[center][i][h2]A Reflection[/h2]

[color=lightslategray]"Sir, I don't think you fully understand the situation-"[/color]

[color=7ea7d8]"Quiet down, Hugo."[/color]

Two men were standing in the Director's Office that day. One of them, standing on front of the desk, was a familiar tall, dark-skinned, bald-headed man with a wide-shouldered, robust, and very brawny build- Hugo Powers. He was wearing normal Hugo Powers attire, a forest-green jacket and trousers, with a pair of goggles hanging over his neck. Though he seemed younger then- maybe in his thirties, perhaps- he still had that same, battle-worn expression on his face, and his tense, readied figure and steely eyes corroborated that. On his chest was pinned a fancy golden lapel. 

The other man, sitting down at the Director's desk, was a slightly older man with well-kept silver hair and warmer features. He had cornflower blue eyes and was dressed in a white, button-down shirt, a blazer, a pair of jeans, and loafers- a strange mix to be sure, but one that offered the best of both worlds, with a blend of professional wit and resolution along with casual simplicity and receptiveness. He had lighter skin and, though he was older physically, he seemed younger mentally. He had a joyful, loose look to him and a wide smile plastered on his face. 

[color=lightslategray]"Sir, with all due respect, I think you're not taking this situation seriously enough,"[/color] Hugo said sternly, with the first 5 words of his sentence clearly forced out. He seemed quite cross at something, and was frustrated as well, that much was clear as day.

[color=7ea7d8]"I've taken this situation plenty seriously. I've consulted with the authorities, I've contacted the repair teams, I've arranged for a meeting with the individuals in quesiton-"[/color]

[color=lightslategray]"Again, sir, I still don't think this is serious enough. They destroyed a whole apartment building! The fire department had to haul people out!"[/color]

[color=7ea7d8]"And we've already moved to re-compensate the individuals, we're moving them to new apartments, and we've already-"[/color]

Hugo made a braying noise, much like that a donkey would make when attacked by a fly. [color=lightslategray]"Sir, these people are supposed to be heroes! But the damage they've caused is immense! All to take down one villain!"[/color]

[color=7ea7d8]"They did take down that one villain, Hugo. Professional Proximo is currently being transferred to Coldwater for detention as we speak."[/color]

Hugo grew increasingly annoyed as this suave individual kept talking. [color=lightslategray]"By not punishing these individuals more harshly we are setting a bad example for the entire organization! The news media is going to have a field day about this!"[/color]

The older director chuckled. [color=7ea7d8]"Firstly, the news media could mean less than nothing to me. But I'd like to hear your input. What type of punishment would you administer these people if you were sitting in this chair?"[/color]

[color=lightslategray]"They'd be fired. Suspended, at the very least."[/color]

[color=7ea7d8]"That seems a bit silly to me. What good would they do to the Organization suspended, or fired?"[/color]

[color=lightslategray]"It would be a sign to the rest of the heroes to get their sh-"[/color]

The director quickly shushed the man. [color=7ea7d8]"Let me show you a photo,"[/color] the older man said as he took a photo from his desk and showed it to Powers. It depicted a group of young heroes, perhaps in their early 20s or even their late teens, all posing together for the camera. [color=7ea7d8]"What do you see here, Hugo?"[/color]

[color=lightslategray]"Group of heroes."[/color]

[color=7ea7d8]"You're not wrong. They are a group of heroes. Bonfire, Wildebeest, Clock Man, Electric Whiz, and Galactic Gargoyle. But what's more important is that they're young human beings that are trying to do the right thing. Do they make mistakes? Of course! Are they perfect? Hell no! Are they the most accountable, reliable heroes? No! But you know what I can tell you about each of these individuals?"[/color]

[color=lightslategray]"They do more than a billion dollars of property damage annually?"[/color]

[color=7ea7d8]"No. What I can tell you with absolute certainty is that each of these people have hearts. They have massive hearts. Sometimes it needs to be coaxed out, and sometimes their hearts are a little too big for them to see what they're doing, but they all have hearts. You have a heart. I have a heart. And a lot of these heroes you want to suspend or fire have hearts too."[/color] The man smiled brightly, a profound look on his calm face. [color=7ea7d8]"Someday, you're going to be behind this desk, Hugo, and I hope you realize that while you can train precision and you can train damage control and power and all that, you can't train having a heart. You're born with a passion for doing the right thing. And through the thick and the thin, that passion lives on."[/color]

Hugo nodded slowly, still a bit irate but subdued significantly. [color=lightslategray]"I understand, Director Hart."[/color]

[color=7ea7d8]"Good. Glad you can see what I'm seeing what it comes to heroism. Hopefully you can take this to Hart...haha....take this to heart just a little bit when you end up in this chair, behind this desk. Now, I do have something more important I wanted to talk about."[/color]

[color=lightslategray]"What is it, Director?"[/color] Hugo asked, his seriousness returning to his features, the pensiveness that was previously there vanishing once more and replaced by his usual cold stare. Even the other man seemed to get a bit more serious himself as he procured a manila file from his desk.

[color=7ea7d8]"Zero."[/color]

[color=lightslategray]"Should've known. What about them?"[/color]

[color=7ea7d8]"I have gathered some information on them that I think will be essential. Take a look here."[/color][/i]

[color=ed1c24][  TRANSMISSION END.  ]



[  Ńͮ̚͏͖̭̰͈̥̪͉̹̥I̡̟͕͖̮ͣ͊̎Č̶̴̤͖̰̠̺͈ͥ̍̉̉̈̏Ę̞̟̣̹ͬ̾̌͂ͨ̇̈͗ͥ ̧̨͍̱͚̻͉̦̄̀́́T̄̃̎̿҉̵̨̭R̡̜̣͎̹̓̑Y̹̞͖ͭ̍͢ͅͅ.̺͍̖̝͚̞͕͕̔͊̂ͭ̍͋ ̢̛̼̞͈̍͋̑̑̋̏̈̄́Y̵̩͚̏̈́̓̑͌O̮̭̙͈͎̓ͮ̇̂̐͞Ų̻̟̄̔̕͝ ͎͔͐ͫͭ̕͡T̵͎͍̪͕̈ͩͮͨͮͮ̑͂͢ͅH̷̜̖͗̔͐̐ͨͦO̷̭̜̬̥̝ͫ͑̈̓́͢ͅͅͅṲ̵̬̳̲̲̜̮̳̏̃̕͟ͅG̢̪̳̭͉̞̘̪̳̀̎ͬͤH͓̜̦̦̮̦̙̥̒̿̌T̛̝̬̞̮͓͂̌͐͂ͥ ̐̏ͮ҉̫͓̘͡Y̷̹̻̪̪͈̯̌ͫ̽́́̚̚O̵̦̭̬̞̜̺͔ͯU̯̠̘͈̣͙̖̠ͥͦͥ̊ ͎͙͓̠̗̤̼̼͍̽̿͂͑̏ͩ͊͡H̩̰͚͔̳͈̜̱͌̏ͧ̋ͥ͢Ā̟ͧͤ͘͠D̴̻̯̮̗̼̹͕̰͕̄͗̓ͮ̀͊̿̊́ ̶̨̭̩̥̯̬̠̓̅Ù̪̦̣͈̲̭̿S̿ͫͦͯ҉̵̬̞͙͎̮ ͚̋̒̓ͩ̓ͮ͑̔͘F̦͎͉̫̺̗̊͋͑ͅO͇͉̻͉̻̻̾͛ͮR̨͖ͪ̆̚͜ ̮͙̤̼̲͇͉̟̺̏͞Á͖̺̲͔̪̞̻ ͩ̊ͥͬͪ͏̧̬͚̩̯̮́S͑̐͋́͠҉̫̥̼̲̦E̷̝͉̞͛͐̄̓͗̅̏ͥͣC̡̮̙͎̞̭͑ͨͯͣͦ͊̔ͥͅO̹̞̫̒̉̈́͛̆̌͠N̵̢͈̬̊ͧͫ͞D̢̮̫̰͖̮ͯͧͬ̈́̀ͬ̕,̷̨̼̗͉̺̽̓̓̉ ͍͕̮͉͎̖͚̑͌ͣ̉ͪͭͯD̜͓ͤ̅̉́ͦ̚̕̕Į̴̲͕̩͉̳̯̳͒͆̊̓̌̃͑ͦD̡͉̙̯ͫ̌͐̊͗̀͟N̞̙͇̖͚͚̟͙͒̒ͧ͒ͬͩ̃ͥ'̨̞̫̮̹̗̹͎̎̓ͣͬ́T͉͙̫͍̯͈͎̲͊͂ͬ̓ ̙̺̻̫͔͂̇̋̐̆͝ͅY̳͕̳̹͖̌ͧ͟͞Ǫ̯͉̥̺̰ͤ̊͋̀̒U̵̧̦͚͉̩̥͆̀ͦͯ̒?̶̻̠͍͉͈͉̜̖̃̊̄ ̬̠͇̙ͧͧ̒ͭ̇ͣ͟H͚̭̩̰̼̱̭̩ͨ̇͢A̡̰̹͕͓̔̍̉̚̕H̹̬̱̩̜̳̻̤̖ͧ͂ͨͩ̽ͣA͌͑͏̯͓̩H̜̪̬̮̟̚͜A̜̞ͧ̂̐́H̗̭̳̫͚̻͆͌̎̕͟͞A̰͎̣̤̰͉ͦ̈̓ͅḨ̙͈̝̣̰̌ͩ̈́̏͜A̠̾ͯͥ͌͢͜H̛͎̟̦̤͔̝̜͑͋̅̄̂̃̚͠A̮̥̜̖͖̝̳̞͂͆ͦ̌͌͊H͈̲͚̯͙̝̪ͫ̌̽ͧ̾̈ͬ̚͡A͇͈̐̍ͥ̽ͮ͜͠ͅ.̤̺̟͚ͦͧ͐̚͘͜ ̡̛̝͐̅ͦ͗͆ͧ̾̄  ]

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