Air Hero

Test Result

Max is looking at the elemental orb with a face full of determination.

“I need to succeed.”

Max muttered it in his heart. He wanted to be a hero. That is his dream since he was small and looking at the heroes on the TV, it is something that has become his goal every day. Acting as a hero, unleashing super move, and defeating the villains, it is something that he has done as long as he remembered.

Touching the elemental orb again, he listened to the direction from the examiner closely.

“Now, touch the elemental orb and try to imagine it as a part of your body. Then, try to imagine, the first thing that crossed your mind whenever you heard this word and project it into the orb. Power, strength, speed, shapeshift, manipulation.”

Max listened very carefully and when power is mentioned, he imagined himself holding power so strong that could crush rocks within his grip. When strong is mentioned, he imagines himself as a hero that could calmly move big boulders from destroyed buildings and saving survivors buried under the rubble. Speed is when he moved so fast just like the superhero ‘sonic’. Shapeshift is turning himself into a half-beast half-human hero just like the ‘beast’. Manipulation is a hard word for a child to digest but he knows of a superhero with such trait, the ‘guardian’ that could turn his arm into a big shield.

All of that is done while Max is trying to channel his power into the elemental orb. He closes his eyes so he couldn’t see what is happening to the elemental orb. He can only vaguely feel that the orb is becoming hotter but it could as well be an illusion due to how hard he gripped the elemental orb.

Max opened his eyes and the first thing he looked at is the elemental orb within his arm that didn’t show any changes. Next, he looked at the examiner that is busily writing something on the paper he is holding with a straight expression. Max already has a bad premonition and he looked at his parent at last.

His mother is sobbing quietly at the side while his father is smiling bitterly at him. Just from their expression, he could understand what is going on. Unconsciously, tears run down his face as he sobbed quietly.

Looking at that, his parents approached him and hugged him. His mother consoling him lovingly.

“Max, don’t be down. It must be our fault since we don’t have any superpower. If only I or your father have a little bit of superpower… I’m sorry.”

“Max, we have told you previously that even if your power doesn’t come out, you’re still our son.”

Max could feel the love and affection coming from his parent, but how could a child who has his dream robbed in front of him could think straight? He is throwing a tantrum just like any other disappointed child. However, he doesn’t realize that what he said wasn’t appropriate and hurt his parent’s feelings.

“There must be something wrong with the elemental orb! How can I not have any power? Who are you to tell me that I couldn’t become a superhero?”

Max then struggled to get out of his parent’s arms and unleashed his anger at them.

“It must be your fault! If only mom or dad have a superpower, I won’t be like this! Why I don’t have a superhero for a father or mother?”

Words are just like rocks thrown into a lake. You might see the ripple and understand that it hurts others but you never know how deep it would go. Just like what Max is doing right now, it might be because he is still small and naïve but there’s no way to turn back time, or is there a medicine for regret in this world.

In his fit of anger, Max runs out from the examination room and by chance, the lift is opened when he comes out into the waiting hall. He runs inside and while he is trying to catch his breath, the lift door closed.

The last thing that he could see is his father that is trying to catch up to him while supporting his mother. He could also see his mother’s crying face as the door slowly blocked his vision.

“AAAAAAAHHHH!”

Max shouted out loud while clenching his fist. He then punched the lift’s wall in frustration.

“Why? God, why are you doing this to me? All of my life, I want to be a hero. Do you really have to do this? Why don’t you just take everything from me then? My powerless parents, my powerless self, I hate this!”

******

“Miriam, stay strong okay? Don’t take what Max said to the heart.”

“Gale, I understand him the most. How can I not know that he is now just throwing a tantrum? However, I feel sadder than him. I saw how he played every day inside the house, portraying himself as a hero. The happiness in his eye, his brilliant smile as he moves around. To think that a simple examination could take all of those dreams from him, how could a young child like Max understand?”

“I know. More importantly, we now have to catch up to him. We don’t want him to get lost in this big building. See, the next lift is already here. Let’s get on and quickly catch up to him.”

******

The lift that Max is in, arrived at the ground floor. He stepped out of it and he is now back at the main atrium of the United Heroes headquarters. Max is trying to get outside of the building but it is hard due to the number of people in there. Max is moving past the crowd but for a small child like him, it was no easy task. He stumbled into people several times as he trying to make his way through.

“Sorry.”

Max is saying that every time he stumbled into someone without even bothering to look at their face. His heart is still filled with anger and disappointment so he couldn’t even show proper manners to anyone.

Once again, Max stumbled into a person then after giving a quick apology, he tried to resume his path.

******

Little did Max know, the person that he just stumbled into will become someone that will change his life.

“Lindt, what are you doing?”

“Ah, it’s just a small boy just stumbled into me. He is gone now.”

“Please stay focused, we have an important mission here.”

“Heh, how can I forget? Let’s give the heroes a wake-up call.”

“Sure. Let the world knows that even the heroes could make a mistake.”