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[thedivinedemom]

An AU of DC with a mass crossover of PS4 properties.

Provisional name: Players Searching for Detectable Changes (Get the pun?)

The setup:

This is the future of DC, a world where the old guard has slowly withdrawn and the newer generations have risen to the occasion. The original Titans in particular, most of which have formed the new Justice League while many other, very similar teams had started to form across the world. One of which was a resurgence of the Teen Titans, led by an older and purified Raven. She wanted to make the Teen Titans something akin as it was for her, a place to belong and learn to use one's powers.

The first 'class' of such individuals include:

Stargirl (of the now-disbanded JSA and still getting used to the Starrod)

Blue Beetle III (Freshly attached to his alien symbiote and freaking out a bit)

Robin V (to work on his anger issues, mostly at the new Batman's request)

Kaldur (a half Atlantean half metahuman who is struggling with his identity and the surface world, Aquaman feels a kinship for the boy seeing their similarities)

Static Shock (a promising new hero but little experience working outside his city or in groups)

Mary Marvel (she's... she's going through alot. Fresh from a coma, her brother is distant as he acts as the new Wizard, and she may be, sorta kinda, being corrupted by Black Adam's gifted power)

The team was rough and there was plenty of head butting (Mostly between Stargirl and Robin/Damian as one is almost the unanimous leader while the other thinks he should be) but they were getting there. They were more of a clean up crew for the Justice League, they did more than the "kiddie missions" that the Outsiders didn't do, and they meant more than the PR grab that was the International team. Though they didn't seem to amount to more than that. They still did their best, pushing past the silent ridicule, as they went about their missions.

This may be why tempers were so high that day.

One day, outside a little city by the name of Weller's Point, the prisoner transport for the villain Plasmus had an "accident". Released and awakened the creature went on a rampage, heading ever closer to the populated area. Luckily, the mentor of the New Teen Titans could teleport. The new team did fairly well in the fight, though they did struggle a bit as Plasmus was not a being where simple brute force would work. It made the fight tricky and more than a bit... messy.

Messy enough that juvenile and emotionally compromised Mary Marvel lashed out against the downed villain but was stopped by her teammates... things escalated from there. Restraint turned blows and the whole team struggled to stop their powerhouse without hurting her. The ones who do the best are Raven, Stargirl, Blue Beetle, and oddly Static.

While both of the former could use their abilities to restrain her to a very effective degree Static was actively draining her of strength, or at least of the electic aura she was radiating and blasting with. Frustrated, done with the situation, and a bit petty Mary launched her largest attack yet by saying her magical word.

SHAZAM.

Virgil did what he did best, he handled that lightning as it came crashing down towards Mary and the Titans restraining her. Well, he tried. The bolt was just too powerful, too unlike anything he had ever encountered. He could not handle it and it was dissipating, if anything it clung to him or tried to jump towards the girl. He had to get rid of it and he had to get rid of it quickly, safely too if he could help it.

He shoved it into the ground, into the power lines. He did it as carefully as he could, trying to prevent overload or flashover as guided the charge into the power grid.

What happened next was a combination of a few things. 1. The Mystic and transformative properties of the Lightning, 2. It is effectively being filtered through a bang baby, 3. The kryptonite power plant owned by, provided by, and operated by Lexcorp.

This interaction, this new charge, cycling through the power grid interacted strangely with a number of devices but none more so than PlayStation 4s and the devices connected to them. This new electricity changed things, literally. It brought fantasy into reality.

Whatever game was loaded into became a part of our reality in a small way. Sometimes TVs, Controllers, and even the system changed to reflect items from the game but the bigger change came with the Players. If a person was playing their console during the surge then they would become a metahuman with abilities based on the playable character they were playing.

The city, the county even, was now flooded by an abundance of metahumans and items of varying power of devastation. Static felt horrible.

He couldn't help but compare what has happened here to what happened in Dakota City but on a wider scale. And this time it was his fault. His sense of responsibility wouldn't, couldn't, let that stand. He had to fix his mistake and his team was dragged along for the ride.

The story to follow is a mix of Final Crisis and Kingdom Come with a bit of the Young Justice cartoon in events and themes, a few twists and likely a bit lighter in tone but to the DC geeks this should give a rough idea… Maybe a bit of Marvel's Civil War but hopefully not the rushed knee-jerk mess that that ended up being.

But it's here that I start having issues with my planning. One part in worry as outside the set up we start to follow the perspective of OCs (something rarely smiled upon) and another part in wondering which OC to focus on.

Now, one thing I love in fiction is progressive powers and the conflict escalating from the different paths people take in said progression. In that vein, I have a pair of protags in mind as well.

The main two/co-protagonists:

The Lawkeeper- a cop before the change and now a member of a task force made up largely of those affected by the surge. A gamer, a man of color, and a believer of the spirit of the law. He doesn't always get along with his fellow officers but he believes in what the blue does. He believes that an organized response is what is best.

His abilities are based on those of Jesse Fades of Control. Meaning he has tremendous psychic potential but he needs 3 things to reach his full potential.

1.Items to bond to so he can generate these psychic abilities. Jesse's used altered items of her universe to get thematic abilities from them (ex: a safe to generate a shield, a carousel horse for a dash ability, ect). Here he can use items generated by the surge.

2. A patron/partner entity to help guide, give insights, and empower. It also let's the user enforce reality, basically becoming an anti reality warper.

3. A bonded morph weapon or a weapon to come to his hand when called.

The knight- a recent college graduate who instantly decided to go the route of the caped hero. She, after figuring out how to get her powers to work, instantly went the route of a caped crusader. Going out to the streets, saving lives, stopping instances of surge item abuse, and (in the humble opinion of the local Police Department) getting in the way of operations. In her opinion they were taking too long to get things done.

Her abilities are based on those of Prince Noctis of Final Fantasy XV. This means she has tremendous physical and magical potential but like the above she has a number of check marks needed to gain access to the character's full power.

1. A gem/crystal to draw power from.

2. 13 magical weapons to boost strength. The generated game weapons will do and I have most picked out in a way that likely would help the plot progress.

3. The blessing of 5-6 gods.

4. A power ring of some king to channel all this power.

I keep debating the two above as I do like the idea of both of them climbing in power and clashing over conflicting ideals of what to do with their power. At the same time, I think that just smooshing aspects of both into one (which is actually where they started, a single character) and play off the different ideologies of how best to help people from within her friend group and precinct along with internal conflict. Maybe have the one be a fellow officer they butt heads with because of the... precarious nature

Another OC I was thinking on, keeping with the theme of what to do when you have power, is a thief who played Persona 5. Like both of the above they would be crippled in their ability to use their abilities without a way to fake the connection to. In this case, without the Mementos App, they would need an item that could affect or enter the hearts of others. Luckily, more unlucky really, there are plenty of items floating around that can do just that. Namely Keyblades.

Most other Players are an odd mix but most are variations of the Shooter build. Peak physical humans who heal quickly and often have bullet time. But there are enough other variations to cause trouble. Demigods of unreal strength, men and women who can easily tap into a patron for powers from the outside, 2 variations of spider powers, cat eyed men and women who can cast magic with simple gestures, and so much more. But the real issue was the first two, the demigods without a parent to protect them and those easily connected to a divine source.

The disembodied New Gods of Apocalypse were very happy with those groups. For how bad this can be please look at what happened to Mary Marvel in canon Final Crisis.

Thoughts and opinions would be appreciated.

[thedivinedemom]

Stretching writing muscles!

The Decision

"What do we do now?"

This was the question on every human's mind but first left the lips of Ensign Karmel. The immediate thing to do was obvious at the time, send the data back to the alliance, and wait for a response. After that, well, it was anyone's guess. It was up to command now.

Captain Ava had spent most of her time waiting, staring out the viewport. Looking down at the rust red and green planet below. Admiring city lights as they flickered to life on the dark side. She wondered at the strange coloring. An abundance of iron? Some quirks in the atmosphere?

They did not dare send a probe to check, did not dare compromise their position. Just outside the planet's atmosphere, they remained unnoticed. And would remain so until they were ordered otherwise.

It did not stop the crew of the Destiny's Reach from wondering. Or from having their computer slither its way into the local equivalent of the internet. They had questions, the United Territories must have them too. Ava was ready to take any flack her noninvasive inquiry may gain her.

The computer couldn't translate enough.

First contact. She never dreamed or imagined it could really happen. That she'd be the one to finally find intelligent life. Maybe that was a bit of a lie. She had certainly hoped but never thought it would actually happen. After nearly 700 years of interstellar travel, humanity had resigned itself to being alone. And the few that still did believe thought it would be a meeting of a superior or at least equals.

No one, not a one, imagined that they would find a single planet species instead of an empire. And Ava feared what that meant.

Aca shook her head, praying that was not the case. The Destiny's Reach was meant to enrich humanity. To give them new data and dwellings with every system visited. They were not meant to be harbingers of destruction nor subjugation.

She shook her head again, dismissing the thought as best she could. She blinked to pull up the image data they had managed to extract from the local networks. Images, so much easier than language to understand and all the more telling.

The first image streamed to her retina was of a feathered lizard, or so the species could be described. They were near universally sleek in body with a long tail and four clawed feet that each owned an opposable thumb.

Video of them had shown them all to be quick in movement, cling to surfaces, and tilted their heads rather expressively. Stretching and moving their necks as they tweeted and croaked their language. The rows of sharp teeth worried her, reminding her of old horror vids, at first. Further, observation showed a mostly insectivore and herbivore diet. That took the edge off the maneater nightmare.

They had gotten several biology charts from what had to be a university archive. But again the language barrier blocked them. The Rosetta Stone program was hard at work. Decoding each symbol and communication it could find. It was taking time, the words were simply too alien to decipher at an inspiring speed.

But it was making progress. There was a bit of a speed bump when the program realized it was decoding multiple languages. Multiple languages with the same roof instead of a single language. Easily corrected and they had since discovered what was hopefully the main language of the world.

It was interesting to note that their written word mimicked their body language as much as their speech. Words and symbols twisted, tilted, and even inverted mid sentence to give new context and meaning. It could turn a polite request to a death challenge.

Ava just knew that was going to be a headache in the future, whatever the higher ups decided. She had seen how they wrote memos. It was not pretty.

"Captain Ava, " a communications officer called from across the bridge. John Johnson if she remembered right a bit bland in appearance but made up for it in his devotion to the cause. It made him a bit flamboyant at times but he was nothing less than professional.

"Yes, Ensign?"

Officer Johnson looked up.at her, his face lacking any of his usual exuberance. Nerves had too firm of a grip on him. "A message from Earth… It looks pretty dense."

Captain Ava did not gulp. Her hands did not shake. And she most certainly did not hesitate as she crossed the bridge. To do any of that would be undignified, especially when so.many eyes were watching her.

Johnson backed away from the council as she approached, glancing between the screen and her. Maybe he was wondering why she had not taken the message at the Captain's station. Maybe he was nervous over what the message said. Or, maybe, he just found get attractive. Whatever the case she could not, and did not, let herself be distracted.

With that message she was going to shape the course of human, and even galactic, history.

She decompressed the message and several files popped out to greet her. A plan for a permanent moon base, with coordinates that would make it visible planetside. Next was a packet of logistics work, spreadsheets filled with rows of materials and people that would be shipped in over the coming months.

It was a lot of people.

Last was a video file. A clip to be broadcasted plantwide as soon as the Rosetta program had a firm grip of the language. Command was very insistent that they send out the message as soon as possible, on repeat.

Ava, despite her best efforts, knew something showed on her face as she read the video's transcripts. She could hear the intake of breath, feel the change in the room as the crew started to whisper.

The transcript, and thus the video, was a short thing. Only a handful of lines but Ava felt they spoke volumes. A picture of humanity. A picture of the planet's moon. And three words to be spoken in every language possible.

"Come join us"

An:

Just wanted to write a snip on my favorite kind of HFY.

[thedivinedemom]

This has literally been in my wallet for a few days waiting for me to transcribe it. It's not great but hopefully it'll kick off my writing habit again.

Working title: Blue Eyes

As strange as it may have seemed Steve had never been upstate. Not really. Albany, sure. There and every other State capital and major city of his day.

Shipped cross country, from city to city, to be paraded about like some circus chimp to sell warnings. Never allowed to explore the cities outside the theaters.  Not without an appointment and full escort at least. He was the "property of the United States government" after all. They could not risk losing such a valuable asset because he wanted to go sightseeing. Much less taking a look outside them.

Sealed away in a train car, rushing to show after show, he rarely had the chance to take in the countryside. To enjoy the greenery or the scenery. He could honestly say that he had seen more of France and Germany then he had his own country.

Easing his bike down the turnpike he found that the early afternoon made the roads deceptively quiet. There were only a handful of vehicles out at the hour, mostly big rigs, and it gave an almost serene feeling to the drive. The silence of it gobbled up and ate away at the muffled roar of his engine. Though not enough to avoid startling some poor deer as he rode past. A chuckle bubbled out of Steve at that. How long had it been since he had last seen a deer? Decades? It all  depended on how one counted the years.

Making his way down an exit he caught the first glimpse of his destination. The greenhouses of the Gardens were gleaming in the sunlight. A series of crystal heels arranged across a thick pasture. A small field surrounded the buildings, filled with apple orchards and raspberry bushes.

Beautiful, likely to be more so on the inside. The Gardens were home to a number of rare, exotic, and even mutated plants from across the globe. Tony claimed that the Fantastic Four had donated a few of their more benign experiments to the facility. Sparking the interests of more than just Steve.

Locking his helmet away in his bike's compartment he walked in, his either art bag strapped tight to his back. The lobby was as fancy and sophisticated as one would imagine; filled sleek plastic, flat screens, and linoleum tiles. Even the ticket booth was digital.

Everything seemed to be electric nowadays. It was helpful, amazingly so. There should be ballads written about the wonders of the internet. Yet it was all so different. He was in the same country but it had a different feel to it. Like a teen who was growing into a man. Still going through the growing pains but becoming all the finer from it.

But Steve could barely recognize the land he was born in. Everyone spoke differently, they dressed differently, and there was even a change in the way they walked. It was all so radically different and Steve couldn't be prouder, for the most part.

Easing himself passed the ticket booth he found himself in the middle of a controlled jungle. Thick bushes of deep and vivid color lined the paths. Leading people deeper into the greenhouse filled with tropical flowers and temperate trees. How both could be in the same room he hadn't a clue, another wonder of the future surely, but it was all wonderfully arranged.

Casting his eyes about he looked.forma place to set up. A task easier said than done as what few benches he could see were occupied, taken before he had even arrived. He had hoped by coming in the middle of the week he would have avoided the crowds. A vein wish as it turned out to be.

After a moment, once his eyes finished their second lap of the area, he decided to change his plans. With how crowded things were he would not be able to sketch out the Gardens section by section as he planned. Instead he would have to treat it as a puzzle, taking it one area at a time as.he worked for the full image.

Up along the path he finally found a place to sit, deeper than he would have liked but he had to start somewhere. He did not fancy drawing standing up, he could do it but it would be annoying. The first bench he found put him firmly in the 'Mutated' section. It was an area filled with genetic anomalies ranging from crossbreeds to lab experiments to ability generated. The plant in front of him, according to its placard, was of the last category. The ever shifting colors of the petal was a fairly large hint for that.

Steve would have preferred to have started with something a little more mundane. Something familiar and simple that he could have warmed up on. Something that did not sway on its own or tangle its vines along anything within reach. It would be a challenge, especially so early into his day, but as with most challenges he jumped in feet first.

Eyeing the plant he began. Carefully he started with an outline of the stem. He made it sway on the page, letting it curve in three separate places before moving onto the creeping vines. These he only gave the vaguest of outlines, a matter to fill in later. Once the focus of his drawing was done.

Being as engaged as he was with his work he barely noticed someone approaching his bench. She took a seat without so much as a word, sipping at her coffee as Steve gave her a quick glance.

Lacking for better words Steve could only describe the woman beautiful. To do more would have left his tongue tied and his face red. It was a sensation he was intimately familiar with from his youth, not something he wanted to experience again. Still, he took a second look.

Amused, she caught him staring. Her blue eyes dancing as they met his own. She gave him a small indulgent smile and an inclination of her chin worthy of a queen. And Steve would know, he had met more than a few members of royalty in his time. She even gestured like one, giving a grand arch of her arm as she waved towards the plant he was sketching.

"Cassandra, one of my students, made this." She said, her voice accented and her smile more genuine. "She is very proud."

Keeping his head on his shoulders Steve managed to smile back. "She's not the only one who sounds proud."

Letting out a laugh she nodded. "I suppose. She worked very hard to get the colors just so. All semester in fact. She would be happy to know someone drove all the way to the Gardens to sketch them." She said, her accent twisted through her words and niggled at his brain. It was familiar to him. The curve of her words struck a chord in his memory. The way her vowels weaved away from her words in incriminates and popped away was throwing him off. He knew he had heard it before, and he did have an ear for these things, but he just could not place it.

"If you want she can have this when it's done." He offered, tilting the half finished sketch towards her. "It would just be gathering dust in my portfolio anyway."

"Very well." She said after a moment and a long searching look. "I think she would enjoy that." She paused for a moment longer. "Would you mind if I waited here until it is done? If it wouldn't be a bother."

Eyeballing his drawing Steve gave it another ten to fifteen minutes until he was finished, more or less. It wouldn't be his best work, not when it was his first sketch of the day, but it would still be up to his usual quality. Which he would modestly admit was exceptional.

So, Steve nodded his head. "It shouldn't take too long, Miss -"

"Monroe." She introduced, offering him another smile. This one was bright and full of genuine warmth, unlike her first smile. "But please, call me Ororo. Hearing Miss Munroe makes me think I'm back at the Institute."

"Ah, " he said, finally realizing how.rude.he was being. Once he wiped it free of pencil smudges he offered her his hand to shake. "Steve, please. It's a pleasure to meet you. Though if you don't mind me asking, where are you from? I can't seem to place your accent."

Taking his hand she gave him a firm shake, little callouses scraping against his palm as she pulled away. "I'm not surprised. I had a… diverse childhood. Though I am fairly certain my accent is some combination of Manhattan, Cario, and rural Kenya." Her tone lost some of its warmth, her voice worn as she answered. Likely because she answered that question in some form a thousand times before.

Though Steve barely noticed this. Instead, he felt a pang of excitement as things clicked into place. "<Ah! I knew your accent sounded familiar! The Manhattan in your consonants must have been what threw me off but I can hear it now.>"

Eyes wide Ororo leaned in, her voice excited as she asked, "<You can speak Arabic?>"

"<Roughly>," he said, shifting in his seat. "<I spent a few months in Egypt on my tour and some of the locals taught me. I'm sure my grammar is horrible. My French and German is much better but my Cantonese is barely passable.>"

Though Steve was fairly sure his grammatical and structural errors were more due to the lingual shift of the better part of a century passing by. He had a few missteps in his first months after the thaw with English. Steve could not imagine his secondary languages faired any better.

Ororo, unaware of his thoughts, simply nodded his head. Completely agreeing with his assessment. "<A few words do seem off. Perhaps they taught you a different dialect? You are speaking very well." She paused here, considering him for a long moment. Longer than before, as if she was only then getting the full picture of him. "<If you would like we could practice your language skills while we are here. Walk around the Gardens, perhaps a bite to eat. It has been so long since I've spoken Arabic with someone."

"Ororo, " He said, enjoying the feel of her name, "<It would be my genuine pleasure.>"

An:

Again, not happy with it. I've been reading a lot of high/sword & sorcery fantasy lately and I think it has an effect on my prose. I'm likely to just redo the entire snip.

I honestly like the pairing of Ororo and Steve, largely because they have each have been called the 'perfect person' as well as being strong leaders in their own rights even if they have different styles. Plus I can see them bonding over nature and trying things neither are familiar with, as well as her constantly making him blush (see swimsuits of the 1940s and compare to Storm's preferred swimwear).

And yes, I like the idea of neither putting two and two together for a while. Adds spice/grounds the relationship. Part of my handmade is that while Steve has worked with the XMen before the was the Original 5 and he hasn't met the new team yet. For Ororo Steve wasn't part of her history books besides a brief mention before the earthquake happened, and Steve is a common white boy name.

Oh, and before I forget, the first letter of every paragraph. Donate to your preferred cause.

[thedivinedemom]

Going to post an observation/realization of mine here:

Superboy, the Kon-El version, is the best representation of a biracial person I've seen in comics and a good chunk of other media. He tries hard to fit into one races slot, maybe even identifies with it, but always feels like he doesn't quite fit. He tries and desperatly wants to be but something or someone oh so kindly reminds him that he's not.

I feel that and am glad I'm out of that stage of idenity crisis.

[thedivinedemom]

2K Mass Crossover Idea

I recently read a pretty good Heroes of the Storm story and it kinda makes me want to make a patched together world based around one company's properties. In this case 2k games.

The setting would be roughly Australia sized with a Borderlands/Red Dead Redemption theme while off the coast, lurking just beneath the waves, is the corrupted city of Rapture. In the sky the people of Colombia are being invaded by the alien remants from the Temple ship (see Xcom). The wilds are untamed, riddled with self aware plants with strange abilities and the dead who come back mutated and strange.

And the greatest threat to the "Land of 2nd Chance" lays to the north, where a madman uses all the resouces of his country to try to rule them all. The man's tactics are brutal, they are extreme. He is a monster even in the eyes of his people.

And that man's name is Mahatma Gandhi.

For a main character I would use Jack from BioShock, having him live in the Red Dead part on a farm raising his five adopted daughters. That is until one day his past/Splicers find him, maybe enhanced by Colombia or Xcom tech. He will protect his girls and kill anyone who would try to harm them.

As for the why of the situation I'm going to blame it on an alt version of Elizabeth Comstock from BioShock Infinite. Destroying that syphon let loose a blast she couldn't control and now a new world reigns.

Series in the mega cross would be:

Bioshock

Xcom

Plants vs Zombies

Borderlands

Civilization

Red Dead Redemption

Grand theft Auto (probably)

LA Noire

Mafia

Max Payne

Evolve

Some would be cameos, some would be major elements, but I think it would be a fun ride.

What do you guys think?