“A true hero is not defined by their strength, but by their ability to inspire and lead others.”- Mahatma Gandhi, Speech at Kingsley Hall (1931)
October 26, 2019,
12:35 local time,
Hutton Household,
Dover, England
Cuddles walked
purposefully towards the door. She was shapely and athletic, and no qualms
about showing it off, wearing nothing but a bikini top and bottom, boots and
sleeves on her arms that wrapped around her neck and connected with the top of
the bikini. She wore her blonde hair in a ponytail, tied with a bow with ankle
high-heel bots on her feet. Her face was painted white with blue shadowing
around her eyes and her cheeks and dark red lipstick. She had small red hearts
on both of her cheeks and the red outline of a heart on her forehead, with blue
streaks emanating from it and the design of a yellow eye with a blue iris
inside of it. Her outfit was almost entirely blue, with a heart pattern on her
bikini, with purple hearts at the centre of both breasts and the front of her
panties.
On her backside was
another purple-coloured design, but this time it was of lips. Cuddles did it
that way as a message to anyone who criticized her work, letting them know how
confident she was in her work.
At least how she
normally felt...tonight it felt different.
Cuddles rang the
doorbell and let out a breath. Josh Hutton answered the door and gave Cuddles a
hug, which she needed, before letting her in. Once inside, she went to the
family room to meet with Josh's parents, Keith and Stella, to give them an
update about their daughter Paige, who had been missing for well over four
months now.
“Glad to see you,
Cuddles,” said Stella, as the Huttons sat on a couch opposite Cuddles.
“Glad to see you too,
Keith, Stella and Josh,” said Cuddles with a smile. “How have you guys been
doing?”
“Oh,” said Keith,
“we're managing. It hasn't been well, but we realize the longer we go not
knowing she's dead the more hopeful we get.”
“...and we're trying to
stay hopeful,” said Josh.
“Well that's good,”
said Cuddles. “I know hope without knowledge is an empty feeling, but
positivity is going to help you endure the hard times. The worst you can do is
succumb to the negativity and let it drag you down.”
“We know the
statistics,” said Stella wistfully.
Cuddles let out a sigh
and put her hand to her chest.
“I know,” she said,
feeling Stella's concern, “but remember many kidnap victims have come
home. That's what you need to focus on...Paige is coming home.”
Stella let out a huff.
“I hope you're right,”
she said. “Tell me you have something.”
Cuddles smiled and
looked at the family warmly.
“I do,” said Cuddles,
“it's not much, but I may have been able to track the last person to have seen
her alive.”
“OK,” said Keith. “Do
talk.”
“She was working one
night by the Cliffs,” said Cuddles, referring to Dover's famous White Cliffs,
“hoping to catch the eye of one of the tourists. Two days before you reported
her missing, a Laker national named Fred picked her up and drove her into
town...after that, no one knows where she went. Her fellow prostitutes tried to
inform the police but no one would take up her case.”
Josh gave his head a
shake, but soon the whole family wore perplexed, shocked looks.
“Why didn't the police
take up the case?” said Josh.
“Hold on, hold on,”
said Keith, waving out his hands to grab everyone's attention.
“Cuddles...you're saying Paige was a prostitute?”
“You didn't know?” said
Josh, turning to Keith.
“Uh,” said Stella,
giving Josh a look, “you did?”
Josh looked at his
parents with looks of incredulity.
“You never noticed
she'd leave for days, sometimes even weeks at a time,” said Josh, as if
everything he said was obvious, “dolling herself up and wearing next to
nothing...then coming back with all this cash? How could you not know?”
Stella let out a few
breaths and both she and Keith were still in shock.
“I,” said Stella,
“I...I don't know. I always assumed she had a boyfriend or something...she's a
grown adult, she doesn't need Mummy or Daddy to make decisions...she can handle
herself on her own.”
“...but Stella
darling,” said Keith. “Making that decision...our baby becoming a harlot?”
“Cuddles,” said Josh,
“I apologize...you've dropped quite the bombshell.”
“It's OK,” said Cuddles
who smiled hesitantly. She wanted to defend Paige by reminding her family that
lots of women have respectful, even lucrative careers as prostitutes but she
didn't wish to trouble the family any more. “Should I go? I didn't realize this
would be such a big deal.”
Keith let out a huge
sigh.
“No no,” he said.
“Rectifying it is our issue...you just gather information...but, uh...why did
Paige start becoming a prostitute in the first place?”
“I didn't answer that
question,” said Cuddles. “I'm more interested in developing a narrative of her
final night before she went missing.”
“Dad,” said Josh, again
as if his statement was obvious, “she was knee deep in student debt.”
“Well,” said Keith,
scoffing, “that's what she gets for taking visual arts! She should have done
something useful, like accounting.”
“Yeah because you're so
happy do that,” said Josh sarcastically.
At this point Cuddles
had enough. She got up from the couch but addressed the family one last time
before she left.
“Listen, guys,” she
said. “You have a lot to digest and I'm going to let you sort that out. I have
a lead with this 'Fred' person...I just need to figure out who he is. I'm going
to meet with the head of the Cliffhangers tonight...if I get anything more,
I'll let you know. For now, please...stay positive and I'm sorry for the
trouble.”
“It's OK,” said Stella
as the family said their goodbyes. “It's not you, it's us. We're grateful for
your work...you actually give us answers, unlike the police.”
“Well,” said Cuddles
with a smile. “I hope to give you more.”
October 31, 2019,
12:02 local time,
Parliament Hill,
City of Marian,
Marian Capitol Region, Republic of Marian
“I shouldn't have to
note the irony of discussing this bill on Hallowe'en,” said People's Party
Leader Ansley Grove, calmly but sternly, referring to the national budget bill
tabled before Parliament. The sweeping bill would set The Republic of Marian's
tax rate at a very low level, but it also established that The Republic of
Marian would not fund anything except law and order agencies and the military.
This meant that The Republic of Marian wouldn't have any kind of regulations on
businesses or on rental accommodations, no minimum wage, no social welfare, no
education funding and no health care funding either. The roads and public
transit systems would also all be tolled, run by private companies.
The budget didn't
actually change the status quo in The Republic of Marian- since the country was
two years removed from a decades-long civil war, the populace was used to not
having much provided by the government, and, despite its meteoric economic
growth, there were questions as to whether or not The Republic of Marian could
even start paying for services.
That still didn't stop
the politicians from, well, politicking.
“You, Oswald,”
continued Grove, “are making the people of The Republic of Marian poorer...I
can think of nothing scarier on a day like this.”
“You know Ansley,” said
Southern Labourer Party Leader Varity Stevens, “we don't agree on much...but
today we agree in full. This bill is a disaster for The Republic of Marian.”
Marianite Prime
Minister Oswald Cobbledick responded with a loud yawn. The election last month
gave Cobbledick's Republic of Marian Party 37 of The Republic of Marian's 60
regional seats (three each from The Republic of Marian's 20 states) as well as
13 of 25 additional seats based on the national popular vote, which doubled as
the vote for The Republic of Marian's head of state, the President (Pancratius
Danilis Ducatus, or Daniel Duke, who received 52% of the vote). With 50 of 85
available seats- as opposed to 13 for the Southern Labourers and 12 for the
People's Party- Cobbledick didn't have to pay any heed to the opposition's
whining.
“Oh is that how
you feel?” said an obviously indignant Stevens. “The concerns of millions
of Marianites who will be put on the streets because of your heinous policies
mean absolutely nothing to you?”
Cobbledick didn't
respond, as he pulled out his cell phone and feigned being immersed in it.
Stevens called out to him five times but Cobbledick refused to pay her any
attention.
Stevens got fed up,
throwing her hands up in the air in frustration before directing her ire at the
President, who sat at a lectern in the middle of the legislature. President
Duke didn't have a vote, but his approval was needed for any bill to pass and his
nominal job was to keep order and decorum in Parliament.
Of course, President
Duke wasn't in any mood to reprimand a member of his own party.
“Miss Stevens,” said
Duke, “Mister Cobbledick does not owe you an explanation.”
Stevens put her hands
on her hips and gave Duke a death glare.
“I beg your
pardon?” she said. “You and your Party definitely owe millions of Marianites an
explanation as to why you are going to continue impoverishing them while your
rich friends can keep swimming in their gold!”
Stevens' statement was
met with thunderous applause from not just the members of her own party but
also the members of the People's Party. They were quickly interrupted.
“Do you want to know
why?” said Finance Minister Edward Nygma, shouting through the applause. “Do
you want to know why?”
After the ruckus died
down, Nygma lowered the tone of his voice, though he remained sternly firm.
“I'll tell you
why!” he said. “What is greater than Jupiter, more evil than Hades, the poor
have it, the rich don't need it and if you eat it, you die?”
Stevens responded with
a facepalm and a head shake.
“Humour me, Riddler,”
she said, using the nickname many often gave Nygma.
“Nothing,” said Nygma.
“The answer is 'nothing'. Meaning, we have nothing in which to pay
for all these nice services that you and your whiny liberal bunch of sore
losers think we should have!”
“Maybe Miss Stevens,”
said Cobbledick with a smug smile, “if your pack of glad-handing, otiose
mooches you call your supporters made better choices in their insufferable
lives they wouldn't need the government to come in with a golden parachute.”
This time it was the Marianite
Party- including the President- that erupted in thunderous applause while the
other two parties were beside themselves in outrage.
“Otiose?” said Grove,
the normally composed politician angrily gesturing at Cobbledick. “Otiose?
Is that what you think of our supporters? Are you so low as to actually
call good, honest, hard-working Marianites useless? Surely you can't be that
daft!”
Cobbledick didn't even
flinch.
“Yes,” he said. “I will
call them useless because- newsflash- they are. Maybe in your socialist fantasy
world they're 'good, honest and hard-working' but reality is here to
remind you that they're really just good-for-nothing malcontents too lazy to
work for anything in their lives. Because if they really were 'good,
honest and hard-working', they wouldn't be poor in the first place!”
Again the legislature
erupted into all-encompassing din, with the Marianite Party offering thunderous
applause while the opposition shouted their displeasure. It soon degenerated
into incessant back-and-forth name calling on both sides as order broke down
completely in the legislative chamber. Duke had to strike his gavel several
times before the insufferable din came to a halt, upon which he ordered all the
members of the opposition to leave the chambers for the day. Normally, such a
matter would go to a vote but the opposition did little to protest given their
dearth in numbers.
Meanwhile, without any
opposition members, the budget bill passed unanimously, with President Duke
signing it into law- with immediate effect- right then and there.
Outside of Parliament,
Stevens and Grove met up, both furious about what happened inside.
“Ansley,” said Stevens,
“I think now may be a great time to think about our parties coming together.”
Grove folded her arms
and looked at Stevens, pondering her request.
“Come on, Ans,” said
Stevens. “You saw how the Marianite Party treated us...they scoffed at us and
rubbed their noses at us with all the power that they have...they're not
interested in working with us at all. They know that as long as we're
divided...we don't pose any kind of a threat.”
“Var,” said Grove, “the
Marianite Party won 52% of the vote. Combined, we only got 45%...uniting our
ranks wouldn't have made a difference.”
“Maybe not this year,”
said Stevens, “but think about next time. How many voters couldn't decide on
one of our parties so they went with the Havenites instead? How many people
thought the left was too divided to operate as a coherent government so they
went with the Havenites instead? How many times did people think, 'there's no
way either the Labourers or the People's Party will win this riding' so they
decided not to vote or vote Aussie? How many times did vote splitting between
our parties end with the Havenites picking up the seat?”
Stevens let out an
exasperated sigh.
“As long as we're
divided the Havenites will run roughshod over us,” she said. “The poor of this
country...they need us...you saw it in there...the time for bickering is
over. I know we have our differences...but we're fighting for the same
goal...what's keeping us apart?”
November 12, 2019,
16:00 local time,
Flavian Amphitheatre,
Roma, Roman Empire
“Hello everyone!” said
the always energetic and perky Valerie Vale, in the dressing room for the The
Bulls soccer club. “I'm Valerie Vale for the Marian Gazette and joining
me is Marian's very own Kyle Edwards!”
She then turned to Kyle
and flashed a wide smile.
“Hello Kyle!” she said
in a shrill that reverberated across the entire room. “How are you doing?”
Kyle smiled, doing his
best not to let his eyes catch a peak at Vale's low-cut top but he wasn't
always successful.
“Oh Vicki,” said Kyle.
“I'm doing wonderful! I'm glad I could join you today.”
“Me too!” said Vale,
who momentarily grabbed Kyle's hand which made his heart flutter. “We have so
much to talk about! I mean, you're the first Marian-trained soccer player to
actually sign with a major club! That must be quite the achievement!”
“Oh it's been a
whirlwind,” said Kyle. “I don't think words can describe all the changes in my
life in such a short order...I grew up idolizing a lot of these guys and to not
just take the field with them or against them but to actually be considered to
be at their level...I mean, there's just no words to describe how crazy that
is. I always had a high opinion of myself but I never thought it was that
high.”
“What's been the
greatest change?” said Vale, “other than the money, of course.”
“Money's not too
shabby, I gotta say,” said Kyle as both he and Vale had a laugh. “Though I have
to say the biggest adjustment I've had to make is realizing just how much work
and time and effort the top players put into the game. Not that I didn't work
hard at Marian City FC or that the guys down there don't work hard...but, when
you get to The Bulls, it's a whole new level of commitment. Some players in the
lower levels of soccer, they can coast on their talent and may not need to work
too hard...but when you get to The Bulls, everyone is an amazing talent and if
you want to play, you always have to be working harder than the next guy.
Because the coach...if they don't like you, they can find someone else, and
find that person easily.”
Kyle then flashed a
beaming smile.
“So I've had to
rededicate myself and learn to eat, sleep and breathe my sport,” he said,
“Which means no clubbing when I've got practice the next day, no McDonald's
binges, and certainly no late night Netflix binges when there's a game
tomorrow. It sounds tough but I wouldn't want it any other way.”
“Well that's great,”
said Vale with a smile, wanting to move on to her next question but Kyle
stopped her.
“You know Vick,” said Kyle,
“before we move on, there's something I have to get off my chest. I'm lucky to
have earned a contract where I'm earning more money than many small countries,
but back home...”
Kyle sighed as he
became downtrodden.
“I want to say that I
am beyond disappointed that The Republic of Marian voted for Daniel Duke and
his party,” said Kyle. “Because it's really sad when a whole country lacks
compassion like my country does.”
“OK,” said Vale,
intrigued by what she was hearing. “Explain, Kyle.”
“When I was in Marian,”
said Kyle, “I lived in poverty. My dad, Alfred, he had to work almost every
waking hour he had just to earn enough money to feed me and my sister, and
sometimes not even that was enough. The reason for that is because his employer
doesn't want to pay him all that much money, so Alfred has to work more hours
than any human ever should...all because Duke's policies force him to operate
like that.”
Vale was struck by Kyle's
candidness. She was worried about delving into politics so early in the
discussion- after all, they were there to talk soccer- but she knew Kyle's take
would be hot not just in The Republic of Marian but worldwide as well, so she
prodded on.
“What is it about
Duke's policies that have hurt your dad so much,” said Vale.
“My dad works as a
butler,” said Kyle, “and he works hard. Real hard. He taught me the meaning of
hard work...but, without a minimum wage, it's up to his employer to determine
how much he actually gets paid for his work. If the employer doesn't want to
pay him that well, then Alfred doesn't have a choice- he has to take what he
can or he gets nothing at all.
“Now, I know what Duke
and his capitalist ilk say in response...if he doesn't like his pay, he should
just quit. Well, when you have a family to feed, is it easy to quit? It's not
easy to find a job, no matter how good the economy is, so if you lose your job,
you'll be looking for several months. That's tough even for a single person,
let alone a single father of two.
“Furthermore...how will
my dad know that someone else will pay him much more to be their butler? Being
a butler isn't a high-skill job...just about anyone could do it. So why would
anyone pay him better than what he already gets?
“Then there's the real
argument that gets me...capitalists will tell me that if my dad 'made better
choices with his life' he would have a better job and not have to be a butler.
Well, let me tell you something...my dad is 40. He had a well-paying job
with the Peace Officers stationed in Marian, but five years ago he failed his
physical so he had to be discharged. Military life was all he knew, so when he
lost that, he didn't know what to do. Becoming a butler was the only thing he could
do...so don't tell me he 'deserves' what he got...and, even if he 'did', it's
downright disgusting to tell someone that the mistakes they made will cost them
forever. Many people...they just want to get back on their feet and make up for
their past...it's time we help them out instead of leaving them out to sea.”
Vale didn't respond
immediately, blown away by Kyle's observations and his take on the situation. This
kid, thought Vale, he's a smart kid...wise beyond his years. He was
raised well.
“I guess the good
news,” said Vale with a smile, “is that in four years, we'll have another
election and you can vote out Duke.”
“No Val,” said Kyle. “I
have no hope for the next election. If Duke won in 2019, he can win in 2023 as
well...I mean, too many people approve of him right now so I'm not sure the
next election will solve anything. In fact, I'm pretty sure it'll just make
things worse.”
Kyle sighed before he
continued.
“What The Republic of
Marian needs,” he said, “is a hero king. Do you know Connie Hedburg of the Vicendum
Chronicles?”
“Hearts,” said Vale,
referring to Hedburg's nickname. “Yes I do.”
“She wrote a profile
about Anatu, the Empress of Assyria,” said Kyle. “Democracy was broken in
Assyria, so they got rid of it and put in Anatu as an absolute monarch and the
Assyrians have been so much better off since. It's mind-blowing just how great
a monarch can be. The Empire of Japan too eschews democracy- heck, they've
never had it- and they're one of the most successful regimes in the world.”
“Yeah,” said Vale, who
often viewed the Vicendum Chronicles with derision owing to its tabloid
style of journalism, “but Assyria was a special case- Anatu would have won the
election there if the people had a real opportunity to vote, and Japan has been
accused of all kinds of human rights abuses. It would be a very hard sell
asking people to give up their right to pick their leader.
“Besides...Hearts
called Anatu the 'Philosopher Queen', and she hasn't exactly been very
democratic. She makes a lot of decisions without consultation...that she winds
up being right about them most of the time is beside the point. Not every
dictator will be that good.”
“Which is why I'm
proposing a new idea,” said Kyle. “It's a hybrid of democracy and absolute
monarchy- the hero king. Unlike the philosopher king, whom we just trust to
make the right decisions, the hero king actively listens to his people before
he makes any decisions. He holds himself accountable to his people and only
rules with their interests in mind. He
serves the people, he doesn't serve himself. Essentially, the philosopher king
gives the people what he thinks they want, whereas the hero king gives them exactly
what they want.”
Vale nodded her head
slowly.
“You have an
interesting position,” she said, “but how would you ensure that the hero king
actually listens to his people and doesn't just pay lip service?”
“Uh,” he said, caught
flat-footed as he hadn't thought of that. “Well, I guess you could have an
elected committee that acts as the king's advisors and the committee could
remove the king if he steps out of line too much...I imagine there'd still be a
constitution and stuff that would stop the king from trampling on rights too
much.”
“That would involve the
king playing along with the rules of the country,” said Vale. “As the head of
state, you have no guarantee of that.”
“I don't know, Val,”
said Kyle. “I need to think about that...all I know is that The Republic of
Marian definitely needs a hero...the poor can't suffer under the tyranny of the
majority any longer.”
November 14, 2019,
00:12 local time,
Unknown building,
Unknown location
“Kyle Edwards,” said
the Marian Gazette's Summer Gleeson to Duke in a video that Endgame was
watching, “said a few days ago that he is 'ashamed' that The Republic of Marian
voted for you, because it means the country has turned its back on the poor.
How do you respond?”
“OK, OK, now listen,”
said Duke. “I don't care what Kyle Edwards says...what does a soccer player
know about running a country? All I have to say is that the poor will be better
off under my policies than any 'pie-in-the-sky' fantasies that the regressives
believe we should be doing. I won't pay Kyle any heed! Next question!”
Endgame closed the
video and shook his head. How ignorant this man is, he thought, and
arrogant...I've never met anyone so callous.
It was at this point
that Cuddles entered the room, having just gotten out of the shower and putting
on some clothes.
“Oh hey Cuddly One,”
said Endgame, turning his attention to Cuddles. “How was the shower?”
“About as great as you
could expect in this old building,” said Cuddles.
“You know,” said Endgame,
“you make a lot of money. I'm sure you could get better accommodations.”
“I won't be here for
long,” said Cuddles. “Don't worry.”
Endgame then got up and
looked her in the eye.
“In that case,” said Endgame,
“why don't you tell me why you brought me here then? Otherwise, my time here
will be more brief than yours.”
“Wyatt,” said Cuddles,
“I'll just cut to the chase. I'm sure you know Rorschach.”
“The Watchman?” said Endgame,
using the other nickname for a masked vigilante known for his research on other
vigilantes and mercenaries like Endgame.
“Yes,” said Cuddles.
“He told me to come find you.”
Endgame laughed wryly.
“You sound so ominous,
Cuddly,” he said. “What aren't you telling me?”
“First of all,” said
Orion, emerging from another room in the loft, “it's Cuddles, not Cuddly...and
there's nothing to hide.”
“Well, f***knuckles!”
said Endgame, with genuine surprise at seeing Orion. “If it isn't Mr. I'm Gonna
F*** Around and Leave a Whole Bunch of Babies In My Wake! What have I done to
earn your most honoured presence!”
Orion chuckled.
“You're funny, Wyatt,”
said Orion. “If we didn't have more pressing matters, I'd shut that dirty mouth
of yours right here, right now.”
“Oh bring it tough
guy!” said Endgame, daring Orion on, “bring it!”
“OK, that's enough!”
said Cuddles, regaining control of the room. “It's about Daniel Duke and The
Republic of Marian...Rorschach didn't elaborate but he believes the problems in
The Republic of Marian could go worldwide, and he says it's time for us heroes
to come together instead of fighting each other. He said he will come here
tomorrow and he'll explain more...but, for now, I need to know- are you with us
or are you against us?”
Endgame stood there,
wondering how to respond. From what he knew of Orion, he knew him to be an
upstanding man who did believe in honour, even if he has issues with familial
commitment. He also knew Cuddles to be an honourable woman herself- after all,
she did save him from Zeke Coleman, whom she could have killed but didn't.
...and if Rorschach
really was coming here, personally, it must be a big deal.
He told Cuddles he was
with her, even though he didn't know what that would really mean. The only
thing he knew is that he was now entering a fight that would be too big for
him, and while there was a lot of unknowns, he couldn't fight it alone.
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