REVENANT (Reece)

Reece was quite enjoying playing the dark vigilante, the lone wolf, the undead avenger. But he also had to admit that it'd be nice to have a team, there was lots of quests that only trigger for teams after all, it wasn't because he was a little bit lonely or anything.

He ruminated on this, while very carefully punching a gangbanger into the land of dreams. He had to be careful or his high strength was likely to kill the guy, and that wouldn't be very heroic. A big fan of sword and sorcery games, Reece had originally envisioned his 'death knight of justice' in plate armour, wielding a great-sword. But apparently plate armour wasn't really something you could just get hold of in the modern world, at least not without the right contacts, (for some reason, no one really wanted to spend much time dealing with a seven foot tall skeletal warrior).

He'd eventually managed to purchase some re-enactment chainmail and a sword from a local pawn shop, but the chain was aluminium and was really just for looks, and the sword had snapped the first time he'd used it. He still wasn't sure if it had been badly forged, or if he'd put too much strength into the swing. Besides, there weren't going to be many situations where letting loose with a sword wouldn't end up killing someone.

Reece sighed, the sound emerging like wind through a sepulchre, deep, resonant. Then realised that while he'd been distracted, someone had been wailing on his back with a baseball bat. His undead nature meant he didn't feel pain, but it also passed on little in the way of sensation, meaning Reece should really pay attention. It wasn't like some guy with a baseball bat could hurt him, he may be a skeleton, but he had a field of force surrounding the bones, holding them together and forming a body of spirit. The force was incredibly tough thanks to his high fortitude, and allowed his clothes to fit comfortably rather than hang on him like he was a starvation victim, and it let him grip things without them sliding away from bony fingers. It was the kind of thing that was important if you wanted to project the right kind of image.

Maybe a bat would work as a weapon if he made it look like a club or a mace? He caught the bat on the next swing, but the wood snapped in his hand, and the young guy swinging it took that as a reason to disappear. Maybe a metal bat? Deep in thought, Revenant headed further into the abandoned warehouse, looking for more of the gang, they were obviously new to the area and needed to be properly educated, most of the local gangs already knew to avoid this block after all.

He entered a lit area, a little surprised since the warehouse looked like it'd been a long time since it had had any power, and he was right, the gang had bought pole torches with them. It created just the right atmosphere of flickering light and shadow for a gang hideout. Reece approved.

Then he realised that things were definitely looking up, there was a big guy in the middle surrounded by lackeys and he looked to be a powered villain, possibly another player. He was as tall as Reece, and grossly muscled like he'd spent the last twenty years at the gym. He was deeply tanned, possibly Polynesian, and was wearing combat boots, camouflage pants, and nothing else, his giant muscles and vibrant tattoos on full display.

"You have chosen ill by coming here," Reece said, imagining a bit of hero - villain back and forth. But he was to be disappointed, the guy just snarled "Ku will smash you", and charged right at him. Reece sighed, and moved to meet the charging bull. A small shockwave lifted the dust around them as they impacted, and the guy seemed a little surprised to find Reece still standing, perhaps he hadn't had the chance to clash with another brawler before?

Thuds echoed through the warehouse as blows were exchanged, Ku's minions drawing nervously away from the conflict.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Reece's father had taught him a little boxing when he was younger, and he could see that Ku didn't have much in the way of discipline or form, Reece ducked under a wild haymaker, jabbing Ku in the stomach. It looked like Ku was actually a little stronger than him, but nowhere near as tough.

Seeming to realise the same thing, Ku moved in, hoping to turn the fight into a grapple, but Reece just took the opportunity to throw two more powerful punches into the guy's stomach, he knew the value of working the core. Forced back, struggling for breath, Ku tore Reeces's chain shirt away like it was made of cloth. Dammit, that had been the only part of his costume he'd been happy with!

Now a little annoyed, Reece threw all his enhanced weight and strength into an uppercut, launching Ku through the far wall. Concrete dust billowed into the room, causing the gangbangers to cough and hack. Revenant walked thorough it unaffected. By the time he made it out the other side, Ku was gone.

Congratulations!

You are now Level 3

Rewards: +1 Attribute Point, +1 Character Point.

You currently have 1 unspent Attribute Point, and 2 unspent Character Points.

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

DIVISION (John)

Division crouched on the roof of an apartment block, watching the building across the street. He was also waiting in an alley down the street, and was buying a hotdog from a nearby vendor.

It had taken a really long time for John to get used to being in more than one place at a time, having more than one body at a time. The system could apparently run his duplicates as NPCs, modelling them from his past actions, but John liked to be in control and he had learned how to multitask in the military. He was also good with small-unit tactics, which is probably why Janus had made the suggestion for his power in the first place.

John would have said he didn't care one way or the other about supers, but he did care about heroes, and this game was a hell of a lot better than the mundane Second-Life he'd been signed up to before this.  There he'd just spent his time drinking at the local and learning DIY. Both sims let him walk again, but only one was making him feel useful.

Now he was waiting for his target to put in an appearance, just like old times. Intel said Nightstar was holed up inside an apartment across the way, waiting out the police attention after his most recent bank robbery. Division had tried to pass the intelligence onto the DPD, but they'd said they needed more to go on. John understood red-tape, so here he was, trying to get a positive ID and make sure Nightstar didn't up and vanish again.

One of him looked up with a frown as he felt cold water dripping onto his head, the forecast had been clear, John had checked, he always checked. He blinked as he saw two supers passing over his head, one dressed in blue trailing a jet of water, the other red trailing flame. Great, Elemental Fury was about to muscle in on his quest, they'd probably got a direct line from the DPD. It almost made John wish he'd never tried to get Nightstar taken in the right way, but despite not having much hope, John always followed procedure.

All of him looked on with a sigh as a section of the building across the street exploded outward. Apparently the Furies had decided to take Nightstar on directly, rather than ambushing him like John was intending to. But then, John wasn't really any more powerful than a normal group of men at the height of their physical and mental fitness, with above average training and co-ordination, so actually pretty damn powerful, just not the smashing walls, raining fire kind of powerful.

John watched as Nightstar engaged the three Furies holding his own, blasts of darkness mingling with jets of earth, water and fire. People ran screaming, the buildings, road and cars ended up burnt, buckled and drenched.

Waiting for a lull in the titanic struggle, beta John slipped from his alley and up behind Nightstar, applying a tazer to the back of the villains head. Nightstar collapsed boneless to the floor. Physically and mystically powerful, Nightstar was still vulnerable to having his wires scrambled, John had checked.

Quest Completed!

Catch a Shooting Star

Type: Hero

Description: You have tracked down and incapacitated Nightstar, ending his crime spree.

Rewards:  300 xp