BREAKING NEWS
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, I’m John Pendleton. Tonight marks the third month since the metahuman plague took hold of Pittsburgh, causing normal civilians to feel unsafe and the police to feel inadequate. Tonight, we here at Pittsburgh Nightly News would like to cover the crisis that has gripped our fair city, from its origins to where we currently stand.Who can forget the night that started it all? At a concert held by Pittsburgh’s own PREMORTEM to promote their new album MYTHOMANE, what can only be described as a flaming valkyrie appeared. She murdered several concertgoers with her bare hands before apparently bringing the dead back to life. A handful of people tried to stop her, but she vanished in a ball of flame. PREMORTEM frontman Vanity, real name Kosuke and owner of Vulture Record Store & Cafe, isolated himself after the inside, citing feelings of guilt and regret (MANIA). He complied with authorities in their investigation, as residents spotted him in the company of Basilica, an agent of the Metahuman Response Taskforce (SOUND OFF).
That seemed to be the inciting incident, as reports of what was soon to be dubbed “metahuman activity” began to flood in almost overnight. Notable amongst these are reports of human/animal hybrids assaulting people in alleyways (ANIMAL INSTINCTS), as well as the murder of accountant Amy Hoffman. This murder was perpetuated by notable Dark Web hitman organization Nine Tails, Inc., alongside a figure that would later identify as “Cryptid”, a criminal vigilante who is rumored to eat those he dubs as criminals (WORK ETHICS). Most disturbingly, shortly after this event began a string of particularly gruesome murders by a criminal known only as “The Slasher”, with the remnants of his first victim found within the warehouse district (WAREHOUSE 1)
It was only a matter of time before full-scale larceny began to bleed into our fair city. The first metahuman robbery was conducted by a girl known only as “Mary the Warlock”. Her and an entourage of seemingly non-powered lackeys took a Pittsburgh of America bank hostage in an attempted robbery. Fortunately, two metahumans showed up to stop them. (OH I'M FEELIN' IT). One was Basilica, the aforementioned MRT agent. The second was Phoenix, a notable metahuman who has been on a cross-country tour, destroying cells of the terrorist organization Slate. Although they stopped the robbery, many feared that her arrival meant that Slate had dug their tendrils into Pittsburgh.
This was only the first robbery, however, as shortly after the First National Bank on 8th Avenue was broken into by a group of armed criminals. Three metahumans showed up to stop them: Phoenix and someone wearing a metal mask later identified as “The Wolf”, who seemed insistent on using nonlethal force. The third, later self-identified as “The World” shot several of the robbers in the head at point-blank range before disappearing. A portal later appeared to aid in Phoenix and The Wolf’s escape (THE SUN). Phoenix would make another appearance, aiding Cryptid in assaulting a large base of operations for the Jackals, a known criminal organization within Pittsburgh (HOT AND COLD). This would not be the last time, as Cryptid was later seen in the vicinity of several of their areas of operation, including interrupting one of their shipments. Eyewitnesses report Cryptid fighting a large man who changed his skin to steel (JACKALS). This matched the description of Malachite, a known member of Slate, last seen in Philadelphia. No body was ever recovered, however, given Cryptid’s reputation for cannibalism, it seems as though he was the victor of this exchange.
That was not what had the people of Pittsburgh worried, however. The appearance of a notable Slate member in Pittsburgh boded ill. Suspicions were confirmed when a man cloaked in shadow was spotted within the warehouse district frequented by Cryptid, a man who matched the description of none other than Obsidian, the head of Slate itself. None can confirm that he contacted Cryptid, but a cannibalistic criminal like himself would presumably fit snugly into Obsidian’s terrorist organization (ENTER, VIPER).
Cryptid continued to terrorize Pittsburgh, torturing and killing a man in the warehouse district (DISSONANCE), arranging a secret meeting with The World (MURDER), presumably to discuss their respective paths of carnage, and he was almost certainly responsible for the disappearance and presumed death of businessman Leo Vasquez (THE FOOD CHAIN).
Metahuman business continued with a violent clash between Cryptid, Phoenix, The Wolf, and an unknown swordswoman facing off against Two-Shot Ace, leader of a notorious gunrunning gang. This public display of violence not only endangered countless lives, but resulted in damage to several vehicles in the surrounding area (HARD KNOCK LESSONS). As time went on, more alleged criminals were found dead or unconscious, with those who were able to tell tales of people in masks coming at them from the night. One particular new addition to the scene became known as Wolfhound, a large wolfish man wielding a greatsword, known for tearing apart his victims with his bare teeth. Perhaps it’s no surprise then that he’d been spotted by concerned citizens meeting with Cryptid (THE FOX AND THE HOUND) and with Phoenix (FULL STOP), two of the most violent vigilante criminals Pittsburgh has seen. A missing person, Grant Howell, appeared out of nowhere and attacked a train station (ONE-TRACK MIND), and another metahuman, Hazel Wright, was found brutally murdered along with another man, presumably her attacker, shot dead (SNAKE CHARMER).
But the violence truly reached its crescendo at the District 6 City Council debate between Carter Wynn and Henry O’Shea. On October 12th, four masked and armed metahuman terrorists invaded the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. They brutally ended the lives of several civilians and government workers, as well as assassinating Mr. O’Shea. Thanks to the efforts of the Pittsburgh Police Department and Basilica, as well as some brave civilians, all but one of the terrorists were either killed or detained. Not only that, but vigilante criminal The World was also detained for his hindrance of law enforcement and illegal vigilantism (HEAD OF THE SNAKE). Councilman Wynn later held a press conference once he was in a suitable state and vowed to fight for legislation in order to combat the metahuman threat (THE PITTSBURGH ADDRESS).
Ladies and gentlemen, we have only begun to scratch the surface of the scourge that has befallen Pittsburgh. Explosions, assaults in broad daylight, a brutal murder scene spanning the length of an entire manor, and more when we come back after this commercial break.
Hi, welcome to the Breaking News thread! This thread will be restricted specifically to mods and characters who are newscasters/reporters. You can find updates here for major events! This thread's purpose is to make it easy for newcomers and people who have taken long breaks to rejoin the current timeline and keep track of events happening in other threads! We will endeavor to keep all major events in the Metasphere in some form of broadcast. You can take from these updates the general vibes of how the world views metas and how things are going. Please refrain from posting reaction posts in this thread. This first post was written by HighVoltage.