The Union of Superheroes | Open

[Wormgod]

Once, this world was normal, much like ours. Nearly everything was carefully explained by science. The only questions left were in the depths of the ocean and the far reaches of space. The world was relatively stable, and life was better than ever before.

But of course things can never be too quiet. Life just doesn't work that way. So slowly, odd occurances happened all over the world. Strange creatures, people, and events. At first the news didn't spread, but soon people managed to record it and put it on the internet, and they went viral. Babies born that glowed with a supernatural light, strange machines falling from the sky, a man who claims to be Perun, the Slavic version of Zeus. These events spun out of control...and then they appeared. People in costumes who fought back the threats...or caused them. The superheroes and supervillains. There isn't any other word that accurately describes them. They were somehow blessed or cursed with powers and decided to use them. People rejoiced and shouted in fear.

With the appearance of these costumed individuals, the events now had a face to blame. The world's governments quickly denounced these vigilantees, some even calling for their arrest. But one man came forward; Bran Schaal, an up-and-coming businessman with many interesting projects under his belt. This man, who invented more efficient solar generators, refined better jet fuel, and was planning the technology to colonize the Moon came out as one of the superhumans, live on CNN in an interview. Bran announced his next project, what he called the "Union of Superheroes." He planned to gather the capable and willing individuals in one team to help the world, stop any in-fighting, have some political power, and prevent casualties. They would act on a global scale, dealing with any threats big and small from supervillians and the like.

Today is the day of the meeting. It's taking place at Schaal's personal skyscraper in Manhattan, December 23, 2030, noon EST. The world will be watching who goes and who doesn't, and what comes of this group of superhumans.

[Wormgod]

This plot is basic and will require some 'push' by our members to keep it going. We will play new superheroes and supervillains who gained their powers through whatever means (woke up with it one day, bit by a radioactive spider, aliens, gods, magic, whatever) and decided to use them. Think Marvel/DC style, except we will be creating all of our characters. No fandoms here.

The events that came to be known as the "superhero crisis" started roughly 13 years ago. Aliens started crashing, people woke up with weird powers, got bit by radioactive animals, magic, whatever.

[Wormgod]

Make as many characters as you can handle. I cannot stress "handle" enough. If you aren't sure if you can keep track of all of them, perhaps it would be better to stick with the ones you already have.

This is semi-literate. A paragraph per character, but there is no maximum.

Be active! A post every few days, please. I certainly won't be posting multiple times a day, but don't go a week without notice. This roleplay will require player participation to develop arcs.

Forms and OOC in this thread. The main thread is only for the roleplay.

No overpowered characters. I'm not looking for Thanos and Superman here.

[Wormgod]

Name | Codename | Age | Gender | Job | Alignment | Username | Link to form

Bran Schaal | Halcyon | 35 | Male | Leader of UoS | Union | NPC | X
Phoebe Newmaker | Symbiote | 23 | Female | Press Secretary of UoS | Union | Wormgod | X
Marie Whisper | Vex | 21 | Female | Professional Assassin | Her own | Pyra Ilver | X
Charlie Noir | Saint Black | 21 | Male | None | His own (Neutral Evil) | sad boy | X

[Wormgod]

Name: Bran Schaal

Age: 35

Gender: Cis male

Codename: Halcyon

Abilities: Bran has what he calls "Nullify", a two-pronged ability that calms and weakens superheroes.
Bran gives off a nullifying field ten feet around him. Superheroes with magical abilities and mutations in this area feel a strange sense of calm, and their abilities are greatly weakened. Physical mutations (like wings, extra arms, biological mutations) are not weakened.
Bran can also concentrate on one individual within sight and forcibly calm them and completely nullify their abilities. A strong mind can withstand this mental attack. This does not work on nonmagical, nonmutated people.

History: Bran Schaal was born in Munich, Germany to a large, poor, but loving family. His parents ran a mom and pop tourist shop near the airport that sold all the knick knacks one could imagine. Bran was the seventh and last child born, and as the baby he got away with not helping the shop and instead doing whatever he wanted to do. Most of the time that was reading or tinkering with his electronic toys. He quickly developed a love for learning, especially engineering and computer science. As a teen, he graduated secondary school early and with honors. He was awarded a STEM scholarship for MIT and moved to America to attend. As expected, Bran graduated there with all A's, even though all of the classes were taught in English and he had to take English as a Second Language classes to catch up. Bran gained dual Masters in Computer Science and Elecrical Engineering. Many companies tried to offer jobs right out of the gate, but Bran turned them down and started his own company. First he repaired and made computers, then he developed his own apps and operating system, hardware, and branched out into other fields. He designed more efficient solar panels, carbon dioxide scrubbers, handheld generators and more. He worked on any and all beneficial projects, and sold them to the public for cheap. When asked in interviews, Bran said that "he believed in helping the human race...and someone needs to make a difference." By 32, Bran was number #40 on the 100 most influential people in the world, and climbing.
Bran was one of the first people to suddenly gain a mutation. He can't pinpoint a single day, due to he nature of his power. The day he did notice was the day a crazed man broke into his mansion and threatened to kill him. The man said the devil gave him his powers so he could destroy all the businessmen in the world--starting with Bran, who this man believed was tracking all his customers through secret microchips. The man threatened to use his powers on him--the power of pyrokinesis, or fire manipulation. Bran, of course, was terrified, but also felt strangely calm. He stepped closer and closer, talking calmly, and slowly the man slumped to the floor seemingly in a stupor. The flames he threatened Bran with disappeared and he just started off into space with a serene look. Bran called the police, who took him away quickly and with no incidents.
That was the tipping point. He realized this superhero crisis was a new potential threat and boon to humanity. With later incidents, he realized he also had a superpower, one that made him the perfect candidate to move the new potential in humanity towards the greater good. And so he started the Union of Superheroes: first by quietly fortifying his personal skyscraper and outfitting it to hold potentially a hundred people at one time, and with a state of the art security system (created by him, of course). Then he spread the word and invited anyone and everyone to join. He even revealed his secret and told the world that he was also a mutant--but not a costumed superhero.

Other:

[Wormgod]

Name: Phoebe Newmaker
Sraif; at least, that's the closest humans can come to saying its name.

Age: Phoebe is 23. Sraif estimates to be around 20 in Earth time.

Gender: Phoebe is cisfemale. Sraif's species is hermaphroditic and has no concept of gender. It prefers 'it' or 'they', but will respond to 'he' or 'she' as well and politely correct the speaker.

Codename: Symbiote

Abilities: Mild telepathy, electromagnetic field manipulation (self), advanced knowledge of science, the history of Yith and their side of the galaxy.

Phoebe is an ordinary human. All of the abilities gained are from combining the two, the joining of two willing minds working towards a shared goal. Technically all of the abilities are Sraif's, but by living inside Phoebe's head, they are boosted. To clarify:
Sraif's species, dubbed "Yithians", are a symbiotic organism that can only live in a very specific environment. The slightest change from that environment spells doom for the delicate organism. They must live in a warm, wet, electrically charged environment rich in oxygenated fluid. The best place to find that? A cranium. The brain provides the best environment, as it is warm, surrounded by fluid and oxygen-rich blood, and has a steady bioelectrical current. Furthermore, Sraif's species can take perfect advantage of living on top of someone else's brain. Their own brain, which takes up more than 2/3rd's of their body, can connect to the host's and supplement or hijack it. When doing so, the Yithians natural abilities are boosted and they gain uncanny control over the host's body--even over involuntary processes, like the heartbeat, hormones, and cell growth.
It is possible to take over, but hard to maintain control over an unwilling host. It is much better to live in an artificial body or have a willing host, like Phoebe.
Sraif's species is gifted with telepathy. Sraif can talk via telepathy to people within Phoebe's sight, and can read the mind of someone being touched by Phoebe (a strong mind can repel the invasion). Sraif also can augment Phoebe's electromagnetic field into a defensive shield and a weapon. Enemies can find themselves forcibly repelled as if by a powerful magnetic pole pushing away a like charge. It also adds force to Phoebe's punches and kicks, and can be used to push or pull on magnetic objects, like bullets.
But the pair have three big weaknesses. Sraif needs to enter and leave Phoebe's cranium to eat and similar activities. Outside of Phoebe, Sraif is a half-blind, deaf slug-like creature that could so easily get stepped on. Getting to Phoebe's head also required burrowing through her left ear and puncturing her skull with its beak. Being an alien with great knowledge of engineering, Sraif added a "doorway" of sorts that also acts as a hearing aid, but this device is weak and can be destroyed with a good hit. That will be painful and potentially lethal if the shrapnel goes into Phoebe's brain. And the last weakness comes from Sraif herself: electricity. While humans aren't too good at handling electricity on their own, we don't usually have an extra brain sitting on top of our own. A high enough charge will send the pair into a highly dangerous form of seizure and may cause Phoebe's body to reject Sraif like a transplant and start attacking it. To save them both, Sraif would have to leave Phoebe, which puts them both into a weakened state.

History:
Phoebe: Phoebe was born in Austin, Texas to a pair of political activists. Her mother was the head editor of the city newspaper, and her father worked at the local homeless shelter. She grew up learning about science and math at school, then coming home and learning about the current events in the world. She went to protests, volunteered for congressmen and special interest groups, and watched the news. She was a bit of an enigma to the kids at school, since she would ask them what they thought of the evening news (of course, no other kid watched the news. Why watch the news when Naruto was on?). Phoebe was a teacher's pet and peeve, since she was not one to sit back and listen. She asked questions. Depending on the teacher, she was their favorite or their worst student. In high school, Phoebe was on school government and the head of the Young Democrats club. She organized a special lesson to teach kids about the importance of media literacy: that is, knowing the difference between hoax stories and real news. That made her a target for the next month, since she essentially gave all the kids more homework.
Phoebe, of course, went to college for Political Science. Her thesis is on the current crisis that is the "superhero" thing. She planned to go to the Union of Superhero meeting as a freelance reporter...until the day when she was out at the Riverwalk with some friends and saw a flaming aircraft crash into the Colorado River. The noise alone scared the bats out from under the bridge, and broke a few windows. The crash also splashed everyone within twenty feet of the Riverwalk. Already soaking wet and presented with what looked like a crashed jet, Phoebe dove into the river to save the pilot. Her friends shouted at her to stop, to call 911, but she didn't listen.

The Colorado River is murky, but the "jet" was big and the sunlight showed what looked like the emergency exit next to the cockpit. Later, she would look back at that memory and remember the false body--which does NOT look humanoid in the slightest. It's shaped more like a spider, with multiple legs and arms to help climb around the outside of the spaceship while in space--floating near the blown out windows at the edge of her vision. That should have been a clue that this wasn't a jet. But Phoebe was too busy tugging on the handle to notice.

Suddenly a sharp pain hit her ear. Something was squirming into her ear. She screamed and lost all her air as the thing hit something--her eardrum--at the back of her ear. Phoebe tried to yank it out, but it was already too far into her ear canal to reach and then oh god more pain and--

Flashes of light. Dark. Memories of going to college for Bioengineering and Xenobiology. Oh dear, that Xenobiology teacher was so dull, wasn't it? What was its name? Oh, right. Professor San!dp. Listen! Surface.

Oh right. They're drowning. They're drowning. Who else is here? It's just me, Sraif.

The two surfaced. Phoebe gasped in air and remembered that she existed. Something was in her mind that she had to get out. But right now, that thing was in control, and Phoebe felt as if she was floating somewhere else and the other thing was inside her body. It took them out of the water, past her scared friends, and down the street into an alley. Phoebe felt herself get closer and closer into her body until she was back--but the other thing was also there, and the flashes of memories that aren't her own came again.

Time seemed to not exist as the two watched the stream of consciousness flowed through their minds. Sraif learned that Phoebe truly cared about her planet, and jumped into the water to save whoever was in the downed ship. Phoebe learned that, ironically, she did save the pilot--by providing a compatible body. Sraif learned that, despite the hostile takeover, Phoebe was willing to provide a home, since the two already knew eachother more than anyone else possibly could so it was impossible to further breach privacy, she knew that Sraif would die without a body, she did not want anyone else to experience this, especially one who wouldn't be willing...and having an alien inside her head made her feel unique. She could now be one of the superheroes she idolized--help the world more than just arguing at congressmen or falling for the paradox of voting. And she knew exactly what Sraif could do.

And so the pair, as Symbiote, went to a pharmacy to clean up their ear while planning how to use Phoebe's dead iPhone 3 to make a hearing aid and entrance to her head, and how the heck they would hide their existence from their roommates.

Sraif: Sraif comes from a planet called Y!th (pronounced Yi-clicking sound-th, which humans just call Yith) on the opposite side of the Milky Way galaxy about two million years ago. The Yithians evolved from opportunistic parasites that would take over the minds of a monkey-like species, and use them for mobility, shelter, and greater senses. Over the millions of years of this relationship, the Yithian ancestor lost the ability to live outside of a host. Their society evolved around this necessary slavery, and nearly all conflicts can be traced back to how they should treat their hosts. During their Industrial Revolution, one Yithian invented a false body that could be used instead of an unwilling host. This first attempt was not a permanent solution as it only extended the time a Yithian could stay outside of a real body, but the idea was planted and the end of slavery dawned.
Within a hundred years, the false body was perfected. No longer were they required to enslave another. Now they could live inside a false body that could be augmented for whatever purpose. Bodies became fashion accessories, work uniforms, playtime outfits, statement pieces, whatever you wanted the world to see, the false body filled the place. The Yithians never invented true cars: instead they invented a false body with wheels that rocked back and forth to produce speed. They never invented airplanes: instead, they invented many different winged false bodies, including a gigantic hollow bird-like body that could hold cargo and other bodies. The only ships the Yithians invented were from before the Industrial Revolution. Those slow-moving ships were replaced with gigantic whale-like bodies that functioned as a ship and a submarine. In fact, the only vehicle they actually invented was the spaceship. The spaceship was invented purely because their false bodies could not handle the vacuum of space or the extreme radiation. Instead, they invented a ship, and a body that could handle a few hours outside for any quick repairs. They took to the stars on a quest for knowledge.
Yithians also invented a technology that humans yearn for: the time machine. A few thousand years after seeding the stars with ships and colonies, a Yithian at home invented a time machine. It went forward and came back to tell that, in a few thousand years, all the Yithians will be eradicated by a conquering race. It met with the Yithians of that time, and they knew and accepted their immediate eradication. They did not care, for they had mastered time travel and already seeded their empire millions of years in the future and in the past.
From that point forward, the Yithian race stopped caring about most things and instead dedicated themselves to knowledge. They no longer really had to care about extinction, war, or their extraplanetary neighbors, because time travel had evolved to be able to take billions of individuals anywhere. Why care when you had the best get-out-of-jail-free card in existence?
Sraif, of course, is on a quest for knowledge. Specifically, knowledge on the other side of the galaxy. It went forward two million years to see what existed in this time and place. Sadly, it found one of the few planets that doesn't like unexpected guests. When its spaceship entered our atmosphere, it was picked up by multiple nations satellites and quickly found itself surrounded by British, Russian, American, and Belgian jets, all circling its hovering craft. All of them were ready to attack, and they all tried to contact the unknown aircraft by radio. Of course, alien aircrafts don't use human radio, and Sraif was busy trying to contact them by flicking the outside lights on and off, and in multiple colors. The Russians saw the flickering lights as a threat, and fired. The other jets fired as well. Sraif's craft went down in the middle of the Colorado river in Austin, Texas. The last thing Sraif saw was a cloud of strange flying creatures, thousands of them, all around its flaming ship.
The ship took on murky water fast. In the crash, Sraif's artificial body was damaged and was also taking on water. It exited the body and furiously swam for the surface, hoping that maybe, just maybe, one of the aquatic life on this planet had an ear canal. It found a large body rushing towards the sinking ship, someone big and warm. Sraif swam towards it, and when it was trying to pry open the airlock, Sraif struck. It burrowed through the ear canal as fast as it could and took over.
Sraif was born during the age of false bodies. It had never experienced the mind of another. The images, sensations, and emotions that flooded its mind and they both froze in shock. In that moment, they almost drowned, until both of their survival instincts took over and Phoebe swam to the surface. Then Sraif took control again, swam to shore, and walked past Phoebe's shocked and confused friends. Sraif managed to keep control long enough to take the pair into an alley-- a safe place to break down. The two kinda got lost in eachother's minds, just riding the wave of thoughts from eachother. Sraif learned everything about Phoebe, and vice versa.
They sat in that alley for six hours until thirst, hunger, and exhaustion took over. They stopped at a pharmacy to pick up water, a protein bar, alcohol wipes and a big bandaid for Phoebe's bleeding ear. They went back to the crash site, but already the authorities were there: rescue divers, Homeland Security, and suspicious unmarked black vans. The ship was halfway out of the water, being tugged into an unmarked shipping crate--probably going to some secret airbase for study.

And then they took a bus home and tried to figure out how to live together.

Other:

[Wormgod]

Now open!

[Pyra Ilver]

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Real name- Marie Whisper
Alias- Vex
Age- 21
Sexuality- heterosexual
Accent- Posh English
Height- 5'8
Eye colour- green
Hair colour- dark brown
Side- her own

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Marie grew up in a family of respected assassins. So much so, every major assassination in the last thirty years has been attributed to their bloody name. She grew up the next in a long long line of killers. And she was the best they had seen. It wasn't just the skill either, but her ability to tell lies from truth. She knows when she is being lied to, and being around her compels people to tell the truth. She can't turn it on or off. As well as this she has a sort of barrier around her mind protecting her from mental intrusions. A drawback is that these powers are useless for attacking or defending from the physical. This all started when she was about eight.

She's turned up to this meeting out of pure curiosity. Because of her profession she is not well known, but in the costumed community she is a familiar name, not face. Changing her appearance is second nature. As well as this she can fight her way out of almost anything, or at least against normal humans. Against someone with power she is significantly weaker.

Vex is ruthless and looks after number one. Being dead seems so dull . She hates small talk and mincing of words, she is concise and quick with her words. To her guild and others of her profession she is loyal, but outsiders had better beware if they try to intrude. She is reserved and polite, outwardly appearing like a perfect lady.

Her costume is entirely black with a belt filled with all sorts of useful things. As well as a constant dagger and fully loaded gun. Her face is never covered, instead she changes it between images of faces that aren't hers.

[Wormgod]

A sort of Black Widow or Talia al Gul. I like it. Accepted! But does she have any powers, or is she trained against mental attacks and have instinctive knowledge of lies?

[Pyra Ilver]

They're powers she's always had ^^