"So what you're saying is our planet is indestructible?"

"Oh no. In fact, even a slight breeze could..."

"Indestructible."

The first president to get a 110% approval rating

Rachel covered her mouth as Mike’s jaw hung. “What do we do now?”

A female voice spoke. “We save the planet.”

Their eyes widened as they saw James’ body rise. His body shifted and contorted as new flesh and bone filled the gaps. However, the shape was unlike James’ body as a golden armor wrapped around his changing body. His hair lengthened, turning from black to blonde, and his face softened before turning feminine. What used to be James was now a tall female warrior.

“How about we show Zack that heroes still exist,” she said.

The couple was shocked at the new woman that stood before them. Mike held his girlfriend’s arm. Rachel asked, “Who are you?”

“I was the Harbinger of the Apocalypse,” the warrior said. “But now it’s just Becca, the majority owner of James’ body and mind as well as a shareholder of his soul.”

“Is he dead?” Mike asked. Even saying it out loud, he refused to believe the man he believed could have died, let alone refused to answer the call.

“No, James has never been more alive. He’ll wake up in four to seven days,” Becca said. “A few decades ago, your government was having trouble containing entities that wished your planet harm. The then-president asked James if they could use his mind as a super prison for these entities for the greater good. Your government had intended James’ mind to kill us, but his mind assimilated us instead.”

Mike asked, “Assimilated?”

“Don’t get too bogged down on the terminology,” Becca said. “You know those other heroes that have been rescuing the planet? That was James.”

“Wow,” Mike said. He knew James wouldn’t give up on the planet. “He’s so cool.”

Rachel glared at her boyfriend and punched his shoulders. He looked down and rubbed his shoulders. “But the prophecy said that only he can save us from the sun.”

“James may not be me, but all the prisoners inside his body are him. Whether he realizes it or not, James showed us a second chance, and I intend to honor that,” Becca said as she revealed her fiery wings. “And besides, I have an invested interest in not living on a charred planet.”

Rachel nodded and pulled Mike away. She had a feeling they weren’t needed anymore. The house shook as they neared the entrance, with a boom resonating across the halls. The two caught up with Josh and Zack.

“What was that?” Josh said.

“That was James,” Rachel said, forcing a smile.

“You mean…” Zack said with excitement in his eyes.

Rachel nodded. “Yep and James said he was sorry for being mean.”

“I knew he cared,” Zack said as he jumped around.

“I was a bit nervous that he was going to say no,” Josh said. “But I knew he wouldn’t stand by and let the planet burn.”

“You two start walking. I need to ask Mike something.” The two agreed and started on their way. Rachel turned to Mike. “Promise me you won’t tell anyone about this.”

“100 percent,” Mike said. “No one would ever believe James is that awesome and selfless.”

Rachel was about to correct him when she decided to let him believe that. “Thank you.” With that, the four left the house and walked to continue on with their lives.

“Hey, James, we finally found you!” shouted a young woman. Standing with her were two older men and a younger boy. “My father will be glad to see your face again. He says none of the other heroes that came after you can compare themselves to you.”

The former hero sighed as he turned his wheelchair to the four intruders. A blanket covered his body from the chest down. This wasn’t the first time he had to deal with intruders. Word had gotten around that he had grown soft and weak. The graves in his backyard beg to differ. But James couldn’t deny that he wasn’t the same man he was before.

With a hoarse voice, he asked, “What do you want?”

“Do you remember us, sir?” the boy asked. “You saved our city from that evil robot.”

James let out a chuckle as he reminisced about the fight. That was during his earlier years. An owner of a social media site tried to use an AI algorithm to remove all of the bots on his website. Naturally, the AI declared war on humanity. The AI had seen Age of Ultron and decided to crash a city on the planet to send Earth into a new ice age.

And who had to face the brunt of T-Bot’s and its metal army’s fists and lasers. He did. Of course, James saved the day, and the planet made memes.

What a joke.

“I believe so,” James said. “Was it New York?”

“It was Philadelphia,” the young woman said. “I’m Rachel, and this is my brother Zack. Those two are my boyfriend and his friend, Mike and Josh.” The four waved at their hero. James did not.

“If you’re here for autographs, I have a paper and pen in my drawer,” he said.

“I got this, babe,” Mike said. “With all due respect, sir, but I don’t know if you’ve seen the news lately or stepped outside.”

“What about it?”

“The sun is about to burn this planet to a crisp.”

James looked back at Mike deadpanned. “What about it?”

“It was prophesied that….”

“I’ll launch my body into the sun and restart its core. Yeah, the 2062 doomsday prophecy,” James said with disdain. “Prophecy… fuck prophecy. Apologies to the little one, ‘fudge’ prophecy. Becca says I shouldn’t curse in front of kids.”

The room was silent after he talked. Zack was on the verge of tears. Rachel turned to Josh. “Hey, can you take my brother near the entrance for me?” Josh nodded and grabbed Zack’s hand. The young boy looked back to his hero, hoping to meet his gaze. When the two were out of earshot, Rachel spoke, “Are you going to help us or not?”

James cocked his head as he let the question hang. “No.”

“No?” the two of them said.

“Are you hard of hearing, or do you need me to spell it out for you?”

“What… but why, sir?” asked Mike.

James rolled his eyes. This was why he didn’t deal with fans. “For the greater good. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Ever heard of that?” Mike slowly nodded his head. “That’s what I tell myself every time I fight for your planet. That your needs come before mine.”

Mike moved his lips, but the words refused to come out.

Rachel spoke. “The prophecy also said that it was impossible to kill you.”

Immortality. James snorted. “How old do I look?”

Mike blurted out, “About 25, sir.”

With his right hand, he pulled his blanket, and the two of them gasped. James was in nothing but his shirt and underwear. But his wardrobe wasn’t the source of their shock. James’ skin suffered from second and third-degree burns from the neck down. Half of his right leg and left hand were gone, and the skin of his chest was exposed, a clear case showing his lungs and heart. “I’m 67,” James said. “My body, mind, and soul are the monument of the greater good.”

“Oh my god,” Mike said.

“But you have to save the planet,” Rachel pleaded. “I mean, it was foretold!”

“Of course, I can save the planet.” James reached over to his keyboard and pressed a button. Images of a suit and spaceship filled the screen. “I have everything I need to save this piece of dirt.”

“Then why aren’t you doing anything?”

The two watched as his lungs expanded before shrinking back down. “There was a prophecy. It involved me playing the role of the antichrist so that humanity may go into Heaven. I asked why and He told me it was for the greater good. Bull-fucking-shit.

“He didn’t like that much and knew what I was about to do. He tried to stop me, and I punched Him in the face. It shattered my left hand. After that, I hunted the Devil, killed him, and froze Hell over. Just so I didn’t have to fulfill that prophecy. That was the day I found out prophecies were bullshit.”

“I- I don’t believe you,” Rachel said.

“You can believe whatever you want,” James said. His heart started to beat faster with every word. “You would think God betraying me would be my breaking point, but it was when I found out that the US government made clones of me that broke me. All that pain and misery that I went through, the greater good, was for nothing. That was when my mind snapped, and I gave up on heroism.

“So if you want a hero to save your asses, just walk over to the White House, knock on that door and ask for a clone to do my fucking...”

His heart couldn’t take it anymore. James grabbed for his chest, but it was too late. He breathed one more time and slumped forward.