"The 72" is the name given for the seventy-two hours of terror that gripped the world in the early fall. It started on a Thursday afternoon when Mechanon unleashed a small scale test of his ultimate weapon upon the Megacity Court house. The explosion affected four square blocks, atomizing all organic materials from cotton cloth to human beings, but leaving all inorganic structures intact. It was believed the test was been meant to target Captain Victory, one of America's most famous heroes, who planned to marry his long time fiancé in secret that afternoon in the courthouse. Twenty super heroes, stationed around the courthouse to protect the wedding, were atomized in the explosion, along with thousands of innocent citizens. Captain Victory and his fiancé had been stuck in traffic, many blocks away, attempting to avoid publicity when the blast occurred.
The devastation to both the hero and normal communities was horrific. Every hero who could don a costume and fly, teleport, leap, run, walk or crawl into action responded. Assaults were made on every suspected location of Mechanon's base, old and new. Dozens of heroes died in the first few hours. Over a hundred died, or were injured beyond the ability to continue the fight, by the end of the first 24 hours. From data recovered during the initial raids, the world's greatest hero minds determined that it would take Mechanon 72 hours following the test to charge his weapon to full power, thereby enabling him to fulfill his goal of eradicating all organic life on Earth.
Chaos and panic shut down most cities as the hours ticked away without any news of Mechanon or his weapon. Heroes worked around the clock to maintain order while still trying to uncover the location of Mechanon's base. They found nothing, and as disorder spread, more and more heroes were dragged into the struggle to keep civilization from collapsing.
So well planned was Mechanon's scheme that he had prepared for every contingency the heroes could throw at him. Mechanon's plan, however, had not included the intervention of the villainous component of humanity. It was Dr. Destroyer, in the final hours, who provided the heroes with the information on Mechanon's hidden base.
Heroes assaulted Mechanon's hidden Antarctic base while villains tried to destroy his weapon satellites. Captain Victory lead the final assault with over a hundred of the world's remaining heroes; great and small, famous and unknown, they all answered the call. Great and small, famous and unknown, not a single one emerged from the crater left by the destruction of Mechanon's base and ultimate weapon. As military and rescue teams made their way through the wreckage, only a few heroes were recovered, and all of those in coma's or grievously injured. The majority of the heroes who were pulled out alive died during the following week. The few that survived are either in critical care, or are in comas, under government protection.
Nearly all the greatest super hero teams were wiped out. It is speculated that it will be fifty years or more before the hero population returns to something close to what it had been. The months since "the 72" have been a time of mourning, uncertainty, and disillusion. Even the common criminal inspires fear in a world without heroes. Terrorist elements are seizing the opportunity to push forward their agendas. The world needs heroes, visible, strong, and willing to inspire the common person to "believe" again. The world needs hope; the
New Champions will bring it to them.
