Supernova

15 Years Ago:

Sun Man stood before what could only be described as humanity's Armageddon, yet his smile never wavered in the face of this certain defeat. It appeared as if the unstoppable force of Death's ghastly green aura would be enough to collapse the seemingly impenetrable wall of plasmatic heat emanating off of the Number 1 Hero.

Even through the intense pressure of their clash, Sun Man turned his head to look towards the small abandoned building behind him, his expression sad but his smile intact.

"It looks like I won't get to meet him after all, Laura. Let the boy know I'm sorry. And that I loved you both." He then turned back to face his foe, only uttering a single additional word following his brief goodbye.

"Supernova."

In an instant, Sun Man disappeared and reappeared directly on top of Death as the entire area was bathed in blinding light.

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As soon as she came to, LifeLight screamed in agony. The pain in her eyes was like nothing she could have previously imagined: a burning so intense that it felt as if they'd been set aflame. Accompanying this pain was total and complete darkness. Less intense was the ringing in her ears, her obviously cracked ribs, her broken femur, and her dislocated shoulder. There was also a dull pain in the back of her head, though the already-dried blood suggested this wound was minor.

"Rob?!"

LifeLight stumbled forward blindly as she cried out for her husband. She struggled to piece together what had happened. They'd flown back as quickly as they could to confront The Four Horsemen, but by that point the death toll had already reached over ten thousand. How could Victor have betrayed them? How could he have murdered so many innocent people? She'd been in a nearby building empowering her husband with her quirk, just as she had countless times before, and then-

The young woman cried out in both grief and agony as she tried to deny the truth she knew in her heart, tears wetting her blood stained cheeks. She remembered the pained smile her husband had carried as he turned to look in her direction, a far cry from his usual goofy grin. She remembered, before that brilliant flash of orange light, his loving apology echoing through her communication device- No! It wasn't possible. He was Sun Man after all; he couldn't be beaten! No matter how bad things seemed, he always found his way back to her- big, stupid grin and all. He couldn't have-

Suddenly, LifeLight heard the sound of feet rushing towards her in the distance. A desperate smile spread across her face as she tried and failed to stand on her good leg.

"Robert! I was so worried-"

"Laura, is that you? Do you know what the hell is going on?"

The unfortunate sound of Burgundy Boomerang's voice hit her like a ton of bricks. The young woman collapsed, giving the hero but a moment to catch his colleague. Her body's injuries were apparent, and her eyes were horrifically charred.

"We have to get you to a doctor right away! Where's Sun-" He paused suddenly, his eyes widening as he looked out towards the wreckage behind her. The city's evacuated buildings had been completely flattened, melted, or otherwise decimated- as if a nuclear bomb had gone off in its center. As he looked back down at the broken woman weeping in his arms, the situation became all too clear.

"Laura, I...I'm so sorry."

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Present Day:

Bobby looks up from his test, his face displaying an uncharacteristically stressed expression. His Hiragana and Katakana have reached a decent enough level, but he still struggles with Kanji. That said, he thinks he's deciphered most of the questions written in this Da Vinci Code of a language, but he's pretty sure his answers have the sophistication of an elementary school kid. The teacher is sure to think he's a complete idiot when she reads his answers. He's already made peace with that, though; that's not the issue. No, the question really stumping him is actually the last one. Unlike the others, he doesn't think he can just give a stock response to the question, "Why do you want to be a Pro Hero?" Sure, he can write some nonsense like "With great power comes great responsibility," but the teacher likely wants something heartfelt. That's a bit tricky when he's only here because he has to be. It's not like he actually cares about being a hero.

He glances at the clock. 5 minutes left. Shit. His eyes dart around the room before landing on the dark-haired girl sitting in front of him. She's writing robotically, as if she's merely repeating the same answer over and over. Then she stops suddenly- just staring off into space for a while. This bizarre behavior causes Bobby to question his own answers even more, but he tells himself that it must simply be a weird Japanese writing habit. He then glances to the student to his left: a rough-looking boy with greased hair sitting in the window seat. The delinquent is chewing on his eraser when he matches Bobby's gaze, giving a sneaky thumbs up before going back to his work. Bobby then looks directly ahead again, this time across the classroom to the teacher's desk. Miss Rosethorn gazes directly at him with an amused smile.

Bobby immediately drops his eyes back to his test, hoping the teacher didn't assume he was cheating. He has no time for an answer now as she begins to collect the tests from the students towards the front of the classroom. He quickly jots down the first thing that comes to mind.

Q: Why do you want to become a pro hero?
A: (crudely written and barely legible) "Get pretty girls."