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Of Heroes And Villains
In which a superhero meets his match, masks are uncovered and a mad scientist just tries to get some mad science-ing done without getting distracted by the antics of her magical minion.
Fanart by the talented Ian Samson, creator of City of Reality and artist of The Wotch
Somewhere in Paragon…
There was no greater joy than flying.
Dazzling Dawn grinned, accelerating to feel the wind rushing past her ears. Her wings – strong and delicate, made entirely out of fine strands of light – caught the sun’s rays, refracting them and shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow.
Beneath her, she could see some of the citizens of Paragon looking up at her and smiling. Dazzling Dawn streaking past in the sky was one of the most beautiful sights Paragon had to offer, and she knew it.
Dawn spotted a small girl gazing up at her with wide eyes.
She laughed with joy, and twirled in a complex aerial maneuver just for her, leaving a trail of sparkles in her wake.
Her wings went out like a candle that had been extinguished.
And Dawn began to fall.
Somewhere in Paragon…
A young woman was standing in line to get her third cup of coffee of the day. It was an addiction, really, but she could not resist its caffeinated call.
The petite blonde smiled at the barista as she paid, gingerly cupping the hot beverage in her dainty hands.
A wind blew through her hair, which was strange, since she was inside.
And suddenly a man who had been calmly reading a book jumped up and pointed at her, crossing himself in horror.
The other patrons looked up at the commotion, then sighed, rolled their eyes and went back to whatever they’d been doing.
Tourists.
Clearly that was only Infernal Illusionist, a respected heroine of Paragon City who had the misfortune of looking like an 8 foot tall demonic behemoth.
They were not quite as apathetic when outside of the coffee shop a caped figure fell onto a car, shattering the windows and tripping the blaring alarm.
Somewhere in Paragon…
PsyKick felt a wind wash over him, and raised his head with mild interest. He sat up as far as the straps tying him to the bed would allow.
His gaze lingered on the barred window of his tiny hospital room.
The back of his neck itched uncomfortably, right where the doctors had implanted his power-dampeners so long ago.
After a long moment of nothing happening, he sank back onto the pillow and resumed staring blankly at the ceiling, trying to ignore the Purpose clawing at his insides.
Somewhere in Paragon…
Constance was late.
How she, Mistress of Time and Space, kept managing that was really quite a mystery. One would think that a woman capable of bending time itself to her whim would learn how to keep track of it.
Truthfully, she just had too much of it.
She casually strolled through the grass, nibbling on her bagel as she made her way to her next undergraduate class. She’d be teaching it, earning the last few credits she needed to finally finish her formal education.
Despite her incessant tardiness, her professors just loved her, urging her to go into arcane academia. But academia meant research which was really just one step removed from scientist.
No, Constance was going places. Security, maybe. Last night, after a bit of tinkering, she’d invented a magical trap that would ensnare any prospective thief in a stable 10 second time loop until, say, the police arrived and deactivated it.
She squeezed past the students, standing still as statues, blocking the entrance to the building she needed to get into. They weren’t quite frozen, but she’d slowed time down significantly to the point that they appeared that way. Truly freezing time was a terrible idea, as she’d once found out. Constance needed to breathe, after all, and non-moving air molecules were not conductive to that.
And then suddenly the students were moving, bumping into Constance who, to their perception, had just appeared out of thin air.
What the…?
Constance stumbled, but was thankfully caught by a considerate man who steadied her quickly.
She gazed around, disoriented. She tried to slow time again.
It just kept flowing. Students walked past her, chattering casually and happily.
But here and there she saw a few people looking as stunned as she felt.
Somewhere in Paragon…
“You’re a superhero?”
“Yes!”
“And that’s why you didn’t show up?”
“Yes, baby, please, I was stopping The Brick from destroying the UHOW. You know I love you, I was going to tell you to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. I really meant to show up, I had gifts and everything.”
She looked at him sceptically. “Okay. Prove it.”
“Watch this!”
Texplosion flicked his hand.
Nothing happened.
“Ugh. I knew it! Mark, what did you expect to happen?” She stomped her foot. “That’s like the oldest excuse in the book! If you’re gonna lie to me, at least do it convincingly!”
Somewhere in Paragon…
Anemona, ambassador of a proud and independent Colony of Atlantis, Shining Jewel of The Sea, Heart of the Underwater Empire, stepped toward the twisted metal box.
She didn’t quite understand why the landers felt the need to squeeze themselves into such small things. Surely there were better ways of transportation? She kneeled in front of the broken and bended metal frame, strong hands gripping the - car, was it? They seemed so fragile, too.
She did not voice that, of course. She had manners, and was here to represent her people. Relations had been a little strained since that Giant Squid incident.
“Never fear, Landwalking One. This One will take the accursed metal box so you may swim freely. For shizzle.”
Her translator might have been slightly broken. And programmed with outdated slang.
She raised the car above her head with ease, and the landers trapped beneath quickly wiggled out. Anemona gave them a genial smile, which they tentatively returned.
There was a breeze.
And then the car was suddenly very, very heavy.
Bones cracked.
Somewhere in Paragon…
Platypus Man no longer felt the connection to his fellow Platypi.
It was quite traumatizing.
He curled up in the fetal position.
Somewhere in Paragon…
Event Horizon felt true power.
Of Heroes And Villains
In which a superhero meets his match, masks are uncovered and a mad scientist just tries to get some mad science-ing done without getting distracted by the antics of her magical minion.
Fanart by the talented Ian Samson, creator of City of Reality and artist of The Wotch
There was no greater joy than flying.
Dazzling Dawn grinned, accelerating to feel the wind rushing past her ears. Her wings – strong and delicate, made entirely out of fine strands of light – caught the sun’s rays, refracting them and shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow.
Beneath her, she could see some of the citizens of Paragon looking up at her and smiling. Dazzling Dawn streaking past in the sky was one of the most beautiful sights Paragon had to offer, and she knew it.
Dawn spotted a small girl gazing up at her with wide eyes.
She laughed with joy, and twirled in a complex aerial maneuver just for her, leaving a trail of sparkles in her wake.
Her wings went out like a candle that had been extinguished.
And Dawn began to fall.
A young woman was standing in line to get her third cup of coffee of the day. It was an addiction, really, but she could not resist its caffeinated call.
The petite blonde smiled at the barista as she paid, gingerly cupping the hot beverage in her dainty hands.
A wind blew through her hair, which was strange, since she was inside.
And suddenly a man who had been calmly reading a book jumped up and pointed at her, crossing himself in horror.
The other patrons looked up at the commotion, then sighed, rolled their eyes and went back to whatever they’d been doing.
Tourists.
Clearly that was only Infernal Illusionist, a respected heroine of Paragon City who had the misfortune of looking like an 8 foot tall demonic behemoth.
They were not quite as apathetic when outside of the coffee shop a caped figure fell onto a car, shattering the windows and tripping the blaring alarm.
PsyKick felt a wind wash over him, and raised his head with mild interest. He sat up as far as the straps tying him to the bed would allow.
His gaze lingered on the barred window of his tiny hospital room.
The back of his neck itched uncomfortably, right where the doctors had implanted his power-dampeners so long ago.
After a long moment of nothing happening, he sank back onto the pillow and resumed staring blankly at the ceiling, trying to ignore the Purpose clawing at his insides.
Constance was late.
How she, Mistress of Time and Space, kept managing that was really quite a mystery. One would think that a woman capable of bending time itself to her whim would learn how to keep track of it.
Truthfully, she just had too much of it.
She casually strolled through the grass, nibbling on her bagel as she made her way to her next undergraduate class. She’d be teaching it, earning the last few credits she needed to finally finish her formal education.
Despite her incessant tardiness, her professors just loved her, urging her to go into arcane academia. But academia meant research which was really just one step removed from scientist.
No, Constance was going places. Security, maybe. Last night, after a bit of tinkering, she’d invented a magical trap that would ensnare any prospective thief in a stable 10 second time loop until, say, the police arrived and deactivated it.
She squeezed past the students, standing still as statues, blocking the entrance to the building she needed to get into. They weren’t quite frozen, but she’d slowed time down significantly to the point that they appeared that way. Truly freezing time was a terrible idea, as she’d once found out. Constance needed to breathe, after all, and non-moving air molecules were not conductive to that.
And then suddenly the students were moving, bumping into Constance who, to their perception, had just appeared out of thin air.
What the…?
Constance stumbled, but was thankfully caught by a considerate man who steadied her quickly.
She gazed around, disoriented. She tried to slow time again.
It just kept flowing. Students walked past her, chattering casually and happily.
But here and there she saw a few people looking as stunned as she felt.
“You’re a superhero?”
“Yes!”
“And that’s why you didn’t show up?”
“Yes, baby, please, I was stopping The Brick from destroying the UHOW. You know I love you, I was going to tell you to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. I really meant to show up, I had gifts and everything.”
She looked at him sceptically. “Okay. Prove it.”
“Watch this!”
Texplosion flicked his hand.
Nothing happened.
“Ugh. I knew it! Mark, what did you expect to happen?” She stomped her foot. “That’s like the oldest excuse in the book! If you’re gonna lie to me, at least do it convincingly!”
Anemona, ambassador of a proud and independent Colony of Atlantis, Shining Jewel of The Sea, Heart of the Underwater Empire, stepped toward the twisted metal box.
She didn’t quite understand why the landers felt the need to squeeze themselves into such small things. Surely there were better ways of transportation? She kneeled in front of the broken and bended metal frame, strong hands gripping the - car, was it? They seemed so fragile, too.
She did not voice that, of course. She had manners, and was here to represent her people. Relations had been a little strained since that Giant Squid incident.
“Never fear, Landwalking One. This One will take the accursed metal box so you may swim freely. For shizzle.”
Her translator might have been slightly broken. And programmed with outdated slang.
She raised the car above her head with ease, and the landers trapped beneath quickly wiggled out. Anemona gave them a genial smile, which they tentatively returned.
There was a breeze.
And then the car was suddenly very, very heavy.
Bones cracked.
Platypus Man no longer felt the connection to his fellow Platypi.
It was quite traumatizing.
He curled up in the fetal position.
Event Horizon felt true power.
Comments
Poor Platypus Man...
Poor Platypus Man...
Nooooo
Not Platypus Man! T_T
Oh no!
Forget Platypus Man, what about that poor car! Call a mechanic someone quick, get a wrecker on speed dial.
This is not good!
There is no telling how many heroes and villains she just killed, with her temper tantrum. However, it's not over yet. It's just beginning. Do Paragon have emergency sirens? Now would be a good time to use them!
Hugs
Grover
I never thought it was possible but....
someone actually created a 'hero' that was more useless than Aquaman.
Question remains, is she
Question remains, is she effecting every Super and Villain? How far does her range go?
What of tech gadgets
will the wielders still be able to use them? Irresistible Force meet Immovable Object; let the fun begin!
event horizon
I think a black hole is about to be formed endangering the planet and all those that live on it.
Hugs,
Jenna From FL
Moderator/Editor
TopShelf BigCloset
It is a long road ahead but I will finally become who I should be.
Maybe not.
It seems she's sucking powers rather than mass. But inquiring minds want to know - what will she do with Platypus Man's powers? :-)
I'm loving this series, thank you!
power siphon
I doubt she actually has access to platypus mans powers. Her powers as previously mentioned were to siphon the energy of a villain (or hero) and convert that energy into amethyst blasts. It would seem to me that what just happened was her limitation of one siphon connection (two when she was angry enough) has just shattered (implying to me that it may have been a psychological block) she may be siphoning from ever powered being in range (however far that is now) or possibly a number of random ones inside her range, and is converting all that energy into her amethyst blasts (though a concentrated enough purple looks black, so maybe...). However I may be way off base,
regardless, thank you for sharing.
(I hope captain dudebro survives)
wow, i got rambly
I can hardly believe I said... er... typed all that. I really love this story.
so Event Horizon took everybody's powers?
ohhhh ... boy ...
Game over
Good luck fighting the enraged, superpowered, and heartbroken ex-heroine guys. Have fun with that.
-Tas