Big-Game

The day after Big Game had contacted Mechano they had decided to meet in person at the ’Salty Spittoon’, a rather seedy bar a stones throw from where the Jelly Fish Dream was berthed. At first it was all about ‘sort off catching up’. As Mechano told more stories about their time on the other Earth. He also spoke at part about some of their other colleagues and Big Game thought it might be kinda cool to run into his Earth’s versions, especially some of the ladies that he had some success with. Still that was thoughts for another day and Big Game had work to do. After sort of reminiscing Mechano gave his pitch for Necrotech, as well as presenting ‘Game with a piece of paper with a lot of projected figures on it. Despite being obviously mad you couldn’t argue with Mechano’s intelligence and he seemed to be onto a winner. There was a lot to do and one thing Mechano wanted, a ‘large stockpile’ of harvested monster organs seemed unobtainable until Big Game remembered that ’Esoteric Technologies’ commonly shortened to Eso-Tech would have exactly what they wanted in their Menagerie genetic engineering facility. Eso-Tech, a sort of magic meets wierd science rogue research company used to contract Big Game to hunt specimens for live research as well organ harvesting so he knew they’d have a large stash on ice. Problem was they, amongst other nastiness, had their own personal army. They had considered hiring mercenary help but considering what had happened to the Hyenas any merc worth their salt would want substantial ‘danger pay’, instead Mechano suggested they simply dupe some heroes into running interference while Big Game robbed Eso-Tech’s cold storage. Mechano figured that if Big Game spun them some line about a scientist looking to escape Eso-Tech’s unethical research they’d just lap it up. He also figured that if they used somebody affiliated with Hero Corps they’d be even less likely to turn them down as they’d probably be more concerned with the prospect of a pay off after the job. Sure enough after a little bit of research they found a likely candidate in the form of the Veritas Corporation a fairly new ‘Heroes for Hire’ group who had yet to establish any serious reputation. So plan in hand Big Game set out to sucker himself some ‘do-gooders for dough’.

((Posting on behalf of Dr Mechano until he can get back online.)) ”Freakin’ typical if I was harvesting human organs I’d be laughing there always a demand for that, but it’s not there is a waiting list where a Vampire is waiting for a heart or a Werewolf is waiting for a spleen or something...” On hearing this Mechano had a ‘light bulb’ moment... well more of a super bright spotlight you could signal some sort of winged rodent hero with moment. After all Dr Mechano wasn’t just your run of the mill genius. Tony was right about the demand for human organs and there was big money to be made in organ trafficking. However, why would anybody settle for a simple replacement organ when they could get something that not only does the original job but actually enhances the host in some way. Mechano’s imagination ran wild. Vampiric organs that conferred longevity, Werewolf glands enhancing a person’s regenerative properties, Coralax gills allowing underwater breathing, the list seemed endless. Of course simple surgical implantation wouldn’t be enough but combining organs with cybertechnology may help ensure the host wont reject and actually be able to control these ’Necro-grafts’. Necrografts... Of course ‘NECROTECH!!!’ Exploded into his brain as he remembered the name of the company he founded back on his own Earth. Tony has been wasting his time hunting beasties and selling their bits to witches and hedge wizards for brewing into potions and the like. No, Mechano thought to himself, instead he should be hunting to provide the raw materials we need for this grand new business venture. Of course in order to get this off the ground Mechano knew they would need facilities, equipment, manpower and ideally a large number of organs. Perhaps Tony can facilitate that requirement? ”Tony my boy, what if I told I want you to join me in a business venture that will clear your debt with Morretti, make you considerably wealthy and require no more from you than what you do on a daily basis anyway?” There was a pause. Mechano thought for a moment that Tony was actually giving some sort of serious thought to his question until there was a ”crunch!” sound that indicated he probably had a mouth too full of Cheetos to actually respond straight away. ”Mmm, crunch!.. NOW you are speaking my language Doc.”

Big Game listened as the Dr Mechano rambled on about how he knew him (well, a version of him), their adventures together, and the Doc’s dimension hopping. Admittedly a lot of it went over Big Game’s head as despite him asking the Doc to keep it simple ‘nerd speak’ was second nature to the Doc and obviously very difficult for him to deviate from. While the the idea of parrallel universes wasn’t alien to ‘Game (after all he has a freakin’ TV!) he never really gave much thought to other versions of himself. It was obvious however that the Big Game from Mechano’s Earth was very similar to him and bar a few deviations that Big Game’s life tracked very closely alongside his own. In fact during some of Mechano’s stories Big Game got the distinct feeling of deja vue. When he mentioned it the Doc said something about a “possible dimensional phase crossover event” at some point, but Big Game quickly dimissed that as just More of Mechano’s ‘nerd speak’. However by the end of Mechano’s ramble Big Game was convinced that despite the fact they might not of always got on there was a definite friendship and loyalty between the pair and even though they had never met in this reality there was already a bond so when Mechano mentioned the Hyenas and Big Game’s current life status he didn’t think and responded as if he was talking to an old friend... ”Success... well um... Gotta admit it Doc things ain’t exactly all going well at the moment. I mean sure I’m damn good at what I do an I got a real good rep for it, but due to some collateral damage on a recent job for Boss Morretti I’m in deep for a couple of million. Anyway he’s been leaning hard on me for the dough so I have taken a few risky jobs. I actually put the Hyenas together to take down Jack in Irons, but the team got wiped. I mean when I say go left YOU GO DAMN LEFT!!!” At that moment Big Game was looking at his hand and suddenly realised he might of actually been at fault for that one. Feeling slightly embarressed he hid his hand behind his back even though there wasn’t any one physically there to notice. ”Don’t get me wrong despite the high overheads for equipment and stuff monster hunting and harvesting of their remains makes good money on the black market but it takes time both for the hunt and to find a buyer... time Morretti isn’t exactly keen on me taking. Freakin’ typical if I was harvesting human organs I’d be laughing there always a demand for that, but it’s not there is a waiting list where a Vampire is waiting for a heart or a Werewolf is waiting for a spleen or something...”

”Whoah there! What the hell are you talking about dude? You sound like you know me but I ain’t gotta clue who you are. What are you, some sorta stalker trying to confuse me with ya Star Trek talk. Hell for all I know you could be some sorta badge. If you an me are going to keep talking you best start breaking it down Sesame Street style.”

Big Game sat in a chair on the deck of the Jelly Fish Dream holding the newspaper Marty had gave him trying to decide what to do next. The tiger striped pants were Big Game’s signature style so it wasn’t uncommon for strangers to refer to them when talking about him. However, his real name ‘Tony’ was pretty much exclusively used by his friends. Hell, even Ol’ Mama Fedele would never call him Tony, but instead use his given name of Antonio, followed by Renzo Fedele and more often than not some form of chastisment in her native Italian tounge. Problem was nothing else in the ad made sense to him so Big Game couldn’t decide if it was some sort of trap. In the end though curiosity got the best of him and he dialled the number before putting the phone to his ear. The phone rang a few times before answering with a ’Click!’ then a deafening ‘SQUEEEEEE DRRM DRRM DRRM!!!’. Big Game couldn’t explain it but the noise obviously being some sort of high powered drilling almost triggered a memory of panic within him and he barely fought back the urge to scream something about ‘they’re coming outta the goddam walls’ before discharging his rifle indiscriminately. Luckily his rifle wasn’t to hand but he did notice he’d actually instinctively grabbed his trusty baseball bat Monster Mash in his moment of confusion. Just then the drilling sound coming from the phone stopped and there was a couple of clangs before a moment of silence where Big Game took the opportunity to ask... ’Heyyy, what’s shakin’? Is there anybody there?...

I know exactly what you mean, but if you change your mind drop me a line.

Hello Night Druid, welcome back. @Britanic here and @Crimson Archer is lurking about somewhere too. If you ever plan on kicking off the Militia again give me a shout. I currently have the name reserved on Britanic just in case.

It was late evening in the Bar of the Damned and Big Game sat opposite a zombified Confederate officer playing what had started out as being a couple of friendly hands of poker into what was now a high stakes game. On the table between them was a mixture of Confederate gold and a few bars of pure silver. The silver bars was something of an investment for Big Game as he originally intended to cast them into silver bullets for a contract he’d picked up from Esoteric Technologies. The problem was once ‘Game got wind of the Confederate gold he thought he could stake his silver, win the gold and pay of Morretti quicker and with less effort than hunting down Eso-Tech’s werewolves. For the most part luck had been on Big Game’s side making him a bit cocky but now the last of his silver and previous winnings were on the table he started to have the nagging feeling that he’d been hustled. ”Yeeeeeehaaaaw! Sir, ah do believe that South has truly rose again.” Big Game looked down at the dead Confederate’s unbeatable hand and gulped as he realised he wasn’t only back to square one but a good several steps behind that. ”Aw don’t worry Mr. F... I mean Tony, your luck is bound to turn around soon” the hunchback Marty chimed in as he wiped the table after the Confederate Zombie collected his winnings and left the table. “Maybe you ought to put an ad in one of the papers like that scientist Toast friend of yours”. Big game looked totally lost. “What in freakin’ hell are you on about Marty?”. Marty scampered over and grabbed a newspaper off the bar. He then rifled through the pages until he found what he wanted. Then whilst pointing at the ad he replied. “Here, here. One of the Midnighters left it here. You even get mentioned in the ad. Looks like you was ‘sposed to pick him up for some Lunk guy”. Big Game snatched the paper from Marty staring at the ad totally confused. ”What the...?”.

”Aaaaah.” Big Game groaned softly to himself as he looked across from where he lay on the deck of the ‘Jelly Fish Dream’. Ever since He’d accidently destroyed Boss Morretti’s favorite painting the Family mobster had been sending his boys over every few days to Big Game’s barely floating home to ‘subtly remind’ him that compensation was due. If the dilapitated old tug had been seaworthy Big Game would dissapeared for a while but unfortunately the boat was little more than a floating hovel at the moment. Of course Big Game had already been trying to raise the cash to pay Morretti, but he’d been plagued by various misfortunes and was getting nowhere. Most recently he’d been hired to hunt Jack in Irons and even put together a team of fellow hunter/scavengers he dubbed the Hyenas, but on their very first outing the rest of the team were killed and probably devoured by the giant monster. He had been lucky enough to escape without a scratch but then blundered into Morretti’s boys. So there he lay. Feeling sorry for himself until... Sqwaaark! “This is Doctor Mechano, broadcasting on all E.V.I.L. Frequencies along with all known frequencies of past associates, I'm back and once I'm out of this place...I would very much like a pick up if any of you are still around and kicking or even the same person you were when I knew you. I require a workshop, a fresh set of clothes and a long, hot bath...I'll take two out of three..."Sqwaaark! Big Game rolled onto his back and reached into shirt pocket before pulling out what was now essentially little more than a small speaker hanging from a mass of wires. ”Freakin’ great! Stupid comm unit smashed. Even if I did know who you are or what you are talking about I can’t respond anyway. Guess I’m gonna need a new one” Problem was, for the life of him Big Game couldn’t remember where he’d originally got this one from...

/em hugs Mechano It’s a bit of a sticky wicket mate. The community is a bit split at the moment. Some are on Everlasting for the rp, some are on ReUnion for practicality, and a few are on both probably hedging their bets on where people will settle. For myself I am on Everlasting, but with the exception of some forum rp I have tried to kick off I have not really commited my characters to ingame rp. Unfortunately barring a few familiar names there really isn’t anything that resembles the old Unionverse so I have to admit I’m finding it difficult to settle rpwise at the moment. I do like the ambiance of Everlasting and there is some great rp projects starting up, so unless there is some mass exodus to ReUnion I will keep trying to settle in Everlasting.

”Okay. So, I'm at this hot dog cart with my cousin Miguel right? And there was like, like, a two for one deal on chilli dogs. But you know me, I'm here like I gotta have mine more vanilla kind of guy, right? But there was this chilli that was sublime, bro! Oh, my God!" "Luis." "Okay, sorry. Sorry. You know, I just get excited and stuff." “I aint got all day, get to the point.” "But anyway, anyway - Miguel tells me: "Yo, I met this crazy a** monster hunter hombre right here at the hot dog cart, like *crazy*, real crazy, like wearing himself tiger striped pants crazy.” And he goes up to the vendor and says: "Look at that guy I'm talking with? Y'know I sayin' he’s crazy, stupid crazy right?" And the vendor be all like: "Yeah, real stupid crazy!". So this monster hunter tells Miguel: "Yo, I'm like a boss in the world of paranormal and supernatural investigations and eliminations and I got mad connects with the peeps who got more money than sense, you know what I’m saying?” Miguel is like: "For real?", and he’s like: "Yeah. You know what, I can't tell you who my contact is because he is a big name back in Paragon City, but he want’s me to hunt down and get him Jack in Iron’s chains to hang in his dining room or something.” "Oh, no." "Yeah, this dude sounds like a badass, man! Like he comes up to Miguel and says: "Yo, I'm looking for some dudes who's got, like, gorilla sized b*lls, an bomb moves, right? Who you got?". And Miguel’s like: "Well, we got everything nowadays, we got a guy who jumps, we got a guy who swings, we got a guy who crawls up the walls, you gotta be more specific!". And he's like: "Scr*w that I’ll take ‘em all.” “I'm like: Daaamn! So you hook him up Miguel?” And he says “yes.” “Wait, so what happened?” “They got ate!” ((Guy called Luis overheard talking with an unnamed stranger while waiting on the Port Oakes ferry.))

((@TheBizi thanks for the offer but Sheryl and Chicks a’Noisy are just background npcs inspired by a throwaway rp comment made in Pocket D 8 or 9 years ago. My main Big Game is my only character who sings, but seeing as his reportoire consists exclusively of Tight Fit’s ‘the Lion Sleeps Tonight’ you really don’t want that (Yes I really used to have a tray of macros set up for this as various former members of EVIL, the Pact, and the Corporation can attest to). Anyway my wierdness aside I am sure other players have singer characters who might take you up on the offer.))

“Ooh Eric have you seen this? There is a new restaurant and bar opening in Talos this weekend. The place looks amazing. We should go.” Eric Mitchell peared over the top of his newspaper with his glowing white eyes to look over to his new girlfriend. Sheryl, a young woman half his age, was a singer in a manufactured pop group called Chicks a’Noisy. She had been busy straightening her hair whilst rifling through the pile of mail and leaflets left on one of the apartment’s side tables when she had noticed the flyer. Eric glanced at the flyer from where he sat before turning back to his newspaper. “I don’t know luv. I’m pretty busy this weekend.” Sheryl walked over and pulled his newspaper down so she could scowl in his face. “You’re not working so I guess this is one of those Britanic things again. There is like a million other superheroes in this city y’know! It would’nt hurt for you to take a night off. Anyway an opening like this is going to have press and photographers. It will be good publicity for me.” Thinking he had himself an ‘out’, Britanic’s eyes widened. “You’re right luv. Although maybe you are better off going with the rest of the band.” “Oh no Mr. This weekend is all about me. Sheryl needs some limelight and having a successful businessman and part-time superhero escorting me is going to do wonders for my public image.” Sheryl shot off towards the bedroom muttering something about ‘what to wear’ while Britanic sighed before muttering to himself. “Ah well, best let her have her fifteen minutes of fame. I’m pretty sure that’s the bloody stupid selfish attitude that causes most bands to fall apart.” ((Place really does look amazing. I hope to drop by.))

It’s not that ridiculous an idea at all. Back on Union we had things like Chaos Bunny’s ‘Kapow!’ IC magazine and ‘Nightsparrow’s Scrapbook’. Stuff like that was alway great to read, with lots of visuals and did a great job of highlighting what was going on in the community. An IC instagram account just seems a natural extension of this. Hell if my old pal Romanov was still on the scene I imagine it’s the sort of thing he would of ser up for his celebrity super heroine Miss Teen. As for ToS I can’t see why it would be an issue with Homecoming and on instagram people have accounts for pets and stuff (My missus set one up for our pug. Please don’t ask!) so it shouldnt be a problem there either.

”Hey did’ya hear Boss Morretti hired that Monster Hunter ‘Big Game’ to deal with a Ghost problem at his mansion?” “Y’mean that Brooklyn kid always wearing the tiger stripes?” “Yeah thats da one.” “So how’d it go? He get the spook?” “Yeah he got it, but he totally trashed Morretti’s dining room, destroyed an antique chandelier, and managed to put a hole in Morretti’s favourite painting.” “Awww hell. So how did Morretti kill him?” “That’s just it he didn’t. Morretti has a soft spot for Big Game. Something about his Ol’ Mama Fedele making the best Cannelloni in all of Brooklyn.” “So what did Morretti do then?” “He gave ‘Game a temporary reprieve. Basically give him a chance to make enough money to ‘compensate’ him appropriately.” “Geez! I wouldn’t want that sort’a monkey on my back. Y’know that sort’a pressure is gonna make ‘Game do something stupid.” “So what’s different?” ((Two Family goons overheard talking in a Marconville bar.))

((No apologies needed. It is a totally open thread. I set it up as an alternative rp venue to in-game. Think of it as a freaky offline Pocket D. Obviously any rp conducted here will be a lot slower than in-game, but it has the advantage of allowing participants to be more descriptive, measure their responses, add pictures if they want, and actually rp with people from other timezones. Also although I wrote a short story to launch the thread nobody else has to. Although if people want to post up short stories I don’t have a issue with that. The only thing I would say is if there is any active rp here make sure your stories don’t conflict with what’s going on at that moment. If need be wait until that rp plays out and post after. One final point is that Aurelie and Marty are essentially free use npcs with the caveat that they remain as they written in my original piece. They remain static, don’t give up any details of their backgrounds, and merely serve to run the bar and keep it a safezone for rp just like Pocket D. Excallibur your use of Aurelie was just perfect. Anyways, thank you Excallibur for biting first. Fingers crossed others will start to dive in.))

”The PPD must be planning to roll hard on somebody in Kings Row. You oughta see them all gathered outside that precinct house. I swear there must’a been more cops there than Supa Trolls at a Skyway bridge party.” “Maybe... or maybe Louie finally set up that doughnut stand he keeps going on about?” ((Two Passengers overheard talking whilst riding the Yellow Line.)) ((Yes I know they are actual in game bugs but even they need IC explanations right? ;D))

”Mr. Mitchel, can you comment on why you have suddenly relocated your corporate offices to Kings Row? Cheaper rent? Perhaps because your company is currently facing financial difficulties?” ‘Chuckle’ “I think you are reading far too much into that. Sentinel Industries are committed to a large number of rejuvenation projects in Kings Row so it makes perfect sense for those offices to be there.” “Hmm, maybe, but are you not concerned about Kings Row’s horrific crime rate?” ...”That. my friend is exactly why ‘I’ am relocating too!” ((Part of a radio interview with Sentinel Industries CEO and publically known mutant hero Britanic.))

Hello CA, and welcome back. The Handbook of the Virtueverse has been retrieved by Ransim. He did mention the possibility of restoring the Unionverse one, but I don’t know whats happening there. Nobody has really mentioned anything new that I know of, but then again I think people are still figuring out how their rp relates to the game and other players. As for the idea of an Everlasting server continuity/Eververse/or what ever, I think that might of been a distinctly Union idiosynchrasy as a lot of roleplayers I have come across struggle with the concept. I think until a sizeable group come together with the same train of thought (i do actually support this) there is little chance of a separate Handbook of the Eververse etc appearing.

((So still trying to encourage some forum rp to compliment what goes on in game I thought I’d ressurrect the “IC Rumours” thread originally started by Coile back in the day. coile originally posted... So the basic premise is people post up a small IC piece related to a character, rp interaction, plot, etc that can become known to other characters. These IC snippets don’t need to be creative masterpieces, but can became an invaluable tool to help the initiation of organic roleplay. After all “Hey ain’t you that guy who...” makes a great icebreaker for characters who have never interracted before. It is my hope the IC rumours thread will eventuslky become the go to place for people to find out what rp is actually happening in game. I do have a couple of suggestions for further posts in this thread for people to consider. One, avoid specific dates. Unlike the old Unionverse, people have a more loose rp continuity in this incarnation of the game. By keeping things vague your rumours will be more acceptable to a wider audience. The best way of looking at time is to consider when the IC rumour was posted, ie if it was posted 2 weeks ago the event probably happened then. Two, keep the IC thread server specific (this one Everlasting). This keeps the IC information relevant to characters who could conceivably run into each other. What follows is an example related to my “Bar of the Damned” open rp thread (fingers crossed others will use soon)...)) “Whoah! Did you see that house in Haven? Bullet holes everywhere and half a wall missing. I heard they had some sort of exterminator in wearing a tiger suit.” “Tiger suit? That some sort of corporate uniform?” “Dunno. S**** the suit though, how big do you reckon that freakin’ rat was?” ((Two men overheard in a Cap Au Diable bar)) A couple of suggestions I have f

Most definitely a roleplay forum section. Discord is far too chaotic. As soon as you start a discussion there it is buried under 20 other things so doesn’t get the attention it deserves. I also think this is why nobody is posting up stories or actually roleplaying there as it is far too hard to follow. Back in the day the roleplay forum section was a real community hub full of creativity and life. Just having one on these boards would likely do the same. Sure I know we could post in the general forums, but experience has taught me that us roleplayers like having our own space.

From what looking around I have done so far Everlasting does seem to be a popular choice with roleplayers I remember. I also agree a dedicated forum board would also help gel a community together.

I really miss our old Unionverse set up. It was made up of a number of different RP groups but all kind of accepting they were part of a shared universe. Sure there was the occassional conflict but for the most part I felt it was a creatively rich and supportive community. As I return to the game (on Everlasting, albeit in a far more limited capacity than my hey day) I’d love to bring back some of the familiarity of the old Unionverse. Obviously I dont think we could just carry on where we left off (people missing etc), but we could do a bit of a reboot. This would allow people to return with old favourites, but tweak and ret-con them to suit a new reality, play style, or rl circumstances.