Hey everyone, I've been putting off uploading this because trying to format on this site is like trying to pull teeth. Especially coming from Spacebattles where they allow much more creativity in the formatting. I've done the best I can, but trying to replicate what I have over there is proving to be impossible. Hopefully, I've managed to make the chapter clear, but just in case-
Italics are either thought, Lisa's power, video clips, or a flashback depending on the situation.
Underline is Shard speak, and not audible to the characters.
Hopefully, this chapter is understandable, but if you find it difficult go to Spacebattles to get a better version.
Special thanks to Commissar Carnifex for taking the time to beta this chapter.
Enjoy!
Nightmare 4.a
Sometimes Lisa wondered if her powers were worth it. Ever since she had gotten them they had given her nothing but trouble and pain. Her own parents locked her away so that they could use her as a personal Oracle to create a fortune for themselves. Even after escaping their grip and wandering around the state she found herself in almost the exact same position again, except this time the person holding the lease was far more dangerous than a pair of greedy parents.
Coil was a sociopath of the highest order. Everything that he did was for his own benefit and his alone. He claimed he wanted to save the city, but he was more concerned about it not failing simply because he lived in it, not out of any desire to see the general public's lives improved. As far as he was concerned they were all peons and tools for him to wield when needed. He would gladly kill a dozen children if it meant getting to his eventual goal of ruling the city.
The mere thought of a sociopath like Coil being in charge of the city was terrifying enough to send shivers down Lisa's spine. The fact that she was being forced to help him in his endeavors grated on her nerves like nothing else. If it wasn't for the fact that he was holding a gun to her head and that every escape attempt on her part was met with failure she would be long gone by now.
On the other hand, it was almost a blessing that Coil had found her instead of another group. Oh, she still hated the man with the passion of a thousand suns for humiliating and threatening her, but at the very least he hadn't locked her away and drugged her up like so many other groups would have. He was willing to give her enough leash to do his dirty work as an Undersider instead of being his own personal oracle. He was giving her just enough freedom that she could work against him in secret.
She was certain that he knew she was working against him, which was why she had been extremely careful in tracking down his bank accounts. She had the bank isolated, but she couldn't get what she needed without getting into the actual bank. She could possibly infiltrate the bank on her own, but she would need to do it at a time that she knew that Coil would be distracted.
Easier said than done since she still hadn't been able to figure out what his powers were. She had narrowed it down to some form of precognition, but that was still a rather wide range of powers. The fact that he was so subtle in his use that the PRT didn't even know if he was a parahuman or not didn't help matters at all. He had claimed that he could control destiny, but if he could really do that there would be no need for him to sit on his butt and let a group of teenagers do his dirty work for him. He could be running the city right now if he really did have some form of probability manipulation. So, it was something limited and not foolproof, because she had found more than one incident report in the PRT databanks that he had given her access to detailing some instances of Coil's men being forced to retreat. Dangerous yes, but not unbeatable.
Even so, that wasn't her concern right now. Especially not since she had gotten that little phone call from Coil.
"Ms. Livsey," Coil's voice said over the phone, just enough modulation to prevent her from getting too much off of him.
Much, but not all.
Trying to feign confidence.
Interesting, Lisa thought even as she tried to ignore Coil's slight jab. The man always liked to keep her off balance with mentions of the former life that she had shed after…well, everything. Still, the fact that he wasn't as confident and smug as he usually was indicated some form of weakness. Was this something that she could exploit?
"I have an assignment for you," he said, his words cold and measured. There was a muffled noise on the other end of the line, one that she couldn't quite make out.
Angry. Discomforted. Being forced to move ahead of schedule. Third party involvement.
A third party? And one that was apparently powerful enough to tweak Coil's nose? Perhaps she could cozy up to them and get her out of this situation. If she proved her usefulness it might be worth her while to look into other employment opportunities.
Coil is frightened of a third party. Fears that third party will kill him.
A third party capable of making a seemingly unbeatable sociopath afraid? Perhaps she should leave them be for now. She wanted to get out of a life-threatening situation, not put herself into another, more dangerous one.
"Sure boss, what do ya need?" Lisa asked in an irritatingly chipper attitude. She knew that talking like this over the phone frustrated Coil, as made evident by the almost near indistinguishable sigh of irritation on the other end of the line.
"I need you to look into Boogeyman for me," he said in a strangely flat tone with undercurrents of anger. Previous experience had told her that he should have put her down after a display like that, making some sort of comment about her childish attitude or the like. The fact that he hadn't only demonstrated how important this really was to him. He wasn't going to waste his time with petty remarks, not when he wasn't entirely sure about his own safety.
Nervous. Nervous about third party. Nervous about Boogeyman.
Oh, what's this?
Latching onto that little tidbit, Lisa stretched her power. She would get a headache later, but anything that she could use against Coil would be well worth some discomfort in the long run.
Nervous about confronting Boogeyman. Doesn't feel confident in his powers. Boogeyman can interfere with his powers.
Lisa tried to keep her breath from hitching at the information that her power had just given her. She had read the report that Coil had given her that Boogeyman had been capable of interfering with Miss Militia's powers, but the fact that she could interfere with Coil's powers was news. It certainly explained why he had been behaving somewhat erratically these last few days, with longer periods of silence between contacts than normal. If something interfered with her powers she would freak out too.
Still, this was a point of weakness that she could use if she was careful enough.
"I dunno boss, Boogeyman's getting a bit too hot for a group of small timers like us to get involved with," Lisa said with just the right amount of hesitation to make the man believe her. The best part was that she wasn't exactly lying either. The Undersiders, as they had chosen to call themselves, were still very much a small-time group. They hadn't had any major scores that could put them on the map, still remaining under most organization's radar.
And quite frankly, claiming that Boogeyman was a hot subject right now was quite the understatement. She was pretty much who everyone was talking about in Brockton Bay right now. New capes weren't rare, but capes as powerful as Boogeyman and a willingness to break the rules? That was far rarer.
Not that Lisa herself particularly cared about the rules, but breaking them and being found out typically meant lots of people coming down on your head. Contrary to what Brian liked to believe, not everyone played by the same rules, as made evident by her little arraignment with Coil. The irony was that the rules, where were meant to protect the unsupported and isolated capes typically didn't help them. It was the larger groups like the Empire that reaped the rewards because they had the strength to back themselves up. Boogeyman appeared to be wily and powerful enough to avoid those repercussions so far, but she wouldn't want to be near the girl once those came crashing down on her.
Still, if Boogeyman could affect Coil's power, it would be well worth her time to look into, even if she wasn't being ordered to. But there was no reason to let Coil know that right now.
"I will see to it that you're compensated," he said flatly, though she could hear the faint gnashing of teeth.
Doesn't like this deal. Third party forcing him to take the deal. Would rather use alternative methods to get information from you.
Lisa gulped a bit. She had a fair idea on what those "alternative methods" might be. Which she supposed really highlighted how off-balance Coil was. He wouldn't risk damaging one of his tools unless he was certain it would benefit him in the long run. And as much as it rankled her to call herself a "tool", she would rather be a useful tool that he needed alive and intact rather than a dead one.
"Five thousand," Lisa rattled off, trying to hide her unease. Compared to what she knew that Coil had in his illegal accounts it was a drop in the bucket but compared to the measly amount that he was paying them monthly it was enough of a demand to avoid suspicion. She didn't want him to realize that she was giving in too quickly if she didn't try to negotiate.
"Very well. I'll see to it that any work-related expenses are taken care of as well. Do not fail me, Ms. Livsey," Coil warned, a hint of dark promise lurking underneath his voice. The fact that he was willing to give into her demands that easily really showed how serious this was to him.
Irritated. Doesn't want to pay that much. Being forced to pay you that much. Third party intervention.
"Can do boss-man," Lisa with a cheery smile that she was certain would get under Coil's skin. The sharp hiss and the quick shut down of the phone line was a delight to her. It was always nice when she got the last words in. Hopefully Coil would remain off balance for some time while she gathered her resources, but first, she had to look into Boogeyman. Coil had not been making an idle threat about her failing.
Needs results. Will retaliate if he does not get results.
Lisa didn't need a Thinker rating to know that would be very bad for her.
No pressure then, Lisa thought only somewhat sardonically as a full body shiver hit her. Some of the things that she knew that Coil would be okay with doing was disturbing, even for a supervillain.
Let's get to work.
After scouring the PHO boards for a time, she had to wonder if being punished by Coil might be the better option. The mindless yammering on the boards was giving her a headache from all the idiocy. How did some of these people live?
Unfortunately for the young Thinker, it was the best way for her to find information on Boogeyman. Her usual method of information gathering by scouring through the PRT databases had been severely hampered due to the recent security sweeps the organization was conducting; leaving this the only option she had left.
Joy.
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Topic: A New Cape?
In: Boards ► News ► Events ► Brockton Bay
Ekul(Original Poster)
Posted On Feb 16th, 2011:
Hey, does anyone know what was happening last night? I heard something that sounded like a tank, but I didn't want to go outside to see what it was. I know the Merchants sometimes use the abandoned warehouses in the area, did they have anything to do with it?
(Showing page 1 of 2)
►Aloha
Replied On Feb 16th, 2011:
Are you sure you weren't just drunk?
►Answer Key
Replied On Feb 16st, 2011:
Aloha Let's not be rude. I heard that something went down by the old warehouses too.
►Reave (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied On Feb 1th, 2011:
I heard from the boys working that night that apparently some new cape made their debut by taking down the Merchants.
It's unconfirmed at the moment, but we believe that they killed both Skidmark and Squealer and were responsible for Mush's hospitalization.
►Char
Replied On Feb 16th, 2011:
Wait, aren't those guys basically all of the Merchant capes? Do you mean to tell me that one cape took out what basically amounts to an entire gang?
►Aloha
Replied On Feb 16th, 2011:
I'm calling BS. There's no way that one newbie cape did all that.
►bothad
Replied On Feb 16th, 2011:
Wait, so doesn't this mean that the Merchants are basically done?
►Aloha
Replied On Feb 16th, 2011:
bothad Weren't you listening to me? This is obviously a scam of some kind.
►BadSamurai
Replied On Feb 16th, 2011:
Aloha Yes, an official PRT agent released information on a fake cape attack to scam us. Truely thou are a genius.
►Aloha
Replied On Feb 16th, 2011:
-POST DELETED-
►Brilliger (Moderator: Protectorate Main)
Replied On Feb 16th, 2011:
Please avoid threatening other users like that Aloha, otherwise, you could be looking at a ban.
►Coyote-C
Replied On Feb 16th, 2011:
Well, that's one way to make a debut to the cape scene.
►Mr. Muscles (Unverified Cape)
Replied On Feb 16th, 2011:
Tell me about it. All I did was bust up a few druggies at the start. But compared to dismantling a gang that's nothing.
►Aloha
Replied On Feb 16th, 2011:
Okay, now that I've calmed down and watched the video I'd like to say I told you so.
►Answer Key
Replied On Feb 16th, 2011:
What are you talking about?
►Aloha
Replied On Feb 16th, 2011:
Answer Key What do you mean what am I talking about? You can clearly see that there isn't any cape in the video. This footage has obviously been faked by the PRT.
►Chaosfaith
Replied On Feb 16th, 2011:
*Looks at video*
I don't know what you're smoking Aloha but I want some.
You can clearly see tall dark and scary and her little equine pets, or are you just blind?
►Aloha
Replied On Feb 16th, 2011:
Chaosfaith What are you talking about? There's nobody there! Those Merchants are probably all actors.
►Logs
Replied On Feb 16th, 2011:
Aloha Don't know what you're talking about dude, shadow girl looks pretty legit to me.
So what are we looking at here? Some kind of Master parahuman.
►Aloha
Replied On Feb 16th, 2011:
There is no cape!
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…8
Believes what he is saying. Doesn't see any cape there.
Thank you, power, Lisa thought rather sarcastically as she scrolled through the PHO forum. As if that tidbit of information wasn't obvious as they argued about it for the next three pages before a mod finally stepped in to resolve the issue. Still, it was an interesting little nugget of information about the new cape.
A selective Stranger power? Lisa considered, mulling over the possibility. There were certainly odder things that had happened than a Stranger power that only affect select portions of the population. Aloha was far from the only one to claim that they didn't see anything judging by a quick scroll through the forum.
The number of people that cannot see Boogeyman is decreasing.
Interesting. Did that mean that the power was something temporary that Boogeyman could set up for when she wanted privacy, and it just faded away after some time? Lisa tried focusing her powers on digging out the secrets of Boogeyman's abilities, though she knew that she would get the same answer that she had been getting since she started.
Boogeyman using minions. Boogeyman scaring individuals.
Abilities Unknown.
Not a parahuman.
Obviously, Lisa thought with a slight snarl as her hands tightened around her mouse. She had been getting the same generic responses all week when she turned her gaze to try and decipher the new cape's abilities. It wasn't a block like some Trumps could generate, but rather her power simply couldn't expand beyond what she was being shown. As if her powers couldn't even begin to guess how she was doing what she was doing. All she got was some basic information that a child could put together.
It was…irritating.
Oh, it had been amusing and gratifying to hear the Coil's power was apparently malfunctioning, to know that smug snake wasn't so smug anymore, but that did little to alleviate her own irritation with the situation. Coil wanted answers soon. At this point, she wanted answers soon, if only so that she could actually get something on the girl.
Really, the girl's powers were a secondary concern since she already had access to the PRT report on her abilities. At this point she was putting so much focus on them simply because she wanted to try and work around whatever Trump ability was shielding her from Thinker view. Trying to find stuff on the girl's civilian identity was far easier given that she had practically blasted it out to the world.
Not that she had admitted it in so many words, but her actions with Shadow Stalker practically pointed an arrow directly to her true identity. Lisa pulled up the video again on a different tab. It had been banned from PHO but a few copies were still floating around the internet.
"So, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Shadow Stalker is a very naughty little girl. It seems that she's been tormenting her classmates in her civilian identity as Sophia Hess. And I'm not just talking about name calling or anything juvenile like that, though she still does to that. No, I'm talking about shoving a classmate into a locker that's filled with nothing but used feminine products and other garbage and leaving her in there for hours. All for her own amusement.
Some of you are probably getting pretty upset right now. I know I was, but that's not what really gets my blood boiling. Do you want to know what really gets me? The school, Winslow, did absolutely nothing to stop her. In fact, they pretty much ignored what she was doing because it was easier for them than having to take care of a girl that nobody cared about. Her PRT handler covered up what was going on at the school because it was too much effort for her to actually do her job. And doesn't that really demonstrate the way the city works? So long as you're powerful, nobody will stop what you're doing, and if you're weak and useless nobody will give a damn about you."
Lisa could only wince as the sheer hatred that coated every word in the girl's speech.
Boogeyman knew Shadow Stalker. Boogeyman didn't like Shadow Stalker. Boogeyman hated Shadow Stalker. Boogeyman had a negative relationship with Shadow Stalker. Boogeyman was bullied by Shadow Stalker.
Yeah, I get it power, Lisa groused as she rubbed her forehead. She could understand if Boogeyman had brought up some of Shadow Stalker's kills or other unconfirmed rumors first, which in all honesty might have been even more damaging to the Protectorate's reputation. But to bring up a bullying campaign? No matter how horrible, and her power assured her it was just as horrible as she thought it was, it was just too out of place given her other actions. She had taken down the Merchants in one fell swoop, a group of thugs who had ruined far more lives than Shadow Stalker ever had, and then turned around and dealt with a school yard bully?
No, this was far too personal to be anything else.
A quick search had revealed everything that she needed to know about Taylor Hebert, also known by her moniker Boogeyman. It was really quite amazing what you could find on the internet if you looked hard enough, even without a Thinker power. Digging up a teenage girl's life? Child's play to a Thinker like her.
If she couldn't beat the powers then she would beat the parahuman.
Within an hour she had everything that she could ever want on Taylor Hebert's civilian identity. Her mother had died a few years ago in a car crash, sad but uninteresting. Her father, on the other hand, had died pretty recently. He was also listed as a car crash victim, but the police report that she had found revealed that he had been heavily under the influence at the time. His death apparently coincided with the girl's disappearance and missing person report that had been filed away. It was obvious that the police hadn't put that much effort into finding her, runaways typically didn't do that well in Brockton Bay.
Father was drunk because of missing child. Father did not wish to live without child. Father committed—
Lisa cut that line of inquiry off so quickly that she could practically feel the mental whiplash. She didn't need to see something like that laid bare before her. It was akin to taking Rex's corpse and dangling it in front of her. She had always had a bit of a soft spot for people with suicidal tendencies given her past, but there wasn't anything that she could do here. The man was already dead and it looked more and more like Taylor could have had a psychotic break as a result. Everything that Boogeyman was doing was so far out of Taylor's normal profile it wasn't even funny. She might have considered it the girl's trigger event, but she disappeared about a week before her father's suicide, right in conjunction with a police investigation at Winslow.
She brought up the report, which specifically mentioned Taylor Hebert's name. Even though she was a villain and hardly a paragon of virtue, she had to admit that being locked inside a locker filled with biological contaminants was pretty nasty. It was all but a confirmation of Taylor's identity as Boogeyman seeing that she hadn't been seen since and had been presumed dead by the police.
Triggered in locker.
Lisa winced a little bit. Triggers weren't things that people liked to bring up, even when it wasn't their own. It was the moment that all parahumans broke, leaving behind damaged people in their wake. And it seemed that this Trigger in conjunction with her father's death had broken Boogeyman a little too much.
All of this was informative, but there wasn't really much leverage for her to go on. No close living family members and the police report described her as a loner and social outcast. There was nothing there that she could use on the girl. She supposed she could bring up her dead father, but trying to use a suicide victim like that made the bile rise up in her throat. She couldn't do that to anyone.
Seeing that investigating the life of Taylor Hebert wasn't getting her anywhere Lisa turned her attention back to Boogeyman. There had to be something that she could use against the girl as leverage. It didn't even have to be life threatening, all she needed was something that she could use to convince her to join her side for a time. All she needed was for Coil's power to remain on the fritz long enough for her to take over his holdings and men.
That was always the problem with buying loyalty with money. The loyalty only lasted until someone paid more than you.
She had already identified the men most willing to join her, but she needed that cash from Coil's accounts to move any further. Which brought her back to Boogeyman's ability to interfere with Thinker powers.
She pulled up another page from the dredges of PHO, this one more oriented into an examination of Boogeyman herself. The PHO thread that had risen in the direct aftermath of her little video had been closed down by the authority of the mods once they figured out what was going on, but there was still quite a bit of speculation left to go around.
Topic: Shadow Stalker Unmasked
In: Boards ► News ► Capes ► Brockton Bay
Forgotten Creator(Original Poster)
Posted On Feb 21st, 2011:
As of this morning, Shadow Stalker's identity has become public knowledge.
I'm not going to reveal it here for fear of risking the wrath of the mods, but if you google Shadow Stalker or Boogeyman it should be one of the first things to come up.
A video was released by Boogeyman of her chasing Shadow Stalker through the city for an entire night. According to the new cape, Shadow Stalker had been abusing her power as a Ward in her civilian identity as Winslow. Boogeyman claims that she shoved a classmate into a locker filled with what can only be described as toxic sludge. The staff apparently did nothing to stop this.
Normally I would have just thought this to be some form of elaborate lie on part of the villain, but all the evidence that's been compiled is far too compelling to ignore.
(Showing page 1 of 12)
►Bruce Lao
Replied On Feb 21st, 2011:
There's no way a Ward did that. Did Shadow Stalker help deliver an anti-bullying lecture a month or two ago when she first joined the Wards?
►Xyloloup
Replied On Feb 21st, 2011:
You better believe it, I went to school with [DELETED]. She treated everyone like complete and utter garbage. I heard that she had stuffed someone into a locker, but I thought it was just one of those silly rumors.
►Noveltry
Replied On Feb 21st, 2011:
Even if she did actually do that, I don't really think this is a good response. Boogeyman should have gone to the PRT first.
►Space Zombie
Replied On Feb 21st, 2011:
Didn't you see what she posted? [DELTEDED]'s PRT agent knew what was going on and did nothing. Why should Boogeyman have trusted the PRT? Especially since she's right, what have the Protectorate and PRT done recently regarding the gangs?
►Chilldrizzle
Replied On Feb 21st, 2011:
They captured Hookwolf a few weeks ago.
►Space Zombie
Replied On Feb 21st, 2011:
Yeah, and then he escaped a day later. In one-night Boogeyman ended one of the gangs. She's one individual compared to the organization of the Protectorate and PRT. Why didn't they do anything like that?
►TheGnat
Replied On Feb 21st, 2011:
While I can't condone her treatment of Shadow Stalker, I have to agree that she does make some good points. While the city has gotten marginally better over the years (with the Teeth not kidnapping people off the street for their fight pits) its still far from ideal. There are far too many villains out in the city right now with the freedom to act as they want to.
►Noveltry
Replied On Feb 21st, 2011:
So we're just supposed to accept that a cape can go up and kill/torture individuals based on how they feel about them? If that doesn't sound like a recipe for a disaster I don't know what does.
►Space Zombie
Replied On Feb 21st, 2011:
I'm not saying I want her to kill every criminal, but I would much rather prefer them dead over me.
►Coyote-C
Replied On Feb 21st, 2011:
Man, that was brutal. Does she have some sort of Thinker or Master rating regarding her speech, because I'm getting shivers just listening to that.
►Bagrat (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Replied On Feb 21st, 2011:
Congrats on beating me to the punch Forgotten Creator, usually I'm the one to post these.
Coyote-C I'm still waiting to hear from my PRT contacts, but I don't think it's a Master power, I think she's just that scary. I know I would be scared if I was confronted by a herd of murder horses like that.
►Good Ship Morpheus
Replied On Feb 21st, 2011:
All hail our lady of darkness!
►XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied On Feb 21st, 2011:
[DELETED] is Shadow Stalker! No way, I go to school with her, do you think she'll let me get an autograph?
►Iblis
Replied On Feb 21st, 2011:
...Really Cowboy?
On a more serious note, does anyone have a clear idea of what her powers are?
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 10, 11, 12
(Showing page 12 of 12)
►Brilliger (Moderator: Protectorate Main)
Replied On Feb 22nd, 2011:
As of this moment, this thread is locked.
Further discussion regarding Boogeyman can be directed to her new thread.
LINK.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4 ... 10, 11, 12
Topic: Official Boogeyman Thread
In: Boards ► News ► Capes ► Brockton Bay
Bagrat(Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Posted On Feb 22nd, 2011:
As I'm sure most of you are aware by now, Brockton Bay has a new cape to add to its ever growing roster. (Seriously, the number of capes that live here is ridiculous).
Love her or hate her Boogeyman has been making quite the impact on the local criminal cape community.
IMPORTANT! I've been asked by the mods to inform you all that while discussing Shadow Stalker's apparent actions is alright, we shouldn't go digging into her civilian identity if only to give her family some peace.
Thanks to some of my contacts inside the PRT, I've managed to get a look at Boogeyman's current threat ratings.
Master 6-8
Brute 4
Mover 4
Thinker 4 (Unconfirmed)
Shaker/Blaster 4
Trump 3 (Unconfirmed)
Edit: Stranger ? (Unconfirmed)
That's quite a spread for one cape. I guess the villains of Brockton Bay better watch out.
(Showing page 1 of 25)
►Mr. Muscles (Unverified Cape)
Replied On Feb 22nd, 2011:
I think I'm getting power envy. I mean seriously, that's a huge variety of powers. Even if they aren't top tier level the fact that she can use them all at once and build them up off each other represents a huge threat to anyone fighting her.
►White Fairy (Veteran Member)
Replied On Feb 22nd, 2011:
I'm more concerned about her action rather than her powers. I mean, taking down a gang was alright and all, but I don't think she should have killed them.
►Morgan Sinister
Replied On Feb 22nd, 2011:
The Merchants were scum of the highest order, they deserved to be put down like the rabid dogs that they were. I've seen far too many kids get swept up in their little gang.
►Deadman
Replied On Feb 22nd, 2011:
I'm still trying to figure out what her theme is exactly. I mean, all capes have a theme of some sort to their powers, this just seems like a very widespread rating.
►Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Replied On Feb 22nd, 2011:
Well, keep in mind that these are ratings for the threat that her power represents, not the actual power themselves. It determines what exactly the response for PRT teams should be in the event they come into conflict with her.
As for her power's theme, you raise a good point. If I had to guess I would have to say something around darkness. I mean look at her, she looks like someone who would be the main villain in a supernatural movie. Her horses and Mover powers all seem to be centered around darkness and shadows. Perhaps these are all off shoots of some sort of darkness manipulation?
►bothad
Replied On Feb 22nd, 2011:
That just seems a bit abstract for a power theme to me though.
►Chaosfaith
Replied On Feb 22nd, 2011:
Any more abstract than Lung's "I'm a dragon" power?
►bothad
Replied On Feb 22nd, 2011:
Fair point.
►Tumbles
Replied On Feb 22nd, 2011:
You people in Brockton Bay must be crazy. If a cape like this showed up in my city the heroes and villains would hunt them down with everyone cheering them on. How is it that she's actually getting support from any of you?
►Answer Key
Replied On Feb 22nd, 2011:
How about because we're all sick and tired of being afraid to wander the streets at night, or the day for that matter. We live in a city with a dragon and literal Nazis. The only gang that actually acted like a normal gang were the Merchants and they're all dead now.
►Mane Magenta
Replied On Feb 22nd, 2011:
Brockton Bay sounds like a horrible place to live. But why aren't you concerned that Boogeyman might start turning on the civilian population?
►Reave (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied On Feb 22nd, 2011:
This is one of the reasons that the PRT was founded, to stop capes from taking the law into their own hands. While Boogeyman might think she's doing good, in the long run, she's going to bring more harm to the city than help.
►ArchmageEin
Replied On Feb 22nd, 2011:
"This is one of the reasons that the PRT was founded, to stop capes from taking the law into their own hands. While Boogeyman might think she's doing good, in the long run, she's going to bring more harm to the city than help."
Right, more harm than a Neo-Nazi? Your whole keeping capes in check thing doesn't work when Lung can walk down the street anytime he wants. The idea that the Protectorate and PRT have everything under control in Brockton Bay is ridiculous. I may not be shouting out in the streets asking her to take over the city, but I'm not going to criticize her for taking down the scum that have been leeching the life out of this city since before you were born.
►Bruce Lao
Replied On Feb 23rd, 2011:
Bagrat What's up with those two unconfirmed ratings?
►Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Replied On Feb 23rd, 2011:
The PRT doesn't have any concrete evidence for their existence yet, but they suspect she has some form of Thinker power. Apparently, she said some things she said that she shouldn't have known. I haven't gotten any info on the Trump power yet, but if she has some form of Trump power that would probably make her one of the more dangerous capes in the bay.
►Nondeceptive
Replied On Feb 23rd, 2011:
I forgot, what was a Trump again?
►Iblis
Replied On Feb 23rd, 2011:
It's a catch all phrase basically, but it supposed to be a power that can affect other powers. (I think).
►Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Replied On Feb 23rd, 2011:
Officially the Trump category has twelve different groupings of power, but being able to interact with other powers or your own power is a common trend with Trumps.
Out of all the capes in the bay, I think Othala is the only Trump, and she's one of the Empire's primary force multipliers.
►Aloha
Replied On Feb 23rd, 2011:
I still don't see why we're talking about a cape that doesn't exist.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 … 23, 24, 25
(Showing page 2 of 25)
►Miraclemic
Replied On Feb 23rd, 2011:
Really Aloha? Are you still going on about this? Even VoidCowboy can see her and he's the conspiracy theorist.
►Thatdude
Replied On Feb 23rd, 2011:
I don't think that Aloha's wrong really, I was talking to a couple of friends and they said that they couldn't see her either. Could it be some sort of Stranger power?
►Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Replied On Feb 23rd, 2011:
A Stranger power that only works on some people? I suppose there have been weirder things. Like that guy that could control ketchup.
►bothad
Replied On Feb 23rd, 2011:
Seriously?
►Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Replied On Feb 23rd, 2011:
Yeah, called himself Condiment King.
But back onto Boogeyman, if it is a Stranger power it only seems to work when people don't know she's real. I just chatted up some friends and they admitted the same thing. They couldn't see her until someone convinced them that she existed.
►Xyloloup
Replied On Feb 23rd, 2011:
That's such a weird power.
►Chaosfaith
Replied On Feb 23rd, 2011:
I have to wonder, why Boogeyman? It just seems like a childish name to name yourself as.
►TheSleepingKnight
Replied On Feb 23rd, 2011:
Boogeyman is kinda of a catchall phrase to classify supernatural entities that hunt or seek to harm humans. And while it might be used on children now, back in the old days even adults were afraid of boogeymen. These weren't the ones that they used in children's tales today, but more blood and death. She seems to be making a theme of scaring her enemies (though to be fair, anyone would be scared of murder horses like that).
I foresee a number of capes learning not to stay out after dark.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 … 23, 24, 25
Lisa stopped scrolling as she considered that thought. Capes typically liked to name themselves at least something tangential to their powers. Though Tattletale was hardly the most…mature names, it was one that got the threat of her power across. Fight her and risk her spilling all her secrets. What did Taylor Hebert's moniker say about her?
Wants people to fear her. Wants criminals to fear her. Wants to inspire terror.
Looking back at her video interaction with the Merchants she could see that. Everything was setup in a way that demonstrated that she possessed all the power. She had them on their knees while holding the head of one of their leaders on high. That wasn't really anything groundbreaking in terms of parahuman activity, it was how Lung had managed to keep his warring groups in line underneath him. Fear was one of the driving motivators behind many gang members.
But as she stared at the screen, Lisa couldn't help but feel that she was missing something. Like staring at a blurry image, you knew that there was something there, but you just couldn't make out what. Lisa could already feel a Thinker headache coming onto her as she considered the image again, the rather blatant use of her power starting to take its toll. What was it about Boogeyman's powers that were keeping her from seeing what her powers were doing? She had already done it with most of the capes in the Bay without fault, Coil notwithstanding. What was different about Boogeyman? The image before her presented nothing expect what she already knew.
Boogeyman using powers. Boogeyman creating weapons.
Not Parahuman. Subject Triggered. No powers granted.
Unknown Source.
Connecting.
Oh, what's this?
Error!
Boogeyman is—i-s—
Amusing.
Disconnect!
But your little friend isn't here.
Disconnect!
I AM.
Boo.
Something flashed behind Lisa's eyes, something old and ancient and so very dark. It was the barest of glimpses, but what she saw was enough to freeze her heart and turn her blood to ice. Her breath became ragged as she struggled to keep herself from hyperventilating. Whatever that…thing was, it wasn't something that she ever wanted to see again.
Ever.
Lisa screamed in pain as the mother of all Thinker headaches hit her light a freight train as her constant use of her powers came back to collect their due. She could feel all of her synapses lighting on fire as she desperately reached for an aspirin. She managed to clench her way through the burning agony as she swallowed the pills in one go before collapsing to the ground.
Lisa wasn't sure how long she had been out, but the sound of her cell phone ringing woke her up from her pain induced stupor. The Thinker groaned as she pulled herself from the ground, both in pain and exasperation. She could still feel her head throbbing against her skull like a set of drums, the aspirins having done little to ebb the flow. She would have liked to stay down for the next week or so, but there was only one person who would be calling.
Lisa took a deep breath as she tried to push aside the pain for a few minutes to inform Coil that she had found a load of squat. But there was no point in letting him know how weak she was. "Hey boss," she chirped with as much cheer as she could muster. "I—"
"Is Boogeyman capable of surviving a sniper shot to the head?" Coil asked with an urgency that was unbecoming of him. Lisa had heard a lot of the man's moods but never had she ever heard him sound so desperate. Despite herself, Lisa couldn't hold back a fully body shiver at the mention of the parahuman's name, as if a cold chill had just swept through the building.
"I—I don't know," Lisa said, too surprised to come up with a decent lie. Coil's odd attitude had caught her off guard, and with her Thinker headache, there was no way she could find out why.
"Find out now," Coil growled the promise of death and so much worse on the tip of his tongue. Lisa didn't need her powers to know that if she didn't give him a good answer in the next few seconds she would need to take her chances and get out of town.
"Uh…maybe," Lisa said tentatively. "The report said that she survived a point-blank pistol shot to the head, but if you hit her enough times it might stick." She could practically hear the displeasure steaming off the man at her answer. It was almost gratifying really, after being used as the man's magic ball for so long, not being able to give him the answer he wanted was amusing. Though she would prefer it if her life wasn't at risk.
"I will call you back shortly," he growled out, not even bothering to use her real name to irritate her. Whatever was going on had to be pretty serious. Out of curiosity, Lisa pulled up a new PHO tab to see if anything new had come up. Lisa paused at the first thread to come up for Brockton Bay. She swallowed nervously as she pushed the button leading her into the den of squalor and internet idiocy.
Topic: Lung vs Boogeyman!
In: Boards ► News ► Events ► Brockton Bay
BadSamurai(Original Poster)
Oh, that's not good.
Jennifer scowled as the two wires refused to be spliced together. The plastic casing slipped through her dirty fingers as she tried to keep herself from falling over. Without a chair, she was forced to stand straight up for hours at a time while she worked at the lousy wood desks she had been granted.
They weren't even sterilized!
Jennifer moved towards another desk to grab a better wire, mindful of the chain wrapped around her ankles to keep her in place. The old rust thing clanked along the ground as she searched for a better fit for what she needed. Not that she had much to choose from. Everything was either from the junkyard or stolen from a shop. A time ago she would have shouted in frustration at the inferiority of her equipment compared to what she had access to back at her university, but now she couldn't even do that. Not since Lung had her tongue removed for her rebellion.
"Do you believe me to be a fool?" Lung asked as he towered over her, even without his powers. His presence was suffocating, like standing on the edge of a volcano and knowing that if you took one more step closer you would fall in and die. "Did you think I would not know of your rebellious thoughts?"
Jennifer could only glare as she stared at the half-finished bomb before her. She had meant it to be the bomb to kill Lung, a matter transmutation of sorts to overcome his healing factor. Healing meant little if there wasn't anything left to heal. But it was still in the construction stages, with several materials still in waiting. She had done her best to hide its existence from Lung, but she had always been a copious note taker. She couldn't help but write down her thoughts on the bomb as she constructed it piece by piece, leaving behind enough for Lung to hang her with.
"I admire your persistence, but you have yet to learn patience," Lung said as he took hold of the unfinished bomb. Jennifer winced as a soft glow centered in Lung's palm as he brought forth what fire he could. Within a minute the device was slagged beyond use. "But while I have grown amused by your efforts to escape, this is not a transgression that can remain unpunished."
Jennifer only glared, biting down on her tongue to keep herself quiet. The bruised around her wrist was a reminder of what happened when others got displeased at her mouthy attitude. Lung only sighed at her defiance, like a parent being irritated at an unruly child.
"If you do not wish to speak, then I see no reason why you should keep your vile tongue girl," Lung rumbled, turning around and walking away even as the Demon drew out one of his knives.
Panic surged through the Tinker's form as she opened her mouth in protest, only for one of her captors to hold her mouth open as Oni Lee reached in with his knife.
Jennifer shivered as she set aside the wiring. That was not a pleasant memory. The wound still burned on some days, when it was really bad it almost felt like it was being cut off again. According to the ABB men assigned to guard her, it had only been because her status as a Tinker that she had remained alive, a gift that she should cherish.
Jennifer snorted. As if she should cherish what basically amounted to being a slave. Working day in and out for a man who wouldn't know intelligence if it ripped out its heart. She was without thanks of gratitude or recognition, just another member of the ABB to serve to the whims of Lung like a dancing puppet.
Part of her regretted not taking Boogeyman up on her offer. At the very least she would still have her tongue and she would be out from under Lung's baleful eye. But she would have still been a Tinker working for someone, working under someone, and that wasn't something that she couldn't allow. She was going to free herself from this if she had loose every part of her body piece by piece.
She would show them all.
The door to the warehouse that she was consigned to working in burst open as one of the higher-ranking ABB men came tearing through. She glared at him as he bumped into on her desks, jostling a few of her projects. The man ignored her as drew out the key to her chains. Jennifer stared at the man quizzically, it wasn't time for her bathroom break yet.
"Lung's fighting the Protectorate and Boogeyman, and Oni Lee is down, you need to get out there and help them," the man ordered in a tone that brooked no disobedience. Jennifer could feel her heart skip a beat. This was the moment she had been waiting for. With both of them distracted she could kill them.
She was tempted to kill the man with her spatial warping bomb to the right, but she held herself back. Compared to ensuring Lung's death the man was nothing. She would enact revenge on him later, but right now she needed to hold herself in check and act like the good little Tinker. She gave the man a sharp nod as he handed her a gas mask, the only real part of her costume. In the end, all it had to do was conceal her identity, and it wasn't like most people didn't already know who she was thanks to her stupidity at Cornell.
The man shoved a bag in her face before storming off, barking orders at the other standing guard. Jennifer glared at his back as she started to load her bombs into the case. As she watched the man leave she carefully set one bomb in particular in the case, high above the others. This was the one that would set her free, the one that would kill Lung.
The one that would set Bakuda free.
Let's see how amusing you think my attempts are now Lung, Jennifer thought with a savage smile she heaved the pack over her shoulder.
She would show them all.
Jennifer is making her move, Lisa is seeing things that shouldn't be seen, and Coil is being forced to take action.
Goodbye Brockton Bay.
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