I Will Be The Greatest Hero

2. One Question

As the girl within his arms cried, it took all of his willpower to tear his eyes away from his childhood hero and turn to her. He did not know what to do to comfort her since he wasn't used to kids, being an only child himself.

"I want my mommy," she cried.

Rafe reached out his thumbs and wiped away her tears. Next, he did something he guessed must have been foolish, but seeing the little girl in pain... he did it anyway.

Rafe smiled first and said, "What's your name?"

She stopped crying for a moment and felt a certain safety in his arms. She could see a glimpse of warmth in his eyes, and that reassured her.

"Hope."

Rafe placed his hand on her cheek and resisted the urge to turn toward Guardian, whom he could feel looking down at them. "Hope."

The girl shook her head and said, "Miss Hope." Her eyes beamed brilliantly as she said this.

Rafe smiled lightly and said, "Miss Hope, that's a lovely name. Don't worry, you're safe now. Guardian's here." The look on the girl's face gave him a certain feeling in his chest.

A woman ran out of the crowd toward them. Hope left Rafe and ran into the woman's arms. "Mommy." They stayed there for a bit before the girl left her mother's embrace and pulled her by the hand. "Mommy, mommy. These two heroes saved me."

Rafe stammered. "Um, no. I am no hero. I'm just a high school kid. I'm nobody special, believe me."

The woman bent down, held his hand in hers, and pressed hard on it. She looked at him with strong, passionate eyes and said, "Thank you."

The police soon flocked in and broke them apart, leaving Rafe with a pulsating feeling in his chest. He felt his heartbeat and froze there.

A while later, the ground shook as a huge shadow loomed over him. Rafe froze under the immense pressure of the towering man standing behind him. "Oh my, is Guardian standing behind me now?"

"You feel it too, boy? The drums in our hearts."

Rafe turned and looked at the hero he had only seen on television—and immediately started foaming at the mouth from shock. "Guardian." His vision faded to black as he passed out from the hero's overwhelming presence.

A few minutes passed before he woke up on a certain rooftop in the city. His head still felt a little heavy from his experience with the number one hero. He tried to dispel the dizziness. "My head... what a strange dream I had."

Then he looked around and noticed he was on a huge building, several floors above ground level. He panicked and started thinking of a way down.

"You are an energetic little hero."

"Now, who said tha—" Rafe turned back to see Guardian standing there, reading the spare diary he had in his bag. It was a rough copy of the one the bullies had burned. Seeing this, Rafe panicked even more. "Mr. Guardian, sir, what are you doing here?"

Guardian took his eyes off the book and looked at him for a long time without saying a word.

Rafe started to panic again. "Will he think I'm weird because I have so many notes on him, like a stalker?"

But Guardian simply tossed the book into the air, watching as Rafe caught it. Rafe sighed in relief as he took a good look at Guardian in his entirety. The hero had golden hair and eyes, a square jawline, and a powerful smile. He was as huge as a bear and covered in muscle. Guardian was the most beloved hero on the planet, a symbol among both heroes and non-superhumans alike.

Rafe gulped as he watched Guardian walk up to him, stopping just before him.

"One question. How you answer will decide your future." He raised a finger before Rafe.

Gollum!

Rafe swallowed hard.

"Why did you jump in to save her?"