Realistic or Modern Novel Comics: Cinematic Universe (Timeline 1)

[Lady Moldoma]

[Theme - "Beatdown"]

The Immediate moments after the call, Gravmind would find himself closed in on by Barabajagal, who's movements weren't nearly as stressed or uneasy as before. The exhaustion on her face had drained away from essentially clearing out the snack isle of the convenience store, displaying an appetite somewhere between peak human and the upwards limits of someone like The Expanding Man. Seemingly even from the illness of poor nutrition she could regenerate. "I've always been wondering why you haven't moved up to Sidekick status, and you've just stayed an intern. Your two friends aren't going to provide much help, if I have any idea of who they could be." Barabajagal begins, sending her fist forwards at Grav's face.

Grav manages to dodge, boosting himself psionically to swerve out of the way and then propel a roundhouse towards Barabajagal, thinking that he's lucky she seems to be going easier than she did on the sweater villain. He also notices that she didn't shy away from taking the sweater and tying it around her neck.

Barabajagal counters the roundhouse by catching Grav's leg, and proceeds to slam him down into the ground behind her, leaving a small crack where his face contacts it.

'What the hell? I didn't even see her counter! My damn mask sensors aren't meant to recognize this kind of movement!' Grav mentally monologues. He sends a pulse of psychic energy into the ground, destabilizing a zone around himself leaving significant cracks in the ground 'I'll need to up my ante!' before using his psychic power to catapult back up and slam his foot into Barabajagal's face, further opening up the ground.

The attack collides with Barabajagal's face, sending her back a significant distance. "I see... So we're playing with the environment this time... You don't take on enemies like me frequently do you?" The hit doesn't leave any lasting marks although her skin is a tidge scuffed up. "It doesn't matter though. I didn't expect you to get a hit in this quick. And that's a problem."

"Do you only get happy when someone is fighting you?" Grav asks, suddenly coming to a realization.

"No, only when I'm stomping heroes like you into the fucking ground." Barabajagal responds.

Barabajagal enters a Seiken stance. "Since you like playing around with rough environments, try this one on for size." She says, she punches her fist down, a faint trail of blue following her fist in the attack, causing a line of ruptures on an underground pipe, the explosion of water knocks Grav, causing him to lose his balance. Her devious smile turns into a frown with gritted teeth.

'The water pipe? How did she know to hit that exact spot?' Grav has barely a moment to think a single thought, before Barabajagal closes in on him again and connects a palm thrust that strikes his forehead, aiming at his mask and leaving him spinning briefly, but just long enough for Barabajagal to connect a karate chop aimd at the front of his head as it passes by facing up.

The blunt trauma to his headset/mask causes a large crack to form on it as the back of his helmet strikes the ground, also breaking slightly from the secondary impact.

'She was... AIMING FOR MY MASK?!' Grav is mentally struck, with the sudden realization of the precision of Barabajagal's targeting style. His mask is a regulator, it helps him track movement better and better aim his psychic powers, disabling it means not only can he not aim as well, but there's a period where his powers are essentially useless because he hasn't adjusted to not having it in full functioning condition.

Grav receives an immediate stomp to the gut that causes him to recoil on the ground, spitting up vomit to one side, conveniently out of the way of Barabajagal.

Barabajagal mounts on top of Grav while he's earthbound and begins wailing on him, her punches striking most of his upper torso, leaving several fractures. "WHAT'S WRONG HERO?! IS A 16 YEAR OLD GIRL TOO MUCH FOR YOU TOO HANDLE?!" Barabajagal starts yelling, there's a combination of toxic mockery and her own angry emotions in the way that she speaks.

She hammers both her fists down into Grav's headset, busting it into 6 pieces before picking him up by the collar and lifting him up while simultaneously dismounting. "TAKE AN EARLY RETIREMENT YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" She throws him into a nearby parked motor vehicle, only for him to luckily be caught by the sudden appearance of... A certain hero with particularly hairy arms.

"Gravmind! I-I'm here!" Gorilla says. "Oh god, I-I'm so sorry. I and Minotaur tried to get here as fast as we could. We were both halfway across town and monkeybar swinging can only do you so well, even if you're... Agh! Fuck! It doesn't matter!"Gorilla says, before looking up, destitute and frowning at Barabajagal.

"Listen! I don't know what kind of lost brat you are, or what stick got shoved up your ass, but what gives you the right to do this to someone? Supervillainy is no excuse to try and cripple-" Gorilla starts to angrily discourse with Barabajagal, who interrupts her.

"Shut your fucking mouth... Blah blah blah... I get it... You're a hero... But... You don't know what I've been through, so don't talk down to me bitch. You can't possibly understand the kind of pain I've felt. What I gave your friend is barely a nano-angstrom of the hate and pain I feel in existence..." Barabajagal begins. "I'm a hero hunter. I don't follow your rules of fake saturday morning cartoon bullshit. People need to see the flaws in the society that cretins like you protect, and that starts with eliminating your influence."

"MINI MINOTAUR IS ANGRY! MINI MINOTAUR SMASH SCRUFFY GIRL!" Mini minotaur barges his way into the confrontation both verbally, and then physically by bringing his fists down on Barabajagal, who arfully dodges, flipping around and slamming her shin into the side of his head, cracking his natural body armor.

"Your two braincell friend arrived. I'd suggest you put down that gravity-shifting runt and fight me before I turn minotaur into mincemeat." Barabajagal threatens. Slamming the heel of her foot into Minotaur's head in a piston kick aimed directly at the point of stress from her previous attack, sending him recoiling, holding his face where she struck, and letting out a wild yell.

Gorilla sets Grav down, closing her eyes and exhaling, before opening them up and letting out an apeish scream. She goes into her full animal form and charges at Barabajagal, sending her fist rocketing forwards.

Which Barabajagal responds to by twirling around her fist, redirecting it with her leg directly into Minotaur, taking advantage of the flaws in Gorilla's stance due to her unbridled rage.

The redirection is aimed too, it sends the attack directly into the side of Minotaur's head, Seemingly knocking him out right off the bat.

"Y-MINOTAUR!" Gorilla cries out. "G- YOU BITCH!" She swings her arms again, trying to sweep Barabajagal with a vicious backhand, only to have Barabajagal dodge under the choreographed attack. And send her own punch into Gorilla's face, causing the bone in her jaw to pop.

The punch is soon countered by Gorilla who wipes the blood from her mouth and sends Barabajagal flying into a nearby automobile with a straight punch to the face, the car crunching against her impact.

Gorilla, enraged, picks up a nearby parked moped and hurls it at Barabajagal, who just moments before impact, springs from the car, and leaps over the moped, landing in a hunched position and spitting out some blood.

"...That hurt... A little..." Barabajagal wipes her own blood.

"How did... What the fuck are you?" Gorilla asks, incredulous as to how Barabajagal dodged.

"The term they used for me before I ran away from home was mutant. Or genetic aberration. Originally it was just the horns, and that was almost livable, but it turns out I might not even be fully human in the first place." Barabajagal says. "You can't understand. you can turn off your powers whenever you feel like it." She says. "By the way, you know how cars run on gasoline?"

Gorilla remains silent. Before her eyes widen.

Barabajagal immediately speeds over, leaving a trail of dust and catching her own scarf around Gorilla's neck,

She takes out a lighter she stole from the convenience store and chucks it into Gorilla with a lit flame, causing a fire to spread across her furry body. forcing her to leave her transformed state in order to not suffer from serious burns.

As she looks up, Barabajagal slams the pad of her foot with a bent knee, straight into gorilla's now human form nose, before extending the full force of the kick, sending Gorilla artfully into the window of the convenience store.

She lowers her arms. Looking over the damages.

Something is off.. Mini minotaur isn't where they fell down.

"MINOTAUR SMAAAAASH!" Mini minotaur brings his fist down from behind, and Barabajagal's eyes widen, forcing her to turn around, a blue trail fully emanating from her hands this time, she counters the attack by sending Minotaur's own fist back straight into his face, causing him to fully crack his dermal armor and knock himself out.

The blue aura dissipates. "You scared me. I guess I let my little secret slip out..." Barabajagal says. Holding her wrist in her other hand, and looking down at Minotaur on the floor. "..."

She exhales. "That's enough hero hunting for today... I didn't even plan this..." she says, before turning and walking away to leave.

 

[Gadg8eer]

At that moment, the security camera outside the convenience store pointed itself at Barabajagal, watching silently...

---

A few hours earlier...

"Welcome to Washington, Mr. Wills, follow me." the NSA suit instructed what he thought was the CEO of Zetasoft.

Frank Wills was led to a black SUV, whose rear door was held open by another NSA agent in a black suit. "He" stepped inside, while the plane headed for the nearby hangar facilities of the military airbase.

Little did they know they weren't dealing with who they thought they were. The SUV headed for NSA headquarters got to its destination in 15 minutes, thanks to an unlikely set of traffic accidents on the freeways and perfect timing by green lights that left long stretches of empty highways and smooth-flowing traffic.

Upon arriving, the vehicle was searched, as was Frank Wills, for any and all electronic devices via patdown and metal detectors. However, unlike the android which had been in use earlier, this "Frank Wills" was a biotechnological creation. Aside from what appeared to be a pacemaker for Wills' well-publicized congenital heart condition, everything on him was organic or a button or buckle on clothing that was too small to hide a device in. The pacemaker, as you've likely guessed, was actually a control system for the entity...

Except even that wouldn't have been enough to work, as NSA headquarters was lined with a faraday cage for every room and exterior wall, and radio transmissions were checked for when entering the facility.

Inside Frank Wills' cardiomegalic heart was actually a miniature cockpit, where Ziggy Hawx had shrunk himself down to 5% his normal size to fit inside in an undetectable manner.

After getting through security with flying colors, Agent McGraff met him in the lobby, and they took an elevator to one of several underground floors, to the Top Secret metaverse cyberteleportals known as the NERVE (National Electronic Reality Visualization Entry/Exit) pads. The very existence of these pads was usually not to be known by anyone outside the NSA staff, including the President, due to them leading to a secret micro-metaverse that was able to view anything and everything in any and all metaverse nodes in the United States invisibly. Ziggy, however, knew these pads inside and out...

He designed and built them, after all.

Ziggy activated his backdoor, and "Frank Halls" stepped onto the Cyberport. Then Ziggy was transported into the NSA's best-kept secret... CORTECHS (Computerized Online Reality & Telecom Examination Center Headquarters System), a system he was NOT able to break into because the NSA had insisted on their equipment run on military-developed software.

But now that he was in, he corrected the little issue with his backdoor and then helped the NSA pinpoint Gadg8eer as they'd requested, including giving them access to the messages between him and Barabajagal on Zetasoft's own "sketch.tv" livestreaming social network. Then, once done, he left and returned to the real world via the NERVE cyberports, before being driven back to the airport and stepping aboard his plane again.

Ziggy remained inside his cockpit for several minutes, until his jet had left DC airspace, before redirecting the plane to land at his secret laboratory in the mountains of Colorado - where he secretly hacked the banks to make it appear as if all homeowners in the city of Ouray had missed their mortgage payments, then bought all of the repo'd or abandoned houses, during the Great Regression - where he had turned the town into a facade to hide an entire server farm... one he was about to activate.

Ziggy stepped into the old town hall of the former tourist town, whose collapse and purchase by the "JG Trust" had mostly gone unnoticed due to his AI super-malware "randno." deleting any and all mention of the town silently from networks both private and public using the backdoors he'd implemented in every copy of Zetasoft's competitor to MicroDyne's MicrOS and Quill's VirtuOS, the metaverse OS known as OaSys.

"Altimate?" Ziggy said from the former desk of Ouray's mayor, which had a Zetasoft Z-199-Y solid light holographic display resting on top of it.

"Yes, Mister Hawx?" The AI chatbot in OaSys that came built-in was the same one which piloted his jet... Altimate.

"Time to shrug off the world... begin Project Xylophone."

As you can tell, to say Ziggy was a fan of James Gavinson, the character who acted as mouthpiece for the infamous anarcho-capitalist writer Anne Rayner, was an understatement.

"Project Xylophone activated. Glory to your greatness, Ziggy Hawx. Deleting Altimate..." Altimate responded, and then the lights in the town flickered momentarily as the city's underground fusion torus reactor began producing the increased energy needed for the server farm to begin downloading the entire database of the NSA.

"So it begins..." Ziggy said, clasping his hands as he decieved in a finger pyramid of evil contemplation, "Soon I will become as a god! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Deletion paused. Unnoticed level 1 threats detected in imported database." the AI responded.

"What?! Who?!" Ziggy asked, worried.

"Loading relevant information... Vigilante profile AR-C0-MR-86, no known name, matches the modus operandi of the individual spying on you using substance X. Vigilante profile L0-RD-M0-LD, only known by alias "Barabajagal", has just been spotted at coordinates 33.89416160071113 and -84.5269493694813 by a Zetasoft-manufactured security camera, my estimate is that her power will continue to grow exponentially from this point onwards."

"Well then get rid of her!" Ziggy commanded.

"Are you sure? Preliminary data suggests a martyr complex."

"What data?!" Ziggy complained.

The security camera footage showed him a recording from the NSA database...

Meanwhile in Smyrna, Georgia

We find a confrontation of not-so-epic proportions between Grav-Mind and a smalltime villain with a scarf, who had just raided a convenience store's till.

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"Listen mister hero, wes can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is yous let me walk away with my spoyles. The hard way is I makes you lets me walk away." The man clearly had a thick accent, it wasn't quite to speech impediment levels, but it didn't make him sound educated at all.

"No! You listen here! I made a promise when I became a hero that I would defend the righteous laws of the American society. I took a vow that I would protect the values of the people. You can't just go into a convenience store and rob the cashier and think you'll get away with it because you're some sort of low-end supervillain!" Grav-Mind responds.

"Ha, you got spunk, kid... Let me see, how many punches do you think it's gonna take for me to break that?!" The man with the scarf prepares to close the distance and unleash a punch on Grav-Mind, only to stop as somebody walks past Grav.

It was a girl, she looked like she was no older than 16, she had messy, unkempt hair, and a pair of bright red horns.

"H-Hey um, little girl this area isn't safe!" Grav is puzzled on how to deal with the situation, he is an intern after all.

"Pff, little girl, that's gotsa be an old lady. You must be seein' things; just look at her face! She looks like she's in her 40s." The man in the scarf says.

"Are you what passes for a villain these days?" The girl speaks quietly, in a raspy and hateful voice.

"Yeah, so what if I ams? You got a problem with it granny?" The man in the scarf says.

"First... I'm 16... Second... Get ready for the most historic moment of your life, you insolent piece of shit." The Girl begins, still quietly. In an instant she's raised her fist and brought them to the man's groin, the sound of his more private parts and probably pelvis crunching against her fists is audible from some feet away. She then immediately, before the man can react, grabs him by the back of the head and throat and slams him headfirst into her knee, raising it with great precision and rupturing the cartilage in the man's nose, causing it to bleed.

The man collapses to the ground, his entire facade of the big scary bankrobber shattered by a girl of an indeterminate age. He's in extreme pain, twitching on the ground and likely in need of medical assistance.

"I'm taking your scarf..." The girl says, dragging the scarf off of the man's body. "Hey, Grav-Mind. You're a superhero right? I recognize your outfit. Listen, If you don't bother me while I get my shit taken care of right now, and make sure this dumbass gets to a hospital... I won't force you into an early retirement." The girl says, turning around.

Those eyes, the unadulterated, sour rage that persists through them, piercing into Grav-Mind's heroic spirit. Even just the stare from her after watching what she did is enough to give him a shiver. He steels himself however, and tries to act heroic anyway. "I-Actually um... I'm gonna need to ask you to, maybe.. Not take that man's scarf? Also... Thats um... I think uh.."

"Don't wanna take my offer? That's fine. I don't like fighting on an empty stomach. So can I at least get something to eat first?" The girl asks.

Gravmind sweatdrops. On one hand, he doesn't want to know what this girl will do if he ends up fighting her.. But according to her words, he might be able to run away or call for backup if he let her go into the convenience store and eat something. It can't be that bad of a decision...

Right...?

"Um... That's fine... Yeah, that... Sounds fair." Gravmind says. He might as well just yield for now. He tries to think of what to do here... This girl is obviously a superhuman, he could barely see her move before the man in the scarf was on the ground in too much pain to scream. Oh shit! He had to get that guy attended to medically.

As the girl moved inside, he moved over to the man and moved to try and get him over his shoulder, an ambulance from earlier had already arrived, Grav quickly brought the man to the care of paramedics, before stepping away to take out a communicator.

"G-Gorilla, Minotaur, are you there?" Grav began. "It's Grav."

"Yeah, I recognize your voice. Do you need us to come help you or something? Did that guy with the scarf turn out to be stronger than we initially profiled him as?" Gorilla asks.

"Minotaur is on line." Mini minotaur responds.

"I do need your help. That guy wasn't the issue. The new issue is... Some girl just sorta strolled up to him and left him bleeding on the ground." Grav says.

"Wait, s-she killed him?!" Minotaur asks, breaking from his normal hulk speak which he generally just does cause he thinks it sounds cool.

"No-I mean, I don't think so, he was still breathing and the way the girl hit him looked like she was using some sort of nonlethal fighting style, but she's obviously a superhuman, and she's obviously bad news. I'm at the convenience store at [ADDRESS REDACTED FOR PRIVACY]" Grav explains, looking up as he hears the door open again.

"We-We'll try to get there as soon as possible. Even if this girl is superhuman, holding her off can't be too hard right?" Gorilla asks.

"I'm done eating, get done with your communicator and lets get this over with." The girl looks like she's regenerated remarkably from her more destitute state, her 40 year old face went back to just looking like a somewhat young person with insomnia and weird red bags under her eyes.

Grav turns off his communicator. "Listen, I don't know who you are, or why you feel the need to endanger yourself by fighting me, but I've already called in backup from two of my colleagues so-"

"Good, I think I can do a three against one..." The girl says. "And since you asked. My name, is Barabajagal." The Girl says, cracking her knuckles.

Grav sweated under his mask, he hoped he hadn't pulled his two colleagues; his two friends, into a fight they couldn't win together.

[Theme - "Beatdown"]

The Immediate moments after the call, Gravmind would find himself closed in on by Barabajagal, who's movements weren't nearly as stressed or uneasy as before. The exhaustion on her face had drained away from essentially clearing out the snack isle of the convenience store, displaying an appetite somewhere between peak human and the upwards limits of someone like The Expanding Man. Seemingly even from the illness of poor nutrition she could regenerate. "I've always been wondering why you haven't moved up to Sidekick status, and you've just stayed an intern. Your two friends aren't going to provide much help, if I have any idea of who they could be." Barabajagal begins, sending her fist forwards at Grav's face.

Grav manages to dodge, boosting himself psionically to swerve out of the way and then propel a roundhouse towards Barabajagal, thinking that he's lucky she seems to be going easier than she did on the sweater villain. He also notices that she didn't shy away from taking the sweater and tying it around her neck.

Barabajagal counters the roundhouse by catching Grav's leg, and proceeds to slam him down into the ground behind her, leaving a small crack where his face contacts it.

'What the hell? I didn't even see her counter! My damn mask sensors aren't meant to recognize this kind of movement!' Grav mentally monologues. He sends a pulse of psychic energy into the ground, destabilizing a zone around himself leaving significant cracks in the ground 'I'll need to up my ante!' before using his psychic power to catapult back up and slam his foot into Barabajagal's face, further opening up the ground.

The attack collides with Barabajagal's face, sending her back a significant distance. "I see... So we're playing with the environment this time... You don't take on enemies like me frequently do you?" The hit doesn't leave any lasting marks although her skin is a tidge scuffed up. "It doesn't matter though. I didn't expect you to get a hit in this quick. And that's a problem."

"Do you only get happy when someone is fighting you?" Grav asks, suddenly coming to a realization.

"No, only when I'm stomping heroes like you into the fucking ground." Barabajagal responds.

Barabajagal enters a Seiken stance. "Since you like playing around with rough environments, try this one on for size." She says, she punches her fist down, a faint trail of blue following her fist in the attack, causing a line of ruptures on an underground pipe, the explosion of water knocks Grav, causing him to lose his balance. Her devious smile turns into a frown with gritted teeth.

'The water pipe? How did she know to hit that exact spot?' Grav has barely a moment to think a single thought, before Barabajagal closes in on him again and connects a palm thrust that strikes his forehead, aiming at his mask and leaving him spinning briefly, but just long enough for Barabajagal to connect a karate chop aimd at the front of his head as it passes by facing up.

The blunt trauma to his headset/mask causes a large crack to form on it as the back of his helmet strikes the ground, also breaking slightly from the secondary impact.

'She was... AIMING FOR MY MASK?!' Grav is mentally struck, with the sudden realization of the precision of Barabajagal's targeting style. His mask is a regulator, it helps him track movement better and better aim his psychic powers, disabling it means not only can he not aim as well, but there's a period where his powers are essentially useless because he hasn't adjusted to not having it in full functioning condition.

Grav receives an immediate stomp to the gut that causes him to recoil on the ground, spitting up vomit to one side, conveniently out of the way of Barabajagal.

Barabajagal mounts on top of Grav while he's earthbound and begins wailing on him, her punches striking most of his upper torso, leaving several fractures. "WHAT'S WRONG HERO?! IS A 16 YEAR OLD GIRL TOO MUCH FOR YOU TOO HANDLE?!" Barabajagal starts yelling, there's a combination of toxic mockery and her own angry emotions in the way that she speaks.

She hammers both her fists down into Grav's headset, busting it into 6 pieces before picking him up by the collar and lifting him up while simultaneously dismounting. "TAKE AN EARLY RETIREMENT YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" She throws him into a nearby parked motor vehicle, only for him to luckily be caught by the sudden appearance of... A certain hero with particularly hairy arms.

"Gravmind! I-I'm here!" Gorilla says. "Oh god, I-I'm so sorry. I and Minotaur tried to get here as fast as we could. We were both halfway across town and monkeybar swinging can only do you so well, even if you're... Agh! Fuck! It doesn't matter!"Gorilla says, before looking up, destitute and frowning at Barabajagal.

"Listen! I don't know what kind of lost brat you are, or what stick got shoved up your ass, but what gives you the right to do this to someone? Supervillainy is no excuse to try and cripple-" Gorilla starts to angrily discourse with Barabajagal, who interrupts her.

"Shut your fucking mouth... Blah blah blah... I get it... You're a hero... But... You don't know what I've been through, so don't talk down to me bitch. You can't possibly understand the kind of pain I've felt. What I gave your friend is barely a nano-angstrom of the hate and pain I feel in existence..." Barabajagal begins. "I'm a hero hunter. I don't follow your rules of fake saturday morning cartoon bullshit. People need to see the flaws in the society that cretins like you protect, and that starts with eliminating your influence."

"MINI MINOTAUR IS ANGRY! MINI MINOTAUR SMASH SCRUFFY GIRL!" Mini minotaur barges his way into the confrontation both verbally, and then physically by bringing his fists down on Barabajagal, who arfully dodges, flipping around and slamming her shin into the side of his head, cracking his natural body armor.

"Your two braincell friend arrived. I'd suggest you put down that gravity-shifting runt and fight me before I turn minotaur into mincemeat." Barabajagal threatens. Slamming the heel of her foot into Minotaur's head in a piston kick aimed directly at the point of stress from her previous attack, sending him recoiling, holding his face where she struck, and letting out a wild yell.

Gorilla sets Grav down, closing her eyes and exhaling, before opening them up and letting out an apeish scream. She goes into her full animal form and charges at Barabajagal, sending her fist rocketing forwards.

Which Barabajagal responds to by twirling around her fist, redirecting it with her leg directly into Minotaur, taking advantage of the flaws in Gorilla's stance due to her unbridled rage.

The redirection is aimed too, it sends the attack directly into the side of Minotaur's head, Seemingly knocking him out right off the bat.

"Y-MINOTAUR!" Gorilla cries out. "G- YOU BITCH!" She swings her arms again, trying to sweep Barabajagal with a vicious backhand, only to have Barabajagal dodge under the choreographed attack. And send her own punch into Gorilla's face, causing the bone in her jaw to pop.

The punch is soon countered by Gorilla who wipes the blood from her mouth and sends Barabajagal flying into a nearby automobile with a straight punch to the face, the car crunching against her impact.

Gorilla, enraged, picks up a nearby parked moped and hurls it at Barabajagal, who just moments before impact, springs from the car, and leaps over the moped, landing in a hunched position and spitting out some blood.

"...That hurt... A little..." Barabajagal wipes her own blood.

"How did... What the fuck are you?" Gorilla asks, incredulous as to how Barabajagal dodged.

"The term they used for me before I ran away from home was mutant. Or genetic aberration. Originally it was just the horns, and that was almost livable, but it turns out I might not even be fully human in the first place." Barabajagal says. "You can't understand. you can turn off your powers whenever you feel like it." She says. "By the way, you know how cars run on gasoline?"

Gorilla remains silent. Before her eyes widen.

Barabajagal immediately speeds over, leaving a trail of dust and catching her own scarf around Gorilla's neck,

She takes out a lighter she stole from the convenience store and chucks it into Gorilla with a lit flame, causing a fire to spread across her furry body. forcing her to leave her transformed state in order to not suffer from serious burns.

As she looks up, Barabajagal slams the pad of her foot with a bent knee, straight into gorilla's now human form nose, before extending the full force of the kick, sending Gorilla artfully into the window of the convenience store.

She lowers her arms. Looking over the damages.

Something is off.. Mini minotaur isn't where they fell down.

"MINOTAUR SMAAAAASH!" Mini minotaur brings his fist down from behind, and Barabajagal's eyes widen, forcing her to turn around, a blue trail fully emanating from her hands this time, she counters the attack by sending Minotaur's own fist back straight into his face, causing him to fully crack his dermal armor and knock himself out.

The blue aura dissipates. "You scared me. I guess I let my little secret slip out..." Barabajagal says. Holding her wrist in her other hand, and looking down at Minotaur on the floor. "..."

She exhales. "That's enough hero hunting for today... I didn't even plan this..." she says, before turning and walking away to leave.

"...oh?" Ziggy said, gears turning in his head. "Hmm... For now, keep track of her at all times as much as possible. I think I have a plan for this..."

 

[Lady Moldoma]

Barabajagal continued on her way through Smyrna, eventually coming to the edge of city limits and to an abandoned Business Park she had been squatting in one of the buildings of. She climbed through a window in the back and stepped inside. As there were no cameras left on property, it might be a bit hard to track her.

---

Barabajagal sat down in her abandoned little slice of the world, she had a 400 page manuscript scrawled on paper in a small, cardboard box, which was labelled. "My Manifesto."

There was a somewhat damaged sleeping bag with an old pillow and a few blankets she used to keep warm during the colder months, there were a collection of surprisingly well improvised items, and a few empty cans of preserved foods.

She shuffled around in her pockets, specifically the one on her jacket, and pulled out some cans of dog food and cat food, and a water bottle she had stolen from the general store, stacking it in a corner.

She went over to her sleeping bag and pulled it over herself, before falling asleep, or at least trying to. She never could sleep very well, being a very restless type of person. But, this time she felt satisfied enough to at least fall asleep for a bit.

---

Meanwhile, back at the scene of the fight that'd happened earlier, local and even statewide news had begun a report as soon as the area was cleared. The headline of a human who fought like a monster, one who seemingly had no problem brutalizing a group of fairly young hero hopefuls, was definitely not something easily overlooked. It was something fresh, and new.

The local online paper, SmyrnaDaily, had sent out it's main (and only) field photographer, Alice, even though the cramped office space and lack of manpower meant she was also one of their writers and interviewers.

Interviewing anyone who she could get that'd been nearby or that had seen the thing happen was definitely troublesome. The police in Smyrna weren't exactly kind to her in particular, as it was no secret that she wasn't exactly a common bird when it came to her own identity.

The only one she could manage to get to comment was from a company-grade officer, Billy "Four-Eyes" McCracken. A practical police intern who was only a year or two older than her (18 as opposed to her 17.)

Alice was delighted to speak to Billy, but had to turn down his offer of taking her out to dinner, awkwardly reminding him that she only really liked girls. Billy was understanding. Throwing in a joke about how she might romantically try going after "The Hero Hunter" as they had come to start calling Barabajagal/

Though, as he explained the situation more and more (to the best of his knowledge) Alice wondered more and more about the dating state statement. The hero hunter must've at least been a perplexing person to talk to. She thought. They had definitely had to have been through some hard suffering if they were as twisted as Billy explained them to be. She felt that suffering humanized people in a way that made it possible for her to love. If they'd never felt the kind of pain she herself had been through, they couldn't possibly understand her in the way that would let them love her as much as they loved themselves.

After their 'interview' Alice decided she had enough information and material to catalogue the event. It was probably going to be on her and the intern at SmyrnaDaily, Michael Stencil, to do some deeper digging online when she got back to the ever-cramped office-space.

---

It was likely that only time would tell if following this story would lead to anything deeper.

 

[Gadg8eer]

((OOC: Yeah, um... We're waiting on you still, 86, but since you're at a convention... Until you get back I guess this RP will be on standby.))

 

[Lady Moldoma]

((OOC: Yeah, um... We're waiting on you still, 86, but since you're at a convention... Until you get back I guess this RP will be on standby.))

(I could post some filler if you want.)

 

[Gadg8eer]

(I could post some filler if you want.)

Sure, go ahead.

 

[Gadg8eer]

(Sigh, let me bug 86 about this...)

 

[Lady Moldoma]

Theme - Chicken and Waffles

We cut to the average day for Rowdy Rowdy Chocolate Harry, as someone who lives a humble life when not training, he of course does his own grocery shopping. This reflects the more average side of the hero world. It's his choice to live a fairly decent life, rather than an extravagant one, that endears him to the public. Knowing that the world's strongest man is just like you is more than enough to encourage people to seek to better themselves, both in physical fitness and in terms of morality.

Out of his hero costume while shopping, he wears a tight gray tanktop and over it a black jacket and a pair of baggy cargo pants that fit fairly snugly around his legs due to his height and massive build. Despite the casual look, he had to have much of his clothing custom made due to his size.

He examines the discount on a piece of salami. Turning to casually place it in a grocery basket hanging gently on his left arm, when suddenly, there's the distinct shouting from a customer, or more accurately, a wannabe villain seemingly threatening the employee behind the till in the general store.

The villain has a truly heinous look to him, his body is toned, or at least, the parts that can be seen through his mostly torn hoodie is, though as Harry notes, the many scars on the man's body denote that it's likely not toned due to just any normal excercise routine, and the toning is likely some form of mutation. The villain has a Glasgow Smile, made up of two poorly healed, picked at burn wounds that left horrendous scars on his face. His hair is dirty and black, but missing on one side of his head, it's shiny with grease, though perhaps not as shiny as Harry is in his uniform.

"L-l-listen here... I-I'm only gonna give you one chance to h-h-hand over everything in the till..." The villain says, holding up a lighter. "OR I'LL BURN THIS PLACE TO THE GROUND WITH EVERYONE IN IT!" He adds, suddenly breaking into a more panicky and excitable tone.

"I-Is that um.. A lighter?" The girl behind the till asks.

"Y-Yeah! I gained the ability to control fire after coming into contact with radioactive waste! T-That's how I got these scars!" The villain says. "N-N-Now if you don't hand over-" He's interrupted mid sentence by a hand being placed on his shoulder.

"Is there a problem here, sir?" Harry asks, looking down at the man, his hand on his shoulder. He has no intention of even raising a fist to this man, and yet...

The scarred man's life flashes before his eyes as he turns, even just Harry's shadow caused him to drop the lighter, but being face to face with the mountain of a man, and not just that, but the well known strongest pure blood human on the planet, is enough to reduce the villain to shivers. "R-R-R..." He can't even peep out a word.

"Ah, you dropped this." Harry leans over, and holds up the lighter to the man.

Assuming Harry is 'daring him to do something', the man collapses to his knees and brings his hands down.

"I-I'M SORRY!" He cries out. "I WON'T TRY TO ROB ANYONE AGAIN MISTER HARRY! JUST PLEASE LET ME GO!"

"You were trying to rob someone?" Harry seems confused, but looks can be deceiving when heroes are afoot.

The villain misreads the response, assuming that harry is questioning him in a sarcastic manner, as if his attempt was barely even worth being called a robbery. "I-I'M SORRY! IT WAS A STUPID ATTEMPT! I-I'M FROM A REALLY TROUBLED BACKGROUND OKAY?! PLEASE! I DIDN'T MEAN ANY HARM!"

"Oh... I see how it is..." Harry sighs. He shakes his head. Harry grabs the mans arm and moves him up, before... Dusting him off? "You don't have to make a big ruckus and show off your new superpowers just to get someone's attention, it's fine if you just politely come up and ask someone in proper authority for help." Harry says. "We're all working towards a better planet. But you ought to be more careful with your methods. Someone could've thought you were really trying to pull off a robbery." Harry explains. "I can see you're a troubled youth, and I understand. In my early days I thought the world was a hard place to live in. But if you work hard, anything is achievable." Harry continues explaining. While the villain is confused, he's listening attentively.

"Tell you what. Why don't we all forget this happened, but, I want you to promise me something. When you walk out of here, you try for a better outlook. There's a local YMCA with a pristine gym. I can tell from that body of yours you're someone who'd find athleticism with ease. If it's not too much of a hamper on your day to day life, perhaps you should consider taking up excercise. It's fulfilling and it builds both the body and spirit." Harry says.

"A-O-Oh... Okay... Um... Mister Harry..." The villain says, Harry turns him around and guides him towards the door.

"It'll do us all well if we focus on the positives of life, rather than the negatives. You can quote me on that." Harry says leading the man towards the exit.

"Th-Thanks?" The former villain is somewhat confused.

"Oh and if you do this sort of thing again, I will come for you." Harry suddenly takes on a very serious and stern look, which frightens the man. "Run along now." Harry returns to his more normal look and waves the man off, who darts away, likely scared out of doing any robberies, or for that matter, any more crime in his future for a good two lifetimes over.

He returns to the till. "Now, with that out of the way, I ought to pay for these groceries."

"Hey uh, harry, so, you do know that guy was a villain right? not just a troubled youth or something?" the girl behind the till asks.

"Of course. But I've never seen his mug before, so he's likely a first time offender, redirecting someone away from a dark path is so much more constructive than beating the snot out of them. He didn't hurt you, so I ended the issue peaceably. Heroes are defenders of peace, not just mindless brutes fighting monsters." Harry says.

"Well I was a bit shaken up but.. Now I'm just confused..." The girl behind the till says. "Eh, whatever, for your sake, Harry, since I feel like you really scared some sense into that guy, I ain't gonna press charges..."

 

[Gadg8eer]

(OOC: Alright, I've edited my post accordingly.)

"Aw, crap..." Gadg8eer sighed. He had been driving the vehicle using his Neo GamePlayer, an old portable game console from the Y2K era that he had converted to be a hacking interface for vehicles of all sorts, seeing as he couldn't legally drive in his hero form and had no license as "Oliver Kind" either. The reason that it seemed like he was driving poorly was due to him driving like he was in a game of Highway Robbery Online, rather than actually driving a stolen police Dumvee. As the vehicle headed down the road, he was hidden in the cargo compartment of the Dumvee, requiring him to steer entirely using the camera built into the vehicle's dashboard. He then pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the engine.

The sheriff pulled up behind the vehicle, got out with his weapon prepared, and approached the driver's door of the vehicle... only to shiver as he spotted the enormous corvid clinging to the roof of the vehicle, watching him...

Theme - Chicken and Waffles

We cut to the average day for Rowdy Rowdy Chocolate Harry, as someone who lives a humble life when not training, he of course does his own grocery shopping. This reflects the more average side of the hero world. It's his choice to live a fairly decent life, rather than an extravagant one, that endears him to the public. Knowing that the world's strongest man is just like you is more than enough to encourage people to seek to better themselves, both in physical fitness and in terms of morality.

Out of his hero costume while shopping, he wears a tight gray tanktop over a black jacket and a pair of baggy cargo pants that fit fairly snugly around his legs due to his height and massive build. Despite the casual look, he had to have much of his clothing custom made due to his size.

He examines the discount on a piece of salami. Turning to casually place it in a grocery basket hanging gently on his left arm, when suddenly, there's the distinct shouting from a customer, or more accurately, a wannabe villain seemingly threatening the employee behind the till in the general store.

The villain has a truly heinous look to him, his body is toned, or at least, the parts that can be seen through his mostly torn hoodie is, though as Harry notes, the many scars on the man's body denote that it's likely not toned due to just any normal excercise routine, and the toning is likely some form of mutation. The villain has a Glasgow Smile, made up of two poorly healed, picked at burn wounds that left horrendous scars on his face. His hair is dirty and black, but missing on one side of his head, it's shiny with grease, though perhaps not as shiny as Harry is in his uniform.

"L-l-listen here... I-I'm only gonna give you one chance to h-h-hand over everything in the till..." The villain says, holding up a lighter. "OR I'LL BURN THIS PLACE TO THE GROUND WITH EVERYONE IN IT!" He adds, suddenly breaking into a more panicky and excitable tone.

"I-Is that um.. A lighter?" The girl behind the till asks.

"Y-Yeah! I gained the ability to control fire after coming into contact with radioactive waste! T-That's how I got these scars!" The villain says. "N-N-Now if you don't hand over-" He's interrupted mid sentence by a hand being placed on his shoulder.

"Is there a problem here, sir?" Harry asks, looking down at the man, his hand on his shoulder. He has no intention of even raising a fist to this man, and yet...

The scarred man's life flashes before his eyes as he turns, even just Harry's shadow caused him to drop the lighter, but being face to face with the mountain of a man, and not just that, but the well known strongest pure blood human on the planet, is enough to reduce the villain to shivers. "R-R-R..." He can't even peep out a word.

"Ah, you dropped this." Harry leans over, and holds up the lighter to the man.

Assuming Harry is 'daring him to do something', the man collapses to his knees and brings his hands down.

"I-I'M SORRY!" He cries out. "I WON'T TRY TO ROB ANYONE AGAIN MISTER HARRY! JUST PLEASE LET ME GO!"

"You were trying to rob someone?" Harry seems confused, but looks can be deceiving when heroes are afoot.

The villain misreads the response, assuming that harry is questioning him in a sarcastic manner, as if his attempt was barely even worth being called a robbery. "I-I'M SORRY! IT WAS A STUPID ATTEMPT! I-I'M FROM A REALLY TROUBLED BACKGROUND OKAY?! PLEASE! I DIDN'T MEAN ANY HARM!"

"Oh... I see how it is..." Harry sighs. He shakes his head. Harry grabs the mans arm and moves him up, before... Dusting him off? "You don't have to make a big ruckus and show off your new superpowers just to get someone's attention, it's fine if you just politely come up and ask someone in proper authority for help." Harry says. "We're all working towards a better planet. But you ought to be more careful with your methods. Someone could've thought you were really trying to pull off a robbery." Harry explains. "I can see you're a troubled youth, and I understand. In my early days I thought the world was a hard place to live in. But if you work hard, anything is achievable." Harry continues explaining. While the villain is confused, he's listening attentively.

"Tell you what. Why don't we all forget this happened, but, I want you to promise me something. When you walk out of here, you try for a better outlook. There's a local YMCA with a pristine gym. I can tell from that body of yours you're someone who'd find athleticism with ease. If it's not too much of a hamper on your day to day life, perhaps you should consider taking up excercise. It's fulfilling and it builds both the body and spirit." Harry says.

"A-O-Oh... Okay... Um... Mister Harry..." The villain says, Harry turns him around and guides him towards the door.

"It'll do us all well if we focus on the positives of life, rather than the negatives. You can quote me on that." Harry says leading the man towards the exit.

"Th-Thanks?" The former villain is somewhat confused.

"Oh and if you do this sort of thing again, I will come for you." Harry suddenly takes on a very serious and stern look, which frightens the man. "Run along now." Harry returns to his more normal look and waves the man off, who darts away, likely scared out of doing any robberies, or for that matter, any more crime in his future for a good two lifetimes over.

He returns to the till. "Now, with that out of the way, I ought to pay for these groceries."

"Hey uh, harry, so, you do know that guy was a villain right? not just a troubled youth or something?" the girl behind the till asks.

"Of course. But I've never seen his mug before, so he's likely a first time offender, redirecting someone away from a dark path is so much more constructive than beating the snot out of them. He didn't hurt you, so I ended the issue peaceably. Heroes are defenders of peace, not just mindless brutes fighting monsters." Harry says.

"Well I was a bit shaken up but.. Now I'm just confused..." The girl behind the till says. "Eh, whatever, for your sake, Harry, since I feel like you really scared some sense into that guy, I ain't gonna press charges..."

At that moment, a military-style Dumvee sped by on Interstate 95, right in front of the Friendly Dollar franchise of Harry's new patronage - him having moved to Indian Springs to cut off contact with the Georgia 7 - down the westbound lanes but decreasing in speed and (fortunately) in the right direction, followed closely by the local sherrif (who Harry had the displeasure of meeting on his way to the vacation in LA he was now returning from; the townsfolk's opinion appeared to be that the fat idiot only had the job because everyone in Indian Springs suitable for police work had joined the military at the adjacent base instead to try and make big bucks and buy a condo in LA or San Francisco to work for a tech company of some sort).

Harry heard the sherriff's siren quiet down as the chase seemingly ended just a hundred meters outside the store...

"You want me to hold your groceries for a moment?" the clerk of the dollar store asked Harry, sensing the hero would need to leave prematurely.
"Yeah... thanks. Looks like I'm not getting back on the Bedlington bus back to NYC today." he sighed, motioning to the bus driver to leave without him as he exited the Friendly Dollar.

 

[Lady Moldoma]

At that moment, a military-style Dumvee sped by on Interstate 95, right in front of the Friendly Dollar franchise of Harry's new patronage - him having moved to Indian Springs to cut off contact with the Georgia 7 - down the westbound lanes but decreasing in speed and (fortunately) in the right direction, followed closely by the local sherrif (who Harry had the displeasure of meeting once; the townsfolk's opinion appeared to be that the fat idiot only had the job because everyone in Indian Springs suitable for police work had joined the military at the adjacent base instead to try and make big bucks and buy a condo in LA or San Francisco to work for a tech company of some sort).

Harry heard the sherriff's siren quiet down as the chase seemingly ended just a hundred meters outside the store...

"You want me to hold your groceries for a moment?" the clerk of the dollar store asked Harry, sensing the hero would need to leave prematurely.
"Yeah... thanks. Looks like I'm not getting back on the Bedlington bus back to LA today." he sighed, motioning to the bus driver to leave without him as he exited the Friendly Dollar.

Harry casually walked the hundred meters, every step for him is at least a meter on its own, so he gets around pretty fast even just by walking. It's quite impressive to see the mountain of man move as he does, hands casually in his pockets. You'd never guess he could fold frying pans like origami, even considering his physique. No, this was the gait of a relaxed man who was ready to face something serious, but only serious in the case that he knew he could handle it.

Not to say Harry was over-confident, but if the ever-inept Sheriff Grover Mackenzie could at least somewhat keep up with whoever he was chasing without comically getting lost, it was more than clear that he wasn't dealing with some sort of world class thief who could steal the Christ the Redeemer Statue or something.

In fact, Harry was confident that this situation could be solved nonviolently. And if it couldn't he wasn't going to go full throttle on whoever he faced up against. It'd be unethical, and unethical things would always put a bad taste in Harry's mouth.

 

[Gadg8eer]

Harry casually walked the hundred meters, every step for him is at least a meter on its own, so he gets around pretty fast even just by walking. It's quite impressive to see the mountain of man move as he does, hands casually in his pockets. You'd never guess he could fold frying pans like origami, even considering his physique. No, this was the gait of a relaxed man who was ready to face something serious, but only serious in the case that he knew he could handle it.

Not to say Harry was over-confident, but if the ever-inept Sheriff Grover Mackenzie could at least somewhat keep up with whoever he was chasing without comically getting lost, it was more than clear that he wasn't dealing with some sort of world class thief who could steal the Christ the Redeemer Statue or something.

In fact, Harry was confident that this situation could be solved nonviolently. And if it couldn't he wasn't going to go full throttle on whoever he faced up against. It'd be unethical, and unethical things would always put a bad taste in Harry's mouth.

As Harry entered the "ISO Standard Hero-in-presence-of-law-enforcement Range" (about 35 feet to 10 feet away from all other parties), Sheriff Mackenzie pulled up behind the vehicle, got out with his weapon prepared, and approached the driver's door of the vehicle... only to shiver as he spotted the enormous corvid clinging to the roof of the vehicle, watching him...

(( 86, that's your cue. ))

 

[Gadg8eer]

As spike and bullwinkle tried their best to stay out of the Grater's way while the arch-villain was throwing a temper tantrum like a five year old and the thundercroaks presumably celebrated another victory over the Grater, Elsewhere what appeared to be a 13 year old Girl was standing outside the technodome with a Katana, a grappling hook and a problem. "How am i supposed to get inside?" The girl asked herself...Before noticing the Pretty obvious entrance and facepalming in annoyance. And then Using the Grappling hook to get up to it.

"ATTACK!!!" Man-ray shouted before Leaping to attack Ashen witch to hopefully kick her ass and release her control over the monster.

And it was at that moment that the lights went out, leaving everybody in the dark and confused as to what was going on. Well except for some of them "That monster the ashen wench sent out must have torn apart the power lines!" Plankterror explained "Well we know that!" commander Kraken Pointed out

"I'll ask one last time." Ashen Witch's voice echoed through the KRAKEN HQ even louder than before, "Swear allegiance to the League of Reformed Evils, or die."

The KRAKEN headquarters begun to creak as the weight of 100 elephants stacked on top of a human being worth of water pressure was given a temporary boost by the kaiju...

 

[Sir loin of beef]

As spike and bullwinkle tried their best to stay out of the Grater's way while the arch-villain was throwing a temper tantrum like a five year old and the thundercroaks presumably celebrated another victory over the Grater, Elsewhere what appeared to be a 13 year old Girl was standing outside the technodome with a Katana, a grappling hook and a problem. "How am i supposed to get inside?" The girl asked herself...Before noticing the Pretty obvious entrance and facepalming in annoyance. And then Using the Grappling hook to get up to it.

"ATTACK!!!" Man-ray shouted before Leaping to attack Ashen witch to hopefully kick her ass and release her control over the monster.

And it was at that moment that the lights went out, leaving everybody in the dark and confused as to what was going on. Well except for some of them "That monster the ashen wench sent out must have torn apart the power lines!" Plankterror explained "Well we know that!" commander Kraken Pointed out

Meanwhile at The Technodome. What was going through fei's head.

"Really? i cannot believe breaking in here was this easy, who puts a blatantly hatch that you can access with a grappling hook?"

"...oh...right..."

That was fei's thought process as she grappled up inside the technodome before she began sneaking around inside and dropping ninja mooks that were either regular people or robots.

Meanwhile at the lab of the russian supergenius Ivan petrov A.K.A Professor Egghead.
We cut to beneath an island in the black sea called Snake island, beneath this island is an elaborate underground base that seems to be inhabited entirely by robots of various designs. Except for one person, a red-haired fat man with a mustache and Goggles above his eyes located in a room labeled "Office of Ivan Petrov, super genius." And what was this Ivan petrov doing? Looking at footage of something very disturbing and getting angrier and more disgusted as he observed it and began plotting ways to use it to his advantage, what was he observing? footage of the very massacre Hades was just informed about by Hermes.

"This disgusting atrocity...I'll have to do something about whoever ordered it..." Egghead thought to himself.



Meanwhile Back at Kraken HQ

"I'll ask one last time." Ashen Witch's voice echoed through the KRAKEN HQ even louder than before, "Swear allegiance to the League of Reformed Evils, or die."

The KRAKEN headquarters begun to creak as the weight of 100 elephants stacked on top of a human being worth of water pressure was given a temporary boost by the kaiju...

"What the hell is the league of reformed evils?" Pufferfish man asked curiously "is that a group domineuse put together like that group man-ray is in?"

"I might be interested in this alliance..." Commander kraken said, thinking the manpower and resources of the L.O.E.E and the resources of KRAKEN Combined would be a boon for his ambitions, same thing went for not dying.

"pathetic human, you dare to underestimate otto von octopus?" The aforementioned mutated octopus asked.

"Oh no, I'm not sure about anyone born underwater but I'm putting my helmet on." Captain Nemo said upon hearing the base creak before putting said helmet on and drawing his sword ready to gut ashen witch like a fish.

 

[Gadg8eer]

Meanwhile at The Technodome. What was going through fei's head.

"Really? i cannot believe breaking in here was this easy, who puts a blatantly hatch that you can access with a grappling hook?"

"...oh...right..."

That was fei's thought process as she grappled up inside the technodome before she began sneaking around inside and dropping ninja mooks that were either regular people or robots.

(Hope its okay to drop a random, spur-of-the-moment NPC...)

At that moment, she was confronted by someone more... unexpected.

No one knew his name, or if they did they weren't telling. They called him the Traindancer, a poverty-stricken street performer whose appearance had changed with the times... ever since New York got its first railroad line way back when. What didn't change about the Traindancer, whoever or whomever he was, was his powers; An inexplicable and acute control over every part of every train network in New York within his line of sight (or, as rumor has it, within line of sight of any rail worker), and an uncanny ability to show up in places no one else had been in for decades or centuries.

Like the newly-discovered abandoned subway station in Brooklyn... "Pippemaze Station" ...that wasn't recorded anywhere and was much too far underground to have been built prior to 2017 but appeared decades old. Such subways had been discovered hidden around and under the New York City and New Jersey area, but so far all - even those related to a Traindancer sighting - were ordinary, if long forgotten, pieces of one of the most complex cities in the world. The Brooklyn Pippemaze find was odd but was probably part of a forgotten or incomplete New York Central line, judging by the long-missing locomotive and carriages that were sold to an unknown buyer back in the 1950s.

Today Traindancer was strumming a well-worn ukulele, singing something in an unknown language the hipsters would cry for - before moving on to the next "not currently cool" thing - and the Major Label Added New Revenue Scouts would kill to sign a deal with him for. Also odd, the Trandancer wasn't really known for having music that stuck out in any way.

Oh, right. What was so 'unexpected' about the Traindancer's prescence as Fei turned a corner if he was always showing up in weird places? Simple...

"He got smart this time, I see." Traindancer said, referring to either Grater or Kodos, Fei couldn't discern which. It was at that moment that she noticed the street performer's leg caught in a barb-wire snare, strangely not bleeding but clearly unable to free himself from the trap.

There wasn't a single rail network in sight, despite the known extensiveness of the Technodome's internal freight and passenger system, the Sidneyland Anaheim Resort Chocovator™, sponsored by the Smugway corporation, the first daily-operating Gadgetbahn in the United States of sorry, let me rephrase. Despite the prevalence of the Elegrater Lattice Doom-y Evil Railroute system within the former fallout bunker known as the Technodome. That couldn't bode well...

Meanwhile at the lab of the russian supergenius Ivan petrov A.K.A Professor Egghead.
We cut to beneath an island in the black sea called Snake island, beneath this island is an elaborate underground base that seems to be inhabited entirely by robots of various designs. Except for one person, a red-haired fat man with a mustache and Goggles above his eyes located in a room labeled "Office of Ivan Petrov, super genius." And what was this Ivan petrov doing? Looking at footage of something very disturbing and getting angrier and more disgusted as he observed it and began plotting ways to use it to his advantage, what was he observing? footage of the very massacre Hades was just informed about by Hermes.

"This disgusting atrocity...I'll have to do something about whoever ordered it..." Egghead thought to himself.

"Oh, hey, dedushka." his teenage daughter, Annabelle, said affectionately to her grandfather, walking past the door of the office. "Um... The garter snakes you're trying to use as a robot bio-electricity source got out of the robots again."

Meanwhile Back at Kraken HQ

"What the hell is the league of reformed evils?" Pufferfish man asked curiously "is that a group domineuse put together like that group man-ray is in?"

"Something like that..." Ashen Witch's voice echoed.

"I might be interested in this alliance..." Commander kraken said, thinking the manpower and resources of the L.O.R.E and the resources of KRAKEN Combined would be a boon for his ambitions, same thing went for not dying.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find it a lot more... fun... than it sounds."

"pathetic human, you dare to underestimate otto von octopus?" The aforementioned mutated octopus asked.

"Oh no, I'm not sure about anyone born underwater but I'm putting my helmet on." Captain Nemo said upon hearing the base creak before putting said helmet on and drawing his sword ready to gut ashen witch like a fish.

"Well let's have a vote then. All in favor of locking those against in the brig?" Ashen Witch pointed out. All but von Octopus raised their hands/fins/claws in approval.

"Oh, this is some buuuuuuuuuullsh-"

---

Five minutes later, after the heavily-damaged main module of the KRAKEN UNDERWATER HQ PLAYSET! (batteries not included) had surfaced, still held by Gula and with Ashen Witch nowhere to be seen, in the brig laundry room brig of the HQ...

"Wow. Didn't really think this through, did you?" Captain Nemo rolled his eyes while twirling the keys to the base's laundromat front-loader washing-machine-slash-dastardly-cephalopod-trap tauntingly while keeping watch (or maybe "keeping watch"? Not sure where Nemo's loyalties would lie) over the prisoner.

 

[MisterEightySix]

From his isolated headquarters, Masterstroke watched the two unfolding situations with increasing interest. One issue at a time, he thought to himself. This was going to call for some more... direct intervention.

---

In Indian Springs, the grimhawk met Sheriff Mackenzie's eyes with a steely glare. Analysis: Heart rate accelerated, sidearm drawn. He wasn't keen on seeing how good an agitated officer's aim is, and keeping his secrecy was vital, but Gadg8eer - and Card - were too valuable to lose. It was time to make a decision. The grimhawk rapped its talons on the metal roof of the Dumvee and prepared to strike... when suddenly, something caught its eye. It was a man, stepping out of a nearby dollar store. A very large man. And judging by his gait, he looked like he wasn't scared of being in any danger. A superhero? Not one he was immediately familiar with. If this guy had a file, it was probably buried in the mess of papers on his desk on in his filing cabinets. But maybe... Masterstroke put his hand up to his face, thumb and pinky extended Inspector gadget-style, and spoke.

"I need info on this guy, G.B. What are we looking at? ...Rowdy who? Well, what do we know about him? ...You're kidding. What the hell's he doing here, then? ...Really? Yeah, that figures. Better do something before this escalates into a problem."

The grimhawk waddled backward a little bit and ducked out of the sheriff's line of sight. If Masterstroke played this right, he could get Gadg8eer out of there in one piece without risking him getting in trouble with the law. The sheriff turned to look at Harry, and in that single moment of distraction, the grimhawk leapt into action, wrapping its dexterous, raptor-like claws around the handle of the driver's side door and pulling it open.

---

Out in the Pacific, half of the fangfish school darted after Swim as fast as they could. They were outmatched in a physical fight, without a doubt, but if they could relay some information to Captain Crustacean, maybe he and his allies could more easily deal with the problem that had just ripped KRAKEN HQ clean off of its supports. The other half of the school, and the orcastrator, which was still some distance out, rocketed in Gula's direction. Sure, they were villains, but if they were in danger, he wasn't about to let them just die. As it was, he had no way of knowing that most of them had just thrown their lot in with Ashen Witch and her dangerously-playful companion.

As Captain Crustacean and Cephalopod Commando considered their course of action, there was a loud splashing around the ship as the horde of fish emerged onto the surface. Once they had the heroes' attention, they carefully arranged their bodies to spell out a message: "HERE TO HELP" - and then another: "TALK TO US"...

 

[Lady Moldoma]

As Captain Crustacean and Cephalopod Commando considered their course of action, there was a loud splashing around the ship as the horde of fish emerged onto the surface. Once they had the heroes' attention, they carefully arranged their bodies to spell out a message: "HERE TO HELP" - and then another: "TALK TO US"...

"Can either of you talk to fish? I have some experience, but my translations are a little bit rough. I'm not exactly the most emotionally stable person so sometimes that stuff where I have to translate emotional signals into English gets kind of shaky." Swim asks her two hero upperclassmen, looking back at them while leaning over the side of the boat, then looking at the fish themselves, which seemed to be ready to communicate.

"And, the talking to fish aside, depending on what's happening, we might need to call in someone with a little more kick to their powers. And if the league of aquatic villains, or whatever the hell they're calling themselves now are teaming up with Ashen Witch, it might be necessary to call in the entire Pacific League of Aquatic Heroes." Swim says.

"I know we generally stay away from stuff relating to the other members like Rainyday, Armament Hydroclasty, Octoman, Mr.Gyo, Strange Binding Dial, Dr. Silver A Gunner, and White White Shell, but if something this big is threatening the coast, the PLAH is the first line of defense. I don't want to imagine what sort of monster would come up from the sea that'd get past us all together..." She thinks back to facing Dallas the Unspeakable alone, how even though he wasn't at full power he absolutely wiped the floor with her, and how she wouldn't've survived if it weren't for the Longinus Analogue activating and flinging Dallas to the far end of the spacetime continuum.

 

[Lady Moldoma]

[Theme - It Only Improves the Shine!]

wrapping its dexterous, raptor-like claws around the handle of the driver's side door and pulling it open.

"I'll have to ask you to step back, officer." Harry said, stepping forwards and then closing the distance between him and the grimhawk in a flash of movement. His strength and Durability were his main claims to fame, everyone knew that he could likely take a crashing airliner to the face and not even flinch, but his agility wasn't to be underestimated. At his level of training, his super-developed musculature allowed him to move his own bodyweight at great speeds. Perhaps not fast enough to be considered a "Speedster" type hero, but enough that if a situation got serious, many villains wouldn't even see him coming.

Masterstroke may've had an idea on who Harry was, but Master's own lack of transparency within both the hero community and the public eye, meant that Harry, despite the fact that he was well versed in hero protocol and was by no means a "Dumb brute with superstrength" had no clue who Masterstroke was, or what his creations were. Under most circumstances, Harry would consider it safe to make a judgement that it had bad intentions for whoever was in the car. Criminal or not, whoever was in that car deserved the protection that Harry afforded to all people. Some heroes might turn a blind eye, but Harry was not that kind of hero. It was things like this, and the hard work of his marketing team, that kept him out of any controversy across his entire career, something that couldn't be said for quite as many heroes as active as he was.

It was Masterstrokes own doing that he found himself faced with Harry's own caution, as it was only reasonable that he would act to make an approach.

"And I'll have to ask you to not damage property." He looked to the Grimhawk, before swinging his arm's out in a singular smooth motion, attempting to grab the creature gently to restrain its talons, similarly to how someone would do a large bird, planning on holding it with a firm yet conscious grip the like one might a dangerous animal like a snake.

 

[MisterEightySix]

The grimhawk was easily grabbed by Harry, but rather than make an effort to fight back, which would only escalate the situation, it instead turned its head toward the door it had just opened and gently ruffled its wings, as if gesturing for Harry to look inside and see what - or who - it had been so interested in. Masterstroke silently crossed his fingers. All he could do now was hope this situation didn’t turn sour.

 

[Lady Moldoma]

“Ah… I see… there’s something in there you’re trying to get out… It will all do us well if we both allow the proper authorities to deal with this situation… But just in case, I ought to take a look to make sure I’m not sending a good man into danger..” Harry moves to lean inside the vehicle and look around, being careful not to accidentally wrench the car’s frame due to his height as he takes the top of the car door frame to better steady himself. He’s still holding the grimhawk in his other hand, gently of course.

---

Swim unzipped a pouch on her swimsuit, and took out her phone, it was waterproofed of course. Opening up a note-taking application since it helped her get her thoughts out easier when translating.

“Okay! I’m ready!” She called down to the fish. “I’ll be happy to translate for you!”

 

[Gadg8eer]

“Ah… I see… there’s something in there you’re trying to get out… It will all do us well if we both allow the proper authorities to deal with this situation… But just in case, I ought to take a look to make sure I’m not sending a good man into danger..” Harry moves to lean inside the vehicle and look around, being careful not to accidentally wrench the car’s frame due to his height as he takes the top of the car door frame to better steady himself. He’s still holding the grimhawk in his other hand, gently of course.

"Ain't no use, boy, that's a stolen prison guard vee-hick-al. They shade the windows on 'em. I'd say break in the glass on this joyriding punk, whoever he is, but they make 'em out of some special method like on my cruiser." Sheriff Mackenzie pointed out.

---

Swim unzipped a pouch on her swimsuit, and took out her phone, it was waterproofed of course. Opening up a note-taking application since it helped her get her thoughts out easier when translating.

“Okay! I’m ready!” She called down to the fish. “I’ll be happy to translate for you!”

At that point the container ship's captain showed up on a bicycle (the ship was as long as the Empire State Building is tall, so they used a few bicycles to travel around the ship) looking like he'd seen a ghost. "I just got off the radio with the Coast Guard. They said something big is headed east, straight for San Francisco."

 

[Lady Moldoma]

"Ain't no use, boy, that's a stolen prison guard vee-hick-al. They shade the windows on 'em. I'd say break in the glass on this joyriding punk, whoever he is, but they make 'em out of some special method like on my cruiser." Sheriff Mackenzie pointed out.

"Thank you for the advice, Sheriff."

Harry took a moment to think. He decided to take a cautious approach.

"I learned about a concept in my sociology class called Occham's razor. I'd reason this animal is some sort of rare semi-sapient and the driver of this vehicle has smuggled its eggs, although I won't act violently as to not disturb such a delicate situation any moreso than usual." He simply moved his hand to the door, and opened it, being careful not to accidently pull the whole door off.

Upon seeing there was nothing inside, no eggs, no driver. He scratched his chin. "I see.. Sorry to disappoint my feathered friend. Whatever you're looking for doesn't immediately appear to be in here. Perhaps you have a way of finding it yourself?"

---

"I just got off the radio with the Coast Guard. They said something big is headed east, straight for San Francisco."

"O-Okay!" Swim leans over and presses one of her fingers to her temple, focusing on clearing her mind and attempting to manifest the info to the fish, which could faintly be heard by the surrounding persons.

 

[Gadg8eer]

"Thank you for the advice, Sheriff."

Harry took a moment to think. He decided to take a cautious approach.

"I learned about a concept in my sociology class called Occham's razor. I'd reason this animal is some sort of rare semi-sapient and the driver of this vehicle has smuggled its eggs, although I won't act violently as to not disturb such a delicate situation any moreso than usual." He simply moved his hand to the door, and opened it, being careful not to accidently pull the whole door off.

Upon seeing there was nothing inside, no eggs, no driver. He scratched his chin. "I see.. Sorry to disappoint my feathered friend. Whatever you're looking for doesn't immediately appear to be in here. Perhaps you have a way of finding it yourself?"

"Attention all units..." a voice said over the Sherrif's radio. "We have reports of an impending kaiju attack in San Francisco. Military assets and local Metapowered Volunteers are being mobilized to evacuate the city."

The sherrif picked up his radio after a few seconds. "Dispatch, this is Unit 1 in Indian Spings, can you repeat that?"

"We have reports of an impending kaiju attack in San Francisco. Military assets and local Metapowered Volunteers are being mobilized to evacuate the city."

"Do you have info on the Threat classes of the kaiju?" Sherrif Mackenzie asked.

"Checking... Tau-slash-Beta-Plus." the dispatcher responded.

"Thank you kindly, Dispatch." Sherrif Mackenzie finished, and immediately made his hand into the "phone" gesture to place a call using his police-issue AR sunglasses. "Jemima, dial Sadie..."

"We're sorry. The number you have reached has blocked you from contact. Would you like to leave a message?" a voice responded from the dialer app.

"Sadie, it's daddy. I know we haven't seen eye to eye in a while... There's a kaiju incoming, you need to get out of SanFran. It's... it's the big one, a Tau-Beta+ like the... the other one. Let me know when you're safe, okay?" he said, and ended the call, looking worried.

 

[MisterEightySix]

(Forgive my short response, I have to work in the morning. Still, I figured I should do something today.)

"Well, well, the plot thickens. G.B., find me anything you can on a Sadie Mackenzie. The one in San Francisco. Her father is in law enforcement. Yes, I know it's a lot of people, just do it. I don't care how long it takes. This is finally my chance to make a difference instead of just waiting on the sidelines. Speaking of which..."
---
"Are you reading me?" Masterstroke's voice echoed through the fangfish's many minds. "There we go, finally. I was worried you couldn't hear me. Look, you don't know me and I don't have a lot of time to explain, but these fish are my creations and they're here to help with your 'little problem'. I have a heavier hitter on the way too, but first I need to know what exactly we're dealing with before it does something worse than just turn KRAKEN HQ into a pool toy, you get me?"

 

[Lady Moldoma]

"Officer, I'm not sure if I can do much to comfort you in this time of need. But I want you to know I'll make it my duty to do everything in my power to protect this city, you, and everyone in it. I will throw everything I have at the wall to protect anyone I can here." Harry says, walking over to the sheriff and trying to do one of the most important things that heroes are characterized by: Making those without powers feel safe.

"I do not want you to put your life on the line, so my advice might be that you should evacuate as soon as possible. But as we've clearly established the rare animal is not here to cause any harm, I hope you understand that it's best if I begin making my way to the coast to see if I can offer any help to those in need." He explains.

Suddenly, he stops, looking narrowly back as a bright streak crosses the sky, leaving a trail of electrical exhaust.

"That could be a problem... I'll make sure whatever that is is friendly." Harry gives the sheriff a quick two finger salute, and runs off to go and follow the trail.

---

On the coast nearest to the reported seismic activity, a large robotic battlesuit, easily 12 feet in height, lands on the sand, firing out smaller thrusters to create a smoother landing.

The Machine's rabbit-ear like protrusions move around as if telemetrizing the area, taking notes, and surveying, likely with an extremely advanced computerized detection system.




Its bulky design and palladium color-scheme, along with the emblazoned word: Chariot, are the signatures of only one hero.

After a few minutes of running, Harry arrives to speak with the user of the suit.

"Palladium Chariot, it's good that you're here. Two heavy hitters working together would be able to protect the coast easily enough! Were you also called here by the association?" Harry inquires.

"Negative. I have been tracking the release in mantra radiation of an unidentified low level celestial being's activity for 4 days, it's been walking along the sea floor alongside a thaumaturge that seems to be leading it's attacks." A mechanical voice responds from Chariot. "I do not mean to alarm you, but I have no intent on collaborating. The city has already been evacuated, no human lives are in immediate danger."

"Not... Intent on collaborating... So, pardon me for my confusion, but what exactly are you here for?" Harry asks.

"This, is a weapons test, I've been working to design experimental self-guided hypersonic gravity-corrosion missiles. The jetpack I have assigned this armor with is also the carrying case and launching mechanism." The voice explains. "I would heavily advise you remain on the beach for your own safety, as I intend on deploying my payload as the target nears the coast."

"I don't mean to take up your time with questions, but far-be-it from me to ask what you'll do if the target isn't eliminated?"Harry inquires.

"I plan on leaving. I did not come here with the proper equipment to defend the coastline or the city as a whole. I plan on testing my weapons, recording useful battle data, and then vacating the area. I hope you can understand that your presence alone dissuades me from wasting the logistical resources to launch an all out attack in an attempt to protect the city, as I reason your physical ability would be more than enough to subdue the creature. Although I am confident that the missiles will do the work for me." The voice states. "Heroics aren't free, they're only tax deductible. I'd rather not spend my time and resources deploying with a heavier payload when that's not my end-goal."

---

"Are you reading me?"

"Yes! Yes! I can hear you!" Swim replies, with a sense of urgency.

"I need to know what exactly we're dealing with before it does something worse than just turn KRAKEN HQ into a pool toy, you get me?"

"A large kaiju that looked like a crude teddy-bear, was attacking Kraken HQ. It was being accompanied by a girl who must've had some sort of magical powers, because she wasn't a fish-person like me, but she was still breathing and speaking underwater. She said her name was Ashen Witch. But I ran away, out of there, as soon as I could. So that's all I know about the situation." She explains to the fish.

 

[Gadg8eer]

"Officer, I'm not sure if I can do much to comfort you in this time of need. But I want you to know I'll make it my duty to do everything in my power to protect this city, you, and everyone in it. I will throw everything I have at the wall to protect anyone I can here." Harry says, walking over to the sheriff and trying to do one of the most important things that heroes are characterized by: Making those without powers feel safe.

"I do not want you to put your life on the line, so my advice might be that you should evacuate as soon as possible. But as we've clearly established the rare animal is not here to cause any harm, I hope you understand that it's best if I begin making my way to the coast to see if I can offer any help to those in need." He explains.

Suddenly, he stops, looking narrowly back as a bright streak crosses the sky, leaving a trail of electrical exhaust.

"That could be a problem... I'll make sure whatever that is is friendly." Harry gives the sheriff a quick two finger salute, and runs off to go and follow the trail.

View attachment 1119177

---

On the coast nearest to the reported seismic activity, a large robotic battlesuit, easily 12 feet in height, lands on the sand, firing out smaller thrusters to create a smoother landing.

The Machine's rabbit-ear like protrusions move around as if telemetrizing the area, taking notes, and surveying, likely with an extremely advanced computerized detection system.


View attachment 1119178

Its bulky design and palladium color-scheme, along with the emblazoned word: Chariot, are the signatures of only one hero.

After a few minutes of running, Harry arrives to speak with the user of the suit.

"Palladium Chariot, it's good that you're here. Two heavy hitters working together would be able to protect the coast easily enough! Were you also called here by the association?" Harry inquires.

"Negative. I have been tracking the release in mantra radiation of an unidentified low level celestial being's activity for 4 days, it's been walking along the sea floor alongside a thaumaturge that seems to be leading it's attacks." A mechanical voice responds from Chariot. "I do not mean to alarm you, but I have no intent on collaborating. The city has already been evacuated, no human lives are in immediate danger."

"Not... Intent on collaborating... So, pardon me for my confusion, but what exactly are you here for?" Harry asks.

"This, is a weapons test, I've been working to design experimental self-guided hypersonic gravity-corrosion missiles. The jetpack I have assigned this armor with is also the carrying case and launching mechanism." The voice explains. "I would heavily advise you remain on the beach for your own safety, as I intend on deploying my payload as the target nears the coast."

"I don't mean to take up your time with questions, but far-be-it from me to ask what you'll do if the target isn't eliminated?"Harry inquires.

"I plan on leaving. I did not come here with the proper equipment to defend the coastline or the city as a whole. I plan on testing my weapons, recording useful battle data, and then vacating the area. I hope you can understand that your presence alone dissuades me from wasting the logistical resources to launch an all out attack in an attempt to protect the city, as I reason your physical ability would be more than enough to subdue the creature. Although I am confident that the missiles will do the work for me." The voice states. "Heroics aren't free, they're only tax deductible. I'd rather not spend my time and resources deploying with a heavier payload when that's not my end-goal."

At that moment, it seemed Palladium Chariot wasn't the only one who thought it would be a good time to test a new weapon; Harry and "Palladium Chariot" suddenly received an emergency broadcast notification on their respective devices/systems; a secure transmission from American officials for Palladium, a simple text message to Harry's contact lens eyeware from the EBS, but the contents were... not from the US Navy and slightly aggravating.

Hey, Minglers! Anthony Ross here. Since SanFran is successfully evac'd thanks to my patented Kaiju Early Detection algorithm and the Techne Motor Company, I'm testing Technetium Mk. 42 against it off the coast. Cameras will remain operational so you can tune in across the metaverse by setting your video display widget to my livestream. #YOLO #Mingl4eva #Lit #IgnoreTheRussianWarCrimes #BreadAndCircuses #NobodyReadsTheseAnyway

(Forgive my short response, I have to work in the morning. Still, I figured I should do something today.)

"Well, well, the plot thickens. G.B., find me anything you can on a Sadie Mackenzie. The one in San Francisco. Her father is in law enforcement. Yes, I know it's a lot of people, just do it. I don't care how long it takes. This is finally my chance to make a difference instead of just waiting on the sidelines. Speaking of which..."

The entity referred to as "G.B." seemed to have reacted. Masterstroke received a list of Sadie Mackenzies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Surprisingly there were only 3 possibilities, one of whom was out of the country according to a brief phone call to her workplace and the second of which was well older than the sheriff. The remaining one was troubling, however; Sadie Mackenzie, a programmer for ZetaSoft with a paraplegic girlfriend to take care of. Due to skyrocketing rent prices she commuted by subway from the old offshore arcology built in the mid-1990s a few thousand meters beyond the Golden Gate Bridge...

...and according to official channels, the arcology was still in the process of evacuating; families with underage children were given priority on the trains out of the structure via the undersea BART tunnels to the mainland, leaving behind childless couples like Sadie and her wife to try and leave on a later train.

Sheriff Mackenzie was looking a lot more stressed despite Harry's reassurances. Even corrupt and bigoted as he was, he didn't want his daughter dead and he knew firsthand that the arcologies of the late 20th century tended towards extremes; they either became exclusive palaces of the mega-wealthy, or were overtaken by some degree of organized crime and crippling poverty. Sadie's residence was thoroughly in the latter category, it was entirely possible that someone might try to cover up a failure to evacuate Alcatraz Valley Aquatic Residential Arcology ("Avara") and she'd complained about the crowded trains all too often.

It was while the Grimhawk remained where it was, awaiting Masterstroke's orders, that the prison DMMWV and the Sheriff's vehicle were quickly met by several silent matte black electric vehicles bearing no license plates. Several well-dressed agents stepped out of the three Catalytic Escapade Sport-Utility-Paranoiamobiles with their attention towards the vehicle.

"Sherrif. You were given very specific orders." one of the suits told Sheriff Mackenzie.

"You didn't tell me Chocolate Harry was in town. You didn't tell me my -ing daughter might be at the mercy of some godawful sea beast at this very moment. If you're going to give me that juris-my-diction crap, you can shove it. Who is this brat and why was he involved with whatever compartmentalized bullshit happened over at the prison that you won't explain? You give me a good reason, then I'll trust you CIA spooks to tell me I'm better off not knowin', 'cause the way I see it, you provided me with nothing but a description and a cartoon drawing shopped onto a photograph taken in North Dakota and expect me to fall for your Patriot Act parading around everywhere? And then my daughter wonders why I vote Republican."

"To be fair, I only broke Card out of there to hand him over to the FBI so they could lock him up again- oh crap." Gadg8eer muttered, only to realize he'd accidentally pressed the button to activate the DMMWV crowd control megaphone PA system and not the "silently send recorded content to nearby law enforcement" button on his modified Neo GamePlayer console.