>>41527326>>41527327>>41527328As they ran along they'd just barely make it to the main-hall of the school. sitting at a big table was Paragon, currently speaking. He looked...strikingly normal. The worlds former-greatest super hero wearing a simple brown suit, and decidedly humble in his posture. He looked aged beyond his years and he was already on the older side of things to begin with, but there was still a quiet strength in him, super-powers or no. Closest by his side was the schools vice-principal and guidance-counselor, GeminEye, the noir detective finally putting out his cigarette for once in respect.
The rest of the table seemed equally split and divided between heroes and villains that had backed the school. A wide array of types but none more infamous than the two that sat on opposite ends from one another. The first, a man...or perhaps creature, wearing a silver mask and a finely black suit. The cosmos themselves seemingly reflected in the perfect sheen of his seamless, and featureless mask. Lord Aeon, the single most influential and enduring pillar of power among the Rogues. Meanwhile, a machine rather than a man sat in quiet contemplation. Though he had no features there was a faint warmth coming from him, and the hum of crimson energy against his porcelain skin. The worlds only thinking machine, Apex. Leader of the Capes.
Paragon was bringing his speech to an end and as he did, smiled and with a bit of assistance, a flash of energy emanated and he donned his old super-costume one more time...if only just for show. His powers long lost but not his experience.
"What good is power if you're out of control? That is what every person on this board has asked in their head. Not always in the same meaning, but always for the same goal. We are not defined by our abilities. The greatest men and women of our species accomplished the most influential feats of all history without any superfluous powers or quirks...but it is an irony. That to not have our destiny defined by those very same twists of fate that made us what we are, we must learn to control it, before we can decide what it shall mean to us."
Apex spoke, his synthesized voice resonating with unusual humanity
"My father...had a dream. That this would be the beginning of a new age for mankind. That the limits of what could be done both directly and simply researched with such great bounds were limitless. The former boundaries of physics and reality we had accepted were shattered...but as was the case with flight, with the atom bomb, with all the great strides of surpassing human limitation...what was believed to be the end was but the beginning. My father let despair poison him...and it nearly doomed all. The trials you'll face, the choices you'll make...few will be easy, not all will be right...but every man, woman...or machine, is more than the sum of their mistakes. We can all learn to change. We can all believe in the vision my father once did, and make it a reality." In rebuttal Lord Aeon rose, he spoke crisply, cleanly, a businessman and a demagogue both with a stirring passion in his voice at odds with his alien appearance
We stand at the precipice of a new world. We have seen what occurs when powers are let run amok, or worse, abused. We have seen the way our kind is looked upon by those not blessed with our abilities. Fear, greed, or entitlement. There are many out there who would drag us down, there are many of our own kind who would squander their power in petty grudges and self-interest. You are not among them. You are here, to learn. You are not only of a chosen few born with prodigious power and potential, but of an even rarer breed who seeks to master their own path. Whatever you think of those who will tutor you, or even your fellow classmates, the destiny of this world lies not out among the masses...but in the path that will be set by you. It is acceptable to be weak, it is understandable to fail, but it is unforgivable to neglect the responsibility upon you." Finally Paragon closed up after the two spoke
"Whatever happens in your coming year, and whatever path you take. I hope you respect your fellow students and the goals of this academy. I weldcome you, for a third year back!...And whatever happens...don't forget to live your lives and have some fun. You're young."
He smiled a bit and the speech was over!
