Slumdog Superman <open>

[Brandon Bailey]

Brandon growled as he slammed his fist into the mugger's face. He barely winced as the pain welled up. He wasn't used to fighting as much with his bare hands, but if he used his powers, it was a dead give away to his identity. As far as he knew, he was the only one that used fire or water. The boy quickly followed up his attack, slamming his knee into the mugger's stomach several times until he fell on the ground, not unconcious, but he wouldn't be getting up for a while. He aimed another kick to his gut and looked down.

He found the woman's purse that the man had stolen that caused him to chase him down. Brandon was dressed darkly and wore a hood to disguise his face. He picked the bag up and headed out of the alley he had cornered the man in. Much to his surprise, the lady had actually followed. He tossed the purse at her and ignored her thanks, walking away.

The elemental sighed. This was how he spent his weekends now. He wondered why no one else had done this before. The entire island was filled with superhumans and none of them used their considerable powers to actually save those on the island that weren't superhuman. Most of the Gifted stayed toward the academy and the nicer parts of town, but the slums were filled with the natives that weren't utilizing the tourist industry for jobs. Brandon didn't really fancy himself a hero, though. This was a rather large stress reducer for the boy who had a lot on his mind. He'd been lucky so far. He hadn't come across a bad guy with powers, or worse, a gun.

Brandon was confident that he was one of the more powerful Gifts as far as offensive abilities went, especially if he was closer to the ocean. He could handle another Gifted, no problem, should things come to a power contest.

Guns, though, guns scared the crap out of him. He couldn't do anything about guns except MAYBE slow a bullet down with a thick wall of ice that he wasn't entirely sure he could get up in time.

Brandon ignored the thought as he kept his ears and eyes open, constantly looking for something to go wrong.

[Desch Siyamak]

Desch K. Siyamak
Gift: Biokinesis

Long, slender fingers lightly grazed over the glossy pages of the thick history book sitting on the wooden table. Blue eyes scanned the text before turning the page. A quick glance to the side revealed more books laid out around the reader. There was a dull thump on the first book as Desch tapped a line that intrigued him.

"Change must come, through the barrel of a gun. Mao Tsetung." he mused out loud to himself. The young senior's hand picked up a well worn pencil and scribbled the quote down on a legal pad, which also bore more of the same like minded words. Lincoln, JFK, Castro, Proverbs. The words of admirable and despicable men alike were on the lined, yellow pages of the pad. After all, if Desch was going to start his revolution here on Ashburn, then he needed some framework. Some point of references. The world was not changed by sheer force of will alone, after all. Desch could not will the Gifted to rise up and take what was rightfully theirs. He would have to convince them, something a teacher of his had once told him.

Desch flipped through a few more pages idly before closing the thick book and sliding it back across the table, and pulling another one in front of him. He had succeeded (or rather, Snake Hips had) in turning the Ungifted against their superior cousins, but to keep the masses embroiled in conflict, it would take cunning. A bloodless revolution was clearly out of the question (though Desch would have preferred it), thus the need for the Novus. An army of sorts, to carry the Revolution forward, starting here on Ashburn. Desch had a plan. He had already finished the first part. Bringing the existence of the Gifted to light, with himself (under the mask of disguise)and his right hand man, Snake Hips, as prime examples. Once the humans had been turned against the Gifted, it was simple. Enter the Novus. Like minded Gifted who shared Deschs ideals that the Gifted should not have to hide and live in silence. They were superior, so why should it not be that they would be the masters of this world? With cells of Novus implanted into the United States and Europe, they would wait. Wait for once Desch had succeeded in turning all of Ashburn into an ally. With that, the young revolutionary returned to Ashburn, his face relieved of its disguise. Now Desch waited in the slums of Ashburn. Sure, he had living quarters on the island, but the Slums proved to be a perfect place to start Ashbrun's transformation. It was rife with the angry, and the disenfranchised. First, Desch would turn the Slums into the breeding ground for new Novus, then he would march his army right up to the gates of the Academy, and claim Ashburn Island as the first independent Gifted nation. From there, the rest of the world would follow. Or burn.

With a thump, the gifted revolutionary closed his books and glanced out of the crakced window the mangy apartment he hid in. He'd much rather stay at the Academy, but he would have to wait for the year to get into full swing before he could return there. For now, it was this dirty little apartment. His years perked up as he heard the sound of scuffling outside. Lifting his blinds, Desch could see a hooded figure wrenching a purse from someone lying on the ground. No doubt some Gifted taking back what was his (or hers). Setting out of the apartment, Desch stepped out onto the street, running his hand through his black hair. Without so much as a sound, his face shifted and contorted, into one not his own. "Impressive." he said out loud behind the hooded figure. "At first I thought you were taking back what was yours, but you seem more chivalrous than that. Why not let that woman fend for herself?"[/b[

[Brandon Bailey]

Brandon nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned around to the voice directed at him, ready to through a punch before he got control of himself. He wasn't expecting anyone to approach him. No one had before. The young man was new at this "vigilante" thing, though, so he supposed new experiances came with the territory. He saw that the man didn't seem to pose a threat, and not seeing much harm in answering the simple question, opened his mouth. Brandon barely spoke any louder than a whisper, trying to keep his voice as unrecognizable as possible.

"Because if I don't, who will?"

Brandon was fed up with the inaction of his fellow men, Gifted or not. This part of the island was terrible dangerous to everyone, and needed cleaning. If people figured they'd be punished, then there wouldn't be a problem. Thing was, cops either avoided this place or were corrupt and let things go in the area.

"Because I can. Because I'm tired of sitting on the sidelines while people get burglarized, raped, and killed while we all sit on and watch from our pretty little beachside apartments and our little Academy."

He had literally gotten the idea to do this by reading the paper one day and seeing another front page story about another unsolved murder. It was enough. Brandon lacked dormmates to talk him down, and he didn't see any of his friends enough anymore.

Hell, everyone had a hobby.

[Desch Siyamak]

Desch's face soured slightly at the hooded boy's answer. An idealist. Great. A thin eyebrow rose in inquiry. He mentioned the Academy, so he was probably a student, and if that was the case, he was obviously a Gifted. And a sympathetically idealistic one, at that. People like him would be ultimately impediments to the ascension of the Gifted.

"And do you think she would be so grateful for your help if she knew you were Gifted?" asked Desch simply "The humans, they hate us now. Thanks to the Novus. The fear us, and they hunt us. The ones here on the island just have to live with it, because they can't get off. Especially the ones here in the slums. But if the head of a Gifted was their ticket off, don't you think they'd gladly separate it from our shoulders? Why offer a hand to someone who will just as soon chop it off? She would cower and run, if she knew. You would be just as much a threat to her as that mugger. Because you're stronger than her." Desch cast a glance behind him into the alley, where the mugger was do doubt getting up and retreating with his tail between his legs. "Same goes for that mugger. He'll probably jump at the sight of someone with a hood in the dark for awhile."

Desch cast hasty glances up and down the street, as if he were expecting someone. "I think you'd go good, in the Novus, that is. You've got a mind to right wrongs. Don't you think the Gifted belong on top? Not living in secrecy? If you want to defend those without, why not defend your fellow Gifted? I hear they're out there. In America, in Europe. I've heard there's even a few of them here in the slums, watching the Island."

Time to test the waters. Desch had set the revolt in motion, but apart from the manhunts for Novus members, he didn't really have much of an idea how the everyday Gifted felt about it. Sure, some were siding against the Novus, but here on the island, where the Gifted were the majority, how were things?

[Brandon Bailey]

His motives questioned, the young man laughed.

"It's actually simple. Like you said, I'm stronger than her. I'm stronger than that mugger was, as well. If I used my powers, and if I really cut loose, and I mean really cut loose, I could level this islan in less than an hour's time. See, some of us are walking bombs, and it's because I'm a walking force of nature that I've decided to protect the weak. How do you know if that woman wasn't Gifted? Or the mugger? Loads of people don't have the power to defend themselves even with Gifts. I do, and I want to save the ones that don't."

This guy...

Brandon was no supergenius but had been blessed with a fairly bright mind and loads of creativity and also had a knack for paying attention. He noticed the man looking around, as if expecting someone, or searching for eavesdroppers. He was suspicious enough confronting him after the scuffle, and he surely wasn't lessening Brandon's suspcions as he talked. The man talked about the Novus, and Brandon hadn't really ever talked about them before. He knew that there were some manhunts going down and all. Brandon didn't really know much about the Gifted organization that was hellbent on seemingly taking over the world.

As much as he hated to admit, though, he could understand. A few normals accepted him, and his family didn't seem to hate him, but beyond that, he had been treated like a freak. It made it all the more worse by the fact that when Brandon had said he was a walking force of nature, he had meant it. So many Gifts out there that could be used for constructive, meaningful purposes, and he had been stuck becoming a human weapon. People found out about his powers and avoided him like he was a killer.

It was racism, or speciesism, or whatever you wanted to call it, but discrimination against anyone that didn't deserve it was wrong. No child should be hated for carrying a burden like his own or any of the other Gifts he had encountered. Hell, a good majority of the students had powers that often had positive effects on people, several having to do with healing. And Brandon knew that if some had their way, Ashburn would be turned into a modern version of a Concentration Camp and all of them rounded up like Jews in Nazi Germany. Branded like cattle.

He hesitated. Good in the Novus?

"I....dunno. Like I said, Gifted or not, defensless is defenseless."

[Desch Siyamak]

Desch could hear the hesitation in the boy's voice. Something he said had struck a nerve. Probably the part about being apart of the Novus. The young man spread his arms as if giving a speech to a crowd of gathered people.

"And what constitutes as 'defenseless'?" he asked, his voice gaining an edge to it "When the humans bring their hunts to the doorsteps of everyday, innocent Gifted, you might say: 'sure, they have abilites, they can defend themselves'. But can they really? All the humans are looking for, now that their 'supremacy' has been challenged, is an excuse to round us all up, and gun us down. A Gifted defends himself and his family from a lynch mob, and suddenly, he's just as bad as the Novus. A Gifted uses his powers to make protect himself, and he's a killer, a monster, a freak. Not to be trusted."

The words were coming from Desch's mouth much more easily than he had expected them to. Maybe it had something to do with the adrenaline that was beginning to pump through his veins. "How long will it be, before Gifted children are put in their own 'special' schools? And not like the one here on Ashburn. How long before the Governments implement registration acts? I guarantee you, they're already looking into ways to neutralize the abilities of compliant Gifted. And once they figure it out, they'll slap it on us like collars on dogs. Whether we like it or not. And then, we'll really be defenseless. Powerless to stop them from doing whatever they like to our kind. The Gifted are defenseless, because no one is looking out for us. Humanity would see us in cages and graves. So we have to see to our own defense. Its people like that, people like The Novus, that are defending the defenseless."