Victory: The Invincible - Introduction

Hiya! My name is Wynn. I can't tell you what it's short for. These days, I work as a barista at a local coffee shop in the heart of a major city. Since there are a lot of people after me, I can't really tell you where it is, unfortunately. I just want to be able to share my story and I can't do that if you know too much.

The coffee shop is quiet most of the time. To me, it is anyway. The hustle and bustle of customers coming and going becomes white noise you get used to eventually. I just kinda focus on my work and make sure they leave happy. I do tend to get distracted though. I have a sort of side gig.

I'm sort of a superhero.

I've had my powers for a little over a year. Most threats that have popped up have disappeared now, scared away by the invincible Victory! Some have remained though. I guess through some kind of natural selection, the villains that have stuck around have been the hardest for me to defeat. The rest all turned tail. But the ones who have stayed are uniquely capable of utilizing my weakness against me. That’s how they keep escaping. You see, I wasn’t born with my powers like some are. And I’m the only one who uses them for good as far as I know.

There was this one night I was watching the night sky out on the hillside. It’s quiet out there and the light pollution from the city can’t block out the stars there. I like going there whenever I want to relax and watch the stars. I saw a shooting star like I often did, but it was slightly different. The shooting star was red. That’s my favorite color. But, I didn’t really notice it at the time. I just closed my eyes and made a wish like I did every time I saw a shooting star. That wish changed everything.

All I did was close my eyes and wish for the world to be a better place. We had a small crime problem in the city. It wasn’t atrocious. But it was enough to worry my folks back in the country town I grew up in. So, I wished for something huge in a simple way. And I got it. When I woke up the next morning, having fallen asleep in the grass on the hillside, I looked down and my clothes were gone! I was suddenly covered up in some kind of red skin-tight costume that left little to the imagination. I had no idea what was going on, so I jumped up. But instead of hitting the ground, I just kinda stayed there. Floating.

Flying.

“Wha!” I gasped, pushing against the air in front of me in shock and accidentally propelling myself higher.

“Let me down! Let me down! Let me down! Let me down!” I kept screaming over and over again as I floated up and up. Finally, I calmed myself, realizing I was panicking and throwing myself upward. So, if I wanted to go down…

I pushed my hands back, as if pushing them to the sky, and I moved down toward the ground a bit.

What is happening? I wondered. And pushed again.

I moved a bit faster toward the ground. I pushed one more time, but a little harder. This time, I soared like a bullet into the ground.

WHAM!

“AH!” I yelped as I made contact with the ground hard enough to leave a small crater. I thought it would hurt, but I didn’t feel any kind of pain. I just felt like I landed as if I had jumped up like normal. “Am I…?”

I thought back to all the things I’d seen about people with abnormal abilities. Some were born with them and others acquired them in strange ways: radiation, mutation, medicine…

…and Magic…

Did my wish make me a superhero??

I looked down at my hands and wondered what kind of powers I must have. Apparently, flight was one. I looked up at the sky, timid about trying to leave the ground again. I looked back down at the crater I was standing in.

“That didn’t hurt at all. I guess I also must be invulnerable?” I pondered aloud. “And probably super strength if I was able to move that much dirt just by landing…”

I looked at my car which sat nearby. Can I move that?

Hesitantly, I approached my car and laid my hand on the hood. I gave it a gentle push and…

SCRUUUUUUNK!

There was now a handprint shaped dent in the hood of my car.

“What was I even thinking with that?” I sighed, placing my face in my palm. “Now I’m gonna have to get that fixed…”

I looked back to the sky, anticipating my first flight. But I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.

After all of that happened, I began practicing controlling my powers. I had to learn to do things without using super strength. I had to learn how to jump without flying. I had to learn how to pretend things hurt again even though nothing ever did. Whenever I touched a hot object, it felt warm to the touch, but it never hurt. Nor did it burn my skin. It just got comfortably hot. So, I had to pretend.

I found out my strength and flight and invulnerability all worked pretty generically. I just had to control it all and learn to fit in as Wynn the Barista. But once trouble arose from one of the many criminals around, I quickly jumped into action as Victory the Invincible.

My costume can just appear whenever I want to hide my identity. I think it has some kind of magic to it, too. No one seems to recognize my face as Wynn’s whenever I’m dressed as Victory. I guess that was part of my wish, too. But that weakness I was talking about? I guess that was the downside of the wish. Kinda like a monkey’s paw wish. Along with all the powers. Despite never feeling pain, never being hurt, being crazy strong, and being able to fly, I also got a debilitating weakness.

Being extremely, and I mean EXTREMELY, ticklish.

I was always ticklish as a kid. Even at work, my friends would sneak a few pokes to my ribs and sides when I was reaching up high for coffee cups or filters and I would yelp. They loved it. But now, I am even more ticklish as Victory. And while I’m being tickled, I have no access to my strength, flight, or ability to change back into regular ol’ me. I’m stuck as Victory: the Invincible… and the Terribly Ticklish.

So, most of my archnemeses who still hang around my city are particularly well-versed in the art of tickling. Many of them know my weakness. As soon as the Pink Prowler discovered it in a strangely flirtatious way, word spread fast. The supervillains around here don’t work together very much. They’re way too power hungry to share any amount of valor. But they do talk, apparently.

Well, that seems like a good introduction to my crazy little story. My world. I keep to myself mostly, but will always answer a cry for help. Just please, if you figure out who I am and where I am, please keep it a secret. I’m telling you all this in confidence. And I’m trusting you with a lot already. The main question is: are you ready to learn all about my many adventures?