HERO EXPLOSION NOT SO SUPER

Following the demise of the British super team the Crusaders it seemed that it was only a matter of time before younger superheroes stepped into the lime light to fill the gap, yet none have come wearing capes and flying above our cities, instead they wear armour, drive bikes and deliver justice on a different level, down on the streets.
So who are these masked men and can we tell the difference between those that are 'doing their bit' like 'The Statesman' and those that can make a real difference to their communities if not the whole country? Well we need to look at their pedigree and just how easy they are to track down and talk too, lets deal first with the normal Joe's, the pretenders to the mantle of superhero.
The phenomenon of 'normal heroes,' of 'fake capes' is something entirely new, we are of course not talking about superheroes without any powers but instead those people in costumes that really are just one step higher than community support officers. Think of these guys as pretty policemen.
'The Statesmen,' 'Black Arrow,' 'Captain Champion' and 'The Ninja' are just some of the estimated sixteen or more 'fake capes' going out into the streets at night and doing their best to interrupt criminals, break up fights or generally try to keep the peace. They are sprouting up all over the country and it is fair to say that these individuals are quite happy to chat to the press and are not hard to track. They have no super powers and even their equipment is ordinary at best, no super specs, muscle enhancing hydraulic suits or ray guys for these guys, even a belt light seems to be stretching their technological limits. They stop cars being stolen and disperse small groups of teenagers, help drunks home or give young women the option of a safe person to walk home with after a long night in recession hit Britain. Brave, foul hardy individuals that just want to help but cant do the 'big stuff.'
Take on the other hand a darker, perhaps even vigilante group of individuals that are rising up in the cities, ones that definitely have either powers, Superior equipment or maybe even both. These individuals have not lept into the cameras lights like Crusaders of the past but instead seem to be trying to hammer out the vicious underbelly of crime that festers in every city. They prowl where demand leads to supply and supply to demand without anyone knowing which can first. Do the drugs clog the streets because the people demand a way out of their awful existence or did the drugs create the hell they live in? The people we are talking of in whispers seem far more interested in this domestic, urban nightmare than the flash of a bulb or the glint off the helmet of a super villain.
So who are they? Where are they? Why now?
In the south east a motorbike riding death eater travels to different coastal towns hammering the Prostitution rings where ever he finds them. He isn't a one hit kind of guy either, no less than five establishments are hit each time and it does appear to the casual observer that he simply follows the leads that each target gives him. They all seem to come into police custody with only minor injuries yet claim they have been beaten and tortured for information. Along with clear confessions to crimes they committed the captured miscreants have also given up over forty illegal immigrants that were being forced into prostitution to pay for their travel to the country illegally.
In the ports of Southampton and Dover a green and yellow clad martial artist has already stopped several shipments of drugs from penetrating the customs net and seems to be building a rapor with local law enforcement to further his effectiveness.
Birmingham has been in the papers recently as the Chronicle covered an incident that MI13 responded to that they would not comment on. Rumors of a duo of crime fighters in the area were linked to the incident though its just as likely that MI13 went in to contain a large shipment of the drug Damage that had reportedly gotten into the gang system.
London, traditionally the home of the Crusaders has at least two protectors on the streets, one is rumoured to be a green clad vigilante who has hit the underground slavers markets that have apparently been becoming far more frequent following the influx of over three hundred thousand dimensional refugees that have made Britain their home following the destruction of the Sentry Virus. Also a young woman rumoured to be claiming tha she is the new Union Jack is also operating, she has definitely been confirmed as being super strong and is almost certainly bullet proof, beyond that little is known.
Finally reports of a hoodie wearing man who appears and is directly attacking the gangs in Glasgow and Edinbourogh are gathering credibility by the week. This description may seem vague and yet add to it glowing red eyes, attacks that come from the shadows and a supernatural air about this defender of the people and you may see why we are waiting for this heroes star to rise.
So why now? Why has it been so quiet?
It takes a certain type of push to send people into the streets for this kind of action, we know that the young men and women that helped fight the occupation of this country by the N.M.A are gradually being sucked into gangs and the real cost of those bloody battles on the streets of this country is only now being felt. They try to come to terms with what they saw and experienced but many are finding themselves dragged back into the violence perhaps because they have a blood lust or more likely that they simply know they can handle themselves and there is money to be made if your willing to do what others wont. As the unemployment figures rise so to does the crime rate.
So are these heroes/vigilantes programmed to fight by tramas of the past or simply by the reemergence of the X-gene which is powering a new wave of mutants that are activating in the communites? Who knows, all we know is that they are at least for the time being, on our side.
Verity Luce.