Track Seven A Hero Walks Into A Bar and Says Music
Buddha sat on the bench and stared at his locker.
“I can’t believe I’m back doing this again. Who am I kidding? Even if I put on a superior show I’ll still only make enough for a months rent. Just doesn’t pay to be a super hero.”
A tall hero walked into the room. His strange steel blue armor was void of all noise. Buddha would not have noticed him had he not sat down next to him.
“You look kind of down there buddy. Did the crowd boo your performance?”
“No, I haven’t performed yet.”
“I see. So what’s the problem then?”
“I don’t mean to sound rude or anything, but I really don’t feel comfortable talking about my problems with someone I have never met before.”
“Hah, fair enough. I better go get warmed up for my match. Take care, buddy.”
“See you around.”
Buddha tosses his towel into the locker and stared at the ground.
“How much lower can a hero stoop too?”
He slammed the locker shut and headed out to the ring.
Buddha stepped into the light. The screams of fans filled his ears. His thoughts about people remembering who he was had been washed away by the giant signs and posters with his name and face on them. He knew the money from the match wouldn’t be too good, but he felt good inside knowing that to the wrestling fans he was still a somebody.
As he climbed into the ring he took a glance at his opponent. It was the hero that he spoke to in the locker room.
“Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the Arena of Heroes the one place in Paragon City where heroes can battle each other in a journey to become the prime champion hero of Paragon City. In our first match today we have someone that needs no introduction, you remember him as the only hero to wear the gold belt for three consecutive years. The tanker of ultimate power, Buddha!”
The crowd leaped from their seats and cheered. Buddha tried to keep from getting choked up and jumped onto the ropes and started to get the audience even more fired up.
“And his opponent. A hero that is new to the circuit. A tanker that claims to have even far superior strength. He is, the Unknown!”
The hero stood and waved. The crowd hissed and booed at him.
“And now let the battle for the gold begin!”
The bell sounded and the two heroes walked into a circle staring at each other. The armored hero lunged forward and tackled Buddha to the ground.
“I don’t understand why you are so down in the dirt. The fans love you.”
Buddha kicked the hero into the air and then leaped after him. He grappled him and prepared him for a pile driver.
“That’s not why I’m down.”
Buddha drilled the hero into the ring. He lifted up the stunned hero and slammed him into the ring. The hero slowly stood and anchored himself against the ropes. Buddha rushed forward. His opponent dropped down and flipped Buddha out of the ring. He climbed onto the ropes and elbow dropped off the top.
He lifted Buddha into the air and flung him into the barriers around the ring.
Buddha shook his head.
“You are going to pay for that one.”
“You talk pretty big for such a little man.”
Buddha pounded the ground and sent a shockwave at his opponent. While his foe attempted to maintain balance he jumped into the air and punched the hero through the barriers and into the audience. Buddha landed onto of the hero and started to unleash a fury of rapid jabs.
The hero kicked Buddha into the air and jump kicked him back into the ring. Buddha picked himself up and was knocked back down. The hero continued to kick Buddha while he struggled to stand.
The audience cheered for Buddha. His name was being chanted throughout the arena.
Buddha pulled his opponents leg right from under him. He stood and started to spin the hero around in the air. He then released his grip and the hero flew high into the air and crashed into the rafters. Buddha knelt down and then launched himself into the rafters.
“How about we give them what they want," Buddha thought to himself.
Buddha grappled with the hero. He then lifted the hero up and leaped off the rafters.
Buddha suplexed the hero straight through the center of the ring. The audience fell silent. A hand reached out of the hole. The hero crawled out of the hole and then lay silent on the mat. Buddha followed the hero out of the hole. He turned over his opponent and dropped onto of him.
Buddha sat on the steps to the arena and thumbed through his earnings.
“This barely even covers food for the month let alone rent and money to start up a station.”
Buddha’s wrestling opponent sat down on the steps.
“Hey, there. Not to bad a match I guess. Had to pay for repairs to the mat and the barriers and the rafters but still made some okay money. Especially, for a single match. I just might do this more often.”
“It gets tiresome after too many times. People start to think of you as a wrestler instead of a super hero. The whole thing is demeaning to us, but there’s no other way for us to make money quickly and in liveable amounts.”
“So why not just stop being a super hero and get a real job. Live a normal life.”
“Cause this is all I know. And besides, look at me. Do you think a normal person is going to hire someone that outmatches them in mass and power? How’s a boss supposed to intimidate his employee when his employee can punch holes through walls?”
“Good point. So become a hero trainer. Work at Freedom Corps. They get federal funding and the people that work there get real money and not this influence stuff that they give us.”
“I can’t anymore. My fiancé has plans for us and for me to just turn my back…”
“You won’t be turning your back. You will simply be working to raise money to support the two of you. She’ll understand that.”
Buddha stood and dusted himself off
“I really need to get going. City Hall closes in an hour. It was nice fighting you…uhh…Unknown Hero was it?”
“My name is Solace. Solace Arzada. I have to head on that way as well. Mind if I join you?”
“I guess not. Might be able to find something to beat up on.”
“You mean arrest.”
“Hah, yea. Arrest.”
Buddha stormed out of City Hall.
“You have to be kidding me! Security level ten!?”
Solace followed behind.
“Don’t let it get to you alright. It isn’t as hard to get as you think. Let’s just start up a temporary team and go find some crime to stop and before you know it we’ll have level ten access in no time.”
“It’s too late in the day. I just want to go home and rest and think about what to tell Radio Wave.”
“Don’t be so down.”
“You don’t understand. What she wants to do requires a heck of a lot of real money to purchase.”
“Then help me understand. What is it you two are trying to do?”
Buddha sighed. He looked up and stared at the giant statue of Atlas.
“She has this dream where we own a radio station and through this station we bring people together with the use of music. But, what makes it a unique station is the fact that it would be dedicated to all super heroes and it could be used as an information highway for super heroes as well. A person can make a call and the information would be announced right on the station and it would alert all the heroes that are listening. At first it sounded kind of far fetched. I mean there are lots of stations out there. And they all use music as a weapon. But, they are all run by normal people and so they only give information that would be useable by normal people. I wondered what information could we give and then something happened. An army of enemies attacked us. If the station existed then the reporter we had at the rave would have instantly alerted us and we could have got the news out into the airwaves in a matter of seconds. Heroes would have been there sooner and fewer heroes would have been lost.”
“I see. There is great reason for a super hero radio station. However, running a station isn’t going to be easy. You can’t do it alone. You need a team first.”
“I know. We want to at least have something to show that we are serious. That’s why I came to City Hall. I thought maybe I could register a group, but I don’t have the security level needed in order to begin one.”
“So that’s why you were at the arena. You need money for office space.”
“Yea. A lot of money in fact.”
“I might be able to help. There’s a restaurant in Hyperion Way called City of Gyros. Meet me there tomorrow for lunch. Bring Radio Wave with you. I’ll fill you in on my plans at that time. Until, then, you get some rest and just enjoy the rest of the night. Why not take Radio Wave to the theatre? The critics gave Elena four stars.”
“I don’t know if she’d be very interested. I might go though. It’s been awhile since I’ve gone to a play. You wouldn’t know it by looking at me, but I was in theatre back in college. I kind of liked it. It was a lot of fun.”
“Why’d you stop?”
“I accidentally smashed a hole through the stage and the lead actress fell in and sprained her ankle. Her father was the stage director.”
“Ouch. Well, anyways, go see the show. Enjoy yourself. And I’ll see you tomorrow. Take care, Buddha.”
“See you around, Sol.”
Song Eleven
I’ve been introduced to Radio Wave several times now and still our introduction has been a bad one. Her powers have given her the ability to sense many different things about a person and instantly judge them. The only person she has never been able to read is Inhibitor. His power is so far beyond Radio Wave that it’s like poking at a solid lead wall with a toothpick.
The alien technology that I wore confused her senses. In the back of her mind she knew she could trust me and that I was pure and good. But, in the front of her mind she sensed extreme amounts of danger coming from me. In her mind I am one of the greatest enemies she would face. The Rikti armor contained such evil in itself that it caused her to think of me as evil and not the armor. My mind didn’t help my situation much either. She saw the name Arzada Solace, yet I was traveling under the name Solace Arzada. She could see strange visions. Visions of events that had not yet happened. It took a while to get her convinced that the thought in the back of her mind was true and the ones in the front were wrong.
Posts
