Ever since he was a kid. Roland Davis had always wanted to be a superhero. Of course, this isn’t anything special. Every kid wants to be a superhero at some point in their life. They’ll see superman and imagine how cool it would be to soar above the rooftops of even the tallest buildings or to shoot lasers out of their eyes and stop bad guys with plots of world dominance. But Roland wanted something different. He wanted super powers so that he could help and save people. Not from alien invaders or supervillains, but from more realistic disasters. If he had super strength, he would use it to clear rubble from earthquake disaster areas. If he had super speed, he would use it to get clean water and food to places without any. And if he could fly, he would use it to put out fires threatening homes from above.
As he got older he began to help in any way he could. Donating money to homeless shelters, volunteering at anywhere that needed help, or anything else he could do. And even though he was helping in any way he could, he still had dreams of doing more. He still thought about being able to fly victims out of a disaster area. Or building houses with his mind. But he knew that could never happen. Super heroes were just the stuff of comic books. No one could ever actually be one. Until July 17 of 2049.
SUPERHEROES REAL!? BREAKING:
Scientists have found a way to give people real superpowers! And it could be you!
This was the headline of every online news website. It was the stuff of science fiction come true. The biggest scientific breakthrough since penicillin. And the best part? Anyone could get these powers. For free! It had been it had only been publicly released for 6 hours and already hundreds of billionaires from all over the world had called in, offering massive amounts of money to be given these powers, but all of them had been declined.
“These powers are not just for anyone who had money.” announced the head scientist of the Super project while being interviewed for TV. “As they say, ‘with great power, comes great responsibility’ and if you wanted to get super powers, your responsibility would be tested.”
Super powers were only given under 2 very strict conditions. 1) you need to pass a test. A test specifically designed to measure your moral compass. This was made to prevent corrupt or potentially dangerous people from getting super powers. 2) Those given powers, are required to work with police and local law enforcement. No “mystery vigilante” business. You would be hired and very closely watched by the police and you must follow every order you are given.
Within hours of news of the test, people lined up around every local police station, sometimes for miles. It got so bad that they had to move the distribution center to a seperate building as to not interfere with police work. Roland had been in line for hours before he could even see the building people were shoving to get into. He sat against a graffiti covered wall between a mean looking man with scars across his right arm, and someone who had come wearing a tuxedo, which had long since been ruined by hours of sitting in the dirt and sweating. Luckily, the line was moving fairly quickly. Word had it that the test was very strict and if you got only 3 questions wrong, you were immediately kicked out. Even if you picked it by mistake. A couple hours later, the tuxedo wearing man long since left, Roland finally reached the building. Graffiti lined the walls, some of it looked as if it had been done just this morning.
“Next!” The called the guard at the main entrance.
“Me?” Asked Roland
“No, the president of Mongolia. Of course it’s you, now get moving!”
A wave of coolness hit Roland as he entered the building.
“Just this way” Another guard instructed, gesturing to a door at the end of the hallway. Roland entered to see a row of desks, each with a computer and a person on each computer filling in multiple choice question. As he sat down at the empty desk and started the test, the computer next to him flashed bright red. The person at the desk practically jumped out of his chair and two guards moved in towards him.
“No! NO! Please! Let me have another chance!”
“Come with us”, one of the guards barked as he grabbed his arm and practically dragged him out.
“Back to your tests” The other guard ordered.
The test began easy, with simple questions asking about sacrificing one for the good of many, but quickly they got much less obvious. Questions that asked if you would do terrible things to save someone or asking you to be the judge jury and executioner of someone's fate. As he answered, dozens of people came and went. They entered ready to be a superhero, and left, sometimes violently, all hopes of this crushed. But Roland stayed. Answering question after question, anticipating the one that would illuminate his screen with the red flash that meant he had failed. And after about 2 hours or answering, it came. “Please exit the building. Score: 374”
Roland was devastated at first, but then realized that it had been silly to believe that he could be chosen. Out of millions of people, how could he have been the one? But as he left, he still felt as if he had missed something meant for him. Over the next week, the names of those chosen were brightly presented on every news network. And everyday, Roland checked to see if it was him clinging to some hope that he would be chosen, even though he had failed. It never was, but it still felt inspiring to see super strength given a firefighter who had risked his life, charging into the radiation zone at the detroit uranium-bombing to carry 5 children on his back out of harm's way. Or super speed given to a civilian who had run miles with an active bomb to get it away from any other people knowing it could go off in his arms at any second. But early one morning he heard a knock on his door. He opened to see a police officer.
“Come with me, sir” he instructed.
“Am I under arrest” asked Roland
“No, it will all be explained later”
He was rushed into a hospital where a doctor greeted him.
“Hello Roland. I’m doctor stevens. I’m here to help you.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Far from it. Don’t you know what's happening?” asked Doctor Stevens putting an iv into Roland’s arm.
“No. They said it would be explained later” replied Roland as a nurse injected his iv some unknown liquid.
“This will put you to sleep” said the nurse
“You’ve been chosen Roland. You’re going to be a superhero.”
And with that, Roland drifted into sleep.
As he soon learned, being a superhero was hard work. He was given a completely unique power, different from anyone else’s. The power to temporarily create any object with his mind. The key word however, was temporary. He could only maintain anything he made for about 1 or 2 seconds. This meant he would have to be smart about it.
“I am the head of Los Angeles super training” barked a tall uniformed officer who looked like he would be better fit to be a drill sergeant in a generic war movie. “I will be training you in your powers. And the first thing I am to let you know, is that this is not some comic book or superhero movie. You will be helping with real crime. Not evil scientists or bug-eyed aliens. And you will do whatever we tell you. We being the police. Now you may have noticed a soreness in your lower back. That is a device that doubles as both a tracking device, and a neutralizer. If you fail to follow orders, all I need to do is press a button and you will be paralyzed from the waste down. Don’t worry, it's temporary, but if this happens, we can and will take your powers away”
The next year were filled will non-stop training. Roland was relatively fit, but after every day he was sore from the extensive physical training and any of the rubber bullets he failed to block. Every day was hours of exercise and training. Even though his power was particularly difficult to get used to, he was quickly able to become very efficient with them. He was one of the first heroes to graduate their training, and by the end of the year, he was ready to go into action.
Not even a year of hard training, could prepare him for the nervousness on his first day on the job. He tried to look confident in front of the dozens of news cameras, but he could tell he was visibly shaking. “There is a radio and map inside your tracker. if you are given an order, you will follow it.” That was all the instruction he was given. And for a while nothing happened. He spend most of his time trying to avoid the reporters shoving microphones and questions in his face. Until at around midday when he heard it.
“Liquor store robbery. Your map has details”
A rush of adrenaline surged through Roland at the realization that all of his childhood fantasies were about to come true. He jumped into action, hopping across floating platforms of his creation, far above the houses below each one appearing under his feet and disappearing once he jumped off. Occasionally he would propel himself forwards with a flat platform from behind. This was a move he had practiced many times in training, many of them ending in a less than ideal landing. As he neared the location, he could see people below stopping to look, and point. Little kids stared in awe and tugged at their parents sleeves. In his distraction he almost fell from his sky steps, but caught himself just in time. This pulled his mind from the flattery and back to the mission at hand. Right, armed criminal. apprehend.
By the time he reached the store, the robber had already fled.
“Which direction did he go?”
The store owner stood speechless for a moment, in the shock that a superhero had come to his rescue, but quickly snapped out of it.
“He ran that way” he responded, gesturing towards a busy street full of people. “He got in his car and drove away.
“We have the car of the suspect, we’ll send you the location” the nameless voice from his radio informed him
“I’m never going to get used to that” Roland sighed
“What?” asked the store owner
“Nothing” Roland replied.
He ran across the sky, following the car. How was ge going to stop it, it was zooming down a busy street. The other officers couldn’t follow because of a traffic jam, but Roland easily hopped over the traffic. He had to stop the car, but he couldn’t risk hurting other people around the it. Then he had an idea. He launched himself forward to get ahead of the car. He made a clamp around the car’s back wheels, completely destroying them. The car began to spin out, but Roland very carefully, placed a wall besides the car whenever it began to drift too far to one side or the other. Then he made small speed bumps underneath the car to slow it down. Within 30 seconds the car was brought to a complete stop. The police moved in and apprehended the subject. A crowd had begun to gather around the scene of the arrest, phones above their heads, all taking pictures of Roland. He decided it was time for him to leave, as to not attract too much attention.
He was met with heavy praise from both his higher officers, and the media.
MORE THAN JUST A HERO. A SUPERHERO
Roland Davis, newest recruit to Los Angeles police force takes down armed and dangerous criminal with no casualties or collateral damage. How he does it will amaze you!
He was all over the news. Most superheros made the news and were often treated like celebrities, but Roland Davis, quickly became a household name. They were making T-shirts, merchandise and more. Roland was never in it for the fame, but the flattery definitely didn't hurt. Many of the other heroes had come up with superhero names and styles, but Roland, prefered just to stick with Roland. The media, however, was very quick to come up with all sorts of names for him. But the one that stuck, was The Creationist. A name made after an interview with the head of his police station, who referred to him as creation unit-01. Roland hated it. He thought it sounded to high and mighty, but it stuck.
Over the next few months, his fame only grew. He became better and better at stopping criminals, and soon, was the go to unit for almost anything. Many rich and famous people began to offer millions for his service as a personal bodyguard. Every day there was more and more praise and there had even been word of major film companies planning to make a movie about him. It wasn’t all praise though. There were anti-super protests and marches. People who claimed that giving the police powers left the public defenseless. Roland didn’t understand this. Couldn’t they see he was trying to help? Protest graffiti was constantly being sprayed on his house. “Stop the systematic supers” was the most popular phrase of the opposers.
RAP GROUP “LAWS AND BORDERS” PROTESTS AGAINST SUPERHEROES!!!
In their most recent single, leftist rap group Laws and Borders protested the superhero help in the police force.
“Police ‘heroes’ are above the law
Flying above our heads
When the kids we love
All wind up dead
From the arrogant
Terrorists
With terror sent
Through Neighborhoods
With no defense
Kids live in tents
Cause daddy was
sellin drugs
To pay the rent
Then supers came
Dad’s under arrest
Who’ll save us from the super ‘heroes’
Treating us like we’re nothing, zero
Taking over neighborhoods
Like an emperor, Nero”
Despite the growing backlash, Roland continued to fight crime. But those words ate at him. He was just trying to help, and yet there was so much backlash, and since Roland was the face of all superheros, he was getting the worst of it. Statistics came out about racially driven arrests by heroes, or how 80% of heroes were white. But this wasn’t his fault. He just followed the orders of the police station. And he didn’t choose who was a hero. More and more backlash grew. And although most mainstream news reports on him were positive, he still received death threats daily. And he had gained a new nickname: “The Boogeyman of the Ghetto”.
Reading it was like a slap in the face. Painful but awakening. “Snatching up black people in the night. Hundreds of blacks and latinos, gone. Arrested.” And this, lead to an epiphany. He thought back to all the arrests he had made. He realized that the only places he was ever sent to were impoverished places with a high minority population. How could he have been so blind? Even though he wasn’t the one choosing who was arrested, he was the one arresting them. And arresting them at an alarmingly high rate. He remembered an arrest he had made just yesterday. A young black man, only 23. Arrested for minor drug charges. Roland usually left the crime scene once the perpetrator was in the hands of the police, but as he was leaving he heard the man saying something about food money. Then it hit him. As he was leaving, he saw the police trying to calm 2 little girls one looked around 7, the other no older than 4. He was selling drugs to provide for his 2 daughters.
The walls began to spin and he almost fell over. As a kid, he always thought he knew what was right and wrong, but now he was completely unsure. Most of the things he was making arrests for weren’t even that bad. He realized that once he had cleaned up all of the major crimes, the police had began to send him out to get every little crime they got, no matter how small. Some kids fighting or a man blasting music on his block. And that’s when Roland thought back. Why had he wanted to become a superhero in the first place? To help people. He had dreamed of saving people in disaster areas or providing food and water to those without it. And since he got his powers, all he had done was arrest people. And what came from those arrests. Those kids he had brought in for fighting. After a little research, he found that even a small charge like that, never went away. Each one of those kids had been sent to live in a “Juvenile correction center” for 3 weeks. Away from all of their family and friends. And because of this, they had missed 3 weeks of school and 2 of them had dropped out. That’s when he made his decision. He had to leave the police.
Find some way to leave, but keep his powers so he could still help. But how? He had a chip in his spine that could paralyze him at a moments notice. He realized that if he was going to do this, he would need help. And he knew just where to get it. Dr. Stevens. He had read about it in the news. Dr. Stevens had left the Super project and refused to grant anyone else powers in protest of their abuse.
It wasn’t easy to find him, but being famous did have its perks. For the next week, he follow the orders of the police. Making whatever arrests they told him to. Doing any of their dirty work, no matter how much he hated it. But as he went through his trips, he noticed the looks of awe, were replaced with looks of resentment. Eventually, he was able to get in contact with Dr. Stevens over email.
Roland explained what he wanted to do and all about his epiphany.
“And why should I trust you?” asked the Doctor. “How do I know you haven’t gotten orders from the police to find and arrest me?”
“Please” Roland begged, “I can’t keep living like this, causing so much pain”
Eventually Dr. Stevens agreed. Roland told the police station his house had a roach infestation and he was living in a hotel for a week or so. They had no objection. Now that he had an excuse for being out of his house overnight, he could meet Dr. Stevens. They met in a old motel nearby. Was old and decrepit and looked like the set of a horror movie.
“I only ever implanted the chip” warned Dr. Stevens, “I’ve never removed one.”
“I need to do this, doctor” said Roland, confidently.
“If this goes wrong, you could be permanently paralyzed from the waist down” persisted the doctor, “Are you sure”
“100%” responded Roland.
“Very well. This will put you to sleep”
When he woke up, he was in immense pain in his lower back. He shot up and looked to see if he could still move his legs, and to his great relief, he found he could still move.
“It went quite successfully” informed the Doctor, “You’re officially off the charts”
It was just a dot. A small glowing dot, on a screen, hovering over an old, almost empty, motel. But what it did next, brought on chaos. And what it did, was disappear.
"He's gone! HE'S GONE!"
the shout rang throughout the superhero motoring and tracking headquarters
"What do you mean he's gone!" Demanded the supervisor
"His tracker! It's been deactivated!"
"Quickly! Shut him down!"
"I can't!"
"What do you mean 'you can't'!"
"The entire thing has been removed! The tracker, the neutralizer! He's off the map!"
HERO TURNED VILLAIN!?
At 11pm last night, once hero of America, Roland Davis, also known as creation unit-1 deactivated and removed his his tracker. His location is currently unknown and it is thought he did this in order to use his superpowers without any police supervision. Imagine what one could do with powers like that! Steal, kill, or worse. He is considered, armed, dangerous and a threat to national security. If you see him, do NOT attempt approach. Contact local law enforcement and leave the area immediately.
It was all over the news. Major media outlets accusing him of betraying the law, calling him a power hungry villain, but Roland didn’t care. Now that he was free, he could finally help.
The reporter walked into the open. This was the place. A dark alleyway illuminated only by a single flickering light protruding from one of the walls. Every inch of the place was covered with graffiti, each artist fighting to find a spot for them to mark with whatever brand or message they wanted. It was kind of amazing, despite it being illegal.
“Hello?” He called into the darkness, not daring to step outside the bubble of sanctity provided by the broken bulb. “Is this where i was supposed to meet you? For the interview?”
A figure descended from above, walking down a case of steps, appearing beneath his feet and disappearing behind them.
“I’m sure you understand the caution” said the figure, stepping into the light. Despite the media portraying him as an insane, grizzled and malicious traitor, he still looked as clean and well kempt as his days parading the streets.
“You went a long way to find me” continued the figure, “Why would you want to speak to a dangerous criminal who betrayed the law out of greed for power?”
The reporter began to talk, his voice, first coming out as a squeak, but soon regaining it’s complexion.
“Because I don’t believe what the news says”
“And why is that”
“Because I know you still help people”
“If I really wanted to help people, why not do it with the police?”
“Because you saw what they were doing. How they were using you for your powers. And you saw who you were arresting. But you still wanted to help, but not under the thumb of the police.”
The figure was silent for a second, before responding, “Well it sounds like you’ve already got my story. Why not just tell the public i’m a villain and collect your paycheck?”
“Cause they need to know what I know” he said, almost yelling. “They need to know that you still help. They need to know it was you who left that money infront of that homeless shelter. And that the rubble magically cleared overnight in the new york earthquake. That was you too! They need to know you’re still a hero. They need to know the truth.”
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