Temperance - Temperance in its modern use is defined as moderation or voluntary self-restraint. It is typically described in terms of what an individual voluntarily refrains from doing. This includes restraint from revenge by practicing non-violence and forgiveness, restraint from arrogance by practicing humility and modesty, restraint from excesses such as extravagant luxury or splurging, and restraint from rage or craving by practicing calmness and self-control.
As I thought about what the girl had said to me- about taking me in, I recognized her. Her name was Neon, and she was an electricity-manipulating hero. She required energy to be near her, but she could turn even small amounts into substantial shocks. She was decently well known, but she often did partnerships, where she would team up with another hero for a night to gain fame. I looked around desperately, making sure there was no one else around.
"You can stop looking around. There's no one else here, y'know." She crouched down to my position on the ground, so that her face was just above mine, a few inches away. "Just you and me."
Her voice was soft in my ear and her face was quite beautiful. There were very few women at camp, and none of them had any interest in me. As far as I knew, this was the most beautiful woman I'd seen.
"So, what are we staring at?" She waved her hand in front of my face a bit, then stood up and grabbed me by the scruff of my neck, yanking me onto my feet. "The HQ said that you're wanted for unregistered heroism."
Shit, I totally forgot that's why she came here.
"Hey, hey. W-we're both here for the same reason, right? To uh... protect the people." I tried to make her understand that there's no reason to arrest me, but my voice was quiet and I stuttered quite a bit. This was all too similar to the time with Gust.
"Well, you're not wrong. But the agency still wants you." She stopped for a second, apparently deep in thought. Then, she shrugged. "How about this. I pretend you were never here, but from now on, you and I get to be friends!"
What? What the hell does that even mean? I don't want to be friends with a fucking Enabled! Police sirens began to ring in the distance.
"Time to go!" She waved bye to me and leapt onto the rooftop. "See you later, friend!"
What a weird one. She wasn't like the other Enabled I've met. While she didn't seem inherently evil, she was still extremely dangerous. She acted on impulses, going from imprisoning me to befriending me in a heartbeat. For now, I should focus on getting home. I jumped onto a dumpster, reaching for the first-floor rooftop of the building and kicking my feet as I lifted myself up. This was going to be a long walk home.
I felt a solid amount of my energy replenish as I walked, but in my beaten down form, I wasn't able to run regardless.
When I reached my apartment building, I had to complete the agonizing climb up the fire escape's stairwell. By the time I reached my apartment's window, the night was nearly over, with maybe an hour before sunrise. I took off my suit, collapsing onto my bed and falling into a very, very deep sleep.
When I woke up, I was covered in sweat, sliding halfway off the bed, and unsure of what time it was. That's how I knew it was a good sleep. I got up, stretched, and took a shower. I took some time to think about the night, and I had a very bad realization; though I had killed nearly all of the faceless beings from before, I had not once seen their memories. While there was an off chance that the two beings I failed to kill were the originals, it was more likely that the original hid in a safe location while his copies fought.
I had to come up with a plan if I wanted to kill them all. There were a few things I was sure of. The beings lacked fighting tactics, but were well organized with each other. They were like a pack of rabid animals. Another thing was that they lacked high defensive capabilities, which is why I killed them so easily. As for the things I was unsure of, there were also a few. Firstly, if I killed the original being, would I gain its powers? If I did, would it make me disfigured, or maybe damage my brain? The second thought I had was far worse; even if the powers were safe to use, how would I kill the original in the first place? Would I even find him? Last time I fought the clones, I got my ass kicked, and I had to be rescued by an Enabled. Maybe I did need help for this one, after all. Before any of that, it was already one o'clock and I had yet to fulfill my daily crime-stopping quota.
As usual, the hero work was boring and empty. I stopped a shoplifter from running away, and I helped the police find a runaway criminal. A few similar things happened after that, until I had one crime left on my quota.
The streets were as busy as usual. As I flew overhead, I reflected on some of my time in the city. In front of an apartment complex, there was a medium-sized garden that had been approved by the city not too long ago. Children ran through it, and teenagers and adults carefully dug, watered, and nurtured the garden and the plants. For those people, for those families, I was working day and night to keep the city as peaceful as possible.
The city had become to me, much like what the garden was to them. I had to take care of it, nurture the people as they did the plants. I couldn't let animals kill my plants, could I? I had to keep it safe. While it took me some time, I had come to realize that all plants were important. Some weren't as special as others, had less strength or speed. Some plants lacked certain qualities. But that's okay. They would have to be payed attention to, raised carefully to live amongst so many powerful plants. Once, I believed that the weak plants were useless, and now I understood the truth; a garden was not whole without all of the plants in it.There was only one exception. A plant that had no place in the world. A weed. Weeds had to be torn out, at the roots, so they never could return.
Unfortunately, this city was full of weeds.
I flew a bit farther into the city, past the restaurants and fancy establishments. If you wanted to find weeds, they would be hiding behind the good plants, sapping the life from them. They loved to hide in nooks and crannies, so that's where I went.
I visited the less beautiful side of the city. The side where the voices faded, and children didn't play. The world lost its color in this place, instead there were gray skies, and darkly colored buildings to match. As I looked around, there were few types of buildings here. Most prominently, there were warehouses and factories. From the information I've gathered as Rogue, I knew that multiple of these warehouses held illegal operations. Now I just had to see which.
The first one had a large entrance, tall enough to fit large machinery. A few men stood outside, doing basic tasks like moving supplies in and out of the place. As far as I was concerned, this was a perfectly legitimate operation. Off to the next one. The same set of events happened for several more buildings; workers moving in and out, open doors, and nothing to hide. The buildings all had similar sounds to them. It was that of men grunting with effort and machinery in motion. It was a rhythmic sound, easily recognizable, so much so that even a single shift could be noticed if one were to pay enough attention.
Whoothump.
It was a kind of whistling noise, followed by the sound of impact. It sounded like someone taking flight, or someone in a fist fight. Knowing the types of things going on here, it was probably both. I flew over, listening carefully against the whistle of the wind to keep track of the noise. It was at a warehouse near the part of the city where new buildings were built, like housing and businesses. Having any type of criminal activity this close to my city, my garden, was not something I wanted. I shot at full speed to the gray and white storage house, marked '12' on the side. The massive door at the front that was open on all the other building was closed here. The sound of metal clanging and people grunting inside confirmed this was the one.
I focused my mind onto the door, pulling my hands together and crumpling the several tons of steel as if it were paper. I stepped through the newly made opening, ready to tear out the weeds. Then, as my eyes adjusted to the dark, I saw something unexpected before me.
An Enabled stood before me, dressed in a golden outfit with a cape on the back. He was maybe six feet tall, and he had blond hair and green eyes. Around him, nearly thirty men were armed and aiming their weapons at him. Before I had time to help him fight the men, they fired out hundreds of bullets from several sub-machine guns. The Enabled stood there, hands on his hips, letting the gunfire hit him. Once the magazines had been emptied, the hero still stood there. The men dropped their weapons, instead choosing to charge at him head on. A short and skinny man was the first to throw a punch. He swung at the Enabled in what could've been a knockout punch to a normal person. Unfortunately, this was far from normal. The hero in gold sidestepped the punch, choosing to throw an overhand at the skinny guy. His fist made connection, going right through the other man's head. Even if the guy was a criminal, I couldn't help but feel bad.
A few of the other men who were planning on attacking him began to hesitate, and a few tried to run. The golden Enabled flew towards the runners, taking them out one by one. One was kicked hard enough that he flew to the ceiling, where his body exploded into a mass of blood and guts on impact. Another was grabbed my the neck, and the Enabled squeezed so hard, you could hear the life drain out of the man. He dropped the body, turning around to face the others. It was at this point he noticed me, watching him massacre the group of men. He smiled and waved, then flew over to me at the speed of sound. The resulting sonic boom killed all of the men that were standing inside the warehouse. The walls shook, and the force of the boom sent all of the blood and guts from the men flying my direction, completely covering both me and the unknown Enabled.
I think I swallowed some.
He eyed me up for a moment before he spoke. "So kid, what are you doing here? How'd you know something was going on in here?" He stared deeply into my eyes, awaiting my answer.
Shit. I couldn't let him know about how my information came from vigilante activities. Time to change the subject. "What about you? Why did you kill all the guys, aren't you supposed to take them in?"
He put on a fake shocked expression, putting his hand on his chest as if I had hurt his feelings. "Y'know kid, that is really hurtful. As you CLEARLY saw, I killed them in self defense." He put his hand on my shoulder, and whispered in my ear. "You tell anyone about this, and I'll fucking kill you." He leaned back, putting on a friendly face once more. "I'm Midas, hence the gold uniform."
"Yeah, I see that." I wiped some blood off my uniform as he did the same.
"Alright, well it was just swell talking to you. Oh, and remember what I told you." His final words had a menacing tone, and then he flew off.
Well that was fucking scary. I think I'll call that the end of superheroing for today.
Now for my night shift.