"Good Morning Boot." I said, hoping to scare the pip squeak in front of me. His skin looked like it stuck to his bone. No muscle, not at all. 'They really are letting in anyone now, aren't they?' I thought as I stood close towering over the boot. I waited as i looked at the frightened man. He won't survive here long like this. Strike One. I counted in my mind.
I could see the fear rising within him but he turned to me and looked at me straight in the eye. I swear, he looked familiar.
??? [Fear, Slight Anger] : "Yes, sir-"
"Did i say you could speak boot? " I got close in his face hoping he gets the message that we don't need wusses in here. This is the damn police force. "They really are letting anyone in the force now, aren't they? What's your power? Flight? Speed? or are you just a lowly sidekick?" I watched, waiting for his reaction.
??? [Annoyance] : Sidekick.
He said quietly but with an edge. Strike two.
"Watch your tone, boot. Keep up the attitude and you'll wash out just like everyone expects you to." I rebuked, glaring at the man. "Pray you don't end up my sidekick. I'll work you to the bone until you can't feel your damn legs."
But instead, he just chuckled loudly in what looked like fear and confusion and those nearby were watching interestinngly.
??? [Anger, Fear, Confusion, Annoyance] : "Uh... Haha. Then I'll start praying then."
He moved his hands like some feminine twink as he gestured himself. The audacity of this son of a bitch. It's a fact that Sidekicks never insult a hero superior. I looked at my friends behind me who were all ready to beat this dude down a peg but he slinked away like a rat.
We all were thinking the same thing.
Strike Three. He definitely won't survive here.
I walked through the bullpen flashing a few smiles to the men and women who walk past. Sure, we didn't speak much but keeping things amicable with everyone is a necessary step to be a good hero and we all weathered many storms together.
Captain Friez [Hopeful, Sad]: "Officer Patel."
"Yes sir?" I walked to the Captain's office.
Cap Friez: "I got your test results of the captain's exam"
He threw the envelop on the Table passing it to me. I took a breath in as I steadied myself. I ripped the envelop open and saw that I passed. Wow.
"I passed." I said, smiling, letting out a breath, i didn't know i was holding.
Cap Friez: "Good work. There will be many openings in the other cities. I'll let you know the dates."
He pat my shoulder before walking back. I saw the photo of him and his daughter on the desk.
"How's your daughter?" I said. His daughter got caught in the crossfire in the protests that had been growing. Those bastards.
Cap Friez [Melancholic, slight tinge of Guilt]: "Good. Better than yesterday.... Her legs are fine."
"Is something wrong, sir?"
Cap Friez [Guilt]: "Nothing. Let's go."
"What happened to her.... wasn't your fault sir.-" I knew it wasn't good to butt in. But I needed him to know I was there.
Cap Friez [Angry]: "Roll call in 10."
The silent dismissal unnerved me but I walked out just twinkle toes walk past me quickly to the front as he sat beside the blonde haired girl.
Jess : "Who are you betting on? How's the Nerd?" Jessica, said her hair done in her bun as she nodded to the front row. Twinkle toes was taking out his notepad like some kind of kid at his first day in school
"Mr. Nerd won't survive a day here." I crossed my arms glaring daggers at the man who twitched. It was like he could tell i was watching him. "What about the blondie?"
Jess : "She's alright. Although she often goes on tangents. She's one of the people from the disabled reservations." Right. In the news, they said disabled people will get more opportunities. More like a waste of money. I'm all for giving disabled people jobs. But not jobs which they clearly won't do well in.
Captain Freiz [Neutral]: "All right, settle down. We got a lot to cover today." A pale yet healthy man stood at the podium was checking out the rookies. "We have two new rookies today. Stand up and state your name and badge and Power you hold."
The boy let the girl speak first. 'What a gentleman', I mocked in my head.
Alexandria [???]: "My name is Alexandria Briggs, Badge number 29283. Sidekick. I have the power to make people feel what i want them to feel"
Her emotions.... I can't read them. Her eyes look straight ahead as she addressed us. My eyebrow raised as she looked directly at the man and Twinkle toes smiled as if he were in pure bliss.
Captain Freiz [Stoic] : Very nice. Now let the other rookie speak.
She looked away and the man-child glared at her,which she funnily ignored before taking a breath and speaking.
Ash [Nervous, Excited] : "My name is Ash Bloomfield, Badge number..... uh. 5. no. 28394? or was it 5? But i'm also a sidekick and I don't have any powers."
Powerless and useless, could this guy be anymore embarrassing? Jessica tapped my shoulder.
Jessica: "Dibs on the emotionless girl."
I only sighed as i looked straight ahead and heard a few whispers.
"Ash.... Ash. I heard that name somewhere."
"Bloomfield. Wait, he's the brother of Justin Bloomfield!"
Justin? Justin and I weren't friends but we relied on each other for the fight again Gravitas, the villain who manipulated gravity using the city like playdoh. Everyone had looked to the sky finding Justin, Marvel Man, zooming across as he saved people. The clouds adding to the intense marvel. Everyone loved him. If they couldn't love him, they had to respect him. The guy is a complete humility abyss. He would always make the hardest decisions with a smile and a sound mind.
But he never mentioned he had a brother.
Captain Friez [Curious]: "What's this about a Leaky faucet?" It seemed the whispers caught wind of the captain and everyone was silent.
Ash [Embarrassed] : "Nothing, Sir."
"It's not nothing, is it?" One of the Slug cops spoke up. "I heard you pissed yourself in the academy"
Everyone's ears were now on alert. Piss himself? Some even snickered.
Ash [Embarrassed and Pissed]: "I did not!"
Slug [Arrogant] : "Not what the instructors said."
Captain Freiz himself was kind of appalled as he looked at Ash. People weren't even hiding their amused yet disgusted smiles. Worthless slugs. They just love any drama they can suck on and do the bare minimum of policing. I looked at the man who just looked at us like we were scum. I couldn't even believe I actually felt back for the wuss.
Captain Friez [Uncomfortable]: Enough. We have a committement to protect and serve our people. Let's deal with that now. Sit down, Lea- I mean, Ash.
But the damage was done. The dude looked like he was about to cry right then and there. I could sense the defiance in his body and the heat in his face.
Captain Friez [Neutral]: Now, for the matchmaking. Officer Briggs, Officer Hawthorne. Officer Bloomfield, You get Officer Patel.
He looked at me with his eyes that looked already tired. I internally chuckled. He is gonna quit so fast.
But i could tell he was holding it all in and we both knew this was not going to go well.
Captain : Today is your first day. Don't waste it. I refuse to make assumptions because you have earned the right to be here but you will have to do what we all do, prove yourself and follow the traditions of the PFPD. That's it.
He took a hard look at Ash before dismissing everyone. We've had old rookies, fat rookies..... and now a rookie with no sense of bladder control or respect.
"Didn't pray hard enough, did you? Let's go, Leaky Faucet." I mocked him and a few people laughed. He could glare daggers at me all he wants. This is the police. We got no time for wusses. I can definitely keep the man in line now.
I made him grab the war bags as we stalked over to the shop. His eyes fixated to the floor, from shame and anger.
"This isn't a car. It's your shop. You work here." I could see the boy was fuming. I didn't even need to use my power of emotional knowledge to know that. He dropped the bags in the trunk a little too hard.
I stomped in front as i towered over him.
"Officer Bloomfield. You think I care if you're an emotional wreck right now?" I spat out. "Nobody cares what the hell you are or who you are, so lose the attitude." He was clearly biting the inside of his cheek. He wanted to lash out.
Ash [Annoyed, Anxious] : "If people didn't care, they wouldn't have done that"
"But they did. What the hell are you gonna do huh? Be a villain? Kill them for making a harmless joke like that goddamn butterfly killer?"
God. I felt my anger rise as i thought of that shithead. The butterfly killer is a cruel woman. She isn't below raping, killing or anything. She was a case i couldn't crack. I didn't really care much about her. Heroes make the hard calls. But when she started her avalanche of doom, she spit on all the hardwork we heroes do. All the Sacrifices we are forced to make. I shook myself free from my own thoughts as i came back to the rambling.
Ash [Pissed] : "It wasn't exactly harmless, dipshit. This is bullying-"
"Get used to it. There will be a significant amount of people who don't care about your damn feelings. Find the ones that do."
Ash [Defiant] : "So someone other than you?"
The backtalk was getting on my nerves. "Exactly. I'm here to train you. Not babysit you." That seemed to shut him up as he blinked a few times.
The man looked at me and tears did streak down his face. I almost felt bad but he needs to know that everyone here is gonna speak disrespectfully because everyone's fucking stressed. It's not personal.
"You're going out into the world into stressful situations, the last thing a person needs is a hero or sidekick who can barely do their own damn job. People are going to scream, swear and break you down. You will rise above it or i will be forced to remove you from the program!"
He looked straight at me, refusing to look down as he wiped his tears.
Ashwin [Annoyed, Calm] : Sorry.
He brought out a stoic mask, him looking straight ahead while he shut his lips together to keep from crying which i knew wouldn't last a single second. 'Was he serious?', I felt my face drooping slightly from the physically weight of having to babysit. Rookies and Boots being emotional wasn't an issue in the military, well that was because you had no other option but to deal with it.
I forced myself to move on.
"Check the car to see if the suspect has left anything behind and check the car for dents, log it in if you find anything." He does it efficiently, but i can tell he's not listening
"Good, now what else do we need, Officer Bloomfield?" I snapped my fingers. "Focus."
His voice cracked unintentionally as he spoke, counting with his fingers
Ashwin [Apathetic, Dejected] : "Police tape. Road flares and The Inenginum fluid to stop the power of any suspect that could have any powers."
So he isn't fully checked out. I sighed internally, after defiance, I bet he's now complaining in his mind. We got the car ready as I sat in the driver's seat. "Let's go. We've got people to save and order to keep."
The hum of the engine surrounded us for quite a bit as i contemplated what to do with this.... thing. Sidekick, he says but clearly, he can't be trusted to be the rock any hero needs. Sidekicks are what they are. They are to be to the side. To be the rock the hero needs to come to heal and come back even stronger. Heroes can't truly relax if their damn sidekick is too busy leaking rivers out of their eyes and making mountains out of mole hills.
"Why are you here?" I said as we drove around looking for trouble.