Chapter 13: The Truth About The Hero World...

-2 months later-

I did it. I did it! I FINALLY DID IT! It has taken me 2 months of painstaking determination, endurance, and patience but I have finally done it. I have finished unraveling this godforsaken ball of tech bullshit. During these 2 months, I didn't do anything except cultivate and repeatedly attempt to unravel this ball. The only "strength training" I did was some increase gravity body workouts to make sure I didn't lose any strength. The reason for this is because Owen insisted that if I can't even control my strength now then there is no point in training to surpass human limits because I would only end up causing more harm then good. And honestly, he's right. So I didn't argue, though I did do a lot of bitching and moaning about how much this training pissed me off.

Now though, looking at this long string in front of me with no naughts left in it I feel quite satisfied. I can honestly say that these 2 months of training and working have been worth it so far. When it comes to learning to bartend I am pretty good at it. I have learned most of the crowd's favorite cocktails like the margarita, Manhattan, and martini. There are still a few of the more complex drinks that I have not learned whether it's from no one ever ordering them, or from us simply not having the required product to make the drink.

Running downstairs I present the string to Owen with a big smile on my face.

"Look I did it, it took 2 months but I finally did it! Pretty impressive right! I know no need to say anything I am the greatest and I'm glad to see you agree.

*haha* "You did good kid, now go get me a beer and come sit down there are a few things I need to teach you about the hero world before we start to lift together and before I send you on your way back home."

"Alright, no problem. Ya know I don't understand why you drink this garbage you don't even get drunk since your body has adapted to the alcohol along time ago. really your just drinking this nasty bread water for no reason."

"Shut up boy there is a reason I drink it and that's because I like it. Now hurry up and grab that beer"

Coming back with the beer I sit across from him at the bar and wait for him to take a sip before he tells me about the hero world.

"You know I was a very famous hero before the scandal. when I first started in the hero world as a fresh-faced graduate right out of the hcp I thought everything was going to work out. I would join a team defeat bad guys, save the city, and come home with my team intact to repeat the process all over again. But that thought process quickly changed. The hero world isn't as glamorous as the media likes to portray it. Heroes die, heroes die a lot. And those that don't come to realize that there is always someone out there bigger, stronger, faster, more deadly than you are usually the first to die."

"I know that I'm not dumb I have seen on the news how up and comers are usually the only ones doing these long interviews while the more veteran heroes will answer some questions then leave never sticking around too long."

"It's good that you have noticed that, but that's not enough. Do you know that more than half of the heroes who come out of a htcp will die in their first 5 years? That means when you graduate. If you graduate, from whatever htcp program you decide to go to. Over half of your graduating class will be dead in the first 5 years. Half of the people that you have fought, trained, and struggled alongside for the last 4 years of your htcp career will be dead after you leave. That does a lot of physiological damage no matter how strong you are. And that's just the heroes you graduate with not the heroes you will come to know. If you choose to become a hero you will be going to a lot of funerals for a lot of really good men and women."

"I understand. I really do, I have been thinking about this for the last 5 years since my power awakened. I understand that it is important to be jaded, to come into this line of business with your eyes open and not glossed over like some fresh-faced graduate who is about to go out into the world and give some innocence false hope about your ability to protect them. When, in reality, you are only likely to get yourself and they killed with your naivety."

"Very good, now I need to tell you about the media traps. the media is both your best friend and your worse enemy. They can either build you up, making you one of the most feared and trusted heroes in the city or country. Or they can tear you down after one misstep or verbal foul. You always have to be on guard around them because one small slip and it can cost you your career. In my case, it was more than a slip up it was a disaster. My image of a family man was destroyed in a matter of seconds and I became the biggest scandal to hit the hero world in a long time."

"I agree with most of that but not the last part. The media wasn't to blame about your fall from grace, you were. If you hadn't hidden your sexuality for so long even to the point of marring and impregnating a woman then your problem wouldn't have happened. On top of that instead of dealing with the problem, taking the hit and getting back up you decided to run away and build this bar in Colorado, abandoning both your wife and son. I have no sympathy for your situation but at the same time, I understand your reaction. But that's not the point and it will take a lot more than a strange kid that you have known for only 2 months to get you to change yourself. Now, what will we be doing to for training?"

"You know your pretty fucking destructive with that tongue of yours' kid? but for training, we will lift weights because you need to be strong if you are going to hit and have it do some damage. Then you are going to get hit and hit and hit until you become strong enough to be able to stand in front of your team and take the bullet, plasma shot, explosion, whatever it is and get back up. It is your job to take that hit because in the hero world our job is to hit and get hit. No less no more, just hit and get hit, over and over until either the person in front of you is down or you are down. Those are the only 2 outcomes in our line of duty. You either succeed and save the day or you fail and die. now let's go lift some weights!"

"Yes sir!'"