So I was at City Hall and I’d finally gotten an actual license to fight crime. I was pumped! I thought I’d be directed straight to SERAPH, but they had something else for me first. There was an outbreak of some sort, the City Representative asked me to go and help the police contain it. It was show time.

I went downstairs and a SERAPH tech gave me some cool gadgets to get me started. A multi-band communicator that’s no bigger than a hearing aid but seems to be almost infinitely configurable as to what communications you want to be able to hear. I think it’s going to take some time before I get this thing figured out. A Medicom patch, some sort of heart monitor or something that lets the central system track when you go into medical arrest and teleports you to the nearest hospital. So theoretically I won’t die on the street. Not sure I want to experience that particular treat. Because to need that means that I’ve done had my ass kicked. A PDA-sized GPS/map/compass to help me get around. No more going to the wrong train station. A ‘Jump Pack’, which is like a back-pack sized jet pack that only lasts 30 seconds, but recharges on its own in 30-minutes. If you ever wanted to fly, this thing is the closest thing I’ve ever tried. A bunch of Tranq Darts. They don’t do much real damage, but they’ll put the sleep on the biggest of the baddies. Which is always handy. And lastly a Pocket D Gold Membership Card. Not sure what the hell this thing is, but it fits nicely in my wallet. I stuffed all the goodies into my utility belt, thanked the tech, and stepped up and into a giant mechanical gazebo.

There was a pop, a brief feeling like I’d had my guts turned inside out, and I was standing somewhere in the city I’d never been before. A cop stood 20 or 30 feet ahead of me like he’d been waiting for me. I choked back the contents of my stomach and approached him unsteadily. I didn’t tell him it was my first teleport, but I don’t think I needed to. It was pretty obvious.

He introduced himself, but I think I forgot his name immediately. I’m not good with names. Then he explained quickly that some thugs had taken an experimental drug thinking it was something else, and started trashing the area. I was ready to go put a stop to it, but no, that’s not what he wanted from me. He wanted me to take a blood sample to the Rivera Medical Center. WTF?! I’m a hero and I’m running errands for the cops?! I did it. But I wasn’t happy about it and I think it showed.

It worked out though, I was talking to one of the doctors, Miller I think his name was. He was telling me all about how the Medicom system works and his theory’s on the contaminated mutagen when the call came back in that the cops needed me. I wished the doc luck at finding a cure for the mutagen and I was off. Hoping I’d get a chance to do some real hero work.

I was directed deeper into the neighborhood to help fight off some rioting thugs. The police presence in this neighborhood was impressive. Seemed like there was an officer or a police drone on every corner. Making my comment from yesterday seem undeserved. These guys had their hands full and it was rapidly getting out of control. I think I saw three other hero’s fighting to get the contaminated thugs under control, but I only talked to one. And that was just a quick exchange of greetings.

Mostly I worked with a Sergeant Hicks. Apparently the guy is a former hero that lost his powers before the Rikti Invasion. Tough break. He seemed like a good guy, but we didn’t have much time to chat and he didn’t seem overly impressed with me. He did give me some enhancements and inspirations to use, but I didn’t have time to figure them out in all the chaos.

I must have taken down over a hundred doped up thugs. They were everywhere. Burning things. Breaking things. Trashing things. Causing chaos however they could. They were easy to spot, just look for the hyper-violent dudes with the pallid complexion and glowing green eyes. Most of them had baseball bats or improvised clubs, throwing stones, or just bare fists and brass knuckles. All stuff I’ve run into in the past. I can handle that, my accident left me a little tougher than the average joe. But a few had guns. Today was the first time I’ve ever been shot. And shot multiple times I might add. Twice in the leg, once in the shoulder, and once in the side. If I had any question about my new suit being bulletproof, it was put to rest today. It is. But I’ve got bruises on top of bruises. It could have been worse, but I think the dope screwed with their perceptions. Or maybe they were just really bad shots.

We were getting the streets under control when Sgt. Hicks told me that another hero, Coyote, had a lead on the drug’s origin and told me to go talk to him and see what I could do to help him out. Coyote I’ve heard of. He’s the earthly avatar of an old Indian god or some such. He’s one of those heroes that other heroes are always crediting with showing them the ropes or putting them on the right path. So I hot footed it over to where he was.

That’ll have to do it for now. I’m getting something on the police radio that needs my attention. Later.

I got lost leaving the tailor. Hopped on the monorail not realizing that there were two loops through the city, the green line and the yellow line. I figured I’d save myself some walking by getting on the closest of the two stations in Steel Canyon. I figured wrong. Apparently the two loops use different stations and I was at the wrong one. I ended up taking the green line halfway around the city before I got off in Skyway City. Then I had to hike across town to get to the yellow line station. Which took me to Atlas Park, where I’d been trying to get for the last two hours. It was a learning experience.

I’ve got to say, there are a lot of heroes using the monorail. Which was a bit of a surprise. I mean what with all the flying, super jumping, and super speed running that you see on the news, the train was kinda the last place I thought I’d run into costumed heroes. What I’m saying is that there had to be a half a dozen heroes on the train with me each time. I didn’t recognize any of them, but still. Weird.

My walk from the monorail to city hall was notable in that I think I only saw a few loitering gang bangers. Everywhere else I go in this city I’ve been amazed at the number of thugs on the streets. And where are the cops? I mean, no cops means more work for heroes like me, but still. When I saw the city hall building with it’s flag made from Statesman’s cape… well, my heart skipped a beat. Was I really doing this? Hell yeah, I was doing this!

There must have been close to fifty heroes mingling around the feet of the massive statue of Atlas outside City Hall. I even caught a glimpse of Ms. Liberty! Inside there were heroes coming and going. One pretty thing in yellow tights must have seen the lost lamb look on my face and pointed me toward the City Representative that processed the Hero Registration forms, wished me luck, and gave me a wink that I must say held some promise. They took my forms and sent me off to take the test. I aced the moral and ethical part of the test, but the legal section gave me some slight problem. Seems the laws here in Rhode Island are a bit different than back in Michigan. But I passed and that’s what mattered. She showed me where I could go to change clothes and directed me to the picture ID counter. It took almost two hours, but I’m licensed now. I thought I’d be directed straight to SERAPH, but they had something else for me first. I’ll tell you about that next time.