Chapter 1: Boy Of Steel

Martin sprayed the glass with a bottle of blue window cleaner. Then, he wiped it with a cloth in a circular motion until the moisture from the cleaner dried. As he did so, he stepped back onto the sidewalk. In front of him stood a small barbershop with rose-red coated brick walls. A large window displayed the words 'Barber Bois,' along with a logo of a caricatured face of a man with a pointed nose, slick eyebrows, pointy mustache, and a brushed-up mohawk. Behind the mascot for the shop was a giant scissor.

Martin gave a satisfied hum and walked towards the door to his shop. As he entered, the door sounded a satisfying 'ding' from the little bell above. The interior had beige coated brick walls, with spruce wooden floors. To the left is where three salon chairs are stationed. In front of each chair are tables that are also made of spruce wood and mirrors with the same wooden frame on them.

Martin looked at one of the mirrors for a bit. Sixteen years have passed, his hairline started to recede back, so he shaved his hair off. But he grew out his beard, which reached right above his chest. Though he had some trouble with food crumbs and Min's constant worry of hair lice, he still manages to keep it clean and well groomed. He fixed his usual brown Sherpa jacket with a white shirt under it. He also wore his blue jeans and his typical red boots.

To the right side of the shop was a long, brown, leather couch, divided into four sections, with a small coffee table beside it, and a stack of magazines for waiting customers. Along the walls were framed photographs, some from his opening day, some of his loyal customers. One frame was slightly askew; it was a picture of him, Minerva in her usual Helper attire, and a seventeen-year-old Finn, standing a few inches taller than himself, with his messy raven hair and wearing his rectangular glasses. He reached for the frame to set it straight.

Another satisfying 'ding' sounded off. Martin turned to the entrance of his shop and saw a man in his forties, sporting a gray mullet. He wore a white flannel shirt with sleeves rolled up to his forearms, brown khaki pants, and black shoes.

"Jimmy!" Martin greeted the man.

"Hey, Martin!" Jimmy replied.

He looked around the shop with a curious glance.

"Not a busy day, huh?" Jimmy said.

"Unfortunately," Martin replied.

Martin walked to one of the salon chairs near the entrance. He grabbed a white sheet from the table and whipped it into shape.

"But I like it this way. Not too hectic, y'know?"

"I get ya'," Jimmy replied as he sat down.

Martin draped the white sheet over his customer and tied it around his nape.

"Are we doing the usual, Jimmy?" Martin asked as he looked at Jimmy through the mirror.

"Yep. The usual," Jimmy replied.

Martin picked up a comb and raked it through Jimmy's hair, straightening it.

"So, this is why you haven't come back for a month," Martin started. "Trying to grow out a new style. It'll be a shame to cut it though, you look great with it."

"Thanks, Martin," Jimmy replied with a smile. "But I'm sticking with the shorter cut. Plus, my wife says I looked like an old ding-dong who's trying to look young."

Martin let out a chuckle, followed by a rub on his bald head.

"Yeah, time isn't on our side these days."

Martin picked up his scissors. He combed the ends of Jimmy's mullet and started to cut the hair as he continued to comb.

"Speaking of wives," Jimmy started. "How's Minerva doing these days?"

"Oh, you know," Martin's smile grew. "Doing the best at her job."

Martin looked up to make eye contact with Jimmy through the mirror.

"She's being regarded as a hero on this island and I'm proud of her for it."

Martin got back to cutting Jimmy's hair.

"I'm glad she's around to raise our boy. Finn got a lot of his mother's spirit in him, which is a good thing."

"Oh, don't sell yourself short," Jimmy argued. "You've changed a lot in the past couple of years. And I bet Finn is proud to have a fun-loving dad like you."

Martin let out a chuckle.

"Yeah, you're right." Martin couldn't help but smile.

"So how old is Finn now?" Jimmy inquired.

"Seventeen. But he's turning eighteen soon." Martin replied.

"Ah," Jimmy mused. "Boys in that age get into all sorts of trouble, especially when girls are involved."

"I don't need to worry 'bout that," Martin replied with a laxed smile. "Finn's a bit timid and shy, he'd be too awkward to do those things."

Martin paused to wonder for a moment.

"Though, he takes after his mother after all. Those two want to help people even if they get in trouble for it."

"And what kind of trouble does that entail for the kid?" Jimmy asked.

Martin hummed in wonder as he resumed cutting Jimmy's hair.

Finn Mertens sat at a table outside of their school, wearing his black-framed glasses. The weather felt nice today, so he decided to wear a blue shirt and a white flannel shirt over it, blue jeans, and black and white sneakers. He watched the nature around him; the squirrels scurried from the trees to forage for food, and a butterfly hovered above the flowerbeds. Finn loved the simple enjoyment of nature watching; it kept him focused and calm, especially for a kid who had heightened senses and a body that could outrun any form of transportation he knew of.

"Finn!"

Finn was snapped out of his daydreaming. He then turned to the two other people sitting with him at the table. Sitting next to his left was a girl with a honey-colored skin named Sarah, wearing a sky-blue dog hat with her red bangs jutting out a bit. She wore a white sweatshirt, folded up to her forearms, a long black skirt, and red sneakers. In front of her was a novel that she started reading yesterday. Across from Sarah was a boy with a warm ivory skin named James, a dirty blonde wearing a navy-blue hoodie, black joggers, and white shoes. In front of him was his laptop. He looked at Finn with a brow raised, expecting something from him.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" James asked, a bit annoyed.

"Um," Finn uttered out.

"You're in your little world again are you, Mertens?" James asked teasingly.

"Lay off of him, James," Sarah said with a frown. "He's just probably thinking about the finals for next week."

"He'll probably ace it like any other tests we had," James quipped.

"It's okay," Finn awkwardly gestured to his friends.

"I just got distracted by the woodland critters here," Finn gave an embarrassed smile.

James gave him a blank stare.

"You're such a dork, Finn," James quipped.

"Finn is just being Finn," Sarah said, as she looked at Finn with a smile. "I think it makes him adorable."

"Then why don't you ask him out?" James teasingly asked.

Sarah sputtered and a blush formed on her cheeks.

"I-It's not like that!"

"What are we talking about earlier, James?" Finn quickly asked, trying to ignore the heat rising on his cheeks.

James can't help but smile at their reaction.

"I was asking if you heard about the news yesterday?" he asked.

"What news?" Finn inquired curiously.

"The "Blur"," James replied.

Finn flinched at the mention of the name.

"Yesterday, a twelve-year-old fell from a balcony at the apartment complex near the mall," James continued.

"Oh dear," Sarah said dreadfully.

"But get this," James continued. "As she was getting close to hitting the ground, something swooped her up and saved her from getting splat."

"That sounds impossible, James," Sarah said with a brow raised.

"It's true!" James exclaimed. "Bunch of people saw what happened! They all saw a blur speeding towards the girl and the next thing you know, she was safe on the ground like nothing happened. Heck, even the news caught wind of it."

"Don't always believe what the media tells you, James," Sarah said. "Bunch of weirdos in the forums theorized that "The Blur" might be Marceline the Vampire Slayer from folklore."

"Gotta admit, that sounds bogus," James replied with a shrug.

He turned to Finn, who sat quietly across from him.

"What about you, Finn?" he asked. "What do you think about the "blur" stuff?"

Finn swallowed nervously.

"If he-they were real…" he started. "Then maybe they're just trying to do the right thing."

James let out an amused chuckle.

"Always the optimist, huh?" he mused.

James then turned towards his laptop.

"Well, I'm going back to working on my paper about the "History of the Islands" and it's been long overdue," he said.

Finn let out a sigh of relief. He noticed Sarah shifting her posture toward him, which prompted him to look directly at her. Her left elbow was leaning on the table, and her head was leaning on her hand.

"So," she started. "Do you have any plans for this weekend?"

"Oh, uh," he uttered, a bit surprised. "Not really. Just do some homework and help around dad's barbershop, I guess."

"Same," she replied. "I'm helping with my family's business at the library."

"Why that's great-"

"Help!"

Finn's super hearing flared; he heard an intense roar of an engine, the sound of tires screeching through the asphalt.

"I can't make it stop!"

Finn looked in the direction of the sound, his face becoming more serious and determined.

"I was thinking," Sarah said while looking down, heat started to appear on her cheeks. "We could help around in the library and hangout?"

She was met by silence.

"Finn?"

When she looked up to see Finn, he was nowhere to be found. She glanced from left to right, not seeing any sign of where he was headed. James looked up to his laptop with a blank look.

"My bet is on loose bowel movement," he quipped.

Finn soared through the sky above the buildings of Hub Island. He landed on top of the hospital, where his mother worked. He quickly changed into his "Super Helper" gear. He wore a leather aviator's helmet with a chin strap and goggles over his eyes, a black long-sleeved shirt, dark gray gloves, gray jeans, and black tall biker boots.

He listened again, trying to focus on where the vehicle was heading toward. He picked up the sound of screeching tires, turned towards the sound, and used his X-ray vision. He was able to track the erratic movements of a car; he zoomed in on a man, around mid-thirties, having trouble steering the wheels of his vehicle, stomping multiple times on his brake pedal. His car was headed towards two pedestrians in the middle of the street, too panicked to move. Finn leapt off and soared towards the pedestrians, mustering all the speed that he was capable of.

The old lady and her male helper screamed as the car was about to hit them. A blur passed by two pedestrians suddenly disappeared from thin air, then reappeared in the safety of the walkway, a bit dazed and confused.

Confused as to what had happened, the driver lost control of his steering wheel. The speeding car grazed the base of a streetlamp, and it swayed for a moment. The bolts from the base of the lamp were starting to get pulled off from the ground; the streetlamp was about to plummet down on an unsuspecting onlooker. In a blur, the onlooker seemingly disappearing then reappearing only a few feet away from the streetlamp's impact.

From high above, Finn watched the car. He looked ahead to where it was headed. There, at the edge of the island, he saw metal railings. But Finn knew those would not be strong enough to stop a speeding car, and there were no roads for the driver to turn onto. So, Finn increased his speed and flew ahead of the car.

The driver screamed as he was about to drive off the edge of the island. Suddenly, a blur sped right in front of him; he could almost make out a figure. Before he could see the full image, he felt the impact of the car, sending him forward. Luckily, he had worn his seatbelt. Air bags inflated, hitting him straight in the face. As everything calmed down, the driver pushed down on the air bags, deflating them. He then unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out of the car.

He stumbled out a bit. As he regained his footing, he inspected his car. It was about three feet away from the metal railing. When he got up to the front of the car, he saw that it had been caved in, as if a battering ram had hit right between the headlights of the vehicle.

"What the flip just happened?!"

The school bell rang. Sarah and James stood next to where they had been sitting, bags slung over their shoulders. They both watched as some of the students walked back to the school's building.

"Where is he?" Sarah asked worriedly.

"Here!"

The two friends looked back and saw Finn, now dressed in his normal attire, running up towards them.

"Finn, where have you been?" Sarah asked.

"Oh," he was taken aback.

"I uh… needed to go to the bathroom!" Finn quickly replied.

"I think the pizza from the cafeteria made my stomach all weird."

"Ha!" James shouted victoriously.

Earning a look of confusion from Finn and an annoyed sigh from Sarah, the three friends started walking together toward the school's building.

"By the way, Sarah," Finn started as he turned to the girl. "Before I left, were you about to tell me something, right?"

"Oh, I just," Sarah paused. "It was nothing." she said with a sheepish smile.

"Oh," Finn said in surprise. "Okay."

James laughed so hard as if he had heard the greatest punchline to a joke. Sarah's face turned completely red, and her face scrunched up in annoyance. Finn looked at his friends with confusion on his face.

Author's Note:

As always, leave a comment on what you think about the story so far.