She had always been something of a figure of fun. Obscurata, with her melodramatic latin name and power to make darkness, who robbed banks and liquor stores and could be foiled by a teenager in a home-made costume.
Tank had encountered her years ago, when he was a teenager in a homemade costume, and foiled her on his second attempt. It was almost a rite of passage – if you could take on Obscurata, you were ready for the life. Anyone who couldn’t take her down in five or six attempts tended to quit.
It had been a surprise to see that rippling dark cape here, and a disappointment. He had… not a fondness, exactly, but a soft spot for Obscurata. She wasn’t one of the really bad ones. Older heroes steered the young ones towards her, knowing that they’d come out of a fight with her bruised but whole. She never killed. She never even seriously harmed. He hated to see her working with the Claw, who did.
He tried not to let it distract him. Claw had taken a girl – Lily, one of a trio of new-minted girl heroes – in Tank’s city. He’d been keeping an eye on the girls, and he’d dropped everything to go in pursuit when he realized it was Claw who had Lily. Obscurata might have bruised and frightened her a little, but Claw’s captives usually wound up dead… or worse.
You work as the minor villain every new hero has to beat for their first battle.