Superhero

Blake Baldwin seemed to have the perfect life. He was a member of the popular crowd at Baltimore high school, he always excelled in athletics, he was the star quarterback, and he received passing grades, even though he was never good at that particular activity. Just when his life couldn't possibly get better, every night Blake put on his superhero suit and fought crime in his hometown. Now before everyone envies Blake and says he has the greatest life ever, we need to see life from Blake's perspective or take a walk in his shoes.
When Blake was a small boy, he never displayed any abnormal ability, never stood out from the rest of his classmates, never showed any sign of being extraordinary in any way. While growing up, Blake had many abnormal suspicions about his family, his dad in particular. His dad was an accountant at a local business every day Blake would see him put on his suit, grab his suitcase, kiss his wife goodbye, and leave for work. The only problem is that he had never seen his dad’s office. It just seemed that his family never talked about where the location of this office was and never discussed what he had accomplished that day. Not to mention the fact that his dad was the only member of his distant family who had the build of a six-foot bodybuilder, and Blake had never seen him work out or exercise.
For as long as Blake's hometown of Baltimore can remember, they have had a protector, a single man equipped with superpowers who has saved the town from crime and mischief on multiple levels. Blake always envied their local protector, Mr. Spectacular, although in his household he was often reprimanded for idolizing him, usually being told to, “Keep your head out of the clouds” or “Set realistic goals for yourself.” Blake always felt angry at his parents for attempting to keep superheroes out of his mind, partially because all his friends all wore Mr. Spectacular t-shirts and spent all their time speaking about him, but he was never allowed to wear the distinct logo of the local hero. At the time he didn’t understand, but eventually he would. Being a superhero is awful.
When Blake turned twelve he began to realize many strange things about himself. First he noticed that he gained athletic abilities much faster than all of his peers. At recess he could run faster and farther, he could throw a football farther and higher, and he could even jump significantly higher than all of his friends. After his thirteenth birthday things became much more drastic. Blake began to go through changes that he could hardly understand, sometimes if he focused at a wall for a minute he could visualize a vague outline of what lies behind it. Often when Blake would test his vertical he would jump in the air and just levitate for periods up to three seconds before returning to the ground. When Blake turned sixteen he decided that he should talk with his parents about his abilities. Blake was very confused about what was different about him and was looking for some form of consolation from his parents, except he didn’t receive any. His mother and father told him that he was imagining all of these things and that if he was to bring them up again he would be punished. At this point Blake is confused, why wouldn’t his parents listen to him about these strange abilities he has? He decided that he needed to obey their orders and ignore all abnormalities he experiences.
Now Blake became tormented by his strange abilities. He would often find himself lifting heavy objects by accident, listening to individual conversations from several hundred feet away, seeing entirely through objects, reading small-print words from across the room, and many other abnormal blessings. One day at his lunch break his high school bully told him to empty his backpack and remove any objects of any value. Blake feared for what would happen with this man, who was close to 200 pounds heavier than him, but he stood his ground and told him to leave him alone. This was the first time that this particular bully’s requests were rejected, and he became outraged that he wouldn’t be listened to. He attempted to force Blake to give up his possessions by striking him, although he was quickly outmatched. When Blake’s bully threw the first punch the entire building around him seemed to move in slow motion. He saw a fist slowly moving to his face, he made a note of all civilians around him to avoid any unnecessary casualties, and the next few seconds felt strangely natural to him. He blocked the first hit thrown at him, and quickly counterattacked with a fast stunning blow to the bully’s ribs. Never had Blake felt that he was doing what was made for him until that moment. When he stopped that bully he felt like he was doing the most natural for him, he considered a life in law enforcement to chase the feeling of helping others and ending people that got happiness from others pain. He finally felt like he had found his calling.
Blake’s parents, however, felt the complete opposite way he did. When they received word of the schoolyard fight they were ecstatic. When Blake got home that night he was told he would be losing all privileges and was sent directly into his bedroom. Blake sat solitarily in his bedroom. While he was alone he thought to himself, why was he being punished for this? He didn’t do anything wrong, he simply defended himself by standing up to a bully. His thoughts were quickly interrupted by loud arguing coming from the family room. The shouts of his mother and father were muffled by the wall and door, so he attempted to listen by leaning on his bedroom door and pressing his ear to the side. The fragments of his parent’s conversation that he heard were very vague. He heard his mother remark that it would be dangerous to let him know. Know what? Was she even referring to him? After a minute of uninterpretable arguing he heard a remark from his father that it was the right time to tell him, because his mother never had to experience what it was like growing up with an unnatural ability.
“What gift?” thought Blake. “Were they finally addressing the strange abilities Blake possessed since he was in his teen years?”
Blake’s train of thought was immediately interrupted when his father flung open his bedroom door, causing him to fall to the floor of the hallway.
“Get to your feet son,” said Blake’s dad. He always held a strong, drill sergeant-like tone to his voice.
“Just looking for change,” muttered Blake at his shoes, trying to avoid the embarrassment of letting his father know that he was eavesdropping on their conversation.
“Son, its time you learned something about your family history,” announced Blake’s father.
“O-ok,” stuttered Blake.
Blake's father led him to the large mahogany bookshelf in the family living room. Blake grew up with that bookshelf always there, almost never thinking anything about it. Whenever he approached it as a child he was often told to leave it alone, and never understood why until now. When his father reached the shelf he examined it for a moment and pulled a book out. At first Blake assumed it would be a book about his family, perhaps an album of photos of distant relatives, but he was horribly wrong. After a brief moment of silence, the mahogany bookshelf began to slowly slide to the left, leaving a huge corridor right in the middle of the Baldwin living room.
“How long has that been there?” asked Blake, astounded that he could be so oblivious to such a large corridor.
“Don't speak,” said Blake’s father, “just listen.”
The two walked down the long dark corridor until they came to a steel door. Blake’s father walked to a small panel on the side of the door and looked into a small hole. A green line scanned up and down his eye momentarily until the door began to creak open.
The next moment changed Blake’s life in every aspect. Until now Blake was a young boy, without a responsibility or care in the world. But from this moment on Blake was forced to hold the hardest profession in the entire world, without a single thank you.
“You’re- you’re,” stuttered Blake.
“Mr. Spectacular, yeah.” said Blake’s dad nonchalantly.
Blake stared into the suit he had always seen on his idol, the distinct Mr. Spectacular suit. Blake had no idea how to react in a moment like this. Eventually he spoke up.
“How do you-?” said Blake before he was cut off.
“All of our ancestors displayed unnatural powers that people have never understood, and just like them you will too,” said Blake’s dad.
The next few months of Blake’s life were hard, to say the least. Every second that he wasn’t spending doing schoolwork or in sports he was learning to harness his special abilities by his father. If you thought keeping good grades was tiring, try keeping good grades and learning how to be a superhero. After months of intense training he was ready to take over the family business, he became the next Mr. Spectacular.
If you think that’s a blessing for Blake you are completely and utterly wrong. He receives little to no sleep, considering that most crime happens at night. He is never thanked for his hard work, because he needs to keep his identity safe. He is constantly challenged by the most professional criminals in the entire world, wanting to see if they can outsmart the amazing Mr. Spectacular. He will never be able to pursue a different career, because superheroes don’t grow on trees. And worst of all, he isn’t allowed to tell a single one of his friends that he is Mr. Spectacular, the man that every one of them envy.