Spectacular World

The Man Who Wore The Cape

"You can be a hero!" Full Monarch announced, putting his hands on his hips as he posed for the camera.

The costume he wore was one of the first-ever hero suits to be created. It was almost pure white, with a few golden butterflies scattered about it and a long, flowing white cape that trailed behind him as he walked through the ruins of a city that had been reduced to rubble. With a wave of his hand, buildings began to put themselves back together, and the street was mended slowly. He wasn't alone either. Following him were men and women in suits, or brown jumpsuits, who made a show of fixing the destroyed street alongside the first superhero.

The city had been reduced to rubble after a threat that humanity had dubbed the Beast came down from the skies. It was during this commercial that the first ever mention of the Hero Branch would happen...

Full Monarch turned back to the camera as the Hero Branch workers around him kept shuffling through the rubble. "Human or Super, we're all Earthlings, and right now, we're facing our greatest crisis yet. We need all the help we can get. Those with powers, and those without." He placed one hand on his hip and raised his other arm, pointing it out at the camera slightly. "I want you for the Hero Branch."

Text appeared under him, flickering onto the TV screen. 'Please find the nearest Hero Branch recruiting station to find a job listing for you. Now urgently hiring. Paid positions available (Now starting at Minimum wage pay).'

That commercial was nearly ten years old by now. Ten years since humanity first faced off against the monster known as the Beast. Ten years since the Hero Branch had been created and superheroes began to appear. Along with heroes, though, there were, of course, villains. Ten years since the public was forced to accept the fact that their cities had become the places of war.

The TV flickered for a second before it slowly faded to black, shutting off. Jackson stared up at it from the desk he rested at. "Do you like heroes, sir?" He turned slightly when he heard the question. In front of his desk, an older man sat quietly, staring down at the ground sadly. "I guess it's only natural that the youth would find them so interesting."

"Oh, I'm really not that young, sir," Jackson said sheepishly, shaking his head. The truth was, he was likely way older than the man before him. He had noticed it after his final battle with the Super known as Lucifer. He had seemingly stopped aging. That had been nearly fifty years ago, and his fellow Lords like Sini, Wano, and Nier were all reaching the point in their lives where their own kids should have started to have children, and in Sini's case, his grandchild would soon have a child of her own. Not him, though. He still looked like he was in his early twenties. Yet he also had a child of his own, one who seemed to do her best to be a pain in his ass. She was actually starting to look older than him now that he thought about it...

The man stared at the TV above, looking at his reflection. "When I was younger, I used to think I could be anything. Part of me even wanted to be a superhero."

"Is that why you're here?" Jackson asked, giving a faint smile.

"No." The man shook his head and his shoulders slumped down. "My home, my job, even the city block—all of it was destroyed by Supers."

"Surely I- Full Monarch fixed it, though, right?" Jackson asked with wide eyes.

"He did, but the amount we were charged caused my job to lay off most of its workers, and I was one of the ones who got sacked. After paying for the repair tax for my house as well, I had no choice but to come sign up for the Hero Branch. You guys are always hiring, right?" The man asked sadly.

Every major city had a hero. This was because the Hero Branch would place them there. The Branch got to decide which heroes belonged to which cities and which teams could be formed. They did this by creating a hero tax. All cities that had a hero had to pay a tax to keep that hero, which was how the Supers would earn their money. Cities could decide not to pay, and if that happened, the Hero Branch would simply not place a hero within them. Due to the number of villains that ran around, this basically meant every city was forced to have a hero of their own in order for them not to be taken over by crime.