The Betterverse

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betterwatchit
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Re: The Betterverse

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Dragons:

Dragons, those fire-breathing beings of myth and legend, do exist in the Betterverse. Below is but a small list of those dragons whose existence for one reason or another is public knowledge...


Crimson: Crimson is known as the mascot of Dragon Data, a British computer company who has multiple contracts with the British government. At least half the computers in British state schools are made by Dragon Data and proudly bear its logo. Rhys Williams, the young CEO of Dragon Data, claims that he found Crimson in a cave in northern Wales. After calming him down, Crimson said he wanted to know what happened since he first slumbered, which was in approximately 600 AD. Rhys considered it his obligation as a human being to help Crimson understand the modern world and is often surprised at what he can get his head around.
Spoiler
And here's the truth behind Crimson. His true identity is that of Rhys Williams, the CEO of Dragon Data. On his 21st birthday, Rhys went on a hiking trip with his Auntie Scarlet. Auntie Scarlet led Rhys into a cave in northern Wales. In the darkest, dankest part of the cave, Scarlet revealed two things: a dragon's hoard and her true form as Y Ddraig Goch, the Red Dragon of Wales!

Y Ddraig Goch revealed how she had a hand in Rhys' upbringing, education and his family's financial security. She finished off by offering him a very great gift indeed: The chance to become a dragon himself! Rhys took the offer and was soon encased in a magically formed egg. A month later, he hatched out from the egg as a dragon. Rhys names himself Crimson in Auntie Scarlet's honour. He sees Dragon Data as his own hoard and seeks to improve on it in as ethical a manner as possible.
Sugaar: In ancient times, Sugaar once ruled over what is now called the Basque Country. He seeks to conquer the world and wants to start with re-taking the Basque Country. Los Nuevos Invincibles have repeatedly prevented his takeover attempts. Sugaar once even tried to take over ETA, but they simply weren't going for it. Another human who isn't Basque telling them what to do was one thing, but at least they knew that they were dealing with another human being, they knew how it was. Something utterly inhuman telling them what to do, that was completely unacceptable! And Sugaar's claims of still being the rightful ruler of the Basque did not help at all. Sugaar currently has a feud with both Crimson and Tabaluga. He wants to conquer humanity while Crimson and Tabaluga both have their reasons to protect it.

Tabaluga: It's publicly known that in 1997, Arktos and Humsin tried to cast a ritual to banish Tabaluga, but they botched it. The result: The ritual did indeed banish Tabaluga, but it exacted the price of taking Arktos and Humsin for the ride, dropping them all in Berlin. Only Tabaluga's swift actions prevented Arktos and Humsin from hurting anyone. The Bundesguard found Tabaluga and taught him how to speak German. Afterwards, ZDF gave Tabaluga the offer of hosting a children's show for them, which he accepted. It took a few years but Tabaluga is now a celebrity known for his children's shows, beloved in Europe and in German-speaking areas in particular. Arktos and Humsin both still hold a grudge with him.
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Re: The Betterverse

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Parallel Worlds

It is common knowledge that there are several parallel worlds, each with their own differences. This list talks about those universes that most people will have heard about.

Ani-Earth: The dominant species on this world resemble anthropomorphic animals. The Furrydom League of Furrydom City are good friends with the Just Lotta Animals (JLA) based in LA, and both are considered the world's top super-teams. Dame Blanche and Goldwing are natives of this world.

Anti-Earth: Where someone would be a hero on Earth-Prime, they're a villain here. And the guys who would be villains? They're just dead. The Crime and Tyranny Syndicates are currently fighting for control of the whole world.

Earth-Ape: This world is populated by apes who descended from hairless primates resembling humans. The Primate Patrol is the world's premier super-team.

Earth-Eldritch: In this world, all superpowers are actually of magical origins.

Earth-Mirror: This is a world where someone who would be a hero on Earth-Prime is a villain and vice versa. Here, Saturnalia Roman and Lex Luthor are the most selfless and most compassionate of all those in the super-scene.

Earth-Prime: Most Betterverse stories take place on this Earth, unless mentioned otherwise.

Earth-SHADOW: In this world, SHADOW actually succeeded in performing the first Operation Inundation! For the past 50 years, the whole world has been in Overshadow's grasp. You either obey SHADOW at once or you're shot dead without exception or hesitation. All supers must submit to indoctrination or die where they stand.

Earth-Zero: The really strange thing about this Earth by Earth-Prime standards is that no powers or superhuman activity have ever been recorded here.

Erde: On this Earth, the Axis won World War II. Roosevelt's successful assassination in 1933 is considered by outsiders who have studied Erde history to have been the tipping point that made the German and Japanese conquest of the world possible. They're now fighting over what little remains of America, with the Mississippi River being used as their border. Doctor Tomorrow is a native of this world.
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Re: The Betterverse

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European Supers

France:

Chanteclair: Chanteclair uses his sound-based powers to protect Paris. His trademark move is a cockerel's crow that can paralyse just about anyone in earshot. He's been effective to the point that the sound of a real cockerel's crowing COCORICO will make any Frenchman who's done something really wrong a bit paranoid.

Dame Blanche (White Lady): Nicole Fortier is a barn owl gadgeteer from Ani-Earth whose company, called Chouette, specialises in creating technologies that can be used by people with non-standard anatomies. Her current research seeks to create a more affordable Head-up Display. HUDs are currently available for €400, she wants to make them so they can go for €200 at retail.
Spoiler
What Dame Blanche has kept quiet about is the fact that she uses middlemen and cut-outs to pay for base raids. Her primary purpose in Earth-Prime is to find technology that doesn't exist on Ani-Earth, and she finds base raiding to be one of the fastest ways to unearth such secrets without government retaliation.
Martin Matin: Martin is a schoolkid who wakes up as something different every day. For example, he's been confirmed to have been transformed into an alien, a dragon, a musketeer, and even as a paragon-type superhero. Each transformation of his lasts until the next morning.
The main problem that Martin has with his transformation, is that he often ends up in a dangerous situation which has something to do with what he's currently become and which usually requires his wits and whatever skills and powers his transformation has given him to get back out of it. And when Martin doesn't transform, it's because his circumstances have changed. For example, the second incident of Martin being 'normal' again turned out to be him becoming really unlucky.

He has no control at all over what he becomes, and he has even been gender-swapped on two occasions (He returned to being a boy again the next morning). In fact, the first recorded transformation made Martin part-dragon! The biggest psychological issue that Martin has is that he perceives the transformation as a form of unique handicap. What he wants the most is either no more transformations, or some way to control them.

He is helped by his girlfriend Roxanne and his best friend, Gromo. They will follow him anywhere, from a witch's apartment, to alien worlds and even to the depths of Hell if need be.
Spoiler
Which actually happened once when Martin woke up as a demon one morning, complete with a Martin-sized Abyssal Trident next to his bed. At school, he found a lift that allowed him to access the Pit. He was given a contract to sign, the offer for which was simple: No more transformations. A succubus disguised as Roxanne was convincing Martin to sign the contract, not knowing that the real Roxanne was watching the deal from an air vent. NO ONE was taking her Martin, especially not some demonic impostor! She burst out of the vent and grabbed the succubus by her tail, the sight of which - and Roxanne's telling Martin what he was really giving away in exchange - left him with no other choice but to reject the bargain before it could be signed. The chase back to the lift - and their only chance to safely get back to Earth - was the fastest that the three kids ever ran in their lives.
Everyone in Paris who wants to keep their presence in the city a secret is worried that Martin's next transformation will require them to deal with him. Half because they run the risk of exposure just trying to keep him from messing with their agenda, and half because they don't want to be seen breaking the Traditions by harming a child, which will likely have every super in the world after them.

Martin has gotten used to dealing with the supernatural, having literally been to Hell and back, and even encountering the Pesedjet (Egyptian pantheon) and the Dodekatheon (Greco-Roman pantheon) on separate occasions.


Miraculeuse Coccinelle (Miraculous Ladybug): Marinette Cheng is a Franco-Chinese schoolgirl who has recently inherited a pair of ladybug ear-rings that allow her to become the Miraculous Ladybug. What little footage there has been of her shows that she does parkour to get around Paris, and that she also appears to possess probability manipulation abilities, which she uses in order to protect herself and bystanders.

La Pucelle (The Maid): This master swordswoman wields the arming sword believed to have been originally used by Joan of Arc.

La Sorcière Verte (The Green Witch): The Green Witch (Who refuses to reveal her real name) is well known in the occult scene for her occasional experiments with techno-magic. She once encountered Martin Matin when he was turned into a witch himself for the day. She kept his flying broomstick as compensation for accidentally breaking her window, and has since gotten it under control. She is known to be one of the admins for MagicNet, the most popular website, forum and wiki for magicians around the world.


Germany:

Geselle (Journeyman): This speedster triggered his metagene just before his journeyman years in electrical engineering. After he completed his two-year Walz, the Deutsch Schutz Liga - Germany's most well-known superteam - invited him to join them. His weapon of choice is his old Journeyman's Staff. He has a major beef with Blitz, the Neo-Nazi speedster, for making Germany look bad.

Tabaluga: This friendly dragon is known all over Germany because of the TV show he did with ZDF. He often helps nearby firemen, who are very grateful to know someone who's completely flameproof for the really dangerous rescues.


United Kingdom:

Britannia: Directly empowered by the Spirit of Britain, Britannia is known as the greatest power in Britain. For the past decade or so, she has served her country with distinction.


Faceoff: Faceoff is an armed vigilante in the mould of the Punisher. He's currently wanted for several gangland killings.

The thing is, due to said killings being of those gangsters and villains who MI-5 and the Ministry are unable to touch, there would be a massive P.R. backlash if they bust Faceoff without proof of him harming an innocent.


Goldwing: From Ani-Earth, John Camber is a griffin who makes a living as a magical consultant and as a crafter of magical items. If you want your cat-ear headband to actually give you the hearing of a cat, he'll gladly sort you out. The furry fandom in Britain considers him to be one of their VIPs for a very good reason: Unlike fursuiters, Goldwing is the genuine article, and he has admitted that there's an entire world where beings like him exist. He lives in Greenhithe, by the River Thames. He likes to use the river to navigate his way to London and back.
Spoiler
To gain his citizenship, he cut a deal with the Ministry of Powers. They set him up with a flat, a passport, a bank account, and all of the documentation needed for him to legally exist. In return, he must give the Ministry top priority whenever they commission a magical item or ask him for advice. They're well aware of how he got to Earth-Prime in the first place: Goldwing's master tried to sell his soul without telling him. Goldwing responded at the time of the deal by pointing out that there's no documentation proving the master's claim. The master was dragged into Hell while still alive. After that, Goldwing made preparations to flee to another world. Earth-Prime Britain was where he landed.

Griffin: The Griffin is a London-based vigilante who recently gained angelic powers after he survived a near-death experience. His documented powers include enhanced toughness, the ability to speak and read any language and there are two things that he knows are going to attract attention.

He now has a pair of feathered wings that he can hide or reveal where needed (with a top speed of 250 MPH) and he is now in possession of a gleaming sword he calls Justice, capable of cutting solid steel and even cutting through ghosts!
Spoiler
One thing that Griffin wants to keep quiet about is the fact that he's autistic. It's the main reason he won't touch drugs stronger than chocolate or caffeine without a medical reason. That and the short tempers that are known to run in his family. To date, Knight and Squire are the only two people in the superhuman community who are actually aware of his exact condition (let's see you try to keep someone with Skill Mastery: Insight and Postcognition from finding out about something like that), and the telepathic Officer Benbow of the Ministry of Powers is aware as well (due to her being able to recognise mental disorders because of how they affect the appearance of someone's mindscape). Everyone else just thinks there's definitely something unusual about him, even by superhuman standards.

Knight and Squire: Cyril Sheldrake is the second person to assume the mantle of the Knight, and is considered to be Britain's greatest hero. Beryl Hutchinson used her communication powers to get Cyril to turn his life around when he couldn't handle the responsibility of the Knight's legacy. She was made the new Squire for her efforts. The Knight has been an ally of Batman on several occasions.


NOTE: The vast majority of European supers, whether or not they're heroic or villainous in nature, will absolutely refuse to cut a deal with or otherwise work alongside anyone known to be a fascist, communist, religious fundamentalist or racial supremacist of any sort under any circumstances if they're not also motivated by said extremism. Those extreme ideologies pose the greatest threat to Europe from within since the end of the Cold War, and no one wants them to gain any more strength. And if some super-extremist winds up dead in battle or shot by police, mainstream supers will only say that they brought it on themselves when they succumbed to extremism.
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Re: The Betterverse

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Power Types

There are various ways to obtain powers in the Betterverse. They're usually divided into five known categories...

Magic: All powers that can be considered "supernatural" fall into this category. It could be due to being born as part of a race that can use magic (Examples include Ms. Magus and Zatanna, both part of the homo magi.), a supernatural being simply granting power for whatever reasons they see fit (The Dragoneye legacy and MacRoth are good examples of this type of empowerment) or making a trade with a supernatural being for power (The classic Faustian Pact is one famous example, but becoming the willing servant of a deity is often the least dangerous version of the trade, particularly if said deity is actually friendly toward mortals. The Griffin and Sakura Fubuki are heroic examples of the latter).

Mutation: There are those who were simply born with abilities which set them apart from the rest of humanity, or they could be latent, simply needing the right sort of 'spark' to burst into life. These abilities can sometimes make it impossible to pass for normal in public (Rocky Jones) or they could be the sort where you wouldn't know that someone has them until they're actually being used in front of you (Princess).

Natural: This sort of hero usually has no powers but a lot of training and equipment (Batman, The Rook) or they're a member of a race whose superhuman abilities come naturally (Superman, Xeno).

Science: Powers obtained this way could be due to an accident (The Flash and Vortex) or due to a successful experiment (Victor Prophet). The DNAscent Process is one way to obtain powers by scientific means.

Technology: Some heroes decide to build technological devices, such as battlesuits (Ultramarine) to gain an edge in battle. Others may actually be androids or gynoids, technology given human shape (Kid Robot).
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Re: The Betterverse

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Golders Green Guardians

The Guardians are one of the more well-known London-based teams, with most of them being powered by supernatural means.

They are the main reason London has much fewer supernatural nasties like vampires and cultists running around compared to other major cities, as the team's usual method when they encounter such threats is to give them exactly one chance to surrender or die, and most of their opponents are arrogant enough to think they can take them. They usually allow just one survivor so they can go and tell the rest of their kind just who did this to them, and also to say that London is off-limits to all who would dare exploit the occult for petty and selfish ends, or who would dare prey upon the innocent. Even the Ministry of Powers knows to call them if anything "weird" pops up.
The Ministry of Powers actually has an… understanding with the Guardians. The Guardians help the Ministry with the supernatural whenever they ask, and in return, the Ministry tends to be more understanding when the Guardians have to kill a supernatural threat. The Ministry is fully aware that some threats that the Guardians fight just can't listen to reason at all, to the point that killing them is often the only effective way to prevent them from threatening the country. The Guardians know that they have a good thing going, and aren't about to give the Ministry any reason to doubt them.
The last time a necromancer was crazy enough to hit London, he had the idea of first going south-west to Brookwood in Surrey, which has Britain's largest cemetery, in order to raise a large enough horde of zombies to start with. The Guardians made absolutely sure that there was nothing left of him but ashes, in order to prevent him from coming back.


Group Members:

Dr. Jane Green is their leader and scientist. She has the metahuman ability of an enhanced nervous system, which allows her to think and react faster than normal. An Oxford lady who graduated with distinction, she particularly likes to stick it to any supers from Cambridge. The Ministry are a bit nervous about her habit of vivisecting any non-human threat who she takes alive, but they don't argue with the fact that she knows more about supernatural biology than anyone else on Earth.

Michael Cohen AKA The Golem is the team's powerhouse. He wears an enchanted amulet that allows the wearer become as large and as strong as the Golem of Jewish legend. From his early days as a higher-grade yob, he knows what's going on in London's underworld.

Sakura Fubuki was empowered as a priestess by no less than Amaterasu Omikami, the most well-known and most respected of the Amatsukami (Japanese pantheon). As a result, Sakura has control over light to the point where she can bend light to become invisible or simply create daylight out of nowhere, even at midnight. She also serves as the team's mythology specialist. She is also known to have a healing touch.

Spindle was attacked and turned into a drider against her will, and she wants a word with whoever was responsible. She serves the team as their stealth expert. She can assume human form, but she must be in her drider form for 12 consecutive hours a week to maintain any control over her transformation.

The Red Mage is a rare hybrid of being both an elemental magician and an expert swordsman. His enchanted sword is called Spellblade, and he can deal elemental damage with it and deal more lethal blows than usual.


Enemies:

Hexenhammer: This infamously immortal witch-hunter already tried to kill the Guardians at least once. The main reason he failed to do so the first time was due to Dr. Green using her super-science weaponry to attack him while the Golem sent his minions flying.

Hexenhammer was recently killed by the angel known as the Griffin, who ensured that he was made to finally face judgment for what had done over the centuries.

Professor Jackanapes: John Napeson was a mediocre Cambridge academic, but he was an excellent practitioner of the dark arts. The Guardians caught him trying to summon Those Who Sleep Beyond the Veil, part of the ancient race of god-things known as the Old Ones now imprisoned outside reality. The now-botched ritual tore Napeson to bits.

Those Who Sleep Beyond the Veil punished and rewarded Napeson at the same time. They rewarded him by giving him a fraction of the power he sought and by bringing him back to life. They punished him by merging what remained of his body and consciousness with his pet monkey, Mr. Scribbles, and locked him in his new monkey-man body. They told him that nothing short of freeing them could ever restore him to normal. And you had better believe that he's tried!

There are only three things that Jackanapes wants the most: Arcane power, human form and the messy, painful and slow death of the Guardians.
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Re: The Betterverse

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Ani-Earth Primer:

Ani-Earth Diets: Anthros from Ani-Earth are omnivorous, but they generally prefer the sort of food their feral equivalents would eat when they can help/afford it. There is a known biological eating disorder called hyper-(carni/herbi)vore. This is when said food needs to be the majority of an anthro's diet to keep them healthy. An estimated 10% of Ani-Earth's population are hyper-vores.


Ani-Earth Culture and Perspective:

Most countries have laws requiring anthros to take reasonable (which is often interpreted as non-mutilating) precautions when going out in public to avoid accidentally harming others with species-unique anatomy. For example, John "Goldwing" Camber is a griffin who wears gloves so he can shake hands with other people without his talons scratching them, but he is not obliged to put a sheath on his beak.

Eating an anthro of any species is considered to be cannibalism among the peoples of Ani-Earth. As is eating the feral version of one's own species. Eating a feral that's not of one's own species is the norm if it's done without breaking any laws. For example, no anthro cow in their right mind would knowingly touch beef, but they'd gladly eat pork or lamb if someone offered it to them. Any anthro proven to have eaten another anthro of their own species is considered to be the lowest of the low, much like a proven child-killer would be on Earth-Prime. There are even a few documented instances of criminals breaking into a house, finding a half-eaten body and immediately handing themselves over to the police to avoid being mistaken for a cannibal, they are considered that low.

What defines a power is a bit different on Ani-Earth, due to the varying anatomies of the natives. Most of them would see an ability that wouldn't normally be on a certain species as a power. For example, an enhanced sense of hearing and smell would be considered normal for a canine, but it would be considered a power if an eagle without any canine ancestry had such abilities.


Notable Ani-Earth Supers:

Nicole "Dame Blanche" Fortier is a leucistic barn owl who moved to Earth-Prime's France. Her company, called Chouette, specialises in creating technologies that can be used by people with non-standard anatomies. Her current research seeks to create a more affordable Head-up Display. HUDs are currently available for €400, she wants to make them so they can go for €200 at retail.
Spoiler
What Dame Blanche has kept quiet about is the fact that she uses middlemen and cut-outs to pay for base raids. Her primary purpose in Earth-Prime is to find technology that doesn't exist on Ani-Earth, and she finds base raiding to be one of the fastest ways to unearth such secrets without government retaliation.
John "Goldwing" Camber is a griffin mage who moved to Earth-Prime's Britain. He makes his money as a "Task Mage", a mage-for-hire. He runs his enchanting operation in Greenhithe, with clients believed to include several British powers, the Ministry of Powers (the British government agency that deals with superhumans… and people from parallel worlds like Goldwing) and even HM Armed Forces. One reason that Goldwing charges the amount that he does is because of his hyper-carnivorous metabolism.

Invicta is an equine paragon hailing from Kent in south-east England, who is often seen at Dover, Ashford, Folkestone and the area surrounding Ebbsfleet International. His secret identity is as a reporter for the Kent Messenger media group with a special focus on Kent's ports and Eurostar stations.

Rex "Mystery Mutt" Hound was sent to Earth-Prime's Freedom City by an accident involving Doc Okapi. He spent a few years in Claremont Academy before the Atom Family teleported him back home. It's a good idea for any human who accidentally winds up in Furrydom City to try and find him as he understands human ways. And that's if he doesn't find you first.

Sundog is a Golden Retriever from Brighton who can control solar energy and fly at supersonic speeds, and is probably the most powerful straight ally in town.
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