(Un)Retired Supervillains THE MIGHTY HAVE RISEN Only a month after the League of Heroes was destroyed by a Mystery Killer, they have (seemingly) returned from the dead...with a vengeance. All the villains that rose up while the League was gone are now dead or behind bars. The League is working overtime, trying to prove to the citizens of Fortress City (and maybe even to themselves) that they are back and better than ever. All the villains have gone underground, hiding from the resurrected heroes who aren't holding back anymore, but treating even a petty criminal like a drug lord. Effectively, all villains have gone into retirement, and there doesn't seem to be an end to the League of Heroes' rampage. A RAY OF HOPE The only ray of hope for the villains is the rumor of a new villain who has come to town, some sort of insectoid alien that looks like a giant fly with glowing red eyes. The alien goes by the name 'Stinger' and word on the street is that he is trying to gather a small team of villains for a secret mission. Rumor has it that Stinger knows a way to kill the League, once and for all, but he needs a team to help execute his diabolical plan. DOUBTS AND SUSPICIONS But there is a natural suspicion of Stinger, a strange alien in town who no one knows anything about that is asking for the help of the retired villains. Most of the villains do not trust him and will not seek him out to help him with his plan. They each have their own reasons, but the biggest suspicion is that Stinger is lying and that his true plan is to get some gullible criminals to help him get some kind of weapon that he will use to take over the planet and enslave mankind. For this reason, no one has answered Stinger's call to action and the villain continues to hide from the hyperactive League of Heroes. THE BEGINNING OF OUR STORY You are a villain who has recently retired. At one time you lurked the streets, terrorizing the innocent and thwarting the good guys, but since the return of the Leaguers, you gave it all up and you are currently deep in hiding. But, just a month after the return of the League, an email was sent to each of your computers: 'It is time to come out of retirement. The League can be defeated and I know how to do it. Come to the abandoned Blackwood Farm a mile outside of Fortress City at nine o'clock if you want to put down these foolish heroes. Anyone who helps me, I will reward them by wiping their identity from all government records. You will be given a new life. This is a once in a life-time oppurtunity. Do not waste it. -S' You are impassioned by the email and decide to accept the call to arms. Our story begins as you get ready to head to the Blackwood Farm (the same farm where the Block and Morrigan were killed in (Un)Retired Heroes). In your first post, detail your character heading to the farm and meeting with the mysterious Stinger. GAMEPLAY/RULES When creating your character, please be mindful that their powers must relate to each other in some way. For example, if you can summon fireballs it wouldn't make since that you can also breath ice. If you have a fire power, your other powers must also be fire-related. You are allowed to have up to THREE powers and ONE weapon. Also, be very specific when describing your powers. If you're super strong, just how strong are you? If you're super fast, are you faster than a speeding bullet or just faster than a normal person? What are the limitations of your powers? Can you only use them under special conditions? That kind of junk. (You can have a non-powered supervillain if you wish: non-powered heroes can have up to four weapons/equipment. List all of them and what they can do in your template.) Make your supervillain realistic. You can't be good at everything. In the skills category, make sure to include anything other than powers that your hero can do: hot-wire a car, kick-boxing, computer hacking, etc etc. Halfway through the story, you can't suddenly reveal your hero is a black belt in karate or can fly a helicopter if it is not included in your template. Follow these guidelines and you should be fine. Once approved by the GM (myself), create your first post and get ready to kick some ass. SUPERVILLAIN CATEGORIES These are the categories that the League of Heroes uses to classify heroes/villains. Your hero must fall into one of them: Superhuman - A regular human with extraordinary skills, such as extreme fighting prowess or a genius-level IQ. Enhanced - A regular human who obtained super powers through a scientific experiment. Mutant - A human who was born with the mutant gene, passed down from one or both of their parents. Mutants can have a wide variety of powers. Some of them look like normal humans and blend in very well, while others have strange features, like blue skin or prehensile tails. Mystic - A human who can control magical forces. Some mystics have a natural talent for using magic, while others have to train and study for years to learn to use it. (If you choose a mystic, instead of listing three powers list three spells that you can use. Detail exactly what the spells can do.) Alien - A being from another planet. Some aliens have innate powers while others use hi-tech weapons/equipment. Divinity - A being from another dimension that was once worshiped as a god by early humans. Any god/goddess from mythology falls into this category. Usually Divinities only come to earth during times of great need, but some choose to live on this dimension to protect humanity. TEMPLATE (EXAMPLE) REAL NAME/ALIAS: Melisandre, aka The Red Woman, aka The Red Priestess AGE (30 & up): OLD AS DIRT, but still young and fresh because of a magical ruby necklace. GENDER: Female CATEGORY: Mystic POWERS: 1) Prophecy - The ability to see the future by gazing into fire. 2) Fire Conjuring - The ability to conjure and manipulate fire. 3) Shadowbinding - The ability to control "the shadows cast by the light" (aka demons) via binding them to her will. SKILLS: Bitch face, horse-riding, looking fierce in a red dress, being the smuggest person in any room she enters. APPEARANCE: Melisandre is drop-dead-gorgeous, with long wavy red hair, soft porcelain skin, a shapely figure, and the piercing black eyes. She literally always wears red. Erryday. WEAPON/S (If any): None. OTHER: Sometimes takes off her necklace and turns into an ancient hag to go to sleep. Don't ask.
Under cover of darkness, Stinger descended on Blackwood Farm, the buzzing sound of his huge, transparent wings filling the night. He landed on the wreckage of the farmhouse with a heavy thud and slowly looked around with huge glowing red eyes. His antennae twitched on his head and his powerful mandibles snapped together loudly. Stinger's dark green skin was shiny and extremely hard. His fingers were long and sharp and his feet were huge with long, curved talons at the end. The insectoid alien also wore a clunky hi-tech bracelet and a black utility belt with a sleek black gun attached to the side. The gun had a long spike at the end with a pulsing green point that glowed brighter whenever Stinger's hand touched the handle. "They better come," Stinger growled in a barely human voice. The alien jumped down from the wreckage to the ground and made his way to a nearby tree and leaned against it. "If they don't come...I will find them and force them to help me." A black snake came slithering out of the grass, heading straight for Stinger. The alien did not turn to look at the reptile. He simply took out his gun and pointed it at the snake. The gunpoint shone bright green, so bright that it lit up the night for almost a mile around, and then it shot a beam of energy that scorched the ground. The snake was completely turned to ash, leaving nothing but a smoking black mark where it used to be. Stinger lifted his gun and blew away the smoke before twirling it expertly on his index finger and sticking it back into his utility belt. Stinger was not someone to be messed with.
"Ya sure ya wanna go here?" The taxi driver said pulling up to the farm road. Shadows danced around the street, and tree limbs gave way to swathes of moonlight above. "Yes dearie," Gertrude said getting out of the car. After paying the car fare, Gertrude set off with her walker. Click! Step! Click! Step! The sounds echoed through the night as she ambled down the path. Soon she emerged from the woods, and hobbled over to Stinger. After closing her eyes briefly due to the blast, Gertrude stepped forward. "Hello dear," She said while fumbling through her pocketbook, "Would you like a sucker?" She held out a cherry lollipop, still wrapped.
Stinger looked Gertrude up and down, his antennae quivering slightly. "You...you're a villain?" he asked in his growly voice. "What's your name? Super Granny?" He snorted and started to walk around Gertrude to analyze her from all angles. "We're going to be doing a lot of traveling and strenuous activity," Stinger told her. "I need fighters. I need killers. I need teammates." The last word was punctuated by Stinger's wings buzzing loudly. "Are you sure you're up for it...grandma?"
Gertrude swiftly tucked her lollipop back into her pocketbook and set it on top her walker. "Yes I'm a villain!" She said cheerily. "And my name is Gertrude Shining. Ms.Shining to you!" Taking a small step back from her walker, Gertrude smiled at Stinger. "I'm pretty sure Im up for this challenge!" She said. And then, she widened her eyes and her skin seemed to melt off. As it did, a bat-like creature emerged, with dark brown wings, a body hidden in shadow, a longer, thinner face. Her nails had developed into talons, her little eyes were sparks of red flame, and her wings circled around. "Yes, hon." She hissed at Stinger. "I'm pretty sure I'm up for it."
Tax lumbered out of the night his root plate dragging in the long grass and his walking roots , known as podules cleaving stickily through the mud. Ahead he could see the farm in the distance , or that is sense it, since he didn't actually have eyes as those human scum would understand them. Just the thought of those bastards made his needles rustle angrily , how dare they run about on their silly pink feet as if they owned the planet , he remembered joyfully the wet gloopy texture of the last one he'd torn apart , and how it had shrieked for its "mother" , it was a shame the 'mother' hadn't responded he thought as killing it would have been as joyful as the smaller one. Ahead the ruined farm referred to in the message he had heard whispers of from passing birds drew closer, and to the front a giant insect and, his soul froze, one of them... and old one by the look of it, though it wouldn't get much older. His bow arm creaked as he drew the string back aiming to put one of his shafts deep into the foul thing . Then before he could loose the thing suddenly shifted shape assuming a bat like form. He relaxed not a fucking human after all , he realised, but a potential ally in putting down those damned 'heroes' who had forced him to take refuge standing still in a woodland and to watch helplessly as the pink things butchered his friends Tax stopped and shook his branches mightily " which of you is 'S ?' "he bellowed" , for I , Tax, have come to aid your cause "
Stinger staggered backwards in surprise when Gertrude transformed. "What the hell?" he spluttered. Then he cleared his throat and quickly regained his composure, his wings buzzing nervously. "Okay. My bad, Miss Shining. I did not realize who you were. Welcome to the team." Suddenly, a giant tree came lumbering up to them and started speaking. Stinger barely heard what it was saying because he was gawking in shock, his jaw hanging open. "You're a talking tree?" he grumbled. "Today is just full of surprises. And I'm 'S', just call me Stinger." He looked down at his bracelet and tapped it with one sharp finger. A rectangular screen lit up and tiny numbers scrolled across it. "The others should be here soon," he said, almost to himself.
Emails, never got on with them, Albert grumbled to himself. He trudged over freshly ploughed earth, his jacket swung over his shoulder and puffing away on his fag. Bet that young lad did though, Albert grinned. A mile back there'll be a news crew doing a piece on a pile of bones that have suddenly appeared and if this gets done quickly Albert might be able to gain a little business from it. It was nice to be back to his old self but he knew this would only last a day at most. Not too far away, a bright light appeared, showing the silhouette of a tree, a giant bug and a bat. He carried on, and stopped when he got to the tree. It was a yew like they often planted in church-yards. Bit strange to have in a farm field. He kicked the stub of his fag into the ground and approached the bug with the glowing panel and the bat. "So, what's happening?" he said, sweeping his hair back. "One of you 'S'?"
"you're a talking tree ?" Tax heard .. "yeah , and you're a talking wasp ?" he boomed "just don't be making any galls in my branches"
Gertrude quickly changed back into her human form, and offered lollipops to Tax and Albert. "Here ya go dears!" She said while tossing two lollipops at them. Then she faced Tax rather sternly. "I'm not no wasp, I am Gertrude Shining, and like I told Stinger, Ms.Shining I you!"
"I were talking bout him" Tax rumbled "with his buzzing and fluttering, not you, I can see you're an old bat .. I like bats, they roost in my hollow core sometimes... but do you have to, have to , "Tax stumbled over the words as his rage again started to swallow his reason " being one of those things", he finished. " I hate them , I want to tear them all apart and rub their blood on my bark, I want to impale their heads on my crown branches, and trample my roots through their squashy guts" He lumbered round as an old man approached " Another one , Silvanuses balls , i'm beset by bastard humans .. he pointed a sharp branch in the old mans face "you better not just be one of those pink things or your life's going to be short and interesting, and you " he said pointing another sharp branch at stinger " flutterbuzz or whatever your name is , you said this were a meeting of super villains, you betta not have lied to me "
Albert turned in surprise, he could almost feel his hair going white. The tree was alive? And the bat was a Miss, trying to offer him a lollipop. He caught the lollipop but put it in his jean's pocket. He rubbed his chin, feeling it becoming rough already, "Sonny," he began not quite knowing how to address a tree, "I'm not just a pink thing. And I might have been living a tad too long for my life to be short." At that, he took another cigarette from his pocket and stepped back a bit to light it, not wanting to anger the tree. His long fingers curled around the lighter and fag as he willed it to light. "Sorry, what was your name?" he said, taking a long drag.
"My name is Taxus baccata ambulus " boomed Tax , it wasn't that he was incapable of talking quietly, but he'd found that if he spoke at a usual volume the pink things tended to say "who said that ?" which wasn't terribly profound as last words go , so booming had become a habit. " But that is quite a mouthful so if we are to be allies in this cause you can call me 'Tax' "
"Touching," Stinger grumbled. "Everyone is becoming friends. But this isn't about making friends. This is about the mission. Don't you forget it." His wings buzzed mightily, making the wind blow in all their faces, and he flew up into the tree he was just leaning on. "You all know the League of Heroes," Stinger hissed, looking down at all of them. His eyes glowed dark red with anger. "Hat Man, the shadowy warrior and brilliant detective. Arianrhod, the mighty goddess. Sharpshooter, the world's greatest marksman. And their leader, Strong-Arm, the famous super soldier. There was Silhouette, the sneaky ninja assassin, but she seems to have left the League. No one knows what has become of her or what she's up to..." Stinger scratched his chin and seemed to be in deep thought for a moment, but then his wings buzzed and he continued speaking. "Right, so we all know the League," he went on. "Now that they're back, none of us are safe. They've already taken down the most powerful villains in Fortress City and now they're picking off the lesser criminals, one by one. They're on a warpath and they won't stop until we're all dead or behind bars. At first it was only Hat Man that killed criminals, and sometimes Sharpshooter, but now they're all doing it and they can't get arrested because they've all been given a License to Kill by the government. We could all be next. "But I know a way to stop them," Stinger said, his antennae trembling with excitement. "It will involve stealing artifacts from three separate locations, each location more highly guarded than the last. Do you think you're up for the task?"
Albert put on his jacket, the air getting chilly. He let the words float around him like the cigarette smoke, and then just simply nodded.
"Count me in" Tax boomed " though why we can't just rip them apart and trample on their entrails beats me" Trees are not known for their subtlety it had to be said
The Limo skidded to a halt. Abbadon looked outside, at the wreckage of the old farmhouse. According to his sources, this was the place where Morgana and Block found their demise, just a momth earlier. Interesting that S would pick this spot for the meeting. Normally he wouldn't be answering such petty summons. But this wasn't a usual situation. When the League's HQ was blown up he was overjoyed. Finally those meddling kids were blown out of the way, and to top it all of, that menace Adrianhod was pushing the daisies. Finally he could return to his former self without interferance, and the glory days of the past. And then the heroes came back, more ruthless and efficient than ever before. In a just a month six out of eight operations were completely blown, some of his best people were killed, and a complex ritual that took three years to complete was crushed by the bitch-goddess. Full of hatred, Abbadon opened the door. His four goons came out first, trained men in sand coloured uniforms, armed with AK-47s gave a quick sweep of the area, looking for any other hostile figures. Then Abbadon walked out, a tall man, wearing an expensive italian suit, and carrying a briefcase. He turned to the driver and said, "You can go off, love. I will call you if I need to." The limo sped off, and Abbadon walked up to the strange group of freaks before him. "Good evening," he said, before adressing each of them seperately. "Ms Shining, how are you? That cat still gives you trouble? And Tax, I persume. Huge fan, myself. What you did to those lumberjacks, artistic. And Al, mate, still owe you those million quid. And," he turned towards Sting. "I persume you are the one who sent the mail. My people weren't able to trace it back. Who are you?"
Stinger ignored Ms Shining's question about the locations they would be visiting and turned to watch Abbadon approaching the group. "I don't tell just anyone who I am," Stinger growled in response to Abbadon. "But since we'll be together a while, I will give you all a brief summary. I am the last member of the Bzzzrs, a race of insectoid aliens that tried to take over earth five years ago. Our planet was destroyed by a failed scientific experiment to open a wormhole and only a couple thousand Bzzzrs survived. We planned to make this planet our new home and enslave the humans...but the League of Heroes thwarted us." There was a pause as Stinger gripped his gun and the sharp point glowed fierce, toxic green. Then he let go of the gun and continued speaking. "The League stopped us, destroyed all my brothers and sisters," he growled. "We were no match for them. They wiped us out. There were no survivors, except for me. I laid low for a long time, waiting until the opportunity presented itself, and finally it did. I discovered how the League was brought back to life...and we can use that same method to destroy them." He looked around slowly at each person with his hateful, glowing red eyes. "Do not doubt that I want the Leaguers dead as much as each one of you," Stinger told them, his wings buzzing irritably. "I would very, very much like to see the life leave their eyes. If only Silhouette hadn't ran away. We could have put her down, too. But she will turn up sooner or later, I don't believe for a second that she has completely given up being a superhero. We will deal with her when she resurfaces, but for now we will focus on annihilating the remaining Leaguers." Stinger glanced down at his hi-tech bracelet again. "It's nine-thirty. One more person should be arriving and then we'll get going." Stinger looked up at Abaddon and made a nasty, gurgling noise that almost sounded like laughter. "I was hoping you would bring your limousine," he said. "My spaceship was destroyed by the League and I had no way of transporting all of us around. You're already pulling your weight, Mr Abaddon."
Abbadon nodded, remembering that time. They were a ruthless group, the Bzzzrs, even if slightly ameturish. And an ally bent on revenge was actually a good idea, Abbadon concluded. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He chuckled, "I was merely asking for your name, Mr S, not your entire history. And as for the limosine, I could call him back any moment. Just don't put your feet on the seats, just had them cleaned."
Limousines always reminded Albert of no. 375 and 376 back in '89. Their families insisted they were to have a joint funeral. That of course was a good little money spinner, they had six limousines for the family and friends. They also wanted the heads being sewn back on which cost a pretty penny. Very good day that was. "I will be wanting that million at some point," Albert said, huffing smoke over Abbadon.
Tax looked at the car disdainfully " I think I will not fit , and if i were to put me'feet' on the seats your little tin can would be squashed like a pink screaming thing " he bellowed " tell me our destination and I will meet you there"
Tax shook his branches in negation "do you have any idea how much i weigh he" boomed, I'm heavier than 20 or your tonnes and i'm 30 of your yards across at my canopy. When the pink bastards transported the bodies of my friends by truck they had to cut their canopies off first," Tax sniffed a and a large 'tear' of resin spashed stickily onto the ground . "poor quercus , he never stood a chance" tax extended a branch under abadons nose " if you think you are snedding my canopy, you can think again by Silvanus" "Just tell me where we are going" he demanded loudly a second time "and I will make my own way"
