Dysmorphic Metahumans United, an Omake by ScorpioSting
Dsymorphic Metahumans United, or DMU, is only slightly younger than New Dawn itself, even if it's scale and purpose is much more specific and focused.
It all started with a mother. Xiomara Nunez, a single mother and a nurse, had a daughter named Maria. A few days after her 15th birthday, she awoke to the metahumanity that slumbered inside her, an awakening that was dysmorphic, turning her into a feline metahuman with some degree of agility.
Three months after awakening, Maria took her own life, hanging herself in her own closet. She had been bullied relentlessly by her classmates. This was still relatively early into the world of metahumans- Valiant Red and the rest of New Dawn were only about 5 years into their careers. The path to broad metahuman acceptance was still being paved, still being worked on.
Heartbroken, grieving, angry, and wanting to fill the void, Xiomara started a local group in Horizon, seeking an end to bullying in the wake of this.
It started out as a mixture of youth outreach and pseudo-AA meetings for dysmorphic metahumans to discuss things, a support group. Eventually, Xiomara rented a shelter for those who had lost their homes and families to hateful prejudice, from runaways to those kicked out. As New Dawn recruited more metahumans, a small partnership was arranged. Given that metahuman awakening happens in the teenage years, often, internships and part-time jobs would be closed to those with a dysmorphic appearance. New Dawn started hiring part-timers and interns to assist with clerical work, manning the desks and phones, and when they graduated high school, they could be brought on full-time- some as full heroes, some as auxiliary staff. Xiomara maintained DMU separately, the New Dawn drive was just a way for the disenfranchised to avoid the school-to-prison pipeline.
As the DMU grew, naturally, there was some pushback from the more conservative aspects of Horizon. But Xiomara stood firm. She maintained that this was an organization intended to help youths who were struggling. She held businesses accountable for discrimination based on dysmorphic appearances, including New Dawn themselves. She was highly involved with meetings, attending them when she could to help them. DMU helped pay for medical bills for those whose dysmorphic condition caused medical problems. They were also involved in dysmorphic births, for the rare few that were born with abilities. Xiomara's medical experience helped this part of the organization go smoothly, as a nurse herself. Eventually, Osayin themselves stepped in, establishing specialized neonatal wards and pediatric care centers for those cases.
But alas, even with a chunk of public support, backing from both New Dawn and Osayin, and a kind but strong leader, things could not go smoothly forever.
The shelter was firebombed by a hate group. Nobody was hurt thanks to a smart evacuation, but Xiomara decided to get more serious about security, hiring Ryan Murphy aka Headstrong- the first of many teens who had used the shelter- as their first chief of security. Xiomara stood strong, appearing with speeches, making further connections with New Dawn and Osayin, hiring more people to help with clerical work, and keeping the numbers afloat.
And they needed to be one step ahead of the enemies they had.
"This is Headstrong. In position." Headstrong put his hand to his ear, speaking into the earpiece.
"This is Geode. Ready for assault." Geode's voice, smooth and sharp, rang through.
"Overgrowth. Ready to assist, as well." Overgrowth's calm tone came in clearly.
"Camouflage is in position for infiltration." Camouflage's quiet voice whispered in his ear as well.
"Darkwing! Ready for extraction!" Darkwing's chirpy voice stabbed through.
"Alright. Breaching in 2 minutes. Get ready." Headstrong took a few steps back, psyching himself up.
New Dawn had assisted, but the ultimate breakthrough came from Radha Singh, or "Third Eye", one of the more mild dysmorphic metahumans, in that, she had a third eye in the center of her forehead.
She was an astral projector, able to enter a trance where she could move around like an invisible ghost. After a few starting leads from New Dawn that narrowed the locations down, Third Eye was able to scout around until she found their base.
They had been hiding in the Corporate Playground. Naturally. White collar. From what they had been able to tell, more than a few of their members had been Neo-Nazis or Klan members (no difference, really). They had non-dysmorphic metahumans, but they didn't parade them around like the active supervillains.
Of course, they were hypocrites about metahuman abilities, too. If you looked normal, it was a gift from God. If you didn't look normal, it was something to shun and destroy.
His head clear, Headstrong took a runner's starting position to ready himself for a charge.
Headstrong's metahuman abilities were fairly straightforward, all things considered. He was strong. He was tough. He healed a little faster than average.
But his appearance-a rhino-like appearance, complete with a big horn-belied a true strength of his.
Running into things really hard and fast.
"BREACH!" Headstrong sprinted into the glass doors of the shell corporation's building, breaking through it with ease and knocking the tasteful lobby furniture in every direction.
The secretary at the desk dove under her desk, panicking as she slammed a button. "A FREAK IS ATTACKING!"
Suddenly, twin streams block the elevator doors. A line of purple crystals flows across the ground, covering one elevator door. A large collection of branches, leaves, and vines, stretched across the lobby and barred the other.
Two other dysmorphic humans, one 7 feet tall and made of purple crystal in the shape of an exceptionally well-toned man, the other looking like a tree grew legs, moved in.
"We are here because we have proof that a planned attack on a DMU rally. You're under arrest." Headstrong moves to handcuff the secretary, as the elevators open to a wall of crystal and a net of foliage that the people inside try to break down, one more successful than the other.
A bat metahuman carries one that looks like a gecko through the air in the night sky, toward the building their comrades are assaulting.
Darkwing and Camouflage have a smaller goal-infiltrating the offices in the building, and gathering intelligence on leads. Who's funding this group? Who are their allies? Do they have anything further planned? Do they have other sites or bases?
Third Eye had managed to get intelligence on their active move by astrally projecting into a meeting, but digital or physical evidence would be what they needed to lay the smackdown.
And so, while the others raided the ground level, Camouflage would be infiltrating the offices in search of useful intelligence.
Darkwing was the extraction, for when he had to pull out.
"Launching in three… two… one… NOW!" Darkwing, in position, swung Camouflage, who was holding her arms, back and forth before letting go, sending him flying into the glass windows.
Camouflage turned invisible and gripped the vertical surface with his sticky hands and feet, climbing the walls to ascend to an open window. He crawled inside and began his search throughout the floor, sticking to the walls and ceiling to get out of the way of fleeing employees and security guards.
Eventually, he found his way to an abandoned desktop in an office room. He copied some very juicy-looking data to a USB stick before stashing it away inside the shoulder bag that his invisibility field covered alongside his clothes.
After that, and grabbing some unsecured papers, Camouflage moved to the open window, climbed back out, and crawled up to the rooftop, turning visible to signal to Darkwing that he had retrieved it.
The bat metahuman swooped in and retrieved him, speaking into her comms. "Camouflage extracted!"
As soon as the communication came in, Headstrong, Geode, and Overgrowth started to back off, and the assault trio ran back to their transportation, Geode growing crystalline spikes along the ground to dissuade anyone from chasing with a car or motorcycle of any sort.
The group would disseminate the information among themselves and New Dawn, arrests would be made, and the tide would shift in favor of them.
DMU stayed open for a while, maintaining its connections. Xiomara would transition into politics, and DMU shifted into smaller branches: when it became clear they no longer needed as much defense, Headstrong, and the others would shift to their own independent hero group. The shelter stayed open but allowed non-dysmorphic, non-metahuman teens who were disowned or kicked out or ran away a place to stay and three square meals a day. The Osayin connections would remain intact for dysmorphic births, pediatrics, and helping those who awoke to dysmorphic circumstances get medical assistance for their new needs. DMU now focuses on maintaining accountability in dysmorphic hiring for all businesses, conducting investigations for cases of harassment or underpay. The fact that it does not need to do much more is seen as a great step forward.
