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Post by absentfriend on Jun 17, 2022 20:31:18 GMT -5
First an awkward author's note. Chapter 1 of the following story originally appeared across a series of threads on the videogames/multiplayer (/vm/) board of 4chan across the span of about a year. 4chan was a horrible choice for publishing fiction but I was there everyday anyway monitoring the thread and it let me have an outlet for some creativity. What happened was a poster asked folks to post character bios and I felt bad when no one did. I don't really do character bios myself but I remembered I had this VG origin story kicking around in the back of my head so I started writing it down.. Not gonna tell you I'm a great author or anything but I hope entries in chapter 2 and on do get a bit more detailed. (I really hated the 2,000 character post limit on /vm/!) Now the story itself, despite being about a super group that grew to be the largest ever, will really only feature my characters and those of the setting and will avoid using characters created by other current players. (This is to prevent the story being gutted over someone else pulling permission.) I will also be taking a fair amount of artistic license with the setting and characters. Both to make the story work and to preserve a sense of wonder and unpredictability. If we're very lucky, others may want to write CoH fiction and post it in their own threads. With enough folks we could make a case for having a fiction section. And now the story. I hope you enjoy it!
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Post by absentfriend on Jun 17, 2022 20:36:38 GMT -5
Frank continued talking to Sally as he loaded their weekend gear into the bed of the blue pickup, hoping she was listening instead of having her face in some device. He was a rugged outdoorsman at 6' tall in his camo jacket. She was rather attractively built lady with red hair at around 5'6" tall and seemed addicted to social media and Entertainment Weekly. They were heading up to his hunting lodge and just about ready to head out.
"So we all go back into the barracks after they launch the CE rounds, and we come back out very shortly every man in PPE and gas masks. Not so many of us in pants." Just then his phone went off with the text message tone. Frank pulls out his phone and sees it's from his old friend Mary, but it's only a picture of a dim weatherbeaten 7-11 sign.It's a sign he recognizes though as the store closest to his hunting lodge.
"Honey it looks like we're making a pitstop before we get there."
As they pulled up to the 7-11, they saw Mary slumped on the ground against the window outside the store, her head lolled to the side in a concerning way. Her clothes, which weren't suited for the fast approaching night looked ripped and stained in several places. Her hair was also blue, but it had been some time since Frank had seen her so that was probably unrelated. She had a paper bag on either side of her as well.
Frank and Sally got out of the truck with Frank immediately calling out "Mary?" to no visible response.
The shop owner stepped outside. "I offered to call her an ambulance when she came in, but she said friends were gonna pick her up. Then she came out here and went limp like she is now."
Sally approached with Frank. She didn't know this Mary but plainly she needed help. That was obvious to anyone with eyes..
Frank said "Thank you." to the Store owner and looked back at Mary. "Mary can you hear me?" as he stood about 3 feet away and examined her. She was still unresponsive with a bit of drool hanging from her mouth. He also noticed she had scratches on her forearms and her pants were ripped at her shins. "Defensive wounds" he thought. Mary had been attacked but he had no real idea what by yet. She wasn't actively bleeding and no blood spatters were near her. Then he noticed the bags.
One bag had "Frank" written on it and the other "Sally".
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Post by absentfriend on Jun 17, 2022 20:40:40 GMT -5
"Frank" Sally spoke with some concern "Why is my name on that bag? I've never met Mary before."
"I don't know." Frank replied. "A lot of this isn't making sense, but she needs our help." he said as he reached to check her pulse at the neck..
Suddenly Mary bolted into an upright sitting position, her eyes still closed. Frank pulled his hand back instinctively at the motion. Mary's mouth opened into an "O" shape and something came out..
When they had time to talk about it later Frank and Sally would agree they hadn't heard anything exactly, and what they had seen was hard to pin down. But it appeared there was a.. distortion.. that radiated from Mary's mouth in a very short pulse. It was like they could only detect the distortion by the effects it had on the air as it passed in a ripple.
The distortion had passed through Frank and Sally and kept going.
Frank nearly lost his balance due to his own reactive motion but caught himself. Sally said "Frank, what the hell was that?", the concern still in her voice. "I don't know darlin, but nothing to be done for it now." Frank replied
Mary had slumped to the side again looking no more responsive than before. Frank approached again and put his fingers against her neck to check her pulse. Frank was no doctor, but the pulse felt strong and steady to him. "Seems most likely she's just passed out. I think she'll be safe with us at the cabin til she wakes up. Let's get her in the truck where it's warmer. She can sit btween us on the way there."
"Ok you handle that. I'm betting she'll want some snacks after whatever she's been through and some extra food is a decent idea too." Sally replied as she made her way into the store. 5 minutes of quick shopping later she came out with a couple of bags to find Frank standing by the side of the truck reading a letter.
He looked up and said "You've got one too." And sure enough there was an envelope marked "Sally. Please read now."
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Post by absentfriend on Jun 17, 2022 20:44:14 GMT -5
The letter was written in harsh strokes. As if speed was a far more important consideration than anything. "Dear Sally. I know how weird this is and I'm sorry. Sorry for this and so many other things. But I also know that after a while we will be the BEST of friends! So I may as well start making it up to you now. I put 2 other important things in the bag. A card with more money than you can think to use and 6 bags of your favorite snack. Dill pickle sunflower seeds. (Yes I know you haven't tried them yet, but you will LOVE them!)
There are so many things I wish I could have done differently. So many things you aren't ready to hear about yet. So many choices I had to make on my own. It wasn't right! But so help me I'd do it again to save so many. In time we will understand it all. LOL!
Oh by the way, the wifi signal at Frank's cabin isn't very good. You might check the store for a way to boost it or something.
Love Mary."
"Sally. Are you ok?" Frank said after she had finished reading.
"She says I love dill pickle sunflower seeds, but she knows I haven't had any yet. Is this ever going to stop being weird?" Sally asked.
"I have no idea" Frank replied. "You get a loaded card too?"
"Yeah"
"Tell ya what." Frank said "I'm not sure which way to go with any of this yet. But she gave us an easy test. Try a sunflower seed. If she was right about that, might be worth giving her some trust."
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Post by absentfriend on Jun 17, 2022 20:45:57 GMT -5
Sally eyed the bag of seeds with suspicion. It was resealable, so she ripped off the top as the packaging suggested and then broke the seal.. It smelled.. GOOD. With a good deal more confidence, she put one in her mouth.
"OMG!" Sally declared. "This. Is. AWESOME!" "How have I not had these before?"
Frank said "Well I'd call that an accurate prediction then. Ok let's get going then."
"Wait." Sally said. "She said I should look in the store for a way to improve your wifi at the cabin. I don't know wifi from what, but I can spend a minute looking while I eat some more seeds."
"Ok Darlin. I'll be in the truck while you do that." Frank said. As he climbed into the driver's seat next to the unconscious Mary and settled in. "Man, what happened to you girl? I know our families were close growing up. And it's a shame your family isn't around anymore.. But I hope we can have a chance to catch up when you wake up from this. So get better soon ok?"
Frank woke up when sally closed the door on her side. "Oh hey," He said "find anything?"
"Yeah actually." She said " I cross-checked the stuff in the store with improving wifi reception and a tutorial came up. Looks easy enough, so I downloaded it to replay while we're up there. I may not have to give up the E! network this weekend!"
Sally woke up suddenly. Frank was still asleep from the look of it. A quick glance at her phone said it was 3:07 AM. Sally knew that something had woken her up, but the woods around the cabin had enough unfamiliar sounds that it wasn't so surprising. She got up and wandered into the kitchen area for some more seeds before going back to bed.
"Hello Sally." said a remote sounding voice in the room.
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Post by absentfriend on Jun 17, 2022 20:50:41 GMT -5
Sally was startled and turned to face the voice. Mary was standing in the middle of the cabin!
"Mary?! You're up! How are ya feeling?" Sally said as she rapidly recovered from being surprised.
The remote voice said "I will return to coma in 6 minutes and eighteen seconds" Then Mary's voice changed to what sounded like an actual human "But until then I'm fine. " she said with a giggle. "I'm sorry I woke ya. It's like, I know what I can DO, but I still have to practice when I can to get there. Let's sit down for a few while we can huh?"
Sally said "I should get Frank.."
"He won't wake up in time, sorry. Now c'mon and sit. You want some answers and I want to talk to an actual person while I can." Mary said smiling.
"..Ok" Sally said as she sat down at the table. "What's with the blue hair anyway? Frank said you didn't have that the last time he saw you."
"It's a side-effect of holding in that energy for so long. Normally folks don't even have a choice to hold onto it and it dissipates as fast as it comes. But I had to hold onto it at any cost. Hair may be blue, but it's GOOD hair! Ain't a stylist around can't do good work with it." Mary smiled as she talked. "I got REAL lucky there."
"Why did you HAVE to hold onto it dear? And what was it you had to practice?" Sally asked.
"I can influence and control some of the motion near me. But it takes practice. And of course I can only practice when I'm not in a coma." Mary said. "Speaking of, I should go lie down now."
Sally got up to saying "Let me help you." As they moved towards Mary's bed and eased her down.
"Thanks" Mary said in a half-yawn. "I'm glad I got to share with you guys." And then her eyes closed.
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Post by absentfriend on Jun 17, 2022 20:51:00 GMT -5
It was Sunday afternoon and Sally was on the cabin porch reading about pathing algorithms on her laptop while Frank was checking a nearby trap when Mary walked out and sat down. In her remote voice she said "I will return to coma in 23 minutes. I need to talk to you both." Then she whistled Frank over. She didn't whistle using her mouth in the traditional sense, but the sound unmistakably came from there.
When Frank heard the sound it caused him some slight discomfort so he put his hand to his ear as he looked over and saw Mary waving to him next to Sally.
As Frank came up and sat down, Mary started. "Hi guys. It's been almost 2 days since you picked me up, but more importantly you've started noticing some different things about yourselves. Today I can tell you some of the larger things we're going to strive for and why. But first you both have a decision to make. Do you want to go back to Paragon tonight to your old lives? Or do you think you can handle a bit of adventure? With the money I've given you already it really IS as simple as what do you want? But you do need to make a choice and it has to be quick for everyone's sakes."
Frank spoke first. "Get away from the 9-5 grind? No problem here!" he said with a gruff smile.
Sally then said "Hell if I need idle chit-chat I can use social media. I'm done with bosses that don't know their ass from a hole in the ground!"
Mary smiled widely. "Ok good. So for the next few weeks while we develop we'll stay here. Anything we need delivered can be sent to a PO box at the general store and we'll pick it up at our need. That's the easy to understand part. But I promised you more than that. We'll return to Paragon when we're ready, but it's not our ultimate goal."
"Along the way we will get into plenty of fights so keep that in mind as you make your choices on how to develop..."
Frank broke in "Why do we need to get into fights?"
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Post by absentfriend on Jun 17, 2022 20:53:49 GMT -5
Mary continued on unfazed "Fair question. The answer is we will need to know how to fight very well to get close to our goal." She then held up a finger as Frank took a sharp intake of breath. "Frank. You and Sally and I are going to save the world from a very specific danger. We won't be doing it alone, but we'll need to train others too. And this is where we go into the fantastic shit that's far from what you know."
"We start with the basics with me telling you other full-fledged dimensions exist in great and staggering variety and in my dreams I've been seeing one and the threat it holds for our world. It's a prison for a rogue god and it is shattered beyond what you would believe. This god is named Rularuu and he has armies beyond counting and a terrible hatred of our world."
"And unless he is stopped, he will destroy Paragon City and the Rogue Isles, with all their heroes and villains in a day. The planet will fall in three. Anything still surviving after that will fall on the fourth. He will leave nothing."
Sally said "We're going to save.. the world?"
Mary replied "Yes. Yes we are."
Frank asked "So we're gonna be superheroes? I'm gonna tell you now I don't care for spandex."
Mary said " Superheroes get distracted by every kitten in a tree. We're gonna have to be more focused than that I'm afraid. It doesn't matter if folks know what we do. It only matters that the work is done." as she got up and started heading inside. "I have assignments for both of you. Sally I want you to work on our electronic security so that we can't be traced here. Being able to break through the security of others will be useful too. Frank I'm going to need you to study other dimensions. How to find them and how to get to and from them."
Then she returned to her bed.
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Post by absentfriend on Jun 17, 2022 20:56:39 GMT -5
Sally woke up to Frank smiling at her from across the bed. She returned his smile and said "Good morning."
"And a good morning to you. " He lazily replied. "Do you have anything important scheduled this morning?"
"Nothing time sensitive.." she said as she leaned in closer. "I'm free to help with anything that .. pops up.. if we don't get interrupted." with a lecherous grin on her face.
"Mary took the truck somewhere earlier, so I think we're clear.." He said as he planted a kiss on her lips. She responded by throwing off the covers and embracing him tightly.
Then the truck skidded to a stop outside and the horn went off a couple of times. "Hey guys! I'm sorry but I need your help for something important out here!"
Sally was frustrated as she untangled herself from Frank and said "To be continued mister." and they threw on some clothes quickly and headed outside to an astonishing sight.
Mary was dressed like a cross between someone in a Jane Fonda workout video and an 80's porn star in a bright pink thong leotard with an equally bright green sports bra drawing attention to her ample chest. Matching green legwarmers completed the ensemble that left little to the imagination.
Sally said "Well THAT's a different look for you hun." and Frank could only nod in agreement.
Mary smiled widely and said "Thank you." And did a quick spin to show off the whole outfit. "Just came today along with some other stuff I had Mo load in the back of the truck." (Mo was the owner of the 7-11). "Speaking of, here's the weird twist you know to expect by now, I can't touch the stuff loaded in the back. So I need you 2 to take these boxes inside and address them according to instructions I've already texted to you silently. Shouldn't take long." she said while still smiling.
"Alright hun." Sally said. "I just wish you could have waited a bit is all."
"Sorry about that. But this is rather vital to our future plans." Said Mary while still smiling.
Frank spoke up. "Future plans eh? Who do we know in the Rogue Isles?"
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Post by absentfriend on Jun 17, 2022 21:00:13 GMT -5
Mary just couldn't stop grinning today it seemed." Oh they'll introduce themselves at the proper time. No worries there. Oh and Frank, if you could be a dear and mail these off this afternoon at some point, that would be awesome. I have to go crash now." and she headed off to her room. Leaving them to their task.
PPD Sgt. John Yu waited for the arrival of the assigned detective at the nondescript intersection in King's Row. The well groomed Asian American man had an air of attentive indifference as other officers routed pedestrians around the taped off crime scene. Suddenly they let the detective through. It was the Sgt's older brother and he immediately asked "What have we got here Sgt.?"
"Detective. Approximately 3 hours and seventeen minutes ago, a small combat robot set up a folding card table and unfurled a sign that read 'Air tax 5ยข'." He said in a prepared manner. "The robot then beckoned over passerby and asked them for a nickel. When presented with a nickel, the robot asked them to toss it in the air, at least 3 feet over their heads. A high-powered weapon was fired from an unknown location and went through the middle of the nickel and landed on the card table. The robot then picked up the nickel to show everyone and thanked the citizen for paying their air tax and suggested the rest to form a line. Everyone decided a nickel was a premium bargain and got in line. This went on for 22 minutes until the robot flew off to parts unknown. Throughout the incident the robot was polite but refused to say who sent it or why."
"Hmmm," mused the Detective "Unusual and yet not very interesting. If it weren't for the sniper shooting live ammo near civilians in the city, I'd be tempted to ignore it. But we can't ignore it and that tells us the motive." The detective kept going without waiting for the Sgt to ask what. "With a sniper in the open city, we HAVE to send units to look for them or face public outrage for not doing it. Those units could be doing something else, but without a solid cause they are locked into that task for the time being. As such, it's clearly a distraction while something else happens."
Just then, a small shape flew high overhead attracting the brothers attention. It dropped something which floated gently down on a small parachute and landed in the detective's hands. It was a small bright purple envelope. The Detective examined it and said "It's addressed to Sgt. John [Plugged Nickel] Yu." and handed it over...
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