Fortunes Favour

The Safe Bet

I had moved to a city in the south western United States. Stride City. 

After spending years being on a team I decided to go solo (also, wasn't ready to be working with other hero's yet.  Those waters needed testing).

So after looking around a bit I chose Stride because it didn't have any hero's of its own, but it had a high enough crime rate to justify me moving in. Honestly, I thought it was going to take a while for people to warm up to me. With my rap sheet and all.  

I certainly wasn't expecting to be an overnight sensation.

But what I got instead was... indifference. 

The first day I moved in I stopped a bank robbery. Caught the guys fleeing the scene and I laid down some hex waves to cause their tires to burst.

The Hive taught me hand to hand combat so I swooped right in and took them down before they even knew what hit them.

Police showed up. I said hello and... 

"Thanks kid. You sticking around or just visiting?" said the sergeant who picked up the robbers. From his tone you'd have thought I just served him lunch, instead of catching four armed criminals.

"Nope. I'm here to set up shop. Apparently you guys don't have any hero's of your own. Thought I might make a good fit."

"Sure." It was a dismissal. "Whats your name?"

"They call me Jinx." I said in a pretty "super heroey" way.

"Of course they do.  Well, you see any more crimes in progress feel free to do something about it. So long as you keep your nose clean." and he walked away without giving me his name.

Okay. I guess I got the cop who hates his job. Oh well. 

I found a place that was willing to put me up for cheap. It was overtop a video arcade but I didn't mind. I've always found loud noises soothing. Too much quiet freaks me out and makes me anxious.

A few days later there was a big fire in a motel.  Now, this one I wasn't sure I was ready for. As you might have guessed, my powers are better suited for CAUSING fires. Not putting them out. But after a few missteps with breaking a fire hydrant and blowing a hole in the wall, I spotted a nearby water tower and got a brilliant idea. A few hexes later and the water tower tilted over and drenched the fire from above. It didn't quite do the job but it cut the fire departments work in half.

But the same thing happened. No one really paid me any mind. When they did they just treated me like something you see every day. Oh sure, they were polite. The people who got rescued thanked me for showing up. The Fire chief said the water tower was quick thinking, but no one applauded. No one paid me much mind.

I wasn't looking for a ticker tape parade, but I'd seen the Titans on TV. They get high fives and photo ops whenever they do something. What was wrong with me?

Well duh, I was a super villain. Obvi.

I didn't want to make a big thing of it though, so I kept on going on patrol and doing the hero thing. I wanted to win these guys over with my own two hands. I stopped a high speed chase, five muggings, broke up a illegal deal, caught an arsonist that had set fire to two buildings (three if you count the motel from earlier) But people still acted like I wasn't anything impressive.

I HAVE MAGIC POWERS! BE IMPRESSED FOR HEAVENS SAKE! 

It wasn't until the end of my second week that things were finally made clear to me.

.......................................

A SECOND CHANCE? read the headline in big black font. In the middle of the page was a picture of me, Gizmo and Mammoth from when we ripped off the gold shipment for Brother Blood. The full article was three pages long and was mostly about society but I'll give you a brief idea of what it said, "........here in Stride City we have our own rehabilitated meta human. Former juvenile super delinquent Jinx has taken strides to try and better herself since leaving her buddies from the hive academy and has performed some deeds of decency around town since moving here. But thats one super villain out of three, and as commentator Gordon Godfrey illustrates so delicately, "a reoffending murderer can kill a hundred people in a week if they tried. a reoffending super villain can kill a hundred people in an hour." While there is definitely a exaggerated logic in that, we must not forget that underage meta's are still children at the end of the day, and all children deserve an opportunity to try to turn there lives around if they wish to do so. As Superman once said, "Everyone has the power to bring something good into this world. And everyone deserves a second chance to do so...."

I was piiiiiiiiissed.

This was the first time the papers mentioned me and I barely got a paragraph (but I liked the photo, so I cut the article out anyway). Two weeks of hero work and all they talk about is that I used to be a criminal? What a load of crud.

With the city quiet the last couple of days I decided to go and visit the paper in question and speak with the author of the article. One Hubert Linquest. After all, he was the first guy to ever take an interest in my hero work, if my luck improves I might get myself my very own pet reporter to do my interviews just like whatserface in metropolis. Supermans girl. The mouthy one.

But if its not my lucky day I'll get thrown out and they print a very different kind of article. So as I walked down the street toward the Stride Chronicle Newspaper I took some deep breaths and put on my best "good girl" face.

The paper was actually just a little building two blocks down from the local strip mall. Barely two stories high. but wide enough that they probably print the papers right there and distribute them out the back. I entered through the front expecting a lot of hustle and bustle, newspaper type cliches, but instead the lobby was empty aside from the platinum blonde receptionist who looked like she'd rather be anywhere else.

"Hey there. I'm looking for a mr Lindquist? Is he in?" I said in my most respectful tone of voice

"Your name please?"

I had he urge to ask how many girls look like me that you can't tell us apart but I chocked it down. "Its Jinx. I'd like to ask if mr Lindquist wants to interview me."

She called someone and after exchanging a few words she escorted me down the elevator to where the cubicles were. Huber Lindquist cubicle was near the far corner of the building. At first glance old Hubert looked like he was missing about twelve hours of sleep, with his dark bags around his eyes and his hunched over gait that screamed "I live in front of a computer screen". Also, the dudes body was all shapes. His belly stuck out to the point of being fat but his chest was sculpted on an angle like a pyramid. His arms were skinny noddles and balancing this mess out where a pair of dainty feet attached to thick sausage legs. I've never seen such a weird looking guy and I'm friends with mutants.

"Ms Jinx? What a pleasant surprise. I mean, what can I do for you? Although I guess that questions retoracle. You must have read my article. I actually wanted to get a few words from you but I kept on missing you when I drove to the crime scenes. My car is not very fast."

I smiled at him. For real this time. No one who knew me would ever call me Ms Jinx, yet when this guy said it it sounded natural.  

Fact was, I liked him immediately.

I explained to him my experiences in town, ending with my reading of the article this morning.

"so whats the deal? How come super heros mean about as much to these people as a guy playing the drums for loose change?"

"Because you have nothing we need." Hubert said bluntly. His eyes had a look of almost sadness when he said it.

"Wait, what? I have nothing you need? I've been fighting crime for two weeks."

"Regular crime. The crimes that police officers are more than capable of dealing with. Same with the fire, you cut the fire departments time in half but thats all you did. We don't have super villains here. We don't have crime syndicates and giant monsters and such. Your not really what we need."

I raised my eyebrow. Either this guy was feeding me a line or this place was paradise and it sure didn't look like paradise to me. "So you guys have....almost no crime at all?"

"I didn't say that. Tell you what Ms Jinx. Meet me at the corner of the pizza parlour on Main Street after sundown. I'll show you what this cities all about."

I accepted his offer and agreed to meet him later tonight.

I came to stride city because I thought it was a safe bet for starting a new life. If I had known what the odds really were, I would never have come here.

To Be continued........