Jimmy was a secondhand hood...,
- ...just looking to score and make it big...all he needed was one big hit, one heist that could set him on the block as one of the contenders on the street. Jimmy never had the best luck...but growing up in the local slums didn't offer a lot of opportunities other than what society regarded as 'illegal'. He hated that word, it was an oppressive word...an excuse to keep him down, marginalize poor people like himself. He'd show them, he'd take what he wanted...then they'd see who they were looking down on, he'd show them like he showed that old woman last week: his 357 magnum that he stole from the last house he broke into when she wouldn't hand over her purse. He'd show them all...
- Jimmy didn't have a rap sheet...just not a lot of decent scores, his best heist was the pistol he had tucked in his pants at the small of his back - secure enough to keep it in place, easy enough to whip out in case of trouble. He chuckled at the thought - he -WAS- trouble...no one better mess with him tonight. Tonight was -HIS- night...he heard of this warehouse from a local informant. A recent shipment of undisclosed goods...and 'undisclosed' generally meant 'valuable'. The location alluded to it's relatively subjective value...high quality goods are kept in quality warehouse sites - low quality warehousing with 'undisclosed' goods generally meant 'hot' or 'illegal' goods. Ideal for sale on the streets...
- He was working one of the windows with a slim jim, wedge with flashlight in mouth when the unexpected occurred, and in Titan City...that's saying a lot. It probably wouldn't have mattered if he was paying attention to the sky or not because the occurrence happened so fast, he might as well have been trying to follow the trajectory and speed of a lightning bolt strike...except it wasn't a lightning bolt. The cyclone that spiraled down from the clouds above touched ground with the sound of a thunderclap, just a few yards in the alley where Jimmy set to work. The resounding reverberation and pressure made short work of Jimmy's efforts as he was blown clean through the window he was working on...
- Getting his bearings, Jimmy dislodged himself from the debris he found himself an intricate part of...thankfully no more worse for wear than a few cuts and bruises. Reaching behind, he felt the handle of his firearm and felt the panic he was feeling subside - he still had his piece. Standing up slowly, he looked out the window he had blown through...and saw what looked to be a young woman breathing heavily with an incredible physique knelt in what looked to be a man-sized, self-made crater. She had voluminous cascading blond hair, a black sleeveless leotard with a gold segmented belt, black thigh high boots and almost comically petite black gloves. Her back was turned to him so he could see little else, but he quickly snapped out of his revelry...
- "If she could survive an impact like that..." he thought as he took his hand off his pistol, '...then I ain't got nothing but a pea-shooter...that won't even register on her radar. Matter of fact - that sounds like a pretty good idea!...". Jimmy didn't look back as he made haste out of the warehouse as he ditched his tools, out of the warehouse area as he ditched his firearm, out of the warehouse district as he ditched the notion of every breaking and entering ever again. Sometimes, crime can be prevented just by making a good impression...alas, all this went completely unnoticed by the young woman as she slowly raised her head, eyes glowing from behind a black domino mask...
- "Where...am...I?..." she growled...
((Enter Galaxy-Gal: Flying SS/WP/En Heroic Brute from CoX - 'Mutant Bombshell with Astounding Anger Management Issues))
More to come... ^_^
What did she remember?...,
- ...that was always the question...it's the only question that really mattered, it was the only question that made anything worth pursuing. Who am I? What am I? Where did I come from? Where am I now? What am I doing? Still breathing heavily, she only understood one thing at the moment...and that was pain, lots of it - as if every fiber of her being had been pulled apart and smashed back together again...and that was not a sensation she'd say she was unfamiliar with. Facing off against the Praetorians felt a lot like that...or the Kronos Titan - that was painful, though her head pounded like she'd just gotten reacquainted with Mother Mayhem. She never handled pain very well...pain made her angry - very angry. Pain gave her strength, but she didn't have any strength at the moment...she couldn't even pull herself up from the position she was in if she tried, and she was trying for through the haze of pain came memories...memories she didn't want, but her mind refused to pay heed...
- I'm Galaxy-Gal...Galaxy City...looking at the statue of Galaxy Girl...when the Shivans came...raining down...couldn't stop them...from destroying Galaxy City...
- "...no..." she uttered weakly as she struck the ground in a feeble gesture of defiance...
- ...Shivans came raining down again...couldn't save Paragon City...Doc Phantasm...dead...Gem Starblazer...dead...Psy-Chic...dead...couldn't save...dad...
- "No!" she snarled driving her fist down scattering nearby dumpsters and shattering windows...
- Who am I? Jessica St. John...daughter of Melinda and William St. John. William St. John...William, Will...Thunder-Puncher. Father...Dad...Daddy...dead...
- "NOOO!!!" she screams skyward as a blast of raw searing energy emits from her hate-filled, tear-streaked eyes before she collapses into a semi-conscious sobbing heap.
- It was an emergency status like never before...it was worse than a scheme launched by Lord Arachnos - it was an all-out invasion like the Nictus only wished they accomplished: it was the return of the Shivans. The meteors were coming at a rate that made it difficult to count...almost every single hero and villain that was able was conscripted into defense, but it wasn't enough. Doc Phantasm knew that...at least that's what Will told her. He said Doc had a plan, he'd be able to get some people out safely...Doc knew a lot of things, a lot of weird things, magic things...stuff Jessie didn't trust. Will insisted that she go first...he'd be right behind her, but it wasn't the first time he lied. She knew he was only trying to get her out, save her...even if it meant that doing so would kill him. She would always be 'Daddy's Little Girl' - the last words he said to her...
- William St. John was an archeologist who had what he would call the 'misfortune' of discovering the 'Celestial Gauntlets'...'over-sized oven mitts' that gave the wearer indescribable power. There wasn't much 'Thunder-Puncher' couldn't put his fists through...even impervium, given time, which made him constant acquaintances with other interested individuals known as the Circle of Thorns who wanted the Celestial Gauntlets for their own devising. So, in order to protect his wife and daughter...he worked with MAGI to have any relation expunged. He knew he had a daughter, he knew he had been married...but he didn't know exactly who they were and where they lived - until she was old enough and found him.
- She thought he had deliberately ignored her and her mother, but Doc Phantasm clarified the discrepancy and removed the mystical mental block...and while it was a touching family reunion, she never forgave the magician for his tamperings. Which made her feel even worse as it was Doc Phantasm who opened the Nexus to establish a gateway to another reality...a place as close to the living hell she was currently living in, without the Shivans (...of course...) - a place called Titan City. Her father didn't forgive the mage either for removing the mystical mental block because of the inherent danger she would be exposed to by the Circle. That was until Jessie was able to show her father what she could do - and she could do quite a lot.
- Doc Phantasm alluded through his scryings that her physiology had been drastically altered through the celestial energies that coursed through Will's body, imbuing her with the capacity to do whatever she focused her mind on...from surviving unbelievable punishment to lifting astounding weights, from flying at supersonic speeds to emitting a truly withering stare. She had only just begun to test her limits against some of the most treacherous and dangerous adversaries Paragon City had ever known...the Praetorians, and much to her father's surprise - she arose victorious single-handedly every single time. 'Daddy's Little Girl'...all grown up, ready to save the world...until her worst nightmare returned...just like the first day she came to Galaxy City in search for her father...
- ...the Shivans arrived once more...
- ...plans were made, escape attempts were many, few remained behind to save others in the process...her father was one of them. "The Shivans are a destructive force, Jessica" she remembered Doc Phantasm say...she hated it when he called her Jessica, "If they amass their potential destructive capabilities, they could erode dimensional boundaries...the gateway I'm opening may not be safe from their destruction. It will be up to you, as others, to make sure that the fate which befalls our world, in this dimension...does not befall theirs. Understand this, Jessica, I do not send you to save your life...I send you to save others."
- "You just get as many out as you can, 'Doc'..." she remember replying with a sneer.
- "He will, Jessie..." her father replied putting his armored hand over her shoulder giving an affectionate squeeze. With a sad smile, he patted her shoulder and nodded over to the Nexus writhing with menacing mystical energies saying to her as a way of encouragement, 'Daddy's Little Girl'. She smiled weakly in return and stepped nervously into the swirling torrent of arcane power which wrenched her apart...piece by existential piece...before being slammed back together like a wide receiver spikes a football after a successful touchdown pass...
- ...and as Galaxy-Gal finally loses conscious, curled up in the smoking crater deep inside the low-income warehouse district reminiscent of Kings Row - her second womb, a second life?...was the realization that if Paragon City was lost, will Titan City even be worth saving...
((Loving it, I am LOVING it.....can't wait to meet Galaxy-Gal....:) ))
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((Thanks, Gladatoria! ^_^ I -LOVE- writing!...which is what really got me hooked on CoX in the first place - the game literally begged you to think of what your character was like and why. Though CoT plans on not having 'origins' playing any significant part of character creation, I liked the idea of going through the process explaining how my characters acquired their powers. The difference between a Magic Broadsword Scrapper and a Technology Broadsword Scrapper may be indistinguishable in-game...but embellishing upon a character's trials in order to acquire their fabled mystical blade as opposed to elaborating how a character perfected the process of forging an impervium blade with a molecule width's edge...are two different stories entirely.))
((Exactly, it's the fine details that make for a fabulous story....I was also thinking we could do a Lady Nova and Galaxy Gal partnership thread...they seem like they would have a certain kind of chemistry...:) ))
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