Kintsugi Plays Fallen Hero: Retribution (ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ …(^_^)…)

Dignity aside, we need to be patient here.​

> I keep my composure, waiting for my chance.

You keep your composure, making sure not to fight against Jake as you're led outside. He's stronger than you, you'll just get one chance to make your move, and this is not it.

Keep your calm.

With one arm forced up behind your back, you're led out into the downstairs bar. The music upstairs will drown any cries; there's no use screaming for help. The bar is half filled, but neither staff nor customers look at you twice. Jake is just a bouncer escorting another drunk off the premises; at least they can tell each other that and then go home with a clear conscience. The ones that aren't in on it already.

Parkfield is not a place for heroes. There will be no shining white knight to stumble in, half drunk, to rescue you from your captor. Nobody in their right mind would want to deal with Jake. With one hand on your neck and the other trapping your arm, you're led toward the side door like the lamb you're trying not to be.

You half ponder abandoning Barbara, but if you do that, you won't be able to use any chance to escape. People slip up all the time.

"Get the door, Larry." Jake keeps a tight grip on you as one of the men at the table gets up to open the door.

"Someone got too much to drink," Larry jokes. "You gonna drive her home?"

"Yeah, get the car started, will you?" Jake's hand has slipped from your neck to your mouth, stopping your protests. You do your best to bite, but it's like chewing wood.

The back door opens, and you're led out into an alley stinking of garbage and rubber. There's a car parked at the end, is it waiting for you?

You start to struggle for real, your feet slipping on the asphalt, but the grip remains firm. You want to punch yourself for being this stupid, but it's too late. You can't turn back time. You should have learned from last time, Barbara might have advantages, but she is also a victim. A victim of whatever accident wiped her mind and sent her into a coma. A victim of circumstance. A victim of anybody strong enough to control her. A victim of you.

　‣ No regrets, she was already a dead woman walking.
　‣ I feel bad, Barbara doesn't deserve this.

Spoiler: Show Stats (no change)

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary.
Description: A tall mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short and styled curly dark brown hair.

Their sense of style is androgynous, secondhand streetwear, with many piercings in their ears, nose, and tongue. They have a short, scruffy beard and mustache.

Standard of Living: Josie is well-off.
Josie is living in a comfortable apartment.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are rested.
Willpower: You feel calm.
Injuries: You are fine, with no significant wounds.

Telepathy
Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Anathema
Anathema runs a criminal syndicate. They are a known killer.
Infamy: 51% / Obscurity: 49%
██████████▒█████████

Armored Suit
Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing. The cape conceals and obfuscates what's underneath.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores, functionally similar to having disintegration touch. The suit is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status
Need Repair: 5% / Fine: 95%
████████████████████

Leadership: 63%
████████████▒███████

Psychological Profile
Arrogance: 28% / Anonymity: 72%
█████▒██████████████
Ruthlessness: 40% / Empathy: 60%
████████████████████
Daring: 51% / Caution: 49%
██████████▒█████████

Back in the day, Sidestep was known as a vigilante working with the Rangers.

Main Puppet
Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: She is fine, and has no serious wounds.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Charge
Josie's Relationship with Ortega: Friend and ally.
Ortega's Connection with Josie: 78%
███████████████▒████

Ortega thinks Anathema has made some good points.

Barbara's Relationship with Ortega: Eternally flirting. Josie is using Barbara as a spy.
Ortega's Connection with Barbara: 63%
████████████▒███████

Dr. Mortum
Barbara's Relationship with Dr. Mortum: friend.
Mortum's Connection with Barbara: 66%
█████████████▒██████

Lady Argent
Josie's Relationship with Lady Argent: Distant.
Lady Argent's Impression of Josie: 1%
▒███████████████████

Lady Argent respects Anathema's abilities.
Lady Argent's Interest in Anathema: 60%
████████████████████

Marshal Steel
Josie's Relationship with Steel: Friendly.
Steel's Connection with Josie: 72%
██████████████▒█████

Marshal Steel thinks Anathema needs to be brought in.

Herald
Josie's Relationship with Herald: Friends.
Herald's Connection with Josie: 67%
█████████████▒██████

Herald thinks Anathema is a villain.

Other Characters

 

chinhands. all roads lead to rome cars, I see. given we chose "confidence" over "puppet" when we decided to do this in the extra body, I feel like >2 is the more consistent choice.

 

Oh come on, we pick the 'wait for a chance' option and there's no chance? Rude. Oh well. I vote 2 too.

 

I'm intrigued by the implications if they do kill her here and now. That Hollow Ground expects Anathema to get the message of "bring a nice gift" to go with the threat of killing her, somehow? It implies them knowing things about us that we don't think anyone knows - that we were along for the ride and watching the conversation, at the very least.

 

They did say she'd live, but we're probably going to lose the 'no serious injuries' bit of Barbara's status.

 

Hollow Ground is such a bad host. :/

Yeah, I don't think we've seen specific indication that HG is going to break their word on letting Barbie live — I think we just Do Not Trust Like That. (And maybe are kind of panicking at being this helpless.)

 

I don't like 2's internalizing the guilt over whatever HG's goon here is going to do, but I like it better than I like option 1, given our playstyle so far. 2 for me

 

> I feel bad, Barbara doesn't deserve this.

Your conscience twitches. Barbara doesn't deserve this. You need to find a way out, some way of getting loose before it's too late.

Larry walks over to the car to open the door for you, and his eyes widen in surprise, darting upward. "Wha…?"

You know that look. You've seen it enough times during your days as a hero, and you brace yourself for whatever is about to happen. A miracle, hopefully.

Your vision has gone white. All you can hear is the thud of a body hitting metal, the crackle of lightning, and the stench of ozone as it fills the air.

Jake pushes you away, and you stumble blindly to the side.

　‣ I scream for help.
　‣ I drop and curl up, keeping myself safe.
　‣ I scramble for the car as fast as I can.

There's our deus ex machina. Our move?​

Spoiler: Show Stats

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary.
Description: A tall mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short and styled curly dark brown hair.

Their sense of style is androgynous, secondhand streetwear, with many piercings in their ears, nose, and tongue. They have a short, scruffy beard and mustache.

Standard of Living: Josie is well-off.
Josie is living in a comfortable apartment.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are rested.
Willpower: You feel calm.
Injuries: You are fine, with no significant wounds.

Telepathy
Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Anathema
Anathema runs a criminal syndicate. They are a known killer.
Infamy: 51% / Obscurity: 49%
██████████▒█████████

Armored Suit
Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing. The cape conceals and obfuscates what's underneath.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores, functionally similar to having disintegration touch. The suit is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status
Need Repair: 5% / Fine: 95%
████████████████████

Leadership: 63%
████████████▒███████

Psychological Profile
Arrogance: 28% / Anonymity: 72%
█████▒██████████████
Ruthlessness: 36% / Empathy: 64% (+4)
███████▒████████████
Daring: 51% / Caution: 49%
██████████▒█████████

Back in the day, Sidestep was known as a vigilante working with the Rangers.

Main Puppet
Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: She is fine, and has no serious wounds.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Charge
Josie's Relationship with Ortega: Friend and ally.
Ortega's Connection with Josie: 78%
███████████████▒████

Ortega thinks Anathema has made some good points.

Barbara's Relationship with Ortega: Eternally flirting. Josie is using Barbara as a spy.
Ortega's Connection with Barbara: 63%
████████████▒███████

Dr. Mortum
Barbara's Relationship with Dr. Mortum: friend.
Mortum's Connection with Barbara: 66%
█████████████▒██████

Lady Argent
Josie's Relationship with Lady Argent: Distant.
Lady Argent's Impression of Josie: 1%
▒███████████████████

Lady Argent respects Anathema's abilities.
Lady Argent's Interest in Anathema: 60%
████████████████████

Marshal Steel
Josie's Relationship with Steel: Friendly.
Steel's Connection with Josie: 72%
██████████████▒█████

Marshal Steel thinks Anathema needs to be brought in.

Herald
Josie's Relationship with Herald: Friends.
Herald's Connection with Josie: 67%
█████████████▒██████

Herald thinks Anathema is a villain.

Other Characters

 

... isn't the lightning Ortega's trick? I'm torn between wanting to prioritize safety (Ortega will definitely try not to hit Barbie if she stops and curls up) or trying to steal the car and go go go. Maybe the keys are in the car already...

 

GTA the car go go go! We have our chance to make a break for it!

 

What an exciting battle! Why don't we leave it to the professionals and get our poor distressed damsel self to safety in that car no one's using.​

> I scramble for the car as fast as I can.

You would have laughed if you weren't on your hands and knees, trying to remember where the car was. Jake is certainly not a tactician. You don't let go of your hostage when fighting somebody with lightning powers; they are your best protection. Lightning is notoriously imprecise.

A shot makes you flinch, the sound echoing in the narrow alley, but there's no pain, so you ignore it. The asphalt is rough against your hands, but you ignore that too, the car was straight ahead, and the alley is narrow enough that…

Fuck. You touch a body, warm and twitching, and though you manage to choke back a scream, it still feels like your heart stopped for a moment.

"Show yourself, asshole!" Jake's voice gives you a direction, so you scramble farther away. There's another hiss and sizzle, ozone making your nostrils tickle. This is bad. Really bad.

"Drop the gun first." A familiar voice. Ortega's voice.

Fuck.
Fuck!
Fuck!!!

What is she doing here?

It feels like we ask this question a lot…​

"That's not gonna hurt me," Jake laughs.

A scuffle ensues, the sound of feet and movement, another shot, and a frustrated curse in Spanish.

You're still seeing stars, but there are also shapes. Your vision is returning slowly. Enough to see the slightly brighter mouth of the alley, though the figures fighting meld into the dark.

　‣ Good enough, I make a run for it.
　‣ I'll tell Ortega how Jake's powers work.
　‣ I'll do my best to be a whimpering, innocent civilian.

Welp, that's Ortega all right. Are we ready to make a break for it, or is it safer to fall back and play helpless innocent?​

Spoiler: Show Stats

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary.
Description: A tall mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short and styled curly dark brown hair.

Their sense of style is androgynous, secondhand streetwear, with many piercings in their ears, nose, and tongue. They have a short, scruffy beard and mustache.

Standard of Living: Josie is well-off.
Josie is living in a comfortable apartment.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are rested.
Willpower: You feel calm.
Injuries: You are fine, with no significant wounds.

Telepathy
Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Anathema
Anathema runs a criminal syndicate. They are a known killer.
Infamy: 51% / Obscurity: 49%
██████████▒█████████

Armored Suit
Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing. The cape conceals and obfuscates what's underneath.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores, functionally similar to having disintegration touch. The suit is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status
Need Repair: 5% / Fine: 95%
████████████████████

Leadership: 63%
████████████▒███████

Psychological Profile
Arrogance: 28% / Anonymity: 72%
█████▒██████████████
Ruthlessness: 36% / Empathy: 64%
███████▒████████████
Daring: 58% (+7) / Caution: 42%
███████████▒████████

Back in the day, Sidestep was known as a vigilante working with the Rangers.

Main Puppet
Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: She is fine, and has no serious wounds.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Charge
Josie's Relationship with Ortega: Friend and ally.
Ortega's Connection with Josie: 78%
███████████████▒████

Ortega thinks Anathema has made some good points.

Barbara's Relationship with Ortega: Eternally flirting. Josie is using Barbara as a spy.
Ortega's Connection with Barbara: 63%
████████████▒███████

Dr. Mortum
Barbara's Relationship with Dr. Mortum: friend.
Mortum's Connection with Barbara: 66%
█████████████▒██████

Lady Argent
Josie's Relationship with Lady Argent: Distant.
Lady Argent's Impression of Josie: 1%
▒███████████████████

Lady Argent respects Anathema's abilities.
Lady Argent's Interest in Anathema: 60%
████████████████████

Marshal Steel
Josie's Relationship with Steel: Friendly.
Steel's Connection with Josie: 72%
██████████████▒█████

Marshal Steel thinks Anathema needs to be brought in.

Herald
Josie's Relationship with Herald: Friends.
Herald's Connection with Josie: 67%
█████████████▒██████

Herald thinks Anathema is a villain.

Other Characters

 

ngl the fact that we can't see yet is adding some negative modifiers to my enthusiasm for car time, especially given at least one lightning-user in the area...

 

Steal the car! We don't want to have to explain to Ortega how we actually got here, that'll be a mess.

 

@swirlingflight @Loq Quick check for clarification: are you guys voting for the second option, or just thinking out loud?

 

I'm thinking aloud, my enthusiasm is dampened but I can see hoping for the protections a car offers even if we're not in a state to drive it

 

ngl I'm down for whatever, all roads lead to chaos and I'm just hoping it's a different sort of chaos than I got on my run :p

 

Might as well hide in the car. More vulnerable to lightning, but less to falling debris (rocks, parts of buildings, bodies.....)

 

Just because we're a villain doesn't mean we endorse unsafe driving… but it might keep us safe from crossfire and awkward conversations.​

> Good enough, I make a run for it.

You don't want to know why Ortega is here; all answers are bad ones. Hopefully, she hasn't recognized you yet, but you need to get out of here fast. Easier said than done since you can't see much, but you can't let that stop you.

"Keep still!" Jake's voice, another shot, another laugh from Ortega.

"Not likely." She lowers her voice, hissing at you as you make your way past the car. "Get in the car, Barbara." Fuck. Looks like your cover is blown. Not good.

…it's less appealing when she tells us to do it.​

Without reply, you scramble through the open car door, and once inside, all cars feel the same. Driver's seat. Steering wheel. Keys…good, the keys are in the ignition. The engine purrs to life as you start it, you hope…yes, good. It's an automatic.

Now to get the hell out of here. Your vision has returned enough for you to make sense of the situation. The blurry shapes turn out to be Ortega with her hand stuck halfway into Jake, Jake's gun at her forehead. Jake's calling for backup. Fuck, this place is going to be crawling with goons in a second.

　‣ I reverse out of the alley as fast as I can.
　‣ I hit the gas, trying to hit Jake.
　‣ I hit the gas, trying to hit both Ortega and Jake.
　‣ I shout at Ortega to get in the car with me.

Welp, we have a car and a visual on the situation. What do we do with it?​

Spoiler: Show Stats (no change)

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary.
Description: A tall mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short and styled curly dark brown hair.

Their sense of style is androgynous, secondhand streetwear, with many piercings in their ears, nose, and tongue. They have a short, scruffy beard and mustache.

Standard of Living: Josie is well-off.
Josie is living in a comfortable apartment.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are rested.
Willpower: You feel calm.
Injuries: You are fine, with no significant wounds.

Telepathy
Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Anathema
Anathema runs a criminal syndicate. They are a known killer.
Infamy: 51% / Obscurity: 49%
██████████▒█████████

Armored Suit
Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing. The cape conceals and obfuscates what's underneath.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores, functionally similar to having disintegration touch. The suit is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status
Need Repair: 5% / Fine: 95%
████████████████████

Leadership: 63%
████████████▒███████

Psychological Profile
Arrogance: 28% / Anonymity: 72%
█████▒██████████████
Ruthlessness: 36% / Empathy: 64%
███████▒████████████
Daring: 58% / Caution: 42%
███████████▒████████

Back in the day, Sidestep was known as a vigilante working with the Rangers.

Main Puppet
Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: She is fine, and has no serious wounds.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Charge
Josie's Relationship with Ortega: Friend and ally.
Ortega's Connection with Josie: 78%
███████████████▒████

Ortega thinks Anathema has made some good points.

Barbara's Relationship with Ortega: Eternally flirting. Josie is using Barbara as a spy.
Ortega's Connection with Barbara: 63%
████████████▒███████

Dr. Mortum
Barbara's Relationship with Dr. Mortum: friend.
Mortum's Connection with Barbara: 66%
█████████████▒██████

Lady Argent
Josie's Relationship with Lady Argent: Distant.
Lady Argent's Impression of Josie: 1%
▒███████████████████

Lady Argent respects Anathema's abilities.
Lady Argent's Interest in Anathema: 60%
████████████████████

Marshal Steel
Josie's Relationship with Steel: Friendly.
Steel's Connection with Josie: 72%
██████████████▒█████

Marshal Steel thinks Anathema needs to be brought in.

Herald
Josie's Relationship with Herald: Friends.
Herald's Connection with Josie: 67%
█████████████▒██████

Herald thinks Anathema is a villain.

Other Characters

 

>gun it. if we hit one or both of them "by accident," cool, but we gotta gtfo and then find a new ride before HG hears we stole his car.

 

this is our third turn in a row trying to gtfo, what do you think we're doing?​

> I reverse out of the alley as fast as I can.

No way you are going to stick around. No good can come of that.

Throwing the car into reverse, you step on the pedal, backing up as fast as you can, cursing the fact that you can't get enough speed for a handbrake turn once you hit the main street. There's loud honking, a passing car takes out a side mirror, but it's downtown, and there are speed limits. If you can just get it to turn—

"Fuck!" A bullet takes out the side window, showering you with glass. You're alive, still, and you step on the gas, keeping your head down. Just as you're gathering speed, Ortega throws herself into the back seat, cursing loudly.

goddamn superheroes and their super speed. :/​

> The Car Gains Speed

Your foot is heavy on the accelerator; you need distance, and quiet, and something to scream at. You don't want to deal with this, not now, not when you're still coming down from the adrenaline rush. Your hands are shaking, but you clutch the wheel and leave some paint on a dumpster before you hit Avenue West and fall into the rhythm of the cars around you. Ortega is silent in the back seat, but she doesn't take her eyes off you. You wait and wait for her to break the silence, but in the end, you can't help yourself.

"Thank you," you mumble, keeping your eyes on the road.

"You're welcome," she replies, her eyes fixed firmly on you. You can feel it, but you don't turn around, and once your eyes meet hers in the rearview mirror, you immediately look away.

　‣ "Can I drop you off somewhere?" Pretend everything is cool.
　‣ "So, funny story," I start, trying to think of an explanation.
　‣ "I'm sorry," I say with a sigh.

…

So yeah.​

Spoiler: Show Stats

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary.
Description: A tall mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short and styled curly dark brown hair.

Their sense of style is androgynous, secondhand streetwear, with many piercings in their ears, nose, and tongue. They have a short, scruffy beard and mustache.

Standard of Living: Josie is well-off.
Josie is living in a comfortable apartment.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are rested.
Willpower: You feel calm.
Injuries: You are fine, with no significant wounds.

Telepathy
Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Anathema
Anathema runs a criminal syndicate. They are a known killer.
Infamy: 51% / Obscurity: 49%
██████████▒█████████

Armored Suit
Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing. The cape conceals and obfuscates what's underneath.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores, functionally similar to having disintegration touch. The suit is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status
Need Repair: 5% / Fine: 95%
████████████████████

Leadership: 63%
████████████▒███████

Psychological Profile
Arrogance: 28% / Anonymity: 72%
█████▒██████████████
Ruthlessness: 36% / Empathy: 64%
███████▒████████████
Daring: 58% / Caution: 42%
███████████▒████████

Back in the day, Sidestep was known as a vigilante working with the Rangers.

Main Puppet
Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: She is fine, and has no serious wounds.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Charge
Josie's Relationship with Ortega: Friend and ally.
Ortega's Connection with Josie: 78%
███████████████▒████

Ortega thinks Anathema has made some good points.

Barbara's Relationship with Ortega: Eternally flirting. Josie is using Barbara as a spy.
Ortega's Connection with Barbara: 57% (-6)
███████████▒████████

Dr. Mortum
Barbara's Relationship with Dr. Mortum: friend.
Mortum's Connection with Barbara: 66%
█████████████▒██████

Lady Argent
Josie's Relationship with Lady Argent: Distant.
Lady Argent's Impression of Josie: 1%
▒███████████████████

Lady Argent respects Anathema's abilities.
Lady Argent's Interest in Anathema: 60%
████████████████████

Marshal Steel
Josie's Relationship with Steel: Friendly.
Steel's Connection with Josie: 72%
██████████████▒█████

Marshal Steel thinks Anathema needs to be brought in.

Herald
Josie's Relationship with Herald: Friends.
Herald's Connection with Josie: 67%
█████████████▒██████

Herald thinks Anathema is a villain.

Other Characters