Tuesday 23 June 2015

1.11 Outsider Part 8

“Can we wrap this up?” I ask Fiona, “I got other things to get done today.”

“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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