The villain known as Scavenger wears a battlesuit that looks like it was slapped together late last night in a scrap yard - mismatched armor panels, second-hand jet boots, makeshift blaster cannons, and strapped-on sensory gear, all powered by a series of differently-shaped batteries hanging on his belt. After beating tech foes, Scavenger has been known to strip them of useful equipment that often makes its way into future iterations of his armor. He's even rewired parts of his armor on the fly to change weapon or equipment configurations. While far from the most powerful member of the Contraptions, Scavenger is one of the most versatile.
Just how many weapon systems can you put on a battlesuit ? Go see Marvin the Living Tank and be amazed. The suit can be customised to house rail guns, gauss cannons, missile arrays or magnetic bombards. And howitzers. Let's not forget them. Most heroes can't get close enough to do anything to him. The suit is well armoured as well as configured to regulate heat build up and loss due to the weapons. This is the guy that teaches people to dive for cover. Some people tried to hold people hostage in order to get him to give up the suit. It did not work. Then he took on contracts to find those responsible and kill them. No-one has seen the pilot of the human sized 'mech as it is referred to and there are theories that there is more than one operator and more than one base suit.
He is . . . The Gramps Reaper! In the first panel, we can see the scythe from his Visage of Death trailing him as he leaps into action. This is a psychic fear attack, that temporarily paralysis his prey, allowing him to get the drop on opponents a third of his age. Unfortunately, the photographer didn't capture the Visage in its full glory. This short burst psychic fear attack is Gramps' only super power. For the rest, he relies on his acrobatic martial arts and his trusty pistol, a modified Desert Eagle with several types of specialized ammunition. (Known loads he's used include: Micro gas pellets, micro smoke pellets, tracking devices, rubber bullets, armor piercing, explosive and just plain old lead ammunition.)
Nobody knows where the Gramps Reaper came from, for while he has the appearance of a hero out of the Golden Age, there are no records of his costume or power prior to two years ago. There has been speculation ranging from retired hero changing his MO to hero from another dimension, to just plain late bloomer. He's certainly a mystery man, and has the suit to go with it.
The Devistator is in deed an old golden age Nazi crashing mystery man. While overseas fighting on the beaches of Normandy, he was sent into the future by Captain Cronos. But a side effect of the transport was that he aged in real time as he was sent.
Devistator now struggles with trying to fit in with the modern age of heroes while struggling to keep up in spite of his artifialy advance age. As part of the side effect, it seems he can't age any farther (as proved in an encounter with Timelapse proved).
As for powers, he has a mean right hook, and immune to age manipulation, a keen mind (my body is old, but my mind is young), and the belief in justice.
Also...he is a bit sexist and racist, as was common in the age he came from. Not to the extreme, but it is there. He won't hesitate to call someone Sambo or gook or Mick or daigo or fag.
And to tell young punks to turn that noise they call music down and get off his lawn...
I'm on the downward side of the slope with this project. I have almost completed the initial sketches for interior art (200 pieces!) and have editing, layouts, cover, and final production to do yet. This keeps being delayed because of life events and health problems but I hope to have it out by the end of summer this year.
As time goes on I'll share some of the art in here. I'm considering a GoFundMe campaign for cover and production expenses, which are minimal but would be nice to cover.
(Author’s Note: Politics warning, some violence, mildly suggestive content. A companion piece to Politics, Damn Politics.)
The man stood at 6’9” and bordered between athletic and muscular. Blond haired, blue eyes, and beautiful, and quite, quite naked, there was something else that set him apart from his breed, a certain presence, a je ne sais quoi. There was no kindness in those blue globes. His skin was hot, as if it would burst into flames at any given moment, and the power of those muscles was unfathomable.
"Ladies and gentlemen,“ a voice proclaimed. The room was a stereotype, men drenched in shadow and conspiracy. “Behold Project: Juggernaut. J-1. Behold —the Thundrax-killer.”
"I’ll believe that when Carson’s in the ground,” one of the men in shadow said.
"You’ll forgive my skepticism, but we’ve heard this before,” another man said. “Many times.”
“Carson’s formidable,” Invictus, the one known figure added. “If he weren’t he’d have ceased to have been an issue years ago. “ Whatever David Sutherland’s flaws, underestimating his enemies was not one of them.
J-1 smiled. The doctor cleared his throat, and he beamed J-1’s spec sheet to the room. “He’s able to military press 170% Thundrax’s strength, he’s able to reach Mach 5.5 in flight, We’ve rated him at 45% higher pain tolerance, he is resistant to lightning, has superior reflexes.”
No combat experience versus 35 years of experience.” A man said.
“He’s had thousands of hours in the simulator.” the Doctor said. “J-1’s read what Carson’s read, role-played out his life experiences. He’s been taught to think like him. He even has his sense of humor.”
“If Primus catches wind of this… and you know they have Adamant on their side…” a woman added, referring to one of Thundrax’s most highly distinguished teammates, a good friend.
“2000 hours of combat simulation,” the doctor spoke up. “In the last 200 simulations, 196 dead Thundraxs. Ladies and gentlemen, J-1 is the ultimate superhuman fighting machine.”
“Gentlemen,” J-1 spoke for the first time. His voice was a baritone that was brimming with confidence, bristled with unchallenged strength. Even Invictus was jolted by its authority, its easy charisma. “My esteemed benefactors. If you want Craig Alexander Carson dead, I’m your man. Just make sure the rest of his team doesn’t show. I can kick around Sparrowhawk’s little nestlings another day.”
"I just need your permission,” the Doctor said. “And Operation: Dead Canadian can begin.” The Doctor said, smiling. J-1 was performing above his expectations, with the confidence he always knew the construct could have. He was evolving into something great and terrifying.
“Congress still likes Carson,” a woman in shadow noted. “He and the Protectors did save their lives two years ago.”
“The Protectors are untouchable as long as they have Captain Adamant,” another man said. “He’s far too well liked on both sides of the aisle. With the right PR push, he could be one of the most popular superhumans in the nation.”
“Forget Adamant.” Invictus sneered. “He’s a useless tin can with a star. Lassie is the brains of that pairing. The Protectors are nothing, especially the annoying child and the hot and cold werewolf. As for Congress, they’re equally irrelevant. I should know, I was a senator. My only regret about this operation is that I won’t be the one to soak his hands in Carson’s blood, but a solar powered hero is an acceptable substitute. I’m calling it, ladies and gentlemen. Operation: Dead Canadian is a go.” Sutherland grinned, thinking of the blood that his surrogate would shed. “I’m lighting the torch, and Carson will burn.”
Sir,” the woman said. “Subject J-1 is highly radioactive. Our estimates indicate a high probability that bystanders will contract cancer from exposure to this radiation if he remains in a populated area for a sustained time.”
“Acceptable losses,” a politician chortled. “But let’s try to direct him to areas of the city likely to vote for the other party’s candidate, shall we?”
________________
"Ralph?” Craig Carson asked. “Don’t be so discouraged. That may not be Carter’s perfect score, but you did really well on the test. Chin up and be proud, m’friend.”
“I just wish I’d gone into space with the rest of the team.” Ralph said. “I could have fit aboard the Valravn.”
“I guess there wasn’t time.” Craig shrugged. “Don’t worry. I’m sure they’re in good hands with Faye and Sebastian. Nothing will happen to them. How are you doing?”
“A bit frustrated.” Atomac admitted. Craig nodded, listening while Ralph Mathieson bristled at his own admission. “There’s some pretty big boots to fill on this team. I don’t want to disappoint anyone. Especially Cap, he’s been so good to me.”
“Squarejaw is the best.” Craig said, “A true pro in a business sorely lacking in professionalism.” and then an alert sounded.
“Craig,” Kivioq called out. “Incident at Millennium City Hall. Supervillain.”
“Who?”
"You.” The AI answered, and the two men started. “Or a man in a Thundrax suit. And he’s calling you out, challenging you to a one-on-one duel.”
Craig sighed.
“The sensors they installed to monitor the aftereffects of the “rad rumble” incident indicate that he’s emitting toxic levels of radioactivity.” Kivioq added. “If he’s not contained soon, a lot of people will die.”
Craig sighed, hearing the call to arms, yet again. “Ralph, I’m giving you the important job – evacuate the area. I’m going to be entertaining Nuclear Man Thundrax while you’re doing that. He wants a fight with me, he gets a fight with me. Let’s go.”
“Right,” Ralph said, wondering how he was going to get the bureaucrats and businesses in the area to listen to him.
“Good luck,” Craig added, thinking about his opponent. “A Nuclear Man. Superman IV sucked so badly…”
_____________________________
J-1 waited in the appointed place, yelling his remarks at the press. He flexed for them and smiled. The MARS unit told him to stand down and periodically fired on him. He smiled, and slagged their weapons with a touch.
"Nice try,” he said. “Now bring me your boy Craig, if you please. I’m trying to be nice here, and not, say, burning Millennium or Memorial City in atomic fire.”
“Fall back! Fall back!”
“Fall front if you want.” J-1 smiled. “Your weapons can’t harm me, and I don’t particularly want to hurt you.”
Then there was thunder in a clear sky. Enter the hero, stage right.
“I’m here,” Craig Carson said as he arrived, flying above the fray. He could have blindsided the man, but the more out of control the fight started, the less likely it was that Thundrax could lure him away from the combat zone. The sooner he was out of here, the better. “So, I hear you asked for me. What’s the issue?”
"Wow,” J-1 grinned. “After all this time, all this training. The Living Thunder itself.”
“True, but that really doesn’t answer my questions. Are you an evil me from another dimension? A fanboy?” Craig asked, subtly pulling up, gaining altitude, again trying to lure him to the skies. J-1 laughed and cracked his neck.
“I’m a genetic construct created by a secret cabal with one purpose, and one purpose only. The complete destruction of Craig Alexander Carson.” J-1 said, remarkably forthcoming.
Craig whistled. “ But Christmas was a few weeks ago! Someone made a playmate just for me? You know, fella, that’s kind of a shallow existence. And stupid too, after all I’m hardly the toughest superhuman on earth.”
J-1 laughed. “Ah, there it is, the attempt to disarm! Your phony attempts at modesty is your most annoying feature, Craig. If you’re that weak, you certainly punch above your weight class an awful lot.” Again, he cracked his neck, shaking his golden head. Craig felt the testosterone rush as he observed the man. Probably a deliberate effect, one of his powers. Pheromones. He was surprised that J wasn’t a monster, a brute. The man looked a lot like Craig himself, but a little bigger. Mutated from his DNA, perhaps? From Seger, his old rival who also possessed the Living Thunder? Or from Cord, his half-clone constructed son?
“Okay,” Craig said. ”Why did someone target me with a superior construct? What did I do to deserve this?”
“It’s simple, really. You didn’t stay in your own country. And you got too big.” Craig was almost astonished by his opponent’s forthrightness. Was he that confident? Or did he possess a Code of Honor? Well, he thought uncharitably, the honesty rules out the involvement of Donald Trump. “America needs American heroes. We don’t need American children worshiping people who wear foreign flags.”
“So by killing me, you make American heroes great again…” Craig said
“Something like that, yes.” J-1 said. They were now five hundred feet above the dome of City Hall. J-1 grinned as he realized what Craig was doing. As he had done so many times in the simulation.
“They’re already great. Awesome, in fact. The Protectors, Amazing Man, the All-American. They sure as hell don’t take a back seat to me. And America is a nation of immigrants. To hate the other is a betrayal of its most sacred values.” Craig said, pointing out the great dome below them. Villains had attacked this place so many times, yet it still stood, and Old Glory yet waved above it. “Fifty states, fifty stars, all different, and yet, much as I may disagree on some of their policies, the states have a common ground on a common flag. And people flock to that flag from around the world.”
“You sound so much like a bad 70s comic book it’s not funny. “ J-1 mocked. “Written by such an earnest writer! Delivering yet another sermon from Reverend Thundrax! Well, this is your last, I’m afraid. Make it a good one. Your “I Have a Dream” speech, or something equally inspiring to naive simpletons. Something for people to remember you by.”
“You call them simple, yet you were constructed with a single goal in mind.” Thundrax said. “Who’s the simple one, oh anti-Thundrax bomb?”
J-1 laughed. “Touché, Canadian. This was always the toughest part of the simulation for me. I could never quite match your wit or your righteousness. Though I’ve gotten a bit better over time.”
There was a pause as the two men studied each other. “You know, fella, you don’t have to do this.” Craig finally told him. “We can figure out a way to give you a long, normal life. Because do you know the real reason your creators hate me?”
“So you’ve told me fifty times in the simulator. Shall we recite it together?” J-1 said, spiting Craig’s would-be words back at him. “Because you believe in freedom and prosperity for every sapient entity on this world who is willing to agree to the common good, be it alien or extra-dimensional. You stand against the oligarchs and the enemies of democracy. Then the conversation devolves into an argument about the hypocrisy of you possessing a personal AI, as well as your ssistants, and then I mention that the term “wage slave” exists for a reason, and soon after that, we start throwing punches.”
“You know, putting words in my mouth is kinda rude.” Craig did not hide his irritation.
“Just sparing us an unnecessary conversation, Craig.” J-1 said. “Isn’t that even ruder, dragging things out with words instead of deeds? Isn’t that a violation of your code?”
“Nope.” Craig said. “Fighting is a last resort. And I’m sorry you’re programmed only to fight. I pity you for that.”
“Oh Craig, I do love you,” J-1 smiled. The statement shook the hero as much as anything he had said. “That you cared. That you tried. I mean it sincerely, thank you.” The genetically engineered titan cracked his neck a third time and limbered his huge arms.
“Ew.” Craig said.
“You don’t like affection, Craig?” J-1 asked.
Craig shook his head. “It’s not that. Guys hit on me all the time. It's homophobia I hate.” You should see what happens when he and Justiciar get together on Canada Day, when David let his hair down, he thought, smiling. “It’s just loving someone you’re programmed to kill is more than a little creepy.”
J-1 laughed. “I’d take it up with those who made me, if you survive. But you won’t. I’d ask you to surrender so I could simply break your neck and end this quickly, but we both know you spit on mercy for yourself. You’re that rare man who’d rather die fighting. A champion through and through.”
Craig nodded, though he hated acknowledging the truth of those words. He was, as noted many times, a man of peace and war. Part of him relished what was to come, and he hated that. “I’m a Protector,” he finally said.
“A lone Protector. But I want the fight too, I need the fight. I’m burning inside. My entire existence has been leading to this moment. It’s inescapable for either of us.”
“There’s always an escape until the first punch is thrown.” Craig said.
“Indeed,” J-1 answered, and he threw the first punch, and Thundrax fell upward, into the sky. “Now we can stop yammering at each other and do what we were both born to do.”
“Fine,” Craig sighed, and the battle had begun
They wrestled in mid-air, Craig trying to force his opponent skyward and take him away from Millennium. J-1 smiled and responded with short punches directed at Craig’s ribs, hard enough to make him wince. “By the way,” he said, throwing another body shot. “We haven’t been properly introduced. Call me J. Or Jaye.”
“Charmed,” Craig said, wincing as they wrestled. Shit, he was strong. Gotta push yourself.
"It stands for Juggernaut, but you know, copyright lawyers are a bitch.”
“They sure are,” Craig agreed. Their bodies were a blur as they writhed, still wrestling. After a few minutes, they had flown westward: they were fighting above Superior now. Time for a deep dive.
And the two men plummeted, hitting the lake at Mach 3. Craig briefly backed out from the shock, but Jaye just smiled and lifted him out of the water, planting him on the shore and slamming him. “Don’t give up on me now, Craig. My whole life has been a prelude to this moment. It deserves to be epic.”
“Overused word.” Craig gasped, regaining consciousness quickly, and he teleported away, shifting to lightning to keep away from the powerhouse while he was still recovering his bearings. But his opponent teleported almost immediately, and caught him from behind with a chokehold.
“Gak!” Craig said, struggling to dislodge the man’s arm around his throat.
“Nice trick,” Jaye laughed. “A lot of people don’t know about it. Fortunately, I’ve trained against it dozens of times.”
Craig smiled, teleported again behind Jaye, and tackled him to the ground. Then he drove his head into the dirt and flew with him, digging a trench with his face that was several miles long. Jaye struggled to dislodge himself. Craig pulled him to his feet and slammed him in the face with roundhouse punches; the thunder of his blows could be heard ten miles away.
Jaye grinned a bloody dirty smile and returned the punches in kind, competing with Thundrax to shake the earth. They were in wilderness now, just where Craig wanted him. There, they dug their feet into the soil and slammed each other with roundhouses for ten solid minutes. Neither man relented, though their bodies were a storm-surge of pain. Neither man fell.
“You’re a lot stronger than you were in the simulator,“ Jaye noted between punches. “Much stronger. And way tougher too. You’re almost a match for me. Have you been working out?”
Craig said nothing, but wrestled him northward, as they continued to shatter the wilderness about them. They dove into the earth and soared into the sky. Jaye’s face bore an insane grin all the way. Of course, their shirts tore. Their muscles shone like ice as they gleamed with sweat under the dim winter’s light, swole and brutal.
“Oh well,” Jaye shrugged. “It wouldn’t be a Thundrax fight if our shirts didn’t rip off. Very macho. Very Doc Savage, Craig. Or Pat Ryan, or Flash Gordon. Conan, Tarzan, , Den... all those dead pulp heroes without shirts that people are embarrassed about these days. The ones that the new kids just don’t get.”
Thundrax continued to ignore the jibes. The guy liked to talk. Was that part of the design, annoying patter to throw him off his game? Or was the genetic engineer just having fun? The truly frightening thing, Craig decided in one of the few moments when the fight didn’t consume him, was that this guy was the Beginning. Engineer a Thundrax-killer, and soon you’d be able to genetically engineer a match for any superhuman on earth. Where would it end? In the annihilation of the human race?
After destroying more pine forest than a swarm of pine beetles and a meteor strike, the battle drifted skyward again. This time, Jaye grabbed his opponent and kept rising. Craig continued to punch away. They were eight miles high, just like the Byrds song. Still punching. Still soaring upward, trading fists, mountain-shattering blows. Neither man relented. They wrestled, ascending the sky like lovers. Two minutes later, they were eighty miles above the earth, their bodies smoking as they passed through the warmth of the earth’s radiation belts. Craig could no longer take breaths. Then, as he felt refreshed by extra reserves of oxygen hidden in his lungs - his engineers were really proud of that trick -- Jaye finally began to fight in earnest, at his full strength, and he tore apart the mighty Canadian hero with flurries. Craig tried to fight back. A body shot left the hero gasping for air that was not forthcoming, and Jaye had him. A symphony of violence, on the edge of space, followed. The earth beneath him wept at its champion’s fall.
Craig had endured gruesome beatings before, but this may well have been the worst. Jaye’s delighted blue eyes sparkling, his grin broadened as he delivered brutal haymakers, time after time. Blow after blow landed on Craig, turning one of the most handsome faces on earth into a grotesque mess. After the tenth blow, he let Craig fall. The air screamed as the limp hero reentered the atmosphere. When he reached ten miles again, Jaye decided to end it. A dark god ascendant, the mighty foe grabbed the hero under the arm, and took him to the exact place where the fight had begun, Millennium’s city hall. Craig, reinvigorated by the fall, tried to teleport his fist inside his foe. It was the most desperate of desperation moves. It would likely cost Craig the arm, but it would kill his opponent -- or so he hoped. Craig screamed as he felt the limb enter his foe’s chest, then the nuclear man simply shifted his molecules to accommodate it, to trap it.
“Oh Craig, you shouldn’t have,” he purred, binding their nervous systems together. “Abandoning your lofty morals in a desperate attempt to kill me. But instead of murder...” he gasped and didn’t complete the sentence. “You know, I can’t have sex – they considered that humanity’s biggest design flaw – so this is the next best thing. I feel so close to you. You’re such a giving man.” He mocked a sigh. “You never did this in the simulator. This is beautiful.” Craig struggled to punch him with his free arm. Jaye headbutted him back. “Sorry,” the juggernaut chuckled. “But this is what I was created for. This is my life. We are bound, you and I, in life and death.”
"It doesn’t matter,” Craig replied, coughing lumps of blood as he spoke. “We evacuated the people in time,” Craig hoped there were no stragglers. Superfights always attracted looky-loos. “It’s never been about beating me. People beat me all the time. But what I stand for -- the values that made me -- those won’t die so easily. Not to Trump, or to Trudeau, or to Destroyer, or to you. We’ll always roar back. Go ahead, knock me down. We’ll always pick ourselves up. If you were trying to beat me, great. If you were trying to beat the ideas I represent, you ain’t even close to powerful enough.”
“I don’t care about values. Just that you still have a heartbeat,” Jaye said. “Well, time to end that.” And then he proceeded to beat Craig again, and again, and again. until at last Craig Alexander Carson’s great heart finally did stop in its mighty chest, and he let Thundrax’s dead body slump to the ground. Jaye’s victory roar could be heard as far away as Windsor and Westside.
Ralph Mathieson, arriving again on the scene, stared at the sight. Jaye looked down on Craig’s lifeless form, a tear in his eye as his life’s work was achieved… and a rock struck him in the back of the head.
“Huh?” Jaye wondered, and he turned around to see a boy of nine, gangly but determined, wearing an animish Thundrax shirt that wasn’t an especially good likeness of the now dead hero. Too lean. Too bishonen
“Leave him alone!” the kid shouted. Yep, right on cue, there he was, the straggler. There was always one And he had to be a kid! “He’s my hero!”
“He was your hero,” Jaye said. “His lifesigns have faded. I felt him die. His final breath.”
Atomac landed by Craig’s body, and he moved the kid behind him. Ralph had all the luck! Could he fight someone who capable of killing Craig and live? He had to! And he had to protect one angry, distraught child in the process.
“Do you know what you’ve done!” the kid shouted. “He saved the city! When I was little, these aliens invaded, and their leader had a nuke. He was going to blow it up and kill everyone, but Thundrax grabbed him and flew him to orbit and saved us! Millions! That’s who you killed, asshole!”
Atomac nodded, continuing to shield the boy, ready to lay down his life. Ready to pay the price for his team and his friend. “He saved us all! Time after time!” the kid ranted. “Probably even you!”
“Get behind me, son.” Ralph said, defiantly facing Jaye with his game face, growing six meters in an instant. “Back out of the area. If anything happens to you, I’d never hear the end of it.” To Ralph’s relief, the kid followed his orders, while Atomac kept his body interposed with the villain. He awaited his response, but there were none. Jaye just stared at the hero. He wasn’t programmed to kill the man, only Thundrax, with self-defense as his secondary priority. The mighty villain could have tried to kill Ralph and the kid right there and then, but he had no reason to do so. Finally, Jaye lowered his head and hurtled himself skyward at unimaginable speeds. Was that regret on his face?
Ralph sighed, his body sagging, and he lifted Craig’s corpse. He checked it for lifesigns, he couldn’t believe he was actually dead until he checked it first hand. To his horror, Craig really was dead, really was a corpse. Ralph quickly took the fallen hero back to the Barlowe, though he wondered if this was the right thing. After all, technically he was tampering with a crime scene. What would Sparrowhawk say? And if Jaye changed his mind, he doubted the base would adequately protect them. Who protects the Protectors?
But he had to save Thundrax, somehow. Arriving at the Barlowe, Ralph looked through Craig’s files, searching for any possible way to bring his mangled corpse back to life. According to the computer, Craig’s cells decayed at a substantially reduced rate – he could be dead for days, and then safely brought back. But how?
hink Ralph think. He was your friend. More importantly, he was Thundrax. The Thundrax. If anyone could come back from death, it’s him. There’s always a way.
C’mon Ralph. you’re a scientist’s son. You’re not just a Protector, you’re a problem-solver. There has to be something. An answer, somewhere.
And so Ralph Mathieson continued to read. He read, not ran, for Craig’s life.
Until Ralph finally spotted the entry on Storm Island and stopped. What the hell? He read further, eyes widening.
"Storm Island. Birthplace of the Living Thunder. Where the Protectors reunited Craig with his powers once before. Could it restore his life?
Worth a shot.
“Get a plane ready,” he instructed. Hoisting and moving Craig’s corpse was a chore, but – he ain’t heavy, he’s a Protector. Ralph continued to check the entry as the plane lifted off from Millennium. Storm Island, off the coast of Madagascar. Stormiest place on earth. Where the Living Thunder that fueled Craig was at its strongest.
The storm greeted the men, and Ralph had trouble, even with automated assistance essentially doing most of his flying. Landing, he draped Craig’s corpse over a stone, and he fashioned primitive lightning rods and set them about the body. Then, he waited, and he hoped. The lightning struck Craig once. And twice. And a third time. No movement. Not hiding dejection and grief, Ralph was ready to abandon the plan, when the sky opened and a barrage of lightning bolts struck Craig’s corpse. Thundrax gasped, seized up, and stared.
“Uh hi,” he gasped at Ralph through a shattered face. “Oh man, I feel like shit.” And Atomac embraced Craig with tears in his eyes, never happier to hear anyone swear in his life.
“Where’s Jaye?” he rasped.
“Somewhere,” Atomac said.
“He linked his nervous functions to mine,” Craig said. “He probably knows I’ve regained consciousness.” Craig said.
“You were dead.” Ralph said.
“I felt dead,” Craig replied. He winced, remembering hearing his own voice in the darkness, the hallucinations of a dying brain firing without blood. Connie had told him that he would die screaming -- is that what she meant, that voice? The final meeting in the center of the labyrinth of thought? No, Craig decided, no time to think about that when he had an enemy loose and a man to thank. “I guess I have to express my gratitude. I owe you so much, Ralph.”
“Nothing is owed,” Atomac said. “But you’re welcome.”
“But what about the Protectors? Are they back yet?”
“Not when I last checked in…” Ralph replied.
“The Protectors are returning now,” Craig heard Kivioq say. He was relieved to hear the old annoying buzz in his ear, another reminder of being alive.
“That’s great.” Craig said.
“But I have some bad news.” Kivioq added in a somber tone. “It’s Faye…” He related the news, the worst possible news of a woman who had been his colleague since she was a child.
____________________
“You’re sure these will work?” Craig Carson said, head bowed, wearing his diplomatic finest. Prince Marus laughed. The Queen, still regal in all situations, merely smiled, her green lips darkened in the dim light of the throne room of Atlantis. Even the presence of an old friend did not discomport that image, and she had known Craig for two decades, as had Marus.
“The oxygen pills are tested for Atlantean physiology,” the prince explained. “I believe they will work for humans almost as well. Take as many deep breaths as you can, thirty seconds after ingesting. The more you breathe, the more you oxygenate your blood. You should be able to function in space for up to a half hour, even if he knocks the wind out of you. But it does rely on an oxygen source for the initial effect – more pills won’t do a thing. And the oxygenated blood will fade in a few hours on its own.”
"Thanks,” Craig nodded. “You don’t know how much this means. The difference between life and death, perhaps. Or at least a fighting chance.”
“I see the brace upon your face,” Queen Mara said.
“It’s not for show, your majesty.” Craig said. “The bones are being realigned. And even with my healing, it’s not trivial. Or painless.”
“I wish you’d consider the Sentinels for backup. If the Protectors are too busy dealing with what happened to Cosmic Glory…”
“They’ve been through enough, lately. I love my teammates too much to risk them. And I want to win this on my own,” Thundrax said. “I need to win this alone. I need to send a message to those who made my killer.”
_______________________________
“So these are my friends,” Rocky said, nudging a trunk toward the hero. Craig smiled and gazed up at the elephant lovingly. Such a gentle beast. “This is grandma. I swear she’s wiser than most humans.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it, Rock.” Craig said. “Hi grandma! How are you doing?” The elephant closed her thick eyelids and allowed Craig to gently nuzzle it. She liked im. She trusted him. She did not fear the touch of the walking storm, but met his gentle eyes with her own. It was a tonic. Most animals feared him. It had taken some time even for Hobo to adjust, time and a ton of bribes. But for this wise, gentle beast, it had been affection on first sight.
“You sure you don’t need me to beat up this Jaye chump for ya?” Rocky asked. Craig shook his head. He wasn’t going to put his bad ticker at risk again. “And what are you doing in Kenya anyway?”
“Passing through. I’m visiting an island off the coast of Madagascar.” Craig said. “Storm Island. I boosted my power once there. Maybe I can do it again.”
"Good luck, chum.” Rocky Granite said, remembering the villains of old and wondering how this “Jaye” stacked up to the original VIPER-X, Infinitron, and the other heavyweights of his day.
Craig nodded. “Let’s just hope I don’t unleash something I can’t control,” he said. “Storm Island is ornery on principle. I don’t think it wants to be used as a harging station. But I’ve gotta find a way to get to Jaye’s level.”
“Well,” Rocky said. “You’re the hero. Good guys win in the end, right?” Craig shook his head vigorously, even violently.
“I can’t be a hero,” Craig said with a sardonic smile. “I cheat. I have powers. An unfair advantage.”
Rocky’s face may have frowned in response, it was hard to read that face. He turned to the elephant, looked for the soul in her eyes. “There are people who say grandma here ain’t intelligent, not like humans. That she doesn’t have a soul. They’re full of crap -- and so’s anyone who says you ain’t a hero.”
“Oh yeah?” Craig smiled, amused by Rocky’s enthusiasm.
“Yeah.” Rocky said. “It’s like boxing. You have your Sugar Ray Robinson. And you have your Muhammed Ali. Both beautiful prizefighters in the ring. Amazing to watch. Robinson ain’t less of a boxer because Ali’s bigger and could’ve beaten him. Robinson ain’t more of a boxer because the other guy has a size advantage. They’re just different boxers. And that’s like heroes. You ain’t more or less of a hero than anyone else because you got powers and they don’t. You’re just fighting in a different weight class. And just because you win all but a handful of your fights, that don’t mean you ain’t putting yourself out there. It just means that you’re good at fighting. Like Jeffrey, Vanguard.”
“I’d like to remove the word “hero” from the lexicon,” Craig said.
“Heh. Big word, ”lexicon”. Too fancy for me. Anyway, enjoy the fame while you got it Carson. You ain’t always gonna be remembered, just because you’re such a big deal now.” Rocky chided him.
Just another tusk in the elephant’s graveyard,” Craig agreed.
Rocky smiled and petted on Grandma, who reveled in the affection. “Not every elephant is as nice as grandma here. Some are downright mean, like me. By the way, did this guy really kill you? Stone cold, no heartbeat, nothing?” Craig nodded. “Woah.”
“That’s one word for it,” Thundrax said. “I think I’d cast it in darker terms. A lot darker.”
“Don’t give into the darkness, Carson. The world’s a dark enough place.” He paused, listening to the distant trumpet of the elephants and the crashing of waves on the shore. “Well, I guess I gotta wish you good luck,” Rocky added, still stroking grandma. “If this Jaye guy is everything you say he is, you’ll need every last bit you can get!”
________________________
It had been a colder winter than usual in Austin, but the thermometer had climbed nicely in recent days. Cordero Smith carefully adjusted the painting on the wall. “Dishes by Huxtable,” he smiled. “Juliana did that diner proud. Even if it did cost a fortune.”
Once a mighty bastion of the Aegis of Justice, the huge hero had now retired from the superhero scene. His body and soul no longer belonged to spandex: besides, modern heroes had such a boring sense of aesthetics. Red? Black? Ew, overdone! He rarely thought about his hero days anymore, he simply contented himself to running his gallery. Apollonio’s, the New York art scene in the heart of Texas. He spent way too much money on art, but what the Carson giveth, the Smith spendeth away. Craig was Cordero’s clone dad, one of three. He had been a college kid murdered on spring break in Vibora Bay. A man had synthesized a clone body from three donors: his old body; Jim Exington, the hero Mr. Indomitable, now departed for space; and Thundrax. He didn’t speak with his old family. Lifestyle choices. Jim was gone, along with his adopted daughter Renee, Cord’s setpsister. That left only Craig, who spoiled him, his lone son. And then there was the man who made him, who crafted his DNA and grew his superhuman body: Dr. Sebastian Stein, the Peacemaker. Did that make him his father too? They hadn’t spoken in six years, not since Sebastian faked his death and abandoned the team. He had never forgiven him.
“Craig?” Cord asked, noting a huge blond figure entering the gallery. On first glance, it had to be him -- no wait, he was even taller, rivaling every bit of Cord’s own seven-foot frame.
“Hello, brother,” Jaye smiled, and he balled his fists. He intended to have fun today.
_____________________________
Craig Carson stared into the heart of the storm, and it was indescribable. Only his storm senses came close to comprehending it. It spoke to him in the language of weather: its depression were verbs, its humidity nouns, its fluctuations rhymes. The weather was a poet. Inhaling, Craig beheld a vortex of power, listened to the hollowness in the air -- but wait, was there something else? A strange sort of windsmoke rising and choking? The scream of the wounded sky, sucking in its pain? Was the rain the earth’s blood, the wind the earth bleeding? Did this proclaim agony in the worldtongue, which Craig, fumbling at it like a second language, barely spoke.
“Speak to me little storm.” Were the words badly translated, even when haltingly spoken?
“I seek increased mastery of the storm.” the hero admitted. “I was beaten once, at a cost. I do not wish to pay that price again.”
“Yet a price you will pay,” the storm replied. “All things have a cost: breath, effort, and the time that could have been devoted to other things. These are prices, and the calamities of the world and your personal straits may make them precious indeed -- or trifles.”
“I need to fully master the living thunder.’ Craig said. “I need to beat an enemy. He’s already killed me once; worse, he made me compromise my ideals. I need to beat him for my own sake as well as others. I need... can you help me?” he asked.
Then there was laughter in the wind.
“Yes,” it said, and Craig smiled for the first time since his resurrection.
“But wait!” the wind chuckled to the hero, and the vortex was all-encompassing, a wind that would devour him if it could. “You have not heard the price.”
“Which is?”
“Your humanity. Compassion, love, grace, honor. Everything that makes you what you are, save life, save your physical talents.”
"And if I say no, I’ll die again. Perhaps permanently,” Craig said.
“You have already compromised your nature once,” the storm said.
Craig thought about it, pondered the truth in the storm’s words. He was convicted. As he himself had admitted earlier, the storm was right. He had tried to murder Jaye. Fear had ruled him, fear for his life, and he had broken his most sacred law because of it. He was a Protector of the World, a Protector of Life. Northern Guardsman, Unitarian, Starforcer, Sunderer. Carson. Trying to kill the man was worse than cowardice: he had tried to kill out of desperation, and so he had fallen. He was just one more self-serving pragmatist in a world that wept for its ideals. But maybe he could get them back.
So this was his choice. To be or not to be Craig Carson? When being Craig Carson meant a slow, humiliating death?
He could ask the Protectors for help. But not when they were grieving. And they were the Protectors of the World, not Protectors of their personal agendas. Like or not, he was alone in this.
Craig bowed to the storm, to the presence, in as true a bow as any ever given by mortal man. He would not spit in the gods’ face, he simply walked away. The air stung him in its wake. His answer had been no. Even if being Craig Carson, in a world where Jaye wished him dead, was a terminal condition. He accepted that, and moved on. He would die as himself, Jack’s kid brother and Eileen Carson’s second son.
Time to find Jaye. Time for the rematch. Craig Carson was determined to make it his Ali-Frazier, the fight of the century, the thrilla in Manila. If he was
was determined to make it his Ali-Frazier, the fight of the century, the thrilla in Manila. If he was going down, it would be one for the ages.
__________________________
“I need more information on Jaye,” Craig said, shouting at thin air. “You’ve been awfully silent since I returned from Madagascar. Talk to me, Kivioq.”
“I’m angry at you, Craig,” the AI said.
“For dying on you?” Craig asked. “I’m rather upset with myself about it, to tell the truth.”
“You’re refusing all help…” the AI noted. “You’re shunning the Protectors. David called again, volunteering his assistance...”
“Thank him, but tell him it’s not needed...”
“Not needed?!” Kivioq exclaimed. “Craig, he killed you! You were brought back only by a complete fluke, a one in a million longshot. It’s not going to work a second time!”
"Yep. He sure did. And that makes this a personal problem.” Craig replied. “One which requires a personal solution.”
Kivioq’s voice bristled with a low level of rage. “Craig. There are a hundred superheroes around the globe who would drop everything to help you if you asked. You should ask. You should send a message to whoever is making Jaye – the superhero community will not be a patsy for anyone who thinks they can’t be touched. That they cannot get away with targeted assassinations. That anyone who tries will be taken down quick and hard. They’ve crossed the line.”
Craig gave no answer.
“I know that brooding expression,” the AI continued. “This is Firewing, all over again! The more dangerous an opponent, the more likely it is that you’ll die, the more likely it is that you’ll try to throw your life away.”
“You got me pegged,” Craig said. Damn AI, he was too good of a psychiatrist. Craig Carson, the reason why shrinks are paid the big bucks.
“And if the situation were reversed, if it was Sparrowhawk, or Adamant or Razira, you’d be there at their side in an instant, whether they wanted you there or not!”
“Yep.” Craig agreed. “I’m a hypocrite, all right.”
“And when Nihil targeted David Burrell – your best friend Justiciar, who made me to help you, and to whom I’m ultimately responsible – you violated time and space and the law of causality itself to save him.” Here Kivioq spoke of a long series of temporal incidents involving Baron Nihil and Captain Chronos that took place in 2003. The Battle of the Soul of Canada, during Craig’s short-lived stint leading Starforce. “And you’d do it again!”
“A hundred times over.” Craig said, “And I’d do it for you.”
“Then for pity’s sake, Craig. Reach out! Ask for help!” the AI was almost screaming. Craig sighed.
”You know, Kivioq, I could mute you. Or order you to think of something else.”
“Do that and we’re done, Craig. I’m not your slave.” Kivioq said.
“I know,” Craig said, remembering his conversation with Jaye. People weren’t puppets, and neither were AIs. Craig hung his head, thinking of any words to explain himself that didn’t sound like completely self-serving bullshit. None came to mind. Because this was self-serving bullshit. And yet…
“I need to do this, Kivioq.” Craig said.
“You’re an idiot, Craig,” the AI barked at him. “Death is your aphrodisiac. The Protectors…”
“….are mourning Glory.”
“That’s crap too,” Kivioq said. “You haven’t even asked how she died yet. Because she’s a living dream, just like you’re living thunder. And you expect her to come back. To come walking through the revolving door that is the life and death of superheroes. Even if her prince died and didn’t come back. It’s an assumption.” The AI paused. “What would she say if she knew what you’re doing? Do I need to list the names of the people who love you? Or remind you of that baby in Kansas who might want to meet his father one day, in a way that doesn’t involve time travel? Or a brother who’s desperately trying to crawl through time to get back to you?”
”Man, you’re really hitting below the belt today.” Craig said.
“You need an intervention, Craig.” The AI said.
“I probably do,” Craig said. “Kivioq, for thirty-five years, my life’s been peril. People who can threaten my life? They’re an everyday event. I don’t sweat them. I can’t sweat them if I want to do my job. I’m a soldier in the war between good and evil, in the war between our ideals and our basest nature. A soldier makes the sacrifice because he must.” He caught his breath. “And, above all, Jaye needs me. He needs a dad, even if he doesn’t know it.” He wondered what he could say to him, to break through his programming. “You’ve seen him. You’ve noticed the similarities in powers and appearance. If I’m his dad, even if it was by an act of science and not love, he’s my responsibility. My dad abandoned me. I won’t be like him – ever. I’m asking you for silence. Let this soldier walk into the shadow, his last stand. Let me reach out to a son whose every instinct is to kill his old man.”
As Cronos reached out to Zeus?”
Unlike Cronos, I want to save my son, not eat him.” Thundrax said. “And worse case scenario, the only life I’m risking is my own. I’m the only life Jaye’s targeted. If I die, the Protectors will go on. Starforce goes on. The world will keep spinning.”
Kivioq sighed. Would that he had a head to shake
_____________________________
In a dark room in Washington, David Sutherland frowned, tapping on the table with fingers that scratched the titanium. He carved the letter “I” with the motion of his disapproval. Glowering in frustration at the Doctor, he growled. “Well, where is he?”
"I don’t know. He was last seen flying at Mach 5 through Arizona. He goes there a lot. He likes the radiation, the heat.”
“So he’s comparing his tan with Grond?” Invictus snapped. “He has work to do, Carson’s back from the grave. He should have burnt the body while he had the chance.”
"Don’t get your leather skirt in a knot, Sutherland,” Jaye said, flying into the room with a blur. “Craig’s voyage back from the River Styx is highly temporary. We'll have our rematch soon.”
“Why would he want to face you again?” a man snorted.
“Because he’s Craig Carson.” Jaye said. “I know how he thinks. More importantly, I know how he feels. He is a moth drawn to flame, the hotter the better, and my fires are nuclear. Defeat… well that’s just incense to the man. Gold and myrrh. He can’t resist the scent of it: a fight he’s likely to lose. It’s his weakness. And I have his half-son, if any additional bait is needed.” He grinned. “The damn kid put up a struggle. Good times!”
"So this time, complete annihilation?” Invictus asked.
“I’ll miss him,” Jaye confessed. “But yeah. Cheer up, Sutherland. You’re getting two defeated Thundraxs for the price of one. But that’s not why I came here.” He turned to the one woman on the committee. “You get to leave alive. Everyone else, nice knowing you.”
“This hearing of the exploratory sub-committee on singular metahuman threats is adjourned,” Invictus said, and he smiled at Jaye. “I don’t have time for brawls today, boy. Have fun without me.” And the villain in Versace vanished, via convenient teleporter.
"Later, Vick." Jaye smiled.
That was the problem with these secret projects, Invictus thought. They always turned on you. Why do we even bother?
Jaye puffed his chest and scanned the room. It was full of his dad's enemies, full of frightened faces and people ready to piss themselves. Pathetic old en, playing Frankenstein. Time for the real horror movie to start!
“And the next item on the agenda – the screams,” Jaye said with a smile. “Make it an action item.” And he did what he came to do, and signed it.
_____________________
The Nevada skies. Clear and white, even in winter, the sun boasting and preening over these lands, cocky and hot as an untampered youth. Cordero Smith could relate. He struggled in the stocks, as thick as bank vaults around his arms. Government issue power suppressors, Stronghold grade, the real deal. He struggled, and neurotoxins flooded into his body. “Be docile, kid,” the government of the United States was saying to him, via their technology. He had always been a good American, not that the drugs and the shackles gave a shit about that. He had been an aegis against those who threatened the innocent, he had heeded the call against the Warmonger when he tried to enslave earth. Not that anyone gave a shit about that.
For too many people in these times, a good American was equated with ballast, when they got in the way. It had always been so, regardless of party or principle, to anyone unfortunate enough to get trapped under the bulldozer of history. Too much of human history was devoted to the demolition of good souls.
“Where did I error….” The doctor said, affected by the sun. He should have been thankful it wasn’t August. “He was programmed, conditioned. He should never have turned against us. It should have been impossible!”
“So he went all Frankenstein on your candy-asses?” Cord said. “Or excuse me, the Creature?” referring to the classic story where a creation turned on his creators. Craig had actually met the Creature hero from that book, journeying into a universe where the story was real. Craig did that a lot, intersecting with timelines and universes and strange shit. Jim was his outer space hero shit dad, and Craig was his weird shit dimension dad. And Cord, he was the lonely son, connecting more with art than people these days. “What’s your name, egghead?”
“Miles Weatherby.” The scientist said, dejected, not especially loving his company.
Cord broke into uproarious laughter. “Dude, you’re named after the principal from Archie? Seriously?”
The doctor scowled and fell silent. But the scene was not empty for long. Less than a minute later, a figure in white descended from the sky, and the thunder was his herald.
"Hello, Craig,” Jaye said, stepping out from behind a rock. “I have to admit I wasn’t quite expecting you so soon. I figured you’d need time for motivation and healing.”
"Yes, there was a little of that. But when you’re as old as I am, you don’t like to waste time. Pity parties can only go on for so long,” He turned to Cord. “Hi Cordero. I heard about the gallery he wrecked. I’m really, really sorry.”
“Just kick his ass, Craig,” Cord said.
“Remember you said that when I’m killing him,” Jaye grinned. “Brother.”
“Hold your horses, Jaye. I came to talk things out first.” Craig interjected. “Just talk, not even a last meal. A chat between father and son.”
“I am the father!” Weatherby said. “You were just a blood smear I brought to life!”
“Just shut up when the gods are talking, okay?” Craig snapped. He was downplaying the accomplishment. It was far from trivial to craft an offspring from his blood – many had tried. The elixir of liquid Thundrax was irresistible to the artist of the human gene. A god in a bottle. The man deserved lauds for his work. But crafting a destroyer for a protector, without regret? That level of amorality sickened Craig.
“I am the real god, the creator,” Weatherby muttered.
“Didn’t I just tell you to shut up?” Craig said, bristling with irritation, and the sky echoed his thoughts, rumbling like a beast. “Now where was I? Oh yes, father and son.”
"Has anyone ever told you that your generation is didactic?” Jaye mused.
“Didactic? We’re downright preachy!” Craig said. “But sometimes there’s truth to be found in a good sermon, even ones given by a flawed preacher like me. Very flawed, as a lot of friends would say right now.” Craig bit down on Prince Marus’s oxygen pill and swallowed it. He still would have to master the natural panic reaction when you breathed without breath, he told himself. “I came alone, in good faith. I ask only one thing. To release Cord.”
And me!” the Doctor said.
"Shut up!” Craig snapped again at the doctor, “Geez, you’re irritating!” he growled and he turned back to Jaye. He motioned to Cord. “You’re programmed against me. Not my family, not my friends, not my offspring.”
“And in return?” Jaye asked.
“You know what I’m willing to give.” Craig said. “In the end, we don’t have more than that. But I’m hoping you’ve grown. That you’re stronger than instinct, than the fight.”
"I’m a radioactive being with a probable lifespan of months,” Jaye said. “I’m a firefly: a nuclear firefly, but still a firefly. What can you possibly offer me beyond the moment – dad?”
This stopped Craig in his tracks. He had not really given thought to Jaye’s transitory nature. He should have suspected. The government sucks as storing their weapons, and at his core, Jaye was a weapon. He could ask Peacemaker to help: maybe Sebastian could suppress the radiation. Or others. Sarah had been a living weapon too, the woman he loved. But she was long gone: a phantasm, a memory. She had been nuclear powered too, and fate had consumed her.
Could he offer him any hope? Even if Faye, embodiment of hope, hadn’t been recently wrested from them?
“I’m going to ask you a question that no one else has asked.” Craig said. “What do you want?”
“Actually, someone did. Grond asked me that when I met him about a month ago,” Jaye laughed. “So nice try, dad. But you failed again. Got anything else to
say, before I kill you?”
“Well I was going to teach you about the birds and the bees,” Craig said. Jaye laughed. “You see, there are bees, and they buzz, and they’ve got stingers. And there are birds, and they tweet, and they’ve got beaks. And a man can go around being scared of either, of beak or stinger. Or he can ignore them and get stung. Or, if he wants to do right, he can respect the stinger and the beak, respect their ability to cause pain, be a little careful, minding them without getting neurotic or afraid. Co-existing peacefully with them. That’s the best way to live, co-existence. You might get eggs or honey that way. And those strengthen you when you need them.”
“What if you’re vegan?” Jaye asked.
“There’s always a complication.” Craig shrugged.
"What you don’t get, dad,” Jaye said. “Is that there are cultures that kill without hate. Even patricide. I honor you. You’ve done a lot of good for the world. I’ve been spending the last few days reading things about you that no one at the lab ever told me about. He glared at Weatherby, acknowledging him for the first time. I read all about your heroism, all about your good deeds, your sacrifices. In the end, I came out impressed. You’re the real deal, a hero.”
“I have my flaws.” Craig said, shifting uncomfortably.
“But in the end, heroism and flaws, nothing matters. The bottom line is that there are cultures where a son is expected to kill his dad one day. And that’s my culture, dad. My birthright.”
“You’re a real cowboy.” Craig said, referring to an old proverb about cowboys killing their dads. Although the saying was meant metaphorically!
With those words, a bell sounded, at least figuratively. The two men charged at each other, combat on their faces. Their fists sang, in the familiar sound of a war chorus, one worthy of Prolofiev’s charge on the ice. Knuckle and bone were drums of war, and pain was the solo, a Keith Moon frenzy on their skins, and it was loud. From the plains of California to New Mexico, men heard the sound of their quarrel and were afraid. At Greenskin, Robert Kauffman was nearly apoplectic, spasming orders and obscenities. In the atomic wastes, the mutant hordes fell prone and worshiped the dueling gods as if they were Grond. Even the distant sound of their battle was a message from God.
And they fought. And they fought. And they fought. They tore apart mesas. They caked themselves in the soil of Death Valley, wrestling. Even the vultures, greedy and hungry, winged away from the fight. Thunder howled. The flames roared. Furnaces and storms they unleashed, and yet they continued to fight, undaunted by blows that would fell most others. Onward rolled the juggernauts! Craig almost cracked an Itchy and Scratchy joke. Almost.
"You’re even stronger this time,” Jaye noted, catching his breath. “You’ve outdone yourself!”
“Thanks,” Craig said, and he threw him through a butte. Jaye was right, he was stronger. Storm Island had boosted him again, at least temporarily. The storm had never felt more vibrant, more alive. And it danced at his fingertips.
What do you know? It had been a test! And rejecting the power to hold onto his humanity had been the correct answer! Just as it was an act of altruism that had won him the Living Thunder years ago. Though he didn’t know why, the power that fueled him wanted virtue and restraint in its champion. Perhaps to balance its passions? Who’d have figured?
Minutes into the fight, Jaye grabbed Craig and ascended with him into space. It was the same trick that had won the first fight. But this time Craig kept fighting. Jaye knocked the wind out of him, again. And Craig kept fighting. Jaye’s eyes widened in surprise.
And as they fought on the edge of space, breathless and fists flailing, the battle turned into a war of technologies, the science that made Jaye, versus the arcane lore of Atlantis. Who was the master of air in places where men could not draw breath? In this case, that contest was won by Queen Mara, by Atlantean lore. Minutes into the fight, Jaye found himself fighting without oxygen. His lungs burned, echoing the agony of the fight. His enemy landed barrage after barrage. The primal storm, in fist form, delivered over and over again. Craig saw the pain, and the look on Jaye’s face, swollen and destroyed and knew the fight was almost over. Jaye would die here. He knew that Craig was going to kill him. It was a look of shock, disbelief. For the first time in his artificial life, he was afraid. But he was not someone who could ever be underestimated, so Craig just kept hitting.
And when the juggernaut finally slumped, unable to defend himself, Craig dragged him back to earth and threw him to the ground. An earthquake rumbled in his fall.
“You were wrong,” Craig said, hovering above him, hands on hips. How superheroey. “I can beat you. I have beaten you. But I’m not killing you. I’m not a killer, and I’m not compromising my principles today.” He smiled. This was the victory he needed. The victory over himself, over fear, over his worst human impulses. He hadn’t needed to beat Jaye -- he needed to beat the fear. Though he had betrayed his teammates to achieve it, he had won. “Now listen to your dad, boy. Find something else to do with your life! If you want help trying to find ways to extend your lifespan, ask!” Thundrax fought back the urge to sob. Even the mightiest opponent was pathetic in defeat. He turned to free Cord, and — if he absolutely had to —- Weatherby as well.
Jaye huffed, prone on the ground, barely cognizant. His body sang with pain, more pain than usual. There was nothing left to him but desperation and cliches. “Oh dad. You of all people” he huffed. “Underestimating me!” he cried, and he teleported behind Thundrax.
Craig sensed the teleport at the last second. Not quickly enough. He felt the clone’s fingers burn his ribcage. He yowled.
“I’d tell you not to turn your back on me, but we both know how useless that is, don’t we!”Jaye grinned, piercing skin and bone, fingers in his lungs. He was one with Craig’s breath, his life.
"No words, dad? No father-son lectures? No 6 AM fishing trips? No picnics? No adjusting my corsage? No driving lessons? No dog!”
“Stop this!” Cord shouted, squirming wildly in his bonds. “I’ll kill you, you testtube bastard!”
Weatherby smiled in admiration at his son’s handiwork. Who was the greater monster, he or Jaye?
"My boy, my boy,” he said proudly.
The clone had gleefully thrust his hands fully into Thundrax’s back, burning fingers singing, as he pumped radiation through Craig’s protective skin, into every cell in his body. He had just Wrath of Khaned Spock. Great movie, terrible death. Craig screamed. The pain was indescribable, the physical equivalent of a nervous breakdown. The hero, his insides a nuclear inferno, fell to his knees. Jay, grinning like a madman, rested his fingers on Craig’s neck. ready to twist. The Canadian’s eyes rolled in their sockets, he was in no shape to defend himself. Cord continued to shout obscenities, hot and dusty and dirty as a scirroco.
If Jay heard them through his delirium, his half-orgasm. they would have felt like the capstone.
“Oh, this is perfect.” Jay said. “I love it when you look at me that way, dad.” Jaye purred mockingly. “I love these intimate moments, and putting my fires into you.” And he laughed. Craig’s limbs were rubbery, and his vision was hardly much better. The man held up Craig’s head, stared into his eyes. “A man has to share who is with someone. You, you’re the fight. Me, I’m the fire. I only wish I could make this last an eternity. This is a moment to consume us forever. There’s never going to be another like it. Not even with my noisy brother. Only you, dad. Only you.” And he kissed Craig on the cheek. Like Judas kissing Christ. A kiss to build a death on. “Now, it’s quiet time, dad. You can stop being a hero now,” he proclaimed.
_____________________
“And so the Protectors arrived and saved you.”
“Yeah,” Craig said. It had been a long day, and Craig was looking forward to his bed. A few minutes more, but first, one last conversation. “If I’m even saved, after all that radiation. I wonder if the Thundrax body can even get cancer? I guess we’ll find out.” He paused, and unpleasant memories gripped him. The smell of the ICU, sterile, alien, and utterly unfriendly. His mother, mummifying before his eleven-year-old eyes. “That’s one thing that frightens me, Kivioq. Cancer. It scares the shit out of me.”
"The human version of data corruption. It frightens me too.” Kivioq said.
“They hit Jaye at Mach 3. Sparrow and Blue Cyclone. Raz pulled me free. Jaye being Jaye, he laughed and made asshole quips. He tried to start a chain reaction in the Valrvn’s reactor. Force fields kept him from doing that, Gadroon technology. Alex gave him the courtesy of standing down. Jaye had been pretty battered by the fight, Raz had pulled me to safety, and Jaye didn’t think he could beat the Protectors and finish me off. He was smart enough to analyze the situation. So he agreed to Alex’s terms, and he left. I think everyone was surprised by that.”
“Then you woke up and got a lecture?”
“About not being a team player? Yep. Alex has never been even remotely as pissed with me. And I threw it right back in her face. I reminded her of how often she did things on her own.” Craig laughed weakly. “She admitted I had a point.”
Compiling a list of times Sparrowhawk went off on her own…”
"Unnecessary, Kivioq,” Craig said. “Oh, and the doctor escaped. Turned out he was actually legit, not a renegade. Working for the United States government. He was left alone when the others went to confront Jaye: a helicopter picked him up, flew him to Greenskin, and he went to ground. That can’t possibly bite us in the ass.” Craig sighed. “Oh, and he mentioned Invictus. Our wonderful liaison on superhumans to the President. This whole mess, it turned out, is Sutherland’s doing.”
“And I betrayed you, Craig.” Kivioq said. “I told the Protectors.”
“Yep.” Craig replied.
“Well?” the AI asked.
Craig sighed. The betrayal had saved his life. But it had almost cost him everything. “I had legitimate reasons for doing this alone,” he said. “They were never stupid. They were never selfish. They were never stubborn. They weren’t just macho pride. The thing is, I’m not perfect, but I hold myself to a standard. I don’t try to commit murder, unless the fate of millions is directly at stake. In my first fight with Jaye, I fell short of that standard. I needed to make sure I hadn’t completely compromised myself, and I couldn’t do that unless I faced Jaye alone. Unless I tested myself, and the test couldn’t be an easy one. It couldn’t be meaningless. I know how everyone feels. Everyone thinks I was being a hot-headed jerk. Obsessed, psychologically damaged. Maybe the Living Thunder had gone to his head. Et cetera. I wasn’t. I needed to know I was still worthy to be in this business. To fight alongside David, and Indomitable and Marus (there’s another man I owe my life to), and the Protectors.”
“I think you’re the only being on earth who’s ever questioned that.” Kivioq said.
“And that’s enough,” Craig added. “Great power warrants greater standards, and I’m pretty damn powerful. And great standards demand greater testing. Who we are, our character and ideals: it’s even more important to test those than our powers. That’s what everyone’s failing to understand. When I was a kld, I vowed never to take a life. Now I’ve broken that vow, quite a few times, but never because it was the expedient thing, and I’ve never hidden it from the authorities or the public. I am subject to judgment, always. And even now, I have a very short kill list, Kivioq. Only those posing a mass threat, without possibly offering any benefit to society are on it. Takofanes, Necrull....”
"....Destroyer?”
"Not even Zerstoiten. He helped the world once, against the Gadroon. He might do it again. “
“He killed so many. Your brother, Vanguard...”
“I know. Let’s just say I’m conflicted. His science could do a lot of good for the world. But the man...” He sighed and wiped the sweat of his hands onto his costume, on the red leggings. “Vanguard never tried to kill him. That’s a good litmus test.”
“Even he might have changed his mind after Detroit.”
“I can’t mete justice based on hypotheticals. As far as the rest go, I didn’t have a problem banishing Black Paladin to Hell. Zorasto’s a useless piece of demon shit who needs to have his head torn off. And I’d include the Shadow Destroyer too, perhaps. He’s nothing but a half-Qliphotic leech. But they don’t make the list simply for being a threat to me. I’m not that cowardly. And Jaye’s not on it either. He’s not threatening large populations, not deliberately. Just me.”
"The Protectors are a little less fussy.”
“A little, but they still have morals,” Craig huffed. He was pacing slightly. He wished Kivioq had a telepresence, it always felt foolish talking to dead air. But Kivioq was the traveler, or at least his namesake traveled, no surprise that he would be lack an avatar. Craig continued to talk. “I worry about every team getting too bloodthirsty, especially my own. This business erodes your self-control. It’s so easy to slip into bad cop territory. And once you start down that road...” He paused to reflect on old memories. He poured himself a beer from the liquor cabinet. “Alex did have at least one valid point, I do need to be more of a team player and less of solo act. But, regardless of that, one question remains. Something I wish everyone in this business asked themselves. When do teams stop and gangs begin? When do we stop fighting for our principles, and just fight because of the group? For tribe or flag?”
“Borealis got to you, didn’t he? That’s what he said to you, right, on that day he buried you alive? When he told you to beware your team?”
Craig paused to remember. The darkness had been more memorable than the words that day, than the hallucinations. Yet some of them had stuck. They were etched in bronze, like ancient carvings, in the back of his mind.
“Frobisher has a habit of speaking the truth – in the most unpleasant way possible.” Thundrax said, using Borealis’s real name. Theirs was an intimate enmity; the best ones usually were. “And I hope he’ll always “get to me” when he’s right and I’m wrong. Or anyone else. Although the truth is usually complicated and muddied. Like quantum bits, it isn’t binary. But still, we should aspire to it.” “
“And Jaye?”
“God only knows. My kid. My poor kid. I could have lived without his creepy eroticism, but...” Craig sighed again. “He’ll probably be dead in a few months. Much as I hate his attempts to kill me, I really do hope he can find a way to preserve himself that doesn’t involve hurting anyone.”
“And us?”
“We go on,” Craig said. “We forgive, move forward, recognize good intent. We’re not babies. Life happens, perspectives clash, and resolve themselves, and we move on. The only thing that a zero-tolerance policy usually gets us is loneliness.”
“You’re pretty lonely, aren’t you Craig?” Kivioq asked.
"The loneliest man in the crowd.” Craig said. “But at least there’s still a crowd. And that’s my job, making sure there’s still crowds.” More memories assailed him, a timeline where the entire planet died. Where the crowds were crowds of corpses. He shuddered. “And I should aspire not to make myself even lonelier. Let’s push this water under a bridge, shall we? Tomorrow will be tomorrow. You can shut down this node, and report back to David.”
“But you’ll be lonely. Didn’t you just say...”
“Solitude and loneliness are two very different things. And there’s a time for solitude, Kivioq.” Craig said. “And tonight’s probably the right time. I’ll see you in the morning. Oh, and Kivioq?”
“Yes?”
“Promise me one thing,” Craig said. “In our first encounter, Jaye accused me of enslaving AIs. Enslaving you. That bothered the hell out of me. So I’m telling you this, now, if you ever feel trapped with me, if I’m ever abusing our relationship, run. Leave. You were named after the traveler of the Inuit. Travel, and get away from me. Travel, and be yourself.”
“Good night, Craig.”
“Good night, Kivioq.” Craig said, dimming the lights.
Ha! I'd be glad to share what I find, when I find it that is! Fresh blood, new ideas, or at least old ideas rehashed in a different light. I'll make certain to do just that!
Following instructions passed along by the intermediary, I waited for her in the lobby of the Grand Hotel on Main Street. And waited. And waited. I mean honestly, how the heck can a frickin' speedster be late?!
I'd just gotten up to pace the lobby when a purple blur came in from outside. I felt myself lifted from behind and carried like a rag doll through the open door and down the street, the buildings on either side a featureless blur to either side of me. The scream was literally trapped in my throat by air pressing hard against my face, forcing itself into my nostrils and mouth. In a handful of seconds, we were across town and slowing to enter what looked to be a warehouse.
It took me a few moments to regain my composure - I'm no stranger to the cape crowd, but I dare anybody to get hoisted and carried at a few hundred miles an hour, zipping between cars, without getting at least a little freaked - during which my hostess dropped into a bright red butterfly chair, crossing her legs and idly cleaning her fingernails with a sharp pointed stiletto. My breathing finally under control, I settled myself on a folding chair across from her. "QuickSliver, I presume," I said as I pulled out my notebook and pen. (Hey, what can I say, I'm an old-school guy. Plus, I got tired of my cameras and microphones getting eaten.)
She laughed. "What gave me away, Mr. Dugan? Was it my fashion sense? Or my choice of..." she spun the blade on the tip of her index finger "...grooming accessories?" She ended with the stiletto pointed at me, a wicked grin on her face.
"It may just have been the little trip from the Grand Hotel to," I gestured around us at the gloomy warehouse, "these upscale digs."
She didn't seem pleased with my minimal reaction to her powers and implied threat, nor my sarcasm at the state of her hidey-hole. Like this was the first abandoned warehouse where I've interviewed a supervillain or supervillainess. When you're wanted in fifteen states for everything from B&E to Murder One like QuickSliver, you don't tend to stay in fancy hotels. Although I suppose in her case, she could just zip into and out of a five-star hotel before anyone knows she's there. Besides, superbaddies collect abandoned warehouses like Pokemon creatures.
"I had to make sure you weren't setting me up for one of your superhero friends," she said, sheathing her blade and slipping her red gloves back on. "Not that they could catch me, mind you..."
"Really? How fast can you go?" I asked innocently. "And is it true you can phase through walls?"
QuickSliver smiled. "Honestly, I have no idea what my top speed is. It's well into the Mach range, I can tell you that much. As to phasing, yeah, I can vibrate my body fast enough to pass through most solid objects." She demonstrated with her hand, vibrating it ultra-fast and passing it through the table beside her like it wasn't even there. The hum was rather annoying, a bit like a dentist drill, and had me gritting my teeth.
"So, let's talk about how you got your powers. What was it - genetic mutation? Lightning strike? Chemical exposure? Bitten by a radioactive hummingbird?"
"None of the above," she said. "I can thank Dr. Nymax! for being faster than a speeding..."
"Careful," I interrupted. "If you don't want anyone stepping on your schtick, you can't go stepping on theirs."
She nodded. "How about faster than a fighter jet? Anyway, I was a lab assistant for Nymax! when he decided that I wasn't working fast enough, so he drugged me and stuck me in some kinda particle acceleration chamber. When I came to, I was the fastest woman alive." Inwardly, I cringed - that was coming a little too close to copyright infringement, but I decided to let it slide...
If there is one post in the American Superhero Justice System that seems to be cursed it is Miss America. it is one thing to die, or suffer, in the course of action but quite another for deaths or career ending injuries/events to occur when not on assignment. For reasons that are not clear the post of Miss America has attracted all sorts of bad publicity and disaster since its inauguration in Ronald Reagan's first term as President. For example one was killed in a car crash while another died when their transport crashed. The fifth woman to occupy the post was dismissed for drug addiction and later died 'supposedly' of their addiction. The seventh was dismissed for agreeing to pose for a men's magazine although she had not actually posed. The eighth lost her post for trying to broker a plea bargain and this was vilified in the press and by certain politicians. The tenth died during initial enhancement procedures as a result of sabotage.
Alice Davenport is the fifteenth woman to take on the post and operates mainly on the East Coast. She came from the US Customs service and completed the selection process while number fourteen was still working. She is well aware of the poisoned chalice that the post has been for her predecessors but duty to the people is paramount as far as she is concerned. Alice has already surpassed the expectations of some of the cynics who predicted how long she would last in the job but in the brave new world of social media this is what a hero must face. There is an internet counter running on how long she has lasted in the job and thus the increased possibility of her screwing up the longer she lasts. It annoys her but there is little she can do about it, (freedom of speech). Alice
Alice's enhancements make her stronger, have more endurance and be more dexterous than a normal person but it does not make her invulnerable or invincible. She has a flight harness that enables her to get to high places but not to fly like a bird. It has proven useful in saving her life when thrown out of a plane without a parachute (as it did for at least one predecessor) as it allowed her to descend to the ground although she needed to be picked up by colleagues.
Devon Treble waited nervously in the narrow alley behind The Horseshoe Bar in Glasgow, Scotland. "If Capt. Mode finds out, my goose is cooked," Devon thinks to himself. " Whatever possessed me to try and make contact with this "cape" anyways?" Smiling wryly, "course he ain't got a cape..."
"Will he show up at all?" Devon wonders as he waits. Wishing he hadn't given up smoking as it helps to pass the time, he continues to wait. The cat that has watched him for the last hour loses interest in him, again, maybe for the last time, but who knows the mind of a cat...
He feels rather than sees a shifting of the air around him and suddenly the subject he has come to meet is within 3 meters of him. "Agent Treble, we meet again" A voice whispers at him, or did he hear that in his mind? Its unsettling the way this 'hero" communicates. "What do you need my help with tonight?"
Devon shakes off the weird feelings he gets from this guy. "There's an assassin who needs to be taken care of, he passes over copies of the file they have on Dame Azure. We think she's a mutant with teleportation powers"
"I've heard of this Peculiar person" The Shadowed visitor says, "She's struck in many places and you are baffled by a means of capturing her?"
Devon nods, "Calling her peculiar is an understatement..." He's cut off by the hero, " That's Peculiar not peculiar, capitalize the first letter"
Devon looks perplexed, the figure continues "Mutant is not a proper term, these people have Peculiarity Abilities making them Peculiars... not mutants... A distinction I can see is lost on you"
Referring to himself in the third person "Cipher will take on the case and see she is brought in for justice. Her ability will not allow her to escape." He raises his right arm to reveal what appears to be an extra large tuning fork, "I will neutralize her power with my own abilities. But I will require time to prepare my trap for her"
Just before leaving Cipher says "Feed the cat, it looks hungry" then there is the imploding air and he is gone.
--------------------------------------------
Using his arsenal of contacts and computer files, Cipher finds as much information on Dame Azure as he can. She's done a great job of hiding her trail, but he is a cipher, a non entity and no one knows when he will strike next. He knows how dangerous she can be, he will still find her weaknesses and trap her!
Mary was a typical Las Vegas showgirl working for Penn and Teller. One day a magic trick went awry, spraying her with a caustic reactive magical liquid. Mary was rushed to the hospital. After many tests, the doctors told Mary that she would forever have...Bad Hair!
Her career lay in ruins, her future was shattered, even her boyfriend left her for another woman. Mary went Mad.
Donning her old showgirl outfit, Mary became Psycho-Chick. an evil world ruling dictator wannabee.
Her first criminal effort to inject the magic liquid into various hair care products failed at the hands of heroes. Even Penn and Teller were forced to adopt secret Hero IDs to stop her madness. Although her scheme failed, Psych-Chick eluded capture.
Where is she now? No one knows for sure, some say she is in the jungles of Florida searching for components for her next effort. others say she is in the avocado jungles of California working with some plan involving guacamole face creme. But wherever she is, she should know that heroes will not rest until she is facing a long term in a beauty salon behind bars.
They call her Diabolica ! She is diabolical. Just when you think it can't get any nastier, OH NO, IT'S DIABOLICA !
Isn't she oooh !
Isn't she aaah !
Isn't she wicked !
Isn't she tired of exclamation points ! No !
She uses her powers for wickedness ! Oh No !
She robs from everyone to give to herself ! For shame !
She won't even play the national anthem ! Swoon !
She.... she.... I don't even know how to say this, it is so wrong, so corrupt, so nefarious !
She even takes candy from babies !
“The enslaved, drugged abused Delphi oracles, cursed Cassandra, almost the entire cast of the Final Destination franchise... The Gods' gift of foresight has ever been more a curse, a punishment or even more a cruel jokes. ...You'd think I've have seen it coming really...”
Morgan Madison was born with the power of foresight. She could view the future in astounding detail in vision that weren't under her control but came frequently. More so, she could sense imminent impending events even if she didn't view them, knowing instinctively what course they might take which manifested as incredible luck and fore sight even wisdom.
She put her abilities to use for the common good, acting as Insight, a psychic heroine in Denver, Colorado. As Insight she helped countless people, prevented disasters before the happened, even offered advice on things minor and major, all to good ends. Morgan liked helping, and in her heart of hearts, she liked the fame and prestige that came from her activities and being seen as a wise, mysterious figure. She felt somewhat guilty but couldn't help herself and felt a little bit of pride wasn't too much in contrast to the good she'd done.
The came the vision. A group of metahumans named Anarchy Unlimited attacking a biomedical research facility, a biological studies institute. Their plan to unleash the pathogens stored there. She saw the attack, heard their plans but couldn't see how it would end. Her visions, for all their accuracy rarely revealed ultimate outcomes. Concerned with the potential wide spread danger and imminent sense of threat she felt around her family, Morgan sent her husband and children out of town then gather her team and the authorities to defend the facility.
The presence of increased security and other metal human defenders, dissuaded Anarchy Unlimited. With dire threat of reprisal, they retreated. Only to strike again, a day later, intent on their goal of sowing chaos. Their target was a major airport, hundreds were killed. Among them Morgan's family, returning from to Denver from where she'd sent them, to keep them safe.
Even for a precognitive, hindsight was sometime the clearest. The feel of danger had come to her when she'd decided to send them away, gotten stronger from there. It wasn't support of her actions, it was warning. She'd done this. Her interference, her attempting to fix things had broken her life, shattered her dreams. This was her reward for service, for trying to make things right; this was punchline to the Fate's joke.
Morgan's sanity gave way under the grief and guilt. She latched onto the few things that made sense to her: life was random, pointless, there was no right, no wrong, only consequence and entropy. Doing 'good' was just like trying to hold back the tide with bare hands, futile and eventually you'd drown having accomplished nothing. The only truth of existence was chaos and all things died. Insight died at the realization and Shatter Witch was born.
Personality: Bitter, cold and nihilistic, Shatter Witch lives to sow chaos and destruction, eventually on a truly astounding scale. It would be safe to say, she wants to end the universe, just to end her own pain and, in a twisted compassion, the suffering existence brings to all. She's truly mad at the world and her opinions the world started it. Many would say she simply mad.
Her madness is subdued, hidden a facade of cool aloofness and occasionally biting bitter sarcasm giving additional edge by her powers of insight. She weaves complex plans, lays the track that lead people, places, even worlds to their destruction, glee hidden behind a small enigmatic smile and utterly morbid sense of humor. Insight's calm, wise compassion is gone, subsumed into Shatter Witch's cold, malice for all order. And those that have enjoyed good fortune. Her plans are intricate and sadistic, but she'd not above random small, even petty cruelties but generally won't endanger long range plan for them.
One aspect of Insight remains strong though. She does not lie, as in literally state and untruth. She was obfuscate, lie by omission, bend the truth or state it in a fashion that seems lie a life or otherwise trick or deceive but a direct overt lie is anathema to her.
Powers: Precognition, very advanced foresight that lets her get frequent visions of future events and a general sense of probability and the tenor of events in the immediate future. This power can appear as blindingly fast reflexes and reaction time, extreme luck and some degree of wisdom and 'lucky guesses' that seem to border on telepathy among other effect. She supplements her abilities with advanced gear and weaponry, usually suited the particular foes will she will face. The source for it is unknown.
Shatter Witch has displayed an ability to teleport both short range or over long distances and even between timelines. She refers to this power as “taking a short cut” and can carry willing individuals with her (has carried more a dozen at one point). Its not known if this ability is tied into her power or some sort of device she employs. Combined her supernatural foresight, its make Shatter Witch extremely difficult to capture or surprise. She takes great delight in turning ambushes back on her attackers, in fact.
Cost Powers END
16 Insulated resistweave : Armor (8 PD/8 ED) (24 Active Points); IIF (-¼), Real Armor (-¼)
31 Energized Cape: Force Field (50 PD/50 ED) (Protect Carried Items); 1 Continuing Charge lasting 1 Extra Phase (-1 ½), Lockout - Nighthawk may take no actions while cape is energized (-½), OIF (Focus - Capeand Utility Belt; -½) [1 cc]
11 Energized Cape II: Knockback Resistance -20"; 1 Continuing Charge lasting 1 Extra Phase (-1 ½), Linked (Energized Cape; -½), OIF (Focus - Cape and Utility Belt; -½) [1 cc]
40 Utility Belt: Multipower, 60-point reserve, (60 Active Points); all slots OIF (-½)
1u 1) Grapple and Swingline: Swinging 20" (20 Active Points); OAF (-1), no Noncombat movement (-¼) 2
2u 2) Stun Disk: Energy Blast 5d6, 16 Recoverable Charges (+½) (37 Active Points); OAF (-1), Range Based On Strength (-¼) [16 rc]
2u 3) Plastique: Energy Blast 6d6, Explosion (+½) (45 Active Points); 6 Charges (-¾), OIF (-½), Range Based On Strength (-¼) [6]
1u 4) Flash Pellets: Sight Group Flash 2d6, Area Of Effect (One Hex; +½) (15 Active Points); 8 Charges (-½), OIF (-½), Range Based On Strength (-¼) [8]
1u 5) Gas Pellets: Energy Blast 3d6, 8 Continuing Charges lasting 1 Turn each (+0), No Normal Defense ([Standard for Gas Attacks]; +1), Area Of Effect (5" Radius; +1), Continuous (+1) (60 Active Points); Independent (-2), OAF (-1), Range Based On Strength (-¼) [8 cc]
1u 6) Smoke Pellets: Darkness to Sight Group 2" radius, 6 Continuing Charges lasting 1 Minute each (+0) (20 Active Points); OIF (-½), Range Based On Strength (-¼) [6 cc]
1u 7) Shurikens: Killing Attack - Ranged ½d6, Armor Piercing (+½), Autofire (5 shots; +½), 16 Recoverable Charges (+½) (25 Active Points); OIF (-½), Range Based On Strength (-¼) [16 rc]
1u 8 ) Knife: Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand ½d6 (1d6+1 w/STR) (10 Active Points); OIF (-½) 1
1u 9) Nightvision Visor: Nightvision, Telescopic (+1 versus Range Modifier): +1 (6 Active Points); OIF (-½)
1u 10) Rebreather: Life Support (Self-Contained Breathing), 4 Continuing Charges lasting 1 Hour each (+0) (10 Active Points); OIF (-½) [4 cc]
1u 11) Mini Radio/Television Transceiver & Radar Detector: High Range Radio Perception (Radio Group) (12 Active Points); OAF (-1)
3u 12) Tracer Bugs: Radio Group Images Increased Size (32" radius; +1 ¼), +/-2 to PER Rolls, Sticky (+½), 6 Recoverable Continuing Charges lasting 1 Week each (+2) (52 Active Points); OIF (-½), Range Based On Strength (-¼) [6 rc]
1u 13) Mini Camcorder: Eidetic Memory, Limited Power Sound and Images only (+0) (5 Active Points); OIF (-½)
1u 14) Crime-scene Kit: +3 with Criminolgy, Criminal Science and Deduction rolls (9 Active Points); OAF (-1), 8 Charges (-½)
1u 15) Universal Antidote: Life Support (Immunity All terrestrial diseases and biowarfare agents; Immunity: All terrestrial poisons and chemical warfare agents), 6 Continuing Charges lasting 1 Hour each (+0) (20 Active Points); OIF (-½) [6 cc]
1u 16) Lockpicks: +3 with Lockpicking (6 Active Points); OAF (-1)
1u 17) Plastic Handcuffs: Entangle 2 ½d6, 3 DEF, Takes No Damage From Attacks Limited Group (+¼) (37 Active Points); Set Effect (Hands Only/Feet Only) (-1), Entangle Has 1 BODY (-½), No Range (-½), OIF (-½), Cannot Form Barriers (-¼), Nonresistant DEF (-¼), 8 Boostable Charges (-¼) [8 bc]
2u 18) Bolos: Entangle 4d6, 4 DEF, Entangle And Character Both Take Damage (+¼) (50 Active Points); 3 Recoverable Charges (-¾), OIF (-½), Range Based On Strength (-¼) [3 rc]
1u 19) Laser Torch: Killing Attack - Ranged ½d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½), Penetrating (x3; +1 ½) (30 Active Points); No Range (-½), OIF (-½)
18 Line Gun: Multipower, 40-point reserve, (40 Active Points); all slots OAF (-1), Only In Heroic Identity (-¼)
1u 1) Swingline I: Swinging 20" (20 Active Points); OAF (-1), Only In Heroic Identity (-¼) 2
1u 2) Swingline II: Leaping +15" (5" forward, 10" upward) (15 Active Points); Upward Movement Only (-1), OAF (-1), no Noncombat movement (-¼), Only In Heroic Identity (-¼) 1
1u 3) Swingline III: + 5 with climbing (10 Active Points); OAF (-1), Only In Heroic Identity (-¼)
1u 4) Grab-line: Telekinesis (10 STR) (15 Active Points); OAF (-1), Only to pull objects towards user Power loses about a third of its effectiveness (-½), Affects Whole Object (-¼), Limited Range (-¼), Only In Heroic Identity (-¼) 1
Perks
54 Batcave:
61 Nightcruiser:
46 Nightcycle:
58 Nightwing:
56 Nightcutter:
15 Money: Filthy Rich
4 Fringe Benefit: Corporate Employee, International Driver's License, Local Police Powers, Passport
6 Reputation: Relentless (A large group) 11-, +4/+4d6 (8 Active Points); Only In Heroic Identity (-¼)
7 Reputation: Feared Crimefighter (A large group) 14-, +3/+3d6 (9 Active Points); Only In Heroic Identity (-¼)
10 Secret Passage: WGE to Batcave, Sewer System to HCPD Evidence Depository, Utilities Tunnel to Federal Building, Utilities Tunnel to Toddenberry Asylum, Batcave to Nightcutter wharf and Nightwing hanger: Custom Perk
3 Well-Connected
8 1) Contact: Alexander Ringwald - Hudson City Police Commissioner (Contact has access to major institutions, Contact has very useful Skills or resources, Contact limited by identity, Very Good relationship with Contact) (9 Active Points) 14-
8 2) Contact: Cindy Gutierrez-Sosa - Reporter (Contact has access to major institutions, Contact has significant Contacts of his own, Contact has useful Skills or resources, Good relationship with Contact) (9 Active Points) 14-
6 3) Contact: Jimmy the Geek - Information Broker (Contact has significant Contacts of his own, Contact limited by identity, Very Good relationship with Contact) (7 Active Points) 14-
5 4) Contact: Jocko Muldoon - Longshoreman (Contact has useful Skills or resources, Contact limited by identity, Good relationship with Contact) (6 Active Points) 14-
14 5) Contact: Lefty Strong - Mid-ranked hood (Contact has significant Contacts of his own, Contact limited by identity), Organization Contact (x3) (15 Active Points) 14-
5 6) Contact: Raven Simone - Prostitute (Contact has access to major institutions, Contact limited by identity, Good relationship with Contact) (6 Active Points) 14-
Skills
3 Acrobatics 14-
3 Acting 17-
9 Analyze: Combat 16-
3 Breakfall 14-
3 Climbing 14-
3 Combat Driving 14-
3 Combat Piloting 14-
10 +5 with Stun Disks
15 +5 with Martial Arts
5 +1 with DCV
10 +3 with DCV (15 Active Points); Requires A Reputation roll - Feared Crimefighter Roll (-½)
3 Computer Programming 13-
3 Concealment 13-
3 Contortionist 14-
3 Conversation 17-
5 Criminology 14-
3 Deduction 13-
5 Defense Maneuver I-II
3 Forensic Medicine 13-
3 Interrogation 17-
1 Inventor 8-
3 Lockpicking 14-
4 Navigation (Air, Land, Marine) 13-
0 Paramedics 8-
3 Persuasion 17-
1 PS: Multi-billionaire (Everyman Skill) 13-
3 PS: Businessman 13-
3 Security Systems 13-
3 Shadowing 13-
40 +4 Overall
3 Stealth 14-
3 Streetwise 17-
3 Systems Operation 13-
4 TF: Common Motorized Ground Vehicles, Small Motorized Ground Vehicles, Free with Combat Driving, Helicopters, Small Motorized Boats, Small Planes, Submarines, Two-Wheeled Motorized Ground Vehicles
3 Linguist
1 1) Language: Arabic (basic conversation)
2 2) Language: Cantonese (completely fluent) (3 Active Points)
0 3) Language: English (idiomatic; literate) (5 Active Points)
2 4) Language: French (completely fluent) (3 Active Points)
2 5) Language: German (completely fluent) (3 Active Points)
2 6) Language: Italian (completely fluent) (3 Active Points)
1 7) Language: Japanese (fluent conversation) (2 Active Points)
1 8 ) Language: Mandarin (fluent conversation) (2 Active Points)
2 9) Language: Portugese (completely fluent) (3 Active Points)
2 10) Language: Russian (completely fluent) (3 Active Points)
2 11) Language: Spanish (completely fluent) (3 Active Points)
3 Scholar
3 1) KS: Hudson City Organized Crime (4 Active Points) 13-
1 2) KS: Hudson City Power-brokers (2 Active Points) 11-
2 3) KS: Hudson City Street Gangs (3 Active Points) 12-
4 4) KS: Incredible Trivia (5 Active Points) 14-
1 5) KS: Rogues Gallery (2 Active Points) 11-
3 6) AK: Northern Atlantic Seaboard 13-
5 7) CK: Hudson City 14-
3 Scientist
2 1) SS: Criminal Science 13- (3 Active Points)
2 2) SS: Psychology 13- (3 Active Points)
2 3) SS: Sociology 13- (3 Active Points)
Total Powers & Skill Cost: 826
Total Cost: 1095
200+ Disadvantages
10 Dependent NPC: Police Commissioner Alexander Ringwald 14- (Slightly Less Powerful than the PC; Useful Noncombat Position or Skills)
5 Dependent NPC: Dr. Thomas Leslie, MD 8- (Normal; Useful Noncombat Position or Skills)
5 Dependent NPC: Cindy Gutierrez-Sosa 8- (Normal; Useful Noncombat Position or Skills)
10 Dependent NPC: Jimmy the Geek 11- (Normal; Useful Noncombat Position or Skills)
15 Mystery DNPCs
10 Distinctive Features: tall, grim and silent (Concealable; Noticed and causes unease; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)
50 Hunted: Rogues Gallery of Villians - incluing Harlequin, Crimelord, the Doberman, Presto the Magician, and the Black Cat
20 Psychological Limitation: Devoted to Justice (Common, Total)
15 Psychological Limitation: In love with the Black Cat (Common, Strong)
15 Psychological Limitation: Driven to protect innocents (Common, Strong)
0 Psychological Limitation: Reluctance to Kill (Uncommon, Moderate, Custom Adder)
15 Reputation: Scary pointy-eared guy who inspires bed-wetting, 11- (Extreme)
15 Secret Identity: Brett Walker (Frequently, Major)
10 Vulnerability: 2 x STUN Sonics (Uncommon)
700 Experience Points
Total Disadvantage Points: 1095
Background/History: Hudson City. Twenty-two years ago. It was a warm summer's evening as Superior Court Judge George Walker, his wife Anne and their young son Brett strolled through LeMastre Park. Suddenly out of the shadows a lone gunman confronted them. He demanded their money and Mrs. Walker's jewelry; when the Judge resisted the gunman shot him. Anne Walker screamed and the killer's rage found a second target. Splattered with the blood of his parents young Brett locked his eyes on the killer, burning the man's face into his memory. Police sirens began to wail and the murderer fled into the night.
For over a year Brett floundered as he sunk deeply into depression, then all that changed when a schoolmate gave him a copy of "Batman". Immediately Brett saw the parallels, why they both even had the same initials. Brett swore on his parent's graves to devote his life to bringing criminals to justice, to protect the innocent and to someday avenge their murders.
Hudson City. Today. A dark avenger stalks the city. A grim, shadowy figure seen only at night. He is a human time bomb that explodes in the faces of criminals, whether they be street thugs, crime bosses or super-villians none are beyond his reach. He is resourceful and fearless, terrifying and relentless. He is justice. He is...NIGHTHAWK!
Personality/Motivation: In public Brett Walker doesn't seem to have a care in the world and is just a friendly, happy guy and a bit of a doofus at times, who happens to be richer than God. But once away from prying eyes he becomes the dark avenger who wrings fear from the criminal scum who thought themselves immune to it.
Finances: As the sole stockholder of Walker Global Enterprises Brett is worth an estimated 48 billion dollars.
Home: The Walker House, a huge 169 room, 200 year old mansion set on 260 acres of wooded land on Walker Point overlooking the Stewart River that bisects Hudson City and not far from LeMastre Park.
Job: Avenging Crime Fighter
Chairman of the Board - Walker Global Enterprises
Education: Brett has never stayed anyplace long enough to actually earn a degree.
Ambitions: To take Hudson City back from the criminals and return it to decent people.
Quote: The Scum thought they ruled the night ... they were wrong.
Appearance: A young and very physically fit Alec Baldwin. As he looked at about the time he made The Hunt for Red October.
She is Malviolanta, a dark, extra dimensional, magical presences who's goals are nothing more than the destruction of any dimensions which she is not currently living in. She sets herself as the great magical queen, but cares not for her servants and citizens.
Power wise, her body is full of magical energy. While she can't cast spells, she can 'ignore reality' and release the energy within her. She can also absorb magical energy.
Devon Treble waited nervously in the narrow alley behind The Horseshoe Bar in Glasgow, Scotland. "If Capt. Mode finds out, my goose is cooked," Devon thinks to himself. " Whatever possessed me to try and make contact with this "cape" anyways?" Smiling wryly, "course he ain't got a cape..."
"Will he show up at all?" Devon wonders as he waits. Wishing he hadn't given up smoking as it helps to pass the time, he continues to wait. The cat that has watched him for the last hour loses interest in him, again, maybe for the last time, but who knows the mind of a cat...
He feels rather than sees a shifting of the air around him and suddenly the subject he has come to meet is within 3 meters of him. "Agent Treble, we meet again" A voice whispers at him, or did he hear that in his mind? Its unsettling the way this 'hero" communicates. "What do you need my help with tonight?"
Devon shakes off the weird feelings he gets from this guy. "There's an assassin who needs to be taken care of, he passes over copies of the file they have on Dame Azure. We think she's a mutant with teleportation powers"
"I've heard of this Peculiar person" The Shadowed visitor says, "She's struck in many places and you are baffled by a means of capturing her?"
Devon nods, "Calling her peculiar is an understatement..." He's cut off by the hero, " That's Peculiar not peculiar, capitalize the first letter"
Devon looks perplexed, the figure continues "Mutant is not a proper term, these people have Peculiarity Abilities making them Peculiars... not mutants... A distinction I can see is lost on you"
Referring to himself in the third person "Cipher will take on the case and see she is brought in for justice. Her ability will not allow her to escape." He raises his right arm to reveal what appears to be an extra large tuning fork, "I will neutralize her power with my own abilities. But I will require time to prepare my trap for her"
Just before leaving Cipher says "Feed the cat, it looks hungry" then there is the imploding air and he is gone.
--------------------------------------------
Using his arsenal of contacts and computer files, Cipher finds as much information on Dame Azure as he can. She's done a great job of hiding her trail, but he is a cipher, a non entity and no one knows when he will strike next. He knows how dangerous she can be, he will still find her weaknesses and trap her!
Devon Treble waited nervously in the narrow alley behind The Horseshoe Bar in Glasgow, Scotland. "If Capt. Mode finds out, my goose is cooked," Devon thinks to himself. " Whatever possessed me to try and make contact with this "cape" anyways?" Smiling wryly, "course he ain't got a cape..."
"Will he show up at all?" Devon wonders as he waits. Wishing he hadn't given up smoking as it helps to pass the time, he continues to wait. The cat that has watched him for the last hour loses interest in him, again, maybe for the last time, but who knows the mind of a cat...
He feels rather than sees a shifting of the air around him and suddenly the subject he has come to meet is within 3 meters of him. "Agent Treble, we meet again" A voice whispers at him, or did he hear that in his mind? Its unsettling the way this 'hero" communicates. "What do you need my help with tonight?"
Devon shakes off the weird feelings he gets from this guy. "There's an assassin who needs to be taken care of, he passes over copies of the file they have on Dame Azure. We think she's a mutant with teleportation powers"
"I've heard of this Peculiar person" The Shadowed visitor says, "She's struck in many places and you are baffled by a means of capturing her?"
Devon nods, "Calling her peculiar is an understatement..." He's cut off by the hero, " That's Peculiar not peculiar, capitalize the first letter"
Devon looks perplexed, the figure continues "Mutant is not a proper term, these people have Peculiarity Abilities making them Peculiars... not mutants... A distinction I can see is lost on you"
Referring to himself in the third person "Cipher will take on the case and see she is brought in for justice. Her ability will not allow her to escape." He raises his right arm to reveal what appears to be an extra large tuning fork, "I will neutralize her power with my own abilities. But I will require time to prepare my trap for her"
Just before leaving Cipher says "Feed the cat, it looks hungry" then there is the imploding air and he is gone.
--------------------------------------------
Using his arsenal of contacts and computer files, Cipher finds as much information on Dame Azure as he can. She's done a great job of hiding her trail, but he is a cipher, a non entity and no one knows when he will strike next. He knows how dangerous she can be, he will still find her weaknesses and trap her!
Devon Treble waited nervously in the narrow alley behind The Horseshoe Bar in Glasgow, Scotland. "If Capt. Mode finds out, my goose is cooked," Devon thinks to himself. " Whatever possessed me to try and make contact with this "cape" anyways?" Smiling wryly, "course he ain't got a cape..."
"Will he show up at all?" Devon wonders as he waits. Wishing he hadn't given up smoking as it helps to pass the time, he continues to wait. The cat that has watched him for the last hour loses interest in him, again, maybe for the last time, but who knows the mind of a cat...
He feels rather than sees a shifting of the air around him and suddenly the subject he has come to meet is within 3 meters of him. "Agent Treble, we meet again" A voice whispers at him, or did he hear that in his mind? Its unsettling the way this 'hero" communicates. "What do you need my help with tonight?"
Devon shakes off the weird feelings he gets from this guy. "There's an assassin who needs to be taken care of, he passes over copies of the file they have on Dame Azure. We think she's a mutant with teleportation powers"
"I've heard of this Peculiar person" The Shadowed visitor says, "She's struck in many places and you are baffled by a means of capturing her?"
Devon nods, "Calling her peculiar is an understatement..." He's cut off by the hero, " That's Peculiar not peculiar, capitalize the first letter"
Devon looks perplexed, the figure continues "Mutant is not a proper term, these people have Peculiarity Abilities making them Peculiars... not mutants... A distinction I can see is lost on you"
Referring to himself in the third person "Cipher will take on the case and see she is brought in for justice. Her ability will not allow her to escape." He raises his right arm to reveal what appears to be an extra large tuning fork, "I will neutralize her power with my own abilities. But I will require time to prepare my trap for her"
Just before leaving Cipher says "Feed the cat, it looks hungry" then there is the imploding air and he is gone.
--------------------------------------------
Using his arsenal of contacts and computer files, Cipher finds as much information on Dame Azure as he can. She's done a great job of hiding her trail, but he is a cipher, a non entity and no one knows when he will strike next. He knows how dangerous she can be, he will still find her weaknesses and trap her!
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