#i should really make a propper tagging system

[tomahawkbunny]

Sidekicks

Taking children to battle is a monster's game. Trying to keep them from being heroes is a fool's errand. Thus, sidekicks. The first sidekick was Comfort, the boy-healer who supported Lady Liberty, and he set the standard for many that would come after for years. Playing support, generally avoiding direct action confrontation, allowed to help, as he would whether he was allowed to or not, but under conditions. This worked, for a long time. There were missteps, there were mistakes, there were even tragedies. But no one thought there was a better way. Until Viscera. When he killed the Sidekick Squad, strung up their bodies for their mentors to find, drove said mentors to violence and madness, he broke something, in the hero community and the hearts of the public. Sidekicks were banned for years, policed with hovering relentlessness. Children are not to be in battle. It is insane they were ever allowed to be. 

But they wanted to be. And they would be. Heroes are too inspiring. The thrill is too tempting. To rebel against authority is an act of childhood in and of itself. And when you have power, and you can help someone, you do. That’s what they’d been taught, if not directly, by proof, by spacemen from the sky and those with nothing but masks and wits. So they would go it alone, in secret. And some would succeed. Others would get hurt, or worse. You can stop some, but only so many. And if they do it alone, there’s no one to help them. 

Sidekicks are back now. It’s a controversial topic. Sidekicks must train at Prospects Academy or under an authorized hero with direct exemption permission. If one gets targeted, they get protected. Villains know that retribution will be total and instant. Many, especially those of the general public are still against Sidekicks at all. But the children want to be heroes. And we can protect them, or we can fail to stop them. It’s an easy choice when put like that. METADATA: Sidekicks, conceptually, are batshit. They exist because seeing a kid like them sold more comics. But they are integral to a superheroic world. And you can choose to handle that in a lot of ways. This entry shows a few, but the inescapable cruel joke of their very conceit is a source of a perpetual narrative conflict machine.