Hero of all Worlds- Prologue

His home world was Leosid and it was great. Leosid has a savanna climate for the most part, and is home to dozens of Leonites, a collection of beast species. Unlike the beastfolk common in other worlds, Leonites can change their shape from two legs to four. But Leosid’s inhabitants possess powers even more special than that: talents. A talent is a special power that most have. Whether it’s something they’re born with, like extra limbs, cybernetic enhancements, or a physical abnormality, or something that they develop like elemental powers, or other manifesting talents. The elements still exist in this world, but manifest in talent skills. The elements are mostly controlled and categorized as talents. 

This is the world Kuro grew up in. The tall cities stretching out over the vast savanna were his home. Lions are some of the dominant types of Leonites, kings of the concrete jungles. 

Not everything came easily to the privileged boy, though. Kuro had two talents, minor control over the elements, and a talent he called OverDrive. OverDrive was a cool talent, a simple augmentation power that allowed Kuro to increase his strength and speed exponentially at the cost of increasing damage to his muscles. It was a cost that a young kid could manage. Well, a heathy young kid at least. 

You see, young Kuro had a habit of getting into his fair share of skirmishes with his classmates in elementary school. He wanted to obey the rules and be the perfect little child, but the truth was that life wasn’t fair. He couldn’t back away when anyone needed help. He faced off against school bullies, standing arms spread between them and their target. Bullies would tell him to get out of the way, and he’d stand strong as ever when he told them to leave the other kids alone. Kuro has always been a firm believer in saving everyone. He is naturally selfless, something even rarer than a powerful talent. 

Despite his belief that simple nonviolent actions spoke louder than words and his steadfast adherence to rules, Kuro got into a lot of fights and had to rely on his talents to get out. The principal and his parents understood that he was just trying to do the right thing and be the bigger man, but rules were rules so Kuro sometimes got in trouble for using his talent. 

Talents are heavily regulated for everyone’s safety, but still for some the rush of using a talent is irresistible. Let’s just say that while talents can be used for great things, they can also cause a lot of damage. 

Things changed for Kuro early on, in fourth grade. Using OverDrive tired him out too much and he wouldn’t be able to even move for days, or weeks if he really overdid it. 

So his parents took him to the best ranked children’s hospital to see a talent specialist. Even all these years later Kuro remembers clearly. 

He remembers the halls and all the colors they were painted, fun geometric and safari designs made to keep children happy. He remembers having to be pushed along in a wheelchair, his legs still swollen and torn up from running. He had been chased him from school by a mean kid with an acceleration talent. He remembers sitting in the doctors office and the sterile smell. He remembers the tests well. Nurses made him stand and felt his legs versus his other limbs, they stabbed him to take tissue samples and they drew his blood. He didn’t squirm as much as other kids would have. He didn’t have the strength. 

The doctor assessed his talent. As suspected, the elemental talent was so faint it was almost useless. But OverDrive, that one is powerful. The doctor patted his head and told him, “With a talent like that, you could do anything. All my time seeing kid’s talents but yours has the makings of a hero.” It was true, Kuro’s talent combined with his natural sense of virtue makes him a natural hero, a man truly born and passionate for helping others. 

Kuro remembers waiting. He waited there with his parents, reading comics and talking about heroes. The heroes are so cool to Kuro. It’s an admirable profession and it was a big deal on Leosid. Kuro wanted nothing more than to go pro one day and his parents and friends backed him up all the way. Kuro remembers thinking that he would be a great hero one day and that this medical misadventure would be over soon. It was surely nothing serious. 

Kuro remembers days when he didn’t understand the concept of chronic illness or death. He misses those innocent days; he learned too soon. 

Kuro remembers the doctors coming back. The atmosphere of the room dropped like a stone. 

He remembers getting the news. Muscular dystrophy. Made worse by his talent. 

He remembers the sound it made. It was almost audible, the sound of his hopes, his dreams, and his childhood innocence falling away and shattering. He remembers the sound of his heart breaking. 

He remembers his parents comforting him. He remembers the denial and anger finally melting away into acceptance. He remembers starting the medication. He remembers going back to school. 

He remembers a few words. “You can’t ever use your OverDrive talent again. It’s tearing you apart.”

He remembers crying in front of the TV, watching the heroes do what he’d always dreamed of. He’d never be one of them.