Author: Nils Bolle aka The Outlander
Disclaimer: Heroes was invented by Tim Kring and I do not own any of the copyrighted material he and his co-workers have produced since creating the concept. References to other franchises are purely for entertainment's sake, and I do not seek to profit from them, or to rob their creators from any profit.
Title: Anti-Heroes
Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he want to save the world?
Chapter: Chapter 1 – Musings and irritations
Chapter Summary: Lucas and John are on their way to school. Once there, Lucas doesn't exactly have a good time...
Timeline situation: A couple of days after 'How to stop an exploding man'
"I don't get it," Lucas complained while going down the subway escalator. "Every time we finish an assignment we get a new one. You work your ass off, just to be given another one. What's the point in working so hard if all you get is more tasks? More books to read, more papers to write, more numbers to calculate. I thought the whole point of work was to achieve something so you can enjoy it afterwards and reap the rewards. And why on earth do we have to read books for science class? Doesn't make sense, John. First we have to read Shakespeare, then Dickens, Byron, and so on and so forth. And when they've run out of good British authors they make us read Darwin."
John sighed while they waited at the station. "I guess they believe that knowledge is power. They feed is knowledge so we can arm ourselves against society in our future lives. If we are sufficiently armed, we can do our jobs well, earn money and reap the rewards."
Lucas snorted. "Hmph, it's not that simple, John. When we are fully-pledged members of working society we'll have other assignments to complete wherever we go. We'll have marriages to uphold, offspring to look after, you name it."
"Well, if we wouldn't do such things, we'd all be extinct by now, wouldn't we?"
"I guess so. But still... There's our train."
With a shrieking noise, the train came to a halt and both teenagers stepped inside. It was fairly empty still, so they sat themselves down next to each other.
"Look," Lucas said and nodded in the general direction of the other people that were sitting in the train. The dark tunnel of the underground quickly filled the windows, darkening their silhouettes and giving them an almost eerie look as the lamps began to flicker. "See that? Every single one of them is sitting alone. Not one of them is trying to make social contact. It's like this every single morning. A train filled with ghosts, I'm telling you. Humans are pathetic, John."
"We're humans as well. And come on, man. Not all humans are terrible."
"Of course they are. Us included. Look at me. I have one friend, never had a girlfriend and occupy myself by disliking everything there is in life. The only thing I like is the world I've created inside my own head. How pathetic is that? I could tell you why you're pathetic, but I don't want to insult you, or anything."
"How very considerate of you, Lucas," John said with a slight grin on his face. "But you've got a point, though. Still, if everyone is as pessimistic as you are, the world sure ain't going to improve. There are also those who can make a difference. Those who are given a gift so they can make the world a better place."
"What, you mean like... politicians?" Lucas asked.
"Maybe. I don't know. Just something I was thinking about when I was reading that book for science class."
"What book did you read?" Lucas enquired, eyebrows raised.
"Oh, something about evolution by an Indian professor. Suresh is his name, I believe. Chandra Suresh."
"I thought we were supposed to read Origin of Species?" Lucas remarked.
"No, man. We had to read a book about evolution. Darwin wasn't the only one with theories, you know. Mendel and Lamarck are also famous scientists with theories about evolution..."
"From what century was this Suresh guy?"
"Actually, I think he still lives," John answered. "Book's fairly new. Says that through evolution, people might learn special abilities. Like flight or telepathy, you know?"
"Oh come on, that's impossible," Lucas said. "That's Star Wars stuff, dude. Things we imagine ourselves, hoping they will happen one day."
"Yeah, but wouldn't it be awesome?" John enthusiastically began. "I mean, just imagine the two of us being able to fly or... I don't know what. We could free ourselves from the shackles of gravity and obscurity. Man, that'd be so cool. And this doctor says it's possible."
"Then the doctor is a loony. Face it, the world is a stupid place. There's no room for such things in the cold, hard reality. Our only way out of here, the only way we'll ever be able to fly, break things with our mind, read each other's thoughts... is with this," he pointed at his forehead with his index finger, "imagination. That's why I love it. The gateway to another world."
"Yeah, you're probably right. But it's still something fun to think about. I mean... Uh-oh. Here we go."
"Yeah," Lucas sighed. The train stopped at a busy station, and the train was suddenly swamped with students on their way to school.
Lucas suddenly felt incredibly uncomfortable, and looked at John, who was scouting the crowd in their cabin, obviously looking for someone.
"She's not here," John told Lucas.
"Who?"
"Yeah, Wu, she ain't here."
"Oh, Wu."
"Yeah, Wu, that's what I said. My girlfriend, Wu Chen, you remember her? Cute little Asian girl?"
"Oh. Yeah. I remember her. Didn't the two of you have issues?"
"Sorta. We're figuring it out."
Lucas didn't reply. He didn't like talking in a crowded place, least of all the subway. Despite the noise of the train and the chattering of the crowd, everybody could hear everybody. And there were already enough people thinking he was weird without listening to him talking about flying. And he didn't like to talk about girls either.
10 minutes later the metro halted and the wagons emptied. Lucas and John also exited as this was the stop nearest to their school. Without talking, they walked towards the exit of the subway and eventually they entered their school.
"What's up first?" John asked.
"Maths. Great..." Lucas murmured.
Two hours later, the students flocked onto the playground. Lucas walked a couple of metres behind John and his girlfriend. At times like these, he was mostly on his own. John was a great friend, but Wu demanded his attention most of the time. Therefore he had to spend breaks on his own most of the time. Because Wu didn't make a secret of the fact she thought Lucas was a weirdo. In fact, Lucas suspected that was the main reason they quarrelled now and then. Still, Lucas didn't mind that much, as long as he was left alone by the others. And that was exactly the problem. Most of the time, others were pointing at him, laughing at him, sometimes they even insulted him in his face. Lucas could stand it, but lately he had been getting the feeling there was something inside of him that wanted to strike back at the bullies. Something inside his chest that could explode if they kept going on. It was like blowing air into a balloon: it can take a lot, but when you blow too much air into it, it bursts with a bang. Lucas felt he was near his breaking point. And it sort of scared him. Because in his entire life he had never retaliated, and never felt the need to. To feel it now was new to him.
In the corner of his right eye, he saw a small group of five guys approaching him. He knew who they were without even looking in their general direction. Tom Stagnetti and his friends. They liked picking on Lucas for a couple of reasons. He was alone most of the time; he never said or did anything back; he looked like a geek;... And the worst part of it was they knew each other since elementary school. Lucas, without looking up, saw them forming half a circle around them. He shut his eyes, and drifted away inside his mind. He heard them talk and he heard them laugh. But he didn't understand what he was saying. He had created some sort of mental barrier around him. He was floating inside his own imagination. He imagined he was hovering over the school. He flew down and landed on the middle of the playing ground. People looked at him with awe and respect. The pupils of the school gathered themselves around him, but in all of the mass only John's head was distinguishable. Lucas looked at him.
"You were right. I am able to fly, John. And so are you," Lucas said and he took his best friend's arm. Lucas lifted both of his feet off the ground, and so did John. They both flew a couple of metres, before departing at top speed.
"This is brilliant," John screamed at the top of his lungs. "I had no idea this was possible. We are special, Lucas. We can do anything we..."
"Oi, geek! We're talking to you!" one of Stagnetti's pals suddenly shouted, shoving Lucas to give more strength to his words. Lucas was violently torn out of his daydream. He slowly looked up at Stagnetti.
"We asked you were your friends are," the bully mockingly said. "Who else is going to protect you when you get bullied, huh?"
Tom Stagnetti was the stereotypical stinking rich, bullying mama's boy from overprotective parents. He was your typical good-looking son of a bitch every superficial girl would dream about. To be on his bad side wasn't exactly a good thing. So Lucas just replied, hoping they'd get bored with his answers.
"I haven't got any friends," came out of his mouth. He remained as stoic as he could possible be.
"Seems like you've learnt your lesson well, geek. Now...," he continued, while grinning and sitting himself down next to Lucas, "how would you like to hang out with us this evening? Me and the boys, you know. Spend some... quality time."
They were obviously having a laugh with him, so Lucas refused. "No thanks."
"You hear that guys? The geek has got plans for tonight! What are you going to do that's so important you can't hang out with us?"
"Nothing," Lucas answered. He was growing really tired of this.
"Oh, so you think you're better than us? How do you expect to ever be accepted into society when you keep rejecting our offers at friendship, huh? You do not deem us worthy to hang out with you, is that it? Do I have to consider this a personal insult?" Stagnetti said, standing back up. "Look at me when I'm talking to you," he suddenly shouted, and smacked Lucas in the face. A couple of people turned their heads to watch the spectacle.
"Oi!" someone shouted from behind Stagnetti's back. "Leave him alone, will ya?" Lucas immediately recognised John's voice.
Stagnetti and his pals turned around. They saw John and grinned. "Or what?" Stagnetti said.
"Leave him alone, or I'll tell everybody about what happened last weekend. You wouldn't want that, now would you?"
This seemed to both Stagnetti. His faced turned a bit pale, and he nodded to his fellows. They slowly walked away from the two of them.
"You gotta fucking stand up for yourself, man," John said while laying his hand on Lucas' shoulder. "We gotta tell somebody about this. You can't let them get away with smacking you and humiliating you time and time again."
"No, no," Lucas quickly reacted, "it's all right. I don't mind."
"Oh come on," John replied, making a face of disbelief, "grow a damn spine, Lucas! There will come a time I'm not there to help you, you know. If you don't stand up for yourself they will never stop harassing you."
"Standing up for myself will just make things worse," Lucas said. "They outnumber me, I can't do anything about it. If I retaliate, they will just hit me harder."
"That's why you gotta tell people about this. Do your parents know, Lucas?"
Lucas wanted to reply, but the bell rang.
"Come on," John said, pulling Lucas on his feet. "Science class..."