Chapter 3: Chapter 3 - Hellish World
Seeing the baby's dumbfounded stare, the man named Albion nearly laughed out loud but managed to hold it in, albeit with a lot of difficulties.
Noticing that their son was surprised beyond relief, Ayumu—Dolian's father—smacked his head as he muttered, "Ah, right. I couldn't believe our son's first encounter with quirks is with you."
"Huh???" Albion stood up with a surprised gaze, and his eyes shone with glamor, "Does that mean that I'm little Dolian's first hero?!?!"
"No, you're not. I'm my son's first and greatest hero." Hope snorted then stared at her baby boy in the eye, "Isn't that right, Dolian?"
Being brought out of his stupor, Dolian tried his best to naturally portray the act of a baby and made his express confusion, awe, and amazement. He then responded with a strange sound, "A… gwuh?"
"N-N-No way!" Albion jumped back in fright in an exaggerated manner, pointing at the baby, "Does he understand languages already?!?!?!?"
"Shut up!" Hope barked at Albion's commotion and caressed Dolian gently, afraid that he was scared by Albion's childish acts, "You're scaring Dolian already!"
"But…" Albion stared at Ayumu with a questioning gaze.
"Hehe…" Ayumu rubbed the back of his head with a helpless smile, "Maybe our quirks gave him outstanding intelligence, so that's why he can already respond, even if vaguely and by instinct, to our words."
"Hmph, it's not by instinct! Our baby boy is just smart!" Hope said and help her baby boy up in the air with pride in her eyes.
"Look at him! He's already so big even though he's only a week old! This is surely because he inherited his mother's draconic blood!" Hope smiled with pride and joy showcased on her face as bright as day.
Seeing how she acted so proud of her dragon-like traits, Albion asked with a surprised tone, "Eh? I thought you were insecure of your-"
"Albion-" Ayumu tried to stop Albion from what he was going to say when all of a sudden, a fist was already aiming straight for Albion's head.
"Woah!" Albion's eyes hurriedly shone with rainbow-colored lights, stopping the fist from punching him in the face as if it was wrapped or gripped by a strange, intangible force. "No need to get so angry."
Clicking her tongue, Hope retracted her fist and stared back at her boy with a gentle gaze, "Even though I despise my strength sometimes… I can't deny that if my little Dolian inherits it, it would give him a safer life."
"Huh…" Albion rubbed his chin in deep contemplation. "Well, even if he were to be… you know, normal, I'll still be with him to assure his safety."
Hearing his words, Hope's eyes softened and she said with a smile, "That's surprisingly decent coming from your mouth."
"Hey!" Albion pouted and crossed his arms, "Just because I'm blunt doesn't mean I have zero empathy."
Rolling her eyes, Hope was about to retort when she heard a stomach growl beside her, "Aww, are you hungry already?"
Seeing Dolian's eyes blink to indicate his answer, Hope chuckled softly and turned around, "I'll leave you two boys alone, make sure to not get rowdy because Dolian would probably sleep after his meal."
"We will!" Albion shouted from behind.
"Don't worry, dear." Ayumu warmly grinned and watched Hope walk up the stairs while carrying Dolian.
…
A few hours later, Dolian can be seen staring at the ceiling once again in a daze.
'Superpowers… exist in this world.' Dolian couldn't help but have his heart beat in excitement.
'Superpowers!' Dolian tried to clench his fist to hold down his excitement but failed. Even if he has an abnormal development far faster than his peers of the same, he was still just a baby who lacked clear motor-control skills.
'Powers that grant humans the chance to become living, breathing, fucking Gods!' Dolian screamed as he can hardly think straight.
Even after living for two-plus decades already, and experiencing a lot of wacky shit in his life, the concept of superpowers actually existing still left him surprised beyond belief.
'Telekinesis… and my mother's vertical-like eyes that probably represents the mutation of her draconic traits… What kind of superpowers exist out there in the world right now!'
'Can people breathe fire or have wings?! Are some people immortal, undying creatures that can live for an eternity? Does Superman exist???' Dolian's breathing turned rough as he rolled and stumbled around in his small little crib.
'What if there exists a guy that can control the four fundamental forces, manipulate time, create stars and fucking black holes!' Dolian suddenly froze.
'I'M LIVING IN FUCKING HELL RIGHT NOW!' Dolian's eyes widened in distinct, recognizable fear
In a world where quirks, the world's term for superpowers, existed, then there is no telling how varied and mystical quirks are. If some people can create black holes or manipulate time, then one can safely guess that living in a world where gods roam is a dangerous place to exist in.
'So what if I live in a world where superpowers exist?! What good is that when I can die any second now!'
'What if this is like DC or Marvel?! Would a random psychopath just go and burn an entire city for shits and giggles? Would there be a goddamn lich and raise an entire legion of undead to bring hell on Earth?!'
All kinds of nerve-wracking thoughts eluded Dolian's mind as his unmatured, one-week-old brain, struggled to keep calm.
Only after a long while did Dolian fall back on his back and stared at the ceiling once more. 'Calm down, Dolian. There's no way those god-like figures exist right now, because if they do, then it wouldn't be so calm.'
'Even if I do live in the safest place on Earth right now, it wouldn't be this peaceful if people can just randomly create stars or produce nuclear fission.'
'What I need to do right now is gather more information, and see if I can gain superpowers or not.'
'But based on what they said, there might really be a chance I'll be… quirkless. If that is true…' Dolian's eyes gleamed with resolution.
'No. Worrying about worst-case scenarios wouldn't bring me help.'
'I've already died once because of a bullshit reason like a truck ramming me to my death. I'm already granted the chance to live on this dangerous planet that may potentially have the way to eternal life and supreme power! Lamenting and being anxious isn't helpful!'
'What is smart is that I should do everything and anything in my power to assure my safety, and if possible, find a way to attain the power of quirks myself!'
'Martial arts, knowledge about science… maybe I'll even become a mad scientist!'
'Fuck fate, I'm not dying without a fight! I'm gonna forge my own destiny and write it with my own two hands!'
Dolian raised his chubby hand to the sky and closed it into a tight fist, and then blinked his eyes and yawned, 'But before that, I need to rest.'
'Hey, maybe I'll even try to master lucid dreaming, an endeavor I didn't have the time to dedicate to back in my first life.'
…
The next day.
"Hmm?" Ayumu stared at his child with a curious gaze, noticing how he was intently fixated on the book he read.
"Are you interested in psychology too, Dolian?" Ayumu asked with a smile and patted Dolian's head.
Unexpectedly, his superficial question received a serious answer from Dolian, "Libwu!"
"Eh?" Ayumu paused before he then sighed as his turbid emotions leaked out.
"Oh dear, you really are just a bundle of surprises. You already want to start learning how to read when you're only just more than a week old!" Ayumu could only shake his head helplessly before shrugging his shoulders.
"I guess mine and your mother's quirks did mutate our bodies and minds by quite a bit, meaning you inherited some of our superhuman-like traits. I can already see you growing up into a smart… and strong, especially strong, boy," Ayumu chuckled and stared at Dolian's… surprisingly big body.
Ayumu already noticed this a few days ago because Dolian kept sleeping a lot and eating a lot. Day by day, Dolian's body grew to the point that he appeared like a one-month-old baby already!
He suspected that he inherited his mother's traits and his young, immature body, was quickly getting stronger and growing bigger to accommodate his dragon-like genetics.
"Well, it wouldn't hurt to have you be so interested in reading already at a young age." Ayumu sighed and let Dolian do whatever he wanted, "Maybe our plans of teaching how to read and speak should be pushed forward because of your gifted mind."
Then as the two silently read the book Ayumu held in his hand, Dolian's attention was suddenly pushed to the TV playing in the background to show a man being interviewed by a news anchor.
The man wore a stylistic and strange black cloak over a simple white shirt and black pants. All around his body was adorned by rainbow-colored crystals and gems. But his strange outfit just like that of a superhero in fiction wasn't what caught Dolian's attention. What made him surprised was that he knew who the man on TV was!
"Oh, it's your uncle Albion!" Ayumu said with an unperturbed voice as if seeing Albion on TV wearing that ridiculous suit was the least bit surprising.
Noticing his son's clear surprise and confusion, which is another tell-tale sign of his intelligence, Ayumu decided to explain, to the point that he felt he was being urged to explain by his son, "Are you surprised that your uncle is a hero?"
"Wait, do you even know what a hero is?"
"Let's just start from the beginning."
"In our world, quirks first came into existence 155 years ago, in the year 2000. In that period when supernatural powers first known as meta abilities came into play, chaos existed throughout the world. Eventually, evil bad guys known as villains started to appear one by one, lavishing in their desires to cause a ruckus."
"But just like how when there is a shadow, there is light, heroes also appeared. Using their quirks to combat against villains, the world slowly regained its original peace."
"Now, in the year 2055, the year you were born in, Earth has reached the point where heroes have a big advantage against villains."
Noticing that his son was waiting to hear more, Ayumu pointed at the TV, at Albion, and said, "Your uncle over there is a hero."
"He is publicly known as Psy, one of America's greatest heroes to ever exist. He stands shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Captain Celebrity, Nano, and even…"
"And even with America's number 1 hero, Star and Stripes."
Instantly, as if destiny itself entangled with what Ayumu said, the TV abruptly changed to another channel.
There, Dolian saw a woman with a tall and muscular build with long blond hair with eight distinct tufts swept to the back of her head. She wore a skin-tight bodysuit that just reeked of America, with red, blue, and white stripes plastered all over.
In front of the muscular man was a ginormous titan the size of a ten-story tall building. It had black skin like charcoal, while lava-like veins were seen all over its body.
And yet, even in the face of such a monstrous entity, the woman remained calm and cool as if the titan was merely an enemy she can quickly defeat if she wanted, and that was simply the truth.
She stretched out her hand and as if uttering the laws of reality itself, she said with a mystical tone, "Light is my chains that can seal titans."
As if the world itself is responding to her order, the light around her hand warped and solidified, forming a long string of chains that quickly shot off at breakneck speeds, wrapping around the entire titan from head to toe.
"ARGHHHH!" The titan's shout was akin to a loud explosion and it tried to resist the chains that wrapped around its body, but to no avail, and under the strange power of the chains of light, the titan slowly shrunk before disappearing from the camera's view under smoke and rubble.
Seeing that the fight ended, Ayumu sighed with an envious tone, "New Order, a quirk that allows her to impose a new order on reality. Sigh, if I had that quirk, your safety would be more than assured as your dad might be the greatest hero of America already."
But unlike before, he didn't receive a response that caught his curiosity. Turning his head around and leaning his body forward, he looked at his son's face and wasn't surprised to see his shocked, dumbstruck face.
Chuckling softly as he had the same look when he first saw Star and Stripes in action, he placed his attention back on his book and continued reading, leaving his son alone to contemplate.
'The power to rewrite reality… I…'
'I want that for myself!'
AN: This chapter has 2187 words.
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(March 12, 2023 - 472nd day of writing)
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