Captain Hardwear, under the guise of Qui-Gon Jinn, was very happy that his new wife was accepting of him and his daughter being revealed as superheroes. She also stayed true to her word of keeping their identities secret, and she asked nothing in return except that they keep no more secrets from each other.

Qui-Gon and Shmi thought they couldn't be happier.

Very soon, however, Qui-Gon and Shmi were proven wrong, as Shmi took a pregnancy test, and... it was positive!

Qui-Gon happily spun his wife in his arms, and they were both ecstatic to tell Kara she was going to be a big sister.

Kara wasted no time helping her parents set up the nursery for the new baby, which came easy for her and her super speed. And Qui-Gon wasted no time making sure his wife had a safe, comfortable place to rest while she was progressing in her pregnancy. Of course, Shmi was concerned for Kara's education, but Qui-Gon reassured her that there was a very special set of schools exclusively for superhero children where Kara would not arouse any suspicion.

One day, Qui-Gon dropped his daughter off at preschool, when he suddenly got an alert on his monitor that there was an emergency at the headquarters of Cantina Brands, a high ranked marketing company, and in fact the same building where the jumper Captain Hardwear rescued had jumped from.

Qui-Gon quickly got back into his speeder and inconspicuously changed into his super suit as he rushed right over to the building. Except, when he got there, he didn't see anything that looked dangerous, but first rule of superhero work: looks can be deceiving. So, Captain Hardwear exited his vehicle and entered the building, where he looked all around and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"Captain Hardwear?" a woman said, startling the great hero into a defense stance. But it turned out to just be the receptionist. "You're needed on floor twelve, Room 12B."

Captain Hardwear regained his composure and took the elevator, and sure enough he made it to the room he was told to seek, and like every other time, he made an entrance. This time, in the form of a tumble and quick stand up.

"Time to play hard!" Captain Hardwear shouted, only to find no danger.

"Mr. Hardwear." said a Dathomirian man in a suit.

"Captain," the hero corrected.

"Whatever." The man then proceeded to take out a pamphlet of some sort and hand it to Captain Hardwear. " Consider yourself served."

"What?!"

Captain Hardwear couldn't believe what he'd just heard. He was even more shocked when he opened the pamphlet to see that he was being sued by Darryl Arkinson, the jumper, for infliction of bodily harm and emotional distress.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Captain Hardwear said angrily. "Where is this man?"

"That is confidential information."

"No judge is going to side with him. I saved that man and got him treated!"

"Tell it to the judge, Captain. We'll see you in court."

Captain Hardwear looked at the pamphlet again. This wasn't good. He had to tell the other heroes about this.
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It quickly spread all over the news that Captain Hardwear was being taken to court. Twi'lek news anchor Ramar Nova was the head reporter on this breaking news story.

"Ramar Nova here at Scanti City Court, where for the first time in history, a superhero is being sued after saving someone who, apparently, didn't want to be saved. We have attempted to reach any hero acquainted with Captain Hardwear and the hero himself with no success."

It was then that the plaintiff, with a brace around his neck, and his lawyer arrived, and were immediately swarmed by reporters asking questions.

Of course, the plaintiff's lawyer didn't hesitate to badmouth the defendant in front of the press.

"Mr. Arkinson didn't asked to be saved," said Arkinson's lawyer. "Mr. Arkinson didn't want to be saved. And the result of Captain Hardwear's 'action' so-called, is causing him daily pain."

"I saved your life!" Captain Hardwear exclaimed as he and his lawyer arrived.

"You didn't save my life," said Arkinson. "You ruined my death, that's what you did!"

Before the hero could say anything else, Arkinson's lawyer, Shaunden Lorex, told the press there would be no more comment at this time.
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Captain Hardwear was worried as he sat in the defendant seat with his sidekicks beside him.

His lawyer, Sophia Sitala, looked over the papers and her research as her clients were worried.

"What do we do now, Mrs. Sitala?" Hardwear asked.

"Don't worry, Captain. Just leave it to me. We'll have this called a mistrial, and all will be fine."

The bailiff came out and asked everyone to rise as the honorable Judge James Monroe presided.

"State the charges." Judge Monroe said.

"Captain Hardwear, you stand accused of intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence leading to wrongful injury. How do you plead?"

"Not guilty, Your Honor." Hardwear answered.

"Mr. Lorex, your statement."

Lorex stood up and spoke to the judge.

"Your Honor, my client suffered a broken neck, fractured ribs, as well as severe emotional trauma when Captain Hardwear jumped in and crashed Mr. Arkinson through a window in mid-air. We are asking that bail be set at five million credits."

"Objection!" Sophia called. "My client is a beloved hero, a law abiding citizen, and poses no threat."

"The defendant has unnatural physical strength capable of snapping any bone in two by mere touch."

"Sustained," said the judge. "Ms. Sitala?"

"At this time I would like to call my client to the stand."

Captain Hardwear sat in the stand for his lawyer to question him.

"Captain Hardwear, in your own words, can you explain your current occupation?"

"I am a superhero, sworn to protect and serve the people of this galaxy no matter how big or small the task."

"So if you saw someone had a kite stuck in a tree and couldn't get it down, you would stop to help them?"

"Yes."

"If someone was being mugged, how would you respond?"

"I would apprehend the attacker and ensure the victim got away safely."

"Have you handled many dangerous cases before?"

"Yes. Hero work has a tendency to be dangerous whether it is evacuating people from a collapsing building, disarming a bomb, or pulling them out from quicksand."

"Have people ever been injured before when you rescued them?"

"I do my best to ensure that does not happen, but occasionally it does."

"And how do you proceed in the event it does?"

"I contact the hospital right away, or in some cases contact my good friend Dr. Healix."

"And when you stopped the plaintiff from falling and hitting the ground from twenty stories high, did you contact proper medical assistance for his alleged injuries?"

"Yes."

"No further questions, Your Honor."

But, of course, the accusing lawyer had some questions of his own for the defendant.

"Captain Hardwear, how do you know when someone is in danger?"

"I am often signaled in different ways."

"Such as...?"

"It varies from time to time. Sometimes I hear a warning of a crime on the radio, other times citizens shine a light in the air, or some just shout for help as loudly as they can."

"So, before you jumped in and allegedly rescued Mr. Arkinson, did you hear him calling for help?"

"No." Hardwear shook his head.

"Was he ever trying to signal you in any way?"

"No."

"So, why would you assume he wanted to be saved?"

"There were police sirens, people were screaming, and a bright, giant light was shone on the would-be suicide victim. I happened to be nearby, and when I saw him jump, I jumped in to stop him from making a terrible mistake."

"Do you know my client personally? You have a secret identity, don't you?"

"I do. But I do not know Mr. Arkinson personally. That is all I can reveal."

"So, you assumed my client wanted to be saved even though he never asked you to?"

"Suicidal victims often act in manners in which some may call irrational. While I am not a therapist, part of my training involved rescuing suicidal citizens as well."

Hardwear was allowed to step down from the stand, and the plaintiff was called up next to speak.

Arkinson said that he'd been experiencing so many terrible things in his life. He was abused as a child, his boss treated him unfairly at work all the time, and his wife was pulling him through a divorce.

"I was about to finally throw myself out of my misery, and this so-called hero had to wreck it all and land me in even worse pain than before!"

"So, what you're saying is, Captain Hardwear was in fact a villain in this scenario because he prevented you from doing what you felt best for your well-being?"

"That is correct."

"Nothing further, Your Honor."

Sophia stood up and said, "Mr. Arkinson. I am terribly sorry, and truly I feel terrible that you had to endure such horrible things. But, if you were looking to commit suicide, why choose jumping off a building?"

"It seemed like a quick and easy death."

"But there are other ways you could have proceeded. Such as hanging by a noose in the closet, poisoning, or using a gun. Why not do that?"

"That's none of your business!"

"Actually, it is here. Tell us, in your own words, Mr. Arkinson. What exactly does a superhero do?"

"Supposedly, they help people."

"Such as people who are in danger?"

"Yes."

"And, wouldn't someone falling from a building be dangerous?"

"Objection!" said Lorex.

"Overruled," said the judge. "the plaintiff will answer."

"Uh... yes." said Arkinson.

Sophia looked really determined to get the plaintiff this time.

"So, when Captain Hardwear saw you falling from a building, regardless of why, he decided to jump in and stop you from hitting the ground and dying. Not only that, but he ensured you were properly healed by fellow hero Dr. Healix, yet you decided to come in here allegedly injured. Therefore, is it not possible that you only planned to stand on top of that building, pretending to be a suicidal victim, waiting for any superhero to come, knowing they would see you and spring into action, only so you could file a lawsuit and extort money from the very people who protect this city from threats the police and fire department are unable to fight alone?!"

"Uh... well..."

The plaintiff was frozen at that moment.

"Your honor, at this time, I would like to call my next witness. Superhero Dr. Healix."

Into the courtroom came a togruta hero. Her supersuit looked very much like a white and blue doctor's uniform, a surgical mask and blue sunglasses concealing her face. She went to the stand to be questioned.

"Dr. Healix. Can you please explain your superpower to the jury?" Sophia asked.

"My power is to diagnose the precise medical needs of a victim and to telepathically heal them to perfect health."

"Do you ever assist fellow heroes if they or someone they rescued sustains injuries?"

"Yes."

"Did you recently assist Captain Hardwear with a patient?"

"I did." And Dr. Healix pointed to Arkinson. "That man was the one I was asked to heal. He suffered some fractured ribs, a neck injury, and a broken wrist, all of which I proceeded to heal, and I triple checked before placing him on the ambulance to be taken to the mental hospital in order to receive further treatment."

Lorex stood up and questioned Dr. Healix next.

"Ms. Healix. Are you a licensed medical professional, or is that just your hero name?" He chuckled.

"Actually, I am licensed and legally allowed to treat patients of all species, sentient and non-sentient alike."

Arkinson looked like he was in a real panic with his lawyer; they were losing, and didn't have nearly any quality ammunition left!

And when Sophia gave her closing argument:

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, look carefully. The man you see here has been granted extraordinary powers, which he could easily have used for personal gain. But instead, he chose to train and become a hero, using his powers for good, to help people he doesn't even know simply to do what is right, helping those who would otherwise be helpless when a threat becomes too big even for local authorities to handle. He didn't intend to make anyone feel hurt; he was only doing his job! He saw someone in danger, he sprung in to help without hesitation, and demonstrated he was willing to further assist the victim in the emotional effects of the incident. Yet, the plaintiff only saw it as an opportunity to take advantage of my client's heroism. If he is allowed to get away with this, who knows how many other heroes he may attempt to extort. And if you or someone you love was in danger, and no heroes could come to help... where does that leave us?"

The judge asked if the jury reached a verdict, and they did. They found the defendant, Captain Hardwear, not guilty.

Captain Hardwear hugged and thanked Sophia for her help in this case. And when he was able to change back to Qui-Gon and return to his wife, she was happy too. But, little did they know that despite winning this lawsuit, it wouldn't be the first one they would face.
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After the news of Captain Hardwear's lawsuit spread across the galaxy, new lawsuits were filed against many different superheroes.

Weather Man and his protégé Heartbeat were sued for causing property damage to a shopping mall while stopping an armed robbery with a rainstorm and a heartbeat that shook the ground, and apparently damaged the fountain on the first floor and shook the building enough to nearly make one shopper fall from the fourth floor.

Dr. Healix was sued by some citizens who were injured in the train Captain Hardwear stopped, that she allegedly failed to heal. Despite arguments that they could've called an ambulance or signaled for help when they saw her, this was a case she was unable to win.

Several other rumors came about such as heroes with X-Ray vision being peeping Toms, mind reading heroes potentially using their powers for blackmail or plain invasion of privacy, and basically deeming heroes' powers as unfair advantages or threats to the very safety of the galaxy. And all these lawsuits were costing the Republic millions. People even began protesting, "Hang the cape!" "Down with supers!" "Heroes be gone!"

And one day, some of the galaxy's highest politicians came together and decided to form a new law.

"It is time for their secret identities to become their only identities. Heroes have only this choice. Join us or go away."

The council said a new program would be put in place to help the heroes find new jobs and new homes so they could start living new lives. Except... there was one thing the council didn't think about before making this declaration:

"At this very moment, from here on out... any and all superheroes are officially deemed... illegal."

The judge banged his gavel breaking the hearts of all superheroes and their sidekicks. Very soon, all of the heroes had to bid goodbye to their sidekicks, who were crushed that they would never become full fledged superheroes now that they were illegal, and they all went their separate ways to start new lives on other worlds in new cities. All they could do then was hope they could still be some kind of hero with their new lives as some would probably get married and start families of their own like Captain Hardwear had.

Except... two weeks after the heroes were scattered...

As crazy as it seemed, all was peaceful despite the lack of superheroes on the streets. People started to think maybe local police were enough to keep the streets safe. They might not have super strength or the power to fly, but they took down a lot of thieves, con artists, and muggers. Newly appointed Police Chief Divo assured everyone too that they were more than enough to keep the city safe. But little did he and everyone else know just how wrong they were.

It was a night like any other. A special night too, as Chancellor Valorum was having a gala with many of the galaxy's great leaders in attendance. Everyone was dressed in their finest finery tonight, the ballroom decorated so lavishly.

The band played as guests were gathering, chatting and filling their glasses with bubbly. Chancellor Valorum tapped his glass to get everyone's attention.

"Greetings, esteemed guests. Now, for those of you who were fashionably late, let us recant all the good that has come from the works of all our galaxy's leaders."

Suddenly, the lights all started to flicker, and an evil cackle echoed throughout the room. People started screaming as a strong wind started to blow into the room, and then a video projected onto the screen on stage. No one could see a face, but they could clearly see a dark green hooded figure, bright green eyes glowing from underneath.

"Yes, let's see what good you've done, dear chancellor. You've eliminated the biggest problem known to my people. Superheroes. For years they've been a thorn in our side, stopping us from unleashing our true powers, reaching our full potential, attempting to keep us all on a tight leash. Well, no more!"

That was when several figures entered the room with weapons and scary super powers of their own. Bridezilla, Ms. Fortune, Whirlia (whirlpool, tsunami making villain), Shock (an electric villain), Red Scaring (Silvaria), and Violet Storm (Nefari) were just some of the villains present, and all of them started rounding the guests up and blocking every escape route, including the air ducts!

Quickly, people tried to call the police, but Shock disabled all the phones in the building, and the alarms. One guest even tried rushing to where the switch to signal heroes was. Except, when they got to the door, they found the switch was no longer there, because they'd removed all the signal switches and phone lines to all superheroes as soon as they were made illegal!

Apparently, when making the decision to outlaw superheroes, the council forgot about one thing: supervillains. They were always illegal, long before superheroes, but that didn't stop them from intentionally reeking havoc on every city in the galaxy and thus leading heroes to come and save the day.

The police did managed to get a 9-1-1 call from a citizen on the outside who witnessed the villains entering the building, and they used battering rams to bust into the building. Except, none of them were prepared to face the powers of any of these villains! If this were a bank robbery, no problem. A hostage situation or an active shooter? Maybe. But super-powered villains literally making their worst fears reality, tsunamis coming even from the smallest puddles of water, and literally inevitable bad luck were not included in any of the possible scenarios in their police training.

Neither the police, nor the fire department, S.W.A.T. teams, or even military veterans could face these villains because they didn't have any experience fighting the villains themselves, or knowledge on their powers like the superheroes did.

No one needed to say it: outlawing superheroes was the biggest mistake the council had ever made! And the lady in green laughed at them for their foolishness.

"Fools! Did you really believe that when superheroes disappeared, villains would as well? No wonder you needed superheroes around before. Apparently, it took them being gone to see the incompetence of your so-called task forces."

"Who are you?!" Valorum asked in a panic. "What do you want from us?"

"Who am I? I am the leader of all villains, and soon the new leader of this galaxy. My villain name is Máriverdé. Now that you've so graciously gotten rid of all the superheroes, nothing can stop us from taking over this world and every other in the galaxy!"

On Máriverdé's orders, all the galaxy's leaders, the council members, the chancellor, the police chief, and the judges were all forced to hold their hands up as Shock held an electrically charged sword at them, and they were all chained and imprisoned in the highest tower in the city, where they would be forced to watch as the villains took over and terrorized the citizens.

With heroes outlawed, and the only ones with the power to bring them back captured, what could be done about this villainous takeover? What would the citizens do without their heroes, and where are they now?