mousedroid

I don't know if they do or not, but I doubt a book called Peter Parker's Day at Planet Fitness would sell very well. Heck Pete would probably get thrown out of Planet Fitness for being too fit.

Likewise, who wants to read a story where Superman spends a day in the library researching magic in order to defeat a spell casting foe? Unless it was the Sunnydale High School library - that's a story I'd love to read!

I'm available Wednesday this week.

Question - if Shaw encountered the Hulk when Shaw was largely unpowered, could the Hulk simply take Shaw by the arms and tear him in half? Or would that too be considered an input of kinetic energy that Shaw would somehow be able to resist/absorb?



P.S.: Only Hayden Christensen can truely defeat Sebastian Shaw.

Kip crouched among the reeds and scanned the darkness for witnesses. Satisfied there was no one nearby, he moved to the edge of the rock and slipped silently into the water. His power hid him from most observers, but its effectiveness was diminished in water. Skinny dipping was far from the worst thing that happened in Steel Canyon, but it was still illegal, and it wouldn’t do for a fledgling hero to get arrested for indecent exposure.

After a quick swim, Kip pulled himself back up onto the rock near where his leggings were hidden. Sniffing his fur he winced and wished he had some soap. “It’s going to take me a month to get rid of the sewage smell,” he thought to himself. Still, he was clean enough now to go home and take a proper shower.

Sitting on the rock, allowing his fine, golden-brown hair to air dry, Kip reflected on the evening. He felt proud to be part of a team that was making a difference, but he was troubled by doubts as well. Two teammates had died before he ever met them – sure it was a freak accident – but if he’d left the library ten minutes earlier, it could’ve been him in the arena when it was hit. He thought about Missy and his parents and wondered if the other two… he couldn’t even remember their names now… had friends and family who were waiting for them to come home tonight. He shivered, as much from the thought, as from the breeze on his damp fur. “I guess Mr. Gold will let them know,” he thought.

When he thought of Maximillian Gold, he shivered again. Kip wondered what he meant about their missions being “underground.” It gave him an uneasy feeling, but he resolved to wait and see. If things got bad, or out of control, he could always bail. At least he hoped he could. Suddenly feeling vulnerable, he pulled on his leggings and moved further back into the shadows.

His thoughts turned back to Missy. She’d want to know all about tonight. He wouldn’t lie to her, but he’d certainly have to temper his descriptions of their actions to keep her from freaking out. One thing he knew he couldn’t gloss over was the team make-up. Missy wasn’t a jealous or insecure girl, but concealing the fact that over half the team consisted of attractive females could only come back to bite him in the ***. No, he’d be above board about that at least. Missy was the best thing that ever happened to him, and he wasn’t about to do anything to screw that up.

Standing, he shook the last bit of water out of his fur. He then crouched and used his deceptively strong legs to propel himself to the top of the concrete wall where he very nearly landed in the middle of a group of Tsoo. Fortunately they were too distracted with their bickering to notice him and he quickly darted down the street towards his dorm on the hill behind the university.

Retrieving his duffle bag from the rooftop hiding place where he’d asked Missy to leave it, he slipped into his street clothes and back down over the ledge of the building. He entered from the street like any other student would, and breathed a sign of relieve that the RA was nowhere to be seen. Eschewing the slow, noisy elevator, he ducked into the stairwell and dashed up the six flights to the room he shared with the kid from Cyprus. As quietly as a true ghost he slipped into the room and grabbed some shampoo, a washcloth, and a towel.

After a hot, soapy shower he felt, and smelled, 100% better. He cleaned the hair out of the drain, toweled off and padded back to the room. As he climbed into bed he thought about the others on the team – Shakeup, Talleybird, Moxie Girl, Adam… Adam… Savage (no that wasn’t it…) Adam... Hammer? “Hmmm, have to pay more attention next time,” he thought, continuing to run down the roster… Chip Chocolate, and… Coral... what was her code name…? Something about Innocence…

“I have a feeling none of us will be able to claim innocence much longer,” he thought as he yawned and closed his eyes.

Character "Code" Name: The Ghost in the Grass
Secret Identity: Kipawa "Kip" West
Claws/Super Reflexes Stalker
Global: @mousedroid

Why do they have the Black Widow using guns? Why doesn't she have wrist blasters like she did in the comics? This disappoints me.

The young man was sitting on a second floor railing waiting for the others to arrive. The sun streaming through the skylight was welcome warmth on his scales. He was lost in thought, trying to decide who to start at quarterback on his fantasy football team when the voice snapped him out of his reverie.

“Huh?” he asked.

“I said, ‘do you have a quarter I could borrow?’” the girl repeated. She was plain-looking, but not unattractive, her face freckled and… wind-burned? She wore a formfitting, head-to-toe body suit made out of a shiny silver material. It almost looked like her slender body was encased in liquid metal. On her chest was one of those medical symbols with the snakes and the winged staff.

“Oh, uh yeah… here,” the boy said climbing down off the railing and unwrapping his tail from around it. He unsnapped one of the pouches on his belt and fished out a quarter. Handing it to the girl he felt warmth radiating from her skin.

“ThanksI’llbebackinaflash!” the girl jibbered before disappearing, leaving a barely discernable trail of condensation behind her.

Almost before Lester could form another thought, the girl made good on her promise as she screeched to a halt in front of him, a bottle of sugary soda in each hand. “HereIgotyouoneotoo,” she exclaimed.

“W-what?” Lester asked, unable to understand her rapidfire speech.

“Oh, damn, was I doing it again?” she asked, pronouncing her words more carefully. “Sorry about that, it’s a side effect of my speed powers I’m afraid. Anyway, I’m Madame Mercury, and I said I bought you a pop.” The girl, whose real name was Catherine, but whom everyone called Kitty, held out a 20 oz. bottle of cola.

“Oh, uh… thanks,” Lester said, “but, um… I don’t drink soda.”

“Seriously?” Kitty laughed, “Oh well, more sugar for me.”

“So are you here for the um…” Lester began.

“The Gold Corporation meet-n-greet? Yeah. You?”

“Yeah. I’m Sslither, by the way.”

“Nice ta meet ya, Slither. I guess we’re early,” Kitty said, finishing the first bottle of soda and holding out her hand. As Lester reached out to shake, electricity arced from the girl’s hand giving him a painful shock.

“OhshitSlitherI’msorry! Iforgotaboutthestaticelectricty!” she babbled apologetically.

“Th-that’s OK,” Lester replied as he shook his numb hand, “You’re just lucky my natural defenses didn’t kick in.” To illustrate what he meant, he flexed his muscles and poisonous barbs sprung out of his skin.

“Whew, I’ll say I was lucky!” Kitty replied, her eyes wide.

Just then a shadow passed over them as something flew past the skylight above them. Kitty began to say, “What was…” when a massive explosion in the distance rocked the building, knocking both heroes from their feet.

“…that?” she finished.

“I don’t know!” Lester exclaimed as they heard a roar overhead and another explosion.

Kitty disappeared down the stairs at breakneck speed as a third and forth explosion rocked the Galaxy City Arena causing dust to filter down from the stone roof. “OHMYGODSLITHERCOMELOOKATTHIS!” Kitty exclaimed from the door.

As Lester started down the stairs another impact – the closest one yet – knocked him off his feet and he tumbled down the last dozen steps. He ran to the door to see what was happening and looked out on Armageddon. Huge flaming meteors were raining down all over Galaxy City. Buildings were being smashed and knocked off their foundations, the Freedom Phalanx building was on fire and panicked citizens were running for cover.

“WEHAVETODOSOMETHING!” Kitty yelled.

“Wh-what can we do a-against those?” Lester replied, struggling not to give in to the fear that was threatening to overwhelm him.

“Against the rocks? Prob’ly nothing, but we can help those people.” Kitty said, “We’re heroes, Slither, we have to do something! Here, hold the door open for me.”

Lester held the door open for Kitty as she dashed out into the street and back again, time after time, gathering civilians at superhuman speed, and carefully setting them down inside the massive edifice. After a few minutes, she paused panting.

“Th-that’s all… I could… f-find,” she exclaimed trying to catch her breath.

“That was awesome!” a little boy exclaimed. “Are you superheroes?”

“W-we sure are, little guy,” Kitty replied, “I’m Madame Mercury, and this here’s Slither.”

Lester didn’t feel particularly heroic at the moment, at least not compared to Madame Mercury who risked her life to save the 20 or so people in front of them. He began to wonder if he was cut out for the Gold Corporation after all. “C-c’mon, we’d better find a safe place to huddle down until this is over,” he said, hoping his voice didn’t tremble too badly.

The meteors were still pounding the city as the group walked through the corridors of the Arena. Out of earshot of the civilians, Kitty turned to Lester and whispered, “M-my real name is Kitty. I… I don’t know why I’m telling you, but I just… I felt like I wanted you to know.”

“And my real name is… L-Lester,” Lester whispered hesitantly. “Are you, um… are you scared, Kitty?”

“I’m freakin’ terrified, Les.”

“You sure don’t show it.”

“Well, that’s part of our job ain’t – to be brave, even when we’re sacred out of our minds?” Kitty said, taking Lester’s hand to comfort him.

At last they came to a locked door to the building’s subbasement. “Look,” a man said pointing to a faded blue and yellow sign on the wall beside the door, “This door leads to an old fallout shelter! It must have been built in the ‘60s.”

“Here stand back,” Kitty said. She then shuffled her feet on the carpeting faster than anyone’s eyes could follow, building up a huge charge of static electricity. “Cover your faces!” she implored as she released the bolt of charged electrons into the lock causing it to shatter.

Yanking the door open, Kitty told everyone to stay put while she checked out the shelter. A moment later, she called to Lester to start sending the civilians down. Three quarters of them had climbed down the dark stairs when a nearby impact knocked everyone off their feet. The rest of the civilians raced down the stairs, but just as Lester was about to do the same, he heard a woman cry out for her son.

Lester looked around and saw the little boy sitting among a pile of freshly fallen debris several yards from the door. “C’mon, kiddo, down here. Your mom’s waiting for you.” Lester called, and motioned to the child to come to him.

The boy just sat crying among the rubble as more debris fell from the damaged ceiling. He was paralyzed with fear. Lester knew what he had to do. He left the door and ran to the boy, scooping him up in his arms. Just as he got back to the door he heard a loud crack and looked back to see a massive column toppling towards them.

Shielding the boy with his body, Lester took the impact of the column as he shoved the child through the door into darkness. It was a glancing blow, but it was enough to break his right shoulder blade, right arm and both legs. He was in incredible pain, but at least he wasn’t pinned.

“LesAreyoualright?” Kitty called to him, a tinge of panic now evident in her voice.

“I’ll live,” Lester called back, sounding surprisingly brave, “Stay where you are and I’ll be there in a minute.”

Time seemed to slow down then as the shriek from the sky grew louder and louder. The light filtering through the cracked roof of the building was blocked by the massive hunk of iron as it hurtled towards its target. Lester felt the pressure wave seconds before impact and he smiled. Despite his fear he’d helped Kitty rescue all those people and that meant he’d die a hero. Maybe they’d even make a staute of him…

“LES!!!” Kitty screamed as the building above them exploded, the impact slamming the door shut as the very air outside it caught fire. Sensing her intent, several of the men she’d rescued blocked her way up the stairs.

“Oh, Les,” she sobbed, sinking to her knees.


A moment later and a mile away another young man watched from the top of a speeding train car as the once majestic Galaxy City Arena collapsed into an unrecognizable pile of rubble.

For a first time EVAR, JT, that was pretty damn good.

((Hope no one minds that I did a little set up for our first meeting from Kip's PoV.))

Kip pushed his chair back from the library table, looked at the Blackberry laying beside his calculus book, and stretched his arms over his head.

“You heading out?” the cute blonde beside him asked.

“Yeah, I’d better get going. I don’t want to keep the others waiting,” he said gathering up the books and notes on the table.

“You sure I can’t come?” the girl inquired, looking up at him as stood.

“Missy, we talked about this…” he replied gently.

“I know, I know… ‘It could be dangerous’,” she said mocking him playfully.

“Well, it could be.”

“You’ll be careful though, right?”

“Of course I will. Besides, this is just a meet-and-greet; we probably won’t even get an assignment today. And, no, that doesn’t mean you can come,” he said laughing as she started to ask the inevitable question.

“Oh, alright. D’you want me to take your books back to your room?”

“That would be great sweetie, thank you,” he said smiling. “And can you tuck a bag of clothes under the roof duct for me like before?”

“Sure.”

The two of them climbed the stairs of the library to the third floor hand-in-hand, and moved a quiet area in the French Lit section. Kip kicked off his sneakers and unbuttoned his blue Oxford shirt, pulling the later over his head as his girlfriend watched appreciatively. Next came his khakis, which he slipped out of, revealing the tight Kevlar leggings beneath.

“Thanks for not humming stripper music this time,” he said as he tucked the clothes into the duffle bag Missy was holding.

“No promises next time,” the petite blonde giggled.

“I’ll call you later, OK?” Kip asked pushing the window up.

“Promise me you’ll be careful, Kip. I have a feeling something bad is going to happen.” Missy pleaded hugging him tightly.

“I’ll be careful hon, I promise. And I’ll call you as soon as we’re done,” he assured her, enveloping her in his lean, strong arms. Planting a kiss on her lips he reluctantly pulled away, continuing, “Now I’d better get going, or I’m gonna miss the train to Galaxy City.”

“OK, I’ll see you soon. I love you,” Missy said, a dreadful feeling in her heart that she was saying that to him for the last time.

“Love you too,” Kip replied as he leapt out the window and up to the ledge above the building in one fluid motion. With a quick wave he was gone and Missy was left alone in the quiet building, clutching his duffle bag to her chest.

Kip dashed down the streets of Steel Canyon at top speed. As he ran by Wentworths, and the Vault Reserve towards the train station, it didn’t even register to him that the people he passed on the streets – civilians and villains alike – were all staring at the sky, their mouths agape.

Kip slipped nimbly through the doors of the train just as they closed. He slid into a seat and tried to calm the butterflies in his stomach. “A superhero,” he thought, “I’m going to be an honest to gosh superhero.”

He was wishing he’d gone to the bathroom back at the library when he felt the first tremor. Wondering what it was, he looked out the window, but didn’t see anything as the train entered the tunnel. As the metro raced through the darkness, Kip felt another tremor, and then another, and another. The lights in the tunnel flickered and threatened to go out as the shaking got more and more violent. The other passengers were beginning to panic.

As the train emerged into the daylight again, Kip couldn’t believe his eyes. Galaxy City was in ruins! Passengers screamed and ducked for cover as the train continued on towards the station. Kip jumped up and ran for the conductor’s compartment.

“Don’t stop!” he screamed at the conductor through the glass, “Keep this train going until you get to Kings Row!”

He hoped this wasn’t happening in Kings Row and other parts of the city as he pulled open the emergency hatch in the ceiling of and leapt to the roof of the speeding car. What he saw was like something out of a Hollywood disaster movie – buildings crushed and toppled, cars crashed and on fire, craters and… bodies… there were dead bodies… everywhere. “Oh, god, Missy. Please be safe,” he thought. Just then another meteor roared overhead and utterly demolished the arena in the distance.

"That's where I was supposed to meet the others," he thought as he jumped off the roof of train car. Kip did a tuck and roll and landed on his feet catlike, and unharmed. He instinctively triggered his camouflage as he looked around and tried to get his bearings. He saw several supers flying toward what must be a rallying point at the shattered city’s center and figured that’s where he’d better go as well.

When he arrived, he looked around for guidance and noticed a couple of costumed figures looking stunned and holding Blackberries identical to the one Max Gold had given him. Remembering his own Blackberry, he typed out a quick message: “am fine. going 2 try 2 help. please call my parents & be safe! love u!”

“Well, here we go,” he thought as he hit send and walked towards the others…

As far as I'm concerned, Chip Chocolate is welcome. Chocolate based powers may seem "silly" but it's all in how you portray the character. Look at Plastic Man and Mister Fantastic - two characters with very similar powers, but very different personalities.

Anyway, here's a little background on...


Ghost in the Grass

On December 24, 1993 naturalists Dana and Arthur West were studying leopards in the Serengeti when they awoke to the sound of crying. Someone had abandoned a mutant newborn on their veranda. Naming the boy Kipawa (Swahili for “gift”), the Wests raised him quietly as their own son.

When they returned home in 2000, Kip found life in America much different than Tanzania. Even at his young age, he had developed an affinity for the big cats of the Serengeti and often played among them with their cubs. In America, there were no wild cats, only cruel children who ostracised him for his appearance.

It wasn’t until his family moved to Paragon City that Kip truely found acceptance among his peers. For the next six years Kip flourished. He excelled both academically and athletically, and graduated as his school’s first mutant salutatorian.

Given his mutant powers Kip was fascinated with the life of superheroes, so when Maximillian Gold visited to recruit him for a new team he was putting together, Kip implored his parents to let him join. Despite the potential danger, Dana and Arthur knew Kip was physically and mentally up to the task, so they agreed, provided Kip also attend university full time.

Using his childhood Tanzanian nickname, "the Ghost in the Grass," Kipawa's powers include the ability to camouflage himself in almost any environment; razor-sharp claws that retract into his fingertips like a cat's claws; the strength and stamina to run long distances at great speed and leap higher and farther than top olympic athletes; superhumanly keen hearing, eyesight and sense of smell; and an empathic connection to felines.

Yep. This saved me a trip to the Big Apple and the associated costs, but I'm still bummed that they won't be coming.

The plot thickens... dun, Dun, DUN!

The player with the name Dawn of Time returned my in-game tell and was very nice about the situation, but was unsure if they wanted to give up the name. S/he said they'd let me know if they decided to.

The other player also said something very strange and disturbing - s/he first got the name Dawn of Time around the same time I did - within 15 minutes of Exalted going live. As far as I can tell, that means one of three things:

1) The other player is fibbing, which I don't think is the case since there is no reason to,
2) The other player and I snagged the name at EXACTLY the same instant, and it somehow allowed us both to have it, the odds against which are astronomical, or

3) The name reserve system was/is somehow allowing two people to reserve the same name.

If possibilty #3 is what happened, that could mean that anyone could lose any name at any point they remake a character that someone else snagged the same name on.

Anyway, back to name watching...


P.S.: What you described in your items 1-6 is exactly what I experienced too, Selenir.

Thanks to an apparent bug last night, I lost a name I really wanted when I tried to remake the character. The name sat unclaimed from about 7 PM ET last night until the start of maintence this morning (I know because I kept checking to see if it was associated with a global name and it wasn't).

When I tried again to get it after maintenance this morning, I found it was taken and a global name was associated with it, so...


If whoever snagged the name "Dawn of Time" this morning isn't in love with it, I'd really love to take it off your hands. I took it the first night to level pact with another character. I'm willing to talk trade either on Exalted, or, I also have the name on Virtue and I'd be willing to trade you the name on Virtue for the name on Exalted since I can't get the name of the counterpart character on Virtue.

If you happen to see this, please send me a PM. I'll also try sending you a tell in game.

Well, that's just peachy. I logged in before the maintenance this morning and tried to snag the name again, but couldn't get it. I checked to see if it was assocated with a global name and it wasn't. Just now I tried to grab it from work and couldn't get it so I logged in and sure enough someone else grabbed it this morning.

Dammit.