Winter Shocker lay in the sewer and let the tears roll down her face.
This wasn't what it was supposed to be like. None of it was. She was supposed to be a hero, not a crying little girl, lying in the filth. She'd spent enough years crying, she wanted to stop all that, fight back, yet here she was again, crying like a five year old who had lost her mummy.
The Vashilok reaper stood over her and let out a little giggle that chilled her far more than the cold stone of the sewer did. She knew that if she didn't get up and fight back, she would be yet another one of those horrible zombies she had just defeated in anger at what they had done.
"Ok, little girlie, first of all, I'm going to give you a litttle sedative. Nothing to stop the pain, I do like to hear the screams after all, but it should make you a little less likely to move so I can cut out those lovely organs of yours" the doctor said, bending down next to her with a disgusting smile on his face.
"No....please. Please don't!" she whimpered, looking at him with fear making her voice quaver "Please let me go..."
"Oh no my pretty! See, you've ruined a lot of body parts in all my patients back there" he replied, nodding in the direction of the zombies she'd managed to stop earlier. "Now I need to harvest some parts from you as replacements, so just you lay there and feel free to scream as loud as you like. No one will hear you down here, I'm sure!"
Winter Shocker tried to move away but the floor was sapping the last of her strength, especially after all the toxic attacks from the zombies earlier. She found it hard to move and knew things were going badly for her. Just like always.
What had made her think she could be a hero? For years she'd lived with her parents in Atlas Park, overlooking the plaza where Miss Liberty stood most days, helping out the new heroes and teaching them all about their new powers. She'd dreamed about wearing one of the beautiful costumes she saw day after day. Some of the female heroes looked so pretty, members of the Femme Fatales, the ICONites, the Order of the Cruciform Swords, they all looked stunning, all the time! The costumes especially dazzled her, so many colours and effects. Red hot flames, ice cold glitter, beautiful all of them, especially those of her favourite hero, Pyra. She always looked so stunning in the numerous pink costumes she wore, all of which were on her walls as posters!
When she had turned 13 and her own powers began to manifest, Suzi was so excited. This was it! This was her chance to be one of them, one of the heores she had dreamed about being for all her life! She had trained herself as best as she could, freezing things like tin cans and fruit on the roof of the high rise building she lived in. She'd even learnt how to trap things like rats and birds in an electrical energy field, although she still didn't know why she had these powers, just that she did and that meant she could be a hero.
Except...she wasn't, was she.
Here she was, laying in a sewer, filthy water trickling across her face, the smell making her gag every time she breathed. This was not what she had planned. She was going to be a big name, a real hero, one of the youngest level 50 heroes in history! She'd even managed to join a supergoup that was so supportive of her.....and she'd let them down.
She remembered the day she had first joined Justice Watch. So proud, so determined to show everyone how good she could be. She was nervous of course, but that first night of fighting, a newly minted level one hero, all shiny and new, it was fantastic!
She recalled how she felt when she literally bumped into Standstill in Atlas Park....and also how much of a crush she had on him from that first moment! So handsome, so dashing, so stunning in his blue and red costume and with such a sweet smile that made her insides go all gooey! When he started to talk to her and told her that the Justice Watch were recruiting she jumped at the offer! Here was her chance to make it as a hero.
And then came that night her own. She was so convinced she could do it now, she'd had a full night fighting evil and it had been so easy, so simple. No one had hardly hurt her, she'd frozen and blasted bad guys all night and she'd been invincible! She could do it again, she knew she could! Just go out and see that guy in the City Hall, he said he had some work for her. Not problem, off I go. This will be easy.
And she'd got her butt kicked. Within about five minutes of trying to fight those weird little robots things. She was so sure she could do it, but she was absolutely decimated by them, a whole wave of them came flooding round the corner when she attacked two that were sucking the electric out of a pylon. She was overwhelmed and despite trying to freeze them all so she could escape Suzi soon found herself unconscious and being transported to the hospital. Never had she felt such shame as she did that night. It took her a week to recover physically, she'd managed to get home from the hospital without anyone seeing her, but she stayed at home and told her parents she wasn't feeling too well.
Worst of all, she'd even avoided the Justice Watch. She'd had numerous calls on her communicator, but she'd ignored them all. How could she face them after that had happened? She couldn't look them in the eye and admit to being defeated so easily! Especially not to Standstill, she couldn't bear the thought of letting him down, that look of embarrassment on his face when realised what a mistake he'd made introducing her to the Supergroup.
It had taken her three months of feeling bad before she'd finally made the decision to try again. Maybe she had just gotten unlucky last time? There were a lot of those robots after all, maybe more than she could have possibly handled on her own? So she'd set off, walking the streets in her costume when she'd spotted a bunch of zombie-like creatures dragging some poor women into a sewer entrance. She'd chased after them, followed them into the sewer and set off down the foul-smelling sewer looking for the woman. It nearly tore her apart when she found them and saw it was too late. The woman lay dead in the sewer as a man with several surgical tools, all dirty and rusting, was cutting her apart, giggling as he did. She'd attacked without thinking, firing ice blasts all around her, screaming in fury as she felt the failure sink in to her mind. Before she knew it, she'd taken out all of the zombies , she'd just missed the reaper who lunged at her and knocked her back into the wall behind her. Dazed and confused she slipped to the floor and into a puddle of slimy disgusting sewer water.
So here she was.....about to die in a stinking pool of water as some lecherous creep with a rusty blade was about to cut her to bits for spare parts!
She felt like she should just lay there and let it happen. It would be so easy, just lie back and let him cut her apart, bit by bit, no one would ever miss her. She could let it all happen so easily, forget this stupid idea about being a hero, just let it all slide away. The reaper was approaching her again with his blade glinting in the murky light of the sewer.
Suzi was about to finally give in when something flashed into her memory. She thought back to an interview with the Femme Fatales she had seen on Good Morning Paragon with Tonya Taylor doing one of her rare indoor interview sessions. She'd watched it mainly as she knew that Pyra would be on it and she was unveiling her new costume. Suzi wanted to see what it would be like, no doubt another Serge classic, she always did look fabulous. What stuck in her mind the most though wasn't the costume, or the demonstration of her powers, it was something said in answer to a question. Tonya Taylor had asked if anyone in the audience had any questions and one little boy asked her such a simple question....."What is it that makes someone a hero?"
Pyra never missed a beat. She simply smiled and looked at the boy and said....
"Sometimes, to be a hero, all you need to do....is try."
It was then Suzi knew what she had to do. She was damned if she was going to go out like this, sopping wet and smelling bad. She was a hero now, she had a responsibility to her friends, her family, her supergroup...and to herself. As the Reaper got closer she reached deep inside herself and concentrated. She knew she had power and she knew she had to believe in that power and in herself. Focusing her mind she though not about the icy cold blasts she already knew she could fire easily. No, she thought about the electric cage she had used to slow villains down with in the past.
Now though, she knew it was no good to just slow him down, no, she had to use that electricity to fight back. She looked deep down inside herself and saw it there, that spark she needed...both an electrical spark inside her and the spark of self belief she needed to focus it. As the Reaper reached her, she suddenly lashed out with her fist and let the electrical current flow down her arm into the punch.
The blow sent the reaper reeling, falling flat on his back and into the deeper sewer waters flowing around them both. At the same time, Winter Shocker felt herself almost reborn as some of the energy from the stunned reaper flowed back into herself, energising her again. She lept to her feet and fired off two quick ice blasts, making sure that the reaper would stay down this time, and then fell back onto the floor again, gasping for breath.
She had done it! She'd really done it!!
All she had to do was believe in herself! The power was there in her, now she had the belief, nothing could stop her now! She had learnt so much today. She could do it, she knew that now, but maybe it was too soon for her to be trying to do it alone. Sometimes it takes more bravery to accept that you need help and support. Stumbling down the sewer pipe, she headed back to the entrance and pushed open the door. As the cool air hit her, she felt slightly refreshed, although her lovely shiny costume was covered in horrible green and brown stains.
She set off down the street and eventually came to the entrance of the Justice Watch base. Using her keypass she let herself in and walked into the main room. There stood Standstill, looking at a report on the computer, still as dashing as ever.
Bahh, I was told to post this by someone with far more power than I have
Inspired after a night playing my Justice Watch toon....
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Winter Shocker lay in the sewer and let the tears roll down her face.
This wasn't what it was supposed to be like. None of it was. She was supposed to be a hero, not a crying little girl, lying in the filth. She'd spent enough years crying, she wanted to stop all that, fight back, yet here she was again, crying like a five year old who had lost her mummy.
The Vashilok reaper stood over her and let out a little giggle that chilled her far more than the cold stone of the sewer did. She knew that if she didn't get up and fight back, she would be yet another one of those horrible zombies she had just defeated in anger at what they had done.
"Ok, little girlie, first of all, I'm going to give you a litttle sedative. Nothing to stop the pain, I do like to hear the screams after all, but it should make you a little less likely to move so I can cut out those lovely organs of yours" the doctor said, bending down next to her with a disgusting smile on his face.
"No....please. Please don't!" she whimpered, looking at him with fear making her voice quaver "Please let me go..."
"Oh no my pretty! See, you've ruined a lot of body parts in all my patients back there" he replied, nodding in the direction of the zombies she'd managed to stop earlier. "Now I need to harvest some parts from you as replacements, so just you lay there and feel free to scream as loud as you like. No one will hear you down here, I'm sure!"
Winter Shocker tried to move away but the floor was sapping the last of her strength, especially after all the toxic attacks from the zombies earlier. She found it hard to move and knew things were going badly for her. Just like always.
What had made her think she could be a hero? For years she'd lived with her parents in Atlas Park, overlooking the plaza where Miss Liberty stood most days, helping out the new heroes and teaching them all about their new powers. She'd dreamed about wearing one of the beautiful costumes she saw day after day. Some of the female heroes looked so pretty, members of the Femme Fatales, the ICONites, the Order of the Cruciform Swords, they all looked stunning, all the time! The costumes especially dazzled her, so many colours and effects. Red hot flames, ice cold glitter, beautiful all of them, especially those of her favourite hero, Pyra. She always looked so stunning in the numerous pink costumes she wore, all of which were on her walls as posters!
When she had turned 13 and her own powers began to manifest, Suzi was so excited. This was it! This was her chance to be one of them, one of the heores she had dreamed about being for all her life! She had trained herself as best as she could, freezing things like tin cans and fruit on the roof of the high rise building she lived in. She'd even learnt how to trap things like rats and birds in an electrical energy field, although she still didn't know why she had these powers, just that she did and that meant she could be a hero.
Except...she wasn't, was she.
Here she was, laying in a sewer, filthy water trickling across her face, the smell making her gag every time she breathed. This was not what she had planned. She was going to be a big name, a real hero, one of the youngest level 50 heroes in history! She'd even managed to join a supergoup that was so supportive of her.....and she'd let them down.
She remembered the day she had first joined Justice Watch. So proud, so determined to show everyone how good she could be. She was nervous of course, but that first night of fighting, a newly minted level one hero, all shiny and new, it was fantastic!
She recalled how she felt when she literally bumped into Standstill in Atlas Park....and also how much of a crush she had on him from that first moment! So handsome, so dashing, so stunning in his blue and red costume and with such a sweet smile that made her insides go all gooey! When he started to talk to her and told her that the Justice Watch were recruiting she jumped at the offer! Here was her chance to make it as a hero.
And then came that night her own. She was so convinced she could do it now, she'd had a full night fighting evil and it had been so easy, so simple. No one had hardly hurt her, she'd frozen and blasted bad guys all night and she'd been invincible! She could do it again, she knew she could! Just go out and see that guy in the City Hall, he said he had some work for her. Not problem, off I go. This will be easy.
And she'd got her butt kicked. Within about five minutes of trying to fight those weird little robots things. She was so sure she could do it, but she was absolutely decimated by them, a whole wave of them came flooding round the corner when she attacked two that were sucking the electric out of a pylon. She was overwhelmed and despite trying to freeze them all so she could escape Suzi soon found herself unconscious and being transported to the hospital. Never had she felt such shame as she did that night. It took her a week to recover physically, she'd managed to get home from the hospital without anyone seeing her, but she stayed at home and told her parents she wasn't feeling too well.
Worst of all, she'd even avoided the Justice Watch. She'd had numerous calls on her communicator, but she'd ignored them all. How could she face them after that had happened? She couldn't look them in the eye and admit to being defeated so easily! Especially not to Standstill, she couldn't bear the thought of letting him down, that look of embarrassment on his face when realised what a mistake he'd made introducing her to the Supergroup.
It had taken her three months of feeling bad before she'd finally made the decision to try again. Maybe she had just gotten unlucky last time? There were a lot of those robots after all, maybe more than she could have possibly handled on her own? So she'd set off, walking the streets in her costume when she'd spotted a bunch of zombie-like creatures dragging some poor women into a sewer entrance. She'd chased after them, followed them into the sewer and set off down the foul-smelling sewer looking for the woman. It nearly tore her apart when she found them and saw it was too late. The woman lay dead in the sewer as a man with several surgical tools, all dirty and rusting, was cutting her apart, giggling as he did. She'd attacked without thinking, firing ice blasts all around her, screaming in fury as she felt the failure sink in to her mind. Before she knew it, she'd taken out all of the zombies , she'd just missed the reaper who lunged at her and knocked her back into the wall behind her. Dazed and confused she slipped to the floor and into a puddle of slimy disgusting sewer water.
So here she was.....about to die in a stinking pool of water as some lecherous creep with a rusty blade was about to cut her to bits for spare parts!
She felt like she should just lay there and let it happen. It would be so easy, just lie back and let him cut her apart, bit by bit, no one would ever miss her. She could let it all happen so easily, forget this stupid idea about being a hero, just let it all slide away. The reaper was approaching her again with his blade glinting in the murky light of the sewer.
Suzi was about to finally give in when something flashed into her memory. She thought back to an interview with the Femme Fatales she had seen on Good Morning Paragon with Tonya Taylor doing one of her rare indoor interview sessions. She'd watched it mainly as she knew that Pyra would be on it and she was unveiling her new costume. Suzi wanted to see what it would be like, no doubt another Serge classic, she always did look fabulous. What stuck in her mind the most though wasn't the costume, or the demonstration of her powers, it was something said in answer to a question. Tonya Taylor had asked if anyone in the audience had any questions and one little boy asked her such a simple question....."What is it that makes someone a hero?"
Pyra never missed a beat. She simply smiled and looked at the boy and said....
"Sometimes, to be a hero, all you need to do....is try."
It was then Suzi knew what she had to do. She was damned if she was going to go out like this, sopping wet and smelling bad. She was a hero now, she had a responsibility to her friends, her family, her supergroup...and to herself. As the Reaper got closer she reached deep inside herself and concentrated. She knew she had power and she knew she had to believe in that power and in herself. Focusing her mind she though not about the icy cold blasts she already knew she could fire easily. No, she thought about the electric cage she had used to slow villains down with in the past.
Now though, she knew it was no good to just slow him down, no, she had to use that electricity to fight back. She looked deep down inside herself and saw it there, that spark she needed...both an electrical spark inside her and the spark of self belief she needed to focus it. As the Reaper reached her, she suddenly lashed out with her fist and let the electrical current flow down her arm into the punch.
The blow sent the reaper reeling, falling flat on his back and into the deeper sewer waters flowing around them both. At the same time, Winter Shocker felt herself almost reborn as some of the energy from the stunned reaper flowed back into herself, energising her again. She lept to her feet and fired off two quick ice blasts, making sure that the reaper would stay down this time, and then fell back onto the floor again, gasping for breath.
She had done it! She'd really done it!!
All she had to do was believe in herself! The power was there in her, now she had the belief, nothing could stop her now! She had learnt so much today. She could do it, she knew that now, but maybe it was too soon for her to be trying to do it alone. Sometimes it takes more bravery to accept that you need help and support. Stumbling down the sewer pipe, she headed back to the entrance and pushed open the door. As the cool air hit her, she felt slightly refreshed, although her lovely shiny costume was covered in horrible green and brown stains.
She set off down the street and eventually came to the entrance of the Justice Watch base. Using her keypass she let herself in and walked into the main room. There stood Standstill, looking at a report on the computer, still as dashing as ever.
She coughed and looked at him.
"Standstill.....I...I need your help."
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We built this city on Rock and Roll!