Ranxerox

For setting in motion the eventual collapse of the British Empire.  I know that running an empire is way more work than you want to saddled with, so you're welcome.

As a Canadian, I honor this day because of the ideals it expressed and strove to make manifest, that transformed the world. That all men are created equal. Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Government of the people, by the people, and for the people. It's no secret the United States of America has often fallen short of those ideals, as have we all. But in just aspiring as a country to make them real, America has been an inspiration to people everywhere, and helped ignite a fundamental shift in how people see their responsibility to their fellow human beings. Whatever pettiness we may be dealing with today, that's a legacy worth celebrating.

For setting in motion the eventual collapse of the British Empire.  I know that running an empire is way more work than you want to saddled with, so you're welcome.

Libel has been against the law since 130 AD.  No precedents scary or otherwise were set by this case.  All that happened was that the courts enforced laws that have been part of American jurisprudence since the very founding of the republic.  They did not enforce the law in any new or novel way.  If anything at all is new here, it is the brazenness of disregard for truth by publishers that really should know better.
 
 

Libel has been against the law since 130 AD.  No precedents scary or otherwise were set by this case.  All that happened was that the courts enforced laws that have been part of American jurisprudence since the very founding of the republic.  They did not enforce the law in any new or novel way.  If anything at all is new here, it is the brazenness of disregard for truth by publishers that really should know better.
 
 

Libel has been against the law since 130 AD.  No precedents scary or otherwise were set by this case.  All that happened was that the courts enforced laws that have been part of American jurisprudence since the very founding of the republic.  They did not enforce the law in any new or novel way.  If anything at all is new here, it is the brazenness of disregard for truth by publishers that really should know better.
 
 

Libel has been against the law since 130 AD.  No precedents scary or otherwise were set by this case.  All that happened was that the courts enforced laws that have been part of American jurisprudence since the very founding of the republic.  They did not enforce the law in any new or novel way.  If anything at all is new here, it is the brazenness of disregard for truth by publishers that really should know better.
 
 

(Rough draft, but except for touch ups and the epilogue... mmm we might be done)
 
At one time, the majority of my team went off without me to fight an army while I hung back to aid in a magical ceremony. It turned out to be pretty important that I do so, and it sure as heck helped save the day; but at the time it ate at me for both leaving them when I might have been most useful to them, and missing my time to shine. 
I suppose it was a matter of growth that I wasn't feeling bad for the others at having left them this time. No, they'd wipe the floor with some suddenly super-powered amateurs with little chance of facing permanent harm themselves. They'd have to worry more about protecting innocents, reducing property damage, and making sure no one got away than anything else. Nope, not worried about them.
 
I was, however, more than a bit spooked for how this was going to go down for yours truly though. Apocalyptic Inc had given me the worst beating of my life years ago, and nearly had a repeat performance recently. I had nearly died.  More than one of their members might be able to kill me in a straight one on one fight, though I flattered myself to think they'd have to work at it. 
 
Now I was facing all of them alone again. Doctor Salem's magical do-dad to help me out against dice aside, I wasn't brimming with confidence. My biggest edges were audacity, the fact Mister Brute might believe I had the cure he needed for his son, and the fact that some of the villains were not going to be in top shape. In our repeated scuffles, we had injured some of them. No doubt a few of them were quick healers, like Tornado or myself; but others? They'd be sore still and I could exploit that.
 
Not sure what it says about a heroic code of honor when part of my plan was aiming for previously broken bones and the like, but I like breathing, water or air, I'm partial to both.
 
Which I suppose should make me Amphibian-Guy, but let's not give the press yet more ideas for bad branding.
 
Going to the scene of the crime is rarely smart for crooks, and it sunk into me that it might apply for heroes. I had picked the time, I had picked the place, but nothing was keeping Apocalyptic from waiting for me before I showed. 
 
Of course, I wasn't as alone as I appeared in some ways. Two mystics had helped me out in a sort of preparation, and unlike the villains, my whole team knew this city. Unless Mister Brute had looked into this very carefully indeed, and there was no guarantee he didn't, I should still have something of a homefield advantage in ways he wouldn't expect.
As much as I enjoyed the roar of the hovercycle, I put in silent mode as I approached the meeting point. The damage from the earlier fight still hadn't been completely patched up. As bad as I felt about the cost to the taxpayers, in this case it did work in my and their advantage. The hour and the cones around the area both meant traffic was nonexistent and pedestrians were absent. 
 
The flaming sight of Firebug was all I really needed to confirm they were waiting for me. I spoke into the Com, "I'll walk the rest of the way, Mabel.  You know what to do."
 
"Operation Live Hard with a Vengeance?" she asked.
 
"Yup," I told her.
 
"Roger that, but as a side note; we've got to stop letting you and Tornado name things," She opined.
 
"Yup," I nodded and leaped off to the ledge of a building, "Thanks for this, Mabel. I owe you."
 
"Lady Obsidian would inform you team mates look after each other as a default. Me? Mmmm I'm shallow enough to keep that in mind. Go get me, Tigershark," She encouraged me with a new nickname.
And as I closed on the feelings, a new thought popped into my head, one with absolutely no real practical use at this time.
I could have called myself Tigershark, dammit.
 
Below in the designated meeting place, was Mister Brute. Not far away, as expected, Slice and Dice waited in the proverbial wings, the latter looking rather smug while the former ran back and forth in a large pattern in the area that always returned her. Firebug, of course, was still up high.
"Parley," I called out, and dropped down hoping the audacity of this whole set up would amuse them enough to buy me a little time.
 
It didn't, Dice smirked and put his powers to work on me. What should have been a simple thirty foot drop on super strong legs turned out to be an embarrassing misstep and slam on my face that made me grunt. 
 
But I was smiling, because  the neckware I'd been given by Dr. Salem and Mayo changed color, which was the sign it was working. The two had told me they had a plan for countering Dice, and that was the green for go.
 
Slice shot forward, weapons drawn, and moved forward at fantastic speed ready to carve me in half only to find the ground under her, cracked from earlier damage, trip her up in return. And let me tell you something, as durable as I am, I looked a lot less hurt by my faceplant than she did by her superspeed tumble and slam.
"What the hell?" Dice said, "Sis are you okay?"
 
She groaned. Part of me was tempted to slam my elbow so hard into her back that she'd spend the next week regenerating her spine. 
Instead I announced, "For the next hour, any jinx you put on me goes to your sister as well," and I rose up to my feet carefully. Bad luck might cause me to strain something, "So if I pull a muscle, or happen to get hit by a hotwire, she gets it just as bad. Oh, and reminder you jackwagon- Out of her and I, I'm the one who can eat tank shells for breakfast. She's fast but squishy, you decide who can survive your worst."
 
Slice rolled to her feet, not nearly as carefully as I had gotten to mine. Big mistake, bad luck can be at least somewhat circumvented by caution and judgment. Haste on the other hand can complicate it. No sooner had she risen to reach for her knives when the belt loop holding them came loose and clattered both to the ground.
She was the quiet one, and yet I had to smile as I heard her cursing.
"How?" Dice said "how the hell?"
 
"I know some magicians, and Karma, hexes, and destiny are their bread and butter. They weren't sure they could reflect your own hex on you, you might be immune to it, but they could pass it onto the nearest person you cared about. Ergo, sister. Ergo, I'm betting she's the only person you care about. The mystics called it a Karmic fortune Echo Conduit. Me? I just went with 'I'm Rubber, your sister is glue, any thing you hit me with, gets her too'."
In truth , I was really leaving a lot out. Even Dr. Salem wasn't sure how long it would last, and Mayo worried that his powers might burn out the talisman. It had worked, but that didn't mean it would work every time all the time.
 
"You son of a..." He snarled.
"Watch what you say about mama, or I will go play with heavy machinery while your sister and I are still linked," I narrowed my eyes.
 
Dice looked shaken. That's the problem when everything just comes to you, you're really not used to dealing when suddenly you have to work for it. 
 
"Well, you're wising up," Mr.. Brute said, actually sounding impressed, "Trying to neutralize the numbers on my team and willing to use one of them as a body shield to do it. Bravo."
 
Well, that took all the fun out of this. Suddenly there was a sour taste in my mouth. Nothing like having a murderous sociopath give you a hardy thumbsup to make you question your recent ethical choices.
 
"Yeah yeah," I said "Save the 'we are not so different you and I' speech and let me know right now, are you willing to hear me out?" I asked. I could see my own shadow before me elongate, "Or are you going to have Firebug burn me and as a consequence destroy the cancer cure I've got locked into my belt?" I tapped a cylinder at the belt I had on, "And let me tell you, there is no more cancer cure to be had after this. Not on Earth."
 
He held out a hand, palm first in a motion, "Firebug, hold off."
 
"But I want to keeeeeeel hiiiiim" she whined, "Nobody does that to me and lives."
 
"Oh, right," I said, "Your broken leg. I could lie and say I felt bad about that, but Christ forgive me I'd love to give you a matching set." 
 
"Eel, if you want me to call her off, please," Mister Brute said with irritation at me, "Maybe be a bit LESS honest. Now, I neutralized your whole team, and you've managed to take mine out of the fight... Interesting. I think I know where this is going but let's hear your idea."
 
"The canister is locked, the belt is locked, neither is getting taken off at super speed...and As you can see, the whole belt is canisters so you're not even sure which one it is. Material is strong though, my strongest punches would have trouble denting this, and I bet it won't likely break by accident for you either" I glanced towards Dice, "Unless some idiot keeps mucking with luck."
 
"Turn it off," Mister Brute said to Dice.
 
Dice had moved to his sister's side, didn't protest, but confessed, "Already did. But he can't walk away from this. It'll ruin our reps."
 
"Maybe," Mister Brute said, "Maybe not. So what is it, hero," He said the word testily, "You hold my son's life in your hands and use it as collateral so I agree to take it, and my group, and walk away after we administer it?"
 
"Oh to hell with that," I said, "You're a muderer a dozen times over as is each and every member of your psychopathic book club. I'm not letting you walk away knowing you'll kill again. Here's how it's going to be," I started, knowing it wouldn't be. Mister Brute's ego was too big to allow me to have final say, "You and I are going to fight,  just you and me, Brute. Man against man. A duel of honor if you like... winner gets the cancer prize. And, obviously, you'll kill me if I lose to you..." 
 
"Obviously," He nodded.
 
"And I'll throw your ass in jail if you lose to me," I continued, "The rest of your team will, under the orders you give here and now, leave Costa Sagrado for at least a year. No setting fire to anything, no killing random people, yadda yadda. While you spend your time counting how many times meatloaf is being served every week in super prison."
Mister Brute laughed, "Just when I thought you were getting the edge you needed to survive, you had to try this? I'm stronger than you, I'm faster than you, and I'm more skilled than you. We're not in the ocean, and I don't intend to let you get close to it. You've got no chance to win. And I'm betting you don't have the stones to destroy the last sample. No, soft heart like you? You'd give it to someone."
 
"Yeah, the 'anyone but Billy' plan" I said as coldly and as ruthlessly as I could.
 
That caused him to stop chortling but good, "Point is. You have to know you can't win this. I kill you, we heal my son and tear this town up on our way out while your team is still dealing with fall out. You take me out, the others on my team kill you and don't give a damn about my orders if I'm not up to enforce them. So here is how it's going to go," He said taking command of the situation, "You and I are going to fight. While I'm breaking your spine though, Firebug is going to go out and just set random blocks ablaze. It's what she does. The longer it takes me to kill you, the more people burn. I'm the bad guy, remember."
"Not for one moment did I forget," I assure him, "Fine. You're calling the shots there, let's fight."
 
"Or you could hand it over right now," He moved towards me hand out stretched, "I'm betting that belt has some biometric unlock bit. So you take whichever canister it's in off, hand it to me, and we still kill you... But you die knowing that we just healed my boy and left this stupid city and you saved dozens, maybe hundreds of lives from death by fire."
I lowered my head, reached for a canister, knowing without seeing that under his mask, Mister Brute was smiling  triumphantly.
 
Then I pressed the button on  said canister, and the false knife Slice was carrying exploded in a wave of sound. Sonics! SO useful, and if calibrated right, relatively non lethal. Though both siblings might have to learn sign language if we hadn't gauged it just so. 
It's a bit shameful that part of me almost hoped it did just that. Maiming your foes isn't supposed to be a hero thing to do. 
 
Dice and Slice slammed into the side of a building and went limp like ragdolls. I sure as hoped they stayed out cold.
"That's a no, by the way," I told Mister Brute.
 
But Mister Brute was already moving, grabbing me by the neck and slamming me to the ground! If I had been a normal human being, my trachea wouldn't have just been crushed, it would have been reduced to paste!
"You wanted a fight, you miserable little nobody? YOU'VE GOT IT! WHICH CANISTER HAS MY SON'S CURE?!!!"
 
I arched my legs up, hooked my feet around HIS neck, and yanked him loose by hurling him about ten feet away, I staggered up and saw Firebug above me. If she joined in, I was dead. Heck, if she didn't join in, I was probably dead, but I had to hope that even if she had forgotten, Mister Brute hadn't.
"Firebug, don't! He's got the damn cure!" Mister Brute said, then declared, "Go set a block on fire, now!"
 
"Yeah" she flared up, and turned to unleash a fiery death on the nearest neighborhood.
 
"To win a battle, you can beat the odds, boy," Mister Brute came at me picking up speed, "But a war? A war takes numbers. That's why I took that edge out for you." 
I tried to catch his arm, use it to throw him off his charge and into a wall, but his experience and faster reflexes meant he was ready for it. I snagged the arm sure, but his knee hit my thigh in a snap up ,and he pulled his arm back throwing me instead of the other way around.
"Did you?" I asked, "Did you really?"  I jerked my head up where Firebug had begun her flight.
And instead of white hotflames with blue tinges, Firebug was smothering in a obsidian hued force field. For a moment, just a moment, I think I saw panic in his eyes, because if Lady Obsidian was here, then it was over. He was a dangerous man, but against her? Even Mister Brute would be outclassed. That's why he had tried at every turn to avoid certain members of our team, and certainly the entire team at once.
"Wait, that's not your leader, it's some sort of ..." 
 
"Hovercycle," I punched him from the side while he was even slightly distracted; it was an incredibly cheap shot and I hit him square in the solar plexus, knocking some of the wind out of him, "And she's a member of the team too and insisted on a little pay back for a lost car. With Dice out, she's in play... and she's not happy with any of you."
He got un-winded a lot faster than I thought possible, and slammed me with a left hook that nearly knocked me off my feet, "Anyone tell you you talk too much when you fight?"
Actually, I thought yeah, I've even seen online commentary about it. They're right, of course. I do sometimes talk too much when I should be kicking ass.
Instead of proving his point, I grunted, blocked his next punch and tried a jab of my own. He must have still been thrown off, because that one got through and his head rocked back. 
It was gratifying, but I didn't have time to enjoy it.
 
He let loose a flurry of blows forcing me to block and weave as best I could, but even that was so forceful I felt myself being pushed back. Finally, he found the hole in my defenses he was looking for, feinted, I fell for it, and he nailed me with a kidney shot.
I heard a gasp of intense pain, and then realized it was probably me. The shot to my throat followed but for that I moved in time and instead caught it on the side of my jaw. I was driven to my knees.
"You miserable cocky little snot, you'd think you'd have learned a few new tricks before you tangled with a man who nearly killed you before," He brought both hands together to double smash me. Normally, this breaks your knuckles, but for supers who are as tough as we are? It's actually a good finishing move.
Or would have been, as I spun with leg extended and knocked him on his ass, "I did learn a leg sweep trom Tornado," I said hoarsely, "You would not believe how many Karate Kid jokes I had to endure, but... have to say, worth it."
How the hell does such a big man move so quickly? By the time I had recovered, he was already upright again. 
"You're looking tired, Eel," He says "You've earned my respect, but you're out of edges."

I popped another canister this one with a mystic seal on it, and the unshrinking of roughly 1.25 megalitters of ocean water burst out. That's about half the volume of an Olympic sized Swimming pool by the way.
 
Fish Guy Fact.
 
"Guess again," I grinned and it wasn't bravado. I felt refreshed, like I'd gotten my second and third wind at the same time. Sure the water was already flooding the alleyway and going down the cracks made from earlier battles, but it had caught him off guard and large puddles you could bury a truck through were here and there.
"You thought I was without my team? That's because you don't know my team," I closed on him and punched him in the throat. He'd been sputtering, now he was having trouble breathing for another reason, "Lady Obsidian's power isn't pew pew, it's IQ and a life time of science skills that make us both look like mental midgets. Pinprick shrinks ANYTHING just about, yourself a rare exception, and because you were immune to that you discounted him, but who else could help me put a flood in my reach? Mind you,  those mystics helped.  Point is, I have help that supports, that builds. You have a psychotic flame thrower, a garbage disposal on fast legs, and her cheat coding bro and the only reason they 'help' you is because they think you're the strongest and you encourage them to kill. My team is always with me, your team?" I grabbed his head with one hand and bent him over, bringing my leg up again for another smash to his Solar plexus and lower ribs.

 "Your team is a group of mad dogs even you can barely control. One day they'd turn on you. Maybe when some B list guy with Fish powers kicks your ass? Who knows. Better now than later." 
Mister Brute tried once more to take in a large amount of breath. I shoved his head into that car sized puddle and let him suck liquid instead.
 
"Oh, and I think we've established  two things. One, I don't have to be smarter than you when I've got a whole team improving on my clumsy plans. And TWO- I can talk  and fight at the same time just fine," He thrashed trying to get free, but even for a bad ass like him, drowning is just not something most are prepared for, it throws them off their game.
That's when the one remaining knife nearly cut the arm I was holding him down with in half. Blood spewed and I let him go  but not before I threw him to the side. I was fighting mean, but I didn't want even this monster dead.. and if I'd left him there he might have been too out to get out. I  couldn't chance it.  
His coughing resumed and he spat up water.
 
I used my good left hand to hold my right arm together and plunged it in the water to help it out. For most, that's the reverse of what you need to do, for me? Water kickstarts my fast healing. Mind you, fast is relative.
Slice was coming around for another swing.  She had obviously revived from the sonic burst and she was pissed.
 
Maybe if I took her out fast before Mister Brute did I could pull this off... I just needed to...watch as a ghostly figure rose out of the street and turned as dense as diamonds. I didn't even really have time to express the panic I felt. If she had materialized In the speedster instead of in front of her, it might have killed them both. Instead, my girlfriend cut it just under the wire and the results were like an angry mosquito discovering  a windshield.
 
I think I heard bones break, and I winced.
 
Yes, I'm a hypocrite. I was going full blown George town on these guys, but when the woman I love does it, I wince. I'm pretty sure some of my upbringing and ancestry has translated to just a smidge of benign chauvinism. I'll see a therapist and work on it sometime.
"Hey, are you okay?" I blurted at her.
 
She looked at me and said those words every guy needs to hear from the lady of his life now and then, "Behind you, look out!"
 
I kicked backwards, catching the advancing Mister Brute right in the knee cap before he could finish his attempt to put me in a full nelson or whatever it was he had on his mind. I followed it up with another shot, and his nose exploded satisfactorily.

"Stay down, it's over," I said, "Give up, or I will beat you like a drum so help me god until the skin is no longer attached."
 
Mister Brute looked up at me with hatred. He still thought he could take me. I grit my teeth and readied. Then, his expression turned to a flash of fear, and resignation, and surrender.
At last, a little respect from my nemesis!
 
That's when Lady Obsidian spoke up, "Smart man."
 
I turned to realize it wasn't really me Mister Brute had seen and given up for.
"Bit of a blow to the ego," I muttered.
 
Valorosa moved to my side looked at my many bruises and wounds and whispered in my ear with tender concern "I love you but if you say anything like 'I had em' or 'I didn't need your help' I will SO kick your ass, deny you sex, and make your life a living hell for weeks."
I blinked in a daze then said "No sex for weeks?" To my credit, I didn't say it loudly.
 
She responded by slapping one of the lighter bruises on a shoulder, "ow."
"That's the one you... " she broke off into a stream of mumbling Spanish. 
 
I smiled and turned to Lady Obsidian, "Thank you both." And left it at that.
 
"Looks like you might have had them all on your lonesome."
 
"Nope, Mabel got Firebug," I said.
 
"THANK you," Mabel chimed in our ears.
 
Project Tank showed up right on time,  suppressors at the ready.
 
"You should go to base and heal up," Lady Obsidian says "We can take it from here."
"If it's all the same to you," I said not daring to look at Valorosa while I said this, "I'd like to see this through."
"I get that, " She nodded, "But you will take the next two days off after this. Got it?"
"Got it,"I said. The adrenaline was wearing off.  Every wound, every ache was hurting more, not less. But yeah , stupid as it was, I wanted to see this guy into the transport. 
I watched them like a hawk, but the one I watched closest was Mister Brute.
 
As they slapped the power suppressors on him, I watched as the strength almost visibly leaked out of him. The cuffs that had seen so clunky before almost looked small around his massive wrists.
"You won," MIster Brute said, "Congratulations. Now, save my son! He served his purpose to you."
"Give me a sec?"I Said to the guard. 
 
The guy nodded and tended to the other members of Apocalyptic. There were two vehicles. They wanted to decease the chance of all of them coordinating. Smart if costly for taxpayers.
Now alone, I bent down and whispered in his ear, "Brute, I'm not some anti-hero from the nineties. Do you seriously think I'd let innocents die or use them in a hostage style situation even if the threat was cancer even to get a killer captured?" I stressed, "I was bluffing. We gave them the cure an hour ago."

"You used my desperation against me," His eyes looked me over with an odd mix of admiration that made me feel wrong, and rage that I enjoyed a little- and that was wrong too, "Well played. You saved my son when you didn't have to. You also used him to play me. I think the best compromise I can find between revenge and gratitude is that when I get out- And I will get out," he added ominously, "I will kill you quick and clean. Count on it."
 
"See, this is why no one likes you jackasses," I pushed him along towards the vehicle that would transport him to prison, "Villains I mean. You act like you want a medal for toning down the threats and slaughter. Screw yourself, ass-hat, no gold star for you. By the time you get out, we'll both be so old the only thing you'll be beating me in is chess, and you know what? I'll improve my game there too just in case you get out at all as an old man. Checkmate, Mister Brute. You're not an honorable adversary, you're a monster, and that fact you love your son doesn't make you redeemable, it puts you up with there with 99.9% of all fathers out there. I've faced muggers I respect more than you, you hypocrite."
Immature? Maybe. But it felt good.
 
The transport doors sealed, and he was gone from my sight, hopefully for good.
 
"Little petty there," Lady Obsidian said.
"Yup," I admitted.
"Felt good though," It wasn't really a question.
"Oh, hell to the yes," I replied.
 
And then, it began to rain. I looked up and laughed, "Where the hell was this an hour ago when I could have used it?"
I raised my fist into the air triumphantly, trying to fist bump God. I immediately regretted it as something in my much abused right popped and I got dizzy from a new rush of pain.
And I passed out as my girlfriend used the Spanish word for idiot.

(Here we go, from Scratch for this last part. I'm sure I'm leaving a pot hole or two, but better a few holes than nothing at all written)
 

As the meaty hands of the crazed killer lifted me up, up, and away thirty feet into the air, his eyes seething something akin to electricity while he screamed a heavy metal refrain from some 80s band, I had to ask myself a question.

How do I keep ending up in these weird-ass situations? 
 
The answer, of course, is that I'm a superhero. One has to deal with the consequences of one's lifestyle choices. You put on the colorful jammies, weird stuff will happen and you will be there; whether you go to it, or it comes to you.

The guy lifting me into the air was a convict, a former prisoner who had just broken out, empowered by alien chemicals or gene therapy or lord knows what. Instant origin in a can, brought to you by Fumian tech. Results varied, but there were twenty-four more out there like him.
 
It turned out, everyone's guess had been right. Slime, for example, predicted a good source of fodder would be a prison. Of course, we hadn't guessed that the Fumians had given Mr. Brute and crew a few more toys. Or maybe Mr. Brute had snitched something off them and just took a chance? I couldn't be sure, I only had what I knew. And all I knew  was two dozen hard core criminals, the sort reckless and gutsy enough to rob, mug, rape and murder in a city with superheroes, had been empowered and broke loose to spread chaos.
 
Damn it, our advantage in firepower and numbers had been, at least temporarily, curtailed to put it mildly. To put it less mildly, it was FUBAR.
 
The others had their own dance partners , like the guy with huge dragon wings that was duking it out with Tornado. Honestly though, it wasn't much of a fight, it was kind of like handing a guy the keys to a semi when he'd only learned to drive, while the professional stunt driver did literal circles around him.  Sure, Dragon wing man seemed stronger and tougher, but Tornado lived up to his name. Dragonwing would streak towards him trying to smash, only to find his own momenteum used against him with a throw into something hard, or another empowered escapee.
 
Pinprick was having a blast. Whatever had changed these folks, it didn't seem to slow down his arrows, so one screamed (his pitch going from a manly enough baritone to a helium wail which I admit, I found funny) another gasped as his own hyperspeed did him no good, for vines burst impossibly from nowhere and held him fast. While Pinprick's diminutive size made him a hard to hit target, it did mean you didn't see how fast and polished his own moves were. The bow and arrows might be faerie magic, but the skill with them? That was all his.
 
Valorosa was ground level trading blows with a guy who had morphed his hands into sledge hammer like shapes. If he was surprised when she took a blow that could break rocks with a mere grunt, he was positively stunned when she turned intangible, stepped through him, and back kicked hard.  I admit, there are times protective urges kick in, but at this point all I could think was how incredibly bad-ass she was. And yes, sexy. What can I say, I have a pulse, and I'm male and I am so proud to be tapping that. Not that I would ever word things that way where anyone could hear it. 
 
Arctic Fox was in no mood to play. She weaved and darted as she skipped and ran across the ice of her own construction. She hit fast, and she hit hard with bursts of cold to varying effect. Some of the newly empowered actually shrugged it off, but most found their muscles stiffening  and their response time slowing right away. They were being set up for the others.

Lady Obsidian slammed two foes at the same time in colliding forcefields that held them in a position not unlike pinned butterflies. One sputtered with flame, nothing as powerful as Firebug, of course, but still, it was promising to see his fires weaken and then snuff. It was a sign of what might work against Firebug...
if only we could face the villains we meant to instead of the 'Attack of the Evil Rookies'. As it was, it was closing on my meeting time with Mister Brute.
 
Which was the whole point. IT wasn't that we New Samaratins couldn't handle these guys, even as powerful as a few proved to be, or as out numbered as we were, we had the edge. It was that Apocoptyic Inc would be waiting for me at that predetermined spot after alll, but they hoped without the back up I had planned.
I had no time for this.
 
I headbutted my foe hard enough to change the course of his flight path then followed that plan by shoving him at the shoulders, "First floor, the lobby." 
 
He took the brunt of the landing's impact, but darn it, he took it a little too well as we broke apart and he righted himself almost instantly, "You smart assed ass****!" 
 
"You seem a tad belligerent," I opined as I rolled to my own feet. "Look, you need to surrender. What you've all been hit with? We don't know the full effects. It could be toxic, even kill you. Don't you see that you're being used?"
 
"See this!" He slammed into me. He wasn't subtle, so I had time to grab him, and flip him over into a body slam. 
 
"I don't have time for this" I snarled my previously unspoken thought, "We're trying to save the people of the city you morons, and that includes you. Is it really that hard to believe that if I were lying I'd make up a better story than this?" 
 
There was an intense buzzing sound, like a freight train rattling building as it raced on rails that had been put way to close. The ground shook, particularly where the guy I had just flipped was. It nearly knocked me off his feet, but him? It knocked him out cold. I twisted my head to see the source of the energy. Was whoever aiming for me? for us both? 
 
"I believe you," A voice said, again buzzing...and there was a figure I didn't recognize, in fact, I couldn't recognize him. I was sure it was a man, and the color I saw of his garment indicated the ugly orange suit of a guest of our fair city's prison. But his features were blurred as it seemed a thousand tiny tremors were rippling all over his body "You got somewhere to be, best be going."
 
"Thanks," I said "Whoever you are."
 
"We didn't actually introduce ourselves," The vibrating figure said, "When you saved our asses."
 
I guess my raised brow translated to a sign of continued cluelessness "our?" I turned in time to punch another super powered convict, some guy with knives for fingers, in the face. Edward Stabbyhands was kind enough to go down and stay that way.
 
"You saved me and my brother then," The man replied, "From Bloodwatch, on the docks. Rest of our gang too. Go, I help your crew with the rest." He tossed another wave of tremors into the air where it struck a guy whose tongue was lashing about like a barbed whip. His accuracy was improving with every burst of vibrational energy, it was more like lobbing an invisible grenade than firing a gun, but he was adapting. "After this? We're even."
 
"I didn't do it to keep score, but thanks, and you might want to hang around. I wasn't kidding, what's been done to you might kill you. It's Fumian bio-tech."
 
He cursed a blue streak, "You mean that funky alien stuff that shrinks your @##$?" 
 
Our commercials, it seemed, had worked. Even the televisions in the jails were showing them.
 
"That's the one," I said, then spoke on the team communication line, "I'm on my way to a very important date. The buzzing guy is... he's on our side for now. Please don't shoot him."
 
"Geez, Mailmen, now convicts? " Pinpricks' voice retorted on the line back, "I save plenty of lives, morons, bums and jerks, and not once has karma made those pathetic losers grateful enough to rescue me back."
 
It occurred to me that calling them pathetic losers might not be the way to earn their gratitude, but I didn't have time to give a sermon on the golden rule.
 
"Go! We'll send you what back up we can when we can," Lady Obsidian said, "Try to talk to them, delay them, because if they come out fighting you're probably in a bad way."
 
"Dead" I translated grimly "I'll probably be dead." I whistled for the hovercycle and leaped onto the back of it. It was time for my meeting with Apocalyptic Inc and one Mister Brute.

I patted the protected satchel at my side. I had one thing to offer the villain who had once nearly killed me, and I wanted to make sure he saw it.
 

 

San Francisco Ban Use of Facial Recognition Technology by Local Law Enforcement

As hard as it may be to believe, you are not the universal arbiter of importance. I'm not saying they needed more screen time. I thought Shuri being in the battle made perfect sense, and I don't have a strong opinion on Mantis. If all you're saying is that it wouldn't have made sense to spend more time on them away from the battle, given their place in the story, I have no problem with that. But to just flat say that the characters are unimportant is dismissive of the people out there who do care about those characters. Those characters are important to them, and their view of the movie matters just as much as yours.

A lot of scenes got me too, but the one that got me the most was Steve Rogers finally getting his dance Peggy Carter.  That was so perfect.

A lot of scenes got me too, but the one that got me the most was Steve Rogers finally getting his dance Peggy Carter.  That was so perfect.

A lot of scenes got me too, but the one that got me the most was Steve Rogers finally getting his dance Peggy Carter.  That was so perfect.

A lot of scenes got me too, but the one that got me the most was Steve Rogers finally getting his dance Peggy Carter.  That was so perfect.

A lot of scenes got me too, but the one that got me the most was Steve Rogers finally getting his dance Peggy Carter.  That was so perfect.

A lot of scenes got me too, but the one that got me the most was Steve Rogers finally getting his dance Peggy Carter.  That was so perfect.

Boy, that Kathleen Kennedy just wrecks everything that she touches!

When I was a kid I used "Feldercarb!" which something that I stole from Battlestar Galactica.  Nowadays, I am more likely to just say frel.

I didn't know Booker was in jail.  <drumroll>
 
I'll be here all week folks.

You are right, of course, Rufus can't be crated.  He will always find a way to escape from any crate.