A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. A hero is not a person designated to fight crime and solve low-level issues. A hero is not a person with greater power than an ordinary individual. A hero is not a costume and a name slapped on by a government run association. A hero is not me.
HERO NAME: TIMELINE
HERO CLASS: Utility
HERO RANK: Civilian
I'd say my name is quite ironic, given the limits on my powers. I can look back into time at events I experienced and around then and there, depending on how much of the surroundings I can remember. Its neat, but not much more than that, at least in the eyes of the Superior. Unlike most other powers that need to be trained and honed, mine is a relatively easy one to "upgrade", I just need to become familiar with things. Technically it also "upgrades" by living more, because the times I can peer into get farther and farther away, but that's less of a hard improvement, especially since I have no power over memory and can forget.
I suppose it makes sense I was given an administrative position, as so many utility heroes are. Not much use for the past in the present I guess, but it would have been nice to at least been put into Bystander. Its not like they assess your rank every month, but with such a free way of growth, at some point I thought they would just say that's enough, but oh well, can't complain now.
You'd think power wouldn't persist after death, but apparently it does. Either that or I've deluded myself enough that my "life flashing before my eyes" period (also called The Angel's Reprieve) perfectly mimics it. I guess it's customary to reflect on the actions that led to your situation, and its not like I have much to investigate anyways, so I guess I'll...
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Just poke around, they said. It'd be easy, they said. I guess it paid off in the end, cause I'm here now. The first memory I can visit is one during my early teens jumping over the fence of my school to head over to the newly created Office for Hero's Affairs. I think I could probably go a bit further back, but I don't think it'd be worth it. Even then, there wasn't much going on until the Supercession.
Some cosmological phenomenon happened, then super powers were doled out equally to 1 in 1,000,000 people, or at least that's the figure I was given. I don't think we'll ever know the full number, given quite a few were latent, needing something to trigger them. Generally some traumatic event was enough, threats of or being subjected to physical/emotional violence, having a mental breakdown, the sort of thing you never forget but most affects you when you're a kid. But you aren't going to test everybody, potentially scarring them for life, are you?
Don't answer that, some people did anyways. Not all that were found were interesting enough to be registered, either. Enhanced senses, simple creation types, the list went on, they'd probably be given a Civilian or Dehuman rank, too. Each power was unique, at least in some capacity, just not all intuitively useful. Anyways, I wouldn't be able to find out what exactly the Supercession was, even if I wanted to. Nobody even knows what happened or where it did so, though we certainly know who.
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Some call them gods amongst men, other call them rebels against fate, still others, The Superior. The 7 first of our kind, and by far the most powerful. Technically Superior is a rank, above Adept, Bystander, Civilian, and Dehuman, but no one has matched their power, so ABsolute was designated as the rank for those far above Adepts and not at the level of the Superior.
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Neander, the first and biggest of the Superiors, claims it was him, saying it was a failed experiment at a particle collider in Germany that had unintended ramifications. His claim has some legitimacy, given that his curse modifies the genetic code, causing gigantism and increasing musculature while increasing cancer rates.
HERO NAME: NEANDER
HERO CLASS: Enforcement
HERO RANK: Superior 1st
Not that Baton had nothing to say about that, pitching that it was actually an experiment in using ancient structures like the Pyramids as conduits for solar energy. His curse charges its victims with static electricity, causing their hair to stand on end and minorly increasing their reaction speed and the force of their muscles, but causing semifrequent spasms.
HERO NAME: BATON
HERO CLASS: Research
HERO RANK: Superior 2nd
Nihil only said that it was a sign that Gaea was waning and that Uranus was growing. It's curse was that eyes would grow bags that wouldn't go away with any amount of sleep, and skin would become pale, and it's victims mental state would wax and wane with the alignment of the planets, keeping them stable, even mentally stalwart most of the time but sending waves of depression and bipolar-ism through them every so often.
HERO NAME: NIHIL
HERO CLASS: ???
HERO RANK: Superior 3rd
Psi theorized that it was something to do with the collective unconscious reaching a boiling point, using the continued escalation of work culture in their home country of Japan as proof. Their curse made changes to their target's bodies making them the most "beautiful" and gave minor telekinetic powers, and froze the aging process and any others that might change the physical appearance, leading to it being the most desirable curse. Not that anyone's found a way to transfer them.
HERO NAME: PSI
HERO CLASS: Public Relations
HERO RANK: Superior 4th
Martyr hinted that the weight of all the previous souls is what allows us to do these things, mentioning the recent wars in the Slavic states. Her curse sharpens the bodies of those affected, making nails and teeth, sight and other senses precise and poignant, but causing them to bleed much more than usual when hit.
HERO NAME: MARTYR
HERO CLASS: Enforcement
HERO RANK: Superior 5th
Cmyk said it was always present, just that we've reached a point that the stress of societal life allows us to manifest things that've looked supernatural but are actually very natural, citing the population density in cities like London as potential causes and triggers. Her curse afflicts people with a color, making their hair and skin two different, non-natural tones, but allows them to change the colors of their body freely as long as they put a little bit of focus into it.
HERO NAME: CMYK
HERO CLASS: Public Relations
HERO RANK: Superior 6th
Son of Sky proclaimed it was divine intervention, seeing the rise of crime in America as the trigger, giving more the physical and supernatural power to challenge those that might otherwise have the upper hand and be able to make the change they want to see in the most physical sense. His curse gives its hosts a permanent glow, light emanating weakly from all exposed skin, in addition to being able to propel themselves off of objects with jets of air, and even being able to hover in some rare cases
HERO NAME: SON OF SKY
HERO CLASS: Utility
HERO RANK: 7th