Articblade

Nuuu! Coz! Don't go! ;.;
It's been awesome knowing you mate, I'll echo with everyone and say we'll see you again soon. If not, I'm gonna send you vegemite every week until you do, with a routine dropbear dropping by ever month to make sure you're eating it...

Will do Blitz. Bouncing around some ideas in my head as it, and I know Scoot is as well. Uni comes first, though tomorrow I'm free, for I have no class then :P (Tomorrow being Thursday)

As a curiousity, is there a Ice/Dual Blades guide out there? I've been wondering how it would go, but I haven't really Tanked before.

The Atlas blimp is a Nemesis plot...

Server: Victory
Zone: All
Character Name: Medikinetic
Location: All
Issue with the Badge award system. Looking into the requirements for 'Fire Chief', I have a full progress bar, but the badge itself has not been awarded. Have Petitioned it.

Issue #2
Server: Victory
Zone: All
Character Name: All Account Characters
Location: All
Occasionally the keys will not respond when I press them. Mostly happens with powers, but occasionally movement. Have not petitioned.

City of Heroes
Winds of a New Beginning

You know, most heroes never get the chance to get their ‘Upgrade’ as soon as they get their costume. By ‘Upgrade’, I mean that they get a new power. But then again, I seem to be breaking a rule of being a hero every time I turn around.
We hadn’t known it at the time, but the battle I had endured with Nakona and Sordan had actually made me rise one security level, to Security Level 2. Because of this, I was able to learn something new to do with my powers.
Surprisingly, learning something new with your powers isn’t as easy as you think. I had the option to learn how to Heal Others, learn to Absorb their Pain, or learn to give other people Deflection Shields.
It had taken me a while, but I finally told Ms Liberty that I’d choose ‘Heal Other’.

Now, you see, when Heroes get trained up, the Trainer they go to can’t just show them how to do it. Not every Trainer will have the same powers as you do. In that case that they don’t, you will usually be teleported to a secret base filled to bursting with Training Heroes and the world’s best Healers, Martial Artists, Psychics, take your pick.
In short, this would be one place that Lord Recluse would love to wipe out.
The Healer I was shown to was a woman named Healing Spirit. The similarities between mine and her Hero Names were slightly scary, but we initially had the same purpose in life. Healing Spirit’s powers were so strong; however, that she was constantly regenerating her cells. And that meant that she could never die unless someone killed her.
Slightly depressing, but she was the best in the business.
Even behind my mask, you could still tell that I was young for a hero. Some Hero’s powers manifested when they were18 or 19, but most appeared at around 21. There was a third, unspoken rule of being a Hero that I’d broken.

Healing Spirit’s surprise didn’t show at all, apart from her raised eyebrows. She quickly got over it, and went on to teach me how to heal other people. It was like sending out a healing aura, I eventually got it. And as Healing Spirit assured me, as I got better, it would take less concentration until I could do it effortlessly.
After I had learnt what I needed to, I was teleported back to Ms Liberty’s side. She gave me a quick grin, and a small nod. I nodded back, before running off. From what I could tell, it was nearly midday, and I had promised to meet Nakona and Sordan at a small restaurant.
Upon arrival at the restaurant, I waited. Half an hour went by, until I suddenly beeped. Jumping, and attracting customer’s attention, I quickly looked at my wrist. All heroes had a Navigator to help them find their way around Paragon City. It could also send and receive emails, keep an eye on your Super Group, if you joined one, and help you keep in touch with your team. It had a link directly to your central nervous system somehow that let you ‘type’ things without needing a keyboard. Looking at my Nav now, a message popped up on the screen informing me that I had an email.

‘Hey, Guiding Spirit. Congratulations on your first day as a hero!
Me and Sordan would have really liked to celebrate with you, but
we got caught up in business in King’s Row. A weird Clockwork
called Paladin somehow appeared out of nowhere, and we had
to rush to the scene to help fight it. It wasn’t fun, but now we
need to stay here and help clean up. These machines have
an annoying habit of reconstructing themselves, so we’re
separating the pieces and sending them to different parts of
Paragon.
We’ll see you as soon as we can, but, until then, go out and
have some fun. Don’t let Sordan know though. You know how
he acts when he hears the word fun. ;p

Bye! Xoxoxox
Nakona’

Making a face, I closed the window the email had appeared on. Slightly depressed, I looked around the restaurant. Waving over a waitress, I ordered my meal and ate in silence, slipping into my usual state of daydreaming. The door slamming open turned me from relaxed to alert in a matter of three seconds, I still wasn’t over my fight in Sally’s, but it was only a young child racing his brother into the restaurant. He stopped short when he saw me looking at him, and was quickly overtaken by his brother. Giving the child a smile, waved. The kid broke out in a toothy grin, waved back and continued the race.
Sighing, I looked down at my food. I wasn’t very hungry anymore. Getting up, I instantly attracted the attention of the waitress. She bustled over, giving me time to dig into my pocket for money. When I had paid for my meal, I left the restaurant and paused out the front of it, wondering what to do now. I had the option to go to my first contact, now that I had my costume.
Responding to my thoughts, the Navigator beeped once, making me look at it. The name ‘Susan Davies’ popped up on the screen, along with a headshot of her. Thinking of her made a map of Atlas Park appear on the Navigator’s screen, with a pulsating circle seeming to indicate where she was in reference to where I was. She was south of where I was, and just slightly west. I begin to walk in the general direction, not wanting to run or Sprint, even thought I had been given strict instructions from Sordan to Sprint whenever, and wherever, I could.

Giving a sigh, I started out on a jog. Sordan seemed to have the uncanny ability to know when I DIDN’T stick to his ‘Training / Torture’ schedule.

By the time I reached Town Hall, I was red in the face and puffing and panting. I took a moment to lean against one of the pillars. Making a mental note to get in shape, I straightened up and went inside the Town Hall for the second time in my life.
Ignoring the Registration Area, I went down to the level that had been restricted from me a few days ago, where new Heroes usually received their first Contacts. It also held the main offices of the five groups of Paragon City that dealt with Hero Origins.
From the looks of my Nav, I had to head to the first door on the left. Entering, I saw the back of a woman, one who was currently on the phone talking to someone.
At the sound of my footsteps, she turned slightly, looking at me from the corner of her eye, which wasn’t going to be a good vantage point for her.

“Green Ghost, if you’re here again, go on a patrol. I’ll talk to you after.” Turning her back to me again, Susan resumed her conversation. I arched an eyebrow, before shaking my head and turning back the way I had come from. She had given me a mission, and I intended to finish it.

Details of the mission popped up on my Nav, giving me the basic info. All I had to do was check in at points around Atlas Park, and report any suspicious activity to Susan. It gave me basic reconnaissance work, and let me get a tour of the park as well. Sighing, I set off at a jog towards my first check-point, which was located near the Yellow Monorail line of Atlas Park. Running to the back of the Town Hall, I made a beeline to the stairs that would take me up to the tram. I stopped at the foot of them and looked up. The top was a fair while away. Shaking my head, I started the climb. Paragon City was way bigger than what I was used to.
When I reached the top, I leaned on the stone wall for a moment, catching my breath. It required less time this time round, and once I had recovered, I walked the few, short steps to the check-point. My Navigator beeped and sent the information to wherever processed the data, and then showed me the location of my next stop. It was downhill of my location and I could get there easily.
Luckily, I had something to occupy me. I hadn’t walked more than ten steps when my Navigator beeped again, signalling the arrival of a new message. It was from Sordan Snapkick, which filled me with a feeling of dread. He hadn’t witnessed me walking, had he?

‘Guiding Spirit

I’m sending you this message to let you know that I’ve just started
up a new Supergroup, the Twilight Troop. We’re setting up our
base now, but it will have the equipment you need to train as well.
So, tonight, after you’re done, you’ll be met at the park south of
Hyperion Way and escorted to the base. We’ll be sending one of
the founding members, Aedos Aimfire, to help you. He’s a
Blaster, and at Security Level 15. You won’t have to worry about
trouble in Atlas Park with him around.

Until tonight, farewell.
Sordan Snapkick’

I walked as I read, making the time go by faster. I nodded my head in approval and opened up my map again. The Twilight Troop. It sounded slightly like the Dawn Patrol, except not.
The second checkpoint came and went, as did the third and fourth. Sighing, I was about to get the final checkpoint, when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Turning, I saw two Vahzilok pulling a middle-aged woman into the sewers. My heart began pounding, and a sweat broke out on my forehead. About to open up the mobile phone unit I had had placed into my Nav, which had involved the cannibalisation of my own mobile phone, I stopped. Nakona and Sordan were busy, and I had to prove myself sometime.

I set off at a sprint, inadvertently getting the final checkpoint as I did. Coming up to the Sewer pipe, I slowed down and stepped quietly, peeking into the sewers and frowned. It was too bright out here, so all I could see was blackness. Drawing up my courage, I grabbed the top of the pipe and swung myself into the pipe. Inside, I landed on my feet and remained unassaulted by the rotting, animated corpses, instead, my nose was assaulted by the smell. The woman was being dragged around a corner while screaming hysterically. Her screams bounced off of the walls, confusing anybody who hadn’t seen which way she was being taken. Sneaking even more quietly, I flattened myself against the wall when I hit it and looked around the corner carefully. The corridor was clear apart from the two Vahzilok and the woman. Inhaling, I focused my mind on myself and drew on my power. My skin tingled, and then felt like it was expanding. It remained in place, though, and an aqua bubble of energy surrounded me. Dashing around the corner I aimed a tackle at the Vahzilok to the left and ran straight at him. Instead of hitting him with my body, however, my forcefield knocked him off of his feet and too the ground, breaking his hold on the woman. The other Vahzilok took one look at me and grinned, showing a mouth of blackened, rotting teeth.

“Look here, we have a young one. Not bad looking either, we can have some fun with ‘im before we submit him for inspection.”

Anger flared up in my mind. I ran at the Vahzilok, bumping him into the sewer water as well. The woman, now free, ran for the entrance of the sewers, leaving me to take care of the zombies. I looked at them coldly, daring them to try and do something.
To make it short, they did. One of them pulled out a machine gun, and the other pulled out a knife. A spray of bullets pattered harmlessly off my shield, but the knife was thrown at me, sinking into the shield and stopped inches away from my skin before the bubble forced it back and away. It short back at the Vahziloks, losing momentum as it did. Going lower, it hit the Vahzilok with the gun on the foot, point first.
He began howling instantly trying at the same time to fire another round at me and get the knife out of his foot. I guess being undead meant that your nerves were still intact. Couldn’t say as much for the skin though.

Bullets went everywhere, ricocheting off the walls and up the corridor. A few struck my shield, but fell down instantly. Luck suddenly went my way as intelligence reached the zombie’s brain and he bent down fast to pull the knife out of his foot, just at the same time as his partner did. The two were going fast enough that when their heads collided, it would have hurt them severely. They staggered from each other, somehow knocking the knife out of the Gun-Vahzilok’s foot and onto the floor. Seizing my chance, I lowered my shield and ran between them and created it again. They flew away from me and slammed into the walls, sliding down unconscious.
Giving a satisfied smirk, I sent a mental command to my Navigator, one that caused two pairs of handcuffs to teleport themselves into my hand. Snapping one of them around the wrists of one Vahzilok, I watched it get teleported away, before turning to get the other one. Unnoticed by me, that one had gotten up and had gotten the knife back. Dread and fear entered my stomach and I cringed away, cursing the fact that I had to lower my shield to arrest the Vahzilok.

Out of nowhere, a ball of flames hit the undead creature’s left arm, setting the rotting flesh on fire. He screeched, pawing at the flames to put them out. Bring up my bubble a final time, I rammed into him, knocking him into the wall again and sending him out like a light. The flames on the Vahzilok’s arm flickered and went out, leaving charred flesh and a very nasty smell in the air. Sighing with relief, I turned to look at my saviour. I was met with a red and black costume, with spikes coming out everywhere. He had black hair and a fairly serious look on his face. Crossing his arms, he assumed a casual stance and looked at me.

“You might want to arrest him before he wakes up.” He guy said, his voice a light baritone.

Memory struck me again, and I quickly put down my shield and used the handcuffs on the Vahzilok. When he was safely away, I groaned with relief. The adrenaline rush had virtually gone with the fear, and I was feeling slightly faint. Tiredness seeped into my bones, and I threw a grin at the man. “You saved me. Thanks for that.”

“No problems.” The serious look had gone, replaced with an infectious grin. “I’d prefer this over the alternative. I’m Firoi by the way. As you can tell, I control fire, and I can let loose radiation as well.”

“Guiding Spirit, Empathy and Force Fields.” I responded in turn. Firoi raised an eyebrow, but otherwise, said nothing.

“Come on; time to get out of here. Before my nose comes off and attempts to strangle me for putting it through this torture.” Firoi said, turning in the direction of the exit. I nodded and ran to catch up with him. He looked like he was in his late teens or early twenties, it was hard to tell. Awesome costume though. The exit of the sewers loomed up ahead of me, and without thinking, I went out them and into the blinding daylight.

“Oooooow.” I covered my eyes and rubbed them. I heard Firoi exit the pipe next to me, I had run ahead to be out first, eager to run from the scene of my first arrest. Without notice, I was struck from the side. Giving a yell of shock, I opened my eyes, prepared to hit my attacker. Hellion, Outcast, maybe even Clockwork?
Nope, it was the woman from the sewer. She gave me a bone-crushing hug, thanking me for saving her life. I stammered my own reply, telling her it was nothing. I eventually got away, but only after promising to look after myself, go to bed on time and have dinner at her house sometime. The last one was an empty promise, and me and the woman both knew it, but it was the thought that counted.

I looked at Firoi, who simply gave me a wry grin. “First person you’ve saved, huh? Don’t worry; you learn to get away from them faster and with less fuss over time.”

“I hope so.” I grumbled. Remembering my mission, I looked in the direction of the Town Hall. Firoi, reading my expression, nodded his head.

“Come on, I’ll escort you there. I doubt you’ll get any more missions today, because of your age and your Security Level, but you never know. It all depends, really. Your contact might not even have any more missions.” We began walking at a leisurely pace. I began dreaming wistfully for a shower to get rid of the sewer stench. I also made a mental note to see if I could get deodorant in bulk.

“That’s alright.” I told him wearily. “I don’t know if I’m even up for another mission.”

“Good point. I remember my first one; I was shaky for the whole day afterwards.” Firoi seemed off in a world of his own, before coming back to the present and fixing me with a look. “You know what, I like you. Here, take my number, and if you’re ever in trouble, just give me a yell. Just don’t call after twelve am, or before 10 am.”
I blinked, before adding his number to my Nav / Phone. Giving me a small salute, he sauntered off, in search of some pants to burn.

I shook my head. That was one confident guy. Wishing I had his confidence, I went in to meet my contact face-to-face for the first time. She was sitting at her desk this time writing on a pad of paper. She looked up as I came in and gave me an encouraging smile. “You new here hun? Don’t worry, we can get you all set up. Your first mission is always the hardest, but once it’s done, the rest is a snap. What’s your name honey?”

“Guiding Spirit, though you seemed to call me the ‘Green Ghost’ before.” I said wryly and let out an irresistible smirk as she connected the dots.

“Oh my god, I’m sorry. I was on the phone, and you looked like another hero who comes in frequently when you’re seen from the corner of the eye. He asks me out constantly, so I was a little bad-tempered with him. How did your patrol go? You shouldn’t have taken that long.”

I smiled tiredly. “I saw a woman being dragged into the sewers by two Vahzilok, so I –“

“What? Oh no, we’re going to have to contact people to help that poor woman. Do you remember which sewer they went into? What clothes was she wearing? What did the Vahzilok look like?” The phone was already on her ear, but she put it down again when she saw me smiling. “You think this is funny?”

“No.” I said. “I know I’m a teen, and we’re meant to be heartless and all, but I don’t think it’s funny. You don’t need to do any of that, because I already saved her. There was no time to get anyone else.”

Silence reigned in the room; Susan sat at her desk with an expression on her face similar to her new piece of paper. Remembering Firoi, I opened my mouth again. It wouldn’t be right to forget him.

“I had them beaten, but I had to lower my shield in order to arrest one of the Vahziloks. The other one woke up, and was about to stab me with a knife when he was hit by a fireball. A hero called Firoi helped me just in time; otherwise I’d be another name on the missing list.”

Susan sat back with a chuckle. “Sorry, I was just surprised, that’s all. Your first day and you take down two Vahzilok and save a woman’s life. You’ve either got guts or insanity in your bloodline somewhere. Well, seeing as you’ve already completed your first mission, you’re done for the day. As a point of interest, you said you have Force Fields, right? What’s your secondary? Electricity, fire, hmm?”

“Oh, Force Fields are my secondary power.”

“Ah, so you’re a Controller. Earth control then?”

I chuckled. “No, my primary power is Empathy.”

Susan looked puzzled, before acknowledgement hit her. “Oh, you’re that kid. You caused quite a stir in admin upstairs. Nearly sent the new guy into hysterics, something about you defying all laws of nature. Wait ‘till I tell him this. You’re an Australian too, which makes you even more weird.”

I sent her a half-serious death glare. “Why? And how could you tell?”

“You have an accent. And it’s strange, because there aren’t too many Australian heroes out there. You have the Outback Ranger, Uluroo and Golden Girl, but not many others. Must be something in the water, or lack of it.”

It was true, really. The three she had named were Australia’s most famous heroes. Outback Ranger was a Fire Manipulator who carried around an Assault Rifle, one he had customised and created himself. Many trees and bushes in the Outback needed fire to breed, which is where his name came from. Uluroo was the Aboriginal Martial Arts extraordinaire. Uluru was a very sacred site to the Aboriginals, and Kangaroos are quite deadly in a brawl, with their punches being able to kill. And Golden Girl was named for her Energy Manipulation, which was a golden colour, which was unusual in itself since most Energy users had white or electric blue coloured attacks. It also came from the location she lived on, the Gold Coast of Australia.
And now there was me. The freakshow with a weird power combination at the age of 16.

“Yeah, something like that.” I muttered, wondering if I’d ever become as famous as those three.

Susan saw my dazed look, and seemed to mistaken it for tiredness. “Go to your hotel hun, you look run off your feet. And eat something too, otherwise you might collapse.”

I nodded my head and took my leave of her. Thinking wistfully of food, I grinned. If I remembered correctly, right now, Sally’s pastry was half-priced, now that it was getting late in the day. Smiling, I felt content, knowing I already had my day planned out. I was on my own until sunset, and I’d be damned if I wasn’t going to spend that time eating!

Hey mate, how's it going?

Um, this is a story, right? Well, under that assumption, I think you may need some help.
Firstly, the length might need to be worked on. One paragraph won't do much in anyone's mind, so I may be able to help you flesh it out.

All of a sudden Energy Attacker and 12 Longbow jump out in front of us. "Stop in the name of the law!" Yells Energy Attacker.

Here, let's add a bit of description.


Coming from the blue, 12 Longbow agents surrounded me, training their weapons upon me and Dr. Theed. A thirteenth, more unique character, joined their group, his eyes hard and focused on us.
Settling back into a fighting pose, I flexed my hand experimentally. A worried look crossed some of the newer Longbow recruit's faces, but the Captain settled them down with one direct look.
Tension filled the air, Dr Theed shuffled restlessly next to me, his outstanding mind go through various scenes and possible strategies to get us out of this mess. Catching my eye, he nodded twice, giving me a signal we had agreed upon before we had entered into this melee. Moving at impossible speeds, I quickly knocked out two Longbow Agents and spun wildly, searching for my next victim.

"Stop in the name of the law!" The strange, thirteenth member of the Longbow group said. A memory sparked in my mind, and I quickly assumed that this was the hero called Energy Attacker. Leaping for me, his hands began glowing as he manipulated the energy flowing through the air, intent on causing me harm.
Dr Theed reacted quickly. Pulling a small laser gun from his pocket, his sent two, small concussion blasts into the chest of the hero, throwing him into the air and away from me. While the Longbow agents were watching their hero fly for the first time, I used their distraction to disarm, knock out, or in the case of one, unfortunate Longbow, kill.
Satisfied, I smiled evilly, sharing a triumphant look with Dr Theed.

"Mission complete."


See how I fleshed that half of the paragraph into roughly three paragraphs? It can be as easy as that. Describing how things look, feel, sound, taste or smell can increase the length by tons, keep the readers interested and other people smiling.

C ya!
Guiding Spirit

City of Heroes
Winds of a New Beginning


“Primary Power?”

“Empathy.”

To Psychics around the world, Empathy was the ability to feel the emotions of others, or transmit it. It was thought to be a fairly common ability, with about one in ten people not having the ability. You could tell the emotions of your family or close friends, even if you were separated by kilometres, or you could let others feel your emotions. You could say that Empathy let you look through the eyes of others, and walk a mile in their shoes.
But to the creators of the Hero Registration Board, Empathy was just a cover-up term for a Healer. Emotions didn’t come into it at all. They probably just liked the sound of ‘Empathy’ better than ‘Healer’.

“Secondary Power?”

“Force Field Generation.”

You could say that, in a way, I’m unique as a hero. No hero has the same powers as one another, but I’m more unique than most.
The man behind the Hero Registration Desk in Paragon City looked down at me, probably wondering if I was trying to mess with his mind or not. He assessed my slim build, asking himself if it were possible that I defied all the rules of a basic Defender’s powers.
Red hair, complete with blond highlights blew into my eyes. Irritably, I blew the hair out of my eyes.
Finally, the man spoke, slowly, as if I were a kid. “You’re, uh, sure? It’s quite possible you have your powers confused. Perhaps you have Radiation Emission, not Empathy.”

That’d be right. He’d simply assume I didn’t know my own powers, and jump to the simplest conclusion.
It wasn’t that uncommon unfortunately. I’d had at least three separate heroes ask me the same question, including the famous Ms. Liberty.

Perhaps I should back up a little. My name is James Reeves. I also get called Jamie. I live in Goulburn, Australia, and I’m 16 years old. The reason I was in America, in Paragon City, when I lived in Australia, was both simple and complicated. Portal Co. had made Teleportation portals to all the continents of the world. Goulburn was fortunate enough to host one of these portals, being directly between two of the capital cities of Australia.
My powers had begun to manifest only recently. My Empathy had appeared when I had gotten sick with the German Measles. Needless to say, the sickness didn’t stay long at my house after that!
And my Force Fields, ironically, had first appeared when I sneezed. I had sneezed once, and a shield popped out of nowhere to surround me. It jolted my sister out of the seat, much to my amusement when I had time to recover afterwards.
Traditionally, Defenders had never had Empathy and Force Fields in the same ‘Power Area’. That is, no-one had ever gotten Force Fields and Empathy before. Other combinations were common, but mine wasn’t.

“I’m sure I have Empathy.” I replied, keeping my eyes focused on him. He squirmed slightly under my stare, when a kid didn’t blink after five minutes, it got slightly unnerving. “I’m able to have it verified by Ms. Liberty, and two other heroes. I can give you their names if you want.”

Sighing, the man scratched his head. He had only started this job last week, and he wasn’t trained to deal with things like this. Writing down the information on a sheet in front of him, he filled in ‘Ms. Liberty’ on one of the three recommendation slots. Three heroes had to vouch for you to become a hero, so it helped that I had already met them.

“And the names of the two heroes that you also saw?”

“Nakona and Sordan Snapkick.” I had met the two heroes yesterday. Nakona herself was a healer, while Sordan was a Scrapper, and had a superhuman knowledge and mastery of Martial Arts.

“Good, and your Hero name?”

I stopped suddenly. I hadn’t thought about what I’d be called, ever. Many names went through my mind, before I settled on one.

“Guiding Spirit.”

The man looked up again, this time with his eyebrow raised. “Guiding Spirit?”

“I’d say Guardian Angel, but that’s not gonna get much of a reaction other than people falling on the ground and laughing.” I said grimly. I had tried a name that suited my powers, I intended to protect and help people who couldn’t do it themselves. The first thought that had sprung to my mind when I thought of things with my powers were ‘Guardian Angels’, but it didn’t suit me.

“Ok, we’re almost done. You will also receive a costume, complimentary of the city of Paragon. We prefer our heroes to be safe, which extends to helping them mask their identity. Here, take this. There’s a chair over there.” The man gave me a small machine, one that showed a picture of a blank person. Blank being the term, since there weren’t any defining attributes to it.

Pressing a button on the side of the screen, I smirked when I realised that I had opened up an option that allowed me to decide the kind of shirt, or armour, I’d receive.

In the end, I ended up with some easily made clothes. That way, I could have more than one costume, and they wouldn’t look out of place back in Goulburn. I had a small mask to blot out my eyes, and on impulse, I also gave myself a small, metal belt which had just looked cool.
Handing my selection back to the man, I received the thing that I had come into Paragon City Town Hall for; my Hero’s License.

“Your costume will be shipped to you within three days. Please, don’t use your powers in the view of the public unless it is a life-or-death situation.”

That last sentence had all the emotion of a white wall. Nodding my head to the man, I turned around and looked at the extravagance of the Town Hall. Some people might say it wasn’t much compared to other parts of the city, but compared to the Goulburn City Hall, it was extravagant.
Several, small statuettes were embedded in the walls, which made a nice touch. The floor had been polished to a mirror-like sheen, and a large staircase to my left led down into the bowels of the building.

The man behind me must have noticed that I was looking at the staircase, because he called out to me, “Excuse me, Mr Reeves? It would also be preferable if you didn’t go down their either. Your first Mission Contact is down there, and it is preferable that she doesn’t who you are or how you look.”
I waved my thanks to the man, while fighting down disappointment. I had wanted to go down there, but it’d have to wait.
A wave of tiredness suddenly hit me. The difference between here and Goulburn was around 8 hours. Looking at my watch, I shook my head. 10am, which meant it was 2am back home.
I was booked in to a hotel here in Paragon for the next week. The idea behind that was to give me three days to learn the layout of Atlas Park while my costume arrived, and four days after that to get used to being a hero.
Sighing, I walked out of the Town Hall. Only a few metres away was a giant colossus, a statue of the hero Atlas, who had died protecting Paragon City during World War II. Several heroes were gathered in the space beneath the statue, talking, planning missions, sitting quietly or flying. I looked at the flying heroes longingly, before shaking my head. It’d be a long time before I would fly, if I was able to fly at all. Who knows? I might end up with Super Speed, Super Jumping or even Teleportation.
Sighing, I sat down on one of the steps in front of the Town Hall. It was going to be a long three days.



Training.

Yesterday, I would have relished the word. Yesterday, I was signing up to be a hero. And yesterday, sitting on the steps in front of the Town Hall, Sordan Snapkick and Nakona had come across me.
It had been their idea, not mine, to train. Nakona was to help me train and focus my healing powers, while Sordan would help me with fighting in general.
When I asked Sordan why I needed to train with fighting, his reaction was to punch the wall next to us, and then asked me to do the same. His face had a neutral look to it, so, suspecting nothing, I punched the wall.
You know how, on TV, the hero of a story punches someone and walks away without a dent? I can tell you now; it’s not like that in real life. I grazed my knuckles, as well as inflicting a LOT of pain on my hand. Nakona threw Sordan a look that plainly said ‘Behave’, before healing my hand.

“That’s why you need to train. You don’t have the calluses that will stop you being hurt by punching things. There are a lot of things out there that are even harder than that wall. Just be lucky you have the healing gift. I don’t have that, so, if I hurt myself, I’m on my own.” Sordan said, giving me a look filled with humour. “But then again, you could always win if you got lucky and the naughty people choked on their own spit when they’re laughing at you hopping around.”

Anyway, moving on, now, I was stuck in training. We were in the ‘Majestic Ladies of Paragon City and their Men in Tights’ Supergroup’s Training room, hidden in their base. Sordan had needed to have special permission to enter; His conditions were that Nakona had to be with him at all times. Her response to that was ‘If I had my way, he’d be with me, all the time, everywhere.’
I think my eye began to spontaneously twitch after she said that.

So far, Nakona had taught me to spread my Empathy Gift in a wave that radiated outwards; in a move she called ‘Healing Aura’. Sordan had taught me some basic punches, but nothing focused, or, as he said, ‘Honed’. It was basically going to be a brawl if it came to me punching with my fists.
Right now, we were working on Sprinting. My running style apparently resembled that of an ‘Oversized monkey’, a term supplied by Sordan. My new style was better, but it tired me out more. My running stride was extended, which caused a complaint or two from my hamstrings.
That was all that Nakona and Sordan were authorised to do. I was only Security Level ‘One’, which meant I had very few powers, and was generally, easy pickings for anyone. Another term for it, this timed supplied by Nakona, was, ‘Most villains think you won’t be able to fight your way out of a wet, paper bag’.
After I had mastered the techniques, Sordan set me to punching soft things, and progressively get to the harder things. He also forbade me to heal myself, or Nakona to heal me. By the end of my ‘Tendering’ session, my knuckles were red, hurting, and I could barely move my fingers. No grazes this time though.

“Lunch time.” Nakona said, at which, my ears instantly perked up. “My shout. Anywhere you want to go Jamie?”

“Somewhere that gives out a lot of fat, maybe even food.” I mumbled. Shaking my head and getting out of my thoughts, I gave that another, serious, attempt. “I don’t know. Any place you can recommend?”

Nakona grinned. “I can do that. Sally’s has the best milkshakes and chocolate mud cakes on this side of the galaxy. We can get some Peacebringers to verify that for you as well.”

“The Kheldians have chocolate mud cake on their planet?”

“Well, not technically speaking. But apparently they have a similar substance called Khokolate. Funny how chocolate seems to be a Universal thing, huh?”

After my refill, I felt much happier. Nakona had eaten double of what I had though, and Sordan had eaten about a half more than I had. The reason apparently was that when Empaths heal, they burn up fat at the same time. It was a win/win scenario. Sordan’s excuse was that Scrappers only needed a normal amount to eat, even though they were more physically active than a lot of Empaths.

“Just wait. When you’re fully grown, and healing on a regular basis, you’ll make what Nakona’s eating look like an anthill.” Sordan said cheerfully. I was watching him eat with a smile tugging at my mouth. He didn’t remove his mask, even to eat, which made for a funny scene.

With a snort, I took a bite into my hamburger. Quietly, I began musing and daydreaming about my career as a hero. I’d be out of school so often that in the end, I wouldn’t have to go, I’d be knocking Hellions and Skulls out with one hit. Statesman would ask me to join the Freedom Phalanx, you know, stuff every hero to be dreams about. Then I moved onto the things every teenage boy thinks about. I’d be popular of course, all the girls would like me, and I’d have a fan club everywhere I went. You know, the works.
After I gave a chuckle (I was thinking about trapping one of the guys I didn’t like at school in a bubble), I was bought back to the present by the door slamming open and sudden silence throughout the Café.

Looking up, I almost choked on my food when I saw four Hellions, two wielding guns, and the other two wielding hands coated with fire.
I sent a panicked look at Nakona, only to find she had floated out of her seat and was now on the roof somewhere, while Sordan had disappeared altogether.
Putting my hands underneath the table, I created a small shield, one that could quickly surround me if the occasion demanded it.

“Money, all of it, and some chocolate mud cake.” Said what seemed to be the leader. Damned, that’s what they were called, or so my memory told me. “Hurry up, or we’ll set fire to this place.”

As if to back up their leader, the two grunts, I couldn’t remember what they were called, bought out a small handgun each.
Suddenly, in my ear, I could hear Sordan’s voice. He passed me a small, white mask which was identical to the one he wore.

“You’re gonna be my sidekick for this.” He murmured. “We didn’t mean for you to actually battle until you got your costume, but this is a life or death situation. Put the mask on, and keep me healthy.”
The reason Sordan was making me his sidekick was because Nakona could take full care of herself. Sordan had a Security Level of Ten. Nakona’s Security Level was 23.
Ducking beneath my table, I put the mask on, took my jacket off and turned it inside out, thanking the gods that I had decided to wear a reversible jacket today. My jeans were going to be a problem, and I wasn’t taking them off and going in my underwear, unlike several other heroes running around Atlas Park.

“3.”

The Damned was speaking, holding up three fingers to show he wasn’t joking.

“2. 1”

At the last second, Sordan appeared out of nowhere, between the two grunts. Raising his arms, he bought them back down with breakneck speed and hit the grunt’s arms. Their bullets when harmlessly into the rubber tiling of the Café, before the Grunts reacted and punched towards where Sordan had been. Their punches ended up hitting nothing but the other’s hand.
The Damned however, had faster reflexes than the grunts. Raising a hand, he shot a flaming fireball at Sordan, catching him in the chest and throwing him backwards. In return fire, a sizzling stream of lightning shot out of nowhere and hit the Damned squarely on the head. He shook, looking like a very mutated dog, and let out a scream of pain.

Suddenly, I remembered what my job was. Running over to Sordan, who was already up, and attacking the second in command, a Fallen, I think it was. Every punch he threw was going to cause him pain, I knew that much, so he had resorted to kicking. Calling on my powers, a wave of calming, green, healing light spilled out around me. My first lesson that day, even before Nakona had taught me the Healing Aura, was how to avoid healing my enemies, but at the same time, heal my friends. It required a lot of concentration, but in the end, I focused most of it on Sordan, with very little of my power healing the Fallen. Sordan, now restored, snapped back into action. He let loose a move he called his ‘Thunder Kick’, which left the Fallen reeling. Sordan took the chance to use his ‘Cobra Strike’, and after the two, combined moves, the Fallen fell. Sordan reached into his pocket and threw me some handcuffs, and nodded towards the Fallen. Inclining my head, I crouched down and clicked the handcuffs into place around the Fallen’s wrists.
Suddenly, one of the Grunts was in front of me. I reacted on pure instinct, and a bubble popped into existence around me. The Grunt’s mouth fell open, and Nakona took the opportunity to send a ball of her own towards him, this one made of electricity. This time, it was one of the Hellions who flew back, hitting a counter. Looking around, I saw that the Damned and the other grunt had been disposed of already. Quietly, Nakona stepped forward, her footsteps sounding loudly in the silent diner. During the battle, almost no-one had moved, for fear of provoking a Hellion, or attracting their attention. Kneeling, Nakona put another set of handcuffs on the Grunt. A loud cracking noise filled the air, and was followed a moment later by thunder.
Suddenly tired, it took me a minute to realise that the thunder was applause. Everyone in the diner was clapping or whistling. I knew I had turned red, but a grin had also appeared on my face. Turning to look at Nakona, she nodded and smiled at some customers, before catching my eye. She jerked her head towards the door, and I took the hint, walking quickly out after Sordan and Nakona.

“So, how did you like your first battle?” Nakona asked, looking around to make sure we weren’t being followed.

“It was so… messy.” I said, at lost for better words. “More like chaos than a fight.”

“Strangely enough, that was an ordered fight. You wanna see chaos? Watch some of the videos coming from Recluse’s Victory sometime.” Sordan said.

“Recluse’s Victory?”

“Sorry. Recluse’s Victory is in another dimension. Lord Recluse is trying to take over Atlas Park in another dimension, and then he’s going to try and fuse that Atlas Park and the one we know. Lucky, we have the big-guns pulled out for that one. Only heroes Security Level 40, or above, are allowed in, and when they have the time, the Surviving Eight join the battle. It’s not often though. I heard Statesman had to join the battle yesterday though, or we’d have been wiped out.”

“Statesman? Ouch, must’ve been big. What Security Level is he, do you know?”

“By official standards, he’s Security Level 50.” Nakona said, taking the initiative on that question. “However, a lot of people know he exceeds it by far. I’d say, if there was such a thing, he’d be powerful enough for Security Level 70 or something. You can just imagine where that’d get him. What do you think? Give him access to the realm of the Underworld?” Nakona asked, letting out a laugh. “But, yeah. He’s Level 50.”

“Wow. Sounds cool. I hope I get to meet him someday.” I said, thinking about what Nakona and Sordan had just said.

“And just hope that it’s outside of a battle zone as well.” Sordan said grimly.

Am I also able to put in a request for an Invulnerabilty / Stone guide as well? I've looked through the forum, but I'm unable to find one.