Stark Differences (g/t)

Issue #1

London's alarm went off too soon the next morning.

She groaned, her head feeling like lead as she tried to sit up. Again, she really needed to stop self medicating. She hobbled out of bed, heading to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee and breakfast.

Once that was out of the way, she went through the rest of her morning routine and put on one of her many spare costumes, as the last one was no longer wearable. The costume was quite simple, not at all what she had in mind, but it wasn't necessarily her decision. Every hero of the Agency, with maybe a handful of exceptions, wore the same costume. It was a dark blue body suit, the hands and feet being black. A utility belt with several little gadgets hung at her waist. Technology that London couldn't even begin to explain allowed the suit to change sizes with her, even when growing smaller, something she had the misfortune of discovering once before.

On her chest was the Hero Agency's symbol. A Ying and Yang token with a capitalized 'H' in the center. Again, incredibly simple and boring, but London couldn't do much to change the Agency's logo of thirty years. She tugged her braids into a low bun and placed on her cowl, a shade of blue to match the rest of the costume.

London left her penthouse at 6:00 am to attend the briefing held on the ground floor of the Agency building. She's lived in the building for six years now, since she was recruited at the ripe age of nineteen (the youngest legal age for heroes). Sure she missed out on a lot of milestones in her twenties, but what's a handful of university parties or relationships compared to the lap of luxury she currently sat in?

Besides the first 6 months of her training, every morning's been the same. Wake up, attend the briefing, get sent out to her posts for hero duty, return to the Agency for training, back out for one more patrol, and back home for bed.

Sure fights with villains or other natural disasters gave her some forms of variety, but watching people almost die at the hands of these events wasn't exactly London's idea of fun either.

She pressed the ground button of the elevator, and waited for it to open. She stepped inside and smiled at one of the heroes inside, Wiz. Despite only being twenty two, and being a hero for just a year, they've made quite the reputation for themself. They could travel through electric currents and take apart and rebuild just about any machine. London and Wiz were often paired up for training exercises, and they've become the closest thing she had to a friend.

The other was London's least favourite hero, Chameleon. On top of his stupid name, he's seen just about every hero, female or otherwise, naked. What with his ability to shape shift, all he had to do was become someone's ideal type and that was it. He and London had a long history, and she still couldn't look at him without immediately wanting to kick over a building.

"Oh good morning Rhea, my dearest!" Chameleon jeered sarcastically as she joined Wiz's side.

"Morning Cam. I thought the Agency called pest control the other day, and yet you're still here," she sneered, not even bothering with pleasantries.

"Here we go again," Wiz sighed. "Guys let's just chill out please."

"Oh I can so chill out! Speaking of chill, nice going yesterday. It was so kind of you to let those ice and fire villains walk away unscathed. Again," Chameleon smirked,

"Ok first of all! I did not let them go. And I most certainly did not let them go 'unscathed'," she punctuated with air quotes. "And I'd like to see you take on Jupiter and Vulcan by yourself!"

"Oh honey please, I'll admit I couldn't take them both on," Rhea smirked in victory at that. "But then again, I don't depend purely on height, and still fail." Rhea's expression faltered, and she let out an offended growl.

She cracked her knuckles, preparing to hit him square in the jaw, but it was at that moment the elevator happened to open up to the lobby. She glared at him, her right hand still in a firm fist.

"Wow perfect timing," Wiz giggled nervously, grabbing London's forearm and leading her out of the elevator.

She followed begrudgingly, letting herself be taken to the briefing room.

"Thanks," she said softly, before glaring over her shoulder at Chameleon who strolled idly behind the pair.

"You've really gotta cool it, he's not worth it," Wiz chided.

The two took their seats in one of the middle rows of the briefing room. Though, perhaps room wasn't the best term for it. The 'briefing room' was a large court like hall, where over a dozen rows and a hundred seats formed a bowl around a platform, used by the Agency's head of briefing. Essentially, just updating the sector's heroes on crimes, villains, natural disasters and the like.

There were five heads of the Agency, all of which London was well acquainted with. Cameron Belle, forty five, head of briefing. Margaret Thompson, forty eight, head of medicine and all things hero medical care. Jamiel Inuk, fifty two, head of training. Louise Blake, forty six, head of recruiting. And finally, Dominic Levers, only thirty, and head of the Agency itself. London had only met with him a couple of times, but she was still able to brag about this as only the most important heroes ever got to meet with him at all.

A hush fell over the briefing room as Cameron Belle stepped onto the stage platform. He approached the podium and coughed into the microphone to grab everyone's attention, despite already being in possession of it.

"Good morning everyone, I hope you are all well rested. Now, I'll need Copycat and Spider to take on the North of Bay city," he began, jumping right into the debriefings.

London waited patiently for her hero name to be called, deflating when she heard Chameleon being given a position at the quarry. London much preferred being by the water, it was easier to become giant further away from the population. And it often made it hard for Vulcan to use his abilities, which always brought London a giddy feeling.

"Ingenium, Central City park. Rhea, Queensbury Museum."

London groaned, sinking into her seat.

"You're being dramatic," Wiz laughed at her.

"No, museums suck. Nothing ever happens at museums... they're probably sending me there cause I bombed so hard yesterday!"

"They're most certainly not doing that! You're like, among the top five best heroes ever. They're not sending you to the sidelines."

"Yeah? Then why else send me to the place where nothing happens?"

"Uh... to give other heroes more experience...?" Wiz spoke in uncertainty, giving London a trying smile.

London rolled her eyes, but found their smile contagious. "Yeah maybe."

The briefing finished, and the heroes filed out, heading to their posts. Some by flying, using super speed, teleporting, travelling through electric currents, and just about any                 sci-fi-esque form of travel. London could easily make it to where she wanted to go in a matter of minutes at her tallest height, but not without risking the lives of civilians. So she, like the other heroes who needed it, took her Agency car and headed to her destination, where she was sure to have an uneventful day guarding paintings.