Jaimin Avion was a lonely child. The son of two workaholic lawyers who frequently moved around the country, he spent his early years in isolation. Desperate for attention, Jaimin began acting out. He skipped school, shoplifted, got into fights, all to win the affection of parents who cared little for him. When Jaimin was ten, he discovered a new hobby: fire.

In the woods of southern France, Jaimin played with matches. He built massive bonfires and watched as they were killed by the spring rain. Part of him felt a kinship for the fires, always put out before they could reach their full potential. Still, even as he toyed around with flames, Jaimin never let them get out of control. He was a rebellious child, not a monster.

When he was fourteen, Jaimin lost control of a fire. It burned through the woods, eventually spreading to the small city where his parents were working. The fire devastated the town, killing twenty-three people. Among them, Jaimin's mother and father.

Jaimin, already miserable with guilt, was sent to a juvenile correctional facility. There he spent his time alone, staring at a wall and dreaming of fire. Part of him wished that he had died in the blaze that he created.

One day, when he was seventeen, a package arrived for Jaimin. It had no return address. Inside the package were dozens of comic books, all about the same superhero: Starship-Man. The last survivor of a race of alien conquerors, Starship-Man decided to betray his people and defend earth.

Starship-Man was the perfect hero. Kind, determined, and above all, dedicated to protecting the innocent. For reasons he did not quite understand, Jaimin latched onto Starhsip-Man. He read through each of the dozens of issues hundreds of times, until he could quote them by heart.

A year later, Jefferson was released from juvie. Inspired by the comics that helped him through the darkness of prison, Jefferson made a solemn vow to dedicate his life to saving the lives of others. Worried about his criminal record hurting his chances, he changed his name and moved to England. Jaimin Aion was dead, and Jefferson Starship was born.

Jefferson found a job working for London's fire service. But, being a firefighter and being a superhero are far from the same thing. Firefighters live in the real world, a world much darker than the world of silver age comic books. Firefighters, despite their best efforts, aren't always able to save everyone. Firefighters watch people died.

And Jefferson watched people die. Each death he blamed on himself, even when there was nothing he could have done. He saved lives, of course, countless lives, but it wasn't enough to counteract the endless weight of guilt dragging him down.

Then, one day, he found a bracelet and an arrow. A voice spoke to the broken Jefferson and he did what it asked. And he became a hero.

Jefferson coughs as he takes his cape back from the other firefighter. "How are you still alive?" the firefighter asks.

"I'm a superhero now."

"Yeah, you said that. Do you need to talk to a doctor or something?"

"Nope. Got superhero stuff to do," Jefferson says. He raises his arm over his head and flies away.

From the air, he spots a man running off with a purse as a woman screams for help. Jefferson drops down in the center of the man's path and extends his arm, clotheslining him. Jefferson pries the purse from the thief's hands and tosses it back to its owner.

The thief looks up at Jefferson and gasps. "It's you! Holy shit, it's actually you!" he shouts.

"Yes, it is me. I feel like I'm missing some context here."

The thief reaches into his pocket and pulls a crumpled note out of his pocket. "She told me to give you this," he says as he holds the note up.

Jefferson grabs it. "This is a list of times and locations," he says. "Who gave this to you?"

The thief sits up. "Okay, this is going to sound wild, but two years ago a woman came up to me when I was in the pub," he says. "She gave me this note and told me to hold onto it, and that someday a man in a cape would give it to me and save my life. I know, it's a wild thing to stay. But you're here! You're actually here!"

Jefferson flips the paper over to reveal a drawing of a woman with curly blonde hair. "Did you draw this?" he asks.

The thief nods. "It's the woman from the pub," he says.

"This is the puppetmaster, the one who gave me my Stand and has been leading me around," Jefferson says. "This note, it's a list of places I need to go, people I need to save!"

"Hey, while we're on the topic of life saving, the psychic lady in the pub said that you would save mine?" the thief says. "I don't think I'm in danger at the moment, but this friend of yours predicted that a man in a cape would closeline me, so I'm a bit nervous about the fact that she said my life needs saving."

Jefferson narrows his eyes. "Two minutes ago I stopped you from stealing a woman's purse," he says.

"Okay, that was wrong. I acknowledge that. Probably shouldn't have done that."

"If you knew it was wrong, why would you do it?"

"Because I need the money! If I don't get it soon, Bernstein is going to kill me!"

"Slow down. Who's Bernstein?"

"He's this shady guy I borrowed money from to help pay my rent. But I wasn't able to pay him back, and he kidnapped my dog, and now he's going to kill me!" the thief shouts. "Wait, hold on, do you have some money to help pay back Bernstein. Because, not to be rude, but this wouldn't be a problem if you didn't get in the way of my snatching."

"I don't have any money on me. But, I think I can help. Do you know where Bernstein lives?"

The purse snatcher stands nervously outside Bernstein's house. Jefferson's been in there for ten minutes and hasn't come out yet. Then, Jefferson walks out, carrying a tiny poodle in his arms.

"Baha!" the thief yells as he runs over and takes his dog back from Jefferson. "Holy crap, you saved me dog!"

"You don't need to worry about Bernstein anymore," Jefferson says.

"Did you kill him?"

"What? No, god no. I'm a superhero, not a serial killer. I simply took him for a little flight. From ten thousand feet up, he was able to see the entirety of the city. A city with millions of other people going about their lives, each trying to get by. From that high up, it's impossible to not feel small."

"Wow."

"Also I threatened to drop him if he ever hurt you or anyone else again. That might have played a part."

"Well, thank you," the thief says as his dog licks his cheek. "Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Why did you help me? I mean, like you said, I robbed an innocent person right in front of you."

"Because you're a person. And people sometimes make mistakes. And that's terrible, but it doesn't make them monsters," Jefferson says. He hovers a few feet off the ground. "Now then, I have a list full of people who need my help."