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City of Heroes New York City Legends

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New York Legends


  New York city – The Big Apple. New York has always been home to a colorful collection of people. It is normal to people of a score of countries speaking a dozen different languages. Every city has it’s myths, legends and stories and NYC has its own collection. Amusing confusing, mysterious and some just outright weird.


Frankie

  NYC spends millions of dollars a year trying to contain the pest problems the city has. None is more well-known than the subway rats. The MTA expends a great deal of effort to remove the rats in the subway. They have yet to completely get rid of them but they have contained them. There are countless stories of how the rats in the subway are as big as dogs. But until 1957 no one realized just how true that was.

  A Super Team; ‘The Excelsior’s’ was hired by the city when reports came of something lurking in the tunnels. Villains and monsters seem to be attracted to the subway tunnels and sewers under New York.

  After a long pitched battle with a villain (whose name -ironically enough is no longer remembered) the group returned to the surface with an unexpected guest. IT was a rat. It truly was the size of a dog. A large dog. A VERY large dog. Weighing in at over 150 pounds it was frighteningly large and seriously butt ugly. It was to everyone’s surprise quite friendly.

  Not sure what to do with a giant rat the group eventually donated it to the Central Park Zoo. The zoo officials were equally baffled as to what to do with it. So they put him into a large cage and announced their newest acquisition.

  A ‘Name Our New Arrival’ contest was held and the winning entry was Frankie. What Frank Sinatra thought of the creature being named for him has not been recorded. But he did smile for the cameras during a publicity photo.

  Frankie quickly became a favorite of many who came to see ‘The giant monster’. He also proved to be surprisingly intelligent and capable of escaping his cage at will. Many a visitor was spooked to see the giant rat wandering around the zoo. He seemed to love the snack bar! With much effort they managed to at least have him stay in his enclosure when the zoo was open. He did roam the zoo and a good part of the park at night. When word got out that a giant, mutant rat was roaming the park at night incidents of crime in the zoo and park dropped remarkably.

  He remained a favorite of visitors and soon learned that doing tricks would earn him free food! Frankie was mourned upon his death in 1977. The zoo acquired another by means never revealed. Which brings up the question; Just how many of Frankie’s relatives are living down there?

  During the Rikti invasion the zoo was hit and many animals escaped including Frankie 2. During the vicious fighting in the tunnels under the city many people reported seeing Frankie (or his relatives) hunting the invaders with a frightening ferocity. Video footage of Frankie (or a relative) ripping through a group of Rikti warriors is chilling and shows what he could do if angry.

  When the war ended Frankie 2 went back to the zoo and greeted the returning Keepers happily. His exploits during the war became legendary. He was even made an honorary member of the 42nd Infantry division.

  Frankie 2 remains a fixture at the zoo and has even has his own Facebook page! But like his predecessor they can’t keep him in his enclosure at night.


  Seth
  Of all the legends of NY Seth is the most enduring and most mysterious. Seth is the stereotypical giant monster hiding in the subway. Described in any of a hundred different ways from super sized giant rat to monstrous snake (of any of a dozen different species but anaconda is the most popular) to the obligatory giant alligator.

  As to how old the legend is a clue comes from the name – Seth. A Seth Low was mayor of New York in 1902 – 1903 when the subway was first being dug.

  A succession of Supers and Super Teams have hunted this creature over the years with varying results. Most report finding nothing or like The Excelsior’s found something else. But at least one encountered something.

  On August 14th 1937 an ad hoc super team was involved in a nasty fight that wrecked a good portion of the 68th street station and the street above it. Exactly what they fought remains a mystery but a witness described it as being as large as a trolley car, black and having long, sharp teeth and claws.

  Seth is routinely blamed for anything that happens in the subway from accidents to flooding to derailments. In September 1940 a (thankfully empty) subway car was ripped to shreds. In November 1943 something ate a hundred foot long section of track near the 51st street station. Going so far as to rip the steel rails out of their concrete footings. It even left teeth marks in the concrete. A long succession of missing persons were blamed on him but to date he has never actually been seen attacking a citizen. Supers – yes. He’s fought many over the years including several well-known villains. The record for the most fought at one time is an impressive 35!

  The transit authority placed a moratorium on hunting Seth in 1950 as the hunters seemed to cause more damage than Seth did. And they were also making Seth mad. After a while things seemed to settle down but were never truly normal. Subway workers only enter certain sections in large (armed) groups.

  All the legends came to a head during the Rikti invasion. The fighting in the tunnels and sewers was vicious and is well documented in movies (3 so far), books (22) and countless TV specials. The fighting in the dark and cramped tunnels was very confused. After a while the soldier’s reported that something else was down there and it wasn’t Frankie or his relatives. It was far larger and described as being; “As big as a subway car.”

  It also seemed to be seriously pissed off at the Rikti.

  There are countless ‘Seth’ stories but only a few can bear any real examination.

  A squad delving deep under the park came upon a Rikti base that had been thoroughly and comprehensively trashed. Walls, floors, ceilings and occupants had been ripped apart. A week later the super Mole came upon another Rikti base that was as destroyed as the other.

  The media, desperate for any good noise latched onto it. “Seth 2 Aliens 0,” the one headline read. It was one of the few bright points in a long succession of bad news.

  Another incident witnessed by several hundred people and was actually caught on film. Something snatched a Rikti lander out of the nighttime air and dragged it underground. Weapons still firing!

  But for all the attacks on the invaders there were no reports of attacks on the humans. The general in command eventually issues orders; “Leave Seth alone. So long as he doesn’t attack us we won’t attack him.”

  No one is sure exactly what Seth is but the city goes to great lengths to be sure they don’t make him angry.


The Bronx Zoo

  The Bronx zoo was hit hard in the Rikti invasion and a large number of animals escaped.

  An infantry platoon witnessed a wild fight between a group (troop?) of Rikti monkeys and pack of African Wild Dogs. The soldiers ended the fight by shooting the monkeys.

  In another incident, a pair of cheetahs leapt into the back of an M2 Bradly IFV in the midst of a heavy attack. The astonished crew watched as the cats took refuge in the back and refused to come out. Finally the two were lured out with a large amount of food. After the war they were returned to their rebuilt enclosure.

  An artillery unit found that the people sneaking through their perimeter at night was actually a troop of baboons. The soldiers fed the creatures and wound up adopting all six as mascots. They were with them for over a month before it was decided the baboons needed a safer place.

  A group of civilians looking to take cover during a Rikti bombing raid found the cellar they entered already occupied. They came face to face with a trio of tigers! A mother and two kittens! Necessity forced humans and cats to share the same sanctuary for a full, nervous, twenty-four hours. The felines were then left alone until an infantry squad led by a Bronx zoo keeper finally located them. Mother and kittens now reside in a larger enclosure at the Bronx zoo.

  Reports of a pride of lions living in upstate New York has never been proven. The only proof being blurry photos and untrustworthy ‘eye witness’ accounts. Still it has not stopped a succession of hunters and investigators from exploring the area.


The UN Building

  The world famous UN building in New York was attacked early and hard by the invading aliens. Many think that the aliens mistook it as the capital of earth. Which would explain the ferocity of the assault.

  Attempts to defend it were futile and contact was quickly lost with the area for several weeks. Finally a platoon managed to make it’s way there and when asked to make a report on the state of the building sent a now famous two word reply. “Smoking Crater.” The building had been completely destroyed. There was nothing left – literally. Even after the war the site had been so badly contaminated by radiation and poisons that it took years to clean up.
Some more randomness from my Super Fox stories set in the world of my favorite MMO City of Heroes!  No real plot of this but various small stories of Super Hero life in the Bog Apple.
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