Hero Headquarters

The hero headquarters was at the uttermost center of the city of Lavigne while I lived with my mother at the edge, close to the walls surrounding it.

It was the cheapest place we could afford and we were still barely able to pay rent even from the money she got from the place where she worked using her powers.

It was a grade F healing ability. It was so low that all she could do with it was rearrange bones or try growing them a little if she tried her very best.

With no time to spare, I raced to the closest station to my house, with the intention of getting a "Speed train" that would take me directly to the Hero Headquarters(H.H) where I needed to go.

It was designed by "Mecha", one of the seven Ruling heroes in the continent I lived in. City of Lavigne was just one of the cities under it.

As I rush to cross the street, heading for a train terminal, I see different posters of various heroes pasted on walls and street signs. None of Villains since there was a long standing rule that prevented Villians from being in any position of power.

I couldn't even look up at the sky to admire it's vibrant blue colour without seeing a huge helium balloon praising them for the brilliant work they did.

"Urghh," I scoff, hastening my pace as fast as I could to the station, I needed to go.

Finally, I got there. I showed my ID and quickly explained where I was going to the ticketer before I'm able to enter one of the open tubes in front of me since my ID expired the second I turned fifteen, and the exam I was heading to was the only place I could get a new one. 

A way of ensuring that everyone participated.

I squeezed myself through the narrow and still opening door as I ran in, before moving to a safe corner in the open tube, knowing how uncomfortable it could be to remain standing in the middle of the cylindrical tube while it moved.

Seconds slowly ticked by, watching other people enter the small space in my tube, relieved when it finally became full as I could no longer wait for it to leave the station and move at the speed of light before another tube would immediately take its place.

The door was slowly closing after no one seemed to enter after a while, even though there seemed to be enough space for one or two people to stand, when I suddenly saw a boy race into the tube, barely managing to squeeze his lanky body through the hole.

Breathing heavily as he did so, beads of sweat covered and lined his forehead.

"I bare-er-ly made it," he puffed out amidst his struggles of taking huge breaths, 

I, of course, ignored the lanky stranger whose height was vastly more than mine as he stood next to me. Instead, I looked through the transparent walls of the cube watching other people outside, get in and out of their respective cubes,

"Heyy," I unexpectedly hear the boy beside me say, turning my head towards him to find him staring at me with his strikingly attractive deep blue eyes,

"You seem to be around my age," he began to say,

"Or you could be younger...but are you heading to the headquarters for the examination?," he asked, looking at me, eyes roaming my face as he waited for an answer.

Thankfully, I didn't have to speak to him as the tube we were both in began the countdown,

"Three, two, one..." Said an AI voice attached to the tube loudly,

After the count of one, in a blink of an eye, I felt the tube move and with a whooshing sound, I knew I had arrived directly at the train terminal closest to the hero headquarters(H.H).

The speed train was efficiently fast and also expensive. Others that were used to it or already awakened powers  didn't need a minute to rest like I did and a few others, noticing the boy beside me doing the same.

I quickly got down, walking as fast as I could out the tube, and leaving the terminal.  By the time I arrived at the car park in front of the hero headquarters, I was breathing heavily glad that the bag on my back was light with only a few things in it.

I walked steadily towards the entrance, trying my best to get there as fast as I could, when I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder and a familiar voice speak beside me, 

"We- wait," pulling me back slightly as the bent over person used that chance to catch his breath.

Lifting his head, I immediately recognized  the tube guy, who unlike me who had sweat patches underneath my armpit, his entire face was covered in sweat, with him using the hand towel in his hand to constantly wipe his face.

I would have stepped back in disgust if he, in any way, smelt bad, but he didn't.

"What?, " I asked a little pissed at why this tall guy kept trying to talk to me, 

"You do know that both of us are already late for the examination," I said before turning back around and began to walk even faster towards the entrance hoping that through some sort of grace, I would still be able to get my exam done. 

The next chance would be next year, and I'd rather chew glass than wait that long.

Hearing footsteps walking behind me, I couldn't help but sigh loudly, wondering what the person behind me wanted.

"I know I'm late but it's just that since we're both going to the same place, I think it would be nice to get to know each other," he said once he got beside me, managing to match my pace and throwing a side glance at me which I noticed and completely ignored as I continued walking, thankful that the entrance was close by.

"My name is Kin, what's yours?" He asked as I watched him nervously pass his right hand through his cleanly cut black hair, opposed to mine, which I felt was now pointing in every direction, and would instantly bundle together if I so much as tried to pass my fingers through them. 

"Ray," I gruffly replied before I continued speaking, slightly intrigued by the individual beside me, but still cautious enough to act uninterested, 

"Shouldn't you be looking for friends after the examination and not before? What if I fail and I become a red collared citizen?" I asked wondering if by chance this person's thought patterns were similar to mine or if he was merely one of those goody-two-shoes whose goal in life was to waltz through life pretending to be angels while being nothing but hypocritical demons.