Hero Chasers (Book 1)

Issue 34 - World War Super Part 3

What does it mean to be a hero? I would find myself sitting up in the middle of the night thinking about that question. If Zara Culling is to become the greatest hero in history, such a question should have an answer. For a time, I would answer but not swear by my father. I believed he was the hero the world needed, a noble crusader vanquishing evil and making the world a better place day by day.

But he wasn't the only inspiration; my family could keep me away from comic books. The more heroic and spectacular the hero, the greater the feeling. Spider-Man, Batman, The Flash, and almost any other masked hero were food for thought. Each one was a piece of the puzzle I had been solving my whole life. Not everyone agreed with me, including my brother. The day I was accepted into the Hero Chaser programme, the day my powers first bloomed, he wasn't proud. He didn't congratulate me on such a task. He had a look of pity, of disappointment. I can never forget the words he spoke down on me. He said.

"Zara, the only thing heroes are good at is being forgotten, just like Dad."

To say those words cut deep would be an understatement. I thought out of everybody in the world, the one set of people I could always count on to cheer me on into the unknown would be my family. But from my brother to my father's true colours, that isn't the case.

What does it mean to be a hero? Though. Is it doing the right thing? Never giving up? Fighting for the people who can't. If it's that simple, everyone can be a hero. I'm not sure I can ever indeed find the definition; everyone sees a hero differently. You're bound to be a villain to someone, and well, for the longest time, I began to think that's how everyone saw me.

What does it mean to be a hero? I didn't know; I had no clue. That was until I met you.

****

My mind kept flashing to Rita's screams; all of this was my fault. I had gotten her involved, and now... If anything happens to her, I swear to God!

Darting around the corner, I saw swarms of people fleeing as I saw smoke burrowing deep into the sky, blocking the sun. Closing in, I saw my apartment ablaze, the whole building falling apart. Pushing past people, I kept trying to break through to reach Rita in time; passing by, I stopped Harry, who was fleeing with the other bag in hand.

"Harry! Where is Rita? Please tell me you saw her!"

"Look, man, things are out of wack! First, the city is taken over, and everyone looks the same. Then, we get pulled back in time, and now my home is blown up. I'm outta here!"

Shaking Harry, I kept shouting at him. "Where is Rita?!"

"I-I hadn't seen her." Harry stuttered, breaking free. "Fuck this Harem show; I'm moving to Europe; the City of Blood is ten times better than this shit show!"

Letting Harry go, I approached the apartment, seeing firefighters blocking off the entrances, trying to fight the oncoming storm. I shouted, trying to get their attention as Zara and Izanami were not far behind.

"Dauoi! This is crazy; you can't just waltz up there!"

"I can damn well try."

Izanami held my arm, pulled me back, and nodded along. "Zara is right; let me go. No matter what happens, I'll survive if an-."

Boom!

I turned, seeing the building explode. Before anyone else or I could get another word in there, it was again.

Boom!

The explosion, the screaming. It wasn't coming from the building. Cranking my head slightly, I was smashed high into the air, blasting into the flaming building and reaching the floor above me. Rolling into the wall, I hunched over coughing. Quickly looking up, I found no one there. The attacker was nowhere in sight. Slowly rising to my feet, I could already feel the heat nipping away at me, boiling my very soul. Covering my face, I tried making it for the stairs, shouting out.