Supreme: Man of Majesty #1

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Supreme: The Man of Majesty #1

Written by Matt Laaksonen (Themanagement)
Edited by Daniel Dyer

It’s a hot night in Omegapolis. Usually, the breeze coming in off the ocean cools the business district, but tonight, it only adds to the already overwhelming humidity. There is a pressure in the air that makes it difficult to breathe. April normally isn’t this hot, but this year has been a record breaker. The heat has only added to the frustration that the police are beginning to harbor at the current standoff.

At 4:58 P.M., seven armed men wearing masks walked into First Omegapolis Bank, and took seventeen people hostage. It was supposed to be an in and out job. Instead, a person hiding in the bathroom was able to make a call to 911. She was discovered, and subsequently shot and killed. The situation spiraled further downhill from there.

Now, two entire precincts and a SWAT team have surrounded the bank, and both sides are dealing with a relative stalemate. A negotiator is on the scene, but at the moment, the bank robbers are not quite ready to cut a deal.

To further frustrate the officers on the scene, the local media arrived around 5:30, and the entire event has been turned into a circus. All the more opportunity for this to turn into a bloodbath. Little does anybody at the location know that they are being observed from above.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

I don’t know what I’m doing here. Ethan Crane is quite possibly the most extraordinary man that has ever walked the planet. To the lay man’s eye, he is a massive man. He stands over six feet tall, and has the build of a professional wrestler. Though he is a young man, and looks it, his hair is stark white.

I feel like my entire life has built to this moment, and I’m getting cold feet. I may be a superhuman, but that doesn’t make me a superhero. This isn’t a comic book. Though his life has, at times, seemed about as forced and cliched as a bad fan-fiction story. He calculates the air pressure along his skin, he smells the air. It’s going to storm. . . yeah, definitely cliched.

He forces the butterflies in his stomach to subside, and focuses on the situation at hand. There are seven men armed with assault rifles in there. I may have the power to take them down, but what if someone gets hurt? And what about the media circus going on? Do I really want to announce my presence to the world like this... or even at all?

From his rooftop vantage point, Ethan can see the police outside. They are scared, and with good reason. He focuses his vision, and looks through the structure of the bank, seeing the events inside. He focuses his hearing, and listens to the robbers, they are more scared than the police . . . meaning they are that much more dangerous. They have begun to argue amongst themselves. This situation has gone from bad to worse. “Well, Radar, I think it’s now or never.” He looks down and sees his dog look at him with an expression of anticipation. “No I think it’s best you sit this one out. I don’t know if the world is ready for Radar the Super-mutt just yet.”

“Grrr!!”

“No, I wasn’t using the word ‘mutt’ as a derogatory slur. I was just pulling your tail, buddy. Obviously, for all of your advanced intellect, the concept of sarcasm is entirely lost on you.”

“Grrr... grrr!!”

“Seriously, me FLYING in there wearing a cape is going to cause enough of a stir. A flying DOG... that’s going to mess somebody up.” He can’t help but laugh at the idea, though he knows the situation at hand is no laughing matter. He’s about to swoop from on high to save the day like he’s Omniman or something. He’s worried that he’s going to fall on his face.

“Yip!!”

“Radar, you’re something else, you know that boy?” Sad, the only being on the planet that actually understands my situation is a dog. Guess that adds a whole new meaning to “Man’s Best Friend”.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

When Billy Friday finally decided to haul his sorry ass out of bed, he knew it was going to be one of those days.

Why the hell does my head hurt this much? How much did I drink?

There is a note on the pillow. . . Alexis has left him, AGAIN.

That woman is insane!

His head is pounding from a night’s worth of beer guzzling. He stumbles to the kitchen, and opens the refrigerator. Christ! Why in the Hell would she take the food with her? She is seriously screwed up!

He decides to just grab a Sam Adams and add to the damage that he caused last night. He’s supposed to be to work in an hour, but decides not to go. He’s not normally a people-person, and considering that he’s a writer, he usually just works from home. Today, he’s supposed go into the office and meet his new artist. The thing is, the way that Omniman has been tanking, he barely gives a crap.

He picks up the phone. “Hey boss, I’m pretty sick and I’m not showing up today... No, I don’t care if this guy is showing up to meet me. He’s probably just as much of a hack as Rob was. None of these artists you hire have any class.”

He stands there, listening to the onslaught of obscenities tearing through the receiver.

“You know what, Lucas? You can lick my sack! I’ll have the finished script to you tomorrow, and I don’t fucking care whether this Crane guy draws it amazing, or it’s just a bunch of damn stick figures! You’re running the entire promotion into the ground, and you’re a piss-poor editor with no imagination! Why don’t you go grope an intern or something” He slams the phone down, and hears it crack. Awesome, now I broke my phone. I had naked pictures of Alex on there too... Hope she comes back.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

After taking a shower, Billy walks down to the store to get a pack of smokes... and his card is declined.

“This is bullshit!”

“I’m sorry, Sir, it’s not my call. I don’t know why your card has been declined, but I can’t accept this.”

“Fine, whatever, here’s the cash.” If Alex touched my account, I’m going to flip! I don’t know what that bitch is on, but I am seriously done! I need to hit the bank and figure out what is going on.

He walks home, figures that he’s sobered up enough to drive, and then discovers that his keys are locked in his car.

Well, I better call Diana and see if she can come pick... Well I would call her if I didn't BREAK MY DAMN PHONE!!!!

Using the last of his cash, Billy rides the bus downtown to the bank. There are at least a dozen people in line, and of course, one teller to take care of them. His headache has come back, and he’s starting to wonder if he still has a job or not.

Suddenly, seven armed men storm through the doors screaming, “Everybody on the floor NOW!”

Oh God please let this be a bad joke!

Two men cover the hostages while the others sweep the building, looking for anyone hiding. Billy hears one of the robbers yelling at a woman about a phone, he hears the woman scream, and his heart stops cold at the sound of gunfire.

The next three hours of his life are a blur. He loses all sense of time. All he knows is fear, and a bit of remorse. The police are outside, and the leader of the robbers has been on the phone almost the entire time.

Kind of funny you have to have a gun in your face to realize you’re a prick. God, I swear that I’ll be different if you just let me live through this!

To make matters worse, they start arguing with each other.

“Boss, we’re screwed! Why don’t we just surrender?!”

“Because we’ve killed somebody, you idiot! They won’t just let us surrender... It’s not like that! They’ll kill us!”

“They’ll kill us if we don’t surrender!”

The one called Boss finally says, “Fuck this, I’m out of here!” He grabs a little girl by the hair, and starts dragging her to the door.

Billy can’t take it anymore, “Hey, let her go!” He knows it was a mistake the second he moves. He feels the bullet hit his shoulder, and he feels himself being thrown to the ground. I’m going to die. My girlfriend left me, I’m broke, I have no job, and I just got shot... God why don’t you do something to stop this?

That’s when the man in the cape walks through the door.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Ethan leaps from the rooftop. His muscle tense with the feeling of sudden descent, the air whistles in his ears. He can hear his cape rustling with the sudden acceleration. He slows his decent to land softly on the street between the barricade and the bank doors. Despite the situation, he lets himself smile a bit.

Well, I’m sure that got some attention.

The police aim their weapons at him, but they are all too frightened to make a sound. He can here their hearts quicken in pace, he can smell the sweat building from the growing tension. One officer builds up enough courage to shout, “Police freeze!”

Ethan doesn’t say a word. He confidently strides up the steps to the bank doors. He looks through the wall, they’ve shot somebody else, and one man has taken a hostage, ready to force his way through the barricade.

I have to do this right. I need to make a show, frighten them into standing down.

Ethan scans the crowd as he walks through the door. He focuses through their masks, so he can see their faces underneath.

“Who the fuck are you supposed to be? On the floor now!”

Ethan ignores the demand, he flashes a confident smile to the hostages. “Such language in front of a child... Alright everybody remain calm, I’ll have you all out of here in a moment.” He stares directly at the man holding the little girl, “Michael, I would definitely suggest that you drop your weapon. I really don’t want to have to hurt you.”

He reads the electrical impulses firing through the robber’s neurons; he’s about to pull the trigger.

“How do you know my name?!”

“I just read the contents of your wallet.” The man gives a slight start, and in a blur, Ethan crosses the room at inhuman speed. Before anyone can even blink, he’s crushing the gun in one hand, and is holding the man’s wrist in his other. The little girl runs to her mother, frightened beyond description. He squeezes just enough that the bones are close to snapping, but not quite. He can see the pain signals running up Michael’s arm. At this point, the other robbers aim their guns at him and fire, and nothing happens.

“I’ve rearranged the molecules of the firing mechanisms in your guns. They won’t fire. You should drop them on the floor, and calmly walk outside with your hands in the air.”

He lets go of the robber he is holding, and walks over to check on the wounded man lying on the floor. He’s not injured too badly. The bullet only grazed his shoulder.

“That was a very brave move, young man. What’s your name?”

“Billy... Billy Friday.” Even when in pain, Billy can’t stifle his excitement. “ Man, that was supreme!”

Hey,that’s not too bad. “You don’t seem to be injured too badly, but I would still recommend letting a physician look at your shoulder.” He looks over the hostages once more. Police are rushing into the bank now.

“You, in the cape freeze!”

“Officer, at this moment, on the other side of town there is a house fire that is in need of my attention. A young woman is trapped in the basement, and the firemen on the scene don’t know if they will be able to reach her in time. I need to go.” Ethan walks outside and hesitates for a second. He can hear the flashes of cameras priming, and from all directions he can hear the shouts from reporters, onlookers, and police.

“What’s... What’s your name?!” It’s a question he hears repeated nearly a hundred times in the span of a second.

“My name? You can call me Supreme!”

He tips his head back, and focuses his will. He feels a vortex of ambient energy sweep around his body, and the pull of gravity melt away. He flashes one last smile to the crowd, and launches into the sky at unimaginable speed.

Continued...