Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Career Start
After the trial, his parents' considerable fortune was transferred to Miss Artillery's estate and he was assigned to live with his only living relative—his grandma. However, moving in with her wasn't so simple….
Over the course of their careers, his parents had amassed a deadly collection of enemies—each of whom would be thrilled to seek revenge on The Sound and The Fury's now-defenseless family. So the court enrolled him and Grandma in the Powered Family Protection Program (PFPP).
Travis and Grandma were given brand new identities: the Sterling name was assigned to them, though he at least got to keep his first name. Grandma suddenly found herself forced to live on a pitiful PFPP stipend and had to move Travis into a small apartment in the Eastern Fringes. She also had to pull him out of his fancy, Powered-only private school and enroll him in the local public school.
In the course of a few short months, his life became entirely unrecognizable to him…and it has never been the same since. That's why, every day, he reminds himself of who he really are. "Travis Fade."
So Travis Fade was no more, giving way instead to Travis Sterling. And he found that the Sterling version of himself was vastly different, forced to grow up way faster than anyone ever should….
Back in the kitchen, he look across the table at Grandma. She's the only other person in the world who understands how he feels—after all, she was forced to abandon the life she had built for over seventy years to enter the PFPP with him. Despite this, Grandma has still managed to start over and find a way to be happy once again.
And without her, he'd have had no shot at becoming a hero.
"Thank you, Gran," Travis repeats, fighting against the lump forming in his throat.
"Oh, hush up," Grandma says, wiping at her cheeks. "What are you waiting for? You've got a career to start!"
He ran into his room (where he made sure not to keep any plants, since he don't need Grandma's best spies hanging around). It is decorated plainly but what truly makes the room his, is the wall filled with framed posters of his favorite Powered Heroes.
Featured centrally are his parents in their classic Sound and Fury costumes, right next to them favorite Powered Hero, Rebellion. He has been Travis idol ever since he was a little kid. Next to Rebellion is Black Magic.
Black Magic blazed on to the scene after single-handedly protecting HC from a foreign terrorist incursion last year. Even though her origin remains completely shrouded in mystery, Black Magic is currently HC's most famous solo hero—especially after receiving the most recent Hoshi City's Hero of Tomorrow (HoT) grant, which is the most esteemed honor that can be bestowed upon any aspiring hero.
It doesn't hurt that Black Magic is absolutely gorgeous, either.
Despite the mainstream hype, he can't help but be attracted to Black Magic. Mostly because of her striking resemblance to his biggest crush, an old-time celebrity icon from back in the days when normal people were famous Lady L.
Black Magic is a dead ringer for Lady L. Travis thinks Black Magic might actually be a direct descendant but no one knows enough about her past to be sure.
He has always been fine being alone, especially since he hasn't had much choice in the matter. Still, there's something about Black Magic…whenever he sees her, he feels like he want more.
Sometimes when he's falling asleep, he stares at Black Magic's poster and imagines her lying beside him. It would be awfully nice to have someone there—though he tries not to indulge in thoughts like this too often.
Every morning, he stares at the hero wall and envisions what his own poster will look like among these famous heroes.
Peeling his eyes away, his attention wanders down to the video game he's supposed to be testing. Now that he has his license, he can finally quit the game-testing job, since there are dozens of ways for heroes to earn a living.
Most of these paid jobs are very difficult to obtain, though—he heard the horror stories about the endless lines at the DRPR to collect Powered Hero Unemployment.
Still, he doesn't think twice about tossing the video game in the trash and reaching for his single most-prized possession his Gravitate costume.
As he suits up, he pulls a mask over his face to protect his identity. Even though no one would ever recognize him as The Sound and The Fury's child now that he's all grown up, he doesn't need anyone discovering his Sterling identity and coming after Grandma.
He's been perfecting the right costume for a long time, since it's his calling card as a hero. Knowing this, he chose a color scheme that is all tones of black and metal grey, for intimidation.
Every time he puts on his costume, he can't wait to use his Powers.
So he snapped his fingers, generating a small pop of black colored energy.
As the pop of black energy fades, he looks over his costume in the mirror. Knowing that style without substance means very little, he also chose design features that amplify his Powers.
Truth be told, he'd have been able to afford his hero license way sooner if he hadn't spent so much money on his most-prized upgrade, the metal wrist bands which allows him to store a large amount of energy and release it to create a blast.
Gravitate, stand there in his perfect costume and with all of hi intentions set, he realizes that he's finally ready to start his hero career.
But becoming a legendary hero means more to him than just fulfilling his own dreams—it's also about redeeming the Fade name. He has one ultimate goal to become an A-list hero and reveal to Hoshi City that he is actually The Sound and The Fury's child.
He knows that achieving this level of success is the only way to restore honor to his parents and redeem his family's legacy in the hero world.
And because it's so important to his end goal, one central question constantly plagues him. In his rise to become a Legend, is it more important to focus on achieving fame or upholding justice?
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone