revivalproject | Superhero Antics

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Superhero Antics

WHO: Everyone!
WHERE: The City
WHAT: Some prompts for superhero shenanigans. These are three general prompts you can customize to suit your superhero or supervillain needs.
WHEN: May
WARNINGS: Fighting. Violence. Blood. Injury. Bad language.

[ 1 ] A Bank Robbery

The sun was just setting over the horizon. There weren't many people in the bank. Everything was quiet, peaceful, and almost lazy. No one even looked up when an AC repair van pulled into the parking lot of the First National Loan Savings & Bank.

They did look up when six armed men burst through the door. They started shouting. One raised his assault rifle and fired a few shots breaking a florescent light. People screamed and quickly cowered under the nearest table or simply dropped to the floor and covered their heads.

One man rushed the bank teller and hopped onto the smooth wooden counter. His demands were simple. All the money in every register and no dye packs. If he saw anything suspicious they would all start shooting.

---

[ 2 ] Supervillain Showdown

In an unassuming little brick building just off of downtown a woman answered the phone. "Thank you for calling Total Nation Insurance, my name is Hazel. Before I can assist you, can I please have your policy number?"

Her fingers flew across the keyboard as the person on the other end of the call rattled off numbers. The computer pinged merrily when it found the right policy. "Ah, Mr. West, what can I help you with today?"

"An auto insurance claim? A robot cat took your side mirror clean off?... And then a giant robot lion picked the whole car up and threw it at a spaceship? Yes, sir I can help you with that claim."

More typing and then Hazel frowned at the screen. "Mr. West, I see you live on 57th street. That wouldn't happen to be around 57th and 11th, would it? Uh-huh. And when did this happen?"

Hazel leaned back in her chair and looked out the window. Judging by the smoke clouds in the distance...

"Right now? Yup. Okay. I'm going to put you on a brief hold while I get this in order..." Hazel pressed the button on her headset and yanked it off. "Janice, take my call I need to move my car! This is the second time this week the heroes and villains have thrown down. I swear as soon as a transfer opens in the Phoenix office, I'm moving!"

---

[ 3 ] They Came from Outer Space

The first sign something was coming was a brief disruption to cellphone signals and GPS but service was restored quickly and no one really thought of it.

Not until the first ship appeared out of hyperspace. A few people went 'huh' before the Armed Forces tried to rally. They did not fair well. The first landing ship touched down hours later and the aliens appeared.

They were strange looking. Their space suits were green with a silver collar for the large helmet that showed the massive size of their brains and gaunt faces. One at the head of the group wore a red cape and it began issuing orders.

"Ack, ack, ack!" It called out, gesturing left and right. Groups of aliens broke away with blasters in hand, ready to wreak havoc on the city. Their cries echoed down the streets over the screams and sirens.

"Ack, ack, ack! Ack! Ack!"

"Ack, ack, ack!"

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Cobb dodged and moved back before the man's fist came close to hitting him. It didn't feel like a purposeful attack so Cobb didn't answer with a punch of his own. He made sure to put a little distance between them.

In his senses the man didn't feel like much. Some heroes radiated an aura that he could sense but this guy seemed like an average guy off the street.

"You certain about that?" He asked even though he did sound very certain. Cobb didn't detect a lie in what he said or any hesitation. "It'd be safer out here."

Definitely no one special. Maybe a little crazy for a mostly normal guy, but that was better left unsaid.

"Very," Echo promptly answered, his tone even as he kept it low. He studied the Marshal, trying to place where he might have seen that red scarf previously. There was no time to ruminate on it fully while time wound down. "As much as I'd like to see how everything unfolds, there's a high chance this is gonna get messy the longer we let it play out."

And by the sound of it, he was determined to get in there as soon as possible.

"I hope you know what you're doing." Cobb didn't think the man would be swayed. "I'll go first."

He went to the backdoor and gently shouldered it open. The situation inside was tense and the bank robber was getting nervous. Cobb could hear his heart beating faster and faster while his voice started to take on a nervous edge.

He also sounded distracted, more focused on the teller not moving money fast enough for his liking.

So, Cobb moved slowly forward looking for the right angle and right moment to move in and strike.

Echo nodded, taking his cue from Cobb. "Trust me."

It was possibly the worst phrase to say, but he had the confidence to believe they could do right.

In staying behind the actual hero, he checked to be sure the door wasn't going to suddenly slam close and give away their position. They were also fortunate the bank robber was distracted, giving them a little more time to access things.

"So far, so good," he said under a breath, staying low in a practiced crouch.

There aren't many options. As soon as they reveal themselves the robber has a very big advantage with a gun. Cobb would've felt better if the lights were off but he didn't have time to figure out where the switches were for that. Once they made their move they had to move fast.

"I'll handle the gunman. You get people to safety." What he decided on was something simple. He picked up a stapler from a desk and took a breath. "On three," he warned his... sidekick? Cobb didn't usually do sidekicks.

"One. Two. Three."

He revealed himself from behind cover. "Hey asshole!" and hurled the stapler with perfect aim. It hit the robber dead center of his forehead but Cobb was already running towards the guy. He leapt over the counter and took him down in a tackle.

Simplicity had its benefits. Cooperation was key and Echo didn't mind playing second fiddle to someone who appeared to know what he was doing. "Got it," he quietly complied, getting ready to move.

On three, he pushed away from the wall, glancing over his shoulder and wincing as Cobb struck the robber with the stapler.

Well. That certainly got everyone else's attention. One could picture bubbled question marks rapidly turning into exclamation marks overhead.

Stealthing it over to the closest bank patrons, Echo held one gloved hand in front of his helmet, the other cautiously beckoning them to move toward him while the controlled chaos that was The Marshal was unfolding.

Cobb's first priority was to get the gun away from the robber. They struggled over it but Cobb one. With surprisingly fast, familiar movements he ejected the magazine and then disassembled the slide mechanism.

He tossed the gun parts to the side and caught a fist across the face for his trouble. But it seemed like the helmeted man was doing what Cobb told him to and getting the civilians out.

Dazed, Cobb ducked quickly to avoid a second punch and retaliated with a few of his own. He was a trained boxer. This guy just threw punches wildly.

"Stay low, head out the back," were Echo's instructions to the first few civilians, motioning for them to 'go go go' as he half-crawled, half-dashed toward the next desk.

Rinse, repeat. Except he wasn't supposed to stare at Cobb making short work of the first robber's weapon. The impressiveness stopped there when he got hit, but his recovery lessened the need for immediate backup.

Another small group of patrons filtered out with Echo's guidance, the timing working for the most part. His eyes darted between Cobb's tangling with the remaining robbers, the other patrons on the other side of the floor. Then he glanced at the clock fixed on the wall, his jaw grounding as he calculated the risk.

Man, was he bad at math. But he was doing it anyway.

Blowing out a sharp breath, he pushed off of the ground to sprint across, diving for the nearest cover. It would draw attention to him, but it would also take some of the heat off of Cobb.

The man's attempt at a distraction worked too well. It got Cobb's attention too which gave the robber an opening. He got a punch across the cheek and another right in the stomach. Cobb groaned as he stumbled back, struggling to breathe a little through the pain.

His senses were heightened but his body was basically human everywhere else. No superhuman endurance. No super strength or super tough. A punch hurt. His senses were scrambled from the hit to his face too, making it hard to focus.

Luckily, he was able to dodge the next punch thrown at him. He ducked it and then charged his shoulder to the robber's chest, driving him back into one of tables were people wrote out their checks. He managed to keep his footing as the robber toppled over.

"And stay down," he grunted.

Not completely as planned. Could've gone better. Those were minor setbacks, but if it meant two were down, there were still four to go.

One of them came running in right when the second robber was toppled, gun aimed as he tried to shoot at the first moving targets he saw – namely, Echo and Cobb.

Keyword was 'tried.' Shots were fired, but they were terrible; one fractured the middle panel the large window by the front doors while another hit the wall, causing a chorus of screams from the remaining patrons. Echo struggled to his feet, rushing the guy at full speed.

The third shot that would have been for Cobb instead went wide upon impact, hitting one of the light panels overhead with a POP.

The shattering of lights actually gave Cobb an advantage. He didn't need light to see. Unlike the robbers. They relied a lot more on sight than he did and the fading sunset worked in his favor. He smirked to himself. Perfect.

He stepped back as his sidekick tackled one of the robbers and seemed to take him down. Cobb kicked his gun away and went for a cheap shot to a second robber's nuts. He folded like a sack of flour.

But he wasn't able to duck in time as third robber took a shot at him. It slice across his arm, cutting a nice path through muscle. Cobb gritted his teeth against the pain and grabbed a dropped gun which he swung like a club at the man that just shot him.

Then he made sure to disarm him and take apart his gun. This fight was going to be hard with a gunshot wound but he did not stop fighting.

Much like the robbers, Echo was also at a disadvantage with the lights out. The visor of his helmet made everything even darker, faltering in the middle of punching the guy he tackled to the floor.

Then the other gunshot rang out. Startled, Echo punched one more punch as he got to his feet again, eyes searching for the Marshal.

As a gloved hand pressed against the helmet to push up his visor, his vision jarred when someone struck him on the side of the head. Knees and elbows slammed against the carpeting, burning intensely as he tried to get back up. The robber who whipped him with a pistol landed another blow to keep him down, yelling obscenities as he did.

This was why the Marshal worked alone. He heard his sidekick grunt in pain and the robber start cursing heavily. Cobb rolled his shoulders and marched over. He kicked the robber in the chest sending him stumbling back a few steps then followed it up with a one two punch that put him in a daze.

Unknown to the robbers but within Cobb's sense one of the tellers had bravely crawled back to the counter and pressed the silent alarm. The cops were on the way. Cobb didn't exactly want to deal with them either but he appreciated her bravery.

"Get up," he said as he stepped over his sidekick to keep engaging the cursing asshole. "We've got a guy coming from your left."

Echo heard the kick and the cursing to the side and somewhere behind him, the sound traveling further away when accompanied by the sound of fists meeting flesh. Either that or the haze just hadn't let up – the helmet was a blessing in that regard, keeping the trauma to a minimum.

"Left?" He shook off what he could, grimacing as he got back up, arms raised to be on guard.

How Cobb knew was a mystery, but he was right: the figure that appeared on the left side thought he had the advantage, swinging a crowbar in an attempt to smash Echo's face in. Echo danced back, feeling the arc of air swoop where his head would have been, fist balled to deliver an uppercut the second he missed.

As the man spun toward the ground, Echo looked back at Cobb. "I think there should be one or two more," he said, trying to count the robbers that were already laid out while regretting turning his head so quickly.

The Marshal didn't need sight. The darkness worked in his favor. He could 'see' perfectly well to aim his punches and block clumsy blows in the darkened interior of the bank. It would've been nice to have pitch black but it wasn't that late in the day, sadly.

But it still meant he had an easier time taking down this bank robber. He caught another punch in the ribs, distracted by his side kick, but quickly turned the tables. He kicked the man's leg out from under him and a follow up kick to his head kept him down. "Two left."

But the two left were figuring out that this was not a good time. They hadn't gotten their money. The fight wasn't going well. They wouldn't get out of this with anything and if they hung around this would go very bad for them.

So, they turned to run.

"I don't think so!" Cobb was having none of that. He picked up one of the disarmed guns and hurled it, catching one robber in the back of the head. He stumbled and went down.

The clarification was confirmed by the two robbers trying to make themselves scarce. As Echo flipped the visor up, he had front row seats to Cobb's pitch. "Nice!"

One more. Echo wasted no time in running after him, clipping the side of the middle counter and spilling deposit slips as he picked up speed, a good number of them fluttering away in a cartoon-like fashion.

The man was fast but the Helmeted Meddler gained on him, lunging to grab hold of his jacket and arm before yanking him back and throwing him down. The execution wasn't great since they both somehow hit the wall and ended up on the floor, but it did the job – with the wind knocked out of the dude, Echo moved to pin his arm back.

"There we go," he huffed, catching his breath while leaning into it.

After his sidekick took down the last guy Cobb took a moment to catch his breath. His arm hurt like hell where the bullet had grazed him. The rest of his body ached from punches but those would fade.

He didn't wait long after that. Cobb went behind the counter and searched out all the phones he could find, yanking their cords off. Then he went one by one and tied up the robbers.

"Now, you fellas are gonna sit here and think about what you did," Cobb said as he dragged them one by one to sit together all tied up. "And when the cops get here you're gonna behave real nice for them."

The Marshal, though, would not be hanging around for that. The robbery was done and it was time to leave.

With the danger gone, Echo helped drag the robbers after Cobb tied them up, not bothering to fix them once they were dropped. Listening in on the 'pep' talk, he rolled his shoulder and stood back to slowly stretch out the muscles in his arm.

"I was hoping they'd get here earlier," he commented, glancing over at the red-scarfed man. "You alright?"

He was also for leaving early, but he wanted to check on The Marshal first.

"I'll be fine." Cobb always was. It might take a few days or a week or so to be fully patched up again but he'd be fine. And he'd still keep doing this.

There was no reason for him to do this sort of work. Cobb just couldn't leave it well enough alone when he knew he could help. It hurt, sure, but he had saved these people.

"You?" Because the guy had taken a few hits helping him. He had no idea how the guy would've handled this on his own. He didn't seem to have superpowers of his own. Maybe he was just another helpful citizen?

So long as Cobb was standing upright and not passing out on Echo, it was a win.

To be fair, he knew it could have gone very wrong. And in being a normal person with no superpowers or regenerative healing, the robbers could have made short work of him.

Yet however low the possibilities of changing a scenario were, the chances of turning it around were still there.

He considered the rug burns and the eventual bruising that would appear hours later once he got home. "Eh. I'll live." Which mean he was okay, for the most part. Although maybe he should get his head checked.

"Good. Wait around for the cops. Explain what happened and get your head looked at." Cobb took one last look around to make sure there weren't any surprises lurking.

Mostly what he heard were the people his sidekick had gotten out cautiously starting to filter back in to see what had happened. They had noticed the lack of fighting sounds coming from inside the bank.

He didn't want to be around for bunch of handshakes and thank yous. Cobb preferred to do his work and then disappear. Not always possible in this superhero crazy city but he tried.

He clapped his sidekick on the shoulder and then walked towards the stairs leading up to the roof. It was his preferred way to disappear.

"Yeah, sure, but–"

Interrupted by the clap on the shoulder and the people wandering back inside, Echo's train of thought shifted to focus on everyone else and not on Cobb exiting the scene.

When the police arrived, he looked up, realizing the man was gone.

"...Who was that guy?"

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Superhero Antics

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