Heroes Don't Exist

Someone’s always watching. Crowds form around Dante like invisible chains, and within them, he can always feel each and every gaze on him. It’s a pricking, almost burning, sensation. He wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Even when he makes no eye contact, doesn’t even look at these strangers, they still seem to peer into his soul. Dante can’t help but wonder what they see.

Twenty years ago now, Dante was living in a foster home with tens of other boys. No parents, no possessions, not even a pillow. He had no one to rely on, no shoulder to cry on, and wouldn’t get that luxury until he was much, much older and had already proved his worth against the aliens. The younger version of him would have been elated at the treatment he gets now; would have happily stopped and signed every magazine and T-shirt put in his path if it meant people would remember him, praise him, talk about him. Even if the novelty would wear off after a while, he would still do it. That little boy’s worst nightmare was being forgotten. And despite Dante’s name being known all over the country, perhaps the world, he can’t help but think that that boy did get forgotten.

Nowadays, Dante lives in the Big Apple: Manhattan. Of course, Manhattan was never really in his price range. But, after the aliens started spontaneously invading and governments started putting bounties on their heads, Dante became part of a close-knit team of alien hunters that also happened to live together. The boss says it's for convenience, but Dante’s pretty sure he was just lonely. Anyway, the boss scored a contract with the US government, which meant that the team made a substantial amount of money both from ridding urban areas and cities of spontaneous alien invasions and from selling alien bodies back to the government for research. It’s a win-win situation, mostly. Except the whole hero-culture thing.

Aliens are ugly and sometimes eat humans. So what do you call the people who kill them? The government says alien hunters. The citizens say heroes. That brings about a slight problem. When you see a group of people going around and saving lives with flashy technology made from alien eyeballs and brains, you don’t necessarily think of them as normal, everyday people, do you? No. They’re heroes. They are a spectacle. They are an asset to the country, sure, but first and foremost, they are public figures. And public figures don’t get privacy, not even if they carry around a chainsaw made out of alien teeth and intestines.

Sometimes Dante contemplates just flinging a random guy out a window to see what people would say. He wouldn’t go to prison for it; who would arrest him? He might see some unflattering articles the day after, and his boss might have a go at him for it, but that’s nothing he wouldn’t take a little piece and quiet. Nevertheless, Dante has morals. So he smiles and signs, smiles and signs, until it’s late enough to justify going home to bed. But he doesn’t sleep. He just looks at the ceiling and wonders if it was worth it. All of that struggling and for what? He’s in Wheaties commercials, he’s sponsored by McDonald's, brands approach him whenever they get the chance for a collaboration, he’s rolling in dough, and yet he has nothing. He could die tomorrow fighting a new species of alien, and three weeks down the line, he would be replaced by yet another up-and-coming “hero”.

He’s tried dating. He was on the apps for a bit. It was a mistake. He went on a date with a girl named Chelsea, and as soon as she got home, she went onto an extremely popular Reddit thread dedicated to hero news and told everyone about his dating profile. It went viral. She soon made a story time about it on another platform. SNL made a skit making fun of how he could gut aliens but not get a date. Needless to say, he’s not eager to get back onto the dating scene after that.

He has no family; the only friends he has are his coworkers, and he can’t date. Dante may just start purposely bumping into random women in coffee shops out of desperation. Which is a bit humiliating. But still, it is an option. Either that or try to date an alien. He thinks he could make it work.

That isn’t even the worst thing about being a “hero”. Nope. You think having no privacy and being humiliated by mainstream media is bad? Try watching millions of people admire “heroes” that you know are horrible people. Not all alien hunters are bad people, but a sizeable amount of them are. Think about it; the job involves violence, allows you to commission weapons without a second glance from the government and makes you a lot of money. Who on Earth would want a job like that? Literally any psychopath ever. So maybe making the title “alien hunter” synonymous with “hero” was a bad idea, huh? But Dante has no power over that. The person who made alien hunters “heroes” during the first round of invasions was the president of the United States of America. Sure, he did it to quell the people's anxiety, but it really has led to some very unfortunate scenarios.

Everyone wants to be a hero. Problem is, not everyone is good at killing aliens. This means that lots of people die while trying to kill aliens by themselves rather than evacuating like they’re supposed to. And this is only the first issue. The second is that the public trusts heroes. During evacuations, this can be an asset, but in other situations? Not so much. Especially when we keep in mind the type of person that excels at being a “hero”. Within the last year, a grand total of seven “heroes” have been indicted on multiple charges of murder. But none of them have been imprisoned because who is going to arrest them?

Dante sees an obvious problem: “heroes” are under-regulated. They need supervision, they need repercussions, they need to be lowered from their high-horses. But who is going to do that? Who has the guts to impose on heroes? Who has the strength? The world needs a villain. Dante might just be the right person for the job.