Hurriedly composed from a scenario and later refined, this is the first story I wrote for Granite/Cliff. Here he is introducing a new character, Omo Eshu, played by Mike.

"Cliff, it's for you!" shouted Doctor Hollis.

"Who is it, Doc?" asked Cliff but, from the tone of Doc's voice, he didn't expect an answer. He put down the TV remote and made his way to the door.

Standing in the doorway was a colorfully clad (mostly in purple) man with a very large smile. On his chest was an "O". The man said in an African sounding accent, "Hello, I am Omo Eshu! I want to be a superhero!"

Cliff, momentarily taken aback, looked at Hollis who shrugged and then tapped his pipe to clear it. With a smile, Hollis clapped Cliff on the shoulder a couple of times and walked back inside. A tight smile formed on Cliff's face as he watched Hollis walk away. "Thanks, Doc." Cliff sarcastically thought to himself. "Omo...Eshu?" said Cliff as he turned toward the purple clad man.

"Yes, that is my name! Are you a superhero?"

Cliff stuttered, "Well...um...well maybe, I dunno. We all ...here...we all here have unique abilities."

"Oh, you are a super-hero!" said Omo who then proceeded to puff himself up with his hands on his hips, chest and chin thrust forward, and smiling even larger. "I would like to be a superhero too!"

Cliff saw the Millennial crowd starting to take notice and gather closer. "Better get him inside before it gets even more interesting," thought Cliff. "Omo, please come in and have a seat," said Cliff as he ushered Omo into the conference room. "I need to consult with the other members of my team for a moment. Do you mind waiting here a bit?"

"Not at all! I am glad to be here!"

"Can I get you something to drink?"

"No, thank you, I am fine!"

Cliff smiled, "Wait here. I'll be right back."

After closing the conference room door he found Hollis in the hallway. Hollis grinned and puffed on his pipe as Cliff walked up. "Uh huh. Payback is going to be hell, Doc," said Cliff with a smile.

"Who is he?", asked Hollis.

"The guy calls himself 'Omo Eshu' and he says he wants to be a superhero. I figured I'd better invite him in. The Millennial crowd took an interest and started to gather."

"Great idea," said Hollis as he took his pipe out of his mouth pointed it at Cliff. "Is he for real? If so, what can he do?"

A blank look crossed Cliff's face, "You know, I forgot to ask. Let me find out."

"Excellent idea, Cliff. You go find out, I'll wait here."

Cliff started to object but stopped, shrugged his shoulders, glared at Hollis as if to say "Yep, payback IS going to be hell", and went back into the conference room.

Omo immediately stood and said, "So, am I a superhero?!"

"Hold on, hold on, Omo. Please, sit down. I need to ask you some questions first." Cliff sat in a chair. "Omo, being a superhero can be a complex thing."

"Yes, I know", Omo said earnestly, "I know and I am ready!"

"Um, well, let's find out shall we?"

"Yes, I am ready. I am ready to be a superhero."

"What can you do?" asked Cliff.

Omo sat back in his chair, looked at Cliff and said, "I can do this". The chair, with Cliff in it, started to rise. It stopped two feet off the floor.

"Ok", said Cliff rather nervously, "please put me down." The chair (and Cliff) lowered gently to the floor.

"Omo, hold on another moment, I need to see one of my teammates". Cliff nearly stumbled his way out into the hallway.

"Doc, you've got to see this! He picked me up me up off the floor just by looking at me!"

Hollis moved moved his pipe from one side of his mouth to the other and his eyebrows went up. "Absolutely amazing! Are you sure?"

Cliff laughed, "Yes, Doc, I'm sure! Come see for yourself."

Cliff and Hollis entered the room. "Doc, have a seat here. Oh, this is Doctor Hollis," said Cliff as he pulled out a chair. Hollis sat. "Omo, do to him what you did to me."

Omo looked at Hollis. The chair, with Hollis in it, rose into the air a couple of feet and hovered. Hollis' pipe fell from his mouth to the floor. "Ok", said Cliff, "please put him back down." The chair (and Hollis) lowered gently to the ground.

"Fascinating!" blurted out Hollis as he leaned slightly toward Omo. "What else can you do?"

"I can do many things!"

"Omo, please come with me," said Cliff as he opened the conference room door. He led Omo to a rather plain, nondescript room and they both entered. "We call this our danger room. It's not much but it gives us team members a chance to work out with each other. Here we hone our skills and so forth. Doc, if you would, please close the door and stay in reserve just in case. Thanks."

"Omo," said Cliff, "I am about to become ... different. Please do not be alarmed." As Cliff morphed into Granite, Omo took several steps back. After all, it's not every day a person comes face to face with a twelve foot tall, animated, humanoid rock. He looked at Granite with a mixture of respect and awe. "Oh, now I know who you are. I didn't know for sure before. But, I do now."

"Try to pick me up.", said Granite in a much deeper yet still Cliff-like voice.

"Yes! I can!", said Omo as Granite rose from the floor to a height of three feet, stayed there for a few seconds, and was gently lowered back down.

"Very good. Now, I'm going to reach out and try to touch you. I might knock you down if I succeed but I will not hurt you. Show me how you'd get out of the way." Omo nodded.

As Granite started reaching toward Omo, a 14 foot tall grizzly bear appeared, snapping and snarling. The beasts bellow's filled the room. Granite hesitated a moment but continued to press forward. Suddenly, the bear vanished. "I am right here!" Omo said from behind Granite.

Granite turned and said, "Very nice! I am impressed!"

Omo beamed. "So, I am a superhero now!?"

"Omo," said Granite as he sat on the floor, "there is much about the superhero business you may not know. You've heard the phrase 'with great power comes great responsibility'?" Omo nodded. "Well, it applies much much more to people with abilities such as you and I. Sometimes we have to fight. Sometimes we get hurt. Sometimes we get hurt real bad. We put our lives ...our lives! ... on the line so that the average Jane and Joe can walk down the street without fear, without hurt. That is why I am here. That is why all the others are here. Do you understand?"

Omo said "I had not really thought about it in that way but, yes, I do understand."

"Can you do these things of great responsibility including fight if needed?"

Omo crossed his arms, looked Granite straight in the eye and said, "Yes! I can and I will."

Granite stood and morphed back to Cliff. Cliff held out his hand and said, "Let's give it a try and we'll see." They shook hands and left the danger room.

Copyright © by Bill Selwa, all rights reserved.