Comicsluvr wrote:

Ok, this is my contribution. I've written it open enough (I hope) as to not establish too many things in stone. This leaves room for later development.
Anthem
“It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Georgia Harris never considered herself a hero. Her grandfather didn’t call himself a hero when he saved his whole squad in Viet Nam. Her father didn’t call himself a hero when he helped rescue a convoy under fire in Desert Storm. They just shrugged and said that they were doing their job. Yes, she was a Marine and yes, she’d lost her arm saving a soldier in Iraq. The word ‘hero’ just seemed bigger than that somehow…something more. But now, with the world ending around her, she finally understood.
The Storm had come as they’d said it would. Titan city had weathered many so most people hunkered down and prepared for the worst. They were not prepared for what happened next. Cumulus Rex, mastermind and master villain, had used his genius to increase the storm in size and power. Now it threatened to destroy the city. Every hero, and most of the villains, had turned out to stop him. Many were now dead or dying, falling from the sky around her. It was American Star, THE American Star, who crashed to earth just a few yards from her.
After being wounded she’d mustered out and returned to Titan City to finish school. Now she was taking shelter with the rest of the students in the lobby of the library, the most solid building on campus. American Star plummeted from the clouds overhead and crashed into the lawn not ten yards from door. Georgia forgot about the wind, the rain, the lightning striking all around and raced from the building. She knelt at his side and saw, miraculously, that he was still alive.
“What can I do to help?” she said as she looked him over. She’d seen soldiers wounded in battle that hadn’t looked this bad.
“Take this…off,” he gestured to the vambrace that covered his arm. She tugged at it and it slid off with remarkable ease.
“What do I do with it?” she asked urgently, hoping that it held some power that would save him.
“Put…it on,” he said weakly. “Help them…”
She stared at the vambrace and felt the hum from somewhere inside it. Then she looked at her arm, the one missing just below the elbow and felt utter despair.
‘I can’t,” she said as tears filled her eyes. She held up the stub of her missing arm to emphasize her point. ‘It won’t work for me.”
“I thought…the same thing,” he said with a crooked smile. “You’ll never know until you try…Marine.”
She followed his eyes to the Marine logo on her shirt and saw something in them that she recognized. He was fading away, drawing the veil as her grandmother would say. She bit her lip to choke back the tears as she slid the vambrace on. She wasn’t prepared for what happened next.
The surge of power was slow to build, not like the crashing wave she’d seen in the movies. She felt a tingle in her arm, the missing one, all the way down to the fingers. A faint glow crept from the armor and spread over her whole body. With it came a flood of strength, of determination, of courage. She stood as it swept over her and she watched her clothing change. Afterwards she guessed that American Star’s own costume somehow influenced how hers looked. Maybe it was years of watching heroes on t.v. and in movies. In the end it didn’t matter, she had knelt down as Georgia Harris and now she stood as Anthem.
Others had emerged from the library but the spectacle had prompted them to keep their distance. She looked at them and picked out two standing in front.
“Cover him up,” she said respectfully. She suddenly realized that she’d pointed with her right arm…the one that had been severed. She stared at her armored ‘hand’, moving the fingers slowly to be sure she wasn’t dreaming, then folded them into a fist.
“Keep watch over him,” she said as she looked skywards. “I have something I need to do.”
“What are you going to do?” one of the young men asked as he covered Star with his jacket.
“My job,” she said firmly. The power surged within her and she shot into the air.
Many of those who saw her later say that Anthem was at the forefront of the battle. Her courage rallied those that were losing heart after American Star fell. Her leadership directed those that followed into the very heart of the storm. Her strength enabled her to hammer through the villain’s protective shield until he too was battered by his own storm. It was a bolt of lightning, his own creation, that dealt the final blow.
Afterwards she accepted the praise heaped upon her, all the while knowing that it was the sacrifices of those that had gone before that had made it all possible. She is often uncomfortable with the title ‘hero’ to this day. Instead she prefers the term ‘symbol’, something to honor and draw courage from, as an Anthem should be.

I appreciate all of the feedback and I'm sorry I haven't been around lately. I edited the piece ('cowering' was not a good term) and the 'Marine' reference. Any further comments appreciated.

Fireheart wrote:

Good re-write. sir!
If the decision is that Anthem is new, rather than being mentored by Star, this definitely brings her in-media-res. Heck, even if she Has been being mentored by Star, she might have been officially off-duty that night. She could have been doing her civilian best to help local folks through the crisis and been taking cover from the weather. Then this whole vignette might still play out, with the addition that the heroes do recognize each other and Anthem does know a lot more about 'helping them' than a complete newbie would.
Be Well!
Fireheart

As I was writing the piece I was thinking of the quotes I used and the fact that most 'heroes' never let themselves be called that. A man trained in combat rushing into battle is still brave, no mistake. But to me the TRUE measure of a hero is how far outside their comfort zone they're willing to go. A cop or firefighter in danger has at least been trained, and Anthem was too at one time, but to suddenly acquire powers and immediately face death? THAT to me says 'courage.'

Thanks for the praise.

Of course, the Devs may alter this in any way they see fit. This was simply my personal interpretation.