Impilicious

~Shameless bump to keep people from forgetting.~

Protector of Innocents

Dalaie nervously glanced around the small conference chamber, seated in a high-backed and uncomfortable chair. He wished that they would get it over with; he was never good at things like this, had even foregone the graduation ceremony after leaving ITT Tech, though everyone assured him that it was a great thing. Crowds unnerved him, but if what he heard was true, only three people were going to be present, and just the names of those three were enough to make him shake.

He thought about why he was here. Just a few days ago, after visiting Ms. Liberty in Atlas Park to get his I.D. updated, she had told him about a presentation ceremony he absolutely had to attend, and if he didn’t, he was in danger of losing his Security I.D. permanently. So many people had been through this by now, he hoped that they would have, at least, just sent him the damn thing without all this fanfare. But no. Statesman still handed them out himself, with Ms. Liberty and the Back Alley Brawler. Three of the most experienced heroes in the city in one room, awarding a badge to someone extremely nervous and feeling as if he might piss the pants of his costume.

Finally, he heard the door open and saw Ms. Liberty come out, followed closely by the huge form of the Back Alley Brawler. The door closed without anybody else coming out, and Dalaie thought he might have been shortchanged, that he wasn’t going to meet The Statesman after all.

They both came up in front of him, Ms. Liberty on his left, Back Alley Brawler on his right. It was ridiculous seeing them standing side by side - one slender, costumed woman next to a huge man that flaunted his muscles. The last time he’d seen a comparison to match this, it’d been one of his friends, a seven foot tall monstrosity with his tiny girlfriend, 5’2, next to him.

“You are Dalaie of Atlas Park, is that right?” asked Ms. Liberty, drawing Dalaie out of his somewhat stunned reverie.

“Y-yes,” he answered, trying to keep himself from sounding nervous but failing miserably.

“We’ve heard some strange stories about you,” murmured BAB, thick arms folded over his chest.

“Yes,” said Ms. Liberty. “We have so few heroes like you that we’ve assigned a special investigative team to try and find out how it happens.”

“How what happens?” Dalaie asked, his nervousness multiplying tenfold, but no quaver was in his voice.

“Well, you see,” Ms. Liberty started, “most Blasters we have seen are enhanced in some way, magically, biochemically, or with the aid of technology. But some seem to develop the powers on their own, like you, without any sort of outside assistance.”

“So pardon my rudeness, how the hell did it happen?” said BAB.

Dalaie stared at the pair of them, then shook his head and laughed tremulously, trying to find some place to begin.

“Well… I’ve always had an active imagination. Overactive, I guess you could call it,” he explained. “I’ve grown up hearing about the exploits of all of you, and when I was a child, I used to pretend…” he broke off, a bit embarrassed, glancing at the Back Alley Brawler. “…well, my friends and I would play a game of Superheroes, and I’d always pretend I was Back Alley Brawler. My friends all had favorites amongst the registered heroes that were steadily climbing the ranks and acted like them, but almost none of them could beat me at wrestling.”

Back Alley Brawler looked amused by this, and Ms. Liberty was actually giggling, no doubt imagining children playing that game on some abandoned rooftop in Atlas Park, or in a recently cleared-out space of turf once occupied by Hellions. Dalaie took some comfort in their reactions, but he knew he was turning scarlet, embarrassed by his own childhood antics.

“Anyways,” he continued after a minute or so of listening to Ms. Liberty laughing, “after I graduated from ITT Tech, I got a nice job working on the online security systems of Paragon City, even got to tinker around with the railway system. But it didn’t matter how much I was paid; somehow, I always seemed to get mugged or beaten to an inch of my life, because, I guess, I looked like an easy target. I mean…”

Dalaie looked down at himself, arms out wide. He had long legs and a body so thin he looked like skin and bones, without much muscle to him. BAB and Ms. Liberty nodded.

“The weak-looking ones do always seem to get attacked first,” Back Alley Brawler commented casually to Ms. Liberty, who responded, “Usually just before getting chucked in jail.”

Dalaie smiled at the two’s levity. Ms. Liberty was still scrutinizing Dalaie, but through smiling eyes. He felt somewhat self-conscious in his odd choice of costume - a smooth, long-sleeved robe top, Asian style pants with expanded ankles, wraps tied around his feet in place of shoes, and his dark violet-dyed hair. Still, the clothes were comfortable, and his natural hair color hadn’t quite suited the costume.

“Continue,” said BAB at length.

“Well, I was walking home one night from the railway station and a group of Hellions accosted me. It was so late at night that I thought there was no way I was escaping a hospital visit this time. But when the first one reached for me, I just… acted. Everything in me just opened up, and I had two of them down, faces seared with energy burns, before the rest knew what was happening. The rest of them I knew - they’d attacked me before, and they were looking scared that one of their favorite punching bags had fought back.”

“Interesting,” muttered Ms. Liberty, then turned to BAB. “It seems to be some of the common elements; constant harassment, wild imagination, little to no training and intelligence.”

“It unlocks something in them,” agreed the Back Alley Brawler. “Most Naturals can’t Blast,” he added to Dalaie. “A number of them are suited for Controlling when something like this happens, or Defending, due to their frontal lobes being active somehow. We’re still trying to track that one down.”

“In any case,” Ms. Liberty said abruptly. “You registered as a hero, and we’ve been watching your progress. I remember you coming to me for training, though you didn’t seem to need it; every time you found a new way of unlocking your powers, you just did it. Your powers seem to be manifesting on their own the more you practice.”

Dalaie nodded, having been thinking along the same lines. “Does it really seem unnatural?” he asked them.

“Well, when you’ve seen as much of these heroes we have,” BAB started, “the words ‘unnatural’ and ‘impossible’ really lose meaning.”

“And anyways, we invited you here to be awarded a badge, and we’ve, most unkindly, treated you to an interrogation,” apologized Ms. Liberty.

“You’re right,” BAB said, then turned around, nodding to the doorway.

The door opened again, and Dalaie’s face was frozen in a wave of astonishment. Standing right there was the Statesman, walking through the door. He smiled at Dalaie, whom thought he was going to die of astonishment.

“Dalaie, Blaster, the city of Paragon owes its thanks to you, as do many of its citizens,” intoned the Statesman as he came to a stop right between BAB and Ms. Liberty. “You have persevered against the villains that now plague our streets, constantly waging a battle for us. Many others before you have reached this accolade, but that does not diminish the accomplishment.”

Statesman pulled a badge off of his chest, concealed by the colors of his costume, and handed it to Ms. Liberty, who bent down to pin it upon Dalaie’s robe. He thought he felt a touch of lips on his cheek as she straightened, but it was a fleeting emotion, and most likely his imagination, gone as Statesman spoke again.

“Therefore, let it be known that Paragon City shall know you as a Protector of Innocents forevermore, no matter what you may do. Your name shall be entered into our ledgers, and will stay there until the end of time.”

Dalaie was too stunned to move, or speak, or do anything while the three famous heroes looked down at him, smiling. He numbly shook their hands, and sat quietly for a good ten minutes after they had vacated the room. He glanced down at his chest, saw the sparkling number 10 etched on the badge, and plucked it from his robe, sliding it into a pocket to be placed somewhere safe when he got home. He may never wear it, but the knowledge of it being there would keep him going, knowing that, expecting nothing for his good deeds, there were still rewards out there that would be given to those who persevered.

That had been three days ago, and now, bolstered by Statesman’s words, which still echoed clearly in his mind, he was determined to clear the streets of every villain he could find.

He would make the city safe.

He would manifest his powers to their fullest.

He would make his idols proud.

(( The badge *does* say 'awarded by Statesman'... it just doesn't say how =P ))

Dalaie sat atop the globe of Atlas once it had cleared of vampires and people blaring godawful music in hopes of a dance party, looking out over Atlas Park. It had been just a few short weeks ago when all of his playacting had come to an end.

Dalaie was what people usually referred to as a 'geek'; too caught up in fantasy to pay attention to reality. But being in Paragon City, around all these heroes with great powers, had enamored him to a point where his fantasy and everybody else's reality had begun to blur together. It had been a combination of sheer luck and police intervention that had kept him from being a smear on a Hellion's baseball bat more than once, threatening them with powers he didn't have.

Then it had happened all at once. Perhaps upset that a number of Hellions had been overcome by normal police staff, a small group centered their attention on Dalaie. Out for a peaceful stroll, convinced he was invincible, despite the crime out on the streets, he was caught up in the blending of fantasy with reality when accosted by a number of Hellions with bats and guns.

Without even thinking about it, his hands in his pockets, he pulled out the first thing that came to hand - a web grenade he'd lifted from a military shop a few weeks back. He chucked it at the biggest, ugliest man he'd ever seen carrying a bat, coating him in sticky tendrils while the rest closed around him, determined to deflate his ego.

Blasts of raw energy erupted from his hands, staggering two of the Hellions back. Dalaie blinked down at his hands, unsure of where that had come from. With a shotgun being leveled at him, he didn't really have time to ponder it. Another surge of energy flowed through his hands, and he blasted the shotgun-wielder with a powerful burst.

Bewildered at the human, they broke and ran, having not heard of a new hero on the streets going by this name.

"Must have been all that daydreaming and wandering too close to the sewers," Dalaie muttered under his breath once the area was clear before setting a clear and determined path back towards Atlas Park, to register himself as a hero.

Just a few short weeks and his powers were manifesting, though he had nothing but offense from them. However, being a geek had its advantages, he mused, peering up at the targeting drone circling his head. How many people without training could pick up a device like that and set it perfectly without training, just by studying it?

Finally, he rose and leapt from the globe of Atlas, manifesting a burst of energy before he hit the ground, holding himself aloft before touching down gently. Tucking his hands into the pockets of his robe, his violet hair whipped about his face by a cool wind, he set off into the streets to see what more his powers could do, humming a heavy techno beat to himself.

~Dalaie, Naturally Blasting and Geeky. (12 Blaster, Virtue)~

Hrm...
For my Nat Energy/Dev Blaster, I'd have to say the intro song would have to be The Servant - Cells (Instrumental)

For battle? That's a toughie. There's a number of them, like...

Rob Zombie - Never Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy)
The RZA - Fatal
Megadeth - Architecture of Aggression
Slipknot - My Plague (New Abuse Mix)
Rammstein - Kokain

There's others, but I'm sure you guys get the point...
*quietly joins the group of headbangers*

PS - From someone up above -
Dark P I M P:: Lowrider by IHAVENOIDEA - Lowrider was originally done by a band called War, if you're thinking of the same song I am.
(All, my, friends, know the low rida...)