(Untitled)

[fireinthehero]

[There's a video feed popping up of a crime in progress - semi-distant footage of a group of trying to loot a store that hasn't yet re-opened after the Halloween mess. One guy keeping watch, others starting to break into the windows.

And then a voice raises up, though still speaking softly, and starts to comment on it.]

Honestly. What makes

Comments

voice

[bests]

I'm fairly certain there's been a number of studies done and books written about criminal psychology.

Re: voice

[fireinthehero]

[A few minutes later, the communicator opens back up - seems he's decided to lean back against that same wall, the criminals handled, and now waiting for police to arrive.]

Yes, but how often do us heroes bother with that? That's more what I'm getting at, really. Not just the criminals, but our interactions with them. Do we just keep it out of sight, out of mind the whole time, and just deal with what's in front of us?

Like me, for example - now I have to wonder what's going to happen to these boys after I'm done here. Will they get on the right side of things... or will I be seeing them again in a few months?

voice

[bests]

I'm familiar with some of it.

And while empathy is certainly a good thing, especially when it comes to dealing with crimes like the one you just stopped, there are some of them who don't deserve it.

[fireinthehero]

Mmm, yes, so I've seen. These supervillains... repeat offenders of the worst kind!

But it's hard for me to give up hope of someone becoming the best side of themselves! Honestly, I just worry, you know? There's a thrill in fighting crime, but the worry that it's not going anywhere.

It feels better when it's clean cut, if you ask me. Saving lives, stopping disasters, those kinds of things!

voice;

[goshilovearrows]

Probably not the kind of question you'll get just one answer to.

[fireinthehero]

I would hope not. You can't oversimplify something as big as this, mm? It's rarely as easy as 'this person is bad'.

Though it's incredibly frustrating when that is the answer!

[goshilovearrows]

Well, sometimes they are just bad. ( is he joking... maybe. )

But most of the time I think it's just the same reasons anyone does anything.

[fireinthehero]

Shame, isn't it? So far along in life, but we keep running into the same problems and roadblocks.

video;

[technophantom]

Heh.

It's so easy for heroes to think they're not part of the problem.

Why crime? Because of wealth. How many heroes live on the streets?

How many live in Avengers' Mansion?

[fireinthehero]

And now you're oversimplifying.

Problems like this, money and other worries, bad circumstances, they contribute, certainly...

But when you move up into the harder crimes, that's where things get tricky, mm?

And I wouldn't be able to tell you. I don't live there.

[technophantom]

Not at all. The problem is simple. The desperate often become cruel, while the rich have no excuse for cruelty, because they have never lived in want and despair.

"Harder" crimes. I'll tell you what I tell everyone. The hardest crimes are committed by the factions with the most money. Napalm strikes in Vietnam weren't done by L.A. drugrunners or NYC serial rapists.

Some 'heroes' from my world do.

[fireinthehero]

Money is the root of all evil, mmm?

I'll accept that it causes an awful lot of misery - and gives those in power plenty of excuses for unacceptable things - but there are some problems that go deeper than for wanting of money.

And I don't believe I was excusing those who use their positions to get away with far worse things than a break in and a robbery, darling. You come on awfully aggressive, honey. Are you looking for an argument, or a conversation?

text;

[timesaving]

Some people only exist to cause misery.

[... well that's a creepy text message to get. Ahahaa.]

(voice.)

[heroified]

How can he do that and run at the same time?