The world was so unfair. So wrong. How could someone like her become a hero? If anyone deserved to be famous…
But he was going to do it. Finally, he had overcome his natural ennui.
Adam’s dream had always been different. While all the other kids around him played with their Overman and their Glory action figures, and chattered about how great it would be to save the day, his thoughts were full of darker things: swirling capes, shadowy figures, spinetingling cackles… You could leave those so-called “heroes,” saving the day with their fists and muscles, to the populist masses. Villains were the idol for the truly discerning, for the intelligent man.
But it wasn’t until he was a teenager, full of self-righteousness and hormonal rage, that he finally received the impetus to act.
The world was so unfair. So wrong. How could someone like her become a hero? If anyone deserved to be famous…
But he was going to do it. Finally, he had overcome his natural ennui.
He worked in secret, in darkness. “Fashion” was hardly his strong suit. He preferred substance over style. But he knew how the this culture worked. If a costume didn’t fit what people expected, the super media would tear it apart. Without even waiting to see the super’s true worth.
Finally it was done. He posed in front of the mirror. It was elegant, slim and black with vertical, light purple highlights. No unnecessary ruffles, fins, or extravagances. Just a practical, aerodynamic bodysuit, that left his limbs free to move quickly and efficiently, and a small mask to conceal his identity from the madding crowd.
It was time to test it out in the field.
His dark costume blended seamlessly with shadows of night. It was the villain’s way. His costume had held up to the admittedly brief field test. It was time to head home.
Suddenly, a piercing scream split the night. He frowned.
Was someone honing in on his territory?
He darted from shadow to shadow in the murky light provided by the yellowed streetlights. He finally reached the dark alley whence the shriek had issued forth.
A bulky, muscular man had a small teenage girl backed against a wall. As he watched, the girl slowly reached behind her and… drew out a notepad?
As the two dark figures emerged into the light, he realized that the girl was wearing a formfitting white and black costume, while the man was clad in a t-shirt and jeans. The girl finished scribbling on her pad, tore off the page and handed it to the man. The man bounced up and down in excitement as he received the page. “Oh my god! I can’t believe I really met Materia!”
Adam’s eyes narrowed. It was her. The undeserving hero. His archnemesis.
He prepared to slink off into the night. She was the last thing he wanted to deal with during this test run. He watched for a moment as Materia’s effervescent fan walked off into the darkness.
But his stealth skills weren’t great enough. Materia turned as she heard his sneaker crunch against gravel that had overflowed from a planter. “Hey!” she shouted.
He turned to flee. “You! Yeah, who else would I be talking to?” He sighed. He really didn’t want to deal with this, but he also didn’t want to lead her to right to where he lived. Turning back, he raised his hand in vague greeting, his eyes directed at the ground.
“You don’t have to be so shy! I’m just excited to meet another hero around my age!”
In the darkness, Adam gritted his teeth. Materia truly embodied all the things he hated most about heroes: their fake cheerfulness and their presumptuousness, just to start. He rallied himself to give a short, minimally polite reply. He was just starting out; it was hardly time to get into a fight.
“What’s your name?” Materia blurted out. “I mean, your code name, or, assuming you have a code name… I don’t want to violate your privacy…”
He had of course thought about code names—but he hadn’t settled on one, and besides he hardly wanted her to be the first one to hear it. Well, the great thing about being a villain: the smart ones, at least, had no qualms about being… less than honest. He decided to spin a cunning web of lies.
“It’s, um…” hmm “Ener… gia.” Whatever, it was sufficient for his purposes.
“Cool!” She squinted at him in the half-light. “Is your… costume based on mine? I mean, if it is that’s completely fine, it just kind of—”
Adam stopped paying attention to her babbling as he looked down at himself in a panic. He had thought his design was completely original, but now that he could see them side by side—his costume was almost a color-inverted version of Materia’s. On some deep level, his hatred of her must have subtly seeped through.
She must have seen the panic on his face. “Oh no, it’s fine. I’m actually really complemented. I’m just still always amazed that I have fans at all. Honestly, inspiring others to become heroes is the best thing I could possibly hope for.”
Adam needed to scrap this entire thing and just start completely over. The person he hated most in the world mistaking him for a fan—this was the most humiliating situation he had ever experienced. He was posed to run when she approached him and laid her hand on his shoulder. “You know, if you ever want to work with me…”
A grin suddenly overtook his face—the kind that pushed up on the corners of his eyes. He just had an idea.
“Yeah, k’know, I just want to do everything I can to help our community!” the teenage girl said perkily, pouncing her foot up and down, her black and purple suit fitting snugly to her thin, lithe frame.
“I love you, Impetus!” someone shouted from the unwashed throng, fortunately held back by a barrier of police tape and news vans. Behind the mask, Adam held back a wince.
Fortunately he had thought of a more fitting name for his powers—and new persona—than he had when confronted by Materia. After all, he hardly wanted to be seen as merely her… fangirl, trapped forever in the shadow cast by her undeserved fame.
His powers were not the strongest—certainly, he was loath to admit, not on par with Materia’s—but he used them effectively, buoyed by his impressive intellect. Imparting velocity to small objects might not seem too useful—but only to a fool who did not understand the physics of vectors and momentum.
He had hated being talk down to by the person he hated most—but he had turned it against her.
After all, what revenge could be better than usurping her position—making her unneeded in a crime-free city?
And with his new persona—a laughably dim teenage girl, much like Materia herself—he could steal not only her glory, but the irrational adoration of her fans.
This was more attention than Adam had ever received in his life. And although he tried his best to repress it—a small part of him never wanted this to end.
Back home, Adam peeled the tight suit from his body and stepped into the shower, wincing as the hot water hit his bruises. To be frank, the fight could have gone better. How could he have known that the bank robber had the power to increase air resistance? It sounded bizarrely specific, but was surprisingly useful again both security guards and Impetus’s projectiles. It was truly fortunate that metal coins were so aerodynamic, or Impetus shuddered to think what could have happened. That gasoline tanker so easily could’ve—but there was no use in focusing on could-have-beens. It was just lucky she had been nearby and no one had died.
—not that he cared what happened to the people in this city, of course. Don’t be absurd. Just look at the crimes they committed, the politicians they elected. Perverts, imbeciles, and meatheads—every one of them.
No wonder they needed her. Needed a hero.
If they would just listen to her and follow her example, everything could be so much better. If only…
But of course that would never happen. That’s why the current system of heroic thugs and corrupt politicians needed to end. And he was going to make sure that it would.
Wouldn’t they be surprised when their beloved “Impetus” turned on them. Maybe it would finally push them to some kind of real action, not merely placing band-aids on society’s gaping wounds.
After all, that was her job.
Jenny—aka Materia—was so glad that she had made a new friend. A super friend. Heh.
Too often, this line of work was lonely. In either identity, it was hard to let people get close. Not to mention it could be male-dominated, and she didn’t super want to be friends with a thirty year old who communicated his emotions by punching.
It was really great to have a female friend around her own age. Not to mention Ener—sorry, Impetus’s amazing help in fighting Neon City’s constant stream of supercrime.
It wasn’t great of her, but she couldn’t help but wonder about Impetus’s alter ego. She could swear something about her vibe seemed familiar—could it be that she went to Xenon High too?—but she was probably just imaging things.
She should really just leave things alone.
After all, it’s not like she wanted anyone poking into her identity.
But it wouldn’t hurt to follow Impetus for just a little, right?
Jenny’s heart pounded as she hid behind the trash can she materialized. Honestly, she worried about what she would ever do if she somehow lost her power. Impetus glanced back but didn’t seem to notice.
So far it had been pretty boring. Impetus walked around North Xenon some, saying hi to various fans and business owners. One man gave her a free ice cream cone. Materia had to resist the urge to say something about the white drip that stood out way too clearly on her dark outfit. It was kind of adorable, though. She hadn’t taken free food from strangers for years, ever since Chef Deth had tried to poison her.
Today seemed like a pretty low crime day, and after walking around downtown for a while Impetus started to head out south to the ‘burbs, hopping on a skateboard and propelling it with her powers. Materia really admired her precision. Back when she had started out she could barely create a sphere. She had to materialize an electric scooter to even keep up.
Finally Impetus stopped in front of an unremarkable split-level house, throwing her skateboard upward while gripping its end to fly in a smooth arc through an open bedroom window.
Jenny squinted up through the window from a few houses down. From what she could see, the room really wasn’t what she would have expected. Impetus seemed like a generally pretty normal, cheerful girl, with maybe the exception of her vaguely goth-y black and purple uniform. This room, however, was kind of a mess. A poster of Dibolus hung above an unmade bed, while the top of a black minimalist dresser was covered in villain figurines. Overall, it looked less like the room of a spunky teenage heroine and more like that of a chronically depressed, edgy nerd.
Impetus was out of sight. As Jenny snuck closer to the house she could hear the faint sound of cheerful humming and water running. The humming abruptly stopped, and she tensed up, afraid she had been heard. But it continued again a moment later.
She decided, against her best instincts, to take a minor risk. Patting herself down to make sure she was in street clothes, she simply strolled up to the door and rang the bell. After a moment, an ordinary looking middle aged woman opened the door.
“Hi! Sorry to bother you on the weekend, but I was just wondering if—um—if there are any teenagers that live here? We have this… survey! About their attitudes towards supers and… oh, here they are!” She reached behind her back and materialized a clipboard and a stack of surveys.
“Uhh… I doubt he wants to take it, but I can ask my son? Pretty sure I know what he would say anyway.”
“Oh, actually, ma’am, this is for… an outreach program to encourage more girls to go into hero work? So if you could have your daughter take a look, that would be great.”
“Sorry, then, I just have the one son. Wish I could help you out. Good luck asking other people!”
“Yeah, thank—”
The door slammed shut.
Jenny walked far enough away to not seem suspicious, but stayed close enough that she could still see in through the open window. She was a little confused. Did Impetus not live here? That would explain the room. Maybe she was a niece?
Or could this go further? Could Impetus be hiding all signs of her other identity from the world? The family pretending that her son was a single child?
Just then, she saw someone wrapped in a towel enter the room. They had familiar spiky short hair, still wet from the shower. But the towel was only wrapped around their waist, clearly exposing a pair of small nipples.
Wow, she should learn to close her window.
Jenny watched as a now costumeless Impetus stepped into a pair of briefs, followed by jeans and a black hoodie. They turned to close the window, letting Jenny sneak a quick peek at their face.
Wait a moment! That’s Adam, the weirdo from school! Or, wait...
She squealed to herself as the window slammed shut.
Ohmygod! I can’t believe that on top of all her herowork, Impetus is also trans!