From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe

First Blood, Superhero Style

April 2007, Atlas Park, Paragon City

Ask any soldier about the first time they actually take a life. Every one of them will tell you something different about the experience. One thing they all agree upon, however, is that taking a life for the first time will change how you look at the world. Some will call it a loss of innocence; others say that a whole new perspective takes over.

Most of the unfortunate souls that are forced into killing and preying upon the weak for survival are branded as criminals, shunned for their moral choices or just because normal society can no longer accept them. They form into groups to help each other, and these gangs polarize into a threat that only other skilled killers - shunned for their own moral choices and skill sets - can even hope of dismantling.

In Paragon City, most of these miscreants joined one of the super-powered gangs that roamed the streets. Whether they had powers or not did not matter. Most of the normal humans within their ranks would use anything they could get their hands on to cause havoc and chaos. If they were still alive after a certain amount of time, they would be "given" powers; their place as a villain would be assured for all time, and they would never be a normal person again.

In Atlas Park, the Hellions were the main source of superhuman criminal activity. Neophyte heroes would cut their teeth on Hellion recruits and their demonic brothers. Those that survived would move on to other targets - the Skulls, Circle of Thorns, or Clockwork.

Now it was Ms. Shock's turn to show Paragon City's gangs what they were up against.

The Anti-Gang Task Force gave her what they said would be a lower-level assignment. Sweep through Atlas Park, keep an eye out for concentrations of Hellion gang activity, and make note of their locations. They provided GPS tracker remotes and a modified paintball gun for deploying them. Once a GPS tracker hit a solid object it would send a signal back to the district's PPD headquarters, and PPD officers would quickly arrive and arrest anyone they could. Ms. Shock was expected to handle any of the super-human gang members she encountered.

So Ms. Shock walked out of Paragon City Hall with her assignment and equipment. Compared to the assignments she had while she lived in England, this would be a piece of cake. Gang-bangers were hardly trained soldiers, after all. She was to perform reconaissance as a light dismounted scout - get in, report, and get out. As long as she wasn't confronted, it would be an easy mission. Once she ran out of GPS trackers, she was to report back to City Hall.

The first two trackers were easily deployed; the police arrived quickly and collared a few new Hellion recruits without much trouble. The more senior Hellions managed to escape with PPD cruisers in hot pursuit. Ms. Shock saw no superhuman gang members among them.

The third group was much different. One of them was definitely superhuman; an aura of flame gave away his status. A pair of young women were cowering against a concrete wall while other Hellions howled and cheered their leader on. Another man lay face down between the Hellion leader and the women; a pool of blood by his head and his smoking clothing denoted his fate.

Ms. Shock felt her face contort into a sneer of contempt. They were nothing more than targets to her, enemies of the government and civilized thought. And she was trained specfically to deal with enemies in only one way... she was trained to kill them without a second thought.

One of the women was whimpering pitifully and begging for her life. The fiery Hellion laughed and tossed flames in her general direction; the concrete wall was left scorched. "Just quit screaming, it'll all be over soon," he said slowly and calmly. "Or just give me your valuables and we'll let you live."

Ms. Shock couldn't wait for PPD to arrive. Their response time was much too slow to save these women from certain death. She had to act fast. She levelled the paintball gun towards the Hellions and chose her target. There, the one in the black trenchcoat. Perfect. Ms. Shock adjusted her aim and fired; a GPS tracker arced through the air and landed squarely in the middle of the Hellion's back.

The poor sap's reaction was predictable; he stumbled forward and cursed lividly. That broke the mood in the area and distracted the Hellions from their prey. "What the..." the leader said in surprise. It was then that he saw the GPS tracker, complete with the Paragon Police Department shield in its center, flashing a green light and beeping... like a homing beacon.

Ms. Shock quickly took cover. She fired another GPS tracker into the ground at her feet to mark her location and put the paintball gun on the ground. With a thought, she activated her Power Gloves and prepared herself for combat.

"Spread out! Whoever brings me that bastard's head gets in the gang, no questions asked!" The Hellion recruits readied their various weapons - bats, crowbars, and glass bottles - and began to spread out. As they did so, Ms. Shock quickly formulated a battle plan. Her equipment glowed red; that glow grew more intense before she made her move.

The dumpster at the corner of the building violently moved forward; two Hellion recruits were in its path. Only one - the one wearing the black trenchcoat - managed to dive out of the way; the second was knocked onto his back and screamed in pain. Ms. Shock scanned for another target and found another Hellion a lot closer to her than she really wanted. She vaulted forward and threw another energy-enhanced punch, and that Hellion took a short flight through the air.

"Get that little bitch! Get her!" The Hellion leader was screaming now, enraged now that his fun had been interrupted. The female targets of his criminal intent tried to move away, but the leader turned back around and flung fire into their path. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" Screams and more cowering ensued as the Hellion leader laughed.

Two more Hellions armed with crowbars came at Ms. Shock. Two more were following behind, one with a glass bottle and another with a baseball bat. The female superhero switched back to her electric attacks and fired a bolt of lightning. It soared past the first two Hellions and hit the bottle-wielding one; he flew unceremoniously into a wall and stopped moving.

By now, the crowbar Hellions were getting much closer, and the Hellion she had punched earlier was getting back up. The fight had degenerated into a melee contest, and Ms. Shock still hadn't managed to fight past the lackeys to get to the main target. The heads-up display over her right eye started displaying nicknames for her targets: "Crowbar 1," "Crowbar 2," "Bat Boy," "Flamer." The last recruit pulled an Uzi submachine gun out of his jacket; he got tagged as "Uzi Boy."

Ms. Shock went after Crowbar 1 first. As he started to swing, Ms. Shock moved her left hand to intercept the crowbar. Her right hand balled into a fist and went for her target's throat. Crowbar 1's weapon landed squarely into Ms. Shock's left hand and the return punch hit just milliseconds later. Armored fingers wrapped around the crowbar and pulled the makeshift weapon out of the Hellion's grasp as his body went limp.

Crowbar 2 swung his weapon wide and across his body. Ms. Shock was already moving past him with Crowbar 1's still limp body acting as a shield. Uzi Boy was already intent on pumping the neophyte hero full of hot lead, but his fellow gang member ended taking the bullets in the back. The short burst ended as Crowbar 1's bullet-riddled body fell to the ground.

Electrical energy pulsed into the crowbar as Ms. Shock turned towards Crowbar 2. He was already swinging again, hoping to actually hit this time. Ms. Shock ducked under his wild swing and snapped her leg back over her head. The scorpion kick landed on the Hellions' exposed shoulder just as Bat Boy entered the fray. His attack came down on Ms. Shock's back; a flash of light clouded her vision and pain registered loudly through her head.

She had swung her left hand out towards Bat Boy; the electrically charged crowbar struck Bat Boy's leg and discharged as Ms. Shock fell on to the ground. As he fell back, Crowbar 2 also stumbled back from Ms. Shock; the last kick he had received had numbed his weapon arm, and his crowbar now lay on the ground beside him. Ms. Shock took the time to get up and heard cursing behind her.

Uzi Boy's gun had jammed. He was furiously pulling and pushing on the bolt, trying desperately to clear the jammed weapon. Ms. Shock hopped briefly to the left and kicked Bat Boy to finish him off. Crowbar 2 decided that this fight couldn't be won and began running back down the alleyway and towards the street. A clatter of metal behind her signified Uzi Boy's escape was also at hand.

Flamer turned towards the retreating recruits. "Cowards!" He aimed his left hand at Uzi Boy; a jet of flames shot forth and enveloped the young man. The Hellion recruit lit up like a match and screamed like a banshee. With that done, Flamer switched to his right arm. "Why must I do everything myself?" he complained as flames coalesced around his extended hand.

Lightning appeared from nowhere and struck Flamer. He stumbled and growled in pain; Crowbar 2 was still running, and the women against the wall screamed. Ms. Shock stood before the Hellion leader. Her gloves and boots both pulsed with blue electric bolts. "That's enough," she said angrily.

The Hellion stood back up straight as the electrical charge running through his body faded. "Oh yeah? Who the hell are you to tell me that?" he yelled back.

Ms. Shock smiled. "You can call me... Ms. Shock."

The Hellion leader turned his head as sirens began to fill the air. He cursed loudly and turned back to his adversary, this new hero that just took down his entire squad of recruits. "This ain't over, bitch, not by a long shot!" With that, he turned and ran with inhuman speed away from the sirens. Ms. Shock fired two more lightning bolts after him, but both bolts missed. As she ran around the corner to get sight of her target, the computer in her belt flashed the obvious "Target Out of Range" indicator on her heads-up-display.

The newly blooded heroine let her gloves and boots power down. She turned back towards the battlefield that was left behind. A badly dented dumpster lay on its side in the middle of the area; one of the Hellion recruits was trapped underneath and screaming in pain, his legs crushed beyond recognition. Two more Hellions were unconscious, and another was dead. Three of them - including the one she had tagged with a GPS tracker - had escaped. A small fire still raged where Uzi Boy had been torched; he would also be counted amongst the dead.

As she surveyed the damage, the two female hostages approached her slowly. They had watched the whole fight, Ms. Shock realized; they had probably never seen anything like that before despite being residents of Paragon City. "Are you two all right?" the superheroine asked quickly. The two women nodded and broke into tears.

"My brother, Tommy... is he..." The woman couldn't finish speaking and began to sob uncontrollably. Ms. Shock walked up to the last remaining body on the scene. He smelt of sulfur and scorched flesh. The scent of blood was also mixed in there somewhere; the combination was enough to make Ms. Shock nauseous. She gulped reflexively to keep her stomach in check and started checking for vital signs.

Surprsingly, he had a weak pulse and was breathing, albeit slowly. He would live if he got immediate medical attention. As if to answer Ms. Shock's unspoken desires, a PPD cruiser came around the corner and drove into the alleyway. Two more followed behind. Sirens and flashing lights erupted from behind her as more PPD cruisers arrived.

The first PPD cruiser stopped, and two police officers wearing riot gear climbed out. The driver took one look at the scene and immediately got on his radio. "PPD Dispatch, this is Frank Romeo Charlie Two Niner, we need medical assistance at our location, over!" With that done, he pulled out his pistol and began looking for any stragglers that may have been lurking in the shadows.

The radio responded: "Roger, Two Niner, medical staff enroute."

A flash of blue light and a sound like ripping canvas assaulted Ms. Shock's senses. She knew that sound too well. A teleporter? Damn, these guys spared no expense... A pair of medics appeared out of thin air as the blue glow faded. They rushed off towards one of the injured gang members. More flashes of blue light signified more medical assistance. Within a few seconds, several medical teams were in the alleyway, tending to the injured and pronouncing deaths.

"Och, no, I'm fine," Ms. Shock said tersely as a medic came over to tend to her. "See to these two," she requested, motioning to the female victims. Ms. Shock moved over to the police cars. They would surely want to know what happened here.