Leland didn’t know stress eating was a real thing until now.
As a reward for being the sacrificial lamb in the football penalty shootout, Staress had treated him with a packed lunch for school, a meal which was apparently her favourite. He wolfed down the fried rice and chicken nuggets as if his very existence relied on it, pausing rarely, barely mindful of the significance of oxygen.
“You might want to slow down,” Mark said with a frown. “Are you okay?”
Leland shrunk in his chair. He sipped from a carton of orange juice.
“N-no…”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Leland’s eyes watered.
“I have t-to face an Avengers-level threat v-villain in less than a month and then I have the medicine interview in three days, b-but I still haven’t…” Leland devoured a chicken drumstick and scooped a mountain of rice with a spoon. “...overcome my stutter and if I can’t speak properly then I won’t p-pass. A-also…” He sipped more orange juice. “M-maggie, the online friend who blocked me, is in the semi-finals of the US Open, b-but she won’t be able to achieve her dreams because E-e-earth will have blown to pieces! And I almost g-got killed by a football!”
“There, there,” Mark said, patting him on the back.
“Sorry,” Leland mumbled. “That w-wasn’t coherent, was it?”
“Well…”
“See, there’s no way I can succeed. I’m finished.”
“I highly doubt that.” Mark hesitated and looked away for a moment. Then he nodded once, as if he had the answer for all of Leland’s problems. “Follow me, let’s go.”
The school bell rang.
“B-but I still have fifth period.”
“Isn’t that the least of your problems?”
***
Leland stared at the clear blue sky, searching for birds to hate on. Months ago, he envied them because they could fly but even now with all his superpowers, he still felt like their freedom was to a level he could never reach. Birds didn’t have crushing responsibilities. Birds were free from doubts, fears and obsessions.
They sat on the edge of a rooftop where London’s cityscape stood before them, a maze of skyscrapers and lights.
“I still can’t believe you can teleport,” Mark said, almost in a whisper. “This is insane. This is incredible. What was it like teleporting for the first time?”
Leland shrugged, but beneath the surface he cringed, remembering the awkward encounter with the alien, Astridra. He sighed and hung his head low. In regards to his speech, nothing much had changed since then. The medicine interview was coming up soon. How could he possibly do well without looking like a fool? If he couldn’t communicate properly then…
Mark elbowed him in the ribs. “You’re in dream land again, like always. Not everyone can experience stuff like this. Enjoy the view.”
Not in the mood to argue, Leland nodded. When prepared, he explained his dilemma to Mark, going into as much detail as possible this time, mentioning Maggie, Staress, Psyche, and the terrifying Volengi. The stuttering was severe but didn’t exhaust him as much as he had expected. Throughout, Mark patiently waited, nodding intermittently and occasionally raising an eyebrow.
“Is that it?” Mark asked, once Leland was finished.
“Y-yeah,” Leland replied.
“Well… first of all, you let a tennis player baddie go. That couldn’t have been me.”
Leland turned to look at Mark and he stared back, his face void of emotion. “O-out of everything I just said, that’s w-what you take from this?”
“No,” Mark said, eyebrows furrowed. “I want to play against this Volengi guy in football. I don’t care how powerful he is. Nobody can beat me at football.”
Leland laughed because he knew Mark was dead serious. “Y-you’re an idiot.”
“Sometimes stupidity and self-belief go hand-in-hand. It is what it is. I assume you already have an idea on what your next steps are, right?”
Leland nodded.
“Then think a bit less and do what you gotta do. Believe in yourself, my friend.”
----------------------------------------
As soon as Leland got home, he inserted the USB stick Staress had given him into his laptop and clicked on a folder titled ‘Superhero time, Lee!’ He pulled a confused face as the screen turned black and a message appeared in bold blue letters.
Earth Crime files downloading… Wear the super suit…
Leland followed the instructions and soon found himself vibing to an upbeat hip hop track. He breakdanced, before jumping to his feet and shuffling in time with the music. It had been quite some time since he’d danced to relieve the stress. It felt good.
Although, this time the freestyling felt different. Unlike the other dance sessions, each move felt purposeful. With the full super suit on, it almost felt like a ritual, and Leland knew exactly why. Through his unique dance preparation, he was readying himself for his vigilante debut.
A holographic screen showed up in Leland’s mask, displaying a detailed profile…
Crime #1,874,532,689: Robbery
Date: 16/08/2054
Time: 3:15 PM and 20 seconds.
Current status: Robbery in progress. Two injured, one dead. Assailants heavily armed.
Location: Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Camera footage appeared in the top right. Leland watched three armed individuals rush into a van and then whistled. Well, no time to waste. Here goes nothing. He teleported to their exact location, picked up the van, and hurled it through the air as if it was a ball of paper.
He flew after the vehicle and caught it with one hand.
Overkill?
Impressively, high pitch screams emanated from the vehicle.
Yes, this is overkill, you idiot. What are you doing?
Leland teleported back to the ground, van still in one hand. He slowly put the vehicle to the ground and knocked on the window a couple of times. There was no response, so he opened the car door himself.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
The driver turned towards him, still screaming his head off. His partner in the front passenger seat seemed to be unconscious.
Leland frowned, trying to understand what was being said as the driver yelled at him in French and waved arms about madly. He had learned some French in high school, but foreign languages were his least favourite subject. Why would he want to learn to speak another language when he already hated speaking English?
“M-my bad. It’s my first time doing something like this and I panicked. But in my defence, you’re the o-one committing the— whoa, whoa!”
The driver held up a shaking gun.
Leland thought for a moment. “You don’t w-want to do this. I k-know Psyche.”
Immediately, the driver dropped the weapon and raised both arms. Leland shared his look of shock but for different reasons— a thought had just dawned on him. Without realising it in the moment, he had accomplished something that had irrationally terrified him for so long.
Leland had spoken to a stranger despite the stutter.
The amount of joy swelling in his chest felt almost silly as a tiny smile appeared on his face. Somehow, he had been able to break through the anxiety barrier.
Wait, this is a chance! Leland thought. Keep going!
Nah. It’s pointless, Another thought chimed in. He doesn’t even know what the fuck you’re saying.
No. You have to start somewhere. You got this. Stop thinking! Go, go, go! No one’s going to see this shit anyway. Remember what Staress said. You have to face your fears.
“H-h-hello!” Leland blurted. “M-my name’s Leland. I’m not like Psyche. I’m g-going to push my body to the v-very limits and by doing so, I’ll be able to conquer my superpowers. And o-once I can master my superpowers, I’ll be able to speak f-fluently. And if I can speak fluently, I can nail the m-medicine interview and make friends at u-university. I’m r-rambling now. M-my bad.”
Police sirens blared in the background and the criminal stared at him, wide eyed, a confused expression on his face.
“N-now…” Leland said, opening the mental door in his mind. “Don’t move until the authorities get here and admit your wrongs.”
----------------------------------------
Over the next two weeks, Leland became a superhero— even he had to admit it. Fortunately, with summer exams right around the corner, the sixth-form students only had optional revision lessons to go to, so he had all the time in the world to focus on his speaking.
100% fluency was Leland’s main concern, and the more lives he saved, the more his obsession grew. Each day was considered a grand experiment rather than a vigilante outing, and the world served as his laboratory to test his many hypotheses. Which superpower would strain his body and vocal cords the most? Which abilities could potentially permanently alter his DNA, allowing him to attain full mastery of his superpower, and thus, speech?"
Those were the real questions which got him shuffling to music on his headphones. And that was another thing— Leland didn’t save people without a good song in the background. At this point, the device was essentially part of the super suit.
Now did his obsession mean the role of a superhero wasn't considered important or meaningful to him? Saving kidnapped humans stuffed in the back of some maniac's van? Stopping the 58th school shooter from painting the halls red because no girl gave them any attention? Protecting an old lady from a house fire? Making sure an unfortunate surfer didn't get ripped to shreds by a shark?
No.
It mattered as well. But if Leland were brutally honest with himself, that was just an unwanted bonus — an extra feeling of satisfaction sprinkled with an overwhelming burden he never asked for.
Every mission was a success. Compared to facing off against Volengi, human crimes were relatively easy. And not only was Leland overpowered with hundreds of superpowers at his disposal, he had all the data necessary to immediately stop the crimes from happening while saving any life that could be saved. It was like playing chess and knowing your opponent’s every move.
Communicating with the criminals and victims was the real challenge. Every life he could save was an opportunity to work on his interpersonal skills. While healing someone close to death’s door, he could try his best to reassure them and, if he was feeling confident enough, attempt to tell them a horrible, stolen knock knock joke.
Leland dashed at super speed through the city streets of Tokyo, and as he did so, read through his personal statement for the billionth time in preparation for his medicine interview.
Pulling off super speed was tough. Unsurprisingly, it ranked as one of the most draining superpowers, right below teleportation. Super speed was what Leland liked to call an 'Umbrella superpower,' meaning that using the ability without other powers to support it was a death trap. For instance, to avoid splatting into a wall like a Looney Tunes character or suffering from starvation, he needed super reflexes and a modified digestive system to slow down the calorie burn.
Leland abruptly came to a halt, standing before a skyscraper. He levitated off the ground and squinted his eyes, engrossed in the personal statement filling the holographic display emitted from the superhero mask.
As the minutes passed, pedestrians stopped in their tracks and took out their phones, blatantly pointing at him. Even with the language barrier, Leland could tell they talked about him since they yelled his new name.
Yes… Leland had a new name now— a superhero title which the media and world had decided on without his say in the matter…
“Reluctant Man!”
“Reluctant Man!”
“Reluctant Man!”
Leland’s eyes narrowed, ignoring the chants. He didn’t care too much for superhero names. Hell, he didn’t even want one. But Reluctant Man? Of all the names in the universe, that’s the one they decided to come up with?
Leland shook his head and slowly increased his altitude, parallel to the skyscraper. Three quarters up the building he stopped and stuck an arm out to catch a plummeting flailing body. He slowly dropped to the ground, awkwardly patted the individual on the back, and teleported back home.
He took a deep breath, changing into his school uniform— now the real challenge had begun.
----------------------------------------
“Hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Leland said, carefully drawing out his superpowered voice. He shook the interviewer’s hand, forced out a smile and took a seat.
“Hello, Leland. I’m Darlene. It’s great to meet you too. I must say, you have a lovely voice. It’s unique and striking.”
“Haha. Thanks.” Good start. Keep going.
“As you know, the purpose of this interview is to learn more about your interest in medicine and you as an individual. This goes without saying but there’s no need to panic. You have all the answers to my questions, I’m sure. Simply be honest and your wonderful self and you’ll be just fine.”
“Of course,” Leland replied.
“Now… what motivated you to pursue a career in medicine? I’ve read your well-written personal statement, but I’d love to hear it from you verbally.”
“Laryngology.”
Leland paused for a brief moment.
“If I had to give you a one word answer, that would be it. Laryngology. Since a young age, the field has intrigued me greatly. The prospect of making a tangible difference in someone’s life by helping them overcome communication challenges is what truly motivates me. Whether it’s working with children who are learning to speak or adults recovering from strokes, the idea of being a catalyst for positive change and helping individuals unlock their full potential is incredibly rewarding.”
Leland smiled broadly, though this time it was genuine. Flying, super speed and energy beams didn’t seem to compare to fluently explaining himself. To control himself. Freeing himself.
“I see. That’s very interesting. But why that field specifically?”
Leland inhaled, silently fighting off the mental strain tugging on his mind. “Well, I feel like verbal communication is one of the most underrated and beautiful mechanisms of the human body. It allows us to grow and learn and express ourselves the way we would like. Accents, mannerisms, slang terminology— they allow us to show others who we are. In other words, it grants us a sense of freedom and I have a passion to help others experience and enjoy that freedom.”
Leland meant every word which surprised himself. He had written something similar in his personal statement but it had been for show. But now… as he fluently conveyed the words, he realised how strong his conviction really was.
The interview continued for another ten minutes. Evidently, his physical and mental stamina had improved immensely. Never before had he spoken fluently for so long. It almost felt like a dream. Too good to be true.
And it was.
Because as the interviewer wrapped up the interview and thanked him for coming, his vision blurred.
“One last thing, Leland,” Darlene said. “This will sound a little silly but how do you pronounce your surname? I should have asked earlier, but I didn’t want to butcher it.”
The interviewer laughed nervously.
Just like during the Chemistry presentation, the invisible brick wall materialised in his mind. He clenched both fists.
“It’s…o-o-o-ogunjimi”
The stutter was disgusting, lasting a full ten seconds. Leland screamed inside, cursing every foul word he knew in his head.
Why like this? Not like this.
“Sorry?” Darlene asked.
“O-ogunjimi.” Leland forced out.
“Ogunjami?”
“N-no… Ogunjimi.”
“Ogunjimi?”
“Y-yes.”
“I see! That’s Nigerian, isn't it? Fabulous. It was great speaking with you.”
Leland weakly smiled and nodded once.
----------------------------------------
Leland dropped into an empty alleyway and violently puked to such a degree it felt like his digestive system wanted to escape. When food could no longer be brought back up, he retched, clutching his chest. Though his body felt like it was on fire, the true source of torment was a monster migraine which he’d never experienced before.
Too scared to attempt teleportation, Leland staggered all the way home, eyes dilated and unfocused. He went straight upstairs to his bedroom and curled up into a ball.
No tears were shed. It felt wrong to cry. After aiding people with much more serious problems, his felt childish in comparison. It felt wrong to be filled with rage. To curse his speech. To hate himself like Maggie had accurately pointed out.
So he closed his eyes instead.
Ten minutes of fluency… Is this my limit?