Triumph (Era)

## Alternate Covers

* 2
* 3
* 4

"Red October" Variant

"The Invincible..." Variant

"The Most Dangerous..." Variant

 For the longest time, I've always wondered what it would be like if I had powers. If I could do what you do, Shay. Now I don't. And I understand why you kept it a secret. It's a responsibility. It isn't sunshine and rainbows. It's hard days. But I'm glad that I know what you go through. Because now, I know **I have to be better.**
—Black Knight

## Synopsis

### Web of Tarantula Volume 1

Unbeknownst to the growing superhero community in Vegas, there was naturally a darker aspect of the world. Vampires and more lurked, and Shay Daniels learned this the hard way. Derek Tepes was a highly-respected doctor but had been alive for decades as a vampire. However, before Calypso was arrested, she drugged Derek and gained an insatiable hunger for blood. He terrorized Las Vegas, which popped up on Jane Harper's radar. After relaying this information to Shay, the two began to work together on the case.

Shay was adamant that vampires didn't exist, but he was proven wrong when he came face-to-face with Derek. Shay would be bitten, and for the next twenty-four hours (as his healing factor flushed out the vampirism virus), Shay had to grapple with being a vampire. Jane and Shay cured Derek of his bloodlust, which shattered Shay's belief in the world. This event resulted in Shay's first mental breakdown, and when Jane woke up the following day, she found Shay playing the piano in torment.

Shay Daniels would be encountered by Owen Morgan, an old friend of his whom he played varsity basketball with, and was asked for help. Owen revealed that he knew that Shay was Tarantula, and that is who he needed help from. Owen explained that he was a descendant of Sir Lancolet and sought out a mystic artifact known as The Ebony Blade, which was believed to be housed within The Hoover Dam.

Readily willing to help an old friend, Shay, and Ren Carter worked with Owen and got to The Hoover Dam but encountered a zealous religious cult known as The Knights Templar. Their leader, Engracia, sought the blade to further her plans of returning Earth to its "religious" (eldritch) ways. Shay, Ren, and Owen seized the sword, which resulted in Owen becoming the hero, Black Knight. The trio defeated Engracia, and The Knights Templar and her retreated. In the end, Shay made a joke about how they had yet to go to The Hoover Dam before while the sunset.

### Voodoo Volume 2

As the year started, Ren Carter became more in touch with the Blade of Power, Epitaph. The two began to bond, and Epitaph would extend knowledge of itself to the young hero. However, this all merged into a dream in January, where Ren learned that she would need Epitaph more than she realized. Furthermore, Ren found herself sleeping less due to being Voodoo, and when Shay Daniels promised to watch Vegas for a night, Ren was excited to finally sleep peacefully.

Ren would succumb to magic in her sleep through an external force known as Majora. Little is known about Majora, but in Ren's dream, he placed her through a series of trials and separated her from Epitaph. In the end, Ren emerged victorious and defeated Majora, but when she woke up, Ren and Epitaph learned that Majora was simply the first of many to come and that he wasn't dead after all.

### Hooligans Vol 1

The Hooligans became an effective squad as Shay Daniels and Ren Carter began to protect Las Vegas as a duo, with Alexis May, Jane Harper, Tyler Price, and Jordan Knight quarterbacking. However, they would be tested by a new villain named Calypso, who claimed to be an ancient Voodoo Priestess. She had come to Vegas for something known as The Amulet of Power. Forced to confront her, Shay and Ren defeated Calypso inside The Natural History Museum by utilizing the amulet against her. When she was arrested, she swore revenge against Hooligans. Two weeks later, during a field trip, a middle school girl noticed the amulet and reached for it as it glimmered green.

After a week of no villain activity, Alexis May received a ping from a contact about a company beginning production on a series of robots named The Big Steppers. Alexis attempted to find more information but only found that it was being done by Dynamics Industries, who had recently set up shop in Vegas. Furthermore, Alexis would discover that Dynamics Industries was being run by Connor Carter, whom she connected to as Ren Carter's father, but kept this to herself.

When she finally alerted Hooligans, Ren, Shay Daniels, and Bernard Smith sprung into action and went to Dynamics Tower to investigate. However, they quickly learned that The Big Steppers were created to fight the three of them. This revelation led to a battle within the lower levels of The Dynamics Tower. During this, Ren learned that the creator, Connor Carter, who went by Citizen V, was her father, and Shay learned that Dynamics had created a chemical compound that would strip him of his powers. Ultimately, Hooligans escaped after destroying the production plant but failed to get Citizen V arrested, and Dynamics shut down.

After Owen Morgan returned to Colorado, Hendrix Shays began investigating a string of high-profile murders by a man with a shotgun and a green mask. Hendrix discovered that the man was hunting down people within judicial systems who commit sins and gave the information to Alexis May for further research. When it landed on the lap of Shay Daniels, he made a joke about the movie Se7en, but he and Ren Carter still went out to investigate.

This led to Shay calling up a friend in the LVMPD, who proved helpful as the trio found the man's apartment. His name was Leonard Jordan, and he was a former fanatic member of The Knights Templar who praised someone called The Penitent One. This apartment visit led to the trio discovering the next target, and when they cornered Leonard after foiling his attempt, Leonard opted out in front of Shay, who covered Ren's eyes. While Ren was mentally safe from Leonard's choice, Shay wasn't, and he began to have panic-induced hallucinations of The Penitent One. Alexis and Jane Harper helped Shay through these visions but stopped altogether whenever the statue of The Penitent One in Leonard's apartment vanished. Grimly, Epitaph told Ren that this event would have unforeseen consequences for the group.

## Creation Notes

The era's name, "Triumph," comes from several places. The first and most prominent is the Wu-Tang Clan song of the same name. However, within the context of the storylines, the word "Triumph" is used whenever Owen Morgan touches The Ebony Blade. The voice within the blade tells Owen to rise to the occasion and "Triumph Over All."

Interestingly, Triumph is the beginning of more mature stories within Donuts. This trend can be tracked with the Sin-City storyline as a little taster as the next era explodes with darker and more mature accounts. This was done deliberately, as the creators wanted the stories to match the characters' ages. The older they got, the heavier their adventures.

## References

1. ↑ Web of Tarantula #1
2. ↑ Web of Tarantula #2
3. ↑ Web of Tarantula #3
4. ↑ Voodoo (Vol. 2) #1
5. ↑ Hooligans #1
6. ↑ Hooligans #2
7. ↑ Hooligans #3