Oori frowned and stroked his beard
"Well... I can't say I heard of 'fake buildings' before, but... If you saw them, then I'll take your word for it?"
"It looked like they had tunnels under them and stuff, I don't know..." I said, mildly embarrassed
"I see, we know the street you were on for that fight, so I'll get some of our people to check in with city hall, see what we can find out."
"Thanks, I'm sorry if it's nothing, but me and Alele noticed it, and we just wanted to be safe." I said, taking my order from the person at the cafe.
It turned out we didn't have to pay for cafe food, and it turned out I didtake advantage of it.
Training made me very hungry, damnit.
"No problem, Candy, I appreciate your concerns. And congratulations on your first villain takedown!" Oori said as we walked to the front of the lobby
"Well... Second, really. First official one though." I corrected him
He furrowed his brow and nodded "Ah, yes, hm..."
He looked at me with a sideways look for a moment, then nodded slowly. "...So, where are you off to? You're not on a patrol until tomorrow afternoon, gonna take advantage of your 'day off' so to speak?"
I held up the bag in my hand "I'm just going to the park, the good one, with the ducks. I want to sit in nature, I miss it."
"That's understandable, you did come from a very rural area of the city." he said "Sometimes I like to go into the basement and stare at the concrete walls, it reminds me of the mountain back home..."
I blinked at him "Oh, really? I- I hadn't thought of that..."
He looked at me seriously "No. I'm messing with you, Candy."
A half laugh slipped out, and I shook my head "Whatever, I gotta go, I'll be back later!"
He gave me a short salute and stepped back as I walked out of the building. I was glad to have him around, when I'd met him, I'd thought he'd be a hardass, and he was, sometimes, but usually he was one of my favorite people to interact with. He reminded me of my dad, in a way, and I felt like that was... important, somehow.
I transformed and took off as I walked, something I was getting better at as I practiced it. I couldn't quite keep my transformation up for a whole patrol without swapping back for a few minutes yet like Lucy could, but I could still transform on the fly, the lights and swirling colors wrapping me up and lifting me as I moved along. I liked to imagine it was intimidating, to see me snap into 'battle mode' without slowing down, and I did look a lot more severe with my new hair, but realistically I knew my puffy dress and child-friendly appearance were far from 'intimidating', no matter what I did.
As I flew, I watched the people below me wandering around, their days full of work or shopping, and I smiled. They had no idea what it was like to be up here, flying over it all, seeing them as ants... I could drop down and grab one of them up, bringing them up with me, and they'd just scream and flail, I could just imagine some fancy business lady, yanked out of her life to be drug around the sky for a while by a hero, it'd be the single most interesting thing in her life to ever happen, by far. I slowed, absently looking for someone to try it with, or at least to imagine trying it with. I wasn't about to risk the negative PR if they ended up hating it and tried to sue or something, but it was fun to imagine.
A flash of light caught my eye and interrupted my thoughts, and I floated over the alley it came from, curious. A tall, muscle bound human woman in a tan skirt with a matching sweater vest was beating up a shorter man in black combat armor, each hit blasting light and shockwaves out from him as her blows landed on his face and chest rapid fire. I sighed, and lowered myself to the ground behind them. I didn't really care about what was going on, but... one of them HAD to be a hero, and that meant post-teamup selfies and media traction.
"Hey, which one of you is the good guy?" I asked over the sound of the shockwaves.
"Fuck off!" The man yelled, smacking the woman across the jaw with a shock baton. She made a strangled sound, but didn't fall as she kept hitting him.
Well... Call me old fashioned, but good chosen didn't usually tell other chosen to fuck off. I stepped up and popped myself forward with my wings, driving my knee into the soft spot on his lower back, right under his armor. He arched his back and turned, swinging the baton at me with a speed I wasn't expecting, but I'd managed to step back before it made contact, and I smirked as his swing went wide.
"Oh, fuck this to hell..." he panted "I'm not being beaten by a fucking cos-player and a life sized doll, I'm out."
He flickered, and his clothes fell to the ground, empty and limp.
I looked up at the woman, mildly surprised "Did he teleport? Why didn't he do that before?"
She stood up straight, easily six and a half feet tall, and stretched her arms, massive and well toned, over her head. I didn't stare, because that would be unprofessional, but I did watch her carefully, for... tactical reasons. Her outfit looked vaguely like a school uniform, if the school didn't requite you to wear shirts under vests. Her lower legs and forearms were covered in some kind of loose disconnected 'sleeves' that matched the color of her her 'uniform', and every inch of her clothing and silver blonde hair was covered in pins, clips, and stickers, in all shapes colors and sizes.
"He's one of my main arches," she said, shaking her head "he can 'rewind' to whatever place he had sex at last, but in the state he was in when said sex happened. His name's Morning-After, if you can believe it."
I grimaced "Oh, ugh, what an awful name..."
The woman laughed "Yeah, no kidding. Speaking of names, I'm Genki, are you new in this section?"
I shook my head "My name is Angel Rouge, I'm from section uhhh 240-something, I was just on my way to the part to eat and I noticed the flashing lights from your punching."
She nodded "It is very impressive."
"Yeah, he looked like he could take a hit very well though, those shockwaves were going right through him, and he barely flinched, should... we be looking for him or something?"
"Nahhh, my punches are mostly sparkle, and he was wearing his stupid padded outfit. He's not as dangerous as he looks, he's supposed to be in jail for petty crimes, and refuses to stay in."
I kicked the outfit in question with my foot "So... does he come pick this up later? Or...?"
Genki scooped the clothes up into a ball and tucked them under her arm, grinning "I'll bring them home, I collect them. I have like, 10 sets of this guy's clothes, it's hilarious."
I ignored the potentially creepy side of what she'd just said, and glanced around the alley "Ok, uh, well I'm not going to lie, I mostly just came to help so I could get a selfie with another hero, is that ok?"
She wiggled her eyebrows "Oooh playing the social media game, huh? I play that game too, gotta get those brand deals! I'm working on one right now? Oh. My. Gods. They wanna put me on a literal cereal box! THAT is how you know you made it, girlie."
"I mean... My team has our own themed cafe, not to brag or anything." I said, bragging
She looked at me more closely, her eyes narrowing "Wow, I'd have thought I'd recognize someone who was famous enough for their own cafe..."
I wilted slightly "...My church is huge, we debuted with the cafe, full disclosure..."
Genki laughed, and lightly punched my shoulder, a small shockwave and flash going off when she did so "Thought so, but hey, maybe I'll show up there sometime, and get you real popularity by tagging it for my fans."
I felt a twinge of anger, but I squished it with a small smile "Oh? And... How many fans do you have?"
She dropped the clothes and pulled her skirt up a few inches, fishing her phone out of a pocket on her shorts, tapping at it and turning her screen to me proudly.
I stared at the number in awe, taken aback.
"You have fucking one point six million?" I gasped
"Totally!" She chirped, beaming at me "It's soooo easy too, I just flex, do dances, and wear outfits that show off my muscles!"
I looked down at my own body. While I did have tone and muscle in my transformed state, I was... not nearly as strong as Genki was. Galorna looked small compared to her, and she was... Galorna.
"I guess I could try doing dances?" I mumbled, fumbling for my own phone
"You'll get there, what are you at right now, girlie?"
I opened CirNet and glowered at my profile "...Seventeen thousand..."
"That's a good start! I bet you pick up at least another five kay from our selfie, and once you hit about thirty, the followers just roll in!"
"I- I have a public relations person, and someone helping me with this stuff, but I'm not growing fast at all, could you help me?" I asked, keeping my voice from sounding like I was overwhelmed.
"Uhhh..." Genki said, her eyes narrowing again "I don't really do that, but umm, if you like, I can like, follow you back? How long have you been trying to grow your following?"
I sighed and shook my head "Days, since like, last Saturday? Since my debut"
She frowned "Wait, you've been a hero for less than a week and you're complaining about having seventeen kay?"
I shrugged "I'm seeing stupid fan accounts for other heroes with a hundred thousand, it's logical to get frustrated."
Genki pointed to her phone "Look girlie, I don't know if you're not into chosen culture or something, but like, I've been one for like, gods, eight years? Since I was a teenager, at least, and it took me that full amount of time to get my fans. I'm internationally famous, yeah, but I worked for almost a decade to get there, so... sorry for not being surprised you didn't hit the trending page in a week."
"I've never even heard of you, to be honest." I admitted "I didn't know anyone outside of like, the big teams or the founders could have that many followers. I was aiming for around two hundred and fifty, max."
"That's... realistic, yeah. You'll flatline around there, I'm guessing." She said thoughtfully "You said you're on a team? That tends to split interest, there are members of the Children of Battle with less followers than me, just because with them everyone has a favorite, I'm just me."
"Oh, fuck." I said "I just realized I'm only following D Gunn from that team..."
"Exactly!" Genki said happily "If you were solo, heck, you'd be doing way more numbers, every member of your church would follow you automatically, for one. That's why I have so many, I'm the only chosen in my church! Heck, the official Spacegirl account has over two mil, and she doesn't even have a church, as far as anyone knows, and the account just reposts other people's posts about her, it's not even her making the posts."
"I'd hoped the church would all follow me anyway..." I grumbled
"You're just not everyone's favorite! It's natural." She said, bending over and putting an arm that could bend steel girders around my shoulder "Now let's get that selfie, we can at least get you some of my fans, right?"
I posed, and pulled my own phone out, snapping a picture with me looking serious and hopefully mysterious and Genki crossing her eyes and sticking out her tongue throwing a peace sign with her free hand. I looked at the picture and frowned. It looked... less than professional
"Oh, trust me, people love that face for some reason." Genki said "Plus it like, clashes with your expression, so it stands out!"
"I guess so..." I muttered "Uh, thanks, I'll tag you in it, and you can... share it?"
"Will do!" she said with a face salute "Now, I gotta get back to my patrol, Morning-After isn't the only law breaker around!"
I waved goodbye and picked up my bag. My slushy was most likely melted by now, but I didn't really care, Genki had given me a lot to consider, especially concerning my team...
~~~
I drank my watered down mango juice and fiddled with the cookie in my hand. My sandwich had been soggy from being in the bag next to the slushy covered in condensation, but I'd eaten it anyway. I was in my base form, in jeans and a t-shirt- people's comments about my sweaters were starting to bother me-, and I was on a bench overlooking the water.
What was I even doing?
I felt torn between going back to home and sitting in my room, and going back home and sitting on my childhood bed. I couldn't focus on enjoying the nature, I was too worried about my stupid fucking phone and the stupid fucking implications from what Genki had said. I wanted to go out and find more chosen, to get out there more, to be seen, but I knew that chosen who butted in on other people's areas were seen as 'unprofessional' and I desperately wanted to be a professional.
I'd added up everyone on our team's followers, it came to just under forty-five thousand. If Genki was right, that's about how many I'd have by now if I was solo.
I leaned back and looked up at the sky, letting the bright blue air fill my vision with haze, and thought about my needs. I needed to be famous, to have people see me and to fawn over me. I wasn't just doing it for attention, there was money involved, and political power. If I could get to be famous enough, I could help fix our section, or help sway public opinion about things that really mattered, I wasn't trying to get famous for selfish reasons, right? And then there was...
I thought about one of my childhood crushes, a hero from Bay City named Anchor Drop. I'd had posters and figures of him, I'd watched his TV special over and over, I'd followed him in his journey for most of my childhood until I was almost 17, and there was an announcement from the pantheon. Anchor Drop was going to be ascended, he was leaving earth, and moving across the veil to become one of the gods... His following was so big, so many people worshiped him, that his spiritual energy was equal to that of a small god. I'd been devastated at the time, I'd lost my idol, the man I imagined holding me as I fell asleep for years on end, to the great white cloud in the sky. Or, the great white cloud in a fifth dimensional space overlapping earth, I guess. And I was part of why I'd lost him. My worship of him directly helped him get the energy to ascend, so in a way, I was the reason I lost my favorite hero.
It was nothing too 'unusual' for him to leave like that; on average at least three or more people rose to godhood per year, but for me, no one else ascending ever mattered, until it happened to him.
Over time though, as his old church fell back into obscurity, and Anchor Drop's new church, The Church of The Humble Hero, rose to become one of the number one churches in the country, I understood why he'd done it. Every city across The Union had at least one of his chosen; a 'Humble Hero' in it; someone with a calm, soft demeanor and a quiet strength. I met one of his chosen, once. They looked at me with eyes that spoke to my soul as they helped me find my classmates when I got lost on my senior trip, and looking into those eyes, I felt myself realize what I wanted from my life, however I could get it.
I wanted to ascend, to become one of the gods. To be able to do what he'd done for the world, myself.
It was stupid, a pipe dream, a fucking joke I tried to ignore. I didn't like to admit it. It felt like the kind of thing that would get you put on medication or worse, especially when you're just a farm girl who missed more days of high school than she went to, who's dad was a missing person, and who's mom was so emotionally distant and exhausted that she might as well be a missing person. I'd held onto that hope, that desire, to become a goddess, for years, holding it close, imagining it in my head as I worked on the farm and lay in my bed, thinking of all the ways I'd influence the world, what powers I'd give my chosen, who I'd choose...
Part of me wanted to choose my friends, and give them wonderful powers, like lasers and sparkling shields, while the other half wanted to pick the people I hated, the people at school who surreptitiously judged me for taking days off for farm work, for not having a dad. I was never really 'bullied', no one stole my lunch money or anything, but when someone thinks little of you, you can tell. It hurts. I wanted to choose them, and give them a power like 'frog senses' or something, and send them off to the folds to do rescue missions, never to return.
I tried not to dwell on those desires too much.
Still, here I was, a chosen myself, and part of one of the biggest churches in the region. I still had to think about my team, of course, but I wanted- needed to get far, far more popular than I was right now if it meant I had even the slightest chance of becoming a goddess. I needed people to worship me. Genki had more followers than I could imagine getting, I knew I needed more than that to ascend, but how much more? Anchor Drop had left before CirNet was the defacto form of communication and news sharing, so I couldn't look at his numbers, but there were others to compare myself to.
I pulled out my phone and sorted the people I was following by the numbers of followers they had, and checked the top one. As I'd expected, it was Chap, the leader of the former Arena City team "The Knights of The Abyss". Following the attack on the city, and after loosing so, so many chosen to it, he'd stepped up as the 'face' of chosen everywhere, and spoke on chosen law, and fought for the rights of any chosen to pick their own battles, instead of being forced into a suicide mission with no hope of winning, like his team had been.
He was by far the most famous and most popular hero I'd ever seen, and his roguish grin and sparking eyes peeking out of his half-helmet made it easy to see why, political power aside. He was sitting firmly at four hundred and thirty six million followers. Almost a third of the planet's population had eyes on him, saw every post he made, and cared about him. Why hadn't he ascended yet? Had they offered and he'd declined? Was his god being difficult about it? If that many followers wasn't enough to ascend, then how many was?
I slurped my drink and put my phone away again. This was... frustrating. I needed to focus on my original mission; get rich, get famous, get power. I could worry about rising to godhood later.
...Not that I'd have a chance with 4 other teammates hogging the spotlight.
I needed them, of course, I couldn't do anything on my own, especially with my shitty power, but... still, hearing that they were the reason I wasn't seeing as much growth made me almost feel jealous of them. I was just starting to get closer to them, too... I tossed my mostly empty cup in the trash next to the bench and took a bite of the Galorna themed cookie. The lemon-y tang was really nice, and I wished I'd kept my drink now to pair it with... I glanced at the trash can, it'd most likely fallen in straw up, I could...
I violently took another bite, angry at myself for considering digging through garbage for a drink and grumbled. I was distracted and full of too many thoughts, if that's where my mind was going. I needed to lay down some priorities, instead of making guilt induced promises to myself and thinking vaguely about how to improve. Let's see...
Step one, get more followers and therefore fame, of course
Step two, define my brand as distinct from the other girls, make myself stand out in a way that makes me appealing aside from the team.
Step three, meet and greet as many other chosen as I could. Networking was hard, but I already knew, what, ten? eleven? I just needed to keep going, keep making myself known.
Step four, train harder. Actually train, not just go through the exercises and dodge glowing lights. I'd mostly given up after I got my power, but Genki... I got the feeling her build had very little to do with her power, and everything to do with her training.
Step five...
I stood and started the walk back home. To the base, at least. I did miss my mom, but I didn't want to see her yet. I still didn't know how she'd react to the hair...
Step five... It'd have to be to keep getting closer to the girls. I really did like them, even if they annoyed me at times and they were holding me back from my true potential. I needed to find a way to actually maintain the bonds with them. When I was actively bonding, I was having a great time, I was engaged, I liked them, I could laugh and feel good about myself, but... as soon as I was alone or had time to think, I couldn't help analyzing them, judging them. And now I was going to be blaming them for my lack of fame. Great...
I had my list of tasks, or 'goals' or whatever, I should write them down or I'd forget, but... I didn't think I would. I passed in front of the square, and looked up at the Queen's skyscraper, my mind wandering to 'meeting' Miss Missile. Did she even remember me? It'd been all of a few moments, but... She had gotten alarmed when she'd thought I was immortal for some reason, was that enough to make me stick?
I'd never asked Alele about her reaction to that, now that I thought about it. It... most likely wasn't important. What was important, was that every single one of the buildings I was walking pas had a front door or garage door or some way of getting in. The weird fake buildings must just be a thing in areas further from the center or something? Or they were better disguised here?
I finished my cookie and put my bag in a trash can as I passed. Trash can... It sure was nice to be on a street with fucking trash cans. It should be a standard thing everywhere, but nooo, there's 'budget problems' in our area. Which made sense, if there was no one in the fucking buildings, then there was no one to pay the taxes, but the fact that we had one street trash can in our whole section was just embarrassing. I couldn't even be mad about the random garbage and stuff in between the buildings, it's not like there was anywhere else to put it.
A random sign caught my eye, a poster for a diamond ring, advertised by a crystalline gnoll chosen looking sultrily at the viewer, their hand in front of their mouth like they were gasping. Fuck, they were practically made to advertise diamonds, with that body. I wondered if they could change back and forth between 'that' and normal flesh like Homicide, or if they were just stuck like that...
I wondered what items I could try and sell that'd have the same effect as this one had one me, something that made people think "Oh, she's perfect for that!" Makeup maybe? Transformed, my makeup was always perfect, but... it wasn't like I could claim I was using theirs or anything, it was magic makeup. Maybe hair dye? I wasn't sure if I was supposed to pretend my hair was red because of my power or something yet, but Forica had already posted a 'before' picture, so the cat was out of the bag either way, I supposed.
My feet scuffed the pavement, and I pulled up the map on my phone to see how much longer I had to walk to get back to the base. The timer estimated 40 more minutes. I stared at my phone for a few seconds. The walk would do me good, and I was trying to get more exercises, like I had just said...
Fuck it, I crouched, and jumped, transforming and flying into the sky before my feet hit the ground. Fuck walking, fuck sidewalks, and fuck the map, Flying just felt so much better.