A Hero's Belief

He looked down at his hands, the red sheen no longer surrounding them like a glove.

    He breathed in deep, ragged breaths. Smoke choked his lungs and burned his throat. He felt snot drip down his nose. That’d never happened before.

    “Done yet? Or is this another one of your acts?” A figure walking on a platform of ice glared down at him. He had to crane his neck up to look at the woman. He’d never actually seen her from this angle. Her eyes peered down at him like bitter stars, her sneer somehow more violent this way. Did he look this way to other people, when he flew around town? A deity looking down on them? They at his mercy?

    “Of course I could stop you now,” he said. Panic seeped into his mind, but he pushed it away. Powers or not he’d done this thousands of times before. He could do it again, right? “But honestly, I figured I’d give you a lucky break.” He stood there. He’d not be able to move without her knowing.

    She dropped to the ground, the light tap of her weight on the street. Now they were almost the same height. He was only maybe a half inch taller, yet he still found she could sneer down at him.

    The cash she’d try to get away with lay littered on the ground and she glanced at it.

    “Do you even know what I was going to use the money for?” Her voice hard.

    “Let me guess, saving the orphans?” He smiled his signature smile. The one he used at press conferences and for crying children.

    She lifted a hand and laid it around his face.

    “Look around Hercules, you’re protecting liars,” she said with all the warmth of a frozen tundra. He nearly shuddered. She’d said the same right before he’d lost his powers.

    She walked away, her heels clicking on the road. A icy fog appeared and she swept away in it.

    He breathed out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Chills covered his skin that didn’t come from the cold.

    “Hercules!” He heard a familiar voice say his name. Or rather the one he’d chosen. It sounded nice at the time but now it just sounded stupid. He almost felt himself look upon his figure from the outside. Surrounded by piles of money and burning cars he set alight, he felt a fool. Protecting what? He looked towards the one tower standing above all the fallen buildings. They said they’d share supplies, but it’d been years now and he was beginning to doubt. But no, this was his purpose. He knew‑.

    “Are you even listening to me?” Polly caught his gaze. He’d been staring down at the concrete. He felt he might not have even recognized her if he hadn’t known her since he was a child.

    “Right. Yes.” How did she even find him?

    “We need to go. Now.” She clung his side in the same way she’d done when he’d flown her around many times before.

    “I can’t fly.”

    “What?” A deep rumble in the distance. The rebellion was coming. Frost had called reinforcements. He knew if he’d waited a group of powered individuals would come, and his bluff wouldn’t work twice. “They’re coming. You know they can’t see you here else they’ll catch you.”

    “I can’t fly.” For an awkward moment she unlatched herself from him. “I’ll just run. You go somewhere else. You’re a civilian.” He ran. His legs began to burn and his lungs cramped. His red cape trailed behind him, and he felt like a fool running down the street in a red jumpsuit.

    He didn’t know when he stopped running but eventually the sirens silenced and the cold left the air. He found himself in a park. He’d never noticed this one before, flying around the city. It was small. Nothing like the grand one set up for the whole city to occupy. It had a simple tree beside a small pond. The water looked clean so he figured someone must take care of it. Sticks and stones littered the grass that covered only as much ground as an average backyard. Now that he examined it, this place was bizarre. On the three sides of it were tall buildings that nearly blocked out the sun. But it was midday so he could still feel some warmth.

    Then he saw her. Frost the frozen queen. Her hair wasn’t blue and her ice dress no longer shielded her body. But he’d recognize that bitter face a mile away. The way her cheek bones curved up in an evil, foreboding way and her sharp chin jutted down.

    A screaming child ran into her arms.

    Hercules stood up out of instinct ready to save the child.

    Then more children followed.

    “Mrs. Sherry!” They all almost shouted in unison but in the uncoordinated way of children. A smile something akin to warmth covered her face. Hercules couldn’t believe it.

    Then he realized he was still in a half standing position and if she saw him she’d recognize him immediately. He didn’t think she’d return him the favor of a lucky break.

    He hid behind the tree, still watching.

    “We’ve got lots to catch up on today, right?” Frost said.

    “Yes!” they all shouted.

    “Let’s go to the park!” All the children bolted across the street to his position.

    In a smooth, practiced motion he took off his suit which covered his civilian clothes. No super speed helped but he’d done it enough times to be fast enough. He heard shouts and giggles on the other side of the tree.

    He tried to walk away as casually as he could.

    “Excuse me.”

    He paused. He could almost already feel her hands strangling his throat like so many times before.

    “What are you doing here? This is school property.” She looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze. She wore a smart suit that looked like something a teacher might wear. She quirked an eyebrow at him and gestured towards the building across the street. It had a dangling sign and shattered windows. He didn’t fail to notice that some of the children were sickly thin. Not all of them, but enough to worry him. In the tower he knew children were well fed. Protected. Maybe he could rescue these children when he got his powers back? “Ahem,” Frost said, agitation visible in her stance.

    “My apologies, citizen.” He said, and then winced.

    “Citizen? My name is Sherry. But you can call me Mrs. Sherry."

    "Of course, Mrs. Sherry.” His amazement that she didn’t recognize him threw him off balance enough to say, “I was just inspecting that tree.” He cleared his throat. “Fabulous tree.”

    “Right.” She said and paused taking a good look at him. Surely she’d recognize him. “I’ve a class to take care of. You best be on your way.”

    He nodded, nearly tripping on his feet as he walked away. For the second time today he breathed out a sigh of relief. This time he found himself on a busy road with citizens passing by. It was one of the intersections of the city deep in rebel territory. He couldn’t believe it, but they were all smiling.

    Their clothes were simple yet clean, though their faces and hands were dirty. Some stood in groups chatting. Others pulled carts of goods behind them. He spotted a group of men carrying lumber on their backs. The heavy weight did nothing to drop their spirits. The places controlled by the rebellion were supposed to be impoverished. They were ruthless dictators. So how was this possible?

    Then he saw one of them in a far-off corner. A bulky man in a camo get up stood in one corner, a hard expression on his face. Hercules recognized him as a rebel with the ability to create explosions in his hands.

    “Grenadier,” he found himself saying. The man turned to him and Hercules looked away as casually as he could. It was too much.

    He moved until he found himself at a familiar scene. A rooftop in the middle of the city that let him see everything below except the tower. It stood tall above the rest of the city making the surrounding buildings look like rubble compared to it. It was the last haven of safety. The reason they gave him powers was to defend it. He was protecting them for the good of the city. So why did he feel like he was a failure?

    He leaned on the balcony, taking deep, calming breaths. He listened. He couldn’t hear anything. His powers were really gone. What was it she said? He was protecting liars. He knew it wasn’t true.

    “I knew I’d find you here.” Hercules turned on his heels.

    “Polly.” She walked forward from where she was standing near the entrance. He’d been in such a daze he didn’t notice her.

    “What’s wrong? You can tell me. If you can’t fly it’s fine. You can still protect the city. You’re plenty strong.”

    “I can’t.” He barked out, stronger than he meant to. He softened his voice. “You don’t understand. I can’t keep protecting a city that lets people suffer. Do you know what she was stealing the money for?” Polly shook her head. “It was for a school no one bothered to take care of. They said years ago they’d redevelop the city, but look at it.” He gestured with his arms. “It’s all‑.”

    He felt a pinprick in his neck.

    “That’s a shame.” Polly said. He didn’t notice until it was too late that she’d plunged a needle into his arm. “Look at that, no more impenetrable skin. It looks like you really are a failure.”

    He looked at her with wide-eyed shock. He stepped back, and realized there was nothing behind him.

    He plummeted to the ground. He knew he’d die when he hit the ground. He even felt the poison she’d given him seep through his body like thorns enveloping him. Yet for a moment time slowed.

He realized what he had to do.

He hit the ground.

    Then he stood back up.

    “I’ve got my powers back.” He laughed, and flew. His feet touched the ground. He tried to fly again. “The poison.” He said. He felt it chip away at him, bit by bit. It wouldn’t stop till he was powerless and dead.

    He’d one place left to go.

    Standing before the school doors, he hesitated only a moment. The doors were unlocked and the halls echoed in abandoned silence. She might not be here. He didn’t have time to find another way. This was his only chance.

    He wandered the halls like some ghost in a scary story till he saw a single room with the light on. By some miracle he found her.

    Hair covered half her face as she looked down at papers behind a desk. He realized she looked incredibly beautiful. Or maybe it was just the desperation and delirium. He was going to go with that.

    “Frost.” He said. She looked up and within an instant there was a razor sharp piece of ice at his throat. She forced him against the wall. Her hair was already blue and armor covered her frame.

    “That armor seems a lot more convenient than mine,” he said.

    “How do you know who I am?”

    “It’s funny, I could spot you a mile away but you don’t even recognize me.” She looked at him again and said,

    “Hercules?” He smiled again.

    “In the flesh.”

    “Here to end me now that you’ve found out who I am?”

    “I need your help.” He said, and for a long moment she looked at him.

    “Do you want to know why I didn’t recognize you? It’s because Hercules is a selfish man-child, and you’re different. What happened to you?”

    “You did.”

    She scoffed and dropped the knife from his throat, returning to her desk. The dress faded away to her suit and her hair turned back to black.

    “If you’re not here to stop me then leave.”

    “I need your help. I’ve began to lose my powers and then they poisoned me.”

    “I don’t care.”

    “Please. I’ll die.”

    “How many have died at your hands? Did you even know what they ever did? It would be fitting.”

    Hercules opened his mouth to protest but stopped. She was right. He’d been their weapon for so long now maybe he did deserve to die.

    “You’re right. Then don’t help me. Help someone who’ll fight for your cause. I don’t even know how the rebellion keeps gaining power but I know they’re trying to take down the tower. I’ll help you. But only on the condition that the killing ends. For real this time.”

    “You fool.” She said. “That’s what we’ve been trying to do this whole time. Fine. I’ll help you.”

    “Then how can you save me?” She turned away from him and considered. Without looking at him she said,

    “You said I changed you. How?”

    “It first started when you said I was protecting liars.”

    “I didn’t do anything special. It was a jab at you like all the other ones before. That can only mean one thing.”

    A frozen blade hit his chest, and then bounced off the red sheen.

    She gave a slight smile.

    “It seems you’ve found something to believe in again. Your powers will do the rest.”

    Hercules responded,

    “How do you know?”

    “Don’t underestimate me. I’m worth a lot more than my powers.” She stood and pushed past him towards the end of the hall. She paused. “Maybe one day you will be too.” Without another word she led him away.