This guy's pretty strong, isn't he?

50 years ago…

In a different world, in a different time there were men and women who had the means and power for incredible and dastardly deeds. During this time international tensions were high and everyone kept out for themselves. Powered people kept their identities secret and operated more covertly than those of today…mostly.

Some distance from the suburbs of Hill Rose, police engines roared and sirens screamed.

Chatter over the radio could be heard if one was listening, “Robot Arms and Delta Phase are at it again, be advised.”

In a quiet house with all but a single light in the driveway, a little boy sat in the garage listening to said police chatter. He was tense as though he was personally invested in the chase.

Over the skies of Amtrak City’s north borough two figured darted around sparking like lightning bugs.

It was hard to tell from far away but it appeared as though the one with jet engines for arms and legs, aptly named Robot Arms, seemed to be on the fence. Delta Phase rushed through Robot Arms and struck him in the back. He screamed and spun, whipping Delta across the face and sending him careening away.

Delta corrected his flight path and set his trajectory straight at Robot Arms. They grabbed each other. The whirling duo shot through the clear night sky.

Robot Arms attempted to rip the strap on Delta’s backpack, Delta slapped him away.

Onlookers could see them exchanging words however the distance was too great to hear. After a minute of aimless drifting the two pushed off each other and flew their separate ways.

“They are disengaging, no causalities.”

“This is dispatch, follow whoever is nearest we need a lead on their identities.”

“Roger.”

The boy who had been listening to the radio as though it was an audio drama turned it off and hit a button by the garage door.

Moments later a plume of fire erupted from above and a middle-aged man with rocket legs and arms looked down at the boy.

“I told you not to wait up, you got school tomorrow.” Robot Arms looked around to see if anyone had come out of their houses.

“You also told me you weren’t going to fight him.”

“Yeah, well” he led the boy back into the garage, closing it behind him.

“Delta’s pack is cobbled together from junk, how do you not cream him?”

Robot Arms took a seat the work bench and held out his arms. His son began dismantling the arm jets.

“It wasn’t a serious fight.”

“Why not?”

“He hasn’t done anything yet.”

The boy way confused, “Is he going to do something?”

“It’s personal.”

Robot Arms was being extremely vague the way adults do when they don’t feel like explaining something to their kids.

“Why fight to begin with, then?” But he wouldn’t let it go.

Robot Arms, David’s father, finally looked his son in the eyes, “There’s just people out there, you’re not going to like, you’re going to disagree with them. You’ll say you’re right, you know you’re right, but they’re just as convinced of their side of things.”

“What if neither side is right?”

“That’s just a third side, just as entrenched as the others.”

“Wait, so why are you fighting again? I’m not sure you answered me.”

David’s father pulled his arm free of the jet and stood up, “It’s just the way things are. He wants to be a hero, so I guess I’m the villain. That’s alright though, I think villains are cooler. What about you?”

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In another world, at the present time…

“This is just great.” Jessie and David were sitting in a broken pew while Norton paced around the sanctuary, “We lost our only source of information.” Jessie was losing patience.

“What are you talking about” Norton spoke up, “We’ve got Leaves.”

“Leaf will probably be unconscious for the next several hours.”

“Norton, cut it out!” David yelled.

Norton stopped his pacing, “That Clamis guy was bad news, I got a nose for these things. He was a rat.”

All David and Jessie could do was stare at him.

“He was going to do some Midsommar shit to us!”

“And what shit would that be.” Jessie humored him, “I haven’t seen it.”

“I don’t go to movies.” David admitted, most pop culture reference would be lost on him.

Norton waved his arms about, “You know like the leaves on our heads, and like freaky villagers, human sacrifices or something, I don’t know! I haven’t seen it either goddamnit! But I’ve seen the trailer and that was enough to know it wasn’t for me. I’m not into that artsy horror stuff. Give me a fu- freakin’ stabber, some guy running around with a machete or some shit, you know.”

“Okay! Okay! I get it. We get it, right?” Jessie looked over to David who nodded in turn, “He wasn’t trustworthy, maybe so, but we’re in unfamiliar territory. We could be in danger.”

“It seems pretty safe to me.” Norton gestured around.

“Until it isn’t” David spoke up. He been feeling uneasy ever since he’d woken up, “Something occurred to me.”

“Yeah, what?”

“Did you talk like this back on Earth?” Norton seemed confused by the question, “I just can’t image a 50 or 60 year old man using the sort of vocabulary that you are.”

Norton thought for a second, “Huh, you’re right. I didn’t even notice.”

“What do you suppose it means?” Jessie asked.

David shrugged.

“In any case, we no longer have a guide so what is it we’re going to do?”

“Walk, I guess.” Norton wasn’t at all helpful. He was always a bit unpredictable, that combined with his power made people walk on eggshells around him, and that fear is how he managed his territory. Half the time he wasn’t even aware of what he was doing until someone had to point it out. Impulsiveness and decisiveness were two sides of the same coin.

David shrugged once again.

“There you go laying all the responsibility at my feet.” She crossed her legs. Despite her words she liked taking the reigns, control was important to her, Jessie never directly asked for anything, she was just the kind of person who exuded a mature, professional confidence; it came from the way she talked, the way she walked, dressed, even her posture, Jessie made people trust her, it was how she got by. There were very few instances where it backfired on her.

“Let’s scout the area before moving forward.” Jessie ordered.

Norton huffed probably because he had already planned to do and didn’t feel like she’d contributed anything with that statement.

David and Norton went off in different directions while Jessie searched the church for any supplies. The place seemed ancient, half the roof was missing, so it was unlikely there would be even a tiny morsel left.

David, for his part, did make a discovery during his walk.

They reconvened an hour later.

“We’re at the peak of a mountain, I couldn’t get to the edge or see past it.”

“It’s called Mountain Country, dude. That’s not really surprising.”

“Can you elaborate? I’m not sure I follow.”

“We’re on the edge of a mountain, but the top of it goes on for miles, I think there’s another mountain in the distance but the visibilities not great. It’s more likely that it’s part of the same mountain looking at the gradual slope.”

“Again-”

“Norton, listen to what he’s saying, do you understand?”

“This place isn’t Mountain Country, it’s a mountain the size of a country. It’s literally a mountain country.”

“Looks like we’re going to be hiking, boys.”

David looked at his feet. He was wearing slippers. Jessie had on flats, they were business casual, not exactly suited for the outdoors, meanwhile Norton had on steal-toe work boots.

“Oh, man, you two are gonna die.” Norton laughed as he looked at our feet.

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They raided the corpses of the priest and one of his guards. Leaf was still out cold.

Jessie figured since they were people of this country most likely growing up here that there footwear would be specially made for durability and long distance hiking.

Even if the footwear was a little loose or tight, it was better than what they currently had.

Surprisingly, the shoes they wore were all different. The priest had gaudy golden cowboy boots which in hindsight it was crazy they all missed that, yet understandable considering they were being overloaded with exposition at the time.

What was even crazier was the guard. He was wearing pumps, bright red 4-inch pumps.

“There’s no way, this has to be a joke.” Even Jessie found it ridiculous. There was no way any of us, particularly Jessie could have missed them.

“Did you notice Clamis’s shoes when you tackled him?” David showed Norton the boots.

“Naw, not at all. I would have been all over those if I had.” David grimaced at Norton’s sense of fashion.

Jessie slipped the pumps on, “I look like a go-go dancer.”

“More like a business casual prostitute” Norton joked.

She was still dressed in a pantsuit. She lost the jacket and tie and was now in pinstripe pants and vest. The bright red shoes certainly popped in contrast.

Upon zipping them, they shrank to fit, “Holy shit!” She stood up.

“Holy shit.” Norton was more fascinated than surprised.

“What is that?” Jessie was looking right past David. He and Norton began to turn, “No, it’s right in front of me, it looks like a 3D panel” David and Norton both looked at her blankly.

“There’s nothing there.”

“It’s a glowing, floating 3D panel.” She began swiping the air with her fingers, “This is… it’s the shoes. Hurry, David, put yours on.

David hurriedly put on the gold cowboy boots.

His feet were slightly too big so it took some work to squeeze his foot in but it expanded once he did.

David could see his screen now.

“I see it.” It was some kind of profile screen.

Name: David Lucas

Alias: Bell Jar

DOB: June 8th, 2150

Blessing: N/A

Skills: N/A

And then a whole bunch of other stats with question marks. When he finished scrolling to the bottom a message appeared, “Special Status Notes: Interim Hero classification, access to dungeon items LIMITED. Status boosts DENIED. Access to Stat Screen LIMITED. Blessings DENIED. Skills DENIED. Hero status DENIED. Experience growth PERMITTED. Dungeon access PERMITTED. Youth Restored: unauthorized command, admin interference noted.”

Equipped: Golden Cowboy Boots (+20 SPD DENIED, +20 STM DENIED, Auto-size PERMITTED, Enchantment: Earth Magic: Earthen Wall PERMITTED, Enchantment: non- elemental Illusory magic: Item Imperceptibility PERMITTED)

“What are you two staring at?” He looked around then suddenly began taking off his shoes.

“That’s not necessary, Norton,” Jessie closed her window. “Your shoes will be fine.”

Jessie stopped him from trading out his shoes with Leaf’s even though the guy probably had shoes with an ability like David’s. Jessie glanced at David seemingly indicating that she didn’t want him to share anything about the equipment with Norton. It stood to reason that she would like to be cautious around someone as unpredictable as him, but he’d eventually find out anyway.

“When you equip items you’ll be able to see a status window. Some items have enchantments and almost all provide some kind of stat boost.” Out of nowhere a voice jumped into the conversation. Leaf sat up, clutching his head.

“And you guys were planning on holding out on me. Hand me your shoes, Leaves!”

“Grab them off the other guy.” Jessie suggested.

“I like his shoes.” Norton fired back. Jessie just glared at him and he relented. A few minutes later he returned.

“You liars!” He shouted, “It says ‘stat boosts DENIED’ and these don’t have enchantments on them.” The shoes he had on were boots in a slightly different shade than the previous ones.

“What do you mean, ‘Denied’?”

“I mean what I said.”

“According to our screens, we are unable to boost our stats and our stats are all question marks.” Jessie answered.

“That doesn’t make sense. Heroes usually have stats between 200 and 500 to start. Here you can see mine.”

A pop up suddenly appeared asking If David wanted to view Leaf’s stat screen even though he was not a member of our party. David accepted and the window popped up.

Name: Leaf VIII

Affiliation: Mountain Country

Job: Former Priest Aid

Date of Birth: 8th of Alder 582

LV: 8

STR: 80 / SPD: 115 (+120) / STM 88 (+100) / DEF 75 / STEALTH: 110 (+20) / LUK 130 / MAGIC: 100 (+70) / SPIRIT 140 (+50)

EXP: 5285/10,000

Status: Charmed (Mild)

Blessing: Iron Stomach

Skills: Archery, Sharpshooter, Hunting, Cooking, Poison Resistance, First Aid, Runner Mathematics, Tracking, Light Magic, Spirit Magic, Holy Magic

Equipped: Winged Shoes of Hermes (+100 SPD, +100 STM, +50 MAGIC), Scout Cape (+20 Stealth, +20 SPD), Spirit Diamond Necklace (+50 SPIRIT, +20 MAGIC; ENCHANMENT: Non-elemental, Protection of the Spirits (resist all natural ailments).

“Wow.” Jessie said what we were all thinking.

“Are these stats average here?” David had to know.

Leaf, despite his best effort, broke into a wry grin, “No, I’m the strongest in my village, and If I may brag a bit, I’m probably top 10 this side of the mountain.” His eyes were directed at Jessie who was still gawking at his stats. It was obvious who he’d been charmed by.

Next on the agenda was figuring out how we stacked up to someone like him, which meant…

“I guess it’s me and you, Leaves.”

Leaf kept glancing at Jessie who was watching with her arms folded. Norton and Leaf circled around. Jessie and David weren’t going to be fighting since their powers weren’t exactly as straight forward as Norton’s.

They focused up.

“And go!” Norton charged like he’d done against Clamis but Leaf was a step ahead, side stepping him. It was clear from his stats that Leaf specialized in speed and indeed he was fast. Norton would swing his fists, and charge forward but Leaf continued to give him the slip.

Against any other opponent speed was probably more than enough, but against Norton…

Leaf finally went in for a hit. He dug his feet in the ground and launched forward at full tilt. Norton swung himself around hearing the shifting of the dirt. It seemed for a second like Leaf was flying. His fist connected but Norton didn’t so much as move.

Leaf backed away then kicked off the ground again.

Norton smiled and wound up for a punch. Norton was pretty straight forward in his fighting style and his power was too. Whatever you threw at him, he’d throw it right back.

Norton’s punch blasted Leaf into the air. Leaf nearly vomited at the incredible force. He fell to the ground but didn’t reach it instead he was once again met with Norton’s fist and was blasted back up. There was the clear sound of bones breaking. This time Leaf hit the ground.

He landed on his stomach.

“Do you yield?!?”

Leaf attempted to stand up while wheezing and gasping.

Norton kept up his shit-eating grin. The same pleased grin Leaf wore earlier.

“I thing you should stay down.” Leaf attempted to push himself forward. Norton snapped his fingers and the moment Leaf took a step his entire body lost all traction and slipped to the ground.

“That’s enough.” Jessie declared the fight over.

Norton had the power to manipulate and control the laws of momentum, thus his alias: First Law.