Supernus
Recorded Date: 6000
Hircus City
5 days later
"... following the crash we landed in an alleyway where he proceeded to take the boy hostage. He used his hair to restrict the boys breathing and I didn't notice in time, however, as he was making his demands for release the boy headbutted him, stomped his foot, and headbutted his groin. It is unknown whether the boy knew Tricho needed concentration to use his hair remotely from his body or if he was being naive and brave. What we do know is that he is fine but has lost blood and might have a scar, but he should recover just fine, and Tricho is being transported to the facility. That's all I have to share." The blonde haired man finished with a sigh.
He was no longer in his blue scaled outfit, instead he was in a 3 piece suit that looked personally tailored. It was midnight blue with the tie being mostly blue and detailed with golden spirals. He stood in front of a crowd of people with notepads, cameras, and other devices, it was a press conference.
"Why was the boy in the alley?" Asked a random reporter.
"We're unsure of why he was there."
"Have his parents been contacted?" another asked.
"We're still trying to identify the boy but we haven't been able to figure out who he is yet, as soon as we do we'll immediately contact the right people."
"Why did you crash into the alley in the first place? That seems to clearly be an act of reckless destruction"
"Tricho was ready to launch a large scale release of his hair. Had I simply hit him it was possible stray hairs could have damaged citizens. I made my best use of judgment to fly him into a narrow area to prevent a mass amount of damage."
"You just said the boy hit him and his ability stopped affecting him. Aren't you just making excuses for you actions at this point?"
"If I didn't bring him into that alley he could have taken multiple people hostage instead of one. The child in the alley is a highly unfortunate outcome, but the decision was made for the better of the people."
"He still did end up taking a hostage. Doesn't that just mean you're incompetent at mitigating damage anyway?"
"There are no perfect people, and I'm a person too. I don't intend to avert all blame from me, but I did the best I could under the circumstances I was given. If you intend to critique even the success I bring I'd love to see you doing a better job in my shoes when these criminals sole purpose is to cause damage. It's virtually impossible to stop random acts of violence because cruelty will never dissappear."
"This isn't about what I could do in your shoes, its about what more you could have done for the safety of the city!"
"So as a hero I'm responsible for every act a criminal commits in the city?" Asked the blonde in disbelief. The reporter nodded back to him.
"Then by that logic if I step down permanently then it won't be my problem right?" The room filled with gasps. "That might be my next step if your plan is only to make me look bad. I make these reports publicly and hold these conferences because I want the people to know what's happened in their city and the resolutions. I accept critiques because I understand that everyone has concerns and I want to improve myself to be able to keep the city safe and happy. What I don't do this for, is people like you to sit here and defame me because you or whomever is behind you want to make others unhappy for doing the best I can. I know I saved lives today and that's not something we're going to debate. But if you want to be the reason I retire and stop caring then you come up here and show your face to the people at home. Better yet, hope that the next time you're in a dire situation in this city that I won't be the closest hero to you because I'll prioritize people who value lives over property damage."
"Guard, are you suggesting that you as a hero purposely wouldn't save someone?"
"I'm not suggesting. I'm stating I would rather save other lives over his. I do this out of my good will and responsibilities instilled in me by my parents. I'm not obligated to save anyone its a choice I make because I want to, if that is abused and manipulated to make people not respect the things that I choose to do I can choose to not do anything altogether. I'm not saying it's wrong to critique me, but his line of questioning goes beyond critique and into manipulation. If you all can't understand that then I'll walk away until you do. There will be no more questions." Guard's voice boomed across the mic and the room immediately. Of course this was met with more questions than answers, but Guard walked away off of the stage and into a back room.
"Guard you know that outburst is gonna have serious consequences right?" Asked a silver haired woman.
"It's time for it anyway." Guard said as he turned and leaned on a wall to face the voice.
"Restrictions are going to arise because of this!" She exclaimed while stepping to guard. "How can we save more people with less things we can do? If you could have held your tongue then it wouldn't have mattered." Her frustration was making her pale face flush red.
"And how do you know that this will specifically start the changes Lys?" Guard asked in a way that showed he wasn't interested in shouting.
"Because that reporter was sent here from the Hole!" Guard's tie raised in front of his face and her frustration reached it's crescendo. He frowned deeply.
"Calm down before the people outside start floating." Lys's face began to change into an even angrier look, yet before she said something else, she exhaled and visibly relaxed.
"I'm just saying, our lives will now be exponentially harder because YOU couldn't calm down out there." She pointed back to the curtains.
"We'll worry about that when it comes to it" He got off from the wall and began walking to the door in the room. Waving his hand for Lys to follow him. "-But for now, how do you know he's from the Hole?" His tone turned deathly serious.