bluedarky

Apocalypse

Chapter 1 – The End

-----Please insert Username and Password-----
-----Password Accepted-----
-----Welcome to HeroNet-----
-----Access File “Day0.txt”-----
*****Omega Clearance Needed*****
-----Re-enter Password-----
-----Omega Clearance Approved-----
-----Loading-----

It was the day the age of heroes ended, and the day the age of villains began, the day that was never meant to come had arrived.

Arachnos troops waited at the access points they had created throughout Paragon City, waiting for the signal to begin as villains waited for the signal for the attack.

Inside his tower within Grandville stood Lord Recluse inside a custom built command centre for the attack.

“The troops are in position my lord,” reported an Arachnos Scientist, “They are simply waiting for the command to attack.”

“And the Destined One?” replied Lord Recluse, his voice as impassive as his stance.

“Waiting for the signal to lead the villains to the fray,” replied the Scientist nervously.

“Then begin the attack,” replied Lord Recluse.

The attack was swift, the years since the Rikti Wars had not been wasted, and the seemingly random attacks on the city suddenly making sense as Arachnos troops began moving towards strategic targets within the city.

The heroes scrambled to the locations to prevent the attacks, heroes throughout the city fought the seemingly never ending forces at the places where the Arachnos troops were thickest, the fight became one-sided towards the heroes as the troops thinned out, until the end began.

A small group of specially trained operatives had managed to gain access to the War Walls control centre. With the flick of a switch the War Walls fell, and the villains began the attack.

Already weakened the heroes attempted to fall back only to discover that the Arachnos troops had manoeuvred themselves in between the heroes and their escape routes. A few of the faster heroes managed to escape but many were teleported to the hospital only to discover that Arachnos Troops had taken them over and were simply waiting for the fallen heroes to come to them.

Then as soon as it began they fell back, many rumors flew about the retreat. Some said that the Phalanx themselves had arrived and drove the troops back, others said that as one villain fell the rest panicked and ran. Whatever the reason, many heroes were injured, some of them even killed, and no one truly knew what caused them to fall back.

But whatever it was, it was only the beginning of Lord Recluse's plans, that much is certain.

Too produce the Paragon Press I use OpenOffice (OpenOffice.org). Export it to PDF then use Acrobat Readers 'Copy File to Clipboard' under the edit menu then copy into paint.

For a first timer though I would recomend getting MS Publisher and a freeware PDF converter.

If you do get OpenOffice and struggle feel free to PM me for help.

This is simply a 6 part series to show how the Rikti War will affect 6 of my characters.

[u]Invasion for 6 - Bluedarky[u]

2 weeks ago.

Bluedarky lay on the hospital bed whilst the surgeon stood next to him explaining the situation. He wasn't in pain, he hadn't felt any physical pain for two years now.

“... and so I'm afraid that, due to the state you allowed your broken leg to get in, you'll have to stay off it for at least a month whilst it heals,” finished the Doctor.

“You're joking right,” laughed Bluedarky, “You've fixed me up from worse states before in hours.”

“You've fought on a damaged femur for two weeks until it literally snapped in two,” replied the surgeon sternly, “Even on a hero medical care we cannot fix a broken leg to go onto the streets in less than a month, it may even stop your career in heroism for good.”

“You mean I'm stuck at home for a month?” replied Bluedarky shocked, “I can't do that, not with Marioko still patrolling, I'll go mad.”

“Look on the bright side,” replied the surgeon, “You'll still receive your pay, and I hear that heroes have an excellent pension scheme in the event that they actually survive long enough to receive it.”

The day of the Invasion

Bluedarky sat in his flat, his laptop lay on a tray above his cast which rested on the table. His mobile phone rested on his shoulder as he glanced over the article in front of him, making the changes necessary before it hit the press. The television blared in front of him, all of a sudden a news report came on which made him sit up straight, he swung his arm to grab the remote and knocked the laptop to the floor. He turned up the volume on the tv and picked his mobile off the sofa.

“Scrap the entire paper and prepare to run a special edition,” he ordered going to type on his computer, “Actually,” he corrected himself, “Contact Temperature Sprite, tell her to come home a minute before taking my dictation and publishing a special edition with it.”

After Temperature Sprite left having restored his laptop to his lap and got more food in easy reach, Bluedarky sat back staring at the screen. In one window was his text editor ready to write, in another was a news site providing up to the minute information on the war, and the final was his list of heroes and villains who wrote for the Paragon Press along with contact details.

He stared at the screen and nodded to himself, he may not be able to help directly, but he would help simply by providing information to the people. He saw blinking messages shoot up on screen indicating reports and pictures being sent for the press and set to work.

Creating a character on a backstory,

my specialty.

Drop an email to @bluedarky and I'll see what I can do for you.

Part 3 – Defeat

Even now I don't who planned it, if the Hellions had actually thought it through and realized they could take us if they had enough firepower, or if someone had given them directions for handling us.

It was a normal enough day, the three of us sat in the street laughing and talking about the Hellions we'd beaten up the day before, when a group of Hellions appeared at the end of the street led by a single Damned.

We stood up quickly, there was at least twelve of them, Jess whistled for assistance, a sort of honor code between the local teen gangs existed when it came to Hellions. Knowing help was on the way, we moved to take care of the Damned.

Jess and Michael moved behind me as the Damned started throwing Fireballs up at us, although I could fend off the first few we knew we had to act quickly before my skin was burnt off.

Jess vaulted over me and aimed a jumping kick in the direction of the Damned, even now I could hear the other gangs getting close, but I was focused on the Damned, if Jess missed, I had to introduce my fist into his face before he could react.

A Blood Brother swung a hammer and somehow managed to strike Jess in midair, I shot forward and raised my fist before Michael's scream made me turn and realize their plan.

Another Blood Brother had snuck up the other end of the street and had Michael down on the floor with a knife to his throat. As the other gangs piled into the street he pressed the knife harder, not hard enough to cut, but hard enough to make him panic.

I forget if I've mentioned it but Michael had some psychic powers. No control at this point of course, except to psychically overload every mind in around 10 ft when in danger.

Part 2 – Friendship

I grew up in Atlas Park after that, just a punk kid who ran in a street gang, the main difference being that instead of beating up innocents, we beat up the Hellions and Skulls in our neighborhoods.

There were three of us, Michael, he'd lost his sister, a mutant who killed herself when she was caught in a Circle spell intended to drive Mutation heroes mad. He was the weakest of us physically, however he had a fast mind and at times could display slight psychic powers.

Jess had a photographic memory when it came to martial arts, not to mention two gymnastics medals. Unfortunately she also had her soul in alignment with certain mystic gates and had repeatedly been kidnapped to open these gates.

And then there was me, I'd inherited Grandfather's strength and toughened skin. Not much use against bullets but we'd usually dealt with them by the time they'd pulled out the guns and fired.

Our overconfidence was our downfall though, as we were about to find out.

Part 1 - Ancestors

I suppose I'd best start at the beginning, my name is Stephan Andrews, although I'm known more as Bluedarky now. I'm a Paragon Kid, born and raised in the time of heroes after the Rikiti War. I'd always wanted to be a hero when I grew up, like my Grandfather.

He was the original Bluedarky, a Professional Wrestler who managed to stay in the big leagues after the incoming Mutation and Science Superstrength Wrestlers. He worked as a part time hero to do his bit for the city as well. His Blue Trenchcoat was always a welcome sight in Eastgate.

Eastgate, the town I was born and raised in for the first ten years of my life. On the day of the "Hollowing" my Grandfather went out to investigate the Trolls behaviour. He was the first hero to find the bombs and warn the district. It was his last act, his proximity to the bomb meant that what was teleported to the hospital was beyond even Paragon Cities medical care.

My parents quickly moved out of Eastgate, securing a flat in Atlas Park, my Grandmother refused to move, even with the threat of Trolls, Circle of Thorns and the Igneous she stayed resolute refusing to move from what had been her home for more than 50 years. David Wincott's men called her the "Queen of Eastgate", the only civilian living there. To the heroes she was just some batty old lady, the Trolls left her alone, in their own twisted way they had respected Grandfather's strength and this was their way of showing it.

I'd like to nominate spidermonster for his story Hard Boiled Nights in Paragon City found here.

Hot off the presses from the Paragon Times newest reporter comes Talks with the Magical Goddess Girl, or Talks with MGG for short, where she attempts to interview various faces from Paragon City and the Rogue Isles.

This week the villain known as Tech Queen.

Part 1
Part 2

[ QUOTE ]
So...? A costume contest where you get judged by your description? And you have to have the "right concept" to be able to win or?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not really, the main thing is anyone can create a 10ft Huge Body Type stalker, the challenge is saying why they're a 10ft Huge Body Type Stalker.

[ QUOTE ]
Hmmm so if i come naked with just pink speedos on an afro american dude and my name is "The Terminator Robot" i need to have an explanation for this? Isnt it obvious i am whacked enough in brain to come up with this and to win the prize?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not about whacked out toons, it's about toons that don't fit in with peoples normal perception. I mean, how may 4ft Tanks do you see in Atlas?

After checking the boards I noticed that their hasn't been a costume contest announced for a while and as I was planning on organizing a few I thought I'd start one running and see how it goes.

So for my first I announce the Wierd and Wonderful competition -

Do you have a four ft tall Tank, a Magic Blaster with the AR and Devices Powersets or a Tech Defender with Archery/Trick Arrows? Bring the wierdest charcter you can think of to the show.

It would probably be held in mid to late Jan in Pocket D and prizes aren't sorted yet although I can say that you will at least get an exclusive avatar for the forums.

Heroes and villains welcome so don't be shy.

Just make sure you have a backstory for your characters sorted (Why does your magic blaster have AR/Dev? That sort of thing.)

Have a decent explanation, if your an alien why are you on earth.

There is no minimum or maximum level apart from the fact you need to be able to get to Pocket D.

Also signing up Judges so even if you don't want to enter just come to judge.

Just don't forget rule number one - Have fun!