Not everyone can be a hero, it's true, but heroic actions go far beyond just pummeling masked theater kids into the dirt. Every person in Neo Houston who does their part to keep the community safe was acting heroically.
That's why Jay has decided to help the food bank today. It may sound counterproductive to volunteer on his day off, but he needs to keep his mind busy even though the reprieve from hero work is much-needed. So he lets his brain go blank as he goes about stacking cans, organizing bags of pasta, and adding stickers to packets of rice. It was a relief to step away from his persona as Quickwit and do good as plain-old Jay.
It's not like he had to deal with the mobs of crazed fans like other heroes, but there was still a sense of responsibility that hangs over you when putting on the mask...so today he could just be a normal person doing normal things. He didn't have to think about everthing going wrong with Quickwit right now, all he needed to do was stack cans and drive around town. Maybe he could even make some actual friends here.
However, as the time approaches to start distribution, his luck runs out.
"Jay," the organizer calls out, "can you come over here?"
Setting down a heavy jar of pasta sauce, the blond immediately approaches the woman. "Hey Sheryl, what's up?"
The rotund brunette smiles kindly. " Jay, you have a license, right? You're doing distribution today?"
Jay nods. "Yeah?"
"Would you mind taking one of our employees with you? Usually he does stocking, but we have extra hands here today so we don't need him."
"That sounds fine by me, I could use another person to carry all these heavy boxes."
Sheryl smiles, turning to face the stockroom. "Great! Hey Gannet, I got someone to drive you!"
Jay's stomach drops at the name. There's no way, right? Of all the places for the villain to turn up, he wouldn't appear here of all places. Houston is a big city, there had to be tons of Gannets around.
But no, the dark-haired man steps out from the back room, holding a box of giant mystery squash and wearing an "H-Town Heroes Foodbank" lanyard. His eyes dart to Jay's, mahogany brown meeting forest green for just a moment before darting away quickly. "Okay. Where do you want me to put this...?"
Sheryl approaches the villain, hefting the unidentifiable vegetables into her arms. "I'll take care of it, just help Jay out today."
Gannet nods, approaching the blond. "Hey, nice to meet you."
The hero flounders for a moment, unsure of what he should do. Will Gannet recognize Jay from the sound of his voice? He contemplates coming up with some kind of excuse to escape, but decides against it. If Gannet can't recognize Faye, who doesn't even wear a mask, he most certainly won't know Jay is Quickwit without his balaclava.
Even so, he deepens his voice a little as he gives a croaky "Hi..."
If Gannet notices the strange behavior, he doesn't comment, just nodding and picking up a box. "Where's the van?"
"Out front."
Without further ado, the villain heads out the door, Jay following close behind. They make quick work out of packing up the food, getting on the road just a few moments later.
Jay waits for the villain to launch into some bubbly spiel about heroes, cats, or coffee, but instead Gannet just peers out at the traffic, fingers playing with a rip in his jeans. He seems a little tense...even Jay, who's notoriously bad at reading emotion, can tell. Why is Gannet acting so different? Is this how he is with other people?
The blond knows he should probably investigate, but he's so burnt out from his constant failures, the Razzmatazz situation, and his impending ejection from the network, that he doesn't even want to try today. Instead, he resolves to just get through this as quickly as possible—they only have a few deliveries to make, so it shouldn't take too long.
Unfortunately, traveling quickly in Houston is...not a thing when it comes to the horrible traffic. Jay sighs heavily as he watches the cars come to a complete standstill. Unable to bear the boredom, he opens his mouth. "So uh, why are you volunteering?"
"I'm not. I work for the foodbank."
"Oh, hm."
Jay taps his fingers on the steering wheel, trying to think of something to say. Honestly, it's a little pathetic that situations like this are as anxiety-inducing as fighting supervillains. Luckily, Gannet seems to take pity on the hero, elaborating further.
"I wanted to do something that matters, and I thought it might be a good way to make friends...also, they give you free food."
"Oh, me too. I mean, not the food thing. The other two reasons. Have you made any friends yet?"
Gannet frowns, turning his face away as he gazes outside. "Not really."
Shit, did Jay say something wrong again? Why did Gannet get upset?
"Oh well, I'm sure you'll make some soon?"
Gannet sighs. "Yep."
Jay groans internally, cursing the evil men who invented the automobile. This painfully awkward situation was their fault, why couldn't they just let trains and trollies dominate America!? If Houston wasn't stuck in the dark ages, they'd have one of those fancy quantum-speed train systems like New York...
Finally though, the cars begin to move, pulling the blond from his internal rant. Jay thanks God, pressing on the gas—
"Stop!"
Jay jumps, stomping on the brakes. He turns to Gannet, eyes wide. "What?!"
The dark-haired man points—it's a cat. A little calico kitten right in front of his car. Gannet unbuckles his seatbelt, opening the door. "It's gonna get flattened out here, I'm gonna grab it..."
But something is off. All the other cars have also stopped in their tracks. The blond stiffens when he realizes that like them, all the cars around them have felines of various colors, ages, and sizes impeding their movement.
Thinking quickly, Jay reaches over, yanks Gannet back inside the car, and slams the door closed.
"Hey! What the hell, man?!"
Suddenly, indignation turns to shock as right where the villain had been a moment ago, an enormous tiger pounces.
"Jesus!" Gannet yelps, shrinking away from the window.
The big cat scrabbles huge claws against the glass, roaring ferociously as both Gannet and Jay stare in shock. "Why is there a tiger on the road?!"
Jay presses the red button on the console, entering the vehicle into emergency mode. The vehicle buzzes, and a blue-tinged energy shield surrounds the car.
"Well, either someone's exotic pet escaped...again...or Alleycat is lurking around somewhere."
Gannet turns wide brown eyes to Jay. "Exotic pet?"
"Keeping tigers as pets is legal in Texas," Jay deadpans.
"What the fuuuck?"
"Yeah."
But just as predicted, the villainess emerges from a flashy antique Cadillac. Her navy blue heels clack on the hot pavement as she directs a swarm of cats at a red van several spaces down the road.
Jay tenses, praying he won't have to intervene. He really doesn't like the idea of fighting a tiger...luckily, it appears that help is on the way, as his phone buzzes to report Ravenette and Pixamena are headed their direction.
Turning his attention back to the scene, he witnesses the cats crawl up every inch of the van, weighing it down and blocking the windshield with their fuzzy bodies. The driver abandons ship, fleeing out the back window as the tiger roars.
Thankfully, the man is not pursued—Alleycat appears to be interested in retrieving something inside the car instead. Apparently, she finds what she's looking for. The villainess holds something up to the sun, watching it glimmer with a painted smile.
Suddenly, from the sky, Ravenette and Pixamena float down gracefully with a flutter of fairy wings and feathers. The duo immediately begins to apprehend the villainess, with Pixiepuff trying (and failing) to herd the cats.
Jay and Gannet lean back and watch the battle, safe from wayward kitty claws or bedazzled longswords behind the barrier.
"Is that a necklace she's got there?" Gannet ponders, stealing a snack from a box.
Jay deigns to ignore Gannet's small criminal act of stealing cheesy poofs. "Looks like it. Alleycat's targets are usually valuable antiques. That dress is from the twenties, I believe..."
"The 1920's?"
Jay shakes his head. "2020's. It survived 12/20."
"Woah, you know a lot about her..."
Jay curses himself for the blunder. He was supposed to be hiding his identity, not infodumping all his hero knowledge! "Uh, yeah, I'm a superhero fan..."
Gannet's demeanor shifts immediately, a grin growing on his face. "Me too! This is kinda cool actually, we get a front-row seat!"
The blond blinks, startled by the sudden enthusiasm. "Yeah, I—I'm excited to see Ravenette back in action. I'm glad she made a full recovery..."
Gannet smiles brightly. "You can thank Quickwit for that!"
Jay's heart speeds up a little at the mention of his alter ego. "Quickwit?"
The dark-haired man huffs, offering Jay some puffs. "Seriously? You know who the wing-girl is but you don't know Quickwit? He's a new hero working as a sidekick—though I'm hoping they'll upgrade him soon."
Jay shakes his head, refusing the offering. "I assume you're a fan...?"
That familiar look of mania enters Gannet's eyes as he smiles. "I'm his number one fan!"
Jay returns his gaze to the heroes dueling Alleycat, processing the information he's receiving. There's no reason for Gannet to be lying right now, he thinks he's in a car with a total stranger! So does he really—?
"What do you like about him?"
Gannet giggles, clenching the now-empty bag of chips tightly in his fist. "He's amazing, you can tell he actually cares about everyone he helps. Plus, for a C-class hero, he has an insane track record."
"Yeah?"
Gannet nods furiously. "Go look online—I wrote his Heropedia page from scratch!"
Jay's eyes widen. He did notice that someone wrote a page for him—was it really Gannet? "You documented his whole career as a hero by yourself?"
"His career as a hero, his short stint as a vigilante, his quirks, and also, speculation on his favorite color, snack, and drink."
There's no way. "And those would be...?"
"Purple-blue, bananas, and black coffee. Specifically, he likes a brand of cold brew called Brave Beans."
Jay is speechless.
It's not a ruse, is it? Gannet isn't plotting Jay's downfall, he's a genuine fan—an obsessed fan, it appears.
Something must show on Jay's face, because Gannet withdraws immediately, face going stony. He turns his attention to Pixamena and Ravenette, watching the duo attempt to wrangle an angry Alleycat into a pair of handcuffs.
"Sorry, I—I always get a little carried away."
The blond's heart is beating like a drum. What was the right way to react to this? He remembers dealing with a few crazy Pixamena fans—he'd never imagined that he would ever have to deal with stuff like that. She always looked a little disgusted, ranting about parasocial relationships.
Was that what was happening here? Was Gannet some lonely person, convinced that he was friends with his favorite hero?
Jay's thoughts are ripped away from him as finally, the heroes collect the herd of cats into various conjured pet carriers, clearing the way for traffic.
With the path cleared, the rest of the delivery goes smoothly. Jay and Gannet make their scheduled stops with every home receiving its allotted amount of food (with the exception of the last house, which is mysteriously short of a bag of cheesy poofs.)
Gannet is quiet the whole time, only giving a quiet "thanks for the ride" as he's dropped off. Jay watches the dark-haired man enter his apartment, mind racing as he plans his next move.
He opens his phone, ready to dial Darius and make his report.
This was the goal the entire time, after all. Figure out how Stygian works and use that knowledge to prove Jay's worth. Now that he knows who the mysterious villain really is, it's time! His finger hovers over the button—
Jay turns the phone off. "Fuck!"
He can't do it. Stygian is clearly not some great evildoer hellbent on the destruction of the city. he's...he's like Razzmatazz, Jay can't report him. If Gannet gets sent to the Psychiatric center, what will they do to him? Will they drug him up like they did Razz? Give him the wrong meds to make him go off the deep end?
The blond grimaces, clenching his teeth as he leans onto the steering wheel.
A hole has been growing in the pit of his stomach for a while now. His anxiety grows by the day, the dark feelings being fed by the slow realization that the Network may not be as good for Houston as he'd once hoped.
It's possible that there's just some fuckery going on at the psychiatric center, but he can't help but notice the holes everywhere in the system. He just has so many questions now; why do they allow villains to escape the psychiatric center? Why do they assign B-class heroes to fight A-class villains? Why do they allow clearly corrupt people to hold so much power?
You can only attribute so much to stupidity before one comes to realize that's what they want you to assume. There's much more at play here than just incompetence, and Jay needs to figure it all out before more people get hurt...
Suddenly, his ruminations are interrupted by the chirp of his phone.
Gannet: Hiiii Quickwit, wyd? 🥰
Jay stares at Gannet's apartment. From the parking lot, he can see the faint silhouette of the villain at the window. The man appears to be watering his houseplants.
Quickwit: Nothing much. What's up?
Gannet: me n Faye are gonna have a 4th of july picknicc in a few weeks.
Gannet: you wanna come?
The hero pauses. If Gannet has some kind of...fascination with Jay, it would probably be a bad idea to encourage it any further. The smart thing to do was start distancing himself...
Jay's phone buzzes as Gannet sends a photo message. Jay opens it—it's a photo of a fruit salad recipe. A fruit salad recipe called "banana delight."
Gannet: I'm bringing snacks! 🍌🍌🍌
Jay laughs, despite himself.
Gannet may be a little...off, but villainy aside, he doesn't seem like a bad person so far. Perhaps this represented an opportunity for Jay to turn the man around, get him on the road to redemption? It wouldn't bring him the recognition he craves from the network, but it seems like the right thing to do until he can figure out what's going on.
So Jay types out a reply.
Quickwit: Sounds like fun! I'll bring some drinks.