay out of sight. Granted, shape-shifting wouldn't be enough to prevent Unhallow from noticing her presence, but letting the other Keepers notice wouldn't ruin everything.
At first, she wanted to let those two learn from their own mistakes, and was content to merely observe. Unfortunately, now other supers were involved. The only one she recognized was a member of Pandaemonium, which caused Arcanum to hiss in frustration. This day just kept getting worse. Clearly, the upcoming battle would be a mess, and she couldn't sit back and wait this out.
Her body rose from the ground, reforming back into Arcanum's usual appearance. Running would allow her to catch up to the group faster, and she kind of needed legs for that. Her right hand began to flatten down and sharpen into a knife blade. There was no time to waste.
- - - - -
Opposing! Also, fighting your friends in order to save your friends is never a fun experience.
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Post by PANOPTICON Ver. 3.023 on May 8, 2016 18:54:11 GMT -7
PANOPTICON Ver. 3.023 online Running aberrant conflict search heuristic. Scanning satellite imagery... clear. Scanning public security footage... clear. Scanning private devices... anomaly detected. Multiple aberrants detected converging on unpowered individual of interest in Evergreen Hollow region. Cataloguing individuals within probable conflict radius... Detected: Four unpowered humans. Detected: Five standard aberrants, see case files 1-5295, 1-5652, 1-5911, 1-6001, 1-6141 Detected: One anomalous aberrant, see case file 3-0508 (cf. 5-0193) Conflict probability within next 60 seconds: 92.73% Beginning combat data collection. (The fight starts now! In public, post your reactions and responses to everything that has happened since your last post. Then, click here to PM the admins with the description of your action this turn. In that PM, also include which power type you're using and your choice of target. The next round will begin in 48 hours, or less if everyone's actions are submitted before then.) |
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Inactive
Posts 78
Power Level 20
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Post by Timezone on May 9, 2016 5:20:11 GMT -7
Timezone leaned to the side seeing someone else behind the girl. "You're a Keeper too right?" He really didn't know this other person's name at all but he remembers hearing about some Keeper in a helmet and armor, and this person looked exactly like that. Alright two Keepers, he can take them both!
Wait, three villains, that faceless guy. "Is that faceless guy even helping you? He can't even fight me from there!" Really, Keepers had the weirdest allies! He stepped forward into a fast forward, the one with the helmet was backing up from him, what were they scared? A headache instantly showed up sending him rewinding away. "So that's what you can do, just give me a headache? That's not very deadly..." He was almost disappointed, a power like that couldn't even hurt the campers in the clearing, much less a superhero like him.
"Oh well! That'll just make this real easy!" While he didn't know the girl's power or the faceless guy's power, they couldn't hurt him that badly, right?
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Pandaemonium
I need a gingerbread man, the one I'll eat
Posts 154
Power Level 28
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Post by Bloodbath on May 9, 2016 9:24:21 GMT -7
Bloodbath hissed as his blood formed it's usually shield, no matter how many times he did it, it always burned and ached! The pain helped push away his front of fear, replacing it with a blank slate, poised to crack at any time.
His eyes caught sight of Unhallow, prompting a near invisible frown to cross his face, he didn't like her the most. He supposed he could have fun with this particular Keeper, and nobody had to see!
He advanced just in time for a kid to blink in, announcing something about saving these people. Not a threat, nor an ally. Bloodbath could ignore him.
Even as he advanced, he didn't notice the third Keeper approaching, too mindful of his own objective.
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Unaligned
Aw, what's wrong? Don't you trust me?
Posts 235
Power Level 30
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Post by An0nymou5 on May 9, 2016 12:38:18 GMT -7
Anonymous let out a long sigh and squint the area between his eyes in annoyance; this was supposed to be simple, all he need is to make that man suffer for his crime. But no, there have to be some interloper getting themselves involve in this. He isn’t quite sure why Unhallow would be here, nor the other Keeper agents. Even Bloodbath is here, and a dumb, annoying kid who think he’s a hero decided to classify him as a villain simply because of how he looks.
“Honestly, is the Bulwark employing the most obnoxious supers out there to join in their faction for fun?” he said to himself.
Well, there’s no way out of this now. It seems that he need to deal with the situation at hand before he can have his way to the Holloway. As the saying goes: the show must go on. In a way, deep down, he felt rather glad about this. He could used this for his own benefit; after all, it wouldn't be a show without the supporting casts.
If that kid think Anonymous can't do anything from far away, then he'll be in for a surprise.
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The Keepers
Posts 234
Power Level 31
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Post by Azoth on May 9, 2016 22:51:47 GMT -7
Unlikely that others would show up, but not impossible. Azoth’s shoulders tensed as Unhallow relayed her findings. How many? Three? Why in the world where there so many supers out in the middle of nowhere like this?
This thought was banished from Azoth’s mind, however, as one of said three supers appeared directly in front of her. She visibly jumped - not only up but a step back, and it was only by luck that she kept her balance and on her feet. “Who?!” She coughed out, but it didn’t really matter. Azoth took several more stumbling steps back.
This was going to be a fight, wasn’t it? Between the two of them, this guy, Anonymous, Bloodbath, and - if her peripheral vision was to be believed - Arcanum? What was she doing here? As far as Azoth knew, only Unhallow and her had been assigned this mission. They hadn’t mentioned anything about a third member when she’d been given the assignment details. But then again, who were the keepers to tell anybody anything.
As for the other two, Azoth had heard nothing but bad things about them (relative to her). Conflict seemed inevitable between the three represented factions, and then one. Thank goodness she had Unhallow to back her up.
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The Keepers
Posts 206
Power Level 30
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Post by Unhallow on May 10, 2016 9:47:01 GMT -7
Unhallow was tempted to say something back, but banter was never their strong point. If anything, they were really starting to believe that it was just better if they said as little as possible. Instead, Unhallow steadied their feet and stood up as straight as possible, shoulders back, head up. Unhallow was nearly six feet tall, so maybe that would be enough to at least make them look a little imposing. A fight was inevitable at this point, not that Unhallow really understood why. Bloodbath was at least easy to understand, Anonymous was a little too unpredictable to Unhallow still, so they didn't really get it, but this tiny hero? Was he just the type to randomly attack people too?
"Arcanum's here too. Were you expecting her?" Unhallow reported.
Arcanum was clearly trying to stay hidden at first, but that didn't last. Why was she here? Unhallow knew that they were likely being watched at all times, but the Keepers had a good enough feel for the range of their power that they could do so without being noticed. Blatantly ignoring that was odd, shifting into a weapon was even odder. Was she here to help? Did she really think they needed help? Unhallow's heart sank a bit. It was a little disheartening to see someone stronger intervening. Did the organization just not think they could handle this? Or that something would go wrong like last time? Even if that was true, Unhallow still needed to do their best. A fight was inevitable, they had to be ready.
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The Keepers
Posts 76
Power Level 24
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Post by Arcanum on May 10, 2016 12:12:37 GMT -7
How to explain this situation? While Arcanum wanted to help the other Keepers, saying that would imply that she supported this assassination, which couldn't be farther from the truth. She had no intention of hurting them, but knew her inevitable victory would just add another failure to their record. It's a different kind of pain, but she wasn't looking forward to dealing with either of them after--
Hold on. There's no point in worrying now when she hasn't stopped them yet. Arcanum shook her head in disappointment. She should know better than to expect a win. Regardless of whether or not they could even hear her, Arcanum felt the need to address her interruption. "Just go with it; I'll explain later. Fight them off for now."
This called for a division of labor. So far it looked like both sides were even--three Keepers and three extras. As long as the enemy didn't try to gang up on one particular person, this battle would go smoothly. Arcanum simply needed to distract one in order to keep this fight balanced. Timegazer or whatever he's called didn't look like much of a threat, although Bulwark members were never completely incompetent. The four kids (including that crazy blood guy) could play with themselves for the moment. There was a bigger threat that needed to be taken care of.
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Post by PANOPTICON Ver. 3.023 on May 10, 2016 16:14:55 GMT -7
     Timezone PANOPTICON Ver. 3.023 analyzing combat data... --- Accumulation (Information) by An0nymou5 against Maneuver (Speed) results in SUCCESS, +10% combat advantage Accumulation (Enhancement) by Unhallow against Maneuver (Alteration) results in SUCCESS, +10% combat advantage Maneuver (Field) by Arcanum against An0nymou5 results in SUCCESS, +25% combat advantage Maneuver (Field) by Azoth against Timezone results in SUCCESS, +25% combat advantage Maneuver (Alteration) by Bloodbath against An0nymou5 results in FAILURE due to equal-or-greater immunity granted by the Accumulation (Enhancement) Unhallow used Maneuver (Speed) by Timezone against Azoth results in FAILURE due to equal-or-greater immunity granted by the Accumulation (Information) An0nymou5 used --- Current conditions: An0nymou5 Azoth and Unhallow have immunity to Maneuver (Speed) granted by the Accumulation (Information) An0nymou5 used. An0nymou5 Azoth and Unhallow have immunity to Maneuver (Alteration) granted by the Accumulation (Enhancement) Unhallow used. Combat advantage: An0nymou5 Azoth and Unhallow have 45% Arcanum Bloodbath and Timezone have 25% Current openings: An0nymou5 may BYPASS a chosen immunity of a chosen enemy at a cost of 15% combat advantage, removing that immunity from that enemy for the duration of the battle. Azoth may REGROUP at a cost of 40% combat advantage, decreasing the other team's combat advantage by 13%. (Everyone got their actions in early, so the next round starts immediately! Your public posts this round should explain how your actions last round turned out. Explain how things you used and things used on you succeeded or failed as appropriate, and then start thinking about which power you should use next! Click here to PM your commands to the staff. The next round begins in 48 hours.) |
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Unaligned
Aw, what's wrong? Don't you trust me?
Posts 235
Power Level 30
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Post by An0nymou5 on May 11, 2016 0:30:06 GMT -7
“This time? Asshole?” Anonymous ponder at what that Keeper agent just said to him when she shoot out these silver goo all over his feet, “I’m sorry,” he said to her confusingly, “have we cross-path before that encourage you to say those thing, girly? I don’t believe we have even met before.”
What confused him more is why this girl thinks he was trying to get away from her. As far as he know so far, he didn’t even does anything to receive this kind of reaction from her. What, did Unhallow nark on the teacher about him being mean to them at the train yard? With the silvery goo hinder his movement quite a bit, it’s a good thing that Unhallow was so close by; those pointy thing that Bloodbath had in his hand might have been hurt when he pounce toward Anonymous if they didn’t get turn to dust when passing near Unhallow’s strange ability. At the very least he can understand Bloodbath’s mental thought bubble: Pandaemonium members are tend to be violent, so this doesn’t surprise him, especially after the situation he witness between him and Unhallow at HappyWorld that night.
“Rude,” he said to Bloodbath, “very rude of you to do such a thing. Didn’t your mother teach you not to wave sharp object around stranger?”
Honestly, did they really think that just because Anonymous is stuck where he is now, he can’t do anything? At least that simpleton Timezone, have the decency to keep out of his business while focusing on that new Keeper with Unhallow. Either way, 2 against 1 is rather unfair of these two; even more surprising is that a Pandaemonuim is working with a Keeper. He sure glad he get to see this madness come to fruition.
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