The Illegal Hero

Say goodbye, just hope it's not for the last time

I was caught in a fight, but not a fight I was a part of. A villain named Bendy Straw was fighting a newer hero, Brover. They were fighting near our apartment complex, where I lived with my stepmom. Wait… MOM! I’ve never run so fast in my life, especially into fighting grounds. I ran into the apartment, trying to get the elevator to work, even though it never did.

“Run away! You're going to get yourself killed.” The voice in the back of my head was trying to help me, but I was at the point where I didn’t care if I died. I was only 16, I didn’t have any other parents, well, biological at least. 

“Ireland! Ireland! Where are you!” I was yelling at the top of my lungs, I was running up the stairs trying to scream for her, but I couldn’t hear anything. 

CRACK! The floor started to collapse beneath me. The building was shaking, and I could hear the roof starting to collapse from above me. I was still not going to give up, I knew it was illegal to run into an active fighting zone, but people’s lives were on the line. No one was running away from the building, because it was filled with old and poor people who couldn’t run. I knew everyone was waiting for death to help them get freedom from the world. I didn't want their time to come this early, not like this.

“HELP!” I heard a voice yell from the top of the staircase. They sounded around the same age as me. I looked up, only for the dust to get into my eyes. 

I never wanted to get to the point where I had to use my powers, but I knew if I didn’t use one of them, people would be dead. I let wings rip out of my back, and the throbbing pain shot throughout my back. I couldn’t focus on the pain, I couldn’t focus on myself, I needed to help this kid. I started flapping my wings aggressively, hoping that something would happen. God was on my side today. I looked up to see myself getting closer to the top of the stairs where I heard the voice yelling.

The roof looked like it was about to collapse, it was shaking more aggressively than before. I knew I didn’t have time to wait when I heard more voices yelling for help. 

“Jump! I’ll catch you!” I yelled quickly, Not processing what I had said until the teen jumped over the handrail. I reached my arms out, wrapping them around the teen. He had tears forming in his eyes. I knew I couldn’t sit around, though. I shot down towards the ground, placing him down in a swift motion, flapping my wings faster to start flying up faster.

“I’m coming!” I yelled, I grabbed the farthest people from the hall, having around 5 toddlers wrapping around my legs, I didn’t know what to do besides hand them to the teen who I dropped off.

He at least understood what I was trying to do, grabbing the kids off my legs before I could even hit the ground, making it easier on my part to fly back up and try to grab the older people. That's when I saw it: light blue hair. 

“MOM!” I yelled hoping to grab her attention, she didn’t seem to hear me, as many older people were trying to grab onto me. I had to hurry, I didn’t have enough time to stall.

I was swooping the elders down. The younger girl was still there though, helping the other people get out safely, trying not to interfere with the fight that was happening only behind the building.

My wings were getting heavier, and I felt as if I was going to pass out. I couldn’t give up though, Mom was right there. She was still alive, she was waiting for her turn to get to safety. I knew that I would get a strict talk about using my powers, but she would understand I was trying to do what was best.

Part of the roof was dipping down into the hall. Some people were preparing for death, sitting down with their family on the edge of the hall, and some people went through. They were jumping down the broken stairwell, hoping to only break a leg. That’s when I spotted something I wish I never did. Blood.

The roof collapsed, falling onto a group of teenagers. I ran over, putting my hands over them, trying my best to hold up the roof. The teens were huddled together crying and saying their favorite times in life, but I couldn’t just stand there forever. Not holding a roof.

“I need you guys to move so I can let this fucking roof go!” I yelled at the group, they all seemed to be scared backing away from me fast. At least they got out from under the roof!

I grab another group of people, bringing them down, then swooping back up for the next bunch. You could hear the fighting echo through the hall. Brover was trying his best not to give up, trying his best to be a hero, but Bendy Straw was stronger considering that she’s been an older villain for quite some time.

“Give up Brover, You know that the hero society is fucked up. Why do you try and hide the truth?!” Bendy Straw’s voice echoed through the hall. Her voice was strong and she sounded very confident speaking. 

I was more focused on what was happening during the fight that I didn’t realize that the roof had started to collapse again. 

“Help! Help me!” A familiar voice screamed from under the roof pile. Coughing was a familiar sound now, the dust in the air drying up the very few people’s lungs. It was getting harder to breathe, but I had to stay strong. For the people, I can’t be weak.

I looked down to see my mom stuck under the roof. Her face was severely scratched, and she was bleeding a lot. I looked down to see her eyes slowly shut, you could tell she was trying to keep her tired eyes open, but it was a challenge.

“MOM!” I yelled, flying straight toward her, trying to lift the roof. “MOM! You need to stay with me!” I said, slapping her face lightly, hoping, that maybe she would survive. I knew she wouldn’t be able to survive if she kept bleeding at this pace. She would pass out from blood loss and probably end up with a really bad concussion. Or even worse, she could die.

I just needed hope. I needed help. At least someone was on my side, as the girl who had helped me get everyone else out of the collapsed building had flown up to find me. The person looked familiar to a well-known villain, who had recently been captured by the heroes. But that was the least of my worries. I needed to get Mom.

“What the hell are you still doing in here!?” The person yelled, flailing their legs aggressively toward me. 

“My mom is stuck under there! I am not leaving her behind!” I tried to explain it to him, but I don’t think He understood where I was coming from.

“It’s either one death or three, and I am not letting you go on a suicidal mission to save your mom, who is most likely already dead from the force of the ceiling falling onto her skull. Now stop your sulking and get your ass out of here!” The male said furiously, his wings opening up with wing viciously. 

“I love you, Mom, stay safe,” I mumbled as the girl grabbed my wrist, forcefully dragging me away. Tears were forming in my eyes as they flew outside the building. 

“Now, what the hell were you doing?! And why would you risk your life to save us?! You could have died if I didn’t go back get you!” The boy scolded, but I could barely hear it as my ears started ringing, and my vision blurred. I hadn’t realized the pain I was in as I was running off of pure adrenaline at the time, but fuck did this hurt. It felt worse than when I got stabbed in the shoulder, and that hurt A LOT. 

“I’m an orphan now,” I said, ignoring the man. They didn’t seem bothered by it until they saw tears in my eyes.

“Shit, I’ve never been good with emotions. What the fuck am I supposed to do?” I heard him mumble to himself. They were trying to think of something to stop me from crying. 

“Hey… I’m an orphan too. Maybe we could be roommates?” They asked, sounding confused with themself, but I still nodded my head. I do better off with people I can relate to rather than being left alone with the voices in my head.

“I’m Frostie, but I prefer Frost, its easier to remember.” Frostie introduced themself, sticking their hand out for me.

“I’m Rea, also known as Bones,” I said, reaching my hand out to shake Frostie’s hand. We stood there for an awkward moment but just let it be. Frostie just turned around and left towards the alleyway, and I quickly followed.