“Sure,”
answers Fiona, “I got the hang of my powers now anyway.”
“Then let’s
discuss your costume, codename and good superhero behaviour,” I say.
“I’ll be up in
just a-,” starts Fiona, before stopping with a grin on her face.
She runs
towards the observatory and jumps, flash-stepping in the middle of the air.
Fortunately Fiona dulled the light so Alex and I are not blinded and irritated
respectively.
“I already
know what I’m going to call myself,” says Fiona as she stands up straight.
I look at.
Something off, but I can’t quite my finger on it.
No wait; it is
just her blue eyes. Which were brown earlier.
I can’t
believe I missed that until now.
“Hey Fiona,” I
say, “What is the colour of your hair and eyes?”
Fiona gives me
an odd look before answering, “Black and brown of course.”
Alex makes a
quiet ‘ohh’ noise and Fiona turns to face her.
“What?”
demands the Drakesguard.
“That may have
been the case,” I say delicately, now sure how strongly Fiona will react on the
matter, “If you look at yourself, you’ll see that you’re a blonde with blue
eyes now.”
“Serious?”
demands Fiona.
“I believe the
Awakener must have changed the colours,” I reply, “I hope you don’t mind as I
have no control over what happened.”
“It’s fine,”
shrugs Fiona, “It’s not like I can’t disguise it or anything. Plus it’ll be
useful for keeping my secret identity separate from my superhero identity.”
“Let’s talk about
that in a moment,” I say, “But first I want to talk about your codename for
your costumed identity.”
“I assume I
should go for something related to my powers?” says Fiona.
“Or something
heroic sounding or a mixture of both,” I reply.
“What about
Flashbang?” suggests Alex.
“Nahh,” says
Fiona dismissively, “Wait, I’ll go for Flashblast. You know, because I can
flashstep and blast stuff with my hands.”
“Good name,” I
reply, “Now let’s talk about your costume. I can get you a cos-mat one for you
with spares available, but what colour scheme will you want? I have some
recommendations if you want?”
“You’re the
expert,” says Fiona, “What are your ideas?”
“I think the
best choice for you would be white as the primary colour with gold as a
secondary colour,” I tell her, “The white fits in with your flash-stepping and
both colours work well with your new hair and eyes. All of those would make for
a good iconic image of superhero. Which is what you’ll be if you’re the first superhero
in your home universe.”
“That sounds
like a good choice,” replies Fiona, “I’ll go with it.”
“Then let’s
move on to my next point,” I say, “As I just mentioned, you’ll be an iconic
superhero in your home universe due to being the first. That means that
whatever you do will set the precedent and expectations of publics. While some
might argue what should or is expected of you, the average person will have
their expectations shaped by the first superheroes, which would be you. All of
your actions as Flashblast, no matter big or small, will shape your world for
the better or worse.”
“That sounds
like a big responsibility,” replies Fiona.
“It is,” I
agree before continuing, “Once the authorities find out what you are, they’ll
want you to either work for them or to control you. Most likely they’ll try to
do both. If you do decide to give in to them, it’ll become accepted that
superheroes should work for the government. If you refuse and continue as a
vigilante, it’ll become acceptable for superheroes to be independent. If you
choose to work for a corporation, that’ll be seen as acceptable, but I would
highly recommend against that. I feel strongly against the idea of people
selling out their powers rather than using them out of a sense of duty or
morals. While vigilantes and government agents with powers are still prone to
corrupt, it is much more likely to happen to mercenaries and corporate employees.”
“I
understand,” says Fiona, “I have encountered that sort of people a few times.
It...rarely went well. For them at least.”
“Yeah,” I
mutter, “Same with my granddad. But as I was staying, there is certain
behaviour I expect from a good superhero. It is basically the League of Heroes
unofficial rules and regulations that most teams around the world have.”
“Let’s hear
them,” says Fiona with a casual demeanour.
I’m about to
reply when Narszara and James enter the room and take seats next to Alex. I
glance at them before turning my gaze back to Fiona.
“One of them
is no swearing as you know,” I tell her, “It sets a bad example to kids and I
don’t want young children to swear because they heard a superhero do and think
it’s okay because of that. Another is to respect those that put their lives at
risk such as the police or military. For example, while the League does help
the local police with everyday crime, we still respect the officers and let
them make the arrests even if we are the ones to catch the criminals. We also
try to keep politics separate from what we do. While it can overlap if we do
something with political implications, especially if a politician is trying to
keep it done, we simply claim it was coincidence as it would be. If we do get
involved with politics, usually endorsing an action or policy, it’s because we
feel it’s the right thing to do or it helps people. While only Gateway is the
only new member of the League old enough to vote, she and the old Leaguers also
do their voting in secret unless we strongly support a candidate. We also expect
good behaviour to set good examples to those who take inspiration from us,
especially children.”
I quickly look
at the time on my HUD. Almost eleven now.
“Now if you
don’t mind,” I say, “I have business to take care of in my civilian identity.”
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