They called me the Indestructible Hero.

The hero that never took any damage despite bones being broken to what should have been irreversible measures. The hero who could,and did,survive complete decapitation. The hero who was practically a Demi-god.

And that was completely true.

Except from 1 singular hour a year.

The 12th of April,09:00-10:00.

A full hour of all the previous year’s pain compiled into one.

Every broken bone. Every burn and scorch. Every deadly undertaking.

All that pain and more searing my body in a mere hour.

And that’s how I found myself huddled in my soundproofed room,preparing myself for the pain,bracing myself.

I did this every year. Ever since I found this Achilles’ heel of mine,I would lock myself away for this hour.

I could try to avoid anything dangerous,but,being a hero,almost every day I took damage enough to kill a normal man. This year was no different.

I’d been shot through the head.

I’d been thrown into a vat of acid.

I’d been electrocuted with thousands of bolts of electricity.

What made me afraid this year?

Early in the year,I’d been kidnapped for a month. The villain was trying to find the key to my supposed immortality.

She ruthlessly tore me apart.

She tore me limb from limb.

She tore my organs out over and over.

She devoured my body.

Now I face all the pain of that month. I dread the feeling.