“I don’t have anything too useful.” I sighed to the foreigner with the hope that he’d not press the issue any further.

“Even something small can help. I wouldn’t dream of forcing you, but we need every bit of help we can get.” he responded, urging me to reveal my power.

“Everything I touch with all five of my fingers–everything–will slowly start being destroyed whether I want it to, or not. It works better on inanimate objects, but it also does a lot of damage to humans as well,” I explained grimly. “I haven’t really trained for a long time though…” I said as an afterthought.

“But you could use it to take out someone if need be, perhaps someone captured by Construct?” asked Jensen, turning to look at me for the first time.

I-I actually hadn’t thought about doing anything like that before. It most likely would work, although I didn’t like where this plan was headed, or the consequences this would have for me or my friend.

“Fine,” I told him in English, taking a deep breath in order to focus. I took

“Perfect,” he said, reaching into the other pocket of his trousers and taking out a phone. “Now all we need is to bring the fighting duo back down to us.”

“I’m a little delirious, bad in english, and just plain fed up,” said Construct in Greek, pointing his arm at the two people fighting.

“Stop!” I told him in Greek, before turning to the university itself. The villain was the one constantly on the offensive, with Iraklis dodging his attacks, taking advantage of the advanced mobility that his power innately gave him but never really going on the offensive himself.

Taking off my right glove, I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Iraklis! Here!”

On cue, my friend turned around, only for the villain to use that split diversion of his attention, to knock him back towards us with terrible force. The professor leaped forward in order to catch him. He succeeded, and the two were sent tumbling down the street relatively harmlessly.

“Now!” yelled Jensen as the villain threw himself toward us at great speeds.

Construct’s energy beam surged past me, creating a ring around the villain’s body that instantly clamped around his body, immobilising the large man. He struggled to break his new bonds, while Construct struggled to keep him in place, which appeared to be a losing battle on his end.

Clenching my bare fist, I reluctantly walked forward. His power was apparently tactile telekinesis, but his cyan colour and large size showed that there was something more going on there, although I didn’t have much time to dwell on that.

I placed my trembling hand on his back–when it started trembling I didn’t have a single clue–for the first time in years fully touching something without the use of gloves. I shut my eyes closed as a red line crossed his body in a single second.

And then he started screaming alongside his struggling, which became progressively more erratic.

He was not saying anything, he was just screaming wordlessly.

This was the only way. He deserved this.

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My chest started tightening and the air around me suddenly felt like a precious resource. I was suffocating-alright, maybe I wasn’t, but it sure felt like I was. All the while, the villain’s screaming only became louder and I could feel his desperation.

This was the only way. He deserved this.

A few more moments passed before the effect of my power finally ended and the villain thankfully went quiet. I opened my eyes to see that the villain was unconscious and the two adults were watching me intently.

The area that I had touched had all of his skin peeled off, the red lower layer being revealed, and a bit of blood trailing down his back.

I wheezed out a breath, stumbling slightly, until Iraklis rushed over and caught me. I hastily took out my inhaler, drawing in its contents and breathing in deeply, before letting out a series of strong coughs, counting to five and repeating the process once more.

It took a few moments but I managed to steady myself. It wasn’t the first asthma attack I’d had and I’d gotten relatively good at handling them.

I let go of Iraklis and looked down at the unconscious villain for a moment before I turned my head away. He didn’t look particularly hurt, but I knew that his appearance was more than deceiving. I clenched my hands before putting my right glove back on and turning to everyone else.

“Well done, all of you,” said Jensen in English. “And I expect to see you two young men in my course this following year,” he added joyfully, patting Iraklis in the back.

I found myself looking away once more.

“Who is this guy?” he asked me using Greek.

“He’s a professor at Atlantis heroics course,” I sighed, before a small smile crossed my face. “You were lucky that this was your first meeting. It’s best for you to not get off on the wrong foot with your teachers.”

Iraklis huffed at me, before straightening himself out. “Nice to meet you, sir. My name is Iraklis Drakos, and I aim to be a student of your academy this year.” he said, speaking in English this time so that the older man could understand him.

“Good to know. You have good instincts, and fine control over your power,” smiled Jensen, patting him on the back once more before he turned to me once more. “What about you, young man?”

I flexed my gloved fingers before clenching my hands once more. I made my smile a bit wider and rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly.

“It’s not-It’s not exactly something I’m suited for,” I responded, straining a dose of positivity in my voice. “You see, I’ve got mild asthma and a power that’s not-not exactly helpful.”

“No power is worthless. Or too dangerous to be used. As for the Asthma, I can arrange some tests, and you could get a waiver and join,” said Jensen in a very teacher-like way, scratching his chin for a bit. He took out another card from his pocket–seriously how many did he have in there?–and handed it to me.

“Take my card. Summer has just begun, and I can help you with your training if you so desire. Provided your health tests are cleared as well of course. And young Iraklis, the same offer goes for you as well.”

I took his card and stared at it for a good while.

To be a hero.

I always believed that using my power wouldn’t be good for anyone. Hell, if anyone heard that villain screaming just a few seconds ago, they’d have thought that I was the villain. Still, I did help people right now. And the idea of being a hero did put a smile on my face.

If I told my parents they’d surely be happy about me doing something I enjoy.

I looked at the people that were standing alongside me. What should I do?

“Go for it man,” said Iraklis in Greek, shrugging. “You don’t have anything to lose.”

I remembered Alpha Surge’s words from five years ago. They were most likely things he told every twelve-year-old he came across, but they did spark a fire within me.A fire I had long since thought was completely burned out.

I clenched my fist.

“I’ll do it,” I said with a shaky smile on my face.