...
You start breathing, still wondering what the fuck that was. You knew that Mr. Nightmare was Powered, but not like that. There was no way he and magic before. He would've used it in his shows a long time ago. And yet, here he was, using magic with his electric powers. Part of you thinks back to how your mom would say that Rock and Roll was the Devil and that rock stars sacrificed children to get demonic powers.
And while the jury was out on the child sacrifice, something was going on here. But for now, you're just glad you're still kicking.
"You did pretty good out there." Starhammer says. "I just want you to know that"
"Um... before I go, I have this... friend. He's a really big fan of yours. And he'd love an autograph from you. Would you mind? He'd love it"
Starhammer looks at you for a moment, face neutral. Then, he smiles, and grabs a discarded park map from a nearby table and takes out a pen from his pocket (does he carry a pen just for autographs?). He writes a brief message and signs his name before giving it to you. "Anything for a fan. Here's hoping that next time we see each, now, you should probably get out of here. "
You leave, slipping out of Fair Park and going into the night.
-------------------
Three Hours Later
Starhammer was sitting in the unassuming office of the DSA, in an unassuming building downtown. The on-site doctors had patched him up. Normally, he'd be sent back out on patrol, but he had been called into this one-on-one meeting. And while Starhammer would never admit this even under pain of torture, he was, if not nervous, at least slightly concerned. Not for his job. He was too powerful for that. But, the other person in the room could get creative when it came to punishments.
And that person was Deputy Director Nicole de Tavira. She was the second in command of the DSA's North Texas branch, second only to the Director Charles Gallagher, who was in DC trying to convince Washington not to cut their funding. Again.
"Mr. Farrel, I'm sure you have an idea why you've been called here." de Tavira says.
"Look, I had to do what I had to do to eliminate the threat. And this time, that threat was... Texas Ted" Starhammer said, as if even he couldn't believe it. "I mean... shit, I didn't want to knock his head off..." He said. He had a hint of sadness in his voice. "Dammit, my reputation isn't gonna recover from this, is it?"
"Well, that isn't quite why you're here, but we can go over that later" de Tavira said. "For now, we need to talk about the Vigilante that you were fighting alongside, The Vigil, I believe"
It was a file on The Vigil. A sketch of what they might look like, a blonde Caucasian man in his mid 30's. As well as a mid 20's woman with short dark hair. And a Hispanic man with a short beard. A blonde man with long hair. And even a woman with some long curly red hair.
"As you can see, we don't exactly have their appearance narrowed down" de Tavira says. "We believe that either The Vigil is using a disguise or is more than one person." de Tavira says. "We've gotten witnesses that claim that they saw all four faces underneath the helmet when it came off at one time or another. We are currently not considering any of these 100% reliable. It's possible that the faces themselves are a disguise or there is more than one person under the mask. In any case Anyway, I got off the phone with Director Gallagher twenty minutes ago. He's very concerned about the... nature of this attack. We still don't know how Nightmare revieced his new powers, but if he managed to do it, and he managed to hold you off for so long, every person capable of using magic in a 100 mile radius will be trying to do the same thing. And next time, we may not have a Vigil to rely on to defeat them."
"I was handling it" Starhammer retorted.
"You were barely hanging on at best" de Tavira says. "I've seen the footage we've managed to collect from the fight. You couldn't even slow Nightmare down. Now, the Director pushing us to hire more support staff that deal in magic both in theory, as well as a new Hero, someone who can put what our staff knows into practice on the ground. Now, we know that yourself and Mr. Merchant have dealt with The Vigil before"
"We don't need to necessarily recruit this one person, there are more than a few magic users in the city. But Baxter was insistent that we at least attempt to get The VIgil on our side." de Tarvia said. Fred Baxter was the head of PR for the DSA here. Unlike most other vigilantes in the city, they hadn't committed any obvious unseemly crimes that got , and they have gone out of their way to help people, even when they could've been arrested. People are generally pro-Vigil, so having them on their team would be a win. If you get the chance to talk without putting anyone in danger, try to sell them on joining up. But if he refuses-"
"Why would he say 'no'?" Starhammer asks "Everyone loves you, you work with the best of the best, you get a clean record. I know I wouldn't go back to being a vigilante writhing around in the dirt for scraps if I was-"
"Being a Hero isn't for everyone" de Tarvia interrupts. "And if he says no, we back off. Trying to push him too hard will only cause resentment. And having a resentful ally can be twice as dangerous than a motivated enemy. Better we recruit someone less experienced that is loyal" She sighs "But, we can discuss that at the end of the meeting. For now, we do need to discuss why you felt the need to throw a Forty Thousand Dollar truck at Texas Ted while there was a building full of civilians behind it..."
------------------------------
You enter your home around 10 pm. Jasmine texted you to let you know she made it home alright, and you called Adrian to let him know you were on your way.
When you enter your home, the lights are off. Adrian and Gwen on the couch, both fast asleep, Gwen leaning on Adrian and candy wrappers are littered in and around a nearby trashcan. The TV is playing a Halloween children's movie, safe and sound.
You smile, and sit down on the opposite side of Gwen. For a few minutes before you carry them to bed, you just sit down, enjoying a brief respite from vigilantism. From fighting supervillains. Tomorrow, you need to work, take your Hapkido lessons, go to church, and...
Well, you don't have to think about that for now. Right now, you just take the time to relax.
Choose 3 actions)
[] Go on patrol.
- [] Focus on your own neighborhood. You've seen more and more graffiti and people wearing red lately.
[] Learn some magical spells. Having a larger arsenal can help keep you alive.
[] Try learning a new skill. You may not be good at it at first, and it may not click right away, but it might save your life one day.
- [] Write in the new skill
[] Build contacts with other Vigilantes. Right now, you only really know Stampede and Operative.
[] Focus on your business. After Christmas, business slows down, so you need to make as much money as you can right now.
[] Start working on your hideout.
- [] Tap into the water and electricity so you can finally get water and power back to it.
- [] Invest in some defenses. Your main line of defense if that it's hidden, but if someone finds it, they have the run of the place.
[] Write in
And while the jury was out on the child sacrifice, something was going on here. But for now, you're just glad you're still kicking.
"You did pretty good out there." Starhammer says. "I just want you to know that"
"Um... before I go, I have this... friend. He's a really big fan of yours. And he'd love an autograph from you. Would you mind? He'd love it"
Starhammer looks at you for a moment, face neutral. Then, he smiles, and grabs a discarded park map from a nearby table and takes out a pen from his pocket (does he carry a pen just for autographs?). He writes a brief message and signs his name before giving it to you. "Anything for a fan. Here's hoping that next time we see each, now, you should probably get out of here. "
You leave, slipping out of Fair Park and going into the night.
-------------------
Three Hours Later
Starhammer was sitting in the unassuming office of the DSA, in an unassuming building downtown. The on-site doctors had patched him up. Normally, he'd be sent back out on patrol, but he had been called into this one-on-one meeting. And while Starhammer would never admit this even under pain of torture, he was, if not nervous, at least slightly concerned. Not for his job. He was too powerful for that. But, the other person in the room could get creative when it came to punishments.
And that person was Deputy Director Nicole de Tavira. She was the second in command of the DSA's North Texas branch, second only to the Director Charles Gallagher, who was in DC trying to convince Washington not to cut their funding. Again.
"Mr. Farrel, I'm sure you have an idea why you've been called here." de Tavira says.
"Look, I had to do what I had to do to eliminate the threat. And this time, that threat was... Texas Ted" Starhammer said, as if even he couldn't believe it. "I mean... shit, I didn't want to knock his head off..." He said. He had a hint of sadness in his voice. "Dammit, my reputation isn't gonna recover from this, is it?"
"Well, that isn't quite why you're here, but we can go over that later" de Tavira said. "For now, we need to talk about the Vigilante that you were fighting alongside, The Vigil, I believe"
It was a file on The Vigil. A sketch of what they might look like, a blonde Caucasian man in his mid 30's. As well as a mid 20's woman with short dark hair. And a Hispanic man with a short beard. A blonde man with long hair. And even a woman with some long curly red hair.
"As you can see, we don't exactly have their appearance narrowed down" de Tavira says. "We believe that either The Vigil is using a disguise or is more than one person." de Tavira says. "We've gotten witnesses that claim that they saw all four faces underneath the helmet when it came off at one time or another. We are currently not considering any of these 100% reliable. It's possible that the faces themselves are a disguise or there is more than one person under the mask. In any case Anyway, I got off the phone with Director Gallagher twenty minutes ago. He's very concerned about the... nature of this attack. We still don't know how Nightmare revieced his new powers, but if he managed to do it, and he managed to hold you off for so long, every person capable of using magic in a 100 mile radius will be trying to do the same thing. And next time, we may not have a Vigil to rely on to defeat them."
"I was handling it" Starhammer retorted.
"You were barely hanging on at best" de Tavira says. "I've seen the footage we've managed to collect from the fight. You couldn't even slow Nightmare down. Now, the Director pushing us to hire more support staff that deal in magic both in theory, as well as a new Hero, someone who can put what our staff knows into practice on the ground. Now, we know that yourself and Mr. Merchant have dealt with The Vigil before"
"We don't need to necessarily recruit this one person, there are more than a few magic users in the city. But Baxter was insistent that we at least attempt to get The VIgil on our side." de Tarvia said. Fred Baxter was the head of PR for the DSA here. Unlike most other vigilantes in the city, they hadn't committed any obvious unseemly crimes that got , and they have gone out of their way to help people, even when they could've been arrested. People are generally pro-Vigil, so having them on their team would be a win. If you get the chance to talk without putting anyone in danger, try to sell them on joining up. But if he refuses-"
"Why would he say 'no'?" Starhammer asks "Everyone loves you, you work with the best of the best, you get a clean record. I know I wouldn't go back to being a vigilante writhing around in the dirt for scraps if I was-"
"Being a Hero isn't for everyone" de Tarvia interrupts. "And if he says no, we back off. Trying to push him too hard will only cause resentment. And having a resentful ally can be twice as dangerous than a motivated enemy. Better we recruit someone less experienced that is loyal" She sighs "But, we can discuss that at the end of the meeting. For now, we do need to discuss why you felt the need to throw a Forty Thousand Dollar truck at Texas Ted while there was a building full of civilians behind it..."
------------------------------
You enter your home around 10 pm. Jasmine texted you to let you know she made it home alright, and you called Adrian to let him know you were on your way.
When you enter your home, the lights are off. Adrian and Gwen on the couch, both fast asleep, Gwen leaning on Adrian and candy wrappers are littered in and around a nearby trashcan. The TV is playing a Halloween children's movie, safe and sound.
You smile, and sit down on the opposite side of Gwen. For a few minutes before you carry them to bed, you just sit down, enjoying a brief respite from vigilantism. From fighting supervillains. Tomorrow, you need to work, take your Hapkido lessons, go to church, and...
Well, you don't have to think about that for now. Right now, you just take the time to relax.
Choose 3 actions)
[] Go on patrol.
- [] Focus on your own neighborhood. You've seen more and more graffiti and people wearing red lately.
[] Learn some magical spells. Having a larger arsenal can help keep you alive.
[] Try learning a new skill. You may not be good at it at first, and it may not click right away, but it might save your life one day.
- [] Write in the new skill
[] Build contacts with other Vigilantes. Right now, you only really know Stampede and Operative.
[] Focus on your business. After Christmas, business slows down, so you need to make as much money as you can right now.
[] Start working on your hideout.
- [] Tap into the water and electricity so you can finally get water and power back to it.
- [] Invest in some defenses. Your main line of defense if that it's hidden, but if someone finds it, they have the run of the place.
[] Write in
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