Youāre a regular office worker born with the ability to āseeā how dangerous a person is with a number scale of 1-10 above their heads. A toddler would be a 1, while a skilled soldier with a firearm may score a 7. Today, you notice the reserved new guy at the office measures a 10.
You decide itās best to find out what you can about this person. Cautiously, you approach his desk. Heās a handsome man, tall, but with a disarming smile. How could such a friendly guy with such cute, dorky glasses be dangerous?
You extend your hand. āI noticed youāre new here. Whatās your name?ā
He shakes your hand warmly. His gaze is piercing, as if heās looking right through you. āThe nameās Clark,ā he says. āSo, how long have you worked for the Daily Planet?ā
This one wins.
Itās been a few weeks, and one of Clarkās friends shows up.Ā Sheās pretty and all, enough muscle that she must work out.Ā First thought would be that she should be maybe a 6.
Clarkās introducing her around.Ā Ā āThis is my good friend, Diana, sheās in from out of town.ā
You blink, and take a step back in fear.Ā Youāve never seen an 11 before.
The day Bruce Wayne shows up for his long promised interview with Lois Lane, you canāt help it, the mug your holding drops from your fingers and sends a shock of hot coffee and ceramic shards across the floor.
Clark stops a few feet away and squints at you worriedly from behind those ridiculous glasses youāre 99% sure he doesnāt actually need, and asks tentatively,Ā āEverything all right?ā
You ignore him in favor of staring at the inky dark numerals hovering over the beaming fool gesticulating some fantastic yacht story for a gaggle of secretaries and minor columnists.
Thatās it. Your gift has officially gone haywire. There is no other explanation. Because there is absolutely no way thatĀ Brucie Wayne is a 10.
At this point, youāve seen it all. Miled manner reporters and billionaires at a 10 and a model-like woman at 11. You were really starting to doubt your power. The day you really stopped believeing in it was when Bruce Wayne came for another visit, and this time with a kid. The kid couldnāt be more than 10 years old, a bit on the short side.
He was an 8.
The day you started believing in it again was when you saw on tv the formation of something called the justice league.
There were those same numbers over superman, batman, wonder woman and robin. Thatās when you put two and two together. You wonder how nobody at the daily planet noticed that Clarke was Superman with glasses. You wonder why you didnāt notice. You wonder why nobody put two and two together that Diana Prince and Wonder Woman looked exactly the same. You look in the mirror as the realization hit you and you see your own number change from a 3 to a 9.
IT GOT BETTER
Despite this, you go about your life. You donāt talk to Clark ā Superman? ā and kept out of his way. His girlfriend Lois Lane ā she was a five when you first met, but now sheās a nine just like you ā tries to get you to interview Bruce Wayne, but you refuse. You meet other people in Clarkās group of friends with high numbers. The daughter of the police commissioner from Gotham. The forensic scientist from Central City. More and more people to avoid and worry about.
Meanwhile, your paranoia gets to you. You start working out. Training in self defense. Studying the Justice League, trying to find its members. Finding out all their identities so you can be ready.
One day you wake up with a ten above your head.
That day you get a call. You recognize the area code. Gotham. Your heart is in your throat. You should throw the phone away, run. Theyāve found you. Youāre doomed. You might be a ten, but you canāt beat them all.
You pick up the phone anyways.
āHello?ā
āHey, this is Clark Kent. I was wondering if we could talk.ā
Your mouth goes dry. āAbout what?ā
Clarkās voice goes quiet. āWell. About the Justice League.ā
You stiffen in your seat. Your adrenaline kicks in, and your eyes dart around the room. You can hang up, pack, grab a plane ticket to wherever and disappear. Your passport hasnāt expired, and youāve been talking to Perry White about a vacation anyways. You could say itās a family emergency and never come back.
But theyād find you. You know theyād find you. Theyāre goddamned superheroes. They can carry buildings. They could probably manage finding you.
āHello?ā Clarkās voice returns, tinged with concern, and suddenly you stop. Calm down. Theyāre the good guys. At least theyāre supposed to be.
āYeah, sorry, just a little shocked youāā
āCaught up to you?ā Clark asked. He laughed a little, but it wasnāt teasing. His voice had his regular ease, the same casual tone he would employ to talk about the weather in the break room. āYeah. Lois noticed your odd behavior, actually. We didnāt realize it was linked to the League until you refused to interview Bruce, and then we knew something was up.ā
āSpeaking of Bruce Wayne, are you using his phone? Your area code is Gotham, not Metropolis.ā
Clark laughed. āDamn. Lois wasnāt kidding when she said you were the best investigator working for the Daily Planet.ā
āI just notice things is all.ā You laughed nervously. You still canāt shake your general unease. This guy could kill you without any effort. Youāre no match for him, or for any of his friends for that matter. Hell, Batman didnāt even have powers and heād still fuck you up.
āYeah, and thatās a skill we could use around here. Would you like to talk about joining? Bruce can send you a car, bring you hereāā
āNo,ā you say, sharper than you intended. āSorry. Iād rather meet in public, if thatās okay with you.ā
āOf course. Lunch or coffee? Itās still early, but itās a bit easier to cram all of us in a restaurant than a coffee shop.ā
āLunch, I guess. And no superhero stuff.ā
Clark pauses, then sighs sadly. Youāve heard this sadness before in rare amounts. When bad things happened and fear and greed overtook people, heād always frown and sigh, like someone watching their best friend self destruct, unable to help or save them. āYouāre afraid of us. Arenāt you?ā His voice is concerned and hushed.
A pang of guilt starts to replace the fear. āYou can throw around buildings like a sack of potatoes, Clark. Your friend is powerful on an impossible level, Bruceās kid is a fucking eightāā
āWait, wait, wait,ā Clark said, the sadness disappearing. āYou have a number system for us?ā
āLook, itās a whole thing. Iāll talk about it over lunch.ā You grab your laptop bag. āWhere are we meeting?ā
Clark said something to someone else. āGot any restaurant ideas? They want lunch.ā
Bruce Wayne ā youāve heard enough interviews to recognize his voice ā said, āSaffronās pretty good.ā
āJesus,ā someone else said. Youāve heard the voice, but you couldnāt place it. āI keep on forgetting youāre rich.ā
āYou donāt think itās a little much, Bruce? The pay at Daily Planet is good but not that good,ā said Clark.
āIāll cover their tab.ā
āOkayā¦ā Clark returned to the call. āSaffron, inā¦thirty minutes? Youāre downtown, right?ā
āYou can get a table to Saffron in thirty minutes?ā said the strange voice. āBoy, am I glad I made friends with you guys.ā
āYeah, that works.ā Youāre a bit hesitant, but you swallow your nerves. At least for now. Your thoughts about threat levels made you forget that Clark is a decent guy. All you could do is hope that he thinks youāre decent, too. āSee you then.ā
āSee you then. Be safe. Bye.ā Clark hangs up, and youāre left in your room. The worry is starting to turn into something different. Excitement.
You shove the phone into your pocket, grab your keys, and head out the door. Youāre so full of restless energy you walk the whole way there. Once you arrive, you catch your reflection in the mirror and notice that youāre starting to suit that ten above your head.
KEEP GOING!!!!!!!
The hostess takes you to a hidden corner of the restaurant. Itās mostly empty, as though itās only just opened. Sitting at a long table, chatting politely, was the Justice League.
They arenāt wearing masks or uniforms, no bright colors and costumes. Clark Kent is in his usual office wear, Bruce Wayne is wearing a tailored suit, Diana Prince dons a nice blue dress, and Oliver Queen wears a nice button down. You donāt recognize two of them ā a twenty something in jeans and a hoodie, a man in a green shirt, and a burly guy in a baggy t-shirt and old jeans who looks like he had just washed up from the sea. All of them, aside from Diana, are tens, of course.
Clark Kent stands, shakes your hand when you come in. āGlad to see you made it.ā He introduces you to the others, and they all shake your hand quite happily and greet you like a friend. You learn that the guy in the hoodie is Barry Allen, the dude in green is Hal Jordan, and the beach dude is Arthur Curry. Waitresses, all ones, twos, and threes, come in with drinks, and one plops a mug of coffee in front of you, along with a small menu. Clark Kent gives you a knowing gaze.
Once the waitresses clear out, Bruce sits up straight. āClark, would you rather I do the honors?ā His silver watch glitters in the light from the windows.
āNo, no, Bruce,ā Clark says, setting down his glass of water. āI think itās best if I ask them myself.ā
Within a moment, you piece it together. āYou want me to join the Justice League?ā
Clark Kent cracks a smile. āHowād you guess?ā
āYou call me out of the blue, mention the Justice League, invite me to Bruce Wayneās place, and then here, where you introduce me to a group of people who all look strikingly similar to the members of the Justice League.ā You take a sip of coffee. āSubtlety is hardly your strong suit.ā
Barry Allen laughed. āThey got you there on that one.ā
āWell, youāre right. At first Bruce wanted to handle the situation himself,ā ā youād rather not think about what handle was a euphemism for ā ābut I insisted we do some more digging. We did, and what we found wasā¦surprising. To say the least.ā
You look at him oddly. You arenāt normal ā no one else saw numbers floating above peopleās heads ā but you werenāt surprising. Your parents were the only ones who knew about your ability, and theyāre long gone. Youāve got no checkered past, no odd historyā
āYou have powers.ā Clarkās voice was clearly impressed.
āHow did you find out about that?ā The fear comes back, forming a knot in your stomach. āIāve never told anyone else about it.ā
āItās not hard to notice,ā Barry Allen says in between sips of soda. āMost of the information we got we got from Lois after sheās hung out with you.ā
āIāve never her told her anything about the numbers, though.ā
Oliver Queen sits up, flashing you a confused look. āNumbers?ā
Okay, somethingās not right here. āThe number I see over everyoneās heads,ā you say, keeping your voice low. āIt ties into how dangerous everyone is. Usually itās just a one or two, maybe a three or four or five if theyāve got some kind of training or if they work out or whatever. Almost everyone at this table has a ten.ā
āAlmost?ā Diana furrows her brow.
āYou have an eleven,ā you add.
Diana nods, smiling with a bit of pride and making an āI told you soā face to Bruce Wayne, who rolls his eyes. Oliver Queen clears his throat as Bruce and Hal pass him a couple bills.
āIgnore them,ā Barry says, rolling his eyes at the three of them. āWhat you said was interesting ā I might have to ask you a few questions on that later ā but it wasnāt what I found. Remember the sensory and memory study you did when you were ten?ā
You do remember it. Your parents were contacted by a scientist friend of theirs who needed kids to run a study on memory and stimuli. You remember it clearly. The large sterile room, the tests, the person conducting them, a handsome woman with a four above her head, the questions, the smell of latex gloves and fresh bleach. But you donāt remember the results. You were never told the results, other than that they were good, though with a test like that it was hard to say.
āWell, I found the tests. And they were superhuman.ā
Oh shit this is the best one!
Please please please keep it going!
āWaitā¦ā You couldnāt even process something that ridiculous at first. āMy best friend all through high school was in that trial too, thatās how we met. She was a lot of things, but superhuman wasnāt one of them.ā
Barry reached in his pocket and pulled out a pocket sized composition notebook and paged through it.
āWhat was the name?ā Oliver demanded as you, and everybody else at the table watched Barry, but you were the only one who didnāt know what he was doing.
āUhā¦ oh! Me? Sorry. Her name was Irene. Irene Schumer. Why?ā
Barry went back a page and then looked up from the book at all of the heroes around him and shook his head sadly.
āWhen did you last talk to Irene?ā Diana asked gently. Too gently. Gentle to the point that you knew something terrible was up.
There was a tightness in your chest as you tried to remember. I guess it had been a while, but not a lifetime ago. You still saw her spouse posting stuff on Facebook with their kid. But now that you thought about it, Irene was always tagged in the picture, but not in themā¦ āItās been a few years. Maybeā¦ nine?ā
After they all exchanged a glance, Bruce said solomnly, āIām sorry to tell you this, but we have it on good authority that Irene has been killed.ā
Shit.
Suddenly the room seemed to dim and all of the Justice Leauge were looking at you, Clark even leaned towards you as if he expected you to break right there. But you had more tact than that.
āYou have it on good authority? What the hell does that even mean, Mr. Wayne? Whoās authority is good?ā
Clark stopped Bruce from talking and slowly explained, āOnce we found out about theā¦ natureā¦ of the experiment, we started trying to track down the results and the participants. Something that Barry found outā¦ wellā¦ every year, one person from the trial was killed.ā
āSorry to interject,ā Hal suddenly spoke.
That was the first time you actually paid attention to him. His features were nearly as strong as Dianaās and Clarkās, but his hair was much moreā¦ shaggy?
āBut we thought that maybe the reason they were being killed was because of how dangerous the testers determined them to be-ā
He stopped when you snorted.
āImpossible,ā you insisted, āIrene was the only fully grown adult Iāve seen with a 1 above her head. Iāve had a three as long as I can remember until recently.ā
āUntil recently?ā Diana repeated.
Oops. Probably best to leave out the fact you were a ten right now.
āMaybe,ā Clark said when he saw you didnāt want to answer, āit has something to do with the type of power it is.ā
Clark seemed to be trying to put you at ease more than anybody else sitting at the table.
āA person with superhuman abilities or whatever canāt give off a one. Thatāsā¦ insane,ā you started arguing.
āUnless her power was deception,ā Oliver muttered. He looked at Barry and asked, āhow many people are left from that experiment that havenāt died, disappeared, or become incompacitated?ā
He didnāt even look at the book before saying ājust oneā
Every eye fell to you again.
It was like someone poured something hot over your head. Your scalp burned and tingled and then it trickled down your neck and spine and made your shoulders ache until your arms tensed. You had to decide if you believed them or not. They were supposed to be the good guys, Clark seemed to think you two were friends, but some of the stuff they were saying wasā¦ ridiculous. Impossible. Inconceivable. Unbelievable. Justā¦ You picked your coffee up and took a drink. To mask everything you were thinking.
You set it down and tried to lighten the mood by saying, āMight need something stronger.ā
That pulled a few smirks out of some.
āOkay,ā you sighed, āletās say-hypothetically- I believe you and Iām willing to go along. What isā¦ I mean, what do you wantā¦ what are you gonna do about it?ā
āWell, we started with meeting up with you for lunch to see if youād be interested in joining us. Joining our little team.ā
You examined all of them. Perfect, poised, powerful, with some kind of super power- besides Bruce (you assume). You had none of that. You had a history of hapkido, a green belt in tae kwon do, and saw floating numbers above peoples heads. That was hardly as impressive as anyone else at the table.
āWhy would you want me to?ā You finally asked. āIt doesnāt make sense. Iām not a hero. I canāt throw buildings, or fly, Iām not bulletproof, at all. Thatās not aā¦ liability? Or a bad idea?ā
āNone of us think so,ā Bruce Wayne leaned forward.
āMr. Wayne-ā
ā-Bruce,ā He corrected without making much noise.
āBruce. What do you think I have that somebody else doesnāt have?ā
It was a while before he said, āSkill. Spirit. Talent. But more importantly, a calling to be part of our team.ā
Destiny.
The word your grandmother had said to you everyday since your parents died until her death echoed in your head. Everything leads to your destiny, but you have to know when youāve reached it. Was this is? Did you reach it?
āSo,ā Bruce said abruptly, āWhat do you say?ā
You paused for a moment, your eyes drifting back down to the coffee on the table. What did you say? If you accepted their proposal ā if this wasnāt just one big prank ā what then? What did they expect you to do? What did you really have to offer? Nothing like this ever came for free, without consequence. What were you going to have to give up?
You opened your mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Glancing around, you could see that everybodyās eyes were trained on you expectantly. They were waiting.
Where had your confidence gone?
āI-ā Your throat caught on the words. Not a good sign. You tried again, much more successful this time. āIām going to have to think about it.ā You could practically feel the whole table let out bated breaths. Disappointment and something else rang through the air like a gong, reverberating inside your skull.
āI understand,ā Clark Kent, a man youād known for over a year now, nodded as he sought to relieve the tension in the air. āItās a big decision to make. I trust that youāll make the best one.ā
āYeah,ā Barry agreed. āI mean, my entire life changed the day I decided to become the Flash.ā Your attention ā and your head ā snapped in his direction. So that was who he was? Your realization must have been clear, as he had made eye contact right after saying it with an upturning of the corners of his mouth that read something like: Oopsā¦ Well, too late now.
Diana spoke next, āYes. The life of a hero is very different from that which you have known so far. You must make this choice for yourself.ā Sincerity breached her face as she leaned slightly forward in your direction. āBut I firmly believe this ā the Justice League, with us ā Ā is where you belong.ā
Your eyes roamed around the table at everybody who had not yet spoken, taking in the malcontent clear on many of their faces. Guilt pinged in your brain against your will. No, you werenāt allowed to feel guilty. You had as much of a right to deny their offer just as you did to accept it. Besides, you didnāt even refuse yet, just extended the deadline.
You didnāt fail to notice Hal, Bruce, and Oliverās silence, but right now the anxiety latching onto you was more concerning. Discomfort was racing up your spine and you couldnāt help but be reminded of the values that floated up above everybodyās heads; By agreeing to meet this group of people, you had knowingly put yourself in more danger than you had ever been in before. You rose to your feet and addressed the table once more.
āThank you for your offer. As you understand, there is a huge choice in front of me and I need time to consider it more.ā You nodded at them, receiving a few nods in return. āI will contact you with my answer soon, after I think about it.ā You glanced at the two that you knew how to talk to ā Clark and Bruce, of which the former was probably the best option ā before turning away and taking careful, measured steps past the empty tables in this section of the restaurant.
As you approached an archway that led to a busier part of the restaurant, someone ā was that Oliver? ā spoke up. āWait a second, weāre really just going to let them go? Just like this? They know our identities, you canāt tell me thatās not dangerous.ā
A different voice this time, one you couldnāt quite make out. āWhy wouldnāt they accept? This is a chance of a lifetime and-ā
The words faded into obscurity as you got closer to the entryway.
There was so much for you to think about, so much for you to consider. What kind of changes would there need to be if you accepted? What about your friends and family? What would this mean for them? How much would you need to lie to them about this? What would happen if you told the truth? Would they be safe? How much danger would be in store for you? How much danger was already in your life? Your mind wandered to the notebook that Barry carried; Obviously, there was already a lot in store for you if everybody else was-
Your thoughts wandered to Irene. Somebody that you had known for so long and now she was dead. What of the others on that list? All of them were dead too. All of them were kids that you had met back when you were ten. Just kids. And to think that they had been dragged into this just because of something their parents signed them up for? That they were just kids when they were condemned to this fate? When they were sentenced to death? That didnāt settle right with you.
Your feet never carried you any closer to the entrance. Injustice and anger and courage welled up inside of you, replacing the fear and anxiety and uncertainty that had been there before. This was the chance of a lifetime, something that would most likely carry you toward your destiny; you couldnāt just walk away now. Especially when chances were that you were the next target of whoever was behind this. You had to do something, if not for yourself then for all of the others that didnāt have the opportunity to protect themselves. Something was stirring inside you that made you turn in the other direction.
Somebody must have heard your brisk walk back toward the table, because all of them, all of these superheroes, were looking at the doorway when you came through. Fear no longer rose up when you saw these people again; you were a ten too, just as dangerous as almost all of them. You could handle yourself. This was what you were meant to be doing with your life, you could feel it. You stood at the end of the oblong table, next to where you had sat previously, and took a deep breath. Determination coursed through your veins and when you opened your mouth, you spoke the words that changed the course of your entire life:
āScrew this whole āthinking about itā thingā¦ Iām in.ā