by The Eurostar
Thunder City was one of the grayer, more monotone, boring cities of the United States until two years ago. In fact, even if it is only whispered by some of its citizens, Thunder City was an experiment, a massive experiment of genetics and mind control, that was ended by a bunch of runaway, clandestine metahumans on the night of Christmas Eve, 2001.
After that, the city and its inhabitants found freedom and joy to live. And even if no one ever declared it freely, Thunder City is still grateful for what happened that night, and, alone in all the U.S., has opened its arms to metahumans, who live here without persecution and discrimination.
But this doesn't mean there are no problems. Metahumans are gifted with uncanny powers, but not always are they used for good.
The SWAT team takes position behind the wrecked cars that form a big wall across the street, pointing their rifles at the two giants battling on the other side. Covered in armor, one predominantly white, the other red, they both carry long, curved swords, and, each time the blades meet, lightning illuminates the dark street.
One of the policemen frantically types over a laptop connected to a cellular phone. His face illuminates for a moment, as he has found what he was looking for. "Captain, Captain! Bingo!"
A corpulent man in a brown trench coat spits out his cigar and turns. "Well?"
"The Scorpion brothers. European. Last seen in Mandelovia two years ago. Big league, sir. They are indestructible. Bulletproof."
"Shit!" yells the man, his face reflecting the sudden glow of the battle.
Then a policeman points his finger to the sky. "Look, it's the winged man!"
A figure appears above the street, sporting two impressive wide brown and black wings, as long feathers sprout out of his arms. The metahuman dives, wings closed, falling like a meteor toward one of the two massive metas. The winged man spins forward just a moment before to hit the Red Scorpion, so that his feet and not his head strike the giant.
The red Scorpion falls flat on his back. The winged man turns quickly, raising a short, hawk-bill axe to stop the blade of the White Scorpion. The giant is powerful, but the winged man is quicker, avoiding the sword of his opponent with relative ease, until a hand grabs him from behind and slams him to a nearby wall.
The man falls on the street, barely alive, blood coming out of his mouth and nose. The two brothers raise their swords in unison and, with an ample, displaying gesture, make them fall over the head of the winged metahuman.
"Not quite, friends," says a voice from behind. At the same time, the swords are cut in half by giant blue scissors.
The two Scorpions turn to see eight colorfully dressed people, six men, a woman, and a vaguely human giant, surrounded by an orange-hued dome.
It's the last thing they see that evening. A sheer wall of fire hits them like a flood, like a charge of buffaloes -- energy blasts from Rhyme Guardian and Smasher, razor-sharp shuriken throwing stars from Disco, wrecked cars pushed by Lioness' magic. The two massive brutes are buried under a pile of scrap metal.
But then, much to Rhyme Guardian's dismay, a flood of bullets from the SWAT team begins to hit the force field dome that wraps them.
"Why they are firing at us?" cries Lioness.
"We just saved their asses!" remarks Smasher.
"Take the winged one and leave!" orders Rhyme Guardian. Zed encases the wounded meta in a sort of blue glass coffin, and then Lioness makes the whole group fade away.
"What's your name?" asks Rhyme Guardian as the winged metahuman opens his eyes.
The man gets up to sit on the makeshift bed. There is a lot of blood on the floor, but as he checks his whole body, his wounds have disappeared altogether. He says, with a distinctly Italian accent, "I... was dead! How...?"
"You weren't dead. We saved you in time. I have healing powers," Rhyme Guardian explains concisely. "Your name, please."
The winged man turns his head around, looking at those faces with marvel at their bright costumes, masks, and symbols, then shakes his head and looks at Rhyme Guardian. "My name is Edulcore Cicciotto. And I have to go!" The man stands up and goes toward the door.
"Wait a moment! We need to know..."
"I left my son with Father Sean! He'll be worried by now!" Waving his arms, Cicciotto pushes aside Smasher, who tries to block the man's passage.
"Rhymer! Stop him!" says Zed.
Edulcore Cicciotto instantly turns to face Zed. "What did you call him?"
"Rhyme Guardian. It's his name... well, his code name. Why?" begins Zed.
The Rhymer interrupts him with a sudden question, "Have you heard this name before?"
Edulcore is still, his eyebrows arched, finally facing a possible answer to an old, unsolved mystery. "Yes, I did," he whispers, nodding in a very slow movement.
"Where?"
The eyes of Edulcore now seem to focus past Rhyme Guardian, past the wall and very far away.
"Rhyme... Guardian. The leader." He shakes the head and turns, facing the MBLers one by one. "Zed, the one with the power gauntlet. Lioness, the sorceress. Agent F7, man of one thousand faces. Disco Stave, the young warrior. Monolith, the lava elemental." The face of Edulcore lingers for an instant over the next man. "Smasher, right?" The other nods. "And finally, Caped Cadet!"
"So, Edulcore, answer my question. Why do you, alone on this world, remember the Meta Board League?"
The man shakes his head. "Sorry, but I don't remember any of you. I know your names because I had a... friend that kept talking to me about you for months. At the time I... we... me and my comrades, I mean... considered him a loon. Just, he was exceptionally skilled, like he had years of training as a crimefighter. He was sure reality had been altered by some event and that the true reality was the one he was remembering. He stayed with me and my friends for some time, trying to convince us that we were what was left of the Meta Board League and that we had to bring back the true, old reality. After I seemingly died and went MIA, he disappeared, too. Before joining us, he was living in Chicago. I have still the address." The man takes a little notebook from one of his pockets.
Rhyme Guardian frowns. "What he was called?"
Edulcore raises his head from the pocket notebook. "He never revealed us his true name. He called himself... Nowhereman."