On the TV show ‘Mornings with Maddie,’ the host, whose full name was Madeline Gorges, sat down to interview a superhero. Maddie herself was a middle aged woman with curly brown hair and a big smile that showed off her pearly white teeth.
Behind the stage, a superhero waited for her announcement. She mentally prepared herself to make the right face. She had to look confident, but likeable, beautiful, but not smug about it. She’d practiced what face to make in the mirror for almost an hour. This sort of thing could make or break the public’s perception of you, and this superhero was determined to get it right.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” said Maddie, sitting in a comfortable red chair. “Allow me to introduce the beautiful…the powerful…the wonderful Demigoddess!”
Showtime, thought the hero.
The superhero known as Demigoddess sauntered onto the stage. She wore a red and white leotard, a red mask over her eyes, and a diamond tiara on her head. She Normally wore her black hair in a bun when on duty. However, she let her silky locks spill over her shoulders for public appearances like this. Just as she’d practiced, Demigoddess put on her face, a big, bright, beautiful smile aimed right at the audience. Judging by the cheers, she’d struck just the right expression.
“Welcome, Demigoddess,” said Maddie. “It’s great to have you here. You’re looking lovely as always.”
Demigoddess sat down and shook Maddie’s hand, “Thanks, Maddie. It’s nice to have a host with good taste for a change.”
Maddie and the audience laughed as Demigoddess smiled at everyone.
“But really,” said Maddie. “It’s such an honor to interview a true hero. You’re an inspiration to us all.”
“Oh, stop it,” said Demigoddess modestly.
###
Three Days Ago
The corporate headquarters of the Sonnelicht corporation showed an angular building with its name and company logo, a sun over mountains, illuminated near the top. At the top floor of this building, Miriam Harris, the alter ego of superhero Demigoddess, strode to the CEO’s office wearing a simple blouse and skirt, her hair tied up in a ponytail. As she walked, she talked on her cell phone, her tone furious.
“What do you mean the caviar shipment is delayed?! I’ve been planning this gala for months now! What do you expect me to do, dive into the ocean and gather fish eggs with my hands?! No, I don’t want to hear excuses! We need caviar by next week, and I expect it to be there!”
She angrily hung up the phone, “Idiot.”
Hopefully, this meeting with her boss would go more smoothly.
When she entered the office, Miriam saw her boss, Henry Anderson, a middle aged man with whisps of grey hair at the sides of his face and a stern expression. The CEO Henry looked up and said, “Miriam, you have a problem.”
Miriam frowned as she took a seat, “I have a problem? Well, it’s a good thing my problems are your problems.”
“Typically, yes,” said Henry. “But not this time. You messed up.”
Miriam’s mouth dropped in shock and anger, “Me? What are you talking about?”
“You caused a lot of damage at a construction site.”
Miriam’s eye twitched, “I told you, that wasn’t me, it was…”
“We have footage,” said Henry, turning his computer around.
The footage on his computer screen showed Miriam, as Demigoddess, pursuing a power user in civilian clothing through a building under construction. This person, with bulging, inhuman muscles, zigzagged through the unfinished rooms until Demigoddess burst through the wall, placed her hand on his chest, and watched him fly backwards. Soon he crashed through a wall, into some steel beams, and through several construction vehicles, demolishing all of them. Soon, the construction site was left in shambles as Miriam calmy sauntered up to collect the criminal.
Henry ended the video and gave her a stern look, “We just received a subpoena,” he threw a document on the desk in front of her. “Starlight Construction is suing you for the damaged materials, vehicles, and the time they’ll lose before they can resume building. Normally, I’d be fully prepared to cover the legal costs, but I’m already in hot water with one of our heroes. If this lawsuit becomes too much of a liability, we may just have to cut our losses and sever our ties with you.”
Miriam paled, even as her face maintained a constant scowl.
“What if I got him to drop the lawsuit?” she asked.
Henry spread his hands, “That would be quite a feat, Mrs. Harris.”
“Don’t worry,” she replied. “I know a guy.”
###
Joseph Kimball walked to his car after a long day at work. The middle aged, blonde haired man with a receding hairline and horn rimmed glasses walked with echoing footsteps through a parking garage. He wore jeans and his orange construction vest over a t-shirt. He reached his car and entered, ready to drive home and rest.
The moment he sat down and closed the car door, he heard a beeping. Looking up, he saw a cell phone hanging from his dashboard that hadn’t been there before. Before he could react, the strange phone lit up, showing footage of a blue car. This car was on a section of a bridge that had broken off from the rest and was barely hanging on by bent dowel bars. It could fall off the bridge and plunge to the ground below at any moment.
Joseph paled, that car looked like the one his wife drove. A moment later, the footage zoomed in, and sure enough one could barely make out Joseph’s wife Sandy and their twelve year old daughter Rose, both brunettes that looked terrified. Other cars nearby stopped to see what was going on, and a moment later, a voice came through the foreign phone.
“Mr. Kimball,” said a smooth, oily voice. “I assume I have your attention.”
“Who are you,” said Joseph. “What’s going on?”
“Your wife and daughter are in grave danger,” said the voice. “Danger, that was engineered by me. Those who know me call me Tragedy.”
“What do you want?”
“I was hired to make sure you sign a certain document. You’ll find it in the glove compartment.”
Joseph opened his glove compartment as he kept an eye on the footage. He could see Sandy and Rose trying to exit the car, but the piece of the bridge shook, tipping down a bit, forcing them to stop moving. When Joseph found the document, however, he paled. It was a document, filled out, to drop the lawsuit he had against Sonnelicht and Demigoddess.
And it was about that moment that Demigoddess arrived at the scene in the phone, presumably here to save the woman and her daughter trapped in the car. She approached slowly and cautiously, walking onto the destroyed bridge and gently as she could. Most of the crowd that had left their cars watched the hero hopefully, but Joseph didn’t see relief at the sight of this woman. He felt a sense of dread as it suddenly became clear to him who had hired this person named Tragedy.
“My power allows me to weaken any material,” said Tragedy. “And by weakening things at strategic points, I can cause it to fall apart partially. Of course, the more I weaken this bridge, the more likely it is to fall, taking your wife and daughter with it. Demigoddess is perfectly prepared to save them, but only if you sign that document and then hand it to the car to your left. If you don’t, then she’ll…fail to save them. Even superheroes can’t save everyone, after all.”
Joseph, beginning to tremble with fear, looked to his right to see two men in masks, sitting in a black car and looking right at him. Looking back at the footage, Demigoddess was very slowly climbing down onto the broken section of bridge. For a moment, Joseph tried to rationalize his way out of this. Perhaps Tragedy was bluffing, but the moment the bridge piece shook, slipping down a little further, joseph knew that was wishful thinking. Demigoddess hadn’t even budged when the bridge shook.
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“You have ten seconds, Mr. Kimball,” said Tragedy. “Ten…nine…”
Seeing no other option, Joseph signed the document, rolled down his window, and handed it to the other car, which immediately began to back out of its parking space.
“I’ve done it! Joseph cried. “I’ve done it!”
Tragedy didn’t answer for a moment, but Joseph did see the men in the car beside him talk into a communicator. Then he saw Demigoddess touch her ear as if using a hidden communicator. A moment later, she pulled Sandy and Rose out of the car, held both around by the waist, and then suddenly launched away from the broken bridge, landing safely on the road above as the bridge piece finally detached from the rest.
The bridge hit the ground below, breaking into several pieces. Above, on the bridge, people applauded for Demigoddess saving this young woman and her daughter. Joseph, for his part, felt sick to his stomach for what he’d just been forced to do but was at least relieved that Sandy and Rose were okay.
A moment later, the phone he was watching turned off, beginning to give off smoke as the internals self destructed.
###
People clapped as Mrs. Kimball and little Rose gave Demigoddess thankful looks, the missing bridge pieces painfully obvious behind them.
“Thank you so much,” said Sandy Kimball.
Little Rose just looked on with wide eyes as Demigoddess reveled in all the praise she was getting. This was the kind of thing she lived for. As she absorbed the adoration, she resisted the urge to look for the man she’d hired, Tragedy. She knew he had to be nearby, covertly weakening the bridge to engineer this whole scenario. He’d also weakened one of the tires to make certain this car swerved onto the bridge piece after it started breaking off. Demigoddess knew she wouldn’t spot him, however. Even those he did business with never saw his face. He was most effective when no one knew a power was being used.
Finally dismissing herself to go help more people, Demigoddess got on a motorcycle and drove off. After a while, riding over more bridge and descending to the roads below, Demigoddess eventually entered the city. After a few more minutes’ drive, she turned into an alley. There she drove up to a black car that lowered its passenger window.
“You got it?” Demigoddess asked.
A masked man handed her the form, and Demigoddess looked it over. Seeing Joseph Kimballs signature, she smirked, nodded to masked men, and then drove away, feeling really good about her current employment prospects.
###
Present Day
On ‘Mornings with Maddie,’ Miriam, as Demigoddess, gave her most dazzling smile.
“I had to be careful,” said Demigoddess. “One wrong move and the bridge would have given out underneath them, but I managed it in the end. And you know, it’s very rare that anything can hurt me, but my heart went out that poor, scared little girl.”
The audience went ‘awwwwww,’ and Demigoddess’s teeth sparkled in the studio lights.
“So inspiring,” said the host, Maddie. “Tell me, Demigoddess, what is the greatest thing about being a superhero.”
Miriam rubbed her chin thoughtfully, knowing her answer had to be good.
###
Three Days Ago.
Joseph drove home feeling dejected. He’d called his wife to make sure she was okay and was relieved to find out that she was. Still, losing that lawsuit was a huge blow to him. Joseph Kimball’s company, Starlight Construction, was a small company. They had insurance for the materials and vehicles destroyed, but couldn’t afford the type of insurance that would replace it all outright. He was absolutely losing money from this.
Worse than that, however, was the loss of time, something insurance couldn’t reimburse him for. They had to go through the process of finding suitable replacement materials, which would then need to be shipped. Not to mention finding new construction vehicles of good quality. All in all, the damage had set them back a month, time they wouldn’t be able to accept any new construction contracts. If things didn’t go smoothly from here on out, it could be devastating for Joseph’s business.
And all because Demigoddess didn’t want to take responsibility for her actions. He wanted to do something about her, but he didn’t know what could be done. If he went public with his story and blamed Demigoddess for holding his family hostage, he doubted anyone would believe him. As far as everyone was concerned, she was the hero who’d saved them. Everyone would think Joseph was just some opportunist, smearing the name of a superhero for his own profit. The fact that she ‘saved’ his family even when he was suing her would just make Demigoddess look better. On the other hand, no one would question Joseph dropping a lawsuit against someone who saved his family.
Joseph Kimball had never felt so trapped in his life.
He made it home, pulling into his driveway, and saw his wife and daughter coming to see him. Not wanting to worry them, he put on his best smile as he stepped out of the car.
“Daddy! Daddy!” said rose excitedly. “It was amazing!”
“I heard,” said Jospeh, kneeling to hug her. “Are you two sure you’re, okay?”
“We’re fine, dear,” said Sandy as Joseph rose to hug her. “Really. You’ve nothing to worry about.”
“She was amazing!” said Rose. “Demigoddess so cool and pretty!”
“Rose hasn’t been able to stop talking about Demigoddess,” said Sandy. “We’re lucky she was there.”
Joseph gave a forced smile, “Yeah. She’s…She’s something else, alight.”
###
Present Day.
“The greatest thing about being a superhero,” said Demigoddess. “Is that I can give little girls everywhere a role model to look up to.”
More ‘awwww’s’ from the audience, and Demigoddess flashed her most brilliant smile yet. The audience started clapping, and the superhero on stage felt supreme satisfaction.
Nailed it, she thought.
###
Partition City.
Cars, debris, and even dust levitated in the street, swirling around a particular tree. The creature’s psychic powers were out of control, and people ran for their lives. SteelStar, flying in his metal form, arrived at the scene and approached cautiously. The mutant was a small animal, so it was probably just scared. He knew he’d need a delicate touch for this.
When SteelStar thought of saving kittens stuck in a tree, this wasn’t what he usually pictured.
The little tabby kitten’s eyes were glowing, so it was obviously the source of this telekinetic event. As SteelStar got closer the kitten hissed and a car flew at SteelStar. He let it smash into him and bounce off, crashing to the street a few feet away. The attack wasn’t strong enough to hurt SteelStar with his magnetic reinforcement, so he approached slowly and non-threateningly.
“It’s okay little guy,” said SteelStar.
The kitten hissed but hesitated to throw something else since the last attack had been so ineffective. Closer and closer SteelStar flew until he was within arm’s reach. SteelStar removed one of his gauntlets and held out his metal hand. The kitten scratched at it, but naturally the claws did nothing to the metal flesh. SteelStar held his metal hand in place for a moment, and when the kitten hesitantly started sniffing, SteelStar turned part of his skin organic to give it a scent.
He had to turn it to metal quickly a couple of times when the kitten tried biting and scratching. Eventually, though, the kitten called down enough to let SteelStar scratch it behind the ears with organic fingers. As the kitten leaned into the scratches, it began to purr, and the objects levitating in the air slowly drifted down. By the time SteelStar had the kitten in his hand, it had stopped using its powers, its eyes ceasing to glow.
“There,” said SteelStar. “I’m not so scary now, am I?”
Now that things had calmed down, SteelStar looked around. The few people who watched from a distance just turned and walked away now that the excitement was over, and SteelStar frowned. He’d seen constant videos of superheroes stepping in to help and being met with applause when everyone was safe. No one applauded SteelStar these days, not since the Spectramancer incident. Online, some people supported him behind anonymous accounts after learning about what really happened that day, but few people seemed willing to support him openly.
“Not so scary,” SteelStar muttered as the kitten in his hands continued to purr.
###
An hour later, the kitten was given to caregivers to be taken to a mutant reserve. Steelstar grabbed a cheeseburger for lunch and flew up to a billboard where no one could interrupt him. As he sat there in his grey skinned organic form eating, looking out over the city, he began to reflect on how much of a grind being a Superhero could really be.
If he’d seen one robbery or mugging, he’d seen them all. After a while, petty crimes, car accidents, and even household accidents like fires started to blend together. He did get some variety from mutant animals, each with a different ability, but those didn’t show up every day. He also hadn’t gotten any supervillains since Draego’s team, so most of his time was spent on petty crime and accidents. On top of that, a lot of people hated him, so he got all the grind and the tedium of being a superhero without all the praise that usually came with it. He wasn’t even making that much money on Herofund. He’d hoped to have his own apartment by now, but that wasn’t going to happen any time soon.
SteelStar sighed and kept eating, but after a moment, he stopped, sensing something. Looking up, he felt an electromagnetic signature approaching, and it was moving fast. SteelStar stood, ready for an attack, but it proved unnecessary. The figure flew up and stopped just in front of SteelStar, wearing a blue, white, and black costume. SteelStar grinned excitedly upon seeing him.
“Paramount!”
“Hey, SteelStar,” said Paramount. “You said you wanted to help us find out who destroyed Redwell City. Well, we have a lead, and we could use your help.”
###
SteelStar contacted his parents to let them know he’d be going, Celerity so she’d know she’d be protecting Partition City solo for a while, and Brian to tell him they wouldn’t be hanging out later. Once all of that was done, SteelStar and Paramount flew out of the city.
“So, who’s the suspect?” asked SteelStar, his metal face gleaming in the sunlight.
“Actually,” said Paramount, his hair rippling in the wind. “I didn’t want to mention this in the city where someone might hear, but we actually have two. The first is Sister Nature, an eco-terrorist who believes humanity is a plague that will destroy the Earth. She has an obvious motive, and we have evidence of her using explosives with a similar energy signature to the one that destroyed Redwell City.”
“Okay, who’s the other?”
Paramount was reluctant to say it, “Elementus.”
“Elementus?” asked SteelStar. “Really?”
“I know,” said Paramount. “I have trouble believing it as well, but we have reason to believe he was in Redwell that day and lied about it.”
SteelStar had trouble believing it too. He was familiar with Elementus’s career, and he always seemed so nice.
“Anyway,” said Paramount. “He’ll be investigating with us, but just keep an eye out. Oh, and another hero has announced that she’s going after Sister Nature, and she’s…well…hard to work with.”
“Who’s that?”
Paramount hesitated, “Have you ever heard of Demigoddess?”