Why Do I Wear This Costume?
by Powerlord

The bright sunlight arced onto the sidewalk as I was finishing up my shift with Patriot City Power (PCP). You know, "Things go faster when you're using PCP." The Biggest provider of electricity in the North East?

Hi! Not from around here, are you?

Oh, just moved here?

Well, pleased to make your acquaintance Doris, and welcome to Patriot City.

My name is Zeffrin Leightner. Odd name I guess, but its never bothered me much. My mom always told me that it meant "Light Cloud". Mom has a P.H.D. in English Literature and specialized in poetry. Of course Dad used to tell her she was full of it and that the proper name of the Wind God was "Zephyros" in Greek, "Zephyr" in English or at closest "Zephyrine" in a French. The last, he would be quick to add, was a feminine form of the word, which I would be quick to point I wasn't. He would also point out that far from being "light", his proud family name was rather earthy. A quick trip down memory lane brought us from the "Leek Garden" of "Layton," to a corruption to "Leightoner" at Gull Island during his Great-Grandfather's Immigration. Dad would always pull out a bad English accent when he got to the "I said I'm a Leightoner! What're ya, daft of hearing?!" part...

Did I mention Dad has a P.H.D. in English Literature also, with a specialty in etymology?

No Doris, that's the study of the origin of Words, not Bugs, that's entomology.

Yes, that IS something rather different.

How did I react to growing up in a household like that? I did what any child does, I rebelled. My form of rebellion was eschewing the soft sciences and concentrating on the harder ones. I got a degree in Electrical Engineering (B.S.), with a minor in Meteorology.

Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. Yes, I studied the weather.

Well, I knew it wouldn't pay very well, apart from a few University Professors. After all, who's going to give you money to stand there and tell them what the weather will be like? That's why I majored in E.E., which led directly to this job at PCP, which fortunately pays the rent.

Speaking of which, have you found a place to stay yet?

Oh, you have?

Market street, over near the Patriot Park Pumping Plaza? (Heh, try saying that five times fast...)

Yes, Rents over there do seem unusually cheap. Probably has to do with that "Nuclear Winter" mess.

Yes it does seem awfully warm and bright to be worrying about that now.

No, I wouldn't worry about Fallout... is he new?

Of course all that brings us back around to the day everything changed. Patriot City always had its share of nare-do-goods, but somehow things got even stranger than this big city has ever seen.

What? Oh, you've seen a guy running around in blue tights.

No, I'm not sure who he was, I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific than that.

He was chasing a guy in brown tights..? No, I'm sorry, that really doesn't help narrow it down much.

So, as I was saying, I was finishing up on my shift and getting ready to enjoy a well deserved nap and a good book, when Jimmy Kendel comes into the locker room in a huff. Turns out they had denied his request for the night off, so he could go to his son's school play. I thought about it for a minute and volunteered to take his shift. Heck, I was happy to help, its not like I was going to go do anything that important.

A little later that night, there was this strange storm was brewing. Of course at the time it didn't seem too strange. A call came in about a downed power-line over near Randolf Junior High School. Well, that certainly couldn't wait until morning, so off I flew.

No, not literally. Not yet anyway, but I'm a little getting ahead of myself.

When I got there the line was running straight across two lanes of traffic. It seemed a simple cleanup job. Kill power at the junction box, secure the downed line, reattach it, and turn power back on. Well, I shut the power and went to secure the line when it happened. I hadn't noticed the purple glow the electric lines had acquired. Okay, I had noticed it, but I had assumed the overtime was just getting to me. Next thing I know, Blammo! I'm lying on my back on the ground ten feet from the cables, two hours have gone by, and there's a faint smell of ozone in the air. I figured the line must not have been dead, so I double checked the junction box first and reattached the line. When I went to the truck and reached for the handle a bolt of electricity shot between my hand and the door as I jumped back. The weird thing was that the bolt hadn't shocked me, if you'll pardon the pun, just surprised me. I figured it was connected to the shock I had taken but figured it was just some residual energy grounding itself out. Nothing to worry about in the long run.

Yes, I suppose I should have gone to the hospital and been checked out just in case but it hadn't seemed like a big deal at the time.

Anyway... Later that night reports started coming in from all over the city of super powerful people fighting. At first I thought the same as everyone else (I suppose), they all must be invaders from outer space and they brought their fight here. Of course, after they started identifying some of the people (those that could), and the reports started mentioning a purple glow, I realized that something must have happened to them. "And possibly me" I thought, remembering the purple glow on the electric lines and the shock I got while getting in the truck. After some trial and error I confirmed I really did have super powers. The decision of what to do with them was easy. First I would take over the world!! Nah, not for me. Besides, who'd want to run it anyway? I decided to use these powers for good. A cliché perhaps, but its what I did. Donning a costume Dad helped me make, and going by the name "The Silver Lining" which Mom insisted on, I've tried to make Patriot City, and by extension The World, a little better.

What? Oh, you just wanted to know why there were so many odd people were running around wearing their pajamas?

Ah... So.. I don't suppose you would be interested in having dinner with me Saturday night, would you?