"This is Nina Garza with a new series called 'Heroes in a Box.'  We've gathered all the new superheroes as people are calling them now and will talk with them in a box with commentary by them on what's going on as we show clips from action on the street.  First though I'd like to have each of you introduce yourselves."

(cut to heroes)

Darien shifted uneasily in the chair, clearly uncomfortable with this interview. His eyes glanced around the box and then at Nina.

"Just relax. It will be fine."
"Says you."
"Yes, says me. Why are you so nervous?"
"..."
"She's pretty."
"What?"
"Nina. She's pretty, yes?"
"Ya...."
"And Devilgirl. She's really pretty."
"What's your point?"
"I think its cute the way you get shy around pretty women."
"I don't get ... OK, maybe you have a point."
"Just be yourself. You're kind and friendly and a really great guy."

Darien sighed and then looked into Nina's eyes. "I'm Darien. And I'm just here to do what I can to help."

Seconds pass on screen, long enough to question if the camera is in fact supposed to be recording. Slowly, the Spook appears, head lowered and already seated.

"I'm the Spook," he begins, quiet and joltingly, but with conviction "and I'm here - to protect the people of the city. To defend what I can."

The Spook raises his masked head and faces the camera directly "I am here to show the criminals of the city that they cannot hide. Not from me. I'm coming, and I'm starting with Temere, the man responsible for the violence at city hall."

The Spook ends his interview quickly, fading out just after name-dropping Temere. With any luck this interview will help draw attention to my mysterious thin man he thinks. In any case, it's a good idea to get my name out as a fighter for the city. I'll definitely need to drop more interviews later.

The effect of studio lights on his mirror-like skin makes the image difficult, but that's not his concern. Letting the technicians do their job, he smiles and introduces himself. "Just call me Manmirror, upon due reflection I think the name suits me."

Showing a clip of the heroes fighting Snake-men, Nina asks "Have you come up with a name for your group yet?"

Darien gave a quizzical look followed by a shrug. "I'm not into names or labels. Whatever. What do you think we should call ourselves, Nina?"

The Spook chuckles quietly. "A man claiming to be from the future calls us 'the Vindicators.' It's as good a name as any."  He rubs his arm absently, reminded of the recent snake-bite from Nina's clip.

Nina "The Vindicators.  Who or what are you Vindicating?"

"Well, that's one of the problems you get with 'men from the future'. For all we know that which we must vindicate has yet to occur. In the long run, it doesn't matter so much. We might not have been doing this together, but I think if we had never met everyone here would have been doing it separately, anyway."

Nina says "Uh Huh." trying not to look confused at Manmirror.

"Could each of you give us a little about how you got your powers?"

The Spook hesitates, uncomfortable. He answers, haltingly at first, then gains momentum with the memory and explains with passion.

"My name is... Jason. I'm Jason. I was in college, working on applying color theory in psychological practice. I was... intrigued by the possibility of colors - colors outsideof the visible spectrum, and spent years developing my device. A device that would allow me to perceive never-before seen colors. I made progress - real progress. But in... haste I mistakenly reversed my lenses and prisms... When the time came to test the machine my0 cells were saturated with a 'hardlight.' I came to only to find my machine - my lifes work - destroyed and years wasted. I left the university. However, my experiment - it caused strange side effects, abilities far beyond human capability. I realized I could accomplish anything -  Do the the kind of work police could only dream of! I became determined to use this accident as a gift. I had to be careful, to be smart, but I would use my ability to help my city and protect the greater good!"

The Spook raises a clenched hand, swept in his own emotion. Coming back to the present he startles, lowers his hand and  clears his throat. He quietly places his hands in his lap, clears his throat again, and looks into the camera with blank expressionless goggles.

"When I was a kid, I was sick. Really sick," Darien said solemnly and then lied and deflected. "But... some of the cutting-edge therapies proved... beneficial. And this is why I have sympathy for these snake-men and what Doctor Cobra put them through. At least some, if not most, were also suffering from cancer and other diseases. He dangled a cure in front of them. I have been there. I've been in the terminal care wards. I lost a lot of friends growing up. So I don't blame the victims. The cure turned them into monsters... and totally dependent upon Doctor Cobra. I hope the courts treat them fairly. Now those who took the drugs just to become big and powerful and commit crimes? They should have the books thrown at them."

Devilgirl is present but seems unually shy, letting the others do the talking. She's ruminating over her recent less than stellar record, especially confronting Temere.

'I'm Devilgirl,' she says quickly and a little unhappily. 'I guess you could say I was born with my powers though created might be a better word. Long story, um, is it cool if we don't go into it much? Bad memories.'

Manmirror shrugs, "I don't know where they came from, one day I just started doing these things. Sometimes I figure this is just an elaborate dream, and when I wake up the rest of you will be consigned to oblivion."

Nina goes google-eyed at Manmirror's statement and once again says "Um..." looking a bit flustered.

She says to Devilgirl "We have quite a few tweets wanting to verify which version of hell is correct if any, and what's the true faith, while others are saying anything you say would be a lie anyway, and calling for your exorcism and banishment. Thoughts?"

'Um...,' Devilgirl begins nervously. 'To be honest I don't know. Our side... I mean the side I used to be on before I turned good... we weren't much for truth telling. Junior demons are brainwashed from day one so you can't tell the reality from the propaganda.'

She pauses, blushing. 'Also I sort of lost a lot of my power and knowledge after defecting from the underside. It's all very metaphyical but I think it is something to do with mortals not meant to know too much about life after death or some junk.'

Nina nods, then says shows a clip of Manmirror deliberately breaking the road, saying to him "Manmirror, Why are you destroying public property here?"

"There were man-sized, venomous, irritable, snake creatures running amok. I felt a need for some sort of distance weapon and felt throwing automobiles might have been a bit over the top. I became more certain that tearing up the asphalt was the more appropriate method at a later point."
"It turns out throwing automobiles is over the top, and technically, it was the snake guy that broke the pavement. I was just supplying the necessary force."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:30, Wed 04 Oct 2017.

...On another channel...

"...there's no truth to the rumors that Blackthorne Industries is behind any cat disappearances in the five boroughs for whatever nefarious reason; not a one," explains billionaire entrepreneur Henry Elias Blackthorne. "I'm a cat-lover, but I have no need for half a million of them."

"You're a cat lover?"

Henry scoffs at the interviewer's incredulity as he tugs on the cuff of his shirt sleeve to bring it back out from under the finely-woven double-breasted suit jacket. "That's so unbelievable, Janet? I have three at home - lovely little devils, they are."

"Do you have any idea what's behind the disappearances, then?"

"Not a one, frankly. I'm as baffled as everyone else," he replies with furrowed brows. "As far as that fellow who called in about an 'impending earthquake,' count me with the USGS as skeptical towards the abilities of animals to detect earthquakes days or weeks in advance. It's certainly a mystery that pulls you in - and I, for one, hate to see fellow cat owners distraught over the loss of their beloved pets."