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Sep. 2nd, 2019 02:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feotakahari"You know, you keep asking why I don't ditch you for one of the bigger hero orgs."
"That's not what I mean, Josh, and you know it. It's just . . ." Kay sighs. Josh told her once that she makes the same sighing noise as the people on television, whatever that means. "I don't have powers, or wealth, or a metal exoskeleton. Sometimes I wonder if I'm holding you back. Most people think I'm your sidekick or something."
"Like that powered supremacist today. He focused on me right from the start. Didn't even think you were worth paying attention to. Five seconds before he would have killed me, you bopped him with a fire extinguisher. That's exactly the kind of thing that happens around you."
"You don't have to just be my decoy--"
"Not what I meant. Remember Lady Ashes? Committed all those crimes with Dust because she thought he loved her? Tricorne spent half a year trying to convince her to surrender. Then we show up as rookies on our second field mission, and suddenly, she understands that Dust is going to kill her if she doesn't leave."
"I barely did anything, Josh. Tricorne was the one who talked her down."
"You were there. That's how it works. Every time someone shoots at you, they miss. Every time rubble is about to fall on a civilian, you push them out of the way, or I catch it, or Tricorne blasts it so it misses. Every villain we fight has some kind of flaw that makes them lose in the end. I kept telling myself it was luck, but no one has luck like this. Not like today."
"What the hell are you saying, Josh?"
"See, that's part of it, too. 'Hell.' I say 'fuck,' Tricorne says 'fuck . . .' I even heard Deacon Dove say 'fuck' once. It was right before that bomb was gonna go off in Denwick Plaza. Then you showed up, and you figured out how to use Alastair Greenwick's old time-manipulation tech to slow the explosion so everyone could get out safe. Tricorne couldn't even finish a word before Dove reminded him not to swear in front of you."
"You can't . . . You're not making any sense. Yes, everyone thinks I'm this total innocent, but I know that people get hurt in this business. That man who could walk through walls . . . When his belt-buckle thingie was shorting out, I tried to tell him not to run. Then it stopped working when he was inside the wall. I didn't want him to die, but I couldn't stop him. I don't have some kind of power that makes everything like a cartoon."
"No. You have to understand this, Kay. I refuse to let you be this oblivious. What happens to the villains in cartoons? What happened to Mr. No-Name I-Think-I'm-Such-A-Big-Shot-Powered today?"
"He . . . He thought he could handle that serum. More strength, more power, so he could defeat us." A flash of memory: muscle bulging, tearing, separating from the bones. "You're saying I made him do that? Holy hell, Josh. This isn't just crazy. This is . . . You're saying I'm a murderer."
"No, you're perfectly innocent. Cartoon heroes always are. The villains each have a flaw, and sometimes the hero can save them from that flaw. Other times, the flaw kills them. The hero doesn't do it himself, because real heroes aren't supposed to kill."
"You're . . . You're wrong, Josh. I don't have a power. I've never had a power. If I did . . . If I killed those people . . . Why would you even want to be around me?"
"Because sometimes, I can change things. That one time, I stopped Dr. Grim before he could escape. They tend to escape in the first act of your story. Or when Lita nearly got a bullet through her chest. Thinking back on it, I think she was supposed to die for that story, to raise the stakes. But it's not really my story, even if I'm part of it, and that gives me a bit of leeway." He gives her a little half-smile. It doesn't look very natural. "Besides, I know you would never hurt anyone on purpose. I like you, Kay. I've always liked you. Ever since school, when you crashed into me while we were running late for class."
"Oh God . . . I remember that now. I think I was actually eating a piece of toast while I was running. Maybe I am a cartoon character."
"The best cartoon character." He tries to embrace her, and she lets him go for it. They've never quite figured out whether they're dating or not. Maybe that's a cartoon thing, too--no romantic resolution.
"I just realized," she says. "You're . . . sort of my love interest. Kind of. Sometimes the love interest dies tragically so the hero can avenge him."
"Then I'd better be good at dodging."
"That's not what I mean, Josh, and you know it. It's just . . ." Kay sighs. Josh told her once that she makes the same sighing noise as the people on television, whatever that means. "I don't have powers, or wealth, or a metal exoskeleton. Sometimes I wonder if I'm holding you back. Most people think I'm your sidekick or something."
"Like that powered supremacist today. He focused on me right from the start. Didn't even think you were worth paying attention to. Five seconds before he would have killed me, you bopped him with a fire extinguisher. That's exactly the kind of thing that happens around you."
"You don't have to just be my decoy--"
"Not what I meant. Remember Lady Ashes? Committed all those crimes with Dust because she thought he loved her? Tricorne spent half a year trying to convince her to surrender. Then we show up as rookies on our second field mission, and suddenly, she understands that Dust is going to kill her if she doesn't leave."
"I barely did anything, Josh. Tricorne was the one who talked her down."
"You were there. That's how it works. Every time someone shoots at you, they miss. Every time rubble is about to fall on a civilian, you push them out of the way, or I catch it, or Tricorne blasts it so it misses. Every villain we fight has some kind of flaw that makes them lose in the end. I kept telling myself it was luck, but no one has luck like this. Not like today."
"What the hell are you saying, Josh?"
"See, that's part of it, too. 'Hell.' I say 'fuck,' Tricorne says 'fuck . . .' I even heard Deacon Dove say 'fuck' once. It was right before that bomb was gonna go off in Denwick Plaza. Then you showed up, and you figured out how to use Alastair Greenwick's old time-manipulation tech to slow the explosion so everyone could get out safe. Tricorne couldn't even finish a word before Dove reminded him not to swear in front of you."
"You can't . . . You're not making any sense. Yes, everyone thinks I'm this total innocent, but I know that people get hurt in this business. That man who could walk through walls . . . When his belt-buckle thingie was shorting out, I tried to tell him not to run. Then it stopped working when he was inside the wall. I didn't want him to die, but I couldn't stop him. I don't have some kind of power that makes everything like a cartoon."
"No. You have to understand this, Kay. I refuse to let you be this oblivious. What happens to the villains in cartoons? What happened to Mr. No-Name I-Think-I'm-Such-A-Big-Shot-Powered today?"
"He . . . He thought he could handle that serum. More strength, more power, so he could defeat us." A flash of memory: muscle bulging, tearing, separating from the bones. "You're saying I made him do that? Holy hell, Josh. This isn't just crazy. This is . . . You're saying I'm a murderer."
"No, you're perfectly innocent. Cartoon heroes always are. The villains each have a flaw, and sometimes the hero can save them from that flaw. Other times, the flaw kills them. The hero doesn't do it himself, because real heroes aren't supposed to kill."
"You're . . . You're wrong, Josh. I don't have a power. I've never had a power. If I did . . . If I killed those people . . . Why would you even want to be around me?"
"Because sometimes, I can change things. That one time, I stopped Dr. Grim before he could escape. They tend to escape in the first act of your story. Or when Lita nearly got a bullet through her chest. Thinking back on it, I think she was supposed to die for that story, to raise the stakes. But it's not really my story, even if I'm part of it, and that gives me a bit of leeway." He gives her a little half-smile. It doesn't look very natural. "Besides, I know you would never hurt anyone on purpose. I like you, Kay. I've always liked you. Ever since school, when you crashed into me while we were running late for class."
"Oh God . . . I remember that now. I think I was actually eating a piece of toast while I was running. Maybe I am a cartoon character."
"The best cartoon character." He tries to embrace her, and she lets him go for it. They've never quite figured out whether they're dating or not. Maybe that's a cartoon thing, too--no romantic resolution.
"I just realized," she says. "You're . . . sort of my love interest. Kind of. Sometimes the love interest dies tragically so the hero can avenge him."
"Then I'd better be good at dodging."
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Date: 2019-09-02 11:35 pm (UTC)