A Hero's True Strength Chapter 1

Heroes are people who are held in incredibly high regard. They're praised as saviours, treated like celebrities, and act as wannabe role models for people across the globe. And for the most part, this isn't undeserved. A lot of heroes are saviours, defeating monsters and stopping horrors using nothing but their own strength; be it some earth-shattering power or the strength of their own back.

But so often, many people, heroes included, tend to forget that heroes aren't just people who punch monsters in the face. Sometimes, a hero is just someone who is doing their best to help, even if they have to do it alone. And that doesn't always mean in a fight. On occasion, to those who are willing to listen, it includes saying just the right thing to change their mind. To sway their course from doing something evil or irreversible, and turning them back to the side of good.

Sometimes, it's just about being a good person.

Though its not easy. Not everyone can be convinced with a few well-meant words to change their course completely. Hell, not everyone wants to bother to even listen. Though again, that's part of being a hero. A hero won't always be met with success, sometimes they'll find some obstacles that are too difficult to overcome. And that's ok.

What makes a true hero isn't that they always win, its that they always try. Always try to help, always try to protect, always do their best; even if their best isn't enough. Someone who can overcome an obstacle to ease but only does so on occasion, is much less of a hero than someone who can't, despite their best intentions, easily overcome the same obstacle, but tries to anyway.

And even the strongest hero to ever exist can struggle with this. Though that doesn't mean he won't try.

A wrong approach?

It was another boring day in City U, and everything seemed normal. The sky was a vibrant blue, with not a cloud in sight to impede the sun's rays. People were going about their day with no indication of anything being out of the ordinary, going to work, or school, or wherever they needed to go.

Suddenly, an explosion went off, shaking the earth and sending people into a panic. At the centre of the explosion, a figure stood, surveying the area around them for a moment before leaping up into the air. Charging up multiple orbs of energy, they fired them off into the distance, each one crashing into different skyscrapers and exploding with enough force to shatter the glass of the buildings around them.

Landing back on the ground, the creature, a purple humanoid, with large antenna dangling from its forehead and covered in well-defined muscle, smiled a toothy smile, showing off its array of sharp teeth.

Vaccine Man had arrived.

Meanwhile, in City Z, a news story covering the events happening in City U was being played on the TV sets in one of the apartments, with the owner of the apartment lazily listening in while resting on their futon.

The news reader was reporting the events with a heavy sense of panic evident in their tone, detailing how the destruction was becoming more and more widespread, and that the Hero Association was trying to best to respond accordingly.

But that went over the head of the bald listening, who only registered two important details: there was a monster, and it was attacking a city.

And that was all he needed to know.

"Guess I'll go."

And with that, he slowly got to his feet, and walked to the hanger where his uniform was hanging near the door.

He had work to do.

Back in City U, Vaccine Man was now wandering the destroyed section of the city that he had just levelled, stalking it like a predator in a prey's natural habitat.

His attention was caught by the sound of a crying child, only broken up by the child briefly stopping to cry out for her parents, who were either dead or separated from the child, leaving them alone.

Alone, with Vaccine Man.

Vaccine Man turned toward the young girl, holding his arm out toward the child. After a few seconds, his arms began to swell and grow, becoming monstrously large and beastly, so much so that each finger was taller than the child was.

He then reached out toward the child, his open hand creeping around the unaware child, before clamping shut. But instead of the squelch of the child being crushed to a pulp, all he got was the sound of a high-speed gust of wind, leaving the creature with an empty palm and no idea where the child had gone.

Though he wasn't kept in the dark for long, as he sensed two lifeforms to his right, causing him to gaze to his right.

There, with the child cradled unconscious in their arms, was someone in a bright yellow jump suit, with red boots and gloves, a black belt, and a fluttering white cape.

A hero.

"You're a fast one. Who are you?" The creature asked, genuinely curious to find out who this speedy little human was before he slaughtered him.

The human simply smirked, before turning around and crossing their arms.

"Just a guy who's a hero for fun."

Vaccine Man was appalled. That was it? That was all he had to say? Vaccine Man had already dealt with a few heroes already who he had cast aside as if they were ants, and even they had more interesting and worthwhile backstories than this guy.

For fun? FOR FUN? How dare he!

Vaccine Man soon found himself ranting before he could even think about it, regaling the story of his creation to this annoyance of a hero as he began to trigger his transformation. He began to distort and warp his body, becoming larger and more monstrous, all the while sharing his motivation for existing, his one and only goal: to protect Mother Earth from the destructive nature of humanity.

As he continued in his rant, the hero remained mostly stoic, save for a minor frown that gave his bald head some semblance of seriousness, as he looked almost ridiculous without the expression. Just before Vaccine Man could strike, and even before he could finish his rant, he was interrupted.

"If your main goal is to help Earth, why are you destroying cities?"

Vaccine Man stopped in his tracks, shocked into stillness by the comment. His hulking form towered over the hero, and with nothing but a single swipe, Vaccine Man was confident he could wipe this hero off the face of the Earth's beautiful crust.

But yet, a part of him was curious.

"What do you mean?" He boomed; his tone now just as monstrous as the rest of him.

"Well," the hero continued, scratching the side of his head as he spoke, "if you want to help Earth by destroying human stuff that's hurting it, why start here? I mean, I know humans aren't that great, especially when it comes to pollution. But isn't there better things you can do to help than this?"

Vaccine Man was stumped by this, which wasn't noted by the human who carried on absent-mindedly.

"Like, take this little girl. She's about eight or something, right? How much damage to the Earth is she doing? What's the worst thing she could have done in her life? Not separate her rubbish into the correct recycling bins? Is that something really worth a death sentence?"

Vaccine Man growled at this, pointing an accusatory finger at the girl.

"She is just another cog of the machine that destroys the Earth! She will do nothing in her life save for living off the Earth's bountiful lifeforce, like a leech!"

The hero blinked at this, looking to the side before turning back to Vaccine Man.

"Don't all animals do that? Isn't that how things work? Animals eat stuff that grows from the Earth, and when they die their body contributes to the Earth in return. You know, the Circle of Life? Or has Lion King lied to me?"

Vaccine Man went to rebuttal, but found he actually had nothing to say back to that. The idiot had a point. So, he decided to move on to another point, one this time that couldn't be argued against.

"But what of the pollution given off by your species? Earth suffers because of it, and if I do not act in her stead, she will eventually die!"

Saitama nodded at this, before shrugging his shoulders.

"I mean, yeah, we're pretty bad at that. That's true. But that doesn't mean we can't be better. But anyway, you're ignoring what I asked earlier: why start here? I mean, if you were blowing up a factory or something that was giving out loads of pollution, that'd make sense. But here? A random city. Seems like you're either wasting your time or are just being an idiot."

A silence filled the space, with Vaccine Man standing there with his mouth agape. And the hero didn't stop there.

"And even if you did blow it up, that'd probably do more damage to the Earth. Seems kinda counterproductive. You could probably do more good overall by just campaigning against pollution than just blowing up those who do pollute. Would probably work out better overall for everyone."

The hero shrugged, clearly not overly invested or interested in the points they were making before they clenched a fist and looked Vaccine Man directly in the eye.

"So, are we going to fight or what?"

Vaccine Man stared at the hero in shock, as he stood there ready to fight. But the fight had left Vaccine Man, his body now shrinking back to his regular size. With an impassive gaze, he looked at the bald hero, observing him for a moment before turning away.

"No, we are not. You have given me much to think about, and I wish to contemplate them fully before acting. Out of curiosity, what is you name human?"

The hero seemed shocked by this but shrugged and responded accordingly.

"Oh. It's Saitama."

And with that, the hero walked away, grabbing the unconscious girl and leaping away, presumably to somewhere she could get healed. Leaving Vaccine Man alone.

"Saitama." He repeated, testing the name out for himself. "We will meet again once I have contemplated your words. Be they wise or the drabbles of a moron, I will find you. And you best hope there's some wisdom there, or else our next meeting will be the last event you ever experience."

He then lept into the air, launching himself toward a large forest in the distance. He had much to think about, and he would need the wisdom of Mother Earth.

Who'd have thought that a human of all creatures would make him doubt his purpose.