((Figured it was time to continue the story...))
So, as a new official "costumed hero" type, I figured it was time to see the city from the perspective of those caped crusaders. My first day on the streets as a bug an' I'm told to help the cops contain some guys what got ahold of some bad drugs. Made the druggies way over-confident an' prob'ly pain resistant as well. Least, they never ran or recoiled when I knocked 'em around some. In all though, they were pretty harmless.
Then I start out patrollin' the city proper an' I notice somethin' for the first time. I know us hero types are a deputized extension of the PCPD, but I think our tax dollars are goin' to waste on the uniformed police.
I mean, I'm out runnin' around poundin' on Hellions an' petty thieves, doin' the whole good guy bit, an' I hear another cry for help. So I go over to the "scene of the crime" an' see a couple hoods tryin' to rob this old lady, but she ain't lettin go of her purse. So I jump in an' start settin' these guys on the express to the lock up, with a stop at the hospital. I see a cop walkin' down the street, so I yell for some backup.
Unfortunately, the boy in blue don't quite see why he should get involved when he's got two workin' feet. He turns an' takes off in the opposite direction. Never saw a box of donuts run that fast. So much for "serve an' protect". So, I finish up on these punks myself an' chase down Police Officer Friendly to see what happened.
"Oh," he tells me, "you did such a great job against those gang members."
"Thanks, but the old lady already boosted my ego. Ain't we supposed to be on the same side?" An' he feeds me this line about how the citizens are all grateful for our help an' the police stand behind the heroes in this town. About a hundred yards behind...
Another time, I'm aprehendin' some vandals in a parkin' lot an' another cop strolls up just as one of the punks decides he wants to make a break for it. Again, I ask the cop to chase him down an' the cop actually takes off after the guy, but when the kid ducks down an alley to double back, the cop keeps runnin'.
Now, I know turnin' into a bug an' all don't make me the most pleasant of heroes. Still, lookin' around at some of the other heroes in town, it ain't just happenin' to me. I have yet to see a member of the official Paragon City police make an arrest for somethin' other than parkin' tickets. Violent crimes an' gang wars on just about every street corner an' these guys don't even pull a gun an' yell "Freeze!" or anythin'. The other day I actually saw a cop bein' robbed by a guy with a baseball bat. I'd be embarrassed to go to work.
The cops in this town gotta start doin' somethin' about these gangs. Now, I can understand them not wantin' to deal with some of the other evil types. Those zombies from the sewers, for example, are just a bit creepy. You can't reason with 'em an' it's hard to hurt somethin' that's already dead. Best you can do is beat 'em to a pulp an' hope one of them mortificators ain't around to bring 'em right back.
Oh, yeah, an' I had another run in with those clockwork. I'm really startin' to dislike them.
See, I told you Doc Myers' wife made me a mask, complete with "antenna stockings" yet. An' my skin's thickenin' up, Doc said I'm gettin an exoskelleton. Still, I wanted a bit of extra protection, so I salvaged some steel plate from the wreckage around town an made myself some body armor.
So I'm on my way to stop some of those German WWII rejects from stealin' some picture or some such an' WHAMMO! I'm bein' electricuted by some little tin soldier. Seems their after my armor. Now, the last thing this city needs is a new hero called Naked Bug Man, so I put up a fight an' put 'em in their place. But I'm angry now.
So I ask around some, an' it seems all my contacts got questions about these guys, too. I even tracked down a mechanic who was kidnapped by the Clocks an' forced to do some "maintenance". He tells me the things shouldn't even be workin' in the first place, the machinery don't make sense.
I'm gonna find out where these things come from an' I'm gonna make 'em hurt. They're really startin' to bug this bug...
So Ive never been the most towering of figures. Not the sorta person anyone usually looks up to. K, Im short. Always was, an had to beat the snot outta guys twice my size to prove I was moren half the man.
But I managed to work my way outta the tenements an stayed clear of the bruisers in the streets. Id worked my way up from poor white trash to a respectable, blue-collar lower-middle class existence an I moved to Paragon.
Then those freaky aliens came.
They started poundin the industrial sectors first off, tryin to take out the electricity I guess. Anyways, me an mosta the third shift guys got outta that part of town soon as we could. Heck, the rats had already left those burnin buildings. Guess all that was left was the roaches an flies. Oh yeah, an me.
Not bein overly tall or long-legged, it took me a while to get to my car. All the other guysd all ready taken off. So Im drivin my VW outta the industrial areas, tryin to avoid the burnin wreckage, the runnin people, an the aliens when one of those big freakin ships blasts the building next to me. I get buried in the rubble an the radiation on the fringes of the blast. Not enough to kill me, but I aint goin anywhere for a while.
Course, cause the walls came apart an all their hidin places been blasted open, now the bugs are tryin to find a new place to hide. Roaches, flies, centipedes, spiders, ants bugs crawlin down through all the rubble, tryin to escape the light an the noise. An there I am at the bottom of it. An all that weird energy flyin around.
Eventually, the fight moved elsewhere an I come crawlin outta my hole. I didnt feel so great about then but the hospitals were packed with people in worse shape than me. Sok cause I never much liked those places anyways. So I go see old Doc Myers.
Doc Myers used to be a real doctor an worked at the hospital, but he came up from the streets too, an didnt have the greatest respect for authority types. After he offended one of the big shots there, he had to get a job at the local free clinic. Round about when he was set to retire anyways, the city pulled fundin from the clinic an Doc was outta another job. He did his best to help the people in the neighborhood, but he wasnt with a hospital an he stopped carin about keepin his license up to date, so I guess technically he aint a doctor legally anymore. Not that anyone in the neighborhood cared.
Well, with all the chaos, Docs place was pretty busy too, but I got in to see him pretty soon. I told what happened an how I wasnt feelin so hot an he gives me a once over. He tells me that apart from some bruises an scrapes I look fine, but due to the radiation I should come see him again in a few days anyways. Or go to the hospital.
Next day I got these strange bumps on my forehead, kinda like horns. The battles still goin on in parts of the city, but some folks wanna start cleanin up other parts to make room for refugees. So I pull a hat over the bumps an go help clean up the area where I used to work. Theyre pullin bricks offa the streets an uncoverin some cars, many with people in em. A few are even still alive.
Then them Clockwork guys show up an start haulin the car wrecks away. We think nothin of it at first, figured some inventor or something built these guys to help. But when me an another guy start draggin some metal to the junk heap, one of these robots runs over an shoots at us! I duck outta the way but the other guy went down hard. The robot grabs a chunk of car an walks off like nothing happened.
Well, I was wound a little tight to begin with, but now Im angry. I run up behind this thing an smack it around pretty good. We were far enough away that I dont think anyone else saw what happened. I wave someone down an tell him to check on the other guy, an Im still pretty worked up. That was about when I notice the black clouds around my hands.
Im scared now so I take off an make my way back to Doc. I manage to get him alone for a bit an he looks me over an listens to what happened. Then he hits me with the big one. Apparently, Im growin antennas an carryin a slew of germs. When I get angry or excited I give off a cloud of disease. So far nothing deadly, just unpleasant. Doc takes it in stride, this is the birthplace of heroes after all an hes seen this sorta thing before. Myself, Ive seen the movie The Fly a few times too often to be real comfortable with it.
Anyways, it seems that I started changing about then, becoming bug-like. I carry a couple diseases, Im growin an exoskeleton, I can even fly a little. Doc aint sure how much Im gonna change or how long itll take. Meantime, this is the city of heroes an they are askin for help. Docs wife made me a mask the other day