Kurumi, Takehiro, and Mr. Kenta walked around the forest, looking for any signs of a bear.
"I thought that was a bear!" Kurumi said. "It really looked like one!"
"Yep!" Takehiro nodded. "Guess we'll find one soon!"
Mr. Kenta kept pointing his flashlight around, looking for any signs. "Seems this area is clear! Let's move forward!"
They walked ahead, pointing the flashlight between numerous trees. Eventually, they saw Kumiko, who was covering her face because of the light.
"Kumiko?" they all questioned. "You're here?"
She nodded. "I lost Mykhail on the right side! We should go look for him!"
"Okay!" Mr. Kenta said. "Everyone ready?"
They all agreed at once, and they began their way to the other side of the woods. In the distance, they could hear a strange sound, but they all ignored it.
"How much farther were you, Kumiko?" Mr. Kenta asked.
"Not much!" Kumiko replied. "I think he's close!"
They reached a more open arena of the woods, and when they did, they saw a horrific sight.
Dozens of bears lay dead, their heads or limbs missing, bodies cut open, and eyes stabbed out. Mr. Kenta pointed a flashlight at one of the corpses.
"Oh my!" Kumiko gasped. "Did they do this to themselves?"
Takehiro and Kurumi also took in the horrible sight, confused about how to react.
"Did they get sick and die?" Kurumi asked. "It must have been some disease!"
Mr. Kenta narrowed his eyes, noticing a hole in the floor nearby. "Hmm..."
But he turned the flashlight away from it, shrugging. "Whatever happened here, I guess it's between them! Let's keep looking for Mykhail!"
They headed away from the corpses, not noticing someone hiding behind a tree, covered in blood.
As they looked around further and further, it began to get even darker. Mr. Kenta stopped walking.
"Do you all have his phone number? Someone could call him!"
"Great idea!" Kumiko remarked. "I'll call him and let him know where we are!"
She dialed his number, and after a few minutes, he picked up.
"Hello?"
"Mykhail! We're all looking for you! Where did you go?"
"Uhh, yeah! Just head back to the lodge! I'll meet you there!"
"Alright! Bye!"
She hung up and turned back to the group. "He said go to the lodge!"
"Okay!" they all said, in sync.
They made their way back to the lodge, where they found Mykhail, his shirt missing.
"Guys! Uh, sorry for ditching. Issues came up."
"It's okay!" Kumiko said. "I think the bear problem has been solved!"
Mr. Kenta nodded. "Saw a bunch of dead bears in the forest. That should keep them away from my lodge!"
Mykhail visibly tensed up after they mentioned it, but he quickly played it off. "Oh, great? Does this mean we can go home now?"
"It's dark, so you should all spend the night!" Mr. Kenta suggested. "Wouldn't want to run into any more bears on the way home, would we?"
"Yeah!" Takehiro said. "Let's do it!"
Kurumi and Kumiko agreed as well, leaving Mykhail outnumbered. "Crap, okay."
"Come on! I've got ingredients inside!" Mr. Kenta said. "I'll make dinner!"
Takehiro, Kumiko, and Kurumi walked inside, leaving Mykhail as the last one outdoors.
"I'll join in a second. I need to go find my wallet real quick."
"Okay!" Mr. Kenta said. "Don't run into any bears!"
He walked inside and closed the door, but he secretly waited by the nearest window, seeing Mykhail walk up to a nearby tree.
"Hmm..."
Mykhail checked to make sure no one was looking, and he picked up the sword that was set up behind the tree.
"Now you, what are you? I know no one on this planet would leave any sort of weapon lying around, so where could you possibly come from?"
The sword glowed light blue twice, before losing its glow. "Huh? Is that a message?"
But the sword didn't glow again, leaving Mykhail to set it back down. "Whatever you are, you're definitely not the norm, so I'll have to hide you."
He crept back to the lodge. "Be back later."
Once he opened the door, he found Mr. Kenta in the kitchen. "Found your wallet?"
"Yeah," Mykhail said. "It was buried under some leaves.
Mr. Kenta took out some ingredients from the fridge. "Good thing you found it! You can do whatever you want while I make food!"
While the others sat in the living room and talked, Mykhail walked into the bathroom, freshening up his face. As he looked in the mirror, he noticed his body had become noticeably more toned.
"Did I gain abs?"
He washed his dreadlocks and put more water on his face before leaving, but as he tried to open the door, he pulled it off the hinge.
"SHIT."
He tried to place it back in its proper position, but Kumiko noticed him. "Mykhail? Are you okay?"
She saw him struggling to put the door back. "Oh! A broken door! Mr. Kenta! Your bathroom door fell off!"
Mr. Kenta soon appeared next to her. "Is that so? I just had it fixed! Well, no matter! I'll just fix it again! Come on out, Mykhail!"
Mykhail nervously walked around the bathroom door. "Sorry about that!"
"It's okay!"
Kumiko sat back down on the couch, inviting Mykhail to sit down as well. "Join us, Mykhail!"
"Sure, sure..."
He sat down, and as he did, he remembered the earlier events that occurred. He remembered the blood, the violence, and the death that he had caused.
"That...that's not human..." he muttered.
"Hmm?" Kurumi asked. "Did you say something, Mykhail?"
He jolted back to reality. "Huh? Sorry, just talking to myself."
As she went back to discussing things with the others, Mykhail sat in silence, attempting to clear his head. Before long, Mr. Kenta called them for dinner.
"Here!" he said, serving them plates of chicken and rice. "Take as much as you like!"
While the others sat and ate their food, Mr. Kenta handed Mykhail a shirt and leaned in to whisper to him with a stern look.
"Here. Wear this. Remember, Mykhail, there are things you shouldn't be careless about."
Mykhail's eyes widened, but before he could question it, Mr. Kenta went back to the kitchen, a smile on his face.
"Mr. Kenta?" Mykhail wondered. "He's not...he's not...?"
Mykhail took a step back. "Uh, I'll head back outside for a minute! Be right back!"
Mr. Kenta watched as Mykhail left, but didn't say anything. The other three had begun playing card games in the living room.
Outside of the house, Mykhail sat on the porch, breathing heavily. "I'm dreaming! This is all one big dream! No way Mr. Kenta could be some secretly rebellious individual, right? Unless...he's like me?"
Mykhail peered back into the lodge from the window, but Mr. Kenta was cleaning up his kitchen.
"Right. Just shaken from the bear attack. Hell, maybe that sword was fake too. I should go inside and get some sleep."
He went back to the lodge. "Mr. Kenta, where are the beds? I need sleep."
Mr. Kenta pointed to a room down the hall. "Last room on the left! Get a good night's sleep, Mykhail!"
Mykhail got up, stumbling to the bedroom. The others watched as he hopped into a bed.
"Should we go to sleep as well?" Kumiko asked.
"Sure!" Takehiro replied. "Let's count all these cards before we do!"
"Alright!"
Not long after, everyone hit the beds, and Mykhail drifted to sleep after a period of unease.
The next morning, he woke up in a cold sweat, realizing he was in his bed. "I'm home?"
He got up, feeling the walls to make sure he wasn't still dreaming. "I knew it! It was some stupid dream! As if a glowing sword could exist in a world like this! I'm so gullible—-!"
BOOM.
The same sword from last night flew through his window, making him scream.
"AHHHH! What the hell?"
It impaled itself right into the ground, with a comic book attached to it. Mykhail reached out and touched the blade, pricking his finger on it. "Okay! Definitely not dreaming!"
"Mykhail?" his mother called out. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes, mom! That sound came from my computer! You know, latest romance movie!"
"Okay!" she said. "Enjoy your movie!"
He breathed a sigh of relief as she went back to doing what she was doing. "Okay, somehow I end up home, and now there's a SWORD in my damn room. Someone's gotta be responsible for this."
He remembered Mr. Kenta's suspicious behavior. "No way, he's always been a regular old man, hasn't he?"
Mykhail gently pulled the comic from under the blade, reading the cover, which said:
"Captain Justice Does it Again!"
The cover featured a costumed man throwing a punch at what appeared to be a criminal in an orange suit.
"What's this? A Halloween book?"
He turned the first page, and he saw Captain Justice fighting a band of criminals, with the caption:
"A superhero's job is never done!"
"Superhero?" Mykhail wondered. "What's that?"
He turned to another page, which featured Captain Justice saving a woman from a burning building. The caption read:
"A superhero saves all, no matter what it takes!"
Mykhail examined the pages. "Wow, that looks kinda fun!"
Then a thought came to his mind. "If I become a superhero, will this world finally change? Will I be able to go out and save people?"
He flipped the page again, which showed Captain Justice facing off against a supervillain named Captain Injustice.
"A superhero must be able to defeat his greatest foes, even if it costs his life!"
Mykhail stared at the page in awe. "They're fighting! Fighting each other, not just a game!"
He closed the book, a smile crossing his face. "Screw it! I'll become a hero, and change this boring world!"
He set the book down and picked the sword up. "Hero duties, here I come!"
Then he stopped. "Wait, I don't think this is how it works."
He immediately rushed to his computer and started typing in the word "superhero."
"Hmm," Mykhail wondered. "Says they're people who help others. Now how do I become one?"
He typed in "how to become a superhero" and found a few answers, one of which read:
"Superheroes traditionally have a superhero costume and a superhero name. They usually keep their identities secret from the public and act in the interest of others."
"A costume, eh? But it's summertime, all Halloween shops aren't open yet."
He searched "costumes for sale" on the web, and found a few links. "I'll need something good. Can't look like a total idiot in public."
He clicked through various images, looking for something that fit his tastes. Eventually, he found something.
"Customize your own superhero costume? Uh, YES!"
He played around with a few designs, before settling on a light blue and black costume with a light blue cape, black cowl, boots and hood, and a giant utility belt.
"Hmm, this seems like it could work. Wait, if I'm using the sword, I'll need something to put it in."
He settled for a sheath attached to the back, and once he was satisfied, he clicked submit.
"3,000 DOLLARS?" he exclaimed, nearly falling out of his chair. "That's almost my entire savings!"
He looked outside his window, taking one look at the houses that mirrored his. "Well, I guess if it works, it'll be worth the money."
He clicked submit, and it took him to a page that read: "Name Selection."
"Right, my superhero name. Hmm...what would work?"
He looked back at the comic. "Captain Justice...what if I just do Justice? Yeah, yeah! That's different enough! Justice. Submit."
He sat back as the screen loaded up the next page. "I'll be giving justice to this world, that's for sure."
The screen took him to another page, which read: "Emblem Selection."
"Emblem? What's that?"
There were a variety of logos on the screen, and every time Mykhail clicked one, it put it in the middle of his outfit.
"Oh, a logo for my chest? Okay, let's see what goes with my name..."
He scrolled down and tried a couple, but eventually, he found a scale of justice. "That looks cool! Submit."
He reached the end, where he had to pay for the costume itself. "Here goes."
Once he did, a notification popped up, reading: "Thanks for the purchase! The item will be delivered in about 24 hours!"
"Only a day? Not bad!"
He got up and approached the sword in the middle of his room, and he took a deep breath before lifting it.
"I wonder how it will feel...to be a hero."
——