ic Glory Days Are Here Again (IC)

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

December 7th, 2023, Evening, WCZA Station

 

WELCOME BACK!

 

YOU'RE WATCHING FREEDOM CITY'S FLAGSHIP NEWS SHOW

 

THE BRAND REPORT

 

Starring....BUDDY BRAND

 

TONIGHT'S GUEST:

 

State Senator Phillip Fredrickson

 

 

A year ago- and for the 15 years before that- Phillip Fredrickson was one of the most prolific voices in the New Jersey State Senate for Superhero and meta-human registration. An old, stately looking man in his late 60s, Phillip had been a consistent crusader for believing that the world would be safer if meta-humans and Superheroes were registered in the government, and that New Jersey, as host to Freedom City, could be the world’s first example of doing something like that ‘the right way’.

 

That had changed suddenly.

 

Phillip’s granddaughter, Gabriela, had developed a meta-human ability. And in return, he had come to realize his mistakes and his incorrect beliefs, now that his skin was in the game- so to speak-, he had come to change his tune. He was now pushing for expanded care for meta-human children without requiring a sign-up or a registration, support for any family who had a young child who suddenly had meta-human abilities appear- counseling for parent and child, training on power control and any unique materials they needed to manage their powers.

 

However, changing one's opinions was often a moment of danger for a politician, even when the reasons were good and the person was staunch in both their explanations and in all their other beliefs; Fredrickson had not changed any other position he held, and was clear that was always going to be the case, but he was changing a significant cornerstone of his campaign and his personal code, which was a negative to many people. His support had cratered, his political capital was in shreds, and what had been a solid re-election campaign was now in crisis as he attempted to right a sinking ship. Despite this, he refused to back down from his changed position, and was clear that even if it cost him the election, he wasn't going to change his tune; he loved his granddaughter, and he realized that all meta-humans were someone's grandchild, and that they deserved as much help as they could.

 

His campaign staff had put him on Buddy's show to hopefully let the people see that while he may of changed his opinions, he was still the strong willed man he'd always been, who kept his word and worked for his constituency.

 

The old man had a stately dignity to him even in crisis and at the risk of losing his seat; his hair was gray and thinning but worn in a close cut. His suit was nice and his blue tie added a splash of color where it was needed. He answered questions posed by Buddy with a firm voice that didn't waver, even when he was asked tough questions. He was calm under pressure and respectful to his host.

 

But everything changed during a commercial break. An aide ran up to him with a cellphone, whispered something in his ear, and then gave him the phone.

 

"Hello?" He asked. Then he listened. For a full minute, Buddy could see his face getting paler and paler. The old man swallowed, and he suddenly looked much less vigorous. He looked, truthfully, like a scared old man. He looked at Buddy with eyes that showed a deep sorrow; something terrible was on that phone call. His voice wasn't strong anymore, it trembled and he looked almost like he was going to burst into tears.

 

"I'm sorry...I don't know that I can continue this interview...something serious has come up."

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

"Are you alright, Mr. Fredickson?" asked Buddy, leaning in, concerned. 

 

He knew the answer, of course. Anyone with half an eye and half a heart knew the answer. Mr Fredickson was not ok. Even if the concern on his face wasn't enough, a man like Philip Fredickson was not one to cut out an oppurtunity to espouse his views on television. 

 

It must be serious. Beyond serious. 

 

Buddy turned to the camera and improvised a monologue. "Well folks, we need to cut to break right now. But never fear, we shall be back soon!"

 

Soon could mean a minute or week!

 

Assured the break to commercials had happened, Buddy swung back to Philip. 

 

"Seriously, are you alright? Do you need help?"

 

Captain Cosmos might help, even if Buddy Brand can't!

[Poncho]

(GM post)

 

The old senator shook his head, listening to the phone.

 

"Please, say it again." he said to whoever was on the phone before he activated the speaker mode on his phone and a voice rang out; it was a gruff, hard voice, a life of chain smoking and a few too many bar fights had given this person a distinctive cadence and sound, like gurgling gravel.

 

"Fine; so, as I was saying, I am a fighter in the Circuit Maximus. And me and my buddies have kidnapped your granddaughter. Her power is really unique, isn't it? To turn back the hands of time; they say you can't buy time, but it seems like with your grandkid, you can, and I'm in the mood to become a merchant." There was a laugh like sandpaper rubbing against glass. "But I need to prove her powers actually work. So I'm offering the chance to get her back. All you have to do is get some Hero to come down and fight me and my boys in the Circuit, and if you can somehow manage to beat us, I'll give you back the kid. Your little change of heart definitely means there's gotta be plenty of Heroes willing to stick their neck out for you, right?" he cackled again. "Send whoever you can scrounge up out to Liberty Park; the Bandshell, and we'll bring you down. It'll be a great time, I guarantee it." he laughed again, then the phone cut out. Senator Fredrickson looked at Buddy Brand like he was doomed, his eyes shining with unspent tears of concern for his granddaughter.

 

"Buddy...do you know any heroes that could help? I have money, if they want it."

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

"Heroes? Yes, I know some."

 

But which ones? How soon? Captain Comsos was best placed. 

 

"Dont worry about that, senator. I can pull the word out. And don't worry about paying them. Any hero worth their salt wont accept payment... this terrorist wont stop with your daughter, I bet. He's a menace to society."

 

He turned to the crew. "Guys, we need to wrap this. Get out a mobile crew to Liberty Park. Time to get this live..."

 

It was a bold move for the TV company, but it was also the logicla one. TV coverage of a super-brawl over a young girls life would beat any Brand Report. 

 

"Senator, I suggest you go down to the park too... maybe you can persuade this villain to mend his ways."

 

A cheesy line, but it maybe it was true. And the News just loved the human angle. 

 

Now all he needed to do was get to his Dressing room and put on the blue and white costume of Captain Cosmos!

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"You got it!" one of the production managers said, taking Senator Fredrickson and helping him up. "I'll personally make sure he's out there with a crew." The senator nodded. He was still a little unsteady as he stood up, but he had a firm look to his face; his mind was set even if his body was still recovering from the shock.

 

"I'll do my best, maybe he will listen to reason...I won't even press charges if he just gives me back my Granddaughter." He seemed to plead, hoping this person could be reasoned with.

So the TV station went into high alert, and the Senator and a crew were sent out to the big bandshell in Liberty Park in a WCZA mobile news van; the ordered chaos was a great time for Buddy Brand to get to his dressing room!

[Supercape]

Captain Comsos

 

And so, into the blue and white Captain Cosmos went!

 

He took a moment to close his eyes and take a deep breath in, acknowledging the infinite versions of Buddy Brand out there in the infinite Multiverse, from which he drew his trans-dimensional power. Then, he opened the window of the dressing room and swooped out in the city air. 

 

His cape trailing behind him, he flew straight to Liberty Park. Not far. He would get there first, the TV crew had to mobilise, which would be quick, but not instant. Captain Cosmos was not the faster cape in the air, not by a long shot, but he was as fast a sports car at full throttle, and he could fly in a straight line. Fast enough. 

 

As he approached the Park, he drew on his power. Hyperdimensional. Strengthening his three dimensional form, making it stronger. Of all his powers, this one put the least strain on his mind, but he did not change his dimensions lightly. Psychosis would eventually set in. 

 

But he had a feeling that the boasting villain on the phone would need all his resources. 

[Poncho]

(GM post)

 

Through the dark of night, the Captain Cosmos goes, off to save the day, to protect the innocent, to defeat the evil-doers!

 

Liberty Park was already a bustle of activity despite the chilly temperatures, and it wasn't hard to see why as Captain Cosmos approached the band shell. A small army of men and women wearing elaborate Roman Centurion costumes- with leather skirts and bronze helmets and face masks-  were acting like a guard of honor, standing at attention around the deep bandshell. However, instead of 'appropriate' weapons, each carried more current tools of war; guns, lasers, electrified batons. From above, Captain Cosmos could take in the scene before rushing in, giving him a possible advantage in the upcoming situation; it would also let the crew get time to set up, and for the authorities to try to establish a zone of control around the structure and the stands around it. They weren't attacking the costumed warriors, instead this whole scene was a big stand-off, a powder keg waiting to explode.

 

Attached to the structure, Captain Cosmos could see several power packs and a lot of wiring; some sort of generator. It seemed like the bandshell had been converted to an electrified cage match!

 

Sitting in a plastic box with air holes in it was the noted grand-daughter, a small girl of about 8 who was openly crying and clearly quite scared.

And finally, standing in the bandshell was the star of the show; a figure that Captain Cosmos had heard of before, and maybe even tangled with, but was significantly different from what he had remembered.

 

The first was a redheaded man with a thick mane of hair, the strong muscles of a dock worker or day laborer, and great bear claws instead of hands. A member of The Contenders; Bear Knuckle. But Bear Knuckle was supposed to be ancient. He and the other Contenders had been full grown men back in the 80s; he'd been a villain for over 40 years. He should have been ancient, nearing his 70s or even his early 80s. But this was not an old man. He was young, strong; he looked no more than his mid 20s. He also had some sort of electrical collar on his neck.

 

This was a dangerous situation, between the cops, the armored goons, and the villain himself, plus the crowd.

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

Buddy floated down, in full view of everyone, making sure the lights him in in a majestic way. One thing about TV - it taught you how to use lighting. 

 

"Bear Knuckle. You are looking well for a man of your age," he started, hands on hips, cape flowing. 

 

Strong as an ox and eighty years of fight experience... he won't be easy, not by a long shot. Buddy knew how to fight, but he knew he was not a fighter, at least not at the level of someone really skilled. Eighty years brawling would give this villain an almost unaparalleled ability to fight. He could only hope that Bear Knuckle did not have strength to match his own. 

 

"What are you seeking to prove here? You have your audience, you have your podium, you have your stand. The stage is yours. You have the worlds attention, and mine. And all shall judge you. Threatening a girls life? Now is your opportunity to justify your actions, if you can."

 

He paused. 

 

"Can you?" he asked, voice rumbling. 

[Poncho]

(GM post)

 

The formerly old man, with decades of heists and battles under his belt, hitched up his worn jeans as he looked up at Captain Cosmos.

 

"I'm looking good and feelin' better." he said, in a thick, gravely voice. "All thanks to this girlie. She gave me a great tune up; I feel better than I did when I broke out of that fancy doctor's office, 40 years ago. I'm healing faster, I'm moving faster...just all around better." he stretched, flexing his giant, bear-claw hands like someone getting used to them for the very first time.

 

"Superheroes don't get it...y'all do your heroing, age out, and retire, no one bothers you, you can sit tight on whatever cash you got on the side. For someone like me, all I've ever made is the money I got off using my fists, and that don't last forever. All them aches and pains? They mean more to me than you. I didn't age fast, but I aged hard. It got to the point where I couldn't work anymore; all these new kids with their powers. It wasn't like the old days where I would go toe to toe with Captain Thunder and give him a mauling; the new generation of the League were faster, stronger, smarter and even the Circuit was starting to run me out, but then I realized it wasn't them getting better; it was me getting worse." He spit at the ground. "I had a limp that I couldn't get rid of, my...fingers." He flexed his claws. "Would tingle. I couldn't close them all the way. I felt like a prisoner in my own body."  he growled. "But then, I hear about this girl from the Ringmaster...that her powers can turn back time for others...and here I am." He stretches again, big and full of himself. He's not eloquent in his speaking, but he's able to explain himself well enough. But 'The Ringmaster', that was probably something that wasn't supposed to be mentioned. Had someone new moved in to the top of the Circuit?

 

"That girl's put me and my boys back into the prime of our life. We're not old, tired men anymore! And what better way to prove it then to take on a Hero and show everyone that Bear Knuckle is back on top! And then, well, the Ringmaster wants to sell off uses of her power to the highest bidder, and I'll get a cut of every sale." he grinned.

 

There was a level of clear satisfaction in this; he was genuinely happy to be back in a body that was his, to have his freedom to do what he wanted again. What made him a villain wasn't that he was fighting the hands of time that took his freedom away, it was that he didn't care who got hurt in the process. But did that mean he could be convinced to let the girl go? Probably not without a fight, but maybe Captain Cosmos could trade a fight for the girl?

 

"So, do you wanna be the example being made?"

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

"She's done a good job," replied Buddy. "Got to hand it to her, you look a million dollars. And I guess you feel like a billion."

 

He floated a little nearer the ground. But not too near. Two dozen feet altitude. 

 

The Ringmaster, eh? Selling off her powers? Well, its a business, I guess. A bad business that will do good business, I bet. 

 

"I don't want to be an example, Knuckles. I'm no saint. And I bet you could give me a bloody nose and a ruptured spleen. No need to prove that to the world. I'm pretty sure you sold your...ah...product to the world."

 

"I wouldn't have thought you would stoop so low as to be a slaver, though. That went out of fashion a century ago. Unless your friend is actually agreeing to go into business with you?"

[Poncho]

(GM post)

 

The WCZA station crew camera was shifting back and forth between Captain Cosmos and Bear Knuckle as they talked; showing them both on the big screens across the city. Captain Cosmos was right about that part; even just seeing how Bear Knuckle looked right now was going to be a massive benefit to his future employment opportunities.

 

As Captain Cosmos gave his piece, the modified human stalled out and thought about it, his thoughts turning in his head. Bear Knuckle- and the rest of the Contenders- had never been the smartest of goons. That was part of their charm for their bosses; they couldn't rat out plans they didn't understand. But Bear Knuckle was also the one who had the worst temper amongst the Contenders, so while he didn't lash out or try to leap up at the Captain, he clearly wasn't swayed by the appeal, if anything it raised his hackles a little.

 

"Maybe she's not willing yet, but she's not being hurt by using her powers; they're just wasting away if she's not using them! And think of all the people that'll pay to get that treatment. It'll only take a few treatments before I've got enough money to do whatever I want, and then she can go home, or whatever." he snarled in response. He was mad, watching Captain Cosmos with sharp, angry eyes. He was, at the least, smart enough to know when someone was trying to talk him down.

 

"But you are right to be scared of me! I've got more experience in my big toe than most of you heroes, and a body that's just as capable as it's ever been! There's no better proof than seeing it in action, and if you want her back, you'll have to give me what I want!" He slapped the box with his giant bear claws and the girl inside shrieked. That made the cops tense up, which made the guards around the bandshell structure tense up, which made the people tense up.

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

Or whatever... clearly Bear Knuckles hadn't really thought through his plan, and even if he had, the nuances of economics were beyond his brain. Perhaps he had been knocked on the skull one to many time. 

 

Buddy knew better than to tell Bear Knuckles to calm down; a phrase that always had the opposite effect. But he did get a feel for the man-Bear Knuckles was ripe for taunting. 

 

He floated down and planted his fleet on the ground. He kept his face cool - but he felt himself tense. He could shrug off a bullet, but he had the strong feeling he was going to be blocking Bear Knuckles fist with his face. He sniffed. 

 

There would be blood on his costume tonight. 

 

"Well then, what do you propose? Pistols at dawn?"

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"Nothing so fancy, Hero. When the cage goes down, we wait until the bell rings, and then we go at it. If you knock me out, the cage and the girl go home with you. If I take you down, the girl still goes home, but you get to be the living example of what me and my boys can do now. I won't even kill ya!" he raised his clawed hands up like a brawler. "That's easy enough, right? The only thing at risk is your dignity." He chortled, his laugh was as rough as his voice, not as gravelly and aged as it was before but still showing signs of hard living that he'd had even at the age he was now. But the lack of age to his voice was probably why he was talking so much; with even his voice aged back to a younger time, he was probably enjoying the sound of it.

 

As he prepared to get into a fight with Captain Cosmos, Senator Fredrickson's voice broke over the amassed crowd; his voice was old, weak, arguably feeble. He was old, and Bear Knuckle was young, but his voice had a strong resolve even despite it.

 

"Captain Cosmos! Please save my Granddaughter! No matter what, I'm begging you to do so!" He called over the din of the crowd as the electric cage started to close on the shell around the mighty Captain Cosmos and the rejuvenated Bear Knuckle. One way or the other, someone was going to be on TV Screens tonight as the winner of a full on Super-powered Street Fight.

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

"Nothing so fancy, eh? Not a surprise. No flourish, no panache. No creativity or art. All you are is blood and bone, Mr Knuckles. You truly were born for the arena. And here we are, like gladiators."

 

Buddy took a breath in. It was good to hear the Bear Knuckles wouldn't kill him. Buddy was pragmatic; he would much rather give up his dignity than his life. 

 

But he would try not to do either. Failure wasn't going to be a bruised ego, or a black eye. It would be losing the young girl. The Senator didn't need to beg, Captain Cosmos was already on the case. 

 

"Don't worry, Senator. I'm going to win your grand daughter back."

 

It was a promise he couldn't be sure he could keep. But the Senator could do with the reassurance, even if it was false. 

 

He put that out of his mind. There was a fight coming, and Buddy knew it would be tough one. 

 

Brace for impact... he told himself. Dont underestimate....

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"In my line of work, I leave the fancy to the bosses." He said, dismissively. He was, after all, the sort of villain who had never once abandoned his functional work outfit of steel toes, worker's jeans, and a tank top. But never say that simple means incompetent, and that was proven in an instant!

 

He moved fast. A wise mind to spot openings combined with sharp reflexes to take advantage of them! He was on Captain Cosmos and bringing those massive, bulging claws down at his head! He was leaving himself completely open to any sort of counter attack. Bear Knuckle had always been able to heal fast, and he was relying on that and his new body right now as he opened his body up absolutely for an attempt to get one hard hit on the Superhero and put him on the back foot, or even take him out entirely.

 

A brute he may be, but he had a lot of experience in being a brute.

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

Captain Cosmos was prepared for a head shot - the villain wanted to take him out, take him out fast and hard. He brought his hands up. The claws racked his forearms, tearing the costume and scratching his skin. There was even a spot of blood, but nothing that really damaged him. He barely felt it. 

 

Instead, he focussed on his counter attack, a solid jab that would have punched a hole through a brick wall with his strength. Instead, it connected with a glance on Knuckles, enough to knock stars to his eyes and throw him several feet away. 

 

Buddy saw the bruise light up on Knuckles forehead, then deflate again. Could he always do that, or is that some effect of his newfound youth?  it was a fleeting thought, he paid it little mind. He could hardly afford to. The pertinent point was there; Kunckles could regenerate. 

 

Captain Cosmos changed his tactics. He flew over and behind Knuckles and attempted a bear hug, hoping his own (hopefully) superior strength would give him an edge. 

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

Captain Cosmos hooked Bear Knuckle in a Bear Hug from behind, and the stout redheaded man struggled futilely!

 

"HEY! Lemme go you caped up clown!" He growled, swiping out with those big meaty claws but unable to get around his own body, completely at the mercy of the mighty Captain Cosmos! The cage fighter kicks his legs and scrapes across the ground but fails to gain any traction as he struggles against the polished wooden floor of the bandshell.

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

"What, so you can headbutt me? Let you go so you can cut me up? I though you wanted a fight? Or do you think I am a stupid as you? Not easy to be that idiotic, you moron!"

 

Captain Cosmos gave a mocking laugh. He didn't really want to taunt a dumb animal, it felt wrong. But Knuckles was stronger than he would have liked, and he had an animal ferocity to go with it. The fight wasn't done till he had won it. 

 

Or lost it. Yes, he could still loose it. 

 

But he pressed his advantage, crushing Knuckles with his arms from behind, exerting his full force. Hoping that would enough to defeat the villain-but far from sure. 

Edited December 31, 2023 by Supercape

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

The titans of the night struggled! Screens and cameras flashed! In high rises and dive bars both, in the dorms of Claremont and FCU, in Champion's and homes across rhe city, the fight flashed on screens. In the seediest of the bars- and the most high class of the clubs-, money changed hands; as the odds shifted up and down with their continuing struggle. Bear Knuckle was going to be a brand new man after tonight, with a bevy of job offers and new prestige. This was only the start of a brand new chapter in the Contender's story. 

 

But in the ring. The gladiators only had eyes for each other. 

 

It is said the crossing of fists brings an understanding between warriors; many of the greatest warriors of their age called their greatest rivals 'friend', wrote poems of how much they cared for them. 

 

In crossing fists with Bear Knuckle, however, Captain Cosmos does not find the soul of a poet, of an unwilling man forced into his actions or a man with honor and dignity. He finds a man who has always been, who always will be, a bully and a brute. A man who kidnaps a child and puts her in a box for a spectacle is no more than that. In those thick, shifting muscles, he feels not a justified fury but a rage that has defined the man all his life. He was a brute before he got his powers, he was a brute when he killed a friend for pushing him. He is a brute now.

 

"You sonuva! I'm gonna feed you you're intestines!" He snarled and twisted, bruises appearing and disappearing across his skin as he's choked, but he stalled and had to recover his breath rather than try to break out.

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

Ignoring (for the moment), Bear Knuckle, Captain Cosmos flew straight up, like a rocket. He could ascend faster, by transgressing normal dimensional status, but that was not something he was prepared to his mind through right now. 

 

And hopefully Bear Knuckle was going to capitulate soon. 

 

Because, quite frankly, Buddy felt his rage building. Bear Knuckle was an odious bully, and Buddy felt like smashing his brains out. But firstly, he thought that it would be hard to hit such as small target, and secondly he knew where his own rage came from. His father was a bully, and that bitter rage still lived in Buddy. 

 

He had to bite his lip. 

 

"Knuckles, if you don't let that girl I am going to drop you. Or maybe fly you into space where you can freeze and your insides turn inside out from the vaccuum. You can sure fight, but you can't fly. Maybe I'll do both. Now let that girl go and we can talk. Because otherwise it might be real hard to breathe, one way or another...."

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

Now that they were extremely, extremely high in the air, the man who had never 'learned' to fly, and who had- in a previous adventure- walked off a skyscraper stopped struggling so hard. He really did not want to repeat being dropped into the ground from a high distance, even if he'd probably survive it. Even less wanted was his desire to be punted into space. He DEFINITELY couldn't survive that. So he paused, no longer lashing out at Captain Cosmos with his claws as he took a deep breath and considered his options. Bear Knuckle was not particularly smart, but he was cunning. He knew when he had some leverage.

 

"...Okay. I'll cut a deal. You put me down at the outskirts of town, and I'll break this collar myself. You can say you tossed me into the ocean and take the girl back, and I'll lay low for awhile and promise not to kidnap no more kids." He arguably didn't have THAT much leverage, but he had never negotiated the contracts for the Contenders, and he was ready to cut bait and run at this point.

Edited December 17, 2023 by Poncho

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

It was a tempting offer. 

 

Buddy weighed up the deal. On the one hand, Bear Knuckle was a dangerous villain, and merely letting him go would be opening up the doors to chaos to come. But on the other hand, a girls life was in the balance right here, right now. 

 

He chewed his tongue trying to wrap his head around the delicate balance. 

 

Ultimately, he chose what he considered the selfish option. The girl. He couldn't live with himself if the girl came to harm. 

 

Sure, he could try and smash up Bear Knuckle right here, right now, and hope that Bear Knuckle would keep to his word. But would he? Who knew what that collar had in store, what was going on behind the scenes? 

 

And the kicker... would Bear Knuckle keep to the new deal?

 

He decided to exert more leverage. 

 

"No deal," he said bluntly. "I could just drop you right here, right now, and I win the fight, and took out a supervillain as a bonus. So you aren't offering me anything."

 

He paused. 

 

"Unless...."

 

Here it came. 

 

"Unless you offer me something more than that kid's life. Like who set this all up? I'll give respect to your fists, big respect. You should have been a vigilante, not a crook. But your brains? You haven't got the patience to set something like this up. So spill the beans!"

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

The burly man weighed his options. He wasn't smart. He was stubborn as a mule. He was the kind of person who always thought second, fought first. But maybe this age reversal had somehow made him just a bit more canny, or maybe now that he'd been given a second chance he was more willing to try and keep it. It was hard to tell, but after a long silence he finally spoke.

 

"Alright cape, I'll explain it." he finally said gruffly.

 

"Me an' the boys. We weren't spring chickens no more. And this new batch of kids, they're just gettin' stronger and stronger it feels like. You can feel that, can'tcha? You're no spring chicken yourself. Either you're gettin' old or they're getting tougher, and it grates on ya. Especially when you've earned yer living punching people in the face. And there's always someone new rising up. I spent a good 30 years knockin' 'em down. I killed a few of 'em, maimed a few of 'em, taught them not to mess wit' me. But I couldn't do it no more. The numbness in my fingers. I couldn't curl my toes. I knew my number was up. Then Augustus died. That's when I knew we were really in trouble. Relegated to a side show. We tried a few times to come back but we just couldn't keep up." he frowns.

 

"Then this new person shows up. Calls themselves The Ringmaster. Brings a whole set of new people; like they've got big plans. And I figure they're about to put us out to pasture, send us to a farm upstate...but no. They mention this girl. Says we can get back to where we were. All we needed was to get her to use her powers on us. I don't know how they knew what the girl's powers were, they must have some kinda secret connection to people who know these things. He had me take her for his scientist, and he...I guess he made her powers work. On all four of us. Then The Ringmaster gave me the girl and told me to go get on TV, show people I was back, get some new contracts."

 

He pauses.

 

"...I think he wanted to give the girl back. Like they don't need her anymore, so they didn't want to bother keeping her." he says this like it's now dawning on him; the realization that once more he has been little more than a cog in a game that he was not given the full information about.

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

Buddy felt a pang of guilt. He was indeed no spring chicken, with flecks of grey in his hair and lines on his face that make up artists couldn't fudge. But since drawing on the power of the multiverse, he no longer aged - or if he did, he didn't notice it. He could still lift a bench press a tank. Would he live for ever? He didn't know. But it was he was fortunate beyond most mortal lives. 

 

"The Ringmaster, eh?"

 

Sounded like a supervillain mastermind. 

 

"Sounds like he took you for a fool and played you," he said, without taunting or cruelty in the words. "Just another pawn on his chessboard. Why are you fighting me, when you could be fighting him?"

 

 

 

"

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"Don't we all wish it was that easy!" he chortled. It was at least enough to put him in a bit of a good mood. "Nah...I can't cut and run. Not with my boys still there, and not while I still got debts to settle up; if this treatment really worked, and me and the boys are really back to our primes, that's a whole lot of years that The Ringmaster just bought us, and we ain't the kind that double-crosses our benefactors. And let's be honest, flyboy; I might be lucid now, but it's because the cool air cooled me off and the chokehold made me think. We both know I ain't cut out for any sort of going good. I'm always gonna be who I am, and there ain't no shame in that. But right now, I think you got it right that this dog ain't got no more fight in him for tonight. So yeah, consider me tapped out. " He said with a thick snort, breathing out a blast of misty air and shaking his head. "You got Bear Knuckle locked down but good."