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Registered User
Currently Offline
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Posts: 225
Join Date: Jan 2008
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“Why is it every time I go out on patrol something weird happens? I mean I’ve only been protecting this city for four months and I’ve gone up against a half a dozen super villains and thwarted a natural disaster once already. When do I get a break?”
Hercules Cole watched from the roof of an apartment building as a woman wearing ripped military fatigues simply appeared in the middle of the street and collapsed. He teleported down to her as fast as possible and moved her over to the sidewalk and out of traffic. She barely had a pulse, her breathing shallow. Then as if she was given renewed strength her hand shot out and clamped against his throat.
“Where am I” she gasped through gritted teeth “tell me now” she demanded!
“You are in Wayward City” Hercules told her gently trying to calm her and then added “New Jersey.”
Her gripped slackened and she let go then began rubbing her head trying to ward off the throbbing headache that had begun to seep into her skull. Melanie couldn’t have heard the man right because New Jersey no longer existed; it was destroyed with the rest of the United States.
“What year is it” she asked not sure why that seemed relevant?
“2008” the man wearing a black costume with golden lightning bolt accents answered.
Was it possible, she wondered, could she have really traveled back in time instead of teleporting like she had planned? That was ridiculous, wasn’t it? She sat up and the man helped her to her feet. Melanie looked around again. Unless she was hallucinating what other explanation was there for what she was experiencing?
“Who are you” she asked the costumed man?
Hercules looked thoughtful a moment and replied “I am Voltage, master of electricity and guardian of Wayward City.”
“Is there a place I can rest?”
Voltage smiled gently and offered his hand. She took it and instantly felt electricity surge through her body, though more controlled than the thunderstorm had been. Then she was in a small darkened bedroom. She hadn’t been inside a building since the war had started. This was kind of nice.
“You can stay here as long as you like. This place belongs to a friend of mine” Voltage said and then teleported away.
Melanie wondered how the man had powers if he didn’t get them from the nuclear fallout as she had. And she was almost certain Voltage wasn’t his real name so why hide his identity? She noticed a plasma television on the wall and grabbed the remote from the nightstand. Then she kicked off her boots and lay down on the bed flipping through the channels.
She watched the news for a couple of hours and noticed a couple of reports showed the man named Voltage tangling with some nasty villain types who also had powers. Another channel was reporting the exploits of another costumed character, a woman this time, who was fighting what appeared to be a robot samurai. She fell asleep shortly, her body exhausted from her battle with the Ankylosaurus Rex and her time travel.
Hercules Cole and his wife Lindsay arrived home at roughly the same time to find Melanie asleep in their guest room. Lindsay wasn’t so sure about having a strange woman in her house but deferred to her husband’s judgment for the time being. Having a superhero for a husband wasn’t as glamorous as she would have liked, but she made due.
The woman slept through the night and awoke when she heard her hosts moving around the next morning “I hope you don’t mind that I am here, a man named Voltage said it was okay.”
“No its fine” Lindsay said “but can I ask you a question?”
“Sure” Melanie replied.
“Can I ask what happened to you?”
Melanie recounted her story, about how she was battling dinosaurs in the war torn future of 2388 and how she had been struck by lightning in an attempt to cross the ocean. Then ended the tale with her arrival in the street and her rescue by the man called Voltage.
“Why do people with powers use fake names and wear those ridiculous costumes?”
Lindsay thought it over a moment before saying “in order to protect their families from retaliation by the bad guys they go up against. As for the bad guys I think they do it so that the authorities don’t know who they really are.”
Thinking this over Melanie decided she too would take up the fight here. If she couldn’t get back to her own time maybe she could do something in the here and now to prevent that future from becoming reality. She decided to call herself Bombshell in reference to the explosion that gave her the powers.
When Voltage returned to check up on her she told him of her plan to help. He conceded that the city was too big for him to handle alone and figured they could always use someone with her experience. There were too many new and inexperienced heroes out there getting hurt on a daily basis.
Later that day the two of them went out on patrol. As Bombshell combed the city to acquaint herself with the area they ran into a bit of trouble in the North West Providence. A woman surrounded in fire was torching several apartment buildings while laughing hysterically.
“Hold it right there” Voltage shouted out and she hit her with a thunderbolt!
The fire protected her somewhat but it still shocked a little which irritated her “no one strikes Firefox!”
With that she unleashed a stream of fire that hurtled toward Voltage and blazing speed. Bombshell dove in front of him letting her body absorb the flame. Voltage teleported behind Firefox and hit her with a thunder-punch knocking her to the ground.
Suddenly Bombshell let loose a torrent of energized punches expending the energy she just acquired back at Firefox. The villainous shrieked with fury at the onslaught and burned hotter causing Voltage to move away from her. Bombshell however just absorbed the added heat like it was nothing. Her forehead began to bead with sweat but otherwise there was no change in her physical appearance.
“You shouldn’t have done that hothead” Bombshell shouted “now you’ve sealed your fate!”
The energy coursed through her body channeling into her fists for one super strong, fiery punch. Her fist pulled back threateningly.
“No Bombshell, that is not our way” Voltage warned his own fist pulsing with electricity “we don’t kill unless we have too.”
“Alright” the woman from the future said a hint of disappointment in her voice as she lowered her fist. Then she unleashed the stored up energy into a nearby dumpster causing it to explode “I don’t know if I will ever understand your customs.”
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