Chapter Fifty-Two - Coifed?

"He's a weird one, isn't he?" Melaton asked.

Emily nodded and glanced across the room at where Soothe-Sayer was entertaining a gaggle of children. He'd been a little intimidating, initially. He was a big guy, and it was only more obvious when around children. But his silly pantomimes and his childish jokes, not to mention the presents, won him a lot of fans.

"He's a little eccentric," Emily said. "I'd never heard of him before."

"Soothe's not one of those heroes you hear a lot about," Melaton said. She leaned against one of the walls, arms crossed, and looked extremely unapproachable.the kind of unapproachable that Emily wished she could pull off. There was a gulf of difference between someone like herself, who was lonely and wanted to be able to socialise, and someone like Melaton, who was just a loner and who could navigate social things without a care, but who just didn't seem to want to bother.

"I guess. Did you know him before? He seemed to know you."

Melaton shrugged languidly. "We've met. Honestly, I wouldn't be doing this whole hospital thing if it wasn't for him."

"Oh?" Emily asked.

"He's got a way to make you feel real guilty without ever pushing an ounce of guilt your way. He ain't the kind of hero I am. Probably not the sort you are either," Melaton said. She swiped the pad of her thumb across the bottom of her nose, then shook her head. "You know what I mean?"

"I... I don't know?"

"Hm. Well, it's like this; there's heroes that are in it for the cash, some that are in it for the clout, some, like me, are in it because it's something to do and because we damned well can, then there's those that are in it without seeming to wanna be." She gave Emily a pointed look that made her want to squirm. "And then you have heroes like Soothe-Sayer. No fame, no money. He gets paid about as much as any HRF agent. He does it because it's the right thing to do."

"That's... that's a lot better, no?"

"Sure. If all that matters to you is who does the most good, then at the end of the day... Let's put it this way, once we're all dead and gone, if there's such a thing as karmic scales, I don't want my heart weighed against Soothe-Sayer's feather."

"Uh," Emily said. She wasn't sure if that analogy worked, exactly, but she wasn't about to point it out.

"Might want to keep an eye on your bear brat," Melaton said. "Before she starts a revolution."

Emily's head snapped around and she locked onto her sisters. Trinity was... actually, just bouncing with the other kids playing around Soothe-Sayer. Some of them were playing with her tail, and she seemed to be behaving pretty well.

Teddy, on the other hand, was with a group of older kids, teens even, at the far end of the room. She was standing on a plastic children's table, her little red book raised up by her side. "Oh no," Emily groaned before she rushed across the room.

Teddy's eyes were burning with fervour, and her audience were enraptured. "Listen, capitalism is like... like a hero in the comics, but it's real. It exploits the weak, just like how the heroes exploit us."

"But heroes are good?" one of the teens said.

"No they're not," Teddy said with finality. "Communism is good. It's like... being on a team where everyone has a say, and everyone gets an equal share of the loot and the headpats, and an equal amount of space on the bed! No more disgusting capitals stealing all of your hard-earned credit!"

"Te--Ursa Minor," Emily said as she arrived behind Teddy. "Um, what are you talking about?"

Teddy turned, not even a shadow of guilt visible. "I'm teaching my new comrades about how to be better citizens."

"Uh-huh," Emily said. "Uh... I mean... I guess that's not technically against any rules, I guess."

"Everyone, this is the Boss," Teddy said with a gesture to Emily. "She's the best."

"Is she?" one boy asked, sounding exceptionally sarcastic, the way only a teenager could.

"Yeah," Teddy said. Emily had the impression that she hadn't noticed the sarcasm.

She paused. Teddy proselytising was... not against any rules, was it? It might annoy some people to have one of her sisters encouraging others to participate in politics, but at the same time, it was a free country, sorta. Emily wasn't sure if this would go horribly wrong, but it looked like Teddy had at least made something like fans, and it was working to distract the kids too old or who thought they were too cool for Soothe-Sayer.

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"Uh, I was just checking up on you," Emily lied. "You keep up the, um, good work. But also, don't encourage people to rebel or anything, please?"

"Not in the hospital," Teddy agreed with a nod.

Emily didn't feel like she had time to dive into that, so she just gave Teddy a pat on the head. Soothe-Sayer looked like he was done with things anyway. "Keep it up, okay?"

She walked towards Soothe-Sayer, who was nearing the exit. On the way, she ran across Trinity and she bent down so that they could talk. "Keep an eye on Teddy, please? She's not doing anything wrong, but I'm still worried she might, uh, lead others into doing something."

"Okay, Big Boss Sister!" Trinity said with a thumb's up.

Emily gave her a pat too, then ran off to catch up with Soothe-Sayer.

"You're a busy one," he said when she arrived.

"Huh?"

"With the kid heroes. Are they on your team?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah. We have our own team," Emily explained. "We don't really have a team name, or much else. I'm the oldest, and I'm trying to help make sure that things are more or less safe."

Soothe-Sayer nodded. "I was thinking we could find the group making the rounds next? It shouldn't be too tough!"

"Yeah, of course," Emily said. "So... you know Melaton?"

"I do! I know a lot of heroes. Not that I'm bragging, it's just that I spend a lot of time in hospitals, and so does the average hero. At least those who don't have a power that makes them supernaturally tough. Even they'll sometimes do events like this one, to raise funds and such. So I tend to run into everyone eventually."

"That makes sense, I guess," Emily said.

"I'd hope so," Soothe-Sayer said with a chuckle. "Melaton... I think I met her two years ago? She wasn't in the same costume back then. Believe it or not, she used to be even edgier. She's a very competent hero, from what I've heard. But she's not one for the limelight. If you work with the HRF long enough, you'll learn that they have a certain... image that they strive for with their heroes."

"An image?" Emily prompted.

"Bright colours and spandex," he said with a grin. "I'm not really fond of it, myself. I tried spandex once, and... no, it's not for me."

"I... no, I think I agree with you on that one," Emily said. The thought of being paraded out in public in one of those form-fitting costumes gave her hives. If she had to wear the kind of thing that Glamazon did regularly, then Emily would lock herself up at home and never leave.

Soothe-Sayer nodded. "I'm trying to be personable, and I find that the more fantastical heroes, while great role-models, tend to be more... alien. They're working very hard to be more than human, but the people I'm trying to help are very much human. That's why they need the help. I don't want to come down from above like some saviour. I want to be a good neighbour and friend first."

Emily listened and followed. She had the impression that she'd need to sit down and think later, about what it actually meant to be a hero.

"Well, well, well! Look who showed up," someone called from up ahead.

Emily blinked and glanced up, then almost froze. They'd run into the group doing their rounds of the hospital. It was Maple, Trinity, three HRF handlers, and, in the middle of them all, standing with his chest properly puffed out and his hair perfectly coifed, Silver Fox.

"Fox!" Soothe-Sayer said. "Good to see you, my man."

The two met with a quick bro hug, and Soothe-Sayer and the veteran hero started to chat right away about this and that. Emily slipped by. She was always worried around Silver Fox. The man gave her... strange vibes. He was too charismatic.

"Hi Maple, hi again, Trinity," Emily said. "Have you two been having fun?"

Trinity nodded, but Maple shook her head slightly, all without meeting Emily's eyes.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked.

Maple finally looked up, and there were tears in her eyes. In an instant, Emily felt herself going on alert. Something was wrong.

***