“Saving Face”, Reign of Darkness sequel
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History
In the year 2000, nineteen years ago, one man figured out a way to create monsters out of mental energy and emotion. Evil thoughts, hate, fear, grief. He took them and made them into creatures dubbed “shadows” by those who fought them. They could be a cloud or take a form, so you never knew where they would show up next.
For nine years they terrorized the world, ruining lives, families, never stopping. They were so powerful that people who survived being attacked by them gained superpowers. This was a very small number, but a number nonetheless. Gradually those survivors found each other and figured that if anyone would save the world like in the comic books, it should be them. So they trekked the United States, searching for the man who had started it all.
Well, they found him. But it wasn’t so easy getting rid of him. First they attacked, thinking they had killed him. Then someone brought him back to health and helped to create more shadows, betraying the group of super powered. A final battle was fought, with the armies of nations and the group. The shadows outnumbered them five ten feet tall monsters with big teeth to one puny little soldier with a sub-machine gun. And you know what? The humans won, killed the man who had created the shadows, and brought as many people who had been driven insane by shadows residing inside their bodies back to sanity.
That was ten years ago.
Things can change in only ten years. And this is proof. The number of super powered has shot up drastically, with almost 350,000,000 people world wide being able to do something paranormal or superhuman. Those people have been outlawed, hunted down by the government to turn them into soldiers. What the group of super powered who saved the world did has been forgotten; it’s not even in history books. The world has fallen into a third world war. And we’re doomed.
Now
You walk down the crowded city street. The bright colors have been burned by bombs, turning the place drab. The songs “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “Eye of the Beholder” play in the back of your mind. You look up at a digital news broadcaster. It flashes “7:24 PM, June 13, 2019” over and over. But you don’t care what the time is, or the date. You only every think, “Will I live to see tomorrow? Will I want to?”. It’s a struggle every day to stay alive, but it’s a struggle every second to keep your dignity and honor.
Welcome to Chaos.
More and more people seem to have superpowers. Maybe it’s from all the new radiation coming from all the new toxic waste dumps. Maybe it’s more people than thought survived shadow attacks. Whatever it is, there are so many super powered (about 5% of the entire world population), that they’ve been outlawed in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, Oceania, the Caribbean, and everywhere else that it’s possible to survive.
Technology’s not really different: Cell phones are shinier; Computers are smaller; TV’s are thinner. Only once super powers came publicly known, they had to find a way to erase powers from a person besides death, and they did.
We all hide our powers. If you’re found to have them, you’re automatically property of the government. You’re caught, brainwashed, and raised up to be a soldier. Not a happy picture.
And then, on the other side, the traitor is building up an army of powered. He’ll tempt them, bribe them, even brainwash them to get them. No one knows if he’s good or bad, since no one knows what good or bad is. They just know that he’s there, he’s powerful, and he’s in it to win it.
Let’s grow another side to put this part: We are in the middle of WW3. So, when the world’s about to come to an end for individuals, we’re trying to blow it up. The U.S., Asia, and Europe are on one side, while Africa, most of South America and Australia are on the other. Everyone else is just in the way. There are sides in the sides, as in Russia might be on a totally different side than Germany, but I didn’t feel like writing that out. Don’t ask me how it started; someone probably stepped on the other’s toe at a UN conference or something. No one’s winning yet, we’re still dropping nuclear bombs and terrorizing. That’s before stats.
Sides
No one’s entirely good, and no one’s pure evil. Don’t pick a side based on “Is my character a hero or villain?” because that question is unusable. If your character was taken, think about which one you want to write about or needs more characters. If your character picked, well, which one would your character pick?
Loyalties:
You saw he was powerful. You knew he would win. Either that, or you were held at gunpoint and brainwashed. You are a Powered who is quite literally loyal to “the Traitor” (whose name you don’t know, but it’s Joseph Hafton. You can’t claim Joseph, he’s mine). You call him “Master”. Some would call you stupid for trusting him; others, brilliant. There are so many feelings on this subject in politics, you’ve learned to just ignore them all and do your own thing (or whatever you’re told).
Loyalties aren’t the bad guys. In fact, they’re probably better than any of the other groups. They’re like spies; they act like anyone else off the street when you’re looking, but when it’s time to go to work they’re someone completely different. Very few of them are mean. And they aren’t henchmen. They just see that this is the winning side, and picked it.
However, your life as a Loyalty isn’t a 24/7 gig. It’s usually just whenever your particular services are needed and you’re called upon that you really stand out as a Loyalty. You can be needed anywhere from weeks at a time to only a few hours. You never know. Loyalties are very manipulative and find ways to get what they want, no matter what.
You never really break the law (outside of assassination and the occasional kidnapping on order) just for the heck of it or for survival.
Rebels:
You’re completely on your own. Well, except maybe some fellow rebels or a few friendly civilians who don’t think Powered are dangerous monsters out to take over the world.
Rebels are kept on their toes running from Drones. Not literally, an actual chase is very rare. This is supposed to be as realistic as Sci-Fi with superheroes™ can get. But anyways, Rebels are enemies with every other group. They’re the outcasts, and have no friends other than themselves.
It’s not like they don’t have lives, however. Most create aliases and continue living life like a Civilian.
Drones:
You have no memories of what happened to you before your life as a government agent. No one knows you exist. Everything’s a secret. Your only companions? Your fellow Drones.
Drones were taken from their previous life by force once word got out they had powers. They were then brainwashed and trained as a soldier. This could have happened when you were 13 (when powers first start to show their faces) or older. However, you’re still human. You still have emotions, hopes, dreams, fears.
Drones are the secret agents of the government. They hunt down Loyalties and Rebels to capture, brainwash and turn them.
Civilian:
Either you don’t have powers (your average Joe off the street), or you do and it hasn’t become publicly known (hope against all hope that you aren’t found out), you aren’t part of any of the powered groups.
Civilians, the non-Powered type, tend to think that all Powered are dangerous, useless hooligans whose only purpose is to disturb what peace there is. Civilians, the Powered type, just think, “I hope I can hide my powers”.
Civilians are average people with average jobs and general problems with the usual joys and normal sorrows. They have homes, bomb shelters, financial issues, they care about politics, they’re just human. Nothing more.
Rules
Alas, many people have gone into just saying “The usual rules”. Well, what are those rules? Anyone? I’m not going to do that, so ya’ll will have actual written rules to follow this time. Muahaha!
In addition to the rules of YWS…
-No god-modding, prefect characters, or cussing. The following (read backwards) are considered curse words: [ssip][nmad][lleh][doG ho]
-Violence and gore are allowed, but there are guidelines. It has to be PG-13 or under. If it’s detailed, put it in a spoiler and warn us. Blood is fine, but remember, if it’s really detailed spoiler it. (Note: My idea of PG-13 is the first four minutes of any CSI episode, so anything there or less is fine. But detailed stuff still has to be spoilered.)
-You can have relationships and romance, but keep it at kissing, sweet nothings, taking bullets, etc. However, no sexual scenes (YWS SB rule there) OR reference. I don’t want one word on the subject! You got that? Not one single word!
-Please use proper spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. I’m not saying grammar because even mine’s questionable, but just try to make things as easy on the eye as possible.
-You must post at least once every four days, or your character(s) will be killed.
-Please keep all discussion in the discussion thread. This includes everything, from, “When do we start?” to “I think we posted at the same time, JonnyGuy1939. Which post should we go with?” to “Nice post, AnnaGirl392! How cute!” Everything. Okay? Good.
Every time you break a rule, you get a mark. Five marks and you get kicked out of the story. Sorry, but that’s the best way to enforce the rules.
Format
When posting, please post the name of your character, the side, and the day. Example:
Mary Sue ~ Drone ~ June 13th, 3:21PM
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