CHAPTER 4
I remember one time my mother got her hair cut really short like. She had always had long red hair that reached to her waist for as long as I can remember and the day she got it cut was one of the last times that I ever went out with her in public before she started making sure that I stayed home and safe. I was about nine years old or so and wasnt transmitting enough heat to really harm anything except the odd scrap of paper, so I could still hold my mothers hand. Thats what I did, too, she held my hand as we walked through town. Everyone knew Mum, but then everyone knew everyone in that little town, it was so small. She made her way to the hairdresser and got her hair cut to her shoulder while I waited and watched. It was a magical transformation, it changed her appearance completely, so much so that I had to remind myself what she used to look like.
When we left the parlor all the people that had nodded and spoken to her on the way in just stared. She was so different in appearance now that no one recognized her at all. She strode through town, with me following close behind, a complete stranger. It was only after she nodded and spoke did the other people recognize her. Thats how I felt now.
I walked from my crummy basement apartment in Kings Row to the tram wearing my new suit. My contacts were in and my hair was in the ponytail. I looked like everyone else. No one stared, no one made comments or called out to me. I was invisible. It was brilliant.
The tram was exactly as packed as it usually is, mostly with regular people with the odd cape interspersed, looking slightly out of place. Did I look like that when I rode the tram between zones? Not this time though. This time I sat with my legs crossed reading the newspaper, just like the man next to me and the lady across the aisle. The city zoomed by in a blur and it wasnt long before we passed through the portal between zones. Kings Row disappeared behind from view and I watched as Steel Canyon evolved around us. This was neither as high nor as fast as I usually travel, but it was nice to be this relaxed while doing it.
The voice came over the intercom; Next stop, Steel Canyon I got up out of my seat, allowing a very worried looking superhero with a red and green costume to sit down. I found myself wondering where it was exactly that Christmas Man was going and what he was so concerned about but had no time to ask as the tram had stopped and the doors were opening. I dont think he would have answered me anyway, I didnt know him and for all I knew he didnt know me. His security badge read 11 which means he was still relatively new. Besides, I looked like an ordinary everyday civilian now and not anyone that he would have wanted to talk to about his mission. Instead I gave him a nod and stepped off onto the platform. I allowed the flow of the foot traffic to carry me through the station and onto the balcony. For, I think, the first time I actually walked down the ramp and onto the cobblestone patio in front of the station instead of running or simply leaping off the side of the station and launching myself into the air.
I was strolling! Strolling down the sidewalk all by myself, with no one staring, no one giving me strange looks. It was remarkably busy on the sidewalk, people everywhere moving about, going to the places where they work or spend the day.
From this perspective I found it hard to find all the things that I normally see and look for in this part of town; Freaks breaking into buildings, Outcasts mugging passers-by, Tsoo having conferences with the Family. They just werent all that apparent, its like from this angle they just didnt exist. Perhaps my view is skewed in that its what I look for when Im above, perhaps it isnt that bad, perhaps its not a prevalent as I thought it was. I started to smile slowly to myself. Life in Paragon City wasnt all that bad for these people, being that there obviously wasnt as much ugliness as I thought there was. Captain Christmas screamed past the group I was walking with on his way to his next mission, I assumed, and left sparks in his wake. The wind following him tore through us and much hair was mussed. There was some muttering and mumbling about how superheroes think they can do whatever they want without regard for the general populace. Debate ensued. These people obviously knew each other, I was the stranger and probably trailing a little too close for decorums sake. A rather tall, very striking brunette in a very short skirt (not that I minded) and a blazer and tie walked between two men in business suits. I listened closely to what they had to say, perhaps getting nearer to them than I should have in my eagerness to hear the opinion of average citizens on the comings and goings of superheroes.
The woman smoothed shoulder length hair back as the gust settled down Cant they be more aware of where they are when they do that kind of thing? Im surprised that more people havent been hurt by that kind of thing.
Well, Im not sure that theyre really thinking of that, Joanna. Said the man on the right. He had brown hair and was youngish with a slightly more recent style of suit to the other, older man on the left. He obviously has someplace to be in a hurry, probably to fight off whatever it is thats threatening us at this very moment, and well never even hear about it. We passed a store that had toys and childrens clothing in it. Mothers with their children were browsing. Across the street was a coffee shop filled with people in business suits having their first coffee break of the day, discussing the latest meeting or whatever it was that business people talk about.
I understand that, Glen and I appreciate that effort and all the work those people do for us, but is it too much to ask that they dont put the lives of the people they fight so hard to protect in danger by charging about at close to sonic speed?
Glens head bobbed before he answered, his reflection mimicking his movements in the pane glass of the building we were passing I think that saying that our lives are in danger is perhaps an exaggeration, my friend. He knew what he was doing, and the worst thing that could happen to us when someone like that blows by is that we get hit by an itinerant newspaper. He looked at her, there wasnt a reply forthcoming. He went on; The way I see it is this; My brother was saved by a hero once. A gang of Hellions looking for fun and profit broke into his house at night. They had him. That was it and if it hadnt been for some cape just happening by hed be dead because those punks would have taken everything that they could find that wasnt nailed down or on fire and then probably just killed Danny. Glen looked pointedly at Joanna as they walked She wasnt running at super speed, like that fellow, but she was flying pretty quick right above the ground, thats how he saw the broken window. She saved my brothers life so as far as Im concerned, if my hair gets a little mussed because she, or another like her is in a hurry to get to someplace to save someone elses brothers life then thats fine with me.
This apparently irritated Joanna Im not saying that I care necessarily about my hair more than someone elses life! She said angrily Its a nuisance, for sure, but what Im saying is that how the hell is someone like that going to be able to stop if something happens to jump out in front of them? I mean, say someone like that is screaming down the sidewalk jumping over and avoiding all the pedestrians, as they do, and then all of a sudden someone steps out from an alley, or a car turns a corner, or a lady with a stroller even comes out of a building at just the right time? How the hell is someone like that, moving that fast, going to be able to avoid them? I couldnt see Glens face, but his head moved in such a way that I could imagine the eye-rolling and grimacing that was happening. Steve?
Brother of Markus
The Lord of Fire and Pain
The Legendary Living Hellfire
Fight my brute!
BRAVO!!!
Simply [censored] amazing.
"City of Heroes. April 27, 2004 - August 31, 2012. Obliterated not with a weapon of mass destruction, not by an all-powerful supervillain... but by a cold-hearted and cowardly corporate suck-up."