There is an out of lore reason to but at the risk of spoiling Sammy story line I don't want to say to much.
An Age Of Heroes Or Darkness: A Meta Human Timeline
- Thread starter Mr.Gatsby
- Start date
- Timeline
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- Tags
- original supernatural
Captain Slaughter Says Your Gender Is Valid
Panic Grips Atlanta After A Series Deadly Shooting Between Klan Groups And Unknown Actors Believed To Be Tied With The Revenant Or Black Street Gangs
-Fox News December 12th, 2024
A Dark Winter? The Economy Still Hasn't Recovered From The 2020 Crash, And Some Experts Believe It May Get Worse.
-The Economist December 12th, 2024
How Russia's War In Ukraine Is Leading To Fighting Between Oil Pirates In Nigeria's Delta.
-The Atlantic December 12th, 2024
"I don't understand why people are getting mad at me for mocking some dead klansmen and a little hood in training. It's not like they are actual people."
-Draco King IG live stream December 12th, 2024
McDonald's To Roll Out Plant Base McRib In Wake Of Swine Shortage.
-Chew Boom December 12th, 2024
As Ward Industries Pulls Out Of Their Finial Weapons Contracts With The US Military, Maxim Crop Has Begun To Fill In The Gap.
-The Atlantic December 12, 2024
The Legends Of The Miami "Racer"
-Last Podcast On The Left December 12th, 2024
The Europeans never truly left the dark ages; they expanded it worldwide. Our enemy has no true culture of civilization of their own that is why they take from others.
-Emma Alkebulan (twitter) December 12th, 2024
"I can't say much right now, but yes, I am in talks with Viacom, but this rumor about me selling New Moons News is flat out not true; it's making way too much of a profit for that to happen. Anyway, I heard they were making a Wonder Woman and Nubia cartoon for BET, which sounds fun."
-Ace Ward, when asked about his recent talks with Viacom on December 12th, 2024
"Draco King and others like her who promote this vile thug music caused more gun crime than any law-abiding gun owner ever had."
-Mansfield Fox News December 12th, 2024
Tracking Ron DeSantis Descent Into Election Madness
-New Moons News December 12th, 2024
BreakingNews: Gunman Attempting To Enter A Black Church Where Controversial Activist Imani V Clair Was Speaking Shot Dead By Armed Guards.
-CNN December 12th, 2024
"Wanted For Anti-American Terrorism: Black Power"
-Patriot Front Propaganda Chicago December 12th, 2024
Ms.Amerika Iconic New Suit.
-TeenPeople December 12th, 2024
The attempted killing of me today has only proven me right in that no one is coming to save Black people but ourselves. Organize, feed, and defend your hood, people. Protect the block at all times, and by any means!"
-Imani V Clair December 12th, 2024
TW/CW: Censored Footage Of The Aftermath Of Alleged Fight Between Skinwalker and Neo Nazi Bikers.
-Red Fist (Twitter) December 12th, 2024
Zetaman was reported helping firefighters in Pittsburgh after a hotel fire trapped several dozen people under the rubble.
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Grey_Ghostie December 12th, 2024
I mean, does anyone trust supers? How long until they start acting like Homelander?
-Random Twitter user December 12th, 2024
Police Are Underfunded, Overstretched and Underloved
-Fox News December 12th, 2024
I have video proof of voter fraud. Look at these "counters" in Portland. They are counting in Chinese while moving boxes marked Ward! If they can't speak English, they can't count English too!
-Ron DeSantis (GAB) December 12th, 2024
New Jersey Man's Attempting To Plow Into Homeless Camp Arrested After Being Stopped By "Uncle Sam"
-CNN December 12th, 2024
Ace Ward Encourages Workers To Unionize In Factory Speech Is The Stress Of His Father Passing Causing These Stranges Outbursts?
-Bloomberg (Twitter)December 12th, 2024
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Those "outbursts" aren't strange; he loves his workers! I should know I work for him.
-Ma_Cy09 (twitter) December 12th, 2024
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Very true, but you guys should totally unionize to be able to hold me accountable just in case I do become your regular evil rich person.
-Ace Ward (Twitter) December 12th, 2024
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Will do, but I doubt you ever sell us out, your the man Mr.Ward.
-Ma_Cy09 (twitter) December 12th, 2024
Black Power Seen Handing Out Food To The Homeless
-Hero Watch December 12th, 2024
Fact Check: The alleged "Portland Fraud Video" posted by Ron Desantis on Gab was, in fact, taken in 2023 at a Ward company assembly plant in Seattle, Washington.
-FactCheck.org December 12th, 2024
New Jersey Man Who Cited Far-Right Facebook Conspiracy That Ace Ward To Spread Monkey Pox was using the Camp.
-Right Wing Watch December 12th, 2024
Georgian Lawmakers Raise Concerns Over Ace Ward's Quasi Soclaist Pro Homeless Program "Domestic Threat"
-News Max December 12th, 2024
The origins of the "It's Slaughtering Time" meme is complicated, but it can be best summed up as advocating progressive positions through phases and meme formats typically assorted with right-wing "boomer" Facebook memes. The meme originated after a video of Captain Slaughter, a figure associated with the more traditional standard of American masculinity, stopping a trans woman from being attacked by skinheads went viral. Upon beating, the would-be attackers, Captain Slaughter pointed to the camera and said, "It's Slaughtering Time Fuckers". The video would go viral instantly on Hero Watch before spreading to more mainstream social media sites like Twitter. Images Slaughter would be used by the trans community as a meme against transphobia online. The meme would grow after it would be revealed that Slaughter did not know or care that the women were trans with him stating, "Saw some fucking punks putting their hands on chicks, so I beat their ass. Any man who try and attack innocent women are fucking pussys and losers" which itself would evolve into "Captain Slaughter Says Your Gender Is Valid" meme.
-Know Your meme on December 13th, 2024
The Lost Boys Is Coming To The CW
-Buzzfeed (twitter) December 13th, 2024
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I can't wait to see the full Riverdale effect happens to my favorite childhood movie from the 80s.
Destiny Masters (twitter) December 13th, 2024
Nevada's Governor "And Its Concerns Over Vegas Crime Wave" While Los Vegas Mayor Promises "To Get Hard On Crime."
-Fox News December 13th, 2024
"Ok, Ok, Ok, I admit it. I am buying BET; get this at the low price of 500 mills; I know, right! What a total
rip off. I have a lot of ideas and plans for the channel, from rebranding BET+ to the official Ward Infinity streaming service. I'm looking forward to a bright future and encouraging young Black people interested in the entertainment industry to look into joining the Ward Family. I would also like to remind the world that this all started when a racist ass anime profile pic provoked me into buying marvel just to stunt on him and people like him. To him and people like him, I would like to say, "Get Warded!"
-Ace Ward during a press conference shortly after buying BET on December 13th, 2024
"I think someone I don't know who should really take the credit card from Ace Ward; this is a child throwing around one of the largest companies in the world like its own personal toy."
-Sean Hannity December 13th, 2024
BREAKING NEWS BULLETIN: FIREFIGHT AT SPADER TOWER UNKNOWN NUMBER OF DEAD!
-New Moon News December 13th, 2024
Hostage Situation At Spader Tower
-CNN December 13th, 2024
"James Mansfield, Eric Spader, Michael Bloomberg, Adam Sandler, Cory Booker, Warren Buffett, and other high profile guests are currently being held hostage unknown-what-ok it appears that they are being held hostage by the Terrorist known as Flora it appears that authorities are-wait no is that. It appears that the police have not arrived yet, but the masked vigilante Ace Of Spades-hold up; I think there is somewhere else fighting with him. Can we zoom in up through that broken window-WOW Don, it appears that both Ace Of Spades and Skin Walker, another masked vigilante accused of multiple serial murders are engaging the terrorists as the swat are still arriving.".
-CNN reporter December 13, 2024
Hostage At Spader Tower Turn Into All-Out Battle Between "SuperHumans" And Eco Terrorists.
-BBC December 13, 2024
"We have reporters on the scene, Jacob, but as of right now-HOLY, SHIT! OH FUCK, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!"
-New Moon Reporter Whitnesing Flora Transforms Into A "Tree Monster." December 13, 2024
New York Underattack by Metahumans!
-Fox News December 13, 2024
Chaos Erupts In New York City As Battle Between Skin Walker and Ace of Spades against "Tree Monster"
-CNN December 13, 2024
@MsAmerica, are you seeing this? Any information on what's happening? You are kind of our only source on this kind of thing.
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Grey Ghostie December 13, 2024
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I just woke up from a nap; let me read through the thread and check Twitter and get back to you guys.
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Ms.Amerika December 13, 2024
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Holy freaking crap is that a wooden Kaiju! Yeah, I have no clue, but I'm guessing that thing is Flora's final form.
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Ms.Amerika December 13, 2024
Fighting Between "Superhumans" And "Tree Monster" Spread To Midtown Manhattan As Police Enter Spader Tower.
-BBCAmerica December 13, 2024
Massive Explosion Followed By Power Failures Seen Near "Metahuman Battle"
-Fox News December 13, 2024
Fireball Seen Engulfing "Tree Monster" Shortly Before Electrical Explosion.
-CNN December 13, 2024
NYC Mayor Declares State Of Public Emergency Ask For Aid From Governor Delgado.
-NBC December 13, 2024
Footage Of Mansfield and Masked "Skin Walker" Shows The Two Evacuating Hostages
-CNN December 13, 2024
SWAT and Anti Terrorist Units Of NYPD Arrives On Scene Of Explosion
-CNBC December 13, 2024
One Reported Dead From "Flora Attack"
-New Moon News December 13, 2024
Over A Dozen Alleged Terrorists were Captured At Spader Tower, Many Of Which were In Critical Condition
-MSNBC December 13, 2024
Flora Arrested After Being Taken Down By Superheroes!
-Twitter Live Streamed Video Showing Police Arresting Flora After Transforming Back To Her "Human Form" December 13, 2024
"While I still think unchecked unAmerican pro-woke metahumans like this so-called Skin Walker are a direct threat to morals and values of proper American society, I can also acknowledge a lesser of two evils, and with that, for this brief moment and probably for the last time in my life I would like to say thank you to the She-Devil Skin Walker for aiding me James Mansfield in helping these innocent citizens of this city to safety from what was most likely an alt-left terror attack.".
-James Mansfield December 13, 2024
Why Flora Attacker Was A Leftist
-Prager 24 December 14,2024
Eco Fash Terrorist Finally Arrested!
-Red Fist With Beverly December 14, 2024
Rolling Black Out Leads To Run On Food Stores By Criminals!
-Fox News December 14, 2024
Liberty & Uncle Spotted Trying To Talk Down Rioters As They Stand-Off With Armed Shop Owners!.
-Hero Watch News Feed December 14, 2024
"There are too many of them and too few of us. We need more people. Eventually, we will have to get heavy with more than tear gas."
-Unknown NYPD Officer December 14, 2024
"FUCK YOU; MY BABY NEEDS FORMULA, AND THIS ASSHOLE HAS BEEN JACKING UP THE PRICE FOR WEEKS!"
"People, please calm down. I'm sure we can come together over common grou-"
"FUCK OFF; MY BABY IS GONNA STARVE!"
"YOU NOT LOOTING MY STORE!"
-Exchange between a Looter, "Liberty," and a shop owner during the New York City "Flora Blackout" December 14, 2024
Rioters Attacks Cops As They Try and Enforce Law In Order Near "Antifa War Camp" In Central Park.
-News Max December 14, 2024
Police Use Tear Gas Near Mutual Aid Station Ran By CPAZ
-Unicornriot December 14, 2024
Power restored to Midtown
-Fox News December 14, 2024
Internet Wakes To Shock and Awe As More Viral Footage Of Last Night Terror Attacks Flood Social Media.
-CNN December 15, 2024
Going to keep it 110%. Skin Walker is a baddie, but holy fuck, she beat the shit out of those goons. She can still crush any time.
-VetteDaWiz2008 (twitter) December 15,2024
"My prayers are with the people of New York. After seeing footage of the attack, I am in the process of giving millions of dollars to organizations aiding those affected by the Flora attacks. I would also note Asa, that while the more affluent areas of New York City power were quickly restored, many working-class communities are currently going without power still in the middle of winter."
"I can see you have taken up your Godson philanthropist spirit. May I ask why the sudden interest? What changed?"
"I met some new friends, is all I can say."
"Certainly an interesting response Mr.Spader. I know you are a busy man, so we will let you get back to your day,"
-Eric Spader interviewed on New Moons News on December 15, 2024
After seeing what my God Uncle did today, I have been moved to match his 15 million with my own. It's not fair the 1% gets their power back on while the 99% get tear-gassed by the cops.
-Ace Ward(Twitter) December 15, 2024
I personally don't see the need for Eric Spader or My boss Ace Ward to antagonize cops while doing their charity.
-Kelly Hatter (Twitter) December 15, 2024
Public Debate Rage On Social Media Between Pro Superhero and Anti Meta-Human Posters.
-Buzzfeed December 15, 2024
Based is Cringe Cringe Is Based Epic Is Ultra Based Which Is Also Cringe But Also Epic, but is it Based?
-TheWromPruge (Twitter) December 15, 2024
As Skirmishes Between Police And Protesters, Simmer Across The Country Yet Some Analysts Are Still Worried About Mass Civil Unrest.
-NewYorkTimes December 15, 2024
"Yeah, I don't know what you guys want me to say. What happened last night was straight out of a Marvel movie. Watching some of the videos from inside the tower is insane too. Wow is all I can really say. Wow, just wow."
-Alan Vince Meta Humans Podcast December 15, 2024
Netflix sells rights to Jericho reboot to planned Ward+ along with several other big-name original shows and movies as the long-standing streaming company looks down on a shaky future.
-Variety December 15, 2024
Anti-French UPRF Have Begun To Threaten Serval Towns In Rural Niger; Government Forces Accused Vena In Aiding The Terrorist
-DW December 15, 2024
I don't really have contact with Skin Walker, but I hung out with her a few times, and some of your guys' fan art is weird. I think we are the same age. Also, when I got verified on this thing, I didn't know that was possible. Also, a lot of you guys are asking for me to set up a PO Box and stuff, but the whole hidden identity thing doesn't allow for that.
-Ms.Amerika December 15, 2024
Why is it that like half of you guys are teenagers? Lol. You guys will be on the Y/A wave, but for real, thank you for all that you guys do.
VetteTheKid December 15, 2024
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I'm glad I'm not the only one who picked up on that; I'm not sure. I'm really into Y/A and comics even before I started living one XD. I used to write Batman and Alpha and Omega fanfics.
-Ms.Amerika December 15, 2024
Fire Fighters Make Chilling Discovery In A Small Wyoming Town
-NBC December 15, 2024
Fact Number 5: Technically, she is a princess; yeah, that's right, Emma Alkebulan is, in fact a princess. This has to do with the tribal system that co-exists along with the modern government. The Venan presidential family is descendants of an anti-colonial tribal chief who refused to bow to the English. While the title is mostly ceremonial, it does however the whole of still plays an important role in the Venan religion.
-Red Fate Tv (YouTube)December 15,,2024
Idk why people are attacking AOS and Skin Walker, they are amazing and probably saved a lot more people than if they had not been there.
-Maxwell Maxim (Twitter) December 15,,2024
Suspected Train Robbery In Progress As Police Arrives On Scene of Derailed Trains Just Outside of Chicago.
-New Moon News December 16,,2024
"We see the train, but I don't-HOLY SHIT, IT'S HIM ITS THAT FUCKING BLACK SON OF A-"
-Leaked recording of the national guard unit arriving on a scene of a derailed Ward Company-owned transport train shortly before being saved from a blast by Hannah Hellfire and Zero December 16,202
"Good evening, everyone, and at this hour, we have breaking news coming from just outside of Chicago where there is now what can only be described as a battle, yes, a battle with elements of the national guard and private ward company contractors aided by what appears to be the superman known only as Black Power and the metahuman criminals Heather Winters and Hannah Brandt otherwise known as Hellfire and Zero we are going to cut to the footage but be warn this may be disturbing."
*Video feeds show around 5-10 military heavy vehicles, including what seems to be the hull of an M1A3 tank which had been completely melted and then frozen over by heat and cold blasts. Black Power is seen moving police, national guard, and private security away from the battle as fast as a blur before re-engaging both of the attackers. The fight lasts for five minutes and shows Black Power tanking attacks from Hellfire while dodging cold blasts from Zero until pulling out what seems to be a small grenade from his belt and throwing it at Hellfire, causing an explosion of ice not unsimilar to that of Zero, allowing Black Power to restrain her. What happened next is not completely known, but it appeared that Hannah began to glow bright and brighter until the fireball was stopped via what seemed to be a purple field; however, the rumbling of the fireball caused a 5.0 earthquake in a three miles-wide radius of the two. Two minutes after the blast began, it ended leaving Hellfire unconscious with Black Power's suit badly damaged. A close-up of Zero shows her attempting to rescue her partner in crime only to be blocked by and disappear in a cloud of bats. Black Power staggered for a bit before flying away as more national guard and police arrived on the scene to arrest Hannah Hellfire
-New Moon News December 16, 2022
Holy fucking shit, did Black Power get nuked? Because that looked like a little fucking nuke blast to me! Also, what was the purple ball that blocked the blast from expanding?
-Grey Ghostie Hero Watch December 16,202
Not A Single Person Hurt, But Millions Of Dollars Damages Has Been Done To National Guard Ward Owned Equipment, After Battle Between Black Power & Other Metahumans.
-MSNBC December 16,202
The Last Of TPLF Fighters Has Officially Been Dispatched.
-Africa News December 16,,2024
Patriot Front and Other Far-Right Organizations Are Using Black Power As Proof Of Replacement Theory"
-Right Wing Watch December 16,,2024
It feels like everyone is waiting for shit to hit the fan, but I think it already has, and we haven't realized it yet.
-Random Twitter user December 16,202
"The white man fears Black Power because they can't kill him, which scares them to the core. He is a bother who can't be taken down. To that, I say let the whites be scared!"
-Imani V. Clair December 16,202
What is the Omega? Why have the latest internet conspiracy theories gripped both left and right-wing internet trolls?
-MSNBC December 16,202
"I am aware of what happened this morning, and I am just as shocked as the rest of the nation. The train was carrying items meant to transfer Maxim Corp after a deal between our two companies was made last month. This attack was horrible, and I along with Mr.Ward, who has been advised of the current situation, are both grateful for the action of the national guard and Black Power."
-Jonathan James Masters December 16,202
Draco King Says DeadGal Album "Is the type of Neo Grunge Hop that is fitting for the country current emotions".
-Complex December 16, 2024
Panics Grips Besiege Farmers As Severe Dust Storms Destroys Dozens of Farms Across The Midwest
-Weather Channel December 16,202
I hear that Black Power and that Muslim Witch are causing the dust storms. It makes sense to me that both hate America and real Americans that voted for Ron and me; this is it, folks; this is the actual start of the physical replacement of real Americans. Now they are just getting physical about things.
-Tom Cotton live stream (Gab) December 16,202
Destiny Masters Jokes About Dealing With Internet Trolls "Who Cares I'm Rich & Hot."
-Vanity Fair (Twitter) December 16, 2024
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She is so freaking cool total queen
-Ma_Cy09 December 16, 2024
Venan Premier Says, "That African countries who refuse who refuses to kneel before the rest must be ready to defend African civilization against western barbarism."
- African Diaspora News Channel December 16,202
Florida Man Charged With A DUI After A Crash Reports Seeing "A Glowing Muscle Car"
-Local News December 16, 2024
K.K.K Groups To Plan "Unite The Klan Rally." On December 26th.
-SPLC December 16, 2024
-Fox News December 12th, 2024
A Dark Winter? The Economy Still Hasn't Recovered From The 2020 Crash, And Some Experts Believe It May Get Worse.
-The Economist December 12th, 2024
How Russia's War In Ukraine Is Leading To Fighting Between Oil Pirates In Nigeria's Delta.
-The Atlantic December 12th, 2024
"I don't understand why people are getting mad at me for mocking some dead klansmen and a little hood in training. It's not like they are actual people."
-Draco King IG live stream December 12th, 2024
McDonald's To Roll Out Plant Base McRib In Wake Of Swine Shortage.
-Chew Boom December 12th, 2024
As Ward Industries Pulls Out Of Their Finial Weapons Contracts With The US Military, Maxim Crop Has Begun To Fill In The Gap.
-The Atlantic December 12, 2024
The Legends Of The Miami "Racer"
-Last Podcast On The Left December 12th, 2024
The Europeans never truly left the dark ages; they expanded it worldwide. Our enemy has no true culture of civilization of their own that is why they take from others.
-Emma Alkebulan (twitter) December 12th, 2024
"I can't say much right now, but yes, I am in talks with Viacom, but this rumor about me selling New Moons News is flat out not true; it's making way too much of a profit for that to happen. Anyway, I heard they were making a Wonder Woman and Nubia cartoon for BET, which sounds fun."
-Ace Ward, when asked about his recent talks with Viacom on December 12th, 2024
"Draco King and others like her who promote this vile thug music caused more gun crime than any law-abiding gun owner ever had."
-Mansfield Fox News December 12th, 2024
Tracking Ron DeSantis Descent Into Election Madness
-New Moons News December 12th, 2024
BreakingNews: Gunman Attempting To Enter A Black Church Where Controversial Activist Imani V Clair Was Speaking Shot Dead By Armed Guards.
-CNN December 12th, 2024
"Wanted For Anti-American Terrorism: Black Power"
-Patriot Front Propaganda Chicago December 12th, 2024
Ms.Amerika Iconic New Suit.
-TeenPeople December 12th, 2024
The attempted killing of me today has only proven me right in that no one is coming to save Black people but ourselves. Organize, feed, and defend your hood, people. Protect the block at all times, and by any means!"
-Imani V Clair December 12th, 2024
TW/CW: Censored Footage Of The Aftermath Of Alleged Fight Between Skinwalker and Neo Nazi Bikers.
-Red Fist (Twitter) December 12th, 2024
Zetaman was reported helping firefighters in Pittsburgh after a hotel fire trapped several dozen people under the rubble.
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Grey_Ghostie December 12th, 2024
I mean, does anyone trust supers? How long until they start acting like Homelander?
-Random Twitter user December 12th, 2024
Police Are Underfunded, Overstretched and Underloved
-Fox News December 12th, 2024
I have video proof of voter fraud. Look at these "counters" in Portland. They are counting in Chinese while moving boxes marked Ward! If they can't speak English, they can't count English too!
-Ron DeSantis (GAB) December 12th, 2024
New Jersey Man's Attempting To Plow Into Homeless Camp Arrested After Being Stopped By "Uncle Sam"
-CNN December 12th, 2024
Ace Ward Encourages Workers To Unionize In Factory Speech Is The Stress Of His Father Passing Causing These Stranges Outbursts?
-Bloomberg (Twitter)December 12th, 2024
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Those "outbursts" aren't strange; he loves his workers! I should know I work for him.
-Ma_Cy09 (twitter) December 12th, 2024
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Very true, but you guys should totally unionize to be able to hold me accountable just in case I do become your regular evil rich person.
-Ace Ward (Twitter) December 12th, 2024
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Will do, but I doubt you ever sell us out, your the man Mr.Ward.
-Ma_Cy09 (twitter) December 12th, 2024
Black Power Seen Handing Out Food To The Homeless
-Hero Watch December 12th, 2024
Fact Check: The alleged "Portland Fraud Video" posted by Ron Desantis on Gab was, in fact, taken in 2023 at a Ward company assembly plant in Seattle, Washington.
-FactCheck.org December 12th, 2024
New Jersey Man Who Cited Far-Right Facebook Conspiracy That Ace Ward To Spread Monkey Pox was using the Camp.
-Right Wing Watch December 12th, 2024
Georgian Lawmakers Raise Concerns Over Ace Ward's Quasi Soclaist Pro Homeless Program "Domestic Threat"
-News Max December 12th, 2024
The origins of the "It's Slaughtering Time" meme is complicated, but it can be best summed up as advocating progressive positions through phases and meme formats typically assorted with right-wing "boomer" Facebook memes. The meme originated after a video of Captain Slaughter, a figure associated with the more traditional standard of American masculinity, stopping a trans woman from being attacked by skinheads went viral. Upon beating, the would-be attackers, Captain Slaughter pointed to the camera and said, "It's Slaughtering Time Fuckers". The video would go viral instantly on Hero Watch before spreading to more mainstream social media sites like Twitter. Images Slaughter would be used by the trans community as a meme against transphobia online. The meme would grow after it would be revealed that Slaughter did not know or care that the women were trans with him stating, "Saw some fucking punks putting their hands on chicks, so I beat their ass. Any man who try and attack innocent women are fucking pussys and losers" which itself would evolve into "Captain Slaughter Says Your Gender Is Valid" meme.
-Know Your meme on December 13th, 2024
The Lost Boys Is Coming To The CW
-Buzzfeed (twitter) December 13th, 2024
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I can't wait to see the full Riverdale effect happens to my favorite childhood movie from the 80s.
Destiny Masters (twitter) December 13th, 2024
Nevada's Governor "And Its Concerns Over Vegas Crime Wave" While Los Vegas Mayor Promises "To Get Hard On Crime."
-Fox News December 13th, 2024
"Ok, Ok, Ok, I admit it. I am buying BET; get this at the low price of 500 mills; I know, right! What a total
rip off. I have a lot of ideas and plans for the channel, from rebranding BET+ to the official Ward Infinity streaming service. I'm looking forward to a bright future and encouraging young Black people interested in the entertainment industry to look into joining the Ward Family. I would also like to remind the world that this all started when a racist ass anime profile pic provoked me into buying marvel just to stunt on him and people like him. To him and people like him, I would like to say, "Get Warded!"
-Ace Ward during a press conference shortly after buying BET on December 13th, 2024
"I think someone I don't know who should really take the credit card from Ace Ward; this is a child throwing around one of the largest companies in the world like its own personal toy."
-Sean Hannity December 13th, 2024
BREAKING NEWS BULLETIN: FIREFIGHT AT SPADER TOWER UNKNOWN NUMBER OF DEAD!
-New Moon News December 13th, 2024
Hostage Situation At Spader Tower
-CNN December 13th, 2024
"James Mansfield, Eric Spader, Michael Bloomberg, Adam Sandler, Cory Booker, Warren Buffett, and other high profile guests are currently being held hostage unknown-what-ok it appears that they are being held hostage by the Terrorist known as Flora it appears that authorities are-wait no is that. It appears that the police have not arrived yet, but the masked vigilante Ace Of Spades-hold up; I think there is somewhere else fighting with him. Can we zoom in up through that broken window-WOW Don, it appears that both Ace Of Spades and Skin Walker, another masked vigilante accused of multiple serial murders are engaging the terrorists as the swat are still arriving.".
-CNN reporter December 13, 2024
Hostage At Spader Tower Turn Into All-Out Battle Between "SuperHumans" And Eco Terrorists.
-BBC December 13, 2024
"We have reporters on the scene, Jacob, but as of right now-HOLY, SHIT! OH FUCK, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!"
-New Moon Reporter Whitnesing Flora Transforms Into A "Tree Monster." December 13, 2024
New York Underattack by Metahumans!
-Fox News December 13, 2024
Chaos Erupts In New York City As Battle Between Skin Walker and Ace of Spades against "Tree Monster"
-CNN December 13, 2024
@MsAmerica, are you seeing this? Any information on what's happening? You are kind of our only source on this kind of thing.
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Grey Ghostie December 13, 2024
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I just woke up from a nap; let me read through the thread and check Twitter and get back to you guys.
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Ms.Amerika December 13, 2024
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Holy freaking crap is that a wooden Kaiju! Yeah, I have no clue, but I'm guessing that thing is Flora's final form.
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Ms.Amerika December 13, 2024
Fighting Between "Superhumans" And "Tree Monster" Spread To Midtown Manhattan As Police Enter Spader Tower.
-BBCAmerica December 13, 2024
Massive Explosion Followed By Power Failures Seen Near "Metahuman Battle"
-Fox News December 13, 2024
Fireball Seen Engulfing "Tree Monster" Shortly Before Electrical Explosion.
-CNN December 13, 2024
NYC Mayor Declares State Of Public Emergency Ask For Aid From Governor Delgado.
-NBC December 13, 2024
Footage Of Mansfield and Masked "Skin Walker" Shows The Two Evacuating Hostages
-CNN December 13, 2024
SWAT and Anti Terrorist Units Of NYPD Arrives On Scene Of Explosion
-CNBC December 13, 2024
One Reported Dead From "Flora Attack"
-New Moon News December 13, 2024
Over A Dozen Alleged Terrorists were Captured At Spader Tower, Many Of Which were In Critical Condition
-MSNBC December 13, 2024
Flora Arrested After Being Taken Down By Superheroes!
-Twitter Live Streamed Video Showing Police Arresting Flora After Transforming Back To Her "Human Form" December 13, 2024
"While I still think unchecked unAmerican pro-woke metahumans like this so-called Skin Walker are a direct threat to morals and values of proper American society, I can also acknowledge a lesser of two evils, and with that, for this brief moment and probably for the last time in my life I would like to say thank you to the She-Devil Skin Walker for aiding me James Mansfield in helping these innocent citizens of this city to safety from what was most likely an alt-left terror attack.".
-James Mansfield December 13, 2024
Why Flora Attacker Was A Leftist
-Prager 24 December 14,2024
Eco Fash Terrorist Finally Arrested!
-Red Fist With Beverly December 14, 2024
Rolling Black Out Leads To Run On Food Stores By Criminals!
-Fox News December 14, 2024
Liberty & Uncle Spotted Trying To Talk Down Rioters As They Stand-Off With Armed Shop Owners!.
-Hero Watch News Feed December 14, 2024
"There are too many of them and too few of us. We need more people. Eventually, we will have to get heavy with more than tear gas."
-Unknown NYPD Officer December 14, 2024
"FUCK YOU; MY BABY NEEDS FORMULA, AND THIS ASSHOLE HAS BEEN JACKING UP THE PRICE FOR WEEKS!"
"People, please calm down. I'm sure we can come together over common grou-"
"FUCK OFF; MY BABY IS GONNA STARVE!"
"YOU NOT LOOTING MY STORE!"
-Exchange between a Looter, "Liberty," and a shop owner during the New York City "Flora Blackout" December 14, 2024
Rioters Attacks Cops As They Try and Enforce Law In Order Near "Antifa War Camp" In Central Park.
-News Max December 14, 2024
Police Use Tear Gas Near Mutual Aid Station Ran By CPAZ
-Unicornriot December 14, 2024
Power restored to Midtown
-Fox News December 14, 2024
Internet Wakes To Shock and Awe As More Viral Footage Of Last Night Terror Attacks Flood Social Media.
-CNN December 15, 2024
Going to keep it 110%. Skin Walker is a baddie, but holy fuck, she beat the shit out of those goons. She can still crush any time.
-VetteDaWiz2008 (twitter) December 15,2024
"My prayers are with the people of New York. After seeing footage of the attack, I am in the process of giving millions of dollars to organizations aiding those affected by the Flora attacks. I would also note Asa, that while the more affluent areas of New York City power were quickly restored, many working-class communities are currently going without power still in the middle of winter."
"I can see you have taken up your Godson philanthropist spirit. May I ask why the sudden interest? What changed?"
"I met some new friends, is all I can say."
"Certainly an interesting response Mr.Spader. I know you are a busy man, so we will let you get back to your day,"
-Eric Spader interviewed on New Moons News on December 15, 2024
After seeing what my God Uncle did today, I have been moved to match his 15 million with my own. It's not fair the 1% gets their power back on while the 99% get tear-gassed by the cops.
-Ace Ward(Twitter) December 15, 2024
I personally don't see the need for Eric Spader or My boss Ace Ward to antagonize cops while doing their charity.
-Kelly Hatter (Twitter) December 15, 2024
Public Debate Rage On Social Media Between Pro Superhero and Anti Meta-Human Posters.
-Buzzfeed December 15, 2024
Based is Cringe Cringe Is Based Epic Is Ultra Based Which Is Also Cringe But Also Epic, but is it Based?
-TheWromPruge (Twitter) December 15, 2024
As Skirmishes Between Police And Protesters, Simmer Across The Country Yet Some Analysts Are Still Worried About Mass Civil Unrest.
-NewYorkTimes December 15, 2024
"Yeah, I don't know what you guys want me to say. What happened last night was straight out of a Marvel movie. Watching some of the videos from inside the tower is insane too. Wow is all I can really say. Wow, just wow."
-Alan Vince Meta Humans Podcast December 15, 2024
Netflix sells rights to Jericho reboot to planned Ward+ along with several other big-name original shows and movies as the long-standing streaming company looks down on a shaky future.
-Variety December 15, 2024
Anti-French UPRF Have Begun To Threaten Serval Towns In Rural Niger; Government Forces Accused Vena In Aiding The Terrorist
-DW December 15, 2024
I don't really have contact with Skin Walker, but I hung out with her a few times, and some of your guys' fan art is weird. I think we are the same age. Also, when I got verified on this thing, I didn't know that was possible. Also, a lot of you guys are asking for me to set up a PO Box and stuff, but the whole hidden identity thing doesn't allow for that.
-Ms.Amerika December 15, 2024
Why is it that like half of you guys are teenagers? Lol. You guys will be on the Y/A wave, but for real, thank you for all that you guys do.
VetteTheKid December 15, 2024
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I'm glad I'm not the only one who picked up on that; I'm not sure. I'm really into Y/A and comics even before I started living one XD. I used to write Batman and Alpha and Omega fanfics.
-Ms.Amerika December 15, 2024
Fire Fighters Make Chilling Discovery In A Small Wyoming Town
-NBC December 15, 2024
Fact Number 5: Technically, she is a princess; yeah, that's right, Emma Alkebulan is, in fact a princess. This has to do with the tribal system that co-exists along with the modern government. The Venan presidential family is descendants of an anti-colonial tribal chief who refused to bow to the English. While the title is mostly ceremonial, it does however the whole of still plays an important role in the Venan religion.
-Red Fate Tv (YouTube)December 15,,2024
Idk why people are attacking AOS and Skin Walker, they are amazing and probably saved a lot more people than if they had not been there.
-Maxwell Maxim (Twitter) December 15,,2024
Suspected Train Robbery In Progress As Police Arrives On Scene of Derailed Trains Just Outside of Chicago.
-New Moon News December 16,,2024
"We see the train, but I don't-HOLY SHIT, IT'S HIM ITS THAT FUCKING BLACK SON OF A-"
-Leaked recording of the national guard unit arriving on a scene of a derailed Ward Company-owned transport train shortly before being saved from a blast by Hannah Hellfire and Zero December 16,202
"Good evening, everyone, and at this hour, we have breaking news coming from just outside of Chicago where there is now what can only be described as a battle, yes, a battle with elements of the national guard and private ward company contractors aided by what appears to be the superman known only as Black Power and the metahuman criminals Heather Winters and Hannah Brandt otherwise known as Hellfire and Zero we are going to cut to the footage but be warn this may be disturbing."
*Video feeds show around 5-10 military heavy vehicles, including what seems to be the hull of an M1A3 tank which had been completely melted and then frozen over by heat and cold blasts. Black Power is seen moving police, national guard, and private security away from the battle as fast as a blur before re-engaging both of the attackers. The fight lasts for five minutes and shows Black Power tanking attacks from Hellfire while dodging cold blasts from Zero until pulling out what seems to be a small grenade from his belt and throwing it at Hellfire, causing an explosion of ice not unsimilar to that of Zero, allowing Black Power to restrain her. What happened next is not completely known, but it appeared that Hannah began to glow bright and brighter until the fireball was stopped via what seemed to be a purple field; however, the rumbling of the fireball caused a 5.0 earthquake in a three miles-wide radius of the two. Two minutes after the blast began, it ended leaving Hellfire unconscious with Black Power's suit badly damaged. A close-up of Zero shows her attempting to rescue her partner in crime only to be blocked by and disappear in a cloud of bats. Black Power staggered for a bit before flying away as more national guard and police arrived on the scene to arrest Hannah Hellfire
-New Moon News December 16, 2022
Holy fucking shit, did Black Power get nuked? Because that looked like a little fucking nuke blast to me! Also, what was the purple ball that blocked the blast from expanding?
-Grey Ghostie Hero Watch December 16,202
Not A Single Person Hurt, But Millions Of Dollars Damages Has Been Done To National Guard Ward Owned Equipment, After Battle Between Black Power & Other Metahumans.
-MSNBC December 16,202
The Last Of TPLF Fighters Has Officially Been Dispatched.
-Africa News December 16,,2024
Patriot Front and Other Far-Right Organizations Are Using Black Power As Proof Of Replacement Theory"
-Right Wing Watch December 16,,2024
It feels like everyone is waiting for shit to hit the fan, but I think it already has, and we haven't realized it yet.
-Random Twitter user December 16,202
"The white man fears Black Power because they can't kill him, which scares them to the core. He is a bother who can't be taken down. To that, I say let the whites be scared!"
-Imani V. Clair December 16,202
What is the Omega? Why have the latest internet conspiracy theories gripped both left and right-wing internet trolls?
-MSNBC December 16,202
"I am aware of what happened this morning, and I am just as shocked as the rest of the nation. The train was carrying items meant to transfer Maxim Corp after a deal between our two companies was made last month. This attack was horrible, and I along with Mr.Ward, who has been advised of the current situation, are both grateful for the action of the national guard and Black Power."
-Jonathan James Masters December 16,202
Draco King Says DeadGal Album "Is the type of Neo Grunge Hop that is fitting for the country current emotions".
-Complex December 16, 2024
Panics Grips Besiege Farmers As Severe Dust Storms Destroys Dozens of Farms Across The Midwest
-Weather Channel December 16,202
I hear that Black Power and that Muslim Witch are causing the dust storms. It makes sense to me that both hate America and real Americans that voted for Ron and me; this is it, folks; this is the actual start of the physical replacement of real Americans. Now they are just getting physical about things.
-Tom Cotton live stream (Gab) December 16,202
Destiny Masters Jokes About Dealing With Internet Trolls "Who Cares I'm Rich & Hot."
-Vanity Fair (Twitter) December 16, 2024
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She is so freaking cool total queen
-Ma_Cy09 December 16, 2024
Venan Premier Says, "That African countries who refuse who refuses to kneel before the rest must be ready to defend African civilization against western barbarism."
- African Diaspora News Channel December 16,202
Florida Man Charged With A DUI After A Crash Reports Seeing "A Glowing Muscle Car"
-Local News December 16, 2024
K.K.K Groups To Plan "Unite The Klan Rally." On December 26th.
-SPLC December 16, 2024
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- Location
- San Francisco
ITTL, this would be a show of strength.
Here, it's a bunch of hicks painting a target on their backs.
The police won't save you from superheroes. The gods have come down to Earth, and they're fucking sick of your shit.
Say the line Santell!
To be fair they didn't do this in Chicago where Black Power is most frequently sighted. Still the klan choosing a city that only a few weeks ago had a person publicly hang some of their members and also has what amount to anti fascist Batman isn't a smart move. Then again we should truly never underestimate the stupidity of Nazis.
Concept Art
- Location
- San Francisco
Would be amusing to have a Thor expy but instead of norse gods it's the cthulhu mythos and it turns out Lovecraft totally misinterpreted EVERYTHING.
Well, except the eldritch body horror, of course.
Edit: Come to think of it, that would be more of a mix of Carnage and the Hunter from Bloodborne.
Well, except the eldritch body horror, of course.
Edit: Come to think of it, that would be more of a mix of Carnage and the Hunter from Bloodborne.
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I don't want to spoil anything, but there some major Lovecraftian elements that will be coming to the more magical/folk lore based stories. Also I did make a few reference to lovecraft work in the last chapter
Santell calls John Doe Agent Whastely when using their fake FBI badges this is a reference to the Dunwich Horror and considering what John actually is it makes the whole thing even more ironic.
In fact all of those names are easter eggs from pop culture. Santell giving Jamie Van Helsing the last name of Summers a reference to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
There is also this little gem.
The Rainbow Connection
The card which Tempest inspected claimed that he's a slightly paranoid and or Schizophrenic with symptoms of Multiple Personality Disorder, as well as Anti Social Personality Disorder.
But he was a functioning, slightly paranoid and or Schizophrenic with symptoms of Multiple Personality Disorder, as well as Anti Social Personality Disorder… Those exist right? Right?
The point is he was looking for a job.
He claimed that he was a good singer, and appearance wise he gave off some Bo Burnham, Daniel Radcliffe vibes, looked a little pale and scruffy, his eyes wild, but there was a youth. Also, he was holding what looked to be a ukulele, so Tempest was curious, so he poked in.
He wasn't even supposed to be here, he just saw that the door to Dreamlands theatre was open, so he decided to let himself in
"What d'we have here?" Tempest asked the owner of Dreamland "Him? He's auditioning…".
His presence was an awkward one at that, he appeared nervous as he adjusted the stand in front of him "Does he even have a name?" Tempest asked as Jinx and Oracle came on inside.
"Is somebody on stage?" Oracle asked
"Yeah? One fella" Tempest said quietly, Jinx noting the funny look she had on her pale face.
She almost looked confused by the statement, and she appeared to look towards the stage. "Jinx" she tells him mentally "Don't panic… But I don't think I can read him, his minds is…" the young man coughed a little into the microphone as he was clearing his throat, although he was kind enough to wipe it down before he began to sing to their audience of about…
One, two, three, four people in the theatre, about an infinite number of others elsewhere.
"My grandpa fought in World War II, he was such a noble dude, I can't even finish school, missed my mom and left too soon—"
Oracle was starting to make something out, something she couldn't really describe, it wasn't anything new, as she had experienced it before, but it was only when she was in the middle of a group of people, absorbing the little thoughts of theirs like osmosis, it was euphoric…
But she never got it from one person alone, oh he may have been odd if what Jinx and Tempest were seeing were accurate…
But being a little odd alone, that wasn't a superpower
"His dad was a fireman who fought fires so violent, I think I bored my therapist while playing her my violin, oh my God that's so insane, oh my God that's such a shame, next to them, my shit don't feel so grand, but I can't help myself from feeling bad I kinda feel like two things can be said… The world's smallest violin really needs an audience, so if I do not find somebody soon, I'll blow up into smithereens and spew my tiny symphony, just let me play my violin for you, you, you, you" he then broke into an enthusiastic and dainty ukulele solo.
"My grandpa fought in World War II and he was such a noble dude, man I feel like such a fool, I got so much left to prove, all my friends have vaping friends, they're so good at making friends, I'm so scared of caving in is that entertaining yet? Oh my God that's so insane, oh my God that's such a shame, next to them, my shit don't feel so grand, but I can't help myself from feeling bad, I kinda feel like two things can be said… The world's smallest violin really needs an audience, so if I do not find somebody soon, I'll blow up into smithereens and spew my tiny symphony, just let me play my violin for you, you, you, you"
They'd break into yet another solo…
"Somewhere in the universe, somewhere someone's got it worse, wish that made it easier, wish I didn't feel the hurt, the world's smallest violin, really needs an audience, so if I do not find somebody soon" he went silent.
"I'll blow up into smithereens and spew my tiny symphony, all up and down a city street, while tryna put my mind at ease like finishing this melody, this feels like a necessity, so this could be the death of me, or maybe just a better me, now come in with the timpani's and take a shot of Hennessy, I know I'm not there mentally, but you could be the remedy, so let me play my violin for you" and just like that his show was over, his arms were outstretched and he gave a little bow
"So am I in?"
"…Let me check something first" the owner said before Tempest immediately said, after he had some persuasion from Oracle
"When can you start performing?" to which he told them
"Well, my only requests right now are a place to stay and something to eat, I'm honestly pretty hungry" he said
"And tired, also a little thirsty, and my fingers are sore… Also these lights are bright"
"What else can you do?" Oracle asks.
She figured he was a meta human, she could tell by the way he looked at her and the gang.
But if he was… Then he wasn't like any meta human Oracle had ever met in her entire life.
"Well, I can dance, I can—" Tempest asked him "You a funny guy?" he tells him "…I think so?"
"Fuck it, your in" he said stepping over the boss before asking him "You got a name fella?".
"Oh, it-it-It's Grey" he tells them "My name is Grey... Please don't make any 50 Shades jokes".
Blue was still cleaning up the manor after that party, though he's lucky that Polly was there to help, though she was also reading to Blue tweets and comments about the house party, Pink having sent her the "Reviews" she'd read
"Okay, listen to this 'Since when did the quiet kid started being cool?'" he's quick to remark
"I'm not the quiet kid" adding that "I don't own a gun, at least not any modern guns, really"
Polly laughed at how wrong the joke sounded
"It would be funny if we didn't have a shooting every couple weeks" she admitted to them.
Having seen it with his own two eyes, Blue had been given renewed faith that it existed, the old Ward treasure room, he was there for a moment before he and the gang had to leave it, teleporting away, therefore not figuring out just where in the labyrinth of hidden passages that treasure room was, all he knew was that it's somewhere in their grandiose brownstone.
He'd say this much to Polly, who agreed that it was cool and exciting, she was just about to read another review until they heard a knock.
"Expecting anybody?" she asked "Probably the rest of the gang" he said going to answer it.
Instead of his friends, the superhero team in the making, he came face to face with Hugo…
"Hey sport, heard you had yourself quite the party" he smiled like a door to door salesmen.
Blue simply shrugged, saying "Yeah… Hell of a party" as Hugo showed himself inside, Blue was quick to follow saying "We're still cleaning up from it" Hugo clapped his hands together
"That's what I like about you, you're responsible, you clean up after yourself, that's all good" he suddenly stops before picking something up, a nice looking towel, one stained with red, a result of it having been used to pick up the severed hand of a Russian gangster, as well as being used to clean the area it had landed in.
"You don't use a Sheridan towel to clean up stains like this, believe me kid, I've tried that"
Hugo chose not to add the bit about how the stain he was cleaning was a blood stain, or how he could tell that the crimson on the towel in his hand was near identical to that older stain.
"So just why are you here?" Polly asked Hugo
"I can't say hi to my nephew and niece?" he asked them "I heard the party got a little crazy"
"Well, if you came to see if we were alright, thanks, we're alright… So don't panic, alright?"
"I've seen a cow explode after getting shot by a bazooka" Hugo laughed a little bit after that
"It's gonna take a lot to scare the shit out of me, so yeah… I wasn't panicking, just curious".
He'd leave eventually, reminding the two "Y'don't use a Sheridan to get rid of these stains".
After he left, Polly went back to reading reviews on her phone, pointing out this funny one:
"'Cool party, almost died but the girls were hot. Five stars'…" Polly read "So all around, cool".
Cells by The Servant's playing in her ears, with wolf like eyes and a catlike mask she watched. Pink stood atop the rooftop like a badass, clad in leather, body armour and a pink plaid skirt.
And that wasn't even counting the old mask, one which she had stylised in the vein of some punk from the eighties, or maybe the nineties.
The young vigilante was patrolling the streets of Philadelphia, particularly the Badlands, the lower east side, which had seen an uptick in crime and panic, especially following the recent terror attacks in New York, and she already heard about the showdown that had happened in Chicago, she seen pictures of it, and seen a video of the police dragging away the tired and naked Hellfire, though it didn't take long for them to clothe her in a blanket and loose shirt.
Beneath her boot clad feet she saw a pair of looters carrying PlayStations away from a store.
So she'd promptly go down to kick their asses.
She struck fast and with burning pink energy which stung like a bee on fire and sent one of them scurrying off, cursing at them as they drop the PlayStation, leaving only one of them behind to try and fight the vigilante, who was just able to hear somebody else coming down the alleyway she was fighting in, right before—
BANG! A gun goes off and she stumbled back, just in time to see her attacker getting socked right in the face, discovering that Tank had caught the bullet intended for her and struck the shooter with their fist, sending them smacking right into the wall behind them, knocked out cold as Tank taunts that unconscious hoodlum
"…Tank?" she asked him angrily "What's up?"
"What the fuck are you doing here? This is my territory, remember the deal" Pink complains
"No, not really" he admitted
"But come on, that was pretty cool, right?" he asked her with a goofy looking smile on his face
"Don't even think about it" Pink said upon noticing the way his eyes had flickered to the PlayStation on the ground
"…What? No, I've already got one"
"…So do I" Pink said to Tank, the two of them going silent before he asked her if she wanted to play some GTA 6
"Well I don't see why not".
Hey guys, it's your girl! Anyway, you're all probably wondering why I haven't been posting too much recently, well that's because I've actually moved, nope not to Atlanta, Georgia (Yet).
Las Vegas, Nevada actually, either way, I'm still settling in and I'm still trying to get adjusted. Anywho, I'm working on a sequel to my "Queens in the House of Ward" fic that you all loved, I'm planning on doing more with Xander and Draco King, and I may or may not be adding both Dolly Ann as well as Dandy Girl.
I turned off the comments on my Revenant X Liberty smut, mainly due to the real toxic vibes. I'm also working on less smutty content (Though not by a lot), a little Lovecraftian project and a space romp, think Barbarella… Or like, Galaxina with a little bit of Guardians of the Galaxy.
A post on both AO3 and Wattpad by the user "Breezy St.".
Bree was having a blast in Las Vegas.
Yet she couldn't help but feel that something was missing, she wasn't sure whether or not it was homesickness, after all, she had Xavier with her, and she had friends, cool friends at that, hot ones too, she also made friends with a giant rock monster, one who she'd on occasion ride atop the shoulders of like she was Prince Ali atop an elephant, how can she feel empty?
How could she feel like there was something wrong? She wasn't sure, but she figured that Oracle would help she didn't express these thoughts at first, instead, she would come asking
"How's it going?" then Oracle said, seemingly unprompted and out of the blue "Troubled?"
"What? No… Maybe just a little bit".
Oracle was relaxing on a couch, gesturing Bree to sit next to her, all the while Oracle was looking vacantly into the wall, her blank eyes wide yet tired, her voice soothing and exotic, Bree had always wondered where her accent came from "You still seek to find your purpose" she said
"When you put it like that I sound desperate" Bree said awkwardly hugging herself
"You see the future, right?" she asks
"Not clearly" Oracle said "Then again, I'm blind, therefore I can't see the same way you do"
"Okay, but do you at least have an idea?" Bree asked her as Jinx came into the room casually
"The first days to the rest of your life will be here in Vegas… But it doesn't mean we will all stay" she said "Well, do your visions say something about me and Glitch?" to which Oracle says
"…Hellfire is essential" Bree asking what it means
"I don't know… But she is in your future".
"Hey uh, this is all well and good, but the new guy's lost in the hallway" Jinx said to the two
"Bree, would you help him?" Oracle asked them "Sure thing, no problem, point and I'll go".
She was just about to leave the room before asking "Just one more thing… About a celeb—"
"Ace Ward?" Oracle would ask Banshee, she didn't even have to read her mind to guess that
"You'll meet more often than you think" she said, not seeing the look on Bree's pretty face…
Grey would be helped to his new apartment by Banshee, who showed him to their room…
He reminded her of Daniel Radcliffe.
Albeit younger, though she wasn't sure by how much, he could have been twenty or thirty, he could have been her age or older.
Stepping foot inside the room, a modest one, Greys company began making themselves at home, the gambler joking about how he could get used to this
"No duh" he quietly mused "She looks like a screamer" the gambler had commented immediately sitting up on the bed "She looks like the babe from The Kissing Booth" remarked another person only Grey could see, this one a goth woman, all the while an older, overweight clown checked Banshee out "Quit checking her out" Grey uttered
"What was that?" she asked him "What?" he asked, as if he didn't just say anything "What?".
Banshee immediately remember the card that she was shown "Oh right… You've got voices"
"I'd say it's more like I can see people nobody else can, it's a bit like imaginary friends really" "Fuck you" the clown complained "I ain't imaginary" though he remarks "The creep ought—"
"Do one of them think I'm hot?" she asked "What? No—No… No… Well some of them do"
Grey shifted awkwardly "Anywho, thank you very much for showing me the uh, apartment"
"No problem" Banshee said, being only a little weirded out "If you need anything, just ask"
"Oh! Just one more thing" Grey tells Bree "What is it?" she asks "What's the wifi password?".
Listening to "It's No Good" by Depeche Mode, Grey would scour his way through the internet in search of everything he needed to know, looking up the news and googling celebrities, names, and superheroes:
Atlanta. Who's The Revenant?
The Reaper… Who is Ace Ward?
Destiny Masters.
Are Ace Ward and Destiny dating? Bishop Castle.
Reeves. Jim Reeves… Zeta-Man. Columbia… Who is the President of the United States?
"Kamala Harris? Upgraded" he smiled "Who is James Mansfield?"
"Downgraded" Grey commented to himself, laughing a little bit to himself as he searches on
"What is Vena?" he'd come up with some country in Africa, this raised him another question
"Legion" he typed, coming up with the TV series that almost resembled his wild, crazy life…
"Alright... Now I just gotta find Maybus" mumbled Grey "Whoever the actual hell Maybus is".
Bree had made her way back to her and Xaviers room "So they've got this new guy, and he—" she noticed Xavier looking concerned and pacing about in from of the television, telling her
"They caught her" she knew already.
She just knew by the look in his eyes and the startled expression on his face that it was her. Hannah Hellfire
"She just go arrested in Chicago" he told her showing her the events on the news, frantically describing how she, after a fight with Black Power, damn near went nuclear, only stopped by a forcefield from… Well, nobody really knew, but what they did know was that after the smoke cleared, Black Power had remained standing, and Hannah was out cold.
"Holy shit" Bree said, Xavier was going back and forth in front of the TV detailing this, even as it played behind him, providing visuals to his frantic story, even providing what was a barely censored image of Hannah…
Her clothes were typically burned to ashes following the fire, that was why Pyro typically only had his arms "Flame on", it was easier to control, it singed his clothes but didn't burn them.
Speaking of Pyro, he'd come hurrying in, trying to tell them about the news, only to find that they already knew "This is fucking crazy" he tells them
"Where are they gonna hold them?" after all, there were no prisons that they knew of which were built for people just like them.
There was tension in the air, only partially helped by the message sent to them by Tempest.
"No" he told them through Oracle "We ain't saving the girl, not now, not yet, it's too risky"…
Did I say that it helped? It did not. Even Jinx and Oracle knew that this wouldn't really help.
After all, Hellfire was a poster child of superhuman criminals, and if it came out that they've helped in breaking her out, they would have themselves a bit of a problem on their hands.
Tempest may have had power over Dreamland, but helping a someone like Hellfire wouldn't really help in… "Legitimising" that, though the argument could easily be made that he was simply afraid of competition, Oracle had speculated this, and so, she'd quietly tell Banshee:
"Hellfire's essential" as it clicked in…
"We're gonna save her" Banshee said, a kind of bravery and swagger in her tone as she said it, her hands on her hips as she stood up, a look of agreement shared between both Pyro and Xavier "We really gonna do this?" Pyro asked her "Tempest'll be pissed if her found out"
"…It's better to pray for forgiveness than ask for permission" Banshee told the two smartly.
The Honeypot was this quaint looking tropical bar and restaurant along the beach, one that had a picturesque, beautiful view of the sunset, one that could almost make one forget that the restaurant was located in Vena.
That Vena.
The bartender was an older black man, one who stood casually on the line between being intimidating and friendly, but mainly friendly.
Even if he had a hook hand, he still managed to do his job fine, and seemed approachable in his warm, yellow and black Hawaiian shirt.
Obadiah looked like he's a Bond villain in retirement, and if he was, then he was enjoying it.
Business was slow, but he liked it like that, he enjoyed peace, and all the little things in life.
Come A Little Bit Closer was playing around the time that he was wiping down the pub table.
He paid little attention to the pretty woman, pale and wearing black dancing to the jukebox.
Odd, as a woman as white as her wasn't something that was easy to find in a place like Vena.
They existed, not that he knew, women weren't key to him… Save for his daughter Beatrice.
Though she was far from a woman, she hadn't reached puberty yet, so he was in the clear…
That was until the woman came up to the bar.
"Hey Baddy" the woman said in her Scottish accent, a bright red smile on her pale white face
"Violet" he had smiled back at the black, white and red woman "Where's your other half?"
"Right here" Red tells him as he made his way up to the bar, taking a seat up next to Violet
"Kay, are you here for business? Or pleasure?"
"Both" Violet smiled, before asking them for a "Tequila sunrise" Violet says
"Heineken" Red answers
"Daniel Craig would be proud of you" Violet smiled "Icy cold?" she asked him "Yep"
"Where's WMD?" Violet asked him "Running inventory" he tells them, referring to the Iraqi man of about fifty, maybe sixty at most, whom shared more than a passing resemblance to Saddam Hussein, hence their nickname, though one would have been paying a little more attention to Obadiah, a hook handed man managing to prepare the two lovers their drinks.
"What brings you to this corner of the world?" he asked the two
"Business for the most part" Red answered
"Okay, not really business, if that were the case, then we would be in America"
"Is that where Maybus is setting up shop?" he asked them "For the most part" Violet answers
"We're actually supposed to be body guarding somebody for him"
Obadiah asks "Oh, who?"
"Am I allowed to say?" Violet asked Red with a cheeky smile before eventually telling them
"Lets just say his name starts with a 'J' and ends with a 'Ames Manfield" Obadiah laughed
"Well, if you are his bodyguards, then I think you're gonna get fired" before turning up the volume on the television, detailing how Mansfield narrowly avoided getting killed by Flora.
"Oh poop" Violet said "…He wouldn't fire us"
"What makes you say that?" Violet asked Red "Our good looks? Or maybe our real boss?"
"Maybus isn't our boss, he's our friend, and neither is Mansfield… But he isn't our friend"
"Then what's keeping us in his good graces?"
"You're hot as fuck" Red tells her casually after their Heineken arrived, he'd take a sip of it
"Oh, you trying to get yourself under my panties again?" she asked them "Mansfield would"
"Cuck" Violet told Red "You saying that I should use my feminine wiles to pull his strings?"
"Wouldn't be the first time you've done that"
"Made you a cuck?" Violet asked, thinking back to a couple occasions
"Pulled some strings" Red said once her Tequila sunrise came by
"And he knows Maybus would want us watching" adding
"And he knows that there's no way that Maybus would allow him to up and fire us"
"Well, he clearly didn't need our help getting out of there alive" Violet smiled, adding that
"He'll likely forget about our little trip off into… Well, 'Enemy territory', no offence Baddy"
"None taken" Obadiah tells them, noticing that the two of them were about to leave after paying him, Violet saying "I'd like to take in some rays with my honeybun and Tequila sun"
Obadiah joked "Probably the first time you every took in any sunlight" to which she tells him
"I think I gave myself a hint of a tan this one time at Los Alamos" before she paraphrased the man who made the bomb "'Now I am become Death, the fucker of my best friends wife'"…
Sitting along the beach, the jukebox had began to play a much more modern song, singing
"For starts… What a waste to say the heart could feel apart… Or feel complete, baby…"
Violet was wearing a round pair of sunglasses as she sipped her Tequila sunrise with a smile
"Why would you make out of words, a cage for your own bird? When it sings so sweet, the screaming, heaving fuckery of the world?…"
"I fucking love Hozier" Violet said to Red
"Why would you offer her name to the same old tired pain? When all things come from nothin', and, honey, if nothing's gained…" he agreed
"You sound like him when you're trying to be sexy" Violet added
"If you want, I can sing 'em" he told her taking a sip "You for real honey?"
"My heart is thrilled by the still of your hand… It's how I know now that you understand…"
"When we get home" Red tells her "Home's where the heart is" Violet said holding his hand
"And I'm holding it in my hand" she told him
"There's no plan, there's no race to be run, the harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun, there's no plan, there's no kingdom to come, I'll be your man if you got love to get done…".
The two of them would "Sit in and watch the sunlight fade", all the while Obadiah watched
"Honey, enjoy, it's gettin' late… There's no plan, there's no hand on the rein" he'd go back inside as the sun began to brightly set "As Mack explained… There will be darkness again"…
A pair of blue eyes looked across sin city with superiority from their decent penthouse hotel.
Terrence Weaver wasn't blind, far from it, he had sharper senses than ever had, sharper than they were in his prime, yet even so, he had only felt a cold chill in the air before he read, or at least attempted to read the mind of the person standing behind him, the ice jingling in the glass of bourbon in his hand "I tend to be the one to enter rooms unannounced Miss—"
Terrence paused as he could not read her name it was something blocking him from doing it, like this mental wall of ice, to him.
"Winters, but you may address me as Zero" the woman icy shill of a voice was broken up as if it was a robotic voice playing from a static filled speaker, then old man turned around to see something not unlike something that he had only glimpsed in the horror comics of his youth, it's skin a pale blue like that of the arctic water, yet it was dead or at least that how the woman seemed to look, a living corpse of what had been once a beautiful woman kept alive machines that ran in out mechanical monstrosity of flesh and metal, clearly a kind of cyborg
"What are you?" asked Weaver moving closer but mid step he found his foot unable to move to his shock and near wonderment, if the man could even feel that emotion, Weaver would have seen that their foot was frozen—
It was Zero's turn to step towards Weaver, as she did spikes broke from her back long thin spiked metal tendrils that came near Terrance face who now realised that he may in fact be in danger, but beyond that he realised this was an opportunity to learn to study this thing that had showed itself to him
"I can be many things and I am much more, but what I am now is someone in need of assistance, from what I heard old man you are the one to talk to"
Weaver raised his greying, already heavy brow "From what you heard? Who speaks of me?"
"Your security system behind your internet posts, for someone of your age, impressive, but it was still nothing compared to my need to speak to you… And about inquiring for your help"
Weaver smiled with another realisation of what this woman wanted, her image was iconic
"Your friend, Hannah Hellfire, a lovely name, she is most impressive from the reports I have seen, yet as she has been captured, she is merely another lost soul… In need of salvation"
"Indeed, but you have the power to change that, you have access to more of our kind, those who can help me rescue my Hannah"
Zero adds "In fact, those children you have groomed in Philadelphia to join your ranks have already begun to raise their voices to free their lost sister behind bars" said Zero walking away as a hologram of brown skin phased over and hide the true shape of the cold woman
"And if I refuse?" asks Weaver as his foot suddenly unfroze sending tumbling to the ground not second after he finished talking
"How long until they begin to question your tutelage?" briefly she paused as she open the door, stepping out of it "Omega" she said before leaving.
"I am the son and the heir, of a shyness that is criminally vulgar, I am the son and heir, of nothing in particular, y'shut your mouth, how can y'say, I go about things the wrong way?"
"They're good for a Scotsman" Emilio commented sipping his beer, referring to the singer up on the stage, all the while they're sitting in the back, enjoying dinner with the rest of the gang, Grey singing "I am human and I need to be loved… Just like everybody else does".
Emilio could tell that something's off.
The awkward silence at the dinner table the gang were sitting at, enjoying this hearty meal.
But he could tell that secrets were being hidden, that somebody there wasn't being honest.
"…No" Tempest said sternly, almost as if he's answering a question that hadn't been raised
"Oh come on, she's one of us" Banshee said to Tempest "But she ain't part of the club kiddo"
"She could be" Banshee told them "You jealous of having another fire person on our team?"
"Hey, I ain't jealous of Pyro over here"
Tempest would add "And I know he'd want her on the team so they can make a 'Forrest fire'"
"…Thanks?" Pyro said, not really sure if that was supposed to be a compliment or a sex joke
"The point is we're on thin ice already, so painting a target on our back's no bueno, alright?".
The awkward silence at the dinner table the gang were sitting at
"Fine, you're not helping" Banshee said, crossing her pale arms, before uncrossing them to eat the chips on her plate.
She gave Oracle a look when Tempest wasn't looking, the conversation a silent, mental one.
The moment she felt mismatched eyes flickering towards her from Tempest, Banshee asked
"So uh, what did you guys use to do?"
"Homeless" Jinx said, asking Banshee "Is that a job?" before Oracle clarified, telling Banshee
"When I met him, he was living on the street conning people, meanwhile I was a runaway"
Oracle held Jinx's hand as Emilio said
"Hooligan" adding "Before the powers kicked in I was just some little brat living in Belfast"
"You were born during The Troubles, right?" Simba asked him "So like, what was that like?"
"Mummy and daddy got their brains shot out in front of me" they said plainly "There's that".
The silence was an awkward one "…You runaways too?" Emilio asked Simba and Pyro "Yep".
"What about Lola?" Banshee asked him
"She's Lola" Emilio said "Whatever the hell she is…" Lola suddenly appeared, beside them, doing so to take some chips from Jinx before leaving.
She was taking the chips to Golem, whom had mostly hung around the storm drain tunnels.
Listening along to a cover of "Because the Night" by Pattii Smith Group, the Protomen cover to be a little more specific, she was a fan of theirs, she even had on a shirt depicting the album cover for "Act II: The Father of Death", one of her favourites to be pretty honest, either way, Banshee does so looking through a bag, packing it, preparing for the mission ahead…
"Tempest won't be happy if he found this out" Jinx told Oracle "Found what out?" she asked
"That you gave them permission to up and leave" he said watching the television, to which she mused "Well, he won't find out, it won't hurt him… At least, I think it won't hurt them".
There was something in her tone which caught his attention, something playful in her smile, Jinx turned to see her on the bed, wearing his hoodie… And by the looks of it, nothing else
"…Okay, so we're not telling him?" Jinx asks "I won't tell if you won't tell. We know nothing"
"Well, we both know one thing" Jinx tells Oracle "That you're wearing my favourite hoodie"
"Really? I didn't know" Oracle smiled.
Jinx leaned in close to her, his hand gripping the back of her neck as he told her "Take it off"
"Make me" Oracle, with a gentle push from Jinx, fell upon the bed, unzipping their hoodie.
As the trio of Banshee, Glitch and Pyro ventured off to save Hannah Hellfire, choosing to go through the storm tunnels, they found themselves joined by Golem, Banshee telling them
"No, they'll notice if you're gone" but Golem was adamant on coming with them "No… No!".
The image was almost cute if you were to ask somebody like Pyro, he found it heartwarming.
She even tried pushing him back, but he stood his ground, barely reacting to their shoving.
She'd give up eventually, and before she knew it, their trio became a quartet and foursome.
"OFF TO SAVE HELLFIRE. WILL B BACK SOON" read the message written in chalk Lola saw…
Beneath the message are four names, signing the note off: Banshee, Pyro, Glitch and Golem.
But he was a functioning, slightly paranoid and or Schizophrenic with symptoms of Multiple Personality Disorder, as well as Anti Social Personality Disorder… Those exist right? Right?
The point is he was looking for a job.
He claimed that he was a good singer, and appearance wise he gave off some Bo Burnham, Daniel Radcliffe vibes, looked a little pale and scruffy, his eyes wild, but there was a youth. Also, he was holding what looked to be a ukulele, so Tempest was curious, so he poked in.
He wasn't even supposed to be here, he just saw that the door to Dreamlands theatre was open, so he decided to let himself in
"What d'we have here?" Tempest asked the owner of Dreamland "Him? He's auditioning…".
His presence was an awkward one at that, he appeared nervous as he adjusted the stand in front of him "Does he even have a name?" Tempest asked as Jinx and Oracle came on inside.
"Is somebody on stage?" Oracle asked
"Yeah? One fella" Tempest said quietly, Jinx noting the funny look she had on her pale face.
She almost looked confused by the statement, and she appeared to look towards the stage. "Jinx" she tells him mentally "Don't panic… But I don't think I can read him, his minds is…" the young man coughed a little into the microphone as he was clearing his throat, although he was kind enough to wipe it down before he began to sing to their audience of about…
One, two, three, four people in the theatre, about an infinite number of others elsewhere.
"My grandpa fought in World War II, he was such a noble dude, I can't even finish school, missed my mom and left too soon—"
Oracle was starting to make something out, something she couldn't really describe, it wasn't anything new, as she had experienced it before, but it was only when she was in the middle of a group of people, absorbing the little thoughts of theirs like osmosis, it was euphoric…
But she never got it from one person alone, oh he may have been odd if what Jinx and Tempest were seeing were accurate…
But being a little odd alone, that wasn't a superpower
"His dad was a fireman who fought fires so violent, I think I bored my therapist while playing her my violin, oh my God that's so insane, oh my God that's such a shame, next to them, my shit don't feel so grand, but I can't help myself from feeling bad I kinda feel like two things can be said… The world's smallest violin really needs an audience, so if I do not find somebody soon, I'll blow up into smithereens and spew my tiny symphony, just let me play my violin for you, you, you, you" he then broke into an enthusiastic and dainty ukulele solo.
"My grandpa fought in World War II and he was such a noble dude, man I feel like such a fool, I got so much left to prove, all my friends have vaping friends, they're so good at making friends, I'm so scared of caving in is that entertaining yet? Oh my God that's so insane, oh my God that's such a shame, next to them, my shit don't feel so grand, but I can't help myself from feeling bad, I kinda feel like two things can be said… The world's smallest violin really needs an audience, so if I do not find somebody soon, I'll blow up into smithereens and spew my tiny symphony, just let me play my violin for you, you, you, you"
They'd break into yet another solo…
"Somewhere in the universe, somewhere someone's got it worse, wish that made it easier, wish I didn't feel the hurt, the world's smallest violin, really needs an audience, so if I do not find somebody soon" he went silent.
"I'll blow up into smithereens and spew my tiny symphony, all up and down a city street, while tryna put my mind at ease like finishing this melody, this feels like a necessity, so this could be the death of me, or maybe just a better me, now come in with the timpani's and take a shot of Hennessy, I know I'm not there mentally, but you could be the remedy, so let me play my violin for you" and just like that his show was over, his arms were outstretched and he gave a little bow
"So am I in?"
"…Let me check something first" the owner said before Tempest immediately said, after he had some persuasion from Oracle
"When can you start performing?" to which he told them
"Well, my only requests right now are a place to stay and something to eat, I'm honestly pretty hungry" he said
"And tired, also a little thirsty, and my fingers are sore… Also these lights are bright"
"What else can you do?" Oracle asks.
She figured he was a meta human, she could tell by the way he looked at her and the gang.
But if he was… Then he wasn't like any meta human Oracle had ever met in her entire life.
"Well, I can dance, I can—" Tempest asked him "You a funny guy?" he tells him "…I think so?"
"Fuck it, your in" he said stepping over the boss before asking him "You got a name fella?".
"Oh, it-it-It's Grey" he tells them "My name is Grey... Please don't make any 50 Shades jokes".
Blue was still cleaning up the manor after that party, though he's lucky that Polly was there to help, though she was also reading to Blue tweets and comments about the house party, Pink having sent her the "Reviews" she'd read
"Okay, listen to this 'Since when did the quiet kid started being cool?'" he's quick to remark
"I'm not the quiet kid" adding that "I don't own a gun, at least not any modern guns, really"
Polly laughed at how wrong the joke sounded
"It would be funny if we didn't have a shooting every couple weeks" she admitted to them.
Having seen it with his own two eyes, Blue had been given renewed faith that it existed, the old Ward treasure room, he was there for a moment before he and the gang had to leave it, teleporting away, therefore not figuring out just where in the labyrinth of hidden passages that treasure room was, all he knew was that it's somewhere in their grandiose brownstone.
He'd say this much to Polly, who agreed that it was cool and exciting, she was just about to read another review until they heard a knock.
"Expecting anybody?" she asked "Probably the rest of the gang" he said going to answer it.
Instead of his friends, the superhero team in the making, he came face to face with Hugo…
"Hey sport, heard you had yourself quite the party" he smiled like a door to door salesmen.
Blue simply shrugged, saying "Yeah… Hell of a party" as Hugo showed himself inside, Blue was quick to follow saying "We're still cleaning up from it" Hugo clapped his hands together
"That's what I like about you, you're responsible, you clean up after yourself, that's all good" he suddenly stops before picking something up, a nice looking towel, one stained with red, a result of it having been used to pick up the severed hand of a Russian gangster, as well as being used to clean the area it had landed in.
"You don't use a Sheridan towel to clean up stains like this, believe me kid, I've tried that"
Hugo chose not to add the bit about how the stain he was cleaning was a blood stain, or how he could tell that the crimson on the towel in his hand was near identical to that older stain.
"So just why are you here?" Polly asked Hugo
"I can't say hi to my nephew and niece?" he asked them "I heard the party got a little crazy"
"Well, if you came to see if we were alright, thanks, we're alright… So don't panic, alright?"
"I've seen a cow explode after getting shot by a bazooka" Hugo laughed a little bit after that
"It's gonna take a lot to scare the shit out of me, so yeah… I wasn't panicking, just curious".
He'd leave eventually, reminding the two "Y'don't use a Sheridan to get rid of these stains".
After he left, Polly went back to reading reviews on her phone, pointing out this funny one:
"'Cool party, almost died but the girls were hot. Five stars'…" Polly read "So all around, cool".
Cells by The Servant's playing in her ears, with wolf like eyes and a catlike mask she watched. Pink stood atop the rooftop like a badass, clad in leather, body armour and a pink plaid skirt.
And that wasn't even counting the old mask, one which she had stylised in the vein of some punk from the eighties, or maybe the nineties.
The young vigilante was patrolling the streets of Philadelphia, particularly the Badlands, the lower east side, which had seen an uptick in crime and panic, especially following the recent terror attacks in New York, and she already heard about the showdown that had happened in Chicago, she seen pictures of it, and seen a video of the police dragging away the tired and naked Hellfire, though it didn't take long for them to clothe her in a blanket and loose shirt.
Beneath her boot clad feet she saw a pair of looters carrying PlayStations away from a store.
So she'd promptly go down to kick their asses.
She struck fast and with burning pink energy which stung like a bee on fire and sent one of them scurrying off, cursing at them as they drop the PlayStation, leaving only one of them behind to try and fight the vigilante, who was just able to hear somebody else coming down the alleyway she was fighting in, right before—
BANG! A gun goes off and she stumbled back, just in time to see her attacker getting socked right in the face, discovering that Tank had caught the bullet intended for her and struck the shooter with their fist, sending them smacking right into the wall behind them, knocked out cold as Tank taunts that unconscious hoodlum
"…Tank?" she asked him angrily "What's up?"
"What the fuck are you doing here? This is my territory, remember the deal" Pink complains
"No, not really" he admitted
"But come on, that was pretty cool, right?" he asked her with a goofy looking smile on his face
"Don't even think about it" Pink said upon noticing the way his eyes had flickered to the PlayStation on the ground
"…What? No, I've already got one"
"…So do I" Pink said to Tank, the two of them going silent before he asked her if she wanted to play some GTA 6
"Well I don't see why not".
Hey guys, it's your girl! Anyway, you're all probably wondering why I haven't been posting too much recently, well that's because I've actually moved, nope not to Atlanta, Georgia (Yet).
Las Vegas, Nevada actually, either way, I'm still settling in and I'm still trying to get adjusted. Anywho, I'm working on a sequel to my "Queens in the House of Ward" fic that you all loved, I'm planning on doing more with Xander and Draco King, and I may or may not be adding both Dolly Ann as well as Dandy Girl.
I turned off the comments on my Revenant X Liberty smut, mainly due to the real toxic vibes. I'm also working on less smutty content (Though not by a lot), a little Lovecraftian project and a space romp, think Barbarella… Or like, Galaxina with a little bit of Guardians of the Galaxy.
A post on both AO3 and Wattpad by the user "Breezy St.".
Bree was having a blast in Las Vegas.
Yet she couldn't help but feel that something was missing, she wasn't sure whether or not it was homesickness, after all, she had Xavier with her, and she had friends, cool friends at that, hot ones too, she also made friends with a giant rock monster, one who she'd on occasion ride atop the shoulders of like she was Prince Ali atop an elephant, how can she feel empty?
How could she feel like there was something wrong? She wasn't sure, but she figured that Oracle would help she didn't express these thoughts at first, instead, she would come asking
"How's it going?" then Oracle said, seemingly unprompted and out of the blue "Troubled?"
"What? No… Maybe just a little bit".
Oracle was relaxing on a couch, gesturing Bree to sit next to her, all the while Oracle was looking vacantly into the wall, her blank eyes wide yet tired, her voice soothing and exotic, Bree had always wondered where her accent came from "You still seek to find your purpose" she said
"When you put it like that I sound desperate" Bree said awkwardly hugging herself
"You see the future, right?" she asks
"Not clearly" Oracle said "Then again, I'm blind, therefore I can't see the same way you do"
"Okay, but do you at least have an idea?" Bree asked her as Jinx came into the room casually
"The first days to the rest of your life will be here in Vegas… But it doesn't mean we will all stay" she said "Well, do your visions say something about me and Glitch?" to which Oracle says
"…Hellfire is essential" Bree asking what it means
"I don't know… But she is in your future".
"Hey uh, this is all well and good, but the new guy's lost in the hallway" Jinx said to the two
"Bree, would you help him?" Oracle asked them "Sure thing, no problem, point and I'll go".
She was just about to leave the room before asking "Just one more thing… About a celeb—"
"Ace Ward?" Oracle would ask Banshee, she didn't even have to read her mind to guess that
"You'll meet more often than you think" she said, not seeing the look on Bree's pretty face…
Grey would be helped to his new apartment by Banshee, who showed him to their room…
He reminded her of Daniel Radcliffe.
Albeit younger, though she wasn't sure by how much, he could have been twenty or thirty, he could have been her age or older.
Stepping foot inside the room, a modest one, Greys company began making themselves at home, the gambler joking about how he could get used to this
"No duh" he quietly mused "She looks like a screamer" the gambler had commented immediately sitting up on the bed "She looks like the babe from The Kissing Booth" remarked another person only Grey could see, this one a goth woman, all the while an older, overweight clown checked Banshee out "Quit checking her out" Grey uttered
"What was that?" she asked him "What?" he asked, as if he didn't just say anything "What?".
Banshee immediately remember the card that she was shown "Oh right… You've got voices"
"I'd say it's more like I can see people nobody else can, it's a bit like imaginary friends really" "Fuck you" the clown complained "I ain't imaginary" though he remarks "The creep ought—"
"Do one of them think I'm hot?" she asked "What? No—No… No… Well some of them do"
Grey shifted awkwardly "Anywho, thank you very much for showing me the uh, apartment"
"No problem" Banshee said, being only a little weirded out "If you need anything, just ask"
"Oh! Just one more thing" Grey tells Bree "What is it?" she asks "What's the wifi password?".
Listening to "It's No Good" by Depeche Mode, Grey would scour his way through the internet in search of everything he needed to know, looking up the news and googling celebrities, names, and superheroes:
Atlanta. Who's The Revenant?
The Reaper… Who is Ace Ward?
Destiny Masters.
Are Ace Ward and Destiny dating? Bishop Castle.
Reeves. Jim Reeves… Zeta-Man. Columbia… Who is the President of the United States?
"Kamala Harris? Upgraded" he smiled "Who is James Mansfield?"
"Downgraded" Grey commented to himself, laughing a little bit to himself as he searches on
"What is Vena?" he'd come up with some country in Africa, this raised him another question
"Legion" he typed, coming up with the TV series that almost resembled his wild, crazy life…
"Alright... Now I just gotta find Maybus" mumbled Grey "Whoever the actual hell Maybus is".
Bree had made her way back to her and Xaviers room "So they've got this new guy, and he—" she noticed Xavier looking concerned and pacing about in from of the television, telling her
"They caught her" she knew already.
She just knew by the look in his eyes and the startled expression on his face that it was her. Hannah Hellfire
"She just go arrested in Chicago" he told her showing her the events on the news, frantically describing how she, after a fight with Black Power, damn near went nuclear, only stopped by a forcefield from… Well, nobody really knew, but what they did know was that after the smoke cleared, Black Power had remained standing, and Hannah was out cold.
"Holy shit" Bree said, Xavier was going back and forth in front of the TV detailing this, even as it played behind him, providing visuals to his frantic story, even providing what was a barely censored image of Hannah…
Her clothes were typically burned to ashes following the fire, that was why Pyro typically only had his arms "Flame on", it was easier to control, it singed his clothes but didn't burn them.
Speaking of Pyro, he'd come hurrying in, trying to tell them about the news, only to find that they already knew "This is fucking crazy" he tells them
"Where are they gonna hold them?" after all, there were no prisons that they knew of which were built for people just like them.
There was tension in the air, only partially helped by the message sent to them by Tempest.
"No" he told them through Oracle "We ain't saving the girl, not now, not yet, it's too risky"…
Did I say that it helped? It did not. Even Jinx and Oracle knew that this wouldn't really help.
After all, Hellfire was a poster child of superhuman criminals, and if it came out that they've helped in breaking her out, they would have themselves a bit of a problem on their hands.
Tempest may have had power over Dreamland, but helping a someone like Hellfire wouldn't really help in… "Legitimising" that, though the argument could easily be made that he was simply afraid of competition, Oracle had speculated this, and so, she'd quietly tell Banshee:
"Hellfire's essential" as it clicked in…
"We're gonna save her" Banshee said, a kind of bravery and swagger in her tone as she said it, her hands on her hips as she stood up, a look of agreement shared between both Pyro and Xavier "We really gonna do this?" Pyro asked her "Tempest'll be pissed if her found out"
"…It's better to pray for forgiveness than ask for permission" Banshee told the two smartly.
The Honeypot was this quaint looking tropical bar and restaurant along the beach, one that had a picturesque, beautiful view of the sunset, one that could almost make one forget that the restaurant was located in Vena.
That Vena.
The bartender was an older black man, one who stood casually on the line between being intimidating and friendly, but mainly friendly.
Even if he had a hook hand, he still managed to do his job fine, and seemed approachable in his warm, yellow and black Hawaiian shirt.
Obadiah looked like he's a Bond villain in retirement, and if he was, then he was enjoying it.
Business was slow, but he liked it like that, he enjoyed peace, and all the little things in life.
Come A Little Bit Closer was playing around the time that he was wiping down the pub table.
He paid little attention to the pretty woman, pale and wearing black dancing to the jukebox.
Odd, as a woman as white as her wasn't something that was easy to find in a place like Vena.
They existed, not that he knew, women weren't key to him… Save for his daughter Beatrice.
Though she was far from a woman, she hadn't reached puberty yet, so he was in the clear…
That was until the woman came up to the bar.
"Hey Baddy" the woman said in her Scottish accent, a bright red smile on her pale white face
"Violet" he had smiled back at the black, white and red woman "Where's your other half?"
"Right here" Red tells him as he made his way up to the bar, taking a seat up next to Violet
"Kay, are you here for business? Or pleasure?"
"Both" Violet smiled, before asking them for a "Tequila sunrise" Violet says
"Heineken" Red answers
"Daniel Craig would be proud of you" Violet smiled "Icy cold?" she asked him "Yep"
"Where's WMD?" Violet asked him "Running inventory" he tells them, referring to the Iraqi man of about fifty, maybe sixty at most, whom shared more than a passing resemblance to Saddam Hussein, hence their nickname, though one would have been paying a little more attention to Obadiah, a hook handed man managing to prepare the two lovers their drinks.
"What brings you to this corner of the world?" he asked the two
"Business for the most part" Red answered
"Okay, not really business, if that were the case, then we would be in America"
"Is that where Maybus is setting up shop?" he asked them "For the most part" Violet answers
"We're actually supposed to be body guarding somebody for him"
Obadiah asks "Oh, who?"
"Am I allowed to say?" Violet asked Red with a cheeky smile before eventually telling them
"Lets just say his name starts with a 'J' and ends with a 'Ames Manfield" Obadiah laughed
"Well, if you are his bodyguards, then I think you're gonna get fired" before turning up the volume on the television, detailing how Mansfield narrowly avoided getting killed by Flora.
"Oh poop" Violet said "…He wouldn't fire us"
"What makes you say that?" Violet asked Red "Our good looks? Or maybe our real boss?"
"Maybus isn't our boss, he's our friend, and neither is Mansfield… But he isn't our friend"
"Then what's keeping us in his good graces?"
"You're hot as fuck" Red tells her casually after their Heineken arrived, he'd take a sip of it
"Oh, you trying to get yourself under my panties again?" she asked them "Mansfield would"
"Cuck" Violet told Red "You saying that I should use my feminine wiles to pull his strings?"
"Wouldn't be the first time you've done that"
"Made you a cuck?" Violet asked, thinking back to a couple occasions
"Pulled some strings" Red said once her Tequila sunrise came by
"And he knows Maybus would want us watching" adding
"And he knows that there's no way that Maybus would allow him to up and fire us"
"Well, he clearly didn't need our help getting out of there alive" Violet smiled, adding that
"He'll likely forget about our little trip off into… Well, 'Enemy territory', no offence Baddy"
"None taken" Obadiah tells them, noticing that the two of them were about to leave after paying him, Violet saying "I'd like to take in some rays with my honeybun and Tequila sun"
Obadiah joked "Probably the first time you every took in any sunlight" to which she tells him
"I think I gave myself a hint of a tan this one time at Los Alamos" before she paraphrased the man who made the bomb "'Now I am become Death, the fucker of my best friends wife'"…
Sitting along the beach, the jukebox had began to play a much more modern song, singing
"For starts… What a waste to say the heart could feel apart… Or feel complete, baby…"
Violet was wearing a round pair of sunglasses as she sipped her Tequila sunrise with a smile
"Why would you make out of words, a cage for your own bird? When it sings so sweet, the screaming, heaving fuckery of the world?…"
"I fucking love Hozier" Violet said to Red
"Why would you offer her name to the same old tired pain? When all things come from nothin', and, honey, if nothing's gained…" he agreed
"You sound like him when you're trying to be sexy" Violet added
"If you want, I can sing 'em" he told her taking a sip "You for real honey?"
"My heart is thrilled by the still of your hand… It's how I know now that you understand…"
"When we get home" Red tells her "Home's where the heart is" Violet said holding his hand
"And I'm holding it in my hand" she told him
"There's no plan, there's no race to be run, the harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun, there's no plan, there's no kingdom to come, I'll be your man if you got love to get done…".
The two of them would "Sit in and watch the sunlight fade", all the while Obadiah watched
"Honey, enjoy, it's gettin' late… There's no plan, there's no hand on the rein" he'd go back inside as the sun began to brightly set "As Mack explained… There will be darkness again"…
A pair of blue eyes looked across sin city with superiority from their decent penthouse hotel.
Terrence Weaver wasn't blind, far from it, he had sharper senses than ever had, sharper than they were in his prime, yet even so, he had only felt a cold chill in the air before he read, or at least attempted to read the mind of the person standing behind him, the ice jingling in the glass of bourbon in his hand "I tend to be the one to enter rooms unannounced Miss—"
Terrence paused as he could not read her name it was something blocking him from doing it, like this mental wall of ice, to him.
"Winters, but you may address me as Zero" the woman icy shill of a voice was broken up as if it was a robotic voice playing from a static filled speaker, then old man turned around to see something not unlike something that he had only glimpsed in the horror comics of his youth, it's skin a pale blue like that of the arctic water, yet it was dead or at least that how the woman seemed to look, a living corpse of what had been once a beautiful woman kept alive machines that ran in out mechanical monstrosity of flesh and metal, clearly a kind of cyborg
"What are you?" asked Weaver moving closer but mid step he found his foot unable to move to his shock and near wonderment, if the man could even feel that emotion, Weaver would have seen that their foot was frozen—
It was Zero's turn to step towards Weaver, as she did spikes broke from her back long thin spiked metal tendrils that came near Terrance face who now realised that he may in fact be in danger, but beyond that he realised this was an opportunity to learn to study this thing that had showed itself to him
"I can be many things and I am much more, but what I am now is someone in need of assistance, from what I heard old man you are the one to talk to"
Weaver raised his greying, already heavy brow "From what you heard? Who speaks of me?"
"Your security system behind your internet posts, for someone of your age, impressive, but it was still nothing compared to my need to speak to you… And about inquiring for your help"
Weaver smiled with another realisation of what this woman wanted, her image was iconic
"Your friend, Hannah Hellfire, a lovely name, she is most impressive from the reports I have seen, yet as she has been captured, she is merely another lost soul… In need of salvation"
"Indeed, but you have the power to change that, you have access to more of our kind, those who can help me rescue my Hannah"
Zero adds "In fact, those children you have groomed in Philadelphia to join your ranks have already begun to raise their voices to free their lost sister behind bars" said Zero walking away as a hologram of brown skin phased over and hide the true shape of the cold woman
"And if I refuse?" asks Weaver as his foot suddenly unfroze sending tumbling to the ground not second after he finished talking
"How long until they begin to question your tutelage?" briefly she paused as she open the door, stepping out of it "Omega" she said before leaving.
"I am the son and the heir, of a shyness that is criminally vulgar, I am the son and heir, of nothing in particular, y'shut your mouth, how can y'say, I go about things the wrong way?"
"They're good for a Scotsman" Emilio commented sipping his beer, referring to the singer up on the stage, all the while they're sitting in the back, enjoying dinner with the rest of the gang, Grey singing "I am human and I need to be loved… Just like everybody else does".
Emilio could tell that something's off.
The awkward silence at the dinner table the gang were sitting at, enjoying this hearty meal.
But he could tell that secrets were being hidden, that somebody there wasn't being honest.
"…No" Tempest said sternly, almost as if he's answering a question that hadn't been raised
"Oh come on, she's one of us" Banshee said to Tempest "But she ain't part of the club kiddo"
"She could be" Banshee told them "You jealous of having another fire person on our team?"
"Hey, I ain't jealous of Pyro over here"
Tempest would add "And I know he'd want her on the team so they can make a 'Forrest fire'"
"…Thanks?" Pyro said, not really sure if that was supposed to be a compliment or a sex joke
"The point is we're on thin ice already, so painting a target on our back's no bueno, alright?".
The awkward silence at the dinner table the gang were sitting at
"Fine, you're not helping" Banshee said, crossing her pale arms, before uncrossing them to eat the chips on her plate.
She gave Oracle a look when Tempest wasn't looking, the conversation a silent, mental one.
The moment she felt mismatched eyes flickering towards her from Tempest, Banshee asked
"So uh, what did you guys use to do?"
"Homeless" Jinx said, asking Banshee "Is that a job?" before Oracle clarified, telling Banshee
"When I met him, he was living on the street conning people, meanwhile I was a runaway"
Oracle held Jinx's hand as Emilio said
"Hooligan" adding "Before the powers kicked in I was just some little brat living in Belfast"
"You were born during The Troubles, right?" Simba asked him "So like, what was that like?"
"Mummy and daddy got their brains shot out in front of me" they said plainly "There's that".
The silence was an awkward one "…You runaways too?" Emilio asked Simba and Pyro "Yep".
"What about Lola?" Banshee asked him
"She's Lola" Emilio said "Whatever the hell she is…" Lola suddenly appeared, beside them, doing so to take some chips from Jinx before leaving.
She was taking the chips to Golem, whom had mostly hung around the storm drain tunnels.
Listening along to a cover of "Because the Night" by Pattii Smith Group, the Protomen cover to be a little more specific, she was a fan of theirs, she even had on a shirt depicting the album cover for "Act II: The Father of Death", one of her favourites to be pretty honest, either way, Banshee does so looking through a bag, packing it, preparing for the mission ahead…
"Tempest won't be happy if he found this out" Jinx told Oracle "Found what out?" she asked
"That you gave them permission to up and leave" he said watching the television, to which she mused "Well, he won't find out, it won't hurt him… At least, I think it won't hurt them".
There was something in her tone which caught his attention, something playful in her smile, Jinx turned to see her on the bed, wearing his hoodie… And by the looks of it, nothing else
"…Okay, so we're not telling him?" Jinx asks "I won't tell if you won't tell. We know nothing"
"Well, we both know one thing" Jinx tells Oracle "That you're wearing my favourite hoodie"
"Really? I didn't know" Oracle smiled.
Jinx leaned in close to her, his hand gripping the back of her neck as he told her "Take it off"
"Make me" Oracle, with a gentle push from Jinx, fell upon the bed, unzipping their hoodie.
As the trio of Banshee, Glitch and Pyro ventured off to save Hannah Hellfire, choosing to go through the storm tunnels, they found themselves joined by Golem, Banshee telling them
"No, they'll notice if you're gone" but Golem was adamant on coming with them "No… No!".
The image was almost cute if you were to ask somebody like Pyro, he found it heartwarming.
She even tried pushing him back, but he stood his ground, barely reacting to their shoving.
She'd give up eventually, and before she knew it, their trio became a quartet and foursome.
"OFF TO SAVE HELLFIRE. WILL B BACK SOON" read the message written in chalk Lola saw…
Beneath the message are four names, signing the note off: Banshee, Pyro, Glitch and Golem.
Chapter 10: Rock You Like A Hurricane
I want it to be, like, messy!
Amanda shot up from her bed, eyes wide as Alexa played her alarm "Brutal" by Olivia Rodrigo. The sun had not even begun to peak over the 5 am morning sky when she got dressed in track pants and sleeveless compression shirt, and some nearly worn-out sneakers. Putting her ear pods end and blasted her Spotify playlist as she ran for her five-mile run. Working out in the morning was something she had been doing since she started training with Cap. She would spend a few hours every day before getting ready to go to school, working out, then spending some time at Slaughter's auto shop learning how to fight and lift weights. On the weekends, he would take Amanda to an outdoor range and have her run drills. Amanda wasn't all too ok with using guns, so she mostly practiced with her riot guns instead.
In between all of this and school, she spent a lot of her time riding around on her skateboard, looking for crime to stop, which was far harder than she actually thought it would be. The vast majority of the time, Amanda would basically just go around low-income communities, a lot of which were really makeshift, and help do things with them. She didn't even really have to use her powers all that much It was give and take a lot of the time; people would just tell her what criminal problem they had troubling them, which would be having mostly with some local deadhead pusher or pimp or street fighting gang targeting them, which meant Amerika could actually get a chance to cut her teeth with her new training. On occasions, there would be big things like her saving a cat from a burning car or pulling people from an accident.
Sometimes she would get shot at by bad guys, mostly when she and Cap would raid a drug house. Those times were fun; the two would bust in, take down the bad guys, zip tie them, drag them outside and then burn their drugs before taking their drug money and leaving after calling the cops. Amanda would always make at least a few quips which made Slaughter laugh as he was punching a bad guy. After a go raid, the two would break the money in half, and Cap would take Amanda to get some ice cream or pizza to celebrate another win.
The money didn't mean much to Amanda outside of saving it for cool things to buy for her room, suit, or car. Even then, she didn't feel right keeping that much money on her, so she took to donating to local communities or using the money to buy food or clothes for the homeless.
Yet, after all that, Amanda found hiding the leftover money still a pain in the butt and had taken to stashing the leftover money in a shoe box under her bed. At least she could use it on her current project, that being her suit. She modeled it after a comic Ace sent her that depicted her as something out of the silver age, but she also took some inspiration from Alex Ross's styles of comics. She didn't want her suit to look armored, nor did she need an armor suit. The suit was basically only armored enough to stop her from needing a new suit after every 3rd fight or having her clothes burn off in a fire or be cut by a blade. The people on Hero Watch gave her suggestions about what kind of stuff she may need, and Cap had an old army buddy who helped sell her the stuff under the table with no questions asked. She loved that forum; they were all so..well, nice to her; of course, she did get a couple of creeps in her DM's, but the mods were quick to lay the band hammer down on them.
On her way back home, she smiled as she passed a lamp post that had a "Captain Slaughter Says Your Gender Is Valid" plastered over a Patriot Front Propaganda of a picture of Black Power with an X. Through him, that said, "Wanted For Anti-American Terrorism." The cap sticker had Slaughter-like a cross between the Boy's "Soldier Boy" and Marvel's "Punisher" holding a trans-colored shotgun with a rainbow background and a caption saying the meme "Captain Slaughter Says Your Gender Is Valid." Her smile turned to a frown as she walked back into her home and right into the sight of her mother, Celia.
"Amanda, what did I tell you about running in the morning? If you run during the day, you will tan that lovely skin darker." Her mom said, sipping her coffee.
"Mom-"
"Yeah yeah yeah, baby, I'm just concerned about you all that." said her mom.
Amanda had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at her mother. "Oh really"
"Oh baby, I'm just saying now that boys are begging to notice you, and with you getting that new figure of yours from working out, you will want to keep that skin light if you wanna cut it with Ace Ward."
"My mom, for the last time, Mr.Ward and I are not dating; we are-"
"Just friends who fly each other out across the country?" joked Celia. "Baby, you got some competition in front of you, and I'm not just talking about that white girl Dolly, I mean that high yellow Destiny running around him like his little secretary; if you expect to get him as your man you gonna have to watch her fat ass.".
"My mom and Mr.Ward are friends, that's it; now I gotta finish working out," said Amanda storming up to her room.
"I just want the best for you, sweetheart," called her mom as she went back to sipping her coffee. "That girl had no sense about herself." she sighed. "I freaking hate Hickory.".
In her room, Armanda cut on the news as she began doing her exercises.
"Authorities have refused to say if the woman known as Hannah Hellfire is alive or dead, prompting protests from her fans. Many of these fans or proclaim Hellblazits as they call themselves are followers of Hannah's Hellfire medium page."
Amanda began doing ten reps of jumping lunges for three sets.
"Imani V Clair is in the news again, this time about her comment about the man only known as Black Power. Here is a clip of the speech "For years, the west has comforted themselves with the notion that the white man is superior to all of us, but now when they look up in the sky, they don't see the so-called white Jesus; they see a Black man. This has scared white America to its very foundation."
Amanda went on to do 5 sets for 40 punches, up from 4 sets of 40 she did last week. With each strike, she liked to imagine that she was punching some bad guy square in the face. She even practices saying some goofy punchlines with some of the throws.
"A shootout in Boston between warring organized crime groups and another as of now unknown nonlaw enforcement actor after leaves ten dead. This marks a sharp escalation of deaths in the Boston gang war that has placed the city in a "near war-like state" for months now. Many have begun to place blame on a rumored masked vigilante."
Amanda had begun to sweat even the air condition of her own room as she started doing her 10 sets of 10 high knees.
"In other news, Ace Ward's urban homesteading initiative hits major roadblocks as far right-wing politicians latch onto conspiracies about "Homeless Armies," and some Democrats are criticizing the Billionaire for working with some far-left groups "Like the PAF HPNGC and NDFD.".
Moving on to kicks, she did 5 sets of 10 side and hook kicks on rotation so that she would do half of the set with sidekicks and the other being hook kicks.
"Atlanta business and homes are deciding rather stay open during the winter season or board up in the wake of the new round of fighting between gangs, militias, and rumors of the Revenant."
Amanda never did like doing push-ups in middle school or elementary school, but now it was something that she found becoming easier and easier to do the more she did it. She did two sets of 25 push-ups broken up by a set of 40 climbers.
"In New York, Eric Spader has offered to pay the rents of those most affected by the blackout caused by the Flora attack, which damaged a large substation."
Amanda started doing 10 sets of plank leg raises with 30-second plank rest in between the 5 reps.
"An election worker was killed today after receiving death threats since the start of the 2024 election when a deep fake video was spread across multiple right-wing sites.".
"In a near-apocalyptic speech, the so-called Princess General of Vena declared that "Vena would by the end of the century aid to secure a free Africa from European barbarians even if that means plunging the west in Atomic fire." This comes on the heels of Vena's nuclear and missile tests. The adopted daughter of Vena's dictator went on to point fun at sanctions on her country, saying, "We do not care about baring sanctions from Europe or the west, because we are not white nor Western. We are a self-sufficient nation who will not nor can nor be starved or bullied into submitting to the white man." This is another bold move by the woman who may be next in line to the Venan "throne."
Next was sit-up punches 10 sets of 10 with a minute rest between each of them, which was followed by the same number of reverse crunches. Amanda turned the tv off after finishing jumping jacks. She took a shower, packed a small change of clothes, and skateboarded down to the auto shop, where she hung out with Cap at.
Cap leaned on the door to the car garage; the man tossed her the keys to her car. "It's finished," he said with a smirk.
"Finally," exclaimed Amanda, grabbing the key, and she ran inside the garage to see..her car unchanged.
"Wait, what? It looks the same to me? I thought you said you were gonna give it a badass makeover? "
"Look at that key chain again," said Slaughter as Amanda saw it hung on a little golden star with a big red right and blue button in its center.
"Press it." Slaughter was almost gitty saying the last two words.
And with a push of a button, the car began to shift; it lowered itself to the ground, the wheels became wider, then the actual paint colors started to change from bright red to ocean blue with red side stripes. A white Bald Eagle appeared from the center of the hood over a backdrop of a yellow star. The windows and windshield became opaque, and the plates flipped over to read "Merika."
"Cool, right, I stole some of the paint Ward was fucking around with for one of his projects. Figured he wouldn't miss the few cans of the stuff.".
"Cap, you shouldn't have done tha-"
"Kid, listen, I'm sure he can afford some more paint anyway. What's this about a date? I heard who the lucky chick is?"
"It isn't a chick, and it isn't a date, Cap."
"Wait, I thought you were gay?"
"I'm bi Cap," said Amanda, which Cap laughed at.
"What is there something wrong with that?" glared Amanda.
"You mean to tell me you go for both teams and still don't get any play time!" laughed Cap. "I'm gonna take pity on you, kid, and teach you a few pointers from back in my day.".
"Great, now you sound like my mom,"
"Yeah, unlike her, I'm actually gonna teach you how to get laid, kiddo.".
Brad Wellman sat on a green park table just outside of the small outdoor arcade and fun fair when he heard Scroopin blasting from the distance before he saw the bright red mustang with crimson under glow.
"You got this, Amanda; just stay cool and remember what Cap taught you." she thought as she shallower her nerves parking the car just in front of Brad in all of its glory. Her boots were the first thing he saw stepping how followed by her ripped jeans, black crop jacket, and matching distressed black shirt. Amanda locked eyes with Brad through her black sunglasses, cracking a smile, and said, "Sup."
"Amanda, wow, you look?"
"Amazing, yeah, you don't look too bad yourself," she joked, trying her best to ask cocky even though her stomach was filled with butterflies.
"So um…do you wanna head-on into the park?" asked Brad.
"Sure," said Amanda.
The park was pretty empty for this time of year. Any other time the park would be filled with teens spending their time having fun during their winter break from high school, yet now with the economy being in the trash, forcing people to try and find work or save money or threat of political or just regular gangs the park was nearly a ghost town. There still were maybe two and a half dozen people among the large park and arcade ground, not counting the employees.
"So um… how's the break? For you?" asked Brad.
"A lot more fun than spending my days stuffed in a classroom.".
Brad laughed. "Yeah, tell me about it; I'm just glad coach is letting us off with no practice this break.".
"What, I thought you like sports?"
"I do. It's just football, not like that; I only stopped doing cross-fit, and MMA for-you know what, never mind.".
"Stacy? Yeah, trust me, I get it. I did some crazy things to impress some crushes of mind, like this one time in the sixth grade this kid was really into Harry Potter, so I adopted a fake British accent for like a week to try and impress him."
"Hey, there was a girl in the middle that did the same thing with me because I liked Harry Potter. Wait…was that yo-"
Amanda's eyes widened as she quickly tried to change the subject. "Um, you know I have been taking a few martial arts classes with myself too."
"Really, what gym are you going to?" asked Brad seeing the awkwardness in Amanda's eyes.
"Um, I'm actually learning from a family friend, basically my unofficial uncle; he was in the military; after I told him what Stacy was doing to me, he gave me a few tips; I guess it came in handy.".
"I'm sorry about her; Stacy can be..a lot, not making excuses for her or anything, but her mom isn't around much, and when she is, she can be..intense.".
"Yeah, I feel bad for her; I didn't mean for all that stuff to happen after we fought. I didn't want her to start getting death threats; no one needs that." Amanda thought about the many death threats she had gotten from Alt rightists and a few Alt leftists on the internet for being Ms.Amerika, along with just the general insane threats a female superhero would obviously get from incels. It was easy for her to write these threats off after all; her cyber security was tight, and she was bulletproof, but Stacy was just a cheerleader, even if she was a mean one; she didn't deserve those types of things happening to her.
"Honesty though, I think what you did was very brave standing up to her like that," said Brad, but Amanda wondered did she do the right thing standing up to her; after all, Amanda was the one with great powers; did Stacy being a bitch to her justify her using it on her. She already knew what Slaughter's answer would be; he told her; that he was proud of her for "putting Stacy in her place," that "she fucked around and found out"; Amanda wondered what Mr.Castle or Mr.Ward would have done. Maybe there wasn't a clear answer; maybe there was, who knows.
"So do you um..watch the news?" Amanda asked as she stumbled to the change of subject.
"Depends; I don't like feeling sad all the time with all the stuff going right. I did see that stuff with Black Power Hellfire and that Zero lady."
"Crazy stuff like something out of a Marvel movie, maybe a video game. I can't believe people would actually follow that Hellfire chick, though.".
"I mean, some of the writings on the intersection of class and meta-human patriarchal abolitionism were interesting," said Brad making Amanda raise an eyebrow.
"You read some of how stuff; why?"
"What I don't strike you as the reading type?" laughed Brad.
"No, not that, but I wouldn't pick you for a follower of hers." Amanda said like a million thoughts racing through her mind, "Ohgod, what if he becomes a terrorist? Wait for no a henchmen; I can't date henchmen. Worse, oh god, what if he ends up becoming henchmen for Hellfire, and then they start dating! No, I don't want Brad to be Fire Harley Quinn!"
"I never said I was, just that some of my writing was interesting. I can see why people would want to follow her; a lot of people like now are looking for something to believe in; I guess it makes it's better for them to sleep at night when the world is a dumpster fire."
Amanda breathed a mental sigh of relief at that calming down. "Yeah, I guess I can understand that, plus she is hot. In an insane proto supervillain kind of way," said Amanda as they stopped by one of the game's setups. It was a knife-throwing game where a person would try to hit moving wooden dummies by throwing red, white, and blue knives. Amanda's smile grew wider. Cap had actually taught her some cool tricks with throwing stars and how to throw knives. She also noticed that Brad was looking up at the top rack where a custom sports jersey hung with each one having common names; one of them read Brad, and that was when Amanda got an idea "Hey, how much to play?".
The man beside the game smirked at what he thought would be an easy mark "First set of five knives are free unless you hit five targets with all five knives; otherwise, it's fiv-ten dollars for each game.".
"Deal," said Amanda as the man handed her the knife.
"Amanda, are you sure about this?" asked Brad
Amanda responded by throwing one of the knives into the center of one of the moving targets. "Yeah, I'm sure ." What followed was Amanda unloading around five sets of knives into every moving target until every last one of them was hit at least one time without her missing a single one. The game operator was in awe and red with anger but hung his head and just muttered, "What do you want?"
Amanda looked at Brad, who was equally in awe of what Amanda had done. "Go ahead, pick something you like."
"Are you sure?" asked Brad, still looking up at the shirt with his name on it.
"Yeah, go ahead, get that shirt you've been looking at all night before I change my mind," Amanda said, remembering the words of Slaughter men love it when you treat them like shit sometimes.
Brad smiled as he picked out the sports jersey from the top rack and excitedly put it on over his shirt almost as soon as he got his hands on it. "That was amazing? How did you manage to do that?"
"Oh, it was nothing really, just something my um… uncle taught me."
"Are you kidding me? That was like so cool, say maybe you should be one of those superheroes, we can call you Dart Woman or something?" joked Brad trying to play it cool.
"Me a supes, yeah, right, I would probably just end up being someone's sidekick." joked Amanda, although that was pretty much true, seeing how she was, in fact, at least to her knowledge, the first and only real life side kick in the world.
"It's weird," said Brad.
"What is?"
"How quickly we adapted to them being real superheroes, I mean. Yesterday I saw people selling Ms.Amerika T-shirts, and it seems like every middle-aged suburban white mom with a true-crime podcast is doing an episode on Skin Walker. The dudes at my practice were hedging bets that Ace Ward is Ace of Spades. Its crazy people are just ok with walking among Gods.".
"Gods, that isn't that a bit much?" asked Amanda.
"What do you call crime-fighting ghosts, women with the powers of animals and men in the sky? Makes me wonder.".
Amanda looked at him. "Wonder what?"
"What's comes next.".
"I don't know, but I think it could be good."
"Could be bad."
"Could be fun," said Brad as he unwittingly took Amanda's hand; it happened so fast they both didn't realize it at that moment.
The two of them would spend the next few hours or so ridding wides, playing games, running through fun houses, and eating a funnel cake together. By the time the fair was about to close, Amanda was resting her head on Brad's shoulder as they walked out of the park.
Yet all was not to end well as they made their way to Amanda's car when two men with white masks approached them.
"Lookie, here we got a degen and his little blackie! I tell you what, Boy, you pass on your wallet and let us have this little hottie, and boy, you might just have a good night." one of them said, drawing a gun as they smiled. Amanda began addressing the situation as he mind went into overdrive, two men, one gun pointed at Brad. She had to act fast; in a split second, she grabbed the man with the gun by the wrist-twisting away from Brad before kicking him in the nuts, dropping him, and yanking the gun away, now with the gun in her hand, she pointed back at the man and his fallen buddy.
"Turn the fuck around now and put your god damn hands on your fucking head!" she yelled in a commanding voice, something else Cap had taught her to do. The men quickly did as such, "Good, now get on your fucking knees and count to a thousand, then run away, and if you even think about turning around, I will blow you racist pig shit brains across this park." Amanda silently signaled for Brad to back away with her as they kept their eyes on the two men until they were back by their cars and out of sight.
Amanda leaned against her car, her heart racing at 100 miles per hour. She felt like she was going to explode; her breathing was getting harder and harder to control. Things went blurry, but she remembered the breathing techniques she had learned while in Atlanta. Through a series of slow breaths in and out, she got herself under control at least somewhat. Brad, on the other hand
"HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT! "he yelled. "You just kicked those guys' ASSES! Holy Shit, fuck, how did you do that!" Brad began to drive heave until the funnel cake they had eaten together came up and spilled on the pavement.
Amanda placed her hand on his back, patting it. "Calm down, calm down; it's gonna be ok, but you are going to need to breathe with me." She tried her best to at least sound like she was remaining calm in order to get him from hyperventilating. After a short while, it worked, and Brad was more coherent with his questions as she sat him in her mustang.
"You weren't kidding when you said you were taking MMA."
Amanda kissed him; she didn't even realize what she was doing until she had broken it off
"Oh my go, I'm so sorry it was just the adrenaline and us almost being shot. I wasn't thinking and-"Amanda's eyes grew wide as Brad kissed her back.
Cap was locking up the old auto shop turned personal gun for the night, taking a few more jabs at the nearly worn-out punching bag before getting ready to turn off the lights when Amanda barged in through the front door.
"CAP CAP CAP! I KISSED HIM. I FREAKING KISSED HIM! AND HE KISSED ME!"
Cap ran to give the kid a high five. "Fucking sweet! You know what this calls for, "said Cap running to back to a little old white fridge and getting two bottles of Coors Banquet Beers, tossing one to Amanda. "So what happened?"
"Cap, I don't think I should be drinking…"
"Kid, you have been saving people for weeks straight and then scored; you can have a drink."
Amanda took a sip of the beer and made a face but decided to just sip it a little bit in order not to be made fun of by Cap for not liking beers. "It was amazing, so we went to this park and played a few games road a few rides, then when we were leaving, some thugs were about to assault us.".
"Did you kick their asses?" asked Slaughter.
"Hell yeah, sir, I sure did; I think one actually pissed himself too."
"Nice."
"And then we like made out in my car for like an hour," said Amanda leaving out the part about her mini panic attack and not wanting to discuss that part of her life with Cap just yet. She was way too embarrassed about those types of things.
Cap hugged his sidekick. "I'm so proud of you, kid."
"Thanks, Cap," said Amanda.
…
Emma hit the volleyball back over the net toward her brother and sister. "No fair I'm playing one-sided!" the Princess General complain.
"And who fault is that?" joked AJ and Maila.
Emma made the shape of a T with her hands. "Time out; I got an idea.".
Natalie was finally away to herself, something that was a rarity in prison. It may have been an open-air one, but it was still one no matter how the first family may have dressed it up. She was a prisoner. She could not leave, speak or even dress without the say of the princess. The worst part was even when she was alone in her "room," she couldn't even be truly by herself. They always spied on her, ensuring she never acted out, even when alone. What was worse, even above all that, was the Masquerade they put on for her, saying she was a part of the family.
"Sister, get up, get up. I need your help." said Emma, gently nudging her "sister" Natasha with her foot.
"With what, your highness," asked Natasha Sarcasm with a few privileges she was allowed.
"Please, I haven't even been enstooled as Princess yet, save the formalities for father, sister." Emma plopped right down beside her. "So what's troubling you?" the way she asked the question was unnerving not because of menace but, ironically enough, how genuine she sounded. Seeing how both warm and loving the Princess General could be in one moment towards a person and in a single moment later snap and kill another person before turning back to being "nice" was terrifying and made Natasha feel as if with every second she was around Emma she was risking her life.
"Nothing ma'-"
"Why don't you call me Emma?" asked Emma. "Be honest with me?"
The words just slipped out of her mouth, and Natasha, for a moment, assumed that it would be her last "Because am I scared of you." Emma looked both shocked and hurt at that. It almost looked like she was going to cry for a second.
"Why?" Emma asked, reaching her hand out to touch Natasha's out concern, but Natasha pulled her hand back, saying.
"Why? Emma, you kill people, you hurt people every day. The things I've seen you do, who wouldn't be fearful of you.".
"The only people I have harmed have been those who threaten our nation, for the most part, she," Emma giggled, looking at one of the men walking along the beach with what seemed to be his girlfriend. "Well, at least for the most part." Emma waved to the man, who smiled and waved back aw, struck that the general would even give the time of day much to the anger of his girlfriend. "You know there are advantages to this life if you would just give in.".
"Like what?"
Emma smiled as they went quietly, noticing a nearby radio playing a speech of hers
"If the west thinks they can invade us destroy us! They are wrong! The Venan people will fight to last Venan just as we have been taught to do since our first day of schooling; the American imperialist and their puppets will find they are facing a nation of warriors trained from the time they could walk to fight them. They will find a soldier behind every object waiting to defend our African motherland! Praise be unto the Gods, for they are great and have given us a great nation to die for!!"
Emma laughed at the last part. "The gods give me nothing; anything I want, I just take." Emma looked back at the man waving him over. "As I said, this life we live, my sister, has its advantages.".
…
"A great specter is haunting the world, one that while still in its nascent infancy still is posed to change the worlds, the Specter Of Metahumans and the great power shifts that come with us…
To say that it isn't the right of the Metahumans to not affect change is nothing more than an endorsement of fascism. For the first time in human history, a great equalizer has come about, bridging the power gap between the oppressed and the oppressor. Now a single woman can destroy an entire system on her own. Yet some will say that this somehow will interrupt the free will of nonmeta humans to that I must as "Free will of whom? The people at the top? The ones who must be threatened by the existence of people like me? Why should I care about those free will when they never cared about the 99%.
This is why I must say wholeheartedly that Metahumans must organize themselves in such a way that they can act as the vanguard of a new revolutionary framework that will put a stake in the heart of this patriarchal capitalist-imperialist system and usher in a regime change toward the establishment of proletariat lead governments across the globe once and for all.
Even as I write these words now, there is the beginning of the proto formation of cadres of politically minded metahuman forming among the people. Mark, my words, sooner rather than later, a meta-human vanguard will appear, and from there, we will see a restarting of the age of worker revolution and rebellion not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
It is the responsibility of the best of humanity not to separate from them, lording over the people like the absent gods of old, but instead lead our people into a shining path of progress. To those who will still stand in our way, I have one thing to say, the power structure of the social order of the world you stand on as of this moment is nothing more than a powder keg built on the backs of the marginalized, the colonized and the ostracized and all it will take is one little spark at the just like place to cause a hellfire!"
-Opening ramble of the first in a collection of essays written by "Hannah Hellfire".
…
Bishop plugged his knock-off AirPods into his ear as he jogged home from the studio. Once he reached "his side of town," where him running probably wouldn't call the police on him for being Black. That wasn't to say that made him safe from the cops. He had been stopped at least three times in the last two weeks alone. It was a weird feeling knowing that he had the power to stop those pigs from harassing him while simultaneously being completely powerless to stop them without exposing himself to the world as Black Power or risking innocent people getting hurt. The powers at be wouldn't just come from him; the government would always do what it does when it can not destroy a Black man for the people around him. They would try his family, which wouldn't work, seeing how they were like him.
Then they would go for his friends, the kids at the community center, Keke. If anything happened them the Bishop wasn't sure what he would do. That's what scared him; the fear of Bishop snapping and becoming the type of tyrant that had enslaved his race kept him from intervening too much in the day-to-day affairs of the earth even though he knew he could be doing so much more; those thoughts only increased as he began to run faster and faster down the street while listing to the news.
"15 dead at border camp ice facility in New Mexico due to heat stroke."
-New Moons News
"Violence increases in Burma as rebel armies began to clash as government forces fall back deeper towards the Capitol."
-Sky News
"Texan Pro-Life Bounty Hunter Mud Manson To Get A TV Show On News Max."
-News Max
"Black Power is just a hoodlum dragging CRT into the mainstream one super crime at a time."
-Sean Hannity (Fox News)
"Riots in New York began to return to a simmer while mostly peaceful protests in Philadelphia heat up.".
-CNN
Masked PAF leader "Liberty" Calls For "Mass Defense Against Fascists Barbarism" In Speech, Many Are Calling Dangerous And A "Threat Against Patriotic Americans."
-News Max
"In other news, today Texas lawmaker in the wake of the Supreme court landmark decision has begun use seize Native American waterways in order to deal with shortages."
-Vox
"Mass protests against French troops have been popping across west Africa. Many are using meta-humans like "The Splinter," "Black Power," and "Desert" as symbols of resistance."
-Democracy Now!
HE IS SCUM! Black Power is nothing more than a Ward-backed agent sent to undermine decent American society!
-Ron DeSantis
"He's a hero! When my little one was trapped in that rubble, he was the one to help pull her out of the rubble, not the police but Black Power! He is a gift from the heavens."
-Mother of a Survivor from the Flora Expo Attacks.
Membership of Left-Wing Gun Clubs SkyRockets In Face Of Rising Tide Of Fascism.
-Red Fist With Beverly
"Do we even know if this guy is human? I mean how do we know if this guy isn't actually an alien or something? I'm not saying it's a bad thing I cut my teeth reporting on government lies about UFOs; all I am saying is that it could be a possibility."
-Alan Vince (Meta Humans Podcast)
At Least 13 Dead In Some Of The Largest Dust Storms Since The Great Depression.
-Weather Channel
Should America Be Concerned About Lone Wolf Metahumans?
-NPR
Rojava Remments Brace For Another Invasion By Turkish Military.
-New Moon News
"Of course, we should be unnerved at best by whoever these "meta people" are, especially rouge actors like Back Power, politically charged supermen who can act unilaterally act with the force of entire militaries is a scary thought indeed."
-Nancy Pelosi
"No, I think people get confused about what I said in my book'' Rise Of The Supermen." I never said Superman is real and is Black. I said, "God is real, and he is Black"."
-Specter T (Complex News)
Bishop didn't exactly notice when his steps stopped returning to the ground, he didn't even notice that he was flying until he was higher than the tallest building in the city, and Bishop didn't care that he wasn't stopping anytime soon, even when he did notice it. Higher and faster, higher and faster even as his clothes burned away, giving way to his suit, even as he broke the atmosphere, even as he passed satellites, and even when he broke orbit flying beyond the moon where the earth was just as distant. His people could always survive in space, but this was different. As he flew he could see that thin purple sheen around him that had shown up when he fought Hellfire. Bishop was going way too fast for kind who still, despite their great power, bound by the limits of light outside of a ship.
Yet it was traveling faster than light itself, watching space slightly warp around the thin purple bubble. Now Bishop stopped flying, observing the great silence of the void, before closing his eyes and listening. The choirs of human voices were brought to him by their radio waves. An endless sea of voices calling out through their radio waves; humans almost broadcasted as much as they talked normally. That was when he heard the cry for help over the body cam radio, followed by the sound of gunshots.
Suddenly the bullet stopped. The officer stepped back as he watched the bullet from his pistol bounce off the chest of the masked man who had suddenly appeared between and the kid who had been running away from him. The young woman stumbled back, looking up at the officer and then Black Power right as the cops began to unload round after round into the man, to no effect. Black Power grew angrier and angrier with each shot, his eyes glowing with rage until finally, as the officer emptied his magazine, his gun began to glow red with heat making him drop it as it started to melt on the pavement. The kid had taken this time to run off, and the police officer did the same, only in the other direction, and with that, Bishop was back in Space, this time in high orbit back to his thoughts. The void cold around him, his thoughts about what had just accrued to him, still foggy glimpses in his mind barely making their way into understandable order, bringing Bishop Castle to a question rather than a realization.
"What the hell am I?" and once again, the man from tomorrow hovered above the earth, pondering to himself among his own thoughts and solitude.
Amanda shot up from her bed, eyes wide as Alexa played her alarm "Brutal" by Olivia Rodrigo. The sun had not even begun to peak over the 5 am morning sky when she got dressed in track pants and sleeveless compression shirt, and some nearly worn-out sneakers. Putting her ear pods end and blasted her Spotify playlist as she ran for her five-mile run. Working out in the morning was something she had been doing since she started training with Cap. She would spend a few hours every day before getting ready to go to school, working out, then spending some time at Slaughter's auto shop learning how to fight and lift weights. On the weekends, he would take Amanda to an outdoor range and have her run drills. Amanda wasn't all too ok with using guns, so she mostly practiced with her riot guns instead.
In between all of this and school, she spent a lot of her time riding around on her skateboard, looking for crime to stop, which was far harder than she actually thought it would be. The vast majority of the time, Amanda would basically just go around low-income communities, a lot of which were really makeshift, and help do things with them. She didn't even really have to use her powers all that much It was give and take a lot of the time; people would just tell her what criminal problem they had troubling them, which would be having mostly with some local deadhead pusher or pimp or street fighting gang targeting them, which meant Amerika could actually get a chance to cut her teeth with her new training. On occasions, there would be big things like her saving a cat from a burning car or pulling people from an accident.
Sometimes she would get shot at by bad guys, mostly when she and Cap would raid a drug house. Those times were fun; the two would bust in, take down the bad guys, zip tie them, drag them outside and then burn their drugs before taking their drug money and leaving after calling the cops. Amanda would always make at least a few quips which made Slaughter laugh as he was punching a bad guy. After a go raid, the two would break the money in half, and Cap would take Amanda to get some ice cream or pizza to celebrate another win.
The money didn't mean much to Amanda outside of saving it for cool things to buy for her room, suit, or car. Even then, she didn't feel right keeping that much money on her, so she took to donating to local communities or using the money to buy food or clothes for the homeless.
Yet, after all that, Amanda found hiding the leftover money still a pain in the butt and had taken to stashing the leftover money in a shoe box under her bed. At least she could use it on her current project, that being her suit. She modeled it after a comic Ace sent her that depicted her as something out of the silver age, but she also took some inspiration from Alex Ross's styles of comics. She didn't want her suit to look armored, nor did she need an armor suit. The suit was basically only armored enough to stop her from needing a new suit after every 3rd fight or having her clothes burn off in a fire or be cut by a blade. The people on Hero Watch gave her suggestions about what kind of stuff she may need, and Cap had an old army buddy who helped sell her the stuff under the table with no questions asked. She loved that forum; they were all so..well, nice to her; of course, she did get a couple of creeps in her DM's, but the mods were quick to lay the band hammer down on them.
On her way back home, she smiled as she passed a lamp post that had a "Captain Slaughter Says Your Gender Is Valid" plastered over a Patriot Front Propaganda of a picture of Black Power with an X. Through him, that said, "Wanted For Anti-American Terrorism." The cap sticker had Slaughter-like a cross between the Boy's "Soldier Boy" and Marvel's "Punisher" holding a trans-colored shotgun with a rainbow background and a caption saying the meme "Captain Slaughter Says Your Gender Is Valid." Her smile turned to a frown as she walked back into her home and right into the sight of her mother, Celia.
"Amanda, what did I tell you about running in the morning? If you run during the day, you will tan that lovely skin darker." Her mom said, sipping her coffee.
"Mom-"
"Yeah yeah yeah, baby, I'm just concerned about you all that." said her mom.
Amanda had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at her mother. "Oh really"
"Oh baby, I'm just saying now that boys are begging to notice you, and with you getting that new figure of yours from working out, you will want to keep that skin light if you wanna cut it with Ace Ward."
"My mom, for the last time, Mr.Ward and I are not dating; we are-"
"Just friends who fly each other out across the country?" joked Celia. "Baby, you got some competition in front of you, and I'm not just talking about that white girl Dolly, I mean that high yellow Destiny running around him like his little secretary; if you expect to get him as your man you gonna have to watch her fat ass.".
"My mom and Mr.Ward are friends, that's it; now I gotta finish working out," said Amanda storming up to her room.
"I just want the best for you, sweetheart," called her mom as she went back to sipping her coffee. "That girl had no sense about herself." she sighed. "I freaking hate Hickory.".
In her room, Armanda cut on the news as she began doing her exercises.
"Authorities have refused to say if the woman known as Hannah Hellfire is alive or dead, prompting protests from her fans. Many of these fans or proclaim Hellblazits as they call themselves are followers of Hannah's Hellfire medium page."
Amanda began doing ten reps of jumping lunges for three sets.
"Imani V Clair is in the news again, this time about her comment about the man only known as Black Power. Here is a clip of the speech "For years, the west has comforted themselves with the notion that the white man is superior to all of us, but now when they look up in the sky, they don't see the so-called white Jesus; they see a Black man. This has scared white America to its very foundation."
Amanda went on to do 5 sets for 40 punches, up from 4 sets of 40 she did last week. With each strike, she liked to imagine that she was punching some bad guy square in the face. She even practices saying some goofy punchlines with some of the throws.
"A shootout in Boston between warring organized crime groups and another as of now unknown nonlaw enforcement actor after leaves ten dead. This marks a sharp escalation of deaths in the Boston gang war that has placed the city in a "near war-like state" for months now. Many have begun to place blame on a rumored masked vigilante."
Amanda had begun to sweat even the air condition of her own room as she started doing her 10 sets of 10 high knees.
"In other news, Ace Ward's urban homesteading initiative hits major roadblocks as far right-wing politicians latch onto conspiracies about "Homeless Armies," and some Democrats are criticizing the Billionaire for working with some far-left groups "Like the PAF HPNGC and NDFD.".
Moving on to kicks, she did 5 sets of 10 side and hook kicks on rotation so that she would do half of the set with sidekicks and the other being hook kicks.
"Atlanta business and homes are deciding rather stay open during the winter season or board up in the wake of the new round of fighting between gangs, militias, and rumors of the Revenant."
Amanda never did like doing push-ups in middle school or elementary school, but now it was something that she found becoming easier and easier to do the more she did it. She did two sets of 25 push-ups broken up by a set of 40 climbers.
"In New York, Eric Spader has offered to pay the rents of those most affected by the blackout caused by the Flora attack, which damaged a large substation."
Amanda started doing 10 sets of plank leg raises with 30-second plank rest in between the 5 reps.
"An election worker was killed today after receiving death threats since the start of the 2024 election when a deep fake video was spread across multiple right-wing sites.".
"In a near-apocalyptic speech, the so-called Princess General of Vena declared that "Vena would by the end of the century aid to secure a free Africa from European barbarians even if that means plunging the west in Atomic fire." This comes on the heels of Vena's nuclear and missile tests. The adopted daughter of Vena's dictator went on to point fun at sanctions on her country, saying, "We do not care about baring sanctions from Europe or the west, because we are not white nor Western. We are a self-sufficient nation who will not nor can nor be starved or bullied into submitting to the white man." This is another bold move by the woman who may be next in line to the Venan "throne."
Next was sit-up punches 10 sets of 10 with a minute rest between each of them, which was followed by the same number of reverse crunches. Amanda turned the tv off after finishing jumping jacks. She took a shower, packed a small change of clothes, and skateboarded down to the auto shop, where she hung out with Cap at.
Cap leaned on the door to the car garage; the man tossed her the keys to her car. "It's finished," he said with a smirk.
"Finally," exclaimed Amanda, grabbing the key, and she ran inside the garage to see..her car unchanged.
"Wait, what? It looks the same to me? I thought you said you were gonna give it a badass makeover? "
"Look at that key chain again," said Slaughter as Amanda saw it hung on a little golden star with a big red right and blue button in its center.
"Press it." Slaughter was almost gitty saying the last two words.
And with a push of a button, the car began to shift; it lowered itself to the ground, the wheels became wider, then the actual paint colors started to change from bright red to ocean blue with red side stripes. A white Bald Eagle appeared from the center of the hood over a backdrop of a yellow star. The windows and windshield became opaque, and the plates flipped over to read "Merika."
"Cool, right, I stole some of the paint Ward was fucking around with for one of his projects. Figured he wouldn't miss the few cans of the stuff.".
"Cap, you shouldn't have done tha-"
"Kid, listen, I'm sure he can afford some more paint anyway. What's this about a date? I heard who the lucky chick is?"
"It isn't a chick, and it isn't a date, Cap."
"Wait, I thought you were gay?"
"I'm bi Cap," said Amanda, which Cap laughed at.
"What is there something wrong with that?" glared Amanda.
"You mean to tell me you go for both teams and still don't get any play time!" laughed Cap. "I'm gonna take pity on you, kid, and teach you a few pointers from back in my day.".
"Great, now you sound like my mom,"
"Yeah, unlike her, I'm actually gonna teach you how to get laid, kiddo.".
Brad Wellman sat on a green park table just outside of the small outdoor arcade and fun fair when he heard Scroopin blasting from the distance before he saw the bright red mustang with crimson under glow.
"You got this, Amanda; just stay cool and remember what Cap taught you." she thought as she shallower her nerves parking the car just in front of Brad in all of its glory. Her boots were the first thing he saw stepping how followed by her ripped jeans, black crop jacket, and matching distressed black shirt. Amanda locked eyes with Brad through her black sunglasses, cracking a smile, and said, "Sup."
"Amanda, wow, you look?"
"Amazing, yeah, you don't look too bad yourself," she joked, trying her best to ask cocky even though her stomach was filled with butterflies.
"So um…do you wanna head-on into the park?" asked Brad.
"Sure," said Amanda.
The park was pretty empty for this time of year. Any other time the park would be filled with teens spending their time having fun during their winter break from high school, yet now with the economy being in the trash, forcing people to try and find work or save money or threat of political or just regular gangs the park was nearly a ghost town. There still were maybe two and a half dozen people among the large park and arcade ground, not counting the employees.
"So um… how's the break? For you?" asked Brad.
"A lot more fun than spending my days stuffed in a classroom.".
Brad laughed. "Yeah, tell me about it; I'm just glad coach is letting us off with no practice this break.".
"What, I thought you like sports?"
"I do. It's just football, not like that; I only stopped doing cross-fit, and MMA for-you know what, never mind.".
"Stacy? Yeah, trust me, I get it. I did some crazy things to impress some crushes of mind, like this one time in the sixth grade this kid was really into Harry Potter, so I adopted a fake British accent for like a week to try and impress him."
"Hey, there was a girl in the middle that did the same thing with me because I liked Harry Potter. Wait…was that yo-"
Amanda's eyes widened as she quickly tried to change the subject. "Um, you know I have been taking a few martial arts classes with myself too."
"Really, what gym are you going to?" asked Brad seeing the awkwardness in Amanda's eyes.
"Um, I'm actually learning from a family friend, basically my unofficial uncle; he was in the military; after I told him what Stacy was doing to me, he gave me a few tips; I guess it came in handy.".
"I'm sorry about her; Stacy can be..a lot, not making excuses for her or anything, but her mom isn't around much, and when she is, she can be..intense.".
"Yeah, I feel bad for her; I didn't mean for all that stuff to happen after we fought. I didn't want her to start getting death threats; no one needs that." Amanda thought about the many death threats she had gotten from Alt rightists and a few Alt leftists on the internet for being Ms.Amerika, along with just the general insane threats a female superhero would obviously get from incels. It was easy for her to write these threats off after all; her cyber security was tight, and she was bulletproof, but Stacy was just a cheerleader, even if she was a mean one; she didn't deserve those types of things happening to her.
"Honesty though, I think what you did was very brave standing up to her like that," said Brad, but Amanda wondered did she do the right thing standing up to her; after all, Amanda was the one with great powers; did Stacy being a bitch to her justify her using it on her. She already knew what Slaughter's answer would be; he told her; that he was proud of her for "putting Stacy in her place," that "she fucked around and found out"; Amanda wondered what Mr.Castle or Mr.Ward would have done. Maybe there wasn't a clear answer; maybe there was, who knows.
"So do you um..watch the news?" Amanda asked as she stumbled to the change of subject.
"Depends; I don't like feeling sad all the time with all the stuff going right. I did see that stuff with Black Power Hellfire and that Zero lady."
"Crazy stuff like something out of a Marvel movie, maybe a video game. I can't believe people would actually follow that Hellfire chick, though.".
"I mean, some of the writings on the intersection of class and meta-human patriarchal abolitionism were interesting," said Brad making Amanda raise an eyebrow.
"You read some of how stuff; why?"
"What I don't strike you as the reading type?" laughed Brad.
"No, not that, but I wouldn't pick you for a follower of hers." Amanda said like a million thoughts racing through her mind, "Ohgod, what if he becomes a terrorist? Wait for no a henchmen; I can't date henchmen. Worse, oh god, what if he ends up becoming henchmen for Hellfire, and then they start dating! No, I don't want Brad to be Fire Harley Quinn!"
"I never said I was, just that some of my writing was interesting. I can see why people would want to follow her; a lot of people like now are looking for something to believe in; I guess it makes it's better for them to sleep at night when the world is a dumpster fire."
Amanda breathed a mental sigh of relief at that calming down. "Yeah, I guess I can understand that, plus she is hot. In an insane proto supervillain kind of way," said Amanda as they stopped by one of the game's setups. It was a knife-throwing game where a person would try to hit moving wooden dummies by throwing red, white, and blue knives. Amanda's smile grew wider. Cap had actually taught her some cool tricks with throwing stars and how to throw knives. She also noticed that Brad was looking up at the top rack where a custom sports jersey hung with each one having common names; one of them read Brad, and that was when Amanda got an idea "Hey, how much to play?".
The man beside the game smirked at what he thought would be an easy mark "First set of five knives are free unless you hit five targets with all five knives; otherwise, it's fiv-ten dollars for each game.".
"Deal," said Amanda as the man handed her the knife.
"Amanda, are you sure about this?" asked Brad
Amanda responded by throwing one of the knives into the center of one of the moving targets. "Yeah, I'm sure ." What followed was Amanda unloading around five sets of knives into every moving target until every last one of them was hit at least one time without her missing a single one. The game operator was in awe and red with anger but hung his head and just muttered, "What do you want?"
Amanda looked at Brad, who was equally in awe of what Amanda had done. "Go ahead, pick something you like."
"Are you sure?" asked Brad, still looking up at the shirt with his name on it.
"Yeah, go ahead, get that shirt you've been looking at all night before I change my mind," Amanda said, remembering the words of Slaughter men love it when you treat them like shit sometimes.
Brad smiled as he picked out the sports jersey from the top rack and excitedly put it on over his shirt almost as soon as he got his hands on it. "That was amazing? How did you manage to do that?"
"Oh, it was nothing really, just something my um… uncle taught me."
"Are you kidding me? That was like so cool, say maybe you should be one of those superheroes, we can call you Dart Woman or something?" joked Brad trying to play it cool.
"Me a supes, yeah, right, I would probably just end up being someone's sidekick." joked Amanda, although that was pretty much true, seeing how she was, in fact, at least to her knowledge, the first and only real life side kick in the world.
"It's weird," said Brad.
"What is?"
"How quickly we adapted to them being real superheroes, I mean. Yesterday I saw people selling Ms.Amerika T-shirts, and it seems like every middle-aged suburban white mom with a true-crime podcast is doing an episode on Skin Walker. The dudes at my practice were hedging bets that Ace Ward is Ace of Spades. Its crazy people are just ok with walking among Gods.".
"Gods, that isn't that a bit much?" asked Amanda.
"What do you call crime-fighting ghosts, women with the powers of animals and men in the sky? Makes me wonder.".
Amanda looked at him. "Wonder what?"
"What's comes next.".
"I don't know, but I think it could be good."
"Could be bad."
"Could be fun," said Brad as he unwittingly took Amanda's hand; it happened so fast they both didn't realize it at that moment.
The two of them would spend the next few hours or so ridding wides, playing games, running through fun houses, and eating a funnel cake together. By the time the fair was about to close, Amanda was resting her head on Brad's shoulder as they walked out of the park.
Yet all was not to end well as they made their way to Amanda's car when two men with white masks approached them.
"Lookie, here we got a degen and his little blackie! I tell you what, Boy, you pass on your wallet and let us have this little hottie, and boy, you might just have a good night." one of them said, drawing a gun as they smiled. Amanda began addressing the situation as he mind went into overdrive, two men, one gun pointed at Brad. She had to act fast; in a split second, she grabbed the man with the gun by the wrist-twisting away from Brad before kicking him in the nuts, dropping him, and yanking the gun away, now with the gun in her hand, she pointed back at the man and his fallen buddy.
"Turn the fuck around now and put your god damn hands on your fucking head!" she yelled in a commanding voice, something else Cap had taught her to do. The men quickly did as such, "Good, now get on your fucking knees and count to a thousand, then run away, and if you even think about turning around, I will blow you racist pig shit brains across this park." Amanda silently signaled for Brad to back away with her as they kept their eyes on the two men until they were back by their cars and out of sight.
Amanda leaned against her car, her heart racing at 100 miles per hour. She felt like she was going to explode; her breathing was getting harder and harder to control. Things went blurry, but she remembered the breathing techniques she had learned while in Atlanta. Through a series of slow breaths in and out, she got herself under control at least somewhat. Brad, on the other hand
"HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT! "he yelled. "You just kicked those guys' ASSES! Holy Shit, fuck, how did you do that!" Brad began to drive heave until the funnel cake they had eaten together came up and spilled on the pavement.
Amanda placed her hand on his back, patting it. "Calm down, calm down; it's gonna be ok, but you are going to need to breathe with me." She tried her best to at least sound like she was remaining calm in order to get him from hyperventilating. After a short while, it worked, and Brad was more coherent with his questions as she sat him in her mustang.
"You weren't kidding when you said you were taking MMA."
Amanda kissed him; she didn't even realize what she was doing until she had broken it off
"Oh my go, I'm so sorry it was just the adrenaline and us almost being shot. I wasn't thinking and-"Amanda's eyes grew wide as Brad kissed her back.
Cap was locking up the old auto shop turned personal gun for the night, taking a few more jabs at the nearly worn-out punching bag before getting ready to turn off the lights when Amanda barged in through the front door.
"CAP CAP CAP! I KISSED HIM. I FREAKING KISSED HIM! AND HE KISSED ME!"
Cap ran to give the kid a high five. "Fucking sweet! You know what this calls for, "said Cap running to back to a little old white fridge and getting two bottles of Coors Banquet Beers, tossing one to Amanda. "So what happened?"
"Cap, I don't think I should be drinking…"
"Kid, you have been saving people for weeks straight and then scored; you can have a drink."
Amanda took a sip of the beer and made a face but decided to just sip it a little bit in order not to be made fun of by Cap for not liking beers. "It was amazing, so we went to this park and played a few games road a few rides, then when we were leaving, some thugs were about to assault us.".
"Did you kick their asses?" asked Slaughter.
"Hell yeah, sir, I sure did; I think one actually pissed himself too."
"Nice."
"And then we like made out in my car for like an hour," said Amanda leaving out the part about her mini panic attack and not wanting to discuss that part of her life with Cap just yet. She was way too embarrassed about those types of things.
Cap hugged his sidekick. "I'm so proud of you, kid."
"Thanks, Cap," said Amanda.
…
Emma hit the volleyball back over the net toward her brother and sister. "No fair I'm playing one-sided!" the Princess General complain.
"And who fault is that?" joked AJ and Maila.
Emma made the shape of a T with her hands. "Time out; I got an idea.".
Natalie was finally away to herself, something that was a rarity in prison. It may have been an open-air one, but it was still one no matter how the first family may have dressed it up. She was a prisoner. She could not leave, speak or even dress without the say of the princess. The worst part was even when she was alone in her "room," she couldn't even be truly by herself. They always spied on her, ensuring she never acted out, even when alone. What was worse, even above all that, was the Masquerade they put on for her, saying she was a part of the family.
"Sister, get up, get up. I need your help." said Emma, gently nudging her "sister" Natasha with her foot.
"With what, your highness," asked Natasha Sarcasm with a few privileges she was allowed.
"Please, I haven't even been enstooled as Princess yet, save the formalities for father, sister." Emma plopped right down beside her. "So what's troubling you?" the way she asked the question was unnerving not because of menace but, ironically enough, how genuine she sounded. Seeing how both warm and loving the Princess General could be in one moment towards a person and in a single moment later snap and kill another person before turning back to being "nice" was terrifying and made Natasha feel as if with every second she was around Emma she was risking her life.
"Nothing ma'-"
"Why don't you call me Emma?" asked Emma. "Be honest with me?"
The words just slipped out of her mouth, and Natasha, for a moment, assumed that it would be her last "Because am I scared of you." Emma looked both shocked and hurt at that. It almost looked like she was going to cry for a second.
"Why?" Emma asked, reaching her hand out to touch Natasha's out concern, but Natasha pulled her hand back, saying.
"Why? Emma, you kill people, you hurt people every day. The things I've seen you do, who wouldn't be fearful of you.".
"The only people I have harmed have been those who threaten our nation, for the most part, she," Emma giggled, looking at one of the men walking along the beach with what seemed to be his girlfriend. "Well, at least for the most part." Emma waved to the man, who smiled and waved back aw, struck that the general would even give the time of day much to the anger of his girlfriend. "You know there are advantages to this life if you would just give in.".
"Like what?"
Emma smiled as they went quietly, noticing a nearby radio playing a speech of hers
"If the west thinks they can invade us destroy us! They are wrong! The Venan people will fight to last Venan just as we have been taught to do since our first day of schooling; the American imperialist and their puppets will find they are facing a nation of warriors trained from the time they could walk to fight them. They will find a soldier behind every object waiting to defend our African motherland! Praise be unto the Gods, for they are great and have given us a great nation to die for!!"
Emma laughed at the last part. "The gods give me nothing; anything I want, I just take." Emma looked back at the man waving him over. "As I said, this life we live, my sister, has its advantages.".
…
"A great specter is haunting the world, one that while still in its nascent infancy still is posed to change the worlds, the Specter Of Metahumans and the great power shifts that come with us…
To say that it isn't the right of the Metahumans to not affect change is nothing more than an endorsement of fascism. For the first time in human history, a great equalizer has come about, bridging the power gap between the oppressed and the oppressor. Now a single woman can destroy an entire system on her own. Yet some will say that this somehow will interrupt the free will of nonmeta humans to that I must as "Free will of whom? The people at the top? The ones who must be threatened by the existence of people like me? Why should I care about those free will when they never cared about the 99%.
This is why I must say wholeheartedly that Metahumans must organize themselves in such a way that they can act as the vanguard of a new revolutionary framework that will put a stake in the heart of this patriarchal capitalist-imperialist system and usher in a regime change toward the establishment of proletariat lead governments across the globe once and for all.
Even as I write these words now, there is the beginning of the proto formation of cadres of politically minded metahuman forming among the people. Mark, my words, sooner rather than later, a meta-human vanguard will appear, and from there, we will see a restarting of the age of worker revolution and rebellion not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
It is the responsibility of the best of humanity not to separate from them, lording over the people like the absent gods of old, but instead lead our people into a shining path of progress. To those who will still stand in our way, I have one thing to say, the power structure of the social order of the world you stand on as of this moment is nothing more than a powder keg built on the backs of the marginalized, the colonized and the ostracized and all it will take is one little spark at the just like place to cause a hellfire!"
-Opening ramble of the first in a collection of essays written by "Hannah Hellfire".
…
Bishop plugged his knock-off AirPods into his ear as he jogged home from the studio. Once he reached "his side of town," where him running probably wouldn't call the police on him for being Black. That wasn't to say that made him safe from the cops. He had been stopped at least three times in the last two weeks alone. It was a weird feeling knowing that he had the power to stop those pigs from harassing him while simultaneously being completely powerless to stop them without exposing himself to the world as Black Power or risking innocent people getting hurt. The powers at be wouldn't just come from him; the government would always do what it does when it can not destroy a Black man for the people around him. They would try his family, which wouldn't work, seeing how they were like him.
Then they would go for his friends, the kids at the community center, Keke. If anything happened them the Bishop wasn't sure what he would do. That's what scared him; the fear of Bishop snapping and becoming the type of tyrant that had enslaved his race kept him from intervening too much in the day-to-day affairs of the earth even though he knew he could be doing so much more; those thoughts only increased as he began to run faster and faster down the street while listing to the news.
"15 dead at border camp ice facility in New Mexico due to heat stroke."
-New Moons News
"Violence increases in Burma as rebel armies began to clash as government forces fall back deeper towards the Capitol."
-Sky News
"Texan Pro-Life Bounty Hunter Mud Manson To Get A TV Show On News Max."
-News Max
"Black Power is just a hoodlum dragging CRT into the mainstream one super crime at a time."
-Sean Hannity (Fox News)
"Riots in New York began to return to a simmer while mostly peaceful protests in Philadelphia heat up.".
-CNN
Masked PAF leader "Liberty" Calls For "Mass Defense Against Fascists Barbarism" In Speech, Many Are Calling Dangerous And A "Threat Against Patriotic Americans."
-News Max
"In other news, today Texas lawmaker in the wake of the Supreme court landmark decision has begun use seize Native American waterways in order to deal with shortages."
-Vox
"Mass protests against French troops have been popping across west Africa. Many are using meta-humans like "The Splinter," "Black Power," and "Desert" as symbols of resistance."
-Democracy Now!
HE IS SCUM! Black Power is nothing more than a Ward-backed agent sent to undermine decent American society!
-Ron DeSantis
"He's a hero! When my little one was trapped in that rubble, he was the one to help pull her out of the rubble, not the police but Black Power! He is a gift from the heavens."
-Mother of a Survivor from the Flora Expo Attacks.
Membership of Left-Wing Gun Clubs SkyRockets In Face Of Rising Tide Of Fascism.
-Red Fist With Beverly
"Do we even know if this guy is human? I mean how do we know if this guy isn't actually an alien or something? I'm not saying it's a bad thing I cut my teeth reporting on government lies about UFOs; all I am saying is that it could be a possibility."
-Alan Vince (Meta Humans Podcast)
At Least 13 Dead In Some Of The Largest Dust Storms Since The Great Depression.
-Weather Channel
Should America Be Concerned About Lone Wolf Metahumans?
-NPR
Rojava Remments Brace For Another Invasion By Turkish Military.
-New Moon News
"Of course, we should be unnerved at best by whoever these "meta people" are, especially rouge actors like Back Power, politically charged supermen who can act unilaterally act with the force of entire militaries is a scary thought indeed."
-Nancy Pelosi
"No, I think people get confused about what I said in my book'' Rise Of The Supermen." I never said Superman is real and is Black. I said, "God is real, and he is Black"."
-Specter T (Complex News)
Bishop didn't exactly notice when his steps stopped returning to the ground, he didn't even notice that he was flying until he was higher than the tallest building in the city, and Bishop didn't care that he wasn't stopping anytime soon, even when he did notice it. Higher and faster, higher and faster even as his clothes burned away, giving way to his suit, even as he broke the atmosphere, even as he passed satellites, and even when he broke orbit flying beyond the moon where the earth was just as distant. His people could always survive in space, but this was different. As he flew he could see that thin purple sheen around him that had shown up when he fought Hellfire. Bishop was going way too fast for kind who still, despite their great power, bound by the limits of light outside of a ship.
Yet it was traveling faster than light itself, watching space slightly warp around the thin purple bubble. Now Bishop stopped flying, observing the great silence of the void, before closing his eyes and listening. The choirs of human voices were brought to him by their radio waves. An endless sea of voices calling out through their radio waves; humans almost broadcasted as much as they talked normally. That was when he heard the cry for help over the body cam radio, followed by the sound of gunshots.
Suddenly the bullet stopped. The officer stepped back as he watched the bullet from his pistol bounce off the chest of the masked man who had suddenly appeared between and the kid who had been running away from him. The young woman stumbled back, looking up at the officer and then Black Power right as the cops began to unload round after round into the man, to no effect. Black Power grew angrier and angrier with each shot, his eyes glowing with rage until finally, as the officer emptied his magazine, his gun began to glow red with heat making him drop it as it started to melt on the pavement. The kid had taken this time to run off, and the police officer did the same, only in the other direction, and with that, Bishop was back in Space, this time in high orbit back to his thoughts. The void cold around him, his thoughts about what had just accrued to him, still foggy glimpses in his mind barely making their way into understandable order, bringing Bishop Castle to a question rather than a realization.
"What the hell am I?" and once again, the man from tomorrow hovered above the earth, pondering to himself among his own thoughts and solitude.
The Black Power Question
Black Power & Crime? Are Non Law Officiant Actors Effective?
-Kelly Hater (New Moons News) December 16, 2024
Maxim Crop and Heart Industries To Buy Out Sapphire Military Manufacturing.
-Bloomberg December 16, 2024
"Draco king has really outdone herself this time with her new Album DeadGal. I think this pretty much killed the idea that she isn't versatile. I mean, every song on this thing tells multiple stories while telling a larger one. Even the ones that seem meaningless tell a deeper story looking at the structure of the album? It plays like a rap star performing concerts every other song but in between those moments is someone who is hurt. I got Major Pink Floyd "Wall" vibes from the more personal songs, and she does give a few shout-outs to the album throughout her own. My only complaint is the ending being a pretty bitter one, Although she has hinted on a part2 dropping in the spring."
-LyricBoiDenis (YouTube) December 16, 2024
Mississippi Lawmakers Considering Passing Laws To Stop "Leftist Super-humans Like Black Power".
-Politico December 16, 2024
"Police and private security faced off with armed Proud boys this afternoon as members of the Ward Urban Homestead Initiative broke ground on the Alex Ward Free Community Medical Aid Center. The free hospital is the first of many planned community aid programs by teenage billionaire Ace Ward; however, the program has become a prime target for right wing conspiracy theories."
-Jacob Trapman New Moon News December 16, 2024
Breaking News: A Massive Explosion Kansas Has Occurred Near Kansas State Border Nebraskan in Kansas First Responders Are Scrambling To Render Aid.
-CNN December 17, 2024
Tamika Lang Enters The Military Contract Sector As Ward Company Pulls Back From Lethal Defense Manufacturing.
-Bloomberg December 17, 2024
How Long Could The Ukraine "Rump State" Hold On If They Had A Superhero?
-Thread On Hero Watch December 17, 2024
Over 50% Of All First Time Gun Owners Are Black 54% Of That Numbers Are Women Is This The End Of Gun Control?
-NAAG Dailey December 17, 2024
Venan Troops To Deploy To Mail After Striking Deals To Place Military Bases In The Country.
-BBC December 17, 2024
"To be frank, Alicia I think even disregarding their nuclear weapons, I'm not sure America could even win against Vena without us seeing word war two numbers in dead if not higher. We are talking about people who start teaching their kids how to use weapons basic training and small unit tactics as part of their K through 12 curriculum.Their basic training is damn near special force level. This isn't even counting on the fact that it is almost illegal not to own a home and not own a firearm at the same time. All of this is only worsened by their religion that rival Imperial Japan, do you know what the word for military surrender is in Venan?"
"I'm guessing something long and equally insane?"
"Vena doesn't actually have a word for surrender in their language per se; the closet they have is the phase "Van La Kal Von Tal Zona" it's old Venan for, and I quote here, "I shall kill myself and condemn my soul to the afterlife due to my humiliation, may the Gods have mercy upon my and my soldier's soul so that in our deaths we redeem our worthless lives."."
"Holy fuck"
"Indeed, which brings us to our podcast topic that time fucked up of British with homemade musket in the in the 1900s.".
-Dummies And Defeat Episode 5:The Battle of Van Canyon December 17, 2024
The Vatican To Meet To Discuss The "Black Power Question"
-NBC December 17, 2024
Black Power Saves 15 People From Rubble After Massive Kansas Grain Silo Explosion
-CNN December 17, 2024
Hey guys guess what I put up over some fash sticker. *Picture Of Captain Slaughter Saying "Bash the Fash"*
-Grey Ghostie
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Ok I love the meme but do we actually know if Cap is an Antifa type? He has always struck me as right wing.
-MayTheGreat27
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So um Slaughter just read what you post over my shoulder and asked me what Antifa was now he wants me to type this. I am really sorry for the language he wouldn't let me edit it. "Listen here motherfuckers my dad fought against the damn Nazi fuckwits and I will be damn if anyone on this nerd box is gonna say I am a damn German loving schnitzel eating Nazi fuck them and if anyone of you guys aren't totally fucking pussy you should kick them in their nuts!" I'm sorry for that guys, I also hate Nazis for obvious reasons.
-Ms.Amerika hero watch December 17, 2024
3 Dead 2 Children After A Member Of The Proud Boys Open Fire At Drag Time Story Hour In Pennsylvania Pennsylvania.
-CNN December 17, 2024
Police Driven Back With Homemade Tears Gas After Attempting To Evict Homeless Insurgents.
-Fox News December 17, 2024
The Very Existence Of Black Power Is A Paradigm Beyond That Of WW2 & The Splitting Of The Atom.
-The Atlantic December 17, 2024
Ace Ward Throws Pizza Party For His Worker After They Unionized.
-The New York Time December 17, 2024
"Wait, arrest this man! Now!"
"Fuck you! You corn eating son on a bitch he is one of the good ones!"
"Stand the hell down mother fucker that super terrorist is coming with us!"
"Over my dead body"
-Exchange between Kansas and Nebraska national guardsmen December 17, 2024
Nebraska and Kansas National Guard Exchanged Gunfire After Nebraskan Guardsmen Attempted To Arrest Black Power; Both Sides Disarmed By The Masked Vigilante.
-ABC News December 17, 2024
"What the hell is wrong with you guys you are supposed to be helping people not shoot at each other. Stop this bullshit and help me save these people now!"
-Black Power December 17, 2024
Ace Ward is what would happen if the average east coast social elitist bum hit the lottery."
-Mansfield (Twitter) 10k likes December 18, 2024
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Ratio
-Destiny Masters (Twitter) 100k likes December 18, 2024
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Very mature
-Mansfield (Twitter) 12k likes December 18, 2024
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Mature this Ratio
-Destiny Masters (Twitter) 150k likes December 18, 2024
"All throughout human history we have been looking for a messiah-like figure now with someone like Black Power as an actual man in the sky people will have questions some questions that even this figure may not be able to answer and that's maybe the scariest part"
-Alan Vince (Meta Humans Podcast) December 18, 2024
A spontaneous protest happens across Nebraska small towns after national guardsmen exchange fire over super terrorist.
-New Max December 18, 2024
"The facts are for all intent and purposes we live in an age where and I say this with years of skepticism, religion, Gods or what humanity commonly depicted as Gods now walk among humanity is something which is beyond game-changing.".
-Neil deGrasse Tyson December 18, 2024
Over 500 Hundred Alt Leftist Blacks Have Moved To Venan Dictatorship For "A Promise Of A Better Life?" Is This A Threat To America?
-MSNBC December 18, 2024
Hell yeah I think he is a threat, the man is a walking talking leftist nuke for god sake. What if one day some thugs is murder by police and this Black Power terrorist decides to go ape shit?
-Mansfield (twitter)December 18, 2024
Dirt Near "Hellfire" Battle Shows Some Similarities To Trinitite. Although Scientists Are Still Unsure If It Is Dangerous To Humans.
-National Geographic December 18, 2024
The Dictator of Vena once again spoke at the AU today where he called for action against "Rouge actors like America and their puppet states within the African continent." He also called for "Greater collaboration between African states in order to stamp out western back fundamentalist terrorists.".
-Jacob Trapman (New Moon News) December 18, 2024
Guys y'all have to see this (link here). Yeah freaking Trinitite, which in case you don't know, it was created after the trinity test. Meaning BP tanked a fucking a nuke!
-DoubleOGManMan05 December 18, 2024
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Yeah I don't know about that they said it showed some similarities to Trinitite whatever that means, so we can't even say he tanked a nuke seeing how the seismic readings was more similar to Beirut than say Vena low yield nuclear tests
-NightWingDuck37 December 18, 2024
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Yeah but how much of that energy was kept in by whatever forcefield Black Power generated?
-GreyGhostie December 18, 2024
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I guess we gotta wait and see, but I spoke to Black Power early today, and he says he is ok, but he was kind of shaken up after the fight because he thinks he may have hurt Hellfire.
-Ms.Amerika December 18, 2024
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Ms.Amerika once again coming in with more valuable information tells BP everyone on the site says and that we are thankful for what he did and wish him the best of luck.
-NightWingDuck37 December 18, 2024
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Thanks guys, not just for this but for everything you guys are the best!
-Ms.Amerika December 18, 2024
Exchange on hero watch December 18, 2024
Jericho Reboot Slotted For At Least Three More Season After Being Bought Out My Ward+
-Buzzfeed December 18, 2024
Florida Man Lay Hour Long Siege To A Taco Bell With The Help Of Five Alligators Apparently "Under His Control".
-HLN December 19, 2024
Kansas house rep visiting extended family in Nebraska shot dead by anti Black Power protest in Lincoln Nebraska.
-CNN December 19, 2024
I think the correct terms for leftist freaks like Black Power or Hannah Hellfire would be super terrorists or even super-criminals. The sooner we lock up anti American terrorist scum the better. We need proper heroes, not insane radicals.
-Mansfield podcast December 19, 2024
Unions are based af, but unionizing+free pizza is amazing!
-Ace Ward (twitter) December 19, 2024
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Thanks for the pizza Mr.Ward!
-Ma_Cy December 19, 2024
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No thank you for organizing and defending your rights as a worker by joining a union, also nice superhero fan art, I don't believe in the Reaper, but you sure do make him look cool.
-Ace Ward December 19, 2024
Look at the democrats falling at (((their))) they see a false God They call us brainwashed lol! News flash God isn't a damn negro! That's why I am calling on all good American Klansmen should join their brothers in arms with me in Stone Mountain to stand against the negro menace and his worshipers.
-General Confederate December 19, 2024
Gen Alpha May Live Shorter Life Spans Than Their Parents.
-New Moon News December 19, 2024
"Hello everyone, guess who's back with 3 hogtied friends and blue…get it because they are pigs…oh never mind. Anyone I am gonna kill these fuckers in a few hours or so and Na na na boo boo, you can't stop me!"
-Live Stream Of The Revenant December 19, 2024
"Who Judges The Judges? Who Watches The Watchmen?"
-Graffiti December 20, 2024
…
Authors note:
Excuse the bad photoshop job with the Time Magazine cover. I just created a concept for BP's suit and wanted to get it out there in a post.
Last edited:
Bisexual-Mart
Far from the shallow ground
- Location
- The Great State of Warshington
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I feel like Newsmax should be sold what with the TTL recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. I feel like Chris Ruddy should stop investing money in it because it is dead weight with the recession. My theory is that it could be sold to Hearst, Paramount, Disney, or even bought by the Trump family. (There are rumors that Donald Trump considered buying Newsmax in 2021. Perhaps ITTL by 2025 he's actually considering buying it.)
Someone is definitely gonna buy New Max soon, but I won't say who just yet.
Chapter 11: Well That Was Easy
"So, how are you going to approach this?" asked Xander to Ace over the comms.
Reaper stood on the halfway finish Heart Industries regional headquarters looking down at the frame of the building's west wing. The flashing lights of the cops and rotating helicopters illuminated the unfished roofing of the branch where armed members of the Revenant's terrorist cell moved about, being careful not to be caught in the line of fire.
"You should have let me come with you. It would have been better than sending off to wherever this middle west is." cut in Mia.
"Midwest, and right now it's being ravaged by the dust bowl, something you are more equipped than any of us to handle," said Xander.
"What about Black Power or Zetaman? Surely they could help you, Ace?" asked Mia.
"It's all good," said Ace.
Xander chuckled. "Translation, he doesn't trust them.".
"Why?" Mia asked.
"I have my reason," said Ace looking back down to the building. "At least two dozen people all armed with what seems to be mostly semi-automatic rifles beside a browning being manned near the front, but it could be rotated inwards." Ace paused the body armor and hair cuts of some of the men.
"Shit," said Ace
"Shit? What the hell do you mean shit?" asked Xander.
"Xander zoom in through my eye to how some of these guys have their body armor. Most have them pretty loose does that don't and have covered their vital organs properly all have rather low-cut hair cuts. ".
"Yeah, so? Good training and shitty barbers; I don't see your point here, Ace?" asked Xander before Mia cut in again.
"He means this mad man has veterans on his team."
"Bingo, Xan zoom in some to the tattoos of these guys; I want to see  what I am working against, run them through that nifty little database of yours. I'm willing the bet some of these guys have tattoos of their old units on them."
Xander entered the tattoo scans into the computer back at the bunker. "On it, so what's the plan here?"
Now it was Destiny's turn to cut in on the coms "Let me guess down, take out the ma duce, throw down a smoke, and a fear gas pellet into the rest of the goons, then puck them off one by one staring with the vets before moving deeper into the building to find the Reverent.".
"Pretty much, and nice you can finally join us, Destiny."
"Don't blame me; I had to help mom wrap some gifts and got caught up in traffic. By the way, your little scheme has one pretty big hole."
"And what would that be, Des?" asked Ace.
"The inside could be stacked with vets or just traps, and you will go in blind.".
"Right, Xander, once you are done with the tattoos, I need you to try and hack into the security system."
"Yes, sir." Xander gave his best Alfred impression, "And I have also run the tattoos through database some are indeed ex veterans however there are not special forces members among them, thank haven.".
"Good, then it's gone time!" said Ace jumping off the building using his robe as a wingsuit to glide down towards the machine gunner. Second, before he was spotted by the gunner, Ace threw his bone-throwing knife into the mechanics of the guns. The knife jammed the gun as the man attempted to rotate it and fire at Ace. The gunner reached for his sidearm, yet by the time he had pulled the pistol, Ace landed with a double kick to his chess.
 The sudden movement had now attracted the lights of both the news and police helicopters that were circling as well as the goons from the rest of the building before they could get a good shoot on him; however, as threw down a smoke bomb before tossing one more down at the goons along with a fear gas pellet.
Across the street, inside the A.P.D. hostage situationvan, Lisa walked back and forth, awash with emotions of hate, angrier fear, and thousand more things. Her partner and lover Danny was one of the officers being held hostages by the manic, and there was nothing she could do about it except pray. Something most of heard her, because she looked up to the news her eyes grew wide.
"It appears that there is fighting going on among the terrorists. We don't know right if it's the police or a non-law enforcement actor as of this moment, but it appears that gas has been used, and we can see movement and flashing of rifle fire in the cloud.".
"Xander, how is the hacking going?" asked Ace kicking one man in the side before jumping up and roundhouse, kicking another in the face.
"I am almost in Ace; I can see those electrified  boots are holding up well.".
"Perfect," said Ace punching one man on his right in the head before flipping him over towards two men charging at him from his left.
"That's good to hear anyway; what about the party?" asked Xander.
"Are you asking about the Christmas party right now?!" yelled Mia.
"Yeah, why not?" asked Ace tanking a close-range rifle shot in the middle of chess from a AR 15 before grabbing the barrel of the rifle and hitting it weirder in the head with the butt of the gun.
"I don't know, Ace; maybe it's because you are currently fighting heavily armed terrorists!" exclaimed Destiny which made Ace whence just long enough for one of the thugs to get a shot to the back of Ace's armored mask, which annoyed him for a second Reaper turned around and hit the man with a mean elbow to the nose before grabbing the terrorist wrist and electrocuting him.
"The guy is basically; Batman. I don't see a problem here." joked Xander.
"For the last freaking time, guys, I am not Batman!" said Ace as he reached the door that led deeper into the building, only that it was guarded by five guys all armed with rifles.
"Random bullshit, go!" yelled Reaper throwing the out waves of his throwing knives before back flipping another man attempting to attack him from behind landed a kick to the back of his head before landing to see that all the men were down for the count. Ace casually kicked in the steel frame door. "Honestly, I am thinking about asking Dolly back out.".
"Wait for real! YES! I GET MY SISTER-IN-LAW BACK!" Destiny was completely giddy about that before realizing she was on the coms. "I mean.. you should focus on the mission Ace.".
"Anything else?"
"Two guys in the vents above you, trying to sneak around," said Xander looking at the vent cam
Ace smiled, looking at one of the vent openings and tossing a very small tear gas pellet up there before continuing down the hall as he chuckled at the sound of the men crying.
"No fear, gas?" asked Xander.
"I don't want to send the men into a hallucinogenic panic while being trapped in the vents that could hurt them," said Ace, sucker-punching a man in the face before slamming said face into the wall. "Anyway, I'm thinking about telling Maxwell," said Ace.
"Do you think that will go over well with Beverly?" asked Mia.
Ace dodged a gunshot before taking the rifle away and using it as a bat against a person's legs, drooping to his knees before tasering him."Probably not; that's why I am telling Maxwell.".
"You expect him to keep that secret away from her." laughed Mia.
"What's so funny?" asked Ace chopping a man in his throat.
"The fact you managed to be such a hoe and still don't understand women or relationships." joked Destiny.
A massive wall of meathead and rounds charged at Ace's head, putting him and knocking Ace to the ground as the steroid machine began to try and choke Ace. Reaper struggled to reach inside his cloak into his bandolier, pulling out a small syringe and injecting the man with Propofol, and with an upward kick, the meathead was sent flying through another door before sub coming to the drug and falling asleep.
Detective Monroe's eyes were locked on the tv screen as it replayed video of the fighting. She already knew it was the Reaper before the first mention of him appeared on the coms. At first it was like trickle with some cops suggesting the possibility of him being the one clearing out the terrorists, but the rumor quickly spread like wildfire. She could hear some of the cops actually cheering for the vigilante. Other more senior cops tried to crack down on the rumors claiming that the Reaper was not real and that it was infighting among the terrorists, but Lisa knew that whoever or whatever the Reaper was he was here fighting the terrorists, Lisa could only pray at least for Danny's and the other officer's sake that the Reaper would win.
Danny and the other hostages watched in shock and awe as the mountain of a man that had thrown him into the room with the Revenant was now sent flying through the door as smoke filled the room.
The Revenant began to cackle with manic glee as it changed to madding laughter while he fire-fired his sun machine gun down the hall. The muzzle flashes of the speeding lighting up his hollow eyes as the smile of shiny grilled teeth continue to creep wider and wider across his scarred face.
"WHO ARE YOU GONNA CALL!" song the burned man to the theme of ghostbusters, wildly firing into the smokey mist.
"An ambulance," said a heavy voice reaching out from the fog and grabbing the Revenant by the neck; as Danny and the other cops saw the Reaper in full, he had no true body, just bones and ghastly green smoke which flowed from his body that seemed to float on air "But not for me." said the urban legend pumping the mad man full of electricity before tossing him to the side.
"Well, that was way too easy." thought Ace as he looked at the cops' huddle together, obviously showing signs of suffering from his fear toxin. "Um.. be not afraid?" shuttered Ace, a bit confused about what he should say before he heard the heavy steps of the swat running down the hall. Ace sighed. "I can never catch a break, can I?" he mumbled before running through the break wall and landing on his glider, and taking off into the night sky as the black-clad militarized police surged into the room.
"I guess you didn't need me, Ace," said Mia.
"No, but the Midwest sure does; just be careful out there; they tend not to like you in that region."
"Is it because of my race, religion, or because I am a woman?" asked Mia
"Is there an all the above option?" said Xander.
"Oh, America the Beautiful," Destiny said sarcastically.
"No matter, like me or not, they will still be saved.".
"That's the spirit; now try and get a quick nap in; we don't want you sleeping mid-dust storm fight." joked Ace as looked back over towards the flashing red and blue lights where the battle hostage had been. "Came too close to being actually spotted I can't like that happen again, or else I may lose the whole ghost mystique, I have to be more than a guy in a suit to people like him, must be more than that." Ace thought to himself
"As long as I am back before the party," said Mia, logging off.
"You good, Ace?" asked Xander.
Ace took a sharp turned on his glider towards a more trouble area of the city "Yeah, probably going to hoover around for a bit and make sure there isn't anything else major going on in the city before turning in"
"I am gonna stay over; my parents are fighting about stockings; what about you, Destiny." Xander asked leaning back in his chair and watching Ace point of view of the city.
"Yeah, I am heading back to home base. When traffic clears up, I might get something to eat beforehand, though," said Des.
"Good Reaper, logging off," said Ace signing off and flying around the city, keeping a mental conversation with himself.
"Way to go, Ace. You managed to take down your first supervillain before you were old enough to vote; amazing work. Still, I need to focus on other things, not just the heroics and not just the company. Dual enrollment might be a bitch and half next semester, but I need to go ahead and get most of my associate degree out the way now so I can focus more on the company and being a hero while in college. Probably going to start studying a few statistics tomorrow so I can be ahead of the curve in that department. 
At least that freakazoid is out of the way; now, the only thing I have to worry about is your everyday crime. That may dry up sooner or later with the aid programs the company is rolling out; I might have a summer vacation. Still, I have to find that little Harley Quinn Wannabe before she finishes whatever that nut job of her wanted. "
Ace flew around the city, looking down at the people and buildings until he noticed someone between the building Beverly and she needed help.
Beverly had once again found herself far up shit creek without a paddle as she was faced by two men armed with knives moving toward her. She had caught them tagging a wall with some right-wing message. She attempted to take a picture of them with her phone, but they broke it and began trying to attack her. Suddenly one of the guys was yanked in the air before landing on the ground out cold, while the other waved his knife at nothing before something hit him in the back of the head, dropping him. Beverly pulled out her mini taser gun and walked down the ally. "Who are you? Show yourself!"
"I believe the word is thank you, Miss. Beverly, right?" said Reaper behind her, making her spin around and shoot the taser at him. Ace grabbed the taser string in mid-air before waking around towards the knock-out men seeing the other had a tattoo on his right hand. 
"The order of the supreme gentleman?" asked Reaper as he read the tat.
"Fucking incels, they have a gang now, that just great…wait a minute" Bever pointed her finger at Reaper. "YOU DID THIS, DIDN'T YOU! YOU DAMN CLOAKED MENACE YOU PAID THESE FREAKS OFF TO ATTACK ME SO YOU CAN MAKE ME LOOK LIKE A CRAZY PERSON FOR SPEAKING MY TRUTH BUT YOU HAVE ANOTHER THING COMING-"Bever stopped yelling as the smiled bomb was thrown, and Ace was gone well actually he was just on top of a nearby building looking down at her.
"I don't think you're a menace." said a voice behind him, making Reaper jump around.
"Oh my, I am so sorry, sir. I didn't mean to make you jump! It's just that I am like your number one fan, and it's really you and Oh My God!"
"It's alright, Macy," said Ace realizing who it was but too late to realize that the Reaper shouldn't know her name.
"How do you know my name?"
"I know a lot of things come with the job.".
"It's not a job," said Macy. "Besides, something tells me you don't do this for money or fame.".
"You got all that from looking at me? Maybe you're the one with super powers."
"Nah, just figured if you wanted all of that, you wouldn't have been sticking to the shadow. You would be that Ace of Spade's guy, by the way, is Ace of Spades Ace Ward?"
Ace smiled under his mask. "Maybe maybe not.".
"Say um, don't Batman on me real quick. I will right back," said Macy hurrying back inside her home a few moments with a zip-lock bag full of cookies decorated with the designs of some of her favorite heroes. Ms.Amerika, Black Power, Zetaman, Columbia, Uncle Sam, Skin Walker, and Reaper himself; Macy handed Ace the bag. "Here I was going to eat it, but I thought maybe you should have them instead…wait can you eat food? I know with you being a- "Ace cut her off with a hug.
"I'm sure I can find some use for these when I get back to the graveyard," said Ace breaking off the hug and getting ready to leave.
Macy's eyes went big yet again. "Graveyard? Wait, duh, you being a ghost and all, but hey, before you go, can you do one thing for me?" Macy reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, handing it to Reaper, who opened it to it was fan art of him fighting against a Clown.
"It's something I drew for my Web Comic. It's a comic about a villain's point of view of the whole nemesis relationship. Could you sign it?"
"You have a pen?" asked Reaper, to which Maddy smiled, reaching back into her pocket. "I always keep one with me.".
Ace smiled larger under his mask as he sighed the art "To Macy from Reaper Forever And Always My Number One Fan.".
Macy smiled and hugged Reaper. "Thanks"
"Don't mention it..although you probably mentioned it for real," said Ace.
"Fine by me, Reaps, and if you ever need a place to crash or talk, I mostly hang out on the roof at night if you ever want to chat."
"I keep that in mind," said Ace jumping off the roof and vanishing into the night.
Ace unmasked himself as he landed on the ledge where the bunker met the abandoned tunnel system that led back to the city proper. The teenager places the dented helmet on a nearby shelf next to the glass center case for the rest of his suit.
"You will need a new one after a while, and I am not just talking about the mask. The civilian and nonlethal re-orientation of our defense sector allowed us to buy more designs without it being noticed by slipping into the R&D budget," said Destiny walking into the bunker dressed in black track pants, red and black retro Jordan's, and Mc J' Ro J.' T-shirt and a black hoodie.
"Look at you sounding like your old man more and more every day." laughed Ace as Destiny handed him a bag of food. "What do you have for us this time?"
"Pork chop sandwiches, greens, fried green tomatoes, dressing, and pecan pie.".
"I freaking love you, dude," said Ace giving Destiny a fist bump.
Destiny leaned against the glass case as Ace changed clothes. "So how was taking down the world's first supervillain?"
"Far more anticlimactic than I expected, but I am pretty happy about putting that nutter away before he could have hurt more people.".
Destiny took a bite of her sandwich. "Wow, I didn't know taking down scores of ex-military terrorist henchmen and rescuing hostages was so boring for you.".
"All in the day's work." Ace said sarcastically, "Can you pass the sauce.".
"I ain't get none."
Ace was stunned. "The hell you mean you ain't get none.".
"It was late, and the lady in the back said they were out, and I ain't feel like arguing with the lady about some damn hot sauce this late at night, so I just headed back to Homebase.".
"Ok, I feel you on that; the last thing we need is a video of you acting crazy over condiments going around on the net.".
"True, so you going to bed?"
"Nah, Imma hop on the game for a bit, probably see if Amanda is on, and play some 2k or Elder Scrolls co-opt you?"
"Nah, I'm bout to go lay down for the night, gotta get my hair down tomorrow trying to get some braids in.".
"Braids in winter? You usually wait til it hits summer for that,"
"Just feeling it, if I'm being honest with you," said Destiny.
After eating his late dinner washed up in his l shower and got ready to relax, logging on to his Xbox and joining Amanda's party. Ace had to keep laughing every time she called him sir or Mr.Ward, the most ironic thing about it all was Amanda was older than Ace by a few months or weeks. Her friend Bison joked that it reminded him of the spider man saying, Mr.Stark, which was a subject of laughter for a while. After a few hours, as the sun began to rise above the night sky, Ace turned into a bed.
Mia grunted as she pushed back the storm from the farm town. It was as if she was going back against a heavy bed sheet thrown on top of her, and it was only getting heavier and heavier by the moment, and the people yelling at her weren't helping. She had considered herself a master at English, but some of the slurs and names the people were calling her as she attempted to save them Mia could have sworn were made up on the spot. The biggest allegation against her was that she was a "Ward Backed Soros WItch Demon.".
Mia wasn't all that sure what Soros was, but she was no stranger to being called a witch or Marid by people, but she had never been cursed at by a person she was trying to save. Yet here she was, being yelled at in the middle of nowhere, America.
Not everyone was hostile. Some of the men and a few, mostly that of color; however, a few younger whites were also among the people who went out after her asking what they could do to help. From there, it became a flow where Mia would ask for something or give out orders, and those people would help; must to the chagrin of around half of the town, until finally, after a few hours of this, the dust storm dissipated.
Still, there were people hurt and ruble power lines and tree limbs blocking the road. Worse, there were some people trapped. Mia couldn't do it alone, even with some townspeople helping her. That was when she saw him in the sky, hovering above the town before landing in front of her.
"You look like you might need some help?" asked Black Power.
"Is it that obvious?" asked Desert sarcastically.
Bishop chuckled. "Hey had to brush my teeth first.". However, his smile became a frown as someone threw coal at Mia, which he caught without even thinking crushing it in his hand, noticing the shiny object that he dropped from his hand in place of the coal.
"Where the hell did they even get coal from?" asked Bishop as he overheard a fight breaking out near. "I will be right back. Try not to get stoned while I am away," said Bishop as he took off at speed faster than a bullet, landing nearby the town hall where the sheriff and fire chief.
"You can go to hell. There is no way I will let you put the cuff on those kids!" yelled the Chief.
"They are criminals. That's my job, and that's what I am going to do!" said the cop pointing his rifle
"What seems to be the problem-"Bishop saw the rifle raised at the fire chief, and then it was turned on him. "You!" said the sheriff aiming his gun at Bishop's now very annoyed face. Black Power let out a deep sigh as the man fired a shot right at his eye. The bullet ricocheted, making the cop and fireman duck for cover. 
"Are you done? asked Black Power. "Because right now, there are people who need help-"
"Not from you freak!" yelled the cop.
"Go to hell, sheriff, I got men trying to dig kids out of the rubble, and you wanna true away help from a god damn superhero fuck you." The fireman turned to Bishop "Black Power; I got men trapped at the old school house near the top of the building. Can you help?"
"On it," said Bishop living the two men in the dust, taking off in flight towards the red brick school.".
Across the land, Yin lit up a cigarette, watching as the mysterious hero led the search efforts. While the sand woman Desert aided with helping the injured to safety. He was leaning back on the hood of the black Crown Vic when he saw Black Power lift up a massive section of the fallen school with one hand and move it gently out the way with one hand in such a fashion that half of the wall should have crumbled.
"Tactile telekinesis and natural super strength hell of a combination," thought Yin to himself as his new partner agent Keller, looked on, mouth agape.
"I thought you saw this man tank an explosion that melted tanks; why is this surprising to you now," said Yin taking another drag from his cigarette. That was one of the regions the proto agency had recruited Keller; he had close and personal experience with Meta humans, which isn't something that most could say.
"It's still so strange; I grew up reading stories about these things, comic books, and now it's all real.".
"Yeah, spare me the whole God Among U.S.; it's new-age bullshit.".
"You don't think so.".
"No, I do, in the same way my predecessors thought of the a-bomb as new age. New Age,
new players, new weapons, same game, same old bullshit.".
"I thought you said the agency believed he could wipe cities off the map; that's something new to be worried about.".
"A high school dropout in a minuet man silo could end the world with a flip of a key back in the '60s; it is another threat to be concerned over, yes, but it is also something we can monitor at the very least or hopefully use. After all, you read the briefing on our military history with wanting supermen.".
"Indeed,"
As the day went on and the national guard and F.E.M.A. rolled into the town, Mia and Bishop fell back out of sight and tried to avoid being spotted by the press.
"So, how long are you in town?" asked Bishop.
"Only for a few days; I got to head back to Atlanta."
"Yeah, I heard Ace Ward's party is legendary.".
"Apparently they are..wait how did you know?"
"I started to put two and two together right around the time I got the job at New Moon News. Using one of his friends to have him be sighted the same night Ace Ward was rumored to be in Vegas with Draco King was pretty smooth in keeping the press from catching his trail. Not only that, but with the Reaper being sighted in Vegas too, it made it look like the guy could be at two places at once, giving credit to the idea of the Reaper being an actual ghost rather than a guy in a fancy suit.".
"You put that all together, smart," said Mia. "And yeah, I am going to have to catch a ride back to the airport.".
"I can take you if you want, back to the airport if.".
"That would be fine with me. Do you have a car…" Mia stopped as Bishop hovered for a moment before landing. "Oh right you can fly.".
"Care to?" asked Bishop, holding out his hand.
"Sure why not" chuckled Mia as Black Power picked her up and flew at a decent speed, nothing too fast but fast enough to beat a speeding car.
"Does it get better?" asked Bishop .
Mia looked at Bishop "What?"
"You know the name-calling, you handled the whole being called a witch thing pretty well.".
"People can be idiots sometimes," said Mia "But personally I thought you handle it better than me.".
"Yeah I guess I'm better at hiding it,"
"I don't think it goes away, that feeling knowing some of those people would rather die than be saved by someone who looks like us. It just changes from anger to pitty at least that what I think," said Mia her eyes switching away from Black Power back to the town as she still questioned her own feelings "but to be fair I am a teenager so you should probably take my word as infallible gospel and be really dogmatic about it on Twitter." she joked.
Bishop laughed "Yeah totally,"
"But it's a strange feeling isn't it being so power yet so…"
"Powerless," Bishop finished. "Yeah, it's like sometimes it feels like nothing we do truly matter in the grand scheme of things, maybe I'm just tripping about things.".
"Trippin?"
"Maybe I am overreacting about things, but it really does feel hopeless sometimes".
"Maybe that's our reason for being like this, having powers I mean to be there when it's hopeless."
"I hope you are right for all our sake Desert."
"You can call me Mia friend,"
"Well then Mia, it's been lovely talking to you but I think this is your stop". said Black Power dropping her off outside of the airport, just outside of the line of sight from any person or camera that could he snap a picture of them "And tell Ace next job on the costume design when you see him.".
"Will do," said Mia as she waved Bishop goodbye while walking away toward the airport gates.
"Well I certainly do try my best.". Ace said cutting in over Desert's comms ears comms making her jump a little.
"How long have you owned the coms?" asked Mia.
"Long enough, you sure really remember to turn off your comms, now hurry up Xander already crying a like love sick puppy dog.".
"I am not crying!" yelled Xander from someone near by Ace.
"Tell him I will be home shortly." giggled Mia.
…
Johnny Voltz looked around at Miami as he walked the streets n at the beach. He had tuned out most of the world while listing to podcasts through his beats heads phones. Normally they would be playing music, but since that night, Johnny hadn't listened to a single song through; instead, using them to listen to podcasts about history, news, politics, religion, and even geography, all to figure out what the hell happened to him.
At first, he just thought he had woken or something that had driven him into the future. No matter how crazy it may or have seen at first, it was the only explanation, even if it was far from reasonable. After all the dates, new buildings, and new people, none of which could have appeared overnight. Yet even then, there were still holes in that logic.
Things like some nuclear-powered African country called Vena, people like Mansfield being some big-time talk host for decades, and most of his family. They were gone, not just like they left the city, but it was as if they never existed. Soon it dawned on him that this was not, in fact, the future, nor was it- the bus slammed on breaks as the older woman looked on helplessly before suddenly a blur flashed before the two, and the woman was the first another side. Johnny let go of the woman as people began to take notice.
"How did you do that?"
"You just saved that woman!"
"Are you one of those meta human?"
"Ay yo, I got to take your picture."
Johnny panicked as people began to pull out their phones; suddenly, he was a blur again, weaving through traffic as he doge near collisions with cars. At one point, he unknowingly caused a fleeing getaway car full of bank robbers to crash into the side of a road allowing for the cops to catch up with them.
Crashing through his door at his dock garage Johnny collapsed as he began to vomit. His whole body felt weird, not bad, not good, just weird. Reaching up on a table to help himself to his feet, Johnny noticed something on the table, a comic book.
"What the fuck," said Johnny looking around the room, trying to see if anyone had put it there. The edgy lines and cheesy title of the comic told that this comic was from the 90s, but his eyes grew large as he began to flip through it, and once again, that thought had dawned on him.
…
"So you are just now telling me about this place?" said Uncle Sam as he and Liberty pushed past the masses of hustling P.A.F. members inside the abandoned train station.
"I had to make sure you're legit. The P.A.F. takes vetting very seriously.".
"I can see," said Sam looking around at the old 40's style station covered in a mixture of retro anti-fascist propaganda and both modern and 50s tech. "Are all the guys P.A.F.?"
"Not everyone is a soldier, at least on the front line." said a young woman walking up to them. "The name is Jessica , just Jessica .".
"Play nice, Jessy." twisted Liberty making Jessica glare to which Liberty respond to by sticking out her tongue at her . "Sam, this is Jessy, one of our best rogues.".
"Rouges?" asked Sam.
"It's what we call our psychical counter-intel officers," said Liberty which made Jessy roll her eyes
"I honestly wish she would just let us call ourselves spies, but yeah, we do the behind the scenes work when things can't be done above pretty ironic ground, considering my current living situation.".
Sam looked concerned. "People live down here? l he had heard stories about homeless camps in the underground but always chalked it off to right-wing theories about secretive Antifa training camps.".
"I wish; I stay a few lines down from here, neat little hideaway we got there at the Pitt, you should stop by, we make a mean communal chilly." said Jessy sarcastically before she handed off a brown folder to Liberty. "Here is the report on any infiltration ops within the states L.E.O.; the short answer is hell no, but maybe in the national guard, we can get some of our older vets inside their leadership of have some of troopers join for the training.".
"No longer answer?" asked Liberty.
"It's in the report," Jessy said, walking away.
"She seems um…nice." Uncle Sam said, sighing
sarcastically.
"Don't flatter her, don't tho worry, Jessy can and will grow on you," said Liberty.
"So..um, how do you guys keep this place hidden? The power bill must be a hard thing to hide.".
"We don't have one." said Liberty as she passed by a woman who handed her another folder this one noticeably thinner than the one Jessica handed her.
Sam raised an eyebrow at that. "How?"
"That's what we've been trying to figure out since me and Jessy found this place a few months back. It isn't on any maps, public or private; at first, we thought it was an old government tunnel or bunker like the one the Ward planned to build during the Cold War, but we got nothing from their public record about it, and it still wouldn't explain the power source.".
"So what, it's magic or something? Isn't that kind of ridiculous?" asked Sam.
"Says the guy who woke up as a bulletproof copy of famous Americana."
"You got me there, Lib you, got me there," chuckled Sam. "Still, I would want to look into whoever or whatever is giving this place power."
"Way ahead of you, Unc," said Liberty. "Our scientists have been looking into it for the past few months.".
"You guys have scientists?" Sam asked shocked.
"What you thought, we all grunts? Like I said, not everyone is a soldier. The P.A.F. is a cross-section of America, from fast-food workers to soldiers to scientists and even a few local politicians; all united in one thing making damn sure we don't become the Second Weimar Republic and thankful it's working at least somewhat.".
"Must be nice having a team behind your back," said Sam, Liberty placed her arm around Sam. "Our backs Sam, you're one of us now." Speaking of which, we, by which I mean me, have some assignments for you."
"Wow, an assignment already. You sure do know how to put a man to work." joked Sam. "So what is it?".
"The New York City Aryan Bound is planning on raising money to help bring Klan members from the country to Stone Mountain. A few of our rogues have picked up chatter that they have gotten a bunch of old-school buses and are planning to send them around the country to pick up members of the Klan."
"That doesn't sound good, but when have the clean-cut black-tie goose steppers started working with one of the mill trash fash hicks?"
Liberty and Sam walked into a side room that seemed to be converted from a small private lounge into an information center with smart boards on each side of the room and a long oak table at the center of it all. The screens flashed on as soon as the two walked in, showing a man dressed in what could only be described as a cross between a confederate and ww1 general uniform. "Ever since this asshole popped on the scene, we've been watching him since the Major A.C.A.B. summer back in 23, but he's been around longer than that, a lot longer.".
"How far back are we talking?"
"The best we can assume is that this guy is the latest in a long line dating back to at least early reconstruction.".
"Who is he?"
Liberty glared stoically at the image of the man. "He calls himself General Confederate!".
Uncle Sam snickered. "Sorry, but he calls himself that? You gotta to be kidding me like he actually calls himself General Confederate, that freaking hilarious!"
"Don't let the name fool you. This man is cunning and dangerous and is trying to reshape the Klan back to its supposed glory days of the invisible empire.".
"So what do you want me to do?"
"We need you to take out those buses before they hit the rod tomorrow morning. The less fash that can show up, the more advantage we give to our anti-fascist comrades in Atlanta.
There have a dozen school buses in New York, each one able to sit around 50 people each, meaning we take those out that stop about 500 people from showing up. Not only that, but we think they might be hiding weapons; thankfully, most of them are on the street fighting a variety with a few handguns still, but the A.B. is providing a good bulk of the sticks and shields, meaning take out the busses we put a big dent into the enemy's men and material."
"I still don't see why the A.B. wouldn't show up themselves. Their defense squad is sold and glory hungry.". Uncle Sam said
"Their leadership isn't exactly sure how messy everything is going to turn out the last thing they want to be seen physically at another Charlottesville, but backing the klan is the south gives them allies a foothold there among the far right.".
"Smart, but it's one thing they didn't count on.".
"And what's that?" asked Liberty.
"There, Uncle Sam!"
The warehouse seemed to be empty as Uncle Sam came in through the back door; he had planned originally to come in through the roof, but there were no layers, and the back door was unlocked, something that surprised him. Then again, he fell into the trap of understatement of the stupidity of the Nazis.
"I am the real American; Fight for the rights of every man; I am a real American; And fight for what's right." Hummed Uncle Sam as he poured sugar down the gas tanks of the busses. He had already died enough work slitting the tires damaging the engines, and breaking the weapons to be sure these guys were making their carpool any time soon, but he just wanted to make sure of it.
As Sam gazed at his work, he was hit over the head with a metal bat by a young girl. "Take that, you Yankee scum!" Her accent was as Southern as sweet tea and Jim Crow. She was dressed in bright red with blue stars and bars of the confederacy in the shape of a V on her chest and a blue confederate flag domino mask.
Sam turned around, rubbing his head "Really a baseball bat?" he asked as he fumbled around in his pockets looking for something.
"Yeah, that's right, you damn New York degenerate how you like them-AAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Uncles Sam peppered and sprayed her at point-blank range. "You are going to wash that out with milk in a few, preferably two percent also; rubbing in your eye isn't only going to make it worse; is there anyone I can call for you, or should I just call 911?"
"AAAA MY EYES AAAAAA!" The woman cried out "AAAAA AAA AAA A AAAAAA!"
Uncle Sam looked down at the crying woman. "Oh right, it's probably your first time being at the other end of this kind of thing, so I am just going to call 911-"
"I see the northern excuses for a man have kept their liking of attacking the fairer folks," said General Confederate walking into the room. "I don't expect anything less from a Yankee you associate with Indian savage and brutes.".
"Atun Shri Films!" joked Uncle Sam as the man who just came into the room shared a pretty uncanny resemblance to the YouTuber, although he seemed to be older with greying hair and a pretty bushy beard. If one had to describe his voice, it would be the most cartoonish depiction of a southern accent. Around his rebel grey ww1 field tunic was red armband with a white flaming cross.
"Of course, if only you weak-willed limped wrist Yankees treated those African savages the same way you treat the innocent white girls like young Dixie over yonder. Then maybe we would not have a problem.".
"Wow, ok, there is the racism. Listen, dude, I know you think you are hot shit, but here is how this will go down. I am going to walk out of here, and you can hop back down whatever Alt-right rabbit that you regurgitated out of in the first place and while you are doing that I am gonna get me a meatball sub and then go to bed happy.".
The "Confederate General" laughed "You have underestimated your opponent, then again when haven't that been truth when diluted Northern address a pure southern white!"
"Ok dude I was really about to let you go with a warning, but now I am actually gonna kick your ass.".
"You are wrong, it is me who shall be victorious bring home glory to the south after I defeat you union loving scum!".
Uncle Sam shrugged, asking "Is that so?"
"Why yes, it is!" said the General, punching Sam through the thin sheet metal walls of the warehouse into the snow-covered streets, massively denting the side of a parked S.U.V. setting off the alarms of the S.U.V. and other nearby cars.
Sam wiped away a tiny trail of red blood from his nose and picked himself back up. "Ok lucky shot on a surprised lick, trust me that's all the luck you are going to get tonight.".
"Please, I had almost a hundred and sixty years to prepare for this day, Lincolnit. Nothing about this has to do with luck or surprise, South had always had better leaders and Generals when it came to battle!"
"Are you sure about that?" said Sam reaching into his belt and pulling out one of Liberty's red, white, and blue grapple sticks she gave to him, and with a lucky shot, grappled General Confederate's pulling into a solo close line that sent the so-called General to the ground, but in a sloppy second hop, General Confederate was back on his feet with a even larger smile on his face
The General laughed as he slid a bayonet out of his jacket's sleeve. "Oh, now I see that some yellow-belly yanks aren't all talk, but yet see how you handle some southern steel!".
"Isn't that cheating?" asked Sam, already knowing the blade wouldn't even cut his clothes.
The General ran at him full sprint. "You mean how y'all cheated us southern out of our states rights.".
Uncle Sam blocked the blaze with his arm making it bleed a little as it slashed his clothes making Sam stair at the small stream of blood coming from his arm. The General too looked confusingly at the knife; it should have slashed through the man's arm, not just made a trickle of blood..this was impossible!
A twinkle appeared in Uncle Sam's eye as he demanded, "STATES RIGHT TO DO WHAT!" before head butting the General square in the face and knocking him back into the ground.
General Confederate pulled a Colt 1851 from a Secret holster hidden within his jacket, aiming at Uncle Sam's head, but before he could do anything, even place his finger firmly on the trigger, it was shot out of his hand by.. a rubber bullet Ace Of Spades!
"Hey Sam, you look like you need some help." joked Spader hovering above the battle.
"You think?" laughed Uncle Sam.
"Lookie here that damn flying machine using urbanite defending! White Women hitting! Ace Of Spades," said General Confederate putting his fists to box booth for them. "Too bad that brut Black Power isn't here that way I can take down a flying Ace and A flying Monk-" General Confederate stopped as from Ace of Spade arm gauntlets shot out a sticker taser attaching itself to the Neo-Confederate electrocuting
"Ay yo! What the fuck is his deal?"
"He believes he is actually a Confederate General," said Sam looking over to the hunch over man on the ground.
"That would explain the outfit and the casual racism."
"Hey, asshole!" called Dixie, walking out the building holding a pump-action shotgun.
Sam rolled his eyes. "You do know I'm bulletproof, right?"
"I wasn't aiming for you!" said Dixie as she shot one of Ace Of Spades's jet pack wings sending him huddling into a fire hydrated which busted open sending Ace of Spades and Uncle Sam back flying back away from General Confederate before his sidekick Dixie helped him up, and they took off into the night, leaving Sam and Eric half-conscious, soaking wet, confused, and hungry.
Shaking themselves off and picking himself up, Sam with the help of Eric and his slightly damaged wing suit managed to make a clean getaway right before the police arrived. Eric dropped Uncle Sam off on the roof of his apartment, and after saying their goodbyes, Uncle Sam managed to sneak into his own apartment through the fire escape. Through his clothes into his small mini dryer, Sam took a long hot shower washing the blood from his face. Some of his blood, some belonging to the confederate cosplayer. It was the first time he bled since the change. Strangely Sam was ok with that; in fact, he liked it; it made him remember that he wasn't invincible and that he should focus on training. 
It took him an hour to fully fill clean after the fight. Getting dressed, he turned on his dryer again and walked with a slight slip towards the bed, where he saw Liberty waiting for him.
"Tuff night?" asked Liberty.
"Met that General Guy bled a little, made sure he did the same, but still completed the mission all the same.".
"Good to see you can hold up in an actual fair fight. I was concerned for you after that first punch.".
Uncle Sam paused for a moment. "Wait, you were there the whole time? Why didn't you help me!".
"Like I said, I wanted to make sure you could hold your own," said Liberty getting and walking over to Sam and placing a hand on the side of his face. "And you more than exceeded my expectations." Liberty kissed him and smiled. "Now, let's see if you can do it again.".
...
Hannah's head hung low as she was marched out of her freezing cell by two armed guards with cattle prods. Electricity was the only thing the pigs managed to keep her in line by putting a shock collar around her neck so that any time her body heat went too high, it would send enough volts to knock Hannah out before she could fully power up. Yet this wasn't enough for the guards; her cell was pumped with liquid nitrogen any time its heater went off.
Hellfire's purple jumpsuit and black undershirt were the only things to protect her from the cold as the guards didn't even let her wear shoes, only leg irons around her ankles. Hannah didn't know exactly where she was being housed; the guards had blacked bagged her when she was in transport. However, she did manage to pick up tidbits from other inmates and chow hall, and the accents of the guards led her to believe she was somewhere in the southwest; but outside of that, it was a blank space.
Yet even in her darkest time, Hannah kept hope, hope that Heather Winters, Zero, would come and save her. That once the time was right, she would be broken out, and she could continue what she had started. Until then, Hannah had other plans for herself; she had already started working on some of the other inmates. It wasn't all that hard for her to convince the other youths of her viewpoints on things. Many of them were fans of her, especially the female inmates. Most of the guys were still skeptical about listening to a girl on things, most outside of Brim. Brim wasn't his real name; Hannah wasn't even sure if he ever had one, but he already stuck around silently when Hannah was lecturing about politics, writing notes in his little journal. His race was as vague as his name, but Hannah assumed he was Hispanic mostly because when she gave her talks in Spanish, he seemed to write down his notes quicker.
Brim always kept his distance away from people; that was always how he survived. Even in prison, he tried his best to keep to himself and outside of setting in and listing to Hannah that what he did and worked pretty well until this day.
"Give your food now," demanded Flora. The woman had just arrived in the prison only a few hours ago and was already trying to make plays for herself. Figuring if she could punk a man, she would get a harder rep on the inside.
"W-w-wh-a-at N-o-o," stutter Brim, his accent and his speech impediment slipping out.
"Well, I-I-I don't care what you want," Mocked Flora. "besides, you people already take enough space around here. At least you do is not try to be fat wet ba-"
"I am going to need you to re-think your next words very carefully," said Hannah from behind her in the chow line, nodding her at Brim, silently telling him to get away.
"Well, well, well, if it ain't the leftist bringing rainbow bright, tell why good German stock like yourselves hang out among the weeds of subhumans? First, that icy Black Zero, now that little illegal.".
"I don't know why your bargain bin poison Ivy ass got folded by Skin Walker and Ace of Spades.".
"Careful with your words or-"
"Or else." laughed Hannah. "That collar around your neck means you can't use your little plant powers, so what are you going to do?".
"I don't need any powers to deal with you bitch!" Flora swung a punch at Hannah, who dodged them, returning two fast strikes to both Flora's left and right side before kicking her right knee in dropping her to the ground. Hellfire proceeded to stump Flora's head, screaming as her color went off, and the guard rushed into the room at full speed, grabbing Hannah.
"FOR THOSE WHO TRY TO SPREAD THAT FASH SHIT ON MY WATCH, YOU ALL NEED TO KNOW SOMETHING!" Hannah thrashed as she was hit with the cattle prods. Her eyes turned into solid flames. "I'M NOT LOCKED IN HERE WITH YOU! YOU ARE LOCKED IN HERE WITH ME!"
…
"Not going fucking shoot you with a sliver Santell. Are you like actually bloody insane?"
"I need to test out the armor." whinnied Santell as she stumped loudly in the hotel lobby. Santell had started working on her "suit" a few weeks ago, and they had been pretty much obsessed with it in her spare time. The armor was like a female version of Black Noir mixed with something from the underworld.
"Come one shoot me!"
"No, I'm not bloody shooting you," said Jamie as John walked into the room, eating a bowl of Roman noodles. "You should shoot her, Jamie.".
"I'm not shooting my aunt!"
"Please," begged Santell, "Pretty please with an extra-large red cherry on top!"
"Noway!" said Jamie, but as she spoke, a portal opened up behind her, and a bullet came through, shooting Santell in the center of her armor, sending the vampire flying back into the wall and outstep May J and her cat still dressed in the ANA outfit they had last seen her dressed in when they were in Wyoming the tree line portal was the same as the treeline; in fact Jamie could still see the smoke from the flaming cabin from a fire that happened weeks ago!
"Hey everyone," she waved as the portal closed behind them. "Sorry I am late; opening wormholes is much harder when you haven't done them in decades, and the timing has always been a bitch to get down right.".
"Hey, if you make you feel better, you are probably the only person on this planet actually to warp like that," said Santell picking heels up as May tucked a Glock back into her cat's wizard's hat.
"Two things, why did you tuck a Glock into your cat's hat and warm holes?"
"Oh, it's not my Glock. It's Damien's…"
"Why does your cat have a Glock.".
"Meow Meow."
…
Harlem had not been what it was remembered to be for a long time now; the days of New York's Black Mecca of music and renaissance were gone, destroyed by crime and drugs before being invaded by trendy gentrifiers pushing out what remained of the community's original inhabitants.
Whole Foods and Trader Joe's stood where small shops and businesses once. Buildings and streets that Detroit red used to walk down and buildings where Marcus Garvey Universal Negro Improvement Association used to meet now play host to kids of Elmo leashes and yoga studios.
A lot had changed for Harlem, and it would change once again as flashes of blue light struck a back alley sending out a small shock wave of blue energy, and out of the blooming blast came the silhouette of two people embracing each other in fear, one White the other Black.
Darrell Lee and Lindy Lombardi looked into each other eyes; they were safe. Lindy had expected her brother's shotgun blast to kill them both, but instead, they did not die but were somewhere else outside of Darrell's squalid bedroom. They were dressed diff two in their finest dress wear which was a nice expensive black dress for Lindy but used a Sunday service suit for Darrell.
"W-w-we is alive!" exclaimed Lindy "OH, THANK
LORD ABOVE, WE ARE ALIVE!"
Darrel was silent; he wasn't a coward but having a shotgun blast heading to have a direct appointment with his face was something else; In short, it scared the shit out of him. He patted Lindy to make sure this was real and that it wasn't some strange dream at the last moment of life, but as he felt her soft skin, he knew that it was real; they were alive. "But where are we?" asked, looking down the street to the bright lights of the passing cars on the nearby street.
As they stepped out into the bright night lights of New York City, the two lovers gazed at the sights.
"My god!" gasped Darrell.
The cars were something out of a science fiction dime movie. The lights of and sounds were so different, yet at the same time, the city was still recognizable at least somewhat; it was Harlem, or it seemed to be.
"There is only one way to find out," said Lindy as they began to walk out of the alleyway and down the streets. Some of the names in the pictures were similar enough Ace Ward, Senator Reeves, Governor Mansfield…only Mansfield they seemed strange everything did.".
"Everything was wrong; this doesn't make sense.".
"It's gonna be ok, we will figure it out, we will figure it all out," reassured Darrell, but in truth, he wasn't sure of himself.
Reaper stood on the halfway finish Heart Industries regional headquarters looking down at the frame of the building's west wing. The flashing lights of the cops and rotating helicopters illuminated the unfished roofing of the branch where armed members of the Revenant's terrorist cell moved about, being careful not to be caught in the line of fire.
"You should have let me come with you. It would have been better than sending off to wherever this middle west is." cut in Mia.
"Midwest, and right now it's being ravaged by the dust bowl, something you are more equipped than any of us to handle," said Xander.
"What about Black Power or Zetaman? Surely they could help you, Ace?" asked Mia.
"It's all good," said Ace.
Xander chuckled. "Translation, he doesn't trust them.".
"Why?" Mia asked.
"I have my reason," said Ace looking back down to the building. "At least two dozen people all armed with what seems to be mostly semi-automatic rifles beside a browning being manned near the front, but it could be rotated inwards." Ace paused the body armor and hair cuts of some of the men.
"Shit," said Ace
"Shit? What the hell do you mean shit?" asked Xander.
"Xander zoom in through my eye to how some of these guys have their body armor. Most have them pretty loose does that don't and have covered their vital organs properly all have rather low-cut hair cuts. ".
"Yeah, so? Good training and shitty barbers; I don't see your point here, Ace?" asked Xander before Mia cut in again.
"He means this mad man has veterans on his team."
"Bingo, Xan zoom in some to the tattoos of these guys; I want to see  what I am working against, run them through that nifty little database of yours. I'm willing the bet some of these guys have tattoos of their old units on them."
Xander entered the tattoo scans into the computer back at the bunker. "On it, so what's the plan here?"
Now it was Destiny's turn to cut in on the coms "Let me guess down, take out the ma duce, throw down a smoke, and a fear gas pellet into the rest of the goons, then puck them off one by one staring with the vets before moving deeper into the building to find the Reverent.".
"Pretty much, and nice you can finally join us, Destiny."
"Don't blame me; I had to help mom wrap some gifts and got caught up in traffic. By the way, your little scheme has one pretty big hole."
"And what would that be, Des?" asked Ace.
"The inside could be stacked with vets or just traps, and you will go in blind.".
"Right, Xander, once you are done with the tattoos, I need you to try and hack into the security system."
"Yes, sir." Xander gave his best Alfred impression, "And I have also run the tattoos through database some are indeed ex veterans however there are not special forces members among them, thank haven.".
"Good, then it's gone time!" said Ace jumping off the building using his robe as a wingsuit to glide down towards the machine gunner. Second, before he was spotted by the gunner, Ace threw his bone-throwing knife into the mechanics of the guns. The knife jammed the gun as the man attempted to rotate it and fire at Ace. The gunner reached for his sidearm, yet by the time he had pulled the pistol, Ace landed with a double kick to his chess.
 The sudden movement had now attracted the lights of both the news and police helicopters that were circling as well as the goons from the rest of the building before they could get a good shoot on him; however, as threw down a smoke bomb before tossing one more down at the goons along with a fear gas pellet.
Across the street, inside the A.P.D. hostage situationvan, Lisa walked back and forth, awash with emotions of hate, angrier fear, and thousand more things. Her partner and lover Danny was one of the officers being held hostages by the manic, and there was nothing she could do about it except pray. Something most of heard her, because she looked up to the news her eyes grew wide.
"It appears that there is fighting going on among the terrorists. We don't know right if it's the police or a non-law enforcement actor as of this moment, but it appears that gas has been used, and we can see movement and flashing of rifle fire in the cloud.".
"Xander, how is the hacking going?" asked Ace kicking one man in the side before jumping up and roundhouse, kicking another in the face.
"I am almost in Ace; I can see those electrified  boots are holding up well.".
"Perfect," said Ace punching one man on his right in the head before flipping him over towards two men charging at him from his left.
"That's good to hear anyway; what about the party?" asked Xander.
"Are you asking about the Christmas party right now?!" yelled Mia.
"Yeah, why not?" asked Ace tanking a close-range rifle shot in the middle of chess from a AR 15 before grabbing the barrel of the rifle and hitting it weirder in the head with the butt of the gun.
"I don't know, Ace; maybe it's because you are currently fighting heavily armed terrorists!" exclaimed Destiny which made Ace whence just long enough for one of the thugs to get a shot to the back of Ace's armored mask, which annoyed him for a second Reaper turned around and hit the man with a mean elbow to the nose before grabbing the terrorist wrist and electrocuting him.
"The guy is basically; Batman. I don't see a problem here." joked Xander.
"For the last freaking time, guys, I am not Batman!" said Ace as he reached the door that led deeper into the building, only that it was guarded by five guys all armed with rifles.
"Random bullshit, go!" yelled Reaper throwing the out waves of his throwing knives before back flipping another man attempting to attack him from behind landed a kick to the back of his head before landing to see that all the men were down for the count. Ace casually kicked in the steel frame door. "Honestly, I am thinking about asking Dolly back out.".
"Wait for real! YES! I GET MY SISTER-IN-LAW BACK!" Destiny was completely giddy about that before realizing she was on the coms. "I mean.. you should focus on the mission Ace.".
"Anything else?"
"Two guys in the vents above you, trying to sneak around," said Xander looking at the vent cam
Ace smiled, looking at one of the vent openings and tossing a very small tear gas pellet up there before continuing down the hall as he chuckled at the sound of the men crying.
"No fear, gas?" asked Xander.
"I don't want to send the men into a hallucinogenic panic while being trapped in the vents that could hurt them," said Ace, sucker-punching a man in the face before slamming said face into the wall. "Anyway, I'm thinking about telling Maxwell," said Ace.
"Do you think that will go over well with Beverly?" asked Mia.
Ace dodged a gunshot before taking the rifle away and using it as a bat against a person's legs, drooping to his knees before tasering him."Probably not; that's why I am telling Maxwell.".
"You expect him to keep that secret away from her." laughed Mia.
"What's so funny?" asked Ace chopping a man in his throat.
"The fact you managed to be such a hoe and still don't understand women or relationships." joked Destiny.
A massive wall of meathead and rounds charged at Ace's head, putting him and knocking Ace to the ground as the steroid machine began to try and choke Ace. Reaper struggled to reach inside his cloak into his bandolier, pulling out a small syringe and injecting the man with Propofol, and with an upward kick, the meathead was sent flying through another door before sub coming to the drug and falling asleep.
Detective Monroe's eyes were locked on the tv screen as it replayed video of the fighting. She already knew it was the Reaper before the first mention of him appeared on the coms. At first it was like trickle with some cops suggesting the possibility of him being the one clearing out the terrorists, but the rumor quickly spread like wildfire. She could hear some of the cops actually cheering for the vigilante. Other more senior cops tried to crack down on the rumors claiming that the Reaper was not real and that it was infighting among the terrorists, but Lisa knew that whoever or whatever the Reaper was he was here fighting the terrorists, Lisa could only pray at least for Danny's and the other officer's sake that the Reaper would win.
Danny and the other hostages watched in shock and awe as the mountain of a man that had thrown him into the room with the Revenant was now sent flying through the door as smoke filled the room.
The Revenant began to cackle with manic glee as it changed to madding laughter while he fire-fired his sun machine gun down the hall. The muzzle flashes of the speeding lighting up his hollow eyes as the smile of shiny grilled teeth continue to creep wider and wider across his scarred face.
"WHO ARE YOU GONNA CALL!" song the burned man to the theme of ghostbusters, wildly firing into the smokey mist.
"An ambulance," said a heavy voice reaching out from the fog and grabbing the Revenant by the neck; as Danny and the other cops saw the Reaper in full, he had no true body, just bones and ghastly green smoke which flowed from his body that seemed to float on air "But not for me." said the urban legend pumping the mad man full of electricity before tossing him to the side.
"Well, that was way too easy." thought Ace as he looked at the cops' huddle together, obviously showing signs of suffering from his fear toxin. "Um.. be not afraid?" shuttered Ace, a bit confused about what he should say before he heard the heavy steps of the swat running down the hall. Ace sighed. "I can never catch a break, can I?" he mumbled before running through the break wall and landing on his glider, and taking off into the night sky as the black-clad militarized police surged into the room.
"I guess you didn't need me, Ace," said Mia.
"No, but the Midwest sure does; just be careful out there; they tend not to like you in that region."
"Is it because of my race, religion, or because I am a woman?" asked Mia
"Is there an all the above option?" said Xander.
"Oh, America the Beautiful," Destiny said sarcastically.
"No matter, like me or not, they will still be saved.".
"That's the spirit; now try and get a quick nap in; we don't want you sleeping mid-dust storm fight." joked Ace as looked back over towards the flashing red and blue lights where the battle hostage had been. "Came too close to being actually spotted I can't like that happen again, or else I may lose the whole ghost mystique, I have to be more than a guy in a suit to people like him, must be more than that." Ace thought to himself
"As long as I am back before the party," said Mia, logging off.
"You good, Ace?" asked Xander.
Ace took a sharp turned on his glider towards a more trouble area of the city "Yeah, probably going to hoover around for a bit and make sure there isn't anything else major going on in the city before turning in"
"I am gonna stay over; my parents are fighting about stockings; what about you, Destiny." Xander asked leaning back in his chair and watching Ace point of view of the city.
"Yeah, I am heading back to home base. When traffic clears up, I might get something to eat beforehand, though," said Des.
"Good Reaper, logging off," said Ace signing off and flying around the city, keeping a mental conversation with himself.
"Way to go, Ace. You managed to take down your first supervillain before you were old enough to vote; amazing work. Still, I need to focus on other things, not just the heroics and not just the company. Dual enrollment might be a bitch and half next semester, but I need to go ahead and get most of my associate degree out the way now so I can focus more on the company and being a hero while in college. Probably going to start studying a few statistics tomorrow so I can be ahead of the curve in that department. 
At least that freakazoid is out of the way; now, the only thing I have to worry about is your everyday crime. That may dry up sooner or later with the aid programs the company is rolling out; I might have a summer vacation. Still, I have to find that little Harley Quinn Wannabe before she finishes whatever that nut job of her wanted. "
Ace flew around the city, looking down at the people and buildings until he noticed someone between the building Beverly and she needed help.
Beverly had once again found herself far up shit creek without a paddle as she was faced by two men armed with knives moving toward her. She had caught them tagging a wall with some right-wing message. She attempted to take a picture of them with her phone, but they broke it and began trying to attack her. Suddenly one of the guys was yanked in the air before landing on the ground out cold, while the other waved his knife at nothing before something hit him in the back of the head, dropping him. Beverly pulled out her mini taser gun and walked down the ally. "Who are you? Show yourself!"
"I believe the word is thank you, Miss. Beverly, right?" said Reaper behind her, making her spin around and shoot the taser at him. Ace grabbed the taser string in mid-air before waking around towards the knock-out men seeing the other had a tattoo on his right hand. 
"The order of the supreme gentleman?" asked Reaper as he read the tat.
"Fucking incels, they have a gang now, that just great…wait a minute" Bever pointed her finger at Reaper. "YOU DID THIS, DIDN'T YOU! YOU DAMN CLOAKED MENACE YOU PAID THESE FREAKS OFF TO ATTACK ME SO YOU CAN MAKE ME LOOK LIKE A CRAZY PERSON FOR SPEAKING MY TRUTH BUT YOU HAVE ANOTHER THING COMING-"Bever stopped yelling as the smiled bomb was thrown, and Ace was gone well actually he was just on top of a nearby building looking down at her.
"I don't think you're a menace." said a voice behind him, making Reaper jump around.
"Oh my, I am so sorry, sir. I didn't mean to make you jump! It's just that I am like your number one fan, and it's really you and Oh My God!"
"It's alright, Macy," said Ace realizing who it was but too late to realize that the Reaper shouldn't know her name.
"How do you know my name?"
"I know a lot of things come with the job.".
"It's not a job," said Macy. "Besides, something tells me you don't do this for money or fame.".
"You got all that from looking at me? Maybe you're the one with super powers."
"Nah, just figured if you wanted all of that, you wouldn't have been sticking to the shadow. You would be that Ace of Spade's guy, by the way, is Ace of Spades Ace Ward?"
Ace smiled under his mask. "Maybe maybe not.".
"Say um, don't Batman on me real quick. I will right back," said Macy hurrying back inside her home a few moments with a zip-lock bag full of cookies decorated with the designs of some of her favorite heroes. Ms.Amerika, Black Power, Zetaman, Columbia, Uncle Sam, Skin Walker, and Reaper himself; Macy handed Ace the bag. "Here I was going to eat it, but I thought maybe you should have them instead…wait can you eat food? I know with you being a- "Ace cut her off with a hug.
"I'm sure I can find some use for these when I get back to the graveyard," said Ace breaking off the hug and getting ready to leave.
Macy's eyes went big yet again. "Graveyard? Wait, duh, you being a ghost and all, but hey, before you go, can you do one thing for me?" Macy reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, handing it to Reaper, who opened it to it was fan art of him fighting against a Clown.
"It's something I drew for my Web Comic. It's a comic about a villain's point of view of the whole nemesis relationship. Could you sign it?"
"You have a pen?" asked Reaper, to which Maddy smiled, reaching back into her pocket. "I always keep one with me.".
Ace smiled larger under his mask as he sighed the art "To Macy from Reaper Forever And Always My Number One Fan.".
Macy smiled and hugged Reaper. "Thanks"
"Don't mention it..although you probably mentioned it for real," said Ace.
"Fine by me, Reaps, and if you ever need a place to crash or talk, I mostly hang out on the roof at night if you ever want to chat."
"I keep that in mind," said Ace jumping off the roof and vanishing into the night.
Ace unmasked himself as he landed on the ledge where the bunker met the abandoned tunnel system that led back to the city proper. The teenager places the dented helmet on a nearby shelf next to the glass center case for the rest of his suit.
"You will need a new one after a while, and I am not just talking about the mask. The civilian and nonlethal re-orientation of our defense sector allowed us to buy more designs without it being noticed by slipping into the R&D budget," said Destiny walking into the bunker dressed in black track pants, red and black retro Jordan's, and Mc J' Ro J.' T-shirt and a black hoodie.
"Look at you sounding like your old man more and more every day." laughed Ace as Destiny handed him a bag of food. "What do you have for us this time?"
"Pork chop sandwiches, greens, fried green tomatoes, dressing, and pecan pie.".
"I freaking love you, dude," said Ace giving Destiny a fist bump.
Destiny leaned against the glass case as Ace changed clothes. "So how was taking down the world's first supervillain?"
"Far more anticlimactic than I expected, but I am pretty happy about putting that nutter away before he could have hurt more people.".
Destiny took a bite of her sandwich. "Wow, I didn't know taking down scores of ex-military terrorist henchmen and rescuing hostages was so boring for you.".
"All in the day's work." Ace said sarcastically, "Can you pass the sauce.".
"I ain't get none."
Ace was stunned. "The hell you mean you ain't get none.".
"It was late, and the lady in the back said they were out, and I ain't feel like arguing with the lady about some damn hot sauce this late at night, so I just headed back to Homebase.".
"Ok, I feel you on that; the last thing we need is a video of you acting crazy over condiments going around on the net.".
"True, so you going to bed?"
"Nah, Imma hop on the game for a bit, probably see if Amanda is on, and play some 2k or Elder Scrolls co-opt you?"
"Nah, I'm bout to go lay down for the night, gotta get my hair down tomorrow trying to get some braids in.".
"Braids in winter? You usually wait til it hits summer for that,"
"Just feeling it, if I'm being honest with you," said Destiny.
After eating his late dinner washed up in his l shower and got ready to relax, logging on to his Xbox and joining Amanda's party. Ace had to keep laughing every time she called him sir or Mr.Ward, the most ironic thing about it all was Amanda was older than Ace by a few months or weeks. Her friend Bison joked that it reminded him of the spider man saying, Mr.Stark, which was a subject of laughter for a while. After a few hours, as the sun began to rise above the night sky, Ace turned into a bed.
Mia grunted as she pushed back the storm from the farm town. It was as if she was going back against a heavy bed sheet thrown on top of her, and it was only getting heavier and heavier by the moment, and the people yelling at her weren't helping. She had considered herself a master at English, but some of the slurs and names the people were calling her as she attempted to save them Mia could have sworn were made up on the spot. The biggest allegation against her was that she was a "Ward Backed Soros WItch Demon.".
Mia wasn't all that sure what Soros was, but she was no stranger to being called a witch or Marid by people, but she had never been cursed at by a person she was trying to save. Yet here she was, being yelled at in the middle of nowhere, America.
Not everyone was hostile. Some of the men and a few, mostly that of color; however, a few younger whites were also among the people who went out after her asking what they could do to help. From there, it became a flow where Mia would ask for something or give out orders, and those people would help; must to the chagrin of around half of the town, until finally, after a few hours of this, the dust storm dissipated.
Still, there were people hurt and ruble power lines and tree limbs blocking the road. Worse, there were some people trapped. Mia couldn't do it alone, even with some townspeople helping her. That was when she saw him in the sky, hovering above the town before landing in front of her.
"You look like you might need some help?" asked Black Power.
"Is it that obvious?" asked Desert sarcastically.
Bishop chuckled. "Hey had to brush my teeth first.". However, his smile became a frown as someone threw coal at Mia, which he caught without even thinking crushing it in his hand, noticing the shiny object that he dropped from his hand in place of the coal.
"Where the hell did they even get coal from?" asked Bishop as he overheard a fight breaking out near. "I will be right back. Try not to get stoned while I am away," said Bishop as he took off at speed faster than a bullet, landing nearby the town hall where the sheriff and fire chief.
"You can go to hell. There is no way I will let you put the cuff on those kids!" yelled the Chief.
"They are criminals. That's my job, and that's what I am going to do!" said the cop pointing his rifle
"What seems to be the problem-"Bishop saw the rifle raised at the fire chief, and then it was turned on him. "You!" said the sheriff aiming his gun at Bishop's now very annoyed face. Black Power let out a deep sigh as the man fired a shot right at his eye. The bullet ricocheted, making the cop and fireman duck for cover. 
"Are you done? asked Black Power. "Because right now, there are people who need help-"
"Not from you freak!" yelled the cop.
"Go to hell, sheriff, I got men trying to dig kids out of the rubble, and you wanna true away help from a god damn superhero fuck you." The fireman turned to Bishop "Black Power; I got men trapped at the old school house near the top of the building. Can you help?"
"On it," said Bishop living the two men in the dust, taking off in flight towards the red brick school.".
Across the land, Yin lit up a cigarette, watching as the mysterious hero led the search efforts. While the sand woman Desert aided with helping the injured to safety. He was leaning back on the hood of the black Crown Vic when he saw Black Power lift up a massive section of the fallen school with one hand and move it gently out the way with one hand in such a fashion that half of the wall should have crumbled.
"Tactile telekinesis and natural super strength hell of a combination," thought Yin to himself as his new partner agent Keller, looked on, mouth agape.
"I thought you saw this man tank an explosion that melted tanks; why is this surprising to you now," said Yin taking another drag from his cigarette. That was one of the regions the proto agency had recruited Keller; he had close and personal experience with Meta humans, which isn't something that most could say.
"It's still so strange; I grew up reading stories about these things, comic books, and now it's all real.".
"Yeah, spare me the whole God Among U.S.; it's new-age bullshit.".
"You don't think so.".
"No, I do, in the same way my predecessors thought of the a-bomb as new age. New Age,
new players, new weapons, same game, same old bullshit.".
"I thought you said the agency believed he could wipe cities off the map; that's something new to be worried about.".
"A high school dropout in a minuet man silo could end the world with a flip of a key back in the '60s; it is another threat to be concerned over, yes, but it is also something we can monitor at the very least or hopefully use. After all, you read the briefing on our military history with wanting supermen.".
"Indeed,"
As the day went on and the national guard and F.E.M.A. rolled into the town, Mia and Bishop fell back out of sight and tried to avoid being spotted by the press.
"So, how long are you in town?" asked Bishop.
"Only for a few days; I got to head back to Atlanta."
"Yeah, I heard Ace Ward's party is legendary.".
"Apparently they are..wait how did you know?"
"I started to put two and two together right around the time I got the job at New Moon News. Using one of his friends to have him be sighted the same night Ace Ward was rumored to be in Vegas with Draco King was pretty smooth in keeping the press from catching his trail. Not only that, but with the Reaper being sighted in Vegas too, it made it look like the guy could be at two places at once, giving credit to the idea of the Reaper being an actual ghost rather than a guy in a fancy suit.".
"You put that all together, smart," said Mia. "And yeah, I am going to have to catch a ride back to the airport.".
"I can take you if you want, back to the airport if.".
"That would be fine with me. Do you have a car…" Mia stopped as Bishop hovered for a moment before landing. "Oh right you can fly.".
"Care to?" asked Bishop, holding out his hand.
"Sure why not" chuckled Mia as Black Power picked her up and flew at a decent speed, nothing too fast but fast enough to beat a speeding car.
"Does it get better?" asked Bishop .
Mia looked at Bishop "What?"
"You know the name-calling, you handled the whole being called a witch thing pretty well.".
"People can be idiots sometimes," said Mia "But personally I thought you handle it better than me.".
"Yeah I guess I'm better at hiding it,"
"I don't think it goes away, that feeling knowing some of those people would rather die than be saved by someone who looks like us. It just changes from anger to pitty at least that what I think," said Mia her eyes switching away from Black Power back to the town as she still questioned her own feelings "but to be fair I am a teenager so you should probably take my word as infallible gospel and be really dogmatic about it on Twitter." she joked.
Bishop laughed "Yeah totally,"
"But it's a strange feeling isn't it being so power yet so…"
"Powerless," Bishop finished. "Yeah, it's like sometimes it feels like nothing we do truly matter in the grand scheme of things, maybe I'm just tripping about things.".
"Trippin?"
"Maybe I am overreacting about things, but it really does feel hopeless sometimes".
"Maybe that's our reason for being like this, having powers I mean to be there when it's hopeless."
"I hope you are right for all our sake Desert."
"You can call me Mia friend,"
"Well then Mia, it's been lovely talking to you but I think this is your stop". said Black Power dropping her off outside of the airport, just outside of the line of sight from any person or camera that could he snap a picture of them "And tell Ace next job on the costume design when you see him.".
"Will do," said Mia as she waved Bishop goodbye while walking away toward the airport gates.
"Well I certainly do try my best.". Ace said cutting in over Desert's comms ears comms making her jump a little.
"How long have you owned the coms?" asked Mia.
"Long enough, you sure really remember to turn off your comms, now hurry up Xander already crying a like love sick puppy dog.".
"I am not crying!" yelled Xander from someone near by Ace.
"Tell him I will be home shortly." giggled Mia.
…
Johnny Voltz looked around at Miami as he walked the streets n at the beach. He had tuned out most of the world while listing to podcasts through his beats heads phones. Normally they would be playing music, but since that night, Johnny hadn't listened to a single song through; instead, using them to listen to podcasts about history, news, politics, religion, and even geography, all to figure out what the hell happened to him.
At first, he just thought he had woken or something that had driven him into the future. No matter how crazy it may or have seen at first, it was the only explanation, even if it was far from reasonable. After all the dates, new buildings, and new people, none of which could have appeared overnight. Yet even then, there were still holes in that logic.
Things like some nuclear-powered African country called Vena, people like Mansfield being some big-time talk host for decades, and most of his family. They were gone, not just like they left the city, but it was as if they never existed. Soon it dawned on him that this was not, in fact, the future, nor was it- the bus slammed on breaks as the older woman looked on helplessly before suddenly a blur flashed before the two, and the woman was the first another side. Johnny let go of the woman as people began to take notice.
"How did you do that?"
"You just saved that woman!"
"Are you one of those meta human?"
"Ay yo, I got to take your picture."
Johnny panicked as people began to pull out their phones; suddenly, he was a blur again, weaving through traffic as he doge near collisions with cars. At one point, he unknowingly caused a fleeing getaway car full of bank robbers to crash into the side of a road allowing for the cops to catch up with them.
Crashing through his door at his dock garage Johnny collapsed as he began to vomit. His whole body felt weird, not bad, not good, just weird. Reaching up on a table to help himself to his feet, Johnny noticed something on the table, a comic book.
"What the fuck," said Johnny looking around the room, trying to see if anyone had put it there. The edgy lines and cheesy title of the comic told that this comic was from the 90s, but his eyes grew large as he began to flip through it, and once again, that thought had dawned on him.
…
"So you are just now telling me about this place?" said Uncle Sam as he and Liberty pushed past the masses of hustling P.A.F. members inside the abandoned train station.
"I had to make sure you're legit. The P.A.F. takes vetting very seriously.".
"I can see," said Sam looking around at the old 40's style station covered in a mixture of retro anti-fascist propaganda and both modern and 50s tech. "Are all the guys P.A.F.?"
"Not everyone is a soldier, at least on the front line." said a young woman walking up to them. "The name is Jessica , just Jessica .".
"Play nice, Jessy." twisted Liberty making Jessica glare to which Liberty respond to by sticking out her tongue at her . "Sam, this is Jessy, one of our best rogues.".
"Rouges?" asked Sam.
"It's what we call our psychical counter-intel officers," said Liberty which made Jessy roll her eyes
"I honestly wish she would just let us call ourselves spies, but yeah, we do the behind the scenes work when things can't be done above pretty ironic ground, considering my current living situation.".
Sam looked concerned. "People live down here? l he had heard stories about homeless camps in the underground but always chalked it off to right-wing theories about secretive Antifa training camps.".
"I wish; I stay a few lines down from here, neat little hideaway we got there at the Pitt, you should stop by, we make a mean communal chilly." said Jessy sarcastically before she handed off a brown folder to Liberty. "Here is the report on any infiltration ops within the states L.E.O.; the short answer is hell no, but maybe in the national guard, we can get some of our older vets inside their leadership of have some of troopers join for the training.".
"No longer answer?" asked Liberty.
"It's in the report," Jessy said, walking away.
"She seems um…nice." Uncle Sam said, sighing
sarcastically.
"Don't flatter her, don't tho worry, Jessy can and will grow on you," said Liberty.
"So..um, how do you guys keep this place hidden? The power bill must be a hard thing to hide.".
"We don't have one." said Liberty as she passed by a woman who handed her another folder this one noticeably thinner than the one Jessica handed her.
Sam raised an eyebrow at that. "How?"
"That's what we've been trying to figure out since me and Jessy found this place a few months back. It isn't on any maps, public or private; at first, we thought it was an old government tunnel or bunker like the one the Ward planned to build during the Cold War, but we got nothing from their public record about it, and it still wouldn't explain the power source.".
"So what, it's magic or something? Isn't that kind of ridiculous?" asked Sam.
"Says the guy who woke up as a bulletproof copy of famous Americana."
"You got me there, Lib you, got me there," chuckled Sam. "Still, I would want to look into whoever or whatever is giving this place power."
"Way ahead of you, Unc," said Liberty. "Our scientists have been looking into it for the past few months.".
"You guys have scientists?" Sam asked shocked.
"What you thought, we all grunts? Like I said, not everyone is a soldier. The P.A.F. is a cross-section of America, from fast-food workers to soldiers to scientists and even a few local politicians; all united in one thing making damn sure we don't become the Second Weimar Republic and thankful it's working at least somewhat.".
"Must be nice having a team behind your back," said Sam, Liberty placed her arm around Sam. "Our backs Sam, you're one of us now." Speaking of which, we, by which I mean me, have some assignments for you."
"Wow, an assignment already. You sure do know how to put a man to work." joked Sam. "So what is it?".
"The New York City Aryan Bound is planning on raising money to help bring Klan members from the country to Stone Mountain. A few of our rogues have picked up chatter that they have gotten a bunch of old-school buses and are planning to send them around the country to pick up members of the Klan."
"That doesn't sound good, but when have the clean-cut black-tie goose steppers started working with one of the mill trash fash hicks?"
Liberty and Sam walked into a side room that seemed to be converted from a small private lounge into an information center with smart boards on each side of the room and a long oak table at the center of it all. The screens flashed on as soon as the two walked in, showing a man dressed in what could only be described as a cross between a confederate and ww1 general uniform. "Ever since this asshole popped on the scene, we've been watching him since the Major A.C.A.B. summer back in 23, but he's been around longer than that, a lot longer.".
"How far back are we talking?"
"The best we can assume is that this guy is the latest in a long line dating back to at least early reconstruction.".
"Who is he?"
Liberty glared stoically at the image of the man. "He calls himself General Confederate!".
Uncle Sam snickered. "Sorry, but he calls himself that? You gotta to be kidding me like he actually calls himself General Confederate, that freaking hilarious!"
"Don't let the name fool you. This man is cunning and dangerous and is trying to reshape the Klan back to its supposed glory days of the invisible empire.".
"So what do you want me to do?"
"We need you to take out those buses before they hit the rod tomorrow morning. The less fash that can show up, the more advantage we give to our anti-fascist comrades in Atlanta.
There have a dozen school buses in New York, each one able to sit around 50 people each, meaning we take those out that stop about 500 people from showing up. Not only that, but we think they might be hiding weapons; thankfully, most of them are on the street fighting a variety with a few handguns still, but the A.B. is providing a good bulk of the sticks and shields, meaning take out the busses we put a big dent into the enemy's men and material."
"I still don't see why the A.B. wouldn't show up themselves. Their defense squad is sold and glory hungry.". Uncle Sam said
"Their leadership isn't exactly sure how messy everything is going to turn out the last thing they want to be seen physically at another Charlottesville, but backing the klan is the south gives them allies a foothold there among the far right.".
"Smart, but it's one thing they didn't count on.".
"And what's that?" asked Liberty.
"There, Uncle Sam!"
The warehouse seemed to be empty as Uncle Sam came in through the back door; he had planned originally to come in through the roof, but there were no layers, and the back door was unlocked, something that surprised him. Then again, he fell into the trap of understatement of the stupidity of the Nazis.
"I am the real American; Fight for the rights of every man; I am a real American; And fight for what's right." Hummed Uncle Sam as he poured sugar down the gas tanks of the busses. He had already died enough work slitting the tires damaging the engines, and breaking the weapons to be sure these guys were making their carpool any time soon, but he just wanted to make sure of it.
As Sam gazed at his work, he was hit over the head with a metal bat by a young girl. "Take that, you Yankee scum!" Her accent was as Southern as sweet tea and Jim Crow. She was dressed in bright red with blue stars and bars of the confederacy in the shape of a V on her chest and a blue confederate flag domino mask.
Sam turned around, rubbing his head "Really a baseball bat?" he asked as he fumbled around in his pockets looking for something.
"Yeah, that's right, you damn New York degenerate how you like them-AAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Uncles Sam peppered and sprayed her at point-blank range. "You are going to wash that out with milk in a few, preferably two percent also; rubbing in your eye isn't only going to make it worse; is there anyone I can call for you, or should I just call 911?"
"AAAA MY EYES AAAAAA!" The woman cried out "AAAAA AAA AAA A AAAAAA!"
Uncle Sam looked down at the crying woman. "Oh right, it's probably your first time being at the other end of this kind of thing, so I am just going to call 911-"
"I see the northern excuses for a man have kept their liking of attacking the fairer folks," said General Confederate walking into the room. "I don't expect anything less from a Yankee you associate with Indian savage and brutes.".
"Atun Shri Films!" joked Uncle Sam as the man who just came into the room shared a pretty uncanny resemblance to the YouTuber, although he seemed to be older with greying hair and a pretty bushy beard. If one had to describe his voice, it would be the most cartoonish depiction of a southern accent. Around his rebel grey ww1 field tunic was red armband with a white flaming cross.
"Of course, if only you weak-willed limped wrist Yankees treated those African savages the same way you treat the innocent white girls like young Dixie over yonder. Then maybe we would not have a problem.".
"Wow, ok, there is the racism. Listen, dude, I know you think you are hot shit, but here is how this will go down. I am going to walk out of here, and you can hop back down whatever Alt-right rabbit that you regurgitated out of in the first place and while you are doing that I am gonna get me a meatball sub and then go to bed happy.".
The "Confederate General" laughed "You have underestimated your opponent, then again when haven't that been truth when diluted Northern address a pure southern white!"
"Ok dude I was really about to let you go with a warning, but now I am actually gonna kick your ass.".
"You are wrong, it is me who shall be victorious bring home glory to the south after I defeat you union loving scum!".
Uncle Sam shrugged, asking "Is that so?"
"Why yes, it is!" said the General, punching Sam through the thin sheet metal walls of the warehouse into the snow-covered streets, massively denting the side of a parked S.U.V. setting off the alarms of the S.U.V. and other nearby cars.
Sam wiped away a tiny trail of red blood from his nose and picked himself back up. "Ok lucky shot on a surprised lick, trust me that's all the luck you are going to get tonight.".
"Please, I had almost a hundred and sixty years to prepare for this day, Lincolnit. Nothing about this has to do with luck or surprise, South had always had better leaders and Generals when it came to battle!"
"Are you sure about that?" said Sam reaching into his belt and pulling out one of Liberty's red, white, and blue grapple sticks she gave to him, and with a lucky shot, grappled General Confederate's pulling into a solo close line that sent the so-called General to the ground, but in a sloppy second hop, General Confederate was back on his feet with a even larger smile on his face
The General laughed as he slid a bayonet out of his jacket's sleeve. "Oh, now I see that some yellow-belly yanks aren't all talk, but yet see how you handle some southern steel!".
"Isn't that cheating?" asked Sam, already knowing the blade wouldn't even cut his clothes.
The General ran at him full sprint. "You mean how y'all cheated us southern out of our states rights.".
Uncle Sam blocked the blaze with his arm making it bleed a little as it slashed his clothes making Sam stair at the small stream of blood coming from his arm. The General too looked confusingly at the knife; it should have slashed through the man's arm, not just made a trickle of blood..this was impossible!
A twinkle appeared in Uncle Sam's eye as he demanded, "STATES RIGHT TO DO WHAT!" before head butting the General square in the face and knocking him back into the ground.
General Confederate pulled a Colt 1851 from a Secret holster hidden within his jacket, aiming at Uncle Sam's head, but before he could do anything, even place his finger firmly on the trigger, it was shot out of his hand by.. a rubber bullet Ace Of Spades!
"Hey Sam, you look like you need some help." joked Spader hovering above the battle.
"You think?" laughed Uncle Sam.
"Lookie here that damn flying machine using urbanite defending! White Women hitting! Ace Of Spades," said General Confederate putting his fists to box booth for them. "Too bad that brut Black Power isn't here that way I can take down a flying Ace and A flying Monk-" General Confederate stopped as from Ace of Spade arm gauntlets shot out a sticker taser attaching itself to the Neo-Confederate electrocuting
"Ay yo! What the fuck is his deal?"
"He believes he is actually a Confederate General," said Sam looking over to the hunch over man on the ground.
"That would explain the outfit and the casual racism."
"Hey, asshole!" called Dixie, walking out the building holding a pump-action shotgun.
Sam rolled his eyes. "You do know I'm bulletproof, right?"
"I wasn't aiming for you!" said Dixie as she shot one of Ace Of Spades's jet pack wings sending him huddling into a fire hydrated which busted open sending Ace of Spades and Uncle Sam back flying back away from General Confederate before his sidekick Dixie helped him up, and they took off into the night, leaving Sam and Eric half-conscious, soaking wet, confused, and hungry.
Shaking themselves off and picking himself up, Sam with the help of Eric and his slightly damaged wing suit managed to make a clean getaway right before the police arrived. Eric dropped Uncle Sam off on the roof of his apartment, and after saying their goodbyes, Uncle Sam managed to sneak into his own apartment through the fire escape. Through his clothes into his small mini dryer, Sam took a long hot shower washing the blood from his face. Some of his blood, some belonging to the confederate cosplayer. It was the first time he bled since the change. Strangely Sam was ok with that; in fact, he liked it; it made him remember that he wasn't invincible and that he should focus on training. 
It took him an hour to fully fill clean after the fight. Getting dressed, he turned on his dryer again and walked with a slight slip towards the bed, where he saw Liberty waiting for him.
"Tuff night?" asked Liberty.
"Met that General Guy bled a little, made sure he did the same, but still completed the mission all the same.".
"Good to see you can hold up in an actual fair fight. I was concerned for you after that first punch.".
Uncle Sam paused for a moment. "Wait, you were there the whole time? Why didn't you help me!".
"Like I said, I wanted to make sure you could hold your own," said Liberty getting and walking over to Sam and placing a hand on the side of his face. "And you more than exceeded my expectations." Liberty kissed him and smiled. "Now, let's see if you can do it again.".
...
Hannah's head hung low as she was marched out of her freezing cell by two armed guards with cattle prods. Electricity was the only thing the pigs managed to keep her in line by putting a shock collar around her neck so that any time her body heat went too high, it would send enough volts to knock Hannah out before she could fully power up. Yet this wasn't enough for the guards; her cell was pumped with liquid nitrogen any time its heater went off.
Hellfire's purple jumpsuit and black undershirt were the only things to protect her from the cold as the guards didn't even let her wear shoes, only leg irons around her ankles. Hannah didn't know exactly where she was being housed; the guards had blacked bagged her when she was in transport. However, she did manage to pick up tidbits from other inmates and chow hall, and the accents of the guards led her to believe she was somewhere in the southwest; but outside of that, it was a blank space.
Yet even in her darkest time, Hannah kept hope, hope that Heather Winters, Zero, would come and save her. That once the time was right, she would be broken out, and she could continue what she had started. Until then, Hannah had other plans for herself; she had already started working on some of the other inmates. It wasn't all that hard for her to convince the other youths of her viewpoints on things. Many of them were fans of her, especially the female inmates. Most of the guys were still skeptical about listening to a girl on things, most outside of Brim. Brim wasn't his real name; Hannah wasn't even sure if he ever had one, but he already stuck around silently when Hannah was lecturing about politics, writing notes in his little journal. His race was as vague as his name, but Hannah assumed he was Hispanic mostly because when she gave her talks in Spanish, he seemed to write down his notes quicker.
Brim always kept his distance away from people; that was always how he survived. Even in prison, he tried his best to keep to himself and outside of setting in and listing to Hannah that what he did and worked pretty well until this day.
"Give your food now," demanded Flora. The woman had just arrived in the prison only a few hours ago and was already trying to make plays for herself. Figuring if she could punk a man, she would get a harder rep on the inside.
"W-w-wh-a-at N-o-o," stutter Brim, his accent and his speech impediment slipping out.
"Well, I-I-I don't care what you want," Mocked Flora. "besides, you people already take enough space around here. At least you do is not try to be fat wet ba-"
"I am going to need you to re-think your next words very carefully," said Hannah from behind her in the chow line, nodding her at Brim, silently telling him to get away.
"Well, well, well, if it ain't the leftist bringing rainbow bright, tell why good German stock like yourselves hang out among the weeds of subhumans? First, that icy Black Zero, now that little illegal.".
"I don't know why your bargain bin poison Ivy ass got folded by Skin Walker and Ace of Spades.".
"Careful with your words or-"
"Or else." laughed Hannah. "That collar around your neck means you can't use your little plant powers, so what are you going to do?".
"I don't need any powers to deal with you bitch!" Flora swung a punch at Hannah, who dodged them, returning two fast strikes to both Flora's left and right side before kicking her right knee in dropping her to the ground. Hellfire proceeded to stump Flora's head, screaming as her color went off, and the guard rushed into the room at full speed, grabbing Hannah.
"FOR THOSE WHO TRY TO SPREAD THAT FASH SHIT ON MY WATCH, YOU ALL NEED TO KNOW SOMETHING!" Hannah thrashed as she was hit with the cattle prods. Her eyes turned into solid flames. "I'M NOT LOCKED IN HERE WITH YOU! YOU ARE LOCKED IN HERE WITH ME!"
…
"Not going fucking shoot you with a sliver Santell. Are you like actually bloody insane?"
"I need to test out the armor." whinnied Santell as she stumped loudly in the hotel lobby. Santell had started working on her "suit" a few weeks ago, and they had been pretty much obsessed with it in her spare time. The armor was like a female version of Black Noir mixed with something from the underworld.
"Come one shoot me!"
"No, I'm not bloody shooting you," said Jamie as John walked into the room, eating a bowl of Roman noodles. "You should shoot her, Jamie.".
"I'm not shooting my aunt!"
"Please," begged Santell, "Pretty please with an extra-large red cherry on top!"
"Noway!" said Jamie, but as she spoke, a portal opened up behind her, and a bullet came through, shooting Santell in the center of her armor, sending the vampire flying back into the wall and outstep May J and her cat still dressed in the ANA outfit they had last seen her dressed in when they were in Wyoming the tree line portal was the same as the treeline; in fact Jamie could still see the smoke from the flaming cabin from a fire that happened weeks ago!
"Hey everyone," she waved as the portal closed behind them. "Sorry I am late; opening wormholes is much harder when you haven't done them in decades, and the timing has always been a bitch to get down right.".
"Hey, if you make you feel better, you are probably the only person on this planet actually to warp like that," said Santell picking heels up as May tucked a Glock back into her cat's wizard's hat.
"Two things, why did you tuck a Glock into your cat's hat and warm holes?"
"Oh, it's not my Glock. It's Damien's…"
"Why does your cat have a Glock.".
"Meow Meow."
…
Harlem had not been what it was remembered to be for a long time now; the days of New York's Black Mecca of music and renaissance were gone, destroyed by crime and drugs before being invaded by trendy gentrifiers pushing out what remained of the community's original inhabitants.
Whole Foods and Trader Joe's stood where small shops and businesses once. Buildings and streets that Detroit red used to walk down and buildings where Marcus Garvey Universal Negro Improvement Association used to meet now play host to kids of Elmo leashes and yoga studios.
A lot had changed for Harlem, and it would change once again as flashes of blue light struck a back alley sending out a small shock wave of blue energy, and out of the blooming blast came the silhouette of two people embracing each other in fear, one White the other Black.
Darrell Lee and Lindy Lombardi looked into each other eyes; they were safe. Lindy had expected her brother's shotgun blast to kill them both, but instead, they did not die but were somewhere else outside of Darrell's squalid bedroom. They were dressed diff two in their finest dress wear which was a nice expensive black dress for Lindy but used a Sunday service suit for Darrell.
"W-w-we is alive!" exclaimed Lindy "OH, THANK
LORD ABOVE, WE ARE ALIVE!"
Darrel was silent; he wasn't a coward but having a shotgun blast heading to have a direct appointment with his face was something else; In short, it scared the shit out of him. He patted Lindy to make sure this was real and that it wasn't some strange dream at the last moment of life, but as he felt her soft skin, he knew that it was real; they were alive. "But where are we?" asked, looking down the street to the bright lights of the passing cars on the nearby street.
As they stepped out into the bright night lights of New York City, the two lovers gazed at the sights.
"My god!" gasped Darrell.
The cars were something out of a science fiction dime movie. The lights of and sounds were so different, yet at the same time, the city was still recognizable at least somewhat; it was Harlem, or it seemed to be.
"There is only one way to find out," said Lindy as they began to walk out of the alleyway and down the streets. Some of the names in the pictures were similar enough Ace Ward, Senator Reeves, Governor Mansfield…only Mansfield they seemed strange everything did.".
"Everything was wrong; this doesn't make sense.".
"It's gonna be ok, we will figure it out, we will figure it all out," reassured Darrell, but in truth, he wasn't sure of himself.
Last edited:
Ace Ward Does A Little Bit Of Trolling
The Revenant Captured; All Terrorist Taken Into Custody.
-New Moon News December 20, 2024
The Revenant's Months-Long Rain Of Terror Finally Over After Being Arrested By Police With Aid From NLEA Rumored To Be The "Atlanta Reaper."
-CNN December 20, 2024
That's what I am talking about! A REAL SUPERHERO WHO BACKS THE BLUE!
-Ron DeSantis (Twitter) December 20, 2024
Blue Line Reaper Defend Cops!
-Red Fist December 20, 2024
"For the love of God, there is no such thing as a ghost! Can we please focus on something else!"
- WH press Secretary Haily Patel December 20, 2024
Meta Humans And The Future
-Issac Arthur (YouTube) December 20, 2024
Woke Vatican Rumored To Make Black Power Terror Thug A Saint
-News Max December 20, 2024
Ace Ward To Buy Dozens Of Pre Civil War Plantation To Turn Into "Holocaust Style Museum, But For Slavery" Says Majority Of Money "Will be given Reparations Lobby and the Black Agenda Contract that any politician who wants to receive money from me for their campaign must sign."
-The Root December 20, 2024
Jensen Ackles Cast As Batman For Upcoming BTLAS
-Screen Rants December 20, 2024
Ward Black Agenda Contract Demands Abolishment of Private Prisons, The National Restoration Of Voting Rights For Nonviolent Drug Offenders, Anti Black Hate Crime Bill, National Police Review Board, Anti Racist Education Curriculum, Community Police Mandates, Increased Federal Money To HBCUs, and Reparations For Slavery; Is It To Radical?
-MSNBC December 20, 2024
North Carolina Man Found Beheaded In His Own Home After Missing Girl Escapes His House "Claims Monster Woman Helped Her Escaped" SkinWalker Believed To Be Responsible.
-HLN December 20, 2024
Video Of The Venan Air Force Conducting Napalm On ISWAP in North West Mail
-Popular Front December 20, 2024
"You can't seriously believe that politicians will sign on to your frankly silly little agenda. Even some of the most insane democratic politicians disagree with charging innocent white people who never owned slaves to pay money to Blacks who have never been treated as anything but equal in this country."
"You know, Tucker, firstly, I reject your idea that my Reparation document and agenda will randomly charge innocent whites. No white American person living or dead today outside of the American private prisons labor program has ever legally owned an enslaved a person, but the facts or the facts an America built off the backs of the free Black labor and pain, Many of America's oldest and richest families and companies built generational wealth due in large part to the work of enslaved people who never saw a cent of that work paid back, I am simply asking that America play off its debt it's owes to the descendants of the victims of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade.".
"Even if you are right and you are not, but let's just say you were, do you really expect anyone to take you seriously?"
"Why not? Politicians all move for money, and with money politics being the way it is, who do you think they are gonna start listening to when I am cutting their campaign checks.".
"Isn't that corruption?"
"Not according to Citizens United, Tucker, but I have to ask the question to any person who is upset over me using my frankly bottomless pit of wealth to influence DC to do my bidding why were they ok with money in politics when it was just old white men doing it, but suddenly they are frothing at the mouth when I do it, but if they are still concern about money in politics maybe they should vote for people who support campaign finance reform I heard Jim Reeves might make that one of his platforms if he decides to run for president in 28. Until then, I have one more thing to say,"
"And what is that?"
"Get Warded"
-Ace Ward interviewed by Tucker Carlson (Fox News) December 20, 2024
Footage From Dust Storm Shows Sand Woman Holding Back Wall Of Dust.
-Weather Channel December 21, 2024
I do think we should be concerned about where or who exactly is writing these checks for politicians' campaigns. Last night, that little twerp Ace Ward made me deeply worried about where America is heading.
-James Mansfield (Twitter) December 21, 2024
"Now, I normally don't praise billionaires on this show for obvious reasons, but what Ace Ward just did was a freaking genius move. He is essentially using the insane hatred the GOP base has for him to basically troll them into forcing the Republican Party into getting money out of politics."
-Kyle Kulinski (YouTube) December 21, 2024
No, I didn't tell Ace Ward I was considering running for President. I barely even know the kid, but it is certainly an interesting idea.
-Jim Reeves (Twitter) December 21, 2024
We must act now to stop Ace Ward, George Soros, and other demonic cybernetic globalist energy pedophile vampires from pumping their big-money inside all of American politics! YOU HERE THAT WARD, YOU DAMN GLOBALIST SCUM YOUR DAYS OF SHOVING YOUR FAT GLOBAlST STACKS DOWN TRUE AMERICAN PATRIOT THROAT ARE NUMBERED! AAAAAAAAHHHH! ACE WARD IS THE ANTI-CHRIST!
-Alex Jones Infowars December 21, 2024
Just watched that Infowars segment, and I think I need to call Chris Hanson for Ace.
-Destiny Master (Twitter) December 21, 2024
Ace Ward Is Like That Cool Annoying Little Brother We Never Knew We Wanted, But Really Glad To Have Around Some Time.
-Kelly Hatter (New Moon News) December 21, 2024
Breaking News Massive Explosion Levels Health Clinic In Mobile Alabama
-Fox News December 21, 2024
Stunning New Video Shows "Uncle Sam" Fighting With Unknown Suspected Neo-Confederates Near A Warehouse In New York City.
-New Moon News December 21, 2024
Mobile Christian Woman's Health Clinic Is Believed To Have Been Bombed.
-News Max December 21, 2024
Terror Hits Mobile In Wake Of Bombing No One Believed Dead.
-MSNBC December 21, 2024
"We took this action as an escalation in the war for the liberation of bodily autonomy. The cell that conducted the bombing did so as a warning about our capabilities to fight for women's life by any means necessary. The police and press have been given verification numbers and codes for a few future actions. We now not only demand the reinstatement of national access to abortion but wider spread access to education, birth control, and the freeing of political prisoners such as comrade Hellfire. These actions will continue and only increase until our demand is met. We are willing to die and kill for our rights as women. Long live the struggle for a brighter future; long live our victory!"
-First-Ever Communiqué By The Janes Liberation Army December 21, 2024
Based Beyond Belief! Up The JLA! FREE HANNAH UNTIL ITS BACKWARDS!
-Emma Alkebulan (twitter) December 21, 2024
|
I freaking love you, sis
-Draco King December 21, 2024
|
If you ever come to Vena, we have to go shopping
Emma Alkebulan (twitter) December 21, 2024
Pro-Life Clinic Completely Leveled After Bombing
-CNN December 21, 2024
I wonder how much Soros and Spader paid them to do this little stunt.
-Marjorie Taylor Greene(Twitter) December 21, 2024
|
Shut your mouth; Mr. Ward would never do that!
-Ma_Cy (Twitter)December 21, 2024
Fuck Around And Find Out!
-Red Fist December 21, 2024
"Chickens coming home to roost, when you lioness into a corner, don't be surprised when it strikes out."
-Imani V Clair December 21, 2024
How Hannah Hellfire and Desert Became Symbols Of Radical Anti-White Feminism
-New Max December 21, 2024
Venan Backed Social Media App V-Nation Is Becoming Popular Among Alt Leftist Attempting To Avoid Twitter Bans.
-MSNBC December 21, 2024
Footage Of Black Power Near ISS
-NASA December 21, 2024
Yes, we are looking into designating the JLA a domestic terror organization once we can confirm that it wasn't just a lone wolf actor; however, the FBI is still investigating what occurred yesterday as an act of terror.
-Kamala Harris December 21, 2024
No End In Sight To Los Vegas Winter Crime Wave
-BBC America December 21, 2024
"I think we should at the very least pass laws making sure rouge actors like Mr.Ward can't give endless amounts of money to radical BLM politicians.".
-Mansfield December 21, 2024
What Is Vena Doing In The Sahel
-Popular Front (Podcast) December 21, 2024
GET WARD MONEY OUT OF POLITICS NOW!
-Ron DeSantis (Twitter) December 21,2024
|
*Maniacal Progressive Laughter*
-Ace Ward (Twitter)December 21, 2024
-New Moon News December 20, 2024
The Revenant's Months-Long Rain Of Terror Finally Over After Being Arrested By Police With Aid From NLEA Rumored To Be The "Atlanta Reaper."
-CNN December 20, 2024
That's what I am talking about! A REAL SUPERHERO WHO BACKS THE BLUE!
-Ron DeSantis (Twitter) December 20, 2024
Blue Line Reaper Defend Cops!
-Red Fist December 20, 2024
"For the love of God, there is no such thing as a ghost! Can we please focus on something else!"
- WH press Secretary Haily Patel December 20, 2024
Meta Humans And The Future
-Issac Arthur (YouTube) December 20, 2024
Woke Vatican Rumored To Make Black Power Terror Thug A Saint
-News Max December 20, 2024
Ace Ward To Buy Dozens Of Pre Civil War Plantation To Turn Into "Holocaust Style Museum, But For Slavery" Says Majority Of Money "Will be given Reparations Lobby and the Black Agenda Contract that any politician who wants to receive money from me for their campaign must sign."
-The Root December 20, 2024
Jensen Ackles Cast As Batman For Upcoming BTLAS
-Screen Rants December 20, 2024
Ward Black Agenda Contract Demands Abolishment of Private Prisons, The National Restoration Of Voting Rights For Nonviolent Drug Offenders, Anti Black Hate Crime Bill, National Police Review Board, Anti Racist Education Curriculum, Community Police Mandates, Increased Federal Money To HBCUs, and Reparations For Slavery; Is It To Radical?
-MSNBC December 20, 2024
North Carolina Man Found Beheaded In His Own Home After Missing Girl Escapes His House "Claims Monster Woman Helped Her Escaped" SkinWalker Believed To Be Responsible.
-HLN December 20, 2024
Video Of The Venan Air Force Conducting Napalm On ISWAP in North West Mail
-Popular Front December 20, 2024
"You can't seriously believe that politicians will sign on to your frankly silly little agenda. Even some of the most insane democratic politicians disagree with charging innocent white people who never owned slaves to pay money to Blacks who have never been treated as anything but equal in this country."
"You know, Tucker, firstly, I reject your idea that my Reparation document and agenda will randomly charge innocent whites. No white American person living or dead today outside of the American private prisons labor program has ever legally owned an enslaved a person, but the facts or the facts an America built off the backs of the free Black labor and pain, Many of America's oldest and richest families and companies built generational wealth due in large part to the work of enslaved people who never saw a cent of that work paid back, I am simply asking that America play off its debt it's owes to the descendants of the victims of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade.".
"Even if you are right and you are not, but let's just say you were, do you really expect anyone to take you seriously?"
"Why not? Politicians all move for money, and with money politics being the way it is, who do you think they are gonna start listening to when I am cutting their campaign checks.".
"Isn't that corruption?"
"Not according to Citizens United, Tucker, but I have to ask the question to any person who is upset over me using my frankly bottomless pit of wealth to influence DC to do my bidding why were they ok with money in politics when it was just old white men doing it, but suddenly they are frothing at the mouth when I do it, but if they are still concern about money in politics maybe they should vote for people who support campaign finance reform I heard Jim Reeves might make that one of his platforms if he decides to run for president in 28. Until then, I have one more thing to say,"
"And what is that?"
"Get Warded"
-Ace Ward interviewed by Tucker Carlson (Fox News) December 20, 2024
Footage From Dust Storm Shows Sand Woman Holding Back Wall Of Dust.
-Weather Channel December 21, 2024
I do think we should be concerned about where or who exactly is writing these checks for politicians' campaigns. Last night, that little twerp Ace Ward made me deeply worried about where America is heading.
-James Mansfield (Twitter) December 21, 2024
"Now, I normally don't praise billionaires on this show for obvious reasons, but what Ace Ward just did was a freaking genius move. He is essentially using the insane hatred the GOP base has for him to basically troll them into forcing the Republican Party into getting money out of politics."
-Kyle Kulinski (YouTube) December 21, 2024
No, I didn't tell Ace Ward I was considering running for President. I barely even know the kid, but it is certainly an interesting idea.
-Jim Reeves (Twitter) December 21, 2024
We must act now to stop Ace Ward, George Soros, and other demonic cybernetic globalist energy pedophile vampires from pumping their big-money inside all of American politics! YOU HERE THAT WARD, YOU DAMN GLOBALIST SCUM YOUR DAYS OF SHOVING YOUR FAT GLOBAlST STACKS DOWN TRUE AMERICAN PATRIOT THROAT ARE NUMBERED! AAAAAAAAHHHH! ACE WARD IS THE ANTI-CHRIST!
-Alex Jones Infowars December 21, 2024
Just watched that Infowars segment, and I think I need to call Chris Hanson for Ace.
-Destiny Master (Twitter) December 21, 2024
Ace Ward Is Like That Cool Annoying Little Brother We Never Knew We Wanted, But Really Glad To Have Around Some Time.
-Kelly Hatter (New Moon News) December 21, 2024
Breaking News Massive Explosion Levels Health Clinic In Mobile Alabama
-Fox News December 21, 2024
Stunning New Video Shows "Uncle Sam" Fighting With Unknown Suspected Neo-Confederates Near A Warehouse In New York City.
-New Moon News December 21, 2024
Mobile Christian Woman's Health Clinic Is Believed To Have Been Bombed.
-News Max December 21, 2024
Terror Hits Mobile In Wake Of Bombing No One Believed Dead.
-MSNBC December 21, 2024
"We took this action as an escalation in the war for the liberation of bodily autonomy. The cell that conducted the bombing did so as a warning about our capabilities to fight for women's life by any means necessary. The police and press have been given verification numbers and codes for a few future actions. We now not only demand the reinstatement of national access to abortion but wider spread access to education, birth control, and the freeing of political prisoners such as comrade Hellfire. These actions will continue and only increase until our demand is met. We are willing to die and kill for our rights as women. Long live the struggle for a brighter future; long live our victory!"
-First-Ever Communiqué By The Janes Liberation Army December 21, 2024
Based Beyond Belief! Up The JLA! FREE HANNAH UNTIL ITS BACKWARDS!
-Emma Alkebulan (twitter) December 21, 2024
|
I freaking love you, sis
-Draco King December 21, 2024
|
If you ever come to Vena, we have to go shopping
Emma Alkebulan (twitter) December 21, 2024
Pro-Life Clinic Completely Leveled After Bombing
-CNN December 21, 2024
I wonder how much Soros and Spader paid them to do this little stunt.
-Marjorie Taylor Greene(Twitter) December 21, 2024
|
Shut your mouth; Mr. Ward would never do that!
-Ma_Cy (Twitter)December 21, 2024
Fuck Around And Find Out!
-Red Fist December 21, 2024
"Chickens coming home to roost, when you lioness into a corner, don't be surprised when it strikes out."
-Imani V Clair December 21, 2024
How Hannah Hellfire and Desert Became Symbols Of Radical Anti-White Feminism
-New Max December 21, 2024
Venan Backed Social Media App V-Nation Is Becoming Popular Among Alt Leftist Attempting To Avoid Twitter Bans.
-MSNBC December 21, 2024
Footage Of Black Power Near ISS
-NASA December 21, 2024
Yes, we are looking into designating the JLA a domestic terror organization once we can confirm that it wasn't just a lone wolf actor; however, the FBI is still investigating what occurred yesterday as an act of terror.
-Kamala Harris December 21, 2024
No End In Sight To Los Vegas Winter Crime Wave
-BBC America December 21, 2024
"I think we should at the very least pass laws making sure rouge actors like Mr.Ward can't give endless amounts of money to radical BLM politicians.".
-Mansfield December 21, 2024
What Is Vena Doing In The Sahel
-Popular Front (Podcast) December 21, 2024
GET WARD MONEY OUT OF POLITICS NOW!
-Ron DeSantis (Twitter) December 21,2024
|
*Maniacal Progressive Laughter*
-Ace Ward (Twitter)December 21, 2024
Bisexual-Mart
Far from the shallow ground
- Location
- The Great State of Warshington
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'm wondering when Hailey Patel will get fired. I'm sure there are plenty of people willing to work as a Democratic Press Secretary in 2025. Heck, bringing Chris Matthews out of retirement could work, but there are plenty of other options.
I'm not sure if she is going to fired or not; I do however have a few plans for her down the line
*Looks at notes for future stories*
Fire & Ice will become a theme… #freehannahhellfire #ladyzero
Last edited:
Bree and the gang: Way ahead of you... Do we take a left or a right?
Chapter 12: A Dark White Christmas Part 1
It was two days before Christmas, and all through Ward manor, all was silent, even the mouse. Upon the wall as and halls were balls of holly. Small branches of mistletoe hung from doorways. In every room, there was pine, and on every branch, there were lights of lines. In the grand entrance, the ball was no less than a winter wonderland quiet void of sound besides that of the small crackle of the fire that was stored within the massive fireplace. It seemed that the place was set, all the food stores filled with plates and chairs out and ready for the party, yet everything remained still because no one in the manor but under its hill.
Reaper, Captain Slaughter, Ms.Amerika, and Desert sit around a table in front of the television size computer mounter as they listen to the second-ever meeting of the syndicate. It was still a madhouse getting everything sorted while they all were superheroes, and thus naturally, they all wanted to do what was right; the funny thing is that everyone couldn't exactly know what that last part meant.
It was a discussion on what it means to be a hero. Of course, this was layered on top of infighting about territory and political opinions, but the lines could be mainly broken down between those who killed and those that didn't kill. Captain Slaughter, Skin Walker, Santell, Jamie Van Hellsing, and the newcomer The Black Bat all were known to cross that line and voted in favor of allowing members of the syndicate to use lethal force, while Zetaman, Ace Of Spades, Columbia, Desert, and Uncle Sam all voted to not have the option to kill. Between both lines, Reaper, Ms.Amerika, Liberty, and Black Power remained neutral on the topic.
It was a deadlock that threatened to break the young organization in two until Ms.Amerika suggested "Home Rule" that boiled down to if a vigilante of a certain city has a no-kill rule, that rule must be respected when entering into that city. That, too, raised a question about what would happen if two members began to operate out of the same city at the same time. Yet as of the moment, that hadn't happened outside of New York City, where all of the parties there had voted in favor of a no-kill rule or voted neutral, which meant that issue was much less important.
"So onward to" Black Power checked his notes. "Um…it's just said hall of justice?"
"Yeah, that was me!" said Ms.Amerika raising her hand like she was still in school. "I was thinking that since we are having a meeting and becoming a real team, we should have a proper meeting place.".
"Something I also agree with, I have already sent attachments through our encrypted comms system detailing possible options for a permanent meeting place for the syndicate.".
"That could be expensive, but luckily for us, we have a local billionaire to count on." joked Columbia.
"Actually, it's two," said Reaper.
"Two what?" asked Columbia, to which Ace responded by taking off his mask, "Two local friendly neighborhood billionaires.".
"No fucking way!" said Liberty. "I owe Sam 20 bucks!"
Ace laughed at that. "I figured with us moving forward with our plans to actually form this team; it would only be right if I fully committed myself to it, including sharing my identity to the rest of the team.".
"Did I ever tell you it looked hotter with the mask on." joked Sammy.
"Screw you; I'm perfect," laughed back Ace.
Sammy rolled her eyes. "Sure you are, buddy."
Jamie sighed. "Shit, now I feel bad for saying he has a nice ass,"
"Not me!" giggles Santell
"…Ok, back to the topic of headquarters."Bishop, as he scrolled through some of the suggestions, "Some of these are interesting, but I don't think underwater bases or moon satellites are possible just yet." said Bishop.
"It's always best to thank ahead; however, I have also included ideas for stop-gap provisional bases for us. The vast majority of which old bunker systems I'm particularly fond of are the bunker systems built in upstate New York. It was originally met to house congress for up to two years during the Cold War. The property above and underground is expensive, with enough spaces and security systems to make it a great candidate for an HQ. It's only priced at 50 million, which is a steel for the value of the land and building.".
"Wow, a 50 million dollar clearance sale level cheap," said Liberty sarcastically.
"Of course, I meant steel in a relative sense, and Spader could split the cost and use front companies to buy the land and bunker in order to keep the media from asking questions.".
"That's actually really smart," said Eric.
"Hey, can we cut it with Real estate spill and get back to the actions before I fall asleep," said Cap.
"Gramps here got the point shits is escalating every day," said Columbia.
Bishop nodded. "And it's not just the average run-of-the-mill crime, Spader, Ace, Sammy, and I can attest to that the good guys aren't the only ones who are getting powers.".
"You can say that a-bloody-gain fucking had to deal with Nazi cultists the other week wasn't pretty at all," said Jamie.
"I'm more worried about terrorism if I am being honest; from what I am seeing on the ground, we are basically in a Proto Troubles scenario that could get very ugly very quickly if we don't get a handle on things," said Reeves.
"That gonna be hard seeing how two of us are members of terror groups," mumbled Black Bat looking at Uncle Sam and Liberty.
Skin Walker nearly tumbled over laughing, "The PAF as terrorists? Please, that would actually make them cool; they aren't much besides a Patsoc outfit, not even that half of their membership isn't even socialist."
"Thanks, Skin Walker …I guess," said Uncle Sam.
Bishop went on down the agenda for the meeting. "So, does anyone have anything else to add before we close out?"
"Branding," said Cap. "Someone is going to have to talk to the Jurnos eventually; personally, I nominate the kid here," Ricky pointed at the wide-eyed Amanda. "Oh, don't be shocking; you are pretty much America's sweetheart of the superhero movement.".
"Can't argue with that you got the country balls hell even Mansfield likes you, which is saying something," said Uncle Sam.
"Me really? What about Bishop? Isn't he basically superman wouldn't make more sense for him to do it.".
"It would, but I'm Black, so half the country isn't gonna trust me like I'm Superman.".
"It's more like 57 percent of the country," said Ace, which made everyone look at him. "What I had New Moon News do a poll on the most popular heroes and their approval ratings,"
"Of course you did," Sammy sighed.
"Well, what about Reeves?" she asked. "Or how about Columbia?" to which Rita told her that
"There's more fan fiction of Columbia or Skin Walker than there is of Ms. Amerika, and when I say that, I mean there's more erotica about us than there is of you, so I'd probably be a little more distracted."
"And I'd still argue that Ms. Amerika should be our spokesperson," Reeves admitted humbly
"She is the most... Well, a normal team member and is already active on social media."
"Plus, most people have an idea as to who Rita Dali is, seeing how she's also a streamer and people might put two and two togather."
"Well, what about you?" she asked Spader, who'd simply ask her, "Do you want the job or not?"
"I mean... Yeah, that would be pretty cool," said Amanda.
"If there isn't anything else I need to get back to my cases, actual important work. interjected Sammy
"I think that is i- and she has already logged off, yeah ok let's call it a meeting," said Bishop as everyone logged off from the call.
"Well, I think that went over well," said Cap getting and lighting a cigarette.
"Wow, me a big star still hard to believe that," said Amanda getting up with Cap.
"I can see it now, Ms.Amerika, a name up in lights" Ace waved his hands in an arch. "By the way, I think your friends are backed from that little shopping distraction I sent them on; how about you and Cap head up, and I will be there in a minute.".
"As long as I get first dibs on the mini taco, I don't care how long you spend your nerd cave," said Cal as he and Amerika walked out of the bunker.
No sooner did they leave than another call from Eric Spader appeared on the skin
"Did you forget something?" Ace asked Eric, "No... Yes, well, I wanted to talk to you for a minute."
"...Okay?" Ace asked him. "Not as Reaper or Ace of Spades, no masks, just Ace and Spader," Eric told him
Ace had to try really hard to stop himself from rolling his eyes. "That would be a first,"
"Exactly," Eric sighed, all the while Ace could tell that somebody was standing out of the camera, likely Susan, Eric's secretary "Listen, kid... I'm uh, listen, after everything that has happened-"
"What exactly? Dad dying? Getting sick? The fact that it feels like nuke chucking could go off at any moment, the threat of civil war or at the very least meta human-based terrorism."
"Not being there for you... I'm sorry."
Ace was silent, knowing that Eric had himself some difficulties with expressing their emotions
"I just feel like, being there, being by your side, doing like, the bare minimum, would've helped."
Ace could tell that Spader was genuinely sorry; he could see it in his eyes and his heavy head
"Listen, I uh, I'm thinking about coming over to Atlanta as soon as I get the chance, that okay?"
"...We'll see," Ace tells him, "Merry Christmas in advance" before ending their call with Spader logging off the call one last time and looking himself in the mirror. "That went-"
"Smoother than you expected," said Destiny creeping out of the shadows.
"H-how long were you there?"
"You tend to forget, Ace, that I am the one who taught you that whole vanishing act in the first place.".
"Thanks, by the way, it came in handy a few times.".
"Even more if you want you to want to talk about skipping class."
Ace chuckled at that before they made their way up the stairs, after Ace changed clothes course and through a hidden passage, and then down the hall towards the sound of chatting children.
"So, how did you guys enjoy the trip," asked Destiny as she and Ace walked into the room. Stacy visibly gasped at the sight of Destiny, as this was the first time she had met her; actually it was the first time Hailey Stacy Bison and Brad had met any other member of the Scooby gang besides Ace himself.
"Oh right, hi, I'm-"
"Destiny Masters," said Hailey and Stacy at the same time. "Oh, you have heard of me," joked Destiny.
"I'm sorry about them. They are really big fans of yours," said Bison.
Amanda leaned over to Brad. "This is weird to see from the other side."
"Yeah, I've never seen Stacy fan girl over someone before," whispered Brad.
"Heard of you?!" asked screamed Stacy
"You are like my icon," said Hailey.
Fan girls weren't exactly something new to Destiny, but most of the time, the fan girls weren't for her but Ace. Her Maxwell and Xander always have side characters to the press hounds and magazine, something that all of them have been grateful for every time Ace got mobbed at six flags, and the rest of Scooby gang managed to escape into the crowd.
"Here that Ace. I am an icon now what you got," joked Destiny.
"Billionaire playboy genius philanthropist,"
"Hey, I understood that reference!" exclaimed Brad.
"So is Xander…?" asked Hailey.

"Already taken," said Mia walking into a room dressed in red flannel cowboy boots, blue jeans, and her signature purple hijab. "Hi, I'm Mia, Xander's girlfriend," Mia smiled at the newcomers before asking, "So where is my Xander."
"The Xancade," said Ace.
Amanda raised an eyebrow. "Xancade?"
"It's what he calls his arcade that he keeps at my house.".
"Wait, you named your personal arcade after your friend?" asked Brad.
"No, Xander's arcade is named after him; I don't have a name for minds. It's two separate arcades; well, actually around 5ish arcade if you count my supercomputer I use to play moded Skyrim on.".
"Has anyone told you, Ace, that you might be too rich for your good?" asked Destiny as Mia walked down the halls towards the Xandercade.
"Only half of my Twitter mentions," laughed Ace.
Xander sat alone on his black gaming chair, half asleep, only stirring fully awake when he felt someone place their hands over their eyes.
"Guess who???"
"A very beautiful short girl," joked Xander turning around and kissing her.
"I am not short," said Mia climbing into his lap.
"Whatever you say, Smurfette," joked Xander
Mia looked at him blankly. "Who?"
"Smurfette from the Smurf…Wait, you haven't seen the Smurf?"
"Are these Smurfs in the room with us, right?" Mia sarcastically asks.
"It's a show, smarty pants; we have to get you up on your media literacy.".
"Hey, I know plenty of memes," protested Mia.
"Yes, but it gives us an excuse to cuddle under a blanket in a dark room.".
"Were you always this smooth," teased Mia kissing him again.
"It's a natural talent; who do you think taught Ace.".
"Maybe I can teach you a thing or two," smiled Mia, but before they kissed again, Maxwell and Beverly walked into the room
"Hey Xander, I got domino- oh," said Max. Both he and Beverly stopped in their tracks.
"Oh um…Maxwell…Beverly, this is…um,"
"Awkward?" asked Beverly
"Very," said Mia.
…
Dolly sat alone in her movie trailer on the sofa, looking at her snap chat notification for Ace.
There was always something about these moments that made the movie star feel like she was two feet tall. The last time she had talked to Ace, she had told him that she loved him, and all that he could say was that he knew. Things had been radio silent after that, but those blackmail letters did stop, and there was only one more written apology by whoever had been doing it.
Dolly placed her phone down and walked backed and forth inside her trailer, lost in thought until there was a knock on her trailer door by her assistant.
"Dolly, we will be ready for you in five.".
The teen idle took a deep breath and opened then snap chat app to see what Ace had sent her
"Do you want to come to my party?"
"Yes"
…
Monday
December 17, 2024
Boston
"Maybe this is what I deserve, my just my time in a hell of my pasts failures," thought Katharina said as her private jet descended into the snow and fog-covered afternoon skyline of Boston. A city with almost 400 years of history is now driven dark and wasteful by the economic collapse and subsequent breakdown in legality and political order.
The city wasn't unique in that way, as this has been the fate of most American metropolises left to stumble down the hill in the wake of the pandemic. It had been almost a half week since Katharina had eaten anything, and her stomach felt as if it was about to devour itself in hunger if only to numb the pain of starvation. Yet the billionaire didn't pay her physical pain any real mind as she had always had since that night when she was a child, only caring to be reminded mentally in her nightmare or daydreams as she stared out the window
" This is your Captain speaking. We are begging our final descent. Please remain seated until we are safely on the ground."
"From the sky, it all seems well, organized, elegant; could even fool a person into thinking that humanity was civilized, but it dirty on the ground; I should have come on a train.".
The cold air was triggering her, taking Katharina back to that very night, that cold night when she failed; and lost everything. It hurt, but not as much as Katharina thought it would have; instead, she was hard to it all, a kind of hard determination that could only be brought about through loss.
The airport was empty; Katharina told her butler Madam Charlotte to inform the press that she would arrive after New Year in order to avoid being hounded by them first thing after touching down back in the states from her training in the mountains of the Himalayas.
With nothing more than a duffel bag full of old clothes, the worn faded blue hoodie, black Nike track pants combo so wore earplugs and a brick of a Nokia, she headed off down the streets of Boston, walking, taking in how much had changed since she had left all those years ago. The city was dirty, smelling of filth and corruption at every level. People of a once prosperous city huddled around trash bins of fire for warmth in the cold. Police sped by in their car, avoiding walking the street, be it out of laziness, taking money from the criminal elements, or becoming targets by paramilitaries.
Katharina passed by one of the many murals painted by the menagerie of paramilitary groups that had begun to boil under the surface of America. In the center was a rendition of Hannah Hellfire covered in flames flanked by two armed females holding Al's under their boots were the brunt bodies of two men labeled "patriarchy" and "capitalism.". Above the women in the phase "Until our bodies are free; there shall be war!".
"Hellfire" was a name Katharina knew of from the news; one of the first would probably be a long line of a new wave of terrorism.
The young woman sighed as she looked up at the old church that her absent mind brought her to; the flashes were now bringing her back to the same church years ago, the mistake, the gunshots, the police lights, the heavy footsteps, the gasping of her mother and father, the pain.
It went numb again as Katharina could tell by the footsteps behind her that three men had been trying to sneak up behind her.
Katharina sighed again as the first man attempted to attack her from the back, only to be flipped over her head by his arm breaking it in the process. Suddenly the rush of adrenaline kicked as another man from the group squared up with her throwing a pretty hard but sloppy punch which was caught mid-throw by Katharina , who used it to pull the man in for a punch to the face taking him down where she got on top of him and began to repeatedly punch him the face; calculating every punch to not kill him but make him wish he was dead for weeks to come.
She heard
the last guy running at her with a pip in his hand, but for someone reason, he suddenly stopped. Katharina turned around to see her Buttler Madam Charlotte, pointing the gun at the back of the head of the last guy who had apparently begun to piss himself as he realized that this could be his last moment on earth, but to his surprise and thankfulness the young woman called out to the older one
"Charlotte, that is enough, no guns,"
The older woman placed the gun away the man took off running.
"It's good to see you again, Ms.Heart; I see you still managed to keep that talent of yours from getting far over your head." said the older woman in a French accent.
"A talent I hope to put better use," said Katharina picking herself up, her hands covered in the blood of the criminal she had been punching and who was currently moaning in pain on the ground.
The billionaire followed behind her as she and Katharina got into a black and sliver Berlinetta.
Katharina pressed her head against the cold window of the class sports car, thinking back to all the time Charlotte had to bring her home early from school for fighting. At first, she lost every fight mostly because she was fighting boys who were often bigger than she was, yet as she got older and the boys only got bigger and stronger; Katharina got smarter; learning that technique over pure bronze could be a far more decisive factor in a fight.
The mansion was old but well taken care of; in truth, it bared more than a passing resemblance to the sprawling castle gothic castles of Europe than the newer McMansion that was far more common in the United States.
Its Weathered old stones twisted around itself as they did its construction, building on top of more senior and older layers , with the oldest part being the center clock and bell tower forever frozen at midnight that time a permeant reminder of her failures as a woman and the work to be done.
"I hope you don't mind me just providing the upkeep in your absence, but it has been a struggle attempting to keep the home out of the hands of the historical society after your perceived death.".
Katharina was silent as she walked into the mansion, facings the grand star case and dusty sheet that covered the priceless decore.
"I will take that as a yes, now your room has been left untouched since your departure at 18; outside of the occasional dusting and vacuuming-" her butler stopped as she noticed that Katharina was heading up the stairs but in a different direction towards the bell tower.
"Your old stomping ground, Mistress. Heart" Madam Charlotte looked up into the long vertical empty elevator shaft. "I'm afraid that the elevator had a long sense stop working, but if you wish, I can call a repairman in the morning.".
"There will be no need for that," said Katharina dropping her black duffel bag and rummaging through it until she found what she was looking for a rope with a grappling hook at the end of it, and with a good few twirls, the woman launched into the air booking the line on the edge of the upper platform and after yanking to making sure it was secure, Katharina began to use the line to help her scale the shaft, and in a stunning display of strength for her size and age, the older butler followed like me her boss all those years in the military paying off much to Charlotte chagrin; she had long since abandoned that life in favor for something more gentle; instead now at 50 years old she found herself climbing up a rope. 
Dust scattered across the old wood floor as it creek with the weight of Katharina and Charlotte's shoes. The inside of the cloak tower was untouched, for the thick layers of dust and grim would have to be cleaned off soon. The room was just like Charlotte's lift on the day before her travels, a cross between a machine workshop, gym, and an art studio.
"During the early 1800s, your great grandfather had the tower fitted with an early steam power proto-type elevator to help Herry escaped enslaved people to their hiding place before he sent them down the underground railroad to Canada.".
Katharina pulled back a white-covered sheet over some workshop equipment showing her old make-shift body armor. A project she never got to finish before she lifted for her travels around the world. "You told me that story the first time I discovered this place when I was ten.".
"I know; I just thought it would be good to remind you that you are not the first Heart to take on great risk for those you don't know..".
Katharina continues pulling off the dusty sheets, this time in her art section of the room.
"When you first started painting, I was so relieved." Charlotte paused, trying to hold back some emotion. "It was three weeks after the incident, for those weeks before, you had bearly made an effort to leave your room or eat, let alone raise a brush, yet one morning I found you sketching away at those canvases of yours.".
"Those weeks were a blur to me; it all felt like one night; in a way, it was still one terrible night; that is why I must conduct this war," said Katharina looking out a dirty window over her land to the foggy skyline of Boston proper, Katharina hung her head with resignation "It must be done.".
"A part of me wished that somewhere out there among the world during your travels; you gave away your fanciful notions of vigilantism. That you realize the ridiculousness of this all, but with the current news and;" Charlotte paused, looking the young woman in the eye. "That look in your eyes, it is the same as the morning you left the city for your travel, that determination.".
"So why did you agree," asked Katharina
"To keep it from turning suicidal, even if it's a prolonged endeavor.".
Katharina placed her hand on Charlotte's shoulder. "I'm lucky to have you,"
"Have you given it any thought?" asked Charlotte's as Katharina turned her attention back towards another of her painting of a scarlet angel casting down the unpunished towards judgment, and for one brief momentary second, Charlotte thought she saw Katharina smile
"Yes, I have. Is Marquavius still working in R&D?"
"Katharina Marquavius died shortly after you left on your travels.".
"Oh, Tony must have taken pretty hard.".
"I wouldn't know; Tony stopped coming by soon after you left the city for your travels.".
"Who runs R&D? Turner?"
"That would be correct,,"
"Is he workable?"
"He wouldn't ask questions," said Charlotte.
"Good.".
Tuesday, December 18, 2024
The clicking of Katharina 's heels could be heard down the long basement hallway. Her outfit was something she managed to throw together from her old closet. Even though it had been years since she had been anything like her black turtleneck sweater, skinny black jeans, black high-dollar sunglasses, and flawless white pearls, everything fit as snug and well as it had when she was a teenager. She had been the same exact size in clothing since she was 18, which would be the dream of a lot of women; however, Katharina 's body was always more time than other women. This wasn't to say she didn't have curves, but her body was like that of a woman's mixed martial artist and statue of the Greek goddess Athena, then the more typical build of the average American. Katharina 's only cared for the building she had created for herself in one way; functionality. She was as strong as possible without sacrificing any speedand fast as she could without muscle mass and the strength that came with it.
Katharina wasn't blind to the world; she knew that she was attractive even if she didn't feel like it at all; she always knew that others perceived her as such, and she used it to her advantage. A pretty face could always hide an ugly dagger. That she knew well as that was what Adisa had taught her and something that she took to heart. Katharina didn't truly need makeup, but she found it only added to her looks subtly. Dark red door lipstick, slight eyeliner, and perfectly painted matte black lipstick were all she truly needed.
"You look good for a dead woman," said Turner as he leaned against the door to the main R&D storage room dressed in slacks, a white collared shirt, and a blue blazer.
" resurrection is rejuvenating this time of year." joked Katharina faining the emotion she saw in others for the joke.
"So I heard" Turner opened the door to the room, "Shall we;"
"After you."
The room was large over a football field in its size and scope, with the ceilings being 50 feet tall. The interior was similar to a military warehouse , neat and organized with rows upon rows of boxes. Among the shipping boxes was a table set up with a metallic red model of what seemed to be an outline of a female skeleton from the neck down.
"You like it?" asked Turner.
"What is it?"
"Military grade exoskeleton slightly bulkier than Ward model it competed with but also marginally stronger. Of course, when the military gutted the Exo project in favor of more tank development to keep up with Putin or Xi it left both projects in storage."
"Why the shape?"
"The exoskeleton was designed to mimic the human skeleton, with the back and chest section being and more simplify copy of the human ribs and spine. Unlike the Ward company design, the suit was meant to be worn over the top of the body armor system rather than under it with sections of the body."
Katharina looks over the skeleton seeing sections of the body system having spaces where it can interconnect with armor, before noticing something else in the back of the exoskeleton a tail that ended in a pitchfork like a three-prong fork.
"I see you noticed the tail; it was designed it was supposed to be used to help climb and as an extra limb if needed, along with helping control direction while in the air."
Katharina looked back up at Turner. "In the air?"
Turner smiled. "I see you noticed that part," follow me, he said, leading her towards the back wall of the room where bat-shaped wings hung on the wall. Metal Rods ran through the cloth of the wings giving their shape.
"What is most impressive about the suit is its wing system which was itself an answer to the rumored glider and jet pack designs from Spader and Ward. The wings are collapsible to about the size of a book bag-like and even detectable; originally created for the wing to have autonomous drone function, but the AI system was never truly figured out."
"So it's a collapsible jet pack?" asked the billionaire.
"Not exactly. They are electric-powered and able to create enough lift to get a person in the air for sustained gliding. It is not a true jet pack, however, as it doesn't give constant lift; instead, it is more of a powered hang glider or wingsuit, if anything, and like the tail, both wings can function as extra limbs when it comes to scaling buildings." now if you follow me I have to show you the body armor "It is made of a Penta tri weave of a kevlar titanium mesh layered in between and over level 4 doubled ceramic plates that has impacts softening quick reaction jell.
The suit was originally made to observe and distribute impact from not just gunshots but also falls on cliff sides; however, it can still be vulnerable to edge weapons if cut between the grain of the mesh fabric in between plate sections, but I doubt you will be getting up and personal with any swordsmen while…sky diving." Turner said the last part with a healthy dose of sarcasm.
"Listen, Mr.Turner, if you aren't comfortable with this-"
"Miss. Heart, It's your company, and far as I can concern, these are already toys in your play set; I don't want to know nor care what you do with them as that is your business."
"That's good to hear-" Turner interrupted her again.
"Just make sure when this all comes tumbling down like a house of cards to leave me out of it.".
Katharina rubbed her hand against the armor in anticipation of the war to come. "Agreed"
December 23, 2024
Time had once again become a blur for Katharina , just as it did when she was a child. Like when she was a child, during her summer months, Katharina had once again thrown herself into another frenzy over a project within her cloak tower workshop. It had been almost a week since her visit to R&D and accruing her new tools.
The first thing was to create a paint job for her suit. The armor was a solid black fitting booth for camouflage at night, and that black has always been Katharina 's favorite color. The exoskeleton and the metal of the wings were coated in an ebony red, the same shade of lipstick with a Matt black finish; the cape itself was a charcoal blackish grey.
The last thing was the mask; it couldn't be just a mask; people wore masks, and people could be destroyed or corrupted; no, she needed to be beyond that beyond human. The cowl was in the shape of the face of a small-horned devil that covered most of her head for her mouth with a removable metal mesh that could be placed over it. At long last, Katharina was finished. Her war could begin. Katharina faced away from her butler toward a large oil painting of her…her failures.
"Never again," she said, finishing putting on her armor and reaching out for Charlotte to hand the mask.
"Mistress, are you sure about this? It's not too late,"
"It's been too late since I was eight; now hand me the mask.".
Her butler did as she was told, handing the cow over to Katerina, and with that, she placed it on her head. Madam Charlotte trembled in fear and horror as her boss turned around. Gone was the girl she had raised. Now in its place stood a monster, the culmination of years of effort to become something, something beyond human, a symbol of retribution.
"Good Lord!" the butler gasped as the wings rose up from the cape blocking out the painting and giving shadow to the body in the moonlight. Silent footsteps carried Katerina to the ledge of the glass window, and with one push, she was in the air. It had begun her war, the first steps in a long battle; a long suicide or perhaps a good death; an atonement for her sins, payment for her failures. 
Officer Tommy lit a joint as hell and pressed the gun against the teenager's head, holding him against the wall.
"Selling dope on Tommy O'Hara's block? Without his blessings on paying the tax, I don't know if you're the bravest idiot I met all year or just the damn stupidest." Tommy began to go through the kid's back pocket. "Tell you what, you pay me a tax and save me some desk work and unpaved leave."
CRASH…
Katharina landed on the nearby cop car smashing its hood in; the costume worked far better than she had planned. The cop stops dead in his tracks. He didn't even truly process what he was looking at before Katharina let a growl she brought from East Africa.
The cop reaches and tries to aim his gun at the monster before him, squeezing out two stray shots that only graze the outer age of Katharina 's cape; the dirty cop attempts to fire again, but by then, Katharina has jumped in the air throwing out darts from with the edges of her gloves. The knives stab into the man's gun hand, making him scream out, dropping his gun as Katharina drops on top of him. The kid is a petty drug dealer with more green in his eyes than sense runs off; Katharina doesn't care. She wasn't after him tonight.
The first thing officer Tommy saw as his eyes opened was the water of the sewer system as he was hung just inches above it by his feet; he screamed as he saw the face of the creature, half woman, the half devil; its voice was cold.
"Who do you work for?"
"WHAT ARE YOU!"
"I'm not going to ask again, who do you work for?" said the cold voice of Katharina .
"He will kill me!"
Katharina dunked the cop's head into the sewage water as the man thrashed around like a wild animal. Katharina counted to 30 and back before yanking him back above the water.
The man gasped, coughing. "Keshawn O'Sullivan, a unit of a Black guy with a fucking Irish accent, you can't fucking miss him; please let me go!"
"Can you swim?"
"What? Why! Let me go!" yelled the cop.
"CAN YOU FUCKING SWIM!" yelled Katharina , her voice almost cracking.
"Yes, please, just let me go!"
And with that, Katharina dropped the dirty cop into the sewage water. By the time Tommy pulled himself out of the water, Katharina was gone.
Christmas Eve 2024:9:30 AM
Charlotte brought a plate with a slice of bread and Patty sausage, slices of oranges, a banana, and a glass of green tea to Katharina , who was stirring awake as her butler walked into the room.
Charlotte sighed as she saw that the determination was still on her face. She had hoped that one night out would have changed her mind, but at least it's only stiffened it.
"What time is it?" asked Katharina
"9:30, ma'am"
"I went to bed at 7:30." complained.
"That maybe be, but nocturnal vigilantism is not your only mistress."
"The company," Katharina sighed.
"Indeed, and while no one expects you to be hands-on every day, I fully insist on you taking the reins and understanding how your family name is run.".

"In other words: you want me to be Bruce Wayne.".
If only because you insist on being Batman."
"Fine,"
Christmas Eve 2024 11:00
A blacked 300sl gullwing pulled into the parking deck under the International headquarters of Heart Industries , and a red bottom custom Louboutin healed leather boots stepped out of it, followed by the rest of Katharina dressed in black pants, very tinted sunglasses, dark red blouse that matched her lipstick and black blazer.
Katharina had always loved classic exotics. It was one of the few things her cousin shared and talked about after that night. It wasn't just for their looks, even though that was an added benefit, but the absolute skill and craftsmanship that came with it; they actually presented a challenge  to her and Eric when they went under the hood to tinker with them. American cars were, for the most part, simple and easy to figure out and became no real challenge to Katharina by the time she was 11.
Rodrick was typing away at his computer not looking at who had just entered the room from the elevator until after Katharina had spoken
"I have an appointment under the name Katharina Heart." said the 20-something raven-haired beauty, causing the desk man to look up immediately.
Reginald Huntington exited his office to the sound of laughter.
"So I said to the Hunter, why don't you try your hand at fishing instead." joked Katharina making Rodrick chuckle before noticing his boss and going quiet Katharina noticed this and said, "Say let's finish conversations of brunch, say tomorrow at noon.".
"He will be working then, Ms…Katharina!" exclaimed Reginald realizing who it was.
"Well, it's a good thing I plan on being around here often," Katharina said, walking into Reginald's office and looking around.
"How often do you plan on coming around, Ms.Heart? I can ask that an office can be made clear for you."
"Actually Reginald, this one will do just fine after all; it was my father's old office. It would only be fitting if I sat at his old desk, wouldn't you agree." She said, faking a smirk
Reluctantly Reginald agreed. "Yes, very, I can start moving my stuff out to a different office tomorrow-. "
"Now would be better," she paused, staring back at him. "If that wouldn't be too inconvenient for you."
"No, ma'am, not at all."
"Good," she said, sitting in her new chair and kicking her feet on the table.
…
Zero and David stood in front of the three shivering members of the Jane Liberation Army blanketed up in thick winter coats that seemed to do little for them inside the freezing warehouse.
"Your distrust of computers for communication was remarkable but equally hard to track, which provides some challenges in getting in touch with you."
"Yeah, that's kind of the point Opsec on the net is damn near impossible." said one of the J.L.A women.
"Very true; however, I possess other means of contacting those I need, as you all should know," said Zero.
David was silent as a grave, listing to the heartbeat of the women. Their blood was pumping from fear, not of him but of Zero. "There is no need to be alarmed." said the vampire suddenly before going silent again.
"My boyfriend is correct; if we wanted you dead, your cell could have been killed hours ago."
The same woman from group three spoke again. "So what do you want.".
"We share a common interest in free Hannah Hellfire; I have already begun got to assemble a team for that job. However, other actions will be needed in the meantime. I believe that your cause is right. This is why I have reached out to give aid and leadership.".
"We are doing just fine on our-"
"That wasn't a suggestion nor an offer."
"If we say no." asked the woman again.
"I will kill you and then your entire family; however, this isn't the way it has to be." Zero waved over to create supplies. "Inside of their weapons are enough weapons, Semtex, and equipment to keep your war going for years to come; if you work for me.".
The three women huddled together, hashing out their thoughts before turning around.
"Considering the other option, we will have to agree to join you, Ms.Winters."
"Heather Winters is dead; please call me Zero.".
…
"So where we last left off, the British empire has managed to plunge dick first into a hundred-mile-long rolling ambush due to their racism, making them thank they could conquer what amounted to a serval thousand-year-old war cult." said
"Don't forget the death canoes! Betty!"
"Right, so any way to understand what happened next, one must understand the geography of Vena while its coastline, which was mostly under British control at the time of the battle, was largely flat as you go up, it transitions into a hilly jungle then into a desert.
Van Canyon is located in the jungle and was the break line between Venan native government and the British colonial holdings; as discussed in our last episode, that didn't stop Venan raiders from lunching raids from the jungle. These raids were almost always pushed back immediately by the English; however, now that it was the English turn to push through the jungle, they were quickly becoming knowledgeable in Cu'man'tang or in English defense in depth."
"Here comes the wood chipper."
"Oh, don't worry, Alice, it gets worse even if the English managed to make headway after taking an area over just piles of their dead bodies thanks to the small number of German imported or copied machine guns that the Venan had gotten from the Germans, the English to had to deal with ye old IED's, yeah that's right the Venan under ordered of the Venan General and I am going to say his insanely long name in English because there is no way I will be able to in Venan. "Total War Bringer The Daughter Of Great Tom'kun The Lord Overseer Of Grand Territory Of The Emperor's Great North East And Law Bringer Of Von'tal The 3rd"
"That is indeed a name Betty." 
"Well, Tom'val ordered her troops to lay land mines and traps along all main roads big enough to fit more than two horses. It forced the British to take tight roadways where they would be ambushed by stay-behind troops almost 24/7, 7 days a week. Alice, this is part where I can say it gets worse.".
"Fucking how?!"
"How about hot air balloon-based air strikes!"
"Nope, nope! What? Why? How!"
"The Venan began to use hot air balloons to drop timed jerry-rigged IEDs on the British supply lines. They would also drop jars filled with mosquitoes hoping to spread malaria, which worked. By the time what remained of British troops made it to Van Canyon, they numbered around 12 thousand of the 27 thousand troops that were originally organized. Unfortunately, they were about to be trapped in a Canyon with almost 24 thousand Venan troops.".
Emma smiled as the podcast went to explain the battle. She found that listening to a podcast on history, especially one on her country, helped her when she was practicing her swordsmanship. It took only one single swing of her van'tak to chop the head clean off.
The van'tak was one of the oldest types of weapons in Vena history, a curved blade that, in construction, seemed to have the build of a scimitar and a katana, but in style was all African with the engraving along the blade and bright, colorful design on the handle and hilt.  The plamer was a work of art.
One side of it was made in the shape of a lion, the other of a woman. Any Venan could recognize that as a symbol of the chief deity of their pantheon, the Goddes of Life and War, birth and death Val, who, in collaboration with her husband Zen'kal, created the rest of the Orixa minor gods or spirits within their religion. 
Of course, her father had made Emma, along with the rest of her siblings, commit all their Gods names, dates, and powers to memories as nothing more than facts to be remembered no different than science, math, and military training that was drilled into every kid in the country, but it was their mother and one one (their grandmother) who taught them the stories, engraved into their imagination feats of victory and sting of defeat.
Women had always been the storytellers of Vena, the writers and scholars who kept track of history. Women in Vena had always enjoyed equality among men and other genders. In many ways, ironically, those in Vena who held on to their traditional values would have seemed
progressive if placed in the west.
Another stab into the center of another dummy causes the water it had been filled with to spill out, splashing all over Emma's bright-colored Kente dress.
"Got you!" said her brother AJ better known as the Splinter jumping from the bush surrounding Emma's practice area.
"Brother!"
"What? I can't mess with my little sister before her big day." he laughed.
"Is that your excuse for this day? Can you please give one for the other 365 days?".
AJ rolled his eye. "I haven't thought of any yet? So anyway, are you excited?"
"About what, I am already a princess. This is just another bit of tradition."
"Hey now, don't let one spirit hear that she might pop you from the beyond."
"Ooooh, scary boy, you are brother, scary boy indeed, but it's just an Enskinment.".
"Enskinment is very important outside of tradition, you know.".
Emma scoffed. "You don't think father will let rule he would come sooner past it own to that American pig Mansfield than me.".
"You never know besides; you might become Val's champion.".
"Oh brother, don't tell me you still believed in fairy tales?".
"In a world where men fly, is that so hard? Believe?"
"Very now, I have to go change," Emma said, walking away before stopping and sticking out her tongue at her brother.
The trip from the palace's backyard, where the dummy had been set up, to Emma's room was almost a 15-minute walk. The Princess's room was decorated and painted by her and her father, as was a tradition in Vena. The daughter and father painted the daughter's room, and the mother and son painted the son's room.
She got dressed again, changing back into a military outfit. In truth, she was scared pretty little for the ceremony and found the whole thing very ridiculous, but her father demanded it, so that was the final say on the matter. Before she left, she passed a picture of her mother smiling and holding her hand near the beach. "Wish me luck, mama," she whispered to the image before leaving the room.
The trip to the Van Canyon took almost all day by air. The Canyon was one of the national wonders of Vena in its beauty it was said to be where all life originated from, the Venan "Garden Of Eden.". It did look the part with it being craved out of a cash jungle mountainside that hung down over the canyon walls flowing down beside waterfalls that went into the rushing river that followed through both sides of an island at the bottom of the canyon. In the center of the canyon, say a pyramid like a template, a structure said to be older than Vena itself.
As Emma stepped foot into the shallow water, she disrobed as was tradition, bringing only sandals and colorful tribal beads. Emma's body was already covered in scarification. Detailed and unique patterns covered most of her back, arms and legs, and chess. Flanking the start of the staircase to the top of the pyramid were Venan special services dressed in their uniform, which was the same as the ones from hundreds of years ago, only that the material was changed. A cross between a knight and minders soldiers dressed in a thin layer of modernized anti-bayonetmesh with broken-up ceramic chest and leg plates covering their most vital areas.
Slung across their back were their rifles, and on their right armed, they held a ballistic shield. The soldiers did not even dare to look Emma in the eye as she climbed the stairs to the top of the pyramid. Waiting there for her was a priestess or Val and a box of black volcanic dirt. The priestess blesses Emma's head with a mixture of lamb's blood and oil before handing her a drink from an ancient bottle of scarlet red wine. The Princess General had to fight herself from spitting up the wine even as they buried her in the sand.
Then it was black, the kind of darkness one only saw when they were completely alone at night. Yet Emma could feel something in the void. She had never been one to believe in myths and always chalked up the accounts of the people seeing a vision under the sand to the old wine being laced with something, but now as she floated in an endless void that once was black sands, she began to reconsider all of that.
Suddenly a crimson light brighter than anything Emma had ever seen shined in front of her, and out of it came a lion charging at her, roaring, and with a scream, Emma was out of the void and in her….bed?
"Oh good, you finally got up," said AJ leaning up against the wall.
"How?" was all Emma could get out.
"Oh yeah, you jumped out of the dirt, threw up, and passed out again,"
"Fuck," mumbled Emma.
"Don't worry; papa is making a deep fake of it,."
"So he is just going to lie to people?"
"Since when has that been a problem for you, sister?"
"I-I don't know.".
The party was packed to the walls with raging teenagers. An Ace award party was a stuff of legends, and now Amanda and her friends were living it as they danced in the main ballroom to the latest and greatest party hits. Amanda hadn't actually seen Ace since that morning when she, Hailey, Destiny, Ace, Xander, Beverly, Bison, Maxwell, Stacy, and Brad all had breakfast. Still, she kept an eye out for him throughout the party; she had forgotten to ask him about the comic he had sent her a few weeks prior.
"Oh my god, Amanda, is that you!" Yazmin nearly yelled as she and Mars approached Amanda and her friends before Yazmin hugged Amanda. "Bestie, I didn't know you were in town. We could have shopped till we dropped before the party…wait, are these your friends!"
"Yeah, they are my best friends, actually Bison, Brad, Hailey, and Stacy," said Amanda; Stacy looked at her formal bully victim as she announced her as her best friend with a face of disbelief.
"Hey everyone, I'm Yazzy, and this is my friend Mars,"
"Hey, everyone," Mars waved before looking at Stacy. "I absolutely love your outfit,"
"Thanks," smiled Stacy.
"Say, um, I know this probably is gonna sound weird, but do you know where Maxwell at I did and some really stupid stuff early this year to him, and I really want to apologize to him."
Amanda looked around. She had just been hanging out with Max and Beverly earlier, but they seemed to have disappeared.
"No, I don't. I'm sorry, but I think they are in movies downstairs."
Meanwhile, Ace looked up at the night sky alone inside the mansion's conservatory, waiting and hoping for her; the superhero's heart was beating out of control as butterflies turned in his stomach as the minutes passed, and his hope began to dwindle when suddenly from behind him.
"Waiting for anyone in particular?" asked Dolly, making Ace spin around on a dime to face her. She was stunning, dressed in a 60's vintage winter dress and with almost glowing blue eyes.
"You came?" asked Ace, both surprised and elated that she had done so.
Dolly smiled, walking close to Ace, placing her hand on his chest, and leaning in. "I wouldn't miss this..no; I wouldn't miss you for anything in the world.".
"Dolly, I love-" Ace stopped as his girlfriend kissed him, it was electric, sparking flames of long memories of the two of them like a raging forest fire. The teenage billionaire pulled his life closer, embracing even more as it felt like he could walk on sunshine even on a cold winter's night. The two stood there like this for moments, but in their romantic embrace, it felt like an eternity. A song was the Earth Angle by the penguins that snapped the two reconnected lovers.
"I think they are playing our song," said Dolly.
Ace took her by the hand. "Shall we?" he asked as Ace led her out of the conservatory back into the ballroom where the party goers parted like the Red Sea as Ace, followed by a few other couples like Xander and Mia, joined in the slow dance.
Amanda looked at Brad and then at the dance floor, and in the words of Cap, she said, "fuck it and grabbed Brad's hand, pulling him towards the dance floor; this caused a chain reaction with Hailey and Bison joining in the dance along Mars and her date leaving only Yazmin and Stacy.
"Do you um..want to..dance?" asked Yazmin.
"S-sure," said Stacy as they, too, joined the rest of their friends.
Back with Dolly and Ace, they were slow dancing gazing into each other eyes with more emotions than a thousand "I love you." could ever manage to even scrape at.
"Dolly, I'm sorry for leaving you. I was an idiot.".
"Ace, your dad was murdered. You needed time. We both did; I just wished that I could have been there for you anyway.".
"Never again, Dolly," said Ace as they slowed dance. "I never want to be apart from you ever again."
"Till death do us part," said Dolly as they kissed again
Cap drank from his flask as Destiny walked over to him.
"I freaking hate this song," said Cap.
"Why?" asked Destiny.
"Bad memories back when it came out in 54, got stood up at my prom by Sarah Bertinelli for damn Chad Wingback QB of my town's football team.".
"Wait, how old are you?"
"88, I think I don't keep track all that much," said Cap taking another sip from his flask. "I don't age normally,"
"Well, I'm sorry to hear about your girl getting stolen by some jock."
"Oh, don't worry, dude got captured by the NVA in Nam, so it all worked out in the end. Amanda..well, the kid keeps trying to sign me up for an online nerd matchmaker called timber or something."
"Tinder."
"Whatever, but honestly, I'm pretty cool with being single. Too busy with other shit; what about you kid going steady with anyone?".
"Going steady? Christ, you are old, but no, it's the same with me, too much shit on my plate to date right now, I might look into it during the summer, but right now I'm pretty cool with just having friends.".
"Sounds you got a good head on your shoulder,"
"Thanks, Cap. You know you might not be as much of an asshole as I thought.".
"Damn, I must be going soft then." joked Slaughter.
As the song ended, Ace could hear very muffled screaming from a nearby restroom… it was Beverly.
"Dolly, I will be right back; stay here," he said, rushing off, but as he did, Ace bumped into Amanda
"Hey Ace, I just wanna say thanks for the comic you sent me."
Ace looked puzzled before saying, "I don't know what you are talking about right now, Amanda, but Beverly is in trouble, and I have to go.".
"Wait, W-" but Ace was already gone heading into the bathroom to see Max slumped against the wall, knocked out, and Massy on top of a struggling Beverly on the floor. In a blink of an eye, Ace had shoved Massy off of Beverly, pushing him out of the restroom into the ballroom, where everyone seemed to pause and take note of the scuffle.
"Rapist piece of shit, get the hell out of MY HOUSE!" yelled Ace.
Massy got indignant, smirking. "How about you make me? He said, throwing a hard punch into Ace, which took him back, or that was what Ace wanted Massy to think.
A year ago, that would have hurt; now, it doesn't even sting, but this will.
"Yeah, Ward, not so fucking tuff now, are you? All that money can't stop you from getting your ass beat." Massy took another swing which Ace blocked.
No fancy gadgets, just plain street fighting, I can't risk blowing my cover as Reaper, but he hurt my friends; I will make him pay for that.
Ace dodged the next few throws by Massy, waiting for him to get tired of the right opportunity, and when Ace saw his opening, he took it without hesitation swiping above Massy's eye but below his eyebrow.
Massy laughed. "What the fuck was that a tickle?"
"A building cut," said Ace as blood dripped into Massy's eye, stinging it; Massy threw another haymaker at Ace, one he ate with grace before throwing a strike of his own at Massy's shoulder. "And that was a nerve strike, probably didn't hurt all that much, but you ain't moving that left arm any time soon.".
Massy raged, running towards Ace to head, but which Ace casually sidestepped, sending Massy running into a table.
"Are you done?" asked Ace.
"FUCK YOU!" yelled Massy getting back up and attempting to do a running kick which Ace grabbed by Massy's ankle. "Funny thing with bullies, they always tend to try to pick up on the weakest, be that big fish in a little pond." Ace twisted the ankle incapacitating Massy's ability to walk temporarily as he dropped him down to the ground. "But when they are met with someone their own size, they tend just to crumble." Ace picked Massy up by the shirt and started to drag him down the ballroom towards the front doors of his mansion. "So I will say it one last time," Ace opened the front doors before tossing Massy on the edge of the steps leading up to the door. "Get the hell out of my house." With a slam of the door, Ace turned back around and immediately headed back to check on Maxwell and Beverly.
"Max, Bev, are you two alright?"
Max picked himself up from the ground hurrying over to the crying Beverly. "Did he hurt you?!" asked Maxwell, on the verge of tears.
"He tried to…I-I-I T-thought he w-was gonna-"
"I'm going to fucking kill him," said Maxwell getting up. "Where is he!" He yelled to Max, "WHERE THE FUCK IS HE!"
"Your friend Ace here kicked his ass and threw him out already," said Cap.
"But if you two want to press charges against that son of a bitch I am more than willing to be a witness," said Ace.
"I-I just want this night to be over," said Beverly.
"Look like you are getting your wish, kid; the party clearing after that ass beating Ace just handed out. Listen y'all it's been fun, but I got a flight tomorrow morning, so I am gonna try and sleep for a few hours; you get it from here, Ace?" asked Slaughter.
"Yeah, Ricky.".
"Who the hell even is that guy?" asked Beverly.
"It's a long story," said Ace.
Hours later, after all the guests at Ace's party had scattered or gone home petering out after the fight between him and Massy and along with her friends had turned in for the night, Ace, Amanda Dolly, Destiny, Xander, Maxwell, and Beverly all sat in the conservatory by the indoor stream. They were all silent, quiet in the face of what had happened. Until Beverly spoke up more accurately and laughed, causing everyone to look at her in shock; out of all people that night, Beverly should be the last one to do so, but there she was, laughing.
"You know Ace when they said your parties are ones to remember, they were not lying." she chuckled, her eyes red from crying, yet this caused a chain reaction of laughter. Ace shook his head. "This is one for the book, alright, but hopefully next Christmas is going to be a better one." he said smiling, thinking to himself, and it was in that moment, that small moment of friendship and family Ace made up his mind, he was going to tell them about the Reaper and for that one moment that single night Ace thought "Everything is going to be alright.".
…
The Revenant smiled as Lisa Monore walked into the dark integration room. The only source of light in the dingey stone dungeon of a cell was the light bulb on a string hanging directly above the table, the chair that the Revenant was strapped into.
"I'm loving this design of this room, very noir," laughed the Revenant.
Lisa wasn't in the mood for talking with the psycho, especially after what he did to Danny taking him hostage, but when the Feds woke her up because the scum bag was refusing to speak to anyone else, Lisa did as she was told. "You wanted to see me?"
The Revenant chuckled. "Well, it's not like I could call the other guy, now could I? Besides, I think he will be more fun to play with later," The Revenant leaned forward across the table, glaring at Lisa like a lion looking at its next meal, all the while still smiling. "But you, I have to try and play with,."
"The other guy?" asked Lisa before realizing who the mad man was talking about.
"I don't believe in ghost stories," said Lisa.
"I know you don't, and that's why I'm talking with you because you are the only one who knows he is real and the only one who gives him my message.".
"Your message? This isn't like the movies; you're gone, idiot; the Feds are waiting a few more days away from shipping you off to hopefully Gitmo. This ain't Gotham; you ain't getting out of what you did, freak.".
"Oh please, my dear Lisa, do you really think I don't know what my position is here? I'm right where I need to be; now I need you to get my message to our pesky urban legend?"
"What message?"
The Revenant smiled. "Let the games begin HA HA HA AH HA HA AH AH HA!" screamed the terrorist as Lisa turned around and walked out of the room.
Reaper, Captain Slaughter, Ms.Amerika, and Desert sit around a table in front of the television size computer mounter as they listen to the second-ever meeting of the syndicate. It was still a madhouse getting everything sorted while they all were superheroes, and thus naturally, they all wanted to do what was right; the funny thing is that everyone couldn't exactly know what that last part meant.
It was a discussion on what it means to be a hero. Of course, this was layered on top of infighting about territory and political opinions, but the lines could be mainly broken down between those who killed and those that didn't kill. Captain Slaughter, Skin Walker, Santell, Jamie Van Hellsing, and the newcomer The Black Bat all were known to cross that line and voted in favor of allowing members of the syndicate to use lethal force, while Zetaman, Ace Of Spades, Columbia, Desert, and Uncle Sam all voted to not have the option to kill. Between both lines, Reaper, Ms.Amerika, Liberty, and Black Power remained neutral on the topic.
It was a deadlock that threatened to break the young organization in two until Ms.Amerika suggested "Home Rule" that boiled down to if a vigilante of a certain city has a no-kill rule, that rule must be respected when entering into that city. That, too, raised a question about what would happen if two members began to operate out of the same city at the same time. Yet as of the moment, that hadn't happened outside of New York City, where all of the parties there had voted in favor of a no-kill rule or voted neutral, which meant that issue was much less important.
"So onward to" Black Power checked his notes. "Um…it's just said hall of justice?"
"Yeah, that was me!" said Ms.Amerika raising her hand like she was still in school. "I was thinking that since we are having a meeting and becoming a real team, we should have a proper meeting place.".
"Something I also agree with, I have already sent attachments through our encrypted comms system detailing possible options for a permanent meeting place for the syndicate.".
"That could be expensive, but luckily for us, we have a local billionaire to count on." joked Columbia.
"Actually, it's two," said Reaper.
"Two what?" asked Columbia, to which Ace responded by taking off his mask, "Two local friendly neighborhood billionaires.".
"No fucking way!" said Liberty. "I owe Sam 20 bucks!"
Ace laughed at that. "I figured with us moving forward with our plans to actually form this team; it would only be right if I fully committed myself to it, including sharing my identity to the rest of the team.".
"Did I ever tell you it looked hotter with the mask on." joked Sammy.
"Screw you; I'm perfect," laughed back Ace.
Sammy rolled her eyes. "Sure you are, buddy."
Jamie sighed. "Shit, now I feel bad for saying he has a nice ass,"
"Not me!" giggles Santell
"…Ok, back to the topic of headquarters."Bishop, as he scrolled through some of the suggestions, "Some of these are interesting, but I don't think underwater bases or moon satellites are possible just yet." said Bishop.
"It's always best to thank ahead; however, I have also included ideas for stop-gap provisional bases for us. The vast majority of which old bunker systems I'm particularly fond of are the bunker systems built in upstate New York. It was originally met to house congress for up to two years during the Cold War. The property above and underground is expensive, with enough spaces and security systems to make it a great candidate for an HQ. It's only priced at 50 million, which is a steel for the value of the land and building.".
"Wow, a 50 million dollar clearance sale level cheap," said Liberty sarcastically.
"Of course, I meant steel in a relative sense, and Spader could split the cost and use front companies to buy the land and bunker in order to keep the media from asking questions.".
"That's actually really smart," said Eric.
"Hey, can we cut it with Real estate spill and get back to the actions before I fall asleep," said Cap.
"Gramps here got the point shits is escalating every day," said Columbia.
Bishop nodded. "And it's not just the average run-of-the-mill crime, Spader, Ace, Sammy, and I can attest to that the good guys aren't the only ones who are getting powers.".
"You can say that a-bloody-gain fucking had to deal with Nazi cultists the other week wasn't pretty at all," said Jamie.
"I'm more worried about terrorism if I am being honest; from what I am seeing on the ground, we are basically in a Proto Troubles scenario that could get very ugly very quickly if we don't get a handle on things," said Reeves.
"That gonna be hard seeing how two of us are members of terror groups," mumbled Black Bat looking at Uncle Sam and Liberty.
Skin Walker nearly tumbled over laughing, "The PAF as terrorists? Please, that would actually make them cool; they aren't much besides a Patsoc outfit, not even that half of their membership isn't even socialist."
"Thanks, Skin Walker …I guess," said Uncle Sam.
Bishop went on down the agenda for the meeting. "So, does anyone have anything else to add before we close out?"
"Branding," said Cap. "Someone is going to have to talk to the Jurnos eventually; personally, I nominate the kid here," Ricky pointed at the wide-eyed Amanda. "Oh, don't be shocking; you are pretty much America's sweetheart of the superhero movement.".
"Can't argue with that you got the country balls hell even Mansfield likes you, which is saying something," said Uncle Sam.
"Me really? What about Bishop? Isn't he basically superman wouldn't make more sense for him to do it.".
"It would, but I'm Black, so half the country isn't gonna trust me like I'm Superman.".
"It's more like 57 percent of the country," said Ace, which made everyone look at him. "What I had New Moon News do a poll on the most popular heroes and their approval ratings,"
"Of course you did," Sammy sighed.
"Well, what about Reeves?" she asked. "Or how about Columbia?" to which Rita told her that
"There's more fan fiction of Columbia or Skin Walker than there is of Ms. Amerika, and when I say that, I mean there's more erotica about us than there is of you, so I'd probably be a little more distracted."
"And I'd still argue that Ms. Amerika should be our spokesperson," Reeves admitted humbly
"She is the most... Well, a normal team member and is already active on social media."
"Plus, most people have an idea as to who Rita Dali is, seeing how she's also a streamer and people might put two and two togather."
"Well, what about you?" she asked Spader, who'd simply ask her, "Do you want the job or not?"
"I mean... Yeah, that would be pretty cool," said Amanda.
"If there isn't anything else I need to get back to my cases, actual important work. interjected Sammy
"I think that is i- and she has already logged off, yeah ok let's call it a meeting," said Bishop as everyone logged off from the call.
"Well, I think that went over well," said Cap getting and lighting a cigarette.
"Wow, me a big star still hard to believe that," said Amanda getting up with Cap.
"I can see it now, Ms.Amerika, a name up in lights" Ace waved his hands in an arch. "By the way, I think your friends are backed from that little shopping distraction I sent them on; how about you and Cap head up, and I will be there in a minute.".
"As long as I get first dibs on the mini taco, I don't care how long you spend your nerd cave," said Cal as he and Amerika walked out of the bunker.
No sooner did they leave than another call from Eric Spader appeared on the skin
"Did you forget something?" Ace asked Eric, "No... Yes, well, I wanted to talk to you for a minute."
"...Okay?" Ace asked him. "Not as Reaper or Ace of Spades, no masks, just Ace and Spader," Eric told him
Ace had to try really hard to stop himself from rolling his eyes. "That would be a first,"
"Exactly," Eric sighed, all the while Ace could tell that somebody was standing out of the camera, likely Susan, Eric's secretary "Listen, kid... I'm uh, listen, after everything that has happened-"
"What exactly? Dad dying? Getting sick? The fact that it feels like nuke chucking could go off at any moment, the threat of civil war or at the very least meta human-based terrorism."
"Not being there for you... I'm sorry."
Ace was silent, knowing that Eric had himself some difficulties with expressing their emotions
"I just feel like, being there, being by your side, doing like, the bare minimum, would've helped."
Ace could tell that Spader was genuinely sorry; he could see it in his eyes and his heavy head
"Listen, I uh, I'm thinking about coming over to Atlanta as soon as I get the chance, that okay?"
"...We'll see," Ace tells him, "Merry Christmas in advance" before ending their call with Spader logging off the call one last time and looking himself in the mirror. "That went-"
"Smoother than you expected," said Destiny creeping out of the shadows.
"H-how long were you there?"
"You tend to forget, Ace, that I am the one who taught you that whole vanishing act in the first place.".
"Thanks, by the way, it came in handy a few times.".
"Even more if you want you to want to talk about skipping class."
Ace chuckled at that before they made their way up the stairs, after Ace changed clothes course and through a hidden passage, and then down the hall towards the sound of chatting children.
"So, how did you guys enjoy the trip," asked Destiny as she and Ace walked into the room. Stacy visibly gasped at the sight of Destiny, as this was the first time she had met her; actually it was the first time Hailey Stacy Bison and Brad had met any other member of the Scooby gang besides Ace himself.
"Oh right, hi, I'm-"
"Destiny Masters," said Hailey and Stacy at the same time. "Oh, you have heard of me," joked Destiny.
"I'm sorry about them. They are really big fans of yours," said Bison.
Amanda leaned over to Brad. "This is weird to see from the other side."
"Yeah, I've never seen Stacy fan girl over someone before," whispered Brad.
"Heard of you?!" asked screamed Stacy
"You are like my icon," said Hailey.
Fan girls weren't exactly something new to Destiny, but most of the time, the fan girls weren't for her but Ace. Her Maxwell and Xander always have side characters to the press hounds and magazine, something that all of them have been grateful for every time Ace got mobbed at six flags, and the rest of Scooby gang managed to escape into the crowd.
"Here that Ace. I am an icon now what you got," joked Destiny.
"Billionaire playboy genius philanthropist,"
"Hey, I understood that reference!" exclaimed Brad.
"So is Xander…?" asked Hailey.

"Already taken," said Mia walking into a room dressed in red flannel cowboy boots, blue jeans, and her signature purple hijab. "Hi, I'm Mia, Xander's girlfriend," Mia smiled at the newcomers before asking, "So where is my Xander."
"The Xancade," said Ace.
Amanda raised an eyebrow. "Xancade?"
"It's what he calls his arcade that he keeps at my house.".
"Wait, you named your personal arcade after your friend?" asked Brad.
"No, Xander's arcade is named after him; I don't have a name for minds. It's two separate arcades; well, actually around 5ish arcade if you count my supercomputer I use to play moded Skyrim on.".
"Has anyone told you, Ace, that you might be too rich for your good?" asked Destiny as Mia walked down the halls towards the Xandercade.
"Only half of my Twitter mentions," laughed Ace.
Xander sat alone on his black gaming chair, half asleep, only stirring fully awake when he felt someone place their hands over their eyes.
"Guess who???"
"A very beautiful short girl," joked Xander turning around and kissing her.
"I am not short," said Mia climbing into his lap.
"Whatever you say, Smurfette," joked Xander
Mia looked at him blankly. "Who?"
"Smurfette from the Smurf…Wait, you haven't seen the Smurf?"
"Are these Smurfs in the room with us, right?" Mia sarcastically asks.
"It's a show, smarty pants; we have to get you up on your media literacy.".
"Hey, I know plenty of memes," protested Mia.
"Yes, but it gives us an excuse to cuddle under a blanket in a dark room.".
"Were you always this smooth," teased Mia kissing him again.
"It's a natural talent; who do you think taught Ace.".
"Maybe I can teach you a thing or two," smiled Mia, but before they kissed again, Maxwell and Beverly walked into the room
"Hey Xander, I got domino- oh," said Max. Both he and Beverly stopped in their tracks.
"Oh um…Maxwell…Beverly, this is…um,"
"Awkward?" asked Beverly
"Very," said Mia.
…
Dolly sat alone in her movie trailer on the sofa, looking at her snap chat notification for Ace.
There was always something about these moments that made the movie star feel like she was two feet tall. The last time she had talked to Ace, she had told him that she loved him, and all that he could say was that he knew. Things had been radio silent after that, but those blackmail letters did stop, and there was only one more written apology by whoever had been doing it.
Dolly placed her phone down and walked backed and forth inside her trailer, lost in thought until there was a knock on her trailer door by her assistant.
"Dolly, we will be ready for you in five.".
The teen idle took a deep breath and opened then snap chat app to see what Ace had sent her
"Do you want to come to my party?"
"Yes"
…
Monday
December 17, 2024
Boston
"Maybe this is what I deserve, my just my time in a hell of my pasts failures," thought Katharina said as her private jet descended into the snow and fog-covered afternoon skyline of Boston. A city with almost 400 years of history is now driven dark and wasteful by the economic collapse and subsequent breakdown in legality and political order.
The city wasn't unique in that way, as this has been the fate of most American metropolises left to stumble down the hill in the wake of the pandemic. It had been almost a half week since Katharina had eaten anything, and her stomach felt as if it was about to devour itself in hunger if only to numb the pain of starvation. Yet the billionaire didn't pay her physical pain any real mind as she had always had since that night when she was a child, only caring to be reminded mentally in her nightmare or daydreams as she stared out the window
" This is your Captain speaking. We are begging our final descent. Please remain seated until we are safely on the ground."
"From the sky, it all seems well, organized, elegant; could even fool a person into thinking that humanity was civilized, but it dirty on the ground; I should have come on a train.".
The cold air was triggering her, taking Katharina back to that very night, that cold night when she failed; and lost everything. It hurt, but not as much as Katharina thought it would have; instead, she was hard to it all, a kind of hard determination that could only be brought about through loss.
The airport was empty; Katharina told her butler Madam Charlotte to inform the press that she would arrive after New Year in order to avoid being hounded by them first thing after touching down back in the states from her training in the mountains of the Himalayas.
With nothing more than a duffel bag full of old clothes, the worn faded blue hoodie, black Nike track pants combo so wore earplugs and a brick of a Nokia, she headed off down the streets of Boston, walking, taking in how much had changed since she had left all those years ago. The city was dirty, smelling of filth and corruption at every level. People of a once prosperous city huddled around trash bins of fire for warmth in the cold. Police sped by in their car, avoiding walking the street, be it out of laziness, taking money from the criminal elements, or becoming targets by paramilitaries.
Katharina passed by one of the many murals painted by the menagerie of paramilitary groups that had begun to boil under the surface of America. In the center was a rendition of Hannah Hellfire covered in flames flanked by two armed females holding Al's under their boots were the brunt bodies of two men labeled "patriarchy" and "capitalism.". Above the women in the phase "Until our bodies are free; there shall be war!".
"Hellfire" was a name Katharina knew of from the news; one of the first would probably be a long line of a new wave of terrorism.
The young woman sighed as she looked up at the old church that her absent mind brought her to; the flashes were now bringing her back to the same church years ago, the mistake, the gunshots, the police lights, the heavy footsteps, the gasping of her mother and father, the pain.
It went numb again as Katharina could tell by the footsteps behind her that three men had been trying to sneak up behind her.
Katharina sighed again as the first man attempted to attack her from the back, only to be flipped over her head by his arm breaking it in the process. Suddenly the rush of adrenaline kicked as another man from the group squared up with her throwing a pretty hard but sloppy punch which was caught mid-throw by Katharina , who used it to pull the man in for a punch to the face taking him down where she got on top of him and began to repeatedly punch him the face; calculating every punch to not kill him but make him wish he was dead for weeks to come.
She heard
the last guy running at her with a pip in his hand, but for someone reason, he suddenly stopped. Katharina turned around to see her Buttler Madam Charlotte, pointing the gun at the back of the head of the last guy who had apparently begun to piss himself as he realized that this could be his last moment on earth, but to his surprise and thankfulness the young woman called out to the older one
"Charlotte, that is enough, no guns,"
The older woman placed the gun away the man took off running.
"It's good to see you again, Ms.Heart; I see you still managed to keep that talent of yours from getting far over your head." said the older woman in a French accent.
"A talent I hope to put better use," said Katharina picking herself up, her hands covered in the blood of the criminal she had been punching and who was currently moaning in pain on the ground.
The billionaire followed behind her as she and Katharina got into a black and sliver Berlinetta.
Katharina pressed her head against the cold window of the class sports car, thinking back to all the time Charlotte had to bring her home early from school for fighting. At first, she lost every fight mostly because she was fighting boys who were often bigger than she was, yet as she got older and the boys only got bigger and stronger; Katharina got smarter; learning that technique over pure bronze could be a far more decisive factor in a fight.
The mansion was old but well taken care of; in truth, it bared more than a passing resemblance to the sprawling castle gothic castles of Europe than the newer McMansion that was far more common in the United States.
Its Weathered old stones twisted around itself as they did its construction, building on top of more senior and older layers , with the oldest part being the center clock and bell tower forever frozen at midnight that time a permeant reminder of her failures as a woman and the work to be done.
"I hope you don't mind me just providing the upkeep in your absence, but it has been a struggle attempting to keep the home out of the hands of the historical society after your perceived death.".
Katharina was silent as she walked into the mansion, facings the grand star case and dusty sheet that covered the priceless decore.
"I will take that as a yes, now your room has been left untouched since your departure at 18; outside of the occasional dusting and vacuuming-" her butler stopped as she noticed that Katharina was heading up the stairs but in a different direction towards the bell tower.
"Your old stomping ground, Mistress. Heart" Madam Charlotte looked up into the long vertical empty elevator shaft. "I'm afraid that the elevator had a long sense stop working, but if you wish, I can call a repairman in the morning.".
"There will be no need for that," said Katharina dropping her black duffel bag and rummaging through it until she found what she was looking for a rope with a grappling hook at the end of it, and with a good few twirls, the woman launched into the air booking the line on the edge of the upper platform and after yanking to making sure it was secure, Katharina began to use the line to help her scale the shaft, and in a stunning display of strength for her size and age, the older butler followed like me her boss all those years in the military paying off much to Charlotte chagrin; she had long since abandoned that life in favor for something more gentle; instead now at 50 years old she found herself climbing up a rope. 
Dust scattered across the old wood floor as it creek with the weight of Katharina and Charlotte's shoes. The inside of the cloak tower was untouched, for the thick layers of dust and grim would have to be cleaned off soon. The room was just like Charlotte's lift on the day before her travels, a cross between a machine workshop, gym, and an art studio.
"During the early 1800s, your great grandfather had the tower fitted with an early steam power proto-type elevator to help Herry escaped enslaved people to their hiding place before he sent them down the underground railroad to Canada.".
Katharina pulled back a white-covered sheet over some workshop equipment showing her old make-shift body armor. A project she never got to finish before she lifted for her travels around the world. "You told me that story the first time I discovered this place when I was ten.".
"I know; I just thought it would be good to remind you that you are not the first Heart to take on great risk for those you don't know..".
Katharina continues pulling off the dusty sheets, this time in her art section of the room.
"When you first started painting, I was so relieved." Charlotte paused, trying to hold back some emotion. "It was three weeks after the incident, for those weeks before, you had bearly made an effort to leave your room or eat, let alone raise a brush, yet one morning I found you sketching away at those canvases of yours.".
"Those weeks were a blur to me; it all felt like one night; in a way, it was still one terrible night; that is why I must conduct this war," said Katharina looking out a dirty window over her land to the foggy skyline of Boston proper, Katharina hung her head with resignation "It must be done.".
"A part of me wished that somewhere out there among the world during your travels; you gave away your fanciful notions of vigilantism. That you realize the ridiculousness of this all, but with the current news and;" Charlotte paused, looking the young woman in the eye. "That look in your eyes, it is the same as the morning you left the city for your travel, that determination.".
"So why did you agree," asked Katharina
"To keep it from turning suicidal, even if it's a prolonged endeavor.".
Katharina placed her hand on Charlotte's shoulder. "I'm lucky to have you,"
"Have you given it any thought?" asked Charlotte's as Katharina turned her attention back towards another of her painting of a scarlet angel casting down the unpunished towards judgment, and for one brief momentary second, Charlotte thought she saw Katharina smile
"Yes, I have. Is Marquavius still working in R&D?"
"Katharina Marquavius died shortly after you left on your travels.".
"Oh, Tony must have taken pretty hard.".
"I wouldn't know; Tony stopped coming by soon after you left the city for your travels.".
"Who runs R&D? Turner?"
"That would be correct,,"
"Is he workable?"
"He wouldn't ask questions," said Charlotte.
"Good.".
Tuesday, December 18, 2024
The clicking of Katharina 's heels could be heard down the long basement hallway. Her outfit was something she managed to throw together from her old closet. Even though it had been years since she had been anything like her black turtleneck sweater, skinny black jeans, black high-dollar sunglasses, and flawless white pearls, everything fit as snug and well as it had when she was a teenager. She had been the same exact size in clothing since she was 18, which would be the dream of a lot of women; however, Katharina 's body was always more time than other women. This wasn't to say she didn't have curves, but her body was like that of a woman's mixed martial artist and statue of the Greek goddess Athena, then the more typical build of the average American. Katharina 's only cared for the building she had created for herself in one way; functionality. She was as strong as possible without sacrificing any speedand fast as she could without muscle mass and the strength that came with it.
Katharina wasn't blind to the world; she knew that she was attractive even if she didn't feel like it at all; she always knew that others perceived her as such, and she used it to her advantage. A pretty face could always hide an ugly dagger. That she knew well as that was what Adisa had taught her and something that she took to heart. Katharina didn't truly need makeup, but she found it only added to her looks subtly. Dark red door lipstick, slight eyeliner, and perfectly painted matte black lipstick were all she truly needed.
"You look good for a dead woman," said Turner as he leaned against the door to the main R&D storage room dressed in slacks, a white collared shirt, and a blue blazer.
" resurrection is rejuvenating this time of year." joked Katharina faining the emotion she saw in others for the joke.
"So I heard" Turner opened the door to the room, "Shall we;"
"After you."
The room was large over a football field in its size and scope, with the ceilings being 50 feet tall. The interior was similar to a military warehouse , neat and organized with rows upon rows of boxes. Among the shipping boxes was a table set up with a metallic red model of what seemed to be an outline of a female skeleton from the neck down.
"You like it?" asked Turner.
"What is it?"
"Military grade exoskeleton slightly bulkier than Ward model it competed with but also marginally stronger. Of course, when the military gutted the Exo project in favor of more tank development to keep up with Putin or Xi it left both projects in storage."
"Why the shape?"
"The exoskeleton was designed to mimic the human skeleton, with the back and chest section being and more simplify copy of the human ribs and spine. Unlike the Ward company design, the suit was meant to be worn over the top of the body armor system rather than under it with sections of the body."
Katharina looks over the skeleton seeing sections of the body system having spaces where it can interconnect with armor, before noticing something else in the back of the exoskeleton a tail that ended in a pitchfork like a three-prong fork.
"I see you noticed the tail; it was designed it was supposed to be used to help climb and as an extra limb if needed, along with helping control direction while in the air."
Katharina looked back up at Turner. "In the air?"
Turner smiled. "I see you noticed that part," follow me, he said, leading her towards the back wall of the room where bat-shaped wings hung on the wall. Metal Rods ran through the cloth of the wings giving their shape.
"What is most impressive about the suit is its wing system which was itself an answer to the rumored glider and jet pack designs from Spader and Ward. The wings are collapsible to about the size of a book bag-like and even detectable; originally created for the wing to have autonomous drone function, but the AI system was never truly figured out."
"So it's a collapsible jet pack?" asked the billionaire.
"Not exactly. They are electric-powered and able to create enough lift to get a person in the air for sustained gliding. It is not a true jet pack, however, as it doesn't give constant lift; instead, it is more of a powered hang glider or wingsuit, if anything, and like the tail, both wings can function as extra limbs when it comes to scaling buildings." now if you follow me I have to show you the body armor "It is made of a Penta tri weave of a kevlar titanium mesh layered in between and over level 4 doubled ceramic plates that has impacts softening quick reaction jell.
The suit was originally made to observe and distribute impact from not just gunshots but also falls on cliff sides; however, it can still be vulnerable to edge weapons if cut between the grain of the mesh fabric in between plate sections, but I doubt you will be getting up and personal with any swordsmen while…sky diving." Turner said the last part with a healthy dose of sarcasm.
"Listen, Mr.Turner, if you aren't comfortable with this-"
"Miss. Heart, It's your company, and far as I can concern, these are already toys in your play set; I don't want to know nor care what you do with them as that is your business."
"That's good to hear-" Turner interrupted her again.
"Just make sure when this all comes tumbling down like a house of cards to leave me out of it.".
Katharina rubbed her hand against the armor in anticipation of the war to come. "Agreed"
December 23, 2024
Time had once again become a blur for Katharina , just as it did when she was a child. Like when she was a child, during her summer months, Katharina had once again thrown herself into another frenzy over a project within her cloak tower workshop. It had been almost a week since her visit to R&D and accruing her new tools.
The first thing was to create a paint job for her suit. The armor was a solid black fitting booth for camouflage at night, and that black has always been Katharina 's favorite color. The exoskeleton and the metal of the wings were coated in an ebony red, the same shade of lipstick with a Matt black finish; the cape itself was a charcoal blackish grey.
The last thing was the mask; it couldn't be just a mask; people wore masks, and people could be destroyed or corrupted; no, she needed to be beyond that beyond human. The cowl was in the shape of the face of a small-horned devil that covered most of her head for her mouth with a removable metal mesh that could be placed over it. At long last, Katharina was finished. Her war could begin. Katharina faced away from her butler toward a large oil painting of her…her failures.
"Never again," she said, finishing putting on her armor and reaching out for Charlotte to hand the mask.
"Mistress, are you sure about this? It's not too late,"
"It's been too late since I was eight; now hand me the mask.".
Her butler did as she was told, handing the cow over to Katerina, and with that, she placed it on her head. Madam Charlotte trembled in fear and horror as her boss turned around. Gone was the girl she had raised. Now in its place stood a monster, the culmination of years of effort to become something, something beyond human, a symbol of retribution.
"Good Lord!" the butler gasped as the wings rose up from the cape blocking out the painting and giving shadow to the body in the moonlight. Silent footsteps carried Katerina to the ledge of the glass window, and with one push, she was in the air. It had begun her war, the first steps in a long battle; a long suicide or perhaps a good death; an atonement for her sins, payment for her failures. 
Officer Tommy lit a joint as hell and pressed the gun against the teenager's head, holding him against the wall.
"Selling dope on Tommy O'Hara's block? Without his blessings on paying the tax, I don't know if you're the bravest idiot I met all year or just the damn stupidest." Tommy began to go through the kid's back pocket. "Tell you what, you pay me a tax and save me some desk work and unpaved leave."
CRASH…
Katharina landed on the nearby cop car smashing its hood in; the costume worked far better than she had planned. The cop stops dead in his tracks. He didn't even truly process what he was looking at before Katharina let a growl she brought from East Africa.
The cop reaches and tries to aim his gun at the monster before him, squeezing out two stray shots that only graze the outer age of Katharina 's cape; the dirty cop attempts to fire again, but by then, Katharina has jumped in the air throwing out darts from with the edges of her gloves. The knives stab into the man's gun hand, making him scream out, dropping his gun as Katharina drops on top of him. The kid is a petty drug dealer with more green in his eyes than sense runs off; Katharina doesn't care. She wasn't after him tonight.
The first thing officer Tommy saw as his eyes opened was the water of the sewer system as he was hung just inches above it by his feet; he screamed as he saw the face of the creature, half woman, the half devil; its voice was cold.
"Who do you work for?"
"WHAT ARE YOU!"
"I'm not going to ask again, who do you work for?" said the cold voice of Katharina .
"He will kill me!"
Katharina dunked the cop's head into the sewage water as the man thrashed around like a wild animal. Katharina counted to 30 and back before yanking him back above the water.
The man gasped, coughing. "Keshawn O'Sullivan, a unit of a Black guy with a fucking Irish accent, you can't fucking miss him; please let me go!"
"Can you swim?"
"What? Why! Let me go!" yelled the cop.
"CAN YOU FUCKING SWIM!" yelled Katharina , her voice almost cracking.
"Yes, please, just let me go!"
And with that, Katharina dropped the dirty cop into the sewage water. By the time Tommy pulled himself out of the water, Katharina was gone.
Christmas Eve 2024:9:30 AM
Charlotte brought a plate with a slice of bread and Patty sausage, slices of oranges, a banana, and a glass of green tea to Katharina , who was stirring awake as her butler walked into the room.
Charlotte sighed as she saw that the determination was still on her face. She had hoped that one night out would have changed her mind, but at least it's only stiffened it.
"What time is it?" asked Katharina
"9:30, ma'am"
"I went to bed at 7:30." complained.
"That maybe be, but nocturnal vigilantism is not your only mistress."
"The company," Katharina sighed.
"Indeed, and while no one expects you to be hands-on every day, I fully insist on you taking the reins and understanding how your family name is run.".

"In other words: you want me to be Bruce Wayne.".
If only because you insist on being Batman."
"Fine,"
Christmas Eve 2024 11:00
A blacked 300sl gullwing pulled into the parking deck under the International headquarters of Heart Industries , and a red bottom custom Louboutin healed leather boots stepped out of it, followed by the rest of Katharina dressed in black pants, very tinted sunglasses, dark red blouse that matched her lipstick and black blazer.
Katharina had always loved classic exotics. It was one of the few things her cousin shared and talked about after that night. It wasn't just for their looks, even though that was an added benefit, but the absolute skill and craftsmanship that came with it; they actually presented a challenge  to her and Eric when they went under the hood to tinker with them. American cars were, for the most part, simple and easy to figure out and became no real challenge to Katharina by the time she was 11.
Rodrick was typing away at his computer not looking at who had just entered the room from the elevator until after Katharina had spoken
"I have an appointment under the name Katharina Heart." said the 20-something raven-haired beauty, causing the desk man to look up immediately.
Reginald Huntington exited his office to the sound of laughter.
"So I said to the Hunter, why don't you try your hand at fishing instead." joked Katharina making Rodrick chuckle before noticing his boss and going quiet Katharina noticed this and said, "Say let's finish conversations of brunch, say tomorrow at noon.".
"He will be working then, Ms…Katharina!" exclaimed Reginald realizing who it was.
"Well, it's a good thing I plan on being around here often," Katharina said, walking into Reginald's office and looking around.
"How often do you plan on coming around, Ms.Heart? I can ask that an office can be made clear for you."
"Actually Reginald, this one will do just fine after all; it was my father's old office. It would only be fitting if I sat at his old desk, wouldn't you agree." She said, faking a smirk
Reluctantly Reginald agreed. "Yes, very, I can start moving my stuff out to a different office tomorrow-. "
"Now would be better," she paused, staring back at him. "If that wouldn't be too inconvenient for you."
"No, ma'am, not at all."
"Good," she said, sitting in her new chair and kicking her feet on the table.
…
Zero and David stood in front of the three shivering members of the Jane Liberation Army blanketed up in thick winter coats that seemed to do little for them inside the freezing warehouse.
"Your distrust of computers for communication was remarkable but equally hard to track, which provides some challenges in getting in touch with you."
"Yeah, that's kind of the point Opsec on the net is damn near impossible." said one of the J.L.A women.
"Very true; however, I possess other means of contacting those I need, as you all should know," said Zero.
David was silent as a grave, listing to the heartbeat of the women. Their blood was pumping from fear, not of him but of Zero. "There is no need to be alarmed." said the vampire suddenly before going silent again.
"My boyfriend is correct; if we wanted you dead, your cell could have been killed hours ago."
The same woman from group three spoke again. "So what do you want.".
"We share a common interest in free Hannah Hellfire; I have already begun got to assemble a team for that job. However, other actions will be needed in the meantime. I believe that your cause is right. This is why I have reached out to give aid and leadership.".
"We are doing just fine on our-"
"That wasn't a suggestion nor an offer."
"If we say no." asked the woman again.
"I will kill you and then your entire family; however, this isn't the way it has to be." Zero waved over to create supplies. "Inside of their weapons are enough weapons, Semtex, and equipment to keep your war going for years to come; if you work for me.".
The three women huddled together, hashing out their thoughts before turning around.
"Considering the other option, we will have to agree to join you, Ms.Winters."
"Heather Winters is dead; please call me Zero.".
…
"So where we last left off, the British empire has managed to plunge dick first into a hundred-mile-long rolling ambush due to their racism, making them thank they could conquer what amounted to a serval thousand-year-old war cult." said
"Don't forget the death canoes! Betty!"
"Right, so any way to understand what happened next, one must understand the geography of Vena while its coastline, which was mostly under British control at the time of the battle, was largely flat as you go up, it transitions into a hilly jungle then into a desert.
Van Canyon is located in the jungle and was the break line between Venan native government and the British colonial holdings; as discussed in our last episode, that didn't stop Venan raiders from lunching raids from the jungle. These raids were almost always pushed back immediately by the English; however, now that it was the English turn to push through the jungle, they were quickly becoming knowledgeable in Cu'man'tang or in English defense in depth."
"Here comes the wood chipper."
"Oh, don't worry, Alice, it gets worse even if the English managed to make headway after taking an area over just piles of their dead bodies thanks to the small number of German imported or copied machine guns that the Venan had gotten from the Germans, the English to had to deal with ye old IED's, yeah that's right the Venan under ordered of the Venan General and I am going to say his insanely long name in English because there is no way I will be able to in Venan. "Total War Bringer The Daughter Of Great Tom'kun The Lord Overseer Of Grand Territory Of The Emperor's Great North East And Law Bringer Of Von'tal The 3rd"
"That is indeed a name Betty." 
"Well, Tom'val ordered her troops to lay land mines and traps along all main roads big enough to fit more than two horses. It forced the British to take tight roadways where they would be ambushed by stay-behind troops almost 24/7, 7 days a week. Alice, this is part where I can say it gets worse.".
"Fucking how?!"
"How about hot air balloon-based air strikes!"
"Nope, nope! What? Why? How!"
"The Venan began to use hot air balloons to drop timed jerry-rigged IEDs on the British supply lines. They would also drop jars filled with mosquitoes hoping to spread malaria, which worked. By the time what remained of British troops made it to Van Canyon, they numbered around 12 thousand of the 27 thousand troops that were originally organized. Unfortunately, they were about to be trapped in a Canyon with almost 24 thousand Venan troops.".
Emma smiled as the podcast went to explain the battle. She found that listening to a podcast on history, especially one on her country, helped her when she was practicing her swordsmanship. It took only one single swing of her van'tak to chop the head clean off.
The van'tak was one of the oldest types of weapons in Vena history, a curved blade that, in construction, seemed to have the build of a scimitar and a katana, but in style was all African with the engraving along the blade and bright, colorful design on the handle and hilt.  The plamer was a work of art.
One side of it was made in the shape of a lion, the other of a woman. Any Venan could recognize that as a symbol of the chief deity of their pantheon, the Goddes of Life and War, birth and death Val, who, in collaboration with her husband Zen'kal, created the rest of the Orixa minor gods or spirits within their religion. 
Of course, her father had made Emma, along with the rest of her siblings, commit all their Gods names, dates, and powers to memories as nothing more than facts to be remembered no different than science, math, and military training that was drilled into every kid in the country, but it was their mother and one one (their grandmother) who taught them the stories, engraved into their imagination feats of victory and sting of defeat.
Women had always been the storytellers of Vena, the writers and scholars who kept track of history. Women in Vena had always enjoyed equality among men and other genders. In many ways, ironically, those in Vena who held on to their traditional values would have seemed
progressive if placed in the west.
Another stab into the center of another dummy causes the water it had been filled with to spill out, splashing all over Emma's bright-colored Kente dress.
"Got you!" said her brother AJ better known as the Splinter jumping from the bush surrounding Emma's practice area.
"Brother!"
"What? I can't mess with my little sister before her big day." he laughed.
"Is that your excuse for this day? Can you please give one for the other 365 days?".
AJ rolled his eye. "I haven't thought of any yet? So anyway, are you excited?"
"About what, I am already a princess. This is just another bit of tradition."
"Hey now, don't let one spirit hear that she might pop you from the beyond."
"Ooooh, scary boy, you are brother, scary boy indeed, but it's just an Enskinment.".
"Enskinment is very important outside of tradition, you know.".
Emma scoffed. "You don't think father will let rule he would come sooner past it own to that American pig Mansfield than me.".
"You never know besides; you might become Val's champion.".
"Oh brother, don't tell me you still believed in fairy tales?".
"In a world where men fly, is that so hard? Believe?"
"Very now, I have to go change," Emma said, walking away before stopping and sticking out her tongue at her brother.
The trip from the palace's backyard, where the dummy had been set up, to Emma's room was almost a 15-minute walk. The Princess's room was decorated and painted by her and her father, as was a tradition in Vena. The daughter and father painted the daughter's room, and the mother and son painted the son's room.
She got dressed again, changing back into a military outfit. In truth, she was scared pretty little for the ceremony and found the whole thing very ridiculous, but her father demanded it, so that was the final say on the matter. Before she left, she passed a picture of her mother smiling and holding her hand near the beach. "Wish me luck, mama," she whispered to the image before leaving the room.
The trip to the Van Canyon took almost all day by air. The Canyon was one of the national wonders of Vena in its beauty it was said to be where all life originated from, the Venan "Garden Of Eden.". It did look the part with it being craved out of a cash jungle mountainside that hung down over the canyon walls flowing down beside waterfalls that went into the rushing river that followed through both sides of an island at the bottom of the canyon. In the center of the canyon, say a pyramid like a template, a structure said to be older than Vena itself.
As Emma stepped foot into the shallow water, she disrobed as was tradition, bringing only sandals and colorful tribal beads. Emma's body was already covered in scarification. Detailed and unique patterns covered most of her back, arms and legs, and chess. Flanking the start of the staircase to the top of the pyramid were Venan special services dressed in their uniform, which was the same as the ones from hundreds of years ago, only that the material was changed. A cross between a knight and minders soldiers dressed in a thin layer of modernized anti-bayonetmesh with broken-up ceramic chest and leg plates covering their most vital areas.
Slung across their back were their rifles, and on their right armed, they held a ballistic shield. The soldiers did not even dare to look Emma in the eye as she climbed the stairs to the top of the pyramid. Waiting there for her was a priestess or Val and a box of black volcanic dirt. The priestess blesses Emma's head with a mixture of lamb's blood and oil before handing her a drink from an ancient bottle of scarlet red wine. The Princess General had to fight herself from spitting up the wine even as they buried her in the sand.
Then it was black, the kind of darkness one only saw when they were completely alone at night. Yet Emma could feel something in the void. She had never been one to believe in myths and always chalked up the accounts of the people seeing a vision under the sand to the old wine being laced with something, but now as she floated in an endless void that once was black sands, she began to reconsider all of that.
Suddenly a crimson light brighter than anything Emma had ever seen shined in front of her, and out of it came a lion charging at her, roaring, and with a scream, Emma was out of the void and in her….bed?
"Oh good, you finally got up," said AJ leaning up against the wall.
"How?" was all Emma could get out.
"Oh yeah, you jumped out of the dirt, threw up, and passed out again,"
"Fuck," mumbled Emma.
"Don't worry; papa is making a deep fake of it,."
"So he is just going to lie to people?"
"Since when has that been a problem for you, sister?"
"I-I don't know.".
The party was packed to the walls with raging teenagers. An Ace award party was a stuff of legends, and now Amanda and her friends were living it as they danced in the main ballroom to the latest and greatest party hits. Amanda hadn't actually seen Ace since that morning when she, Hailey, Destiny, Ace, Xander, Beverly, Bison, Maxwell, Stacy, and Brad all had breakfast. Still, she kept an eye out for him throughout the party; she had forgotten to ask him about the comic he had sent her a few weeks prior.
"Oh my god, Amanda, is that you!" Yazmin nearly yelled as she and Mars approached Amanda and her friends before Yazmin hugged Amanda. "Bestie, I didn't know you were in town. We could have shopped till we dropped before the party…wait, are these your friends!"
"Yeah, they are my best friends, actually Bison, Brad, Hailey, and Stacy," said Amanda; Stacy looked at her formal bully victim as she announced her as her best friend with a face of disbelief.
"Hey everyone, I'm Yazzy, and this is my friend Mars,"
"Hey, everyone," Mars waved before looking at Stacy. "I absolutely love your outfit,"
"Thanks," smiled Stacy.
"Say, um, I know this probably is gonna sound weird, but do you know where Maxwell at I did and some really stupid stuff early this year to him, and I really want to apologize to him."
Amanda looked around. She had just been hanging out with Max and Beverly earlier, but they seemed to have disappeared.
"No, I don't. I'm sorry, but I think they are in movies downstairs."
Meanwhile, Ace looked up at the night sky alone inside the mansion's conservatory, waiting and hoping for her; the superhero's heart was beating out of control as butterflies turned in his stomach as the minutes passed, and his hope began to dwindle when suddenly from behind him.
"Waiting for anyone in particular?" asked Dolly, making Ace spin around on a dime to face her. She was stunning, dressed in a 60's vintage winter dress and with almost glowing blue eyes.
"You came?" asked Ace, both surprised and elated that she had done so.
Dolly smiled, walking close to Ace, placing her hand on his chest, and leaning in. "I wouldn't miss this..no; I wouldn't miss you for anything in the world.".
"Dolly, I love-" Ace stopped as his girlfriend kissed him, it was electric, sparking flames of long memories of the two of them like a raging forest fire. The teenage billionaire pulled his life closer, embracing even more as it felt like he could walk on sunshine even on a cold winter's night. The two stood there like this for moments, but in their romantic embrace, it felt like an eternity. A song was the Earth Angle by the penguins that snapped the two reconnected lovers.
"I think they are playing our song," said Dolly.
Ace took her by the hand. "Shall we?" he asked as Ace led her out of the conservatory back into the ballroom where the party goers parted like the Red Sea as Ace, followed by a few other couples like Xander and Mia, joined in the slow dance.
Amanda looked at Brad and then at the dance floor, and in the words of Cap, she said, "fuck it and grabbed Brad's hand, pulling him towards the dance floor; this caused a chain reaction with Hailey and Bison joining in the dance along Mars and her date leaving only Yazmin and Stacy.
"Do you um..want to..dance?" asked Yazmin.
"S-sure," said Stacy as they, too, joined the rest of their friends.
Back with Dolly and Ace, they were slow dancing gazing into each other eyes with more emotions than a thousand "I love you." could ever manage to even scrape at.
"Dolly, I'm sorry for leaving you. I was an idiot.".
"Ace, your dad was murdered. You needed time. We both did; I just wished that I could have been there for you anyway.".
"Never again, Dolly," said Ace as they slowed dance. "I never want to be apart from you ever again."
"Till death do us part," said Dolly as they kissed again
Cap drank from his flask as Destiny walked over to him.
"I freaking hate this song," said Cap.
"Why?" asked Destiny.
"Bad memories back when it came out in 54, got stood up at my prom by Sarah Bertinelli for damn Chad Wingback QB of my town's football team.".
"Wait, how old are you?"
"88, I think I don't keep track all that much," said Cap taking another sip from his flask. "I don't age normally,"
"Well, I'm sorry to hear about your girl getting stolen by some jock."
"Oh, don't worry, dude got captured by the NVA in Nam, so it all worked out in the end. Amanda..well, the kid keeps trying to sign me up for an online nerd matchmaker called timber or something."
"Tinder."
"Whatever, but honestly, I'm pretty cool with being single. Too busy with other shit; what about you kid going steady with anyone?".
"Going steady? Christ, you are old, but no, it's the same with me, too much shit on my plate to date right now, I might look into it during the summer, but right now I'm pretty cool with just having friends.".
"Sounds you got a good head on your shoulder,"
"Thanks, Cap. You know you might not be as much of an asshole as I thought.".
"Damn, I must be going soft then." joked Slaughter.
As the song ended, Ace could hear very muffled screaming from a nearby restroom… it was Beverly.
"Dolly, I will be right back; stay here," he said, rushing off, but as he did, Ace bumped into Amanda
"Hey Ace, I just wanna say thanks for the comic you sent me."
Ace looked puzzled before saying, "I don't know what you are talking about right now, Amanda, but Beverly is in trouble, and I have to go.".
"Wait, W-" but Ace was already gone heading into the bathroom to see Max slumped against the wall, knocked out, and Massy on top of a struggling Beverly on the floor. In a blink of an eye, Ace had shoved Massy off of Beverly, pushing him out of the restroom into the ballroom, where everyone seemed to pause and take note of the scuffle.
"Rapist piece of shit, get the hell out of MY HOUSE!" yelled Ace.
Massy got indignant, smirking. "How about you make me? He said, throwing a hard punch into Ace, which took him back, or that was what Ace wanted Massy to think.
A year ago, that would have hurt; now, it doesn't even sting, but this will.
"Yeah, Ward, not so fucking tuff now, are you? All that money can't stop you from getting your ass beat." Massy took another swing which Ace blocked.
No fancy gadgets, just plain street fighting, I can't risk blowing my cover as Reaper, but he hurt my friends; I will make him pay for that.
Ace dodged the next few throws by Massy, waiting for him to get tired of the right opportunity, and when Ace saw his opening, he took it without hesitation swiping above Massy's eye but below his eyebrow.
Massy laughed. "What the fuck was that a tickle?"
"A building cut," said Ace as blood dripped into Massy's eye, stinging it; Massy threw another haymaker at Ace, one he ate with grace before throwing a strike of his own at Massy's shoulder. "And that was a nerve strike, probably didn't hurt all that much, but you ain't moving that left arm any time soon.".
Massy raged, running towards Ace to head, but which Ace casually sidestepped, sending Massy running into a table.
"Are you done?" asked Ace.
"FUCK YOU!" yelled Massy getting back up and attempting to do a running kick which Ace grabbed by Massy's ankle. "Funny thing with bullies, they always tend to try to pick up on the weakest, be that big fish in a little pond." Ace twisted the ankle incapacitating Massy's ability to walk temporarily as he dropped him down to the ground. "But when they are met with someone their own size, they tend just to crumble." Ace picked Massy up by the shirt and started to drag him down the ballroom towards the front doors of his mansion. "So I will say it one last time," Ace opened the front doors before tossing Massy on the edge of the steps leading up to the door. "Get the hell out of my house." With a slam of the door, Ace turned back around and immediately headed back to check on Maxwell and Beverly.
"Max, Bev, are you two alright?"
Max picked himself up from the ground hurrying over to the crying Beverly. "Did he hurt you?!" asked Maxwell, on the verge of tears.
"He tried to…I-I-I T-thought he w-was gonna-"
"I'm going to fucking kill him," said Maxwell getting up. "Where is he!" He yelled to Max, "WHERE THE FUCK IS HE!"
"Your friend Ace here kicked his ass and threw him out already," said Cap.
"But if you two want to press charges against that son of a bitch I am more than willing to be a witness," said Ace.
"I-I just want this night to be over," said Beverly.
"Look like you are getting your wish, kid; the party clearing after that ass beating Ace just handed out. Listen y'all it's been fun, but I got a flight tomorrow morning, so I am gonna try and sleep for a few hours; you get it from here, Ace?" asked Slaughter.
"Yeah, Ricky.".
"Who the hell even is that guy?" asked Beverly.
"It's a long story," said Ace.
Hours later, after all the guests at Ace's party had scattered or gone home petering out after the fight between him and Massy and along with her friends had turned in for the night, Ace, Amanda Dolly, Destiny, Xander, Maxwell, and Beverly all sat in the conservatory by the indoor stream. They were all silent, quiet in the face of what had happened. Until Beverly spoke up more accurately and laughed, causing everyone to look at her in shock; out of all people that night, Beverly should be the last one to do so, but there she was, laughing.
"You know Ace when they said your parties are ones to remember, they were not lying." she chuckled, her eyes red from crying, yet this caused a chain reaction of laughter. Ace shook his head. "This is one for the book, alright, but hopefully next Christmas is going to be a better one." he said smiling, thinking to himself, and it was in that moment, that small moment of friendship and family Ace made up his mind, he was going to tell them about the Reaper and for that one moment that single night Ace thought "Everything is going to be alright.".
…
The Revenant smiled as Lisa Monore walked into the dark integration room. The only source of light in the dingey stone dungeon of a cell was the light bulb on a string hanging directly above the table, the chair that the Revenant was strapped into.
"I'm loving this design of this room, very noir," laughed the Revenant.
Lisa wasn't in the mood for talking with the psycho, especially after what he did to Danny taking him hostage, but when the Feds woke her up because the scum bag was refusing to speak to anyone else, Lisa did as she was told. "You wanted to see me?"
The Revenant chuckled. "Well, it's not like I could call the other guy, now could I? Besides, I think he will be more fun to play with later," The Revenant leaned forward across the table, glaring at Lisa like a lion looking at its next meal, all the while still smiling. "But you, I have to try and play with,."
"The other guy?" asked Lisa before realizing who the mad man was talking about.
"I don't believe in ghost stories," said Lisa.
"I know you don't, and that's why I'm talking with you because you are the only one who knows he is real and the only one who gives him my message.".
"Your message? This isn't like the movies; you're gone, idiot; the Feds are waiting a few more days away from shipping you off to hopefully Gitmo. This ain't Gotham; you ain't getting out of what you did, freak.".
"Oh please, my dear Lisa, do you really think I don't know what my position is here? I'm right where I need to be; now I need you to get my message to our pesky urban legend?"
"What message?"
The Revenant smiled. "Let the games begin HA HA HA AH HA HA AH AH HA!" screamed the terrorist as Lisa turned around and walked out of the room.
Bisexual-Mart
Far from the shallow ground
- Location
- The Great State of Warshington
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'd actually like to see a group of Thor-like heroes, except using the Greek mythos as the basis. And not the sanitized Greek myths everyone learns in school, the real deal Greek gods you know if you've studied the actual stuff. Where everyone is pan, inbred as all heck, and turning humans against one another to settle their own little petty squabbles.
That... Actually sounds cool now that I think about it.
A Quick Question
So I have been working on a side project creating Spotify playlists for different characters. I have already created ones for Ace Sammy and Amanda and I am planning on working on making one for Cap tonight. I try to pretty much try to summarize their personalities/style in each playlist. If you guys are interested in that type of stuff I can post the links to the playlists in this thread. Personally I think it gives an extra layer of depth to the characters. I am also open to suggestions of other character I should make playlist for as well.
I've also done a similar thing for the characters of Red and Violet, and have also considered doing some for some of the other characters I have created for the Age of Heroes or Darkness stories.