My name is Shí Will Bea Trueman, and this is my story about the Age of Heroes; from first rising to final farewell: a story replete with horror and tragedy, fluctuating between science fiction and fantasy, punctuating continual metamorphosis and rebellion against grimdark.
Standing at the edge of a skyscraper’s roof, 244 cm (8 ft) tall when barefoot and weighing in at 152.8 kg (336.87 lbs), I listened, eyes closed, to a myriad of sounds. A range of frequencies higher and lower than should be possible to hear; with such clarity that the collision of individual molecules against my eardrum is audible to me.
A dark complexion and wavy raven hair which would reach to halfway down my thighs if it weren’t fluttering in the wind. My uniform is a black dress reaching just shy of my knees with a bell-shape maintained using underlying petticoats and modesty preserving bloomers, a pitch blouse buttoned up at the front, jet thigh high socks, ebony Mary Janes, a sloe Alice bow in my hair, and sable weighted-knuckle opera gloves reaching up to my shoulders.
In short, Gothic Lolita of the Kuro variety.
In the distance, I hear police sirens. So I opened my vibrant violet eyes covered by puffy eyelids ornate with clear Mongolian fold and faint supratarsal crease nasally tapered with lateral flare. For a moment, my lenses and pupils were so dilated that the entirety of my sclera was concealed.
I could see the entire electromagnetic spectrum, ranging from gamma ray wavelengths smaller than ten picometers to extremely low wavelengths as long as ten thousand kilometers. I could see wi-fi signals and radio transmissions, so of course, mobile police radios were easy to spot.
From the ledge, 381 m (1250 ft) above the ground, I leaped ten stories. With meticulous control over my descent, I gently landed on the roof of another building, springing off it with unmatched agility. Bounding again and again. Chasing after the sound, after the moving radio sources, until I, jumping from atop a fifty-story building, lightly touched down in the middle of a highway.
The police were pursuing a fleeing vehicle which continued to recklessly pass other pedestrian vehicles. That was the vehicle I had intercepted the path of.
With a kind of penetrating clairvoyance, I probed the vehicle, looking for hostages and to check if the felons were wearing seatbelts. When the fugitives tried to barrel through me, I slammed my hands into the hood of the car, pressing it down with such force that I ground the automobile’s nose into the asphalt and crushed the engine.
I held my stance as the momentum of the vehicle pushed me back, my shoes carving into the pavement. Making sure not to bring the vehicle to an immediate stop to protect the fugitives. In the impact, the two in the front seats were met with airbags, the third was snagged by his seat belt. The pursuing helicopter caught the whole thing on video. I can hear the tone of disbelief in the airborne reporter’s voice.
With that same penetrating clairvoyance, I probed into the bodies of the suspects. These bank robbers suffered no medical emergencies.
The passenger in the backseat was the first to get over the initial disorientation of the impact and reached for his M1911 semi-automatic pistol. “An excellent gun,” I thought as he shot at me. The bullets could not pierce my dress, and merely bounced off my skin, which absorbed most of the kinetic energy.
I reached my open, grasping hand through the windshield; puncturing and shattering it in the process, then grabbed the felon. His conspirators frozen with supernatural terror as I wrapped him in a psychokinetic field invisible to them, pulled him through the seatbelt, then the hole in the windshield, dropping him onto the pavement.
His two cohorts gained the nerve to exit the vehicle and run for. As I effortlessly pried the pistol from his hand, the police arrived at the scene and began chasing them on foot in different directions, some with dogs. I observed that the backseat passenger will not need medical attention.
I dropped the magazine, emptied the chamber, then threw it aside before I darted away. Covering 100 m in an unreasonable seven seconds before leaping several stories into the air and onto the root of a twenty-story building. A few officers, along with the eye in the sky, immediately began a new pursuit, but they were easy to evade under the cover of the new moon’s night.
Having escaped the range of a possible police pursuit, I stayed vigilant to remain unseen as I made my way with moderately superhuman speed home. Entering the second-story window of a residential house on the other side of the city. Now in my room, I quietly closed the window and curtains. In the room was a ten-year-old girl sleeping in her pajamas.
The young girl was of a dark complexion, with a button nose resulting from a flatter nasal bridge, short straight hair, and a birthmark like a teardrop under her left eye. She opened her bright blue eyes, protected by puffy eyelids ornate with Mongolian folds and a supratarsal crease with lateral flare. Drearily slinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she sat up and rubbed her right eye with her left hand. The child stood up 148cm (4ft 10in) tall, 30.7kg (67.7lbs), her hair a rat’s nest.
She gazed at my foolish, towering figure, unable to stand straight in the room. Suddenly, my irises momentarily flashed red, and my physical form transformed into a soft luminescence, leaving only a red light orb that vanished into the child’s forehead. All the memories, experiences, and emotions flooded into her mind in a single moment. She gave a cocky smirk.
My name is Shí Will Bea Trueman, and this child is my true form. This wasn’t my first outing, but it was the first time I happened to be caught in vigilante activities. I’ve only been in this town of New Providence for about four years.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
My room was filled with western and eastern superhero paraphernalia in the form of posters, toys, statues standing in juxtaposition to the Bantu, Chinese, and Judeo-Christian decor. Before changing out of my pajamas, it was time for my self-imposed light morning workout.
First, I performed a one-minute shoulder exercise. I stood upright, stretched out my arms to the sides, keeping them parallel to the ground. Then I clenched my fists with my knuckles facing up and positioned my elbows parallel to my shoulders. I rotated my arms forward, revolving my fists around a circular orbit only a few inches in diameter around an imaginary epicenter.
Next was a modified version of the previous exercise, wherein I inclined my trunk forward, bending my knees for balance and comfort. Again, this exercise only took one minute. Then I stood upright and, without bending my hips, softly alternate the raising of my heels and the toes as high as I can. I repeated the exercise fifteen times with my feet together, then fifteen times with my feet shoulder width apart. Next, I did fifteen repetitions with my feet together, but positioned them to form a ninety-degree angle. Finally, I did fifteen repetitions in a wide stance.
After that, I stood upright and lifted my right leg with a bent knee, keeping my thigh parallel to the ground. I supported my leg with my hands and rotated my ankle a few times in different directions. Then, I repeated the same exercise with my other leg.
Standing straight with feet shoulder width apart I took two deep breaths, voiding then filling my lungs, then I reached to the heavens, chin up, keeping both knees and elbows straight with fists clenched, and then dropped down into a squat with my thighs parallel to the ground, knees now in my armpits, my trunk inclined forward, and outstretched fists contacting the ground. I then transitioned into an almost fetal position, hands clasped together and forearms reigning in my knees, sitting on the ground. Rocking back onto my shoulders, and then returning to the original position for three minutes. I inhaled during the ascent and exhaled during the descent, repeating the process fifteen times.
Next were twenty-five prone rows, twenty-five push-ups, twenty-five sit-ups, and twenty-five jumping jacks.
After my exercises, I opened my closet and chose some practical attire: bellbottom pants, a blue t-shirt featuring the Superman logo, a green hoodie, white socks, and steel-toe shoes. I also grabbed a rosary chain made of 6 mm hematite with six glass roses, a zinc plate engraved with an image of Mother Mary and Lourdes, and a crucifix. Additionally, I picked up a Byzantine prayer rope with 100 knots and a tassel at the base of the cross.
Leaving the room, I walked down the hallway to the bathroom on the second floor. Inside, I grabbed a towel from the cabinet and took an invigorating, ice-cold shower. After that, I used African black soap to give some minimal curliness to my usually straight hair, and finally, I dried myself off.
There was a circular scar on my chest, at the second intercostal space on the left side, as well as a corresponding scar on my back. I got dressed, brushed my teeth, then combed my hair into my signature bob cut. After that, I applied some deodorant and got dressed.
I opened the door and rushed back to my room, where I grabbed my backpack and a book. Then, I hurriedly ran down the stairs. Eventually, I reached a small table against the wall adorned with a picture of two families.
The one holding me as a baby was a lovely Bantu woman standing alongside a handsome Chinese man. With them was a beautiful woman of fair complexion, straight black hair covering her right eye, and a warm, almost divine smile standing next to her husband. Her appearance was ambiguous regarding ethnic background as she could have easily been East Asian or European in her heritage.
Standing there, my hand twitched as I said, “Morning mom. Dad.” then walked off into the kitchen, within which was a large dark-skinned man, himself of ambiguous ethnic derivation.
He turned and said, “Good morning Will, food’s ready.”
To which I replied “Thanks, dad.”
He handed me a plate containing two eggs cooked over easy, three bacon strips, and two slices of French toast. Meanwhile, I grabbed the smooth peanut butter and syrup and carried them to the glass table in the living room.
When my father, John Trueman, joined me, I got up and set up the cold brew tea and got myself a glass of almond milk. An excellent alternative for the lactose intolerant.
Before we ate, I clasped my hands together and recited with eyes closed, “Tiānzhǔ, qiú mí jiàng fú wǒmen, hé wǒmen suǒ xiǎngyòng de shíwù. Wǒmen yě wèi mí suǒ shǎngcì de yīqiè, gǎnxiè mí. Yuàn guāngróng guīyú fù, jí zi jí shèng shén. Qǐchū rúhé, jīnrì yì rán, zhídào yǒngyuǎn. Āmén.”
My father proudly remarked as he ate, “Alright, now you’re just showing off.”
I responded, “Of course.”
The TV caught my attention as I began to eat. A news report explained, “Since their discovery, dinosaurs have fascinated mankind. Strange, almost dragon-like beings from an age long gone.
“The Chinese names for most dinosaurs, along with the Latin names for many found in China, often contain the word for Dragon. In fact, Adrienne Mayor argued that it was the bones of ancient animals that inspired the myths of dragons, with some such as Quetzalcoatl, Ryūjin and Zirnitra having been worshiped as gods.
“Now, with what happened just hours ago in Japan, the distinction between dinosaur, dragon and ancient god has never been more blurred.”
The video aired was taken from a camcorder in a skyscraper. The beast stopped and turned to investigate the building as it passed by. Its gaze meeting the recorder in the building for approximately sixty seconds. It seemed to just take in the sight of the recorder until it blinked with a nictitating membrane, then tilted its head, after which it went on its merry way.
“Sugoi! Sore wa Kaijū-desu!” the female cameraman said.
A second video helped to flesh out that it was something vaguely like a theropod with short hair-like or feathery covering. It had two curved tusks extending forward from the posterior of the maxilla, two small rear facing horns at the top posterior of the cranium.
Its mandible ended in an upward pointed hook preceded by two rear pointing spikes on each side, a muscular chord rooted in the clavicle notch extended up and into the back of the mandible. It had arms like a bear, but with grasping hands equipped with four therizinosaur-clawed fingers and a clawed thumb each, stegosaurid-like plates and spines running down its back into its distal tail and covered in bony armor save for its limbs and distal tail.
It was, at the very least, about one hundred and twenty meters tall at the hip. Its spine was parallel with the ground.
A third video revealed that its feet were columnar and lacked any extending toes, like that of an elephant or a sauropod. With every step, the ground quaked. Its coloration was black, save for a vibrantly red neck and head, blue eyes, and a white crux ordinaria extending from its pelvis to its chest.
A fourth video showed it had conical bone crushing teeth, as it opened and closed its mouth. A fifth showed it returned to the waters between the Kagawa and Okayama prefectures. Despite actively avoiding tight spaces or even stepping on houses, the damage caused by its mere passing through a rural and urban area was extensive.
Father silently dismissed the report, shaking his head in understandable disbelief.