Chapter Five

Present

 

The waiting room of the hospital isn’t as packed as Jay thought it would be. He’s thinking about how many people would actually go through with this procedure as he speaks to his mother on his cell phone. He has a clipboard in his lap with papers for him to fill out: waiver and sign-up sheet to become a registered superhero.

“Yeah, there’s enough for everything, Mom. Don’t worry. It’s my decision. I’ll let you know how it goes. Love you, too. Bye.”

He hangs up and looks at the clipboard. Then he averts his attention to the clock on the wall, which reads “6:01.” He looks back at the paper and writes the name Lux on the line provided for “Super Name.”

He looks up and scans the room. Everyone else in the room fills out their sheets. He leans his head back and sighs. He thinks about the repercussions of receiving the serum. The possibility of it permanently disfiguring him. And the possibility of it killing him like the news anchor warned. But the timing of the release is too convenient, just as he’s graduating high school and trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life. It had to be a sign.

He thinks about the future he could have had should the serum kill him. Finding a stable job, finding a girl, settling down, having kids, and growing old, one of which could be possible should it all end today. And of course, he didn’t tell his mother about the possibility of it killing him. He knew she would come down and stop him if he did. This was his decision, but he thought about the reason he was making it. Was it because of the possibility of power? Or because there was nothing he really aspired to be in life? Was he getting the serum to have it kill him? Or to let fate decide?

A nurse walks in. Jay sits up and looks her over, her fair skin in contrast with her brunette hair. Her light green scrubs tightly grip to her thick body structure. She pulls the surgeon’s mask she has over her face to speak clearly.

“Jones?” she says.

“That’s me,” Jay says as he gets up and walks to the door.

She smirks at him. “Follow me, please.”

In the hallway, Jay trails behind the nurse. He glances at her butt after seeing something glimmer from it. He catches a glance of a cybernetic tail slightly revealing itself through her midriff. He feels a moment of confusion, thinking the serum only gives people powers or kills them, not adds mechanical appendages to them. He believes it to be the work of someone else. Someone not very subtle with cybernetics.

Jay follows the nurse into an operating room. The room is dimly lit from bulbs with greenish tint. There is an assortment of machines in the room, but they are all against the wall. There is a sleek, walk-in chamber in front of an operating table. An electric panel of knobs, levers, and buttons is behind the table. The nurse gestures Jay to the table.

“If you will,” she says.

His heart rate increases as he takes in the situation. Something he’s in that could kill him. It was worse than any of the assignments Durante sent him on. He knows the danger of it.

Next to the table stands an intimidating man, Doctor Daichi. He turns to face the two and smiles. Jay gasps, unable to see the doctor’s eyes through his glass lenses. He has a bald head and scruffy, but shaped, facial hair.

The doctor approaches Jay with a clean hand extended. “Mr. Jones, I presume,” Daichi says through his toothy grin.

“You presume correctly,” Jay says, shaking the doctor’s hand. Daichi holds his hand out at the nurse.

“And I assume you’ve met my assistant…Nurse Addison,” he says.

Jay turns to look at the nurse again. She smiles and waves at him.

“Yeah,” he says.

“Very good. Now, would you kindly make your way onto the table, please?” Daichi bows.

Jay walks to the table and climbs onto it. Daichi and Addison walk over, as well. They both strap Jay down with belt restraints.

“This gonna hurt?” Jay asks.

“Nervous?” the doctor asks.

“Kinda,” Jay responds.

“Don’t be,” says Daichi. Jay looks at the doctor as he hovers. He smiles wickedly. “Many survive the process. But, at the same time…”

Dr. Daichi injects Jay with the serum in a vein. “Many do not.”

There it was. The thing Jay actually waited to hear. If it didn’t feel real to him before, but the doctor who invented the serum confirmed it. This was life or death.

They wheel Jay over to the chamber.

“That’s supposed to be comforting?!” Jay shouts.

Daichi and Addison lift the table so it sits upright and push it into the open chamber. Addison closes the chamber door as Daichi walks over to the panel and toys with the knobs. Air pressure increases in the chamber. Daichi grabs a lever and looks at Jay as he pulls it.

Immediately, the air in the chamber is difficult to breathe. Jay imagines this is what it’s like to be in space, if one’s head didn’t explode when trying it. It was as if there was no air to draw from.

Jay screams, but Daichi only smile. All Jay sees from the chamber are the lights reflecting off Daichi’s glasses.

#

In a different operating room, another doctor stands at a panel watching a different subject scream in pain. Next to the doctor is another assistant similar to Addison, complete with cybernetic arms, but no tail.

The lights shut off. The only thing that can be seen in the dark is the light coming from the subject’s chamber. However, another light within the chamber flashes, shocking the subject in the face.

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!” the subject exclaims.

#

Dr. Daichi stands directly in front of Jay’s chamber. “Oh, now, look at what you’ve done. I hope nothing’s malfunctioned.”

In both operating rooms, the chamber doors open and both Jay and the other subject drop to their knees. Steam escapes from the chambers behind them. The first thing they both do is take an enormous breath of fresh, hospital lab air.

Jay physically feels different. There’s something pulsating within his body. Something that needs to escape. He no longer feels like a normal human. He looks at his hands, arms, legs, feet. Nothing has physically changed. The best thing he can think of at the moment is that he survived the process.

He stands up and looks at Daichi with glowing green energy flowing from his eyes.

#

The subject frowns as he looks at his own fingers. His fingernails have extended to an absurd length and are silver-colored. He stands and looks at the doctor.

“What the fuck is this?” the subject asks.

“Please, Mr. Blade—”

“That’s it? My goddamn face is scarred, and this is all you have to show for it?” the subject asks, aware of the scar because he felt the wound creep across his face in the chamber. The reason he screamed. “And don’t call me Mr. Blade!”

“I’m sorry, Jack,” the doctor says. “We can’t control the abilities we give to people.”

“You best believe my father is gonna hear about this, asshole,” Jack says, storming out of the lab.

#

Dr. Daichi smirks at Jay. The energy emitting from Jay dissipates from him and gives light back to the facility. They all hum as they turn on.

“Energy manipulation. I’ve seen this a few times before,” Daichi says. Addison shoots the doctor a look.

Jay looks at his hands. The area around them glows green. “Energy what now?”

“It seems you’ve gained the ability to manipulate raw energy. And emit it. We could test multiple forms to see which—”

“Nah, I think I’m good.”

“Wh-what?”

“That’s enough excitement for one day,” Jay says, just happy that he is alive. And not only is he alive, he now has superpowers. Superpowers he wants to learn on his own how to use and control. Learning his power was something for him. He worked for the serum, survived it, and was not going to have someone else tell him how they worked.

Daichi looks at Jay with furrows his brow and stares Jay directly in his eyes. “Very well. But you must still register with the Alpha Corps as a superpowered human.”

“The what?”

“It’s the organization built to protect normal humans from superpowered ones. And to protect the normal humans from the aliens. Also, they’re reserves in case the alien threat returns,” Daichi explains. “I’m sure you’ve heard and or read this already.”

“Uh—”

“You didn’t read the papers, did you?”

“No?”

Daichi sighs and holds out his hand. Addison walks up to him and places a business card in his hand. Daichi hands the card to Jay.

“Go to this address. It’s not far from here. Ask to speak to Commander Asai. If they don’t let you in, tell them ‘Dr. Daichi’ sent you,” the doctor tells Jay. “Or you could just put your abilities on display for them. They’ll understand.”

“Why wouldn’t they have us register before getting the serum?” Jay asks.

“You already have. Partially,” Dr. Daichi explains. “The papers and waiver you filled out prior to receiving the serum was part of the process. We only have this part for those that survive. To save time.”

“That’s—”

“Realistic?”

“I…guess.”

As Jay exits the hospital, he pulls out his phone to find the quickest route to the Alpha Corporation headquarters. He sees that it’s near the edge of the city, near the forest. He decides to take the subway as it is the only method of transportation that will get him as close as possible. He heads to the nearest subway entrance.

#

A being walks through a lush, emerald forest, the grass caressing its feet as it makes its way to its destination. Although the forest looks beautiful, everything else about it is off. There are no birds chirping, there is no breeze, no wildlife. The being cannot help but think that even the sunlight poking through the branches above is feigned.

 

 

It comes up on a thicket and pushes through it to step out into a pitted area of the forest, a perfect circle. The being looks around, noticing the grass is cut as far down as it can go without showing the dirt beneath it. The being looks up to see three other creatures similar to it. They all look at the being. The one with a dark orange-to-brown tint speaks up.

“You’re late, Athan,” it says. Athan looks at the dark-skinned man standing to the left of the orange being.

“Is this the human, Zyel?” Athan asks, his pupils slightly dilating at the sight of the man. The orange being called Zyel nods.

“These are the two who will help bring my plan to fruition,” Zyel says to the dark-skinned man. Zyel gestures with his left hand and demon wing—also on his left—to the other being, an angel clad in black armor and a navy-blue hood. “The angel is Apothael, the angel of deception. The demon is Athan, second child and first son of The Devil.”

“What is the reasoning of your summons?” Apothael asks, his voice being deeper than the man imagined, coming from a soft-skinned angel. Given the armor, he guesses he is an archangel, the battling angels.

“I wouldn’t have been late if you said it was urgent,” Athan adds. The demon looks more like an angel than what he is. His skin is gray, his hair, long, wild, violet. His irises bright yellow and the two small horns jutting from his head, black. He is shirtless and shoeless and the lack of a shirt shows off a glowing tattoo that displays his loyalty to his father. Out of his back sprout two black, feathery wings.

“My descendant has begun to unlock his potential.”

#

Jay stands in front of Commander Asai, who sits at her bland desk in her favorite gray pantsuit. The Alpha Corporation headquarters was pretty underwhelming. Jay half-expected to see at least one flying vehicle around the compound, but it was gray from top to bottom with groups of guards stomping around with alien-looking weapons and locks on every single door that wasn’t Asai’s office. The thought of the place intimidated him at first, but now that he was here, he realizes he had nothing to worry about.

Asai slides Jay’s sign-up sheet across her desk. “So, you’re Lux?” she asks. “Why that name?”

“My dad would always refer to me and my mom as the light of his life. I miss him.”

“He passed?”

“Not exactly. We were told by the Army that he was killed in action, but I don’t think he died.”

“Why’s that?”

“He was involved with the government deeper than just being an order-following soldier. I think he’s just missing,” Jay explains. He puts his hands in his pockets. “So, uh, how does this work?”

“Well, through saving people, if witnesses report seeing you, you are wired a certain amount of compensation depending on the level of the threat. The worse the threat, the more money,” Asai explains. “Make sure you download the Nobles app. From there, you can be seen as a registered hero through the citizens’ eyes. Also, make sure you connect your bank account.”

Lux^[1] looks up at the ceiling. “I think I’m gonna like this. Though, it’s all happening so fast.”

“The stronger you are, the more likely you can stop whatever threat—” Asai’s phone rings. She immediately picks it up. “Hello? What?! Why don’t you have anyone there? Yeah. He’s here. We’re on our way.” Asai looks at Lux.

“Well, kid. Let’s test you out.”

#

Lux and Asai barge into a disheveled operating room at Haven City Hospital with guards behind them. In front a destroyed chamber stands Hector^[2]. His chin is facing up, but his eyes stare into Lux’s soul. There are dead guards, a couple nurses, and a doctor dead on the ground surrounding him.

“Hello,” he says.

Lux glares at him with his pupils constricting. The thought that Ache mugged his mother and put her in the hospital shoots through his mind. Lux runs at Ache, while Asai sits in the background with her arms crossed watching the fight that’s about to unfold. The guards lower their guard because they know that if Asai wanted them to stop Lux, she’d tell them.

Lux lets his anger build. The green energy that flowed from his body before flows once again. He concentrates and allows the energy to move to his arms. His initial thought is to jump on top of Ache and begin wailing on him, but he’s seen a good number of cartoons and tv shows to know there might be more to his powers than just glowing. So, instead of throwing punches, he aims his palms at the psychopathic killer and releases the energy from his arms. The energy forms into beams and connect with Ache’s chest, knocking him down. Lux’s doesn’t even get a second to react to his newfound abilities as Ache rises to his feet, unscathed.

“Are you still mad about what I did to your mother, Jay?” the psychopath asks. Lux doesn’t answer as he charges his arms again, longer this time. “C’mon…gimme some banter. We’re having our first real fight with our new abilities. What’s the fun in it if you won’t banter?”

Ache’s voice grows louder in his last few words of speaking before running at Lux. Lux staggers the beams now, releasing the energy from his right arm first before switching to his left. As the left arm shoots its beam, he charges the right again. Ache tanks the energy beams to his chest as he continues running at Lux. As Lux tries to release another beam, Ache brushes his arm aside and lands a punch directly to Lux’s diaphragm. Lux falls to the ground, struggling to regain his breathing as Asai signals for her guards to get ready to fire and presses a button on her watch.

“No. Don’t,” Lux says, getting to his feet now. “I can handle him.”

“Your mother couldn’t,” Ache says. And in turn, something snaps in Lux where his eyes glow completely green now and he runs and jumps on top of Ache with his fist raised. He punches Ache in the face repeatedly with each punch getting his fist bloodier. But along with more blood, the green glowing energy returns and glows brighter with each punch Lux lands. Again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And even more.

He then gets up and stands over Ache’s body looking at his own bloodied, glowing hands. He is out of breath and sweating as his eyes widen shocked as to what he just did, but the thought of having avenged his mother running through his mind.

^[1] Jay will now be referred to as Lux, his superhero name.

 

^[2] Hector will now be referred to as Ache, his villain name.