Atoms has always been based off Captain Atom, and that's actually what happened to Flashpoint's Captain Atom. Even in New 52, the US military attempted to keep him locked down in a containment chamber after tricking him to go inside. He escaped though! Captain Atom remains as my favorite superhero, a position originally held by Superman.
A happy ending has never been in the cards for Atoms. If he went swanning off into space it'd be because he thinks that everyone would be better off without him; but perhaps while still a hero he'd make at least one roundtrip on 'official business' to save Imagine's people. 'God-like' power isn't off the table for Atoms (in-fact I always planned for him to reach that state eventually), but I've got no idea what he'd do with those kind of abilities. Maybe he'd offer to take people's powers away and make them into normal humans, or vice versa.
I miss Atoms. I wrote him during a time where I felt very vulnerable, like I couldn't do anything and was tired all the time, and unable to connect with other people. It brought me a lot of relief to write a character who never got tired and who could do anything, yet still had trouble connecting with people and had people hate him xD It made me feel like I was doing okay. That I was just fine if someone who could do anything was having the same troubles in life as someone like me.
That's the real beauty of an overpowered character. Even if you were as strong as you wish you were, you'd still be subject to fate, and you'd still be human. You still couldn't do everything. So it's okay to accept who you are. It's okay to be the person you are at this moment.
Depowering Atoms made him more like me. That was a problem because, well, I hated myself. Maybe I didn't fully realize it back then, but I knew that I couldn't accept him losing any of his powers. That's why I pulled out of the game and handed all his material over to Default, making him a Paragon in exchange for keeping him the same. I had hoped that Default would conclude his story in a satisfying way, yet it seems that all this time Atoms has remained in space (ironically keeping him the same). A god put away into the literal heavens to deal with invisible, god-sized issues, instead of a god on Earth dealing with apparent, human-sized problems like originally envisioned.
Meanwhile, there's an Atoms-sized hole in my heart ;(
Also my head canon is that there WAS no space mission. The Defenders and/or the Government didn't want someone as powerful as Atoms running around, so they took him down and have been keeping him imprisoned this whole time. The space mission set-up was just a convenient excuse to stop the Team from looking for him; make them all think that he's off on some far away planet having adventures with his phenomenal atomic powers. In reality though... lost hope of being rescued a long time ago.
EDIT: Maybe that's too depressing though :P Something though! I definitely have a part of me that wants to see Atoms' story be resolved.
Pretty crazy to see this thread is still going even after all this time. There's apparently been over 4,000 new messages in gameplay since I last checked :O
Rockets soar through the air and towards each of the assembled heroes. Mysteriously, however, all of them explode well before reaching their intended targets.
In the blink of an eye, Atoms' metallic form appears in the middle of the street, just ahead of Haxor. One-armed, wrapped in a black, hooded cape, and with a black duty belt around his waist, Atoms attempts to speak, but instead of words, he can only manage a mix of growls and grunts. His 'face', consisting of only one feature, a mouth, is contorted in agony.
Just moments before, he had been at Tectonic's place, talking to his friend Alexis (now going by the name Evelyn) about how the pain from his missing appendage was getting worse as of late. Having been torn away from that discussion, and with this sudden use of his powers, his rage and pain seemed to only increase.
Defended The Team, and choosing to take Influence over Bran/Bronwyn.
I'm reading over most things one more time before letting out the next post, and wanna address something real quick.
Atoms, I'm fine with you being uber powerful, but I'm gonna retcon your Blueshift Part 1 from saying the Defenders as a team couldn't take you, into "The Defenders couldn't contain you without going 'lethal.'
A bit different, but I would like to have you *not* be able to take over the world at your whim. Also, loved the development of Blueshift. Next time you advance, I think switching playbooks to Nova would fit better with the way you're developing things.
That's already what I was intending :)
Not all The Defenders were fighting him that day (with at least Whip' and Matrix staying on the sidelines), and ultimately it was a spar/play fight/wrestling match and not a real no-holds-barred confrontation. The idea was just making The Defenders aware that this supposedly newbie hero, Atoms, is actually really quite powerful, and maybe more powerful than any one individual on the Team. In the future, and in a real bout between them, The Defenders would be prepared and equipped with anti-Atoms tactics and gear. For example, if I had written what would essentially be 'Origins of Blueshift Part 3', where Atoms brings The Givers to Earth, a fight between him and The Defenders would go a little like this:
1. Earl Grey immediately teleports Atoms as far away as he can, forcing Atoms to fly at lightspeed back to the fight
2. Haden and Tectonic put up barriers around the team, with Tec's rock covering Haden's energy
3. When Atoms returns, he attempt to phase through the rock, but gets rebuffed by the energy barrier
4. By the time Atoms gets through both barriers, The Defenders have bought enough time to setup a device that generates a strong magnetic field, distorting Atoms' form and forcing him to focus on keeping himself together instead of using his powers
5. Atoms is effectively contained
As for playbooks~ I was eyeing Outsider at first, since that playbook represents a ruler of a foreign power. But with that taken, maybe Nova or even Bull ;) We'll see~ I try to keep plots n' stuff fluid, so we'll get there when I get there~
As Atoms and Evelyn (aka Alexis) grew closer to their friends at Halcyon High, everyone began to talk a little more freely. Personal questions were asked and answered, opinions shared, secret identities revealed, locations of hideouts and bases shown, and even their weaknesses were discussed openly among them. Over time, the group of friends essentially became one, big, informal team of superheroes, helping each other in both their private lives and their heroics. If someone had a falling out with their mentor, the group was there for them with support and a place to stay; if someone needed help during a fight, the group would drop whatever they were doing and rush over; and when any of them was stuck with a problem, the group would pool their resources and knowledge to fix it. And out of all of them, Atoms was always the quickest to help, being very protective of his new friends.
Of course, every group of friends had its bad eggs, and this one was no different. There was some drama, requiring the manipulative, antagonistic, and those among them with differing opinions to be cast out from the group, but those that remained grew even closer through the adversity. What was eventually left was a close-knit group of people who agreed with each other and held similar views. And one of their shared views was the need for supers to have better rights.
Together they wanted to end experimentation on powered beings, end the segregation that kept them and normal humans apart, end the need for secret identities, and end the expectation that those with powers should fight and be heroes or pressured into villains. Of course, these views aligned heavily with that of Redshift, the anti-human terrorist organization, but unlike them, the group wanted to make change through legal and peaceful means. They would protest, chant, raise awareness, and fight for what's right, but they wouldn't attack or cause property damage.
Quote:
"He should be on his mettle..."
They called themselves 'Blueshift', and at their head was Atoms and Evelyn. Atoms served as the leader, the tireless and fast-learning man being an obvious choice, able to quickly memorize pages of legal data and stay strong during an extended rally. Evenlyn, meanwhile, was a much better people person, so she made a natural choice for handling the organizational side of things. If Atoms could be called the Captain, then she was the First Officer.
It wasn't long until Blueshift did their first protest. And it wasn't long after that that the group began to gain momentum. Supers from outside Halcyon High joined their effort, both young and old, even normal humans who symphathized with the cause. Soon, their movement was reported on the news, first local, then national and international. It spread outside Halcyon City, and Blueshift rallies began to happen in distant places.
However, as the group grew larger and received more and more attention, they also attracted the ire of Redshift. After all, even though their views ultimately aligned with each other, they had opposing means of obtaining their goals. Redshift wanted to separate from humanity–to be superior to them and rule over them–while Blueshift wanted equality. Unwilling to let Blueshift undermine their objective, Redshift turned violent.
Quote:
"And yet I'm torn apart..."
Since Blueshift was no longer just a group of concerned friends, it was easily infiltrated. It started benign enough, with Redshift operatives joining Blueshift messageboards and subtly suggesting that the group needed to use more 'aggressive' tactics in order to make change. But then these same operatives began to attend Blueshift meetings and rallies in person, spreading their message there. Blueshift began to be divided from within.
Meanwhile, Atoms was spread thin. As a being who did not require diversion or rest, people weren't afraid to run him ragged, giving him work at all hours of the day and night. Of course Atoms didn't mind, but between being a somewhat independant hero, a part-time Defender (which was beginning to feel very full-time), a student, and Blueshift's leader, he often found himself rushing from task to task. Intent on getting things done as quickly as possible so he could move onto the next thing, Atoms started to become reckless.
Then it happened. While helping Wingblade and Bran the Blessed defeat the entity known as 'Balor', Atoms lost his right arm. And although this injury wasn't nearly as severe as it would be on a normal person, it still (and continues to) hurt him greatly. Everyone hoped it would heal, that Atoms would be able to piece himself together like he did when he initially transformed, but it never happened.
Quote:
"Just because I'm presumin'..."
With Atoms' new injury, tensions swelled between him and Wingblade, who yelled at him to "stop protecting" her. Injured now in a different way, Atoms attempted to busy himself even further, so that he might not dwell on the situation between them or the loss of his arm. But this didn't do him any good. The pain continued to increase.
And as Atoms' pain worsened, so too did Redshift's influence within Blueshift. Anything Blueshift did would eventually turn violent, always resulting in property damage and a member or passerby injured. And as Redshift began paying/bribing people to show up and cause a stir; sometimes people who had nothing to do with either organization, the rallies and protests became more and more like riots.
The Leadership of Blueshift; Atoms, Evelyn, and a few other people; still have no idea who is behind the division and violence within Blueshift. Seeking to defend their friends and movement, they're currently in discussions as to what to do next.
Quote:
"That I could be kinda human, if... I only had a heart." - Atoms
_______________________
So I'm going to leave it at here for now~ No Givers yet, no 'Atoms gets kicked out from the Defenders' yet. I figure those are pretty major things that should happen during the course of the game. The plan is that the Redshift violence will get worse, and Atoms will eventually ally with The Givers, offering a place for them on Earth in exchange for protection for his people, as he realizes that he can't possibly protect everyone on his own. Obviously, The Defenders would not be okay with this (The Givers coming to Earth, and Atoms gaining control of an army). Plots can go any which way though, so we'll see~
Positive and Negative Event: See Origins of Blueshift Part 1 & 2.
Bonding Event: Atoms and Thor Girl!
Relationships: Thor Girl comforted Atoms when he was at his lowest.
Transformed Mandatory Influence: Giving Influence to Thor Girl
EDIT:
And before I forget!!
=== BLUESHIFT NPCS ===
// Airacomet III, Donald "Don" Seth Matthews
Spoiler:
Hailing from a long legacy of Speedsters, Donald Matthews can move very, very fast (though not as fast as Atoms!). A student from Halcyon High's program for supers, he was one of Atoms and Evelyn's first friends, and one of the founders of Blueshift.
// Alexis Evelyn Forrester
Spoiler:
A girl from Franklin High who was kidnapped by The Givers and given powers. Atoms and the rest of The Defenders rescued her. She now lives in Nora and River's house, attends Halcyon High's superhero program, and is the 'second in command' of Blueshift.
// Elaina Marcia Kaine
Spoiler:
Eldritch's (aka Kenneth Kaine) older sister. With her brother having constantly been hounded throughout his life by the Cult of Karthos, and experimented on by a secret organization, Elaina hates the inequality that supers face. Recently, she has been an active participant in Blueshift activities, even becoming an official member.
// River Abelone Wild
Spoiler:
Tectonic's (aka Nora Wild) mysterious, older sister. She sympathizes with Blueshift's cause, and occasionally helps from the shadows.
Well~ I say 'kill', but I mean it in more of a protective older brother sort of way. What he'd actually do would probably be something like this. Heheh, interesting though that the immediate assumption is that Atoms would literally kill the guy.
Like what if Whippoorwill or Hashtag had said that they'd "kill that guy"? Would the reaction be different? I imagine it would ;) It's sort of expected to hear something like this from Whip, a mom figure, and with Hashtag there's a worry that he'd do something stupid and/or hurt himself.
But when Atoms is the voice behind those words? Suddenly the response is, 'How do we stop him? Can we stop him?' Unlike before, the threat is perceived to be real and serious. It's very cool to me.
Btw, I should have my Origins of Blueshift post up soon. Tomorrow hopefully.
If Atoms moves at the speed of light, he's invisible to the naked eye. Appearing only if he stops, and partially visible if he slows down. It's like the starships in Star Wars and Star Trek when they go to lightspeed/warp, streaking off and kind of just snapping into existence when they reach their destination. The only difference being that Atoms doesn't streak or blur, because he accelerates to speed instantly.
He can also go the more mundane route of wearing clothes over his Theta Suit :P Which he did at the beginning of the game to go to a movie with everyone.
Atoms powers were strange, to say the least. Sometimes he had to practice hard for a new ability to work, and other times a power could show up without him even realizing, as if he had had it since day one. So it was certainly a possibility that his arm could come back. Maybe that's what he should've said instead, that 'he'd be fine'.
Now Wingblade was upset. And Atoms didn't even get the chance to talk to her before Bran called her away for something. It was a terrible cliffhanger. Worse still was Wingblade's parting words, which stung him right to his core.
Anxiously, he paced back and forth, waiting for Wingblade to come back. He wanted to continue their conversation. On the other hand though, he also wanted to get his mind off these things; his arm, his relationship with Wingblade, his humanity; they were all stressful. Regardless of what he wanted though, duty called.
"Atoms," starts Matrix. "There's an incident taking place in–"
"Body cologne?" Ah, that's right, Wingblade's senses were quite a bit more attuned compared to the average person. A powerful smell like a strong cologne or perfume would probably be overwhelming. Of course, Atoms never detected it because he can't smell anything; one of many things he lost with his transformation.
Then Wingblade gives the Theta Suit back, leaving her naked, and Atoms swirling with emotions. He wants to look, to be as unaffected as she was about her current state of undress; after all, he had been to places, seen things most people could only dream about, whether it be different dimensions, the outer reaches of the solar system, or the homebase of a race of Outsiders, and none of these remarkably affected him. Yet, this, seeing Wingblade like this, was a wholeheartedly dissimilar experience, and one that made all those wondrous sights nothing in comparison. She is alive. And she is beautiful.
If he had a heart, it'd be beating really fast right now.
Shyly, Atoms looks away as she hands him his Theta Suit. He feels shame. Burning shame. Not because of her nakedness, but because of his inhumanity. In the face of this living, beautiful being, Atoms is inferior, a monster. He is reminded of everything he has lost. And he is reminded of everything he has embraced. Never, in his entire existence as Atoms, has he ever wished so badly to be human again.
Putting on the suit, and keeping his eyes downcast, Atoms follows Wingblade over to the showers. It's a short walk, but long enough to allow Atoms to deeply consider these things. So much so, that by the time Wingblade turns and asks her question, small signs of distress have already began to creep onto his features, his feelings betrayed by the way he holds himself, his tone of voice, and his slight frown.
"If I could grow myself a new body, I would have grown something a lot better than what I have now." Atoms shakes his head. "Back then I was... 'scattered'... and I more or less just kind of pulled myself together. He gestures towards his missing arm. "This is different–it's not 'scattered'. It's more like it's gone. So I don't know." Now that Wingblade has her towel on, Atoms looks directly at her. Stunned once more, his next words come out very soft and weak, I don't know."
The fact was, the loss of his arm was likely permanent, just like anybody else.
Well~~ It's certainly my plan to make him a Magneto-ish character, which is why he's very powerful and the leader of a gang of supers that is angry at the world/humanity. He's also very much an anti-Magneto in the sense that he's against the sort of violence against humans that Redshift often takes part in. For example, if Atoms ever found it necessary for his cause to strike against Halcyon City, he'd do it in a lawful or legal way rather than attempt an assassination or attack like what you might expect from Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants.
As for Atoms becoming an antagonist... Thaaaat probably won't happen. He is very antagonistic, with a strong will and strong opinions, but I don't intend on making him a clear-cut badguy or an enemy of The Team. And I also don't intend on him doing anything that is outright evil, whether planned or as a mistake.
This all being said though, as much as I like planning out Atoms' far future (to the point of picking out future playbooks for him to change to), Masks is a game where you play to see what happens next. So I never try to stick to a plot/plan too rigidly ;) In-fact, back when I first made him, it was my intention to really stress the 'Deputy' part of Deputy Atoms, and have him wear a cowboy hat and a Django scarf, and ride a horse to crime scenes; and another abandoned plot was for him to become officially deputized by the HCSD and be a full-time officer.
@Wingblade
I've just posted, and I will leave that up to you. Just note that I'm considering all the events that are happening here as taking place before part 2 of 'Origins of Blueshift', which miiiight open a irreparable rift between Atoms and The Defenders.
The race was on. Taking flight, Atoms follows closely behind Wingblade.
Their different means of propulsion made for an interesting contrast between their flying styles. Wingblade flew very organically, swooping and diving in a natural way. Atoms, on the other hand, flew like a missile. He didn't need to worry about wind or other such concerns that came with wing-based flight, and ever since he learned how to phase himself through objects, Atoms didn't even need to fly in anything other than a straight line. It would be easy to outpace Wingblade, and this was before factoring in that Atoms could fly at the speed of light.
Winning though, wasn't the point for Atoms. This was for her to feel better, and hopefully, for their relationship to improve. Flying ahead would've defeated the purpose. But of course, so would falling too far behind.
Atoms stays close, copying some of Wingblade's maneuvers. Occasionally, he would even increase his speed and pretend that he was about to pass her, encouraging Wingblade to fly even faster. She smiled from the rush, and Atoms, not really feeling anything from this low of speed–and still hurting from the loss of his arm–could at least smile at the fact that she was smiling. It was nice.
Eventually, they reach Defender HQ. Atoms lands shortly after Wingblade.
"You look like you needed that," remarks Atoms as he flies in, smiling at her.
"Why?" Atoms tilts his head at Wingblade. "Because I want to protect the people I care about."
Feeling a bit of tension between Wingblade and himself, Atoms rubs the back of his head. He knew what it was about; he had known for a while now. The only problem was how to make things better between them.
He looks up and smiles a little, "Want to race to H.Q.?"
Atoms was way faster than her, but he'd do his best to make it interesting. Maybe he'd even let her win. Maybe.
Atoms doesn't answer the questions of whether he's going to be 'okay', instead merely taking a good, long look at the stump where his arm used to be. He's... not sure how to feel about it. Should he be afraid? It hurt. It–it still hurt. And the more he thinks about it, the more he realizes that the buzzing sensation hasn't entirely gone away.
When Wingblade thinks of her wings, the Theta Suit changes to accommodate her, creating openings in the back for her wings to go through.
"That's how it works." Atoms motions towards the new opening. "It detects your thoughts. You want a change hard enough, and it does it for you." Noticing Wingblade's glare, he pauses for a moment, before arcing his brow and shifting a little. "..."
Balor was defeated. Able to rest, and needing it for the first time in years, Atoms disperses his quantum waves and takes a seat on a mostly decayed bench. Only a teethed mouth is visible on his mostly blank and metallic helmet/mask, and its contorted into a pained grimace.
"Nice to meet you, Bran. I'm Atoms," says Atoms in a low growl. "Hope you understand if I don't shake your hand."
Glancing over at Wingblade, Atoms rises from his seat, his cloak shifting as he does so (which is surprisingly intact), revealing the empty space on his body where his right arm used to be. In one not-so-smooth motion, he tugs at his cloak to remove it and tosses it around Wingblade for her to wear. Then, when her wounds heal, Atoms touches her shoulder and transfer his Theta Suit onto her, which forms over her clothes and covers all of her body, neck, and part of her head (minimal, just enough to put its built-in communicators at her ear).
"Your clothes are hanging on by threads. Wear this until you get home. You can give it back to me later." With his suit off, the light of Atoms' blue form fills the subway. "Your communicator is probably fried, so you can use mine. They're built-in at the ears; left for The Team, right for The Defenders." His tone is normal, if not slightly stressed and tired, and his exposed, true face is obviously still wincing from pain.
Despite all the anger and intimidating posturing, Atoms could barely pay attention to what was going on around him. The buzzing throughout his body, which he experienced earlier as he closed in, was now almost unbearable. It emanated from the device that was trapping the girl and hurling things at her. Whatever it was, being this close was painful. A sensation he hadn't felt since his first run-in with The Givers.
However, even with his wavering focus, he has no trouble picking up a familiar name in all the chaos, "Wingblade". Atoms glances back at the girl, and a new arrival with a spear. The man was likely a friend of The Defenders or Whippoorwill, but if this girl was truly Wingblade... Then what happened to her wings? Was it one of Hashtag's illusions, or something more? Atoms can't help but stop and begin to process through how this could be.
"No! I can't let myself be distracted."
Atoms recenters himself on the foe ahead of him, just in time to hear Ten of Hearts' words and witness the start of the strange, red light. He's taken surprise by her sudden attack, her blast streaking past Atoms and impacting the man behind him. In that very instant, the area is bathed in that same strange light, eating away at the passenger car, and nibbling at Atoms' Theta Suit, causing brief flashes of his glowing blue flesh to appear as the regenerative properties of the armor struggle to keep up with both the decay and the effect of his untouchable skin. Even the ragged ends of his black hood begin to fray and break.
Atoms' mind races for options. Just then, however, Wingblade sprays something into the demon's eye, but this desperate maneuver only serves to enrage it. The demon, "Balor", turns to Wingblade and intensifies its ruining light upon her. Naturally, Atoms moves to intercept this new attack, holding out his arm across Wingblade to block it. No one could've forseen what would happen next.
In a blink of an eye, a portion of Atoms' suit burns away under the intense light, exposing his full arm. For a moment, the light falls upon the exposed arm, and in the next, it's gone. Not the light, but the arm, torn apart; a feeling that Atoms was well-acquainted with. It hurts.
It hurts.
His arm practically 'unravels', before bursting into what almost appears to be a hundred blue fireflies, fluttering off into different directions. Grimacing in silent agony, Atoms fires a beam of quantum waves from his remaining arm, straight into Balor's face. Meanwhile, the Theta Suit regenerates, closing the hole where his missing limb used to be.
The quantum waves catch the light, pushing against it. It forces Balor to counter it, lest the powerful beam hit and gravely injure even his true form. In an instant, the red light that once covered the entire area is now solely focused against Atoms' attack. They clash in-between the demon and the hero, the red and blue stalemating as they intermix and form a roiling, purple ball of energy. Awe-inspiring and terrifying.
Totally focused on one another, an opening is created.
A custom communication device was pretty common for superhero teams to have, whether it be radios, video phones, or some other such thing. The Team itself used an earpiece and earbud combo created by Whetstone. Simple in design, these combo devices had a small battery and a dial that could be switched to different channels, allowing for private conversations or a team-wide broadcast. They also had a unique feature. If the earpiece was ever forcibly removed, it would seperate from the earbud and send out a distress signal.
Alexis and Atoms were in the middle of walking home when the distress signal hit Atoms' earpiece. Wasting no time in explaining the beeping noise to a stunned Alexis, Atoms quickly dials Matrix on his Defender communicator.
"Who?", asks Atoms, audibly.
Matrix begins to vibrate a response, "Wing–".
It's all she manages to get out before Atoms rockets across Halcyon City at warp one, light speed. Vibrating his molecules, he phases through the wall of The Clocktower and lands inside. Moving at normal speed, he looks around for any sign of his teammate. Nothing. She isn't here.
"–blade", finishes Matrix.
"WHERE?", demands Atoms, again asking audibly.
"S–"
"School!" Atoms takes off once more, pushing the speed limit of the universe. A couple days ago, he had overheard from Whippoorwill at Defender HQ that Wingblade was to start attending Halcyon High. Several times since then he had gone out of his way to try and find her around school, but he never found her. He even tried asking the students about Wingblade and Hashtag (Vick also attends Halcyon High), but everyone he asked said that they've never seen them around the school. Atoms figured his teammates attended classes at a different time of day than himself.
In an instant, Atoms is at Halcyon High, this time performing his search at sublight speed–checking every classroom, closet, any possibility. To the naked, human eye, he's nigh-invisible; a blur, a flash, a sudden rush of wind; his presence only detectable by the papers and other small, loose objects tossed by his wake. However, this speed is all for naught, as Wingblade isn't here either. Not even Hashtag is present.
Resisting the urge to jet away again, Atoms stays put for a second to allow the rest of the message to come through. He's anxious though. Atoms isn't about to let one of his teammates get abducted again, and he certainly ISN'T about let another North Star happen. No. Ever since that happened, he had devoted himself to being faster, more powerful. With his protection, no one he cared about would get hurt ever again.
"–ubway."
Matrix begins to say more in order to give Atoms more direction, but this was all he needed to go on. If Wingblade flew in a direct line to/from the Clocktower to/from Halcyon High, there were several SUBWAY® restaurants along the route where she could've ran into some trouble, either stopping at a bad time to eat or to investigate an existing disturbance. Regardless of why she stopped though, Atoms just hoped that Wingblade would be at the first SUBWAY® he looked. But fate was not kind to Atoms. Soaring through Halcyon City, on his way to the nearest SUBWAY®, he would be forced to make a choice.
About halfway to his destination, Atoms spots a couple of people running out of one of the Halcyon City Metro stations. He couldn't blame them, the tube was fast and inexpensive, but it was also dirty, smelly, and crime-ridden; every Halcyonite knew that the new SkyRail system was way better, despite costing more and being a bit overcrowded and slow. Atoms might've not given it much thought, except... It wasn't just a couple people, more and more continued to run out from the station, and some of them were yelling about a "bomb". Faced with the decision of either continuing to pursue Wingblade or stopping to help, Atoms knew that he couldn't ignore a bomb threat.
Gritting his teeth, both infuriated at the delay and not about to attempt phasing through feet of road and rock, Atoms flies down the entrance and into the metro tunnel. Immediately he feels a weak force acting on his particles, creating a sort of strange buzzing sensation through his body. Ignoring it, but recognizing that it might be coming from whatever threat the people were running away from, Atoms heads further down and further in. With each passing moment, the feeling grows stronger as he gets closer, until eventually he comes upon a train stopped at a platform.
Without thought, Atoms dives right in.
________________________________________________
Inside the train car, metal continues to warp under the strain of the electromagnet. Unable to handle any more pressure, one of the bars breaks in half, sending a sharp foot-long fragment like a bullet towards the girl trapped against the wall. Just as it seems the fragment would pierce the girl's heart, Atoms appears out of nowhere, intercepting the would-be bullet. It harmlessly impales his chest and disintegrates a second after, leaving an inch-wide hole in his suit that soon repairs itself. Atoms is angry; the girl against the wall is the spitting image of Wingblade, sans wings, reminding him of what he might lose if he doesn't end this quickly.
"You picked a horrible day to be a terrorist." Atoms steps forward, squaring up with Ten of Hearts, hands blazing with a blue glow "Turn off your device, before I turn you into ash."
With your permission, I'd happily crash the Wingblade and Bran/Bronwyn party.
Speeaaaking of the timeskip, I really should be getting around to finishing Part 2 of Origins of Blueshift >.> Hopefully I'll be able to do that soon. Been kind of sick n' stuff recently though, so muse hasn't been very forthcoming.
As Whippoowill lands, Defender security personnel make their way out the building and quickly form a perimeter, keeping the civilians back. Among them is the chief of security, handing Atoms his hood and scarf, which he dons in one smooth motion. He gives the chief an annoyed glare, wishing her team had come out before the yelling started, but since the only feature on his helmet is a mouth, it isn't obvious.
"Some people got too close. Had to tell them to back off," answers Atoms.
The three head inside and make their way to the conference room. Atoms stands by, leaning against a wall, listening as Whippoorwill and Skuld talk.
With all The Defenders out on different missions, some of them outside the city itself, there were really no 'warriors' to speak of back at Defender HQ. To stall for time until someone got back, Atoms slowly winded through the city with Skuld, taking the longest route possible. At most, Atoms figured, this would give them a couple of hours. In practice however, with Skuld's irrespressible curiosity, it was more like all day until they finally got to headquarters.
Throughout the journey, Atoms patiently answers Skuld's questions, but with growing irritation. Not because of her or the things she asked, but because of all the stares the two of them were getting. It was frustrating to Atoms that those with powers couldn't just go normally about their day, and it was one of the reasons he and a handful of other students at Halcyon High started Blueshift. This was the kind of oppression they fought and hoped to change someday, for freaks and mundanes to live peacefully together; their motto, "A better life for all".
The last straw came when they arrived at headquarters and got surrounded by a swarm of civilians with their cellphones, taking picture after picture, and bathing the two in cacophonous flashes of light. They couldn't be blamed, the two were certainly an odd sight, and at this time of night, using the flash on their cameras was necessary to get any picture at all. However, these considerations weren't enough to make Atoms any less angry at the situation. He wanted to blast the phones out of their hands... but that would be like aiming a loaded gun at them.
"SHE'S NOT SOMETHING TO BE GAPED AT!", snarls Atoms, yelling at the crowd. Infuriated, he reaches for his communicator and talks to Matrix once more, "Please tell me that at least one of The Defenders is back."
Only one, Whippoorwill. Atoms hastily switches channels to contact her.
"Whippoorwill, has Matrix briefed you on the Outsider situation? We've got a girl here at H.Q. who fell from space, and she claims to be the daughter of Thor. She wants to meet you and the other Defenders, but you're the only one in town." He glances back at Skuld. "We need you here now. She's already destroyed a good chunk of the city's nature preserve with some kind of hurricane."
Atoms takes a moment to regain his bearings after the particularly... 'violent' (to say the least) landing, while the girl talks excitedly. Extending his arm towards her, the Theta Suit slips off her and returns to Atoms, enveloping him once more. With his communicator back, Matrix and Atoms quickly exchange data about the current situation, rapidly vibrating back and forth.
"[Welcome to Midgard, Skuld, Daughter of Thor,]" says Atoms in Old Norse (with Matrix telling him what to say). "[I invite you to accompany me to our Hall of Heroes in the center of the city. My fellow warriors will be eager to hear of your arrival.]"
He flies over to her and offers his hand. Of course, by 'Hall of Heroes' and 'fellow warriors', he really means Defender HQ and some of the other Defenders.
"I've caught up with the object," vibrates Atoms through his communicator. "It's a girl, and she appears to be falling. I should be able to get her down safely."
As they approached Earth's atmosphere, Atoms slows down and grabs onto her, causing them to spiral. An enormous amount of friction was going to be created when they hit the air, and that meant it was going to get really hot, really fast. Holding on tight, Atoms transfers his suit, the armor flowing off of him like sand, and onto the girl's body to protect her. Designed by a telepathic alien race from the future, the self-regenerating 'Theta Suit Mk II' responded to mental commands, and protected against all forms of radiation, including heat; it was also the only thing in the world that could withstand Atoms' touch, allowing him to interact with the world normally while wearing it.
Twisting as they fall through the upper atmosphere, Atoms puts himself on the bottom in order to take the brunt of the friction and heat. Together, they streak over the skyline of Halcyon City like a mid-day shooting star. It's here that the girl says something, in a language that Atoms doesn't understand or recognize, but thankfully the suit isn't all that got transferred over, the girl was also now wearing his communicator. Matrix immediately begins translating the foreign language, pairing it with every dialect in her database.
"[Greetings,]" comes Matrix's quick reply, speaking in Old Norse, but not yet answering any of the girl's questions. "[Who is this?]"
Atoms guides them through the air, steering them away from the city and towards the Halcyon City Nature Preserve, all the while carefully slowing them down. If he wanted, he could bring himself to a sudden and complete stop, but it would be like hitting a brick wall for the girl in his arms. However, with the ground fast approaching, it looked like Atoms would have to come up with a 'Plan B'.
Atoms was at school, with the rest of the supers in the Halcyon High program, when the call from Matrix came.
"Ms. Maharn?", says Atoms, getting up from his desk and signaling the teacher with a raise of his hand. "I'm checking out for the day."
Beverly Maharn nods at Atoms, waving him out the door, who doesn't 'fly out' the classroom as much as 'disappear in a flash'. As might be expected with a school full of superheroes, sometimes students were called away to help their teams or mentors. The school's 'check out' system allowed for quick departures without disrupting a class.
Within moments, Atoms was in space and moving towards an intercept point provided by calculations from the early warning satellite.
_____
"Do we have any idea what this object is?", asks Atoms, waiting at the point.
Except his mouth doesn't open, nor does he 'speak' in a traditional sense; there is no air in space for sound to travel through. Instead, Atoms creates vibrations with his body, which vibrate a sensor on his communicator–made by Whipporwill's tech guy, 'Whetstone', who was all too excited about making it after learning that Atoms had the ability to control his own molecules–and sent to Matrix, who can both translate it and send a vibration message back. It allowed for quick and silent communication between Atoms and Defender HQ, but a clear downside was that it was like talking in binary or rapidfire morse code, and only Atoms, Matrix, or a computer could make sense of the messages.
"Unclear," replies Matrix. "All we know is that it's small and moving very fast. Be ready for anything."
The object streaks past the point, but Atoms immediately catches up and matches speed with it, a perk of being an energy-infused being. Only... the object isn't a it, but rather a her. Atoms wondered how she got up here, but right now the important was finding out how to get her down safely, or whether she could do so on her own power. After all, there were plenty of fliers in Halcyon City who could fly out here, and it wasn't against a crime to head into space.
Atoms flies a bit faster, moving ahead of the girl, before turning to look back at her. "Is she conscious?"
Influences/Labels:
The Transformed has influence over...
Tectonic, Paragon
The Delinquent - Hashtag
The Protégé - Wingblade
Blueshift is a new idea, but Redshift has been a part of Deputy Atoms' background since day one. 'Redshift' is a supervillainous organization that attacked Halcyon City sometime before The Team first came together, and during this attack Shaun Atoms was transformed into Atoms. Below is a little more information about Redshift (which can also be found on this alias' profile), but to relate it to a supervillain organization from one of the big two–Marvel and DC–then I'd say it's pretty close to Marvel's Brotherhood of Mutants, especially its appearance in "X-Men: Evolution" and "Wolverine and the X-Men".
REDSHIFT:
:: About Redshift
Redshift is an organization of superpowered individuals who believe themselves to be superior to normal humans. They collectively refer to themselves, and most others who have powers, as 'Children of the Stars', while insultingly naming those without powers–and those with powers who decide to emphasize with them–as 'Children of the Earth'. The organization is generally viewed by the rest of the world as a group of terrorists, but they see themselves as fighting the oppression that those with superpowers "routinely suffer". Most of their recruits are superhumans whose powers make it difficult to live a normal life, however there are also a number of superhuman families who call themselves members. Currently, they are trying to start the world's first superhuman-only state.
Quote:
Humanity is undergoing a REDSHIFT. For too long those of us with extraordinary abilities have been ostracized, segregated, and prevented from living normal lives. From birth we are expected to use our gifts to serve the ones who hate and fear us, without reward or pay, and those who refuse are put in prisons designed for our kind–like Tartarus and The Spike–by "Paragons", our arrogantly named, so-called 'brethren'. Time and time again we have been forced to submit, but no longer will we continue to live under the oppressive authority of Earth's regimes. Today we rise to the stars, we stand and fight, we live as we choose and as we deserve! Today we unite under one banner. Under REDSHIFT! As a sovereign nation of one race and one people! Together, the Children of the Earth will tremble as we shout our cry: "A better life for powered-kind!"
___________________
:: Origin of Blueshift [Part 1 of 2]
At some point after the end of Vol. 1 (i.e. before/during the timeskip), The Defenders once again ask for The Team; Atoms, Hashtag, Tectonic, and Wingblade; to help them with The Givers. Their joint-mission is to enter The Giver's dimension in order to open diplomatic negotiations with them, just like The Defender's discussed during the briefing way back when. Of course, as might have been expected, everything goes completely south not long after the two teams enter The Giver's dimension, and they're forced to opt for 'Plan B', which is "rescue as many kidnapped people as possible". Thankfully, this works out, and at the end of the day, before retreating back to Earth, they're able to save a good handful of people.
The rescued are given a temporary living space in Defender HQ, its staff having converted one of the 'Mediation Rooms' into a sort of quarantine chamber. After a few tests are run, The Defenders find nothing wrong with these people–except for their new powers granted to them by The Givers–and those who are adults are released while minors have their families called to pick them up. One of the rescued though, a girl named Alexis, doesn't want to go back to her family, and whats more, she doesn't want anything to do with her new powers; she wants to be normal. So in steps Atoms, becoming Alexis' friend while telling her the importance of embracing what she has become. He also totally accepts her wanting to get away from her parents, and is willing to help her, because as a former foster kid he understands wanting to get away from a family.
Quote:
Atoms: "It'll save you a lot of pain in the long run, believe me."
Meanwhile, The Defenders are conferring amongst themselves about the result of the mission, and the performance of the different members of The Team. They decide to invite The Team to join The Defenders, but only Tectonic and Atoms, as Whippoorwill doesn't think Hashtag and Wingblade are ready yet. Tectonic readily agrees to join, while Atoms does so hesitantly, and on the condition that he's more of a part-timer than a full, permanent member. After all, he's trying to move on from his past, and joining up with The Defenders is a little bit too similar to joining the Sheriff's Department or AEGIS; not to mention that he spent years looking into those agencies, so he wants to be cautious with The Defenders and learn how they operate before he fully submits himself to their authority, especially with all this odd "procedure" that Nick mentioned to The Team before.
As a new member of The Defenders, the first thing Atoms brings up is the situation with Alexis; mainly that she doesn't want to go back to her family. The Defenders, predictably, tell Atoms that there's nothing they can do about it because she's a minor, and that they couldn't intervene anyway unless they witnessed her being physically harmed. Atoms tells them that he'll go tell Alexis the "bad news", but of course what he actually does is help her escape the building undetected. Afterwards, he returns to The Defenders and tells them that Alexis ran away before he could get to her. This doesn't fool The Defenders, but they don't confront him about it. It's not the best start to Atoms' Defender career.
Quote:
Nick: "It's hasn't even been a half hour, and he's already subverting orders? I think that's a new record."
Later that evening, Atoms gets back in contact with Alexis and tries to find her a place to stay for the night. She doesn't trust her family, friends (or the family of friends) to not tell her parents where she is, so she decides to rough it for a little while until she figures out what to do. Atoms sets her up in an abandoned logging camp outside of the city (the same one where Eldritch and Tectonic used to go let off some steam at), and watches over her until morning. It's a cold and miserable night for Alexis. Over the course of the night, Atoms tries many times to produce a flame or other heat source with his abilities, but the only thing he manages to do is vibrate his own molecules.
Come the next morning, while Alexis is looking for work and a better place to stay, Atoms gives Tectonic a call and asks her if it'd be okay if Alexis stays at her place. Tectonic reluctantly agrees, understanding the situation, and slightly emphasizing with it herself (her own parents are pretty bad, after all). Once there, Alexis continues to look for a way to support herself, but after a day or two of job searching, she starts to realize that there's no one who will hire here unless she has a highschool diploma or GED (and not to mention her not knowing her SSN). Atoms suggests that she could start homeschooling until she's ready to do the tests to get a GED, but Alexis counters by saying that she doesn't "learn very well outside of a classroom", before admitting that she already has a plan for what to do next.
Quote:
Alexis: "Halcyon High has a program for those with powers. They let people attend without revealing their secret identity. They even let aliens in!"
Alexis enrolls in Halcyon High's superhero program, and she convinces Atoms to do the same, which Atoms goes along with more out of an interest of protecting her than actually getting an education for himself. The enrollment process goes okay, and to keep her identity under wraps, Alexis starts going by her middle name, 'Evelyn'. They're able to make friends with some of the others attending the program, and while discussing their powers with a group of these supers, a speedster mentions that, "if you [Atoms] can vibrate your molecules, you might be able to vibrate them so fast that you'd be able to phase through a wall, kinda like what my dad does", which Atoms later begins to practice and experiment with. All in all, things are going pretty well.
Of course, school isn't all that Atoms is up to. As a part time member of The Defenders, he is frequently called away to help them on missions or to attend some kind of briefing. Any bad blood that might have resulted from his early subversion of orders smooths out over time. This doesn't last forever though. One day, The Defenders decide to test their abilities and training–as well as blow off steam–by having a fun sparring day in one of the mediation rooms, with Atoms v Haden as the first match. This doesn't go well. Haden can't beat Atoms, so he cheekily calls in Nick to help him out, and still unable to beat Atoms, they both call in more of their team, until most of The Defenders are involved in what was supposed to be a friendly one on one spar. Eventually, the group calls the whole day off, too tired after such a protracted battle. Not all of The Defenders fight though, among them Matrix and Whippoorwill, who instead watch carefully from the sidelines.
Quote:
Airacomet III (Speedster, Student): "Heh~ Wait, wait, so that makes you guys 'Atom' and 'Eve'? Pffft."
Later, The Defenders have an impromptu meeting–without Atoms–when they happen to be gathered together in the HQ's break/living room. Like the spar earlier, it starts out as casual discussion, but soon turns into something a little more serious. The Defenders always knew that Atoms was strong, but they never suspected that he might be powerful enough to actually take on the whole team, which is a teensy bit disconcerting, to say the least. Curious, Haden asks Foresight to look into Atoms' future, to which Foresight sheepishly admits, "I can't. I've never been able to see a future with him in it." According to Foresight, Atoms' powers would be better described as being "quantic in nature, rather than atomic", and that something about the wave-particles Atoms gives off has the effect of distorting his future vision. In-fact, it's gotten worse over time. Foresight has always had some trouble with the present and seeing "what's in front of" him, causing him to be a little clumsy at times, but ever since both incidents with The Givers, the clumsiness has increased to the point where he's practically tripping every time he walks into a room with Atoms in it.
As the rest of The Defenders consider this new piece of information, Matrix announces that while the group has been discussing Atoms, she has been using her cyberbrain to simultaneously investigate his past, "I've found something that is most puzzling."
Matrix's Investigation:
[Matrix turns to the room's wall-mounted television and activates it remotely. Displayed on the screen is a video of the Redshift attack, specifically the famous video that captured the 'death' of Shaun Adams.]
Matrix: "This video shows the moment where Atoms gained his powers."
[The video plays in its entirety, The assembled Defenders watching with hardened faces. Filmed by an amateur, the shaky camera is pointed at Wingblade, fighting a known supervillain in mid-air and landing a strike that sends him spiraling to the ground (unconscious). Suddenly, there's a shout, and the camera quickly pans down to the street, where a Redshift Terrorist stands, aiming a strange-looking rifle in Wingblade's direction. Shaun Adams, wearing the uniform of a H.C.S.D. police explorer, runs in from off-screen and begins wrestling with the terrorist, who is completely surprised. During the struggle, Shaun knocks the terrorist out with a quick punch, causing the rifle to drop onto the asphalt and discharge a round into Shaun. Shaun's body begins to disintegrate, Wingblade lands next to him, and Shaun salutes her and says something (inaudible, not captured by the camera's microphone) before disappearing completely. The video ends.]
Matrix: "As you are all aware, every member of Redshift has powers. I could not identify the terrorist that Shaun fights with, but I was able to find him in a video of the attack that was taken minutes before this one."
[Another video plays, this time taken by one of Halcyon's local news networks. The video showcases the same terrorist as in the earlier video, undoubtedly the same man, lifting up a car and chucking it through a nearby building. The scene then cuts away to some news anchor in a studio, and it's here that Matrix stops the video.]
Matrix: "As you can see, the terrorist's power is enhanced or 'super' strength."
Earl Grey: "But that would mean–"
[Matrix goes back to the video with Shaun wrestling this terrorist, the teenager easily a match for him.]
Matrix: Correct. Atoms had powers before he was transformed.
Part 2 coming soon! I just wanted to get at least this much out there, because I don't want to keep Thor Girl waiting/falling forever in the RP.
I'm currently working on an explanation post about the Blueshift situation that I want to post before getting into the RP :) Sorry it's taking a few days, it's rather long.
Since we're discussing it, I'll throw out my idea for Atoms' and my meeting: Mainly we had a mid-air collision (Which was from me being teleported into space, but close enough to Earth to be pulled in by gravity).
Meanwhile, Atoms responded to a meteor crashing to Earth and discovered Skuld falling, wearing her divine armor, which you discovered you could interact with without destroying her (what with it being made by Gods and whatnot). She had passed out during the fall (what with the lack of oxygen) and came to when you grabbed her and stopped her fall.
We made friends from there. Or something like that.
Yep! She's a former Franklin High student. The Givers were kidnapping people from Franklin High (among other places) to give them powers, and when Alexis was given powers her appearance changed (namely her hair, but maybe there was some other changes too). The appearance change, coupled with a rough home life that she didn't want to go back to, made her not want to return to Franklin High, because it'd be easier for her family to track her down. The only reason she's in Halcyon High now is because it's on the other side of the city, she sees the importance of education, and probably because she wants to keep playing basketball ;)
Side note, a day at the fair sounds like it would be a lot of fun to play. The strong people could try to one-up each other on the hammer-bell game (does that have a name?), Hashtag could mess with people in the Hall of Mirrors, Bioshock could carb- and salt-load like there's no tomorrow, Atoms could sulk over not being human.
Wait, that last one kinda sucks. Atoms, could you have fun at a fair?
*loud sobbing in the corner*
"N-no, yeah. Totally. I can have fun at the f-f-fa..."
*MORE loud sobbing*
Haha, but seriously though~ Atoms usually finds his own way to have fun, so yes, he could enjoy himself. I like the fair idea. In-fact! Make it a carnival and we're golden :D He'll be in there like swimwear.
Don't leave me out of the Halcyon High conversation! Atoms and his confidant, Alexis, both attend the school. Not to mention most of his gang members are students there as well. He's pretty friendly and personable, but I'm not sure what everyone's characters will think about his gang, there are a lot of angry people in there and by proxy it might make Atoms pretty intimidating (especially considering the unnerving costume, frightening atomic powers, etc.).
Oh, and to those wondering. Yes! Alexis Evelyn Forester is the same Alexis that was kidnapped by The Givers before the timeskip. Atoms, The Defenders, and maybe some other members of The Team (like Tectonic) went into their dimension and got her back, along with a handful of other kidnapped students.
It might be fun to have Haxor be one of Blueshift's members, now that I remember him.
So since we're in kind of open RP/mid-timeskip mode~~ I guess now would be a good time to introduce Atoms and hammer out the remaining bits of his CS.
To New & Old Players Alike - An Introduction
Atoms is really, really OP. Like, unstoppably so. No one, not even himself, is sure of what the upper limits of his abilities are, because he seems to get more powerful with each passing day. For example, at the start of the game, his only power was really his invulnerability, but now, he can fire energy blasts, fly extremely fast, etc.
This makes him kind of Nova-ish, but unlike 'The Nova', he doesn't struggle to control his powers as much as he struggles to control himself. Which isn't to say that he loses control, no no. What he grapples with are the questions "What am I?" and "What should I be doing?", making him a true 'The Transformed'.
Atoms, Character Development & Discussion
There's quite a bit to sort out before we can start the game proper: Influence (who Atoms has Inf. over and who has Inf. over him), Relationships, Timeskip Questions, "When the team came together...", and not to mention this pairing up that we're doing.
Timeskip Question - Negative and Positive Event
I'm going to go a liiittle bit crazy with this and make Atoms' positive and negative events tie into each other. A megaevent, if you will. And it will absolutely have a lot to do with The Defenders, The Givers, Redshift, and the evolution of Blueshift.
Before I put anything in stone though, I want to ask @Default if it's okay for me to include The Defenders and Givers in that way. I've already grabbed Alexis without asking, so I don't want to step on your toes any further, especially if you've got specific plans or future plots for these groups. Because while I'm totes fine with manhandling my own creations, those two groups are things that you've created.
My current thought is to put Blueshift on The Giver's good side and The Defender's bad side, while also making Blueshift an enemy of Redshift. This would mean bringing back Panel, Alloy, Knight, and all those other Giver-type characters.
Feel free to PM me, Default, if you don't want to spoil things :)
Timeskip Question - Bonding Event
Anyone want to bond with big blue over here? :D I noticed I got paired with @Thor Girl, so I'm fine if you want to be my bonding event. Any ideas?
Relationships
Right now, I have one of my relationship questions open:
[insert name here] comforted Atoms when he was at his lowest.
Here is Atoms' new alias and character sheet. I may flesh it out a bit more, as I've still yet to complete the Timeskip questions (not to mention re-doing Relationships, Influence, and anything else that needs it). Feel free to discuss.
