Young Writers Society

The world is in need of heroes.

This isn't a new realization. Humanity has struggled throughout the entirety of its history. And, though they would never admit it, they have always secretly wished for some sort of savior to guide them. It's why there's such a heavy focus on religion, and such a heavy reliance on political parties. Humans, as a whole, need a group of people to protect them. There's simply too many problems and not enough capable people to solve them.

But this is beginning to change.

Some could argue this change was caused by a plethora of superhero films getting digested by the mainstream media, and that the heroes are only just beginning to emerge from the shadows because of the spotlight on the genre. Others could argue that the rare superpower is only just beginning to spread among Earth's populations. Whatever the case is, superheroes are no longer just things of story. They've become a new reality.

There wasn't a Superman or a Tony Stark at the front of this sudden movement. Heroes just began to pop up in isolated little areas. This likely wouldn't have gained much attention, but it's not just one hero. It's several. It could be said that The Actor was the first, but it was only by a slight margin. Do the math, and it becomes clear that other hero sightings started occurring within a single month.

And you're one of these heroes.

For whatever reason, you are now living in New York City. Home, according to the realm of comics, to countless superheroes. You never would have thought that Marvel and DC had any idea what it was truly like to be a hero, but, bizarrely enough, it seems like the other heroes are beginning to show up there, too.

There's just one problem.

Even though heroes are largely respected and adored by the masses, there is a small group of people who fear them. And this fear drives them to stupid, stupid things – such as forming groups who dream of the day when the world can return to a time without the superpowered humans. It's only by working together with the hodgepodge of other New York heroes that you'll be able to get to the bottom of this group, and prevent them from harming any future heroes.

It was a perfectly beautiful Saturday in the middle of autumn, and Wren was spending it at one her favorite places in the entire world: the old library right around the corner from her house. After moving to New York City at the young age of eight, the library had always provided a home away from home - when she was feeling lonely, she could lose herself in between the towering aisles. On top of that, she had known the librarians for so long that they felt like family to her. It truly was one of the best places she could have possibly been in.

Although she technically wasn't there as Wren Carter.

Today she was at the library as The Actor, volunteering at a book release party for a children's book on how to be a superhero in their own neighborhoods. The kids had been ecstatic about it for months, but there hadn't been anything particularly special about the party itself. Costumes were a must, and the children were ending it with a movie, but they had still needed a little extra something. And when Wren had overheard the librarians discussing it while she was volunteering there, how could she have missed the opportunity to help out the library that had done so much for her?

The librarians likely had a heart attack after The Actor showed up a few hours later, but had been very, very excited at the prospect of having an actual superhero volunteering at their library. She wasn't supposed to be doing much during the actual event, but had shown up there the moment the library had opened that morning to help with setting up. Now the children were beginning to arrive, and she found herself being pulled this way and that. It had only been five minutes, yet she still managed to be covered in children by the time the catering arrived.

And the man bringing the catering wasn't just a random person - it was Nikolai, the barista she had been crushing on for the past few months. She felt her face grow red and hot underneath her mask. The kids, thankfully, were oblivious to her suddenly growing very, very flustered. They were all too busy investigating her clothes and clamoring around her. But Nikolai, on the other hand? He was looking around in what was probably a search for where he was supposed to bring the food and drinks, and eventually his eyes landed on her. Or, rather, him, since right now she looked like a man in his early twenties.

She managed to slip away from the kids with promises of returning in the next few minutes. Her heart hammering in her chest, she walked over to the barista. She had to remind herself multiple times that technically The Actor and Nikolai had never met before; he knew her as Wren and Adrian. he knew she should be more calm and collected - she was a superhero, after all! - but donning a suit and another identity didn't suddenly make all of her fears fade away.

Nikolai's face was flushed. She nervously tugged at the collar of her shirt as she came to a stop in front of him. "It sure is hot in here," she said, her voice jumping just a bit. "Part of me wishes that I wore a t-shirt instead of a long sleeve shirt today, but I don't think the kids would be too happy about that."

"Maybe," Nikolai said, smiling nervously. "But I couldn't imagine them being disappointed with you here."

She blushed and let out an awkward cough.

"I can, uh, show you where to bring the drinks," she said. "And the food. Have you ever catered something like this before?" She stopped herself before she could continue rambling. If she wasn't expected to say and do things as The Actor, she would have just kept quiet and hid in the nearest corner. Deciding to become a superhero was one of the best choices of her life so far, but she did regret how much it made her have to step outside of her comfort zone.

"I'd like that," Nikolai said. "I'm a little lost, to be honest. And, uh, no. This is the first time."

"This is my first time, too," she said. She paused, realizing how awkward that could sound. "Not for, uh, catering. I haven't done that before. Like, ever. It's a first for helping out at a library event. I've helped out at orphanages and schools before, but never at a library."

"It seems to be going well, regardless." Nikolai said. He glanced at the crowd of kids and smiled. "Everyone seems to be having a pretty good time."

Oh my God he complimented me and he's smiling at me and-

"Yeah, they do," she managed to agree.

She looked at the library, scouting out the table that they always used for refreshments during events like this. The Actor wouldn't have known that, but Wren had spent hours volunteering at little events like this. She easily manuevered past eager groups of children and led Nikolai over to the table. "This should be the perfect spot to put it down," she said, patting the table with one hand. "Do you need me to help with any of it? I don't look it, but I can carry a lot. Because, uh, you know, I can shapeshift."

Nikolai smiled. "That'd be great, actually. My arms are killing me." After carefully adjusting the boxes he was holding, he passed one over to The Actor.

Just as Wren went to take the boxes from him, she felt her hands press up against his. While hers may have been gloved, her face turned an even deeper shade of red. She hurried to bring the box of food over to the table and desperately hoped he didn't think she was a disaster when she started to take things out of the box and set them up in what she hoped was a decent display. She had helped caterers put things out on the tables before, but carefulness seemed all the more neccessary now. She couldn't possibly mess up in front of Nikolai.

"I'm going to go back to the kids now," she said, her words one hurried slur as she turned and darted back into the throng of children. She couldn't handle being the center of his attention for that long - how she missed the anonymonity of the coffee shop! Obviously she wanted her crush to pay attention to her, but Starbucks let her slip into the background and only have to do a bit of interacting with him.

She took a deep breath.

"So!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. All of the kids fell silent around her. "Who wants to tell me what I should shapeshift into first?"

A sea of hands shot up.

The blush finally beginning to leave her cheeks, Wren gave the eager children a grin.

This was going to be the perfect way to spend a Saturday morning.

Gearhead

Gwen Wilkins

"Watch it on the turns Gwen. You're riding it a little close," the voice in her headset warned.

"Would you relax, Dad?" Gwen responded. "I built this baby. I know exactly what her limitations are."

Feeling the hum of the engine was Gwen's best feeling in the world. The rumble of the high rpms as the wheels ran over the track. Hitting the clutch and throwing the car into the next gear, she zipped around the cars ahead of her. Some said she was crazy for having such an experimental transmission system in her cars, but she felt so much more control over the car when she did.

"Watch it, Gwen. They're boxing you in."

"I see it."

Her hands tightened on the steering wheel. A grin spreading over face as she can feel the world around her starting to slow. Pressing the gas down she swerves through the gaps just barely big enough for her to slip through. Throwing the car into the highest gear she releases the clutch and slams the gas pedal to the floor. This was what she loved.

The speed.

The feeling of freedom when there is nothing but road in front of you and no limitations.

"That's it, hun! Almost there!"

She sped through the finish line and quickly began her slow down. She could see the engine was on the verge of going critical, and that is never a pretty sight.

"Told you to trust me," she quipped before pulling into the pit stop. Getting out of the car she took a deep breath of the night air. An older man held out a beer to her with a grin.

"Only trophy we get, enjoy it," he said sipping from his own can.

Gwen took the drink and let it run down her throat. "Ahh...that hits the spot." She could feel the world around her starting to catch up finally. People waved as a congratulations, others were quite upset for having lost yet again. Gwen didn't care.

Winning or losing didn't matter.

Just how fast she could go.

"I think if I tweak the timing of rotations then I can probably get a few more horses out of this beauty," Gwen said patting the hood of the car like it was a thorough-bred.

"You already have the fastest car on the track. Why do you need to go any faster?" her father asked.

She shook her head gently. "Cause it isn't fast enough...yet." She took a gulp of her drink before gathering up her things to pack the car up.

"You Gwen Wilkins?" a woman asked. She was dressed in a business suit with sharp rimmed glasses resting on the end of her nose. She looked more out of place than a mechanic in a fine dining restaurant. "We need to talk."

"Oh come on!" Gwen groaned throwing the half drank can on the ground. "This is a private track! This doesn't violate any part of my parole!"

"I don't know who you think I am," the woman retorted with an arch of her brow. "But I am just delivering this letter."

Gwen snatched it, her elation from winning having completely been dashed with the woman's arrival. Ripping open the envelope she opened the single piece of paper.

Dear Mrs. Wilkins,

I would like to extend a formal invitation to you to the Hero Association. We are a collection of likeminded individuals that seek to enforce justice in New York. Please come to 518 Main St. for an orientation.

To say that she was shocked would have been an understatement. Taking a deep breath she nodded to the woman before approaching her father.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It seems that someone has caught on to my abilities. The local HA wants met to come to an orientation and seek about recruiting me."

Her father gave a small smile and a nod. "Well...if you're ever in the neighborhood while you're saving the world, make sure to stop by."

"Oh come on, Dad. I won't be leaving New York. But I would like to give Baby a tune up before heading there."

Gwen hurried to her car. She grinned as she sat in the driver's seat and started the engine. Purring like a kitten, she was ready for action.

"Look out world...here I come."

Throwing the car into gear she shot off from the track heading to get ready to meet the team.

It was a Saturday morning that Jeff decided to mess around with his speed. He was out of high school, didn’t have work that day, and found this nice abandoned tunnel that he deemed far enough away from the city to not be conspicuous.

Of course, he was still going to wear his contacts and a midnight-themed beanie. Jeff shuddered every time he stepped into his tight leggings, but they were the best at keeping the wind off him. He might have run through his closet getting all of the stuff he needed before heading out.

There was a slightly quicker than usual step among him, but he figured it wasn’t that much of a bad thing if someone caught on. He didn’t even recognize himself in his different garb at first glance, so he doubted anyone would really catch and see his face.

Besides, he was a dude in New York. Plenty of different people walked the streets of this city. As Jewel, he stood out a little more, but still, he blended in somewhat with the curious folk all around him. Or so he hoped.

Jeff decided to walk a part of the way, then, looked up and down the street, he stood on. It seemed pretty empty, so he shrugged and tried to kick-start his speed.

He felt grateful that no one was really near him, as Jeff started feeling very dumb when he didn't start running at a quick pace. Instead, his body was frozen in place, his arms extended out in front of him, with both of his legs bent at the knees.

Jeff slumped. He really wished he could get some sense of control over his power. Compared to all of the other super-powered heroes saving people, he was definitely among the more useless ones.

He decided to walk home, feeling tired and wanting to crawl back into his bed. Until he caught onto a weird conversation, between two older women.

"Look, I'm not saying I was proud of doing it, but it had to be done." A brunette shrugged, with indifference woven into her flat expression.

"You just kicked our son onto the curb because he wanted to be a superhero?" Her companion grew red in the face, her loose blond hair whipping all about her.

"So, what?" The first woman replied. "This way he learns the truth quicker than he would be trying to become his own superhero, or whatever he said."

The blonde only grew more furious, and her flush darkened. Jeff tried to walk quickly over and insert himself physically in between them. He winced a little at his sharp moment. Of course, his power decided to help him when there were people around. Hopefully, these women were too focused on their conversation to notice that.

"May I ask where your son is now?" He stared at the brunette who seemed to be struggling whether she wanted to punch him or answer the question.

She eventually waved him off. "He's around, around the corner or something. Why do you care so much about a stranger?"

He looked into her own eyes, trying to find what would make someone force a loved one away from them.

"I think everyone deserves some kindness in their life."

With that, Jeff left behind the two women, looking for someone that fit the description of someone recently turned homeless. He wasn't sure what he was really going to do once he finds the kid, but he'd figure that out later.

Apparently, he would have to make a plan sooner, as he might have found the poor stranger. A kid, not much younger than him, paced back and forth on a small slab of concrete on the street corner.

Jeff swallowed down a wave of nervousness. He stood up to the kid's parents. The least he could do was to try to help him.

"Um, hi." His quiet voice startled the kid out of his movement, leaving him still. "S-sorry if I scared you."

The stranger shook his head. "Why are you even talking to me?" His voice had a low tone. significantly deeper than Jeff's.

"I may have, uh, heard a little of what happened from these two um, interesting women?" His voice grew higher, as he started to feel embarrassed.

Why would someone even want to talk to a random person when they've got so many things to worry about?

A short laugh made Jeff jump in return. "I guess that makes us even." The person frowned, sighing a little. "I'm Terry, by the way."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Jeff." He extended a hand, and only had to wait a second until the other shook it.

Jeff kind of jogged in place before speaking again, a thought suddenly popping into his head. "Hey, uhm, I was wondering if you'd like to crash at my place until your parents are good with you, or something."

Terry snorted through drinking some water. "You're offering a complete stranger a bed? What's up with that?"

Jeff hummed. "I think that maybe there was a reason we're meeting, and I figured, why not give it a shot."

The other ran a hand through his light blond hair. "You're something else, Jeff." He paused and shook his head." I guess I might as well say yes since I don't have any other place. And, I'm not getting scary vibes from you."

Jeff laughed. "I'll take that."

He spun around, waving a hand to lead Terry to his small apartment. He felt a rush within him, something that seemed strange yet fun and perplexing. What was going on with him? Jeff wasn't one to be this actually open with a stranger beside cracking a few jokes and getting others to laugh.

Maybe he needed a change in his life, and Terry was that change, that difference in his gray, cloudy daily routine.