Mercury is a rich and prosperous city, named after a legendary human being who was said to be capable of running through the skies. There is already a well-established array of districts with the constant hum of trains moving throughout the city.
The city is heavily fortified, as every building is made to withstand heavy damage from the weakest of earthquakes to city sized meteors. In the heart of the city, sits a large skyscraper which is the main base of operations of the leaders of the city. And just beside the skyscraper is a dome shaped building made out of different materials, is the home of the hero organization God-slayers.
Decades ago when the world was embroiled in a worldwide nuclear war, people with super human capabilities suddenly appeared.
At first it was extremely rare, Meta humans numbered 1 to 10 million but then as the years passed, the effects of the nuclear war was apparent as more and more meta humans appeared.This age was appropriately called the Meta Age but shortly after the Meta Age, monsters of extreme strength, size and power appeared, terrorizing cities and people everywhere.
Among Meta humans, there were those who could not stand the danger the monsters posed and formed a coalition that would hold back and destroy these monsters. This small group that one day would be the world’s biggest hero organization was aptly named God-Slayers. The God-slayers defeated the monsters and repelled the majority of them back. They protected the cities from superhuman threats that conventional weapons could not handle. The sudden appearance of monsters could not be explained but scientists all over the world concluded that the monsters appeared because of the effects of the nuclear war.
What people don’t know is that a war so much more vicious and devastating than the world wide nuclear war happened thousands and thousands of years ago which nearly wiped out the human race and made those monsters that the people fear go into hiding.
The war was called the “Cultivation Genocide” which wiped out the first true Meta humans, the cultivators. The result of the war destroyed almost every cultivation resource on the whole planet, forcing the last survivors to fight each other to the death for even the most worthless resources, successfully killing every cultivator. With the death of cultivators and the loss of their secret techniques, eventually cultivators left history and entered legends as people started to believe that the horrible war was made up and there was no such thing as cultivators. Eventually the human race reached the current stage it is right now.
“What a bunch of fairy tales.” A voice full of disdain echoed out, as if the person who said it were told something utterly impossible. A woman in about her early twenties wearing a traffic enforcer's uniform was sitting inside a library.
The woman was reading an old book she found in the library and was immediately annoyed the moment she read the first few paragraphs. Sighing, the woman closed the book and set it down the table.
“Elizabeth, what are you doing?” No one answered, as the woman was seemingly talking to herself.
After stretching her arms a bit, Elizabeth stood up and picked the book up. After returning the book, Elizabeth exits the public library.
Standing up at a height of 5’7, Elizabeth could be called average but her curvy figure and well-rounded front and back could easily make her a supermodel, making people who see her uniform very confused. She has a near flawless face that women would kill for, which makes her a perfect young beauty. Her head is topped with long black hair that flawlessly keeps up with her hectic job and she has deep black eyes makes one feel as if they are being drawn in by the abyss.
“Well break time is over, I need to help save the world again” Elizabeth’s voice is laced with heavy sarcasm as she walks down the steps to go in the middle of the intersection to start directing cars.
Yes you heard that right, Elizabeth will save the world through traffic enforcing but before the cars could start moving, a fast object suddenly maneuvered through the skies. All the people in the area even Elizabeth stared at awe as a hero flew above the skies at a speed faster than a jet.
“Mama, look it's Sky Cutter!” a small child’s voice, while being carried by his mother, could be easily heard while he calls out the name of the hero who flew by.
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People who stopped to look started moving again, as if a machine that stopped for a moment came back to life. Everyone started to go along with their lives again, except Elizabeth.
A small voice came out of her mouth as she looked melancholic to the sky.
“A hero” the word seems magical as it came out of her mouth, full of utter reverence and touched with a tinge of envy but before Elizabeth could continue day-dreaming, the familiar sound of horns being blown wakes her up. Elizabeth started waving the cars to their proper direction and she started to do her job.
What is a hero?
Children would answer the saviors of the world, adults would say a high paying job and the more extreme would say that they are a bunch of violent miscreants. All of them are in their own way true. Heroes are violent saviors that get high pay.
But if being a hero is a job, what are the requirements to be one. The most basic requirement of being a hero is to be a Metahuman. Meta humans are humans whose DNA has evolved because of the after effects of the nuclear war.
After years of constant rebuilding and survival from the city destroying monsters, about 30% of the population of the human race are Meta humans. What sets Meta humans and normal humans apart is their power.
Every Meta human, even the weakest Meta humans could at least deadlift 1000 kilograms and run at a speed of 25 kilometers per hour. Every Meta human in the planet is gifted with extraordinary strength and supernatural speed but what would set weaker Meta humans apart from the stronger ones. It would be super powers.
The powers of Meta humans can be classified into three.
The first part would be, is the physical ability. Every Meta human can at least deadlift 1000 kilograms and run at a speed of 25 kph but Meta humans can train their physical body to become stronger since their body has evolved to take harsher beatings and more dangerous environments.
The second part of their power would be their mental abilities. Meta humans can train their mind to become more active since the brain of Meta humans can easily withstand 100 times the mental stress what the normal human brain can. Meta humans who have trained their mind could release potent balls of mental energy to damage, mend, stop, push, pull and destroy objects.
The third and rare part are superpowers. Any Meta human could deadlift 1 ton, run 25 kph and the trained Meta humans could blow up cars with the energies projected by their mind but, rarely, some Meta humans are born with superpowers that could easily surpass the strength and speed of other Meta humans.
Super powers are the rare phenomena of a Meta human gaining something to complement their already superhuman capabilities. Super powers are unique to each individual with a set of strengths, limitations, and capability.
Oh you can kill every monster with one punch, what’s the strengths and limitations then? What? You have to be bald and wear a stupid indestructible yellow spandex? Never mind.
These three categories are what would make a hero.
“I want to be a hero” In a diner that’s designed to look vintage, sits two female officers chatting away. Sitting across the table is Elizabeth and on the other side is a female whose height reaches 5’7 and has been blessed with a good figure that only falls a little bit short behind Elizabeth’s. Her short brown hair is well taken care of and her brown eyes could easily make any male swoon.
“Liz I know it’s been your dream since you were a child, but face it, unless you magically become a Meta human, I doubt it will ever happen” Elizabeth’s face scrunches up against the merciless words of her companion even though she’s heard it a thousand times before.
“Narissa, I know that, but I can hope right?” Narissa is Elizabeth’s best friend but her hopeful look is immediately shot down by an eyebrow raise.
“Sorry for being harsh Liz but even I’m a Meta human and I can barely fit in the main force of police”
Yes you heard right, Narissa is a Meta human albeit on the weaker side but still a Meta human nonetheless.
“I know…. But! I want to be a hero” Elizabeth’s childlike complaint is met with an innocent laugh.
“Hey don’t laugh at me”
“You should be happy you’re not a Meta human, at least men won’t be afraid to ask you out and Meta human males will always have to act courteous and gentlemanly with you.” Narissa jokes but her face crunches up with sheer annoyance.
“….” Narissa’s face is full of bitterness and Elizabeth’s silence only serves to infuriate her more.
“Dumb men! It’s not like I’ll crush their hands while I hold them or break their body if we’re doing it” It’s been a common stereotype that female Meta humans sometimes get too much in the moment and forget that they’re way stronger than their normal significant others and sometimes hurt them.
Narissa has never hurt any male in her whole life but one of her exes broke up with her for solely the reason that she is a Meta human.
“I bet those men just couldn’t handle a strong and independent women” I try cheering Narissa up
“That’s easy for you to say!! I have to deal with muscle heads and stuck up heroes every day while you get the best of the best” Narissa’s outburst calls the attention of the whole diner and she sits back embarrassed.
“My point is, that sometimes being this strong can hinder you as well.” Elizabeth sighs and Narissa pays attention to her meal.
“But you know…” I still want to become a hero.