Aeroblast: A Heroes Begining - Chapter 1

In a time where man only looks out for himself, when pain and suffering are a part of daily life, where disease and strife are everywhere you look, the Fates have had enough. They think that it is time that someone stands up to unite the divided, heal the wounded and protect the endangered...

"Hurry up, James, or you'll be late for school!" called Mrs. Porter, who was running about the house, trying to get ready for another day at work. Her only son, James, was a lay-about. He never did any work, never helped, never did anything of use. And once again he was going to be late for school. "JAMES! GET UP! NOW!" What seemed like a blur ran down the stairs, half-dressed and half-asleep. James ran down the nearly empty street as he hurried towards the bustop. As he jogged, he thought about all that math homework he had meant to do, but had played his new computer game instead. He had finally gotten to level thirty. Alright! Just then, the bus appeared at the stop, and he wasn't anywhere near it. He ran full-pelt, going as fast as he could, but he wasn't fast enough.

He was already forty minutes late as he walked down that last stretch of road to school. He was sweating from the early-morning heat, and he had forgotten to bring a water bottle with him. Just before he was about to cross the road, however, he noticed an old man being mugged. He thought nothing of it as he started crossing the road, but it felt as if something was tugging at his attention to help the man. So he ran up the side street where he saw the man being mugged, and yelled out, "Hey, you! Leave that man alone!" The mugger looked up and ran, without taking anything with him. James arrived at the scene just as the man was getting up. "Are you alright?" James asked the man as he dusted himself off. "Yes, yes, I'm okay, but I wish that man had not tackled me. I dropped my glass phials." James looked at the ground and noticed all the broken glass. He also noted the strangely coloured powders and liquids congealing on the ground. The old man said, "I don't have any money with which to repay you, but come to my shop after school, and I will give you a fitting reward. James thanked the man and went on his way to school.

"That's it, Porter! I have had it with you not finishing your homework! Detention!" James' face was pained as he thought about the amount of time he would have to spend in that sticky seat, with the same year 8 spitting spitballs at the back of his head. Last time he had to have a haircut. As the final bell rang to signal the end of the school day, James shuffled along to detention. The next hour would be spent dodging spitballs, and not getting blamed for the graffiti on the desks. When four o'clock finally came around, James ran down the street to the alley he had been in that morning. He hadn't realized that he had no idea where the old man's shop actually was. As he was thinking this, he saw the old man emerge from the shadows. "There you are! I thought you weren't going to show up." James was out of breath, so it took him at least a minute to explain the situation with detention. The old man waved his hand with a smile and said, "Never mind! Things like that happen all the time! Of course, it shouldn't though..." James never found out what the old man said next but it didn't matter. The old man started walking off, so James followed him.

It was a good ten minutes before they arrived at the shop. It had grown all foggy, and James didn't know where he was, which was strange, because he knew the town like the back of his hand. As he entered the shop, he felt a strange calm come over him, as if he had walked through a veil of water without getting wet. "Ah, yes. Once again, thankyou for helping me with that thief. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up." James blushed as he said, "It was no big deal. Any other person would have helped." A dark look came over the old mans face. "Actually, not many other people would have helped." James was confused. What did he mean? "Many people today are selfish and cruel. Most other people would have walked on and left me there to the thief. But you, you helped me, even though you were late for school." James blushed even more, but how did the old man know that he was late for school? The old mans face instantly lifted, and he said, "I promised you a gift for helping me. Come this way." James walked through the shop, behind the counter, and through a door that said DO NOT ENTER. As he walked through, he knew that something was weird. There was a light that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. There were ancient, dusty books along every wall, a desk and two chairs along the far wall, and a stone bowl in the centre of the room, on a raised podium. As the old man approached the bowl, he indicated towards James to come closer. "Look into the bowl, and tell me what you see." James edged suspiciously towards the bowl, expecting to see a gruesome or horrifying object immersed in the water. But instead, he only saw the bottom of the bowl. But he felt weird. He felt the room shift and reality seemed to bend and warp. He looked back into the bowl, and saw an eagle. An eagle flying high and majestically. He also saw a storm. A lighting storm. The eagle flew through the storm, dodging bolts of lightning everywhere. Suddenly, it was struck by the eye of the storm, but it became empowered. It grew stronger and fiercer. It controlled the storm itself, and expelling lightning from itself. James fell back, and knew no more.

James came to on the floor of the backroom. The old man was standing above him, smiling widely. "What did you see?" James was still a little shocked, but he recounted what he saw to the old man, explaining every detail in depth. When he had finished, the old man went to the bookshelves. He counted off the books, clearly looking for something. When he found it, he put the book in front of James, pointing to a picture, and he said, "Is this the eagle you saw?" James looked at the picture, and it was the eagle he saw. James nodded his head in response to the old mans question. James asked, "I never asked you, what is your name?" the old man smiled and said, "My name is Rokai. Rokai the wise." James was almost scared at this point. He began to walk out the door when Rokai said, "Please, let me explain." James paused at the door. He argued with himself, contemplating the possibilities of what could happen if he stayed. In the end he debated that 'weirder things have happened'. He walked back in, sat down in front of the desk, and Rokai explained everything.

"A long time ago, when mankind was united and peaceful, the agents of darkness brought a box to the earth, known as Pandora's Box. It was filled with a negative energy, which mutated humans worldwide. Some were disfigured physically, and killed, believed to be cursed. Some were destroyed by the power of the energy itself. But some were enhanced with gifts and abilities that no other man has ever possessed. Some could fly, talk and change into animals, wield fire, command nature and the weather. Some had the strength of a thousand men; some could stretch as far as the oceans themselves. Some could move objects with their minds, become invisible and create forcefields. I am referring to comic book-style superpowers." James was dumbfounded. He had no reason whatsoever to believe Rokai, yet everything he said, seemed so real. "Some used their gifts to protect and defend, while others used theirs to destroy and conquer. In the end, two incredibly powerful super beings combated one another, with equal armies. All were destroyed, and the world left to grow and expand as it had always done." Rokai paused for a moment, breathing heavily, fighting back tears. He continued with his story. "Today, the negative energy from that box still travels the earth, seeking its destruction once more. I have captured some of this energy, and turned it into vision water, which grants visions of a person’s destiny. Only those who are destined for great power can see visions." Was Rokai suggesting that he had seen his own destiny? Or better yet, suggesting that he, James Porter, was destined to be a hero? "It is up to you, James, whether or not you wish to accept your powers or not." James looked up at Rokai. How could he not believe him? James asked, "But surely I couldn't leave my life behind to be a superhero?" Rokai replied, "If you embrace your powers, nothing will change, except you will defend humanity against the Darkness and all of its agents." James thought long and hard about it. In the end, he decided to accept. Rokai smiled and led him back into the backroom, where he scooped some of the vision water into a glass cup. To it, he added three drops of honey, two teaspoons of sugar, and a single drop of oil. He mixed it together, and it turned clear. He lit a match and set fire to the water. As it turned blue and aqua, Rokai handed it to James. "Drink this, and accept your gift." James said nothing as he drank the liquid, but thought, don't let me get food poisoning from this...

James felt no different when he awoke the next day. He hopped out of bed, before sunrise. That's weird, he thought. He didn't have green skin or an insignia on his chest, but overnight he had developed a nice six-pack! At least one positive had come out of that drink. As he walked into the bathroom and looked into the mirror, He noticed his skin was clear. He had no pimples or freckles like before, but his skin was clean, along with a nice new tan. It seemed that there were only positives for James, until he turned on the water. It spurted out everywhere. James was drenched as he held out his hands to guard his face. But then the water stopped, He looked where he had pointed his hands, and the water was frozen! He studied his hands carefully and tried again. This time, the water melted, and the mayhem started again. James stepped back, but he couldn't feel the floor underneath his feet. He looked down, he was flying! Or rather, floating. He noticed that he had wings coming out his back. They were huge. The gale created by his wings had flung water into the power point next to the sink. The electricity surged, and there was a blackout. "JAMES! WHAT DID YOU DO?!" James had no idea what had just happened, but he knew that the strange drink had caused it. James went to the window and looked out over the neighbourhood. Even though he couldn't see it, he could feel that people were sad, lonely, hungry and filled with hopelessness. In the background, James could see the factories and office buildings of the rich and powerful. Even from his house, he could feel the pride and cruelty expressed by these powerful men and women. James made a vow then and there to bring down the powers of Darkness, and make everyone equal again. He would make people happy, and keep them safe.

But if people knew he was really James Porter, no one he cared about would be safe. He then decided that he needed a name. He could freeze, melt and control water, fly, and he probably had other powers he knew nothing about. He decided on the name of Aeroblast. It complimented his flight capabilities, plus implied he had super strength. He knew that he had to go back to Rokai, to learn from him and to hone his powers. But his journey as Aeroblast had just begun...