ic Dueling Storms

[EternalPhoenix]

April 20, 2017. The Caribbean. Cilan Island. Mid-Morning.

 

Cilan Island was roughly the size of a postage stamp, metaphorically speaking. It was barely in the Caribbean at all, lying right between it and the Mid-Atlantic. Most people didn’t even know it was there. Until today, when a pair of hurricanes (Category 5, the both of them) sprung up almost as if by magic over the course of an hour and a half. It couldn’t possibly be right, but it seemed as if the two storms were fighting each other in deadly earnest. The poor little island was standing right in their path.

 

Maybelle McQueen took one look at the breaking news report and ran out of the Southern Queen. The few hundred people on that island were in serious trouble, and neither of those storms were natural. She tossed command to her sous chef on the way out, and then shot into the air hard enough to rattle windows. Even at top speed, it would take her at least a half hour to get there. By then the storms would be overrunning the island, and people would be in desperate need of help. Fortunately, Queenie was on the job.

[Kolohehonu]

Hyperactive mostly watched as the last couple thugs went down. Gallant had the situation under control and enjoyed the process of handing out justice to the average gangster far more than Hyperactive did. Not to say he hadn't helped in the drug bust. He'd pulled the little speedboat up out of the water and placed it on land, robbing them of their escape before jumping into the fray. But the battle was pretty much over and who was he to interrupt a friend's fun?

 

The buzz of his cellphone caused Hyperactive to look down at his belt. He pulled the device out and answered. 

"Druid? What's up?" He mouthed the words: wrap it up at Gallant. 

"Two category 5 Hurricanes about to hit the Caribbean. They aren't natural." The elf hero replied on the other end of the phone. "They showed up full strength about an hour and a half ago."

"I trust your nature assessment, so what magic?"

"Could be. Could be tech, regardless their course is eratic and at the moment a few degrees difference and they could hit Texas. I'd send Mystery Master with you but he's busy in Baton Rouge on a lead." 

"Don't worry, I'm making friends in the big city." Hyperactive laughed. "Gallant and I can handle this, Hyperactive out." The Speedster rushed over to the last thug near Gallant and simply body checked him. The sound of sirens in the distance meant the police would get here before anyone got up. "Two storms that are definitely not natural and maybe magical are about to hit the Caribbean, I'm gonna need your help." Hyperactive said. Without waiting for a response, Hyperactive ran swift circles around Gallant lifting him in a wind funnel. Then he took off out over the waters towards the Caribbean.  

[olopi]

It was a slow morning at WestRock. Easter Holidays meant most people had taken the week off, so the office was short-staffed. Which meant that instead of working on anything new, the few remaining employees just did the basic repairs that came up. And this early in the morning, that wasn’t a whole lot. So, when the news of the hurricane came in, everybody’s eyes were glued to the screen.

 

Hakim saw the hurricanes. Clearly they weren’t natural. But that wasn’t all that important. What was, was the fact that they were huge, threatening, and would pose a good challenge. Sha’ir showing up outside of the ECs was something he’d not quite figured out how to handle yet. But, it felt like this was as good a chance as any.

 

“Gonna head out to get some stuff. If anything urgent comes up, or there’s new stuff with this situation there, gimme a call. “

 

And with that, Hakim Naifeh left the building, and turned a few streets. Most places around the area had some sort of security cameras, but there were a few he’d scouted out that didn't. And moments afterwards, Sha’ir the Spellsmith stepped through a portal, into Cilan Island.

[The Sailor]

Claremont Academy...

 

Sakurako's computer sounded a warning signal, notifying her over her smartphone... and all her other devices that she owned scattered about. Luckily Sakurako's schedule today was wide open. The advantages of being a senior. She looked at the NWS and other weather buoy data plots as she rushed to her room, grabbing suit and putting it on as she looked things over.

 

She turned pale. "By Cousteau's Wetsuit! The ocean's gonna be the death of me..."

 

She knew she had to make a call. She called up her friend Casey.

 

"Miracle Girl... it's Sakurako... I think this you're gonna need to answer... I'm gonna need some assistance." She said, sending a e-mail with links to the storm feed. "We got an unnatural weather occurrence at the fringe of the Caribbean. The weather patterns in the area couldn't even attempt to support two hurricanes of Category 5 strength. Doesn't take a detective to figure this out... it's unnatural."

 

"What's more, there are people living on an island that's about to be erased by those storms... This is going to be a SAR nightmare."

 

She makes sure the life preserver on her mission vest was securely clipped on into it's position, swapping out the parachute for a small single-person life raft... not that it would help much with that many people on that island, but at this point Sakurako was going through the paces. Last few times she's been knocked in the drink she could have liked having something to sit in... "Bring something waterproof if you intend to come along. I'll meet you in the Quad in 15 minutes, that'll give ya time to gear up."

 

She adjusts her suit, closing the helmet and doing a life support test. "Why does it always have to be in the water..." She said with a frustrated sigh as she rushes to the open field, waiting for her friend and seeming partner in heroics.

 

"If this wasn't going to hit anywhere I'd take some time to research this to figure a cause but... this is going to be bad..."

 

She starts sending her analysis... as best she could... to AEGIS as well. She wasn't connected with them yet, but giving them a head's up before the news catches up might be appreciated. In case these storms start heading to the mainland after eating that little island.

Edited April 20, 2017 by Sailor

[Heritage]

Casey was in the school cafeteria, having a very hobbit-like second breakfast when her roomie called her up. "Hi Saku, what's...oh wow, that does sound bad! Give me a few seconds, I'll get ready!" In a blink of an eye, she ate everything on her plates, deposited her tray in a bus tub and was on her way back to her the room she shared with the girl genius. Seconds later, she was in her costume, over which she wore a navy blue sailing jacket and a climbing harness covered in d-clips. She'd also looped 60 meters of good climbing rope over one shoulder. She checked the first aid kit in her belt, making sure it was fully stocked, put fresh batteries in her headlamp and GPS receiver, and put her smartphone in a watertight case.

 

And then there was, standing next to Endeavor. "You ready? I've been working on my flight speed recently; we should get there in no time."

[The Sailor]

Sakurako nodded. But her expression seemed rather stern. "I'm not liking our odds..."

 

"Luckily you brought your waterproofs... we might have to fly into those storms to figure out the source... but something this glaring and big is gonna draw other metahumans to investigate. I'd let the more experienced capes handle this, but... I got a feeling this is something I need to investigate. Thing is... I'm just hoping I'm not getting us in over our heads."

 

Endeavor starts to hover. "I can fly at 2500 miles per hour in this suit, cruising speed... what's your max comfortable speed? I might have to turn it down to your speed."

 

"I'll have to take the lead... I got the map. Seems this area is a rather quiet and off-the-beaten-path island compared to the rest of the Caribbean."

Edited April 29, 2017 by Sailor

[EternalPhoenix]

GM

 

Sha’ir

 

The wind howled and tore at Sha’ir’s clothes. The rain was coming down in sheets. Despite being the middle of the day in the Tropics, it was nearly as dark as nighttime. He was instantly drenched to the skin. It was surprisingly cold for the Tropics, as well. Nothing like a true winter’s chill, but definitely more cooler than it should have been. The island itself appeared to be a private resort, and all around Sha’ir there were signs of people (many clad in hastily donned rain gear) rushing to do something, anything to prepare for the storm. No one noticed his sudden arrival, intent on their efforts as everyone visible was. The wind gusted. It sounded both like a screech of demonic rage and a mournful keening all at once. But that was surely his imagination.

 

Hyperactive & Gallant

 

Hyperactive was having the devil’s own time keeping Gallant aloft. The wind, lessened as it was due to their speed, still made progress difficult to for the well travelled speedster. And of course, both were soaked to the skin. The rain being nigh impossible to completely avoid. And running up and down monstrous waves was slowing his progress. They hadn’t been that high at first, but as they drew close to the island, they suddenly grew to a hundred feet high at least. There were a couple that seemed to make mountains look small. But that was his imagination at work, most likely.  What was not his imagination, however, was the strength of the wind. Even as fast as Hyperactive was moving, it felt like running into a soft wall. One that occasionally tried to pull him off the water.

 

Queenie, Endeavour, and Miracle Girl

 

The story was much the same for the three fliers, though the slower pace of Sakurako and Casey’s travel made it more difficult to gain forward progress. The wind buffeted them constantly, making straight line travel impossible. They each had to make constant steering adjustments as the incessant wind pushed them around in the sky. Thanks to their gear (and Maybelle’s force field) they were technically mostly dry. The driving rain and dark clouds rended normal vision difficult at best. All three had to be away that this was only the tip of the iceberg. What the island would be going through when they arrived would be far, far worse.

[EternalPhoenix]

PC

 

Queenie fought through the winds. Being able to hit Mach 13 had its perks, and one of them was there wasn’t a natural wind on the planet that could noticeably slow her down. Maintaining direction, however, was a heck of a trial. The wind kept pushing her off course. She couldn’t actually see. She was forced to fly entirely on instruments. She didn’t even know where the sea was down there. She gave a thought to simply flying above the storm. She didn’t need to breathe with the ring on, and she didn’t feel the cold either. However, the detour would cost her time that inhabitants of Cilan simply didn’t have. If anyone died or was seriously injured because Maybelle needed to take a comfort detour, she’d never forgive herself. And so she pressed on. Her instruments showed she was getting close. Which made sense, because the wind seemed like it was spawned from an apocalyptic nightmare.

Edited May 9, 2017 by EternalPhoenix
10000MPH is Mach 13

[Kolohehonu]

What I wouldn't give to have Mystery Master Here! Hyperactive thought to himself as he kept running against the wind. He'd gone through all the trouble of having his helmet fitted with a set of headphones, useful to take calls at hypersonic speed and listen to music. Even if he could have heard it over the wind, the water had soaked them.

 

"Does the scale stop at 5 or something?!" He screamed. He doubted Gallant could hear him. He honestly wasn't sure what he could do when they got there. He could evacuate people? He'd unwound small tornadoes but those were laughable compared to this. 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2017 by Kolohehonu

[The Sailor]

Sakurako

 

The rain didn't bother Sakurako... her sealed and waterproofed suit saw to that, it was a comfortable room temperature behind the suit's membranes. But the wind... even flying at Miracle Girl's speeds was an annoyance. More annoying was the rain was so driving it accidentally triggered her life vest a few minutes prior... so add embarassed to the list. That and it was near impossible to talk over the roar, which slowed them down more as they had to keep in view of each other in conditions that would be called "impossible" by human standards for flying in formation. Sakurako's thoughts drifted off for a moment... thinking if this is what her life was gonna be, joining up with AEGIS. Then seeing the water she got back into formation as quick as she could. She flew up close to Miracle Girl, within arm's reach at this point.

 

She just hoped that they would see land soon. They'd need a moment under cover to start coming up with a plan to handle this.

 

Who was she kidding... this was unprecedented.

 

Alien invasions, Atlanteans, Terrorists... those were expected.

 

Nature losing it's marbles? That's new.

[olopi]

Figuring out what was wrong was easy, so that was step one on the checklist done already. Step two was to evacuate. Which, in this case, would probably take quite a while. And even if he escorted the resort the portal had brought him to, there still was the rest of the island. They needed his help everywhere. And he couldn’t evacuate an entire island. Even if, yes, he’d once come across a spell that lifted up entire landmasses into the sky.

 

Not the best option right now. No, he had to figure out what was happening. These storms hadn’t appeared naturally. And that probably meant they wouldn’t disappear that way either. The first certainly wasn’t a wrong assumption, as one thing stuck out as he looked upwards.

 

It was more than just background magical energy. Something, somebody, was investing an incredible amount of effort into this. Compared to that, his idea of just lifting up the entire island didn’t even seem that ridiculous. There really only was one direction to go in, and that was towards the magical energy. If nothing else, perhaps he could figure out what exactly was happening.

[Heritage]

On 4/29/2017 at 5:38 PM, Sailor said:

Endeavor starts to hover. "I can fly at 2500 miles per hour in this suit, cruising speed... what's your max comfortable speed? I might have to turn it down to your speed."

 

"Uh, still a lot slower than that," a noticeably impressed Casey had said before they took to the air. And know that they were in the thick of it, she wished she could fly even faster; the winds were truly brutal, not to mention the sheets of rains. Why oh why hadn't she thought to grab some goggles, for goodness' sake? Hopefully she could get some at some point.

 

Thankfully the blonde heroine had a work-around for the wind noise, as she pitched her voice at exactly 121.5 megaHertz, the frequency for International Air Distress, which her friend should be able to pick up on her suit's coms.

 

"Enderavor, this is Miracle Girl, do you read me? Over."

Edited May 6, 2017 by Heritage

[The Sailor]

Endeavor was shocked, did MG remember some communicator? Then she realized she was using the emergency channel. Luckily her school comm-link was always set to read distress channels... "Well as we are emergency response anyways we aren't breaking international protocol. I read you."

 

She kept an eye out for any shoreline she could spot that was safe to land at.

 

"To be honest we should try to set up at some shelter and come up with a plan of how to deal with this. We don't know how many metahumans will be there, or how to contact them if they are on the island. So we're going to be playing it by ear."

 

She starts to look a little annoyed. Perhaps she shouldn't have decided to intervene, but who knows if they're the only ones who are coming... they might be the only people who could at least try to help.

 

Then she got an idea. "Anyone who can hear us, I am Endeavor, in a flight of two metahumans in route to Cilan to help render aid. If there are any other metahumans who can hear this signal there to assist, please respond if you're in the area."

Edited May 9, 2017 by Sailor

[EternalPhoenix]

PC

 

Queenie had reached Cilan, which now bore a stronger resemblance to Atlantis than a tropical paradise. She immediately got to work,  pulling people out of the storm surge and placing them by the resort’s doors. Also, this was a resort? In the Caribbean? What a shock. She made a silver wedge and shoved water at least three feet deep out of the way so the last few in the small town could make their way to the main resort building. Which, as a matter of fact, was maybe a bit too big. Ten floors. No way that the windows were glass, as none of them were even scratched. And the wind wasn’t even wobbling it. It was very solidly built, and Maybelle McQueen was both 1. Grateful for the safe haven for Cilan’s people and 2. Suspicious that it was such a good building out here in the middle of nowhere. She hadn’t been a hero for a few years now for nothing. But, before she could ponder that, her Aura Comms flickered. With half a thought, she tuned into Endeavour’s broadcast. “Hello? My range isn’t great and I don’t know if you can hear me, Endeavour, but this is Queenie. I’m on Cilan right now. Just got here, in fact. I already know I need help. Do you need help finding this postage stamp?” The wind gusted suddenly, nearly swatting her from the sky. “The main resort building is the best place to meet up. You can’t miss it. Tallest building on the island.”

[The Sailor]

Endeavor remembered her quick look on Google Maps before leaving. "Understood, I know where it is. We'll be there as quickly as possible. Turbulence and such. Not a good day for flying."

 

She turned on the beacon on her life vest so she could be seen better on approach. She pulled alongside Miracle Girl. Speaking up through her helmet speaker. "Okay, I got someone... and a landing zone. I know where it is, just follow me and catch me if we get blown off course!"

 

Thank god she programmed her suit to create a speaker that could work in these conditions... be heard on the other hand was another thing entirely, but Miracle Girl was pretty good with the hearing none the less. She pointed in the direction she hoped would get them in view of that resort...

 

This was a disaster. Miracle Girl and Endeavor had trained at Claremont for stuff like one Cat-5... but two?

[Heritage]

"We can always switch to another frequency. Just pick one and broadcast on it, and I'll find it. Over."

 

Casey also heard Queenie's response; it made her happy to know her and Sakurako weren't the only ones here! She switched on her GPS beacon and switched on her headlamp, the better to be both visible and track-able. She placed herself direclty behind her friend as the homed in on the tower, ready to offer any support her roomie needed.

 

"Miracle Girl here, too, Queenie. Happy to have a chance to work with you. Over."

[The Sailor]

Endeavor nodded. "Can you give us a situation report? Any others in the area assisting as well?"

 

She knew it would be too early for a triage at that resort, would it even be a safe place for shelter? She'd have to see what the situation was when they arrived. "You can fill us in over comms until we arrive and continue at the resort. But the faster we're made aware of the situation, the better, as well as any planning... of course around course adjustments here... this isn't a sunny day in Freedom City."

[olopi]

Unsurprisingly, Flight was an incredibly common spell. Almost everybody had some version of it. Many of them wrote them down. And Sha’ir had access to many of those. Some were more useful than others. Some were just weird. Some were perfect for this very situation. Crow’s Flight, it was called. Made for flying in storms. Not storms of this strength, sure, but it still meant that he managed to close in on the storm’s center faster than he would have otherwise.

 

And as he closed in, something stuck out. Something, off in the distance. Barely visible, both by eyesight and by mage-sight. There was just too much happening to get a better view. But it was there. Somebody, probably? Wherever this storm came from, this was a good shot.

 

Whatever it was, it was clearly powerful. Could he handle it on his own? Perhaps. There was no way of contacting anybody else. If anybody else even was on the scene. There really only was one thing to do. He got ready to cancel any spells heading his way, and then pushed onwards, trying to get closer.

[EternalPhoenix]

PC

 

Queenie was rapidly becoming a busy woman. Sandbags weren’t going to cut it. She flew to the beach and scooped up a (non literal) ton of sand with the Ring and simply piled it around the doorway. She repeated this a couple of times, until the pile of sand was over ten feet high. “I haven’t run into anyone else, and the staff here seems to be avoiding me. Which is weird thing number two about this place. The first being how sturdy this building is.” She flew around, but was having trouble finding anyone in the dark. Weaker buildings were starting to collapse. There. She pulled out one, and then another and another. Transporting them to the resort behind the big sand pile took a little longer than expected. “Nice to hear you, MG. This is getting complicated in a hurry, and not being able to really see isn’t helping.”

[EternalPhoenix]

GM

 

Sha’ir got closer and closer to the eye of one hurricane. The closer he got, the more the wind slapped him around. Even his spell couldn’t quite stand up to the fury of two storms duelling to the death. But he fought on. The eyewall was a virtually impenetrable wall of wind and rain. But eventually, with terrific effort and great determination, he made it into the eye of the magical hurricane. Where right in the direct center, was a woman holding a book. She just floated there, eyes closed in concentration. Apparently, she had no idea he’d arrived.

[olopi]

So it was a mage. One who, clearly, had to spend most of her power on sustaining the spell. Sha’ir had questions. Many questions. What was this spell? Why did she use this one, over say, a ritual? What was her reason behind it all? And many more.

 

But for not, those didn’t matter. There really only was one thing to do. He kept the counterspell readied by his side. If anything came from her, he’d hopefully be able to react in time. And with that, he got to work. Was disturbing the way to go for here? Probably.

 

There were some spells. Some more scary than others. Some he’d never touch, even in an emergency. But some of them were relatively nice. A bit of temporary nausea, but the effect was usually worth it. It was time for The Hands of Hoggast   . Portals would open all around the figure, and streaming forth from them would come … strange fleshy arms, each of them screaming (yes) in languages lost to time.  

 

“Yield.”

[Kolohehonu]

When Hyperactive hit land he was barely sure he had. The whole island was being drenched and most of the streets were submerged. But at least here he could be useful. 

 

"I'm going to search the whole island!" He screamed over at Gallant. "See if there's a centralized meeting place!" He hoped he was heard over the wind. With that Hyperactive was off. Full speed, ducking and diving through windows and doors. He was looking for survivors, heroes and any where he could prevent people from dying. He usually asked people before moving them but right now, he didn't have the time. Also every inch of fabric on him stuck to his skin. 

 

Eventually he did find the resort, seeing some other heroes taking people in. He wasn't sure how many people it looked like appeared out of thin air, but hey there they were. Safer than they had been and out of the sound just a little bit. There was a second burst as Hyperactive and Gallant appeared in the lobby behind the massive wall of sand.

 

"NICE TRICK!" Hyperactive shouted. He paused sheepishly, wiped his mask. "Nice trick. I'm Hyperactive, here to help. Already searched a good chunk of the island, brought these people, what needs doing fast?" 

Edited May 15, 2017 by Kolohehonu

[The Sailor]

Endeavor

 

Sakurako started seeing some semblance of land below. And the mayhem these storms created. As she flew she saw down below she could have swore she saw someone with what looked like a red flag attached to their car antenna... And a wall of water held back by what looked like some junk and dirt that somehow formed a dam beginning to give way... Then again the car itself looked stalled, slowly being pushed by water... the difference between a rapids and that slow stream was created by sheer luck and that luck was running out.

 

"MG... I have to investigate that... I can handle getting that car out of the water. Particularly if it's metal... keep an eye on the area heading to the resort, I'll keep you posted over radio. If not I'll meet you at the Resort."

 

Sakurako dashed down as best she could hovering above the water. There was people inside, but they looked quite worse for wear... the inside of the car was flooded, but wasn't gaining any water above the current water line. But if that dam gave way... It was obvious the car was stalled... flooded out. With the way this flood was going they would eventually end up in a large resevoir... a deep one. And if that dam burst it would be a faster doom.

 

Those inside saw her did their best to get her attention. Then she looked closer seeing they were indeed tourists. A couple and a child, all wearing red ponchos from the resort. Looks like the flag was from one of the hoods, torn off from a poncho...

 

This illustrated how fast these storms formed. If these were natural, they would have had time to evacuate. Plenty of time.

 

Endeavor waved and pulled out her EM Wand, activating it to move their small rental car pulling it to shore just as the dam broke. Endeavor opened the door as a water poured out. "Okay... anyone hurt? I don't think asking if anyone was wet would be appropriate."

 

The tourists just shook their head as Sakurako pointed to a dumpster. "Get in, I'll take us to a shelter that's been set up."

 

She helped the kid in, while the others climbed in... ironic the dumpster said people shouldn't get into it. Sakurako closed the lid and using her wand she picked it up as she flew along, although the weight of the dumpster made flying safely even more awkward. "MG, I got some survivors, unhurt but wet... I hope there'll be something dry at the resort."

 

She knew that whoever that was at the resort would be hearing the conversation. "Whoever is listening at the resort I got 3 PAX inbound with me. Two adults, one child."

 

Soon the makeshift sheltering and dams are blocking the floods, and there was a good central landing spot. When she sets the dumpster down she opens it up, after moving over a box to act like a step. "Okay, let's hustle."

 

She looked around for Miracle Girl, glad the time she's taking waiting isn't making her wet... although her sweating isn't helping.

 

She did look around for other heroes, hoping her and Miracle Girl along with the one over the radio were the only ones. "I'm in the large open area in the center of the resort..." She said over her radio, keeping everyone appraised.

Edited May 15, 2017 by Sailor

[Heritage]

"Nice work, Endeavor. I'm going to do a quick sweep, see if I can see any other hot spots. Over."

 

Once she was airborne again, Casey got a little altitude and scanned the area again; right away, she spotted a nearby street market, where several people were hiding from the storms. She was no engineer, but she'd worked on enough Habitat for Humanity projects to recognize a wall that was about to collapse; before she did anything else, she got back on the emergency frequency.

 

"I see a lot of people in the market in danger of being trapped under unsafe buildings. Going to move to their position with the dumpster to commence evac. Over"

 

Miracle Girl easily picked up the dumpster and flew through the punishing wind and rain towards the market; though foul, the container had proven its value as a quick and dirty evac carrier, and she saw no reason to stop using it. Flying as quickly as she could (no easy task), she dropped the dumpster in the middle of the market and called out to the huddled figures first in English, then in Spanish, shouting to be heard over the howling wind.

 

"Ladies and gentlemen, you can't stay here! My name is Miracle Girl, and if you climb into this dumpster, I can fly you to safety! I will be taking the sick and injured first, as well as children and the elderly! No more than ten people per trip, for your own safety!"

Edited May 24, 2017 by Heritage

[Kolohehonu]

Hyperactive rolled out his shoulders and ankles. He wasn't waiting for an answer. 

 

"Be right back. There's some ships in the harbor. If we aren't careful they could get thrown inwards." Hyperactive darted out of the hotel. His feet dashed over the water until he got to the boats. One boat was falling through the air off a wave. The world seemed slow. Hyperactive raised his arm and aimed at the falling boat. He felt the kinetic energy change to potential energys he stopped it falling. He dashed up the wave and grabbed the two kids first. In an instant he was back in the hotel. He let them go on the floor and zipped out throwing the parents over each shoulder. Boom. Back to hotel. 

 

He grabbed the couple who were on the next boat and dropped them off before draining the kinetic energy out of that boat. He repeated the process on each boat he found. The next boat had an older couple who he gently placed in the lobby. A single man was on the next boat. The last boat was weird. One middle aged lady with three dozen cats had been in the yacht. He had brought her back to the hotel and then made a few trips back and forth for the cats.

 

"Ok that's all the yachts frozen and everyone evacuated!" Hyperactive retracted his lower face shield. He put his hands on his knees and panted heavily. "Why are there so many cats? Where are we putting people? Are there any other heroes here?"