selfhelp | [Voice/Action]

[Today is a good day for serious business, apparently. There's a certain something he's been putting off for a while, and after one-too-many dreams interrupting his sleep, he's had enough: this morning when Billy wakes up, the first thing he does is jot out a note in the journal-]

[Private to Ben Grimm]

Hey, would it be okay if I swung by to ask you a few things?

[He'll work through his morning routine until he gets a response, after which he'll go for a visit and get a hell of a lot more than he bargained for.

After that, his mood for the day is drastically altered; he'll skip out on school, trying to sort out his feelings on the matter. Tommy's still AWOL, and he's trying not to worry Teddy, but what he's just been told has really got him thinking- about people, and heroes, and the unfairness of mankind in general. And eventually he'll just go ahead and return to his journal for it. He's kind of in over his head here.]

[Open to All]

I know Luceti's full of heroes- seems kind of a standard trait for most of us, for whatever reason. Back on my world, super-humans aren't that uncommon, and in general they're revered for everything they do for the world. Some of them were born that way, and some of them are from other planets, and some were altered to get their powers, and some have a lot of talent or skill instead of powers. But they're all considered to be super heroes. There's bad guys, too- just as diverse and unique as the heroes they fight. People fear them and celebrate their defeat.

There's another group, though... humans who got their powers because of evolution. It's much more natural, in a lot of ways. Some are heroes, some are villains. Some are just trying to get by without becoming one or the other. But regular humans fear them, and hate them for it, even if they save the world just as much as the heroes they love. They're called criminals or monsters, no matter how innocent they might be.

[He hesitates- it's probably obvious to some, what he's talking about, and he's not sure if he should lock it from the mutant population, or apologize, or something, but it relates to them even if it's not by name. Hiding it wouldn't be right.

In the end he just leaves it be.]

...Sorry for the ramble. But it's not fair, and... I just can't understand why. Why hate one and love the other, when they're basically the same?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Something like that, yeah. Bit of a different ratio.

Just a bit.

...I'm not sure New York would survive eight million superheros. From what I gather from Stark and Cap, it barely survived six of us.

I think I'd be more worried about the rest of the world. With that many supers, a bad guy would have to be a total moron to even try to trash it, so they'd have to go somewhere else for their fun.

My 'verse's New York has mastered the art of balancing good versus evil- you don't mess with those scales.

I'm never sure why the villains don't test things out in like... Nebraska or something, instead of heading right to New York.

Good question. Maybe they like the challenge? Or the bragging rights. If they get away with a crime in New York it means they're pretty top-dog.

I guess. I mean, I'd generally go for efficiency over grandstanding though.

This is probably why it's a good thing I'm not turning to a life of villainy.

Our Hawkeye was a criminal for a while, actually, but he got over that pretty fast. The allure of the Avengers is strong.

So I've heard. Another thing I have in common with him.

I should probably have said 'not turning to a life of villainy again'.

S'okay, even heroes have their moments of criminal activity. One of the first acts of the Young Avengers was to set St. Patrick's Cathedral on fire.

...that's pretty impressive. How did that work out?

...Well. We didn't get arrested, so that's something?

We were trying to stop a hostage situation at a wedding, but we were in over our heads. Actually, that's how we met Kate.

Not getting arrested is always a good thing in my book.

Sounds like quite the story. What happened?

Kate managed to take down the leading man with a pilfered throwing star and stole his gun. Gave us enough of a distraction to take out the rest of them. She totally saved the day. She bullied her way onto the team by the time the night was over, and I doubt any of us could say we're anything but lucky to have her.

[He says it playfully, but there's an undeniable seriousness underlying his tone; Kate more than earned her place with the Young Avengers.]

[His eyebrows raise as Billy recounts the story and he can't help but grin at the information.]

I think I like her already. Girl after my own heart.

[And if she was Hawkeye, then sounded like she'd more than earnt the title.]

That's the general reaction to her, yes.

I hope you get to meet her someday.

I hope so too. She sounds like someone I'd very much like to meet. You've got good friends, Billy.

Trust me, I know it.

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