Hero of the Day
What makes a hero? Is it some mystical force that drives a person to do good? Or is it the choice of the person as to whether or not they actually do what needs to be done? Is being a hero a choice or a calling? And if that opportunity comes alone, will a true hero be able to recognize it?
Houston, TX 7:30am
"They're coming to get you."
Dwight Haymaker sat up in his bed and looked around for who had woken him up with a threat.
"They're coming to get you."
He heard the warning again, but not in his ears, he heard it in his head. He knew he wasn't crazy. He didn't know who was talking in his head, but he did know what it was. It was a psychic. He hated psychics, they were always messing with people and winning the lottery.
Dwight didn't really care what the psychic had "said", he was just pissed that he had been woken up so early. Taking no heed of the warning, he decided to go ahead and get dressed and go to work early. For most people, having a psychic wake you up in the
morning with a warning would have been a big deal. And five years ago it would have been the same thing for Dwight too. But it at that point in his life that he discovered that he had powers of his own.
He still remembered it like it was yesterday. He was sixteen years old at the time and living with his father and fraternal twin brother, Omar. His dad was a career military man and had named his two sons after famous World War II generals. Dwight's full name was Dwight Eisenhower Haymaker and his brother's Omar Bradley Haymaker. Their mother had died during childbirth and they had grown up living the military brat lifestyle moving from base to base and town to town.
But Dwight's life would change forever when he discovered his powers. He could take any inorganic object and merge with it. If the object is small (like under 75lbs.) he can absorb it into his skin and "hide" the object inside his own body. An example would be like he would put a spoon in the palm of his hand, he would kick in his powers and the spoon would look like it would melt into his skin then it would disappear into his body. All he would have to do to get the spoon back would be just to concentrate on the spoon coming out again and it would. If he thought about it hard enough he could expel the small object at extremely high speeds and use it like a projectile weapon. He can also make just a part of it surface so half would be in half out. Now he can merge with larger objects too. If the object is bigger than him he can "hide" in it, and if the object is mobile, like a car, he can take control of it and maneuver around.
When Dwight discovered his abilities he was scared at first, but as he got used to using them, he found that he liked them. He kept his powers secret from his dad and brother for fear that they would think less of him, or worse, label him as a freak. But as often happens with secrets, his was discovered. His father had walked in on him as he was practicing making a piece of metal stick halfway out of his hand. He waited for his dad to be furious or sick or something bad, but instead his dad was in awe. They spent the rest of the evening talking about Dwight's powers and experimenting. Dwight thought that things were going to be fine, but he was wrong.
The next morning he woke up with guns pointed at his head. He was surrounded my guys in army cloths and his dad was standing there too. After a few tense moments he found out why his dad had seemed so interested in his abilities: He planned to use him as a weapon in the military. Dwight had other plans, though. Making a quick move he merged with the wall next to him and de-merged out the other side landing on the grass below. He took off running and managed to merged with and take control of a neighbor's car. He drove off as fast as he could, and after changing vehicles a couple times, managed to get out of town without being caught.
He was then on his own out in the middle of nowhere with nothing to his name other than the cloths on his back and a strange new ability. For the next several years he made his way around the country doing odd jobs for money. He would never stay in one place long as it always seemed like the Army knew exactly where to find him. He discovered if he stayed off the grid he could stay in hiding much longer. Occasionally he would meet someone like himself. On the lam and being able to do something that nobody else could ever dream of. That's why he was not overly concerned about the psychic warning he received. For one thing, he already knew someone was coming to get him. And for another, he was positive that whoever it was looking for him this time would have a pretty damn hard time finding him.
He had been living in Houston for about six months now and was sure that after about five years his dad had given up on finding him. So that left only one option, that someone with the ability to speak into people's mind was pulling his leg. After having gotten fully ready for work he got in his car and left. He didn't have a regular job per se. In his effort to stay off the grid he made his living by being a street performer. He would use his powers and make people thing he was a very talented magician. On a good day he could pull down a couple hundred dollars in tips. But when people started to get cheap, he would turn to his backup job: Thievery. He didn't steal often, and he usually only stole what he needed to survive, watches, rings, wallets, anything he could get his hands on really. It was pretty easy. All he had to do was touch it and he could pull it in to his body then sell it later. Every now and then he would have to resort to pulling a big job and that is when he would steal a car or two and sell them to a guy he knew. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but at the same time, a guy had to eat didn't he?
Dwight had a favorite place where he liked to set up his show. He set up his little booth and after a few people started showing up he stared his act. He would do a few tricks using his powers to make it appear that he was shoving a metal rod through his hand or pulling a bouquet of plastic flowers out behind somebody's ear. After the show he put a hat down and people would come up and tip him. The day wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. He was feeling pretty good about things until he was approached by two ominous looking guys.
He had a bad feeling about the two, but didn't act on anything until he heard something in his head say, "RUN!"
This time he took the warning and ran. The two immediately gave chase. Dwight made a few quick turns down different alleys and thought that he had gotten away when he felt a sharp sting in the back of his neck. He reached back and pulled out a small dart. He started feeling dizzy. He couldn't stand anymore and as he fell he felt himself be caught, lifted up, and thrown in the back of a car…
Dwight woke up some time later tied to a chair. He was in a very dark room and his head hurt. He tried to get his hands free but couldn't. Just as he was about to merge with the ropes to free himself he heard that voice in his head again, "Just play it cool. I'll get you out of this."
Dwight was less than thrilled to be taking more advice form and invisible voice in his head, especially after that last bit had worked so well. But he didn't really have anything to lose so he decided to listen. It was right at that moment that an unseen door opened up in front of him. Through the door came three people: one very large man, an averaged sized man, and a very attractive young lady. He recognized the large man as one of the people that had chased him and glared at him.
The smaller of the two men approached him and said, "Do you know why we brought you here, Mr. Haymaker?"
After thinking a moment Dwight said, "Well, if it's because you like dudes, you out of luck. I don't swing that way.' Looking towards the bigger guy he added, 'Not that there's anything wrong with that."
Dwight saw the big guy crack his knuckles and he winced expecting to get hit. He had a sharp tongue and it had gotten him in trouble before. But before the pain came the woman said, "Easy there, Darrell. I'm sure his jokes are just a defense mechanism. I'll bet he's just a little scared. After all he is tied to a chair.' She then turned towards Dwight and said, 'But I'm sure he'll play it cool from now on. Won't you?"
Dwight quickly nodded his head. The smaller guy then continued, "We brought you here because we have seen your abilities and we feel that you would make an excellent addition to our group."
Dwight gave the man a quizzical look and asked, "And what group would that be?"
"The Association of Virtuous Peoples. We are a group of people who all have special powers and are dedicated to helping mankind. My name is Mike, I can control plants, Darrell here has super strength, and Sera is a psychic. There are others of course, and we would like you to become a member."
In his head he heard the voice he now knew belonged to Sera say, "Say no!"
He didn't have to have her tell him that, he was going to refuse anyway. He said, "Well, Mike. As much as I appreciate your offer, and I really do, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to respectfully decline. So if you could untie me I'll just be on my way."
Mike frowned and said, "I was afraid you would say that. I'm sorry to say this, but we can't just let you go. You see, we have enemies and we can't risk them getting you and using you against us, so I'm afraid you must be eliminated."
It was Sera that spoke up first, "What! Mike, we can't do that! We're supposed to be the good guys. We can't just go around eliminating people that don't want to side with us!"
"Sera this is for the greater good. Now come with me."
Mike and Sera turned and left Dwight and Darrell alone in the room. Just before she was out of sight he heard in his head, "I'm sorry. I swear I didn't know!"
Dwight didn't have time to really register the apology as it was at that exact moment that Darrell's massive fist slammed into the side of his head and he blacked out.