[i] "People ask me all the time, 'What's it like having a god for a parent?" Or well, most people ask me that, others just rave madly at me about false idols and being spawn of the devil and such. But anyway, to answer this question for all time: it sucks. I mean sure being a Demigod, whether from the Olympians or the Aesir, or the Egyptians or the Loa, or any such deity grants you some pretty cool abilities. My dad is the reason I have my strength and durability, and basically all of us are tougher in every way compared to normal humans. But you also get all the baggage. All the old feuds and ancient enemies that your parents do and suddenly you have to fight monsters and undertake ridiculous quests. Sometimes this bleeds over into helping regular people, but most of the time it's because our parents are too damned arrogant and lazy to do stuff for themselves. Most of the time we don't even see our parents, and when we do the majority of them are assholes that you wouldn't even buy milk for. There's a reason a lot of Demigods are pretty messed up psychologically speaking even without all the extra baggage being Superhuman brings. But for me, it just gave me motivation to be something better. Something people could really believe in. Not a petty, arrogant, lusty god. A hero." [/i] - [b] Olympia, the daughter of Hercules, spokesperson for the Demigod community, and founder of the League of Heroes. [/b] 

When Phantom disabled the man holding the detonator Apogee and her team backed her play. They disabled every rifleman in the bus that Phantom missed with speed and skill. The man groaned on the ground, in quite real pain. Nobody expected what Phantom would do next. She pressed the detonator and discovered that Pariah hadn't set up live explosive charges on the bus. He had set up what amounted to a large concussive flashbang that temporarily blinded and deafened everyone in the vicinity and threw back the closest people several feet. Namely, Phantom. It also included a generous dab of the red marker paint that had been in use earlier in the simulation. It painted the whole bus's insides red and also sprayed out and coated everyone around it. 

Immediately the fighting died down as all the trainers saw what happened and abandoned their fighting positions. They all reverted to their regular human forms and quite a few seemed to grit their teeth in anticipation. Suddenly Pariah appeared, whether he had been cloaked by Phantasm or had been in hiding was unclear but the black-suited member of the League was present. 

His orange goggles focused on where Phantom lay and he stood over here, presenting a striking figure as he stood over her and looked down. "If you wish to bad-mouth me, you can do it to my face as useless as your complaints would be. I'm not Zenith. I'm not Olympia. I don't coddle you and try to make you feel special and important. Because you're not. The mission is important. The public is important. Not your own safety and definitely not your own comfort. This is what you signed on for. Today your fellow initiates fought street-level punks and beat them into the ground. And the threats you face probably won't be much worse. But they will be. Eventually you'll be fighting monsters. Real monsters. With power and ferocity and savagery that you can scarcely imagine. We in the League are where we are because we learned, because we trained, because we got better. Do you know how many friends we lost due to rookie mistakes? Due to not preparing for the worst? Due to ego?" 

Pariah leaned in, "I am preparing you for the worst. I am preparing you for the days that when the chips fly down and all that's left between the innocent and pure evil is you. I'm preparing you for the moments when you are broken, bloody, burn out. For the moments when you are near death's door and the odds you face seem impossible. But in those moments, you will either break and give up or you'll grit your teeth and do your duty because you serve a cause greater than your own. Not because you want to be a Hero, but because you have to be a Hero. For their sake." 

"And as such I'm not gentle with you.It is better that you are tempered here than in a real fight when the lives of your friends and the lives of civilians are on the line. Real villains won't hold back. They won't show mercy. They won't pull their punches. They will want to win, and that means killing you. Or worse. So you have to be prepared for that. You weren't in any real danger, here at the Hall we could save you from almost anything. Even I'm not willing to cripple or kill you to prove a point. But your enemies will be. You have to start learning to work together as a team and put your ego aside in order to get the job done. Don't do things out of a personal vendetta. That get's people killed. You nearly blew this assignment for everyone on your team. Especially since you made your move without even consulting with them. That kind of reckless behavior is why street-level vigilantes like you die by the droves. You are going to be the standard of Heroism and you better start acting that way." 

Pariah stared at Phantom, "I won't make any apologies and I don't expect any from you but you damn well better take what I said to heart. I was this close from failing the lot of you but you just barely passed the cut. Even with your little spiteful stunt. Any animosity you may feel towards the trainers you can damn well direct towards me. But you better lock it down, because you are going to follow my orders in the future. You all pass and you can follow Nitrous to the Induction, But you can make a choice, Can you set your personal feelings aside and be a hero for the people. Or can you not? Because the door is right there." 

Chrome had returned to human form and he smiled a little at Furious, "I accept your offer. You gave a good fight kid, and if you ever need a sparring partner you can find me. We'll see if we can also teach you things like humility and patience." Chrome limped a little as he walked forward to Furious and out-stretched his hand. 

All across the training room robots appeared to start repairing the damage and henchmen and trainers got trainees back to their feet. Ember approached Charlotte and Rolling Girl, "Sorry for all the heat but that's just a sign of how much I care. No hard feelings?" Bulwark did the same with Changeling and picked up his hammer offering his hand to the Fae, "Sorry if I came a little close there man." Phantasm appeared next to Strix and smiled, "You were a little hard on Colossus but the big guy doesn't hold a grudge. Hopefully you don't either." Phantasm showed him his pistol and drew out the clip which was loaded with the standard non-lethal rounds, "Even Pariah isn't that crazy. Truce?" 

After that Nitrous the speedster suddenly appeared in the hall and beckoned them to join him. They were lead back to the pavillion where the rest of the heroes were gathered, those on training missions and away teams alike. Zenith stood by Olympia and the Founders along with Pariah who was the last to appear with his training group. Zenith's outfit bore a lot of scratches and marks of a pitched battle but the hero was all smiles. Those from Pariah's group were obviously in worse shape than the other training groups. 

"All of you that stand here today, have proven something. You've proven that you have what it takes to make the hard choices and be the heroes this world needs to protect it from those who would use their power for evil. Whether you proved it in the training halls or in combat, you've all demonstrated you're worth. You are all now official Heroes of the League." Zenith and the Founders clapped and there came a massive round of cheers as the Heroes voiced their approval. Menagerie turned into an Elephant and trumpeted while Aurora lit up rainbow-like fireworks and Rainmaker cleared the skies so the Sun shone directly on the heroes. Those who were left were the cream of the crop, the serious heroes and they were proud. 

Afterwards Psion stepped up and informed them of the Hall's facilities such a dormitories, the cafeteria, recreation areas, and gymnasium as well as the situation room, medical bays, science labs, investigation rooms, and the various other facilities available to them. Blast Girl and other injured heroes were hustled off to provide medical attention and Zenith dismissed the League for the day, informing them of the various activities available to them in the city including the Fortress, the only club and restaurant tailored to Superhumans in the Midwest. The rest of the day was for the newly minted heroes to seize, either to socialize, relax, or explore their new headquarters. 

Before everyone left, Olympia informed the heroes that any that wished to assist in the investigation into the Bank and Mall attacks could meet her in the Situation Room and that was that. The day's challenges were over but there would be more to come.