Super-hero rp (working title, Open)

Introduction

New Elmkirk, A sprawling metropolis and capital city of the country of placeholderland. Within it's vast streets and dark alleys lie a select few great men and women. Each walk their own paths and hold in their hands the potential to change many lives, if not the world. The only thing that separates them are how they use their potential, whether that be to aid the weak or satisfy their own greed.

Those who look towards the light may become heroes, champions of justice and idols to the mundane. It isn't easy being a hero, but those who persist can often find themselves the attention of affection, their faces plastered across billboards and their likeness captured in merchandise ready to be sold to their adoring fans. Those who play their cards right could even find the life of a hero quite lucrative.

Not every great person wishes to use their powers to aid the world however, whilst the rise of heroes has brought a strong positive to the world, there are those who act against them, for their own interests. When one can shape the world, it is hard to resist shaping it into that which best benefits oneself.

Plot

History
The past is in
your head

As such a large city New Elmkirk attracts a large amount of attention. As such it has always been a place associated with Supers, those with exceptional abilities or powers unobtainable by normal men and women. Whilst superheroes help protect and peace and save lives, there are also those who use their powers for themselves and in violation of the law.
Until a couple of decades ago most Supers were looked on as pariahs, unaccepted by society and feared. Then one man rose up and changed that. Going by the alias “Galaxy” he repeatedly showed up in times of need to help those he needed it. At first he was scorned but overtime people began to see the goodness in his heart, and the city of New Elmkirk, followed by the world, became more tolerant and accepting of Supers.
Eventually this tolerance turned into admiration and as a result more Supers came forward to stand as heroes, and despite the criminal actions of some Supers, the popularity of superheroes soared until near universal acceptance.
It was this popularity which led to the creation of Hero News, a TV network that persists to the current day. In addition to covering the deeds of heroes and reporting on the appearance of new Supers, good and evil alike, the show also ranks the heroes against one another, forcing competition among them and turning them into rivals. To begin with Galaxy held the top position exclusively but as time past he aged and eventually he slipped from his podium, and retired shortly after.
The gateway open, now is the time for new heroes, and with a mysterious organisation calling themselves Epoch beginning to take action, perhaps now more then ever the city needs it's heroes.

The Current Day
The future's in
our hands

The day is April 1st, and it started like any normal day, it always does.
It's the early afternoon, 2 pm, when panic breaks out in the industrial district, where a group of armed criminals have been locked in stalemate with the police.
The criminals were discovered whilst attempting to steal a large amount of broadcasting equipment from one of the warehouses.
In an attempt to subdue the criminals with minimum, the heroes have been called on to deal with the problem, unaware that the criminals in question are actually the part of the ever growing group “Epoch”.

Setting
A closer look at the city and
organisations within it.

New Elmkirk
As one of the largest cities on the globe, New Elmkirk is divided into a a total of three districts. Of these three, two are located north of the broad canal that runs through the city and the third lies south of it, connected by a total of four bridges.

District 1, Commercial: Also known commonly as 'Down-town', the commercial district is dominated by large skyscrapers and huge department stores. It houses the offices of a large number of businesses as well as countless bars, hotels and restaurants.

District 2, Industrial: West of the commercial district, the industrial district is home to a number of warehouses as well as the city's power plant, harbour and airport.

District 3, Residential: South of the main canal is where the majority of citizens live. In addition to the countless small houses and apartment buildings are a number of parks and sports fields. In terms of space it occupies approximately the same area as the other two districts combined.

Hero News
The TV network Hero News provides an 'official' ranking to the superheroes of New Elmkirk. Based on the deeds of the heroes, points are awarded for capturing criminals, saving lives and other acts of heroism. Conversely negative actions such as cowardice or destructive behaviour may warrant the removal of points. This is to encourage the heroes to act responsibly and reward them for their good deeds.

Every month the hero who has been awarded the most point is named the “Champion of New Elmkirk.”
Whilst the rankings themselves don't actually mean anything, it plays a big part on how the public sees the heroes, and fickle as humans are those at the top of the leader-board will undoubtedly have more fans then those at the bottom. In addition high ranking heroes are frequently sought out for sponsorship from big and small businesses alike. This means that any hero willing to become a corporate icon can make some easy money through promotion, as well as spreading their own fame, for better or for worse.

All superheroes are asked to register at the Hero News station prior to their public debut so that they can be properly awarded points, in return the station alerts the heroes of criminals and citizens in danger via a communicator that can easily be modeled into an earpiece, watch, phone etc.
When a situation arises that requires the attention of a hero, those, and only those, that have announced themselves as heroes to the network will be notified of the problem.

Epoch
A crime syndicate that has begun operating within New Elmkirk. Whilst the syndicate seems to currently be gathering resources/followers it claims to be shaping a better world free from the 'greedy corporate pigs'. The organisation's leaders claim that if put in power they will stop 'true crime' of pouring money on select individuals and create a utopian society where all can be happy together.
It is unknown how true to their words the organisation would be if in power, but regardless they have begun attract the support of some of the worse off citizens of New Elmkirk.

The organisation itself is structured into three groups. At the top are the trinity, a trio of leaders that oversee the development and operation of the syndicate. Their word is law within the organisation and orders given by one of the trinity can only be canceled out by the opposal of the other two.
Below them are officers. Officers are usually charged with overseeing a specific task. Whilst the trinity manage the group as a whole, officers are often called upon to manage a particular area such as disciplining agents, gathering intel, recruiting members or dealing with equipment. Officers are usually chosen when they excell at a given task.
At the bottom are the agents, the backbone of the organisation. Those who have reccently joined the organisation, or done little to stand out, fall into this category. Agents are set upon any task deemed suitable by their superiors, wheter that be conducting a robbery or cleaning the hideout.

Gerard Lyon

“Thank you, Debra.” Reaching across his broad mock-oak desk, Gerard pushed the small button besides his intercom to turn the device off, In response it gave a small crackle and promptly fell silent.
It was that time again, that all important time for the station, when a problem had arisen and the police found themselves unable to deal with it. When evil reared it's ugly head and the world was left asking, who can save us now? It was time to call in the big guns, the champions of the city, the heroes.
Rising from his luxurious leather seat, Lyon found time to pat down his suit and give his hair a quick touch up before finding his way out of the office. He only needed to go a short distance, down a couple of halls, before he found himself at the control room, perhaps the only place more important to him then his office. Letting his natural swagger wash over him, he boldly pushed through the door, ready to do his job.
Despite having been incredibly quiet mere minutes ago the control room had already burst into life as the news of the ongoing robbery was broken to the station. All around monitors flashed and people were hard at work, some scrambling in at the last possible moment to meet their own unique deadlines.
“Okay, I want a live feed running in fifteen minutes. We don't want our beloved audience to miss a second of the action now do we? Particular not with several new heroes ready to make their début.”
Turning from the sea of chaos unfolding before him Lyon reached for a small phone-like device and put it to his ear. Turning smoothly to one of the operators and gave a smug grin. “Open the communication channels. Its time to let the heroes know what's going on.”
The operator nodded politely and began flicking a number of switches. After a short time he rose three fingers, before dropping them to two, one and then none. The signal that the heroes should now be able to hear him, provided they answered their communication devices.
“Good afternoon heroes!” His words were almost joyous, as though the news he was about to share was a positive thing. “We've got a large scale robbery going down in the industrial district. We don't have the details yet but they’re apparently held up in a warehouse on the east side. They’re well equipped but nothing you shouldn't be able to deal with. I'm sure you're all itching to get your first points of the month, get a leg up on your competition so I hope to see you do your best.” He took a seat, a warm grin still worked across his face and a sparkle in his eye. Odds are he could expect some decent ratings out of today's show. With several new heroes signed up there had been a lot of hype spreading across the city. The question was, who was going to perform well?

Clarissa Martel

There were crates, everywhere. Far too numerous for any one person to count, or at least that is how it seemed to the one person assigned such a task. With a sigh she looked down at the notepad in her arms and made a neat cross next to one of the items upon it before letting go of the lid to the crate she had just finished inspected.
The truck was approximately three quarters full, burdened with crates stuffed with all manner of technological wizardry. Technological wizardry she would love the opportunity to pluck apart piece by piece and reassemble, but she knew full well the consequences such actions would invoke.
Instead she continued with her assigned task moving onto the next crate and looking through it to make sure everything her superiors needed was inside.
A series of scrapping noises and metallic clanks signalled the arrival of the next crate, drawn onto the the truck by her own mechanical wonders. The particular bots in questions were designed purely for this sort of manual labour. They were fairly small, no more then a couple of feet tall, and built in such a way they looked akin to gaunt metallic insects. Of the two pulling the crate one turned it's head towards it's master, casting the single blue torchlight of it's eye on her shadowed face.
“Yes, yes... I'll sort you out.” She told it, rather testily. “You don't need to give me such a pathetic look.” Reaching across she placed a hand on the iron hook keeping the bot attached to the crate and undid it, moving swiftly on to repeat for the second metal drone. With a few more crates to load, the two machines quickly scuttled away, leaving Clarissa once again alone inside the dark truck.
Deciding herself worthy of a break the girl set the notepad on a nearby crate and skipped out into the open warehouse.
They had run into a bit of trouble earlier on account of the police intervening, but things had been pretty quiet the last twenty minutes. The cops had backed off after finding out how heavily fortified Epoch's operation was. She didn't know who of her 'comrades' she could trust, or how competent they were, but there were certainly enough of them to make the police nervous.
Word going around though was that the police had blocked the road, which was going to make getting out difficult. Apart from that though they weren't up to anything. Almost as though they were waiting for something. Real question was, who were they waiting for?