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Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

OK, so I removed some inactives from the roster. I also know that I've been a little lax as of late with updating the roster, so if you are not on it and should be, let me know and I'll correct it.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

Been working in a couple of collabs, I plan to get an Icon post up soon as well as the first Slipstream post. I'm going to try and get Icon up tomorrow, Slipstream probably Monday or Tuesday

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

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Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

Sammy’s heart jumped when she saw Lyger make an appearance on the rooftop of the Crown Ridge Museum of the Arts. Although for some strange reason his voice sounded strange, as if it was electronically altered in order to hide his identity, Sammy knew deep inside herself that this man who had just arrived to face the robber was indeed Lyger.

She eagerly watched Lyger as he dispatched the man who had stolen the Jewel of Horus. Her heart sunk when she saw the man try to attack Lyger. However, she quickly recovered when Lyger effortlessly blocked the man’s attacks and then counterattacked. Before she knew it, Lyger already had the ancient relic, which was secured in a container to protect it from damage, in his possession.

After Lyger had busted this robber, the Crown Ridge Police arrived at the scene. Once he had tossed the museum’s property back to the police, Lyger ordered that the four of them needed to move. Momentarily, the three young metahumans hesitated because it felt wrong running away from the police. Other than performing acts of vigilantism, they had not done anything wrong. In fact, they helped catch a criminal who did commit a crime. However, since the police officers had their firearms drawn, these police officers did not seem like the friendly kind that use a giant strobe light or a special direct phone line to the resident superhero. And if Lyger was telling them to move, they probably should.

As they tried to leave the roof, Sammy was still distracted by Lyger’s presence. However, she quickly returned to reality when she heard the whistle of bullets fly past her and her friends. The danger presented by these flying bullets unnerved Sammy, or at least until Lyger grabbed her arm and began to lead Sammy and her friends to safety. Once Lyger had taken her arm, Sammy was right back to her distracted self.

[color=khaki]“Oh, no.” Kelly mentioned to Zac. “What a time for Sammy to be on Cloud Nine! Thank goodness we’re here to make sure she doesn’t get hurt.”

“Who’s going to make sure we don’t get killed?”

With a firm grip on Bast’s arm, Lyger flung both himself and the cat-girl off of the roof of the Crown Ridge Museum of the Arts, hoping that the other two would be able to keep up. When he saw Bast and the others, he knew that nothing good could possibly come from them being in Crown Ridge. This city wasn’t like Albany, hell; it wasn’t even like Lost Haven. The criminals weren’t the only thing that he had to worry about, the Crown Ridge Police Department had taken a hard-line stance against vigilantism in the city, and on more than one occasion, Lyger had barely escaped their efforts to apprehend him.

As they fell toward the ground, Lyger cradled Bast’s body against his, pulling her close as he shot off a grapnel line from his wrist gauntlet, the hooked end of the line anchored itself in a nearby building and pulling itself taut as they swung out away from the museum, and descended until they landed gently across the street from the museum, and their assailants.

“What’ve we got, Harry?” Lyger said into the com built into his cowl. However, before the old man could respond, bullets whizzed by Lyger and Bast’s heads. Lyger spun quickly to face the gunfire, and to his surprise found that their assailants were not the CRPD, but more members of The Winter Park Gang.

It’s a setup! Lyger thought to himself. He had been putting a lot of pressure on the criminal organization as of late, and he knew that it was only a matter of time until they started pushing back. What he did not anticipate, however, was that they would use the police against him like this. The Winter Park Gang had always been more straightforward when dealing with their enemies. They were brutal and efficient. They were not known to use manipulation in such a manner. Such tactics were likely adopted after they began answering to The Cowl.

“This way!” Lyger shouted as Wasp and Raptor touched down on the sidewalk next to Lyger and Bast. He led them down a side alley just as the Winter Park Gang opened fire on the foursome.

When the first bullets began to pellet the alleyway street, Raptor instinctively used his superhuman speed to push his girlfriend, Sammy, and Lyger to the side, where they took cover behind the side of a dumpster.

“So, what’s the plan to get out of this one?” Raptor proposed this question to the other three heroes.

Wasp, without saying a word, turned to face the dumpster and placed her palms on the bottom of it. She then lifted the dumpster up and placed it on its side so that the metal container would provide some more cover.

“That should hold them for a few minutes until they can find a new vantage point.”

“Oh, I’m sure Lyger has a plan.” Sammy said as she wrapped her arms around Lyger’s torso and resting her head against his shoulder.

Raptor shook his head as he heard his girlfriend’s best friend speak. Anyone could have recognized that Sammy was falling all over the cat-themed hero. Her obsession with Lyger was the reason why they were all in danger at the moment.

“I hope you do have a plan, Lyger.” Raptor said as he heard lead bounce off the garbage dumpster. “Because we really need a plan. I could run us out of here, but I can only do so one at a time. And there’s no telling whether a bullet might ricochet off something and hit one of us.”

“I have a plan.” Lyger said as he turned to face the dumpster and began to push it, moving it from where Kelly had left it. The dumpster was full, which made it very heavy. Lyger struggled at first to get it to budge. However, after a few tries, he was able to get the dumpster rolling. He pushed it and turned it sideways, and as he was getting the dumpster into place, he turned his head to look at Zac.

“Run.” Lyger told him as the dumpster blocked the entire width of the alley, separating the four young heroes from the gunmen rushing toward them. After he locked the wheels in place, he began running to catch up with the other three.

Across Town

Sam Myers sat on the couch listening to the police scanner that she bought shortly after she found out that Kyle spent his nights moonlighting as the vigilante Lyger. It had become something of a nightly ritual for her. She sat there alone in silence, monitoring the police band hoping to get word about his whereabouts, and praying that she didn’t find out that he wouldn’t be coming home that night.

It was something that she wouldn’t ever tell Kyle that she did, not because she was ashamed of it, but because she didn’t know if he would understand. However, she didn’t know that she really understood it herself. It didn’t make him being out there night after night in a city that didn’t appreciate what it was that he was doing any better, but at least she knew that he would probably be coming home.

Suddenly the police scanner came alive with activity. Apparently, gunfire had been exchanged on the rooftop of the Crown Ridge Museum of the Arts between the CRPD and unknown assailants. Then her heart sank as a voice on the scanner reported that the vigilante Lyger, as well as persons unknown were involved in the incident. She didn’t know exactly what was going on, in fact, it didn’t seem like anyone did. However, she could hear the gunfire over the police scanner, and the one thing that she did know for sure was that her boyfriend was caught in the middle of it. Before she even knew what she was doing, she had gotten up from the couch and had gone over to the entryway cabinet next to the front door, had grabbed her car keys and was out the door and making a beeline for the driveway. She jumped into her beat up blue Toyota and backed out into the street before taking off in the direction of the museum.

Sam raced through the streets toward the museum, and before she knew it, she could see the famed building off in the distance. She had been so focused on getting into the area that once she was there, she wasn’t entirely sure how she had gotten there in one piece. As she approached the museum, she found that she had another problem, the police had cordoned of the street leading to the museum.

“Shit.” She said as the blue lights flickered ahead of her, causing her to jerk on the steering wheel, diverting her route to the next street over. However, the sudden diversion proved to be a fortuitous one, as just up the street she saw three young metahumans running out of an ally with Lyger right behind them.

When they had gotten to the end of the alley, Lyger stopped and was about to use a grapnel line from his wrist gauntlet to bring himself and Sammy up to the next rooftop. He figured that Kelly could carry Zac to the rooftop. He just hoped that they had put enough space between them, the police, and the Winter Park Gang, but he had a feeling that their pursuers would be right behind them.

“....” He was about to tell them to head to the rooftops when the sound of squealing tires caught his attention. When he looked toward the source of the commotion, he was shocked to see a familiar beat up blue Toyota racing toward them, then come to a screeching halt directly in front of them. Suddenly, the passenger door flew open, and his disbelieving eyes looked directly at the driver.

Sam must have recognized his surprise, even behind his mask. She shot him a look that was part exasperated and part annoyed, then directed the look at his companions.

“Are you going to wait here for them to figure out where you’ve gone to, or are you going to get in the car?”

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

Icon stood amidst the smoke and rubble of what remained of Lost Haven’s Downeast Mall, where just a short while ago, the madman known only as the Hybrid caused a massive explosion that gutted the building, leaving little more than a smoldering pile of brick and mortar. In the hours since the explosion, Icon had been assisting local authorities in combing through the rubble trying to locate survivors. However, the explosion had proven so destructive that there were few survivors to be rescued. It soon became obvious that the search and rescue efforts would soon become one of search and recovery.

However, even that proved to be difficult. As the crews poured through the remains of the mall, they found that when The Hybrid had crashed into the mall’s atrium and detonated, the people in the maniac’s vicinity were vaporized in the blast, making any sort of recovery, much less identification, impossible. Icon and the recovery workers pulled body after body from the other parts of the destroyed mall, each one weighing heavier on Icon than the last.

As he dug through the rubble, something on the floor caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. When he looked over to the object, his heart sank. It was a child’s blood soaked shoe. He picked up the pink and white sneaker and held it in his hand, and in that moment he felt the true weight of what had happened here earlier in the day. The lives cut short, the families that had been torn apart, and the dreams that had died all because he wasn’t able to stop The Hybrid in time. Lost in his thoughts, Icon was surprised when he felt someone place their hand on his shoulder. He turned toward the person, and was surprised to see a member of the rescue crew staring back at him. He was an older black man who wore the weight of his work in his eyes. However, it was easy to see that he had a certain sympathy for the younger hero.

“Don’t let it.” The older man told him.

“Excuse me?” Icon asked, genuinely confused by the man’s words.

“Don’t let this break you.” The older man clarified. “Look Son, I’ve been at this a long time, and I’ve seen that look more times than I’d care to remember. You did what you could, I know that. Hell, we all know that. You’ve saved this city more times than I can count, and even though it doesn’t feel like it right now, you saved more people than you know today.”

“I don’t know. I could have done more. I should have…” his voice trailed off.

“The thing is, bad things happen. People die. You did what you could.” The older man continued. “Nobody can save everyone, not even you.” He finished with a nod and a sympathetic half smile as he began to walk away to continue the work of sorting through the rubble.

Icon looked down again at the bloodied sneaker in his hand, and after several beats, he dropped it to the ground. Then, with the older man’s words echoing in his mind, he took to the skies, leaving the rescue workers to continue searching through the rubble without him.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

awesome

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

BITCH AND THE BEAST

Location: Midas Industries, Lost Haven-Maine
Time: Morning (some time around 3-4 am)

Richard Midas stepped into the laboratory in the sub basement of Midas Industries with a smile on his face. Since the so-called meta humans began showing up in Lost Haven, and in various cities around the world, he had wanted to get his hands on one. He wanted a powerful meta that would be at his beck and call, a meta that would answer only to him and see that his will be done. Shortly after Icon had made his spectacular debut in Lost Haven, Midas had reached out to him, offering his hand in friendship in hopes of cultivating a mutually beneficial relationship that would ensure their places in this world. However, the blue and silver clad hero had rebuffed him. It was a rejection that still fueled Midas to this day.

However, due to recent events in Chinatown, his fortunes had changed.

He had first heard about an amazing young woman through a well placed mole that he had placed within one of his largest rivals. The young woman in question, Racheli Desdemona supposedly had an almost unlimited potential, and if her potential was realized, could rival Icon himself, as well as any potential threat that could endanger this world. However, in order to reach that potential, her abilities, and whatever it was that was inside of her that gave her those abilities would have to be nurtured.

Not only would he be the man to nurture her and her gifts, but he would study them, and if at all possible, replicate those gifts in others. However, those aspirations would have to wait, because for now, he needed gain her trust, if at all possible. And if her trust proved difficult to gain…he had other ways to get her to cooperate.

Midas approached the hospital bed in which Racheli lay, still unconscious after her battle with the super powered mercenary War-Pulse had been cut short by his drones. Her torn and burned clothes had been replaced by a thin hospital gown. He watched her chest rise and fall with each breath, as he waited for her to awaken. Fortunately for Midas, who was never known for his patience, he did not have to wait long. Almost as if on cue, her eyes fluttered, and then opened. Midas watched her as she stood up suddenly and slowly came to the awareness she was no longer in Chinatown’s street, battling War Pulse.

“It’s alright, Ms Desdemona. You’re quite safe. Nobody is going to come looking for you here, I can assure you of that.” Midas said with a warm smile as he addressed his guest for the first time.

Racheli’s hand reached up then started to rub away the grit in her eyes, clearing her vision. Her head cocked toward Midas’ voice when he spoke causing her to stare a bit and tried to register his face from her memories. Nothing. That meant, she quickly deduced, she had never encountered him before in her life as her feet slide to the side of her current bed and hung down. It was then it came to her attention that she was currently dressed within a very thin gown instead of her usually thicker clothes.

Her head snapped up, bring her spine to stiffen in reaction to this fact. If had been possible, then all color would’ve faded from her skin and given her a sickly look before her eyes darkened into anger, “Where the hell are my clothes and who the fuck are you?”

Midas had expected such a reaction. While he was not accustomed to being addressed in such a manner, he was slightly amused by it, and due to the extraordinary events that had lead her to be in his possession, he was willing to forgive her abruptness, for now.

“My name is Richard Midas, and I own this facility.” Midas started. “But more importantly, I’m a friend. I’ve been following you for some time, Ms Desdemona. You have drawn quite a bit of attention to yourself, some of that from people whose attention you really do not want. I can help you with that.” Midas told her, noting that her expression did not change; it remained one of anger and contempt.

“Of course, once we know that it’s safe, you’ll be free to go. Your clothes have been boxed up and I’ll personally bring them to you if you would like.” Midas told her. “Racheli, you’re safe now, you don’t have to fight anymore. We can help you.” He said, his tone softening as he offered her a kind smile.

Inwardly, Rach was wondering why she kept getting into these types of situations. Was the bastard upstairs trying to tell herself and didn’t quite take no for an answer or was she just unlucky? Either way, complaining wasn’t going to help her now. Shifting slightly on her bed edge, Rach tried to keep her tone steady and calmer than she felt in the moment,[colo=indianred] “While I appreciate the offer, I have friends trying to help me and I don’t think I need your help. So, would it be much trouble to get my clothes so I can be on my way?”[/color]

“I’m afraid that you can’t leave, not quite yet, anyhow. You see, Ms Desdemona, I have plans for you. I believe that we are under an unprecedented threat posed by these meta humans. And you, my dear, are the key in ensuring our survival.” Midas told her, his tone taking a slightly darker turn. “I’m well aware of your friends, and it would be a real shame if something...were to happen to them due to your refusal of my offer.” Midas said plainly.

Rach’s lips frowned. She didn’t like what she was hearing and her expression showed it, her mind ticking over what he had said for several moments, “It would take a lot to imprison my friends. I don’t think you have enough power or resources to keep or even hurt them. Now… either you kindly get my clothes and I walk out, or you will regret it.”

“You seem to be under the impression that you have a choice in this matter, my dear.” Midas said with a smirk. “As for your friends, I have little interest in imprisoning them.” He told her, allowing the implication of his words to sink in. “Why don’t you run your fingers behind your left ear?” He waited for her to do so.

Rach gave Midas a confused looked as she raised her hand toward the indicated spot and felt something underneath her skin. It was thin and protruded from the bone, making her spine seep with dread while she followed it right into the back of her skull. She knew deep down the nanites should’ve dismantled and reconfigured anything that wasn’t natural to her anatomy, but this wasn’t affected.

“Do you feel that bump at the base of your skull? It’s an explosive charge that my doctors implanted in your head. Should you become a problem, it will detonate, and all of your problems will be over, if you get my meaning.”

A shocked and stunned look crossed her earlier scowling one, replacing it quickly. Immediately her fingers, more out of instinct, started to dig into the flesh where the device was. Her desire to get out clear with the deeper her fingers started to tear into her skin. Meanwhile the bed frame screeched then made a metallic scream when crumbled slight from her magnetic abilities showing through. Several metal tools nearby on the cart jerked and flew from the top, burying into the wall nearest the room’s door.

”What the fuck did you do to me? This isn’t possible, the nanites and… how did you do it?” Rach growled in frustration, still trying to remove the foreign object in her skull. Her eyes narrowed on the man as she began to stand upright from her bed and took one step toward him.

“You may want to rethink that.” Midas said to Racheli, who was moving toward him, no doubt to put an end to him here and now. He calmly unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it open, revealing a small incision in his chest, about the length of a quarter.

It took everything within Rach to pause when Midas spoke. Her left fist was clenched at her side, the other one occupied, and every fiber wanting to force him to fix this then finally rip him to pieces. Her voice, filled with rage, spoke, “Funny, that’s what everyone fucking says. Give me one good reason why I should?”

“You see, that device in your head is directly linked to my heartbeat. Should anything happen to me…” Midas said as he brought his hands to the side of his head and mimicked her head exploding.

“Also, you may want to stop trying to pull it out...it has a real hair trigger.” He told her, purposely not answering her questions. “You see my dear, you really have no choice in this matter. I was hoping that you would be see reason and we could do this the easy way. But you seriously underestimate my ability to play dirty. I always get what I want.”

Feeling her fury about to burst, Rach’s hand stopped picking at her skin and fell to her side. Blood trickled down her ear and along her neck where it gradually dried, the nanites dying in the air. Her eyes didn’t move from Midas as she trembled in rage, her figure subtly shaking. With little warning, her right fist darted out in immense speed. The wall cracked inches from the man’s head, the impact spider webbing as she pulled away causing the plaster to crumble onto the floor and his suit.

Rach was still breathing hard when she decided to voice her thoughts outloud, “You are a spoiled shit, aren’t you? You have my attention so what happens now?”

“Listen, I’m a reasonable guy. I need your help to safeguard not just this city, but the entire world. Once we have done that, you’ll be free to go, if that is what you want. But somehow, I get the feeling that once you see what’s going on, and once you get to know me...You won’t want to leave.” Midas told her confidently. “You’ll be well paid, and you’ll be provided with everything you need. I need you to trust me, or at least trust in the fact that I will do whatever I have to do in order to get what I’m after...even if it’s something that I really don’t want to do.”

“Well, you’ve started off being a real charmer. How can I resist trusting you after this,” Rach shot back sarcastically, her figure gradually lowered back down to the bed. Impulsively she shifted her hospital gown to cover her as much as possible, her ears still listening, “Instead of planting a bomb in my head, shouldn’t you be finding like minded individuals with abilities? I don’t care about your damn war or desire to protect the city. If you haven’t opened your eyes, I pretty much tore up a whole street in one small skirmish and brought down most of one building at least.”

“I’m well aware of your destructive abilities, and your...lack of discipline in utilizing them. That building that you tore down belonged to me. Hell, child, I own half of this city. And as far as you’re concerned, I did what I had to do to ensure your cooperation. Once you get to know me, you’ll realize that I’m not a bad guy. And more importantly, once this is all over, you’ll realize that I’m right.”

“Until then, if ever, I’ll keep hating your filthy guts. It makes me feel better,” Rach snapped, still unimpressed with the argument, “You still avoided my question: what now? I assume you aren’t going to keep me locked up here and since I have no choice, I want to know what is going to happen next.”

“You’re right, I’m not going to keep you locked up. In fact, as we speak my people are preparing your penthouse apartment in Sherman Square. There you’ll find a new cell phone, which you will want to keep on you at all times. Should I need you, I’ll call, and you’ll come, lest you want to lose your head.” Midas said in a tone which made it difficult to tell whether he was joking or not. “You’ll be free to go after I get one small thing from you.” Midas said as he walked over to Racheli. He put hand down on the bed next to her and leaned in slightly. “I just need a blood sample.”

Racheli leaned away to look at him, commenting on the odd fact he hadn’t gotten one yet, “I’m surprised you didn’t get one while I was out. It would’ve been easier.”

“Indeed it would have been.” Midas conceded. “But I was hoping to get your approval first.” He said with a smile.

Annoyance swept over her face at the fact the choice was out of Rach’s hands as she glared at him, her arm extended for the blood to be taken, “You’re really funny, you know that? Get it done and over with.”

Midas beamed as he produced a needle to take the blood sample. “Relax, this might sting a bit.” He said with a smile as he plunged the needle into her arm, taking a vial full of viscous black blood. “There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Midas asked as he took the sample and placed it in a lock box to be processed by his scientists as soon as possible.

Moments later, the door to the lab opened and Ms Sparks stepped inside with a small box containing Racheli’s clothes. She looked over to Midas and then to the Racheli. She leered when she saw the barely covered form of Racheli. She glided over to the infuriated woman and dropped the box of clothes at her feet.

“Get dressed, we’re getting you out of here.” Ms Sparks said as she turned and led Midas out of the lab.
“Gee, thanks for the update. Keep leering like that, it might stick that way,” Rach said in the woman’s wake, hopping off the bed and started to dress.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

Nice posts folks

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

And posted. Finally wrapped the Hybrid arc up.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

Much like many other malls across America, Olympia’s Downeast Mall had seen better days. In the age of online commerce, Downeast Mall had seen a significant drop off in visitors; however, the mall was planning on changing all of that over the weekend. They had been promoting a huge “Spring Into Summer” sale throughout the mall in an attempt to lure the masses back to the stores. For the most part, the sales extravaganza had been a major success; the mall had more visitors on this day than they had seen in the previous month.

However, record crowds were not the only thing drawn to the mall. Several hundred feet in the air, an ominous figure hovered above the Downeast Mall. The Hybrid looked down at the people scurrying in and out of the mall with disdain. He found it funny that all it took was the promise of savings on worthless garbage to bring out the hordes en masse. To the Hybrid, it was all pointless, and he looked forward to showing the entire world just how pointless it all was.

But now, he waited. However, he did not have to wait for long. In the distance, he could make out the silhouette of a lone, caped figure flying toward him in the distance. The Hybrid grinned as the familiar blue and silver clad figure of the hero known the world over as Icon raced toward him.

“Took you long enough.” The Hybrid said gleefully as the hero drew nearer.

As Icon approached The Hybrid, he was determined to stop him before he could cause anymore damage. However, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the deranged madman was simply toying with him. As he got closer to The Hybrid, he increased his speed and braced for impact with the killer. However, much to Icon’s surprise, Hybrid’s right arm began to change. It stretched and lengthened, and it looked more like the tentacle of an octopus rather than an arm. Before Icon could react, the tentacle had wrapped itself around his neck. The Hybrid had grabbed a hold of Icon, and with one swift and decisive movement, slammed the hero down to the rooftop of the Downeast Mall.

“You really don’t get it, do you?” The madman asked. “You just can’t win.”

“You’re wrong, Hybrid. I’m going to stop you, right now.”

“You’re going to stop me? Why is that? Because of them?” The Hybrid said as he pointed down, indicating that he meant the people in the mall.

“I won’t let you hurt anyone else.”
“And that’s your problem, Icon. You dedicate yourself to protecting these monsters, you’d give your life for them.”

“If I had to.”

“And that is why you can’t win, because you’re fighting for the wrong team. You see, the belief that people are inherently good is nothing more than a fallacy…a nice little fairy tale that people tell themselves to make them feel better about all the horrendous shit that they do on a daily basis. Oh, I assure you, people are evil.” Hybrid paused as he waved his hand over his face.

“Society is just a façade, and when you peel away the veneer, you find that it is just hiding the fact that people are nothing more than greedy, selfish, destructive animals.” The Hybrid told him.

“You’re wrong, Hybrid. You-” Icon was cut off.

“You’re very existence is proof of that. If what I say isn’t true, there wouldn’t be an Icon. The sad fact of life is this: You can kill me. You can send me away forever…lock me up and throw away the key! But rest assured, there will be others just like me. Someone else will step in to take my place.” The Hybrid took several steps toward Icon.

“So what you’re doing is nothing more than an exercise in futility. And I’m going to ask you something that you’re eventually going to ask yourself anyway…” Hybrid said with a smile.

“Is it really worth it?”

“Why don’t I just show you.” Icon said, a statement more than a question as he lifted several inches off of the ground and rocketed toward The Hybrid.

Icon lowered his head and rammed his shoulder into The Hybrid’s midsection and drove him upward and away from the mall. The madman struggled, elbowing Icon in the back of the neck and head, however, the hero did not loosen his grip as he went skyward with the maniac. Icon took the madman up several thousand feet into the air and suddenly stopped and hurled him even higher. Then, he rocketed himself upward and hit The Hybrid with a hard right cross. As Icon moved in for another attack, The Hybrid reached out with his elongated, tentacle like arm and wrapped it around Icon’s neck.

“This is why you can’t win.” He said as he spit blood out of his mouth. “You fight scared. You aren’t willing to take that extra step…you refuse to do what you have to do. And that’s why ultimately, you lose.” He finished.

With Icon still firmly in his grasp, The Hybrid began to take on a reddish glow. Icon struggled to get free of the madman’s grip, however, before he was able to get away the maniac unleashed a blast of pure energy that reverberated through Icon’s body. The blast was so intense that the stunned hero blacked out momentarily as The Hybrid pulled the hero upward before launching him downward. By the time Icon regained his composure, it was too late. He hit the ground with such an impact that he shattered the concrete where he landed, creating a man sized impact crater in the middle of the roadway.

While Icon lay in the shattered road trying to regain his bearings, The Hybrid hovered in the sky over the mall. His body again began to take on a reddish glow. At first it was faint and barely noticeable, but as each second passed, the glow grew brighter, until he glowed so bright that he looked almost like a small red sun hanging low in the sky.

Then he began to fall.

Icon looked on in horror as The Hybrid plummeted toward the packed Downeast Mall. He struggled to get to his feet; however, the madman’s violent attack had left him unable to move. All he could do was watch as The Hybrid crashed down through the roof of the packed mall, and for an instant, there was nothing. Icon felt a wave of relief wash over him.

Then, suddenly the momentary silence was shattered by what sounded like a thousand bombs exploding all at once. Flames exploded from the numerous windows that encased the mall, which were designed to give the patrons a panoramic view of the city no matter where they were inside the common areas of the mall. Then the entire area shook as a violent explosion leveled the entire mall. The Downeast mall was gone, and in its place was a smoldering crater.

“No.” Icon said weakly as he forced himself to his feet. He staggered as he stepped forward, a new rage building inside of him.

All those people… Icon thought to himself as he awkwardly stepped toward the burning ruins of the mall.

Then he heard something coming from within the inferno. Something that left the hero unsettled…a maniacal laughter. He focused in on the sound, and saw a lone figure walking through the flames toward him.

The Hybrid.

The rage that Icon had felt festering within him began to boil over at the sight of the murderer. Icon blamed himself for the blood that had been shed here today, because it turned out that The Hybrid had been right. Icon had been holding back, not wanting to go all in when confronting the maniac out of fear that if he didn’t hold back he would kill the monster.

His hesitation had just cost over three thousand people their lives. He would not make that mistake again, not with this murdering psychopath.

Icon let out a primal scream as he launched himself at The Hybrid, pounding the maniac with a barrage of fists and elbows. For the first time in his life, he was not holding back. He gave The Hybrid everything he had. He landed a hard right hand to The Hybrid’s jaw, the impacted folded the villain’s knees, and he began to crumple to the ground. Icon grabbed him by the neck and pulled him back up, hitting him again with several hard punches before tossing him aside, sending The Hybrid crashing through the side of a parked bus, and out of the other side. Icon did not relent, he was on the maniac again before he had rolled to a stop, scooping him up and throwing another wild haymaker which sent The Hybrid crashing into the wall of a nearby building, the impact causing cracks to form in the wall.

Icon continued to pound on the maniac until he stopped resisting. Finally, Icon took a step back, and The Hybrid fell lifelessly to the ground.

“Thanks for the assist Icon, but we’ll take it from here.” A voice said from behind him.

Icon had been so consumed by rage that he had been completely unaware of a convoy of black SUV’s rolling into the area around the mall. Among the vehicles, Icon recognized a STRIKE containment vehicle. He turned toward the source of the voice, and saw Agent Marcus Ryder, a STRIKE agent that Icon had always had a contentious relationship with. Icon did not like the man, and he did not trust the organization that he worked for. However, in this instance, he was almost glad to see the man.

“Late to the party, Ryder. As usual.” Icon said to the man as a number of agents rushed toward The Hybrid and fitted him with super high tensile restraints. “One of yours?” Icon asked as he left the agent and his men to secure the murderous madman, while he went into the inferno in a desperate attempt to find any survivors of the blast, a task that he knew was most likely a futile one.