United Heroes Annual #1 - "A Time for Change"
Scene 5: "Requiem"
A second time around, Seraphim's funeral went off without a hitch. They decided to hold it somewhere a little more private than St. Mark's Cathedral, given that the media and paparazzi had great access in downtown San Francisco. It was moved to Hadley Manor, Harpy's home and the United Heroes' base.
Archbishop Brookes, adorned in his finest regalia, presided over the service, which was performed in a traditional Catholic fashion. While this was long (and boring for some members of the United Heroes), the ceremony was faithful to Seraphim's wishes, and that is the most important detail.
Torpedo, Pathfinder, Iron Dragon, and Harpy spoke, telling interesting, funny, or stirring tales of the angel's good deeds spent on this planet. A few civilians also took the podium to say nice things about the dearly departed hero.
The best line of the afternoon, delivered by Torpedo and what will be enscribed on the memorial for Seraphim to be built in a square near City Hall in the months to come:
It is neither words nor deeds that characterize a life, but the color of one's honor, the strength of one's committment, and the depth of one's dedication that make someone great.
To one and all gathered, this line proved to be the one that stood out, and the one that said the most about the fallen hero.
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"Friends," Mayor Castle said aloud, raising her wine glass. "A toast for the departed?"
Those present - Iron Dragon, Torpedo, Pathfinder, MorningStar, the Scoundrel, DEMA Liaison Marks, and Police Chief Myrtle - raised their glasses in response to the suggestion.
"To Seraphim, who fought with the love and compassion worthy of his heritage," she said.
Glasses clinked and everyone had a swallow from their glass.
Small talk took over for the good part of an hour. Chief Myrtle said he had to leave, unfortunately, but duty calls. Mayor Marks announced her plans to devote a memorial to Seraphim near City Hall, and then made her way to the door as well.
This left Joe Marks alone with the heroes. "Where are Harpy and Electrostatic?" he asked the assembled group.
"No idea," MorningStar replied, casually looking around.
"I haven't seen them," Pathfinder added.
"Well, no matter," Marks said. "I have something I wanted to discuss with you. You can fill them in later, I suppose."
"Shoot," the Scoundrel replied.
Marks smiled. "All right. The President sends his regards and thanks for a job well done." He produced a plaque from his briefcase.
Iron Dragon looked at the plaque. "A token of his appreciation?"
"Yes," Marks replied. "But that's not really why I'm here."
"Go on," Torpedo said.
"I assume you all are aware of the problem METACorps has been experiencing of late. It's been in all of the tabloids, and has even made it into respectable publications. Not to mention that story GNN did..."
"Yeah?" Iron Dragon asnwered. "I've heard about their leaders quitting and that Burnout guy switching sides, so to speak."
"Oh, and don't forget Eclipse," Pathfinder added. "Didn't he 'accidentally' cover New York City in darkness for eight hours or something?"
"There's more, but you get the picture," Marks replied. "They have some internal issues."
"So what does METACorps, the government super-team, have to do with us?" MorningStar asked.
"I think I know," Torpedo said. "You'd like United Heroes to become the new government super-team."
"Now wait a minute," Iron Dragon barked. "I have no interest in being under the government's thumb!"
Marks tried to intervene, but found his words lost in a sea of commentary.
"I don't know, ID," MorningStar replied. "It might be nice."
"I won't do it," Iron Dragon said. "I'll leave the team if that's what it takes."
"Me too," the Scoundrel added. "I have no interest in becoming a government stooge."
"Hold on a minute, guys," Marks said, finally getting in a word. "I know you each have reservations. That's natural."
"I have more than reservations," Iron Dragon replied.
"Speaking of reservations," Pathfinder said. "I don't think I need to state my position on becoming a government agent."
"OK, I can see you're not in the mood to talk about this right now," Marks said. "I'm going to leave some information with Harpy and she can review it later. No rush."
The heroes stared at Marks, wondering what he was thinking. He was now very uncomfortable. "Well, I'll be going then." With that, the DEMA Liaison was gone.
"Very strange," Torpedo remarked. "I wonder what prompted DEMA to try to recruit us."
"It doesn't matter," Iron Dragon said. "I meant what I said. I will never do it."
MorningStar poked her head into the kitchen, and then into the library. "I wonder where Harpy and Electrostatic went off to..."
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Harpy and Electrostatic found one another on a balcony overlooking the sea. They were alone, as almost everyone else was inside.
They watched the sun start to dip into the Pacific Ocean, and Electrostatic put his arm gently around Harpy.
"Can I call you Tabitha now?" he asked, smiling.
She cocked her head toward him. "I never said you couldn't, Jeremy. I would
prefer you to call me Harpy when we're acting in an official capacity."
Rhodes placed his hand on top of Tabitha's. "It's too bad, really."
She at first wanted to pull his hand away and shrug off his arm, but realized that she really didn't dislike it as much as she thought she might.
"What's that?" she asked in response.
"I know Seraphim liked to watch the sunsets here, from this balcony, you know?" he continued.
"I know," she replied. "Do you think he's watching us?"
Jeremy turned fully toward Harpy. "Are you asking me about my religious beliefs?"
She laughed. "No, not that. Well, sort of, I guess. I mean, do you think Seraphim can come back in like a spirit form?"
He thought for a moment. "I guess so. I haven't run across any angels before Seraphim, so I can't say for sure. Why?"
"I was just wondering," Harper continued. "I can totally see him flying around with his wings and some golden harp."
"Yeah," Rhodes continued. "Then, he'd find some devil and bash him with the harp!"
They laughed. It had been a while since they both laughed together, and when they finished, Jeremy and Tabitha noticed how close they were to each other.
"Actually, you want to know the real reason I was wondering if he could see us?" she asked coyly.
Jeremy felt the pit of his stomach sink a bit. "I don't know..."
"Cause I wouldn't want him to see this," Tabitha said as she kissed Jeremy full on the lips. It was a passionate kiss, one that, while Jeremy had anticipated for a while, was totally unexpected.
As the two kissed and held each other, Seraphim floated overhead, a smile beaming from his face.
Harper, who could see spirits, caught a glimpse of Seraphim over Jeremy's shoulder. Shocked, she almost stopped, but Seraphim waved and was gone. She got the sense that Seraphim was OK and approved.
"You know," Harper said. "You're asking for trouble."
Jeremy smiled. "You've gotta be kidding me," he replied. "You don't think I'm gonna back down now, do ya?"
The sunset completed with the green flash, and then, darkness descended on the balcony, as well as the rest of Hadley Manor. Things were well, and life moved on, as life always does.
THE END
