Everyone wants to be a hero these days. In a world where heroes and villains coexist, the lives of citizens are in constant danger. And, above all of them, stood Hero X: the strongest, the most capable, the most recognized.
"Aaugh… so sleepy," he murmured, letting out a yawn.
That very same hero everyone admired… was tired of being one. He just wanted a normal life, but destiny had condemned him to carry that title.
However, something unexpected happened. Portals began opening all over the planet.
"What's happening?" he said suddenly, standing up from the couch and putting aside his can of alcohol. He approached the window and, with horror, saw cracks splitting the very air.
In an instant, those fissures began sucking in everything around them.
"Is this the work of a villain? Working overtime again—"
He couldn't finish the sentence. The rift widened, the wind roared, and the windows of his apartment shattered into a thousand pieces.
"Damn it!"
X snapped his fingers, summoning his power, but a strange energy radiated from the rift, nullifying all his abilities. He frowned in disbelief and clung desperately to the railing. But it didn't hold—it broke in seconds.
The hero was dragged away.
"So this is how my story ends… I just wanted freedom," he whispered.
His body, his sight, his touch… everything vanished. Only his soul remained, wandering in infinite darkness. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months went by.
"I don't know how long I've been here… I stopped trying to escape a long time ago," X thought, feeling his serenity slowly crumble.
Then, it happened. A spark, a ray of light appeared before him.
"Wait a second, that's…! That's light!?"
He shut his eyes instantly; the brightness was unbearable after months in complete darkness. When he opened them again, he felt something different: warm hands caressing him. The cold emptiness was gone. His sense of touch had returned.
"A g… girl?" he stammered.
He was now a baby. His cry burst out instinctively as he saw the young woman holding him: white hair, sky-blue eyes, porcelain skin… and a body that radiated warmth and tenderness.
"Yumi… let me hold him. You're too weak right now," said an imposing man with dark hair and eyes, bronzed skin, and a muscular physique of nearly two meters.
He knelt beside her.
"Manabe… look at him… he's beautiful. I wish I could see him grow, take his first steps… but I… I'm losing my strength…" Yumi whispered.
Her skin grew paler and colder. Her arms, which held the baby, weakened. Before the child could fall, Manabe caught him swiftly.
The baby's cries filled the room.
"Yumi! Please, hold on!" he shouted, trembling, clutching her hand.
She managed to give him one last warm smile.
"Take care… of our son, Manabe… I'm entrusting him to you…"
Her eyes closed, and her hand fell lifelessly to the floor.
"No… nooooo!!!" Manabe roared. His voice echoed not only in the room but throughout the entire village.
The marines, investigating the nearby area, immediately moved upon hearing that heart-wrenching scream.
"Yumi…! I'm so sorry…!"
With his free arm, the man gently stroked his fiancée's hair as tears streamed down his face and hit the floor. X watched the scene with confusion and, at the same time, a strange empathy.
"I've been born again… but my mother, Yumi, died giving birth to me," thought X, squeezing his eyelids shut.
He tried to stay composed, but small tears slid down his infant cheeks.
Suddenly, heavy knocking and footsteps echoed at the door of the little wooden house.
"Pirate Black Soul, come out with your hands up! We've surrounded the house; if you don't, we'll be forced to open fire!"
Outside, a man nearly two meters tall, wearing a white Marine cloak, stood in front of the door. Behind him, more and more marines arrived, filling the entire forest area.
"Son… listen to me. These may be my last words…"
Manabe extended his arm, urging X to look at him. The infant, though newly born, understood the gravity of the moment. With effort, he focused all his attention on his father.
"I, Manabe, your father… and your mother, Yumi, love you deeply. We will never stop loving you. Keep this forever in your heart. I am not strong enough… I wish the world could be more prosperous, a place where pirates and marines could live in harmony. But reality… is very different."
The pounding on the door did not cease. Time was running out. With steady hands, Manabe pulled a silver ring and a small necklace from his pocket. In a swift motion, he placed it around X's neck.
"This is a memento of our family, the Lancelots. It is said to hold a special luck… one that will guide you to your destined path. From now on, I entrust it to you, my dear son. Live… eat… play… and train."
He embraced him one last time before summoning a silver cloud that enveloped X's tiny body. Without hesitation, he launched him into the sky, bursting through the wooden roof of the house.
"I'm sorry, my love… this is the best I can do…" Manabe whispered, voice breaking.
Suddenly, black surges of energy erupted from his body, spreading through the forest with devastating force.
"Sir! Something shot out from the house, we need—!" a marine shouted, but he couldn't finish. A surge struck him down instantly.
One by one, the other soldiers met the same fate. For a brief moment, no one paid attention to the cloud drifting away into the sky.
Manabe knelt beside the lifeless body of his fiancée and embraced her one last time. He closed his eyes, accepting his end at her side. A second later, the entire house was obliterated in a violent explosion.
BOOM!
Meanwhile, X was carried away by the silver cloud. He soared through a dark sky, lit only by the moon. The wind struck his infant face, while his father's necklace hung from his chest.
"Wow… the Lancelot family, huh? I'll keep them with me always… In this new world, I'll fulfill your wish, Father."
He told himself, clenching the ring tightly against his tiny chest. But then, he noticed the cloud slowly beginning to fade, leaving him suspended in midair.
"You've got to be kidding me…! At least bring me down a little lower, cloud!"
X exclaimed in distress as he looked down. The cloud was descending at full speed, directly toward a massive ship that was just setting sail.
"I have to do something! If not, I'll crash right into that ship!" he thought desperately.
Within seconds, the cloud vanished completely, leaving X plummeting in free fall.
"Nooo!"
In a desperate attempt, he snapped his tiny baby fingers… and, absurdly, his body transformed into a flat figure, sticking to the deck floor as if he were a badly drawn graffiti.
"Hey, who drew this thing here?!" one of the pirate crew members asked, pointing at the strange graffiti on the deck.
"Huh…? What are you talking about? Nobody here knows how to draw," another replied irritably.
Suddenly, X snapped his fingers again and reappeared, this time standing on the deck in a more open area.
"H-He disappeared!" a pirate shouted, eyes bulging.
"Stop talking nonsense," grumbled the second crewmate. "There's nothing weird here."
While they argued, X picked up a piece of wood from the floor, snapped his fingers, and in a strange flash created a tiny pajama that clung to his baby body.
"That's better," he murmured, adjusting the improvised clothing.