City of Masks: Vigilante origins

Chapter five: Family matters

ALIAS profile name: Comet-man, the short fuse of the team, first to leap into trouble & first to stand by his allies.

Master type: fire variant. With the ability to create fire from any surface of his flesh he has been known to channel his flames downwards to create flight. He is a dark skinned male, standing at 6'3", muscular build, orange eyes, bald & clean shaven.

He wears a red & orange flame resistant suit with a yellow cape.

He made his debut in the public eye when he flew down & struck judgment day in the head in an act many depicted as thinking a comet had struck him. Since the retirement of the Indomitable Comet-man has shown a significant lack in activity as a superhero in recent years, instead basking in the wealth & luxury his fame has bought for him over the years. Even starting his own reality TV show "The Crater House" that blends drama & hijinks featuring plenty of celebrity guests.

17 year career [retired but on call for emergencies], 19 arrests, 5 Evab takedowns, 11 civilian rescues.

September 27th

The next morning I woke up in my own bed feeling particularly dreadful. Not only from all the bodily aches & bruises but from how I treated Josh the previous day. I realized after the fact that I might have been a tad harsh. Something had to be done about this temper before I cross a line I can't come back from. On top of everything else I had to deal with now I've got mood swings, like an adolescent abnormal going through puberty. I planned on apologizing to Josh when I got home last night however it was far too late & I didn't want to risk making things more tenuous than they already were. And I knew he wouldn't be up for a few hours yet so it would be awhile before I could apologize to him this morning. I checked my face for bruising & cuts to find I was pretty unmarked considering the beat down I had. Though my shoulder blade was still pretty cut up from the splinters, many of my joints ached & I had to favor one leg over the other, I'd say overall I was doing pretty good.

So, the Doc wanted to train me up, meanwhile I needed to find a job, & tomorrow my brother was expected to show up. Plus I had Josh to worry about. Lots to think about. I need a smoke, I thought to myself, limping over to my bedside table. Despite feeling no real urge to smoke I still wanted something to do while I went outside to think so I grabbed my cigarettes &... next to my cigarettes was my Moxy. I hadn't binned these yet like I thought I would. I mean, it's not likely they're addictive & harmful to me anymore so what's really the harm in using them anyway? Even still, I pinned the idea for now & left the house without them.

As per usual I gave Jeremiah's door the double knock treatment, sighed, & headed up stairs without him when suddenly it opened.

"Hello?" a feminine voice asked.

Jeremiah's apartment had been vacant for almost two months now, so I suppose this had to happen eventually. I felt a twinge of embarrassment as I turned around weaving my excuse together in my head.

"Sorry about that I jus-" my words faltered as I recognised her. "Alicia?"

She stood there leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed in her navy dressing gown. "Yes?"

"You're... my new neighbor," I stumbled across.

"Yes I am. Didn't Josh -I would've thought he'd at least told you that much about me."

There was a good chance he did tell me & I just didn't listen to him.

"Apparently not." I said anyway,

She seemed to accept this answer. "He saw me moving in the other day & invited me to his classes as he helped with my things. Weird that he forgot to mention we were neighbors?"