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2024-07-25: Hashtag and Milkman
seminar on "Nemeses"
- in a class taught by Nighthawk with whole Heartland Justice team plus five other young supers with badges but without a team
- mostly a history of supers and their nemeses, mostly about Nighthawk and Carbine
- in class assignment to name nemesis and write up plan for taking them down: Nighthawk was alarmed by the Glint's maniacal focus on Julius Skum, a really big fish for a young super, but Abed successfully rejected her influence and proved to her that Skum was a real threat
Hashtag
- after class, a classmate, Hashtag, caught up with Clarke the Bear, the Glint, and el Luchador in the hall
- awkward but earnest, she asked if Julius Skum was really their nemesis, then expressed admiration and wondered aloud how they got promoted after killing those kids, instead of being drummed out
- noting her lack of malice and tact, the team asked her about her nemesis and powers, then struck a deal with her: they would help her with hers and she could help them with theirs, because they thought her psionic powers (including powers of suggestion) would be useful for getting into SkumTech
bodega reconnaissance
- Hashtag's nemesis was Milkman, a neighborhood thief in a cow-print zentai suit, who she suspected of selling stolen goods out of the back of a bodega
- Hashtag planned to stake out the bodega, but Heartland Justice suggested a more direct approach: just going inside and looking around
- they immediately aroused the suspicion of a tall, lanky man--seemingly an employee of the bodega--who Hashtag said had the height and build of Milkman
- while Diego was in the bathroom (afraid but pretending to act normal), Abed convinced Hashtag with help from Clarke to use her powers of suggestion to have him let her into the back room: she did, and it worked
- but when Diego came out of the bathroom, the man mumbled, "Now where did that girl go?" and was about to look in the storeroom, so Clarke created a distraction, running to the bathroom for a "taquito emergency," he pushed the man out of the way with too much force and knocked him down
- the man thew Diego and Abed out of the bodega; they left, going down the alley to a side door they suspected went to the bodega storeroom; Diego knocked and Hashtag answered
- she pointed out the stacks of new, still-in-the-box car stereo equipment--quite out of place in a grocer's storeroom--all stolen Hashtag said
- when the tall, lanky man appeared at the inside storeroom door and shouted at them, Hashtag asked Diego and Abed what they should do; they answered, "Return this stuff to the people," so she grabbed two boxes under each arm and ran down the alley; Diego and Abed did the same, to the shouts of protest from the man
alley fight goes bad
- Milkman, still pulling on his mask and showing himself to be none other than the tall, lanky man from the bodega, ambushed Hashtag, Diego, and Abed at the end of the alley, punching Hashtag in the nose and sending her sprawling and bleeding
- el Luchador went after Milkman but missed, and, hit hard by Milkman, he momentarily lost control of himself and his mask took over, el Luchador said Hashtag was weak, not worthy of Heartland Justice, and they shouldn't've made this deal with her
- Clarke the Bear emerged from the bodega in time to see the Glint throw trash bags and alley detritus against a wall with an errant force blast, which Milkman ducked
- Milkman seized Hashtag and with too strong of an arm, wielded her like a shield; heedless, Clarke bear-charged down the alley and with help from el Luchador, intimidated Milkman, who threw Hashtag at Clarke and ran
- Clarke also terrified Hashtag, now on hands and knees, blood and tears streaming; she slapped away Abed's offered hand and pushed herself up to standing, saying, "You think I can't do this. I'll show you. I'll do it myself," and she took off around the corner, running after Milkman
- Diego ran away from a hard thing, not Milkman but the hurt he caused Hashtag
trivial pursuit
- Clarke and Abed ran after Hashtag and Milkman but Clarke super-pushed Abed away, acting rashly out of his guilt
- Abed gave up the chase and Clarke lost sight of Hashtag and Milkman but kept searching alone
- Abed called Nighthawk; she was on a mission and couldn't help but she offered to send an AEGIS team; Abed said yes, and awaited the team
Diego at the Museum
- when he ran, Diego intended to go to his sanctuary but was diverted by a strong urge to go to the Field Museum, specifically its loading dock
- workers there were unloading crates into the museum from a moving truck, when suddenly one got shot in the neck; he and his partner dropped the crate they were carrying
- recognizing all these people were in danger from a sniper using a silencer, el Luchador corralled them safely inside, but in the face of more fire, he stayed inside too
- when things went quiet, he emerged, finding the dropped crate opened and straw spilled out on the ground and nothing else inside
- the crate was stamped "Universidad de Ciudad de México," the paperwork said it was part of a collection of Mexican antiquities: a mask of a Zapotec bat god
AEGIS team drone operator led the way to Hashtag
- Milkman caught in a dead end alley faced Abed and Clarke as they and the AEGIS team approached; Hashtag had her back to them, facing Milkman
- still bloody, she was screaming; Milkman writhed in pain, clutching his head
- Abed ran and put himself between them; hands on Hashtag's shoulders, he told her to breathe; when she stopped screaming, Milkman dropped to the ground, unconscious
- later, sitting on the curb in police blankets, Abed talked with Hashtag and learned that she wanted to be on a team like Heartland Justice, her own team, but to be like them. "How can we make it up to you?" he asked. "Let me help with Julius Skum," she said. They shook hands. She said, "I'm Valerie." "I'm Abed," he said.