9:00 am and there I was, still in my office.~My head throbbed to it's own imaginary tango, my right hand numb from the ice pack still pressed against my forehead. Those two grievances stood out compared to the dull ache of my entire body, and the multitude of other worries piled up so high sometimes I wondered why I didn't get lost in them. I hadn't gotten a lick of sleep thanks to the police raid on the building next to mine, and I didn't think they could of used anything louder then that stupid battering ram...until they brought out the breaching charges and flash-bangs. Let's just say pretty lights and loud noises don't go well with a night out on the town. I don't blame them though, because I had heard of the villain living next door, but I really didn't want to get involved. Guess the land-lord got fed up with trying to house a small-time villain, and called the cops. It was really none of my business...but that's my job, to find out what others know. That brings me to my most recent case...and where everything went downhill.~Mrs. Mary Whitney. Age 28. Eyes, blue. Hair, black. Height...weight...date of birth, I had it all in the file. She had come in a week ago, crying and asking for my help. Women. What...? No I have nothing against them. But it's just like in the movies. Girl comes in looking for help, detective says "Let's do this", tries to solve the case, and either comes out the other side of the whole ordeal dead with bad guy still alive and no money or alive with the chick, a pocket full of cash, and life still hanging around. It always meant trouble, and I was hoping I wouldn't get a case like this for my entire career, but here it was, slapping me back into reality and making me forget my troubles for the moment. The case was simple. Husband was cheating on her, or so she thought. She wanted me to follow him around for a while, pick up on any clues on who it might be, then report back as soon as I could. When I asked who her husband was, I knew right away I wasn't going to like the answer. It was a major business man, someone who could snuff out the likes of me without so much as a flick of the wrist. But, a job is a job, and I took it, already quietly spending the oodles of cash in my head. Maybe that's what finally killed me.~I had been following him for days. Yeah. He was cheating on her with another girl. And on that one with another. And another. This guy was playing the streets like a regular Casanova, and not having any regrets about it. Each one he told more lies to than the last. It was either, "I'll never let you go baby", or "Me? Cheat on you? How could I ever do anything like that?" Yeah. He was a smooth operator, but I had him pegged with enough pictures and video that he would never be able to squeeze out of the wrath of 5 women at once. Poor guy. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost. That's when I slipped up. I was going to get a new chair. Maybe some nice shoes, or a bit of advertising on a web-site. Yeah...I was still spending the money I had not earned in my head when I was heading to the point where I was supposed to meet her. When I got there, I instantly knew something was wrong. Three guys, two of them looking like the normal thugs you see everywhere and the last a business man...the same one I had been following, met me in place of Mary. They threw down a bag. They peeled it open. There was Mary, missing one head. I tried to quick draw my weapon, but it got caught in the holster, and before I knew it, the ground got mad at me and flew into my face, my blood along with it. Blood was supposed to be warm...but this felt cool to the touch. Darkness came to take me to my resting place. Don't remember much after that.~Yea, I was dead all right. It wasn't fun. I mean, yeah, I got to see the pearly gates, the angels with the singing, and even that long tunnel with the light at the end. I even had to pass by that guy that ferries you across the River Styx. Had to pay him with something...so I had to pass over my gun. The man...thing...grinned, and told me I would be getting a new one soon enough. Weirdo...~By the way, it isn't all it's cracked up to be, and it's kinda hard NOT to go into the light. I mean, where else are you gonna go? I was almost there too...but something brought me back. When I woke, I was six feet under, trapped in a coffin with my dignity. Several minutes of screaming like a lunatic didn't help me, so I had to dig my way out, and there was only one thing going through my head during that time.~"Should have buried me deeper..."~Breaking the surface, I saw a hero and a villain duking it out, several of my grave buddies trying to weight him down with their useless corpses. Pfft...screw that. I wasn't going to be someone's puppet of doom. Wait...wasn't I supposed to be some slave to his will? Idiot. Too busy to even control the amount of power he was using. I'd seen it before, and it makes them sloppy. He gave me a free will by mistake. I crawled out, and noticed the weapon...the one I had neglected to notice when I woke up in my coffin at first. Why was this thing buried with me? Who would even have the time to...and I smirked. Thanks weirdo, I owe you one...if I ever crossed your path again. The gun felt...right in my hands, like it was crafted for the person who had tried his hardest to help others with their own problems. I slung it across my shoulder, took a final glance at the fight, and walked off. The villain was already down for the count.
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The Ghost Caster
Marksman: Supreme
- Weakness: Power in Item - Hard to Lose
Ah, the magnum, the stereotypical weapon for the detective to use while running around the under belly of the city. It's a good thing I have been...well...I guess you can say blessed with a new weapon, and boy, does it ever work wonders. I don't know who it was crafted for, why it was, or how, but I know it is in my possession now, and I'm not letting it go for the life...uh...death of me? It looks like a Karabiner 98k, from those WWII times, yet it is polished and shiny as if it were new. If that wasn't enough, along the entire weapon are strange runes that glow whenever I fire the thing, telling me of powers that are far too advanced or mysterious for me to even know. There were no bullets that came with it...only a note pinned into the side. This is what it said:~'Spirts may come and go, but there are some who still want to help a needy hero...a gun that uses their power can help. Just do what comes natural.'~That's when I learned I could use ghosts for ammo. I soon learned I could see ghosts of things, animals and humans, who still walked the earth. Floated. Whatever. Different types of ghosts gave me different effects, and they are pretty handy. With just a wave of my hand over the specter, they would condense into a single bullet, then loaded, and finally shot, allowing them the slight satisfaction of knowing they have done something useful with their after-life. A lot of times it allows them entrance to the place I was denied...so I guess it is all for the better, eh?
Ammo: Haunting Ghost
Gravity: Superior
- Ranged Attack Only
- Area Affect
- Ranged and Melee Attack
- Weakness: Limited Uses - Multi-Use
Interesting things, these types of ghosts are. They are attached to certain objects, unable to be torn away from them so that they may finally rest. It could be a wedding ring, or maybe the hospital the person died in. Whatever the case, they are very potent weapons.~Because of the clingy-ness of these types of ghosts, whenever I turn them into ammo, the shells seem heavier somehow. I don't know how, but it may have to do with the strong emotions that the ghosts feel for one thing, and they tend to gravitate around it. Maybe that's why whenever I fire the shell, a concentrated beam of g-forces launches out, making everything it hits up to ten times heavier. In most cases, it breaks bones outright.~It makes me the happiest when I fire these shells. The only reason these ghosts cannot pass on is that the objects they are attached to hold some significance to them. After I fire, I usually hear a slight 'Thank You' in my ear, and I know that it was the spirit passing on into the Great Beyond.
Ammo: Spirits
Concussive: Superior
- Ranged Attack Only
- Ranged and Melee Attack
- Weakness: Limited Uses - Multi-Use
Spirits do not make noises and are not disruptive. They rarely haunt places and tend to be more attracted to people. They cause little clutter in your daily life and tend to appear when you are stressed or depressed. Strangely enough, I have found that spirits who are haunting you are rarely someone you knew in life. The only reason you don't want a spirit around is in times of stress or depression, a spirit can make matters worse by feeding off your energy and leaving you tired and thus leaving your defenses down. I find the ones that feed off of normal people to be the most volaille.~All that energy stored up is bound to come out somewhere, and spirits that feed too much off of people usually become poltergeists, or 'angry ghosts' that hurt or disrupt other people. Some of the spirits that feed to much actually seek me out, so I may fire them, they release their energy, then go back to whatever it was they were doing. Win-win situation in my opinion. Except for the person they are feeding on...
Ammo: Residual Ghosts
Eldrich Blast: Superior
- Armor Piercing
- Ranged and Melee Attack
- Weakness: Limited Uses - Multi-Use
Residual haunting are "recordings" of an event in time that are left at a location, that are played back at a later time. You may hear residual haunting on tape recordings or see them, endless loops of the same scene being played over and over, and they are usually always experienced in the same location. A couple ways these impressions are left on a location is: A traumatic event happening at the location, or by someone doing an action over and over at a location, causing it to be imprinted there. A traumatic moment in time leaves an indelible impression on a building or area, one example being battle fields. There are numerous accounts of people seeing soldiers fighting battles on old battle fields, only to learn later that day that there were no re-enactments going on that day.~While these ghosts do not interact with humans in any way, I still find use for them. Their actions also store up slight traces of energy over a course of many weeks with their repeated actions. If the energy is strong enough, I can use the ghost as ammo, releasing the energy. The ghost had no idea it's even being used in such a manner. Poor things...~I'm getting better and better about shooting these ghosts. I know what kind of places will do no harm, and what kind of places they will make you think twice about standing up again. Focusing the energy from these ghosts are easier as well, giving me more bang for my buck with each shot. So stop hiding behind that stupid body armor already...
Thanks, Dad
Immunity: Standard
- Weakness: Limited Uses - Multi-Use
My dad...what a great guy. He was the one that got me into this business...and it was the same way he got out. Except I got another chance, and he didn't. Funny thing about seeing your life flash before your eyes...you remember everything. All the bad times. All the good times.~Maybe that's why I'm still haunted by the guy.~No matter what I do, no matter what I try, it's like an extra weight on my shoulders only I can see, dragging me down sometimes and pulling me up others. He follows me around EVERYWHERE. Yeah, he talks too. That's what bothers me the most. Nag, nag, nag, nag, nag.~"Screwed up with that chick didn't yah?"~"Told you that plan wouldn't work..."~"Watch it! He's coming from the right side this time!~Sometimes it's useful, especially against those who can bend others to see things that aren't there. For some odd reason, powers like that don't have any effect on people who have died. All he does is get up right next to me, and whispers in my ear:~"It's okay lad...it's not real."~Thanks, Dad.
The Second Gift
Damage Shield: Supreme
- Area Affect
- Armor Piercing
- Weakness: Not usable in terrain - Khazan Mall
So, it's been a couple months since I have been doing my thing, going around exorcizing ghosts from places that they need not be, turning in reports to the boss himself Hades, and generally having a pretty good time doing it. Yeah...there were a few who didn't need to get in my way, but when they see a guy like me, they think "Hey, a vigilante", and proceed to try to stop my cruel way of punishment, or whatever crack-pot reason they come up with. Me and the ferry driver are best buds now, and he admits that he put the gun in with me when I woke up.~"Thought it wold be funny to see what you would do with it," he would explain with a slight chuckle.~On one of the trips down, he handed me a small box, and told me to open it when I got back up to the surface. I did, and 2 strange little orbs, almost like small balls of flame, rose up and began to circle me. I thought they were kinda annoying, and as if on cue, they landed on my gun, out of the way and out of sight. Will 'o Wisp. Corpse Fire. Vaett Lys. Whatever you want to call it, these things fly out and attack anything that gets too close with a hostile intent. They also seem to be able to melt through things like armor like a hot knife through butter. Heh...sometimes I just run right at my opponent after firing a few shots, just so the little guys can get a workout. All in a day's work, I suppose. I keep these guys on a tight leash whenever I'm around the mall. They seem to think anyone that even so much as BUMPS me is a threat. I wish they were a tad smarter in that aspect...
KNN News
Detective: Supreme
- Weakness: Not usable in terrain - Bar Fight
Battles are tough. Everyone and their grandmother knows that. After taking too many shots to the head, or barely dodging the attack that would have finally done you in, the first thing you would want to do is to sit down and chill out. No more thinking, no more hand to hand combat, no more trying to take down the other person before they get to you. So, that's what I did. I sat down on the couch one day after a particularly rough fight, and flipped on the tube. Immediately afterwards, I was smacking myself in the forehead several times.~Why didn't I think of this before? It was so simple...so easy. There were people out there covering these fights, amateur or not, and every weakness, every flaw, was shown on camera to the general public. Everything a super hero or villain could do, what they couldn't, and what didn't work on them. When the first commercial break hit, I ran to go get a notebook and a pencil. It was going to be a long day after all, no rest for me. After a long day, my notebook was full. Almost every super hero and/or villain had their own section in my notebook, Not a secret was safe. Looking down at it, I began to do something that would take me the entire night. I memorized it. All.~The next morning, feeling the same way I did when I woke up the day I was killed, I burned the notebook so noone could just happen upon it, and learn what I had learned. Let them figure it out themselves, I had said. Walking out of my apartment, I casually glanced at anyone with extraordinary powers wandering the streets. Every time I saw someone I knew, info flashed into my mind of what would be the best way to take them down. I smiled, and headed into the local pub. It turned out to be a bad idea. Inside, the whole place was a mess. Everyone was trying to off one another. I was thrown into the middle of it, trying to fight my way out. Not being able to tell who was who in that chaos effectively cut off a big advantage. I fought my way outside, and sighed deeply. I pulled out a small pad and paper, almost never used since I got shot. I jotted down something quickly, and shoved it back into my trench coat.~Stay away from bars.
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