I also hated that I was helpless to do anything about it. I suspected by the time I finished my course, and was able to join a team, it’d be all said and done.
Of course, I’d been wrong more than once in my life…
Chapter Six
The superhero course wasn’t far from the city, maybe twenty miles from the city limits, most likely for safety reasons. There’d be a lot of young supers new to their powers, which could be dangerous. The accredited school for it was approved by, but independent of, the government, similar to a school or technical university. The one near Excelsior City was called the Liberty Superhero Institute, and they had several of them across the country.
The building itself was a single story and not all that big, which told me most of it was probably below ground. It was made of a light yellowish red brick. My guess was there wasn’t much in there besides a classroom environment and admin offices. The huge gyms and tactical courses must be underground and highly reinforced.
I was nervously excited that morning as flew down for a landing about ten minutes before the eight o’clock start time. I picked out Janna easily, and then giggled a little evilly as she just about jumped out of her skin when I hit the ground right next to her. I was practically bouncing on my toes, and Janna was bouncing on hers. All that speedster nervous energy no doubt.
“Good morning.”
Janna snarked, “You need a bell.”
I laughed. I was in a pair of jeans and a light gray halter top that was conforming but not quite skintight. I wasn’t sure if we’d even be using our powers that first day, but it made sense to be prepared. Janna looked great in black yoga pants with a clingy red t-shirt that was long enough to hide what the pants didn’t.
“I’ll get right on that. Maybe I can set my watch to ding or something, when I come in for a landing?”
She giggled, “Wise ass.”
She looked over my shoulder and bit her lip nervously. It made me turn around, and I really wish I hadn’t.
Stacey was coming in for a landing, with a reddish yellow colored aura. She had flight, energy shields, and fire like her mother. She was five foot six with lustrous white blonde hair, blue eyes slightly lighter than mine, and a beautiful face that belied the bitch within. I was above average that way myself, but Stacey could make it as a model if she wanted. It was probably that, and her extremely curvy body that accounted for that popularity in school despite her bitchy entitled attitude.
“Didn’t you say…” I trailed off.
Janna shrugged, “Her mother pulled some strings maybe? Or maybe they figured they’d need everyone they could get with that psycho trying to start an evolutionary war.”
Stacey didn’t even acknowledge our existence as she walked by us and toward the building, and I noticed every single guy had their eyes on her. She really was that gorgeous, it was a shame it was skin deep. I tried not to roll my eyes when the guys started staring at the two of us again, once she was in the building. Oh, they were trying to be subtle, but guys my age were anything but.
“We should probably go in.”
Janna didn’t answer, but she moved to follow as we headed that way.
The inside of the building had light beige walls with white baseboards and trim. The floor was made up of small white tiles, with random lines of black and gray in it and gray borders. The entry room was small. There was a small hallway to the right with offices, and the elevator I expected to see. Directly in front of us through a door was one large classroom environment with desks. Instead of a blackboard there was a large projector screen. A quick glance around told me there were sixteen of us in the course.
There was a middle-aged woman behind the desk with dark brunette hair and friendly brown eyes. According to the nameplate she was Cordelia Mays. We checked in quickly and found a couple of seats on the left side that weren’t in the front nor in the back, and far from Stacey.
There was no sign at all of an instructor yet, but the closer it got to eight the quieter the room got until a large man walked in the back door. He was in his mid-twenties, which could mean just about anything as far as age goes. By large I mean muscled, his were large, and corded, his black t-shirt was a little too tight showing them in definition, which had a school logo on the upper right chest, and he had on a pair of blue jeans with running shoes. At a guess, he was a brawler class super, strength and toughness due to denser musculature and bone mass. Or… maybe he just liked to work out and he was a mad scientist, it was impossible to tell really.
He didn’t speak, he just pointed forward, hit the lights, and started a video.
I was expecting a welcome to Liberty Superhero Institute video. You know the kind, the goofy happy faces, how awesome they are and what they do for the country. Something inspiring.
What we got was a horror show.
Supers being disintegrated. One torn limb from limb. Each death seemed to be more graphically gruesome than the last, and I was glad I’d been too excited that morning to eat a large breakfast, or I might not have been able to hold it down. Then it got worse, if possible. Video of bystanders, of innocents, being killed or maimed as a superhero and supervillain had a horrifically violent fight. The video seemed to go on forever, but it was probably only two or three minutes before it ended.
I saw similarly horrified looks on many of the faces of the rooms.
The man moved to the front of the room with a stern look on his ruggedly chiseled face.
“I’m Carmine Petra. Welcome to Liberty. I can see most of you are horrified by the video you just saw, and properly so. There’s only one point in showing that video, to drive in the fact this isn’t a game. That, what you just saw, is the possibility all superheroes face on a daily basis. If you decide to stay today, and you become superheroes, there will be days like that in your future. Where you can’t save the bystander, and perhaps even meet a violent end. If you don’t, it’s almost statistically guaranteed that the person sitting next to you to either side will. The one rule of life is there is always someone bigger, tougher, and meaner than you are. Superpowers haven’t changed that. If anyone is having second thoughts, the door is right behind you, don’t hesitate to use it.”
Ouch, harsh. It was a lesson I’d already understood, growing up with Death’s Mistress as a mother you can be sure she’d tried to talk me out of this course before, and hadn’t held back while doing so. No one left, but there were a few sick doubtful looks in the room.
He grunted, “That said the well prepared also statistically do better. They can be stronger, meaner, and bigger, but most supervillains don’t train. The training you get here and with your hero groups if you choose to pursue that career, can and will save your life if it can be saved.”
Yeah, he wasn’t pulling his punches at all.
Carmine looked around the room, “This course covers the rules of engagement, procedures, and applicable laws you’ll need to know and conform to in order to become legal and registered heroes. It will also teach you basic tactics and teamwork based on the various super threats currently known to be out there that you will encounter in supervillains. That second part is very basic, meaning we’re really just getting you ready for your real training in teamwork on a hero team, and how to read a situation and know what your partner is going to do in just about any situation.
“If you choose not to pursue a hero career, it will at least make you minimally competent when you encounter a self-defense situation in the streets.”
He took a deep breath, and paused, “This next information is obviously not usually a part of this course. Who here isn’t familiar with the vote that took place last week, and the changes coming to the country’s infrastructure?”
No one raised their hand.
He nodded, “Who here isn’t familiar with the fact our military is going to become super only. Or, that when in a time of war, all supers are part of the country’s Militia and are expected to fight to protect our country from invasion if necessary? In th
e past the militia has been armed citizens, supers in our new age are armed.”
Again, no one reacted to his question, I was wondering where he was going with it though.
“We’ve been asked by the government to brief our classes. Right now, the president is giving a speech naming our enemy a terrorist, and the congress is voting on a similar resolution that is expected to pass. That means every super, the country’s militia if you will, is being tapped for the expected upcoming violence.
“We don’t know how many teams of men the enemy has, but we suspect it will be far too many for the superhero teams to deal with. If our city and other cities are attacked, the normal rules of engagement with supervillains is suspended for just that case. You will all be authorized to pursue that threat and eliminate it even if not directly threatened in your location. All other threats of course, will still fall under current laws and definitions of self-defense.”
He frowned, “I don’t like it, there’s too much of a likelihood for collateral damage, or even friendly fire with so many independent and untrained supers running around, but there seems to be no choice. Without a large and trained military force a more radical solution is needed. If you do choose to participate, the militia will be under the orders of the city super teams who have been trained. I would suggest you listen to their orders and do what your told. Any who do decide to help, will need to call in to a number we’ll provide to you, which will put you in contact with the city’s super team A.I. to direct you evenly toward threats.”
He shook his head. He obviously thought it was foolishness and a desperate plan out of fear. He was probably right, but I couldn’t help but be a little excited about it. I was one of the few supers in the city that could withstand a direct hit from those weapons and walk away. I could also shield other heroes, and innocents. I wanted to help, and now I could.
Of course, I couldn’t be everywhere at once and there were a lot of them expected. I’d also only taken on two at a time last week, if much more than that shot my shields, all at once, they could and would break through. There was also the idea of the death toll from the coming battles, all those things dampened my excitement, but I knew I could lower that death count if I was allowed to participate. It was all conflicted. I knew it wouldn’t be fun, not exactly, but the thrill of saving lives would be worth it, that’s why I wanted to be a superheroine.
I just hoped my heart could bear the cost of those I couldn’t save.
He said, “Let’s get back to the reason you’re all here. There are sixteen of you out of a graduating class of five hundred this year. That’s a little over three percent, which is higher than usual because of all that’s going on. Very few of us actually feel a calling to be superheroes. To protect others. That should tell you it’s not about the powers at all, it’s about ambition, heart, and empathy, and it takes discipline and integrity as well. There are even a few of you here a bit older, that have graduated from college, or have decided at this point to become superheroes.
“Three percent is unusually high, and in truth less than one percent will become supers. Two thirds of you will take your accreditation but never make it in a hero team. Some of you aren’t even here to be superheroes, and that’s fine, you’re more than welcome here. I wish more citizens would take these classes, just to become more familiar with what superheroes do for them, and for them to become more confident and safer when dealing with a dangerous self-defense situations. Chances are for most that will never come up, but it never hurts to be prepared.
“Being a superhero can be a thrill, there’s an excitement in it and in teamwork, and a deep feeling of satisfaction in saving others, but it is never a game, or even all that fun. Alright, the first three days of the class will be classroom environment, where you’ll learn the rules and laws, and there’ll be some gaming scenarios to deal with. The last seven days is that minimal training I already mentioned and will take place in our obstacle and training course below. Let’s get started.”
It wasn’t an overly complicated thing that first day, and I already knew most of it in truth just from talking to my family who was a super team. Protect innocents first, bystanders, then keep your people alive, protect your partner and team, then take down the supervillain. That was the order of priorities. Lastly, if possible, collateral damage of property and buildings were minimized, but lives were always the highest priority.
Where it got a little tricky was sometimes the best way to do the first two was to take down the supervillain hard and fast, and sometimes with deadly force. But some supervillains weren’t killers, so for those it was best to pursue them until they could be engaged safely without endangering others, and in those cases, capture was preferred. Most super fights ended in a capture, it was only those that killed indiscriminately and needed to be put down fast and hard that often died.
That was all part of the rules of engagement, superheroes didn’t hold back when a supervillain was spraying down a crowd with flames, or deadly energy attacks. A superheroes job was to de-escalate a situation and take the supervillain in, not escalate violence.
Given all of that, it was critical to read a situation quickly. The wrong assumption could get a lot of people killed, including the team and myself. Most of that day that’s what we worked on, various scenarios, and how we should react to them. There were a lot more shades of gray and uncertainties in a world off the pages of a super comic book.
It also made the need of the self-defense laws much clearer. A normal every day super could only respond if deaths were imminent, or if they felt their or someone’s life was threatened, and they were right there. They didn’t have the training to discern if it was the right time to strike otherwise, it was far more complicated than even I’d thought it was. But… the right move when a supervillain was killing people was always to immediately act and attack, to minimize the deaths. It was truly the simplest and harshest part of the rules of engagement.
It also capitalized how important a clear mind was in the field, making a decision out of fear or anger could be disastrous. It gave new meaning to the mind calming exercises and meditation techniques I’d been taught.
Procedures covered the paperwork when making an arrest. Where to take them, and how any superhero action was required to be recorded through suit devices as well as independent drones. Any situation where a death occurred would be reviewed. If there were mistakes, they were either teaching moments, or if negligent incompetence was determined as the cause of a death a superhero could be fired and lose their accreditation.
Of course, the hardest thing to swallow was it was possible to do everything right, and do your best, and still lose. To look over a fight with hindsight and know there was simply no way to save a civilian, or to prevent the death of a fellow superhero.
It was as Carmine said earlier, not a game. I’d never been under the impression it was, but I could tell the course was subtly slanted to chase away those that lacked the discipline, and just wanted to do it for the excitement. The psych eval tests must not have been perfect that way, since a lot of people were disqualified and not even allowed in the course. The course itself weeded out even more of those that didn’t have what it took.
Because it would take discipline and belief, on the days there were losses.
I hated to say it, but I had to give Stacey credit. She looked no more intimidated by the realities of superhero work than Janna or I did. Of course, her mother was a patrolling and active superhero too, so I was sure she knew at least as much as I did what was involved.
Selfish bitch or not, I never said she was stupid.
That was all for the first day. From what Carmine said we’d be focused on classroom scenarios and tactics that conformed to the rules of engagement the next two days. We would also discuss power strengths and weakness at the same time. The rules of engagement decided when and how hard to go at the supervillain, while the power sets involved determined how. Then we’d be starting the rest. Of course, there was a g
ood chance that psychopath would start trouble soon, and the classes would be suspended for the duration for those that answered the call…
Chapter Seven
The whole city seemed to be holding its breath that night when I flew home. Anyone that could do so had stayed home, but it seemed likely the attack would come tomorrow. Today was just the last day of the week he’d given before his demands expired. It was still crowded, it was a city after all, but it was less crowded than normal and everyone had an air of nervousness, and there was less chatting and hanging out on street corners. Everyone was moving with a grim purpose, or already inside for the day.
Honestly, given the lack of movement in congress and the way most were against it, I suspected his time limit had more to do with his own preparation and logistics than it had to do with our response. After all, stated date or not, the world had basically already told him no. The deadline he gave was kind of moot at that point, wasn’t it?
I followed the course Prisma had set for me and paid attention to my surroundings, but half my mind was going over the day’s information. In a real way, I’d felt like I’d learned more that day than I’d learned my whole senior year of high school. To be fair, most of what I learned in my senior year wouldn’t help me in my chosen profession as a superhero, while everything said and discussed today was vital to it.
I landed outside my house, where Janna was bouncing on her toes with a smirk, while looking at her watch as if to say what took me so long. I just snorted, and we headed inside. My mother had agreed she could come over for dinner, which was a common thing over the last year.
The warm scent of garlic, butter, pasta, and cheese met our noses, and I knew my father had cooked that night, he made a fantastic lasagna.
“Hi mom!”
Lady Aegis: Origins of Supers: Book Two Page 6