1 Beginnings
I walked the streets of New York City as the festivities and well-wishers filled the air with drunken yells and the smell of vomit for yet another year, my mind wanders, today begins the plan I've prepared for 5 years, and I found myself celebrating alongside the sheep as this year dawns. I found this diary in the
inventory of an odd street vendor, of all the hundreds of venders peddling various wares, he was different. He had confidence in higher education, intrigued I spoke with him.
He was a Princeton educated engineer, working for a predominate architecture the firm not too far away from his humble cart of trinkets. He had a salary of over $100K a year, a loft overlooking Central Park, even a Mercedes SLK, that was until the economy crashed over COVID-19 in 2020 and companies and governments decided to freeze construction efforts, leaving my friend's project at a standstill month after month till the budget ran out and the board canceled it, along with his employment. So
he moved to a less than safe housing district, sold his super-car to get a 10-year-old "super" van, and put the rest of his severance pay into his cart.
"I've always wanted a simpler life," he told me as I held this book in my hands, "before I had
deadlines, friends who were also my rivals, and stress that almost burned me out, but now? I have a cart with tourist junk, yea I know what'cha thinking, but I love it! I make my own hours, I meet new people every day, and know what? Not one of them wants my job." He told me with odd happiness about the cart. How he found it in an alleyway, discarded like he was, he rescued it from the cold, salty long island air and gave it new life. A metaphor for my goals.
Change. That is what I strive for, not the hollow words of politicians, nor the helping comfort of kind souls, neither will eliminate the cause of the grief. The greed that grips an unjust soul, who lust for wealth and power for their selfish ends. No regard for the worker who only wants to feed his family and give his
children hope for the future. I don't mean communism either or some utopia, but something sustainable, a change of management. I write this diary as both a record and witness, my plan is a bold one, and I'm not certain on success as it stands now so many variables... For now, I toast the new year, tomorrow I attempt my first recruiting venture, may fortune favor the foolish.
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Today I seek my first recruit, a rather cunning villain called "Talon" and according to my contacts, he may be willing to join me. So I strolled the frost-covered streets with a police scanner in my pocket, and earbuds in my ear. I wandered the west side until about 3:15 pm when the dispatch called a 5-99 (Code for a Super Villain) about a block away. So I ducked into the alleys and up a fire escape to have a roof-top seat. Talon wasn't what I expected, he was thin and didn't seem as strong as my contact portrayed him, that was until a cop leaps at him and Talon became a blur and in a blink of an eye the cop laid on the side-walk unconscious. I pulled out my camera and shot some high-speed footage of the next events.
Uponreviewing the footage this is what happened:
Cop 2 came from the side, Talon back stepped paused till the officer was parallel to him, and struck with a precise blow to a nerve cluster just below the neck instantly paralyzing the officer who flopped to the ground, knocked out upon impact to the concrete, probably dead. Cop 3 fired his 9mm, Talon dodged the round by twisting backward and to the side, he got his footing and closed his distance, landing a blow to the cop's throat with one hand, and disarmed him with the other. Talon then threw a supersonic jab to the officer's chest, shattering a rib or two no doubt, the cop passed out.
He's efficient, precise, and fast, but most importantly he's in complete control. No flamboyant theatrics or gloating in his abilities. He's perfect. I quickly made my way to street level just in time for Talon to immobilize the last cop. I clapped as I exited the shadows, "Nice work! I am surely impressed Talon." He was cautious of me of course, "Who are you?" I introduce myself as "Shadow", it seemed appropriate for the way I approached him, plus I like the ring of it. I'll use the sudo-name, for now. "I'm a friend, and I have a lucrative business opportunity."
Police sirens began to grow in the distance so I grabbed a bank bag, "Let's get somewhere quiet to discuss the details," he nodded and the two of us retreated to a safe-house a couple of blocks to the east, a small loft Talon setup for his heist, I like him already, I laid out the overview of my plan and my intention of recruiting him as my 1st lieutenant. He was intrigued and we negotiated for some time,
but in the end, he joined my cause. He has many contacts in both the black-market and local supervillain circles, expert tactician, not as good as me of course but ideal as a second-in-command, and that's the position I gave him. I feel in time I'll confide in him, we share similar pasts, and brilliant minds
think alike. With his help, I narrowed down our next recruit. Need to pack for warm weather, Arizona isn't known for snow, but more of that in my next entry. But now I toast for my first victory!
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The communicator buzzed on the console as Apollo sat typing on The HeroAlliance mainframe. With a grunt he answered, "Apollo here?" his expression went from annoyance to anger, he slammed the communicator onto the console, causing a few sparks and a fair-sized imprint in the aluminum work surface. "What's your problem?" spoke the attractive heroine, she entered from the training room with a towel around her neck. A little embarrassed Apollo relaxed his fists,
"Another villain disappeared, that makes four so far." She smiled and relaxed on the over-stuffed couch, "Isn't that a good thing? One less torn in our side."
Apollo turned to her still very annoyed, but now at her, "No, Sakura! It's not a good thing! They didn't get defeated, they didn't retire, they just vanished. Not a trace left from there lairs, all there minions and henchmen disbanded. It doesn't make sense." Sakura just giggled at Apollo's lack of composure, "So they quit, and
why would they stay on the grid? So you can waltz up to there vacation lair and arrest them? We have squashed every villain that comes our way, sounds to me they got smart and threw in the towel on villainy. I don't blame them, personally I'm a bit bored." She got up and casually walked toward the elevators, "When you finished acting like a child, I'll be with the others." Apollo watched
her leave, what she said made sense, but why did he have this ominous feeling? Something was not right, and he won't stop till he finds out what's going on. Apollo sat back down and pulled up the missing Villain's bios;
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"Talon", Speed Type
Area: New York City, NewYork
Power: Speed Class 4 - Mach 1.29
History:
Born outside of Buffalo, orphaned at a young age. Before his powers manifested he was a war historian at West Point, discharged due to early fears of supers, pension revoked. Began a career as a master thief doing contract heists for world-wide clients.
Threat Level: Yellow (Note: Master Tactician, High Threat Potential)
Last Known Whereabouts:
5-99 called Jan. 1st, 2025, car 254 and cycle 902 of NYPD responded, responding officers neutralized - one death.
City Bank, branch 1036 reported $1.4mil in cash, jewelry, and bonds stolen.
"War Eagle", Strength Type
Area: Arizona, Nevada
Power: Strength Class 3 - Force 3.57 (Force 1 = 1 Foot Ton)
History:
Born on a Navaho reservation, abusive childhood. Worked the poker tables on
the reservation casino before power manifestation. After acquiring powers War Eagle began underground fight-clubs, money laundering, and the occasional casino
robbery.
Threat Level: Orange (Note: No Known Weakness, Use Extreme Caution)
Last Known Whereabouts:
Desert Raven Casino - Las Vegas, NV
"Battle Phage", Enhanced Combat Type
Area: Western United States
Power: Combat Class B - Reflex 2.5x, Strength +50%, Speed +25%, IQ 99.46
History:
A decorated career as a US Ranger, Henry Williams, was recruited for Project Bloodlust, a Bio-Engineering project conducted under *Rank Classified* "John" *Surname Classified* at the Department of Defense, and Dr. William Sojourn (DECEASED) of BioTech Industries during October 2001-2023, Henry worked
black-ops under D.O.D. authorization between 2011-2013.
On April 20th, 2023 Henry's family was eliminated by mercenaries hired by the D.O.D. in response to insubordinate behavior*, and the threat of treason by Henry**.
On May 2nd, 2023 Henry becomes aware of John's involvement in his families murder and went rouge, blaming all involved in Project Bloodlust, and killing Dr. Sojourn and his staff, he routinely launches attacks on D.O.D. facilities, as while as taking assassination jobs on the side.
Project Bloodlust has been terminated as of - May 21st, 2023
Project details Top Secret.
*Note: "John" was engaging in unauthorized experimentation.
**Note: According to research, Henry most likely threatened "John" to goto D.O.D. chairman, or make the experiments public.
Threat Level: RED (Note: Hand-to-Hand and Range Combat Expert)
Last Known Whereabouts:
Colorado Springs, CO
"Cork Screw", Tech Type
Area: United States
Power: NONE - IQ 120.36
History:
Norman Rockwell graduated MIT in the top 1%, Post-Graduate studies in Advanced Robotics and NanoEngineering led to several awards.
In 2022 Norman developed acute psychosis and severe paranoia. Which led to the "MIT
Death Bot Attack" on May 1st, 2022, resulting in 50 deaths and several dozen wounded. Directly resulting in the "Tokyo Robot Accords of 2013" which limits NATO's use of A.I. Robotic Weapons. Cork Screw attacks randomly and the base of operations is unknown.
Threat Level: Orange (Note: EMP use recommended for engagement)
Last Known Whereabouts:
Chicago, IL - Jan. 6th, 2025 - Attacked Ford International manufacturing facility, taking several vehicles and the vending machine from the break room.
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"That attack was a few weeks ago, wait." Apollo typed furiously as he accessed the police report, Cork Screw stole 5 Explorers fresh off the line, and the cars haven't been registered or have been GPS tagged yet. This means all of the missing Villains could be working together, Apollo was taken aback by his theory, a speedster, strong man, combat specialist, and a genius nut-job. A fairly balanced team working together could wreak havoc on the planet. You'll need a few more to
counter The Hero Alliance of course, but still, even with just four, they can be formidable, each using their strengths to off-set the other's weaknesses. Apollo grabbed a new communicator, he has to consult the others.
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One month into my plan and the pieces for phase 1 are falling into place. Talon and I have recruited three more to our cause!
The first of the new recruits is "War Eagle" a very interesting fellow, like most strength types he can shove a train off its rails, but when it comes to business he's by far the best I've seen. Running a mob-style underground venture is far harder then those pompous ivy-league saps on wall street can even dream of and is more art than a skill. An extraordinary amount of tact, presence, and ruthlessness must be mastered to make it both successful and covert enough to slide under the Hero Alliance radar, and War Eagle is a born naturally.
They know of his business dealings of course, but only a small fraction, his network has tentacles in business fronts and law enforcement agencies across the country. What the fools at T.H.A. know is only what he wants them to know, and he battles them only to misdirect them when they come close to finding his real network. My problem was finding him, I went to his reservation casino only to find his manager. I met with a rude welcome when Talon and I asked about him
in the posh lobby. After several dozen of the summoned casino security staff was
either unconscious or dead was the manager finally forced to agree to meet with me.
He was a tough-looking Navaho but acted like a frightened child as we easily handled guard after guard, I even had to sully my hands with a few of them. The Indian looked like he pissed himself when I kicked the mahogany doors down to reveal half his security staff writhing in pain and bleeding on the hallway floor behind us. I asked to see War Eagle and the coward quickly directed me to his Las
Vegas Casino, The Desert Raven.
Vegas holds a special place for the villain class, it's wild spirit is an inspiration, and a haven with the highest officials paid off to War Eagle who let us villains live in peace, as long as they don't do business or make trouble in Eagle's territory that is. Having him as an ally is key to my plan's success, his resources and leadership is a must for any sort of organized assault and infiltration of subordinates into the government. Phase 2.
But I digress, our meeting in the casino was a tense one, again we fought our way to his top-floor office, bloodshed I'd rather avoid if I could. It's a bad first impression, but I had to show my power, a man of his profession values strength, both in me and what strength I can offer him. When I reached the gilded waiting room to his office, the terrified secretary, who squealed as we bashed the heavy door down, cried under her desk. Of course, our appearance didn't help either, we
were covered in minor cuts and blood splatter from the more difficult guards. We waltz calmly by the shivering woman into his office, which was also gilded to a near gouty level. The massive man stood with his muscular arms planted on his gold plated aluminum desk. He gave an angry rant, and more than once did he threaten to execute us, with some of my more cunning negotiation techniques I
quickly took control of the situation and explained our core intentions.
I managed to calm him and explained the summary of my plan, at which he showed signs of interest. The hard part was convincing him of my seniority over him, so I asked to be alone with War Eagle. Talon was reluctant, but with all of the guards either unconscious or near death he agreed. Alone I explained myself and the essence of my plan, as well as my qualifications as a leader in this endeavor. He agreed in the end to follow my orders, but only until the fruition of my plan, whereas at that time I'll let him leave for his own pursuits in the new era if he wishes.
His role is to be my money man and general, with his underlings handling the infiltration and general logistical support for our little conspiracy. He also introduced me to "Battle Phage" one of War Eagles head lieutenants who will accompany Talon and I as we seek another player indispensable to the plan,
"Cork Screw." Battle Phage is one with a very intriguing past, he's a biotech enhanced, formal super-soldier for the Department of Defense. The DOD crony in charge was Admiral Jonathan Wilkes, the same Jonathan Wilkes who just got a plush job as Secretary of Defense. Mr. Wilkes apparently did some really nasty experiments on some Iraqi orphans, and promptly shoved the blame to Battle Phage in a rather cowardly setup. Battle Phage's family was killed while he tried to
expose Wilkes' evils to his superiors. He became rather enamored when I summarized my plan to him, and the lust of revenge returned to his defeated eyes. I may have found a very zealous ally indeed, and just in time too as we found out when we tracked down Cork Screw.
In a word, Cork Screw is insane, but a technological genius. His personality is eccentric, but he's not out of control. His temper is a hair-trigger that surprised even me, but the man who spends his days in his lab with mechanical pets has a brilliance and reckless courage I can't help but admire. After Battle Phage, Talon and I fought a violent battle with his Gladiator Penguin Bots to prove ourselves "worthy" he will be more than willing to join our cause, he'd even called
the prospect of the challenge fun. The ring was a holographic projection onto force-fields, a Trekkie's wet dream come true.
We fought in a Roman arena with Cork Screw as Cesar, who let forth real penguin robots dressed in centurion costume, at first we laughed at the spectacle, that was until they attacked. They leap as us with unnatural speed, I ducked just before a sword took my head off. Talon and Phage were also taken off
guard, and we struggled to accumulate in our situation. I grabbed an attacking bot, it's sword hand, and twisted it off, the sword still in its grip. Though I'm not as strong as Battle Phage, I too have some super abilities and in my previous life I trained for years in many martial arts, I even learned several body-control techniques from Shaolin Monks.
Their mystic beliefs are rubbish of course, but
they can achieve levels of bodily control and enhancement nearing super levels. Hence my strength, another beneficial side effect of Shaolin meditation is the ability to stay absolutely focused in any situation. The bot appeared almost surprised as I kicked it's head off, Talon gained his footing and used his speed to amplify a two palmed blast on to a very unfortunate bot, blasting the amusingly
dressed creation into a wall, shattering it. Battle Phage used a precise mix of hand to-
hand techniques and his pistol to fend off his attackers. We smashed penguins, dogs, and gorillas, and when Cork Screw was finally satisfied we were bruised, bloody, and exhausted, but we won our prize.
