14 In Exchange of Power

"You are a hero after all." A kid said those words sincerely to a guy who was wrapped in bandages from head to toe.

The man who received such words from the kid; the same kid who he risked his life to save from a being far stronger than himself, couldn't help but smile after hearing that.

He felt really happy after hearing those words.

Which led him to make a decision that changed his life forever.

Because that was the day, when that man decided that he wanted to become a hero-No.

He decided to become the strongest hero!

And the fire burning inside his eyes showed just how determined he was about that.

~

[Jason's POV]

'It has already been three years since then. After that day, I created a training regimen for myself. I trained so hard I went bald. I became so powerful no one can beat me. I am the hero I dreamed of becoming.'

'So what is this? What is wrong?'

Cashier:- "That will be 5 dollars."

"Hm? Wait a second." I said while looking inside my purse to find the money and paid the cashier for the meat I just purchased and went towards the exit but not before hearing her say

Cashier:- "Take care!"

'Why does my heart feel so empty?'

I exited her shop and went towards an alleyway which was basically a short-cut to my house. Just as I was about to exit this alleyway, a group consisting of 3 thugs surrounding a fat man wearing glasses caught my eye.

Thug 1:- "Why don't you just pay up so that we don't have any problems with each other!" Thug one said while grabbing the guy with glasses from his collar and pushed him towards a wall while the other two thugs surrounded him from both sides restricting his escape.

'There's no sign that the evils of the world are disappearing.'

Thug 2:- "Come on dear piggy~ You know I don't like to hurt'cha, so be a nice little piggy bank and give us some money asap~" Thug 2 said in a sing-song voice and I noticed glasses-kun shudder after hearing him.

'This never changed since I became a hero.'

Glasses-kun:- "I don't have any money on me right now I swear! Please, I beg you, leave me alone!" Glasses-kun whimpered and tears started to fall from his eyes.

'In other words, you could say that I haven't made any impact.'

Upon seeing Glasses-kun in a tough situation, I decided to help him out by picking up three rocks from the ground and throwing them at those thug's heads with just enough force to knock them out.

'And I am not necessarily sad about that.'

I left the scene as fast as I could because I was getting late for the special sale on vegetables taking place in the convenience store near my house.

After getting whatever I needed from the convenience store, I looked towards the sky to notice that the sun has already set.

'Something has been bothering me lately.'

Just as I was about to reach the road which leads me straight to my house, someone stopped me on my tracks; that someone being a mugger.

'As the days pass, My emotions grow more distant.'

"Hey you! Hand over all your groceries and cash right this instant otherwise, chop-chop!" The mugger said while dangling a knife in front of my face expecting it to scare me into submission which made me sigh.

'Fear, tension, joy, anger....I feel none of them anymore.'

"Look man, Why don't you just leave me alone and go do something productive instead of mugging people? I am sure I am more broke than you but you don't see me mugging anyone." I said with a monotonous voice without any change in my expression while thinking about what to make for dinner tonight.

'In exchange of power, maybe I have lost something essential for a human being?'

Mugger:- "I don't want to hear your lecture grandpa!—"

'I used to feel all kinds of emotions whirling inside me when I fought.'

"—I got enough of those lectures from my mom and I don't need to hear them from an emotionless freak like you!—"

'Fear. Panic. Anger.'

"—Now don't keep me waiting any longer you bal-" The mugger's words were cut off when a punch landed on his face making him lose consciousness.

'But now, all I need is one punch to end it.'

When I reached my house the first thing I decided to do was to take a bath as I smelled really bad. I also needed to wash my costume too.

'Each day, I come home uninjured and wash my gloves.'

"Why isn't this stain going away?" I said a little annoyed after seeing that a blood stain on my glove was not getting washed off.

'When I am out fighting monsters,'

I sit inside my bathtub while looking at the rubber duck in front of me.

'I never feel as if my heart's really in it.'

I got up from the bath tub, changed into my pyjamas and laid in front of my T.V and started munching on my Doritos.

'I mean, I just do the hero-thing as a hobby. In other words, as long as I get a kick out of it, that's all I care about.'

"Let's just sleep." I said to no one in particular and moved towards my bed and laid their flat on my face.

'I don't know why, but I feel like that there's something missing in my life.'

~

"I hope something interesting happens." I said my thoughts out loud while looking at the ceiling.

It has been an entire month since any monster attacked the neighborhood which is a good thing, as their blood is really hard to wash off.

But it's still boring without them.

Sigh~

I should just water my cactus.

*Ding Dong*

Hm?

Hearing the sound of my doorbell ringing, I kind of had an idea who was behind the door, so I decided to open it and let the guy inside as he is usually here every weekend with different ingredients to cook.

After opening the door, I was met with the sight of an African-american man staring at me with his only eye with a serious expression on his face, and I could swear his gaze lingered on my head for a while longer just to make me feel annoyed.

I decided to ignore his antics and looked towards his hand to see him holding the ingredients for today's lunch, so I grabbed it from his hand and let him inside my house without saying a word.

Just like usual, he didn't say anything to me and just sat on the couch while waiting for me to cook the meat he brought with him.

After finishing lunch, he looked at me with the same serious expression on his face and said

"Jace, I want you to listen to me for a moment. It's something relating to world's safety so I want your help. Whether you decide to help me or not, I won't hold it against you." Fury said while looking seriously at me and I just blinked after hearing his words.

He is actually asking for help? Must be really important then.

I thought and decided to try to listen to him and not fall asleep halfway during our conversation.

"I am going to explain this in a way that even you are able to understand. But before that, look at this image." Fury said while handing me his tablet which had a picture of a hammer like thingy stuck on the ground.

"It looks like a hammer." I said simply

"It sure does but that's not important. What's important is for you to know that this thing fell from the sky and has a very high chance of being alien technology." Fury said seriously while looking at me.

"What do you want me to do then? Throw it back into space?" I asked with my monotonous voice after coming to a conclusion for why Fury would need my help regarding this.

He just stared at me for a while and then opened his mouth to say

"That won't be necessary. What I really want from you is for you to go and find a part-time job in New Mexico and stay there for a while. I have a hunch that whoever this hammer like thingy belongs to, might go there to retrieve it and if he is hostile, then I want to be completely sure that he doesn't hurt anyone. That's why I am asking for your help." Fury said all this but I was only focused in the one thing he said and asked him about that in a surprised tone of voice

"Wait a minute! What do you mean by finding a part-time job? Why?" I asked being completely confused why I need to work again.

Fury after hearing me looked at me as if I was an Idiot and said

"You want to know the reason to that? Well then, let me tell you in a polite way my friend, it's because you are poor as fuck. You need this job otherwise you will die of starvation or maybe boredom as without paying the electricity bill, you won't be able to watch TV any longer and without money, you wouldn't be able to afford your manga. You really need to work Jace." Fury said while glaring at me and I couldn't help but agree with him a little.

I do need some money. But I don't want to work.

Sigh~

I guess I will just work there for a month and then leave.

"How about it then? You in?" Fury asked while bringing me back from my thoughts and I couldn't bring myself to answer him.

I was confused. Should I really go there and leave this neighborhood unguarded?

I know that the monster attacks have become rare but they still happen. What if I wasn't here and people get hurt?

Being a hero sure is tough.

Fury must have noticed me dozing off because he started speaking again and said

"If you are worried about this place then you have nothing to worry about. The attacks happening here have become quite rare, and even if some monster decided to attack in your absence, you can just run back here. It will not even take you a second to reach here." Fury suggested.

He is....kind of right.

I can actually run here faster than any monster can hurt anyone in this place which means there's nothing for me to worry about but still.

What if—

"Oh, there is a possibility that the owner of this object is super strong. He might even prove to be stronger than anything you have ever faced and who knows? He might be even stronger than you." Fury said while smiling.

After hearing him, my heart started beating faster.

The emotions that I have long forgotten, started to take surface in my heart again after imagining the possibility of fighting against someone stronger than me.

Maybe, just maybe. I might be able to find what has been missing in my life for all this time.

Feeling excited, I looked towards Fury with a smile on my face and said in a confident tone of voice

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go to San Francisco!"

"It's New Mexico." Fury said simply.