Super-Speed
This is mostly an excuse to talk about how I’m handling superpowers, but also to look at how the gang might cope as individuals if granted a new specific power.
In this setting, I’m asserting the following departures from science as we understand it:
- the multiverse is explicitly real, with its own rules
- there’s a couple extra fundamental forces, colloquially called the “psychokinetic” and “telepathic” fields (although they are not really those things, just something that gives rise to those psychic phenomena)
- it’s possible for people to plug into these extra things, the way some animals can detect magnetic fields, and the methods can be rooted in genetics or epigenetics
- it’s possible for these forces to interact, just like in real physics where gravity can bend light
- there’s a very frequent “secondary mutation” or consequence of having superpowers, which is that your body can get energy from other sources, not just the usual biochemical means of cellular respiration and ATP - meaning you can do without food or even oxygen under some circumstances, and you can heal much faster than normal
This means, for example, that there’s no “gene” for blast-o-vision. Instead, there’s a gene that rewired your brain to let you couple the telepathic field to the electromagnetic one, and the result is blast-o-vision. People can thus inherit powers, or combinations of powers, genetically. Not all powers are necessarily inheritable, but enough are that we get to tell interesting stories about second- and third-generation heroes or villains, or people that were infused with powers by some scientific process or dramatic accident.
What is super-speed, for example? It’s basically time manipulation - you move much faster than normal, by warping spacetime through an infusion of energy. The secondary mutation mentioned earlier lets you power your body by coupling from the psychokinetic field, so you don’t consume massive amounts of oxygen in a room just by accelerating yourself.
So, okay, that was a lot. Back to the fun part. How about if any of these goobers got super-speed?
Harry Gale is our canonical speedster. He can use his powers for a variety of purposes, from thinking through problems to vibrating through solid objects - even crossing dimensions! Other members of his family have different schticks, but these are mostly applications of the core speed power and can be taught.
Adam Amari would probably use it the way Harry does - practically, cautiously, being a selfless hero.
Charlotte Palmer might find it indelicate to be just running everywhere, particularly in a hoop skirt and bodice. She would find other ways to apply her speed more gracefully, such as dodging attacks with grace, setting traps, and otherwise outmaneuvering the opposition. But if it came down to it, like rescuing people from an imminent explosion, I think she’d run.
Jason Quill would torture himself over the possibilities of misusing his power, and might only rely on it as a life-saving backup - for example, if he needed to dodge bullets. I feel like he’d be at normal speed most of the time.
Leo Snow, assuming he lost his hypergenius and gained speed in trade, would probably put it to use inventing - instead of skipping to the 50th successful attempt, he’d just make 50 attempts at a gadget at high speed, doing it the old fashioned way but in less time. He’d definitely use speed to make himself a more capable physical fighter. With both hypergenius and speed, he might adapt his armor to work with it - but I don’t think he’d rely solely on either speed or suit any longer. Safety first.
Alycia Chin, like Jason, would naturally distrust herself with the potentials of this power. I expect she’d be more willing to use it than Jason, applying it to solve scientific puzzles (how do I accelerate this chemical process?) or achieving stealth and surprise (vibrating through locked doors, moving too fast to be seen) rather than just running fast.
The Marvelous Menagerie
Stingray and A10 would probably behave like Harry, following the classic speedster model of run-fast-and-punch-guys to perform heroics. It might also improve their mental outlook, as both heroes have problematic relationships with the source of their current power sets.
Ninjess and Mirage would follow Alycia’s lead, finding sneaky ways to be fast. Like Leo, Mirage might use speed to compensate for a lack of hypergenius.
Menagerie In Action
Alex and Emma definitely could not be trusted with super-speed, and would be up to shenanigans within an hour tops.
Nono would find it weird at first, but probably pivot away from spy fiction as she started exploring and leaning into this new thing. It would definitely be a life-changing experience for her.
SNOWMAN has a limited form of super-speed already. He can do time-accelerated VR training, and his robot body can move extremely fast by human standards - not enough to dodge bullets or run across continents of course, but enough to give him a decisive edge in a fight.
Menagerie at Midnight
Like A10 and Nono, Equity would find super-speed a more palatable power - especially if it meant divesting herself of her current patron. The blessing of Palamedes has made her a brick, but I expect she also has a measure of speed to go with it.
The supernatural beings Bodark, Vermillion, and Manny the Skull might not misuse super-speed as such, but definitely would put it to assorted non-heroic uses.
A speedster in a wheelchair? I don’t see a problem with it. Maury Jones can climb and lift well enough, and as long as she had a mobility aid that could hold up to the stress, I think she’d be a screaming streak on the ground. Even without an aid that could survive moving at super-speeds, she’d find other ways to use the power - like manipulating the speeds of things around her, such as creating zones of highly compressed air and then releasing it as a single blast.
Newmenagerie
I did a gag comic with Summer being given technological super-speed aids, leading her to announce “I can hug every cat!”
Aria’s schtick is that she’s fast already, the same as SNOWMAN. Making her that much faster probably wouldn’t change things for her too much.
I’m honestly terrified of imagining Otto, Mo, and Big Bill with super-speed. They’re already these big honkin’ vehicles. Imagine them just warping around. Jesus.
Menagerie Megaverse
William can already canonically teleport. He’s already lugging around a big hefty chunk of metal and swings it around like it’s nothing. He’d just incorporate speed into his fighting style, doing Omnislash Version 6 shit, and dodging attacks as often as he parried them.
Jaycee would probably graduate to being a full-time hero. Being a trainer already, she’d make sure she was in fighting trim through exercise and diet, and she might ask an experienced speedster like Harry to train her for awhile.
Jordan would be a holy terror if she could run at super-speed. Adam would stop being a hero and have to babysit her full time.
Keri doesn’t have Harry’s legendary speed, but she can fly pretty fast now. What she’d do with speed depends on whether she’s trading in her existing powers or not, but I don’t think she’d have much trouble adapting. If anything, giving up durability for speed might be therapeutic, as she couldn’t just plow through obstacles any more.
Space Bug would engage in shenanigans full time, and might slip back into villain territory.