Thank you, I'm really glad you liked it!

Thank you!

That's a really cute snippet, well done! :)

"You recognize some of us, don't you, boy?" A gravely voice hissed at me from behind, making me whirl around to see a face weathered by age, one eye covered by a black eyepatch, the other's faded green color still managing to give me a sharp, stern gaze. The force of his voice and his look in my direction was enough to keep me silent, though I couldn't help but answer him with a quiet nod.

He exhaled softly in amusement, a metal hand gripping harder on a cane keeping him upright. "Does it surprise you, seeing our kind paying respects? Your grandfather was a good man, much to our consternation back in the days of our prime." He stroked his chin in thought, quietly reminiscing of moments long past. "I lost count of how many bank robberies and spying missions he managed to foil. For someone with barely any powers, he made good use of what he had..."

He walked a little past me, gazing first at the closed coffin and where it would be lowered into the ground, then at some of the others gathered around, some as old as my grandfather, others much younger. "Blue Baron, Darksider, Colonel Copperhead...there's some faces I haven't seen in ages. Then you have the new blood...Hyperdeath and Killjoy...hrm." It felt like he had more to say about some of the ones he recognized outside of their more villainous and recognizable appearance, but thought otherwise after another glance towards the future grave site.

"Your grandfather inspired a lot, you know. Some of us reformed or retired, but other times he inspired us to do our damnedest to try and win, even if we never could outplay the clever bastard." He said, a raspy chuckle forming before he cut it off with a cough and a clearing of his throat. "I'd say some of these young ones were inspired by watching us go at it, even if their egos wouldn't admit it."

"That's just the kind of person he was, wasn't it? Whether hero or villain, watching him in action made you wanna give it your all. So it makes sense most of us would pay our respects to someone like that, eh?"

I guess it made sense, but still, to think that most of the people here were villains of some kind made it a rather awkward feeling.

"Well, those 'heroes' will be busy with public appearances and secret identities and whatnot; those get in the way of being somewhere important. Besides, a hero has a plethora of villains dedicated to them, but for a villain, you often only have the one main rival in your life, two if you're lucky."

He turned away from me and started to traipse away with a slow, tired gait. "Whatever you think of us and our histories, know this, son...your grandfather was a shining beacon of good faith. And if he had this many enemies brought from his good deeds...just think about how many heroes he's inspired."

The phrase "culture shock" was one I was aware of, knew the definition of, but never really comprehended just what an upheaval it would be to the senses until the day those ships started to descend from the sky. The rest of the base and I were all waiting with baited breath to see what would come of the first meeting in-person ever since contact had been established some weeks prior with this roaming, space-faring species.

When the ships came down, they seemed to falter after breaking through the clouds, hovering gray puffs parted by the spheres that descended towards the shores we'd arranged to be our meeting point. After all, if they were so derisive of what our planet held, it only made sense to give them coordinates that would deliver proof immediately.

Once they pods opened, out spilled the creatures, all but stumbling about towards the sands, working all three of their legs quickly to head towards the line where sand lead to water. Some stopped and stared, others dropped to their knees, others even further to the ground. It would be funny to see, if their reverence wasn't so...earnest. Perhaps this would help with negotiations? I couldn't say, I wasn't part of that sect.

Moments passed, and soon humans and aliens started to mingle; those of the aliens that had retained their faculties had a myriad of questions about the endless expanse of water beyond them, how such a thing could be possible on any planet, stories from their ancestry of the scarcity and beauty of the liquid...it boggled my mind thinking that something I could look at through the window every day and not even register was all but a spiritual reckoning to these folk.

A rumble above our heads gave warning of what the darkened clouds were about to do. A curious traveler from beyond stood next to me, looking up in curiosity, their crimson eyes blinking a few times as they saw what was beginning to fall from the sky.

"This is...what did you humans call it?" it said, holding out a claw and watching the water droplets slink across its yellow scales and to the ground.

"Rain. We usually get it a few times a week around here." I replied. The look they gave me was the same as if someone had told me they regularly grew trees with golden fruit in their backyard, before shaking their head and looking back to the sky. "It looks like it's going to go pretty hard. We have umbrellas to cover ourselves, if you want..." I said, before being quieted by another look, this one as if I'd just told a rather subpar joke.

They simply stretched their arms up high, as if wanting to grasp the rain as it fell into their claws, something several others of their kind had begun to do around their cohorts and new human acquaintances.

"Why would I ever want to shield myself from this?"