The Boyscout was standing in the City Hall waiting for anybody to walk by.
Just then a man dressed in a heavy black trench coat, black Fedora, and white mask walked out of the M.A.G.I. offices. The boyscout ran over to the man...
"Excuse me, excuse me sir, can I have a mo...Hhhum"
The boyscout was startled as the man turned to face him. The white mask was styled skull like, on his chest was a fading crescent moon, and inside the coat a large sword could be seen.
"Whats up son?" came a surprisingly soft voice.
"Um would you sign this petition please?" the boy asked nervously.
"Heroes for People, no thanks kid."
"No wait sir its different, seems the organisers realised the original was flawed, so they got some proper support, and re-drafted it. It's now called Heroes Among People, Here read..."
The mysterious man took the petition and read through it. "hmm, that seems much better. What do you reckon boys?"
The boyscout looked around utterly confused there was nobody else in sight The mysterious man made several gestures as if he was in conversation with himself, and then...
"Who cares what you think anyway you're an evil self centered Demon, Everybody else is in agreement though, right?"
The man made a few nodding gestures before taking the boyscout's pen and signing the petition.
The strange man left the boyscout thinking...
<Freaking nutjob!>
---
Signed The Knightwatchman.
Tygerboy dropped the barely conscious council trooper as the boy scout arrived. "Dangerous neighbourhood, kid. You shouldn't be wandering down these alleys." He warned, twisting his cape around so he could wipe the blood on his hands onto it.
"You do." The boy replied, challenging the orange-furred teen in crimson.
"Yesh, well. I'm a tough little sod - as people keep telling me." He paused and smiled. "And I ain't alone. Juni! Show yerself!"
The boy looked around as a voice appeared to be coming from thin air behind him. "Yeah, yeah..." The young voice commented, shimmering into view as a...? What was the girl? She had orange fur like Tygerboy but that and the orange stripes on her arms were all she had in common with him. Rats ears, Cheetah spots... "Don't stare." Juniper commented, dragging the boy from his consideration.
"So," Tyger commented, grabbing the clipboard, "what's this? Ah. Juni, you seen this?" Juni, hands clasped behind her back, wandered past, smiling at the boy and peered at the clipboard. "Ah, Mer'de finally got it together? Good." She signed.
"You mean the blue rockhead wrote this? Kinda pains me to sign anything he created but..." Tyger signed and handed the clipboard back to the Scout who stareted to walk away.
"Were you flirting with that boy scout?" He heard Tyger ask Juni.
"No!" Juni replied, a little forcibly.
"Better not have been." Tyger replied. The boy heard him as he crossed to the other side of the street. "Waitaminute... Does that boy go to your school?"
"Well... Ummm..." He couldn't hear them over the traffic. Next signature. Back on the hunt.
'You lose more of your femininity every day Doroe. It's very appealing.' - SLEDGEHAMMER!
"Hey sweetie, how was Scouts today?" The boys mother asked as her son got in the car.
"It was really cool Mom, we went out to get signatures for the Heroes Amongst People campaign, and we like got a ton from some heroes!" Robert said with a big grin, showing his mother his petition form.
As she looked over it, some familiar names and some not so familiar were listed on there: Cauter, Zortel, Nene Ninnezt, Rushmore, and the list went on and on.
"Well, I think someone deserves a treat, where do you want to go for dinner?" She smiled proudly.
"Major Flanders, mom!"
Robert's mother smiled and started the car up, pulling away from where she was parked. "Major Flanders it is."
COP walked away from PPD headquarters giving Blue Steel a nonchalant salute as he passed him.
Just then a Boy Scout ran up to him.
"'Scuse me sir can I get you to look at this petition and maybe sign it please."
"Sure kid let me take a look."
COP had heard about the Heroes for People thing even while he was a captive of the psychotic Partisan. Partisan took great joy in keeping COP appraised of things in the outside world, and would often bring in newspapers and things to show him. COP had also realised that had Partisan not been so busy causing havoc in the Row he would of no doubt found some way to turn Heroes for People to his own nefarious ends.
Things were different now. The threat of Partisan was for the moment neutralised, and the Petition had been relaunched as Heroes among People in an effort to repair some of the damage caused by the last petition. The new version, while a nice idea and could work, would no doubt end up gathering dust on a desk in City Hall. Still the democratic process was still important so COP signed anyway.
"Here you go kid, now run along and stay out of trouble"...
---
Signed Nick Stone aka COP.
Bay State Ranger was walking down the street dragging a disabled cannon duke behind her when a boy scout came up.
"'Scuse me miss can I get you to look at this petition and maybe sign it please."
The loud rock music playing in Ranger's helmet prevented her from hearing what the scout said.
"I SAID CAN YOU LOOK AT THIS PETITION AND MAYBE SIGN IT?"
She turned down the volume and raised her visor.
"Okie dokie! No need to shout!"
She dropped the mechanical body with a loud clang and read the petition handed to her by the scout.
"Of course Ill sign it! Looks like it's for a good cause and stuff."
---
Signed Cassidy West aka Bay State Ranger
Heroes Day
At ten o'clock in the morning, Paragon Television channel 2 aired the second appearance of the Ultimate; the public face of the 'Heroes among People' campaign.
"People of Paragon City, I have good news. With the support of over two million civilians and three thousand costumed heroes, the City Council has agreed to [u]Heroes Day[u] and there will soon be a Memorial Garden in which to celebrate [u]Memorial Day[u]. A great victory for the people and a big thank you to all those who gave their names. A copy of the Holiday certificates are available for viewing online at heroesamongpeoplecampaign.com and I look forward to our first celebrations! A message from Tracey Lionheart, over to Hollywood"
Tracey Lionheart sat in her chair on the Fiday Night Talkshow set and addressed the camera. "Thank you, Ultimate. Its good to hear the Council has listened to the concerns of the people and thats where I come in, for next week's show and the week after, I will be visiting the streets of Paragon with my cameraman, to find out how people feel about the new Holiday and will be visiting the site for the Memorial Garden. I'd like to ask the costumed heroes in support of the Holiday to please send their names in so I can set an appointment to have a brief interview, when I visit Paragon, see you soon."
((Its an unofficial holiday, so those not aware of this plot and those not in support of it can still ignore it. I'm making a video of interviews with firemen, police officers and costumed heroes about thier reactions to the successful petition, so if any of your heroes would appear on TV, it'd be quite nice to film them and hear thier views))
Definitions on the Holidays
Heroes Day is an unofficial secular holiday observed in Paragon City on the first Saturday of May (observed this year 2007-05-05) to recognize true heroic efforts of its civilians, alive and dead. It involves an award ceremony held annually at an interdimensional location. On this day, it is common for super-powered hero to meet and greet their fans.
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday that is observed on the last Monday of May (observed this year on 2007-05-28). This holiday commemorates U.S. men and women who have died in military service to their country. It began first to honour Union soldiers who died during the American Civil War. After World War I, it expanded to include those who died in any war or military action.
One of the longest standing traditions is the running of the Indianapolis 500, which has been held in conjunction with Memorial Day since 1911. In Paragon City, those who lost their lives serving their country in the Rikti War are remembered at a Memorial Garden in Gemini Park, Galaxy City.
Name sent: Arc "Arrow Flame" Bled
Name sent: Dawn "Dawn Rise"
((Sounds fun! 
))
Visiting Paragon always put Toxic on edge, but stealing in the Rogue islands carried harsh punishments and what Toxic was after wouldn't have been passed by there. Well the job was done now, even with enough time to pick up some interesting leads from a few friendly contacts.
Toxic was just putting the keys into the van when she heard a voice yell out.
"Excuse me Miss do you have a moment?" a student was waving franticly nearby.
"I'm in a rush, out with it" Toxic said glaring at him.
"Oh...uh.. well" coughing he tried to regain his composure "I noticed the costume and was hoping you'd sign this petition, it's for a good cause" he said offering his clipboard.
"Oh? Well let's see it then" and taking the pages she began to flick through.
"Ah I see an attempt to show those without a cape contribute just as much in this world, you know i'd have to agree, after all that's exactly what i've being saying to my superiors for ages now."
Scawling along the page. she clicked the pen closed and handed back the board.
"I've spent a lot of time working on those people who've had a empty life, you could say i've given a lot of people something to fight for. This petition would do wonders for me, after all being compared to someone with powers you can always say it's not your fault, that you own lack is jsut bad luck. But when compared with normal people doing extrodinary things and seeing your own lack there, well there's no excuse for that. That's what i've been offering for years now, a chance to better yourself, become somebody I hope this goes through, it'd help my work immensely"
"Uh.. thanks.. I think." said the student, "So what is it you do?"
Climbing into the van, she nodded the student away "If you can't work that out now don't worry, i'm sure you'll pick it up soon enough. Now I have to be going, i'm going to miss my flight." and with that the engine fired up and the white van pulled away.
[u]Out-of-character[u]
It is probably difficult to avoid this ongoing plot because it seems a large part of our roleplaying community has taken enough interest to participate, but also because the nature of the story could politically affect the world you roleplay in permanently and that could be deemed as God Moderating across the community. However, I argue that anyone who wishes to can simply ignore both the process and the outcome of this community-wide plot.
Narrating and moderating this plot will be Ammon (White Vampyr) and myself, Pious (Pious Hunter) who will also be leading figures of the campaign in-character. Feel free to send either of us private messages for both out-of-character and in-character information or discussion, but I ask that you please refrain from posting OOC on this thread unless (like this disclaimer) you feel it is necessary to back up an IC post.
This is a pre-meditated attempt to revive this plot and in-character wise, re-launch this good-willed campaign. Note that we will sometimes use non-playable characters in the City of Heroes such as they City Representative.
Lastly, nobody is perfectly skilled and although we are confident in our ability to moderate this plot accurately, if you notice a flaw in the story or an incorrect fact, or simply wish to critize my (I can't speak for the others) moderating skills, do send us a PM. Thank you for reading this, I hope you make of this plot all the fun you can.
[u]In-character[u]
10 o'clock in the morning, Monday the 26th of March. Paragon Television 2 broadcasted a live speech from legendary hero, the Ultimate addressing the world, concerning the newly renamed 'Heroes among People' campaign.
"Many of you opposed the Heroes for People campaign because of the accusations implied within the petition, both costumed heroes and civilians. Yet enough people saw past the words to carry it on in a new light. Heroes among People campaigns to build a Memorial Garden with plaques and statues of the men and women in this city who have sacrificed their lives serving the people. The countless soldiers of the US Army who fell to the Rikti, the men and women who died helping in the War, the costumed individuals who's lives were lost in the fight, all of these were heroes of the Rikti War.
"The Memorial Garden will also commemorate the heroes of today who have died going that extra mile, honest, hardworking journalists, doctors and nurses on the front lines of battle, special agents, police officers, and soldiers who stand and fight even when the odds are against them. The list goes on.
"Heroes among People also campaigns for a day or two to celebrate the living heroes in our city and remember the dead. The holiday shall be called 'Heroes Today' and on the first of those two days we shall recognise and award the outstanding heroes of this City, the people who must risk thier lives everyday; from the fire-fighter, to the police officer.
"But perhaps most important of all, on the second day, your hard-working 'supers' shall decend from the skies just to say 'thank you'. Thank you for your support, or your information, or the various other ways you have helped them help you.
"This is the aim of the Heroes among People campaign, and the good news is we already have the attention of the City Council. We will be using all medias to power this campaign, television, radio, and even the newspapers." the Ultimate paused, preparing to close his speech "We've been given permission to forward the names we had before, but there is a new petition and I've just read it out to you. You can find copies to sign up to online and on hand-outs from the Paragon City Boy Scouts. If we can get enough names, we can finally set-up a day or two, just to say 'thank you' to the real heroes alive and dead"