by H D Forth
The woman smiled nervously at him, as he leaned back from the car. He pulled out his phone, just a normal phone. He seemed to be tapping away for a moment, then showed her a page. “This is the replacement part. It’s not exactly cheap, but it is easy to replace yourself. I’m sure you and your father can do it together.”
Once he showed her the page, she immediately pulled out her phone and took a picture of it. She seemed relieved, though I wasn't sure if it was because she could afford it, or if she was just happy that she had been given a concrete resolution to her problem.
"Thank you," She mumbled, Galenor shook her hand and smiled.
"All in a days work. Tell your father it'll be good father-daughter bonding time." Then he waved at her and departed into the streets once more. I frowned, this wasn't exactly like I thought this would go down.
He was a big shot hero, why did he know how to fix a car? Granted he could’ve been a mechanic before his powers manifested. I ran the car against a check, though the model wasn’t even half as old as his hero career.
Scowling I followed him further into the tower. The streets were bustling with activity, this appeared to be a shopping district of some sort. Lots of streets for pedestrians only, and just as many shops. Galenor just walked calmly through, acting like nothing at all was strange in the world.
He stopped a few more times for pictures, either selfies or posing. He never seemed untoward or anything but a perfect gentleman.
He's gotta have a dark and deep secret somewhere. He probably has a sex dungeon in his home, someplace where he holds an entire harem of girls that pleasure him at a whim.
Then I thought of Val and some of the scenarios that she had already set up, and they were only likely to get wilder if I decided to continue hero work. Maybe that was more hopeful dream than actual realistic chance.
I was having trouble keeping my temper angry as I was watching Galenor walk through the streets. Another scene opened up before me. Galenor was crouching next to a kid, who was crying.
I had briefly heard the loud cries of a child that was afraid. Galenor walked him over to a nearby Ice cream shop and bought him one, then while the little kid chewed happily on his new treat Galenor calmly talked to him.
Two minutes later, the kid was dribbling ice cream into Galenor’s hair as they were searching for the child’s dad.
“Dad! Dad!” I heard another kid yell, this one sounded slightly older. “He’s over there! ON GALENOR’S SHOULDER!” I thought that voice sounded somewhat familiar.
Then Erik himself emerged from the crowd, his oldest son was guiding, pulling, him along until they stopped in front of Galenor. Erik's oldest Raz couldn't stand.
Still, he was yelling excitedly and jumping around. Galenor exchanged a quick talk with Erik, before moving who I now thought be young Var over to his shoulder, before leaning down and lifting his older brother up next to him, keeping a hand on both their hips to secure their position.
Both children squealed and laughed excitedly. Var even kicked his feet back and forth. I was sure he was hitting Galenor, but the hero didn't seem to mind.
Galenor slowly raised into the air, which only made them louder and more happier sounding. I noticed a lot of the people in the crowd around us, would look over and smile, or let out a little laugh.
I had known that Erik's children were both big hero fans. Erik had been thrilled that there seemed to have appeared a hero in our tower. Just because it was something local for the kids to support.
I had known that Erik had often taken a day off here or there, though with all his double shifts and over time, it rarely evened out in his favor in the end, but the man loved his children and had loved their mother.
The last time I'd seen a genuinely happy smile on Erik's face, that had to be when both of his teams, the night team which he occasionally ran, and his day team, had pooled money together to buy him and his kids a trip to one of the inner towers.
It had been a one-day trip pass, to go see the zoo. The only one in the entire city. It was incredibly rare to find animals of old animals nowadays since so many had just been outbred by their Wild Beast counterpart.
The old wolf, who could take down a rabbit easily, wouldn't be able to compete with the one that could take down rhinos, or whatever animal that lived in the same area as wolves did.
I looked up at Galenor, who had put down Erik’s children and was saying his goodbye’s. I pulled back into the crowd, not wanting Erik to notice me.
Something was wrong here, my stomach had started doing little flips and turns, making me feel sick, nauseous and vile.
Galenor might be the real deal. I had decided that he was just another money grabbing hero, sitting in his center tower mansion. Eating food more expensive than a month of the worth of pay, or wiping his ass with silk.
He might very well do that, but from where I was standing it didn't look likely, not anymore. Not to me.
Worst of all, this meant that I was just weak. Here was a man that had been doing this longer than I had been alive, and yet he was still faithful to what he claimed. He had always been a good person.
I had barely been a hero for a month, and I was already cracking under pressure.
Chapter One Hundred Thirty
It took me a whole fifty-four seconds before my mind sprang into gear. I’d found him, now all I had to do was watch him.
I hurried through the tunnel after him. Taking the same turn he’d done.
There he was.
He wasn't human, at least he wasn't built like a human. Not really.
He looked like every straight woman wanted their hero to look like. He was tall, though not inhumanly so, I’d even seen a few people taller than he was. He was muscular without being brutish. He looked like the perfect cross between a cat and a dog. Big, strong but also lithe and agile. His form rippled with more muscles that I was sure a man should have, he was one hundred percent magic based.
That didn't explain why he was walking around though. I had expected that he would be flying, since you know he could. I had thought I would need to use every bit of capability, power and energy just to keep up. Instead here he was, walking around like a normal person, except everyone greeted him.
Fewer people than I thought would topped to take a picture with him. Though it really wasn't that surprising, there were literally hundreds of thousands of pictures of him online. He wasn't shy about it, it was rare that you could earn money from his pictures since he was literally so accommodating. The only time it seemed to be impossible to stop him was when there was ‘Business to handle!’, which he would quickly set off to catch, stop or end, before either departing of waiting for the police.
At least that’s how he handled it in the old days. Not a lot of crime going on in Thösi Tower anymore, so he was rarely spotted doing anything other than meeting people.
As we were walking. He was about seventy paces in front of me, there was a car accident, literally, one of the nearby cars had a reaction, something started clicking loudly before it turned off.
A frantic young woman jumped out of the car. “No, no no!” She cried, rushing around to the back and opening it up. “Dad’s going to kill me!” I was stunned, how trusting would you have to be lend someone something so valuable as a car?
“Would you like some help?” Galenor asked, approaching. “I had some experience with cars, maybe I can help you.”
She stared open mouthed at him as he closed the distance with her. “Thank you.” She said in a quiet tone. I almost couldn't hear her, so I had to get closer. I slowly walked closer watching the exchange, there were multiple other people like me, who were watching, but plenty of people were also ignoring it. Very few people were outright stopping and staring.
“Ah!” Galenor said, his voice pleasant and soothing. “See this bit here, this appears to be the problem.” He opened a pocket on his belt and pulled out a roll of thick gray tape. “It should be relatively easy and cheap to replace, but for now…
” He leaned further into the car, tape in hand. “This should do for getting you home.”
The woman smiled nervously at him, as he leaned back from the car. He pulled out his phone, just normal phone. He seemed to be tapping away for a moment, then showed her a page. “This is the replacement part. It’s not exactly cheap, but it is easy to replace yourself. I’m sure you and your father can do it together.”
Once he showed her the page, she immediately pulled out her phone and took a picture of it. She seemed relieved, though I wasn't sure if it was because she could afford it, or if she was just happy that she had been given a concrete resolution to her problem.
“Thank you,” She mumbled. He shook her hand.
“All in a days work. Tell your father it’ll be good father daughter bonding time.” Then he waved at her and departed into the streets once more. I frowned, this wasn't exactly like I thought this would go down.
He was a big shot hero, why did he know how to fix a car? Granted he could’ve been a mechanic before his powers manifested. I ran the car against a check, though the model wasn’t even half as old as his hero career.
Scowling I followed him further into the tower. The streets were bustling with activity, this appeared to be a shopping district of some sort. Lots of streets for pedestrians only, and just as many shops. Galenor just walked calm through, acting like nothing at all was strange in the world.
He stopped a few more times for pictures, either selfies or posing. He never seemed untoward or anything but a perfect gentleman.
He’s gotta have a dark and deep secret somewhere. He probably has a sex dungeon in his home, someplace where he holds an entire harem of girls that pleasure him at a whim. Then I thought of Val and some of the scenarios that she had already set up, and they were only likely to get wilder if I decided to continue hero work. Maybe that was more hopeful dream than actual realistic chance.
I was having trouble keeping my temper angry as I was watching Galenor walk through the streets. Another scene opened up before me. Galenor was crouching next to a kid, who was crying. I had briefly heard the loud cries of child that was afraid. Galenor walked him over to a nearby Ice cream shop, and bought him one, then while the little kid chewed happily on his new treat Galenor calmly talked to him.
Two minutes later, the kid was dribbling ice cream into Galenor’s hair as they were searching for the child’s dad.
“Dad! Dad!” I heard another kid yell, this one sounded slightly older. “He’s over there! ON GALENOR’S SHOULDER!” I thought that voice sounded somewhat familiar.
Then Erik himself emerged form the crowd, his oldest son was guiding, pulling, him along until they stopped in front of Galenor. Erik’s oldest Raz couldn't stand still, he was yelling excitedly and jumping around. Galenor exchanged a quick talk with Erik, before moving who I now thought be young Var over to his shoulder, before leaning down and lifting his older brother up next to him, keeping a hand on both their hips to secure their position.
Both children squealed and laughed excitedly. Var even kicked his feet back and fort. I was sure he was hitting Galenor, but the hero didn't seem to mind.
Galenor slowly raised into the air, which only made them louder and more happier sounding. I noticed a lot of the people in the crowd around us, would look over and smile, or let out a little laugh.
I had known that Erik’s children were both big hero fans. Erik had been thrilled that there seemed to have appeared a hero in our tower. Just because it was something local for the kids to support.
I had known that Erik had often taken a day off here or there, though with all his double shifts and over time, it often evened out to much more in his favor, but the man loved his children and had loved their mother. The last time I’d seen a genuinely joyful smile on Erik’s face, that had to be when both of his teams, the night team which he occasionally ran, and his day team, had pooled money together to buy him and his kids a trip to one of the inner towers.
It had been a one day trip pass, to go see the zoo. The only one in the entire city. It was incredibly rare to find animals of old animals nowadays, since so many had just been out bred by their Wild Beast counter part. The old wolf, who could take down a rabbit easily, wouldn't be able to compete with the one that could take down rhinos, or whatever animal that lived in the same area as wolves did.
I looked up at Galenor, who had put down Erik’s children and was saying his goodbye’s. I pulled back into the crowd, not wanting Erik to notice me.
Something was wrong here, my stomach had started doing little flips and turns, making me feel sick, nauseous and vile.
Galenor might be the real deal. I had decided that he was just another money grabbing hero, sitting in his center tower mansion. Eating food more expensive than a month of worth of pay, or wiping his ass with silk.
He might very well do that, but from where I was standing it didn't look likely, not anymore. Not to me.
Worst of all, this meant that I was just being weak. Here was a man that had been doing this longer than I had been alive, and yet he was still true to what he claimed. He was still a good person.
I had barely been a hero for a month and I was already cracking under the pressure.
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-One
I was sitting in my living room, contemplating what I had found out.
Galenor was a nice person, and seemingly a genuine hero. No matter how unlikely it seemed. The man was veteran, he had supposedly started his career some thirty-five to thirty years ago, and been pretty regular ever since.
There were heroes with longer track records, there were even a few heroes that had more power than him. They had all quit though, either that or they had so obviously fallen to decadence.
More than one hero was known to live in Yotsow Tower, old tongue for Center Tower, as it was more commonly known. Very little was known about the Center Tower, but rumor said that every Level only had four mansions and the only people that live there are the owners and the people required for upkeep.
I didn't know how much of that was true, though I doubted the whole four mansions per floor thing. Otherwise, the mansions were absolutely stupidly enormous.
That wasn't important either, what was important was how I had acted. The heroes may have fallen into a life of decadence and luxury, but they were still heroes. If an Incursion happened, then one of them would respond within five to ten minutes.
I had seen trouble, and instead of stepping up and improving myself, I had fled. When it had genuinely come to flight or fight, I had chosen flight.
In spite, fear and self-loathing I had tried to pin my own weaknesses and fears onto my friends and a good man. Did it matter if he was exactly like the rest when he was alone? Not if it didn't reflect in his costume. Not if he's puts forth a good picture, and he can maintain it. Not so long that kids like Erik's look up to him and see him as a true hero.
When I boil it down, what am I going to be? A hero, a wash-up, a weak attempt that never got any further?
But what was the alternative? Fight Leric? He would just kill me, he wouldn't give me a second chance, he couldn't afford to. Once was a warning, twice would be a mistake.
Just the thought of stepping up to Leric, send shivers of fear down my spine and made my hands shake. I was a coward.
But was that all I was?
I looked down at the little drive in my hands. I could let myself down, I had done it before. Many times. I could run from my problems, basically an expert in that. But could I face them?
I rubbed a thumb along the flash drive. Could I be the hero Arthur wanted me to be? The one he thought I was?
I put the flash drive on the table. I couldn't be. No matter how hard I tried, I don't think I could ever be that hero.
I turned on the TV, Connecting with it and streaming my hard drive to it.
But.
I could try. I could try my absolute hardest to be the hero that Arthur, thought I was. I could work with every fiber of my soul, and
every grain of my metal to be better. One day, I might even rise to the occasion.
I started playing the footage of my fight with Leric.
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Two
I had no idea how to defeat Leric. At least not in the beginning.
After I finished looking through the fight for the first time. Stopping when Leric started breaking me. I couldn't experience that again.
I hadn't got a clue. The steel frame was sturdier and heavier. It flat out a had a meaner punch than my current frame, yet it couldn't beat Leric. How was I supposed to do it now?
