Small omake, but it's an idea I had for a while, for a small, non-combat power that could still be useful.
Verity Law Offices, an Omake by ScorpioSting
The following advertisement has been a semi-consistent presence on television and/or radio for a good 15 or so years in Horizon, updated to stay relevant.
V.O.: Are you in a metahuman-related situation and need legal advice? Call Verity Legal Offices today, and get the help you need.
Cut to the inside of the office, where a stern but friendly-looking woman of about 40 stands in front of a group of others, in sharp suits.
Woman: My name is Vera Tyler, but you can call me Verity. I'm a lawyer and a metahuman, and I will help you get the legal assistance you need.
Cut to a series of images of Verity in court, looking calm, determined, and intelligent.
Verity: I've had over 15 years of experience representing common people whose lives have been damaged as a result of metahuman powers. Whether it be criminal cases that put gangbangers in jail, holding heroes accountable for collateral damage, or even dealing with large corporations, I know what I'm doing, and my team and I will help you get the compensation you deserve.
Cut to Verity back in her office, at her desk.
Verity: But I also have a power of my own. I can force someone to tell the truth, rendering them unable to lie. Perjury has no place in the courtroom when I'm around. And my training and experience ensure I know what questions to ask to get the truth to come out.
Cut to Verity, outside her office's doors, with more of her assistants smiling and waving.
Verity: So if you need legal help, give us a call, and we'll ensure an honest and fair representation, guaranteed.
Trigger Warning for Bullying, Murder, and Child Neglect, Gore.
Entry 1:
This is my journal.
I'm sorry, it feels so weird to say. Nothing in my life has ever been truly mine. Everything I have has always been ripped away, because I am weak. Mom is just a drunk. I hate her. I wish I was never born.
But I can at least write here. I can do that much.
Hello Diary! Entry 2:
Darcy Myers is a princess. And she hates me.
She's always made my life miserable from day one, and as usual I'm too weak to do anything.
I feel like a coward, all bark and no bite. But sometimes I really do envy her.. she's so beautiful. She's above me.
Sometimes I just want to
Hm
No. I can't write that.
..I think I need help. I just need to sleep and everything will be okay. Goodnight Journal. Entry 3:
Darcy poured milk on me today, I'm grateful that she didn't do anything else.
The book I borrowed from the library though.. it's all wet now. I have to pay.
God I hate her so much.
I'll write again later. See you diary. Entry 4:
The weirdest thing happened today.
When I saw Darcy today, I felt like something was.. different? I can't describe it. I really can't.
It felt like something inside me was.. hungry at the sight of her. Starving. I really wanted to be like her in a sense.
It doesn't really matter though. Because she's as bitchy as usual. If I ate her would I be a bitch too? Entry 5:
This feeling won't go away.
It acts up whenever I see other girls. Girls luckier than me. Girls prettier than me. Girls who were born with everything.
I want to peel their skin away and eat up their innards and be them.
That way I think I can finally be loved. I can be loved.
What am I saying? I think I'm just tired..
Goodnight Diary. Entry 6:
Diary, have you ever wondered what it means to be brave?
I've thought about being brave more than once. I thought about setting my school on fire with a can of gasoline. Or buying a gun and shooting Darcy Myers in her little face until all that's left is a red smear.
Being brave means that.. you're scared to do something. But you'll do it anyway.
I think that's something to think about.
Entry 7:
Dear Diary
Darcy was at school today, and she talked about how her dad got to hire one of the heroes at Powers as a bodyguard or something. I don't know which one. I don't pay attention to that kind of stuff. God knows heroes won't come for me anyway, so it doesn't really matter.
But God, she really does have it all does she? Maybe heroes are evil. Maybe they're the real monsters if they went for someone like her.
Mom's back. I have to open the door now before she gets angry.
See you diary. Entry 8:
This feeling won't abate.
This feeling won't abate.
I can feel myself changing too. My hands are longer now. I feel stronger. A lot stronger. But most of all I want to grab Darcy Myers by her little fingers, snap them off one by one, and swallow her bones whole.
A ladyfinger parfait.
..I think I can be brave? Right?
Goodnight, Diary. Entry 9:
IDIDITIDIDITIDIDIT I DID IT
she went to school at night like i asked her
she was so confident too. that dumbass. so stupid.
i went and i changed. she tried running but i was way too fast. darcy, how does it feel to be weak now?
i ate her. i ate her. she was so sweet. her bones were really brittle in my maw. but i ate her. i ate eveeeery last bit of her. i couldn't fit her whole so i just chopped her up bit by bit. dug my fingers under her skin and ripped until she stopped screaming.
and now i am her.
i am like her in appearance, my skin is a lot smoother now. a lot clearer. i'm darcy myers in skin and bone.
i think i'll give her life a try.
wish me luck, dear diary. Entry 10:
Dear Diary!
I was a bit too happy last time, but I'm glad now. I ate Darcy up and there was nothing left of her. But that's okay, because I'm her now.
Life as her.. has been really great actually!
But there are more. More people like Darcy. People who don't deserve their life. People who are weak. They've earned nothing, but they live happily ever after.
All they have is because of luck.
I'll be them too.
Eventually. I'll be happy.
I think this is my last entry. And then I'll throw you away. My diary is from when I was weak. I don't need you anymore.
Log 1
Today I found out that I'm a Metahuman!. So I've decided to write about my discoveries in about my power, training I did and maybe plans on how I'm gonna use it in the future.
First things first today I realized I could summon rocks to my hand after I though about wanting pick up a shiny rock I wanted to play with. I tested it a few more time and while the range isn't too far away I can reliably call rocks and soil to my hand. It's a bit underwhelming to be honest but hopefully its just me needing to train and develop my powers, since a book about metahumans talk about Powers needing time and training to grow.
Either way this is huge for me and I cant wait to find out what my powers can really do tomorrow.
Log 2
Alright after a day of training I've found out that instead of just summoning rock and soil my Powers actually seem to involve covering my self with earth.
I tested it and I could cover my entire right hand with a rock gauntlet I could move it easily like my real hand and not feeling any weight at all. Lasly I was able to crack a tree I decided to test punching with my rock gauntlet.
I'm pretty sure I've figured out what I need to train my power. I don't know how long id take but hopefully I can do more than giving myself gauntlets. I'll need to look for clothes that I can afford getting dirty or maybe just buy some cheap ones in the market.
Log 3
Today I tried to do more than a gauntlet on one hand. I tried to cover my whole arm in rock, then gauntlets and boots. I managed to do it but covering myself in rock using my power took time, concentration and stamina. So I'll need to see if I can train my speed and concentration.
Log 10
I did it! I dit it! It took about an hour of work but I could cover myself in Full Rock Armor. I kinda look like The Thing when I checked in a mirror but that's fine and still cool. I still need to work on my speed in creating the armor but moving with my armor is easy its like a second skin to me, I did need to make sure to live holes to breath, sea and hear from but its still great success.
Also it looks like when I'm wearing my armor I become really strong. I tested my strenght with a boulder and not only could I push it I could even lift it although I needed to put in some effort. Looks like my power Is a good one what a relief, I was worried my powers would be something that suck.
Log 50
Great Success I'm managed to not only be able to speed up creating up basic Rock Armor to only a few seconds. I'm starting to finalize the design on my Combat Armor.
A problem I realized though is that a my Powers doesn't make the element I need for my armor unlike how some famous Metahumans with Element powers on record. I need to use the rock and earth in the area to create my armor. My powers just lets me manipulate earth and strengthen it as armor.
I'm still not sure how I'm gonna use my Power but with how things look I don't think I can use it in a city. My powers seems to think concrete is a viable target, but that means using my powers could destroy roads and building when I need to create and repair my armors.
I'll need to look into things. I honestly love my powers and I don't want to never be able to really use it. Anyway this is pretty much the last page of this notebook so I'll need to but another one for further logs.
///////////////
A.N.: A training Log showing how Golem first developed his powers and a beginning of why he focused his career around Behemoth bounties. I'll write a bit more later but for now I get any bonus Put them in the Hit Check Leizi and Handyman needs to join the battle.
Behind the Hero: The Dryad’s Circle - SolarGemX (canon)
Nowadays the word Superhero can be seen everywhere, and can range from small independent groups to massive globe wide super corporations. Many consider powers that are flashy or powerful are what is needed to make it anywhere in the world of heroics; well that and sufficient backing from districts or high end organizations. And while there is perhaps a nugget of truth in that statement, there are as many small independent heroes and groups doing their own kind of heroics. Why don't we look at one of said groups? In todays episode of "Behind the Hero" we share a glimpse at the Search and rescue team The Dryads Circle.
Active for over a decade this group of 6 heroes came to be when its founding member and Leader, Esmeralda Lastra, also known as Lady Lily was volunteering at reforestation effort in Yellowstone in America, the park had suffered from a massive fire because of thunderstorm that occurred the week before. Lady Lily at the time was an independent hero that volunteered to help with her powers to hasten the recovery of the plant life in the park. Her abilities included the creation and manipulation of vines capable of carrying around the weight of a full grown man, but her strongest ability was stored within the vines she created, if cut the vines would secret a purple colored sap that accelerated a plants natural growth cycle, a 8oz bottle or two of this sap is capable of turning a small seed into a mighty tree, so the young hero thought she was perfect for assisting in this endeavor.
The second member of this future hero Group is Sir Ursa or as he was known back then Bernhard Frost, a medium size Teen at the time he had visited Yellowstone in order to attend the event as part of a extracurricular activity at his school. Young Bernhard is capable of transforming into a 7 foot tall Grizzly bear with enhanced strength, at the time he was capable of lifting around 400 pounds of weight when transformed and wasn't really interested in the event as much as he was interested in finishing the event to gain some extra credit.
The third member of this ensemble is Skye Harrison also known as Steel Crane a teen with a slight dysmorphic power that made her look like a Harpy of myth, Steel colored feathers (That were capable of being thrown like knives) and wings forming her arms and copper like talons for feet, young Harrison was actually not attending the event but flying above it circling the skies of the park. When later asked why she was flying during that time the girl just said and I quote: "Why wouldn't I? Have you seen these wings? They were meant for Flying!". Yes the young empowered at the time was basically going for a fly-by and was just observing the event from a different point of view. Not knowing that her help would be immensely useful in the short future.
Our fourth member of the day is Known as Bee Trooper or when in civilian clothing, Melissa West. Young miss West just like Miss Harrison above had a dysmorphic power as well, just instead of avian traits she had Insect or hornet traits. Compound eyes, chitin, a stinger, slightly large insectile wings, but a mostly human body. The young hero was resting in a distant corner of the event, away from most people. Melissa was and still one of the more introverted members of the Dryads circle, not helping the fact that many people are slightly afraid of her appearance even when the girl is actually quite kind... even though one of her main powers is to stingers that can shoot out of her wrist capable of injecting a highly potent paralytic from them, slightly adding to the fear factor. (Even with these factors, the fact that she is introverted is perhaps the most baffling thing to be pointed out when in a couple of years she and Steel Crane came out as a couple. Something about extroverts adopting introverts... never mind we need to get back to the program).
The fifth member of the circle Michaela Violet also known as T-Cat (Named after her fondness for felines and her cat inspired gear) was actually a bit of thief in the past, she had joined the event in order to pickpocket people, her main ability was vibrating her hands and feet and sense people in about 2-3 mile area. Miss Violet pickpocket people while being innately aware if anyone was looking in her direction. Even with lest than stellar origin she soon became a valued member of the circle and help in many future rescues, specializing in searching for lost civilian or individuals stuck underground. (A fun fact of this power is that T-Cat can lower or speed up the vibrations in her hands making her a VERY good Masseuse.)
The sixth and final member of this group is perhaps the oddest of the bunch, the 30 year old (at the time) jolly member of the circle Osmond Des, also known as Croakchestra. A fully dysmorphic individual Mister Des has the appearance of a anthropomorphic Frog with a rotund belly. In contrast to his appearance he is quite jovial and is a fan of many types of music and actually was actually hired by the event coordinators to provide musical entertainment for the event. Mr. Des ability is perhaps one of the most baffling in the Scientific hero community. You see, Completely separated to his appearance Croakchestra has a set of powers that would be quite potent in any other individual, he is capable of summoning rainfall by hitting his stomach like a drum, the amount and potency of the rain increasing the longer he plays on his "drum". Additionally he can manipulate water to a small degree, no larger than a baseball. He usually uses these powers in tandem to create small "tadpole" shaped water constructs in his hands, who he later throws with surprising force at his targets, these "water balloons" his as hard as a baseball...thrown by a professional athlete... so as one can assume, they hit pretty hard.
With this varied group of powers one can imagine why Dyads Circle is known as a very potent Search and rescue team with priority during natural disaster relief and reforestation. Plant Growth, Enhanced strength, two Fliers (one with paralytics), what is basically a human radar and natures own fire fighter, is no surprise they make such an effective team. As shown during their debute at this very same event.
Steel Crane was the first to notice that something was a miss, staring at a column of smoke rising not to far from the main event of the time, but very soon the entire avenue was aware of this fact when A Massive fire began to spread, causing panic among the attendees. As people fled the scene trampling over each other, each member after some deliberation began to act. Croackchestra using the microphone he had while putting music croaked and hollered making people calm down and walk out in a semblance of order, Lady Lily using her vines began carrying people that were injured during the initial stampede, while initially wanting to leave as fast as possible T-Cat stayed when she sensed a couple of animals trapped under some of the stands that broke down (and ironically saving the owners of said animals that where caught trying to save their animals), T- Cat tried to help them but didn't have the strength to pull them out, that's when Sir Ursa Transformed and helped Lifting the debris covering the trapped civilians (Even if T-Cat jumped a little seeing a giant bear come out of nowhere she quickly went and help. (Afterwards she insisted that the Sir Ursas appearance did in fact, NOT Scare her even a little bit.)
Bee Trooper was probably the only one to notice when Steel Crane went to the source of the fire, following the wild flier they discovered a group of Individuals (Around 3-4 adult males) with gasoline and molotov cocktails setting fire to the forest; arsonist's. Being a hothead Steel Crane Rushed at the group with talons raised, ready to give them a beating, and after a bit of incredulity, Bee Trooper followed, quicky neutralizing the group with talon and stinger, just as the first few drops of rain began to fall, courtesy of Croakchestra.
Once the dust was settled and the criminals were being taken to prison, the 6 individuals who had just met by a quirk of fate began to talk, and as they say the rest is history.
Authors note:
Another little story, not for DNA or anything mostly for fun (and maybe more points to save our team from this clusterfuck). Here is my Search and Rescue inspired team. The Dryad Circle! I took a bit of inspiration from Pokemon again for the abilities.
Esmeralda was based on Meganium's ability to promote plant growth and health, Bernhard was based on the Bear Pokemon Like Ursaring, Skye was based on Skarmory a steel bird, T-Cat was a mix of Toph from Avatar the last EarthBender and those cat style headphones people buy, Bee Trooper was based on Beedrill and the name was based on the Yugioh cards with the same name and Croackchestra was based on Politoed with a pun based on Croak and Orchestra. Hope you all enjoy!
Name: Hazel Evans Age: 17
Stats: HIT 1, ESPIONAGE 2, REPUTATION 3, OPERATIONS 4 Tolerance: 5-6 Chaucer's Notes: An Old Industrial District high school student, Hazel is a member of a large but poor and rather connected family with a reputation for good work across various businesses they work for. She's a hard-working young lady who does her best to help via her part time job at a local VR Arcade, as well as supporting her boyfriend, Keith Mondego/Counterstrike, in his hero career as a pseudo-manager, giving him information on crimes and jobs he can assist with. She is hard-working, clever, and deceptively well-connected, though not the most in shape. Lady Leizi: Good grades, no problems aside from minor detentions here or there, her family does good work. A perfectly solid candidate, though one probably better suited to support capacity than on the frontlines.
Figured I should add Counterstrike's girlfriend to the list.
Author notes: I don't really interact with horror much so tell me If I over do it or don't. Happy Early Halloween!
Content Warning: Horror, Blood, Gore, Ornithophobia
A Unkind Murder...
By SolarGemX
Why do villains exist? This question has been asked since the beginning of human morality. We as a species seek cooperation and yet we are determined to abuse that companionship if it means we can get a leg up on the "competition". This can be seen in the myriad of ways people, heroes and villains included, seek various things to either ease their life or improve it. Food, Sleep, companionship, wealth, territory; many of these can lead an individual to cause horrid crimes. The difference between a hero and a villain that seek these things is that the hero seeks to secure and protect those that can't defend themselves (....most of the time) while villains seek to enrich their own lives at the cost of others (again... most of the time). So, why don't we examine an example of one of these villains? Stop me If you have heard this line before: "It all began in a dark and stormy night".
Our little tale begins in a run down bar in the middle of a undisclosed city, in this bar lies a adult male of about 30-35 moons, the man has been drinking for the last 3-4 hours, give or take a pint or two. This sorrowful drinker has just been laid of his work at one of the many different shell corporations that litter the cityscape, he was "unjustly" laid of because of "Budget cuts" when in actuallity he was laid of because he was the most expandable of the employees. Its understandable really, anybody would be driven to drink if their life was suddenly up-ended like that, sadly its nearing 12 AM and the bar needs to close down, the disgruntled ex-worker haphazardly pays his tab and begins leaving the establishment, ignoring the bartenders insistence in calling for a cab to take him home. "Its not safe to wander the streets at this hour!" he says. The man ignores him, not knowing of a pair of beady black eyes observing him from a top of the buildings sign. Perhaps, if the man had heeded the warning, this tale may just have ended differently. But alas... HE IGNORED THE WARNING.
The man began to walk under the light drizzle of the rain slowly and quite angrily heading in the direction of what his inebriated mind considered the right path. The way was dark, with nary a car or person in sight, only the hum of streetlights, the buzzing of bugs and the flap of wings being his companion. A pair of eyes become two pairs. The man continues walking stopping for a moment to heave, nearly loosing the contents of his stomach. Two pairs become four. He continues walking, slower now, hoping that the sensation in his stomach and throat subside, he notices a large park in his way and decide to head towards it, hoping to find a bench where he can sit for a moment before continuing his journey. Four pairs become eight. The man finds a bench and manages to rest, for only a minute or two, not noticing the body that slowly and quietly glides, resting in the same bench as him, staring without making a sound. Eight pairs become sixteen. Quite the ensemble ain't it? Well... its about much, much, worse.
The silence is broken by a small sound, a caw. The man, still slightly out of it jumps at the noise, moving his head towards to left he notices the little creature, a jet black raven. This man has obviously seen this species of corvid before, hard not to since they are one of the most famous birds in the world, known for their intellect, but it was the first time he had seen one so close to him. If he moved ever so slightly he could easily touch it. As his mind began to wonder why this bird had gotten so close to him, he heard a second a caw, Another bird had just glided down and sat next to him, also staring. Perhaps if he was less inebriated he may had asked why there were 2 birds so closely next to him, just staring. But the thought never came, interrupted by two more caws in front of him. There standing just out of reach was two more Ravens just....staring. The man brain began working faster now noticing that each bird was unmoving like a statue, and staring at him with unblinking eyes, he began getting unnerved, yet those nerves are probably what managed to save him, if even for a few more minutes. Four more caws, four more ravens now staring at him from above the streetlights and nearby trees. The man began getting scared and as soon as he tried standing up... the screeching began. The ravens began screeching, feathers spreading everywhere and as a group they flew directly at the man, talons raised, beaks gleaming in the moonlight. THE MAN RAN.
Sixteen becomes thirty-two.... let the unkindness... begin.
Fear and adrenaline pumping through his body, all signs of intoxication gone, the man screamed and ran. The corvids followed, talons raised scratching at his arms, legs and face. He used his arms trying to shield his face, he began screaming for help, but the rain had finally began to fall, a proverbial downpour, drowning his voice, only the sounds of the angry birds was heard as they launched themselves at him. Four more launch at him from the front and left, making him move right, Two more came scratching at his face as the water made it hard to see where was going, for a split second he sees six more flying at eye level in front of him, he panics, but then sees an alleyway to the right, not thinking, he runs towards it as the ravens fly higher in pursuit. He ducks into the alleyway and hides behind a dumpster, just out of sight... and for a brief moment... there's calm, no caws in his ear, no sting of talons and beaks in his flesh, for the briefest of moments, he thinks he is safe... he is wrong.
*Step, splash* *Step, splash*
There is someone behind him, but before he can react he is hit hard in the back of his head with a baton. Bruising his head and disorienting him, he falls on the ground. Rolling on his back like a defenseless turtle, he looks up as his assailant fighting the pain in his head and the urge to fall unconscious, and he sees. Tall, that's the first thing he notices, followed by the suit, red and black; fanciful if he was being generous. To the left and arm with what seemed like a baton, the type used by older gentlemen to assist in their walks, to the right what seemed like a mask with a sharp curve to it (A beak), higher up he sees the general outline of a face with a bowler hat resting on the head. The pain subsides a little and he can concentrate a bit more on the details, red stains litter the suit and the weapon, the face a pale complexion, a slight stubble and sharp cheekbones.... but what he notices the most are his....no.. ITS eyes. People say eyes are the window to the soul, that you can tell a lot of a person just from their eyes alone... so what do you think the man thought of the thing standing in front of him when he saw to bitch black orbs looking right at him, no pupils, the sclera completely black.
The man flinched and looked away.... only to pale in horror, as just above above the two individuals were the RAVENS... 32 in total, unmoving, unblinking, staring at him like they were waiting for a unknown signal. At this moment the man realized what was happening... an empowered! But just as he was about to scream for help, the creature moved his arm, pointed and the birds descended on the soon to be victim. Talons slashing through clothes and flesh, blood beginning to drip and spill before being watched away by rain, beaks heading straight for the eyes, picking at them like fresh grapes and even one of the corvids bulged and flew straight at his mouth silencing his screams.
It was not quick, it was not clean, the man suffered greatly and the last thing he saw was the creature staring at him, before it all went dark.
30-40 minutes later? There was mutilated corpse on the ground, organs pecked and sliced, the head clawed opened like a hard seed. There were only 6 ravens still picking at the corpse, but they soon began leaving until only one remained inside the body. The creature waited... and waited... and waited, but nothing happened. It sighs and in a low voice you can hear it say: "Another....failure". It moves its hands and a large raven pops out of the head of the victim, right through what once was his eye socket. The remaining ravens slowly flew up... and flew straight towards the creature, borrowing into its flesh, a tar like substance leaking through the holes they made... before sealing back up. Now only two beings were left in that alley. The monster in shape of a man and a Raven larger than the rest standing on the monsters shoulder.
The creature walked towards the corpse and bend down, grabbing a watch that adorned the corpse, before pocketing it. As it made to leave the scene of the crime, it stopped and turned around. "Waste...not". It murmured, before its head began to bulge and blacken and in less than a minute a giant avian head stood where "man's" head was before, it got close, moved its head back.... and it descended once more, as the screen turns black... the only sounds you can hear are the sounds of flesh and bone being crushed.
At the beginning of this little tale I asked what may cause a person to do heinous acts of crime? Well, for this individual, for the man previously known as Dante Evermore it was quite simple. Food, sleep, and money guided his actions. For the Creature known as Ravenhome? Its quite similar: Food, sleep, objects of worth and companionship. This creature has no need for territory, why should a predator of the skies worry for something simple as territory? The skies... the World; its his territory and there are plenty of prey to go around.
Authors note 2:
There we go, here is my villain, a wandering serial killer. Ravenhome! This not so little monstrosity is my unholy mix of the godfather, Honchkrow from Pokémon, the drip from season one henchmen from RWBY and the unholy abomination, The Crow Mauler from Fear and Hunger (Never played this, but holy shit is that game gory). Ravenhome is less a man and more a amalgamation of 30 or so crows and ravens inside of a man shaped "shell". Outside looks normal, but inside is mostly tar like blood, and birds. The corvids can borrow and rest inside of the "main" body for transport. The main human body is used for moving around during the day and actually uses the baton seen to move around. Yup, those pitch black peepers aren't for show, Dante's body is actually blind... technically. While the human body cant see, it can "look" out of the eyes of the corvids he controls, the most powerful of the group being the head honcho Corvid that usually follows the body or rest on its shoulder. In addition to bein a bird motel, Ravenhome can turn his head into a giant crow/raven head capable of easily crushing flesh and bone (as seen at the end there).
When it come to fighting, Ravenhome is an ambush predator, because other than a the birds and the head transformation its strength is baseline human, anything with aoe or let's say a bomb could drastically injure it and if all 30 something birds die? Game over. You may also be asking yourself,, why does it want companionship? Well, remember when it waited at the corpse and there was a single corvid left in it? Well, RH is kind of... lonely? In a sense, that its going on animal instinct to find a pair so its trying to create a new head honcho bird to make a companion (Body snatcher style) so it keeps eating and feeding its birds in the hopes one of them will reach that point. As for why I called it Both Dante and a It? Well, lets just say there's not a lot of Dante left in there anymore. So you can decide if Dante is also a victim of the amalgamate or hes just at fault for all of the victims they killed.
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Behind The Hero: Double Bubble - SolarGemX (canon)
Heroes, love them or hate them, nobody can deny their weight in our worlds industry and lives. From the simple civilian militia, corporate super teams and even the Titans that are known around the world; Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. The amount of things these empowered individuals can do vary drastically depending on their powers, skills and financial backing. From stopping a simple bank robbery to fighting off Named Behemoths, almost all heroes do their best to help when its necessary. Keyword being Almost, not everyone with a power is going to put on some tights or a alluring robe and go punch people in the face just for anything *cough* Scarlet Maturity *cough*.
"What? Oh don't worry there was just something in my throat". *Ahem* Not all heroes go out looking for trouble, in fact it can be said that a good bunch of those that have powers decide they don't want to deal with the world of heroics ALL the time, and its understandable. This job has DANGEROUS stamped in its description and some people just don't want to deal with that, not when there's other means to use their power for a profit. Yes, with the advent of more and more empowered in todays age, many have seek to use their powers in their everyday lives or in their 9-5 jobs. In todays episode of Behind The Hero, we take a Glympse at the history and job life of the Pseudo Hero team Double Bubble, a mostly job level team working out in the tropical paradise of Hawaii.
Before we begin we need to establish that we at Behind The Hero, respect the lives and choices of all heroes and their work and we hope only the best in their future paths, now with that out of the way lets talk of the six member strong Double Bubbles.
Lets start with perhaps the most shocking member of the group, Kai Kahele also known as Captain Tentacle Beard or Cap for short. This individual is quite the sight for first time viewers, Mr. Kahele is has a slight dysmorphic appearance in addition to his powers, the young "captain" has an octopus for a head with four additional wiggly limbs coming from his normal human body, specifically the back. In contrast to his Illithid appearance, the 37 year old is actually quite knowledgeable conversationalist and a treat to talk to. Mr. Kahele is an expert mixologist and bartender in the "Double Bubble: Reef and Beef Shack" near one of the various costal areas in Hawaii. Initially Raised as a fisherman by his father at an early age, young Kai learned everything about sea life from his dear old dad and its thanks to this knowledge and his fathers old fish boat "The Salty Catfish" that, at age 12, Young Kai Kahele would meet his newest friend and future wife Malia Kahananui and future business partner, but more of that later. Old Tentacle Beard works as Bartender in the Double Bubble when the bar opens in the later hours of the night, mixing and prepping delicious cocktails and drinks for all night time costumers, and with 8 dexterous limbs its pretty easy to see how. In addition to this, The Captain serves the most unusual of treats: Shaved Ice. You see, in contrast to what his appearance would imply, The Captain is capable of Freezing Liquids and containers that come in contact with his tentacles. Due to this making ice is extremely easy for him and his chilled drinks are among the locals favorites.
The second member of this motley Crew is Mr. Kahele's wife the alluring landbound Siren, Malia Kahele also known as Mermail. As you may surmise from the little moniker, Miss. Kahele also has a slight Dysmorphic appearance, but unlike her beloved Captain, she takes a more traditional look of a fairy tail mermaid. Small sets of orange scales adorning her arms and face and long powerful fish tail from the waist down. Miss. Kahele is actually capable of breathing underwater, from some side interviews made by fans and scientists, she actually has two sets of lungs in her body, one pair capable filtering normal air and the second one activating when underwater, letting her "breath" water as well as normal oxygen (Additionally, while submerged a set gills can be seen at the sides of her neck). Its this first set of abilities that led the young miss to meeting her future husband, Kai. At twelve years of age the young girl was an avid swimmer and accidentally got herself caught in Kai's fishing net during one of his fishing runs. Quite the first impression ain't it folks? After apologizing the 2 kids began talking and Kai and his father decide to take the young girl back to shore. Later meeting the young boy in a more calm (and less embarrassing) circumstance.
While cute you may wonder how is it that she can move on land if she has a fish tail for legs, and that is a very good question! You see its all thanks to her secondary power, water bubbles. Miss Kahele can grab moisture or even surrounding water and make it... buoyant for a definition of the word. These bubbles can be shaped in different ways like balls, rings or even flatten to a disc, after shaping them she can make springy. By using these properties and her ability to move them with her mind she creates a chair size bubble and uses that to move while in land, as the worlds wettest wheelchair. In addition of acting as the restaurants accountant, Miss Kahele actually has a side hustle renting her powers for beach goers near the shack. Her bubbles as previous stated work great as entertainment and for a small fee she lets beach goers use rings, balls and trampolines made of her water for some fun in the sun.
Our Third and fourth members of the motley crew are Chris Flamberge and Leilani Pueo, Childhood friends of the Restaurant owners and their Head Chef and Waitress/Chief of Hiring. Having a much more mundane appearance to the previous two members Mr. Flamberge and Miss Pueo, also known as Flame Cut and Iron Sight respectively, met the their future members when the young childhood couple moved to Hawaii seeking to learn the culinary arts of the island. At 16 years of age both teens were wet behind the ears, yet filled with vigor and a want to learn, which led them to meeting Kai and Malia at the same College they attended and later after graduating with honors, joining the Halele's in their restaurant and bringing a much needed boost to the restaurants reputation and speed. Mr. Flamberge's power is quite simple but interesting in execution, fire and heat control. Flame Cut is capable of controlling all generated fire and its temperature in a 1 mile radius around him, he can make fire burn far hotter than it should be or actually make it cold to the touch. In one occasion where the two male adults of the group made a bet of whose powers was "cooler" Mr. Flamberge inversed the properties of the flames, making it so cold it actually FROZE water, to the udder bafflement of the scientific community (who drowned their sorrows at seeing thermodynamics be bend like a pretzel at the bar).
This control of flames makes him the best chef in the kitchen, perfectly cooking all sorts of dishes like Hawaiian Style Mahi-Mahi with ease. As for his wife, Miss Iron Sights power is quite simpler, but by no means not useful. Ms. Pueo's power is concentrated in her eyes and her brain, much like her name suggests the empowered is capable of "zooming" her eyesight to incredible degrees much like a telescope; it also is capable of changing to night vision letting her see clearly in the dark. The second aspect of her power is that she has perfect memory of everything she sees and hears, making her incredible with it come to taking orders of quoting important details or documentation. In fact, Miss. Pueo has been contracted from time to time in Hero-for-Hire to help identify individuals in security footages .
The final two members of the restaurant are the youngest of the group, at a current 16 years of age we have the viscous adopted children of the Kahele's, Koa and Alani Kahele, also known as Acid Apple and Acid Cherry (They choosed their names when they were like 7 and by the time they realized how..."uncool" it was it was already to late). Both siblings were found by the recently married Kai and Malia at the tender age of 6 years, the siblings were discovered when they were searching for food among the restaurant's garbage. Untrusting at first, the pair eventually warmed up to the couple who spend quite some time searching for any information on the kids, to no avail. Eventually, the kids were going to be sent to an orphanage since they couldn't find anything about their parents and in what could honestly be called a drastic move, the young couple decided to adopt the giving them their new names. (The reason is actually quite personal and unknown to anyone except close friends; you see Malia Kahele is actually infertile, so they decided to adopt the kinds so they could have children.)
Having a slight different body to most, the young siblings are best described as a pair of sentient human shaped slimes. Koa being a lime green in color, while the sister Alani being bright red; each sibling has a core where their slime originates from making them the second weirdest looking members of the group right behind their adopted father. The kids body is akin to gelatin in consistency with no added benefits for strength or endurance, in exchange for this the siblings have a "unusual" set of powers... eating. Acid Apple is capable of digesting all forms of liquids: Water, juice, cooking oil, even tat and crude oils are digested in matter of seconds by the male slime. On the other Hand, Acid Chery is capable of digesting all forms of solid materials: Pencils, scraps, trash and even metal are digested in seconds, giving anyone that sees it in action quite a scare. Don't worry the twins don't get sick from anything they consume, they can choose what to digest or not, they can turn off their tastebuds and in fact anything that passes through them is disinfected... if left smelling like apples or cherries. This makes them the best cleaners in the restaurant and in occasion they are hired to help clean things like oil spills. Ironically making them the richest members of the group, although they still ask their mom and "aunt" to help with finances from time to time. The sibling heroes main form of clout is a video channel they have where they have muck bangs or describe the taste of the things they eat.
As you can see, not all empowered decide to become heroes or villains with their powers, but they can still find ways to help their community, be it with a warm meal or with some simple community service. Its good to remember that behind the splendor, the powers and the masks, Heroes are people too and it nice to see how powers can be used to further along the more "mundane" side of our daily life. Well, it was a pleasure talking about the Heroic restauran Double Bubble and quirky cast of members and how they decided to bring a little more "flavor" and "color" to their community. This has been "Behind The Hero", signing off.
Authors note:
I have written more for this quest in the last week than in other forum I have ever been in....huh...neat. Anyways here is Omake Numero 2!
A slightly more slice of life in comparison to the previous Behind the Hero, but here we have another group of heroes working in much more calm setting, a restaurant in Hawaii. I took inspiration from several sources for the characters.
Captain Tentacle beard was inspired Octodad and a picture of a Buff octopus bartender (Fun Fact: Mr. Kai is jacked), Mermail was inspired by the Pokémon Primarina, a gen 7 mermaid Pokémon that can make giant bubbles to move and attack with also the name came from a Yugioh card with the same name. Flame Cut and Ironsights came from two other mons Inceneroar and Decidueye (Making characters out of the three starters) just instead of a wrestler fire cat and leaf archer owl they are humans with some different abilities. Finally the Acids where primarily inspired by slimes and the names came to me because of their color (Fun fact 2: The names Acid Apple and Cherry were chosen because that was their favorite flavor of sour candy, again... they were 7, so cut them some slack )
Welp, that it for me. I don't think I can think of something new for now, maybe in a week or two when I'm not occupied with college work. Hope you like the omake! And now we wait for the continuation of The Good, The Bad and The Scarlet tomorrow.
Hero For Hire: Balthazar by chickenbouillon (canon)
Hero For Hire: Balthazar by chickenbouillon
Welcome to the Hero for Hire official message boards!
You are currently logged in, LilyParker
♦ Topic: Restaurant Fight!
In: Boards ► ►Recent Events
AMBER2194 (Original Poster)
Posted On December 15 2067:
HOLY SHIT!!! Im at A French restaurant rn and Scarlet Maturity is here!! Hes duking it out with Justice Unlimited… I cant type rn my hands are shaking!!! I'm so excitrf!!!! Attachment: scarletmaturity.png
(Showing Page 1 of 23)
►themonodyoftherain
Replied on December 15 2067:
Ok first of all
Why are you watching a metahuman fight in such a close range and not.. running the fuck away? Aren't you afraid? Also I wonder what they could be fighting about.
►cookiecake249
Replied on December 15 2067:
Maybe Scarlet Maturity got mad that Justice Unlimited is so incompetent lol
►NyanNyan
Replied on December 15 2067:
Incompetent? They took down a named behemoth just a while ago, meanwhile your idol can't even work without people throwing cash at him to soothe his big ego, sorry if that upsets you (
►cookiecake249
Replied on December 15 2067:
Lol lmao
Cry about it. SM stomps these dorks any day. Facts don't care about your feelings.
►TheFilth
Replied on December 15 2067:
If they're fighting in a french restaurant I hope they wreck the place.
Remember: it is always morally correct to shit on the fr*nch.
►023993838833848
Replied on December 15 2067:
Amen to that.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 21, 22, 23
(Showing Page 2 of 23)
►IAmTheOneWhoWrites (Verified Author) Replied on December 15 2067:
Any bets on how the fights gonna go?
►AmericanPie24
Replied on December 15 2067:
Isn't it obvious? SM mogs. JU got a pretty strong member in their Novalight Jr (I forgot her name) but SM's on a different level.
►WhyAmIHere
Replied on December 15 2067:
OP you are a moron.
Are you even alive rn?
►EconomicMargin
Replied on December 15 2067:
OP hasn't posted for a while. I bet they're probably dead.
►????
Replied on December 15 2067:
Well that's what you get for being so close to a metahuman fight.
►WhenWillYouSeeMe
Replied on December 15 2067:
Any idea on why they're fighting?
End of Page. 1, 2, 3... 21, 22, 23
(Showing Page 3 of 23)
►ladybug232
Replied on December 15 2067:
Metas fight all the time. I wonder why we should care about this one.
►MEWMEWMEWMEWBEAM
Replied on December 15 2067:
Probably because it's Scarlet Maturity? Are you slow?
►R0semary
Replied on December 15 2067:
Does anyone have any theories on why they're throwing hands?
►goddessofships
Replied on December 15 2067:
oooo i know i know i know!!!!!!!
maybe scarlet maturity fell in love with lady leizi and now hes trying to take her away from her team by force!!!! soooo romantic…. <3 <3 <3 what should we name this ship!!!!??????
►penismaster69
Replied on December 15 2067;
Seriously? He's like.. 12 ft. How would they even do it?
►Underline
Replied on December 15 2067:
You're fucking gross. You know that?
Depictions of gender dysphoria, transphobia, ScorpioSting 1000% calling it and you ignored them
[X] Plan: Chew Toys
-[X] Menagerie Witch and Hiver:
--[X] Hiver should vent all his frustrations with Ete and Printemps, keep their eyes focused on him while he uses his barriers to cordon Ete and Printemps away from Blue Sky via repulsion and hopefully disorient them.
--[X] Menagerie Witch and Echidna should focus on taking Ete down while the married couple are disoriented. Have Echidna charge at Ete and savage her while the rest of her constructs chase after Blue Sky.
--[X] As this happens, Hiver should separate Ete and Printemps using the same trick he used on Blue Sky.
--[X] Once Blue Sky is down, get ready to bolt atop the Nevermores and retreat while Hiver keeps Printemps disoriented inside a bubble and Echidna keeps Ete in its jaws.
-[X] Lady Leizi and Handyman:
--[X] Contact the others and try to get back into the fight. Stalk the fog and shadow together in search for a disoriented Blue Sky, and ambush him together in hopes of dealing with him in one blow while he's distracted by Menagerie Witch's constructs.
--[X] Before the ambush is sprung, Handyman should take a denser and more armored form for protection.
--[X] Get ready to bolt on Menagerie Witch's Nevermores once the fog disappears.
-[X] Black Swan:
--[X] Stall Scarlet Maturity for as long as possible. Taunt him over how despite all his power, Faust has him on a leash like an attack dog.
--[X] Rely on your superior speed and flight to outmaneuver the brute, kicking up dust with your attacks and movement to further help obscure yourself, while your beams gun for his eyes and ears.
--[X] If you're successful at blinding Scarlet Maturity, get under his guard and blast him skywards.
You are Menagerie Witch.
Echidna obeys your orders as if she thought with your own mind. Été conjures a battalion of soldiers made of flames, which Echidna barrels right through. Still, they're persistent, clinging to her body and trying to damage her in what way they can. There are no plants around for Printemps to convert, so he pulls a handful of seeds from his pockets that sprout and grow at an accelerated rate. Blue Skies disappears into the mist, but you doubt he's left the fight.
You frown. He's the real problem here. Été and Printemps aren't able to shoot down all of your Nevermores, but the fog created by Blue Skies is dangerous. You'll have to take care of him.
Été creates two more groups of soldiers on either side of you and Hiver, and he responds by immediately surrounding you with a barrier.
"Give up, Harrier!" she screams, "Your fate is sealed!"
"Don't call me that!" he shoots back as fire crackles against his barriers.
"I thought an Apep nearly ripped off her arm," you say stroking your chin, "But she's fine now."
Hiver replaces his barriers, face shining with sweat at the effort. "Look at her eyes. She's out of her mind. I've seen this before—I think Faust gave her and Printemps the stuff he threatened Lady Leizi with.
You squint and, sure enough, Été eyes are crazed. Her pupils are dilated, the whites of her eyes bloodshot. Printemps is in a similar state; you think he's drooling out of the sides of his out.
". . .what do those drugs do?" you ask.
"Uhhh, crap, what was it? Regeneration, stronger senses, increased tolerance to pain, umm, raised aggression . . . and withdrawal is fatal."
The soldiers use a flaming trebuchet to lob a ball of fire the size of a house at Hiver's barrier, which shatters. He creates another one, but his arms are shaking.
Your frown deepens. Okay, this isn't working. You need a real plan.
DC 10
Stat Check: OPERATIONS 8. Hiver and Menagerie Witch have a collective OPERATIONS 13.
You rolled: 8.
8 + 2 = 10. Success!
"Ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful! You were always ungrateful, Hiver! Everything I did for you? All of the sacrifices I made? I asked so little of you, and you couldn't even do the simple courtesy of not being a bumbling fool!" Été's face turns red from the force of her screams, and she only stops to inhale. "You—!"
You make a show of yawning and stretching while ignoring. "Hey Hiver, you ever see this skit Black Swan made in high school? Her acting sucks but the names are funny."
You open your screen and pull up that video Mona made you watch. As it plays in the background, you furiously write a message that you show to Hiver. He taps your back once in acknowledgement, and then you send it to its recipients.
There. A real plan. Now you just need to buy some time.
"Echidna!" you call, "Enough playing! Get rid of these eyesores."
At the same time, your remaining Nevermore descend, an Apep as thick as a tree trunk wrapped around one of them. Hiver takes this as his cue, and springs into action.
Minor Success: DC 5. Moderate Success: DC 10. Major Success: DC 15.
Stat Check: HIT 15. Menagerie Witch and Hiver have a collective HIT 14.
You rolled: 9.
9 + 0 = 9. Minor Success!
Printemps finally gets his plants up, and they turn to spit seeds in every direction, shredding your Nevermores. You pull at least two large ones away to keep in reserve, cursing. Echidna manages to knock Été to the ground and pin her, but all of her soldiers charge at your creation at once.
Echidna disappears under a sea of flames, before erupting and taking to the air. She tries to blow the fires out with her wings, but they remain burning. Été attempts to climb to her feet, only to slam her head on a glowing, white barrier created by Hiver. The barrier's gravity repulses her downwards as Hiver closes the distance with Printemps.
"Little Harrier! How I've waited for this moment!" Printemps calls with a savage grin. None of his plants are in position to hit Hiver, so he steps forward with a raised fist.
"Don't call me that!" Hiver cries as he meets Printemps' blow. A barrier appears across Printemps' forearm, stopping his swing short. He tries to take a step back, only to stumble as his foot lands, not on the ground, but on a white barrier and bounces off. Hiver strikes him the ribcage, breaking Printemps' floating rib, and then checks Printemps in the chest with his shoulder.
Printemps stumbles, flopping backwards as he trips over a barrier that stretches across the back of his knees. Hiver is there as Printemps falls, grabbing him by the wrist and collarbone, and driving his face into the ground.
Printemps' nose is a bloody mess as Hiver keeps him in an arm-lock. "I always told you to work on your CQC. I always . . . always told you and Gwen so much and you never listened. Never."
Hiver positions himself behind Printemps and encircles his right arm around Printemps neck, placing Printemps trachea in the crook of his elbow. Hiver grabs his left bicep with his right hand, puts his left hand behind Printemps head, and then brings his elbows together in an attempt to blood choke his cousin-in-law.
The veins bulge in Printemps neck as he struggles to fight free, somehow staying awake through the pressure on his carotid arteries.
"Look at yourself, Jean-Luc!" Hiver cries, "Leviathan's Blood, you're trying to kill a little girl! You're taking Lethal Anodyne's drugs! You've seen what they do to people! And you know you can't just quit using it!"
He tightens the pressure on Printemps, trying to choke him out.
"Is it worth it? Is being Dominion's lap dog so great you'll sell yourself to them in two different ways?! Stop! Just stop it, please."
"You don't understand anything, boy!" Printemps roars, as he struggles to stay awake, "This is what's necessary! This was the only choice we had left! With Ophélie gone, this was the only way we could esure a good life!"
Spittle flies from Printemps mouth as he raves.
"You never understood! Every decision we've made, it was for this family! Every sacrifice, every cent we scrapped for, it was so you could live a dignified life! You, Harrier—"
"Don't call me that!"
"You never deserved it! You were always weak. The worst decision my Gwendolyn ever made was bringing you into this home! She should have let you die! You coddled Ophélie—"
"Get her name out of your mouth! After what you and Gwen put her through!"
The plants slowly swivel their buds. But they're not pointing at Hiver. They're pointing at you. And Echidna is still fighting the flame soldiers.
"Us?" Printemps roars, "You made her weak! She would have been perfect, married off to someone with connections and power! She would have been safe, we would have been secure, but you and that créature she dallied with filled her head with nonsense."
The plants fire at you. You dive to the floor, a seed screaming through your hat, obliterating the spot where your head just was.
Hiver sees you hit the deck. His eyes go wide. "Stop it Printemps! Call them off! Call them off right now! This is your last warning!"
"It's your fault! You scum! You swine! You pathetic, weak, disgusting little worm! Everything that has happened is your fault! Yours, Harrier—"
"That's not my fucking name!"
Minor Success: DC 5. Moderate Success: DC 10. Major Success: DC 15.
Stat Check: REPUTATION 8. Hiver has REPUTATION 7.
You rolled: 11.
11 + 0 + 5 (That's Not Her Name.) = 16. Major Success!
Hiver pulls up on Printemp's neck, and twists.
* * *
You are Black Swan.
Scarlet Maturity is flying at you with the speed of the bullet train. He called you "interesting". That's all you can see in his face—not anger, not determination, not the consideration of someone in pitched battle, just a passive interest. The same way you might nod and pause at a street performer for a moment before continuing on your way.
Rude!
Back when you first tested your powers, you were flying near your top speed when Dr. Ibis told you that you were nearly out of comms range. You stopped on a dime and turned back immediately. When you got back everyone's mouths were hanging wide open, and they were just staring at you. It was creepy. Everyone, that is, except Dr. Ibis who was jumping for joy.
Apparently stopping that quickly at that speed should have ripped your body in half. Except, you were invincible. You had "unprecedented high-speed mobility and agility while airborne" according to the doctor. Then he made you repeat the maneuver like thirty times until you were bored.
You privately promise to help Dr. Ibis set up his dating profile when you get home, because that maneuver is the only thing keeping you out of Scarlet Maturity's grasp.
DC 15.
Stat Check: HIT 12. Black Swan has HIT 9.
You rolled: 17.
17 - 1 = 16. Major Success!
Scarlet Maturity is upon you in the blink of an eye, but you can move even faster than that. You zoom hard to his left, then turn right at a ninety-degree angle. You have a perfect shot of his ear, which you immediately destroy.
Before he even starts descending, you rock in a "v" to his other side. Anyone else would have broken their neck a dozen times over, but you aren't anyone else. You destroy his other ear and zip in front of him.
You jab your thumbs in his eyes and blast.
You don't have time to push through to his brain before his arms come around to try to grab you, so you settle for blinding him and zip up, back, down, not letting him get a sense for where you'll attack next.
Then you're below him. You don't need to worry about hitting anyone at this angle. So you fire.
You hyper-accelate all of the mass in your construct-body's left leg and create a miniature star. Night turns to day as raw plasma burns its way into Scarlet Maturity's stomach. He covers his chest and neck with his arms and you fry those too.
You push, and you're rewarded with the sight of skin peeling and blackening, muscle boiling away as you expose his organs, his arms reduced to ribbons of flesh and bone. But even before your light completely fades, his flesh is already reknitting itself. His eyes and ears are already restored and his arms are healed enough that he can clap.
The air splits with a visible ripple of sonic force, and you have to retreat. By the time you return, Scarlet Maturity has landed. He stands up and looks at you, completely uninjured.
That's . . . that's bullshit! You helped with Rhys' power testing! You know what a regenerating metahuman can do. This is nothing like that. You may as well have patted him on the tummy for all the long-term damage it did!
You want to call him cheating pee-pants, but you're trying to work on your banter.
Scarlet Maturity is merely standing, looking at you with a glimmer of something new in his eye. You furrow your brow—but cutely!—and ready your next move.
He can regenerate injuries like they're nothing? Fine! During Rhys' powertesting, you were told to be careful where you hit him. If the strike was immediately fatal, it didn't matter if he could regenerate—his brain would be dead by the time his body healed. You bet the same is true for this pee-pants!
You zip around again, faster than the eye can see and try to position yourself behind his neck. You blast where his brain stem connects to his spine. Let's see him survive that! You ready a shot and fly until your in position and stop—
Right into his waiting hand.
Minor Success: DC 5. Moderate Success: DC 10. Major Success: DC 15.
Stat Check: HIT 15. Black Swan has HIT 9.
You rolled: 1.
1 - 3 = -2. Uh oh.
He somehow knows where you'll be and catches you by the head. You try to pull away, but his grip is like black hole of his own. You can't escape.
"It seems, Black Swan, that I was not showing you proper respect," he rumbles, "I will correct that immediately."
Scarlet Maturity slams your head into the ground and buries you deep, deep into the soil. He then starts running, dragging your body through the earth like he was tilling a field. He goes faster, and faster, building momentum until he plucks you free and flings you horizontally with an underhand toss.
Your shield generator crackles and fails, the defensive shield overwhelmed.
The Shield Generator absorbs one injury level and is destroyed.
Scarlet Maturity claws the earth, running on all fours horizontally and nearly pulling himself along the ground. He goes faster and faster, flings himself harder and harder, until he catches your leg mid-air. He swings you back into the ground, and lands on top of you with a seismic punch that drives you through the soil and into the bedrock. And that shatters as he punches you again, the might of a single fist more powerful than TNT could ever dream.
Black Swan takes one injury level! Superficial Injury!
You're dazed, but not hurt. You try another blast, but Scarlet Maturity is careful to not stand directly over you.
"I've seen this way of fighting before," he says, "You fight like a faster Novalight."
Scarlet Maturity lifts you out of the ground by your hair. He studies you for a second.
"In all our fights, Novalight never helped me grow stronger. By the end, she stopped trying to defeat me altogether."
He readjusts his grip and grabs you by the head once more. He steps out of the hold in the ground, dangling you above the ground.
"You're stronger than her. But you're more concerned with collateral damage. Scared of hurting anyone. That alone has lost you this battle." He rears back one arm and makes a fist. "That won't do. Let's change the venue."
Scarlet Maturity hits you so hard the air explodes. Literally, it catches on fire, blinding you. You fly through the air, spiraling helplessly and breaking the sound barrier. Eventually, you crash through a large building—a warehouse? You blow through it too quickly to tell—and rocket through the otherside. Your momentum carries you through a second building and through a ship floating in the docks. You hit the water, skipping like a stone until, mercifully, you finally stop.
Black Swan takes one injury level! Severe Injury!
You try to focus, your vision blurry. He punched in the direction of the Atlantic Docks, in Powers' territory? You think? It's hard to tell.
You breathe in and try to remember what Dr. Ibis told you: that you don't have a body. You have an energy construct in the shape of a body. It is as human as you let it be.
It's, um, something that gives you nightmares, kinda? But it helps you see again.
Just in time to see the supertanker Scarlet Maturity is swinging come crashing down on you. All 1,500 feet of it.
Black Swan takes one injury level! Critical Injury, Adrenaline!
Your world becomes a fiery holocaust of metal and flame as the fuel inside the ship ignites, turning the sea to hell. You can't see out of one eye. With horror, you realize your construct-body has been so depleted that part of your true core on your head has been exposed. You erupt from the wreckage, screaming in terror and rage, and float in the sky trying to see him through all the smoke.
You need not have expended the effort, however. Standing at the docks, is a twelve foot visage of cruelty. He's now staring at you, a bloodthirsty grin stretched across a mouth too large to be human.
"Marvelous. Marvelous, Black Swan. Is that the real you I see?" His eyes glitter with a greedy light that makes you want to hide under your covers and not come out until your mom makes you. "Truly, it was worth coming out tonight. Not since King have I fought someone who could survive that. "
You did your job. You well out of the French Quarter. You can leave right now and rendezvous with Lady Leizi. If you're fast enough, you can meet up with everyone and get away to the Apiary. You can hide there. Not even Scarlet Maturity would try to breach your headquarters by himself.
You'll be safe where he can't get you. You don't have to stay here. You can just leave.
But if you do, you'll never have the courage to fight him again.
One day, you'll have to. He'll never stop. You can see it in his eyes—he's excited. If you can't stop him, he'll take over the city. Unless King comes back, there will be no one to oppose him.
Fudge. That.
You rip the broken shield generator off your chest and crush it in your hand. The device sparks and shatters, releasing enough radiation for you to absorb that you're able to cover your core again and restore your sight.
You stare down the demon of Powers and match his grin with one of your own.
"What, like it was hard?" you say, "Now, are you here to talk or get your butt-kicked?"
* * *
You are Opale Houdin-Reyes.
You roll backwards off Jean-Luc with a sick feeling in your stomach. You know he's not dead. You've seen Lethal Anodyne's worst connections in action too many times to think breaking a user's neck is enough to take them down.
Still, even though you hate him, even though he made your life hell, Jean-Luc was family. You didn't want to hurt him. You didn't want to hurt anyone.
If only he felt the same.
Even as Gwen screams "meurtre!" over and over again, Jean-Luc rises to his feet. Mist is rising off his body as his skin grows so hot it turns his sweat to steam.
"'Arry-air. . ." he groans as his vertebrae realign themselves and his jaw snaps back into place.
"That's not my name," you whisper.
* * *
You don't remember when it started, but it was sometime after you hit puberty. For some people it came earlier. For some it came later. For you, it happened when you were looking at yourself in a mirror and all you could think was "I look wrong."
Your hands didn't look like your hands. Your face didn't look like your face. Your body didn't look like your body. You stared and stared and stared, trying to make it look right in your head, but you couldn't. You started hyperventilating and the person in the mirror copied you, but they looked wrong in a way you couldn't explain. Your chest started hurting and you couldn't breathe. You sank to your knees, screaming to your grandmother that you needed to go to the hospital.
It was your first panic attack. You would eventually get used to them.
Mami told you that everyone's body changed at this age. That it was normal to feel awkward and uncomfortable in your own skin while you became a man.
You nodded at her answer, and hoped she was right. But then, a thought crossed your mind.
"What if you didn't want to be a man?" Mami had just laughed and told you everyone must grow up one day.
That wasn't what you think you meant, but she didn't get it. You continued to grow up, and the wrongness never went away.
You eventually stopped looking in the mirror.
It was almost a relief when they found the cancer a few years later. At least then you knew for certain there was something wrong with your body.
* * *
Jean-Luc is back on his feet, but he's regarding you differently now. Wary. He's shaken at feeling his neck snap and heal itself, and he's not sure how to deal with you now.
Gwen is.
"Meurtre!" she screams, charging at you with a rapier made of fire, "You are nothing but a blight on this family! How dare you! You kill my sister and now my husband? Meurtre!"
Unlike Jean-Luc, Gwen knows how to fight at close range and quickly scores a hit on your shoulder. But you've sparred with her countless times, and you're not high out of your mind. You parry her sword with a barrier, and strike her in the throat with another.
"I haven't killed anyone, Gwen! Stop it!" you shout, hoping, praying, you can still get through to her, "You're completely out of control. You have no idea what you're doing. Just stop before you do something you can't take back!"
"I understand exactly what I am doing! With Ophélie gone, we lost our chance a easy future—"
"Is that all she was to you?" Something inside you breaks. "Your baby sister? Who loved you despite everything you put her through?"
"What I 'put her through?'" Gwen scoffs, "You make me out to be some kind of monster—"
"You are!"
* * *
"Look, Gwen, it sounds really cool, but I just don't know—"
"Harrier, be reasonable!" Gwen had protested. She was nicer back then. "There are four seasons, not three! You have your metahuman powers, it would be a crime to hide them away!"
"Yes, Harrier," Jean-Luc had said, "Be a team player!"
"Yes, I just—" you words caught in your throat. There was something about the way he said your name that made the wrongness come back..
"Listen, cousin, we need you," Gwen placed a hand on your thigh and spoke very softly, "Les Quatre Saisons is a perfect opportunity. A crime fighting family! With a memorable theme! The merchandise will fly off the shelves!"
"Y-yeah, but—"
"Listen, Harry," Jean-Luc interrupted, "I hate to say this, but you're being selfish. You can't agree to help us with this after your sister spent our life savings on your treatment?"
"I-I'm sorry. I'm grateful, really, but—"
"Harry, don't do it for me," Gwen said, so soft and reasonable, "Do it for Ophélie. I don't want her to have the life I did growing up."
You had squeezed your eyes shut. Yeah, you did kind of rob Ophélie of stability, huh? But . . .
"Isn't Ophélie too young to be a superhero? Gwen, she's only fourteen."
"We won't do anything too dangerous, Harry. We'll patrol safe streets and pose for pretty pictures with the masses. Then we will get a sponsorship with a corporation, and never have to do real work again. Ophélie will be beloved, happy, and safe. But we need you to do it."
You rubbed your face. "C-can I least pick out my costume . . . ?"
"It's already been made!" Jean-Luc said, "Tailored to fit you, personally, Harry. We can't get the deposit back."
You wouldn't get to decide who you were as a hero? The thought made it hard to breathe. You wanted to explain the claustrophobic feeling in your chest, but deep down, you knew they wouldn't get it.
"Y-yeah, but me? As 'Hiver'?" you protested, weakly, "My powers have nothing to do with winter. . ."
"Is that all man? Good god! Some clever marketing and no one will notice! Now stop being so self-centered."
"Okay," you said, feeling trapped, "Okay, I'll do it."
Except he was wrong. Everyone noticed. Everyone.
* * *
Gwen recoils like you slapped her. She stares at you, suddenly sober like you poured a bucket of water all over her. For a second, just a second, the fighting mercifully stops.
"Whoa," Blue Skies says, poking his head out from the thick layer of clouds where he was hiding, "That's some heavy stuff, my guys. Sounds like you got a lot to work out—oh shit!"
DC 15 - 3 (You are Lady Leizi) = DC 12.
Stat Check: ESPIONAGE 10. Lady Leizi and Handyman have a collective ESPIONAGE 17.
You rolled: 7.
7 + 3 = 10. Failure!
Blue Skies whips around drops low, just as a giant, screaming shadow-bird erupts from the fog bearing Lady Leizi and an armored version of the thing you saw holding Faust hostage. The armored creature swings a scythe-like arm at Blue Skies' head, but he's already moved out of the way.
You swear. It was a good idea, but Blue Skies can sense the movement of water vapor—it's hard to sneak up on him in mist like this.
Blue Skies brings two hands together, and superheats a burst of steam that launches at the belly of the shadow-bird.
DC 10.
Stat Check: HIT 8. Lady Leizi and Handyman have a collective HIT 12.
The steam destroys the bird, melting it into a steam of black particles. The armored creature grabs Lady Leizi and twists its body into a glider shape in an effort to land safely.
But that just gives Jean-Luc's plants a bigger target.
Hundreds of seeds, fired like rounds from gatling guns, pierce the creature's body and rend it to shreds. It drops like a stone and hits the ground with a sickening crunch.
Handyman takes one injury level! Handyman has four injury levels!
Printemps was injuring with the intent to kill.
BUT
Handyman was in an armored form.
AND
Handyman has [regeneration].
THUS
Equal odds of death and incapacitation.
Even = Death.
Odd = Incapacitation.
You rolled: 3.
Handyman is incapacitated! Any further injury levels will result in death!
"Jean-Luc!" you roar. It's your fault. You should have finished him off. You shouldn't have let him hurt anyone. It's all your fault.
You ignore the seed that takes a bite out of your biceps and tackle your cousin-in-law to the ground.
Hiver takes one injury level! Superficial injury.
You put a barrier with gravity facing down in front of his face and then grab his neck and pull up. His face bounces off it and the back of his head smashes into the ground. You do it over and over and over until the earth is slick with his blood.
He gurgles something, and you go to punch him, but Gwen creates a whip of fire and wraps in around your wrist. She yanks you off him, searing your arm, and stands over you with a flaming ax in her other hand.
"It's over, Harrier!"
"My name is Opale!"
* * *
"Abs? Abs, are you awake? Please, I . . . I need to talk to someone. Right now."
"Snowdrop?" Abigail Reyes, The Giant Slayer, said, sitting up in bed. She sleepy rubbed at her eyes, "What's wrong? Is it Gwen again?"
"N-no." You paced around her bedroom like a maniac. You felt terrible for waking her up—SLAYERS had a job in the QZ tomorrow—but she had told you to come over at any time when she gave you a key to her apartment. And you—you needed to talk to her. You needed to talk to her right now before you exploded.
"Snowdrop, calm down." Abigail got up and wrapped her arms around you from behind. "You're shaking."
"I . . . I just—there was a job tonight and—"
"Is everyone okay? Ophélie?"
"Ophélie fine," you said. Leviathan's Blood! You didn't mean to scare her. "Gwen and Jean-Luc too."
"Ah. Shame."
That drew a laugh from you that turned into a sob. Your girlfriend guided you to her new bed—big enough for both of you when you stayed over—and pulled your head into her lap. She stroked your hair until you were able to speak.
"There was a blowout in the French Quarter today. Some burglary from a high-profile tech corp. They burglars hired a few metas to cover their escape."
"Hmm. Who was there?"
"Uhh, Flashdancer—"
"Oh, I haaaaate her. That costume sucks."
"It's the worst," you agreed, "The 1980s were nearly a hundred years ago. She needs to let it go."
"Who else?" Abigail started rubbing the back of your neck. Your heartbeat slowed down.
"Knight-Stick."
"Don't know that one—wait, yes I do. Paladin-cop person?"
"Yep."
"Ugh, that asshole. Did I tell you that he hired Inmaculada to figure out what was wrong with his horse once? He got his answer and skipped out on the bill."
"What was wrong with the horse?" you asked, feeling relaxed.
"He was tired of lugging around an idiot in power armor. Go figure."
You laughed, feeling delightfully languid and safe. Abigail was the best, she really was. She was . . . home.
"So, who else was there?"
Suddenly the warm, relaxed feeling evaporated. Abigail must have felt the sudden tension in your body, but she didn't ask. She just sat there until you were ready to answer.
". . . Foxglove. Foxglove was there too."
Abigail tilted her head, confused. "The pollen lady, right? Causes hallucinations? Puts people to sleep and gives them good dreams so they don't want to wake up?"
"Y-yeah. And, uh, she got me. Ophélie had to wake me up."
"Ouch," Abigail said, "That stinks. At least you got a good nap out of it?"
"The nap was the problem." You start shaking again. "Or, the dream was. It . . . I—"
Abigail leans over and cups your face. She looks at you with those brown eyes you could drown in, and such a sweet smile you fall in love all over again.
"Snowdrop, what was the dream about?"
You take a deep breath and force it out. "I dreamed I was a woman."
"Oh." Your heart drops as you see Abigail doesn't get it. "And that was bad?"
"No, it was perfect. It felt right. It felt like . . . me."
"Oh. Oh!" Abigail's eyes widened in understanding.
"Abs, I think I'm a woman," you swallow the saliva in your mouth and speak quickly before you lose your courage. "I've had dreams like this before. They're . . . they're always nice, but this time it was so vivid. I-I've thought maybe that's what's been wrong with me, but now I know for sure. When I was dreaming, when I was her, for the first time in my life I felt right. It was like I was finally free."
You're crying. Even now, you can still feel the euphoria.
"Please don't leave me," you beg, "I know you've always wanted the suburban life—lots of kids, white-picket fence, husband coming home from work everyday. I know I'm not that, but I can't be. I can't go back anymore. I'll die. If I have to keep pretending it will kill me—"
"Snowdrop, Snowdrop, Snowdrop," Abigail lightly bops you on the forehead and then kisses it, "You're being silly. That's not what I want anymore. You're what I want. And I want you to be happy. I love you."
The rest of the night was the best night of your life. Neither of you went back to sleep. You just . . . stayed up all night talking. About you. About how you've felt your whole life, and about your future together. You even found your real name: Opale. It was more happiness than you had ever felt before, and you wound up sobbing again and begging Abigail to marry you while dripping snot all over her shirt.
It was very kind of her to give you a do-over.
She asked you to move in right away, leave Les Quatre Saisons, and start your real life right away. You wanted to, you wanted to more than anything, but it would mean abandoning Ophélie. And you couldn't leave her in that house alone.
So you and Abigail made plans, imagined a future together, and you steeled yourself to pretend just a little longer. You could do it—there was one person who you could be yourself with, one person who loved who you really were. With Abigail, you could hold on just a little longer and then you could be you. Everything would finally be right.
Then the Leviathan began to move. And your life descended into hell.
* * *
Your words right through the foggy air. You're bleeding, fighting for your life, you're pretty sure you have third-degree burns on your arm, but you can't stop smiling.
You said it. You finally said it.
Gwen's mouth is hanging open as she tries to make sense of what you just said. Jean-Luc is just starting the rise—the healing is noticeably slower. They're probably starting to come down.
"Yo, whaaaaaat?" Blue Skies says from overhead. He ducks his head back in the cloud when you all look at him. "Sorry, sorry! Not my moment, sorry! I was just—yo, what?"
"My name is Opale, Gwen." You roll to your feet. "I'm a woman. I always have been."
God, why are you about to cry? Why . . . why can you still feel so happy when Abigail and Ophélie are gone? You stare down Gwen.
"Harr—" Gwen visibly stops herself from saying your deadname, before puffing herself up again. "And how long has this been the case? Why did you never say anything?! How long have you been keeping secrets from this family?!"
"I never said anything to you because it wasn't safe to tell you!" you shout back, "Anything, anything that threatened what you wanted Les Quatre Saisons to be had to go! Ophélie going to school? Me not wanting to go on that pig Baxter's talk show? You got us to do what you wanted, or you found a way to make us suffer."
"I-I never threatened either of you—"
"You didn't have to! Y'know, the first time Jean-Luc 'accidently' broke my leg during training, I really thought he didn't mean to do it. Then I realized it happened right after I told you I was going to change my costume. Weird that Ophélie's only picture of your mother mysteriously burned after she refused to patrol with Global Justice. It was just a weird coincidence that bad things always happened when you didn't get your way."
Your breath is coming fast, but you can't stop now.
"Can you, honestly, look me in the eye and say that you would have let me come out and live as myself if I had told you I was a woman? Can you?"
Gwen pales. You both know she can't.
"Y-you," she says, stumbling over your words, "You truly want to make me out to be a villain because I would not have indulged your . . . your . . . sexual perversion?"
You close your eyes. And there it is. You expected it, but it still hurts a little.
"Oh, fuck that, boooo! Booooooooooooo! It sucks ass that you're on my team, fire-lady," Blue Skies shouts, "Hey, dudette, I support your journey of self-discovery even if I kinda have to try to murder you . . .sorry . . ."
"It's alright," you say, "And, hey, for what it's worth, I'm sorry too."
"Ah, no worries, girl! Wait, for what?"
"For doing this."
DC 12.
Stat Check: HIT 13. Lady Leizi, Menagerie Witch, and Hiver have a collective HIT 20.
Before he can hide again, you create three barriers: one behind his head, one to the right of his head, and one to the left, all pushing with gravity towards Blue Skies. Then you hit him with a fourth, right in his face. Blue Skies' head rockets backwards, hits the barrier with a crack and pinballs between the two barriers on the sides. He drops like a marionette with cut strings, and falls bonelessly to the ground.
Gwen shrieks like a banshee. She's next to you, swinging the ax at your next. It's too late to react. But you are content. The witch-girl can get away, at least. Someone will know the truth about Powers.
You just wish . . . someone else would know the truth about you too.
"Harrier!" Gwen cries as she moves to end your life.
You give her a sad smile and say, gently, "That's not my name."
"Quite right, darling."
Before Gwen can decapitate you, arm whips out and strikes her in the chest. The blow is followed by a flash of lighting that blinds you and burns Gwen. Gwen turns, even anger, only to have her attacker grab her head and shatter her nose with a knee to the face. Light flashes again and lighting burns appear all over Gwen's skin.
Lady Leizi turns to you, her coat turned into a makeshift sling on one arm, and gives you a smile.
"I'm glad you are alright. Thank you for taking care of Menagerie Witch. And I am sorry for calling you the wrong name earlier, Opale."
There's a lump in your throat that makes it impossible to talk. Gwen tries to rise, but Lady Leizi stomps on the back of her head and lightning strikes in the same place twice.
"Do stay down. Try to get up again and we'll see if Lethal Anodyne is still watering down his solutions."
"Mon amour!" a mostly-healed Jean-Luc says, "Get your foot off her, you ill-breed mongrel—ahhhhh!"
Jean-Luc's words are cut off as a shadow wolf-lion-snake-bird thing grabs him in its jaws and shakes him until he goes limp.
The witch-girl—who must be 'Menagerie Witch'—lands next to you on a shadow bird, the creature from earlier strapped onto two of them.
"Echidna, drop it! You don't know where it's been!" She turns to you, not even watching as her creation obeys and a groaning Jean-Luc hits the ground, "Handyman is hurt bad. We need to get to the Apiary, now."
"My thoughts exactly," Lady Leizi says as she mounts a bird. "Coming, Opale?"
You're still finding it hard to talk, so all you can get out is, "Why . . .?"
Why save you? Why fight Powers for you? Why do they care about you more than your family?
"Why?" Lady Leizi says, "What a curious question. You're a hero, Opale. And Justice Unlimited doesn't leave heroes behind. Now, let's be rid of here."
"Don't you leave!" the wounded Gwen screams. Jean-Luc is moving very slowly, but doesn't say anything in response, "You can't leave!"
You smile.
"Yes, I can," you say, "Goodbye, Gwen."
But just as you speak, a second sun blooms far up in the sky and air shatters with a loud "BOOM!"
"What in the world . . . ?"
"Black Swan . . ." Lady Leizi whispers.
* * *
You are Black Swan.
You dart and dash around Scarlet Maturity, blasting him every chance you get. Your fight has gone on for what feels like hours, but is probably only a few minutes.
He's fast. He's strong. But as you battle the monster, you realize the true difference between you. He's experienced.
Minor Success: DC 12. Moderate Success: DC 15. Major Success: DC 18.
Your pattern becomes just a little too predictable and you just a little too slow to get away. Scarlet Maturity completes his swing in the place he knew you'd be and smashes into your core with the force of the Tsar Bomba. You explode through a cargo ship and back onto dry land, destroying more buildings in the process.
Black Swan has [Invulnerability] and takes no injury level.
Black Swan has [Invulnerability] and takes no injury level.
Black Swan has [Invulnerability] and takes no injury level.
Scarlet Maturity has been an active "hero" for fifteen years. He's fought all kinds of metahumans. He's fought King! And he's fought metahumans who fight the way you do. He knows what you want to do. He knows how you'll try to do it. And you can't beat him if you keep playing into his expectations.
But there's something else . . . weird that's happening.
Minor Success: DC 5. Moderate Success: DC 10. Major Success: DC 15.
Stat Check: OPERATIONS 4. Black Swan has OPERATIONS 4.
You rolled: 2.
2 + 0 + 3 (He's Punched You So Many Times.) = 5. Minor Success!
Why does he keep punching your core? That's like, the least punchable part of you! It's kind of a good thing to be honest—it's allowed you to conserve what's left of your construct-body.
And you emerge from the rubble, you inadvertently give Scarlet Maturity such a deep look of bewilderment that he actually stops fighting for a second.
". . . what?"
"Ummm." You feel like saying "why do you keep hitting the only part of me that won't break?" isn't a good idea. "Uhhh, your pants!"
". . . my pants?"
"Yeah, I just noticed they haven't even torn yet! And we've been blowing lots of stuff up. What are they made of?"
". . . it's a carbon-fiber nanoweave," he admits, "I custom order them from Kelso-Allard Industries. It's the same material they use in some of their spacecraft."
"Whoa! Space-pants!"
"It truly irritates me how likable you are."
"Aww, thankies—oh poop, you're actually annoyed!" you scream as you weave out of the way of the metal pole he throws at you at supersonic speed. He leaps back at you, and the fight is back on.
You desperately weave, but you're running out of energy. If he hadn't been hitting your core all this time, you'd be down for the count. You need to keep him occupied so he can't track everyone else down and kill them. You need to stop fighting in a way he can guess. You need to . . . be creative!
The next time you cycle around Scarlet Maturity, you deliberately stay in front of him a little too long. He grabs you with a hand. Instead of blasting him to get free, you pull back your construct- body and expose more of your core—like you're hurt. Scarlet Maturity greedily grabs your core with his other hand and begins to squeeze, like he's trying to crush you.
Uh, good luck. You're pretty sure there's nothing he can do to your core that gravity hasn't already.
While he does that, you pull all of your remaining energy to the bottom of your core, pointing directly down, and fire.
For as strong as he is, Scarlet Maturity isn't actually that heavy. You two fly into the sky faster than a rocket, going higher and higher. Coupled with your natural flight, your core is digging into Scarlet Maturity's chest.
He realizes his mistake and tries to let go, but you fire a pinpoint blast from the top of your head so you just pierce his chest. His body quickly regenerates, but around your core. Scarlet Maturity can pull himself free, but you have an opening.
You're nearly out of gas. You're thousands of miles in the air. You kind of need to pee, but that might just be psychosomatic.
You need to finish this fight. You must . . .
[ ] . . . go up. You will regenerate faster outside of the Earth's atmosphere. You can survive the vacuum of space. Can he?
(Black Swan will attempt to defeat Scarlet Maturity by enhancing her [Regeneration].)
[ ] . . . go through. You have a hyper-dense core. You have enough juice for one light speed dash. Can he survive a direct hit at relativistic speeds? Let's find out.
(Black Swan will attempt to defeat Scarlet Maturity by enhancing her [Flight]).
Much can be said about modern day heroics, The Hidden Identities, The Incredible Powers, Clashes between Good and Evil; all of this is pretty much standard now a days. You can take two steps outside your house without hearing something Superhero or Villain related. An escaped convict, a raid at a villain's lair or even advertisements of your favorite heroes Merch (or bootleg of said merch). In fact, Metahumans have become such a norm that it wouldn't be strange to run into the not so average joe heading for a job interview while taking a walk in the neighborhood. But it wasn't always like this, there was a time where things like Super strength, shooting lightning out your hands, teleportation or manipulating gravity was considered things only seen in movies or comic books.
You can call me old fashion or stuck in the past, but I sometimes wonder how the people of the past would feel if they had known that in the not-so-distant future things that could only be seen in fairy tales and fiction would eventually become the norm. But what about those old tales? What happened to the tales of valiant princes facing vicious dragons to save the fair maiden, what about those tales of adventurous explorers traveling to far distant lands filled with mystery of aliens in space or shoot outs in the wild west? And what about the monsters that inhabit those worlds, have they also been lost to time? We here at Behind the Hero, can easily say this; no, they have not. In fact, other than the aliens (we have plenty with the Leviathan thank you very much!) modern day heroics have taken the lessons of fiction past and have given it a new meaning! That's right guys, gals, and non-binary pals! There are groups out there that have embraced those tales of the past and brought them back to life. In today's episode, we have the chance to speak about the Nomadic Behemoth Hunters of Central Europe: The Fabled.
As previously stated, The Fabled are a 4-member strong unit of Heroes that specialized in searching and eliminating behemoths. From what official records we have been able to find, this group has been around for about 5 years now and have managed to hunt nearly a dozen different behemoths of various ranks, Including a Gold Level Behemoth. Although details of the elimination are sparse from what we've gathered said behemoth was basically a arachnophobes worst nightmare come to life, A giant hybrid of a scorpion and a spider that had managed to carve a piece of territory in the forests of Central Europe. Although not at the level of a Name Behemoth, this monster was given the name Acid Spinner by the locals, due to its deadly toxin that was capable of melting metal and its ability to make webs covered in the stuff, whole sections of the forest were covered in the deadly web, making it hard to locate the beast.
That's where The Fabled comes in. Hired by several individuals from nearby settlements they managed to locate, corner, and slay the beast, thanks to a combination of their powers slowly but surely wearing the beast down. The first member and leader of the group is Carmine Jaeger, also known as Blood Fang.
Do you remember the old fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood? Well, Ms. Jaeger is no small girl walking through the woods hoping to reach grandma's house, she's the wolf in this remix of a tale. Yes, dear viewer a wolf. You see, Ms. Jaeger primary power is transformative in nature, with not but a thought she can transform into a 6-foot-tall bipedal wolf, a werewolf. This form gives Blood Fang and increase in strength, speed and to her senses, a standard for most animalistic transformations, but where she differs from the rest is in her claws. As hinted in the "Blood" part of her name, Ms. Jaeger has some wicked claws when transformed and each nail carries a secret that makes her deadly on long drawn-out battles.
When her claws cut or pierce and opponent they secrete a special liquid into the wounds, this liquid works in two stages, and both are quite scary. At first, the liquid works as an anti-coagulant, thinning the blood at the areas struck, that means wounds don't scar and blood will continue to flow at a rapid rate if the wound remains opened, the second stage comes later if the battle is still ongoing, the secreted liquid starts to heat up making it extremely hot to the touch, burning the hapless victims from the inside out. It's because of these side effects that Blood Fang refuses to participate in traditional heroics and only hunts behemoths, she refuses to let people suffer from the effects of her powers. (A Fun fact of Blood Fangs is that she has sold the liquid stored in her claws to Advance medicinal facilities in other to use the liquids to treat blood clots in hospitals; after much testing of course).
The second member of this Hunting group is Edelweiss Margaret, also known as General White. This modest member of the Fabled is their force multiplier, quite literally in fact. You see, Ms. Margaret has three distinct powers: A marking power, an ability to make constructs and a movement power, tied into the second. Her first ability lets her set a "mark" on opponents she is fighting this mark can vary in size from the size of a dartboard (17¾ inches) to the size of her hand, the smaller the better. The reason for this is that all attacks done inside of this mark do amplified damage or have their effects amplified. You can probably see where this is going, what would have been originally a small cut by Blood Fang is now suddenly a massive gash and the liquid she employs is also amplified, making a truly nasty combo, and that not counting the other means of damage the group has. Other than that, General White can make small 3-foot-tall copies of herself all carrying white translucent hammers, these small "dwarves" may look cute, but those hammers can pack a wallop thanks to the mark she leaves, making them hit as hard as a runaway car. Finally, the General can switch locations with any of her projections that are within a 20 foot range of her. Although, if the littles ones are destroyed it takes an entire day for them to reform, and the hero cannot teleport without them.
The third member of The Fabled is George Russell, also known as Geppetto. Taking inspiration from the father of Pinocchio, the most introverted and shy member of the group doesn't "fight" alongside the other members, as you can imagine with a name like that, Geppetto's main power is puppets! The reclusive member can control up to three puppets using cores he creates; these cores can make simple wooden puppets capable of withstanding blows capable of denting steel. From previous battles it seems the hidden puppet master has around 6 puppets to use and his favorites seem to be the models called "Champion" A knight shaped puppet with a sword and shield, "Steed" a Wooden horse that never tires and "Princess" a puppet filled with firearms; I guess Mr. Russell likes stories where the princess is also a bad ass, good taste not going to lie.
(Unknown to everyone but the group, Geppetto has taken one of the Golden Behemoths the Group has defeated and has begun hollowing it to make a "Behemoth" puppet in case of emergencies; it's still on the earlier stages of development).
The final member of the team is perhaps the smallest hero we have ever seen in Behind the Hero, the fairy inspired member of the group, Azalea Le' Moon, also known as Dragonfly. The fact the diminutive hero can fit in the palm of your hand should not make you think Dragonfly is weak, in fact, she is probably the most dangerous member of The Fabled. Don't believe me? Well, you will once you hear what Ms. Le' Moon is capable of. Covered in a green chitin and with the wings of her namesake, Dragonfly can produce a huge variety of powders in said wings, from potent toxins, paralytics, powdered sedatives, itching powder, gun powder (SOMEHOW) and more; this little fairy is walking bomb of nasty effects; emphasis on the word bomb. That's right, all these powders are flammable and explode when exposed to fire or sufficient heat, marking Dragonfly as more Dragon than insect. It's this combination of abilities and her incredible mobility in the air that makes her both the scout and demolitionist of the team and when all four members are together, they can take on many of the challenges that are thrown their way.
(Little known fact is that Dragonfly can preserve her powders for later use. She and Geppetto are planning to make a puppet that can store and shoot her powders, they are still debating if they want it to look like a plant or a dragon.)
As you were able to see, while this group may lack the members of grander corporations or teams, they more than make up for it with their abilities to synergize with each other; all while keeping those old fairy tales alive, and even giving them a new twist! So, if you are ever in Central Europe and put a bounty on a Behemoth, these adventurous heroes are more than likely going to answer your call. This has been Behind the Hero, signin-
*BOOM*
WHAT THE!- screamed a very startled host.
*Somewhere in Texas*
*BOOM*
What in Tarnation!- says an Adult Woman that can better described as a Centaur.
*Somewhere in Transylvania*
*BOOM*
Well then… now what could have that been?- Says a pale albino woman a she drank some tea.
Authors note:
Welp, this is the Third installment in Behind the Hero and today's episode revolves around the Fairy tale inspired team that hunts actual monsters, The Fabled! The references should be rather obvious to anyone that has ever read a fairy tale book or watched a Disney movie. But I also took a bit of inspiration from RWBY, hope you like this third group. I can't believe I somehow made another installment of this… and yes friends, that little teaser below means what you think it means. 2 more episodes are in the works, but they are going to take a little while, need to do some homework before I can write again. Managed to make this after doing today's assignments.
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