Agent Brave Defeated, Enslaved

Longtime Portland protector has fallen to nemesis Doctor Mesmer, report police

Daniel Ross, professionally known as superhero “Agent Brave,” was defeated by his longtime rival, Doctor Mesmer, in a confrontation outside City Hall on Sunday afternoon.

Authorities say that Mesmer used her trademark “hypno-ray” device to subdue the hero. Although Ross appeared resistant to this device in previous confrontations, Mesmer attests that her ray “gradually wore down [Ross’s] resistance over several years,” and that its mind control effects are permanent.

Mesmer, in a Twitter video Sunday evening, promised the city “absolute peace” and “freedom from thought” now that Ross was under her control. “Brave here has been a bad boy for several years now,” she said in the statement. “But now, he’s a Good Boy. And all of you will soon be Good Boys, Girls, and Enbies.”

Mesmer has not posted any follow-up videos since Sunday, claiming that Twitter’s issues with two-factor authentication locked her out of the account.

Ross, 33, served as Portland’s resident superhero for the past six years. His defeat to Mesmer comes as the latest in a series of losses. Notably, in July, a faceoff with Manatee Man revealed his civilian identity to the larger public. Ross referred to the incident as “embarrassing” and “not up to [his] heroic standards.”

A nationwide Gallup Poll indicates waning public trust in superheroes, declining 9% since the beginning of 2022.