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Post by Becky (Viral) on May 2, 2018 4:25:14 GMT
Becky had been walking through Hong Kong, taking a route through the Gaochao district. She had just finished performing at a local rave, getting quite the good payday from it as a result. She had been building up her DJ persona lately, trying her best to make a name for herself on one end. Of course...she was craving the need for action. Lately she had been seeing more and more about the Superstars and...well it just gets to a girl after a certain amount of time.
"Let's see...which way was I supposed to go again?"
Becky was checking a map on her phone, she hadn't been to Hong Kong that often and was trying to figure out a way for her to get back to her place in Shanghai's Pudong district. She had a tendency to always keep an eye out but she had gotten lost. Of course that...may have been because of her...one or two stops at a bar, but alcohol couldn't be that damaging, right? She just had a...few drinks...she could handle it!
"Think it was...this way...y-yeah, that sounds right."
Becky smiled to herself, laughing a tiny bit. Okay m-maybe she was a little tipsy BUT THAT WASNT A BIG DEAL. Although the fact that she was going down side streets and having trouble getting back to the transportation centers were likely a problem. She looked around and tried to find someone to help her out, sitting down against one of the walls. Her powers wouldn't do much good, she hadn't gotten used to traveling across the internet yet. That was some practice that she'd have to save for the future...especially if she was going to do anything serious in terms of being a whole rebel and all
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Cinder
Rebel
Career: Actual Bad Guy
Posts: 10
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Post by Cinder on May 7, 2018 5:01:40 GMT
Distance was all that mattered. Cinder wasn't stopping for anything and she sure as hell wasn't going to be caught red-handed. She stole glances behind her whenever she could risk them, hoping not to catch a flicker of that red-and-blue glow on the city's streets. Her shoes were caked in ash and mud.
The cold evening air shocked her throat and lungs as she inhales deeper, faster. With each footfall, a jarring pain shoots ankle to knee, ankle to knee. The robbery would have gone off without a hitch; she snuck in through the window at a time she knew the rich man's house was empty, and thought she memorized the housemaid's schedule. The poor woman called the police, and Cinder had to deal with her and escape with what she was able to grab. Her heart beat frantically; all or nothing. I know these streets better than they do, she thought. those pigs are just pretty boys in uniform, shipped in from the nicer end of town. If they want me, they'll have to deploy a Superstar, but they won't. Catching a petty thief isn't glamorous enough for them.
Her feet nearly slipped as she rounded the corner into an alley, her eyes falling onto a woman with shoulder-length oddly-colored hair, and a risky idea popped into her head. She surged forward as quickly as her tired feet would carry her, and she wrapped her arm around the woman's shoulder, leaning on her as-if she were an old friend.
"Really? No way!" Cinder spoke through a filtered voice, threw her head back, and she laughed and laughed. It was as-if the woman had just told the funniest joke in the whole world.
She heard the dull rumble of a police cruiser slowly drive past, peering into the alleyway only briefly before moving on, the pulse of their sirens marking their departure. Cinder cast a look over her shoulder, seeing that her pursuers had missed her, and released a held breath. Smoke poured out from her respirator, as she coughed. She bent over as sharply as if she'd been punched in the stomach, hacked and wheezed, struggled to get her breathing under control.
By slow, torturous degrees, the coughs eased in intensity and then slowly passed. Cinder straightened her posture, then turned to face the woman in full.
"Thanks for playing along," she murmured, clearing her throat. Smoke puffed out behind her with each forced syllable. "You really saved me back there."
There was another laugh, this one more sincere than the last. It was humorless and dark, without an ounce of mirth. She held her palm forward, smoke beginning to pool between her fingers, hand outstretched towards the woman's throat. She widened her stance, narrowed her eye, and spoke once again.
She was going to get something out of this miserable night. If it wasn't going to be from her robbery, it would come from this poor fool.
"Now," she growled, "Give me everything you have."
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Post by Becky (Viral) on May 12, 2018 3:42:02 GMT
Becky looked at Cinder, slightly confused. The alcohol made it a bit off-setting but she knew for sure that she hadn't seen Cinder before. She let her talk but backed up a tiny bit once the charade was over. This..this wasn't exactly what she was looking forward to tonight.
"Whoa, whoa, y-you don't...don't want to do that to me. I-I'm not the kind offf person to rob"
The alcohol was slurring her speech somewhat, but she could still think decently. Enough to at least know what to do to keep her belongings and such.
"Listen, listen, Iiii can help get you stuff if that's what you're looking for. I-I'm not a superstar o-orrrr anyone dangerous. I can be your friend." Becky was both nervous and...well, she was still fairly drunk. The DJ had caught herself against the wall of a building, steadying her balance as she looked up at Cinder
"Look...iif yourethis desperate, I can give you some cash I have on hand without you trying to take it. But don'think forrrr a second that I'd go down without a fight if you're going to rob me blind...I'm not even blind..I'm just really friginnnnng drunk."
Becky couldn't help but giggle a tiny bit, for some reason the thought of her using her powers while drunk amused her. Even though considering what she has that probably would not be the best idea..who knows what would happen if a technology manipulating rebel like herself went on a drunken rampage.
"Why are you outdislate anyway? Don't ya know it's not safe in some parts like dis? At least tell me who the heck I'm getting robbed by so I know who the hell I'm dealing with..if I'm able to remember a ton of this whenever I'm sober."
Becky sat down on some stairs, shaking her head as she looked back up at Cinder
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Cinder
Rebel
Career: Actual Bad Guy
Posts: 10
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Post by Cinder on May 16, 2018 7:31:26 GMT
As the woman spoke, Cinder opened and closed her hand, mimicking a mouth opening and closing. Behind her respirator, she made "blah, blah" motions with her mouth, mocking her.
I'm not the kind of person to rob, the woman had claimed. Cinder scoffed. You have enough to get this drunk, she thought to herself. She either had an excess of wealth, or had blown it all on alcohol. That was a bet that she was willing to take, hoping it was the former, but would be gravely disappointed if it was the latter.
But with the woman's next words, Cinder only stopped and gawked behind her respirator.
If you're this desperate, I can give you some cash I have on hand without you trying to take it. Those deadly words lit the gasoline in Cinder's veins, and she'd make it the biggest fire this drunk would have ever seen.
How dare she.
Cinder's anger boiled to a point. She didn't want this drunkard to believe she was desperate. Cinder didn't take handouts. Cinder just took. She tried to understand what sort of mindset someone had to be in to willingly give their money to a thief. No matter how drunk anyone is, that just didn't make any sense. But then the realization hit her like a truck on diesel: this woman was pitying her.
She wasn't going to be pitied by some lowlife drunk on the street. Cinder, some lowlife on the street, was at least a step above that. She wasn't going to allow herself to be made a fool of. She wasn't going to tell her anything. Not her name, certainly not her name. She'd only share her name with this woman if she were on her deathbed.
With a growl, Cinder pushed the woman over, her palms smacking her off-balance with the intent of sending the stumbling drunk to the ground. Cinder stood over her, towering, furious. While she would never share her name with anyone, she was more than used to identifying herself with a simple alias. "You," she murmured, in a low and dangerous tone, each syllable deliberate, "can call me Cinder."
She coughed hard, those five simple words nearly sending her over the edge. Her throat filled with soot and she coughed it all out through her respirator, smoke venting out the back. It took her a moment to recover, a moment of distraction, a moment that the drunkard could have easily taken advantage of.
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Post by Becky (Viral) on May 23, 2018 2:57:13 GMT
Becky winced as she fell down to the ground, turning and slowly standing back up, or...stumbling back up, rather.
"Cinder, eh? Y-you cannnnn call me Viral, yeah, Viral."
Becky nodded, remembering her alias as she watched Cinder cough out her soot, she was tempted to do something to take her down but...she couldn't bring herself to do it. Drunk as she was, she knew that Cinder couldn't be all bad..t-there had to be a reason for her doing this, right?
"W-wait, wait...hannng on a sec" She burped, shaking her head to clear herself up a bit as she looked Cinder straight in her face
"I dunno whattt it is..doubt it's the alcohol talking, maybe it is idon'tfeckingknow, but you don't seem like that bad of a personnnnn"
Becky tried walking forward but stumbled a bit, leaning against a wall as she giggled
"Whooo....let me tell ya, never fill yourself up with alcohol while you're doing a DJ gig. I-it really messes with your head and...wow my eyes still have laser flashes. I love lasers, didja know lasers are REALLY good for parties? Sooooo fun to watch~"
At this point she had slid down to the pavement again, drunk-rambling again as she tried to keep herself steady. It was getting hard though as she giggled to herself, looking back up at Cinder with a blissful smile on her face
"Your ash..cannnnt be good to deal with..h-have I ever told you about what I can do? I'd just need some electronics and all that but I could do some really good stuff, don't get me wrong. They don't call me V-viral for nothing...or thats juswhat I call myselfffff..."
She tried standing back up again, the alcohol still heavily influencing her actions as she tried walking over to Cinder
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Cinder
Rebel
Career: Actual Bad Guy
Posts: 10
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Post by Cinder on May 29, 2018 2:15:36 GMT
Cinder scowled, expression grave behind the security of her respirator. Only her one-eyed gaze betrayed her emotion, a certain intensity locked behind that red eye. After a few wavering moments, she straightened her posture, stabilizing herself with one last tentative clearing of the throat, followed by a childish sound, unbecoming of someone who works entirely too hard to cultivate a mature demeanor: “Bleh.” She stood (not particularly) tall, folding her arms as she listened to the drunk woman babble about nothing that mattered, but her cold demeanor melted when Viral made a particularly bold claim: You don’t seem like that bad of a person. Cinder’s eye went wide, entire expression slack. Then her face made to undo that slackness, and her eyebrows scrunched down, her eye narrowed, and her teeth grit. She found herself overwhelmed with a desire to slap the woman. But then… but then… She breathed in… And she breathed out. Ash surrounded her, the barest hint of flame licking at her lips as the air from her lungs left her mouth. Her eye narrowed, focusing on the woman before her. Smoke swirled like a cloak made of the sickest clouds, twirling and dancing around her as the wind poured through the alley, bringing a cold moisture to sweep away the dry scorch of Cinder's smoke. This was embarrassing. This was degrading. Cinder had better things to do! This woman was simply too drunk to waste her time on any further, that was all it was. Cinder had literally been mugging her and she had claimed that she could see good in her. It was all she could do not to laugh in her face. This was pathetic. This was pathetic. This was pathetic. Cinder stepped forward, ignoring the woman, “Viral,” sharing entirely too much personal information about herself. Had she ever been drunk before? Cinder doubted it. She didn’t seem to know what being drunk was like. Cinder stepped forward, fingers locking around the front of Viral’s shirt. She tugged her forward, bringing her nose-to-nose (respirator-to-nose?) with the woman. Her single visible eye bore into Viral, iris swirling with shades of yellow and red, flecks of orange flittering about in her retina. “If I’m so good,” Cinder rasped, smoke puffing with every syllable, “what’s stopping me from kicking in your teeth?”
Cinder made a harsh tug on the front of Viral's shirt, punctuating her deadly question. Her voice bore a hint of a growl so frustrated that it hardly even sounded like her own voice to her ears.
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Post by Becky (Viral) on Jun 3, 2018 2:54:00 GMT
"The fact that I'm your ticket to getting instant chaos?"
Becky finally snapped out of her drunken slur, wincing and holding her head, but she seemed to at least have a better idea of what was going on.
"Just...let go of that first off, please." She nervously moved Cinder's hand away from her shirt before sighing and standing up
"Listen to me. No offense, but if you have to rob people, you're down on your luck. Or at the very least you don't have much right now...I have something planned that could get US noticed. I say us, because I feel like you could..help me out."
Viral smiled a tiny bit, at least not showing she was going to hurt Cinder
"I wouldn't mind...helping YOU out, y'know. It wouldn't have to be much, but at the very least I can probably get into...places...a bit better than you maybe could. No offense, but you don't seem exactly like the stealthy type. What I can do on the other hand, I could go into the tech of most places...take it out fairly easily. Of course, sometimes I could use a little bit of a...distraction."
She smirked, looking up at Cinder, staring right in her one visible eye
"And that's where you come in. What I was going to go do later on...at some point...is take out the news station here in town. There's only one big one, and that's the main source of the media that the Superstars get in this area. We take them out, and the people can learn that they don't need to have these...excuses for heroes pushed all the damn time. And then, you can take me off and I can help you with whateeeever you want. I just need YOUR help, on this."
Viral sighed, not sure how this would be received. "So...what do you say?" She smiled a tiny bit, both excited and nervous
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Cinder
Rebel
Career: Actual Bad Guy
Posts: 10
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Post by Cinder on Jun 16, 2018 5:28:28 GMT
Viral’s words gave Cinder pause. A long, profound moment passed between the two of them. There was silence as Viral stared at Cinder, a certain smugness in her expression as she sent out her ace in the hole; her ticket to getting out of this situation alive, and, if all went in her favor, a supporter in her more proactive endeavors. Cinder sucked in a slow, thoughtful breath, then let it out. Fooooosh. The air behind her filled with smoke, wisps of soot that swirled into ever-shifting shapes, quickly blending to the night. “Chaos means nothing,” Cinder rasped, “without vision.” Cinder watched Viral’s expression fall. She relished it; but only for a brief moment. An odd, hollow feeling followed her deliberately cruel words. An unfamiliar sensation. A cough, clearing her throat and her mind. Cinder felt… bad. She was beginning to empathize for the woman before her, a regret pooling in her chest. She hated it. She twitched, rebelling against the empathy building behind her expression. She complied with Viral’s request, gently letting go of the front of her shirt. Before taking a step away, Cinder brushed off Viral’s front - an awkward sign of good will? She stepped away, hands clasped in front of her, pumping smoke into the air with each wheezing breath. She folded her arms over, circling Viral. She paced slowly around her, shoes leaving mismatched trails of ash on the concrete underfoot. She was like a shark; it was as if she were gauging Viral’s value as she listened. When Viral finished, Cinder was silent for a long moment. It was completely insane. It was insane to imagine that two nobodies could raid CCTV-NEWS, right here in Hong Kong. It was completely insane. It was an impossible task. And it was that simple: it could not be done. Although, it presented to Cinder an amazing opportunity. A small team of two so-called rebels taking over the largest and most reliable news provider in the nation? It would set China ablaze. It would send the spark along the wire, and would send that snowball rolling. With time, who could say how large that snowball could become? It could destroy the world. But… “Your plan,” Cinder coughed, “contains a fallacy.” Cinder narrowed her eye again. Black smoke churned out from her lungs, blasting the air behind her as she exhaled. “I am more than just… your distraction. Your dumb muscle.” Cinder paused, fighting off a rising tickle in her throat that threatened to overwhelm. She only gasped out an “Equals,” before she choked, a spluttering cough preventing her from continuing further. She pounded a fist against her chest, struggling to regulate her breath. After a moment, she secured it. She took a second, as if to confirm that her breath was stable, then flicked her gaze to Viral. There was something in her eye; flecks of color, reds and oranges and yellows. There was a fire that would set China ablaze. Cinder held out her hand in a handshake, her wordless answer to Viral’s offer.
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Post by Becky (Viral) on Jun 19, 2018 3:40:23 GMT
Viral waited for Cinder's reaction, admittedly a bit nervous. She sighed, slightly disappointed at first when it sounded like that Cinder wasn't going to join in.
"Alright.."
She looked in surprise though as she felt the grip on her shirt loosen, being let go by Cinder. Viral couldn't but blush in surprise as her front was brushed off, watching Cinder slowly pace around her. She had no idea what this meant, but she could tell this was moving in the right direction. She looked a bit confused at first when Cinder commented
"A...fallacy? What the heck's wrong with it?"
Viral looked surprised that there was something wrong before she realized what Cinder was saying. She nodded to affirm what Cinder was saying before keeping Cinder up, trying to help her out as she was coughing. She looked genuinely concerned, whether it was because they were soon-to-be partners or if she acting out of genuine kindness.
As she waited for Cinder, she smiled and shook her hand happily before hugging her. "Thank you thank you thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me! I've been dying to get a partner for so long! Of course we can be equals!"
Viral was beaming with excitement, having as much energy as the fire that was burning in Cinder's eye. She was trying her best to remain calm but was so excited about her plan getting to go into action.
"Okay, so we need to head back to my place to get the stuff ready, there's no time to waste, no time like the present!" It was like she was on a sugar high without having drunk any actual energy drinks. Either way, she dragged Cinder off as the two of them made their way back to Viral's place.
Soon...China was going to get the news break of a lifetime, one that no one was going to forget.
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