Chronicler of Ko-Koro

IC:Hivemind spotted Aquarius approaching with the Sharkmen. Locking the door to the cab, she waved at the group and walked over to them."Oh, hey! You didn't tell me you were bringing the Landshark Patrol!" she said. "Are you trying to tell me you were really afraid of some overgrown Sea Monkeys catching us when you've got these guys-"Noticing Aquarius wasn't paying much attention to her, she glanced up at the sky to see what he was looking at. Up in the sky she say bright green glow hovering in the sky, so bright that Hivemind wished she hadn't lost her sunglasses in the War Factory."Whoa, shiny!" Hivemind said. Realization started to sink in, and fear started to appear in her voice. "So... W-what're you think is going on up there? Maybe... maybe they got tired of messing around with us and just decided to... k-kill us all... or nuke the planet or s-something..."[For Science!]

IC:Fade was nearly floored by the blast as the entire ship lurched violently. He whirled about towards the sound of destruction... and the momentary distraction proved just enough opportunity for a shot from a roller to strike him square in the chest. The impact blew him backwards, tumbling across the shaking metal floor. Fade gasped and groaned; he was pretty sure his armor had taken most of the force out of the impact - or at the very least, stopped it from hitting anything vital - but every inch of his body was wracked with pain. No time to worry about that though, not while the Mothership was exploding around them. He could check his own condition when he was safely off this thing, he had to worry about getting everyone to safety first. And there was also the issue of the roller which shot him, which had regained control after the blast and was now barreling forward to finish the job. Fade threw a smoke bomb in its path to slow it down and, ignoring the pain trying to tell his body to do otherwise, attempted to drag himself to his feet. Fade staggered and stumbled towards the ramp waiting just ahead, shots from the roller bouncing off the metal floor dangerously close to his feet. [For Science!]

IC:The green and brown blur that probably represented fields and trees was quickly replaced with a brown and grey blur that probably represented bridges and buildings as Hivemind sped by. Even if they were attempting to subjugate the human race - which Hivemind didn't have a problem with, really, as long as that didn't include herself - those bots had at least one point in their favor; the roads were absolutely empty. During the usual unnatural disasters and supervillain attacks, abandoned cars could be relied upon to litter the road and generally make getting anywhere in the city impossible. But hover tanks and walkers needed ample space to maneuver, so they'd been courteous enough to blast a pathway through the city that allowed Hivemind to speed through at speeds the average commuter couldn't even dream of. Of course, the problem with such breakneck speeds was... well, the "break neck" part, and Hivemind soon found herself needing to stop before she hit the river bank, presumably achieving escape velocity in the process. She slammed on the brakes - that was another word she was starting to dislike, so much about breaking going on - and the truck skidded wildly as all the speed built up over the pretty-much nonstop drive was canceled out in an instant. The trailer - overloaded with heavy machinery and battle armor - pushed the truck forward by sheer mass and momentum, getting dangerously close to the river ahead. The semi screeched out onto a pier with a hideous hiss of metal, coming a halt only a few inches from the water. Hivemind peered out the driver's side window; it was practically necessary, given the smoke rising off the engine. "...Well, any one you can walk away from, huh?" she muttered to no one in particular, then began to look about the waterfront for her Coalition contact. [For Science!]

IC:Fade darted away from the rest of the group, rushing between of the rollers targeting the group. Fighting them would be nothing short of suicidal; not only did Fade not want to find out if their shields were phase-resistant, but the sheer numbers coming at them were just too many to hold off before the extinction cannon fired. All Fade could do was try to draw the rollers' fire away from the group; the more there were shooting at him, the less there were taking shots at the rest of the group. Phasing in between a volley of shots, Fade unclipped a smoke bomb and flung it into the group. Smokescreens would probably do little to impair their targeting systems, but the preceding flash of heat and light ought to screw with it for a few seconds; the few vital seconds that could mean the difference between life and death for the group. --- Hivemind took a moment to slide the Inferno Crystal's container under her seat. What this Aquarius didn't need to know wouldn't hurt him. And if he did stumble across it... that was why she'd left a few hornets guarding it, and they certainly would hurt him. "...Well, technically, if I shut up I can't answer your questions, but I'll do my best," she said, glancing up at the quickly approaching skyline. "And you're in luck; looks like I'm just about to hit the city limits. With the speed this truck is going at, that statement might be interpreted very literally, so I'll probably need both hands to drive. See you on the Hudson! ...At the Hudson. Hopefully, anyway." [For Science!]

IC:"...'Float my junk'? Is that what they're calling it now?" Hivemind asked, with a great deal more immature chucking than was truly required. She wondered if coming across as a childish moron was perhaps unwise at the moment, then decided she didn't particularly care. "Well, 'realistically' speaking, I shouldn't have been able to infiltrate one of the enemy's most highly guarded bases and top it off by destroying one of their most powerful weapons, so being realistic isn't really a concern of mine today. If you don't want to help me, fine. I stole a truck, I imagine it shouldn't be too hard to steal a boat. And I'm sure the Armada has more important targets than some solitary ship out in the middle of the ocean. It'll be perfectly safe. "But, suppose something does go wrong, and my boat does get scuttled. Imagine how the Coalition might react if they find out one of their own - ideally suited for assisting an ocean crossing, I might add - just sat back and allowed it to happen?" she asked. "And of course, even if I did make it back, you're still the guy who wouldn't help ensure it got to safety because he was too busy being an uncooperative stick-in-the-mud. "...But that's all purely hypothetical, of course. Nothing to worry your pretty little head - I'm making the assumption you have a head, you never know with us super types - over. I'm sure I'll get the hang of driving a boat quick enough; by the way, you wouldn't know which button makes it go forward?" [For Science!]

OOC: I should hope not, seeing as I've probably made fifty without thinking about asking permission But yeah, as far as I know there isn't any real restriction on NPCs, outside of the fact you can't just use them all the time to get extra characters in everything but name. [For Science!]

OOC: Nyaah, you can't! Phasing! It wins again! And (assuming the bit about Shard was directed at me), I was aware of that, which is why Fade's attempt was foiled by liberal application of wall. He's just not to type to let a guy gets spaced if he can do anything about it. IC:Fade muttered a few choice words under his breath. He wasn't happy with the thought of leaving a man behind, even if it might be the only way to save the planet. And telling him it was a matter of destiny wasn't enough to move Fade either; as far as he was concerned, he was the only allowed to decide his own fate. He'd broken the barriers of time itself and changed the course of history, that was more than enough to convince him that nothing was set in stone. But still... the others needed to get back to Esp safely, which they could do a lot better with his phasing powers. When it came down to one of them dying versus all of them... it wasn't a choice Fade was eager to make, but it was one he supposed he'd have to make all the same. "...Very well," he muttered, even if the tone of his voice said otherwise. He paused, as if struggling to find the proper words for the moment. "Uh... Look, kid, I can't say what mistakes you've made; in the end, I guess you're the only one who can decide that. Just... just make sure you know whether or not they're worth doing something stupid over, okay?" [For Science!]

ICDropping to the floor, Fade made a dash for the closing hatch, trying to throw out a grappling hook in time for Shard to catch. But he was too late, and his grappler bounced off a heavy metal barrier. Fade cursed; if he'd known that was the plan, he'd never have let Shard do it. Still, it looked like Shard was still alive out there in the void, so all Fade could do was hope he could manage to join back up with them... somehow. "Esp, can you give me Silver's location?" he asked. "Silver, I'm heading down to you. When you're ready to blow this thing, I can phase you through the decks back up to the hanger, got it?" Or at least, that was Fade's plan. Honestly, he wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to get down there and back, even accounting for phasing, in time. But when it came down to it, he'd much rather be risking himself in the thick of it than waiting helplessly on some spaceship. --- Hivemind frowned. This Aquarius guy wasn't about to be cooperative, although the fact he'd said "The League could catch us" as opposed to "You want me to move the ocean?" implied he thought he might be able to do it. Still, Hivemind wasn't about to give up just yet. She could be very persuasive if she needed to be... and by that she meant good at annoying people until they just gave in. "Apparition? You want me to call in a teleporter for this? Buddy, there's a war going on, we can't be wasting a valuable resource like that transporting some scientist's junk! Someone like that's needed on the front lines!" It was actually a pretty reasonable point, which was why Hivemind was just as shocked as anyone she'd thought of it. "And anyway, I never thought I'd need to explain this to someone called Aquarius, but the reason they call it the Big Blue Sea is because it's big. Like, one of the biggest things on Earth. The odds of actually running into anyone out there are astronomically slim. Besides, last I checked we didn't put much stock in the League's opinion." Hivemind let out a sly chuckle. "Come on, Aquarius! Don't tell me you're afraid of a little adventure..." [For Science!]

IC:As far as Fade was concerned, any plan that involved him not killing this blasted Guardian was extremely risky at best, insane at worst. But he'd been in enough tight spots to know that stopping to ask Shard what his idea was would take just enough time to ensure its failure. He jumped off Guardian X's back, digging his grappling hook into the ceiling to avoid being sucked out into space. He hoped Shard knew what he was doing... but just in case he screwed up, he was ready to swing back in at a moments notice. [For Science!]

IC:Fade ducked to the side to avoid being skewered on Guardian X's tail. He kept as close to the robot's torso as he could, hoping he could trick the robot into stabbing itself. But despite Fade's best efforts, Guardian X was dangerously close to the controls. Fade thrust is wristblades into the joints on Guardian X's limbs, determined to break something vital.---Hivemind's eyes lit up as a idea entered her head. Grinning, she switched her comm on to call Aquarius again."Y'know what? Forget the transport. Speaking from experience, they have an annoying habit of exploding when they get shot at." Not to mentioned another Coalition member would need to fly it in, and the fewer people who knew about Hivemind's big find, the better. "You said your name was Aquarius? I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess your powers have something to do with water. So... why don't you just move some the ocean out of the way so I can drive through? Come on, man, let's show this ocean who's boss! Oh, this is gonna be awesome..."[For Science!]

IC:Fade dug his grappler into Technax's throne as the room rapidly decompressed. He wasn't worried about running out of breath at the moment; a ship this size had a lot of atmosphere to vent. Once he was certain he wouldn't be sucked out into the blackness of space, Fade strained against the rushing oxygen to grab hold of the control panel. One arm wrapped itself around the control panel to keep himself as steady as human possible, the other strained itself across the panel, carefully adjusting the dials to the setting Esp had ordered. With that task complete, Fade turned his attention towards the roughly dozen other problems threatening the group. Technax was out of the fight for the moment; he might poke his ugly metal head back in to be a nuisance later on, but Fade was focusing on the Now. Apparently Technax was dumb enough to vent atmosphere from his own ship, or at least had disabled the proper safeguards. None of Fade's talents extended to sealing a leak in a spaceship, and he wasn't about to mess with the controls to find a safeguard. The other members of the team were much better equipped to deal with the threat. That just left Guardian X. Probably the most advanced piece of machinery in the entire Armada, and it looked it's processors were focused on one goal: murdering him. It was on its last legs - okay, leg - but it almost certainly had enough juice left to dice him up and smash the controls. If that happened... it was all over. No more Earth, no more humanity, no more Isobel. Well, if this bot wanted a fight, Fade was sure going to give him one. Adjusting his grappler, Fade extended his line, swinging out over the gaping hole in the hull. He let the rope snap taunt, the elastic properties of the cable snapping him back up again. Fade hurled himself at Guardian X with wristblades extended, slashing at everything he could. It didn't matter if he had to smash every last part in this bot, Fade was not letting it touch that button. "Whatever happens, NO ONE let's this hunk of junk touch those controls! Not even for a second!" Fade shouted, but he had no idea if he was even heard over the roar of decompression. --- If a collective of cells masquerading in roughly humanoid form could feel pride, that's what Reptoid One would have felt in that moment. "Reptoid One" might as well be the closest it had to a name; it had no name for itself, or even much of a concept of names. Collectives merged and separated, replicated and died, so many times there was simply no need for anything like personal identity. But the Reptoid's pride was short lived. Moments later the window broke into a shower of glass, and the oxygen began to flow from the room like water down the drain. It's claws still gripping the severed head of Guardian X, Reptoid One could not reach a handhold in time. Silvery limbs burst across its form, desperately clawing at metal to avoid its fate. But it simply wasn't enough, and moments later Reptoid One found itself tumbling across the void, the silvery disk that had imprisoned it for so long sinking into the inky darkness. A blue dot appeared in Reptoid One's vision, distant at the moment but slowly growing larger. The Reptoid knew its fate in that exact instant: several months drifting through an icy void, then a few brief, terrible moments before it burnt to death entering the planet's atmosphere. Reptoid One had seen the silver man that imprisoned them escaped; in that regard, its mission had been a failure. But in its final moments, it knew another, far greater goal might still be realized. Microcollectives came and went, melding and splitting as the Reptoids spread their influence across the stars, but they were simply extensions of the one collective all Reptoids would eventually return to. Reptoids had no natural language or names, communicating in tongues of pure thought. But if one were to translate this thought-speak into words, the closest translation in human terms for this mega-collective would be the Motherswarm. In the eyes of the Reptoids it was a beauty; a pure silver marble gleaming in the glow of nebulae. There was no trace remaining of the world that had spawned the Reptoids; every raw material on the planet had been consumed by the collective. The entire world was a sea of swirling silver, a massive collective made of more cells than there are numbers to measure. These shifting seas could assume any shape imaginable, a sand-blasted desert, a lush jungle oasis, a city clawing towards the heavens. Travelers would come to the world seeing a paradise unlike any in the universe... only to be consumed whole as the Motherswarm revealed its true colors. ...Or that was how it was, until one day the armies of Technax poured forth from the blackness of space. The collective was quick to disguise itself; if a warlord like Technax knew the true nature of the Motherswarm, he would not rest until such a powerful threat had been wiped from the universe. The Reptoid collective fought with all their might, conjuring the deadliest weapons their combined minds could dream up in defense of their home. But the Reptoid s were a race that conquered by subterfuge and manipulation; in open combat they were no match for Technax's strength. In desperation, the Reptoid's let Technax believe he'd destroyed their civilization - or what appeared to be their civilization, at least on the surface - in the hopes he'd lose interest in the battle-scarred world and leave the Motherswarm untouched. But for whatever reason - sadism, perhaps, or anger, or even simply boredom - Technax was not content to simply leave the Reptoids broken and turned all his weapons on the world, burning it with the intensity of a supernova. Reptoid One, imprisoned on Technax's floating fortress like a mere curiosity, felt uncountable numbers of his brethren die with cries of the purest agony as the Motherswarm was burnt down to nothing. But even contained in stasis, its link with the collective was never truly broken. Reptoid One knew microcollectives survived on other worlds, slowly infiltrating and consuming them from within. But while the Reptoid collective survived, they were scattered and incomplete without their precious Mothersphere. The connections between collectives was weakening the further they grew from each other, and war had even broken out between rival swarms. The Reptoids needed a new Motherswarm to unite them, but of all the worlds they conquered, none had proved suitable. Until now. As Reptoid One stared down on the brilliant blue jewel that would soon be his killer, all fifty billion of his cells knew at long last the Reptoid collective had found its new nest. And even if it died here today, it knew such a death would not be in vain. As far as Technax knew, there were only two Reptoids aboard his fleet, safely stored in stasis. But in the final days of their war many had stowed away, disguised as any of the countless death machines Technax had rolled across their world. They had marched as Technax conquered untold numbers of worlds, indistinguishable in every way from Technax's own automatons. They were few - maybe one in a billion of Technax's drones was a Reptoid infiltrator - but Reptoids were above all things patient, and they would be willing to wait until the end of time for the perfect moment to strik. That moment, it seemed, had come. With Technax's ships warped across the cosmos, they were separated and vulnerable. The Reptoids would rise again, and even if Technax's drones beat them down on a hundred ships, they only needed one. They would search the cosmos, for years if it took, until they found some retirement of the once-great Reptoid swarm. And they would tell them all they had seen, and for the first time in their history the Reptoids would have reason to care about a name: Earth. OOC: So, I got to thinking about how Technax wound up with Reptoids in his hold, and this is the scenario I wound up with. Don't worry about a Reptoid invasion at the moment though: I haven't thought about how I'd work it into my current plot, not to mention after all this, it's probably wise to wait before we have another alien invasion. Besides, as Reptoid One pointed out, it could be years (decades, maybe) before the Reptoids can mobilize a new invasion force. Just an interesting thought, that's all this is. [For Science!]

IC:A voice came through on her communicator, and Hivemind plucked it from her belt - nearly spinning the truck off an bridge as she took a hand off the wheel. Trying and failing to think of any good trucker lingo, Hivemind flicked on the comm to respond. "Alright! So, Aquarius, eh? I'm more of an Aries myself... except no, actually I'm Hivemind," she said, rather quickly. "So, you know those... what're they called... that's right, Inferno Walkers! You know them? Well, uh... I killed one. Yes, I know, it was awesome. I've... well, I suppose the word is commandeered a vehicle, and I've loaded it up with whatever junk I was able to collect from the wreckage, some of it's probably valuable. Which makes getting it back to base a bit of an issue, unless I'm able to get this truck going so fast it'll just skip over water, which might be possible if I can do the caluclations-" Hivemind stopped herself, realizing she just might have gotten a little off track. "Point I'm trying to make is, any way you could wrangle up some kinda transport for me? Of an aerial variety, preferably? That'd just be swell." Hivemind gave a quick glance out the window at the quickly vanishing scenery. "I'm somewhere... brown. Possibly green too. Do you really need my position? Can't you just lock onto the signal from my comm and triangulate my position or something- I know I'm just throwing out technobabble here, but it seems plausible." [For Science!]

IC:Fade glanced back as he ran, noting his makeshift explosion had failed to breech the hull - although it looked like it'd at least compromised its stability just a bit, good to know if he needed to try that again. He stopped just in front of the throne, and glanced down at the control panel It did, in fact, remind him a little of a plane, and Fade had some passing familiarity with those. Unfortunately, it was from jumping out of said plane because the controls were too damaged to work with. Still, he'd helped design fighter jet controls for Logan, he'd been able to work out the Coalition's tiltrotor controls because of that, and he could probably get the hang of this anyway. Hold on, not probably, he would.Failure wasn't an option here. "Alright, Esp, guide me through this," he muttered, placing his hands on the controls. Meanwhile, Reptoid One struggled with the uncooperative head, desperately attempting to aim its weapon back at its body. Bits of silvery goop dripped off its arms, landing on the deck with a sizzle and turning a burnt black. A Reptoid consciousness required a carefully calibrated charge to maintain the connection between its cells, and the Reptoid had attempted to power up the head using its own bioelectricity. Unfortunately, it looked like its gamble had failed to pay off, and now the feedback jolts were slowly killing it. Even still, it struggled, trying to line up just one good shot at Guardian X. [For Science!]

OOC: Personally? I'd play out the finale. It was practically done when the servers went dark (unless there was some secret final phase you've neglected to mention ), and I've stuck with the plot long enough that I plan on seeing it to the end.IC:"Source of my powers?" Fade chuckled. "Nah, just one of my skills. Your're not the first alien who's tried to stop me with some fancy shields, and I have no intention of letting you be the last.Fade ducked, the shielded arm missing him by a mere inch. He rolled to the side, looking towards Technax's throne. He picked up Esp's message; it didn't matter if he beat Technax here, if they couldn't shut down the cannon. But he didn't have much of a chance of getting to it with Technax trying to kill him. Fade scooped up the sparking bits of tech he'd shaved off Technax's armor and wrapped them around a smoke bomb; hopefully there was enough juice in these parts to amp up the explosive power.As Technax backed up towards the windows, Fade wound up a pitch and threw, hurling the bomb towards the glass and ran. He didn't know how much damage that'd do - ideally he was looking to blast Technax into space without doing the same for the rest of his group - but at the very least it'd be a distraction. Even if it blew a small hole in the glass, the brief atmospheric disturbance would distract Technax long enough to give him a chance for the throne. Even if the window was too thick to break, a small explosion by his head ought to at distract Technax for at least a few seconds.Of course, most of this plan relied on Technax having been smart enough to install emergency systems in case of a hull breech, because otherwise this would end badly for everyone. Given that the mothership had a breathable atmosphere in the first place, Fade could only hope that meant Technax was keen on keeping it inside his ship.Meanwhile, Reptoid One slunk over towards the severed head of Guardian X. It's arms began to shift, silvery tendrils emerging from it's claws. They attached itself to the head, and began to pulse and glow as Reptoid one lifted it up. All it needed was to find the right power source and it could power up the head cannon, using Guardian X's own weapons against it...[For Science!]

OOC: Well, I can't post Fade yet, but I can still get a little bit of roleplaying in with my other character...IC:"...Other night I dreamt of knives somethingsomething drift divide yadayada blahblah LEONARD BERNSTEIN!! somethingsomethingsomethingohwhoreallygivesaflyingfu- It's the end of the world as we know it..."Hivemind belted out another round of badly misremembered lyrics as she sped along the highway. She'd taken the first opportunity she could to ditch the War Factory gang and make a beeline - she didn't mean that as a pun, oh god, that was terrible - for Colorado Springs. Sadly, people were far too busy doing trivial things like "fleeing from all the killer robots" to properly thank her for saving all their puny little lives from the Inferno Walker. Oh well, it wasn't like Hivemind saved them for the glory of it - that's what she did mad science for. Instead she'd borrowed an eighteen-wheeler truck, seeing as no one was really in any position to protest. Alright, there was that one guy. But, hey, maybe he wasn't that allergic to bee stings? Hivemind hadn't stuck around to watch him die; for all she knew, he could've pulled through, right?Hivemind had taken the truck back up to where the wreckage of the Inferno Walker was still smouldering, and hauled as much of it as she could into the trailer. Understandably, hauling chunks of battle armor and machinery was not an easy task for a woman just over a hundred pounds, but she managed. Hivemind had no idea if any of it was actually valuable - most of it had been pretty badly melted when the thing went down - but it didn't matter, because even if it was all junk she had something much more valuable. Hivemind took a quick glance at the canister resting in the passenger seat. Inside was the Inferno Crystal, a miniature version of the focusing beam for the Walker's heat cannon. Even if she couldn't figure out how to make it work, there were people in the Coalition who'd willingly be her minion for life if it meant they could get their soon-to-be-scalded hands on that crystal for even a minute.Speaking of the Coalition... she ought to give them a call. Someone must be worried about her, what with her last being seen stealing a tiltrotor and vanishing for parts unknown. Alright, it was more likely they thought Hivemind was a no-good deserter and would probably kill her on sight; all the more reason to get in contact with them. She took her eyes of the road for a moment - an risky move, seeing how she was driving the truck at speeds fighter pilots would consider "reckless" - and pulled her Coalition communicator off her belt. Flicking a switch, a light began blinking as Hivemind sent out a distress signal. The odds of anyone answering were slim, since she imagined there were plenty of distress signals going off right about now. But she figured some Coalition goon was more likely to answer a distress signal than a probable deserter trying to explain that, no, she'd totally been on your side the entire time.Hivemind put her foot down on the pedal, pushing the truck close to the maximum speed it could go. She'd left Colorado Springs behind a while ago; honestly, she wasn't even sure where she was anymore, what with all the road signs having been blown up by robots. But she was still reasonable certain she was going east, and then she'd figure out the small matter of getting back to Europe. Either way, she wasn't planning on stopping until she either reduced the truck's engine to smoking rubble, or she plowed it straight into the Atlantic. It wasn't like the robots could really stop her, anyway; at these speeds, she figured the truck would still go another mile on sheer momentum alone if it hit anything. She put one hand on the radio and cranked up a dial, thankful she'd finally found a station playing something other than "doom-and-gloom-oh-god-we're-gonna-die" reports."It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine!"Screw the invasion; it was time for whacky roadtrip antics.[For Science!]

OOC: Really? Sweet! I guess it just goes to say: you spend forever waiting for an extra character, then two show up at once (that's probably a saying, anyway...). I've got a few ideas for another character, which I probably won't carry out until <em>at least</em> the arc after the Technax invasion wraps up; I barely just introduced Hivemind, after all. And yes, I was already planning a third character just after I got a second; call that greedy if you like, I call it being prepared. On the same subject, the power upgrade I've been basically hoarding for Fade is still valid, right? My next story arc is a bit dependent on it. ...and, seeing how we last left Fade trying to straight up murder Technax by shoving a fist through his chest, I'm just gonna wait for Trans to come back before carrying on roleplaying. [For Science!]

OOC: Alright, so we're back. New forum layout's gonna take some getting used to; can't say I'm a big fan of the minimalist look, makes everything kinda seem blend together without anything to contrast with, but I'll deal. So, who else is still around after all this time? Reposting my old character sheets here: Real Name: Bryan SteeleAlias: FadeAppearance: Has brown hair and blue eyes. Wears black kevlar-based armor with retractable wristblades, grappling hook, and small supply of smoke bombs. Also wears a gray, hooded cloak made from experimental nanofibers, allowing him to turn it into a small glider. In addition to the hood, Fade wears a black cowl over his head to protect his identity.Power: Phasing. Can phase himself and objects he touches, but cannot touch objects while phased. His abilities range from passing through objects to becoming completely out of phase, but cannot do that for extended period without being weakened after doing so.Alliegance: Solo HeroArea: NYC, United StatesBio: Bryan's father was a researcher for a corporation called Logan Industries, developing new technology. However, while his family was touring the laboratory, a group of robbers attacked, trying to steal technology. The rest of his family was killed, and while attempting to escape, Bryan accidentally turned on one of the experiments. It activated his phasing powers, and allowed him to escape the robbers. When he was a teenager, he decided he needed to put a stop to crime.Using some of his father's experiments Logan no longer needed, Bryan took up the identity of Fade, and became part of a team of minor superheroes. During this time, he fell in love with a member of his team, a cyrokinetic named Frigid. After a few years on the team, Fade recieved an offer to join the League of Salvation. Unfortunately, before he did, he learned that Frigid was the daughter of a supervillain named Perception, who had trained her to try and take down the League. They fought, ending with the apparent death of Frigid.Crushed, Fade refused the League's offer. He had lost those close to him twice, and now he was afraid if he joined another group, he'd wind up getting attached to people, only to loose them all again. He moved to New York City and got a job working for Logan Industries, like his father. He uses this position to help his superhero career, turning abandoned projects into tools for fighting crime. Most of his time not spent crimefighting went into training, and Bryan soon became skilled in hand-to-hand combat. As a result of his past, Fade is very anti-social and frequently sarcastic around other people. He tries to avoid other superheroes, but will work with them when he needs to combat a foe. Real Name: Natalie NorrisAlias: HivemindAppearance: Orange-red hair, green eyes. Wears a yelllow and black supersuit and a pair of orange sunglasses. Prefers to dress more casually when not on a mission.Power: Capable of controlling insects, as well as transforming her body into a swarm of bugs. In addition, her body passively generates a field of low-level Omega radiation, almost undetectable by most instruments, which extends roughly an inch from her body and allows clothing and other objects on her person to transform with her.Alliegance: Coalition of CorruptionArea: Sicily, ItalyBio: Natalie was once a scientist working for pharmaceutical company known as the Solanum Corporation. She was assigned to a project testing the effects of Omega Radiation on insects. During one test a containment breach occurred, threatening to flood the area surrounding the facility with lethal quantities of radiation. Natalie volunteered to don a hazmat suit, enter the chamber, and attempt to manually shut down the reactor. Once inside, Natalie was able to deactivate the reactor, preventing a catastrophe. However, her hazmat suit was torn in the process, allowing radiation and insects to flow inside before the reactor was fully shut down. Natalie was rushed to the nearest hospital, but she was not expected to survive. To the surprise of everyone, a few hours later she woke up, with not even the slightest sign of radiation poisoning.Natalie was immediately placed under study by Solanum, and the reason soon became apparent. The Omega radiation had melded her with the irradiated swarm, allowing her to transform herself into a swarm of bugs. Natalie immediately went to her superiors, demanding to try and duplicate the results. Solanum was initially skeptical, but agreed when Natalie said they could learn how to manipulate the effects of Omega radiation, possibly to the point of creating artificial superpowers. The testings continued, but after months of nothing but dead test subjects, the Solanum Corporation cut her funding. Natalie desperately attempted to take her findings to other companies, but none were willing to touch a project with such a high body count. Just when she was close to giving up, Natalie was contacted by an organization unconcerned with a few lost lives in the pursuit of progress: the Coalition of Corruption. They made Natalie an offer: if she worked as an operative of the Coalition, they would provide her with the equipment needed to conduct her research. Natalie agreed, and took up the identity of Hivemind.As Hivemind, Natalie is concerned with only one thing: continuing her research. She accepts her time spent on missions as necessary to gather funds, but still sees it as a waste of time she could be spending working on her own projects. As such she is abrasive and dismissive of her fellow supervillains, making her dislike apparent because she knows the Coalition is too interested in her research to get rid of her. The current instability of the Coalition is something Hivemind sees as a blessing, as it gives her time away from missions to focus on her experiments. However, she still is invested enough in the Coalition that she would rather not see it completely fall apart, however; after all, without them who would pay for her lab? [For Science!]

City of the Lost? Sweet... Anyway, BL#6 sounds like it will be neat. "City of the Lost" makes me wonder what the story is about. My guess is that "the Lost" refers to the inhabitants of the "City", who have been tricked into being evil by the 2007 villains. Of course, that's probably going to be wrong, but it's worth a guess... ~CoKK