If I was Captain Ultra

Background

Griffin Gogol was a simple plumber who underwent hypnosis by an elderly psychiatrist who couldn't afford to pay him for the work he did for him. Little did Gogol know the psychiatrist was actually an alien from an other planet. While he was using his hypnosis to help Griffin quit smoking he also unlocked his innate superhuman powers otherwise known as his “Ultra Potential”. Unfortunately while removing his smoking habit, the alien either accidentally or purposely instilled in him a phobia of fire. Gogol would now faint in its presence. Fortunately Doc Samson helped him get over his fear of fire.

After failing as a super villain he decided to become a superhero first by trying to become a member of the Defenders but like a number of other heroes present at the time he decided not to be a member. He has know some success as a solo hero, as a member of the Initiative and other team ups with the likes of Thor.

Description

Although it's hard to tell by some of the ways he has been drawn sometimes. he is roughly the size of most male superheroes. He has short, brown hair and brown eyes. Captain Ultra wears a very odd costume that seems to be armoured to a degree or somehow “technologically enhanced”. The legs and belt are a gold color as well as....forget it. Look it up for yourself. The costume is just so full of colour and features that describing it properly taxes my patience.

Powers

Gogol's Ultra potential has been unlocked granting him super powers. Among them includes basically an over all physical enhancement including super human strength, endurance, durability, speed, agility and reflexes. He can lift at arms length over his head 9 tons. According to one of the versions of “The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe” as far as his endurance and durability they should be on par with Spider Man, so he can probably function at peak ability for several hours and is at least bullet resistant if not bullet proof and can survive falls from great heights and blows from super humanly strong opponents.

As far as his agility goes, he is capable of feats of agility greater than a human can possibly do but still not to the point of someone like Spider Man. In terms of speed once again following the Handbook he should be able to move at peak speeds of up to 110 mph and have reflexes capable of permitting him to react at those speeds or if nothing else they should be faster than what is possible for what any human could have but still not on par with the likes of Spider Man or the mutant and former Avenger Quicksilver. I have read a Marvel Age issue where he is depicted creating balloon animals at super speed as well as crawling along the ground at super speed in order to sneak up on a subject while he was out of costume.

His uncommon physical enhancements include the ability to see though opaque items. It is said that he can see through opaque objects as thick as 18 inches up to 60 feet away. His other unconventional physical power includes his “Ultra Breath” that can produce “great concussive force”. It's limits are unknown.

He is also capable of flight of at least up to 60 mph hour. His handbook entry puts him in a category that tops out at 170 miles per hour, the maximum known speed for any flying bird not counting power diving like a falcon does. Also he (and the clothes he wears) can become intangible permitting him to pass through solid objects and permitting solid object to pass through him.

Although I'm not familiar with them he apparently has super human resistance to mind control and an “Ultra Voice”. I can't say what they mean by ultra voice but I would assume it means he can use his voice in super human ways like making it louder like he was using a megaphone or maybe even being able to speak in frequencies of sounds that humans can't hear. Who knows. It could also mean that he can mimic voices and other sounds. He apparently has the power to tell “Ultra Jokes” and now has a career as a stand up comedian so maybe he can imitate different voices and sounds.

Theoretically he has more powers than those mentioned thanks to his ultra potential but they are the only ones he has displayed so far. He is essentially a comedic rip off of Superman so he could theoretically exhibit all of his powers even if only at a far lower power level.

If I was Captain Ultra

I had to give this some thought. This power set would make me powerful but not so powerful that a well organized and armed group couldn't defeat me. So for that reason anything I would do I would do in disguise. Okay it's true that I wouldn't completely stick to that. I would walk in and out of my house using the intangibility without using the door without thinking about it. Of course at some point I would probably remember to fly out underground and pop out when I'm far enough away. I'd use the “X-Ray” vision power to navigate while underground. In fact I just might “Bugs Bunny” it everywhere. Maybe adopt a “Mole Man” identity. There would be a lot of moments of me wearing a fin on my head moving through the ground with my head just out of the ground a little saying “Nuh-nuh, nuh-nuh, nuh-nuh,” chasing someone along.

Ultra-Breath would be my favorite use of the power set. A lot of “I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!” I live in the cold, cold north so it would be a great for “snow blowing”. Yep the joke makes itself. It would be great for “crowd control”. I'd use it to knock back multiple attackers if it came down to it. It would also be good for single attackers as well. Punch, punch, woosh! Sending my attacker flying back. It would also be good for distractions. Blow at the ground and dust and debris would swirl up and distract people from my movements permitting me to make an escape.

I would adopt an identity that wasn't to outrageous as in having a colorful costume and cape. Instead I would wear dark clothes along the lines that Simon did as “Super Hoodie” in the television show “Misfits”. He wore black clothes including a hoodie and black cycling pads/armor including a visor and mask face protection. I would play down my super human attributes as best as I could. No point in “letting the cat out of the bag” if I don't have to.

I wouldn't go out of my way to “fight crime” but if the situation presented itself I couldn't see myself looking the other way without at least investigating it. Then I'd most likely detain the perpetrators until the proper authorities showed up.

Thinking about it this is one of those power sets where I would think I would be careful but then having the power and using it would make me less cautious. Thinking about having powers and having powers are two different things. Having super human physical attributes and being able to become intangible would go a long way towards making me feel invincible. After a few times of effortlessly “incidentally” taking out a number of “criminals”, I would probably end up feeling more confident and would become a local “guardian” patrolling my neighborhood on a daily basis. Running off gangs and other organizations trying to move into my “protectorate”.

The possibilities for fighting crimes are of course numerous with this power set. Carrying off get away cars. Provoking armed assailants to waste their bullets as they passed harmlessly through me maybe even striking each other making it safer for the police to apprehend them. Looking into potentially hidden rooms to see if kidnap victims are there. Catching victims thrown off of high perches. Blowing out fires set by arsonists before they get too big. I would be able to do all those things.

I can't forget the possibility of Ultra Jokes and Ultra Voice. This would be awesome. Getting a bunch of criminals laughing as a distraction. Maybe do a whole routine. Maybe use a number of “cutting jibes” to demoralize the criminals getting them to give up on themselves and turn themselves in or even prevent the crime in the first place. The ultra voice would enable me to make sure my words would make it to their audience.

Hmm...Maybe public speaking would be an idea...

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If I was the Flash

Okay this one took a while. I almost wasn't going to do it. At least six or seven people (this includes women as well) have been the Flash in DC comics continuity. Each had their own way of using their speed powers that weren't necessarily common to each of them. As time went on each character who was the title lead started developing greater and greater speed related powers that one-uped the previous title lead. While that was interesting to read it basically made the flash unappealing to me to use as a subject for this blog. So I wasn't going to do it at all. However I didn't want to "punk out" and not touch on such a popular character. So I decided to pick the current Flash the recently restored to life Barry Allen who is essentially most well known and respected of all the Flashes.

So here we go.

Barry Allen was a university student who loved comic books in his childhood who was majoring in organic chemistry and minoring in criminology. While a senior he helped the police apprehend a bank robber and was consequently offered a job as a police scientist in Central City. Some unspecified time after he was in his lab during a thunder storm and somehow a lighting bolt came through the window (I say "somehow" but it was later revealed that he was the lighting bolt that came through the window) and hit a shelf full of chemicals and electrified them. The chemicals then fell on Barry. From then on he had super speed. After saving his then girlfriend Iris from a bullet using his new speed he decided to to use his powers to help people. I would note that he was a big fan of the original Flash Jay Garrick and I think that might have been an influence over whether or not he became a superhero.

In terms of super powers in the strictest sense he gained the power to tap into the Speed Force (the source of super speed for almost all super speedsters in the DC Universe) giving him the following super speed "related" powers:

His top running speed is unknown but is at least faster than the speed of light. He is speculated to be a fast as his nephew Wally West who was also the Flash at one point who could easily run at five hundred times the speed of light. What ever his top speed may be he usually cruises along at subsonic speeds when in populated areas and usually doesn't travel faster than ten times the speed of sound unless an emergency dictates it. Apparently the atmospheric disturbances caused by something moving that fast through the atmosphere is very harmful to living beings.

He has an aura that protects him and anyone who is running with him or carried by him, from the effects of using super speed including friction and damage from things like performing super speed punches or wiping out at super speed.

He can control his speed and "angular momentum" at the molecular level and control his molecular interactions allowing him to pass through solid objects. This ability also allows him to vibrate himself to invisibility. Unlike the other Flashes Barry Allen has complete control over every molecule in his body.

Not only does the Speed Force permit him to move faster it lets him perceive the world at super speed among other things granting him a super human reaction time. He can also learn faster and think faster permitting him to perform complex actions like building things at super speed. Or you know do things like catch bullets or disarm people so quickly that no one can perceive it happening. This ability also parlays into an ability to see things that vibrate so quickly as to be invisible.

He can also use his super speed to travel through time and to other dimensions. Although he couldn't do it unaided before. He used to have to use his "Cosmic Treadmill" now he can do it without it. For some reason although he can travel through time he can't affect the past.

He posses superhuman endurance that permits him to perform at super speed for extended periods of time. In the original "Who's Who of the DC Universe" comic book it was stated that he could function at super speed for up to twenty four hours.

As far as I'm concerned his ability to channel the Speed Force permits him some unexpected abilities like super speed healing and decelerated aging wich for some reason extends to his wife. This also works for the original Flash as well.

So that's the Flash in a nutshell and now what I would do if I had his powers.

First I would spend a lot of time just getting used to the idea that I could move so fast and how much I could do before anyone could do anything about it. Then I would probably become a "ghost" in the world. Like I said in the Magneto posting there are those who don't like what they can't control and I wouldn't want people who know me getting hurt. So I would probably just abandon my "identity" and function as the world's unofficial, unknown guardian. I would be virtually untraceable. I could deal with things that were previously out of my power. You know like stopping wars or saving people in the course of disasters. Since I could extend the same protection I enjoy from the effects of super speed to my passengers I wouldn't have to worry about curtailing my speed when saving people. Grabbing someone at five hundred mile an hour would normally kill them but with the protection of the super speed aura I could save hundreds or more people in a second without killing them in the process. Handy for saving the day and still permitting me to leave before anyone knew I was there.

On a personal note I would use my super speed to create full length animated features all by myself. Well now that I think about it I wouldn't. But I would use it to enhance my art work. I'm thinking giant graffiti stretching along acres of land. I would create huge Zen gardens in uninhabited desserts and of course crop circles. The whole super speed art concept is really appealing to me. While I'm not playing invisible savior I'd love to fill up that other part of my time creating huge works of art. Yeah I would be a super speed artist.

Thanks for reading