Wasting my potential

Luthor (internal): "Superheroes… gods parading as celebrities. Billboards with perfect smiles. Merch lines that wrap around buildings. Kids who want laser vision more than they want an education. People chanting their names like they cure the world of sin by posing for photos. And what bothers me is… they believe it. They actually believe they matter. That without them, civilization just collapses. It’s funny—no, it’s tragic—how fragile people think they are. That they need someone to swoop in and rewrite fate.I’ve never wanted that life. Not the fame, not the glory, not the fake humility they pretend to have. ‘Oh, I’m just doing my duty.’ Yeah right. Your duty gets broadcasted in 4K with replay angles and dramatic background music."

He scrolled past an ad with Spark Girl’s face plastered across a can of citrus soda—“Feel the Spark!”—and resisted the urge to gag.

Luthor (internal): "Peace. That’s all I ever wanted. A quiet life. Wake up late. Cook breakfast slowly. Spend an afternoon doing absolutely nothing without someone screaming for a hero to save their cat or punch a meteor in half. That’s paradise. But in this world? That’s considered wasting potential."

The roar of the crowd broke through his thoughts.

Crowd: “Spark Girl! It’s Spark Girl! Look, look!”

She zipped overhead, glowing, radiant—untouchable.

Luthor looked up from his phone.

Luthor (internal): "Look at her. A symbol of hope. A flying billboard. They call her inspiring. I call her exhausting."

She waved sweetly toward the screaming fans before shooting into the sky. Luthor resumed walking.

Luthor: “I’ve got powers too, you know…”

His voice was flat—almost bored.

Luthor: “I could fly home in a few seconds. I could. But why? Why live their life? Their schedule? Their expectations? Why pretend any of it matters?”

He swiped to another article. More hero gossip. More scandals. More praise.

Luthor: "Maybe my hate didn’t come from nowhere. Maybe it’s inherited… or maybe it’s what’s left after being raised in the absence of two people who could bend steel but couldn’t bother to bend their schedules. My father… top 3 hero. Maybe top 3 still. I don’t know. I don’t care. Haven’t seen him in years. Always off saving someone else’s family. Fighting someone else’s war. ‘For justice,’ he says. For what? For who?”

Luthor tightened his grip on the phone.

Luthor: “My mother—Gladiator Eve. Former rank 7th. She was unstoppable. Untouchable. They met punching a monster into space or something. Romantic, right?”

He scoffed.

Luthor: "Then they got married, had me… and kept on going. Kept on saving the world, just not the little one they made.”

Another scroll. Another headline. Old still resurfacing: “Hero Couple Returns Triumphant!”

Luthor: "Triumphant. Yeah. Except for the son raised by a rotating cast of nannies who came and went like background characters."

Luthor exhaled, long and tired.

Luthor: "Maybe that’s the real reason I despise heroes. Not because of what they pretend to be. But because even with all their power, they were never strong enough to stay."

---

20 mintues later;
Blue flower cafe;

Mia: “You’re here! I got us a table!”

She waved frantically like she was signaling an airplane to land.

Luthor: “Hei Mimi, where’s the Black Fog at?”

He sat down, slumping like he had already given up on life today.

Mia: “I told you not to call me that anymore! Hmph!”

She puffed her cheeks like a furious hamster.

Luthor: “You’ll always be Mimi to me.”

He tucked his phone into his coat, the universal sign of I’m about to get bullied by my friends.

Mia immediately stood up, grabbed him in a headlock, and began grinding her knuckles into his skull.

Mia: “HOW many times must I tell you!? Arghhh! Take this! And this! And this! Don’t even try escaping—you KNOW you’re not stronger than me!”

Luthor: “How could I, a lowly peasant, ever hope to match the strength of the great and exalted student of Sunbridge Hero’s Academy? Please—spare me, oh merciful one!”

A voice came from behind them.

??? “Still as lively as ever, I see.”

Luthor: “Please, Black Fog! Save this helpless civilian from this villainess!”

He reached a **** hand out as Mia still had him in a chokehold.

Black Fog: “I have a name, you know…”

Mia: “Alexei! He WON’T stop calling me that!”

Alexei crossed his arms dramatically, taking a deep breath like an actor preparing for a monologue.

Alexei: “How dare you! Such barbaric acts of **** shall not go unpunished while THE BLACK FOG is present!”

He burst into a heroic pose so flashy it should’ve come with a lens flare.

Luthor: “You mean her, right? HER!? RIGHT!? RIGHT!?”

Alexei: “I shall unleash… my Black—”

A waitress gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

Waitress: “Please stop…”

Her polite smile was the kind customers give right before leaving a bad review. She nodded subtly toward the other patrons—every single one of them staring.

Silence.

Then—

Mia, Alexei & Luthor: “AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAAA!”

Mia released Luthor, who dramatically gasped for breath like he had escaped ****.

Luthor: “I’ve missed this…”

Alexei: “Me too…”

He slid into the seat next to Luthor with the elegance of a man who absolutely did not just embarrass himself in public.

Luthor (Internal): "Despite everything… despite all the noise in my head about heroes… there are at least two I know I’ll never hate. Mia and Alexei. My idiots. My constants. My…"

He let out a slow breath, the kind that sinks deep into your chest before you even know it’s there.

Luthor (Internal): "They didn’t even have powers at first. Just two normal kids with big dreams and bigger lungs from all that damn trumpet practice. What was it—eighth grade? When theirs finally manifested? Mia burned half the music room carpet and Alexei choked the entire hallway in a smoky fog like he was summoning the world’s saddest thunderstorm. And God, they were so happy. So proud. Finally, the “trumpet trio” could become the hero trio. That’s what they thought. We’d rise together, make a name, save the world, look cool doing it."

A faint smile touched his lips, the nostalgic kind that hurts more than it comforts.

He lowered his gaze, the weight of a truth he’d carried for years pressing down again.

Alexei: “What’s with that melancholic look?”

He squints at Luthor like he's trying to diagnose depression with his eyeballs.

Luthor: “It’s nothing. Just thinking it’s been a while since we’ve met. Anything fun happening at the academy?”

Mia: “Ohhh yeah, listen—okay, so there’s this guy, Eric? Meric? Derrick? Something-ric. Anyway! His power is that he can enlarge parts of his body.”

She wiggles her eyebrows.

Mia: "So Lisa dated him for, like, two days, and guess what she said? ‘The one part he couldn’t enlarge was the only part he needed enlarging! AHHHahahahah!”

She slams the table as she laughs, nearly knocking over her water.

Alexei: “Is… that supposed to be girl humor?”

He says it slowly, like the phrase physically hurts him.

Luthor just shrugs.

Alexei: “Auuu! Why are you hitting me!?”

Mia: “Then YOU say something funny! Go on, Mr. Testosterone Humor!”

She crosses her arms, smug.

Alexei: “Alright, alright—something fun… ah! There is something. There’s supposed to be a new teacher arriving tomorrow. Combat specialization in disaster zones. No one knows who it is, so the whole school’s going insane with theories.”

Mia: “Easy. It has to be The Colossus. He retired from hero work last year, didn’t he? Probably needs a hobby so he doesn’t get bored and punch a mountain in half or something.”

Alexei: “I think it’s SunnyBeam. She wasn’t top 20, but she’s strong, fun, reliable, AND retired after giving birth two years ago. Perfect teacher vibes. What about you, Luthor?”

Luthor leans back, deadpan.

Luthor: “I’d say… it’s RatRatRat. Definitely him.”

Both of them freeze.

Mia: “The… sewer guy?”

Alexei: “The man who communicates with three specific rats named Rat, Rat, and Rat?”

Luthor: “Mm. Educational icon.”

Mia: “WHY would he teach disaster combat!?”

Luthor: “Character development.”

Alexei: “Bro thinks it’s an anime arc…”

They all implode into laughter again.

---