The Contest [Audio and Mingle]

[whoneedsdepthperception]

A. [Video. 8:00 am. Anywhere in Venture City]

At 8:00 am sharp on this otherwise cheerful morning, a number of television and radio newscasts are briefly hijacked. At the same time, this same signal invades the Omega Friends' "secret" communications network. Even many civilian computers will find that a previously undetected virus has forced open a videochat client. All of these hijackings are of the same thing, a shadowy man with a sinister message.


( Read more... )

[After Slade finishes his monologue, he will order a minion to return the TV and Radio broadcasts to normal. However, if you are reached via computer, Omega Network, or other two-way device, you should be able to ask Slade a question before he is logged out, if you so desire.]

B. [Mingle. 8:01 am. Anywhere in Venture City]
[After Slade's message, you and the person sitting next to you might have a lot to talk about!]

C. [Mingle. Anytime after the message, anywhere in Venture City]
[Slade has cameras and spies everywhere in Venture City. Feel free to pick a fight with your greatest enemy!]

(no subject)

[distorts_space]

[Action, Myoudouin Dojo and surrounding areas, 3pm]

At seven AM, Parley had staggered in from her ten hour flight from London, dragged her various suitcases into the guest room they had leant her, and passed out on the bed for eight hours. Now, it's mid afternoon and she is awake once more. Time to explore her new home, and possibly even some of the surrounding neighborhoods. Surely nothing can go wrong on literally her first day in America!

[That evening, video.]


Parley is wearing a domino mask and a blue and grey uniform of some kind, and speaks with a bit of a British accent.

"Tadah! It's Mystery Lass!"

She gives the screen a self-effacing grin, "Okay, so it's a pretty lame name. I'm still working on it. But they gave me this neato communicator watch, so there's no way I could resist giving it a shot! Plus I slept all day after the plane ride and I'm kinda wired right now. Who else is out there?"

Audio

[fabricati_diem_pvnc]

This is Deputy Commissioner Vimes of the VCPD.

My men are searching for this "device" Demetria Devious claims to have hidden. We will find it and we will deal with it. Your help is not wanted.

However, given the, er...extreme nature of the situation...

[And Chief Quimbley's orders to make SOME kind of peace offering with the superhero community.]

...My men have been ordered to not interfere with certain...vigilante elements as long as they do not appear to be causing any harm. Tread carefully and I will pretend you do not exist. Present something useful and.

Well.

We'll see.

Action

[takaradical]

[Golden Tiger is not, by any means, a brilliant strategist. He does, on the other hand, have two years experience maneuvering around boardrooms, and that's taught him more than a few things. The first being that when an opportunity presents itself, you take it. So with the spandex squad all in a tizzy after Doctor Doofus's little song and dance, now's the perfect time to get out there and make a name for himself in this town.

It comes to the surprise of almost no one when a giant robot crab comes crashing through the wall of the Venture City Central Bank, trailed by a regular platoon of hired thugs. The Tiger himself is on the scene, of course, standing atop that crushing crustacean, arms folded. The room erupts in chaos. A few security guards try and rush the goons, but they're mowed down in seconds. Tiger just laughs and swishes his coat, letting the speakers in his mask carry his voice through the building.]

Alright, nobody make a move! This here is a robbery. Take everything ya got and dump it all in the bags. Everything for the Golden Tiger!

[On cue, the thugs hold out a collection of burlap sacks, some of which have dollar signs painted on them. Need to shoot for authenticity here.]

Don't forget about those safety deposit boxes, too! C'mon people, let's hustle!

[One by one, the tellers, guards, and even some of the patrons step up and start to unload cold hard cash into the bags. So many supervillains swing by this place, they all know the procedure by now. Everything's going just as planned. If one of those rubes in tights showed up, everything would fall to pieces.

That'd just be awful, right?

Right.]

Omegafriends, Episode 1: A Devious Deadline

[omegamods]

It was a day like any other... but little did the Omegafriends know, disaster loomed on the horizon!

An Omeganet message cuts through the tranquil morning. On the other end, however, is no Omegafriend - it is none other than their sworn enemy, the genius scientist Dr. Devious!

"Greetings, Omegafools! I come to you bearing an ultimatum so simple that even your primitive brains should be able to comprehend it: If your precious Mayor doesn't surrender Venture City to me, then nothing awaits in the days to come save for doom and destruction! My latest creation has already been activated, and the means of Venture City's demise draws closer with each passing hour!"

"So which would you rather see: Venture City in ruins, or Venture City in control of the brilliant Dr. Devious? The choice is yours, fools!"

With a maniacal cackle, the transmission ends. Shortly afterwards, another one, this time from Protector, leader of the Omegafriends:




"It looks like Dr. Devious is up to her old diabolical tricks again! I don't know what she's planning, but we all need to be extra vigilant until we figure it out. No doubt another one of her crazy inventions is hidden somewhere in Venture City... I just hope we can find it before it's too late."

"Remember, so long as heroes stand together against evil, there is always hope. Protector out!"

[[OOC: Be sure to check out the OOC post for this month's plot!]]

Cael Cafe's Start of the Day [Action+Text]

[sebastiancafe]

Sebastian's Cael Cafe, 10 AM

The kid had to admit, he'd much prefer to hunt down this Dr. Devious woman. But he had business to attend to this morning: The Cafe. While the morning rush was over, everyone was at work at this point, there was still plenty of people in the cafe. Mostly people who liked to call themselves writers while looking over blank screens and talking about ideas. I'll admit I don't know what kind of writers those are, I'd just assume they are being ironic by not writing anything. The Kid though had a business to run and he was pretty good at it. He'd probably attend to the business concerning the other heroes until later. He had managed to get a decent night manager, but for the morning it was him and his employees.

The Kid though did have a tendency to attract different heroes to his place anyways despite people not knowing The Kid's real name. So not knowing who was the black shirted, white haired stripling keeping the business of the work in order. Though the fact he served a special selection of drinks that could boost even a normal person's powers probably was attractive to everyone. Though a superhero would have to prove their status to get access to the full power drink selection. I taught the Kid most of them, but he had certainly been creative to make a business out of it and try to make more.

Though he did post something to the Omagefriends network.

"Heroes, need a boost for your fight or search for the device? Come over to the Cael Cafe. It's where I get my boost for my fights against evil."-The Kid posted to the Omagefriend network.

ACTION

[tiny_revolutionary]

About a half hour after the simultaneous villain broadcasts...

Crowded cities can be remarkably unperceptive about things. Yes, even in a place like Venture City, where amazing things happen all the time, people are often too busy going about their usual schedules to note their surroundings. Which is why only a few people might have been staring curiously at what appeared to be an upended ramen bowl rapidly making its way down the street towards the Omegafriends headquarters. Thankfully, nobody cared enough to look under it.

At the entrance, Shinmyoumaru Sukuna -- no, she supposed it was "Inchling Girl" right now -- stopped to catch her breath for a moment before shaking her mallet a bit and, suddenly growing dramatically from a few inch tall squirt into... well, still a squirt, but about average size for a young human girl her age. She readjusted the needle, now about the size of a rapier, on her back and, taking a few deep breaths, pushed the door open.

Upon reaching the main meeting room, she hurriedly saluted -- then scrambled for a second as her hand knocked the now rainhat sized bowl "hat" around on her head. "I-Inchling Girl, reporting for her first day of duty!" she stammered, trying to look professional. "Um... so I saw those broadcasts. Those were all the bad guys, right? How can I help?"

Text

[bun_bun_maru]

[Posted to the Venture City High School forums, which I just decided are a thing.]

Greetings, citizens! Some of you may be hearing some unsettling rumors about the future of the School Newspaper. I am here to assure you all that, aside from the one about the restraining order, they are completely correct!

I, Aya Shameimaru, am stepping down as chief editor. The newspaper will hereafter be left in the capable hands of my former associates. Going forward, I shall be moving on to pastures new, at a little place called the Daily Venture! Maybe you've heard of it. It's only the most widely-distributed newspaper in Venture City. I'm working for them now. For money, even.

That is all. Some of you, I shall no doubt see over the summer. For the rest of you, I look forward to our next meeting come senior year!

The truth waits for no one,
Aya Shameimaru, Teen Reporter

[Yes, she actually signed her message as Teen Reporter.]

Summer Swarm [Action]

[duitagain]

As summer has long settled in, the warm temperatures have been friendly towards Venture City's insect population. Warm weathers like these make them bolder and more numerous and no doubt even the heroes have had to contend with a mosquito bite or two. What may seem like a seasonal nuisance has given one supervillainous mind an ingenious idea for his own big heist. 

Scattered across the city streets are robotic insects, small, yet strong enough to lift a wallet or valuable from anyone's pocket and fly off with it, programmed to gather at the rooftop of a random skyscraper. Dr. Nefarious, their robotic master, is lounging on top of a pool resting chair, sipping oil from a tall glass as the insects' loot piles behind him.

Lawrence, his long-suffering butler, stands by Nefarious.

"Ahh, Lawrence, for all the years I've lived, I'm telling you, the only way to beat the heat wave is with a crime wave!"

"Very good, sir. I can see you've spent all night coming up with that one."

"At least knowing that my Nefarious Swarm is pillaging the city under its very own nose is distracting me from remembering Devious being out there, stealing my thunder..." A pause. "... Great, it's all coming back to me!" he yells. Getting up from his seat, he stomps over to the edge of the skyscraper and throws his glass down at the streets. "Lawrence! Another glass! I'm going to make this vacation work even if it kills everyone else."

[Action]

[camcorders]

Near the centre of Venture City is the familiar façade of Piffle Princess, a well-known local costuming business for both the mild-mannered and the super-powered.

On most days, Tomoyo is bustling around the store, singing to herself and cheerfully re-arranging window displays. Today, however, is different. Today, Tomoyo can be found standing still and silent outside the entrance, hands folded neatly together in front of her, clad in muted colours.

Every now and then, a familiar face passes by, and Tomoyo reaches out to them and utters some quiet words of encouragement: Yes, another dark scheme is unfolding. But this, too, shall pass -- the dastardly are always defeated, and brighter days are on the horizon -- just like always.

Piffle Princess is open for business, just like always. Anyone needing a garment tailored, repaired, or created from scratch can still come in today. They will just be greeted by a Tomoyo a little more subdued than usual.

Those in the know may also know that Tomoyo offers another service: filming heroes doing what they do best, and acting as a go-between to discretely sell the footage to the press without revealing any secret identities. This service is not explicitly advertised, but if someone tells Tomoyo that they are "interested in a photoshoot," she will know exactly what they mean.

Samus' Calls Out [Text Call to Action]

[bigshoulder_lady]

"To Superman: I have urgent information concerning the current villainous activities going through town I require your assistance with. The Hunter requests a meeting in Venture Park." Samus posted to her wall.

She had done some work though about selecting the area she was going to take to for this meeting. First off: No mics but yes to cameras. But cameras that weren't in a good position to lip read the big boy blue. She also knew to appear in her full armor at this point. She used her space jump capability to get over into the park without causing too much commotion among the civvies. She did however adjust her cannon, flexing her fingers to change between the different modes before finally settling on her ice beam. She did actually want to talk with Superman though.

She just hoped nobody would interfere with the meeting. That could make this entire plan go awry.

Video

[pega_pony_princess]

When the feed starts up, it shows only an extreme closeup of someone's eyeball, accompanied by the booming voice of someone with their mouth far too close to the microphone.

"Uhhh...is this thing working?"

There's a slight pause as whoever is behind the camera waits for an answer. Eventually, something occurs to her and she pulls back out of the view, revealing a young girl wearing metal armor and a mask.

"Heyo! I'm Princess Pegasus, new Omegafriend! Today's my first day, so I thought I'd introduce myself!"

STRIKING A COOL POSE (it's not actually all that cool, it's more like what a fifteen year old girl would think is cool)

The city cat on the prowl.

[stalksindarkness]

A. Reporting in.

Coming in late to a meeting probably didn't look good for Mat, since the people who had access to his personal files apparently didn't look too highly on the young felid. He saunters in ten minutes late, and while he didn't say anything about why he was late, at least it was a good cause. Two different badguys announcing foul intentions? It was a good reason to be late, right?

Apparently not, since after they had him watch an educational reel that nearly rendered him comatose from the boredom, they made him wait. Then questions, questions, and more questions, and calibrated his omega watch so he'd have access to the appropriate resources in the base. Once he was finally released, they told him just wait. When they find him a mentor, they'd let him know. Hopefully it wouldn't be too long, all he had to do was keep his omegawatch on to receive messages!

With all that done with though, he hopped on an elevator and headed back up to the surface to enjoy his afternoon.


B.Room romp.

The best thing about cities like these is that they always have a neighborhood with low lying buildings. The boarding house that Mat lived in was in such a place, and now that he was free for the evening he could run wild for a while. From building to building he leapt, vaulting over air conditioning systems and other obstacles, all just for the thrill of running and feeling the wind in his face.

As he came closer to the greater downtown area, and the buildings climbed in height, he jumped to the next building and landed on a window sill, from there climbing to the top and surveying the surroundings. Anything going on that wasn't already being dealt with?

1 ▲ give 'em the old razzle dazzle [action]

[magistermentium]

[Tonight, a large crowd is lined up outside The Illumination Theatre, as is the case almost every Saturday evening. The posters outside advertise what's brought them all here; "The Mind-Bending Illusionist Who Twists Reality Before Your Eyes!" and "An Act Beyond Your Wildest Dreams!" as well as the marquee, which reads "BILL CIPHER: THE MASTER OF MENTAL MAGIC." The show is sold out, something which it usually has no difficulty accomplishing.
At quarter to six they're lead inside to the lobby, and then at six o'clock sharp, into the theatre proper.
At precisely 6:18 PM, the lights dim. The audience grows quiet, and finally the man himself, the one they've all come to see, steps out onto the stage.]

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, what you are about to experience are not ordinary feats of what you call "magic" or "illusion"! No pulling rabbits out of hats here, folks! Tonight, you will all be ENLIGHTENED! It's time to destroy the barrier of your mind! Repeat after me...
Triangulum, entangulum...
Veneforis dominus ventium...
Veneforis venetisarium!

[The captivated crowd does as they're told, repeating the phrase out loud.
"Triangulum, entangulum...
Veneforis dominus ventium...
Veneforis venetisarium!"
What none of them realize is the moment the last syllable escape their lips, their eyes begin to glow. They start chanting backwards.
But all they see is a bright flash of light, and suddenly, the entire theatre loses all color, turning to monochrome as Bill's triumphant laughter echoes throughout.
What follows is a performance that goes above and beyond the limits of what most people would consider humanly possible.

The highlights include the theatre itself becoming a forest, with trees, greenery, and what even looks to be mountains in the distance popping up from nothing. A deer walks out, and with only a twist of his finger, its teeth are pulled directly out of its mouth and float over to Bill. He hands the teeth to a child in the front row of the audience, who seems rather disgusted but mesmerized nonetheless. With another gesture the teeth are returned to the deer, in an action like time moving backwards.
He shoots a laser from his finger, blowing a large hole directly through someone's chest, yet somehow leaving them entirely unharmed, despite the person next to them being able to put their hand directly through their torso. He asks someone to think of their favorite cartoon character, and with a snap of his fingers that character appears beside them, as if they'd popped right out of the TV. He calls someone up to the stage and asks them to do an impression of their favorite celebrity, as they physically transform into who they're impersonating. He calls up someone else, and as they're standing on stage they are lifted into the air by a floating platform shaped like their own head.
He sets himself on fire, covering himself in burning blue flames as though he was completely fireproof, then grows to enormous size, towering over the enraptured audience. And for the grande finale...
A massive triangular portal appears behind him, shooting off sparks as its center fills with light. Out of the portal emerges dozens of fantastical creatures that fill the theatre, including a sasquatch, "Manotaurs", a brain monster, a pterodactyl, giant spiders, giant bats, gnomes, a "Gremloblin", a "Hide Behind", a "Gobblewonker", mermaids and mermen, a "Multi-Bear", and a masked monster made of candy... many of which get right up close and personal with the audience.
Tipping his hat to the crowd, Bill leaves with one last enthusiastic remark.]

REMEMBER! REALITY IS AN ILLUSION, THE UNIVERSE IS A HOLOGRAM, BUY GOLD, BYEEE!!!

[He enters the portal himself, vanishing.
There is another brilliant flash. The audience suddenly opens their eyes and gasps, as though they've just awoken from a trance, or a dream. Everything is gone, everyone is back to normal, and the world is in color again.
Seconds later, the room erupts with mass cheering and roaring, thunderous applause.
We thank you for coming out and hope you've enjoyed the show tonight. Should you feel so inclined, come have a chat with Mr. Cipher! He's enjoying an after-show drink at the theatre bar, and he absolutely loves talking to his fans.]