DClassified

《 H. E. R. O. 》

<sub>Location
|| Brookside ||

Time
|| Midnight ||

Interactions
|| Co-Post With @Hitman ||</sub>

---

It was at a construction site, near the docks of Brookside. The night was cool and damp. There weren't that many people on this side of town at this time of night. All according to plan...Or, according to what the plan was supposed to be. It was only meant to be a raid. The cops were busy on the other side of town, and the storage containers were relatively unguarded thanks to having a man on the inside. No attention, meant no hero interference.

They’d declare this to be their turf, establish their gang amongst the others, and a new gang would be born, the Barbarians. It would’ve been the perfect plan...Except they didn’t account for one detail. That missing detail cost them everything.

Phillip ‘Vermin’ Reed, the head of this little operation. Mud covered the rugged man’s face and hands as he used them to weakly drag himself from the scene. Around him was only barely short of a massacre.

Weapons were tossed about randomly. Some taken apart, others broken, and some firearms that didn’t even have a chance to be fired. Bodies littered the ground and near the surrounding equipment. They were either unconscious, writhing in pain, or even completely paralyzed, staring around at their surroundings in shock from the ground.

The battle here, had already been had. Decided in the span of a few minutes. The Hood wasn’t supposed to be real. The guy was a urban legend; one of those creepy lasagnas or whatever the kids called them. The ghost of a hero killed by the Brookside streets. He was only supposed to be a story told to keep dumbass kids from doing shit they weren’t supposed to.

Reed was making a trail in the mud, both of his legs weren’t listening to him. He didn’t think they were broken, but he couldn’t feel them. What kind of freaky shit was this?

Closely behind him, drifted a hooded figure. The shadows clung to his body as his cloak swayed softly with the wind. If it weren’t for the glimmers of the moonlight between the clouds, he’d be almost impossible to see. Which worked fairly well to his advantage.

As he heard the ghastly shadow’s footsteps come closer, he recalled the stories of the past. Rumor had it that only those with the most dastardly of deeds was who he took away. Then, in turn, those taken would never be heard from again. While he went through a laundry list of the things he had done, he found himself suddenly pulled up from the ground. His legs limply hung underneath his torso as the man dare not struggle.

He stared into the void of darkness, only able to make out a vaguely brown-skinned nose and mouth.

“You’ve done a lot of things, Mister Reed. The streets call you Vermin because you’re a dirty slimeball whose willing to rat out his own to weasel in and out of trouble. Let’s put that to the test.” The Hood held Vermin by the wrist, to which the man quickly tried to shield his arm.

“Please! I have a family!” The man cried. It was hard to read the mannerisms of The Hood through his darkened features. Without warning, Vermin’s four right fingers snapped like crackers, breaking little bones he didn’t even know were in there, causing the man to squeal in pain.

“Spare me the lies. You sold them out a long time ago, just like you do everyone else.” The man didn’t protest, but merely growled, foiled. All the while, The Hood pulled a bronze pendant from his pocket with an embezzled double-star on it.

“You’ve seen it before. I want the name that goes with it.” Police sirens were slowly fading into the area. The Hood seemed to snarl under his breath. “If you want your limbs working proper when you go to jail, you’ll talk quickly.”

Vermin weighed his options. “They call ‘im the Red Baron. Scary guy; works in the sneaky corners of Kingsdale. Rumor has it he works for one of the rich fucks living up there. Wherever that trinket is found, bodies are close by.” The Hood let his body slump to the ground and he clenched his eyes shut, as if waiting for more things to be broken.

“Come on man! That’s all I know. I’ll go with the pigs! Just don’t make me disappear!” He pleaded one last time, but when he opened his eyes, the guy was gone. Nowhere to be seen. Yet, he heard the police sirens getting louder, and he slouched to the ground with a small sigh.

Well, looks like the rumors were true. Ya learn something new every day.

---

On a rooftop overlooking the scene was where The Hood had vanished to, walking off with the newly acquired info surrounding this Red Baron. Just the thought of the guy made his blood boil, more than it already had. The fact that he apparently had business with Kingsdale made the search window much smaller, but it didn’t make it any easier. Background checking through all the names would take forever, but he’d do it if he had to….He owed it to them.

Standing at the edge of the rooftop was the tall, muscled, unmistakable silhouette of Hugo Powers. He was standing precariously on the eaves of the apartment building, clad in a formal black suit, his shirt unbuttoned, showing the edges of a tattoo and a gold necklace with a locket on the end dangling there loosely. His arms were folded over his chest, his deep brown eyes finding their way over to the Hood. He stood there silently for a few moments, contemplating his words, before eventually speaking.

”So you’re the one that calls himself the Hood, then? It’s nice to be able to meet you. In the flesh.”

The Hood stopped, unnerved that he let his thoughts get in the way of monitoring his surroundings. His head turned in the direction of the ever so famous Hugo Powers of the HERO organization. There were many mixed emotions over seeing this man. Rage nestled with silent admiration, and disappointment with a familial sense of respect. However, The Hood couldn’t let his past lack of action see the man in a more favorable light.

“What do you want…?”

”I think it’s pretty obvious what I want, vigilante. Or should I call you Zhaire? Zy?” Powers watched Zhaire closely, his large figure looming over Zhaire, who was tall in it of itself. ”I’ve seen your capabilities. I’ve seen what you can do. I want you to come to HERO.” He tapped his foot, arms still crossed. ”I want you go to down the right path.”

Zhaire bit the inside of his cheeks upon hearing his own name. Figures the man would know who he was. Something told him that he wouldn’t have popped up here for nothing. He’d save the runaround of pretending not to be the vigilante for someone else. Thus, Zy pulled the hood from his head, brown eyes piercing into those dark ass sunglasses. How blunt Hugo was about it kind of took him aback, but he didn’t show it much.

”The ‘right path’ huh?” The younger man scoffed. ”What has the right path done for me so far?”

Powers pursed his lips. ”You have reason to distrust me. I have made mistakes in the past. And I admire what you’ve set out to do. But right now what you’re doing is skirting the law. I’m giving you an opportunity to get out of this vigilante bullshit and help make a bigger impact.”

Zhaire crossed his arms in similar fashion, the two standing across in a mirror like fashion. Young and determined clashed with aged and experienced. He was right that Zy damn well had reason to mistrust him. He was also right that he was skirting the law, because to be frank, sometimes the law just didn’t get the job done.

Still, he’d want to avoid a direct confrontation with Hugo in the future. Perhaps it was the kid in him that still looked up to the war hero in some ways. With that, maybe he’d be able to get more information related to his search for the Red Baron.

”For the sake of blood, and the people of these streets, we’ll play it your way. But don’t get too comfortable.” Zhaire conceded, letting his arms drop for his features to be consumed once again beneath the cloak.

”I’m never comfortable,” Powers said expressionlessly, removing a piece of paper the size of an index card from his wallet and handing it to Zhaire. Written on it was a date written out, along with the address of Hero One, though anybody with half a brain could find their way there. ”I don’t intend for you to be putting on the spandex and repping HERO, but I think that the two of us can make something work. Hopefully I’ll get to see more of you soon.” Powers turned away, looking over his shoulder again at Zhaire.

”I’ve missed you, kiddo,” he added, his voice softening for a moment to accommodate a gentle tone, before he turned back forwards and jumped off the building. There was no impact sound on the ground. Powers just vanished.

Zy watched him and his lips twitched a bit, but nothing more than that. How he managed to pull that off with his size, weight, and sunglasses in the middle of the god damn night, the grown boy would have to decipher another day. Still, he eyed the card handed to him, debating even after the verbal agreement. All he needed was a reason. If things somehow went sideways again because of Powers’ complacence, he’d leave The Hood no choice.

Zy gave the scene he left one more glance; watching the Brookside police swarm the area before he pulled the hood back over his head. Once again consumed and concealed by the comforts of darkness...

Another Take on the Zelda Formula

I'll throw some support into this. I wouldn't mind some Zelda taking up my time.

《 H. E. R. O. 》

<sub>Location
|| Watervale ||

Time
|| Evening ||

Interactions
|| Co-Post With @Hitman ||</sub>

---

As he neared the sounds, Kanati could begin picking out voices. Patricia, Tom, Grace...It seemed a lot of them were in here. From the muffled tones, he could make out that they were likely being chased. That was when he noticed the man at the end of the hall. Most men who were unarmed weren’t so confident in approaching him so boldly. It was clear that this man had some sort of abilities.

Whether he was sent up here or not didn’t much matter. His companions needed him, and he was an obstacle. When the man reached into his pocket, Sam’s immediate instinct was that he was trying for a gun. So, he pulled his tomahawk from his belt. However, instead of being met with bullets, he found himself using the small axe to deflect a thrown knife.

In that short amount of time, he felt a fist at his chin. While the blow stung, it didn’t seem to rattle him much. It was an indicator of some sort of superior strength. Kanati leaned backward with the momentum of the blow, and extended one of his legs to kick the man’s chest to create a brief pocket of distance. It was also to gauge how his opponent responded to damage. Enough force to knock him out, was all that was needed.

-

Sal stumbled back a bit, knocked off balance briefly by the kick, but he quickly grasped the wall to regain his footing, glaring at Kanati with annoyance. Apparently for the mobster, it was all fun and games until he got hurt. He balled up his fists, glaring at Kanati, before charging directly at the taller man, throwing punch after punch at Kanati. This was no longer an exposition for him; it was an all-out assault as he pounded at Kanati, brutally striking at the hunter relentlessly.

-

Kanati pulled up his paws, doing what he could to block the blows with his hands and forearms. Due to his size, though, some body blows managed to connect, but he could guess that this would result in minimal bruising. In the time that the gangster was taking to wale on him, it was clear that his fighting style was boxing. Which meant the obvious weakness to target…

Once another punch was thrown, Kanati grabbed his wrist and tugged the man aside, again using his own momentum against him. To further destabilize him, the giant shoved a heel into the side of Sal’s knee with the intent to break bone.

-

There was an audible crack as Kanati shattered Sal’s knee with ease; however, just as soon as it broke, there was a second, less audible snap as his knee sprang back into position like magic. His power having worked its course, Sal charged at Samson, aiming his shoulder directly at the larger man and thrusting forwards, ramming towards Samson at max speed.

-

Initially, the hunter moved past the direction in which the man had stumbled. It was then that Kanati felt a small explosion beneath his feet. Something told him it wasn't a good sign, and he quickened his pace down the hall. Yet, just as quickly, he heard footsteps. His head whipped back around and here came the man again. The first snap seemed to confirm the man’s incapability of moving anymore, yet, this was a clear indication of otherwise.

This one was healer, it seemed. While he could likely knock the man out, the healing factor would prove to delay him. With the uncertainty of his teammates’ fate in mind, he decided that he had to end this confrontation quickly. Taking the man’s running speed in mind, Kanati timed it.

Once about two paces away, he bounced on one foot up into the air and spun into a 360 back kick directly into the man’s shoulder. The power of the blow took advantage of Sal’s inertia, and knocked the Guigliano from his feet in a clothesline like fashion. However, in a display of speed, while the man’s feet were still in the air, Sam took hold of his ankle and tossed the mobster out of one of the large second story windows.

Although this attack from Kanati would leave most with destroyed collarbones, he took into account the healing factor. Thus, he needed to buy time to get moving again, and running he was toward the sound of the conflict.

Hopefully he wasn’t too late.

Sentaku

_{@KZombi3 @BlueTommy}

---

"A good warrior sharpens his sword. A greater warrior sharpens his mind."

These words of his father's wisdom clung to his mind, as did many things that the man had taught him. However, with recent events, these specfic ones came to the forefront. He made it an assurity that the written exams were to be the least of his concerns. In the world they lived in, the pen was no mightier than the sword. The words on that paper were merely rules, reminders, recommendations.

This was the real test. His eyes stared into the legendary Forest of Death, unshaken by the daunting task. While others may have laughed at the '69' joke that their proctor decided to indulge, Yosuke's mind was elsewhere. He was thinking about what he might face in there.

Most notably, his peers with whom he was to be going to war against. Who his team would run into, how to best counter the ones whose abilities he knew of. The end result was not in question, team 7 would pass. The matter was, doing it with Asami alive and Hirameki with most of his respective pieces.

Yosuke's headbush swayed in the breeze, his arms crossed beside his friends. His eyes remained on the forest though, as they got their death threats and quips in. Honestly, he was more concerned about these two killing each other before anyone in this forest could. He had faith in them though, that they'd put their minor issues aside to succeed.

As expected, Hirameki was the first to get talking. His shennanigans and planning was rather common, with varying degrees of success in the past. So far he managed to state the obvious, that they'd need a strategy before going in. The juvenile swordsman nearly rolled his eyes at that. However, the strategy presented was passable, and Yosuke nodded in some agreement.

"Almost 'purfect'," Yo mimicked her use of the word, finally looking at them.

"But, remember. Our priority is to get the scrolls, and then to the tower. That means that if taking the scroll and running is the best option. Don't let pride get in the way of what we worked for." He added to the plam, eyeing the wooden token of his clan that was looped around his bicep.

"Some battles aren't worth fighting."

《 H. E. R. O. 》

<sub>Location
|| Watervale ||

Time
|| Evening ||

Interactions
|| None ||</sub>

---

The Hunter had taken note of where the others were going, albeit from a distance. Deciding to take a double fronted assault, he decided to go through the more frontal entrance, as there'd surely be less focus there with the attack coming from within. Thus, he dodged the searching eyes of the few that remained on one of the mansion's four watchtowers. This place was like a prison, opposed to a comfortable living quarters. Perhaps that is what the man was compensating for. Well, if the night was successful, Gugliano would get what he wanted.

Kanati scaled up the bricks with agility much unexpected of a man his size. Once near the top, he peered at the duo of men occupying the tower from between the bars of the walkway. They both seemed to be near a control panel of sorts, possibly receiving directions from inside at the moment. Holding with one hand, he pulled one of his taser arrows from its place and hopped up. Creeping around to the doorway, he knocked once on the ground.

With a palm to the ground, he could feel their footsteps shifting on the ground. One was closer than the other, and he timed it in his head. Standing up, he caught the first watchman before he could fire the first shot by tripping and slamming him to the ground with one hand. With the other, he threw the taser arrow with just enough force to stick to his armor. The shock incapacitaed that one, and he planted a foot on the first one's back. Preventing him from warning anyone else, his other foot contacted the side of his temple to knock him out.

With the duo quickly taken care of, he pushed the other body inside of the enclosed area, atop the trap door leading down. While not the most tech savvy, he was able to determine through their intercom system, that there was an explosion below. Somewhat unsurprised, given the presence of Quake and Firebird, Buck retrieved his arrow; stepping back outside quickly. Using the new blind spot in the exterior defenses to his advantage, he hopped over the railing to the inside of the mansion's premises.

~~~

Several unconscious guards later, he managed to get inside of the building. This place seemed to be in something of a frenzy, with many footsteps and gunshots that his hearing could pick up, as expected from the intrusion. While his first impluse would have been to follow them to the action, he wanted to make sure that none of his allies were still here. Among his exploration, though, he caught sight of a drop of blood on the floor. Heading down the hall, Buck touched it and put his fingers to his nose.

There was an odd humidity to the scent. An abnormal level of water, reminiscent to a lake; William was here. The blood obviously wouldn't be a good sign. However, with being able to lock onto his scent, the hunter could follow the trail to him. Walking down the hall, the smell seemed to be leading towards the sounds of conflict. Hopefully, those who were here didn't fare too badly.

《 H. E. R. O. 》

<sub>Location
|| Brookside ||

Time
|| Evening ||

Interactions
|| @Rabidporcupine; @Shard ||</sub>

---

The Hunter walked across a rooftop in the Brookside slums, heading for the direction of the local prison. The giant had taken the journey from the higher standard living district on foot. While to others the option would seem inconvenient, for Kanati, it was more beneficial. He'd be able to learn the city structure better, as well as avoid potential traffic that could delay his mission's progress. Although his mission took place elsewhere, he took a more conservative approach. A lot of people would likely be involved in this trade, and innocents could be injured if not properly informed. In a calculated maneuver, Kanati jumped from the edge, clearing the street below and landed on the pavement near the door.

Once inside, he pulled the hood of his uniform down so as to keep from looking like a threat in here. The outer officers seemed hesitant to let him pass still, but one flash of the HERO liscense and he was in. The plan was to get in contact with the chief to alert him of the incoming situation and to begin cycling civilians away from the northeast border between Brookside and Watervale.

It was on his way there though, that he heard a more familiar voice. Soon enough, he was met with the sight of Joseph tossing a reptillian criminal to one of the officers. Confronted with the nickname of Tarzan, Sam didn't quite make the connection between himself and the fictional jungle man. Still, the Hunter gave him a nod of acknowledgement. He felt the urge to walk away though when Joseph began to ramble after initial greetings however. Kanati didn't intend to be rude, but more pressing matters were at hand than a crime that his associate had already taken care of.

The only thing that had stopped Kanati from walking off initially, was when he interrupted himself. Well aware of his use of runes for varying purposes. Currently, it seemed Joseph had made one for communicative purposes, apparently for the cashier of the store. Perhaps he did so to keep trace in the event the store was attacked again in the same night. It wouldn't surprise him, given the reputation of Brookside and the gangs that came about. It would seem so if the cashier contacted him again so soon.

Depending on the urgency of the situation, Kanati would be willing to go along with Joseph to get a handle on things. Though, was hard to gauge with how casual his manner of speech was. That irritated him some but while the man spoke into the rune, Kanati looked at one of the three officers who remained.

"Go tell any of your officers near to the northeast border of Brookside and Watervale to keep civilian activity to a minimum. Gang violence may be inbound. I'll promptly inform you when the threat has been removed." The giant informed him before his phone buzzed.

Normally, he didn't answer such things while out on a mission. However there was some time before the supposed 'trade' was taking place, so he pulled out the device. A text from Zee, askng about his current situation. His mind roved for a moment before texting back.

Hey, Sam. Want to hang out? Doing Hero stuff? Need any help?

Zee

Mission. I don't mind backup, but I'm in Brookside. Half hour time frame.

Sam quickly pocketed the phone before eyeing the runecaster.

"Do you need my help or are you good?"

《 H. E. R. O. 》

S A M S O N

_{Location
|| East Flank ||
Time
|| Evening ||}

---

Samson had finally made it to the front doors of the apartment building, pulled out some keys and opened them to pass through the lobby. He walked down a hallway and at the end of it pushed a button to call for the elevator. His home for the past few months was a high rise apartment with prices even he could raise a brow at. Granted, H.E.R.O. made the landlord significantly lower their questionable prices for him to be able to stay there. Though, he still had to work for it to be able to maintain comfortable circumstances, it wasn’t like he was in a penthouse suite. That was along with proving his worth as a newly licensed hero.

Trying at a job as a zoo-keeper in this city was competitive. At this point he was just returning from an interview. They seemed to like his insight with regards to animals, and told him they’d consider it. In the meantime, he was looking more into producing for upcoming singers and rappers. Sam already did this for this man who called himself “Lil Yung Baby”, but his music wasn’t selling, no matter how much he promoted it.

With that said, tonight Kanati was going to be heading out on a mission. Word on the street was that the gang named the Wah Ching were getting tired of getting pushed around by the Koshiki Devils, and intended to do something about it. The chinese triad worked with the knockoff samurai in Brookside for quite some time.

He’d been hunting them long enough to pick up the basics. Apparently, one got to Castleburg first, but the other got to Brookside first. It was a turf war in the beginning that became an alliance in a system that worked against them both. Between the infamous Guglianos and HERO agents, their numbers were growing short. Which meant, they were getting desperate and bound to strike out.

Tonight was supposed to be a big trade between them, but something reeked of sabotage. It could get really messy, and Sam wasn’t exactly in the mood for dealing with a full on war between them. Too many people would be involved, and too many innocents would be threatened. That meant that he was going to have to get involved and stop the trade from going down. With his prey running out into the open, there was no reason to pass the easy arrests.

Thus, the elevator doors opened and Sam started out though he nearly bumped into a middle-aged woman.

"Oh, pardon me, Mr. Wernicke." A raspy, female voice apologized. The young man slightly smiled in recognition. This lady was named Maria Barker, one of his neighbors that he helped out from time to time. Her and her husband worked at a buffet that he frequented for American and Italian food options. They put their hearts into their craft...at the expense of their living arrangements, but they didn’t seem to mind much.

"It’s fine, Mrs. Barker."

“Are you okay?” She asked as they were trading places from the elevator.

His expression shifted to a light concern. "Yeah, why?"

The cistern-shaped woman combed a few fingers through her reddish hair and then extended them to keep the door open. "Apparently some thugs tried to rob the 7-Eleven on the other side of East Flank." Mrs. Barker explained.

Sam's head shook. He had taken notice of her statement as she was departing though. "Are you sure you want to be out with something like that happening?"

"Not really, but Calvin needs my help at the restaurant as the place is pretty packed today. Besides, the video showed some monster kid handling them." She replied. It was clear that the latter part was meant to be a joke, but on the flip side, also very serious. The young hero merely shrugged.

“Well, be careful out there.” Was his final admonition as the doors closed. That sounded bad, but the police were already in pursuit, and one of his coworkers likely the ‘monster’ that stepped in.

Curiosity would have prompted him to check out the scene. However with what he knew about, it seemed much more important and that’s where his priority would lie today. Such thoughts propelled him to hurry to his residence and zip through the living room to his bedroom. There, in the closet, was a large black trunk. Assumably it’d be for holding one’s very important items, but there was no lock on it. The young man simply lifted the latch on the front to open the top.

Inside the trunk were some varying clothes, money, a first aid kit, typical things one would keep for emergency situations. However, instead of touching any of those, he pulled out a crowbar. Promptly, he walked to the edge of his bed and placed one end of the crowbar to the bottom boxspring of it. Pulling it upward ajar, Sam pushed up the bed with his freehand, which reclined slowly as though on hinges, until it was flatly vertical against the wall.

Within the hollowed rectangular box was his uniform and tools attached.

So the hunt began...

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Thanks For The Time & Effort.

Amalgam Universe: New Heroes

So, another idea to fit the amalgam theme would be a fusion of Spider-Man and Red Robin.

Amalgam Universe: New Heroes

I don't mind running a solo Wolverine. Though, wondering if he could have had some run-ins with a few heroes/villains in the universe pre-snap, in classic Wolverine fashion, but then also play with the mystery of his origins to fit what you got going.