Men Like Gods

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The sky was red.

This was the first observation most would make of the world when they stepped outside. Because it was the only thing one could call 'out of place.' Looking down the street, a glance would yield an ordinary city block. Only after a second of observation would the realization set in that even in the morning, this street should not be so... empty. So silent.

So unnervingly still.

Then the splotches appear on the otherwise pristine canvas of reality. The strange, dull rust on metallic structures, the splatters of some dried blood-like substance on walls, and stench of something dying all become evident. The few visible cars are in ruin, pieces scattered to the wind. And there are corpses. Human bodies, some seemingly torn in half by brute force, others riddled with bullet holes and covered in burn marks.

“This is hell...” Said Lockbox, as the researchers called him. They had their names for each of the grab-bag of mutants that now stood behind him. Lockbox had taken his on as a new identity, though not all did so.

Just now, mere moments ago, they'd walked out through a hole in the wall and finally, 'finally, escaped from the labyrinth-like nightmare that had been the basements of Life Industries. It had been a dark, dank place where they'd been tortured and experimented on, the scientists concerned only with making the ultimate weapon. Whether they were the weapons, or the victims of the weapon, none could say. But they were free now. Some already fled, aiming either to abuse their new powers or simply get as far away. Others remained with Lockbox, seeking power in numbers or not wanting to be alone in this ruined world.

“So, it got out. That damn monster virus got out, and now... now this.” He grabbed a rock and threw it heavenward in anger. “Even the damn sky... is... ” Here Lockbox was rendered speechless.

The sky was not red. In fact, there was a strange, glass-like substance covering it, extending across the world in all directions. The strange distortions of the clouds and shimmering of the redness as the rock struck it revealed what it was. An energy field. A great impenetrable dome, covering seemingly the entire city.

“It's worse than we thought...”

So you can have your characters either go their own way, or stay with Lockbox. Basically, make an introductory post, then our characters will discuss what to do or go explore the city, and then shit will go down.

Klara Waald watched the sky intently with her clouded eyes, her new insight showing her the fluxing barrier of energy encompassing the entire city and perhaps more. It fascinated her but also reminded the woman her body's desperate craving for electricity, key to her new physiology. Sparky, as the scientists had dubbed her, had been kept in a near starved state for quite sometime out of their fear. Well justified in truth as her abilities filled her with horrific ideas, only allowing her to... absorb what she needed for their never ending tests and then stuffing back in that insulated cell. In those days she had wondered if she should have just let the cancer kill her - to die free or to live in cage. She had a revenge she didn't know she wanted, terrible and exhilarating.

But now the fresh air surrounded her and its lifelessness scared Klara, their virus had escaped despite all those precautions and in all likelihood they were the only living things in the city. "W-we-ell..." She began, struggling to form the words as she kneaded her hands nervously, "B-bu-gger." Sparky laughed a little, unable to hold it in though not sure why. The whole situation was disturbing but at the same time... amusing. She observed the other test subjects around her, barely turning her head - She could simply feel the electrochemical signals running through their bodies... It was strange and wonderful, a brief thought of how their terror could make the impulse dance like Christmas lights passed through her head.

Shaking this feeling off Klara took a few steps closer to the one called 'Lockbox', his armored shell insulating his signal subtly. She tapping him lightly on the shoulder, "W-what, nnn-no-ow?" She inquired with a bit of effort, an apologetic and slightly lost expression on her face.

edited 29th Jul '14 10:11:40 PM by Lt.BGob

Adriana Green looked out at the vast, dead expanse. There was absolutely no reason for nobody to be out at all, even though it was just after dawn. No cars, no noise, nothing. Quite frankly, it freaked her the hell out. And after the things she had seen and done, that wasn't easy.

She took a glimpse at the palm of her hands. They had massive wounds that seemed to lead to an endless void, but that wasn't the truth. Somehow, they enabled her to for a psychic link to any organic being she touched, allowing her to search though and steal the memories of others. Brain Drain, the scientists had called her. Several of them were now gibbering wrecks on the lab floor, their minds broken by her powers

Adriana put her thoughts aside. Her conscience could be dealt with later. Right now, she had to get moving.

Bob glanced at the sky and the dome, but his attention swiftly switched to the carnage in front of him. In an instant Tyrone felt all the heat drain from his body. He tried to look away, but to no avail. His lips mouthed a phantom stream of curses.

Ren dropped down onto the roof of the tall building across the street from Life's, willing his black wings to recede and become arms again before crouching on the edge. Golden eyes blinked up at the red energy that had become their sky.

"So, not really free yet, I guess," Ren murmured. He let out a long sigh—after all the frightening chaos he'd gone through to finally see the outside again…

Look at the bright side, Ren—at least nobody's gonna call you a "harpy" anymore. And you can fly whenever you want now! That's gotta be cool, right?

Nodding to himself, Ren then moved his gaze back down, towards the group of other mutants that he'd just flown away from, and—

''Oh. Those are bodies," he said with sudden dread.

Mitchell looked out at the world, finally, he was out of that prison of abuse and neglect...well, it was not quite as bad as his parents' house was, in that regard at least. That much could be said for the place. He remembered that they gave him the nickname "Salamander", presumably due to his little ability. He had found that he was now able to generate heat - the scientist guys had said his firepower was roughly a third of the heat of the surface of the sun. And some other stuff had happened - he had apparently aged seven years in that lab, but damn if he didn't age gracefully.

These gauntlets, though, would take some getting used to.

He regarded Lockbox - he was no follower, and this world was consumed in a battle between stillness and chaos - exactly the kind of world he wanted to live in.

"Well, looks like the world has gone and went to shit." Mitchell looked around for any hint of the populace of the area, treading carefully around the area. He was eager, but he was not gonna be stupid.

He then noticed the real nature of the sky - this was some kinda damned containment dome! Someone wanted to keep everyone in the city inside, and quarantine them. It was absolutely disgusting, especially to someone like him, who basically lived his entire young life under someone's "dome".

"Who the hell is responsible for this fiasco!?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out. And when I get through with them, it won't be pretty." She knew Mitchell had grown up rough, and she knew he was angry at the world. That was fine, she was pissed off too. However, he was extraordinarily dangerous even when calm, and if he ever lost control, Adriana wouldn't stand a chance. She had to try to keep him from getting too deep in his anger. For her own sake.

Klara cocked her head thoughtfully as Mitchell, the one with super-critical fluid as blood, exclaimed angrily about their situation. She didn't blame him, those scientists were sloppy as well as cruel - they weren't the only thing that escaped the lab and the populace had suffered for that mistake. Thought there weren't nearly enough bodies lying around or blood - not a good sign.

Examining the dome-like field above once more Sparky wandered forward before speaking as best she could, "I-ifff w-we cca-nn ff-finnd thh-e ed-edgge..." She began, deciding escaping this dome would be a good distraction for everyone, "Mmm-mi-ghtt be a-a-able tt-o -" She struggled to remember the word. Klara knew what she wanted to say, just the words describing her thoughts were foreign now and speaking was a great effort, "Uh, ab-sor-bb." She nodded nervously, spotting a working battery in a nearby car and hurriedly lifting the hood. She felt drained and hoped the 12-sh Volts would keep her going.

Regarding Adriana, Mitchell showed a somewhat cocky looking grin, "You and me both!" Even though this was a deplorable, disgusting situation that really showed how "good" and "well intentioned" the older people really were, there was still a chance for it to end good. And he was not gonna let that go.

He just remembered what his parents had always used as their screed - trust the adults, we have your best interests at heart. Well, this was sure as hell a screwed up way of showing it. This was a dystopia was what it was, and that meant some evil corporation - most likely the one responsible for their alterations - was responsible.

"I...I think we should go after the company that signed off on that bio-experiment. I mean, obviously, they know something we don't, and they're probably involved in the Dome. Once we got that, we find a way outta this Dome." He remembered from a science class that Titanium, one of the strongest metals out there, melted at 3300 degrees Fahrenheit, and he was reasonably sure he burned hotter than that.

"No," Bob bunched his hands into fists. "We can't spread it any further."

He really didn't like the idea of waiting for the military to give them the go ahead to leave. Something like this meant the area needed to sterilized, but they couldn't risk the virus getting out into the world.

Mitchell wanted to go after the company that re-made them, but that seemed a bit pointless considering the state they left the facility in, "I-I... Th-iink theey-ree d-dead." She said, pointing back to the ruined building, besides she was pretty sure they had all volunteered. As much as she regretted what happened, it was her fault she was a... thing now. She quickly ripped the car battery from its place and exposed its electrodes. After a moments hesitation Klara gripped the metal nodes, electricity jolted up the silvery veins in her arms and glowed faintly from the current.

She convulsed slightly for several seconds and then dropped the now depleted battery, feeling stronger.

Quiet eyes landing on the coward that spoke, Hal's face showed nothing other than what seems like hate. "Then you stay, we have things that need doing." Turning to look over the others, Hal speaks once more "We'll try to escape, right? Who thinks they'll be most helpful to our goal?"

Mitchell decided that spreading a disease was not on his to do list - just because he got awesome powers from it, did not mean that was the case for everyone. He was Chaos Aligned, he wasn't stupid. "Just because they're dead doesn't mean what they know went poof. I bet there was someone in there who knew what they were doing when this happened."

These bastards are still running things, somehow. There's nobody else who I think can create such a dome.

He then thought of escape again, when that guy walked over. Something, however, told him this guy was not to be trusted. Maybe it was the glare of hate. Maybe it was some kind of stench he detected.

Whatever it was, he doubted this guy had altruistic reasons for wanting out. Well, neither did he, really - he wanted to deep fry that brainwashing cult's leader. Even still, there was something kinda creepy about the guy.

edited 30th Jul '14 8:25:49 PM by NickTheSwing

Klara wasn't sure why the scarred man was so... hostile towards the other former test subject, even if he was suggesting they wait to get killed. She didn't want anyone else to be infected with this virus if she could help it but looking at the city, it was a bit late for that kind of sentiment. Then again, escape may not even be possible... But, better than waiting around.

Mitchell seemed to be more interested in finding the information those Life Inc. scientists left behind than the bastards themselves. Sparky nodded to him with a slight shrug, any information could be very useful whether or not it pertained to the dome. A part of her wanted to find them alive, to make them suffer slowly. Make them watch their butchered entrails dry on the ground before crushing their squirming hearts in her hand - "Urgh..." Klara groaned softly, trying to push down the thoughts. It wasn't like to her to be so blood thirsty and she didn't want to see that facility again, let alone its workers.

"W-we cc-coo-uld t- t-try fff-ind-ing b-but..." She paused a moment, still struggling, "C-ccompuut-erss wwe-re f*cked." Klara noted that curse words seemed to come easier than others - she had heard once in a documentary this was common for people with brain damage. Things were looking up.

"I think our best bet is hitting that shield. I mean, if whatever tore these people apart is still here..." Lockbox left the implications unsaid. He just started trudging westward, where it seemed the nearest edge of the dome was visible. "We can argue over the who and the what later. We need to keep moving."

Just then, a small, circular machine descended to a stop fifty feet in the air above the Supers, unbeknownst to them. The bottom side of the strange round drone was camouflaged, colored the same as the distorted red sky above. The only evidence of it's existence was an almost imperceptible low hum. Even among the Supers, only those with the sharpest hearing would even be able to detect it.

"Well, speak of the devil." Said a young man in a suit, watching the video feed from the scouting drone.

"I told you. You should have intercepted them before they escaped confinement." Growled his older companion, wearing the uniform of a military general.

"Now now, General." The young man smiled, deviously. "I'm sure they've been wandering around that labyrinth you call a laboratory for quite some time. I assure you, these 'Supers' will not escape. The only thing smaller than the chances of this operation's failure are, well, them breaking through that Quarantine Field. Quality is our policy here at Sinanima."

"I hope you're right. For your sake."

"I am right, General. Just you watch."

edited 31st Jul '14 7:37:35 AM by Kagescorpionakki

Ren, still in the middle of a grimace, paused to quirk his left ear towards the red sky. Where there was just a near-silent environment now appeared to have some kind of… humming?

His stomach began to drop.

"Oh boy," Ren whispered to himself. After a second where his wings and tail feathers grew back in, he cautiously took off, keeping his ears open for the new, foreign sound. He was somewhere around forty-five to fifty feet above his fellow Supers when he realized that yep—that hum was getting louder.

Gold eyes widening, he gasped—and accidentally let out one of his sharp, bird-like shrieks.

Adriana hadn't heard the humming, but she definitely heard Ren's shriek. "What the- Ren! What's happening? Are you alright?" She cursed the fact that her powers were touch-based. She really needed to find herself a rifle.

Klara was about to follow Lockbox, for lack of any better direction in this desolate landscape, when she heard a bird-like shriek pierce the air. That 'Brain Drain' chick was shouting upwards to, well, what looked like a person with wings apparently called 'Ren'. Looking closer at the point Ren reeled from she finally saw a circular electromagnetic signature, difficult to sense against the background of the dome but definitely there. 50 feet or so above, she could get there.

And suddenly Sparky was - teleporting on that impulse to a point just above the camouflaged drone, leaving a sound like a crack of lightning. "Oof! Bastard!" Klara hit its metallic surface and clutched to its hull, concentrating on absorbing its energy at least enough to bring it down. It eventually let out a groaning sound, rapidly losing altitude as it lost power and taking her down with it. Just before it crashed into the dirt she managed to push off and landed a few feet away, painfully but not severely harmed.

edited 31st Jul '14 4:58:36 PM by Lt.BGob

When Mitchell heard the shrieking, he looked around as if searching for a human cause for the shout, as if it would lead him to some recognizable human life in here. Except then, he remembered that Ren had that odd, bird-like trait. Even still, he showed a shocked look on his face when Klara grabbed something, and immediately started to make haste over to a place near where it looked like she was gonna land. Whatever the hell that was, he bet it had some sort of answer readily available on it somewhere.

Drones...just figures. The authorities use the most obviously Law derived machines in the book...

He thought about the words the others said - Lockbox obviously thought if they left, then it'd be good, but Mitchell was himself still wondering about Infection versus the benefits of leaving this damn city. And the latter option was looking ever more appealing, as he doubted that they were really contagious at this point.

Still, he had no intention of following anyone's lead but his own intuition - the moment they were outside, he'd do his own thing. If that coincided with the others' activities, then that was a benefit to them.

edited 31st Jul '14 10:14:14 PM by NickTheSwing

Assuming drone is out for the count. If not, tell me and I'll edit. Just trying to restart this thing.

The drone feebly sparked twice, then lay on the ground in a heap of scrap. Apparently, Klaara's powers had completely drained the robot's energy source. Adriana looked at the wreckage with a growing sense of unease.

"Unless I miss my guess, that drone was the property of our former hosts. I doubt that was the only one, so I'd advise we find our way out of this dome before they decide to send more resources at us."

Klara shook her head as Adrianna fingered their former 'hosts' as the culprits, picking herself up off the dirt and making a quick teleport to the drone again. With less effort than anticipated she lifted the machine up on its side, revealing a broken panel - inside there was a mess of now dead circuits and a printed corporate logo. Sparky pointed to it, "S-sin...sin." She tried, knowing the company from hers days as a physics student and using their more analytically focused products, "A-ani-ma." But, their brain draining companion had a point - they had to get out of here before more came.

Klara dropped the machine and took a few unsure steps away.

Mitchell walked over, ignoring the team leader for the time, and looked at this drone. He was not liking this - Sinanima. Sinanima. He knew he had heard that name somewhere before. Run by Felix Anderson, foremost in biotechnology and cybernetics, rival of Life Inc, same bunch that turned them into Demons.

Well, for Mitchell, that was what they were. He knew what he was - he could execute his desires any way he saw fit. He was not bound by convention any longer. No word for that but demon.

"Sinanima...we'll bust outta this dome, and kill those ripe bastards." He could just imagine it - finally being able to strike back at the damn corporations.

-Sinanima Corporate Headquarters-

Both grunts, comparatively speaking, now had to justify themselves before the head of the corporation - Felix Anderson. The man was elderly, but had apparently sampled his own cybernetic implants. If the two men were in a less dire situation, the younger of the two would've likened the man's appearance to Marvel villain Bastion.

Silver armor granted the appearance of a stalwart, angelic figure with numerous, extremely sharp wings folded to resemble a cloak. His wizened old face was contrasted with the artificially young looking right half of his face, constantly fixed in a grin.

"You two managed to alert those people I warned you about to our presence by using a drone - something powered by electric power - when they had an electricity manipulator. Can any of you justify yourselves for this blatant failure?" He did not show any clue of respect for the United States military men.

The General stammered and tried to say something, only for Felix to raise his hand, and the hand blurred...followed by the older man's head being blasted in half.

Lord Felix did not even show any reaction when the younger one belted out an answer, "T-T-They're not used to their powers yet...not yet! W-We just thought we could...could end t-this soon!"

Lord Felix's human half of his face showed a small smile, "You think yourselves profits of the future?"

The younger man shook his head no, and one of Felix's wings bifurcated him as soon as he finished shaking his head. Nobody bothered to move, petrified into place by the anger of their leader. Felix finally motioned, and two tall, grey figures with too large oval heads and paddle like limbs picked up the pieces and took the errant military men's remains away for further use.

The old man motioned to his assistant, a similarly two faced individual clad in some form of lab coat and dress clothes combination; "Find me smarter, harder working men! We are on a tight schedule. I do not intend to allow anyone who could possibly become a foe of mine to challenge my world of silence plan."

Sorry for making you guys wait and for any lack of quality in the post - I've been swamped with preliminary laboratory work for university and lectures.

Those mismatched group of mutant people who chose to seek the edge of the dome, following Mitchell's lead or otherwise, weaved their way through the disheveled and silent cityscape. The red tint of the above barrier made the blood liberally splatter on every surface almost indistinguishable from their background but the smell of rotting somethings was too pungent to ignore. And, as they would soon find, the city streets were far from abandoned.

Nearing the city limits its empty silence gave way slowly to an ambiance of suffering, inhuman moans and the shuffling of feet. It was growing louder from all sides, closer to the freed test subjects. At the edge of human vision there was a veritable army of blank faced 'people' surrounding them, bloodied and feral from the influence of the virus. Their labored steps increased in pace until they were charging, hungry for this new flesh and ignorant of their powers. Nevertheless, their numbers were great - the denizens of the city found at last and more organised than their condition would seem to allow.

From the rooftops a dull, metallic figure watched on and silently directed the masses towards the enemy - his enemy and, as far as he was concerned, enemies of humanity. Felix had given him the means to herd these zombies, a simple feat considering their feral state facilitated by his eyeless helmet. Seeing those mutants, those... things exterminated may have been an order but that didn't make it any less personally satisfying. Beneath his insulated armor the man sneered and waited.

Klara sensed something around her and her friends, for lack of a better term - it was drawing in like noose, faint points of electric charge. They looked like they belong to something living, but they seemed too weak and random to be human... A shiver of anxiety ran up her spine, making an urgent grunt and shaking Mitchell's shoulder - she pointed into the distance, "N-n-ot p-peo-ple."

From up high on one of the nearby buildings Bob watched the people surge forward. Their gait was wrong, but familiar. His eyes grew huge at the realization of where he had seen the gait, the blank look, and the blood strewn clothes.

Zombies. If he wasn't witnessing it Bob would have said that it was impossible. A chuckle escaped his lips at the hypocrisy of a super powered mutant saying zombies were impossible not that he believed super humans could have existed, until his visit to the testing facility.

Still there were probably survivors and what would help more than getting rid of the dead and getting them out. His hand jerked up before sending a concussive blast into the horde of former humans.

Adriana was definitely not happy about the new developments. " Those are quite obviously zombies down there. Don't know how they came about, but my powers need a working organic brain to function properly. I go down there, I'm signing my death warrant. Anybody got a gun or something? If not, I'll have to hang back."

She looked out at the gathering crowds. "Seems like a bunch of them, too. This is not good." That was most definitely an understatement.