THE NEW HERO ON THE BLOCK

It was the first Wednesday of the month in Galactic City, the city of heroes! And the first Wednesday of every month was “Galactic Hero Meet and Greet Day,” when all the new heroes would assemble at the Hall of Super Justice to do two things: eat breakfast tacos and compare their superpowers. Before long, the Hall of Super Justice was packed with heroes showing off.

“I’m Captain Stupendous!” said a man in green tights with a bright orange cape, introducing himself to the group. He always led the meetings for new heroes. “My powers are super strength, invulnerability, and X-ray vision! I got my powers when the last Captain Stupendous chose me to wear his alien super-tights from another planet.”

Captain Stupendous turned to a person standing in the front row, who looked like he was covered all over with little rocks. “You. New guy. What’s your story?”

“My name is Meteor Man!” the new guy said. “I can shoot across the sky as fast as a meteor, and my rock-like skin is impervious to bullets. I got my powers when I was hit in the head by a falling piece of radioactive space asteroid!”

“You got hit in the head by an asteroid?” said Captain Stupendous.

“It was very small,” said Meteor Man.

“Cool,” said Captain Stupendous. He pointed at a woman in a gray cloak. “You. What’s your story?”

“They call me the Quantum Avenger,” she said. “I can walk through walls and be in two places at the same time. I got my powers when I fell into a particle accelerator that blasted me with Boson-Quark rays. Also, I can go backwards in time.”

“Whoa,” said Captain Stupendous, impressed. “That’s awesome.” He turned to a man in the back. “Guy in the back, what’s your deal?”

“I’m Empathetic Listening Man,” he said. “My superpower is I listen really well.”

“You…you listen well?” said Captain Stupendous.

“Yes. I give you my full attention. I don’t interrupt. I really make space for people to feel heard.”

“Is that even a superpower?” asked Meteor Man.

“I got my powers from my aunt,” said Empathetic Listening Man. “As a child, I would sit on her lap every evening while she worked on her knitting in her rocking chair.”

“I don’t think you’re in the right place—” the Quantum Avenger started to say.

Just then, the Hall of Super Justice shook violently. There was a loud BOOM! The assembled heroes looked up in surprise as the roof of the Hall of Super Justice was peeled back like someone opening a can of tuna. In the sudden daylight, they could see Roboto, the ten-story tall robot, attacking the building.

Huge chunks of debris fell from the ceiling towards the startled heroes. “Look out!” they yelled.

The falling rocks bounced off of Meteor Man’s impenetrable skin. The Quantum Avenger yelled, “Phase shift!” and the rocks passed harmlessly through her body as she became like a ghost. Captain Stupendous leaped in front of Empathetic Listening Man and deflected a piece of the ceiling with his super strength just before it crushed him.

“You’ve got to get out of here!” yelled Captain Stupendous. “This is a job for real heroes!”

The Galactic heroes tried to fight off Roboto, but they were powerless against him. Captain Stupendous’s super punches bounced right off of Roboto’s metal skin. Meteor Man’s asteroid beams had no effect. The Quantum Avenger tried phase shifting to disrupt Roboto’s circuitry, but it did no good.

“Must destroy Hall of Super Justice!” said Roboto in his metallic robot voice.

“Roboto,” called Empathetic Listening Man up from the ground at Roboto’s feet. “Can we talk about this?”

“Must destroy Hall of Super Justice!” said Roboto.

“You seem like something’s really bothering you,” said Empathetic Listening Man. “This isn’t like you.”

“Roboto acting out,” said Roboto. “Must destroy Hall of Super Justice!”

“If you’d like to talk about it, I’m here,” said Empathetic Listening Man. “I made hot chocolate.”

Roboto stopped. “Roboto can have marshmallows?”

“Of course!” said Empathetic Listening Man. “Now, come on, what’s going on, big guy?”

Roboto stopped attacking the building and sat down. “Lately, Roboto feeling like friends not really listen when Roboto have something to say…”

While the other heroes watched in disbelief, Roboto and Empathetic Listening Man talked all the rest of the afternoon. When they were done, Empathetic Listening Man gave one of Roboto’s enormous metal fingers a hug. It was like hugging a telephone pole.

“Roboto sorry for building,” Roboto said. “Roboto will help clean up.”

From that day on, Empathetic Listening Man took his place at the Hall of Super Justice. The other Galactic heroes liked having someone around who really listened to them. When Roboto came to visit, they listened to him too. And there was always hot chocolate with marshmallows.