A Shining Beacon in a World of Shade (A Super Hero Riot Quest)
Heroism. What truly defines a hero—or a villain for that matter? Is it the bright capes, the larger-than-life costumes, or the inflexible moral codes that guide their every move? Perhaps it's the over-the-top villains with elaborate schemes who never seem to learn from their mistakes?
No, none of that truly captures it. At the heart of it, many so-called "heroes" are unpaid, unofficially deputized civil servants. They're the ones stuck dealing with the never-ending insanity of modern life while trying to harness powers that are, quite frankly, far beyond any human's pay grade. And on top of all that? They have to navigate the ever-watchful eye of the media.
It's nothing new either. Look back to the first great era of superheroes in the 1880s—those pioneers had it rough. They weren't just fighting crime; they were fighting a war on another front: public perception. They had to contend with the relentless yellow journalism of Hearst's newspapers. Every flaw, every slip-up was magnified and exploited. Heroes were made to look like bumbling fools or, worse, reckless dangers to society. At least two of those early legends ended up in asylums, driven mad by the pressure.
So you want to be a superhero, a villain, or something in between?
Good luck, kid. Because if your enemies don't get you, if the cops don't put you in cuffs, there's one thing that will— the media. It can make you or break you, and once it gets its claws in, it won't let go.
But thats part of being a Hero…getting up and doing it anyway because its the right thing to do.
Even if the world treats you like garbage.
But of course Sunny even you have to admit, its a brave new world out there.
[]The Golden Age of Superheroes (1930-1950): It is the Dawn of what is to be known as a golden age, as common people, heroics and masked vigilantes prowl the cities and states as the birth cries of the Ideal was born in this trying time.
If you choose the Golden Age: What Year do you choose?
[]The Brand New Day (1930)
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 hit like a hammer, leaving the world reeling in its wake. Half the globe went bust overnight, fortunes were lost, and the streets filled with desperate souls fighting to survive in the dark, unforgiving alleys of the cities.
Mobs of prowlers—dispossessed workers, criminals, and vigilantes—roam the streets, clashing with law enforcement and each other, while two-fisted bruisers, those tough-as-nails types, try to restore order by any means necessary. These meatheads, driven by a sense of justice or sheer survival, are out there busting skulls, hoping to slow the fall of society. But no matter how hard they fight, the tides of change are relentless.
Yet, despite the doom and gloom, there's an undeniable sense that the world is standing on the precipice of something bigger. The old order is crumbling, but in its place, something new and strange is beginning to stir. The winds of revolution, innovation, and untamed potential are sweeping across the world. Things are about to change forever.
And no one—neither the thugs prowling the streets nor the idealistic crusaders—is ready for what's coming next.
[]One Golden Morning (1938): Can you believe it? A guy in Minnesota—of all places—can fly! And no, it's not magic or some high-flying contraption strapped to his back (at least, that's what people are saying). He's a genuine man soaring through the skies under his own power, defying the laws of nature. Word is spreading like wildfire, and now the whole world is losing its collective mind.
Suddenly, it's not just this one guy. Capes—people with strange powers, abilities beyond the ordinary—are emerging from every corner of the globe. Men and women with abilities no one ever dreamed were possible. Some can lift cars like they're made of paper, others can vanish into thin air or shoot fire from their fingertips. It's like the world has flipped upside down overnight.
Now, every major city has its own "local hero" or "mysterious vigilante." The press is eating it up, and the public can't get enough. Politicians are scrambling to understand what this means, scientists are baffled, and the military...well, they're paying close attention. Everyone—governments, corporations, everyday folks—wants a piece of the action. It feels like humanity has crossed a threshold into something new and unbelievable.
And with this new dawn, it seems the golden age of heroes has begun. What will this mean for the world? No one knows yet, but one thing's for sure—nothing will ever be the same again.
[]A War to End It All (1939-1945): The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our life-time", War has returned to the world after 20 years of an unstable peace. It is time to bring back light to a world shrouded in Darkness.
-[]Write in What Year you start in.
[]The Silver Age (1960-1975): The Childhood of Superheroes, where people start to show strange superpowers, silly gimmicks and...The Cold War, with the threat of Nuclear War and other situations even the elders could not predict.
[]Camelot (1960)
After the paranoia and fear of the McCarthy era in the 1950s, America was ready for a change—a breath of fresh air. That came in the form of John F. Kennedy stepping into the White House, a young, charismatic leader bringing a new wave of optimism. For the first time in years, there was a sense that maybe the chaotic tides of the Cold War could be calmed. Kennedy's "Camelot" promised a bright future, one full of hope, progress, and peace.
But beneath that hopeful veneer, a storm was brewing. The American Friends of Justice Society, a group of heroes that had stood the test of time since before the end of the World Wars, was now entering its twilight years. Many of its founding members were aging, some retiring, while others had already hung up their capes. Yet, despite their longevity, they could sense that the world was changing—and not for the better.
As the Justice Society struggled to stay relevant, a new and far more sinister threat emerged: a unified and organized supervillain response. For years, individual villains had caused havoc, each with their own personal agendas. But now, in a world becoming ever more complex and intertwined, they too had adapted. A League of Villains had formed, pooling their resources, skills, and malevolent desires to disrupt the fragile peace of this so-called new era.
This shadowy cabal, emboldened by the cracks in the global order, had plans that extended far beyond mere bank heists or personal revenge. Their machinations stretched into politics, corporate sabotage, and even the Cold War's simmering tensions. The world was no longer just a battleground for heroes and villains—it had become a chessboard, and the stakes had never been higher.
Camelot, this era of newfound hope and potential, now stood at the precipice of a dangerous new conflict. Could JFK's optimism and the fading power of the Justice Society hold back the rising tide of villainy, or would the League of Villains usher in a new age of chaos? As the heroes of old faced their greatest challenge yet, the world waited, breathless, to see if Camelot's bright flame could withstand the encroaching darkness.
[]Good Morning Vietnam (1965)
When the United States plunged into the quagmire of Southeast Asia, it did so with the resolve to stop the spread of communism, sending its best and brightest sons to fight in the jungles of Vietnam. But as the war dragged on, what was once seen as a noble cause became a divisive, deeply unpopular conflict back home. America was splintering, and while its heroes fought abroad, its shadows grew darker at home.
With many of the nation's top heroes deployed overseas, a dangerous power vacuum formed on American soil. The streets that had once been protected by the vigilant watch of super-powered guardians were now open to chaos. Into that void stepped those who had been waiting for their moment—the supervillains, the rogues, and the malcontents of society. With fewer heroes to stand in their way, they saw an opportunity to reshape the status quo and push their own dark agendas.
As war raged in Vietnam, a different kind of battle ignited in the United States. The cities became battlegrounds where crime flourished and corruption seeped into the highest ranks of power. Supervillains, emboldened by the absence of their heroic counterparts, began to organize. Unlike the small-time crooks of the past, these new villains were strategic, motivated by more than greed—they wanted control, influence, and domination over a world weakened by war.
From the shadows, they rose to prominence. Some controlled entire cities, while others infiltrated government agencies, manipulating the public and swaying the tides of political power. Their methods ranged from overt terror to subtle manipulation, all aimed at reshaping the fractured nation to their own desires. The social unrest of the era—the civil rights movement, anti-war protests, and generational divide—only served to fuel their rise. They thrived in the chaos, using fear, misinformation, and their powers to further divide an already fractured country.
In Vietnam, the soldiers faced an invisible enemy in the thick jungles, but back home, the remaining heroes were outnumbered and overwhelmed. The few who stayed behind fought tirelessly to hold the line, but the villains had grown bold, forming alliances and building empires in the absence of strong opposition.
As the war dragged on and the nation's morale plummeted, a question loomed over America: Could the few remaining heroes rise to the occasion and stop the tide of villainy threatening to engulf the homeland, or would the country's internal enemies succeed in changing the status quo forever?
The battle for Vietnam was brutal, but the battle for America's soul was just beginning.
[]Feet of Bronze (1975):
Ten long years. The Vietnam War may have ended, but the scars it left upon the world festered, deepening into open sores that refused to heal. As fires of unrest and conflict spread across the globe, the Cold War entered a new phase of unpredictable madness. From the bloodied streets of Saigon to the colonial wars igniting across Africa, a new generation was swept up into the ever-growing fires of war and conquest, fighting battles they scarcely understood but could not escape.
In Africa, the collapse of colonial empires fueled intense regional conflicts. Independence movements collided with the interests of powerful global players, including new super-powered factions rising amidst the chaos. Old powers desperately clung to their fading influence while local warlords, sometimes backed by villains, gained control.
Meanwhile, Europe found itself in the midst of its own battle. The rising supervillain cartel, known as the Krauserman Circle, launched a covert war against the European Economic Community's heroic Europa League, a collection of European heroes determined to hold the line against villainous ambitions. This underground conflict blurred the lines between espionage and open warfare, as supervillains used their vast resources and powerful connections to destabilize the continent. The Europa League struggled not only against villains but also against their own governments, who were torn between public safety and Cold War politics.
In America, the post-Vietnam era was marked by disillusionment and cynicism. The once-proud Friends of Justice Society, the nation's largest superhero group, found itself crumbling under the weight of scandals and black ops secrets from the war years coming to light. Once hailed as protectors of the American Dream, their covert involvement in morally dubious operations had shattered public trust. Accusations of corruption and cover-ups sent shockwaves through the media, leading to an unprecedented decline in their prestige. One by one, the members left or vanished, leaving cities vulnerable to the swelling ranks of supervillains who saw the chaos as an opportunity to seize power.
Major cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles turned into battlegrounds, with the remaining heroes spread thin. Crime syndicates, supervillain coalitions, and street gangs, empowered by newfound freedom, fought for control. At the same time, a new wave of South and Central American heroes emerged, fueled by the rise of drug cartels and political instability. In cities like Mexico City, Bogotá, and Buenos Aires, these new champions fought a different kind of war—one against the cartels that now wielded super-powered enforcers as their muscle. While these heroes were younger and less experienced, they carried the hope of their nations on their shoulders, determined to protect their people from both local and foreign powers.
Across the Atlantic, the USSR's Soviet of Superhuman Affairs observed the turmoil with cold, calculating precision. In the chessboard of global power, they had their own pawns to move. As the West struggled with its internal divisions and rising villainy, the Soviets plotted their next moves, manipulating conflicts and pulling strings to expand their influence in the shadows. They funded supervillains in Africa and Latin America while working on their own power plays behind the Iron Curtain, keeping their true intentions hidden from the world.
For the first time in history, the world seemed to teeter on the brink of chaos—caught between the ambitions of supervillains, the moral failings of its heroes, and the deadly games of global politics. Schemes and plots that had been quietly simmering for decades were finally coming to fruition, as the world's super-powered elite prepared for the ultimate clash of ideologies. But with heroes faltering and villains rising, the world's future hung in the balance.
1975 marked the dawn of a new age of uncertainty—an era where even the strongest were tarnished, their once-bronze feet showing cracks, threatening to shatter under the weight of their responsibilities. The question was no longer how to win, but whether anything could still be saved.
[]The Crisis of Terra SOL (1979-1986): Arthur C. Clarke said that we were either alone in the Universe, or we were not...it seems we were not alone, and it was terrifying to witness the might Mankind battled to maintain its existence as a species.
**First Contact (1979)**
It came on a cold spring morning, without warning, as a massive, shimmering alien craft appeared over the city of Los Angeles. The ship, a towering monolith of unknown origin, loomed in the sky like a silent judgment. It was here for a purpose: to find a lost probe that had gone missing decades ago. That probe, as human history recorded, had been destroyed during the "Battle of Los Angeles" in 1942. But the truth was more damning—the probe hadn't simply been lost or malfunctioned. It had been destroyed by humans.
The aliens took exception to that.
Their response was swift, their judgment harsher than any punishment humanity could have imagined. As their demands for reparations went unanswered, the skies darkened, and the first wave of retribution descended upon the Earth. What began in Los Angeles quickly spread, as other cities across the globe reported sightings of strange, menacing creatures from beyond the stars. These beings were not just extraterrestrials; they were soldiers, invaders, bringing with them war machines far beyond human comprehension.
And then the cities burned.
From the East to the West, the first attacks came like a scythe, cutting through Earth's defenses with terrifying precision. Los Angeles was the first to fall, but soon Tokyo, Moscow, London, and New York were under siege. The invaders didn't stop at simple destruction. They targeted Earth's greatest champions—its heroes, the protectors who had long stood against threats both mundane and supernatural. Superhumans, mutants, technological savants, and magical defenders alike rose to meet the challenge, but they were outmatched. One by one, Earth's greatest fell. Some were vaporized in the streets, others were cut down in fierce aerial dogfights, and still more were overwhelmed by the alien foot soldiers.
The once-proud cities of Earth became battlefields. Skyscrapers crumbled into dust, landmarks that had stood for centuries were erased in seconds, and millions of people were forced to flee or fight for survival. The initial onslaught was so devastating, so thorough, that it left the world reeling. Governments struggled to communicate, to mobilize, but the aliens had crippled global infrastructure, and panic set in like wildfire.
But that was just the first wave.
As humanity gathered what was left of its strength, trying desperately to understand their enemy, a sobering truth settled in: this was only the beginning. The aliens weren't simply here for vengeance. This was an invasion, a calculated attack that would pave the way for a much larger, more devastating force. Their technology, their strategies, their sheer power—it all suggested that Earth was just one small part of a much larger galactic conflict.
The surviving heroes and world leaders knew the worst was yet to come. The invaders would return, in even greater numbers, and this time, humanity might not survive. The world teetered on the edge of extinction.
Yet, amidst the destruction and death, a flicker of hope remained. Small pockets of resistance began to form. Survivors, both civilian and superhuman, banded together, determined to fight back against the overwhelming threat. Scientists and engineers worked around the clock to reverse-engineer alien technology. Military forces from every nation scrambled to rebuild their defenses. And the few remaining heroes—those who had survived the first onslaught—gathered in secret, plotting their counterattack.
They knew the invaders would return. The only question was whether humanity would be ready. As the world watched the skies, waiting for the inevitable, one thing was certain: the second wave was coming, and with it, the fate of the Earth would be decided.
[]The Broken Ones (1983)
It has been almost five years of near-constant fighting against the alien menace. In the early days of the war, humanity clung to the hope that they could somehow repel the invaders. Defectors from the alien ranks, offering critical intelligence and advanced technology, had given the defenders a glimmer of optimism. Heroes and soldiers alike banded together in unprecedented alliances, and for a brief moment, it seemed as though the tide of war was turning in humanity's favor. A few key victories bolstered morale, and the defiant roar of Earth's resistance echoed across continents.
But then came the Dakota Incident.
In the heart of the American Midwest, a battalion of Earth's best—the combined might of military, superhumans, and defected alien allies—had gathered to launch a decisive strike. The goal: disrupt the alien supply lines and cripple their foothold on the planet. It was a plan built on hope, ingenuity, and desperation. But it was also a trap. The aliens had anticipated every move.
From the ashes of that battle came the beginning of the end. The alien forces unleashed something beyond anything humanity had ever seen before: **The Big Guns**. They no longer sent foot soldiers or standard war machines. Instead, they brought forth twisted, bio-engineered monstrosities—mutants forged in laboratories so advanced that their very existence seemed to defy the laws of biology and physics. These creatures were nightmares given flesh, towering over the battlefield with grotesque bodies that could absorb bullets, withstand superhuman blows, and regenerate from any injury. Each one was a living weapon, designed with the sole purpose of annihilation.
But it wasn't just mutants. The enemy's robotic automatons, once clunky and predictable, were now sleek, precise, and utterly relentless. These machines operated with cold, calculating efficiency. They tore through Earth's forces with ease, wielding weapons that turned entire cities to dust. The skies were filled with alien dreadnoughts that could rain fire from the heavens, while the ground shook with the march of mechanized titans. Weapons that warped reality, ripped apart matter at the atomic level, and bent the very laws of nature were now in play.
Humanity screamed back in defiance, but it was no longer the rallying cry of a united force. Now, it was the desperate scream of the broken.
The world that had once stood tall and defiant was now scarred beyond recognition. The cities that had been symbols of human resilience were craters, their ruins crawling with the remains of failed defenses. What few heroes remained found themselves stretched too thin, battling both their own dwindling numbers and the overwhelming power of the alien forces. The once proud armies of Earth were now fractured into guerrilla units, scraping together whatever resources they could to keep fighting.
Even Earth's superhumans—the greatest defenders of the planet—were beginning to falter. Some had been captured, their powers twisted and perverted by the aliens for their own ends. Others had simply disappeared, their fates unknown. Those who remained were weary, haunted by the endless war, and the knowledge that they were losing.
The Dakota Incident had been the turning point. What was supposed to be a victory had turned to ash, and the aliens' new weapons had shattered Earth's defenses. The confidence, the hope that had once driven humanity forward, was now a distant memory.
But even as the world burned, humanity did not give up. The defiance was still there, though now it came from the broken ones—the survivors who had nothing left to lose. In the ruins of the cities, underground resistance movements began to form. Scientists and engineers, working in secret labs, pushed the limits of human technology, desperate to find a way to level the playing field. Heroes, battered and scarred, continued to fight, knowing that even if they could not win, they could still make the invaders bleed.
The war had taken everything from them—cities, families, lives—but it had not taken their will to survive. Now, the fight was not about winning. It was about enduring. Humanity's survival depended not on victory, but on their ability to outlast the storm, to find strength in the face of overwhelming odds.
The Broken Ones, as they were now called, were the last line of defense. They were no longer fighting for glory or honor, but simply for the right to exist in a world that had been ravaged by forces beyond their control. They would scream into the void, fight until their last breath, and even if the war ended with the extinction of the human race, they would ensure that the aliens remembered who they were up against.
The enemy had brought the big guns. Now, it was time for humanity to dig in, fight dirty, and prove that even in the face of annihilation, they would not go quietly.
AN: My Hunger Games quest died due to lack of Notes and interest, Hopefully keeping track of individuals will be easier.
It isn't finished yet though any feedback is apritiated.
had to dust off some old quests to find stuff.