#4

Janet laid on a bed in the med-bay, still knocked out, as Zack and Doc watched her.

"She's been through a lot," Doc stated, "Whoever was holding her captive tortured her. Broken bones, bruises. Brain scans show that she is healing from psychological trauma."

"Doc," Zack asked "do you believe that hypnotism is possible."

"Possible, yes, but not able to do what you saw. Hypnotism has been unable to break the intuitive moral codes that the subject holds."

"So this has to be something else entirely."

"Either that, or Janet has been feigning her morals this whole year."

"I think mind control is a far more likely scenario, here."

*****

Zack was away on another covert operation. Doc sat in his lab, working on a project for a new synthetic superhuman: a formula which would turn ones skin and other organs into "organic gold", making him or her virtually both indestructible and immortal.

Janet woke up in the med-bay. She stepped out of the bed and slowly made her way to Doc's office. She dragged along, almost zombie-like. She then floated in the air so that Doc wouldn't hear the footsteps. Sneaking up behind him, she projected a force field around his head, holding it there until he passed out. She picked him up, and floated out to the loading bay. From there she disappeared in a flash of light, and reappeared in Philip Phoebus' executive office, at Solar Corp.

Janet's doppelganger appeared, took Doc from Janet's arms, and tied him to a chair. Janet finally came to, realizing what she had done. At this time her doppelganger employed the same trick of projecting the force field around Janet's head until she passed out. At this time Philip walked in, and sat down next to Doc. He spoke to Doc in a dull droning voice, telling Doc that he won't recognize him wakes up he wakes up.

*****

Doc opened his eyes, which began to focus themselves. Gravity compelled him to simply keep them closed, but his will-power and curiosity just barely won out. As the world around him came into focus, he noticed a figure standing right in front of him. His surrounding settings were clear, except for this figure, who seemed to be a blur to him. The figure gave a menacing smile. He could see Doc squinting to try and bring him into focus, but to no avail.

The figure began to speak, but Doc could not recognize it. "A decade ago, you worked with Project NOVUS to begin finding practical application for novus particles. Without you, the Project is scheduled to start rolling out their tech in another ten years. I want you to help me develop this technology ahead of them, so that I can sell it first. I can get you anything that you need."

"And if I don't?"

"It was easy for me to find you. It will also be easy for me to find the people that you love."

*****

Zack returned to the satellite. He could feel the quiet emptiness as he stepped foot in the loading bay. He walked down the metallic corridors using his super-vision to search ahead of him. Then he noticed that the lab was dark.. He approached, entered, to find a shadowy figure in a trench-coat, wearing a full-face mask over his head.

Zack tried to look through the mask with his super-vision, but found himself unable to see past it. The shadowy figure waived his finger. He spoke, using a voice distorter to disguise his vocals.

"Ah, ah, ah," he said with an electronic sound in his voice, "no peaking."

The figure pulled out an energy pistol, and aimed it at Zack.

"Quite an interesting collection of experiments the Doc has going on here. Infusing organic matter with metals, genetic splicing, a cyborg project. But you... you are leaps and bounds above everything that is here."

"Who are you? What do you want?" Zack demanded, not sure what to do or think.

"As for who I am, do you think I'd go to all this trouble of hiding my face and then tell you? As for what I want, I'm here for all the toys. You are just collateral damage."

The figure fired a concentrated energy blast at Zack, piercing the shoulder. A flash of light began to engulf the figure. Zack had to think fast. He rushed the glow that was engulfing the intruder and grabbed for him. In an instant, they were both on top of a roof, in the middle of Island City, in the middle of the night. Zack held his opponent by the collar. Then with one hand, he reached to take the mask off. The masked man grabbed the hand, broke it's fingers, and kicked Zack backwards.

"You'll pay for that."

"What have you done with Janet and Doc," Zack barked through his pain.

"They will return soon enough. For now, I will teach you a lesson."

The dark figure marched towards the hero, raising his fists. He stooped down and put his arm around Zack. He spoke in a quiet voice, and his threats were delivered calmly and coldly.

"You have all of these powers, and you become complacent, because they give you an edge. Well, I'm not impressed. In fact I am prepared for your powers, and I have all the special equipment that I need to make your powers moot. I know how to defeat you, break you, end you. If you ever think about crossing into my operation..."

His one glove began to glow. He punched Zack in the stomach. His glowing glove actually bent the force field around Zack. He punched Zack in the gut several more times. He let his rage loose, beating Zack relentlessly, then stopping suddenly.

"Next time," he whispered, "I won't stop."

Zack blacked out. When he woke up the figure was gone. He blacked out again, and woke up in the Super Corp infirmary. Doc and Janet were watching over him. Zack told Doc about the lab intruder, but after checking, Doc assured him that the security showed nothing. Doc explained that he had gone back to Earth on a much deserved personal leave, after spending so much time in the orbital laboratory. Janet had been away on her own assignment.

Zack wasn't sure what to believe, but his injuries were real. Someone had beaten him to a pulp and left him for dead. Someone who was not stopped by Zack's force field. Someone who was still at large, who could access their satellite base, and leave no trace of his visit. Zack's sense of security had greatly diminished. Philip had accomplished his goal.

#3

 Janet woke up in a haze, in a cave, in the middle of the Amazon. She couldn't move, she couldn't act, or even think clearly. She was only a passive observer in her own body. She was tied to a chair in the middle of the cave, facing the entrance. At the entrance to the cave stood an armed guard, to keep her from getting out, or anyone else from getting in.

Outside of the cave, Philip sat, holding his tablet-computer with a satellite antennae. He was in a video conference with Rebecca, the acting president of Redmond Enterprise. Philip worked with Redmond Enterprises as the director of their "Project NOVUS": a top-secret division dedicated to the research of "novus" particles and developing their application in the macro-realm.

"I noticed that you brought my particle re-constructor with you, on your little trip to the Amazon."

"All to your benefit," he said. "I have found a new energy signature here, which I am looking to reconstruct. It will be useful back at Project NOVUS."

"Listen Philip, we need you working here with us. You are spending too much time with your own company and these global excursions."

Philip chuckled, "You will never find a replacement for me. I run the Project from everywhere. I defy you to find me one person in the world who will be able to take my place. Is that all that you called me for? I'm busy."

"You've been taking a lot of our equipment lately. You've used our carbon-fiber material to make your indestructible trench coat. You have our energy field projectors, the energy pistol."

"All things that I've compensated you handsomely for, and this will be no different. I'm researching a new energy signature, which we can find application for back at the lab."

"We will discuss this, when you are back here tomorrow. And if you are not back here, we will find you."

Philip only smirked at Rebecca's empty threat. He turned off the tablet, and entered the cave. Standing in the entrance of the cave, his figure was masked in the shadows. Only his menacing grin could be seen.

In the center of the cave sat Janet. She was in a hypnotic trance, unable to move or use her powers. There was a spotlight-esque device pointed at her, the particle re-constructor, scanning her sub-atomic particles, to reconstruct a replica later.

He couldn't believe that Doc had succeeded in creating a synthetic superhuman. Philip had tried many times and failed. Finally, he could create his own synthetic superhuman, to sell on the black-market.

As the re-constructor powered down, he pulled up a chair next to Janet. He pulled in close, uncomfortably close. Right next to her ear. She would have killed him if she wasn't in a trance.

"When I leave, you won't remember any of this," he said.

Her face remained in a trance-like state.

"What is the thing that you want more than anything."

She, of course, didn't reply. He pulled out a bright light, and shined it towards her. Not enough to blind her, but enough to see her face.

"All right, let's begin the questioning."

He whispered in her ear, and watched her face for sub-conscious expressions. She never verbally responded, but he could read her face like a book. He asked a methodically selected set of questions, to find her own psychological pressure points.

*****

Zack landed in the middle of a small village, to find huts ablaze, and Janet standing in the middle of it all. Villagers ran in panic, but one stopped as he unfortunately ran right into Janet. Her eyes were dead, but couldn't be seen through the sunglasses. She pointed her hand at him, as it began to glow. Zack fired a concussive blast at Janet, sending her flying backwards. The poor villager ran away. Now Zack had Janet's attention.

She flew straight into Zack, who emitted a force field to protect himself from an impact that would have otherwise knocked the wind out of him. Zack expanded the force field to an orb surrounding him. Janet continued to barrage the orb with energy blasts. Zack could see that her eyes were dead inside. There wasn't the life in them that there usually was.

Her whole body started to glow. She was about to project a destructive blast that could level the whole Amazon. He projected his force field around her. The explosion was contained. However, the oxygen inside the orb was quickly used up. Janet passed out on the floor.

"Alright Doc," Zack said, "take us up."

Zack grabbed Janet and they disappeared in a flash of light.

Tales from the NOVUS Universe #2

 "I've spent months setting up a global teleportation system, but it would seem that someone has hacked into it," Doc explained to Zack and Janet.

"Who else knows about it?" Zack asked.

"Only my former colleagues at Project NOVUS. I stopped working on the teleportation system when I started working here full time."

"So all someone at Project NOVUS may have had access to the system?"

"Yes, I abandoned the project because it was too big of a risk to the user and to the environment. Whoever it was who you saw, they must have completed the system. Janet, you are saying that you don't remember how he looked at all?"

Janet shook her head. Her memory had been wiped clean, and the soldiers didn't get a good look at the man shrouded in shadows.

"So, how does the system work?" Zack asked.

"It's a network of satellites which can locate an object on the ground, and then rearrange those atoms, replacing them with atoms from the destination. One of the negative side-effects though, is the radiation."

"My quantum vision didn't pick up any traces of radiation at the site," Janet replied.

"That's fantastic," Doc exclaimed, "that means someone has found a way to overcome that problem. We've got to find out how they did this. I can re-purpose the system for our use."

"So, you can't give us any narrower fields as to who might have done this?" Zack asked.

"Unfortunately no," Doc replied. "Our best bet is to search for the satellites. We can start with the ones that I built. It's possible that our mystery man is using them."

*****

Janet floated through the vacuum of space in her energy bubble, towards the first satellite, which sported the label "Redmond Technology". She flew in circles around the machine, scanning it with her quantum vision. "It seems like it's been active all right," she said on her earpiece.

"Over here too," Zack chimed in from another satellite on the other side of the world.

"Fantastic!" Doc exclaimed. "Janet, can you attach the device to the satellite?"

Janet took out the flat tablet-device with the antennae, flew to the bottom of the satellite, and inserted the tablet into a port on the bottom. The tablet passed through Janet's energy field and connected right into the port.

"Ok," Doc said "now I can hack into the system."

Just then, a bright light came from the bottom of the satellite, which engulfed her.

*****

Janet found herself in the Amazon jungle, face to face again with Philip Phoebus. His appearance was once again shrouded in a trench coat, sunglasses and hat. He sported a goatee, surrounding his menacing grin.

"Remember me?" he asked.

"I found him guys," Janet said on the intercom.

"Is Doc listening? Tell him that I said hello."

At this moment, Doc began to look for a trace on Janet's earpiece, and Zack started flying towards her. Janet threw the first punch, which Philip blocked and countered, landing square on her jaw. While she was down, Philip reached for her ear and grabbed the earpiece. He threw it to the ground and crushed it with his steel-tread shoes.

Janet projected a dome energy-field and expanded rapidly, sending Philip flying backwards. He landed on he face, and rolled over to see Janet walking towards him. He reached into his trench coat a pulled out a throwing knife, which glowed wit a purple tinge. He threw it straight at her, and the blade pierced through her energy field. Shocked exuded from her face as she dodged the small knife. Her quantum vision acted like precognition (a temperamental function), which allowed her to see the knife beforehand.

Janet's face turned from shock to determination. She hovered two feet above the ground, then charged Philip in flight. She pushed him past the surrounding trees, and found herself flying over a cliff. She grabbed Philip and dangled him over the chasm. "What is your name?" she demanded. He didn't answer, so she dropped him. Philip only smiled as he plunged into the chasm.

Rocket thrusters came out of his shoes and hands, stabilizing his decent to the ground. Janet did a pin dive downward, landing with a thud behind him. She grabbed his arm and started to twist it, but he overpowered her and broke her arm. She fell to the ground, and Philip pulled the energy-pistol out of his trench-coat, aiming it at her. A helicopter could be heard from above.

*****

"The signal was coming from the Amazon, but that is still a large area to cover," Doc relayed to Zack who flew towards the South Western hemisphere. Janet was tough enough to handle any threat they had faced, but never before had either of them faced such an advanced threat alone.

"I am going to use my quantum vision to comb through the jungle then," he said while floating in the upper atmosphere. "Who is this guy, Doc? It sounded like he knew you."

"I couldn't tell. I didn't recognize his voice."

Doc was in denial. He knew the voice, but he didn't want to believe it was who it sounded like.

... To Be Continued

Tales from the NOVUS Universe #1

 Phillip Phoebus watched the live feed from the security cameras, as the US military rolled through the jungle up to his fortress compound. His crew had already begun moving valuable equipment and information to another lair. They carried crates and hard-drives into a large pipe, where they disappeared in a flash of light. Once they moved all the important equipment, they set mini-charges that destroyed the inner-workings of the "transport-tube", making it look like a regular large pipeline, then they took guns and set out into the jungle.

As Phillip studied the live footage, he recognized Zack and Janet among the US soldiers. He knew them better than they knew him. Phillip was a shadowy and mysterious looking figure. He always wore his custom trench coat, matching fedora dark sunglasses, and sported a full-trimmed beard. He rushed down the steps to the basement, where he found his own superhuman, in a resting position. Solaris laid out straight on the concrete slab, in hibernation mode. Phillip spoke in a dull tone. Solaris' eyes popped open. He whispered into the super-soldiers ear. Solaris' pupils constricted.

Outside the compound, the second-rate mercenaries were getting slaughtered by the US Army, on the false pretense that their families would be cared for by Phillip's "vast fortune". As the battalion moved forward, they heard a deafening boom as Solaris busted through the brick walls of the fortress, and flew into the sky. All Zack, Janet, and the soldiers could see was a burning man, flying through the sky.

"I've got him," Zack said, as he zoomed away into the air. The military focused their efforts on breaking down the wall of the concrete base with their explosives. Janet began to glow as she built up a reserve of energy, then channeled it forward in a destructive beam. The beam destroyed the wall, leaving a big opening.

Zack covered himself in a totally opaque energy force-field, as he flew towards his opponent. The opaque field protected him from the strong radiation that he could detect with his quantum vision, coming from the flying-burning man. Zack sped up until he ran into the opponent, knocking Solaris off balance. He then grabbed the burning man and chucked him into the upper atmosphere. Zack zoomed upwards again, intending to play "don't let the burning-man hit the floor". Solaris turned around and punched Zack square in the jaw. Zack "stumbled backwards" a bit. The punch had created an explosion of heat. Solaris rushed towards Zack, they grabbed each other and rolled around in the air.

Inside the fortress, Janet walked down the empty corridors, followed by a squadron. Suddenly, a beam of energy hurled towards her, knocking her backwards as a concussive blast. Phillip has appeared in the hallway, aiming a futuristic pistol. The soldiers instantly lit up the shadowy figure with all of their artillery. But the shower of bullets were simply deflected by a force-field dome around him.

Janet recognized the energy signature of the energy-shield. It matched that of her own force fields. Janet leaped to her feet. Phillip fired at her, but she dodged it and started to rush her mysterious opponent. Phillip continued to fire, and she continued to dodge. She projected a force field and used it to send him flying.

Her super vision (aka quantum vision) acted not only as X-Ray vision, but also a limited precognition. She saw Phillip reach into his trench coat for two throwing stars. She started to dodge them, but one lodged into her back as she turned around.

Janet fought through. She flew forward, and punched Phillip in the jaw. Phillip only laughed at the minor inconvenience. He head-butted the super-heroine, which surprised her. Then he swept her out at her feet. She fell to the ground, and he pinned her down. He whispered something in her ears and her eyes glazed over.

The soldiers rushed into the room, just in time to see Phillip disappear in a flash of light. They found Janet lying on the floor, in a trance. After shaking her to no avail, they said her name and she snapped out of it, with no memory of the last 5 minutes.

Back in the air, Zack zoomed towards his flying opponent, and released a succession of rapid-fire punches Although he was still covered in his energy-shield, Zack could feel the heat and the radiation. Solaris eventually lost consciousness from all the hits to the head. At that point, he stopped burning, to reveal a regular guy in a black jumpsuit. Solaris began to fall, until Zack reached out to catch him. Zack landed them both gently on the ground, where the medics came and took him away.

Janet came out of the base, accompanied by the soldiers. She held her head and possessed a look of bewildered confusion. Zack rushed up to her and asked "What happened?"

"She doesn't remember," the captain responded. "She went off to fight the leader. When we got in, he disappeared, and she was in a trance. When she woke up, she didn't even remember entering the base."

"What do you mean, he disappeared?"

"There was a flash of light, and he was gone."

Just as Zack and Janet were puzzling over this, they were able to witness a demonstration. Off in the distance, Solaris was laid out in a stretcher. His whole body began to glow brightly. Zack and Janet could see his sub-atomic particles unzipping, as he disappeared in a flash of light, possibly to reappear elsewhere. It was like Star Trek.

"Captain, We are going to need to consult someone about this."

Zack and Janet looked at each other, and started to rise into the atmosphere. Before the oxygen started thinning, they surrounded themselves in a force-field. The energy-bubble containing the two superheroes zoomed out into the exosphere. They approached a specific satellite orbiting Earth's atmosphere: the base of the Super Corp. This satellite was a perfect cube, one side was simply a membrane energy-field to keep the oxygen in. The bubble passed through the membrane and Zack and Janet landed in the loading bay.

They exited the loading bay into the empty corridors of the base, and took an elevator to the second floor, which was the laboratory. Inside "Doc" as he was only known, hid away from the rest of the world to unravel the mysteries of science. Doc had once been a protege of Arthur Redmond, and was one of the greatest pioneers in the science of neo-particles. He left Project NOVUS at Redmond Enterprises to become the resident scientist of the Super Corp.

Doc was working in one of the corners of his lab. As Zack approached him, he called out "Hey Doc."

"Yes Marty," Doc responded sarcastically.

"What?" Both Zack and Janet were confused, having never seen Back to the Future.

"Never mind, what is it?"

"Haven't you been working on a global teleportation system?"

Doc looked at Zack and Janet. His eyes suddenly got wide. Zack had never seen fear on Doc's face before.

... To Be Continued

Zack Powers

After a career of studying neo-humans, humans who had unlocked their dormant potential for superpowers, Doc spent a decade trying to create synthetic super-humans. When the Super Corp Project offered him an avenue for this pursuit, he left Redmond Enterprises and took the position of the Super Corp's head scientist.

Zack Powers was the prototype of the Synthetics. His super-powers did not originate from his dormant, natural ability, but from procedures that warped his subatomic structure. Zack's core power was the ability to shift his subatomic structure. This could manifest in a number of different super powers, but currently only manifested in flight, projection of force fields and energy blasts, and super vision.

Zack was joined by Janet and Dexter, two other subatomic anomalies, as they undertook covertassignments from the United States military. Janet's powers, at this juncture, were identical to Zack's, although she would later develop unique powers. Dexter could heal himself, and also transform into any energy on the electro-magnetic spectrum.

*****

Heavily armed looters ran through the African village (small city). The insurgents sprayed bullets freely, taking casualties. They gathered together a group of hostages, into a circle in the middle of the road. They would not let the hostages go until the demands were met. 

A unit of SEALS had begun to move in, positioning themselves to move into the village, but the President decided to use this opportunity to test the Super Corp first.

Zack projected a force field around the hostages, and he landed gracefully on the ground. The surprised gunmen opened fire, but the bullets bounced off the force field and hit some of the gunmen instead. The remaining gunmen changed their aim to the young man in a black jump suit, who eyes were hidden by dark black shades. At that moment, Janet entered and projected a force field in front of herself and Zack. The bullets bounced off of this one too.

A bolt of lightning came streaking through the village, hit one gunman, and bounced from that one to the next. The looters, in confusion, began to run. As the lightning bolt came out of victim number 2, it began to retake it's human form of Dexter. The Super Corp immediately split up. Janet went to the hostages, projected a orb-like force field around all of them, and flew with them to safety.

Zack projected a skin-tight force field around himself for protection against bullets. Zack and Dexter chased after the remaining four insurgents. They ran through the empty streets, trying to find a place to hide, or hostages to aid their escape. Zack decided it was time to use his super vision, which was also called "quantum vision". Quantum vision allowed him to see down to the subatomic level, to observe events happening in other locations, and to visually dissect macroscopic objects. Zack was even still testing the limits of this ability.

He used the quantum vision to follow two of the gunmen, far out ahead of him. They ducked into a shop and hid inside the building. Zack's quantum vision traveled through walls to follow them, as they traveled all the way to the back door exit, where Zack was waiting for them. They ran the other way, but Zack overtook them. He grabbed the one that had unfortunately fell behind in a sleeper hold. The other one turned around in amazement. Zack pulled out a small tranquilizer gun and fired a sleeping dart at him. Finally the one in the sleeper hold passed out, and Zack let him down easy.

On the other side of the town, Dexter chased two other gunmen, a little more closely. Desperate they grabbed a civilian and held him real close, gun to the temple. They yelled out in their native tongue at Dexter. Probably threatening him not to come any closer. In the blink of an eye, Dexter had unzipped every one of his atoms into a stream of electrons. Quicker than the speed of thought, the lightning bolt leaped at the two gunment. It went through the first one, with only enough juice to stun him, and then leaped to the second one who was holding the hostage. Same result. The gunmen dropped to the floor, civilian unharmed. At this juncture, the military had begun to move in. Zack landed next to Dexter, picked him up, and they flew away.

The Shadow

Ten men, in masks, considerably armed, all worked together to carry crates from the warehouse to the big-rig. None of them knew what was in the packages, only that a big pay day awaited them after the job. Two men carried one crate at a time, and they moved in and out of the warehouse like clockwork... until the lights went out. Everyone stopped. Nick started to back up, his partner (Jerry) followed, until Nick backed into something that wasn't there before. Nick dropped the crate onto his feet. Jerry was paralyzed in fear. Behind Nick stood a dark figure, wearing a dark cloak with a hood. The hood masked his face with a shadow. No one had ever seen the face of the Shadow, as he was called. The image was haunting. The Shadow covered Nick's mouth with his hand until he passed out.

Jerry finally came to and pulled out his gun and aimed for the figure. The Shadow opened up his cloak and a thick cloud began to envelop everyone. The doors of the warehouse closed trapping everyone inside momentarily.

Outside the building, the driver and four movers panicked. The engine was not starting up, and no one could see anything in the dark. As the all started to run, the Shadow showed up. He came out of nowhere, hitting the leader of the pack in the jaw. Instant knock out.

The next thug pulled out his semi-automatic and fired, but the bullet bounced off the mysterious cloak and hit another thug instead. The Shadow rushed the thug, enveloping him in the cloak then spitting him out. It all happened at lightning speed. Shadow then attacked the thug to the left as the thug began to draw his gun. Shadow turned to his two remaining opponents. He approached slowly, as they lowered their weapons and laid down on the ground.

Back inside the warehouse, all the thugs had their weapons drawn. All windows had been sealed off and no light came inside. Jerry's eyes were adjusting, as one of his comrades was thrown across the room into him. Jerry went to scream, but a hand covered his mouth, emitting an interesting smell that he wouldn't remember when he woke up.

The remaining four thugs waved their guns around. One saw something move. He fired. Missed. Fired again. Kept firing until he was out of bullets. One of the other thugs screamed. He had been hit by one of the bullets, and fell to the ground. The trigger happy thug didn't see Shadow behind him. Shadow covered the thug's face, until he too passed out. Outside, one could hear the police sirens. The remaining two thugs saw the wraith-like figure standing over their comrade's body. Just a simple, ghastly, dark cloak with a face engulfed in the shadow of the hood. The thugs watched the Shadow float upwards and away. Then floodlights came on in the warehouse, blinding them, and the doors opened up, letting the cops in.

Thirty minutes later, the cloaked figure landed on the roof of an apartment building. An identical figure was already there. They both removed their hoods to reveal... two regular guys. No names would be needed. They could have been anyone. Both were under 45 years of age. Both of them were upper-middle to upper class economically. Both in shape. Both males. Both happened to be Caucasian.

"What brings you to Island City," asked the shadowy figure whom our short story follows.

"Inspection," answered the other man, who was superior in rank to the first. You see, the Shadow was not one man, but a national association of vigilante crime-fighters, each under their own jurisdiction. Each of them was trained and groomed from a young age to be the people they are today. Each of them takes flexible and high-paying jobs. They then combine their wealth to fund their crime-fighting network.

"Well, you'll find I run a tight ship here, even in the absence of my local ally."

"Well, then I'll get right to it. We are concerned with your careless behavior. Two of your opponents were shot tonight."

"Not by me."

"No, but you could have avoided these things. This isn't the way we taught you. We don't kill."

"That was not my hand."

"But it was a product of your carelessness. It could have been avoided."

"I'm not sure that's necessary."

"Listen, if you can't comply to our code, we are going to need to enact disciplinary measures."

The superior stepped out onto the ledge of the building and then plunged over the edge.

Meta-Man

"Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Meta-Man! Symbol of hope and humanitarianism. Protector of all life forms. The Ultimate Champion of Justice and Equality. And he's quite an opponent for anyone who would stand opposed to those virtues. Those who perpetuate injustice and inequality beware. Meta-Man is on the move. With powers of flight and super speed. Skin indestructible to an Atom bomb. He has not only physical strength, but also moral strength to oppose all evil doers. A new day is dawning for justice, and Meta-Man is waking early to see this sun rise."

Click. Once the recording stopped, the announcer took a deep breath, got up and left for his coffee break. Behind him stood Meta-Man, clothed in full body armor and complete with a cape, next to his producer.

"I don't know about this," Meta-Man said, "It's all very cheesy."

"This cartoon is an excellent way for you to reach kids with your message of hope and equality for all. This is a way for you to expand your impact on the world."

"It's all so simplistic, with all that talk of good and evil. The world is far more complex than that. And for all my powers, I'm still a human who makes mistakes."

"I know that, but kids deal in black and white, so we need to simplify things for them. We need someone to represent good, and who better to do that?"

"Thanks for this, Rob."

Rob nodded and Meta-Man super-sped out of the room. Mystery surrounded the Champion of Mankind. His real power was telekinesis, from moving large objects, to manipulating matter. This power allowed him to make his skin indestructible, fly, and manipulate temperatures in the surrounding area.

Many believed that he was like Superman, a super-powered messiah from another planet. Meta-Man neither confirmed nor denied these rumors. The truth, however, was that Meta-Man was simply a human. Born and raised on a small farm in Iowa, he and his friend John developed superpowers in their early teens. John could communicate with others mentally, and Clark (Meta-Man to us) could lift things with his mind. Their powers continued to develop and expand, and when they turned 18, they went separate ways. John joined the military and Clark traveled across the country on a motorcycle. This was before the existence of superheroes was public knowledge. As he traveled the country, he used his powers in secret to help others. When superheroes emerged from the shadows, Meta-Man led the charge, becoming prominent in the hero community.

As Meta-Man flew through the sky, he received a call on his ear-piece about a six-story robot, that was terrorizing downtown Manhattan. Cheesy? Maybe. Generic? Yeah, but this sort of thing only happened about once a month. Mad scientist comes up with an experimental model for a giant robot and uses it to terrorize a major city. Luckily, Meta-Man was in New York City. He flew at top speed, to the scene of the attack and landed with a dramatic entrance, but the robot had already taken it's toll. Civilians were running away screaming, but some of them had not made it.

The robot sprayed bullets from a large machine gun mounted on it's "arms". Meta-Man ran in front of the bullets to protect citizens. He then rushed the robot and dismantled the guns. The robot punched him in mid-flight. The force knocked him to the ground. The robot cupped his hands over Meta-Man and began to crush him with extreme pressure. The weight actually started to become more than he could handle. He used his telekinesis to access the Kinetic Force, and it's vast resource of kinetic energy. He summoned as much energy as he could and redirected in towards the robot.

Next Meta-Man was on his feet, pushing back the hand of the robot. After failing to squish the hero in his mechanical palm, the robot grabbed him and tried to squeeze him with both hands. Once again the pressure became too much on his exoskeleton of "virtually impervious" skin. It was about to crack like the shell of a crab. So he started to warm up. Using his telekinesis, he warmed up the surrounding molecules, melting the robot's hands until he slipped through them.

Meta-Man put his hands out, and from them, blast of searing heat were projected at the robot, melting it's metal exterior. He rushed to the robot and picked it up by the ankle. With full control of the kinetic energy in the area, he kept the robot perfect balanced, lifting it up with only one hand.

Then he took to the sky. He shot straight up, holding the robot in front of him. Then he moved eastward, towards the Atlantic Ocean. He chucked the robot forward a bit, and then flew into it with a punch. With one touch, he disassembled the giant android. It shattered to pieces, and fell into the ocean, deep into Davy Jones Locker.

*****

Meta-Man returned to the scene where the attack had started. The carnage was great, and the scene was tragic. Meta-Man vowed that he would never let this type of attack happen again. Never again.

Dr John Reyes

Doctor John Reyes woke up, on time, without an alarm, and immediately began his morning workout regiment. Dr Reyes was like clockwork, the most disciplined man you've ever met. At 30 years of age, John was not only in the prime of his life, but also in peak human physical and mental condition. A true polymath and Renaissance man.

After a full workout and a quick shower, he joined his lovely wife for breakfast. From their humble abode in Chicago, you would never guess that this couple was comprised of two of the smartest living people in the world. There were six doctorates between the two of them. John had the most. They two had met as undergrads in the pre-med program, before being accepted by Redmond Enterprises for an accelerated learning program. While in the program, after finishing their second doctorates, they were married. They had a son, and Martha decided to become an online professor.

John was accepted by Arthur Redmond onto the top secret Project NOVUS, and quickly became one of the project's head scientists. These days, their son was in boarding school, and Martha was a leading professor at the University of Chicago.

After finish his breakfast, speed reading the news, and conversing briefly with his wife on topics from personal life to scientific discoveries, John got up and kissed his wife goodbye. He grabbed his bike, headed out the apartment door, and carried the bike down the narrow staircase. Once outside, on the sidewalk, he set down the bike and pulled a ring out of his pocket. This was not a wedding band, but instead a far more intricate device. This ring would grant the wearer with enough energy to allow them to move at lightning speed.

John slipped the ring on and rode his bike all the way to a warehouse at an undisclosed location. Unbeknownst to John, he had been watched, by a couple of guys who saw him slip a ring on and disappear. John rounded the corner of the supposedly abandoned warehouse. He walked through a back alley, guarded by security personnel dressed as thugs. John discreetly flashed his ID, and walked through the back door. He ventured through the warehouse, until he found what appeared to be a random large "wooden" crate. After pressing his hand on the crate, a device read his handprint, and the crate swung open revealing a large elevator. John stepped in the elevator, which descended deep into the ground. Once exiting the elevator, John passed through a hallway of security checkpoints, before finally making it to the laboratory.

John was the head scientist at the Chicago laboratory, and the foremost authority on the mysterious subatomic “neo-particles”, as well as the superhumans called neo-humans. John's current top secret project was working to unravel the mysteries of the Kinetic Force. The ring was made to charge a person with a surplus of Kinetic Force, giving them superhuman speed.
He observed the plants, which he had left charging with Kinetic Force energy overnight. They had aged overnight and withered away. He took the ring out and put it in a special lead box, determining it was safer to keep sealed. Exposure to the energy seemed to cause rapid aging. He would need to develop the neo-human longevity powers before doing any more human testing with the Kinetic Force.

*****
Martha walked down the staircase to her Prius parked just outside. Once she sat in her car, two men emerged from the back seat and put a gun next to her head.

"You are going to take us to visit your husband at work", they said in a thick accent that she had never heard before.

"I don't know where his office is," she protested.

"Well then, you are going to need to bring him here."

*****
Back at the lab, John received a message on his device. It was not a cell phone, since he couldn't get reception underground, but instead a special device his wife used to contact him while at work.
"Need you back at the apartment. Hurry!"

John rushed for the elevator, up to the warehouse, out the back door, to the cab which was already waiting for him. The cab was called in by an intern. John hopped in, gave his address and a stern order to "step on it".

John paid the cabbie and lept out of the car. He opened the door to the staircase, to find his wife and two thugs inside. One of them holding a gun to her.

"Let her go," he said, "it's me you want."

If only he hadn't left the lead box in the lab. The man with the gun pointed it at John. The other man motioned for Martha to go upstairs. John walked with them out the door, into their car. They put John in the driver's seat, the other two sat on the bench-seat next to him."Now drive us to your secret lab, and let us in, or I'll put a bullet in you head."

John started up the engine and began to drive. He knew that once he got to the warehouse, the guards in the alley would kill them all. John had sworn an oath to protect the lab, even with his life. He started to pick up speed as he drove down the streets. Then, came a red light. John slammed his brakes. The momentary shock paralyzed the man holding the gun. John could see, like being in slow motion, as the shocked gun man flew through the windshield.

His partner, like John, had put on his seatbelt. Both rushed to unbuckle, and the man began to reach into his jacket. John grabbed the man's hand, first. He bent the fingers back, breaking them, then reached for the gun. The man grabbed John's hand, but that backfired when John broke his other hand. The man opened the door with his (broken) right hand, and they both climbed out. He tried to pull out the gun with his left hand, but a well placed kick from John caused him to drop in. The man stood up and aimed a few kicks. John blocked them with his hands.

The man quickly turned around and reach down towards the gun lying on the floor, but John grabbed both of his arms and pinned them behind his back. John pushed the man to the floor, picked up the gun and pointed it at the man with his right hand. With his left hand, he pulled out his phone to call the police.

The scene was a mess. The first guy laid out in the crosswalk, either dead or severely injured. The other man laid down on the sidewalk. Both he and John were bleeding, but John had no broken bones. It was a long day... and it wasn't even lunch time yet.

Isabel

It had been quite the party. Isabel woke up on the floor of the small apartment with the worst hangover she had ever experienced. Ten other people were sprawled out over the apartment, all of them had been wasted out of their minds. Isabel sat up slowly, trying to remember events from the night before. She stumbled around the apartment looking for some missing... belongings, but the screaming pain was making it too hard to bear.

She collapsed and fell on the floor, before she remembered a remedy for this situation. She could reconfigure the molecular structure of her brain to remedy the hangover. She stopped looking for her missing clothes, and instead her skin morphed into the missing garment and was shed from her body. She looked in the mirror, at the mess that was her face. Her hair was in disarray, and her makeup had smeared off. No problem. By simply shifting the molecular structure of her face and hair she looked as fabulous as she had last night. No shower needed either, just transform dead skin cells, dirt, and such into clean body mass. Finally, she emitted a fragrance of perfume she had formulated internally.

She quietly left the apartment, and quickly left the building, finding herself in downtown Island City. Isabel was a freshman (or fresh-woman, as she would say) at the Island City University. Her powers had turned her from a shy and reserved high school girl, into a bona-fide model with a hedonistic philosophy. Isabel's alluring dark eyes were complemented by her brunette hair and her perfect tan. She could stand at any height that she chose, but her legs were... well you get the idea. She used her powers of shapeshifting and elemental transmutation to embody feminine aesthetic perfection.

Isabel caught the bus, and showed a bus pass that she "stole" from the apartment. As she sat by the window, a stranger came up and sat next to her. One doesn't need spider-senses or visions to see this guy was bad news. He reached out towards her. She wasn't sure what he was reaching for, but she wasn't about to find out. She grab his arm and his fingers.

"This isn't the Please Touch Museum!" She exclaimed, because all crimefighters need catchy one-liners. She bent his fingers backward until they broke. He screamed, and the bus stopped. With his free hand he took out a switchblade and went to stab her. She grabbed the blade and didn't flinch. Then she headbutted him. Embarrassed, he fled off the bus. Isabel reconfigured her forehead and pulled the blade out of her hand, then healed her hand. She gave the bus driver a thumbs up, and he continued driving.

*****

Earl got out of his car in the parking garage next to Redmond Tower. He was dressed in a suit and tie, over-coat, with short, neatly trimmed, dark hair and glasses. His whole appearance exuded his position in the Upper-middle class. As he turned, he saw Isabel, in her more casual dress with a short skirt.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"I don't know. Can you?" She said as she moved in. She grabbed his neck, sticking a pin in it. Earl blacked out, but Isabel caught him. Holding the man in her arms she got a good look at him. She took a survey of him with her molecular vision. Now his DNA, form, and clothing would be stored in her "memory" for a period of time (which she had not yet tested the limits). Isabel also needed to be careful not to stay in one form for too long. This would result in her being stuck in that form permanently.

Isabel grabbed the keys out of Earl's pocket. She opened the trunk of his car, and then carried him and stuffed him in. Then Isabel turned into Earl. She walked toward the elevator to complete her mission.

Isabel had received intelligence that the formula which had given her powers had come from Redmond Enterprises. The company was also the only distributor of shiftogen, a key element in the formula, which can transmute into any element. Isabel was determined to get every last trace of the element out of the hands of this company.

Once in the elevator, she opened the secret compartment (behind the elevator buttons), which revealed and hand scanner. She pressed her hand on the scanner. With Earl's brain she could access his memories, which came to her as they were relevant (hence how she found the scanner). The elevator started to go down. It went down three levels to the ground-level, then continued to plummet downward. Finally the ride came to a stop, and the doors opened to a small hallway with more security checkpoints. Earl's motor-memory kicked in, and Isabel passed all the checkpoint, without any suspicion.

The final doors opened to reveal a huge, state-of-the-art laboratory. Isabel walked around, and none of the technicians were any wiser. Some addressed her as "Earl" and she even responded with some nicknames when appropriate.

Finally, she approached six liter-sized tubes of shiftogen. She looked around to see if anyone was watching. She quickly stuffed each of the tubes into her over-coat, into which they were absorbed. Then she left, as calmly as she came... until someone else walked into the vicinity. It wouldn't be long before they discovered the missing vials. She walked faster, out the main entrance, passing a security guard and all the security check-points, making it all the way to the elevator. The elevator had started to close, when the alarm sounded. The technicians had realized that the tubes were gone, and they sounded the alarm. The guard stopped the elevator doors from closing.

"Sorry, sir. You know the drill." The guard went to pat Earl down, and found nothing. "I'm going to need you to stay here until I get the OK from inside."

Isabel didn't have time to wait. They would look at the footage and find Earl was the culprit soon enough. She jumped the guard. Now, Isabel had done many things in her life that she regretted, but this would make it quickly to the top of her list. The guard pulled his gun out and shot her in the stomach. Awfully close to the liver. She grabbed onto the lattice on the elevator ceiling, pulled herself up, and wrapped one leg around his neck, all in one swift motion. With the other she knocked the gun out of the guards hand. She squeezed Earl's meaty leg, dressed in suit-pants, around the guard's neck just until he passed out. Then she pushed a light fixture upward, to reveal the emergency exit. She jumped up, and climbed her way out.

*****

Miles Redmond reviewed the footage over and over again to learn everything he could about this new opponent. Security found Earl in the trunk of his car. Only those in the NOVUS Project knew about the break-in, or even the existence of shiftogen. They were studying the element to engineer practical uses.

Miles needed to find a way to locate this chameleonic shapeshifter. This person was the key to the answers they were seeking.

Prince Kon

Day Four on the alien planet, the planet known to you and I as home. Prince Kon (which would be the English equivalent of his title, and the phonetic spelling of his name) stood head and shoulders above any human, looking like Marvel's incredible green rage monster, but with dark brown skin (we would call black). He was dressed in only war paint and a loin cloth. His footsteps thundered through the forest where he roamed, in middle America.

Hunters in the woods fired at the giant, but the bullets bounced off his rhino-like skin. When they realized the futility of their attempts, they ran away. Kon growled at them with a mighty roar, and continued walking through the forest. He had never seen trees or grass in the desolate place he came from.

As he continued his thunderous stroll, helicopters came into view. Suddenly he was surrounded by armed men, dressed in black and camo. Some had hid themselves in the foliage, others came down with helicopters. They were expecting him, with high-power artillery and armor-piercing bullets. They began to fire all at once. Kon could feel his super-adrenaline kick in, as he accessed the Kinetic Force.

The Kinetic Force is the field of kinetic energy which spans the entire universe, generating and distributing that energy as needed. Kon could see the bullets coming at a slow speed. He ducked away from some, but could not avoid being hit by others. He managed to avoid hitting any major organs or arteries. He caught one bullet with his hand. Then, with strength and precision, he threw it back at the one of the gunmen.

He ran away from the center, as gunmen perched in trees fired high-power automatic weapons with armor-piercing bullets, down at the center of the circle. He grabbed one of the trees, where a gunman was perched. He pulled the gargantuan tree up by it's roots, and used it like a gigantic bat to swing at the other gunmen. The gunmen fell to the ground. Kon ran around to make sure that each one was knocked out. Only the helicopter and it's pilot remained. The pilot started to fly away. Kon found a bullet lodged into a tree. He threw the bullet at the chopper, but missed (as the bullet flew into outer space). Next he picked up a small log. He needed to adjust to this planet's gravity.

He wound up for a wind-mill pitch and launched the log right into the chopper. As the chopper started to plunge, Kon leaped into the air to grab it. He grabbed the chopper and brought it down with him, steadying the landing. Once he landed, the door swung open, and the pilot began firing. As soon as he had begun firing, though, Kon had disappeared. He was already miles away.

Kon had full access to the Kinetic Force. Running from one place to another was basically like transportation. His body would break down into a field of energy, that could take him anywhere in the universe. Kon arrived in the city, stopped moving, and returned to his bodily form on top of a building on the outskirts of town. It was at this point that he heard a sound like one that he hadn't heard since arriving on this planet. It was a sound in hyper-time, silence to the ears of you and I.

"Kon, I think it's time we met."

Kon was already gone: an invisible field of energy, searching the whole city.

"Not so fast," the voice said, as Kon arrived in an abandoned warehouse. He found the device that had been broadcasting the sound. "If you take one more step, I will blow this whole building, before you have a chance to move."

Nothing could move faster than Kon. So Kon started to leave the warehouse at light-speed. Suddenly as flash of light filled the room, pushing Kon backwards as if it were solid matter. Kon felt paralyzed, and the world around him began to slow back to regular speed. The boxes then detonated, blowing the whole building up. Without his supernatural shield from the fire, Kon was roasted by the flames.

Kon could still hear the mysterious voice saying "I run this town." He sat in agony, as the flames licked him. Heat itself was not something his body was used to. His home planet was the coldest inhabited planet in the Universe. It was more than Kon could bear. He laid down, and accepted defeat.

Across the street was a fire house. In a short amount of time (relative to us) the fire department was on the scene. Ten men went inside, and carried Kon out. They did not question the fact that he was a giant to them, they simply did their job. The medical team had a bigger challenge with his non-human form. Kon's whole body was suffering from second and third degree burns. Shrapnel was lodged into him. He was also in shock.

Soon the Kinetic Force kicked back in. First it went to work in his brain, sorting out the trauma of almost dying. Luckily, Kon was born a warrior, so this didn't take too long (relatively). Next it went to work on his flesh. His skin healed quickly, harder than it was before. He stood up, to the surprise of the service men and women watching, and began to pull the shrapnel out. He continued to heal. Finally, his full speed returned to him, he transformed into a field of energy and zoomed away to find the one who had done this.

Maria Wright

Maria Wright was a beautiful, young lady. Tall, with long thin legs, flowing black hair, and alluring dark eyes. She was modest, not just in her dress, but also that she didn't look threatening. She just happened to walk into the wrong alley at the wrong time.

Men came out of the shadows to meet her, with... less than well intentions. One pulled a gun, and the others pulled knives out. Maria charged the gun-man. He was shocked at first, but then pulled the trigger. Maria flew backwards. Her body dropped to the floor, a gaping hole in her forehead. The men gathered around to loot through her stuff and leave. They opened up her purse to find nothing but trash.

Then, in an instant, the hole in her forehead was gone. She leapt up, and slipped two knifes out of her sleeves. The knives were lodged into the two biggest men. A well-placed kick in high-heels put out the gunman's eyes. Maria took the gun, broke the gun-man's hand, and disassembled the gun. He swung at her with his remaining hand. She grabbed that arm, and with surprising speed and strength, twisted it behind his back. She pulled it up, breaking it. Another man approached her, and she punched him in the face.

He recovered immediately, and put his fists up. Maria decided to show off her kick-boxing training. He swung first this time, missed and left his face wide open. She took the shot, and several subsequent shots. A few well-placed kicks and her opponent dropped to the ground. Another opponent rushed her, and she jumped up, catching onto the fire escape. She pulled herself up a bit, and kicked him in the face. He jumped, and followed her up the fire-escape. She stood at the top of the fire escape and waited for him. He rushed at her, but she simply stepped out of the way. He grabbed her, but she pushed him against the low railing. He was dangerously close to dropping.

With a simple push from Maria, they both plunged to the ground. Maria land on her attacker, who was dead. Her bones, which had broken, instantly began to heal. She stood to face her final opponent.

He pulled a knife, she grabbed the blade, then his wrist. In one fluid motion, she turned the knife in on the attacker, lodging it into his shoulder. Then she punched his lights out.

Maria stood in the middle of the scene. When she heard the sirens running, she grabbed the shoe out of the one attacker's' eyes, and then another shoe, and she fled the scene.

Was this the scene of an attempted rape and mugging that was thwarted, or the scene of a murder? Was this young woman in the wrong place, at the wrong time? Or had she intended to do this all along?

The Gear

It's all about creating wealth. Not making money, but wealth, there's a subtle difference. Creating wealth is about adding value to the world around you. In exchange, one of the many benefits, is that you make money (a unit that represents wealth). Over three generations, the Redmond family had created a lot of wealth. In public, and even more so behind the scenes, the three Redmonds added more value to the world than many other people.

Arthur, the patriarch, discovered the mysterious neo-particles, and pioneered the new field of neo-science. His son, Michael, was an industrialist like a modern Edison, until his untimely demise. Miles, Arthur's grandson, had yet to prove himself to the world. Miles lived on the edge of the Island City, his state-of-the-art mansion was built into the caverns of the cliffs, looking out over the Atlantic Ocean.

In the hidden garage, Miles worked on programming the super-computer his father had built. An alarm went off, and Miles immediately jumped into action. He wore his flexi-armor, a black jumpsuit made of bullet proof non-metal. He slipped his feet into metal boots, which went up to his knees and clamped on automatically. He slipped on a gauntlet, with a long metal forearm. Finally he slipped on the helmet: a full-faced helmet with no marks or openings, simply one opaque glassy orb. Inside, Miles could control his whole operation cybernetically. He walked up the the Hover-Car, designed like a Lamborghini, but with a heavier metal for the exterior, wheels replaced with his fathers experimental hover-tech, and a turbo-thruster in the back. He jumped into the Hover-Car and sped away.

Before long he was in the center of town. In the middle of the street a cop car chased an armored truck. Miles hovered above in the hover-car. Gunmen opened up the back doors, carrying a bazooka, and aimed it at the police vehicle. The officer hit the brakes, and, Miles dove downwards into the line of fire, simultaneously ejecting from the car.

Two hover disks ejected from Miles' belt. The disks shot two tranquilizer darts at the two gunmen in the back of the truck. Miles landed on top of the truck, and walked towards the front. He attached a line to the truck with a super magnet and scaled down the side of the cabin. The driver pulled out a semi-auto and fired at the Helmeted Adventurer. Miles grabbed the drivers arm to point it away from himself.

The hover disks (which Miles had dubbed 'gears') traveled under the truck to the engine, destroying it. As the car lost it's power, the driver braked to a stop, slipped from Miles' grip, and escaped out the other side.

The gears followed the driver who ran on foot through the city. Miles wished that he had a hover board. Miles ran after, out of shape, following his target through the visual displays on his helmet. He sent untraceable messages to the Island City Police Force, on the coordinates.

Then he saw Redmond Tower: the tallest, and one of the only skyscrapers in the city. He launched his line up, and ascended the walls as fast as he could. At the top, he looked over the whole city. The visuals on his helmet pointed out where the gears were, and the gears relayed the image of the driver they were following from a distance.

Miles watched a cop car pass by, as the driver hid in an alley behind the dumpster. Sometimes, if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. Miles dove from his perch on the top of the Tower. After falling from a certain height, he fired one line from his back, which attached magnetically to a strategically placed metal piece.

He fired another line from his gauntlet onto a nearby building, and the end of the line wrapped securely around a railing.  Miles swung building to building, much like a certain arachnid-esque hero he had once idolized. His lines were made of prehensile nano-bots, which could act more like tentacles if needed. As he swung across 3 blocks, one of the gears projected a 3D hologram of him next to the driver. The driver fired the remainder of his shots into the projection, to no avail. The real Miles swung in, and punched the driver out in one fair swoop.

As Miles stood there, the police finally arrived. "It's The Gear!" they exclaimed, as he was legendarily known in the city. "He's back!" they gawked. Truth be told, Miles had never left. It was the guy before him. He had given up the mantle of the Helmeted Avenger. Miles decided it was a good time to exit. He ran back to the hover-car, leaving the cops to clean up the mess.

*****
"Are we any closer to building miniature hover-thrusters that can lift a human?" Miles asked the super-computer he decided to dub, the Architect (or Archie).
"No."
"How about making a more durable non-liquid material."
"No."
"Am I any closer to being an American Ninja Warrior?"
"No"
"All right, tell me when we make any breakthroughs in these areas. I have a date."

Miles walked out of the hidden Garage, into his living room which looked out over the Ocean. Inheriting his father's wealth had changed the way girls looked at him. All through college he tried to shun his father's handouts, and any asscociation with the Family name. He buried himself in his studies, neglecting his social life entirely. All through college he never dated anyone. Now he was turning a new leaf. Maybe he had bit off more than he could chew, asking out the most attractive girl in the world: a student he had met, guest speaking at the local university. He planned to pull out all the stops to impress her. She had other plans...

John Morris

John was in touch with the hostages inside the bank. The SWAT team prepared to move in at a moment's notice, but John was not working with them. You see John had the ability of "natural telepathy": the ability to communicate with others telepathically, without probing or controlling their mind.  He became a successful private investigator in Manhattan, all while keeping his powers from the public. He had no intention of revealing his superpowers to the public again.

He knew where all of the armed robbers were, from talking to the hostages. He knew how many hostages were inside and what they were doing. Now it was simply a matter of getting inside. He learned from one of the hostages that they were building an escape into the sewer system. The hostages related to John that the gunmen had started to make their way into the sewer system. They had left a suspicious box in the middle of the bank lobby, possibly insurance of their clean escape.

The SWAT team still didn't know that the gunmen had left. They were still working on getting eyes in the building. John decided that it was time to venture into the sewer. John crept through the dark, a military veteran, trained in stealth, and equipped with night-vision goggles. He approached the gunman and decided to try something fun. He used his telepathy to cast his voice into one gunman's mind.

"Hey you," he whispered telepathically.

The target stopped.

"Freeze!" he shouted, into the man's mind.

The gunman whirled around, but John was safely hidden away, behind a corner. He pulled out a remote. John couldn't see this, of course, but he announced loudly their angle. "If you attack any of us, the others will detonate a bomb in the bank," he yelled. John was quite a marksman. If there was only one with a remote he would have shot that one in the head. However, the situation seemed different. It would appear that they all had detonators.

"Who are you talking to?" the other gunmen asked.

The first-mentioned gunman was shocked, "Didn't you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Someone just yelled 'freeze', clear as day."

The others pulled out their remotes, ready.

"Where are you guys going?" John whispered into the one gunman's mind.

"There it is again? This time whispering." When you speak into someone's mind, they feel like they are hearing an echo. In the echoing sewer system, the gunman poor couldn't tell that the noise was in his head. John continued to whisper into the gunman's mind.

"You guys don't hear that," he asked to his unfazed cohorts.  

"Are you hearing voices in your head?" They teased. They put their remotes away and dismissed their insane comrade.

"I'll prove it to you," he said, as he pulled his gun, walked into the shadows, and disappeared.

The other gun men heard "Hey guys, over here" echo (in their heads). Two others followed after their comrade, into the shadows. A gunshot was heard. Then shots were fired. The remaining three gunmen, pulled their remotes out. With remote in one hand, semi-automatic in the other, and AK-47s slung on their backs. The apparent leader walked into the darkness, turned the corner, and fired two shots at a dark figure. He turned back to find that his remaining comrades had been shot. He turned again to see that the shadowy figure he had shot was also a comrade of his. It was his last thought. John climbed down from the ladder with his handgun and silencer.

By this time the swat team had moved into the bank, found the bomb, and began to venture through the sewers. They found the six gunmen, and the remotes dismantled. There was no trace of John's presence, except the bullet wounds, from which the bullets had been removed.

John took his seventh shower that day, trying to get the smell off. He had killed many people in war, and he never hesitated to kill in a situation where lives were at stake. It was always a sad to finally come to that point, but John would not hesitate for a moment to make that decision.

This adventure, however, came close. Since his retirement from the military, he had spent his days as a high-profile private investigator. Fulfilling work, but not not very active. In had been some time since he was in the line of action, let alone gun-fire. Maybe it was time to retire from field-work. Maybe use his powers to help younger heroes, and his experience to train them. Just, maybe.