Of Heroes and Villains

The Super Short Chapter Where You Learn About John Brody

John Brody was born to a normal couple, just like most espers. Unlike the others, he manifested his vapor right away. It was a noticeable one, too, as he had gills from the day he was born. Spending a lot of time around any bodies of water, he had a peaceful childhood.

Peaceful, but lonely.

John never had any friends. Born into the backwoods country of Croatia, he was kept far away from the others in his village. His parents had moved there because of something stupid like an astrology prediction, and had absolutely no idea how to farm. This meant he was forced to work the lands they lived on.

Luckily for John, they lived on an island, so he had all the water he could ask for. As soon as he finished with the farm work, he went to one of the beaches, then spent the whole day bathing.

One of those days ended in a disaster. Before that, John had tried to make friends with a couple of tourists, but even they backed away from him. The kids who had already met him by that point knew better than to approach the abomination.

This made John mad.

Something inside him stirred.

He went out into the sea and swam far, far away from the shore, then started diving. Deep inside the ocean, John swam across an injured fish. The poor thing was bleeding badly.

Something in John snapped, and he ripped the fish's head off with his teeth. He felt horrible right after, and tried to return to the shore.

He had forgotten the way, and was lost.

His life was saved when a pod of dolphins found him. Oddly enough, he could understand them. They weren't fish like he was, but the pod and the boy managed to come to an understanding, and he became an extra member of the family.

John never went back to Croatia after that.

The dolphins took care of him, and he took care of them, sneaking unto shore to steal fish for them to eat when they couldn't find any themselves. He lived with the dolphins for five years.

When John was twelve, he went into a fishing town to find some food for his new family. By the time he returned, the dolphins had been slaughtered by illegal fishermen.

Something in John snapped again. He waved his arms toward the boats of the fishermen, and the sea responded to his rage. The ships went under, and even the fishermen that managed to survive were soon pulled back under by the water itself, which obeyed John's command.

John lived alone after that, doing small jobs here and there. He was stronger and faster than the others, and he could do things they couldn't.

One of his jobs involved killing a man in power. John agreed, needing the money.

The man defeated him soundly, not once showing any sign of effort exertion.

The man could have killed John, but he didn't. Instead, he took the teenager in, gave him a home an food, and started training him. The man's ideals quickly became John's own, and John vowed to do whatever this man asked him to.

John was surprised when the man asked him to start killing those of his own kind, but he obeyed, anyway.

One of those people lived in the metropolitan Nova City. After some amateurish investigative work, John found out how much waste from the city went into the ocean, and he felt his blood boil.

John then met a man slightly younger than himself, and saw himself in the man's eyes. He took liberty of asking the man to join his new family, and gave him a week.

Now was the time to collect.

John saw the young man, as well as the one he was supposed to kill. They were standing next to a large container of water, which they had no doubt set up themselves.

John knew the younger man would refuse, and got ready for the kill.