Prompt: NONCANON- Cassidy’s identity is accidentally revealed on video, leading to a conversation on the SPHERE forum
Lasers!? Who the hell told this guy that Touched were allowed to run around with laser powers? It was just rude, unsportsmanlike, and dangerous, that’s what it was. Absolutely too dangerous for someone like that to be trusted with. Paintball had half a mind to find someone to report the Fell to. That was bad enough that he might just get arrest-- oh yeah, right.
Yes, Paintball was perfectly aware that they were only making these wisecracks to themself just to hide from their own terror while doing their level best to avoid being lasered through the chest. Or any other valuable part of their body, which they were absolutely going to say was ‘all of it.’
The problem was, their orange paint wasn’t up to handling the sort of damage this guy could dish out with the bright green beams he kept projecting from his hands. And neither were the cars, streetlights, mailboxes, and everything else he kept vaporizing while trying to hit them.
This was bad. They had to put this guy down before he killed someone. But every time they tried to hit him with paint, he just instantly burned it off with a wide-beam laser pulse that came out of his entire body. It was the same thing that was making it hard to get close enough to smack him.
As the latest three-foot-wide death beam came their way, they gave a sharp, blurted curse that would’ve made everyone who thought they were a young child do a doubletake. Just before it hit, Paintball was already flinging themself from the roof of one car, all the way to the wall of the building on the far side of the pharmacy parking lot they had been fighting this guy in. But they didn’t stay there long, immediately using blue paint to rebound off it before he could track the laser after them. Yup, definitely bad, definitely dangerous. And definitely time to stop this prick.
Tempting as it was to use the blue-orange paint combination that would’ve reflected the damage right back to him, they didn’t actually know how much his own laser could hurt him. If they did that and the guy just outright died, it… it’d be bad. No, they wouldn’t do that. It wasn’t who they were. This guy needed to be stopped and arrested, not murdered. Not even karmically, by his own power. They were going to put this guy on the ground and take him in safely… somehow.
Okay, okay, they could do this. They just had to-- oh shit! Seeing the next laser coming much sooner than expected, Paintball instantly used a red-blue shot of paint to yank themself straight down. At the same time, their other hand sent a shot of red toward the motorcycle that was just lying haphazardly on its side a short distance behind the asshole throwing around all the lasers.
The worst part of all this-- okay, maybe not the worst, but up there, was that they had no idea who this guy even was. He was wearing a brown trenchcoat with what looked like armor panels on it, and some sort of fancy welder’s mask. Paintball had just come across him doing his best to laser his way into an ATM, and then all this shit sort of erupted when they tried to stop him.
A sharp, burning pain hit the top of their head while they were using that paint to yank themself down. At the same time, they heard a heavy thud, followed by a grunt and loud curse. Then the ground came up to smack them hard in the chest, even as a much louder crashing sound of a very heavy metallic thing slamming into another heavy metallic thing filled the air. Between the pain, surprise, and all the loud noises, it was just complete chaos for those few brief seconds.
Of course, the real problem with fighting someone who could shoot lasers (or fighting anyone, to be honest), was that you couldn’t just lay on the ground taking your sweet time recovering, no matter how much you just wanted to call a quick timeout. Even as they were still struggling to suck in air from the force of having it partially knocked out of them when they’d hit the pavement, Paintball was already forcing themself to spring back to their feet. They were ready to launch themself in one direction or another, as soon as they saw where the threat was coming from.
Except, as it turned out, the threat wasn’t coming from anywhere. The man who had been throwing all those lasers around was lying on his side, dazed and groaning in pain. And the motorcycle they had hit with that red paint… well, apparently they had actually followed through with using more paint to yank it toward them, because it was lying in a heap on top of the hood and halfway through the broken windshield of the car it was flung into. A flight that had clearly made it crash through the laser-man in the process. That was what all that noise had been. They literally hit him with a motorcycle. Now the guy was on the ground, and definitely in no shape (physically or mentally) to do more fighting. Or much of anything beyond whining in pain.
Seeing that, and realizing the fight was over, Paintball slumped over with a groan. They let themself breathe in and out a couple times, panting heavily. That was almost really bad. This guy was a real pain in the-- oh, shit, right. Speaking of the guy being a pain in the ass, it was time to lock him down, before he ended up recovering and started throwing lasers around again.
Fortunately, staydown cuffs were made of some special material that resisted damage, even from something like that. At the very least, they should hold long enough for Paintball (or the cops who came to pick him up) to do something about it if he started trying to cut his way free.
Kneeling down to put the cuffs on him, Cassidy couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. They’d been moving in a bit of a daze the whole time, ever since they leapt back to their feet. That pain in their head was still somewhat there, but they’d been pushing it to the side until they were sure this guy wasn’t about to make everything much worse. But now that the cuffs were on him, and he was about as contained as he could be, that anxious feeling wasn’t any better. In fact, it felt worse. The hair on the back of their neck was standing up. What the hell?
Ugh, the pain in their head. That last laser came way too close. Reaching up, Cassidy ran a hand gingerly through their short hair, carefully avoiding touching the slight burn across their forehead. Even bringing their fingers that close was enough to make them hiss a little. They were almost afraid to ask what they were going to see when they looked in a mirror. Sure, Sierra could help with a little healing before they went home and faced their parents, but it was... still… a…
Wait. Suddenly going rigid, Cassidy stared straight at the ground without actually seeing it. Their hand rose, and they looked at their fingers for a moment before swallowing as they very slowly moved the hand up once more. This time, the gingerness they used when touching their hair had little to do with the potential pain. No, this was about something else. They touched their hair. Their hand moved down to very lightly touch their forehead, feeling the slight burn there.
They were touching their hair. They were touching their face. Not the helmet. Not the mask. Just hair and skin. The slight breeze softly stinging their skin, that was what had felt so wrong before.
Slowly turning, Cassidy found themself staring at the broken remains of their helmet, along with a few charred pieces of mask, lying on the ground a few feet away. For a moment, they just stared at that, before breathing out. Okay, right, that wasn’t great. But the laser guy was in no shape to start memorizing what they looked like, and he was facedown on the pavement anyway. It wasn’t the end of the world. They could still salvage this. All they had to do was head up to the roof and be out of sight before the cops showed up to take this guy in, and then they could go--
A sound made Cassidy quickly snap their gaze up, and they found themself staring blankly at someone leaning out one of the windows of the nearby building. It took a solid three seconds or so for them to realize this person was holding up their phone. Their phone with the camera on it. The camera phone that was actively pointed at them, while the person excitedly rambled on to what sounded like other people. Other people… on the livestream they were connected to. Oh.
The man with the lasers was forgotten entirely, as was any thought of waiting for the authorities, or for anyone else. Through the lingering daze mixed with the shock of what was happening, only one thing, one thought, managed to penetrate. Run. Run away. Run the fuck away now.
So, that’s what they did. One hand snapped upward to send a shot of rainbow paint to the roof of the building, and just like that, they were there. Reforming to their solid self, Cassidy was running. The pain was gone, or just ignored by that point. It had been completely overshadowed by the siren of panic that was blaring through their mind. No, no, no, this wasn’t real, it wasn’t happening. That wasn’t a phone broadcasting their face, their uncovered face, to the internet.
Paige. She could help, she could fix it, she could-- she could get into the internet and do a Biolem thing to delete the files. That could-- they could fix this, they could shut it down, right? This was-- this wasn’t how everything would fall apart, they could still salvage it, they could--
Stop running and use your phone, idiot! The thought slammed into them, making Cassidy come up short, skidding to a halt while fumbling for the phone. Please, please, fuck, fuck! Why couldn’t they hold it properly? They were panicking, wheezing, almost dropping the phone off the side of the roof before managing to get a grip on it. Tears stung their eyes, but they blinked them away and hurriedly found the button to call Paige. She could help. She would help. She would solve it.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
************************
Paige couldn’t solve it.
<> Topic — Paintball Video (Boards – Places – United States – Michigan – Events)
4D-Daniel (Moderator – Original Poster)
Posted on June 27th, 2020:
Let us be very clear about this, so no one can claim any confusion. The event revolving around what happened with Paintball yesterday may be discussed here and only here, in this thread. You may talk about things such as the apparent age confusion, or any other public information. What you may not do is post any images or video taken from that camera footage. You may not repeat the name that has been spreading around. Yes, we are aware that the name has been repeated enough times that you must be living under a rock to not know it. But this person is still a minor, and has some right to privacy. Our forum will not contribute to spreading their identity, even if SEEKTRUTH ‘news’ has no qualms against plastering their face all over the front page of their website. There is a zero tolerance policy in place for this as of now. Please, don’t push it.
(Showing page 87 of 94, displaying ten posts per page)
—> Roxelk
Replied on June 29th, 2020
Okay, hang on, I thought this whole thing was all just a weird prank or something. Are you people actually telling me this was a real identity leak? How did that happen? Something about a video? How do we know it’s not photoshop or AI or something? They can do some pretty impressive stuff with that shit these days, even before you add in Touched-Tech. I think you could probably make Paintball look like Bob Denver if you wanted to, and put enough work and skill into it. I’m just saying, personally, I’d take any video evidence with a few truckloads of salt.
—> Crematen
Replied on June 29th, 2020
It’s real, dude. Some guy had his phone out record a fight Paintball was in. The helmet got blown off and the video caught (not sure if using a pronoun is against the rules here, mods?) Paintball’s face totally uncovered. The guy was only livestreaming to a few people, but he sold the video to those SEEKTRUTH dipshits and they plastered it all over their site, like the first post says. They’ll be sued into the ground for it, especially if… uh, again, not sure if I can say the next part without breaking the rules. Let’s just say if certain things are true about the identity, I wouldn’t be shocked if SEEKTRUTH doesn’t exist anymore in a few weeks. Hope it was worth it, you selfish fucks. Thanks for making me root for a (Redacted by mods) just cuz you couldn’t exercise some basic common fucking sense when it comes to releasing the identity of a minor.
—> Steampunk Mechanoid
Replied on June 29th, 2020
This is silly, how are we supposed to discuss this whole thing and just who Paintball is without actually talking about, you know, who Paintball is? The information is out there already, it’s public. There’s news stories about what happened, and you only have to Google for like three seconds before you get the name. What, exactly, is forcing us to tiptoe around things by not saying the name actually accomplishing? And not even using the right pronoun, just cuz that’s part of the secret too? How hard is it for anyone who doesn’t know the truth to figure out the pronoun part just from the fact that we’re avoiding saying it? I feel bad about what happened too. It’s bullshit, and SEEKTRUTH should be taken for all they’re worth, but this is just weird.
—> Flaboran
Replied on June 29th, 2020
You’re not wrong, it’s a bit like trying to use your fingers to plug a damn that just had a truck drive through it. But given the nature of who we’re talking about, I’d say the admins are just covering their butts in case you-know-who decides to sue absolutely everyone who even said their names. If the hammer comes down, it’ll probably help keep the lights on around here if they can point to the fact that they’re enforcing the rule not to talk about it, and being really strict on that. That said, I think we can still stay within the general rules if we use the right pronoun, since the first post says we can discuss the age thing. We can talk in general terms, we just can’t give the name that’s floating around, or share any of the actual video. Mods, could you clarify that?
—> 4D-Daniel (Moderator – Original Poster)
Replied on June 29th, 2020
This is correct, yes. You are allowed to discuss things such as the event itself, the apparent age and/or gender discrepancy, and general things like that. Try looking at it this way, you are all allowed to discuss anything that would be readily apparent if Paintball appeared while wearing a mask and normal clothes. No names, no pictures from the video, nothing personally identifying. The mods will be watching this thread closely, and if we have to intervene too many times, we’ll shut down all discussion about it completely. Just please use your common sense. This is about protecting the secret identity of a minor. And yes, it’s also about potential legal complications as well.
—> Infinity-AFullyCookedVegetable
Replied on June 29th, 2020
Right, right, so, avoiding any specifics, this means Paintball has been a girl the whole time. You know, barring some wild Touched-Tech or shapeshifting nonsense. Is it better that the person we thought was a twelve-year-old boy is actually a… mumble mumble years older teen girl? I know that probably sounds sexist, but that’s not what I mean. I’m just talking about the age bit, mainly. My first impulse was to be glad it wasn’t really a little kid going through all that stuff with Pencil and then Casura, to say nothing of everything else. But does adding a few years make it that much better? She’s still a kid if you think about it. And I feel like someone who (Deleted By Mod - Easy mistake, but please be careful on using any identifying information at all). But she’s still been out there helping people, jumping into shit that, let’s face it, most of us would run from.
—> EloquentMuse
Replied on June 29th, 2020
Dude, I don’t care if she’s a boy, a girl, a teenager, a kid, or twenty-five years old, she’s been doing shit out there that would terrify absolutely anyone, unless you’re just broken inside or something. Wherever she came from and whoever she might be under that helmet, in my mind she’s always been one of the best heroes Detroit has. Seriously, people, didn’t she start this whole Star-Touched career by finding a bunch of vials to save some little kid’s life? And had to tangle with Cuélebre in the process. Like, Week One: fight Cuélebre. And then she keeps going back out there to do it some more? Cuélebre, Pencil, Casura, and who knows what or who else? This kid--teen--whatever has been putting herself on the line this whole time, just to save lives.
—> Vanessa
Replied on June 29th, 2020
Yeah, I don't think there's anyone out there who is seriously going to say she isn't brave. There might be someone who uses certain information we can't talk about to downplay that bravery by trying to say she had access to stuff, like healing and weapons that no one else would have. Hell, I’ve already seen some people say some of that stuff was fake, or blown out of proportion. Or they bring up that the kid Paintball was saving those medicine vials for was supposedly Blackjack’s own daughter, though I don’t know if that was ever actually confirmed. And yes, I know all of that is tiptoeing really close to the line, mods, but I think I'm still on this side of it.
Anyway, there's people out there who might try to say she doesn't deserve as much credit as a person from a different situation might get. In fact, I know they will, because I've already seen people throwing that bullshit around on other sites. If you want to maintain any semblance of faith in humanity, do not go anywhere near Reddit on this subject. They’re animals over there, and the modding isn’t nearly as careful. I’ve already seen some discussion on this subject that I wish I could bleach out of my brain. Three different subs have already been completely locked over there. I would be surprised if some of those comments don’t get the FBI called on them. Once they’re done legally nuking SEEKTRUTH until there’s nothing left of them on the internet.
—> OnceWereWarriors
Replied on June 29th, 2020
I mean, if Paintball had access to what people think she had access to just because of the stuff we can’t talk about on here, do you all think she’d be running around in what looks like a twenty dollar pair of coveralls? She would’ve shown up with all the latest, fanciest crap right off the bat.
And @Vanessa, nothing left of them on the Internet, huh? Well, I guess this whole situation hasn't been a total loss, if it means we fight be able to get rid of those fucks. Actually, if you add in getting those certain Reddit communities banned, that’s two big wins. See, Paintball’s making the world better even now. Now if only she could do something about 4chan, I’d nominate her to join Armistice.
Wait, no, never mind. Forget I said that. No one deserves to have to deal with 4chan. She’s been through too much as it is.
But hey, if we can’t talk about sensitive details (fair enough), can I at least say I’m sorry she has to deal with all this right now? Whatever’s going on over there, I think it’s safe to assume her normal life is over now, no matter how much people try to shove the genie back into the bottle.
—> Paintball (Verified)
Replied on June 29th, 2020
Thanks for not putting the responsibility of dealing with 4chan on my shoulders. And for future information, I prefer to answer to they/them.
I will not be responding to any more questions at this time, on the advice of my lawyer, Qwerty.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 … 86, 87, 88 …. 92, 93, 94
Joke Tags: I Sure Hope Those SEEKTRUTH People Enjoyed Having Access To Computers While They Did? Cuz The Evans Are About To Sue Them So Hard They’ll End Up Back In The Victorian Age
And hey all, here’s a list of the users on the SPHERE forum plus the real world readers the names were based on! If you were not included, PLEASE do not take that as any sort of slight, I tend to choose at random by looking at Discord chats and comments on either WordPress or Royal Road)
Previously Established Adjusted Real World Readers Identities
4D-Daniel - Danel4d
Crematen - aNetmerc
Steampunk Mechanoid - Clockwork automaton
Flaboran - Blaforan
EloquentMuse - Clliope
OnceWereWarriors - Tamahori
NEW REAL WORLD READER IDENTITIES TO THIS CHAPTER
Roxelk - Klexor
Infinity-AFullyCookedVegetable - nil (the raw meatball)
Vanessa - PotatoApostle
And hey, you want something new to read, check out the story below!
