"....Ugh."
Impactor opened his eyes with a groan. He smacked his lips and found himself mindlessly staring at a white ceiling.
"Did I die?"
He mumbled after staring at the ceiling for a while. He sat up with his eyes half open and looked around. He was inside a white room that seemed to be for patients at a hospital.
"I guess not."
He got off the bed and stretched his body with a groan.
"Wait..."
He touched his face.
"My mask is gone!"
He rushed over to a mirror on the wall. He was in a hospital gown and had bandages wrapped around his limbs. His baby face, which didn't match his towering, muscular body, was on full display. With a frown, he touched his curly dark hair.
"Why is my hair shorter?"
"We had it cut."
The door opened and a woman walked in wearing a doctor's coat.
"Some of it was burnt, so we had to cut it."
"Really?"
He looked in the mirror again.
"Not bad. I might need to hire you when I'm rich."
"You want me to be your personal barber? Me?"
Impactor looked at the woman, who was taken aback.
"If you were the one who made me look so good, then why not?"
".....Do you not recognise me? Or rather, why aren't you asking where you are?"
"Your face looks familiar, but I can't remember where I saw you. As for why I'm not panicking, it's because you guys saved me from getting killed when I was down for the count. So, you must be Heroes...I think."
"You don't even sound certain."
The woman sighed.
"Well, I guess a sensible person wouldn't challenge those monsters."
She threw him some clothes.
"Put these on and meet me outside. I'll explain everything then."
Impactor looked at the clothes he was given. It was a pair of jeans and a hoodie similar to what he was wearing before.
"Thanks, uh...."
"Belinha Estela Monteiro Lopes. However, Belinha is fine."
"My name is—"
"Celso Diogo Pereira Araujo, but you call yourself Impactor. We researched you when you were asleep."
"I see."
Belinha looked at him for a while before shaking her head.
"I'll wait for you outside."
"Okay."
She exited the room with a frown.
"I can't believe there's someone who doesn't recognise me."
She showed a small smile.
"It was quite humbling."
Inside the room, Celso, aka Impactor, took off his hospital gown and was beginning to change.
"Belinha....Where have I..."
He turned his head and spotted a magazine on the bedside table. It was titled "Hero Weekly" and on the cover was a familiar face, Belinha, whom he had just met.
"......."
He looked at the magazine for a bit before his eyes slowly widened.
"Oh, shit!"
He quickly changed and exited the room. Belinha was outside the door on her phone.
"Are you the Blood Phoenix?!"
"You finally recognised me?"
Belinha put away her phone with a smile.
"I'm the current #5 Hero, Belinha the Blood Phoenix."
She stretched her hand out.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Impactor."
Impactor took her hand and shook it with a huge grin. She released his hand and pointed with her nose.
"Let's walk and talk."
The two walked down the halls where they bumped into medical staff and patients with varying injuries.
"By the way, we're at the GHF's Lisbon Branch's hospital. We retrieved you from your battle with the Mad Shaman and patched you up."
"Thanks, I would've died without your help."
Belinha glanced at him. He was wearing a bright smile overflowing with gratitude.
"...Impactor, we're on our way to meet with some very important people who want to know all about you."
"Like an interview?! Am I going to be recognised as an official Hero?!"
Impactor's eyes sparkled as he looked at Belinha with obvious excitement.
"That's the plan but—"
"Hell yeah!"
Impactor jumped and hit his head on the ceiling. Belinha stared at the cracks he caused in the roof while he was practically dancing in the hall. After Impactor calmed down, their walk resumed.
"Like I was saying, the Board of Heroes has acknowledged your achievements and is seriously considering making you an official Hero. However, they want to make sure your ideals and ambitions align with the Federation."
She looked at him.
"Basically, some old guys want to make sure you won't destroy the status quo they created."
"I don't really care about all that. I just want money."
"Did you want to become a hero to get rich?"
"Why else would I risk my life?"
Belinha laughed and slapped his back.
"I gotta watch this interview."
A few minutes later, Impactor was inside a boardroom at the hospital. In the room was a large round table with empty seats around it.
"So, who am I going to meet?"
He asked Belinha while looking around.
"They're already here."
A light flashed and the seats around the table were filled with figures, not people but figures. Silhouettes to be more precise.
"What's with the shadow people?"
Impactor frowned.
"Our apologies for not being there in person to praise you for your achievements. Also forgive our appearances, but our identities cannot be shared with just anyone, as rude as it may sound."
The shadow at the head of the table spoke.
"I see, so you guys are the ones who control the world from the shadows?"
".....Excuse me?"
Impactor put on a serious face.
"You know, like a shadow government. Guys that pull the strings and control everything in the world, like you'd see in comics."
The silhouettes looked at each other while Belinha stood in the back with her hand over her mouth, trying to suppress her laughter.
"I don't know how to respond other than....No?"
"I see. My bad."
Silence filled the room for a while before the silhouette of a woman spoke up.
"Impactor, we are aware of your recent achievements and wish to offer you a position in the GHF as an official Hero. However, we need to get to know you better first. Is it okay if we ask you a few questions?"
"Ask away. I'll answer everything truthfully."
The Silhouette nodded.
"First question, why did you want to become a hero?"
"I was broke."
".....Come again?"
"I was broke and Heroes looked rich, so I said Why not?"
Once again, silence filled the room, except for Belinha's intense struggle not to laugh.
"Mr. Araujo."
Another silhouette spoke up.
"Celso or Impactor is fine, Madam."
"Celso, normally when someone is asked such a question, they answer with something along the lines of "I always had a strong sense of justice" or "I just want to help people", something like that. However, you said—"
"I was broke."
Impactor repeated.
"That's right."
"I was just being honest, though. I'm broke as hell. Especially after I took a loan to fly to Africa to defeat Alala, but she got away and I wasn't able to claim her bounty. Now I'm broker than when I started. I'm just glad Sinvula came to Portugal, so I could fight him. Speaking of—"
He stretched his hand out.
"Can I get my first paycheque now? I don't have enough money to take a taxi home."
Once again, the room became silent.
"Hahahahaha!"
But this time, Belinha couldn't hold in her laughter. She turned to face a wall and covered her mouth, but it was no use. Her laugh couldn't be suppressed.
"Belinha, that's unbefitting."
One of the silhouettes called her out.
"M-My apologies."
She turned to face them while trying to keep a straight face, but failed miserably.
"...Impactor, is money all you care about?"
"Of course not. However, I have a family I need to take care of, so it ranks pretty high on my list of important stuff. Right above sleeping but below food."
"You can't be serious."
"Oh, but I am. You can argue that sleep is more important than money, but if you're rich, you can sleep on a nice bed; if you're poor, you might be sleeping on the cold, hard floor, which means you're not getting much sleep. In other words, you need money to sleep, so money trumps sleep. However, you can't sleep if you're starving and you can't eat money, well you can but it probably tastes like shit. Anyway, food above both of them."
"Puhahahahaha!"
Belinha were beating the walls with her fist while laughing hysterically. The silhouettes sat in silence while Impactor wore a proud smile.
"So...Let me get this straight. The reason you fought two Calamities is because..."
"I want to be a Hero."
"And you want to be a Hero because..."
"I'm broke."
"....So you picked a fight with the strongest people in the world for—"
"Money, yes. Now I'd appreciate it if I could get a pay advancement."
A sigh came from the silhouettes.
"Impactor, you said money is very important, something I agree with, but your love for it seems unnatural. I mean, you entered a civil war to fight the biggest warmonger on the planet. That's the definition of insane."
"Really? I just went after them because they had the biggest bounties and defeating one or all would ensure I would become a Hero. I don't think it was insane."
"You could've died."
"And?"
"Pardon?"
Impactor stared at the silhouettes with an unwavering gaze.
"So what if I could die? I can die any time. I can drop dead while talking to you here. If that's the case, why would I fear death to the point I would prefer to suffer and watch my family go through hardship after hardship? Why would I sit back and watch them give up on their hopes and dreams?"
Belinha stopped laughing and turned towards Impactor as he spoke with conviction.
"If you didn't know, the poor have no right to dream. All we can do is work ourselves to death, just to continue our measly existence. I don't want such a life for my family. So if I can give them the right to dream by risking my life, then death is nothing."
His eyes narrowed.
"But don't get me wrong. Death will have to fight like hell to get me."
The room was once again silenced, but for a different reason.
"Impactor, I'm going to ask a question and please don't be offended."
The head silhouette leaned forward.
"Why didn't you become a Villain? If all you desired was money, then a life of crime could've brought you that."
"Are you stupid?"
"Huh?"
The Head Silhouette was taken aback by Impactor's response. Impactor ignored his reaction and spoke.
"If I became a Villain, my family would disown me. Hell, my father might try to kill me himself."
He shook his head.
"A life of crime was impossible for me."
"You say that, but your file says you were arrested throughout your childhood for violent acts."
Impactor flinched.
"S-Self-defence."
"It says here you broke into a classmate's house and broke his legs."
".....I was going through a rough patch."
"You were also the leader of a gang of juvenile criminals that had nearly a thousand members."
"....It was a misunderstanding."
"Mr. Impactor."
"Alright, alright. I had a troubled past. But don't we all?"
"I don't think any of us..."
A Silhouette picked up the papers in front of them.
"Hijacked a police car and entered a street race with it."
"I did."
Another silhouette spoke, causing everyone to look at them. They shrugged.
"Like the kid said, everybody had a troubled past. I stole an Avensis."
"Oh, I stole an R8."
"Sick."
"Ahem."
The Head Silhouette coughed and the two stopped.
"One last question, Impactor. Why didn't you register for Portugal's Hero's Academy when you were 16 if you wanted to be a Hero? Even if you were poor, it wouldn't be a problem since it's free to attend as long as you're a Pseudo-Superhuman or Superhuman."
"You've seen what my childhood was like. Do you think I was thinking about being a Hero back then?"
Impactor shook his head.
"I only decided to become a Hero a month ago."
"What?"
"A month ago?"
"Are you being serious?"
Impactor nodded at the silhouettes.
"Alala was the first villain I fought."
"He skipped all the levels and went straight for the final boss....He's really insane."
Belinha mumbled.
"Anyway, since I'm 20 now, I can't join the academy anymore; after all, I'm the age of the average Rookie Hero. So, I had no choice but to make a name for myself to be accepted."
"And your answer is the Calamities?"
"Yup."
The Silhouettes looked at each other for a bit before the Head Silhouette spoke.
"We will take a recess to discuss among ourselves. You're free to wait here since it shouldn't be long."
"Alright."
The silhouettes disappeared from their seats. Impactor turned to Belinha and gave a thumbs-up.
"I think I passed."
She awkwardly returned the thumbs up. Around 10 minutes later, the Silhouettes returned.
"Impactor, I'm sorry to inform you but—"
"If you reject me, I'm going to become the 4th Calamity."
"....I was going to say we can't make you a full-fledged Hero because you lack certain teachings we're looking for. To solve this problem, we'll assign you to work with a top Hero and let them show you the ropes."
"Oh....Forget the 4th Calamity thing."
"......"
"So....Who is going to be my mentor?"
"Belinha."
"Say what now?"
Belinha turned towards the Head Silhouette with confusion and pointed at herself. The Head Silhouette nodded.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait! You guys want me to pair up with the guy who pissed off the Calamities? Somebody who will have the world watch his every move?"
"It's because of those reasons we need someone competent and trustworthy to mentor him."
"I quit."
Belinha started taking off her coat.
"We refuse your resignation."
A female silhouette spoke up.
"You can't do that!"
"We just did."
"What about my rights?"
"What rights? We're the Board of Heroes and we're passing down an order."
"Wow~. They really are the shadow government."
Impactor mumbled.
"Mamae, Papai, please! I don't want to die!"
"Her parents are on the Board? So that makes her the Shadow Princess or something?"
"Celso, shut up!"
Belinha roared at Impactor, who looked away. She turned back to the Board.
"I'm going to die if I stick around with him."
"Calm down, Belinha."
A male silhouette spoke up.
"It's not just the two of you. We're planning on creating a team with you as the leader."
"A team? Then are there any other top Heroes in it? Preferably ranked higher than me?"
"No."
"I quit."
"Denied."
"Dammit!"
Belinha held her head and fell to her knees.
"Sentenced to death at the age of 23 by my own parents! What a twisted fate!"
The Head Silhouette looked at the man and the woman to his right.
"She did drama in school for a bit."
The man said. He turned away from them and looked at Impactor.
"Impactor, I want to be the first to welcome you to the Global Hero Federation, and I would also like to say I expect great things from you. Additionally, I would like to apologise."
"For what?"
"We released a statement saying you not only defeated Sinvula, but Alala as well. Because of this, both Iron Rain and the Bellum Company will come for you more aggressively than before."
"Oh, is that all?"
Impactor grinned.
"I'll take them on anytime."
Belinha looked up at Impactor's confident face for a while before saying—
"I'm so dead."