HEROism

Sigrun looked around her small meeting room at the group that had responded to her invitation. "Hi." She spoke with confidence, but with a certain uncertainty about where exactly she was going. She had thought through how to address everyone in depth, figuring out four or five different approaches just to make certain that she'd have something to say when everyone was gathered. Unfortunately, now being presented with the group in front of her, every plan vanished from her mind. No matter, she thought, she'd just wing it.

"Thank you, everyone, for responding to my invitation. I know I was a bit cryptic about what all this was about in the message itself, but I didn't want any of this getting out before we all had a chance to discuss it." Although she didn't mention K specifically by name, she was definitely who Sigrun was thinking about when she talked about news getting out. "In short, I've been thinking a lot recently about how New Lyon doesn't have a regular team of heroes upon whom it can depend when problems arise." 'Ooh, that sounded good.' Sigrun thought, giving herself a mental pat on the back. "While we've been getting by with the impromptu team-ups ever since the Silent Warriors disbanded a few years ago, it struck me that a permanent team would probably help us deal with our problems. I don't know if anyone here has been keeping up with the statistics, but powered crime is way up here in New Lyon over the last few years, and in the last nine months or so, mundane crime has been following suit. This problem needs a solution, and I think we can be this solution. I've been combing over HERO's files for the last while, and that, coupled with my personal dealings with all of you, has led me to believe that we might work well together. Well... what do you say?"

Her bit finished, Sigrun looked around the table and waited for responses.

Blackbird listened carefully to Sigrun while taking a look at the others in the room. She thought she recognized most of them. Once Sigrun finished she gave a small smile and said,

"Sounds good to me."

Gungnir looked around the table from the privacy of her goggles. Though she had herd of most of the others at the table, one in particular, she was always uncomfortable around relative strangers. She pushed those thoughts aside however, because she trusted Sigrun's judgement. That, and though she hated to admit it, her heroing was starting to get past what she could handle on her own.

"Sounds good to me." She said, keeping the unease from her voice.

The Enigma looked up from where she was leaning against the wall, her piercing blue eyes studying Sigrun from behind her mask. She looked around to observe her fellow heroes who had been called. Although she wasn't fond of admitting it, she did need help. Although her powers kept her at a distinct survival advantage, she had no way to take things to the offensive apart from her rudimentary martial arts training. She needed a team, one that could help make up for her current dependencies, at least until she could find someone else to help her manipulate her powers artificially. To that end, she spoke in a cool and collected tone, giving very little of her true feelings on the matter away, "A team, eh? Well, I suppose that would be prudent. As you said, powered crime has risen greatly over the course of the last few years, at the very least a team would act as a deterrent."

"That's the hope, certainly." Sigrun said, "And, of course, when that doesn't work, this seemed like a sensible collection of people to put a stop to anyone who still insists on doing criminal activities."

(Note: I will wait ~2 days from posting this to move the story forward. If you want to be at this meeting, say something now if you haven't already.)

Kay drummed her fingers, head cocked to one side.

"What's the financial backing look like? Is HERO putting up the cash, or are we expected to do this all ourselves? And are we doing full or part time?"

"Financial backing is limited, but not nonexistent." Sigrun replied. "We'll be saving HERO significant resources by being a team ready-to-go, and we'll get a decent chunk of that to work with, but for a team of this size, we'll probably still need more than that to be comfortable. Thankfully, I personally am able to contribute a good sum, and I believe that there are other options available to us that I can't disclose at this time, but should result in more resources at our fingertips. That said, of course, if you have any ideas for raising our net cash, I'd never say no to hearing what you've got. As for full- or part-time, well, we'd be on call, just as we already are, when it comes to the heroing. For the most part, we probably wouldn't have to do too much of that. Major issues that would require the whole team generally only happen once every few months."

Sigrun thought for a moment. "That said, by being an official team, we'd be able to pool our resources such that we should also be able to perform better individually, so there's good reason for our association to go beyond being purely formal. Additionally, if we're going to be working together when the stakes are as high as they can get, I'd like to know the people at my side better than if I only see them every few months."

"Of course, considering your particular approach to being a hero, K, you're probably asking after a brand, yes? If so, I'm not proposing that you necessarily be subsumed under the umbrella of... whatever our team is to be called, should it form, but that generally is what happens to some extent. That said, your decreased individuality as a hero, generally should be more than compensated for by your being a part of a large team. As I'm sure you know, there's usually much more attention put on big teams than on individual heroes, and, for someone as... flashy as you, I don't see why you couldn't parley into more media attention on you. Is there anything else about that I haven't answered?"

Kay nodded.

"Teams do bring in good revenue. Even more so for us, given I have an established base already. Give me control over image and marketing and I guarantee we'll be making up any shortfall within six months. Though we might have some trouble with the kid-friendly market." She smirked and gestured to her clothing, a pair of short, high-waisted shorts and a black top that looked something like a cross between a string bikini and a sports bra.

Sigrun blushed slightly at Kay's gesture and comment. "Yes, well, unless you're willing to change your costume, I suspect you're right. As for the rest of us... well... We'll see how marketing us as a team goes."

Sigrun looked once again over the group gathered before her. Red Mirage had never showed up, but otherwise everyone had come. "So," she began, "I take it then that we're all, at least tentatively, in?"

Blackbird gave a nod, blushing slightly at the topic of conversation. To hide her embarrassment she pulled out a few tools and began some work on a small gadget she'd had in her pocket.

Gungnir laughed. "Oh good, I was worried I'd have to can my pitch for a pinup catalogue." She said jokingly.

Kay smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, pin-up poster sets were one of my plans for merchandise."

At that Blackbird's head shot up, her eyes wide she said,
"What?"

Sigrun blushed a deeper shade of red. "That would be..." She paused to take a breath and gather her wits, "Probably best tabled for the time being. Figure out... just what our brand is going to be before we start going into the details of marketing and merchandising."

Gungnir doubled over with laughter.

Kay's eyebrows raised further at the reaction and the corners of her mouth turned up with amusement.

"I'm not talking Playboy calendars here. Fifties-style, maybe art nouveau, in full costume. But yeah, we can deal with that later."

Sigrun's blush persisted. "I wasn't suggesting... Let's move on. You are all in, yes? I would like positive confirmation before I move on to the next order of business."

"Move on already? I was enjoying all the blushing and excuses for checking people out," Enigma said, and the rest of those gathered could practically hear the smirk on her lips. "I will join you."

"Excellent, thank you." Sigrun said, clearly relieved to be back on task, "Gungnir and Blackbird, I'm assuming you haven't changed your mind, so K, that just leaves you. Are you in?"

Kay nodded. "Yes, I'm in, provided I get a say over our marketing and image."

"Everyone gets a say; we'll be at least somewhat democratic about things." Sigrun said. "That said, so long as no one else particularly wants to deal with that, you'll probably have a fair amount of freedom there. You'll have to make sure people sign off on your ideas, but provided you're not asking for absolute control, I don't see any issue with your request."

"Oooooh, isn't it all exciting!" Enigma said with feigned excitement before addressing Sigrun. "Now is there anything else, oh fearless leader?"

"Well, there's quite a lot that needs doing, actually." Sigrun said, "We need to figure out a team name and officially register with HERO, we need to assign team roles and go over contingency plans for various situations we may find ourselves in, we need to figure out our team aesthetic and decide if our costumes are going to remain as they are, or change to something more cohesive... the list goes on quite a ways. Also, I'm not your leader. I'm just leading things now because it was my idea. Once we get into assigning roles, we can discuss who the leader is, if we even want to have one; we could go without if people prefer."

"I'd assume my role would be the tech side of things," Blackbird said, looking up from her fiddling and placing the small gadget down on the table as she spoke. A small red light flashed periodically on the top, yet nothing else seemed to be happening.

"And what of me?" Enigma questioned, tilting her head to the side, "I don't have Blackbird's techy know-how, or Kay's Market Sense, and I'm probably the most limited combat-wise going forward right now..."