Chapter 1: A Normal Day?
Bold- Narrator/AN
Italics- Thoughts
[Brackets]- Moves/Techniques
"Geez, what's with today's weather? Isn't it too hot today?"
"No, not at all; you just complain too much. I find it ironic that, despite you being so carefree, you complain over the simplest things."
Two teens wearing school uniforms are jogging a sidewalk next to a busy street, the sound of cars driving by was constantly heard by the nearby pedestrians, who were obviously rushing to arrive at whatever activity they had planned out for the day and in the distance, a enormous city stood.
"Well you'd be a bit peeved if you got yer arse handed to ye during a spar first thing in morning wouldn'cha?"
Here we have Leo Orario, a tan, black haired, average framed senior student in High school, and most importantly, an aspiring Hero!
"Oh don't be like that dude. You got some good solid hits on me during our sparring, and watch your accent, it's slipping out again."
And next to Leo, we have Xander, a light-skinned, dark brown haired teen, who is slightly taller and skinnier when compared to Leo, and is also an aspiring hero!
"You know as well as I do that I was only able to that because of my ability! Not only that, but you probably went easy on me didn't you?" Leo questioned.
"Well… Isn't that the point of sparring?" Xander chuckled nervously as he knew what was about to come.
"SO YOU REALLY DID HOLD BACK?! YOU SON OF A-" Leo was cut short after he took a glance at Xander's watch.
"Woah! We're late! C'mon we can't screw around like this!"
"Wait a moment, it's still 45 minutes until school starts! We can still take our time!" Xander exclaimed as he ran to catch up to Leo, who was already dashing towards their destination.
"So?! What if something happens and we get held up?! Take no chances!"
And, in an instant, Leo was even more ahead of Xander, to the point where he was almost out of sight, it was as if he teleported, though he was panting heavily.
"... For someone so laid back, he cares too much about punctuality… Is he really a laid back type? And he uses his ability so carelessly, it's like he's asking to screw up." Xander sighed as he stepped up his running to sprinting… at inhuman speeds.
We arrive at the entrance of Iros Academy, located on an island made by the combined efforts of multiple heroes, this academy is a city in and of itself that is split into 4 Sectors. The first sector is the Educational Sector, which lies in the center of the city; it contains schools that range from Primary school, all the way university, each with the name Iros. The second is the dormitory sector, where all students from middle school and up can reside. The third sector is the commercial sector, where all residents of Iros Academy can shop for their everyday necessities and luxuries, and finally, the Administration Sector is where all decisions regarding Iros Academy is made. Truly, an academy that one can call home.
"Hah… Hah… We made it…" Leo wheezed, his face slowly gaining it's color again.
"Well yeah… But we still have forty minutes until class starts." Xander pointed out, looking composed for someone who sprinted for five minutes straight.
"Then we can ask some teachers for some pointers right? It doesn't hurt to get the upper edge on our classmates." Leo stated, having regained all color on his face and was walking regularly again.
"With our circumstances, aren't we already ahead of our classmates?" Xander asked, walking alongside Leo.
"No, YOU have the upper hand, I don't. Just because we're trained by the same master doesn't mean we're equal, after all, you were trained longer than I was."
"Well that's hardly-"
"SOMEBODY HELP!"
Xander immediately turned to see the source of the scream, a male junior high student along with a female primary school student, most likely siblings. However, most noticeable was the crowd surrounding them, a mixture of high school and college students, with an air of hostility.
"What the… isn't that a gang? I never understood how there could be a gang in a pseudo city filled with people aspiring to be heroes." Leo mumbled
"That doesn't matter, If you have time to talk to yourself, you have time to save those siblings!"
"Hey, wait!"
Xander dashed towards the gang members, and right when he was next to them, struck a form from a peculiar martial art.
[Ryusui Gansai-Ken: Dai Ichi Yoshiki: Uzu no Ken!]
To an outsider, what could be seen was trailing lights that followed Xander's hands weaved their way around the gang members, and blew them away as if Xander had dealt a hard blow on each of them. But to Leo, who had been trained in the same technique, he saw clearly what happened.
Xander gathered his inner energy into his hands to augment his attacks, and started spinning as if he were skating on ice while passing through the group, and on several occasion striked each member of the gang as he passed by, causing them to be blown away.
Leo sighed, "Geez, you actually memorized the original pronunciation for the technique? It's too much of a hassle for me."
"Hey, are you two alright?" Xander turned around to face the two victims, ignoring Leo's teasing, and donned a face of concern and urgency.
"Y-yeah we're alright," The male student replied "I was just picking up my sister from my older brother to drop her off at the primary school, but then these guys surrounded us."
Xander glanced at the downed thugs "But what's their motive? It doesn't look like you two have anything important on you."
During this Leo saw a shadowed figure watching from a distance, realizing it's intentions Leo began walking towards Xander and the two younger students.
"Hey guys, there's some guy-"
But before Leo could say anymore, the figure caught on to him and began to dash at the unaware Xander.
"Dang it! Look out!"
Leo dashed in between Xander and the figure, who was actually extremely huge, easily being at least 7 feet tall. But the assailant's most noticeable feature was his hands, which were stretched out towards Leo as if to grab him.
"This guy actually seems experienced in fights, so he's not just some chump who's reaching out to grab someone, his confidence in his hands is suspicious, I better finish this quickly to make sure he doesn't lay a finger on any of us." Leo thought as he strategized what to do in a second.
*BAM*
Not even a millisecond passed, and the assailant was thrown back with his jacket and shirt having distinct tears on it, each the size of a fist.
And Leo was in a stance similar to what Xander was in when he took care of the other thugs.
Despite how powerful the blow looked, the assailant was still able to stand up.
"Why you little…" The thug muttered, his body shaking in anger.
Then, his muscles grew slightly, then it grew more, and more! Until he looked like a bodybuilder that went too far!
"You better remember this," he said walking towards Leo and Xander, "because I will, and I NEVER forget people who have hit me." But instead of attacking, he leaped… high. He leaped onto a nearby buildings and disappeared.
"W-what did you do mister?" The young girl asked Leo, who had begun stretching out some sore muscles.
Leo sighed, "Well, you see…"
Leo's POV (Recap)
"This guy actually seems experienced in fights, so he's not just some chump who's reaching out to grab someone, his confidence in his hands is suspicious, I better finish this quickly to make sure he doesn't lay a finger on any of us." I thought.
Then, suddenly everything lost color, pure monochrome, as if this were a silent film. And nothing moved, Xander stood with a look of shock on his face (very unbecoming of him I might add), the two siblings who looked scared out of their minds, bless their poor souls, and this lughead who jumped out at us.
He seemed like regular person, if you considered a 'seven foot delinquent with tattoos of snakes and winged skulls on his arms, and rugged hands with veins bulging out as if they'd burst,' normal that is.
He seems to be wearing a leather jacket over a simple tank top, and is wearing jeans and sports shoes. All-in-all, a very simple get-up, not too flashy, I like it.
The only thing that was different here, was me. I had all my color, and I could move!
Thus, I got into my stance.
"Fufu, it's over for you"
Ahhhh, how embarrassing! I'm so lucky no one can hear my right now! Wait, this isn't the time to be messing around! Focus…
[Rock Smashing Water Stream Fist: First Formation: Fist of The River Rapids!]
Then, after these words, I unleashed my technique.
My fists flowed as if they were streams of water, moving fast as if I had grown multiple arms, each leaving a trail of energy, then they met together swirling into one glowing line as if it were an actual river. Then, each fist branched from this flowing light and rushed out in a flurry of punches, each of them landing on a blow on this huge thug in front of me.
On each area where my fists hit, holes were made on his jacket and tank top. Of course, I held back, what would I do if I blew a hole in this dude? In either case, that should be enough right? He should be out cold after this… I hope. I couldn't have held back THAT much right?
…
Oh well.
"And thus, time begins to move."
Ahhh, so embarrassing! What am I, a time freezing 120-year-old vampire?!
…
Ahh whatever…
And then, color returned to the world around me…
Third Person POV (Present)
"Now if you haven't found out what my ability is… well isn't it obvious?!"
The siblings looked at each other in confusion, then, the older one realized it.
"Y-you can-"
"I have the ability to [Stop Time]!"
The eyes of the young girl began to shine with awe, staring at Leo with complete disbelief.
"Well, at a cost anyways… It sorta, well not sorta, it COMPLETELY stops my heart. But unlike Sudden Cardiac Arrest, or a Heart Attack, it's not painful, just weird and draining."
"But bodies can only last so long without a heartbeat before passing out, how're you able to do anything in during stopped time?" The young male asked.
"Nice observation there kid." Leo laughed.
"I'm not a kid, I'm probably just a few years younger than you, and my name's Ictus"
"Heh, sorry Ictus. Well you see, due to my training I'm currently able to at most last about a minute, but due to the way bodies are supposed to work, after 5 seconds, my body begins to weaken."
"SO COOL!" The young girl screamed.
"Ariella, behave yourself," Ictus scolded his sister and turned to Xander, "And um, excuse me mister…"
"Xander"
"Oh, nice to meet you Xander, and if you don't mind us asking-"
"WHAT ARE YOUR POWERS?"
Ariella interrupted, clearly still excited.
"My powers? I have two, however one activities while the main one is in use. I have accelerated perception of whatever is around me while I'm in a more focused state of mind, I can receive information faster and things around me slow down. I can't move faster while everything is slowed down, I can only view things faster and decide on what to do depending on the scenario."
"This is where my second power comes into play, while in this state of extreme focus, I have a full 360 degree view of the area around me, so not only can I view the area around me and think quickly, I can get a grasp as to what is going on around me while thinking about what I should do to handle the scenario."
"The only flaw to this ability being if my focus is broken, however due to extensive training through my adoptive grandfather, I was able to train in order to keep myself focused."
"THAT IS SO COOL!" Ariella shrieked
"Enough Ariella!" Ictus rebuttled, scolding his sister once again.
"Hey, be a little nice to your sister man." Xander calmly states.
"Sorry, I'm just nervous about what just happened with those people that nearly attacked us." Ictus replies, looking upset
"Why would you be upset?" Leo asks
"Because there was nothing I could do! I felt so helpless and weak!" Ictus weakly muttered
Xander and Leo looked to each other hoping that either one would have a proper response to Ictus' statement.
"Look, Ictus right? It's okay to feel that way, it's normal, but don't beat yourself up about it." Xander comforts Ictus
"Yeah, things like this happen, so don't worry about it too much; look at it this way, you're safe now and hey, I consider us friends now, so just say the word and we'll be there to help." Leo states following up with Xander's response.
After this brief exchange, Leo glanced at Xander's watch.
"Xander! We need to go! We won't be able to get pointer from our teachers at this rate!" Leo shouts, dashing off towards the high school building
"Leo!" Xander yells back, "Sorry Ictus, but we need to go, my 'Carefree' friend is worried about being late." Xander explains
"But school doesn't start for the next 30 minutes" Ictus replies
"Yea well, that's just my friend for you, take care." Xander says goodbye and runs in Leo's direction, sprinting as quickly as possible.
"Friends huh?" Ictus pondered
"Ah, how will we contact each other?"
And thus began a normal day in world with superhumans.
AN: Hey guys, this is a new story I'm going to start working on, an I would appreciate it greatly if you left your thoughts in the reviews. It can be constructive criticism, or it can just be what you thought about the chapter.
I am also looking for OC's for this story, I would appreciate it a lot if you all could send me ideas. You can PM me your OC ideas, or you can just put them in the review section if PM'ing me is too much of an hassle.
-Name:
-Age:
-Superhero Name:
-Hero Type (Willing, Anti-Hero, Tragic, Loner, Catalyst/Mentor)
-Grade:
-Personality:
-Physical Appearance:
-Costume Appearance:
-History/Backstory:
-Ability:
-Weaknesses:
-Likes:
-Dislikes: