Reminisce by the Roses

"Patterns," he said. "Inheretence isn't exactly one for one, but it tends to mostly pass through families. Someone with two metagene parents would almost definitely have the gene themselves. Sometimes it skips a generation, or manifests in a way that's impossible to detect. But the nature of the power tends to be similar. Someone who has fire powers might have a child with heat powers, or a different type of fire powers. Similarly, each successive generation the powers tend to be stronger. The first few to manifest had... very underwhelming powers. The first real hero in Halcyon city could fly and nothing else. In the modern day, people can fly, shoot lightning, and manipulate speed as a standard enough power set."

It was all a bit technical, but it was also something he was very familiar with.

"The first Gallant just had enhanced endurance. Distinctly underwhelming, I have to say. It was his son that really started to kick things off. All of us have had some kind of power relating to some kind of adaptability. Gaining power based on your opponents. Matching someone's abilities. My own father could copy the powers of those he fought, but only so long as he was still around them. My own powers ran the opposite direction, no doubt due to my mother's influence. Her powers were shields--nullifying incoming powers."

He smiled a bit, and then pointed a finger towards her.

"Your powers are now off," he said, activating his power as he said it. "Inaccessible. I'm sure you can imagine how terrifying that would be for a super villain who heavily leaned on his powers to fight."

Frederick waved his hand dismissively, and if Zora tried she'd find her magic had returned to her, the effect broken.

"To anyone, yes," he said. "It was my trump card when I was doing hero work. Some opponents couldn't possibly be handled without seriously putting people at risk. Someone who just explodes can be taken by other heroes, but not without major collateral damage. But then I come in and turn off their powers, and then they're just a human. The only people who could really threaten me were powerless, but those were few and far between."

Plus, he had his own ways to handle them.

Did he want to bring up Godfrey? He weighed the pros and cons. That's where the conversation would naturally have gone for him, but he was also enjoying the relatively light tone. Zora was in a good mood, and the last thing he wanted to do was bring it down.

Probably better to not.

"I had all sorts of tricks up my sleeve, but that kind of power requires me to physically take someone down. Eventually I was injured too severely on the job, and it wasn't plausible for me to keep working. A career in politics seemed like a good career change. Less likely to cause me to lose a limb."

"Oh no, not at all," he said, giving her a small smile. "I didn't want to talk about it right after it happened, but it's been years since then. I got into a fight with a villain whose powers I'd turned off, rendering him useless. But I didn't realize he had backup, and even as I arrested the first one, the second one jumped me. I ended up breaking my arm and my leg on my left side, and only was saved from worse by the arrival of another hero on the scene. We got both of them, but I had to make a trip to the hospital, and they wanted them both in casts for months."

That kind of without training or exercise was a death knell, a kiss of death to almost any career.

"I probably could have stayed in the business if I'd really wanted. But it felt like the writing was on the wall. My time as Gallant was over."

A sensitive topic indeed, because Frederick winced the moment it was mentioned. Of course it would come up, but a part of him hadn't expected her to bring him up ever again.

But she had, so he supposed he might as well answer.

"Yes," he said. "I'm probably the most well known Gallant due to my job after retirement, but I was the sixth Gallant. It stayed in the family, passing it down from father to son. At one point there were three Gallants in action, even. But Broen..."

He trailed off for a moment, frowning, and then continued.

"Broen rejected the position. He had no interest in 'playing at being a hero' as he said. He didn't want the position, wouldn't discuss training for it, and spent the majority of his life acting out. By the time I retired, I'd accepted he wasn't ever going to change his mind, which meant the line would end with me."