Continuation of this story

It wasn't long after the funeral that Bassarisk started encountering troubles in his new hero life. Sure, cowing Doomsdayer and killing his mind-reading jackalope sidekick Naysayer was a heck of an entrance onto the stage of the multiple dimensions connected through reality 5265616c697479204e65787573 - his home dimension - and showing the Fur Fighters, a formerly criminal circus of animal-bitten supers that took after the creatures that bit them, how to be a force for good was an additional notch in the proverbial belt, but it was not without its consequences. Heroes were distrustful of him and his new compatriots, partly because they were so new to the heroic side of things, but mostly because of the power he had that cowed Doomsdayer and forced him to go into hiding, aside from an interview with a journalist by the name of Todd Chapman where he quoted the famous line, "I fear no man, but that thing... It scares me."

And it wasn't because he could make duplicates of himself. No, that wasn't the case at all. If they were mere duplicates that could call upon their own powers, it would have been fine and he would have been welcomed with open arms. No, as it turned out upon further analysis with the help of Carl, the new director of the Bureau of Superhuman Recruitment, that power instead turned out to be multilocation. A notable example of this in the days of old, when superhumans were unheard of, was Padre Pio's miraculous bilocation, which allowed him to do two different things in two places at once. This multilocation was taking that and cranking it up well over eleven, as the BSR found that there was no discernable limit to the number of multilocals Bassarisk could create. The second time he had done it to avenge Dr. Frank, the prior director, he had been in 10,000 places at once - 10,001 if they counted the original instance facing down Doomsdayer. Additionally, each had a unique ability, or at least a unique way of performing those abilities, and this revelation sent shockwaves through heroes, villains, and mercenaries alike. When Doomsdayer heard this, he became even more paranoid, not knowing whether that scratching sound in the night was an instance of Bassarisk coming to take him to justice or just a mouse, eventually keeping his helmet with infrared vision on just so he could sleep.

It was during this time that Bassarisk was about to go on stage at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX...or at least what remained of the city after Twister tore a path through it five months ago. He had been there, of course - how could he not with the multilocation? - and the devastation was so great he couldn't even turn back the clock on much of the damage. Anything that wasn't of cultural significance was written off, condemned, and readied for new development. His task there, of course, was to use his shields to protect said cultural sites, and he took great joy in attending Mass at the cathedral while winds in the theoretical F6 range blew outside. He had to come to terms then with the fact that he could not save everyone and everything, and the heroes who lauded him also cursed him under his breath for not helping with the fight against the living tornado.

And here he was again, about to perform the grand act of the Fur Fighter Circus: the one-man trapeze team. It was humbling work, keeping the people entertained through what many considered to be a silly act of theatrics and agility. Focusing backstage, he brought out the multilocals. No powers to put on display, just using the multilocation to keep costs low on an act they previously couldn't perform.

RingLemurr, the alluringly charismatic ring-tailed lemur and the ringleader of their team, announced the upcoming act out in the audience, and Bassarisk did the deed. Instantly, five multilocals appeared in their positions, with a sixth hidden away to keep an eye out for any villains who wanted to disrupt the act.

The circus had been a group of criminals once, before Bassarisk joined them, and they still were briefly after while Bassarisk was coached in the use of his body's natural abilities by RingLemurr while Bassarisk showed them how they could be heroes. Now they helped out with heroes' patrols in the cities they stopped in, occasionally even stopping a criminal or villain before the local superhero team even got an alert. They were appreciated, yes, but only out of fear due to having Bassarisk on their team. His name didn't do him many favors, being phonetically similar to the once-mythological basilisk, but he kept his promise of being a hero.

It was when the act was about to finish that six shots rang out from outside, and the multilocals dropped dead. Security instantly began to try and ferry people out, but Bassarisk sent a mental ping that told them that doing so would put the citizens in even more danger. A multilocal was placed in the basement, a shield surrounding the building, while Bassarisk went out with the Fur Fighters at his side and faced down the one he knew would return: Doomsdayer.