Victor’s morning was almost ruined when he flew straight into a bird.

Victor was a fan of flying with his eyes closed, even though most people found it stupid and counterintuitive. “Aren’t the sights the whole reason why flying is so appealing?”, as Dexter put it. But Victor enjoyed flying blind nonetheless. He liked to experience the weightlessness, the feel of wind blowing through his hair, without any distractions of the world he was meant to save. But until now he had never considered the possibility of flying into a bird.

Victor panicked for a few moments as he tumbled in the sky, struggling to understand why there was blood streaked across his face and goggles. Spitting feathers out of his mouth, it took him about a minute to regain composure. Hovering in the sky he looked around to see where the stupid bird had gone. He looked down but couldn’t see anything. It had probably fallen too far to see.

“Crap”, he uttered for no one’s benefit. He had just killed a bird.

A superhero should probably feel bad about any loss of life. But truth be told, he didn’t feel particularly bad about it. He was too busy picking out feathers from his hair.

Victor levitated on the spot for a moment, thinking about what to do. The situation seemed to demand some kind of reaction, but he wasn’t sure what.

“Crap”, he repeated, after a few seconds. “Sorry, bird”, he said, and took off once more.

Three minutes later he landed on the science building of the Laver Campus. A school run by the Incubator program for future masks and child superheroes. And today was career day. Victor hurried downstairs to the nearest bathroom. He sighed in relief after looking in the mirror- it wasn’t as bad as he thought it was. He took some tissue paper, soaked it in water and dabbed away the bits of blood that was caked on his face.

The door creaked open, and Dexter walked in, looking bored and unsurprised to see him there. Dexter had the ability to hear everything within a hundred meters or so, and could identify people by their heartbeats, steps and breathing. “You should hurry, fair’s already started. Wait, is that blood? Did you fight a mask?!” Dexter’s boredom had transformed to excitement after seeing the blood on Victor’s face.

“Flew into a bird”, came the reply.

“Um- “

“Pretty sure it’s dead. I don’t get why it wouldn’t just fly out the way. Stupid birds”, he grimaced as he wiped the last of the blood from his ear. “Gross”, he remarked.

“Maybe it was flying with its eyes closed”, Dexter replied in his usual sardonic tone. “Finish wiping the dead bird off your face. It’s pretty amazing. Everyone’s here- The American Unity, GLAD, the New Knights, The Shield of Honor”, Dexter emphasized the last one and looked at Victor pointedly.

When Victor smiled in response, Dexter continued, “Congratulations, Victor. I heard- everyone’s heard. An offer from the fucking Shield of Honor. Good job. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous as hell.”

Victor grinned. “It was my parents- the second I got the news I swear it’s like they told everyone on the planet. And thanks, Dex. I’m pretty psyched.”

Victor took one last look in the mirror. “Done”, Victor said, throwing a wad of tissues into a dustbin. “Goddamn birds.”

They hurried towards the gym where the fair was set up. There were lines of booths and stalls set up by various organizations, advertising themselves to the students milling about. A solid two third were hero organizations, but there were others too. An Abnormal who could work in intense conditions could be highly valuable to industrial companies. Corporations and intelligence agencies were fond of recruiting mental powers- the standard super-geniuses, but also the psychics, the clairvoyants, the precognitives, and more. The medical industry never seemed to get enough of Abnormals with nonstandard physiologies. Charities were fond of tech-types and Abnormals with healing abilities.

But Victor only cared about the heroes of course.

“Are you going to accept the offer?”, Dexter asked.

“Maybe. I want to keep my options open. What about you?”

Dexter sighed. Victor knew this had become a touchy subject for him. “I’m just about ready to give up. No one wants a hero who can hear good.”

“You’d be great for surveillance-“ Victor started. It was a conversation they’d had before.

“No one wants me”, he repeated. “Yesterday I got rejected from Star Squad. And they somehow literally pantsed one of their own members the last time they fought a villain. And it was caught on camera. They’re a joke, and they don’t want me. I’m thinking… maybe being a mask isn’t for me.”

Kids joining the Laver school joined because they wanted to be a hero. But of course, many changed their minds by the time they were eighteen.

Victor searched for what to say. It was unfortunate- Dexter was smart, and he worked hard. If Victor’s physiology wasn’t enhanced, Dexter could probably whup his ass any day of the week despite being nearly half a foot shorter. But his powers just weren’t compelling to most people, even though Victor maintained that he could do great things with it if applied properly.

“Being a face could be fun, too”, Dexter continued. “Corporate faces make way more than masks ever do anyway. I could be a corporate spy, maybe.”

“I don’t like the sound of that”, Victor admitted.

Dexter sighed. “Me neither. Let’s go gawk at some heroes”, he said, now that they had arrived.

The stalls and booths ranged from a simple table with a paper sign on it to gigantic colorful booths with multiple heroes posing for pictures. Victor was amazed.

Closer to him were the Geek Freaks- a new, hip group consisting of tech-type masks; they mostly possessed no enhanced physiology but used custom built advanced gadgets and weaponry to make up for it. They had little gizmos littered across their table and there was a drone flying around, greeting people who came close.

Further away he saw a muscled man floating in the sky surrounded by a ring of excited students. Hercules, Victor realized, with amazement. The greatest superhero. Possibly the strongest, if you could ever measure such a thing.

He gaped at the sight for a few seconds. He was wearing his classic suit- a soft orange unitard the covered everything up to his neck. On his back was a long flowing white cape. The costume clung tightly to his skin, betraying an impressive physique. The only other flourish was a white ‘H’ embossed over his chest. Hercules. He had to peel his eyes away when Dexter made a groan and pointed somewhere else.

The Star Squad sat a few booths away looking glum; they had conspicuously fewer visitors than everyone else.

Off to a corner he saw a woman shrouded in a dark cloak that seemed almost liquid in how it flowed around her, never staying still. She was leaning against a wall staring at the ground. She had a small table in front of her, with a little paper sign propped up on it. There were a few students standing uncertainly at the edge, but she ignored them all.

“That’s the Sudden Silence. The Praetorians are here?” Victor asked in surprise. The Praetorians were one of the more edgier groups out there, preferring to work in the night and more inclined to take kill missions than other groups.

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Seeing one of them here, in the middle of a school, in broad daylight, was bizarre.

“That’s hilarious”, Dexter grinned. “I think some of these groups are required to show up to this stuff. That could explain it.”

Victor wondered briefly if he should go over, but then decided against it. Victor was going for the more classic superhero vibe with his mask persona.

“I wouldn’t bother”, Dexter said, as if reading his thoughts. “Stalwart is too much of a boy scout for the Praetorians.” Victor agreed.

Victor left the ground and floated up a bit to get a better look. He attracted a few glances as he floated upwards. Over at the opposite side of the gym was the Shield of Honor. Honorable Soldier wasn’t there but someone else was, who he couldn’t make out. Hercules had brought along a few other members of the American Unity- Queen and Blue Blink. Victor looked a bit but couldn’t see Mr. Invisible.

GLAD was attracting quite a bit of attention as well. GLAD was the Global League of Abnormal Defenders- the only real international hero group out there. He recognized Enigma talking to a bunch of students and saw a mask with a yellow costume and a white cape who he couldn’t place. The gym was a burst of colors, costumes and symbols. Symbols for peace, justice, honor and safety.

Cliché as it was, Victor couldn’t help but feel his heart flutter at the sight. These were the superheroes. The best of the best. The only ones keeping the world from falling into Abnormal madness. And he would get to be one of them.

Victor dropped to the ground beside Dexter. “Where do you want to start?”

Victor shrugged. He walked over to the Geek Freaks, more out of curiosity than anything else. The woman in the front- she wasn’t in costume- was watching him with an eyebrow raised as he approached.

She spoke to them as they came closer. “I saw you flying just now; you know the Freaks only really take in the tech-types right? It’s kind of our whole thing.”

“I do. I’m just coming over to like, make connections, and stuff.” Victor responded lamely.

She didn’t respond to that, but frowned at Victor. “You wouldn’t happen to be Stalwart, would you?”

Victor had to fight to keep his excitement down. Someone recognized him, and out of costume, no less! “Yes! How’d you know?”

The woman didn’t look particularly impressed. “I analyzed footage of you flying a while back. Two months ago you fought some villain called Electrostatic? We were assigned to deal with him, but by the time we got there some flyer called Stalwart dealt with him himself and flew off.”

“This is why no one likes flyers”, another member of the booth interjected.

Victor’s smiled faded. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to step on any toes.”

The woman waved a dismissive hand. “It’s fine. Taking down the bad guys comes first. I’m MetaMind, leader of the Geek Freaks. Just call me Jess, thanks. That’s Supermobile”, she said, pointing to the guy who didn’t like flyers. She held a hand out to shake, and Victor took it. None of them were in costume for some reason, but Victor didn’t ask. A lot of heroes didn’t bother with secret identities these days, but costumes were still definitely a thing.

“Stalwart, huh. You’re hot shit, from what I’ve heard. Let me guess, you’re going to join Unity? The Shield?”, Supermobile asked.

“Not sure. Maybe the Shield? I was considering flying solo for just a bit too.”

“Not a good idea. DAD isn’t a fan of solo heroes- more paperwork or something I imagine. It’s easier if you just fold into an established group.”

DAD was the Department for Abnormal Defense, a branch of the government that was somewhere between the military and law enforcement. The vast majority of hero organizations based in the US inevitably fell under DAD’s umbrella. The rest were provisionally contracted by the military and there were the rare few that worked for the Office. It was illegal to be a truly independent vigilante in the US.

MetaMind, or Jess agreed. “Working for DAD and for an established organization is safer and pays better too. Don’t be one of those people that wants to play underdog. It’s not noble or whatever. Anyway, you said you wanted to make connections? Point me to someone I might actually recruit so this whole thing isn’t a waste of time, and…” she paused to think. “I don’t know, I can give you some personal introductions to some of the bigger names?” she suggested.

Victor thought about that for a second. Dexter was still standing beside him, looking a bit awkward, as if unsure what to do. “Help Dexter here instead? He’s unsure about which organization to join. Put in a good word for him and I’ll give you a name.” Dexter shot him an embarrassed look.

She glanced at Dexter and shrugged. “Why not?”

“You guys would like Alita Arthur. Her intelligence increases linearly every day. She was tested and officially became a genius last year. They say she’s going to be the smartest person in the world by the time she hits thirty.”

“Oh shit, I’ve heard of her”, Jess responded. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

After sending a text to Alita, Victor continued to look around, leaving Dexter to talk with the Freaks.

He briefly considered visiting the Praetorian but decided against it. In Victor’s opinion, the edgy stuff made for good TV, but there was no place for it in the real world. The point of a superhero, ultimately, wasn’t to beat up villains. It was to inspire, to set an example- that it was possible to be good, even in this brutal world they lived in. What message did the Praetorians send at the end of the day?

He walked over to the Shield’s booth, feeling more than a little awkward. There was a little crowd gathered around. The man Victor couldn’t make out earlier was Slingshot. As the name suggested, he carried a slingshot whose projectiles he could control telekinetically. Honorable Soldier’s right-hand man. Victor stood around until the crowd thinned a bit and he could move to the front.

Walking up to Slingshot, he leaned in a bit conspiratorially, and spoke in a low voice. “Hello, sir. I’m Stalwart.”

Victor wasn’t planning to keep his identity secret; He agreed with the need for transparency amongst the heroes. Anyone who really wanted could probably dig up his identity over a few hours, but Victor saw no point in publicizing it either. He would keep it quiet for as long as he could without suppressing it.

Slingshot seemed delighted. “Hello, Victor! It’s so nice to meet you in person.” They had talked once over the phone during Victor’s interview process. “Have you made your decision, yet? And don’t call me sir, god. Slingshot or Sling when I’m in costume.”

Victor shrugged. “I need a bit more time to think, sorry.”

Slingshot clapped his hand on Victor’s shoulder. “Maybe I could help you with whatever reservations you have left?”

When Victor nodded, Slingshot took him by the shoulder and moved them away from the rest to speak in private. The crowd seemed a bit annoyed at that but mostly dispersed without complaint. Slingshot apologized to the rest.

“Well, it just seems like a lot. Even Unity makes its new hires join its junior program first. But I’m joining the Shield proper from day one? It just feels like I should start smaller first, don’t you think?”

Slingshot shrugged. “Under normal circumstances we would enroll you in our novice program. But we need a flier.”

“Because of what happened to Gold Dragon”, Victor put in, and immediately regretted it. He looked at Slingshot to see if he was upset, but he gave no reaction. Though no one said it out loud, Victor was clearly supposed to be Gold Dragon’s replacement. Dragon had developed pancreatic cancer and had kept it a secret. After being killed in battle, it turned out that he was weakened by chemotherapy which he had undertook in secret. Tragic all around.

“Big shoes to fill”, Victor continued, trying not to sound too nervous.

Slingshot smiled at him. “Kid, you’re basically a mini-Hercules. Superstrength, super durability, and of course, flight. You’ll be fine.”

Victor wanted to protest but it would seem like he was fishing for compliments. Hercules was still about a hundred times stronger than Victor was, not to mention that he had dozens of other abilities.

“We won’t throw you off the deep end. And this way, you’ll probably get personal superhero training from Honorable Soldier. What’s not to like?” Slingshot continued.

It was a good deal. Victor tried not to be arrogant, but he knew most heroes out there would kill to be in his shoes. The Shield of Honor was neck and neck with Unity for the spot as America’s premier superhero team, and Honorable Soldier was amongst the most well-respected heroes in the world. The other members were only a little less impressive.

What’s not to like, indeed.

“I’m afraid I’ll fail. That I’m not up to the job”, Victor admitted.

Slingshot looked at Victor intently and took a few seconds before he spoke again. “You know, the Soldier himself suggested you for the team.”

“Really?” Victor figured it was probably the administrative types that handled all that stuff.

“Really. You caught his interest a while back- when you dealt with Tornado.”

“Tornado? But- I let him go. I failed.”

“And when you were interviewed later you looked like you were about to cry”, he grinned, which made Victor blush. “You failed because you were too busy protecting civilians from a twister. You’re the type of hero we want, Victor. You’re the type of hero the Soldier wants. If you don’t believe yourself, can you believe in him?” Slingshot glanced at the crowd that was still waiting around for him. “I’ll leave you to think about that”, he said, walking back to his booth.

Victor stayed where he was, thinking. The Soldier believes in me.

Victor looked upwards. Hercules was still flying, a bit higher now, lazily glancing around the room and looking a bit bored.

Being a superhero, it was a lot to ask of a person. To be more symbol than man. To be unwavering in your dedication to good. To never give in, never give up. Most heroes never quite lived up to the ideal. Hercules managed it, as did the Soldier. Could he?

As Hercules’ eyes swept across the room, it met Victor’s. Victor watched him intently, to find the human buried under the legend. Hercules was looking back at him, with an expression Victor couldn’t parse. Victor’s eyes roved over Hercules, looking almost desperately for a flaw- a hair out of place, a mole, or anything, really. He smiled as he saw it- a fleck of dirt over the ‘H’ of his costume. Minor, but an imperfection nonetheless. As if some spell was broken, Hercules looked away.

Victor looked away too. He had gotten what he wanted.

He was going to be a member of the Shield of Honor.