Happy New Year 2008

Here's to 2007. Her ups, her downs. Her fun, her heartbreaks. Friendships gained and lost. Love shared and conflicts fought.

Here's to 2008. May she be a better year for everyone, no matter how good or bad 2007 was.

More Pictures!

Here she is: seer of seers, prognosticator of prognosticators, badge everyone spams Perez Park's Broadcast channel for... and I wanted a picture of those tattoos. Nice detail work there.

...and another Asian-style dragon painting. This one is from the Tsoo tattoo parlor.

Fyre already posted some excellent pics of the floating Thorn Isle, but we both took tons. Here's my favorite of the group shots. You have Cpt. William Piett on the far left and Fyre-Hex just to his left and closer. Those are Will's boys (Dean, Frank, Jim, Paul, Sam, Tom) arrayed across the back. Fyre's imps (Stop, Drop, Roll) shot through the middle there.

Probably my favorite use of those omni-present face and hand statues ever. As I said, I have bunches more of the Thorn's floating island, but Fyre already posted a bunch of really good ones.

Leviathan: "Oh, I see you there. Don't think I don't. Ready for some more?"

Rip van E

Another day, another disappointment, Dr. Nguyen thought, striding quickly up the steps of Steel Canyon Med. He nodded to the security guards and walked into the elevator. He checked over his clipboard, looking at the minor fluctuations and trying to decide which treatment to try next.

When the doors opened again, he walked down the hall, nodding again to the extra security that had been added. They recognized him by now and gave him only a cursory scan before waving him along. He walked into his office and was almost to the computer before he realized something was wrong.

A few of the monitors were squealing weakly, indicating flatline, but somehow not as loudly as they should. Sparks were flying in the room on the other side of the tempered glass window. Lights were flashing, instruments were scattered, and...

The bed was empty.

Oh, no! he thought, forcing his way through the security door as quickly as he could. He scrambled in, already trying to think of what he would tell Fyre Hex. He gawked at the bed for a minute in horror. Then he started looking around the room, under the bed, behind it...

Someone was sitting at the computer in the corner. Dr. Nguyen grabbed a tranquilizer and started to creep up on him...

...when the ghosts appeared.

The figure at the computer turned around, scratching at the beard the orderlies had let him grow and pulling the labcoat closed across his scarred chest.

"Hey, doc," Dr. Jason Pace said, smiling a bit. "How long have I been out?"

Unloading the Camera

I haven't posted screenshots in a while. Here are some good ones. :)

Akarist, sporting the latest in Circle of Thorns chic. Note the hint of both green and purple in the robes as well as the cunning detail work of thorny vines. The hat says "I need extra space above my brain" while the robes say "go on: try to hug me".

Fyre-Hex and her imps after our triumphant victory over Ghost Widow. The summoning circle is the second-coolest thing I've ever seen in Oranbega.

This is the coolest thing I've ever seen in Oranbega. A soul crystal containing the essence of the Red Widow. It's a lot larger than the mission text makes it sound, but I don't care. That's just neat-looking right there.

This is a painting/poster from the wall of Yin's grocery in Faultline. Ever since those paintings on the wall of the Longbow "club", I've paid a lot more attention to the things they slap on the walls. I'd love to know if these are things the decorators find and insert into the game... or if they "draw" them themselves. Beautiful!

Welcome to Grandville

Fyre-Hex and Cpt. William Piett have finally hit 40 and started up in Grandville. After the last couple levels of nothing but newspaper missions in St. Martial (interrupted at one point by working with Johnny Sonata), it's nice to have new missions, new contacts, and new scenery. And on top of that, Will is my highest-level villain with 'Ware Wolf still languishing at 36.

Now, I've been to Grandville twice before. Both times, I was taking advantage of Hide and Superspeed (it's good to be a stalker) just to be all touristy. Now I'm able to really get in there and explore, and Grandville is amazing, grand, and disturbing. A perfect evil HQ for Arachnos. Lots of people complain about extra lag, but I don't find there to be that much extra. I mean, I notice it, but it's well within tolerable limits. 'Course, I'm missioning in Grandville, not street-sweeping.

Will's already putting together a lengthy list of contacts. I developed a habit in St. Martial of clicking anyone who might be a contact, just to see what they'd say. And I've accidentally picked up a couple contacts that way, including the Rikti delegation standing in Recluse's lobby. Will won't be working with them, so they'll just take up space in the contact list. :)

Things are getting tense for these two. I hesitate to reveal details here yet, but Will's story is basically told and now, it's Fyre's story and Will is guest-starring. I'm loving the RP, and I can't wait to find out what happens next.

Oh, and I'm loving the fact that, after all this time playing "City of...", I'm playing missions I've literally never played before, fighting enemies I've never fought before even. I'm loving it!

Testing

I had some time to kill yesterday, so I copied Vagabond Blade and Captain Peterson over to Test to try and get an idea ahead of time of which custom weapons I'd want.

Vagz was easy. All along, he's supposed to have a longsword, not a broadsword, and the longsword model is perfect. I just have to decide what colors to make the sword. Might vary it a little between costumes. Haven't decided yet.

Will is a little tougher. I like the smaller model guns, but unlike a lot of people, I like the base model assault rifle because the thing actually looks like it can do all the different things an AR blaster can do. So the sniper rifle and military assault rifle look great... but they don't look like they can be switched between bullets and flamethrower. Then I took a look at a model Will has apparently earned: Council. It looks a lot like the multi-use guns from the movie "Aliens". We may have a winner... if Will has earned the same weapon redside. I really want both Wills carrying the same gun.

Once I was done playing with costume stuff, I went back to ScrapperVagz, and even though I'd told myself I was going to wait 'til the issue went live before looking at Ouroboros... I went. I started into the opening arc, played around with the new zone, etc. Found a couple bugs and reported them.

Then, in a mission, I found another hero. Weirdest bug ever, I thought, as I reported it. I was solo, and the guy's name was blue, so he wasn't on my team. Yet there he was. He didn't move at first, so I carried on a bit, fighting my way through, then came back to the mission entrance... and he was still there. I shrugged to myself and went back to fighting. Then I stepped AFK for a couple and came back.

And he was standing right next to Vagz. I broke down and asked him what was up. He told me he was taking mission captures for NCsoft and was taking some shots of me in action. Then with a smiley, he asked me to ignore him. Well, I was shocked and flattered, but I carried on. He appeared twice more... and then I never saw him again.

You'd better believe that if another I11 trailer comes out before I11's general release, I'm going to be downloading it in as large a resolution as they'll offer it. How awesome would it be to see your own character in an official video like that? :-D

Happy Halloween!

As Threatened... (mostly irrelevant)

Just like this blog post. :)

Okay, on behalf of Warshades everywhere, this one's kinda relevant. :D

David Styrm - Important Info

Keen's latest post combined with a few things that happened as we played made me think it might be helpful to everyone (myself included) to remind the players of a few things about Styrm. Keep in mind, some of this is stuff the characters might not know yet.

Styrm is a Genius
The player is most certainly NOT, but I try to play Styrm with a Lex Luthor/David Xanatos kind of genius. Brilliant technically, tactically, and financially. The battlesuit he's wearing now, he managed to build while imprisoned in the Zig. With a few upgrades made on the way to the Rogue Isles.

Styrm is Insane
Yeah, that fine line between genius and insanity everyone talks about? David has crossed it a bunch of times. Remember that the reason Team 2.0 went up against him in that giant mech is because his plans had been thwarted too many times. In response? He got into a giant battlemech and tried to smash his way through the War Walls to get at the people who got in his way.

Styrm is Evil
He is charismatic. He is smooth. He has a way with people. But what he really wants is the power and the resources to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. He will try to eliminate anyone who stands in his way. He can sound very nice... but he's evil to the core.

Styrm has People
Styrm is big on minions. Generally-speaking, he doesn't like to get his hands dirty if he doesn't have to. He has people for that sort of thing. Before now, he rarely took to the field himself if he didn't feel he had to, sending his Nights to do the work for him, leaving him looking much "cleaner". Now that he's a known and wanted criminal and his empire is once again in ruins, he's in the field because he pretty much has to. But he's still going to prefer that his people (that'd be you guys :) ) do a lot of the work.

Styrm is a Father
Thanks to genetic tampering, E and Styrm are both the father of Eve and therefore of the clone. David named the clone "Dawn". E called her "Jennifer". Eve's mother (and therefore, Jen's as well, sorta) is E's ex-wife, the psycho who tried to shoot down an airliner with a bazooka just to kill E.

Styrm has Goals
Now, he's not sharing these with anyone yet, but what Styrm wants right now is to rebuild his own assets and organization, and build his new Nights up to strength. Once he starts to feel confident about those things, his goals include taking Jen back and making E, Frost, Fyre, and Masonry pay for their roles in thwarting him. But that's long-term.

Which is not to say that Styrm won't pop into Pocket D for a drink...

Styrm Lives

I've just finished creating two new characters on Triumph. Both are parked in Outbreak and more or less ready to go. I have:

David Styrm, Robotics/Traps Mastermind
EREBOS, Energy Blast/Traps Corruptor

EREBOS will be the "main" or the one I level, only bringing out the "human" Styrm for RP and such.

What is "EREBOS"? Well, it's another acronym character. It stands for "Enhanced Reaction Energy Blast Offensive System". I wanted a "codename" or whatever for the battlesuit version but his original table-top codename has always been (intentionally) a little lame ("The Night Lord") and was already taken anyway. Did some poking around and websearching and discovered "Erebus" (also spelled "Erebos") as a Roman god of darkness.

This makes my fourth character to use an acronym for a name, HEADS (High Energy Amplification and Deployment System), TRAPS-1 (Tactical Response Armored Protection System, version 1), and REDS-27 (Robotic Electrical Discharge System - series 27) being the first three (in order of creation). HEADS (FF/eng defender) and TRAPS (eng/dev blaster) are long since deleted and REDS (elec/elec brute) is still over on Guardian.

Odd... I just realized all four of them end in "System". Huh.

Well, Evil Alt Sunday ought to be interesting.

David Styrm - The Night Lord

Okay, so I've started thinking about making another Styrm character, this time villainside. I blame Mason for setting those creative juices flowing.

First of all, as has been mentioned before, when Styrm goes into battle, he generally does so in a giant robotic battlesuit. That being the case, I would probably want to create two Styrms: one using the "huge" body model with maxed-out height or possibly just the "male" body with a bulked-out physique; the other being a "normal" Styrm, more than likely similar to the "hero" Styrm that I had for RP.

Now obviously I wouldn't be able to level both at the same time and keep up with whatever team we put together (assuming we put one together), so depending on the team, I'd probably level one and use the other strictly for RP. If the one being leveled is the "normal" one, I might not even bother creating the "battlesuit".

So here are my thoughts on potential archetypes and powersets:

David Styrm, "normal"
Assault Rifle/Traps Corruptor
Robotics/Traps Mastermind

The Night Lord, "battlesuit"
(could be just about anything)
Brute (Energy or Super Strength/Electric or Energy or Invuln)
Corruptor (Energy or Fire or Radiation/Radiation or Traps)
Dominator (Gravity or Mind/Energy or Fire)

Mostly, I'd be curious to see what other people would want to play before picking which Styrm to try and play. :)

Just a Random Post

Fyre and I were on Derick Darklight and Hex Raven a couple days ago (before Mas joined us on Idaho). We zoned into the Hollows and staring us in the face, wearing a black trenchcoat, was a character named "Styrm". I blinked, and the character leaped past us and headed into Atlas Park.

Well, really the character's name was "Stryn" (I'm glad Fyre's eyes focused faster than mine), but still: it caused quite a double-take. My villains that I create for my table-top games do have a way of intruding on me while they're being played, but Styrm does seem to enjoy popping up and saying "boo" once in a while.

My focus lately has been on Will (both Cpt. William Piett and Captain Peterson) and on Derick.

I really want to get HeroWill up to epic levels so I can get him a rocket launcher out of the Munitions Mastery pool. I know it's quite a ways off, but I can't wait. I want to get Piett up to 40 so we can get to some new missions, specifically ones I haven't done before. I've heard all the complaints about Grandville, but I've only been there twice, and both times it was just 'Ware Wolf running around Hidden so I could see the place. Will's RP has been a lot of fun and very interesting for me. I'm not entirely sure where he's headed. I'm just kinda playing with it as it goes for now.

Derick is doing the same old missions I've done hundreds of times (or so it seems), but I like his story, and as fun as it was to play the semi-newbie with Will, Derick is a Paragon citizen who's suddenly found himself one of the heroes. Total newbie! On top of that, his regular partners are even greener than he is, both Raven and Idaho barely knowing their own origins and having been conscious for maybe a month now each. It makes me laugh to imagine these three bumbling a little, and it just makes my jaw drop when I really read some of the things your contacts expect you to do. Defuse a bomb, deactivate a portal, retrieve a cursed artifact... "Wow," Derick is thinking, "you people are nuts!"

Amateur Photography

Ken (aka "Sleetsquall") and his robot sidekick "Beepy" gettin' sleety wid it. Crystal, meanwhile, pretends not to know them.

The world-famous physicist, Mason. Wow, Mas. Really lettin' yourself go there.
That's Rosie (aka "Khryo") in the background and Sleety Bob in the foreground.

My Warshade, Derick Darklight, after meeting with Sunstorm. Both of them are in "official" Kheldian costumes.

Hex Raven, Derick Darklight, and Keen Fortress. All lookin' pretty pleased with themselves after kicking some Circle of Thorn butts.

Another Altitis Idea

I was contemplating my altitis the other day, and another idea hit me. Remember I mentioned that it might be interesting to create identical-looking characters with different powers? Well, what if we took it a step further...

If we make use of the fact that in the font used for names a lower-case "L" and an upper-case "i" look identical, we could even make characters with the same name as well as the same look.

For example, off the top of my head, we could all be named "Final Iteration". One person replaces the "L" with an "i" (FinaI Iteration), one replaces the "i" with an "L" (Final lteration), and one person replaces both (FinaI lteration). Add in the person with the correct spelling, and we've got four characters with the same name. Make them all look identical, but then make them four different archetypes with vastly different powers.

Just a thought. And just so you know, the name is not something I'm attached to. :-)

ECHO

I'd like to point all my readers to the Dauntless Reverie's web-page. It's listed in my links.

Every fall, the Dauntless have a party called "ECHO". It's a big Virtue RP party. We have a DJ from "The Cape" and lots of chances to meet'n'greet. The theme was originally to come as your "echo" which could be your character's opposite or someone similar to your character. It's branched out further, though, so that people come dressed as just about anything. Think of it as a costume party for people who wear costumes. :-)

The party this year is Sunday, October 14th, 6PM Eastern.

It's Been a While...

A lot's happened both in-game and out. I'll likely confine myself to the in-game stuff, though. Bear with me as I try to summarize... and probably go off on tangents.

Will
Will is now walking the line. Mostly because of the example set by Fyre (granted, kinda in reverse), Will went back to Paragon. He found a PPD desperate for more men, especially experienced ones who, at least from a legal standpoint, had only been on a leave of absence. They shoved his badge back at him, got him a Hero ID so he could make full use of his talents and equipment, and threw him out on the streets. For all intents and purposes, William Piett and Bill Peterson are two entirely different people. And so far, Will's keeping it that way. He's slowly finding the "protect and serve" that he lost when the Rikti wiped out Baumton, but so far, that's not actually making his time spent with Fyre in the Isles any harder. At the level we're at, the foes on both sides of the fence are pretty much the same: Thorns, Carnies, Devouring Earth, Nemesis... heck, Fyre & Will are even getting "rescue the citizens of St. Martial" missions.

Mechanically, Mo is turning HeroWill into a killing machine. With her buffs and healing, he's not squishy at all and his snipe is Fortitude + Build-Up (+ red insp) + Sniper Shot = instant death for yellow-cons and below. He's even one-shotted a few orange-cons. As a companion, Mo is a lot different from Fyre. She's more open and more into magic. Will's family is Welsh, so he grew up hearing stories of the Fae. He didn't believe them until recently (yes, even with all the weirdness of Paragon and the Isles), but he's slowly remembering things he'd heard and trying to find the books his grandmother gave him. He teases Mo some and expects her to tease him back. To him, they're team-mates. Partners. And so he acts toward her much the same as he would toward a fellow officer.

Things with Fyre are a lot different. Will sees her as a friend, although he worries often that she doesn't view their relationship the same way. He finds her easy to talk to under almost any circumstances, and he feels like they have a lot in common, especially after the most recent revelations. But things have gotten a little awkward, and Will himself has been having his share of issues. Rikti, Boomtown, and a recent problem with Nemesis messing with him has kept Will less focused than normal. Maybe he just needs a vacation. :)

Team Cold
I'd write out the SG name, but frankly, I can't remember it. :-P

I have fun creating alts and trying out new power-set combinations. I also have a blast coming up with and playing new character concepts or working with old ones to come up with something new. The recent attack of Altitis Sundays replacing Task/Strike Force Sundays has been a blast. This ice-based team is so far my absolute favorite. The characters all have stuff in common but all have a lot of differences, too. There's a fairly good-sized pool of ice powers to choose from, so even the thematic overlap hasn't left anyone feeling redundant (I don't think). I gotta say, I'm glad Mason decided to create the tank, though. I would've done it if we didn't have one, but I stink at tanking. That and a brute have been the only archetypes I just can't seem to get my brain around properly.

In any case, it's tough waiting for nights where we can get the whole team together 'cause I want to play the ice guys (and girls)! I'm looking forward to a bit more development character-wise, but since I've already seen glimpses of it, I'm not worried. It'll happen.

Miscellany
It feels like a lot more than that's been going on. Maybe it's the depth of the plots Will is involved in. Maybe it's the RL issues that I don't feel like talking about right now. I've had some trouble focusing on the game sometimes. I find myself getting a bit distracted mentally and realizing I've gone through entire missions without saying a word. There's been a lot on my mind lately, and one of the things I do to deal with it is play games and hang out with friends. Yeah, even if it's hanging out in a virtual world.

Mason, if you're reading this, when we say we understand about you being distracted, pre-occupied, needing to tend to RL, etc., I want you to know I'm not just saying that. Been there, been through that, and heck, it still happens. Don't feel bad. It's a game. We're supposed to have fun, not feel obligated to play it. :)

The Roster (be afraid)

Freedom
Railroad Spike (lvl 17 spines/regen scrapper)
Forest's Chill (lvl 9 arch/ice blaster)

Guardian
Ryu Tatsu (lvl 27 ninja/poison MM)
Eryx the Hunter (lvl 20 AR/traps corruptor)
REDS-27 (lvl 13 elec/elec brute)
Adrien Sanies (lvl 12 dark/rad corruptor)
Daren Skye (lvl 12 WS)
Sthiss Tor (lvl 8 plant/fire dom)
Forge Thief (lvl 7 rad/therm corruptor)
Unkindest (lvl 7 ninja/ninja stalker)
Frost Guardian (lvl 6 ice/ice tank)
Loki Felinus (lvl 6 claws/SR stalker)
Final Frontiersman (lvl 5 dark/invuln scrapper)
Johnny Slam (lvl 5 invuln/SS tank)
Polaricer (lvl 3 ice/ice blaster)

Pinnacle (one additional on this server created by a friend)
Immortal Torak (lvl 8 BS/invuln scrapper)
Dying Wail (lvl 7 sonic/dark corruptor)
Cool Vibe (lvl 4 ice/sonic controller)
Sunset Samurai (lvl 4 katana/SR scrapper)
Scorching Scot (lvl 3 fire/EA brute)

Triumph
Narhari (lvl 9 claws/regen scrapper)
Corvus Venator (lvl 8 TA/arch defender)

Victory (a few others on this server not intended for play)
Shu G'ar Fiend (lvl 9 kin/elec defender)
E.VAC (lvl 5 rad/therm corruptor) [JenE]
Sunshine Daisy [DON'T ASK] (lvl 5 ill/sonic controller)
Todd Skye (lvl 5 PB)
Peek at You (lvl 3 elec/elec blaster)
Capt. William Piett (lvl 2 merc/FF MM) [BetaWill]

Virtue
E-VAC (lvl 50 emp/psy/psi defender) [E1]
Vagabond Mage (lvl 50 fire/elec/force blaster) [BigVagz]
E.VAC (lvl 49 ill/rad/primal controller) [E2]
Vagabond Blade (lvl 47 BS/regen/body scrapper) [ScrapperVagz]
'Ware Wolf (lvl 36 MA/EA stalker)
Cpt. William Piett (lvl 34 merc/FF MM)
Jack Royale (lvl 29 grav/storm controller)
Speed Trial (lvl 28 kin/rad defender)
Vagabond Magus (lvl 25 fire/FF controller) [ControllerVagz]
Captain Peterson (lvl 11 AR/energy blaster) [HeroWill]
Gray Wizard (lvl 8 fire/cold corruptor) [VillainVagz]
Lost Phantom (lvl 8 dark/dark stalker) [E3]

So... Now What?

With the exception of Will, whose story is progressing very nicely, I am stuck. I've got the RP version of writer's block with every other character I've got. There's stuff I want to do. Stuff I should do. Characters that deserve some attention. And yet...

E-VAC / E.VAC / Lost Phantom
E's in a coma. His greatest foe has been vanquished. But the story has continued without him, important things happening to Fyre, Masonry, and the Keens. I had a couple ideas for E's astrally-projected self... but his one visit seemed to have all the effect I could've wanted. Bringing him out more just feels redundant, and at level 8, he's hopelessly behind everyone else level-wise.

Does E come out of his coma, then? Do I try and get E2 from 49 to 50? And then what? I just don't see where to take this. Or even whether.

Vagabond Mage / Vagabond Blade / Vagabond Magus / Gray Wizard
Vagz is known pretty widely. He's meddled in almost every ongoing plot, usually in a minor way. I love playing the character just in general, but it feels like his only reason for existing is to act as an element in other people's stories. While that's not entirely bad, unwanted meddling is going to get him in trouble rather than making him any friends. I had an idea a while back for something bad to happen to him, but... well, I'm not sure how many people would be interested or how many characters would care. I think Vagz has become too distant. I don't know what I can do to bring him back down. Something to think about, though.

Jack Royale
I originally created this character to join an SG made by an old friend of mine. The concept was a family who had all acquired powers through various means and battled evil together. Kind of the hero version of the Royal Flush Gang. When that concept group broke up and the other people in the SG disappeared, Jack languished. Other than BigVagz and ScrapperVagz, he's the only character who's been around since before the first anniversary of the game. He had some life brought back to him teaming with Fyre's PB... but now I haven't played him in a very long time. I love his powers and his attitude, but... well, he can't really solo. I have no idea what to do with him.

Speed Trial
I love his powersets. I love his attitude. I have a blast playing this character... but I have no one to play him with. He doesn't really have a story. He's my character that I just have fun with. No drama, no angst... just a punk kid who thinks super-powers are awesome. But unfortunately, there's no story in that. And no real connections. And so he's a character with no friends, no team-mates, and powersets that make soloing with him a long, slow, tedious process.

So... Now What?
Just like the title says, I'm left staring at my list of characters wondering what to do next. It feels like Will's is the only story I'm telling right now. I need alternatives. Something else to play alongside it so when those nights come where I'm thinking "you know, Will needs a break" or I just want a break from playing "pet-wrangler", I've got something else to play.

Hopefully, inspiration will come.

More Pictures

A painting decorating the wall of the Longbow Officers' Club. I like the painting, and I'm betting it's a real one. I'd like to know the artist, if anyone recognizes it.

The first of many new toys Will acquired recently that bothered Fyre. This is a Malta Sapper gun. Unfortunately, as a temp power, there were a limited number of shots in it... and they're all gone. WANT MORE! :-D

This is the second. Yes, my friends, Will was packing a quantum rifle. This one had a special modification on it. Once the target Kheldian (in this case, a warshade named "Romulus") was down, you could switch the rifle into a special mode and permanently seperate Kheldian and host. Will... refused to do this.

As he explained to Fyre and Havoc, he doesn't mind killing. He actively seeks out new and better weapons for more efficient killing. But with this quantum gun, he was being asked to hurt someone. Not kill. Not eliminate. Not scare off. Actively cause lasting pain. Torture. Will refused to do so, and after firing the gun a couple times in low-power mode (so as to technically fulfill his mission), he switched back to his automatic. And when Romulus was defeated, Will let the hospital teleporter get him.

Then he destroyed the special modification and tossed the quantum gun aside.

Update

Yeah, it's been a while since my last blog post. Things have been going on in real life to keep me distracted, not the least of which is losing my job and then starting a new one. I've been enjoying just playing the game. Which is not to say I've just been power-gaming. On the contrary, a lot of new RP has been opened up since my last entry.

Ryu Tatsu
We got T3 to level 27, but... well, it's looking like the team isn't going to go anywhere. The characters are too different, too disconnected, and the disinterest, I think, is growing. I don't know what will become of the rest of the team, but for me... well, ever since revealing Ryu's reasons for being in the Isles, it feels like... well, it feels like he's done. There's not really anything else there.

Cpt. William Piett
New things are popping up all the time for Will. Fyre is proving to be both a good and bad influence on him at the same time. I expected one or the other, but both? It's weird. Fun, interesting, and leading to all sorts of story... but weird all the same. I've already created an alternate Will which prompted a nice piece of RP. Hard to say exactly where it'll go.

There's also some complications with Ges, one of the Nazi characters Masonry has. Will was willing to ignore the kind of person Ges was because all he wanted him for was another fighter. And he's definitely good at that. Unfortunately, and both Will and I were dreading this, conversation came up and discussions of Ges' background came up. Made for some fairly uncomfortable moments. Yet somehow, less uncomfortable than "Master Masonry". :)

The Grey Wizard
After a conversation between Fyre and Vagz, I re-created "VillainVagz". He's a fire/cold corruptor, and so far, he's only level 8. Re-kindling a connection to Angel Noir first established during the Winter Event, it was definitely an interesting duo. Although for some reason, Mal'ing down Angel had a rather nasty effect on the XP I was earning. But yes, Vagz is visiting the Rogue Isles once more.

Corvus Venator
I deleted him to make room for new alts, but missed him almost immediately. I liked the look I'd made for him. When I found myself stumped for a look for a "fun" alt over on Triumph... well, naturally I re-created him. He went from a claws/SR scrapper to a TA/Archery defender. Other than that, I intend for him to be the same character.

Also deleted and missed is Derick Darklight, my warshade. I liked the story I'd crafted for him. He had a great look, and I would've liked to RP him more... but I wasn't playing him, and I was starting to not look forward to more warshade stuff. Oh, well. Maybe eventually he'll come back.

Proto-Rikti

The moment I'd been waiting for with Will finally came. Well, one of them, anyway.

Even though Fyre tried to tell him very early on about the connection between the Lost and the Rikti, he was in complete denial over it. He used poorly-founded arguments, stupid little details, and ultimately just blind denial to keep from having to acknowledge that she was right. No, not because it was Fyre. Statesman or Recluse could've come to him and told him every detail in person, and he would've mustered the exact same amount of resistance to the idea. Possibly more with Recluse.

To recap, back when Cpt. William Piett was Cpt. Bill Peterson of the PCPD SWAT, he lived in Baumton ("Boomtown"). He had a wife, two kids, a dog, and a whole lot of friends and relatives, all living in the same area. In early 2002, he was working a lot, away from his family and friends, trying to help clean up the street crime that plagued Paragon City. Except for a few of his co-workers that he was chummy with, everyone he loved and cared about died in the Rikti invasion. He hates the Rikti as the aliens that took his life away. To a far lesser (and strictly subconscious) extent, he hates the heroes of Paragon for not saving his family as well as blaming them for why he wasn't there to protect his family. He and some of his co-workers, each with their own reasons, left Paragon City. They are the mercenaries.

So why the denial about the Lost? Will could deal with an alien invasion force trying to wipe out humanity. He deals with it badly, but it's... acceptable, I think is the best word for it. Finding out that the invasion force is a group of mutated humans? That most of this second invasion is made up of humans from our own world? It's not so easy to deal with the idea that one of the gangs that lives on the unmarked graves of his friends and family is basically trying to hook up with the people that razed Baumton in the first place.

In any case, at level 30, "Lost" missions become "Rikti" missions. So as you do "Lost" missions at level 28-30, increasing numbers of the mobs will be true Rikti instead of the mutated Lost. We had our first one of those last night. Will's been building up to this because, as Fyre pointed out, the Pariahs are pretty much short Rikti with hoods. He's been trying, consciously and unconsciously to ignore what they meant. Then we rounded a corner and found Rikti Infantry and Drones. It was a shock, and part of his brain shut down. He started babbling.

In the next room, there was a Rifleman, more Infantry, and a Communications Officer. Will lost it. He started shouting and running from room to room, gunning down or pummeling every Lost and Rikti he could find, acting recklessly (and thanks to Fyre and the pets, not getting in any danger) and finally the mercs had to tackle him and pin him to the ground to make him stop. Lt. Sinatra (the commando) talked to Fyre. She didn't say very much, but it seemed clear she understood to an extent what Will was going through. Even later, while Will was still partly off in his own little mental world, she still seemed concerned.

What comes next for Will vs. the Rikti? No idea. Just gonna play it by ear. :)

The Leviathan

If you have never done the CoV story-arc revolving around the "Cult of the Shaper", I highly recommend it. The storyline is interesting, but the real pay-off is getting to visit these caverns.

Some think this is a mouth or... other orifice. Personally, I think it looks more like an eye socket...

And then there are the teeth...

The Best Laid Plans of Dragons...

Well, Ryu finally laid his hand down on the table. For those who weren't there or weren't paying attention, here it is in a nutshell.

The dragons in Japan are dying out. They are being crowded out by humanity, especially modern humanity. And since tatsu (Japanese dragons) are born as carp, they've also been fished out or captured. Ryu's mate was killed in the bombing of Hiroshima.

So the Dragon King (Ryuujin) sent Ka-Riu out with the last clutch of dragon eggs to find them a new home. Tatsu need humanity, space, low-predator waters, and a food supply. Ka-Riu picked the Rogue Isles because the current leader has no interest in the isles themselves. His plan is to topple the current government, set up a new leader, and then help improve the isles, both to make them a good place to raise dragons as well as to make it a better place for humanity.

Yeah, it was a bit of a reach even as I was writing it, but I still like it as a backstory, plot-holes and all.

Prognosis: Not Good

Dr. Nguyen slammed down his clipboard and buried his face in his hands. He sighed loudly and moved to massage his temples. He looked down at the clipboard. He looked up at the machines. He looked over at the computer. They all said the same thing they did the day before. They all gave the same information.

But what the hell does it mean? he thought, and not for the first time.

Dr. Pace was still alive. But for the second day in a row, his brain activity dropped to almost undetectable levels. If it was like the day before, when everyone panicked, it'd last for an hour or two... and then shoot right back up.

But what the hell does it mean?

Oh, Captain, my Captain.

I know I've started a lot of posts this way lately, but...

It's hard, sometimes, to play a character who is an outsider to your own story. It's difficult to separate Piett from what I know from playing E for so long. And lately, I've had some moments where I've had a hard time remembering what Piett has heard or been told versus what I know because I was E. Heck, I'm pretty sure I've screwed up that separation a few times, usually erring on the side of "he doesn't know", leaving others to remind him (IC or OOC) that he really should know by now.

In any case, the Rikti are definitely not freaking Will out as much as I thought they were going to. They are freaking him out, especially when he's hip-deep in them for too long, but he gets back to "normal" pretty quickly. Does that mean he's all right? Hell, no. It means he's in even more layers of denial than I thought when I created him. And it actually gets easier to bury himself in denial when there's more people around. More to think about, more to keep track of, and more reason for him to put on his game-face and focus on the work.

No, I'm not suggesting less teaming. Don't be paranoid. I love the teaming.

When it comes to Master Masonry, Will doesn't trust him in the slightest. Mas keeps asking some very (to Will) personal questions. The probing just makes him that much more determined to keep his own council. There's something seriously wrong with this "hero" who leads a pack of thugs around, breaking their necks when he's unhappy. The only thing Will knows for sure right now is that he's got to be ready to try and take Mas out if it becomes necessary. How? Well, he's got some ideas...

Then there's Keen Havoc. Fyre and Mas treat him like "instant friend" because of his relationship to the other Keens (Stronghold and Frost). Will thinks they're nuts to do so. He's very obviously his own person with his own (hidden) agenda and plans. He seems like a decent (if rude) fellow, but the more decent someone on the Isles seems, the less likely they are to actually be decent.

As far as Ges and Schlachtfeld go, Will thinks of them as decent soldiers and somewhat useful. If they actually are Nazis... well, there's worse on the Isles. So long as all they're doing is work, it's fine. Just... don't want to get into a political or philosophical discussion.

Then there's Fyre-Hex. Will feels very protective of her, but he's confused as to whether he's having bodyguard feelings, fatherly feelings, or if he's developing a crush. She is quite capable of handling almost anything the Isles can dish out at her, and yet... why is someone like her on the Isles in the first place? He's taken rich idiots into dangerous places before, usually to see them lose their lunch and beg to be taken home. He's worked with heroes and villains before, but Fyre... it's like she's both at the same time. The player obviously knows a few things the character doesn't, so the character is still pretty confused about the whole situation.

Oh, and after last night's conversation, I think I pretty much have to put some more levels on my newest Virtue alt Lost Phantom. The RP idea that made me create him in the first place seems like even more of an interesting idea now. I just have to find a way to get some more levels on him so I can pull it off.

*chuckles evilly*

The Hive

Taken during the Lady Grey TF. I still don't have a villain of high enough level to visit the new zone. The views were amazing, though, and make a great desktop image. :)

It's Hard...

...to let a character properly freak out when you're busy (1) keeping your pets and teammate(s) alive and (2) lagging really badly. Or maybe I've under-estimated Will. Or maybe both. Or maybe it's just that he's building up to a total melt-down when he finally sees the RWZ.

Whatever the reason, so far Will's reaction is milder than I had expected, consisting mostly of borderline paranoia (he's constantly checking the sky) and semi-fatalism ("We're all gonna die!"). He and his boys want to sign up with Vanguard and battle the Rikti threat wherever they can. An understandable reaction when you realize that all of them lost friends and family in the first Rikti invasion.

I busted out Will's new "Invasion" costume. Once again used the "Stealth" pieces as the base (chest and legs), but he's got the shield-projector gloves on still along with his new rocket boots and a helmet. I like the stealth set a lot, as those who've seen my most recent characters can probably guess. It's a good "light armor" alternative to the flak jacket. Most the other "light armor" costume pieces just don't look right to me.

In any case, I wish that it was possible to get Will into the RWZ while the event is still going on, but a run from 22 to 35 just isn't possible without cheating. So the invasion zone events will get fewer and farther between before Will sees what's happened to the crash site. That'll be interesting, but a long way off at this point.

I've got some screenshots from the weekend I meant to post. Maybe I'll remember when I get home tonight.

Random

Vagabond Mage attempting to teach the Devouring Earth the "Electric Slide".

E watches daytime television. Recluse is plugging his autobiography on "Oprah".

Futura Force plugging the idea of nanosurgery to E. StarWyng on top, then Kit (Equilibria), Lodestar (Masonry Redux), and Scott (Soldier Futura). I think Mas is flexing.

"They're moving in herds... they do move in herds..."

And last, but not least, this is what Jen would've looked like as E-VAC III.

Times Gone Past

One of the many faceplants Team Angst had against Infernal. E-VAC face-down in a pool of blood.

E-VAC (Kit's containment suit, still in Longbow) & Keen Frost (when the piston boots were new).

E-VAC (heavy operations armor) and Fyre Hex. Before Team Angst.

E-VAC & Masonry during the winter event. Also, see above.

Team 1.0 having just rescued Statesman.

Current Pics

Captain William Piett. Motorcycle jacket + leather pants = badass.

Vagabond Mage, sporting his new "yes, I'm in Vanguard, thankye" uniform.

Wizards don't always have to dress in robes or other medieval-looking outfits, after all.

Ryu and his servants, meditating in a Circle of Thorns cave.

Oh, the Rikti are Invading?

Last night, Will got his Dipersion Bubble.

Let the drama commence. :-D

Just Another Random Update

For those who've been wondering (just a couple of you, maybe), I was really hoping Will would finally (IC) figure out how to project a force field around himself. i.e. (OOC) I wanted to get Dispersion Bubble (not PFF) before the Invasion. As it is right now, Fyre and I have agreed to ignore the invasion for RP purposes for a few days 'til we're both ready for the drama it's going to cause. I don't want to wait too much longer, though, 'cause I read the event is only going to last for two weeks. Hopefully, I can get Will his big bubble before the week is out.

With Keen about to disappear on us for an indeterminate period of time, though, T3 could probably use a little more attention. It sounds like the current plan is to shelve T3 while Keen is away. Which is okay by me. Lord knows I've got enough characters on the shelf just gathering dust. And I really do want to get Vagz (all three of him) wading into the I10 fun.

I've got a new character (relatively: I created him a couple weeks ago, got him to 5, and stopped) that I created for potential RP. Unfortunately, I need to get him to a certain level before I allow him to be seen by the people I want to RP him with, and it's slow-going to level him solo, especially since I don't solo much. I suppose I could try and get on PUGs with him, but it's no secret: generally-speaking, I loathe PUGs. I can tolerate them if I'm on them with a friend or two (snarking in /tells helps me deal), but a couple of deaths or slow going in a non-RP team, and I get bored or irritated and start looking for something else to do. In any case, with the invasion going on, it's probably not the right time for the RP I was contemplating, so I'll shelve the idea for a little while. Get the character a level or two at a time, maybe. We'll see.

I've got a number of characters I'd love to RP the invasion with (Derick Darklight, Jack Royale, and Speed Trial all come immediately to mind), but a limited time for actually playing the game. And I admit to being kinda fixated on the Fyre/Will dynamic at the moment. From what I hear, there's a thread in the Virtue forums where people are writing out their characters' reactions to the invasion in a kind of "where were you when..." scenario. I might end up doing that here since this is the only CoX-related forum I can access from work, so don't be shocked if I do a little writing based on a character you've never heard of. :-D

Oh, and I want to thank Fyre, Keen, and Masonry for all the screenshots they've been posting lately. Since I mostly post from work, I don't have that capability unless I remember to do it at home. And as you can guess, I'm usually distracted by actually playing once I'm home. :)

Issue 10 - Invasion!

One of the things I love about City of Heroes/Villains is how beautiful the game is. They've got fantastic graphics, beautiful city-scapes, and if you ever get the chance, look up. I've got screenshots of the night sky just because it's so striking. And I look forward to seeing the new War Zone.

Which brings me to I10. I logged in on Vagabond Blade, aka ScrapperVagz, and found myself on Peregrine Island. It had been a while since I logged this character in, so I couldn't remember where I'd left him, only that the last thing I'd done was respec him into a travel power (yeah, Fyre: at long last, I know). I looked around and immediately noticed the color of the sky was an eerie greenish-blackish-brown color. And before it could really register...

KA-BOOM!!

Yeah, I'd zoned in not only in the middle of a bombing run, but right under one. Luckily, Fyre and I had chosen to start out on the scrappers because of their survivability, and I panned up to see what was lobbing bombs at me.

The drop ships are incredible. The UXBs they were leaving around are amazingly detailed. The dropping bombs, the changed sky... wow.

We headed to Founders Falls to intercept the newest attack, and the first thing I noticed was that the War Walls were down. I flew up there because I could quite clearly see the terrain on the far side of the wall. But the walls aren't mechanically down. Just graphically. Once you get right up close to where the force field would be, you can see it and can't move past it. Nice work, devs. Honestly.

Then I went looking for the re-designed Rikti. Okay, I know I'm gushing at this point, but wow again. No more naked Rikti. All of them are armored to one extent or another. The new swords are stunning, and the new Rikti types and armors are just amazing.

Then it hit. The lag. The rubber-banding. The whining in Broadcast. The slideshow-like combat. It was like "bullet-time" from the Matrix only... not cool.

[rant]
It drives me crazy that people will gather in large groups on the day a new issue comes out in already-crowded and laggy spots (like near the Talos tram stop). They've got all their powers, capes, and auras on. All 100+ of them are trying to fight spawning enemies from a new zone event that everyone is trying to get in on. And they're spamming Broadcast, bitching about the lag. Well, DUUUUHHH...

And to make it even more irritating, they're blaming it on the server and on the devs and programmers. "No, you idiot," I want to tell them. "It's the fact that you've joined a crowd of 200 people in the laggiest, most crowded spot on the second-busiest server available in the game!" Don't blame the server. Go find a less-crowded server, a less-crowded spot, or just deal with it. Heck, the event and the Issue are going to be around for a while. Wait a few days!
[/rant]

Once the "ooh, shiny" factor has had a chance to wear a bit, I fully intend to take both Vagabond Mage and ScrapperVagz into the WarZone and start working on the content there. I look forward to seeing the new zone and expanding Vagz' wardrobe. :)

Weekend Recap

Ryu Tatsu
I put the demon wings on him. They look great, make him look much more impressive (to my mind), and definitely make people go "dragon!". I might eventually want a pair of the Invention: Dragon Wings, but I'm having a hard enough time affording IOs and SOs, let alone spending infamy on costume pieces.

Silver Mantis Strike Force was a pretty fun SF... right 'til the very end. That last mission was a miserable pain in the butt. I don't plan to ever run that one again on any character. There was no room to breathe, no place to pause, and too many powerful guns with insane range. Not to mention the sheer number of times I was getting "TARGET BLOCKED" from something or someone that was shooting me. Sky Raiders are annoying in general, but their base...

Ryu has hit 24 and is now packing Assault and Tactics. I noticed the damage increase immediately with Assault. I didn't notice the boost from Tactics. Maybe the others did. I hope they did. Accuracy boosts are almost always welcome, so we'll see if I wasted my time or not. Will Ryu get Vengeance? Well, if Bomber stays suicidal, it might be worth taking, even though I consider the power morbid. I've got other things that'll be cropping up, though. Like Ryu's pet demon... >:-)

Cpt. William Piett
Will hit 20 and got Stamina. Oh, it was such a relief. A noticeable difference even slotted with just 1 DO. The set-up was getting to the point where I had to pause or pop a blue in order to get the pets all set up between summons, shields, and upgrades. Just like with Ryu, now I can look forward to getting the powers I want to get instead of the ones I need to get.

Will's got some issues he's keeping hidden from Fyre at the moment. Most of those will come exploding out when the Rikti re-invade. He finally told her some of his background, but he glossed over a few things. I think the player got more out of what Will said than Fyre did, but once a few more things come out, it'll come closer to home on Fyre.

Future
As soon as I10 hits live, it's going to be chaotic. I know I want to start playing with the new content, especially with Vagz, but I also know everyone else will, too. There'll probably end up being 5-6 instances of the Rikti War Zone, each one laggier than the last. The contacts will be crowded, and Broadcast will be useless. The number of PL requests in the mid- to late-20s will probably explode.

But still, I'm looking forward to this issue. The stuff being added in sounds really enjoyable, and it'll make some of the plots more interesting as well as giving us something new to play with. I can't wait to see what'll happen.

Ryu's Wings - poll

Traditionally, the tatsu or Japanese dragon is depicted without wings just as the Chinese and Korean dragons. Occasionally, they are depicted with wings, but when they are, they're usually small.

However, I've been browsing the web, looking for stories of Ka-Riu, and the last two I read specifically mention his wings. One of them even referred to his mighty wings.

The costume I've got now is wingless more in keeping with tradition, but I've been debating about adding wings, partly because most people (myself included) expect a dragon to have wings. Red scales or not, without wings people are going to think he's a snake- or lizard-man. I should add that, in my head, when in this "costume", he should appear as a dragon, not a dragon-man. But, you know: limitations of the game and all.

I would like to hear opinions on the matter.

Thought for the Day

I have discovered it is very difficult to play Ryu properly when I'm grumpy.

Yesterday was kind of a bad day. Very busy at work and at lunch, one of the belts in my car's engine snapped and knocked the other belts off in the process. Had to leave work early, get towed to the mechanic, make sure the belts were the only thing wrong, and make arrangements for transportation for today. End result? CrankyVagz.

Now Ryu is supposed to be ultra-polite with very little ruffling his feathers (scales?) one way or the other. During a fight, the ninjas do all the fighting with me debuffing the enemy, healing the pets and the team, and maybe taking a shot or two of my own. Usually, it's fun, it's interesting, it's different, and I feel like I get to be creative with how I fight. I can be a villain without being Evil(tm), and the RP we're building is interesting.

But honestly, after the day I had, switching over to Will and shooting things was much more relaxing. I hope everyone will write off Ryu's "off" day to his building hunger for real food. :)

And next time I'm feeling grumpy, I'll just have to remember I need to play somebody else.

Reptile Fetish

Yesterday was a good Task Fo... er, Strike Force Sunday. That first Strike Force is, to me, interesting and a lot of fun. I think we did really well on it, even though we struggled a bit to begin with. I think that had more to do with the fact that we were on a slightly-increased difficulty level and while we were all at 18, the mobs were spawning at 20-21. It became much easier once we all hit 19. The fact that by the end of the SF (and 1 newspaper mission to nudge the Bomber over) we were all 20 (except for our special guest star, the Green Corruptor, who started out a level behind us) was just icing on the cake.

So the next step was, naturally, the costume slot mission and the cape mission. The costume slot mission was the standard hunt, and although one of the ambushes kinda surprised me, we banged it out pretty quick. Only one of us actually wanted a cape, but if we were gonna do the mission for one, we might as well all do it and get the auto-complete. After all, we may not want a cape now...

If you've been following this blog or the associated ones at all, though, you know what that second costume slot means for Ryu. He can finally "reveal" himself as a dragon to his teammates, something I think all the players have been kinda waiting for. I had it in my head that, with Ryu getting hungrier and hungrier, once I had the costume, I'd wait for a defeat or a near-defeat (something that would really irritate Ryu) and have him change and go nuts. Dramatic, shocking reveal and all that.

The story said "no, we're not gonna do it that way".

After a dinner and costuming break, T3 started talking. First about Zen, then about Kain's costume change and powers. We were talking about how over-exposure to radiation is what gave Kain his powers, and just for a laugh, I threw out that something similar had happened to a friend of Ryu's and now he spewed radiation from his mouth.

Yeah, Godzilla reference. Sue me.

But instead of being a throw-away joke reference (like Ryu saying "I am not afraid of any ghost"), Luna and Bomber pursued it. I won't quote the conversation, but the reptile fetish thing that Luna brought up way back came up again, and the muse nudged me. Ryu isn't a rampaging monster, it reminded me. He would just tell people sooner or later. Do it now.

Oh, all right.

I'd designed the costume in my head back when I created the character. When I sat down to the costume creator that first time, I built Ryu's "second" costume first. Then I converted it into the human form that became his "first" costume. You can change faces, skin color, claws, hair... everything on the character is mutable from costume to costume. Except height and base body design. So Ryu had to be ready to be turned into a whip-thin seven-foot-long Japanese dragon.

That did make my job at the Facemaker very easy once the second costume slot was open. The only debate was wings. Traditionally, Japanese dragons don't have them, but people (myself included) would be kind of expecting them. I decided to go without for now. I can always add them later if I change my mind.

So, with a "I trust you three" and "let's keep this between us", Ryu stepped out of alakazamreact as a dragon. Oh, that was a fun pose, and a great scene to watch and play in. I'm not sure if the reactions would've been bigger if the players hadn't been expecting it. Kain had the reaction I expected (a slight raise of the eyebrow and the equivalent of "huh"). I had expected Luna's reaction to be bigger and more horrified, but she took it quite in stride ("Oh, so that's why it's tough to make you invisible. You don't look like that."). Bomber's reaction was fun. The insane person thinking he's going insane.

Once all three had gotten over their initial reactions, the conversation kept going, and that was fun, too. I revealed a couple of the cards I'd been keeping hidden. "Ryu Tatsu" is actually "Ka-Riu" (also spelled "Ka-Ryu"), one of the dragon lords of Japanese folklore. His seven-foot "height" is his full and actual size, he is fiery red, and an acid-spitter. (Search the web for more info if you're curious. I did a little research before creating this character. :) )

Ryu revealed that he is starting to get very hungry. The food available in the Isles is not suited to his needs and Arachnos has confiscated his attempts to import what he needs. And he also revealed that he has other needs that are not being met... but was somewhat shy and changed the subject. The others let him (or to be more accurate, it was very easy to distract Bomber), and so the only other "card" that got tipped was when Ryu said that his servants aren't what they appear to be either.

As a side note, we also got a little more of the Bombardier's back-story. I'll let Mason post on that in detail, but Ryu (and his player) loves stories, especially those that tell how things came to be as they are. But he is also polite, so when Bomber says "I don't want to talk about it any more", as far as Ryu is concerned, the subject is closed. Ryu's player, on the other hand, would love to push for more backstory from all the characters. Especially, at this point, Luna, who has been pretty quiet and hasn't shared much more of her story than is in her bio.

I think, though, that each member of T3 has now put out their backstory a bit. We've teased each other with some of the secrets our characters are keeping, so I think we're finally past the introduction/prologue of this story and into "chapter 1", the beginning of which I place on the Strike Force.

Now what happens next?

More Incidents at Steel Canyon Med

Dr. Scott Nguyen walked down the deserted corridor toward the lab and containment unit. It was very late, but he hadn't been able to sleep. A new idea had struck him, and he knew he wouldn't be able to rest until he ran the models on it. It wasn't terribly unusual for him to stay late at the lab, but going back at this hour? Well, at least he wouldn't be sharing the space with the rest of the team for a change. Hard to work with all those elbows bumping together.

He rounded the last corner and his shoes squeaked on the freshly-mopped floor as he skidded to a halt. There were figures in the hallway. Three of about average size, but on had to be at least seven to eight feet tall. And all four of them were glowing like dying flourescent bulbs.

It's one thing to see them on the security cameras, the doctor thought to himself, swallowing hard. It's quite another to see real ghosts standing guard outside the room. He steeled himself and continued walking. Nothing to be afraid of. Just figments. They haven't hurt anyone.

Dr. Nguyen looked up at the tall, faceless figure as he stopped in front of the door. "H-hi... umm... Doppleganger, isn't it?" As he had heard, the four figures didn't react to him except to stand and stare. Silently threatening. Panic started building in the doctor, and he began to sweat. "I'm just going to run another model," he found himself telling the ghosts as he fumbled his security code. "We're going to help Dr. Pace. Really."

Finally, he managed to get the door open and get inside. He breathed a sigh and flicked on the lights, fighting the panic and fear that seemed to come across him in waves. Just ghosts, he kept telling himself. Nothing to worry about...

He turned to power up the computer and picked up a tray of instruments, intending to draw some blood. He turned back around and the instruments clattered, crashed, and shattered across the floor.

The ghosts had surrounded him, the largest one standing firmly between the doctor and his patient. The three smaller ones glared, pounding their fists into their hands. The largest... well, without a face, it was hard to be sure, but the fear and panic took over. Dr. Nguyen found himself trying to make a run for it. Icy shards shot past his head. A flaming sword clipped his shoulder, setting his lab coat aflame. Bolts of pure energy slammed into his lower back, sending him flying into the hallway, his head hitting the wall with a crack.

* * * * * * * * * *

The next day, Dr. Nguyen found himself a patient in his own hospital. He was treated for a concussion and bruised ribs. When he finally managed to talk his way out of bed, he put back on his lab coat (odd that it was unmarked since he was sure he'd been burned). He stalked through the hallways to his office and began making phone calls to M.A.G.I.

"Yes, I know you can't give me her home number," he barked at the far-too-patient voice on the other end. "Just give a message to Obsydian Fyre or Fyre Hex or whatever she's calling herself now. I think there's a couple things she forgot to tell me about her friend."