A month had passed since the battle against the King Serpent, and the world had settled into a relative calm. There had been no other major attacks like Kaiju. So one might think that things would calm down from there but that was far from the case.
Brandon had already debuted as a hero and had quickly become well-known, mostly because he was the one who finished the King Serpent. This solidified his identity as Ultra-man so there wasn't much point in him remaining hidden. This might sound risky, especially since Omni-Man was now aware of him and so were many other villains, but it was also an opportunity. Without the need to hide, Brandon could officially start doing hero work and that's exactly what he did.
From walking grandmas across the road to destroying a ship of alien slavers, Brandon took on every task, big or small. The more he helped, the more he grew in experience. The only problem he had was his opponents… so far they had all been too weak to truly test himself.
Which limited the growth he wanted to have but he didn't let that bother him too much and just practiced the martial arts that Zod showed him along with his abilities whenever he had the time. Thanks to that he had already unlocked basically everything and had a decent amount of control.
But what probably helped him the most were the sun baths he'd started taking daily. Each trip made his cells feel revitalized as they grew stronger and stronger
'Maybe I should go on one more trip before calling it a day?' Brandon thought to himself as he flew through the sky. Feeling it was a good way to end the day he began going higher when his ears picked up on some commotion coming from the city.
Halting in place Brandon didn't hesitate to head down and see what was going on. Following the sounds of sirens Brandon made his way to the commotion where he found a couple of fire trucks lined around a building along with a crowd of people who probably came to see what was going on.
Following their line of sight Brandon saw what everyone was looking at. On the top of the building was a girl around his age, an age where people should be enjoying life and having fun but for one reason or another it looked like she was trying to end it.
There were other firefighters as well also present doing their best to de-escalate the situation but it didn't seem to be working. Getting too close to her was also risky, one missed step and she was gone.
Floating down Brandon came into view of the people eliciting happy reactions since no tragedy was likely to happen with a hero present, especially one that could fly. Well almost everyone was happy.
"Why, Why do you have to be here, just go away!"
Feeling confident with his arrival the firefighters began to move but Brandon lifted his hand and stopped them.
"How about you leave this one to me?"
"Ugh we can't do that Ultra-man there's…" however before they could continue talking Brandon had already acted and had taken the girl away from there. Leaving the firefighters standing alone on the roof.
.
.
.
Not too far away on top of another building, Brandon landed softly with the girl. Who was currently slapping him and doing everything she could to get away but it was pretty clear that her efforts were useless.
"Dammit, your kidnapping me! Can't you just mind your own business I want nothing to do with you"
Brandon remained calm despite the girl's frantic attempts to escape. He kept a gentle but firm grip on her arm to prevent her from running away.
"I understand you're upset," he said softly, "but I'm not kidnapping you. I'm just trying to help."
"Help?!" she spat, tears streaming down her face. "You think taking me away from there is helping? You don't know anything about me!"
Brandon sighed, trying to remain patient. "You're right. I don't know you but I do know that whatever you're going through, jumping off that building isn't the answer. In fact, it's the worst one"
The girl glared at him. "Why do you care? You're just some hero who swoops in to save the day and then flies away. You don't have to deal with the aftermath."
"Maybe not," Brandon admitted, "but that doesn't mean I don't care. You matter. Your life matters."
She scoffed hearing that "What do you know? Even after doing this, you will probably just forget about me."
"I won't forget you"
Brandon felt her tighten for a moment in his arms but she played it off again and looked away barely believing what he said.
"Don't believe me? You think I forget every person I've saved?" Brandon asked as he set her down. "Emily, Mark, and their two-year-old son Henry. I saved them in a car crash. Elizabeth I helped her in a mugging. Cherry, Rick, and Joseph in a bank heist." After this Brandon continued to name, name after name.
At first, the girl thought he was just making things up but some of the situations he mentioned were things she had seen him do on the news. But that should be impossible. How could someone remember every person they saved like that?
"Most people don't know this but I'll let you in on a secret. My memory is pretty good. No matter what I see I won't forget and that includes today. Our encounter meeting you today, all of this I won't ever forget. So if there's something you want to share or just want a shoulder to lean on I'm here."
Hearing this the girl stood amazed and hopeful as some tears pulled to the corners of her eyes. How long had she wanted to hear those words? 'Maybe, just maybe it might be ok to talk to him a bit longer.'
After this, the two sat down and talked for a while where he learned some more about her. For starters her name is Angela. She doesn't come from a struggling family nor does she suffer from abuse or bullying but rather her problem is neglect.
Angela's parents are both lawyers and as such they spend most of their time handling cases. Which led to her feeling isolated and it didn't help that kids in her school were jealous of the money her family had. Leaving her with no friends there either. In the beginning, she was okay with it, understanding her parents worked hard for her but after missing several birthdays and Christmas this understanding became resentment.
"Pretty dumb huh, some people try to take their lives because of abuse or bullying but here I am doing it because I'm lonely," she said in a light tone with her head between her knees.
"No, you're not to blame here. If anything your parents take most of that responsibility with your classmates only taking some. If they're so jealous that they ignore you then trust me they're doing you a favor. Such people aren't worth the time or the trouble." Brandon said using some of his past life experience. He had met many such people and had to cut lots of bridges but in the end, he never regretted it.
"Then what do you think I should do? I already tried talking to them but all they give are empty promises! They'll spend time with me for like a day or two and go right back on their word."
"I have a couple of ideas. If it's friends those are easy to make, games are great places to find them. Volunteer centers are also a great place to build meaningful connections. As for your parents, it's not so simple. They need to have a reality check."
Angela agreed with the first two ideas and mentally made a note to try them out but what interested her was giving her parents a reality check. How were they going to do that?
Brandon noticed the questioning look on her face and pulled out his phone. Looking on the screen he went to Google and made a couple searches until he found what he was looking for. The media worked fast and obviously, today's events had definitely been recorded meaning there was literal proof of her attempt. In no way was there a better reality check than this.
"Pass me their number and I'll send them this. If you send it they'll think it's another attempt at attention-grabbing but if it's from someone else…"
"They'll see the problem!
"Exactly and this particular post doesn't mention my arrival"
If this really worked then things would definitely get fixed! Her parents, while distant, weren't mean or cold people. She knew they loved her but they saw love as giving gifts and working hard for one another. When all she wanted was just their time.
Following Brandon's plan he sent the message and the response was quick and went exactly how he expected. They immediately began calling and messaging her like their lives depended on it. Picking it up she talked to them for a long while and from what Brandon heard it sounded like things were going to work out.
Once she was done Brandon flew her back home and left back for his family farm. 'This was definitely different from the usual villain fighting I do but I really enjoyed it.' Brandon thought with a light smile.