The Legacy of Supercop


Capt_Power

 

Posted

Michael McKnight sat in the office of the Chief of the King’s Row Precinct and stared at the PPD shield framed behind the desk opposite him. He had been a cop now for almost 5 years and he knew it was what he had always wanted to do. He was a fifth generation officer for the Paragon Police Department and aspired to be only the second of his family to retire from the force. His father was the first, before him his Grandfather had died in a major Family warehouse. His Great Grandfather had died during the Fifth Column attack in 1941. His Great Great-Grandfather had died during a raid of a Circle of Thorns temple in 1913.
“Michael,” The Chief said as he entered the office. He shook Michael’s hand as if he had never met him before. “How’s everything going?” The Chief asked as he sat down.
“Good,” Michael said diplomatically “We caught Lazy Eddie down on Twenty-fifth Street last night, he still had the gun on him.”
“Yea, now let’s hope he squeals before the Family gets someone in the Zig to ice him.” The Chief sat back in his chair. The chair squeaked under the stress of the man’s good three-hundred pounds of weight. “Michael I need to talk to ya ‘bout somthin’.” Relaxing the formalities a bit. “The report from that raid the other day on the Circle of Thorns warehouse says you took out the whole gang almost single-handedly.”
“Well, the guys tend to embellish a lot.” Michael said shyly.
“It must be the whole damn Department, because everyone I bump into, including the Commissioner, has asked about the Supercop I have working in my precinct, and they’re always talking about you.
Michael didn’t say anything. He shifted a bit in his seat and tried to stave off the feeling of embarrassment creeping up on him.
“That’s why I want you to help Blue Steel in starting up a new unit within the department.” The Chief said looking down at some paperwork.
“Blue Steel?” Michael said as his mouth dried a bit, “You mean the Blue Steel?”
“He’s the only one kid.” The Chief chuckled. “He’s going to teach you the ins and outs of being a hero as we have already seen, you can be a good cop.”
“But, I’m no hero.” Michael said trying to be humble, although he couldn’t help feel a sense of pride within him.
“Well if you’re not, you’re about to be.” The Chief smiled, “Now go report to Blue Steel and by the way,” The Chief took a small Identification card from the paperwork he had been looking at. “Here’s your Hero Registration card.” He handed it to Michael who looked at it gleaming. The name at the top of the card said “Supercop”
This time his emotions overcome him and he smiled widely. The Chief smiled back as he waved him out the door.


Michael ran down the street in front of the Precinct and coming to a picket fence closing off the alley he easily jumped the fence and then quickly jumped the chain linked fence that kept some of the local dregs away from the truck which held a dimensional entrance to D.J. Zero’s club in the Pocket D zone, as he ran around the runoff drain he bumped into a couple of Circle of Thorns with a civilian up on a spell of magical fire. He knocked them both out quickly and placed Zig Teleportation Beacons on them to h ave them quickly transported to the prison in Brickstown. He turned down High Park Drive to Freedom Plaza and walked up to the Freedom Corps building where Blue Steel’s offices were. There he stood among several newer heroes, a symbol to all of them as how justice was to be rendered.
“Michael!” Blue Steel said loudly over the bustle of armor and tights. “Glad you could make it in time, I’m about to go take down Skelter and his Guards. It shouldn’t be hard, but it’ll make a good training activity so I can evaluate your skills, it’s not the easiest transition, from Police Officer to Hero that is. You’re expected to perform a lot higher than mere mortal men.” He smiled.
“Even if we are mortal men?” Michael asked.
“Especially if we are.” Blue Steel told him. “Pull the face shield down on your helmet.”
“Why?” Michael asked, suddenly realizing he was questioning his mentor and wanted to take it back, but he really wanted to understand Blue Steel’s reasoning.
“Every good hero has something to loose, and to keep from loosing it you must keep your identity hidden. A secret identity is a hero’s key to a good night’s rest and a safe family. From here on out, you aren’t Michael McKnight, you are Supercop, Protector of Innocence, Keeper of Peace.”
Michael lowered the helmet face piece and felt his whole mentality change. He was no longer just some cop, he was now a Hero, he was now Supercop, and he liked it!
“Do you have your shield?” Blue Steel asked. Michael pulled the tower riot shield from his back marked “PPD” and secured it to his arm. “That’ll do for now, but after you get to know the ins and outs of shield work you’ll want something a little lighter. Now come on, I don’t want to let this guy escape, he’s given some of our heroes so much trouble, some of them have taken him down four and five times.”


Blue Steel took off in a sprint and Michael had trouble keeping up, even with his Swift and Sprint training enhanced. They arrived on the lower west side and Blue Steel waited for him to get to the door before he went in.
“I’ve got two rules, one is trials serve Justice, bullets serve Punishment. Unless you have to try to keep your service revolver put away unless you really need it.” Blue Steel said as he looked at Supercop’s duty belt. “Two is stay alive, the only good hero is a living hero, got it?” Supercop nodded “Alright, let’s get to it.”
They went into the warehouse and just after they got in the door they entered the fray. He watched in awe as Blue Steel slammed his shield into enemies left and right. He used a shield as a swordsman might use a broadsword. It was as if the shield was a part of him.
He knew then that no man in Paragon would ever be as good with a shield as Blue Steel, both using it as a defensive barrier and as an offensive weapon. Blue Steel took on four, five, six, seven, and eight of the Skulls. At one point, Blue Steel’s abilities were so awe striking Supercop forgot he was in a fight and dropped his guard as if he was in an exhibition. Suddenly, he jumped back into reality and threw his own shield up just in time to deflect an oncoming bolt of negative energy. Then he decided that Blue Steel had said he wanted to see his skills not show off his own. Supercop moved in on the next group taking down two with a couple of quick kicks and concentrating on the third guy, but out of the shadows came a Bone Daddy. His guard was down from hitting the third Skull and he just knew he was about to be faceplanted when the familiar shape of a badge shaped shield stopped the projectile and Blue Steel’s silhouette moved in on the ganger. Supercop finished with the guy who had occupied him and turned to help Blue Steel but he was standing already victorious.
“You’ve got some good moves there but until you get better at defending multiple fronts back up and let the tanks like me take the hits.” Blue Steel smiled. “Now let’s go get Skelter.”


They swept through the warehouse like wasps through a bee’s nest, bashing their shields through the faces of their enemies left and right. Then they found him, guards all around him. Blue Steel crouched to rest, but he wasn’t even breathing hard, giving Supercop the impression that he was doing it for Michael’s benefit not his own.
“After I go in, concentrate on the guards, we can’t afford to let one of them get away now.” Blue steel told him as he stood.
They rushed the group and Blue Steel landed his shield on the nose of Skelter, smashing it and bringing obvious tears to his eyes. Supercop took out two of the guard while they were still staring at Blue Steel’s sudden appearance and he took down two more while they were still trying to compose themselves enough to respond to the attack, leaving only two guards to deal with. He jumped over the fight between Blue Steel and Skelter, landing on one of the two guards with his shield and smashing him to the ground with the full weight of his body. He jumped off the obviously incapacitated guard and landed a swift Dragon Kick into the torso of the remaining guard. The fight between Blue Steel and Skelter raged behind him as the last guard made a quick turn to run, but Supercop anticipated this and had closed the gap enough to land a quick shield punch to end his resistance to arrest. Supercop turned and whirled with a Crane Kick to the back of Skelter’s head and followed up with a Thunder Kick to knock him on his back.
“Nice Job,” Blue Steel smiled still not even breathing hard. Supercop knew then that Blue Steel had only been watching his performance, not actually having trouble with Skelter. “I think you’ve well earned the name Supercop, and if you keep coming to me, we’ll have you trained up to become the next Hero of the City in no time.
They placed the teleporters to the Zig on the bodies and made their way out of the warehouse. Supercop thought about how he had aspired to become the second person in his family to retire alive from the Paragon Police Department. Then he realized there was no way he could ever pass up the opportunity to become a true Hero. He thought about it as they waited for their backup to arrive. He knew then, that even though his job just got a lot more dangerous, he was going to love every minute of it.


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