Gothic City [CVnU: Living Location]

@fukuro_zoku: *______O

@strigidae_23:

Time subjectively froze. The Lioness Of The Concrete Jungle seemed like an obsidian statue seemingly not even breathing anymore. Personal eternities passed while Jessica's mind processed the consequences of several possible actions in her head. Images of immediate extreme violence switched with handshakes and personal triumph.

As she finally made a move it was almost anticlimactic. The Propagator Of The Eternal Law just folded her arms and put a hand on her chin. In an homage to Rodin's The Thinker she leaned against the wall and focused those glowing lenses even more intensely on the Strigidae. What was she up to? Where those her real plans or were these just schemes within schemes? How did that connect to the greater picture of world politics? What were the consequences? How trustworthy was she, if at all?

Only now did Jessica notice that the rain had stopped. The rain, the thunder was gone leaving the world in the usual almost magical stasis that always followed a heavy storm. Darkness engulfed the room completely. Finally the silence was ended by her answer that cut through the dark like a good knife, precise and sharp.

"Everything you offer me I can also try to take by force without begging for crumbs from your table. Forget your pitiful offers, they only offend me."

She did not make the slightest sound as she demonstratively turned around to leave the room. A well planned gamble. A first few steps were made, then she stopped dead in her tracks and spoke again to the person in her back.

"But if you are willing to strike a deal with the devil... For my assistance in the taking of Venezuela I ask the same from you: Your assistance when I make my final move to take back Gothic City!

And to prevent any misunderstandings... If I help you conquer a land I will do it my way. This means terror and no regard for collateral damage."

So let's do a head count.

Here are the people that want to take over Gothic city.

The leader of the free world, a psychotic woman who seriously needs to take her meds, a spawn from hell, the equivalent of what the 21st century world has Hitler (if he comes back), the world's most dangerous underage criminal, and a half android half mutant supremacist.

Now, there are currently what? Three active hero teams and no sight of them.

@_darkwing_: That is why it's more fun being a villain than a hero ;p I went the hero route for so long I got fed up with being held responsible for not correcting every single thing that went wrong on the Vine.

@honor_avenger:

I do what I can, villains have it easier though. If a villain loses, nothing happens, but if a hero loses an entire city is on the verge of destruction and you have a nut job as a king of said city. I'm thinking about making a Young Champions but there aren't enough teen heroes for it to stay alive.

@_darkwing_: Agreed on the villain/hero relationships. I want to write for some time without the pressure of always having to win. The Young Justice is a nice idea. Already spread myself so thin I am not a big help even if I enter I am afraid.

(As a side note I will post in Dual Date tomorrow.)

@_darkwing_:

What keeps me out is the street level rule. If Solaris, Luna Hawk and Time Siphon are street level then I'm batman.

@honor_avenger:

Right? The problem when you become the Batman of the most popular city in the vine is that you have to be active for every little thing that's even significant. And that's like almost every interaction here considering everyone wants to rob a national bank or kill a city official.

(Awesome)

@lunahawk:

No...

@_darkwing_:

Maybe the street level rule should be lifted. My entire hero team can't come here. In fact, none of them can.

@_darkwing_: Being a villain is surprisingly enjoyable. I can come up with plot lines and still be flexible. I had to get out of Bedlam but now I can start stuff I don't necessarily have to win and force the heroes to react (only if the writer s okay with it of course). It's like chess. I just finally switched from black to white pieces.

Speaking of interactions, how is the fate of DV coming along?

@lunahawk:

You can always make a separate thread.

@honor_avenger:

Yeah, I have those morals holding me back. The whole getting rid of the killing rule was also not to be that chained down.

Well, I need more villains to attack me soo....

@_darkwing_: Even without those restrictions it is hard. Risky was all out on killing preferring to kill villains before they could harm even more people but in the end I ended up beating up NPCs and the real fun is in collaborating with other writers. This is rpg and not fanfic after all. Since this is a comic oriented rpg section it is also hard to mirror the comic book reality where every hero has dozens of villains. I mean how mayn villains do Bats or Spidey have? 30 each easily. (That was something that intrigued me in Old Man Logan when Millar made me aware of it: 30 villains per character, what would happen if they banded together?)

Say the magic words and you have my help ;)

@honor_avenger:

Right? I loved Old Man Logan and Wanted for that reason, the villains could easily team up and take down the hero if they teamed together. Hence why I want six villains killing my character, that and it's also an ego thing. Right now though, I think the vine resembles comic book reality more than it has before, we have more villains than we have heroes. I also actually tried to get a villain version of the Illuminati or the Fratenity but it didn't kick off.

Can you add my Dark Vengeance account into the PM? I got kicked out with this one.

@_darkwing_: It was one of these ideas that were so obvious I didn't think of it myself but asked myself "Why didn't I think of this?" when Mark Millar brought it. I can understand the ego thing, it is only naturally you want your character's death to be something special and memorable. On one side I really enjoy the villain/hero ratio but it tends to lead to extremely one-sided rpgs.

Request fulfilled.

@honor_avenger:

Which version did you like better though? Wanted or Old Man Logan? I've used the character non-stop for almost two years, even if I'm bored of him there's the sentimental value behind it. As for it being one sided I don't agree at all, if the heroes play their hands correctly then anyone can pull out a win .

Thank you.

@_darkwing_: Personally I liked Old Man Logan more since it was even more effed up and I enjoyed the alternative take on established characters (Hulk was shocking!) I'm always happy if I find new potential in old characters (that is why I enjoyed the Thunderbolt series so much). I didn't bring Risky to the CVnU because she had accomplished so many things in Vine Prime it just felt pointless to bring her over. I wanted to keep the respect for this old persona. Anyone pulling a win? Hey, how often has that happened? lol jk

@honor_avenger:

I want a sequel to the Old Man Logan explaining what the hell happened to Spider-man, he said he was going to do it but knowing Miller I might as well wait for the next moon landing. Har, har, make fun of my grammar, I think it means more if the side that's weak pulls out a win in the end.

So..

...tired.

@_darkwing_: I would like to see how the Ronin Wolvie arc with Baby Bruce plays out. I also think he will find some other relicts of heros (mostly kids or successors). Appropriate simile when it comes to Millar. He is good but he gets sidetracked so easily, like Benitez or Randy Queen (god, I love and hate that beautiful bastard so much at the same time). Wasn't aimed at your grammar but rather at people's willingness to take a hit on the behalf of others' storyline.

@honor_avenger : I didn't know you were Risky until Tenjin told me today. I feel so stupid... but what's up!? ;D

@honor_avenger:

Maybe a Daredevil/ Punisher mini would cool. I would like to see how this happened.

Like I said, I'm still waiting for Nemesis 2. He has written some pretty good stuff and some stuff which are not so good like the first Nemesis, story wise it was kind of meh but I eat anything based on Batman like a dog with a bone. The fight scenes were also sick as hell. I'm really looking forward to seeing Secret Service even though I haven't read the book.

I don't think it's that much of a problem among the experienced RPGers which is about 80% of the vine right now though. I think losing with one's character is just part of developing him/her.

Jon Jones says he's going to try and wrestle DC... that I don't imagine will go down well for him. He managed to outwrestle the wrestler (Chael Sonnen) and out-brawl the brawler (Texeira), but DC isn't Sonnen. He's an Olympic wrestler who has never been taken down and made Josh Barnett look like he's never even grappled, let alone wrestle.

Haha, you don't have to. Since it is already common knowledge I occasionally forget to mention it.

@honor_avenger:

Time subjectively froze. The Lioness Of The Concrete Jungle seemed like an obsidian statue seemingly not even breathing anymore. Personal eternities passed while Jessica's mind processed the consequences of several possible actions in her head. Images of immediate extreme violence switched with handshakes and personal triumph.

As she finally made a move it was almost anticlimactic. The Propagator Of The Eternal Law just folded her arms and put a hand on her chin. In an homage to Rodin's The Thinker she leaned against the wall and focused those glowing lenses even more intensely on the Strigidae. What was she up to? Where those her real plans or were these just schemes within schemes? How did that connect to the greater picture of world politics? What were the consequences? How trustworthy was she, if at all?

Only now did Jessica notice that the rain had stopped. The rain, the thunder was gone leaving the world in the usual almost magical stasis that always followed a heavy storm. Darkness engulfed the room completely. Finally the silence was ended by her answer that cut through the dark like a good knife, precise and sharp.

"Everything you offer me I can also try to take by force without begging for crumbs from your table. Forget your pitiful offers, they only offend me."

She did not make the slightest sound as she demonstratively turned around to leave the room. A well planned gamble. A first few steps were made, then she stopped dead in her tracks and spoke again to the person in her back.

"But if you are willing to strike a deal with the devil... For my assistance in the taking of Venezuela I ask the same from you: Your assistance when I make my final move to take back Gothic City!

And to prevent any misunderstandings... If I help you conquer a land I will do it my way. This means terror and no regard for collateral damage."

Ivana raised an incredulous eyebrow. Give 'em an inch, they take a mile. The mutant warrior felt the first sparks of rage. She'd attempted to engage both Honor and the Wildcardz with a touch of respect, and it seemed to Ivana that they had taken her diplomacy for weakness.

"You know, I tried to be nice. Its not really in my nature, but what the heck I gave it a try. Then you come at me with this 'pitiful offers' business." Lifting an armored gauntlet and ticking items off her fingers, her voice begin dripping with barely contained fury.

"And then, knowing I'm a mutant who fights for mutants, and knowing that Venezuela is populated only by mutants, you want to go all scorched earth. Are you trying to offend me? Well, you succeeded." The sparks of rage boiled into a bonfire of molten wrath.

The Strigidae snorted, scorn carved into her face and anger burning in her only living eye. "Goddamn you were a waste of time." She snarled.

"How about this. If you ever come around any mutant community with your terror and collateral damage bullsh!t and I'll cut off your f*cking head and hang it from my belt." Each word cracked through the air like a whip.

Expecting an immediate and violent reply Ivana tapped into her somatic reading and dropped her hand to her katana, infusing the blade with a negative mass tachyon singularity.

Oh SNAP!

@strigidae_23:

That worked perfectly.

@honor_avenger@strigidae_23

O____o

sets bag of popcorn on lap and shivers

@tenjin:

Hands him the soda and takes the popcorn while attentively watching and chewing on the popcorn.

@_darkwing_:

Slaps the back Darkwing's hand and gives him a death glare but readily takes the soda

"I bet you fifty bucks the psycho chick wins....."

@tenjin:

As Tenjin opens the soda, it explodes because Darkwing had anticipated that he would selfishly try to take it all for himself so he decided to tape two mentos to the cap which would cause a volcano of soda to erupt once the pressure was released.

"Which one?". He responds with his trademark devil may care smirk and a rather cocky tone.

@_darkwing_:

Becomes instantly covered in foam and ruins the popcorn, Tenjin trembles with fury as he tosses the bag and soda bottle into the air.

"Bet me first then I will tell you..." As his eyes smoldered with red hell.

@tenjin:

Mark slowly moves his hands towards his dual katanas as if he was a cowboy waiting to draw fire on a duel.

"I'll bet you $100 on the mutant chick with the superiority complex, and to make it interesting I'll throw in some soap. Even if I lose you get to keep the soap. Deal?". His glare now turned intense and cautious, waiting for the purple ninja to make a move.

The rage came unexpected. It hit her back like a shockwave. Instantly it forced her body into defensive mode, tightening muscles and posture to fluently counter an engaging attack. Still she did not turn around appreciating the momentum and surprise she could generate with a simple rotation. Her back was an obvious invitation, a target even for the brash mutant.

Her right hand hung loosely at her side, fingers seemingly forming a half-cup with the titanium claws pointing slightly upwards. Relaxed but at the same time ready as the master Bruce Lee had always demanded. Flowing like water.

Tension filled the darkness in the room, the two possible combatants perfectly aware where the other stood, perhaps even what the other was capable of. Steel does not cut steel, an axiom that could be applied to these strong women as well. Their dark silhouettes were cast onto the walls by the pale light of the 21st Century Samurai's energy field. They only hinted at the things to come.

Jessica's words were almost a whisper as she answered to the sudden anger of the young Strigidae, a wind that told of the coming storm:

"Offend you? Who offends whom here? You know who I am, WHAT I am, and still you come here, into my city, and offer me MONEY? As if I was a common mercenary, perhaps a whore? You are not the only one who believes in something, Strigidae. Idealism is not limited to heroes or even mutants. I have something I believe in, something I live for and know how it is to be willing to fight for it. I was honest to you and did not ask you to sell your ideals for money so answer me this question again:

Who offended whom here?"

Please.....

@_darkwing_: You know it's true ;)

@honor_avenger:

@honor_avenger:

@_darkwing_:

@honor_avenger:

@_darkwing_:

@honor_avenger:

@_darkwing_:

@honor_avenger:

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@_darkwing_:

@honor_avenger:

@_darkwing_: