This World

by Lee, TD

  I hate to admit it, but Mari’s right. Hiro is starting to hang out with other super people. I’m just baffled at how he didn’t tell me. Was the photo shoot thing just an excuse to not hang around with me? Was Arthur in on it? Is Hiro and Arthur actually really good friends? Whatever. “I gotta go,” I say out loud as I stomp my way through the crowds.

  “H-hey!” I hear Mari calling out to me, but I just keep moving forward.

  Pushing my way through the crowded hallways and wandering in front of people who are trying to take pictures, I manage to make it out of the HERO HQ. I force my way through groups, shrugging off anything looks or words they may have towards me. I don’t even know where I’m trying to go. Home? The Chiffon Room? I just need to cool down somewhere.

  This is probably just something petty, but I feel out of the loop when it comes to Hiro. Sure, he’ll invite me to some stuff, but that’s about it. He doesn’t really talk to me about anything anymore. Dammit, this never really bothered me before, why is it bothering me now? Is it because he’s a superhero? It can’t be, I’m still whatever about superheroes. He’s my best friend, yet I feel like I’m losing any sort of connection I have with the guy. Ever since he became a pilot, things have been really weird. He keeps things from me until someone else mentions it. He kept Sadie a secret from me too until I just pieced things together. Whether it’s him or other people, they just keep me from trying to know things about him. It’s frustrating and unfair.

  Stop.

  I hear a voice. My body suddenly comes to a complete stop. Everyone around me comes to a complete stop. It’s like everything and everyone is frozen in place. Even the cars have come to a complete stop. This busy street that’s usually filled with people moving about has come to a halt. No one is moving.

  Ha!

  A voice, there's a voice in my head. I turn to the person to my left, a middle-aged woman who is holding hands with a small child. My hands reach out to her neck and tightly starts squeezing. Her expression is scarily normal and calm as she stares straight into my eyes. I don't have control over my hands, yet I do. Her hands release her child’s hand, only for them to reach for her child’s neck. I'm moving my hands voluntarily, but it also feels like someone is moving them for me. Cold fingers wrap around my neck, tightening.

  There's a voice laughing in my head. Why won't it go away? Even though I'm completely aware of what's happening, I can't really control it. I want to keep choking the stranger in front of me.

  But I don't.

  But I do.

  But I don't.

  But I do.

  But I don’t.

  But you do.

  This voice. The voice. It won't go away! Even if I try to scream or move my mouth, it won’t. Not that anyone is forcing them shut, but I feel completely incapable of moving my mouth. What’s this feeling? Like I have control of my body, but I don’t at the same time. I can’t resist. What’s happening?

  Wondering what's happening? Why things are so weird? Why I’m in your thoughts? Why I can dictate everything that's happening to you? Try as hard as you want, but you'll keep hearing me.

  My hands tremble as they squeeze even harder.

  That’s right, squeeze harder. Take all of that anger you feel and release it on the person you have in your hands. They deserve it. All of that frustration and anger that you keep trying to bottle in, go ahead. Choke the life out of them. All of that anger. Use it!

  With a blink of an eye, the woman changes into Hiro. His lifeless eyes stare at me, judging me. Who are you to judge me? My fingers squeeze even tighter. He doesn’t respond to anything I do, all he does is watch. Like I need him judging me all the time. Just because he’s a hero, that doesn’t give him any sort of greatness over me. He was just a normal guy like me, take the mech away and he is just like me! Just a person who’s not special, nothing interesting. He thinks he’s better than me? Well, I’d love to see how he feels as I choke the shit out of him.

  Yes, yes, go on.

  My hands grip tighter.

  And tighter.

  Tighter.

  You want to look away, but you don't. You want to know what happens next don't you? Ha! Of course you do. Just a flip of the page. Go on, do it. I'll wait.

  Ah, you made it. Wonderful! For me, at least, I don't know about you. I mean, the more you hear me the more power I have over you. Sure you can try to shut me out, stop and not look back, but you don't want to do that. After all, you're under my control. Sure you want to stop what you're doing, but my voice is quite enticing, if I do say so myself.

  Go away! Someone stop him from talking inside my head!

  How rude to interrupt me? You don't want me to stop you, do you?

  No.

  That's what I thought. Or what you thought. Ha! See what I did there?

  There’s so much anger, despair, sadness in you isn’t there? Sometimes, you feel lonely right? Of course you do, that’s why you’re here. This negativity isn’t your fault, it’s their fault right? The people around you who treat you poorly, the people who say they are there for you but aren’t. People who make you suffer with every word or action they take. Those kinds of people deserve death don’t you think? All they do is spread misery. How dare they. But what if it’s your fault? Maybe you’re the reason why they treat you so poorly. Maybe you’re making them suffer. Maybe you’re the reason why they treat you so poorly. You’re the problem.

  Of course, you don’t want to believe that do you? You don’t want to believe that you could possibly hurt other people because you’re perfect. You’re the embodiment of everything that is good, everything that is right, right? You can’t possibly do any wrong. It’s everyone else’s fault, not yours. Everyone else is against you. You versus the world. That’s how it is. Why can’t everyone else see that?

  Or maybe you cause others to suffer? That’s evil, vile, despicable. You burden others just by simply existing. Making others tend to your every need and complaining. You’re the worst. I can’t even stand being inside your head. Ugh, disgusting. You should go away, no one wants you, you waste of time and space.

  You’re still here? Right, right, I did take over. It's in bad taste the host just simply leave right? So who am I talking to? And I'm asking you specifically. The one hearing all of this. The one who’s frightened right now. Ha! I don’t really care, you’re just another useless pawn. You’re nothing.

  Now kill the person in front of you!

  My hands squeeze tightly as the hand at my neck squeezes tighter too. Breathing is hard, but I’m okay with it. I’m okay with it as long as I can choke Hiro out. Then my problems will go away, everything will go away!

  Yes, keep going. Take out your frustration.

  A giant flaming ball descends from the air and lands behind me. The intense heat scratches my back and causes the many people around me to run away. I release me grip and the hands around my neck ease off of me. Hiro disappears and the face of the woman returns. She stares at me in fear, but then stares at her child with a sorrowful expression. Everyone around me is confused, some crying as they hug the person in front of them. Everyone has fear in their eyes.

  I look at my hands. They’re shaking violently. What just happened? Those…those weren’t my actual feelings were they? I don’t really want to choke Hiro out. Or do I? I don’t know anymore, I’m so confused. All of those thoughts were so natural. I would never think them, yet I did. I’m so confused!

  More flaming balls hit the ground behind me. Slowly descending from the sky is a stalwart man in a black jacket with red leather sleeves. His muscular frame can be seen through his jacket and dark pants. His black hair is short and messy, contrasting the usual clean and sharp appearance most heroes have. Thin glasses sit before his serious eyes as they gaze upon the crowd. He has a chain necklace around his neck. In his hand is a flame that gently hovers above his hand.

  Without speaking, the fiery hero throws a flurry of fireballs into the crowd. People start running about and scream. Peo
ple are pushing me out of the way just to get to safety. Is this hero insane!? Is he a hero or a villain? It doesn’t even look like he’s particularly aiming at anything. I begin to run, but I’m stopped by the dreadfully familiar voice.

  “Stop!” a dominating voice commands. The people around me and myself stop our movements again.

  Despite everyone else has been stopped in their tracks, the fiery hero is still moving about normally. Despite the commanding voice, the fiery hero continues to hurl fireballs. This time, however, the fireballs become tall flaming walls. The people around me and I can move again. I start to run with the crowd, but I’m trapped by a wall of fire on one side, an unmoving crowd of people on another, and closed shops to the side. Shit!

  Looking back, I see the fiery man slowly descend closer to the ground. He slowly approaches a well-dressed man in a white suit and ashy blonde hair. The man in the suit is looking really nervous. I don’t know if it’s just the heat from the flames, but the man in the suit is really sweaty.

  The fiery man holds up a flaming fist. Before another fireball is thrown the man in the suit yells, "Hold it right there, Mister Meteor!" The man in the suit grabs a nearby woman and holds her in front of him as a shield. "You wouldn't attack an innocent civilian and tarnish your already dirtied public image would you?"

  This guy is Meteor? Hiro’s favorite superhero? What’s the appeal? The guy has probably caused more harm than anything else today. How can a person so relentlessly attack be called a superhero? How can Hiro, the guy who is the epitome of superhero fanboy, be a fan of this guy?

  Meteor floats in front of the man and woman. A flame appears above his hand as a scarily stern look is plastered on his face. "I have nothing to lose," he announces sadly. He raises his flamed hand about to attack. His face grows grim. No way, is this guy going to kill a civilian just to get to the villain?

  Everyone, attack Meteor! He’s an abomination of society!

  Myself and everyone around me turns towards Meteor and move towards him. Several try to pin the fiery hero down, others throw punches. Meanwhile, I reluctantly pick up random objects and throw them at Meteor. To avoid any attacks, Meteor flies into the air. However, he’s not safe in the air either as some people pull out their guns to shoot him. Several shots are taken, none hit. Meteor lifts himself higher into the air then slams down causing a tremor that causes everyone to fall over.

  It doesn’t feel like someone’s forcing my body to do something anymore. I look up to find Meteor descending on the ground, slowly floating towards the man in the suit lying on the ground. The man has a smile that quickly turns into a nervous, terrified expression with each step Meteor takes.

  “Give up King, you’re done,” Meteor insists. He raises his hand, a flame appears above his palms.

  “N-no! No! It’s not my time!” King, the man in the suit, exclaims. Several people run and latch onto Meteor. The create a barrier between Meteor and King.

  “Do you really think this will stop me?” Meteor remarks stoically. With superhuman strength, Meteor flings the people on him aside with no remorse. He continues to slowly walk towards King. More people attempt to grab Meteor, but he throws them aside with little effort.

  Meteor prepares to throw another fireball, but before he can, King yells out, “Protect me!”

  Dozens of people line up in front of King, acting as a human wall to protect King. Without flinching, Meteor increases the size of the flames in his hand. Is he really going to burn people alive just to get to King? What’s so super or heroic about this guy?

  As soon as Meteor is about the throw fire a loud, womanly voice stop Meteor, "Drake, stop!" A woman in a forest green costume falls from the sky. A giant vine emerges from the ground to catch her fall. The vine lets the woman touch the ground before it returns back into the ground. She approaches Meteor quickly and slaps him across the face. “You’re always going too far! Why?”

  Even after being slapped, Meteor’s stoic expression remains constant. Instead of retaliating against this woman, Meteor stands still. Not flinching, not showing any anger or sadness, just a straight face. He’s pretty much an emotionless husk of a man.

  “He got away,” Meteor says, ignoring the woman’s words. Looking at the spot where the man was, he’s no longer there. When did he run away? Without saying anything else, Meteor soars into the sky and flies off.

  The woman grips her fists tightly. “Why are you like this?” she mutters to herself. She looks around, her expression changes into one of care. “Disaster Relief will be here soon. Please hang on if you’re injured. And you’re all heroes in my eyes.” Her ankles get ensnared by a vine and she burrows underground.

  Overhead are several helicopters hovering. Dropping down are the usual Disaster Relief workers that immediately tend to any hurt civilians. One worker approaches me, asking, “Are you hurt?”

  “N-no,” I reply.

  “Good,” the worker says, “you best be on your way then. However, take this.” The worker gives me a small business card. “There’s a new support group that’s being started, the Super Affected Victims Entourage, or SAVE for short. If you’re a victim of any supervillain or super event, this group may help you. The villain that was here, King, is a telepath that messes with your head so it may help if you go to this group.”

  “Uh, thanks, I’ll think about it,” I say, putting the card away in my bag.

  “Have a nice day,” the worker says, dashing off to help the next closest person.

  I stand up and brush myself off a bit before I make my way back home. What happened? Mind control? I’ve never experienced anything like that before. Someone taking my mind into their hands and just telling me things to do. It was so unnerving. Someone just keeps talking on your head with no way to shut them up. They even made me see something that wasn’t even there. Completely altering everything that is supposed to be reality. Waves of invasive thoughts keep entering your head with no way to control them.

  It’s terrifying.

  What else is terrifying is that so-called superhero, Meteor. I can’t believe that Hiro’s favorite superhero was that guy. That guy was willing to kill innocent people just to get to the villain. What kind of superhero is that? Are all superheroes like that? Superheroes aren’t saviors. They’re just people with a God complex. It just makes me wonder. Who will save us from the heroes that so many people look up to?

  Chapter 10

  A couple days have passed since Hero Con. Hiro hasn’t even tried to talk to me at all during these passing days either, not that I want to talk to him. Things just haven’t been the same with me since that day. Not only do I feel like Hiro’s slipping away from me as a friend, but just everything else. That mind controlling telepath really messed me up. Those thoughts were fake right? But they were also real. I don’t get it. It’s really hard for me to understand exactly what I’m thinking now. Are my thoughts actually real or is someone making me think these things? I just don’t understand.

  I don’t even want to get out of bed to go to school—not that I normally would want to anyway. But my reason for not wanting to go to school today is different than just me wanting to just sleep all day. I feel strangely vulnerable now. Is this the side-effect of having a telepath go into your head? It’s weird, but it feels like everyone out there knows everything about me, everything I’ve done. Maybe I should go to that support group. Then again, I don’t know how a support group would help with this. A counselor or psychiatrist sounds like the best option, but I don’t have money for that. Ugh, this is stupid. I’m just gonna get up and get ready for school.

  Reluctantly, I force my body to get ready for school. It takes a little longer than usual, the drag is really hitting me today. Over the last couple days, I just shut myself in, and it seems like today is no different. My body feels heavy. My breaths have become shallow. I just don’t feel like myself at all. What exactly did that mind controller do to me?

  Shit, at this rate I’m gonna be late to school. With wha
t energy I have, I quickly throw myself together and head out.

  Even this all too familiar route to school seems a little off. Are people staring at me? Are they talking about me as I walk by? Even if they’re not looking at me, I feel like they’re talking about me. That makes no sense. Why does it feel like people are quickly moving around me? Everything just feels so weird.

  I shake my head. What’s wrong with me? I’ve never felt like this before. It just seems like everything is off. Have these building always been so tall? Have there always been this many people?

  I look up at one of the big TVs and it’s broadcasting another one of those superhero murders. As usual, most of the image is blurred, but it shows an extremely iconic weapon in full view. The weapon is a spear with a flag attached to it. The flag has the insignia of a popular hero.

  There’s a few people around me that are looking at the broadcast. Some murmur about how their beloved superhero could do such a thing. I believe it though, I can believe that a superhero could kill. These heroes are glorified to be amazing people that can do no harm, yet they’re the ones causing the most damage. When they’re trying to “protect” us, they’re usually crashing through buildings or flipping cars. No one is safe when there are superheroes around, despite what a lot of people want us to believe. Yeah, supervillains are the main reason why things start falling apart, but it doesn’t help that superheroes show little to no concern for where they’re fighting. Superheroes are terrifying.

  The broadcast on the TV changes from the superhero murders to something about a fighting tournament that recently ended. On the screen is a headshot of the victor of the tournament, a blonde woman with glass blue eyes. There’s not much else about the fighting tournament so the TV cuts to commercial. I move on, I’ll really be late to school if I keep lagging behind like this.

  When I finally get to school and take my seat, I see that Hiro arrived already. He’s surrounded by a bunch of other heroic students. We briefly make eye contact which gets cut short when he has to talk to the students around him. It looks like he wants to come talk to me, but I know better. He has much better and more interesting friends to spend his time and energy with than me. He’s a lot more popular than usual, probably because of Hero Con. If people didn’t know he was a hero before, they definitely should know now. Sadie’s surrounded by a bunch of people too. Look at them being worshipped like deities.