ic 2,4,6,8 (IC)

[Poncho]

There are things that are unfortunate in this World.

 

Not everyone always gets what they deserve, and not everyone always gets what they want.

 

It is not the fault of those who had unfortunate situations happen to them that those things did happen, and often their consequences are, regrettably, not just upon the individual.

 

But there are also those who have no compunctions about what they do, and benefit from those consequences.

 

Compassion and Conviction must be handled in equal measure.

 

Early September 2024, Midtown: Champion's Restaurant

 

It was getting close to closing time at Champion's. Attached to the Super Museum, it needed to close when the museum did, so it often ended up closing a little earlier than a traditional restaurant would. They had stopped taking orders a little bit ago, and were just closing out the last checks. 

 

The entertainment tonight, or rather, the special thing that had drawn a larger crowd than usual, was a special yearly retirement ceremony. Several Heroes who had either finished their careers or had trained up successors to take their place were officially hanging up the cape, and the Super Museum was taking in several pieces of their costumes, equipment, and the like. In addition to this was a small telethon for the children's hospital. The retirees had been at Champion's most of the day, taking it in shifts to donate their gear, give speeches, and be interviewed about their old days; many would have private retirement ceremonies or more grandiose ones later, this was often only one stop on the retirement tour.

 

Buddy Brand, the popular news anchor of WCZA 7, had been handling the last portion of the telethon. He'd interviewed Hot Streak and Cold Rush, a pair of speedsters with hot and cold based powers, respectively, who were gladly retiring together now that their child had graduated to a full time hero herself. They'd talked at length about their battles with various villains and how they ended up starting their first teamups and then dating, but it was all in good fun- they enjoyed talking about the not so friendly rivalry they'd had when they were younger-, but they'd ended up packing it in themselves. There were only a few people left in Champion's, and they were heading out, leaving just Buddy and a couple of members of the crew to finish packing up the Telethon gear and get out of there; time for them to head home themselves.

 

It had been a successful day, with no major incidents, which often meant problems were just around the corner.

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

Buddy munched on a Danish pastry, he sipped on a black coffee. He chewed the inside of his cheek, wondering how he had done. He had that nagging sense he had missed something, some nugget of gold that had slipped his gaze. He had pestered the crew, trying to work out what they might have done better. Pestered them too much, probably. 

 

Buddy was in that funny position in media. He was good. Clearly and undeniably good. But he wasn't one of the greats. He was good enough to have no particular reason to worry about getting fired, but this was the cut throat world of media. Just a bit better and he would be in that enviable position of too valuable to let go. Instead, he was sackable, but without any reason to be sacked. A solid B+ kind of guy. Nobody wanted to fire him, but they could, if they wanted to. 

 

He devoured the rest of the pastry and rubbed the back of his neck. 

 

"Sorry guys," he said to the crew. "I know we did a good job, but it didn't really sparkle. But hey, you can't get a masterpiece with every piece, right? We wrapped it up. Good job..."

 

It wasn't his best pep talk. But he gave a good smile. And, at the end of the day, his crew trusted Buddy. Buddy was one of the good guys, not ready to knife you in the back to get a better job. 

 

Still, the feeling nagged Buddy. Did he miss something?

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"You got it boss." Francis said as he moved to finish packing things up. "Sorry we didn't get the big look you were hoping for. I know you're trying to get that promotion. The crew's definitely hoping you get it, so we're trying our best, but we can't hit all the time, you're right." he admitted, frowning at Buddy. "Still, we'll do better next time, promise." 

 

And so Francis headed to keep packing up the gear, leaving Buddy alone for a bit more. 

 

It was when he was alone that the News Anchor spotted the helmet. 

 

Hot Streak had a special helmet as part of his suit; it was filled with fancy gizmos and gadgets to enhance his vision and senses to help deal with his speed. It was supposed to go to the museum proper. 

 

But apparently, when taking the suits over, they'd forgotten the Helmet, and now Buddy was staring at it as it sat on the table; a dark red helmet with white highlights that looked somewhat similar to a bike racer's helmet with a connected visor. 

 

If it was supposed to be in the Museum, maybe he should bring it over. At least doing a good deed might help the funk.

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

"Don't sweat it. Good job is a good job. And to be honest, I don't know if I want a promotion. Too much stress. I drink too much coffee and eat to many pastries as is. My heart will give out..."

 

And besides, he was busy as Captain Cosmos. Mid level fame was about as much as he could afford. 

 

He took up the helmet and peered into the eyes. Was this what he had missed? It was an impressive piece of technology, for sure. And looked pretty cool. 

 

Yeah, he should bring it back...

 

...but first...

 

He had to try it on! The helmet was begging him to do it. 

 

Just for size. 

 

See what it would do. 

 

And then he could take it to the museum!

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

The helmet felt...right. Or good. It was high quality, made by a skilled craftsman, mechanic, and programmer. The visor flashed subtly as Buddy put it on, but it quickly shifted to an unobtrusive HUD. It was easy to see why Hot Streak was proud of this helmet; it had a schedule of his activities in it- Blank, since he had wiped it before handing it over-, a listing of nearby police radio frequencies, weather and temprature information, even the time of day it was and nearby traffic issues. A Hero using this was uniquely connected to everything they'd need to know, and it was perfect for a Speedster. Buddy quickly realized he could even change the visual focus of the helmet with simple eye motions and blinks; a blink then a glance to the right activated a microscope, a blink and a glance to the left telescoped in, to reset the view you blinked twice then rolled your eyes upward. 

 

A blink then a flick downward activated Thermal vision, strong enough to see through walls. He could see the staff in the back of Champion's turning off and cleaning down the grills. He could see his guys packing up their gear, he could see the Museum's two night watchmen setting up at the entrance.

 

And he could see 2 other figures deeper in the Museum. From their motions, they were picking up and moving artifacts; putting some of them on and others onto the floor.

 

Had this helmet just shown him a crime occuring?

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

Maybe it had, maybe it had not...

 

But Buddy swiped the helmet off, eyes wide, the first trace of sweat on his brow. 

 

"This is a job for..."

 

A quick glance around - nobody watching -

 

"Captain Cosmos!"

 

In the blink of an eye, he had changed into the suit, mask and cape of Buddy Brand, and floated in the air. 

 

"Always wanted to say that..." he muttered to himself, with a wry smile. 

 

He could sweep into action, sure, but he wanted to know what was really happening before charging in like a drug fuelled rhino. He didn't like going trans-dimensional, but...

 

His figure blurred around the edges, as the mind and flesh of Captain Cosmos strode into vast unknown higher dimensions. It would be a strain on his mental health - for sure, but if he was quick, maybe not so bad. He quickly flew closer to the two men, bypassing solid matter (walls, ceilings, fake potted plants), and trying to listen in...

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

So Buddy Brand was replaced by Captain Cosmos!

 

And then Captain Cosmos went to investigate!

 

As he got closer to them, he could make out clearer what they were doing, without the need of the thermal infrared helmet, with his trans dimensional sight and hearing, he could make it out!

 

Two youngish looking thugs in their late 20s were cruising the halls of the Museum like a shopping center, dufflebags full of loot. They were even wearing some of it!

 

"Okay, so that's the Shadowalker's cane, the costume of the Shifting Serpent, and Sightline's helmet." said one as he tossed the items into the bag. He was wearing a green cape with a yellow hourglass on it that was clearly taken from Happenstance's old costume. "Did we get Dr. Tomorrow's rocket pack, goggles, and laser gun?" he asked his compatriot

"Yeah. And his belt." the slightly older thug said as he pulled a mask over his head. With a distinctive white X on an otherwise featureless black mask, it was clearly part of the costume of The Spot. "How do owe even know if these things work?"

It was a legitimate question. Not everything at the Super Museum was the actual version of the object; and if a hero had powers, it was unlikely their costume would have been part of it. Captain Cosmos might be able to remember which were costumes for costume's sake and which were power suits if he put his mind to it. These guys probably didn't, and clearly knew they didn't.

 

"We can't know, not really. But we're just grabbing anything we think might be relevant to the listing and going from there." The one who was clearly in charge explained.

 

"Oh!" the other one stopped at a battlesuit in a glass case. "This was Colorshift's! Do you think we should take it?" 

 

"...Might trigger the alarms. But it isn't a bad thing to snatch..." the boss said, thinking about it.

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

Villains! Thieves!

 

Theft was bad enough, but stealing these powerful items? They would almost certainly end up in the wrong hands and be put to nefarious and malign use. Buddy had a vague recollection of the heroes and their powers - he couldn't recall anything nuclear in destructive potential, but still...

 

He flew 1right up to them, became solid, and held up a finger. 

 

"Villains! Thieves!"

 

It was a satisfying articulation of his thoughts. 

 

"Cease! Those capes and costumes are property of the city, and dangerous! What business have you with them? Nothing good, I should wager!"

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"...Ah Crap!" one of them yelled as Captain Cosmos appeared, the one who was not standing close to Colorshift's armor. "Hero!" he called to his compatriot. "We need to go!" he reached down to a belt. It had belonged to Mist Weaver, and he reached into one of the pockets and removed several balls, throwing them onto the floor.

 

Mystifying Mist erupted out of the little marble sized balls, filling the area with a thick, cloudy smoke.

"Cheese it!" he yelled and Captain Cosmos could hear the man's feet beating. Then the sound of glass shattering. But the mist was thick now! How could Captain Cosmos catch the men when he couldn't see them!? Did he have a plan!?

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Cheese it?"

 

What the hell was the man talking about?

 

Instinctively, the Captain put up his arms and turned his head to one side as the smoke filled the air. He didn't need to breathe, not any longer, and no poison would affect him. But the instinct of two score years as regular Buddy Brand had not died. Perhaps it never would. It made him angry - with himself. 

 

"You're not getting away from me, sunshine!" he yelled. But of course despite his immense strength, he coudn't see them. He couldn't see more than six inches from his face. He couldn't grab something he couldn't see. 

 

But he still couldn't let them get away. 

 

It was no doubt a further bruise to his sanity, but he had pride to consider, as well as a right spirited need to protect the public and blah blah etc etc yada yada... who am I kidding, it's pride...

 

He reached out into the fog, and, drawing on a myriad menu of esoteric dimensions, proceeded to punch and rip a hole in the multiverse. 

 

With a splintering sound, like shattering glass, the whole area was covered in planes of shattered dimensions, showing strange and confusing images, little slits into other universes. And, with a bit of luck, those shards would imprison the crooks!

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

The thug that was clearly already on the run yelps. "Oh crickey!" he's clearly caught, somewhere in the smoke. But elsewhere in the slowly clearing smoke there's a moving mechanical sound.

 

"OH! Haha! I'm in it! Yes! I'm the new Colorshift! Alright Captain Cosmos! Let's see what you can do against me! Uh, Colorshift...two!? Blacklight? Downshift?" he wasn't sure exactly what he was going to be called in his stolen suit. And then there's a thundering roar as Colorshift's rocket boots activate and then several more crashes as he goes sideways, smashing into a display of Daedalus and sending it scattering across the waxed floors, starting to cause damage!

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

Captain Cosmos could see for the smoke. But the Thug wouldn't know that, right?

 

And besides, Captain Cosmos could hear perfectly well. Smoke didn't block hearing. The smashing statue made Captain Cosmos wince. The horror! Such disrespect! For both art and Daedelus!

 

"How about Prison-shift?" he shouted. "Seeing as that's where you will be going! That's if my COSMIC VISION doesn't DISINTERGRATE you first! Haha! You didnt think about that, did you? With my COSMIC VISION I can see through smoke as if looking through a glass window!"
 

He could do not such thing, of course. He kind of wished he could. It sounded cool. 

 

"BUT if you cease and desist now there is no need for me to ATOMISE your body!" he added. 

 

He had no real expectation of surrender; it was an extremely long shot. But he lost nothing by trying, and with a bit of luck, the thug would be silly enough to quip a response, and perhaps give away his location...

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"Jackknife just do what he says! This ain't worth getting arrested or disintegrated by a cape over!" The trapped thug yelled.

 

"...No. NO! I'm not Jackknife anymore!" The man in the suit of armor declared. "I'm Blacklight! I'm the newest Supervillain in town!" He yelled. The smoke was clearing up now, as Colorshift's armor was finishing its sealing process and Blacklight pointed the weapons systems at Captain Cosmos.

 

"Let's see what you can do, Captain!" He said, going mad with power of a stolen armor and ready to rumble!

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

"Blacklight! A fine name, a fine suit! A fine hero!" said Captain Cosmos. 

 

"Clothes maketh the man, do they not? You know have a mantle, and with a great mantle comes a great man. Think! You were on one road, were you not? Thinking a suit could give you another, better road? How true! Think what you could do now. A life of wretchedness. Bad sleep. Unloved. A gnawing in  your gut everynight, wondering how you ended up in the pit you dugyourself. This option is yours... but think! Now you have that suit on, do you not feel something greater in your grasp? A life of adulation, a life of adventure, a life of heroics! Every night, dreaming of satisfaction. Your gaze is met by respect, not fear. Friends behind your back, not knives!"

 

He paused for breath, and let his hands make grand Shakespearean gestures. 

 

"You are Blacklight now! Scourge of evil! Hero of Freedom City! This cape, this legacy, is yours to forge! Are you bold enough to seize it? Or will it slip from  your grasp and seed a hundred years of bitter lamentations?"

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"...I..." Jackknife Blacklight hesitated, staring at his hands. He may have stolen the suit, he may not know anything about it. But he liked Colorshift. He thought Colorshift was cool. So what was he to do now? A long moment passed.

 

"You can not be serious." His compatriot said in confusion.

 

"...I AM Blacklight! I REVEAL THE STAINS OF CRIME UPON THIS CITY!" he said, turning on a UV light that swept over the scene, revealing footprints, hand prints, all the normal stuff you'd expect. "THE STAINS RUN DEEP IN THIS CITY, AND I AM THE CLEANER!" he yelled. Colorshift's colorful rocketboots suddenly began to roar, and with a thunderous boom, he took off in a rainbow explosion of smoke, coating the entire room in glitter as he smashed directly through the skylight of the museum and off into the dark. Even as his voice faded away, Blacklight's proclamations of coming to save the city, of revealing and deep cleaning the stains of the city, of being the dark light in the brightness of the city, did not stop.

 

After all the plaster and glass and everything else finished falling to the floor of the museum, after the smoke settled and the glitter kind of cleared, Captain Cosmos was left standing with the thug caught by his multi-dimensional snare, who looked with mouth agape at the ceiling.

 

"What in the hell just happened." he finally said. "You know he just stole that suit, right?"

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

Captain Cosmos raised his eyebrows at Blacklight. He hadn't expected his monologue on the virtues and rewards of being a hero to have such an impact - whatever that impact was. He had barely believed the words himself. True, there were rewards, and the power was not something to sniff at. But it also, at times, felt like a weight on his shoulders. 

 

Ah, life was never meant to be easy...

 

He turned his attention back to the other crook. 

 

"Yes, that much is clear," he said, chewing his words. "But what is very much not clear, my crooked chum, is why did he steal it? Come now, you are caught already, the jig is up. Spill the beans and all that. Might help you in court!"

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"...What, you think I'm just gonna tell you that easy? Come on man, I'm a professional. I don't rat out my employers. I got paid in advance too, which is a big plus; most people either pay after or don't pay at all, but getting paid early? That's the stuff of dreams. You can buy my loyalty with that." he said, still being wary of the portals and the Superhero. "Maybe if you gave me a free pass for this, since I mean, you did get all the gear I was holding to other than the stuff that Jackknife just ran off with, then maybe I'd tell you rather than go to jail. Like...you know it'd destroy my professional reputation and I'd be kind of ruined, but I'd rather be ruined and not in jail then in jail and not ruined, or ruined and in jail." He said. He was basically waggling his eyebrows at this, suggesting he could be bribed. He wasn't even being particularly subtle about this, he may as well had a great big sign he was waving saying 'let me go and I'll give you what you want'

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

"Professional?" said Captain Cosmos, scoffing. 

 

It rankled, but getting one crook in jail was less important than stopping another crook run around with some super powered gear. It rankled bad, but it was the right thing to do. Ideals were great, but you could lead to great evil. 

 

He reached out, and flicked his fingers at the two biggest dimensional shard. With his super powered strength, they shattered into tiny fragments of dimensional splinters, then melted into nothing. At least, Captain Cosmos hoped they melted into nothing. He didn't like punching and ripping a hole through the multiverse. He feared the damage might come back to haunt him one day. 

 

"Well, my professional friend. You can scuttle away, you have my word. If you tell me what the hell is going on here. Who do you work for, why these relics, and where has your friend gone? And if I catch you again, you will be in serious trouble...."

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"Okay, okay. So here's what I know." he raised his hands. "We were hired to steal any equipment related to strange transporting powers. You know, Teleportation, Shadow Movement, all those classics. We were hired by."

 

Captain Cosmos heard them before he needed to; he could turn and see the beam of energy shooting at him.

 

"They were hired by us." The reply was simple and curt, as direct and efficient as the beam streaking towards Captain Cosmos' chest.

 

It was coming from the hand of a woman in a full suit of armor with a big 2 painted on the gleaming silver chest piece, who had floated in through the broken skylight above Captain Cosmos and the other thief. There were three others; 4, 6, and 8. Their expressionless face-plates gave away nothing, their voices were devoid of emotion like military assets on a mission. There seemed to be a few 'aftermarket' upgrades on the suits from the classic Power Corps set, electric pulses hissed on the knuckles of the suits, and one had an additional shoulder-mounted cannon. These super suits had been suped-up, specifically for dealing with Super Heroes, it seemed!

 

"Buddy, we were hoping to catch Backtrack at this retirement shindig, but it seems like we've caught Captain Cosmos instead. But hey, changing dimensions is a pretty good transportation power itself. So you can come along quietly and quickly...or we'll blow this place sky high if we have to." She gestured and the other three spread out to surround the Captain and pin him in!

 

Meanwhile, the regular human thief was escaping, not with any gear, but just with his own skin, leaping through an open window.

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

Bah! Let him run... thought Captain Cosmos, without resentment. He was small fry, and a promise is a promise. The bigger problem...

 

"Buddy?" he screamed, terror gripping his chest so hard her pressed his finger tips to his chest, wanting to tear out the acidic lungs and thundering heart from his ribs. 

 

They had found out his secret identity!

 

"How? How did you find out?" he said, forcing the words out of his garrotted throat. "Tell me? How! Please! Don't tell anyone!"

 

He backed away, until he hit a wall behind him. He sank to his knees, despair on his shoulders. He put his hands in his head. 

 

"How? Spying on me? I was so careful!" he cried, leaking tears, face in his palms, shaking uncontrollably. 

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"...What did you do to him, 2?" Asked 8, who seemed quite concerned. "Is...is he okay?"

 

"I...I didn't do anything." 2 replied, frustrated. "Stop freaking out!" she yelled at Captain Cosmos. "We're trying to kidnap you and that's gonna be weird if you're crying!" she pulled her fist down, opening her palm and sending a blast of energy at him.

 

"Wait, do we really have to shoot him? Maybe we can just convince him to come with us." 6 offered.

"...Let's try that. Hey, Captain. We could have a big fight, but you don't look like you're in your best mind. Do you just wanna surrender to us right now?" Number 4 offered.

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

The beam struck Captain Cosmos straight on. He raised his hands from his face, trying to ward of the energy like he was trying to ward of a ghost. The energy splintered, fractured. His hands started to glow from blocking the beam. 

 

"No... no... I don't want to fight! Who are you? What do you want?" he yelled, still fighting tears. In his head, his entire life was crashing down. Somehow, these people had found out his secret identity! How? His physician? No.... surely not. Someone at the TV station? His next door neighbour? That old Jewish Man who sold him pretzels down the street? How? Had they bugged his room?

 

"Please! Just stop firing at me! I don't want to fight! I'll... I'll do anything! Just don't tell anyone!"

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"Okay! Okay! Stop!" Said number 4, getting between 2 and Cosmos. "He said he'd go. We don't need to attack him if he's going peacefully, all we have to do is get him to come with us, that was all we got paid to do. And we should be doing the easiest thing, right? Instead of possibly damaging our gear."

 

There was silence for a little bit.

 

"...Alright. Captain Cosmos. Come with us." Number 2 said as they floated down and her and number 8 took him by the arms. "Just come quietly and we won't have any trouble, I promise."

Edited September 19 by Poncho

[Supercape]

Captain Cosmos

 

A cold sweat hit Buddy's brow. He wasn't Captain Cosmos anymore. He was exposed. Buddy Brand, Newcaster, Anchorman. Good old dependable Buddy Brand. 

 

Not any more. He was revealed!

 

Perhaps... perhaps these armoured soldiers... perhaps they wont tell? I can make a deal? If I play nicely? What do they want?

 

It was a hope. A longshot hope, but he would take it. Find out how they knew, how far the news had spread. It was possible, just faintly possible, he could put this back together again.

 

He forced his spine straight. 

 

"Sure," he said, with a merry salute. "I am happy to help!"

 

He gave a smile. A weak one, but the best he could do. 

 

Hands on hips, to project some kind of confidence (that was not there) and lack of threat, he floated into the air and proceeded to follow them, capitulating to their every demand.