[Lawbringer]

There was little in Max’s experience that could scare him, he had faced so many dangers and somehow walked away through the grace of his quirk that no beating could make him deathly afraid. He had burnt so many bridges in the past, that making the wrong impressions and not being liked by people was also hardly something that troubled him.

But standing in front of a class of students to actually teach them something, for some reason that had spiked his heart-rate higher than his post-wake workout. And it had caused his brain to merely go into autopilot as he prepared for his first lecture, where everyone’s eyes were locked onto him, and where everyone expected him to actually teach them something that they will bother to remember.

He knew how he had been as a young man, ruthless and self-confident to a fault. Always knowing better than anybody else in the room. So here he was, with the task of not having others be the thing he had been.

“Welcome students…” he’d say, stifling the tremble of that nervous student inside of him who had to give their first essay. He’d scribble notes in a notepad if only to keep him from simply doing nothing. “Most of you won’t know me, but my name Maximilian Deveraux. You’re all free to call me Max, or Mr. Deveraux, or go by my hero name ‘Lawbringer’.” he’d say, as he went into the usual boring explanation of who he was and where he had come from.

It was all so uninteresting, that he wouldn’t blame any student from checking out already.

”I will start the start of this course not with answers, but with a question. And that question is ‘What makes a hero different?’… I expect your interpretation on that at the end of this course.” he explained, being as vague as he could be.

He’d face the board, digital and modern, and flicked something on a tablet to splay it on it for the students to see. ”In this course you won’t learn how to best stop a villain, or how to best defuse an emergency situation... Instead you will learn something else entirely, and that is the ethics that concerns being a hero.” he’d explain, glancing back at the students with a stoic smile.

“I can assure you, this will be the most boring course you will have to complete all year, but please bear with me.” he’d say, slightly joking, but he figured the joke would be lost.

He’d turn around to the lectern, placing down the tablet.

“In this room I know everyone here has the potential to become a hero. But the question is that you can be a hero. Because every action you will take will have an effect on society, from saving lives to shaping the opinions of society regarding the work that each of us does.

Because whilst some heroes would imagine they have a bigger job in life than to understand the consequences of their actions, your actions shape every following one. And whilst not every choice you will have to make will be a moral dilemma, each of you, if you end up a hero, will one day face a tough choice.” he’d finish for a second by letting a few slides with some obvious dilemmas scroll past.

‘Let a killer go free to save lives, even if it means they could kill again?’

‘Stop someone with good intentions, if their actions inadvertently hurt innocents?’

‘Is it acceptable to kill somebody who the justice system cannot stop?’

He’d let it all sink in as he took a sip from a glass of water, if only to gauge the interest in the room, which unsurprisingly ranged from overwhelmed to uninterested and anything in between… Philosophy, if always, was a realm that few felt like wading in too long.

He’d instead pull out his license card. ”With this, you will gain an authority that few of us have, and fewer can handle correctly. The choices you’ll make, The way you’ll conduct yourself, will make the difference between being what a hero is supposed to be, or being nothing better than a vigilante.” he’d finish his monologue putting his license away, noticing that a few students had already lapsed fully.

Checking his student fact-book, he saw a name he recognized in there. Julienne Lémieux, who he figured was as good a choice as anyone to address.

”Miss. Lémieux, I assume you’re already ahead of the rest of the class, since you’re busy lecturing them further on this topic?” he’d say, his eyes locked onto her as he scribbled some notes about her and the other disinterested ones in his notebook.

”Maybe you can enlighten the rest of us further. In your own opinion, what is the difference between a pro hero and a vigilante? Would you agree that vigilantism undermines the work of Law Enforcement, Heroes, and the Justice System they serve? Or do you perhaps have a dissenting opinion?” he’d ask, dryly without apparent spite.

But the fact that the young lady’s parents had been vigilantes made it even easier to put her in the spotlight.

Julienne Lémieux

[Julienne Lémieux]

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[attr="class","LemiPostTag2"]Lawbringer

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Heroism class. Julienne absolutely loved lectures! She was always perfectly capable at sitting still in a chair for an extended period of time! Left leg bouncing, she spun a her pen in one hand while waiting for the teacher to start his lectures. She couldn't put a finger on it, but the man looked familiar; as if she knew who he was outside of UAU. When all of the other students finally sat down, the teacher introduced himself.
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Deveraux. That was a French name, and that hero name Lawbringer... that rang a bell as well; almost as if her parents had worked alongside such a man before. Tilting her head at the introduction, she clicked her pen and laid the tip of it on a piece of paper laid in front of her, prepared to take notes, and writing along as he spoke.
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What makes a hero different? Well, that's a given. We defeat the bad guys and put them in the box. Not the forever one, just the one that keeps them from troubling the rest of society. We wouldn't need to do it either, it's just people kept abusing their gifts and causing trouble for others and as long as that... oh, the question made her start ranting in her mind. Best focus on the lecture.
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Nodding along lightly, she continued noting things down. We'll learn how to defuse a situation... ethics! We'll learn ethics! Raising an eyebrow, she quickly glanced at her bag, reading the schedule left unfolded; Heroism class was after this one! What a mix-up! At least she was in the right room. A slight 'hehe...' came from Julienne as she focused back in on Lawbringer's voice and demeanor.
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Her eyes widened as he explained why the class was important, and slides flipped on the wall behind him. She hadn't really thought of these questions before, but was there really a true answer to them? Crossing her hands in front her, she focused more and more on the French elder, clasping her hands in front of her on her desk; she stopped writing notes, forgetting that she likely should be doing so. He held the thing she wanted to get for herself. A proper hero license.
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But then he called on her. Jolting up, her focus broken, she pointed at herself with a worried expression. "Ah, eh... lecturing the rest of the..." She glanced around to the other students nearby, who had been staring at her. Wait... did she... oh no. She muttered her thoughts about the questions out loud! Worse yet, Mr. Lawbringe thought she was actually trying to take over his lecture!
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Palms up, she swung her arms in front of herself twice in crossing motions, as if trying to say she wasn't ahead of the rest of the class, but he continued asking his question. The difference between a pro hero and a vigilante... simple! However, apparently not as he continued and continued... now she didn't have a clue.
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"Uhh... ehhh..to..." She'd place a palm to the side of her head, thinking. "I think that uh... the main difference between heroes and vigilantes is... well... legality... right? As you said? The hero license?" She took the hand off of her head and pointed toward where he had stuffed the license away. "Not saying vigilantes are good but... I'm sure they don't mean to do that thing you said, the whole undermining thing. In fact, I've heard of a few times where vigilantes saved the life of heroes in duty back home in France!" She brought up a few key moments her parents told her about; specifically the times after they had grown old, the times they told her that they had been licensed heroes; back then they certainly didn't mind the vigilantes helping them, but...
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Those very same parents told her not to become a hero. The thought made her eyes slightly twitch as she realized what she may have just said out loud. "But... uh... I still have to say people need their license before you know, fighting the crime. It's very bad, yes." Smiling weakly, she lowered herself in her chair, feeling the eyes of every student staring her down. She liked being the center of attention, but... not like this.

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[Lawbringer]

It wasn’t fair of him to put the student on the spot like that, and he doubted that most of them in the class would be able to give him a coherent answer if they had been put in a similar situation as the young Frenchwoman had been.

But he’d write down some notes anyways, if only to make her ‘failure’ seem more dramatic than it actually was. Childish mindgames, but at least it would help keep everyone focused for the dourly boring lectures that were to come in the future.

“Well yes, I did mention the license. But it’s about more than just the license, ultimately any one of you can get a license once they finish their studies with passing grades, but that doesn’t necessarily make all of you capable heroes from the first day.” he’d explain, flicking through his notebook that was comprised of a messy system of notes that only he somehow could decipher.

Letting in a deep breath and taking another sip of water, he’d look over the class. “A hero is someone who protects others, not just through action, but through example. Acting on emotion rather than rationally causes a hero to make mistakes, or blind themselves to the responsibility they have been given.” he’d say, again continuing the lecture.

“We have a responsibility to use our station correctly, and in the most heated moment make the cool headed decision that protect as many lives as possible, even if sometimes the choice made is not the one that will feel like the right one.” he’d add, taking another sip. “We have to work with law enforcement to uphold public trust, and the laws we are all expected to follow. That includes treating criminals, even if some might not deserve such treatment, a level of respect and care that we give civilians and our fellow heroes… Because even villains deserve a day in court, so that justice can work, and society can thrive.”

“A vigilante, as people call them, does not have to work with police, nor do they need to respect the justice system as it exists. They make their own laws, and mete out justice only in a way that they deem satisfactory. Whether that’s beating up criminals without proof, or even killing when they deem it necessary. Rather than letting society police itself, they merely give themselves the right of judge, jury, and executioner… So whilst there are many vigilantes with the right intentions, without upholding the law they are ultimately equally a problem as the villains they strive to stop. They subvert justice, and diminish people’s trust in the system. Why let a hero take a killer into custody, when a vigilante could simply kill him?” he’d finish, letting another dilemma sit in the room.

It was a heavy and talkative lecture for a first class of the semester, but he hoped it would lead to further philosophizing amongst the students in future days. For them to make their own understanding, rather than a system where one out of four answers was the correct one.

“Enough for now, like I asked at the start of the class, you can take the coming week to deliver to me a short form essay of one page concerning your interpretation of ’what makes a hero different?’. Once again, there are no right and wrong answers, just interpretations.

Tapping a pen on his desk, he’d look over the class and give a nod at the door. “Now go learn how to be heroes some more.” he’d say with the faintest of smiles.

But as the Frenchwoman would pass the desk, he’d aim a look. “Miss Lemieux, quick talk, please?” he’d ask her in their shared native language.

Julienne Lémieux

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