25 years after Houston was destroyed in a brutal supervillain attack, Jay Martin is accepted into the Texan Hero Network. Tasked with this sacred duty, he takes on the alter ego of Quickwit and vows to always protect Neo Houston.
Unfortunately, desp...
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This point is made all the more clear when Pixamena arches an eyebrow, unbelieving.
"So you're saying this man—" the woman points at the hologram of Gannet emanating from Jay's phone "—is the supervillain Stygian? How did you come to that conclusion?
Jay's eye twitches. "Is it not abundantly clear? They have the same face, skin tone, voice, and hair! You can tell it's just Stygian without his mask on!"
Pixamena crouches down, pouring kibble into several dog bowls. "So every emo dude is Stygian? I think you're just jumpy because we fought a brand-new villain."
The sidekick clenches his fists. "I'm using my power, Pixamena. I can tell it's him! We should report it to HQ, he could be targeting us! That's really bad news if he's A-class like I speculate..."
The woman rolls her eyes. "I'm not setting a wild goose chase on an innocent man just because you have a hunch. Trust me, this guy is far from a supervillain...plus, there's no way Stygian is an A-class if you took him down."
The blonde grits his teeth. "I know you look down on heroes at the bottom of the power ranking, but I'm still a hero just like you—you should be listening to me."
Pixamena stands, narrowing her eyes dangerously. "I worked too hard to get here to be assigned a babysitter," the woman growls, "show me some proof your #1 fan is a supervillain and I'll go with you to report it. Otherwise? Fuck. Off."
Jay glares, holding back vicious comments. "Fine."
Suddenly, the hero remembers the time. "Shit, we're going to be late. Let's go Pixamena, grab Pixiepuff ."
They arrive at the school only a few minutes before they're meant to give their speech. Quickwit and his partner scuttle into the auditorium, surveying the sea of bored-looking children. The youths of Neo-Houston are used to superhero speeches by now...it was probably routine to receive yet another naggy monologue from some low-level supers.
Jay swallows, nervous. He can face down super-powered maniacs any day, but he's always been poor at motivational speeches. Luckily, Pixamena is an attention hog, so she immediately takes center stage and starts her long speech about hard work and avoiding drugs. The sidekick only steps in a few times to interject a quick "That's right, Pixamena" or "Just say no to compound Z!"
However, as they reach the end of the presentation, next comes the questions. Pixamena picks a small-looking blonde girl in the front row to speak first. Jay can't help but smile, endeared by the child's fake pixie wings and sparkly tutu.
As much as he dislikes Pixamena, he can't deny she makes a positive impact on many young girls...
The child stands, looking extremely star-struck. "My name is Maria, my question is for both Pixamena and Quickwit. I want to be a hero when I grow up. What are some things I should do to be like you?"
