nexus_sages | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

A young man sits on one of the many couches in the Forum, and sighs at a notebook in his hands. The page is full of scribbled-out text, pages and pages of it. The pages are dog-eared and a bit ragged, indicating he's been using this notebook for a while.

"How can it be this hard to think of a good name for a secret identity?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It is, actually. My dad and my cousins all have 'Super' names." He's a little defensive, as he's very proud of his family ties. Sure, it's unoriginal, but it's important to him.

Jon tilts his head slightly. "Isn't that kind of long for that kind of name?"

He shrugs, waving Jon's question off. "Most people just call me Sonic. But that doesn't make me any less proud of my name and title."

In the blink of an eye, he's moved to the front of the couch, seemingly without even changing his pose. "It suits me, after all."

But showing off doesn't really help Jon, so he circles the young man at much more normal pace, cupping his chin thoughtfully. "Having other family members with the same title means that most of the good combinations are already taken up. Do you have a skill that you excel at that makes you stand apart?"

Jon has superspeed too, so Sonic's speedy movement doesn't really catch him off-guard. "Well I have a lot better singing voice than my dad ever has, but that doesn't really help."

Jon's lack of a response to his speed is a little off-putting. Very few people back home can keep up with him, and it's a point of pride for him. Still, it wasn't like he was going all out or anything, he guesses if someone is using the "Super" adjective as a title, they ought to be able to back it up.

He's still going to sulk a little.

"It could, if you're creative," he says, tapping his chin as he thinks. "Singing is often tied to popular idols, is it not? You could be Superstar."

"I could, but I don't plan to do much singing when I'm using a super-name," he points out, raising an eyebrow. "It's not really a power, it's just something I can do."

"Superstar is still used for high-quality performers of any kind," Sonic counters, shifting his weight to his other hip. "And that's what you'll be doing as a hero, isn't it? Performing a service for the greater good, or whatever it is that motivates you."

"But if you don't like it, try considering what's important to you? What's motivating you to become a hero? Do you belief in truth, justice, and freedom? Or is it just because it's tradition."

"Tradition's part of it, but I guess it's not really why," Jon says, giving it some serious thought. "Justice is pretty important to me, and so is helping people when they can't do something for themselves. I guess I want to help people because I can, and it's the right thing to do."

"Good reasons." Better than at least 2/3s of the Hero Association heroes, anyway. He can respect someone who stands by their convictions, even if he doesn't agree with them. "Not very helpful, though."

"The problem with Super is that there's only so many things you can slap it on that don't sound utterly ridiculous. Superman has a ring to it; Superplumber does not."

"...Do you have a costume yet?"

Jonathan agrees wholeheartedly where the root of the problem is. "Yeah, it's pretty limited."

He shakes his head at the last question. "Not yet, but I do know I want to include the family crest. That's tradition too." He turns the notebook again so Sonic can see the S-in-a-pentagon symbol again.

Edited 2016-03-15 03:33 (UTC)

"An S, is that it?" He flicks the emblem with a small scoff. "It's simple, but certainly unmistakable. It might allow you to open up to other heroic S words, like Shield of Justice or Strikeforce or-"

He pauses, blinking his eyes owlishly. "Oh. Superstrike, if you want to work the strength angle. Superstreak for speed.

Jonathan quickly writes those down. "See, that's already better than half the suggestions I've gotten since I started thinking about this."

"Titles are important in my village." He shrugs. "We earn them through our skills and accomplishments, and they're as much a part of our identity as any given name. I could do better if I knew more about you, such as what you can do, and how you wish to be seen."

"That'd make it easier, yeah. Kind of hard to get all that across without lots of time though." Still, he can try. "I don't have all my dad's powers, but I do have some of them. I'm fast, strong, I can fly, and I can't be hurt easily."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only