[This story is set in Paragon City, taken from the former MMO game City of Heroes. All place names, hero names and registered trademarks belong to their rightful legal owners and are not intended as copyright infringement in any way. This work is purely meant as a piece of entertainment, and not for commercial purposes in any way, shape or form.]
[There are incestuous elements in this story, between mothers and adult daughters.]
Some days were harder than others. This was shaping up to be one of those days, it seemed.
Cindy was slowly getting inured to the looks she sometimes got in public, when civilians recognized her, but that girl earlier at the local Wentworth's had been a particularly hurtful encounter. The look she'd given Cindy had been almost... hateful, as if she had a personal grudge. Usually Cindy found herself enduring the looks of contempt, or hypocritical judgment, or outright pity – arguably the hardest to bear – but hostility was a relatively unusual thing for a passer-by to express.
Then later, the dark-haired girl had become the victim of an attempted mugging, but it had taken place almost right in front of Cindy's eyes. A couple of punches had been enough to send the Skull gang member running with a possibly fractured jaw. But when Cindy held out the girl's laptop carrier, she snatched it back with a glare as if Cindy herself had been the snatch thief. Then she'd picked herself up off the pavement and stalked off without a backward glance.
Cindy sighed and tried to put it out of mind. At times like these, she just wanted to run back home into her mother's arms, like a little girl – which, really, she would probably never stop being, where her mom was concerned. Sometimes she found it hard to remember why it was worth it, all the hardship her strong mom had had to bear: putting up with marital infidelity, fighting in the Rikti War, being a part of the daily crusade against crime and injustice... all for fickle ingrates who would turn on you when the chips were down and the going got tough.
"Hey... um... Battlerette?"
She turned around – it was the girl from before, who was nervously fiddling with her tortoiseshell glasses. Evidently, she'd been following behind for a while and only just decided to run up and hail Cindy.
"Uh, yes. Do you... need something?"
The girl fidgeted, hugging her laptop bag close to her chest. Then she blurted out, "I'm sorry about earlier. For being rude. Thank you for helping me."
Cindy smiled tiredly and waved a little in acknowledgement, and turned to go.
"Wait!"
Cindy waited.
"I... need to talk to you. Please. It's something I've had to carry around for weeks now... ever since... you know... ever since that fight. I just... want to explain why I reacted the way I did when I saw you. My name's Sasha."
Cindy sighed and nodded, putting down the tubs of protein powder she was bringing home. She could hold them indefinitely, of course, but it would look weird. "Alright, Sasha. I'm listening. Please, go ahead."
The girl cleared her throat and began. "You see, I have this sister. Younger. Her name's Shayla. We live pretty much by ourselves – I mean we live with our uncle, but he's basically never around, so it's just been her and me, all this time. Shayla's still in school – or technically, I mean, I'm trying to keep her in there, but that's part of what I want to say.
"I'm sorry, I'm not telling it very well. Let me try again. Shayla and I didn't have anyone we could depend on, growing up, except each other. Our parents died in the Rikti War. It's been a struggle, let's just say. And more than anything, I wanted her to work hard for herself, so she could have a better life. And for that, she needs a proper education, a clean record, and so on, right?
"For a while she went along with it. Did pretty well in school. And one time, your... your mother, Battler Babe, she visited the school to give a kind of pep talk, and Shayla found that really inspiring. She really admired your mother, you know? Even started an exercise routine in the gym, because Battle Babe seemed like everything a woman should be.
"Then... well... she lost. And she lost huge. Pretty much everyone I know has seen it. And I've had to cut off a whole lotta people out of my life, just so you know, ok? Mostly guys, who basically were using that video as jerkoff material. But I don't care about them. What I care about is what happened to Shayla.
"She just... stopped caring. She's become really bitter, about everything. She's almost stopped going to school entirely and she might be expelled, and she just doesn't care anymore. She's starting to hang out with these guys we know, they're bad news, I think they're in with the Hellions over in Atlas Park. We've had fights, screaming fights.
"She says what's the point, the good girls lose big because the villains aren't just cunning or underhanded, they're just plain stronger and more powerful. She wants to hang out with the winners, she says. I tell her that's just fucking stupid, those Hellions aren't winners by any definition, they get beaten up or arrested all the damn time. But she just says it's better than getting kidnapped or getting... you know... raped. And shamed. She says with the Hellions, at least she gets to feel strong most of the time, because they pack heat and they win some of their fights, at least.
"And I know my sister's not the only one feeling this way. The Freedom Phalanx disappearing, well, that put a damper on just about everyone's moods, but they're the Phalanx. They get involved with all kinds of shit we don't even know the first thing about. Could be aliens, or interdimensional expeditions, or maybe they're hanging out with some pantheon of gods or whatever doing cosmic stuff. Whatever, you know? But your mother... and you... To people like us, you're more real than Statesman, or Manticore, or Sister Psyche, or the others. You come from the same place we do. Seeing Battler Babe in action, knowing she was out there... that gave us real hope for ourselves and our lives.
"So... I guess what I'm trying to say is... when we all saw your mother lose to her rival, and what they did to the both of you after, that hit us pretty hard. My sister's bitter, and angry, and she's lost her way. And I'm bitter, and angry, and maybe I've lost my way too, but I don't know. What I want to know is..."
Her voice dropped to a whisper, but Cindy could still hear every word.
"Why did you lose? Why couldn't you beat them? You're supposed to be heroes. If you guys can't do it... what hope do the rest of us have?
"I know it's not fair... but it's not fair that we lose family and friends to fucking aliens from another dimension. It's not fair that people who don't deserve powers get them, and make life miserable for the rest of us. It's not fair that people look at me and don't see a girl with a Masters in financial engineering, but a girl from the 'ghettoes' or the 'streets'. It's not fair that they make the same assumptions about my sister. And it's not fair, what happened to you. But that's what we have, and whatever happens we have to go on, we have to keep fighting.
"So... I'm sorry I was angry at you. You're... you're strong, and really good-looking, and it's obvious you're a hero, like your mother. I just hope... the next time, if you get to fight them again...