DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Alternate Reality PHX: Phoenix Reform Academy Teasers and Cutscenes

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Her name was Hadasha. She was fast. She ran from things. She couldn't, however, run from her family. Her father was perhaps one of the most unpleasant men alive. Well, he wasn't really her father, but 'Enkidu' as he called himself had 'adopted' her. She was almost certain she wasn't his, despite his best efforts to convince her otherwise yet still she didn't know her real parents. He wanted her to be Daddy's little villain. He was grooming her. Teaching her things. And she played along. But one day she found herself standing in the smoking ruins of what had been her home as long as she had known .. and a ward of Halcyon city. Not responsible for her parent's crimes, really. Hasn't collected any of her own. But still. What are they to do with her? She couldn't run from her past without somewhere to run to.

earlier.

A stormy night. Only the fireworks this night were not supplied by the weather. Explosions and bolts of energy split the sky over ‘The Black Hole’ - the premier maximum security prison for the super powered. The match seemed somewhat even, although one got the impression that just maybe the wrong side was winning. Arrayed against the duo of Alchemy and Nyx and their minions were several older and younger hero’s pressed into service, as no one had expected anything so bold as attacking this facility, hero’s in the vicinity were short. A trio from the nearby Phoenix academy made up the core of the current defenders.

An unknown figure walked onto a nearby hill, standing out as a shadow against a starlit sky. She stood a long time facing the prison - then turned.

The rooftop under the infamous villain Alchemy and her oft companion in crime Nyx exploded,

Then eerie silence, one unconscious but still breathing body lay in the rubble. Another had vanished. And the third walked straight towards the Prison’s guardians ...

It was not a typical night.

Nearly a quarter century ago.

A dark and nearly starless night, the air hanging heavy.

A man standing on a building top, his hands gesturing, the ground under another building starts buckling and falling, as if to a sinkhole, as the ground cracks, buckles and sinks inwards towards the center of the building, the building itself starts to crack and buckle. There is screaming from the inside.

A young girl with black hair nearby looks at the building, looks back, at the man beside her, turns and walks away a few steps, then turns again ... and the man falls through the floor, disappearing, her dropping through right after him, both vanish from sight and there is silence.

Not to much later a slight build pale girl with long black hair stands outside of the building, with the still form of a man at her feet. She waves down the flying form above her, holding her hands out to her side and open.

A cliff overlooking an ocean, a bright and starry sky silhouettes two figures. One a woman, wearing a long cloak, her face showing only as a mostly white reflection in the moonlight. The other a normal looking man, both are talking, the cool crisp night carries sound, however, well.

The female voice:

"... Then you are sure?"

Man:

"Of course. What you do with it? Who knows. But the material provided is good. And the payment is of course the future use of the rest of sample for my own projects."

Woman.

She waves a gloves white hand.

"Whatever. None of my concern. I don't care. If I get what I want."

Man.

"You will get what you asked for. Nothing more and nothing less."

A man and woman sitting on a couch, talking on the upper story of their house. On another coach sits a teenaged boy, feet propped up and reading from a book. There is a knock on the door leading to the outside deck - a dark figure can be seen standing on the other side.

The two look at each other and nod, then look over at the teenager.

The mother speaks.

"Dear. We have a business meeting. Could you please continue your studies in the library downstairs, for now? It won't take too long, we should be done before you go to bed."

The boy shrugs, nods, and leaves the room carrying his book.

The man stands and opens the door. The figure, in a cloak of midnight blue and a mask of Gold enters the room ...

<Fade>

A blue and sunny summer’s day, on a rocky lake shore, a gentle breeze bringing the pleasing scent of some sort of flower. Far enough into this park, the sounds of civilization vanished into a fog. A lithe and graceful, if somewhat vague form moves lightly across the stones, almost as in a dance. An irregular and syncopated dance. It stops when it sees another figure, standing more in the shadows of the nearby woods, hood pulled down. Her features sharpen and flow, becoming sharper and more defined, with a predatory edge.

“Oh dearie me Kimmy the drama, the drama, yes? ‘Enters figure, cloaked in shadow, mother of the endless night.‘“

The figure says nothing, save extending one finely manicured hand, holding a package.

“And begging your pardon you want this to go down there? Into that place? And you want me going in on purpose? “

“You know dearies that what I do won’t work in that mineshaft? I will be locked in in all but the most subtle ways. Have to rely on my theatre. I expect my compensation to be high.”

The other figure nods again, hands over another package, a small one.

The first woman opens one end, glances in, and laughs the tinkling laugh of an angel.

“Oh, that will do quite nicely. Quite. We have a compact, Kimmy. It will be received.”

A long time ago, the aftermath of a raid on the hidden base of Phobos, by all measures a successful one. While Phobos and his sone had escaped, they had rousted his base of power and set him back considerably. Unfortunately there was a problem. A death. And a young child. A young child who belonged to, it turned out, a ‘hero’.

It was to be a death with enormous consequences.


****

A few days before present:

An unidentified anonymous call goes in to the FBI, and is forwarded to the authorities in charge of ‘powered crime’. One of the ten most wanted has been identified living in a rundown house in the suburbs. A raid occurs a few days later on a busy, busy night.