<div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 24pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: impact;"><strong>Chrysalis of the Superhero</strong></span></span><br/><br/>(https://i.imgur.com/48MLNu3.png)</div><br/>Standing a proud 100 feet tall, the ever-watchful gave of the Sentry Statue looked over the Great Bay of Freedom City. Captain Thunder, a prominent leader of the world-famous Freedom League uneasily stood on the statue's shoulders, Bowman perched beside the neck.<br/><br/>"It never gets easy looking at this thing," Captain Thunder said with folded arms. "At times I can't help if 'looking towards the future' is code for forgetting the past."<br/><br/>"Everyone deals with grief in their own way," Bowman said. "It's how he'd have wanted us to live."<br/><br/>His partner's words did not do much to inspire him. "I'm going to retire."<br/><br/>For once Bowman looked surprised. Then, a crimson-clad woman joined the pair of superheroes, a metallic device within her hands.<br/><br/>"Hello Tesla," Bowman replied. "You came at an odd time. The Captain-"<br/><br/>A raise of his partner's hand silenced him. "She knows. It's not exactly something I've kept secret, but not something I wanted to go around telling so soon."<br/><br/>"I examined the drone like you asked," Tesla said as she swung the metal object in her hands. "Apparently from a parallel Earth of some kind, although cannot say for sure which one. Her story may be truthful."<br/><br/>The drone's screen sprung to life, showing camera footage of a city in the vein of Ancient Rome, but with self-driven hovering chariots and bronze statues of women holding color-changing orbs to direct traffic. People coming and going to their various daily lives. And then the sky turned red as a peal of thunder rang out, preceding a huge beam of sickly yellow energy which drove into the earth. The camera turned to to show its holder: a panicked woman, accompanied by a broad-shouldered man bearing a resemblance to the statue, a scared-looking white-haired little girl closely holding his leg as chaos ensued.<br/><br/><em>Est etiam nuper! De Termino habet oppugnatum! Ergo necesse est uti in caelo currum istum!</em><br/><br/>The man lifted the girl into his arms, the coupled started running down a now quaking street full of panicking civilians and gun-toting Legionnaires shouting for order.<br/><br/>And then static.<br/><br/>Bowman patted the statue's head. "Well well Centurion, looks like one of your many counterparts got to be a Daddy."<br/><br/>"Maybe this is a sign that you should stay," Tesla remarked. "Your leader, no, our friend, has one more chapter for closure."<br/><br/>"No, I made my decision long ago," Captain Thunder said as his feet gradually lifted off of the statue. "The Freedom League can survive without a leader, like a hydra without a head. If I stay, Centuria and the others will hinge all their decisions upon me, even if they don't mean it. They'll be stronger functioning as a council of equals."<br/><br/>Now hovering in the air, he looked down at Bowman and Tesla, although his visage betrayed a gaze one gives to an equal and not a subordinate. "I fought beside you for years, having saved the Earth countless times. To say that I trust each of your judgment like no other is an understatement. But time is catching up with me, and I will not leave the League in shambles if I end up dying by the sword. It is time to pass on the torch to new heroes."<br/><br/>"Like your son?" Bowman asked.<br/><br/>"Not just him. There's one particular figure I've had my eyes on for a while..."<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div align="center">(https://i.imgur.com/7UziF6G.jpg)</div><br/>Scene Music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHZp1v5uApw)<br/><br/>Franklin D. Roosevelt High School was like many American public high schools in Freedom City: teachers making do with a limited budget, teenagers eager for graduation and even more eager to make a name for themselves in the world of adulthood. But being in Freedom City, it was no stranger to berserk robots escaping from Astro Labs, underground excursions from the Sub-Terran Kingdom, or any of the many other superpowered events that seem to strike every few weeks. The presence of a famous metahuman athlete, model, and high school student Chicahua Chalmecacihuilt, or "Chica" for short, helped give students and staff alike a feeling of safety. That she could bench press an aircraft carrier without breaking a sweat certainly helped matters.<br/><br/>The ringing of the school bell hailed the arrival of buses like clockwork. A few upperclassmen of means could drive to school themselves, although most still opted for public transit.<br/><br/>"Hey Chica!" a small group of students called out. "We've got a surprise for you..."<br/><br/>Suddenly one of them took out a balloon, cleverly held behind a small number in the crowd, as did others. Each of them had a letter, and they spelled out two words in unison:<br/><br/><em>Happy Birthday!</em><br/><br/>"Happy Birthday Chicahua!"<br/><br/>"We planned to do it after school, but a storm warning later today made us wind back the time. I hope that's alright."<br/><br/>"Alright? Of course it's alright! Must feel weird, huh? Being eighteen and all. So, what's your first plan of attack: vote, get your first legal beer, get a<em>real</em>driver's license and not a permit?"<br/><br/>"Maybe star in a porno," one of her male friends snickered.<br/><br/>"Marco!"<br/><br/>"Sorry Violet, I was joking. I didn't mean no harm by that, Chica, you know. Do what you want, I'm cool with whatever."<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Protagonist Details</div><div class="spoiler_body">Character Sheet Link. (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1orQ0__Ri97k0JOx63ew8bWbWcc1P8N7RtagRM6zm96k)<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Normal Clothes</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://i.imgur.com/MvlNVUH.jpg)</div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Superhero Outfit</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://i.imgur.com/8b94XPq.jpg)</div></div></div></div>