Wednesday, March 19

[sayshazam]

Billy had figured that if he was going to get serious about this hero thing they he should probably start patrolling more. At least, that's what the other heroes seemed to do. He was pretty sure that just fighting magical attacks was the only thing in his job description but there were pretty much zero of those.

So tonight he went patrolling, which meant flying around. Just... flying around the sky, looking for crimes being committed. It was really, really ineffective. It was kind of hard to spot crimes while just zooming through the air, even if he you didn't go fast. It's not like criminals carried signs stating what they were doing.

That and a lot of people just sort of ducked inside when they saw him up above. He didn't blame them, even if they weren't doing anything wrong it was still weird to get spied on by someone. Hopefully criminals were deterred just knowing he was around.

It was super boring though. After a few hours he flew to the top of the tallest building and just sat on the edge. Yup, being a hero was boring if nothing crazy was going on. Sighing, he propped his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands and just waited for something interesting to happen.

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[sayshazam]

"Iiiii have no idea if you could have escaped it," Billy pointed out. He wondered if she was super famous or something and he was supposed to have heard of her. He didn't know all the heroes but he was pretty sure this girl wasn't in his world. Or at least she wasn't a big name.

"But that's good that you're still helping people."

[cest_la_v]

"I've been a Guardian in two lives. I could never stop," Venus said simply.

"Why do you do it?"

[sayshazam]

Okay, so if she had been doing this for several lives, then was she a zombie or something? If so, she must eat a lot of brains or something to look so normal.

"I just really don't like bullies. No one should get their way just because they're stronger than someone else."

[cest_la_v]

Sailor Venus nodded. "I agree. Power shouldn't be used to oppress."

It should be used to unite and create strength.

[sayshazam]

"So are you part of a group of heroes or anything?" Billy asked.

A few people had mentioned it, groups of heroes working together. He wasn't sure if there were any in the city, at least not famous ones, but it could be that they just kept a low profile.

[cest_la_v]

"Not here, but at home I am," Venus explained. Thinking that they were well on the way to a proper conversation, she jumped up a little higher to the very roof of the building so that she could settle down and sit. The magic embedded in her clothing offered a great deal of protection, but there was no magic that could reduce the stress of running on heels.

"What about you?"

[sayshazam]

"No, no groups for me."

He hadn't really been a hero long enough to be a part of a group back home. Of course, given how he hated trusting other people and how they just let you down, he probably never would. That was okay though, he was Shazam, he didn't need a team.

"It sounds like it would just be a pain."

[cest_la_v]

"No!" Venus said, her tone jumping. "They're the most important people. I've been a hero, alone, before..."

She missed the other Guardians. Her comrades, her sisters.

[sayshazam]

"Other people just let you down," Billy told her. She had just said that they weren't here so her support system was gone.

"The only person you can count on is yourself."

[cest_la_v]

"You only say that because you haven't found true companions yet," Minako said with utter certainty.

"When you find the people whose souls bond, everything changes."

[sayshazam]

"Except your true companions aren't here," he pointed out. Billy was honestly trying hard not to be a dick about this but he didn't understand how people could be so blind and stupid about it. People could never be completely relied on.

"It's not their fault, right? But they're still not here."

[cest_la_v]

"So?" Venus said, narrowing her eyes at him. "That doesn't mean they aren't important to me."

[sayshazam]

"I didn't say they weren't important," Billy said. "I'm just saying it means you can't really count on people."

That was just a fact of life and any time Billy started to think otherwise he was wrong. If you only relied on yourself then you weren't let down.

[cest_la_v]

Venus shook her head, arms crossed over her chest as she regarded the other hero. "You don't understand."

[sayshazam]

"So explain it," he said, mirroring her pose. Really, no matter what she said she couldn't deny that her friends weren't here, that here she couldn't rely on them.

[cest_la_v]

"Because I died without them and I survived a second death with them." She would never have done it by herself, with each of them ruling their own distant planets.

"And even if they aren't here. They are still my life."

She looked at him with pity now. How could someone so distrustful understand?

[sayshazam]

Okay, even Billy had to admit that being brought back from the dead was a pretty good reason to want to rely on your friends. That didn't change the fact that people left though.

"So... if they're your whole life and they're not here... how does that work?"

[cest_la_v]

"Have faith," Sailor Venus said simply. "That's all I can do."

[sayshazam]

That sounded pretty stupid. Not only was she relying on people who weren't here but she was just waiting for them to come. Some people were ridiculous.

"Wellllll, then I hope for your sake they come?"