"Gee, that's pretty!"
The blue and white clad man's face broke into a wide grin, little realizing the spectacular colors of the sunset over Kings Row was largely due to the pollution from the garment factories of the district. Decorum loved to fly. Soaring over the city was the only time he felt truly free. His pristine white cape fluttered in the breeze as he banked northward over Freedom Plaza, waving at Blue Steel and the crowds of neophyte heroes around him.
His year in Paragon City had changed a lot for Decorum. He'd gone from a neophyte himself to a solidly respected member of the Legion of Valor. He especially enjoyed helping out the newer members. It gave him a feeling of purpose...of belonging. Certainly his father and Bertie were his real family, but the Legion had become a second one, if a bit of a different kind. Aiding others in his second family, especially against some of the giant monsters that appeared at times around the city, made him feel wanted and needed. It was a good group, if a bit large and easy to get lost in. And frankly some of the members frightened him a little, with their dark attitudes and tendencies toward bloodletting. But a year in the outside world, outside the science compound where he'd spent his whole life, had taught Decorum a few things he hadn't read about in old comic books. It wasn't always a bright and sunny world, although Decorum did his best to make sure his little corner of it was as close as he could get.
Decorum was lost in thought over High Park when a massive electrical discharge shooting up in front of him made him pull up short. He shifted his sight downward to look for the source just in time to see a leather-jacketed teen-aged boy hurtling out of control towards him at escape velocity! Decorum shifted slightly and caught the boy one-handed by the midsection.
"OOOOOF! &%#^@%*@!"
"Language!" scolded Decorum, "Where's the fire, son?"
"Heh," the boy chuckled, "You almost sound like you could be Dec..."
Behind his sunglasses, the boy slowly let his eyes rise from Decorum's chest to his face, his jaw dropping in astonishment.
"Holy CRAP!" the stunned boy exclaimed, "You ARE Decorum!"
Decorum glanced at the boy's chest, seeing the identical black-bordered yellow diamond insignia that was emblazoned on his own chest.
Yes, I'm Decorum," he said, "Do I know yo...?"
A loud shout in a woman's voice interrupted Decorum.
"HEY, KID! A LITTLE HELP HERE?"
"Oh, geez! Deportment! The Paladin!" the teen blurted, pushing himself out of Decorum's arms and hurtling earthward under his own power.
"Paladin...?" muttered Decorum. Then he saw it. Marching along the concrete retaining wall next to High Park, a twenty-foot tall rusty patchwork robot approached a red-haired woman, her costume a near copy of Decorum's own. A Clockwork Paladin! Decorum had faced them many times. On some unknown signal, Clockwork would gather in Kings Row and build these rampaging robots. No one seemed to know why, but if they weren't stopped from being built, the Paladins could cause untold destruction before they could be put down.
Decorum was already in flight before finishing his thought. Pulling up twenty feet over the rumbling hulk, he unleashed beams of intense heat from his eyes into the robot's head. Small wisps of smoke trailed upward from a dozen places as circuitry sizzled and fried. The red-haired woman's jaw dropped as the boy's had when she saw Decorum strike a pose in mid-air, waving his hand in a come-hither gesture to the Paladin. One eyebrow lifted as Decorum smirked and gave voice to the gesture.
"Bring it!"
His full attention now on the flying man, the Paladin blasted him with wave after wave of electrical energy. Decorum twitched and sparked, grimacing as his hair stood on end. He peered past the robot's bulk to see the boy and the woman standing like statues, staring with rapt attention.
"Nnngg...don't mean to bother you, " Decorum growled through gritted teeth, "but are you waiting for something??"
After a quick, astonished look at each other, the boy and the woman immediately leapt into the fray.
"High/low, Kid!" shouted the scarlet-tressed heroine, launching herself at the Paladin's feet.
"On it, Dep!" answered her young partner. He wound up his fist and flew into the Paladin's head, delivering a vicious uppercut just as his teammate executed a perfect Dragon's Tail kick at the robot's legs.
"TIIIIIIIIIIIIMBEEEEEEEEER!!" cried Deportment, dodging the massive construct as it tumbled from the wall into High Park itself. A huge cloud of dust arose to the clanging sound of metal on metal. The boy high-fived the woman as she rose.
"W00T! Kid Decorum and Deportment! El teamo supremo!" the boy boasted.
"I hope you don't think it's that easy," Decorum warned as he landed in front of them.
A giant rusty hand shaped like a morningstar crashed onto the pavement as the Paladin pulled himself back up to the roadway. The metal monstrosity rose to his full height, flashes of electricity sparking over his dirty copper-colored bulk.
"Flank him from the sides! I'll keep him on me!" shouted Decorum, launching himself at the robot's head, his fists crackling with energy. But Deportment's kicks and punches barely chipped the metal. Kid Decorum hurled huge chunks of pavement at the robot, doing some damage but not enough. Decorum hammered at the Paladin, but couldn't stop the huge mace-like spiked fist from smashing into Deportment, knocking her head over heels into the building across the street.
"We're outclassed here!" she yelled, brushing away the bricks and rubble her impact had caused, "We need a new strategy!"
Decorum looked thoughtful as he threw his next few punches, then glanced to the north.
"Dad always said," he grunted between punches, "that the policeman is our friend!"
Deportment looked puzzled, then also looked north, a smile creeping across her face. More rubble flew as she sped to Kid Decorum and whispered in his ear. The smile seemed to be contagious, as the Kid's face broke out into a grin. He quickly flew off to the north as Deportment attacked the robot's legs again. In seconds, Kid Decorum hurtled back, struggling with a large metallic object in tow.
"Officer! Do your duty!" he said with a laugh in his voice, pushing the Paragon City Police Drone into range of the Clockwork menace. A bright blue-white beam arced from the drone to the Paladin, totally obliterating the giant robot. Its job done and released from Kid Decorum's super-strength grip, the drone began to float back to its appointed place near the tunnel to Galaxy City. Deportment shook bits of brick and mortar out of her hair and walked over to Decorum.
"Well, that was a bit anti-climactic, but a win is a win, I suppose," she said with a wink, "Thanks for the hand!"
"Always glad to help out," Decorum replied, "Deportment, right? I saw you defending me on 'Hero Watch'! And you! You're Kid Decorum! I read about you in the papers!"
"The one and only," grinned Kid Decorum, landing nearby. He glanced at their three uniforms. "Hmm...O.K., maybe not."
Kid Decorum looked slightly embarrassed and shuffled his feet around a little.
"It's good to see you again, sir," he said bashfully, "I thought I was a goner when you rescued me from those Circle of Thorns guys. I hope you don't mind us...um...dressing like this and all."
"Mind?" Decorum laughed, "Why, I'm flattered as all get out! I just hope I can live up to it. Gee, is that a new uniform? It's neat!"
"You like it?" Kid Decorum beamed at the praise and did a slow fashion model spin, "I think the jacket really makes it!"
"It's certainly better than the one it replaced, Naked Lad," Deportment commented, a mischievous glint in her green eyes and a crooked smile on her lips.
"I thought we weren't going to talk about that any more..." muttered Kid Decorum, blushing a deep red.
"Naked Lad?" asked Decorum.
"It's a long story," said Deportment, chuckling slightly under her breath, "Let's just say Kid and I had an...interesting first team-up. It was back when you were missing, and...say, exactly where were you, anyway?"
"That's also a long story," answered Decorum, eager to change the subject, "So, what happened here? Did you two just come upon Paladin making his weekly rampage, or...?"
Kid Decorum snapped his fingers and walked over to the retaining wall to High Park.
"Oh, yeah, that's right!" he said, peering into the shadowy park, "Yup, he's still there. When we found the Paladin, he was chasing that guy down there!"
The man shuddered repeatedly, curled into a fetal position near the corner of the wall.
"Sir?" asked Decorum, "Sir? It's O.K. now. The Paladin's gone. Sir? Are you O.K.?"
Slowly, the man lifted his eyes above his arm and peered at the three superheroes.
"So...scared!" the man's voice trembled, "Would never have... If I had thought... So BIG!" His head ducked under his arm again and he resumed trembling.
"Sir, really, it's safe now. You can come out, " Decorum patted the man's shoulder reassuringly, "How did you ever get mixed up with the Paladin?"
Tentatively, the man peered over his arm again, then slowly and warily unfolded to a sitting position, his eyes as wide as saucers.
"I didn't! I mean, I didn't want to..." the man took a slow breath and started over, "You see, times are tough. Got laid off last fall. Can't make ends meet. Heard there was this guy, y'know, over in Faultline, who was paying for any interesting observations of the Clockwork. So I started to follow them, y'know? I can really use the money, and all they ever seem to do is go through the garbage and collect scrap. But then I saw them build that...that THING! I ran, but it chased me! And... and... ARRRRGH!"
The man would have folded back up into a fetal position without Decorum's firm hand on his shoulder.
"Someone's paying for info on the Clocks?," asked a puzzled Kid Decorum, "That sounds fishy. Maybe we ought to check this out."
Deportment nodded, smiling her crooked grin.
"The Decorum Family to the rescue!" she joked.
Decorum smiled as well, savoring that warm feeling of belonging again.