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<> Topic — Avant Guard Thread Two (Boards – Places – United States – Michigan – Touched-Teams – Heroes)

4D-Daniel (Moderator – Original Poster)

Posted on May 12th, 2020:

Well, we hit a full thread pretty quick on that one, didn’t we? I guess people are interested in talking about this new team. Especially now that we have a name for them. Just remember to be respectful and keep it all within the rules. We don’t want to have another incident like what happened with you know who.

Feel free to use this thread to talk about the Detroit based hero team who have started calling themselves Avant Guard. You may discuss the team itself or any of its members or exploits. But if a discussion gets too bogged down on discussing a single member, remember that they have separate threads (though partners are grouped together) which can be found here: (Paintball, Alloy, Trevithick, Style and Poise, Calvin and Hobbes)

You can find an archive of the first discussion thread right here, and the Sphere-Wiki entry for this team is available right here.

(Showing page 9 of 22, displaying ten posts per page)

—> GearK

Replied on May 19th, 2020

Avant-Guard, that's the name they're going with? I guess they're really leaning into that whole artist vibe, aren't they?

—> SavagePunch

Replied on May 19th, 2020

Sure, and why shouldn't they? I mean, you've got Paintball who uses--uhh-- paint and makes pictures and all that. Then you've got Alloy who could fit a sort of sculptor vibe. I don't remember the little girl's name off the top of my head, but isn't she some sort of Tech-Touched? Building things, that could fit with artistry. The others I'm not exactly sure about, but you could probably make them fit too.

—> SPB Disciple

Replied on May 19th, 2020

Her name is Trevithick. It was some inventor guy who built trains or something. All her stuff has to do with making things move, I think. Anyway, are the other four even Touched, or are they glorified Prevs with equipment she made? Not that there’d be anything wrong with that, I think Prevs who keep up in Touched fights are awesome.

—> FiefdomOfFeeling

Replied on May 19th, 2020

I still think Poise and Style have to be enhanced in some way. They're definitely stronger and faster than normal people, and the other two, Calvin and Hobbes, don't have those same enhancements. Those two move more like normal people, just with those special guns. And maybe the suits make them bulletproof or something? I don't know, but the two pairs definitely aren't the same. And you’d think if Trevithick could make suits that enhance two of them like that, she'd do it for all four. Or the whole team.

—> Anonymoton

Replied on May 19th, 2020

Maybe it's a condition of resources. Or lack thereof. Maybe they've got four normal humans and only enough stuff to give two of them the enhanced physical abilities while the other two get the special guns. In which case, Poise and Style made the right decision. I know if it was my choice, I'd totally take the enhanced abilities. You can use those outside of a fight. I mean, what else can you use those guns for besides combat?

—> Woodywoodeater

Replied on May 20th, 2020

Well those special guns move stuff around, right? They shoot out a beam and let you pick stuff up. You could absolutely use them to lift heavy objects and shit like that. Hell, you could help a whole household move super quick and easy. That could probably solve all their money and resource problems so they could get the supplies they need to build advanced suits for everyone.

—> Emanater

Replied on May 20th, 2020

You know, I think you might be onto something there. Not just moving things. Paintball could paint a whole house in like a minute. Then you could have Alloy use her marbles to help move stuff too, or even make fake furniture so people could see what it would look like in their house before they actually put it there. I think there's a realtor in town who has some sort of power like that. My uncle said he used him, I'll have to find out what his name is. He could probably hire these guys to help out. Make a whole moving company out of it.

—> Marconi's S

Replied on May 20th, 2020

Haha, hell yeah, obviously, these guys have been totally wasting their time playing superhero. They should be making BANK this way. Less life and death situations to deal with, you know?

—> Nined

Replied on May 20th, 2020

Well, all that aside, I think Poise and Style fit the artistry thing too. But they're a little more abstract about it. They're like gymnasts or ballet dancers, that sort of art. Which absolutely counts and fits within the theme. As for Calvin and Hobbes, well obviously their names fit. That comic was the bomb and still holds up. And some of the stuff Watterson did would be considered avant-garde. Maybe they don't have any powers, but even their weapons fit too. They move objects around, stack them up, maybe you could say they make art that way? Yeah, I know it's a stretch, but not everything's going to be a total winner. After all, it's not like they're just recruiting people who fit the theme and ignoring everyone else.

—> FlowerOfBeauty

Replied on May 20th, 2020

I like the idea of Poise and Style being the acrobat type of art. Have you seen the way those two can move? I saw this cell footage somewhere that someone took and that shit looked totally impossible. Forget being a moving company, those two could gold medal in the Olympics. That would be worth some good dough, wouldn't it? In sponsorships if nothing else.

Actually hey that's a good point, come to think of it. There's sponsorships for hero teams, isn't there? I bet there's plenty of artist groups out there who would pay these guys anything they needed.

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<> Topic — Avant Guard Thread Two (Boards – Places – United States – Michigan – Touched-Teams – Heroes)

(Showing page 10 of 22, displaying ten posts per page)

—> AProtectionRacket

Replied on May 20th, 2020

@FlowerOfBeauty

Oh man, don't even bring that up as a possibility. Now you just made us think about Paintball going around putting advertisements everywhere. Can you imagine him showing up to a fight with a restaurant ad on his back? Oh, and then after all the bad guys are tied up, they've got ads on them too. Wait, now that we say that out loud, it might work. Talk about a justified punishment.

—> Threeb4

Replied on May 20th, 2020

Fuck no, you had the right idea the first time. That would be cruel and unusual, for them and everyone else. I've got enough trouble with blocking ads online, I seriously don't need Paintball jumping around putting up graffiti on all the walls and bad guys talking up the latest movie release or pizza deal.

—> CrabScavengersInDisguise

Replied on May 21st, 2020

Wait, if he was doing that, would anyone who hit him be considered an ad blocker?

—> CleverVole

Replied on May 21st, 2020

Yeah let's not come up with any more plans that involve encouraging people to hit Paintball, OK? I think the poor guy’s got enough problems as it is.

—> BabblingSpriggan

Replied on May 21st, 2020

Damn straight, and that goes for the whole city. I don't know about you guys, but I'd prefer things settle down. I've got a vacation coming up in three months, and if this whole quarantine thing isn't dealt with by then, I might have to think about turning to a life of crime myself. Seriously, I've been looking forward to this trip for a whole year. I don't need any more bullshit screwing it up. Every extremity I’ve got is crossed that things go back to normal soon.

—> Mach3

Replied on May 21st, 2020

Hey guys, remember, if you want to talk about the general state of the city, the quarantine, or anything like that, there are other threads for it. This one is for discussions about Avant Guard specifically. So let's try to stay on topic. To that end, now that we know what their official name is and all that, does anyone else think they should have a cool logo they could all wear on their costumes?

—> LaughingLad

Replied on May 21st, 2020

I mean, any logo would just get covered up whenever Paintball used his powers on them, right? But maybe it could still be cool. A good team needs a good logo. Hey, maybe we could design something and send it to them. As a thank-you for all the hard work.

—> Paintball (Verified Identity)

Replied on May 21st, 2020

Hey, if someone else wants to put in the work to design a logo, I won't turn it down. You all could do a better job than me.

—> RingAroundARosie

Replied on May 21st, 2020

!!!! Wait, hang on, I'm not falling for this one again. We’ve been through this before and gotten so very, very burned. Does anyone else remember the fake Carousel fiasco? How do we know this is the real Paintball? This smells like a trick. In the next post, you'll see the team needs help and all we have to do is donate to this anonymous account, right?

—> MercurialGumball

Replied on May 21st, 2020

Yeah, I'm leaning towards this not being real. It's a sick joke, and I for one don't appreciate it. Reported.

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<> Topic — Avant Guard Thread Two (Boards – Places – United States – Michigan – Touched-Teams – Heroes)

(Showing page 11 of 22, displaying ten posts per page)

—> Berryonalake (Moderator)

Replied on May 21st, 2020

Speaking as a mod, I can confirm that the account you see above has verified his identity. It just took us a little bit to add that verified sign that you should all be able to see now. He's agreed to have that proof shared, so here's what we did. As the staff for this Detroit forum, we chose a wall in the city that we knew was blank and set up a time lapse camera for him. In the attached video below, you can see Paintball show up in front of the camera, wave to it, then paint several greeting messages on that wall in rapid succession. He then writes his username. It's as close as we can get to one hundred percent confirmation.

—> GujaratiSugar

Replied on May 21st, 2020

Oh shit, senpai noticed us. Wait, can it be senpai when he’s like 12 and we’re *mumble mumble numbers mumble*? Oh who cares? Paintball! We have so many questions. How strict is your dad about how much time you spend on the streets? Does that helmet squish your beak too much? Did they find a way to make the space inside it bigger like a TARDIS so you'd be more comfortable? When are your wings going to come in properly? Is it uncomfortable to have the feathers all squished up in that suit?

—> BrightFireOfIthax

Replied on May 21st, 2020

Hey, for more relevant questions, are you really friends with Pack? How can you be friendly with a villain who steals from people? I mean not to be rude or anything (please don't censor mods), but the La Casa people are thieves and just generally bad people. And you've been seen hanging out with and getting help from them sometimes. Where do you draw the line of what’s acceptable or not?

—> LivelyAnteater

Replied on May 21st, 2020

Well how about we ask about some of the questions up above? Like, do all of you have powers or not? Are Poise and Style touched or just well-trained with special suits? Do you guys really think you can go up against these gangs without getting official aid by attaching yourselves to one of the government teams? Because people who are completely independent or don't even have a sponsor tend to run into problems and often dissolve or get absorbed into other groups because of them. Is there a reason you don't want to accept help even if it would protect your teammates and make it so you can help more people?

—> ConservatorKriegspiel (Verified Identity)

Replied on May 21st, 2020

I might not be able to speak for Paintball or his team directly, but I can assure you that even without what you are calling an ‘official alliance or sponsorship,’ their team is a vital part of our city and all of our attempts to keep the people in it safe. If they need anything, our teams would help provide it, no alliance or signed contract necessary. They don't need to be sponsored by anyone for all of us to work together. Avant Guard has absolutely earned any help they ask for. No one is holding anything back from them just because they consider themselves independent, so let's nip that thought right in the bud.

—> PalaceHearth

Replied on May 21st, 2020

Oh damn, it’s a Kriegspiel-Paintball team-up! Who saw that coming? No, seriously, who would have seen that coming? Has anyone even seen those to interact together at all? We feel like Paintball barely has any interaction with the Conservators. Have those two specifically ever even been seen talking together?

—> SirAnthonyWatcher

Replied on May 21st, 2020

I mean, to be fair, we see maybe five percent of the interactions these people have. Maybe they know each other outside of costume, then how would we ever have any idea how much they interact? Maybe Kriegspiel is actually one of his teachers or something and they talk all the time at school.

—> SilverElk

Replied on May 21st, 2020

Well now you're just being ridiculous, like we wouldn't recognize if one of the schools around here had a bird-boy as a student. It’d definitely stand out. Maybe if you said he was a private tutor or something, but an actual public teacher? No way anyone's going to be keeping that secret. And he definitely couldn’t have become a superhero without everyone in his class immediately realizing the bird-boy is Paintball.

—> RobertR

Replied on May 21st, 2020

I mean, really that just goes back to the question of how no one’s seen him before anyway. And we know there are holographic disguises out there, maybe Paintball’s civilian bird form uses something like that. Hey, PB, if you're still around and actually going to respond, did you go to a school or are you privately tutored?

—> MarsSpider

Replied on May 21st, 2020

See, all of those are really fine questions and everything. But what I want to know is even more important. Paintball, if you only answer one question out of this whole thing, make it this one. Do you have any other colors of paint that you've been holding back? Because my friend swears he once saw you use what looked like gold paint (not yellow, he insists it wasn’t yellow) and it seemed to burn the stuff it was on. Do you have a secret gold paint that can set stuff on fire? Honestly, I think my friend is making shit up, but he swears up and down that someday you’ll use that paint to fight and he'll be proven right. We bet my bike on it, and I just want to know that I'm not about to lose it. That thing is worth over a thousand dollars. Please tell me you've got my back here.

Edit: oh, just to be clear, I am in no way advocating that Paintball not use this special gold fire paint if he actually has it. I'd totally give up my bike for that if it was real, especially if it helped anybody. Seriously, gold fire paint sounds awesome. But I still don’t think it’s an actual thing.

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<> Topic — Avant Guard Thread Two (Boards – Places – United States – Michigan – Touched-Teams – Heroes)

(Showing page 14 of 22, displaying ten posts per page)

—> Paintball (Verified Identity)

Replied on May 22nd, 2020

Oh shit, that's like three pages of questions already. Right then, I'm gonna do my best to answer what I can. But I hope you guys understand if there's some stuff I can't say. Gotta keep some secrets or Papa might ground me for making things too dangerous.

Anyway, let’s see in order. I can’t get to all of them right now but I’ll come back later. First of all, we are definitely not going to get into any sort of corporate sponsorships. No advertisements on our suits or anything, promise. Now, the idea about helping people move and painting houses and stuff? That one has potential… we’ll see where it goes. And don't worry, if we did do that, we definitely only paint our ads over deserving billboards that no one wants to see anyway. That could count as a public service.

I am no one’s senpai. Please, please do not look up to me in any way. You’d just end up regretting it for so many reasons, I promise. I’m not a role model, either as a civilian or a Touched. I’m just trying to do the best I can and usually I screw something up. It just--here’s a list of homeless shelters and soup kitchens in the city, and here’s a phone number for the mental health hospital. If you really want to look for people to look up to and help, check out those places. They need you more than some silly group that goes around punching robbers does.

The helmet fits the beak just fine! How? Sorry, trade secret, can’t be sure any of the sneaky sneaky bad guys out there won’t find a way to use that against me or my family! But I promise, it’s not all squished up in here. I’ve gotta be able to breathe and talk!

As for Pack and anyone else I might sometimes end up on the same side as, sometimes there are bigger threats out there that have to be dealt with before you can worry about other things. Pack helped save people and stop worse bad guys before. Someone who steals money from a bank or robs an electronics store after it's closed isn't the same sort of bad as someone who happily torments hostages and kills people for fun. I totally get that some people won’t be happy with this answer, but there it is. Given the choice between going after a murderer or a thief, I’ll go after the murderer every time.

Poise and Style have given me permission to say that they are special themselves and it’s not just the suits. Obviously we can’t really get into details about that cuz of those same sneaky sneaky bad guys who know how to read, but that should be enough for now! That said, I feel bad for anyone who tries to go after either of them and hope they have their medical insurance paid up.

Okay, that's a lie and lying is bad. I should be honest. The truth is there's definitely some people out there that wouldn’t make me feel bad if Poise or Style had a chance to get their hands on them. I might even enjoy some popcorn before stepping in. See? Definitely not any sort of role model. Cross me off that box.

As far as getting help goes, believe me, if we weren't getting it just because we haven't signed on the dotted line with any official corporations or governments, we'd be dead by now. I know that's probably a pretty blunt way of putting it, but it's true. Everyone in the city, all the official teams, have done so much to help. Remember back when I was all by myself (boy that seems like a little longer than just a couple months ago doesn't it) and how screwed I would've been when I was trying to find those vials? If it wasn't for the Minority and bunch of others, Cuélebre and his buddies would’ve stomped me into a smear on the ground. There’d probably still be some poor janitor trying to squeegee me off the walls! So yeah, we definitely get plenty of help, don’t worry about that.

Oh and Kriegspiel definitely isn’t my teacher, he’s my piano tutor! You should see the way his fingers dance over those keys, it’s enough to bring tears to your eyes. As for school itself, all I can say is that I am a well-educated bird-boy! My papa wouldn’t have it any other way. And Uncle Krieg, thanks for setting everyone straight about how much you guys do for us! Maybe I won’t tell Papa about that time you took his Cheetos!

The last question I can really get to right now is the gold paint thing. Sorry, but as far as I know I don’t have anything like--hang on, let me try. Nope, no gold paint. Well, not specifically gold anyway. I can make the yellow sort of look goldish (edit: not goldfish wtf autocorrect?), but it definitely doesn’t burn or melt anything. It’s not hot at all. At least, not so far. Maybe if I…

But that’s getting ahead of myself. Plus, there’s that whole keeping secrets from the bad guys thing. I know there’s more questions to get to and I will later, but thanks to all of you! You’re more awesome than I could ever really say. Just sitting around reading your speculation whenever I get a few minutes is great. And helpful sometimes! Sorry it took me so long to figure out the pink paint.

I’ll get to the other questions as soon as I can, but just know I’m still around and reading. Maybe I’ve even commented in this thread before under another account… Muahahaa, have fun with that!

—> LucentOfSeraphs(Verified Identity)

Replied on May 22nd, 2020

Gasp, betrayal of the highest order! Kriegspiel we need to talk about those Cheetos. And about you corrupting the boy into keeping such vital secrets. Prithee explain yourself, lest we meet on the field of battle!

—> Paintball (Verified Identity)

Replied on May 22nd, 2020

Oh no, what have I done? Forgetting that dear Papa knows how to read was truly an unfathomable mistake from which there may be no recovery! Soon all Touched in the city will be forced to choose sides in the great snack-theft affair and all that will be left is ruins in the wake of the ensuing war! The fate of Detroit lay in my grasp and I have failed to shield it from certain destruction. Woe to all who stand pitted sibling to sibling, parent to child, friend to friend in the snack civil war. Citizens, brace yourselves.

—> ConservatorKriegspiel (Verified Identity)

Replied on May 22nd, 2020

Oh don’t let your anger over snack theft blind you to the obvious truth, old friend! Your boy has been misled. It was never I who stole such a precious cheese-flavored crispy snack, but some old foes who seek to turn us against one another. They must have impersonated me to trick the boy into such a mistake. But only one organization is dastardly and well-connected enough to pull off such a charade!

—> LucentOfSeraphs(Verified Identity)

Replied on May 22nd, 2020

Gasp, I have been fooled! What monsters could do such a thing? Wait. Gods no, don’t say it, we were supposed to be through with such vile fiends! They can’t have risen from the ashes.

—> ConservatorKriegspiel (Verified Identity)

Replied on May 22nd, 2020

My old friend, you and I know better than most that such an organization can never truly be defeated, only stalled for a time. Their power is greater than any other we shall ever be forced to stand against. But stand against them we must, for the good of this city and all of its citizens.

Frightening though the prospect may be, we stand united against the Dairy Mafia.

—> EnemyOfTheGoose

Replied on May 22nd, 2020

I have absolutely no idea what the fuck is happening right now but I am here for it.

—> SunshinePlaza

Replied on May 22nd, 2020

Okay where the hell did this Dairy Mafia thing come from? I’ve seen that around the Detroit areas of this forum for weeks now and I have no idea what started it.

—> PalaceHearth

Replied on May 22nd, 2020

Well of course you don’t know, the DM keeps that stuff on the downlow. Actually, just saying the name probably got you put on their list. They don’t take kindly to people exposing them to the public like that. I’d say lock your doors, but obviously that’s a lost cause if you already have milk or cheese in the house. Been nice knowing you!

—> Constructicon

Replied on May 22nd, 2020

To answer the question seriously @SunshinePlaza somehow it got out that Paintball made a joke about there being a dairy mafia way back when that stolen vials thing was going down, and it’s sort of made the rounds especially here. It’s not quite as well-known as the bird-boy thing, but some people keep it going.

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<> Topic — Avant Guard Thread Two (Boards – Places – United States – Michigan – Touched-Teams – Heroes)

(Showing page 21 of 22, displaying ten posts per page)

—> AvoidanceLamb

Replied on May 31st, 2020

So, now that I’m done catching up on those ten extra pages about the Dairy Mafia that got split off into their own new thread a few days ago (thanks mods!) can we go back a bit and talk about Poise and Style some more? My friend has this theory about their powers. He was saying that sometimes when they fight it looks like they both react to something that only one of them should be able to see, like they're connected mentally somehow or whatever. He thinks maybe they’re actually one person who split into two different forms when they’re out on the field. Like, I know they’re both totally different physically, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be one person producing two separate bodies that just look different, you know?

—> Nekezs

Replied on May 31st, 2020

Huh, I just checked those YouTube videos of those two and your friend is right, they totally react to things that only one of them should have seen. And there's no delay either. Maybe he's onto something with that whole two people in one thing. Or would it be one person in two? Whatever, you get the point. They both seem to have the same general enhancements, move similarly, and have a weird connection. Normally I just dismiss this sort of conspiracy theory, but I think this one might have legs.

—> Wonthav

Replied on May 31st, 2020

Hold on, let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's possible their suits just transmit images to each other, isn't it? Maybe they can just see what the other person is seeing through a camera or whatever. It doesn't have to be a psychic link. Occam's razor, you know?

—> OnceWereWarriors

Replied on May 31st, 2020

Personally, I think having a constant video feed showing them what the other person is seeing and being able to react both to that and to what's already in front of them would be even more ridiculous and hard than the psychic connection thing. Can you imagine trying to fight someone while splitting your attention between them and another view completely? That would have to be an impressive power all on its own.

—> FullBass

Replied on May 31st, 2020

Hey, yeah, they've got a point. I know we don't have a ton of videos of those two, but I was looking through what we do have, and there really is zero delay between something happening to one of them and the other reacting even if they weren't paying any attention before. There's no way any normal person could split their attention like that, especially not in a fight. Maybe they really are psychically linked, or one mind controlling two bodies. I'm not sure which theory I like better.

If there is a psychic link and they're two different people, which one of them started it? Wait, what if they’re twins and they both Touched together? Fraternal twins, I mean. Obviously they aren't identical.

—> JumpOverDeath

Replied on May 31st, 2020

They wouldn't need to even be related to have a connection if they both Touched at the same time. Look at Janus. They were two separate people who touched together and got melded into one fused asshole. Or Theory and Praxis, from that new group with the stupid-ass name. Two totally different people, but they Touched together and now only one of them is out in the real world at a time. They share the same physical space or something. Maybe these two started out as different people, touched the same orb and got the same physical powers plus a mental connection with one another.

—> MinimumLuthor

Replied on May 31st, 2020

Ooooh, I definitely like that theory the best. I think it fits what we've seen so far. It's obvious they're not normal people, and it's safe to say that if that group had the ability to build suits that could enhance them that much plus give some sort of link between two of them, they would've made more of them. It's pretty clearly limited to those two, so it has to be powers. That plus the way they can both react to what the other is seeing, the ‘both Touched together and have a constant link’ is totally the number one best theory.

—> DeDeDelicious

Replied on May 31st, 2020

Holy shit, did you guys see what happened out there? These guys helped stop a bunch of wannabe Scions from killing practically the whole Minority! Some police lieutenant guy was just talking about it on the news. I didn't catch the whole thing, but they showed some footage they got from some guy's cell phone and it looked like an all out street war. The fucker wouldn't hold his phone steady and he was coming in the damn portrait mode, but he still got some good angles of the fight. I hope someone can run it through a steady program so it stops giving me seasickness.

—> VotMoon

Replied on May 31st, 2020

Yeah, if you want to see more about that, you should check this thread about it. And to relate it to the topic being addressed, it's definitely even more clear that Style and Poise are linked. Watch this video right here. It's from a pretty far distance, but look at Style up in the very top-right most corner. You can see how she's looking straight at that guy with the knife as he gets back up, but all of a sudden she turns around and throws that trashcan lid at the guy with the gun. He was completely out of her field of view. But Poise was looking at him. It’s like Poise saw him but didn’t have anything convenient to hit him with, so Style did it. And it’s way too quick for her to have said anything over a comm. She rolls off the hood of that car, sees the guy, and Style instantly reacts like she saw him too. They are absolutely connected, and I think the ‘two separate people who Touched together and have a permanent psychic link’ is the best explanation.

—> Gepetto’s Lad

Replied on May 31st, 2020

Should we really be speculating this much about them? Or anyone else's powers, really. It seems like some bad guys could just read our comments and find a way to use that against them. Or even just figure out how to avoid that. If those two really are linked and it gives them that much of an advantage, it feels pretty shitty to give that away to any rando who happens to read this thread. I dunno, maybe I’m just overthinking it, but maybe it’s possible to go too far with theorizing.

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<> Topic — Scions (Candidates) Abduct Touched (Boards – Places – United States – Michigan – Events)

4D-Daniel (Moderator – Original Poster)

Posted On May 31st, 2020

Okay, we’re still getting word about what exactly is going on out there today, but some important details have been coming in, so it’s time to put up a thread about it. For a quick catch-up on everything we know, check out the news story here where they’ve been creating and updating a chronological list of events. But here’s the gist:

Several members of the Minority along with younger members of the La Casa gang were abducted by candidate members of the Scions of Typhon and some of their Prev foot soldiers. It’s unclear exactly how many were taken due to necessary secrecy on both sides, but some say the entire Minority team was abducted along with Pack, Broadway, Eits, and possibly that new guy, Croupier, though that last one isn’t for certain. There’s also some debate about whether or not Fragile was abducted. But what is agreed upon is that many were taken and the Scions candidates intended to kill them in order to gain entrance to the gang.

Worse, it turns out that one member of the Minority, Whamline, was actually a traitor who attempted to sacrifice his teammates to gain entry to the Scions of Typhon. I know a lot of you are debating the veracity of that, but it has been confirmed.

Through the collective efforts of Paintball and the rest of Avant-Guard along with an alliance between Ten Towers and La Casa, the abducted Touched were rescued safely and all members of the candidate Scions and their Prev assistants were arrested. There was some speculation that the one known as Trove managed to escape, but she was later delivered directly to the authorities by a figure who was originally unidentified but later revealed to be the former Detroit Minority-turned Sell Touched known as Echo. It’s currently unknown why she is in the city, how she arrived considering she was seen in other locations after the lockdown was put in place, or how long she will be staying. For now, she has apparently agreed to step in and assist the authorities in keeping things under control.

(Edit: It turns out that what we once thought was misinformation about Whamline was indeed true, he was KIA while trying to murder another member of the Minority. Details at this point are understandably sparse)

Even with the Scions candidates arrested, Pencil and the others holed up in that apartment building remain out of reach. It’s unknown what their reaction to this failure will be, but police and Star-Touched representatives say they have the situation in-hand, the building is surrounded, and at the first opportunity they’ll enter and secure the area. That said, everyone should be ready to hunker down if things escalate. If you know someone in the building, whether a loved one or friend, please try to look away from the news and distract yourself a little bit. This goes for young children especially. Obsessing over every sensationalist news report isn’t healthy for anyone, particularly them. Try to distract them if possible. Whatever happens, the authorities are going to be doing their very best to resolve the situation peacefully, but nothing you do by watching the news will help that.

In particular, do not attempt to approach the building, even now. Or especially now. The police have the entire surrounding area locked down, so the most you will accomplish is to distract them as they escort you out of the area. And the last thing we want is to distract the people trying to resolve this situation. Leave this to the professionals.

Otherwise, feel free to discuss everything in this thread. The other one about the apartment building being taken over was getting pretty full anyway, so we’ll just move all discussion here. If you see other posts elsewhere that are focused solely on this situation, direct those people this way so we can keep it all organized. Thank you very much, and our thoughts go out to everyone trapped in that building! Good luck to all of you, we hope and wish for your safety.

(Showing page 15 of 17, displaying ten posts per page)

—> Flaboran

Replied on May 31st, 2020

Well I think it’s obvious that this whole thing was just a big distraction. There’s no way NICKY would actually recruit people stupid enough to get themselves caught like this before they could even accomplish anything useful. He’s obviously planning something huge and wants everyone overconfident and distracted. Hell, I bet he’s not even actually in that building anymore. If he even ever was to begin with! No, man, this smells like a trick. First he gets everyone looking at this one building in the city, convinces them he’s actually there, then lets them think they’re winning by sacrificing some random nobodies. Now just when they feel like he’s on the ropes with nowhere to run, he’s gonna find a way to stab the whole city right in the back. What if he has more of that Sleeptalk shit? What if he’s just waiting for the best chance to hit all the heroes with it? He gets them to let their guards down, gathers everyone we’ve got left in one spot as they wait to break through into the apartment, then bam they’re all in those super-comas! Just like that, the Scions and all the other psychos have free reign. Totally worth throwing away a few pawns.

—> AlmanditeSerpent

Replied on May 31st, 2020

I mean, if we go with that theory, they wouldn’t be sacrificed for long anyway. Under that plan, he’d just break in and let them out of jail as soon as all the Stars and Shields are out of commission. Hell, maybe them getting caught was an even bigger part of the plan. What if they’re in jail to talk up the escape to the other prisoners so everyone’s on board when shit starts going down? Or--fuck it’s the Scions, what if some of those prisoners have fucking bombs inside them to blow up the whole place. Don’t tell me the Scions wouldn’t do that, they totally would.

—> MountainsOfMirth

Replied on May 31st, 2020

Okay we really need all you paranoid people to stop giving Pencil and his lot ideas. There’s no way this is all one big set-up. It’s too intricate, too ridiculous. No, Pencil and his people were taking a shot in the dark trying to show how much damage they could do if the authorities wouldn’t give them what they wanted. He wants a cure for his sister because she’s hurt and he fucking panicked, that’s all. Don’t overthink it. There’s plenty of other reasons why this whole situation is totally screwed without freaking out about that. Mostly because there is no cure. Not so far at least. If the authorities had anything they could possibly give Pencil, do you really think all those affected people would still be out of commission? FFS the Evans are in there. Forget Silversmith and all those heroes, if there was a cure anywhere in the world, those rich fucks would already have it. But they don’t, so there isn’t one.

—> SkylarWithAnANotAnE

Replied on May 31st, 2020

If that’s true and there’s no cure so far, what about all the people in that building? Are they just fucked? If there was a way through the forcefield, I’m pretty sure the Stars would’ve used it already. Plus, if you’re right about this not being part of Pencil’s plan, he’s gonna be even more pissed off now. Like a cornered animal. And I really don’t want to think about what’s gonna happen to the people who happen to be in his way when he really loses it.

—> StriderOfTheSphere

Replied on May 31st, 2020

Shit, fuck! I’ve an uncle and a cousin in there. I mean we’re not super-close or anything, but still. Do you guys really think they’re not gonna get out? I’m not close to them, but my mom is and I was thinking maybe I should go over and sit with her until this whole thing is over, one way or another. Especially if it looks like it’s gonna go bad. She’s pretty upset right now, and Dad has to work.

—> JK Imapickle (You)

Replied on May 31st, 2020

Maybe I’m just not as much of a negative nancy as some people, but I think it’s gonna be okay. There’s no way that forcefield can hold out against every power in the city forever, dude. They’re still working on finding a way through it, but once they do, they’ll get those people out. Have a little faith in the heroes, huh? They’re not just sitting around twiddling their thumbs, they’re cooking something up.

But uhh, that said, maybe you really should go sit with your mom just so she feels better until this whole thing gets sorted out. No one should have to be alone while someone they care about is in a situation like that. And just in case things go wrong, she’ll be glad you’re there. Plus she'd probably appreciate seeing you anyway.

Actually, that's good advice in general. Everyone should visit their parents and it shouldn't take something like this to get you over there. If your mom is freaking out about her brother and his kid, you should definitely be there with her. Remember guys and girls, you never know when something like this is gonna happen, especially in the current climate. The world gets more and more fucked up by the day. Take care of the people who take care of you.

—> CultureClubber

Replied on May 31st, 2020

Right, if the hug squad is done, maybe we can talk about something useful? Like how long it's going to take before they get all the firepower they need to smash right through that shield and deal with the assholes inside. Not to skirt the rules about calling for too much violence, but one way or another, the Scions need to be stopped. Not only have they gone too far now, trying to kidnap and kill the entire Minority after taking over a whole apartment building and threatening to kill everyone inside, but Pencil’s vulnerable. He's freaking out about his sister. They're never going to get a better chance to bring him in. So do it now, before he recovers and gets his head on straight again. Knock him out, do whatever it takes to subdue him, then get that teleport technology out of his body before he wakes up. If they have to do worse than that and he doesn't give them any other choice, then so be it.

Oh and why do so many people keep calling him Pencil? I thought we agreed to call him Nick from now on. He’s not a cool secret agent villain whatever. He’s a psycho named Nick Sanvers, who doesn’t deserve the respect of a codename. Don’t give him the dignity of any sort of mystique anymore. Nick Sanvers is a loser and he’s about to go to prison.

—> SavagePunch

Replied on May 31st, 2020

Hug squad! That’d be a great name for a mercenary team. They could use logos that are all about smiling faces and hugs and stuff, but they're actually really violent. Oh and the fluffy cuddly mascot who wants to hug you could have spikes on his gloves with blood on them. I don't know, would a bear be a good mascot? That seems played out, but I can't think of anything better. You know, bearhug. Eh come on there’s gotta be a better one. Snake hug? No, then you can’t have the spiked gloves.

—> Ravenjoy

Replied on May 31st, 2020

Ehhh on the one hand, this is wildly off-topic, but on the other hand I support anything that takes attention away from Pencil and the rest of those psycho fucks, since people freaking out is exactly what they want. So I'd go with a gorilla as a mascot. You're right about the bear thing being played out. Gorillas are really strong and have long arms. Have you seen Pack’s gorilla-lizard (gorilizard?) around the city? That thing’s massively strong, I saw it stop a car from driving away just by picking the rear end off the ground.

—> NotDresdensCop

Replied on May 31st, 2020

If you think the gorilla is strong, you should see the bear-lizard. The grizzlizard! That fucking thing can rip a car in half I swear to God. I know people think Pack got the short end of the stick just because she doesn't have any personal enhancements or anything, but that chick has an army of loyal lizard monsters protecting her, and they all have their own abilities. Like the gorilla turning invisible, or that bear. I swear it's stronger than an actual bear would be. Or how about that big deer thing she rides around on? It can fucking glow like some sort of neon sign. Plus, people say they've seen it jump thirty, forty feet just like that.

Oh and uhh, just to try to stay on topic a little bit, do you guys think La Casa will help deal with the Scions right now? I mean, those assholes did kidnap and try to kill some of their people, including Pack while we’re on that subject. Blackjack already allowed a truce with Ten Towers so they could all save their own people. I could see that extending to dealing with Pencil and other guys once and for all. It just seems like with everything going on, the Scions might have pissed off too many people at once this time. Maybe the one good thing that could come out of the situation is everyone banding together to stomp them into the ground.

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<> Topic — Detroit Quarantine (Boards – Places – United States – Michigan – Events)

HeavenSketch (Moderator – Original Poster)

Posted On May 23rd

The rumors were true as it turns out. Detroit is now on a full quarantine thanks to what is being called Sleeptalk. For more details about that specific crisis, check this thread. This one is specifically about the quarantine and its effects. While the biological attack seems to have been restricted only to that single building and some of the people inside, no one is certain about whether whatever is responsible can spread or might've been set off somewhere else as well. Until they have more information, and most importantly a cure, no one will be allowed in or out of the city. If you are in Detroit right now, please don't try to leave anyway. You'll just get yourself locked up and the authorities are already having enough problems without having to deal with a bunch of panicked civilians causing riots. We promise, they won't allow anyone to starve or lose their medicine. We will have supplies brought in every day. Sure, it might take a while to get luxury items and things like that, but shipping won't completely stop. The city’s locked down, but they’ll still have trucks coming in. They’ll just have to be heavily monitored, searched going in and out, all that stuff. From what we’ve heard, internet and cell access will remain intact, so you are not being cut off from the rest of the world. You just can't leave the city.

If you are a visitor to the city, all hotel costs should be compensated by the Fund for the duration of the quarantine. And if any of the management gives you any problems about staying for the duration, have them call one of the numbers on this page. Or call them yourselves and have a representative come talk to them. And anyone who has general questions or would like to volunteer to help house people who need a place to stay and don't have other options, check this page.

(Showing page 72 of 72, displaying ten posts per page)

—> MostAmazingFinalGuiderOfCults

Replied on May 31st, 2020

Hell yeah I think this whole city would be in much worse shape if it wasn't for Avant-Guard! Think about it, they're one of the groups that haven’t been fucked over by Sleeptalk or the fallout from that. Or the Scions. Look at all that shit with Whamline. Dude turned out to be a psycho, you really think the rest of the Minority is just gonna be hunky dory after he sold them out and tried to get them killed? Sure Ten Towers is pretty okay too, but even they’re stretched pretty thin trying to hold everything together with all the people from the other teams who are out of commission. It’s all those guys can do to keep the city running as much as it is, to protect the deliveries coming in and all that. If it wasn’t for Avant-Guard, who would be out protecting the little people like you and me?

—> JustAnotherBook

Replied on May 31st, 2020

Not to sell Paintball and his crew short at all, but I really think other groups still deserve a lot of credit. Sure, the cops and other teams are stretched thin, especially with the Scions starting all that shit. But they’re doing their best. A bunch of the easy eights tried to rob this store down the street just yesterday morning and a couple of the Seraphs showed up to deal with it. I don’t know if they just happened to be in the area or something, but they stepped up. So have a bunch of other people including Avant-Guard. Everyone should get credit for keeping this city as intact as it is.

—> TheOmegaGhostrider

Replied on June 1st, 2020

Ain't that the truth. I might not be living in Detroit right now, but I've been following the news ever since this lockdown started and I feel like I've really gotten to know your Star-Touched better than the ones who live in my own city. Sucks about Whamline turning out to be such a piece of work. I thought his powers were pretty cool and was pulling for him to get assigned over here once he graduated. But overall, you guys have really lucked out. I know that might be weird to say considering everything that's going on and me just being some asshole on the other side of the country, but seriously. You've got some great people there helping out. Avant-Guard might be pretty new around there, but they’re already getting a pretty solid rep as far as I can see. Poise and Style look like a couple super-ninjas out there in all those clips, and Paintball makes anyone who goes up against him look like an idiot.

If you want to talk about Poise and Style or the rest of that team, you should go to this thread. We've got some pretty intense discussions going on about what their powers could be or if they actually have them. But totally, someone put together this compilation of those two fighting, and stuck the Mortal Kombat song on it. It’s awesome.

Edit: hey, does anyone know why the city’s getting locked down?

—> Woodywoodeater

Replied on June 1st, 2020

Uhhh, where’ve you been, buddy? The city’s been locked down for awhile now.

—> FiefdomOfFeelings

Replied on June 1st, 2020

No, they’re right. Something else is happening, the cops are out in force shutting down the streets. They’re telling people not to drive anywhere, but they won’t say why. You think there’s another attack happening? Wait, what if they’re shutting down the streets and stopping people from driving because this Sleeptalk stuff went airborn and we could all fall into fucking comas any second?!

—> OnceWereWarriors

Replied on June 1st, 2020

Oh shit, you guys weren’t fucking around. There’s cops everywhere on the streets. They’re using fire engines and dump trucks to make roadblocks. Not just one spot either, my buddy lives on the other side of the city and he says they’re blocking off streets there too. What the fuck is happening?

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<> Private Messages From StriderOfTheSphere

StriderOfTheSphere: Hey thanks for the encouragement. I went over to sit with my mom and we’re having dinner together. Just pizza, neither of us felt like cooking anything. I really think she feels better. We’ll hope Uncle Pete gets through it.

JK Imapickle: No worries, I’m just glad it helped! Be there for her. And Uncle Pete, huh? Hope he gets through this all okay.

StriderOfTheSphere: So do we! And thanks.

JK Imapickle: Hey, we’ve all gotta stick together.

<> Private Messages To 22YU00RT

JK Imapickle: Do me a favor and see what you can find about the sister and nephew or niece of a guy named Peter Karach. We’ve got good old Uncle Pete in here with us and I wanna do something fun for the family.

Also while you’re at it, find out what this citywide traffic lockdown is all about.

22YU00RT: Will do, P.