True Heroes 5
by Redkage
It took him awhile, but after reaching town and taking a long bus ride, Bret finally made it home. Since it was midday, his parents were both still at work and wouldn’t be home until late that night. Somehow, he managed to drag himself up those steps and into his room.He gazed up at the posters on the walls and stared at the images of Captain Cosmos standing proudly like the hero he was. Yet now, they all seemed so empty and distant to him, their muscles no longer had him hard and horny like they used to.
That was because the real Captain Cosmos was gone, and it was all his fault.
The truth hit him pretty hard. He…was responsible for Captain Cosmos’s downfall. Because of him, the city’s hero becoming a sex slave!
For his sake, Terry sacrificed himself to save him.
Unable to take it anymore, Bret threw himself onto his bed and cried his eyes out. He cried, and he cried, and he cried some more. Fatigue settled into his body, and slowly he fell asleep with tears still streaming.
While he slept, he had a dream. Or at least, he thought it was a dream. But it was so vivid, that he felt as if he were still awake.
He was standing in the middle of an empty space. Tendrils of mist swirled around like it wrapped him inside of a giant bubble. And standing directly in front of him was a figure that looked like he was made out of pure light.
The figure was roughly about Bret’s size, and had human like arms and legs, but Bret couldn’t make out its face or anything else for that matter. Despite the alien quality of it, Bret could feel that it wasn’t a bad guy.
“So you’re my new partner, huh?” he said sardonically (For now Bret decided it was male because its voice sounded like a guy’s). “Why of all people does it have to be you?”
“What?” Bret blinked in confusion. “Wh-what do you mean? Where are we? Who are you?”
“Personally I don’t see what Terry saw in you,” he ignored him. “You got a foul attitude, and you treated him like shit. I’m surprised anyone could fall in love with a selfish bastard like you.”
Shamefully Bret hung his head. “I know, I’m a horrible person. I…I don’t deserve him, especially after everything I put him through. Even if Terry wasn’t Captain Cosmos, he’d deserve better.”
The being snorted and shook his head. “Well, I suppose there’s some hope for you if you managed to realize that about yourself. I guess Terry didn’t make such a bad choice in choosing a successor.”
“Wh-what?” Bret blinked again, finally beginning to grasp what this was all about.
“Do I have to spell it out for you?” He asked. “Then again, I am dealing with the idiot who can’t figure out primitive algebra questions. Okay listen closely. My name is Aethar, I am the symbiote that gave Terry, or Captain Cosmos as you like to call him, his powers. He knew that when he gave himself up to Devestator, there would be no one left to defend the city after he is gone. So, he picked you to become my next carrier and become a new hero. Got it all so far?”
“I…I’m going to be a super hero?” Bret’s eyes widened. “Terry…he gave me all his super powers? But wait, when did he do this?”
“He did it at the last possible minute,” Aethar said bitterly. “Remember that kiss you two had? Well, during that kiss he passed me over into you.”
“But…he was still huge and flying when he left!” Bret’s head was starting to spin.
“That’s because there’s still some residue of me in him,” Aethar explained. “Eventually he’ll lose all of his powers, though his muscles won’t fade off for quite awhile. It’ll be enough to fool Corey for quite some time.”
“Then, I have all of Captain Cosmos’s super powers?” Bret asked.
“Well, not really.” Aethar said. “Each person is different, so it’s logical that each person has different powers. You’ll have his strength though at least, more since you’re naturally strong and gifted. However, for everything else you’ll have to find out in due time. Even I can’t tell what kind of powers you’ll get.”
Bret considered this carefully. If he became powerful enough, he might be able to rescue Terry from that Corey guy! “Well, what do I do to become, you know, super?”
“First of all, I’ll need a power source,” Aethar explained. “You need to pick one emotion, and I’ll draw power from it. Terry picked love, and although that’s a strong emotion, there’s not actually that much going around. Corey, on the other hand, picked lust, and he practically gorged on it. Not only will I draw it from you, but from other people as well, so pick wisely.” Aethar stressed the last word as he remembered who exactly he was dealing with.
For probably the first time in his life, Bret used his brain to solve a problem. He knew he had to become strong enough to overcome Devestator, and fast! He thought of the emotion he had plenty of in general. Something that he knew other people would have as well, something like…
“Pride,” Bret finally spoke. “I want to become a man that people would be proud of, including myself…and Terry.”
"Done and done." Aethar nodded. Bret felt a strange feeling course through his body, like pins and needles were pricking his skin. "From now on, all you have to do is concentrate on that emotion with all your heart, and the transformation will take place. To get you through your awkward stages in the beginning, I've already contacted for another symbiote human to help. He should be arriving here any time now."
A loud BOOM in the real world was enough to make Bret wake up with a start. “Wha what wha…?” He looked around wildly.
“Well it’s about time,” a deep, gruff voice spoke.
Bret jumped out of bed. Leaning against his wall was a huge, burly bear of a man. The stranger was easily as big as Captain Cosmos, bigger even! He had large, powerful muscles that were evident, especially since he wore only a wife beater. He had hair growing everywhere in a dense fur, and his jeans were tight against his power lifter’s stomach and thick legs. He looked down at Bret, his head covered with shaggy dark hair and a full beard. Judging from the look on his face, he didn’t seem too impressed.
“This is the kid you called me in for Aethar?” the stranger asked out loud.
Yes Jake, this is my new host. A voice echoed inside of Bret’s head. It was the same voice from Bret’s dream.
“I guess it wasn’t a dream after all,” Bret muttered to himself. He forced himself to look up at the giant. “I’m…Bret.”
“Jake,” the man said gruffly. He had a particularly strong odor about him. A manly, overpowering musk filled the room, a spicy, sweaty and bitter scent. As it filled him, Bret found himself growing hard from it despite his efforts to remain calm. “Aethar called me through telepathy, saying he needed me to come and teach you the ropes.” Jake’s head tilted slightly to look at the Captain Cosmos posters on the wall. “Cute.”
“That’s, um, great.” Bret felt his face grow red. Fuck he’s hot… He thought privately.
Hey, keep your head in the game. Aethar told him smartly.
Bret jumped. You…you could hear what I’m thinking?
Well, I am inside your head. Aethar said with a hint of an eye roll in his voice. Geez, now I’m really starting to worry.
“Just give me a few days Aethar, and I’ll whip him up straight.” Jake crossed his arms over his barrel chest.
“Will you both please stop listening to my private thoughts!?” Bret snapped.
“It’s not private when you’re publically broadcasting it,” Jake pointed out to him. “You’ll eventually learn how to keep them to yourself from other symbiote/humans, but Aethar’s pretty much sharing the same mind as you.”
Just think of me as your new roommate. Aethar suggested.
Bret blanched as he realized that Aethar would know every dirty and embarrassing thought he could think of.
My, you have an active imagination. Aethar commented. I didn’t even know someone could do that.
“Just what I needed…” Bret groaned.
“Moving on,” Jake said impatiently. “First things first: what emotion did you choose for a power source?”
“Pride,” Bret stood up straighter, trying to impress him.
“Hmm," Jake looked him over. "I should’ve known you'd pick something like that. All in all, not too shabby; not only do you look like the kinda person who has a lot of pride, there are tons of muscle headed guys out in the world that has a swelled ego you can draw on. For a moment I was afraid you'd pick the same useless emotion that Terry did."
“It wasn’t useless,” Bret tried to come to Terry’s defense.
"Oh yeah? Looked where that power got him. He barely managed to scrape up enough power to lift a building with it." Jake told him. "Things like pride, lust or anger are easy to come by. But love? Sure, the city says they love their hero, but the truth is they are only grateful to him for saving them, or lusting for his body and other things. Despite all that romantic crap people preach all the time, real love is very rare. Not only does he need to give love, but he also needed to have love directed at him."
“So you picked anger, I take it.” Bret deduced.
"Doesnt matter what I chose," Jake said. "The point of the matter is to work on YOUR power, not mine. Now, to begin let's see if you can transform. For your first transformation, you'll need to imagine a bio suit...that's your outfit...and concentrate on your chosen feeling. Note that once you pick an outfit, you can't change it, and so if you make something up like a silly pink thong for a joke, you won’t be able to take it back."
Bret was about to laugh, but then realized Jake was serious. Thinking for a moment, the first thing that popped into his mind was his wrestling signet. Bret was the star wrestler in school and wearing that uniform had always made him proud before. However, just that alone wouldn’t do, so he altered it here and there to make it personal. A little fabric here, change of pattern and coloration there, just enough to make it look cool. He considered putting in a cape, but decided it was too much and would ruin the costume.
Not bad, Aethar commented, you have a sense for fashion at least.
What does an alien know about fashion? Bret asked incredulously.
Enough that I can say for a fact that half the clothes in your closet is designed by us. Aethar said smugly. And by the way, you should get rid of that splash of color on your stomach; it’ll dull your overall image.
Bret gave a grunt but did as Aethar suggested.
“Okay, now hold that thought in your head,” Jake’s voice guided him, “let your chosen emotion build up inside you and make you stronger as you feel yourself mold into that image!”
Think about pride? Easier said than done; how does one go about that? Closing his eyes, Bret thought about all the moments he felt proud. Whenever he won a trophy, got compliments from the coach and his teammates, whenever he saw some gains from all of his hard work…
Suddenly Bret could feel it. It was like electricity was flowing through his veins, sinking into his muscles. Slowly, he could feel his muscles grow.
“That’s it, hold onto that feeling of pride and push yourself as far as you can go,” Jake ordered.
He didn’t need to be told twice. The sensation was intoxicating! Bret felt every fiber enlarged and strengthened beyond normal human capabilities. Bigger and bigger his muscles grew, brawn piling on top of more brawn. He filled out his clothes rapidly and soon the material began to stretch to their limit, but just before ripping they melted and reformed on him like a second skin, transforming into a red, white and black suit. As a finishing touch, his hair turned bright crimson red, and a black mask formed on his face.
Finally Bret felt he couldn’t transform any further and let out a deep breath. Bret finally looked down at himself in amazement. He was simply huge! He was easily as big as Jake was, everything bulging and flexing whenever he moved something. “Whoa…” His voice rumbled. Was that his voice? It sounded so powerful and deep!
Jake looked Bret over, his eyes traveled up and down his body. “Not bad.” He finally said. “You’ve managed to become this big on your first transformation. Most of the others I’ve trained are lucky to reach half your size when they first start out. At least you have some good genetics for the job.”
It took Bret an enormous amount of self-control to not let that get to his head. “What about you? Is that your transformed state?”
“Actually, this is my ‘natural’ form.” Jake told him. “This is as small as I can cram myself down to. If I became my true size right now, I doubt your house would be able to take it.”
“Whoa…” Bret’s eyes widened. Just how big was Jake really? If his disguise was just as big as he and Terry was as a superhero…Bret couldn’t imagine anyone that huge. “How do you have a normal life?”
“I prefer solitude,” Jake said in a tired, stressed tone.
Yup, definitely anger, Bret thought.
Oh boy, here it comes.
Suddenly Bret felt as if his body weighs a ton. Surprised and helpless, he fell and slammed into the ground, unable to push himself back up despite his new super strength. Helpless, he lay on the ground as an oppressing weight pressed down upon him.
"You have something you'd like to say, kid?" Jake leered down at Bret, "because I'm all ears. Oh, and on a side note, I can make that feel a lot worse than it is now."
“This isn’t helping!” Bret flailed, trying to get a proper footing. “Fuck, cut this shit out already!”
Suddenly the weight increased dramatically, and Bret found himself in intense pain. He felt as if he was slowly being crushed under a mountain!
“What was that?” Jake leaned forward. “Whatever it was, it didn’t sound like an apology.”
Just apologize already! Aethar half yelled at Bret.
“S…sorry…” Bret could barely whisper, just speaking was painful.
Abruptly the weight vanished, and Bret took a deep gasp. Above him, Jake looked down at Bret’s pitiful state and shook his head. “Once again I have to deal with a stubborn one. For once I’d like all my students to be obedient and well mannered like good little boys and not such idiots.”
Shaking a bit, Bret got up on his feet and prepared to shoot Jake with a dirty look.
I wouldn’t. Aethar warned him. You’re better off not getting on Jake’s bad side. He won’t hesitate to put you through some real hurt. Not only that, but arguing will waste our time and leave Terry imprisoned even longer.
Aethar’s words were enough to pull Bret back into line. “So what now?” he asked instead.
“Now we figure out what kind of powers you have,” Jake said. “Just looking at you tells me you’re not a flier. They’re mostly empty headed optimistic and idealistic daydreamers. In the meantime, we’ll be going through at least a week of basic training until your powers start popping up, then we focus on controlling those perfectly.”
“We’re going to leave Terry to who knows what for a week?” Bret shouted, despairing.
"He already chose his path," Jake said mercilessly. "And I am not about to send you out still new to your powers. You can very well destroy entire cities by accident if you don't have the control and the discipline. How would you feel if you barge in to save Terry, only to end up killing him?"
The idea was like a bucket of cold water being slammed into his face. “O…okay.”
Jake snapped his fingers. All of a sudden, the space next to him seemed to tear apart, opening a big dark hole right in the middle of Bret’s bedroom. "This is one of my special powers. In this space, time will move much quickly than in reality. A week in there is actually a day in the real world.”
Still too long for Terry to stay trapped, Bret thought, but I guess it’s the only way.
Saying a silent prayer for him, Bret followed Jake through the hole.
On the other side, Bret was surprised to find himself standing in what looked like a huge city. Skyscrapers, newsstands, cars, everything you’d find downtown. It was also completely empty of other people, and eerily quiet.
“So, uh, do you live here?” Bret looked at the empty city.
“No, this is strictly a training facility I use for newcomers.” Jake peered over and inspected a parked convertible. “I have a seaside cabin on my own secluded private island in the South Pacific.”
“Why do you save people if you don’t even live with them?” Bret asked curiously.
“I don’t,” Jake said curtly. “I leave the heroics to the young people. My job is to train new symbiote/humans, and what they do with their powers after that is completely up to them. Are you done asking questions, or should I sit down for a Q&A?”
“Er, I’m done.” Bret shut his mouth.
“Okay then, let’s start with something basic, shall we?” the big man said as he approached a tall building. “This building is on the verge of collapsing. There are a total of three dummies inside that you must rescue before it completely collapses. You have ten minutes to find them all and get them out, before it comes down and kills them.”
“Okay, got it!” Bret said and sprinted towards the building…
…only to run straight through it within a millisecond. Blinking, he turned around and watched as the building crashed down.
Well, now we know power number one. Aethar commented.
“Uh-oh…” he groaned as he looked at Jake’s angry face.
With an enormous amount of self restraint, Jake glared at Bret. “Congratulations, you now have the deaths of three innocent people on your hands. Have you any brains in that head of yours boy? I told you that the building was on the verge of collapsing. Any further damage to the structure would, of course, bring the whole thing down. Now, do it again!” He snapped his fingers, and the building seemed to move in rewind as it rebuilt itself.
“B-but, I don’t know how to control my speed!” Bret said, frustrated. “If I try to run, I go too fast for me to control it!”
“Then try walking,” Jake said through clenched teeth.
Cautiously, Bret walked, going no faster than an old woman with a cane.
Can’t you do anything about this!? Bret shot into his head.
Hey, I’m just renting out your body and paying you super powers in rent okay? Aethar said smartly. What you do with it is completely up to you.
“Now slowly build yourself up gradually.” Jake ordered. “Just a little at a time. This way you’ll learn how to adjust yourself at various speeds.”
Taking his time and being really careful, within fifteen minutes Bret finally got the hang of things and was able to sprint faster than any Olympic runner while his reflexes have improved to allow him to control it.
“Better,” Jake said gruffly. “Soon you’re reach perfect control of your super speed, but for now let’s return to the exercise. Ready?”
“Okay!” Bret sped into the building. Eight seconds later he dashed out, carrying the three dummies over his shoulder and depositing them in front of Jake. “Sorry it took so long, but that last one was really well hidden.”
“You actually did decent…on dummies.” Jake’s expression was far from approving. “I hope you realize that real people will be unable to survive such hypersonic speeds?”
“Oh…shit.” Bret’s face fell.
“Yes, shit.” Jake spoke as if it summed up everything. “Use what little brains you have, boy! Think before you act! You’re no longer some high school jock who only cares about himself; you’re a man gifted with powers beyond your wildest imagination, with the lives of other people hanging over how well you can keep yourself together! Do you think that just because you’re a superhero now you can rush through things and hope for the best? Well you couldn’t be more wrong! That kind of thinking is what will get them killed!” With a wave of his hand, the dummies disappear. “Now, do it again!”
Bret repeated the exercise over and over. Every time he thought he did a good job, Jake would find one fatal flaw and make him look his worst and force him to do it all over. As if it weren’t hard enough already, Jake kept on making it more and more difficult each time, increasing the number of dummies, making them move around like they were panicking, cutting down the time left before the building collapsed and adding fires and other surprises everywhere. Finally Bret collapsed in exhaustion for the first time as a superman.
“This one is singed!” Jake barked, pointing at one of the dummies. “Do it over again!”
“When is it going to be enough?” Bret looked up, exasperated.
“When you do it right,” Jake said mercilessly. “Oh, on a side note, your friend Terry managed to perfect this exercise after half an hour, while you’ve been running this for...five hours?”
That was the last blow. “Well I guess I’m not perfect then!” He broke down, sobbing.
“Of course you’re not perfect!” Jake yelled at him. “No one is perfect! Did you think you were completely without any flaws? Since you're probably the most popular guy in school, as well as the strongest, you must've thought you were perfect. Well, now you know you aren't. Despite those abilities you have, you are still human inside. That's why Terry pushed himself so hard. He knew he wasn't the best person in the world, but his desire to protect made him learn. He pushed himself, even going as far as ordering me to make things hard on him.”
Terry did all that? He never knew. There were a lot of things he didn’t know about him. He always seemed so quiet and shy. But, seeing how determined he was as Captain Cosmos, Bret could see his dedication and spirit.
“S-so, what should I do?” Bret looked up at Jake.
Jake sighed as he knelt down next to Bret. "I want you to try your best,” he said in an unusually gentle tone, “to give it your all. That's the only way you can hope to defeat Corey in such a short time. If you truly do care about Terry, then you'll do everything in your power to prepare yourself, and grow up."
“I’ll do whatever you tell me to!” Bret pledged firmly.
Jake, however just shook his head. “You still don’t understand what I mean, boy. Oh well, let’s start up the exercise again. And this time, use your head before your muscles.”
Nodding, Bret sped in with determination. This time though, he thought of other people first. He treated them like they were alive, handling with care. He had to get this right. He had to.
Finally, every last dummy was lying out in front of Jake’s feet. The big man only needed to take a single glance at them before he nodded in approval. “Finally, you got it down right. Keep it up and we might actually finish everything within the week.”
“Yes sir!” Bret nodded, ready to move on to the next exercise.
To be continued