18 Chapter 18: Hero Debut.
10+ chapters in my Pat.reon.
Pat.reon.com/Saintbarbido.
::----------------------------------::
(Billy's P.O.V)
Practice ended early. I still had the costume to create so after a few hours of stretching my psionic muscle (mind), I left.
Approximately 20 minutes later, I was standing before my bed with the bare bones of my costume on the covers.
My eyes however, were not on the mattress.
Instead, I was staring at a mission tab that had appeared before my eyes.
~~~~~~~
(New mission: Superhero Costume)
(Description: put together something that can pass off as a decent attempt at making a superhero costume. First impressions matter a lot.)
(Reward: Costume Upgrade Token.)
~~~~~~~
Just like I thought, the system while not sentient could anticipate my needs.
I clicked accept on the mission and got to work.
5 minutes later, I looked myself over in the mirror.
"Not bad for my rusty sewing skills."
I commented, admiring the get up.
A black leather jacket, red pants and a pair of generic boots that felt more comfortable than they should have.
I hadn't had much to do with the Atlantean fabric besides creating a shoulder cloak like Shazam's and then draping it over my shoulder.
I tilted my head. The jacket was too baggy though.
To fix that, I flexed of my will, using my powers to tighten the seams and stitching at the arms and sides.
It clung to my body more snugly over the grey t-shirt I had on.
The pants had to be loosened a little as well, to allow for easier movement. With the alterations finally done, I was good to go.
The system seemed to agree with me, as something flashed at the corner of my vision.
A blue lightning symbol.
Clicking on it, I pulled up the mission reward panel and accepted the reward.
With a flash of color, a circular golden token appeared on my palm. It had the lightning symbol highlighted on it's top.
I turned over the Costume Upgrade Token, studying it. It was cold to the touch and a bit heavy.
I couldn't tell if the material used was metal or a really hard and dense wood.
It's true nature didn't really matter as long as it did as advertised.
I placed the Token on my chest, following instinct. Then I pressed down on the symbol.
On the mirror before me, my reflection underwent changes.
Golden tendrils of energy poured out from the token, touching upon my costume and changing it.
The transformation took seconds to happen and when I blinked my eyes open, I gaped in surprise.
Whoa. Talk about an upgrade.
For starters, the costume seemed to consist of a black one piece body suit that was made with padding at vulnerable places.
Above it was hard but light armor. The torso was colored red and black with a glowing lightning insignia in the middle.
3 bulky shoulder pauldrons were stacked above each other on each of my shoulders and my arms were covered by wrist bracers.
To complete the look was a half mask that covered my upper face, flaming it perfectly. The eye holes glowed a soft even yellow.
My feet left the ground as I slowly levitated. Then I begun pivoting, looking over myself.
Different from my expectations, there wasn't any similarities between my costume and Shazam's except for the lightning symbol.
The blue cape I had earlier fixed on my shoulder was also gone. The upgrade token must have gotten rid of it and to be honest, I could see why.
The red and black would have contrasted with the Atlantean blue.
I guess no capes then.
Still, paying homage to Shazam aside, the costume was badass.
"Okay..."
I smiled.
"I can get used to this."
******
The New York air was cold as usual. And noisy too.
I was flying at a gentle speed.
Cruising with my telepathic range extended to it's limit while I scanned for minds in distress.
So far, 2 hours in, nothing big had happened. There had been a car accident at a certain junction but no one was hurt.
The drivers had gotten into an argument but a few patrolling officers had luckily been around to deal with it, so I left.
And as I did, I thought.
I wasn't dumb. I knew that S.H.I.E.L.D was aware of me.
Especially after I ditched Maria Hill, Fury's second in command before she could interrogate me.
I had to expect a meeting with the premier spy soon.
By the time midnight rolled around, I had only stopped a drunken fight and saved a stray cat from getting flattened on the street when it had jumped in front of a car.
The driver's mouth had been left gaping open, upon witnessing a cat fly above his car, it's body highlighted by a rainbow glow.
"What were you thinking?"
I asked the dumb but cute feline as I held her up.
"Mroow."
She replied, making me roll my eyes.
"Yes yes, you were being chased by a dog but you guys are great at climbing the railing and jumping around. Dogs can't do that shit. Running out into the street will most likely get you killed."
I told her.
"Mrooooow."
She responded, dismissing my advice by claiming she's too fast to get hit.
I sighed, rubbing her behind the ear.
"Just stay out of trouble."
I released her and she hopped away, not even thanking me.
After she was gone, I realized I had understood her. Not her unintelligible animal sounds obviously, but her mind. Her intent.
Before I could think about that for too long, there were several screams and shouts that sounded pretty close to me.
I stood up from the roof's edge and peered down at the street.
A blue car with a dented side cut down the street in reckless abandon. Behind it were a few cop cars in pursuit, sirens flashing.
I didn't waste time. This was the first true crime that if I resolved would put me in the police's good graces.
I took a step forward and fell.
My descent slowed as I managed to call onto my TK aura.
The shroud of rainbow flashed across my body before I was off, flying after the blue car.
I had my telepathic range extended out, ensuring I didn't miss anything.
There was awe from the people on the sidewalk the instant they spotted my red and black figure.
Some took pictures while others pointed at me.
Even the cop cars slowed down somewhat. I took that as permission to move on ahead and stop the driver before he caused an accident.
The car was going fast. 80 mph at the minimum.
I easily pulled up next to the vehicle, flying beside it and knocked on the driver's window.
A middle aged man with a scraggly beard, red shot eyes and a dirty wife-beater cursed upon seeing me.
He suddenly turned the wheel left, the tires protesting as the car swerved away from me.
The bumper clipped the side of a fire hydrant and broke it.
Water started spraying out into the street as the driver gunned the car down the road.
Only for the vehicle's engine to rumble but fail to move a single inch, suspended in mid air through my telekinesis.
My powers had grown enough that lifting 2 tons while a bit on the heavy side was manageable. The car was only slightly too heavy.
The wheels rolled as he stepped on the gas again and again, cursing as nothing seemed to work.
I floated down, hands crossed over my chest as I stared at the panicking guy. He stopped, noticing a shadow over the window.
We stared at each other for a few seconds before he scrambled for something on the dash board.
A glimpse into his mind showed that he had a gun stashed inside.
I held up a hand and froze him with telekinesis. Then with a slight suggestion to his mind, he slumped over in the seat, asleep.
Then I pulled out the gun and dismantled it into pieces.
The car slowly lowered to the ground.
That same time, the cops also finally arrived. I waved a hand and then made my escape, not keen to stick around and see whether they would arrest me or not.
Vigilantism was illegal after all.
The rest of the night passed by slowly. It was 3 when I decided to cut my patrol short and leave for my apartment.
All along the way, I was ready for something to happen, knowing that the second I dropped my guard, Murphy would be ready to hit me with something unexpected.
Of course the world conspired to make sure that didn't happen and I arrived at my apartment fairly quick and safe.
I didn't even bother with the lights, merely looking for something to eat inside the fridge.
I came up empty. There was nothing in the fridge.
Only then did I remember I was broke.
I bumped my head on the fridge. The plan to steal from the bad guys had been a monumental failure.
Then again, this was only the first day out. I couldn't expect things to go exactly as planned. Guess I was sleeping hungry then.
I closed the fridge and immediately my nose picked up on something good. Food. My stomach grumbled in response while I stiffened.
There was someone inside my apartment. Someone who could shield themselves from my telepathy owing to the fact I hadn't felt them at all.
"It's take out. Do you like Chinese? Thought you'd be hungry after all that flying around, helping the common citizen."
A familiar male voice entered my ears.
I turned around to face the man standing at the corner of my apartment.
"You should get a chair Mr.Batson. Something to breathe more life into your apartment."
Fury said, walking forward into the light.
"What are you doing here?"
I asked immediately freezing his body.
"Don't you know, breaking and entering is a crime?"
