Zeb Oswalt's "Coin Artist & the Regulators"

[Zeb Oswalt]

From the top
(Writers Note: all characters in this story were created by Zeb Oswalt.
By Zeb Oswalt


:: Our story starts in a parish known as New Orleans. The giant metropolis well it once was. It was slowly starting to rebuild. Becoming what used to. It still rained a lot there as he watched the water slowly drip to the ground. There are a few large statuesque buildings there. People going about their business. People drinking, people partying, people doing all sorts of things. One of these people is a person in a large trenchcoat walks down the French quarter right past the rock 'n roll café. Most here to have fun and party somewhere here to work. It's basically what the person in the trenchcoat was here to do. They were a tall slender person. Though nothing else about their build was notable under the trenchcoat. They had on black sun glasses and Stacy Adams dress shoes. They walked stealthily through the French quarter. They wore a brown fedora on their head. As they stepped with determination. The moonlight glistened on them as they looked back and forth at the different people in this town. And no one noticed them much. But they should this person was known as the recruiter. The superhero whose past was unknown. Whom had not existed till this moment. Other than some minor things done for the government. All in shadow and secret. They were black ops. Rarely seen. But now the recruiter had business to take care of.

They had learned of something very dangerous something very evil in this town. Something that had to have been taking care of. They required a group and this person of course was here to gather a group that would be able to oppose this problem. He walked into a small bar. There was a hidden room behind the bar he just pulled the right switch and walked into the store room. The bar at last a long time in the 20s this room was where the speakeasy was hidden. Now he used it to hide this clandestine operation. As a recruiter was about to recruit the people needed for the regulators of New Orleans. It was a small room filled with maps and Advanced Technology. Alike the bar which was rustic and looked to be made of wood. It had people there having fun drinking and some agents dressed to look like drink girls. In this room the place was all metal unlike the bar which is wood. Even the floor was made out of Cyprus. The small room the recruiter hid in was soundproof the bar at loud music playing in at the recruiter didn't hear any of it. He sat at a big cushy black leather chair and a metal desk. He pulled out a laptop which had files on on many different superheroes in this part of the world. Many villains and take advantage of Katrina. From price gouging to other tricks. But the menaces they had to fight were taking us to a new level.

And the government wanted a team that could stand up to them. No one was better at creating a team that could stop any problem than the recruiter was. The recruiter is a brilliant tactician. Always planning for the worst-case scenario. This one kind of fit in. And he had a team already in mind in case something happened in New Orleans. He had this planned out the minute he heard about the hurricane. At least we think the recruiter is a he. Very few people know. Unfortunately dear readers we are not one of them. Still it is time to learn whom the Regulators are. For his first choice the recruiter chose Wild-Card. Recent actions that happened in the states made this mysterious woman an obvious choice. And that creepy guy from the New York area vouching for her and to her credibility. She was the perfect soldier for this mission. However she did live up to her name she was definitely one that was extremely unpredictable. However her detective knowledge and other skills made her an obvious choice for the leader of this team. The next choice for this team may have seemed a little odd. Dr. Jamaal Smith was a scientist. A biologist in fact often been thought of as the smartest man in the world. He had gotten science awards in high school for biology. He even married his high school sweetheart. He's a quiet man very articulate when he was working but mostly preferred to do his research.

He was a Rastah Faran by religion. He had had a large dreadlocks. He kepted them tied back. Use a dark skined man of Afro-American dissent. He was about 6 feet tall and muscular man and always dressed in a suit and tie. Mostly wore a lab coat with this. He wore metal rimmed glasses. He was born in Houston, Texas. He grew up there and did most of his research in that area. Through an unfortunate blood transfusion his wife contracted the AIDS virus. He had learned that the mosquito was the one animal that did not carry the virus. He thought that through gene splicing he might be able to create an antidote to the virus. The research did rain field on rats tests and simulations. However his first human test was on him self. He was doing what he could to save his wife and maybe find a cure for this disease. The epidemic that was slaughtering millions. He also thought you might be able to get his name written up in the medical home Journal. Still helping people was his primary concern. When he tested on himself it was successful he found himself gaining the ability to fly supreme and strength speed and to create an adhesive through his hand that could bind wounds. If he aimed at someone's head he could temporarily paralyze them. Also aimed it at the neck. Senses this caused a blood got. Stopping the flow of blood to the brain and body.

Keeping them paralyzed for a little while. He also found he did not contract the menacing disease. So he had the necessary gene splicing operation done to his wife. The exact sales were injected into her specifically with some of her own genes which were removed and combined with the mosquito genes to stop rejection from happening. As in his case they were made to combined together and rewrite her DNA and combined the two. Unfortunately they decided to have a baby together. Thanks to the new DNA just like a mosquito requires blood to feed her baby so did his wife. She ended up on a rampage killing people. As much as it hurt him Dr. Smith had no choice but to kill his wife. He dawned a garish custom he found a day local custom shop calling himself Dr. Mosquito. He was able to stop the rampage that the cost of his wife and his unborn son. He fights crime now over his guilt in the lives that were lost because of his wife's rampage. He created a new custom made to look like the exoskeleton of a Mosquito. The wings were on his arms the exoskeleton was over his body. His match was made to look like the head of a mosquito but the mouth was open for his face save his eyes were shown through the mouth of the mosquito. The antenna I also showed on a mask. He covered his face like a cowell. His eyes showed through the eyes of the mosquito mask. He wore gloves as well. And continued his scientific research to help further save mankind. The recruiter felt he was a perfect member for this team.

[Zeb Oswalt]

With his multiple powers and brilliant mind he could be most beneficial. It is only true problem was the sorrow and guilt he felt about his wife. The crew had almost been assembled. He only needed three more people. Five would be the perfect number for this team. The next choice was a very famous one of the gifted. The gifted were those born with powers. The most famous among these was King of Irons. He was a techno path. He can make technology do anything he wanted to. Mostly he could control the kinetic energy in nonliving things.Anything that moved that was all I not alive he could control. This included computers. However he was unable to control the kinetic energy in the living. Even the former living such as zombies are out of his control. His real name was Tomas Ortez. He was not the first of the gifted in his family. In fact every male member of his family had a gifted ability on his father's side. His grandfather had left Cuba when Castro took over. Since they were wealthy owners of a log mill. And anyone wealthy did not want to be in Cuba at that time. He took his wife, daughter and son left Cuba. They had also secretly been super villains in Cuba using their gifted powers to cause crime. It was a family tradition passed on to father and son. Though Tomas's father was at first not to do this instead used his teleportation power to follow the Grateful Dead.

There he met a beautiful Irish-American woman named Linda. They dated for a while at first she was not interested in Miguel but he eventually got her to come around. They later married and had Tomas. All this happened in Lafayette Louisiana. It is decent place it was where Tomas grew up. He enjoyed it. He had some problems with bullies as all kids did. And Miguel had left when he was five. His mother raised him on her own. He had for a long time felt like an outsider. He remembered getting hit with bricks and all he wanted to do was sit and think. He remembered constant teasing the guys really didn't like him. And yet he got along well with girls. Because it was a handsome child. His mother had gotten a job as a cashier is slowly worked her way up to becoming a store manager. She's very good job and though they were his rich as when his father Miguel was a offshore worker and we moved up to selling oil as a salesman they did pretty well. At first had to borrow money from family. But after while they did well. Age 12 not only did Tomas's powers kick in but he also started to make more friends. His love of movies started work for him and his creative mind. He had learned judo at age 9 to protect him self. And eventually got into wrestling in the joining the wrestling team at his school and becoming a pretty decent wrestler. And popular is boosted his ego not nearly as much as they became King of Iron.

He realized the potential of his powers. And the airtime heroes got on TV news. And felt he might want to cash in on this. In college he developed a custom and fought some thieves trying to rob a bank in Lafayette Louisiana. He made a simple custom and stop them using his powers and of course stay long while enough for the media take a few pictures of him. He made a much better custom later. Still even though he was now able to get along with regular people. He did not reconnect with his father until he was in his 20s. He found the love of movies. Something just captivating about them. He had many feelings from them. He remembered the first time they affected him like that. He was on his first date with a girl named Melanie they went to see a movie they had both thought that would like. She was a beautiful young woman of French descent. About 5 foot three. Tomas was sixth tall. They had a kiss on the way to the movie. It wasn't his first but it was his second kiss. They sat there in the movie theater holding hands drinking up their colas and eating popcorn. As they watch the movie something about it opened Tomas's imagination every nuances of this movie does seem to awaken his love of movies. It seemed to be like capturing life and then magnifying it.

It was the reason he got into multimedia in college. It was the reason is that become a director. He achieved this becoming a director of the news show in Lafayette for loco Station thereTZO news. Letting reporters from his station cover his fights. Whenever King of Iron was fighting crime he made sure someone from his station was there to cover it. As they always had he set this up to make his secret identity more famous. That way both King of Irons and Tomas Ortez could feed off each other. His new show made the King of Irons famous. And because of the King of Irons fame the new show became more famous. When he was king of Irons Tomas Ortez developed false bravado. That's what covered up all the insecurities he felt as a child by putting on the egotistical face of king of Irons. Including the smarmy cocky smile. It also helped to cover up his hurt he felt from his childhood. Thomas was a tall muscular man of medium build. It is built more like a swimmer than a bodybuilder. He had dark skinned. An olive complexion. He had wavy brown hair. And piercing brown eyes. Although it was blinded his left eye it was not noticeable. He had a scar over his right eye he had gotten shot as a child. He was too drunk at the time to use his powers. Is about 16 in the wrong place at the wrong time. He learned from that. That night when he walked out onto the dark and lonely street. When he saw an old beat-up car driving back and forth down it.

Then he saw a 20 year old man walk up to him. Who had a box haircut and a goatee. He was wearing chains in the latest fashion. The neighborhood was poor looking even of the street signs at paper bags on them. The buildings looked terrible except for the grocery store. Which may have sold groceries in it, but it was mostly where racketeering happened. The guy in front of Tomas offered to sell him drugs a fight began. But unknown to Tomas the guy in the car was the lookout. The guy riding shotgun with him opened fire. A bullet hit Tomas in the head. He was able to run out the neighborhood but he could smell the smoke. Here the ringing in his ears luckily he ran into a police officer at a mechanic shop where Tomas had collapsed from loss of blood. The officer took him to the hospital turned up the officer was a relative one of his uncles. Other relatives came to take care of Tomas while he was in hospital. They had to strap down his arms so it wouldn't fool with the plastic objects but in his nose to stop the bleeding. The only time they took off the restraights was when he had to go to the bathroom. It was hard for him to see all those sad faces. He realized this was his fault. Therefore he was more careful with his drinking. And realized his powers can only protect him what he was aware of what was happening.

[Zeb Oswalt]

Luckily he was only shot with 22 bullets. From an old M-16. He remembered feeling the chills as he went into emotional shock from being shot. He remembered seeing his own blood. As it flowed like water in front of his eyes. He remembers smelling smoke. And hearing at a ringing in his ear. That was almost ear shattering. There's nothing romantic about it. Getting shot was a nasty awful thing. It was ugly and it was brutal. Usually nowadays his powers kept them from getting shot. But that day he was caught unaware. As three bullets into his skull. Luckily for him they had nothing vital. He saw movies or heroes to multiple gunshots shrugged off like it was nothing. He found it to be nothing like that. Sure he could still walk. And he did punch the drug dealer before running. But there is a great deal of emotional turmoil in getting shot. It probably would've been a great deal of physical pain and had he not gone into shock. All of his family held a vigil for him. Each one taking turns watching over him till he healed. It was hard to even walk luckily they got most of bullets out of his head. And that they get nothing vital. There is only a small piece of shrapnel lifted his skull. But it did him no damage. Yet gone into shock so he felt no physical pain to later that night. They gave him a shot to dull the pain. So they could go to sleep. Even Miguel had come to seem in the hospital. As well as his mother. His grandmother was there aunts and uncles and family friends.

Cousins are old enough to handle it. It also given him a CAT scan. Several specialists had come in to help with this operation. This was the worst physical pain he went through before becoming a superhero. But he attended many funerals he went through his own physical pains as well as losing others because of the job. Strangely enough he lost girlfriends are also superheroes because of the strains of being hero. He also once dated wild-card they just didn't work out. No way he'd become egotistical as a shield. It pursued always to please himself so as not to have to look at the terrible things that happened. It was his way of numbing the emotional pain.

His cocky smile mischievous look in his eye happy-go-lucky personality or his way of dealing with it.Sides as he saw it why not have some fun with it? Well his being a super hero not the terrible thing happened in the past. He also had a never say die attitude. This made him useful to the recruiter. He had also beaten so many tough opponents in Lafayette Louisiana.His ego was starting to become real not just the defense mechanism. Still it worked for him. Still that wasn't the only mistake he made. When using his powers to fight a minor thug a leg breaker named John Jeff. He had turned his back on this criminal. Using his powers to send his bullets away from him back at the thug. One of them hit his hand. Making the thug drop is 357 Magnum. The man stood in a typical black suit very typical black sun glasses. He had short blond hair. An Okay looking guy. He had a scare along his face from a bar fight. That cut across the right set his face. He had blue eyes. And out of frustration charged King of iron with a knife. He cut King of Iron at his lower back. King of Iron was angry he bled a little bit. And his cocky smile dropped from his face. He then prepared to fight the man in hand-to-hand. Luckily had been staying the martial arts since he was a child. His preferred style was Jeet Kune Do. The way of no way. Bruce Lee's favorite fighting style.

He decided to use a Flint first. He thinks like he was going to throw a punch at Jeff's face with his right hand.which made Jeff tried to slice it with his knife. He still had the knife in his right hand. Which was exactly what Tomas wanted. He moved back to dodge the blade. Sidestepping a semicircle in the opposite direction. At the same time moving his left arm up to block Jeff's arm. He then grips Jeff's wrist in a judo wrist lock. Continue to turn in his semicircle away from Jeff. As he twists the wrist and pulls the arm with him. As he continues to turn around the circle he continues to twist Jeff's wrist. Then he stopped stepping in a circle and pivots in the opposite direction setting a circle in reverse. He pulls down Jeff's arm as he continues to twist his wrist. As he starts to move Jeff's arm towards Jeff. Moving his body still a circle towards Jeff. To gain more momentum and use leverage to control the knife. He turns his hips into the move. As to give himself up that much more leverage. He puts all his weight on his pivoting foot. He then stabs Jeff with a knife or some people might call it a cheap shot. Others would call it an equalizer. He then head butts Jeff in the nose. He then took his front foot and kicked Jeff in the knee breaking it. He watched the man fall to the ground. He then tied him up for the cop's to come get him. That was how he learned his powers did not work on a weapon that was just an extension of the human body.

Knives and swords affect him in the same way they affected everyone else. Still in the modern age he was a dangerous man. After all most people come at you with guns nowadays not knives. The recruiter looked over the files after reading all this. He now had to look at the next person he wanted to add to the team. The recruiters next choice was a woman who was part alien. She was also part Indian and part Iraqi from Iraq. She had been born in Iraq. She had never been to India, but heard it was a nice place. But she only knew the world love of Iraq. Her brother in fact was a soldier in the Iraqi army. She did not share the current party's politics. And was glad when the war happened. When America had gotten rid of Saddam she was able to leave. She went to America. However strange events had occurred. She was a archaeologist student she had been studying a temple of the so-called gawdess Devi whom when angered would become Kali. The gawdess of chaos. In reality Devi was not a gawdess but an alien that had come from another world. Most of the so-called most of the so-called gawdess were in fact aliens from his world. They had come to earth to conquer it. Finding several cultures that were worshiped them they decided to let them think they were gawds.Devi had been one of the good guys. She had come to earth to stop them. To stop these criminals from her planet. Most of these aliens looked human are had the shape we commonly saw them as.

However Devi had a strange disease that turned her into Kali. That turned her into a being of rage. However as Kali she's more about justice than one would think, because of her career as a police officer on her planet. Unfortunately around the time of Vlad the impaler. She found herself stuck on a stake. He had drank her blood in the golden goblet. Unfortunately for him the disease of Kali was still in her. The disease had taken Vlad as well. It had mutated because of his human genes. And created a new monster won the world with known as the vampire. Because of a difference in the two species DNA a human with this disease would have to constantly feed on other human blood to survive. It was refeeding itself. Using the cells in the blood to re-create the ones the disease destroyed. And though it gave the person great strength and other powers. It made them light sensitive. Vlad was close enough to the original source that he could stay in the light but still caused him to blink a lot. And it made his skin itch. The newer vampires of the 20th century still burst into flames at the site of the sunlight. Still Devi had gone into unconsciousness because of the loss of blood. Vlad had thought she was dead and had her buried in his throne room ceiling it with cement. In the 21th century this archaeological student uncovered her tomb. The student was a short pretty woman with dark long black hair and brown eyes.

[Zeb Oswalt]

She were the usual archaeology explore outfit and glasses. She had lovely dark brown skin. Devi's eyes slowly start to open. She noted not only a chance to fight crime but a chance to get revenge against Vlad the impeller. A chance to pay him back for several centuries of imprisonment. All she could do was sit there and think of getting back at him. At the time of her awakening Devi had been so full of rage that she had become Kali. She looked at the archaeology student whose name was Zainab Talabani. And knew she had found a kindred spirit. Having been separated from her brother as a child and raised in a country that wouldn't even let her wear makeup. Granted she quickly grown accustomed to wearing makeup. And she liked her new life. Still she missed her country for no other reason than it was home. She was also full of rage. She was a perfect one for Kali to bond with. She had lost too much blood to continue in her true form. So she physically bonded with the gal. Of course Devi made her ask before she bonded. But she was told the great powers you gain from the bonding. She agreed to the bonding. She could physically transformed from Zainab to Devi at will. However only through rage was she able to become Kali.
Things were becoming different in Iraq. After the so-called American occupation two women were in the running for government offices. Both women fear that if extremists are elected, they might consider it a mandate to resurrect measures such as Resolution 137, an initiative defeated by the current governing authority in Iraq. They say it was an attempt to restrict women's rights by extremist religious leaders who wanted to enforce Sharia law, which recently has been interpreted to limit women's rights, instead of civil law. Al-Suwaij said Resolution 137 would not have allowed women to leave their houses without asking for permission from their husbands, while Talabani pointed out that the resolution would have allowed men to marry several women without going to a court.

"We would have been in a worse situation than the women of Afghanistan before the American occupation," Al-Suwaij says, referring to the lives of Afghan women under Taliban rule.

Resolution 137 was defeated this past March, but some candidates running hope to put it back on the table and one of its supporters has declared he wished to become president.

Many other women living in Iraq also have told the press that they felt Sunday's election could provide them with a chance to help form a government that would empower women and the opportunity is worth the risks.

Iraqi insurgents have launched a campaign to intimidate voters and try to disrupt the poll, and female candidates were particularly targeted. As a result, many Iraqi women were afraid to mention to friends and family that they were running for office, according to news reports. Other candidates are sending their families out of Iraq for safety. One female candidate was killed in December, and another was kidnapped and held for ransom. A third managed to survive an assassination attempt in May, but lost her son in the attack.

The national election will establish a 275-member transitional national assembly that will select a cabinet, a prime minister, and a president. The national assembly will work much like a parliamentary system, though its most important job will be to write a constitution and to have it ratified by Iraqis before the end of 2005. If needed, it can extend the process for another six months. If a constitution is not ratified by then, its mandate will expire and new elections will be held for a new assembly that will start the process again.

When Iraqis voted, they didn't choose a specific name from a list of candidates. Nor did they select a political party, in the traditional sense. Instead, they chose one of the 111 "lists" that have been certified by the Independent Electoral Commission. The most popular of these lists are loose coalitions of multiple political parties and interest groups. They may contain as few as two names or as many as 275. To choose a list, voters stepped behind a curtain, checked a box on a single ballot with the name, number, and identifying logos of the 111 lists, and then dropped the ballot into a plastic box. A lottery determined the order in which lists appear.

Iraq has a population of more than 25 million people, but 40 percent of them are under the age of 14. About 8 million Iraqis voted on Sunday, out of about 14 million eligible voters, according to Bakhtiar Amin, Iraq's human rights minister. Only 250,000 of the 1.2 million eligible expatriates registered to vote.

At least 80 percent of registered female voters cast their ballot in the Kurdish areas of Iraq, said Shireen Amedi, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party¹s Women¹s Union, one of the two main political parties in the Kurdish area. However, Shwan Mufti, head of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq in the Kurdish area, did not know how many women had registered.

A Dozen Women Ran Publicly
About a dozen women with established national profiles ran publicly. The rest ran in secret. After withdrawing their names publicly but remaining candidates privately, these candidates will assume seats if their lists get enough support.

Al-Suwaij, who lives in Cambridge, recently returned from a one-month trip to Iraq, where she works with Iraqi women from around the country to train them in democratic practices and women's empowerment. The one-year project is being financed by $1.5 million grant from USAID. Twenty-five of the women she worked with ran for office.

"They were very enthusiastic and asked for training about minority rights, public speaking, how to lobby for resources, how to mobilize people," Al-Suwaij told Women's eNews. "Some of them have not had the opportunity to study higher education, but they are very smart and capable."

Still, as violence continues to grow in Iraq, Al-Suwaij is worried about the candidates' safety. "All of them are at high risk. There have been attempts to assassinate some of them. People have been trying to shoot them. Some of them think that some car explosions were directed at them."

Al-Suwaij says that some of the candidates feel that their opportunities to run for office would never have happened under former ruler Saddam Hussein and are a direct result of the U.S. occupation. She says that all of the candidates, however, are extremely worried about the current violence in Iraq. They hope that the multi-national forces will not leave Iraq until Iraqi forces are better able to protect civilians.

[Zeb Oswalt]

Talabani directs the Center for the Empowerment of Women in Suliaymania, about an hour's drive from Baghdad, also funded by USAID. She trained about 75 women in political leadership and some ran for office. She doesn't have the exact numbers because many women dropping out of the race due to fear.

Long Way to Go
Talabani says that despite running in the election, the women of Iraq have a long way to go before Iraqi men treat them as political or social equals.

"In this first election, the candidates will be elected based upon religious orientation," Talabani told Women's eNews in December. "This will be a party-based election, not based upon their points of view on issues or projects."

Both Al-Suwaij and Talabani have spoken out against the efforts of some conservatives and religious extremists to limit the role of women in the new Iraq. "Some are using violence--shootings and car bombs--to try to stop women from being elected," Al-Suwaij said.

Despite the many battles ahead for equality, both women are hopeful of the role women could play in Iraq. "We, the women, are building bridges among cultural, ethnic, and religious divides," Talabani said. There were some good things and some bad things in the country she was born in. She also found it odd one of these ladies had the same last name as her. Neither one of them were related however. This woman who would become Devi did not dated a lot in her own country. Which was not surprising the way things were. But things are changing. Still when she came to America she started dating regularly. At least five guys. However, her life is not important. Nor were her high scores in the field of academia. Nor that she was the head cheerleader at her college. What was important was that she was becoming a good superhero. Adding that to the fact that her DNA was combined with the alien known simply as Devi this would make her very useful to the Recruiter's team. Her fear of bugs would make things difficult between her and Dr. mosquito. Still she was constantly fighting that problem of hers whenever she went on a dig. She was getting a little better at it. Slowly but surely. The recruiter pulled a special file out of the vault. Of any superhero who was legendary.



And who had been very famous back in the 80s. The hero's name was Samson. He still follows the old ways. He was a true blue smiling apple pie eating salute the flag never use a gun type of superhero. He had been fighting crime since the 70s. And some of the mid-and late 60s. He was growing old. Well, and his current physical form he was growing old. He had been a history teacher. His name was John St. James. A famous archaeologist was talking about ihs finding of the donkey bone that Samson drank water from. Professor John theorized that he drank water from this bone in my gain Samson's powers. He had read about him in the bible as well as having found some historic facts on other people mentioned in the Bible. He had been a fan of comics in the 50s and 60s. So he secretly hoped it could gain Samson's powers. He had even prayed on it. But about it constantly. He felt the world needed heroes like those. He found outlooks in the 80s hero wise was good in the books. But there were no superheroes he knew of safe for Thor. And so he was very happy when he took a drink of water from the jawbone of a mule and gained superhuman powers. God had heard his prayers and decided to answer them. Grafting his spirit to Samson's.

Of coarse Samson had agreed to it. God had asked him if he was willing to go back to Earth. And of course he was. The two became a great crime-fighting team. Well as one person. Still Samson mostly spoke to John through his thoughts. It was more subconscious than conscious. He let John stay in control. Preferring to direct him with ideas on how he should fight crime. They of course both prayed. They had a lot of great adventures becoming the second most famous hero next to Thor. John found Thor kind of odd. He was not expecting a redneck version of Thor. The North mythos never mentioned anything like that. Use the long-haired guy with the big hammer. Not a redneck who shaved his head also carrying a shotgun that shot lightning. He called the shotgun mujolant. It was made out of Ura metal. Any control the weather with it. You can still use his powers without the shotgun. But he was able to better focus them through the shotgun. He met many other heroes. They just chose to keep a low profile. Thor had decided to make itself more noticeable. Things went well for them. Still when the 90s rolled around everything went different. There are a few and two heros here and there Thor being one of them.

But more and more heroes were becoming darker. They had stoped being the heroes everyone can look up to. John could not understand that. Maybe he had just grown old. Maybe this the way things were to be now. But he wasn't going to except that. He knew he could turn things around. He could get them to follow his example as he remained the hero he felt all heroes should be like. Even though he saw the crows lines around his eyes. As hair was starting to turn white. A new starting to feel the effects of time. Found himself thinking about his glory days. Those things you done in the past. And some of the things he failed to do in the past. Still in the end he still had the need the desire to save the world from itself. And some of them was feeling that the world just like the newer heroes because they were newer. Like an assembly lined car. This was the new shiny model. He was still the original Mustang. They had rolled out the 4.0. Or he was the 57 Chevy as they were the shiny newer model. He saw himself as a classic. The world saw him as a junker. They looked at him like an Edsel. You like using core motifs you liked cars. Still part of them fell like the old athlete watching the younger ones do things completely different and it made no sense to him. He saw them still able to go out there and be young enough not to care.

He was still superhumanly strong. But he found himself not getting his second win might use to. Feeling the aches and pains in his knees. Time is no longer on his side. He did not mind aging it was all the stuff that came with aging that bothered him. Still he was a lot wiser now. Learned a lot of things he couldn't have known in his youth. And he had a distinguished look about him. So there were several pluses to being older. Still he looks back and thought about the things he didn't understand. Like how Thor had become a villain just because he hated the fact that King of Irons was now the most popular hero. He became public enemy. This brought Samson into many conflicts with his former friend. But not all of his problems with being a superhero came from super villains and superheroes. Some came from the fact that while Samson had a daughter John did not. Any child of any kind. It never taken the time to meet anyone. Yet a few dates here and there. Some somewhat serious relationships. But they didn't pan out. And mostly because it dedicated everything to being a hero. Everything that mattered to him save his job fell to the wayside. He had not a complete focus into those things. Though he had some great relationships. Some them being with superhero women. Nothing that really lasted. Other plans he had, had fallen by the wayside.

He had let it all slip away in the name of being a superhero. And now he felt he was getting too old for the job. And there is no one to pass on to. There are no second chances. Now users trying to make sure that he left a mark. That he would be remembered as one of the great superheroes. Who's this would be his final days as a superhero. Was going out is going out with a bang. He is going to prove an old hero could still get it done. They didn't have to resort to those tactics to do so. Well that's how he felt. He had fell like life had passed him by. Another drawback was that he could remember all the funerals he attended. With very few births. He remembered sitting there with his friends having to say goodbye to a fallen hero. Remember being a pall bearer for a few bit of them. Remember the extreme filled loss. Valuations are somewhat or bring them back. But there just was not. Death was inevitable for the superhero. Very few of them well and to old-age. John remember it wearing a suit to each funeral. And staring at the lapel flower with a pin. They let you keep the pin. From regular life he had a handful of them very the life of a superhero of the amount was too much to count. Still he had no problem accepting the recruiters asking him to join this team. He joined quickly led to be a part of it.

[Zeb Oswalt]

Being a superhero had become his drug. And he could not let it go. He was addicted to it a so let it a nova and the whole superhero occupation. It had brought him so little in the long run and yet he could not get up. He had fame in things like that. But nothing concrete. The basic needs of A man were not met by this addiction of his. The recruiter that looked at those villain files. You know again whatever information needed. He decides to brief the heroes on the villains. Says they should know who they're up against. After all this was going to be hard enough with out them in the dark. He opened the files one by one and then began the briefing on these villains. He lays hands on the table as he looked at the files. He then looked at the heroes. Realizing that this was the only hope this city had. He then began to talk. The voice that almost sounded mechanical. Though who ever the Recruiter was. They were human. They just had a computerized voice device to disguise their voice.;;

Recruiter, "Good evening ladies and gents. I am the recruiter. That is the name you will know me by. The government has hired me to gather a group of heroes that could combat the current threat to New Orleans. You ladies and gentlemen are that group. However you should know about the villains are facing. Each of them all in their own is quite dangerous. But together as the Gifted Brigade. They are almost unstoppable. Not to be melodramatic but they are quite dangerous bunch. Their leader is the most dangerous of a whole bunch. The super villain known as the Coin Artist. Her real name is Dawn Magdalen. She grew up as a Army brat. Her father was a general in the Army. He's also currently a member of the Pentagon. Dawn grew up globetrotting. She never stayed in one place for very long. The longest friendship she ever had was ironically with Miss Nina Lopez. Our own Wild-Card."

Wildcard, "Any murder and mayhem what or friends for?"

Recruiter, "At any rate, she grew up and almost well-adjusted child. In those she lost her mother which was quite young. And didn't make many friends because of always moving. Her nanny raised her a lot more than her father was able to."

Wild Card, "More like wanted to."

Recruiter, "That would require us to be able to read people's minds. We are not here to since motives of a five-star general. As I was saying she eventually went to college to study theology. Her mother had been a daughter of a rabbi. Just as Samson's dad was a rabbi. And through her she learned in interest in religion and God. Just as Nina has in her Catholic fate. There he met enigmatic designed student named Nina Lopez. They became fast friends and it was Dawn's father whom supplied me know if the robot arm. They shared everything. CDs, tapes, clothes, and introducing each other to their boyfriends at the time. In other than a few small moments where Dawn had the misguided belief that her father had abandoned her. She's the perfect normal woman."

Wild Card, "Misguided my -- ."

Recruiter, "Please, let me continue with my briefing. She had a love of Punk music. And only a slight anti-authority nature. But for the most part a good kid. She made straight A's in college. It was always on time for classes. She and her friends hung out at the local burger joint. Everything went fine until one day she and Nina were in a card game. There among these card sharks gone proved to be a better card player than they were. She ended up winning a magical coin. That was given powers by a local Indian medicine man. One half of it would give its users the wisdom of many chiefs. The other half gave them the strength of many buffaloes. It can also fire beams of energy out of it. And create a force field. And to allow one to soar like an eagle. It's possible this coin was made from an alien alloy from the same planet that Devi is from. Anyway it was made to look like an Indianhead penny. The coin also brought out the true nature of whom ever used it. Sadly dawns hatred for her father was the primary emotion she was exhibiting at the time. The she became the villain coin artist. Causing destruction where she went. The only person to oppose her was Nina. Who became a successful fashion designer and trained her mind and body to fight crime. And hopefully one day stop Dawn.

Make no mistake her father when he was able to visit her daughter what he knew about military strategy. Open one day she would become a general like himself. She'd even been enlisted in the ROTC in high school and college. She was learning the basic tools necessary to become a great general. However that she became a criminal these tools are very dangerous. Which is why she leads this team. And she is also gained experience as a criminal. That helped to make earn even more dangerous opponent. The next person on our list is Blood Lust. Whom is of course, the legendary Vald Tempesa. The Romanian Prince. Who was famous for killing people with stakes. He is a vampire however he and his curse by staking Devi when she was in her Kali form. Sometimes the eccentric count would stake a noble own a golden stake. He felt Kali fit in that genre. He would then take a golden goblet and drink their blood. It was a psychological trick used against his opponents.Val Tempes was one of the first to use psychological warfare to its finest. Well maybe not as well Salomon did. They used it quite well. However he gave the disease that Kali was. The disease affected humans quite differently than it did people of Devi's species. They needed blood of other humans to survive. Or they would slowly die. As they were no longer able to produce blood.

[Zeb Oswalt]

Their bodies were no longer able to produce it through the heart. However they did get a added bonus they now had the long lines that people of Devi's species possessed. It was as we can tell immortal. In a way you'd become his own psychological warfare. What he pretended to be he now was. However it was some truth to the Irish man's tale. A cowboy named Quincy did shove a Bowie knife through his heart but it didn't kill him instead it put him in suspended animation. Recently coin artist was able to remove the knife and bring him back. She gave him a fancy sheep or a custom with a titanium plate in front of his chest to block any 18 century boiwe knifes. Oddly no other knife can penetrate his chest. No guns or any conventional weapons can harm him. He Is practically invincible save for the weakness to Bowie knives and Kucaras.Kucaras could be used to slices his throat. And also sent him into unconsciousness. These are his only two weaknesses. Though newer vampires may be affected by the sun he is not. Nor does fire harm him. Those further away from the original blood transfusion of Kali have become weaker. Their diseases is not as full. And there are levels have weakened. He has passed this on to quite a few. With his return. He works for Dawn under his own sense of honor. He is also a military genius. However his tactics are a century old.

Making it less dangerous to us. Well as a strategist. His powers more than make a for that however. Other than his honor he has no emotional connection to this time line. Which makes him very dangerous. Do not underestimate this man. Still there are others on the list. Ironically there are five of them in total. Which is why we chose five of you. To keep the odds even. The next one on the list is Weapon Z. whom is the daughter of Samson and Hypolata. Her real name is Athana. Like most of the Amazons she does not have a last name. Note has been known to call herself Athana Z. the stories of Hercules and Hypolata were really the true stories of Samson and Hypolata. From this union was born the child Atheana named after the Greek gawdess of wisdom. She was scholar constantly and taught how to fight. The most part though she had a normal childhood well for an Amazon. Until the day came that the Romans decided to conquer the Amazons. They decided instead of telling all of their forces to have one battle. The Romans would have their best soldier fight the Amazons best warrior. She was positive for she would be chosen after all she was the best fighter.Atheana knew there was none that had better skills than she. Surely shocked and dismayed when her mother the Queen of the Amazons chose another to fight as their champion.

The reason for it was her mother did not want to engage her. A mother could not put her child in that situation. Still war was what she knew. She was a fighter plane and simple. Therefore she saw this as a betrayal. So she snuck into the night and talked with the Romans. She joined forces with Caesar. Whom was the son of the first Caesar. He was the for this was the first emperor. His father had been the general the republic had betrayed for fear him becoming the emperor. And in doing such lead the public to rally around him as a mortar. And then easily allow his son to become emperor. She'd sneak them in the Amazon encampment so they could take it over. The only thing she asked for forgiveness was that she was made a gladiator. While the rest of the Amazons were turned into consort's for the Roman generals and certain strong Roman soldiers. To strengthen their army. Athena laughed about the whole thing. And she became one of the strongest gladiator of the day. Learning every style of fighting for the many different slaves. From these many different conquered lands she learned many different techniques. And tested them in the gladiator arena. And learning many different weapons. She kept a move that for a discarded the rest. Having been Samson's daughter she was extremely strong. Plus now she had even better fighting skills.

Her being a Amazon helped a lot. They had taught her skills most armies would kill for. As well as we'll would be known as guerrilla warfare. Still when Caligula came around she realized the Roman Empire was going to fall soon. She had no idea it was going to be Nero would make it fall. Still she knew it was on its last leg. She easily made her escape. Ripping free from her cage. She killed one of the guards and his wife she took the wives clothes and the guards weapons. And snuck out of their. Well basically she walked out and dressed as the guard's wife. She was not seen again until the 1800s. When she was working for the cattle Baron's in the incident that started the legend of Billy the kid."

Wildcard, "Which is kind of ironic considering where named after the team Billy the kid road with. Or was that the idea?"

Recruiter, "We left nothing to chance. You were named after that group. We wanted to give you a psychological edge over weapon Z. that battle gave her a few emotional scars. And we want to use these to our advantage. Now let me continue with my briefing. We have to make sure you know what her up against. Their tactics and their skills are their advantage. Few of you have never worked together. As good as you are only two of you have ever worked together. Wild Card & King of Iron. The rest of you have never even tempted to work together. So you're going to have to build teamwork on-the-fly. Pretty much your only weapon here is that you know something about your opponents."

Dr. Mosquito, "Fascinating, you're correct in your estimation. We have not the slightest idea how the other hero operates. And as I have found research is undoubtably the greatest tool of a scientist as well as a hero. I for one look forward to the rest of your dissertation."

Recruiter, "Thank you Dr. now I shall he continue with this briefing."

King of irons, "Well I know I'm all a flutter. At least we have two pretty women to look at."

:: both wildcard and Devi roll their eyes::

The Recruiter, "Now I shall continue. And I do not want to be interrupted further. New Orleans itself is at stake. Maybe the country! aAnd they do not have time to talk over you. Still, I'm going to try my best remain calm. Since I know the country needs your help. Okay back to the history of weapon Z. it turns out she was the one whom helped kill most of the gang. She also seduced the kid and setting him up for Pat Garrett to kill. The kids guns skills were almost as good as weapon Z.'s and he had taught her a few tricks with the gun. Well, when she had come up with a false identity and the red wig that's used in her act to seduce him. When the waiter about the mission was it was set for Pat Garrett to kill him should I get to shoot him herself. There had been earlier rumors of her helping Captain Bly to hunt down them for who caused the mutiny on the ship and probably killed his first mate. However there is nothing to substantiate that. She also worked with other cattle Baron's hand with a few buffalo hunters. Her next move while the next thing we have recorded about her was working as a night witch. We she learned how to fly a plane. And how to bomb. Using little biplanes the night witch's had attacked Hitler's bases in Germany in the 30s. They were very dangerous and very useful Russian bombers. She chose to work for the Russians since the Nazis saw women as little more than people make babies.

[Zeb Oswalt]

And Athena was a warrior she which use which man she slept with a most of the time she grabbed a hold of them. No one controls her. Therefore she ended up fighting for the allies in war war 2. Mainly because she was insulted by Hitler's low opinion of her. They simply on the fact that she was a woman. She stayed with the Russians long after war war two. She ended up becoming an agent of the KGB. And rose quickly in their ranks. Learning all their weapons and their techniques. As well as their interrogations. Especially their gun techniques. She became one of the best Doves the KGB had. In fact she stayed with him until the Soviet Union fell. Then she became a hit woman for the Russian mafia. People she had previously frustrated with her actions by destroying the organizations she was now working for. Eventually she moved to America working for these mafia's. And finally worked out of that mob and start working for the Italians. At first glance she looks like an Italian woman with blond hair. Since after all she is Greek. Well, half Jewish and half Greek. She even killed for big Paul before his recent "accident". At which point she became an assassin.

She worked for no one save those that paid her. Each assassination was done as a one-time job. She never worked for the same person twice. Recently she was hired by Dawn to join the Gifted Brigade. Which is how she got into the way of the government. Now onto the next member. That member would be the former hero Thor."

;; Samson looked shocked at hearing the name of his former friend and now enemy. In this custody or they joined this team they were going to fight. He could not understand how he fallen so far. Still say did not say a word you want to learn more about what happened to his friend. ::

Recruiter, "Thor really is the son of Odin. However like Devi here he is also an alien. Not a real gawd. But he does have real thunder powers and pretty much all powers over whether. As well as superhuman strength. In a very thick hide. Originally it taken on the whole Norse look we are familiar with. However when Sweden became neutral. He began to lose interest with them. The civil war made him interested with the American South. He began to emulate them. This continued to present-day. To the point where he transformed his Ura Hammer into a shot gun. He had been one of America's biggest heroes. Saving the world a thousand times. Save for siding with the Nazis in world war two. Since they worshiped him as Donor. Other then that though he was America's perfect hero. He thought for everything we believe in. Until he saw that King of Irons was becoming a more popular here. No longer was Time's cover for Thor. No longer do the children chant his particular name. No longer was he a hero everyone wanted to be. He was slowly being pushed back in the public's mind. It really started to bother him. Yet he fought on as a hero. Yet eventually he couldn't take anymore the fact that the most popular hero the world was someone who was cocky self-absorbed and real pain in the butt. That bothered him.

That's when he became a super villain. He teamed up with his half-brother Loki. Even though he had fought against looking for centuries. And they started a giant crime wave. Until they were defeated by Samson. Still in his new role is not public enemy number one. he fall below Blood Lust and Coin Artist. "

King of Irons," Hey, how could he keep up with a hero is great as me? I mean of course he's going to suffer burnout. I'm a lookout out of his league I am. None could possibly be as great as me. Thor just couldn't hack it with me being on top of the food chain."

;;Devi and Wild-Card looked at each other then looked back at king of Irons and roll their eyes.::

Wild Card, "What an egotistical moron."

Devi, "And yet you slept with him."

Wild Card, "hey I told you that in confidence and besides they're very good reasons for this special circumstances and... shut up."

Devi," I'm just saying you slept with him. And nobody made you do it. You chose on ya own. To not only Date this man, but to sleep with him. What was you thinking. He's cute and everything, but I mean come on now."

Wild Card, "What ever."

Recruiter, "People this is not the pep rally! We're here to prepare for an important mission. I do not need to know your back story so keep the petty squabbling to a minimum. Now as I was saying. Thor had no problem joining this group. As soon as Coin artist mention that King of Irons was in this group he jumped at the chance to fight him. And last but not least of this group is No Face a master of disguise that can make himself look like anyone. He was a special forces officer in the Chinese army. In a very good stage actor before that. Until his gifted power showed up in his latent genes. His flesh and bone mass were able to duplicate anyone's form. He became a top agent for them. They carried him even harder. Making sure he had the best mimic coaches. And ninjas to make sure he was the best. He went on several successful missions for them. Until he realized you could make more money for himself. Becoming a thief and a con artist. In doing some espionage work as well. As well as an assassin. And even got into some demolition work. Sometimes you get a part of a business scam. He then moved on to becoming a super villain. Teaming up from time to time with Coin Artist. We know very little of this man. Only that he is an Asian man about 5 foot eight. His real appearance is unknown to us. Every record of him in the Chinese army had been destroyed. Luckily a few sergeants were willing to tell us while we needed to know.

He joined the Gifted Brigade because he's in love with Coin Artist. It is able to take on any height any form with his gifted ability. Call it a mutant power or a mata human power or whatever it's all the same. We just decide to classify it as a gifted ability. Those with these genes are called the gifted. Which constitutes quite a few of you here.No face is also able to pull from the atoms in the air to add to his mass. His body free regulates those atoms and molecules to become solid molecules and then turns those well combine them to make them cells. And thus is able to increase his weight. Or turn his own cells into air molecules and decrease his mass. It is genetic thing that occurs when he decides to look like someone else. Luckily he can only change atoms in these ways. And cannot affect the many other manner. Are he would be even more dangerous. Is the last and final member of this team. Therefore you are both evenly matched. There are five of you in five of them. Wildcard will act as team leader, she will report directly to me. The rest of you will follow her orders. You will of course be trained with a special forces unit and have a few combat exercises to test your skills. And to teach you a little something about teamwork. What we found them doing will be left in the file for you all to read.

[Zeb Oswalt]

Still here's the gist of it. Low-level government officials have been killed. A few explosions and gone off around the outskirts of the city. And the docs. They have also cut off people returning to the city or rather messed up their roots in two reentering the city. Some of those reconstructing the city have also been found dead. We believe they have been hired by Professor Doom. A former Iraqi soldier. Whom was given superhuman powers by Saddam's scientists. Whom had combined three different DNA strands from three different of the gifted. To give the soldier superhuman powers. With Saddam's fall he became a terrorist. He works for no one. He only searches for the fall of capitalism. And he finds a natural disaster that just happened good help him very much to achieve that goal. His origin is kind of is that he was found by the Iraqis after his house was bombed. His family say one sister were killed. He was told that the bomb had been the work in the Americans. In reality it was Iraqi shale and hit his house. It was an accident but they quickly covered it up and made use of it. Building in him a hate of all Westerners. They trained him to be a soldier. In combat he surpassed even their best. They also taught him about assassination. And of course terrorist techniques. Still they can see the anger in his eyes. It is surpassed anything they had planned for.

Realizing they had something even better. They train came to be their top assassin. And then after capturing a few gifted that had fought for the allies. They took the genes for their dead bodies and grafted them to him. Call it gene splicing. Making him a much more dangerous weapon. They gave him a special costume to not only strike fear but to also enhance his powers. As it turns out his sister was the human host of Devi. "

:: The others look shocked. Devi only nods. For the man who had organized this terror was in fact her brother. They were twins. It said her that she would have to fight her brother. She didn't want have two flight him. She loved her brother. But she also loved the new land she lived in. And the new freedoms she had. And they now want to lose them. And she knew that what her brother was doing was wrong. She have to fight against him, but she wouldn't like it. Still there was no choice. She would do what she had to as a superhero. And this time it meant making a difficult choice. Fight her brother or lose everything. Perhaps it was selfish of her to make such a choice that way. But that was the way it was. Besides her Devi half wanted revenge on Blood Lust. So much so that she could taste it. Which bother her she knew that meant that Kali was gaining a foothold after all revenge was her favorite thing. She was after all the gawdess of death. Well a disease on her planet. That she had been infected with an accident brought to this world. It had infected Blood Lust. And for centuries he'd been spreading it. The world believed it to be vampires. But really in which his victims of the disease. One which she was a possible for. One which she would have to cure by killing Blood Lust. And then killing all the vampires he had created. It was not her fault in yet in a way it was her responsibility. Granted that she not come not to this planet the disease whenever of gotten here.

She planned to live up to her responsibility. That and crash a few clubs and go dancing. Well that was more of what Zainab Talabani wanted to do. She was a party girl. Still right now she had to prepare for this mission. She wasn't about to fail. Even though it meant driving a wage between her and her brother. Still that wasn't important. The recruiter had finished his briefing. He then walked out the way he came. After all who is just another person walking through New Orleans. He caught a cab and disappeared. The regulators were given information on where to meet the special forces team. They all left in trench coats and hats. Meeting at an abandoned high school where they began their training. The seals caught them what they needed to know. Mostly about teamwork and how to rely on each other. And how to utilize their powers to work together. One of the seals had any powers they did understand teamwork. And how to get things done as a cohesive unit. It was rough at first while these were all great heroes in their own right and never had to rely on any one. So it all seemed unusual to them. Still somehow they got through it. Learning all the techniques they could. And going through a crash course in boot camp. Wildcard seem to excel the most in it. After all she or he trained herself to be the perfect fighter. As well as his good a detective that she could be.

Still after wall they all that used to it. Still they did have their aches and pains and injuries. But in the end they were ready. They had learned through government intelligence some of the things happening in New Orleans that had been attributed to the Gifted Brigade. The plan to move up the voting had been attributed to No Face. He had been placed inside the government replacing one of the politicians. In making it look like they were worried about the people that were not right now. But instead of asking to move the voting back until they came back to New Orleans. They move it forward. They also had messed with the absentee voting. Even losing votes that had all ready been casted. The random destruction was anything but that. The mutant brigade had already begun their work.



That same year Weapon Z was paid $100,500 to kill Silas Como a wealthy farmer from Florence County. Professer Doom, hired Weapon Z to do the job. John Broussard and John Breaux. handled all correspondence between Profecer Doom and Weapon Z in arranging the murder. Diane Roussau who claimed to have car problems lured Como out of his home on Feb. 12, 2005 Weapon Z then kidnapped and murdered Como as Broussard and Breaux watched, then the three buried his body.There are two quarters placed on his eyes. This time she called on Thor's help to bury him. Weapon Z obviously took Thor in as a trusted friend, a fact proven when she pointed out to Thor the graves of the other locals who he had murdered and buried there.The investigation into the disappearance of Silas Como was turning up few leads that pointed the finger at Weapon Z.

In 2002, Thomas was involved in a car accident and had a concussion. From that point on he suffered severe headaches and his drinking increased as way to deal with his pain. The Burke household became explosive with endless arguments. Tina, consumed with stress, was hospitalized and treated with sedatives and vitamins. Once home, she gradually increased her prescription drug use and went to different doctors to get multiple prescriptions of Valium to feed her growing addiction.
Thomas Struckers - Death Number 2: Thomas, displaying alcoholic behavior, pushed the family deeper into dysfunctional madness. One day while the kids were at school, His went to the laundermat and returned to find her house on fire and Thomas dead from smoke inhalation. There are two quarters in his pocket .Her suffering appeared short-lived although her misfortune continued. A few months after Thomas died another fire broke out, this time destroying the home. His wife and her children fled to Velma's parents and waited for the insurance check. This had happened in December of 2005.

Dr. Mosquito worked with the North Shore's chief medical examiner, to discuss the details of Stuart's illness. Dr. Mosquito was quick to identify arsenic as the most likely reason and Weapon Z as the person who probably administered it. When authorities questioned THe victums wife Tina. she insisted she would never do anything so horrible. However, later that week, she quietly confessed to her son Timmy , that she only meant for weapon Z to make Stuart sick. Timmy insisted Tina go to the police and tell the truth.



Tina's lawyer, Bob Johnson had the arduous task of tyring to get a reduced charge of second-degree murder. He used the defense that Tina only meant to make Stuart Taylor ill so she could return stolen money without being caught and that her judgment was marred from her long-term drug addiction. When the judge allowed information about the other victims to be admitted in court, Johnson knew he was in trouble and so was Tina. They walked into the busy courtroom the next day. It is a big round building that was made entirely of Oak. With marble floor there is a statute of Lady Justice. Lot of reporters press were their. Tina was a short white woman who is attractive she was in her 50s. She was wearing a very nice business dress. A lawyer with a black Broek Brothers suit. He was in his 60s he had gray hair that was starting to thin. He wore glasses that had gold trim. He carried a leather briefcase. As he let out a big sigh. As they slowly walked through the hallway of the court. Another man a police officer had just opened the door and was leaving the courthouse. Just then lightning flew through the air hitting Tina right in the chest. She fell down dead. Another bolt of lightning went through the air justice quickly killing Bob. The cop was then struck dead by another bolt of lightning. He was a white male with bluegray eyes about 6'5. And weighed about 245 pounds.

[Zeb Oswalt]

This was when the regulators showed up. Wildcard of course led the troupe in. She looked around the place checking the door the walls the corpses. She looked at the buildings for we were the perfect place to where they can make this hit. She saw the building ran across the street from the courthouse. It was a post office. It had just the right placement for Thor to have made a shot. After all lighting does not strike in the same place twice. And this one struck three times. It had to be the use of Thor's powers. Still an odd way if Tina had confessed it would've been a lot easier than having to prove the arson part of the case."

Samson, "How so?"

Wildcard, "Well let me tell you all that goes into an arson investigation.Arson investigation starts with the fire itself. To create and sustain a fire three factors must be present. The three factors are known as the fire triangle (Peige ed., 1977). The fire triangle consists of oxygen, a fuel source, and heat. In most cases the percentage of oxygen concentration must be above 16% (Peige, ed., 1977). The fuel may be any flammable substance. The heat source needs only to match the ignition temperature of the fuel.In a fire involving arson the arsonist will have tampered with one or more of the factors in the fire triangle. The arsonist may increase the fuel load by introducing flammable material or by adding accelerants such as kerosene, gasoline or alcohol (French, 1979) The arsonist may increase the oxygen content of a structure by opening windows or punching holes in ceilings and walls (French, 1979) Fire will follow the highest concentration of oxygen to its source. By ventilating a structure at the top and starting a fire at the bottom of the structure an arsonist can cause the fire to race upward through the structure. The fire will rapidly involve the whole structure rather than be confined to one room.

An arson fire involves the introduction of a heat source that can be as simple as a match or as complex as chemicals with very low ignition temperatures (Battle, 1978). By definition a fire is considered an arson fire when all other accidental caused have been ruled out. To say that the cause of a fire was arson and therefore deliberate, the investigator must have sufficient evidence the one of the factors in the fire triangle was tampered with.Arson investigations start with the observations of the fire fighters who respond to the scene. The fire fighters may not see any obvious signs of arson but may get a feeling that the fire is not behaving normally (Kennedy, 1977) (Battle , 1978) ( French , 1979).There may be obvious signs of arson such as multiple points of origin or the presence of accelerants. What ever it is that raises the suspicions of the fire fighters at the scene it is their observations that initiate an arson investigation.At this point the investigation deviates from the procedures used in a normal criminal investigation. In a normal criminal investigation interviewing witness is usually done after the physical evidence is processed (Osterburg & Ward, 2000). In an investigation of a fire where arson is suspected the investigator starts the interviewing of witness and fire fighters immediately (Kennedy, 1977). It is essential for the investigator to interview the fire fighters who were the first to arrive at the fire and those who fought the fire. Fire will often destroy evidence of arson.



As well, the water and chemical foam used by the fire fighters may destroy evidence. The first fire fighters on the scene may have noticed evidence that may not exist by the time the fire is extinguished. The arson investigator will ask specific questions aimed at revealing suspicious conditions with in the structure and around the fire scene. The arson investigator will ask the following questions.What was the color of the smoke? Different substances produce smoke in a variety of colors (Lane, 1992). The color of the smoke can indicate what is burning. The investigator can then determine whether a particular substance would normally be found with in the structure. For example, gasoline produces a yellow or white flame with black smoke (Lane, 1992). Wood produces a yellow or red flame and grey or brown smoke (Lane, 1992). If a burning wooden house is producing thick black smoke this could indicate the presence of gasoline. A large amount of gasoline being stored in a house is unusual and raises the suspicion that gasoline was used as an accelerant.Were there inoperative hydrants, standpipes alarm systems or sprinkler systems? If there were the investigator will direct plumbing and other trades experts to examine the systems for signs of damage (French, 1979) (Kennedy, 1977).

What was the condition of the doors and windows? Signs of forced entry can indicate an actual break and enter or indicate a staged scene. Doors and windows propped open could indicate an attempt to ventilate the building allowing the fire to spread through out the structure. Doors and windows that have to be forced open could indicate an attempt to hinder the fire fighters. Doors and windows that have been blocked out could indicate an attempt to conceal the fire until it is fully involved (Peige, ed. 1977)Was there anything strange about the way the fire was burning? Rapid spread of a fire can indicate the use of accelerants. Multiple points of origin, flashes and explosions can also indicate accelerants or incendiary devices (French, 1979) (Peige, ed., 1977)Where there any familiar faces at the scene? It is possible that the fire fighters have seen the same person in the crowd at several fires. Some arsonists like to watch the fire or help the firefighters. If the fire fighters do notice the same person at several suspicious fires the investigator must try to interview this person as so as possible (Kennedy, 1977).Did the structure contain business equipment or household items normally expected to be present?The absence of normal household items or business equipment can indicate that they were removed before the fire started. Removal of these items can indicate that the fire was planned. Removal of sentimental items such as baby picture, school records and valuables can indicate a planned fire.

Evidence of pre-planning a fire gives the investigator excellent proof of intent to commit arson.It is essential for the investigator to interview any witnesses present when the fire started. The investigator must interview the person how called in the fire immediately even before the fire is extinguished and the physical evidence is processed (Kennedy, 1977). The person that called in the fire may be able to supply the investigator with information such as the color of the smoke and the time that the fire started. The witnesses may have seen people fleeing the scene. The witnesses may have also noticed the smell of accelerants or heard explosions.Any television stations or newspaper reporters at the scene will also be interviewed. They will be asked to provide copies of video footage or photographs of the scene ( Kennedy, 1977).Motives for arson can range from attempts to collect insurance money to revenge or intimidation, attempts to cover up a crime, destruction of questionable business records, Pyromania and occasionally suicide (Battle, 1978)(French 1979)(Lane, 1992) The most common type of Arson is a fire set in an attempt to collect insurance money (Lane, 1992) (French, 1979).For the purpose of this discussion of an arson investigation I will discuss the steps taken in an investigation where insurance fraud is suspected.

As well as interviewing the firefighters and other witnesses the investigator will conduct a complete investigation into the insurance policy holder’s background and finances (Kennedy, 1977). The investigator will usually start with the insurance agent who wrote the policy. The investigator is looking for evidence of over insured property or recent changes to the policy. The insurance agent may also recall recent questions about the policy the assured may have asked (Kennedy, 1977).The investigator may choose to hire a forensic accountant to study bank records, business records and tax returns. A certified document examiner may be used to examine business records and documents that may have been altered (Kennedy, 1977).Records of merchandise received and shipped to the site of the fire will also be examined. The debris from the fire will be compared to the records of the quantity and type of merchandise assumed to have been destroyed in the fire. The intent is to determine whether a loss of merchandise or household items of value actually occurred (Kennedy 1977) (Battle, 1978).Records of the history of late or delinquent mortgage payments will be obtained. The ownership of the property in question will be established through the mortgage records. As well, liens and caveats against the property will be established through mortgage records (Kennedy, 1977)

[Zeb Oswalt]

A background check of the owner of the property will be conducted. The investigator is looking for signs possible hidden debt that would indicate motive. Possible signs of hidden debt include a history of gambling, alcohol abuse and recent divorces. In Alberta a search for court ordered child maintenance payments should be made as well. In Canada a credit bureau report can be requested. Multiple requests for credit checks will show that the person in question may have been shopping around for credit.Real estate listings for the area as well as classified ads and real estate sites on the Internet should be examined to see if the property was for sale recently (Kennedy, 1977)Once the investigator has obtained information regarding the evidence that the fire fighters observed and a check of the financial records is complete the investigator will examine the results of the physical evidence found once the fire was extinguished. When examining the physical evidence the investigator must be able to rule out accidental causes of the fire in order to establish that the fire was deliberate (Battle, 1978).Some of the most common causes of accidental fires are faulty gas or electrical equipment improperly stored material, children, pets, smoking, stoves left on and lightning. Plumbers, Electricians and Gasfitters may be asked to examine these systems for signs that they were faulty (Lane, 1992) These types of fires usually show one obvious point of origin as opposed to multiple points of origin or no detectable point of origin as with an arson fire (Lane, 1992)

Several things are looked for when examining the scene for signs of accelerant use. The first and most obvious sign is the presence of containers in areas where accelerants would not normally be found (French, 1979) ( Kennedy , 1977). A hydrocarbon vapor detector can be used to do the initial examination of the area in question. Once the presence of hydrocarbons has been detected further sampling must be done and sent to the lab for analysis (French, 1979)(Saferstein, 2004).Liquid when poured on a carpet will soak into the carpet creating a concentrated char pattern on the sub-floor below. Investigators will pull up carpeting and examine the surfaces below the carpet. Samples of the carpet and the floor below will be sent to the lab for analysis (French, 1979) (Kennedy, 1977). Liquid poured on hard surfaces tend to flow. The underlying sub-floor should be examined for charring showing flow patterns. The baseboards and walls should be examined for char patterns indicating liquid was splashed on them. The baseboards and underlying sub-floor should be examined for sign of seepage. Floors below the suspect area should be examined and sample taken. Samples should also be taken of the soil under the foundation (French, 1977)When samples are taken they are placed in airtight containers. An older method of testing was to withdraw a sample of the air in the ‘headspace’ of the container and test is using gas chromatography (Saferstein 2004). A newer method is to place a strip of activated charcoal in the container.

The container is heated to allow the vaporization of any hydrocarbon residue. The vaporized residue is trapped in the charcoal. This method allows the analyst to test much smaller concentrations of residue since it is being concentrated with in the charcoal (Saferstein, 2004)Incendiary devices can be as simple as a lit match and as complex as a timed system utilizing and electric current imaginable. Common timed devices are candles or lit cigarettes attached to a book of matches (Kennedy, 1977) Cell phones, computers and thermostats can all be rigged to set of ignition of a fire when activated. The key to these devices is for the investigator to determine if they were likely to cause a fire and is the location reasonable. Candle residue in a hallway or closet is not reasonable and raises suspicion. The point of origin must match the ignition source and the ignition source must be in a place in which it would not normally occur to prove an arson has been committed (Battle, 1978).Arson investigation occurs in a different order than the usual criminal investigation. However the same steps are covered and it is the job of the investigator to analyze all of the information and come to a conclusion. The arson investigator most act swiftly in conducting interviews because fire may destroy physical evidence making witnesses all that much more important.

A combination of interviews, background information and physical evidence is used to determine whether a fire is the result of arson or not. So are we having fun yet with the Mr. Wizard explanation? "

Dr. Mosquito," There is something else interesting learned from the autopsy of Thomas Struckers."

Wildcard, "Oh and what is that?"

Dr. Mosquito,"Weapon Z used him satisfy her sexually sadistic needs."

Wildcard, "Well at least he went out with a smile."

Samson," Jiminy crickets that's cold lady."

Wildcard, "Yeah well that's what they call life."

:;In early May 2005, a ranch owner discovered a seven-foot freshly dug hole on his property. When he returned the following day he found the hole filled. He became suspicious and called authorities. When the hole was uncovered, the mutilated corpse of Kenneth Tibido was found three feet in the ground. Tibido had been sexually assaulted, stabbed and his head split opened with a machete.There are two quarters placed on his eyes. That is when the regulators showed up after they were called by the police. Wildcard began a thorough investigation of the dead body. Checking the wounds and the patterns. Beginning in visual idea of the depth of them. As well as using a few tools little computer device she had with her. So she could check a thermal heat signature of him. Engage the depth of each wound through that. Since the empty space would have no heat signature. It would leave enough open area for her to see something. An autopsy would be performed by Dr. mosquito later. As they checked the crime scene. Wildcard show the others how to perform a crime scene investigation. After all this was her field of expertise. She checked every note that every cranny around the area. Obviously the body had been moved here still may be the annexed it left some sort of evidence. Not weapon Z of course she was an expert. However Thor was not exactly a criminal mastermind.

:nor was this his expertise. Sadly he had left no tracks were clues either. Still Wildcard had learned a lot from investigating the body. I think understand the method of her killing at least for this one.

Weapon Z and her victim stood facing each other. When he lifted his pants, the victim's hands were occupied and was then defenseless.Weapon Z seized the men by their throats and strangled them until they were unconscious if not dead. The autopsies constantly revealed clear indications that the victims had been strangled. In the past some writers believed that Weapon Z struck from behind when the victims were bent forward, their pants were being hiked up after engaging in sex. This is a very awkward arrangement and the risk that they may scream or elude her clutch's make this unacceptable. Weapon Z then lowered her victims to the ground, their heads to her left. This has been proven by the position of the bodies in relation to walls and fences that show that there was virtually no room for the murderer to attack the body from the left side. No bruising on the back of the heads shows that he lowered the bodies to the ground rather than throwing or letting them fall. Given the inclement weather and filth in the streets it is unacceptable that the prostitutes or their client would have attempted intercourse on the ground. She cut the throats when the men were on the ground. Splatter stains show that the blood pooled beside or under the neck and head of the victim rather than the front which is where the blood would flow if they had been standing up. In one case blood was found on the fence some 14 inches or so from the ground and opposite the neck wound and this shows that the blood spurted from the body while in the prone position on the ground. This method also prevented the killer from being unduly blood stained. By reaching over from the victim's right side to cut the left side of her throat, the blood flow would have been directed away from her, which would have reduced the amount of blood in which she would have been exposed. If the victim was already dead before their throats were cut, then the blood spilt would have not been very much. With the heart no longer beating the blood would not have been "pressurized," so only the blood in the immediate area of the wound would have evacuated gently from the cuts. Weapon Z then made her other mutilations, still from the victim's right side, or possibly while straddling over the body at or near the feet. In several cases the legs had been pushed up which would have shortened the distance between the abdomen and the feet. Usually she took a piece of the victim's viscera. The taking of a "trophy" is a common practice by modern sexual serial killers. In the opinion of most of the surgeons who examined the bodies, most believed that the killer had to have some degree of anatomical knowledge to do what she did. In one case she removed a kidney from the front rather than from the side, and did not damage any of the surrounding organs while doing so. In another case he removed the sexual organs with one clean stroke of the knife. Given the time circumstances of the crimes outside, often in near total darkness, keeping one eye out for the approach of others, and under extremely tight time constraints, Weapon Z almost certainly would have had some experience in using her knife.

[Zeb Oswalt]

killings in which she dumped the bodies into a nearby river. She had left the few we found because they wanted us to know. Course the two victims and one thing in common. They were both low-level politicians. Still it makes perfect sense. They wanted to mess up the voting. The best way to do that is to kill few of the people that would've tried to help bring attention to the screwed up manner and away the voting is being taken care of. Eliminating of low-level politicians it might take awhile to get to the big leaguers. I see this as a part of the grand scheme. They used weapon Z's talent for killing to full advantage. Though I'm sure she's not done yet. Wild card was right and out two days later Gina Timison found dead. She had been a graduate of USL. She excelled love with her high school sweetheart. They had both gone to college together and eventually married and had two kids. She was a housewife but also a person who worked on the voter polls. Making her the ideal next target. She had black hair and eyes a white woman in her 40s. She was found dead in her pajamas and bathrobes. There are two quarters placed on her eyes. In her beautiful South Shore house in New Orleans. The regulators came to investigate.


Differentiating incised wounds caused during life from those caused after the death can sometimes be difficult. A housewife with sharp weapon injuries was believed to have succumbed to multiple sharp weapon injuries. The injuries appeared and were considered to be ante mortem until a few weeks after the autopsy. These turned out to have been inflicted after her death. The case report highlights the difficulty in differentiating sharp weapon injuries sustained during life or immediately after the death. The report also explains the possibility of causing incisive injuries to someone who was already dead.


Sharp weapon injuries, postmortem artifacts, postmortem injuries, ante-mortem injuries.


Incised wounds are sharp cut-like injuries, made by knives or broken glass etc. (1). The ability to examine sharp weapon injuries to opine as to whether they have been inflicted before or after the death is perhaps one of the most exciting features of Forensic Medicine. Since the appearance of the injuries in both the situations is almost similar and scene examination is not an integral part of autopsy in our setup, it makes the task of doctor mosquito a very difficult one. The object therefore is to explore whether one able to make a clear distinction between the two. Here is a case report in which a housewife with fatal sharp weapon injuries was found dead. For a couple of weeks after the autopsy neither the investigator WildCard nor the autopsy surgeon Dr. Mosquito had reason to perceive the injuries as post mortem.


The way the victim was found lying dead made it seem like her death was a quick death. The daughter of the victim found her mother dead in the lobby of her ransacked house. She had come back within two hours of her leaving the house, and the killing reportedly occurred in the afternoon at a time when her mother was alone. The main door of the house was found open. No one saw the act. The disordered / scattered contents of the cupboards in two rooms suggested theft. According to autopsy the cause of death was the hemorrhage and shock as a result of sharp weapon injuries to blood vessels in the neck and limbs. The photograph explains the injuries.

The deceased is noticed to have sustained sharp weapon injuries. One could notice a black thread around her neck. This was reportedly of silk and was unbreakable. An attempt to get details of the wounds by the computer scanning of the area in photos the cops took did not help much. Hence it was improbable to look at the nature of the injuries, viz. edges, angles, depth, the way vessels and soft tissues underneath were cut etc. to be able to comment whether injuries were caused in one blow or if there were multiple hesitation cuts. However, they did not seem to be defense cuts.

Wildcard's Doubts
wildcard sniffed asphyxia, use of knife / shaving blade, involvement of family members? There are a few points that were not convincing. Some wondered:

[Zeb Oswalt]

Those who want to murder would not normally inflict such injuries. Why killers didn't inflict stab injuries. Was it that the weapon was not of stabbing type?
Similarly the site chosen for the injuries, i.e. front of both wrists and on the neck. With the same weapon the killer could have stabbed her in her abdomen or chest. Does it indicate that the motive was not to kill but to maim her?
If she was a victim of homicide then there should have been marks of resistance. Defense cuts on her palms while grasping the weapon or on the back of her arms while warding off the attack were expected but were absent. Could it be that she was not in a position to have offered resistance. Was she unconscious or intoxicated at the time of sustaining these injuries?
Was it that she never wanted to offer resistance? Because the assailant was one of the family members. She too was fed up because of some family and personal reason and therefore she did not offer resistance.
The weapons were unknown. Assailants are still untraceable. A kitchen knife is reported to be missing. So could these injuries be as a result of kitchen knife. Do we altogether rule out use of kitchen knife? Is it the consequences of something as sharp as shaving blade?
Could the site where she was found be the place where she sustained the injuries and then died?
How could she sustain injuries all the injuries on the front of the body while lying down in this position?
Dr. mosquito's autopsy report describes a ligature mark and cut injuries. Length, width and location of the ligature mark have been mentioned. The opinion of cause of death that has been described in the report does not speak of strangulation. Was there no element of asphyxiation? She was wearing a thread around her neck. Could it be one strangled her while others caused these cuts.
Probabilities
The mention of ligature mark in the autopsy report and of sharp weapon injuries were the mainstay of the PM report. She was first asphyxiated and thereafter given sharp weapon injuries. This possibility gained roots on account of two assumptions. First how could the deceased suffer three sharp weapon injuries without there being any mark of resistance. An injury amounting to "Cutthroat injury" could be possible when she was either unconscious or overpowered. Second assumption was that those who want to murder would not normally inflict such injuries. Preferable and usual homicidal injuries in such situations are fatal stabs. With the same weapon the killer could have stabbed her say in her abdomen or chest. Probably the weapon was not of stabbing type?

The only objection to such possibility was the fact that the autopsy was silent about asphyxia. The constraint at this stage was the visibility of the neck area of the deceased. Could it be that the cutthroat injury overlay the thread like ligature mark or the remaining mark was so indistinct that it lacked notice both of Wildcard and of Doctor Mosquito.

Two pools of blood . Absence of blood elsewhere i.e. in the kitchen, other rooms or in the courtyard conveys that she remained in one position and that was where she was being seen. Presence of pool of blood underlying the injury corroborates the assumption that the place of sustaining injuries and dying is one. Had she moved about in an injured state there would have been either evidence of trail of drops of blood? Presuming that there was no such evidence and the regulators had taken precautions in observing the same during their first examination of the site it can be opined that she sustained injuries there. The deceased was attacked where she was found. Had it not been so then why there was no evidence of movement of the deceased before succumbing.

Examinations of the clothes and the undergarments excluded sexual activity. Weapon Z being a straight woman would deftly not have had anything to do that anyway. Still they were being thorough. Sides with Thor working with her he may have tried something. Though the evidence clearly proved he had not.


3 weeks after the occurrence and autopsy by Dr. Mosquito.



Burglars entered the house when everyone except the deceased was away at work. Before starting the burglary they saw the whole thing. Before fleeing with cash and goods, one of them saw weapon Z hit her with a shaving blade. They don't think she saw them.

The arrested burglars were beginners, juvenile and were as many as five. One of them was the immediate neighbor of the victim and was well conversant with the deceased. Weapon Z entered the house from the main gate. No sooner had she opened the gate when Weapon Z strangled her by the black silk thread around her neck. After making your there was little evidence weaponZ thought that she might not be completely dead and might regain consciousness after she left the place. So Atheana caused cuts by using a shaving blade while she was lying on the ground. The injuries were on front of both the wrists and also on the neck. These injuries, which were thus inflicted after her death, did not actually contribute towards the death. Since these did not contribute to the cause of death these were in fact artifacts. postmortem injuries thus looked like ante mortem cuts to investigators, relatives and to the autopsy surgeon. Nothing about the wounds on the body would create reasonable doubt of the injuries being created after death. Now after the disclosure of the killer the amount of blood underlying the injuries, the velocity at which blood left the body appeared to indicate that the injuries were postmortem. Blood did not fit the quantity, as one would normally expect here. These observations conform to the biological principles laid down in the literature (2). Incised wounds are caused even after the death of the victim (3). Knife wounds inflicted at the time of death or shortly thereafter have characteristics (4). Doubt in relation to postmortem incised wound has also been discussed in literature(5). Immunohistochemical detection of molecules involved in inflammatory reaction can be useful for the diagnosis of vitality in skin wounds is suggestive of the lab support in solving the difficulty (6,7,8). Nor had showed up to help with the cleanup. She decided to leave this one pretty much intact.



They described weapon Z as a tall buxom blonde woman with the look of death in her very eyes. She had brown eyes. She was a Greek woman. She was wearing a white spandex jumpsuit that covered her from neck to toe. She had a Z. on her chest it was black. She wore black gloves, black boots, & a black belt with a white belt buckle. It had a good hoster on it. Her hair was up in a ponytail , She placed two quarters on the victim's eyes then she said.;;



Weapon Z, "For your journey on the river Styx. "

:: They now knew why she had been placing quarters on the victims. It was her calling card. The man with her was about 6'9 ft in height. He was muscular and had a shaved head. He had a goatee. A very mad in his eyes ihs goatee showed he had blond hair. They also said he had blue eyes. He was wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt the T-shirt had a hammer on it. It was a sledgehammer. He had on a leather belt with a cowboy belt buckle. They also are leather cowboy boots. And a watch. That was the exact description of Thor. The police were coming to pick up the witnesses, but before they could get their the five witnesses were all shot dead from a sniper rifle. Sampson and King of irons searched the trees for the sniper. There was no one to be found. Wildcard was not surprised. She knew that an autopsy would show that the bullets were from a 306 sniper rifle. It was the preferred sniper rifle of the swat units. She was also fairly certain that Weapon Z would have worn a gailes suit when she hid in the trees. A suit also used by the swat team. It was created by an Scottish game warden to stop poachers. It made one very difficult to find in trees. Weapon Z wanted the regulators to know who she was, but wasn't going to give them what they needed to go to court with. Still they now had some evidence they could use against her. In Kenneth Tibido assassination she used a simple switch blade. In this lady's murder she used a straight razor. To kill the kids a 306. She was smart enough to realize the weapons she was using work common to findand therefore did not work against her as a calling card. It she can get rid of the need to drop quarters on their eyes it would become more difficult to trace her. That and they were still three more of the gifted brigade that had yet to make their move.

That worried Wild Card. Still they did now have a description of two of the Gifted Brigade. Still the other three were unaccounted for. Within hours that changed. On November 26th 2005, 3 robbers broke into the Brinks Mat warehouse In NewOrleans Louie Arm Strong Air Port. It was supposed to be a relatively easy job, stealing £3 million in cash with the help of an inside man.No Face disguised as one of their employees. This all changed when, instead of the cash, they found gold bullion worth £26 million.

[Zeb Oswalt]

It appeared at first that the robbery was a huge scale operation that had been extraordinarily well planned. And in reality, the operation was extremely detailed in its planning, but the robbers were expecting to find money, not ten tonnes of gold bullion, waiting to be transported to the Far East.









The £26 million in gold wasn't just lying in a warehouse waiting to be stolen. It was locked in a safe, deep inside a secure airport building surrounded by guards, but that didn't deter the robbers.

Clearly having some insight into the layout of the building, the gang burst into the secure area, disabled the guards and tied them up. In order to force the guards to reveal the combination to the safe, the robbers poured petrol over them and threatened them with lighted matches until they gave in.

When the safe was finally opened, they looked in disbelief on a haul of gold bullion that was far beyond any previous 'cash-only' heists they had ever been involved in. What should have been a five minute "smash 'n' grab" robbery, ended up becoming a lengthy operation. Several members of the gang left the airport to get some different transport because the booty was too big and heavy for their getaway vehicle.

Nearly two hours after they had entered the building, the gang finally made their getaway.

The usual suspects
The Brinks Mat robbery was a bold and highly skilled operation, so it didn't take the police very long to trace the core element of the gang from the usual suspects. The word on the street was that Coin Artist and bloodlust had been scouting for trustworthy recruits, weeks before the robbery, rumoured to be a mammoth inside job.

Robinson was already quite well known to the police. His partner in crime, Coin artist, also had a notorious reputation and was considered to be one of New Orleans's most prolific armed robbers.well if you consider per magical coin being armed. she was also known for world domination schemes.

The first problem Coin Artist and Blood Lust faced was what to do with £26 million worth of gold bullion - not the easiest thing in the world to hide. To have any chance of getting away with the job, they would have to arrange for it to be carefully laundered and discreetly transferred into their own pockets. This kind of operation requires a great degree of care subtlety - both of which Coin artist and Blood Lust lacke lacked.

Before the robbery, they were both living in modest council houses in New Orleans , but only a few weeks after the heist they were living in a very large house in Metairie paid for in cash. It was also rumoured that coin artist had bought two Rottweiler dogs to protect her mansion and named them 'Brinks' and 'Mat'.

Deciding what to do with such a large physical amount of gold would have been extremely difficult for the two main robbers. There would not have been many people in their immediate circle who could have known what to do with such a vast amount of gold. Some bigger fish from the London end of the criminal pond had to be called in.

The Brinks Mat gang called upon the services of a criminal figure known only as the Processor Doom. The Processor Doom was a well-known character in the criminal underworld and had risen to become one of the senior figures in the Us due to associations with many gangs, and terrorist organizations particularly the infamous Gifted Brigade .

[Zeb Oswalt]

Using his contacts, the Processor Doom arranged for the Brinks Mat gold to be delivered to a variety of different people so it could be smelted down into more manageable forms. The his for hire terrorists were happy to oblige, for a small cut of the proceeds. They involved the services of a jeweller named Solly Lasnne , who was willing to sell on the smelted down goods.


The first job for the police was to find out the identity of the gang's insider who worked for Louis Armstrong . It turned out to be a lot easier than they expected. One of the security guards at Louis Armstrong was called Anthony Green on the morning of the robbery, he had been late into work and missed the entire heist. A fact that was duly noted by the police in their preliminary investigations.

It didn't take much investigative work to discover that Green was living with coin artist's sister at that time. With a little pressure from the authorities he confessed to his role in the robbery and began pointing the finger at the rest of the gang who were now living a life of luxury. It seemed like the game was up, but there were still a few more twists in this tale.

A final piece in the Brinks Mat puzzle came to light when it was discovered that Green had introduced Kenneth Noye into the ever-growing circle of Brinks Mat associates. Noye (No Face) appeared to have some expertise in the gold smelting trade and had connections with John Kunnia , the owners of a Bristol-based gold dealership.

Noye's expertise was used to introduce copper to much of the Brinks Mat gold during the smelting process. This changed the carat of the metal and made it impossible to trace back to the French Quarter robbery. Despite this apparently foolproof way of distributing the wealth, a lack of subtlety and a stupid indiscretion raised suspicion from the authorities.

The first mistake the gang made was withdrawing large amounts of their laundered money from a single branch of a bank in Bristol. Not an unusual problem you would think, but the sheer amount of cash that was continually withdrawn from that particular branch, meant that they had to request additional funds from the Bank of New Orleans. This earned the robbers the attention of the Treasury and, unsurprisingly, the police. and the RegulatorsAll of this meant that Noye (No Face) was placed under heavy police surveillance.

Despite the unwanted attention of the law, the desire to keep hold of his newly acquired wealth became too much for Kenneth Noye (No Face)In January 2006, he discovered DC John Boudreau , an undercover detective, in his garden and, in the row that ensued, the officer was stabbed to death. Noye was subsequently arrested for murder and, although it may have seemed that he would finally go to prison, the jury believed the defence case that he acted in self-defence and he was acquitted by a majority decision.

But that wasn't the end of his troubles. In 1986, Noye (No Face) was back in court to endure a lengthy eleven-week trial, with his co-defendant Thomas Smith ( one of Professor doom's terrorists. ) after eleven bars of gold were discovered in his home.

This second arrest eventually led to his conviction of conspiracy to handle the Brinks Mat gold, as well as VAT evasion charges. He & No Face were fined a total of £700,000 and given 14 years in prison each . however No Face was not going to serve that sentence. after Coin artist I killed her sister And Green. they tore through the wooden building Shocking All the people around asshe used the coin to create a shield around her and superhuman strength to carry Lady Justice's head She threw it at the judge. Crushing him telling him he was a white-haired man in his 70s. He was starting to lose his hair on his head.He had a short gray beard . he ware a nice black suit under his robes.Lady Justice's head crushed him And his podium the Oak podiumCrushed like a can.As a million splinters went everywhere.::

Coin Artist," Who says justice doesn't come to those who wait?"

::The people panicked and ran away. she fired a beam at Thomas Smith killing him instantly.She smiled and let out a sadistic laugh.Bloodlust flew through the people feeding upon a few of them here and There .Then Thor Walk into the doors.The swing them openAs crows flew by.The Sunbeam down on him. As he pulled out a shotgun. From his long Camouflaged trenchcoat. He fired bolts of lightningAt the people in the courthouse.Earlier Yet been attacking the dams. To weaken But not Destroy them. That was not part of the plan. Still at the moment the little scene in the courthouse was not finished yet .Just then one of the walls Exploded As bits of it flew everywhere. there are parts of oak and metal Flying everywhere. And then the less the group walked in it was Weapon Z.She's wearing a brown trenchcoat. A wisp of her hair flewin front of her face.



She had on a regular outfit Underneath the trenchcoat. The wind blew A few pieces of paper here and there. As she calmly walked into the room. She took off the trenchcoat and through it across the room. as bullets flew through it.Getting several of the people in the Room.She had A 357 MagnumIn one hand. And a mini uzi in the other.She had no expression on her faceonly cold determination.She was there to do a job.It is so happened in her a lot of work there was a lot of killing. Truth be told they didn't really bother at all. the bailiff remove her Mask Showing that she was in fact Wild Card in disguise. She was wearing her usual Outfit. Instead of her usual weapons she had a pair of War hammer's. Not the gigantic mauls that we're used to seeing.

They were the small yet destructive hammber s that were used In history. and she was prepared use them. just then the ground shook . Sampson has slammed his fist Against the ground.He made a very street shake. As he ran to enter the fray.He tried his best to havea happy-go-lucky smile.He thought the time hero should look.But in truth it is so full of rage .It was hard to pull that off.But he felt he had to. He had to live up to what he believed a hero should be.It was all he had left.It was a life we chose is going to live it to the best of his abilities.At that very moment Flying through a was left of the front wall was Dr. Mosquito. He fired the liquid from his handsTo heal The victims as best he could. Devi just walked in. She did not fill the need to make an entrance. king of irons had a completely different thoughton the matter.



He as always was in his regular cool outfit. but he was standing on top of a gold painted Porsche.His name was written on it in black letters. He stood on top of it like he was surfing. has surfing safari played on the car radio.He was using his powersto drive the car. At that moment now a players Were here.The final fight was about to begin. This was when Wild-Card spoke.::