Make me a Hero

Popularity was waning for heroes such as Collider. There were fewer calls from officials for help. So, like other heroes, he began to look for ways to improve his public image.

He consulted many marketing groups for their opinion, paying them handsomely.

“You need to take a vacation,” one group suggested. “You need to show that crime doesn't cause you stress. Document your time away. Watch how people consider you to be like them.”

Another firm suggested he change his suit’s colour scheme, or lose the cape. “You need a refresh. The suit is old and dated.”

The best suggestion, however, came from Collider's friend, Greg, who owned a comic book shop. Greg was obsessed with superheroes and Collider was his favourite because of his unique powers.

“I think you should do a ride-along,” Greg suggested.

“A what?” asked Collider.

“You know,” Greg explained. “Like with the police or with firefighters. You ride-along with them to experience a day-in-the-life of an officer or firefighter. But what's even better is that you could actually make them a superhero for a day.”

“Hmm,” Collider said. “You might be right.”

Collider had abilities that mimicked atomic powers. Though he was not radioactive, he could create small sparks or large explosions, all from his fingertips. His ability to change particles around him at the atomic level also allowed him to be able to run with super speed, or even fly (which was more like swimming by making the air thicker around him).

“You are the only hero I know who can impart your powers to someone else,” Greg continued. “Kind of like your leaden effect on bad guys.”

Collider was known to use a skill dubbed ‘leaden’ by superhero fans that made his assailants heavier so that they couldn't move. He simply touched them on the shoulder. This effectively held them captive until the authorities could arrive and arrest them.

“Greg, this sounds perfect!” Collider exclaimed. “How can I pay you back?”

“Oh, just run your contest from my comic book shop, and the extra sales will be enough payment.” Greg said with a grin.

And so began the contest to find the one to be a hero for a day. Collider and Greg decided to call the contest ‘Make me a Hero’ and it would run for one month. They decided that no purchase would be necessary but that a paper-based application would need to be completed in-store at Greg's business, Diabolical Comics.

The contest stipulated that the winner, by random draw, would accompany Collider for one, 24-hour day starting at 12:00am of the day following the contest's close and until 11:59pm of the same day. At that time, Collider would reverse the process and remove the supepowers of the chosen winner.

‘Make me a Hero’ was a resounding success and Greg's sales were through the roof. Collider's popularity was at an all time high and he enjoyed the time with fans at the store signing autographs and shaking hands. People of all ages came to sign up for the contest and it was well received by the public and media.

“What a fantastic showcase of a hero's heart and care for his community,” one broadcaster exclaimed.

“A truly unique contest with nothing but upside for everyone,” said another.

And while fans were appreciative, Collider's most dangerous adversaries were struggling under the weight of his return to popularity. The public began calling Collider when in need and he was there in a hurry to interrupt those villains' plans. But another villain was waiting to take their place.

At the close of the contest, they had over five thousand applicants. On the day of the draw, the street fronting Diabolical Comics was closed and vendors and food trucks were invited to participate in a street festival. The festival would close with the winner being announced at 11:30pm and their day as a hero beginning shortly after at 12:00am as per the rules.

The street festival was a success with many fans, media, and contest participants attending. As the 11:30pm draw time approached, vendors began to pack up and people started to gather in front of a stage outside of Diabolical Comics.

Collider made his way up the stairs to a cacophony of cheers and applause.

“My friends,” he addressed the crowd. “Thank you so much for participating in our ‘Make me a Hero’ contest.” He paused and the crowd cheered.

“Thank you also to Greg and his team at Diabolical Comics for helping with the idea and for providing the space.” The crowd cheered again in appreciation as Greg grinned and bowed politely.

“Now, here is the moment. Who will be a hero for a day?” Collider held up a large red bag like Santa Claus. “This bag contains the over five thousand submissions. Greg, would you please do us all the pleasure of choosing one contestant at random by pulling out their contest application?”

Greg met Collider at centre stage and reached in the bag to pull out the winner. He held up the chosen ballot and declared, “the winner is… Kayden Ulner!”

A young lady in her twenties, with chestnut hair, and dark-rimmed glasses gasped and pressed her hands over her mouth and nose. Greg beckoned to her, “Kayden, what are you waiting for? Come up on stage and meet Collider! Your new hero mentor for a day!”

Kayden dropped her hands and climbed the three steps and met Collider and Greg at centre stage.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Collider announced. “Your hero for a day! Kayden!”

“Kayden, anything to say to collider?” asked Greg.

Excitedly, she said. “Make me a Hero!”

The crowd cheered once more and congratulated Kayden as they began to disburse and go home.

As the stage began to be torn down, Collider, Greg and Kayden reconvened in Diabolical Comics to go over the process of making her a hero.

“It's simple really,” Collider assured Kayden. “I'll just touch you on the shoulder and impart some of my atomic power. You will be able to have similar power to me, though it may take a bit of practice.”

Kayden grinned and nodded her head enthusiastically. “Will I be able to fly, or run with super speed?”

“I can't see why not,” Collider confirmed.

“But first,” Greg said. “We have a few legal forms and waivers to sign.”

After signing the necessary documents, and warning of possible complications of the ride-along including death, 12:00am was approaching and it was time to start. Collider lightly touched Kayden on the shoulder and stepped back.

“How do you feel?” Greg asked.

“Nothing different that I can notice.”

“Try this,” Collider said. “Make a gun with your thumb and index finger and aim it in front of you. Then drop your thumb like it was the hammer of a gun.”

Kayden stretched out her arm and made a gun with her fingers. When she dropped her thumb, a small spark ignited at her fingertip.

“Wow!”

“Did you feel that?” Collider asked.

“I did!”

“Like I said,” Collider continued. “It takes practice but that's definitely a start.”

Over the next hour, Collider taught Kayden many other skills and she continued to practice and improve them.

“What happens next?” Kayden asked.

By this time, it was past 1:00am, and there was nothing left to do but wait for something to happen. “Mostly at this time of the night, I would just wait,” explained Collider. “It might be best to go home and rest a few hours and be prepared for any surprises during the day.”

Greg yawned, “Sounds like a plan to me. The sooner you two leave, the sooner I can go home and rest.”

“Well that's settled,” Collider said. “Kayden, have a good sleep and meet me in the morning outside the Junction House building downtown.”

—

Kayden tried her best to sleep when she got home, but because of the excitement of the upcoming day, she only got two hours of rest.

To prepare herself, she looked up the address for the Junction House. It was a twenty-five storey building on the edge of the downtown core. It was not too far from her home and she could make it there in about twenty minutes if she walked. She didn't want to go too soon, maybe she would try to be there for 7:00am, so instead she tried to make a hero costume to wear.

She pulled a bunch of Halloween costumes from her closet to see if she could make something work. There were tights from one costume, and a cape from another. There was also a sash from a third costume that she cut holes in for her eyes so she could wear it as a mask. It wasn't pretty, but it would do.

By 6:30am she was ready and out the door.

As Kayden approached the Junction House and found Collider already waiting outside.

“Nice suit,” said Collider. “I like the dedication and initiative”

“Thank you. How did you know I would be here so soon.”

Collider laughed and said, “Come on, I'll show you.”

He invited her into the building and proceeded to the elevators. He then pressed the button for ‘Up’ and they proceeded to the top floor.

Once on top, Collider led Kayden to an emergency stairwell, up a small set of stairs and onto the roof. From there, Kayden had a view of most of the city.

“Wow,” she exclaimed.

“This rooftop helps me to see a good portion of the city. You can see taller buildings in the distance, but the Junction House is centrally located for the city, and so I'm equidistant from anywhere from this rooftop.

“And look there,” he pointed down to the street below where the main entrance was. “That's how I knew you were on your way.”

“So what's next,” Kayden asked impatiently.

“Next we wait for something to happen. When it does, the authorities should hopefully give me a call, and we'll respond.”

After only an hour of waiting, a call came in. Collider pressed the fingers of his right hand to his ear and acknowledged receipt of the request.

“Let's go,” he said before running and leaping off the building. While Kayden watched he seemed to slow his descent through the air, like he was falling through molasses, then landed on a nearby building.

“You're next!” he shouted back up to her.

Kayden had practiced similar moves earlier that morning when she first received her strength, but she'd never fallen slowly before. She hesitated for a moment but then committed and threw herself off the roof.

The trajectory was good. The distance was perfect. She would make the roof. But her speed was too fast! She tried with her mind to manipulate the air around her; to make it thicker and slow her down. But the process was too slow.

Suddenly she stopped just above the lower building's rooftop. She looked up from the stoney, flat-roof surface, and saw Collider. His hand was stretched towards her, and he had a look of concentration on his face.

“Gotcha!” He gently lowered her the rest of the distance to the roof.

Kayden was breathing heavily; adrenaline coursing through her body. “Thank you. I…I couldn't slow down.”

“It's ok. Happened to me too my first time. Only, I didn't have as big of a drop. But I hurt for a little while after.” He paused. “We have a few more rooftops, if you're ready?”

Kayden nodded, “Yes. I'm ready. Let's do it.”

The remaining two rooftops proceeded without incident and then they were on solid ground.

“Where are we going?” Kayden asked.

They had slowed to a stroll as they made their way into an area full of shops.

“Around the next corner,” Collider began, “there's a pawn shop. Someone broke in and took the shopkeeper hostage. The negotiators haven't gotten anywhere. So they called me!”

As they rounded the corner of the street, Kayden could see the police cars gathered around the front of the pawn shop.

“And luckily,” Collider continued. “I can walk through walls.”

“Really?” Kayden asked excitedly.

“Sort of. It's more like changing the wall into a different substance that's easier to move through. Almost like water.”

“Does the wall fall apart?” she asked.

“Not if I do it right.”

Next to the pawn shop was an alleyway. Collider and Kayden made their way down the windowless alley where an officer met them.

“Collider.”

“Officer.”

“Thank you for coming. Here is a drawing of the layout of the store.” The officer handed Collider the drawing and stepped out of the alley.

“Thank you,” he said as he studied the drawing and considered an entry point into the store. "What do you think, Kayden? Where should we go in?”

“We?” Kayden asked.

“Yeah. That's part of the experience, isn't it?”

They decided on a wall near the back entrance but which was part of an adjacent room. This way, if someone was by the back door, watching in case someone came through, they could enter unnoticed.

Collider approached the wall and reached out his hand. The rough brick of the wall began to change from a hard surface to something more opaque, then continuing to something almost like water. They could see into the store now and could see that no one was around.

“Excellent,” Collider exclaimed. “Let's go!”

Collider stepped through the wall first, then Kayden followed. After she came through, the wall returned to normal.

“That was incredible!”

“Shh,” Collider cautioned. “We don’t want to give ourselves away.”

The store was quiet. Kayden could hear only the sound of her heart beating quickly as it pulsed in her ears.

Together they swept through the store but couldn't find anyone.

“Empty?” Asked Kayden.

“No. This way.”

Collider retraced their steps and entered what was clearly an office. He stopped in front of a shelf.

“This isn't a real shelf. It's a door.”

Kayden looked shocked. “How do you know?”

Collider pointed to the floor. A sweeping scuff mark, in the shape of a ninety degree curve, was on the floor from repeated use.

“Pull that open, would you?” Collider asked while making his hand into the shape of a gun. He was ready to shock the first person they found.

Kayden pulled the shelving open and revealed a small closet behind. In the closet stood a person, dressed in black, with sleeves cut off at the shoulders. The person wore a hood over their head.

“Turn around slowly.” ordered Collider “There's no esca…”

Suddenly, Collider couldn't move. He remained standing as the figure in front of him turned around. They began to remove their hood just as the light from the office caught their face.

Kayden removed her hand from Collider's shoulder and stood next to the man who was now standing in front of Collider.

“Hello my love,” Kayden said as she kissed Greg on the cheek.

To Collider, Greg said, “I can assume you are confused by what you see here. But of course you can't talk.” Greg laughed menacingly. “Leaden, is such a neat trick. I see why you use it to catch the bad guys.”

“When we put our little contest together,” Greg continued. “I thought up the perfect plan on how to ‘make me a hero’ too. Not just our contest winner. When I reached my hand into the bag to pull out the winning ballot, I dropped Kayden’s ballot into my hand from my sleeve. The rest you know.”

Greg walked up to Collider and turned him gently in a circle, like a statue on a rotating pedestal.

“The comic book shop was getting boring. Why read about villains and heroes when we can be… villains!” Greg smiled a menacing smile. “Don't worry. There wasn't really a shopkeeper. I made it up to set the perfect trap for you.

“All I need now is for Kayden to touch me, like you touched her, and impart your power into me. Without you around to remove our powers, or to stop us, we will be free to terrorize this city! Isn't that, diabolical?”

Kayden then came up beside Greg and touched his shoulder. He held up his hand, making his thumb and finger into a gun and firing a spark from his fingertip.

“How fun,” Greg giggled. “Time for you to disappear, Collider.”

—

He stood in the darkness where they left him. They pushed Collider into the hidden closet and then closed the door and walked away.

This can't be, he thought to himself. How did I misjudge them so badly?

He tried to concentrate on moving something, anything! A finger. A toe. His eyes. Nothing seemed to be moving. The leaden effect was too effective.

No one will find me here in time to catch them. He thought. If only I could move!

Suddenly, after concentrating carefully on only one small part, his little finger moved.