Mystery Hero
#1 of Etheral City
"You have got to get your act together Penny! If you don't come up with a good story soon, I'll have to let you go." said the older bear. He had a gruff voice, but cared about his employees.
"But sir! There isn't much more I can do here. Those superheroes do the same things over and over. How am I supposed to write 'The hero stopped the villain and saved the citizen' a million different ways?!" screamed penny, her whiskers and tail seemed to be attacking the air. She was only 21, but she had quickly become one of the most respected journalists in Etheral City. This was due to the fact that she was the only one who could capture the superheroes perfectly. Unfortunately, this left her little room to improve.
"Listen, kid. I like you, the people like you, even the damn humans like you. I don't know how you can make this better, but you are the best damn journalist here. You'll find a way." Paul's voice soothed Penny, but it didn't stop her mind from protesting. She stormed out of his office, ignored the others in the hallway, and entered her own office.
Penny spun around on her chair with her hands folded behind her head. (How can I make those pretentious assholes look better? They do the exact same things. The only difference is their powers and abilities. Dammit!) she thought angrily. It was true though, the heroes of the city were nine parts media hog and one part hero. They used to stay in hiding, but now all they care about is attention and sponsorships. They lived in the best penthouses and apartments in the city and could care less about the innocents who were being robbed and hurt. If it wasn't a big name villain, they weren't interested.
As usual, she would just stare out of her window in an effort to kill time. This time, however, a small figure caught her eye. It appeared to be a human, but he was walking normally in a district that had a population of about twenty humans. If that wasn't enough to catch her attention, he was calm and not jittery like the others. He was definitely worth a look into, at least in Penny's eyes. She rushed to the elevator and ran out of the building as fast as she could, hoping that he wouldn't be too far away. Luck was on her side, as she spotted him not more than thirty feet away.
She was about to approach him, but she had a thought (Wait! If I get too close, he may get startled. I should stay hidden and watch what he does.) Penny followed her gut instinct and stayed behind whatever she could to stay out of sight. It wasn't long before she heard a scream in a nearby ice cream store. A voice yelled out, "Give me all of the cash or I blow your daughter's head away!"
Penny ran towards it, unaware of what she could actually do. The human had stopped just before the front door. "What are you doing?! Run! Get out of here!" she yelled to him, but the headphones he had on must have drowned her voice out. A large bull barged out of the door, holding a cute little cow in his arms, she was no more than 16. Her piercing scream could be heard from five blocks away as the bull turned his head to face the human. He lifted his gun so he could bash the human's head in. "Move!" Penny yelled in a panic.
The man jumped onto the side of the store, then jumped off with a spinning kick to the bull's head, making him drop the girl, the bag of money, and the gun. Since the bull was so large, he was able to stay on his feet, but he was clearly startled. He limped back into a tree and grabbed his chest, as if he was having a heart attack. His face was twisted and showed an indescribable pain. The human walked towards him, then proceeded to pummel him in the face. When he stopped, the bull started to act funny. Funny, as in he was punching himself in the face now. The human walked over to the cute cow on the ground and helped her up. Penny noticed that his eyes were closed. (How could he do all that if his eyes were closed?) she thought.
He slowly opened his eyes and all of the sudden the girl stopped crying and seemed calm. Penny caught a glimpse of it, but his eyes weren't a normal human color. Instead of brown, or blue, or green, they were red. The bull finally collapsed to the ground. Penny tried to walk forward, but her legs were paralyzed. The owner of the store, an older bull, ran out and hugged his daughter, "Are you okay? Thank the gods! And you, young man. Without you- hey? Where are you going?" The human simply walked away, as if nothing had happened. The store owner and his daughter were confused, but happy that they were safe. Penny was finally ably to walk up to them.
"Um, excuse me. Do you know who that human was?" The two shook there heads, then got excited when they recognized who Penny was. "Thanks, but I would like to interview you, if it's not too much trouble?" They shook their heads again. After a series of questions, Penny said thank you and they gave her a free ice cream cone for the interview. She was now even more enticed by the mystery human. (Was he a superhero like the others? No, if he was he would've stuck around for praise. Who the hell is he?) The thoughts racked her brain as she returned to her office and wrote about the interview and the mysterious hero.
In an hour, she sent it to the editor for reviewing. He walked in about ten minutes later, looking like he just had a surprise party for himself, "How do you do it?! This is amazing, I've never read anything like it! A human superhero, that doesn't need any sort of recognition? That's media gold! Gold I tell ya!" The skinny dog was raving about her article.
"Keep your panties on, Bill. It's not that great." Penny said modestly, but it was what she really thought about it.
Bill was shocked, "Not that great?! You don't know, don't you? Paul decided to put it on the front page of tomorrow's paper! He moved that piece about the new mayor just to fit it in!" (Impossible!) she thought. Paul never moves anything, not even if it would win awards. It wasn't long before she ha to leave her office to get away from Bill. On the floor, the praise came flooding out of everyone. She knew that it wasn't the best piece she had ever written, but it was the most original. Penny waved with a nervous smile on her face, then rushed out of the building. She had hated publicity since she was a child.
On the street again, during the middle of a lunch rush. This was simply reminding her of how hungry she was, the ice cream was just an appetizer. She had remembered that next to the store was a small sandwich shop, so she decided to try it out. Inside, the ice cream store owners were also eating, and they invited her over to eat with them. She ordered a turkey club (from the great turkey trees of the southwest) and sat down to talk with them. Penny had always liked an independent store, mostly because her parents had owned one when she was a child. After lunch, she wished the two good luck in the future and decided to walk around for a while.
It was just a normal day. The city life was fast paced and rushed. Eventually, she rounded a corner and saw the Flying Squirrel talking to a human. "You don't have to be shy about it, you know? I'll gladly give an autograph to all of my fans, maybe even my number for a cute one like you." said the girl. The human was wearing headphones and had his eyes closed, then it hit her (It's that human from earlier!) Penny dashed towards him to try to see if she could interview him, but the Flying Squirrel stepped in her path, "Perfect! You're that newspaper lady, right? Come on, I'll tell you about how loyal I am to my fans, and you can get testimony from one while you're here. Just what every good story needs, am I right?" The man pushed her out of the way and continued to walk. The Flying Squirrel looked at him, "Huh, maybe I was so awesome that I scared him, what do you- hey! Watch it!" Penny had pushed her aside like he did and ran after him.
He entered an alleyway, but since Penny was a cat she could easily catch up with him. "Hey! Stop!" she reached her arm out and grabbed his shoulder. As soon as she did, time stopped, the world went dark except for her and the mystery hero. A strange and creepy voice entered her head.
"tHiS wOrLd Is DyInG. cAn'T yOu FeEl iT?"
Penny ripped her hand away from his shoulder and the world returned to normal. The human stood there, eyes closed and facing away. "Wh-wha the hell was that?!" she yelled. "H-hey! W-who are y-you?" The man didn't say a word. Penny was angry now, "I said, who are you? Can't you talk? What the hell is wrong with you?! You can talk, right?!"
"yes"
His voice was soft, but rough at the same time. It was odd, he was quiet and loud. This was disturbing to Penny, "Then, I would like to interview you, for the Etheral Times. What is your name? Where do you live? What is your power..." her questions didn't end. For her, this was more about getting answers than writing an article. The man turned around to face her. "Answer me-"
"You want an answer!?" he was clearly angry, "Fine! I'll give you one! It's you publicity whores that piss me off! Always with the questions, never looking for something important!" His voice echoed, but not as Penny thought it did. He opened his eyes and his words filled her ears and her mind. "Try fighting your way through the day, knowing that no one can help you! There's your interview, now get lost." he shut his eyes and walked away. Penny was dumbfounded by his sudden outburst. He was a human with powers, which was rare. Also, his actions indicate that he is a hero but his mind is more twisted than the most insane super villain.
So, is he a hero or a villain?