Black and White
Chapter One
Iridium
“The thing people seem all too happy to forget is that where there be superheroes, there also be supervillans. It makes one wonder: If the heroes went away, would the villains follow?”
Lynda Kidder, “Origins, Part Five,” New Chicago Tribune, April 23, 2112
Heroes always need someone to play the villain. Iridium saw the truth in this when a hero tried to slip up and cold-cock her on the back of the head.
She spun around and blasted him with a strobe–nothing crippling, strictly visible spectrum, but the hero landed on his ass and started yelling. Probably “Ahhh, my eyes, my eyes!” That one was the most common.
“That was sloppy,” Iridium tsked. “Where’s your mentor? Did he go get a latte and leave you all alone?”
By her feet, a bank guard whimpered under his gag. “Shut it,” said Iridium. “It’s not like you won’t get a fat settlement in the lawsuit that you’re going to file against the bank for hazardous working conditions. Right?”
The guard considered this fo ...
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