As Chains was just a few feet away from Blake, the superhero was hit by a fireball at the back and he fell down a few feet below. In a split second Chains managed to grab Blake and repeatedly casted more chains to the side of the building to slow their descent while protecting Blake from the falling rubble and the fireballs Blaze cast to them. Blake saw that Chains’ complexion was getting paler and his lips were slowly turning blue from the blood loss he managed from his fight.

In a matter of seconds they are now at the ground with Chains visibly bleeding and gasping for breath. Chains told Blake to run away from the area but Blake refused to do so due to the fear of what may happen next. After a while Blaze appeared in front of them, threatening both Chains and Blake with a huge fireball on hand until they heard that the apartment complex where Blake originally lives is collapsing on top of them.

In a last attempt to save themselves from danger, Chains, with his little remaining strength, wrapped Blaze with bloodied chains from top to bottom of his body. In order to secure Blaze in his position, he grabbed the largest manageable rubble he could find and chained it to the wrapped body to reduce the time Blaze could escape from the falling structure. In a few seconds Chains pulled themselves out of the area out from danger and Blaze, despite being fully wrapped by the chains and other debris, still managed to snuck his hand out and fire one last fireball in their direction.

–

Chains cried out loud when the fireball hit his body, dropping Blake in the process. They both saw the upper half of the building crumbling in front of them, collapsing to Blaze’s wrapped body and probably killing him. Both Chains and Blake covered their eyes from the dust and smoke until it slowly disappeared from the view.

Blake went close to Chains’ body on the ground and cried,“Chains, I’m so sorry… I shouldn't've gone to the building at all and now you’re bloody and dying!”

Chains looked at Blake and smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m fine.” He brought his bloody hand up and wiped the tear off Blake’s eye. He is now coughing at this point, blood is now dripping off his mouth.

Blake screamed, “No you’re not! You’re not fine at all!” He stood up and grabbed the superhero’s body to pull him away to safety but he saw that the ground was now full of blood due to the fireball that hit Chains recently. He dropped the body in horror and hugged Chain’s withering body while whispering apologies.

Chains whispered, “Son, what is your name?” he coughed blood.

“I’m Blake, a powerless citizen.” Blake hurriedly answered.

“My name is Gray.” Gray shuffled Blake’s hair, “Do you want to be a hero?” he rasped out.

Blake turned to Gray, now with glassy eyes staring at the sky, “Yes! I want to be like you!” With tears flowing out.

“Give me your hand… and put it on my chest…” Gray is now losing energy to speak. “Trust me…”

Blake slowly put his hand on his chest and immediately felt Chains’ memories flood his vision. From his childhood, his everyday struggles, how Chains used his power for good up until the events today. Blake saw himself through Gray’s POV and heard his thoughts. He learned that Gray wanted to meet him and be friends but he did not have enough time to do that and regretted it.

Seeing that Gray is spacing out, Blake asked, “So you saw me all the time? Cheering for you?”

Gray did not reply, but asked a different question, “Blake… what time is it…?” with staggered breaths.

Blake, now in tears in realization, “It’s now… 4 PM.” he whimpered.

With his remaining strength, Gray pulled Blake’s head over his chest and whispered, “Ah…, I never knew that the afternoon would be so… dark…” Gray finally closed his eyes and gave his last breath.

Blake cried.

–

A few weeks later, Blake started to notice some changes in his body. He felt that he got way stronger ever since the incident. He can now control the darkness, he is now able to make his shadows work for him. He can make it solid, pass through elements, and make extremely strong strings with it. He can also teleport from one place to another using the shadows around him - it may be strong but of course it has its limitations that Blake has to know eventually.

A new superhero is now born - forged by his dark past and the regret of the death of his favorite superhero. He will carry the legacy Chains passed down to him and help as many people as possible. The end.

Feedback is appreciated!

In a world where superhumans exist, some people are born with powers. Some superhumans choose to be superheroes and on the other hand some choose to be supervillains. Most of their choices are affected by their morals and/or their life histories. Unfortunately, there are people who never receive any sort of powers at all and they are categorically branded as citizens.

–

Blake is a 13 year old boy who never had a particularly bright life, he was depressed, neglected by his parents, bullied in school, and his academic performance was below expected. He is also a regular human which was considered an oddity given that his parents are superhumans. He always tries his best to please everyone he meets, but because of his powerless nature, he always falls short. Frustrated, his only way to cope is to watch the superheroes do their work in defeating the supervillains or helping the citizens.

His favorite superhero of all time is Chains, as Chains is always able to control the battlefield by summoning ironclad chains from his body to immobilize his targets - the control Blake wanted in his life. Blake never knew Chains’ history as he only recently reappeared again after years of hiatus and there are no other public records of his activities and prior history. He never showed himself in front of the camera, he always did his role in saving the citizens and leaving the area immediately, usually relying most of the work on the superheroes to subdue the supervillain or help if needed.

Despite his situation, Blake is still lucky that he lives on the highest level of the tallest apartment complex of the city. He can easily track the superhuman activities of the city below using his trusty binoculars and telescopes. He always cheered for the superheroes' strengths thinking that his cheers would be able to give them powers when he knows it's utterly pointless, yet he kept on doing it.

–

While riding the bus home from school, he saw a familiar supervillain who is the main archnemesis of Chains which is Blaze - the fire-manipulating superhuman. Both are fighting each other near the apartment complex where he lives 15 minutes away from his current location. Usually, since Blake is still a curious child with little to no concept of self-preservation, he goes to dangerous places where the conflict usually happens just to watch his idol fight with the enemy. After reaching the bus stop, Blake immediately ran to the apartment complex where he lives to climb to his residence at the top floor.

At this point, due to the dangers the two have been showing to the surrounding area, the city government quickly notified everyone to evacuate the area but due to Blake’s curious nature, he ignored the message and still went up the apartment. Upon reaching the top floor, saw the two fighting halfway the height of the building from his binoculars and took some photos of the battle to save it in storage somewhere.

Blake saw and felt the explosions and property damage the two dealt. He can see the neighboring building in flames while there are chains linking and wrapping it to prevent the building from collapsing from its weakened structure. He was hopeful that the apartment that he currently resides in will not be hit, until he felt a big jolt, a shake, then a series of explosions below him. Regretfully, he knew what he did was stupid and he’s going to die.

–

Nervous, Blake quickly ran away from his apartment to the nearest fire exit. He clearly knew that it takes approximately 80 floors before he reaches the ground floor. All he can hear is the series of explosions, creaks, the blaring alarm, and his phone ringing in the amount of notifications he’s receiving from his parents. He went down to the 70th floor, then to the 60th, 50th, and to the 40th where the stairs leading to the 39th floor were in flames and he needed to go to the opposite end of the 40th floor to access the secondary fire exit.

There is smoke and rubble everywhere blocking his vision, he has to navigate the floor carefully to avoid tripping and hurting himself. Reaching the window where the two are fighting, the saw the Chains is now exhausted and was covered in blood and burns. Blake remembered that Chains gets his powers from the amount of iron in his blood and he gradually loses it when he casts chains from his body. Knowing that Chains is bleeding, he loses his powers faster than anticipated. He panicked and ran to the other exit and saw it was blocked by the rubble and Blake had to make a decision - fast.

While Blake is slowly losing oxygen due to the amount of smoke on the 40th floor, he planned to grab the nearest fire extinguisher to crack open the glass window and call for help. Blake knows this is purely a bad idea since Chains has to prioritize his life over the enemy but he had no choice. He used the fire extinguisher to put out the flames in his path until he reached the large glass window where the two were visibly fighting. Blake smashed the panel using the fire extinguisher with some force until cracks appeared and it shattered, leaving glass shards falling down to the ground below. The two were alarmed and Chains immediately goes closer to Blake by casting chains that guide him towards his direction.