It is a normal old Saturday afternoon in Quincy, Illinois. As per usual you are sitting in your beat up old volkswagon in the heart of the small town. That morning was like any other; the bagel deli for a coffee and an egg sandwhich, and now sitting listening to the traffic on your police scanner. People pass and wonder what you're doing sitting in your car, but little do they know you're proteting their very lives. That's right, an actual super hero sitting in their very midst and they pass you by shooting side eyes.
You always knew their was something special about you, and you'd heard tell of strange powers in your family lineage spanning back towards medieval times. They were called the "Rain Flyers". Legend has it that you were blessed (and cursed) with the power of flight. But the catch is that you can only fly during the stormiest of storms. When, as Great Grandma Murphy would put it, it was "lashing rain". You didn't put much stock into all the hokum at first. That is until the eve of your 16th birthday. The rain came pouring down and you saw your beloved cats, Clementine and Jonah, up a tall tree. You had to decide whether to literally [[take the leap of faith]] to save them, or to [[leave it up to them to get down]]. After all they're cats right? They always land on their feet...
With a single bound you shoot up to the tree branch. Admittedly, it was extremeley frightening and unpleasant. You were pelted with raindrops and you could barely see anything. But, regardless, you scopp up a cat under each arm and return them safely inside. You can barely believe what just happened. You've always hated the rain but this just might change things. That night, you're restless. And after tossing and turning all night you basically see two options. You know that using these powers for evil is not a choice because you're just not smart or diligent enough to be truly maniacle. So, you can either [[get the proper gear]] aka goggles, rain poncho, rubber boots, police scanner, etc. and use your powers for good... or, you could [[give up all together]] because who wants to have a superpower that sucks this much?
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The lightening above produces a mighty strike down splitting the tree and setting it on fire. Your precious babies jump and land somewhat safely, but all the hair on their bodies has been fried right off and now not only do they look really weird, but they don't quite act the same ever again.
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Cue superhero montage moment. You head to the store to buy yourself some serious rain gear and set up a rig in your car so that you can hear about local crime on the police scanner. You always have your rain flying gear in your new backpack and when you're not juggling work, school, and everything in between, you find times to be on the lookout for rainy nights and trouble about town. Of course you hear about a lot of crime that happens when its not raining...and thats a bummer. Still, you can't control that.
So anyway, we're back to that Saturday afternoon. You've just finished your bagel and you hear the pitter patter of the rain drops on your sunroof. Instinctively you turn on the scanner and start to suit up, just in case. Just then you see a commotion across the street. It's coming from inside the deli you just came from. Joe and Rhoda, the owners tried to close up early and the angry mob at the counter has turned to violence. The mob starts to trash the deli, pickle jars are thrown, and one crazed college student breaks the display case with a pipe she procurred from the kitchen. You open the sun roof and shoot out into the cloudy sky. As you are assessing the situation you have to decide to [[fly to the back entrance]] and go through the crowded kitchen to confront the violence, or [[face it head on and go through the front door]].
You try not to beat yourself up too much. Because hey, not everyone is cut out for the superhero life. And you live in such a sleepy old town anyway that you don't feel that bad. I mean maybe if you were Gotham's only hope it'd be different, but you're not, and rain is cold. Its that kind of cold to the bone cold, the kind that makes you believe you may never be warm again. However, theres still one thing you can't shake. There might be times, like with the cats in the tree where you feel you have no choice but to yield this power. But is it selfish to keep this gift a secret? [[Do you still use this power for yourself]], or do you [[ignore it all together]]. If you can't have it, nobody can.
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You live a relatively normal life as it happens. Every now and then on a really stormy night you get a tingle in the back of your neck, like some other part of you is itching to fly through those wet, dark skies. But you find that you rarely need to fulfill this urge. Instead you choose to stay warm, dry, and safe. And really, who could blame you? Eventually you decide to hang it all and move to the desert outback of Australia. Mostly because you're all together sick of that dang tingling, but also because Australia is an amazing place with excellent barbequed prawns and dynamite cookies.
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Hey guess what? Turns our Great Grandma Murphy saw you jump up to get the cats from the comfort of her room on the second floor. She knows you have the rain flying gift and confronts you. You tell her you won't be using this power and she gives you the verbal beat down of a lifetime. She can't believe you would shirk your responsibility this way and abandond humanity when they need you most. You have been shunned and disowned and now when she sees you around the house she pretends she can't hear or see you. It's awkward. Shame on you.
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You land in the back alley and go through the kitchen. But little do you know, the angry mob has stormed the kitchen in search of Matzo-Ball soup (everyone's favorite on a rainy day). They see you immediately and pour the hot soup all over your poncho. Its tough, but not that tough. You fly to the hospital and get treated for some minor burns. You chock that whole mess up to a loss and hope that the deli can make repairs and reopen soon.
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You open the door and bound up onto the counter. Everyone is so shocked by what they're seeing that it calms the crowd. You give a heartfelt (but no nonsense) speech about doing the right thing. Theres not a dry eye in the room. The crowd helps clean up the mess as you look to Joe and Rhoda. They are so grateful to you that they decide to give you free bagels for life! I guess this power does have its perks...
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