The wind whistled past Atlas in all his glory, the globe perched upon his back, behind him, city hall, in front, dwarfed by the statue but still cutting an impressive figure stood Ms Liberty, seemingly oblivious to the rampant crime within the city. Today, just like any other day Coyote would send more of those blessed ones to her, and she would speak with them, and they would leave, and just like every other day, they'd return, always asking for more training.
But today was not to be such a day. Well actually it was but not nearly so dull. Come to think of it, it probably would be just as dull, just with a small spark, that tiny glitter of difference that kept her going, that small piece of change that made ceaselessly standing on that podium worth her time. Or maybe it just would be like every other day. A sigh, a puff of steam and back to the silent standing of being one of the most powerful beings on earth. Yep, it's that fun.
The area behind her seemed to grow more popular every week as more and more gathered under the crotch of Atlas, chatting and showing off. Some people never seem to be doing their jobs. A disturbance in the air in front of her caused Ms Liberty to apply her usual neutral face. It was hard to tell what hit her first, the colours or the sizes or the costume itself. Nice build, not too muscular, natural looking, red and yellow and some casual clothes. It was absurd that he was so normal. In her experience most men tended to be around seven to eight foot or four foot and built like a barn, and they usually sported some absurd costume, sometimes thematic, with the same overused colours or completely clashing colours. But he was... Normal. Perhaps she had run into some luck.
He stood dazed for a moment, but then began to approach. Up the stairs he came, from street level to her level, then proceeded to walk right past her. Odd, possibly not the brightest spark. Still, it was always refreshing to see newcomers who didn't seem to know the area by heart. He approached a behemoth, or 'Huge' as is politically correct, about eight foot and bulkier than the Titanic. She had met him at some stage, and according to the network was due for security level fifty within the next few days. A friendly point in her direction and the new one was on his way to her podium. Assuming the position she waited.
"Umm hello." The slightly nervous voice reached her ears, its wavering tones lighting up her day like the core of Terra Volta reactor, not green, just really bright. "Are you Ms. Liberty? Coyote sent me to see you, something about security levels and stuff." Ah that quivering voice. The guy was six four and she still intimidated him. Oh well, time for her rehearsed speech. Speaking without turning Ms. Liberty informed the newcomer that he could choose a new power from his primary power set for her to teach him. Puzzled by his obvious shock she smiled. "It's alright, you just tell me what your powers are and I'll tell you your options, although they will be limited." The Man seemed to relax. "Well, according to this I.D. card I'm a blaster with fire blast and energy manipulation."
Ms. Liberty inspected his costume some more as she took his I.D. card to look at which powers he already had. A red ¾ sleeve tight T-shirt, angelic pattern stretching across in bright yellow, emblem of a globe registering in black and grey dead centre, on his legs red baggy cargo pants with yellow assassin patterning. For shoes simple black combat boots and a black leather belt around the waist. Red fingerless gloves, probably from the fireproof isle at the outbreak "My first costume" store. Come security level twenty Serge would have a fit. That guy always seemed to be in trouble yet never paused to give a compliment to the hapless heroes who wander into his Icon branch.
"Alright, Blaze Force is it? According to this card you have currently got the abilities of fire blast and power thrust, leaving you, for this security level, with two choices. You may either choose Flares, Fireball or Energy punch, so, which will it be?" Ms. Liberty watched as the new superhero registered what she was saying and began to choose. "Can you run me through the powers effect please?" He asked her, slightly puzzled. Nothing was the same anymore, so no matter how self explanatory something seemed it probably wasn't that simple. Ms. Liberty had however been expecting this and with a smile replied "Well Flares is a ranged attack using fire damage that deals low damage but recharges quickly, as you may have already noticed there is a delay before you can re use your powers. Fireball is again ranged and a fire attack, but it deals moderate damage, but has a slow recharge. It hurls a fireball at your target which explodes, damaging and setting ablaze all those in its area of effect. Energy punch is a melee attack that dishes out moderate damage, but has a fast recharge, and also has a chance to disorient the foe."
Blinking, Blaze Force struggled to take it all in. Pondering for a few moments more he finally decided and, with more confidence than any of his previous attempts at speech, answered Ms. Liberty. "I'd like to learn Fireball." Ms. Liberty nodded and proceeded to instruct him in the technique. "Gather the flames, yes like that, now throw them at your target and watch. Good, see how it exploded? I think you've got it, now, go bring some thugs to justice. Also, if you ever need to restore your health and endurance you can rest, or meditate, mind you it can only be done every 5 minutes."
Smiling, and feeling more confident Blaze Force set off and Ms. Liberty was left wondering, what was so different about him? What set him apart? In time she would find out.
