7

You guess you don't mind too much about the requirement to declare your orientation, however, since it came after the hard-fought legalization of marriage equality.

Next, your code name is:

DEPARTMENT FOR THE REGULATION OF POWERED RESOURCES: HERO LICENSE

Name: Francesca Sterling

Gender: Female

Marital Status: Single

Orientation: Attracted To Women

Code name: Rush

You stare down in disbelief at the license—Grandma has just given you the best birthday present. Ever.

"How…?" you start to ask, not sure where to begin.

"Someone just needed to pay the outstanding bill on your application," Grandma says, beaming.

"But Gran, this is too much. We can't possibly afford—"

"Hush," Grandma says, crossing her arms. "I had to spend all that extra potpourri money on something useful, didn't I?"

Grandma smiles at you, then looks at the tree in the corner of the kitchen. She nods and right on cue the tree begins to shake, letting loose a shower of sparkling seeds. Grandma only has that old tree shake shimmers on the most special of occasions…

"Thank you, Gran" is all you can manage.

"It's only what you deserve, Francesca," Grandma says, leaning back in her chair and stroking the shimmer tree. "Besides, it's what your parents would have wanted."

Next Chapter: By The Roots

CHAPTER TWO: BY THE ROOTS

Once upon a time, your parents, The Sound and The Fury, were Millennia City's most famous Powered couple. When they met in high school, they discovered that your mother's ability to generate vocal sonic waves perfectly complemented your father's ability to harness sound energy. Almost immediately after they arrived on MC's hero scene, the public became enamored with their budding romance and their harmonious Power set.

As they rose rapidly to the hero A-list, no villain was too dangerous for them to battle and no party was too exclusive for them to attend. This meant that you got to spend your childhood immersed in MC's finest hero high life, knowing that someday you'd fight alongside your parents as a famous hero.

Until your thirteenth birthday. It was going to be the best night of your life, the first time your Powers might begin to manifest. Your parents were at a press conference speaking about one of their recent successes—shutting down an assassin training academy masquerading as a public high school. They were supposed to say a few words about the mission and then come straight home to celebrate your big night.

However, just as they were preparing to leave, a young villainess crashed the event. She was Miss Artillery, one of the assassin academy's teachers, and she entered ranting about how The Sound and The Fury had ruined her life. She quickly went on the offensive with her Power to generate weaponry and your parents moved to apprehend her. But for some strange reason—perhaps because they were in such a rush to get home to you—they miscalculated their joint attack.

In what became the biggest news story of the year, The Sound and The Fury murdered Miss Artillery by…