The Marvels

Ep. 5 | The Marvels

The super era began with an accident.

In 2005, a twenty-year-old intern, working for a then-small company named Celestro, had a mishap in one of their labs. It should've killed him, but instead it turned him into something more than human. With his emergence as the first superhero came the rest: the Alters and the suddenly more common—but still rare—natural borns, as if genetics had waited until the world was ready to introduce them. And with them came the global obsession and Celestro's rise as a super organization.

Now, fifteen years later, Juggernaut was still at the forefront of it all. The upcoming anniversary of the lab explosion was not only a celebration of his own impressive reputation but of heroism as a whole. It was a huge deal everywhere, but in the super capital of the world, there was extra festivity in the air.

Every monitor in Celestro's lobby was playing a recorded interview with him. Vidya sat alone, watching. The receptionist said he didn't know how long it would take Emika to get here. Ten minutes, maybe thirty? So she waited, eyes locked on the closest screen.

"Fifteen years," the host was saying, all smiles. "Are you planning on retiring anytime soon?"

"Can't say I am," Juggernaut replied, also smiling. Amber would die on the spot if she ever saw that smile in person. Vidya probably would, too, but she'd never admit it.

"How have things changed since the beginning?" the host asked.

"Everything's changed. I felt like an idiot then, you know? For doing what I was doing. But now I'm leading the Marvels, and heroes are common, and there's this amazing atmosphere of hope. The public put their trust in good people. I'm glad to be part of it."

"What do you think could be better?"

"Everything." Juggernaut laughed. "Nothing's perfect, and nothing will ever be perfect, but we'll always strive to do better. After all, what's the point of being a hero if you're not doing your best?"

The interview was replaced by a TED talk, with none other than the director of superhero activities as the speaker. Fox stood on the stage like she was born to be there, calm and composed. She clasped her hands behind her back and walked slowly, eyes never leaving the audience.

"The existence of superhumans goes back for decades," she said. "There were few records of people gaining unnatural abilities from accidents, who we now call Alters, and even fewer records of children growing into abilities, who we now call natural borns. But it wasn't until Juggernaut's use of his powers in groundbreaking shows of altruism that the concept of heroes truly took off. And, as you know, the occurrence of both Alters and natural borns has increased since then. That is what this upcoming anniversary is celebrating: not one man, but the beginning of heroics, something that is sure to go down in history!"

The audience clapped. The monitors switched to an interview with the Golden Four. Vidya stretched her legs, lip-syncing along to the heroes' responses. She'd seen this segment already, when she first got here.

Luckily, Emika appeared in the elevator only a minute later, holding a hand out to keep it open. "Come up," she said.

Here we go. Vidya ran to catch the elevator and turned to watch the doors close with a deep breath, because when she came back down, not so long from now, she would be a Marvel.

_______________________

"I knew it wouldn't take long," Fox exclaimed.

Vidya smiled. She stood in the office, too nervous to sit down. The lines she'd practiced so carefully now seemed too demanding. "But before I officially accept, I have some requests."