《I'm A Superhero》 Chapter One: Yesterday and Today ¡°Another day just like yesterday.¡± I mumbled as stuck my toothbrush in between my dry jaws. As I brushed my teeth, the doorbell rang. Who could it be this early in the morning? No way could there be a surprise visit from my girlfriend or anybody. I was a single man working in a big city where my family had died. With a step to the side and a turn, I reached the door of my tiny one-room apartment. Peeping through the eyehole, I saw two man in black suit with shades. They looked just like they came out of the Men in Black movie. Well, they could be here to ask about the alien attack last night. Since last year, there were something known as super heroes who appeared, and they fought against the aliens from the wormhole on the other side of the island city. Sometimes, the aliens would come over to our side of the city where the business district and the port were. We were lucky that we still had a business district and a port as our island city was blessed by its geographical position and a global voluntary security force called the Super Heroes International Team (S.H.I.T). I opened the door, and smiled at them as the toothpaste form rolled out of my mouth and onto one of the duo shiny black leather oxford shoes. Panicked, I tried to apologise, but two of them grabbed one of my arms each and dragged me out of my flat in my crumpled white T-shirt and stripped boxer shorts. I tried to protest verbally as I doubted that dropping a speck of toothpaste form onto a government official shoes was a crime. However, I could only mumble a string of incoherent words as I tried to stop my toothbrush from falling out of my mouth. I do not want to dirty something I put in my mouth every day. I struggled as we headed into my apartment, but two trained agents were stronger than one average chubby dude who went to the gym only when he liked. Soon, I was pinned onto my bed. I had never thought I would be in this position on my bed with two other men. A cloth bag was forced over my head, and I felt a strong grip on my arm, before a needle stabbed into my forearm. Before I could make any move, I felt my toothbrush falling off my mouth as my body went numb and I lost consciousness. Unlike the agents, the people from the government whom I had met were hardly this efficient at their work.
As I opened my eyes, I could see a silhouette of an angel in front of me. Is this heaven? Or am I more suited for Hell? ¡°Welcome to the base of The Response Against Super Heroes International Team. We are also known as T.R.A.S.H.I.T. But people call us T.R.A.S.H.¡± As my eyes adapted to the light in the room, a woman in her early 30s wearing a white top and black skirt stared into my eyes. ¡°Oh if you are the trash, I am the bin,¡± I mumbled as I still felt the effects of the injection. ¡°You can be inside me.¡± ¡°This is a rather disappointing sight of a top soldier from our small island country where we put in so much resources in each of them,¡± the woman said as she pushed her fringe to the back of her ears, and she repositioned herself by resting both her arms on my forearms as they were cable-tied on the cold metal chair. ¡°There is a reason why I am let go from the Special Squad of Soldiers, Madam,¡± I replied as I looked at the clock to find out that I was only out for three minutes.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°How about I give you a chance for revenge against the aliens that killed your family?¡± The woman asked as she stared into my eyes as if she was looking for a hint of change in my emotions. ¡°I am not fit to be part of the¡­¡± The door behind the woman opened and two men in scientist robes walked into the room and stood behind me ¡°We are putting together a new team sanctioned by the government,¡± the woman said. ¡°And you are going to get help.¡± ¡°So we are going to be stealing the jobs of the Super Heroes International Team?¡± I asked as I got wheeled out of the room. ¡°No, we are putting the unlawful group out of business,¡± the woman said as I we got wheeled along the corridor. ¡°This city is best protected by its own heroes and not trans-border vigilantes who pretend that they have mandate from any international organisation or governments.¡± Turning into the next room, my chair was rolled under a showerhead-looking machine connected to the ceiling. ¡°Do I get to choose my powers?¡± I marvelled at the sight of the extra spaces in the plain white room that no average citizen of the island country will get to live in considering the obscene real estate prices. ¡°No, team dynamics over individual desires,¡± the woman said as the trio left the room. ¡°If the process is too hard, remember why you choose to serve the country.¡± The door shut. I then heard the sound of a heavy machinery working. It seemed like a huge amount of energy was needed to operate the machine above me. I started trembling as thought of the power that was about to hit me from the top. Could I possibly die from the transformation? I started screaming as the fear that I could not live another day of my boring office job hit me. The social media time in my cubicle. The tasteless coffee from the pantry. The dry biscuit from John¡¯s desk. The short skirt of my boss¡¯s secretary. I would miss them so much. As I looked up and screamed my lungs off with what I thought was my final breath, I saw a beam of white light shone down from the machine. Within two seconds, it turned off, and the trio walked back into the room. ¡°Eh¡­¡± I stared blankly at the machine as I wondered if the process was so simple. ¡°Congratulations! Welcome to the team.¡± The woman extended her hands for a handshake. ¡°Wait. What is my power?¡± I questioned as I recalled the two seconds of spotlight from the ceiling. ¡°Find out for yourself.¡± The woman smirked as she pushed back her fringe to the back of ear. Looking down at my forearms that still looked like one of an average dude, I tried to break free from the locks of the chair to accept the handshake. I summoned all my strength into the forearms of mine. It started shaking hard as the veins popped onto the surface of my skin. The strength of a superhero. I could feel it. I knew I could break free from the chair if I tried hard enough. ¡°Argh!¡± I failed to even make a crack on the locks. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± The woman looked back at the scientists. ¡°Wait, my power isn¡¯t super strength?¡± ¡°Oh yes! It is not.¡± The woman recalled as she reached into her pocket for the key to the locks of my chair. ¡°Then what is it?¡± I was puzzled as to what a single beam light could transform my body into. ¡°You have a rock-hard body that has the density of a diamond now,¡± the scientist behind in his lab mask replied in a muzzled sound. ¡°So I¡¯m D Diamond Dude now?¡± I started slapping my left chest with my right palm like how I thought the alpha males in sports did when they scored points for their teams. ¡°No, you are known as Shield,¡± The woman snapped me out of my alpha male dream. ¡°We are going to start our briefing now.¡± ¡°No. Wait. There are still having meetings in here even as superheroes?¡± I palmed my face as we moved into the meeting room next door. ¡°Send me back to my cubicle please.¡± Chapter Three: I Hate Washroom on Planes After a few corridors and giant metal doors, we were in front of a plane that looked like a private jet outside, but looked like a technological advanced school bus with the uncomfortable seats and their seat belts while lights, buttons, and screens were all over the interior of the jet. ¡°I haven¡¯t operated something like this in my life,¡± I said as scratched the side of my head. ¡°It is automated.¡± Valerie clipped on her seat belt. ¡°Voice control. Sword, the angry man,¡± Hermes said to the A.I. ¡°Access denied.¡± ¡°Voice control. Speed, the ugly man,¡± Taylor grunted. ¡°Access denied.¡± ¡°Voice control. Sword, the cave man,¡± Hermes continued. ¡°Access denied.¡± ¡°Voice control. Speed, the beta man,¡± Taylor grumbled. ¡°Access denied.¡± ¡°T.R.A.S.H.I.T.¡± Valerie said after finishing pressing some buttons on her control panel. ¡°Access granted. Welcome team.¡± ¡°I said we are a team¡± Valerie warned Taylor and Hermes over their childish squabble. ¡°Now to the North Side of the island, the Boar Cage District.¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°Your route has been calculated. Ready for take-off.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go team.¡± I felt the plane shook and rumbled as the engine began to warm. The ceiling above us opened as our jet lifted into the air vertically like a helicopter. As we cleared most the tall obstacles in our general direction, the plane took off in sonic speed. ¡°Pyjamas man here has not even suit up,¡± Taylor pointed at me. ¡°Get change in the back,¡± Valerie cued me. ¡°We will be there in 5.¡± I got to the back where the suits are stored. I opened up the locker labelled ¡°Shield¡±. I looked around seeing that there was much space to change, I used the washroom as the changing room. After taking off my crumpled shirt and elastic pants, I tried putting on the suit. It was the tightest thing that I ever wore. It felt like I was trying to squeeze into my school uniform when I was thirteen. After much hassle, I pulled the full body suit up to my waist. Suddenly, something hit the jet and I got thrown into the washroom ceiling and back down into the toilet. I tried getting off, but the plane shook again only for the toilet seat to clamp my neck on the toilet. The jet then started spinning as the flush started malfunctioning with the water showering down on my head at the toilet. I never thought that I could drown in the toilet, but that was the situation I was in as the jet spun into the ground. After the turbulent landing, I got my head out of the toilet, and out of the room. ¡°We got hit by one the duo from S.H.I.T.¡± Valerie reported. ¡°That is I¡¯m tasting now.¡± ¡°I thought S.H.I.T is not here,¡± Hermes questioned as he took out his seat belt. ¡°Looks like we are late like the trash collection truck every morning out my house.¡± Taylor said as he cut off his jammed seat belt with his extended bone. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of the jet and check out the situation outside,¡± Valerie commanded. The automated door slide up and we stepped out to see a duo from S.H.I.T already battling the aliens from the wormhole. ¡°Take cover there and observe,¡± Valerie pointed to the bushes. Behind the bushes, we watched as a man with fire powers and a woman with air powers fought humanoid aliens. Chapter Two: I Hated Group Projects and Discussions in School Walking into the meeting room, I saw two other men in their early 20s along with a typical meeting room setup ¨C a table, a few chairs, and screen on the wall. Both of the men were in typical bodysuits that heroes wore in comic books I read. One of them just had a face that said, ¡°I¡¯m angry! I¡¯m killing you with my power!¡± ¡°Shield, please take a seat,¡± the woman pointed to the empty chair in between two of the men. I walked in and sat at the seat, while the woman continued her way to the front of the screen in the room. I tried to take a glimpse at the angry man¡¯s face, but all I could see was his fist raised up. Slowly a finger-length bone started protruding out of the middle of his fist where his middle finger was. I could only let out an awkward smile before I turned my head towards another team member of ours. That was a warm welcome for a new team member. ¡°Oh. Hi, I just realised you are here,¡± the other just seemed to have a slow time reacting to our presence inside the room. ¡°Hello I¡¯m¡­¡± ¡°Alright, with everyone here, let¡¯s begin please, gentlemen.¡± The woman said. ¡°In case you don¡¯t know yet, I¡¯m the leader of The Response Against Super Heroes,¡± the woman said as the screen behind her showed her profile. ¡°My codename is Strength, and my power is super strength.¡± ¡°Wait, do we all call each other by codenames here?¡± I asked as I saw ¡°Valerie¡± written as her real name on the screen. ¡°Yes please, we¡¯re professionals,¡± Valerie replied with authority. ¡°The man beside you is Sword.¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°And his power is shooting bones out of his body.¡± I quickly cut in as the screen showed his real name to be ¡°Taylor¡±. ¡°Sword and Shield. That is us, right?¡± ¡°Yes and no. The codenames are meant to be easily remembered with one syllabus, while explaining our powers.¡± Sam confirmed. ¡°You will not be partners on the field. You will be with me. More on that later.¡± ¡°My name is Speed and I¡¯m the fastest man alive. To the outside world, I¡¯m¡­¡± ¡°Alright, Hermes. No one wants that monologue every time we meet.¡± Taylor interrupted. ¡°I thought you guys are too slow to get it yet.¡± ¡°For a man that fast, you are so slow to understand what is going on!¡± Taylor shot out a bone out of his palm into the wall behind Hermes. ¡°See! I dodge that.¡± Hermes smirked. ¡°Please! Stop it guys!¡± Valerie took charge of the situation as she lifted the table and threw it into the wall behind us. ¡°Let¡¯s not scare your new member here, Shield.¡± ¡°Yes Madam.¡± My team mates sighed as my name ¡°Steve¡± appeared on the screen together with every details of my history that not even I had much memories of. ¡°Today will be our first mission as a team. We are responding to the leak at the wormhole on the north side of our city. S.H.I.T. is late, so this presents an opportunity for us to take back our city and show the people that we can protect them to. Understand?¡± ¡°Yes Madam!¡± ¡°The strategy is simple. Speed will scout the ground. Shield and I will then charge in with Shield taking the front¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± I thought I was chosen for a noble task to protect my country, but it turned out that I am a walking human meat shield for my team. All I could think was how I could die as piles and piles aliens jumped onto me. ¡°Sword will cover us with his spikes from behind. As we reached closer to them, I will knocked them back to the wormhole. Remember their weak spot are at the centre of their chest. Alright. It¡¯s time to move out!¡± ¡°Roll out!¡± Hermes exclaimed as he rolled out of his chair.