The rise of the Celebero (a heros eye view of the world we live) All are welcome

Daark was panting loudly he was badly beaten and it was only just now that his healing had finally kicked in to handle the punishment that mass beating game him. Once the final cuts healed up (with the usual amount of pain) he turned to the newcomer.

"David Daark, thank you....both of you," said David he then got into a fighting stance when the hologram appeared.

"This must be the mysterious boss....show yourself coward!"

"Hmm, let me think about that..." The figure put his hand under his chin as though he was actually considering it.

"No."

Freerunner turned his attention to the upright Mecha. The hologram seemed to freeze as if it solely focused on his stare. With a blunt but provocative tone of voice he simply said "Who ever the hell you are, I'm coming for you....and I'll kill you. This is your time to get a good head start on escaping, use it wisely".

The hologram turned its whole body around and looked directly at him as it chuckled. "Nobody can stop The Deceiver, so you're out of luck too....whoever YOU are.". Freerunner stepped closer and knelt down so he was almost face to face with the hologram. "We'll meet again soon enough". He reached to the mecha's head and began to squeeze. The armour plating buckling beneath the force of his grip, eventually giving way with an unsettling screech. The mecha powered down and fell back to the tarmac. BlackOut and Darrk stood silently.

Freerunner, turned to face them and with his left index finger he pointed to a tall building about two hundred meters down the street. "Quick before the police arrive, up top." Freerunner spun on the ball of his left foot, pivoting in the buildings direction and shot off. BlackOut and Darrk soon followed, rising themselves up the building while Freerunner ran vertically up the side of the building, flipping himself onto the buildings roof when he reached the top. Darrk and BlackOut came down calmly, BlackOut seemed to somehow reabsorb the electrical force he used to propel them both to the top of the building with ease. This took Freerunner by complete suprise. There were people with more odd abilities than him.

Freerunner stepped forward proudly and introduced himself, raising his left hand up for a handshake, subconsciously his guard never dropped though, he had only just met these two. "I'm Freerunner and I appreciate the help down there." The first to step forward was Darrk. Freerunner couldn't help but notice the sheer magnificance of his blade. This man was taller than he was, his taller body gave way to a thinner frame though. He had long blonde hair which had a gracious but deadly look to it. He could see how people would naturally look at him and underestimate the soft look in his eyes. This he could tell, was the great deception about him. "Hello, my name is Darrk."

The two closed hands and shook. "It's good to meet you friend". Friend? What was he saying? Freerunner had never trusted anyone so easily outside of the military. Back there friends were brothers too, they had your back no matter what and they always looked out for your interests before their own. Despite this, Freerunner felt a natural lean towards calling these two gentlemen friends. If they wanted to pick a fight with him, they could easily have done so on the street. He resisted the urge to fight his slightly untrusting nature in these situations. Untrusting was what had kept him alive and well so far, no matter how much he spoke to God. When you feel like two governments are breathing down your neck, you lay low and trust no one. These two however, he felt weren't government hyper weapons like he was. He was certain of this.

After two powerful shakes, BlackOut stepped forward. "Freerunner, I'm BlackOut." He held up his left hand as he shook Freerunner's hand with the left. BlackOut smirked as sparks of electricity fizzled and spat from his left hand. Amazing. The power to control electricity, it's a good thing his suit was insulated to help better protect him from such things. But still, someone who can fry anything with millions of volts was someone to be feared, especially his enemies. BlackOut, like Darrk was taller than he was but a little bit more built than Darrk.

Freerunner resisted the temptation to let on too much about himself, he who guards his lips, guards his life. This statement always rang true in life. Jordan kept to it. His tone of voice changed to a serious note. "I've been in America some time now and never have I come across a pair such as you two. I think I see an opportunity here...". BlackOut and Darrk looked at one another. "An opportunity for what?" replied Darrk, quizzically. Freerunner, stood, more relaxed now and took a few steps closer to the two. Continuing on with the same tone, "I've sat and watched in silence for some time now, the crime, the hate, the murders....attacks from terrorists. Rapists, drug dealers and other criminals walk free from justice, how? Being paid up with the right people. Money. From experience I know these people are always non-negtiable. I have travelled the Earth for years and one type of behaviour always stands out more than other traits...arrogance. The belief that they cannot be caught, they cannot be stopped. I want to change all of that. Turn the world upside down, city by city, town by town if I have to. Turn fear on those who's very foundations are built on imposing fear."

Blackout stood with his arms crossed, his expression blank. Freerunner knew he was considering. Darrk could have easily mirrored BlackOut. "This is an open invite, you don't have to accept it. If you want to then meet me tomorrow night at West 33rd street at 21:30". BlackOut suddenly spoke, "Where on West 33rd?". Freerunner opened his arms up, "Where else? The Empire State Building. I hope to see you both there tomorrow. Until then....." he span on his left foot and thrusted himself forward at such speed like the crack of lightning across the sky, jumping high into the night air, he silently disappeared without a trace.

Darrk turned only to see BlackOut already walking away. "So what do you think?". BlackOut half turned around, his body side on, he cocked his head slightly to one side and smirked. "Well I don't want to spend my life on a t.v show....". Interestingly enough, he left his answer completely open. Darrk couldn't tell whether he was going to be there or not. He still had to make his own mind up.

Elsewhere..... A man in a specially utilised gas mask, sat in a murky, very dark room, at a powerful mainframe computer, typing in commands and interpreting data on the built in holographic heads-up display. A high definition video plays on a street battle between Mecha's and some unknown men. The Deceiver focuses on the multiple camera angles captured of the last unknown man to enter his experiment.

"COMBINE....calculate." he barked angrily.

An ice cold, digital voice spoke. "Calculating....50%...85%...Complete. The force demonstrated to pull the Mecha Armour apart exceeds 200000.21psi". Deceiver suddenly fell back into his chair that looked like it was hovering, no light was on him now, only his slithery voice could be heard. "How is that possible COMBINE?". The icey cold voice returned. "Unknown". The video on the heads-up display plays a 1.3 second loop. The unknown person in the armour, shoves his hands through a Mecha and tears it in half, over and over again. Deceiver sat in the dark, and continued to watch the clip, only the dark plated gloves on his hands could just about be seen resting on ends of the chairs arm rests. His cold and calculating mind twisting and firing on all pistons as he thought out his next deliberate move.

A dark figure silently lands on a roof of two almost identical apartment blocks. Freerunner, moves around silently, tweaking his senses, looking for signs of trouble. After some minutes, spent moving about it was nothing as usual. Quickly leaping over the edge he free fell, using his feet to bounce of each side of the adjacent walls to control his accurate decent. His timing was perfect as always and without a sound. He pushed off the far wall and gripped onto the window ledge outside his apartment. He carefully slid the window open and moved inside, his senses still tweaking. You never did know if someone had somehow managed to break in or set a trap for him. As he slid in he closed the window shut and locked it tight once again. Drawing the blinds and curtains over them. He moved around his apartment. Certain nothing was disturbed, Jordan removed his helmet mask and exhaled gently.

He thought about the holographicly projected image of the mysterious figure in the gas mask and how it almost seemed to mock them with his or her or even 'it's', anonymity. "I'll find you...." Jordan quietly said to himself. He left the front door sealed with the attached trip wire. He made sure the rubber guard he had installed at the bottom of the doors from which could be tightened at either end so no one could slide anything under the door, was still down tight. He then made his way to bed. Another night gone but at least he found others similar to him.

He had also made himself another enemy.

Much later

David entered his dressing room at the studio and threw his robe onto the coat hanger hanging over his door. Ever since coming to this world he had only ever met one hero and she had appeared to disappear in mysterious circumstances. He kind of missed that heroine who called herself lion heart and wondered if he would ever meet her again.

Daarks personal stylist who was one of the perks the network provided him with walked into the room and began to fix his hair.

“You are a lifesaver Ev…” laughed Daark and the man referred to as Ev just grumbled and got to work making Daark look presentable after his great battle. As Ev continued his work David pondered on the words of Freerunner.

"I've sat and watched in silence for some time now, the crime, the hate, the murders....attacks from terrorists. Rapists, drug dealers and other criminals walk free from justice, how? Being paid up with the right people. Money. From experience I know these people are always non-negtiable. I have travelled the Earth for years and one type of behaviour always stands out more than other traits...arrogance. The belief that they cannot be caught, they cannot be stopped. I want to change all of that. Turn the world upside down, city by city, town by town if I have to. Turn fear on those who's very foundations are built on imposing fear."

David shook his head much to the annoyance of Ev and then he knew. He would take Free runner up on his offer. He would be there at the meeting place.

(OOC: Sorry if I don't post for a day or two guys, most probably Friday I'll be able to repost. Work is kicking my arse at the moment. I'm looking forward to carrying on this storyline although I hope I haven't hijacked anything that was in the works?. If so then sorry, I'll continue on this post in my own direction.)

(ooc nah there was no plan It was always meant to show new york from a different angle and also to reintroduce Daark and his new situation after my several months absense.)

((Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa...

WHOA!

Freerunner, I'm not exactly sure what your pulling at here, but it is generally rude to take control of peoples characters without their permission, I mean you basically hijacked Deceiver, and everyone else for that manner, for things like minor minions and mooks its somewhat fine (within reason) because I never really intended them to kill anyone, but for main characters it's a big no no. shiningknight is ok with it I guess, though I'm not sure about Blackout, but me, and a high amount of other rpers on this sight kind of get a little testy when people do that. I tell you this because they may not be as friendly or casual about it as I am.

shining knight wrote:(ooc nah there was no plan It was always meant to show new york from a different angle and also to reintroduce Daark and his new situation after my several months absense.)

Speak for yourself, I had an entire evil plan going on, those robots you where fighting? They where a distraction, remember? I was going to continue after the robot battle to give the heroes an opportunity stop the real heist (which would have involved *gasp* a giant mech), but I'm not sure anymore, maybe I can just say it succeeded or something...

But seriously, Freerunner, don't get into a habit of just hijacking peoples characters like that, I will role with some of it, but I'm definitely and bluntly ignoring half the stuff you made the Deceiver say or do without my permission. Most specifically...

FreeRunner wrote:The hologram turned its whole body around and looked directly at him as it chuckled. "Nobody can stop The Deceiver, so you're out of luck too....whoever YOU are.". Freerunner stepped closer and knelt down so he was almost face to face with the hologram. "We'll meet again soon enough". He reached to the mecha's head and began to squeeze. The armour plating buckling beneath the force of his grip, eventually giving way with an unsettling screech. The mecha powered down and fell back to the tarmac. BlackOut and Darrk stood silently.

While I love large ham tendencies as much as the next guy, it's pretty much starts off with the fact that your controlling my character without my permission. Crushing the mech was ok, but actually making my character speak…

Freerunner wrote:"COMBINE....calculate." he barked angrily.

An ice cold, digital voice spoke. "Calculating....50%...85%...Complete. The force demonstrated to pull the Mecha Armour apart exceeds 200000.21psi". Deceiver suddenly fell back into his chair that looked like it was hovering, no light was on him now, only his slithery voice could be heard. "How is that possible COMBINE?". The icey cold voice returned. "Unknown". The video on the heads-up display plays a 1.3 second loop. The unknown person in the armour, shoves his hands through a Mecha and tears it in half, over and over again. Deceiver sat in the dark, and continued to watch the clip, only the dark plated gloves on his hands could just about be seen resting on ends of the chairs arm rests. His cold and calculating mind twisting and firing on all pistons as he thought out his next deliberate move.

Again, controlling my character, and kind of taking him out of character, it takes a lot to get Deceiver "angry". (Though I will admit the narrative is very good, ironically.) But still, he would be more amused, after all who cares if the mechs did not succeed in killing anyone? It was a distraction, and the idea of having a powerful hero as an opponent is not something that would annoy as much as entertain him.

Those are pretty much the rest of my issues but like I said, I will role with some of it.

And respond I shall! (In a later post, today probably))

No problem Deceiver. I guess I was a little too controlling with it and I see that now. You have my apologies fella. It won't happen again. Thanks for calling me on it though, I won't get into a habit of doing it, I just haven't rp'd for a while now. Anyway, if there is any probs with my next post and with continuing the open storyline then say so. Cheers.

Jordan sat upright, crossed legged and topless in the middle of his living room floor. Not one droplet of sweat had surfaced from his skin after the thousands of press ups he had just done on the tips of his index fingers. He sat there contemplating tonight’s events. On the tip of the middle finger on his left hand, a ka-bar type fighting knife with a matte-black blade balanced perfectly. His right hand held a sharpening block. He lightly flexed his index finger on his left hand and the knife popped into the air above his head height. With the same hand he snatched it from the air in one swift motion that it would have been untraceable by anyone else’s eyes. He rested his left hand down and brought the sharpening block up to the matte black blade of the knife, slowly he began to slide it up the very edge of the blade. Delicacy when sharpening was an art form. Something he had perfected when he trained as a Ninja in Japan and learned Bushido. Years of military experience aided him to no end during this training but it was by finding Bushido that he learnt a great deal about the calm before a battle.

Just as he was taught in Catholic Schools, he found Bushido had a strikingly similar principle of quieting the mind in order to listen to the world around you when soul searching or in prayer. It allowed him to think clearly. ‘A true warrior always keeps his mind and his wits as sharp as the blade he carries. 'For it is not through physicality that battles and wars are won, but through thinking. A true warrior fights with the mind’. If anyone else crossed this or attempted to intrude, they would be cut in two by the warriors mind. Balance would be restored.

Jordan had his mind on one thing, finding and stopping the person who called himself Deceiver. To do this he knew very well he would have to build up a considerable amount of intelligence on his foe. He didn’t for one second, allow himself to think he could be so lucky to run into him. So that meant he would have to do the work himself with film footage, pictures, surveillance, reconnaissance, target acquisition, information exploitation? But did this Deceiver have anyone who worked for him? He had a small strike force of Mecha units so was he giving away a character trait already? Given the advanced nature of the cybernetics that built those machines, it would have to have been done in high secret to avoid exposing himself or even people he worked for.

Then Jordan thought he had landed on it. A person with that much knowledge into science wouldn’t need humans to back him up. Especially if he could build machines that could so what he saw. They were almost the perfect partners. They never slept or got tired. They were only limited by their build quality and the internal programming that gave them decision making abilities. Jordan had a strong feeling now that this villain worked alone but he couldn’t be sure. So, what would he do now? Wait for another attack to happen, arrive there himself and hopefully gain more clues or even apprehend Deceiver and then viciously interrogate him himself? No, Deceiver would expect that. He would be going straight into a trap. The sharpening block continuously went over the matte-black blade.

He would find out tonight. Present his case to Darrk and BlackOut….if they showed up. Until then there was nothing he could do. If there was another attack on the city, he would have to respond somehow. Don his suit and go to destroy the threat and protect the people, something he wished he could have done so many times before in his past. Instead he had to sit and watch in order to gain vital intelligence on an enemy, quite often while they went ahead and killed innocent people. He couldn’t let that happen anymore but it still bugged him, all of his training told him never to rush into a situation, always to have some understanding before you take action.

It was then that he decided. He would have no choice. He would have to use himself as the bait. His enemy wasn’t an alpha male type, a wolf, like he was; if that was the case he could meet him and fight him head on. Instead he was sneaky and uncompromising. These were quite often, the worst of enemies to have. Never knowing and having to try and outwit them all the time. Trying to outwit an enemy which you never knew the moves of was almost impossible. So you had to think ahead and hope your plans and back-up plans were enough.

Jordan’s hands stopped. The blade and sharpening block parted. He placed the knife and block down in front of him. His eyes met the clock that was hung on the wall above the television, it read 20:00 and it was time to get rigged up. Tonight wouldn’t just be a meeting; instead tonight would be a battle. His hands came around the rosary beads which hung from his neck, they clasped he St. Benedict Cross that hung from it. His right hand remained and his left made the sign of the cross as he began to pray. “Dear Lord….”

The sun had already gone down below the horizon and the darkness of night had fully enveloped New York City. January was almost over now, only two more month’s of winter’s cold left before it started to warm up again. Freerunner knelt in samurai fashion high on top of a sky scraper that overlooked the skyline of New York City. He had said his usual ritual of prayers to God before he set out on tonight’s mission, prayer for strength, justice and guidance. Now he was in a warrior’s mindset. A warm breath left the tips of his lips and it ghostly condensed in the cold night air and then vanished. His eyes were closed as he took in the environment around him, the sounds of the city. He breathed it in and then exhaled gently before opening his eyes. He picked up his helmet mask and slid it on over his head, fixing it tight and comfortable, slowly rising to his feet as he did so. The gathering frost under a clear night sky meant travelling would have the risk of ice. His footsteps would have to be truly surefooted tonight.

No rifles or pistols tonight. Only what he could use to hand. Fighting knives, two reinforced telescopic fighting staffs, stun grenades and a custom made katana battle sword which was all tightly fitted around his body suit to keep his profile low and for noise reduction. A disciplined soldier and a disciplined warrior never had any equipment loose. Freerunner had a good mind for keeping time. He approached the edge of the building and looked down as the little dots of traffic below that continuously moved through New York City like worker ants. It never stopped. This was after all, the city that never sleeps. He bent his knees and pushed off into the cold, frost bitten night air, with his arms extended out like an angel as he projected himself over two hundred meters to the next building top.

The balls of his feet touched the roofing on the next building without making a sound, he rolled and burst back up into a full sprint, lifting off of the next building with a Herculean leap, straight over the next building, he straightened out his body and went into a nose dive with his arms stretched out. His body raced down towards a building, as his hands connected with the rooftop and he pushed off, flipped rapidly once and landed silently on his feet again. Freerunner crept low, moving around with total stealth. As he came to the edge of the roof he knelt down. The city was still bustling with activity as he observed it with perfect night vision eyes. His retinas twisted and adjusted just like camera lenses as he ranged his vision in and out of the environment around him all the while tweaking his hearing to listen out for any sounds close to him.

Freerunner could see the Empire State Building from here. He moved in closer from building to building, keeping his eye firmly fixed on the target with the citizens of New York City totally oblivious to the aerial display going on above them. Upon arriving on West 33rd, he dropped to ground level and sprinted down the street, flipping down most of it and easily running between traffic. Freerunner saw this as more of a training exercise than just simply getting from a to b. Pushing off of the street he ran straight up the Empire State Building, citizens only catching a slight glimpse of him as he did so, their shocked voices echoing around as many reached for their mobile phones to tell someone what they thought they had just seen.

He flipped himself over and landed in a crouched stance, nobody had arrived yet.....

Daark arrived first. He was all buisiness now though and his floating camera was nowwhere to be seen. "I propose we make this quick I think the villian behiind our attack is still up to something and I can't quite shake the feeling that something else is lurking in the shadows,"

Elsewhere...

A man monitored several tv screens. One had deciever on it continuing to plot his own plans. Another had blackout on it and a final one had Daark and Freerunner on it. There was one screen offline which should have had Nightkill on it.

"So the famehungry whore has found some allies and another villian...I shall have to see if I can use this DECIEVER to my advantage," said the mysterious man as he placed his hand on a computer screeen and absorbed much knowledge

"Gerald Mordicai II...you shall be paid visit by THE LIBRARIAN!!" grinned the Librarian

The sun had begun to dip below the horizon as Ryan sat silently in his apartment, he was still deciding if he even wanted to go to meet Daark and... the other guy. Grabbing his phone Ryan checked the time 8:33, turning his head he gazed out the window and watched as last rays of sun escaped from the below the the skyline of New York. Standing up from his couch he walked toward the window looking out across the quiet night sky he could see the Empire State building from here and he was aware that he had to go.

Walking to his bedroom Ryan headed straight for his closet, pulling apart the cluster of hanging jeans and tee shirts to reveal the back wall of his closet. Pulling the panel off he revealed his costume hanging up neatly. Grabbing his apparel he quickly pulled it on, stopping to check himself out in the mirror I look good he though smiling. After this blatant display of vanity he reached back into the the hidden compartment of his closet getting his mask, and then he swiftly replaced the panel and pulled his clothes back together.

Crossing the apartment from his bedroom back to the living area Ryan switched on his television an turned on the floor lamp that stood next to his couch to make it look like he was home. He then opened his side window, and stuck his head out to make sure that no one was was hanging out in the alley down below. Once he was sure the coast was clear he stepped out onto the sill, blanceing on the narrow edge before he jumped off soaring up to the roof landing on the edge of his building. He took in the view of the city once more before pulling his mask on and setting off toward the the meeting place that had been decided the night before.

Black soared high above the skyline of New York the crisp night air washed over him as he approached the Empire State building. Electricity crackled and sparked off of his body as he increased his speed and altitude. Slowing down and hovering a high above the building Black watched as both of his new found allies both arrived at about the same time and began to interact with each other. Dropping down to the roof Black landed behind the two of them and approaching them slowly. "Looks like the gangs all here huh?"

Freerunner turned slowly. "You need to work on your landings BlackOut, I heard you coming a mile off...I'm glad you're both here." BlackOut raised an eyebrow and nodded as Freerunner took a few steps back so all could close in for the meeting and then proceeded to address them both. "We must be swift tonight gentlemen. I want you both to know right now that everyone here is equal, no one here has a more valuable opinion than the others, we respect each other and speak with truth. Agreed?". BlackOut and Darrk nodded but kept their expressions blank. "I also have to tell you that if you accept my offer, then I take things all the way. No giving up, no turning back. We keep going until the bad guys are down but I also want you both to realise now that if we can't co-ordinate together then this is a waste of time. I have to be able to rely on you two just as much as you two will have to rely on me to do my job properly. Agreed?" The two nodded once more.

"I plan to hit hard and shake the foundations of the criminal underworld here. Whether it means hitting fast or prolonging our engagement with the enemy, our resolve must be solid. We will take the fight to the enemy on a level they have never seen before. We will escalate it so much higher that they won't have time to react or the will to fight back." Freerunner's flists clenched as he said this.

"So you see gentlemen, I'm in for the long haul, 120% all the way. Now the only question that remains is, do we roll out alone, or do we join forces? You know where I stand...."

"I'm in I shall spend all my off camera time giving you a helping hand," said Daark. He then held out his hand and said "I shall shake on it to prove my resolve!"

Daark and Freerunner both turned to Black as they waited for his response. "Way to put a guy on a spot" he laughed. "Im in too I suppose, I can't have you two running around thwarting evil without me it would make me look bad." He approached the two heroes. "Looks like we have ourselves a superhero team then" He turned away from them a stepped up to the edge of the building, the artificial lights of the city illuminated the landscape down below almost as well as the sun had a few hours before. "Well then guess we should get to work." Blackout turned back to his two teammates "Whats the plan?"

"Clearly we have to deal with that guy who sicced those android contraptions on us. It is obvious he was planning something else while distracting us," said Daark he was not smiling he had a very serious look on his face which was spoilt by his long hair which made him look like a model in a bad soap commercial.

"Clearly we have to deal with that guy who sicked those android contraptions on us. It is obvious he was planning something else while distracting us," Daark stated very seriously, honestly it was the most serious Black had seen him be in the short time they knew each other.

"Well yes that would seem like the most practical plan but do we have any idea where to start? I mean unless we know where he is or what he was planning we have really hit a dead end haven't we." Pulled off his masks and hung his head rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. His hair draped over his face when he brought his head back up pushing to the side he tried to come up with some kind of plan that they could start with.

"We should check to see if any other crimes were committed while we were fighting those mechs. Maybe we will get lucky maybe find a lead that might point us in the right direction, or at least get some kind of idea what he is planning." Black looked to the other heroes quizzically, they both looked back at him without saying a word. "Well I guess that seems like the best place to start, what do you think" Black gestured to Freerunner.