The idea, as it had been initially presented, was for citizens to experience what it was like to walk in someone else's shoes. In practice it became discovering what it was like to walk in their own shoes, if their taste in shoes were suddenly quite different from normal. The footwear still fit and was comfy, but the style was quite different
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Is it a bird? A plane? A very colorful and excessively attractive statue?
Why, no! Silly, nameless bystander! This is why you belong on the ground, and heroes like Gwen Raiden belong at the top--to watch over you like lost little sheep and see things your poor normal eyes cannot.
She is: Electro Girl! Clad in an ensemble of red and yellow; Those with eyes like a bat will see the painted lightning bolt on her chest (the letters E.G broadly displayed); the yellow, jagged mask across her eyes; and the black, flowing cape billowing out behind her. This too has a lightning bolt sewn on its fine silken material. There are no gloves to shield her power ( ... )
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"That's a little too colourful though," He's continuing to shout, cupping his hands around his mouth to be better heard, looking at the other. "You may want to not be so loud with your colours, blending in is important!"
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"If I blend in, no one will recognize me." Why would she want that? No one would know her from the bad guy.
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The forest looked very different in the dark. The tree branches snagged at her clothes and pulled at her hair. She picked up speed, but the path that seemed so clear during the day was increasing narrow and difficult. DG stumbled, tearing her dress, and that was when she heard the growl.
Her friends had often told her about the wolves in the forest, but she'd never seen one.
With a piercing scream, she started to run.
After a moment, the wolves gave chase.
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"Don't worry!" she bellowed, her voice helpfully not echoing in the dense forest. She sprinted deeper into the woods, and cried out as a bit of her cape caught on a jagged branch. But such things did not stop a hero, and they did not stop Gwen Raiden. "I'm com--"
Whoosh. A girl ran right by her. What the hell? Couldn't she see she was doing some serious saving-- OH!Gwen turned on her heels and followed DG, hearing the faint howling of wolves behind her as they ran. "Find a tree, a rock, and climb!" She ( ... )
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"Be careful!" she called down with a wail, wrapping her arms around the trunk fo the tree. The wolves looked terribly fierce and terribly angry, a world away from her other animal friends. They were very close now.
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"Just stay back, Miss. This is what I do." It was her job to protect her, and Gwen stood steadfast against the oncoming wolves. The first one came at her almost out of nowhere, way ahead of the pack, and lunged with bared teeth at Gwen's stomach.
But she was ready. Arms held up and apart, electricity gathered between her hands and blue lighting shot in jagged flares at her enemy. With a whimper, the wolf fell back, fur smoking and flesh burning, the smells of victory. Gwen was busy smiling triumphantly, and she wasn't ready for the next one.
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At the moment, however, all she could do was gasp in awe as Gwen sent one wolf tumbling backwards, then cry out in alarm when a second animal advanced.
"Behind you!" she exclaimed, almost slipping from her tree in her haste to warn her saviour.
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She felt claws rip at her arm, and three big strips of fabric now clung at her upper sleeve. The girl's warning saved her a gut or two, but she didn't have time to express gratitude. She and the wolf fell down to the ground, together, and the zap she gave him couldn't have been mustered a second too soon. With a heaving sigh, she lifted the creature off her and rolled over, hands pushing herself up. Boy, they were feisty.
"Don't..." (Heaving breath) "Worry. I'm..." (Another heaving breath, followed by a wolf's cry in the distance) "...Totally good." She stopped, looked at the poor woman with pity, and said, earnestly and wooden: "I hope you're alright. Do you need me to rescue you down from that tree?"
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The coast wasn't clear yet - the distant howls were growing closer by the moment - but DG scrambled down from the tree anyway. There were twigs in her hair and her dress was torn, but she was unharmed. Which was more than could be said for Gwen.
"You're hurt!" DG gasped in horror, covering her mouth with her hands for a moment before darting over. She tore a strip of material from the hem of her dress to serve as a bandage. "Here, let me help you!"
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"Oh, I'll be fine," she said, wincing slightly and taking just the slightest step back. It was instinct. What good was she if she were electrifying the people she was saving? For fear of offending DG, she explained, honestly: "Careful, my powers make me untouchable."
It was said with pride, with just the hint of a smile, and she reached out a bare hand. "Just drop it there. We better hurry." She shifted her attention to the howls. "We're not--"
(Some lost part of Gwen cringed)
"--out of the woods, yet."
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Her eyes widened at Gwen's admission, though she didn't have time to ask questions. Before she'd opened her mouth, another howl - louder than the rest, which meant that it was closer - split the night.
Obediently, she dropped the scrap of cloth.
"What should we do?" she asked, anxious but putting her faith in her new hero without a second thought.
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They wouldn't both be able to outrun the wolves. And Gwen wouldn't be able to protect DG if she had to fight off the beasts on her own. No, there had to be another way.
She turned to the girl, then, resolution written on her face. There was another way. She could protect DG, but only at the risk of herself. Blue sparks flew from her hands as she summoned her strength, her power. When she spoke, her voice was firm, and some might say dramatically low. "You run. Find a safe house. Go inside. These things are mine."
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"Be careful," she implored, her eyes wide.
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