Issue #0 - The Start of Something Phenomenal

Phenomenon vs Ursa Magnificora

With a smile and a thumb flick on his own nose, Phenomenon lunged straight upward, avoiding the large propjectile altogether as it soared off the stage and KLANGed into the bleachers. His landing was swift and opportune, as he landed in position to lunge once again. This time, Ajay bounded as hard as his legs would send him, rocketing a direct path toward the bizarre bear! For his part, the bear responded appropriately by buckling down and getting ready to slash with two paws worth of claws! Landing within dangerous range of Ursa, the rookie hero whipped the can of hot spray out of his pocket and made to blast some face! Alas, that wasn't to be, as his opponent was proactive enough to have already been swinging with his left claw. The problem with that is it knocked the spray out of Phenomenon's hand, and he followed it up, SLASHing some claw marks into the suit (and Ajay's chest).

“SHITONME!” Phenomenon had absolutely not been expecting the level of pain Ursa delivered with even a basic attack like that. He'd expected his enhanced durability to keep him safe, but it looked like that wasn't going to be the case.

Making as if to keep slashing, Ursa taunted, “A crude-OOF-” before getting clocked once again by Phenomenon, who started delivering body shots to the bear's core. Punch after punch, Ajay went for blows that would knock the wind out of any mere human, but the beast stayed upright. It was a bad scene, real talk.

Looking like he was getting really pissed thanks to the pain of Phenomenon's superpowered strikes, Ursa roared, “Stupid and weak!” as he slammed forward onto all fours, pinning Ajay to the cold plastic of the planet-stage's fake rock. Taking advantage of his far greater size, Ursa M found himself face to face with a quite-shocked superhero who was starting to think that he should have saved the bear spray until he wore his mark down.

Trying to get leverage to throw the murderous bear off him, Phenomenon ended up needing to use both his hands to keep himself from getting scratched to all hell. Since dying under a bear wearing an astronaut costume wasn't in his plans for the evening, he tried to push him off, but found another threat coming. Ursa, frustrated with being unable to claw the blue and pink wonder, took a snap straight for Ajay's face with his frightening rack of teeth! The young man was barely able to avoid the bite, and knew he wouldn't be able to avoid a second from where he was. Instead, he let go of both paw-hands abruptly, and swung his arms against the insides of them to make space. Just as he saw the deadly teeth coming for his lovely face again, he had time to grab the monster by the neck, tuck his chin, and headbutt the fuck out of Ursa. Amazed that he was able to get the teeth to just miss, he was greeted with a shock of warm blood that sprayed out all over him.

“OW!” yelled Magnificora reflexively as Phenomenon used his recoiling to get leverage and chuck his hefty bear ass halfway across the stage, where he made impact against the artificial purple 'meteor'. The thud was quite satisfying to Phenomenon, who began walking confidently towards the landing site.

“Hey, Sky!” He addressed her since he had time?

“Yes? Areyouwinning?”

“I think so, do you have any tips for beating a bear without spray?”

“Get lucky!”

“I think I-” started the undercover nurse as the ground beneath him started lowering. Not the whole stage, just a trapdoor of sorts under him. “Talktoyoulater!” he said as he tried to get a look at where he was being taken on the fast moving elevator. He could see some kind of backstage area, but he could also see numerous pounds of bear heading straight for him, like it was diving into a pool of Ajay!

The Story Branches...

Shoryuken! Just punch the fuck out of Ursa as he falls!

Dodge at the last moment so he hits the elevator, then fuck him up backstage using the area itself!

Juke and jump out! He didn't want any of this backstage crap!

Use the environment to gain an advantage!

Man vs Wild – Going Down?

The sight was almost surreal – a grizzly bear with a bloody nose, wearing an astronaut suit, sailing downward in a glamorous swimmer's arc. Phenomenon neither laughed nor appreciated the weirdness, as his mouth was wide open and his blood was pumping. He had practically no time to formulate a plan, let alone one of any sophistication. Thankfully, there was something inside of him that did. In the split-second of truth, a well-ingrained thought process kicked in. Yes, that was it – if his opponent was coming in from the air, the strategic choice was obvious!

That didn't make it any less scary, though! Planting his feet firmly, if not confidently on the alien planetoid surface of the elevator, he threw himself upwards! While Ursa likely hadn't expected this, he wasn't rattled enough to stop from swiping his claw wildly! Ajay's punch made a nasty CRUNCHing impact when it landed on the bear's bare neck, but he lacked both the cheek and the desire to make any martial arts battle cries. Mostly because his actual cheek took a brutal looking slash from three out of five claws on Ursa's dominant hand.

“Son of a bitch!” Phenomenon recoiled and checked the wound to see how badly it was bleeding. The answer was 'worse than a little bit', but he didn't have time to screw around, as the villain was charging him and there wasn't time to screw around with pain. Every second counted, and he had to maximize his asskicking.

That ended up leading him to partially juke, just enough to duck, grab, and push Ursa forward as fast as he could, sending him off the elevator and into the main backstage area. He followed, and the two found themselves amidst brick walls, maintainence tools and not much else to recommend it besides some loose props. As he looked for the exit, he instead spotted an extra copy of the rocket, which the bear was climbing.

“Get the fuck down here! What have you got up there?!” Phenomenon yelled, his frustration with this stupid bastard bear mounting.

“Worry not, chum. I'll be down sooner than you think!” He actually looked smug, despite the fact that he was bleeding, his movement had slowed, and he was climbing a rocket made of plexiglass or some shit.

The Story Branches...

Up the damn rocket! Scramble, Phenomenon!

Knock the thing over with him on it! Work those muscles!

Grab props and start throwing them! Try to knock him loose with object projectiles!

Knock the rocket over!

Let's hope this rocket isn't armed because we're knocking the shit out of it or I guess hopefully not

Punching! ORAORAORAORAORAORA!

One Falls, One Don't

Before approaching his mark, Phenomenon took a minute to slow his roll and calm down. The pain of getting cut and Ursa's entire personality had gotten him more than hot under the collar, and so it was that he turned to his ear-based ally.

“Phenomenon to home. You still there?” She'd been unintrusive while he was dusting it up.

“Yep. Sounds like you won?” Warm Sun River Sky asked, tentatively.

“How can you tell?”

“It got a lot quieter. Before anything, salutes! You beat a bad guy!” She sounded impressed, at least.

“Thanks. I was about to put him down for the count. Not like, kill. I just wanna be able to bring him into the cops. Any suggestions?”

“Hmm. Well, if he's beaten, I don't think you should spray him on top of that. I guess use your strength to knock him unconscious, unless you have some bear handcuffs. Wait, do you have bear handcuffs in your utility belt?”

“I don't have a utility belt, I have pockets. And I don't have bear handcuffs. Is that a thing people use?”

“Just be humane, okay? The worse you hurt him, the more he'll hate you,” she warned in her almost annoyingly adorable voice.

“I will, promise.”

Well, jeez. Ajay had been thinking of some intense flourish, or ultra combo, or madness of the Kenshiro variant. That was all out of the question. Instead, he walked towards the crawling, wheezing, defeated bear. Each of his steps echoed loudly in the cavernous understage, and he was totally stomping a little to add to the effect.

“What name...(hack)...would a cretin like you go by?” asked UM, admitting it was best to know his foe's identity.

“Phenomenon. Don't forget it, because this city is under my protection long-term,” said the proud and powerful superhero.

“Oh...” Ursa trailed off, before picking up with a soft, weakly sung song. “Phenomenon-the-king of mediocrityyyy~” he whimpered tunelessly.

Eager to shut him up, Phenomenon grabbed Ursa Magnificora's head firmly and drove his free fist into his temple with force that nobody could describe as excessive. As expected, that knocked the burr out of consciousness, confirming the fight as having concluded.

“Hunting season is officially over!” Phenomenon felt really good saying that in his hero voice, as he knew that a true classic-style superhero (which he fashioned himself as) had to master the art of one liners.

“'Kay. I'm going to that payphone now to let the cops know. Also, I set up my jewelrymaking kit in your apartment, hope you don't mind,” disclosed Warm Sun River Sky.

“Actually... Ah, you hung up,” Ajay said dejectedly before starting up the unenviable task of getting his beaten foe onto the elevator back up to the stage without fucking up his ribs even worse.

Waiting in the Bleachers

As the cops hadn't arrived yet, Phenomenon had begun swiping and clicking through the tablet that he'd caught out of midair. He was lucky to have gloves that didn't disable touch screen use, a factor which he'd taken into account when making them. The applications that were on it were mostly the standards, alongside one that seemed off. In this case, 'off' meant 'specifically coded for the purpose of remotely activating bombs, and keyed into explosives set up underneath the stage.

Ajay turned with disgust to the still-ko'd supervillain and said, “You really are a bastard.”

Still Waiting in the Bleachers

“I need a better way to stay hydrated on long missions,” said Phenomenon as he laid down flat on one of the seats.

Still Waiting in the Bleachers

The rookie superhero knew only a few minutes had passed, but he was still sick of waiting. A text from Warm Sun River Sky came in, featuring a picture she'd taken of a just-made hippie jewelry bracelet. Not too awful, actually. She had access to some pretty beads, as it turned out! It was the background, though, that sent the message he actually zoned in on: she already had a mess going in his apartment, just as he'd expected. Before he had a chance to think about that much, he heard some officers of the law making their approach, and saw their mostly unnecessary flashlight beams as they followed the same lit up path he had.

“Over here, cops! The perp is subdued, ready for you guys to take custody!” said the nurse, who didn't want to surprise the cops or anything.

As expected, the pair of officers that had been sent were clad in the usual super dark blue (nearly black) pants and shirt combo. Ajay restrained his reaction to the quite-handsome men in uniform, finding their hats tasteful but not wanting distraction. They checked out the area visually, being somewhat taken aback by exactly what they were looking at. First they looked at the stage, still obviously dressed up to resemble a corny old fashioned science fiction planet. Then at the colorfully dressed superhero that was speaking to them, and finally the SFPD officers stared at the beaten-up grizzly bear wearing an astronaut suit.

The shorter of the two cops was the first to speak. “...You're gonna need to tell us a little bit more about what's going on here. They only briefed us to say that there was a violent criminal that had been attacking people, but who'd been detained.”

“That's correct,” said Ajay with a nod, checking his wounds to make sure they were okay. “What you've got here is the city's first supervillain. He goes by the name of Ursa Magnificora, and he's more man than beast. He has it all – opposable thumbs, vocal chords, and the intelligence of a pretentious artist. I defeated him, and will be remanding him into your custody. Please take good care of him, his ribs are cracked or broken or something and I punched him a bunch of times.”

The cops didn't seem to know what to say for a few moments. Then the tall one asked, “Do you have proof that's not just a bear you put in a costume and beat up?”

“Yep,” answered Phenomenon, before pointing to the bleacher upon which he had placed Ursa's cell phone and tablet, both of which surely had additional evidence on top of the controls for his lair and its explosives and elevators and such. “Those should have everything you need, and his attitude should become evident quickly once he wakes up. If you need any more proof of his crimes, there's a man admitted to one of the local hospitals whose arms and legs were removed by this sicko. He'll tell you anything else you need to know.”

“Are you sure this isn't vigilante justice? It sounds like it is,” questioned the tall one again.

“Nah, I'm a superhero! Totally different situation! Now, I left some strong bear spray on the bleacher by those things. Be safe around the villain, even though I kicked his butt.”

Checking in with one another nonverbally before shrugging, they both said, “Okay.”

“Oh, and one more thing before I go! My name is Phenomenon! Feel free to tell your fellow officers I'm a friend and ally to you!” suggested the hero before flashing his best smile and double thumbs-upping.

Muhna Muhna! Ba dee, bedebe



And so it was that San Francisco's first official superhero began his career – with flying colors! And quite a hero he was, molded in the tradition of those great old fictional costumed adventurers! But how that mold turned out was up to you, and thanks to you, San Francisco continues to be a really great city 2 years later!

Phenomenon continues to fashion himself as a positive force for good, and a positive example of a superhuman. Much like his inspiration, the Flash family, Ajay made it a priority to stay on the straight and narrow and master his superpowers to the fullest extent possible. He became quite proficient with his enhanced physical attributes, and over time continues to manifest even greater feats of strength, endurance and agility. Inspired by this crime-busting hero in blue and pink, many young people who develop powers of their own make the choice to become superheroes!

This isn't too much of a problem for the local police, who come to trust Ajay for his humane and fair treatment of criminals. This relationship is replicated, with mixed levels of success, with additional self-fashioned superheroes. Despite some screwups, the San Francisco police are glad to have superheroes helping them. Especially since...

There are supervillains, of course. Despite Ajay's positive influence, not every member of the superhuman community uses their powers for good. Ursa Magnificora (originally known as Ralph Bellman) was merely the first to use superhuman powers for evil purposes, but the healthy superhero population remains vigilant against their incursions. Which are frequent, but rarely get out of hand. Partially thanks to...

Ajay and Warm Sun River Sky! So happy together, this duo work together exceptionally well. Since their relationship is built on mutual trust and admiration, they accomplish much for themselves and the city they love. Even though they never date thanks to a lack of mutual attraction, they continue to grow closer and closer as Sky ends up spending a ton of time at Ajay's apartment. Between planning superhero stuff, getting involved with typical young adult bullshit, and other assorted activities, there was usually something happening there and it was usually quite loud! As well, their impact as a team is quite substantial, as Phenomenon winds up a strong advocate for humane, fair treatment of criminals, both super and unpowered.

Phenomenon continues to work at Silver Pine Hospital to this day. Though the life of a nurse was challenging, he found it quite essential for his well-being. Plus, it gave him time to heal from any damage done to him during his crimefighting. He just wasn't out-there enough to give up a civilian life, and that was something Ajay was totally comfortable with. This ended up being his usual suggestion to others when they seemed to be cracking, incidentally.

Though Phenomenon did not have a close relationship with the tech industry or startups or anything like that, there were a few minor breakthroughs enabled through the implementation and study of superhuman powers. After all, he isn't the only guy in town!

This is the world that your costumed adventurers will be living in. I hope you enjoy it, because there are no takebacks on anything!