The Wonders & The Resurgence of Superheroes 
by Ryujin Yoo-Myoi

Humans with enhanced abilities, otherwise known as ‘super-beings’ have lived in our society from the beginning of time. Because of the rarity of these humans, their origin remains unknown. The first sighting of humans with enhanced abilities was in 1938. But not all humans with enhanced abilities were good intentioned, some of the ‘super-beings’ used their powers to exploit the weak and to seek power. These beings were called ‘supervillains’. Thus began the battle between superheroes and supervillains. There is no record on these superheroes, their identities remain a mystery and a few decades later these superheroes vanished. The world was devoid of superheroes until 25 years ago.

During Metropolis economic crisis, crime and corruption was rampant and the lack of law enforcement left the citizens helpless. This was when a duo of teenage girls were reported to have helped with petty crimes and delivering the said criminals to the police. According to the description of bystanders, the duo at the time were about 15 years old and as one of them had the ability to teleport, no one could ever catch a good look at the two. With the appearance of the duo, the city was at the verge of finding balance, the citizens had once again found hope.

What we know of their abilities is:

The taller blonde haired hero has the following abilities:

1. Teleportation

2. Superstrength

3. Generation and Manipulation of Electricity

The long dark haired hero has the following abilities:

1. Flight

2. Invincibility

3. Healing transfer

The duo’s first big fight was against a giant metal robot where they showed full control over their listed abilities. There were many that followed the appearance of the pair, some even interacted with the humans and have superhero identities the world grew familiar with. But there were none like the elusive blue caped duo. People only knew them as

The Wonders

 

“…elusive superhero duo have once again saved the- it’s the mickey mou- WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT BLAST IT WOULD PUT S- the wonders have arrived at the scene- the manta ray is a fascinating-”

“Yah, stop changing the channels” Ryujin scolds her younger sister “give me the remote” the ten year old only grips the remote tighter when Ryujin tries to take it from her

“Kids, we just got back home” the exhausted voice of their Ma fails to break up the little squabble in the living room

“I was holding it first!” Yujin’s relentless grip makes it hard for Ryujin to get a hold of the remote, let alone take it away from the kid. The push and pull goes on approximately three more times before the familiar crunch of broken plastic resounds from the room

“Now what did I say about fighting over the remote”

“She tried to take it from me!”
”She was being annoying!”

The siblings talk over each other, trying to get their Mom to side with them. Mina shakes her head, watching her two daughters argue. She walks over to the cabinet drawers and takes out a remote from a stack of twenty. She tosses it towards the couch and her eldest catches it with practiced ease

“Quit bugging your sister Ryu” Yujin begins to whine, she’s cut short when Jeongyeon walks in and carries her out of the living room and into the kitchen

“But Ma” Yujin whines once again

“Deep breaths Jinnie” and with cute little pout Yujin follows Jeongyeon’s instructions. Her balled up fists relax. When the watch on her little wrist emits a soft beep, she smiles again

“How was school?” Mina joins Ryujin on the couch

“It was good, got an A on my paper on the Wonders” Ryujin smirks “And bid goodbye to everyone. A lot of them cried” she pretends to wipe her tears

“You’re quite popular huh” Mina pats her daughter’s back “You can continue high school with your friends” Mina suggests

“But Chaeryeong won’t be there” Ryujin pouts “And I want to go to your high school you know like all superhero children”

“You do have your mom’s supersmart brain” Jeongyeon ruffles Ryujin’s hair as she joins her wife on the couch. Ryujin swats away her Ma’s hand and fixes her hair while mumbling something along the lines of a normal smart brain “Come on you two, dinner’s ready”

“I don’t know Ryu, I don’t like the idea of sending you there” Mina continues as the family settles at the dining table

“Why not? They sent me the letter, must mean that they want me there” Ryujin says “If it’s about me not having any superpowers then you don’t have to worry, I want to be in Hero Support and I’m mostly going there for Chae” Ryujin shrugs and continues to eat

“Well it’s just that” Mina sighs “I don’t know Ryu, Sky High is a risky place, I know you are a responsible kid but it’s the others I don’t trust”

“Yeah, teenagers are jackasses anyways, give them superpowers and boom, you’ve got the worst kind of teens ever” Jeongyeon says while munching on her bread, Mina glares at her wife. Jeongyeon is grateful that Yujin is engrossed in eating her food to pay any attention to her family

“Hey, no harm in trying right?” Ryujin tries to convince her parents

“Okay” Mina says “But I need you to promise me that you will let us know if anything-”

“Or anyone” Jeongyeon adds

“bothers you”

“Wow, you guys sound menacing”

“We’ll send Yujin to beat them up” Jeongyeon whispers making Ryujin laugh

The family of four finish the rest of their meal with more banter. Once they clear the table and clean the dishes, Ryujin runs out of the kitchen

“I’m going to the treehouse. Bye!” her fading voice announces

“Bye bye baby” Jeongyeon wipes away a fake tear as the sixteen year old leaves “Time flies so fast” Jeongyeon leans against Mina’s shoulder. The couple share a moment of quiet before they hear a crash from the kitchen followed by Yujin’s giggle. With an exhausted groan Jeongyeon gets off the couch, Mina holds in her chuckles as she follows suit “I’m so glad she didn’t get flight”

“Hey there” The younger girl flinches, startled by Ryujin’s voice '“Did I make you wait too long?” Ryujin asks as she climbs into the tree house.

“Nope, I just got here” Chaeryeong reassures her friend. Ryujin can tell that Chaeryeong is lying. Chaeryeong was in the treehouse long enough too space out and be startled by Ryujin, who she knew was coming. Ryujin deduces that she indeed was late and her friend had waited for quite some time. Maybe super observation could be my superpower. Maybe I just know Chaeryeong too well.

“Sorry for being late” Ryujin sits next to her friend “Are you excited for tomorrow?”

“Nervous more than anything” Chaeryeong shrinks at the thought of starting high school. Superpower High School

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m going to be there with you”

“That makes me feel worse to be honest”

“Hey!” Chaeryeong laughs at Ryujin’s offended face. Ryujin’s only happy that she could make friend feel better “You’re gonna be great” Ryujin tells Chaeryeong

“You too” Chaeryeong bumps her shoulder against Ryujin’s

“Ha ha, very funny”

“No, I’m being serious!” Chaeryeong looks at Ryujin “You’re great with people and I’m sure everyone there will love you! You’ll make a lot of friends!” Ryujin looks at Chaeryeong, her earnest voice paired with her hopeful eyes could make anyone believe anything.

“We both will” Ryujin says “Enough about me, did you try what we discussed last time?”

Chaeryeong nods “But I still need more time to practice”

“It works! That’s great” Ryujin smiles in excitement “Can I see?”

Chaeryeong shakes her head but giggles at Ryujin’s pout “Fine, don’t make fun of me”

“I would never”

Chaeryeong takes in a deep breath, she close her eyes and brings her hands to her sides. Ryujin sees the cute frown on Chaeryeong’s face as tries her hardest to concentrate all her power to the palms of her hands facing the floor of the treehouse. It takes approximately five seconds

“Wow” Ryujin exclaims as Chaeryeong’s body slowly lifts off the ground. Barely five centimeters off the ground. With each passing second her body levitates a centimeter higher. Chaeryeong opens her eyes and looks at Ryujin when she’s floating three inches off the ground. In the moonlit sky, against the backdrop of the tree's branches, Chaeryeong looked like an angel to Ryujin.

“Guess I’ll never be taller than you now”

Chaeryeong laughs at the remark and loses control. She falls towards Ryujin and the blonde is quick to catch her

“Guess you never will” Chaeryeong hugs Ryujin “I’m so happy I can do that!” she jumps up and down with Ryujin in her arms. Both girls laugh, lost in their own little bubble, scared but excited for the future.

There are several categories of superpowers based on the acquisition of the power. Some acquire enhanced abilities through human error, some are born with it and in rare cases some steal it from others.