1Heroification
A fine mist began descending from the sky, I huffed and started to run. A second later hard, round droplets pounded at everything in their way. I ran faster, and for a moment, I thought I heard a sound of breaking glass. But it was drowned out by thunder. Worst yet, water was cascading down my face making it hard to see, so I had no patience to look around. Then something strange happened; there was a loud crash and the ground under me shuddered.
I stopped, looking around, wondering if it was just my imagination. Boom! The windows shook. Boom! The car sirens went off. Boom! The puddles of water were vibrating. Windows were shattering and a building a block away began to sway like a dandelion in the wind, setting off a chain reaction. My amazement kept me on the spot. The buildings shook and threatened to fold on one another, while screeching like they were in pain. Once again, I had somehow managed to end up in the wrong place, at the wrong time. That is, right in the front seat of a disaster. A 3D movie experience that could prove fatal. Too bad I didn't have any popcorn with me. I stepped into a doorway of a coffee shop and waited with a bated breath.
A blue blur streaked across the gray wall of the sky. It reached it's apogee before dropping back down. My stomach imitated the drop and ended up between my soaked green converse. If my eyes did not deceive me, it was one of the city Guardians. John, I realized, and someone, or something, was playing hacky sack with his unconscious body.
My legs were moving before my brain gave any kind of order. I was running towards where I knew John would fall, right towards the source of trouble. A voice inside me screamed that I was insane, that I should run and hide, but I couldn't. I knew John could take a beating from a bulldozer and laugh, but that didn't make me worry any less. I was sick of hiding and watching as things went by me. I wanted to help and I would.
My bravado was quickly crushed when I saw the source of John's trouble. My legs buckled under me and my mouth hung open. A giant, human like robot emerged from behind one of the swaying buildings. With every gigantic step that it took, the pavement under its feet cracked, the air vibrated and filled with a metallic scraping sound. And around it, blocks of debris fell down like the rain. Unlike most regular, hulking boxes, this robot was built for speed and efficiency: it was slim and proportioned after a human body; with arms, body and legs of the right size, length and proportion.
Horrified, I staid still, watching as the robot approached the limp body of John and picked him up. If John couldn't stand up to a giant robot, how could I? Where were the other heroes... were they gone, dead, or hurt? Why wasn't anyone helping him? I stepped forward, deciding that maybe I could distract the robot. I opened my mouth to scream, but it caught in my throat as I watched the robot toss John into the air and then bash him into one of the buildings. No matter how hard I tried to remain calm, a sob still erupted from my chest.. The robot was going in for the kill.
I had to do something. Deciding that distraction was my best option, I ran yelling at it. My lungs failed me when I saw the robot turn and look right at me. It was much more frightening than I thought it would be. My heart beating wildly, I unwillingly took a step back. There was a piece of metal missing around its eyes. Eyes, I realized, the robot had human eyes. I wasn't entirely sure whether it was a good thing or not. This poor creature was probably a mutant that could increase in size, that covered itself metallic shielding for protection. But why would it be attacking the city? For a moment, I felt pity for it. But then it took a step towards me, and the concrete around its feet cracked. I heard John groan in pain as he tried to raise himself up, and all my sympathy for the robot disappeared. It did not appear to see me and I did not move, hoping I was too small for it to notice. The good thing was, that I got it away from John and he was coming to. For now, he was safe.
Suddenly, the robot's blank, black eyes seemed to have landed on me and my mouth formed itself into an 'o'. It took a step and then another, then thunder boomed and lightning struck at the head of the robot. I was running in the instant, running like my life depended on it, which I suppose it did. But still it was not fast enough. The robot, unhurt by lightning, only needed to take one giant step to reach me.
I heard a scream of metal as its arm reached out for me, so I dropped down on the ground and rolled. Its fingers hit the concrete, smashing it, then lifted and reached for me again. I screamed shielding myself, but nothing happened. I opened my eyes and saw that John was standing next to me, holding and lifting the hand away from me. He looked like he was barely breathing; his arms and legs shaking, his face red, and his suit shredded and ripped. He couldn't hold it off for much longer. I didn't need John to say anything to know that I need to get up and run. I got to my feet, aware of how John was trying to spin the robot away from me.
I ran for a shop, because obviously the damn robot wouldn't need to follow me for too long before squishing me like a bug. I busted through the shop door, jumping at the sound of the bell and quickly dove for a table before the robot could notice. Someone grabbed my elbow, I jumped, squealing and waving my arms.
"Hush," Crystal ordered, giving me a stern look. She was another one of the Guardians."What are you doing here?"
"I was going home," I answered, squinting my eyes in the dark. She looked like a bedraggled cat; her usually immaculate hair was a bird's nest, her face dirty, blotchy and scraped and her super-suit in tatters. "What are you doing here?"
"We're trying to catch our breath," someone else said. I looked around Crystal's shoulder, and gasped. Here was another hero, except Viola looked more like a dying soldier than a beautiful super-heroine. There was blood and mud on her face, a chuck of her hair was missing, and her hands were pressing against what looked like a gaping hole in her side. She lay against another overturned table, her purple cape lying like a rag around her legs.
"What happened to you?" I asked, trying to hold back my tears. Then at a loud crash, I looked outside and then towards Crystal. "What is that thing?"
"It's a mutant as far as we can tell," Crystal said. Someone was screaming outside. We held our breaths. I didn't know what to think, if it wasn't a superhero, than it was probably another unlucky passerby. The screaming stopped, thunder boomed.
"By why is it attacking the city?" I whispered, afraid to raise my voice.
"You tell us," Viola chuckled. "You're the know it all."
Viola was referring to the fact that I knew all the superheroes by their actual human names. It happened a couple of years ago... Actually, it was a situation eerily similar to what was happening around us at the moment. I was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, stuck hiding in the bushes like a paparazzo while the superheroes duked it out with a giant centipede. The bug smacked John so hard, that his mask detached itself from his head, giving me a full look at his handsome face. After that, it wasn't hard to put the pieces together and find out the identities of the other heroes. And being their number one fan, with my ability to somehow always end up as a witness to one of their scuffles, I naturally came to know just about everything there was to know about them.
However, I had no answer for this, besides "Maybe it's in pain, it can't be fun to grow several dozen feet and have it be pleasant."
"Maybe," Viola said, shuddering. There was sudden loud boom outside, a cloud of dust rushed past our window and I guessed that a building collapsed.
The back door suddenly opened, and someone rushed to Viola's side.
"Sorry it took so long Vie, no one seems to have a damn aid kit when you need it," he knelt by her side, gently removing her hands. I gasped, and Ace instantly turned to glare at me. "What the hell is she doing here?"
"Nice to see you, too," I gripped. Not all of the Guardians, of which there were six, were happy that a normal human knew their secret identities. Ace was the most outspoken about it. Then again, the ever sarcastic, berry-red haired boy never had anything nice to say to anyone, except for when he was talking to one of his friends.
"It doesn't matter," Crystal snapped at both of us. She didn't like me very much either, but she never said anything bad about me like Ace. "Where is Gordon?"
"He's helping John," Ace said, quickly working on stopping the bleeding.
"I thought Gordon was the healer," I muttered.
Ace snicked, "Shows how much you know."
"She's right," Chrystal said.
"If he heals Vie, he won't have enough strength to stay conscious," Ace sounded exasperated. Our building suddenly shook. Ace instantly made a tent around us. He could form his arms and legs into weapons of choice as well as become a human shield. The second he shank back, there were rocks and dust flying everywhere. I coughed, my eyes watering, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Quick, we gotta move!" Crystal yelled. "Ace take Viola to safety, I'll take care of Liana."
Crystal scooped me up and flew into the air. I bit my lip to keep from screaming and held on for dear life.
"Hold on," Crystal yelled over the wind. Then she suddenly dropped, and I saw the robot had found us. Crystal did a loop to avoid being crushed by the hand. This time I couldn't hold back the scream and clutched her harder.
"Go!" As she said this, she threw me into the air. I flailed my arms like a chick desperately learning to fly, but forgetting that I didn't actually have wings. Gordon caught me, smiled and ran on the ground which seemed to be shifting under him to make him go faster. Gordon was probably one of the coolest heroes ever, he could manipulate the ground and become invisible, not to mention he was extremely handsome. Which is why when he smiled at me, I imagined for a moment that we were eloping, and not on the run from a giant monster. But then I saw Crystal fly up high into the sky and release lighting from the palms of her hands, reality slapped me in the face. Crystal could manipulate any form of energy and use it as a weapon or a defense mechanism. Her hair flew about different directions and for a moment she looked like a goddess.
"Why is it destroying the city?" I yelled over all the mayhem.
"No idea," Gordon, answered and suddenly put me on the ground. "Run for cover and don't come out until it's over."
"I will," I assured him. "Go."
He nodded and took off. I looked around for a decent hiding place, except by now the monster had managed to obliterate half the block. Too distracted by smoke and rain, I hadn't realized that a shadow had fallen over me. Suddenly something grabbed me by the hood. The ground disappeared from under my feet and when I looked up, I saw five giant fingers.
The robot lifted me to eye level and for a moment I saw my own reflection in its eyes. The next second I was being tossed like a bug. I flew across the sky, unable to think. All I felt was the rain and the cold and all I saw were the blinking lights of the city. I closed my eyes, unwilling to see whatever I was going to hit. I bounced against something soft, my head whip lashed and I saw stars. Whatever I dropped on seemed to shrink from under me and a pair of hands held me up in the air.
"Are you alright?" Ace asked, he actually sounded worried. I wanted to tell him that I'd live, although be mentally scarred for life, but I couldn't speak. My teeth seemed to be locked in and my entire body was shaking. "Say something."
I pointed instead. Too late, Ace tried to move, momentarily letting go while batting away the hands of the monster. I screamed as I fell down again, the ground still several hundred feet down. But Ace's extended hand grabbed me at the last second, placing me safely on the ground. Unfortunately, Ace himself got hit into one of the buildings.
The robot then looked down at me and I realized that none of the heroes were around to help me this time. I was going to die, probably get crushed to death. It leaned towards me as if trying to get a better look at me. I took one step back. The mutant lifted one of its feet, but I ran and missed being crushed by about an inch. The rubble hit my back and I ended up falling down. I rolled and tried to scramble to my feet. The rain momentarily stopped, I looked up to see the hand coming down on me.
I bit my lip from terror, knees hitting the ground, I covered my head with my arms, hoping for a quick end. I wished time would pass faster, or slow down, or stop, so I didn't have to feel anything. And I didn't, nothing at all, not even the rain. Afraid to open my eyes, I wondered if I had already died. Shouldn't have I felt at least something?
Cracking open one eye, I yelped falling backwards. The robot's hand was frozen right above me. I wondered if it was stuck, but realized that the raindrops were suspended in the air. I looked around and saw John, Viola and Ace flying towards me ─ all frozen mid-air. Confused, I moved around the monstrous hand and slowly began to walk backwards. It was like time itself stopped. Did my wish actually work? Maybe I died and this was the afterlife, but I didn't see my mutilated body and I still felt alive.
The hand came crushing down on the pavement. Something warm trickled down my leg, but there was no time to be embarrassed. I heard the heroes yelling, not having realized that I moved away. I dropped on the ground and crawled towards a huge bolder, hoping to hide under it, hoping to go unnoticed and not soil my pants further. I looked over my shoulder once I reached the rock and looked to see if anyone noticed me. John saw me and his mouth fell open, probably wondering how I was still alive.
The robot took a step back, its metal shields grinding and creating a grating sound that exploded several windows. It looked down at where I was hiding and I didn't wait to stay and see if he would decide to crush me again. However, when I tried to run I suddenly felt like I was completely drained of energy. The world began to darken around the edges and my legs started to give out.
"Don't stop!" Someone shouted. So of course, I turned and stared. The heroes were flying around the robot, trying to stop it. It was like it was invincible. They were going to lose this fight. I closed my eyes and wished for time to stop again, but when I opened them again, it didn't work.
I concentrated harder, wishing over and over in my head. My arm lifted, pointing at the robot, willing it to stop. I tasted blood in my mouth, but the robot was still moving. I felt a buzzing energy in my gut and my vision momentary went white. The robot grinded to a stop while everything else still moved. Then it collapsed, making everything within a hundred yards jump, and became completely immobile. I was knocked off my feet. The back of my head hit the concrete hard, and my mind began to swim even more.
I saw Crystals face appear above me, concern and surprise on her face. I wanted to say something, tell them I wished them safe. But my eyelids felt heavy, so I let them drop. I heard voices around me, but didn't have the strength to respond. The last thing I remember was seeing a blue patch of the sky and knowing that the rain had stopped.
A: A version of the story has been posted here before, completely redone for my creative writing class.