Nemo_Utopia

((I was going by your avatar, heh. Anywhoo))

Todesfall fired his rifle and caught one of the already wounded energy soldiers right in the forehead, crumpling it. Calling out, the soldiers swarming and already within ten feet, "OPEN FIRE!!"

His robots engaged, catching as many energy beings as possible with their sweeping blasts and salvos of missles and grenades. The patches of flame seemed to help, hurting the veritable army that advanced. "Don't stop firing until they're down and out!"

His drones replied, "Yes, boss!" and continued to lay down a carpet of energy and munitions. Todesfall wasn't sure how long it would take for the energy soldiers to further advance on their position, he was relieved that the fields seemed to be holding, and kept the energy beings no closer than ten feet...for now. Almost as a second thought he slapped field beacons onto the firey one and the mystic with four careful tosses, calling, "These will help protect you, energy shields!" He hoped that the Nation was prepared to defend itself and that Paragon City's heroes could rise to the challenge as the bolts of light spread beyond Dark Astoria. After all, Lord Recluse had reserved the right to destroy or rule the city for himself, and there would be no world to take over if these creatures overran the Earth...

Star Scout shrugged, and spoke in its mechanical voice, "Une touche pour une touche (('one touch for one touch', or like fencers, 'a contact for a contact')). However, this one advises you watch out...where there's smoke, there's fire."

Charging in, Scout hoped to end the fight while Shinae still had to deal with the smoke. A truly focused and solid contact to her head should knock her unconcious or at least send her reeling if it could connect before she got all dodgey again...

Star Scout saw an opening, and hoping to take advantage of Shinae's movement threw a mighty energy punch at her. The robot wasn't sure if it would connect at all, but it was the best shot at Shinae it had had the entire fight, and better a missed shot than wasting a chance...

Star Scout was letting out a left hook as it realized Shinae was no longer there...and a kick connected solidly against its back. Turning, it tried to figure out how it could connect a blow to help end the fight, realizing there was little its fighting techniques could accomplish right now...

Star Scout realized it was far too slow to catch Shinae that way, and as she grabbed its gauntlet and threw...he moved all of two steps backward. Assuming a boxer's stance, Star jabbed once and was easily parried by Shinae's swift movements. Trying to caluclate an opening, Scout kept its guard up while testing hooks and jabs of various speeds, none connecting with the agile woman. If nothing else, Scout should be able to keep her busy while its allies pressed the offensive, and its massive gauntlets should help parry any ripotse...

Alright, I'm looking for a new direction for my main. He's a kind-of-classic genre power-armor hero, and I AM very fond of his original and second costumes. However, his third slot has always been a "goofing off" look, and his fourth served no particular purpose (and currently still looks suspiciously like Dr. Strange from the Silver Age party at the second Anniversary...I haven't actually used it since, but it's still locked in that way). I'm not really sure how to classify his current look, but I was going for a "modernistic Silver Age" outfit (i.e. a look using Silver Age theories of design in a more modern and less bulky looking armor). I'd really like to get his third and fourth slot converted to one Golden/Atomic age look, and one "truely Modern" (but not ala Ultimates) look. He is an Energy/Energy (Force) Blaster who is partly cybernetic (arm and legs) after a lab accident caused injury. The suit itself allows flight, he's a natural leader (has the leadership toggles), and he traditionally wears no helmet (although he would wear a half-helm or non-face obscuring one). Here's his current look (colors are now black instead of red and gold instead of white, but otherwise the same):

Star Scout MK-4 rear

Star Scout MK-4 hovering front

Star Scout MK-4 doing what he loves best!

The only consideration is that I would like one of the two to have neither cape nor aura, and the other can be mix/match (both, one or the other, or neither). Any help would be appreciated, and I can certainly wait. If you need other inspiration (personality based, etc.), just ask

Cuore gave up, figuring no one was in. 'Well, with two gladiators in the ring, the others had to be somewhere', he thought. Flying to a wall terminal Cuore typed in some commands to see if there was any activity in other rooms besides gladitor rooms and the arenas themselves. Well, there was some activity in the restrooms, but that obviously wouldn't do...aha! The ballrooms seemed to have some activity. 'Well, nothing to do but start from the beginning,' he thought. Flying down the halls towards the ballrooms, he wondered which one (if any of them) would have the master he sought.

The sub stopped a mile out from Paragon's Talos port, and Todesfall, disguised in the power armor of the hero Tin Centurion sped along the water using the suit's superspeed. Reaching the gates, he met the guards, who recognized the suit as a registered hero and let him pass.

One of the guards spoke, "Been a while, Tin-man! Something delay you?"

Allowing the suit's vocalizer to modify his voice, Todesfall spoke, "Yeah, some crazy guy name of Teach...Prof...Tod...oh, I don't even remember, one of those bot types. Knocked me out of commish for a bit, but I escaped handily!"

The guard waved him through.

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Speeding along, Todesfall kept up the act for gate guards, and quickly arrived at Dark Astoria thanks to the speed of the Centurion's suit. Speeding toward the graveyard, he saw some armored hero with a sword of ice engaging strange energy beings...and spied a mystic of Mu, one of their female sages, doing the same. Activating the quick release, the Tin Centurion's bulky suit popped away, revealing Todesfall's more practical and slimmed down power armor. Speaking over his comm to the sub quickly, still out of sight, he informed his drones briskly,

"Rho, Lambda, Zeta, Nu, Kappa, Chi, report to my position immediately!"

As the drones launched from his submersible like six tactical missiles, he activated a transmission to the MechaNation base. If these things had spread anywhere else, they could be a thread to the Nation's plans...and needed to be dealt with. Knowing his villainous comrades would take care of their own turf, he stood tall and activated his suit's repulsion defense and dispersion field. Speaking loudly, "Alright, engage the unknowns! Leave the hero and Mu alone, aid them if they are about to fall! We can deal with them later..."

Six mechanical voices called "Yes, boss!" also alerting the beings to the new arrivals. The robots opening salvo caught some of the beings off guard and seemed to do damage, but they weren't down and out. It seemed a whole contigent of them was headed his way...

Activating his robots' force field defenses, he called, "Defensive positions!"

The robots formed a classic porcupine formation around their master, prepared to engage the oncoming forces. Todesfall pulled out his Plasma Rifle and took careful aim. "Today is going to be a loooooong day..."

Star Scout took no time to respond, simply charging Shinae and throwing an energy-assited punch right for her head. If she was too stubborn to give up, there was nothing for it...

Curore floated outside the door to Ryjuta's gladiator gathering room, knocking again to try and get somebody to answer. If nothing else, he needed to find Ryjuta's whereabouts so he could go talk to him for Neimand...

((Alright, something’s weird with the computer’s memory, so instead, here’s the story of my Robots/FF Mastermind, my villain main. Yeah, I'm something of a "techie" when it comes to supers ))

The man known to the world as Professor Todesfall jolted awake in the middle of the night, sitting up with a start. He realized he was sweating and breathing heavily, and it took him a moment to gather where he was. He was in his bunk at his Antarctic base, nothing around. Unclenching his hands, he realized he had once more crushed the side of his bunk with the grip of his cybernetic arm. And then he remembered as if it had just happened, the very dream, a memory that still haunted him occasionally, memories he could never forget. The chain began, as Todesfall obsessively remembered his past…

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It was a pleasant day in Hamburg, and the man Gregor Zimmerman had come to visit his family. They had been enjoying dinner in his father Hans’s carpentry shop (above which was the home Gregor had grown up in and where Hans and Liza still lived, happily married). Walking in had brought back memories, as it always did. Memories of his mother telling him to pick up his building toys and mechanical projects, how proud he was when he built his first radio from spare parts and memory, the look of pride and sorrow on his father’s face the day he realized Gregor would never be a carpenter, but a builder of metal and electronics. He remembered how his father had encouraged him to learn all he could and become the best…for the one thing Hans loved more than his carpentry (other than his family) was building things to last. However, the dinner was a celebration at the end of the day, celebrating Gregor’s early graduation and readiness to move on in life as a creator. And it all came to a sudden crashing halt, as the world became nothing but thunder and fire.

His memory was fuzzy then, but next he had known, Gregor awoke in the hospital, severely wounded, but alive. Most of his body was burned, and the burning debris of the building had irreparably fractured his left leg. Other breaks, but ones that would heal, included the majority of his ribs, two lumbar vertebrae, his right tibia, and numerous breaks along his left arm, with a dislocated shoulder that had since been put back. The pain was dulled by the medicine, but a dull roar in the back of his head. His jaw had not broken, but had nearly been shattered and was in weak condition. As he learned of his parents’ death as well as his sister’s, Gregor felt a burning beyond the pain, however, in the depths of his being. He burned with a fire more intense than the sun to find out who had done this, and to make them pay. The explosion had been one targeting the neighboring technology firm, (a subsidiary of Crey, and the place where Gregor had started working, preparing to move higher on the career ladder) but carelessness on the part of the saboteur had caused too large of a blast. The police investigation had found nothing more.

As Gregor recovered, and found out that he had inherited a considerable amount of money and certain effects form other relatives that his father had stored away and kept secret. There had also been a class action suit against Crey Industries (owner of the firm that had exploded) which had included Gregor and added to his new holdings. Most of the inherited funds and items were because of his grandfather, his father’s father, and it took only a small amount of reading his late ancestor’s journal to see why his father had kept things under wraps. The man had been crazed, seeking technology for its own sake. Ramblings went on about how he had been the truest student of science, a teacher of lethality and destruction, powerful through knowledge. Once able to walk, Gregor knew his plan.

He toiled in a private laboratory, and created replacements for his weakened and wounded body. His shattered bones were replaced, his leg and arm converted to cybernetics, his jaw supported with a prosthetic exterior aid. Crafting a small, simple drone with rudimentary AI and the equivalent of an energy pistol, Gregor spent the whole year obsessively preparing to exact his revenge. For he had found the employee that the police had not been able to, no such thief could hide behind an electronic identity and avoid his wrath.

Knowing he was about to embark on a life changing journey, Gregor realized he would need a new identity, a name for his new self. Remembering scraps of his grandfather’s journal, he named himself Professor Todesfall….Professor Lethality. Under the cover of darkness, he and his simple drone arrived at the perpetrator’s home, a twist of fate dictating that he was having a late dinner. It was the next night before the ordeal had ended. One week later, the Paragon S.W.A.T. had broken in, disabled the battle drone, and forced Gregor out of bed. He was under arrest for manslaughter in the first degree.

The trial was quick. The jury might have let Gregor off easily if it had been simply a swift killing for vengeance, but such was quickly proven to not be the case. Refusing to plead insanity was the nail in the coffin. The judge and jury were unwilling to let any man who would murder a fellow in cold blood after a day of tortures that are better left unmentioned. Sent to the Zig, he was sent as Professor Todesfall…since his aunt had declared before sentencing, “the man Gregor Zimmerman is dead. This monster standing in his place deserves no name but that of his depraved mind.” Although the authorities considered contacting the Freedom Phalanx to remove Todesfall’s powered armor, the power limiters prevented anything from happening, and so it was concluded to not be worth the Phalanx’s time.

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Coming out of his own thoughts, Todesfall rose. It was the beginning of another day, and he had work to do. The past was nothing, and all that lay ahead was the future of progress that awaited.

((The idea isn't that the mech's head was crushed, but that it was driven down. I probably should have clarified. I'm visualizing that the head is actually intact [minus a dent at the top] but that the shoulder connections buckled under the strain, and the head is almost comically 'half-way down' into the body. The idea also being that the repair mechanism can fix it in a second or two, since Quixotica wasn't exactly thinking before attacking...))

Quixotica saw the teleporting swordswoman right as the gate opened. Flying forward fast in a huff, she muttered, "Oh, well, there goes my grand entrance." The announcer was too caught up in talking about "Well, folks, what an amazing showing! That swords got to be bigger than most men I know, and that's the famous Tenryuu Reishi! Those of you with an interest know we test a lot of our limiters with her, and she's been a favorite since the beginning!"

'No announcement for me?!' Quixotica thought (she had missed the announcer saying anythig about her because of the sword strike), getting more than a tad annoyed. "I'll show THEM impressive," she grumbled under her breath, reaching the back of the robot's head right as its arms landed on the ground. Focusing as completely as she was able all of her mutant energy into her hands as focus points, she unleased a mighty smash from above that completely plowed the mecha's head into its armored chest. The announcer continued, surprised, "and that mighty blow was from the newcomer Quixotica, folks! But she'd better watch behind her, or that youngling's in for a surprise..."

'YOUNGLING?!?!?!' Quixotica thought, furious. She realized too late the repair tentacles of the robot had reached out to her feet and snagged her. In a mighty toss, she was sent flying toward the arena wall, impacting the wall with a dull 'thud.'

Curore flew lazily down the hallway, posed as if floating on his back in water, hands behind his head. Following the instructions, he soon arrived at Ryjuta's gladiator lounge, and still hovering above the ground, knocked thrice.

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Back in Neimand's rec room, his gladiators cheered both matches onward. After reading the match rules for the mecha match, he realized he was allowed to enter one contestant in a "surprise twist of event" (typical Arena Trust mumbo-jumbo to add excitement for fans). Speaking over the commotion, Neimand called, "Quixotica. How would you like to go save those silly easterners?"

Quixotica turned around and jumped to her feet. Excitedly, she asked, "Really, you mean you can enter me into that match?!"

Neimand nodded, bemused at her excitement. She was jumping up and down with glee, "Oh, please, let me in now, let me fight!"

Chuckling, Neimand stated simply, "As you wish."

Quixotica looked puzzled for a second, and then a teleportation jolt accompanied by a mechanical "ding" from Neimand's watch sent her to the waiting area.

Quixotica flew, impatient to be let into the ring...

Scout landed with a THOOM as Brawler spoke for Shinae's surrender. His gauntlets powered up and thrumming, the full prescence of the 7'6" robot towered over her. Its mechanical voice managed to carry sympathy, "This one proposes you take the firey ones advice. This one would regret having to take unnecessary steps to end the match."

[edit]((And Hal has been...erm...burninated. It's 3 on 1, so this will be...interesting))[/edit]

Scout calculated how completely unfair this was, and then continued with its computed course of action. This was the gladiator ring, and fair had nothing to do with it.

Patting Brawler on the shoulder Scout jumped towards the ground behind Shinae in a skyward leap, preparing to follow up on Brawler's blast of flame...

'...of Ultimate Destiny. / Good guys, bad guys, and explosions / as far as the eye can see /..."

((sorry, had to. ANYWAY, here's the real post [cause bored at work = time!]))

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The man known to the world as Professor Todesfall was taking a moment to relax. The dome gave a stunning view of the deep Antarctic sea…somehow the view always settled something in him, and it never disappointed. He had barely started his reverie, however, when he was interrupted by a beeping on his wrist comm. Nu’s chirping voice interrupted the silence, “Boss, you’d…you’d better get to the control room.”

Sighing, Todesfall stepped to the wall, which opened ahead of him. Metallic boots clanking as he moved briskly to the primary seat, Todesfall’s commanding voice rang out, “Report.”

His robots whirred, chatting over their internal comms, and had apparently “elected” Nu to be the speaker. “Boss…you wanted a report whenever the satellite surveillance of Paragon City provided an…extraordinary result. Well…you should see the playback.”

The little combat drone tapped a panel on the walls laden with computer equipment, and a visual screen appeared on the blank portion of wall. The satellite overhead view zoomed in, and then became a playback of real time. Todesfall watched as…something…sped through the Talos region, heading toward the hazard gates to Dark Astoria. It winked off the sensors only to be picked back up irregularly, as if monitoring it caused bursts of interference in the signal. Todesfall’s voice became flat, “When was this? Where did the signal pickup?”

Nu’s chirp picked up, “There were strange bursts of static from way out in the islands, which caused the protocols to auto-focus to the Talos region. That…thing was the result when the resolution picked up and it…well, boss, it just disappeared into Dark Astoria, and then we lost the signal.”

Todesfall’s voice became commanding again. “Prepare the submersible. We are going to make full speed to the outskirts of Paragon City as soon as we are able to depart, and make sure you load the armor of that self-righteous idiot I still have captive. Once the submersible is outfitted and the gear in place, each of you report to your deployment bays and prepare for launch.”

Kappa piped in, “Boss, is there something you should be tel…” only to be cut off by Todesfall’s icy command, “GO.”

In unison, all units replied, “Yes, boss!” and went about their duties.

Neimand was watching the bout with his fighters in their collective rec room, a slight grin on his face as he relaxed crosslegged. His stable had tried to keep up their game, but couldn't keep their eyes off of the match. Quixotica seemed to have developed a frienship with Star Scout, and had gasped and grown worried as he had fallen out of the air. Curore had known (and fought with) the robot for a long time ((Star is the only gladiator to know who Curore really is)), and put a hand on her shoulder and spoke up.

"Just watch, lass, the ol' bot ain't done with yet."

When the robot hadn't moved for what fifteen seconds dragged to forever, Curore grinned, "Watch this, lass, the sneaky devil. He's just playing out o' commishion, powerin' up."

Neimand was glad to see all of his gladiators developing companionship...he much prefered fighters who grew to understand each other and be a team. The match continued with various levels of concern from the members, and collective surprise at Brawler's blazing explosion. The Stinky Avenger hooted, "That sure got the illusion guy!"

As Star Scout moved to protect Brawler, Neimand's Arena Trust watch beeped. Neimand flipped his left wrist so his left palm faced him (he wore the watch on his left, face "down"), and cued a control on the wall. Who on earth would have started a match so soon? A second screen appeared next to the first, and the gladiators collectively turned to see what new thing was happening.

The announcer's voice came through slightly muted, and Donna Eerie commented quickly, rolling her eyes "Two crazies against a giant robot. Why am I not surprised."

Bleur Bogenshutze shushed her, attentively watching the match (he had never seen a samurai or ninja in actual combat, and had always been a buff of ancient combat). Donna huffed and muttered under her breath, "Men. Indeed."

Neimand chuckled to himself, and knew he had to meet this other master...the match list stated his name as Ryjuta, and his list of combatants looked intriguing. Speaking up gently, he asked "Curore, could you come here for a moment?"

Bright Heart came over, his yellow and blue classic Kheldian look accentuated by his white hair and eyes. Neimand spoke so only they could hear, the others seemed so interested, he'd hate to disturb them. "I need you to carry a message to this Ryjuta. In particular, he has an archer in his stable. I know that our bowman has some sting to him, but I wonder if he'll be able to handle the sting of a woman. He's been itching for a match, and what better than a battle of the bows? I know you'll know what to say...just try not to hit on her if you meet her," Neimand finished as he raised his right eyebrow in a sideways, cynical look.

Curore grinned from ear to ear, "Well, if you insist, lad, I guess I can handle it."

Gliding through the air, the Peacebringer flew through the halls, following the directions to Ryjuta's gladiator lounge ((neither knows of the ballroom meeting)).

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"That sounds like another option. Let's just hope we all get a chance to see our gladiators in battle soon," Ryjuta smiled.

((Yeah, when will that next fight start so I can toss in one of my characters? ))

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((Whenever Shinae and the Rikti get back to start a bout ))

((On the other hand, we can also work to SET-UP a match as well...))

Star Scout MK-1 landed as it registered Brawler's motion. The blazing inferno shorted Scout's visual sensors briefly, and when "sight" returned, Hal was gone. Scout scanned the battlefield to find Shinae, and see how their Rikti ally was faring, moving to stand by and protect Brawler in case Shinae decided it was the time to strike...

((Classic anime + Samurai anime + Western concept anime + dinner date = man, I feel like I need a drink ))

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Great guide! Now I'm back to the old dilemma of translatting all that goodness into a build. Elec/Elec has to be the toughest I've ever had to build.

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I can certainly understand that! Check out the v1.1 tho, it has some more info that might help decision making (as well as slotting advice and notes on Teleport).

All defensive systems registered in the green, Scout was about to move but thought better of it and ran a quick internal diagnostic. That last blast had done more damage than the impact indicated...running the nano-repair protocol, Scout registered returning to optimal condition. It was unfortunate that that protocol could likely only be run again after the fight was already over...

As the repair systems ran, Scout gave off a discernable green glow, and a distinct *whirrrrrrr-click* Leaping back toward the four identical energy signatures and the construct, Scout hoped the delay Hal had caused didn't cost its team the advantage they needed...

Scout thanked the maker as it sensed finally being able to move again. Holding perfectly still as only a robot can to try and give the illusion of still being affected by the pulse, Scout immediately started re-integrating its defense systems. Unfortunatley in the commotion, it had lost track of which opponent was Hal, and that light blast while contained had had quite a noticable impact...

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*looks at picture again*


I was blowing smoke FOR the ladies man jeesh!




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So that's what they're calling it these days. Foo, it seems his euphamisms are as flexible as he is