It was one of those nights. Gaunt was tense, and his workers were all either busy or out. Worst of all, he was out of smokes. He would have to handle this himself. It was about 11 when he emerged from the tunnels, trying to get his bearings. He was only a few blocks from a 7-11, that should do it.
Gaunt stood in front of the door for a solid minute. He hadn't been shopping in a while, and he'd forgotten certain things. For instance, that you weren't allowed to conceal your face in a convenience store. He sighed, pulling down his hood and stepping inside. Yep, this was gonna suck. People were staring at him almost immediately. He hated this. People accepted a green elf as their protector, but he always stood out as a monster. Too many movies being too accurate, that was the problem. And worse yet, he had to directly ask for the smokes. He let out another sigh, stepping into line.
I need caffine....I need some soda pop...Oh gosh, I need soda pop, Maggie thought as she drove, fingers drumming against the wheel as she searched for a 7-11 or for any gas station she could stop at. She needed some coca cola or something along those lines, because she could feel her eyelids getting heavier and heavier and there was no way she was going to fall asleep while driving home. Her parents would kill her for wrecking the car.
And they probably wouldn't let her go to the charity event with the others, which would be very upsetting.
Theres one! Maggie thought as she spotted a 7-11, pulling into it and parking, rubbing her eyes before heading towards the doors. She entered, glancing at the line and frowning at the length of it before heading towards the soda fountains.
Once she had her large Coca Cola in hand, Maggie got in line behind-
Dude, someone needs a tan. And some hair. And some cosmetic surgery. Heck, he just needs an extreme makeover, Maggie thought as she leaned to the side a bit, trying to get a good look at his face as she looked at him innocently.
Gaunt couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching. Well, that was expected. He just got the sense that someone was watching him very closely. The vampire turned to look around, and almost missed her. She was short as hell, probably about a foot shorter than him. Probably in her teens, by the look of it, and carrying one of those ridiculously big sodas.
And she was craning her neck to stare at him.
Gaunt grimaced, showing a little fang before turning to face forward again. This line couldn't go fast enough for his taste, but it had ground to a halt. Some old bat up front had decided that it was 1970 and she was going to pay with a check. Gaunt grumbled under his breath, wishing he could do something about it. Instead, he had to stand here with a gawker behind him. Not cool, not cool at all.
Maggies manners had left her, probably at home sleeping, because Maggie continued to look at the guy. He was creepy looking, looking gaunt and skeletal white. His ears and chin were rather pointed, and were his eyes red?
They looked that way when he looked at her, though he had to look down at her because of how tall he was and how short she was and- Where those fangs?
Maggies eyes widdened as the guy turned to face forward again, replaying the moment over and over in her head to make sure it wasn't just a trick of the light. What is with guys and fangs? Maggie thought, thinking of the rather scary form of a certain young man that had freaked her out to the point of fainting. That made this guy the 2nd guy who has had fangs.
"So, are you a makeup artist or an actor?" Maggie asked, as though those were the most logical choices instead of him actually being part of the undead. It made sense in her own mind, so that worked, right? "Anyway, cool effect, though the fangs seem off. Might just be a sizing thing though," Maggie said, rather casually as though this was a normal conversation. Which, for Maggie, it was starting to become.
Gaunt barely held back a groan when the girl started talking. She was really going there, wasn't she? Well, this line was going nowhere at a glacial pace, it wasn't like he was going to hold anyone up this way. He turned back to her, holding up a hand for her to see. His fingers were freakishly long and thin, and almost seemed to taper to points. He waggled his fingers a little, showing that they were, in fact, real. "You're in Jump City, kid. Am I really your first metahuman?"
Gaunt opened his mouth, showing the fangs again. Yep, real too. Or at least convincing enough. The kid seemed oddly enthusiastic about this stuff, it was kind of weirding him out. He figured that maybe she was a film buff, it could explain how her mind jumped to "actor" in a town crawling with all sorts of freakish supers. "Fangs aren't that off, are they? I don't think they make braces for my kind of teeth. Wouldn't know where to start." His voice was dripping with sarcasm. Her enthusiasm could have been endearing, but Gaunt wasn't feeling charitable enough for that.
Ha, got his attention! Maggie thought as the creepy looking guy turned back towards her, holding his hand out for her to see. Someone should really introduce this guy to a piano. And a nail care kit, Maggie thought as she looked at his hands then up at him. Dang he was creepy looking.
"And i've only been here for three weeks and I have met some of the others, but none that have any physical attributes. Well, there are a few with silver hair and one transforms into a demon of sorts but he can look normal too." Maggie stated, fighting against a smile. So he was a metahuman! Is that what we're classified as? Metahumans? Cool, Maggie thought as he showed her his fangs again.
"Well I was comparing them to demon fangs, which are probably be a bit bigger and kind of sharper lookin," Maggie stated, even though he was being sarcastic. Now that she had her coca cola her attitude was chipper and more sunny. "So, is this your metahuman power? Lookin like Nosferatu or is it a result of your ability?" Maggie questioned, curious.
So this girl knew something about the metahuman scene. That answered some questions, but raised so many others. Gaunt sized her up, trying to judge if she had any powers. Oh, who was he kidding, most of that stuff was well-hidden. "Well, good for your friend. I got the short straw." Mentally, he was running through his list of supers for ones who matched the description. He couldn't think of any well-known silver-haired supers operating in the area, and there were tons of demon-themed ones, many of whom traveled. Just who did this girl know?
Gaunt grimaced a bit. That movie reference hadn't earned her any favors, especially considering how close to reality it was. "Me? I got the standard brute package. Strength, toughness, bit of a healing factor. The looks are just a side effect. Say no to canned superpowers, kid." She seemed inordinately cheerful about the whole thing. Some of the other people were looking a little less nervous now, apparently her naivete was contagious.
After what seemed like forever, Gaunt made his way to the front of the line. The vampire ordered his smokes, paid, and headed for the door, hoping against hope that the girl wasn't going to follow him with more awkward questions.
"Same here. Thinking of starting a 'Superpower Short Straw' club or support group. Could be helpful," Maggie said with a shrug, not seeming to worry or care that this Nosferatu look-alike was sizing her up. Was she simply growing used to all the weirdness around here or simply oblivious? The world may never know.
Okay, so someones a bit sensitive about his looks. Not that I blame him, Maggie thought as she saw him make a face and made a mental note about it. Maggie listened as he listed off his abilities, noticing that the others who were also there were starting to relax. Yay! This is a good thing, right? Maggie thought as less-scary guy reached the front and paid for his things and headed for the door. "Hey! Wait up!" Maggie called out as she quickly paid for her things and hurried after him.
"Whats your name?" Maggie asked as she caught up to him, curious on who he was. "Are you a superhero with your abilities? You're not a villain, right?" Maggie asked, looking up at him with a questioning eyebrow. She kept Brokkrs gift to her, an ice dagger, hidden away in her purse. Because you never know when you might run into trouble, and if vampy here turned out to be trouble, Maggie was going to freeze him under layers of ice. "But anyway, i'm Maggie and until you tell me your name i'm just going to refer to you as Mr. Butterfly, kay?"
Gaunt let out a snort when she claimed to have drawn the short straw. She still looked human and seemed to be relatively sane, that was easy street in his book. He tried to ignore her, hoping she would lose interest and move on to something else.
No such luck. He left the store, and she was trotting after him. How could someone so short move so fast? He would have thought her shorter legs would put her at a disadvantage, but she was catching up. Gaunt tried ignoring her again, but it wasn't working. The last straw was the "Mr. Butterfly" comment. Gaunt stopped short, turning to face her. "If this is a butterfly, what in the blue hell did the caterpillar look like?" he asked, glaring down at her. "I go by Nos, I work for-hire, and I really don't think you know what 'short straw' means. Now run along, kid. Go play with your toys or something." He turned around, starting to walk again.
Maggie frowned when he snorted at her, as though he thought her short straw was hardly anything at all. And boy did that make her mad. "My metahuman ability is receptive omnilinguallism, meaning that I can read or hear any language, human or alien, and it will translate in my head as english. I cannot speak any of these languages, nor can I tell if i'm hearing another language or simply english unless someone tells me. My brain is on the verge of a lingual overload every time I leave my house. It is my only ability. No magic, no super strength, no laser beams, nothing. And yet I get to live in a place where people do have those abilities who can easily crush my head in simply because they're bored. So yeah, I see myself as having gotten the short straw," Maggie stated to him, hands on her hips as Mr. Butterfly turned back towards her, glaring. And he seemed pretty mad too.
"Well its mighty freakin fine to meet ya Nos, " Maggie said, hearing her mothers voice in her head reminding her to remember her manners. There were other voices, some she didn't recognize, whispering in her head but she fought to ignore them though she did glance around as if to see other people whispering at her. "And I may not know what the caterpillar looked like, but I can bet that he was nicer." Maggie stated, watching him as he walked away, glaring before walking towards her own car. Great, now i'm in a sour mood and i'm going to be questioned and given the talk on how its not pretty to have sour moods, Maggie thought bitterly, not feeling good at all.
Gaunt was pretty unimpressed, and it showed. He stopped again, turning to Maggie and folding his arms. "I used to work with a guy who glanced at someone and could see every possible way they could do him harm. He was constantly terrified that one of those things was going to happen, it basically crippled him. He couldn't even function without someone he knew helping him out, and even then it was iffy. How's that short straw sound now?" The vampire was scowling now. "You're exactly like seven billion other schmucks except you can understand everyone better, and you think that's the short straw? You're lucky. You got a power with no real drawbacks, and you're whining about it. So yes, you really have no idea what the short straw even is."
"Kindness can get ground out of a person. If you ever have any real trouble, you might see why." Gaunt turned, walking away again. Finally, he'd gotten the brat to go away. The Nosferatu pulled out a cigarette and lit up, trying to calm his nerves. That girl had not done his mood any favors. Tonight was already bad enough, the last thing he had needed was some suburban brat whining about how tough her life was. He hadn't even been able to tell her half of his drawbacks, or Visionary's.
"Oh yeah, because feeling like your brain is going to explode isn't a drawback," Maggie snarked back, her hand simply itching to grab the ice dagger and shoot it at him. This man was infuriating! Her temper was rising, her head feeling hot as the whispers grew louder.
Distroy him, They whispered in her ears and in her head. Just take the dagger and freeze him. Do it! He deserves it. Take the dagger and distroy him, you pathetic weakling! Maggie found herself holding the dagger, free from its sheath and pointing it at Nos. She narrowed her eyes, focusing on his head when she realized what she was doing and moved her arm so that the frost beam or whatever flew past him.
Uh oh uh oh uh oh," Maggie thought, the only thought that was currently running through her head, the whispers silent. She looked from Nos to her car, trying to calculate how fast she could make it to her car and if she could beat him there.
"Yeah, every whiny teen thinks their problems are the biggest. Some day you'll realize how good you have it." Gaunt waved dismissively, speaking loud enough for her to hear. He was used to hearing over-dramatized complaints from other supers. Gaunt's baseline for superpower problems was catching fire in sunlight, so Maggie's concerns didn't even register with him.
The ice blast shot past Gaunt's head and he froze. Slowly, he turned to face the kid. "I thought you said no magic. You were very specific about that horrible burden." His voice was dripping with sarcasm. Maggie was already running, but Gaunt had practiced for things like this. The pavement cracked under his feet, and a jump carried him in front of her.
Gaunt leaned against the car, glaring at the girl. "Now ain't this a treat. You barely qualified as having problems already, and now it turns out at least one of em ain't even true. How many other powers you fibbing about?" Gaunt looked confident, but he was ready to spring out of the way at any moment. Magic had some unpleasant effects on him, and he didn't want a direct hit from that.
See Maggie run. Maggie had tried to run towards her car, sprinting as fast as she could. Better than 'See Maggie bluff'. Way better than 'See Maggie get killed'. Unfortuantly, Nos's abilities worked for him in this situation as he jumped infront of her, getting between her and her car. Maggie took a few steps back, holding the dagger firmly and with it pointed at Nos.
"I'm not magical, but the demon guy I was talking about earlier. Well, he can make weapons that defy physics and every known scientific law. Made this for me so that I can use it against guys who threaten me or are rude to me." Maggie said, eyes narrowed as she kept it pointed at him. "Now, get away from the car so that I can go and we never see each other again, okay?" Maggie said, bracing herself just in case she did have to shoot him with the ice frost.
Last Edit: Aug 30, 2013 20:09:02 GMT -6 by Deleted
Gaunt's eyes widened. That certainly narrowed down the list of demons she knew. "You know Hellsmith?" He took his hand off the car, stepping forward. "Guess you do have a drawback after all. Not for your own power, but still." This kid was in far over her head.
"Did he not tell you? Those weapons have side effects. They're made to make you go bonkers, try to cause as much of a mess as possible." He held out a hand. "You really shouldn't have that, it'll get pretty bad." All danger aside, this was a pretty rare opportunity. Getting a second of Hellsmith's weapons without letting the schmuck know they were onto him. Not that he'd be likely to figure it out anyway, but still one hell of a windfall. "I work with professionals, they know how to dispose of things like this. We can get rid of it safely. The longer you have it, the crazier you'll get."
Shoutbox
TTGG Activity Feed. Feel free to post updates in this box. Provide links to threads you update or want people to join. This is not a chatbox. Thank you.
Alviss: Darn doesn't show the pic
Apr 18, 2019 7:10:17 GMT -6
force: miss this place. if anyone comes back and sees this, i'm force, i was kid flash here once. you can find me on discord at rook#9485
Jan 12, 2023 13:11:35 GMT -6
The roleplay takes place after the series end of the original Teen Titans animated show, but does not include the movie Trouble in Tokyo. Since then Robin has been on something of a recruiting spree, and many new young heroes have found themselves a home in Jump City as well as Titan Tower.
SILVRISABESUALISHATRINITYsupport boardsw3schools Images (c) DC Character and everything else belong to their owners. if there is something that is yours here, but it isn't credited for, please contact an admin and we will immediately add you to the credits.