The Hero They Never Knew They Needed100.00%

Hero-Less

We make our way out onto the streets. The whole block appears to be abandoned with brick buildings collapsing from years of neglect. Vegetation grew amongst the rubble, taking what was once their original homes. As I followed Geonora down towards the end of the street, creatures skittered loudly all around us. The sky above us shines with a sicky blue, as if pollution or something contaminates it. Geonora, walking in front of me, holds her gun out as if she expected to use it sometime soon.

"You're really scaring me by having that gun out," I say to her. She turns to look at me, her eyes with a serious gaze.

"You really don't know what's going on do you," She slows down her pace and walks along side me.

"Several years ago, a man showed up with an army of followers. He overthrew the government and became the sovereign leader of this country," Her words were precise, careful, as if she was reliving them.

"He ordered that the country isolates itself from the world and everyone inside the border was his to control. At first it was okay, the government up until now had done nothing and it was nice to have a change of pace. However, the economy collapsed, riots broke out all over the nation, and his ruling became unfair. Eventually, he became angry and made everyone fear him," Geonora's eyes fell to the ground and she became visibly sad and angry at the same time.

"Someone had to do something but his followers thought he was some sort of God, a God of fire. I saw through his disguise and came close to exposing him, but he found me and did this to me," She lifts her hand to the collar of her shirt and pulls it down slightly, revealing a severe burn mark that stretches from her shoulders down to the top of her breast.

"I escaped and swore to end his reign," Tears begin to form in her eyes. My hands tremble at the sight of her sorrow. She doesn't hurt from the pain of what this mysterious man did to her. Instead, she hurts from seeing a country she is a part of collapse. Her breathing slows down and I watch her fix her composure.

"Now what about you? How did you magically show up naked and confused? And what was that flash thing you did back in the building?" She aks while avoiding eye contact. The sky grows darker as I reflect on how much I should say.

"I'm not from here. Where I'm from we deal with people like the man you talked about everyday. There are superheroes everywhere and I'm one of them. Before I showed up here I was trying to stop a man who was going to combine two worlds into one. People were going to die," I can see the image of Toaster Man pop into my head and I get sick to my stomach. Even more so when I think about if I actually stopped Mr. Portal or if he got away.

"I need to go back," I turn to run away, back to the building we were in. But, Geonora stops me with her hand and gives me a desperate look.

"You said you were a superhero right?" Her eyes and her words makes my heart feel empty. Am I a superhero? I never really saved anyone before. I can feel tears start to pool up in my eye lids. The title I wanted so much is just a title. I'm useless.

"Cause this world could use a superhero right now," Her grip tightens on my arm. I realize that her tears are bigger than my own. Gently, I push her arm away and reflect on what I am.

A superhero-less world, the worlds most useless superhero.

"One day you're going to save the world." My mom's voice plays in my head like a message. It was one of the last things she said to me before cancer took her life.

"I'm not sure I can be your hero," I look away from Geonora. The pain she feels cannot possibly compare to the amount of fear I have.

"What?" Her voice sounds broken.

Suddenly, an explosion goes off somewhere nearby and the sound of people screaming follows it. Geonora stands there for a moment looking at me, with hatred. She then turns towards the direction the sound came from and runs towards it, gun in hand.

How can I call myself a superhero when I don't move in the face of danger?