The Becoming (Super Heroes)

[consequences]

Yeah, I guess compromising every base their teleporter's aware of beats taking out whatever base they would have taken Taskmaster to.

[LadyTevar]

And they broke Penumbra in less than 12hrs.

[Hawkwings]

I also thought Taskmaster had enhanced intelligence. But maybe he's just that goddamn smart already, and the meta powers are just a bonus.

[Eleas]

I also thought Taskmaster had enhanced intelligence. But maybe he's just that goddamn smart already, and the meta powers are just a bonus.

He's hardly the first super with an broad array of mental powers (Professor X is often described as a genius partially due to his "powerful mind", and Emma Frost seems similar, just to pick two examples).

[White Haven]

And they broke Penumbra in less than 12hrs.

I have to admit that strikes me as relentlessly kinky.

[Simon_Jester]

Relentless, anyway. Whether Patricia actually involved any kinkiness in the process is hard to say; we've only seen her in psychic combat once and she was far, far less kinky about it than her opponent.

[Imperial Overlord]

Blackheart stepped through the camouflage force field and through the gap Iron Mike had ripped in the door. Centurion, a short, stocky man with a huge collection of scars, was on his left. The other meta was wearing full body armour with ballistic plate and carrying enough weapons to take out a Soviet mechanized company.

Centurion broke left as they entered the hanger. Inside were four small airplanes and a half dozen maintenance crew in overalls who were running away as fast as their legs could carry them. Electricity was arcing to Valkyrie from the floor and power cables, filling the air with the stench of ozone and surrounding the blond warrior with a cloud of sizzling sparks. Iron Mike was a step behind her.

At the other end of the hanger was a man who looked a lot like Charlton Heston out of The Ten Commandments, except he was wearing a robe of white samite shot through with gold thread. He seemed very calm.

Patricia's voice rang through their heads. "Don't fuck around. Hand him his ass."

Lightning arced from Valkyrie, blindingly bright. The bolts struck The Prophet. Thunder rolled through the hanger and the concrete around him blackened, but The Prophet was neither moved nor harmed.

Centurion opened up with a custom assault rifle. Thirty large caliber, high velocity caseless sabot rounds capable of penetrating all forms of conventional body armour in conjunction with most personal force fields struck The Prophet. He didn't even blink.

"Oh fuck," said Blackheart. "Patricia, he just sucked up some of our best shots. Cook his brain." Blackheart unleashed his flash vision. The air around The Prophet flared with light and air around him swam with heat distortions.

Iron Mike charged forward. "I am the will of God made manifest!" roared The Prophet. Thunder shook the room. Iron Mike went flying back. Cracks ran through the concrete and pieces of the ceiling fell down. Blackheart was knocked back onto his knees and blood streamed from his ears. The windows on all the planes exploded and the landing struts and wings on the two planes closest to The Prophet collapsed. The lights exploded in shower of sparks and glass, leaving the hanger shrouded in gloom.

Centurion weathered the storm and fired his underbarrel launcher. The Prophet ignored the hit from the explosive shell. Centurion dropped the rifle and unslung the missile launcher across his back as Valkyrie hit The Prophet with another lightning bolt. "I am the fury of the Lord!" roared The Prophet. Light blazed from his mouth and eyes. The beams struck Valkyrie in the chest. She began to burn, but did not scream.

Centurion's rocket streaked across the room and and struck The Prophet, momentarily obscuring him with the fury of its detonation. The blast staggered The Prophet and the ravening beams of light slid off Valkyrie and struck the downed plane just to her right. The ate through its skin and a moment later the partially fueled plane went off like a bomb. The explosion scattered the American metas like ninepins. All of them except for Iron Mike.

"You evil old bastard I'm going to fuck you up," he growled.

"You cannot stand before the vessel of divine fury," said The Prophet. A halo of golden light appeared around Iron Mike, a halo that rapidly grew in intensity. "Burn now, burn in the hereafter," said the Prophet.

Matador appeared behind The Prophet and extended his hand. There was a blinding flash and ash and blacked bones fell where Matador once stood. "The eyes of God see all."

Iron Mike's fist smashed into The Prophet's face. He flew back and bounced off the back wall. "You raise your fist in vain. I am the will of God made flesh." Thunder boomed and Iron Mike was thrown back half the length of the hanger. He struck the ground hard, knocking chunks of concrete loose. The glow around him faded to reveal a mass of third degree burns.

Centurion sent another rocket into The Prophet, knocking him back again. Blue-white beams painted the hanger in an stark glare. Lightning arced from Valkyrie's hands. Concrete exploded away from where The Prophet had hit the wall and obscuring his form in a blinding flare of light. Centurion reloaded and fired another rocket and then reloaded his rifle and emptied another clip into The Prophet.

A column of light rose from The Prophet and ate through the ceiling. He ascended in a flash and then was gone. "Fuck me," said Centurion. "He took everything we could hit him with and just flew away."

Everyone get out, came Patricia's thoughts in their heads. Flashback will be emergency evacing. Now!

Valkyrie grabbed Iron Mike's body and swooped back towards the breach. Centurion followed and Blackheart took up the rear. Outside Flashback appeared and grabbed Centurion. They both vanished. "I hate being deaf," Blackheart muttered.

Flashback appeared again and grabbed Blackheart. They both vanished. Light flared and matter fell away. A mushroom cloud slowly rose into sky above the rain forest.

[consequences]

Holy crap, who the hell was that guy?

Shouldn't the GM provide a warning when you're trying to kick the ass of someone with ten-plus levels on you?

[White Haven]

I liked Matador.

[LadyTevar]

Dammit! He Killed Matador! THAT BASTARD!

Did IronMike and Valkyrie get out before the mushroom?

[Hawkwings]

Flashback probably teleported them away before he teleported Centurion.

They will all mourn the loss of Matador, both for his companionship and probably for his cooking as well.

Are those rockets the only thing that even touched the Prophet?

[Imperial Overlord]

Flashback probably teleported them away before he teleported Centurion.

Correct

Are those rockets the only thing that even touched the Prophet?

Nothing injured him. Only the rockets and Iron Mike's fist transferred enough momentum to move him. The rocket/flash vision/lightning barrage towards the end was a bit of a strain for him to handle though.

[Simon_Jester]

Nothing injured him. Only the rockets and Iron Mike's fist transferred enough momentum to move him. The rocket/flash vision/lightning barrage towards the end was a bit of a strain for him to handle though.

It would almost have to have been; I presume he popped out and blew the place behind him for a reason, after all.

This looks like a job for Superman. Or the Sentinel.

[Hawkwings]

Superman turned out to be evil, remember? And the Sentinel here is a stinkin' commie!

[Simon_Jester]

Superman turned out to be evil, remember? And the Sentinel here is a stinkin' commie!

I'd rather be saved by Commie Superman-variant than ruled by this Wrath-of-God guy who's working for Black Arion.

Besides, Captain Liberty was not Superman, he was a Superman impersonator- a guy who actually decided to dress up sort of like Superman. Of course, since he had actual powers he could get away with it, but he's still not the real deal.

[Hawkwings]

It was also implied that Sentinel is significantly stronger while on Mother Russia's soil. I don't know how useful he's going to be out and about, though he's still gotta be formidable.

[Simon_Jester]

It was also implied that Sentinel is significantly stronger while on Mother Russia's soil. I don't know how useful he's going to be out and about, though he's still gotta be formidable.

The fact that he managed to make himself useful as the Russians carried the war into Germany suggests that even outside Russia, he was a match for any of the Nazi metas... and in a setting like this I'd expect Nazi Germany to field some serious metatalent. I doubt that this "Prophet" is the most powerful meta who ever lived or anything, though I suppose I can't prove that.

I would very much like to read a story set during WWII in the style of this one, but it's not to be, I guess...

[Imperial Overlord]

I would very much like to read a story set during WWII in the style of this one, but it's not to be, I guess...

Yes, because I'm going to magically die if I ever write any WWII based story in this setting and in any case it would be wrong to use any of the backstory I developed for this universe.

[Simon_Jester]

I would very much like to read a story set during WWII in the style of this one, but it's not to be, I guess...

Yes, because I'm going to magically die if I ever write any WWII based story in this setting and in any case it would be wrong to use any of the backstory I developed for this universe.

Let's just say that I don't expect any one person I don't actually know to do me that many favors. It's a Murphy's Law thing, not a "this is inconceivable" thing.

[Imperial Overlord]

April 5, 2002


Blackheart knocked on the door. "Doctor?"

"Come in," Mary Cavanaugh replied. She was sitting down at her desk, working on a report. "David, what can I do for you?"

"How's Iron Mike?"

"He has third degree burns over nearly fifty percent of his body. If he was a baseline I would say that he was probably going to die. Since all metahumans are somewhat tougher than baselines, just to survive the stress their abilities put on their bodies, and he's a particularly tough metahuman his chances are excellent. His records indicate he responds well to treatment. With skin grafts we can minimize the scarring. Overall, fairly favorable."

"Good."

"You don't have very many friends, do you?"

"No," said Blackheart, "I don't."

"He'll probably be up for visitors in a few days."

"Thank doctor." He turned away to leave.

"David?"

He stopped and turned. "Yes?"

"You're a human being and humans are social animals. Don't isolate yourself."

"Yes doctor." He exited her office, closing the door behind him. Centurion was coming down the corridor.

"Blackheart."

"Yes?"

"Asking about Iron Mike?"

"Yeah. Prognosis is pretty good. Probably won't be scarred to bad, good chance of full recovery."

"Good. I just finished being debriefed by Taskmaster."

There was silence for a minute. "How's Patricia?" Blackheart asked.

"Matador was her lover," replied Centurion.

"I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't. You have to keep your distance."

"I should say something."

"What? What could you possibly say? And you are what you are. You can't help. Don't try and make things worse."

"God fucking damn it!" Blackheart swore.

"Men die. That's war. You're unqualified to give comfort. That's a blessing and a curse. Learn to live with it."

"Easy for you to say."

"I was killing men before this country was founded boy. It takes it's toll on a man. Don't over think it. Do your duty and move on, mentally as well as physically It's better that way."

"You mean don't give a damn about any damn thing or anybody."

"No, I mean learn to let it go and move on. Bad shit happens. Atrocities are committed. All men die. Do what you have to do and put it behind you. Even the score and let it go. Accept death when it happens. Punish crimes and then move on. Don't obsess, don't hang on to anything. You'll only hurt yourself in the end." Centurion put his hand on the other man's shoulder. "Trust me on this."

Blackheart shrugged the hand off. "I can't. You may be a man of fucking ice, but I'm not. Besides, I'll be dead soon enough. One way or the other."

"Suit yourself," said Centurion and walked away. "But remember what I said."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

April 11, 2002

You could cut the tension in the briefing room with a knife as Taskmaster walked up to the front. He turned to address his agents and adjusted his glasses. "As you know, last week we captured a Black Arion agent by the name of Penumbra and acquired a substantial amount of information from him, including the location of three Black Arion bases and names of Black Arions inner circle."

"Subsequently we assaulted one of the locations, with other agencies attacking the other two. Our assault was countered by a member of Black Arion's inner circle, a man known as The Prophet. He withstood substantial physical and psionic attack before being forced to flee. Before he did Black Arion's teleporters managed to remove the most critical equipment and personnel including the other two surviving members of Black Arion's inner circle Chronus and Power Monger. Black Arion then detonated a nuclear device with a yield of nearly forty kilotons to sterilize the area."

"One of the other two sites was captured intact. The other also succombed to a nuclear self destruct. Analysis of the captured site is proceeding and will be shared with us. However, Penumbra has been a rich source of information for us and we have uncovered critical facts.

"One, given Penumbra's understanding of Black Arion's resources the loss of three bases was a serious blow to their organization. While the most important personnel survived and are now in hiding, they have lost enormous amounts of equipment, infrastructure, support personnel, and field agents. We have, for the first time, a clear understanding of their senior leadership, their methodology, and their goals."

An image of a silvery humanoid robot appeared in the air. "This is mind image capture of Chronus, one of their most senior and powerful members. The Prophet and Chronus are effectively Black Arion's senior leadership with the rest of the inner circle acting as advisors and department heads. Chronus takes his name from the leader of the titans, those who gave birth to the gods. There is nothing coincidental about the choice of name.

"Chronus is a meta genius and a Nazi war criminal. We've narrowed down the list to seven men, all of whom were believed killed during World War Two. At some point, Chronus transferred his brain to a robotic body. The latest iteration of those robot bodies is what you see before you. Whatever his original devotion to the Nazi creed, he now follows a divergent off shot that exalts metahumanity over humans. He is responsible for the majority of Black Arion's high technology, having spent a large part of the last fifty years developing it and refining it from the original German ultra tech. He is also insane.

"Whatever the effects of the process that made him a metagenius, the early cyborgs would have had only crude sensory apparati and brain-body connections. Such prolonged dissociation and sensor deprivation would have taken its toll, as would the undoubtedly crude life support technology. In hindsight, Black Arion's actions become clearer. Psychosis and megalomania have driven their leaders to strike too soon. Their decision to target the Sentinel and bring the Second World down upon them as well as the First, despite the fact that their location and planning suggest a desire to provoke and survive a nuclear exchange between East and West and the paranoia that having a meta wield such power in the Soviet Union provokes in the West. Simply put, their leadership is brilliant but not entirely rational.

"His partner, The Prophet, appears equally mad." The image shifted to display an elderly white man with a thick white hair and beard. "He believes himself a vessel of divine power, which is not surprising given the extraordinary abilities he has manifested. The Prophet has demonstrated the ability to manipulate and generate light and sound as well as some kind of possibly related force field and powerful telepathic shield. Besides his obvious megalomania, The Prophet has demonstrated several weaknesses. First, he isn't a fighter. This is understandable. Under most circumstances he can just brute force his way through most situations but when challenged as he was by our agents, he's easily wrong footed by being subjected to attacks from multiple vectors. Second, he has definite limits. Although not seriously injured, Patricia indicates his defences were collapsing when he fled combat and his powers were pushed to the limit. Although a formidable foe, he can be defeated if sufficient force is applied."

"The next two individuals are members of the inner circle and essential to their current strategies, but they are in no way actual leaders of Black Arion. They are also less formidable, although both of them are extremely dangerous. The first is Power Monger." The projected image changed to that of a petite, olive skinned black haired woman. "She has the ability to turn anyone into a meta with a relatively low fatality rate.. She can also temporarily give herself virtually any ability and boost the powers of other metas. Her ability to turn any ideologically suitable candidate into a metahuman is key to Black Arion's long term plans.

"The other key player is the Alchemist." The image now displayed an elderly black man with a wild mane of hair. "He is a matter transmuter. He's the source of plutonium for their nuclear weapons and red mercury for their special weapons." There was a low murmur throughout the room. "Yes, that particular cat is out of the bag. We don't know if they acquired the material from the Russians or engineered it on their own, but with the Alchemist they have enough of it to wreck a considerable amount of destruction. I believe that Chronus's body is powered by it, which means that there is a real possibility that he may mount a virtual particle force field and an extremely high likelihood of built in directed energy weapons.

"In addition to these four there are likely to be a number of field agents, a number which will grow thanks to Power Monger even if they've lost all their augmentation facility. They have been hurt. They must be finished off before they can recuperate and rebuild."

[Simon_Jester]

"I was killing men before this country was founded boy. It takes it's toll on a man. Don't over think it. Do your duty and move on, mentally as well as physically It's better that way."

So, Centurion is... what?

[SCRawl]

So, Centurion is... what?

From what we know, he (a) is a short, stocky man with a huge collection of scars, (b) carries lots of firearms, including a rocket launcher, and (c) says that he's at least a few centuries old. Taking him at his word, he's unusually long-lived, but probably doesn't have Superman-like invulnerability -- otherwise, where did the scars come from? He must be a pretty good fighter, because other than his longevity he doesn't seem to have any other significant abilities. (In the fight with the Prophet, though, he did manage to take the effects of that thunderclap better than most of the others, though only Iron Mike was able to keep his feet when the plane went kablooie.)

[Andras]

Could he be old enough that his name is the literal truth? A Roman Centurian?

[LadyTevar]

Could he be old enough that his name is the literal truth? A Roman Centurian?

We've also seen with Wolverine that a man with a strong regeneration ages slowly, or not at all after a certain point. So why not? There's always the old legend of "The Wandering Jew", supposedly the centurian who stabbed Jesus' side with the Spear....

[CaptainChewbacca]

So... isn't 'red mercury' about as real as adamantium?