The Protagonist System

219 PHO Interlude And Reactions

Carol Dallon took a few extra minutes during her lunch break to check out how their online campaign was working out. She did not expect what she found, however.

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Topic: Defeater of Lung defeating hearts!
Posted In: Boards > Social > Cape Life

> Socialites_Unite (Original Poster) (Veteran Member)
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 9:45 AM
You heard it here first! That hunky new cape named Atlas, that took down the ABB gang leader and his henchman Oni Lee, has decided the hearts of the girls at (name deleted to protect the innocent) High School are fair game. He apparently dated the famous healing cape Panacea for a few days and now he's on the market!

Normally it wouldn't be a huge scandal, except he's friends with Glory Girl who is also known for dating one of the normal guys there, off and on.

Relax, mods! I'm staying on topic! I wouldn't mention it if it wasn't such an important factor!

GG has been extensively rumored to also be in a relationship with one of the Wards, a cape named Gallant. She's been seen hanging all over the armored tinker while on patrol and she is also dating the normie at school at the same time!

I suspect this is what's given Atlas the idea to manhandle a pile of girls in the hallway this morning when he arrived at school. A few of them looked like they enjoyed it, too. Discuss and Dish!

(Showing Page 1 of 29)

> GrinningGirl
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 9:48 AM
What a man-whore! Macking on so many girls and not a hint of shame!

> Ticking_Time_Bomb (Not an actual bomb)
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 9:49 AM
He didn't do anything the girls objected to. If they hadn't wanted a hug from a strong cape, they could have easily said no like (name deleted to protect the innocent) did. It made everyone laugh, too.

> VoiceOfReason (Veteran Member)
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 9:50 AM
I agree with (Ticking_Time_Bomb). One of the girls jumped into his arms and they swapped spit enough to share gum. Otherwise, he was just kissing cheeks and giving great hugs.

> Broctonite03 (Veteran Member)
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 9:50 AM
If it was me, I would have waited to do stuff like that in a more private setting. We didn't need to see stuff like that first thing in the morning.

> Bagrat (Veteran Member) (The Guy In The Know)
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 9:52 AM
I'm glad being in the know doesn't include teenage drama on such a small scale. If he had somehow been responsible for the arrest of a famous Canadian cape, that I would consider newsworthy.
Check out the thread for that (Here).

> Hammertime
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 9:53 AM
He can handle Narwhal like that and we're letting him into our schools to pervert teenage girls? Where's the justice in that?

> OpenMouthNoises (Veteran Member)
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 9:53 AM
Those arms are JUSTICE, (Hammertime)! He can hug me anytime anywhere.
That was a direct invitation, (Broad_Shoulders). Don't keep me waiting! PM me!

> Tin-Mother (Admin Mod)
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 9:53 AM
(OpenMouthNoises), have an infraction. Openly soliciting on public boards is against the rules.

> MadCapper (Verified Cape) (Protectorate)
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 9:55 AM
I need a better social life if I'm spending my time online reading this crap.

> In-All-Her-Glory_Girl (Verified Cape) (New Wave)
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 9:56 AM
I can't believe he did that right in front of me! It was disrespectful and made things really awkward with my sister. I have half a mind to confront him about his behavior and set him straight!

End of Page. 1, 2, 3... 29.
(Showing Page 2 of 29)

> Clock_Blocked (Verified Cape) (Protectorate Ward)
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 9:57 AM
Hold on, you have half a mind? Where the hell have you been hiding that?!? :P

> Panacea_Official (Verified Cape) (New Wave)
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 9:58 AM
Shut up buttmunch unless you want to be permanently cockblocked.

> In-All-Her-Glory_Girl (Verified Cape) (New Wave)
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 9:59 AM
Thanks for having my back, Ames!

> Tin-Mother (Admin Mod)
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 10:00 AM
That's your third Infraction and you get a temp-ban for a day (Panacea_Official). Uttering threats of bodily harm are not allowed on these boards.

> Miss_Take (Unverified Cape Groupie)
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 10:01 AM
Why was this a topic pinned at the top of the board? I'm all for seeing Atlas in his tights and there hasn't been one picture or link to one. How is that fair? Show him snuggling the babes already!

> Fervent-Supporter
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 10:03 AM
That's a good point. We're supposed to be talking about how a cape is fraternizing without restriction at a high school. That's concerning in so many different ways that it's not funny.

> Lasers_In_Your_Dreams (Verified Cape) (New Wave)
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 10:03 AM
I don't see anything wrong with it. I did ask a friend of a friend to keep an eye on things there and the video was full of sweetness and adorkableness. And muscles. Oh, and more muscles. Now I want one of his funny t-shirts for myself. (Here) is the censored video that blocks their faces.

> Tin-Mother (Admin Mod)
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 10:04 AM
I'm glad someone else is making sure no one can be identified in a sensitive media file. Thanks, (Lasers_In_Your_Dreams). I would normally pull the video because of the content and you've saved me a lot of future trouble trying to repress the 'real' video for the censored version.

> Lasers_In_Your_Dreams (Verified Cape) (New Wave)
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 10:05 AM
You're welcome, (Tin_Mother)! Even if we're open capes, that doesn't mean we want to put ourselves or our friends in danger when we're in our civvies.
(Broad_Shoulders), you owe me a hug and a kiss, too. I wanna beee frieeends. :D lol

> Tin-Mother (Admin Mod)
Posted on Jan 24, 2011, 10:05 AM
Sigh. I told (OpenMouthNoises) 5 minutes ago about openly soliciting on public boards being against the rules. Have an Infraction.

End of Page. 1, 2, 3... 29.
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Carol sat back and didn't bother trying to read any more of the message board as she clicked on the video. She watched Atlas doing exactly as he said he would, which was make his actions seem normal for what he did with his friends. She had chuckled at Clockblocker's reaction, playing it up for laughs, and making the whole thing that much better.

It really does seem normal. Carol thought and watched it again. Her eyes concentrated as she watched the various reactions of the girls he hugged and she remembered how it felt when she had hugged Atlas herself. It was the first time she had felt safe in a very long time and she suspected that was what the other girls felt as well.

Of course, Carol's mind went right to when Atlas asked her to help him adjust to the increased attention and she had grabbed his butt. It was a very nice one and felt great in her hands. She would never admit that she liked it when she squeezed and he had squeaked, giving her an unexpected little thrill that she didn't know she needed.

Carol watched the video again before she logged out of her PHO account and returned to work. Her successful settlement with the PRT had brought her credentials up at the law firm and she suspected she would be offered a better office soon. Her success was the firm's success, and a win was a win, whether it was in court or not.

As she worked, Carol couldn't stop herself from smiling, because in the back of her mind she was imagining Atlas making that delightful squeak noise again.

*

Crystal Pelham chuckled as she relaxed in her room at college. She had her feet up on her couch and used her cell phone to post on PHO to keep people talking about how Atlas was making his friends happy by showing them how much he appreciated them.

It had surprised her at first that he had been willing to go along with it, because it associated him with the dumb jocks... then she saw the video her friend's sister had sent her. Atlas was really playing it up and he was getting a much better reception than she thought he would.

“Brittany is such an attention whore.” Crystal said with a laugh and posted a message to G-StringGirl to get her talking about Atlas and how good his butt looked in his cape costume again. “It worked, though. I should send her a thank you text.”

Crystal did so and her phone beeped. She laughed at what it said. “You're still chewing the same gum? It's been hours!” She exclaimed and texted her back to tell her to save it in a plastic bag or something and she might not have to buy any more gum if the flavor wasn't going away. “I'm definitely regretting not being there in person to see all this for myself.”

She would have to wait for the weekend before she could fly back home and see the guy for herself. Crystal fully intended to become his friend, especially if the casual benefit was getting hugs like that. She paused her antagonizing the cape groupies online and texted her mom to make sure there wasn't anything going on she needed to know about. There wasn't, so she was happy.

“Four more days and I can get me some of that beefcake.” Crystal said and shared one of the many cell phone pictures she had taken during the press conference.

*

Sarah Pelham, the cape known as Lady Photon and Crystal's mother, shook her head at her daughter being so thirsty for a younger man. Then again, he was nowhere close to being little, in any respect, and she fully agreed with Panacea's proclamation that Atlas had a perfect body.

The strength in his arms when he had hugged her, reminded her of her husband, Manpower. The difference was that her husband was a foot taller than Atlas and he was a bit too beefy and large for normal things. Everything had to be custom made, even the seat in his truck, to fit his much larger body. The expense had been mitigated to some extent, thanks to the image licensing deals.

Sarah pushed those thoughts aside and went through the food she had in the refrigerator to see what she had to cook for supper. Maybe a nice roast? It's been a while. Now, do I make a lot of potatoes or go for home fries? She thought as she looked at the size of the roast and nodded. With gravy, she could make several meals out of it, including hot sandwiches for supper tomorrow.

It didn't take her long to prep the meat and add it to the large roast pan to the preheated oven. When she slid it onto the middle rack to cook, the scrape of the dish across the metal made a surprisingly familiar squeak sound. She chuckled and moved the dish to repeat the sound, laughed again, and closed the oven.

Sarah remembered how funny it had been to tease Carol about grabbing Atlas by the butt and how his mother Diane had rewarded her with a donut. She smiled at how it tasted better after that and then realized they were both stay at home mothers. She went to the wall phone and picked it up.

There wasn't much time left today to do anything before their sons came home from school; but, tomorrow was a whole different day and she was sure they could have another laugh or two. Diane was a really nice woman and they had hit it off like they had been friends for a while.

*

Dragon would have sighed if she had physical lungs. Despite her attempts to limit the knowledge of what happened with Narwhal getting out, it had spread too far for her to suppress without express orders to do so. Unfortunately, when Narwhal did manage to say something to that effect out loud, her authority had already been suspended while she was under investigation.

Thankfully, because of the nature of the cape she attacked, Bad Canary's mastering power of suggestion, there was a lot of leeway in the charges Narwhal was going to face without mitigating circumstances. The pre-existing history between Atlas and Bad Canary, namely that there wasn't one, was working in Narwhal's favor.

Things still looked really bad, especially since she hadn't called it in or consulted with the local PRT branch. Normally, her position as a director herself would have let Narwhal get away with skipping most of the regular procedures. Unfortunately, she was registered as on vacation, even confirming it with the director of the PRT ENE, and that made her actions questionable, as was her judgment.

PHO was also blowing up with the scandal of the new hero being stalked, the debate over it being Bad Canary or Narwhal was raging, a few stating it was both. Quite a few of the posters outright said Atlas was being controlled and others stated it was his little head he was thinking with, because every hero cape imagined themselves tapping the ass of a villain cape.

Dragon had quite a large amount of infractions and warnings to hand out and she knew it was only a stop-gap measure. The news had run with the story already and she could do nothing but stem the flow of responses and reactions.

Her longtime friend would have to accept she screwed up and needed to accept full responsibility. A quick message should ensure Narwhal fessed up and repented, even if she didn't want to. As long as she was perceived to be sorry about it, that was all that mattered. A reminder to show her regret was needed, as was a discreet message sent to Atlas to ask him about being controlled.

*

Paige Macabee continuously laughed while she watched Atlas at school and read everything on PHO at the same time. She couldn't resist adding a few photos taken from the drone footage to help fan the flames... the glorious flames... as half of the people jumped on defending Panacea, Glory Girl, and Narwhal, while the other half vehemently tore them apart for taking advantage of Atlas.

She couldn't have set things up this well if she had tried, and she hadn't, because she was still getting herself set up. Paige hadn't even started any of her machinations to work in her favor yet. The beneficial coincidences had been piling up for her on their own and she couldn't have been happier about it.

The chaos caused from potentially taking down a PRT director, even if it was only temporary and might end in only a suspension and her not being fired, was worth the pain she had gone through. Would she want to go through that again? Absolutely not! Breaking her arm and her leg was excruciatingly painful and only Atlas being there to save her again had stopped her from passing out.

Paige did feel surprisingly free of any aches or pains and she had been full of energy all day. She had even called to speed up the delivery of the soundproof reinforced door for the studio. The urge to start singing and share her opinions was burning inside of her and she wanted to get them out.

She watched the morning clip again where Atlas called Panacea out for only dating him for being a jock, making herself laugh again, and she posted another picture. She couldn't resist showing Atlas without his shirt on and commenting that hugs without a shirt in the way were the best.

The Cape Life thread blew up after that and the picture had almost five hundred downloads before the mods took it down to reduce the site's traffic. It didn't work, because it popped up on several other threads, actually increasing the traffic instead, then that Wiki Warrior girl added it to the info page for Atlas.

That reminded her to let it slip he had triggered again when she had been attacked in her home and how Atlas now had healing powers.

Paige laughed and watched as the posts doubled in intensity and number as they begged for more details. She couldn't resist teasing them by saying she wasn't allowed to comment on an open investigation, then shocked them by posting a picture of herself with a clearly twisted arm and leg and another with both looking normal.

Ten minutes later when school let out, Paige laughed again when Atlas sent her a cell phone picture of Amy's and Vicky's shocked faces. They had both checked their phones and found out his new ability and he left before they could go after him.

“Yes, it was worth it.” Paige said and texted him the same thing.

Greg sent her a heart emoji in response and she asked him to say hello to his mother for her.

Paige put the cell phone down and went back to PHO and watched it explode, now that there were a whole bunch of teenagers online. She settled back on her chair and watched the flame wars as the mods did their best to not let them get out of control, which kept her laughing for a long time.

THIS CHAPTER UPLOAD FIRST AT NOVELBIN.COM