A Tale of Two Masks

There was a day when the whole world changed. The first power went viral, and quickly the second and third followed. Just as the sensation reached its peak, SI appeared; Superhuman Industries, a company dedicated to creating and supporting superheroes. With the support of the government, SI became the hub of all activities involving powers in the new world that was to come.

Summer had grown up watching the recordings of the glorious battles between the heroes of SI and the villains that threatened society. She longed to be one of them, but when she had her power tested her hopes shattered.

“What is this ‘power to control sunlight?” Summer scoffed as she recalled it once again. She had grown and faced reality. The incredible reality of working at a coffee shop plastered with posters of all the latest heroes, hero themed drinks, sometimes even hosted meet and greets with the heroes themselves. She was told over and over this was the closest she would ever get to the life of a hero.

The worst part is she wouldn’t have even been able to work there if her parents hadn’t bribed the owners. Everyone else who worked there had incredible powers and were scouted by SI before even working there a year.

Out of spite, she focused some of the spare sunlight from the window on a straw wrapper. The wrapper discolored slightly, but even this flimsy paper flaunted the uselessness of her power. “I should just give up and join the family business,” Summer sighed.

“Excuse me, miss,” a woman interrupted, and approached her,”What you did there-”

Summer jumped to attention. “I’m sorry! I know the use of powers in public is prohibited without permission,” she blabbered, “I didn’t think anyone would-”

The woman held up her hand. “That rule has never really been enforced,” she assured, “Not for harmless little things like that. I was just wondering what kind of power that was.”

“It’s not that interesting,” Summer admitted, “I can control sunlight… but it's more like bending light. You can do that with a prism or a mirror.”

“Can you do it at night?”

“What?” Summer asked, surprised. She had never thought about it, “I don’t know. I’ve never tried to control moonlight.”

“Not moonlight,” the woman corrected, “I believe your power may have been judged incorrectly. You may struggle to control sunlight because it was never your power to begin with. I saw something else happen just then.”

“Something else?” Summer asked.

“If you’d like, I can arrange a retesting. Let me know when you are free,” the woman offered.

Summer immediately became suspicious. “Who are you, exactly?”

“My apologies,” the woman said with a smile and pulled out a business card, “I am Liz Hailey, a top scouter for Superhuman Industries. I have been placed in charge of finding a special kind of hero.”

Summer examined the very real-looking business card. “A special kind of hero?” she asked.

“Yes. A new villain has appeared who thrives in the shadows,” Liz explained, “We need someone who can light up the dark.”

It sounded a little crazy, but would she ever get a chance like this again? There was no need for this business card. She already had her answer.

“Can I really be retested?” Summer asked.

“Of course. Just let me know how best to contact you when the appointment is arranged.

Summer easily gave out her contact info. Perhaps a bit too easily once she had the rest of her shift to think about it. There was no way such a convenient villain would have appeared. It was probably some kind of scam. Liz would need money for the appointment and then Summer would show up only to find out she’d been had. That seemed like the most likely scenario.

Despite her doubts, a few days later, Liz contacted her, and not to ask for money. Her appointment had been set up, conveniently, on her day off. Summer decided not to think about how Liz knew her schedule.

Retesting was a big deal. Normally a retesting could only be scheduled if you could prove your power was drastically different from what was recorded. Summer couldn’t prove anything, and she wasn’t even confident that her power was different. Liz seemed to be, though.

So she showed up. Nervous and antsy, but she was there. The building was large and very official looking. Was this where she had her first testing or was it a separate building for retesting only? She couldn’t quite recall her first testing.

Liz showed up and guided her inside. It was nice with all sorts of special testing rooms she was certain she had never seen before. Had her father bribed Liz without telling her? No. SI couldn’t be bribed by the amount her father could spare.

An official came out to greet her. “Summer Aster, Daughter of the owner of Aster Furnishings, correct?” he asked.

Oh no, maybe her father really had bribed them. “Yes?”

“We did some looking into you. It seems your test was rushed before your power fully manifested. We would like to retest to reconfirm.”

So they hadn’t been bribed? Maybe this was the excuse Liz had used to nab her the appointment. If that was the case, she really needed to manifest… something.

“What if my power is exactly as recorded?” Summer asked, a bit scared of the answer.

“No harm done,” the official assured, “The records simply will not be updated.”

That simple? Really? Summer felt her excitement building as the last of her reservations was settled. It didn’t have to change much. She just needed to light up the dark, and then even her power could make her a hero.

That excitement is what carried her through a seemingly endless series of tests which ended with her being locked in a pitch black room. It was far from comfortable but she was more focused on her goal. Come on. Something, anything. There was no light for her to draw on so there would be no cheating here.

And then it happened. A golden fleck floated before her in the air with a subtle glow. She reached out and suddenly the speck expanded, filling the room with light. A warm golden light with soft sparkles of gold floating within it.

Was this really her power? It felt amazing!

A new record was written labeling her power as being able to create light. Liz told her that any training and further testing could be done in the rooms provided for heroes by SI.

It was hard to hold back her excitement when she saw her suit. White with accents of gold and golden sparkles with a matching mask. It came with a note from Liz.

“Congrats! I’ve been assigned as your hero agent in charge of keeping you up to date and your new identity. Your new alias is Golden Reign. It sounds like a perfect contrast to the Shadow Phoenix, right?”