Heroes from All Fifty States

[freakboy6117]

One for New Mexico Estrella (not happy with the names but my Spanish sucks so any good suggestions would be appreciated

Angelica's mother was an illegal immigrant she had worked for several years in a motel in Roswell new Mexico to save up enough to have her daughters brought across to be with her and so Angelica just 16 years old and her 10 year old sister Inez where smuggled across by a coyote.

All was going well they had crossed the border near El Paso. All was going well soon they would be with their mother that was until the coyote received a call from a crooked agent telling him that INS was on his tail and he dumped the girls in the desert. The Two young girls where abandoned left without food or water in the burning heat.
Angelica kept them going trying to find a road or a house or something but they where miles from anywhere they tracked on exhaust dehydrated until night fell and the bitter cold forced them to stop huddling together for warmth as might fell but then in the distance she saw a glimmering light she took Inez hand and led her through the desert hoping it was a car or a house or something but all she found was a strange glowing rock she picked it up at least they would have light
and suddenly she felt warm and no longer tired or hungry well being flowed through her but Inez was still exhausted so she clutched her too her against the cold and fell as sleep her final thoughts were of reaching Roswell of being with her mother.
so it was much to Angelica's surprise when she awoke in the parking lot of the motel her mother worked in a miracle the strange rock was gone but the feeling of well being remained.
over the next few days and weeks Angelica discovered that she had been changed by the mysterious stone discovering remarkable power s she decided to become a superhero to protect the weak and make sure that no one else was ever abandoned in the desert by a treacherous coyote.
She adopted a costume based on the flag of her new home and eventually after many trials and her naturalisation she became recognised as the state’s official champion.

[Captain Obvious]

And here I thought we were only known for Rain

Do you really want Rain Man to be your state hero?

[Pariah]

Do you really want Rain Man to be your state hero?

Definitely.









What?

[bubba smith]

Do you really want Rain Man to be your state hero?

maybe his codename could be THUNDERSTORM

[MilkmanDan]

Ms. Iowa

Wings? Shouldn't she be the Pork Queen, the porcine-themed defender of the state? Maybe Soybean Jean, who uses her powers of plant control and nutrition to take down evil?

Actually, considering this year, a water-themed hero wouldn't be a bad idea . . .

[Hermit]

Isiah Cannon cheered as his son Alvin sacked the opposing team's quarterback for the third time this game. At this rate, his son was going to break his High school's record and clinch that scholarship at UT at the same time! Alvin helped the same man he sacked back up in a display of sportsmanship that made his father smile. You tried to raise a son to be a better man than you were. While Charlie was still a work in progress, Isiah felt confident that he had done a pretty good job (Lord knows how) with Alvin.

The lines formed up again, the down about to start, but before it could, Alvin crumbled like a sack of potatoes.

No one had touched him.

****
"Cancer? It can't be cancer," Isiah protested, "He's just a teenager for God's sake!"

The doctor's face was long enough, but the mention of Alvin's youth seemed to stretch it out further, "I'm sorry, but cancer can and has occurred in children much younger than your son."

"I'm only three months away from eighteen, that's old enough for the military, I suppose it's old enough for a disease to notice me," Alvin gave a good natured rally to defend the point he was not a kid. "So, Doctor, these fainting spells?"

"They'll get worse," the Doctor answered, "And more frequent. You'll weaken, and the pain from them will increase....unless this goes into remission. We have some means of helping with that."

Isiah put a hand on his eldest son's shoulder and looked at the doctor, "Well doctor, let's get started on that."

***
There were times Charlie couldn't stand to look at his brother. A year and a half ago, Alvin had been an athlete. Now, with the cancer running rampant at "an alarming pace" (to use the doctor's words), and the attempts to hold it back being almost as deliberating as the illness they fought, Alvin was a shriveled version of his former self. Charlie hated how his brother looked now, and he hated himself for not being able to help it.

"Penny for your thoughts, Charlie?" Alvin gave a wane smile from the hospital bed.

"You always were cheap," Charlie joked so he wouldn't have to tell the truth about how he only visited out of shame and because father would never forgive him if he didn't.

That caused a shuddering and sickly laugh from Alvin. Charlie fought the urge to cringe.
"uhm, Alvin, Dad, I'm going to get something from the vending machine," Charlie said hastily and slipped out before his father could object.

Alvin sighed and spoke to his father, "You shouldn't make him come here, dad. He hates this place."

Mr. Cannon frowned, but before he could reply, the doctor came in. The news the man in white gave turned out to be the same as it was just a few months ago.

The cancer was not going into remission. It was not getting better, far from it.

"Doctor, isn't there anything else we can try? It's not just that I don't like the idea of dying... whole church praying for me like it is, I'm sure God's got me a seat despite my worse days," Alvin jested lightly, "But I'm contrary. I don't like the idea of something like this making me miss the next Superbowl."

"Well," The Doctor wet his lips,"Actually, there are some ...you can help us, Alvin. There are some experimental treatments..." Mr. Cannon frowned at the word 'experimental' but let the doctor continue,"...we've been tempted to try. The chances of them working are slim. They might even hasten the condition instead of helping..."

"Hasten?" Isiah DID cut in at that, "You mean you want to use my son as some sort of guinea pig for something that'll make it worse?!"

"Please, Mr. Cannon, it might not work, it probably won't, but every bit of research we do now helps researchers get that much closer to helping in the future. New data about Cancer is being uncovered every day and..."

"They can uncover the data on someone else," Isiah Cannon was livid, "You've got some nerve..."

While his father railed against the doctor, Alvin glanced out the door. They weren't far from other cancer patients. Heck, they weren't far from the area with the children who had one cancer or another. Some of those kids were so damn brave, it made Alvin feel almost obligated to keep a smile on his own face during all this no matter what.

"Dad," He interrupted,"I'll try it. I don't have much to lose that I'm not likely to lose anyway, and I like the idea of getting my licks in before I go towards finally beating this thing."

"But son..." the senior Cannon protested, but was cut off again.

"Please dad, it's my choice. Besides, we are citizens of the Volunteer state, right?" The young man winked.

***
The treatments turned out to be variations of radiation and chemicals, some of which had never entered a human being's body before. Quite often it was painful, and Alvin felt like his insides were some bizare battle ground between the good medical personnel and the prayers of those who loved him on one side, and the cancer on the other. The doctor's expression grew more and more sorrowful until...
well, It was on a beta ray bombardment and bio nutrient regimen it happened. Suddenly, the cancer seemed to be not just held, but retreating. Withered cells were finding new life, being replaced god knows why. The doctors couldn't make sense of it. Medical experts from out of state were brought in and no wonder, for the 'side effects' of the treatment were amazing too. Side effects like Alvin snapping through the straps of his restraints like they were nothing when he didn't realize they hadn't undone them yet.

He still felt terrible for that burst of radiation that came out of his eyes and nearly hit that poor nurse.

Terms like 'latent mutantcy?' and ' Previous alien genotherapy?' were thrown around, but they always had a question mark attached, so Alvin was pretty sure the doctors were just taking shots in the dark.

No one was more confused than Isiah, "History of radiation exposure previous to treatment? Hell, Doctor. I don't know. I mean, part of the family is from the Oak Ridge area...you know, the only part of the country where the deer catch you in -their- lights, could that have something to do with it?"

***
In the end, the miracle was a selfish one. Try as they might, the doctors could not replicate even the cancer cure aspect in others. Alvin wished they had. It seemed wrong to have this good fortune come to him, grant him super powers to boot, and then not be of use to others. He'd promised to keep coming in yearly to let them take new samples, though they had to use needles of super strong metal to get them now. Maybe one day they could finally figure out what occurred.

In the mean time, having super powers did have a down side,"Dad, I can't play football. It would be cheating. Who can stop me? I just found I can fly for crying out loud." The now twenty year old Cannon shook his head.

Isiah argued, "What if you held back JUST a bit and..." he paused, "You can fly? That's surprising."

"I'd say. Scared the hell out of the cat," Alvin replied.

"Well son, you need college, and we're..." His father frowned. Admitting they needed the scholarship even BEFORE the medical bills just to get his son into a college was difficult for the proud man.

"I know, dad," Alvin slumped into a chair,"I don't want to go public with my abilities, but maybe I should. I could work construction like twenty men or..."

"Or be a superhero," Charlie chirped in with a grin, looking at a newspaper.

"Thought about that," Alvin smiled, "and it's a good thought, but making people pay me for saving them? Heck, I'd do it anyway." And he had too, those muggers in Knoxville never got a look in his face, but he was sure the bullet proof display impressed both them and the lady who was almost their victim. He hadn't mentioned that to dad or little brother yet. Bragging wasn't his style.

Charlie resisted the urge to smack his brother upside the head. When would dad and Alvin learn that he was the smart one in the family? "The GOVERNMENT would pay you... they've got some sort of program. They want one hero from every state. See?"

Alvin took the paper, started reading, and smiled, "Dad... You think it would be moral to..."

"I paid my taxes, so yes, I don't mind you getting some of that back for me. No different from a soldier getting his paycheck, is it?" Isiah Cannon smiled.

***
"What do you think?" Alvin asked as he straightened his mask and posed for his brother and father.

"The cape's too damn short," his father stated bluntly.

"Dad," Charlie groaned at his father's ignorance,"that cape is based loosely on the one Elvis wore in some of his performances, which was based on Captain Marvel jr from Fawcett comics back in the golden age." God, there were days he was sure he was the only one with any culture around here.

"Elvis is dead, and his fashion sense never was too healthy to begin with," Mr. Cannon countered.

Alvin tried not to smile too obviously,"It'll do as is, I think. Now I need a super hero name. Seeing as I'm going with this whole state hero thing, I was thinking Volunteer. It IS How I got these powers, after all."

Their father let loose a whoop that had Alvin's smile go confused, and made Charlie cringe.

"Glad to see you like it, dad," Alvin chuckled finally, "But I didn't expect THAT much approval."

"Hell, son, think about it. You may not be playing football for UT, but you're still a Volunteer. I really SHOULD be more specific in those prayers huh?"

Alvin C. Cannon, the man who would be known as Volunteer, tilted his head back and joined his father in laughter as Charlie groaned outwardly, but inwardly smiled.

[Hermit]

Sorry if that story was a bit long

[Log-Man]

Something about my connection won't let me bring up my art program.... but I think I'll do another "think-out-loud" exercise to see what I can come up with for Oregon.

I really, really don't want someone to come up with Beaver-Man.

Of course not, that would be silly.

It should be Beaver Woman.








What?

[yamamura]

Wings? Shouldn't she be the Pork Queen, the porcine-themed defender of the state? Maybe Soybean Jean, who uses her powers of plant control and nutrition to take down evil?

Actually, considering this year, a water-themed hero wouldn't be a bad idea . . .

Yea we got alot of water this year but I was basing the idea on the Iowa flag and we have a hawk on our flag. Also we are the Hawkeye State. So I went with wings. But I like your ideas for other Iowan heroines. Hmm the Corn League dedicated to fighting evil and poor nutrition where ever it may be found.

But wait a water themed villain. Floodman.......

[lemming]

Sorry if that story was a bit long

But a good origin.

[Egyptoid]

I put up Tennessee, Missouri, Rhode Island (Twice) , New Hampshire, and New Mexico

...tried to work on the formatting, I'm not pleased yet....

and don't forget, none of the ones I did, like Arkansas or South Carolina,
are permanent yet, please submit any and all ideas. See what I did with the two rhode Island ones for example

================================

thanks Tim for the Missouri Ideas.
She has a gateway belt buckle, and silver cape lining.
I stole Captain Obvious' idea for secret ID naming procedure.

============================

thanks for all the submissions folks ! LINKY

[freakboy6117]

I think I'm gonna do two more of these then quit there taking up way to much of my time lol.

This one was my suggestion for Kansas and Missouri twin brothers with powers that grow in proximity to each other who are based in the respective Kansas cities.

powers and origin to follow tomorrow evening.

[Hermit]

I stole Captain Obvious' idea for secret ID naming procedure.

I just used Minnie Pearl's real last name, with a first name in homage to Alvin York

[Hermit]

I've never even BEEN to Arizona, and I'm not sure the term was even used outside of the less than stellar movie ( ) but for Arizona, how about a Navajo with the power to control the very air about her called Windtalker?

[st barbara]

Something about my connection won't let me bring up my art program.... but I think I'll do another "think-out-loud" exercise to see what I can come up with for Oregon.

I really, really don't want someone to come up with Beaver-Man.

Oregon is probably best known for a maverick spirit, environmentalism, and technological innovation, roughly in that order. So I figure Oregon's state hero should be someone who combines the last two -- a gadgeteer who uses technology leaning as far into the "green zone" as possible.

So we start with the "state colors" of (dark) blue and gold, and as a maverick our guy would probably not wear spandex but something more like a motorcycle one-piece. So it's dark blue with gold trim, and a motorcycle helmet with full-face coverage. Pistol at his right side, communication and force-field controls on his left wrist, and a belt with miscellaneous gadgets. I'm not sure I'd even give him a logo or icon, though a gold recycling symbol over the left breast might work.

His name: Eco-Ranger.

The name sounds a bit, I don't know, "dull" perhaps ? Why not just call him "Maverick" ?