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Presumption of Heroism By Josef Koelbl III She walked off the ferry and stepped
onto the dock in Talos Island. Jennelyn sniffed the air and frowned. So this is Paragon City, she thought.
She sighed heavily. Here for less than a minute and she already didn’t like it.
It was too bright, too clean, too…nice. Not like home. Not like the Rogue
Isles. There things were less…open and more to her fancy. She sighed again and
walked on, down the sidewalk and under the overpass, up the hill that lead to
the city proper. I can’t believe I’m
doing this. She walked past the open storefronts, amazed at the absence of
guards and caught her reflection in one of the gleamingly clean windows. Jenne ran her fingers through her
white shoulder-length hair, her frosted silver sunglasses catching the midday
sun. A white veil covered the bottom of her face, a bodysuit of the same color
hugged her athletic frame and bare legs peeked from the top of thigh-high
boots. He ran here to become…a hero, of all
things. And she had followed. All because
I got the hots for some guy, she shook her head at the thought. Well, I’ll find him and then he’ll love me, she
thought. And if he doesn’t…? Jenne’s lips curled crookedly. I’ll make him. She walked on, eyes widening behind her glasses as the
citizens on the street smiled and waved
at her. Jennelyn’s eyebrow rose in surprise and confusion. This type of
behavior was…unexpected. It’s a different
world, I suppose. She passed a café, people sitting outside to enjoy the
weather and her hand went involuntarily to the compartment on her belt. It had
cost more than she had expected to get this far. She would have to…acquire more
substantial funding and soon. She heard a muffled scream and looked down the alley on her
left. Jenne grinned, watching as two men, members of the Warriors gang judging
by the markings on their jackets, attempted to mug a young woman. The girl had
the strap of her purse in a death grip and one of the Warriors was having an
inordinate amount of trouble separating her from it. “C’mon, lady,” he growled, “just give it up and we can all go
home.” “What? You gettin’ beat by a girl?” his buddy chided, hands
on hips as he laughed. Jennelyn smiled evilly. Two Warriors and a woman. She would
take out the gang bangers, rob them and keep the purse for herself. She
concentrated for a moment and her power flowed, a slithering menace scurrying toward
its unsuspecting victims. “Huh…,” one of the Warrior goons grunted, “I don’t feel so
good.” His partner gave a final yank on the purse and ripped it from
the woman’s hands. “Maybe you swallowed a finger at the rumble last night. I
hear Tsoo are kind of gamey.” He opened the purse as the girl backed away. Odd, he thought noticing now that his
breath was coming in white puffs. He was able to exclaim “What the...!” before
a sheet of ice spread over the pavement. Both criminals fell heavily onto the
frigid concrete. “So heavy,” one grunted as he struggled to his feet only to
slip and crash to the ground again. Jennelyn moved quickly, rushing to her prey. She was no melee
fighter but she knew enough about pressure points and nerve clusters to render
the two men senseless and unconscious. She smirked as she gathered up the
purse, her fingers straying to its clasp when she started at the sudden
presence at her side. “Oh, thank you!” It was the young woman who had just been
mugged. She grabbed the handbag from Jenne and clutched it tightly to her
chest. “This city needs more heroes like you!” she gushed. “I hope my daughter
grows up to be just like you!” And with that she fled out of the alley and down
the street…with her purse. “I was going to keep that!” Jenne muttered indignantly and
sighed. She remembered the two Warriors lying at her feet and grinned a crooked,
cruel grin. The white haired woman knelt, ripping the pockets from the men’s
jeans. Jennelyn exited the alley, slipping nearly $500 into her
belt. The Warriors had been having a busy day and she was happy to be
their…beneficiary. She bit her lower lip and returned to the task at hand. How
to find her…friend? The Rogue Islander looked over the street, past a grassy
park that contained a huge boulder and grinned beneath her veil. The train
station. The train, pride and joy of the Paragon Transit Authority, ran
throughout the city. At the station she would at least find a map of her new
surroundings and maybe a clue as to where to start her search. She quickened
her pace, grateful now to have a plan of action. The new arrival moved through the busy streets, marveling at
the sheer multitude of garishly clothed super powered beings that jumped, flew
and ran by her. Wentworth’s Consignment House was particularly active, heroes
buying and selling items picked up during their battles and adventures. It had
recently been discovered that combining some of these articles would, in some
cases, augment an individual’s power or accuracy or even their endurance.
Jennelyn made a mental note to “visit” the store later and liberate a few
things. She walked on, smiling beneath her veil at the insipid
heroes. I’m a wolf in a henhouse and the hens are too stupid to realize it!
The thought barely left her mind when she practically froze in her tracks.
Jenne stepped quickly into the shadows and peered around a pylon supporting the
station. There, across the pavilion stood Bastion or Citadel or whatever he was
calling himself these days. On the other side of the station, near a long
planter filled with a fragrant hedge, stood Luminary. Jennelyn tried to remember what she had learned about the
two, which amounted to “not much.” She had been more interested in freezing
people and extracting the life from them than learning about Paragon City
heroes she assumed she would never meet. The woman knew they were both robots,
that they were both self-aware and that together or singly either of them could
ruin her day. She frowned mightily, trying to calculate the distance
between them and the entrance to the station, and wondering if she could make
it in. Then Jennelyn smiled and shook her head, silently calling herself an
idiot. They didn’t know who she was. To the two heroes she would be just
another adventurer and if she needed references, Jenne was certain she could
track down that foolish mugging victim. The villain stepped away from the huge blue support and
calmly made her way through the courtyard, up the ramp and into the sickeningly
clean station. She pursed her lips and nodded, her sunglass covered eyes
roaming over the huge map that made up an entire barrier wall, blocking her
view of the train platform. Well…I have absolutely no idea where
to go, she thought,
white eyebrows coming together in consternation. The map showed every zone of
Paragon City, what train to take to get to them and where one would be when
they arrived. The problem was that Jennelyn didn’t know where to begin her
search for the…misguided object of her affection. She knew she was in Talos
Island…beyond that… Her eyes fell on a bulletin board. She crossed over and gazed
at the multitude of flyers and adverts covering almost every inch of the
corkboard. She sighed, feeling more lost than ever when a brightly colored
poster caught her eye. Do
You Want To Make A Difference? Are
You Ready To Accept The Challenge? Heroes! Register
Now In Atlas Park And
Live The Adventure
Today! The
thing had a background of red, white and blue. An American flag flapped on its
right and on the left Statesman himself pointed at the reader, his stern,
confident expression filling whoever paused to read with an urge to sign up immediately. Jennelyn
stared at the poster, head cocked to the side, considering. A small grin formed
under her veil. Hero Registration. She moved to the train gates and waited for
the animated sign to say Atlas Park. The train arrived, the gate opened with a
hiss and she stepped on board. If he’s
going to be a hero, he’s going to have to register. I’ll just…look him up,
she thought. There has to be some kind of
database. The train accelerated out the station and the Rogue Islander sat
amongst the gaily costumed heroes, her hidden eyes slits of venom; her lips
cruelly curled. She
stood motionless on the raised platform outside the station in Atlas Park.
Jenne’s jaw dropped at the sheer multitude of heroes in the city zone. Hundreds
zipped past, running, flying, jumping. Most seemed to congregate near City Hall
in the huge courtyard beneath the immense statue of Atlas, the globe he
shouldered gleaming white in the afternoon sun. Steady, she told herself. Remember…they
think you’re one of them. She took a tentative step, then another, moving
closer to City Hall and the Registration office. Figures they’re all where you want to go, she mused as a
red-skinned figure clad in a short, sleeveless black robe flew overhead, the fire
flowing from his eyes wafting through his spiky blonde hair. She started as he
burst into flame and rocketed like a comet over and out of the zone. “Son of
a…,” she muttered, regaining her composure. Jenne climbed the building’s
stairway and turned to take a last look over the courtyard and its gaggle of
adventurers. She shook her head and pushed open the glass doors to City Hall. Jennelyn
stepped into the sparkling lobby and paused, her eyes and mind adjusting to the
sight. In the Rogue Isles a government building like this would be dark, foreboding
and teeming with weapon laden guards. This was just…an office building.
Directly ahead, across the polished marble floor inlaid with the Paragon City
seal, was a long curved wooden desk behind which administrative personnel
assisted a few heroes. To her right small stairways lead downward. On her left
a huge elephantine woman sat behind a podium tall desk. Jenne
smiled. The sign in bright golden letters above the big woman read simply “Hero
Registration.” There were three new arrivals in line and she fell in behind
them. She hoped her man had decided to use the same name otherwise her search would
be more difficult. Oh, well…he’ll just
have to make it up to me. The new
hero in front of her stepped to the side and Jennelyn took her place at the
desk. Before she could make a sound the woman practically barked at her. “Name?” “What?”
Jenne asked, eyes widening behind her frosted glasses. “It’s
not that tough a question, sweetie. What’s your name?” The rough voice sounded
like cigarette smoke marinated in cheap bottled beer. “Um…Jennelyn,”
the villainess answered suspiciously. The
fat lady typed rapidly, her eyes glued to the monitor jutting over the top of
the tall desk. “Hmmm, that’s available,” she grunted and a ping sounded from
her computer. “What’s your powers?” “My
powers?” Jenne stammered. “Um…I can freeze things and I can draw energy and
endurance away fr…” “Ice.
Kinetics,” the woman interrupted. She clacked merrily away on her keyboard,
breathing out “Ice/Kin” under her breath. Not looking up she said, “What’s your
origin, sweetie?” “Err…my
origin?” Jennelyn managed to squeak. All she wanted to do was ask about her
friend and this ogre was taking down
her life story. “Look…,” she began but was interrupted again. The
fat woman finally looked up, her chins jiggling as her eyes settled on the
obviously mentally challenged girl at her desk. “Sweetie, I ask the questions,
you answer ‘em, we keep the line movin’. Now, where’d your powers come from?” “I
was born with them,” Jenne answered, cursing herself for the little girl tone
that had crept into her voice. “Mutation,”
the woman grunted and typed. “Hold still, dear.” There was an audible click and
the woman place a small object on the desk. “Here’s your medical transponder
unit,” she said in a dull monotone, repeating the same speech several times
daily until it had become rote. “If you ever get into trouble and your vital
signs drop below acceptable levels this little darlin’ will automatically
transport you to the nearest medical facility for assistance.” She placed a
card next to the med unit and said with the same lack of enthusiasm, “This is
your hero I.D. and bank card. The thousand dollar weekly stipend is deposited
into your account every Friday. The first installment should be available by
end of business today. Report to the Genetic Investigation and Facilitation
Team down the stairway to your right for your first contacts and missions. Welcome
to Paragon City and good luck. Next!” Jennelyn
held the objects in her hands but didn’t move. What just happened here? Did she just become a registered hero? “Excuse
me,” she said to the big woman, “but I’m not…” “Sweetie,
you’re all set. Step to the right, you’re holding up progress.” Jenne
moved slowly away, holding her hero identification card and medical unit. She
looked at the card then back to the desk, a frown deepening on her lips. Fat cow, she thought. Who does she think she is? I have half a
mind to freeze the nose right off her face and feed it to…Wait! Her eyes grew
wide under her sunglasses. Did she say a
thousand dollars…a week?!? The
Rogue Islander stared at her card, imagining the image embossed on the pale
yellow card bearing a smug grin. She smiled under her veil. A thousand dollars a week…just for being a
registered hero! Well…perhaps she would stay in Paragon City for a bit. She
would look for her friend and all the while be doing…research…yes…research and
report her findings to Lord Recluse. Jennelyn was certain the great villain
would be most interested in the inner workings of Paragon City’s heroic
citizenry. Looking for her…boyfriend would be a plausible enough cover. She
gazed at the desk again and saw the fat lady taking the information of a young
man, a boyish face topped by unkempt short brown hair. His muscular athletic
body was clothed in a vest with no shirt and tight jeans. His boots were folded
over like a pirate and her eyes were drawn to the exaggeratedly defined muscles
of his abdomen, his wide shoulders and thick chest. Yes…research. Jennelyn turned and walked slowly down the stairs to meet her first
contact, hoping Lord Recluse would be able to find someone to feed her pet
turtle. The End…
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