“Every day, between four and five new supers awaken their powers. And while that statistic may not seem like much at first, when we take into consideration the sheer destructive capabilities we’ve seen on display from both heroes and villains, that number becomes much larger and much more of a threat to the general public”
—Double Trouble, “The Ethics of Super-powered Individuals” seminar recorded circa 1998, accessed on YouTube
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Alexis shuffled through the deserted campus. The glow of the moon cast long, yawning shadows across the pathways ahead, bathing everything in an ethereal glow. She took a drag of her cigarette, the ember glowing red hot against the chilling darkness as wisps of smoke curled up and died as soon as they’d escaped. Night had always been the best time to take long walks, to think about the things kept hidden in her mind, locked away from curious ears and gossiping lips. Tonight, like many other nights, she wandered beneath the ever-watchful stars, her thoughts drifting about as aimlessly as she did. When she was young, Alexis had had dreams. She wanted to be a hero just like the ones she’d seen in the news or on streams, showcasing their battles in real time for all to see. Years wore on, and she grew towards adulthood, quickly realizing that she would likely never gain any powers. She began to focus on college and her future career as an engineer. Unlike being a hero, being an engineer was something she could work towards, something she could learn. Unfortunately, like before, her dreams were slowly fading, and as she wandered through her college life, it began to feel suffocating, like an ever-tightening cage of expectations and requirements, its frigid iron bars shrinking around her, crushing her under its oppressive pressure, causing her breath to hitch, tears to well in her eyes, a scream to catch in her throat as she begged to be let out but it never stopped, instead, growing more and more intense as if to mock her as she wailed and cried, and, and, and, and-
She exhaled sharply. A large cloud of smoke escaped into the air only to shrivel and die just as its kin had mere moments before. Alexis stopped and leant against a nearby wall, hand raised to her chest and her breathing shaky.
“Damn it,” She whispered gently, clamping her eyes closed as if to shield herself from the world outside. More shaky breaths drew smoke from her cigarette. The taste was pungent yet calming, its warmth filled her chest and snuffed out the sparks at the edges of her nerves.
“Damn it all,” Alexis opened her eyes, looked down at her hands and grimaced. Taking deep breaths, she steadied herself, stood back up and began to walk. Lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice distant bangs that echoed through a nearby alleyway. At first, they seemed like simple background noise, easily dismissed as a TV show being played far too loud in the quiet of the night, but as another series of sharp cracks and thunderous bangs pierced the air, her senses snapped to attention. Before she could react, a deafening bang erupted, causing Alexis to freeze up. Out of the darkness, a figure hurtled toward her, crashing into her with bone-jarring force and slamming her against the wall. The impact stole her breath, leaving her gasping for air as she fell to the ground on her hands and knees in a violent coughing fit.
Stolen novel; please report.
“God, I forgot how weak civvies can be,” the man muttered to himself as he pushed himself off of Alexis and darted back towards the alley. But his path was abruptly blocked by another figure flying out of the shadows and meeting him halfway there with a powerful blow to his jaw.
Tears welled up in Alexis’ eyes as she watched the two clash from her position on the ground. She tried to stand but a sharp pain caused her to cry out and fall back down, her muscles screaming in protest against the strain. Desperation and fear pulsed through her veins as she laid helpless, a mere spectator to the chaos of the battle unfolding before her.
Seconds stretched into eternity and the fight between the two men escalated, each blow reverberating with earth shaking-force. The air crackled with tension as sparks erupted from the hands of one of the fighters, quickly growing into a blazing inferno that threatened to consume anything in its path.
Standing in stark contrast, the second assailant moved with the fluid grace of a dancer, flowing waters from the chilling depths of the sea flowed around him, clashing with the fiery onslaught. Waves surged forward and crashed, their relentless force colliding with the hellish inferno in a terrifying display of power. Steam billowed into the alley, shrouding the combatants in a veil of mist, but still, they pressed on, locked in a life and death battle, a fierce struggle for dominance.
Alexis watched on, horror striking her heart, the battle had been going less than a minute and the entire time she had been frozen in terror. A wave of fire flew her way, and her terror fueled her to move. Despite the pain in her body, she got up and lept away from the flames, but it wasn’t enough and the fire licked at her leg, causing her to cry out once more. The world was pain, yet the battle still raged on. Another wall of fire flew her way and she dodged. Alexis ran on pure instinct as hot tears blurred her vision. Despite her pain and terror, the combatants paid her no mind. A Blade of water, sliced into her arm, a blast of boiling steam struck her stomach, the world blurred further, the sounds of battle grew faster and faster. Attack after attack rained, the buildings around began to melt and crumble from the force of the water and fire. Alexis couldn’t dodge, the attacks were too fast, too many. Pain, everything was pain. The world melted into nothing but pure agonizing pain. Alexis could do nothing against the titans- no Gods that battled in front of her, she was too weak, too fragile. Alexis fell once more, and slowly, the world began to fade. But as the darkness consumed her, a small sound floated into her consciousness, and a tiny voice spoke to her, saying one word.
“Worthy.”
[Congratulations Alexis Victoria Parker! You’ve been given the chance to ascend past the limits of your own power. Will you accept this gracious offer, and awaken your true power?]