The Metahuman Agency: The Superhuman War

The Build Up

Jason's hand slipped off Hiroshi's shoulder. The kid wasn't exactly wrong. He wanted to say no. Say that wasn't true. But...the kid had a point. He was a part of this. He and the other metahumans that had terrorized people. Not that he'd wanted to, but yeah, although no by choice he'd contributed to public fear of metahumans. Geez. It occurred to Jason that when they went before the press tonight, they'd have someone who was basically considered a terrorist in the public's eyes. That could...bad.

"Well..." Jason finally spoke up. He coughed. "Uh...well..." Laureen suddenly stepped between them. She swallowed a hunk of burger in her mouth and patted Hiroshi's arm. She jerked a thumb over her shoulder.

"Come on," She said. "Today was kind of a bust. We're just gonna keep feeling shitty if we stay out here. Let's go back to the hotel."

Hiroshi shook his head. "Its...its alright, I-" Laureen pressed a finger to his lips.

"That's an order, buddy. Let's get the fuck outta here." She grabbed Hiroshi's arm and began hauling him down the street. Jason sighed. He closed his eyes, took a long breath of air, and then followed. He too wanted to go back to the hotel and away from the mess they had created.

They walked back through the streets. During that time, Jason glimpsed a few news vans going in the opposite direction, a homeless man ranting about how metahumans were the first sign of the Apocalypse, and some more anti-metahuman graffiti. Each one he saw made him feel more and more miserable. And a bit angry. What was the fucking point of protecting these people, risking his life day after day, if they all hated him so much?

They soon reached the hotel. They went inside, rode the elevator back to their floor. Laureen limped to her room, having consumed most of her burger by this point. She pointed at Jason. "Yo, remember you guys, we're outta here by six thirty."

"Yeah," Jason gave her a nervous smile. "Hope we won't screw that up."

"Hey man, we've handled an indestrucible megalomaniac, a tiny Godzilla, a fucker who could get inside your head, a woman who was basically a living blizzard, and that fucking insane artist. I think we handle some shitty reporters." She gave them a mock salute and unlocked her door. "See you guys then." She disappeared into her room and shut the door.

Jason sighed. He looked at Hiroshi, who was idlying before their room. Jason unlocked their room and they both went inside. James was lying where they had left him, still snoring away. Hiroshi sat down on his own bed and flopped on his back.

"Hey," He said. "Do you ever feel discouraged? Doing what you do?"

Jason frowned. He also sat down. "I mean...I didn't usually think about what the people at large thought of us. We're kind of in a bubble. Like, we're isolated from the rest of the world being that we hang out in a secret base all the time between missions and don't really interact with the rest of the world. But I am feeling discouraged lately. When the news of how much people hate us kinda is becoming impossible to filter out." He shook his head. "So, not usually but recently...yeah I have."

Hiroshi shook his head. He rubbed his hair, before removing his sneakers and tossing them aside. He stood and said, "I'm going to take a shower."

"Didn't you take one earlier? That's a lot of showering."

"Eh," Hiroshi shrugged. "Nothing else really to do before we go to the press conference, right? Besides, showers help me relax."

Jason shrugged. "Fair enough."

Hiroshi went into the bathroom and closed the door. Jason soon heard the muffled sound of the shower turning on. He lay back against his bed, propping up a pillow behind his head. He grabbed a remote from his bedside table and turned on the TV. He turned up the volume so he could hear it over James's snoring.