City of Heroes is copyright Cryptic Studios and NCSoft.
Authors note: This story focuses on my three main characters in the MMORPG City of Heroes. The three heroes are on 3 different servers, and these are represented by different dimensions where the world is the same but the people are not. See for more information on areas, villain types, and any CoH jargon which I use which you might not understand. The principle enemy described here has been created entirely by myself, though is based loosely upon a mix of actual CoH villain groups added to my own imagination. For screenshots of my heroes and the subsequent characters in this story, go to and search their names.
One concept brought out here in more vague terms than may be described elsewhere is of the auto-teleport. Upon defeat in the game players are given the option to be teleported to a hospital for revival, or to wait for a fellow hero to revive them on the spot. This has been described as a practical use of technology leftover from a recent alien invasion (fought off by the heroes no less), and hence is powerful enough to prevent most villains from interfering. Hence, as standard equipment each registered hero is equipped with this in order to 'save lives' and protect heroes from mortal danger.
Oh, and sorry about the lack of dialogue, I'm working on how I'd go about doing that the right way in my sort of style.
A Tale of Three Heroes
Three dimensions, three Heroes, three cities.
All in fact one, all in fact separate.
This is Paragon City and its surrounding universe, through the eyes of three heroes.
Part 1: Foreshadow of Champion
The man who became the Famous Foreshadow could have been anyone. The fact that the somewhat new entity known as Foreshadow remembers nothing of his personal life reminds him of this fact every day. He does not remember how he knows how to do what he does, nor why he even does it. He exists only to do, and in so doing, learn more about what he has become, and perhaps, if the opportunity presents itself, learn about who he was. On his Super-Hero Registration Card, he is classified as a Science origin Controller. Scientific analysis has shown that his abilities were in fact artificially placed. Whether or not this was of his own will, is again, like everything else, up to question.
Flying high above Steel Canyon, Foreshadow felt the currents of the movements of molecular vibrations within the air. This is what grants him flight, pseudo-control over gravity and the manipulation of air currents into protective fields. This unique perception allows him to see beyond what others can, and hence the name, Foreshadow. Steel Canyon was being its usual self, bustling with business, crime, greatly evil acts, greatly good acts and so on and so on. He could see Heroes battling criminals beneath him, Villains battling each other in the streets, and occasionally, something even more sinister was happening. Tonight Foreshadow was looking in particular for something sinister. Early in his heroic career, the sheer volumes of information his senses carried to him would push his capacity to organize, indeed, his awakening consisted more of insanity than anything else. As he learned control, he learned to focus his senses onto particular areas, instead of letting the world crush him. At times like these however, he needed to see as much as possible.
Having recently been tipped off about unique scientific experiments by mysterious groupings, Foreshadow was taking this opportunity to see if his suspicions about this were true, and if it led to any insight whatsoever as to how he came to be. It wasn't long before he saw a sign. There. A hero in trouble. Perceiving a fallen hero with a broken auto-teleport 400 yards away, Foreshadow stealthily flew to the area wary for any watchers or ambushes which might come from this evidently dangerous foe. The hero was being kidnapped, another pique to his suspicions. Foreshadow held little sympathy for this hero, no doubt he would be replaced by another within due time, but for the time being, he served his needs. There were few other heroes Foreshadow sympathized with, or even got along with, and those were the select few who had an inkling of what this broken mind consisted of.
The kidnappers were making no secret of their getaway, and several heroes jumped into the fight to try to stop the rampage. The typical hero patrolling Steel Canyon however, was seemingly impotent to the technology and capabilities of this enemy. This then rounded down possibilities. Crey Industries had the capacity to attempt something like this, as well as the record to show it wasn't averse from it. The Rikti were also an option with their level of technology and their particular interest in heroes, though even this was a bit brash for them. But then again, it could be anyone, a mystery. This, Foreshadow planned to change. The armored car carrying the hero was making its way to the sewer network entrance. Could it be the Lost? It seemed doubtful. This group was too organized to be the mutated horde. Breaking through lines of nearby heroes and Paragon Security forces in a bang-up reaction to the threat, the car slammed into the wire-link fence right by the sewer entrance. Here some of the kidnappers made a stand to cover the others carrying the possibly doomed hero into the sewers.
It was in this moment that Foreshadow took his choices actively into hand. Calculating that the most efficient course of action would be to let the forces around him fight it out while he followed the kidnapped hero, he dove into the fray. Flying through the line of mysteriously powerful fighters within a protective field, he attracted enough fire to allow the other forces a chance to move in, gaining an upper hand. He didn't stop to help however, focusing his senses entirely onto his target area. North. Boomtown. They were using the sewers to bypass the guarded hazard gate. With the mess that Boomtown is, it would be nigh impossible to get another chance like this. All this speculation of course, never went through his mind in the single-minded objective he sought tonight.
It was then that he noticed the strange traits of the enemy combatants. They wore advanced armor which easily matched what technological heroes could muster. However, while armor-sporting heroes had custom-built their weaponry and were unique, these seemed to have come off an assembly line and every minion was wearing standardized equipment, each able to hold off powerful heroes. They used military tactics, and were brave enough to sacrifice themselves for an objective, in this case the kidnapping of this hero. These were clearly a force to be reckoned with. Now with even greater caution than before, Foreshadow kept his senses strained to follow at a comfortable distance deeper into the sewers, and north to Boomtown.
Boomtown was once known as Baumton, and was ground zero of the original Rikti invasion. A wasteland full of the wrecked hulls of buildings, leaning skyscrapers, trashcan fires, and decaying statues, this is what all the city could have been if not for the valiant sacrifices of the heroes of that past day. Now it was a center for many sorts of villainous types, hiding in the wreckage, scavenging, training… A Hazard Zone, where no civilian lives or travels to, and only heroes of sufficient skill were allowed into. Risky to some, but more pacified these days.
Suddenly his senses went wild with the shock wave he felt from what seemed like a rift in space-time. Some essential part of his being seemed to take over as he threw caution to the wind and flew straight into it, and into the unknown.
Authors note: This story focuses on my three main characters in the MMORPG City of Heroes. The three heroes are on 3 different servers, and these are represented by different dimensions where the world is the same but the people are not. See for more information on areas, villain types, and any CoH jargon which I use which you might not understand. The principle enemy described here has been created entirely by myself, though is based loosely upon a mix of actual CoH villain groups added to my own imagination. For screenshots of my heroes and the subsequent characters in this story, go to and search their names.
One concept brought out here in more vague terms than may be described elsewhere is of the auto-teleport. Upon defeat in the game players are given the option to be teleported to a hospital for revival, or to wait for a fellow hero to revive them on the spot. This has been described as a practical use of technology leftover from a recent alien invasion (fought off by the heroes no less), and hence is powerful enough to prevent most villains from interfering. Hence, as standard equipment each registered hero is equipped with this in order to 'save lives' and protect heroes from mortal danger.
Oh, and sorry about the lack of dialogue, I'm working on how I'd go about doing that the right way in my sort of style.
A Tale of Three Heroes
Three dimensions, three Heroes, three cities.
All in fact one, all in fact separate.
This is Paragon City and its surrounding universe, through the eyes of three heroes.
Part 1: Foreshadow of Champion
The man who became the Famous Foreshadow could have been anyone. The fact that the somewhat new entity known as Foreshadow remembers nothing of his personal life reminds him of this fact every day. He does not remember how he knows how to do what he does, nor why he even does it. He exists only to do, and in so doing, learn more about what he has become, and perhaps, if the opportunity presents itself, learn about who he was. On his Super-Hero Registration Card, he is classified as a Science origin Controller. Scientific analysis has shown that his abilities were in fact artificially placed. Whether or not this was of his own will, is again, like everything else, up to question.
Flying high above Steel Canyon, Foreshadow felt the currents of the movements of molecular vibrations within the air. This is what grants him flight, pseudo-control over gravity and the manipulation of air currents into protective fields. This unique perception allows him to see beyond what others can, and hence the name, Foreshadow. Steel Canyon was being its usual self, bustling with business, crime, greatly evil acts, greatly good acts and so on and so on. He could see Heroes battling criminals beneath him, Villains battling each other in the streets, and occasionally, something even more sinister was happening. Tonight Foreshadow was looking in particular for something sinister. Early in his heroic career, the sheer volumes of information his senses carried to him would push his capacity to organize, indeed, his awakening consisted more of insanity than anything else. As he learned control, he learned to focus his senses onto particular areas, instead of letting the world crush him. At times like these however, he needed to see as much as possible.
Having recently been tipped off about unique scientific experiments by mysterious groupings, Foreshadow was taking this opportunity to see if his suspicions about this were true, and if it led to any insight whatsoever as to how he came to be. It wasn't long before he saw a sign. There. A hero in trouble. Perceiving a fallen hero with a broken auto-teleport 400 yards away, Foreshadow stealthily flew to the area wary for any watchers or ambushes which might come from this evidently dangerous foe. The hero was being kidnapped, another pique to his suspicions. Foreshadow held little sympathy for this hero, no doubt he would be replaced by another within due time, but for the time being, he served his needs. There were few other heroes Foreshadow sympathized with, or even got along with, and those were the select few who had an inkling of what this broken mind consisted of.
The kidnappers were making no secret of their getaway, and several heroes jumped into the fight to try to stop the rampage. The typical hero patrolling Steel Canyon however, was seemingly impotent to the technology and capabilities of this enemy. This then rounded down possibilities. Crey Industries had the capacity to attempt something like this, as well as the record to show it wasn't averse from it. The Rikti were also an option with their level of technology and their particular interest in heroes, though even this was a bit brash for them. But then again, it could be anyone, a mystery. This, Foreshadow planned to change. The armored car carrying the hero was making its way to the sewer network entrance. Could it be the Lost? It seemed doubtful. This group was too organized to be the mutated horde. Breaking through lines of nearby heroes and Paragon Security forces in a bang-up reaction to the threat, the car slammed into the wire-link fence right by the sewer entrance. Here some of the kidnappers made a stand to cover the others carrying the possibly doomed hero into the sewers.
It was in this moment that Foreshadow took his choices actively into hand. Calculating that the most efficient course of action would be to let the forces around him fight it out while he followed the kidnapped hero, he dove into the fray. Flying through the line of mysteriously powerful fighters within a protective field, he attracted enough fire to allow the other forces a chance to move in, gaining an upper hand. He didn't stop to help however, focusing his senses entirely onto his target area. North. Boomtown. They were using the sewers to bypass the guarded hazard gate. With the mess that Boomtown is, it would be nigh impossible to get another chance like this. All this speculation of course, never went through his mind in the single-minded objective he sought tonight.
It was then that he noticed the strange traits of the enemy combatants. They wore advanced armor which easily matched what technological heroes could muster. However, while armor-sporting heroes had custom-built their weaponry and were unique, these seemed to have come off an assembly line and every minion was wearing standardized equipment, each able to hold off powerful heroes. They used military tactics, and were brave enough to sacrifice themselves for an objective, in this case the kidnapping of this hero. These were clearly a force to be reckoned with. Now with even greater caution than before, Foreshadow kept his senses strained to follow at a comfortable distance deeper into the sewers, and north to Boomtown.
Boomtown was once known as Baumton, and was ground zero of the original Rikti invasion. A wasteland full of the wrecked hulls of buildings, leaning skyscrapers, trashcan fires, and decaying statues, this is what all the city could have been if not for the valiant sacrifices of the heroes of that past day. Now it was a center for many sorts of villainous types, hiding in the wreckage, scavenging, training… A Hazard Zone, where no civilian lives or travels to, and only heroes of sufficient skill were allowed into. Risky to some, but more pacified these days.
Suddenly his senses went wild with the shock wave he felt from what seemed like a rift in space-time. Some essential part of his being seemed to take over as he threw caution to the wind and flew straight into it, and into the unknown.