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When Henry returned, he noticed the destruction of the place. The explosion had obliterated the entire government facility. Smoke was pouring from the building, which was still on fire. The base was a bit far from the city, but close enough that a few unlucky people were hit by debris. Before seeing Eve, Henry decided to help these people. He used his senses to listen for anyone in the area who might need help.
"Someone, please, help me, for God's sake!"
Henry heard the frantic scream of a man nearby.
He flew toward the sound of the man's desperate cry and then hovered down toward the ground. His cape fluttered in the air. He descended from the sky, defying all laws of physics. It looked as though an angel had descended.
Upon landing, Henry saw the man who had been calling for help. He wasn't old—he seemed to be around 23 years old. His house had collapsed, and his wife was trapped inside the debris. The house was partially destroyed.
Henry used his x-ray vision and saw the woman.
"Someone, please, save my wife!" the man said, tears in his eyes. He was trying to move the debris by himself, but it was too heavy. Despite his efforts, it seemed hopeless.
Henry walked over and stood shoulder to shoulder with the man. He crouched down, receiving a look of surprise from the man, and began easily removing the heavy debris, careful not to make the situation worse for the trapped woman.
Henry continued removing the debris until only one piece was left.
"Betty, my love!" Tears streamed down the man's face as he watched his beloved wife, who had always loved him, even through their struggles. He couldn't help but cry—he feared for her life.
Henry removed the last piece and went to the woman, who was covered in dust. He analyzed her condition with his super vision. She wasn't too badly injured; luckily, the falling debris hadn't killed her. She was very lucky. She had a few cuts and bruises but no broken bones.
Henry carried the woman over to the man and handed her to him.
"She's going to be okay."
The man took his wife.
Henry floated into the air.
He was ready to leave. There was another person nearby asking for help, but before he could take off, someone grabbed his foot.
"Wait, please! Thank you so much, I'll never forget this."
Henry smiled. He didn't do this for attention or to be adored—he didn't need validation. He did it simply because he could. His father had always taught him to do the right thing whenever possible, but he had also taught him that when bad people tried to step on him, he should strike back just as hard, or harder, because that was the only way to make them stop.
"It's nothing."
"But to me, it is. Can you tell me your name?"
"I'm Superboy."
"Thank you so much," the man said, letting go of his foot.
Henry flew away. He went to help other people who were asking for help.
Another house had collapsed, this time catching fire with debris everywhere. A heavy column from the house had fallen on a man's legs. His family was trying to free him. His wife, in desperation, was doing everything she could to help him. His left leg was broken, and his right leg was fractured. With a lot of effort, the woman managed to remove the thick concrete beam that had fallen on his legs. She told her children to leave the house in a panic and wait outside.
"Get out of here!"
The children cried.
"I told you to go now!"
The siblings ran outside.
The man trapped inside screamed in pain. The woman prayed to God that someone could help them.
After removing the stone, the woman faced another problem: carrying her husband down the stairs wasn't going to be easy. He was much heavier than she was, almost double her weight. She looked at her husband, unsure of what to do.
Henry descended from the sky, stopping near the entrance of the house. Close to the entrance, he saw the children crying. When they saw him, they ran up to him, asking for help.
"Please help our dad! He's in there, please!"
"Help us!"
"Of course," he said, ruffling their hair, and walked into the house.
He saw the woman trying to carry the man and approached them.
The woman, who had been thinking of going out to ask for help, saw the strange young man approaching and didn't know how to react. He walked up to her husband, grabbed him, making the man cry out in pain from the hurt leg. He carried him effortlessly.
"You can leave now."
The woman was also injured. Despite everything she had done for her husband, she had some injuries of her own.
Henry looked at her.
"You can leave now. I'll carry your husband."
The woman was very grateful. She followed him outside, while the man continued to cry out in pain.
Outside, Henry walked, with the woman following him, to an ambulance that was already waiting. Car sirens, reporters' vehicles—everything arrived at once to find out what had happened and help people.
Henry walked up to one of the ambulances and placed the injured man inside.
As he walked, people stared at him. The civilians looked at him in shock.
After placing the man in the ambulance, Henry saw the husband of the woman he had saved earlier. He walked over to him and shook his hand.
"Thank you again. I don't know what we would have done without you. After you left, an ambulance came and helped us."
"It's nothing."
"The doctors said she'll be fine."
"That's good to hear."
Henry said that from the heart.
The woman, whom Henry had just helped, also came over to him.
She gave him a big hug and, with tears in her eyes, said:
"Thank you so much."
Her children also came and thanked Henry. They surrounded him.
The two families Henry had saved came to thank him.
Henry floated in the middle of them, like a true god on Earth. His cape fluttered in the wind. He had to leave now.
One of the reporters nearby pointed his camera at him.
A reporter woman who was there:
"Jimmy, film this quick."
"Don't distract me, Lois."
Henry flew off. This time, he was going to look for Eve.
Lois approached Jimmy, her cameraman, to ask if he had gotten footage of the new superhero.
"Did you get it filmed?"
"I recorded everything," Jimmy said, smiling.
"That's great. Who do you think he was? What's his name? Where did he come from? What does he want?"
Lois was already lost in thoughts about what she would write in her new report tomorrow.
"And his name, what is it? Does anyone know?"
"I don't think so, Lois. You'll have to think of a name for him for tomorrow's exclusive report," Jimmy said, full of joy.
"Jimmy, you're the best!"
"I am?" he laughed.
Henry found Eve. He spotted her sitting alone on the edge of a building's rooftop. He descended and approached her.
"Eve."
Henry called her name.
He sat beside her on the edge of the building.
"Your mom?"
"She's dead."
"I'm sorry, Eve."
"I am too."
She rested her head on his shoulder.
"I had to bury her, Henry. It was the saddest thing I've ever seen. They treated her like an object," Eve said, sobbing.
"Her body was all bruised."
Henry put his left arm around her, feeling a bit shy.
After spending some time together, Eve stood up.
"I have to go, Henry. My family is worried about me," she said, rubbing her eyes.
"I have to go too."
They looked at each other.
"So, Eve, I wanted to..."
"What?"
"I wanted to ask if you..."
Eve sighed. Henry was a little red. Even though he could resist bullets now, he was nervous.
"Reginald VelJohnson."
"Huh? What?"
"That's where I study," Eve floated slowly, looking at him.
"And my real name is Samantha,
Before Henry could react, she was gone.
Henry was left wondering why she had told him her real name now. Probably because they fought together, and Eve trusted him a little more now.
It was also time for him to see his family.
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