Many a superhero has handed their powers down to another to carry on their legacy, to keep up the good fight and honour their good name in a brand new age!
Now it is your turn to inherit such a legacy! Just... not a very dignified one that is.
Flying above the clouds, Skyline Moderne, the Art Deco metropolis of tomorrow, is a city constructed and designed by superheroes!
You see, superheroes have, among other powers, long possessed wonderous technology and feats of engineering that we mere marvellers could only dream of. Hence, twelve ingenious supers, led by the esteemed Dr. Aether (Quinton Quantrill to his friends), came together with a vision of granting use of their world-changing tech unto all. Yet they were not so foolhardy to let such power potentially fall into the wrong hands, for who knew how many new supervillains this could create?
So they had another ingenious idea: lift up Celesta Island from international waters, and create upon it a floating city as a social experiment, where mere everymen would be able to access teleporters, jetpacks, elixirs, shrink rays and more with as much ease as their fellow costumed crusaders. But since super-powers often mean super-egos, the Timely Twelve who crafted the city quickly fell into arguing and bickering, and before you knew it only a Founding Four remained still overseeing the project.
But to our young mademoiselle Corinne Cohn, all that was just background info on a tourism pamphlet. She had just made the big move up to Skyline Moderne, or 'Mod City' as most folks called it, to work as a scientist. She knew superpowers would to an extent be in store considering the city, but still had no idea just what kind of legacy awaited her!
Namely, that it might not be the most, er, 'flattering' one to bring up around the dinner table...
For you see, Corinne was about to inherit the powers of:
[ ] The Candelabrum: A superhero rabbi wearing special candle-armour, imbued with long-lasting light, flame and frying oil-shooters. Corinne herself is not particularly religious, but eh she'll do on short notice.
[ ] Captain Pizza: The superhero mascot of a pizzeria chain that went defunct years ago! Donning a red and gold oven-like armour, with lines of green and bronze edging, and wielding the powers of sizzling speed, able to get anywhere in the city in thirty minutes or less! Can burn enemies with fiery heat and peppers, stick to walls with a cheesy adhesive, and can flip while jumping for boosted height (makes up for no flight)!
[ ] Grimstar: The gritty anti-hero who first rose to infamy in the 90s... and has been treated like a joke ever since, due to being kind of a dick honestly. Outfits consists of huge pauldrons, spikes and leather. and Wielded the gory and gruesome power of vivisection, with enhanced vision and knowledge of anatomy to pinpoint exactly the weakest points from where to slice enemies into pieces!
[ ] Hamsterman: Possibly one of the oldest superheroes, having started in the 40s and continued into the 60s... and an instant punchline for anyone familiar with those super eras. His hamster-powers enable one to climb walls, burrow underground, develop remarkable senses for everything except sight, and able to grow cheek pouches to store more than humanly possible!
[ ] Miss Education: A superhero teacher with expert knowledge of all school subjects, be it Science, Maths, History, Sports, the list goes on! Fighting crime in order to show the world that school is cool... though apparently not stopping to take into account the pun in her own name. Has a surprise following in Finland.
[ ] Lady Pharaoh: An Ancient Egyptian Queen and longtime member of the Pharaoh Force, a league of superhero mummies! Her outfit is mostly bandages, though with an elaborate bronze deathmask. Possessing the stamina of the undead, lasso-like bandages, ancient curses, mummified pets, and the power of self-resurrection. In fact, Lady Pharaoh has been slain only to rise from the dead so many times... that she's become a running gag amongst supers.
[ ] Shiba Inu: A master hunter in the Japanese style, with enhanced eyesight allowing for tireless tracking and deadly accuracy, able to bolt enemies or slide up stealthily! Reinforced by the healing factor of a regenerating coat, and wielding a sonic weapon from a high-pitched scream! Despite the samurai pretensions, this hero line does not actually hail from Japan, being originated by a merely Japan-inspired hero in Venice.
But heroes don't hand down their legacy for just any old reason, for Corinne's prior relation to this hero was:
[ ] Family.
[ ] Friends.
[ ] Work.
[ ] School.
[ ] Chance.
[ ] Crisis.
[ ] Write-in.
(QM's Note: Note that Corinne will e given the option to modify her hero name, e.g. 'Hamsterman' to 'Hamstergirl', 'Hamstreme' or 'The Human Hamster', so don't let name alone put you off a hero. some hero legacies that don't win may still show up in the Quest if they get enough votes.
Some may notice one potential hero I cut from the Quest Ideas thread was 'Mister Manitou/Captain Totem', a parody of well-intentioned but groan-worthy attempts at Native American heroes by white writers, since I don't know if I really have the tact to pull something like that off without being groan-worthy in turn. I already feel I'm on thin ice with The Candelabrum, though I had to get at least one religion-themed superhero in there a la Bibleman or Captain Bible. You could still vote for Mr. Manitou if you really wanted.
This world has no single superhero power source, though there are a few common Origin trends like radiation, chemicals, aliens, deities, super-tech and so on. Lastly, since I've got both university and a somewhat unstable Internet connection right now, updates will likely be on the sporadic side.)
Libraria (Corinne Cohn): Recent arrival in Skyline Moderne, seeking work as a scientist, and former top student of Miss Acorn's. Having inherited her teachers' chalkboard baton, she has somewhat grudgingly taken up her hero legacy. Has long reddish-brown hair, bright blue eyes, and her current costume is a pinstripe waistcoat over black latex. Has no powers herself, but having been a top student overachiever in school she possesses knowledge and training in many subjects, including Science, History, Geography, Maths, English, Gymnastics, Fencing and onward.
Miss Education (Abigail Acorn): Corinne's high school teacher, used to be a frankly embarrassing education-themed superhero before a bout of illness. After her student Corinne's graduation, she entrusted her baton and lecture notes to her, to carry on her legacy in Skyline Moderne.
The Foundational Four/Timely Twelve
Doctor Aether (Quinton Quantrill): The mind behind Skyline Moderne, a genius inventor and all-around scientist, though especially noted in the fields of robotics, nanotech and astrophysics, his numerous inventions making up for his lack of innate powers. However, he is also infamous for having become ever more reclusive since the founding of the city.
Fighting Spirit (Raquel Midoriyama): A Japanese-Brazilian martial arts expert who, on top of her mastery of many existing techniques, has created her own fighting style, which involves take the body's adrenaline or 'fighting spirit' and shaping it into psychic constructs. Wife of Dr. Aether, she has more and more become the 'face' of the Foundationals, due to her husband's increasing seclusion and Fantasme and Foul's, er, shadier activities.
La Grande Fantasme: A master-thief decked in a purple coat and top hat, their face barely visible beyond his opera mask and high collar. A skilled caster of illusions who has also trained to achieve perfect balance, able to stay atop thin poles and slide down rails. The duo of Dr. Aether and Fighting Spirit are apparently the only people they have ever failed to steal from, which is weirdly how they first became friends. While LGF is well-regarded among the hero community, their reputation with various world governments and corporations is on much shakier ground.
Renaissance Foul, the final of the Foundational Four, is filed under 'Villains'.
Octobriana (MahariAmazona): Former. An immortal time-travelling Communist superheroine of mixed Viking Rus and Toltec (and possibly Indian, giver her name) descent. Would ultimately abandon the Skyline Moderne project when it began to rely more and more on corporations for funding. People say she looks like actress-singer-model Amanda Lear for some reason.
The Live Death (Martin Leon): Often considered the world's first 'superhero', or at least to be named that when the term was invented back in 1938. A New Orleans man of whose former life little is known, his corpse was carried over to Baltimore to be raised as a zombie by the early supervillain Sorcerer Locrian. However, he possessed willpower great enough to rebel against his would-be-controller, going on to confront greater villains still. His power have varied, as expected for a hero active this long, but harnessing the icy chill of death and inflicting plagues upon evildoers are two of his most well-known. His feathered raven mask is one of his most signature features, often coupled with his trench coat and top hat given the era he hails from.
Bruiser Buck: A renowned superhero who was mainly a defensive fighter, said to be able to conquer anything. Murdered by an unknown gunman in a single shot.
Arachne Computers
Millennium Model: Current Director of Operations at Arachne Computers. A sleek, hairless gynoid of a shimmering silver frame and an Icelandic accent, she is Corinne's new Boss. Being a walking, talking supercomputer, on top of her sturdy machine physique, her circuitry can perform calculations faster and more accurate than any human, and her hard drive puts human memory to shame. She also has an in-built hologram projector for disguises, though she dislikes using this due to preferring her 'natural' robotic appearance.
Zeppelina (Melissa Torino): A curly redhead known for designing and programming the AI for airships, spaceships, and occasionally time machines even.
Holo-Girl (J0seph1ne): A cheerful and perky British-accented assistant A.I. girl, like most A.I. holograms she can phase through objects and be immune to physical attacks (though at the same time has difficulty physically attacking), reprogram her appearance, and upload herself into computers.
Pharaoh Force
Lady Pharaoh (Queen Neferastet): A resurrected Egyptian Queen superhero, has become somewhat infamous for having died and been brought back several times, as expected of a mummy.
The Slithering Serpenteam
Ophiuchus (Rufus Hislop): A Texan medical doctor who lost his arms and legs, he attempted to brew up a formula to regrow them and failed, but acquired super-stretching as a side-effect. Extending his torso, neck, jaws and teeth to make up for his lack of limbs, he is backed up by his knowledge of poisons and wears a snakeskin mask over a green lab-coat. He wears prosthetic limbs usually, but takes them off while out hero-ing as they can get in the way of his powers.
Hero Actors' Guild
Black Cat (LindaTurner): Former. One of the Guild's co-founders back in the 1940s, and one of the first female costumed heroes. Had no superpowers, but was more then skilled in the arts of stunt work, judo, acrobatics, motorbiking, lasso and javelin. The 'black' in her hero name took on another meaning though, as she would later end up on the Hollywood Blacklist for suspected Communist sympathies, possibly at the insistence of Nazi supers who'd switched over to the US after WW2.
Man of a Thousand Faces (Ted Parrish): Former. One of the Guild's co-founders back in the 1940s. An actor with a seemingly endless gallery of disguises, he would end up succumbing to schizophrenia.
Triple Threat: A superheroic Broadway star.
Rising Star (Aoba Tsubasa VIII): A Takarazuka Revue superheroine, the great-granddaughter of the first Aoba Tsubame yet the eight in her family to receive that name, and from said Revue's Star Troupe as her English nickname would suggest.
High Velocity (just-for-fun crossover cameo team)
Divine Tragedy (Sabrina Vient): A Canadian-Australian super who's been mostly active in Japan, tends to hang out in Elsewich when she does visit Skyline Moderne. Her powers can be hard to explain, but revolve around converting grief from an emotional state to a physical one. Wears a blue cape and grey breastplate over black tights, has silver hair and wields a war-hammer.
Cadet Valkyrie (Anna Sanchez): A shy, awkward powered armour/exosuit pilot, with a halberd as her signature weapon.
Numero Nada (Nemo Elcorbuzier): A petite ghost samurai with a moth and skull motif, able to manipulate shadows.
Solid Core (Anastasia Boheart): A purple-haired young girl, fights as a flying magitech energy blaster.
Jamie Prescott: Corinne's friend from the surface who also moved to Skyline Moderne, a goofy slacker type.
Hector Halliday: Jamie's friend in Moderne, a long-practicing tap-dancer.
Cristobal Albeniz: One of Corinne's co-workers at Arachne, is apparently ninety years old, though looks only a third that age due to his use of de-aging perfume.
Ross Situma: One of Corinne's co-workers at Arachne, is a frequent user of an app called Council, which lets you chat with your alternate universe selves.
Amjad al-Hijazi: Owner of Arabica Nights, the closest café to Corinne's apartment, and a reasonably popular go-to spots for Noxville heroes. A speedster both physically and mentally, he used to go by 'The Boiling Bean' back in the day, though is considering changing the name as his daughter can't take it seriously.
Beautique Belle (Jessika Becherer): A superhuman costume designer from Germany, she's in charge of L'Essayage boutique and one of Melissa's friends, though you wouldn't know that from the way Belle talks about her. She can make any fabric she weaves super-resilient, like a ballgown tougher than Kevlar.
Eileen Columbus nee Phair: A woman saved by Libraria on her first night patrolling the town.
Belinda Columbus: Eileen's young daughter, black pigtails being her defining trait.
Villains
Malicetown Denizens
Renaissance Foul (Nicholas Drebbel): The sole villain member among the Foundational Four, although he has agreed to a ceasefire within Skyline Moderne's walls. Still a likely factor in why many of the original Timely Twelve left the project. An engineer seen as second to only Dr. Aether, a position that has caused him no end of grief and irritation, since Foul can't get enough comparing himself to the inventors of old. Whereas Aether works with the latest and greatest in tech, Foul's specialty is in reviving and expanding upon old, outdated tech, in particular from the Classical and Early Modern eras. His costume reflects this, with an oversized ruff around his neck to hide his flabby stomach, a tall hat with multiple feathers meant to disguise his short height, a thin curly moustache and pink opera gloves going past his elbows. A longtime enemy of Aether, he agreed to assist in the Skyline Moderne project to gather more info on Aether and, as many suspect, to use the city's population as his personal guinea-pigs, and is the main reason for Malicetown's inclusion. And yes, he has heard more than his fair share of 'Renaissance Fowl' jokes.
The Big Top Trio
Master of the House of Fun (Garth Grimaldi): Master Funhouse for short. Leader of the Big Top Trio, has come into possession of a world-distorting "Magic Mirror' made by none other than Doctor Aether. An old man with elongated limbs, hair and nails, he and his cohorts go around vandalising and destroying superhero art pieces. Highly suspected he got the Mirror from its actual thief, being too small-time to pull off a heist on Dr. Aether.
Mister Midway (Mark Ferris Columbus): A middle-aged gadgeteer and long-time associate of Funhouse, he wears a porcelain mask and stockpiled a collection of carnival games, redesigned to be lethal.
Musclemoiselle (Ryan Torrance): A circus strongwoman, possessing super-strength that grants her a powerful grip and the ability to leap high and long distances.
The Hepcat Gang
Hippodrome: Said to be the leader of the 4X superdrug-dealing Hepcat gang.
Wild Cards
Deadblooded/Totenblut: A young-looking vampire woman with pitch black hair, pale white skin and deep red eyes and lips. Something of an odd-jobs taker, caring more for being paid in blood rather than money. Rouge-Garou: Totenblut's partner, a werewolf girlwho hides her features under a red hood and cloak.
Frostbright: A gadgeteer seen around Noxville, wielding a heavy but portable snow machine, with said snow specialised to cast blinding reflections. Is apparently part of a duo with someone named Dancer Dark.
The international flying city, built by superheroes but open to the common man. 'Mod City' or 'The Skycity' is the brainchild of a superteam dubbed The Timely Twelve, but due to super-infighting only four of them (Dr. Aether, Fighting Spirit, La Grande Fantasme and Renaissance Foul) still remain attached to oversee the place. Skyline Moderne is divided up into six main Boroughs, the first three of which being built on the original Celesta Island, the next three being extensions straddling the stratosphere:
Goldenguise is the beating heart of the city, the godlike grandeur of its spires and supers leading it to be nicknamed 'the Mythopolis'. Heading out from the airship and teleporter station you'll come to the main square of the city, the Parthenon where the world's foremost heroes meet being straight ahead. Most of the more mythically powered superheroes naturally live here, hence the nickname, and where Moderne's Greektown and Little Egypt can be found. Speaking of 'little', Goldenguise is also home to Littlelake, the idyllic city farming community there to add a touch of rural charm amidst the urban sprawl.
Sciencity is the city's gadgeteering wonderland, where much supertech such is made and distributed, and home to the city's highest mutant, robot and alien populations. Teleporters, airships, spaceships and time machines are among some of the inventions you'll find here, and a prime place to go if you're shopping for superpowers yourself. Just make sure to think before purchasing! This is also where you'll find the Japanese quarter of Nihonmachi.
Noxville is the shadiest part of town, both figuratively and literally due to the elaborate architecture and clouds passing through blocking out quite a bit of sunlight, impressive at this height. Its mean streets, most of which are narrow enough to be alleys, are stalked by much of Moderne's Non-Powered Heroes, including those of a detective bent, and many who would straddle the line between right and wrong. The Hong Kong-patterned Xiajangai/Xiarenjie can also be found here.
Herowood is the first of the extensions to Skyline Moderne, an entertainment district built to house the casts and crews of superhero movies, in return for their publicity efforts. the borough contains many recreations of the city's other districts, as filming in them might end up somewhere... awkward, plus the difficulty of finding another city to substitute for Skyline Moderne.
Elsewich is probably the strangest borough of an already strange city, as it is named for its high population immigrants from other time periods and alternate realities. Whereas most of the city sports futuristic Art Deco architecture, if on the darker side in Noxville's case, Elsewich's design runs a gamut of styles from past and future, and some bizarre styles only making sense in a parallel universe. One such style being Viking-Toltec-Brutalist fusion blocks commissioned by Octobriana, one of the city's co-founders before she left in protest of the Skycity making deals with corporations.
Malicetown is... likely the city's most controversial district, being chiefly inhabited by supervillains, with all the looming castles, bubbling laboratories, slimy carnivals and imported volcanoes you can think of. This is in part in due to Renaissance Foul, one of the city's co-founders, being a villain himself, but also the other (remaining) founders seeing this as a way to keep many of their foes firmly within their sights. This arrangement so far has worked surprisingly well, as the villainous residents are more often at each others' throats than having the time to ruin any citizens' lives. It should be said that the typical Malicetown resident would still insist they're a hero despite evidence to the contrary, as few would unironically call themselves villains.
While superpowered humans have been around almost as long as regular humans, with heroic ideals typical of the super emerging with the spread of the Abrahamic and Dharmic religions, the term 'superhero' itself didn't become common until the late 1930s, when those with powers started turning into vigilantism in response to police actions during the Great Depression, taking inspiration from circus performers, wrestlers and movie swashbucklers.
Government registration varies from country to country for superheroes. It has never been a thing in the US, and used to be law in the UK, Russia and China before being abolished by Thatcher, Yeltsin and Deng respectively. All EU countries require registration, along with Canada, Japan, India, and New Zealand, with Australia and Brazil introducing it around the turn of the century. Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay all require it among Hispanic countries. South Africa has always had it for supers of colour, but it has now been expanded to white supers as well. Saudi Arabia of all countries is the only Arab nation not to have registration.
Government registration itself however can vary in intensity depending on country, for example in Australia, Japan and India it's little more than simply confiding your secret identity with the government so they can add you to their databases. In countries like Israel or Cuba though, superhero registration is more akin to a draft, while countries like France and Italy have flipped between milder registration and conscription depending on the era.
Corporate-signed superheroes are quite common in the US and Japan, are now legal in Russia and China, but banned in the EU. However, many countries will usually distinguish between a super who starts their own company, and a super who signs on to an existing company, Cuba being an example of where both are banned.
And Beyond
The Sunken Realms are a collection of undersea kingdoms that long ago were on land. The most prominent include Doggerland, Kerguelen, Zealandia, Sahul, Sundaland and Beringia. Merfolk from Doggerland possess strange traits such as wings and webbed feet to match their tails, the Warsaw Mermaid being a famous example.
Mercury, Venus and Mars have all been made contact with by Earthling superhumans, with minority enclaves of each all found within Skyline Moderne. Integration with humanity beyond that has been... slow to progress, to say the least, with fears that aliens from these planets will have no resistance to Earth illnesses. Such aliens include but are not limited to four-legged insectoid Venusians, the Brains of Mars and the dinosaur-like Dryaks of Mercury. More and more is gradually being learned about the outer planets, but anything beyond our Solar System is just as much a mystery to Supers as it is to us.
Zoom was (maybe still is) an ancient flying city able to travel through time and space, ruled by an evil Sorceress who still notably sided against the Nazis in WWII. Having a technological counter to it may have partly been an inspiration for Skyline Moderne.
Corinne Cohn took a short leap off the gleaming airship she and many others had arrived in, and now stood on the marble piers of Skyline Moderne's Aerial Harbour, a vast, golden complex where flying ships to distant lands came to and fro, with several teleporters also provided for the traveller in a hurry. Already she could see one of the distinctive scenes of this city, superhumans flying up above over the crowds, leaving the floor below free for the convenience of the non-powered or less powered.
Monitors overhead were broadcasting just as many superpowered battles as they did coming and going flights; an instant sign of newcomers to the city was how they often stood still transfixed by the action, while regular residents simply went about their daily business.
Corinne's luggage was soon warped to be right in front of her, though apparently airport teleport tech till couldn't keep all her bags from collapsing together in a heap. As she scrambled to pick them up and find a hovering platform to help her carry them to a taxi or jetpack rental, her eyes also darted around for any sign of her main contact in this city.
While waiting around, she pulled what to her was the oddest going-away present she'd been sent, the chalkboard pointer that she'd received from her old teacher, packaged with a bundle of exam answers and textbooks. Guess it's a nice gesture from Miss Acorn, but I still don't see her logic behind it, especially now that I'm done with school. Like was my going away just too short notice for her, so she scrambled for a gift? Well, I do appreciate the sentiment.
"Yo, Corrie!" a voice called out to her from across the airport, snapping her out of that thought. Shortly enough her 'main contact', a squat guy wearing flannel and sporting shaggy hair, came running up to greet her. "Cool, you finally made it. Ain't this place like, awesome?!" exclaimed Jamie Prescott, her friend and classmate also from high school "I mean, like, you've only seen the first bit of it, but still, neat right? -Wait, ain't that Teach's stick?"
"Oh, this? Yeah, think she meant it as a going-away present" Corinne muttered as she looked down at it. She supposed now wouldn't be a good time to bring up that, while she usually got good grades, Jamie was frequently the lowest-scoring student in class. Then again, he was first to move up to this city before me, so maybe I should cut him some slack? Corinne reconsidered.
"Like, I see supers flyin' about all the time now, but Teach was the first superhero I ever knew in person" Jamie said as he started to reminisce.
While superheroes were mainly thought of as a big city deal, many small towns typically had their own local supers. In Corinne's case, Abigail Acorn or 'Miss Education', a costumed vigilante who'd set out to prove that school could be cool, not even stopping to consider the unfortunate pun in her own name... wasn't exactly any source of hometown pride, to put it mildly. Pretty learned though, it was easy to see how she got the job.
Still, last time I saw Miss Acorn she wasn't doing so well, Corinne thought to herself, Heard she was coming down with something. No idea if I should bring that up with Jamie. "Yeah, same" was all she said.
"But hey, what're we sticking 'round here for? You totally gotta see the rest of the city," Jamie spoke up, before a twinge came over his face for a second "Er, hate to ask, but you got any change on ya? Gonna need cab fare is all".
"W-wait! Don't you have your own car or hovercar or something?" Corinne blurted out.
"Nah, dead broke dude. Spent the last of my Mazuma on the move up here," Jaime sighed, hands in his pockets "Oh yeah, Mazuma means-"
"Moderne's currency, yeah I know. What, you think I didn't read up on this place before moving here?" Corinne quickly answered "I've got about $90 spare".
"Ah right, reading up..." Jamie winced "Anyway, $90's more than cool for a cab and some eats, but since ya got a whole load of luggage to haul around we oughta stop at your new digs first. So, where's your place?" he then gestured to a floating holographic map of the city, a "YOU ARE HERE" arrow positioned in the south by the airport.
"Welcome to Skyline Moderne, the Super-Citadel. Please select a destination to learn more" a synthetic voice automatically began whirring:
Goldenguise is the beating heart of the city, the godlike grandeur of its spires and supers leading it to be nicknamed 'the Mythopolis'. Heading out from the airship and teleporter station you'll come to the main square of the city, the Parthenon where the world's foremost heroes meet being straight ahead. Most of the more mythically powered superheroes naturally live here, hence the nickname, and where Moderne's Greektown and Little Egypt can be found. Speaking of 'little', Goldenguise is also home to Littlelake, the idyllic city farming community there to add a touch of rural charm amidst the urban sprawl.
Sciencity is the city's gadgeteering wonderland, where much supertech such is made and distributed, and home to the city's highest mutant, robot and alien populations. Teleporters, airships, spaceships and time machines are among some of the inventions you'll find here, and a prime place to go if you're shopping for superpowers yourself. Just make sure to think before purchasing! This is also where you'll find the Japanese quarter of Nihonmura.
Noxville is the shadiest part of town, both figuratively and literally due to the elaborate architecture and clouds passing through blocking out quite a bit of sunlight, impressive at this height. Its mean streets, most of which are narrow enough to be alleys, are stalked by much of Moderne's Non-Powered Heroes, including those of a detective bent. The Hong Kong-patterned Xiajangai/Xiarenjie can also be found here.
Herowood is the first of the extensions to Skyline Moderne, an entertainment district built to house the casts and crews of superhero movies, in return for their publicity efforts. the borough contains many recreations of the city's other districts, as filming in them might end up somewhere... awkward, plus the difficulty of finding another city to substitute for Skyline Moderne.
Elsewich is probably the strangest borough of an already strange city, as it is named for its high population immigrants from other time periods and alternate realities. Whereas most of the city sports futuristic Art Deco architecture, if on the darker side in Noxville's case, Elsewich's design runs a gamut of styles from past and future, and some bizarre styles only making sense in a parallel universe. One such style being Viking-Toltec-Brutalist fusion blocks commissioned by Octobriana, one of the city's co-founders before she left in protest of the Skycity making deals with corporations.
Malicetown is... likely the city's most controversial district, being chiefly inhabited by supervillains, with all the looming castles, bubbling laboratories, slimy carnivals and imported volcanoes you can think of. This is in part in due to Renaissance Foul, one of the city's co-founders, being a villain himself, but also the other (remaining) founders seeing this as a way to keep many of their foes firmly within their sights.
"Hmm, pretty sure I recall my new apartment was in-"
[ ] Goldenguise
[ ] Sciencity
[ ] Noxville
[ ] Herowood
[ ] Elsewich
[ ] Malicetown
(QM's Note: Keep in mind you don't have be a member of a district's stand-out demographic in order to live there. So you don't have to be a movie star to live in Herowood, a slider to live in Elsewich, or a villain to live in Malicetown, it'll just mean you'll have them as your neighbours.)
"Noxville? Hey, that's not too far from my place in Malicetown" Jamie responded, before he gulped and quickly clarified "Um, I'm no bad guy or anything, I just room there 'cause the mortgage's cheap".
"Wait, you actually own a place here?" Corinne's bright blue eyes widened "Sorry, that was rude of me, it's just that you said you were having money troubles-"
"Yeah, but the law in Mod City's like, sup dudes, no landlords allowed. Cool huh?" Jamie went right back to a grin, though he had to admit "Ugh, 'cept in Herowood I've heard, but like the movie biz is in charge of that place as much as the Founder Four are, Skycity don't pay for itself".
"Oh man, tell me about it" a third voice spoke up as a young black man, curly hair in a short tail and a goatee barely growing, walked up.
"Right, forgot! Corey, this here's Hector Halliday, real cool guy I've met up in Mod City" Jamie announced as he put his arm around Herb's shoulder, making Herb twitch a little "Hect here's trying to make it big in Herowood as a- er, you're in a Flashdance remake or somethin'?".
"What? Oh no, not at all, I'm what they call a 'flash-dancer'. It's like a tap-dancer but more complex, very acrobatic, lotta splits involved. I'm also taking violin lessons on the side," Hector explained, tossing his blue scarf back over his coat, before he sighed "Not much success so far though, I'm stuck waiting restaurants for the foreseeable future.
Eh, I'm rambling. Anyway, you'd be Corrine Cohn, correct? Jamie's told me quite a bit about you" Hector extended a hand to Corinne.
"It's a pleasure" Corinne smiled and nodded back.
"Man I'm hungry, let's eat!" Jamie suddenly changed the subject "Hey Cory, you seriously gotta try the food up here, it's outta this world! Er, metaphorically, well sometimes literally".
At Jamie's insistence, the three went to a Dogs'n'Donuts booth close by, a chain owned by the Chicago hero The Delectable Dog Dare (and his sidekick Sprinkles Spitz), as the store's logo was quick to remind customers.
"Um, no offence Jamie, but I don't think an airport fast food joint will make the best first impression of a city's cuisine" Hector had to mutter.
"No, I'm fine" Corinne said, clutching her head and stumbling slightly "With the jetlag I've got, I'm not that fussy right now".
"Huh, what's that?" Jamie looked up and said back "Couldn't hear ya, I'm playin' Spider Swing on my phone while this queue's around. Game actually gets real hard on the later levels".
When it came time for them to order, Corinne asked "I'll take a dog with mustard (hold the ketchup) and a black coffee".
"Yeah, can I get a Duperdog with ketchup, bacon, pickles, mustard, onions, gravy and cheese-whiz and a Glazed Malt Honey-Choc Shake Supreme with fries?!" came Jamie.
"Just a double-order of Vienna cappuccinos for me thanks, gonna be up late tonight" Hector put simply.
While sitting a 50s diner-style table for their food to arrive, Corinne's eyes were drawn to an overhead TV, displaying the picture of a snake-masked quadriplegic man in a green lab coat:
"Super Spotlight Special! Today's costumed cavalier is Ophiuchus, originally a mild-mannered Texan doctor who lost his limbs, he strove to find a medical formula to reverse his amputation. While he hasn't quite gotten his limbs back, the formula he prepared gave him super-stretching powers, able to warp around his foes with his elongated neck and torso, and swallow crime whole in his ballooning jaws! Also packing a pile of toxins, for what cures can poison in large doses, he is a shining member of the Slithering Serpenteam! Great Snakes! Formula available at the following retailers-" the spotlight played on, as the three began to chow down.
* * *
As you'd expect, this wasn't the last ad Corinne would come across that day. The three would then leave the airport to hail down a taxi, Jamie still shoving his meal into his gaping mouth, where after a few seconds they were met by a flying vehicle that swooped down despite not appearing to have anyone in the driver's seat.
"You, youse lookin' for a ride?" a computerised voice vibrated out from the hovering taxi "Looks like ya've got -bzzt- quite the luggage load, missy. Alright -beep-, who's payin' up?".
"That'll be me" Corinne said "It's my luggage after all, and Jamie hasn't got anything on him after all. Plus Hector was nice enough to pay for our late lunch".
"I mean, I did really need those coffees" Hector spoke up.
"Hop aboard then, people. Let's get movin' here" the AI cabbie whirred and crackled. The three of them together hauling Corinne's luggage up into the boot, her teacher's baton sticking out of a briefcase till caught her eye.
Boarding the cab, Corinne almost jumped back as the seatbelts fastened themselves, and a pair of mechanical arms came down from out of the ceiling and started touching a glowing blue dashboard, making the cab lift itself up and move. It was then quite a rocky ride as the flying taxi sped and swerved it way past Goldenguise's sun-challenging skyscrapers, a series of floating lights being the only indication that it was still on some sort of airy freeway.
And a crowded freeway too, it turned out. As the taxi hit a spot of traffic, The (English) Beat's "Save It For Later" stopped playing on the radio and an ad break came crackling on, one that caught Corinne's attention more than the last:
"New in town? Why not do as the fine people of Skyline Moderne do, and try out being a superhero? With all the thrills, skills and daring-do that details, as what better way is there to contribute to the community then by saving a fair citizen's life? Dont have powers? Don't need them, as many a costumed vigilante of old will tell you! remember, it's the Hero that counts, not simply the Super! AuthorisedbytheFoundationalFourGovernmentofGoldenguise,SkylineModerne. Godspeed!".
After that came an ad for some fruit-flavoured pastry, and then the music came back when some 60s jazz started playing. "Dude, this is my jam!" Jamie exclaimed "Although I could never be a superhero myself, takes way to much effort for me. Nope, I'm cool just sitting on the sidelines"
"Plus, I doubt The Scintillating Slacker Boy would sell past the first Issue" Corinne couldn't help but giggle. Or The Dynamic Dropout, she thought, though she firmly chose to not say that out loud for obvious reasons.
Corinne may have been joking around, but inside her thoughts still kept returning to Miss Acorn's parting gift to her. Is... that what my teacher was trying to tell me, that she wanted her top student to take on the mantle of 'Miss Education'? No, I mean I'd hate to disappoint her, but I'm no superhero, I've already got a career path and everything! Besides, why couldn't she just tell me that outright, if that's the case?
"Hey Corinne, we're here at your place!" Hector called out, trying to get her back to reality.
"Yo lady, -bzzt- I ain't got all day!" the taxi AI fizzled.
Snapping out of her cloud of thoughts, Corinne brushed her long, reddish-brown hair to the side and slowly stumbled out of the hover-cab, having paid up beforehand.
Her blue eyes widened at her first sight of Noxville, with any sign of the gleaming pillars of Goldenguise long gone. Dank cobblestone streets, twisting alleys, angular, arching buildings and skies shrouded by dark, smoke-like clouds surrounded her. Least it wasn't raining, though still quite misty. Even the dark purple apartment block before her looked imposing.
The taxi then sped off without a word, leaving Corinne's eyes to almost fall out of their sockets as her luggage spilled out all over the pavement. As you can imagine, it took quite the while for the three of them to lift everything all the way up the stairs to her new apartment, since the rickety elevator was currently undergoing repairs.
Shortly after entering her new room, Corinne collapsed on a mattress serving as a makeshift bed, her not having bought any proper beds or couches yet.
"Er, so Corinne, how do you like your new place?" Hector spoke up.
Corinne did slowly rise to her feet to take a proper look around her apartment. For a city of superheroes, her new place was quite normal surprisingly, if a bit too dark with its surprisingly hefty curtains. It had the basics, a loungeroom that doubled as a bedroom, a small alcove for a kitchen, and one cramped bathroom to the side.
"Well, at least I can't fault this place for false advertising" Corinne mumbled.
"Cool, glad that's over," Jamie let out a long sigh as he caressed his aching arms "Well, wish I could stay, but y'know I gotta be getting home myself, lucky that Malicetown's pretty close by".
"Same here," Hector admitted "Herowood's quite the distance, not sure if I'll make it back before midnight".
"Hey, no problem, Hect. You can crash at my place for the night!" Jamie gave him both thumbs up "Your tap practice's A-OK with me!".
"Thanks Jamie, but... well it's just that your home is kinda-" Hector hesitated "No, you're right, beggars can't be choosers, your home'll have to do tonight".
As the two boys waved goodbye, Jamie said one last thing to Corinne "By the way Cory, I packed you a little somethin' for dinner, it being your first day up here in the clouds and all. Well, catch ya later!".
"Goodnight, and thanks for the help!" Corinne smiled and waved, though only after the two had gone did she finally, slowly looked at just what dinner exactly Jamie had packed for her. It... seemed to be a whole bag of icing-slathered brownies, which was at least a step up from the grease-slathered slop Corinne had been expecting.
She tried rearranging her possessions, books, spare clothes, lab equipment, laptop, coffee mugs, and so on into something resembling neat order. All the while though, her thoughts kept coming back to 'Miss Education'.
Honestly, I doubt a teacher superhero is honestly the best image to strike fear and awe with, unless maybe with villains who got bad grades, Corinne thought to herself, something Miss Acorn never seemed to consider, no offence. Delivering a few practice stabs and swings with the baton at the empty air, memories of the school fencing club coming back to her, Corinne would finaly give into temptation. Well okay, I guess I can try out some superheroics for just this night, it's not like I've got anything else to do, plus it'll probably keep nagging at me if I don't, that thought buzzed through her head One condition though, if I'm taking on the mantle of 'Miss Education', I get to change the name to something a bit more... suiting, it's my hero identity now after all:
Oh wait, I'll need to sketch up a costume too. My family's a whole stratosphere away, but I don't want people targeting Jamie and now Hector...
[ ] A white, button-up shirt with ruffled necktie over black tights, complete with domino mask.
[ ] An unbuttoned, pinstripe business shirt over greenish-black tights with white, chalk-like lines, and eye-obscuring glasses.
[ ] Just greenish-black spandex, covering everything except the hair, with chalk-like white lines crisscrossing.
[ ] A grey pinstripe waistcoat over a black latex suit.
[ ] Black shirt and black leggings, a checkered blouse being the only splash of colours. Also eye-hiding glasses.
[ ] Grey tights with a button-up white collar and long, lighter grey boots and gloves.
[ ] Write-in.
(QM's Note: Wow, this post ended up longer than expected. Also thought up 'School Belle' and 'Detentionaire' for hero names, but it turns out those are taken.)
Finding a waistcoat to wear over what Corinne could scrounge up for a costume wasn't hard, she had at least one in her spare clothes pile that she hadn't had time to fully sort yet. She also had a stretchy, maybe slightly frayed, body outfit left over from her Gymnastics classes; Oh hey, this thing still fits, she thought, hmm, guess that makes sense, naturally stopped growing around the end of high school. It should also blend in with the night colour-wise. Her apartment having no mirror yet, she had to use her phone's camera to get a good look at herself; her costume clearly wasn't the most stunning or elaborate, but it'd do considering what she had in a moment's notice. Besides, most superheroes would go through dozens of costume changes over the years- er, not like any of that applied to her though, of course, hers' being a one-night-only deal.
For a name though, oh G-d, she then held her head in thought, walking back and forth. Thinking a hyphen may've been awkward, but she supposed years of Temple as a kid had ingrained that into her. Sorry Miss Acorn, know it's not the most respectful thing, but I have to come up with something less easily made fun of than 'Miss Education', and I'm only doing this for one night anyway. Okay, how about Bellgrade? No no, don't have some bell-and-chain weapon or whatever on me to make that name work, plus I'm not Serbian, well maybe some grand-uncle of mine is. I do like Kleio, show off my mythology knowledge a little, but ugh, I don't want to keep correcting people that I got it from the Muse, not Cleopatra.
Groaning, she slumped down on the pile of cushions that currently passed as her couch. Okay, okaayy... hold on, I got it. Libraria! Alright yes, maybe it's not the most super-fitting name, but hey it's the best one I've thought up all night. I did spend quite a bit of time in the library, after all, and not just to cram.
She stood up and turned to the doorknob, only for another thought to hit her. You know, it'd be more stylish and dramatic if I left from out the window, maybe climb up onto the rooftops, I doubt they'd fine you for that here like in other cities. Hell, I could even abseil my way down the broken elevator shaft, that'd be super- no no, think I'll just stick to the window climbing.
Heading to her window and pulling back the curtains in one stroke, Corinne did stop to take in the ornate ironwork on her balcony. As she'd been dreading, the rusted pipe up to the roof of the apartment block trembled with every move up it she made, though she had swung herself up onto the rooftop before long, nothing worse happening than a particularly loud creak from said drainpipe.
That left her though having to dash up the slanted tiles to the thin railing on top of the roof, this block of flats not having the courtesy of a flat rooftop, Odd, you'd think a superhero-built city would have more accommodating roofs. Balancing and slightly trembling atop the building, Corinne, the new Libraria, turned her gaze to scope out the twisting Noxville streets from such a vantage point, heroics or not this little exercise would at least be an... interesting way of getting to know the local layout. Heh, of course this'd happen, Libraria then had to snarl, when most of what she could see what little but Noxville's signature fog shrouding the streets that night. She then got the thought of clenching her mouth shut, I mean, for all I know this could be no ordinary mist. What if it's some mad scientist's poison fumes, or some supervillain who can turn themselves into fog?
Libraria soon leapt over to another roof, the mist and pitch darkness leaving her having to scope out the neighbourhood by feel and hearing if not sight. She didn't have that many other options for moving horizontally, her apartment block being one of the relatively shorter buildings in Noxville, tall towers being one thing the borough did at least share with the rest of the city. At least Miss Acorn's baton was fortunately sturdy enough to use in pole vaulting.
While most of Noxville still turned out to be yet more serpentine alleyways, at least from what the fog let her make out, Libraria did at least reach a local square under the light of a moon brighter than usual, Guess that makes sense for the altitude, she stopped to think, not like that stops the moon this close from being kinda eerie.
This little Noxville square wasn't too much to look that, a café closed for the night, what looked like a fabric store that could've helped in making her costume had she known about it before, and what sounded like a speakeasy, the only place around still active at this hour.
It was then Libraria's attention was taken by a piercing shriek, as she looked down over at the alley behind the speakeasy to see an older woman had been tossed out into a garbage pile, with two thugs wearing shockingly bright yellow-and-purple zoot suits (perhaps even Noxville residents got sick of the gloom sometimes) walking over to her, fists clenched.
"Darlin' we're tellin' ya what we so politely told ya husband: Pay up! We're runnin' a business here after all" the first gangster said, leering down at the woman.
Corinne almost froze up on the roof, but quickly shook off that shock and took the first action that sprung to mind. Reaching down for a loose tile, she wrenched it out and breathed deep, concentrating her aim at one of the thugs' heads. Hurling the tile right at the nearest of them, the two having just heard the scraping nose from up on the roof, it hit one of the gangsters (bang!) square in the side of the head, knocking him straight to the ground.
Not like Libraria had any second to celebrate this lucky shot, as the second gangster belted out "Hey, whoever you are, no-one makes chumps of us on our turf!", pulled out a Tommy Gun this soon an opened fire. Libraria had slipped behind a nearby gargoyle, which for now seemed to be taking the bullets fine. She'd considered tumbling over to leap down a chimney in case her cover gave way, but she had another stroke of beginner's luck, as she could hear this gun clicking but not firing, the gangster grunting about it being jammed.
Not wasting this chance, Libraria leapt down from above to deliver a flying kick (whoosh!) to this criminal. Managing to hit him squarely in the stomach, sending him clutching for a second, she then struck him (slash!) right across the face with her baton before launching one last kick (ka-pow!) that sent him spinning right back into a brick wall.
That first gangster she'd thrown the tile remained unconscious, bleeding quite heavily. Libraria was caught between finding a makeshift bandage for him, yet also reminding herself I don't want to stick around too long, else the rest of their gang tracks me down. Plus this guy's a gun-toting, wife-threatening criminal, it's a little hard to feel sympathy when he's probably done way worse things to complete innocents.
Libraria also saw that a briefcase one of them had been carrying, loaded with money and packets of pills that on closer inspection read 'Vitamin 4X', had now collapsed open on the ground. Looks like these guys were drug-dealers too, it just keeps getting worse with them.
Extending to a hand to help the attacked woman back onto her feet, Libraria could now see her more closely. She had long, curly brown hair, of a lighter shade than her own straighter mane, and wore a pinkish-red dress and jacket combo.
"Th-thank you, Miss- who would I be addressing?" this woman slowly spoke.
"Call me Libraria," Corinne began. Before she had the chance to think up a more fitting catchphrase though, she got promptly cut off by the bar door behind her swinging wide open.
"What the- what's going on here?" came the cry of a young and sweaty bartender, trembling in the doorway at the sight of two unconscious suited men, and some latex-clad lass standing over them.
"Just... a bit of re-education" Libraria settled on the first quip that came to mind. This still left the matter of that briefcase:
[ ] "These drugs and money aren't mine. I shouldn't be taking them, but don't know who they belong to ...I'll leave them with you for now, just watch out for any more of those gangsters".
[ ] "I'll just be taking these, don't know who rightfully owns them, but I'll deliver them to the officials as soon as I can".
[ ] "I'll just be taking these, I'm something of a scientist so I'll be wanting a closer look at these 'drugs'." Plus I kinda need the money, sorry.
[ ] Write-in.
With that said, Libraria swiftly took off back into the night, though as she hopped atop a dumpster, swung up a pole and then back onto the rooftops, she heard that woman's voice calling out "L-Libraria! I'm more than grateful!".
* * *
Before long Corinne had swung in through her window and was back in her apartment, that being more than enough excitement for one night. Still, those words of gratitude hadn't left her mind, with thoughts racing through her head like I-I may have saved that woman's life, I-I could seriously do this! Well Miss Acorn, maybe all these years later, I can understand just why you took so strongly to your superhero gimmick. The lower part of my brain too has to admit, that was really tense, but it-it was fun!
Am I crazy?! Her thoughts then swerved in the complete opposite direction. Urgh, the hell am I going on about? I was nearly killed out there, had my reflexes been the slightest bit slower I would have been fricasseed by that machine gun! And that was in a fight with two low-level gangsters, how in the world would I ever stand against an actual supervillain... especially without powers of my own?
She tumbled right down upon the mattress serving as her bed for now. Staring up at her ceiling, the only thoughts she had left right now were, I can worry about all this tomorrow, right now I just need some sleep. Oh right, on top of that it's also my first day of work tomorrow, you think I'd remember something like that sooner. Yeah, first day at-
[ ] Superstring Collider
[ ] Great Galaxy Observatory
[ ] Arachne Computers
[ ] Splicer Underground
[ ] Potion Power Chemicals
[ ] Write-in.
Stretching her arms and yawning, Corinne slowly lifted herself up by her arms to tumble off the mattress that right now passed for her bed. Embarrassingly, despite her being the only one around, she looked down to see that she had fallen asleep in her makeshift hero costume.
The sight of that at least helped jolt her awake, getting her on her feet. She opened the curtains to see that the sun apparently hadn't risen all that much, but one look at her phone showed otherwise- that it was nearly nine o'clock. Arachne Computers opened its doors at 9:30! The Noxville fog really would sieve out the sun, she thought.
After a short shower, which would've been even shorter if the temperature hadn't kept going all over the place, Corinne dried herself and then knelt down to rummage through her luggage for a proper enough outfit to wear, had to make a good impression on the first day, of the job I moved miles above the ground for.
[ ] This lab-coat will do. I'd assume they'd hand them out to their workers, but just in case.
[ ] Business suit with skirt, I want to let them I know I'm a professional.
[ ] Business suit with trousers, I have to be taken seriously.
[ ] Maybe something casual could work, help me loosen up around my co-workers? Clothes I wore yesterday are still clean.
[ ] Hell, I could even go in my superhero costume. They'd be used to those up here, and it's not like I'm gonna keep this identity around, right?
[ ] Write-in.
Work outfit chosen, Corinne to do her makeup, having little more than a hand-mirror, lipstick and foundation on her right now, and the rushed down the apartment stairs and out the door. The Noxville streets were no less shrouded in the day, but at least more of the surrounding architecture's ornate intricacies were visible, reminding her almost of pictures she'd of Prague or Paris, well, this'd have to be Paris in a bad mood.
She'd had thoughts about taking the city's monorail, which might be more properly called a 'Zero-Rail' or 'Lumino-Rail' due to it running on no physical rail but a 'strand of light'. Don't have time now to take the scenic route though, maybe once I get off work, she thought, so she then chose to head for the nearest teleporter service, Definitely not taking another taxi anytime soon, yeesh.
Corinne thought to at least put on some music to get her in a good mood this morning, since the thought of being later on her first day had so far done otherwise, and she didn't want to arrive all stressed out and nigh-exhausted. Quickly scrolling through some saved songs, she settled on- (Optional Vote)
[ ] Frank Sinatra - Come Fly With Me
[ ] Jay and the Americans - Come A Little Bit Closer
[ ] David Bowie - Rebel Rebel
[ ] The Spinners - Rubberband Man
[ ] Oingo Boingo - Weird Science
[ ] L7 - Pretend We're Dead
[ ] Malice Mizer - Au Revoir
[ ] The Killers - Spaceman
[ ] Carly Rae Jepsen - I Really Like You
[ ] Write-in
The route to said teleporter, sticking to the streets this time, took her right towards the square she'd seen the night before. The sight of that café she'd briefly spotted back then made her remember that she'd forgotten to have breakfast, I mean, I was banking on my workplace having some sort of food dispenser, thought that'd make sense for such a hi-tech city, she thought. But she soon decided to head into the café anyway, Cafes aren't really designed for speedy service, but this place is the closest to me, and I'll just get a takeaway coffee, that'd barely break the bank.
This local cafe, Arabica Nights, was fittingly enough decorated with Arabic calligraphy framed on its walls, and while reasonably sized, had several sofas with large, tasselled cushions presumably to give the place a cosier vibe. Several customers were already here, a couple of them looking like heroes still in their costumes after being up all night. Luckily for Corinne none of them were currently queuing.
"Just a black coffee to go, please" was all Corinne said upon approaching the man at the counter, who was middle aged and of Middle Eastern complexion.
"Ah, in a rush already? Hmm so I see, well no problem" he said before he took off at lightning-speed, transforming into a blur in Corinne's eyes as he raced around his machinery. Corinne had hardly time to react when he'd already returned with her coffee ready to go.
"Um, thanks" was all she could mutter, holding her credit card.
"Ah, anything for one who doesn't take milk or sugar, now that I can respect, friend" he said and smiled "Hard to believe, but I rarely get a chance to use my superspeed on the job. Understandable, given most come here for a slower, more relaxed experience. While I'm far from the only speedster around, the only other coffee-powered superhuman I've met in all my years was a Cuban-American calling himself 'The Caffeine Crusader'. Hmm, haven't heard from him in a while, actually..." he kept talking, and him at least being a motor-moth didn't take up too much of Corinne's time "Used to call myself 'The Boiling Bean' but I had to change it, my daughter just bursts out laughing every time she hears that name".
"Great thanks, but gotta go," Corinne nodded "I may be running late, is all".
Down the street and two turns left, she reached the local teleporter station which... was nothing much, just three grey, cone-shaped pods gathered in a circle. Corinne inserted a few coins into one of them and pressed the button marked 'Sciencity'.
Still a little nervous around teleporters, especially in this end of town. Like as bad as flying accidents can be, they've got nothing on warp accidents, she thought. Thankfully, her small leap through Netherspace turned out just fine, the only interruption being when an ad flashed up inside the pod, about a superhero she and many others were more than familiar with.
"Super Spotlight Special! Today's classic cape is none other than The Live Death! The classic cape as a matter of fact, as while debates on the exact definition of a 'superhero' have long raged, the 'living death' Martin Leon is widely considered the very first! A corpse uncovered in Louisiana, almost nothing known about him in life, his body was brought to Baltimore by the fiendish Sorcerer Locrian, and one of the first ever supervillains. However, Martin's will overcame Locrian's attempts at controlling him, as he would fight back not just against this Warped Wizard, but even greater threats still. His powerset has varied over time, having possessed command of shadows, the ice-powered chill of death and made use of the toxins within his rotted body. He may be a decrepit zombie sporting a jagged raven mask, but don't let that put you off, for while... not the most personable type, his is the heart of a true hero! Being undead, he's still active today-" And then Corinne arrived in Sciencity.
* * *
Sciencity was... something else entirely. From where Corinne stood, the entire borough looked like it could've almost been made out of glass. Skyscrapers not only soared straight up, but tilted at weird angles to look like the sails of galleons, and striking silver intermingled with brilliant blues and lush greens. Every building was curved or slender, with barely any sharp lines. Flying cars, hoverbikes, hoverboards, jetpacks, all sped overhead. The entire place looked like the living image of the phrase The Future is Now!
A real shock coming straight from Noxville, and even glamorous Goldenguise seemed subdued compared to this.
Oh that's right, Corinne had work to get to. Arachne Computers was luckily about a block away, though the building itself... matched with what she had seen in her job interview online, but was something else entirely in person.
Four long arches looking like spider-legs erupted from out of the roof, the other four she assumed being around the back. Said roof was covered by eight domes in four sets of two. Would that make the large doors the mouth of the spider?
Not thinking about it, Corinne headed inside, where at least the interior was a little more normal by computer lab standards. From what she saw from the entrance, her co-workers appeared to be... quite a colourful bunch, with the likes of levitating robots and four-legged, green-skinned insect-people among them.
"Why, you must be Corinne Cohn, am I correct?" came the beeping voice, with a faint Icelandic tinge, of a woman on a platform floating down from the floor above. That was the voice Corinne had heard in her job interview, and while she'd been expecting a robot voice, who she saw quite what she had.
"Let me introduce myself, I've named myself Millennium Model, but most around here just call me Director" her smooth, synthetic voice whirred, despite her having no visible mouth. Coated in silvery steel, she was entirely robotic, having a womanly figure but without any hair, and only white lights for eyes.
"Ah yes, Corinne Cohn, that's me," Corinne nodded, bowing slightly at her new Boss "S-sorry I was almost late".
"Haha, nervous I see? Well, to err is human, and sometimes robot too I'm ashamed to admit. But come right in, I'm certain you'll fit in around here," Millennium seemed like she would've smiled has she the mouth to do so with. "One last thing, workers here are assigned an AI assistant. I'll just place this headphone in your ear, and...".
Corinne flinched a little, but soon enough electronic sounds came to life in her ear, as an AI hologram materialised in front of her face.
"Hi there, so Corinne right? Wow, been looking forward to working with you!" the excitable, British-accented voice of a blue-haired, blue-skinned hologram girl burst to life in front of Corinne. "Call me Josephine. I've been filled in all about you, and right I know you'll prolly be wantin' to get started, but oh I'm betting you've got all these questions, right?".
Corinne gulped, having to take a step back "Er, well I-".
(Multiple votes allowed)
[ ] "What are my co-workers like?"
[ ] "Er, so am I your first assigned worker, Josephine?"
[ ] "This is my first time in Sciencity. I've looked the place up online, but is there anything I should be told?"
[ ] "What big projects are we currently working on right now?"
[ ] "This place does come with a food dispenser, right?"
[ ] "Um, any significance to the company name? Beyond a 'web' pun, anyway?"
[ ] (To Millennium Model) "Your name sounds like a superheroine's, am I right?"
[ ] (To Millennium Model) "Is there any way I can turn her off?"
[ ] "No thanks, think I've got everything down"
[ ] Write-in.
"This is my first time in Sciencity. I've looked the place up online, but is there anything I should be told?" Corinne asked "Thought I should get the locals' opinions after all".
"Ooh ooh, there's Dreamtower Gardens, Sciencity's latest and greatest amusement park!" Josephine immediately chirped up "And over in Nihonmura you've got the statue of XR Herastag, one of the earliest mechs ever built, just outside the Robosseum Arena and the Robo-Mountain Raceway. Ah, goin' on about arenas, there's the Everguards right, a new wrestling promotion that's just set up shop here, ooh and also the Starbite Lounge & Grill next to the Metroplex Cinema, right now they're showing-".
"Might I also recommend visiting the Superstring Collider sometime?" Millennium had to cut Josephine off "They may be the leading particle physics laboratory in Skyline Moderne. As you can imagine, our two institutes have crossed paths numerous times for the interests of the city. One as highly educated as yourself may feel right at home there".
That's weird for a boss to say, 'Hey go check out this other organisation', Corinne decided it'd be wiser against to keep that thought in her head, Then again, Arachne Computers is meant to be a government-funded laboratory, not a private company, so I'd suppose they've got stuff other than competition on their minds.
"Thank you. Is there anything else I should know before I start work, like if we've got any big projects coming up?" Corinne nodded and asked.
"Hmm, we are currently in the process of programming the pilot AI of a new-model airship. Melissa's mostly taken charge of that task right now, and having done some calculations on your profiles, I am... uncertain how well your two personalities would interact. Melissa has some, hmm, unorthodox ideas, but oh well, what is 'orthodox' in a city like ours, my dear?" Millennium chuckled as she went over.
"So we here thought you'd be great at helping us program in the GPS navigation on a prototype laser-bike!" Josephine chimed in "Whaddya say Cory, sound up your alley?".
"Hmm, reasonable enough" Corinne muttered.
"Thing was, we also a a load of Virtual Reality stuff we needed sorted" Josephine then brought up "Though all that's a bunch to throw on someone on their first day on the job, so right, better we just stick ta laserbikes right now".
"Indeed," came Millennium's voice "Everything said, welcome aboard, Miss Cohn".
* * *
Hours later, Corinne was now slumped down in the break room couch, said room being perhaps a slightly cramped enough place with a checkered floor, neon-glowing vending machines quietly vibrating, potted plants and windows overlooking a leafy patch of green.
It was a little odd how the levitating laser-cycle she'd been working on had matched her own colour scheme as Libraria, but eh it wasn't like black and grey (more silver in the bike's case) was that uncommon a colour scheme. Besides, it could also glow red, blue or green as customised by the rider, so she was probably reading too much into things.
At first, she highly suspected that assigning AI assistants was just this lab's of monitoring their workers to ensure they weren't slacking off, but at least she didn't have to worry about that from Josephine, who'd just spent most of her time goofing around as a hologram atop the bike pretending to be some stunt driver. Corinne had even managed to sneak in a game of the free trial of Spider Swing when the AI wasn't looking.
Speaking of Josephine, she'd collapsed down on that couch and spread her arms out and let her long blue-green hair down, in some imitation of how humans relaxed, still in that sleeved leotard she'd materialised for herself atop the lasercycle. "Hey Cory," Josephine then turned her head and asked "Er, might be an odd question to ya, but... what's eating and drinking like?".
Corinne, at the time munching down a croissant from a vending machine, paused as she had to consider that question.
"Like, us AI can copy the taste experience and stuff using sense-simulating programs, but I still kinda wonder how authentic that experience is" Josephine kept talking.
"...Guess it depends on the food," Corinne finally said "I'm guessing you'd likely have it better as an AI, as I'd assume you could just reprogram your tastes to be whatever you want. Plus, you wouldn't have to worry about weight or allergies or anything".
"Yeah, sounds like ya've got a point" Josephine sighed as she admitted "Grass is always greener, innit?".
It was at that point two of Corinne's co-workers, having finished deciding what vendor foods they wanted, came over to the couch, having chosen a doner kebab and some salad respectively. "So, how're you taking to Arachne Computers so far?" said a smiling Latino, his wavy hair died pink and his tweed clothes looking almost a century old "Ah manners my girl, we ought to introduce ourselves now we've got time to sit and talk. The name's Cristobal Albeniz".
[ ] "Can't lie, I'm pretty excited to be working at Arachne!"
[ ] "Things seem to have been going decently."
[ ] "...Been a bit awkward so far, to be honest."
[ ] "Too soon to say, really."
[ ] Write-in.
"Ross Situma, pleased to meetcha," said the smiling face of the other co-worker, a chubby Kenyan man with black-rimmed square glasses, dressed in a more everyday blue office suit "Er, guess you'd be wondering about Cris's clothes choice here?".
"What? Oh no, not really" Corinne simply shrugged "I'd just assume he was part of some vintage sub-culture, something along those lines".
This mild statement made Cristobal burst out laughing "On the contrary, Miss Corinne, there's nothing 'retro' about me. You may not think it, but I'm actually 90 years old," he said while smirking. She did have to admit, Cristobal only looked about a third that age. "I mainly use de-aging gas to keep myself young, one of the many perks of life up here".
"...Ah, I see," a startled Corinne slowly said "No offence, but you're pretty cavalier about coming out and saying that. I just assume if that was the case for me, I could see myself being a bit more sensitive about that issue".
"Why yes, this'd indeed be an issue that can vary from one to other," Cristobal had to admit "For me, it's always been something I've liked to make clear first thing, and besides you have to admit, my dear, it's one hell of a conversation starter".
"Never really got why human girls are so sensitive about age," Josephine had to pipe up "Well, robots can rust and AI can slow down, but we don't technically age, so guess I oughta keep my gob shut on the subject".
"Oh, you'd be Josephine's new partner," Ross's eyes widened "Hadn't seen her around for like, weeks I think. Er, if you're wondering, I'm 'bout as old as I look, by the way. Speaking of dress sense, you sure know style, Corinne".
"I concur, you're undoubtedly the most professionally dressed out of all of us" Cristobal followed with "And my oh my, AI have certainly come a long way, haven't they?" he grinned, picking up the new topic "I can remember the early days, when AI assistants would interrupt you every second, suggest help when you didn't need it, and correct things that were barely problems. Ah, they were typically riddled with ads too".
'Interrupt you every second', well I guess some things never change, Corinne thought coldly.
"Man, you think you had it rough then?" Ross laughed "I've got the Council app installed on my phone, and lemme tell ya you don't know the meaning of 'headache' until you've been in a chatroom for you and your alternate universe selves".
"Ooh, think I've heard of that app Ross!" Josephine piped up "It sounds cool, can't wait to try it".
"Really, Joey? Well okay, just be warned what you're gettin' yourself into," Ross had to wince a little "Not to mention connecting over parallel worlds, oh boy is that unreliable".
"A chatroom for your alternate selves?" Corinne murmured.
[ ] "I'm aware of the risks, but nevertheless, I'm incredibly intrigued by such an invention."
[ ] "I could be tempted to give it a whirl, sounds like something I should try, if only once."
[ ] "Heh, I see your point Ross, that does sound more hassle than it's worth. Who knows what one's other selves could be like?"
[ ] Write-in.
The conversation was abruptly end when a blaring siren and flashing lights came on overhead. Corinne was shaken by the out-of-nowhere noise, but Josephine swiftly said to her "Just our Supervillain Drill, Cory! Come on, just gotta head to the nearest lift underground".
Luckily an elevator was positioned conveniently close to the breakroom. As the four lab workers got in, the circular platform closed its doors and promptly took off deep underground. Though just how much 'underground' would this floating city even have? Corinne wondered.
"I'd suppose the reason we're not using a teleporter is that the typical supervillain move would be to try and short-circuit those first thing, right?" Corinne queried.
"Yep, basically it" came Ross's reply.
The underground area of Arachne was mostly just a grey dome with white lights, a spiderweb pattern running across its ceiling probably its most striking feature. The rest of the supervillain drill passed by otherwise uneventfully, with computer cameras tallying up the gathered workers, with anyone missing eventually arriving.
"So, er, how common are these drills?" Corinne had to ask, as everyone stood in line.
"Once a month, give or take" Cristobal shrugged "Little bit funny that Arachne Computers of all workplaces would have them".
"Huh- What, why?" Corinne was taken aback.
"Nevermind, forget I said anything" Cristobal sighed and muttered.
* * *
Rest of the workday would pass unremarkably enough, with Corinne heading out of those spider leg-framed doorways into the warm afternoon glow. "Sorry Cory, but it's policy that new workers can't take their AI assistants outside the workplace, right. I mean you're pretty cool, so I don't think you're gonna steal me away or anything, but rules are rules y'know," Josephine said by the door "Hey, been fun working with ya so far, looking forward to seeing ya tomorrow!".
"...Likewise" Corinne simply said back.
She hadn't gone far when already she'd received a text from Jamie. What it essentially read as was 'Dude, you're off work now right? Awesome, didn't get to show off Sciencity to ya yesterday, anywhere there you wanna go? hector says he's busy right now'.
[ ] "I've heard about Dreamtower Gardens. No idea if I could afford it, but an amusement park might be fun to check out."
[ ] "There's that giant robot monument I've heard about in Nihonmura, near a Robot Arena and Racetrack."
[ ] "You're a wrestling fan, aren't you? I've heard talk about the Everguards"
[ ] "Haven't had much to eat today, so I thought we could check out the Starbite Lounge, near the Metroplex"
[ ] "There wouldn't be a museum around town, would there? For either Science or Supers, possibly both?"
[ ] "I'm curious about this place's computer stores, what with work and all"
[ ] "A lot of tourist guides say just strolling through the streets without a plan is the best way to get to know somewhere"
[ ] "Sorry, Jamie, but it's been a long day, and I still need to get my apartment sorted"
[ ] Write-in
Having finished her text with Jamie, it was only then Corinne thought to herself Oh right, the drugs and money from last night, new job must've been so much on my mind that I forgot. Heh, good thing I told myself I'd only be doing hero stuff for one night, because sheesh that was forgetful.
Before checking out the Starbite Lounge, Corinne first ran to the nearest teleporter to zoom back to Noxville. Even with this detour, and how quick these warp pods are, I'll still likely get to this Starbite place before Jamie, he's... never been the most punctual, she reckoned.
Corinne hesitated whether to stay in her regular clothes or dress as Libraria, she didn't want to spend any further time getting changed when she had dinner with a friend coming up... but she didn't want that gang possibly tracing her real identity or the police snooping around her flat, and she figured she ought to present as Libraria here, given it was as her that she'd taken these drugs and cash from those gangsters. besides, police in this city should be more than used to costumed vigilantes by now.
After recovering her loot from last night, stuffed into one of her new kitchen cupboards, Corinne headed her to the closest police station. For all Skyline Modern's flashy architecture, this police station was a rather old and crumbling place, a washed-out grey-white building with faint blue glows coming from its windows, and a dark, dingy brown inside, lit up by lamps looking more from Victorian London.
Walking up to the oaken front desk, Libraria's attention was briefly captured by a wanted sign that covered most of its corkboard, showing a gang of three: a squat gadget man wearing a porcelain mask and holding a toy rifle and a hammer, a scarlet-haired woman with eerily pale makeup and seriously developed musculature, and looming above the two, a gaunt, wrinkled old man with long white hair and clad in a purple coat and striped trousers with suspenders. Squinting through the darkness, Corinne could see their aliases were 'Mr. Midway', 'Musclemoiselle' and 'Master of the House of Fun'.
"The Big Top Trio," drawled the scruffy, baggy-eyed officer at the counter "Says they've stolen one of Doc Aether's inventions, a 'Magic Mirror' of his". He then took out his phone and showed Libraria footage of this Big Top Trio entering one of the city's superhero museums, to break any object there they could. And what they couldn't break, Master Funhouse just pointed the mirror at, which made an entire piece of art distort in real life as it would in a mirror maze.
"They're not even robbing anything?" Libraria spoke up "Hmm, must be pretty unimaginative criminals, or they've got a serious chip on their shoulders about heroes. But Dr. Aether's the guy in charge of this city, so these three must be something if they've stolen from him".
"Hah," this officer chuckled "Aether, guy in charge here? You must be new in town, the Doc mostly shuts himself off in his lab these days. As for the Trio, don't overestimate them, pretty much everyone agrees they just got the Mirror off the real thief. Grande Fantasme's the guy we all thought of first, buddy-buddy as he is with Aether and Spirit, it's no secret he's long been after their stuff. Can't discount Renaissance Foul either, villain and all," he went on, but then said "Anyways, me mostly being on paperwork duty, I oughta should shut my gob. So, whatta you here for?"
"Yes officer, I would like to return these stolen goods," Libraria nodded, handing over the briefcase "Some likely stolen money and a stock of Vitamin 4X I was able to recover from some zoot-suited goons".
"Zoot suits ya say? Sounds like the Hepcat Gang to me. Buncha small-timers them... but Vitamin 4X is nothing to be laughing at. Quick'n'easy way to get powers, less flashy heroes like to take it so they can stand toe-to-toe with the big-timers, but it's known for being a pretty unstable concoction. Well then, ya gotta name, schoolgirl?"
Schoolgirl? I'm in my twenties! Libraria thought sharply, but just said "It's Libraria".
"City laws say I can't make any of you capes give over your real name, so guess I'll have to work with that," the cop sighed "Right, just need ya to sign these forms".
That all over with, Corinne left the station to hurry back to a teleporter. Clearly she didn't want to check out Starbite as Libraria, but she had so much time and didn't want to spend more of it getting hanged again, so she just removed her face-mask and her coat, leaving her looking like just some gymnast, which she unprofessionally was she supposed.
On the warp back to Sciencity though, after getting through something of a line in front, she was unsurprisingly greeted with another- "Super-Spotlight-Special! Today we've got a whole super-team for you, keen viewers! May we introduce H.A.G., and no, weren't not talking 'bout some wicked old witch, but the Hero Actors' Guild! Obviously there's an overlap between a superhero's identity and acting, so it's no shock that, all the back in the 1940s, a Golden Age for Heroes and Hollywood alike, a team of actor-heroes came to be! Founded byLinda 'Black Cat' TurnerandTed 'Thousand Faces' Parrish, before the former's blacklisting for Commie sympathies and the latter's unfortunate descent into schizophrenia, this Guild nevertheless remains strong to this day, having recruited the likes of Broadway's Triple Threat and the Takarazuka Revue's Aoba 'Starring Role' Tsubasa VIII!"
After arriving back in Sciencity, Corinne found her way soon enough to this Starbite Lounge & Grill, the looming Metroplex right by it being easy enough to spot. Inside, Starbite was a fairly open place, with large windows, deep blue carpeting and purple wallpaper, and though it wasn't that late there was already an alien (Venusian she assumed, given his bug-like features) singer at a piano with three robots harmonising behind him. In the centre of the restaurant stood out a holographic projector, displaying an image of DevaZvezda, a Soviet superheroine from the 50s and 60s who'd been, among other things, the first hero to make contact with aliens.
The restaurant seemed to be a pretty popular place, but not so crowded that... Jamie couldn't have found a seat already.
"Yo Cory, what's been keeping ya?" Jamie shrugged and asked, leaving Corinne's face to nearly drain itself of colour.
"Sorry, it's just, I-" she mumbled "Had some errands that I only then remembered to run!" she quickly finished, her answer technically true.
"Ah okay, that's cool," Jamie said, his tune brightening immediately "Hey, never checked this place out before, but seems groovy so far, and you're already finding things out about this town that I didn't know! You're fittin' right in, my dudette!".
Corinne sat down on a red, curvy chair at the round, see-through table, and flipped a switch to bring up a holographic menu. Sliding her hand to turn its pages, she asked "Er, hope I didn't keep you waiting too long that you've already eaten?".
"Nope man, like I never really got to try alien food before movin' up here, so I'm still deciding" he said "Like, I've eaten at a few Martian street stands, and they're usually pretty good, but this is like, next-level gastronomy right here!".
Items on the menu included the likes of 'Mercurian gravity-grub', 'Space-dust sugar-frosted sourdough', 'Martian water-purified cocktail', 'Deep-fried asteroid-farm wings' and so on, with Corinne ultimately going with the sourdough and wings. Before too long, well 'long' by the standards of eateries like this, a robot waitress, who Corinne was swift to notice had the 'Arachne' logo on her, hovered to them with their order.
Corinne's food was- surprisingly well-presented, Maybe I was a tad hasty to be skeptical of interplanetary cuisine? she thought. Jamie on the other hand had ordered... well, Corinne had no idea what it was, only that it large, multi-coloured, pulsing, and she worried, still living.
"I know I know, I told myself I was gonna go vegetarian any day now, but man, it's so hard to get started on that" Jamie said as he dug in.
Corinne slowly begun trying out the food, and soon found herself devouring it as fast, if not faster, than Jamie was. Wow, this is really good, she thought, foregoing her normally restrained table manners.
"Hey Cory, who recommended this place to ya?" Jamie tried to ask between gulping down mouthfuls.
"Huh? Oh, that'd be Josephine, her being the AI assigned to me at work" Corinne replied...
Only to be then interrupted by a large crashing sound, as all of Starbite's windows were broken by a barrage of rapid-fire... baseballs.
Her and Jamie instinctively ducking under the table, Corinne looked over to see none other than that Big Top Trio was at the doors, doors which this Musclemoiselle's sheer strength had easily wrenched open.
One of the customers here immediately changed out of his civillian clothes into spangled superhero grab to confront the three villains... only to find herself directly in the range of the twisted mirror held by Master Funhouse. This would-be hero found his body instantly distorted till it resembled the warped shape the mirror made of him, shrinking him down like a folded accordion to not even knee-height, him yelling in pain all the way.
"A little demonstration for you all of just what this mirror is capable of," proclaimed the wiry, piercing voice of Master Funhouse, who a glancing Corinne now saw was somehow even thinner and taller and his wanted poster made him out to be. "Consider yourselves lucky, back in the day it would've cost you all to see such a stunt performed at our circus.
Let it not be said we aren't merciful, simply stay out of our way and you, dear civillians, won't have a single hair harmed on your heads. No, we are only after that image of your little Russian girl hero, and any other superhero 'art'. For you see, your supers have long trampled on us, it's only fair we... return the favour".
'Your supers' Even though your Musclemoiselle clearly has super-strength herself? Corinne was quick to think.
"Good, glad to see people here comply when they're told. Now, my dear, will do the honours?" Master Funhouse said, turning to Musclemoiselle.
"Already on it!" Musclemoiselle grinned, rubbing her fists together as she strode over to smash the hologram projector of Deva Zvezda.
Oh G-d, damn! Alright, as they said, just have to keep my head down and I'll be fine, thought a shaking Corinne Come on, this city has heaps of heroes around, I'll sure at least one'll be close enough to do something about these people.
But then, a different thought entirely emerged in Corinne's head. Yeah, there very much is a hero close enough to do something. She's you!
What the-? Corinne's head swerved to the side No, I can't, I saw with my own eyes what the mirror did to that guy. I was almost gunned down by run-of-the-mill gangsters, how in hell am I going to stand any chance against these people? Besides, that 'Libraria' thing was a one-night-only deal!
She gritted her teeth, but her tension then eased as another thought entered her head. I was the smartest girl in school, I was just hired to work at a government lab in one of the world's most advanced cities. Come on, I should be smart enough to think of something to trip this trio up, or at least get the hologram projector away from them. Only one of them, that Musclemoiselle, has innate powers anyway, so without the mirror and sideshow gear, those other two, far as I know, would be nothing. I could even use these tables as cover to not get hit by that mirror. And besides, how do I even know villains like these will keep their word not to harm any civillians?
If I change into Libraria here though, Corinne considered, then Jamie'll instantly know my hero identity. ...No, that's okay, he's my friend so he has some right to know, alter egos being more trouble than they're worth, and he can be blabbermouth but he wouldn't just out my secret identity to anyone.
[ ] I'll dash through and swipe that projector away from that strongwoman.
[ ] If I can flip over and strike that strongwoman quickly enough, I could catch her off-guard.
[ ] I'll sneak around and strike Mr. Midway and that Master of the House from behind.
[ ] We're in a restaurant, so I can start a food fight to trip these people up and get them off-guard.
[ ] Let's see if this strongwoman's tough enough to shrug off a whole table or chair thrown at her.
[ ] Maybe, just try to talk to them? Like, ask them why they're doing this? granted, they don't seem like the most reasonable types.
[ ] ...I'll just stay put for now, it's safest. But, maybe I can try following them from behind once they leave?
[ ] Write-in: Use a shiny metal tray as a mirror to reflect the effects of the Magic Mirror.
[ ] Write-in: Dig into your history knowledge and calmly ask about their influences.
[ ] Write-in.
Sliding on her domino mask, and tying some napkins together to weave a makeshift waistcoat, Corinne turned and whispered to Jamie "Listen, not one word about this, I'm dead serious here".
"Huh, whattya-" Jamie tried to ask, but Libraria had promptly leapt up and thrown Jamie's pulsating alien meal straight towards the face of Musclemoiselle, which the strongwoman was fast to block by holding up her fist.
The eyes of the whole restaurant suddenly on her, Libraria felt the urge to say something, this making her first impression on so many people at once.
[ ] A bold and proclamatory "Stop right there, evildoers! This city doesn't tolerate delinquents!"
[ ] A stern and restrained "Hands off the projector."
[ ] A snide and flippant "Didn't mother tell you not to play with your food, musclebrain? Looks like you've signed up for 'etiquette lessons'."
[ ] Write-in.
That little statement of Libraria's though got Musclemoiselle to toss an entire table right at her. Libraria and a flailing Jamie were able to dodge it by leaping to the side, and just in time, for this table's thrown force was enough to send several other tables it knocked into flying back in turn.
"here's some advice, little girl, don't punch above your weight class!" Musclemoiselle
Trying a different tactic, Libraria instead grabbed several plates off other tables, muttering a quick "'Scuse me" to the customers who were already there, and this time tried throwing food along the ground, as Musclemoiselle attempted to charge at her only to to find her right foot stuck in some sort of alien jelly. The strongwoman was able to quickly pull her foot out, but Libraria had used this time to send several plates spinning right at her, like she was throwing discus in Sports.
Musclemoiselle just smirked, as each of the plates just crashed into her without making a wound or wince. "Hah, I got knives thrown into me as part of my act. If you want to show much as scratch me, next time bring more firepower!" she grinned.
"Speaking of firepower," came the muffled voice of Mr. Midway, who'd pulled out a modified rifle to start shooting rapid-fire baseballs into the crowd. Libraria had to work fast to flip over several tables, trying to shield the customers and waiters there from the assault.
"What the-?" Musclemoiselle suddenly growled, "Hey, I told you got this! I can break this girl to pieces on my own!" she turned back at her fellow comrades.
"This isn't about you," Master Funhouse stated, his face moving into a long and crinkled frown "This is about how we should have long smashed that little commie's projector and made off already. Your super-strength is put sadly to waste when you are incapable of sticking to the mission" he snarled at her.
"I-I think that might've been a little harsh, sir" Midway spoke up , but before he had a chance to continue or Musclemoiselle had a chance to respond, someone had managed to sneak up behind them when they weren't watching.
Jamie! Libraria almost froze when she saw what her friend was attempting.
Unfortunately, Jamie's stealth or reflexes weren't exactly what you'd call 'super', as before he shove that Mirror to the ground, master Funhouse had already spun around and pointed the glass right at him.
"Ohno, not cool!" Jamie screamed as his whole self started to stretch upwards, agony coursing through him all the way. Eventually, he ended up as tall but also as thin as a streetlamp, and one gust of wind was all it took to send his stretched self toppling.
Seeing Jamie contorted into an inhuman shape, Libraria lost control, screaming at lunging at the Big top trio, only to be effortlessly knocked to the ground with a single elbow-jab from Musclemoiselle.
It was then however, that the whole ground rumbled as an entire airship came flying down towards the Starbite Lounge, a zeppelin-like construct with its artillery already pointed at the Big Top Trio.
"Arachne. I knew we were wasting too much time," Funhouse snarled, before barking at Mr. Midway "Projector! Now!".
Midway immediately took out what looked like a remote control, which propelled one of his bumper cars straight at Deva Zvezda's projector, sending it crashing over.
"Remember this, hero hangers-on, the Funhouse Always Wins!" Master Funhouse cackled. He then pointed the mirror at the pavement to twist open a new entrance into Mod City's storm drains, him and his two minions hopping in and having a hole close back up before that zeppelin could land.
* * *
Not long after, Corinne had rushed over to the nearest hospital, Twin Snakes Infirmary, where the warped Jamie had been taken. Finally allowed into his room, she saw Jamie laid out on the longest bed this hospital had, him having returned to nowhere near his regular size.
"Hey there... Cory" his strained voice managed to say "They, they say they can give me a hit of that... Snake Doc's guy formula, help me back to normal..." he wheezed out, "but, he's like... already busy with heaps of other victims-".
"Jamie!" Corinne almost cried, staring down at what her friend had been twisted into. "You're, you're talking about Ophiuchus guy, right? That Super Spotlight talked about him the day I arrived, remember?" she blurted out, before breathing deep and then saying "Look, Jamie, it'll be alright, something will be done-" I'll do something about them! "-to get everything back to normal".
"Sounds-" Jamie rasped "Sounds great, Cory".
This hospital was the same blank white of most hospitals, though now bathed in the warm, golden glow of a sunset in the skies. Apart from some new hi-tech machinery there to fix whole new super-ailments, Corinne couldn't see too much of a difference between this 'hospital from the future' and the hospitals she'd known.
Another Super Spotlight Special was playing on an overhead screen, with a fitting enough theme for Corinne's mood right now. "Today we're bringing you a story that won't make you sad, but of a hero who might! Sabrina Vient is a Canadian-Australian superheroine, most active in Japan though" -The screen shows a young woman with silver hair, a dark blue flowing cape, grey crest and black tights- "While her skill with a warhammer is smashing, and her agility fast enough to border on speedster territory, her primary power is to take the emotion of grief and convert it into physical form. When in Skyline Moderne she tends to hang around Elsewich, and goes by the hero name of-"
(Optional Vote)
[ ] Grief Girl.
[ ] Melpomene.
[ ] Divine Tragedy.
[ ] Weeping Witch.
[ ] System Break.
[ ] Write-in.
Walking back along its corridors, Corinne was soon approached by two people. One she had, though not in person, already been introduced to, that wiry blond, white-tipped hair, blue specs, green lab-coat and robotic limbs instantly marked him out as this Dr. Ophiuchus she'd heard about. The other, a woman with long, curly red hair, freckles, and wearing a grey-outside brown-inside lab-coat with its hood pulled back, white puffy sleeves and black trousers, and long, gear-studded boots and gloves.
"Hi there Cory. Yup, heard about you at work today, think I saw you when we had that drill actually, though sorry I didn't get the chance to introduce myself until now," this woman with a mild Italian accent rambled on, extending a hand "At work I'm Melissa Torino, but on the streets and in the skies, I go by Zeppelina! Millennium might've mentioned me to you, I usually work on the AI of airships, spaceships, teleporters, ooh I've even programmed a few time machines!".
"Aha, I see" Corinne smiled in return. Sheesh, she's almost as talkative as Josephine.
"And I would be Rufus Hislop, though I get called Ophiuchus more often nowadays" Ophiuchus spoke up, adjusting his glasses "It was Melissa here who actually came to Starbite's rescue when that Big Top Trio attacked, I just attended to their victims afterwards. In fact, I was worried you might've gotten badly beaten by that strongwoman, but you seem to show remarkable resilience".
"Er, thank you, Dr. Hislop" Corinne said, taking that as a compliment "Do, do you think you can cure him?".
"Unfortunately, my fields are medicine, biology and toxicology" Ophiuchus sighed, removing his glasses for a moment "That Mirror's power is something else altogether, be it relativistic, quantum or outright magic, as I'd expect of one of Aether's belongings. I'm... not saying things are hopeless, just that a cure won't be so straightforward".
"Found you in hero costume when I landed" Melissa said "I suppose that means you'll be wanting to head after those three, ho ragione?"
"Of course!" Corinne's voice burst out "I won't let them..." but her firmness then wavered, as her shoulders then slumped "What am I doing? I told myself I was only going to play hero for one night, just to try it out, only for this to happen" she muttered, clutching her head.
"Those might've been wise words to listen to," Ophiuchus interjected "Though you're fit enough, after what happened to you only some hours ago, I'd prescribe for you to stay as far away from those three. However," he had to admit "That doesn't rule out them coming for you".
"Yeah, don't just belittle Cory!" Melissa shot up, "You think we at Arachne will hire just any mook off the street? Corinne's a more than capable scientists, and those goons got lucky 'cause they caught her off-guard. Next time, you're going in prepared, right Cory?" Melissa turned to look right at her.
"I was only trying to be realistic..." Ophiuchus tried to speak up, but saw Melissa wasn't listening.
"...You're right" Corinne said, after thinking things over "But yeah, I can't just charge in to their hideout like that, I'll have to make preparations".
(Multiple votes here are allowed as long as they don't contradict each other. However, keep in mind that each voted action will cost you more time, varying but let's say three hours average, that the Big Top Trio will remain on the loose for)
[ ] I can cook up a few chalk-dust smoke bombs, could cover that Mirror and they can't hit me if they're blinded.
[ ] I'll ask Ophiuchus for some of his formula. I know he said it's not the same thing, but it's better than nothing.
[ ] I'll have to do some serious working out if I want the muscular strength to match that strongwoman even slightly.
[ ] I might have to look into that Vitamin 4X, even if I hear the powers it grants can be quite random.
[ ] Maybe finding a mirror of my own, more than the size of a hand anyway, will help counter their Mirror.
[ ] A super-city has to have some decent costume stores, right? Might need something a bit tougher than what I've been wearing lately.
[ ] I'll ask Melissa if she's got anything in the way of gadgets.
[ ] Write-in.
"And... I probably can't do this alone. I don't think it should be hard finding heroes who'd want to take the Big Top Trio down, especially in a city like this".
[ ] This city's main airport is pretty busy, I ought to find some eager new or returning heroes there.
[ ] We're off-work now, but maybe I can ask Melissa to contact people at Arachne, like if she could sway over Millennium or someone.
[ ] Doesn't Nihonmura have a Robot Arena and Raceway? People there ought to have some real firepower.
[ ] Goldenguise's Egypt town would be where that Pharaoh force meets up, I assume?
[ ] I remember Miss Acorn went on holiday to Finland once, said she had some real fans there. Maybe I could get a Finnish hero to help, though I don't really know any besides Skyquake back in the day (and the Kalevala crew or Simo Hayha if they count).
[ ] The Hero Actors' Guild was on TV once, they probably have a HQ down in Herowood.
[ ] I should look out for guys in animal masks, lots of heroes have animal themes, right?
[ ] No, I can do this alone, more stealthy that way, and... I don't want any more people getting hurt because I failed them.
[ ] Write-in.
(QM's Note: That reference to PMAS' Sabrina back there was just a shout-out, nothing serious, thought bringing her up would be a Superhero Universe-y thing to do. Still thought I should give people a chance to vote on her supername, given that she's supposed to stand in for SV in general.)
