The Hero contest.

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Authors note.

First off I have been having trouble with one wrist I sprained it a few months ago and it is acting up again.

Second Dorothy and myself have been sort of playing with a Whatley universe idea. Comical mostly.

Here is something that occured to me this morning. If other authors want to write up pieces of various students doing things as part of the contest they can.


--SEPARATOR--

The semi retired Hero Ms. Midnight stood in front of the auditorium full of most of the students at the school. She was dressed in a conservative, but well tailored, business suit courtesy of Roger's boutique in Dunwhich. The skirt suit hugged and showed off every curve even though it was in a very dark brown. She wore modest heels with the suit.

The rather short mini skirt showing off her shapely slender legs was not her idea. She would have rather have worn pants, a throwback or holdout to her very younger days when she was one of the founders of a cottage known only as Poe.

For the last forty years she had been an active superhero. Going around most of North America, and sometimes the world, 'Putting out fires' as she called it. She had seen friends grow old and die, attended a number of funerals, and put away many a criminal in her time.

She had also seen many would be hero's try the same but with disastrous results. Her purpose today was to, hopefully, get the next generation to at least think before they did something.

She stepped up to the podium, nervously of course. Forty years as a hero in the public and a room full of students, plus some video to those students that couldn't make it, made her feel like she was a young girl again. The nightmare last night where her voice kept going up and down like a yo yo while trying to speak making the whole room laugh really didn't help. Thank god she didn't have to wear that stupid uniform!

Ms. Midnight stepped up to the microphone after Mrs. Carson introduced her to the somewhat quiet and settled crowd. The speedsters, of course, couldn't sit still. She looked very calm and professional to those students that could see her.

"Thank you Mrs. Carson for the wonderful introduction."

"Hello everyone. Some of you are no doubt wondering why an older superhero like myself would reveal themselves to you all. Yes I have kept a secret identity and will still keep that as I do have family."

"I could be here to give you a long list of verbal diarrhea about how to be the best superhero or how to be successful, however that may mean to you, or even how to not be a hero.

I won't be doing any of that."

"Instead I am here to offer you all a challenge." she let the crowd talk for a bit and settle down.

"In my time I have seen many a hero go after a criminal without getting proof. Said criminal leaves the hospital and jail free because said hero did not take the time to get proof. In many cases those very same hero's have been forced to pay large sums of money to the "criminals" due to lawsuits.

You do NOT want to go there!" she took a moment to let it sink in while she got a sip or two of water.

"My challenge is simple really. For the next three months I challenge you students to demonstrate how to be a proper hero. Yes I do keep in mind that many of you are going to be the next great villain or may not be heroes at all. Still this knowledge will be beneficial to you in any aspect of life to come. " She continued on over the raised whispers of the crowd.

"There are rules for this challenge. But before I get into those the prize." She had to wait. The mention of a prize caused a stir.

"Three hundred thousand dollars will go to each student that wins. If it is a group that means each student in that group will get three hundred thousand." again the voices raised and she had to wait. Mrs. Carson stepped up and gave a look to the crowd which got most of them to quiet down.

"Successful candidates will be videoed and shown on screen here in the auditorium. I'm sure a number of you will like the chance just to show how good you all were." she was also sure that those students that were villains in training would love the cash to do whatever they wanted. The 'tinkers' would just love the money period. Others had inflated egos.

"Rule one! You Have To Have Proof! If there is a crime, prove it before you do anything. After all how will any of us know you were a hero without proof."

"Rule two. No attacking other students, no matter what crime you may think they are doing. If a student really is doing a crime let Mrs. Carson or chief Delarose know."

"Rule three. Crimes of theft have to be greater than ten thousand. Let the police do their jobs people!"

"Special passes will be available to students to use. You will be accompanied by a current hero if you intend to fight crime. Some of you will no doubt not require a super hero. Some of you will."

"Yes I said hero. Not superhero. Most of these heroes are retired. Some were firefighters, some police, some ambulance, some were even the flying superhero kind. And yes some were even 'villains' that were never caught." THAT got a reaction from a number of previously bored students. Most of these kids would never know just how much work was involved in making this possible nor how many bad meals she had to attend to allow them to do it.

"Obviously as a "school" we cannot allow you to do obviously criminal acts..." thus began the long list of conditions she had to agree too.

--SEPARATOR--

Several months later in the same auditorium.

Gemma looked out over the assembled crowd of students. This was not the same crowd of students she had talked too just a few short months ago. Many had seen or done some truly heroic feats. Some had seen horrors that had aged them into a maturity that only comes from experience. A few had smug looks that let her know they thought they were a shoe in for the prize. It made her stomach curl.

However there was one student that she looked at more than any other, without looking like she was looking. This student looked so ordinary.

"As I am sure many of you have heard. A number of you faced situations that were uhm. What is the best word? Difficult? Extreme? world ending? " she shrugged.

"As heroic as they may seem there was one act that our entire panel of judges for this contest picked as being the best example of a true hero above all others."

"Please watch the screen."

The lights in the auditorium dimmed as the very large screen came to life. Instead of city streets or countryside. The screen showed a hospital. In the hospital was a very weirdly shaped person. They had the body of perhaps the strongest built man ever and the head of a young girl. Including pigtails.

"This is Emily. In this picture she is five and half years old. At the age of five she suddenly and inexplicably manifested as a mutant and started to age rapidly. Well her body did. Her mind did not change. Abandoned by her parents she was brought to this hospital, which is really not that far away."

The picture changed to show this large manly shaped person in a rather humorous pink dress sitting at a table playing with dolls and apparently having tea.

"The student that will be named in a few moments visited this hospital. The student in question doesn't have any ties to Emily. They just showed up at the hospital and offered to help out. Poor Emily had, till this point, been treated at her apparent age. Our student recognized that Emily really was a little girl still and this is a picture of the two of them playing with dolls and having tea. The staff was amazed at how the once sullen person came alive for our hero."

The picture changed yet again to a video with the play symbol in the middle. In the background you can make out the fuzzy picture of a hospital bed.

"The hospital specializes in extreme case gsd patients. Some recover enough to be self sufficient. Some have even, in the past, made it here. For many however this is the last place they will ever see."

The video then started. You can hear the tell tale beep beep beep of a heart monitor in the background. The small face of the girl in the previous pictures is hard to make out. The once big body looks like it is a heartbeat from being the walking dead. One arm is grossly swollen while the other is so curled from age and arthritis it cannot move anymore. As you watch you can slowly see the eyes of the girl in the bed getting cloudy.

"I'm scared!"

"Sssh Emily I'm right here."

"Why did this happen to me?"

"I don't know. I was told once that god placed us all here to learn a lesson. If we pass we move on. If we fail we repeat that lesson."

"Did I pass?" she asks in a shaky little girl voice.

"I hope so. I really really do."

"I can't see anymore. Hold me please"

For the first time in the video the student is seen as he walks around the bed. He is wearing his mostly Whatley uniform. He is known for not having any real powers. He is just a gadeteer and not the best around. He grabs her hand in his. The wizened one not the swollen numb one and holds it gently. And he keeps holding it as Emily struggles onscreen to take breaths. Until at last you see a stillness come over the body. The beep in the background gets longer and longer between each beep.

"Tell..." Emily says with her last breath as the monitor goes to that steady sound well known by all as the death of someone.

The screen fades to black.

As the lights come up Ms. Midnight turns around to face the still crowd of students tears openly falling down her face.

"That, ladies and gentlemen, is the mark of a true hero!"

Mrs. Carson barks out" Sit down Ms. Walcutt!"

The end.

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Comments

A hearttouching story

This was a tale about a person helping out for the sake of helping out.

Great story!

Must admit, I was crying at

taggrrl's picture

Must admit, I was crying at the ending of this story, as it hit a personal spot for me and my own family. I wish there were more heroes like this.

Perfection is, always, one step beyond, where my feet are.

;-;

This was so sad, though my only confusion is... who is Ms Walcutt?

I know who I am, I am me, and I like me ^^
Transgender, Gamer, Little, Princess, Therian and proud :D

Miss Walcutt

I believe that would be Tansy Walcutt, a bully in the earlier stories, but seems to have had a change of heart in the more recent ones.

*Sniff*

So sad.

Very well done.

Heroic Difference

Nice little story that points out the difference between Superheroes and heroes

Ok, I really hafe to quit reading stories on this site

It simply is not manly for a 62 year old, 255 former cop to sit sobbing at a beautiful story. And this one was beautiful. I have seen my Cousin Big Bad go from 290 down to 165 in 4 months thanks to stage four pancreatic cancer, he has aged so much. His once powerful 29 inch upper arms reduced till his elbows are the biggest part of his arms. I'm not sure if it is the cancer or the extreme chemo therapy he has endured that has done most of the damage. He is enduring in order to take care of his mother who is dying at 85 of complications of Alzheimers. He is refusing to die or take some medicines that would help him have more energy due to needing to be alert in case his Mom needs him. His son, upon hearing about the situation where he lived in Alabama, moved down and he and his wife (who gave up their jobs and home to come down) have helped him immensely. They showed the kind fo courage and self sacrifice that true hero's do. You showed that in this story. A hero does what needs doing not for glory or reward, but just becausse someone needs them to do it. I have worked with and seen many examples of true hero's over the years, none of them even waited to be thanked. So this story hit me where I live. It was beautifully done, and a true testament to the authors understanding of how to craft a tremendous story, but of what makes a real hero. Thank you for such a touching work. You captured the essence of my Cousin Big Bad and his son and daughter in law perfectly. God bless you for putting such a story forth. T.

I am a Proud mostly Native American woman. I am bi-polar. I am married, and mother to three boys. I hope we can be friends.

Wow...

Wow...

Thank you for this wonderful story.

An ending that jumped out and bit me.

I'm still blinking back tears. At my age, I expect death to come calling, either for me or for friends who are my age or older. Once awhile though, I see an obituary for someone who was too young, too innocent, and it shakes me to my very foundations every time.

Still, there are children out there who have no hope, or nearly none. it makes me cry at the injustice of it all, but it's a fact of life.

Thanks Tels for stirring memories and renewing my understanding that death knows, nor needs a reason. It just is.

Catherine Linda Michel

As a T-woman, I do have a Y chromosome... it's just in cursive, pink script. Y_0.jpg

*Sniffle* *Sniffle* Oh Jaci Dear...

You still have the talent to sturr emotions. It truly is a special person who holds your hand through to the very end or has the courage to make the decision to let you go and not prolong the suffering. Hopefully we'll all pass the test. Thank you Jaci Dear for this one! Loving Hugs Talia (aka-Popcorn Lady)

More than crime fighting

Jamie Lee's picture

Throughout the Whateley stories crime has been fought by LEO and those with superhuman abilities. Other stories have also shown crimes being committed by those with superhuman abilities.

Because of this mind set the only thing which has been emphasized at Whateley is fighting crime or committing crimes. At no time has it been mentioned to fight something which doesn't require superhuman abilities, loneliness.

The little girl in the video was lonely, as was said, abandoned by family. Only one student had learned how to be a true hero, a hero who could fight a crime which had been perpetrated upon this little girl. A crime which was more insidious than any theft.

Loneliness robs a person of their self worth, their sense of purpose. It makes a person feel as though they would be better off having not been born, at least in this way they wouldn't be experiencing the pain caused by being lonely.

This hero did nothing special, they didn't cure this little girls' affliction or help her live a "normal" life. This hero just gave her time to be with this little girl until her end came, as it does to us all. This little girl was lonely for however long, but she wasn't alone when she died.

Others have feelings too.

In this day and age the word

In this day and age the word hero has lost some of its meaning because people use it so much when the people that are so called hero's have done nothing out of the ordinary. Today we have sports hero's who have done nothing other than play a game and get paid for it. news people love to throw around the word hero like a cheap blanket. It's seems to have gotten to the point that if you want someone to feel special you call them a hero.
However your story seems to have truly captured what it means to be a hero.