Heroic Arrival

The yellow and blue of Coaster’s Bozo’s suit was crafted just for days like these. In the comic it was more muted, made to stand out on the page. This version, stuck to his body like an airtight bag, was more vibrant. So vibrant, in fact, that even an especially short child in the furthest back row of a crowd of obsessed adult fans would honestly have trouble not seeing it in all its bright, sunny glory, its brilliance rivalling ever that or the very clear, pretty sky he stood against.

It also probably made for an especially good target. Coaster was trying not to think about that right now in an effort to appear more heroic to the crowd that was slowly building around him.

Yesterday had been a failure. That much was obvious, as he saw it. The comments, posts and pictures weren’t what he had envisioned. If more people could just see his work in person, he thought- then maybe they would understand. Perhaps somehow, he could show them the hero he really was inside. And given all the unfamiliar faces approaching him in anticipation for the showcase, he was going to get to. These people came here for a reason- to witness that hero which he knew he held inside.

Once the correct time had hit and a suitable audience had gathered, his team began signalling him from the back of the crowd. Atop the mighty circus-like platform he’d prepared, he posed magnificently. Now was the time. He rallied through the microphone sewed into his suit:

“Denizens of Venge City! Visitors from far-off lands! Prepare! For in this next moment, your hero will showcase his power!”

The clapping of children was so loud it could still be heard once he soared eighty feet straight up in the air, bending the very force of gravity to his will. He didn’t understand how his trickery worked, but was grateful to live in a time of such incredible progress.

He floated down a little to hear them all: the delighted, awestruck voices of young souls much like himself as a boy. Even the sleaziest and most pretentious-looking of the adult crowd seemed to be pleased: from sly smiles to amazed dancing, nobody there was mocking the mighty hero now. Despite what the dregs of the online world might say about him, on the plane of reality? The auspiciously inspiring Coaster Bozo was unstoppable.

Then, from the very, very, back of the crowd, he saw a bunch of weird teenagers in edgy clothes holding what was unmistakably a hand-crafted, high-power electromagnetic pulse device.