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Hero 13
Chapter 1: Thirteen

Chapter 1: Thirteen

There was only one time he was ever caught on video. It was from the time the Crimson King troupe brought a gang army to take over New York City.

“Is it rolling, Dave?” Asked a man with a crimson bandana and a gleaming golden gun with red highlights in hand.

“Yes sir,” The cameraman answered, holding a thumbs up as he looked through the camera on his shoulder at the boss, who stood in the middle of an empty street in the heart of the city, “You’re live to ten thousand people and counting.”

“People of the world!” The man said, “Your savior has come! The Crimson King, prophesied to equalize all people, powers or no powers, under unrelenting justice. Look at all those who believe in me.”

The cameraman swiveled his camera to show the thousands of men crowding the wide street behind them, waving crimson flags, holding up AK-47s, and cheering madly.

The camera turned back to the boss. “If anybody wishes to challenge me, powers or not, you will be eliminated. It does not matter what power you have or how cowardly you use it, you will be eliminated!”

The people behind him roared.

“Now, let’s march to plant our flags in of the city hall and seize the resources in the banks on our way... ”

The cameraman frowned as the boss spoke. Someone else had come in front of the gang army standing alone on the street…

The boss saw the cameraman's confused face and turned around and saw the stranger walking towards them, “Who are you?” He called, “Do you wish to challenge the just rule of the Crimson King?”

The crowd quieted as the man silently walked forward until he was close enough to talk normally to the boss. The stranger had a black uniform on with the golden letters “Ultimate League, 13th Hero” stitched onto the front.

The boss laughed, “Are you joking my friend? The Ultimate League only has twelve heroes, and their uniform is white!” Then the boss scowled. “If you really want to save the city, why don’t you call me one of the real twelve heroes so I can properly demonstrate my powers?”

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The man didn’t answer, all he did was pull out a cigarette and light it. The cameraman gaped in shock and the crowd stood in stunned silence as the thirteenth hero breathed out smoke.

“Are you insane?” The boss roared, “Who do you think you are? Stop wasting time or I’m going to skip the pleasantries and eliminate you here in front of the entire world.”

The gang roared in agreement.

The man continued puffing his smoke until the crowd died down.

Then he finally spoke, “Wasting time, huh? And here I thought I was just giving you some time to say goodbye to this world.” He sighed and dropped the cigarette, crushing it underfoot. “Well, if we’re getting to the point then… ”

The man looked up and his eyes glowed crimson.

“I just have one more thing to say,” The hero said, “You shouldn’t have desecrated my name for something like this, Calling this blatant seizing of power something like equalizing the people under the Crimson King's rule of justice. You could have gotten another Ultimate League hero to stop you if you didn't make it personal.”

The boss snarled, the mirth was gone from his face as he saw the man’s crimson eyes and realized the hero actually had powers. Without any more pretense, the boss leveled his golden gun at the hero and fired.

The bullet hit the thirteenth hero in the chest. The man continued to look coldly at the boss as his veins swelled up. The hero exploded from the inside and his body flopped over in a puddle of blood.

“Taste my anti-power bullets!” The boss said triumphantly, “The more power you have in your blood the more it…”

The boss’s eyes widened in horror.

The hero's nearly unrecognizable body stood up. The pool of blood around the hero silently rose from the ground and flowed back into the holes of his body and his wounds closed. Even his League uniform reknitted to how it was.

The crowd was dead silent.

"What... what kind of power..." The boss whispered.

“Why are you so surprised? The real Crimson King's immortal, isn't he? Or did you not even know that?” The hero said.

The boss gaped, the true gravity of the situation finally dawning on him.

Then he raised his hand to the gang, “Allow me to show you what the Crimson King’s equalizing justice really is...”

"Blood flashfire. Radius: 500 meters."

He snapped his fingers.

Each and every person in the enormous crowd simultaneously burst into red flame. In a couple of bright, quiet seconds, everyone had already disintegrated into ash.

The thirteenth hero stood alone on the city street, the silent, dark ash blowing around him.

The camera kept filming him from where it was dropped on the ground.

“You see?” The hero said as he walked to the camera, “Equality. Everyone’s ashes look the same.”

He snapped again and the live stream blacked out.

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