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RedChessQueen t1_j58l681 wrote

It's been a long time since my "nemesis", Rodger Dodger- darkened my door.

Back in my youth, I was the Scourge of Cities, rebuilding metal into something beautiful without thought of those that resided in those skyscrapers I took for slag. My powers were beyond anyone in the world. No one could match my level. No one could stop me turning it all into what I desired. I desired domination of all so I can take what was broken and repair it.

These skyscrapers could have been homes for the homeless. These supermarkets with food abundance should be free so no one starved. When there was hoarded abundance I would fix the problem. It wasn't fair. It was never fair.

RD changed my mind. Asked me why break and rebuild when I could use what was there and gently nudge it into place. Why not equip others with the skills they would need to make the world a better place? I couldn't watch and make sure it all stayed in place forever.

So I shed the identity of the Scourge of Cities, to become something... smaller. Sillier. Something harmless.

I like to think of myself as a dungeon master, guiding hero's through trials. I get them to work together, work on their flaws, realize their strengths. I run them around, push them to their limits- but they were never in danger. Their success was my success. It ment they could put those skills to work. Make the world a better place.

And sure, sometimes I do things such as make all the furniture in a heroes apartment stick to the ceiling. A minor inconvience to their day when I'm feeling like Cadet Marsha has got a stick up her ass. Sometimes I needed a laugh.

A generation passed. Maybe two? The faces blur together, the spandex recycled. Cadet Marsha, Cadet Marshall- they pass on identies. RD was immortal like robots would be. He watched over the heroes, fighting their battles- and I would give those heroes the needed training they would need to face threats that without me they would be ill equipped for.

So I decided. If the heroes where having children, passing on their knowledge and experience, why couldn't I do the same? So I made a child. I raised them, showed them everything I knew, to create from their surroundings. To build, to plan-

And on their first time out, their villainous laugh still off pitch and their powers still unmastered- they were killed.

"It was an accident." RD told me.

Accident? No. It was not. They used deadly force. I had watched it from the cameras of the museum they had fought in.

"I missed out on my date because of some Jester wannabe?" One of the teenagers yelled. "Fuck it, wrap it up. I want to go back to the diner."

My child dodged their attacks, because they still didn't know their own strength, didn't want to damage the artefacts around them. And when they stopped to speak they managed to pin them-

"Accident." I repeated.

And since they always defeated me, as I yell out curses as I disappeared into a puff of smoke in a theatric way- they didn't see me as an actual threat, just a nuisance villain of the week to dispatch of and move to the next. This new generation wast taking away what I was trying to teach them. So I passed it to my child to deal with them as I began on a project in the desert. Maybe I was to out of touch. Maybe I needed to find new ways to guide the new generation. The same tricks become passed down and easier to manage.

I should have trained my child better. I should have been here.

"It wasn't fair." I said, sheding the Jester persona, feeling how my body itched like it had been held too tightly for years.

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RedChessQueen t1_j58o06y wrote

Each new group of heroes I train always ask me the same thing. "How did you defeat the Scourge of Cities."

And I would always tell them the same thing. "I spoke to It."

Words can do what fists could not, come to a peaceful solution.

It's been too long. The new age of heroes, teenagers- had not been alive when Scourge had been active. They didn't know the sheer volume of power It held back because it only wanted to reshape the world, not destroy it.

Jester was a nuisance, made to teach heroes patience, teamwork, and that there was always another way to solve things then dashing head on into it.

Children always want to be like their parents. The golden age of heroes was coming to an end. Their parents had succeeded in making the world a little better, each generation there was something new to repair, the big villains defeated, the maniacs with massive power, the greedy ones in suits preventing the world from flourishing replaced with kinder souls.

In the end, this was inevitable. There was nothing heroic left to do. I had heard some of the younger ones saying that using their powers to clear out tsunami wreckage was beneath them, that they could be doing something far more important.

They weren't learning like their parents had. I should have known this was coming, when Cadet Marsh had asked me "how did you Kill the Scourge of Cities?"

So now I sat in the living room of the Scourge- Jester. The apartment was... homely. Comfortable. I saw pictures on the wall, of It's human form and a child.

The first time we lost a hero to death, Jester appeared to me, upset. "I'm sorry. I didn't prepare her enough."

We grieved together. It showed humanity I didn't think It capable of.

So I was here to beg It to hold onto that humanity. To not avenge their child.

"Please." I said. "Understand. It was truely an accident."

"Oh. You're worried I'll kill them in retribution." It said. "Don't worry. I don't plan to kill them. They can't learn if they're dead, but if they do so happen to fail..."

And with that final word, they disappeared. The apartment empty, only hollow memories remained.

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RedChessQueen t1_j58o9uj wrote

Notes: I like the concept. Robot and inhuman showing humanity. Two guides on different sides. Inheriting identities, and as generations pass the generations change. The same tricks won't work because they've learnt from their parents.

I might work on this in my own spare time. It was fun figuring out the history of this world and heroes that I didn't manage to write down here.

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whysys t1_j59047j wrote

I really enjoyed this concept and your working of it! Please let me know if you write more, I got a great sense of the world building already so I'd be so keen to read anymore of your creation. Also, this did cover the world and the loss, but I'm still v. thirsty for the revenge (or teaching moment) etc.

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