Ghosts of the Past
This world of ours is no stranger to Supers, to Heroes and Villains with great powers doing what they will with them. Those with powers have always existed throughout our history, but until World War One they were thought to be purely fiction, just the result of rather fanciful imaginations. It was in 1912 during the Battle of Arras that Supers first came into public view. An English tank commander by the name of Bernard Ross was part of the disastrous mission assaulting Monche-le-preux. they were without infantry support and were hit by their own support. After World War One ended Supers came out of the woodworks in every country, and for many years would serve as a source of moral and power for nearly every war afterwards.
Out of all the Villains that have popped up over there is one who is considered to have been the most dangerous. He went by the moniker of Shadow, though many know him by his real name, Stephen Blackmoore. He started with petty crimes at first but escalated soon enough, becoming a feared gun for hire. He would attain most of his Infamy during the Cold War Era, working for any country that would pay, racking up a kill count that more resembled the casualty count of a natural disaster rather than something caused by a man.
Towards the end of the Cold War Era he garnered even more infamy, he set up a Nation in Europe, many of its citizens were remnants of countries once part of the Soviet Union. As time passed it grew in population, but not in size, gaining many Supers and criminals seeking safe haven. Both the nation and Shadow's own infamy grew as governments broke themselves trying to take them down. Despite its nature, the nation did and has contributed much to the world, albeit said contributions are mostly criminal in nature.
It was in 1997 that he was captured, he had left his country alone, to attend the birth of his sole grandchild, Frederick Blackmoore. Despite all his faults he risked capture in order to see his grandson, no one has been able to figure out why, and his nation has persisted in his absence. That is how Shadow's 'Reign of terror' which had gone on for so long ended, he was incarcerated in the Rock, the prison for Super powered humans located on the newly revamped Alcatraz.
In an effort to lower the chance of a Super becoming a villain because of no choice or no supervision an organization was created, the Superhuman Oversight Council. The SOC or Council as most call it is an international council which governs Supers worldwide, it was spearheaded by those responsible for the shadows capture.. They work within the governments of the world with the assistance of the various Superhero groups, chief among them the League of Heroes.
It was in the late 90's that they began the Super training Initiative and started a single Superhero Academy based in the US, on a floating island in the sky. It was called Mellow-Brook Academy for Superpowered Youths, it would provide guidance for high school and college age Supers, teaching them how to properly use their powers and teach them what they would need to know for both life as a civilian and/or Super. Not every student is a Hero, or even the child of Heroes, but they are taken in regardless and supervised. It is not the only school of its kind, but was the First and still remains the most influential.
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Despite the fact that there are students of Mellow-Brook that have become Villains, the majority have gone on to be heroes or their Sidekicks. Though most student Supers enter the Academy and its affiliates willingly, this is not always the case. In some cases it is because the potential students are afraid or have close attachments to Villains. In other cases it is because they do not wish to be contained or held captive for one reason or another. These students are nearly always captured soon after discovery, but there are a few exceptions.
One such exception is a rather curious Super, Frederick Blackmoore, Grandson of the Shadow, who is still feared even after all these years. His father had no powers, which many considered fortunate, and when Frederick was born he was scrutinized but it seemed he had no powers either. After he turned 16 it was discovered that this was not exactly true, not by any means. He had been visiting a hospital when it was attacked, a Super had been launched into it by his foe and a massive piece of rubble had hurtled towards him.
When he came out from the impact site unscathed those watching him quickly figured out he had inherited powers from his maternal Grandfather, a little known Super who went by the moniker Mr Invincible, which was quite true. Frederick had inherited his power of immutability, simply put he was a constant, and no phenomena could affect him so easily, not time, not gravity, not even death, or other Powers. It was upon that discovery that the SOC reacted foolishly and out of fear tried to capture him, they failed then, but would eventually succeed. Now he is entering Mellow-Brook, a place where The Shadow is used as an example of what not to do and is still highly feared.
Prologue: How time Flies
Frederick Blackmoore, or Rick as he liked to be called, had been on the run for a long time, it had been just over four years since he started running, a little over that since the incidents at the hospital that day. He was currently in a place that he considered his hometown, the Birthplace of Mr Invincible, Robert McIntyre. Not only was he in the city of Cross Timber, but he was in its largest bar of the place ordering a drink.
Considering his infamy, the fact that he was considered a fugitive, and that his picture was posted in every place he would possibly go, Cross Timber included. many would think he was foolish for entering a public place so casually, that was not the case however. Most of the people of the town knew him, really knew him and so would not react to the SOC propaganda concerning Rick. Even if they did, most respected Mr. Invincible too much to even think about doing anything to his flesh and blood.
Regardless of that there would always be people seeking the reward on him, but that did not concern him at this time. Rick was at the Dead Man's Hand, as the bar was called, for 3 reasons, the first of which was to legally get a drink to celebrate his twenty-first birthday. The second of those reasons is very simple, and directly connected to his third, he wanted his presence and location to be known. The third of those reasons was he was planning on turning himself in, willingly, after so long.