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It had been a long few days. 

In those days, a terrorist organization calling themselves Pax Metahumana threatened to usher in the end of humanity by way of activating a number of “meta bombs” which would turn the entire population of the United States, and then, eventually the world, into meta humans. The threat, which was broadcast over national television, had set off a massive nationwide search for the devices, which had yielded few results. 

Along with a number of other heroes, Icon had been recruited by Christopher Arthur, The Iron Knight, to try and stop the terrorists before their plans could be carried out. He had gone out in search of the devices, and searched in vain for them. However, he had confronted a woman who by some strange coincidence was creating a device of some sort, all her own. What her motivations, he didn’t know at the time. However, during their confrontation, she had implanted memories into his mind, her own memories of the destruction of her people, and he came to understand that she had intended to bring what remained of her people here, and they had little intention of sharing the world. However, he was able to smash the device, though, her mind meld had knocked him senseless momentarily. When he came to, she was gone…though he noticed tire tracks in the rubble, as well as blood spattered on the ground. He didn’t know who had taken her, but he had an idea, and he made a mental note to ask Arthur about it in the very near future. 
In his search for the domes, he came across a hero from the past who had taken to the  streets in search of the devices as well. They had returned to Sherman Center, where Arthur had set up a command center, and after they had put together a game plan, the woman, Lady Liberty had vanished. Now, according to local news stations, the body of Lady Liberty had been found in a dumpster, where it had been unceremoniously dumped after having been stabbed multiple times, and having her head nearly ripped off. According to the coroner, she had been dead for days, which on the surface made no sense. However, her strange disappearance, as well as the fact that Dr. Diplodoc’s forces seemed to know where they would be and when, was beginning to make more sense. 

The terrorists’ plans were nearly successful, so-called “Meta Domes” had popped up in several cities, however, he was able to disable the domes and a major crisis was averted. The entire ordeal had gotten Icon to thinking about the future, and he thought that maybe Arthur had been on to something, that sometimes a threat would arise that would be too much for any one hero, and that maybe, just maybe, they should organize in order to turn back such a threat. 

Scott sat on his couch watching the Lost Haven Lobstermen host the Pacific Point Cougars in some spring training baseball from their spring home in Ft. Lauderdale. As usual, the Lobstermen trailed by four runs early, continuing the trend that had been prevalent for the last few seasons. Even though it was early, even by spring training standards, Scott held very little hope for the Lobstermen this season. Although the game was getting out of hand, it was still a nice escape from the crazy events of the last few days, and he knew that he had to take the distractions when he could find them, as he never knew when the next crisis would arise. 

Just as the Lobstermen’s ace pitcher had given up another home run, Scott’s cell phone began vibrating on the coffee table. He debated not answering the call, but Eric had mentioned that he would be calling later to discuss some club business with him. He was surprised to see that it wasn’t Eric’s name on the caller ID, but his own sister’s.

“Hey, Jenny.” Scott said cheerily. He hadn’t spoken to his sister very much over the last couple of years, and was always glad when she took the initiative to call him. They had always been very close, however, after the death of their father the entire family had seemed to go off in different directions. “How’s Manhattan?”

They spent a few minutes engaging in small talk, talking about the weather, and how cold the previous winter had been, avoiding some of the heavier topics and recent events, which had become a bit of a ritual for them over the last couple of years. Finally, Jenny touched on the reason for her call.

“So, Scotty…” she trailed off slightly before coming back to the conversation. “Do you remember when you said that if I ever wanted to come to town, I could crash with you for a few days?”

“Yeah, of course. Anytime.” Scott confirmed. 

“Good.” She said before the call was dropped.

“Jenny?” Scott said. “Hello?” 

He looked at the phone to confirm that the call had ended. He was just about to call her back when there was a sudden knock on the door. He gazed back down at the phone, and upon seeing Jenny’s contact info, he contemplated hitting the “call” button, but knew that it was pointless. He sighed and got up from the couch and made his way to the door. When he opened the door, his suspicions were confirmed. Standing in front of him was his kid sister with a suitcase and a sheepish grin.

“Surprise.” She said as he stepped aside to let her in.