04:00 pm

Superhero Council

Hero League HQ

This is it, she thought, standing before the Council. My only option. Erika looked up at the seated heroes, the people who would decide wether she would be accepted into their ranks or locked up for the rest of her life. Like mother…

They had heard her petition, reviewed the facts. It was hard to say what the outcome would be. Yes, she had broken with her parents months earlier. Yes, she had been doing heroic acts since then (a misdemeanor since she wasn't a registered hero, but she had saved several lives). But her parents...

To understand the situation, you need to know about Erika's parents, April Anderson and Akihiro Tachibana. One was from New York, the other lived in Tokyo. Both were strong, intelligent people deeply devoted to their careers. Sadly, those careers involved trying to take over the world. Erika Tachibana was their daughter and she had been groomed to follow their evil legacy from the day of her birth. Could she really be a hero or was it some scheme of her father's?

Erika was sitting at a table below the Council's raised seats. She was alone while they decided, save for a pair of guards standing at either side. The power inhibiting bracelet felt heavy on her wrist, preventing her escape should the outcome be against her case. Mom did the same thing to keep me from escaping during punishments, she thought, slightly amused by the similarity. It was a little too small, biting into her pale skin.

The doors behind the Council's seats opened and the guards snapped to attention. Erika felt her heart beating faster, her fingers formed fists. It was time. The Council resumed their former positions, staring down at her. Blank. President Kickbutt rose.

"Erika Rose Tachibana, age fifteen, daughter of Mindleader and Wilting Rose," the blue haired woman spoke, "the Council has reached a decision regarding your petition to join the Hero League as an official superhero." The President's eyes gave nothing away, but Erika could feel the tension in the room. Her parents had taken hundreds of lives, several heroes included. How many people in this room would see her pay for their actions? She saw a woman to the left glaring at her, felt the hatred. That's Speedstress, Erika remembered, Mother fed her sidekick, Fast Lad, to one of her creations. She had been staying with her father that summer but remembered hearing about it on the news. Seeing Speedstress's tear soaked face during the televised memorial service. Lots of villains had watched it. She had been invited to the party.

There was a cake shaped like the dearly departed, chocolate with raspberry filling.

The President continued, "In a vote of five to four, the Council has decided…," Erika couldn't breath, the bracelet bit into her like the handcuffs she would be in any moment. I hope they don't make me share a cell with Mother, she thought. She'll kill me for leaving…

"…to accept the hero named Portal as a temporary member of the League, full status to be decided at a later date." Erika shuddered, too stunned to smile or even blink. After a moment, she moved to stand but was stopped by her guards, pushed (albeit gently) back into the hard chair.

"But there is still the matter of your living situation," Kickbutt said and Erika's eyes widened. The League provided a small stipend and she had thought to get a tiny apartment. It's not like heroes couldn't get fake IDs.

"While you are allowed to act alone as a hero, you are still a minor and require a level of supervision. The Council has decided that you will be placed under the care of a hero family until you become a legal adult." Panic. She had just escaped her mother (granted, the heroes had helped by putting the plant psychopath in a maximum security super villain jail) and they wanted to wanted to put her with a hero family?! People who didn't trust her, who might hate her. People who could make her disappear. Looking directly into Speedstress's cold eyes, Erika had no problem believing that a hero take vengeance.

"…That family will be-