Hero Awakening: Shadow Vanguard

I Hate Heroes

"Are you okay?!" Daniel screamed after getting tossed into the nearby table. Their assaulter was clearly a telepath, but it didn't seem like he was well accustomed to his own powers yet. The fact that he had a gun with him must mean that he had just awakened and simply wanted to test out his powers against two defenseless teenagers.

"I'm fine...c..call the police!" Michael managed before taking refuge behind a wall. His wound was healing, but he was losing energy quickly. Even though he had healing prowess, it did not take away from the excruciating pain in his lower abdomen. He had no idea why this had decided to happen all of a sudden, he had never been attacked before, so why would it happen on his birthday?

Acting swiftly, Daniel reached for his cellphone, but just as he was about to call the police, the gadget flew out of his grip, and in came a six foot masked man. He had broken down the door with his telekinetic powers and had his gun pointed right at where Daniel hid.

"If you don't come out this instant, I'll blow your friend's brains out." The intruder said.

"What do you want from us? Is it money? What is it, just take everything and leave!" Michael yelled out from where he hid, but the assaulter merely chuckled menacingly.

"Money? That's not what I'm after. What I want is you, Michael Black." He revealed before making a quick dash to where he presumed his target was hiding. He paused midway, making a quick sidestep, he was able to avoid a conflagration that had reduced half of the room to ashes.

"If you want to get to him, you're going to get past me first." Daniel said as he walked out from his hiding spot. He was perspiring heavily, and despite his inner self screaming for him to run away, he stood still and faced his opponent.

"Your friend is an awakened individual. That wasn't in the files, and if that's so, it must mean that you just newly got your powers. In that case, you should be a filthy unranked bastard!" Two shots backed up the intruder's outburst, but Daniel was able to save himself by creating a wall of fire between him and his opponent. A wall so powerful that it was able to melt metal upon contact.

He was using up too much energy, and without proper training, he had no idea how to properly control how much energy he used in an attack.

"Get up, and get out! I'll keep him busy, so go!" Daniel screamed at his friend who had just snuck into the kitchen to arm himself. He was certain that the intruder had caught sight of Michael and had remained silent intentionally. He wanted the oblivious boy to attack him blindly so he would take advantage of the opportunity. But Daniel was not going to let that happen.

"You stupid brat, do you really think that someone like you would stand a chance against a D ranked awakened like me?!" More shots followed after the outburst but this time it was accompanied by a psionic wave, one that sent Daniel flying towards the other end of the room.

Enraged, Michael rushed forward with his blade held up high. Daniel might have told him to run, but he was not going to just run away and watch his friend get beat up by some random stranger. He believed that powers were supposed to be used for one's benefit, and even though he was going against his own beliefs, he didn't care one bit. Daniel mattered to him, and he would do anything to save his friend.

"Insolent brat!" The intruder cursed out before sending the knife out of Michael's grip. With a smack across the face, he sent the enraged boy down to the ground with a broken lip. "You're not built for violence, you're way too weak."

"Shut your damn mouth!" Yelled a berserk Daniel. His entire body was shrouded in flames, and he seemed more like a monster rather than the cheery Daniel Michael used to know. Being affined with fire granted his body some sort of heat resistance. The flames on him wouldn't hurt him, but the same couldn't be said for his enemy.

Now coated in flames, Daniel utilized the fire on his feet as a propellant to increase his speed exponentially. Blitzing his opponent, he manipulated the flames on his hand to grab and throw his friend away from the ensuing chaos. It was true that his friend wasn't built for violence. Michael had always been physically weaker than his peers. His physique was misleading, and despite all his attempts to get stronger, he never really caught up to the margin. Their enemy had great intel about his friend, but it was obvious he knew little about him.

"Get up Michael! We need to leave!" Daniel screamed at his friend who was still struggling to get to his feet. He would have carried him, but with his body shrouded in flames, he would only cause more damage than good. He couldn't risk turning off his flames, if he did the bullets would be able to reach him, and he wouldn't have the temporary explosive power that came with this skill.

Staggering onto his feet, Michael immediately broke into a run with Daniel following closely behind. Their opponent seemed to be knocked out at the moment, but there was no guarantee that he wouldn't wake up anytime soon.

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE RUNNING TO?!!" As though being compelled, the boys immediately froze in place, and despite all their attempts to break free, they failed.

"I won't lose to two insignificant brats! I won't lose!!" The intruder screamed out before firing multiple shots at his restrained opponents. Two shots found their way into Michael's back while Daniel had begun to bleed from his eyes and nostrils due to overexerting his body with stress.

"You can still move, save yourself!" Michael screamed at the boy beside him, but Daniel wasn't listening.

"Y..you said that heroes were trash right—" he choked on his own breath, but that didn't stop him. He was going to show his friend that not all heroes were trash, even if it kills him. He might not become the greatest hero, but he was certain that Michael would be able to do it. After all, his friend was more talented than he was. "I'll stop him, so run, enroll into the scheme and become the greatest hero alive."

The flames around Daniel's body increased exponentially after those words, and with sheer willpower alone, he broke out of his restrictions and immediately lurched towards the awestruck enemy. His flames had become hot, too hot that it was beginning to burn his skin. But that didn't stop Daniel Hardwood, he continued to fight regardless of the overwhelming drawbacks that came with the overuse of his ability.

Mustering all the strength in his body, Michael raced out of the house and began to yell for help. People were outside watching, and while they watched as his house and friend burnt down to the ground, all they could do was stare and record the chaos.

"It's villains, we probably shouldn't get involved."

"Where are the heroes? Somebody call the fire department!"

"Another attack?!"

Those were the only things he could hear, nobody looked or listened for his call for help. They were merely spectating, watching, getting entertained while people were dying.

He felt his blood run cold, anger engulfed his entire body and all he could think of was how to kill all of the people before him. "But they aren't heroes, what did you expect them to do?" The voice in his head asked, and only then did Michael's clenched fists loosen a bit. They weren't heroes, jumping in to help him would have likely resulted in their deaths as well, and humans cherished nothing more than their lives.

"I hate them! I hate all of them!" He bellowed abstractly as he fell to his knees, his knuckles pounding into the bare earth. His sudden outburst finally earned him a bit of attention, and soon people were swarming around him.

"There's a survivor! He needs medical assi—"

"Shut UP! SHUT THE HELL UP!" A dark sinister aura clouded the air around the boy, and the pressure intensified the angrier he got.

"Get back! He might be a villain!" A loud masculine voice screamed out to the little crowd around him, and soon the whole place was thrown into a frenzy. People were trampling over each other to get to safety, and nobody cared for anybody besides themselves. It didn't matter who fell and who got stepped on, none of that mattered to them.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh......" Michael let out a stifled cry before he got struck at the back of the head. He could feel a strong presence behind him, a hero? Another villain? He couldn't tell. Everything had become blurry, and he was slipping away from consciousness quickly. He had no idea what would happen once his eyes were fully closed, but at that moment Michael wished for death. There was nothing left for him in this realm anymore. But in the afterlife, he could be with his family, he could be with his best friend.