Age of Heroes

[Kitty On Rails]

Of all places to meet, why choose an airport...? That question kept surfacing on Jane Dean's mind. She was sitting alone on a seat in an airport busy for its midday flight. Never ending stream of people keep on moving around her, each absorbed in their own tight-packed schedule. From time to time people would gave her a weird look, probably wondering why she was there, sitting alone doing nothing. There was no further instruction, the only thing she knew was that she had to wait there until someone contacted her. But it had been an hour already, and she had almost reached her limit. Was this all a scam?


"Oh hell," she said to no one in particular, mainly just to vent her anger, "enough is enough. If nobody showed up in five minutes, I'm going home!"


Just when she said that, someone tapped on her shoulder, making her yelp and quickly turned around. What greeted her was a man dressed like a cowboy, with jeans, red-colored scarf, and the appropriate high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat. The only thing which break off this theme was his urban-colored long coat, like the one worn by detectives in television show. Yet even with this appearance fit to be a halloween costume, no one seems to take notice of him. People only threw him a casual glance sometimes before moving on with their business.


"You! I've been waiting for an hour already! Where have you been?" Jane immediately spat at him.


"Sorry, sorry, the traffic wasn't kind to me, " the man gave her a nonchalant grin. Clearly not sorry. She pouted in response.


The truth is, he had been eyeing her from the moment that she had arrived. Standing a few meters away from her, he wanted to test whether she would've noticed his presence. Even after an hour she still didn't, and she didn't seem to fake it either. That's good. That means she was a mere civilian. That's when he finally decided to finally make contact with her.


"So? Why did you tell me to meet you here? Shouldn't we meet in the heroes' office instead?"


"To protect you," he answered in a casual tone, yet the hint of seriousness in it made her listened immediately. "Meeting up in public place like this made it easier to blend with the crowds, and so there's less chance of your identity being leaked to dangerous people. Not everyone want to go public with their identity in this line of work, and so we want to protect the recruit's identity for the start."


"...I see," she nodded.


"But," the grin returned to his face, "you're right in that this is not a good place to have conversation. This is merely a rendezvouz point. After this we'll move to a better location. But now, I'll have to ask you to wait. Usually we do this thing alone with our recruit, but today it's special. We'll wait for my friend and her recruit to meet up with us here. So," he said as he plopped down to the seat beside her, "sit down here and play the waiting game a bit more with me."


Her face showed dissatisfaction, yet there was nothing else that she could do. She sat down as well, wondering how much longer does she need to wait.

 

[CamlinSkitt]

Darren Grant watched the vitality of hundreds of people playing out before his eyes in fascination. There was nothing supernatural about his gaze. People-watching was just a hobby of his, and sitting in the busy airport was like flicking through endless TV channels. He didn't even mind that the meeting time had come and gone. It wasn't like he had any other plans for today, though he was beginning to worry he was in the wrong spot.


He hadn't been paying attention to any one person in particular, but as the red-haired woman sitting just a few feet away stood and stretched, Darren realized she had been sitting there for quite a while now. She stood about five feet, six inches tall, her bright red hair curling to her shoulders. She wore tight-fitting exercise pants, a tank top, and a light hoodie, which highlighted the sharp angles and lean muscles of her thin frame. Freckles dotted every exposed inch of her fair skin. She wasn't pretty, but her sharp features were striking. And she was standing directly in front of Darren. So this was his contact.


"Hello, ma'am," Darren greeted her politely. The woman grinned at him in response. It was a rather intimidating expression on this woman's face.


"You've got a hell of a lot more patience than I do," the red-haired woman observed in lieu of a greeting. When the woman didn't say anything else after a few seconds, Darren stood. He was two inches taller than the stranger, and not nearly so athletic.


"Well then. What now?" he asked.


"Now we meet up with the others," the redhead explained, already turning around and leading the way. "Usually this part is done one-on-one, but my friend and I decided to change things up. Come on, you'll see." Darren followed quietly, feeling no need for small talk.


A few minutes later, the two approached another row of benches. A man sat there, looking like a cross between a cowboy and a detective, and making the combination look right somehow. Next to him was a girl, or rather a young woman, about Darren's age or a little bit older and looking quite impatient. That would be the redhead's friend and his recruit, Darren thought. He nodded to them in greeting.

 

[Kitty On Rails]

The uncomfortable silence is actually worse than waiting alone. Every time Jane tried to open up a conversation, she'd stopped when she saw the man's stupid grin. She didn't like it. It felt as if he was underestimating her. Thankfully, the torture didn't last long. The cowboy suddenly stood up from his seat and then waved toward two people in the distance. A red-haired woman and a young man on her side. From the cowboy's reaction, Jane assumed that they were the "friends" he was referring to earlier.


"Great, thank you for coming," the cowboy said with a cheerful tone. He gave the young man a quick assertive gaze before returning his focus to the red-haired woman. "Hmm, not bad. Did you choose the boy by yourself? Or was it HQ? Well, you're in the right hand, kid, just make sure you don't make her mad. We wouldn't want another human barbeque in our hand."


He said that with a straight face, but quickly made distance from the red-haired girl, as if afraid of being hit by her. That was a joke...right?


"Anyway, I think we're done here. Let's get going before people got suspicious. We'll talk on the road."


Jane wanted to say that he was the most suspicious person there, what with his weird attire and all, but she ultimately decided to just shut up and started following the group.


======================


The cowboy had paraded them into his car, a battered-looking jeep. With peeled paintjob and weird bends here and there, it seemed like a miracle that the junk could still move. Jane was put on the back seat with the other young man while the cowboy and the red-haired woman sat at the front.


"So! Let's start the introduction. I don't think you need to be told what kind of predicament you are in to right now, so I'll be brief. That is, we are actually kidnappers! You guys are now being sold to Mex...OOOW!"


Jane had kicked the front seat so hard, the frame bended in a way it shouldn't have been able to. Thankfully the cowboy managed to keep the car stable.


"I was joking, jeez. Alright, alright...me and Sarissa here, we are Superheroes," he stopped a bit to give his words emphasis, "and we are going to be your Mentor until you guys are ready to become one yourselves."


"You look like a villain to me," Jane retorted, which made him made a comically sad face, "so this guy here is a recruit, like me? And you two will train us?"


"Oh no, the young lad will be assigned to Sarissa," he gestured toward the red-haired woman, "and you to me. We move as a team of two: one mentor and one sidekick. That allowed us to give our utmost attention to our pupil. Got that?"


"I want to switch Mentor," Jane retorded again, making his face grew sadder.


"No can do, you're stuck with me," he replied with the last bit of pride left. "Anyway I guess we haven't known each other yet. My name is William Wells, codename Target."


She wanted to say that she knew it already, but realized that he said that for the young man. "...Jane. Jane Dean." That should do for an introduction, she thought.


"Alright. Sarissa should explain the rest I guess. If you may," he motioned at the red-haired woman to continue the explanation of their, the Superheroes's, world.

 

[CamlinSkitt]

Sarissa shot the girl an approving look as Jane violently interrupted William's absurd sense of humor. She could already tell the pair would keep each other in balance. Her own pupil smiled slightly in the backseat, quietly observing the hilarity. So far, Darren was harder to read. At least he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders.


"Darren Grant," the boy offered as introductions were made.


"And I'm Sarrissa Shade, codename Flamethrower," the redhead finished, picking up where William had left off. "Just Flame, if we're in a hurry. As William was explaining, all new recruits start out as a sidekick to their mentor. In this particular case, we decided to pair up to increase our effectiveness as we train you. Still, only William is Jane's mentor, and only I'm Darren's mentor. We're here to teach, guide, and train you individually. Until your mentor and the officials in HQ agree that you're ready the full responsibilities of being a superhero, your mentor's word is law. Do exactly as your mentor tells you. You're here to learn, so of course you can ask questions. However, superheroes and sidekicks have dangerous jobs. If the situation is critical, act on your orders first and question them later. This is ironclad. Disobedience can get people killed." She paused a moment, giving the severity of her words a moment to sink in.


"Starting today, you two are in the hero business. William and I will teach you when and how to fight, how to control your innate powers and use them for the greater good, and how to protect yourselves and the people around you. You will save lives, fight crime, and follow a strict code of ethics. As the old stories say, with great power comes great responsibility. Darren, Jane, are you ready to take on the mantle of hero, and all the responsibilities it entails? Think carefully before you give your answer," Sarrissa warned.


Darren did consider his mentor's words for about two seconds before submitting his answer. For better or worse, he had already made his choices. "I'm ready," he responded firmly.


When both recruits had answered, Sarissa decided the most serious part of the explanation was finished. She gestured for the levity-loving cowboy to take another turn.