azure
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The sky was a clear, cloudless blue. Birds sang in the trees, and flowers were in full bloom. It was a perfect day. Chris did not care about any of it. He was only there because his family had made him leave the house. It was not that he minded the outside, really. It was just that there were so many other things to hold his interest.
He could be reading, or playing a game. Or, well, anything else. But no, he had to be out here, in the woods, with no WiFi. It was akin to torture. Well, he would finish him family mandated hike and then head home, where there were more interesting things to be done.
As he walked, something caught his attention. It was the distinct sound of air rushing passed something falling. Something big. But there were no buildings in the area, so what could be causing the sound. He looked up and saw a bright, burning object fall with alarming speed. Had he been anyone else, Chris would have run away from the falling object. But to Chris, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The chance to see a real meteor impact!
He pulled out his phone and turned on the video recording, making sure to get the space rock in view. He rushed, ran between trees and other objects as fast as he could. Fortunately, the object was still quite distant, and was likely going to hit someplace very close to him. Indeed, it looked like it was going to hit a nearby field.
Chris arrived just before it hit. He cheered as he caught the whole thing on video. The dust and debris kicked up by the hit were minor inconveniences as far as he was concerned. Sure, they stung his eyes and made him nearly cough up his lungs, but what a shot! He would get so many views with this. He might even go viral!
When the dust began to settle enough for him to approach, he held his phone out and made his way to the stone. Only to find that it was not a stone. It was clearly metallic, perfectly smooth, and shaped like a bullet. His eyes widened and his heart soared. This wasn’t a meteor. This was a spaceship! He was about to make first contact!
He rushed into the impact crater and examined the alien vessel. It was completely smooth, with no visible openings, lights, or even markings. For all he knew, it might have been completely solid. Or even filled with advanced technology. Maybe it had some kind of super suit in it that would make him a superhero. That would be awesome.
His phone beeped, and he instinctively checked it. Something was trying to connect with it. Something was trying to get online through his phone. He was amazed to discover he now had an internet connection. How had that happened? He did not have a signal before. He leaned against the surprisingly cool metal to try and figure out where the connection was coming from. Something pricked him, like a needle. He yelped in surprise and backed away.
There was no evidence of a needle anywhere on the vessel. No signs of anything, really. That is, until it started making a sound. A high-pitched electric whirring came from deep inside of it. Chris made sure to record ever moment of what was happening. The whirring lasted for several minutes before anything else of interest happened.
The top of the pod separated from the bottom. There were no visible supports, or any form of mechanism that would cause this to happen. It simply rose into the air. Then a figure emerged. It looked like a human woman straight out of a comic book. Like an idealized version of all the best-looking people in the world, rolled into one. With one exception. She had bright blue skin and dark blue hair.
She sat up and looked around. Then she looked at her hand and wiggled her fingers. She patted herself down, feeling her body like it was new to her. Maybe it was. He had no idea how aliens worked. She rose out of the pod in a way similar to the top of the device. But that had risen straight up. She moved up and out of it, hovering over the ground under her own power. Whatever that was.
She saw him and smiled. Or at least, she tried to. She tried several different types of smiles, like she had only seen the expression performed and not actually done it herself.
“Much very strangeness.” She said in almost perfect English. “How does…smiling this work?”
“Uh…you mean how do you smile?”
“Yes.”
Chris thought about it for a moment, then tried his best to show her a happy smile. It was not all that hard, because he was probably seeing the origin of Earth’s first real superhero. How could he not be happy?
“You I thank.” She said with a slightly more natural smile. He hoped she would get better at that. And talking.
“Uh, sure. Hey, I’m Chris.”
“I name is—” The next sound out of her mouth was clearly alien. Lots of S and Sh sounds.
“Okay, we’re going to need to work on that. Later though. How are you speaking English?”
She thought about it for a moment, then pointed at his phone. “Computer connects. Learns. Reads. Teaches. Form also gives. Better shape planet for.”
So that was it. The pod had given his phone an internet connection and used that to learn the language, then used the pictures there combined with what he could only assume was a DNA collection to make her look so human. The wonders of alien technology.
“Okay, so what are you here for?”
“Purpose? Here to help, am I.”
“Help?”
“Danger much coming is. You ready not for it. So, I come, I help fight!”
His eyes went wide and he broke out in a massive grin. He really was seeing the birth of a superhero! A real one! It was a dream come true.
“Okay, I can help you with that. We humans have some, uh, ideas about aliens. Some are good, some are bad. You’re going to need some help with an image for a superhero.”
“Image?”
“Yeah. How you look, how you act. That sort of thing. First of all, the outfit. It needs to change.”
She was wearing a full body suit that looked like a combination of a gymnastics uniform and body armor. He could not tell if it was form fitting or bulky. And it was definitely not a superhero outfit. He was already thinking of ways to improve it.
“Outfit change I?”
“Yeah, but for that, we need to brainstorm some ideas. Second, you’ll need a secret identity. Can you change your skin color?”
“Yes. If need I.”
“You will, but not now. The last thing we need is a name.”
“I name have.”
“Right, well, you’ll need a human name for your secret identity. But you’ll also need a superhero name. One that fits you. One that tells people that a hero is here to help them. Let’s see…”
He looked at her. At her blue skin and hair. The color of the sky. It was a good color, a beautiful color. He could work with that.
“Got it.” He said. “Your name is Azure.”
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A gotta love a superhero origin story, right? Okay, maybe space alien sent to protect us isn't super original, but what is these days?
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