What does it mean to be a Hero?
Is it to be powerful? To be able to defeat every enemy they face? Or is it their incredible powers that no human can ever hope to match? Maybe it's the fame they gained for beating the villains and for having such amazing powers? Most would say that a hero is a hero because they beat the bad guys, others would say it's because they have superpowers which makes them heroes.
The answer…
Is none of the above! It's not their powers! Their fame! Or how many bad guys they beat!
No…
A Hero is a Hero because of their ability to overcome hardship. To be able to rise above the suffering and misfortune, and be able to help better themselves and others around them. To inspire them to be better!
A Hero is who the people can look towards when they need help. Or when they need someone to simply be there for them, to be a shoulder to cry on. That… that is what it means to be a Hero.
So why!?
Why is it that I! Of all people! Became the murder happy psychopath! Known as Homelander!?
____________________________
"AAAHHHH!!!"
"WOOOHHHHH!"
"HOMELANDER!!!!"
His heart was pounding against his chest rapidly. One moment he was saving a child from getting hit by a truck the next he appeared on a stage with thousands of people screaming at him.
Frantically looking around to try and make sense of what was happening, he found a blond-haired woman glaring at him piercingly, making him flinch and whip his head away to look at anything but her.
"Where am I!? How am I here!? What on earth is happening!? And why is that woman glaring at me!?!?"
While he was busy panicking an announcer got on stage and stood next to him before bringing the mike in his hand up to their face and began talking.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Introducing America's Greatest Hero! The Homelander!!!"
"…what?"
He was frozen in fear as his body shook from all the eyes on him, the overwhelming feeling of having thousands of eyes having their attention on him was terrifying. He was about to make a run for it, before hearing a voice in his left ear.
"What are you doing?! Don't just stand there and look pretty! Stick to the script we gave you Homelander!" It was a feminine and condescending voice that made his already frazzled nerves go into a nervous shock.
"Script? What script!? I don't even know what's going on!"
Looking at all the people who were looking at him expectantly, with admiration and smiles on their faces he couldn't help but let out a nervous laugh while a shaky smile appeared on his own face and gave an awkward wave to the crowd.
"H-Hello everyone, I-I'm Homelander?" He said hesitantly, unsure of what he was doing. He felt a hot wave of embarrassment washes over him, his entire body felt like it was on fire, did he really just say he was Homelander? The embarrassment was killing him.
He expected a deafening silence but was instead met with deafening cheers as the crowd went wild, causing him to almost jerk back in surprise. The stadium full of people were in a frenzy, full of shouts and cheers for their newest hero.
"…I died and went to hell." He thought sadly to himself. What else can you call this? It was an introvert's worst nightmare made real, all the loud noises, the flashing of lights, and far! Far! Too many people for him to handle! Worst of all he was the center of attention!
Speaking of loud noises, why was everything getting louder? And why is everyone suddenly naked!? He looked away from the crowd and looked down at his feet instead, only to see hundreds of wires and bugs crawling around below, almost causing him to flinch. He felt himself getting a splitting headache as more and more of his senses reached a level that he had no experience with.
"W-Wha, What is happening to me!?" The man struggled to take control of himself. "I-I n-need to calm down, y-yeah, calm."
He took a deep breath and just like that everything became as it was before, instinct seemed to take over as his body suddenly relaxed on its own. "This is all probably a dream and I will wake up at any moment now, in the hospital, with friends and family surrendering me."
Unfortunately, that never happened.
"Homelander has been in training for quite some time! And now he is ready to stand for peace and justice! For the American dream!" The spoke person shouted out, "What do you have to say to that Homelander?
"…F***!"
_________________
Two Years Later
"Life is meaningless, everything we do is meaningless." A young girl at the young age of eighteen thought to herself, "We were born into this world not by our choice but by that of others, and our lives continue to be shaped by others, as free will is nothing but a lie made by others."
She stood at the edge of a twenty-story building looking down at the busy street below her. Blonde hair blew past her face, as she clutched onto her necklace wrapped around her neck. The girl wore a beaten-up coat that looked like it would fall apart at any moment, with pants that match looking equally as worn out. Her entire body was shivering from how cold it was. She tried desperately to gather some warmth but due to the poor conditioning of her clothes, it was of no help.
If she jumped would anybody care?
No, because she has no one, no friends or family.
If she jumped would all her problems and worries be taken away?
Yes.
If she jumped would it affect anything?
No, she would simply become another statistic on the board about how many people had died that year.
If she jumped would she finally be free from the prison that they call society?
Yes.
…If she jumped…
She tried finding a reason, any reason! For why she shouldn't jump, but nothing came to her. There was no reason as to why she shouldn't. Tears began forming as she prepared herself for what was to come, clutching her necklace all the while.
As she did so, memories of her life flashed before her eyes, of how it all started so well. How she was so naive to think that she had a bright future ahead of her when she graduated high school at the top of her school when in reality there was nothing but misfortune awaiting her.
She looked at the necklace, the last gift her mother gave her before she died, and was now the last thing she owned. The girl had nothing left. She had no money! No home to stay! No friends or family to rely on! Nothing!!!
Her stomach rumbled due to not having eaten in days, and the last thing she ate was thrown out half eaten pizza. The girl hadn't had a good meal for months now.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her tense body relaxed as she made one final step forward, ready to end her meaningless life, to make all the pain and suffering go away.
"Jumping is a coward's way out, you know." A deep, masculine voice rang out beside her, causing her to flinch back away from the edge and trip on her own feet making her fall backward. "Whoa! Careful now! Don't want you to get hurt!"
Warm, comforting arms grabbed hold of her before she could hit the ground. She looked at the person who helped her and saw brilliant blue eyes looking at her and a warm smile greeted her. She knows who he is, hell everyone on earth knows who he is! He was Earth's greatest hero!
"H-Homelander." She murmured out in disbelief. The warm smile seemed to still for a micro of a second before he let out a booming laugh.
"Haha! The one and only! Though you can call me John." The girl's lips formed a small smile at his jovial mood, but it fell short.
The hero in front of her seemed to notice, and his smile also fell, and for a moment, just a moment…she could see how tired he was. But just as fast as it appeared, it dispersed as the warm smile came back.
"Look kid, I know I don't know anything about you and your situation, and that I can never know how you feel, and all that, but can we just skip all that? Please? And skip to the part where I help you?" John asked while he took off his cape and draped it over her, the warmth it emitted encased her, and the world's greatest hero gave her a kind smile. "Everything's going to be alright now, know why?"
She looked at him stunned and unsure as to how to respond to what he was saying.
"W-Why?"
He looked at her and somehow with an even bigger and brighter smile, he gave her a simple reply.
"Because I am here. And I will make sure you get the help you need, you have my word."
She looked at him in disbelief, did he really mean that? Was he really going to help her? Someone he doesn't even know? She held onto the cape, which was bigger than her by quite a few feet, and began to shake. Hot tears streamed down her eyes and she couldn't seem to hold it back no matter how hard she tried.
"Come on, let's get you something warm to eat, you look like you haven't eaten in da-oof!" Before he could finish talking, he felt a body collide with his and a skinny pair of arms wrapped around him.
"T-Thank y-you, th-thank you so much."
The next thing he knew, the girl that he was talking to was crying against his chest, and his suit became a lot wetter than when it was before. He looked down at the girl hugging him with everything she had, and couldn't help but smile. His arms hesitantly raised and paused for a moment, until he finally hugged her back. John felt her flinch but relaxed when she realized he meant her no harm, and much to his surprise, fell asleep in his arms.
"T-Thank y-you, th-thank you." She pitifully murmured out.
"This is why I do this, this is why I'm here. I am the Hero that the people need, and I will make sure psychopaths like Homelander never exist."
A hot fire burned inside him as he looked at the girl. This world was twisted, cruel, and rotten to the core, but moments like these make it worth it.
________________________
Ten minutes later
"You can't keep saving every stray cat you see, John." A beautiful woman with flowing sun-kissed hair said while standing next to the world's greatest hero. She had a small smile on her face, but couldn't help but shake her head in resignation when he finished setting up the girl in one of his many help centers. John looked at her in false confusion, wondering what she meant by that. Cat? What cat?
"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm simply doing my job." The hero said before taking off into the sky, the woman followed after him, also taking flight.
"You know exactly what I mean! You are always busy! It's either taking care of bad guys on Monday, saving people on Tuesday and Wednesday, going to charity on Thursday, or helping someone get their pet cat down a tree on Friday! And on the days WE are supposed to take a break, YOU go and help or save people again!" She listed off while bringing up a finger for each day listed.
"You say that as if it's a bad thing?" He raised an eyebrow in confusion at what she just said. It was quite literally his job, he got paid good money to be a hero, and while he would always spend almost all of his money on charity, the leftover amount was still more than enough for him to be happy with.
"I'm not saying that it's a bad thing, John. All I'm saying is that you need to take a break, a vacation! You may be the world's greatest hero, but that doesn't mean you're not human." She said, now flying directly next to him, bumping into his shoulder in order to get her point across.
They were close together now, as they flew across the sky, sometimes waving down at the people below them or waving airplanes flying overhead or other heroes. The hero pondered, deep in thought, after a few minutes passed by he let out a tired sigh as his body saged mid-flight.
"…You're right, I do need a break," the hero mumbled begrudgingly. The heroine looked at him with a smile of victory blooming on her face, she opened her mouth to speak but before she could say anything she was interrupted.
"But only for one day, I don't want anything bad to happen just because I took a day off."
While not the outcome she was hoping for, the blond-haired woman decided not to look a gifted horse in the mouth. She had been trying to convince him to take a break for years now, and even if it was only for a day, she called this progress!
A beautiful warm smile appeared on her face as her eyes met his, causing the blond-haired man to look away from her due to just how beautiful she was. She let out a giggle, she still couldn't believe a man like him existed in this type of world.
The woman's eyes gained a faraway look as she began to reminisce. Their first meeting was different from what the public was told. It was not in fact on an island full of only women, nor was it love at first sight when they met. ( Well, Maybe not for him at least ) In fact, their first time teaming up could've very well ended up catastrophic.
"That's Great!" She cried out in happiness, she grabbed him by the hand and flew up into the sky at high speeds. "I know just the place! It's a small homey shop on the coast of Hawaii! I've been there many times! You'll love it!"
John could only let out a small sigh as he allowed himself to be pulled along by her. This would be his first-ever break for the first time in two years. One day was all he could afford to spend, anything longer than that and the hero community would go insane for his inactivity. He still couldn't believe two years had passed since he became Homelander.