I've always wondered how it would be a vigilante today. I, for example, is quite clumsy and not that observant. I don't even watch for cameras in a room, nor aware if there even are any at all. So if I ever tried to go undercover, my secret would probably spill out quite fast since I would change clothes in an alley and someone would accidentally spot me.
These ideas were the inspiration for today's story.
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#herooftheday
“Madam, I’m not really sure why you called for my help but surely, someone else can handle this problem?” said Joseph while pointing at the cat that was meowing from a tree branch, refusing to come down.
“It wouldn’t hurt you to do it right? I mean, it would only take you a few seconds, swoosh and you’re done!” insisted the round-faced lady wearing a hat pierced with feathers of lord-knows-what type of birds.
“No,” said Joseph sternly. “What I’m trying to say, is that you shouldn’t abuse a superhero's time for unnecessary problems.”
“Unnecessary?” said the lady with a higher pitch. “Are you discriminating me?”
The arguments dragged on and finally ended with Joseph, more known by his alias Captain J, saving the cat and fly away in search of crimes and other turbulences in town.
Being a superhero was really strange for him. The first was that no one fell for his disguise. Someone had noticed him changing in an alley, took a picture of it and uploaded it to Twitter. That was Joseph’s first day as a superhero.
The second thing was how the social media controlled everything. His awkward twitter-account gained millions of followers in a few weeks and if he didn’t tweet about his regular patrols people would whine and write mean comments on his feed.
Sure it was fun to be a social media star combined with being a hero, at least it was in the beginning. Especially when he could post a picture of eating a burger and people would shower him with praise and fun comments.
But of course, there was a dark side. For example regarding that burger picture. Not a week after there was a debate on prime time TV regarding Captain J’s diet, how it would affect his fans negatively, and accusations that Burger King was sponsoring him, “#captainsellout” was trending for that week… The whole media thing has scarred Joseph for life. He doesn’t even dare to read the comments anymore…
Suddenly the Captain caught wind of a sharp smell of smoke drifting in the air. He turned towards the direction of the source and saw a stripe of black fume erupting from a building. He flew towards the building only to almost lose balance by the force of exploding flames shattering the windows. The glass shards wasn’t that much of a problem for Joseph but the heat was on another level. He glanced down towards the ground to see fire trucks on their way and crowds gathering. It seemed like there weren't persons inside the building anymore, but he flew a couple of rounds around the building just in case, scanning for wounded civilians. His ears picked up the sound of a raspy “help” from inside the building and without a second to spare he dove through a window into the flames.
The insides were an inferno of red and orange with black smoke looming from the ceiling, forcing Joseph to stop flying or else swallowing the dangerous fumes. He ran from room to room while calling for the civilian but no responses were heard. As the buildings supporting-beams started to crackle and burst, Joseph noticed a hunched figure in the bathroom, seemingly covered in towels. As Captain J grabbed hold of the hunched figure he noticed it was an unconscious woman holding a child in her arms.
He picked the woman with the child up in bridal style and prepared to run for the nearest exit only to notice the ceiling collapsing on top of him. The Captain dodged it nimbly while still carrying the civilians but the exit was now blocked and the heat and smokes were turning critical. He turned towards a wall and gave it a mighty kick. As the wall crumbled, the colours of the blue sky outside spread across his vision and with a single leap he took to the clouds.
The aftermath was of the usual. The building collapsed and the fire brigade extinguished the last of the flames. Captain J was a hero whom everyone cheered for, wanting to get a photo or a selfie with him before he flew away. Joseph waved for a few pictures and signed some autographs but left before every fan was satisfied.
The fire was the main topics for the news the next day. The reporters talked about how it happened and how to avoid it in the future. Luckily, no one was badly injured, there were only five people that had inhaled too much smoke but they were recuperating fine at the hospital. There were of course discussion about Captain J. Sure, he saved two civilians, that’ should get praise but his “exit” damaged the neighbouring building, the owner demanded compensation. There were further discussions about how much collateral damage the hero is allowed to do and should the government really support such neglectful behaviour but Joseph turned off his TV before they reached a conclusion.
He just sighed to no one at his home in his lonesome. Can’t watch TV or even surf the internet without seeing himself as a topic.
A ringing from the doorbell made Joseph stop thinking about unnecessary things. It was the mailman with a package to Captain J.
Joseph opened this box of curiosity to find a batch of chocolate cookies and a letter that read:
Thank you for saving me and mama. You are a good hero.
“Well...it can’t be all that bad,” he muttered to himself and took a bite of the treats.
“It wouldn’t hurt you to do it right? I mean, it would only take you a few seconds, swoosh and you’re done!” insisted the round-faced lady wearing a hat pierced with feathers of lord-knows-what type of birds.
“No,” said Joseph sternly. “What I’m trying to say, is that you shouldn’t abuse a superhero's time for unnecessary problems.”
“Unnecessary?” said the lady with a higher pitch. “Are you discriminating me?”
The arguments dragged on and finally ended with Joseph, more known by his alias Captain J, saving the cat and fly away in search of crimes and other turbulences in town.
Being a superhero was really strange for him. The first was that no one fell for his disguise. Someone had noticed him changing in an alley, took a picture of it and uploaded it to Twitter. That was Joseph’s first day as a superhero.
The second thing was how the social media controlled everything. His awkward twitter-account gained millions of followers in a few weeks and if he didn’t tweet about his regular patrols people would whine and write mean comments on his feed.
Sure it was fun to be a social media star combined with being a hero, at least it was in the beginning. Especially when he could post a picture of eating a burger and people would shower him with praise and fun comments.
But of course, there was a dark side. For example regarding that burger picture. Not a week after there was a debate on prime time TV regarding Captain J’s diet, how it would affect his fans negatively, and accusations that Burger King was sponsoring him, “#captainsellout” was trending for that week… The whole media thing has scarred Joseph for life. He doesn’t even dare to read the comments anymore…
Suddenly the Captain caught wind of a sharp smell of smoke drifting in the air. He turned towards the direction of the source and saw a stripe of black fume erupting from a building. He flew towards the building only to almost lose balance by the force of exploding flames shattering the windows. The glass shards wasn’t that much of a problem for Joseph but the heat was on another level. He glanced down towards the ground to see fire trucks on their way and crowds gathering. It seemed like there weren't persons inside the building anymore, but he flew a couple of rounds around the building just in case, scanning for wounded civilians. His ears picked up the sound of a raspy “help” from inside the building and without a second to spare he dove through a window into the flames.
The insides were an inferno of red and orange with black smoke looming from the ceiling, forcing Joseph to stop flying or else swallowing the dangerous fumes. He ran from room to room while calling for the civilian but no responses were heard. As the buildings supporting-beams started to crackle and burst, Joseph noticed a hunched figure in the bathroom, seemingly covered in towels. As Captain J grabbed hold of the hunched figure he noticed it was an unconscious woman holding a child in her arms.
He picked the woman with the child up in bridal style and prepared to run for the nearest exit only to notice the ceiling collapsing on top of him. The Captain dodged it nimbly while still carrying the civilians but the exit was now blocked and the heat and smokes were turning critical. He turned towards a wall and gave it a mighty kick. As the wall crumbled, the colours of the blue sky outside spread across his vision and with a single leap he took to the clouds.
The aftermath was of the usual. The building collapsed and the fire brigade extinguished the last of the flames. Captain J was a hero whom everyone cheered for, wanting to get a photo or a selfie with him before he flew away. Joseph waved for a few pictures and signed some autographs but left before every fan was satisfied.
The fire was the main topics for the news the next day. The reporters talked about how it happened and how to avoid it in the future. Luckily, no one was badly injured, there were only five people that had inhaled too much smoke but they were recuperating fine at the hospital. There were of course discussion about Captain J. Sure, he saved two civilians, that’ should get praise but his “exit” damaged the neighbouring building, the owner demanded compensation. There were further discussions about how much collateral damage the hero is allowed to do and should the government really support such neglectful behaviour but Joseph turned off his TV before they reached a conclusion.
He just sighed to no one at his home in his lonesome. Can’t watch TV or even surf the internet without seeing himself as a topic.
A ringing from the doorbell made Joseph stop thinking about unnecessary things. It was the mailman with a package to Captain J.
Joseph opened this box of curiosity to find a batch of chocolate cookies and a letter that read:
Thank you for saving me and mama. You are a good hero.
“Well...it can’t be all that bad,” he muttered to himself and took a bite of the treats.
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