Is He a Hero?

Prologue: The Boy and The Orb

10:09 AM

October 5th 

Year 2088

20 Miles West of Cheyenne, Wyoming 

On a quiet morning in the middle of nowhere, nature showcased its beauty. Birds sang their merry tunes while the deer and other animals continued their life as it always had been, unknowing of the world around them. The trees shook as the autumn breeze blew. The small lake fish shelter themselves in the water of the nearby lake, pristine and uninterrupted surrounded by the small gravel beach.

"Hah... Hah..."

A boy ran up out of nowhere, seemingly out of breath as he made his way towards the small lake. His shirt and jeans that he wore ripped up, the beat-up Converse sneakers he wore looked like they were ready to fall apart if he continued any farther. He drops his somewhat dirty backpack nearby as he stops just in front of the water, collapsing to his hands and knees, his long chestnut hair falling down in front of him. 

Out of breath, he leans forward and drinks the lake water, lots of his hair gets soaked but at that moment he didn't care. He does stop a moment later when the water began to taste stranger every second that passed by. Leaning back up, he notices some spots of red begin to form and disappear in the water. The boy lifted his hand and touched a spot on his forehead, wincing at the slight pain, bringing his hand back down, his fingertips were coated with a few drops of blood from the blow he took a little while ago.

The boy leaned back and sat on the gravel beach; his knees tucked in almost to his head as he contemplated the last week of his life.

He remembered running away from his home in Denver and the drunken ramblings of his father, with nothing but a few sets of clothes and his backpack. He remembers stealing his father's credit card, taking the little cash out from his account at an ATM before throwing it in the trash. He remembers hotwiring and stealing an old car from his neighbor's house, the car breaking down near Cheyenne since the car had barely any gas left. 

He remembers robbing a gas station nearby with nothing but his fists and intimidating demeanor for a few extra bucks and getting smacked in the head by the cashier's hidden baton. Running away as fast as he could before the cops or God forbid a 'supe' got to him. And running practically nonstop for the past hour.

And now here he was, a few hundred bucks in his pocket, a small backpack and his worn and torn clothes, sitting in the middle of nowhere, the frigid October air caused him to shiver.

He looked back down, tears started to prickle his eyes at the realization he had. His life was ruined. Of course, going back to his abusive father was no option, and he didn't want to go to an orphanage, being confined in there and then being thrown out to the world in a couple years with nothing to his name. 

The boy started to cry, heavily. He was alone, he was tired, he was scared. A part of him wanted to collapse right here and die on this beach, to let the suffering end. 

As he calmed down, he heard a faint hum. He looked around to see where the noise was coming from, but to no avail. He looked back at the water, the blood faded and saturated with the lake. Noticing a shiny black orb in the water, he shifted forward to look closer at it, it couldn't be any larger than a pebble.

The boy was captivated by the orb, although it was pitch black, it was extremely shiny, almost like a diamond. The humming got a little louder with each passing second, the boy realized the orb was the source of the humming.

He slowly reached out, his fingers dipping below the water as he reached towards it, his hand getting oh so close to the orb...

When he touches it, nothing happens. The humming was still there, but its sound didn't increase anymore, just staying at the same pitch and volume. It was incredibly smooth, he felt it for a few seconds, enjoying its texture. He brought the orb out of the water as-

*Kriiiiiiinnnnng*

The boy is thrown back as a loud noise rings through his ears. The boy lands back flat on the ground, blacking out a second later.

The blackness doesn't last long as a collage of different colors barrage his vision, he can see every color imaginable within the next second. And then the blackness returns. 

"I seeeeee... What aaaannnn interesting mortal you aaaarrreeee..."

A voice appears out of the darkness, of course, the boy couldn't see where that voice was coming from. He tried to speak, but his throat wouldn't open, almost as if he was being choked.

"I seennssseee a lot from yoouuuuu. Quiet undecipherable, jjjusssttt what I wanteeeedddd."

A moment of silence passes...

"Very well. I choose yyyoooouuuuu."

As the voice fades away, the boy violently wakes up.

Looking around, the boy notices not much has changed. The air was a bit warmer and the sun was a bit higher in the sky. He must have been out for a few hours, even though it felt like no more than a minute at most.

He brought himself up, looking at the gravel. He notices the small orb a foot in front of him, slowly breaking apart into ashes as it flew away. In a few seconds, the orb had completely vanished.

In a dazed and confused look, the boy reached his hand toward where the orb once was. What came next shook him to the core.

His stomach felt hot, like burning hot. He felt the heat travel from his stomach through his veins and straight to his hand. A second later, sparks flew out of his hand and then, fire. A torrent of flames spewed out his hand, the flames lasted a few seconds longer before they stopped.

The boy froze, believing what he saw was his imagination, but the heat, the heat was still there. But it didn't hurt, not when the heat traveled through his body, and not when the flames came out of his hand. 

After a minute of remaining frozen solid, the boy slowly got up. Looking at his hands, he couldn't believe it, the chances were so rare.

'I...'

The boy closed his hands, for the first time in a while, his tired and defeated demeanor disappeared. A grin grew on his face.

'I have powers...'

Giggling to himself, he raised his hand out toward the lake again.

...

The heat wasn't there...

'What?'

The flames didn't appear either, but something else did...

He felt the cool air being sucked in toward his hand. A second later, the air gathered in his hand blasted toward the lake.

While the blast didn't do much, it was enough to cause a strong ripple through the lake.

The boy stood wide-eyed, looking at the slowly fading ripple he just caused. He collapsed to his knees at his newfound abilities.

'How much more do I have? What more can I do?'

He wanted to stand there all day, figure out his new powers for as long as he could. But he knew that he couldn't waste time, there was still a lingering thought in his head that a 'supe' could be following him even though a few hours have passed since his failed robbery. He had to move quick just in case.

The boy grabbed his nearby backpack. And slowly made his way to a nearby highway, it would be a while before he got to his destination, but now, he had something that could help him survive this cruel, dark world.

Prologue: The Boy and The Orb