Short Summary: Missy Biron, AKA Vista, runs for Mayor.
Longer Summary: With the assistance of her new friend and PR manager Taylor 'Vote for Missy or you'll get dizzy' Hebert, Missy Biron, sometimes known as the superheroine Vista, will try to change things for the better in her city using the power of politics!
Short Summary: Missy Biron, AKA Vista, runs for Mayor.
Longer Summary: With the assistance of her new friend and PR manager Taylor 'Vote for Missy or you'll get dizzy' Hebert, Missy Biron, sometimes known as the superheroine Vista, will try to change things for the better in her city using the power of politics!
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It started with a comment from her dad. "Huh, the Broadside has a list of criteria for becoming Mayor," he said before thanking her mom for the cup of coffee she placed next to his elbow. "Missy, you fit all of them. How about that?"
She looked up from her toast and jam and made a curious sound. She wasn't interested in politics, not really, but she felt as if it was her duty to keep abreast of that kind of thing, even if it was usually super boring.
"Here," he said as he wiggled the proper page out from the stack of newspaper and passed it over the table.
She took it and placed the too-big page next to her breakfast. Why newspapers were so big and clunky was beyond her. They were just so inconvenient to read without powers to cheat. She squished the page with a thought until all the ads and other articles were tiny and the only thing left was the article her dad had mentioned.
It was a small thing, just a blurb about the elections in nearly a month.
This year's special election, spurred on by the recent and sudden passing of previous Mayor,
Roy Christner (see headline article), will be held on the last week of March with three ballot stations across the city.
Current front runners for the position are in-cumbent Mayor Monroe Lancaster who was previously the City's Director of Law. Thomas Calvert, a local businessman and PRT-liaison, and Jaden Brown the former Treasurer.
Any new candidates for the position must file a notice of candidacy before the 5th of this month. To be eligible you must:
Be a citizen of Brockton Bay for at least five (5) years.
Have no previous criminal record.
Must own land within the borders of the city.
Be at least 13 years old.
"I don't own any land," she said, pointing out the obvious flaw in what her dad had said. The part where you could be thirteen went by without comment.
She was thirteen. Thirteen and a total badass. That was just the city showing good sense for once.
"That's not quite true. You remember uncle Jim?" he asked.
That had been her uncle on her mother's side. An estranged family member that her mom never talked about. "Yeah?"
"He had a couple of old lots here and there across the city. I think he bought them for cheap when the economy took a turn for the worse. When he passed you inherited one of them. It's an old warehouse in the docks. I wouldn't recommend visiting, but it is yours."
"Really?" Missy asked. She had done a couple of patrols around there. Maybe she'd roof-hopped off that very building.
If someone had moved in to deal drugs or something, she was going to be pissed.
"If things improve in the city you might be able to sell it for college money. Doubt you'll get more than a few hundred for it, but it could help in a pinch. Taxes on the property have been a pittance."
"We should have sold it," her mom said as she walked over and sat down with her tablet and a steaming mug of some sort of foul herbal mix.
That sparked an argument at the table, one that Missy ignored out of habit.
Missy lowered the paper and gave her toast a thoughtful nibble. "Huh," she said.
That was a thought.
***
Missy stared at the town hall and tried to ignore the pit in her stomach. "Fuck, this is such a dumb idea," she muttered under her breath.
The town hall building was one of the oldest around. It was built near the top of Captain's Hill and had a huge bell tower on one side that used to overlook the city before downtown sprouted up and blocked any view there might have been of the ocean. It wasn't in a bad part of town, far from it, even... it just wasn't one of the more touristy places.
No one came to look at the courthouse or that one spot someone famous died a hundred years ago. It was more... head straight to the hospital. Visit Panacea. Get rejected by Panacea. Don't pass Go and don't forget your foam halberd in the gift shop on the third floor.
It wasn't touristy, but it was nice.
Missy had crossed the area dozens of times on patrol and not once did she see any crimes here. The other buildings were all offices, or notaries' and lawyers' places, and there were always cops around since the BBPD headquarters was just a block over.
She was stalling.
"For fuck's sake," she swore. "Either do it or don't."
Screwing up her courage, she stomped up the steps to the front doors and pushed past them and into the hall's lobby. A long counter hid a couple of busy looking secretaries behind its stained mahogany and a placard with a friendly 'take a number please!' that sat nearby on a little plinth.
Missy reached up, took a number, then found a seat nearby next to a sleeping older gentleman and a bored-looking woman. It took three minutes by the ticking of the huge clock on one wall before her number was called up to the front desk.
The bored woman's sour look, and a ragged snore, followed her like the PRT followed her internet history.
Standing on the tip of her toes, Missy slid the little ticket stub over to the lady who took it with a smile. "Can I help you, dear?" she asked.
This was it. The moment she asked the question that would forever change her life. Maybe. Sorta. If what she wanted to do wasn't against some obscure regulation. But she had read that it was illegal for an employer to tell an employee not to vote, so hopefully...
"I'd like to apply to become the mayor," Missy said.
The woman stared at her for a moment, then her placid 'I work the front desk' smile turned genuine. "Do you now? Does your mommy and daddy know?"
Missy's eyes narrowed. "I'm under no obligation to inform them."
"Ah, but shouldn't you tell them that you'll be the littlest mayor?" the secretary asked.
The bitch was mocking her. Missy ground her teeth together then tried to remember some of her PR training. Calling civilians rude things didn't usually help, no matter how good it made her feel. "Miss... can I have your name?"
"Of course, sweetie. I'm Chloe."
"Right, Miss Chloe. I just want a copy of the nomination papers and to ask one or two questions. That's all."
Chloe seemed to take in her serious tone and then nodded. "Okay. Is it for a school project?" she asked before looking past Missy and to the waiting room. There wasn't anyone there, fortunately, everyone having shuffled off on their own to the other receptionists, so she couldn't use some lame excuse like 'there are people waiting' to get her to leave.
"Sure. I plan on becoming Mayor to make homework illegal," Missy deadpanned.
The secretary barked a laugh. "Well, that's certainly a platform I would vote for! Let me get you a copy." Chloe left her post for a moment to talk to one of her coworkers. They looked her way and giggled when she waved.
If Missy became mayor she was going to fire all of them and hire ex-PRT agents. They, at least, knew how to act professionally.
If Chloe had ever punched a man in anger, she'd probably broken a nail.
Chloe returned with a small stack of papers and tucked them in an envelope. "Here you are, sweetie. One whole nomination package. Was there anything else?"
"Yes please," Missy said as she took the envelope. "Where do I send this once I'm done filling it?"
Chloe smiled indulgently. "You post it to the electoral office. The address is included."
"Thank you!" Missy chirped in a voice that few would be able to tell was as fake as Chloe's eyelashes. Turning on a heel, she walked out of the town hall building and down the street. A few people looked at her, probably idiots who couldn't mind their own business just because someone young was out and about without supervision. As if adults were any better.
Yes, she would run for mayor, and win or lose it would lead to changes. She swore it.
***
Wanted to give a shout-out to Blackmarch who helped with writing this and the next few chapters! Also, Eli who made the bad grammar go away.
Intriguing! A wild and hilarious premise, and I look forward to the shenanigans that are about to ensue. Especially once Taylor gets involved (and I'm really looking forward to seeing how that comes about).
I have NEVER REALIZED HOW MUCH I WANTED SOMETHING LIKE THIS!!!
I am currently unemployed thanks to my workplace shutting down due to no less than FIVE SEPARATE cases of Covid-19 so I can't send you any money through Patreon, but I will as soon as fiscally possible just to see this continue.
In most jurisdictions it's the age where you can legally agree to things. Not everything, but it's why most web forums have a "click here to say you're at least 13". Before that, basically anything they say or do is legally on the parents.
Your question made me curious, so I looked up some statistics. The youngest mayors in the US have been 18 years old. It's hard to imagine them allowing someone as young as 13 but this is also Earth Bet, so it's not impossible. There are a few cities in the US where there's no official age of candidacy for public office, so that makes this plot even more plausible.
So everybody seems to be forgetting something here: Brockton Bay is supposed to be OLD. It's not a young city, so many of the city ordnances go back hundreds of years. Hundreds of years ago, having the lower age limit for mayor be as low as 13 could be seen as sensible, because most people tended to die young. And the thing about laws is, if nothing ever comes up to force a change in them? They never change. This is why we still have laws on the books that seem utterly ridiculous, because the world has changed since the times when they were sensible. In New Mexico (I think) it's illegal to wear a red mask, likely because of bandits and thieves commonly doing so when the law was made I would imagine. In Arizona it's a felony to deny a person a glass of water, which makes a lot more sense when you consider there was a time when doing so was tantamount to murder. And that's even before we get into insane laws that exist because some uptight asshole got a bug up their ass one day and decided to make a law to outlaw something that they saw somebody do once, or that they imagined that people might do, or that they had a fever dream about.
So no, there doesn't NEED to be a rationale for the 13 year age limit on becoming mayor of Brockton Bay, because there are most likely towns and cities across the country where that's actually the case, and even more bizarre limits than that! I bet you could find some town in the USA where only right-handed people are allowed to run for mayor, and even sillier things!
And that's even before we get into insane laws that exist because some uptight asshole got a bug up their ass one day and decided to make a law to outlaw something that they saw somebody do once, or that they imagined that people might do, or that they had a fever dream about.
In Europe we sometimes get some really old city ordinances and laws that date all the way back to the Medieval ages, the English are notorious for still having several still in place, the infamous "It's legal to kill a scotsman in York, but only with a bow and arrow" for example. There's a couple places with some strange ones still.
After reading "Short Summary: Missy Biron, AKA Vista, runs for Mayor."
Thoughts: Okay, Missy is nice, but she is too young for this. It is a funny if a bit too improbable....
After reading "Longer Summary: With the assistance of her new friend and PR manager Taylor Hebert..."
Thoughts: Okay, Missy is becoming a Mayor!!
I'm pretty sure it is illegal for parahuman law enforcement to have command of non-parahuman squads, which is why Alexandria was forced to resign. I would imagine with masters running around they would have something similar for political offices.
I'm pretty sure it is illegal for parahuman law enforcement to have command of non-parahuman squads, which is why Alexandria was forced to resign. I would imagine with masters running around they would have something similar for political offices.
Yeah but Missy isn't a master the PRT knows this for a fact they can't just blanket ban parahumans from office though they might require you admit to being a parahuman but that is not necessary because they probably already know in this case.
Also Iirc Alexandria was fired because she lied about not being a parahuman not because she was one if she had been upfront about it the govt would have been okay with it cause she would have ben a powerful parahuman helping to found an organisation to keep Capes from wrecking society but instead she lied took control and then committed crimes like human experimentation while using her two positions to cover up her actions. The only reason she wasn't arrested or killed was because she was too powerful and a necessary tool against threats like Endbringers. Also that's the PRT not a democratically elected position like a mayor.
Sorry if I'm ranting this is a facet of Worm I've never really seen explored before and Raven doing a story about it has me very excited.
Yeah but Missy isn't a master the PRT knows this for a fact they can't just blanket ban parahumans from office though they might require you admit to being a parahuman but that is not necessary because they probably already know in this case.
Also Iirc Alexandria was fired because she lied about not being a parahuman not because she was one if she had been upfront about it the govt would have been okay with it cause she would have ben a powerful parahuman helping to found an organisation to keep Capes from wrecking society but instead she lied took control and then committed crimes like human experimentation while using her two positions to cover up her actions. The only reason she wasn't arrested or killed was because she was too powerful and a necessary tool against threats like Endbringers. Also that's the PRT not a democratically elected position like a mayor.
Sorry if I'm ranting this is a facet of Worm I've never really seen explored before and Raven doing a story about it has me very excited.
I'm pretty sure it's not legal in the setting to have a parahuman of any kind be in charge of law enforcement and/or media. Alexandria was pulling the ruse because they wanted control of the PRT as well as the Protectorate (through Legend) to have a monopoly on all cape-related stuff in the US and Canada. Parahumans are also severely limited in how they can legally make money off their powers, so a cape that has a regular job that is unrelated to their power like Brandish is fine, but Parian who uses her powers to make her dresses would have to jump through a ton of hoops to open her shop.
In this situation, I'm not sure if Missy will have to reveal her identity. It could go either way, and depends on what the author has in mind, I guess.
"What'cha working on?" Dennis asked as he dropped his Clockblocker helmet on the table.
Missy looked up from the forms for a moment and took in her... sorta friend's appearance.
The Wards room was supposed to be a calming place, a place where they could hang out and 'be kids' or whatever. There were certainly enough posters for games and bands and such on the walls to pass it off as a place where teens hung out. If you were an idiot.
There were a lot of idiots out there, Missy noticed.
Not one poster belonged to any of them. In fact, the last time someone had brought in a poster he had gotten into a heap of shit for it. Dennis probably shouldn't have put up a poster for an Elite cape team out west, but still. It was an illusionary room made to convince inattentive parents and wide-eyed tourists that the Wards were all cutesy little do-gooders.
She didn't like it much. Must have been because she wasn't an idiot. That checked out.
Still, Dennis was usually in a good mood, or pretended to be in one most of the time. Now he looked like someone had pissed in his corn flakes.
She liked that saying, had stolen it from one of the troopers. Just like a lot of her other favourite sayings. The troopers' waiting room didn't have posters for the latest movie that had made a deal with PR. They had half-naked ladies and firefighter calendars and blown-up gun schematics.
She was a little jealous. Of the gun schematics. Not the other stuff…. Okay, the firefighters weren't bad either.
Fire trucks were cool.
Maybe they could make firefighter posters of the Wards?
"You okay?" she asked once her mind returned to Earth.
Dennis smiled at her. "Just peachy," he said, before leaning over the table to check on her work. "Stuff from school?" he asked.
"Nope. It's personal." She pushed with her power, making the space between them far wider. "And it's none of your business."
"A loooooove letter?" He teased. Now his smile was a little more genuine.
As she flushed, she considered the pros and cons of lifting Dennis' mood if it meant him teasing her about her completely reasonable and logical infatuation with a certain unnamed work colleague. There was nothing wrong with it. No fraternization rules in the Wards manual. She'd checked. For reasons. "It's nothing like that, idiot."
"Ohh, calling me an idiot. That hurts. Really. Don't let people hear your potty mouth or you'll be in trouble," Dennis said while wagging his finger her way. "What would Gallant think?"
She had a few choice words she wanted to call him, words that she was sure he would need to look up in order to be properly insulted by. But he was right. Swearing was against the rules. It made them look too tough or villainous or rebellious and scared all the proper Christian housewives that they spent the day saving from muggers.
Not like they enforced that rule all that hard though. If they had, Sophia would have been well on her way to the Birdcage by now…. Or just poor. Super poor.
The swear jar was pretty empty though. Like always. And Sophia wasn't in superjail. Like always.
Shame.
"I'm... doing something," she said. She looked to the ceiling, their sort of little sign that they were being watched and she couldn't really talk about it. "It's not bad or anything, but it might annoy some folks and I want to be careful about how I handle it."
"Uh-huh," Dennis said. "Sounds like fun?"
"It might be," Missy said. She read a few more lines of the document and checked off a few boxes. Everything was written in a needlessly complicated way. If it wasn't for three years of PRT-issue after-action reports she would have been completely lost.
The Man had already laid a claim on her soul. Made her one of its own. Molded her in their image. Lawyerese had no power over her but what she allowed. Not anymore.
She was kidding. Maybe. It got hard to tell sometimes, being a very shiny cog in the machine and all.
Seriously though, she'd seen worse. Much worse…. She'd been ten when they'd tricked her into signing off on a line of Vista dolls. A line of Vista dolls that had been chock full of cutsie-tootsie catchphrases and hair accessories and enough flashing lights to take out an entire crowd of epileptics.
She'd hated it on sight, that being in public where she couldn't do anything about it. Just as planned.
It had been hideous. Revolting. Disgusting. In other words, nothing like her. It had also been one of the top ten mistakes of her life. Easy.
The leftover pieces of her post-trigger innocence shattered beyond repair after a long unveiling ceremony and a public signing of the first one ever taken out of its box (she'd almost chipped a tooth), she'd had to wise up quick. Real quick. And crack open a couple of law books.
'Gotta look my best before I go out on patrol!' her ass. At least it hadn't been underwear? Armsmaster still hadn't recovered from that one.
Small mercies had to be taken wherever you found them.
... Anyway, Missy didn't have a criminal record, didn't belong to any gang (why would they even have that there? It wasn't as if someone would tell the truth. Probably some liability issue), she wasn't a terrorist and she wasn't affiliated with any government outside of the United States.
A few lines down she came across a passage about her positions in any government agencies and paused.
"Hey, Dennis," she asked. "Are the Wards a government agency?"
"What? Yeah, of course," he said. He had pulled out some papers while she wasn't paying attention -- homework, if the binder next to him was any clue.
"Really? I thought it was a civilian branch of the PRT."
"That's the Protectorate," he said, then frowned. "No, wait. We might be... ah. I'm not sure actually."
Missy wasn't sure what she'd expected to hear. Probably that, once she thought about it.
She looked at the line and the spot where she could fill in some information. Lying would be bad. Not because she cared as much as it would give people ammunition to nail her to a cross. On the other hand, this would mean disclosing her real identity to someone, maybe multiple people.
Then again, did that really matter? The whole 'Wards identities are safe' thing was a joke. She filed taxes already, her name was affiliated with the Wards programme from the start. It was a 'polite fiction'. Or that's what she'd heard some of the office drones call it.
Missy had been here longer than half of them...no. Ninety percent of them. Ninety-five...ish. And change. She had seniority, damn it. She could call them whatever she wanted to call them.
In her head. They made the coffee after all. Missy enjoyed hers with two sugars, a dash of milk and no spit.
She insisted on that last part.
"Fuck it," she murmured as she wrote 'Parahuman Response Team: Wards' on the line and moved on.
The rest of the form was all boring bits that she could skip. And then she reached the end and pulled back, her hand automatically signing for her. She paused, then looked at her signature. Vista, in pretty cursive letters that PR had made her practice more than CQC for an entire month.
She shouldn't have filled any forms in her costume. Stupid Pavlov.
With another shrug, she crossed the name out and then wrote her own name in a far uglier scrawl over it.
If she was going to do this thing, she might as well have some fun with it.
Missy stood up, stuffed the forms into the envelope it had come with, then made sure the stamps she'd tactically appropriated from someone's desk were stuck on the front just right. "Hey, Dennis, do you think we can stop by a mailbox while on patrol?"
***
Wanted to give a shout-out to Blackmarch who helped with writing this and the next few chapters! Also, Eli who made the bad grammar go away.
So she's running as Missy "Vista" Biron. Interesting. Very interesting. The fact she's a known and popular parahuman could give her some actual credibility, especially if she's open about her encounters with various criminals, and her feelings about how she and her fellow Wards were never allowed to make the difference they could have. That might really resonate in a city like Brockton Bay.
She liked that saying, had stolen it from one of the troopers. Just like a lot of her other favourite sayings. The troopers' waiting room didn't have posters for the latest movie that had made a deal with PR. They had half-naked ladies and firefighter calendars and blown-up gun schematics.
She was a little jealous. Of the gun schematics. Not the other stuff…. Okay, the firefighters weren't bad either.
Fire trucks were cool.
Maybe they could make firefighter posters of the Wards?
Here is where I first just burst out into laughter.
Thankfully? Since I have no job, no one is present to look at me weirdly and force me to try to explain how I was laughing at a 13 year old girl talking about her interest in Firefighter Calendars.
What? What's wrong with the pictures of Fire Trucks? Fire Trucks are cool!
I think that Missy will be an AMAZING Mayor. I mean, she ACTUALLY READ THE FUCKING MANUAL!
She will probably steamroll all her opposition with no issue!
But he was right. Swearing was against the rules. It made them look too tough or villainous or rebellious and scared all the proper Christian housewives that they spent the day saving from muggers.
Not like they enforced that rule all that hard though. If they had, Sophia would have been well on her way to the Birdcage by now…. Or just poor. Super poor.
I suddenly want a Superjail! crossover with Worm...
If Dragon was still Warden... Saint might have an actual legit reason to be the shit he is in Canon.
"It might be," Missy said. She read a few more lines of the document and checked off a few boxes. Everything was written in a needlessly complicated way. If it wasn't for three years of PRT-issue after-action reports she would have been completely lost.
The Man had already laid a claim on her soul. Made her one of its own. Molded her in their image. Lawyerese had no power over her but what she allowed. Not anymore.
She was kidding. Maybe. It got hard to tell sometimes, being a very shiny cog in the machine and all.
Don't worry. There is no need to be confused.
The answer is obvious after all.
You are attempting to become a Politician!
You are VERY MUCH on THE PATH of THE MAN!
Seriously though, she'd seen worse. Much worse…. She'd been ten when they'd tricked her into signing off on a line of Vista dolls. A line of Vista dolls that had been chock full of cutsie-tootsie catchphrases and hair accessories and enough flashing lights to take out an entire crowd of epileptics.
She'd hated it on sight, that being in public where she couldn't do anything about it. Just as planned.
It had been hideous. Revolting. Disgusting. In other words, nothing like her. It had also been one of the top ten mistakes of her life. Easy.
The leftover pieces of her post-trigger innocence shattered beyond repair after a long unveiling ceremony and a public signing of the first one ever taken out of its box (she'd almost chipped a tooth), she'd had to wise up quick. Real quick. And crack open a couple of law books.
...I would LOVE to claim that this was all a secret Contessa/Simurgh/PRT Plot to teach their Wards a lesson... but that would give them far too much credit.
New Headcanon as to why Canon Halbeard is so gung-ho and desperate for Glory!
He wants to make everyone forget about the little girl's Underwear with his face printed on it.
It also explains why he fails at being Human, poor guy has been at this longer than Missy. Probably grinding down much further than she has into being just another efficient cog.
... Anyway, Missy didn't have a criminal record, didn't belong to any gang (why would they even have that there? It wasn't as if someone would tell the truth. Probably some liability issue), she wasn't a terrorist and she wasn't affiliated with any government outside of the United States.
She looked at the line and the spot where she could fill in some information. Lying would be bad. Not because she cared as much as it would give people ammunition to nail her to a cross. On the other hand, this would mean disclosing her real identity to someone, maybe multiple people.
Then again, did that really matter? The whole 'Wards identities are safe' thing was a joke. She filed taxes already, her name was affiliated with the Wards programme from the start. It was a 'polite fiction'
Or that's what she'd heard some of the office drones call it.
Missy had been here longer than half of them...no. Ninety percent of them. Ninety-five...ish. And change. She had seniority, damn it. She could call them whatever she wanted to call them.
In her head. They made the coffee after all. Missy enjoyed hers with two sugars, a dash of milk and no spit.
This made me remember this video for some reason.
Just imagine, soon, you will be EQUAL in position to EMILY and able to CALL HER THAT. MAKE DEMANDS OF HER. COMPLAIN TO HER ABOUT HOW SHE ISN'T DOING ENOUGH FOR YOUR FAIR CITY. TO GET OFF HER ASS AND REMOVE THE GANGS! AT LEAST THOSE MERCHANTS OR SHE AND HER POLICE/SWAT FORCES WOULD DO IT FOR HER!
...Holy shit, this is looking to be VERY VERY GOOD!
Missy stood up, stuffed the forms into the envelope it had come with, then made sure the stamps she'd tactically appropriated from someone's desk were stuck on the front just right. "Hey, Dennis, do you think we can stop by a mailbox while on patrol?"
So no, there doesn't NEED to be a rationale for the 13 year age limit on becoming mayor of Brockton Bay, because there are most likely towns and cities across the country where that's actually the case, and even more bizarre limits than that! I bet you could find some town in the USA where only right-handed people are allowed to run for mayor and even sillier things!
I can support that fact. did research on this subject for school when I was a teen and found some really, really weird laws on the books. For example, in Minnesota, it's highly illegal to grease a pig. While in North Dakota where I live, All members of North Dakota's Dry Pea and Lentil Council must be North Dakota citizens, anybody who's knowingly swearing-in people from outside the state will be fined heavily and jailed for up to four years. It's also highly illegal to set off fireworks at 12am at night, that can get you 10 years in jail.
