2
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works; all other characters and worlds belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing with them.
Betad by
The Game Master
Chapter 11: Locker
■
Welcome to the Parahumans Online message boards.
You are currently logged in, AzuththeWise
You are viewing:
Threads you have replied to AND Threads that have new replies OR private message conversations with new replies Thread OP is displayed. Twenty five posts per page Last ten messages in private message history. Threads and private messages are ordered chronologically.
■
♦ Topic: Astera's Grand Opening
In: Boards ► Locations ► Brockton Bay
AzuththeWise (Original Poster) (Verified Cape) (Verified Wizard)
Posted On Jan 9th 2011:
I have seen many wondering about the nature of the Golden Ticket that the valiant Mouse Protector won during my first tournament. You need wonder no longer.
Today, Mouse Protector and her chosen party of adventurers used the golden ticket to become the first members of Astera's adventurer's guild. I am aware of the many hopeful people seeking a way to gain the boons I offer, and Astera will allow me to share my gifts more freely.
Mouse Protector, Assault, Miss Militia and Clockblocker have completed the first quest, hunting the fearsome Anjanath to great success.
[MouseProtectorsMagicalAdventure]
As such, the Guild will now be opening in a limited capacity. As with my tournaments, this is not limited to heroes. To begin with, only those in the possession of a Golden Ticket will be able to join. Each ticket allows the holder and three party members to join.
[TheGuildRules]
So, in celebration of our grand opening, I've hidden three tickets within Brockton Bay and declare Azuth's first Scavenger Hunt! The tickets will appear in their spots at midnight tonight, and any that are not located will disappear at midnight next Sunday. The tickets that are found will also become active at the same time.
As with my previous tournament, I must insist that competitors maintain a certain level of decorum during the hunts. Any civilian deaths caused by a cape during the week-long hunt will cause that cape to be blacklisted from all events. Property damage should also be kept to a minimum; I am rather fond of this city, after all. That said, I understand that some damage is to be expected, and the scavengers are welcome to fight amongst themselves as long as they keep to the unwritten rules.
One ticket is the grand prize for the upcoming race tournament being held by Mad Moxxi, with whom I am collaborating to keep her races off the streets and take them to a greater level. She will be announcing the date of the preliminaries.
The final ticket is the prize for an upcoming tournament, but the details for that will be shared at a later date.
Good hunting!
(Showing page 1 of 145)
►MadMoxxi (Verified Cape) (Westside Rollerz)
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
As Azzy said, the Rollerz have joined forces with our resident wizard. In exchange for him providing us with new race tracks within a pocket dimension, I'm keeping my boys off the streets.
I'll be announcing the date of the preliminary races once the scavenger hunt is over, so keep an eye out for that.
►Morgan Sinister
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
Ignoring the scavanger hunt for the moment, did anyone notice that Clockblocker just got a pet dinosaur?
Or the fact that Miss Militia can make her weapon a minigun armed with explosive rounds? I may have underestimated just how terrifying she can be.
►Loyal
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
And why does Mouse Protector keep stabbing things in the eyes? I almost felt sorry for the poor Anjanath, it just wanted a snack.
Well, I felt more sorry for the fire-breathing dinosaur than I did the nazi, at any rare.
►Mouse Protector (Verified Cape) (Verified Big Cheese)
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
Because even most high-level brutes go down if you poke them in the eyes hard enough! You'd be surprised how many 'invincible' villains fall to pieces with a pebble to the eyeball.
►Coyote-C
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
You scare me.
►Mouse Protector (Verified Cape) (Verified Big Cheese)
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
ᘛ⁐ᕐᐷ
Just don't be a villain and your eyes will be fine.
►Vista (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
I'm sorry, Clockblocker has a what?
Oh god, this is not going to end well.
Unrelated, but can adventurers buy one of those Carbuncles that Azuth runs around with?
►AzuththeWise (Original Poster) (Verified Cape) (Verified Wizard)
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
They most certainly can. Carbuncle is the perfect partner for heroes with their healing and buffs, and a Carbuncle familiar egg is available in the Guild Exchange store.
Clockblocker could have bought one with his points... but what teenage boy can resist the urge to own a dinosaur?
►Clockblocker (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
I regret nothing, the end.
►Kid Win (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
He's failing to mention that he's on super console duty until he graduates from the Wards. The Director wasn't thrilled about our newest addition lmao
►Clockblocker (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
I repeat.
I regret nothing.
►Bruce Lao
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
Let's be honest. Clock is one of three PRT capes who can go to the adventurer's guild. They won't keep him on Console Duty when he's a source of points.
►Clockblocker (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
:)
►Chaosfaith
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
Wait, what did Assault spend his points on?
►Battery (Verified Cape) (Protectorate: Brockton Bay)
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
Don't ask.
Please.
►Assault (Verified Cape) (Protectorate: Brockton Bay)
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
To quote my wise young friend, I regret nothing. The end.
►Nod
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
So, the town is gonna be full of capes searching for golden tickets for the next week? Here we go again. We've already seen an uptick on Case 53s coming after Weld got 'fixed'.
►Deimos
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
At least they tend to either go to the PRT or keep to themselves. Nobody wants to risk being blacklisted by Azuth.
►Iblis
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
So, Azuth said they couldn't kill civilians for the next week and nobody really knows what his powers are. Doesn't that mean that basically every cape has to be super careful for the next week, whether they're taking part in the hunt or not?
►Mock Moniker
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
Honestly a good point. It feels like someone else dies after getting caught up in a cape battle every day here. If Hookwolf 'accidentally' blends someone while fighting Armsmaster again, now he'll actually get 'punished'.
►Tumbles
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
Okay, but what happens if a normal dude finds the ticket?
►AzuththeWise (Original Poster) (Verified Cape) (Verified Wizard)
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
The tickets allow entry regardless of the holder. The beginner-level quests are feasibly completable by a regular civilian, though it would obviously be more difficult. It is worth noting that if you participate in the hunt, you are no longer classified as a civilian and, as such, are not protected by my edict.
Yes, I will know the difference. If a cape kills someone and claims that they were taking part in the hunt, I will discover if they are telling the truth or not, and if they are attempting to deceive me, not only will they be blacklisted but so too will their organisation.
►AllSeeingEye (Verified Cape) (Verified Rogue)
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
Question, entirely theoretical.
If someone finds a ticket, but they are robbed before midnight next Sunday, who is the rightful owner of the ticket?
►AzuththeWise (Original Poster) (Verified Cape) (Verified Wizard)
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:
As with the ticket I gave to Mouse Protector, the rightful owner is the one who has it when it activates.
Trading and stealing tickets is well within the rules of the game. It is why I did not forbid the hunters from fighting each other.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 143, 144, 145
■
– Solomon White –
Sending the city into a frenzy once more, I sit back and nod to myself as I watch the clock. I am well aware that this is bound to cause a lot of cape fights, but that's the point. I talked with Angela at length about this, and she reluctantly agreed that this wasn't a bad idea.
The fact is that civilians die to cape violence every single day in the Bay. My rule means that for the next week, villains simply can't afford to accidentally kill a civilian. It's part of a future idea I have, but one I want to test out first. As long as my game is active, they need to play nice.
And to be honest? I'm going to cheat and nudge the game to go the way I want it to.
"Director Piggot did what you predicted," Kate says, making me smile as I turn to Dupli-Kate. See, her power makes her the perfect person to participate in a game like this. She can be literally everywhere, and the PRT is hungry for more after what I've shown.
Much like in her own world, it is simply logical to keep one 'Kate' hidden away from the danger. In this case, it means staying in my realm. The short-haired Asian teenager was more than happy to hide one of her clones inside the tower I made for Riley and me to work from.
"Spread your clones out. When the time comes, I'll put the final ticket in your path where you can 'coincidentally' find it," I order, making her nod easily. Brockton Bay's Ward team is a lot more active than most, and Kate's power is too useful for them not to take full advantage of it.
This also means I can find an excuse to empower her further without drawing attention to our connection. The stronger she gets, the more useful she'll be to me within the PRT. She's seventeen, very nearly eighteen, so she's due to move up to the Protectorate proper within the next two months.
"Got it," Kate agrees, with a slight frown on her face for just a moment. She's not comfortable being an infiltrator, but she understands the risks and threats we are facing. Scion and the Endbringers are more dangerous than the Viltrumites. With the trillions that will die if Scion isn't stopped, she understands why I need to do what I'm doing.
The other two tickets will be legitimately hidden for whoever finds them, even if I'm considering giving New Wave a nudge toward one of them. For now, I'll let the chips fall where they may.
– Maxine Hodunk (Mad Moxxi) –
She'd been true to her word, in the short amount of time since Azuth paid them a visit. Her gang was the least malicious of the Brockton Bay gangs but she knew that they caused a lot of accidental deaths and property damage.
Azuth gave them a way to avoid the heat while turning their races up to eleven, so she'd be stupid not to grab that chance with both hands. Bigger races meant bigger audiences, and that meant more income from gambling. More income meant bigger prize pools, which meant more racers, and it all just kept feeding into itself.
So when the wonderful wizard of Brockton asked her to arrange a grand tournament with one of his tickets as the prize, she was downright eager to please. He'd given them more tracks and a demolition derby-style arena that restored vehicles and healed the drivers after the match, expanding her options and keeping the idiots entertained without them getting into trouble and bringing the PRT down on them. He'd even added a police system to the city map, allowing for fake police to chase the racers to give the boys the thrill of the chase without the risk of death or imprisonment.
But this racing tournament was more than just a way for Azuth to give out another of his tickets… it was a test of how useful she could be. Azuth knew she wanted him a lot more than he needed her, and was seeing just how much use he could wring out of her.
It had been several years since her last Thunderdome. Gathering the capes to take part in her cage matches wasn't easy, but Azuth was a chance to restart her most profitable (if most risky) venture once more.
If this tournament went well, she'd become his ringmaster, handling his tournaments for him and freeing him up to do whatever else the wizard was up to. Her Thunderdome would be reborn under new management. She didn't mind Azuth taking control if it meant she got to handle the betting side of things, and Capes from all over the world would rush to fight in her tournaments when victory meant you gained the 'points' that could be spent on Azuth's many rewards.
So, she had a very good reason to make sure the upcoming races went very well. Attaching herself to Azuth was a surefire way of making sure that she could get her hands on the points for herself, while also getting filthy rich.
So, what was the chance that the Empire and Herren clan would try to use her former membership to pressure her into fixing the races?
94.23%.
Sometimes, she hated her power for the surety that it told her of upcoming problems. She'd put a lot of work into escaping the Herren clan, and they'd never quite taken her 'abandoning' them well. It hadn't helped that her dumbass daughter had gotten caught up in the propaganda and went back to them willingly for a time. Tammi meant well, but she was a stubborn teen who didn't believe Moxxi's horror stories.
Getting 'Rune' out of the Empire wasn't easy, especially not with Iron Rain running the show nowadays. Still, it was worth all the trouble and lost territory and profits to get Rune out. Tammi was much happier as Slipstream.
Iron Rain had left her alone because her gang didn't hold any real territory and was willing to pay tribute to the Empire to keep their 'cease-fire'. That was right up until Moxxi got an in with the wonderful wizard of Brockton Bay.
Azuth was Brockton Bay's hottest product, and while she was glad to have a way to get a hit for her and her gang, it made her more of a target than she would have preferred. That said, she had gotten away from them once and she had no plans to get dragged into the Empire again.
So, what was the chance she could convince that pair of cuties to help her out? Bah, stupid power. It knew who she meant.'What was the probability of her being able to recruit Uber and Leet to help her make sure this tournament ran smoothly?'
81.28%
See, she had access to the hottest product in town, and some people were desperate for a hit. She knew some people underestimated her because of her looks and flirty personality, but she hadn't kept the Rollerz alive in fucking Brockton Bay by being stupid.
She had gotten good at understanding the numbers. It was lower than she expected because while she was 100% sure she could get the gaming duo in on this, it was still heavily in the Empire's favour if they got aggressive. Still, Azuth's rules should keep Iron Rain from using threats, but it was good to be prepared for it since Iron Rain was also fucking insane.
Shaking her head, she smirked slightly as she looked for Uber's PHO account.
– Sophia Hess (Shadow Stalker) – Next Day –
As Hebert arrived in school, she looked around cautiously.
The PRT had lost their fucking shit over her sneaking into the tournament, and were eager to bury her for 'enabling the Empire'. It wasn't her fucking fault, that nazi playboy bunny bitch had just caught her off guard, she wasn't expecting to get fucking shield bashed. Fenja almost always used her actual weapon, not her shield. How was she supposed to expect-
Shaking her head, she scoffed. Fucking Eidolon, Alexandria and Armsmaster teaming up to rip her a new asshole had not been a fun experience. Not to mention the seemingly permanent console duty, now joined by Clock, thanks to his fucking pet dinosaur.
If she'd won, they'd be kissing her fucking ass instead of bitching so much. Then she'd be the one with the massive fucking power-up instead of fucking Clock. They'd even forbidden her from taking part in the Scavenger Hunt, and she really doubted Emma was gonna be able to find a ticket on her own. Obviously, she wasn't gonna listen, and when she found the ticket, she'd shut them up and have them kiss her ass for a chance to join her party.
…she wanted a pet dinosaur.
The point was that she had had a fucking awful week, and Hebert was looking too damn happy for her own good. Just because they backed off a little at the end of the term, Hebert thought she could slink out of her shell.
She'd almost forgotten about what they'd done to Hebert's locker at the end of the term with all that was going on. Madison had to be the one to remind them, embarrassingly. A part of her said to just leave it, Hebert would have her day ruined when she opened up the locker, and it stunk worse than the bitch herself. But she wasn't that bitch made.
She wanted Hebert to suffer for thinking she could come out of her shell… which was why she paid a visit to a drug den last night after Mads reminded her. That locker had more than waste and tampons in it now, some nice used needles to add to Hebert's suffering.
The PRT might be on her ass, but this was her fucking turf. It wasn't like the handler ever did their fucking job anyway, and Blackwell would cover her ass as always. Emma had spread the word to make sure that this corridor was empty for when Hebert arrived, with the teachers distracted by a fight outside.
Seeing Hebert head for her locker, she smiled darkly and waited. Hebert hesitated, her nose twitching at the disgusting smell but like a fucking idiot, she opened it anyway, and Sophia jumped into action. Hebert froze at the sheer sight of the toxic waste that was seeping from her locker, too slow to stop Sophia from grabbing her and trying to force her into the enclosed space.
Grabbing her hair, she tried to push Hebert into the locker but was infuriated when Hebert put her hands on the edges, trying to push back as she let out a shout. Too much had gone wrong for her lately, and she wasn't gonna let Hebert of all people spoil her day as she kicked Hebert in the side, knocking her into the locker door. Grabbing Hebert's head, she smashed it into the side of the locker before she went to force Hebert into her natural environment.
Once again, she was faced with opposition, though not from the dazed Hebert as someone tackled her and knocked Sophia away from her prey. Letting out a furious snarl, she spun to see who she needed to beat the shit out of before she froze.
Kate stared back at her in a clearly defensive stance. The fucking duplicating bitch had never gotten involved before, and what was she even doing here?
"The fuck are you doing?" Sophia snarled. Somewhere deep down, she knew she was in some deep shit if Kate ran her mouth to Piggy.
"What am I doing?" Kate asked disbelievingly, looking at Hebert and the locker with a deep scowl. "I always knew you were a psycho, Sophia, but this is a new low even for you."
Something in Kate's hands sent a shard of fear into her heart, spotting Kate's Ward phone in her hand. It was unlocked, and Sophia could see that she'd sent a message even if she couldn't read the contents from this distance.
The fucking bitch had snitched on her.
Realising her situation, she considered her options as Kate went to speak… and jumped into action. They'd use this to send her to Juvie like Armsmaster had threatened so many times. She wasn't going down without a fight as she lunged for Kate.
Kate was a one-trick pony, using a dozen bodies to overwhelm her opponents. Plus, she was a fucking coward who never really went on patrols or to cape fights. She just sent clones everywhere. She wouldn't expose her powers here, meaning Sophia had the upper hand against the chink bitch-
Her mind went blank as Kate used the momentum of her feral lunge against her, grabbing her arm and throwing Sophia over her shoulder and into the wall. Sophia rolled to try and get up, only to get a kick to the side of the head as she was rising, Kate not hesitating to beat her while she was down.
"Stay down, Sophia. It's over," Kate said, utterly confident as Sophia felt her mind rage at the dismissal in her tone. She wasn't even taking this seriously, arms crossed as Kate looked down at Sophia, who stared up at her in disbelief. "Having so many bodies makes training really easy. I never fought you before because there was no real point. You're not good enough to make it worthwhile."
Kate's words were quiet but certain as Sophia let out a roar, lunging forward again. Kate went to fight, but Sophia turned intangible as she tried to fly through Kate and the wall behind her, to make her escape. She wasn't going down to a fucking coward like Duplikate.
Flying through the wall, she heard Kate sigh in annoyance and froze. That didn't sound like someone watching their enemy getting away-
Pain.
Her suspicions were cut off by a wave of pure pain as she left the building only to run headfirst into fucking Armsmaster, halberd extended and sparking with electricity. Changing back, she fell to the floor, and before she could even clear her head, she felt the bastard stick something on her arm, the fucking tinkertech bracelet locking in place.
Trying to change again, Armsmaster just watched blankly as lightning coursed through her body from the bracelet and forced her back into her regular form.
"I wouldn't advise trying to run," Armsmaster said calmly, putting his halberd away.
– Katherine Cha (Dupli-Kate) –
"Azuth's tip was correct then?" Piggot asked with a deep frown on her face.
"Yes, ma'am," Kate replied, knowing that Piggot preferred short answers with no unnecessary dressing. Piggot made her miss Cecil. "I caught Sophia physically assaulting Taylor Hebert and attempting to force her into the locker."
"We've examined the contents of the locker, and it's bad enough to classify it as bioterrorism. Used tampons, garbage, broken glass and used needles, left to ferment for over a month," Armsmaster added with a scowl.
"Azuth didn't choose Kate to warn by coincidence. He's as good as telling us that he knows her identity," Deputy Director Renick added, making Piggot's scowl deepen. She liked Renick more, to be honest.
"He claimed that Hebert would have triggered in the locker and become a villain who would have eventually killed Alexandria. This isn't the first time he's made a precognitive prediction," Armsmaster pointed out.
"He warned me during our first meeting that Sophia Hess would cause the girl who would kill me to trigger," Alexandria agreed. "It goes without saying that Miss Hebert would have had plenty of reasons to despise us if she was forced to trigger by a Ward."
"She saw Sophia retreat through a wall," Kate added, making Alexandria nod at her.
"It would not be hard to work out Sophia's identity from that. If she would have triggered in that locker, it goes without saying that she still has the potential to trigger. As such, I believe it is in our best efforts to ensure that the Heberts are well compensated and do not blame the PRT as a whole for Hess' actions," Chief Director Costa-Brown said from the screen. "Naturally, this also means hitting Sophia Hess with the highest possible sentence for her crimes."
"What should we do about Azuth's blatant knowledge of protectorate cape identities?" Piggot asked with a deep frown.
"Nothing. He messaged Duplikate in her heroic identity, and has not broken any rules. I cannot stress enough that we cannot alienate Azuth," Costa-Brown said sternly.
"Director… if I can make a suggestion, why don't I unmask to Taylor? She's in the hospital right now, and knowing that her saviour was a hero could help… lessen the blow when she works out that Sophia is a Ward," Kate suggested, making the Chief Director nod.
"Agreed. Reveal Sophia's position in the Wards as well, but stress that she was a villain on probation, a probation that she has very much violated," Costa-Brown agreed. "Then get the Heberts to sign the usual NDAs."
Kate slipped into the background as the meeting continued. Sol was convinced that Taylor was either going to be a massive help to their mission or the biggest hindrance of all. She didn't know why he was so convinced of that, but then… he'd pulled her to another world. His powers were amazing, and frankly, she was just assuming he knew a lot that she didn't.
While they were talking, he'd accidentally mentioned the 'Invincible War', and she'd realised he'd been referring to something that hadn't happened in her world yet. Something about a villain gathering a load of Evil Invincibles to destroy her world, and he'd said it so casually.
It was that kind of thing that convinced her that he could save her world from the devastation headed its way, and he'd explained that they couldn't leave until he'd beaten the main threat to this world.
If that grand plan to save the world meant befriending a quiet girl who'd been dealt a really shitty hand, that was something she was happy to do.
— Bonus Scene — Kayden Russel
Leaving the Empire was never an easy thing. Iron Rain had put a hit out on her the day she broke away. Kaiser had been more charismatic than his sister, and when he was still in charge she could lie to herself and say she was on the 'right' side.
Iron Rain's empire made Kaiser's seem downright pacifistic. She couldn't stay with them after everything Iron Rain had done even if it meant risking her life.
But she'd never thought Eleanor would threaten her own niece. Aster had been off limits for so long that Kayden had grown lax as she took her Aster out for a walk to the park. They were in the better part of town, courtesy of the PRT, who really enjoyed having a blaster of her power at their beck and call, and complacency was a deadly thing.
The thug held a gun to her daughters head as Kayden considered her options, tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn't attack without hurting her daughter, and if she powered up… there were enough people around that she'd expose her secret identity.
She didn't recognise the man leading the thugs but knew from his style of dress and how he held himself that he was likely one of the unpowered lieutenants. Probably under Hookwolf or Krieg.
The Empire were getting back at the PRT for their humiliation in the tournament. Iron Rain knew that Kayden would lay down her own life if it meant keeping Aster safe, as the gun was aimed at her. This was a hit, plain and simple. Aster was just to keep her from fighting back… and it was going to work.
"The Empire never forgets-" the leader started, cutting off as a rock struck him in the side of the head with a meaty thud, someone dashing forward as Kayden's eyes widened. The bastard holding Aster barely managed to turn before he was disarmed, thrown to the ground and kicked in the mouth so hard that teeth came out.
Her saviour didn't slow down, a blonde blur reducing the Empire thugs to a bloody mess with a scowl on his handsome face.
"You lot never learn, do you?" he asked as the final of the four thugs hit the ground, only letting out a pained groan in response. "Neo-nazi scum."
Her eyes landed on her saviour as he turned to her. He was a handsome man around her age, with fierce blue eyes and bright blonde hair. It was funny, he looked like a poster child for the Empire but from the savage beatdown he just gave the four, he wasn't exactly a fan.
As she ran to Aster, thanking him profusely, she learned his name was John Morrison but went by Jack. He was a decorated veteran who 'didn't fight for this country for some skinhead little shits to ruin it' as he put it.
– Later –
As she lay in bed, she silently realised she'd learnt another thing about Jack. He had far more stamina than Max had ever had. Despite having only just finished, he gave her another cocky grin and she just hoped Aster was still asleep as they picked up where they'd left off.
Author's Note: Monster Hunter Wilds comes out in a matter of hours.
Change da world… my final message. Goodbye.
May we meet again in another time (like a week or so).
Written: 27/02/2025