Halcyon City. They say there’s no place like it, anywhere else on Earth.
Well. The people of Bay City would beg to differ. It may not be a bustling megalopolis, but the city stakes its claim as the second largest hub of superheroes and villains in the world. And it is here that a new generation of heroes has begun to rise. These are their stories...
West Coast Masks - The Solar Squad!
Issue #1
It's been almost two months since the incursion from the Darkstar Collective, a band of alien warriors intent on conquest. Though the vast majority of the invaders had been defeated, a few stragglers escaped the battle. Nothing had been heard from them--until today!
The appearance of a hulking, armored alien outside of Bay City Hall quickly triggered the alarm! Fortunately, the city has a team of fledgling heroes on standby, the very same heroes who were instrumental in defeating the Collective when they first met.
The Darkstar warrior roars a challenge and raises its weapon as the Solar Squad arrives on the scene!
Solaria flies towards city hall, reaching up to activate her comm device in her ear. ”Okay, ladies and gentleman. Looks like it is just the one. But he’s a pretty good sized one. Let’s get between it and civilians and keep it contained while we take it down!”
She then lands in a classic superhero landing between it and the government building before standing up and putting her fists on her hips. ”Alright. You are here to turn yourself in peacefully, right?” Solaria says to the thing sarcastically.
Myth has learned that being on the ground is not the best thing for him to do if there isn't a battle actually in progress. Humans are not completely foolish - when there is danger they run as fast as possible, quite sensibly. But when there isn't the threat of immanent death a lot of them become rather distracted by his presence...
So instead he lands on the roof of the town hall itself, his burnished skin glowing in the sunlight. He scans the sky in case of reinforcements and then examines the street for whatever tricks the Collective doubtless has up its sleeve.
Payload dashes up alongside Solaria. Though her mask conceals her smirk, there is amusement in her eyes. "Yeah, I get the feeling this guy's not gonna surrender so easily. Don't worry, I'll give him the old razzle-dazzle!"
Her hands glow briefly as a half-dozen spherical drones emerge from her palms. They begin blinking with dazzling lights as they swarm around the alien's head, distracting it!
"Yeah, I'm here now, so I've got to go, Mom. Loveyoubye," Gypsy says, dropping her phone into her canvas shoulder-bag as she hops out of the back seat of the Uber she'd managed to grab. She fumbles with the ear-piece that always seems to get tangled with this particular earring. "I'm here!" she declares to the others. The driver of the battered Kia takes one look at the armored figure in the distance and spins gravel making a u-turn and exiting the area.
Gypsy takes a deep breath and gathers the energy she can feel flowing around her. There's a twang of guilt as she told Moon that she would talk to her before using her powers again. The spectral nimbus surrounding her is warm and comforting, though. "Spirits of the unseen, make visible to me those things of import," she intones and her eyes darken to a deep purple.
Solaria determines the best way to end this quickly is for everybody to concentrate their attacks on the alien and not give it a chance to unleash its full powers! Myth realizes the biggest threat is the alien in front of the team. Opening her mind, Gypsy confirms that there are no other immediate threats.
Payload’s drone display confuses the armored alien, which swipes at the drones with its pointy weapon! The distraction exposes a weak point in its armor between its arms and its torso. Attack the weak point for massive damage!
Solaria plants her feet against the asphalt and calls out ”Alright! Let’s take it down!” before launching herself forward! She throws a couple thunderous punches and kicks at it before swooping around behind the larger warrior. She wraps it’s left arm between her legs while hooking it’s right in her arms. She stretches herself out as far as she can, holding the alien in something reminiscent to a Full Nelson, even if it takes her whole body to do so!
”I got ya, girl! Lock and load!” Payload clenches her fists, the brass knuckles she wears beginning to crackle with electricity. She dashes forward, hops upon the aliens’s armored back, and begins to pummel the weak point!
As Solaria grapples with the alien, Gypsy approaches, surrounded by an aura of deep purple energy. "Hold him, Sierra!" she shouts as tendrils of darkness appear around her. Matching tendrils rise from the ground under the armored threat and climb its legs.
The tendrils climb the struggling warrior and pull at the weapon in its hands. There's a quick tug-of-war, but the eldritch forces are victorious. Not before the alien manages to fire the weapon at Gypsy more than once, though.
One of the blasts from the alien's weapon impacts against the dark energies surrounding Gypsy. The force of the blow is absorbed by her aura, but it's still strong enough to knock her back and onto her bottom.
The mystical panumbra around her vanishes leaving her small and defenseless. She tries to shake it off. "You should know better than that, Gypsy," she castigates herself. "Work smarter, not harder."
Solaria strains to hold the behemoths arms, and says through clenched teeth ”What…does it…look like…I’m doing?”
Then the tendrils begin sneaking up the alien and she adds ”Gypsy…oh come on…don’t…aaaaawwwww why are they slimy!?!?”
"Sorry, sorry," Gypsy calls back from her seated position. "Just don't let them ... well ... they should vanish as soon as they're done disarming him."
Myth shoots a Ray of concentrated light into the road...
Solaria flies in to trade blows with the alien. It gets a few good headbutts and elbow jabs in before she flies behind it and holds its arms in a full nelson!
Payload dashes up to the creature, pummeling it with electrified fists. It jerks and staggers about, inadvertently crushing several parked cars outside of city hall! But Payload leaps away before it can retaliate.
Gypsy's tendrils squeeze the alien tightly, crushing its limbs and yanking its weapon away from it. But the blasts from the weapon strike the Nova, causing her to give ground. The tendrils disappear and the monster manages to break out of Solaria's hold and hurl her away!
The alien turns to flee, but Myth fires a concentrated beam of light at it. Solaria zips back in to shove it back towards Myth's eye beams, and Payload throws out a few spiky caltrops to trip the alien up! The beams of light bore holes through the alien's body, and green blood splatters the street as the being collapses and lies still!
Solaria held him as long as she could, but eventually the alien slipped his arm out from her legs and grabs her by the ankle! He slammed her on the ground once before tossing her across the road!
But she is able to recover in time to fly back and push it into Myth’s attack! Once it falls, she flies up and looks around for any item her signs of trouble before floating down and landing lightly. ”Looks like that’s all wrapped up!”
"Ha! Yes! Nailed it!" Payload cries, pumping her fist in victory. She looks up at Myth. "Nice aim, big guy! Did you see me, though? I was all ZIP! BZZT! POW, POW, WHOOSH!" She bobs and weaves as she re-enacts her battle moves.
”Yeah, everyone did a good job,” Sierra offers up as the others gather. She gives a few waves to the crowd before adding ”Maybe we should check inside, make sure this wasn’t a diversion or something, check if all the officials are alright?”
Gypsy climbs to her feet and brushes the parking lot shmutz from her dress and checks the contents of her bag for damage. Satisfied that everything survived the encounter without lasting damage, she approaches the others.
"And no one got burned this time," she says with a nervous smile at Peyton, trying to make light of previous events.
Payload's eyes laugh behind her mask. "Much appreciated! I think you're getting better at controlling your powers, Gypsy. Those tendrils, though... Think they might have other uses?" She giggles and winks.
"Seriously, though, good job, girl. Come on, bring it in!" Payload spreads her arms wide, offering a hug.
Solaria raises an eyebrow at the sudden friendliness Peyton is showing. And at her lewd comment, a shiver runs up her spine and she rolls her eyes. She turns and starts walking to City Hall to check on everyone.
Once assured everyone is safe, she returns and says ”Looks like we have an all clear. Let’s find us a spot where we can all talk.”
"Other uses?" Gypsy questions before nodding. "Oh, definitely. They could help someone climb. They could restrain someone. They could carry things. They could ..." Finally noting Peyton's smirk, her tone shifts. "... be a core element in someone's hentai fantasy. But I would have to point out a couple of things regarding that. One, I don't really control them that much. Two, They could be really strong and do a lot of damage. And, Three, ... eww!" She shudders for effect.
"Seriously, though, good job, girl. Come on, bring it in!" Payload spreads her arms wide, offering a hug.
"Oh, and we're hugging now," she says as if to herself as her face turns an unflattering shade of pink.
"Mmm, that's nice," Payload whispers as she squeezes Gypsy, determined to make things as awkward as possible for the blushing Nova.
**
One Solaria completes her sweep, agents of the E.T.C.C (Extra-Terrestrial Cleanup Crew) quickly arrive on the scene to contain the alien's remains and restore the damage done in the brief skirmish. The Solar Squad retreats to a safe, quiet spot to chat...
The Bay City Council was kind enough to loan them a boardroom for a bit so they could speak privately.
”So, seeing as how we are a Team now, it would appear the government and The Summers Foundation are working together to establish us a formal base here. There are a couple primary options for location, but I wanted to run it by you all first,” Solaria says.
”Option 1 is located on part of the property formerly owned by the Sunrise Galleria Mall. Seeing as it is now…out of business…we have the opportunity to acquire the beachfront portion of the property if we would like to use that as our base. It has its benefits: close to the city, good for publicity, and ocean view and access. But, it will see a lot of tourist activity and not be as private,” she pauses briefly before continuing. ”Option 2 is a parcel of land in the mountains outside the city. More private, a commanding view of the city, and a bit more space. But we’d be further from the city of anything happened.”
Once Peyton releases her, Gypsy follows her and Sierra, along with the quiet newcomer into the city hall building, texting frantically on her phone.
~~~~~
"I would have assumed that they had insurance," she says with a frown in response to the idea of using the destroyed mall as a base. "Although, when it's all said and done, being closer would probably be better. I can't fly like some of you can. I don't own a car and the city already declined my submitted Uber fees as an expense."
She smiles.
"And the ocean is really neat."
"My vote's the mall," Peyton says. She's taken her mask off and has her feet up on the boardroom table. "I'd think a quick response time is more important than privacy. Besides, I like having good publicity! It's great for branding!"
Sierra walks over to Peyton and pushes her feet off the table top, giving her a stern look. ”I was planning to not vote, since my family is partially funding it, so it looks like we already have the majority. Oceanfront base it is.”
She closes her eyes briefly, and her super suit glows briefly, and in an instant is replaced with some denim jeans with pre-made holes in various places, and a designer tank top that falls a few inches short of meeting her belt line. ”Well, that was fun.”
Peyton sticks her tongue out Sierra when she pushes her feet off of the table. She watches as Myth flies off to follow-up on leads about any other Darkstar Collective agents who might be lurking nearby.
"So, what now? That fight was barely a warm-up. I can hack into the police scanners to see if there's another challenge the three of us can tackle!"
”No! No hacking!” Sierra retorts. She looks at her watch, ”I…have a bit of time free. But, if we are going to do something, we stay as discreet as we can. Got it?”
"Yeah, hacking would be bad. I don't think the police would like that," Gypsy says with a nod towards Sierra. "We could ask them if they could loan us a scanner so we can listen legitimately."
Her phone buzzes again and her attention is diverted to it as she taps away in response to whatever message it relayed.
Peyton rolls her eyes as the others shut down her suggestion. "Yeah, sure, whatever you want to do."
Under the table, she extends her fingers towards Gypsy's phone, reaching out with her remote hacking abilities to see what text conversation has got her so distracted...
Surprisingly - or, perhaps, unsurprisingly - Peyton finds nothing even remotely incriminating or scandalous on Gypsy's phone.
Checking the girl's text history she finds a rather banal conversation thread with her mother about dinner plans. Most of her digital exchanges appear to be with her sister, Moon. There's a running back and forth regarding what kind of costume she should wear with Moon's suggestions being rather risqué - including some well-drawn samples, demonstrating Moon's artistic abilities. Gypsy seems quite resistant to each.
More recently, though, the thread diverges to Peyton's hug and what it might mean, with Moon making more and more lewd suggestions and Gypsy denying each more and more defensively.
'not my type! not subtle! vry pretty, thgh,' reads her latest response.
Gypsy finishes texting on her phone again and shoves it into her bag with a sense of finality.
Peyton smirks to herself but doesn't say anything.
***
Listening in on the borrowed police scanner, you mostly get the usual traffic on the radio. After several minutes, though, a worthy call gets your attention: "Robbery in progress! Sixth fourth bank on the corner of Magnolia and Rosemary. It's the Gambler, repeat, the Gambler!"
The Gambler is relatively small-time super. He has a limited ability to manipulate the luck of those around him, and he has a handful of gadgets that he relies on to commit his crimes.
Sierra looks to the other two girls. She had been just about to head out of the conference room when the call went out. ”Well…we gonna take him down too? Two-For-One day?” she asked.
Peyton rolls her eyes. "Ugh, the Gambler? I thought we were looking for a challenge!" She sighs and stands up, stretching. "Whatever, let's go."
***
The bank isn't too far away from City Hall. It's likely the Gambler was banking on the chaos caused by the alien attack to last a bit longer, but that just wasn't in the cards. When you get to the scene, though, you can see several police cars with their tires blown out not far from the bank--it looks like they all unluckily ran over the same set of nails that were strewn across the roadway.
A van revs its engines as it pulls away from the bank. The Gambler and his crew are on the move!
Sierra watches Peyton’s stretch, eyes wandering briefly to her midriff. She then closes her eyes and focuses a moment, and in a golden flash, her clothes are again transformed into her own two piece suit.
”Alright, I’ll go slow them down,” Solaria says, then smirks and adds ”See if you two can catch up before I handle it myself!” before darting out of the building and heading up into the air!
__________
Solaria spots the van peel out from above, and rolls her eyes. She then dives down and turns to face the vehicle before planting her toes against the asphalt and her hands against the front of the van! She then slams a fist through the hood and destroys part of the engine block if the vehicle, incapacitating it entirely!
”Hey Gambler!” she calls out as she searches him out through the windshield, ”Looks like you’ve busted out this hand!”
Myth's attempts to track the Collective drone were abortive - the alien's technology includes some not insignificant phasing technology and Myth himself has no way to track the residue of such movement. It can be done, he knows that, but not easily and not now.
Instead he decides to walk around town and enjoy the sunshine... this however almost immediately gets him mobbed by a number of passers-by, who keep pointing their primitive communication devices at him and asking for 'a selfie'. Not knowing what that is Myth tries hard to be polite and greets everyone as Payload has taught him to, with a deep and passionate embrace!
Unfortunately, just as a bright-eyed young woman with a very small shirt on is reaching for him, she trips over a crack in the pavement and falls head first into a fire hydrant! The first person to try and help her is nearly mown down by an old lady on a mobility scooter whose hat had fallen over her eyes and Myth is barely quick enough to save him.
Superior senses tingle and Myth stands to his full, imposing (and rather lovely) height. "Retreat humans! There is danger coming!"
He strides into the middle of the road and is bracing himself for impact with the van barreling towards him when Solaria crashes down onto the bonnet in an entrance that Myth cannot help but appreciate!
There's a screeching of rubber tires as a bright red sports car comes to a sliding stop and Gypsy and Payload hop out of the doors.
"... and I don't think you should have said that we're federal agents! We don't have the authority to commandeer a bicycle, much less an expensive car like this!" Gypsy is shouting at the other woman, apparently continuing an argument they had in the car. "We could get in trouble! We should have waited for the Uber!"
Turning her attention at last to the white van that both Sierra and Myth are engaged with, she looks taken aback. "Oh, he's here," she says with a frown. "I thought we were doing this just the three of us."
Tracing patterns in the air, she surrounds herself with the comforting aura of power.
Myth's appearance seems to be throwing off her concentration, though and the comfort she usually feels begins to transform to the heat of a feedback loop.
"Uh, guys?" she calls out as panic begins to seep into her.
”Relax Gypsy! Just focus! We got this!” Sierra calls out in support!
Solaria and Myth both land in front of the van at roughly the same time! Solaria stops the van with her strength, though the impact hurts rather much!
Myth calmly reaches in and yanks the Gambler out of the driver's seat! The middle-aged man wears a gray suit and hat, and he sputters and fumes. "Let me go, ya big galoot! I stole this money, fair and square!"
Dozens of blades and buzzsaws sprout from his coat, stabbing and slashing at the Outsider, but they do not faze him!
A concentrated bubble of bad luck surrounds the Gambler...
Payload tries to negate the unlucky aura, but the attempt backfires and she short circuits her own abilities!
Solaria manages to shake it off though.
Then Gambler throws up his bubble. She tries to figure out a way to bring it down…
With her friends support, the witch manages to contain the energies before they move beyond control.
As if to demonstrate to Myth that the ladies have it fully under control, Gypsy summons her tentacles again, grasping and pulling at Gambler in an attempt to disable him.
Solaria is unable to determine how to get past the Gambler's bad luck aura. Fortunately, Gypsy pushes her own luck against it and emerges victorious! The tendrils put the squeeze on the Gambler, who quickly passes out from the pain. Another victory for the Solar Squad!
...but Payload still looks a little fried. She's holding her head and groaning.
As soon as the Gambler is disabled, Gypsy lets the dark tendrils vanish back to wherever they originate. Looking around to make sure no bystanders suffered damage, she notices Peyton.
Her first thought is that the tentacles managed to catch her as well, but she then realizes that the woman was out of range.
"Hey, Peyton?" she questions nervously, approaching. She joins Sierra and assists the woman towards a nearby bus bench. "You don't look so good. Here. Sit here."
Conditions: Guilty (-2 to provoke someone or assess the situation)
Burn: 1
"Cheer up Payload. We have won!" Myth says cheerfully, still holding the Gambler in one hand, despite the fact that the man is now unconscious.
His cheerfulness is not appreciated.
Solaria notes Myth’s poor timing and steps over. ”Hey…now is maybe not the best time. Let’s let her get herself together, big guy,” she says as she guides him a few steps away and towards the approaching officers.
"Why not?" Myth asks, following Solaria and looking somewhat crestfallen. "Should we not celebrate victory? Not once, but twice in the day?"
”Yeah, celebrating is fine. But Payload got whammied kinda hard there. Let’s let her recover first,” Solaria replies.
”Were you really about to try and stop that car yourself? I know you are strong, too, but that woulda been a big hit! But, I’m sure you could have taken it as well as I did!” she adds, patting him in the back.
A few arcs of electricity play over Payload's body as she gets a hold of herself. Myth's optimism is met with a withering glare. "Yeah, you won. I just zapped myself and writhed on the ground for a while. It's a good thing you're so damn hot, cause you still have a lot to learn about tact!"
Fortunately, Gypsy takes a gentler approach. Payload sits with her on the bench, resting her head on the other girl's shoulder. "Thanks, babe. I'll be alright. Never got ehammied by my own whammy before. It ain't pleasant. And you do something like that to yourself every time you use your magic? Damn, girl. You're tougher than I gave you credit for."