Poem: "An Opportunity to Do Things"
This poem is spillover from the September 7, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
janetmiles, mama_kestrel, technoshaman, and 
my_partner_doug. It also fills the "Undeserved Reputation" square in my 9-1-21 card for the Platonic Love Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to the Pain's Gray and Damask threads of the Polychrome Heroics series.
"An Opportunity to Do Things"
[Saturday, October 25, 2014]
Damask had been invited
to Motor City to help with
a supervillain called DaMizry.
Ham was happy to help if it
meant he got to join in a fight.
He just wasn't sure why Ricasso,
a supervillain, had such a beef
with some other supervillain.
"It's because DaMizry keeps
making trouble from scratch,"
Pain's Gray explained. "Also,
the way he hurts people with
his superpowers doesn't always
fade as fast as mine does, since it
works on emotions, not just nerves."
"Maronna mia! That we do not need,"
Ham muttered. Like a lot of guys,
emotions weren't his strong suit.
"Exactly," said Pain's Gray. "We're
hoping that your versatility will give us
an edge. You're good in a fight, Clement
is backup first aid, and Keane can help
cope with the pain if anyone gets hit bad."
Ham chuckled. "Hard for the guy
to do much damage if I punch him
in the braggiol’ first," he said.
"That's an idea," said Pain's Gray.
"DaMizry has certainly earned it."
Fortunately Ricasso had gathered
good information about DaMizry,
so they had no difficulty setting up
an ambush, with the team closing in
on him by pairs to avoid notice.
Ham went with Pain's Gray,
Ricasso with Zhonn, and
then Ryland with Cason.
They managed to encircle
DaMizry in a park away
from innocent bystanders.
Ham was a little surprised
by how young the man looked,
no older than himself, if that.
He had dark chocolate skin and
woolly hair that stood up in tufts.
Ricasso stepped up first.
"You're a disgrace to my city,
DaMizry," he said. "Leave now,
or face the consequences."
"You ain't da boss'a me!"
DaMizry snapped, glaring
at him with eyes that lit up.
Ricasso dodged behind a tree,
then returned fire with Cutting,
which clipped a corner off a bench.
Ham took a swing too, but DaMizry
was street-smart and good at dodging.
Meanwhile DaMizry kept glaring
at people, raking them with power.
One such swipe grazed Ham.
"Mannaggia la miseria!"
he snapped. Whatever
that power was, it really hurt.
Ham found himself recalling
the first days as Damask, when
everything was miserable.
As soon as he shook it off,
he landed a punch on DaMizry.
The buttagots wouldn't
stay down, though.
DaMizry staggered up
and fixed his glowing eyes
on Ham once again.
But something pulled
Ham out of the way.
To his surprise, it wasn't
one of the Spadonari,
it was actually Keane.
"Che cozz’?" Ham said,
trying to push Keane away.
"Leave me alone, I'm busy!"
I'm trying to keep you from
getting hurt more, Keane said.
Quit arguing and follow my lead!
"You can tell what DaMizry is going
to do before he does it?" Ham guessed.
Yeah, kinda, said Keane. It's like I
can feel it building up before it fires.
Ham didn't have much warning,
which is how he'd gotten grazed --
those eyes lit up, and bam!
Working together was easier
said than done, though.
Ham was good at leading or
working on his own initiative,
but he wasn't nearly as good
at following someone else.
Conversely, Keane didn't
have much experience
with leading anyone.
He was usually at
the bottom of the heap.
Damask had learned
that they could share
Front or combine powers,
sort of, but they were still
nowhere near fluent yet.
Ham concentrated on
the sense of Keane
nudging him out of
the way as needed.
If he thought of it
as a dance, then it
almost made sense.
Then DaMizry scored
a direct hit on Ryland,
and the big man went
down, clutching himself.
Pain's Gray skidded
around a bench and
dropped beside him.
Clement leaned forward,
but there weren't any
physical injuries to treat.
Let me try, Keane said.
DaMizry is like Pain's Gray,
just with feelings instead of
nerves. I can handle this.
Ham knew when a situation
called for skills he didn't have.
He stepped back, tugging
Clement along with him,
and let Keane take over.
Maybe he should try taking
a followship class come spring.
Keane settled into Front
and assessed the situation.
He wasn't used to taking charge,
but he'd done it instinctively when
Ham was about to get clobbered.
Poor Ryland was boiling with pain.
Keane let his hands drift over
the big man's body, but as
Pain's Gray and Clement had
discovered, the problem wasn't
anchored anywhere in the body.
Fortunately Keane wasn't
limited to physical pain.
He let his awareness
seep through Ryland
and found the injury.
DaMizry had lashed out
at Ryland's friendship
with Cason, targeting
the vulnerability of
Ryland's insecurity
over why anyone
would want him.
Because Ryland
wasn't very smart
and knew it, he often
felt like other people
were just humoring him.
Keane tapped off the pain
and Ryland went limp in relief.
The emotional injury was still
lurking underneath, though.
Keane didn't have the ability
to heal that -- or at least,
not all by himself.
Clement had Healing,
but that was for bodies.
Clarity had Empathy, but
hadn't done much in terms
of trying to fix things with it.
In order to mend the damage,
they would have to work together.
Somehow. It wasn't something
they were very good at yet.
Keane thought about how
he used his ability to tap off
pain and channel that into
other uses. He had plenty
of energy for them to use.
With that inspiration, Clement
and Clarity managed to get
their powers blended enough
to follow Keane's lead through
Ryland's bruised feelings.
It wasn't a graceful job,
but it was good enough
that the poor man wouldn't
be limping on his relationship
for days or weeks afterwards.
It felt strange to be leading
instead of following, Keane
thought, but ... kind of nice, too.
"This is so not what I'm trained for,"
Keane muttered as Ryland sat up.
"Never let a serious crisis go to waste,"
said Pain's Gray. "It's an opportunity to do
things you thought you couldn't do before."
It had certainly spurred Keane and
his headmates to try new things.
Looking around, he saw that
Zhonn and Cason had DaMizry
on the ground, tying him up.
"What are you going to do with
DaMizry?" Keane wondered.
"Put his dumb ass on a bus
out of town," said Pain's Gray.
"We know he's lived in Toledo
before; let them deal with him."
"That's a good idea," Keane said.
Maybe pitching him out of the city
would give the kid a clue that he
couldn't keep acting like such a shit.
Keane rubbed his hands through hair
that was too long and the wrong texture,
but it made him feel a little better.
"This superhera business is harder
than I thought it would be," he said.
"It has long since come to my attention
that accomplished people rarely sit back
and let things happen to them," said Ricasso.
"Instead, they go out and happen to things."
Shyly Keane looked at the approving faces
of the people gathered all around him.
Yeah, maybe he should do more of that.
* * *
Notes:
DaMizry (DaMarcus Rowe) -- He has dark chocolate skin, brown eyes, and woolly brown hair that sticks up in tufts. His heritage is African-American. He speaks English. He is 18 years old in 2014.
DaMarcus had an unhappy childhood. He moved around the Great Lakes including Detroit, Michigan; Toledo, Ohio; Onion City, Illinois; and Green Bay, Wisconsin. To avoid his unpleasant home life, he spent as much time on the streets as possible, getting into various sorts of trouble. His superpowers developed as a result of this, and he began calling himself DaMizry. He never did well in school, and dropped out as soon as he could. Currently he lives in Motor City, Michigan where he squabbles with Ricasso, who doesn't want that kind of trouble in his city.
Origin: DaMarcus grew up in an abusive family. He learned to feed on that misery, and eventually, to attack people with his superpowers and cause emotional suffering.
Uniform: He wears scruffy street clothes, usually in dark shades of black, gray, or blue.
Qualities: Good (+2) Friends in the 'Hood, Good (+2) Hooligan, Good (+2) Street Smart, Good (+2) Strength, Good (+2) Survivor
Poor (-2) Abusive Background
Powers: Good (+2) Empathy
DaMizry has Projective Empathy at Good (+2) level, which he typically uses to attack people. He has Emotional Absorption at the same level. His eyes glow blue when using these active abilities. However, his ability to read and understand other emotions is generally Average (0) and strong positive emotions knock that down to Poor (-2) level. Passive sensing does not make his eyes glow.
Motivation: To hurt others before they can hurt him.
African-American names use a set of prefixes and suffixes to mark gender and culture, along with creative spellings and other inventions. In Terramagne-America, they also use this approach to new cape names, which greatly widens the possibilities in a field where people often have similar abilities.
DaMizry means "The Misery" or "Misery Man."
* * *
"Never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before."
-- Rahm Emanuel
"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things."
-- Leonardo da Vinci
maronna mia! – oh my God! (madonna mia!) [maa-ROAWN-aa-MEE-uh]
braggiol’ – meat and sauce/male anatomy (bracciole) [BRAAJH-oel]
mannaggia la miseria – cursing misery (male ne aggia la miseria) [MAA-NAA-juh-MEE-seh-ree-uh]
buttagots / butta’ gazz’ – annoying idiot (buttana u’ cazzo) [boo-taa-GAATS]
che cozz’? – what the f— are you doing? (che cazzo fai?) [KAY-kaatz]
janetmiles, mama_kestrel, technoshaman, and my_partner_doug. It also fills the "Undeserved Reputation" square in my 9-1-21 card for the Platonic Love Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to the Pain's Gray and Damask threads of the Polychrome Heroics series."An Opportunity to Do Things"
[Saturday, October 25, 2014]
Damask had been invited
to Motor City to help with
a supervillain called DaMizry.
Ham was happy to help if it
meant he got to join in a fight.
He just wasn't sure why Ricasso,
a supervillain, had such a beef
with some other supervillain.
"It's because DaMizry keeps
making trouble from scratch,"
Pain's Gray explained. "Also,
the way he hurts people with
his superpowers doesn't always
fade as fast as mine does, since it
works on emotions, not just nerves."
"Maronna mia! That we do not need,"
Ham muttered. Like a lot of guys,
emotions weren't his strong suit.
"Exactly," said Pain's Gray. "We're
hoping that your versatility will give us
an edge. You're good in a fight, Clement
is backup first aid, and Keane can help
cope with the pain if anyone gets hit bad."
Ham chuckled. "Hard for the guy
to do much damage if I punch him
in the braggiol’ first," he said.
"That's an idea," said Pain's Gray.
"DaMizry has certainly earned it."
Fortunately Ricasso had gathered
good information about DaMizry,
so they had no difficulty setting up
an ambush, with the team closing in
on him by pairs to avoid notice.
Ham went with Pain's Gray,
Ricasso with Zhonn, and
then Ryland with Cason.
They managed to encircle
DaMizry in a park away
from innocent bystanders.
Ham was a little surprised
by how young the man looked,
no older than himself, if that.
He had dark chocolate skin and
woolly hair that stood up in tufts.
Ricasso stepped up first.
"You're a disgrace to my city,
DaMizry," he said. "Leave now,
or face the consequences."
"You ain't da boss'a me!"
DaMizry snapped, glaring
at him with eyes that lit up.
Ricasso dodged behind a tree,
then returned fire with Cutting,
which clipped a corner off a bench.
Ham took a swing too, but DaMizry
was street-smart and good at dodging.
Meanwhile DaMizry kept glaring
at people, raking them with power.
One such swipe grazed Ham.
"Mannaggia la miseria!"
he snapped. Whatever
that power was, it really hurt.
Ham found himself recalling
the first days as Damask, when
everything was miserable.
As soon as he shook it off,
he landed a punch on DaMizry.
The buttagots wouldn't
stay down, though.
DaMizry staggered up
and fixed his glowing eyes
on Ham once again.
But something pulled
Ham out of the way.
To his surprise, it wasn't
one of the Spadonari,
it was actually Keane.
"Che cozz’?" Ham said,
trying to push Keane away.
"Leave me alone, I'm busy!"
I'm trying to keep you from
getting hurt more, Keane said.
Quit arguing and follow my lead!
"You can tell what DaMizry is going
to do before he does it?" Ham guessed.
Yeah, kinda, said Keane. It's like I
can feel it building up before it fires.
Ham didn't have much warning,
which is how he'd gotten grazed --
those eyes lit up, and bam!
Working together was easier
said than done, though.
Ham was good at leading or
working on his own initiative,
but he wasn't nearly as good
at following someone else.
Conversely, Keane didn't
have much experience
with leading anyone.
He was usually at
the bottom of the heap.
Damask had learned
that they could share
Front or combine powers,
sort of, but they were still
nowhere near fluent yet.
Ham concentrated on
the sense of Keane
nudging him out of
the way as needed.
If he thought of it
as a dance, then it
almost made sense.
Then DaMizry scored
a direct hit on Ryland,
and the big man went
down, clutching himself.
Pain's Gray skidded
around a bench and
dropped beside him.
Clement leaned forward,
but there weren't any
physical injuries to treat.
Let me try, Keane said.
DaMizry is like Pain's Gray,
just with feelings instead of
nerves. I can handle this.
Ham knew when a situation
called for skills he didn't have.
He stepped back, tugging
Clement along with him,
and let Keane take over.
Maybe he should try taking
a followship class come spring.
Keane settled into Front
and assessed the situation.
He wasn't used to taking charge,
but he'd done it instinctively when
Ham was about to get clobbered.
Poor Ryland was boiling with pain.
Keane let his hands drift over
the big man's body, but as
Pain's Gray and Clement had
discovered, the problem wasn't
anchored anywhere in the body.
Fortunately Keane wasn't
limited to physical pain.
He let his awareness
seep through Ryland
and found the injury.
DaMizry had lashed out
at Ryland's friendship
with Cason, targeting
the vulnerability of
Ryland's insecurity
over why anyone
would want him.
Because Ryland
wasn't very smart
and knew it, he often
felt like other people
were just humoring him.
Keane tapped off the pain
and Ryland went limp in relief.
The emotional injury was still
lurking underneath, though.
Keane didn't have the ability
to heal that -- or at least,
not all by himself.
Clement had Healing,
but that was for bodies.
Clarity had Empathy, but
hadn't done much in terms
of trying to fix things with it.
In order to mend the damage,
they would have to work together.
Somehow. It wasn't something
they were very good at yet.
Keane thought about how
he used his ability to tap off
pain and channel that into
other uses. He had plenty
of energy for them to use.
With that inspiration, Clement
and Clarity managed to get
their powers blended enough
to follow Keane's lead through
Ryland's bruised feelings.
It wasn't a graceful job,
but it was good enough
that the poor man wouldn't
be limping on his relationship
for days or weeks afterwards.
It felt strange to be leading
instead of following, Keane
thought, but ... kind of nice, too.
"This is so not what I'm trained for,"
Keane muttered as Ryland sat up.
"Never let a serious crisis go to waste,"
said Pain's Gray. "It's an opportunity to do
things you thought you couldn't do before."
It had certainly spurred Keane and
his headmates to try new things.
Looking around, he saw that
Zhonn and Cason had DaMizry
on the ground, tying him up.
"What are you going to do with
DaMizry?" Keane wondered.
"Put his dumb ass on a bus
out of town," said Pain's Gray.
"We know he's lived in Toledo
before; let them deal with him."
"That's a good idea," Keane said.
Maybe pitching him out of the city
would give the kid a clue that he
couldn't keep acting like such a shit.
Keane rubbed his hands through hair
that was too long and the wrong texture,
but it made him feel a little better.
"This superhera business is harder
than I thought it would be," he said.
"It has long since come to my attention
that accomplished people rarely sit back
and let things happen to them," said Ricasso.
"Instead, they go out and happen to things."
Shyly Keane looked at the approving faces
of the people gathered all around him.
Yeah, maybe he should do more of that.
* * *
Notes:
DaMizry (DaMarcus Rowe) -- He has dark chocolate skin, brown eyes, and woolly brown hair that sticks up in tufts. His heritage is African-American. He speaks English. He is 18 years old in 2014.
DaMarcus had an unhappy childhood. He moved around the Great Lakes including Detroit, Michigan; Toledo, Ohio; Onion City, Illinois; and Green Bay, Wisconsin. To avoid his unpleasant home life, he spent as much time on the streets as possible, getting into various sorts of trouble. His superpowers developed as a result of this, and he began calling himself DaMizry. He never did well in school, and dropped out as soon as he could. Currently he lives in Motor City, Michigan where he squabbles with Ricasso, who doesn't want that kind of trouble in his city.
Origin: DaMarcus grew up in an abusive family. He learned to feed on that misery, and eventually, to attack people with his superpowers and cause emotional suffering.
Uniform: He wears scruffy street clothes, usually in dark shades of black, gray, or blue.
Qualities: Good (+2) Friends in the 'Hood, Good (+2) Hooligan, Good (+2) Street Smart, Good (+2) Strength, Good (+2) Survivor
Poor (-2) Abusive Background
Powers: Good (+2) Empathy
DaMizry has Projective Empathy at Good (+2) level, which he typically uses to attack people. He has Emotional Absorption at the same level. His eyes glow blue when using these active abilities. However, his ability to read and understand other emotions is generally Average (0) and strong positive emotions knock that down to Poor (-2) level. Passive sensing does not make his eyes glow.
Motivation: To hurt others before they can hurt him.
African-American names use a set of prefixes and suffixes to mark gender and culture, along with creative spellings and other inventions. In Terramagne-America, they also use this approach to new cape names, which greatly widens the possibilities in a field where people often have similar abilities.
DaMizry means "The Misery" or "Misery Man."
* * *
"Never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before."
-- Rahm Emanuel
"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things."
-- Leonardo da Vinci
maronna mia! – oh my God! (madonna mia!) [maa-ROAWN-aa-MEE-uh]
braggiol’ – meat and sauce/male anatomy (bracciole) [BRAAJH-oel]
mannaggia la miseria – cursing misery (male ne aggia la miseria) [MAA-NAA-juh-MEE-seh-ree-uh]
buttagots / butta’ gazz’ – annoying idiot (buttana u’ cazzo) [boo-taa-GAATS]
che cozz’? – what the f— are you doing? (che cazzo fai?) [KAY-kaatz]