Literature / In a World Like Ours

In A World Like Ours, by Karl Kadaver is a work in progress on FictionPress.com about a young man named Kenneth Conners, who happens to have super powers that he inherited from his parents. The story follows Kenneth as he tries to balance his "civilian" life with his superheroic one. He is joined by Charles Atlas, the man who gave Kenneth's father his start in superheroics and Sunburst, a young woman who has powers of her own. The story follows a Villain of the Week formula with a romantic subplot between Kenneth and Allison, a girl who recently moved into the city and yet another subplot wherein seeming random people are given doses of a Super Serum for an unknown purpose. Just concluded its sixth "Issue." It's become a victim of the dreaded Schedule Slip, as Karl hasn't updated the story in weeks.

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This work contains the following Tropes:

• Aliens Speaking English: Kenneth's father, Earl. Granted, he's had over 20 years to master the language...
• All Guys Want Cheerleaders: Invoked by Kenneth in an Imagine Spot featuring Allison in a cheerleader's outfit.
  Imaginary Allison: Gimme an 'S!' *leg kick*
• Alliterative Name: Kenneth Connors
• Ascended Fanboy: Before regularly using his powers, Kenneth was a fan of the Comic Within a Story Captain Magnificent. He still is.
  • Also Sunburst. She didn't fight crime in costume until Super Nova showed up.
• Badass Normal: Aside from her "bursting" powers, Sunburst is this.
  • When the Powered Armor psychopath thinks that you're more of a match than the person with actual super powers, then it must be true.

• Berserk Button: Don't harm any civilians while Super Nova is around.
• Blessed with Suck: Overlaps with Power Incontinence. Kenneth can't properly regulate his body temperature. He has heat sinks in his costume to mitigate this. He hand waves this by referring to it as the fictional disease, "Hyperthermal Disregulation."
• Brand X: Wally's World Superstore (where Kenneth works), Primary Insurance Company Inc. (where Kenneth's father works)
• Cartwright Curse: Kenneth believes that superheroes have this
  ''Narrator: He liked Allison, but he doubted he could burden her with that kind of information[being a superhero]. After all, in his comic books, any love interest that isn’t a superhero themselves end up…in a word, dead.''

• Day in the Life: How the story begins.
• Every Car Is a Pinto: Averted. So far, two cars have been destroyed, one beyond recognition, and neither have exploded.
• Evil Knockoff: Super Nova's first super-powered foe, "Hellstorm." It doesn't end well for him.
• Expy: The story is chock-full of them: (As far as power sets are concerned)
  • Super Nova - Starfire
    Sunburst - Silk Spectre or Nightwing
    Chop Shop - Iron Man
    Miss Amazing/Lady Iron - Ms. Marvel
    Plasma Man - Green Lantern
    Charles Atlas - Good!Vandal Savage
• Fangirl: Allison is a mild version of one for Super Nova.
  • Surprisingly, it doesn't seem like a case of Loves My Alter Ego.
  Allison: *While glomping Super Nova* "Don't get any ideas. I have a boyfriend."
• Genre Savvy: Kenneth. He is a comic book fan, after all.
  Super Nova: (Regarding the appearance of Hellstorm) "This might sound weird, but, do you think someone is out giving people superpowers? Maybe Hellstorm was some kind of test."
  Atlas: You’ve been reading too many Captain Magnificent comics. Your logic, sound as it may be, is flawed. The last person to give others superpowers was your father’s late arch-nemesis, Doctor Mortus. He died after his Island of Doom exploded.”
  Super Nova: “He disappeared after his Island of Doom exploded. A good villain never stays dead for long. What if he came back and is up to his old tricks?”
  • Also this post by Allison:
  "Wouldn’t that be weird if he saw someone that he knows from his secret identity? (ALL super heroes have secret identities!)"
• Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Sunburst with Mr. Flopsy, her stuffed rabbit.
• Immune to Bullets: Super Nova is a slight aversion. He comments to his parents that the bullets merely sting and show them the welts that resulted from an encounter with gun-toting bank robbers.
  • The higher the gauge, the more impact they have. A pair of .50 caliber bullets knocked the wind out of him.
• In a World…: "...just like ours, but different..."
• Jumped at the Call:
  • Super Nova and Sunburst.
  • "Hellstorm" also Jumped At The Call, but in the opposite direction.
  Narrator: [Explaining Hellstorm's Freudian Excuse] Why not use your name for something more? Why not use all of that recognition and fame and put it towards making a mint. Think of all the commercial deals! He can imagine it now, Super Nova Brand energy bars, Super Nova Brand sneakers, Super Nova Brand condoms, for God’s sake! They’ll make you SUPER where it REALLY counts! And the movies! You could do your own stunts, hell you could have people actually shooting at you, and actually jumping from tall buildings; you’d be the biggest action star ever!
  Hellstorm: [Inner Monologue] Hell, Super Nova might even be on board for the whole thing. I might have to cut him in on some of the profits, but what’s a couple of bucks here and there? Sixty-Forty split. …Nah, more like Ninety-Ten. Yeah, I’ll ride the hem of your (metaphorical) cape all the way to the bank, you dumb git.
• Kirk Summation: Super Nova tries one on Hellstorm. As usual, it doesn't work.
  Super Nova: Shut up and listen, ‘Not-Super Nova!’ I’m saying this for your benefit. First of all, this might embarrass you, but don’t let it: My mom hits harder than you. But don’t worry about it because she hits harder than me, too. Second, Sunburst isn’t my girlfriend. She’s a girl who is my friend. Now that we got that out of the way, I want to drop some Truth on you: You’ll never beat me. I’ve been training and honing my powers to a fine edge since I was five. You can’t even master moving in Three-Dimensional space, which tells me you didn’t have your powers very long. Am I right? You know I am. And those hits you landed on me? I was gauging your strength. You know, like any fighter worth his salt would.
• Loners Are Freaks: Nicholas Trent, otherwise known as "The Creeper." No, not that one.
• Leotard of Power: Sunburst. Justified.
  Sunburst: *rolls her eyes* Duh… Ya see, my power only works when I have skin exposed, so I need to make my suit as revealing as possible. *Hops off the table and does a twirl, finishing with her back facing Super Nova* It’s actually pretty conservative, if I say so myself.
  Super Nova: *Says nothing*
  Sunburst: It doesn’t hurt that guys can’t help but look at me, either. You know…pretty much the way you are. *snickers*
• Meaningful Name: The name "Kenneth" means, "Born Of Fire."
• MegaCorp: The Atlas Research Group ("Creating A Better Tomorrow Today")
• Mission Control: Charles Atlas. The narrative explicitly calls him by this trope.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Dr. Mortus, "Hellstorm", Chop Shop
• Punch-Clock Villain: Lady Iron. Formerly Dr. Mortus' Dragon.
  Narrator: Having nowhere else to go [after Dr. Mortus' Island of Doom exploded], and not really wanting to be a villain anymore, Lady Iron decided to join Plasma Man and Charles Atlas.
• Retired Badass: Plasma Man and Miss Amazing, Kenneth's parents. In fact, Kenneth's mother is perfectly happy being a homemaker.
• Samus Is a Girl: Chop Shop is a girl.
• Sarcastic Confession: Kenneth gets a nice one on Rob in Issue 4.
  Rob: “Then, what happens not a week after Suburst comes onto the scene: Little, mild-mannered, Allison Kelso shows up to get a job.” *Leans in close to Kenneth* “It’s too perfect. And tell me, Kenny, have you ever seen them in the same place together? You know my logic is sound.”
  Kenneth: “Have you ever seen Super Nova and me in the same place together? For that matter, I’ve never seen you and Sunburst in the same place together. How do I know you’re not Sunburst just trying to throw me off?”
• Shout-Out: To DC Comics heroes. The names of the bank robbers (Calvin Elliot, Dwayne Troy, and Wayne Bates) and a guest writer for Captain Magnificent, Jordan Halverson
  • Claire's "Mask" is a Shout-Out to ReBoot's Hexadecimal.
• Stalker with a Crush: Nicholas Trent again. He even named his spiders after Cassie and Stacy.
• Stock Superhero Day Jobs: Super Nova works as a stock clerk, Sunburst is a college student.
• Southern Belle: Sunburst
• Stealth Pun: Jonathan Black's nickname for Ginger Keim. "Keim" is the German word for "Germ."
• Superpowerful Genetics: How Kenneth got his powers.
• The Cape: Super Nova, or at least he tries to be.

More to come...