I am Aico

I was 6 years old when the first Hero appeared.

It was December 2005, when an unlikely disaster struck a power plant somewhere outside Harrisburg. A freak solar flare caused an electrical failure in one of the reactors, and an explosion caused a hundred employees to be trapped inside a ticking time bomb. It was a doomsday scenario with no way out.

And then he appeared like a bolt of lightning out of the sky.

Standing with a hooded cape streaked with red and blue, stood the first example that the age of the average human was coming to close.

His name was Aico, and he saved every single worker and visitor in that power plant that day. The media starting calling him "Hero Prime", because in the months that followed people with powers started popping up all over the world, and the repercussions of having extraordinary individuals were a serious concern for people everywhere.

And me? I couldn't get enough of it. I already had a superhero "problem" from watching too many cartoons as a kid, and seeing real life Heroes like Aico just threw any hopes my parents had for me adopting a "practical" career path out the window.

The day I heard about Aico was the day I decided that, no matter what, I would become the world's greatest hero... just like him.

And then it happened.

After one or two years there was this big right wing Anti-Cape group which managed to work its way into power, and a ton of strain was placed on the hero community. People were sick of looking up in the sky for hope, and they wanted something familiar again. I guess that's why its no surprise that in the end it became illegal for anyone to operate as a superhero regardless of affiliation with the law or moral standing.

I remember that night the news was broadcast to every home in America. My Dad could barely breathe, and my mom cried because she didn't know what I was going to do. I couldn't bring myself to speak to anyone for a few months. It was the day that I realized that my dream didn't matter to the people who were supposed to represent me.

No one has seen Aico or any of the other heroes for 13 years.

An alarm cuts through the air of my bedroom like a machete.

I've really gotta change that alarm I think to myself as I roll out of bed and throw on my school uniform for what feels like the millionth time. I can hear my mom downstairs making breakfast so I hurry down to get me some sweet bacon.

"Nice to see you're up in time to eat today!" My mom smirks and tosses what might be the most frightening piece of bacon I have ever seen down on my plate.

I push the plate, look up and reply sardonically "I think I'm beginning to remember why I sleep in." and return her smirk; she gives me her "mom eyes" so I decide gross bacon is better than no bacon.

"So, why are you up so early today anyway?" She says as she turns back to the stove.

I tell her that I've got plans with my friend Cora to go over some English stuff in the library before our test first period. Unsurprisingly, she teases me about studying with a girl and then goes back to cooking her own breakfast. I finish mine and grab my backpack.

"OH! I almost forgot!"

She sticks out her hand and there sits my least favorite thing in the world. A small black pill with a "NO" symbol on the outside. Power suppressants required for every single person under the age of ten when Aico first appeared.